My Little Pony: Alternian Multiverse Tournament

Chapters

Arrival
Recruitment Drive

Arrival

My Little Pony: Alternian Multiverse Tournament
by Jonathan “KnightMysterio” Spires
Chapter 2: Arrival

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The void between…
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Rainbow Dash stared out at the void through the viewscreen. At the swirling colorful masses of universes, glowing pathways connecting them to make multiverses. It was humbling. It was awe-inspiring.

“I bet I could set a new speed record flying between universes,” Rainbow Dash said, fluttering her wings excitedly.

“You’d set a record for dying from lack of oxygen. Or freezing to death from lack of heat,” Starlight Glimmer said.

“I could take it. I’m tough,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Sure y’are,” Applejack said, gesturing to the monitor, where they’d been watching some of the episodes of their show. “We’ve got plenty of evidence of it.”

Rainbow Dash blushed, having seen several episodes featuring her own foibles. “Can’t believe some of what made the show…”

“Like the Mare-Do-Well incident, yes?” Chrysalis taunted. “Such friends you are.”

Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight all flinched and put their ears back at that, Celestia giving Twilight an irritable glare. “Nopony’s perfect,” Twilight said, remembering the lecture she’d gotten on the difference between helping someone realize they were wrong and humiliating them.

“True,” Grogar said. “But that says just as much about your enemies and their inability to defeat you as it does yourselves.”

This time it was the villains turn to flinch. “Are we there yet?” Adagio muttered. “It’s been almost three days…”

The guard chuckled. Little snarkfests like this had been almost constant since the trip had begun. Fortunately, the villains behaved for the most part and any fights had been verbal, quickly defused as well. Discord and Cosmos had the most tension between them, Cosmos aggressively flirting with Discord and casting hateful glares at Fluttershy, Discord rebuffing her angrily and spending most of the trip curled around the yellow pegasus.

“We’re actually almost there,” the guard said. “About an hour. The island should be visible on the front viewscreen shortly.”

That got everypony’s attention, many of them heading towards the front of the transport. And indeed, the island came into view shortly.

The first thing that struck everyone’s attention was the size. It was massive, floating in the endless void between worlds. The island was continent-sized, with several large buildings adoring it. There was an obvious public center, including entertainment venues and a food court, the latter becoming more obvious as they got closer, as well as two massive apartment buildings, one with a hologram of a crossed fist and sword, most likely meant for the fighters, and another with a hologram of a ticket, obviously meant for guests.

And there was the arena itself.

The size of a city, with several fighting rings visible even from the great distance they were at, the arena was a majestic building, seemingly made of gold, gemstones, and platinum. The greedier among the Equestrian fighters stared in awe at it. It was build in a circle, with pillars and statues coming into view as they got closer, heading in for a landing.

“Incredible…” Rarity said, awestruck.

“Fancy!” Cozy Glow said in approval.

“You can feel the power in this place…” Luna said, as awestruck as she was worried.

The guard drove the transport down to a far area of the arena, where several hundred other transports were landing as well. “How many worlds did you invite?” Ember asked.

“A lot,” the guard said. “This combat showcase is going to feature as many fights as possible with as many variations as possible.”

“So what’s the chance of us facing someone from our world?” Spitfire asked.

The guard smiled apologetically. “You’ll most likely have to ask to have that set up. They’ll gladly do it, of course, but otherwise its up to random chance. And there is a LOT of fighters.”

The Equestrians all muttered among themselves as she ship came in for a landing. Once they were docked, the guard got up and went to the back. The door opened, revealing a long tunnel into darkness, lit only by sparse lights. “Anyone who needs to use the facilities please do so. As for why you’re walking down a tunnel… well, the boss is a melodramatic bastard and wants to do a dramatic reveal for everyone. Once you’re ready, everyone keep together and walk down the tunnel. You’ll know you’re getting close when the music starts.”

Twilight was the first to notice. “We’re walking down a tunnel? You’re not coming with us?”

The guard shook his head. “Nah,” he said. “I’ve got other duties. You’ll see me again, don’t worry. This is all just part of the opening ceremonies.”

The guard left through the door they’d entered back in Equestria, which sealed behind them. After some confusion, and a few people using the restroom and washing up, they all started trotting down the long hallway.

“Definitely one for the drama,” Tempest Shadow muttered, glancing around the tunnel worriedly at the villains.

“I, for one, appreciate it,” King Sombra said. “A grand entrance, the respect royalty deserves.”

“Indeed,” Chrysalis said, smirking. “Heads high, everycreature. At least pretend you’re superior to the fools we’re going to be fighting.”

Cosmos snickered as she floated along the ceiling of the tunnel. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m looking forward to causing a little mayhem.”

“Shut up,” Rainbow Dash snapped, shaking visibly.

“Calm down, Crash,” Spitfire said, although she and the other pegasi were shaking too.

Twilight nodded. “That’s right,” she said. “Pegasi don’t do well in enclosed spaces, do they?”

“I don’t know how you’re not nervous too, Twilight,” Rainbow Dash said. “Aren’t you part pegasus? Luna, Celestia, Cadance, you too?”

“I’ve learned to control it over the centuries,” Celestia said.

“I was trapped IN the moon for a millenium,” Luna said. “This is nothing to me by comparison.”

“I guess its similar for me,” Cadance said. “After the caves that somecreature,” she said, pointedly glaring at a smug Chrysalis, “trapped me in, this tunnel isn’t bothering me at all.”

“I’m a little nervous, I guess?” Twilight said. “But you forget, I spent most of my time in a tree before this. And before that in a library. I’m more used to enclosed spaces than you are, I guess.”

Cosmos nodded. “Just don’t think about the fact that the tunnel might collapse on us at any second,” she said, relishing the growing terror on the pegasi’s faces. “That we might be trapped forever in an endless tunnel of metal and-”

An irritated Discord snapped his fingers, Cosmos’ mouth zipping shut.

“THANK YOU,” all the pegasi said in perfect unison. Cosmos snickered, unzipping her mouth but saying nothing afterwards.

After a few minutes of walking, music started up, and they could see a light at the end of the tunnel. The music itself was a jazzy, fairly light tune, and as it got louder, most everyone in the group could feel themselves starting to get excited. What kind of warriors would be there? What kind of people would they meet? What sort of creatures would they encounter?

They exited the tunnel, and found themselves on a balcony overlooking a floor with a large arena on it, one that was flashing bobbing holographic lines that jittered in time with the music. A large monitor array was above the ring.

And all around them, gathered in balconies of their own, were other fighters.

Some had a similar theme to them. Some groups all carried weapons of some kind. Some were futuristic. Some were very medieval-looking. Other groups were wildly different from another. Some groups were large. Some were small. Celestia noticed on the opposite of the arena, one group that consisted of seven barbarians, six of them giving the seventh a wide berth.

“...The fact that you have better eyesight than me, Princess Can-Stare-Into-The-Sun, always gets on my nerves,” Luna said, squinting to try and see the group of barbarians her older sister pointed out.

“Well, if you’d get out more instead of studying books and ledgers all the time,” Celestia teased.

“Blasphemy,” Twilight declared, most of her friends snickering.

Fluttershy looked sad. “Too far away to talk to anypony… or… er… I guess anyone would be what to use here,” she said.

“We’ll have a chance to meet everyone soon enough, I think,” Thorax said, looking around excitedly at all the various fighters.

The music shifted, becoming a mildly sinister piano theme. Guards walked out, accompanied by a rather eclectic group of individuals. A muscular woman in a flannel shirt. A rather belligerent woman carrying a mop, wearing sorceress robes. A savage looking woman in a black bodysuit. A man in an outfit that was a cross between a conductor and a band leader. A massive knight in blue armor, and an even more massive mechanical man seemingly made of guns. A floating mechanical eye, and a large man in a business suit. A smiling man with Asian features in a trench coat. A being wrapped in a blue cloak, its body hidden. A bipedal creature that was difficult to look at directly.

And leading them all was a young man in a wheelchair, being pushed by a ridiculously buxom towering muscular woman with a vaguely vulpine face, with red fur, a yellow collar of fluff, long ears, and a dollop of yellow fur on her head.

Once the man in a wheelchair was in the center of the arena, his associates all took positions around him in a full circle, as if guarding him.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” the man said with a surprisingly strong voice, one that everyone in the arena could hear.

“Good lungs on him for a paraplegic,” Cozy Glow said.

“Is he?” Discord said, he, Grogar, Cosmos, and Tirek all looking warily at the wheelchair bound man, slumped slightly in his chair. A quick glance around showed that others in the various other balconies weren’t sure about this Proprietor either.

“I am the Proprietor of the AMT. And I will be addressed as such,” he said. His head slumped slightly to the side, and his assistant gently adjusted his head back into position.

Chrysalis, Thorax, and Pharynx all started smacking their lips, looking startled. “There’s a LOT of love coming off of the red-furred woman. Its intense enough that we can taste it up here,” Thorax said.

They all glanced down again, the red-furred woman gently brushing hair out of the Proprietor’s face as he spoke. “Thank you all for coming, for agreeing to participate in this, the greatest martial arts exhibition in the multiverse. I assume you’re all wondering how this will go, so I shall explain.”

"Matches will be one-on-one unless stated otherwise. As friendships and/or alliances develop, faction and tag team matches will be implemented. All kinds of techniques, equipment, and weapons are allowed. You are allowed to bring a pet or 'special move partner' as shown in the game versions of your worlds shown to you by our guards. All fights will take place in arenas like this," he gestured slightly to the platform they were all standing on, "which will holographically transform into a randomly selected 'stage' based on one of the participating worlds. Some of these stages will have hazards and instant death traps. Prepare accordingly," the Proprietor said. The villains looked excited at the prospects of the more violent arenas, while Twilight and her friends all traded worried looks.

Proprietor continued. "That being said, unless specified, matches are to knockout, submission, forfeit, or in the case of professional wrestling-style matches, one of the various 'gimmick matches' that will be implemented later, pinfall or submission. Killing someone will result in an immediate disqualification. Please note that if you bring allies that are not registered as fighters or support into the ring with you, your opponent is free to kill them without repercussions," he said.

