Equestria's Heir of the Wolverine

by Autum Breeze

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 4
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7

Prologue

Equestria’s Heir of the Wolverine

Prologue

___________________________________________________________

AH!

The pain!

It’s burning so much!

Make it stop! For the love of God, make it stop!

I scream, jolting up as consciousness comes to me.

I stay where I am, eyes clenched shut, breathing heavily.

What the…? What the hell was that?

That pain, it felt like it was literally all over my body.

It literally felt like my entire body was on fire.

Fuck! What was that?

What could’ve even… caused… wha?

Something is very wrong.

I don’t… feel right.

At once, my inner senses hit me like a bullet train and I inwardly start panicking, my eyes flying open as I look down at myself.

I’m not… me.

I’m a girl.

I wanna pretend it’s hard to notice, but it’s pretty freaking obvious I’ve not only something downstairs that shouldn’t be there and something missing that should be there.

The feeling of two lumps on my chest is just the cherry on the what the fuck cake in proving I’ve somehow switched genders.

“What…? What in the hell happened to me?” I ask, unnerved by the voice that comes out of my mouth, sounding vaguely familiar, though the reason why completely eluding me.

I glance around, finding myself deadpanning. “Where in the cartoon worlds am I?”

An odd question, to be sure.

One would think I’d be asking “where in the world am I?”… but that would require me still being in the real world for that statement to work.

A glance around tells me I’m in some kind of cartoon forest. Which forest, I honestly can’t say.

Waking up as the opposite gender in another world in a forest is hardly a normal occurrence, so it’s not like one keeps a mental encyclopedia of cartoon forests on their mind on a daily basis.

Glancing down at myself more carefully… I find myself confused and concerned.

I… was not wearing these clothes before.

I can’t remember what I was wearing before finding myself in this forest as a girl, but I definitely know I was not wearing a leather motorcycle jacket over a greenish-grey shirt, black leather pants, black leather shoes and black leather gloves… with two holes by the knuckles?

Sheesh. Who dressed me? Someone with a leather fetish?

Wait. Someone, in a place I don’t know… dressed me while I was asleep.

“Okay. Panicking won’t get you anywhere… um… urm…”

I scratch my head, before my eyes widen.

Fuck!

What IS my name?

I… I can’t remember it.

I press a hand to either side of my head as my eyes widen, fear pumnping through me faster and faster with every passing second.

I don’t… I don’t remember anything.

I mean, okay, I’ve flashes of memory, like the dropping hot pasta on myself thing, but… details that matter? Nothing!

I don’t remember my face, my family’s names, what their faces were like, it’s all a blur!

Suddenly, I feel a new pain, in my hands, near the holes in my new gloves.

I scream as it feels like the bones in my wrists are pushed forward, something cold forced through the skin in the same place, the pain, while not as bad as whatever woke me up, still more than I could’ve expected.

After taking a moment to try and let the pain subside, my breathing heavy the whole time, I look down at my hands… for my eyes to widen in horror, followed immediately by rage.

Sticking out, just above both my knuckles… are a pair of metal blades. Blades in a position I recognize instantly as to whom they belong.

“Are. You. KIDDING ME?!” I scream, my blood boiling as anger pumps through me. “Someone yanked me into a cartoon world and turned me into Wolverine’s daughter?! Are you fucking shitting me?!”

Suddenly, a factor of whom I somehow am now alerts me to a putrid smell coming towards me and I hear the faint sounds of twig cracking and growling.

Whirling around, I see at least twenty pairs of eyes several metres away, coming towards me.

I snarl, watching as they get closer.

Within a few minutes, the eyes reveal their owners… and I find myself dumbfounded, but further enraged.

Out of the shadows of the trees step twenty large wolves, all made of twigs, rocks and sap, green eyes glowing in their sockets.

“Timberwolves?” I snarl, before screaming, “TIMBERWOLVES?! I’m somehow not only turned into X-23, but I’m in fucking EQUESTRIA?!”

The Timberwolves growl at me, but I snarl back.

“You want me?! Come and get me!” I scream with rage, rushing forward.

The Timberwolves respond in kind, charging, fangs bared.

Much of what happens… honestly is a bit of a blur.

While I remember slashing away at the living trees with teeth, breaking bones, slicing off limbs, gouging eyes… I just suddenly find myself standing in the middle of what would look to anyone passing by as a massacre of wood and leafs.

I’m breathing heavily, adrenaline still pumping through me.

Gritting my teeth, I yell at the top of my lungs.

“WHO ELSE WANTS SOME?!”

I stand there, my heavy breathing the only other sound aside from my words echoing until they fade away into nothingness.

And I mean nothingness.

It’s like the whole forest has gone silent, as if the knowledge of a dangerous new creature has caused every living thing within to hold its breath, scared to alert me to their existence.

After what feels like forever, I finally manage to calm down enough to realize what I just managed to do and glance around at all the debris.

I glance down at the wooden carnage around me and lift my clenched fists, looking at my claws.

After a few moments, I heave an exasperated sigh.

“Fuck, this is fucked up,” I wince as the claws go back in.

I clench and unclench my right left hand several times, scowling, before looking around.

“Whelp. This sucks. So, I’m in Equestria, clearly the Everfree Forest, if those Timberwolves were any clue… and my memories were broken while I was somehow turned into Wolverine’s clone daughter.”

I sigh, rubbing my temples.

“As if my own anger issues aren’t bad enough, now I’ve hers to deal with on top of that.”

Whatever shattered my memories before all this, one thing I do remember is my temper.

After an operation on my brain back when I was seven, my anger became multiple times stronger and far more difficult to keep in line. I could easily go from zero to a billion within less than a second.

I’d been dealing with it for years and, while it was still a problem, wasn’t anywhere close to how bad I was shortly after the operation.

Now that I’m X-23, though?

And why do I feel… wrong?

Like, I know being X-23 is wrong for me to begin with, but I feel… more wrong now, too.

Like… like I’m somehow the wrong X-23, if that makes any sense… which it doesn’t.

I give another exasperated sigh.

Well, at the very least, I should try finding my way out of Everfree and get to Ponyville. Depending on when in MLP’s timeline I’ve landed, I should be able to get someone to help me get to Canterlot and myself to Princess Celestia, who can sort this out.

Sniffing the air, I manage to pick up a scent that vaguely reminds me of times my family went to a farm for a weekend vacation almost every year.

Nan… something. Nan-jew? Nan-woo? Nan-tu?

Bah! Whatever. Its name isn’t important. The familiar scent is.

The only difference I can tell between this scent and the one from my memory is the heavy scent of apples is mixed in with it… and a faint scent of overripe pears.

If I can faintly smell a farm, following that scent should lead me to Sweet Apple Acres and then Ponyville is just a few minutes’ walk away.

___________________________________________________________

I give an exasperated loud sigh.

“This is taking forever!”

I’ve been walking for what has have been around and hour.

I know it was close to that time as I’ve been narrating the dialogue from the beginning of the Radio Dramatization from BBC of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Horse and His Boy, the first half an hour at least pretty much being committed to memory with how many times I’d listened to it since late 2020.

Of course, why those memories are perfectly intact when the crucial memories are not?

…

Bah! Whatever. Must be part of whatever bullshit that broke my memories in the first place.

Still, along with that, I’ve been singing what songs I can remember, including almost the entire Getting Stronger album by Michele Creeber and Black Gryph0n (aka Gabriel Brown).

How, after finishing all that, am I still not out of the forest yet?

Suddenly, I smell the farm scent… closer.

At the same moment, I pick up the sounds of faint cries of fear and roaring, the latter much louder.

Turning, I follow my nose, the sounds growing louder and louder with each step.

Within a few minutes I break through a bunch of trees to find myself in a small clearing.

A little to my left, I spot a white unicorn filly with a curly light-purple and pink mane and tail. The lack of a multi coloured shield on her flank tells me she hasn’t gotten her Cutie Mark yet, so, whatever point in Equestria’s timeline I’m in, it’s before season five. Or, at least, before the end of season five.

She’s being held by a zebra, whom I immediately identify as Zecora, so we’re at least past the beginning of season one, for as much help as that is.

The two of them aren’t even looking at me despite my bursting through the trees like a maniac.

“Run away, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo!” the zebra cries out, reaching a hoof forward. “Run, before that Hydra eats you!”

Hydra?!

For reasons beyond whatever worrying thoughts connect to Zecora saying anything about a monster eating little fillies, I feel an unexplainable flicker of blind fury ignite within me.

Whirling in the direction the zebra was pointing, my face pulled back in a snarl, I see indeed an orange Pegasus with small wings and a purple mane and tail alongside a yellow Earth Pony with a red mane and tail, the former adorned by a bright pink bow.

The two are facing off against a large, orange scaled dragon-like creature with four heads.

Apple Bloom is standing over Scootaloo, the latter I notice with a gash on her back right leg, blood seeping slowly down her leg and staining the ground.

It isn’t hard to envision exactly what Zecora just called out for the two fillies to avoid, being devoured as a snack by this four-headed beast.

If I wasn’t already, for whatever reason, feeling rage pumping through me because Zecora said the word Hydra, that vision sure fucking got me angry.

Shrieking (partly in pain as my claws shoot out my knuckles again, because that shit fucking hurts), I rush forward, the filly and zebra just as startled as the Pegasus and Earth Pony as I move passed them, my target: the Hydra.

___________________________________________________________

A sudden loud shriek of rage caused Zecora and the terrified Sweetie Belle’s heads to whirl to their right, only to be met with the most bizarre sight Sweetie Belle had seen in her entire life.

And, living in Ponyville, that was not an easy list to top.

It was some strange biped with smooth black skin that parted near its chest area, a more greenish-grey bit of skin beneath it.

It took Sweetie Belle a second before she realized it wasn’t skin at all, it was clothes… though not like any she’d seen before.

It had a long brown mane reaching below her, Sweetie could tell it was a female, chest and what little of her skin the filly could see, it was tanned.

The creature’s eyes, narrowed and with a fierceness Sweetie only ever saw in predators, were green, a bit a darker shade than her own.

As the creature ran forward there was a flash of silver as two metal blades shot out from both her knuckles.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo watched the creature, just as stunned as it went right passed them, heading straight for the Hydra.

Sweetie wanted to cry out, to tell… whatever that thing was, to run.

Nopony stood a chance in a one on one fight with a Hydra and, while definitely bigger than even Zecora, this creature was still small compared to the Hydra, she was still tiny compared to it.

This fact was clearly not lost on the Hydra either, as it watched the creature for several moments, each head a mask of confusion, before it seemed to decide it wanted to eat her anyway and all four heads moved down quickly, each intent of a tasty prize.

