'There are things in this world that can't be explained. Sometimes, things just happen because that's the natural order. Sometimes things happen because of coincidence. There are even rarer things that occur when someone messes around with something they shouldn't have touched. Though, in the most rare and unforeseen cases, such as this... Sometimes the universe has a way of changing things forever.'
[Canterlot Castle, Currently under siege]
"And here I thought today couldn't get any worse. I can't be right about anything, can I?" A stallion stated worriedly, quickly evading the blasts of some kind of biped soldier, draped in a black and bronze armor as it marched closer.
The stallion hid behind the throne as he frantically tried to activate the strange watch on his wrist, yet it wouldn't function properly. Infuriated, the stallion grabbed a discarded spear and hoped for the best as he stared up at the soldier, who was aiming at the stallion for one more shot. Then, everything froze in place, like time had stopped then and there.
'How did I get wrapped up into this mess? All I did was buy an overpriced tacky watch at an antique shop... now I'm gonna die for it. Well, might as well let my life story flash before my eyes before I meet my end, just to recap.' The stallion thought to himself.
[TWO YEARS AGO...]
Let me start with introductions... to whatever afterlife awaits me, as long as it's not Tartarus.
I'm Everchange Spectical, I'm essentially the metaphorical redheaded stepchild of the Canterlot royal family. I don't know who my parents are, nor do I actually give a buck, a hoot or a frickin' holler about who they are. They dumped me at an orphanage in Ponyville, and I didn't make a lot of friends, mainly because some uptight mare, appropriately named Spoiled Milk, kept calling me blank flank.
Needless to say, I was a problem starter kind of boy, and it didn't help that with every time I was called blank flank by Spoiled, I didn't hesitate to buck her in the muzzle. Sure, I felt bad afterwards, but not enough to consider apologizing. She wanted to poke the bull, and she got the horns.
By the time I was old enough to live on my own or support myself, the princess herself, Celestia, comes strolling in like she owned the place... and technically she did, she did contribute to 90% of the fundraisers to keep the orphanage open. When the owners asked what urged her to grace them with her presence, she ended up pointing towards me, with the most sweet, smug, sympathetic and saccharine smile I ever did see, and decreed that I would be adopted and integrated into the Canterlot royal family.
I up and laughed my flank off, even going as far to nearly collapsing due to a lack of oxygen from how hard I was laughing that day, as did the owners and everypony else who was there. I was 19 and about to pack my stuff and leave to be on my own, then the princess comes in to make me a part of her royal family? Sounded way too damn good to be true. My laughter immediately came to a stop when the princess said she was adopting me as her new nephew, and was already filling out the paperwork.
By the time I knew what had happened, I was outside the orphanage with a small bit of luggage, and the princess was keeping me literally under her wing as she escorted me to this luxurious carriage. It was by this time, I didn't have an actual talent yet, no cutie mark to define me or my calling in life. As the carriage moved and brought me to the castle all the way in Canterlot, I already felt out of place.
She told me 'This is where your new life begins, my dear nephew. You'll have plenty of friends to make and you'll have a lot to learn.' It never did occur to me what she meant about me making friends or having a lot to learn right then and there, but by the time I was settled in, like, a couple weeks maybe, she had several curriculums and classes prepared.
I then showed the princess why the orphanage had magically enhanced padlocks on my room when I got into trouble by straight up doing the opposite of what she says. I wasn't someone who liked playing by the rules, because why play by someone else's rules when I can play by my own?
I expected the princess to have her guards do something about my immature actions and blatant disregard of wanting to do things her way, yet she never did a thing. All she did was watch as I let the real me show through, someone who didn't give a damn about the pointlessness of pompous politicians or ridiculous schedules. Life was my schedule, and it was always bound to change, but I could easily make any day what I wanted it to be. I was still young, I was still free, but I was at least grateful of being allowed to be this free.
Well, I'm gonna die because of a point-blank shot to the face, might as well remember my new family for who they were at their best, and not at their worst.
I had to wonder, if Celestia was my aunt, then who was actually gonna be my 'mother'? Well, it was the princess of the moon, Princess Luna, Celestia's long forgotten sister. Supposedly, the elements of harmony had returned weeks ago, prior to my recent adoption into the royal family, to return Luna to normal after being stuck as Lunar Blight for so long. Plus, I guess Luna understood me a little bit, with how I never knew my biological family, and thus had Celestia adopt me as her nephew, with Luna being my new surrogate mother. I'm sure someone will figure out how in Tartarus that's supposed to make sense, cause I know I don't.