"So, wait," said someone from a balcony above the ponies. "If I were to say, bring a pair of my soldiers into the ring with me..."

"If they aren't registered as being part of your 'special moves,' as your 'supports,' they can be killed and will not be resurrected," the Propietor explained. "Supports, such as pets or allies, can be damaged but cannot be killed or critically injured. Attacking the audience will result in an immediate disqualification. And make you look silly, since there's a forcefield that prevents them from throwing junk in the ring, and prevents you from attacking them."

"Well, at least Harry won't be too hurt," Fluttershy said in relief, patting the bear, who just grunted, looking unperturbed by the idea of taking a hit.

"Death matches must be agreed upon by both fighters. And for those of you who have understandable concerns, there are 100% effective measures of bringing someone back to life implemented in the tournament, as well as various other resurrective methods employed from participating worlds. Healing, including healing items from participating worlds, will be made available for all competitors after each match," Proprietor continued.

"I... don't know how I feel about that," Rarity said. "I'm certainly up for some hoofticuffs but a fight to the death?"

"Calm down," Aria snarked. "Death matches have to be agreed to by both fighters, remember?"

"I've been dead," Sombra said, sneering. "Its overrated."

"Some matches you will be able to find weapons to use in the arena, or healing items, or artifacts that allow you to summon a temporary ally. Whether or not the ally can be defeated varies depending from ally to ally," Proprietor continued.

"Oooh, Smash Bros. match!" Pinkie Pie said cheerfully.

"I know what she means and will explain later," Discord said, amused at all the confused expressions she got.

"If you are used to being a planet-cracker on your world, you will find that you are not capable of that here. A 'cosmic balance' has been enforced here, meaning that no matter how strong you are, everyone has the same chance of winning a match, no matter what." Several of the fighters looked down at their hands, as if they figured out why they were feeling strange.

“Well that explains that,” Cosmos said, scowling. “I’ve been feeling off since I got here.”

Rainbow Dash frowned. "Not sure I like that," she said.

"You're not interested in a fair fight?" Applejack teased.

"I like the idea of beating somepony stronger than me," Rainbow Dash said, popping her neck in amusement.

“I will say this,” the Proprietor said. “We couldn’t do a thing about this man’s power level, as he’s still completely, stupidly overpowered and unbeatable.” The hologram moved to a camera view, zooming up to one of the balconies where a bald man in a yellow superhero costume with red boots and gloves and a white cape was sighing sadly, shaking his head and chuckling weakly. “I’m sorry, Saitama. We’ll have to find another way for you to have an actual challenge.”

“You made the effort,” Saitama said. “And I appreciate it. Shows what I get for getting my hopes up…”

None of the Equestrians knew what to say to this. Several of the fighters in various balconies looked interested in fighting Saitama despite the declaration of his power level.

"Due to the sheer volume of fighters," Proprietor continued, "multiple fights will go on at the same time. Some fights will be in this particular arena, meant for audiences who will be in the stands. Fighting will be constant, but because of the aforementioned sheer volume, you will not by any means be expected to constantly fight."

"Well, that's something at least," Tempest said. "I had concerns that we'd be forced into constant gladiatorial combat..."

"It makes sense, though," Luna said. "I've lost count of the number of balconies containing fighters... and that's just the ones I can see."

"Matches will be chosen at random. However if you have someone who you want to fight, simply ask one of our employees, as you see here." The Proprietor gestured to the various oddballs around him, most of whom nodded or waved pleasantly. The sorceress with the mop just shook her head slowly, a clear sign that the fighters should probably avoid her. "They will forward the request up the line and the match will be arranged. All matches, including those that do not take place in the arena, will be recorded for viewing on our web service. For those of you who like a good long fight, there is no time limit, even for the televised version. Fight until a winner is declared, or you both are knocked out."

"Seems simple enough" Shining Armor said.

"Yeah," Soarin agreed, grinning. "I'm kind of raring to go."

The tall man in the suit stepped forward, speaking in a deep, bass voice that didn't suit his pale complexion and white hair. "My name is CEO. I am head of business management for the Alternian Multiverse Tournament. All of you have access to all the available amenities. There are portals to hot springs dimensions reserved for men, women, or whatever gender you identify as, as well as mixed bathing. There is also a large 'robo-spa' for our cybernetic and fully robotic fighters designed to give you a functioning equivalent spoiling. There are gourmet food services, entertainment centers, as well as education in cooking if you so desire. For several of you, as suggested by your worldmates, the cooking lessons are mandatory."

From a balcony beneath the ponies, there came an almost feral growl of "Rrrrrrrrrrrranmaaaa..."

"Shut it, Akane," said a male voice firmly, the growling voice squeaking in surprise. "Your cooking is AWFUL, and you're going to learn. That is FINAL."

Chrysalis snickered. "Oooh, she actually liked it when he asserted himself," she said, tasting the brief hint of lust that came up from underneath them.

"Yeah," Pharynx said, grinning. "She's clearly not used to it from him."

CEO continued, as a hologram of an opulent-looking apartment, with a sauna, well-made bathroom with tub and shower, massive entertainment center with television, game system, and computer, and personal kitchen appeared above the AMT employees. "These are your apartments," he said. "Each one of you will have access to one of these apartments, which you can access from a keycard in a personal subspace pocket that all of you will be given access to. Basically, a 'hammerspace' for those of you familiar with the term, a place you can just pull things out of nowhere simply by reaching behind you. The rooms are not personalized right now, but you can handle that yourselves. As for the bedrooms... well, can I have a volunteer? Just fly down to us if you're able."

After a moment, a man in gold and red armor lifted off from one of the larger platforms, cautiously landing near CEO, the guards nearest him turning his way. Twilight stared in awe, realizing that the man was wearing a suit of high tech armor, and she desperately wanted to know how it worked, Applejack and Rarity having to pull her back from the edge of the balcony. She had been leaning over so far she’d almost fell off.

"Tony Stark, also known as Iron Man, correct?" CEO asked. "A superhero from what is designated as the Marvel Universe."

"That's me," the armored superhero said. "What's up?"

"With your permission, I would like to teleport you to your apartment, and have you open the bedroom door for the cameras," CEO said.

Iron Man frowned underneath his mask, but nodded. "Sure," he said.

"Very good," CEO said, handing him a keycard. "Accepting this will give you your 'hammerspace' pocket, and you can use it without actually having to think about putting it in a pocket. It will automatically go there, and pop into your hand when you reach behind yourself."

Iron Man nodded. He touched the card, and when he did, it changed color, gaining an image of his arc reactor on it. Iron Man vanished, and reappeared in a long hallway, a floating camera nearby showing this on the holographic display CEO was using. "So just... scan the card and go in?" Iron Man asked.

"Yes, Mr. Stark," CEO said. Iron Man nodded, heading inside, the camera following him.

"Not bad, not bad..." Iron Man said. "...What's this phone charger looking device near the bedroom door?"

"I will explain that in a moment," CEO said. "Please enter the bedroom using the keycard in the lock."

Iron Man nodded, and scanned the keycard, opening the bedroom door... and paused, popping his helmet open. "What the..." he said, looking around, seeing a familiar bed and lab setup. "This is... Wait..." He paused, looking thoughtful for a moment, and began laughing. "Ohhh, that's CLEVER! The bedroom doors are portals back home, right into our own bedrooms!"

There was a lot of pleased murmuring at this. The Equestrian faction, already knowing this, just waited for further explanation. "That's right," CEO said, smiling. "In addition to the amenities we'll provide in exchange for fighting for us, you are not in any way bound to this island. We figured that the most comfortable place to sleep for you would be your own bed! Of course, if you wish for your bedroom to have better furnishing, we will happily provide. If you have duties you need to perform on a daily basis in your homeworld, do so! We are not keeping you prisoner here!"

There was mild applause, the fighters clearly pleased with this.

CEO nodded, holding up his hands for silence. Once the applause had stopped, he said, "Mr. Stark, your teammates all have rooms next to yours. If you wish to wait in your apartment while I finish the explanations, feel free."

Iron Man shook his head. "Nah," he said. "I know my room number. This stuff I feel is better experienced in person."

CEO nodded. "Very well. Before you are teleported back to your balcony, I will explain the device you noticed," he said, the camera zooming into it. "If you ever feel you do not wish to participate in the fighting anymore, place your room key in that device by the bedroom. It will erase your identification from the card, and permanently lock your apartment. After that, you will just have to enter your bedroom door and close it. The portal will vanish, and you will be considered as 'retired.' You may do this at any time, and it will not accept a retirement under brainwashing or coercion. That being said, we do understand that sometimes you put something down without thinking, so if you 'accidentally' retire, simply contact us through our website and we'll bring you back in a week. We’ll make a way to contact us available if your world doesn’t have the technology level to have the internet."

There was light chuckling at that, Iron Man vanishing from the camera and reappearing with his comrades.

CEO looked back up at everyone. "For those of you who fall into the villain category, you will find that depending on your overall threat level, you will NOT have a portal back to your world. An opulent, comfortable room will be provided, but in exchange for bringing you back to life, you have to stay on the island."

There were several noises of outrage, from the various platforms. CEO ignored them, and continued. "Get over it. One more thing on the rooms, before we get on with marketing – there will be access to a common lounge for all fighters from a similar world. We ask all fighters be on their best behavior in the lounge, as repairs will come out of your paychecks. Yes, you're getting paid for fighting for us. Quite well, actually. And the currency we use here will automatically become currency usable in your world when you take it with you through the bedroom portal."

Everyone looked pleased at that, Applejack in particular.