However, while the mid-right head was closest, as it moved to eat the creature, she thrust her right arm to her left.

To the shook of all four ponies, not only did the Hydra’s head recoil as blood spilled, the cut, while small, looked incredibly deep with how fast the flow was.

The other heads were thrown off by the other head yanking back, having taken control of the body.

Whether it was planned or not, the clawed biped creature took the opening.

“Cover your eyes and ears now!” Zecora yelled, her tone firm, but fearful. “And, until I say so, keep your heads down in a bow!”

The scared fillies didn’t question the command, closing their eyes and covering their ears as they lowered their heads.

Zecora was the only one who bore witness as the creature slashed through the Hydra, her claws passing through its hard, impenetrable scales like butter.

The hydra roared in pain as the creature slashed away at it, its eyes wide with a bloodlust the likes of which Zecora had rarely seen.

The Hydra kept trying to back away, managing to get out of the clearing, shielding whatever happened next from view, but Zecora could easily imagine as the sounds of slicing flesh and screams of rage filled the air.

After several minutes, there was a final roar from the Hydra, before all went silent.

The fillies cowered, heads down and eyes covered as ordered, their hooves lowering shortly after the final roar.

Zecora waited and, several moments later, the creature returned.

It was covered in many splatters of blood, the claws from its knuckles completely red.

She was breathing heavily, though Zecora could see a confused look of satisfaction on the creature’s face.

“You may look again, young ponies. The danger is gone, so be at ease.”

The fillies opened their eyes and looked to the creature, though they all whimpered at the sight of all the blood on her.

“Who-who…? What are you?” Scootaloo managed to stutter out.

The creature looked down at her claws, a scowl of disgust none of them understood passing over her face, before she looked to them, wincing as the claws retracted back into her knuckles.

“I guess… you could call me 23. I need to speak with someone important. Take me to your leader.”

Author's Note

Eeyup. A whole new fanfic.

Now, why would I start a new one when I only recently managed to get a long overdue update to an already published story?

Because the thought wouldn't leave my head, making it impossible to focus on updating anything.

That said, I won't be updating this one again for a while, as the whole point of getting this out there is so it would get out of my head so i could focus on the other stuff.

I'm going to try and update either at least one more Twilight's Twinlight chapter to finish the Dual Sunset Shimmers mini arc or something else.

i'd like to get back to A New Lunar Family, The Human Lifestyle... With Magic or In the Twilight Hour.

Granted, another I'd love to update is my MHA fic, but, with the revelations of the most recent Manga chapters regarding Deku and One For All, whether or not i'll even feel comfortable continuing that story will have to wait until MHA now ends, as my initial plan doesn't work anymore and, while it IS an AU fanfic, I wanna keep it in line with the MHA canon as possible.

Whether or not I'll be able to pull that off or end up cancelling the story, we'll have to wait and see.

And, yeah, I didn't have to, but I wanted to mention how much i love The Horse And His Boy, though moreover the BBC Radio 4 Dramatization specifically.

I genuinely can recite at least the first half hour almost word for word.

I've also learned what BBC wisely removed from their version compared to the original. Good lord, that racism alone was bad to the enth degree. Yikes!

So, what do you think of this story so far?

Our MC has found themself as X-23 in Equestria and now has to figure out what she's going to do.

Will she get help from those she just saved? Or are they now too pissing their metaphorical pants terrified of her because she just up and slaughtered a Hydra right in front of them?

Why is the MC giving in so easily to the murderous impulses and seeming rather unfazed for a normal person aware they just murdered another living creature?

That will be revealed as the story goes on.

it's not a lack of morality or anything like that. it's the genetics.

BTW, did you guys know X-23 in X-men Evolutions was voiced by Andrea Lidman?

Yeah. Pinkie Pie and Flutteshy voiced Wolverine's murderous, worse temper than her father's daughter.

Ain't that a WTF?

also, so no one corrects me on it in the future, the MC is unaware that X-23 doesn't have an Adamantium coated skeleton like Wolverine and just Adamantium coated claws.

That's gonna play a key role when she encounters a certain someone who's given Wolverine extreme difficulty whenever they fought.

And what did she mean when she felt like she's the WRONG X-23?

Anyhoo, i've been at this since 2:30pm and i'm hungry for dinner, so i'm gonna stop here.

Hope you enjoyed this start and, til next time, stay save, stay clean and goodnight, everybody

Chapter 4

___________________________________________________________

“JEAN?!”

The loud shriek rang throughout the halls.

“What in the…?” Bobby got up from where he’d been laying on his bed, reading a comic and stepped out of his room, glancing around.

“Jean, I need you, now?!” an unfamiliar girl’s voice screamed, a mixture of desperation and rage.

Aw, great, he thought, deadpanning. First new kid to attend the school and she sounds like a rage monster. As if Logan’s anger issues weren’t bad enough.

Hurrying down the hall, he leaned over the banisters, looking down to the ground floor as a girl ran into view… and he found himself puzzled.

She was a teenaged girl, seemed maybe the tiniest bit older than Tildi, with a tan skin complexion. She had long, dark-brown hair that slightly fell over her shoulders but loosely fell behind her back.

Her eyes, which he could see had an angry urgency in them, were green.

She was wearing leather pants and a jacket, under which was a greyish-green shirt. She was also wearing leather gloves.

Who was she?

No one had said anything about a new student arriving today, had they?

Weren’t Jean, Scott and Storm still sorting everything out?

Which family had been okay with sending their kid so quickly?

He certainly didn’t recognize her from when the professor was running the school and X-Men, so was she here before and he’d just never noticed her or was she actually a new student altogether?

“You!”

He was pulled out of his thoughts and nearly wet himself in fright as he realized the girl had turned around and spotted him, then literally leaped up to him from the ground floor and pinned him to the wall… and a pair of metal claws came from her right-hand right by his head?!

He stared back in panic at the glare she was giving him as her eyes boar into his own.

“Where’s Jean?!” she demanded, taking him slightly aback.

“Um, Jean?” he asked, confused more than scared now. Amazing how quickly one’s emotions could change in the right circumstances.

The girl snarled… another something shockingly familiar alongside the metal claws he wasn’t sure why he wasn’t scared of being so close to his head.

“I can’t get in contact with Xavier in the future, so I need Jean, NOW!”

Wait, what? Now he was even more lost.

How did this new kid know about them being able to communicate with the professor in the future?

That was X-Men only information.

The only non-X-Men who knew about that were Tildi, Magneto and Senator Kelly… and this girl was clearly none of them and he highly doubted she was associated with them either.

“Kid, stop!” Logan’s voice called anxiously and firmly from the hall.

“Up here! Up here!” Bobby cried out.

Running sounds was followed by the girl being pulled away from him, Logan firmly holding her right arm.

“You need to calm down, now!” Logan told her, sounding a mixture of firm, confused and worried, a combo Bobby was not used to hearing in Logan’s tone, further confusing and now starting to slightly worry him.

“We need to know how he did this to me!” the girl yelled at him… way too casually as far as Bobby was concerned. Wait, he? She wasn’t talking about him, was she? They’d literally just interacted for the first time. “He’s the only one who would’ve and you know it!”

“We don’t know if he actually did this to you!” Logan shouted back at her… though not with anger?

This day just wasn’t making any sense.

The girl… suddenly had tears in her eyes.

“Who else, Logan?! Who else would have access to her DNA? Who else would be as bitter to you and vindictive that they’d use your DNA to create a child between the two of you despite you never being able to be together?! You know he’d do that!”

Bobby really wanted the world to start making sense again.

“Kid, I wanna know the answers to this just as much as you,” Logan said, his voice calming down a little… and filled with a slight sadness Bobby was definitely not used to hearing from him. “But, you can’t just go storming the Japanese Embassy and attack him to get your answers. You’ll cause an international incident. We don’t even know he’s there right now.”

Wait. The Japanese Embassy? Last time he heard about that, Rogue had been relaying the events of what happened after…

His eyes widened.

This girl said someone had used another female’s DNA with Logan’s to create a child they could never have.

Was she talking about…? Was this girl Logan’s…?

“Of course he’s there!” the girl snarled at her father. “After being kicked out of the Yakuza, where else would he go?! You said so yourself: he’s a coward and it’s where he’d hide!”

“I just meant at the time. There’s no guarantee he’s still there! Besides,” Logan’s voice firmed. “I was sneaking in. In your state, you’d just charge in, claws flying. If you’re arrested there, how do you think that would look to the world?”

“A mutant attacking another mutant is hardly going to change the world’s view on them!” the girl shot back, trying to pull free as Logan grabbed her other arm.

“You need to calm down and approach this logically, 23!”

23? That was her name? Why would her name be 23? That wasn’t even a name, just a number.

“Sorry, Logan!” she snarled, swinging back and raising her legs, confusing Bobby… until a single metal claw shot out from each foot and she used her momentum to swing forward, jabbing them both into Logan’s chest, making him let her go and stumble back.

She leapt back, flipping through the air and landing on her feet, crouching, tensed.

“Again, sorry, Logan. But I gotta find out why I’m not just a clone!”

“Ah’m sorry, too,” Rogue’s voice said as she and Kitty phased up through the floor and Rogue had her hand on the girl’s face before she could even react.

The girl’s eyes widened for a second, before she slumped, Logan catching her in his arms.

“Sheesh, you could’ve warned us you had a daughter as volatile as you are, Logan,” Bobby said as he stood up. “Didn’t even know you had a kid.”

Logan gave him an annoyed look for some reason, then looked down pityingly at the unconscious girl. “Join the club.”

___________________________________________________________

“Alright, we’ve maybe twenty minutes before the alert goes out” the blurring blue blob with a silver blob attached to it says as it stands in front of me. “Ready, kid?”

I nod my head. “Never been more ready in my life.”

“This will be a one way ticket, I’m afraid,” the voice that reminds me of Tombstone from Spectacular Spider-Man says as the blueish-grey blob moves into frame on my right, a mechanical whirring sound following. “Even with the technology here, I can only boost Warp’s powers so much.”

“We only need the one shot,” I say firmly. “The embers of his powers and this tech should be enough with your help.”

“Now, remember,” the first blob says, pointing. “The research we’ve managed has meant you’ll be like your father once you get there, no memories of who you are or why you’re there.”

“Hence the note in my jacket, I know,” I nod.

***

“Just remember, Laura,” the Tombstone voiced thing says, “I won’t be as I am once you do this. I will more than likely be your enemy. It saddens me to say so, but it is likely the reality you will face. I am sure, though, whatever that version of me does, it cannot be as bad as what we live in now.”

“I understand, E* ***ah **r,” I sigh. “I will miss our talks.”

Suddenly, loud horns blare and the room goes red.

