Chapter 5

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I pass through the portal to find Diamond, Silver, Wallflower and Derpy waiting for me on the other side.

Neither Diamond Tiara nor Silver Spoon are wearing their usual clothes. Instead, Diamond is wearing a simple black shirt over grey shorts, while Silver Spoon is wearing a clearly not often wore purple shirt that’s clearly seen better days and brown shorts.

“Took you long enough,” Diamond frowns, folding her arms. “What took you so long that…? Deku, is everything okay?” her face turns to worry.

I shake my head to clear it, looking around to each other them, still stunned by what I’ve learned.

“Monama’s not the reason I ended up this way.”

After the Sirens had been defeated and Twilight and I brought the villain with us back to Equestria, we’d gotten a surprise, in that he didn’t turn into a pony when he passed to the other side.

He became a Diamond Dog.

Finding a place to hold him had also proven quite the challenge.

With his Meld Quirk, his prison needed to be one he couldn’t touch anything in, or else he could’ve used his Quirk to escape.

In the end, Celestia and Luna came up with a bubble like prison made of magic that would keep him suspended in the centre, where he couldn’t touch anything.

The bubble prision was then taken to Tartarus, where he will now be staying.

The irony that his prison in inside Tartarus when the name of the maximum security prision in MHA was called Tartarus is not lost on me, either.

Information hadn’t been easy to get out of him though.

He’d refused to talk and, as if somehow knowing Luna could dream walk, he refused to fall asleep for almost a week.

That being the case, The Map formed and I’d gone with Twilight and the others to Starlight’s village, determined to prevent Starlight from creating those alternate timelines as well as make her see reason sooner.

It hadn’t been hard to do, either. When Starlight stole the others’ Cutie Marks, she’d tried to steal my Quirk, clearly assuming that, while a human, being in Equestria meant I HAD to have a Cutie Mark… only for her spell not to work.

I then made a point about how it wasn’t at all equal that pegasi and unicorns in the village could still fly and use their magic, while Earth Ponies were still bound to the ground.

If the village were about making EVERYPONY equal, pegasi and unicorns needed to give up their wings and horns.

Where Starlight called me stark raving mad and barbaric for the idea, I simply pointed out that I was merely speaking from the most logical point of her equal philosophy.

For all ponies in the village to be completely equal, since the Earth Ponies couldn’t use their Earth Pony magic, removing wings and horns from pegasi and unicorns would be the only way to truly be equal.

This… sent Starlight into a mental breakdown as the core concept of her belief in how she was making equality couldn’t work, since she needed to use to her magic to make others equal, but couldn’t ever be equal to them without giving up a core part of herself that would cripple her and make it impossible for anypony else to be equal.

After all, even if she managed to equalize every single pony with a Cutie Mark in Equestria, newborn foals would eventually gain Cutie Marks themselves and, with no more magic to remove them, equality like she’d wanted couldn’t continue and would slowly fade away into nothingness.

She’s now living with Twilight, the latter trying to help her through the trauma she already had on top of the new trauma of how she’d devoted years to an ideal that was literally impossible to achieve.

…

Yeah… something tells me I won’t have to worry about the alternate timelines now.

Anyway, it was after we’d returned from Starlight’s village, where I helped them all get their Cutie Marks back by using One For All to Smash the vault open, we’d gotten word from Luna that the Diamond Dog villain had finally fallen asleep, allowing her to sift through his dreams for some information about the League and given us the shocking news.

He hadn’t known too much, he was just a low ranking thug, so the League’s full plans were unknown to him, but the League did have a large number of Quirks they could give to others whom join their cause, himself obviously being one of them.

He knew the Leagues numbers had grown and that the League had apparently been in the EQG world for about three years now, so they’d arrived shortly before Sunset had gone there, though he didn’t know how many had come over from the MHA world originally.

However, he had known something I hadn’t even considered.

While I’d thought I’d seen Monama being a villain in the memory of Nana’s when he hit her with the Soul Removal Quirk, I’d hadn’t actually been him at all.

In fact, in MHA, Monama is basically an anti-hero, like Deadpool only not… well, like Deadpool.