Aside from new surrogate mothers and aunts, I technically now had a couple cousins. There was Mi Amore Cadenza, though she prefers to be just called 'Cadence'. A real emotional pegasus who enjoyed solving problems like finding out the true meaning behind the purpose of love or whatever. She's pretty chill, and she seems pretty content with her life and how its going.
Then, there was my least favorite cousin, Prince Blueblood Casa Amore. Poor bastard wanted to live free and be a navigator, but his family crest said to hell with his wishes and he became the most pompous and most self-centered prick I have ever known... Is what I would say if Prince wasn't actually my favorite cousin, and not at all a pompous spoiled twat. Prince was actually pretty reasonable, sharing my passion of being free to do whatever, whenever, however we want. I still didn't have my mark yet, so I had no idea what I'd be doing in the future, but Prince was a real navigations expert.
Now, my least favorite new surrogate cousin, could very well actually count as my cousin. Where Luna was my surrogate mother, Celestia was Sunset's surrogate mother, some nonsense about it being like a 'Teacher-and-Student' kind of bond. Something I didn't have with Luna, cause what the buck is an Alicorn gonna teach an Earth Pony, hmm? Anyway, Sunset Shimmer and I never got along. We had different views on a lot of things, especially when it came down to how certain things should be handled.
Another nation wants to wage war on Equestria? She said let's try to resolve things peacefully, where I already started loading up a cannon. Goes to show, because she's Celestia's faithful student, and the new bearer of the Element of Magic, I didn't exactly have a good hoof to stand on already. I was always the odd one out in my new family, mainly because I'm surrounded by horns and wings, and I don't have an ounce of earth pony magic in my body to even match up, but my life was pretty easy from here on out.
That is, until I went out to get an accessory for myself on my twentieth birthday.
[Fast Forward Two years, but rewind to about a week ago...]
It was just a regular day in Canterlot. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the flowers were coming into bloom. I remember that day well, I was writing out a small note for my mother, letting her know it wasn't her fault for the meteor that crashed sometime ago. By the time I had finished, I grabbed a sack full of bits off my nightstand and threw on my best casual wear. A black sleeveless leather jacket with a popped collar, and a white short sleeve shirt with a blue ring on the head collar.
When I had left, a few of the guards were trying to keep me shielded from others. I promptly gave them a firm smack and told them to bugger off. They respected my wishes and returned to their original posts, rubbing their stinging cheeks as I made my way to the antique shop.
For some odd reason, I had a love for old and ancient looking stuff that looked really kick-ass. I had a rusted halberd hung up on my wall, I made an old battleaxe into a battleaxe bass guitar (that Sunset ended up pawning off behind my back...), and I got an old guidebook on how to beat one of the gamecolt games I had. I think it was 'Pockétmon' or something like that.
Needless to say, I found some wickedly good stuff at the antique shop. It's like the old saying goes, 'One mare's trash is another Stallion's treasure!'
"Heyo!! Your regular customer has arrived, Mr. Quantility!" I called out as I swung the front door open.
At the front desk stood a stoic and very old stallion who was polishing some oversized metal ball with black lines and details on it. This stallion, 'Mr. Quantility', was a faded dark teal stallion covered in marine tattoos, with a splintered seashell covered in gold and surrounded in green dollar signs as a cutie mark.
"Aye, if it isn't the pile of royal leftovers, rollin' back into me store like a familiar ocean tide! Is it that time already fer us to haggle for prices again?" Mr. Quantility humored, laughing heartily as Everchange approached the desk.
"Nah, not today ya crazy old codger, heheh, I'm looking for another kick-ass antique to add to my room aesthetic. Got anything new in stock?" I asked with a chuckle.
"Well, I got this 'ere metal pearl fer sale, but so far no one's been wantin' to take it off me hooves, lad. I might just shove off and toss it back in that crater I found it in, if it's not gonna earn me any bits." Quantility remarked, gesturing to the metal ball he was polishing a minute ago. "Saw the bloody thing crash from the heavens above, I did, like it was a sign, or probably a gift, maybe a boon from the mighty Faust! Doubt any of those scattered feather-brained pegasi could make somethin' like this, but it's gotta be worth somethin'! Also came with some small booklet I can't rightly understand."
