A Handyman On The Multiverse

Once everyone managed to calm down and the queen finished re-telling her story, the tension in the lab was palpable, with everyone having mixed feelings about what happened, with pity being the most prominent one.

Except for Pika and Fluttershy who were still very much angry, The dragon at Chrysalis, and Fluttershy at the queen. Seeing this and not wanting things to escalate further, Mark does his best to act as a middleman and try to help the two while the rest of the group discuss things among themselves.

"Pika I understand your reserves with Chrysalis but she is not the same. She has changed, she is calm collective and tolerable. The fact she decided to help me when I was deciding to come alone on what I thought was a suicide mission and threatened me to call for help if I didn't say yes is one huge example, isn't that proof enough?"

She only grunts and looks away "I'm sorry hermano, you are right, it was huge and it was very nice of her but after what my version of that cuca, did to me. It would take time before I would ever forgive any Chrysalis"

"Pika please" Mark put his hand over the shoulder of Pika.

"I know, I know, I'm been racist but it's hard for me, in my world what that cuca did to me when I was just a baby...still hurt ok? I came from a world where she destroyed everything I could have before I even realized it. I think I have the right to be a bit on edge with any version of hers, I have been helping Twilight with the portal for a long time now, and your Chrysalis so far has been the only nice version I have met to this day, and that only happen because of you. That is another huge example as to why I should be mad"

"And yet you will be willing to give her a chance because you are still Twilight Sparkle numero uno assistance and I know how every Spike or Pika is not the type to hold grudges, no they are the ones that practice and know the value of friendship better than anyone else, or am I wrong?"

She remains quiet but lowers her head in thought before smiling "We are, aren't we? Oh ok! For you hermano, she can have one chance, but don't expect me to hug her, we are not there yet, and please, please, PLEASE don't kiss her in front of me, or I will barf" She warns him with an accusing finger.

"I wasn't planning on...only if the mood was right, oh ok, sis for you, no kissy, in front of you" Mark stopped himself and decided to just agree with Pika's demand calming the dragon a little as she joined the rest of the conversation.

With her taken care of, Mark turned his attention to Fluttershy and approached her to do some damage control. "How are you feeling Fluttershy?"

"Still mad, confused, frustrated, and happy you are fine and got answers. But mostly mad" She confesses as she crosses her arms and stares at the queen.

With a sigh, Mark guides her away and rubs her shoulders "I understand, I still have way too many mixed feelings with all of this. I still don't know what to do, but just lash out without listening, it feels wrong for me, that is why I changed the plan and gave her the chance to explain"

His touch and words managed to calm Fluttershy down as she relaxed her wings and sighed, leaning on his chest and closing her eyes "How can you forgive her so easily? After everything she has done"

"I haven't forgiven her yet. There is a difference between giving her a chance and forgiving her. Even more so when she has to respond to so many things" He smiled and gave the mare one Eskimo kiss to try and cheer her up. "But a certain sexy yellow pegasus taught me how you should never forget to have some kindness and, how many doors can open"

He teases with a close eye, making Fluttershy giggle a little and reciprocate the action enjoying their little play.

Once done she smiled and looked him in the eyes before looking down in lament and resting her head on his chest "She still broke our herd, Mark, that is one big wound to heal"

"It is, but if you manage to forgive Discord for a thousand years of misery and pain, you and I could give her a chance to earn our trust again, it will be hard, long, and grueling, but we all deserve a chance to better themselves, don't they?" He grabbed her chin and made her look at him, as he looked in sorrow as well "She is my mom Fluttershy, it was hard for us to realize it but now that I understand myself better, I...I can't just ignore that fact and pretend she is simply an enemy. If I do that, I would not be better than her"

Smiling she nods and leans on his chest "You have a big heart Mark, I'm still hurt but I...I think I'm a bit better now. At least I would let her talk"

"That's all I ask, whatever happens. We can decide later" Mark breaks the hug and holds her hands as she nods.

AJ's voice gains everyone's attention "OK then, we are all now caught up then. Care to tell us exactly is this project Anonymous you are been talking about?" The farmer questions looking at the queen with a raised eyebrow and her arms crossed.

"Right, that is where we stop" Queen Twilight cleared her throat and returned to her chalkboard "As I said earlier, the idea of the multiverse and the successes I found on them, inspire me to keep exploring. To learn, to chart, and yes if possible find the other individuals that were missing in my world" She took a glance at AJ. "After the princesses, you were going to be the first Applejack, then Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and finally Pinkie Pie. Just like the first time" Twilight smiles and looks down, before approaching another board that has the picture of a human with an arrow pointing at a picture of Ponyville.