“And now,” CEO said, “Onto marketing. We will be selling merchandise of you all if you individually allow it. Clothing, toys, posters and whatnot, whatever else we think of and you personally approve. You will be given fifty percent of the profits, and even participating in merchandising at all will be completely voluntary. Some of you, mostly those from more ‘famous’ worlds, will be asked to participate in advertisements, but again, everything is completely voluntary.” CEO took a breath. “...We are leaving the option of sexy merchandise, posters and the like, open if you agree to it, both for men, women, and the like. No one will be forced into it, and we’ll never go farther than you’re willing to do. If you just want to do a pose, fine. Full nude? Also fine. Just so long as you give consent to that.”

The females from various worlds all looked relieved at this, although the business inclined fighters along all of them all seemed very interested at the idea of merchandising. CEO continued. “One thing – we greatly discourage sexual harassment here. If someone is harassing you, inform us as soon as possible. We will make sure they are punished. That includes people trying to break into the hot springs pocket dimensions.”

“I’ll find a way!” declared a cackling old man from beneath the ponies platform. The man then yelped as several of his worldmates beat him up.

Thorax grimaced. “Bleeh… His lust tastes… awful…”

Chrysalis sneered at the floor. “Welcome to your first pervert,” she muttered.

“Oh my…” Fluttershy said, blushing.

Discord sneered. “He’d better not try anything with us. Only I get to pester everypony…”

“Spoilsport,” Cosmos teased.

“Your ‘sport’ involves nails in unpleasant places, so yes I’m going to spoil it,” Discord muttered.

“That’s pretty much it for now,” CEO said. “The paths you walked down have been redirected to the recreational area and food court. Please feel free to enjoy everything we have to offer. As employees of the Alternian Multiverse Tournament, you get a discount on our services, however from now until your first paycheck, everything’s free. I’ll personally be there with those who’ve requested to have sale stands of their own to help arrange things. And if you’re interested in good steak, may I recommend our in-house restaurant, Roadkill Cuties? Its absolutely exquisite, and the head chef is a genius.”

The large woman in the flannel shirt waved casually to everyone.

“Your first matches will be posted in the common lounge area for your worlds,” the Proprietor said. “Matches start first thing tomorrow morning at 8AM. We’re synched to your worlds times, so if you have duties to perform you may do them.”

The Proprietor was then turned and wheeled out of the room, CEO and the other warriors following him, followed by the guards. The Equestrian contingent looked around, seeing others leaving their platforms, and eventually decided to leave their own. Chatting quietly among themselves, they went down the tunnel, and after a shorter walk, found themselves facing a large, burly guard standing by the exit, a foldable card table with a bunch of the cards that Iron Man had been given laying on it.

“Please to take your room keys,” the guard said in a thick, vaguely European accent.

Twilight nodded. “Do we need to pick any specific one, or…”

The guard shook his head. “No. All cardkeys are same until attuned to fighter,” he said.

Twilight nodded, and picked up one with her magic. It glowed briefly, turning purple and gaining her cutie mark on it. All of the ponies who took cards had their cutie marks appear on it, while the others had silhouette profiles appear. After testing their hammerspace pockets and putting their cards away, the big, burly guard nodded and folded up the table. “Please to enjoy food court and entertainment area. There is being movie theaters, video arcades, athletics courses, lots of things. Please also being sure to get plenty of sleep for day of fighting ahead.”

Applejack stepped up to the guard, adjusting the saddlebags she wore. “We was told CEO would be waiting for anyone wanting to set up their own stand?”

The guard nodded. “Market area is between food court and entertainment area. Look for unnervingly tall man in business suit,” he said, folding up his card table. “Transport to fighter apartments as well as direct teleportation to your rooms are available. Due to sheer amount of fighters, multiple teleporters and transport vehicles are absolutely necessary. As you are all from same world, your rooms will be close to each other.” Without another word, the massive guard took his table and walked away.

Applejack stared after him for a long moment and shrugged, her saddlebags shifting. “I’ll meet y’all back at the apartments,” she said. “I’m gonna arrange somethin’ for the Acres.”

Twilight nodded. “All right,” she said. “Take care, Applejack!” The farm pony ran off to where several other men and women in suits were discussing something with CEO. The towering official smiled at her and waved her over.

“Miss Applejack, right?” CEO said.

“Yes’m. Mr. CEO, I was hopin’ that-” Applejack started.

“You wish to sell your farm’s products here, yes? The guard sent to retrieve your world’s fighters said that was key to your agreement for attendance,” CEO said.

A bald man with an irritable expression said, “Wait a minute. Why are you indulging some rube when we’ve just begun discussion?”

“Our negotiations will take longer. Miss Applejack’s request, Mr. Luthor, is a simple matter of arranging space in our Farmer’s Market,” CEO said. “The fast travel point to it is right behind us.”

“Fast travel?” questioned a younger woman in a suit.

“No, I get it,” said Tony Stark, in a bodysuit instead of his armor. “With this many fighters here, and as many guests as you’re trying to host, teleportation devices everywhere are a necessity.”

CEO nodded. “Indeed,” he said. “And for the record, if you touch any of the fast travel devices with your room key, it’ll teleport you directly to your apartment.”

Applejack smiled. “So there won’t be any trouble with Sweet Apple Acres setting up shop?”

CEO nodded, pulling a form out of his coat and handing it to her. “Simply fill out this form and give it to the manager of the Farmer’s Market area. After that, you can pick out a spot you want to sell your farm’s produce, and bring it in whenever you’re ready. We’ll build the stand for you.”

Applejack took the form in her mouth and put it in her saddlebags. “Well shucks,” she said. “Here I was thinkin’ I’d need to convince you by sharin’ some of my family’s stuff. Apples, apple treats,” she flipped open both her saddlebags, revealing that they were stuffed with various apples and plastic-wrapped snacks, including a few glass bottles of juice. “And here you are bein’ all friendly about it.”

“Comfort is part of what we intend to give our fighters, Miss Applejack,” CEO said. “And I wouldn’t say no to a nice, fresh apple. May I?”

Applejack nodded. “Help y’selves. Food’s meant to be eaten,” she said, looking around at everyone. CEO happily took one of the green apples, taking a loud crunch out of it.

“Damn,” Tony said, grinning. “Even the crunch sounds good.”

“Mmm,” CEO said, licking his lips. “Quite tasty.” He took one of the apple fritters as well, pocketing it for later. Seeing him do it made several of the business executives take apples and treats as well, all of them looking pleased with them.

“...Acceptable,” Luthor said, sipping at the apple cider bottle he took.

“Not bad,” Tony said, munching on some cookies with chocolate chips and apple chunks. “I’ll definitely be stopping by your stand later. Sweet Apple Acres, was it?”

“Eeyup!” Applejack said happily. “And we’ll be glad to have you!”

CEO smiled and gestured to the fast travel device. Applejack happily jumped in, reappearing moments later in the aforementioned market, feeling the familiar scents of fresh food washing over her. Things were definitely looking good so far. She hoped that the others were doing good too. And that the villains weren’t causing too much trouble.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
A random patch of grass…
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Cosmos lay curled up around something, staring intently at it. She giggled occasionally, her manticore stinger flicking back and forth as she hummed quietly to herself.

A golden triangle with a single eye, small, black, cartoonish limbs, and a long top had floated up to her. “It is a testament to how freaking bored I am that I ask this… what are you doing?”

Cosmos looked up at the triangle, sensing the sheer power he had as well as the malevolence in his soul. She smiled in approval. “I gave full sapience to the population of this ant hill as well as individuality to every single ant. I also introduced religion to their society. They’re having a civil war now and are slaughtering each other. Its glorious,” she said.

The triangle blinked. “Huh. That’s… actually cool,” he said, pleased. “The name’s Bill Cipher. I came with a bunch of Disney villains.”

“Cosmos. Spirit of Malice. Hailing from what’s apparently called the My Little Pony world,” the draconequus said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Want to watch ants murder each other over abstract concepts?”

Bill seemed to grin with his eye. “Sure!” he said. “I love senseless murder!” He blinked. “Wow, is this what making a friend feels like?”

Cosmos laughed. “I suppose so! I know that I liked you the moment I saw you,” she said. “I guess maybe friendship isn’t as lame a concept as I thought.”

Bill chuckled. “Maybe!” he conceded, sitting down on Cosmos’s head, the two chatting and bonding over their favorite methods of hurting people as they watched the ant hill descend into anarchy.

Discord had no idea why he suddenly felt very wary. But he didn’t like the feeling at all, no sir.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
A library…
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Twilight Sparkle knew she had to come here the moment she heard that the island had a library. And when she appeared from the fast travel portal, she stared, awestruck.

Books. Towers upon towers of books. Stretching as far as the eye could see. Books from every single participating world and then some. “...This is what Paradise looks like,” Twilight said softly.

A nearby old man chuckled, the pipe in his mouth bobbing up and down. “Nice to see there’s someone else who appreciates books,” he said.

Twilight blinked, startled, and looked over at the man sitting at one of the reading tables. He wore a bluish-black bodysuit, and had short, gray hair and a goatee, along with a pipe. He was reading an ancient-looking tome of magic. The man smiled. “Theodore Diggers, Gold Digger universe,” he said. “You can call me Theo. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Twilight smiled, introducing herself. “This place is great!” she said. “Everypony’s been so nice so far, and then there’s this LIBRARY! OOH I could stay here forever!”

Theo laughed. “They’ll probably chase us out at some point,” he said. “The fights and all.”

“Nuuuu, I want to sleep here!” Twilight said, giggling. “I didn’t really come for the fights anyway. I wanted a chance to learn, to visit different worlds and spread the magic of friendship to the multiverse!”

Theo looked interested. “Magic of friendship… Are you speaking philosophically, or are you referring to an actual school of magic?” he asked.

Twilight smiled. “A little of both, actually!” she said. “If I had something to write on, I could show you some of the theorems I’ve developed for it.” Theo smiled and gestured, conjuring up a notebook and pen for her. Twilight smiled. She was used to scrolls and quills, but she could work with these. “Thank you. Okay. First, I need to explain the Elements of Harmony…”

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
An expansive video arcade…
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

“So! Many! GAMES!” Pinkie Pie squealed, bouncing up and down happily.