“Alright, we’re outta time,” blob one says, moving aside to reveal the green blob barely bigger than myself. “Do it.”

The green blog moves towards me and something is placed against my chest.

“I won’t be able to send you to the exact moment,” he says, the spot the something on my chest was placed getting warm. “You’ll be going back in time to the day ***** ***** Princess ********, but I can’t know exactly when. It could be hours, maybe minutes before you must **** *** **** princess. You will need to hurry and **** ***.”

“I get it,” I nod, bracing myself.

“And, I do apologize,” green blob says. “Even in my weakened state, from what I’ve witnessed… this is going to hurt.”

At once, my body feels like it’s on fire, I see a white light and everything goes black.

___________________________________________________________

I groan, becoming aware of consciousness once more.

That dream again?

Wait. Why was I dreaming? When did I go to sleep?

Last thing I remember I was…

I sit up, aware that I’m in a bed… and wearing clothing I definitely know I wasn’t before.

Thankfully, confusion overrides the concerns that revelation should cause me as I become aware of what exactly I’m wearing and the colours ringing a bell.

I’m wearing a tank top that’s light-blue, with a butterfly image in the centre of the chest and blue and light-blue long pants.

A gasp comes from my right. “You’re finally awake!”

I turn to see a girl with blonde hair, tied back in a small ponytail… wearing exactly the same clothes.

I move to get up, before almost falling down.

Why am I so lethargic?

“You shouldn’t get up too quickly,” the girl I know is Tildi says, standing quickly and holding up her hands in a calming gesture. “Rogue took a lot of your energy to make sure you’d sleep long enough.”

I scowl… though I think my being so tired makes it just look like slight annoyance, since she doesn’t recoil. “Long enough for what?”

“For Jean to get back,” she says matter-of-factly, before looking sheepish. “Oh, right. I’m Tildi. Tildi So…Soames.”

Her finishing that a little sadly lets me put my frustrations aside.

I may want to rip Harada to pieces for making me as some kind of mockery to Logan and Mariko’s love to spite him… but I’m not able to just ignore when a child is clearly upset.

“What…? What’s wrong?” I ask, easing my body, to make sure she doesn’t get worried.

“They… they say you know about us, the X-Men, and what’s been happening recently,” Tildi says quietly, rubbing her hands together as she looks at the floor, before glancing up at me. “Right?”

I nod. “I know a lot.”

“Then… you know about my powers?” she asks… sounding ashamed?

I don’t answer, thinking for a moment.

I don’t actually know the extent of her powers as they only were shown during her introduction episode, but…

“If I’m right, you create an energy field around yourself, almost like an exoskeleton, that takes the form of a monster?” I ask.

The reason I have to pose this question is twofold. Firstly, I don’t actually know her exact power and secondly, they seem similar to the mutant powers of Hisako Ichiki from the X-Men anime.

It’s a theory I never was able to put to the test… at least, until now.

She seems shocked and slightly confused, before putting a hand to her chin, seeming still sad, but curious now.

“Is that my power? I thought my nightmares were taking physical form.”

“Well, I’m going off guesses myself here,” I admit, my expression firmly anxious. “Tildi, why does the thought of your powers make you sad?”

She stops holding her chin, returning to looking down at the floor. “The reason the MRD had me imprisoned… is I killed my parents.”

There’s silence.

I just stare at her, my jaw agape.

Holy… That certainly never came up during the show!

Although… if her parents are dead and she’d, obviously unintentionally, killed them, it makes sense why her family never came to get her after the X-Men saved her after Juggernaut broke her out of the MRD base and caused her powers to go crazy.

She has nowhere else to go and the X-Men weren’t going to just turn away a mutant in need.

I sigh, before slowly getting up and go over to Tildi, taking her hands in mine, causing her to look up quickly.

“Tildie, you have nothing to feel guilty about,” I say firmly. “You couldn’t have known what your powers would do. No one of sound mind would blame you for what happened.”

Granted, I don’t actually know what happened beyond the basics, but I always had a good imagination, so have a pretty good idea and highly doubt she’d have intended for her powers to end her parents’ lives.

From what little of her I did see of her in the show, she’s a good kid, who would only use her powers to hurt someone in self-defense.

More than likely, her powers activated for the first time while she was asleep.

Can’t exactly be blamed for a giant Psionic exoskeleton forming around you in your sleep when you didn’t know it would even happen.

“But, I… I killed my…” she looks down.

I blink, before sighing and kneel down, so I’m looking up at her.

“You killed without meaning to. There’s nothing to feel guilty about there. At least you were unconscious and weren’t aware what you were doing.”

She blinks, looking to me with worry. “Why did you say it like that?”

I look away. “I’m not exactly... kill free myself… and I was fully aware what I was doing.”

I mean… technically.

Plus, I killed a hydra, not another human, but… the principle is the same.

I could’ve left it injured, to recover and learn to leave ponies alone from the fact I was with them at the time… but I wanted to kill it.

I wanted that hydra to die for thinking it could turn the CMC into a midday snack.

Sure, I feel justified… but I know what I did was still wrong.

Thought what scares me… I don’t actually feel guilty about it. I know I should, but I don’t.

There’s silence between us, before a new scent reaches my nose, right before the door opens.

At once, I stand, my claws coming out, only to ease and retract them when I see it’s just Jean Grey.

“Seems I was right to have you watch over her, Tildi,” Jean walks in and leans down a little to my eyelevel. “Hello, 23. I’m Jean. But, from what I hear, you already know that, right?”

I nod, my expression firming… which it only hits me a second later probably doesn’t look very intimidating while wearing Tildie’s night clothes, but internally shake my head.

Jean sighs, standing. “Yes. I know what you want, 23. You want to know about that dream you keep having.”

I nod again, clenching my fist. “Knowing Harada’s done what he did, now, before than ever.”

Jean gives an annoyed sigh. “Didn’t your father explain to you we don’t know if that’s what happened?”

Tildi gasps, standing up.

“Wait. So, it’s true? You’re Wolverine’s daughter?”

“It’s… complicated,” I shake my head, before returning to look to Jean. “Regardless, we need to know, Jean.”

She nods, folding her arms. “Get dressed and meet me in the library. We’ll start there.”

She leaves and I turn around to see Tildi is still staring at me in shock. “But, how? Wolverine never married, did he? Wouldn’t his wife have met the X-Men at some point?” Her face saddens. “Did they break up?”

I scoff, folding my arms. “If only it were that simple. Then, it would actually be better.”

Tildi looks uncertain. “That would be better? Yikes. What could it be that makes that seem better?”

I sigh, glancing around and notice my clothes laying at the end of the bed.

“I’ll explain later,” I say, starting to undress.

At once, Tildi’s eyes widen and she practically goes red in the face, before covering her eyes.

I cock an eyebrow. “What?”

“Why would you just casually undress in front of someone else like that?!” she asks frantically, keeping her face covered.

I glance down at my now naked chest, then back at her, keeping my eyebrow in place.

“Um, what’s it matter? We’re both kids and girls. It’s not like I’ve anything you haven’t seen before.”

Now, anyway.

Honestly a good thing I’m 23 and not a male Wolverine clone.

Plus, spend long enough in a different body and any of the norms you’re used to for one side of the species pretty much disappears after a while.

Also, while I don’t remember the exact details, I know I was Australian in my previous life and we are far more lax on those kinds of norms than most other countries.

Once dressed, if only in my pants and shirt, since I don’t really need to wear the gloves and jacket right now, I head out the room, following Jean’s scent til I find the library.

She’s sitting in a chair with green cushions by a coffee table, similar to the one Emma did when she tried to help Wolverine with his memories relating to Christy Nord and the night he went to abduct her father for Weapon X.

I sit on the cushioned seat across from her.

“Now, you’re sure you want me to do this?” Jean asks as I settle into the seat. “Once we fully awaken that memory, there’s no telling what we’ll find.”

I don’t answer, instead, giving her a firm stare. “Why aren’t you freaking out?”

Jean blinks, seeming confused. “Wha-what would I be freaking out about?”

I sniff the air, making sure nobody’s in range, especially Logan. “Jean, you’re a telepath. I know, even if only the top layer, you’ve seen my thoughts. You know.”

There’s a long pause, before Jean closes her eyes, sighing and nods, giving me a firm look. “Yes. I know.”

I scowl. “Then why aren’t you freaking out?! You find out from a random mutant that your whole world is based on a strange fusion of two fictional shows and it doesn’t even phase you?! What the hell?”

She shakes her head, then shrugs. “Truth be told, you’ve already figured out why, haven’t you? In the multiverse, anything is possible and our world’s information could easily have travelled through the vale of reality into the minds of those from your world. What’s fiction to some is just another world filtering through.”

We just sit for several moments, before I heave a huge sigh, suddenly very tired again.

“Don’t worry, 23,” I look up to see her giving me an encouraging smile and firm look at the same time. “I promise, I’ll never tell another soul. I’ve even created barriers inside my mind, so, even if someone else gets into my mind, they’ll never find out.”

I sigh, rubbing my temples, before looking to her firmly.

So, I was fretting over that since the moment I found out about this version of this world for literally nothing?

Great. Love wasting my time and energy like that.

All those hours worrying how to explain things if anyone found out, all for nothing.

“Now,” Jean firms her tone and I give her a firm look in return. “I’ll ask again: are you ready?”

“I need to know why… why I’m here,” I put a hand to my chest. “Whatever that memory is, there was something important… I needed to do and I don’t know what it was. For all I know, the future could be at risk and the information I don’t have could be the difference between this world’s survival and its complete annihilation!”

Jean nods, before blinking and sighs. “I realize it might be hard, but… can you really relax?”

To my confused look, she continues.

“I only saw what I could in your mind because your guard was completely down while you were unconscious. Whomever created you from Logan and Mariko Yashida’s DNA, they either gave you strong mental resistance or it’s part of your mutation. Right now, I have no idea what you’re thinking.”

I blink, shocked. “I’ve mental resistance that strong?”

She nods. “Even now, after that shock, your mind is still strongly resisting me.”

Well, that’ll be handy to know later on. At least I won’t have to worry about getting hit by sudden psychic attacks like everyone did when Emma had Jean taken away to have The Phoenix removed from her.

I sit up straight, then take several deep breaths, letting my body and mind ease as much as I can.

After what feels like hours, Jean speaks.

“Okay. I think we’re ready. I’ve prepared myself, so, are you ready?”

I nod slightly, making sure to keep myself calm as possible.

Suddenly, I see a flash of white light despite my eyes being closed.

___________________________________________________________

“Alright, we’ve maybe twenty minutes before the alert goes out” a man in a blue outfit with an X on his belt and a metal left arm says as he stands in front of Laura, who’s strapped to a chair of some kind. “Ready, kid?”