"During my exploration, I stumble into something brand new, an anomaly outside the scripted story. The visitor" Rushing to a screen she turns it off showing images of humans upon humans living among ponies in different scenarios. "All sorts of creatures, mostly humans that for A, or B reasons end up in Equestria and forever change their world for good or bad. These humans are what you call, Anonymous or Anon the abbreviation"

"Not all cases Twilight" Mark recalls looking down in anger "More like changing their world, the Equestria I end up, just ensure to destroy me in their way of making things"

"Inevitable if you consider the concept of infinite, but I'm getting ahead of myself here," Twilight asks him to wait before she continues "Once I stumble into this variable, I discover the missing piece to complete my project and even open the window for many other ones. By creating my own artificial Anonymous I could explore the multiverse more closely and find the ponies that would enjoy making the jump into my world"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Dash rushes to her extremely offended "So you mean to tell us that, your plan was going around the multiverse, until you find a Rainbow Dash willing to turn her back on her home, her friends, and everything else, just to come here, and pretend this is her home as nothing happen?"

"Of course not!" Twilight defends herself "But just think about it Dash. If you had lost everything if something happened and you lost your home and your friends. Or something happened and things didn't go well. Wouldn't you love to start again? To have your friends back" She demanded on the verge of tears and the pegasus wasn't unsure how to reply.

"It would still be the wrong partner, I...I'm not sure how to feel about this" AJ breaks the tension as she looks away "I see where you are coming from, but if I lost the farm, my family, and you guys. Suddenly deciding to go somewhere else where there is still all of that...I would feel like I'm replacing my family"

"I understand the reserve, but that is one scenario, and Project Anonymous was meant as an alternative, for you to come on your own will, heck I would have kept the portal open for you to come and go as you please as I did with Future Cadence, we would all have win" The queen defend herself yet everyone was still unsure.

"And why did you pick me from that coliseum?" Mark finally answers wanting to move things along.

"That is where your name comes into play and why you are number 5 Mark. You were the fifth and final attempt"

"You try and make five different humans?" Twilight asks in alarm.

"Not exactly" She goes to a couple of large test tubes where other figures where suspended. "The first attempt was a complete disaster, as I only made a golem. It couldn't talk, couldn't run, could barely move. And would never be able to explore even a room" She points at what appears to be a model to draw complete green.

"The second attempt I had a bit more luck, but didn't last long, copying the base idea of a human I tried creating a golem following its patterns but it never woke up, I could make his eyes shine but that was it" She showed them a more humanoid mannequin with his limps suspended outside of it torso.

"For the third try, I used a corpse and I got better results but it just decomposed and disintegrated after some days, it was able to move and listen to commands but it couldn't speak and the body would just rooten in days" She points at the next test tube with a floating mass of flesh and bones on it.

"Understanding that it needed more, I took a corpse and bombarded it with spells bringing the body back to life, it worked but now it couldn't speak, for some reason, the skin kept turning green and a giant question mark would replace its eyes" She shows them an image of a human with green skin and a question mark instead of a face.

"And finally you..." She points at Mark "I imagine you would kind of have an idea, I search for a recently deceased human, and place...your mind on my latest and most powerful golem. Which was a success, too successful maybe, I someone made the first ever soul transplant, as I just didn't obtain my human...that day I made my son"

Mark remains quiet as he slowly makes his way to an iron bed and passes his hand to the edge of it "I remember now" He tells to no one while closing his eyes and retailing his memories.

"The second I woke I was feeling betrayed and such blind rage, I think I..."

"The first thing you said the moment you woke was swearing that you would take Cadence's head and...well let's just say you were determined to see how far her back could stretch" Spike explained looking away.

Nodding Mark advanced and looked around the room "I was no different than a wild beast, scared, angry, and wanting to get as far away from any pony as possible" Stopping in front of the portal he sighed "Back them the portal was open, why was that?" Mark questions looking at the queen.

"I needed a pocket dimension to test my creations, I was confident this time you would work and needed to make sure your body would react well with the infusion of magic on it" Queen Twilight explains as Mark nods.

"Yeah I think I remember, I was fighting off Spike and Pika, fall back and hit something in the panel control, that made it go crazy and suck me in. Then I just..." Mark's eyes wide in realization "I end up in the middle of Celestia's courtroom"

"Wow so THAT is how you end up with us then" Pinkie mentions with a smile "Oh! And that is why you had that star mark on your back Marky?" She questions pointing at his back.

"I...I think that" He sighed and glared at the queen "That was just me being branded wasn't it?"