“I know! It’s amazing, isn’t it?!” Cheese Sandwich said. “The parties here would be EPIC!”

The two party ponies bounced around, taking in the various arcade machines, whack-a-moles, claw machines, basketball hoops, punching bags, and other various bright and shiny and beepy things. They were loving this place so far. Even the possibility of fighting later wasn’t bothering them.

“Oh look, they even have animatronics!” Cheese said, pointing.

“Ooh, really?” Pinkie Pie said.

The aforementioned animatronics, bipedal robot animals with colorful clothing painted on, looked startled for a moment, having been arguing just moments before. “Ah,” said the large, bipedal bear. “We’re not affiliated with the tournament beyond fighting. We just wanted to check out this place and see how it reminded us of home.”

“Oh, you’re fighters?” Pinkie Pie said. “So are we! I’m Pinkie Pie!”

“And I’m Cheese Sandwich! We’re both party ponies extraordinaire!” Cheese said, grinning.

“We’re both from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic!” Pinkie Pie said, smiling widely. “What’s your home like?”

“It’s a big, noisy mall that is one of the most unsafe and unhealthy places on our planet,” the wolf said. The white bird chuckled, and the alligator snorted. The bear frowned at her, and she glared right back. “What? It is.”

The bear shook his head. “Anyway. We’re the Fazbear Band! We’re a glamrock group that plays at the Pizzaplex,” he said. “I’m Freddy Fazbear, on vocals. The big guy here is Montgomery Gator, on bass guitar, and my gal here is Chica the Chicken, on lead guitar!”

“Oh, you’re a chicken? I thought you were a duckling,” Cheese said.

“I get that a lot!” Chica said, unoffended.

Freddy nodded, and continued. “And Miss Sassy Britches here is Roxanne Wolf, on keytaur,” he said, gesturing to the aforementioned wolf.

“Hey,” Roxanne said casually.

“Nice ta meetcha, Roxy!” Pinkie Pie said. “I LOVE your hair and tail! They’re so FLUFFY!”

Roxy snickered. “I like her,” she said.

“Anyway, we were just having a minor discussion-” Freddy said.

“About the fact that your kid is a violent psychopath!” Roxy said. “We had spare upgrade parts in parts and services, and he didn’t even think to check there! His first instinct was to destroy us!”

Freddy grimaced, his ears going back. “To be fair, you’d all been reprogrammed by that point, so he may have been acting in self-defense…” he said.

“HE COULD HAVE EASILY JUST AVOIDED US!” Roxy snarled.

Chica grimaced. “Yeah, they’re gonna be at this for a while,” she said.

Monty sighed, nodding and thinking about his own shameful actions while repgrammed. “Yeah. Its a long story,” he said. “Roxy’s still real bitter over it, especially since her own kid got hurt, and none of us like thinking about it.”

“They have kids?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Adopted,” Chica said. “Sort of. Freddy’s got natural dad vibes and Roxy’s been protective of this one girl since she didn’t have anyone show up on her eleventh birthday!”

Cheese and Pinkie gasped. “Oh no!” Cheese said. “That’s awful!”

“We… We have to make up for this,” Pinkie said. “She needs to have a GOOD party, with lots of people wanting to be her friends there!”

Roxy looked over from her argument. “I appreciate the sentiment, but its a bit late for her birthday by this point,” she said. “Its several months away.”

“Then we’ll give her an UNbirthday party!” Cheese declared.

Pinkie nodded firmly. “That girl deserves to have a party that makes her smile! And we’ll make sure she has one!” she declared.

Roxy’s tail began wagging. “...Thank you,” she said, smiling, the other robots looking at the two ponies with approval.

“No problem!” Pinkie said. “You have a nice smile too!”

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
A gymnasium…
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

“Aw yeah,” Rainbow Dash said as she walked into the long, looping race track. “I knew this place had something for me!” She looked over the track, nodding in approval.

A blue hedgehog with red shoes was standing nearby, looking contemplatively towards a human in a bright red costume with lightning sparking around him occasionally. Rainbow Dash came up to the hedgehog, grinning. “You look like a runner,” Rainbow Dash said. “How ‘bout it? Think your feet can keep up with my wings?”

The hedgehog looked back, and chuckled. “About five minutes ago I’d have said yes,” he said. “I just got flat out humbled, though, so I’m… actually wanting to take it easy for now.” He offered her a handshake. “Sonic the Hedgehog. Main character of my world, apparently, so its named after me.”

Rainbow accepted the handshake with her hoof, introducing herself. “And who was it that beat you? That guy in red?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Sonic said. “Calls himself the ‘Flash.’ He’s apparently a superhero of some kind. I can dig it, I do the whole saved the world thing too.”

Rainbow grinned. “So you say he’s pretty fast, then,” she said.

“Ah,” Sonic said, “remember that whole ‘humbled’ thing I mentioned? I’m the fastest thing on my world, and he pretty much humiliated me.”

Rainbow patted Sonic condescendingly. “I’m sure you did fine. But I’m Rainbow Dash. And there’s nothing faster than me,” she said.

Sonic smiled thinly. “...Y’know what? Have fun,” he said. “Hey, Flashy! You got another competitor!”

Flash looked up, and sighed. “C’mon,” he said. “I don’t like doing this.”

Rainbow smirked. “What. Afraid you’re gonna lose?” she said, making chicken noises.

Flash just stared at her incredulously. “Oh for fuck’s sake,” he said, facepalming. “Fine. You wanna be a child about this? Get on the starting line. Let’s go.”

Rainbow smirked at Sonic, and got on the line beside the Flash. Moments later, they both were off, running and flying as fast as they could.

Sonic had to admit, Rainbow Dash was fast. And that colorful ‘Sonic Rainboom’ she pulled off was pretty intense. Although she was clearly straining to get to the speed needed to make the boom. And by that time, Flash had already lapped her forty times, booping her in the nose each time.

The two skidded to a halt, Flash flipping casually into the bleachers, while Rainbow just stood at the starting line, staring. “Have you learned your lesson, or do I need to lap you a few more times?”

“I’m good,” Rainbow said, looking ahead but clearly not seeing anything.

Flash nodded. “I’ll leave you to your existential crisis, then,” he said, zipping off in a blur.

Sonic came over and patted Rainbow’s head condescendingly, and walked off, Rainbow finally sitting down as it started to sink in just how badly she’d been beaten in her race. Not a good start to her AMT career.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
A zoo…
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Fluttershy had been worried when she heard there was a zoo here. But fortunately, this one proved to be one of the good ones, with wide, natural enclosures for each of the various creatures milling about, with plenty of room to run, stretch, and play. And they were so unique, too! Some of them vaguely resembled creatures she’d seen before, but others were completely new to her and she loved it. She was worried when she saw some of them battling, but apparently they actually liked it. And the strange, borderline magical abilities they used… SO cool.

Pokémon were awesome.

Harry grunted as he walked behind Fluttershy, acting as her bodyguard, Angel bunny standing on his head with a general’s cap he procured from Rarity ages ago. Fluttershy zipped back and forth, giggling. “So many wonders…” she sang softly.

“Hnh,” said a gruff voice. “I see they let one of the creatures out.”

Fluttershy squeaked, Harry coming up to defend her as an older man with a flared hairstyle, wearing white pants and a red suit jacket, came up to her. Beside him was a bear of his own, which sneered cockily at Harry. She looked at the man, swallowed to steel herself, and spoke, “N-No, sir, I’m not one of the Pokémon. I’m a fighter. My n-name is Fluttershy.” Discord and Rainbow Dash would be proud of her for managing to get it out without trailing off.

“You? A sniveling little thing like you, a fighter?” the old man scoffed. “We’ll see. But you introduced yourself, I might as well do the same. Since you sound vaguely western I’ll use the western style for my name. I’m Heihachi Mishima. This is my bear, Kuma.”

Fluttershy blinked. “You named your bear ‘bear?’” she asked, confused.

Kuma blinked and growled. “” he asked in bear.

Heihachi snorted. “It’s all the name you need!” he snapped. “Now hush.” Kuma grumbled, while Harry snickered at him. “I take it you have an affinity for exotic creatures?”

Fluttershy nodded. “I love animals. Its why I came to the tournament, to meet new animal friends,” she said, perching on a rail where some fish Pokémon were playing. Heihachi was scary, but talking about animals always calmed her.

Heihachi nodded. “I can understand that,” he said. “I raised both this whelp and his predecessor, trained them both to fight.”

“Oh,” Fluttershy said. “I suppose that’s okay, I guess… ”

Kuma blinked, and nodded. “”

“” Fluttershy asked.

Kuma shook his head, watching the grumpy-looking bunny with amusement as it glared back at him. “”

“” Fluttershy said, relieved. “”

Heihachi looked back and forth between the two of them. “Wait, she can speak to animals in their own language?” he asked Kuma.

Kuma nodded, rumbling. Fluttershy translated. “He says my accent is awful, but yes,” she said, Kuma nodding to confirm.

“Fascinating…” Heihachi said, giving her a scrutinizing gaze that made her nervous.

“Um… So what’s your world like?” Fluttershy asked, hiding behind Harry a little.

“Eh. Bit of a mess right now,” Heihachi said. “My grandson started World War 3 so the world would hate my family enough to try to exterminate us.”

Fluttershy’s jaw dropped. “WHAT War WHAT?!” she yelled.

Heihachi snickered. “Your world is peaceful, eh?” he said. “Don’t worry about it. Anyway, its not my fault his father grew up to be a jerk. He could have chosen to become a better person after I threw him off of a cliff as a child, but noooo, he went full revenge and surpass scumbag. Scumbag is my role in this family, thank you!”

Fluttershy stared at Heihachi incredulously. “...You’re a horrible person,” she said.

“Honey you ain’t even scratched the surface,” Heihachi said, laughing shamelessly.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Wandering the strip…
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Rarity giggled, looking over the various buildings as she passed. “Art museums, concert halls, fine dining… That ‘Totski Academy’-based restaurant was simply wonderful,” she said, licking her lips in remembrance of the fine meal she’d just sampled. She didn’t fully understand it, but they were from a world that didn’t fight through powers, but through cooking, and wouldn’t be participating in the battles that Rarity would.