The person I’d seen was a villain with a Quirk similar to Toga’s Quirk, where she can drink someone’s blood, turn into them and even use whatever Quirk that person may have.

A villain who’d clearly taken on Monama’s form so to use more Quirks in quick succession, since Monama’s copy allows him to hold up to... well, actually, I don’t know.

I can remember something about him being able to hold up to four Quirks for ten minutes by the beginning of season five, but, since the MHA my body came from is clearly far into the future, there’s no telling how much stronger his Quirk became, both in the number of copied Quirks he could hold onto or for how long.

Either way, it means, despite my having been hating Monana all this time, thinking he’d been the one to rip Nana’s soul from her body and slamming me in to replace it by accident, he was innocent. He hadn’t been the villain, because he isn’t one.

“Yeesh,” Diamond looks uneasy. “That is a lot to take in. You’d been hating on the guy all this time, when he had nothing to do with what happened to you in the first place? That’s rough.”

I sigh, rubbing my face. “Tell me about it. Anyway, anything happen on this end while I was gone? Any signs the League noticed one of their members isn’t in this world anymore?”

The four shake their heads.

“Not a thing,” Silver Spoon says. “We even tried looking it up on line. Wherever this League of Villains is, they’re doing a pretty good job hiding.”

I sigh, folding my arms. “Well, I guess that can’t be helped. It’ll take time for us to find them, let alone figure out their plans and a way to stop them. In the meantime,” I grin to the four of them, “we’d best get started training you all on the use of your Quirks properly. Plus, a little general training to improve your physical strength wouldn’t go unwanted either.”

We head for the woods, close to where Wallflower would’ve found the Memory Stone after the events of Friendship Games.

I know Wallflower will want to make her garden in that spot and, since she now has no reason to use it, if she finds the Memory Stone, I don’t have to fear her using it.

Once we’re far enough into the woods, we start the training.

Diamond and Silver Spoon I have spare with me. With One For All, my strength is a good way to improve their Quirks the more hits they take from me.

Derpy and Wallflower train together, though Wallflower is thoroughly embarrassed that, in order to train her Quirk properly, she has got go around naked.

Granted, the girl with the invisibility Quirk in MHA had to go nude too, but I’ve already requested Rarity to make clothing and Hero Costumes for the girls too.

After all, Diamond and Silver’s clothes don’t work with their Quirks either. It’ll be easy for them to use their Quirks if they don’t have to worry about ending up naked because their clothes aren’t part of their Quirks.

Of course, to do that, she will need fabrics with threads made from the girls’ mana woven through them, just like she did for me.

That’ll be tricky without the girls coming with me to Equestria, which itself could cause issues if the pony Silver Spoon, Diamond Tiara and Derpy spot their human counterparts.

After a morning of training, during which our sparing happens to unearth the Memory Stone by accident, as we all sit down for the picnic lunch Derpy and Wallflower packed, I broach the idea to the four of them.

“Go to another world?” Wallflower looks to Derpy, who has an equally unsure look.

“Would it be safe for us?” Silver Spoon asks.

Ah… that’s a loaded question.

Technically, so long as we stayed in Twilight’s castle and don’t run into the girls’ doubles (I don’t even know where Wallflower’s double lives or even she even has a pony double), we should be safe.

In Equestria itself, however?

Honestly, I don’t know if this world is safer with the League of Villains than Equestria is on the daily with its regular stuff.

“I guess it would be for the best,” Diamond looks at her torn shirt and shorts. “Mother isn’t hard pressed on money, but I doubt she’d be happy with even my least nice clothes getting torn every time I fought a villain and my clothes were the only things ruined.”

“At least you can still use your Quirk effectively while wearing your regular clothes,” Wallflower says, blushing despite wearing her clothes. “Running around naked is very… well…”

“Now I feel guilty,” Derpy wraps her arms around her knees. “My Quirk doesn’t work like any of yours, so I don’t have that hassle.”

“It’s not like we’re going to hold it against you, Derpy,” Silver Spoon reassures her. “None of us knew we’d get these Quirks. It’s not like we could’ve controlled how they work.”