"No! Well, a bit? Let me explain!" Queen Twilight explains raising her arms in defense "When you make a golem you need a focus point for the core, to bring it to life sort of speak. Even if you are a way advanced version to the point of having a flesh and bones body you are still a golem Mark. So of course you have a central core inside of you, the star simply marks where it is" The queen explains.

"Think of it as your belly button hermano, it makes things easier" Pika offered with a smile

Mark keeps looking at her before sighing "Might as well, after it turns out I can no longer be called a human" Mark mentions dejectedly

"Hey come on partner, no reason to get all sappy and depressed" AJ mentions bringing her arms around his shoulders and putting him on a hug/grip "So what if you are a golem? That doesn't change a single thing, you are still our friend and we will stick with you no matter what. Besides, from what I'm hearing you are still pretty much human, you get hurt, you eat, you sleep you crap. Twily made an excellent work, this only explains where all crazy force comes from"

"Yeah speaking of explaining things" Twilight looks at her counterpart with a critical eye "According to what you are saying, project Anonymous was created to approach us specifically then? The idea is sending Mark to different Equestrias and interact with any of us, and then offer the alternative of coming to your world should any of our counterparts wish to make the trip?"

"That is one goal yeah but not the only one, my son was made to fix what is broken, like a handyman. He was meant to observe, learn, and report. Then if any of you wish for something different then..." The queen started making gestures with her hands

"Then you make the offer" Dash finishes for the queen "I still don't like the idea, and I'm telling you right now, any Dash that would take that deal doesn't deserve to be called a Rainbow Dash"

"Darling part of me is flatter you wish to bring me back into this world but Dash has a point it sad what happened to you, really is horrible. But rather than living in the past maybe you should try to find it in you to move on?"

"You have to understand, I needed to do something Equestria still needs all of you. That is why I needed to do this" The queen defended herself with tears in her eyes. "I need you"

Everyone remained quiet feeling sorry for her and looking at one another until Mark spoke up

"There is one thing I still don't get it?" Mark mentions glaring at the queen "If your intention was for me to explore, why were you so upset that I changed things on the Equestria I ended up?"

"Because Equestria never had a visitant encounter, the only difference meant to be was that Princess Celestia would explore the world and open herself to the option of dating when retired instead of going to a retirement home at all" The queen explains "Nothing that you did was suppose to happen. By following your program...and what Cadence did to you, you twist their story. I thought I needed to place things back the way they were supposed to be played out so that all"

"Including me going crazy and ending up stuck as an ornament?" Chrysalis questions as she looks at one monitor showing her final fate in various iterations.

The queen sighed and looked down "Mark was made to help and fix what was broken. I didn't think he could be able to well fix you"

Everyone remains quiet unsure of how to respond to that statement, after some awkward silence Mark finally reacts with a sigh and approaches Spike "Send us home Spike"

"What? You are not staying?" Spike asks heartbroken by Mark's statement

He in turn just shakes his head "I came here for answers and nothing more. I say I discovered way more than I could ever imagine including finding out I have a family, and I get that my mother is grieving, however even if justified she thought it to be ok, to erase myself from my own life. And that can't be forgiven so easily"

"Hermano, I know it's kind of hard but if you could only give us a chance..." Pika tries to stop him but Mark pushes her hand away

"Believe me Pika this is me giving you a chance, like by letting you explain yourself, and trust you. Now is your turn. There is a lot for me to think about, and when and IF I return here. I rather do so with a cool head, now I will ask you nicely one last time. Send.Us.Home" He demands with finality crossing his arms.

The queen just remains quiet and just approaches the panel imputing the coordinates to open a portal to their world "For whatever is worth, I'm sorry" The queen apologizes to Mark before stepping aside.

"No Mother you haven't even started to apologize, you left a HUGE mess to fix, and it was way too early for me to hear them. But I'm gonna give you a chance to make it up. Starting with this" He put his hand on the queen's shoulder "I will return, you and I will have a chat alone, and until then if you want to fix this mess you need to do something for me"

"Anything" The queen looked back in hope

"No more drinking, no more self-pity parties, you have the crown now mother, your kingdom needs their queen, be that, show me the Twilight Sparkle Celestia and Luna entrust to rule" Mark mentions with finality before patting her shoulder and then leaves through the portal.

Unsure of what to do next the rest soon start to follow, until Chrysalis was the last one standing "From one bad mare to another, let me tell you something. If you create Mark to fix anything that was broken. I say you succeed and should ask him to do that here" The queen of the changelings mentions as she leaves the portal closing soon after.