I eyed the strange metal ball with a sense of curiosity and proceeded to reach out to it, causing it to suddenly open up, blowing out small puffs of steam as it slowly opened up. The stallions looked into the ball and saw a strange watch inside. It didn't seem to have any way of telling time, but it did have quite the mark on it. A glowing green hourglass emblem.
"How much for the metal pearl, and the prize inside it? All my bits for both, whaddya say?" I haggled, sliding my sack full of bits towards Mr. Quantility's direction.
"Hmm... ya drive a hard bargain, lad, but yer gonna have to sweeten the deal if ya want me to give up a gift from Faust so easily--"
"I'll throw in this Prismarine Geode. It's ancient, it's from the darkest depths of the deep blue sea, and you can consider it an early birthday gift for being the best antique shop in Canterlot," In order to make the deal better, I reached into my pocket and placed a dark rock that's been cut open in two, revealing blue-ish green/aquamarine colored crystals within. "Will this sweeten the deal for ya, old timer?"
"I'm sold! Ya always had a way of makin' deals, lad! Surprised ya never found yer mark in hagglin'," Mr. Quantility heaved the metal ball into an empty wooden chest with the store's logo branded onto it. "Enjoy your boon from Faust, me boy!"
"Thanks for doin' business with me, as usual, Mr. Quantility, and happy early birthday! Have a good day!" I got the chest onto my back and walked out with the strange metal ball and the odd watch, making my way back to Canterlot Castle.
TBC
As I snuck back to my room and sat the chest on the floor, I examined the watch carefully, putting it on as I felt it fit near perfectly on my right wrist. I never felt anything like this, it was so light, like it wasn't there at all. Strangest part about it, it felt like it was a part of me. Strangely enough though, whatever this watch was, it felt right.
"Man, this thing is weird. Oh well, most shit that falls from the sky is gonna be frickin' weird. I feel like so much goes on in Equestria that there's literally no long standing moment of peace anymore, we're just waiting for the next disaster to happen." I lamented for a moment.
After staring at the watch, I finally twisted the dial, seeing several icons of equally strange and unforeseen creatures. Cautiously, I steadily counted the icons, and by the time I ran out of icons to count without getting repeats, I had counted ten different creatures.
"What a peculiar little device, I wonder if the royal blacksmith knows of who or what crafted such an artifact... then again, why not test this out, just to see what it does? After all, it does seem to still be in working condition." I weighed my options, excitement coursing through my veins like a sweet sugary poison.
To make sure no one was indeed around to interrupt, I poked my head out of my room, making sure there wasn't anypony nearby before closing and locking the door, only to turn around and back into the door when I saw my annoying pain in my flank of a cousin, Sunset Shimmer.
"What are you doing right now?" Sunset asked, a smug grin and a look of curiosity in her eyes.
I nearly felt my own heart stop, and gritted my teeth as I leered at the unicorn. "None of your Faust forsaken business, now get out of my room!" I demanded, trying to cover up the watch on my wrist, with little to no success.
"I was here first, twinkle hooves, I have a right to butt in on my family's business." Sunset remarked with a smirk.
"I don't see any adoption papers with your name on it to prove otherwise." I fired back.
Sunset was fuming, but she kept her cool. "Either way you slice it, Chumpchange, we're family, and I have a right to butt in on your business." Sunset remarked, looking around the room before putting all of her focus on the watch. "Now whatcha got this time, some old piece of junk like the rest of your stuff?"
It was common enough for me and Sunset to almost never see eye to eye, but while she was still learning a thing or two about friendship, she still somehow got away with making me look like a fool, but today was just getting me to the point where I was ready to buck kick her through a locked door... that is, until I looked at the watch and got a granduous idea.
I twisted the dial to one of the creatures and decided to give this watch a more personal test. "You want to see what this piece of junk does, do you? Well, since you asked so nicely. I'll gladly show you what it does!" I stated with a wicked grin, pushing the watch's core down as a huge flash of green light lit up the whole room.
[Everchange's body began to change. The muscles in his body expanded, his bones rearranged themselves in various ways. His hooves turned into hands as he could feel himself growing another set of front legs. His coat disappeared as he felt muscle and tissue grow over him as he continued to change. He steadily stood upright on his back legs, flexed his four arms and roared.]