“So, what’ll it be, girls?” I ask, looking around at them. “Are you going to come with me to Equestria so the pony Rarity can make you clothes made from mana? We’ll need to stop by this world’s Rarity’s so she can give us the measurements, since you’ll be turned into ponies the moment you pass through the portal and I honestly don’t know what’ll happen if you come back here wearing pony fitted clothing. Twilight’s Fall Formal dress vanished when she came back, replaced with her default clothes, so I think it would be better safe than sorry.”

After a bit more chatting, we all agree.

The girls will go arrange things with their parents to let them know they’ll be gone for a while and we get the needed measurements and, thanks to it being the weekend tomorrow, as long as Rarity can finish at least their main uniforms before Monday, we shouldn’t have to worry about the school questioning the absence of the four girls.

Once the girls are ready, we pass through the portal.

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“Thank goodness!” Diamond sighs, slouching as we step back out of the portal.

Rarity really outdid herself.

It had taken several hours just to get enough mana thread from the girls before she could get started even planning their new clothes, but, even though I’d insisted she didn’t need to rush or do too much, she went beyond.

It took her almost the entire next day, but she’d managed to create five identical set of clothes for each of the girls, along with a new look Wallflower was trying at Derpy’s suggestion, along with the two of each of their Hero Costumes.

During the time I’d been gone, the four had clearly been thinking about what they wanted their costumes.

Diamond’s is like a figure skating dress, with an added skirt. The top has golden sequins surrounding a pink aesthetic, while the skirt is pure white.

Her chosen Hero Name: Zirconia.

Quite clever, really. It hides the truth about her Quirk while still hinting at the truth, thus allowing her to take advantage should her enemy not put as much effort trying to break through, unaware they’re really fighting against pure diamond.

Silver Spoon’s is a simple white leotard with some black trimmings around the edges of her hips and a crystal visor in place of her glasses.

The Hero Name she chose: Osmosian.

I’d tried to come up with something that wouldn’t feel like we were just naming her after Kevin Levin’s species when she already has powers identical to his without having to be half Osmosian herself, but, no matter how much we brainstormed, we couldn’t think of anything.

Wallflower’s outfit is also a leotard, hers green, with trails of red down the legs and arms.

When it came to her Hero Name, we couldn’t really get around it, Invisible Girl was too obvious, but also too perfect not to go with.

Derpy was the more interesting idea. Since she hadn’t needed mana based clothing like the other three, she’d had more freedom in the materials.

Surprisingly, she pretty much chose a design that matches Bubble Girl from MHA.

I swear, I didn’t even suggest anything, she just ended up choosing a design that was identical to Bubble Girl… though I obviously asked Rarity to make the top go a lot lower, stopping shortly after reaching her waist.

Last thing I need is, when Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna do find out about the girls’ Quirks and their outfits, for them to accuse me of making Derpy dress like a slut when she’s not even an adult.

As for her Hero Name, thankfully, though her outfit is near identical, Derpy did not choose to go by Bubble Girl, but Bubble Shot.

Sure, it’s a single word change, but a single small change like that can do a lot.

Of course, getting their Hero Costumes wasn’t all that happened while we were in Equestria.

The girls had all been very confused by the pony forms they took, especially Diamond and Silver. Neither had expected to turn into foal.

One time, while we’d been in the castle, Diamond had asked about her mother.

That… hadn’t been the best talk.

She’d been stunned and disgusted when she learned the roles were reversed, her father being kind and caring, while her mother was the abusive monster who’d tried to use her own daughter as merely a means to an end instead of her own flesh and blood.

Though, she did admit, it made her slightly jealous of her pony self, since she’d always wondered what it was like to have a loving father, to which I’d pointed out, if pony Diamond knew the difference, she’d say the same about having a loving mother.

Diamond had wanted to go out and clock her mother’s horrid pony counterpart, but I’d made sure they all stayed in the castle until it was time to return, so Diamond was grateful when it was time to go, since she found it incredibly taxing not to go out and deal with pony Spoiled.

Besides, I know things will blow up in that stuck up mare’s face pretty soon anyway.

