Chapters Destiny called, yours has changed!
It was a regular day somewhere in America, and it was a nice day to go to an arcade. Unfortunately, said arcade was packed with tons of people, ranging from hyperactive kids and young adolescent punks who had nowhere else to be to spend their time. This isn't the same situation for a man with a black undershirt, a poorly colored green jean jacket with splotches of blue everywhere from a bad dye job, Dark brown cargo pants with a black belt and gray studs dotted around the waistline, and Faded orange tennis shoes. His name was Leon Derrickson. A 19 year old Caucasian American with short Dark brown hair and cyan eyes. At this moment in time? He's trying to get through the bustling crowd of adults, young punks and hyperactive kids so he can get to his boss's office.
"For god's sake, I can only imagine how No Watch Ben kept his cool in a world without powers... *sigh* sometimes I kind of envy that peace he has, but I also envy wanting some power of my own, too." He mumbled to himself, finally reaching his boss's office, walking inside as he knew what time it was. 4:15 PM, his scheduled break time. His boss was a bit busy on the phone, but assumed Leon was leaving work for the day, and handed him his paycheck. 43 dollars and 25 cents, something he was mildly content with, as it was much more than what any general store would pay you. Leon walked out of the office, and quickly went out, breathing in the fresh and slightly salty air as he looked at the horizon, a huge beach nearby and he was feeling like he could do anything right now.
"Okay, what do I do first? I just got paid, and I still have money in my wallet... 20 bucks, to be exact, what do I do..." He pondered. Leon turned to his left to see a huge antique wooden booth next to him with pretty colors and ancient looking décor all over it. Inside was a metal mannequin-like puppet animatronic in the shape and model of a gypsy woman. Her animatronic eyes shone from the sun's light peering through the glass that kept her inside, and Leon read the big expressive words on the front of the booth.
"Fortuneteller from the Shadows of Myths? Never heard of this before, but maybe it's something new my boss wanted to try. Let's see..." Leon crouched down, reading a smaller metal plate with text engraved into it.
"Speak your desires, and pray from your heart, for fantasy is reality, if you're looking for a fresh start."
Needless to say, Leon wasn't that fond of how things have been for him lately. He lost his dad at a young age, barely got to know anything about him, and his mother is just grieving, not even past the 2nd stage yet, and being an only child hasn't made things easier. Leon figured he'd indulge in this machine's promise and think about how he'd use an Omnitrix of his own. Leon pulled his 20 dollar bill out of his wallet and inserted it into the machine's slot, watching it vanish as he grabbed what seemed to be a black grip handle, and began to squeeze it like he hadn't before. The gypsy woman in the booth whirred and beeped for a couple seconds and looked the man in the eye.
"Ve-ery good, Mr. Derrickson, for the payment is appreciated. Come back to me in 3 ho-ours and you will be compensated." The woman stated, glitching out a bit. Leon was a bit caught off guard for a moment, but remembered that some animatronics have facial recognition software, so no wonder she recognized him. He got up and quickly went back to his house, and grabbed his phone, making sure it was fully charged for the time being, and decided to kill some time relaxing at the beach.
After the time has passed, Leon checked his phone to see that 3 hours have passed, and walked back to the wooden booth, noting that the glass was now shattered, and he was probably going to be held accountable for destruction of private property, until he heard a loud BOOM! of thunder in the sky, which was a bit weird.
"Huh, that's weird, I thought there weren't any storms coming until next month." He said, checking his phone, noticing there was a live report going on in one of the TVs in the arcade.
"This is a catastrophic and unexpected event, folks! It would seem that some sort of weather anomaly is wiping out anything its lightning strikes. Whatever this is, everyone is to stay indoors, or get underground somewhere, it's not safe to be up on the surfa-"
The feed was lost by an abrupt jolt of what might've looked like purple lightning. Leon only recognized purple lightning from one thing, and he was really hoping this wasn't a part of the compensation he was apparently owed. He ran down the street, avoiding panicking people as he tried to get back home, though the storm seemed to drastically worsen as he got closer and closer, avoiding some extremely close calls with the lightning strikes. He was about to run inside until something huge and metallic struck him upside the back of his head, and he fell unconscious, hearing the muffled screams of several innocent people, as a tall, bulky and humanoid figure loomed over him. He couldn't control his panicking as he suddenly saw a flash of white light, and then everything went black.
Soon thereafter, Leon had suddenly woken up, yelping out for a moment as he tried to steady his breathing. He did not feel tough concrete or the asphalt of the road anymore, but he felt the smooth and soft dirt, grass and soil beneath him as he tried to steady himself. He looked around himself, seeing a bright sunny sky with huge mountains in the distance, and not a sign of modern civilization was in sight. He got up, and tried to calm down, until he felt an added form of weight on his right wrist. Pulling back the sleeve, he looked surprised, and very confused at the strange, but all too familiar device that was now present on his person, A Black and slightly dark gray gauntlet type device, minus the fingers or glove with 4 white tubes connecting to different sides of the watch, as in the center was a gray dial with 4 green notches on them, and also the intergalactic symbol of peace, a green hourglass was present, and it was shining bright.
"This... this can't be real.. is... i-is this the... Omnitrix? Maybe I should ask for more stuff from random strange animatronic fortune tellers more often... But where the hell am I, exactly?" Leon said, curious as to where exactly he was. He remembered the strange purple lightning storm, and something knocking him over the head, but he didn't know exactly what had transpired after that. Leon looked at his jean jacket, torn all to hell, just like his undershirt and his cargo pants. Leon looked around and could clearly tell something was familiar about all of this. He curiously pressed a green button and marveled as the core popped up. The usual green energy that had been so recognizable with the device suddenly changed to more of a Cyan color, probably to match the user's eye color and to prevent confusion... but confusion of what exactly?
"Ok, this is definitely new for me, but I know how this thing works, and this is practically the prototype Omnitrix. As long as I have the original 10, I should be fine." Leon stated, twisting the dial. Leon was expecting one of the original aliens, until he saw an icon of a lanky, but fairly robust root creature with spiky hair or prongs or horns or whatever protruding straight up from its head area, and Leon was immediately worried, but slightly intrigued by what this could've meant. He slowly pressed the core down, and in a flash of cyan light, Leon could feel himself changing. He felt his skin start to become stringy, but also compacted as his body twisted, tied and wrapped around itself in various ways, its caucasian color becoming more akin to that of a charred tree's blackened bark as fresh green vines wrapped around the blackened tendrils as his body increased in mass. Small red, orange, yellow and blue petals, thorns and glowing bulbs began to grow and protrude from the body as a few sections of the body itself opened up and ignited a type of fire that spread quickly through the inner workings of each body part. The head itself was something akin to a blackened and charcoal black face with bright burning cyan wisps as the creature's eyes. The creature's charred chest cavity opened up, and revealed that the Omnitrix had retreated inside of it, showing through an open circular hole, a white hourglass with gray detailing on the sides.
"SWAMPFIRE!!!!!!!!!!" The creature exclaimed as the cyan light died down.
...
"A magical disruption? Has anything like this happened before?!" Twilight exclaimed. The unicorn was starting to panic as the 5 ponies behind her were trying to keep her from having a meltdown. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Fluttershy. With them beside Twilight, these 6 made up the elements of Harmony, and in front of them was one huge white alicorn, known only as the Princess of the Sun, Celestia.
"I'm afraid so, my student. I'm tasking you and your friends to investigate what this disruption could be eluding to, all of Equestria could be in serious danger if something isn't done or figured out." Celestia stated somberly. The ponies quickly made their way out of the throne room as Celestia sighed.
...
Out in the field, the creature known as Swampfire was slowly lumbering his way in one direction, and constantly looking at itself as it familiarized itself with its newfound power.
"Out of all the aliens I could've gotten, I got the walking bogman that can shoot fire. Not a bad choice altogether, but I really would've preferred Heatblast. But now I have to wonder, why give ME the watch?! And where in the hell did I end up with this thing?!" The creature stated. He suddenly heard grunting and arguing, looking over to what looked like an abandoned mineshaft, and several crooks were hauling something out... and they looked kinda like ponies.
"Equine body types, walking on all fours, bushy tails... I'm in Equestria, aren't I? Well, there's worse places to end up by unconventional circumstances, like Mass Effect or Silent Hill... well, a crime is a crime, and I'm the one to stop it. It's Hero Time!!" Swampfire exclaimed, leaping into the air, fireballs forming in his hands as he yells out aggressively, falling towards the equine creatures ready to fight.
The ponies down below heard this and looked up, seeing the creature fall from the sky, ready to burn something or somepony. They scrambled to get away, leaving their treasures and their spoils behind as they quickly ran away. Swampfire was obviously a bit miffed, but at least he stopped a robbery or a heist of some sort. The plant alien climbed back up to the grassy plains and could only wonder where he was supposed to go, until he got an idea. Swampfire's body quickly started to unravel and burrow into the ground, only the grassy part of his head being visible as a flower begins to grow where Swampfire was originally standing.
"And now, I play the waiting game. Someone has to come by eventually, and when they do, I'll just pretend I'm the guardian of the mines, saying that anything that isn't theirs should not be taken. Leon, you're a genius!" Swampfire told himself, closing his eyes as he began to wait patiently.
Author's Note
This is definitely something new. I've been reading a bunch of Displaced stories lately, and I think this could be its own thing if I do it right.
Let me know if you have any questions, because this is going to be extremely different, and it's its own thing, not tied to my other stories.
As the six ponies make their way out of PonyVille, they all start to discuss the possibilities on what or who they might encounter that could've been the result of this sudden disruption in magical balance.
"Ah personally feel that it may be somethin' like Discord, and if I can be honest, I really don' wanna be right." Applejack said, slightly shivering at the chaotic memories of when Discord first returned.
"Come now, Applejack dahling, maybe it'll be a powerful unicorn who needs a bit of education on the... finer things in life, and not get overwhelmed by magical problems." Rarity stated, letting her mind wander as she nearly tripped over herself in the midst of her daydreaming as she kept up her pace to stay with her friends.
"U-um... maybe it's.. it's a lost Ursa Minor, and they got a hold of something they didn't understand?" Fluttershy suggested, obviously a bit worried if it was exactly like how she thought.
"Oh Oh! Maybe it's a changeling! Those buggy suckers wouldn't be able to take us on if it was one or two against all six of us!" Rainbow Dash suggested, imagining herself on top of two changelings, standing proud as her friends bowed before her.
"Oooohh!! Maybe it's an Alicorn! We don't see that many in Equestria, so maybe it's one of them! Coming back after eons of being nowhere to be seen or found, and maybe they came back to ask Celestia for help against a monstrous threat!" Pinkie Pie said with a grin, causing the other ponies to look at her with worry.
"Let's hope that's not the case," Twilight reached into one of her saddlebags, pulling out a small device that seemed to be tracking something as it flashed its light. "We're at the point, and who or whatever's here, it hasn't left since it arrived. Fan out, and stay within hearing range, we don't know what we might deal with." Twilight added. The ponies split up in 6 different directions, traversing the hills slowly, looking around for anything out of the ordinary.
Below the ponies was Swampfire, who had started dozing off after waiting for a bit. His entire body had rooted itself into the very ground, but one specific root was not a root at all, as on the very surface of one of the hills was a Rose coming into bloom. It looked like it was on fire, it's petals being in a flaming pattern with usual pinks, magentas and slight rose-y colors, with a small blue bud in the middle, looking like a lit ember, destined to forever burn, but also destined to never wilt the flower itself with its sweltering heat.
Rarity had noticed this rose, and could only admire its 'natural' beauty, sniffing it as she seemed to enjoy whatever scent this rose had about it. "My my, a beautiful thing like you would be fantastic to be on my dress for the Gala. Though I should figure out what kind of flower this is, because I've never seen a natural flame on a flower before." Rarity said to herself, blowing out the small blue wisp of fire as she turned towards the purple unicorn.
"Twilight, Dahling! I may have found something of interest! C'mere and look at it!" Rarity called out. Twilight quickly trotted over to Rarity, who was indeed right about the flower in question, because she's studied different types of flora before, but nothing like this was ever in her studies.
Below the unicorns, Swampfire was abruptly awoken, feeling the wisp go out sent a spine chilling feeling through him and it felt incredibly unpleasant. "Okay, I'll bite, what's going on up there?" Swampfire asked himself. He could hear low audible voices, but couldn't hear exactly what they were saying.
"Yer tellin' me that we came all this way... for a rose that looks like it was set on fire? You're kiddin' me." Applejack said bemusedly, putting her face in one of her hooves as she tried to not look irritated.
"Yeah, Applejack's got a point. A magical disruption happens over here, and all we can find is a flower? That makes no sense, why a flower? Why not a sword, or a stone, or a magical creature to fight?!" Rainbow Dash asked, obviously ticked that there wasn't gonna be something to fight.
"As much as I do like that it isn't a monster... um, what do we do with the flower anyway?" Fluttershy asked, a bit perplexed by the flower's blue wisp suddenly re-igniting, burning brighter as the rose-y color in the petals started to slowly change into a blue-ish sapphire color, some traces of the original rose-y hues still being prominent.
"I've truly never seen a rose like this before, this might be what the magical disruption was. A flower affected by transmutation magic. It's an outlawed magic technique long before the pony tribes came together, so this must have some kind of significance. Rarity, since you found it, would you like to pick it?" Twilight explained aloud, turning to the unicorn.
"Of course, dahling! I'm looking forward to incorporating this beautiful specimen into my dress! It would turn heads 5 times over just to admire the craftsmanship and the skill I've put to the test." Rarity said, using her magic to grip the base of the flower's stem, and lightly yanked. A sudden surge of pain suddenly traveled throughout Swampfire's entire body, causing him to yelp in pain.
"Ow!" The alien creature yelped. Rarity was a bit surprised that the flower did not come out right away, and kept yanking away, sending more painful surges through Swampfire's body, causing him to wince and jerk a bit, shifting the ground he was ingrained and rooted into.
"Rarity, let me try. This may be a pretty flower, but it's as stubborn as a weed." Applejack stated, pushing her aside as she bit on the stem, causing Swampfire to wince. He immediately yelled out in pain, the ground all around him muffling his cries of agonizing pain as Applejack managed to pluck the rose from the ground, and handed it to Rarity.
"Alrighty, pretty magic flower, picked. Can we go back now, and find out why this showed up?" Applejack said impatiently. Before the six ponies could move, Pinkie was starting to twitch. Her mane and her tail deflated, and her ears were twitching like crazy as her teeth chattered away. To anyone else, this meant Pinkie was scared. But to those who knew Pinkie well, this was a telltale sign of...
"P-P-P-Pinkie senses!! Someone's not happy right now! Like, REALLY Not happy!!" Pinkie stated, slightly worried as she started to get further ahead of her friends. The other five ponies knew her pinkie senses were always something strange, but they knew it was important to follow her lead when it happens. The ground where the flower had sprouted, suddenly began to crack and shake as green and charred black vines slithered their way out of the ground, and started to wrap around them, entwining themselves into something bipedal, unnatural and really angry.
The ponies kept getting further and further away as this creature, at a standing point was around Seven feet, and looked like an eldritch weed with a natural affinity for fire, as blazing flames could be seen within the creature's body, being contained by the blackened and charred body. Swampfire growled as he ran towards the ponies, angry about the pain he was having inflicted on him. Almost like it was basic knowledge for the alien, Swampfire slammed his fist into the ground, and erected a huge and thick root wall around the ponies, stopping them in their tracks as they saw the creature walking toward them, looking like if his stare could start a fire, the root wall would be set ablaze in burning blue embers.
"Ok, what the heck is that?! That's not something you'd see anywhere in Equestria!!" Applejack exclaimed, unable to look away from the creature, walking closer and closer towards them.
"I want to believe this is some kind of golem, but I've never seen a plant based golem control fire before. What in equestria are you, monster?!" Twilight tried to shake off her fear, readying her horn for a magical attack. Swampfire got up close enough to grab Twilight's horn and lift her up by it, his cyan ember eyes burning with irritation and aggression as Twilight feared for the worst.
"Who did it?" Swampfire asked, his voice nasally, but rough and warped. The unicorn was a bit confused by the question.
"What?" Twilight responded. The creature seemed more agitated as his grip tightened, the unicorn winced a little at the slowly rising burn she was feeling from the creature's mossy hands.
"Little pony, did I stutter or was I not specific enough? WHO. RIPPED. A PIECE. OF MY BODY. CLEAN OFF WITH THEIR TEETH?! That shit fuckin' hurt like hell, it was like getting a tooth pulled with no numbing agent to alleviate the pain! WHO. DID IT!?" Swampfire gritted angrily as Twilight stared into the cyan embers that burned bright as they gazed at her.
"Leave 'er alone! I did it, I plucked the flower you brutal varmint!" Applejack stated firmly. Swampfire let go of Twilight's horn, letting her drop to the ground as she scurried back over to her friends, as the fires inside the creature started to dim a bit and return to a normal color for fire, with reds, oranges and yellows. The cyan embers still burned in place of the creature's eyes, but it sighed.
"Don't do that again, that hurts like you wouldn't believe. Man that hurt, you really had to just chew it a bit and then yank on what was still attached?! That hurt too much, and now I feel like my day is ruined... more so than it was already." Swampfire stated, the roots returning to the ground as the creature turned its back to them and slumped down, unsure of what to do now as it sighed.
Rainbow Dash was not expecting any of what had just transpired, but she was very curious on what exactly this thing was, something about it felt like it was more than what it seemed, or this was her mind telling her she was still itching for a fight with something she didn't know how to fight, but it was obvious this thing was just minding its own business, and was just suddenly provoked.
Fluttershy carefully walked up beside the creature as it looked down on her, and despite the obvious lack of real emotion in the creature's face, it was just now starting to feel isolated.
"You look upset, do you want to talk about it?" Fluttershy asked, smiling lightly at the creature, who just felt something in him break down. Knowing that he's got powers, and the fact that something or someone brought him here while his home is going through god knows whatever kind of bad aftermath... and now he's stuck in the world of magical pastel colored ponies, that he knows will never be the same if he stays here.
"I'm too far from home... and I don't exactly know how to get back from here, let alone WHERE it could be... And now I'm yelling at a bunch of ponies because I don't know how to handle this type of situation! I could've been at home, trying to take care of my mother, but because of some purple lightning storm, I got pushed back... and now I'm probably... no, DEFINITELY stuck here. I'm a stranger in a foreign land, venting my emotional frustration to a yellow pegasus and her friends... to say I'm upset is an understatement, but it did feel kinda.. kinda good to get all that out, I guess." Swampfire stated, calming down.
Fluttershy smiled a bit more, rubbing the creature's grassy and rugged back gently. "It's okay, we all have our off days, but we don't let them ruin days that already made us smile." she said, trying to make the creature feel better. The creature slowly got up, and looked back at the ponies, defeated, calmed down, but still feeling like he shouldn't be here right now.
"Listen, I know I was more or less of an ass, but who wouldn't act like that if a piece of them was suddenly torn off? That's like if something lost their horn or a chunk of their wing, but I'm really sorry for acting so rash, I just need to get home and make sure everything's okay. Could you please help me for the time being? I won't try to be any trouble, I just need to get home." Swampfire stated.
"Of course, you must be really worried. We'll have to get back to PonyVille though, that way I can look up what spells can transport you back to your world of origin. Come on, everyone, we have a long trek ahead of us back to town. The sun's starting to slowly set." Twilight said, walking forward as Swampfire followed suite. The other ponies began to follow, but it seems like besides Fluttershy, the other ponies were aware that this creature had somewhere to be, but there was something about it that felt a bit... worrying.
...
Up above, past the planet's atmosphere, was a huge warship. Inside said warship was a tank, with an injured lifeform inside, possibly recovering from some sort of mostly recent attempt on its life. By the creature's side was a smaller creature, who kneeled before the tank.
"My lord, it would seem that the Omnitrix has been transported down to the planet below, inhabited by these Equestrians. Should I go down and fetch the Omnitrix for you, my liege?" The alien asked, its voice being high pitch, sounding wimpy, but with conviction. The creature in the tank snarled and gurgled something that wasn't coherent, but the smaller kneeling alien seemed to understand what it had 'said' in a way.
"Of course, my liege. These species could wipe me out if I underestimated them," The alien stood up, and pressed a button on some type of console, activating a remote controlled shock to several bipedal lifeforms who then stood at attention. "You heard your master, send down a couple receiver drones, let them collect data on where this device up and went." The alien stated. The other lifeforms started to type in commands within their stations as several drones on the outer end of the ship started to deploy and maneuver down to the planet.
All while this is happening, a stallion with a short slicked back mane and a tan colored coat with goggles and a lab coat watches on from afar, and can only wonder how things might play out.
...
Back on the planet's surface, the sun has begun to set, and the ponies were not anywhere close to being even a third of the way back. Rainbow Dash landed and relaxed a bit to give her wings a break as the beading sun's setting light dims more and more.
"Well, there's a likely possibility that we might get attacked at night, timberwolf sightings have been up quite a bit, but we also can't just keep goin' around in the dark. We need to stop and set up a camp for now." Applejack stated, trotting over to a couple trees and started to size them up.
"Oookay then... I guess with my natural control over anything plant-like, maybe I can use that as a way to make the site a bit more homey." Swampfire stated, moving over to a rocky mountain wall, and decided to place his hands onto the wall itself, slowly letting his fingers and his hands unravel and puncture the granite, feeling like he's got a grip on whatever Swampfire could do, the vines began to intersect and twist and tie together, and with a powerful pull, a slanted rectangular portion of the mountain had collapsed into pebbles and other various rock types, with a bunch of his vines holding the opening together without much effort. Swampfire tore away from the vines, letting his hands and fingers regrow and retie together before looking over to the ponies, and stepping out of the way.
"Uh... Mares first? Is that really how it goes, like ladies first but it's replaced with mares?" Swampfire mumbled to himself as he and the other ponies heard a powerful crack echo out, seeing a couple trees fall over with Applejack smiling proudly.
"A hard day's work is never done." Applejack said, slowly rolling the toppled trees over to the opening Swampfire had made, while he started to strip off the tree bark easily due to his enhanced strength. Swampfire made a circle on the ground with a few of the rocks, and tore a couple pieces of loose wood and moss off of his body, chucking it into the middle of the circle as it sparked into a small flame, illuminating the inside of the rocky site. As the ponies watched as a few apples began to slowly take in heat from the fire, one minor gripe was beginning to make the ponies feel a bit sick.
"Peew! I think there might be a skunk or two nearby, because somethin' smells downright awful! Smells worse than Fertilizer set on fire in a Hemp House floatin' on a bog in a swamp!" Applejack said aloud, lightly chuckling as she covered her muzzle with her hat.
"Good gracious, what is that horrid stench!? It's killing me!!" Rarity exclaimed, fainting onto the hard smooth rocky floor. Swampfire, who was sitting a good couple feet behind the ponies was smelling himself, obviously aware of the fact that the smell is coming off of him.
"Heheh... sorry, this is just a natural smell that uh.. that we secrete, we don't normally smell like fresh flowers or air freshener." Swampfire stated, smiling sheepishly.
"We? As in like, there's more of what you are? I guess it makes sense, if there's one Alicorn, there's bound to be another, but maybe like Alicorns, you're a rare species. Tell me, what is it that you are exactly, and does that thing in your chest contribute to anything about your natural growth?" Twilight inquired. Swampfire's smile faded, but he looked into the open part of his chest, seeing the Omnitrix.
"It's a bit of a complicated story about this thing. Listen, I need to get some sleep, so I'll be back here, trying to draw away the foul smell, so you six can rest... and let's just say if I don't look anything like I did today, then you'll have seen me in my normal state of being... which also means I will have some explaining to do, if you don't up and attack me right away." Swampfire stated. Swampfire tore a couple seeds from his body, tossing them up as he grew thick, but maneuverable moss curtains to conceal himself as he started laying down, trying to fall asleep.
Twilight looked at the curtains and back at her friends. "So, judging by what he just said, he can change into what he was normally... does this seem a bit off to you girls?" The unicorn asked. The ponies looked at each other, and Rainbow Dash spoke up, standing on all four of her hooves.
"Twilight, do you think he's a changeling? Those love draining bug weirdos? He's eluding that he can change his shape, but there's gotta be something else he wants, or we might get ambushed in our sleep." Rainbow stated, looking back at the curtains.
"If he is a changeling, we need to know if something truly is wrong, but if he isn't, then we should at least try to understand where he's coming from, or where he did come from, to be exact." Twilight said. She used a magic spell to dim the light of the campfire as the ponies started to drift off to sleep. As the ponies blissfully drift off and succumb to slumber, they don't notice the sound of something losing power, and a flash of red light from behind the mossy curtains as Leon returned to his human form, still sleeping.
Further away from the campsite, a few humanoid figures look across the fields and towards the campsite, one individual smiling as they backed away into the shadowy darkness of the trees enveloped by the night sky.
A Change of Face for the Human Race
As the night made its exit as soon as it arrived, the morning was just now coming in for a brief shining moment as Applejack immediately awoke, feeling a bit exhausted, but more so just really well rested from a goodnight's sleep.
"Ya know, we should do this more often, going out to camp and live off the land, I mean. This was pretty relaxin', and I bet a certain somepony might be willin' to help me out and gather some breakfast." Applejack said in a low tone of voice, slowly trotting over to the mossy curtains to take a peek at the swampy feller from the other day.
"Rise and shine, sunflower! I need your he-.... y-y-your he-hel-... Oh sweet Marlene on May the 5th!" Applejack yelped out, backing up frantically from the curtains as the most distraught and flabbergasted expression stayed plastered on her face as her friends woke up steadily. Applejack nearly tripped over herself, but she easily backed out of the opening, standing in the field as she tried to process what exactly just transpired a good few seconds ago.
"Ok, so Applejack's starting the day off with a panic attack... greeeeaat, someone's getting carried home." Rainbow Dash said, still a bit sleepy. The ponies looked towards the curtains and slowly approached, trotting ever so slightly to try and make sure the clopping of their hooves against the smooth rocky floor wasn't echoing at all.
Behind the curtain of moss, was Leon, still in his torn up attire as the Omnitrix's cyan glow began to shine, getting in the man's eyes as he slowly woke up. "Uugh... just five more minutes, ma. Work.. w-work really... s-sucked?" Leon said, starting to wake up and feel worried, recognizing that he wasn't at home in his bed, and remembering that he was stuck in the world of My Little Pony. Leon's thoughts were racing at Mach 64 levels of speed, and he could hear the sounds of hooves getting closer. He immediately got up and tore the moss curtains down, covering himself as he tried his best to not come off as crazy.
"Don't look at me!!" Leon exclaimed, trying to not let his real self be revealed. The ponies were obviously a bit startled by the sudden movements, but still got closer.
"Hey, chill! We're not gonna hurt you, unless you give us a reason to." Rainbow Dash said, standing her ground for a moment. The mass hidden within the mossy curtains had shifted a bit.
"Listen, we didn't mean to startle you this morning, dahling, we just wanted to talk, is all." Rarity said, trying to inch closer. The mass backed away as it hit the wall from behind.
"Hey, don't be afraid! We're not gonna hurt you, we just want answers. Girls, give him some space, I don't think he appreciates being backed into a corner." Twilight said, backing away a bit. The other ponies do the same as Leon sighs.
"Ok, so remember when I said I'd have some explaining to do? This is why." Leon said, standing up as the mossy curtains fall to the floor, revealing Leon in his human form. His clothes still torn and tattered, his cyan eyes looked exhausted, but very lively. The ponies were very surprised by this sudden turn of events, when previously, he was some kind of walking and talking tree made of vines and roots that could also control fire. Now he's this... human being, needless to say, the ponies were shocked by this, but they had their own reasons to be intrigued by the human himself.
Twilight's mind raced with questions and theories, humans did in fact exist, where have they been, where are they now, what are they like, can they or can they not learn or use magic, the questions piled and piled up as Twilight constantly stared, analyzing the human's physical stature with interest.
Rarity was in total distress at the condition of his wears. Being torn, tattered and obviously in need of an immediate makeover, plus it'll be a nice challenge to try and make clothes for a more biped creature like him, if he allowed her to.
Pinkie was being Pinkie, and was thinking at hyperspeed about how humans celebrate parties, and how she'd try to go about celebrating a party for this human being, as the possibilities were bound to be endless.
Rainbow Dash was more so in the market for another rival, and if this guy somehow had a form that could be really fast, that would help a lot in terms of trying to better herself so she can be the fastest. Plus, there's no harm in a healthy rivalry, especially with something so incredibly foreign and non-equestrian like a human.
Fluttershy admired how honest he was about how he might be the only one of his kind in their world now, and was feeling pretty intrigued about trying to help him find a place in PonyVille to call his home eventually, but that's the backup plan if there really is no way to get him back home.
Leon was a bit unsure of himself as the ponies looked at him, and slowly walked past them. "Look, I don't know what ideas are running through your minds right now, but I feel like I need to explain something... speaking of, where'd the orange pony go?" Leon asked, noticing Applejack's lack of a presence in the group.
"She up and ran off, probably got scared of not expecting the plant guy we saw yesterday. How did you do that, anyway?" Rainbow Dash asked. Leon knew in some way, somehow, that question was going to be reoccurring in his nightmares. He sighed and knew this wasn't gonna end well if he kept secrets, so he rolled up his tattered sleeve, showing the Omnitrix to the equestrians.
"This is what transformed me into Swampfire yesterday, the plant guy with fire powers. Needless to say, this device can transform me into 10 different creatures, for now, but give me enough time, and I can access a bunch more different forms, ranging from a hundred more, to billions of creatures. And before anyone asks, this device does have a name... the-" Before Leon could finish saying anything, he was interrupted by the sound of someone yelling in the distance.
"That sounded like AJ! Something's wrong, come on!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, dashing off towards the location of the screams. Leon sighed and turned towards the other ponies, who followed after their friend. Leon lagged behind, knowing that if he was going to use this thing, he desperately needed to figure out what he was working with before chaos started going crazy.
...
Applejack, who was just sitting out in the field for a bit, trying to remember that the plant guy, Swampfire, was something else entirely, but she didn't have much time to think on that as several mechanical drones started to fall from the sky, and happened to lock on to the earth pony, who was running as fast as her legs would allow to get away from the pursuing drones. Applejack saw one get down to her level, and saw her chance to fight back, reeling her back legs in and slamming them into the metal shell, leaving hoof sized dents in the drone as it spazzed for a moment or so.
"Darn mechanical varmints! This is why we don't automate, so machines don't start gettin' superior!" Applejack exclaimed, bucking and kicking away at the drones that honed in on her. Applejack thought she was about to win, until a large metal pod fell from the sky. the pod's sides opened up, showing that this creature had arms as 3 large legs opened up and supported the machine up as its head was revealed, two dark red bulbs shined bright as it slowly traversed the landscape, getting closer to the smaller drones and the earth pony, who definitely knew that now was the time to start running. As she did, one of the drones stuck her side with one of their sharp prongs, puncturing her side as she yelled out and fell to her side, grunting and gritting her teeth as she broke off the arm with a firm kick, and pulled the puncturing metal out.
"I hate machines, no good fer' no pony at all!" Applejack groaned, crawling away as the huge drone began to cast its shadow on the mare as she panicked. Applejack saw one of the legs coming down right on top of her, and was prepared to brace herself for the inevitable, until the sound of energy warping metal was ringing out through the skies. The drone's leg was a bit damaged, but it definitely was enough for the drone to shift its attention to Twilight, who used a magical blast to put a fair dent in the drone's metal shell, but it wasn't gonna be enough. Leon, who had caught up with the ponies, was shocked, unnerved, and very miffed.
'Oh great... the squidhead's in this world, too. Well, considering he traversed dimensions in Omniverse, I'm not that surprised... Just incredibly worried. He must've found the Omnitrix's signal, somehow... but right now, that doesn't matter... you're not Ben Tennyson, but that doesn't mean you're gonna stand by and let Vilgax's warmongering toys wreak havoc on Equestria. Besides, you can just say that you owed them for giving you a chance, and some assistance in getting home. Now stop thinking to yourself and send this drone to Hell's Scrapyard! It's Hero Time!' Leon thought to himself. Leon pushed the button, popping the core up as he twisted the dial to a random alien icon, staring down the drone.
"You five, get your friend and get her to this PonyVille place, I'll keep mechzilla here busy. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine, besides, I owe you one for giving me a chance." Leon stated. The ponies were a bit hesitant on letting him face this thing alone, but they knew Applejack wasn't going to be able to ride this out.
"It's better to not face trouble alone. Dash, you and Pinkie need to get Applejack to Nurse Redheart's clinic, she might be able to help and save her. Rarity, you and Fluttershy need to distract that monster while me and, uh.." Twilight trailed off a bit, due to not knowing the human's name. Leon sighed.
"Leon." he said. Twilight nodded.
"While me and Leon go for a frontal assault, got it?" Twilight finished. Rarity and Fluttershy were understandably worried, but they always trusted Twilight's intuition. Rainbow and Pinkie quickly ran or flew in Applejack's direction while Rarity and Fluttershy started to act as minor distractions for the drone, who was trying to swat and blast away at them. Twilight turned to the human. "Leon, Do you think Swampfire could be a good choice for this fight?" Twilight inquired.
"Nope, Swampfire's good for a lot of things, but not a fight with this overgrown hunk of scrap and spare parts. But I think I got a form that could be pretty useful." Leon stated, noting that the icon he was on resembled a monster with a very fluid and blobulous body with something hovering above it. Leon turned the dial one more time, and found the actual alien he was looking for, before pressing the core back down as his body began to change in a bright cyan light.
His body began to toughen and crystalize, the crystals on his body being more of a Sapphire or Darker Aquamarine color. His body was becoming more and more jaded and chiseled as a suit formed around his body. He felt a type of sediment grow around his head and his shoulders while his body became incredibly jagged and well sculpted. His suit split down the middle, his right side was all white while the left side was nothing but black. In the middle of his chest was the Omnitrix.
"Diamondhead!!" The crystalized alien shouted. Twilight marveled at the alien, but only for a short time. Twilight began to blast at one of the legs with her magic while Diamondhead morphed his hands into blades as he started to physically slam away at the drone's other leg, cutting through the metal was gonna require a lot more force, but he and Twilight were obviously doing some kind of damage, even if it was just out of being an inconvenience. The drone blasted a beam of energy towards the Unicorn, who had used a magical spell to guard herself. The drone fired another beam of energy, this time towards the Petrosapien wailing away at its leg, Diamondhead couldn't guard in time and got sent flying through the air, eventually landing on his back, and having to break off his back spikes just to get back up.
Twilight was trying really hard to make more than a few dents in the metal, but things just keep getting more difficult with how much more frequent those laser beams are being fired. As Rarity runs past the mech and fires a magical beam at it, the drone retaliates by swatting the unicorn into the air, causing her to scream.
"Rarity!!" Twilight exclaimed worriedly. She charged up her magic and fired a powerful magic bolt at the drone's cranial area, causing it to stagger back as it nearly crushed Fluttershy before regaining its footing and recognizing Twilight as a secondary threat. The drone was about to fire another beam of energy until some dark blue crystals started to bounce off its metal shell. The drone looked over to see Diamondhead, who had managed to catch Rarity in his arms and was continuing his ranged onslaught of firing crystals at the robotic menace. The Petrosapien set Rarity down as he knew he had caught the drone's attention.
"Let's finish this, bolts for brains. Classic Style! C'mon, put one here!" Diamondhead exclaimed, standing still as he pointed to his right pectoral. The drone clasped its hands together as they soon merged into a huge energy cannon. The cannon fired a huge burst of energy, and Diamondhead put his hands together, feeling them merge together into a rounded and supported surface as the beam of energy collided, Diamondhead could already feel the pressure, but stood his ground, pushing against the energy beam with all of his strength as a few of the ponies looked on in surprise.
"Leon, what are you doing?! Get out of there before it destroys you!!" Twilight exclaimed, trying to redirect the drone's attention to her, yet all attempts seemed to fail as the energy beam was still firing, but Diamondhead didn't seem to be budging. Soon, the beam was starting to bounce off of the crystal barrier Diamondhead made with his hands, reflecting the beam to the ground.
"What comes around, goes around." Diamondhead said as he smirked, turning his hands a bit, maneuvering the beam up through the middle of the drone, cutting through it with its own attack.
"Let's see how you like that, you techno freak!!" Diamondhead exclaimed, bringing his hands up quickly as he used the beam to cut the drone clean in half. It immediately started to go offline, and both halves of the drone soon collapsed to the ground, proving that this was Leon's first major victory, one of many that would soon come his way. Diamondhead panted as he laughed, not noticing the fact that the Omnitrix was flashing red again, and in a flash of light, Leon was back in his human form, exhausted and happy that he at least won.
"That was down too close to the wire. if this stupid watch had timed out a second sooner, I'd be an unsalted and overroasted human being. Mental note: If I do that again, I better hope I had practice before I do something that stupid again in the spur of the moment..." Leon started to say to himself, taking in as much air as he can into his lungs as he fell backwards onto the soft ground, looking up at the beautiful blue sky, chuckling as he reveled in his first victory. "But that don't mean that wasn't awesome as hell!! I fought a frickin' robot, WHOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!" Leon exclaimed happily, pumping his fists into the air as he laughed like he hadn't laughed in a long time. Twilight was more or less really scared that could've gone wrong, but was at least happy to see that Leon, this human she had just met, was starting to show a bit of promise and potential to be extremely well-versed in combat. She looked at the drone and pondered to herself, thinking that maybe this tech would be useful, give her an understanding of these creatures that the human can turn into. Twilight used her magic on a few loose mechanical parts, pulling them free with a huff as she carried them in her satchels.
"Hey, if you're done with your one man party, we should head back to PonyVille. And we need to hurry, Applejack will want to know what exactly happened before she got taken out of the fight." Twilight explained. Leon, still smiling, got up and saw the Omnitrix emit a red color in place of the cyan, knowing that it was gonna be recharging for a bit. Leon followed the purple Unicorn while Rarity and Fluttershy quickly followed too.
...
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SOMEONE ELSE FOUND THE OMNITRIX!?" The small alien exclaimed angrily at one of the soldiers. The Soldier flinched as the alien loomed over the soldier with an intent to attack.
"W-Well, according to the drone's battle data, it had faced off against 3 Equestrians and 1 Human, but that data had been immediately changed to 1 Petrosapien. We're not sure what this could mean, but if this Omnitrix device can do what our Lord has specifically explained it can do, then we've found the Omnitrix, but it was found by this 'Human' first." The soldier stated, showing the screen, and showing a recorded replay of Leon transforming into Diamondhead. The alien backed down and thought about the situation... and that race, Human... where did he hear that before?
"I'm going to look into what these... Humans and Equestrians are plotting, and using a special piece of technology, none of these foul creatures will be any none the wiser. Tell our lord that I'm going to do some reconnaissance. Only call me back up here if it's of utmost importance, is that understood?" The alien stated, grabbing a mask as he put it up to his face, a flash of light enveloping him.
"Affirmative... Mr. Psyphon. " one of the soldiers replied.
...
Walking around PonyVille was going to take some getting used to, especially with the strange looks these other ponies were giving him. Guess it made sense, he was a human being in a world full of pastel colored ponies, and other various magical or naturally dangerous creatures. Leon sighed, knowing that he'd have to find a way to walk around without being looked at like some two-headed atrocity.
"Are we there yet? They're staring at me, and I feel thoroughly uncomfortable." Leon stated, trying to hide his face in his torn up jacket.
"We're almost there, and I told you we could've used the glamour spell, to disguise you, but you did not like the idea of having magic be used on you." Twilight said, smiling sassily as they kept walking. Leon groaned a bit.
'Not on me, The Omnitrix.' Leon thought to himself as he stayed near the ponies as others stared at him. After a little bit more walking, he noticed a huge building that looked very hospital-like with a big Red Plus on it. "Is this it?" Leon asked. Twilight nodded as they went inside, noticing that there was an abundance of ponies in the lobby. Leon already felt a chill up his spine as he tried to keep his distance from them.
"Leon, are you okay? No one likes getting sick, but you seem a bit paranoid. What, was there a small flu back where you come from?" Twilight asked. Leon just laughed nervously, remembering the chaos of 2020, and was just thankful to be out of it, one of the new perks he was starting to see if he did weigh out the pros and cons of either staying in Equestria and being a badass superhero, or going back to his normal life as an Arcade janitor. The ponies and Leon stepped up to the counter, where a stallion sat, looking bored, or just naturally emotionless.
"Hi, we're here to see Applejack? We heard she got severely injured, and we wanted to know if she was okay." Twilight asked, her smile fading into a look of worry. The man flicked through a few pages and put his hoof down on the very bottom of the 5th page in the book.
"She'll be on the 2nd floor, last room on the left. Her family's already there, visiting her, so I got no doubt that she'll need some company. Her reports haven't come back yet, so we'll be a minute. Go on, go to the room, the doctor will be with her eventually." The stallion said in a monotoned voice. Twilight nodded as she motioned for the two ponies and Leon to follow her. As Leon followed the ponies, he glanced back at the stallion at the counter, and could've sworn he saw a toothy smirk flash across his face, and a slight glint of green light in his emotionless eyes. But then again, today was a strange day, and maybe by tomorrow, things would be better.
Author's Note
I think this is gonna work. I've got ideas, I've got plans, and this is definitely going to be my new favorite story to write. Comment down below your thoughts, I'll look forward to reading them.
As Twilight and the others enter the room, Applejack is currently getting out of bed while a nurse unhooks some expensive medical equipment from her legs. A noticeable bandage around her waist is slightly stained with a red color.
"Hey everypony, I hope I didn' miss too much. I got a lot of work ahead of me, but I do need to take it easy, Doctor's orders and such..." Applejack trailed off, noticing Leon standing in silence, obviously trying to avoid eye contact with the orange pony.
"Hey, long legs! Don't make it a habit to blame yerself for every little bad thing that happens. But if you're really feelin' that tore up about it, Ah know how you can make it up to me, what with me needin' to rest a while." Applejack stated.
"Nurse, how bad is her injury exactly? It's harvest season, and we just don' have enough able hooves to get through everything." Granny Smith asked. The pony in the nurse's outfit turned to the old mare.
"She'll be right as rain in a couple days, maybe a week. She just needs to eat, and get plenty of exercise, and rest often. Though I'm sure a couple able hooves would be nice, even if their not exactly a creature with hooves." Nurse Redheart stated. Leon, knowing where exactly this was going, knew he needed to show that he could be trusted by Applejack. Knowing exactly how this was going to go, he stepped forward.
"Fine, I'll help with the harvest. It's the least I can do, and at least I'm not risking years of my life against giant killer robots from outer space." Leon stated. Leon never worked on a human farm before, let alone a farm run by ponies, so how they do things is gonna be really difficult in his eyes. After a little bit of time with Applejack being confirmed to leave, it was another long walk with more stares being in his direction, though that could be for the obvious bandages around Applejack's waist.
As the Apple Family, plus Leon, walked through town, he could obviously recognize some of the ponies, and could only assume which part of Equestria he was suddenly dropped in. Twilight wasn't an Alicorn yet, There's no mention of Luna yet, something seemed to be off about all of this, but he wasn't in any actual place to judge what was normal and what wasn't. He suddenly snapped out of his train of thought for but a moment, to notice the yellow red haired filly tugging at his already ruined cargo pants.
"Mister, are you okay? You seem to be thinkin' real awfully hard about somethin'." Applebloom asked. Leon sighed as he tried to put on a smile.
"I'm fine, just a bit lost in thought for the moment... But I'm okay. Are you okay?" Leon asked. Leon looked around the small town and could hardly believe that everything and everypony around him was actually physically real. He'd shed a tear of joy if he wasn't so confused by everything else that transpired.
"I'm okay, just a bit worried I might not get my cutie mark. Me and my friends have been trying for a while, but we don't exactly know what we're good at to even get a concept down on how to get one." Applebloom explained, feeling a bit down.
"Hey, buck up, kiddo. Everything will work out fine. You'll get your mark, so will your friends, and you'll do great things when you get older. And if you do grow up to be markless forever, that doesn't mean you stop trying. The world is constantly changing and growing, just keep on trying, don't ever stop shooting for the stars, and you'll go far. Does that help you any?" Leon asked, smiling genuinely. Applebloom returned the smile and thought on those words.
"Ya know, that's actually pretty good advice. Even if when we get older, and still don't have our cutie marks, we'll at least be able to try out more stuff when we get older. Nothing's gonna stop us from finding our purposes! Thanks, mister Leon!" Applebloom exclaimed happily, running off in another direction as Leon looks on in confusion before turning his attention to the Red stallion beside him.
"Is she always like that?" Leon asked. The Red stallion, known as Big MacIntosh, casually looked over to the human that towered a bit over him and casually smiled.
"Eeyup." Big Mac stated. Leon was going to have to get used to everything about this world quicker than he thought, but first, he'll have to make it through Harvest Season, which already sounded impossible, especially if it meant he couldn't use the Omnitrix.
...
As the ponies finally arrive back onto the farm, Leon could only marvel at the rustic and natural beauty of the farm house and the plentiful apple orchard that seemed to almost stretch for miles without end. "Magnificent, I've never seen such a huge farm before. I've seen other farms before, but none of them were this big! This is gonna take a while." Leon marveled.
Applejack smiled as she walked over to the barn. "If you think that's neat, here's something to make sure you don't overwork yourself." Applejack stated, carrying something around her muzzle as she dropped it into his hands. It was a Deep Blue Bandana with white and bright blue spots on it. "It's a bandana, you do know what a bandana is, right?" Applejack smiled cheekily. Leon never thought Applejack was the funny one, even if she had her moments in the show, but I guess she really did have a funny side to her, even after having her side be punctured by alien metal and getting wrapped up, she's still trying to be funny.
Leon chuckled a bit and wrapped the colored rag around his forehead, letting his forehead feel a sudden cooling chill. "Mhm, well this is nice, but how soon should I start harvesting?" Leon asked, looking to the spanning orchard.
Applejack chuckled as she winced a bit, holding her side, causing Leon to glance at her with concern. "I-I'm fine, just laughin' too hard. You can start whenever you feel like it, just try to be easy with the trees. Ah don't know a lick of what you humans are capable of, but I would appreciate it if you didn't somehow tear down one of the trees. Let me know if you need instructions on what to do next, or just ask Big Mac, he can lend you a hoof or two." Applejack explained, slowly trotting towards the farmhouse, leaving the human to wonder how he was supposed to do this.
"Snap a tree in half, tear it down? In my current state? I'd accept the ego boost if I wanted my ego to be like Ben's in Ultimate Alien. Speaking of which, there has to be an alien I can use to just do this easily, I'm not picking miles worth of apples all season just so I can be worn out when one of many equestrian threats, or when Vilgax finally rears his ugly tentacle face for everypony to see." Leon stated, slowly cycling through the various options he had until he found the form he was looking for. he popped the core up and pushed it down, enveloping himself in a cyan light.
His body shifted as he felt the sudden growth spurt, increasing his height feeling his muscles expand and slim down at the same time as he felt an electrical crackle of electricity form around his body. He felt his body harden and toughen up like it was becoming stone. His eyes flashed open with a powerful cyan spark as his head was encased in stone, only to chisel away into a rocky head of some sort. His body felt lighter, but also heavier. Electrical energy sparked and crackled around him as the cyan light died down, revealing a huge entity, made of what looked like an orange energy with white and sediment gray armor, with the Omnitrix being smack dab in the middle of the strange rocky shorts the creature wore.
"SHOCK ROCK!... Wait, Shock Rock!?" The alien exclaimed, looking at himself with a bit of surprise. He noticed that his entire body was composed of pure Fulmas Energy, energy that made up every single member of Shock Rock's species, the Fulmini.
"Wow, Reboot aliens too? I'm not gonna argue with it, but a speedster would've been nice. Great, how do I go about this without breaking something, or to an extent, frying an apple?" Shock Rock asked himself, his voice warping and waving as he speaks. The Fulmini stretched out one his arms, noticing that a plasma whip formed out of his palm, imbued with the same orange energy that made up most of the hero's new body.
"Right, I forgot Shock Rock could use his energy to forge weapons... hmm, that actually gives me an idea!" Shock Rock stated, readying the whip he had made. Instead of whipping one of the trees, Shock Rock jumped and slammed the whip to the ground, causing a minor shake to the ground below, while also filling several baskets with fresh apples.
"HA! Now that's effective, how do you like THEM apples?" Shock Rock stated confidently, continuing to whip the ground as hard as he possibly could, shaking the ground more and more as apples fell right into the baskets. As the alien moved to look at the harvest he had managed to acquire, he started to quickly carry over whatever baskets he could carry to the farmhouse.
...