As the flash of light died down, Sunset could barely believe her eyes at what was standing before her, yet she couldn't help but look on in astonishment.
Towering over at eleven feet, was a tall, robust, muscular creature with four green eyes. Its skin was a deep dark red with several protruding fleshy spikes growing from its forearms. It stood dressed in a black sleeveless jacket with a white tank top and a blue stripe going down it, all while being clad in some kind of spandex. A gray belt would form on the creature's waist, showing a big badge with a green hourglass being dead center on the front of the belt.
"W-What in the..." Sunset muttered, taken aback by the transformation, or just frightened by the presence of a creature she had never seen before. Probably both, if I'm honest.
The creature, who was now apparently me, reached back and turned on a few oil lamps, illuminating the room. I examined itself, admiring and also studying its newfound physiology. "Hm... this is very good! Much strength flows through me! Is nice!"
Sunset backed away, watching the creature flex and marvel at its newfound muscular physique. She was confused, and I could only imagine what was going through her head right then and there, such as, 'What in Tartarus is wrong with my cousin? How did he... since when could...'
"Hmm... puny little unicorn looks lost in thought. This my chance to leave." The huge red creature carefully got out of the room and began to run down the hall, causing the castle to shake with every step it took.
"This is invigorating, so much strength and raw physical power! I feel invincible!" The red creature leapt into the air, launching itself towards the ceiling as he marveled at his new strength.
Before the hulking red goliath could do anything else, a small beeping sound echoed from the device. 'Error. Current wearer's Biometrics data does not match that of Celestia. Omnitrix is attempting to find correlation between designated host and current wearer. All functions will be unavailable.' It spoke.
The hulking goliath landed back on the ground and I was changed back in a flash of red light. The device kept beeping, speaking the same message, all while I was inexplicably puzzled.
"Celestia? This watch was meant for my aunt? Can't say I'm surprised, she wielded the elements a long time ago, and now my cousin and her friends wield their magical powers, though I've never seen or heard of anything like this." I wondered.
Soon enough, a whole horde of royal guards came flooding in, only to see me examining some kind of accessory on my wrist. "Prince Changing, we got word that there was a commotion. Is everything alright?" One the guards asked.
I felt my brow furrow as a look of irritation formed slightly on my face. "Again with the royal titles... it's just Everchange, you pasty white stallions. And no, there's no commotion, but I would like for you to get Celestia here right now, there's something here for her that requires her undivided attention, and I don't care what she's doing right now, this could very well be very important." I stated, almost in a mock royal dignitary's voice.
The guards nodded in understanding, saluting to me as they went to inform Celestia of the important matter at hoof, whereas I continued to look at the strange watch on my wrist.
'I wonder what secrets this device holds within.' I pondered to myself.
"What in Faust's great name did you do?!" Sunset exclaimed. She looked around at the obvious signs of damage, still perplexed by what had just transpired right in front of her eyes. She just saw her cousin, an Earth Pony, become some kind of monster, yet here he was, looking normal again, aside from the watch on his wrist. Honestly, thinking back on that day, I don't blame her for being so shocked. "It's going to take days to repair all of this!"
"It's not that bad, besides, at least no one got hurt. What's a little damage compared to serious injury to somepony, right?" I shrugged my shoulders and trotted closer to the perplexed mare, being very wary as to not make any sudden spontaneous moves. She's always been a bit of a spaz, but she's even more so when she's confused. "Besides, it's my lucky day, and my birthday wasn't much for celebration anyways, so this was how I treated myself, to admiring antiques. Must be nice to know you'll have friends by your side, and not be stuck in this castle every day, just to do literally nothing except go outside for a few hours."
"Either way, you shouldn't be messing with things like that. Where did you even find that thing in the first place?" Sunset asked.
"Like I'm gonna tell you, you're probably just going to throw me under the chariot like you did last Hearts and Hooves Day! After that day, you lost any privilege to ask me for anything," I groaned, pulling a wadded up piece of plastic wrap from my mane. "I'm still cleaning candy wrappers out of my mane to this day. Plus, even if I did tell you the where and how, you'd probably try to pawn this watch off like you did my battleaxe bass! Do you know how hard it was for me, to learn to play that with my hooves!? I spent a year trying to learn that, then it's gone the next week, and you're the last person who saw it."