With their new Hero Costumes, the girls ask me to go harder on them with training this time, so I do.

With Derpy and Wallflower, I make sure the former learns how to better switch between the bubbles from her hands and her mouth. I don’t know if it’s her eyes, but, even when they seem off aim, her bubbles always seem to hit close to wherever she was clearly aiming.

Wallflower is much more confident with her Quirk now, as her Hero Costume turns invisible with her, having been made from her own mana, so her stealth is much improved.

As for Diamond and Silver, I’m training with them personally.

With how we’re doing it, the more hits Diamond’s Diamond Form and any form Silver’s in after absorbing matter take, the stronger they become and the longer the two can hold their forms before having to stop.

At one point, they even tried two timing me by Diamond having Silver absorb her Diamond Form.

This… had slightly backfired, with Diamond getting very winded due to how Silver’s Quirk works so much like Kevin’s Osmosian powers, but, after a while, we start being able to use this method more regularly.

By early evening, we agree to meet up during lunch the next day to continue their training.

“Deku, I’m so, so, so sorry!” Silver pleads as we’re leaving the woods near dinner time.

“Sil, chill,” I say, before chuckling, then coughing and looking at her more seriously. “I’ve been meaning to get a bit of a cut anyway,” I finish by patting the back of my head, where some of my hair is now missing.

Shortly after Silver and Diamond had tried their first attempt at Silver aborbing Diamond’s Diamond Form, Silver had gotten a little too eager to try a technique where she made blade with her arms.

In the heat of the moment, she lost her footing and, in my attempt to reach her, her arm had gone in an upward swing, narrowly missing my head, but not missing the back of my hair.

Silver looks really uncertain. “You’re sure?”

I wave a hand. “I’m sure, Sil. Besides, shorter hair is not only easier for me to wash, it’s much less difficult when I’m moving fast as I use my Quirk. You girls can probably work with it, but it’s not the best for me.”

On top of that, now I look a little more like Izuku, only with bangs. On the offhand chance one of the League members from MHA know what he looked like as a kid, it might just spook them enough to give us an edge should we run into them by accident.

I say goodbye to the girls and head for the portal.

I’m just about to pass through, when I hear a very familiar, overly dramatic cry and deadpan.

This… will not end well.

“Darling, whatever happened to your coiffure?!”

I feel a hand on my shoulder, before I’m whirled around to face Rarity, who’s looking at me more like I was just diagnosed with a fatal disease than having a rough haircut.

“It’s nothing, Rarity,” I try to start. “Silver just accidentally slice off some of my hair during training practice. It’s not a big deal.”

I regret that last part as soon as it started leaving my lips, remembering just who I’m talking too.

Rarity looks horrified. “Not a big deal? Not a big deal?! It is most certainly a big deal, darling! You are coming with me at once and we are sorting this out before it gets any worse!”

“No, Rarity, you really don’t have to— hey!”

Somehow, Rarity starts dragging me down the street and it’s like I can’t fight back.

She has some kind of death grip on my arm and I really don’t want to use One For All against her.

So, instead, I’m forced to watch as she brings me down the path, to a fate I am unclear on.

Guess Twilight will have to wait til later for me to return.

Hope she doesn’t get worried.

Author's Note

Okay... figuring out how to work all that in prior to Friendship Games was a little tricker than i'd originally thought it would.

Coming up with ideas for how to describe the girl's costumes was also more challenging than i'd expected.

i mean, i knew what i wanted them to look like, but actually saying it proved really tough and i'm not even sure i did that very well.

Anyway, next chapter... not really sure, to be honest.

I mostly needed to at least set up the girls for the times they and Deku will start looking more into the League prior to Friendship Games, since it clearly will be a while before Equestria is caught up timewise so the timing of when the Season 5 finale would normally be happening take place.

Either way, Deku is slowly getting the girls ready to be heroes, or at least have the skills to defend themselves should the League come for them.

although... who's to say only the four of them or the CHS students with Quirks? might there be another?

And can Deku survive whatever Rarity has planned?

you'll have to wait and see.

til next time, stay safe, stay clean and see you later everybody