From a distance, all that could be seen was a stallion, a stallion with a curved unicorn horn, a major lack of hair or a mane, a small tuft of hair sticking out from his flank, resembling a tuft of hair to be a tail of sorts, a cutie mark that looks like a Yellow fist with a Black Circle and a Red V on his flank, and a strange red glint in their eyes as they grinned sinisterly as they watched the alien carry out his task.
"Interesting... this 'human' seems to be quite skilled in using the Omnitrix already, but it'll be a good thing to know just how capable he can be, with or without such a viable piece of technology... means we might have the time to prepare for the assault after all... Well, human.. I hope you enjoy this 'parting gift', just don't... Drop Dead over it." The stallion chuckled evilly as he pressed something on one of his hooves, some type of flying drone manifests out of the air as it sets its sights on the Fulmini, who's taking a quick break.
The stallion trots away slowly as the drone hovers towards the farm. All the while, a storm starts to roll in, and a robust humanoid falls to the ground outside of PonyVille, honing in on the last known activation of the Omnitrix.
...
As Shock Rock continues to get the last of the baskets, he can hear the slowly growing sound of thunder, noticing the storm clouds coming towards PonyVille. "Of all the times to be Shock Rock... And it's when a storm rolls in. Oddly fitting." Shock Rock stated with a bit of mild irritation. The Fulmini quickly hopped the fence to grab a nearby tarp and weigh it down with a couple wooden boxes nearby as the winds begin to blow, and rain starts to pour, causing most of Shock Rock's body to slightly spaz. The familiar red light begins to envelop the alien, and Leon was returned to his normal form.
"Aw crap.. Well, at least I'm not spazzing anymore. I'm going inside, now!" Leon stated in a hurry. Before he could get to the wooden steps, a vibrant red light flashed past his face as it blew a portion of a white fence to pieces. Leon looked back to see a drone, charging up for another blast. Leon quickly ran up the road, knowing that he'd try to lose the drone in the storm, only to be cut off by the humanoid. The rain was coming down hard, and Leon couldn't make out exactly what it was, but as regular lightning flashed through the skies, he could make out snippets of what this thing was.
It was huge, and not just extremely muscular. It could tower over a grown man if it could. The humanoid seemed incredibly tough too, as Leon ducked out of the way, and heard the sound of metal and glass being shattered and warped. He looked back to see the humanoid had punched a hole into the drone that was after him, and looked back at Leon, slowly approaching the human being. Leon frantically started to try getting the Omnitrix to respond or transform him, but its red glow was enough of a sign to show that Leon was on his own this time... or it would've been that way, if an axe head wasn't suddenly driven into the humanoid's neck, causing it to stagger as it tried to remove the foreign obstruction.
Leon saw Big Mac, drenched in the pouring rain as he offered a hoof out to the human. "Y-You saved me?! Ok, I owe you, big time! Thanks!!" Leon stated, laughing a bit before abruptly stopping, seeing the humanoid much clearer with it up close. Leon felt fear, a level of fear he hasn't felt since he was 6 and first discovered gory and terrifying horror movies.
The humanoid had scars over its body, and three strange glowing bolts in its chest. Leon knew he saw something like this before, but never knew where until he finally saw a major outlining factor that sent a chill down the human's spine. This creature had metal rods protruding from out of its back. The body looked like it was rotting, but in reality, that was just raw power pulsing through the creature at all times. Its eyes, despite being extremely devoid of life, it expressed rage and a dead set form of hatred as its lifeless eyes glowed with a red color. Leon recognized this thing immediately and started to slowly approach the creature as he nudged Big Mac to follow.
"Time to go, now!! We need to go!!" Leon exclaimed, running past the creature as it roared. Big Mac slammed his back hooves into the monster's face as the two ran towards PonyVille. The creature roared as the metal rods channeled a red stream of electrical energy into its hands, running after the two as the storm raged on.
...
In the midst of PonyVille, the storm was raging hard, a few buildings lost their roofs, and a few Pegasi had to ground themselves and find shelter. Nearby, in a cramped alleyway, was a huge wooden cart, painted in a variety of bright colors and such, and inside was Trixie, who was spending her time during the storm to think of new magic acts, but ultimately coming up short when it would just fail. The unicorn groaned in frustration as she crumbled up a piece of paper, and threw it at the overgrowing pile of paper wads in the corner.
"This obviously isn't working. I haven't been in such a funk since Twilight ruined me! Why did I say an Ursa Major of all things, that's just suicide. There has to be an act I can perform soon... I'm running out of bits." Trixie said, sulking down to the wooden floor as she internally panicked, the rumbling thunder and crashing lightning not helping her in the slightest.
Out in the streets, Big Mac and Leon were running through the streets, the rain soaking the both of them as the wind blew violently. The humanoid roared out as red bolts of lightning fired past them or came up short, but the attack was relentless. The storm raged on as the rain came down harder than before, actually weighing down Leon and Mac as the humanoid creature slowly got closer.
"This obviously isn't working! This thing isn't gonna stop chasing us until something is really done about it. I have an Idea, but it's really risky. I'll go to the left, and you go to the right. Go back to the farm and make sure nopony's hurt. I'll keep this thing off your tail for as long as I possibly can till the Omnitrix recharges." Leon explains as he tries to duck and weave while still running. Big Mac quickly trotted farther and made a sharp right turn, slipping a bit as he ran into another alleyway. The humanoid reached out and was about to pursue the stallion, until a twig snapped in half against its face, bringing its attention back to its target.
"Hey Frankenfreak! You must be looking for me, right?! Or more appropriately... You're looking for THIS , right?!" Leon exclaimed, holding the Omnitrix up high, its cyan glow shining prominently in the heavy rain. The humanoid monster roared aggressively as it lunged towards Leon, causing him to panic and sprint down the alleyway on his left.
"I'll take that as a YES!!" Leon exclaimed, running down the alleyway as he saw the creature struggling with all its might to fit in the alleyway to give chase, roaring as Leon soon ran into the wooden cart, terrified, but also slightly stupefied on why a cart is here of all places. Leon looked back at the humanoid monster, still trying to force its way through, so he quickly started climbing onto the cart, desperately trying to gain some type of height advantage on the creature. The door from one of the cart's sides swung open as Trixie looked up at the human.
"Oh great, someone else to ruin me. The storm is bad eno- What the hell is that?!" Trixie exclaimed in horror, seeing the monster charge up its electricity for another attack. Leon got down off the cart and popped the core up on the Omnitrix, twisting the dial frantically as he hoped to find the right alien in time. As the monster roared again, firing off another red lightning bolt, a flash of Cyan light enveloped Leon, surprising the pony magician as Leon was replaced by a spectral figure, with the Omnitrix being embedded into its chest cavity, showing through one of many black cracks that were prevalent throughout this creature's body. It had one singular glowing Cyan eye as its body was more of a dark washed out blue-ish gray color.
"Ghooooost...freeeeaak!" The spectral alien exclaimed raspily. The unicorn was on the teetering edge of fainting if the roaring humanoid creature didn't keep her focus and lucidity active with its roars of aggression. The alien specter, known as Ghostfreak, almost immediately rammed into the humanoid monster, his spiritual body slowly worming its way into the monster's body, causing the monster to roar out and attempt to fight back. The monster roared as it felt its arms start to lose control, slamming and punching itself, even deliberately short circuiting itself while Ghostfreak controls it from within. The unicorn watched on through the raging downpour as she witnessed some monster wailing on itself, showing signs of trying to fight back as it continues to literally beat itself up. The monster delivered one more firm punch to its own face before the monster itself lost consciousness, tumbling to the wet and murky ground as the storm seemed to suddenly let up.
Ghostfreak, still inside the monster, starts to slowly maneuver the battered body, controlling it as he looked down at one of the puddles, seeing a clearer reflection of the monster itself. Leon thought this monster was pretty familiar, but at least he knew now why it looked so familiar. Any Ben 10 fan who at least finished the Original Series can recognize that this is no ordinary monster, but it was...
'A Transylian... basically just frankenstein's monster with electrical powers... this could be a major issue, but of all the monsters that cross my path now... two of what might be Vilgax's drones, and one of the Anur Aliens... this doesn't bode well for what might occur if I'm not careful... Now the questions that remain unanswered... what's this monstrous electrical lug doing in Equestria? And what was with the whole mindless monster schtick? What do I even do with this guy? Can't just leave him here...' Ghostfreak thought to himself.
Before the alien spirit could think of a proper plan, he roared out in agony as something hit him from behind. The monster was already out for the count, but it would seem that as Ghostfreak left the monster's body, going invisible for the moment, saw that he didn't even notice Twilight, who had managed to blast the Transylian, but it didn't do much as Ghostfreak already took more than enough care of it.
Twilight sighed as she trotted forward, looking over the creature as it groaned lowly, defeated and sprawled out on the ground unconscious. "I can only hope that this thing wasn't Leon. I still need to inform the princesses of what all has occurred, but now there's this... thing. He must be at the Apple Farm, so he might know something." Twilight stated.
"How unexpectedly optimistic to hope I wasn't that frankenfreak... but still, little unicorn, OWW!!!!!" Ghostfreak quietly shrieked into the unicorn's ears. Twilight frantically looked around as she yelped, shaking.
"L-Leon?! W-Was that you?! What are you?! I-I can't see you!" Twilight said aloud, obviously shaken. The familiar sound of the Omnitrix running out of energy rang out as in a flash of red light, Leon was returned to his normal form, stumbling a bit as he didn't look quite okay.
"I'm fine, though Ghostfreak can be a bit intense... and apparently, also nausea inducing if you get hit by a magical blast when you're possessing a body." Leon stated, a bit miffed that hurt so bad. Twilight helped Leon get back to the farm while the Transylian was being hauled off to the hospital, probably for research or to jumpstart it.
Leon looked back at the Omnitrix, and thought back to how it felt when he turned into Ghostfreak. It definitely felt different, but he didn't seem to have that much of an immediate issue with Ghostfreak like Ben had. Maybe there's something different about Ghostfreak in this world he'd have to look into, but that wasn't the issue right now. The storm had passed, there were now two robotic drones being currently salvaged, and there was a literal alien rendition of Frankenstein's Monster being tended to by pastel colored ponies, so his worry of changing the timeline has already come to pass, and he might as well see what else will change.
Twilight stamped her hooves on the squishy and moistened ground, snapping Leon out of his train of thought. "Leon, are you okay? Listen, I didn't mean to hurt you that bad, I didn't know that one could inhabit another creature's body, I was just-"
"Stop, please. We were both trying to stop it. I was a bit more direct, and well, you were a bit late for the party," Leon said. He looked back at the direction of town and wondered about something. "I don't exactly know what might happen to that thing... but I feel like I owe an explanation, so stuff like this doesn't get too surprising. Don't apologize for trying to help, just remind me to give you a heads up next time I go Ghostfreak, and all will be forgiven." Leon interrupted, slightly smiling. Twilight frowned a bit, but it too became a smile as Leon leaned on Twilight as she walked him back to the farm.
Author's Note
And with that, I officially have... something here.
I hope you all enjoy this, because the first crossover I'm doing will be with DisplacedWriter , and one of their displaced stories, Dark Fantasy .
Go check them out, show them some love and respect, and please wait patiently for the next chapter (said beginning of the crossover) to come out.
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The Calm after The Storm Part 1 (cross-over with DisplacedWriter)
Author's Note
Go check out DisplacedWriter's story "[Displaced] Dark Fantasy ", they have such a wonderful story set up and I'm really glad that they were willing to reach out to me to do a crossover. DisplacedWriter, thank you for reaching out. I really hope people enjoy this :)
The Calm after The Storm Part 1 (cross-over with DisplacedWriter)
Leon begins to wake up the next day, having been resting in the farmhouse after his encounter with a very aggressive alien lifeform in the midst of a storm, Leon seeks out what will soon be a rare commodity… a free day. A time to himself so he can explore and get used to living amongst talking pastel colored horses while wearing an alien watch.
Leon was motionless, he was in a bed he never knew felt so comfortable. He felt like he was sleeping on a mattress, handcrafted and specifically tailored for cushioning the stress of a deity. He stared up at the ceiling with confusion, seeing the small details in the pattern of the wood above him reminded him of a time he felt.
‘Was all that a dream? Had to be… a world of pastel colored ponies, magic, and then all of a sudden, aliens and crazy killer robots? Heh… I think I lost my mind.. Then again, why does my body feel so sore? Feels like I fought a man shaped boulder… and won.’ Leon mentally thought to himself as he continued to gaze up at the wooden ceiling.
Leon’s attention was drawn by the sound of some sort of gentle hiss that faded in volume, causing Leon to stir up in his bed, curious of what he just heard. Upon looking around and eventually the floor, Leon notices a glowing sign that gently sparkles with white particles floating about on the hardwood floor, written in some sort of language he did not understand. Leon was understandably confused, rubbing his eyes as he looked to see the sign still on the hardwood floor. “Okay, a dream, this may not... Unless..” Leon mumbles. He quickly pinches his arm as hard as he can, obviously feeling pain from the pinch, and could at least confirm to himself that this was no dream.
“I really hope this isn’t gonna summon a demon or something… everything else has already been crazy enough, I need a breather.” Leon tiredly said, slowly sitting up as he continued to eye the glowing sign on the floor. There it still remained despite Leon’s objecting that it truly wasn’t there, taunting Leon with its glowing presence and that no matter how long he waited nor how long he stared, it would still be there. Knowing that he’d rather do this now, rather than wait or put it off, leon sighed and slowly got up, standing up straight as he slowly walked towards the sign, already reaching for the Omnitrix’s dial in case this went wrong. As Leon got close, the sign would waver, soon fading and rewriting itself, as if an invisible hand was doing so. New words formed now in a language Leon could actually read, glowing in onyx black letters surrounded by orange energy to Leon’s eyes.
'Do not fear the sign, friend. I am Noel, the ashen one of another world, and I've come seeking those who have met with an unfortunate fate, either forced into a body not their own, or given powers unwillingly. If you hold your hand over this sign for just a moment, you'll be able to summon my white phantom into your world. In this form, I will be able to explain what has happened to you. However, if you've already learned who and what you've become, I understand if you seek companionship or you need an ally to fight against a powerful foe.'
Leon read out the letters on the floor, and felt compelled by a strange wave of curiosity and intrigue wash over him. Leon slowly moved towards the bedroom door, opening it a bit as he looked around carefully, listening for the sound of steps being taken or talking. After a few minutes, nothing or nopony seemed to be around to hear the hissing or notice the glow.
Leon closed the door and walked back over to the sign. “Powerful foe? Companionship? Well, powerful alien device aside, I need to know how to fight anyway, in case this watch ever fails me. Which it might.” Leon said, cautiously moving his right hand over the sign, hoping that something would happen. The letters return to the previous language then slowly faded away. A moment of silence passed until a glowing white ring started to circle round where the sign was previously, and from the center of the ring rose some sort of faded white specter that at first, looked like the being was being pulled up by invisible strings. As its form fully manifested into being, Leon can finally see clear features on the phantom. Other than the white glow, they were wearing what looked to be heavy draconic like armor, in fact Leon thought it was some sort of dragon-like creature due to the head having horns and two sets of glowing serpent eyes. With a fist on his chest and a bow, the dragon started to speak. “To whom do I owe the pleasure of being summoned?” he said, his voice having a slight echo. Leon is met with confusion due to the muzzle not moving.
“Uh… Hi. I’m Leon. Uh… I’m the wielder of the Omnitrix, in Equestria, I guess? Could I kindly ask what and who you are?” Leon hesitantly asked, still trying to get used to most of the very little that just happened within the last minute.
“As I’ve written on the ground back in my world in the same exact location, my name is Noel, a Displaced of the Ashen one from Dark Souls 3, or rather a heavily modded version of him involving the Cinders mode that my Displacer chose for me to have. What you see is just my phantom, while you can touch and hurt me, I’m not a hundred percentage whole. The only one for me to be here in person, is if I had your token in order to make a more effective link to here.” Noel explained as he reached up to remove his head- no.. That was a helmet! As the helmet was removed, Leon could see a man in his thirties with his black hair tied in a ponytail, red eyes, and having a five o’ clock shadow upon his face. Leon could clearly tell that this guy looked like a natural born badass, and had the armor to prove it.
“Okay, first of all, the hell’s a token? Second of all, I pity and respect you for having the balls to be a character in a very difficult game. Third of all, the hell’s a Displaced?! Oh and fourth of all, do you have a map of this place?” Leon asked, still marveling at the elite warrior clad in armor.
“In the order of your questions. A token is what a Displaced uses to travel across worlds via being summoned by another, second I didn’t choose to be this as my Displacement was a bit sudden and unpleasant; death by truck ramming into my car. Third, a Displaced is what you and I are; beings altered by a void dweller or the merchant to serve whatever purpose they want, but most times out of amusement, boredom, to be an asshole and see if we survive or go mad from our sudden shift in reality. Fourth, yes and no of having a map.” Noels said as he raised his hand, causing some sort of status screen to appear and showing the surrounding area. The small map was only revealing where he or Leon had been.
Leon was quite impressed, but still confused on how any of this worked. He looked at the black parts of the map, assuming he hasn’t been there before, and will have to eventually seek out those places in due time. “Impressive, but I was kinda hoping for a physical paper map. I don’t know how the hell you did that at all, but it was still pretty cool. Maybe the Omnitrix has something like that… questions for another time. Anyways, what exactly am I doing in the land of magical pastel colored talking horses, anyway? I get that we’re here by random, but I wasn’t brought here by a merchant or whatever the flying hell a Void Dweller is, but I was brought here by an animatronic gypsy woman in a fortuneteller’s booth. Take your time, you’ll figure out what that means.” Leon explained, still dumbfounded by that of all things.
“I guess that machine was a Displacer, or a void dweller’s proxy, but as to why though? You’ll need to learn on your own. You’re going to be here for a very long time…” Noel said with dread in his voice of having to tell Leon the truth.
Leon felt a number of emotions. Anger, because he didn’t want to be told he couldn’t find a way home. Shock, to know that there may not be a way home after all. Denial, wanting to cling onto hope. “Tell me you’re fuckin’ joking. How many of us Displaced have actually gotten to go back home? And don’t lie to me, I can’t stay here! These ponies are willing to help me find a way back, tell me there’s some kind of way!” Leon exclaimed.
“...Weeell, according to the many written sign messages left by the multiverse of my world, the chances of returning home have been slim…” Noel explained as he rubbed the back of his head. “Those who have not gone home either haven’t found the power to return home, or they chose not to go home due to the new lives they’ve formed in their new world. Now, take note I've said ‘my world’ meaning they found ways of manipulating their white or red soapstone token to allow it, I don’t know if you can find a way home with your Omnitrix, not unless Alien X is somewhere in there.” Noel said as he looked down at the watch around Leon’s wrist.
“Please, any and every version of this alien timepiece will have Alien X. It’s just the matter of if the voices in Alien X’s mind will agree to let me go home. And I really don’t want to find out what’ll happen if I find out that something else is here. I already had to face Frankenstein’s Monster 2.0 yesterday, and that took a lot out of me, pal! I’m gonna be a damn liability if I can’t properly fight back! I’m not a fighter, I know how to box, but not against Frankenstein’s Monster on Steroids!! Here I thought one of Vilgax’s Castle sized drones would’ve done me in. No, an alien Frankenstein’s Monster almost fries me with red lightning! I’m a dead man if I can’t withstand these attacks…” Leon stopped shouting and soon dropped to his knees.
“What am I supposed to do to prepare for the oncoming alien hell that’s about to invade?!” Leon shouted in a panic, worry and devastation filled his mind.
“You have the means, all you need is knowledge and experience to use it.” Noel said as he gave the side of Leon’s watch a gentle tap. “I can help train you, but of course we’ll need to go somewhere out of sight. Tell me, have the ponies of this world seen more humans or are you the first?” Noel asked curiously.
Leon didn’t seem to know how to answer that question, and that kinda rubbed him the wrong way. “I don’t know… All I know is that ponies like to stare at something, that something being me, they haven’t seen before…” Leon stated, not knowing exactly if there were actually more humans or if he was the only one.
“..Ah, that raises some complications if I’m going to train you. Will you allow the pony here to see me, or would you prefer to keep me a secret? My token will not be the only one of its kind, so depending on what you plan to do, you’ll either need to avoid summoning more Displaced in the future, or explain to the ruler of the sun of this land about us so that when you do summon another Displaced to help you, the ponies will be less likely to freak out.” Noel explained to Leon.
“Trust me, I’m already worried about how I’m supposed to explain giant killer robots, Frankenstein’s Monster’s Jacked Mutant Cousin, and an alien watch that can turn its wearer into one of a plethora of alien species… to explain there’s a multiverse for Displaced is another can of worms I’m not ready to open willy-nilly! Plus, I’m pretty sure I already quite literally spooked one of the native ponies with my abilities already… So, let’s keep this Displaced thing a secret till I deal with Tia and whatever else might be lurking.” Leon stated firmly.
“Fair enough. You’ll need to sneak me out of the house, either that or build a bonfire out there so I can use it to warp to.” Noel explained as he went to sit down on the floor. Leon nodded, sighing as he exited the bedroom. Leon quickly made sure he wasn’t being followed when he went outside and quickly ran into the orchard, and saw a couple sticks laying around. He quickly gathered them up and looked for a secluded place.
‘Shit, I didn’t think this through… Where do I even go without being seen?’ Leon thought to himself, already starting to panic again. Leon took a deep breath and looked around, noticing that he could just run into the woods nearby, and be back before anyone could be none the wiser. As he started to run towards the thick woods, he could’ve sworn that he saw Applejack just now coming out of the barn, which obviously felt a bit counterintuitive to him, considering what happened yesterday. Without thinking, Leon quickly made a dash for the woods, bracing himself for anything that might just scratch him up a bit.
...
As Leon runs through the wooded area, trying to keep the sticks in his arms as he tries to look around for a small and secluded clearing, he carefully listens to hear if anything might be around, probably hunting him. Soon enough, Leon would soon find himself in a clearing he was looking for. He quickly laid the sticks down and went to find a couple rocks to surround them, lifting up a couple rocks and moving them over to surround and contain the sticks.
Leon popped the core up and began to carefully select one of his forms as he knew which one would be the better option for starting fires. Leon carefully pushed the core down, and was replaced by Swampfire, carefully igniting one of his fingers to start burning the sticks.
As the smoke rose into the air, it started to build out unnaturally quickly. With a grey flash, Noel appeared in a swirl of smoke. Reach over the bonfire, he made the flames flare to life brighter, but not burning harder. “There we go.” Noel said with a nod. Swampfire stood firm, looking around as he brought his attention back to Noel.
“Alright, so you said you could train me, right?” Swampfire asked.
“Yes in some weaponry and combat. Due to the dark sign that curses this body, you can fight me as hard as you’d like, even if you kill me. I’ll always come back to this bonfire that will burn for all eternity.” Noel explained as he reached back to pull out what appears to be a coiled sword that burned with embers.
“Ok, that’s pretty cool, but are you sure I can go all out? If I did, I think I’d be accidentally setting a forest on fire. Too bad I don’t have Master Control on this thing, so maybe I’ll try to restrain myself, so as to not raze anything to the ground just yet.” Swampfire stated, cracking his knuckles as he generated blue fireballs in his palms. Swampfire took a few steps back, and dimmed the flaming balls of fire as he looked back towards Noel.
“So, what is it that you can do? I only know that the Ashen Ones are undead of sorts, but that’s all I really know... then again, if I ever do run into an Ashen One villain in this world, cause it can’t get any weirder than this, any tips?” Swampfire inquired.
“Quite a lot of Pyromancy spells with a little bit of Miracle spells.” Noel explained to Leon.
“Alright, I don't know anything about Miracle spells, but pyromancy would probably benefit me if I needed Swampfire at any given moment, but the Omnitrix would fail at that said moment.” Swampfire stated, feeling the plant life around him feel at ease.
“I won’t be most of them here, my firelink sword’s flame will remain inactive for the time being.” Noel said as he swiped it across, causing a loud pop and a crackle to erupt as it changed from sword to a coiled up spear.
“Woah… weapons are like a necessity in your line of work. Then again, I’d like to have some armor.” Swampfire said, the Omnitrix timing out as Leon reverted to his normal form. “So, what’s the first thing you plan to teach me, Noel, the mighty spirit of Dark Souls 3?” Leon asked, smiling as he waited for an answer. Noel let out a short chuckle of amusement.
“Dodge.” Noel said as he suddenly did a fake-out thrust with his spear toward Leon. Leon narrowly yelped out as he ducked, tucking into a ball as he attempted to dodge the spear. Noel pulled his spear back and thrusted again at a faster speed, once again performing a fake out to keep tricking him. Leon quickly got up and started to run in a circular motion around the bonfire that Noel stood in, trying to avoid the spear that way.
“Dodge, huh?! What’s next, you gonna throw me into a tree and tell me to dodge?! Stupid watch, just had to turn me back!!” Leon griped as he kept his focus on the warrior and the spear.
“That watch’s cooldown is a moment of weakness.” Noel said as he thrusted the spear again to force Leon to dodge. “So when it's off, you gotta keep on your toes.” Noel said before thrusting the spear again, causing Leon to duck. Noel was forcing Leon to work on his reaction time and train those leg muscles. “Use your small size to your advantage so that bigger foes.” Noel paused to thrust the spear again, Leon just narrowly dodging it. “Especially the really angry ones.” Noel said as he suddenly leaped into the air to thrust downward toward Leon.
“Really wish I hadn’t shirked leg day during the mile run in high school now, who knew it would’ve helped me dodge a Dark Souls mini boss?!” Leon yelled, rolling out of the way as he tried to get back up to his feet. “Plan, plan, plan… that’s what I need, right now! Think, Leon! Think!!” Leon gritted, looking around for a way to turn the tide, already feeling his lungs at their limit.
“Just be glad I’m not embered out, then I’d definitely be of a bigger size!” Noel said as pulled his arm back. Leon grimaced at that thought, feeling sweat pour down his forehead as he kept on running in circles. “Yeah, sure, cause I wanna imagine a kaiju sized Ashen One chasing me through PonyVille with a spear. How reassuring.” Leon remarked, frantically twisting the dial on the Omnitrix.
Noel twirled his spear around. “Not THAT big, I’d only be twice your size.” Noel said. Leon eventually noticed that due to all the dodge, he had been forced into an area with a lot less nature. With a mighty swing, Noel sent out a ring of fire that came dangerously close to Leon. Leon quickly slammed on the Omnitrix’s core, right as the flaming ring made its connection as a Cyan light shone through the blistering flames, revealing that Leon had another form to utilize. In his place was a sentient bipedal mass of Cyan and blue-green slime with a small mechanical device hovering above it, and resting on it was the Omnitrix itself.
“GOOP!!” The mass of slime had exclaimed, morphing its body in an elastic or malleable manner. “Woaahh… I didn’t think the watch had any power left! Well, I’m not gonna complain right now, but I will have to test this out in my off time…” Goop stated, facing Noel.
“Let’s test that fire resistance!” Noel said as he held his hand out as a literal flamethrower sprayed out from his palm. Goop, upon instinct, made his body split in half, letting the fire pass through onto the green grass as Goop delivered a couple direct punches to the gut, however due to the draconic armor that covered Noel, it didn’t do much other than make Goop’s body wiggle from the punch. Goop tried to grab the lance’s very blade, in an attempt to snatch it out of Noel’s hands. “Let’s see how well you do without the powerful fire weapon!” Goop stated confidently, pulling at the lance in his general direction. Noel suddenly pulled on his lance, then slammed an outstretched hand into Goop’s chest, he would start to feel a dangerous warmth build up in Noel’s hand.
“Something tells me you think you got me on the ropes… well, you’d be right if Goop couldn’t do this.” Goop stated. If he had a mouth, he’d be smiling the smuggest smile he ever did see as Noel can feel his hand starting to sting and burn, as well as notice the lance’s blade begin to corrode and melt at Goop’s touch. “Hehehe! Gotta love acid powers, useless until you need to melt something! Perfect!” Goop stated, looking like he could grin if he had a mouth. The lance suddenly vanished in a rush of cinders as Noel yanked his hand back. Noel’s weapon came back in a rush of cinders again, but in the form of a bell as he raised it above his head, allowing it a gentle toll. Slowly, Noel’s hand is healed up.
“Let’s see how much heat you can take.” Noel said as he raised his fists into the air, fire brimming into the palms of his hands. Slamming his fists into the ground, fire exploded from under Goop and all around him.
“Oooohhh… shit.” Goop muttered. Goop’s miniature device immediately sped off, trying to avoid the heat, taking a small blood with it as what remained of goop began to slowly collapse as it tried to withstand the firestorm that was generated above it, obviously failing. The flames quickly faded as fast as it erupted.
“Hmm, perhaps that was a bit much.” Noel said as he looked down at Goop’s shrunken form. As whatever small drops of Goop laid there on the scorched earth, they suddenly started to shift, slowly slithering towards the floating device as Goop reformed his blobulous physical state before the Omnitrix soon returned Leon to his normal form in a flash of red light.
“A bit much? You almost gave Goop the Pompeii treatment! Good thing I remembered about the gravity projector this damn watch provides, otherwise, if I hadn’t saved a piece of myself while everything else was close to being turned to ash, I might’ve just activated the failsafe on this thing too early… if this thing did have a failsafe to keep me from dying, that is!” Leon stated, nearly mortified, or just suffering from too much adrenaline rushing through his body.
“Well, the lesson was to dodge and keep moving. Don’t take the blunt of the attack when you lack the means to survive it.” Noel said as he inspected Leon’s body to make sure the injuries didn’t carry over.
“Well, aside from my attempt to either fight back or make sure I didn’t have a lance sized hole in my body, how’d I do on that front? I could use a bit of refining in my approach, but it’s a start, not necessarily a good one, right?” Leon asked.
“Just work on your foot work and your reaction speed. Think of yourself as if you’re Sans, minus the low health points.” Noel said half jokingly. Leon chuckled at that remark, and reached out to shake Noel’s hand. “So what’s next for my training, Mr. Praise the Sunbutt?” Leon asked, smiling cheekily.
….THWACK, Leon got bonked on the head by the bottom blunt of Noel’s spear. Leon rubbed his head as he glared a bit at Noel. “And this is why most bronies, me included, worship the moon. Now what’s next on the training schedule?” Leon asked.
“...Bronies- actually, answer that later. Now, do you have any forms that use a sword?” Noel asked curiously.
“Well, I do have Diamondhead, he can morph his arms into blades. That close enough?” Leon asked.
“Good enough.” Noel said as he resummoned his weapon in sword form in a rush of embers. Noel reaches back soon pulling out an ancient bronze looking great shield that had a dragon silhouette. Leon looked at the Omnitrix, seeing the cyan color be a bit dim, but still prominent. Leon popped the core up and selected Diamondhead’s icon, pushing the core down carefully as he was transformed into the Petrosapien.
“Alright, how does this work?” Diamondhead asked, morphing his arms into jagged crystal blades. Diamondhead wondered if anything with magical enhancements could be stronger than his crystals, but it’s fairly clear to see that everything looks stronger than it shouldn’t be, so regardless, Diamondhead was already on his guard. Noel slid his hands across his Firelink sword, causing it to ignite on fire.
“Now, try to hit me.” Noel said as his distance relaxed. Diamondhead lunged forward, slamming both of his arm blades towards Noel with all of his might. All of a sudden, Diamond’s blade was knocked away with a powerful explosion of energy he could out see, causing Diamondhead to be staggered back.
“Again.” Noel demanded. Diamondhead grunted as he ran towards Noel and attempted to strike him harder, only for the same result to occur, him getting knocked away by some sort of energy he didn’t understand.
“One more time!” Noel yelled. Diamondhead gritted his teeth as he ran as fast as he could towards Noel, both arms drawn back as he lunged forward and slammed the bladed arms towards Noel, yelling aggressively as he tried to at least land a solid hit. Noel once again knocked Diamondhead’s blades away, however instead of demanding another attack, he thrusted his sword at Diamondhead. At that moment, something started to click in Diamondhead’s mind. Diamondhead quickly moved his left arm blade to counter the thrust of the sword. A kinetic rush of energy exploded from Diamondhead’s arm blade, forcing Noel to be staggered back.
“There we go, you’ve learned how to parry. When you use it to knock your target’s weapon away, you’ll gain a short burst of energy built up in your weapon, however you only have a moment to attack back, resorting in a riposte. In short, this is dark souls mechanics brought to life.” Noel explained as the flames faded from his firelink sword. Diamondhead chuckled as he changed his blades back into arms. “Pretty badass if you ask me. Could come in handy when Tirek shows up eventually.”
“Funnily, it can work on bigger targets, but the timing is more tricky.” Noel explained as he tapped his chin in thought. “Well, I think this will help a lot. I don’t exactly know a lot about this Displaced stuff, but that’s for when we can relax after a bit of teaching.” Diamondhead stated, smiling as he looks around.
“There’s alot, and I do mean alot. Displaced follow no logic nor laws other than whatever their Displacer gave them, so keep an open mind if you meet another Displaced.” Noel said as he went over to the bonfire to sit down, allowing the radiant flames to restore his stamina. “I’d like to gift you a little something, but tell me… Have you killed anything with a soul?” Noel asked curiously.
“Well, I killed a huge fuckin’ robot, but I didn’t see a soul in it… unless it’s still there because I had to worry about one of the ponies being severely injured. Should be out in the fields, a day, maybe two or three from this location. Can’t miss the giant robot that’s been cut in half.” Diamondhead stated.
“Might be a lot less if you’ve got a big flying form.” Noel suggested. At that moment, Diamondhead’s watch started blinking red. In a flash of red light, Diamondhead was reverted back to Leon, finally settling into recharge mode again. “Well, I can’t fly for sure, but Ghostfreak can float in a way that’s kinda similar, it’s merely just the fact that I don’t know what you’d want with a soul… you’re not gonna make me a ghost rider, are you?” Leon asked, a bit unsure of why he’d want to know if the robot had a soul.
“...It’d be best if you don’t choose that form, my Dark Sign might try to consume you thinking you’re a lost soul that needs to serve me. No, I'm not going to turn you into a ghost rider, I'm going to convert the robot’s soul into a weapon, shield, or ring that contains one of its powers or any powers that keep it protected or buffed.” Noel explained. Leon thought about this, and knew that if anything important needed to be done, he needed to at least have some form of armor for protection.
“What can you turn the soul into in terms of armor? Like a chestplate or even boots?” Leon asked.
“Whatever armor the robot had before its death.” Noel explained as he paused to think. “Think of it this way. If I were to convert my soul, it would become whatever is unique to me. In short, it’d be my pyromancy, my firelink sword. As a ring, your fire would be stronger. Or a copy of my dragon armor. Sure, you’re probably thinking you could take it off of my dead body, but it would just cease to be once my soul is removed.” Noel explained to the best of his understanding. Leon thought long and hard, knowing of two common abilities the huge robot drone had.
“Well, the drone I fought had the power to fire lasers from its wrists due to laser cannons being built into its forearms, but it also had the ability to jump or spring upwards nearly hundreds of feet into the air and slam onto the ground to create shockwaves. From those two options, I can either have gauntlets/gloves that fire beams of energy that will require time to recharge if overutilized or overheated, or the possibility of having boots that give me a hefty and really neat jump boost… hopefully fall damage won’t be an issue if that’s the choice to make.” Leon explained.
“Now you’re getting the idea. I’m basically allowing you to use one of the powers they had, whether it was an attack, or whatever their body’s main strength was. So what’ll be? A copy of their gauntlet that shoots lasers, or a copy of their boots that’ll let you jump high release shockwaves upon landing?” Noel asked curiously as a moment of silence passed. “Remember, only one power, armor, or ring per soul.” he said, causing Leon to think carefully. Leon mentally considered the pros and cons of each item carefully.
‘Let’s see… on one hand, the gauntlets would prove to be extremely useful to keep up ranged attacks in my human form, but if something short circuits the gauntlets themselves, it could get somepony or me extremely hurt or in critical condition in the midst of a fight. On the other hand, the jump boost would help immensely if it means I can get to Cloudsdale without having to resort to using a hot air balloon or a flying form I can potentially unlock later on, but the fall damage could be enough to kill me with the velocity of falling alone… jeez, my options aren’t looking too hot, but I know what won’t kill anyone by malfunction.’ Leon looked at Noel and took a deep breath.
“Gimme a pair of those Jump Boosting boots, please.” Leon requested.
“Alright, all we need to do is find the robot.” Noel said with a nod as he got up from his resting spot. “..Actually, don’t you have some kind of speedster form?” he asked curiously.
“I haven’t had the time to properly check. Plus, recharge mode. I’m not using this thing for another few minutes or so, Though I do know where the fight was, it was somewhere nearby where I woke up in this world. Problem is, it’s gonna look really weird trying to carry a bonfire to where I woke up, which is on the far outskirts of PonyVille.” Leon stated, kinda worried.
Noel let out a chuckle. “Just say it’s a school project, like to see what fuel would make the flames last the longest.” Noel suggested with a grin. Leon would’ve put his hand to his face if he wasn’t feeling a bit sore from the training, but rolled his eyes a bit. “Well, maybe I can get some help setting up a bonfire near the robot’s location. I’m sure Big Mac’s not busy, I hope. Plus, I already graduated, man, school project just feels a bit like a lie.” Leon suggested.
“Hmm.. fair. You could say you want to go on a camping trip if they ask where you’re going.” Noel pointed out. Leon agreed with this, but did wonder if anypony started to salvage that thing for any particular reason. “We might wanna go, Twilight looked eager enough to learn about my human form and Swampfire, so before she can get the idea to try and find me, we need to get that soul, if there is one.” Leon stated, Noel nodded in agreement.
“I’ll wait here for the time being since it's too much trouble trying to bring me along.” Noel explained as he sat back down near his bonfire. Leon nodded as he looked back at the Omnitrix, still noticing that the recharge mode was going to be a bit of a pain he was gonna have to get used to. “Should I extinguish this before a wildfire starts and Applejack will have an excuse to tan my hide if she thinks it’s my fault?” Leon asked sheepishly, gesturing to the bonfire.
“Oh, no. This bonfire doesn’t burn.” Noel said as he held his arm over the fire. The flames moving along his arm almost like water going around a solid object. “It will only harm crazed undead, and I doubt you have any of that in your world.” Noel explained as he pulled his arm back. “Those are the embers of the first flame that I carry within me. It will burn eternally like a beacon in the darkness. In fact, considering how the everfree forest is a little chaotic.” Noel said as he pulled out a replica of his firelink sword, Noel pushed it into the center of the bonfire, causing it to brighten. “Let it be a guide if anyone, or anypony gets lost, all they’ll need find the light.” Noel explained. Leon was very impressed by Noel’s knowledge and power, and nodded. “I guess I’ll be off then, since I guess it’ll only be me who can see you for the time being, right?” Leon said, slowly walking back to the farm as he kept eye contact with the noble warrior. “Exactly. May the flames guide thee on your way there, Leon.” Noel said with a smile as he reached up to place the dragon helmet back onto his head.
...
Leon continued to go through the thick woods, hopping over holes in the ground his foot could get stuck in if he wasn’t careful. How he got through this the first time without getting stuck in a hole is beyond his knowledge, but he was at least thankful he didn’t get stuck this time either. Leon quickly made it to the other side, noticing a small pack of ponies being led by Applejack.
‘My luck keeps getting better and better…’ Leon thought to himself sarcastically, slowly walking over as he called out for them.
Anthropology, History Lesson and Drones
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The Calm after The Storm Part 2 (cross-over with DisplacedWriter)
After a long and tiring trek through the Everfree Forest, and also a long walk to the Golden Oaks Library, Twilight slowly used her magic to lay Spike, who had fallen asleep on the way back, onto a futon while she searched through a small closet. Leon was looking around, kinda surprised that a treehouse, in the literal sense, could look so natural, and yet so customary.
“If I ever find my way back home, I’m so gonna make my own place just like this. Especially with my powers, it’ll be easy.” Leon said, impressed with the interior. Twilight carried over a huge bag with several parts and a huge colorful tent that was folded and packed into said bag.
“Well, the Library was just a normal tree, but it was hollowed out to be used for living space, until there was a sudden need for a library. Former owner must’ve been really determined to make his literal treehouse into a library, not that it’s a bad idea, but that’s something for another day, that bag has the usual essentials, as well as a manual for setting up the tent. I would also advise getting extra equipment if this turns out to be not enough.” Twilight said, smiling. Leon nodded and carefully carried the stuff out of the front door, walking back to the Apple Farm as Twilight watched him go.
“It’s such a bother to know that eventually, he’s gonna get a really sudden hit from some bad news… but that’s for… for when he’s ready. Right now, I need to get some sleep. Too much studying and cross-referencing, and top all that with magic usage, I’m gonna wake up with a blistering headache.” Twilight stated, dimming the lights in the library as she trotted upstairs as the Night draped over PonyVille.
…
As the morning light begins to rise from the horizon, Leon is already dressed in his clothes as he hauls the bag containing everything Twilight gave him. He decided to invite Big Mac to come along if he wasn’t exactly busy today, or just didn’t want to waste a good day doing whatever he usually does.
“C’mon, Big Mac. It’s not everyday you get a break just to have some fun. Besides, you saved my damn life in a thunderstorm, let me repay you and then we can call it even. Besides, Applejack may still be healing, but she seems to be right as rain, come on, please?” Leon offered. Big Mac stopped and really thought hard about the situation, either he could take a break and relax for a day, or he could work till he’s got blisters in his hooves. Big Mac turned to Leon, and smiled.
“Eeyup.” Big Mac said. He walked over to the front door of the farmhouse and took off his harness, walking inside to grab a jacket and a sunhat. Leon and Big Mac ventured down the dirt path leading to town, not noticing the three cutie markless crusaders following right behind them. As the two walk through town and towards where a slowly dying pillar of smoke is off in the distance, the more the two feel like they’re being watched or followed.
“Hey Mac, do you think someone’s looking at us funny? Cause I feel like something’s watching me.” Leon asked, looking around for any signs of ponies that could be around at the moment. Big Mac stopped and looked around, not seeing anything until Leon started to yelp and panic out of nowhere.
“AAAHHHHH!! IT’S ON ME!! IT’S ON ME!!!! GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF!!!” Leon panicked as he flailed around. Big Mac looked at Leon and started laughing as Leon was frantically flailing around as Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo happily hung onto Leon as he panicked. Leon stopped panicking as the CMC quickly dismounted from the human’s limbs as Leon brushed himself off, looking for the site from before. Big Mac looked down at the fillies as he didn’t look as bothered, but still thought it was a tad bit rude.
“Come on, say you’re sorry. If you do, you can join us on the camping trip. Maybe you’ll even get your cutie marks in camping. Alright?” Big Mac said.
“We’re sorry, Mr. Leon.” Applebloom said.
“When Applebloom told us there was a human in Ponyville, we wanted to know if the legends were true,” Sweetie Belle added.
“The legend of the shapeshifting Man, we wanted to know if it was true. We didn’t mean to make you panic, we just wanted to see if you could turn into something.” Scootaloo finished. Leon sighed and knelt down, ruffling the manes of the three fillies as he smiled.
“Look, apology accepted, kids. But no more jumping on me, okay? Not tryna put a damper on your fun, but it just hurts to have extra weight on me. But don’t worry, if all goes well, I can show you one of my tamer transformations when we get to the campsite.” Leon stated. The fillies brightened up as they followed him and Big Mac, unaware that someone else was watching them from afar.
...
As the ponies, and Leon, continued their trek to the campsite, they constantly enjoyed seeing the sights around them, the lush green grass on the hills, the trees swaying in the calm spring breeze, and the occasional flower that would sprout or come into bloom. But of course, the trip to the campsite was gonna be three days long, so that was a bit of an issue.
“Pardner, I don’t mean to sound like a stickler, but why the hay is this campsite so far? I just can’t imagine it being anything special if it’s a three day trek just for an outing.” Big Mac asked curiously.
“Well, it’s very simple. This campsite is right next to where I woke up when I just appeared in this world, so it has a form of special significance to me. I didn’t exactly get to pick where I woke up, it just happened.” Leon explained. Big Mac eyed Leon, feeling skeptical of how good this camping spot is. ‘I hope it’s worth it, three days for a camping spot, what kind of sense does that make?’ Big Mac thought to himself as they kept moseying along.
The ponies rested a bit, while Leon made sure to get some sleep, trying to rejuvenate his stamina and endurance. Leon was having many issues with trying to stay asleep, as he could feel like something was keeping him from slumbering. For the remainder of the first day, the ponies and the human kept on going, even despite Big Mac’s skepticism.
The second day was exhausting, Applebloom was being carried by Leon while Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were lazily relaxing on Mac’s back. “Hey human, I gotta ask about somethin’ else, if you aren’t too partial to questions.” Big Mac said, looking over at Leon, who was trying to make sure Applebloom was comfortable before looking back at the red stallion. Big Mac looked like he was truly thinking about something, and then decided to ask the question on his mind, looking Leon in the face as he sighed.
“Pardner, I’m gonna be honest with ya. Ah can tell by a number of situations that occurred yesterday to know that you are no ordinary human. Ah’ve seen humans that look similar to you, but they were nothing like you. Not in a bad way, it’s rare to see humans be so cooperative, or even attempt to act like their situation is normal. Tell me, if there’s no way to return you from whence you originally came from, and that’s a big ol’ if, what exactly is your plan gonna be then? Ah know this all must be very overwhelmin’, being stuck somewhere ya don’t rightly understand with living creatures that aren’t like you, but you need to come up with a plan for these things if something goes wrong. I haven’t exactly gotten my head wrapped around what happened durin’ the storm, but ah do know that you are keeping something to yourself… when we get to this campsite we’re headin’ to, I want you to be honest with me, because I’m not tryin’ to get my little sister into another barrel of trouble, ya understand?” Big Mac asked, his tone a bit more firm and serious, but has a feeling of understanding giving the words some weight to be supported by.
Leon, was understandably surprised that Big Mac of all ponies, would be giving him this type of advice, but he knew he had a point. For all Leon knew, if he did somehow find a way to access an alien like Alien X, would that even be enough to escape this pastel colored world? Leon shook off that thought and looked back at the stallion, who seemed to still be expecting a response of some sort.
“Look, Mac, I know that maybe if there is truly no way for me to get back home, I can start over… but all of this is just mind-boggling, you know? I’ve only been here a couple days or so, and I’m not adjusting that well. I still haven’t properly figured out how many forms I have currently, but I’m still trying to get used to having power like this in the first place… I’d love to explain a lot of things, but I just need time to get used to everything at the moment… plus, I just can’t give up on finding a way home. I won’t give up till the universe provides me proof that says I need to.” Leon explained, feeling a bit tired from the heat beating down on him. Leon stopped and reached into the bag of supplies, pulling out a shiny red apple as he took a huge bite of the fruit. Leon looked around for a moment and immediately made a sharp right turn.
“Come on, this way. I know it was in a mountain face, and I remember that a mine was also nearby.” Leon said, walking down a beaten path. Big Mac sighs and follows behind him. As the pair walk along the path, it’s very obvious that something is watching them, and is being really patient about their next move.
…
As the pair walk down the path, they can clearly see that some kind of animal has been through here, judging by the obvious tracks that the creature left. The tracks looked like they could’ve belonged to a bear of some kind, but the bird-like talons just felt either out of place or incredibly unsettling. Definitely was something strange, but to Leon, that didn’t matter at the moment. “Huh… really hoping this isn’t gonna be an issue. We’re so close to getting to the site. I just don’t think we can stop now.” Leon said, walking forward as he avoided stepping on the tracks that the unknown creature left. Big Mac took a moment to really look at the animal tracks, not really seeing anything majorly outlying, but still feels like this could be a problem later.
Ahead of the travelling ponies were several other ponies that were previously present at the mines when Leon first showed up to this world, and they seemed very dead set on finding the swampy fire alien that ruined their little plan. The ponies noticed the human and the other ponies coming their way, and soon decided to hightail it, so as to not look suspicious, running back towards the mines as Leon walked up to a familiar rocky hole in the side of a mountain, held up by blackened roots and green vines.
“I hope this is enough proof to show that this is how you camp. Nothing says getting closer to nature, when you camp inside the side of a mountain.” Leon states smiling. He put Applebloom down on a soft patch of grass and started to notice that a couple of the vines looked like they were being tampered with or messed with, noting what looked like teeth marks on the vines themselves. Big Mac set the resting Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo down next to his little sister and walked up to look at what Leon was examining.