Thinking about it made her sigh. “Fisticuffs… Well, I agreed to it, so I might as well go all in,” she said, popping her neck idly. “And there’s been so many interesting new fashions to see just today!”

“You talk to yourself a lot?” came a voice. Rarity yipped, startled, and turned, seeing a man with a scruffy beard, white hair, and a red jacket standing nearby, a large sword on his back. After taking a moment to calm herself, she smiled.

“Sometimes a bit of self-chatter is part of the process, darling,” she said. “I’m-”

“Rarity,” the man said. “You’re a show in my world. Hope that’s not too weird.”

“Oh,” Rarity said, nonplussed. “Well, its a little odd, but I’ll get used to it eventually. ...Are you a fan?”

The scruffy man chuckled, idly scratching at his belly through the blue shirt he wore. “Nah. Too cutesy for me,” he said. “Name’s Dante. I’m a devil hunter.”

“A pleasure, Dante,” Rarity said. “And I must say, your entire ensemble does create a rather dashing effect. Especially the coat.”

Dante chuckled. “This old thing? Had it for years,” he said. “Glad to see it works for me.”

“Oh it really does,” Rarity said, smiling. “It gives me a few ideas for stallion fashions back home… Although I confess I do not understand the straps on the boots.”

Dante snickered. “I picked them out at random, honestly. They went with my pants,” he said. “Never been too concerned about fashion, honestly. I just wanted something that looked reasonably good, and cleaned easily.”

“Ah, yes. Your ‘job…’ It gets messy sometimes?” Rarity asked.

“Depends on if the demon has blood or not,” Dante said. “Sometimes its sand, sometimes its energy…” He shrugged. “They all die the same.”

“Fascinating,” Rarity said to be polite. “Are you looking forward to the battles?”

“Yeah, actually,” Dante said. “My business, Devil May Cry (which is also the name of my world, apparently) doesn’t get that much coming in. Some of the best scraps I had were when my world got mixed together with a bunch of others to fight some planet-eating god.”

“...I beg your pardon,” Rarity said, non-plussed.

“Big guy. Like, giant. Bigger hat,” Dante said, grinning. “Name of Galactus. You’ll see him eventually. Anyway, I wouldn’t worry about it for now, unless you draw him for a fight.”

Rarity blinked. “It occurs to me now that I’m somewhat in over my head…” she said.

Dante laughed. “Rarity, that’s everyday life. All you gotta do is keep fighting to stay above the surface,” he said. “And you strike me as the type who can do that.”

Rarity smiled. He was a bit rough around the edges, but the unicorn decided then and there that he liked the devil hunter.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Later that evening…
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

In several flashes of light, the various ponies appeared in front of their apartments and went inside. After taking a moment to explore everything, each one modified to work with their species, they found the doorway to the lounge and made their way inside.

The lounge itself was pure comfort. A fireplace with a large television over it stood in one part of the room, with several large, comfortable-looking couches and chairs modified for quadrupedal use. There was a large snack bar, Pinkie and Cheese claiming several cupcakes for themselves, a stocked pantry and fridge with a cooking setup, massage chairs and a hot tub. Everyone began milling about, eventually splitting off into groups.

“This island is INCREDIBLE!” Twilight said. “I found the most amazing library! And I met one of the fighters, a mage named Theo, and we had SUCH a great conversation!”

Pinkie Pie grinned. “Me and Cheese met a living animatronic band!” she chirped. “We’re gonna help them throw an unbirthday party for this little girl they’re taking care of!”

Rarity smiled. “That’s wonderful, darling!” she said. “I met a rather charming fighter myself. Oh, I do hope he does well in his fights.”

“Charming, huh,” Spike said, putting his hands on his hips.

Rarity giggled and nuzzled the dragon. “But you’ll always be precious to me, Spikey,” she said, the dragon giggling, mollified.

Rainbow Dash was oddly quiet. Fluttershy trotted up to her, nuzzling her. “Something wrong?” she asked.

“...You ever realize that there may be something you’ll never be able to do?” Rainbow Dash asked, visibly uncomfortable.

“Oh, frequently,” Fluttershy said. “I don’t really let it bother me, though. I just accept it and move on.”

“...Even if it has something to do with your talent?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Spitfire, overhearing, flew over to the group. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

Rainbow Dash hesitated for a moment, and sighed. “...I met a fighter today. A speedster. Who… basically made me look as if I was standing still, in terms of how fast he ran… I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to outpace him.”

Fluttershy started to say something comforting, but Spitfire interrupted her. “Try anyway. And if you can’t, find a way to outdo him in something else. And if you can’t, then who cares, because his life doesn’t affect yours.”

“But… speed is who I am,” Rainbow Dash said, still looking worried.

“If that’s the case, then you’re a pretty superficial creature,” Spitfire said. “Arrogant too. You put me in my place more than once with the loyalty you’ve shown to those you care about. Speed is a big part of your life, yes. But its not everything. Hell, I bet its not everything to that guy you met.” Rainbow Dash still looked uneasy, and Spitfire sighed. “Just think about it, okay?” She turned and left after Rainbow Dash nodded.

Fluttershy smiled. “She’s right, you know.”

Rainbow Dash chuckled weakly. “I get that,” she said. “I get that in my head. It just still hurts…” She seemed to be willing to let it go, though, joining their friends on one of the couches.

All around the lounge, the various ponies and creatures were sharing their early experiences with the island. Most were happy. Trixie had met several people as showy as she was, feeling like she’d found her kinsmen. Starlight had met another scientist, having a long, enjoyable discussion with them over the merits of magic versus science. And so on. Even the villains seemed oddly content with the way things were, hanging back in a group from the others and chatting among themselves. Although Discord kept casting wary glances back at Cosmos, who was methodically dissecting a small bug she found with her magic.

After a moment, the large television in the lounge beeped, a holographic image of the Proprietor appearing. “Thank you all again for coming, and I hope you are enjoying yourselves. The fights have been randomized, so here are your first opponents. Those fights marked with a star will be televised for home viewing through our main show. The rest will be viewable on our streaming service. If you’re not comfortable with this, please let us know by tomorrow.” The Proprietor vanished, and a large list appearing, showing all the participating fighters and who they’d be fighting, including what worlds their opponents represented.

Twilight Sparkle vs. Makoto Mizoguchi (Fighter’s History/King of Fighters)
Fluttershy vs. Pom (Them’s Fighting Herds)
Rainbow Dash vs. LeBron James (MultiVersus/Fortnite)
Rarity vs. Po Ping (Kung Fu Panda)
Applejack vs. Clay Bailey (Xiaolin Showdown)
Pinkie Pie vs. Sugoroku Matsuribayashi (Samurai Shodown)
*Princess Celestia vs. Amaterasu (Okami/Marvel vs. Capcom)
Princess Luna vs. Aku (Samurai Jack/Cartoon Network Punch Time Explosion)
Discord vs. Happy Chaos (Guilty Gear)
Spitfire vs. Vanessa Lewis (Virtua Fighter)
Fleetfoot vs. Tamaki (Warriors All-Stars)
Soarin vs. Lu Bu (Dynasty Warriors)
Big Macintosh vs. Blitztank (Akatsuki Blitzkampf/BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle)
Cheese Sandwich vs. Aquaman (Injustice: Gods Among Us/DC Comics)
Octavia vs. Eddie Riggs (Brutal Legend)
Vinyl Scratch vs. Yurika Kirishima (Project Justice)
Tempest Shadow vs. Goldar (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers/Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid)
Starlight Glimmer vs. Frost (Mortal Kombat)
Trixie Lulamoon vs. Dorothy Albright (Arcana Heart)
Sunset Shimmer vs. Evil Rose (Rumble Rose)
Shining Armor vs. Reinhardt Wilhelm (Overwatch)
Princess Cadance vs. Heart Aino (Arcana Heart)
Maud Pie vs. Eijiro Kirishima (My Hero Academia/Fortnite)
Bon Bon vs. Black Widow (Marvel Comics/Marvel vs. Capcom/Fortnite)
Lyra Heartstrings vs. Ren & Stimpy (Ren & Stimpy/Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl)
Iron Will vs. Zangief (Street Fighter)
Captain Caleano vs. Captain Kidd (World Heroes)
Gilda vs. Ridley (Metroid/Super Smash Bros.)
Gabby vs. Kilgore (Killer Instinct)
King Thorax vs. Mystique (Marvel Comics/X-Men: Next Dimension)
Prince Pharynx vs. Vermilion (Battle Arena Toshinden)
Dragon Lord Ember vs. Kain Highwind (Final Fantasy 4/Dissidia Final Fantasy)
Star Swirl the Bearded vs. The Ghost of Bilstein (Star Gladiator/Plasma Sword)
Rockhoof vs. Shovel Knight (Shovel Knight/Blade Strangers)
Mistmane vs. Theodore Diggers (Gold Digger)
Flash Magnus vs. Hildegard Von Krone (Soul Calibur)
Meadowbrook vs. Diablo (Marvel Comics/Marvel: Contest of Champions)
Somnambula vs. Android 18 (Dragonball/Dragonball Fighters Z)
Zecora vs. Gigi (Red Earth)
Bulk Biceps vs. Ladiva (Granblue Fantasy Versus)
Queen Chrysalis vs. HIM (Powerpuff Girls/Cartoon Network Punch Time Explosion)
Tirek vs. Centorea Shianus (Daily Life with Monster Girls)
Cozy Glow vs. Sweet Tooth (Twisted Metal/Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale)
Grogar vs. Gargos (Killer Instinct)
Adagio Dazzle vs. Jin Long (Bloody Roar)
Aria Blaze vs. Carl Clover (BlazBlue)
Sonata Dusk vs. Raven (Injustice: Gods Among Us/DC Comics)
Cosmos vs. Seto Kaiba (Yu-Gi-Oh/ Jump Force)
King Sombra vs. Noob Saibot (Mortal Kombat)

“Huh,” Celestia said. “Looks like I’m the only one from our world who’s going to be on television for this first round.”