Laura nods her head. “Never been more ready in my life.”

My eyes are wide as I stare at the man.

He has buzz cut white/silver hair, hazel eyes, with a black, star-like mark over his right one.

Cable?! That blob was Cable this whole time?

That means Laura was sent from the future to change something in the past!

Shit!

“This will be a one way ticket, I’m afraid,” the voice that reminds me of Tombstone from Spectacular Spider-Man says as a machine that kinda reminds me of the one The Brain from DC cartoons has moves into view… and I don’t hear what else it says.

I just stare, my jaw agape and my mind going a billion miles a second.

Atop the device is the severed head… of Apocalypse?! Holy fuck! And why the hell does his sound like Tombstone from his first episode in Spectacular Spider-Man?

“I’m doing my best, but I don’t know how much I can really clear up of this,” Jean’s voice says and I glance around, but see no one. “Try not to let your thoughts get too wild, or I might lose my link.”

Wow. Those mental defences she said I have must be no joke.

“We only need the one shot,” Laura says firmly. “The embers of his powers and this tech should be enough with your help.”

“Now, remember,” Cable says, a holographic image appearing over his robotic wrist… showing Princess Twilight Sparkle? The fuck?

“You have to stop Tirek before he kills Princess Twilight Sparkle,” Cable says, an image of Twilight being blasted by Tirek appearing on the screen. “Wihtout her, the Sirens defeated our world’s Elements of Harmony. We need her for this. If she’s involved, the Sirens lose and this horrific future never happens.”

“Trixie doesn’t die,” Laura bites her bottom lip.

If I wasn’t staring jaw agape before, I certainly fucking am now.

What?! Laura went back in time to stop Tirek because he KILLS Twilight in the original timeline?!

The hell?!

“23, please!” Jean’s voice calls out. “I’m barely keeping the link open as is.”

Cable moves to turn off the hologram, when the scene abruptly changes, Cable now bending to Apocalypse’s head’s level, putting some kind of disk into the machine.

Whoops. Guess Jean wasn’t kidding.

“Just remember, Laura,” Apocalypse’s head says, turning to face her, “I won’t be as I am once you do this. I will more than likely be your enemy. It saddens me to say so, but it is likely the reality you will face. I am sure, though, whatever that version of me does, it cannot be as bad as what we live in now.”

The way he’s talking to her, you’d think the two were friends or something.

“I understand, En Sabah Nur,” Laura sighs, a truly sad seeming expression passing over her face. “I will miss our talks.”

Wait. They were friends? What the hell kind of nightmarish timeline existed with Twilight’s death to cause freaking Apocalypse to become a good guy?!

Suddenly, loud horns blare and the room goes red.

“Alright, we’re outta time,” Cable says, moving aside to reveal a boy with green skin and a bald head… who seems vaguely familiar, missing his right arm. “Do it.”

The green boy moves towards Laura and places his hand flat on her chest.

“I won’t be able to send you to the exact moment,” he says, the spot his hand is on Laura’s chest glowing yellow. “You’ll be going back in time to the day Tirek kills Princess Twilight, but I can’t know exactly when. It could be hours, maybe minutes before you must save the pony princess. You will need to hurry and save her!”

“I get it,” Laura nods, bracing herself.

“And, I do apologize,” the green boy says. “Even in my weakened state, from what I’ve witnessed… this is going to hurt.”

At once, Laura screams, her body looking like it’s starting to disintegrate and everything goes black.

___________________________________________________________

I gasp, my breathing heavy, the sound of heavy breathing in front of me indicating Jean is just as overwhelmed as I was.

We wait several moments, just trying to regain some strength, before I look up to see Jean looking at me with confusion, shock and horror… and I know why.

Like Jean, even without the memory fully intact, I put enough of the pieces together from what she restored.

Laura came from a timeline where Tirek kills Twilight in Equestria and, with her dead, she doesn’t come to help the rest of the girls stop the Sirens.

The Sirens win and spread their power across the planet, gaining control over so many Marvel heroes and villains, it’s a nightmare just trying to imagine.

What’s more… this means time was changed, twice!

The X-Men worked so hard to prevent the future Professor X woke up in, unaware that there had been an even worse future afterward they had no idea was already fixed that would’ve followed after all their efforts.

Twilight first came to this world shortly after they stopped the Sentinels and The Phoenix, but, if I hadn’t distracted Tirek, he’d have killed Twilight and, shortly after changing the future for the better, it would’ve gotten even worse than before… and they’d never even known it.

I’d completed Laura’s mission without even realizing it.

I’d thought it was just a coincidence that Tirek seemed about to do something he didn’t in the show… but that had already happened before.

My instinct of something not matching the show had stopped the actual future that originally played out.

Holy crap!

Author's Note

Well THAT took far longer than I'd like to admit.

I've been meaning to post an update for the last 3 weeks, but, every. single. time, it was like the world just wanted to go NOPE! You don't get to update this today.

It was driving me crazy!

Now, the first week it happening was for the best, as it helped me realize my initial plan for this chapter was a disaster and would've forced you all to suspend your disbelief to the point it would have gone over the edge.

Initially, as the beginning of the chapter suggests, 23 came to the conclusion the only way she'd be a clone of Logan with Mariko Yashida's DNA is if The Silver Samurai had found someone to clone Logan, blending Mariko's DNA to make a mock child, to further rub in Logan's face how Mariko would never be his.

She'd then have stolen Logan's bike, driven to the Japanese Embassy, gone feral on any security she found until she found Harada, nearly killed him, only for Logan to get there with Kitty and stopping 23 just before she'd have stabbed her claws through Harada's throat due to him saying Mariko can't have children, so 23 couldn't be her child.

It was during that first week i realized SEVERAL reasons this idea wouldn't work.

How could 23 ride a motorcycle when she's never done so before?
How would she know where the Japanese Embassy is?
How would she even have gotten to Logan's bike before he'd have caught her?

So, I changed it up. the beginning was still the same, up until Rogue came out of the floor and knocked 23 out.

With that, a new chapter formed that flows much better, I think and works better for the story.

So, Laura DID come from the future, a future where the Sirens actually won, because Tirek killed Twilight in the original timeline and that timeline was SO bad, even Apocalypse became a good guy?

Bet that wasn't ever an idea the crossed your mind, huh?

23 saved the future without even trying.

And now Trixie being stabbed by another Laura makes more sense, doesn't it?

23, our Laura, was created at some point during that future and, while trying to complete a mission with Trixie, Adagio, using her magic to control an original Wolverine and the X-Men X-23, had Trixie killed right in front of Laura.

Will 23 reveal this to Trixie at any point, or keep it to herself?

And Jean is now aware of the fiction her universe spawned from.

She took her existence being a cartoon quite well, huh?

So, now that 23 knows she doesn't have to worry about stopping a horrific future... what's she gonna do next?

Find out who created her, for starters.

Also, those psychic resistances aren't an original idea I came up with. X-23 really does have resistance to psychic influence.

There has to be a reason she has Mariko's DNA, right? Why would the Resistance Laura was clearly part of use a human's DNA when creating Laura?

Something else was going on there, and 23 is going to get to the bottom of it.

What other dangers will she encounter while in that world? How soon will she return to CHS?

Will there be some Daddy/Daughter bonding time slaying bad guys?

And what was done about Magneto and Quicksilver?

You'll have wait and see as it's almost 6pm and i think I'd like an early dinner.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter and, Til next time, stay safe, stay clean and see you later everybody

Chapter 1

___________________________________________________________

I look between the zebra and three fillies, waiting for a response.

When I get nothing, I fold my arms, raising an eyebrow. “Um, do I have to repeat myself?”

“Why-why-why do ya wanna see Princess Cel-Cel-Celestia?” Apple Bloom stutters as the farm pony holds tightly onto her Pegasus friend.

I blink, before sighing. Clearly we’re not going anywhere without some explinations.

You’d think saving their lives from a freaking giant lizard with four heads would be enough, but, I guess not.

Sighing, I hold up my right fist, the claws coming out.

“Like I said, you can call me 23. I’m not from this world. I’m what would be called a Mutant. However, I wasn’t always.”

“Wha-what were you before?” Sweetie Belle whimpers from within Zecora’s grasp.

“I used to be something called a human,” I glance over at her. “Perhaps you’ve heard of them?”

“Wa-wait. Hee-yu-man? Like what mah sister said Princess Twilight went to help a while back?” Apple Bloom’s remark makes me inwardly smile.

Ah, so post season three. Getting some good info from this. Maybe talking wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

“Yes, I was,” I don’t bother elaborating that I wasn’t like those humans or from that world specifically. It’s not important right now. “However, something switched me into this body and brought me to your world, about an hour ago, here in the Everfree Forest.”

“Wait. If you’re not from this world, how do you know we’re in the Everfree Forest?” Scootaloo asks, looking suspicious.

I shrug. “There’s an Everfree in that world too.”

Thank you Legend of Everfree. Realized my mistake as I was making it and you just saved my ass.

“Wait a moment, if you please?” I glance to Zecora, who’s frowning slightly. “You said you were switched into that body? Explain, to put us at ease.”

I indicate to my claws with my head. “This body belongs to a mutant named Laura, who also goes by the codename: X-23. She’s a clone of another mutant, Wolverine. I shouldn’t be in her body, as I am not her, but, I woke up like this. Honestly couldn’t tell you why, though, as I haven’t the faintest idea.”

Zecora keeps eye contact with me for a few moments, before nodding slightly.

“She is telling to truth, it would seem. Her past she has nothing to tell us, nothing to gleam.”

“How can she tell us who she is, but not know who she is?” Scootaloo asks firmly, before eeping as I glance at her.

I retract my claws, folding my arms. “Whatever sent me to your world messed with my memories too. I remember some things, but when it comes to me personally, shattered is the best description for my memories.”

Any further conversation is cut off by a massive booming sound.

Turning, we can see a large plum of black smoke in the air.

“What in Equestria was that?!” Sweetie Belle shouts.

A thought occurs to me and I turn to the zebra. “Zecora, is Princess Twilight in town today?”

The zebra seems puzzled by my question, but answers with a nod. “She should be back from a recent meeting she went to have in Canterlot. I had arranged to bring these three fillies to have a lesson on fauna and rot.”

…

Odd thing to be teaching kids, but, okay. Guess I’ve heard weirder.

“Yeah,” Apple Bloom chimes in. “Mah sister said the princesses called her on an urgent matter o’ some kind. She shoulda been back this mornin’.”

Bright multi-coloured light shines off in the distance to our left, followed by what looks like a multi-coloured nuclear mushroom cloud.

I frown.

Eeyup. Tirek. Twilight’s having her DBZ fight with him right now… which means these three fillies are not safe here.