“I assume by the way you’re lookin’ at these ‘ere supporting roots, you think there’s somethin’ wrong, don’tcha?” Big Mac asked. Leon looked at the stallion and nodded. “Yeah, there’s something up. Listen, can you and the fillies go look for some firewood real quick? I want to make sure these roots don’t give way when we sleep.” Leon asked. Big Mac nodded as he carefully woke up the crusaders and started to walk off into the nearby wooded area. The fillies followed Big Mac soon after, letting Leon know where they were going as they disappeared into the woods. Leon stopped messing with the roots and vines and started to gather up some nearby dried leaves and sticks, tossing them in the bonfire pit that Applejack set up before. Leon soon dialed in Swampfire, popping the core up and pushing it back down carefully as he was replaced by the pyrokinetic plant alien.
“Better make this fast.” Swampfire told himself, igniting the bonfire as he waited for Noel to show himself.
It took a few moments, that familiar smoke mist surrounded the bonfire and area around Noel. As the smoke cleared, there stood the dragoon warrior himself in all his white phantom glory.
“Give me the low down of your other companions you’ve brought.” Noel asked quickly as he looked around with caution.
“Big MacIntosh and the Cutie Mark Crusaders. We’re here on a camping trip, but I figured I could knock out two birds with one stone this time around. Big Mac looked like he needed a vacation, and those kids apparently spread the word about my powers and now look at me like a legendary hero from a comic book. I’m going to get the robot’s soul, but if they come back, try to not look like a vengeful spirit if they happen to see you.” Swampfire explained.
Noel let out a chuckle. “Depends on how common white phantoms are and the stories that surround them.” he pointed out as he rested his hand on the pommel of his firelink weapon. Swampfire quickly saw that the rising smoke was far closer than he had thought, but he wasn’t complaining. He knew that machine would be an eyesore, especially if it was broken and ripe for salvaging. Swampfire immediately ran towards the dying pillar of smoke as it got more and more unseeable, hoping to find something that looked like a soul… hell, Leon didn’t even think to ask Noel what the damn hell a soul even looked like, and kinda grimaced as he kept running in the direction of the fallen mechanical giant. Meanwhile Noel walked after Leon until they arrived at the mechanic heap that was almost indescribable in its current condition. A Lot of the parts were missing, damaged, or fried. The only things that were intact were parts that could not be removed by magic or physical strength, especially the core that was still in its chest.
“Ah, there it is.” Noel said as he reached down to grasp the core, before suddenly yanking it out as if it was made of tin. The core began to glow as it seemed to activate in the palm of Noel’s hand, glowing a deep red color as something clicked and whirred.
‘AAAAAHH- Huh? Reassessing situation. Termination: confirmed… logical fallacy has been detected. How am I still alive?! I was split in half up the middle!’ a digital voice rang out.
“Your soul is restless, therefore it still clings to your vessel due to some unfulfilled purpose.” Noel said as he started to head back to the campfire, earning a confused look from Leon as only Noel is reasoning the robot’s soul.
‘What the hell do you think you’re talking about?! Machines can’t have souls… unless… Bah!! No! I refuse to work with some lowlife hairless apes!!’ The soul exclaimed in anger. Leon groaned and rolled his eyes as he walked alongside Noel, looking at the core.
“You won’t have much of a choice in the matter, you’ll be serving a new master once I transpose your soul into a physical form.” Noel explained as they arrived at the bonfire. Leon noticed Big Mac and the CMC weren’t back yet, so that meant this could go uninterrupted and really smooth. Swampfire stepped forward and grabbed the core, grinning a bit as he could feel some semblance of a glare coming from the core itself as it seemed to heat up in Swampfire’s plant hand.
‘To human hell with you, you worthless, extinct, hairless ape. If I wasn't split in half, or reduced to being stuck in my power core, I'd vaporize you and make sure there truly was nothing left of your waste of space species.' The core spouted aggressively.
Noel placed his firelink sword into the center of the bonfire, soon converting it from a normal bonfire to a bonfire filled with the first flame. “You'll be at that goal for a very long time.” Noel said, dropping hints while the robot’s soul has time. Swampfire carefully maneuvered the core over the flame, and the core seemed to have a clear view of Noel.
'Good lord, another human?! How many of you pitiful homosapiens survived the purging of your kind?! It may not matter anyways, you'll be dead when the Conqueror comes down himself to finish what he started… Wait a moment… it would seem this other filthy human has the abilities of an Ectonurite... but it doesn't seem to register as any Ectonurite in the conqueror's vast database... No matter, The conqueror has slayed many of your kind, both ectonurites and homosapiens! You won't survive!' The core prattled on as it laughed crazily. Swampfire looked at Noel for a moment,
“Do I drop him in the fire, or do I break him first?” Swampfire asked, gritting his teeth out of annoyance.
“Here’s the funny thing, robot.” Noel said as he raised the robot’s core up while removing his dragon helmet from his head. “I’m already dead.” Noel said with a grin as his eyes appeared to glow for just a moment. The core did not seem to react, but it definitely was starting to shake and rattle.
“Should it be shaking like that? I’m a bit concerned that it’s shaking and rattling.” Swampfire stated, ready to ignite fire into his hands in case something happened. Soon enough, the core stopped shaking, but it was anything but settling or calm.
‘You foul creatures!! I demand to know what treacherous game it is you think you’re playing!! I will not bend to such lower lifeforms!! NEVER!!!!’ The core erupted intensely, it’s digital voice echoing throughout the sky.
“Your mind says no, but your soul will say yes.” Noel said as he held one hand over the bonfire and other over the core. “Let this soul, withdrawn from their vessel, Manifestations of disparity.” Noel said both the bonfire and the robot’s soul took on a gentle orange glow. “Elucidated by fire, burrow deep within me.” Noel continued the chant as the soul was yanked out of the orb, allowing Leon to see the robot’s soul. It was red and blaze, and a rather eerie color at that; full of hatred toward human kind. “Retreating to a darkness beyond the reach of flame, let it assume a new master.” Noel said as the robot’s soul started to feel weak, faint as some sort of force was compelling against its nature. “Inhabiting ash, casting themselves upon new forms!” Noel yelled, and with those words spoken, the soul started to reform itself as it ranted and berated how it will never serve a human, however overtime, its words were soon pure silence. With a brief flash of fire, the soul became a pair of armored boots in the same style of the ones the robots had. Leon marvelled at the boots as he grabbed them, examining the wears as he admired the craftsmanship. Leon quickly attempted to put the boots on, only to realize Swampfire’s feet weren’t going to fit. Thankfully, the Omnitrix began to time out, activating the power saving mode, building up a small charge of power for another transformation as Leon was returned to his human form.
Leon slipped off his worn out sneakers and slipped the armored boots on, feeling the cold metal on his feet was like something incredibly satisfying, after all the walking, working and the running and panicking he did days ago. “Wow… these are awesome!!” Leon exclaimed happily.
“The soul of the robot is now in the form of boots. They’ll always obey the wearer when you need to jump higher.” Noel explained as the bonfire slowly faded to its original light. Leon walked a little bit away from the site, and prepared himself to jump. Leon was astounded to find that he suddenly found himself high up in the air, basking in the sunset as he started to come back down to the ground, yelling in excitement, and slight terror that he might break his legs when he finally landed.
“This is the greatest use of a soul ever!! WHOOO!!!!!!!” Leon exclaimed, laughing as the wind rushed through his hair and covered his face.
“Leon, I think they heard you.” Noel said, pointing out that the other four ponies were nearby. Leon’s excitement slowly shifted to panic as he saw them coming back. “Aw crapbaskets… This can’t end well, can it?” Leon asked, turning towards Noel.
“Ya think?” Noel asked with a laugh. “They’ll ask about your shout, what you’re talking about, where’d you get the boots, and possibly ask about me if they return-.. Actually, they’re probably galloping here now.” Noel said as he tapped his chin in thought. Leon groaned and immediately slipped off the boots and quickly got his worn out sneakers back on as he knew he couldn’t hide the boots anywhere.
“I really hope this doesn’t raise questions. I’m gonna have to rely on every human being’s natural mechanism to evade the truth… lying.” Leon simply stated, seeing the CMC and Big Mac finally show back up at the campsite.
“One does not simply lie to an Apple.” Noel said with a nod. “...Well, if they’re like the ones back home.” he whispered to Leon before looking over at the four ponies. Big Mac immediately got in front of the fillies, trying to be wary of Noel, while the fillies just looked at Noel with the biggest grins on their faces.
“Girls, are you thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’?” Sweetie Belle asked. Applebloom and Scootaloo both nodded as they looked at Noel once more.
“Cutie Mark Spirit Capture!!” The three fillies exclaimed, running towards Noel and then jumping towards him, attempting to tackle him. They succeed in doing so, finding his form physical as if he wasn’t a ghost.
“Right.” Noel said in amusement followed by a chuckle as he reached over to ruffle up Scootaloo’s hair. Big Mac carefully moved over towards Noel, and lightly poked his gut with his hoof, feeling it not go through, but just feeling it like something was really there, freaking the stallion out a bit before directing his attention to Leon.
“Okay, six seconds to explain what the hay is goin’ on right now.” Big Mac stated, a bit unnerved by Noel himself, but trying to be stern. Leon took a deep breath and tried to think of a believable lie that couldn’t be questioned.
“I came from a human kingdom long forgotten by history.” Noel said, outright lying and surprising Leon. The fillies seemed to be buying into the lie, while Big Mac was kinda skeptical, but it’s not like he hasn’t seen or kinda fought anything as strange, if not stranger than this. “Uh y-yeah! I was learning about the humans in this world, a-and it would turn out this guy was one of the few former royals of said human kingdom! He offered me a chance to learn to protect myself without my powers, and I got pretty good at it… kinda.” Leon added, smiling.
“A little rough around the edges, but every squire must start somewhere.” Noel said with a nod. Big Mac sighed and was willing to accept this for now as Leon started to relax, grabbing the boots. “He was kind enough to give me these boots that grant me the power to leap at great heights, plus, they are very comfortable.” Leon stated, presenting the boots to the ponies.
“Speaking of gifting.” Noel said as he raised his hand, causing an old slightly burnt tome to appear in his right hand, then presented it to Leon. “Turn to page thirty two.” he said with a smile. Leon cautiously turned the pages, on page thirty as asked, was a detailed explanation of the spell Firestorm on using one’s chaotic flame empowered in their fists to slam it into the ground, pushing the flames into the ground until they erupt.
“Firestorm is a powerful spell, I believe the third strongest of the pyromancy school of magic, just promise me one thing.” Noel said as he leaned close. “Unless your Twilight Sparkle has shown restraint over herself, don’t let her know about this. The magic from cinders is not as simple to use like unicorn magic.” he whispered to Leon. Leon immediately nodded in agreement with a look of worry and concern on his face. Noel looked toward the sky, noticing the sun was starting to lower, soon coating the land in Luna’s night.
With nighttime being here and the bonfire remaining lit almost with some fuel from the gathered wood that Big Mac and the cutie mark crusaders got, Big Mac and Leon decided to make sure the tent was set up, pitching a big poofy purple and bright lavender tent, making sure it was set up right next to the huge square hole carved into the side of the mountain. As the moon shined and the stars shimmered in the night sky, it was now the perfect time to have a little fun. Scootaloo was the first to speak up. “How about some campfire ghost stories?” Scootaloo suggested, earning excited murmuring from the other two fillies. However, none of the crusaders couldn’t decide on who should go first. Meanwhile Noel was sitting cross-legged nearby; his body easily seen glowing white despite the darkness. Leon was blanking on ideas for a good ghost story he could’ve told, but he decided to let Big Mac have the chance to tell something spine chilling.
“Alright, I hope ya’ll are ready for a story… cause this one’s gonna make sure you don’t sleep for months! The story is called ‘The Bewitching Hour’. Best hold onto a buddy now, cause this one’s not the type of story you listen to on your own.” Big Mac stated, making his best scary face as the fillies tried to shrug off the fear.
“It all started a long time ago, roughly around when the pony tribes first came together…” Big Mac started, earning the attention of the fillies.
“There was a mare named Petals Pusher. She just loved to use her magic to make beautiful flowers. She knew how to make others happy by giving them a specific type of flower. She was the talk of the town, until she ran into a mysterious stallion who was new to town. Hoping to brighten his day, she brought him flowers of various kinds, only for him to refuse the flowers whenever she offered. She was distraught, and really wanted to brighten his day, no matter the cost…” Big Mac paused, lulling the CMC into the story.
“So she delved deep into the dark side of transmutation magic to combine different types of flowers into something that would make the stallion finally smile. By the time she had come up with some sort of super flower, the stallion was gone, but that didn’t deter Petals. She scoured several nearby towns for any sign of the mysterious stallion, and each time she tried, she failed. She found her way back to her cottage, only to find that the stallion was there. Petals was about to present the flower, until she saw the stallion for who he really was…” Big Mac paused, watching the fillies perk up curiously.
“The stallion was no stallion at all… they were in fact… A CHANGELING!!” Big Mac exclaimed loudly, causing the fillies to scream at high pitches. Leon wasn’t really finding the whole story scary, just the fact that it didn’t seem to phase him all that much after binging most old school horror flicks that got gorey with no reason.
“What happens next?” Noel asked curiously.
“The Changeling explains that they have been drainin’ that woman’s love every time she had offered flowers, until he was fed up with it. He was destined to be the changeling Queen’s next royal confidant, but in order to prove himself, he’d have to bring back the head of the mare that showed ‘im such a large amount of affection… and so they shall.” Big Mac continued.
“Well, that took a dark turn.” Noel said with a nod.
“The changeling lunged towards the woman, but before he could, a vine had suddenly sprouted from the mare’s neck, slammin’ the changeling into the door of the mare’s home. The changeling could see sev’ral newspaper clippings about a mare made of plants, leaving flowers in place of victims. The mare he’s been draining of love and affection was that very mare. She used her vines to strangle the changeling, and soon used him as composting material, in hopes of adding a changeling’s special essence to her flowers… in hopes of claiming more than just ponies with her beautiful bouquets of flowers. Legend says that the Mare of Nature lurks in these woods, but will only come out if someone dares to disrespect her land. The End.” Big Mac ended, barely able to keep a straight face as the CMC ran and hid behind Leon, who still didn’t feel amused or even scared by the story.
“There’s a small contradiction.. Don’t changelings get stronger the more love they take?” Noel asked curiously. Big Mac laughed a bit and looked at Noel funny before Leon pulled Noel in for a whisper.
“Bud, I don’t think the changelings work the same way like they do in canon here. I don’t know per se how they work here, but if it’s any constellation, I think it sounds kinda cool. It also sounds kinda lame, but still cool.” Leon whispered into the white phantom’s ear.
“Remember when I mentioned the multiverse? That’s a thing outside of your world. I honestly thought changeling in yours would function the same.” Noel whispered back. Leon nodded like he kind of understood, but he wasn’t gonna understand much if he didn’t write it down.
“So, uh… phantom thing… got a name we can call you, in case you pop up again in the future?” Big Mac asked.
“Noel.” he answered simply.
“Well, Mr. Noel, if ya’d like to stick around, we’d be more pleased than persimmons to have you. We haven’ seen humans in a long time, so with you and Leon ‘ere, I got a good feelin’ that this’ll be the start of somethin’ new.” Big Mac paused as a yawn escaped his muzzle. “But fer now, it’s gettin’ late. Better to hit the hay now than to get hit by the hay in the mornin’.” Big Mac stated, walking over to the side of the smoothest part of the mountain wall, then collapsed, slowly lulling to sleep.
“You little ones should do the same. You don’t want to be asleep during the trip back,” Noel pointed out to the three fillies, watching them walk towards the tent as he made his way over to Leon. “Here,” he said as he handed what looked like a grey coal colored stone wrapped in white cloth. “If there is nothing else I need to do, you’ll need to use it to banish my white phantom back to my world,” he explained to Leon. Leon was about to use the wrapped stone, until he remembered something that clicked in his head.
“Noel, before I do, you seemed to have questions to ask me after our little game of ‘avoid the fire before anything is turned to ash’. Is there anything you want to ask me before I send you back?” Leon asked curiously.
“Only one. What is a brony?” Noel asked. Leon took a deep breath, trying not to laugh as he exhaled.
“A Brony is derived from the combination between Bro and Pony. Bronies are basically the younger or older male demographic for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, an animated show about the pastel colored horses and other magical creatures around us in the world I summoned you to. Minus the robots. Another word for brony is Pegasister, which ties to the female fan demographic that the show originally catered to until the show got popularized by the brony demographic. Did My Little Pony not exist in your world, or did you forget what a brony was?” Leon explained.
“Yes but that word never existed back on Earth until now.” Noel said with a shrug of his glowing arms. Leon looked at Noel with a strange expression.
“You’re kidding. Bronies and Pegasisters have been a thing back on Earth for nearly 9-10 years, and that’s how long MLP G4 has been airing. 9 seasons, a theatre movie, a strange but unique humanized highschool spin-off, and not even to mention the number of conventions that have spawned from this fandom. How have you never heard of the word Brony or Pegasister before?” Leon asked.
“...Admitingly none of those happened and the fact the show was on its third season, so either multiverse is a-” Noel paused to lower his bitch as he doesn’t want the little fillies to hear him. “Bitch.” he said before raising his voice back up. “Or time has moved fast after me and my friend got killed by the truck that was in the wrong lane.” he said.
“First off, Yikes, you and your friend got isekai’d all the way… that had to hurt like heck… also, second, I get that reference regarding the multiverse. TFS has yet to fail me with being funny, but man do I wish I understood more about Multiverse Theory. I don’t know the basics of it, I just know what it is, or what it’s supposed to be. Plus, if time does move faster, then you guys missed a lot in the last 6 seasons. I’d give you a recap, but I don’t like spoiling others.” Leon remarked.
“Well, look at it this way. The multiverse is like the paradoxal chaotic void between universes, it is impossible and possible.” Noel said with a slow nod as if he was a sage. Leon sighed as he smiled.
“Well, let’s look at this in two ways. One, with all of the ‘Displaced’ that are scattered across the multiverse, some of them have been changed into villains, but not all of them want to just conquer or destroy or go on a forsaken killing spree. They just want to see and do some good… but on the other way to look at things, those in the bodies of heroes, who want to either watch the world burn, or make it burn on their own merits… it kinda worries me that I might run into something like that… You get what I mean, Noel?” Leon asked.
“Eh, just keep an open mind and be careful what tokens you find, or if a Displacer decides to be an ass and throws an unfortunate person into your world.” Noel said with a warning.
“Now I have to worry if I face some kind of super mutant monster or the likes of Perfect Cell… or worse… The Grim Reaper himself.” Leon stated quietly.
“Like I said, be careful of who you summon.” Noel said as he patted on Leon’s shoulder. “The only ones you have to worry about are those who are strong enough to travel the void freely.. Hmm, if you meet Celestia, be sure to ask her to prepare defenses in case one does come here without a token.” he suggested. Leon grimaced at that thought, but nodded in understanding.
“Ok, I’ll be sure to… but can I ask you one more question? I promise it won’t be something stupid.” Leon asked.
“Go on.” Noel said as he gestured with his hand to continue. Leon looked back at the tent and shifted his glance to Big Mac, who seemed to be asleep. Leon looked at Noel and shuddered a bit.
“What happens to our old worlds when we get displaced? Does everything and everyone there just die, or… just wiped out like it never existed?” Leon asked, breathing a bit shakily as he tried to maintain eye contact with Noel.
“...I really don’t know what happens to our old world, I suppose it’d keep going until something happens to it.” Noel said with a slow shrug. Leon thought back to what happened before he ended up in the land of ponies… a raging thunderstorm with purple lightning. Leon felt a chill go up his spine, but his worries were replaced by a yawn escaping through him. “Then I guess it’s time you headed home… thank you, Noel, for everything. I hope one day, we get to meet in person. Now how do I use this thing..” Leon said.
“Either focus onto the energy within, or kneel down and raise it up to the air.” Noel explained. Leon got down on one knee and slowly raised the stone up to the air, hoping that this would be enough. A swirl of purple energy erupted from the Black Separation Crystal, causing Noel to slowly fade.
“Remember to seek out my white or red sign if you ever need me.” Noel said before fading completely. All was silent for Leon other than nature’s soothing music of crickets chirping and night birds talking.
...
As the ponies and the human rest in the night, a group of aggressive and armed ponies watch from a distance before walking back to the mines nearby. At the crack of dawn, they would strike.
Author's Note
Big and massive thanks to DisplacedWriter for allowing me to cross-over with him and allowing me to have my first cross-over, introducing me to the Displaced Multiverse. Go check him out, and check out his story, Dark Fantasy. It's some of the greatest writing I've ever seen, the story is very good, you should check it out.
Leon, after crossing over with Noel from Dark Fantasy, has learned the following:
Next chapter, let's say it'll be one for the books.
A certain type of Caliber to break through
Leon slowly woke up, feeling a bit refreshed from the goodnight's sleep he just got. He looked around his surroundings and for some reason, everything seemed to be upside down. Leon tried to move, but soon found out that he was tied up, and hung upside down in some sort of well lit cave, filled with old mining equipment and a bunch of tough looking stallions and mares, smiling as they looked evilly at the human.
"Huh, didn't know this would be happening. So, I'm gonna go off on a limb here and just assume that you weirdos tied me up here, right?" Leon asked. The ponies nodded, laughing sinisterly as they did so. Leon frowned as he tried to reach the Omnitrix, but due to how tight the ropes were, he didn't have much of a chance anyway.
"Okay, so what's your deal? Do you psycho ponies just take random folks in the night or what? Like seriously, you tied me up, hung me like a piñata, and you're staring at me like I'm buck ass naked. Can I talk to the semi-sane pony or creature in charge so I can resolve this?!" Leon said aloud. The laughter stopped as one kept laughing. From the shadows of the caves, a lightly faded brown stallion trots forth with shaggy and messy black hair and a messier tail with some kind of 5 o'clock shadow being clear as day on his face as he laughed and smirked evilly. Dressed in a light beige dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and a red ascot with white polka dots on it, with a golden animal skull with a red ruby eye as a cutie mark.
"You rang, ancestor of man?" The stallion asked, smirking. Leon's right eye began to twitch as he got a good look at the stallion in the light.
"Doctor Caballeron... wasn't expecting to deal with you so soon... Wait you're with these schlubs? These guys couldn't even try to fight Swampfire and ran with their tails between their legs. Yeesh, you're starting off with below basic henchmen. That's sad, like really sad. I almost feel bad or some form of sympathy for you if I didn't know you are a villain." Leon spouted irritably. Caballeron motioned for the henchmen to let the human down, but keep him tied up. As Leon's body was lowered to the ground, Callaberon stood right on top of him.
"Even humans know of my expertise. I'd let you go just for that, but with your abilities, I just can't allow it. When my men came to me saying that they found the man behind the flaming plant monster, and not the stallion, I knew I had to capitalize on this. So here's what's going to happen, human. You are going to help me with something important, no questions asked. If you comply every step of the way, you'll be happy to know those ponies you traveled here with will be unharmed and set free. If you don't comply, well..." Caballeron pressed a button on one of the cave's walls, revealing a TV screen showing Big Mac and the CMC in a cage, dangling over a tank of ferocious sharks and electric eels.
"Oooookay, below basic henchmen, but you're far more criminal than I thought! Fine, I'll help you, but you better keep your word, because after all of this is said and done and you double cross me, if we cross paths again, I won't hesitate to throttle you for such an insane, monstrous and villainous form of ransom." Leon stated angrily. Caballeron was not intimidated by Leon's attempt at being tough, and motioned the henchmen to untie him, all the while unicorns would ready magical blasts in case he tried to escape or back out. Caballeron pulled out a silver necklace with a diamond shaped locket with a white gemstone embedded into it, and placed said locket into a diamond-shaped hole, opening up a stairwell that lead down.
Caballeron looked back at the angered and reluctant human with confidence and bravado as he motioned for them to start following. Leon slowly descended the stairway as he tried to reach for the Omnitrix, in an attempt to turn into anything and save his pony companions before things escalate. "This is going to be a long day..." Leon groaned as he followed Caballeron.
...
Big Mac looks down past the cage, seeing the sharks below. "Someway, somehow, this feels really par fer tha course. There's gotta be a way to git on outta 'ere." Big Mac said, looking around for something that could be of use. Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom huddled together to try and think of a plan of their own.
"Ok, so while ma brother tries to think of something, any of you girls got any ideas?" Applebloom asked the other two fillies.
"What about if I teleport us all out of the cage? That way we can go find Mister Leon and get out of here in two shakes of a lamb's tail." Sweetie Belle suggested.
"That could work, but how much practice have you had at teleporting ponies? If this goes wrong, we could either get stuck in a wall or end up in the shark tank." Scootaloo said worrisomely.
"Do you have any ideas, then, Scootaloo?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Yeah, and it's pretty simple. If I can use my wings to just barely flutter over the shark tank, and land on the ground, I can escape and I can try to find help. Easy peasy." Scootaloo suggested. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom looked at her bemusedly.
"Scoots, do you really trust in that idea? They'd know somepony is missing, especially if its a filly, and what if it doesn't even work? We don't know where we are, how deep we are in the ground, or who even put us up here. We just gotta hope that Mister Leon will find us, I'm sure he'll know what to do." Sweetie Belle said disappointingly. Big Mac turned to look back at the fillies, and sighed, having exhausted all of his options.
...
As several henchmen, Dr. Caballeron and Leon walked through a dimly lit hall, the torch's light illuminating runes of some sort as they ventured on. Leon looked around as he pieced together what might be ancient pictures on the walls, telling a story he didn't have much time to read or understand as the henchponies nudged him along. They all soon came to a halt when faced with a huge stone wall.
"The first of many obstacles. This door requires three ancient jewels to be unlocked. I would've had those jewels on me if you didn't make the fool hardy decision to interfere with our affairs. So now, here's where you start your part of the agreement. You will get us through here. Change into something that can solve this issue." Caballeron demanded calmly.
As the henchponies undid Leon's restraints, he started to twist the dial on the Omnitrix, knowing that Iron Wolf would be good in a situation like this. Leon found Iron Wolf's icon and popped the core up, making sure there was enough room for his alien form to fit. Leon was about to press it down until Caballeron started to get impatient.
"Hurry up, you fool!" Caballeron exclaimed, causing Leon to accidentally switch off of Iron Wolf's icon, as he transformed into something else in a bright flash of cyan light. In place of Leon was not Iron Wolf, but a new alien. The new form itself was bipedal, but was also very elephant-like with huge mammoth tusks, big ears and a swaying trunk. It wore a gray chest guard with a black body suit with cyan wristguards. Its eyes were shining a cyan color as the torch's flame illuminated the elephant-like creature's tough and dark brown skin. Atop of its head was a black cap with a white band holding it in place. In the middle of the white band was the Omnitrix's emblem.
"HEEEAAAA- Huh? What the?! This isn't Iron Wolf, what the hell!!" The alien creature exclaimed in confusion. "This is a really bad time for this thing to suddenly start giving me the wrong alien. Jeez, I barely even fit in this small hallway!" The creature added, trying to squirm towards the sealed door. Caballeron was barely able to make sure he didn't get crushed beneath the elephant-like creature's foot as it squirmed past. The creature immediately tried to brute force its way through the door, which made some real significant progress with shattering the stone obstacle into a bunch of huge rubbly chunks. Caballeron was more so impressed by the raw physical strength this monster had, and wondered to himself if he could acquire something like that for his own evil endeavors.
"Very impressive, but we're not done yet. You impress me, human, that's no easy feat. Come, we must still dive into the unknown. That treasure is as good as mine." Caballeron stated, walking forward, torch in hoof. The alien and the henchponies followed suite, not like one of them had much of a choice. Leon then figured this could be the time to at least try to learn something about this Caballeron, as he seemed to be more like an actual villain with the whole 'comply or your friends bite the dust' tactic.
"So.. Caballeron, was it? Listen, I just wanna ask a couple questions." the alien said. Caballeron turned his head back to look at the alien following him.
"Go on." Caballeron stated, awaiting the questions.
"Well, do you know of a pony named Daring Do?" The alien asked. Caballeron seemed to sneer at that question, but composed himself.
"Of course I have, she's been the bane of my career for a long time, but if there's one thing I know she can't find, it's treasures left behind by early man. Treasures you will help me collect before she makes her move." Caballeron stated.
"Not like you've given me much of a choice in the matter. You never did seem like this type of villain, though. Honestly, for you, that's actually kind of a breath of fresh air, you remind me of Dr. Evil or Dr. Eggman with your more serious, but still kinda funny villainous approach." The alien remarked. Dr. Caballeron looked at the towering creature with confusion and shrugged it off, not even willing to try and dignify that with a response. As they reached the next chamber, there was a sudden breeze of sweltering hot air.
"We're on the right track. Huge mammal! Block the air and guide us through." Dr. Caballeron commanded. The alien groaned and trudged on through the hot air, not minding it much as apparently this alien's skin is not just tough, but very used to the humid air blowing in its face and against its body. Caballeron and the henchponies followed close behind as the alien pushed on, but as it kept going, the breeze soon got stronger, and hotter, causing the alien to slow down as it continued to try and press on.
By the time the alien reached the end, there was a huge natural vent pouring hot and strong air out by the second, until the alien finally managed to make it stop by blocking the vent with its huge body. Soon enough, the hot air soon seized its assault, and quit altogether, allowing the alien and the ponies to venture deep into the vent without repeated obstruction or suffering from a stroke due to the insufferable heat.
The huge alien sat down as the Omnitrix flashed red, and soon transformed Leon back into his human state, where he wipes a shower's worth of sweat from his face. "That... sucked... so bad!!! I haven't sweat that much since my last date!! Are we any closer to this stupid treasure or what, you evil showpony?" Leon remarked irritably to Caballeron. The stallion looked a bit beat from the heat, but he still trudged onwards. The henchponies were exhausted and collapsing as they slowly followed behind. Leon slowly got up and took off his jacket, tying it around his waist as he let his torn up black shirt sway as he ran to catch up.
...
Back with Big Mac and the CMC, they continue to argue over what ideas could work, and what other options still remain that have yet to be debated.
"I'm telling you, I can teleport one pony, not necessarily myself, to the ground. They'll be a bit woozy, but everything will be fine as long as I focus on where they'll be teleported. It's not exactly Steampunk Mechanics, you know?" Sweetie Belle stated.
"And Ahm sayin' you'd be putting another filly at risk, cause what happens if they end up in the shark tank below us, or what if they get their heads stuck in a wall? It could be dangerous to try that spell if you don't teleport them somewhere safe." Big Mac stated. "It wouldn' be worth the risk if somepony gets put in danger, there's gotta be somethin' 'ere that can help us." Big Mac added, looking around. Sweetie Belle looks to the ground, and sees that there's a lever between a crate and an Orthros on a leash.
"Hey, that lever could get us down. I know it's a big risk to assume it'll be for the cage, but it's gotta do something. I can teleport Big Mac down there and he can get us out." Sweetie Belle said as she smiled. Her unicorn horn began to glow as Big Mac tried to stop her, until he suddenly found himself down on the ground, safe and unharmed. Sweetie Belle took a deep breath and fell back onto the floor of the cage, feeling incredibly winded as she tried to take it easy.
"Hey, you fillies okay up there?!" Big Mac exclaimed, walking towards the lever.
"We're ahlright, but Sweetie's a bit worn out from the spell. Throw the lever, get us outta 'ere!" Applebloom exclaimed back. Big Mac hesitantly pulled the lever, seeing the cage move away from the shark tank, and lower down to the ground as it opened up, freeing the little fillies. Scootaloo carried Sweetie Belle on her back while Applebloom followed Big Mac, who was running in one direction.
...
As Dr. Caballeron trotted through the vent, with Leon following behind in place of the henchponies who collapsed from exhaustion, looking at how the vent seems to still be eroding from the long forgotten years. "Woah... Never saw anything like this before. I remember there being old memorial grounds for fallen warriors, but nothing majorly intricate like this." Leon commented, bewildered by the intricacy of the huge vent.
"The memorials are sacred, but they always made sure that in case of any treasure hunters like yours truly, they set up traps to keep them out or at bay. With any luck, we got rid of the more difficult traps first. Now, how's about you educate me for a moment or so, human. How is it that your kind thrives, even in such a miniscule number, you're still alive?" Caballeron asked with a sneer.
"Ok, first off, that sounds just a wee bit racist... or is it speciesist? Either way, that's offensive saying 'your kind', you wouldn't like it if I called you a hoof dragging no good excuse for a stallion looking troglodyte, now would you?" Leon remarked. Caballeron whipped around, his face contorting with anger. Leon glared down at Caballeron, staring down at his short stature as he scoffed. Caballeron grunted, lunging at Leon, who managed to roll out of the way and catch himself as he quickly started to see if he could transform again, only for the Omnitrix to emit a red flash of light, showing that it was still recharging.
"I really should've hoped for a manual for this thing." Leon stated irritably as he jumped over Caballeron, causing him to faceplant onto the ground. The stallion got up and reached into one of his shirt pockets, pulling out a small knife as he groaned and charged forward. Leon tried to dodge the blade the best he could, only for the blade to barely graze his cheek, leaving a minor cut as Leon reflexively kicked Caballeron in his muzzle, a cracking sound could be heard as Caballeron howls in anger and pain. The blade drops to the floor as Caballeron charges forth towards the human, knocking Leon and himself down an unnoticed hole, causing both of them to yell as they plummeted down into the dark depths.
...
Big Mac and the CMC are running through the strange location, constantly encountering and narrowly evading a bunch of Caballeron's henchponies who were tasked to stay behind and guard the prisoners. As they constantly looked around, they noticed a huge door in the midst of one of the hallways. It required a code, but that wasn't Big Mac's forte, as he bucked away at the door, trying to break it open as more of the henchponies came their way.
"Sweetie, please tell me you can do something to stop them!" Scootaloo exclaimed worriedly. Sweetie Belle mustered all of her magic into her horn, and managed to blast the ponies back with a magical wave of energy. Big Mac managed to bust down the door as the fillies followed suite. They were in surprise when they saw that the room they just entered, was actually a well lit cave where two exhausted henchponies came onto the scene and sat on a couple stones and relaxed. They had little to no time to do anything about the escaped prisoners, who just gestured to the open stairway, leading down to where Leon and Caballeron went.
...
There was a loud crashing sound, sounding like a huge amount of weight was brought down on a bunch of fragile withered sticks. Leon groaned in pain as he slowly, but surely sat up, his body becoming filled with fear as he looks upon many white and dirtied skulls and bones. A whole lot of these bones belonged to human beings... but a few of these bones, who looked recently picked clean or gnawed off, looked like they could be a pony's femur. Leon felt a bit sickened by the sight and immediately scrambled to his feet, stepping out of the bone pile as he saw a pedestal in the distance. Caballeron was slowly walking towards the pedestal as Leon looked along the walls of the new room, seeing what looks like a huge monster etched onto the wall as many human figures and ponies cower in fear.
"Caballeron, I don't think you wanna touch that treasure! Doesn't seem very worth it." Leon exclaimed, hoping to get through to the stubborn stallion, but Caballeron continued to move forward, treading carefully on an unstable, but still incredibly sound stone walkway. He managed to make it to the end until he finally saw what was on the pedestal. A rusted gold encrusted hatchet with a gem encrusted handle. Caballeron smiled as he grabbed the ancient tool with his mouth, and started to walk back until a rumbling sound was heard throughout the chambers.
"shoulda listened when I said to not touch the treasure, this shit was booby trapped, and not by humans or ponies... it's what they got stuck in here with that posed as a problem." Leon stated irately. Caballeron rolled his eyes and looked back up at the hole, starting to scale the mountainous pile of bones as both can hear a spine chilling roar echo from underneath.
"Ooohh crapbaskets..." Leon muttered as he frantically tried to cycle through his transformations. Caballeron attempts to jump up to the hole he fell through, only to slide down futilely down the pile of bones and skeletal parts. Leon managed to find the form he was about to use, before he became that elephant creature, and pressed down on the core, transforming into a familiar alien.
In Leon's place this time was a tall bipedal feline creature, robust and slim with a cyan ornamental neck piece with the Omnitrix being smack dab in the middle of it. The creature had a long flowing cheetah tail as well as deep orange tufts of fur forming over his hands to look like gloves. The creature's skin or coat of thin fur was a dark and faded green-ish Navy color. The face of the alien was obscured by a black mask with a pair of cyan eyes glowing glowing amidst the tufts of green-ish navy colored fur, with the only other visible body parts being seen were a pair of green-ish navy colored cat ears, similar to that of a puma. The upper body of the alien had a white skin tight suit with black lightning bolt patterns on the front of it, leading down to a Cyan belt that held nothing in place.
"FASTTRACK!!" The alien exclaimed, his voice sounding much deeper than Leon expected it to sound. Fasttrack rushed over to Caballeron and hoisted him over his shoulders as he began to run back towards the pedestal. The alien got into a stance and started to run faster, everything began to blur around the alien as Caballeron saw the world around him distort and blur as Fasttrack ramped himself up the pile of bones back to the tube, where he was running back up the walls, as something was obviously ticked off that it wasn't gonna get another meal, and began to try and follow the alien.
"What are you doing, you fool! Unhand me!!" Caballeron exclaimed, trying to get out of the creature's hold. The monster snaps its jaws as it roars and follows close behind.
"Sure, like I plan to die by the hands of a monster because you got greedy. Grow up and accept that this is happening!" Fasttrack stated, his words being punctuated by a very thick, but understandable accent. It sounded familiar, but he didn't quite know why as he was still running from a huge rampaging monster that was hellbent on devouring them alive.
Fasttrack looked around the blurring environment for something to use against the monster. As the alien kept running, it came to a stop, tossing Caballeron aside as it unsheathed a new set of tipped claws from its fingertips, rushing towards the creature as it attempted to slash at it. Fasttrack slashed at the creature, only to be met with the loud clanging of his claws striking what felt like hollowed out metal. The creature roared as it swatted Fasttrack back, sending the alien flying, though the fast alien sped forward after catching itself, and delivered a flurry of kicks and punches to the creature, only to hear the sudden sound of flesh hitting metal really hard. The creature roared as the alien continued to attack it, but could only hold off on the physical blows as he sped back and grabbed Caballeron, and threw the strange treasure back towards the beast, apparently allowing it to be easily swayed as the alien hero sped up the staircase, only to come to a screeching, dust scattering halt as he looked towards his equestrian allies.
"Nice to see yer' alri- Oh!" Big Mac could barely finish his sentence as the speedster alien rounded the stallion and the three fillies up and bolted out of the mines. Halfway to the campsite, the Omnitrix's emblem begins to flash red, beeping at an alarming rate, signifying that the transformation was just about to end. Fasttrack came to a quick stop, dropped Big Mac and the CMC, while he quickly sped back to the mines, Caballeron in-hand as he tossed him to the side, ontop of one of his henchstallions, ran back down towards the huge creature and then grabbed something, proceeding to run all the way back to the ponies right after, before a flash of red light shined, Leon tripped over himself and tumbled in front of the ponies.
"Oh boy, hey, you okay partner? Yer not too overworked, are ya?" Apple Bloom asked, nudging the human. Leon groaned and picked himself up, trying to shake off the sudden fatigue that hit him.
"Yeah, Yeah I'm fine... oh jesus christ, I feel sore. Oh man, the other guy makes it look so easy." Leon mumbled, rubbing his face as he dusted himself off. Leon and the ponies walked in the direction of the campsite as the fillies asked him questions. He could feel his lungs being overexerted and his legs felt like brittle bones, ready to snap under the slightest touch of pressure.
"So, what was that like? You became a really fast cat, you moved like lightning! You could arguably be just as fast as Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo said excitedly.
"What were you runnin' from back there? You seemed like you were in a rush to get on outta the mines with that fancy footwork." Apple Bloom asked quizzically.
"Are those guys gonna come back?" Sweetie Belle asked, a bit worried. Leon sighed and turned towards the CMC, looking down at the fillies.
"Knowing how ponies like that just keep coming back... It's obvious that they're gonna come back, but with the right preparations, everything'll be fine, you three won't be put in danger, I'll get a grip on my powers, and maybe, just maybe, they won't be a problem anymore when that time comes. Who knows, maybe he'll actually not be a threat by the time I find a way home." Leon explains.
"While that's all good and all, and you got a goal in mind, so that's even better, but what in the hay did you run back there for?" Big Mac asked curiously. Leon smiled, a smile so wide, so joyous, and so smug that it made the human laugh.
"Oh, I left Caballeron and his posse to deal with what I'm gonna call... the Catacombs Dweller." Leon answered, chuckling as he continued to walk to the campsite.
...
Back with Caballeron, who had steadily let his blurry vision restore on its own, took notice of where he was, and what was no longer in his possession. He gritted his teeth, groaning and yelling out in anger. His henchponies winced as their boss yelled, knowing they were in for it.
"I swear to Faust, you fools are so incompetent, your equipment could do a better job WITHOUT YOU!! And I didn't even get that hatchet!! That ancient hatchet, it could've been worth millions!!! CURSE YOU, HUMAN!!!!! Mark my words, fore I, DOCTOR CABALLERON, will have my revenge!!!" The stallion exclaimed loudly. While his screams echoed through the mines, a low growl echoed back, and thus, Caballeron ran out of the mines, some of his henchponies following his lead, while the others...
well, one can obviously guess that the creature did get its next meal after all.
Robotic Engineering and Fungal Necromancy
Deep within the dark, shrouded confines of the Everfree Forest, the Zebra begins to slowly look over strange plants and herbs, all the while the hulking drone continues to look around its environment, taking in the numerous strange forms of plant life and cataloguing their data in files.
"Getting used to the everfree is no easy task, and could you please hand me that empty flask?" The Zebra rhymed. The drone's green lights flickered a bit and he handed the zebra an empty glass flask, where the Zebra then began to collect dirt into the container. The drone analyzed the Zebra, and could only find some of his logical points of programming becoming more and more useless.
"Logical fallacy has been inquired. Why collect a dry, grainy substance with a container made for only liquids and fluids?" The drone inquired in a monotone voice. The Zebra chuckled and showed the flask to it, now containing the soil within it.
"The soil itself doesn't have much worth, but it's what resides in it, that has its perks." The Zebra half-rhymed, amused by the drone's unawareness. Within the dirt inside the flask, were strange little grubs and maggots. One seemed to have an almost reddish color with white and black spots, while the other had a small set of pincers and mandibles, while being colored Black with white and red spots.
"Uncatalogued insectoid/bug species has been registered. Aside from the mandibles and Pincers on the maggot that remind me of the Palhivarnians, this species of maggot does not resemble anything else. The strange grub seems to resemble what you equestrians call, for a lack of better naming options, a 'LadyBug'. More research is necessary to better understand this planet's evolutionary kingdom. Any thoughts, Zecora?" The drone assessed.
"I have no clue what a Palhivarnian is supposed to be, but one should always consider that not everything is as it seems." Zecora stated, smiling as she trotted onwards. "Come along now, we have much to prepare, if you still value a purpose, follow me, if you dare." Zecora rhymed. The drone got up and steadily kept up with the Zebra.
...
Back at Sweet Apple Acres, there's an obvious argument breaking out between Applejack and Rainbow Dash. It didn't seem to be getting closer to a solution, but rather it was getting closer to a brawl.
"Maybe if you actually took responsibility fer yer actions, we wouldn't be in this mess, Rainbow!!" Applejack exclaimed, her green eyes filled with anger as she pressed the pegasus.
"I said I was sorry, what more do ya want from me, bits?! It's not my fault you up and made a bad judgement call!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed back, a scowl forming on her face.
"Bad judgement call!? You're one to talk, little miss 'get me the hay away from Soarin'! If ya didn't like the guy, you shoulda said something, not ask me to give you a push, when I thought you meant push you into him!" Applejack retorted, getting up in the pegasus' face. Rainbow and Applejack groaned and glared at each other as they got ready to go at each other, until a whistling sound, almost like a melody of some kind caught their attention. The two mares looked down the way to town, to see Leon, the CMC and Big Mac walking back, apparently having a good time doing whatever it was they were doing.
The whistling soon stopped as Leon put the camping stuff against the wood fence. "Well, that was fun. Hope you guys enjoyed that camping trip, was pretty fun, all things considered, even with the slight trouble we got into, we still had fun, and I haven't felt that alive in a while, so I feel pretty good." Leon stated, smiling.
"That was so fun! Maybe we can do it again sometime, I'm sure a couple of our friends would like to go camping, especially if it means we can see you use your powers again!" Sweetie Belle said, smiling from ear to ear.
"Oh totally, I definitely wanna see that fast cat guy again, he was like a blue blur! It was sooo cool!!" Scootaloo chimed in.
"Ah think while it would be fun to go camping again, let's try to keep it relatively normal next time. I still think his powers are cool and all, but it can be pretty dangerous and reckless to just abuse them for simple problems with simple solutions. Needless to say, Ah loved every bit of that trip more than ah love attending the county fair!" Applebloom stated.
"Well, I'm gonna go and get back to work, but aside from the trouble that followed us, I'd say that was plenty fun. I'm always down to have some fun if you're up for it, pardner! Just say the word, and I've got you covered." Big Mac stated, walking towards the barn. Apple Bloom followed shortly after, waving at her friends as they ran off to do whatever it is they were gonna do on their own. Leon smiled and looked at the two mares who were still arguing, but still seemed to be aware of the human's presence.
"Ok, so what's going on here with you two?" Leon asked. He knew that in the original show, Rainbow Dash and Applejack have always fought, and that would basically be a constant thing with them, but he didn't know if that truly was the case in this Equestria. Multiverse and such, as Noel told him before. And even so, Applejack and Rainbow Dash fighting was entertaining at first, until it just felt really, really useless, even if they were rivals.
"She said it was my fault that I lost my chance at asking a colt out due to mixed signals, and I said it was her fault for assuming it was her job to make that call for me!" Rainbow argued.
"And ahm sayin' that it was yer fault, givin' me complicated signals about what to do because you never went on a date before! Hay, I went on a date before, and-" Applejack argued back until Rainbow Dash interrupted.
"a 'date' she says, being a third wheel on your cousin's date isn't a date for you, AJ!" Rainbow retorted. The earth pony and the pegasus reared up and got ready to fight, until a flash of cyan light blinded them both, and a huge diamond pillar formed in-between them before they could run into each other. Diamondhead looked at the mares bemusedly and in a flash of red light, Leon was back in his human form, saving most of the Omnitrix's power for another fight, but figured he'd use it to at least break up the fight between the two mares.
"Can you both just act like rational adults and not fight like you're arguing like a couple of foals on the schoolyard? Jesus, Applejack, you're a grown mare, your grandma, your brother and your little sister are more mature than you two combined. Really, look at yourself, you're supposed to be resting, not getting into half-baked arguments and brawls with your friends," Leon stated, turning towards the rainbow maned pegasus. "As for you, Rainbow Dash, you're a role model for that orange filly, maybe don't have her think it's a good idea to fight her friends, that's how you lose them. Like, come on, can you two not act like a couple of entitled ponies who think their opinions matter more than what the bigger picture provides?" Leon argued.
The mares looked at each other, and put their hooves to their own faces. "Maybe he's right, we were about to start fighting, and I didn't even consider that I might worsen your injury... I guess I've been a bit-" Rainbow Dash said, until Applejack cut her off this time.
"Pushy? Trust me, Dash, I think I've been pushy as well, mainly on myself, just trying to work off the obvious puncture wound by doin' what I do best, but I barely have to do anything as of now, the apples are all harvested thanks to this lanky human feller, though I'd like to ask you don't use that big sparking feller anymore, still cutting scorch burns in the grass out of the orchard." Applejack said, veering off the topic at hand for the moment. "But nonetheless, Dash, ahm real sorry I ruined things, I wasn't tryin' to ruin them intentionally, I just thought you needed the push, specifically in his direction. Besides, how was I supposed to know Soarin' didn't like mares anyway?" Applejack said, chuckling a bit. Rainbow laughed a bit as well as they bumped their hooves together.
'Soarin doesn't like mares? huh, that's a sudden development.' Leon thought to himself. Leon snapped himself out of his train of thought and remembered the bag of equipment laying against the fence. "Well, I'm at least glad this didn't suddenly spark into a whole uh... what's the word I'm looking for... uh... Oh! Adventure, that's what I was thinking. You two made up, that's always good, and now, I'm going to go find Twilight, to give her this camping equipment back. You two enjoy your day!" Leon said, hoisting the bag over his shoulder and walking back towards town. What he didn't notice was that the world suddenly began to get slower.
...
As Leon made his trek, he felt as if the crisp spring breeze that was blowing seemed to suddenly come to an alarming halt. Leon looked around at the environment, and saw what looked like a couple ladybugs, frozen in the air, but not actually frozen in ice... frozen in time was more like it.
"Ooooh that's not good, either ladybugs can just do this in Equestria, or it's some sort of time related thing... I think I need to leave, or at least hurry up and find Twilight." Leon said, worried. It wasn't until a bright blue and white flash of light shined upon him from behind, and Leon turned around to see a huge portal. a Blue and white swirling hole with yellow star-like dots floating amidst it.