“Can’t really tell anything about who we’re fighting from the names…” Luna said, frowning.

“Maybe so,” Rockhoof said, holding up his shovel. “But I like my opponent already just based on their name! HAHA!”

Lyra looked worried. “Mine’s two opponents in one…”

Bon Bon stroked her chin thoughtfully. “It’s likely they’re a tandem fighter. Their fighting style only works when they work together.”

“Oh, Mistmane, you get to meet Theo!” Twilight said, noticing one of the names.

The elderly unicorn looked up. “So I see,” Mistmane said. “You made friends with him earlier?”

Twilight nodded, excited. “He’s a really pleasant fellow. I hope you can become friends after the fight,” she said.

Mistmane chuckled. “We’ll see. If you like him, though, that says a lot about the man’s character,” she said, Twilight beaming happily.

Tirek frowned at his opponent. “My opponent’s name is literally just centaur,” he said, frowning. “I truly hope they aren’t a dunce…”

“Captain versus Captain, eh?” Captain Caleano said, a grin on her beak. “This should be interesting…”

“Why do I get a really bad feeling about mine?” Cozy Glow said, frowning at the name.

“I’m… sure it’ll be okay,” Cheese Sandwich said. “Maybe he uses candy to fight?” Cozy privately doubted it.

Queen Chrysalis snorted. “HIM? My opponent’s name is just HIM?” she shook her head. “He’ll probably be some hypermasculine dolt that flexes a lot and throws sweat at me.”

Twilight fluttered her wings. “Well, now we know the names of who we’re up against, at least,” she said. “We’ll just have to be ready to fight when things start tomorrow.”

Celestia nodded. “Agreed,” she said. “So let’s not stay up to late. We have a lot to do this coming day.”

The group eventually broke back into their little clusters, chatting for a while, getting something to eat, and then returning to their rooms for the night. Many of them were eager to fight, many were just going with the flow to get other opportunities they were promised.

But the one thought they all had was that things were definitely going to get more interesting…

TO BE CONTINUED...

Recruitment Drive

My Little Pony: Alternian Multiverse Tournament
by Jonathan “KnightMysterio” Spires
Chapter 1: Recruitment Drive
(aka, the mostly Exposition Chapter)

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Canterlot Castle…
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

“I’m sorry… you want us to what?” Princess Celestia asked. The tall alicorn of the sun frowned at the creature standing in front of her. He (Celestia assumed it was a he, at least) had specifically selected the Twilight Court, when Celestia, Luna, and heir to the throne Twilight Sparkle held a unified court for an hour before sunset, speaking with petitioners in order of priority.

(Nobles wanting frivolous things rarely got a chance to see the Twilight Court, the trio of rulers preferring to meet with citizens with actual needs, such as possible evictions.)

The creature standing before them was bipedal. According to Twilight Sparkle, the term for it was human, as it resembled the creatures across the mirror in the world Sunset Shimmer inhabited. Although the creature said it was from another dimension entirely.

“I would like you three, as well as some of your more combat-capable heroes, villains, and civilians, to participate in the greatest and most martial arts exhibition television series that has ever existed. You’ll be put up against the greatest warriors in the multiverse, and get a chance to challenge the greatest in existence!” said the creature, who identified himself as a security guard and wore a dark blue and black armored suit and helmet.

Celestia, Luna, and Twilight all traded concerned looks. “Your offer is… intriguing… but I don’t really think that such an event sounds appealing to participate in,” Luna said.

“I must agree,” Celestia said. “We are a peaceful people. And we have responsibilities aside from that. The sun and moon…”

The guard chuckled. “Okay, I’ll just come out and say it – Everyone who participates in the tournament gets a luxury apartment designed to their tastes.”

Luna frowned. “Well, that’s lovely, but-” she started, the guard holding up a hand to interrupt her.

“But the bedrooms? Are basically just portals back to your homeworld,” he said. “The doorway will lead right back to your bedroom in your homes.” He smiled. “It was meant to be a surprise, but we have authorization to use it as an incentive to get you to come.”

The three princesses traded looks. “That’s… hm…” Celestia said. “That is a bit more comforting, but still… You’re talking long term commitment. I don’t know if we can manage that.”

“If nothing else,” the guard said, “you’ll be able to spread the values of your nation to other worlds. Make friends with people and creatures you never would see otherwise.”

Twilight brightened at that, fluttering her wings. “I like making friends…” she said, looking thoughtful.

Luna and Celestia traded looks again, as if silently communicating with one another. After a few moments, they both looked at the security guard.

“You mentioned villains… Who did you have in mind?” Celestia asked.

“Well, Discord, Sunset Shimmer, Starlight Glimmer, and Tempest Shadow technically count towards that list, although they’re reformed… We’d also bring along Cozy Glow, Chrysalis, Tirek, Sombra, the Sirens, the actual Grogar, Cosmos…” the guard said.

“Out of the question,” Luna said, glaring. “We are NOT unleashing some of the most dangerous villains this land has ever seen on the world!”

“And do you really think they’d even agree to this when they could just go back to conquering Equestria?!” Celestia demanded.

“My friends and I put too much work in to defeat them,” Twilight said. “You’re NOT unleashing them on the world again!”

“If they refuse, or betray anyone on the way in, they’ll be relocked in their prisons,” the security guard said, smiling. “I have more than enough power on hand to contain them should they get… frisky.”

Celestia frowned. “Be that as it may, its still a tremendous risk,” she said.

“Your Highness, we’re inviting villains from other realities that make some of yours look like Pinkie Pie,” the security guard said, “and we have countermeasures in place for them as well.”

“Why?! Why invite so many destructive forces?!” Twilight asked, incredulous. “It makes no sense!”

“It makes perfect sense, and I have several reasons why,” the security guard said. “Number one, it means you know where they are at all times – on the island in my home’s pocket dimension. Number two, they’ll be in a position where you can goad them into using their skills constructively – training to defeat their rivals in fair combat. And finally, three – there’s a literal army of heroic beings to counter them. Including some that are planet-buster levels of powerful. And yes, we have ways to bring back destroyed planets, although obviously we’ll be taking measures to avoid that.”

Celestia, Luna, and Twilight just stared at the guard, their jaws dropped. “I… you will truly have that much power at your command?” Luna asked.

“We do,” the security guard said. “I promise. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” He smirked.

Twilight fluttered her wings a little, allowing a smile to cross her face. “Well… If you’re willing to go so far as to invoke a Pinkie Promise… How you know about it being a question for another day...” she said softly. “And it would be nice to learn about other worlds…”

Celestia bit her lip, worried, and whispered to Luna, who nodded in agreement. The sun princess then turned to the security guard and said, “We will agree to this plan only if you can convince all, and I do mean ALL of the others you wish to recruit for your ‘exhibition show,’ agree to it. Barring the villains.”

The security guard just smiled widely.

Celestia understood that smile immediately, and sighed, her head drooping. “...They’re all waiting outside the door, aren’t they?”

As if on cue, Discord kicked the doors to the throne room open, leading everyone in while playing a jazz trumpet, an invisible jazz band playing with him. Fluttershy, accompanied by Harry the bear, giggled at her friend’s antics, while Rainbow Dash hovered above everyone, Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and Soarin in full Wonderbolts uniform hovering with her. Rarity held herself as regally as always, while Applejack tipped her hat to the princesses upon entering, Big Macintosh striding alongside her. Pinkie Pie skipped along merrily as usual, while Zecora chuckled at the party pony’s antics, a collapsible staff mounted on her back. Cheese Sandwich rode in on a tricycle, tooting a horn in time with the jazz music, while Octavia and Vinyl Scratch just trotted in casually, Octavia looking a little starstruck at meeting the princesses. Tempest Shadow walked with a stoic stride, while Starlight Glimmer and Trixie appeared in a flash of colorful magic before the princesses, Twilight rolling her eyes as Trixie struck a pose. Spike rode on Rarity’s back, waving to Twilight, while Sunset Shimmer walked in, smiling and nodding to Celestia, who smiled back, glad to see her errant student despite the unusual circumstances. Shining Armor and Cadance trotted in, Cadance carting her baby in a carrier, Maud Pie walking beside them and discussing the crystals of the Empire. Bon Bon and Lyra strode in, Bon Bon flashing Celestia an apologetic look while Lyra looked to be excited as Pinkie Pie. Iron Will, Captain Caleano, Gilda and Gabby the griffons, Thorax and Pharynx of the changelings, and Ember of the dragons trotted in next, the latter two smirking at one another. Star Swirl the Bearded, followed by the rest of the Pillars, strode in proudly. Derpy, the mailmare, floated in, accompanied by her friend Bulk Biceps, Derpy’s daughters trotting in as well, alongside the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Luna grimaced. “Please tell me the children aren’t coming as fighters,” she pleaded.

The security guard shook his head. “No, no no,” he said. “Just as support.”

Twilight got up from the throne and went over to everyone. “You… You all seriously agreed to this?”

“And why not?” Rockhoof said, cackling. “A warrior lives to seek new challenges!”

Fluttershy blushed. “Harry wanted to, and… well, when they told me that some of the fighters fought with pets, I couldn’t resist.”

Applejack chuckled. “Well… its a bit selfish, but that there feller said I’d be able to hock the family wares at m’own stand if I came and fought, so…” She smiled, shrugging.

“Fashions across space and time, darling!” Rarity said, grinning. “The potential for inspiration is just magnificent!”

“You know I’m not backing down from this,” Rainbow Dash said, clapping her hooves together.

“A chance to represent Equestria to all of existence? Of course we’d take the opportunity!” Spitfire said.

“Multiverse party!” Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich said, both of them throwing out streamers.