"Here we go again, again with this frickin' 'It's not my fault, it's yours' schtick, why can't you admit, that sometimes you gotta stop and think for a moment? It's like running head-first into trouble is all you know how to do!" She retorted. She wasn't exactly wrong, but that didn't mean she was right. At least when I run head-first into trouble, it's because I wanted to help. When she runs head-first into trouble, she just wants to impress Celestia and keep in her good graces.
"How about you learn to stay out of my business, or better yet, worry about yourself than worry about some total stranger, you ever think of that!"
"Not until you tell me what's going on, cousin! You don't know what this thing could do, it literally just turned you into some kind of four-armed monster!"
"Get me my bass back, and I'll consider listening to you. Till then, bite me!"
"How long are you gonna be mad about that?! I learned to not make that mistake again, and I have the calluses on my hooves to prove it, but that's just not enough for you, is it!?"
"I'm the one who wasted my time refurbishing that thing into a bass guitar anyways, and took more time to learn how to play it! All you did was steal it and pawn it off for fifty bits! That could've sold for a couple thousand, at least!"
"For the love of the sun and moon, Everchange, can you please just listen to me, for once!?"
"Considering you have done nothing but disrespect my privacy and my love for ancient stuff and making it look better, I think we both know what my answer is, Sunset Shimmer. The day I listen to you is the day I finally get my cutie mark. I've been markless for my entire life, thus far, so I don't think it's gonna happen anytime soon!"
"Maybe if you applied yourself a bit more, you'd actually realize your talent and then finally get out of my mane!"
"If I were you, I'd be glad you already have something to figure out, the Elements of Harmony, I mean. The fact that you have friends too, to hang out with back in Ponyville, you already have Celestia's good graces sealed in the palms of your hooves, miss 'Element of Magic'. I can't say the same, because that would make me a liar."
"You would know what it's like to be a liar!"
"And you'd know what it's like to get a set of hooves smashed against your muzzle, just for being associated with royalty!"
Sunset and I often butted heads many times before, and this day was no different, but it was a bit more heated. Every argument we ever had, it always led back to the problems we had with one another. Most of the time, it just devolved into a simple scrap, with me being on the losing end due to Sunset's horn being a contributing factor. Half the time, we'd be forced by Celestia to share a room and work out our differences, and other times, we'd be chastised for our immature actions, mostly mine.
However, today was a bit different. The moment we were about to try and tear each other's worlds asunder, Princess Celestia had walked in, and she was just aghast at our arguing, but she wasn't as surprised, let alone as irritated by our conflicting views like the other times before.
Sunset took notice, straightening up and bowing to the princess out of respect. "Princess Celestia!"
"Wassup Auntie," I casually asked, still glaring daggers at Sunset as I grinded my teeth. Sunset smiled at Celestia, though she did swiftly hit me in the jaw, only to act like nothing ever happened. Celestia looked down at us, radiating with a benevolent aura, then she focused all of her attention on me.
"Everchange, my dearest nephew. I heard from the guards that there is something asking for me, is this true?" Celestia asked stoically.
I made some headway upwards to her throne, but the moment I revealed the odd watch on my wrist, Celestia was looking worried. Though, for a moment, Celestia had looked to my side, and almost seemed perplexed, yet mildly disappointed.
"Guards, escort Sunset Shimmer back to Ponyville, ensure that she gets there safely," Celestia looked around, then directly at Sunset. Celestia looked like she had seen a ghost, and I didn't think she could get any paler. "I need to be alone with my nephew for a moment."
As the guards, as well as Sunset left the room, Celestia walked towards me, a warm smile on her face as she looked at the watch. She stared at it, contemplating something as I just stood still, uncertain of what exactly just happened, and I was more afraid of what might happen next.
"It's been a long time since I last saw this device, but at least it'll be in safer hooves. Now," Celestia looked at me, and seemed almost nostalgic. It was almost enough to make me feel a bit scared.
"Tell me, Everchange... what do you know about space?"
Author's Note
Well, this took too long, but I've been busy with a lot of shit, like family and stuff. I didn't exactly have the time.
I might just keep some of the aliens the same, just for the sake of simplicity and whatnot, but I will change up the arsenal at some point.
And of course, I do want to do more with Celestia and Luna, when the time eventually comes.
Enjoy!