From the portal itself, came a stallion. A Stallion with a short slicked back mane and a tan colored coat with goggles and a lab coat, as well as a dead tree with visible roots, a stopwatch hanging from one of the tree limbs and a green portal behind it as his cutie mark. The stallion reached into his pocket and grabbed two small colored orbs, one red, one blue. He popped the red gumball into his mouth and gleefully chewed as he eyed the human.
"Ahh, Mr. Derrickson, I see you're well. Gumball?" The stallion offered, speaking in a semi-natural accent of sorts. Leon could tell just by context clues and visible similarities of this stallion, it almost seemed like this stallion was...
"Professor Paradox?" Leon asked out loud. The stallion chuckled and blew a bubble as it popped.
"Quite perceptive, I guess some details of my original form can always be familiar, no matter how many times this world forces me into an equestrian body. Yet, it still allows me to traverse the dimensions and universes, and timelines as I always could. Yes, you'd be right to say I'm Professor Paradox, but to a rare few ponies of this world, I am simply known as Time Trotter, not to be confused with the Whovian counterpart of this world, Doctor Time Turner." Time Trotter explained.
"I assume you're here to take me home?" Leon said, smiling as he felt a sliver of hope. The stallion frowned and looked almost melancholic, which took that sliver of hope Leon had, and squished it like a bug.
"Unfortunately, even with how I can traverse almost any plane of existence in time, space, or reality, I've never once been able to breach my way to your former world... so to assume I could take you home, while it is flattering you don't underestimate my power and abilities, you seem to overestimate them... the real world is not something that can be reached without external means... I believe the warrior of another Equestria, Noel, explained this to you? It's the main reason why no other 'Displaced' has been able to return, albeit a rare few have tried, and while some succeeded, some have just come to grips with what they are going through. Though I can tell you something important that will be crucial to your world's development." Time Trotter explained.
Leon took a few minutes to actually process that fact... even with Professor Paradox's aide, he couldn't get home... and he could enter the mind of a Celestialsapien.
"And what would that be... some bullshit about me being this world's last hope, me being this world's destroyer, its alpha, its omega, tell me something that doesn't sound predictable." Leon blurted out. He was angry, he was upset, dejected, and most of all, his only goal, now looked like a fantasy, despite the world and the powerset he had being entirely fictional.
"I'll definitely tell you that this Equestria's history is a bit different... More than you'd think it'd be. Whatever you do, do not mention the Princess of the Moon, and don't break the Omnitrix... trust me, I'm telling you this because you do not want to break it... not with this history in mind." Time Trotter stated. He pulled out a pocketwatch and gasped. "And with that, I must take my leave before otherworldly forces take notice... Farewell, Leon Derrickson, and remember... Friendship is Magic." Time Trotter stated, jumping back into the portal as it closed, and time began to resume its natural flow.
...
Leon looked around, and let the time walker's words echo in his brain. Don't mention Luna, and don't break the Omnitrix... why did he feel an odd sense of concern that the Princess of the Moon and this watch had a connection? He didn't think on that long until Twilight suddenly ran up to him, in an exhausted huff with Spike on her back.
"Oh, hey Twilight, hey Spike. Question, why does she look like she's about to have a spaz attack?" Leon asked, noticing that Twilight was trying to catch her breath. Spike got off of Twilight's back and handed her a paper bag, to where she proceeded to breathe into it.
"Twilight wants to tell you that there's a problem in the Everfree Forest. And while she's needed to take care of some important business, she wants to know if you'll go and figure it out, with the promise of a reward." Spike said nonchalantly, patting Twilight on the back as she steadily calmed down.
"All depends, what kind of problem are we talking about?" Leon asked. Spike was about to say something, until a shrill screeching noise echoed out of nowhere, coming directly from the Everfree. "Oh... that kind of problem... Fine, but I wanna know what the reward will be when I get back." Leon stated, hopping the fence and running towards the Everfree.
Twilight, now having complete control over her breathing, finally yells and utters out a few words that Leon could barely hear, but still stuck with him as he entered the Everfree.
"DON'T DESTROY ANYTHING, IT JUST MAKES IT ANGRIER!!" Twilight exclaimed worriedly.
...
Leon ran down the path, evading the strange hostile plants of the everfree, covering his mouth and eyes as they sprayed their gas and jumped towards the stairway, carefully running downward to the same place as he first fought and got the upper hand on the drone. He uncovered his mouth and eyes as he looked around. He saw the slight aftermath of the fight, but that wasn't why he was here.
"Okay, if I were a strange monster screeching like a bat out of hell, where would I hide myself in the Everfree?" Leon asked himself, looking around as he noticed the huge cave and peered inside, only to look at a huge marvelous sight.
A huge crystal tree, rooting itself into every part of the cave as it glowed several colors. "Well I'll be a donkey's behind, The Tree of Harmony... well, that's a thing I'll have to keep in mind, but I don't think it's what I'm looking for." Leon told himself, backing away as he walked back up the stairway. The screeching noise rang out once again, and it seemed to come from much deeper into the forest.
"Oh for fuck's sake... I swear, if that drone managed to bypass that program Jury Rigg inputted, I'm gonna have to be a bit more creative." Leon stated, running to the side, cutting through a bit of brush as he dialed in one of his aliens, only to suddenly come across a trail into a wall of leaves, vines and peat moss. Leon carefully pushed his way through and walked through the secluded opening towards a dim, but still visible light source. He kept on moving towards the light, and still readied the Omnitrix for use, until he saw a shack in a very shrouded clearing, with very little sign of the sky above. The shack itself was very hand-crafted, or according to this world, hoof-crafted. It had these spectacular string lights and old-timey candles, and it did look like someone or something was inside the shack.
"A shack in the middle of the Everfree, strange lights, candles... This is Zecora's place. I should've figured as such, who else would be crazy or brave enough to live in a forest as nutso, dark and brooding as this?" Leon told himself. Leon carefully approached the shack, and carefully knocked on the door, awaiting a response.
"Come in, come in, visitor! You are quite brave, unlike the inquisitors." A female's voice spoke out from the shack. Leon opened the door, and marveled at the wide variety of ingredients, potion flasks and even a few cases filled with miscellaneous things. He saw the Zebra, better known as Zecora, who was fiddling around with the same drone he sent packing with that new program, now shut down, with a strange fungus-like moss growing over the drone's mechanical body.
"Okay, now I'm concerned to why Twilight wanted me to come out here... talk to me, equestrian shaman of the Everfree, what's up with the galactic tin can over here, and what is that growing over his body?" Leon asked, pointing to the still growing and spreading fungal moss.
"It's a long story, but to make it short, an experiment went right, and wrong in a way, of sort. this fungal moss is known as Doominus Shroomae, and if we do not remove it, all of equestria will be doomed to die." Zecora rhymed grimly, splashing some sort of yellow powder and a green fluid onto the moss. Leon just looked at the fungal moss in disgust, but now feared the stuff, backing away from the drone.
"Okay, how do we fix this? Do we scrape it off, or do we just dismantle him?" Leon asked. Zecora looked to the human, and then at the watch on his wrist. "You could turn into a Methanosian, convince the Fungus to stop, but of course if you're not up for such a task, I would say the topic of stopping it... is dropped." Zecora rhymed.
More and more questions just kept popping up in Leon's mind. How in the highhorse hell did Zecora know what the hell a Methanosian was, let alone knew it was Swampfire? and to be fair, Zecora did have a point, Methanosians have a tie to nature, a link, maybe by connecting to the fungal moss, he can establish a link to it, and force it to stop its spread on the machine.
"I'm definitely gonna ask you how you know about that, let alone how you know what a Methanosian is, but that's for when a strange fungus isn't trying to doom equestria... sheesh, this isn't even a villain, and it's a threat. Equestria's nature is scary." Leon said, dialing in Swampfire's icon and slamming it down, replacing Leon with the lumbering swampy alien.
"Alright, step aside." Swampfire stated. The zebra backed away, and Swampfire reached out to the moss, only for it to suddenly reach out to the methanosian, glomming a huge piece of itself onto the methanosian, and immediately began to spread up his arm. "AAAHHH!!!!!!! GET OFF, GET OFF, GET OFF!!!!!" The Methanosian panicked, trying to scrape off the moss, only for it to get on his other hand, and spread more. Swampfire ignited one of his hands on fire, burning away the moss as he tore his arm off and threw it out of the shack, closing the door as he regrew his arm and turned himself back to his human form.
"Not doing that again, that was not cool!! That thing got aggressive, I didn't hear a word, it just started spreading!" Leon exclaimed, panting as he and the zebra anxiously looked out of the shack's window, to see the arm growing more of its body, with the moss growing over it, mushrooms begin growing as flower petals bloom from the roofs of the fungi and the buds open up like eyes. several bulb like boils swell up and bubble with what might be either fungal spores, or flames. It growled and began to slowly encroach towards the secluded entryway, to venture off to PonyVille.
"Okay... I've seen a lot of weird things before, but I've never seen anything like this. What can you make of this, Zecora?" Leon asked, concerned and weirded out. No response, Leon turned around and saw Zecora packing her potions, her brewing ingredients, she was packing up everything in a silent, composed, but internally contained panic.
"Life goes on, Shapeshifter of man, but don't think I'm leaving without one final plan. Decay, that's the weakness of the moss, surround it or overwhelm it with enough of it, and you'll have shown it who's boss... what a risk I suggested, to use a Methanosian against this horror, it just created more infected. I fear that if this creature escapes the forest, no creature will be safe from the fungus that plans to take over us." Zecora rhymed, her tone grim, but not hopeless. Leon looked to the drone and had to figure something out.
"What about the drone here? If we can fix him, maybe we can get him to fight that infected Methanosian out there." Leon asked. Zecora nodded no and looked at the drone as it remained inactive.
"The drone was with me, studying the Everfree. But one wrong action had a consequence, something I will tell him to make a recompense. The Moss shut him down, so it's obviously alive, you'd have to be in-between life and death to stop that fungus, or at least try." Zecora rhymed. Leon kept on thinking about those two things. Decay, in-between life and death. He could try Ghostfreak, but did he want to risk running the chances of Ghostfreak being susceptible to the fungal moss? Then, the human thought of something... he used 9 of his 10 aliens thus far, so why not use an alien he hasn't used yet? Leon popped the dial up and twisted through his icons.
Starting at Swampfire, he turned to Diamondhead, then he turned to Shock Rock, then Ghostfreak, Goop, Iron Wolf, Jury Rigg, that elephant alien he hasn't named yet, and Fasttrack. 9 aliens he's used thus far. What was the 10th alien gonna be? A scrawny, humanoid figure with sharp claws, a very skinny figure, and something protruding from its head.
"Well, now's as good of a time as it ever will be to figure out what this one does. Just gotta hope it isn't some sort of god that can overwhelm me." Leon stated, slamming the core down as his body was enveloped in a cyan light, and his body began to undergo a transformation.
His human skin began to tighten around his body, tearing his nails as they grow out into these rotted bone colored claws. His hair began to recede in places, looking a bit patchy as his skin paled and decayed, losing life as these cyan-green spots and sores grew on his body, some parts of his body exposing bone and his own muscle and tissue. He gained some nearly skin tight black pants with cyan leg cuffs. Several bone-like protrusions curved and wrapped onto his sides, his eyes bugging out, the whites in his eyes becoming a dull, lifeless gray, his eyes remaining a cyan color. On top of his chest was the Omnitrix.
The flash of light died down, and Zecora was terrified of the monstrous creature now standing in her shack. A lanky, humanoid, rotting corpse.
"RRrruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuggggghhhhhhh..... BRAINDRAIN!!!" The creature moaned out, its voice hoarse, raspy, deprived of oxygen, and almost gurgling and growling with every syllable. The alien shuffled over to the drone, and a cyan colored spark of energy crackled at its fingertips as it began to easily claw off the moss from the mechanical drone. It was just a bit disgusting when this alien started to consume and devour the moss, along with the fungus that created the moss itself. Its lifeless body sparked more with this strange energy.
"I-It would seem that hope is on the horizon, that's great, but you must hurry and stop that moss, before it's too late!" Zecora pleaded. The alien, known as Braindrain, nodded and lunged at the door, slamming the door off of its hinges as the alien roared and bellowed, chasing after the mossy methanosian with haste. The drone began to regain power, and soon after turned on again.
"Systems online. Drone designation: G.E.B.O: Operational. Foreign lifeform has been removed. Status update is required. Acronym designation is required." The drone stated. Zecora looked back at the drone, and sighed, put on a smile and began to prepare something in a cauldron.
...
The mossy methanosian, nearing the exit point of the Everfree Forest, had now adapted and integrated parts of the forest itself into its new extraterrestrial body, creating vines with venus fly trap-like ends, snapping away at the air, only to hear the growling bellow of Braindrain coming up from behind to fend off this monstrosity.
"Foolish creature, get out of my way. All life on this planet will be destroyed, consumed to provide me nutrients!" The mossy Methanosian stated, firing a few flaming shrooms in the undead alien's direction. The shrooms come into contact, but they don't do much as Braindrain lunges forward, biting into the shoulder blade of the monstrous creature, tearing, eating and devouring part of the monstrous figure as it proceeded to consume more and more of the mossy substance, generating more and more of that strange energy.
The Methanosian monster mustered enough strength to tear the alien away from his body and throw him against one of the trees, tearing it out from the ground upon impact. "Still.... Hungry... " Braindrain groaned, picking himself up as he shoved his claws into his side, and gripped onto a piece of his guts, and growled angrily, tearing out what looked like a kidney, but it aggressively pulsated as a strange dark magenta fluid slightly leaked from the alien's ruptured and pierced side. He threw the organ at the methanosian monster, and as it made contact with the mossy atrocity, it exploded, sending the monster back, staggering it as Braindrain lunged at the monster, yet again, taking bites, clawing at the monster, only to be met by a powerful explosion of fire as it was sent careening out of the forest, and right towards Sweet Apple Acres. The monster got up, and began to quickly regenerate its wounds as it ran after the undead hero.
...
Applejack and Twilight were busy getting a few things set up for some type of celebration, with the obvious Pink pony in town, Pinkie Pie, casually setting up several catering tables and were really trying to keep something steady, only to reveal that it was a type of tarp covering something big.
"Ah can't believe we're doin' this. Not that it's a bad thing, far from it, but do you really think he's gonna appreciate this? Ah don't think the feller's gonna like the news about his uh... 'situation', Twilight. Maybe give him more than a couple days to get used to being here, and maybe there'll be a time for a party." Applejack suggested, setting a huge barrel of something down.
"Applejack, I understand that his situation is rather... well, it's definitely not something you hear about every day, but if there's a possibility to learn more about a race of humans that survived, then that's good enough for me. Plus, I'm sure he'll appreciate the party after he's done dealing with the issue in the Everfree Forest." Twilight responded. Pinkie suddenly popped in between the mares, smiling.
"Yeah, don't worry Applejack, plus, who doesn't love parties after a long day of work?! Plus, I still didn't get to have a welcoming party for him! So this will make up for it, a 'Thank you for not attacking us' Party!" Pinkie interjected. Before another word could be said, something crashed right in front of the mares... it was Leon, transformed into a zombie-like creature, groaning as it slowly picked itself up, snapping parts of itself back into place with no sign of real discomfort.
"Urrrrrgghh.... Don't.... like.... long falls... Still hungry.... *sniff sniff* ... Food...?" Braindrain groaned, looking towards the huge multitude of catering stuff. The mares probably would've reacted entirely different, if they didn't notice the Omnitrix's symbol being visible on the creature, plain as day.
"L-Leon?! What happened to you?! Is... i-is this one of your transformations?!" Twilight asked, obviously a bit more than just freaked out. Applejack just looked at the rotting monster, and while she expected to gag at what should've been a noticeable scent of decay, the creature, oddly enough, smelled fresh, like a dandelion in a peppermint factory. Pinkie on the other hand, was just getting up close and personal with the undead entity, squeezing it as Braindrain raspily groaned.
"Pinkie... Stop... hugging me... got... job.... to do... urgghh... " Braindrain groaned. Soon thereafter, a fireball had come into contact with the undead hero, knocking Pinkie off of him and setting him mildly ablaze. The ponies turned to look at the source of it, only to see a more malformed, mutated, and monstrous version of that Swampfire creature. Braindrain scowled a bit at the mossy monster, and roared, lunging in its direction as it continued to put up a fight, slashing and tearing off pieces of the monster as it slowly overwhelmed it.
Though the mossy monster had fire power, and newly acquired venus fly-trap like vines, Braindrain had one advantage in this fight, though, that triumphed over this fungal mossy monster's adaptive qualities. Where this mossy monstrosity seemed to have a bit of a stamina limit, Braindrain had no limit. No lungs, no actual worry to run out of stamina, combined with his insatiable hunger, he was practically destined to win this fight... although it got to be a bit too much for the ponies to look at as Braindrain tackled the exhausted mossy monster, pushing its regenerative abilities to the limits, to the point where even that couldn't save it. Its head was torn clean off its body while Braindrain devoured the mossy monster in a gruesome display. It was over, but Braindrain just kept eating... and eating.
"L-Leon, it's over, I- I don't think it's moving-" Twilight tried to interrupt, until it cut her off by glaring at her, his blue eyes now in focus, turning a dull white color as he snarled at the pony.
"Back off, little pony, this is my lunch!!! I hunger!! " Braindrain barked, turning back to his meal as he continued to devour the mossy monster. Hours later, the monster was completely consumed, nothing seemed to remain of it. In a flash of Red light, Leon laid on his side, groaning in pain as he held his stomach. The ponies carefully approached him.
"Leon?... are you okay?" Pinkie asked cautiously, poking his head with her hoof.
"Urp! Urghg..... I ate too much... stomach hurts... everything feels fuzzy. Where am I?" Leon croaked out. Twilight magicked him into the air and carried him over to the table, sitting him at a table with 8 chairs.
"Sugarcube, you're at Sweet Apple Acres, you up and crash landed here as some sort of walking corpse... what was that Faust-forsaken monster anyways, and was that one of those Swampfire fellers you were talkin' about?" Applejack questioned. Leon nodded, and belched, looking green in the face as his stomach growled out of pain.
"That was Braindrain... you know the concept of Zombies? Like, night of the living dead type stuff?" Leon asked. the three ponies nodded, looking at the human with concern. "That's basically what Braindrain is... a species of Zombie that takes more after their flesh-eating concept... but there's more to what he can do than just consume the living. Urp- *Buuuuuurp!* It- it feels so draining to use him... I'll have to hold off on using that form for a bit, that felt so strange... And I thought Ghostfreak was intense." Leon explained.
"Are you gonna be okay? You seem out of it... like, really out of it. Why don't you try to rest before the party starts, and when you're feeling better, you can join us! Consider that your reward for stopping... what seemed like a rogue Swampfire monster from wreaking havoc on Equestria. Also, Zecora sends her thanks as well, she's still got that drone in her possession, but she said you let her keep it, so we'll have to talk about all that... and what to properly do next before the next round of craziness occurs." Twilight said. Leon just simply nodded, got up out of his chair, and before he could even move, he faceplanted onto the ground, completely out of it.
...
Leon suddenly jolted upwards, breathing heavily as he looked around, seeing that he was in a huge gray room, unable to move... he struggled as he tried to move his legs, but he was stuck in place. He tried to reach for the Omnitrix, but his arms were stuck to his sides. His body was being held still by some sort of invisible force, and then, the gray void became darker. Leon struggled more and more to get out of the grip of whatever was holding him in place, and though he couldn't escape, he was still willing to fight, even if it was a pointless endeavor. He looked into the darkened void, and saw something lurking in the shadows, inching ever more towards him. He tried to break out one more time, and finally succeeded, freeing his arms so he could activate the Omnitrix, only to find that it wasn't working. He struggled more and more to make the watch do something, but soon found himself face to face with the monster in the shadows. The monster loomed over him, it seemed to be 30 feet tall, and as skinny as a redwood tree. he had no real way of describing what this thing was, but it just reached out to him and then raised its huge hand up, balled it into a fist, and slammed it down towards him. Leon had nowhere to go, no way of escaping, and could just scream as the fist was about to crush his body.
...
Leon's screams echoed throughout a small bedroom as he quickly sat up from a bed, wide eyed and screaming. The door to the room was kicked open by Applejack as Big Mac came charging in with an axe in hand, and Apple Bloom just wondering what the screaming was about.
"Ok, we're here, where's the danger?!" Applejack asked, looking around, only to see Leon, drenched in sweat, his screams dying down as he caught his breath and tried to calm himself down.
"I... I'm not in danger, I think... I was just... just- having a nightmare... yeah, j-just having a real bad nightmare... did the party stop?" Leon asked, trying to change the subject.
"Nah, it hasn't, but if you're not up for a party, then we'll understand if you just want to rest-"
"NOPE!!" Leon exclaimed. The sudden exclamation threw Applejack, Big Mac and Apple Bloom off, until Leon checked himself and tried to reiterate. "Uh, I- I mean, no thank you, I've rested enough... I think a party's what the doctor ordered, I guess I've just been a bit... off my game." Leon muttered, getting up as he stretched and walked downstairs to head out to the party. The three ponies looked at each other and were a bit skeptical, but he seemed to be okay, just a bit shaken up and needed to socialize a bit.
"Just a bit off my game..." Leon muttered, unaware of the Omnitrix cycling through his alien icons on its own before glowing a dark violet color as it cycles to a messed up and broken icon before returning to its dormant state.
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Keen on Cooking Cupcakes In a Nightmare's Wake
Author's Note
WARNING!!! The content in this chapter specifically will be extremely disturbing to younger readers. If you are not 18+ or a fan of gore, kindly vacate the premises for the sake of your own mental safety.
Enjoy at your own risk, and happy Halloween/Happy Nightmare Night!
And shout out to the original creepypasta of Cupcakes for just being my first introduction to Creepypastas in general, and my first bit of exposure to Grimdark stories.
Here's to many more pony nightmares to come, with G5 being the biggest...
Keen on Cooking Cupcakes In a Nightmare's Wake
Twilight, amongst the various party-goers, made her way back to her treehouse. She made sure to not be followed as she pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil, writing out a message as she binds it with a ribbon and gets ready to walk out the door and go back to the party to get Spike. However, she felt some sort of feeling, like she could only deliver this scroll herself, she didn't know why she had this inclination, but she was immediately on her way to the train station.
...
The next day, Leon and Big Mac were busy cleaning up the aftermath of the party. Food scraps, torn up or broken furniture, and somehow, a pony ended up falling asleep on top of what was covered by tarp. It was merely just a physical wood carving of Leon that Pinkie whipped up for the occasion.
"Man, that party was fun! I haven't felt so alive! Heha!!" Leon stated, smiling widely as he continued to pick up trash.
"Eyup! Leave it to Pinkie to prepare your party for all of the party based necessities! Glad you enjoyed it, I didn't really know what humans usually did for parties, so I hope that this party was the best for ya!" Big Mac stated, smiling.
"Definitely, though I do have to wonder, have you seen Twilight or the others at all today? I thought she would've come to actually enjoy herself, as she did help set most of this up with Pinkie, but I guess some old habits are tough to repress." Leon remarked. Leon wondered about where the unicorn could've gone, especially since from how the sun was positioned, it looked like it was somewhere before 10 AM and after 8 AM. Though, nothing immediately came to mind, he could at least figure out that from how this Twilight acted and was really persistent on learning, she seemed more prone to panic attacks than her original counterpart, and though it seemed like she hadn't even gained her wings yet, she was still pretty worrisome... and his powers probably didn't help that in the slightest.
Big Mac looked around and seemed a bit unsettled by how it felt like it was only him and Leon on the farm at the moment. The silence, it was tense enough to choke anyone out if it could. "Hm... that's mighty odd, usually Applejack, Granny or even Apple Bloom would be up by now... Maybe they're just sleeping, but Leon, can you go an check on 'em, real quick like just in case?" Mac asked, confused and concerned for his family.
"Yeah, I can do that. Maybe Applejack and Apple Bloom took part in having fun at the party and got all tuckered out. I'll be right back." Leon said, running into the farm house as he walked up the steps.
"Hey! Applejack, Apple Bloom! Get up!! It's morning hours, you silly ponies!" Leon called out. Aside from the slow steps he was taking, there wasn't another sound to be heard. Leon swung open the door to Apple Bloom's room.
"Rise and Shi- huh?" Leon's happy and excited mood had changed to confusion. He looked at the filly's room, seeing that everything was messed up. The bed was broken, stuff was strung out all over, but there weren't any signs of a struggle.
"Hoooo boy... MAC!!! I THINK YOU NEED TO COME AND SEE THIS!!!" Leon exclaimed out. The red stallion quickly ran into the house, trotting up the stairs as he looked into his little sister's room, seeing it in shambles. Leon goes over to check Applejack's room, only to find it in just as bad of a condition as Apple Bloom's. Big Mac looked in Granny Smith's room, again, noting that it looked messed up, but no actual signs of a struggle seemed present.
"Okay, I'm very worried about this. Why didn't they tell me they was goin' somewhere?" Big Mac wondered. "I don't think they went anywhere willingly, Mac. Gimme a second." Leon said. He activated the Omnitrix, cycling through his transformations as he transformed himself into Iron Wolf in a flash of cyan light.
The alien canine sniffed around the room, picking up no real trace of the filly. Iron Wolf sniffed around Granny Smith's room, again, unable to pick up on her scent. Though when he got to Applejack's room, he picked up on a few different smells.
"RAarrr... Apples... citrus... cinnamon... Maple... Sulfur?" Iron Wolf stated, feeling confused as he picked up on the strange chemical scent amongst a huge sweet citrus-y scent.
"We need to do something, make a search party, go an' find them... Can you pick up on any trace of Applejack in that mess?" Mac asked. Iron Wolf took a long inhale through his nose, and smelled two other scents in the air.
"Rrrr... Cider... Iron..?" Iron Wolf said, confusion and curiosity worming their way into his mind. The scent of Iron, it threw him off heavily, so much that he wasn't picking up on the scent of apples, the citrus, or the maple, heck, the cider didn't seem to matter, cause the smell of sulfur and iron seemed to just scream danger to the alien canine's animal senses. The alien stepped and treaded carefully into the pony's room, and sniffed more, hoping to find out where the scent was originating from.
Iron Wolf stuck his nose up against the bed, being met with a real strong and pungent accumulation of Sulfur and Iron, causing the alien canine to back up, coughing a bit as the chitancanine transformed itself back into Leon, whose eyes were watering from the pungent smell.
"Cover your nose when you come in, jeez, that stuff is potent... what was Applejack doing in here that required sulfur and iron?" Leon questioned aloud. Big Mac and Leon carefully lifted the bed up, but knew one of them was gonna have to see what was causing such a smell to be so forthright.
"Okay, here's the plan. I'll try to lift up the bed and you look at what's under it. Just say the word and back up, that'll signal me to let the bed be sat back down. That sound fair?" Leon asked.
"Eeyup. Let's hurry up, I'm getting the strangest feeling that bein' in here, was not what we're supposed to be doin'." Big Mac stated. Leon began to lift the bed up slowly, trying to control his breathing as he slowly lifted the bed up and tried to respond to Big Mac's uneasiness.
"What's that. Urgh, supposed to mean? You saying... urf, that Applejack's got something unpleasant to hide, or what? Dear god, this is heavy!" Leon inquired, struggling as he was trying to lift the bed up past his waist, just barely able to get the end he was lifting up towards his chin.
"I don' know, to be fair, Applejack helps a lot with the farm, but she never seemed like the type to keep to herself. Now, let's see what's goin' on under this thing." Big Mac answered. He slowly lowered his head as he looked at the floor, seeing that a big wooden box was underneath it. Big Mac tried to pull it out, but yelped a bit, recoiling as he looked at his hooves. He looked at his hooves, only to see a strange, dark, odd smelling viscous goo now being present.
"You... find anything yet?! This bed's getting... heavy!" Leon asked, straining to keep the side lifted up. Big Mac got up and grabbed the box, pulling it out as more of that strange goo began to stick to him. Leon groaned as he set the bed's end down, panting as he looked over to see the huge box.
"Well... that... was... not what I was expecting.." Leon said in-between breaths. Cautiously, Leon walked over to the box, seeing a strange dark goo pour and seep through the box's wooden confines. "So... what the hell is this, and what's with the gunk on the box and you?" Leon inquired.
Big Mac sniffed at the goo and seemed to contort his face into disgust as he kept his hooves away from his face. "Yuck! Smells like something rotten... with a hint of molasses." Big Mac remarked. Leon didn't have to be a skilled cook or pastry enthusiast to know that Molasses was a type of sweet sticky substance.
He was picking up on Apples, the smell of citrus, Maple, and Sulfur... then he began to smell cider and Iron... Leon looked at the box and got up, immediately pulling the top of the box off.
"Wait, don't open it!" Big Mac warned, but it was too late, Leon sat the top of the box aside and looked at Big Mac. "Relax, I know what I'm doing, I'll just turn into Iron Wolf again, smell what's inside and if it leads into town, we'll go on a good ol' fashioned pony hunt, minus the killing if we can avoid it." Leon reassured, crouching down to look into the box.
A crumpled up layer of newspapers and rags seemed to be covering up whatever was inside, so Leon carefully pulled and nudged the rags and papers aside, seeing that most of them were stuck or fused together by the odd goo that just flooded through the wooden box itself. Leon kept on pushing, until a strange, but familiar scent ran clear up his nose, causing the human reel back, coughing and gagging in an agonizing matter as he tried to compose himself, but was obviously failing miserably in his attempts.
"Hey, you alright, pardner? W-what's in the box?" The stallion asked. Leon couldn't respond, but he violently shook his head no at the stallion. Big Mac looked inside of the box, and was met with the same disgusting smell, he reeled himself back, coughing and gagging in the same manner as Leon was, but Leon quickly plugged his nose as he uncovered the last of the rags and papers, only to suddenly feel his blood run cold, and the bile in his stomach rising up to his throat.
Big Mac looked at the human, and just saw utter shock on his face, it was plain as day that whatever Leon was looking at, it suddenly made Leon's face turn into a sickly green as he rushed over to the small trash can in the room, and violently retched into it. Big Mac covered his nostrils and peered inside, feeling the same overwhelming nausea and fear as he looked down in horror.
Within the box was several rotten and spoiled meaty chunks, stained, dried and hardened by dried up traces of what looked like blood. While it seemed like a strange pink substance was also present in the meat. It looked almost like icing, but from another perspective, it looked like a lung dunked in pink paint. The smell of cider and sulfur was again present, but it was followed up by the smell of decay and rot, not like the sight of maggots in the meat and icing was already disgusting enough.
"Dear Celestia... what in damn tarnation is this? Why does my sister have somethin' like this?!" Big Mac exclaimed. He looked towards Leon, who had just got done spewing up what he had at the party last night, immediately grabbed the top of the box and closed it up entirely, forcefully shoving the box and its contents out the doorway, down the stairs and towards a small gathering of garbage cans outside.
"I'm in disgust... we never speak of this, we never found this, if Applejack asks, we act like we never saw it." Leon stated sternly to the red stallion, repressing the contents of the box deep into his subconscious. "But, nonetheless, you're right. We have to find them... any ideas on where to look?" Leon asked. The stallion ran towards the town, and Leon naturally followed him, but took a bit of a side note to inquire about the strange dark-violet glow radiating from the Omnitrix.
...
Silence. It was all anypony or any creature could hear for miles. The streets of Ponyville were silent, lacking actual ponies to show the bustling busy lives of its residents, who now seem to be either gone, or have vanished without a single trace. Big Mac and Leon ran through the empty streets of the small city, seeing the inside of homes with their lights on, but no one seemed to be around.
"Hey, let's stop for a second, does something feel off to you, Mac?" Leon asked. Big Mac came to a stop and looked at Leon, then at the houses. "I'm sure everyone's just busy, just not having business in Ponyville, is all." Mac rationalized.
Leon's eye twitched, and he sighed. "Okay, what're the chances that Applejack, Apple Bloom and Granny Smith are amongst those ponies who have business out of town?" Leon inquired. Big Mac's brow furrowed as sweat poured down his face. "That's what I thought. Seems a bit too coincidental, don't you think? I have a bad feeling about this... let's go to the library, Applejack probably wanted to do something with Twilight till Apple Bloom and Granny Smith came along for something." Leon suggested.
As the stallion and the human ran through the barren, lifeless and empty streets of Ponyville, Leon kept on thinking about how this felt so eerie, and it wasn't even Nightmare Night yet.
'Man, what is going on today? AJ, Apple Bloom and their granny being missing without a trace, a gore box with rotting meat and maggots with hints of sugar and icing, the fact that Ponyville seems to now no longer be filled with citizens and hard working folks, and a noticeable lack of actual contact from anypony. Big Mac doesn't seem to be worried, but he was definitely in a panic when his family just suddenly up and left him behind, wherever they went... this doesn't make any damn sense!' Leon thought to himself, nothing about this whole situation was actually feeling plausible or possible without one of them catching wind of what has happening.
Eventually, Leon and Big Mac arrived at Twilight's Library, only to find that the front door has been broken into pieces, which just raised several red flags in both Leon and Mac's heads.
"Okay... as someone who can turn into aliens, especially now that it's confirmed I can become an alien zombie and an alien ghost, I can easily say that this is more bizarre and spine-chilling than becoming Ghostfreak or Braindrain. this terrifies the hell out of me, it's like a classic old timey apocalypse horror movie, old movies with a premise like that just send major red flags up in my brain, and I just don't feel safe." Leon stated. Big Mac looked at Leon, and could clearly see the fires of fear itself being stoked in Leon's eyes. Whatever was going on, Leon felt like if shit went wrong now, he'd be the first to dien not the strong earth pony right next to him.
"Imagine not feeling safe in Ponyville, that's how one can figure out shit is fucked in the worst way possible if you don't feel safe in this town of happiness and friends and good will and good cheer and stuff like that. Once shit starts feeling like a set up to a horror movie, that's where I usually want to just stop and leave before shit gets bad and people start dying... knowing I can't do that for several reasons just makes me want to hope this is an elaborate, overdone prank. I still feel like this is a prank, this is on Rainbow Dash's level of elaborate planning!" Leon stated, worry, fear and sincerity in his voice.
Big Mac walked over to Leon and pointed at the library's entrance. Leon looked over, seeing into the shadows of the building as he dared to not attempt getting closer. "Pardner, I need to find out what happened to mah family, they're all I got. You can stand right here and act like a Cockatrice that got its head chopped off in a room full of mirrors, but I'm not gonna stand around and wait till whatever comes out and gets me. I'm gonna see this through, and you need to get a hold of yourself." Big Mac stated, trotting towards the library and confidently walks on inside.
"Mac, you set yourself up for this!! I've seen horror movies before, I'm being smart to not go in there!! GET BACK OUT HERE WHILE YOU STILL CAN!!!" Leon exclaimed in a panic, but his words fell on deaf ears as Big Mac trotted inside, and vanished into the darkness. Leon, now alone in the open, probably does the worst thing he's ever done since he got here... he starts running away, leaving Big Mac to whatever fate says becomes of him.
'Sorry Mac, but I got a life to live... If you're still alive, I'm sorry... if a killer got you, then I'm really, really sorry I didn't go in with you to be backup!' Leon thinks to himself as he kept on running, feeling the fear and the guilt rise and overwhelm him.
Leon ran down the streets of Ponyville, looking for a sign of life anywhere, only to be met by nothing but silence. Leon turned a corner and saw Rarity's boutique, still open, and the lights were on with somepony inside. "Thank fucking christ himself, a saving grace!" Leon told himself, a small hopeful smile forming as he ran to the front door. Leon knocked on the door repeatedly before finally coming to a stop, hearing the sound of hoofsteps coming towards the door.
"Rarity, for once, thank Celestia you're okay, I thought you had suddenly vanished like everypony else, except for me and Big Mac. Listen, have you seen-" Leon's joyous words suddenly came to a silencing halt, his hopeful and happy demeanor, now becoming that of confusion, and worry.
In front of him, in the doorway to Rarity's boutique, was Twilight, who was covering herself in a black robe, almost similar to the robe that a certain personification of death would wear, minus the scythe.
"I guess you didn't end up dead, good, that means there's a chance I can fix this, and you can actually help me. Come inside, hurry!" Twilight said, using her magic to pull Leon inside, slamming the door shut as a locking sound could be heard.
"Okay, now I'm concerned. You're wearing a very scary robe, there's a major lack of ponies in town, and Big Mac is all on his own right now, can you explain to me what the haybale is going on today?!" Leon inquired, irritated by the sudden lack of context he's apparently not being allowed access to. Twilight grimaced as she sighed, removing the robe to show a real terrifying sight.
Twilight's flank, was bandaged, and though the obvious red stuff on the bandages was in fact blood that was being absorbed by a combination of cotton balls and healing magic, it wasn't enough to draw Leon's attention to the obvious prosthetic front legs on Twilight's body.
"For the love of god damn harmony, what the fuck happened to you?! You look like you had a brief run in with Hannibal Lecter, and somehow lived to tell the tale!" Leon asked, kinda unnerved by the sight of seeing the destined-to-be future princess of Equestria be sliced up and messed up like this.
"I take it you've run into her already?" Twilight asked, her tone monotonous and worried. Her facial expression changed to confusion upon seeing Leon's unawareness to the situation at hand.
'Her? Who the hum dinging hoedown heckling hell is Twilight on about?' Leon thought to himself, looking at the purple unicorn. "Twilight, you'll have to be specific, I don't know who you're inferring to, but I know for a fact that it's actually hard to play stupid... trust me, my teachers could and would agree with me." Leon said.
Twilight groaned and sighed, looking over a few things as she remembered that Leon mentioned being with Big Mac... 'Big Mac... isn't that who Applejack's older brother is? He was with him the entire time? If that's the case, where is he?' Twilight thought to herself.
"Leon, you said you were with Big Mac, didn't you?" Twilight asked curiously.
Leon nodded, "Yeah, we were cleaning up the aftermath of the party last night, and he noticed that Applejack, Apple Bloom and Granny Smith weren't up, cause usually they'd be up at this time during the morning. All we found was that their rooms were messed the hell up, with no signs of a struggle or any signs of where they went, and we also found a gory, gooey, sugar sweet, rotting meat filled gore box under Applejack's bed." Leon said, stopping briefly as he nearly threw up again, but was able to choke it down, looking thoroughly disgusted. Twilight had a similar reaction.
"Anyways, we got the bright idea to go looking for them in town, only to see that everyone was apparently gone, and we had no idea where anyone went. We went to your place to see if the missing members of the Apple Family were with you, but something just urged me to not go in there... Every fiber of my being was keeping me from going in your place. Big Mac went in though, and I up and ran, left him behind to explore your place." Leon explained. Twilight suddenly went wide eyed, a twinge of fear sparking in her eyes as she approached Leon.
"You left him there? All on his own?! That is the dumbest thing you've ever done!! She was just about to give up on finding more victims, now you just reignited the fire that was about to die out!!" Twilight remarked, worried as she looked out the windows.
Leon rolled his eyes, but had to wonder. Who the hell was this 'she' Twilight was referring to? And why did this all suddenly feel familiar to him?
...
Big Mac looked around, and could barely make out where exactly he was, but he was blinded by the darkness. He tried to flick on the lights, but they didn't seem to work, almost like the power up and ran out.
"Alright, I'm not playin' any games. You got Leon freakin' out like tartarus has frozen over, and nopony is around in Ponyville!! Applejack, Apple Bloom, come out here and explain yerselves, now!! Granny's missing, and you need to help me find 'er!!" Big Mac demanded with irritation within the darkness. He heard something fall, and a groan or two echoed out, as the cracking of bones seemed to echo through the building.
"Ahrrh!! Ahh!! Jeez, Oh!! Mah leg, confound it, that was a dumb mistake! Mac? Mac, was that you?!" a voice rang out. Big Mac rushed towards the voice, only to see the outline of his sister, Applejack, within the darkest shadows.
"Applejack, are you okay?! Are you hurt?" Big Mac asked. He waited for a reply, but there wasn't a single sound to be heard, until a set of hoofsteps that weren't his own, began to come closer, and closer. "Applejack, this is not the time fer games, darn it!!" Big Mac sternly said. Nothing spoke out, but the hoofsteps just got closer until they stopped.
Big Mac could feel it, somepony breathing in their face. Their breath reeked of what smelled like cake and icing, and some sort of odd smell he couldn't figure out. A slightly squeaky and bubbly giggle echoed through the darkness, and Big Mac nearly felt his soul furlough and jump out of his body.
"A-A-Applejack?" Big Mac struggled to say, his breathing getting heavy. He felt a hoof pat his back and he felt a bit worried, knowing that he couldn't see who was in front of him.
"Sorry big guy, Applejack's a bit exhausted after that nasty spill she just took... but don't you worry! Your best friend Pinkie Pie, is here to help and make you smile." A voice rang out, soft spoken, but cheery and sincere to the end.
"P-Pinkie? Is that yo- MMPH!! " Big Mac was interrupted, suddenly having his words, and his screams, be muffled by a rag. Another odd scent filling his nose as he tried to squirm, only for his body to suddenly get weaker and weaker, until his eyes finally shut amidst the blackness as everything went dark.
The lights turned on again, showing Pinkie, standing over Big Mac's unconscious body with a big ol' silly grin on her face. "Well, that's another one. Now... what do I do about him?" Pinkie said, a hint of malevolence in her cheery tone, eyeing the door way.
...
"You'll have to forgive me when I say that I don't believe you, Twilight.
"You don't believe me?! You're the last of your kind, you can turn into these strange creatures with a watch, and you can't believe me on this?!" Twilight exclaimed in a confused and aggressive fit.
"Twilight... you're trying to tell me Pinkie is behind this? Look, she can be a lot of things, and I don't know her down on a personal level, and yeah, she can be a bit much at times, but she's anything but a killer. Sure, certain forms of media back where I come from have depicted a character like her in such a light before... but you never outright making the official claim that they are killing machines, because it ruins a lot of shit!" Leon argued.
Leon thought back to his days before the 4th Generation of the show ended, and remembered his first ever official observation of a strange and crazy little story in the shadows of the brony fandom, simply known as... Cupcakes.
He could hear the dramatic readings of this dark little story echoing in the back of his mind, the agonizing screams from Rainbow Dash, to the simple minded nonchalant massacre that Pinkie used as a means to bring forth the pegasus' screams. He remembers how he used to look at Pinkamena just being batshit crazy, or a Jeff the Killer clone in Pinkie's body, but now that he looks at his current situation, he finds himself in a rather strict position and shouldn't be making claims he can't back up.
But this was Pinkie Pie they were talking about... was this world's Pinkie already on that road of development in this timeline, to becoming the feared Pinkamena? Leon feared the worse, but still continued to deliver a glare to the mare. "Twilight, I'm gonna ask you one simple question... you said I could actually help fix this... how in the name of Celestia's fat plot do you expect me to know how to fix this?!" Leon exclaimed furiously.
"Your watch, maybe you can possess her, get inside her mind and remove whatever is making her this way?" Twilight suggested. Leon's eye twitched, that was her plan? Have him deal with it? Of all the dumb shit Twilight's canon counterpart did, this is almost on par with most of her lowest and less risky mistakes.
Leon then looked at Twilight bemusedly. "You're lucky you're Celestia's student, otherwise I would've smacked you for suggesting something so stupi-" Suddenly, something crashes through the window, interrupting Leon. Twilight and Leon look on and see the pink pony, Pinkie, slowly stand up, and smile.
"Hi Twilight! Hi Leon! Wanna try some cupcakes I just made?" She offered, holding out a tray with what looked like freshly made red, orange and slightly light-tan colored cupcakes with a green frosting on them. Twilight used her magic to teleport away, leaving Leon alone with the pink pony.
"Pinkie, I'll gladly try a cupcake, but you have to answer one of my questions first, just so I can confirm to Twilight that you're not a crazy person, and I say it's a Pinkie Promise, so you have to tell me. We got a deal?" Leon asked. Pinkie's smile never faltered, but for a brief moment, it seemed like a crimson glint could've been seen in Pinkie's eyes.
"Of course! Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye! Whatcha wanna ask me?" Pinkie inquired.
"Pinkie... you're not killing ponies and baking them into sugary confections, are you? That's not why Ponyville suddenly seems empty and lacking in its citizens? Keep in mind, you have to answer honestly, the truth, nothing but it, otherwise, you'll break your own promise!" Leon asked, knowing she got her sworn to tell the truth.
Pinkie's smile suddenly changed to a look that lacked expression, and the pink pony sighed, her poofy, curly mane deflating and going flat. Leon was smiling confidently, expecting her answer.
"Yeah, I am." Pinkie said, lacking any real excitement or thrill in her voice.
"Alright, that's enough for me. Twilight, you can come ou-... I'm sorry what, Pinkie?" Leon said, his confidence immediately shattering, fear began sinking in as he looked at the party pony cautiously.
"Yeah... I did do all that stuff. Let me tell ya, it's not as fun as I thought it'd be, especially since no pony else is around to try my new recipes. I thought maybe I'd be able to stop if there wasn't anypony left, until you and Big Mac came running into town, I'm already in too deep unfortunately, I might as well keep going till I'm drowning in red stuff..." Pinkie casually said, a bit embarrassed and kinda sensitive about the topic. She reached into her flat and deflated mane, pulling out a really sharp knife as she trotted over to Leon.
'Oh this wasn't what I expected, not at all! I'm gonna die by the fandom's favorite party thrower turned into the fandom's bogeymare!! Leon thought to himself in a panic. He braced himself for the end until he remembered about the obvious.
'Wait, the Omnitrix! She can't kill me in my alien forms, they're too strong and too unearthly!' Leon thought to himself. Leon began to try using the Omnitrix, only for it to emit more of that dark violet light, sparking in an unstable manner as the mad mare got closer and closer, practically standing over him with a melancholic, but still wide smile.
"Sorry Leon, I didn't want it to come to this, but maybe you'll have better luck with the real Pinkie... maybe tell her to not invest in literal 'Meat Pies'. At least unlike the others, your pain will be swift. That's a Pinkie Promise. Cross my heart, hope to fly..." Pinkie started, taking the knife and jamming it into one of the cupcakes she made. Her body began to change, becoming astral, stars forming on her pink body, which progressively got darker and more violet in shade. Her eyes became blank white voids as her flat mane puffed up, and her teeth became sharp. "Stick a cupcake in my eye!" Pinkie exclaimed, bringing the blade down onto Leon's face as he was about to scream.
...
"Leon?... Leon!.... " a faint voice echoed out. Leon was groaning, trying to get up, but couldn't seem to move. He could see bright lights flashing, but couldn't make out a single thing of the location.
"Leon, wake up!! Are you okay?! You look like you need medical assistance!! " Another voice echoed out, this time a bit clearer. Leon struggled and tried to get up, this time, managing to get up with a bit of assistance from a rainbow and blue colored blur on one side, and a big red blur on his other.
All of a sudden, a freezing cold liquid splashed onto his face and he came to fully, coughing as he wiped the freezing liquid from his eyes and face, looking around to find himself in a hospital bed. 7 colorful ponies and a baby dragon surrounded him, smiling as concern was plastered on their faces before the pink one tries to splash more water on him, only to be stopped by the orange one.
"Pinkie, he's awake! That's enough of the water, for now!" Applejack said. Pinkie smiled and lowered the bucket as Leon looked at himself, seeing cuts, bruises and burns.
"Hey bud, how do you feel?" Rainbow asked. Leon looked at Dash and felt a chill go up his spine, only for him to shake it off.
"I feel like I'm in pain... what the hell happened? Don't tell me I did something stupid..." Leon asked, hoping he didn't do anything.
"Pardner, you never had alcohol before, have ya?" Big Mac asked.
Leon casually stared at the stallion, and chuckled tiredly before replying. "Nope. Not at all. I'm 19 in human years, so I don't know how that equates to ponies in any way... but I can definitely say, I don't wanna know what happened with me, let alone if it involved alcohol... but what I can say, is that I saw some creepy shit... creepy shit I didn't think I'd see in this god damn colorful world... but that's a story for another day... can we go home now?" Leon said.
"Yes, you can. We just need to make sure you have a clean bill of health before we can let you leave." A white mare said, trotting up to the bed dressed in a navy colored nurse outfit, removing a bit of medical equipment from Leon's person. Leon just silently grimaced at the sight, did he get fucked up that bad that he had to be hospitalized?
'Dear god, I can only imagine the medical records going into a damn tizzy when dealing with a human as a patient. And wow, Nurse Redheart actually has more to her work uniform than just a hat. That's actually pretty nice!' Leon thought to himself. As Leon gets out of the bed, the Omnitrix begins to spark even more, emitting more of that dark violet light, which made everyone jump.