“Zecora, take these three and head for Ponyville, now!” I point in the direction of the first plume of smoke, which I now know was Golden Oak Library being blown to pieces by Tirek. “You’ll be safer there.”

“What about you?” she asks, quickly putting the injured Scootaloo on her back. “Will you not be coming too?”

“Nah,” I grin, my claws coming out. “I’ve a feeling there’ll be an opening to give Tirek some pain.”

Without another word, I run off in the direction Twilight and Tirek are fighting, following the scent of something I can’t place, but guess is Tirek and using my memory of the episode to figure out where I’m supposed to go… though I’m slightly distracted by something Scootaloo shouts as I ran away.

“Why do you sound like a pissy Pinkie Pie?”

This… is an odd thing for her to ask, but… a little test, quoting some of Pinkie’s lines… and I do kinda sound like an edgy Pinkie Pie.

Did Andrea Lidmen voice X-23 at some point? I know Tara Strong did in some video games, but wasn’t aware Andrea had lent her voice to the murderous mini mutant on occasion.

Shaking it off, I break through the trees just as Tirek is draining Twilight of all the Alicorn Magic in Equestria.

I wait, keeping close to the trees until Tirek starts growing, til he’s towering over the trees. I don’t even come up more than halfway of one of his hooves.

After he yells in triumph, he turns, his eyes on Twilight and co as Discord’s clearly telling her about how he’s learned the true value of friendship… a sneer forming on Tirek’s lips.

Okay. That didn’t happen in the show.

I charge forward, claws out, using a nearby rock to leap up, just managing to get above his back left hoof and sink my claws into him.

Tirek cries out in confused pain.

It didn’t sound too deep a cry, more like the kind when you stub your toe or cut yourself.

Does feel a bit demeaning that, even as X-23 and piercing his skin with four freaking Adamantium claws, I apparently did no more than give him a light papercut… but if I can use that to keep him distracted long enough, he loses anyway.

Not taking a second to pause and give Tirek time to comprehend where the pain, small as it may feel, is coming from, I use my claws to rapidly climb up his leg and side, using only my hand claws, as the extra pull from gravity every time I have to pull an arm higher likely causes more pain.

When I’m standing on Tirek’s equine back, he turns his top back around to look at me, towering over my form, confused and frustrated.

“What? A human?! How?”

Huh. So he knows about humans. Filing that information under “that’ll be interesting to learn about later”.

I smirk, clanging my claws together. “You wish, Tirek. You’re dealing with a mutant.”

He looks me over, more confused than frustrated now. “Mutant? I see nothing to suggest you are mutated.”

“Then let me show you!” I snarl.

I rush forward, claws ready to strike.

Almost looking bored, Tirek reaches his hand towards me.

That massive pool of magic must have given him brain damage to not see what’s coming next.

Tirek yells with fury as I thrust my claws as hard as I can into his oncoming hand.

He pulls back, myself being yanked along for the ride with how deep I got my claws in and the dumb idiot’s movements moving them into an angle that gives me more grip under his skin.

Roaring, Tirek moves his other hand towards me, clearly intending to swat me between his palms like a fly.

Giving a shriek of my own, I use my legs to pull myself out of his hands, my momentum sending me falling towards that weird arrow pointing down to where his junk would be if he weren’t a centaur.

I thrust my arms forward, the claws sinking into the flesh here much easier.

Tirek roars in pain as I slide downward, my claws ripping through his skin, blood trailing down after me.

I pull myself out just before reaching the edge of his flesh and jump down, running.

Tirek takes two steps forward, before I feel a searing hot burning feeling worse than anything I’ve ever felt, even if what I feel seems to have grazed me.

I drop to the ground, hissing in pain.

“Impossible!” Tirek gasps as I push myself up, ignoring the pain as best I can. “You can’t still be alive after that! That spell burns organic matter!”

Oh. That explains why my clothes are unharmed, while the flesh beneath it feels like it was nearly melted off.

“Easy, Tirek,” I smirk, wincing as blood trails down my everything. “I told you. I’m a mutant. Gimme a few hours and all these burns will be gone, like they never happened.”

He blinks, then sneers, an orange and black magic orb glowing between his horns. “Too bad you won’t have that long. Did you really think a weakling like you could defeat me?”

I spit out some blood, leering. “Oh, I wasn’t trying to beat you. I just needed to distract you.”

“Huh?” Tirek’s magic fizzles out as confusion comes to his face, before a light shines from near the direction of Celestia and Luna’s old castle.

I chuckle. “And that’s checkmate.”

I watch in amusement as Twilight and co show up in their Rainbow Power forms and blast Tirek, sending him back to Tartarus.

I’m… honestly not sure what happened next as I saw a flash of light similar to the Elements of Harmony… and then I’m standing with Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Spike and Discord, Twilight’s merchandise castle grown and towering high and all my burns from Tirek are healed.

Did I get a one-time super charge for my accelerated healing from the Elements?

“But, whose is it?” Twilight asks as she and the others are facing away from us, staring up at her new castle.

“I believe it is yours, Princess Twilight,” Celestia says… not seeming to be at all questioning my existence as I stand right next to her, our heads at even heights.

Twilight and the others, thankfully, are not so oblivious.

“Hey! What’re you doing in Equestria, miss human?” Twilight asks, pointing, sounding equal measures demanding and concerned.

I smirk, holding up my left fist as my claws come out. “You can call me 23, Twilight. And I’m no human. I’m a mutant.”

I can’t wait to see her shocked and puzzled look… only I get recognition instead?

“Oh my goodness! Are you one of those mutants my friends at CHS talked about? Is your mutant power resisting magic’s influence?”

I just stare, my jaw agape.

I… but… WHAT?!

___________________________________________________________

I pass through the portal, startling the CHS girls. Twilight clearly just mentioned knowing about the new girls and my sudden appearance has not helped lessen the worry and confusion of matters.

After Twilight dropped the bombshell that apparently mutants exist in the EQG world, meaning it’s a Marvel based one, I’d hung around the castle to help Twilight move her stuff in.

My reason? I planned on going to EQG during the events of Rainbow Rocks with her.

Sure, originally, I’d planned on talking with Celestia to see about sending me home, even though it would’ve been near impossible to explain to my family how I’d turned into X-23, especially since I’d be the very first mutant in our world… but once Twilight unintentionally let it slip this version of EQG is also a Marvel based world, like hell am I just gonna sit on the sidelines here.

If this EQG world is one based in Marvel lore, my body could’ve come from there.

If so, I need to let the X-Men, especially Wolverine, know about it.

For all I know, Weapon X could’ve sent X-23 into Equestria to observe it for study or takeover and whatever wiped her essence out of this body and put me in it was Equestria’s defence.

Even if their first plan failed, they’ll just try again.

Sooner we can work together and cripple their operation, the better.

Besides which, there’s another worrying possibility I need to be sure won’t happen.

If this EQG world is Marvel based and there are mutants in that world… there’s likely a Mutant Response Division too.

How do I know this?

When Twilight explained what she’d learned about mutants from her CHS friends and the research she’d done in the library, she mentions she’d read about an event that had happened in Neigh York… an event that sounded a lot like The Phoenix Force attacking Magneto’s Sentinels… from Wolverine and the X-Men.

It also would explain why no one really questioned magic in EQG. Magic is a well-established thing in Marvel, so it would hardly seem odd to most people in that world.

There’s just one problem with that revelation: Me.

I’m not the Wolverine and the X-Men version of X-23. Not only was she younger than I am, her hair was black, like her dad’s. And she had black lips too.

I’ve brown hair and green eyes.

So, for whatever reason, I was right when I felt I was the wrong X-23, because I am wrong.

And, if the EQG world is indeed one where Wolverine and the X-Men happened, with the magical explosions that happened at CHS during the events of the last movie, I’d be willing to bet all my claws the MRD took notice and, if they don’t mistakenly suspect the girls are mutants, they will during the Battle of the Bands, not at all helped by the Sirens flaunting their magic without a care up to that point.

Sure, Senator Kelly tried to stop the Sentinel Program and I’d assume try to downscale the MRD… but how long has it been since The Phoenix Force was defeated?

Has Kelly already been released from prison in Genosha after Magneto and Quick Silver were banished for trying to force the Genoshans to go to war by tricking them into thinking the humans attacked them first?

All worrying questions, not helped by Twilight’s lack of knowledge due to not asking, being focused on getting her crown back before the portal closed.

I’ll be damned if I let the MRD take them prisoner.

So, after Twilight got Sunset’s message and made her machine to keep the portal open, here we are.

“Wait. Twilight, who’s this person?” Rainbow Dash demands, pointing accusingly at me, before looking slightly confused. “I mean… pony?”

I smirk, flashing my right claws, startling them all.

“Mutant, actually. Call me 23.”

“She’s here to keep you all safe,” Twilight explains, Spike hopping up into her arms.

“From who? The new girls?” Rainbow asks, giving me a side-eye.

Twilight shakes her head, her expression grim. “The Mutant Response Division.”

At once, they all tense.

“The MRD are coming here?” Dash asks, shocked.

“Why? There ain’t any mutants around here.” Applejack glances at me. “Well, least, not til today, anyhow.”

“Trust me, Applejack,” I snarl. “I’ve no doubt they’ll be coming here. The MRD have never cared if someone is or isn’t actually a mutant before arresting them. If they suspect even a little that you could be one, they’ll still take you in.”

“But, none of us are mutants at all!” Rarity says furiously. “We use magic, not mutant powers.”

“The MRD don’t know the difference,” I sniff the air. “They shoot and lock you up first and ask questions later… if they can even be bothered to remember to ask later.”

“Anything?” Twilight asks anxiously.

I look incredulously at her. “Twilight, I have no memories of this body’s time in this world. How would I recognize smells the original Laura did before her existence got wiped out and I took her place?”

Twilight’s face goes from lavender to bright pink. “Oh, um, right. But… anything seem off to you?”

I close my eyes and sniff the air again.

Nothing… seems off.

Normal city smells, if stronger than I’m used to, since my sense of smell is far stronger now than it was when I was human.

“This… body?” Fluttershy whimpers.

I’m gonna be giving this story for quite a while.

We move to head off towards Sugar Cube Corner to chat, when I suddenly notice a new smell, one I’d missed either due to adjusting to the stronger than expected city smells or we hadn’t been close enough for it to stand out.

Snarling, I whirl around to face an alley we’d just been passing, claws out, only to feel my claws pulling upward and I’m lifted into the air.

“Well, well, well. Isn’t this a surprise?” actor Tom Kane’s voice says from the shadows of the alley.

Instead of the actor, like I knew from the moment I felt my claws being pulled, a man wearing a red outfit that looks like armour, including a helmet, steps forward.