“We were never meant to be permanent fixtures in the Crystal Empire anyway, Auntie,” Cadance said. “The electoral government we’ve set up is functioning beautifully, especially since we’ve rooted out the last of Sombra’s followers. And we can come and go as we please through the ‘bedrooms,’ like the gentlestallion said.”

Derpy smiled. “I’m not actually fighting, but he asked me to come along as a mascot. Apparently I’m really popular!”

“A chance to learn is always welcome, my students,” Star Swirl said. “I do not know how well we’ll do in the fighting itself, but its worth it for the knowledge to be gained.” The other ponies gave various affirmative answers as well.

Celestia nodded. “And what of you?” she said to the non-ponies. “What stake have you in this?”

“Honestly it sounded like a lark,” Zecora said, chuckling. “More interesting than just sitting around in the park. And like Star Swirl said, to broaden my knowledge base, is just too good an opportunity to waste.”

“The amount of potential for chaos in all of this? Of course I was going to join in,” Discord said, chuckling. “Like stripey-butt said, its too good an opportunity.”

“Same reason,” Thorax said. “I want to make a good impression for changelings everywhere, including the multiverse for our world.”

“And I want to access the threats that might menace our people,” Pharynx said. “The guardsman told me about worlds where we only exist as fictional characters. And the number of crossover stories fans write that have our world being destroyed by some of these fighters bothers me.”

“Still unpleasant to think about, worlds where we exist only as stories…” Celestia muttered.

“Eh. It don’t bother me that much,” Ember said. “Me, I’m just looking for a chance to add to my hoard. Maybe see what other kinds of dragons are out there.”

“And… well… We just wanted to get out of Griffonstone,” Gabby said, smiling weakly as she gestured to herself and Gilda.

Gilda nodded, sighing. “My scones stand isn’t doing that well anyway,” she said. “I’m getting more pony customers than griffons, so…” She shrugged, Rainbow Dash giving her friend a hug.

Celestia, Luna, and Twilight all traded looks. “Well…” Celestia said. “It does fulfill the criteria I asked for…”

Luna nodded. “Then I suppose we are joining you as well,” she said, Twilight nodding in agreement.

The security guard smiled. “Excellent! All that’s left is offering the villains their roles.” He reached into his backpack and pulls out a large, rolled up cloth, one that was bigger in volume than the backpack itself. “If you’ll all gather around, please?”

“Wait, what are you doing?” Twilight asked, the other Element Bearers gathering around her.

“Contact circle,” the security guard said. “Basically, a way to contact the villains and make the offer without actually letting them out.”

“Oh,” Luna said. “I was…”

Celestia tapped the ground with a hoof, blushing in embarrassment. “We thought you were going to let them out to talk to them,” she said.

“I’m not stupid, your Highnesses,” the security guard said. He unrolled the cloth, revealing a magical circle drawn on it, with positions for each villain. He took out an altar with a spike on it from his backpack, setting it up in the center of the circle. “I know how much of a threat they can be. Which is why we’re making the offer via spiritual links.”

Tempest Shadow nodded. “Clever. And a good way to do it,” she said, the others nodding.

The guard bit his lip. “The problem is that to activate the contact circle, I need to do this…” He quickly took a deep breath… and slammed his hand down on the altar’s spike, biting his lip to hold back a grunt of pain. The gathered ponies winced as blood began to flow from the knife, spreading around the lines of the contact circle. “Ow…” the guard muttered, wincing.

“Blood magic?! Seriously?!” Twilight said. “That’s dangerous if not done properly!”

“I know what I’m doing,” the guard said calmly. The blood spread to each circle, and each villain appeared, most surrounded by chains.

One of them, a female draconequus with an almost feline head and a cobra’s hood, looked her chains over and smirked. “Kinky,” she said, snickering.

Discord sneered. Fluttershy frowned, and quietly asked, “Who is she?”

“My ex-marefriend,” Discord muttered, several of the gathered ponies look at him in shock. “She’s the spirit of madness and malice. We dated for a while, but she started murdering ponies in admittedly creative ways. As death is the ultimate order, I objected to that. We fought, I won, I sealed her in the stars.” He shrugged.

“You consider death to be order?” Fluttershy asked softly.

“In my entire existence, both before and after I have reformed, I have never taken a life,” Discord said, unable to meet Fluttershy’s eyes. “Take that as you will.”

The gathered ponies shifted uncomfortably as swirls of darkness appeared. In one, astral images of Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow appeared, glaring at the gathered ponies and heroes. From another, an astral image of Sombra formed, surrounded by dark crystals. From another, an astral image of Grogar emerged from the darkness, his eyes red and glaring. From another, astral images of the Sirens formed. Apparently they had been caught on the road, Adagio Dazzle visibly swerving to park their traveling vehicle, all three looking at the guard in irritation, then glaring at Star Swirl and his group in sheer rage. And finally, surrounded by star-shaped crystals, astral image of a twisted creature that looked like a cross between a cobra, a jungle cat, and scorpion appeared, the blood red and magenta creature smirking at Discord.

“Hello, lover,” the draconequus said.

“Hi Cossy,” Discord snarked. “Still crazy as ever?”

“Still crazy about you, despite your betrayal,” Cosmos said, blowing a kiss. “All because I decided to murder some of the toys who’s molecules you were twisting.”

“You interrupted my fun,” Discord said. “I wasn’t done with them yet!”

“Piffle. The toys can always make more of themselves,” Cosmos said. “But what’s this… I detect sickening goodness in your heart!” The female draconequus frowned. “Dissy… have you reformed?”

“Wait, Discord is good now?” Adagio said. “I thought that was just something Sparkle made up last time she visited this world!”

“Laaaame,” Aria Blaze said. “Bad enough we have to look at Star Swirl the Bearded’s ugly mug again…”

“Believe me,” Star Swirl muttered, “I am not fond of seeing you again either.”

“I dunno,” Flash Magnus said. “I always thought they had great singing voices. I mean, if it weren’t for the whole ‘causing fights and feeding off of the anger and misery’ thing…”

Sonata Dusk blew a raspberry. “Yeah, we don’t need to feed off of strife anymore, thanks to that rainbow enema Sunset and her friends force-fed us.”

“There’s a pleasant image,” Applejack said, she and Rainbow Dash chuckling.

Cosmos stroked her chin thoughtfully. “This won’t do,” she said. “Chaos should not be good.”

“The Magic of Friendship, and yes, it STILL feels weird to say that without a mocking tone of voice, is more powerful than you know, my dear,” Discord said. “And incidentally…” He pointed to Fluttershy. “Hurt this one in any way, shape, or form, and I will make you beg me to take your immortality away so you can die.” Fluttershy sighed, nuzzling into Discord, happy for the protectiveness, if not the violence.

“...You do realize that just turned me on, don’t you?” Cosmos said, licking her lips lustfully. Discord scowled.

“The disgusting fetishes of the chaos children aside,” Grogar rumbled, “and Discord, once I figure out how to resurrect myself, we WILL be having words about your impersonation of me…”

Discord grimaced, pantomiming tugging a shirt collar nervously and looking away.

“...what the chaos-bringer just said makes me think that Cosmos will be in a position to actually hurt her soon,” Grogar continued. “That we all will…”

Chrysalis nodded. “Indeed. That’s what I got from that too,” she said, the changeling queen watching with quiet curiosity. Her hatred for Twilight, Starlight, and all the other heroes burned at her soul. But the presence of so many powerhouses made her cautious, Tirek and Cozy remaining silent as well, the tiny pegasus sitting on Tirek’s shoulder.”

“Technically speaking,” the guard said, “You will be. I’m here to invite you all to the Alternian Multiverse Tournament, the greatest martial arts exhibition in the multiverse.”

“...Martial arts,” Tirek said. “You’ll have us fighting with warriors from other worlds.”

“Other realities, yes,” the guard said, smiling.

“...Any with magic?” Tirek said, smirking a little.

“Several!” the guard said. At Tirek’s eager grin, he added, “There are some caveats.”

“Of course,” Cozy muttered, the other villains making similar noises of annoyance.

The guard chuckled. “You will all be given your freedom, and in the case of some of you, your lives or your true forms back” he said, the Sirens looking interested at that, “but you will lack the ‘portal home’ bedroom in your luxury apartments that others will have. You’ll be expected to stay on the grounds of the Tournament island. Fighting is discouraged outside of the show arenas, although you are allowed to arrange for sparring matches if you get a guard like me to act as referee. You are not allowed to mess with the services staff, otherwise you will lose access to some of the more glamorous amenities provided to all fighters, such as the hot springs, massage services, personal room service, advanced training facilities, and the like.”

“Massage services?” Sombra asked, interested.

“Hot springs!!” Rarity cheered.

“Personal room service...” Trixie cooed.

“Are we going to a fighting exhibition or a spa?” Tempest Shadow asked.

“Yes,” the guard answered, grinning. “Basically, in exchange for fighting for us, we’ll be spoiling you all rotten.”

The villains definitely looked interested, while the heroes began to chatter more excitedly about going than they already were. The guard coughed, getting everyone’s attention. “The final caveat is this – You will be allowed to scheme and attempt to do harm to others. You can even team up with other villains, of which there will be many. However keep in mind that there will be a VAST amount of heroes there. As well as our own countermeasures should you become too dangerous.”

“...Annoying,” Tirek said. “But for a chance to spend time away from these two, I’ll take it.”

“Hnh. How many of these ‘heroes’ you mention operate off of the power of love?” Chrysalis asked.

“A lot,” the guard said, amused.

Chrysalis snorted. “If nothing else, I’ll get more variety in my diet,” she said. “I’m in.”

Cozy Glow gave her most innocent look. “Golly! I don’t know,” she said. “A little girl like me, fighting others? I-”

Celestia scowled. “You’re in your thirties, you’re just tiny and like to act cutesy,” the sun princess said with irritation.

Rainbow Dash snickered, she and the others having found out about this at Cozy’s initial trial. “Explains SO MUCH,” the guard said, chuckling.

Cozy pouted. “...Fine, but I want to chance to punch a sun-user in the face.”