"So... I didn't wanna say anything, Darling, but that watch has been acting like that since you got up and joined the party yesterday. Is it supposed to do that, or is this going to be a problem?" Rarity asked worriedly. Leon looked at the watch, seeing it act this way was, to him, probably something he could get used to, plus, it wasn't the shade of purple that signified that a certain villain would get involved... but this didn't mean it wasn't being messed with.
"I think maybe the princess will have to look at it. Call it a hunch, but maybe introducing myself to the princess of Equestria would be beneficial, especially in later matters, if a certain someone eventually shows their faces..." Leon stated. He yawned a bit and rubbed his eyes. "But for now, I think I need some sleep, like some good sleep." Leon stated, slumping against Fluttershy, who was a bit hesitant to let him just do this, until she noticed he had fallen asleep and was squeezing her like a plushy, making her face redden from the amount of blush that was forming.
Rainbow Dash laughed at this. "Man, this guy's a weirdo, but hey, he doesn't seem to be flipping out, so that's a good start. What do you think he was dreaming about?" Dash asked, Twilight rubbed her chin as she smiled and simply magicked Leon's body onto her back as she carried him out, with Spike following her.
"Doesn't matter at the moment, for now, I'm gonna take him back to the farm, let him rest. We all should rest, cause tomorrow, we go to Canterlot." Twilight stated quietly, smiling as she kept trotting forth. All the while Spike, being curious about the Omnitrix, tries to fiddle with it, only to feel a slight zap from the watch, seeing it briefly illuminate a yellow light, cycling through each alien icon until Spike marvels at something fantastic before the watch begins to bug out, emitting the dark violet glow yet again.
Royal Complications Part 1
"It's not a simple day for anypony, let alone any creature here in Equestria. Most days, every pony would rather be doing anything else other than something that either pertains to their natural talent, or their job, " Lyra read aloud. She briefly stopped reading something as she licked her lips and chugged down a container of water, clearing her throat and rubbing her eyes as she continued to read. It was more of this ancient scribe-type stuff that Lyra was insistently trying to translate through another sheet of paper, with various symbols in an alphabetical order.
She continued to write down her translations on another paper, thanks to her using magic on a pencil, and began writing and translating away as she read on.For a human, however, this isn't that much of an issue, cause one, a human has the chances of being blessed with extraordinary powers. Legends foretold of a group of humans, united against a common threat. These warriors were known as... a-as the.... -! "
Lyra trailed off, slowly feeling herself nodding off, but soon snapped awake, knocking a bowl of something over out of reflex, shattering it onto the ground as several chopped up fruits and candies now littered the ground.
Lyra groaned in frustration, knowing she'd have to clean that up later, and continued her translations. She's felt like she hasn't been able to sleep for days, and that wild party at the apple farm was not that much of a benefit from how downhill it suddenly declined, though it did provide excellent research material to study the effects of alcohol on a human.
"Lyra, I'm hoooooome!~" A voice sang out. Lyra winced and paled, looking back at the spilled snack on the floor and the glass bowl in pieces. She placed her hooves into her face and grunted as she stood, trotting out of the room as a couple ants in the room decide to pluck the spilled snack's remains.
...
"Come on, we gotta hurry! Royal Summons aren't a joke, now let's get moving!!" Twilight exclaimed in a panic, running down the road with Spike hanging on to her tail for dear life as she ran. "Twilight, stop running for a moment, I'm losing my grip!! Twilight!!" Spike exclaimed in a panic.
...
Leon, the first one to wake up on the farm, albeit not properly awake yet, and still a bit groggy, frowned and groaned as he quickly tore the hospital gown off of him, and got into his old clothes, which admittedly didn't smell the greatest, but it was all he had in human sizes. Before he could walk out of the room he was in, the door slammed open, knocking him back as Applejack and Rarity came in.
"Oh what now..." Leon groaned, unaware of the situation. In an instant, Leon's tired expression had shifted to that of fear as he screamed. the door closes, and a lot of miscellaneous sounds echo from behind the door, and in a matter of seconds, Applejack and Rarity step out, smiling as Leon also steps out, wearing what looks like a black leather jacket, a white shirt underneath, his brown hair still in a bit of a mess, and his Dark brown cargo pants had remained the same, albeit a few decorative gemstones have been added to make it literally shine.
Leon frowned. "I look undignified, but at least I'm wearing something now that doesn't smell like trash. Now let's get a move on! For once, I'm actually excited to see the princess of this land... and I know of a certain person from my world who'd love to see her too." Leon stated, shrugging off his distaste for the plainness of these clothes. The two mares and Leon quickly rushed down the road into town, all while a strange rounded green gem with a red center falls to the hardwood floor, left behind in the room as it emits a soft glow.
...
Fluttershy was starting her morning like any other, get up, tend to her mane, fly downstairs, have breakfast, and feed her animals... though today, she'd be a bit busier, as she tended to her animals and then immediately rushed out the door. Leaving the only other Animal there, a small white bunny, to scowl and feel confused.
...
"Look, I'm sorry if I can't tend to your orders right now, but I have important business somewhere today, so bye!!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, smiling as she closed up her place, and pushed a couple ponies out as she ran down the street. Among those ponies was a mule, a rather stronger and bigger mule with tufts of black hair and a Green horseshoe cutie mark on his flank.
"D'Aw Man, and I didn' even get to try one of those new fangled 'Cherry-Changas' my cousin told me about!" The mule stated, slightly disappointed.
...
Through the skies of Ponyville, Rainbow Dash was flying down to the ground, before flying above Twilight and a panicking Spike who's hanging on. "Gotta say, Twilight, I know we already planned on going to Canterlot, but I guess being summoned is a bit more convenient." Rainbow Dash said, flying beside the unicorn.
"I know, I don't know what she could want with us, but if it involves Leon, that saves us the trouble of figuring stuff out when it never seems obvious." Twilight remarked. Leon, Rarity and Applejack were running right beside the two, and Leon's face was slightly turning blue from how much he was running and breathing.
"Are.. We.. There.. YET?! I'm starting to see stars, and we aren't even out of Ponyville yet!" Leon exclaimed, his pace slowing down. Almost immediately, Leon was then suddenly on Pinkie's back as she ran and caught up with the others. Fluttershy quickly and carefully flew beside her friends, Spike, and the human, heading for the train station, and Leon felt a strange sense of Deja Vu, unaware as to why though, he shrugged it off and steadily got off of Pinkie as they approached a stallion at a desk, wearing what looked like a ticket booth worker's uniform.
"Uh... 8 tickets for the next train to Canterlot, please." Twilight asked. The stallion nodded, pressing a few things into place as he handed each pony, the dragon and the human each a ticket, all booked for the next train to Canterlot, and thus, they proceeded to sit down after running such a ways, waiting.
"I feel like I'm about to hurl... and I didn't even have breakfast this morning!" Leon stated, his face turning green as his stomach growled and churned. Pinkie reached into her mane and pulled out a container, opening it up and letting a sweet, fresh and warm scent permeate the station.
"Wow, that smells pretty good, whatcha got there in that container, Pinkie? Almost got me wishin' I had stopped to get somethin' on the way 'ere." Applejack asked, enjoying whatever freshly baked goods was making everyone feel a bit less worried.
"These? They're something I whipped up a couple hours ago before we got summoned. I figured it was gonna be a long trip, so I made a few containers in case it might take us a while to get to Canterlot. They're like a Donut made out of cookie and brownie dough with chocolate chunks and Caramel squares baked into the inner circles with a delicious peanut butter and apple butter spread on top, with a healthy coating of powdered sugar. I call them, The Pinkie Poppers!" Pinkie explained, smiling.
Leon could feel something wrong with him, cause it almost felt like his heart had stopped, and his blood suddenly got sweeter. He shook off this feeling and could clearly still feel his heart beating.
'This pony just made a frankenstein's equivalent to sweet and dessert pastries and confections and stuffed it with chocolate and caramel... Out of all the reality warping feats this pony has, this defies the laws of every culinary rule in the world... I gotta try this, I'm hungry.' Leon thought to himself, snapping himself out of the stupor as he slowly reached out to the container, his stomach growling more.
Pinkie smiled and put the container in his hands and he instinctively bit into one of these desserts, and almost immediately, he felt a sudden sugar rush as a smile formed on his face, and he began to scarf down the desserts in his container. "I've never felt so happy in my entire life! These are goooooooood!!" Leon excitedly stated, continuing to stuff his face with the strange desserts.
"Well, I have one happy customer! Consider these containers free samples, each one being made for your own tastes! Except for Leon's, I didn't know what he'd like, but at least I know he likes my failed batch!" Pinkie stated, handing the ponies their own respective containers. Leon was about to scarf down the last pastry in his box until he heard Pinkie's words.
He swallowed down whatever was in his mouth and put the pastry back in his box. "Wai- Wait!! Failed batch?! These taste perfect, what exactly is it about the ones I've nearly completely devoured that was considered to be failed?" Leon asked. Pinkie giggled.
"Ain't it obvious? Those ones were a bit underbaked, so they were still kinda raw, but after a couple more minutes, sure they were still raw, but they were a bit more edible. Though I'm surprised you managed to almost eat every single one of them! Either you're gonna have a stomach ache, or the worst sugar crash I've ever seen anypony, or any-creature ever endure." Pinkie explained, smiling.
"Oh, is that all? That's not much of an issue, we humans made raw fish edible, so it isn't that bad. Though eating raw dough might have a bad time going through me, at least maybe I'll live by some stroke of luck, that is if the princess doesn't off me first, but who knows?" Leon stated, relaxing as he shook from the sugar rush, finishing off the last pastry in his box.
"I don't know, Pinkie, I- I uh... I'm trying to go on a diet, and tomorrow's my cheat day, I don't think I could eat these... not today at least." Rainbow Dash stated. Leon and the ponies looked at the rainbow maned pegasus.
"You... Rainbow Dash... the pegasus training to be on the Wonderbolts... is on a diet... what a sudden development, I'll call the newspaper." Leon said sarcastically, smiling as he felt proud of that remark. Dash, however, glared down at Leon.
"And how'd you know I was training for the Wonderbolts, hairy arms?" Rainbow fired back. Leon's eyes widened, and he mentally smacked the hell out of himself for just blurting that out.
'And I'm going to die if I let my knowledge just suddenly spill out again... Bite your tongue, Leon, Bite it, and make it bleed... you don't need to be blurting this shit out, it could cause a change in the timeline... and I say this as if a human being around with the Omnitrix isn't gonna change anything... god damn it, I'm an moro-' But before Leon could continue that thought process, the faint but clearly audible sound of tracks clacking and a whistle blowing was slowly rolling in.
A pristine White, Gold, Navy and Silver colored train comes to a slow stop at the station, and a stallion steps out in a ticket inspector's uniform. "First call to those heading for Canterlot Station, All Aboard?" The inspector said. The ponies, Spike and Leon stood up and walked to the train, handing the stallion their tickets. While the ponies and Spike trotted inside the cart with no issue, Leon was about to follow them until he got stopped by the inspector.
"Hey, what's the big idea? I have a ticket!" Leon asked, a bit confused, waving his ticket in front of the Stallion, hoping he'd grab it. Instead, the stallion looked at the human, up and down... and the Omnitrix was what the stallion was focusing on. Leon felt incredibly uncomfortable and was about to reach for the device, until he heard Twilight call out.
"Leon, what's the hold up? We have to get to Celestia ASAP, a royal summons is not something you take a rain-check on!" Twilight called out. the inspector, who heard this, sighed and took the ticket, recognizing it as Leon snatched the Ticket back and stepped on the train.
'Damn humans...' The inspector thought to himself, scowling as he hopped on the train. The door closed and Leon found his way to a small booth seating and sat down with the ponies, as others started to look at him. Leon frowned and tried to ignore the looks, yet they seemed to burn holes in his mind, permanently etching their rude gazes into his brain.
"Leon, you okay?" Twilight asked. Leon looked back at Twilight and his expression lessened. Leon sighed and saw a white stallion with a black well trimmed mustache and a rather fancy work uniform come up with menus.
"Welcome to the express dine-N-Bar cart, what can I serve you on this trip, fair mares? And of course, the human and dragon can select from the servants menu." The stallion said. Fluttershy and Applejack could clearly feel a distinct sense of tension in the air, Twilight didn't know how to respond to that, as seen by the wide eyed look of confusion on her face.
Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie obviously didn't expect that, and were about to comment, until Leon started to glare daggers at the waiter. "What, did I say something wrong?" The stallion asked, confused. Leon leaned in close to the stallion and grabbed him by the ear. Twilight was about to interfere, until Applejack stopped her.
"Do I or the dragon look like we're in chains, garcon? Do you know what kind of sicko puts a baby dragon, or a baby human in chains, destined for slavery back where I come from? Those types of people don't get very happy endings. And that ticket inspector will join those people in that very not so happy ending. " Leon stated, still glaring at the stallion. He let his ear go and returned to the confines of his seat, Leon's face seemingly getting redder and redder.
The stallion swallowed something down and nodded, a bit unnerved, but still poised enough to do his job. It isn't this stallion's first time dealing with an offended customer, but this really made him feel all sorts of worries.
"M-My mistake, honest mistake, it won't happen again... A-Anywho, w-what can I get you?" The stallion asked, trying his hardest to keep his cool. Twilight put a hoof to her face and sighed.
"Could you give us a moment to think about our orders, please?" Twilight asked, smiling sheepishly. The stallion nodded and quickly trotted away in a dignified manner. As soon as the waiter was out of sight, the unicorn glared back at Leon.
"Leon, are humans always this rude or is this just you?" Twilight asked, finding Leon's choice to be rather impolite. Leon glared right back, his face practically as red as the stifled rage in his eyes.
"Well excuse me if I didn't like to be called a servant, a nicer way of just saying I should be in chains. He referred to Spike and me being servants, and I did not want to find out what was on the servant menu if it wasn't even food, not like I would've eaten anything, still full from those Pinkie Poppers I scarfed down." Leon stated.
Twilight groaned. "Don't change the subject, don't do that again, that's just rude... besides, there's always a better way of handling a situation like that, because what you did, that's just going to make others feel like humans are a threat... you can't be doing that." Twilight explained.
Leon rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, the red in his face slowly returning to his normal skin color as he tried to calm down. He knew Twilight was right, but that inspector just put him in a terrible mood, eyeing him, judging him... He felt so oppressed. Soon after, the waiter comes back, with a few new menus, and Leon takes his, opening it as he looks over what's available.
"Could I get some gems please with a side of fries?" Spike asked. Leon hadn't had fries since he got to this crazy pony world, but he was still full, not like he could stomach anymore than he already ate.
"Spike, I don't think they serve fast food on a high-class dining cart." Twilight said, obviously not wanting to deal with Spike and his love for fries.
"Actually, we do serve fries, we're trying to cater to the more 'middle-class' passengers, as they don't have a lot of that fine dining experience." The stallion said, interjecting.
"If that's the case, you got any sodas? I could go for something like Lemon-Lime flavored, if you got it." Leon asked. The stallion nodded as he took several of the ponies' orders and trotted off to have them prepared.
"I can't wait till we get to Canterlot, Darlings! It's been too long since we've been there, not since the Gala or when Discord made his return." Rarity said joyously, trying a fair bit to break the slight tension in the air.
"Yeah, I wonder if anyone'll recognize us as heroes or something... well, us, minus Leon, at least." Rainbow Dash said, imagining a slight bit of fanfare for herself as others bowed down to her.
"Look, being recognized is not gonna matter, not while we still have the main reason why we're going to Canterlot anyways. It'll be quick, we'll deal with the royal summons, we'll check out what's going on in Canterlot, and once we all had our fun, we go back to PonyVille, that fair?" Twilight offered. The others nodded as the waiter soon came back with their orders.
A Protein and Fruit salad with a glass of water for Dash, a freshly grilled steak with a glass of wine for Rarity, a couple sandwiches for Applejack and Fluttershy, Twilight just had a regular hayburger gourmet style, and Pinkie had a slice of some fancy cake. Leon just had a Lemon-Lime soda and Spike got his Gems and Fries.
...
Amidst the stars, The alien ship continues to loom over the planet below, and Psyphon, who has finally decided to initiate his next attack, has now relied on some... hired aide. Standing before him, down on one knee, is an armored bounty hunter, his face obscured and covered by a hood and a mask.
"I trust that due to our agreement, you will get your pay when you bring me the Omnitrix, so that I can properly hand it over to my lord. Are we clear?" Psyphon asked, a sinister grin on his face. The hunter nodded, face still obscured as he headed for the boarding deck, getting into his ship as he prepared himself to head down to the planet below.
"No more waiting, it's time to bring this fool to his knees... this world will belong to Vilgax, and the Omnitrix will be his to command!" Psyphon exclaimed, cackling maniacally as the hunter began his mission.
...
Leon and the ponies, after they finished their meals, ventured to the sleeper car to rest, better to be wide awake than slothful and in a bad mood. All the while, Leon is messing with the Omnitrix, twisting the dial in a number of ways to try and get rid of the dark violet color, but nothing changed.
"Twilight, you don't think we're gonna have a situation when we get to Canterlot, do you?" Applejack asked, pointing her hoof at Leon, who was too busy with fiddling with the watch on his wrist.
"Look, I don't condone treating someone with no respect, and Leon, regardless of his situation, doesn't excuse him to be rude or threatening to anypony... besides, a lot of ponies can be a bit stuck in their old ways, some won't change and very few will actually consider it... but that doesn't mean violence is always the answer." Twilight responded, a bit exhausted and still a bit irate about what Leon did.
"Twi, you're not bothered by how Spike was brought up in that? C'mon, even I'd be a bit concerned." Rainbow said skeptically. "Like, you didn't even say anything to lessen the severity of how bad that sounded." Rainbow added.
"I would've handled it if Leon didn't suddenly get aggressive!" Twilight gritted sternly, her face getting a bit red as she seemed to be getting angrier. Everypony, except for Spike, who was already fast asleep by this point, looked towards the human, only to see that he's been covering his ears with the pillows.
"Well, Leon? I'm still expecting you to reply before we get to Canterlot." Twilight said, trotting towards him. Leon looked down at the unicorn, seeing her scowl. Leon sneered and tossed the pillow into her face before getting up.
"I don't need to hear you berate me, princess! I know what I did was not okay, Alright?! I already feel bad about it, but I didn't see you do or say anything. Sure, it was a bit much, but everyone gets carried away sometimes... I know I can get carried away, but I don't want to judge things by how they look, I want to get all the facts and a straight story to the problem, but no one's perfect, and I do mean, no one, is perfect." Leon stated sternly, walking back to the doorway that led to the dining-N-bar car. "I'm going to get some air, don't wait up." Leon stated nonchalantly, opening the door and closing it behind him.
Twilight was about to go after him, but just groaned and sighed. The ponies all got into their respective beds and tried to sleep as the lights began to dim. She looked outside, seeing the sky begin to glow from the sunset. 'Gee, we must be on a slower train... hopefully the princess doesn't mind a bit of tardiness... or the fact that I might make an enemy out of the first human to be seen for decades... way to go, Sparkle, you sure know how to pick your words.' Twilight thought to herself, slowly falling asleep in the darkened cart.
...
Leon leaned against the railing, feeling the wind rush past him as he tried to think about everything that had occurred. The job he used to have, the only family he used to provide for, that damn gypsy animatronic thing that caused all of this, the purple lightning... him wearing the Omnitrix, and the trouble he's gotten into, whether it was on his own, thrown at him or he was thrown into danger. Now he's on his way to meet the princess, and he's getting all uppity about some pompous prejudice ponies with even more pristine and perfect lives... it's like he could easily compare the rich ponies of this world to the rich folk back in his world. Paradox said it himself, there was no way for Leon to go home... at least, not without external means, whatever that was supposed to entail.
"I can't believe Twilight has the nerve to berate me... I haven't been here that long, maybe it's been a couple days, I don't think it's been a week... or has it... I need a calendar or something... If I really am stuck here, what am I gonna do with my life at this point? The ponies seem to have a form of history here, describing that the humans native to this world had died off, all except for me, who came from another world... if there aren't any humans left... oh god, the human race is gonna die off a second time... well, that's a depressing way of looking at things..." Leon said to himself. He looked on at the setting sun, and pulled out his phone, looking at a picture of his mom. He felt a sudden wave of emotions wash over him as he pocketed the device and sighed.
"If I am gonna be stuck here, I need to apologize... I'll do it when we get closer to Canterlot," Leon said to himself, yawning a bit as he sees the sky get a bit darker. "Oh, nighttime already? We got on the train in the morning, it shouldn't be night already..." Leon wondered. There was a sudden twinkle in the sky amongst the various stars, it shined and was burning bright, until Leon looked real close, and saw that it was something honing in on him... an alien spaceship .
"Oh crap... Of course, the day I go to Canterlot, is the day shit spirals out of my control... fantastic. Okay, Omnitrix, I need you to work, like right now!" Leon stated in a panic. Leon noticed a ladder leading to the roof and climbed up, feeling the wind blow against him. He looked at the ship and tried to mess with the Omnitrix, only to be met by that strange dark-violet glow.
"Damn it... fine, I'll deal with this... my... self?" Leon slowly said, confusion in his tone of voice as he noticed the ship flying away. "Okay, that threw me for a loop. A spaceship, first one I've seen since I got to this magical pony world... and it's just gonna fly past?... huh, well, I guess whatever's on that ship, isn't gonna be my problem... for now, at least. Better head to bed, from the looks of things from this view, we're not even close to Canterlot yet... this is gonna be a long ride." Leon told himself. He climbed down from the roof and walked back into the now darkened sleeping car as he began to rest, all while the Omnitrix still illuminates the darkness with the dark-violet glow.
...
Back in Ponyville, the ship begins to slowly land and descend on the outskirts of the small town. The warrior opens the hatch up and hops on a hoverboard, and slowly begins to make his way through the pony town. He taps something on his right arm and it begins to record something as it speaks.
"Bounty Mission #456-P_20. I have been hired to reclaim the device of legends, the device of myth, The Omnitrix, from this strange equine world. It's unlike any planets I've ventured to before, as my instruments seem to be rather faulty, almost like whatever is making up the breathable atmosphere on this hunk of rock, it's unreadable by my machines... go figure, no one said finding the Omnitrix would be easy, but I am on route to its last known location of activation. Though I must always be on my guard, my informant tells me that the one who wears the Omnitrix is cunning and clever... so I'll track the Omnitrix's energy the old fashioned way. Will update by the time the dawn breaks anew, Igneus Out. End recording." Igneus whispered. The recording seems to have been saved as he traverses and floats his way through the Everfree Forest.
...
Leon is running. It's like all he knew how to do was run. He was in a panic, running from a looming shadow in a faded and colorless forest. He tried to run left, only to be met by more shadowy figures. Some human, some more pony-like in shape. Leon tries to go right, only to be met by a swirling sparkling star covered mass, glowing a dark violet color. Leon was trying to scream, but no noise came out. He looked back to see a towering figure in the shadows, and a strange light began shining brighter in front of him. He turned around and almost stopped running as he saw a white blur rush towards him, and before he, or any of the things chasing after him could collide, Everything was replaced by a sudden spark of purple light.
...
"Leon, for the love of Faust, get up!! Canterlot's literally on the horizon, and you're still asleep?!" Twilight called out, her horn sparking with magical energy as Leon was still asleep. Twilight noticed the watch glowing that strange violet color again, and decided to try something that might get his attention. She aimed her horn at the watch, and zapped it with a slight bolt of magic. "Let's see if that'll wake you up, Leo-"
Twilight was then interrupted by several loud high pitched beeping noises coming from the watch, which in turn, woke Leon up from his slumber, only to then start slamming on the watch as it sparked and glowed that dark-violet light, before finally the device began to glow brighter and brighter.
"Okay, what did you do?!" Leon exclaimed. Twilight covered her eyes from how bright the glow was getting. "I- I don't know! I just zapped it with a bit of magic, I was just trying to wake you up, not do... whatever this is!" Twilight retorted.
Leon just smacked himself in the face, knowing that this wasn't going to end well. This watch was already bugging out, what did the added zap of magic do to it in its current state? Not like Leon could figure it out, cause the moment Leon tried to hit it one last time, the glowing finally died down, but the Omnitrix was now deactivated. No lights, no glowing, no nothing, it just sparked, and shut off.
"Is... i-is it over?" Twilight asked. Leon just looked at the device, twisting the dial as it doesn't respond. "L-Leon? Answer me, what happened?" Twilight asked. Leon looked down at the unicorn and scowled.
"Way to go, princess, you broke it. You fucking broke the Omnitrix, ain't this just dandy?! I don't know how to turn this thing back on, I'm powerless, stranded, far from home, and now the moment shit goes out of control, I won't be able to defend myself! Thanks a lot, I hope that was what you wanted, cause that was one hell of a rude awakening, and you made a very poor choice!" Leon snapped.
"I was just trying to-" Twilight tried to talk, but Leon has had enough, a fire was burning in his glare, and it was the size of a whole jungle being reduced to ash.
"I was just trying to- just what, trying to get back at me for being rude the other day? Cause this is one dangerous way to get back at me. You've rendered me helpless, defenseless, the moment shit gets out of control, and you, your friends or your princess can't save you, don't come crawling to me, cause I relied on this thing! It was bugging the hell out already, and that little zap of magic just straight up fucked me over, as well as with the rest of Equestria!!" Leon said, gritting his teeth as he glared down at the unicorn.
"Leon, I- I'm sorry-" Twilight was about to keep talking again, until she slipped up on her words. She had never seen a human get so angry, let alone Leon being this aggressive, she had thought Leon was just a shy person who didn't like to mess around a lot. Needless to say, she was a bit unprepared for a sudden show of aggression.
"No, no you're not... just forget it, but the moment your princess, you or your friends can't fight something off, don't come crying to me, YOU turned off my powers... you go kiss Equestria goodbye Twilight, cause the moment we get to your princess's throne room, I'm gonna straight up call it and say that everything is about to get chaotic... I hope you know that you singlehandedly just broke the one thing that gave me my powers, and I don't know how to find the creator to turn it back on, if he even will... Let's get this royal summons over with, cause when we get back to Ponyville, I'm not talking to you for the rest of my life, and considering I'm calling on something going wrong, that won't require a lot of waiting." Leon sternly explained.
The whistle blew and the train began to slow its acceleration down, and Leon walked on ahead to meet up with the others, leaving Twilight in the passenger's car to regret her actions. "This isn't going to be a pleasant trip like I had hoped... I should've apologized, I was being irrational... now apologizing sounds like a real pipe dream... nothing but a fantasy." Twilight stated. She lowered her head and trotted onward to catch up with Leon and the others.
...
Igneus quickly maneuvers through the forest, before coming up on a staircase, leading downward to where his scanner was indicating the most potent remnants of the Omnitrix's energy.
"Alright, wielder of the Omnitrix... where did you go?" Igneus stated, tuning his tracker to the same frequency as the Omnitrix's energy. At first, he thought he had gotten a similar signal matching up, until it suddenly vanished. "Damn it, this planet's strange atmosphere is messing with my gear... there goes that approach, but I still remember where that brief match was... it was back where I came... or somewhere further in that direction. My hunt isn't over, yet." Igneus stated, compacting the hoverboard and hooking it back up onto his belt, only to create a powerful stream of fire from his feet as he launched himself in the same direction a set of train tracks seem to be going.
"You won't hide from me... no one escapes Igneus." He stated, shooting through the air like a fiery comet.
...
Leon, who's trying to get over his rage, is waiting casually with the other mares and Spike to get off and make their way to the castle. And judging by the silence between Leon and Twilight, the others can tell someone overstepped and someone said something that probably shouldn't have been said.
"Okay, there's been a change in plans. We're not gonna have a lot of time to look around and marvel at the fancy frilly stuff Canterlot has to offer, we need to get this royal summons done before we do anything else. Stay close, don't break away, this'll be over as soon as we get done with princess business. You can do what you want after that, okay?" Leon said simply, ignoring Twilight.
The others knew very well that this seemed a bit odd, but if Twilight wasn't objecting to it, then to them, this was what had to be done. Twilight would've loved to intervene, but she let Leon's words echo and ricochet around in her head. She even noticed how he was wearing his right sleeve much lower, she was having so much trouble with finding the right words to make things okay again, but Leon was adamant on wanting to hear nothing from her. The doors to the train opened and the ponies, Spike and Leon began to venture towards the huge castle high off in the distance.
Leon kept his eyes on the castle as he walked, thinking about everything that transpired, he felt conflicted, he knew he was conflicted, yet he can't bring himself to admit that maybe he was a bit too harsh, yet he never uttered a word.
"Ohhh, I just wanna see what kind of fantastic sewing materials are up for grabs, it'd be so beneficial for my boutique, I could actually draw in some new clients with those fantastic materials, darling!" Rarity ogled, looking as she saw a few ponies, stallions and mares observing the same thing.
"I tell ya, it'd be real fantastic to see what kind of planting methods are used for those produce, could probably get a brand new orchard's worth of seeds by the time we get done with this summons." Applejack wondered.
"Are we there yet? My hooves are getting tired." Pinkie asked.
"It's been 20 minutes, Pinkie. Leon, how much farther do we have to go?" Rainbow asked. As if things finally got somewhere, they finally reached a long stairway, leading up to the front entrance to the castle. "Not too long, now... just up a few steps, and this'll finally be over." Leon said as he began to run up the stairway.
As Leon kept running, the ponies followed after him, but lagged behind to try talking to the silent unicorn. "Okay, Twilight, what's goin' on? You haven't talked since we got off the train... I'm willing to guess that something happened, right?" Applejack asked. Twilight sighed.
"I messed up, really bad. Leon was lagging behind and I was trying to wake him up. I figured a simple magical jolt would've done it, so I blasted his watch, apparently he calls it the Omnitrix. It was the source of his abilities, and just from that jolt of magic, it suddenly started getting unstable, by the looks of it. It finally calmed down, but I think I shut it off, according to Leon's observation anyways. Leon doesn't know how to turn it on again, and now he's angry, he thinks I turned it off as payback for his rude attitude yesterday... I want to apologize to him, but he said he doesn't want to talk to me again for the rest of his life," Twilight explained in a regretful melancholic voice.
Her friends looked at her, and back at Leon, who was already waiting at the top. "Twilight, Darling, if you need help explaining things, you know we'll help you, right?" Rarity reassured. Twilight looked at them, smiling.
"We just need both sides of the story, I'm not gonna haphazardly make a brash decision or choice if I don't have both sides in check. Pinkie, Fluttershy and I will try to talk with him and see if we can't get him to explain what the issue might be. Rarity and RD, you two stay with Twilight and try to help her out with figuring out that apology. We'll talk more about this when we get back to Ponyville, understand?" Applejack stated. The ponies nodded as Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie ran up the flight of stairs, and motioned for Leon to come towards them.
Leon, not knowing what their plan was, goes along with this. Albeit, a bit skeptical. "Partner, what in the hay is goin' on with you? You can't see the princess while you're like this, it won't end well for anypony if we aren't honest with each other. We know one side of this story, Twilight's side. What's your side about? I'm not taking sides, I just want to keep a fight and/or an argument from breaking out or to at least keep us out of trouble." Applejack stated.
Leon knew she was right, and that same feeling urged him to not say it... but Leon knew that he had to, can't get someone else in trouble because you don't want to say what's on your mind. He took in a deep breath and sighed. "Sit down, this is gonna be a long talk." Leon said, admitting defeat as he sat down on the steps, as did the three ponies.
"Being an outcast in a world where you learn that your race is either dead or was wiped out, is not the easiest thing to live with... especially when you have to come to grips with the fact that you might be stuck in another world forever, knowing that everything you had before coming to this place, whether of your own free will or by some mysterious force dragging you here... everything, the life you used to have, the family you had, the friends who cared about you... they're gone... gone forever. And the fact that I have to be outed and specifically looked at before I do anything else, say for example, get on a train, I feel like I'm being called out for being different... and to me, that's not okay in the slightest. It makes me want to fight back, but I know that isn't right, and that'll never change." Leon explained.
"Be a bit more specific, Leon, what's your deal with Twilight all of a sudden? that last portion of info helps a bit, but we wanna know what the deal is with her." Applejack specified.
Leon sighed, and breathed for a moment. He rolled up his right sleeve, showing the Omnitrix, which has been unresponsive this entire time. "She used magic on this thing. You wanna know how this thing could take a furious beating from a hellish creature as tall as a 126 story tall building, and still be fine, but the slightest bit of magic can make this thing as useless as a demon in a room full of crosses?" Leon asked, and the ponies nodded.
"It's a simple answer really, it's like how you're not supposed to lick an electrical outlet, or put a fork in the microwave, or bring a plugged in toaster into the tub with you. Nothing ends well like how you think it will, in fact, it'll be quite the opposite. Magic, to the Omnitrix, is like the black plague to any living thing it infects, it just doesn't work. Twilight didn't know this, and maybe if I had explained it sooner, this probably wouldn't be happening..." Leon said, his mood changing to a more somber feeling.
"Now I'm powerless, defenseless, the next time a crisis occurs, I won't be able to step in. When HE shows up to take this thing, I won't be able to fight back even if I wanted to... I'm not strong enough on my own... with the Omnitrix, I'm like a god, but without it, I'm as useless as a bag of bricks in a flash flood." Leon lamented. He held his head down as he tried to keep back the emotions within him.
"Um... seems to me like you haven't had a lot of time to think about your situation, and just now, everything is coming down on you... All that stress, the anxiety, the worries that haven't happened yet, but still can... I- I think what you need is some reassurance, I'm sure that if you and Twilight just talk things out and apologize, I'm sure everything'll fix itself." Fluttershy suggested.
And for a brief moment, Leon tried to think of something to say, but there wasn't anything else he could tell that was relevant to the situation. "Come on, turn that frown upside down, Leon! Everything'll be fine, and that's a Pinkie Promise." Pinkie said, smiling. Leon looked back up at the ponies and sighed, standing up as he saw the other three ponies catching up.
"Go on, partner, we'll back you up from here." Applejack said, nudging Leon forward. Rarity and Rainbow Dash nudged Twilight forward as well, ready to back her up.
"Leon, I'm sorry. I- I didn't know what would happen, yet I still went through with it, and as a result, I took away your powers... I- I'm so sorry." Twilight apologized.
"No, I'm sorry. If I had mentioned sooner that Magic would break the Omnitrix in any way, maybe you would've thought twice with the information that I provided. I guess I was just worried with having to explain everything that I just kept important info to myself, and now look where that got us and what happened as a consequence... I'm sorry for not saying anything sooner... and I'm sorry for saying that I didn't want to talk to you ever again, I was just mad." Leon apologized. The purple unicorn just lowered her head.
"Hey now, feeling sorry for ourselves, or feeling sorry that things could've been a bit more reasonable won't give me my powers back, and it definitely won't fix everything, not now at least. I'm sure maybe after the magic dissipates, it'll work again, but until then, I can at least be my normal self for a change. All we can do now, is worry about what happens in this moment... and considering I was tempting fate earlier like I had nothing else to lose, something tells me there's gonna be something to focus on, and it might involve me running for my life... or maybe not, who knows really?" Leon stated, chuckling as a smile formed on his face.
Twilight raised her head and smiled, though she did think about that dark violet glow the Omnitrix was emitting... she coulda sworn she had seen it somewhere before. Before she could go too deep into that thought, she was suddenly pulled into a group hug, somehow pulling Leon down to her level as the pink pony squeezed the both of them in an ironclad grip of compassion and friendship.
"Glad to know Pinkie's always in high spirits. Anyways, can we save the hug for when we're not about to present ourselves to the royal ruler of the land?" Leon asked. Pinkie smiled and let him and Twilight go as they ventured to the front entrance, being stopped by a couple guards.
"I am the student of Celestia, Twilight Sparkle. Me and my Friends faced the likes of Discord and put him back into stone, and now we're here for the sole reason of being summoned for important business." Twilight told to the guards. The stallions looked at each other and stepped aside as the doors opened. The ponies, and Spike, trotted inside, and Leon was going to follow them, until the guards block his path.
"Ok, we're not doing this little song and dance again like on the train! Hey, tell these useless bozos I'm with you!" Leon exclaimed. Twilight and the others turned back, seeing the guards obstructing the way and trot back to try and explain things.
"Hey, he's with us, tweedle dee and tweedle dumb, you have a problem with him, you have a problem with us." Rainbow Dash said.
"The princess has her orders, No humans within the castle's perimeters. Not a single one got in yet, and we intend to keep following orders." One of the guards stated, ignoring the pegasus. Leon just stood there bemusedly.
"Uh-huh, and I'm an alien shapeshifter who's gonna slay the Jabberwock, find the chaos emeralds and save Narnia. You know what that tidbit of info shares in common with the princess's orders? They both aren't gonna happen, even 5,000 centuries from now. I need to see the Princess, the princess called a royal summons for her student and her friends. I'm a friend of the princess's student, do you wanna feel eternal sweltering heat when you piss off your princess and sweat your skeleton off?" Leon remarked.
"Humans. Are not. Allowed. In the castle!" The other stallion gritted. Leon instinctively reached for the Omnitrix, even if it didn't work, but then Twilight stepped in, grabbing the guards and lifting them up in the air with an impatient look on her face.
"He's coming in, I owe it to him to at least try to get him home, even if it seems nigh-impossible, and I need Celestia's help to do it. Back off, or you'll both be charged for treason. Do I make myself clear, you second-grade good-for-nothing golden-armor-clad donkeys with wings!?" Twilight exclaimed angrily. She dropped the guards as everyone just looked at Twilight, especially Leon. "Come on, we shouldn't keep Celestia waiting, though I am gonna tell her that this shouldn't be a main issue." Twilight insisted, trotting past her friends as the others slowly followed her.
Leon was a bit enamored and also very taken back by the sudden show of aggression. He shook off the shock and looked at the guards and helped them up, dusting off their armor as he ran inside to catch up with the mares.
'I was not expecting that from the mare who said violence wasn't the answer, but hey, I'll take it!' Leon thought to himself, a slight smile spreading on his face.
Meanwhile, on the lowest streets of Canterlot, several ponies from other parts of the world walked around in awe, until a sudden increase in heat had pushed them all into a building to avoid getting burned. From the skies, came Igneus, who landed and walked through the streets of the fancy pony city.
"I know you're here, somewhere, Wielder of the Omnitrix. For all I know, you might've taken the form of one of the natives. Might as well start from the top and work my way down." Igneus stated, walking in the direction of the castle.
...
The insides of the castle were exactly like how Leon thought they'd be... pristine, clean, and very taken care of. "Man, this castle is... well, for a lack of a better word, fancy." Leon commented.
"Well, what were you expecting, Trottingham Palace?" Twilight remarked, smiling as she eyed the interior. Leon could physically hear a symphony of his brain cells popping like bubbles from that pun. He completely forgot that some places in this world have horse pun based names. He loved puns, but at the same time, he felt they could've been a bit better.
"I wasn't expecting that level of fancy, but I guess I'm just used to places like Georgia or Florida to know that I live in a country back in my former world with no royal hierarchy to govern over them, just politicians screaming and debating while nothing gets done." Leon admitted.
"Politics in your world must be very confusing, huh?" Twilight asked. Leon shuddered.
"Like you wouldn't believe..." Leon stated. He looked at the Omnitrix, still seeing it deactivated and unresponsive. He pressed the button to pop the core up, and upon doing so, a flowing stream of purple, green and cyan colored sparkles erupted from the device, showering the whole hallway with them.
"Holy Hellraiser!" Leon uttered, falling backwards as the magical sparkles finally stopped pouring out of the watch. Leon looked at the device as it sparked and flashed its Cyan color before finally being overwhelmed by that dark violet color.
"Ok, what is wrong with that thing? Why is it glowing like that?" Rainbow asked curiously. Leon looked at the device, seeing it automatically start to show an icon of some sort of biped creature, surrounded or shrouded in something. Leon felt so tempted to try this new form, but he held himself back and refused to do it. He got up and looked ahead, seeing the doors to the throne room.
"Look, I think there's something wrong, like definitely wrong... and considering I only know of one person who might know how to fix this, and if they aren't here, we might be facing the end after all. Let's talk to Celestia, maybe she'll know something. Heh, the chances of Celestia knowing how to fix this thing are practically zero." Leon stated. The ponies, Spike and Leon ran to the doors, and as they opened up, inside was the throne room.
The windows perceiving events that had occurred and were memorialized in these stained glass panes. The Elements of Harmony sealing Discord away for the first time, The big battle with Celestia and Nightmare Moon, and a glass pane revealing Twilight and her friends resealing Discord back into stone, though one specific glass pane held Leon's attention... a meteorite crashing into an empty field, and from it a humanoid shaped figure with the darkened figures of Leon's current playlist, all 10 of his aliens... though there was only 10, one of them stood above them all, a biped creature, shrouded in something.
'Oh god... d- don't tell me this is some sort of dark prophecy... don't be a dark prophecy, don't be a dark prophecy, don't be a dark prophecy, for the love of Luna herself, please don't be a dark prophecy!' Leon thought to himself, his expression changing to worry and doubt. He tried to straighten up and focus on the Alicorn sitting on the throne.
Celestia was basically the same. Big wings, big horn, wavy and sparkly colorful hair, a big sun on her ass, and golden royal wear. Though she seemed to definitely be different, and Leon could tell the moment she locked eyes with him, she was now aware of how important this was, even if Leon didn't understand how so.
"My faithful student, I see you found a human... and brought it into my castle. I see that Discord's defeat has helped you grow to be a bit more adventurous if you were able to find one of these humans, especially in such healthy condition." Celestia stated, smiling warmly.
"No, this human was at the magical disruption you tasked us to investigate. He knows nothing of the human history in our world, but he's familiar with the history of the world he used to belong in. I- I'm sure you got my letter, hand delivered to the castle myself." Twilight stated. Leon finally broke his gaze from Celestia's and re-focused on the pane with that mysterious creature.
"Excuse me, human? Can you understand what I'm saying?" Celestia called out. Leon looked at Celestia and she could see the worry and the fear in his eyes.
"Y-Yeah, I can understand you perfectly... sorry, I'm just really interested in that glass pane over there, really well done, but holy cow, I'd hate to be whoever that is." Leon said, trying to suppress every feeling in his body that was telling him to run and not stop till he got to a non-pony civilization.
"Yes, I had that put in just a couple days ago, as per recommendation from an old friend of mine. But, let's not dilly dally on why you were all summoned here," Celestia said, averting her gaze to Twilight. "Twilight, you said you wanted my assistance on something?" Celestia asked.
"O-Of course, I need help getting the human, Leon, back to his world. He feels as if he's permanently stuck here, and I figured, maybe with your help, we could possibly send him home with the right 'Return to Origin' Incantation. I know that's an old spell, but it's all I got for how we can help him." Twilight stated. Celestia was about to say something about the whole thing, until a low pitched siren sound began to blare out. Leon covered his ears, and noticed the Omnitrix freaking out again.
Leon slammed on the Omnitrix hard, hand balled into a fist, and slammed it on the device, causing the blaring to stop, only to be replaced by a low beeping sound. "My apologies, your highness, this thing just doesn't want to... t-to..." Leon's words began to slowly stop as he and the ponies looked at Celestia, who had stood up and readied her horn. Her eyes were filled with a contempt and silent rage as Leon was picked up and forced into the wall.
"Princess Celestia, what are you doing!?" Twilight yelled. "Getting that infernal device off of him! My student, use your magic on it, that thing can't register or recognize magic in any state, blast it!" Celestia exclaimed. Leon struggled to move, but couldn't move an inch.
"As if I already didn't need a reason to dislike Celestia, and here I thought she was gonna help me get home, not try to kill me!" Leon exclaimed, still struggling to get free of her magical hold.
"Princess, stop! Please, he's done nothing wrong!" Twilight pleaded. Celestia just trotted forward, still holding Leon against the wall as he tried to escape, but failed miserably.
"Listen to me now, Human, you will NOT bring about the end of Equestria, not on my watch!!" Celestia stated sternly. Leon tried to wiggle free, but soon found that his legs were free, and also covered in a purple magical glow, where as his upper body was enveloped in a golden glow. Twilight was on the sidelines, trying to use her own magic to counteract Celestia's own, but it seemed to be failing.
So, to use this opportunity without a single form of hesitation, he does exactly what every Celestia hater wished they would do if they ever met the real Celestia... he reeled his legs back and once Celestia was in close range, he slammed his feet into the Princess's muzzle, causing her to stagger as he was freed from the magical grasp.
"Let me tell you something Princess Celestia, you have no idea how cathartic and satisfying that choice alone was for me, so I'm going to give you a real roundabout!" Leon said, twisting the dial on the Omnitrix to the new icon. "Time to see what this one can do." Leon stated, popping the core up and raising his hand to slam the core back down.
For a moment, however, he felt a chill run up his spine the moment he saw the dark violet glow leaking out of the watch itself, and it was covered in stars. He remembered that thing in his dreams being covered in stars, glowing with that dark violet color... the thing chasing after him... before he could think on it further, he pushed the core down, in a flash of Cyan light, Leon was gone...
But in his place, however, was another figure. It stood at 10 feet tall, armored in a dark blue knight's armor with white, gray and Black accents. His cyan eyes were visible through his helmet's holes, and the Omnitrix's emblem, was acting as what hooked together the figure's torn and ragged cloak.
"Okay, that looks pretty cool!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
"Ogle it all you like, cause now, all is lost... I can still bring great pain upon you, Erebus!! Hide behind a mortal man, you still won't escape the light of the sun!" Celestia exclaimed, charging right towards the armored fighter.
In a swift motion, the entity known as Erebus soon vanished in a puff of black smoke, only to trail towards the throne, and began firing huge shadowy orbs at the Alicorn. She dodged them swiftly and blasted a bright golden beam of light at the entity, only for it to be blocked by a shadowy force field.
"Ok, I get that they are fightin', but we need to step in and stop the fight from escalatin'! Rainbow, you need to kick one of them as hard as you can, words are kinda failing on us 'ere." Applejack stated. Dash nodded and flew towards Celestia, only to then be blocked by a shadowy force field, generated by the knight.
"NO!! LET THIS HAPPEN!!! SIT THIS ONE OUT, YOU'LL JUST GET YOURSELF HURT!!! " The knight exclaimed, his voice was warped, broken, almost sounding like two separate entities were speaking through it at the same time. The knight leaped forward, shaping shadows in his hands into what looked like a Warhammer. The alicorn gritted her teeth and countered his strikes with light shields, which seemed to dissipate and dwindle the warhammer's stability, what with it being made of shadows.
The knight tossed his weapon aside and collided with the Alicorn, both of them were struggling to overpower one another, but it looked to be that it was a stalemate, something the princess didn't account for, yet she still attempted to overpower this strange entity that Leon had become.
"Please, Celestia... Stop!! This isn't solving any of our problems! If this fight escalates, innocent lives could be put at risk. Think about your subjects, how would they react if they're beloved ruler had suddenly put their lives on the line over some glass pane? " The knight pleaded. The alicorn kept trying to fight, but she was listening. This didn't sound anything like who she thought it'd be.
"Please!! Come back to your senses! It doesn't have to end like this! I don't know what this is about, but I have control over... whatever the hell this guy is, and I never intended to hurt anyone. I haven't hurt anyone since I got here! I don't even know what day it is, but it's felt like a week! " The knight pleaded. Soon enough, Celestia wanted to think that this was the human talking, but she didn't want to take any chances.
She eventually let out a burst of magical power, knocking him back. And immediately got ready to charge up another magical beam, and the knight put up another force field, only to then have it shattered by the princess, who came charging full force, smashing it to pieces and blasting the Omnitrix with the magical beam she had charged up. In a sudden, and rather abrupt flash of red light, Leon was sent flying till he hit another wall.
He groaned and slumped down as Celestia walked over, her face full of anger as she got closer. Leon felt his body aching, his body couldn't keep up... he saw Celestia charging up one more magic laser, and Leon thought it was the end... Leon closed his eyes as everything suddenly got bright.
Leon braced himself for the end, and suddenly... Everything had gone dark.
Author's Note
Don'tcha just love cliffhangers?
And for anyone curious as to what the hell transpired at the end, was basically me incorporating or revealing a layer of lore to this story, lore that pertains to shit that happened long before Leon got Displaced, and shortly after Celestia and Luna had been turned into Alicorns and had been dubbed the new rulers of equestria.
More on that at a later date.
Royal Complications Part 2
Leon had braced himself for the end, knowing very well that he was definitely not going to live anything Celestia throws at him in his human form.
'Dear god, so this is how my story ends. A lackluster life in one world, then I'm sent to another with extraordinary powers, and I'm gonna be destroyed by this crazy literal bleach white alicorn over something I'm not understanding... there's weirder ways to go, but this is the weirdest way to die.' Leon thought to himself, as everything went dark.