“No way,” Rainbow Dash whispers, terrified.

“Not him!” Applejack shakes her head, her face ashen.

“Magneto!” I snarl.

“Here I thought finding the mutants who created that fuss here in Canterlot was going to be difficult,” he looks all the girls over, before looking at me with curiosity. “You wouldn’t happen to know another mutant with metal claws, by chance, would you, my dear? A man named Wolverine?”

Wait.

Something’s up. Even though I’ve a metal skeleton, just like Logan, it doesn’t feel like he’s focusing on it, only my claws. I wonder…

I start trying to move and find it’s not too difficult to pull down at bit.

“Now, now, my dear,” Magneto says, sounding a little less amused as the pull on my claws grows, making it more painful to resist. “Even if your entire skeleton isn’t covered in metal like your fellow mutant, your claws are. Please don’t make me damage you? I wish to learn more about you, not harm you.”

I stop struggling, staring at him in confusion.

Wait… what?

I don’t have an Adamantium covered skeleton? Only my claws?

There isn’t much time to dwell on it, as Magneto stumbles back, as if hit by something, before his helmet goes flying and someone is standing in front of him, a hand on his face.

I drop to the ground, landing on my feet and staring, my brain going a hundred miles a minute.

As Magneto collapses, the person turns around.

It’s a girl, barely a year or so older than twenty, if I had to guess, considering how tall she is compared to any of us.

She’s wearing a yellow and green body suit, yellow gloves, yellow boots, a belt with a red and black X symbol and a brown jacket.

Her hair is brown, save a small bit at the front, that’s transparent white.

It’s Rogue! What in the world is she doing here?!

She looks to me, her eyes being drawn particularly to my claws as I retract them.

“Do you know Logan? He has claws like those too.”

Rogue is in Canterlot… and she just took Magneto out like it was nothing.

The hell is going on here?!

Author's Note

Yeah. This surprised me too.

I had no intention of updating this fic again til any of the updates i mentioned i want to do first... but, as time wore on throughout the week, I realized i wouldn't feel right leaving it there.

So, here we are. an unexpected updated, though the only one i truly plan on for the foreseeable future until those others updates are done, including finally updating the Peni Parker story

Tirek knows about humans? What does he know? And how?

So, how is the EQG world a Marvel based one featuring the events and characters of Wolverine and the X-Men, when 23 knows she's not the Wolverine and the X-Men X-23?

Ah. answers for later, but based slightly within the origin story of the show from which her appearance actually comes from.

she's got a lot to reel about now, huh? Not only does she now know only her claws are Adamantium, but she now has to explain her existence to Rogue, but worry about Magneto being close by AND the MRD AND the Sirens on top of all that.

Girl just cannot catch a break.

Now the question is... since the events of Wolverine and the X-Men's show have already finished... what is 23 going to be dealing with now?

and what other aspects of Marvel is she going to have to contend with?

only other Marvel characters she knows are in that world are Hulk and Shield, since they were also in Wolverine and the X-Men.

But, if Hulk's in the EQG world, all his enemies are too?

And, since Hulk vs Wolverine is spiritually canon to Wolverine and the X-Men, does she have to worry about Deathstrike, Omega Red and Deadpool too?

Oof. she's stepped into a much bigger powder keg than she was bargaining for.

So, will Rogue and 23 hang around for the rest of Rainbow Rocks? or, will 23 have to go with Rogue to meet the X-Men... and confront the man who's biologically now her father?

Will the MRD actually be an issue and, if so, HOW big an issue?

Have fun speculating until i get around to the next chapter.

hope you enjoyed this one though and, til next time, stay safe, stay clean and goodnight everybody

Chapter 2

___________________________________________________________

“23, who… is this person?” Twilight asks, holding tightly to Spike in her arms.

“And… and did she seriously just one shot Magneto?” Rainbow Dash stares, her jaw hanging wide open.

I blink, before taking a deep breath and indicate to the other mutant. “Girls, meet Rogue. She’s one of the X-Men. Her power lets her drain energy from any living being she touches. And, with mutants, it lets her absorb their powers temporarily.”

Well, normally, but Rogue in Wolverine and the X-Men never showed signs of having flight or super strength, so she hasn’t unintentionally gained those powers after draining Captain Marvel’s powers yet.

“But, why is she in Canterlot?” Rainbow glances from her to myself.

“If I had to guess, like Magneto, she mistook the reports of the magic from the Formal to be mutant related and was sent here to either recruit you guys into the X-Men or at least make sure the MRD weren’t after you,” I turn to Rogue, arms folded. “Am I close?”

Rogue nods… before glancing down at Magneto for some reason. “Cerebro detected a mutant here, so I got sent to check it out.”

I blink, frowning. “Jean used Cerebro? Why?”

Rogue glances to me, looking slightly puzzled. “Jean? Why would Jean be the one to use Cerebro? She’s still missing. Emma Frost did it.”

I snarl, my claws coming out.

“23?!” Twilight cries, confused.

“Who are you?” I snarl loudly.

“Wha-what’s wrong, kid?” Rogue backs up a little. “What’d I say?”

“Emma Frost is dead!” I clench my teeth. “She died in Neigh York, stopping the Pheonix. And, as for any real mutants around here, I got here less than ten minutes ago, so there’s no way Jean could’ve used Cerebro to find me and the real Rogue get here that quickly. The Black Bird’s fast, but she’s nowhere near that fast!”

Rogue looks shocked for a moment, before frowning in annoyance. “That’s what happened? Dang. Guess that plan didn’t work, huh?”

“Sadly, it would appear we were lacking information,” Magneto says, sitting up, causing the girls to cry out in alarm.

There’s a sudden rush of air and a guy with sleek silver hair, wearing a green one-piece outfit with a silver lightning bolt on the left side going down the right of just chest is standing next to the mutant of magnetism as he stands up, putting his helmet back on.

“Quicksilver, too?” Rarity’s hand flies to her mouth.

“These girls aren’t mutants, Magneto!” I clench my fists tightly. “They’re just humans who use magic. There’s no more a reason for you to be in Canterlot! Now, beat it!”

“No reason to remain in this city?” Magneto gives a smirk. “My dear, that is where you are quite wrong. Those claws of yours give me plenty of reason to hang around and learn more, wouldn’t you agree?”

“I said,” I thrust my arms to my sides, bracing, “beat it!”

“Or what, short stack?” Quicksilver laughs, folding his arms. “There’s three of us and you’ve metal claws. How do you see this working in your favour, in any case?”

I snort. “My dad wouldn’t give up against those odds, and neither will I.”

Magneto gets a look of recognition in his eyes.

Mystique, however, wavers. “Your… your dad?”

I hold up my right fist. “Wolverine. Maybe you’ve heard of him?”

“What?!” come the cries, not just of the girls that do not happen to also be an Alicorn pony princess, but Quicksilver too.

Mystique’s face has gone pale.

This is a dirty card to play, but I’m just me against these three.

I can throw all the bravado I want, logically, Quicksilver was right. I can’t win this on my own and the girls aren’t experienced enough with their magic to help me out in any meaningful way.

I need to use what knowledge I can to keep them occupied until either the MRD get here and we can use them as an escape while they distract Magneto and vice versa or someone calls the cops.

Damnit, why couldn’t it have actually been Rogue here instead of Mystique playing up an act for her boss?

I look to Mystique and nod. “I’m his clone. Guess who made me?”

Her eyes widen further. “No, they… they didn’t…”

I nod again. “They did. I’m the result of Weapon X cloning Wolverine after you escape at the cost of James’ existence.”

Magneto glances at Mystique, puzzled. “Mystique, what’s she talking about?”

Mystique says nothing, putting her hands over her mouth, shaking her head as she drops to her knees.

Before anyone can react, Quicksilver cries out in pain and falls to the ground.

We all look to him, puzzled, before Magneto’s helmet goes flying off and someone grabs his head from behind.

He cries out too, dropping forward, face down.

Standing behind him are two girls. One is a girl of around eighteen, with long brown hair, wearing a yellow and blue outfit, with a red X on her belt.

The one next to her is…

“Wait, Rogue again?” Dash points at the girl.

I sniff the air, before frowning. “Well, her scent’s different, so, I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess you’re the real Rogue.”

I stand straight, sheathing my claws.

Rogue nods, while Kitty Pryde is staring at me in shock, pointing.

“Are you serious? Logan’s your dad? When in the world did that happen? Who would even wanna do it with him?”

I feel a tiny flicker of annoyance, but growl and rub my temples. “Going to assume you didn’t hear me mentioning the whole being a clone part due to phasing through the ground at the time. I have no biological mother.”

Mystique gives a short gasp, looking up at me from the ground. “You… you have no mother?”

I fold my arms. “Didn’t I make that clear when I said Weapon X cloned me from Wolverine? Get with the program, already.”

“Okay. Would someone mind explaining just what in tarnation is going on around here?!” Applejack yells, fists at her sides.

“After all the odd reports here in Canterlot, Jean looked into the matter and found a single mutant here in Canterlot,” Rogue says, reaching into her jacket pocket and pulling out what looks like a more advanced version of the Mutant Powers Restraining Collar that Logan used to help that mutant girl stop losing control when the MRD were hunting her down through a crowded suburb.

“I would say, guess she meant you… but you just said you’ve been here less than ten minutes,” Kitty points to me. “So, if you’re not the mutant, who is?”

Beats me. No human here in Canterlot, aside from the Humane Seven, ever showed any sign of anything that would suggest they’re not…

Wait a minute.

“She said the girl had blue skin, Kitty,” Rogue says, standing up after having fastened a collar on Quicksilver. “This girl is tanned at best and I get the feeling this blue girl,” she indicates to Rainbow, “is the girl we’re looking for.”

I shake my head. “If I’m right, no, she’s not… but I have an idea who is.”

“Huh?” the girls and Spike all stare at me in shock.

“23, how could you know? You’ve never been here before, remember?” Twilight asks, very perplexed.

I shake my head. “That’s a long story, Twilight and for another time anyway. For now, I need to compare notes with Rogue and Kitty, figure out what we’re going to do with these three,” I point to the mutants on the ground, “and you need to explain everything to the girls about the Sirens.”

“Sirens?” five confused voices ask as their owners turn to the princess.

Twilight matching my gaze for a moment, before she nods. “Right.”

“Lend me a phone,” I look to the other five. “Should you get any sense the MRD are coming for you, call me and we’ll get there, soon as possible.”

Pinkie happily hands me her phone and the seven head off, while I turn to Rogue and Kitty.

“Okay,” I pocket Pinkie’s phone and fold my arms. “Short version: I found myself in that lavender girl’s universe, with no memory how I got there and came here to warn you all what I could.”