“Deal,” the guard said.

Grogar stared at Discord a long moment, the draconequus becoming visibly uncomfortable and scooting an irritated Star Swirl and Rockhoof in front of him. After a long, uncomfortable moment, Grogar nodded. “Will I get my bell back?” he asked.

“Yes,” the guard said, alarming everyone by summoning the bell to his hand in a flash of light.

“Then I’m in,” Grogar said.

“As am I,” Sombra said. “I yearn to discover what souls I can bring to darkness outside of this realm of light.” The dark king chuckled.

Cosmos purred. “A chance to be with my Dissy again? No way I’m passing this up,” she said.

The Sirens all traded looks. After a long moment, Sonata said, “It’d be nice to have our old bodies back… I miss my fins…”

Adagio and Aria’s faces fell, both of them thinking that they missed their fins too. “...We’re in,” Adagio said. “We had a concert venue cancel on us anyway.”

“Good!” the guard said. “I should tell you now that you’ll all be riding in the same transport vehicle to get to AMT Island. If you try to attack anyone, the deal will be revoked and ALL the villains, including the ones who didn’t do anything wrong, will be sent back to where they came from. So be prepared to control your fellow baddies.”

Sombra smirked. “And who are you to stop us?”

The guard snapped his fingers, generating a rune. Almost immediately, the villains eyes glowed, and they began convulsing in pain, squirming around in agony and collapsing. After mere seconds of this, Luna and Celestia both shouted “ENOUGH!” The guard nodded and dispelled the rune, ignoring the alarmed looks of the heroes and the stunned looks of the villains.

“A rune of the Old Ones…” Adagio said softly.

“...Unpleasant,” Tirek muttered, the withered centaur looking worriedly at the guard.

“You just got interesting,” Cosmos said, grinning viciously.

“Who am I?” the guard said quietly. “I am one of many, all with the same abilities. I’m Security. I protect the island.”

There was a long, uncomfortable silence. The guard said. “Well, I just ruined my good first impression,” he said, shaking his head. “Anyway. I can transport us all right now on my airship to AMT Island. I just need to alter the invocation and make this a summoning circle.”

Celestia, Luna, and Twilight traded looks. “Give us some time to finish up some political matters,” Celestia said.

The guard nodded. “And as I promised, you’ll be able to come back in time to do your sun and moon movement duties,” he said. “My ship is parked in Ponyville Square, with a sign up saying my purpose for any onlookers.”

“Ponyville? Sounds podunk,” Aria snarked. “I thought that Canterlot was the center of things.”

“Ponyville is the home of me and my friends,” Twilight said defensively, the other Elements of Harmony gathering around her. “More happens there than you think.”

Pinkie Pie nodded, bouncing happily. “New adventures once a week!” she said. “Oh! Hey, will Deadpool be there?” She ignored the confused looks of the others.

“Yep!” the guard said, checking messages on a wrist device. “According to the person sent to the Marvel world, he’s asked about you too!”

“YAY!” Pinkie Pie said. “He remembered!” At the questioning looks of her friends, she said, “Long story. I’ll tell you after we meet him.”

The guard smiled. “Anyone else have any questions?”

Pharynx stepped forward, frowning. “Will death matches be allowed?” he said, several villains smirking while the other participants felt a chill of fear go through them.

“Yes,” the guard said without hesitation. “But both parties have to agree on it. An automatic rematch is guaranteed after a death match.”

“Wait,” Luna said. “Dead is dead. Why would there be a rematch for the loser of a death match?”

“Because we have supreme magitek that makes death a momentary inconvenience,” the guard said, shocking everyone.

“Very, very interesting,” Grogar said, chuckling.

“Anything else?” the guard asked. Aside from MANY wary looks, there was none. “Okay! Everyone’s free to go! Just be at my airship before we leave!”

The contact spell was dispelled, and the images of the villains disappeared. The Princesses decided to cancel the rest of the Twilight court, Twilight Sparkle herself going over to talk to her friends as the various participating ponies dispersed.

“You’re really going along with this?” she asked, nuzzling Spike.

“Why not?” Rainbow Dash said, grinning. “Sounds like fun. Even Spitfire thought so.”

“It sounds harmless enough,” Applejack said. “The guy explained security well enough. Plus there’s what I said about having a stand for m’family’s goods.”

“I’m honestly not much for fighting, darling,” Rarity said. “But the chance to see fashion from other worlds…” She shivered. “Too exciting!”

“The idea of meeting so many new people is… beyond scary,” Fluttershy said. “But want to try and do it. Plus some of the fighters will be bringing animals, and also the security guard told me about things called Pokémon that just sound absolutely adorable…”

Pinkie Pie, meta character that she was, giggled and kept silent. “I’m going for pretty much the same reason you are, Twilight. I love the idea of making friends! And the whole thing sounds like there’s SO much potential for parties! So many new birthdays to learn!”

“I’m most interested in the science and magic of these other worlds,” Starlight said, grinning. “It all sounds amazing!”

“And I heard from the guard that some of the fighters were DRAGONS, or had powers themed after dragons,” Spike said. “That sounds AWESOME!” He grinned widely. “I wanna see it!”

Twilight chuckled. “Well… I suppose we could give it a shot,” he said. “If it doesn’t work out for us, the guard never said we can’t back out.”

“There ya go, Twilight!” Applejack said. “Never hurts to try somethin’ new.”

Rainbow Dash poked Applejack. “Funny coming from you, considering what the Crusaders told me about some of your traditions,” she said, amused.

“And I stopped them when I learned they wasn’t necessary to keep the farm runnin’ anymore,” Applejack said defensively, not losing her smile. “So you just hush y’self, Crash.” Rainbow Dash cackled.

Twilight just smiled. Maybe this would be fun after all…

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Later…
Ponyville…
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The dropship that would carry the ponies and their allies to the home of the Alternian Multiverse Tournament sat in the middle of the town. The fighters chosen to represent Equestria to this new world all waited there for the guard to return with the last of their number.

A trumpet sound hailed the guard’s arrival. And trailing behind him, all of them smirking smugly, were the various villains. The Sirens swam through the air above everyone, humming a sinister tune. Cosmos’s footsteps turned the grass she touched into poisonous blades, which mercifully faded after a few moments. Sombra walked with his head held high, as did Chrysalis, their manner befitting their royal status. Tirek, back to a more muscular form, cracked his knuckles as he approached, Cozy Glow with him, the tiny pegasus resting on his shoulder with a smirk on her face. Grogar’s body seemed to absorb the light, everything a shade darker around him as he strode at the head of the pack next to the guard, his bell dinging softly.

The guard smiled pleasantly once he saw everyone. “Good, good, everyone’s here,” he said. “Inside the ship, please?”

“I do have some concerns about space,” Twilight said. “There are a lot of us here…”

“Its bigger on the inside,” the guard said, Twilight’s ears perking at the thought of new science to learn. Grogar seemed interested as well. The guard opened the door, and everypony peeked in. To their surprise, it truly was large enough on the inside to fit everyone, comfortable chairs set up for everyone to sit in, along with restrooms designed for each individual species, and a small buffet filled with snacks and drinks.

The guardsman smiled. “The trip will take about three days,” he said. “Everyone get comfy.” Celestia and Luna looked at each other, glad they’d thought to bring out the artifact to raise the sun and moon while they were away. Blueblood may be an entitled, lazy fop, but his loyalty and sense of duty to his aunties was total, and he’d not try to seize power while they were away.

As they settled in, Twilight and the mayor of Ponyville spoke with the gathered citizens one last time, promising them that they’d be back as soon as possible, and not to worry. (They were taking the biggest troublemakers anyway, she added as a joke, which got everypony laughing.) Once inside, the door shut behind her. Viewscreens appeared, showing the outside of the vehicle, ponies waving as it lifted up into the air.

“No real windows?” Starswirl asked.

“No air in the void between worlds,” the guard said. “The viewscreens accurately show what’s going on outside.” At the doubtful looks some of the unicorns gave him, the guard smiled, took off his helmet, revealing his boyish face, and said, “If you want, I can repeat what I just said under a truth spell.”

Deciding to take him at his word, everyone settled in to chat as they prepared for their trip, excitedly talking about what they might see. The villains all gathered in one corner of the ship, quietly muttering among themselves as they glared at the various heroes. Only Sonata seemed to make any effort to reach out, as she quickly realized the buffet included everything she needed to make tacos, the blue siren quickly striking up a conversation with Meadowbrook about the virtues of various forms of southern Equestrian cuisine, Sonata ignoring the looks Adagio and Aria gave her.

The guard, seeing that everything was calm for now, smiled. “If you’re interested, I can show you the cartoon and comics that the audience will know you from. You can watch various episodes of the cartoon, read the comics…”

There was a brief discussion among the various ponies and associates, all of them agreeing to watch. The guard smiled. “All righty then,” the guard said. “I will say this, Cosmos – you only appear in the comics. And from what I’ve heard during our conversations, they got a few details wrong.” Viewscreens popped up, showing lists of episodes and who was featured in them, as panels opened in the center pathway between the seats, slowly spinning racks of comics rising from the floor.

A moment was required to figure out how to activate the viewscreens, while some of the others claimed the comics to read, including Discord and Cosmos.

Neither draconequus liked what they saw. “...This CANNOT be me,” Discord said. “I was NEVER this much of a wimp.”

“Depends on who you ask,” Cosmos said, looking irritated. “But they are attributing a lot of what you did to me, here… And I don’t recognize some of these ‘royals’ who supposedly defeated me… especially since it was Discord who sealed me…”

“Different universes, different stories,” the guard said. He looked over everyone, watching as they all seemed to enjoy to various degrees the episodes. Hopefully, this would be an uneventful trip.

Things would definitely escalate when they actually got to the island…

TO BE CONTINUED...

Author's Note

All characters copyrighted to their original owners. If you like what you see, please support me on Patreon or with a one-time Paypal donation. Every little bit helps keep a roof over my head and keeps me writing!