This was it, this was where he died, battered and bruised, defenseless and possibly disintegrated by an alicorn. He waited for the end, and yet, even in this newfound darkness he was seeing, he still felt the pain of his injuries. Leon opened his eyes a bit, only for them to widen as he saw Celestia's attack being suddenly nullified, dissipating it into a small shimmering swarm of sparkles as another alicorn makes herself known; her dark navy-violet coat and the huge black splotch with a Crescent moon on her flank showed exactly who this was, in case the sparkling star filled blue wavy mane didn't already show who this was.
Though the look of absolute rage was a new look for the alicorn in front of him... the Princess of the Night, Luna .
"TIA, STAND DOWN, NOW!!! " The alicorn's voice boomed. Everypony could feel and hear the volume in her voice, and for Leon, he was just happy that he wasn't actually dead yet. Celestia's aggressive expression lessened and softened a bit as she looked at the other alicorn, who was incredibly displeased with what was about to happen.
"Honestly, Celestia, I can't stay away from my throne for a few minutes without you blowing something out of proportion, you nearly killed a Human! Whether he comes from our world or not does not matter, they are on the brink of extinction, and you thought it to be a good idea to try and kill the human!? Have you no shame, let alone gratitude to what the humans have given us, and allowed us to understand? Stand down, dear sister, I don't want to have to reverse the roles of what happened a thousand years ago because of your brash actions!" The mare stated lividly, trotting forward as she backed Celestia against a wall.
"Luna, the humans had-" Celestia started, but soon got shut up by the other alicorn.
"No, Tia, the humans did not cause discourse among our people and theirs, the changelings did a lot of that on their own, but you were too busy worrying about the whereabouts of Discord that you couldn't tell the difference, and so, as always, I had to take charge and find peace. And everything would've been fine, if you hadn't stepped in with that old spell you learned from Starswirl." Luna stated sternly.
Celestia picked herself up and glared at her sister. "I used that spell for the benefit of our people, how was I supposed to know that-" Celestia was interrupted by a sudden echoing sound of someone clearing their throat. The two royal sisters turn towards the sound and see Twilight, along with her friends, and a beaten and battered Leon in front of them.
"First off... *cough cough cough* forgive my language, your highnesses, but that fuckin' hurt... I think- I think you broke one of my ribs. Second off, I think there's a lot of explaining that needs to be done... maybe after I don't feel like my body is about to fall to pieces." Leon said, trying to move his body, only to be met by sudden jolts of pain that stopped his attempts.
"And then there's the matter regarding that device. Celestia, you need to take a moment to recollect yourself and not act like such a fool... this issue is out of your hooves, I'll be the one to take the reigns on this issue. That is the final say, sister." Luna stated, his anger still present, but lessening over time. Celestia was about to retort, but stopped herself as she looked at the element bearers, all with confused expressions, and Twilight was just racked with conflicting thoughts and feelings, she couldn't decide on what to ask first, let alone where to start with which question.
Twilight nearly had a panic attack right then and there if it wasn't for Pinkie trying to ease her stress away. RD and AJ tried to carefully help Leon up, even if his body was tensing up from the pain he was experiencing. "Time for another trip to the hospital, I presume?" Leon asked sarcastically. Luna approached Leon and her horn glowed a semi bright blue-ish purple aura, and soon, his body was enveloped in that same magical aura.
He felt the pain fade away from his body, and even feeling his wounds start to rapidly heal. In a flash of white sparkling light, Leon stood on his own two feet, looking as he did before Celestia got suddenly aggressive. "Figured I'd save you the trouble of having to go through, er... several grueling medical procedures, since most of them were for humans, and since they died out, they are completely outdated and haven't been properly acclimated, modified or changed to benefit from modern medicines." Luna stated, a sheepish smile on her face.
She composed herself and went to sit on her throne, a dark teal colored stone throne right beside the cushioned, red and golden throne for the princess of the sun. "Twilight Sparkle, whatever it is you came to Celestia for, I will try to accommodate properly, but before you suggest anything, I'd like to have a private talk with the human. Celestia, be on your way to deal with the dignitaries, and Twilight, you and your friends can wait by the door till you are summoned inside again." Luna stated. Celestia silently gritted her teeth, and sighed, trotting away while the ponies slowly trotted to the exit and waited by the door as it closed.
It was just Leon and Luna, in silence, a deafening, sinister, yet comforting silence. "Human, what do I call you?" Luna asked. Leon gulped and took a deep breath as he exhaled.
"Leon, or if you're looking for a full name, I'm Leon Derrickson, your nocturnal highness." Leon said, trying to be cordial as he took a knee. Luna snickered a bit at this, and Leon soon felt like a moron that was new to the concept of being a polite ass-kisser.
"Leon, you do not have to be formal with me. I may be a princess, but I am all too familiar with how you humans like to be respectful in the presence of those above you in terms of status. While it was flattering the last few times humans showed this formal respect to me in my presence, I don't want you being in a position of thinking it's a mandatory or strict requirement to be cordial and poised in my presence," Luna explained. Leon mentally smacked himself in the face and got up, dusting himself off as he exhaled. "Now tell me, Leon, from what I overheard from Celestia a bit earlier, she was trying to destroy the watch on your wrist, correct?" Luna asked.
Leon rolled up his sleeve, to show the Omnitrix to the alicorn, and unlike Celestia, Luna seemed rather enamored, and dare he thought, excited to behold the device itself. "Impressive, it's still a prototype, but your mastery over the Omnitrix is already remarkable. Tell me, how many Alien transformations have you used thus far? I presume there's only 10 to a playlist, right?" Luna asked.
Leon's mind was filled with questions, and not a single one made him feel any sort of panic, though it did concern him that Luna knew of this thing by its name. "I guess 10, but during my short brawl with your sister, I became something new, I didn't know exactly what I was doing, but this new guy, some sort of knight with a shadow inside, he looked like a video game final boss, and he had powers like one. So, by technicality, I have 11, but I don't recognize that guy from anywhere." Leon answered.
The princess eyed the device and then decided to use her magic. She pressed the button on the Omnitrix, popping the core up as she used her magic to turn the dial. She eyed and analyzed each form at a time, and then she got to the 11th form in question. "For some odd reason, Celestia kept calling this guy Erebus. I'm not a huge mythology guy, but isn't Erebus the name of one of the greek gods, and I might be wrong on this guess, but isn't that the Greek god of darkness?" Leon asked. Luna's excitement was not quelled or halted, but concern was slowly forming in her expression.
"I know this guy had the ability to warp and manipulate shadows, possibly because that alien, if I can even call it an alien, is a living shadow in that knightly armor, but I don't remember Greek warriors wearing Knight's armor, which is more medieval than something that a powerful Greek or Roman warrior would don in battle." Leon explained. Luna removed her magical grip on the Omnitrix and looked Leon in the eyes.
"Transform. I fear that this entity is not an alien, but in fact Erebus, trying to resurrect himself through the Omnitrix, and by extension, you. In order to make sure Erebus does not truly return, you must transform into him and I must banish his wicked soul somewhere it cannot escape." Luna stated.
"Ok, slightly concerning plan, especially since this might actually break the Omnitrix this time, but it seems to be all we got at the moment, only one question, if you don't mind me asking." Leon said. Luna nodded, awaiting the question. "What the hell's gonna happen to me if you're trying to banish Erebus!? Am I gonna get banished with him?" Leon asked worriedly.
"You needn't worry, I will just use an exorcising spell to separate Erebus' state of being from you, and banish him somewhere he will never return from. You just need to keep calm, and all will be well. Trust me, my sister did it before when I was in a similar situation... and thanks to her for teaching me this spell, I know how to solve this issue myself, for those who can't do it themselves." Luna explained.
Leon was having so much trouble understanding all of this, and took a deep breath and exhaled. "Princess, if I may say something... the Omnitrix, it doesn't do well with magic of any kind, Twilight found out the hard way, and I thought I lost my powers, so how do you plan on separating me and Erebus if the Omnitrix goes haywire at the slightest contact with magic?" Leon asked.
"Yes, you have a point, but I have something to temporarily fix this issue. An old friend of my sister's had actually foretold to me of your arrival, I wanted to personally meet you myself, but according to him, and I quote, 'It'd lead to catastrophic consequences far worse than Nightmare Moon and Discord put together', as stupid as that sounded," Luna stated, magically summoning a satchel as she rummaged through it, still explaining about what this thing she has is that'll fix the main problem.
"So, ever since the foretelling of your eventual arrival, I haven't been as able to interact with you or call upon you, as that would draw suspicion on me, and Celestia would actually charge me for treason and mutiny against my subjects... I personally think that crown's been on her head for too long, it looks like it's cutting off blood circulation to her massive ego sized head, if you asked me." Luna remarked. Leon couldn't help but snicker at that, trying to not break out into a laughing fit as he tried to breathe and control himself, earning a very earnest smile from Luna.
"So for the long, lecherous week this has been, I withheld any attempts to bring your presence to light, studying what I was given for this exact situation, and now with you being here, almost fulfilling the worst prophecy to ever be told to come true, that strange stallion gave me the one thing that we need to make sure the Omnitrix doesn't detonate itself by mistake," Luna stated. She used her magic to pull out a small metal cuff with a hole in one part of its side.
Leon, unsure of what to make of this, lets the alicorn casually attach the cuff over the Omnitrix, the hole was still giving Leon access to the dial, but he couldn't press the button to push the core up, so while he could select his aliens, he couldn't properly use any of them with this cuff on. "Ok, so what the hell is this thing, and how is it supposed to help our situation? Cause I'll admit, I've never seen this before." Leon admitted, asking as he knew nothing about the cuff-like device being donned over the watch.
"This is a magically enchanted cuff, meant to negate the shapeshifting magicks of changelings. I had to modify it a wee bit for it to work accordingly with the Omnitrix." Luna explains nonchalantly. She can clearly see Leon's blank emotionless face as if she could actually see the gears in his brain grinding away as he tried to process this information. "I suppose you're not used to hearing this sort of thing from a Princess, correct?" Luna asked.
"No, I wasn't expecting to hear anything about that in general from anyone native to this world... I am rethinking everything in ways I didn't consider, and I might need to sit down before I overwhelm myself with too much thinking... Oooohhh jesus christ, my head's already hurting." Leon explained, his honesty being more than enough for the princess.
As Leon clutched his head, trying to rub his temple slowly to ease the pain, Luna gets on Leon's right side and pokes the Omnitrix's dial with her horn, quietly mumbling something under her breath as magic began to charge up, and Leon was a bit worried about what might happen, but it's not like he could do anything now... at least, nothing that could make the situation better.
...
Outside of the throne room, Twilight and the others wait patiently, though Twilight herself, was getting incredibly antsy.
"Hey, Twilight, chill for a moment... I'm sure everything's fine... Actually, no, I think things are only starting to seem fine, but we don't know what could be happening on the other side of the doors. Trust me, I wanna hear everything that's going on in there as much as you do, but sometimes there are some things we just can't hear, not just yet at least." Rainbow explained. The unicorn mare seemed incredibly in thought about something, and it wasn't the information she was missing out on while Luna and Leon discussed whatever, but rather it was the name of that strange transformation that just echoed in a plethora of volumes in her head.
Celestia called it Erebus, what did her teacher know that she wasn't informed about?
'Erebus... Erebus, Erebus, Erebus. Where have I heard that name before? Erebus... How does Celestia know that name, let alone who that is? Who is Erebus, what is Erebus... how does this all correlate to everything?' Twilight thought to herself.
Twilight pressed her ear up against the door, hearing faint magic based sounds coming from the other side, as well as a strange beeping sound. Applejack sighed and put her face to her hoof, knowing she can't do anything else, but knew very well that Twilight was either going to bust down the door herself, or be thrown in the dungeon for even attempting such an idea.
"If I could just barely crack the door open a bit and look inside, I could see what's going on in there." Twilight stated, slowly but still making a very firm attempt at pushing the doors open a bit, only to slump down to the carpeted floor.
"Twilight, Darling, just try to be patient. It's obvious that whatever's going on, it pertains to stuff that we don't know anything about. Sure, he's told us that those beastly things are aliens, but we don't entirely know the full story behind how that's possible. Just try to remain calm and poised, wait for when the moment is right to intercept about this sort of stuff." Rarity explained, trying to calm the unicorn's anxious curiosity and overwhelming urge to learn something new.
"Yeah, gotta admit, Rarity's right on this one, Twilight, we just need to chillax, wait till Leon's done in there with whatever's going on, and if everything works out, then maybe when he's calm and not fighting one of the princesses, we can ask him to explain a few things to us. Besides, maybe he'll have important info that we might need later on, you never know, we just gotta relax, chill out, and wait... and that's coming from me, somepony who doesn't wait for anything or anypony else." Rainbow Dash reassured.
Twilight looked to her friends and was about to comment on something, until a huge glowing amber colored light began to encroach on them, revealing Igneus, who was still clad in his bounty hunter attire.
"Woah, who's that?! He looks so cool!! You think he's one of the good guys?" Rainbow Dash asked, hyped and completely impressed by the armor the hunter was wearing.
Igneus looked down at the equestrians and the baby dragon, then up at the pegasus with the rainbow mane, only to scoff. "Six little Equestrians and a newborn Dragon, bunched up against a set of golden doors. My instincts and skills of using context clues tell me that this leads to the throne room, and you six are in my way. Move, otherwise you'll be turned into freshly roasted horse haunches in a matter of seconds. " Igneus warned, igniting several small flaming orbs in his palm.
The ponies, now intimidated by the strange new foe in front of them, bunched up together, still scared, but were willing to fight. "Ok, definitely a bad guy... We can do this, he ain't so tough!" Rainbow Dash bluffed. The ponies charged at the armor clad warrior, except for Fluttershy and Spike, who were just trying to hide.
"Fine then..." Igneus sighed, the fire in his palms igniting into a more bright white color, "die for nothing." Igneus uttered, firing small beams of hot white heat from his finger tips. The ponies dodged the flaming projectiles, only to then see the carpet start to ignite and burn at an alarming rate.
Rainbow Dash quickly flew towards Igneus and delivered a swift kick to the stomach, knocking him back a bit, only for him to counter Applejack's kick by grabbing her with his other hand and tossing the earth pony into the light blue pegasus with extreme force, knocking them back.
Pinkie managed to pull out her Party Cannon, loading it up with several miscellaneous items before firing them at Igneus, who erupted a bright blue fire wall, which instantly charred most of the items or melted them into a useless paste.
"Pathetic excuse for weapons, you only have level 1 technology for combat, but level 3 and level 4 tech for your own entertainment and employment advances... if there was ever an example of a race that evolved backwards, and thought solely like simple-minded children, you pitiful Equestrians are the best example of that!!" Igneus gritted loudly, constantly blasting searing hot red streams of fire at the pink pony, only to have them being blocked by a light pink shield made of magic.
Twilight quickly blasted magical beams, only for them to be countered by more small beams of seering hot white flames, negating both blasts upon contact, but soon got knocked pretty far back by a blast of magic originating from Rarity, who seemed pretty proud of herself with that attack. Getting incredibly infuriated by how only 5 of these Equestrians are pushing him back, he decided that now was not the time to hold back. He had a job to do, and a bunch of Equestrians weren't gonna stop him after he got so close.
Igneus deactivated his suit, having it collapse and clatter onto the floor, revealing his real form to the Equestrians. His body, made up entirely of a bright white magma, his body was covered in what looked like rocks, tough dark gray rocks. His face was almost chiseled from the dark gray rocks to look like a skull, only with sharp pointy teeth and four eyes. Two huge eyes, and two smaller ones above them.
"I will not fail... so if I have to, I'll burn this world down and reclaim the Omnitrix from its ashes... and I'll start with you little Equestrians, and your little Dragon spawn, too!" Igneus stated, readying one more attack, a huge white fireball twice his size, burning as bright as the sun, and burning bright. The ponies could barely look at it at all from how overtly bright it was, but the heat it was putting out, it was almost enough to make anyone collapse, and sure enough, one by one, they began to collapse...
Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie, Applejack, Twilight, then Fluttershy. Spike, now worried about everything that was happening, was incredibly worried about what would happen, closing his eyes as he tried to un-blind himself from the white fiery light.
...
Leon was trying to brace himself for what Luna was about to do, but as he waited, he could hear the commotion going on in the corridor, the muffled chaos behind the closed doors made him feel like he needed to go out and see what was happening. Before he could, he noticed that the glow from Luna's horn had soon died down, revealing a small gray wisp emitting a red aura was contained in some sort of ancient bottle. He looked at the Omnitrix, seeing it return to its cyan color.
"Ok, the Omnitrix should be working again, no magical or god-like interference." Luna said, hoping it was working alright. The chaos got even louder, and a bright white light was shining through the door's cracks.
"And not a moment too soon, I get the feeling that I need to do something real quick, and the Omnitrix is practically mandatory for this." Leon stated, running to the golden doors, and throwing them open. Spike rolled to Leon's feet, and Leon, who was a bit blinded by the sudden white light, instinctively slammed on the Omnitrix, trying to combat the blistering white glow with the cyan light being emitted from the device.
"Time to wipe you puny ponies out, join those pitiful humans in the bowels of hell! Any last words?" Igneus asked, smiling in a sinister manner.
"Just one, SWAMPFIRE!!! " a new voice called out. Igneus could just barely make out a cyan colored glow amidst the blinding white light before being hit by a stream of cyan colored flames, which knocked him back a bit, and dissipated his white fireball.
The ponies were too pressured by the unyielding and burning heat, trying to keep themselves awake as they barely saw the dark black Methanosian, known as Swampfire, lumbering over them, and gently carrying them towards the throne room before setting them down.
"Spike, look after them, and tell them I'm dealing with the situation. Princess Luna, I'd like to chat a bit more, but that can wait till I deal with this... just look at the clock... It's Hero Time ." Swampfire stated. The Methanosian rushed out of the door, using black vines to pull the doors closed.
Luna looked at the element bearers, seeing them sweating, paling, gasping for air as they struggled to stay conscious, and then looked at the dragon trying to console them.
"Little dragon, I assume you're the one who is in Twilight's care? If you wish to help, fetch me several wet towels, make sure they are cold, colder than the dead of night on the coldest winter season!" Luna told the dragon. Spike nodded as he ran off somewhere that he didn't know where to go, while Luna used her magic to summon several of the towels she needed, covering each of the element bearers in one.
Luna looked towards the golden doors, and just sighed, knowing that this might get crazy. She looked at the bottle containing what must've been Erebus, and with a look of distain, made it vanish with her magic.
...
Igneus, just barely trying to comprehend what just happened, gets up and looks at the strange alien before him. "Heh, and here I thought you Methane huffing meat eaters didn't have albino forms, you look charred beyond compare, yet you don't seem bothered. What's a Methanosian doing on this pitiful planet, anyway?" Igneus asked rhetorically, noticing the obvious detail of the Omnitrix being visible.
Igneus was very impressed, especially with the rumors and myths about this device, and was actually pretty intrigued that the rumors were in fact true. Guess his buyer wasn't bullshitting him when he said that this was what he wanted.
"Oh, y'know, the usual, being a badass, knowing that I'm the only one of my kind on this planet, and not liking how you nearly flash fried my friends, so I'm gonna put you out like a cigarette bud." Swampfire humored a bit, gritting his teeth as he ignited two cyan fireballs in his palms. Swampfire really got a good long look at this weirdo, and for the most part, was pretty much reminded of Heatblast, but he never saw Heatblast do this before. "So, what the hell are you supposed to be? You look like a Pyronite spray-painted entirely white, and rubbed light gray ashes on your rocks." Swampfire remarked.
Igneus growled. "I am a Pyronite. I just had to... adapt to a new environment, but I'm still the living fire man I used to be... I just come packed with a couple of new tricks that normal members of my kind can't do. For example," Igneus forms two of his fingers into long, sharp, flaming blades, and then jams them into Swampfire's abdominal area before slugging him in the face with his other hand, then kicking him into the wall. "I can shape and morph the magma that makes up my body into blades." Igneus states, morphing his fingers back to their normal shape.
Swampfire groaned and slowly got up, holding his side as he looked and saw a light green fluid slightly leaking from his wound, only for it to regenerate and heal itself. "That's... new. So what's your deal, huh? You want the Omnitrix for yourself, for whoever hired you to take it, or can I bank on the fact that you might be a nice guy, and you're misunderst-"
Swampfire could barely finish that sentence before getting blast through the wall, and careening downwards to the streets of Canterlot, only to use his senses and let out a barrage of vines, sticking them into various buildings as his descent slowed, catching him in a net of his vines, only for them to suddenly be burned to ash by Igneus, who now floated above Swampfire on a small platform made of pure white flames.
"How incredibly stupid, you're using a Methanosian to fight me? The methane in your body can be ignited, you fool! I'll roast you alive from the inside with one well-placed shot!" Igneus stated, charging up a powerful white wisp on his fingertip.
'Ugh... It's times like this where I wish I had picked an alien with fire resistance. Now that I think about it, Swampfire was actually a dumb choice! If I can ignite the methane in my own body, what's to stop some wacko from getting the same idea, and blowing me to bits!? This guy actually thought about this... Damn it all, why didn't I go for someone like Diamondhead?!' Swampfire thought to himself. The Omnitrix then promptly started to quickly flash a green color, attracting the Methanosian's attention.
"TAKE THIS!!!" Igneus exclaimed, firing the white wisp at the Methanosian. Before it could connect however, The Methanosian was enveloped in a flash of cyan light. Igneus looked on in shock, and saw his white wisp bounce back towards him. While it didn't hurt, Igneus just looked at the monster in place of the Methanosian.
In place of Swampfire, was Diamondhead, whose dark blue crystals shined in the sunlight. "Woah... Master Control already? Huh, I guess just like the Elements of Harmony, this was what I really needed. Thank you, Deus Ex Omnitrix!" Diamondhead stated, grinning as he formed his arms into blades.
Igneus roared out, charging forward as Diamondhead blocked his hits, letting Igneus wail on him as he then shook him off, and began firing a barrage of crystals at him, which seemed to chip and crack before exploding when hitting his burning body.
"Rrgghh! You think just because you got lucky, you think you're gonna win? Think. Again!" Igneus stated, bolting forward as he slammed his burning fists into the Petrosapien's face, knocking literal fragmented chunks of his crystalline body off, littering the streets with Petrosapien crystal fragments. Diamondhead was sent staggering backwards with an uppercut to the chin, only to slowly regenerate what was chipped off of his body and catch Igneus' fist when he attempted another punch, and then slugged the flaming alien to the ground, unleashing another barrage of crystals onto the Pyronite bounty hunter.
"What's the matter, that fire in your belly going out? I sure hope so, cause I wasn't expecting another alien to show up until like, maybe a couple weeks from now, and I haven't had the time to practice with my aliens yet. Sure, I know I have 10 concurrently at this point, but if I'm gonna use this thing to it's full potential, I need to live! So kindly do me a solid, whoever the hell you are, and fuck off!!" Diamondhead stated, forming his arms and hands back to normal shape.
He then encased the flaming alien in a small crystal dome. "I know that's not gonna hold you, so I'm gonna... hopefully come up with a plan on the fly, cause you cannot be on this planet if you're just gonna senselessly murder everything you see... just get off my back, and I won't try to snap yours in half. Heavy emphasis on try ." Diamondhead emphasized, and in a flash of cyan light, Diamondhead was transformed back into Leon. And of course, in a sudden pillar of white magma, Igneus immediately escapes the crystal dome.
"ENOUGH!!! I have a job to do, and I won't let your stupid sentimentality compromise what's at stake!!" Igneus exclaimed, readying several hot white fireballs. The Pyronite glared at the human and thought back to what he was doing this for, what he once was, before he was assigned to this mission.
Flashback
The planet of Pyros, home of the living inferno-dwelling species, The Pyronites, was now a desolate, cold, and destroyed floating pile of rubble and freezing magma... Many light years north of the destroyed planet, however, on a planet simply known as Umborleaux, was home to a species of living shadows, known as the Umbrasanctians... these creatures, who lived on a planet of eternal darkness, now shared this planet with the Pyronites. One of these Pyronites, was a young Igneus.
Over time, Igneus was the only one of his kind to attempt to evolve in the same way the Umbrasanctians had, dimming and lowering the flames of his body, decreasing his natural abundance of heat and fire, only tapping into the natural warmth that the darkness of the planet could provide. the colors of his rocky body, becoming pale, and almost dead. The warm yellow flames on his body, paling and burning brighter, going from a gray flame, to a burning white ember that refused to be extinguished... a burning ember that refused to die.
As the rest of the Pyronites adapted and made their new home within the molten core of the dark planet, Igneus remained up top on the dark, shadowy surface, honing in on the darkness in his forever burning soul, over time, developing an extra set of eyes that acclimated to the night. By manipulating the shadows he casted, he could morph his magma into blades. Igneus grew to despise his own race, and eventually, left Umborleaux to become a bounty hunter for hire.
He'd be a bounty hunter for several years, only hearing hushed whispers and vocalized rumors about the Omnitrix's existence. He could use it to bring Pyros back, to bring his species out of the dark they were so wrongfully plunged into. So when Psyphon hired him for the job, it was pretty easy to figure out that Psyphon had his own agenda to go by, but he couldn't just simply believe that it truly existed... but when Psyphon showed him the footage he got, Leon using the Omnitrix, he was dead set on using this power to save his species. So the first chance he got, once he got the Omnitrix, he'd give him a decoy bomb, and let them lick their wounds while he goes and saves his species... but before he could step one foot onto Vilgax's ship to see the footage, he got a grim word from an intel specialist that Umborleaux, along with several thousands of Umbrasanctians and the remaining Pyronites, were suddenly slain, and put to rest... and then, this mission had struck him on a personal level.
Vengeance was all he craved from then on out... If he wanted to save his species, and save the Umbrasanctians from suffering the same fate, he'd have to be the one to end a whole species to get the entirety of his species back.
Igneus' body burned bright as he roared out in a rage, raining down a storm of white flames. Leon quickly slammed on the Omnitrix, transforming into Fasttrack as he sped past the flames hurtling down. He leaped and dodged several of the burning wicks from the flames, speeding up one of the buildings to then propel himself into Igneus, kicking him squarely in the face, burning his foot a bit as they both fell to the ground.
...
Luna continued to watch over the element bearers, while Spike constantly ran back and forth from place to place gathering stuff that Luna tasked him to get. Evidently, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were the first two to wake up, albeit in a cold sweat.
"Aw geez, what just happened? I remember a bright light, whiteness, and I was suddenly on the surface of the sun... then nothing!" Rainbow asked. Applejack slowly got up and looked outside, down towards Canterlot's streets, seeing Leon fighting off some sort of unholy human shaped fire monster. Rainbow flew over and just looked on in surprise, as well as excitement. "Wow, he's like one of those superheroes in those comic books I used to read!" Rainbow Dash said, watching the fight go on from afar.
"This is gonna be real dangerous, that fiery feller is literally too hot to handle up close, Leon's the only exception with this transformations, but personally, we would have to actually have the Elements of Harmony to even do anything to that flaming monster." Applejack stated. She looked over to the rest of her friends, who were just now waking up.
"I would not advise using the Elements of Harmony, save them for a much bigger threat... Besides, this is a threat only Leon can face on his own... trust me as your ruler when I advise you to not intervene." Luna said sternly.
...
As Fasttrack continued to use his speed against Igneus, he quickly got a few jabs, kicks, punches and even a couple headbutts in on the flaming creature, but the unbearable heat was definitely making him slow down.
"3 Transformations so far. Methanosians, Petrosapiens and now the Citrakayah... tell me, what's your next course of action looking like?" Igneus taunted. Fasttrack was enveloped in another flash of cyan light, and was soon replaced by his Fulmini form, Shock Rock. Shock Rock landed a few more direct punches on the flaming alien, and soon sent him flying into the air with a sudden bolt of electrical energy.
Igneus looked at himself and glared at the Fulmini in confusion. "You have a Fulmini form as well?! I thought they all went extinct... I guess I was wrong, but no matter, you still aren't a match for me! I am not like my fiery brethren, I won't be stopped so easily!" Igneus exclaimed.
The Pyronite continued to throw a barrage of searing white hot fireballs at the Fulmini, but Shock Rock created an electrical shield, letting the fireballs slowly dissipate against it on contact, then he shaped the shield into a spear, lobbing it at Igneus, causing it to explode into a shower of electricity and energy. Igneus staggered, only to then quickly counter Shock Rock's attempt to leap upwards and deliver a punch, only to counter it and swiftly overpower the Fulmini, letting it hang by a thread.
"That's Four, now what do you have?" Igneus asked sarcastically. In another flash of cyan light, the Fulmini was then replaced by his Ectonurite form, Ghostfreak. The Pyronite seemed to slightly recoil, but still continued to try and overwhelm the alien specter. Ghostfreak turned invisible, striking Igneus in places he couldn't see, so he began to rely on his second set of eyes, easily locating the location of Ghostfreak, and prepared to hit the alien ghost with a powerful searing hot attack, but was then met with Ghostfreak, opening the front of his gut, letting several black and white tendrils whip out as the Pyronite gazed in horror at the true spine chilling fear within Ghostfreak himself.
Igneus then got sucker punched as the alien ghoul glared him down. "I'm going to tear you apart... and then tear you apart again." Ghostfreak raspily stated, opening his chest again, only to fire a sudden dark green beam of energy at the Pyronite, sending Igneus careening into the side of the castle. In another flash of light, Ghostfreak was then replaced by his Polymorph form, Goop. He maneuvered his gravity projector towards Igneus, and maneuvered his gooey malleable body around the Pyronite, trying to suffocate and quell the embers, as well as melt the rocks on Igneus' body.
But, goop soon realized this was a bad idea due to how Igneus erupts into a flaming mass, splattering Goop's gooey body all around the general area, and sneered.
"That makes Six of your transformations that haven't done anything to progress this fight. If this is all you got, then why even bother using the Omnitrix, when you could just surrender, and hand it over." Igneus taunted.
As the gravity projector collected all of Goop's gooey bits, the Omnitrix transformed him into his Chitancanine form, Iron Wolf, and proceeded to lunge upwards and try to grab ahold of the flaming beast. Igneus blasted a stream of white fire downwards, only for Iron Wolf to form iron guards on his arms to block the flames.
"Tch! Chitancanines, I always hated those overgrown metal mutts!!" Igneus gritted, tossing the alien husky into the air. Iron Wolf landed near a small building, and decided to start eating some of the debris from the battle, feeling his teeth and fangs become suddenly encased in pure metal. He snarled as he lunged at Igneus, and bit down right onto the flaming alien's arm, causing Igneus to grunt in pain, and to also cause some serious burn damage to be inflicted on the interior of Iron Wolf's mouth, causing him to recoil, and then be smashed through the castle wall.
"I'm not going down, not yet!! Give me all you got, you flaming pebble, I can do this all day! " Iron Wolf boasted, chomping down on wall debris as he threw a few hooks at the flaming alien, who took the hits directly, but did not flinch or stagger, but was beginning to burn brighter and brighter with every hit he tanked instead.
"RRAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Igneus exclaimed, slamming his fists into Iron Wolf's stomach, blasting the Chitancanine through several rooms of the castle, until Iron Wolf was sent careening into a rocky mountain side, and in a flash of cyan light, a small green demonic gremlin with a devil's tail was in its place, showing that this was Leon in his Planchakule form, Jury Rigg.
Igneus comes floating forth, and glares at the small gremlin alien, seeming almost irate with its presence. "So many worthless lifeforms in that watch, and you can't even use them properly!! Good luck trying to create a good weapon out of such menial components!" Igneus taunted as he fired down more blistering white fire balls, scorching the ground and igniting it into a blistering wall of white fire as Jury Rigg carefully got away, slowly scaling the castle's walls as he attempted to escape from Igneus' fiery fury.
"Need components... need a weapon... Jury Rigg's no physical fighter." The alien quietly told itself. It looked down and saw several guards running away as the fires swarmed the inside of the castle, but several of their spears and small makeshift shooters were left behind as the guards fled down to Canterlot. Jury Rigg quickly climbed down and began to pick up several of the components and a few of the spears, quickly trying to cobble something together before Igneus found him.
"Come out, now, Wielder of the Omnitrix! Face me, and face the fires of a fallen race!!" Igneus roared out, the fires being absorbed back into his body. He burst through the front doors, and looked down, seeing Jury Rigg holding a makeshift Spear Gun, loaded with royal guard spears and completely made out of wood and metal scraps to look like a type of Harpoon, only smaller.
Jury Rigg fired the spears at Igneus, but as expected, they didn't do much, and melted onto him, coating the rocks on Igneus' body with molten gold. This went on for a good several minutes until Jury Rigg ran out of spears, then promptly decided to switch forms. In a flash of cyan light, Igneus faced Leon's Ormerowon form, Braindrain. The undead alien ripped several fleshy organs out of its body with ease and chucked them at the Pyronite, who only burned them to an ashy crisp as Braindrain slowly backed away.
"Aw... Crapbaskets..." Braindrain muttered worriedly. He began to switch to his last transformation, his Jumburian form, Elephammoth, that strange elephant thing he turned into when he was dealing with his first encounter with Doctor Caballeron.
"This is your last alien transformation, and the only thing that stands in my way of finally achieving my goal!" Igneus exclaimed, readying one more final attack.
"Dude, what is it that you want with the Omnitrix that requires you to go this far, as to walk into the castle, assault the elements of harmony, and then nearly get innocent ponies roasted alive?! Have you lost your mind or have you always been this messed in the head?!" Elephammoth asked, obviously confused. Igneus rushed forward and was about to strike, and Elephammoth braced for it, holding his arms up to block the hit, only to feel the radiating heat coming off of Igneus himself, and he noticed that he was stopping his attack.
"Surely you know what it's like to lose everything, don't you? Or did your species lose the concept of understanding when you all died out?" Igneus asked in a snarky and cryptic manner.
The alien elephant looked at the flaming alien in confusion. "Well, Yes, but actually, No." Elephammoth said, "I was sent to this world unwillingly by an unknown force, only to find out that humans were here long before I showed up, but they died off for some strange reason that no one except the princesses can understand... For all I know, I already lost my entire kind before I showed up here, and even then, I feel bad that we humans got the short end of the stick of life," Elephammoth explained.
Igneus' bright white flames soon dimmed down, and seemed almost lamenting. "Look pal, you seem to be having a bad day, let's just talk this out... no one has to die, no one has to be writhing in pain or fire-fueled agony, and most importantly of all, no one needs to suffer," Elephammoth states. Igneus just cautiously backs away, keeping his eyes on the alien pachyderm. "Just level with me here, are you sure you want to do this? End the lives of innocent creatures who never wronged you or your kind, to be the sole reason why the human race goes extinct twice, and to be responsible for the countless lives whoever your buyer will wipe out if he gets his hands on this thing?" Elephammoth asked. In a flash of cyan light, the alien was transformed back into Leon's human form.
"No... N-No... No no no... I wanted to bring back my species, that's it," Igneus stated. Leon just shook his head, and decided to entertain the Pyronite for a mere moment. "Tell me, Mr.?" Leon asked, trying to get a name from the alien.
"Igneus... Cr-Crestcore Igneus." The Pyronite introduced. "Okay, Igneus, tell me, even if I were to give you the Omnitrix of my own free will, do you think it'd even work for you after taking it off of me, whether by choice or by force? No, this thing, the Omnitrix, is bonded to my DNA, and let me really emphasize that... MY DNA, it's still trying to bond to my DNA as we speak, for all I know, it takes maybe a month or so for this thing to fully bond with my DNA, and if the bonding process is disrupted, chances are, it could leave my DNA in a very damaged and mutated state... and let me tell you a fun fact about humans... we aren't known for adapting to, or surviving genetic disorders or genetic damage, like, at all," Leon explained. He didn't know exactly if that would happen if the Omnitrix was forcibly removed from his body, but it was definitely a possibility, despite how impossible or uncalculated it is.
"Hell, half the time it's a miracle that some of us with genetic damage or disorders can and/or could live past 8 years or 13 years of our lifespan if we're lucky to live at all." Leon said. Leon rolled up his right sleeve and showed the Pyronite the Omnitrix, and then held his right arm out. "But, I do know how to help you save your species. If the rumors and myths about this device are true, then the Omnitrix was made to be a peacekeeping tool, a device that was made to help the universe grow closer together, to understand one another... ironically enough, and dare I say it, but the Omnitrix, in a way, was also made to bring intergalactic harmony," Leon explained.
His mind kinda trailed off when he thought about the original intentions of this alien watch, and he wasn't that far off from what Azmuth originally wanted to do with the Omnitrix, to bring the universe closer together in dark and dire times... the biggest parallel to creating and spreading harmony across numerous galaxies that Leon could easily compare, was the uniting power of the Elements of Harmony... more and more questions filled the human's mind, but eventually, he snapped himself out of it and brought himself back to the situation at hand.
"Look, besides all of that, one of the main things that the Omnitrix can do, is preserve dying species through one single strand of DNA, ensuring that they will not go extinct. Now, considering how you look nothing like your species like I had thought previously how you would've looked, I don't know how the Omnitrix is gonna react to you, you seem more like a hybrid than a full-blooded Pyronite, but at least this option, if it works, will at least ensure that I can keep the Omnitrix, your species and whatever else you seem to be made out of, I can try to save both species by scanning your hybrid DNA and isolating what parts of each species can be split apart and put into two separate samples, I should be able to-" Leon stopped as the fires on Igneus burned bright, cutting him off as Igneus yelled out.
"For the love of the ever burning stars in the Andromeda, what in the hell are you talking about?!" Igneus yelled, obviously having a hard time understanding anything Leon was saying.
Leon sighed and rubbed his eyes in an annoyed way. "In simpler terms, I can scan you, attempt to separate whatever stuff is mixed with your Pyronite cells, and preserve/save both races. Heavy emphasis on attempt to , cause I don't know if I can do it." Leon simplified. Igneus' flames dimmed and he looked at the Omnitrix, then back at the human. Igneus sighed and slowly reached a hand out to the watch.
"Just touch the Omnitrix, the scanning will do the rest... I think. " Leon offered, not knowing how the scanning was going to work, as suddenly a yellow spark of electricity made brief contact with Igneus, who just briefly recoiled, the Omnitrix shined a bright yellow color, spinning its dial around on its own as it soon returned to the normal state it was in before, this time, returning to its inactive and Recharge mode, glowing all red.
"Well... this mission was a bust... I had no intention of listening to you, yet for some odd reason, I felt so... compelled to listen to your sympathy... I don't think I'll be welcome on your planet for some time, after all, I did try to burn down a whole castle with innocent ponies still inside..." Igneus stated somberly.
"Yeah, it's definitely gonna take some time for them to... well, forgive you, but I'm sure with the healing of time, and maybe with a dash of pure organic perspective and understanding, I'm sure they'll find it in their hearts to forgive you of your transgressions," Leon said. The two chuckled a bit awkwardly, until a thought crossed Leon's mind. "But, here's something that I want to know, and just correct me if I say something wrong, but..." Leon slowly trailed off, fishing around in his pocket for something before giving up. "Damn it, I don't think I have it on me to show you. Nevermind." Leon said slightly irritated. The armor that Igneus was previously wearing suddenly launched toward him, attaching itself to him as it melded over his blistering white hot fiery body.
"Do not take this the wrong way, Mr..." Igneus trailed off, not catching the human's name at all.
"Derrickson, Leon Derrickson." Leon introduced, smiling confidently.
Igneus nodded, "Mr. Derrickson, don't take this the wrong way, but this will not be the last time we cross paths... you and I, we are the same, we are both the only ones of our kind left, and I feel that destiny has now made it fact that we will meet again. I shall head back to my ship, and inform my buyer that he'll have to get something far more formidable up and running if he wishes to take the Omnitrix from you, but knowing that fool and his horrible plans, you'll be fine... Farewell, Wielder of the Omnitrix." Igneus stated, flying towards the direction of Ponyville in a blistering comet of white hot fire.
Leon looked on at the blistering white fire, burning in the slowly setting sun as the orange in the sky made the white flames burn brighter the further they got. Leon smiled, and looked to the Omnitrix, twisting the dial as he just looked at the fact that the Pyronite form, or whatever else Igneus was composed of, wasn't in his current playlist.
Bummed out, Leon thought this was how he would know that this whole 'getting stronger transformations' thing, was gonna take a while. Leon looked back at the scorched and soot covered stone within the castle and sighed, running back inside as he tried to not inhale any of the black smoke.
...
The fires hadn't spread that far, only stopping one third of the way towards the throne room before suddenly fizzling out. Leon quickly ran to the throne room, only to notice that the six ponies he came here with, Spike, and Princess Luna, were in the midst of something before suddenly going quiet as Leon burst through, only to suddenly collapse.
"Well, he's here right now, might as well ask him. You okay, Leon? That floor must be something if you let your face land on it first." Applejack remarked. Leon got up and rubbed his face.
"I'm fine. I'm actually a bit exhausted, and we've been here for almost the whole day... I'd be extremely tired if I wasn't still in the midst of an adrenaline rush right now," Leon said, chuckling a bit. "What's going on in here?" Leon asked, still rubbing his face.
"We were discussing what to do about that walking fire starter that decided to try and burn down the castle, like the ignorant piece of wasted charcoal that thing is," Applejack said, rubbing a bit of soot off of her hat with a saccharine expression on her face, and a sour tone in her voice. "Yeah, and speaking of which, what did that stupid burning broker want anyway?" Rainbow Dash asked Leon curiously.
Leon sighed, and rolled up his sleeve once more, to reveal the alien watch, still attached to his wrist, and lifted his wrist up into the air for everyone in the room to see. "I'll give you three guesses, and the first two don't count..." Leon said, his voice becoming serious, and for a moment, crestfallen.
Pinkie, believing that Leon is just joking around, pokes her head up and smiles coyly. "Do we still get to guess?" The pink party mare asked with a smile on her face.
"This... is gonna take a lot of explaining to do..." Leon simply stated, before turning his attention to the princess of the night herself. "But first, Luna, as much as it really pains me to ask you this, and trust me, I'm feeling my soul furlough as I consider this, but... could you bring Celestia back in here for this?" Leon asked, gulping as he swallowed something down with a look of disgust.
"And why should she be here, after nearly extinguishing the human race off the face of Equestria again?" Luna asked, obviously apprehensive of letting Celestia back into the room, especially with the human.
"She is one of the royals of this land, your highness, and though she tried to kill my ass in the most aggressive way possible that I've seen thus far, she had a definitively odd reaction to the Omnitrix, and I want to clear up any kind of misconceptions about it... I still don't quite get why a god of literal darkness was in the Omnitrix, but Celestia seems to know something that she didn't have the rationality to explain before going murder crazy. Let her back in, and I'll try to explain everything the best I can... to the best of my abilities, of course." Leon explained.
Luna sat in her throne for a moment, mulling over the request as she contemplated. Wasn't long before she let out a loud whistle, and a dark black stallion with Yellow-ish eyes, a short gray mane, dark blue armor with a planet shaped emblem on his chestguard, and slightly withered pegasus wings came running in, standing at attention.
"Tell my sister she is immediately summoned back to the throne room if she behaves and acts civil." Luna sternly states. The stallion, unfazed by the princess's stern tone, nods and salutes as it flies out to carry out its job.
"Till she gets here, Mr. Leon, kindly entertain us with what you know about the Omnitrix... on a basic understanding, if you would so kindly." Luna asked, her tone of voice much softer, but still stern. Leon swallowed again and sighed.
"Okay, where to start... I guess from the beginning... But it is gonna be difficult to explain, nonetheless. I guess it all started, ironically, Thousands of Years ago in another world... " Leon started, sitting down on the ground as the Main 6, Spike and the princess of the night listened closely.
...
In the vacuum of space, Igneus is constantly punching in several buttons on a strange looking dashboard, and just got done informing his buyer that the Omnitrix couldn't be retrieved, much to their disliking of that response, but Igneus did say that even when he went all out, he still couldn't win. Thus, they let Igneus go, but that didn't stop Igneus from leaving a bomb on their ship, and evading their range of wrath before it detonated.
Psyphon, busy having several of the soldiers clean up the mess, continues to work on calling in for assistance, wanting to ensure that with all the help he'll get on his side, for a fair price, eventually he'll finally get the Omnitrix on one of these attempts, 'eventually' being the key word here.
From inside the huge tube, was the being from before, only now, the monster's body has healed, revealing a huge monstrous alien made out of strange tendrils and wrapped up tentacles. Though the monster's face couldn't be seen, his eyes glowed, showing perfectly through the glass, a furious red light emitted from the tube, as well as several guttural gurgling noises.
"Soon, my master..." Psyphon started, "Soon, you will have your prize... you will - No, you SHALL have the Omnitrix, and together, we will make these pitiful equestrian creatures writhe and feel utter agony beneath our feet," Psyphon stated, pulling up a holographic still image of Leon in his human form, smiling psychotically.
"...especially that pitiful human survivor, the one who keeps your prize away from you. " Psyphon finished, glaring at Leon's face as he brandished his claws, letting them spark with some sort of red energy.
Author's Note
Now, originally, this was gonna be a 3-parter, but I'm going to basically call this the 'one-third-of-the-way' point of like a... season 1 of The Hourglassed Stranger, maybe. Everything leading up to this point has been 1/3 of a whole season, meaning I'll be trying to work on furthering the plot while also developing the characters a bit more.
the next third of this first season, well, it'll basically be about Leon having some difficulty with accepting that he may be the last of his species, and to also start mastering a bit more of the Omnitrix's power as a couple familiar unfriendly faces begin to rear their ugly heads out into the public's view.
Take your time, you'll figure out who these faces are before their chapters come out
And with that, I'll see you in the next chapter.
A Royal Pain & A New Friend to Gain
"You see, your highness, the Omnitrix was crafted by an intellectual figure known as Azmuth, one of the smartest individuals of his kind and was known for being the smartest being in 3-5 galaxies. Azmuth wanted to do some great things, and often found himself burying himself deep into his work, which kinda chased off a lover of his, known as Zennith. Wanting to prove his worth, and win his lover back, he made a powerful weapon, an energy siphoning blade known as Ascalon," Leon explained.
Rainbow Dash groaned, looking almost bored or impatient. "Come on, when're you gonna talk about the watch, what does it do, what can't it do? Why talk about a bunch of people that probably aren't around anymore?" Rainbow Dash asked, whining a bit.
Leon's eye twitched for a moment, and he took a deep breath before continuing. "That powerful weapon, Rainbow Dash, was strong enough to demolish whole planets into rubble, and in turn, it led to a whole species being forced to brave the unknown, within the vast empty vacuum of the cosmos because one of their own kind wanted to end the bloodshed, and now they have no planet, just warships to call their home. Some of those poor people didn't even make it off the planet before it suddenly blew up! Besides, in order to understand what the Omnitrix can and/or can't do, you have to understand what brought about it's concept in the first place, have some tact and shut it, or I'm not gonna get to it at all." Leon remarked sternly, narrowing his eyes at the rainbow maned pegasus.
Dash didn't utter another word, but she did feel a bit guilty for just disregarding how innocent people probably perished. "Now, where was I... oh yeah, the original concept of the Omnitrix. Listen closely, because this is gonna sound incredibly stupid and strange, but it's basically crucial to knowing more about the Omnitrix itself," Leon stated, clearing his throat as the ponies continued to listen.
"Azmuth was thoroughly disgusted with himself after that one planet was demolished, most of its people fleeing to the stars, while those that didn't make it were amongst the rubble of their former homeplanet, and Azmuth either locked Ascalon away, or he gave it to some human named George so he could slay a demon or something... like I said, it gets strange and sometimes really stupid. Anyway. it was around the time that Zennith had left Azmuth for good, so in a way, with her leaving Azmuth, he was inspired by how much Zennith wanted to see life flourish, to see living individuals come together in harmony. So he sought out to make a device that could allow the user to understand different alien cultures, to find a way to bring them together. Tell me, anypony here think that sounds a bit familiar?" Leon asked, smiling cheekily before he continued.
"The Omnitrix was in its conceptual stage, and Azmuth eventually got it right, creating the first and only prototype of the device of legends... The Omnitrix. Now, one thing to consider, is that the Omnitrix was basically meant to be a tool for peace, but of course, many heard of the Omnitrix through rumors, and wanted the device for themselves, to use it as a weapon or to use it for even crueler purposes." Leon explained. The ponies looked at each other, and Luna looked to her left, seeing that Celestia was steadily, but surely walking into the room, hearing a good bit of information before making herself known again.
"In order for Azmuth to keep the Omnitrix out of dangerous hands or tendrils or whatever, he sent the Omnitrix to my home planet, Earth, the planet that was inhabited by my species, the Humans. Azmuth thought it'd be wise to let a specific human, one known throughout the galaxy for helping to stop several alien criminals in the past, to have the Omnitrix, but things didn't go as plan, and inevitably, the Omnitrix wound up being in the hands of the human's grandson, who would then become one of Earth's mightiest heroes in existence." Leon explained, taking a deep breath as he rubbed his face.