“And just what were you going to warn us about?” Rogue asks, glancing at the prone two on the ground. “Them?”

I shake my head. “I was as surprised as anyone that they were here. Raven, seriously,” I look to the blue skinned mutant, “Magneto and Quicksilver were banished from Genosha after attacking it to make the mutants there fight in a war they wanted no part in. Why are you still with them?”

We wait as she seems to try getting a hold of herself. “I… I don’t know where else to go.”

“You could’ve gone to Genosha, couldn’t you?” Kitty asks, putting her hands on her hips. “I doubt you were banished too.”

Even though she did play a part in the attack on Genosha, but, if Quicksilver’s sister was willing to forgive him until he chose to stand with Magneto, I don’t see why she wouldn’t have offered the same to Mystique.

“The man I love is gone forever,” Mystique looks to me. “And now, he has a daughter whom isn’t mine. What else am I supposed to do?”

“How about what you’ve been doing?” I clench a fist. “You warned Wolverine about Weapon X going after Christy Nord. Do that. Keep undermining Weapon X until they’ve paid the price for taking the man you loved away from you! For crying out loud! If you can go toe to toe against Wolverine, Weapon X doesn’t stand a chance against you if you get serious!”

Mystique just stares at me, as if the concept had never entered her mind until just now.

Guess Magneto kept her too busy.

“Uh, why’re you talking as if we’re just going to let her go?” Kitty asks, folding her arms. “She works with Magneto? We can’t just let her go.”

“We’re better off if I we do,” I turn around, before glancing over my shoulder at the blue woman. “And, Mystique?”

“Ye-yes?” she asks.

“Visit your kids at least once in a while, will you?” I ask, walking out the alley.

The “Huh?” from Kitty I hear is followed by Rogue saying not to question it and just help her get Magento and Quicksilver hidden for the time being.

We’ll worry about that later. For now, we have a mutant to make sure the MRD don’t go after who can’t protect herself right now, no matter how great and powerful she is.

___________________________________________________________

“That’s her? Seriously?” Kitty asks as we kneel by the windows looking into Canterlot High’s gym and the students all crowded in there.

“Yep,” I say, watching the blue girl with silvery-blue and white hair flourish said hair while flanked by her two partners for the contest.

Trixie Lulamoon.

Honestly never would’ve pegged her as a mutant, but, it would be the only way to explain her magic teleportation during the events of Forgotten Friendship.

Question is, what is her mutant ability? Is it just teleportation or does her power let her make magic tricks somewhat real magic, similar to how Wanda’s powers are like magic?

“And how do you plan on bringing up her being a mutant without if being a bi deal, exactly, Laura?” Kitty looks at me.

I hiss. “Don’t call me Laura! I told you, call me 23!”

In the time it’s taken for the events of the movie to get to the party for all those participating in the Battle of the Bands, Rogue and Kitty have brought me properly up to speed.

It’s been about two months since the events of the Phoenix in Neigh York.

In that time, the X-Men have been getting organized, Jean, Scott and Storm getting Xavier’s school ready for students to start returning.

Sure, Logan may now be the leader of the X-Men, but the other three are better as the faces of the school.

It’s slow going, especially since the parents of ex-students are still unsure how safe it is to send their kids back to the school that blew up.

How they’re going to explain the Phoenix was the cause of that without letting it slip it was inside Jean at the time, and, with it defeated in Neigh York, there’s no threat from it anymore will be interesting to say the least.

As for Magneto, Quicksilver and Mystique?

We loaded Magneto and his son onto the Black Bird, which Forge had flown here and put them in the cargo area for now.

The plan is to take them back to the mansion as it’ll be less horrible than handing them over to the MRD.

And Mystique?

She left, likely now with the sole goal of making Weapon X’s lives miserable... though she will likely require Logan’s help from time to time and I wouldn’t be surprised if I’ll somehow get roped in on occasion, too... not that I’d object to beating some Weapon X heads,

As for just now?

Yeah, I can’t explain that.

I hadn’t really given it any thought back in Equestria, as no one questioned my choosing to go by a number instead of a direct name… but I’m just not comfortable with being called Laura.

Now, I could just got with the obvious reasons: 1. I wasn’t originally her, so don’t feel right going by her name or 2. Since, while I don’t remember who I used to be, I know I was a guy, so being called a girl’s name would just sound weird… it’s more than that.

I don’t know why, but, every time someone has directly called me Laura, be it intentionally or by accident, I’ve gotten a sick feeling in my stomach… and that feeling is somewhat still there as I look at Trixie, but I’ve no idea why.

“There’re your friends from earlier,” Rogue nods as Twilight and the other step into the centre of the gym to confront Adagio… the sight of whom is just making my skin crawl, for some reason.

“Talk about throwing down the gauntlet,” Adagio says and I find myself clenching a fist, my claws slowly coming out. “This group is obviously serious about winning.”

She laughs.

I see Trixie in a crop top and shorts, her eyes wide as she stands as if she’d been running towards me, the version of Laura I know from Wolverine and the X-Men is standing before her, claws stabbing through Trixie’s chest, blood seeping out, Adagio, dressed in robe fit for royalty standing behind her, wings flared, leering at me.

“You must obviously be serious about winning,” the Siren says mockingly and laughs.

I see red.

___________________________________________________________

“These girls are special,” Adagio grinned wickedly as the seven girls and dog hurried out of the gym while everyone else argued.

Suddenly, the sound of shattering glass filled the room, followed by a scream of pure, unbridled, hate filled rage.

“Adagio!”

Everyone in the room turned to see a girl had just crashed through one of the gym’s windows.

She was dressed kind of like a motor cyclist, mostly leather. She had tanned skin, brown hair and green eyes… the latter of which were locked on the leader of the Sirens and filled with murderous intent.

“Uh, who’s that?” Sonata asked uncertainly.

“I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU FOR WHAT YOU DID TO TRIXIE!” the girl screamed, causing some heads to turn to the magician in confusion, which she seemed to be sharing in equal measure… not that anyone had more than a second to be confused by that statement.

The girl rushed forward, bent forward, her fists clenched either side of her as a pair of metal claws shot out from her knuckles… and all three Sirens’ blood run cold.

However, just before the girl could get to Adagio, it seeming Aria and Sonata didn’t even register to her, another girl with brown hair, wearing a yellow and blue outfit seemed to just come out of the floor and grabbed the clawed girl from behind… and was struggling to barely hold the first girl back.

“She has to die!” the clawed girl shrieked with rage, glancing back briefly at the one holding her, before looking back to Adagio, the look of pure malice actually filling the Siren with true terror. “All the suffering she caused. All the lives she ruined! I’m going to fucking kill her with my own bare ha—uh.”

Though it had hardly registered to anyone, another person had jumped through the broken window and, while the girl who came up from the floor had struggled to hold the clawed girl back, a young woman wearing a yellow and green body suit, yellow gloves, yellow boots, a belt with a red and black X symbol and a brown jacket rushed through the crowd towards the pair.

Her hair was brown, like the girl who’d come out of the floor, save a small bit at the front, that was transparent white.

She’d reached the two struggling girls, removed one of her gloves, for what reason Adagio had no idea, then put her hand on the raging girl’s head.

Soon as she did, the raging girl’s face had looked pained for a second, before going blank and she passed out.

“ARGH!” the woman cried out, holding her head, as if in pain, before she looked over her shoulder at Adagio… with that same murderous look in her eyes.

The woman grabbed Adagio by the front of her shirt, pulling her close, pure rage plastered over her face… before a look of recognition entered her eyes and she let the Siren goes, taking a deep breath as she put a hand to her head.

There was a stunned silence for several moments.

After what felt like hours, the woman with the bit of transparent white hair turned to the girl who’d come out of the floor and put the now unconscious girl with claws over her shoulder, clearly intenting to help the other girl carry the unconscious one out.

“Go back to your contest or whatever,” she said with a southern accent. “We’ve got this one covered.”

Everyone watched as the two carried the clearly mentally unstable girl out of the room.

“Dagi, what was that?” Sonata asked the Siren leader, worry clear in her voice.

“What the hell did you do to piss off that mutant so much she’d wanna kill you?” Aria asked, just as perplexed.

“I… I honestly have no idea,” Adagio admitted, trying to stop her body from shaking. “I’ve never even seen her before in my life… but those claws were familiar.”

“Too familiar,” Aria nodded, eyeing the door the three had left in. “Let’s just hope that guy doesn’t have some unexplainable vendetta against us too.”

Author's Note

As i promised in the previous update to An Apple Over A Berry Barrel, here's the first of 2-3 updates i'm planning on doing for this fic, the second of which i hope to get written and uploaded tomorrow.

So, at first, Rogue was a trick by Magneto and Mystique to get some info from the girls they thought were mutants but weren't... only for the real Rogue to arrive with Kitty Pryde to help the scenario... but what in the world just happened?

Things seemed to be going fine at first there, 23 had gotten Twilight to go with the others to continue the events of Rainbow Rocks and she'd been able to get things sorted with the two X-Men so they were all three on the same page and, of all people, Trixie is revealed to actually be a mutant... until 23 lost it and almost actually killed Adagio.

Never mind how much that would screw up the timeline alone, 23 would've murdered someone. an evil someone, yes, but still murdered her.

For someone who isn't actually X-23, she was sure okay at that moment with committing one of the worst crimes you can.

and what in the world was with that vision she had of Adagio laughing as another X-23, the one or MC knows is from that world, kills Trixie?

You'll have to wait til next chapter, as I need to have dinner, plus, I wanna try and get a shiny Marked Comfey from Pokemon Violet before the event ends tomorow, as i don't want to miss a chance of getting a Hisuian Sligoo, espically if i can get it shiny, in Violet.

So, will 23 still want to kill Adagio when she wakes up... or will she just have even more questions that don't seem to have answers?

Are the Sirens going to hold off on their plans for fear of what 23 will do if she and Adagio are in close proximity again or are they going to feel assured enough that Rogue and Kitty will keep 23 at bay?

Look forward to finding out.

Truth be told, orignally, i was just going to have it actually be Rogue who beat Magento, having gotten to a hiding Quicksilver first and using his stolen speed to get the jump on Magneto... before i realized it would be more fun for 23 do a call back to when Logan knew Mystique was pretending to be Angel in Wolverine and the X-Men.

of course, she couldn't do so exactly the same, as 23 wouldn't know the difference between Rogue and Mystique's scents like Logan did Mystique and Angel's, so, Mystique needed to mess up in a way that would get 23 suspicious of her identify.

After all, since 23 knows the show's, she'd be aware of smaller details certain other characters may not, like Emma being dead after giving up her life to release the Phoenix into the atmosphere for it to dissipate.