Twilight processed the information she was given, cross-referencing everything she had on her person, several books and scrolls, and not a single one had the information Leon was providing.
"This human, the human's grandson, was the very first one to wear the Omnitrix, and has used its powers to fight off alien criminals, bad guys native to his home planet, and even traversed time, space, and other dimensions to stop any villainous masterminds that are a threat to all walks of life. His name, was Ben Tennyson, or as many walks of life knew him as, the Hero of Heroes, Ben 10, the wielder of the Omnitrix, and the savior of the universe." Leon explained.
Twilight constantly pondered more and more about this information, and soon, silence was befallen upon the room, and Leon was trying to choose his next few words carefully. With a quick inhale of breath, he exhaled slowly and looked at the Omnitrix. "Now, let's get to what makes this device so important. To many across the galaxy, the Omnitrix is a weapon, and they are technically right, but obviously wrong. The Omnitrix was meant to preserve dying races and bring the inhabitants of galaxies together in harmony, to form an understanding. To me, the Omnitrix is both a tool for peace, and a weapon for war... It really depends on what it is you plan to do with its power that defines it as what it truly is," Leon explained.
Twilight was fixated on this information, scribbling down as much as she could while the other ponies seemed to be rather intent on listening to more of what Leon had to offer. "It wasn't meant to be a weapon at all at any cost, but having the power to become strong alien lifeforms beyond your own comprehension, it was inevitably bound to be thought about in a way that could benefit in any upcoming wars or surprise attacks that may cause a war eventually. And of course, there's the obvious signs of what lengths someone is going to go with if it means they can get the Omnitrix, no matter who or what is wearing it..." Leon said, his tone lamenting on everything that he saw thus far.
Back in his old world, during the purple lightning storm, he was knocked out by a hulking figure, then he was summoned to this world of My Little Pony, he finds out he has the Omnitrix and can use 10 alien abilities thus far, has faced giant robots and even smaller robots, a cool knight from another world, fought against an alien he was familiar with, encountered a fictionally fictional villain, escaped a strange catacomb, and fought some sort of zombie fungus, as well as endure a nightmare straight out of the Grimdark section of the Brony fandom, and if he was counting how he nearly got disintegrated by Celestia and then fought another alien he was familiar with moments ago, Leon was in a state of absolute stress and lull. He wants to panic, but he knows it wouldn't help his situation... that is, until he finally realized that a certain someone was going to be showing up soon the more things progressed.
"I think whoever sent those drones, and that Pyronite guy, this guy wants the Omnitrix for conquest... and they'll do anything, and I do mean anything, to get their filthy tentacle-massed hands on it... I'm unprepared. Dear god, I'm unprepared! That monster could come down at any second, and lay waste to all of Equestria without even trying! I- I'm not strong enough, not now! I- I can't face that monster... I- Oh god!" Leon exclaimed, the ponies, plus the princesses and Spike could see the fear in his eyes as his blood ran cold.
Leon collapsed onto the floor and just stared at the ground, feeling his body shake as he felt the panicking feeling within him begin to rise. "Whoever you're talking about, Leon, I doubt they'll be able to overpower us, let alone resist the power of the elements. But, if you're so sure that this ungodly cretin has the potential to overpower us, then we may need to assist you in growing stronger." Luna said.
Celestia stood up and looked at the human. "However, it would be incredibly unwise to let you train in Canterlot, especially with how the streets need repairing and we must relieve our subjects and let them know that the danger has been rid of. We will let you go back to Ponyville to continue your endeavor of getting stronger, but as of now, consider yourself on our radar, human, do not mess this up." Celestia added, glaring at Leon.
Leon nodded and didn't say another word. Rarity looked outside, seeing that the sun was going down, then looked towards the princesses, seeing Celestia slowly setting the sun in preparation for the Moon. "Goodness, has it been that long already? Time sure flies when... stuff like this happens. Darlings, I believe we can still catch the next train back to Ponyville if we hurry, I know that Sweetie Belle must be absolutely bothered without me." Rarity acknowledged.
Applejack got up and stretched out her legs before readjusting her hat. "Ah get what you mean, tonight was supposed to be my turn to make supper, but then we got that royal summon to deal with. Applebloom, Winona, Granny and Big Mac must be starvin' like crazy without me." Applejack responded.
"I- um.. I t-think we should probably uh.. go, right now... I need to feed my animals again, otherwise they'll um.. get all rowdy, oh my.." Fluttershy meekly added, stretching out her wings as she slowly started to take off into the air.
"Well, considering it's a bit of a lengthy trip back to Ponyville by train, why don't I just teleport us home?" Twilight offered. Leon looked at himself in the shining floor's reflection, he felt odd... his body was aching, his heart was pumping like crazy, his thoughts raced at millions of miles per hour, he was scared, but he also never felt so alive...
Leon then slowly gained his footing and stood up. "As much as I appreciate the offer, Twilight, I think I'm gonna walk back." Leon said, slowly walking to the door. "Walk back? It took us a day or so to get here, and you're gonna walk back?! Did that flaming monster hit you in the head or something?" Rainbow Dash asked, questioning why Leon would want to take such a longer and unnecessary route back to Ponyville.
Leon looked back and smiled, "I just need some fresh air, and trains aren't my thing... especially when it comes to certain behaviors of their employees... Guess I figured out which princess actually likes humans, where the other is just Celestia. " Leon mumbled that last part, and just continued to walk, his tuxedo in a ragged, singed and tore up mess.
Though Celestia didn't show it, she was personally glad to have Leon out of the throne room, though Luna was rather pissed at Celestia for such a mindset. Though she shrugged it off and said a royal farewell to the Elements of Harmony, and Spike the Dragon. As the ponies, human and Dragon left and the golden doors closed behind them, Time Trotter just trotted to the princess's sides, smiling in a contented manner.
"So, what did we learn today, your highnesses?" Time Trotter asked, expecting the obvious answer. Celestia groaned and sighed.
"I learned that some humans have no respect for those who show mercy to them. That's what I learned, you dimensional eavesdropper." Celestia said incredulously, teleporting herself somewhere as Time Trotter smiled at the nightly princess.
"Well, your sister still has yet to learn her lesson, but there's still hope, just be patient... what did you learn, my old friend?" Time Trotter asked.
Luna took a deep breath and exhaled, looking the stallion in the eyes as she smiled slightly. "I think I may have made a friend, or an ally, in dark times that have yet to come... tell me, Time Trotter, that stained glass, the one with Erebus," Luna gestured her hoof to the stained glass in question, causing the stallion to look there as well. "Was that supposed to happen, or is it that somehow, in some way, by me taking action, like you previously told me all that time ago, would change things, has prevented the return of Erebus?" Luna asked.
The stallion chuckled and offered the alicorn a black and blue gumball, which she accepted. "It's like I told a boy I knew, all that time ago, your highness... 'There are so many different ways to tell a story, but that's what makes them so interesting; you could never predict how they are going to turn out.' And Mr. Derrickson's story is just beginning." Time Trotter stated, smiling as he looked at the golden doors, letting the princess think about his words, letting them fester.
...
Leon was saying farewell to the ponies, and Spike, as Twilight used a teleportation spell to bring them back home, minus Leon, who is deciding to walk back to Ponyville.
Leon slowly walked through the slightly ruined streets of Canterlot before venturing into a district that wasn't harmed during the earlier fight, walking amongst several ponies of pure and utter fanciness and class. "Man, I have no idea what Rarity sees in a place like this, I'm not enamored or even impressed, these things are trying to strike my intrigue, but it's all a swing and a mi-"
Leon's words were interrupted when he bumped into someone. He staggered a bit and dusted himself off, and he heard whoever he bumped into stagger a bit as well. "Oof, well that's what I get when I'm not looking where I'm going.. sorry, that was my bad-" Leon was interrupted by a shrill and disgusted gasp, attracting the attention of a couple other ponies.
"Of all the indecencies, why did some lowly commoner have to bump into me?! Do you have any idea who I am?! I am the nephew of Canterlot's royal family!" A voice called out, obviously blowing this whole thing out of proportion. Leon looked at the pony before him, and he hated what he was looking at.
A white unicorn stallion with light blue hooves and well kept blonde hair, with blue eyes, with a gray metal accessory around his neck, with some kind of emblem that Leon couldn't recognize, yet it felt familiar. Prince Blueblood, the worst unicorn stallion in Leon's eyes to ever exist, was right in front of him.
Leon groaned and balled his hands into fists, gritting his teeth as he stared the unicorn down, not saying a word. Leon slowly turned around and started to walk back the way he came, only to suddenly be pulled back towards the prince via magic. "Oh no, you're not getting out of this so easily! I do not take kindly to anypony bumping into me, and thinking a simple sorry will make things better! I just got out of a horrible dignitary meeting, and I need to soak my hooves, not cover them in whatever filth you rolled through!" Prince Blueblood insulted, tilting his head up in an entitled manner. Several ponies surrounded the stallion and the human, and it was quite obvious that by the look in Blueblood's eyes, he was looking for a fight.
Leon didn't want to fight, not right now at least, he needed to get home, back to Ponyville... wait did he just consider Ponyville home? Either way, that didn't seem to be the most important matter as of now, cause when his senses were brought back to the situation at hand, he was holding his stomach in pain when two hooves slammed into his gut, knocking the air out of Leon's lungs and another two hooves slamming against Leon's face with such brutal force, that it knocked him to the ground, showing Leon trying to get some air back, despite the stinging sensation on his face.
When he looked up to see Blueblood, trotting slowly towards Leon as he charged his horn up with magic, and got ready to fire it at Leon, who was still reeling from the pain in his gut, and the stinging sensation on his face. Wasn't long until several other white stallions, this time, clad in golden armor surrounded the Prince, while something pulled him out of the startled crowd.
After several moments of looking up at the starry night sky in a still position, still winded and in constant pain as whoever this mysterious savior was dragged him away, Leon tried to move, only to feel a sudden and rather unpleasant snapping in his ribs, and he groaned out in agony, gritting his teeth hard as he tried to stifle his screams.
"For the love of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, that hurt!! So... FUCKING BAD!!! " Leon swore, tears in his eyes as he kept gritting his teeth as he tried to not squirm from the pain. Eventually, his vision began to blur, and he tried to stay awake, but the pain was too much, his body couldn't withstand it, and he soon fell unconscious as his mysterious savior dragged him into a dilapidated house and closed the door behind them.
...
A few hours later, Leon awoke, groggy and sore, covered in a big puffy blanket while he tiredly looked around, trying to keep himself awake. His vision was still a bit blurry, but he could make out several distinct glows, and a huge burning glow near what looked like a sofa. Curiosity got the better of Leon, and he constantly tried to move, only to give up and slump back onto the comfortable and warm mattress he was on. Then, the sound of hooves stepping down on stairs echoed slightly through the room.
"Just try to steady your nerves, you're a big mare, you can handle this... You can do this, general interaction is not that hard, a baby can do it." a voice said out loud. Leon closed his eyes and tried to not fall asleep, only barely opening his left eye to get a glimpse at the pony who probably lived here.
From down a set of stairs that Leon couldn't see, he saw a pony come into view, and his eyes widened at the sight. In his line of sight was a mare, a unicorn mare with a light yellowish gray coat, red mane and tail with purple highlights, purple eyes, a set of glasses, a puffy long sleeved sweater and a cutie mark of a crescent moon and three stars.
The mare's mood was a bit sour, she yawned and turned towards the human, only to feel her face get warm as her eyes widened, meeting the human's equally surprised gaze.
"Okay, so this is happening... First off, Hi, I'm Leon, I'm gonna go off on a limb here and assume you were the one who pulled me out of that brawl?" Leon introduced, still feeling a bit awkward. He had no idea what the hell was gonna happen, but he wanted to tread lightly, especially with this specific mare, Leon knew she wasn't gonna be keen on making friends... if anything, she might be more adamant against the idea to be friends with someone that isn't even a pony.
The mare, trying to utter a word, takes a quick breath and tries to calm herself down. "G-Greetings, ancient Homosapien," The mare started. Leon's look of awkwardness suddenly turned into an expression of confusion. "I uh... I did see the fight happening, to pick a fight with the Prince, forgive me for being rude, but that wasn't your smartest choice." The mare stated, clearing her throat as she carried a first aid kit over to you with her magic.
'Jeez, fancy and blunt words are just in abundance in Canterlot, the kingdom of prissy rich ponies who like picking fights over a simple accident. I didn't even know Blueblood could actually do some damage... that would explain why I suddenly have a numbing feeling in my nose... and my gut.' Leon thought to himself, still looking at the mare that was standing right beside him.
She quickly averted her gaze from Leon altogether, her face getting incredibly red as she slowly uncovered Leon's body, revealing that he was partially stripped of his fancy attire, basically leaving Leon in his boxers. But, while being almost borderline nude was a bit of an unpleasant feeling, he noticed that he was bruised, his gut had a huge bruise, and his ribs were also bruised.
'And here I thought my life couldn't get any worse... Fate, you're a bitch!' Leon thought to himself.
The mare continued to avert her gaze, pulling out some sort of small bottle with a dark amber cork keeping it closed. "If you could, can you try to not scream?" The mare simply asked. Before Leon could give a proper answer, the cork popped off, and a strange foamy green cream was then slowly poured on Leon's bruised body. It was cold, like death, but for a moment, it felt soothing... like resting in a hot tub on your own after working hard after a terrible day at work. Leon felt at ease... until a strange burning sensation overwhelmed his senses.
"Ah!! AAHH!!! Hot hot hot!!! That's hot!!! AAHHH!!!! That's scalding hot!!!" Leon exclaimed, squirming as his aching body sent feelings of burning pains and sore pains throughout his body. His body was in immense burning pain, it was like he was in a giant oven, and his bare skin was being forced onto a hot and lethal piece of burning metal.
"Hold still, the formula's doing its work, just try to last a bit longer and stop screaming, don't want the guards to think I'm murdering someone in here!" The mare tried to reassure the man, but before Leon could try to reach for anything, or even try to get up, the burning sensation began to suddenly and slowly die down, as did his pained expression and his exclamations of pain. The bruises on his body began to slowly get lighter, now just blending in perfectly with his caucasian skin tone as if nothing ever happened.
"Ok, try to breathe for a moment, I figured with how many times you humans used magical elixirs on each other in the olden days, you wouldn't panic like that... at least now I can add 'Unpleasant sensory overload from regeneration elixirs' to the What-Not-To-Do with a human List." The mare said, trotting over to a box as she used her magic to open it and reach for its contents.
"Well, this is gonna sound crazy to you, but I'm not an ancient human... I'm just a regular human who was sent to your world by circumstances so complicated, the spirit of chaos himself and the princesses would all have a collective aneurysm." Leon stated. Leon tried to sit up, and was thankful that nothing in his body suddenly snapped or shattered this time, and then promptly covered himself up in the blanket, his face getting red. "Speaking of strange circumstances, what happened to my clothes?" Leon asked.
The mare turned back to the human, and used her magic to summon a set of clothes that Leon did not recognize as his. On his left side was a gray jacket, obviously covered in a lot of dust it collected over how much time it's been since someone wore it, a pair of Dark brown Cargo shorts, a Black t-shirt with a Cyan bolt of lightning that split the shirt in half, one side being black, and the other side was as white as snow. "Neat clothes, but these aren't mine, I can't just take these." Leon mentioned.
The mare looked back at Leon, only to raise an eyebrow at him. "Really now... you'd rather go back out there, in a mangled tuxedo that was the only size for a stallion, just so people can look at you funny?" The mare asked. Leon groaned, and sighed.
"Please don't start with me, my friend made me that tux, and maybe she'll be able to fix it... it is her talent, after all." Leon stated. The mare sighed and levitated a neatly folded, but still ruined and mangled tuxedo to his side as she sat on the sofa and looked into the roaring fire in the fireplace.
"I'm not going to look at you until you change into your clothes... I know you humans aren't fond of being absent of clothing, so as to show some restraint, I'm not going to look." The mare stated, her tone just as sour as the expression on her face as she kept looking into the fire. Leon quickly got up and dusted off the clothes as he got ready to put them on, but soon was met with a bit of a terrible smell.
"Hey, uh... what do I call you?" Leon asked, knowing fully well who this mare was, but didn't want to say anything that could possibly enrage her.
The mare groaned in annoyance and brought her gaze to Leon's. "Moondancer... My name is Moondancer." The mare briefly introduced, quickly re-averting her gaze.
"Well, Moondancer... Do you have a shower I could use? I uh... I don't smell too good." Leon asked, sheepishly smiling as he tried to keep his body covered by the blanket.
"Upstairs, last door on your right. Do NOT touch the blue crystals in the bowl on the sink... those are mine, and only mine!" Moondancer warned. Leon didn't say another word, and quickly grabbed the clothes the mare gave him and made his way up the stairs, and to the door on his right, closing it as he locked the door.
Back downstairs, Moondancer was basically just sipping on some tea as she heard a couple knocks on the door. She sets her tea aside and begrudgingly heads to the door, opening it up a small bit to reveal Lyra, and another mare with a rose pink streak in her pigment blue mane at the minty green pony's side. "Hey Moondancer! How have you been?" Lyra asked, smiling.
"What do you want, Lyra? I'm trying to enjoy some alone time here, if you don't mind." Moondancer remarked bemusedly. The minty mare chuckled nervously as she scratched the back of her head, sweating like crazy as the mare beside her tried to reassure her.
"Let me make this poignantly clear, My name is BonBon, I'm Lyra's mare friend, and she thought it'd be a good idea to get her mind off of work and take me to meet some of her old colleagues in Canterlot," BonBon said, gesturing to the district that was the most affected and decimated by the fight between Igneus and Leon. "But, considering how absolutely ruined the streets are, I'm gonna assume that politicians are not gonna use the tax bits to fix this mess." BonBon stated.
Moondancer was about to close the door, until Lyra forced her head in-between the door, looking desperate. "Look, Moony, can you please do me a solid and let us in? I have so much to follow up on our old project, it's revolutionary, you have to look at it! Please?!" Lyra begged quietly, the door starting to squish Lyra's face. Moondancer looked at the torn up tux, still folded up on the sofa, and quickly used her magic to tuck it away under the pillow before letting Lyra and BonBon inside her home.
Moondancer groaned and sighed, "Fine, but do not touch anything you're not supposed to." The mare said, closing the door behind her.
...
Leon is trying desperately to scrub off the filth that has dried onto his body, letting the warm water cascade down his body, seeing a mixture of dust, dirt, remnant soot, and to his silent disdain, a bit of dark red fluid cascading down the drain.
'Sheesh, that fight must've taken a lot out of me... with Igneus, I mean. Blueblood can apparently throw down, but he didn't make me bleed... thank whatever benevolent god is in this world that I was able to talk him down.' Leon thought to himself, scrubbing down his body with a soapy rag. This was almost like a personal good time for him to forget everything that had happened for the moment, and just let his mind wander as he cleansed his body of the filth and dirt that had been clinging to him for a week.
'I wonder... should I try to introduce the ponies to bigger technological advancements? Some of them seem to grasp the concept of arcade machines and also know about how to work trains, it wouldn't be that bad of an idea, especially if I eventually unlock Upgrade. Then again, do I want to risk overusing one form over the others? Besides, I am in another world, I'm basically an alien, and to add to that note, a FAMILIAR alien that they know of, and are probably expecting a lot of me... Man, what the hell were the humans of this world even like, if some of them were heroes lost to history?' Leon thought to himself.
He didn't have a single clue about where to start with looking into what the humans in Equestria were like, but he did remember that Lyra was wanting to learn more and unearth lost human history... and the horribly butchered retelling of his human history was probably not the best idea. He might as well hurry up and dry himself off, get dressed and get out of Moondancer's hair.
As Leon scrubbed off the last of the dirt, and began to wash the suds off of his body, he stopped the water and dried himself off, and quickly got the new set of clothes on, looking at himself in these new clothes were definitely something to behold, he already had Ben's powers, now he actually looks like he's trying to imitate him to a degree.
Leon opened the door and slowly walked down the stairway, looking at the two new mares in the house, Lyra and BonBon, trying to basically entertain Moondancer, who has been reading some sort of big gray book. Leon was about to just sneak to the front door, until he slipped on something, lost his footing and yelped a bit, collapsing to the floor as he groaned, alerting the mares in the room to his presence.
"Arrrgh.... Solid Snake, I am not." Leon said briefly, slumping to the floor as his body suddenly ached. Lyra got up and trotted over to the human, using her magic to try and pick him up. He slowly found his footing and rubbed his side, only to tense up as Moondancer silently glared at him, causing him to get nervous.
"Leon! I didn't know you were in Canterlot, good to see you! This couldn't have been a more perfect time for you to unexplainably drop by, I can introduce you to a couple special mares I know," Lyra excitedly said, pulling Leon towards the sofa. "This lovely mare is BonBon, she's been my special somepony for a good month and a half, and she's really supportive on my quest to learn about humans!" Lyra gestured to the mare covering her face in embarrassment.
Moondancer just rubbed her eyes and groaned, "Lyra, can we not do the introductions thing right now?" Moondancer asked, a tad bit peeved at her friend's excitement.
Lyra simply smiled in Moondancer's direction, "Sorry, I just really wanna get introductions out of the way, clear up any confusion... huh, speaking of confusion, what are you doing here anyway, Leon?" Lyra asked curiously, turning her attention to Leon, who is frantically trying to think of a rational explanation.
"I uh... um... w-well, you see... I erm... I was k-kinda-" Leon stuttered, and was failing to find the simplest words. Moondancer gritted her teeth and groaned out in frustration, cutting Leon off and bringing Lyra and Leon's eyes on her, and Leon, though he didn't voice it at the time, saw a concerning but also mischievous glint in Moondancer's eyes.
"He was here last night because I had needs... needs that needed tending to!" Moondancer blurted out, causing Leon's face to flush a deep red and his jaw to drop. Lyra, was equally as astonished as Leon was, and just looked at Leon with a certain type of knowing look, smirking and wiggling her eyebrows as she slowly pulled BonBon from her seat to the front door.
"Well now, I guess we wouldn't want to interrupt anything, would we, BonBon? We'll see you two later... if you're still not going at it. Thanks for letting us visit, though!" Lyra said, winking as she and BonBon walked out the door, with Leon scrambling out of his seat trying to get to the door, only to run his face into it.
"Wait, hold on!!! It isn't like that!! Not at all in the slightest! It's a misunderstanding!! LYRA!!!" Leon called out in a panic, but Lyra and BonBon had already gotten out of earshot. Leon walked back to the sofa, embarrassment and shock on his face as he looked at the studious mare right beside him, looking at him with the same mildly bemused expression.
"Why the flying fuck did you say that?! Do you know what that's gonna do to me when I get back to Ponyville?!" Leon asked in an exasperated tone.
Moondancer, not really caring about what happened, just sighs and responds, "Please, it's not that big of a deal, Humans from long ago have basically fornicated with Equestrians before, don't act like you wouldn't copulate with another species if you had the chance to," Moondancer retorted with a proud and smug smirk on her face.
Leon's face flushed again as groaned and looked the mare in the eyes, "Maybe that wouldn't be a big deal if I WAS FROM HERE! But I'm NOT! I'm from another world, I'm not familiar with a single damn thing about the version of my species that was native to yours, I'm not an ancient human, I'm a regular human being..." Leon trailed off on that last part, remembering the obvious bulky eyesore on his wrist.
"I'm a semi -regular human being, and I was raised to not find animals sexy in any way... despite how many conflicting feelings and emotions in my body tell me otherwise." Leon corrected himself. Moondancer just looked at Leon, then brought her gaze back to the fireplace. Leon slumped in his seat, sighing as he tried to think of a way to just leave without hurting her feelings.
"Well... if that's what you feel, then... You know you can just leave, right? I'm used to just getting visitors, not... whatever this was," Moondancer started, using her magic to open the front door, to a sunny day in the high class city of Canterlot. "Go on, leave... that's what you wanted, isn't it? After all, a lonely human on his own, the last of his kind... falling for a girl that's of another species... I guess it does sound a bit fictitious, doesn't it?" Moondancer asked halfheartedly.
Leon sat up, looking out the door and slowly got up, not noticing the regret and anguish in the mare's face as he slowly walked out, but did feel the stinging feeling of that remark. "Thanks for the help, Moondancer... and for what it's worth, you'll find that special someone eventually... But, a bit of advice, from one acquaintance to another... One should re-strengthen the bonds they have with their friends, before they lose them forever... as someone who won't be able to see his old friends again, that speaks volumes." Leon stated, walking out as he closed the door behind him.
Moondancer's smug confidence had faded, and she laid her head on the sofa, staring into the fire's light as she let her thoughts run.
...
Leon slowly walked down the streets of Canterlot, trying to get out of a few ponies' ways as he made his way out to the outskirts, walking along an old, paved trail that went in the direction of Ponyville... and it was one heck of a walk ahead of him.
"Okay, I should be able to use Fasttrack to get back, but I don't need to constantly bombard myself with what I should do... As for what I could do however, I could try to track down Blueblood, and really give him a thrashing, Alien Style... what am I thinking, as much of a pain in the ass that guy is, I'm not gonna use my powers to just beat his ass and call it a day... not unless I need to." Leon debated.
As Leon walked down the path, he constantly wondered about several things that didn't seem to pop in his head until now.
'It's odd, this Equestria had a race of humans, but other than that, and the slight change in the order of events, this Equestria is very much the same... but how did Luna and Celestia know about the Omnitrix? Probably a question I'll never have answered.' He thought to himself. Suddenly, the collective sound of hooves clopping at a brisk speed began to catch Leon's attention.
Turning around, he saw 8 guards. 4 of them being white unicorn stallions in golden armor, and the other 4 being bat ponies in dark navy armor. The guards had run ahead of Leon and seemed to be in a rush. "Where in the hell are they going off to- Wait... did I get lucky with this world, and they're actually being useful? Well, may as well follow them and see what they do, it's not like I'm immediately needed by Twilight or her friends at this given moment," Leon told himself, running after the guards.
...
Back in Ponyville, Applejack is continuing to help her family with the harvest, but is beginning to feel her hind legs start to get sore, especially in the spot on her flank where she got stabbed. "Startin' to think Leon wanted to walk back so he could skip out on work. Geez, ah need a break. Mac, can you finish off the rest of the orchard while ah go bring that human feller back 'ere?" Applejack called out.
Big Mac had set down a couple hay bales and walked over, smiling contently. "Eeyup, try to relax a little, and it does help to get plenty of exercise, ya might be lookin' fer a while if he's still in Canterlot." Mac stated, bucking at the apple trees. Applejack steadily worked herself to a slow sprint as she made her way to the paved path that connected to Canterlot. Above her, was a cloud that was suddenly giving chase to the farm pony.
"What in tarnation?" Applejack wondered. All of a sudden, the cloud soon puffed up, and popped into several smaller clouds, revealing Rainbow Dash, who was laughing and flying beside the farm pony. Applejack was about to chew her out something fierce, until a slight glow caught her attention. She looked down to her hooves and saw a rounded green emerald with a red center. She thought she had seen something similar to it back in Leon's room, or in Rarity's hooves, but she might've been mistaken. She picked the gem up and tucked it away under her hat, resuming her disapproval of Dash's prank.
"You should've seen your face, it's hilarious! You look so serious!" Dash said, still in a laughing fit. Applejack rolled her eyes and continued to keep running down the path, all the while Rainbow Dash continued to keep up with her friend. "So, where are we going?" Dash asked.
"We're goin' to find Leon, he didn't come back today. Ah plan to see what's takin' so long, I can't buck apples with my legs like this- AARH!" Applejack came to a stop and fell over on her side. She felt a sudden cramp in her back legs, she couldn't move. "My legs!! T-too sore... c-can't move! Rrgh! Rainbow, help me up!" Applejack gritted. Rainbow Dash immediately raced to her friend's side and hoisted her up on her back.
"Don't worry, I got you. You need to rest, let me go find him." Dash offered. Applejack was a lot of things, but a quitter was not one of those things. She struggled to get into a better position, and sat upright on Dash's back.
"Like hell you are, you're not gonna find him on your own! We're gonna go find him together. I'll rest when we find him, and hopefully he'll be fine." Applejack stated firmly. Rainbow Dash has seen Applejack be stubborn, but she was running with an injury, and looked exhausted as shit. Reluctantly, Rainbow kept flying in the direction of Canterlot, flying above the beaten path as they looked out for any sign of Leon.
All the while the gem seemed to be continuously glowing brighter.
...
Moondancer was busy filing a few of her NF novels, and all the while, she couldn't seem to get that human, Leon, off her mind. Something about a human just seemed to make neurons fire off in her brain, and while it seemed fun to entertain the idea, she was suddenly brought back to reality the moment a knock on the door rang out.
'Get a grip, Moondancer; Fantasies are fiction for a reason, it's impossible for them to happen.' Moondancer mentally told herself. She opened the door, and felt her body become paralyzed.
"Hello, Miss Dancer. Care for a chat? " Blueblood asked, a chilling sinister grin plastered on his face as he chuckled, strolling in and shutting the door behind him as Moondancer backed away.
"S-Stay back, you- y-you monster! Beating on someone who is the last of their kind, y-you should be ashamed of yourself!" Moondancer uttered out, backing up towards the fireplace as Blueblood continued his advancement, magically grabbing one of the novels Moondancer had filed and smirked, his eyes filled with repulsing disgust.
"Ashamed? For wanting Canterlot to be pure, and untouched by the filth of a bunch of talking hairless monkeys... it was bad enough that some of them had dared to plan an attack. You xenophiles are all the same, can't keep your genes in the same genepool for a few good generations. If you won't keep them there, I'll make you keep them there!" Blueblood stated, tossing the book aside as he leapt towards her.
Moondancer jumped to the side and heard the scattering of embers, and the screaming and groaning of pain and agony from blueblood, his blonde mane catching fire, several patchy burn marks on his face, and one of his eyes was forced closed, letting out smoke as he groaned and yelled out in pain. He forced the eye open, to reveal that his eye had been burned to a disgusting malformed paste as he tore it out and threw it into the flames.
Blueblood ran towards her, who had used her magic to slam Blueblood back against the wall, throwing more burning coals at him as she ran out of the house. "I will not be denied... I will not be denied!! I'm a prince, damn you! It's in my name! If I want something done, I'm going to do it myself!" Blueblood screamed out, gritting his teeth as he chased after the mare, the house slowly catching fire from the scattered embers.
...
Leon looks on at the scene, and is in awe of how absolutely ridiculous it looks.
A train is tipped over and on fire, ponies are panicking, a bugbear and a manticore are fighting right on top of the train, and the guards have gotten severely injured trying to stop the fight.
"Well, this is a thing that happened... I'll use Diamondhead to tank the hits from both of these strange mythological messes, and hopefully I'll be able to shield the train from the engine's explosion." Leon strategized. He popped the core up on the Omnitrix, and slammed it down. In a flash of cyan light, stood a new figure.
At 8 feet and 7 inches in height, stood a rare sight. A tall, slender, robust dragon with dark gray scales, cyan fins, thin and curved brown horns and glowing glowing cyan eyes. The dragon seemed to lack wings and had some kind of sickle shaped tip at the end of his tail with a white shoulderguard holding the Omnitrix's emblem in place.
"RRAAGHHH!!! Oh god damn it, now is not the time for a new guy! No wings either!? That's even worse! Aw man!" The dragon exclaimed. He looked over at the train wreck, seeing that several ponies were scrambling to get out, but to no avail. "Oh well... It's hero time!"
The dragon ran over and tried to open the door, until he remembered that the engine was right behind him. He stopped and decided to run around and burn the door on the other side down, motioning for the passengers and workers inside to get out. This went on for a couple minutes as the dragon freed the ponies one car at a time, burning doors down as he evacuated them to the side. As the last car was emptied, the dragon climbed on top of the cars, and whistled towards the two fighting animals.
"Hey, tweedle needle and tweedle pussycat! Are you looking for a scrap? Then come get some, courtesy of... uh... Dragonthorn!! Meh, it'll have to do." Dragonthorn stated. He ran over and tried to shove the manticore back, only to be met with a claw to the face, knocking him back. He growled and took in a deep breath, spewing a huge stream of Scarlet flames. The manticore begins to back away, only for the bugbear to start wrestling with the manticore, pushing the manticore into the flames.
Dragonthorn ran forward and spewed another stream of flames down on both of the creatures, causing them to back away, both of them getting singed by the fire. "Come on, I can do this all day!" Dragonthorn challenged with a toothy smirk.
Dragonthorn tried to push the creatures back, only to be knocked into the engine. The creatures growled and began to close in. The dragon looked at the engine, and immediately decided to be risky.
“Well, it’s been fun, Mazeltov and Marshmallows, you atrocious animal combo platters!” Dragonthorn sent off as he began to breathe fire onto the engine. Before anypony could figure out what was going on, the engine had exploded. The manticore and the bugbear were sent flying, skidding onto the ground in a defeated and slightly burned heap, and Dragonthorn fell straight to the ground, dazed and unharmed.
“Good thing Dragons are immune to fire… not so sure about the explosions though.” Dragonthorn groaned out.
Eventually, Dragonthorn was able to find some strength to pick himself up, only to see that the ponies were in a panic, and of course, the Omnitrix hadn’t timed out yet. The dragon was about to go back to Ponyville, until several of the ponies he saved called out in praise.
“Look, it’s two of the elements of harmony! They’ll slay the savage beast!” One of them said. The rest had roared in applause, and Dragonthorn rolled his eyes, only to smile and see it was Rainbow Dash and Applejack coming his way.
“Outta the way, scales-for-brains! We got business!” Dash stated.
“Scales-for-brains? Really Dash? That’s the best you can come up with?! I’ve seen better comebacks in a dumpster on fire!” Dragonthorn remarked.
“Don’t you go pickin’ fights you don’t want, we’re not looking for trouble, we’re looking for--”
“For a human named Leon? You’re looking right at him! Remember?” Dragonthorn remarked, showing the Omnitrix’s emblem on the shoulderguard. AJ stopped and really pondered the situation. She looked at the wreckage, the recently exploded train engine, the group of panicking ponies, and the unconscious bodies of a manticore and a bugbear in the distance.
“Good frickin’ gravy, we can discuss how all of that happened later. I was thinkin’ something up and got ya when you hadn’t come back.” Applejack remarked.
“Yeah, well I got my ass kicked by a prissy royal bitch boy named Blueblood, got my ass saved by a mare named Moondancer, I think I pissed her off by accident, and then the guards ran past me as I’m walking home. I had a busy night and a very busy day,” Dragonthorn summarized.
In a few quick seconds, the Omnitrix envelops the dragon in a flash of red light, transforming Leon back to normal. “So excuse me for taking my time coming back, because I got assaulted.” Leon retorted.
Dash was going to get in on comparing bad days, until the glowing from the gem became very noticeable under AJ’s hat. “Uh… is that thing supposed to be glowing like that?” Dash asked curiously.
Applejack removed her hat, revealing the glowing gem. Leon slowly approached it and grabbed it, examining it carefully. The gem looked familiar, and of course, he could recognize how odd it was… yet he felt an air of familiarity coming from the gem.
“Why do I get the feeling this is a Final Fantasy thing?” Leon thought out loud as he eyed the gem curiously as it glowed in his hands. Rainbow Dash and Applejack look at each other in confusion, and back at Leon.
"Uh Leon? What the hay's a 'Final Fantasy'?" Dash asked. Leon mentally smacked himself, knowing that he didn’t share any information about his world besides what Lyra asked of him about human history.
‘I’m going to sit them down and talk about video games when this is all said and done.’ Leon thought to himself.
At that moment, a deep draconic voice was heard by everyone within the area.
"He who holds my Magicite, listen well. I am Noel, a dragon Esper from another Equestria. If you seek my might, friendship, or my magic, you must focus your will into this Token."
“What in tarnation was that!?” Applejack exclaims, looking around for a source of the voice.
Leon just looked at the Magicite thingy and let a couple things ring a few bells in his head. “Noel… another Equestria… Token… Noel, can you hear me? Uh, I think something happened, and you kinda spooked the farm girl.” Leon said to the Magicite awkwardly.
“Whatever do you mean?” Noel’s voice echoed from within the token.
“What do I mean? Noel, buddy, I haven’t had the chance to re-summon ya, mainly cause Celestia was trying to skewer and fry my ass to ashes, and then an alien bounty hunter showed up, I got my shit kicked in by a prissy prince, it’s been a rollercoaster of unfathomable brain fuckery on my end. Noel, I will set up another bonfire for you if it means you can explain shit to AJ and Rainbow Dash better than I can.” Leon explained to the best of his abilities.
“..Bonfire? What?” Noel’s voice answered, further confused as ever.
Leon was just as confused, and it was not a good day if Leon’s confused. “Bud, you’re pulling my leg, right? You didn’t get amnesia where you’re from, did you, mister Ashen One? Remember, Mac and the CMC, we took them camping, you made a robot’s soul into a sick ass pair of boots, you don’t remember that?” Leon asked.
“I’ve never met you before, Leon, and this is the first summon I’ve gotten since arriving in Equestria as some sort of lesser Bahamut clone.” Noel’s voice explained.
“...The hell’s a Bahamut?! Ok, Noel, you got one heck of a sense of humor. If this is some kind of prank, Dash could learn a thing from you. You taught me to parry, you literally helped me figure out how to not constantly rely on the Omnitrix… Ok, I’m bringing you here for an explanation. Doing this while I talk to some magic gem is just as crazy, if not more, than somehow almost being taken over by the Greek god of edgelords, Erebus!” Leon stated, full on confused as he tried to focus his will on the Magicite in his hand.
The sky started to fill with clouds, cloaking the area in darkness. In the center of the clouds parted, forming a small black swirling portal, and from the portal descended a draconic black figure. This was definitely not the Noel they knew back then.
“Ok, dude, maybe let’s not put the scared ponies in more danger! What is that? How do you know this thing?” Dash asked, not even sure how to process what just happened. Applejack is just out cold in shock, there was only so much she could take, and now she’s out cold, unconscious.
“Noel? What happened to your badass armor, man?” Leon asked, slowly approaching the draconic black figure with caution. Something in him was just telling him to not get closer, yet he kept going.
“You must have me confused for someone else..” Noel asked with a frown. Despite him having a different body and a deeper voice, it was still recognizable to Leon.
Leon was not about to give up and got closer, slowly beginning to feel like Noel wasn't joking. “Noel, the joke is no longer funny. Don’t you recognize me? Hell, I might still have those boots on right now, just needed to be easier with my foot work to not suddenly spring up into the air,” Leon said, rolling his pant legs up, showing the red and scorning orange metal boots made from the soul of the robot Leon took down a little while back. “This is your handiwork, Noel! You don’t know me, or remember me at all?”
“No, I do not remember you nor anything you are claiming of me doing…” Noel asked with a slightly annoyed frown.
Leon has stopped trying to rationalize that this was a joke, and was just more irritated by this point as he reached for the Omnitrix. “Noel, you gotta remember me. You were all Praise the sun, I called you Mr. Praise the Sunbutt and you knocked me over the head with a spear. You trained me to dodge, and parry, you made me these boots, hell, you gave me a book full of magic attacks to master… I haven’t read it yet, but I would like some coaching from the guy who gave it to me, which is you! What’s happened to you, man? Who in your world died and wiped your memory?” Leon stated, now standing face to face with the dragon who he knew as Noel.
“You’re damn near crazy!” Dash exclaimed from a distance, hauling Applejack with her to get her out of range of whatever could happen.
Noel sat down on the ground as he curled his tail around his legs like a cat. “My point still stands that I know not of what you’re talking about. As mentioned, this is the first time I've met you.” Noel explained. No matter how long Leon stared, there was no hesitation in Noel’s eyes that he was lying.
Leon sighed, sitting right in front of the dragon as he kept staring, having a really hard time that this was Noel. Leon’s mind was racked with theories. Could be a changeling, and whatever these tokens are, maybe one got in the hands of a changeling and this is a ruse… but why keep up the ruse? Leon thought it could’ve been someone using a disguise spell, but that wouldn’t explain why he’s a dragon now… Leon was struggling to find a rational explanation, yet he found nothing that could carry any weight.
“Just what the hell happened to you, and why don’t you remember me?” Leon asked curiously.
Noel reached up and scratched the top of his head, trying to figure out what Leon’s on about. “Either you met a different Noel, or you’re mistaking me for another Noel. I am truthful that I am not the Noel you think I am, I did not make you the boots, or give you a book, or anything of which you speak of.” Noel explained.
“Where’s the fist on your armor, the bow… You had something called a firelink sword that could change into a spear. You almost Pompeii’d my ass when we trained together in the midst of the apple orchard! I don’t know how anyone can just forget that, or not know what I’m talking about.” Leon questioned.
“It doesn't matter how many things you mention, Leon, I told you I’ve not done any of those things..” Noel said with a deep frown. “For all I know, it may have something to do with the multiverse theory,” he explained.
“... Multiverse Theory, it’s a bi-” Before Leon could finish that remark, Twilight appears, looking frantic, and has a satchel of a bunch of tomes, one of them being the book Noel had given Leon before he went back to his world.
“Jesus christ! Twilight, why are you here and how did you even know I was here!?” Leon asked, jumping from her sudden appearance.
“To be honest, my token radiates a strong pulse of magic, thus it is possible she followed it here.” Noel explained with a nod.
“Thank you for that summarized explanation, but we can talk about this later… Leon, why do you have a book of spells with you? I don’t recall you getting something like this in your time here! There was just this odd changing source of magic at the farm, and I found the book just sitting on the shelf. How did you get this, and who gave it to you?” Twilight questioned.
Leon just pointed to the dragon in front of him and honestly said what he knew was true. “This scaly amnesiac from another Equestria is the one who gave me it, said I could use it to make myself stronger by learning spells when the Omnitrix decides to be damn near useless when I need it the most. His name is Noel, by the way.” Leon stated matter of factly.
“Still sticking to your words about what I didn’t do?” Noel asked in minor annoyance as he let out a sigh.
Leon glared at the dragon. “Look me in the eyes and figure out if I’m lying. Ask Big Mac and the CMC, they saw you when I took you camping! Three blank flanked fillies and a stallion of very few words are my witnesses. Gimme my book back, by the way!” Leon snapped, snatching the book as he opened it up, only for fresh ashes to fly out, and leave Leon more confused as ever.
“Ok, universe, a prissy royal stallion already kicked my ass, why do you keep going for my jugular! How does that make any sense?!” Leon exclaimed.
“Alright, first of all do me a small favor… Take a deep breath, exhale slowly, repeat until you’ve counted to ten..” Noel suggested, feeling half tempted to cast a Silence spell if this got any more louder.
Leon leered at the dragon, but continued with the exercise. Twilight was just watching, completely out of the loop as she just watched what was going on, lacking any real information about the issue at hand.
“Leon, what’s going on here?” Twilight asked.
“I have a theory though, and it's possible Leon met a different separate timeline of myself. Time Magic does exist in my world after all.” Noel explained, and possibly caused Twilight’s ears to perk up.
“So you’re telling me that the Noel I met before wasn’t the main Noel, like a Noel Prime, then what does that make you?” Leon asked.
“That I do not know as I am no time lord that watches over the timestream.” Noel said with a nod. “I only understand the concept of time, for it is like a giant tree that is constantly growing new branches; some may break and become rotting pieces on the ground while others continue to grow.” Noel explained as he looked over at Twilight. “If this world follows the same timeline as a few others, you will one day meet someone who will threaten the past, and what you’ll witness will make you understand what I mean. I will not mention whom they are as revealing too much future knowledge may alter the course.” Noel said.
Leon can tell this was a much wiser version of Noel, but Leon still felt like with that mention of meeting someone who threatens the past… two people came to mind, and at least he could try to reform one of them and kill the other when the time comes.
“I know who you’re talking about, but I know of another person who may threaten it just the same… You can leave one of them to me, and I’ll kick the other one’s ass.” Leon stated, a worried fury in his eyes as he grimaced at the Omnitrix.
Noel gently nodded to Leon before looking at all the other ponies, who were still on the offense. “Please calm yourselves, it would not be wise to treat me as an enemy.” Noel warned.
“The warning’s kinda wasted breath, old friend. The dragon thing hasn’t happened yet, and they are very racist against humans, so I’m in both boats of being hated, and you’re in one. Doesn’t help that humans were here apparently long before I got sent here.” Leon whispered.
“My words should be taken into consideration nevertheless. I’d rather not show proof of why.” Noel said with a gentle snort.
“I’ll take your word for it… I just don’t want to believe he’s gone, he’s such a chill guy, I didn’t wanna think that our first meeting was gonna be the last.” Leon stated.
Noel’s horns lowered themselves. “What of his token? Is it still around?” Noel asked, trying to grasp on something positive.
“Maybe, I don’t think I have it on me. Besides, the Noel that I met told me, and I quote, ‘Remember to seek out my white or red sign if you ever need me.’ I’d say that was cryptic, but that’s my own damn fault for not remembering it or even knowing how I would know to look for it.” Leon explained.
“..That sounds a bit like Dark Souls… heh, now I wish I woke up as that instead. I’m a lot more familiar with that game than Final Fantasy.” Noel explained.
“Yeah, you were basically the Ashen One, a modded version for a Cinders mode, if I remember correctly.” Leon mentioned.
“..Sounds like he got the lucky end of the Displaced stick.” Noel said with a sigh. “I may not be him, but perhaps I can fill his shoes if I offered you my friendship?” Noel asked, trying to at least make the moment less somber.
Leon thought about it for a minute. It could be worth it in the long run, but he wasn’t one to just forget a friend. The old Noel, he’ll always be with him, wherever he ended up. The new Noel, he can at least get used to his presence, and hey, he preferred Final Fantasy over Dark Souls just for the sake of not developing anger issues from how difficult DS is, even if he’s not even familiar in the slightest with either games.
Leon turned to Noel, and held his right hand out for a handshake. “Noel, I accept. The old Noel will always be with me, wherever he ended up, I’m just glad to know that, maybe he’s not dead. It’s just nice to know that I can find a friend in another version of a friend I made a little while ago.” Leon explained. “Besides, I know jack shit about both FF and DS, but I’m familiar with Cloud Strife and Sephiroth, if that’s any consolation.”
“It’s a start.” Noel said as he grabbed Leon’s hand to shake it. In comparison, Leon’s hand kind of dwarved Noel’s.
Twilight watches on as the two shake hands, and is almost tempted to write a friendship letter at this very moment, until the guards stumble over, out of breath and covered in wrappings. “The princess has called for you, Miss Sparkle, urgent business in Canterlot.” One of the guards states.
“..How far are we from there, Leon?” Noel asked as he let go of Leon’s hand.
“Considering I walked a pretty good hour or two away till I started running to follow the guards, I’d say we’re around six, maybe seven and a half miles from Canterlot at this moment. What’s the issue this time anyway?” Leon asked the guard.
“That’s classified information, you’ll have to ask Princess Luna in person.” one of the bat ponies stated firmly.
“On second thought, flying you there might draw unwanted attention.” Noel said with a nod as he slowly got up from his sit.
“I could get us there in a flash, but I don’t think Fasttrack is that strong to carry a dragon of your size and stature, and Twilight at the same time.” Leon stated.
“If you need a lift, we can get a hot air balloon to our location with a simple command, but it will take a few hours.” Another bat pony stated.
“If It can handle the weight, yes.” Noel said with a nod.
Twilight thought it over, and did hear that it was urgent, could they really make it there in time? “Sir, how urgent did the princess say this business was?” Twilight inquired.
“A life may or may not be on the line, miss. I’d say it’s understandable, a ‘proud noble’ breaks into one of the resident’s homes, attempts to assault them, and chases them throughout the entirety of Canterlot. I gotta say, I’ll die for Celestia if I must, but her stupid nephew can rot in a soup can for all I care, with all due respect, Miss Sparkle.” One of the unicorns had explained.
Twilight was shocked and astonished, one could say she was also appalled. “We can’t just sit here, it could be too late!” Twilight exclaimed.
“Get a move on then. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can help.” Noel said with a nod.
Leon nodded in agreement, and then remembered something crucial, and looked at Twilight for a moment.
“Twilight, remind me, how did you get here so fast?” Leon asked.
“A simple teleportation spell… oh, well don’t I feel silly.” Twilight said, laughing in an embarrassed tone as she made the realization.
“Only if you have the magick-” Noel paused to cough. “I’m sorry, the magic to teleport us.” Noel said.
“I should, but I can only teleport 2 ponies at a time. Not sure how that’ll equate to a human and a grown-up dragon.” Twilight stated.
“I’m not waiting on a balloon, so this is our best option at the moment.” Leon stated, crouching down as he hugged Twilight. “I’m ready to be teleported, feel free to grab on, Noel!”
Noel placed his paw onto Leon’s shoulder. “Just get ready to explain why there’s a dragon.” Noel pointed out.
Leon nodded and Twilight built up a charge of magical energy, and in an instant, they were gone in a flash of light.
In the throne room, several Canterlot citizens had been rounded up in a court of some kind. In the middle of the room was Prince Blueblood, who was bandaged and tended to his wounds, and Moondancer, who did not look any better, some of her wounds being more from how she exerted herself.
In a burst of magical light, Twilight, Leon and Noel had appeared, and needless to say, shit looked very bad.
“Oh god, what the hell happened here?! I left for a couple hours, and this happened.” Leon asks in disbelief.
“Seems we may have arrived a little late.” Noel said in concern as he looked around the courtroom.
Twilight was very distraught, to know one of her old friends was in such a state, it almost made her wanna go into a fit of rage, but she refrained from doing so, and just glared holes into the back of Blueblood’s empty head as she grinded her teeth.
The court was brought to silence by the sound of a gavel, and above the court was Celestia and Luna, acting as the judges for said court.
“Oh this can only end well with no biases whatsoever…” Leon gritted sarcastically.
“My little ponies, we are gathered here to decide the fates of my many greats nephew, Prince Blueblood, and local Canterlot resident Moondancer. The ones on trial will have a chance to state their sides of the problem, and going off of a jury of your peers, you will face your final judgment. Miss Dancer, let us begin with your side, if you will.” Celestia announced.
Moondancer sighed and tried to keep her cool as she recollected her thoughts. “It was a regular night in the upper class district about a few hours ago. I was going out to try and find a limited edition romance novel called… ‘The Moon’s Wick. Two worlds apart, Vol. 21.’ I thought I’d find it in the district, but everypony was just too busy watching this blonde bastard son wail on someone who comes from an extinct species! I would’ve charged him for attempted genocide if he wasn’t a pompous royal brat, or if I hadn’t kept the human from actually being killed-”
“Objection, Auntie, this mare is clearly delusional. The humans wrought too much chaos on our world, and all it takes is one human to start something that could be regretful later.” Blueblood interjected.
“Overruled, Blueblood. Continue, Miss Dancer.” Luna stated.
“I prevented the human, known as Leon, from getting bludgeoned and murdered by the prince. I helped keep him alive and he left soon after. When a few more hours passed in the day, Blueblood had shown up at my door, invited himself in, and then went on about how I may or may not have an attraction to other species. That was when he promptly decided to attack me, saying he’d make me stick with ponies, even if it was against my will. I ducked out of the way and he landed face first in my fireplace. I ran from him and he followed after me…” Moondancer trailed off for a moment, and took a deep breath as she steadied her nerves.
“My home, my belongings, my precious memories, burned to the ground because of this bastard. He chased me all throughout Canterlot’s shopping district, and when he did catch up to me, he knocked me over the head and full-on tried to kill me! If it wasn’t for the guards showing up, I would’ve been dead.” Moondancer finished, glaring at the arrogant prince.
“Is that your entire side of the story, Miss Dancer?” Celestia asked.
“There’s nothing further than what I told you, so yes, that’s my entire side of the story, your highnesses.” Moondancer stated.
“Nephew, you’re up. Feel free to fact check Miss Dancer on any misconceptions.” Celestia said.
Blueblood nodded and let a snide smirk form on his slightly ruined face. “It was a wonderful night in the district. I just got back from an important meeting and I needed to relieve myself of some stress. I was on my way back to the castle, so that I may rest, and that incompetent, bumbling fool of a human had the nerve to bump into me, and act like it was an accident-”
“Cause it was an accident, you sissy hoofed son of a bitch, ever hear of common decency!?” Leon yelled out, disrupting the prince’s testimony.
The court was stirring, no one had ever dared to speak to anyone of the royal family in such a way before, it made them clamor
“ORDER!!” Celestia roared out, slamming the gavel down as everypony went silent. “Mr. Leon, I understand you have some hostility towards me after my… previous behavior, but do not disrupt the court! Go ahead, Blueblood.” Celestia stated. Leon rolled his eyes and subtly flipped both of his fingers to the princess, staying silent.
“As I was saying before, he acted as if it was an accident, but I saw the animosity in his eyes. I decided to take a stand for the people of Canterlot, and I put that human in his place. I was about to put an end to the return of the treacherous humans, when someone had knocked me back… I know now that it was in fact Miss Dancer. I spent most of my day reeling from the hit, but I decided to not hold grudges against my subjects; I moseyed my way to her abode, and saw her reading such delirious and nonsensical trash about interspecies relations, as if any other species could actually want to mingle with us if not to save their hides from our conquest. I had to put a stop to it, so I tried to confiscate the book, until she jumped me and shoved me into the fireplace. She ruined my eye and my face, but I still wanted to make things right, so I chased after her. I had tried to tap her shoulder, but she suddenly flopped over onto the ground, screaming bloody murder that I was trying to kill her. You must understand that I was thinking about the well-being and safety of the common ponies. That is all.” Blueblood finished.
Noel leaned in toward Leon. “No matter the universe, Blueblood is always a spoiled rotten asstwat. He might as well change his name from Blueblood to Coldblood.” Noel whispered to Leon.
“Ain’t that the truth. If there’s proof that a group of not-so-nice ponies can make an anti-elements of harmony group, Blueballs the blonde over there would definitely parallel Applejack’s element. Where Applejack is honest, Blueblood is the element of bullshitting.” Leon agreed, whispering back.
“We have heard both sides of the story, and we shall take witness testimonies, when that is done, the jury will make the final call.” Luna stated, hammering the gavel down.
Moondancer moves away from the middle of the room and collapses into Twilight’s embrace. Leon was prepared to use Swampfire and turn Blueblood into a Cajun rotisserie dinner just out of spite, if it wasn’t for Noel holding him back.
“I wanna break my foot up in that bastard’s plot. There was a lot of subtlety in both of their words, and from what I could understand from Moondancer’s story, I was there! I left before Blueblood showed up, but that god damn… I’m gonna have horse haunches for dinner by the end of this, it’ll be good eating if it means the worst stallion to ever exist in this world is gone for good… besides, something about him just rubs me the wrong way.” Leon remarked under his breath.
“I don’t know how Blueblood’s been alive for this long if this is the kind of stuff he pulls daily. Hmm… Don’t worry.” Noel said before lowering his voice. “I can always turn him into a toad if they plead him not guilty.” Noel whispered.
Leon nodded in agreement. He looked back at Moondancer and Twilight, seeing that Moondancer was trying to compose herself. Leon looked over at Blueblood, and saw him trying to sneak away to some door behind one of the draped curtains.
“Does something seem off to you if Blueblood’s going into secret rooms and sneaking off during a court session?” Leon questioned.
“It's Blueblood, what did you expect?” Noel said as he held his claws together. Blue and yellow energy circled around him as he gently chanted a spell. “Hold.” Noel spoke, causing yellow rings to leap out of the ground and bind around Blueblood, causing him to stumble over.
“Agh! W-What’s the meaning of this?!” Blueblood squealed.
“Recompense, you rotten prick.” Leon says simply. Blueblood looks up and sees Leon and Noel standing over him. “Going somewhere?”
“That’s none of your concern, I suggest you let me out of this!” Blueblood demanded.
“Such big talk from such a spoiled and pampered brat. Tell me, what was that weird insignia on you from last night? I remember seeing something like it back home, in a matter of sense.” Leon asked.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Blueblood denied.
“You will in a few seconds, or I’ll make you.” Leon countered. “Noel?”
Noel craned his neck down. “Let’s just say not telling the truth can lead to consequences, so I suggest you do so, or you may be subjected to the definition of insanity..” Noel said with a grin.
“What’s it gonna be, prince blueballs? You wanna go insane, be possessed, or do you wanna man up, act like an adult and face your consequences for being an entitled and privileged little shit?” Leon asked with a similar grin.
Blueblood was really out of options. He could fight back, but his instincts knew better. He groaned in defeat and was returned to the stand.
“Auntie, I have something to confess… I did, in fact, instigate this whole mess. I did it to preserve our good name, our status, our reputation…” Blueblood confessed.
Noel snorted. “There are better ways to do it than what you tried to pull with Moondancer.” he warned.
“No one can say no to a prince, many mares haven’t.” Blueblood remarked.
“I’m going to tear his muzzle off, Celestia, try and stop me!” Leon growled, trying to tackle Blueblood, if it wasn’t for Twilight using her magic to hold him still, who also seemed to contemplate knocking the stallion over his head.
“Reputation is everything, and we’ve always bought our way out of issues such as these. This is hardly a matter worth court, and moreover discussing how much should be paid to keep this quiet?” Blueblood offered.
Noel mumbled something under breath, causing strange runics to appear around Blueblood. The moment Blueblood tried to speak, he would find his voice was silent. “I don’t see how or why Celestia tolerates you, or even how she’s not ashamed of your existence.” Noel said, holding back the temptation to spit in Blueblood’s face.
“Honestly, how you can be related to Celestia at all is farfetched… she may not be perfect, but you couldn’t be perfect even if you paid me to say it! I say to Tartarus with you, may you burn and rot for all eternity!” Twilight declared, staring daggers at the silent prince. The ponies murmured and the jury was already picking the obvious choice. Blue blood was sweating bullets as he looked to Celestia for a sign of mercy. Celestia, despite her view on humans, can’t look him in the eye, but Luna just glared at him.
“Jury of peers, go to the council room, and make the final call.” Celestia commanded, slamming the gavel down. Ten ponies trotted away and brought themselves into one room while everyone waited on the final verdict.
“I believe that’s the final say to that.” Noel said as he turned around, his tail whipping around to lash Blueblood in the cheek, giving him a gash across as a rewinder.
“I must say, Mr. Derrickson, I wasn’t expecting you to come back with a dragon companion, though he’s proven to be very useful. Pray tell, dragon, kindly introduce yourself to the princess of the night?” Luna asked curiously.
“Hm? Ah, I’m Noel, a friend of Leons.” Noel said as he turned around. “A pleasure to meet you, Luna of dreams.” he said as he bowed his head in respect.
“Well Mister Noel, thank you a thousand fold for assisting with the trial, and keeping my spineless nephew from running out on us.” Luna thanked.
The ten ponies walked back out and nodded. “We’ve come to a unanimous agreement, your highnesses… we find Prince Blueblood Casa Moire: guilty on all charges, your highnesses.” the jury states.
Blueblood grits his teeth and glares at Leon, Noel and Twilight. “One of these days, you will be destroyed! I will have my revenge on you, and I’ll make sure your kind stays extinct!!” Blueblood vows as the guards take him away.
“Yeah? You’ll get your revenge? I have a better chance of sticking my dick in death than you do getting out of shackles. Try not to drop the soap, pretty boy, Sayonara!” Leon states, smiling confidently.
“If only he knew there was more outside this universe.” Noel whispered to Leon in amusement. For a moment, Leon’s confidence had faltered, and had let a few certain words slip out.
“I think he already knew…”
“Eh? Surely he doesn’t understand the multiverse and how it's constantly expanding? He’d be a lunatic to try killing off all the humans, let alone anything way beyond his league?” Noel asked in disbelief.
“He’s not a genius, Noel, anyone could deduce that, but there’s something on my mind… that insignia I saw on him earlier that night, I can’t seem to stop thinking about it … Something tells me I gotta look for it. Next time I show up in Canterlot, I’m going to track that insignia down and pray that I was just having an off night. Otherwise, if my hunch is correct… we’re in massive trouble.” Leon stated.
“Hmm… It’d be best if I give you a little something.” Noel said as he started tracing at the air, appearing to be pushing and moving something along.
“Uh, you tryna teach me to be a mime or something?” Leon asked, confused.
“Just a menu only I see, now..” Noel began as he started making his way to the outside. “Do you have my token?” Noel asked as he looked over his shoulder at Leon.
Leon nods and pulls out the Magicite. “I’m gonna take a guess here and say this is what you want to give me?” Leon asked on a whim.
“Yes. Now, if you keep that gem with you and take part in battles, friendly sparring, or even winning fights to the death, my gem will empower your mind with knowledge of my spells. I’ve changed it with my menu so that you have more of a choice of spells you’d like to learn.” Noel explained to Leon.
“So anyone who equips this thing and fights, will gain experience and new spells? As fun as that would be, I’m not pulling the ancient pin on that magic grenade.” Leon stated, walking over to Twilight.
Noel slowly raised an eyeridge. “It's not rapid growth, it will take time to learn spells of your choice from mostly the White and Black.” Noel explained as he watched Leon make his way over to Twilight.
“Well, it’s still not my thing. Besides, Twilight could benefit more from keeping this Magicite for herself, strengthening her understanding of magic and other magicka based spells and techniques. She’d be getting far stronger and learning far more than she has already, and it could help her in more dire circumstances. You’ll just have to help her with maneuvering and properly working a menu.” Leon stated.
He got up close to Noel and whispered in his ear. “Plus, it could help when two certain someponies show up later for a wedding, and it’d be substantially useful to have backup against the queen of the you-know-whats.” Leon added.
“Very well then.” Noel said as he looked over at Twilight, awaiting her response.
Twilight was very apprehensive about this, seeing as it may as well be a shortcut to doing hard work. “I- I don’t know. As good as it could be that I could learn more magic spells and techniques, I- I’m not sure if this will be for me.” Twilight said, unsure of her answer.
“Hey, Noel, quick question… are those Limit Break Forms in any way tied to this thing?” Leon asked cautiously.
“Hm? Ah, but only if I allow it, however Limit Breaks will require either for you to be harmed, or for your friends to fall in battle. Filling the bar to the max will coat you in a powerful blue energy. This in turn will allow you to ascend to either a strong form with a time limit or one powerful attack. Each attack or form has a theme according to what you use. For you, Leon? Free access to your strongest alien form with no rules attached for a short time period.” Noel explained to both Leon and Twilight.
Leon shuddered at that thought. Free access to the strongest alien form with no rules… “Yeah, this thing is safer in Twilight’s hands than mine, one hundred and fifty percent positive with that choice.” Leon stated, immediately hooking the Magicite up around Twilight’s neck with his old belt like it was an accessory.
“Alright, your call. Now..” Noel began as he brought up his menu, which Twilight could now see as a holographic blue screen. “What sort of spells should you have?” Noel asked Twilight, then looked at Leon for suggestions if Twilight doesn’t answer.
“I would say something that would involve a lot of room to improvise on the fly. I know I can be a leader if I want to be one, but even the best leaders don’t have expert plans and strategies at the ready in any given moment. Anything like that could work for me.” Twilight asked.
“Hmm… I’ll start you off with six spells. Sight, Scan, Cure, Fire, Thunder, and Blizzard. Three basic Whites, three basic Blacks.” Noel said as he shifted a few things, grabbing and dragging onto a section on the screen, then pushing confirm.
“Well, this’ll be interesting. Twilight gets stronger, I’ll be getting stronger in my own ways, and we’ll all be getting better in our own ways. Though it’s a shame that Rainbow, AJ and the other girls had to miss all this, I wonder what they’re doing right now, while we deal with all this?” Leon wondered.
“I sadly have no option to change a person’s class, that is a mechanic that exists only in my world.” Noel explained with a frown.
“Well, I’m sure she’ll be fine with whatever her class is. After all, she is Twilight Sparkle, she’ll be fine… maybe.” Leon said with a chuckle.
“...Well, her class is special akin to a main character anyhow.” Noel said with a snort of amusement, earning a confused look from Twilight. “Now, if you two could spar a bit, it’ll help my token in fueling her mind with knowledge of the six spells.” Noel explained.
“I’m surprised Celestia hasn’t stepped in to stop us.” Leon remarked.
“That’s because my dear sister is not one for watching fights, even if she can’t help but start them.” Luna stated, flying down. “Feel free to fight to your heart's content, our throne room used to be a gladiatorial ring before we started our diarchy.” Luna added.
...
Leon smiled as he activated the Omnitrix. “Well, this’ll be fun. Hope you enjoy the power of a Dragon!” Leon stated, slamming on the Omnitrix. Instead of the dragon he was before, he was replaced by the alien that was aforementioned as Ghostfreak.
“Sometimes I hate this thing more than I hate Celestia…” Ghostfreak gritted.
“Trying to copy my DNA, Leon?” Noel asked with a laugh.
“I unlocked it earlier, literally moments before AJ brought that Magicite thing to me… gotta thank Spike for that, Dragonthorn’s resistance is impeccable.” Ghostfreak retorted.
“Fair enough.” Noel said with a nod as he went to lay down and watch the two go at it.
Ghostfreak hovers over and immediately tries to throw a punch at Twilight, only for her to dodge and try to blast a magic attack at him. Ghostfreak phases through the ground to avoid it and delivers an uppercut to the unicorn, sending her back as Ghostfreak tries to come up with a plan.
Twilight tumbles to the ground, but quickly gets back on her legs as she tries to test out a fire spell, her horn begins to spark and ignite with flickers of embers as her horn gets more and more orange with every second she charges it up. She fires out a bright purple flame towards the spirit, and Ghostfreak narrowly dodges the attack, watching it erupt into a purple explosion of light. A blue aura seems to rise above her head, like it’s some kind of bar to fill.
“Excellent work, Twilight, you actually almost had me. But now, I’m about to go into what my people would call ‘Sicko Mode’ .” Ghostfreak remarked. His hands began to glow with a dark blue aura, and a few small objects began to float off the ground enveloped in that same aura. Ghostfreak lurches his arms forward, and the objects are flung in Twilight’s direction.
Twilight decided to try and use the Thunder spell, as a hope of using electrical currents to deter or destroy the objects hurtling towards her. Her horn glows and sparks in a variety of Yellow shades, as well as black electrical sparks begin to form as a violet thunderbolt shot forward, destroying a few objects and striking the Ectonurite dead on. The bar starts to grow a bit more.
Ghostfreak collapses to the floor, and feels several magical pins in his ethereal body keeping him on the ground. He was paralyzed, he couldn’t even muster the strength to phase through the floor. “Oh crap.”
“Looks like you should’ve chosen something that could reflect something like that, maybe Diamondhead would’ve worked. But, this is where it ends, so, good fight, worked pretty well, though I’m surprised you didn’t put up that much of a fight. Sure you could throw objects with some form of telekinesis, but it looks like you’ve reached your limit already.” Twilight remarked with confidence, she was riding high on how she managed to actually win, even if Ghostfreak wasn’t trying that hard to actually fight, harm or kill anyone.
“Heh… yeah, probably best if I turn back now before this gets out of hand, can’t risk a certain someone being a problem later.” Ghostfreak remarked. He reached for the Omnitrix’s emblem and transformed himself back into Leon.
“I may have to hope I unlock a smart alien next, just so I can properly understand why the Omnitrix is messing up this time. As for tomorrow though, I think I just want to chill out, have a personal day, no aliens, no magic, no problems, no nonsense… Twilight can figure out Final Fantasy as much as she can, maybe even see if the Magicite will work on them at all after a bit of experimentation. I’m just gonna stay in the guest room on the farm, and take a day to just be me.” Leon stated, stretching his body a bit.
“Noel, I wanna thank you for showing up and staying a bit. I guess if there’s nothing I can do, or maybe even the fact that I kinda owe you for that court situation, I’d give you my token, if I had one.” Leon thanked.
“...How many Displaced have you summoned so far?” Noel asked as Twilight is seen rubbing along her forehead.
“The other Noel was the only one I’ve summoned or encountered thus far, and counting you, I guess it’d be two… I think.” Leon said, unsure of if what he just said was right.
“Ah, that explains why you’ve yet to make a token. Do you remember if he explained how?” Noel asked curiously as he brought up his menu, showing notifications that Twilight has learned the six spells.
“Uhh… Yeeeeeeaaahhhhhh No, no I’m pretty sure I forgot how to do that, if he explained it at all.” Leon answered.
“There are one of two methods, you can either manifest it into existence using your own power of will, or you can get yourself an object and then alter it with your power.” Noel explained as he gently went over to tap the Magicite. “Like this, for example, it is my power poured into a stone rather than how Espers do it.” Noel said.
Leon thought about this for a moment. He looked at the Omnitrix, and remembered the badges that had the emblem. He almost considers it, but he pauses and thinks if there’s a possibility of other displaced, who may or may not have Omnitrixes, and have used the badge or something like it as a Token? Leon didn’t want to just be summoned by mistake when someone else was needed, so he had to think of something.
Leon was really struggling with this one simple idea, and for the life of him, he couldn’t understand it, and he thought of it. That’s when it hit him.
“Noel, quick question. Do you have a ring, like an accessory, and a piece of quartz by any chance?” Leon asked curiously.
“No, I do not.. Monsters for some reason cannot wear them in my world.” Noel said as he rubbed the back of his head.
“If it is a ring and quartz you require, Mr. Derrickson, then I can gladly spare a ring from the royal vault. Pray tell, what is it you have in mind?” Luna asks. She illuminates her horn and summons a small silver ring and a small quartz crystal in the air with her magic.
“Simple… I wanna base my token off of the very thing that made a certain character so… complex, to say the least.” Leon said cryptically.
Luna gave the quartz and the ring to Leon, and he clenched them both in his hand.
“...Err, on second thought, I’m not ready for this… this seems like a very big and important decision, and I can’t make that choice… not yet, not while there’s stuff here for me to do… my apologies for the waste of resources, Princess Luna, but I’m not ready to introduce what may be several interdimensional forces to our world. I dub myself foolish for thinking that would be a good idea.” Leon stated, returning the quartz and the ring to the princess’s possession. Leon took a deep breath and sighed, rubbing his face as he tried to not dwell on the idea.
“A wise choice as the universe is vast, filled with many Displaced with all sorts of powers.” Noel said with a nod. “I suggest in the future when you do feel ready, a safety protocol will be useful if the summoner turns out to be bad.” Noel suggested.
“I’ll keep that in mind… I think after everything that’s transpired yesterday and today, we’re all in need of a break. I’m going to try and relax, enjoy a day for what it’s worth, and not for what it could be.” Leon said calmly.
“I do hope Blueblood won’t trouble you anymore, or at the very least this whole xenophobia stops.” Noel said hopefully.
“Trust me, Blueblood must get the Xenophobia from Celestia, considering she was very adamant about having one human in our castle. I can only remember the hissy fits she threw when a whole entire population of humans was brought to her attention…” Luna states somberly.
“Eventually, Celestia will have to get used to seeing more of me, or maybe even more of you, Noel the Dragon. But, I feel as if this is not a goodbye, more of a friendly farewell… we may cross paths again soon, but I’m sure your Equestria needs you right now; It needs its hero, as my Equestria needs theirs. In layman’s terms, we are friends, and we’ll meet again… I think.” Leon stated, smiling as he held his hand out for another handshake.
“She'd get used to it though, for you will not be the only human, for every day there is always a chance another token arrives.” Noel explained as he gently took Leon’s hand to shake it.
“Farewell, Noel. If you see Sephiroth, a thin, but muscular, one winged silver haired fallen angel, tell him he never stood a chance and then shove him in a trash can.” Leon requested with a cheeky grin.
“Ah, about that. My world is Final Fantasy Tactics, I've no idea if Sam and I will meet him.” Noel said with a shrug.
“I don’t know who this ‘Sam’ is, but I hope they’ll have your back. I know I would, and I have eleven different options to help introduce Sephiroth to the pavement. I’ve also not played Tactics, but I hear it’s pretty good, despite many mixed reviews.” Leon mentioned.
“Eh… depends on which one, the playstation or the gameboy advance sequel.” Noel said as he wiggled his claw from side to side.
“I was a playstation guy, it’s how I was introduced to the watch on my wrist.” Leon said, gesturing to the Omnitrix. “I guess it’s time to send ya home… how’d I do it the last time?”
“Just say ‘Noel, dismiss’, I am a summon after all” Noel said with a nod.
Leon smiled, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Noel, you are dismissed. Go save your Equestria. Till we meet again.” Leon formally stated.
The light outside darken as Noel ran to the next room, soon leaping out of the nearest window. Leon ran over the window to watch him fly into the swirling portal made within the clouds, he left the same way he came. The clouds slowly part, returning to where they were originally.
“Who messed with the weather!? Were we scheduled for storm maintenance? I swear, let one wall-eyed mare take the boss’s place, and all of a sudden, it may be raining bunnies instead of rain.” A Pegasus complained in the distance.
...
As Leon, Twilight and Moondancer leave the castle, Twilight waves her hoof in a few directions amidst the air around her, messing with the menu as she tries to figure out how to safely experiment with the Cure and Blizzard spells.
“I gotta say, this was crazy; But it was pretty fun, if you look over the crazy spoiled royal and the fact that two mythological monsters were trying to kill each other and I met another version of my friend who comes from another timeline, that is. I guess we’re gonna head back to Ponyville, so that’ll be a neat return to form.” Leon summarized.
“That’s right, though I would have to advise you to tell me how to navigate such a messy menu. How that ‘Noel’ person could do it with such precision is impossible for me, curse my fat hooves!” Twilight whined.
“I just can’t believe I’m finally free from that freak. It’s good to finally be able to go home and relax in peace… Oh, wait…” Moondancer’s excitement soon fell flat, and all three of them stopped in their tracks, looking at the smoking, smoldering collapsed remains of what used to be Moondancer’s home.
“Moondancer, I’m sorry about your home… If it makes you feel any better, Twilight’s living in Ponyville right now, in the Golden Oaks library. She might have a spare room for you, if you’re willing to let bygones be bygones. What do you say?” Leon offers.
“You… you’d do that for me? Why, you’re a human a-and I’m a-a pony!” Moondancer recoils, her face flushing red with embarrassment. Leon sighed and picked Moondancer up, causing her to be more red and panicked.
“Twilight, what do you think?” Leon asked with a smile as he carried Moondancer to the train station.
“I think she may have a thing for humans, considering how she was so entranced by the idea of a strong human man surviving on his own for so long.” Twilight teased.
Leon looked at her with a frown. “Aaaand you made it weird, thanks a damn lot, Twiggy.”
“Twiggy? Is that a nickname?” Twilight asked.
“Yes Twiggy, yes it is.”
Author's Note
I'd like to once again thank DisplacedWriter for co-writing the part near the end with me, really nice guy for doing this with me, especially if it means I can promote his new displaced fic called "Battle Tactics" .
Show him some love and support, he's a really good writer, and he's been a real patient, generous and understanding person for helping me write the other portion of this chapter.
Off Days: Tales of a Misadventure
"Well, here's to hoping this trip goes well. Be sure to alert the princesses if something happens." Twilight stated. The unicorn was completely decked out in some kind of special explorer's uniform and also hauling a fair bit of gear on her back as she trotted towards the front door, with Spike following as well.
"Don't worry, if anything happens they'll be the first to know. Besides, like I told ya, today is my day to just relax. If anything happens, I'm sure Zecora and Gebo can take care of it, heck I'm pretty sure Mac and Lyra could also put up a fair fight with or without the aide or assistance of my alien forms. You go on and explore, I'm gonna take a nap." Leon reassured. He walked over to the living room and fell face first onto the sofa, immediately collapsing into a snoring heap.
Twilight opens the door and the two leave while Leon is out like a light.
Thirteen Hours Later...
Leon is currently pouring himself a cup of whatever kind of coffee he brewed and decides to try and brush up on the cultures of other species, just in case he has a run-in with a few of them before things get real crazy.
"Let's see... 'Anthropology', 'Mammalius-Avianus for Dummies', 'Minotaurs and Myths', and not a single thing about dragons, why am I not surprised. I wonder if she's got anything on like actual myths and legends, like a--" Leon was then cut off by the sound of a few knocks at the door. "Door's unlocked, come in or buzz off, I don't really care." Leon said aloud, still browsing the various books as he sipped on his coffee, his face scrunching up in dissatisfaction.
"Ech! Whoever drinks this black, more respect to them, but good lord this is bitter. Sucking a Lemon dry would feel less awkward." Leon remarked. He turned around to set the coffee cup on a nearby table, only to then scream and lob the cup of coffee at what had made him react in such a manner.
Before the cup or the liquid inside it could spill anywhere, both the cup and the liquid were stopped in a blue aura, made by a rather unhappy princess of the night who set the cup down and lowered the liquid back into its container. "Good afternoon to you as well, Leon Derrickson. Tell me, do you know where Twilight is at the moment? Every time I send a scroll to her, she constantly replies back to me that things are okay, sometimes before I can even reply back to the last scroll." Luna asked.
"She said she was going on a trip, and if anything happened, I should tell you and your pretentious sister about what's going down. I don't actually know where she went, but she looked like she was dressed up to go explore some kind of jungle or a really grassy savannah. Besides, I'm sure she's fine." Leon stated, walking back to the bookshelf as he continued looking through the plethora of books to read.
Luna stepped forward and looked at the human as if something seemed different. "You are not worried that she may be in danger? What about what happened earlier with that flaming creature--"
"Igneus. His name is Igneus, he's just as alive as you or I are. Call him by his name, or you're no better than Celestia." Leon corrected.
"What about what happened earlier with Igneus, he almost tried to burn Canterlot to the ground just to get his hands on the Omnitrix. You're not worried that he will come back, hopes renewed that he will be stronger, strong enough to take the Omnitrix by force?" Luna asked.
"What is it with some of you ponies being Xenophobes, that's what I'd like to know; This is getting ridiculous. It was interesting at first, but now it's just pissing me off and no one's telling me why. There were humans in this world long before my superpowered ass showed up, did none of the humans want peace and harmony for all walks of life or something?" Leon rebutted.
Luna was shocked, at first, to hear such a question, but the more the silence of the room began to fill the space between them, Luna was all the more concerned about something she was keeping to herself, and Leon could tell from a mile away.
"You don't freak out when Spike's around, and he's a dragon. A baby dragon mind you, but a dragon nonetheless. Hell, a fully grown dragon, that is my friend, that I brought to the castle during that Blueblood fiasco, helped you with making Blueblood come clean to his crimes, and no one was freaking out then, no one batted an eye that he could talk or even use spells. Hell, most of Ponyville has almost gotten used to seeing me in the open, seeing me become one of my eleven transformations. What is it with you ponies assuming that everything that isn't your race is out to get you? All it took was understanding and talking to get Igneus to just back off for a moment and rethink his choices. Friendship and acceptance isn't a pony-exclusive thing, but Celestia and Blueblood seems to think otherwise." Leon explained.
Luna couldn't argue with Leon's evidence and the logic that supported it. Luna took a deep breath and sat down on one end of the table. "Be seated, Leon... Let me regale you of my time working with the humans of our world." Luna stated.
'Well this was unexpected. But hey, today is my off day, it's not like I actually need to do anything at this given moment or anything.' Leon thought. He walked over and sat down.
"Pray tell, do you usually take milk and sugar with your coffee?" Luna asked.
"Eeyup." Leon confirmed. Luna used her magic to summon a carton of milk and a small serving bowl full of sugar cubes. Leon put 5 of those cubes in the coffee and a bit of milk as he mentally prepared himself for Luna to tell him the story. He was always curious what happened to the ones that were here before him, but it's not like anyone besides Lyra would be willing to assist him in figuring something out.
"Let it be known that during the uniting of the pony tribes. Earth, Pegasi, and Unicorns, there was also a more advanced tribe that had settled in not too far from where the first all-pony settlement was established. This tribe was known as the Homosapien tribe, but they were affectionately called humans by our forefathers. They had a lot of advanced intricate systems already set up, and it would've been certain doom for all three pony tribes if a war was started with them, so we made many efforts to make them our allies, and in return, we learned from each other's customs and soon found ourselves in a turning point," Luna started.
She summoned a cup of her own and poured herself a cup of coffee as she cleared her throat. Leon listened carefully, already encapsulated by the idea that humans were already advanced. "They shared many things with us. Resources, knowledge, even aide from serious destructive forces of nature. It was around this time that the humans had helped us better understand friendship down to its fundamental levels, and in-turn, it helped us realize that enough friendship from the 3 pony tribes can allow anypony to ascend to the status of an Alicorn, and it's how we decided that a Triarchy would've been fit. Two representatives for Pony kind and one representative for humankind." Luna explained.
"Wait, so there were two Pony Princesses, and a Human Prince/Princess working together to govern over a still-developing country? That's... actually pretty frickin' sweet, human representation by one of their peers. The two ponies, I can take an obvious guess on who they were, your highness," Leon remarked with a smile. Luna nodded and continued to sip her coffee. "Continue, please, I'm intrigued. Who was this human representative anyway?"
"A man named Marcus Wayne III. From what he had told to me, he and the humans were but mere children when they came to these lands before ponies came along. Each faction of their human society had a faction, each one pertaining to a specific alias they took on. If it were possible to go back in time and show you, maybe you could help me make sense of what these factions represented. It'll be a bit difficult to part ways with some of Marcus' old equipment for a moment or two, but it could prove to be useful." Luna offered.
"Flattering, but I'm not the analytical type. Lyra might be able to help you, though. She's a huge fan of Anthropology and anything related to humans, so she'd practically be honored to help one of the princesses with such a task. But please, continue with the story, Luna." Leon stated.
"One day, on the longest day of our 30th year of ruling as a Triarchy, Marcus came to fulfill his royal duties... but he seemed to carry a weight of regret and pain on his back as he came in. Celestia thought nothing of it, but I knew better. Marcus warned us that his people wouldn't listen to reason on a simple solution, and decided to declare war on Canterlot. He couldn't sit on his throne and call himself a prince anymore if he has to rule over an unruly species such as his. He abandoned Canterlot when ponies needed him the most, and the day the humans attacked, Celestia had wiped them out with a single spell." Luna explained.
Silence filled the room. Leon couldn't begin to fathom what this world would've been like if he showed up earlier. Probably would've been enlisted as a soldier, or be used as a weapon of mass destruction...
"That's a very grim story, your highness, but I do appreciate you telling me this. It actually makes me feel a bit better that I didn't show up earlier in this world's timeframe... who knows what they would've done when they heard aliens exist." Leon shuddered. "Whatever happened to Marcus anyway?"
"I couldn't tell you, we couldn't find him, but sources say he retreated to the coldest peak of the tallest mountains outside of Equestria... no pony and no man was brave enough to track him down, and weeks after Celestia murdered those humans and wiped them out, I was improperly banished to the moon, along with the restless soul of my general, Erebus. Maybe one of these days, things will be different." Luna hoped.
Leon got up and pat Luna's back, sipping his coffee as he thought on a lot of things. "Well, I don't know when Twilight said she'd be back, but hopefully it'll be soon, it's 7:15 in the evening, and they still aren't back. I could've been resting easy, but I may actually have to go out and find them... whoopie." Leon said mildly irritated.
As he said this, however, the door opens up. Twilight's gear is shredded and torn up, Spike is covered in vines, and Applejack is right behind them, drenched in some kind of purple slop. "Oh god, you guys look horrible. What happened to you?" Leon asked.
"Where do I begin..." Twilight remarked, sitting down at the table as she put her head down and immediately fell asleep. Spike just walked upstairs, probably to wash himself off of whatever events transpired today.
Applejack sat down as well, clearing her throat. "Ah think I'll be tha one to tell this story, since Twilight's all plum tuckered out. Hope you two don't have anything goin' on later this evenin', this may just take all night." Applejack said tiredly as she yawned. "Got any coffee? Ahm so tired..."
Leon brought a cup and poured coffee into it as the pony began to gulp it down. Applejack took a deep breath, and let the caffeine slowly do its thing as she recalled the events.
"Many thanks, partner, now, it started off with Twilight comin' over to ask me if I wanted to help her with a pet project..." Applejack started.
Thirteen Hours Ago that day...
Earlier that very day, Applejack had been trying to once again push herself during a morning of exercises, hoping she can keep herself in shape and not get punctured in the flank the next time something truly insane comes around and starts causing havoc. "Ok, just gotta keep at a steady pace, and if I feel like I'm goin' too slow, I'll just go a bit faster." Applejack told herself.
Applejack was about to make another attempt at a full sprint, until she saw Twilight and Spike coming her way. 'Well that didn't last long.' Applejack thought to herself.
"Hey Applejack, heard around town that you're doing exercises. Figured the only exercise you had was from working on the farm, but I know what happens when you assume." Twilight remarked. Applejack just smiled as she stretched her legs out, trying to limber up so she doesn't pull anything out of place. "How have you been feeling, by the way?"
"I've been fine, sugarcube, though my hindlegs are still sorer than a tenderized steak, I can work and move through the pain just fine. Where are you and Spike goin' dressed like that?" Applejack asked, looking at Twilight's strange outfit, and the odd gem she had given to Leon the other day. "And apparently our alien friend let you keep that strange gem, I see?"
Twilight nodded and adjusted the gem a bit as she started to touch the air in front of her face as she looked through the menu. "Yeah, it's essentially a magical gem from another world, it's called a 'Magicite' according to Leon and his dragon friend. I've never felt so excited to learn more about magic in a long time, so many new spells that I haven't heard of; So simple and yet so complex, it's perfect for me!" Twilight stated with a cheery grin on her face.
"She's also planning to go into the Everfree Forest to test these spells on the monsters that live in it. I swear, hence the outfit, it's like she's just discovered that RPGs existed, and not tabletop games like O&O, I mean an actual video game. But hey, at least she's having fun, I'm tagging along so I can provide as support. In battle and just moral support." Spike added.
Applejack couldn't understand a lick of what they were talking about, but all she could understand was that Twilight and Spike were going into the Everfree Forest on their own. This set alarms off in the farm pony's mind, and she just couldn't risk anything happening, if they did get in over their heads, or if they were outnumbered. The farm pony also thought of another idea that could benefit her. Joining them on this trek could also help her push herself more.
"Say, you two wouldn' mind if ah tagged along, would ya? Safety in numbers, right?" Applejack asked. The smile on Twilight's face couldn't have gotten any wider, the mare hugged the farm pony as the three then headed off towards the Everfree Forest, all the while a stallion obscured in a robe followed behind them, a sinister smile forming on his face.
Applejack, Twilight and Spike walked carefully into the forest, making sure they were as quiet as they could be. The trees loomed over the trio as the winds seemed to slightly blow on by in an oddly calming breeze.
"It's quiet... too quiet, if you ask me." Spike said skeptically.
"Gotta agree with Spike on that, Twilight. The Everfree is never this calm, let alone quiet. Call it a hunch, but I think somethin' might be off." Applejack said worriedly.
Twilight seemed to just be in her own mind, staring at the open menu as she tried to figure out the menu a bit more. She was aware of her friends' concerns, but she was determined to see this through. Spike smelled the air, and while he couldn't pick up on the smell of any timberwolves, he did pick up on an overwhelmingly strong scent.
Divine, strong, potent, and pleasant, and it came from the Magicite that hung around his caretaker's neck. Spike felt a bit woozy, yet the smell was just so alluring. He didn't notice that Twilight and Applejack had stopped in their tracks, facing off against three black venus fly-trap vine things.
"Ok, I think we have a fair advantage in this fight. Applejack, you take the one on the far right, Spike you go for-- Spike?" Twilight looked at the little dragon, seeing that he was completely incapacitated by a sensory overload. "Oookay, I guess I'm getting the other two."
Applejack runs forward and rears her hindlegs up for a buck, knocking one of the venus fly-vines away as Twilight focused on using her new spells. She charged up a fire spell, launching it towards the two venus fly-vines, knocking them back and slowly charring them to a burnt husk; Applejack has been fending that one vine thing off pretty well and watched as it scurried off, fleeing from the fight.
"Now that's how we do back on tha farm. That was rather abrupt, but hoo-wee I could actually go for another scrap." Applejack remarked with a confident smile.
Twilight nodded as Spike rode on Applejack's back as they continued, it was obvious that Spike didn't look like he was feeling good. "Spike, are you okay? You look like you're coming down with something bad. We might have to go back." Twilight said worriedly.
"N-No, I'm good... b-but that gem thingy around your neck, i-it's so... strange. It's driving me nutso, its smell is giving me a headache. I just need to keep my distance for a minute, that's all. It's like getting a smell of like some foreign divine meal, and it's so good, it's overwhelming." Spike reassured, smiling weakly as he tried to keep his composure.
The unicorn shrugged her shoulders and trotted onward with Applejack deeper into the Everfree Forest. From behind them, a bald stallion in some kind of stealth suit follows close behind as he uses his curved horn to cast a spell, his body began to blend in with the environment as he made haste to keep up with the mares and the dragon.
In the darkest depths of the forest in a small clearing, Gebo is constantly analyzing several small blue flowers, carefully picking them up and tossing them into a mason jar. The drone moved towards Zecora, who was preparing some kind of brew outside of her hut.
"I have acquired the Humericus Intoxicus Flora, or as you have called it, 'Poison Joke', shall I commence the mixing of the ingredients?" Gebo asked nonchalantly.
The Zebra stopped stirring and tossed in a few orange mushrooms before stirring once more before meeting the drone's emotionless gaze. "Patience is something you must look into adapting, because brewing potions and doing good is still beyond your understanding. Poison Joke, despite it's name, is not to be trifled with for a potion this tame. Understand and listen well, my metal confidant, while you have shown a slow increase in progress; entirely trust you, I still cannot." Zecora rhymed.
"Logical inconsistency has been detected. I assumed you had trusted me, after the human had drastically mangled my programming for another purpose, and here I am, trying to find my purpose, only to know I am not trusted. Exposit the way I can acquire all of your trust, Zebrikkan." Gebo inquired, slowly adding in Poison Joke petals to the brew, watching it become a menagerie of different colors, some of them didn't even seem to be on the prismatic spectrum as Gebo added the petals one-by-one.
Zecora looked at the drone and back at the brew, an idea came to her mind, she knew what to do. "If it's my trust that you so crave, I need to study the effects of Poison Joke, on something artificially made. Pick another poison joke flower from the patch, rub it all over yourself and we shall soon see if the machine has met its match." Zecora rhymed.
The drone set the jar down and calculated the appropriate response to the request. There was an odd property to the flower itself, something Gebo still couldn't understand, let alone pick up on his instruments. Gebo plucked another poison joke and began to nonchalantly smear it all over his mechanical body, and almost instantaneously, there seemed to be an effect on the drone, as the drone's armored plating began to shape and become rigid, almost like scales.
Twilight and Applejack continued to move through the Everfree, and soon began to feel like they were being watched. Spike was still out cold, what with the smell of the Magicite just being a bit too much for the baby dragon to handle for more than a couple minutes before passing out.
"Ah am gettin' the feelin' that we might be being followed, Twilight, just tell me when and I'll buck them into next fall." Applejack stated, readying herself to use her hindlegs more. Twilight looked around and decided to try and use one of the spells she hadn't used yet. Her horn began to spark and glow a white color as a Stallion came into view, clad in a stealth suit and having a curved unicorn horn.
Twilight could perfectly see the stallion's HP and MP. 75 HP, but there was no MP for her to see... that felt like that shouldn't have happened.
"No magic? What kind of unicorn doesn't have magic?" Twilight asked curiously. The stallion sneered and was about to attack, until an unholy roar echoed out from the forest, as well as the echoing screams of Zecora. "Today just doesn't seem like a good day for anything, does it?"
The stallion groaned and trotted away into the brush, all while a cacophony of strange metallic clicking and snarling sounds rang through the forest, waking the baby dragon and scaring the two mares stiff. It was unlike anything they had faced before. Above them, was a huge metallic monster in the shape of a dragon. It had pulsating red orbs along its legs and tail, as well as crimson scales and silver fins protruding along its massive body. It had one singular squinted eye glowing red as it roared out again, the metallic clicking and snarling following right after.
Within the clutches of the huge beast, was Zecora, who was struggling with all her might to get free of the beast's clutches, but it was safe to say that she was pretty stuck. "MAKE HASTE TO MY HUT, PLEASE! OTHERWISE NEXT TIME YOU SEE ME, I WILL BE DECEASED! MAKE THE CURE FOR POISON JOKE, AH MAY NOT MAKE IT IF YOU DALLY LIKE THE TOWNFOLK!" Zecora cried out. The dragon whirred as it spread its huge wings out and flew out of town, with the Zebra shaman in toe.
"Ohh... so that's what that was that woke me from my nap earlier. I'm surprised I went back to sleep at all when that thing flew overhead," Leon stated in amazement. "I'm kinda worried that the drone was actually affected by Poison Joke though, but at the same ti-- Wait a minute, how did you know about the part that you weren't there for?"
Leon and Luna looked at the farm pony, who just sighed. "Zecora had to go clean up the mess at her hut, but still wanted me to properly tell the story so nothing is left out, so she made a quick potion that transferred a copy of a creature's memories into the mind of another pony, makes it easier to tell the whole story when someone can't be accounted for. Do you wanna hear the whole story, or do ya wanna keep flappin' them lips?" Applejack stated with a chuckle.
"Please continue, Applejack. We'd like to know if this story has a happy end, or an end at all, if you'd so kindly." Luna stated. Applejack nodded, and began where she left off, with Zecora being nabbed by a huge drone that was turned into a dragon.
"Ahm beginnin' tah think we were doomed from tha start, Twilight. We need tah go and help 'er, or at tha very least get Leon tah take care of it." Applejack said, pacing worriedly.
Twilight walked over to the mare and stopped her in her tracks. "Applejack, you're not usually one for worrying. If there's something wrong, you need to tell me, cause Zecora needs help, and we might be the only ones besides Leon who can right now!" Twilight stated.
"Ahm fine, Twilight, but ahm just not feeling as confident to start goin' against another one ah them metal monstrosities again, don't wanna worsen my injury, or lest I get another one." Applejack explained. She didn't mind helping others out, or doing the right thing, it's just the fact that Applejack was concerned about her own well-being, but Zecora was in a much worse situation than she was, and wasn't about to let her, or her friend down.
"Applejack, if you need more time to rest, or just want a day to walk or jog around, I would've understood instead of dragging you into the Everfree, only to now hunt a robot that's been turned into a fierce and ferocious dragon. It sounds crazy, but this is what's happening right now. Think you can withstand just a little more, for Zecora?" Twilight asked.
"Ah can sure try, just don't expect me to do something crazy. Let's go follow that metal dragon and give it what for!" Applejack said firmly. The mares and the baby dragon trotted off after the dragon.
The dragon roared as it flew low to the ground, only for a magical blast to hit it in the back, causing the beast to rise up, and look at its attacker. It was Twilight, she was trying her best to hurt the dragon, but it seemed to shrug off the magic attacks without any effort. Before anything could be done, the dragon then spewed a huge torrent of purple slop at the trio before shooting several dart-like projectiles from its toes and tossing several vines at the trio. Twilight and her gear got slashed and torn up quite a bit, Spike was trapped and ensnared in the vines, then Applejack was drenched in the purple slop, now seeming to be weighed down by the substance itself.
The dragon let go of Zecora, dropping her from a great height. Thankfully, Twilight was there to catch her before she went splat, but Gebo was now flying out of Ponyville, roaring mindlessly.
"that can't lead to anything good... do we go after it?" Applejack asked.
"I don't think so. We don't have the firepower to fight a dragon, let alone a drone that we couldn't fight that was turned into one. We'd be better off sending Leon after it... I'm sorry if I got you dragged into this fiasco." Twilight apologized.
"Meh, it's not the craziest thing I've had to deal with, so you're alright. I just need to be more prepared, in case more drones like that thing show up... maybe we should keep them away from the Poison Joke, it'll help with having to either fight or die trying to fight a bunch of dragons." Applejack stated.
"And that's what happened. Zecora brought me back to her hut so I could get her memories, I properly refreshed myself on everything that occurred that day, and we have the issue of that drone thing you decided to keep around now bein' a bigger thorn in our side than an overgrown rose." Applejack stated firmly.
"In my defense, I didn't know Poison Joke could affect robotic drones made by a possible alien manufacturer. There's a lot about your world that confuses me, and I'm still trying to learn about it... This is going to be bad, I'll say that much, but I will take care of Gebo, eventually. I just need to be smart about this." Leon stated.
The three ponies sat in silence, until Twilight then abruptly woke up.
"And that's why we aren't going to... to... t-t-to..." Twilight then hit her head on the table again, falling back asleep.
"I think Twilight has the right idea, it's so late out! I'm gonna head back to the farm and get some shut eye. Farewell, Princess of the Night. Goodnight, Twiggy." Leon said. Applejack got up and the two walked out of the treehouse, making their way back to Sweet Apple Acres, while the princess of the night pondered something.
'I'll have to find a way to look into the human's dreams somehow... something irks the human, and I may find my answer as to what in his dreams.'
Author's Note
This was a short chapter, short being relative, since this is nearly 5,000 words long. I figured I'd try to make shorter chapters when there's not a crisis, while also trying to explain the history of this version of Equestria.
Enjoy!