I'm gonna go now before i ramble on some more so i can get my dinner.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter and, til next time (fingers crossed it's tomorrow), stay save, stay clean and goodnight everybody

Chapter 3

___________________________________________________________

“Alright, we’ve maybe twenty minutes before the alert goes out” a blurring blue blob with a silver blob attached to it says as it stands in front of me. “Ready, kid?”

I nod my head. “Never been more ready in my life.”

“This will be a one way ticket, I’m afraid,” a voice that reminds me of Tombstone from Spectacular Spider-Man says as a blueish-grey blob moves into frame on my right, a mechanical whirring sound following. “Even with the technology here, I can only boost Warp’s powers so much.”

“We only need the one shot,” I say firmly. “The embers of his powers and this tech should be enough with your help.”

“Now, remember,” the first blob says, pointing. “The research we’ve managed has meant you’ll be like your father once you get there, no memories of who you are or why you’re there.”

“Hence the note in my jacket, I know,” I nod.

***

“I understand, E* ***ah **r,” I sigh. “I will miss our talks.”

Suddenly, loud horns blare and the room goes red.

“Alright, we’re outta time,” blob one says, moving aside to reveal a green blob barely bigger than myself. “Do it.”

The green blog moves towards me and something is placed against my chest.

“I get it,” I nod, bracing myself.

“And, I do apologize,” green blob says. “Even in my weakened state, from what I’ve witnessed… this is going to hurt.”

At once, my body feels like it’s on fire, I see a white light and everything goes black.

___________________________________________________________

I cry out, sitting up, breathing heavily.

“Whoa, there, girl. Take it easy.”

I look to my left to see Rogue is sitting next to me.

Wait. Why is she…?

Glancing around, I’m in a metal room that reminds me of hospital operating rooms, only the walls are grey, not white.

Looking down, I see I’m in a bed with white sheets.

“I’m… going to go out on a limb here and assume I’m in the infirmary on the Black Bird,” I say, looking to Rogue, who nods.

“After we stopped you from nearly killing that girl, we thought it best you not wake up too close by to her,” Rogue explains as I take the covers off and turn around so my legs are over the bed. “We also called those friends of yours to let them know you’re alright, in case word gets out at that school. Make sure they don’t get the worst impression, ya know?”

I nod, but frown in confusion. “Who did I try and…?”

Suddenly, I remember Adagio and the other Laura stabbing Trixie, even though Trixie had been right there, no one stabbing her.

“What…? What was that?” I gasp, putting a hand to my head, a chill running through my body. “I… I actually wanted to kill Adagio. I really wanted to! Why…? Why would I want to do that? She’s evil, but… that’s just a step too far. What the hell is wrong with me?”

“Don’t worry,” I look up as Rogue puts a hand on my shoulder. “When this is over, we’ll go to the school and see if Jean or the Professor can sort this out.”

I remain silent for a bit, before I remember something and look to Rogue, worried.

“What’s wrong, 23?” she asks.

I look away for a moment, before I tell her about the… dream I had?

Rogue frowns, rubbing her chin. “From the sounds of it, before you ended up in her body, Laura was being sent back in time, by a mutant power. A mutant with the power to send people back in time? Ain’t that a worrying thought?”

“I more worried about why she was sent back in time,” I shake my head.

Now I’m actually annoyed I didn’t know about that paper before.

After I helped stop Tirek, Rarity had insisted my clothes be cleaned… what with all the blood on them and the fact they did kinda smell, making me wonder when X-23 had last washed her clothes, or if at all.

When they were done being washed, Spike had found a ruined piece of paper in one of the pockets.

It was destroyed beyond repair, even magic wasn’t going to fix it.

I’d paid it no mind at the time, assuming it wasn’t important.

Now, though…?

With the context of that dream, a fragment of memory I must have retained from Laura, that paper clearly had something important Laura was supposed to remember, but knew she wouldn’t upon arriving in Equestria.

Now, thankfully, this suggests Weapon X had nothing to do with X-23 ending up in Equestria or myself getting trapped in her body, so that’s one small comfort… but, knowing she went there for a reason, to prevent something that seemed bad and I don’t know what… that just stops the comfort all over again.

Whatever was written on that paper, had I only found it before I gave my clothes to be washed, I’d know why Laura went to Equestria in the first place.

“Hopefully the Professor or Jean will be able to help clear up that memory for you,” Jean says as I stand up and we leave the infirmary, myself just following her lead, as I’ve no clue how to navigate the Black Bird.

I nod, though can’t help frowning. “So, how long was I out after you stopped me… ya know?”

Rogue shakes her head. “Almost a whole day. That Battle of the Bands thing going on at CHS? Your friends are in the finals.”

Fuck. I slept through almost the entire remaining of the movie’s events?

Rogue’s playful expression becomes serious. “Don’t think you’ll be going, though. We’ve our hands full.”

At once, I tense, my eyes narrowing. “Magneto and Quicksilver or the MRD?”

Rogue scowls. “The MRD.”

“How many?” I ask as we pass through a sliding metal door, revealing the cockpit, where Kitty and a man with short black hair and eyes, wearing yellow and blue clothes, with a mechanical left-leg are looking over some controls.

Forge seems startled by my voice, but seems to just go with it, Kitty likely having filled him in.

“Three swat vehicles, with at least ten MRD soldiers per one, counting the driver and first passenger in each.”

“You’d think, with all the talk about what we know is magic now, they’d send more,” Kitty notes, folding her arms.

I rub my chin, frowning. She’s right. Wolverine warranted multiple cars and helicopters in episode one… though, it was Wolverine they knew they were going after.

Far as the MRD know, this is just some random mutants.

Suddenly, a thought occurs to me and I look to Rogue. “Who’s funding the MRD now? It can’t be Senator Kelly, right?”

Rogue nods. “He’s halted all further funding. Doesn’t mean they can’t still use what’s left.”

“That would explain only three cars,” Forge says, typing away at some keys under a screen panel. “They gotta keep their resources from running out.”

“Even so… this still feels over the top for what is in actuality one mutant,” I frown, rubbing my chin. “Granted, they probably don’t know it’s just one mutant, but…”

Rogue puts a hand on my shoulder, pulling me from my thoughts. “We’ll have to worry about it later. For now, we need to send them back, so they don’t find out about Trixie.”

“And so those Sirens don’t get their hands on them,” Kitty shakes her head. “Can you imagine what would happen if truly evil creatures like those had control of a military-like force?”

I get a flashback to that strange, horrible vision of Trixie impaled by the claws of the other Laura, Adagio standing behind them, laughing coldly and a shiver goes down my spine.

I shake my head. “I’m not sure, but, maybe I’ve already been through it.”

Any questioning as to what I meant is put on hold as Rogue, Kitty and I leave the Black Bird, Forge staying aboard, ready to use it to aid our defence, should we need it.

We march to the entrance of the suburb leading into the area around CHS.

Within a few minutes, three large dark-green vehicles with MRD emblazoned on them turn onto the road coming towards us.

We stand in the middle of the road, making it clear we will not be moving out of their way and it’s the only road directly into the CHS area.

The vehicles stop, an MRD grunt wearing the usual helmet leaning his head out of the front vehicle’s left side window, which takes me a second to figure out, since I’m used to the Australian driving side, which is on the right.

“Step aside, ladies. Official MRD business.”

“There’s no mutants here in Canterlot, officer,” Rogue says firmly, folding her arms. “We’ve checked. You’re barking up the wrong tree, here.”

“Be that as it may, Miss, we’re under orders,” the officer replies, surprisingly calmly for MRD. “Please move aside, or we’ll have to consider it obstructing the law.”

“Law?” I scoff. “You guys aren’t even working for Kelly anymore. How is this, in any way, the law?”

I can somehow tell from his posture that he’s annoyed by my speaking out. Is it because I’m a teen while Rogue’s an adult?

The other window opens and the passenger MRD leans his head out. “Go on home, brat. This isn’t anything little girls should get involved with. Go paint your nails or something.”

I sneer. Angry as his comment just made me, I’d kinda been hoping for to be antagonised.

“Oh, I’m not very good at painting my nails,” I say, my claws coming out. “It always comes off on my knuckles, ya know?”

“What in the hell?” the rude MRD gasps, it clear he recognizes what a mutant with claws means, but confused by my being a girl.

“You’ve met her daddy quite a few times, now, I reckon?” Rogue smirks, seeming to catch on. “Maybe your boss, Colonel Moss has told you about him?”

“Name’s Wolverine?” Kitty snickers, joining in.

“All units, Code Ten! Repeat: Code Ten!” the rude MRD cries, quickly leaning back in and seeming to press a button on the vehicle’s dashboard.

At once, the backs of all three cars open, MRD soldiers piling out, guns drawn.

Kitty sighs. “You’re your father’s daughter, alright, 23.”

I crick my neck, grinning. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

The MRD charge and so do we.

I find it fun, leaping around, using my momentum to kick and punch the MRD around, slicing through their weapons.

I didn’t think much of it, back in Equestria, but, from how each MRD reacts when I punch or kick them and how I can flip them over me at times, I’m stupid strong for someone not even physically fifteen yet? is this another aspect of the mutant DNA my body got from Logan?

I catch glimpses of Rogue and Kitty’s fighting, Kitty mostly phasing through soldiers and knocking them from behind or phasing through a wall or the parked vehicles and then coming out suddenly, startling them enough to knock them off their feet.

Rogue I almost get distracted by at first, her using a fighting style that reminds me of bushido, before I remember she’d absorbed multiple skills from the Yakuza members the Silver Samurai had sent to the X mansion to force Logan into a dual.

Guess she never lost those skills, like how other versions of her held on to Captain Marvel’s super strength and flight.

We’re about halfway through the number of MRD, when it comes to my attention I can hear music over the fighting and gunfire… very familiar music.

Suddenly, the sky is shining brightly as a multihued giant Alicorn forms over the area I’m guessing CHS is holding the Battle of the Bands.

I smirk down at the stunned MRD soldier I’ve pinned under me, my right foot’s claw out, just inches from his eye to keep him in place. “That looks a lot more like magic than mutant powers to me, wouldn’t you say? If you boys can’t even handle three girls, what chance do you think you have against that?” I point with my right claws at the massive horse.

“We didn’t want this, officer,” Rogue’s voice makes me turn to see she’s talking to an MRD who doesn’t have his gun on him. “We came to stop you from attacking magic users under the guise of them being mutants.”

“It would… seem we were sent under false pretenses,” the MRD officer says reluctantly. “I can tell the difference between mutant powers and magic. That is clearly some form of magic. We’re not getting involved in that. Leave that to Shield or the Avengers.”

Wait. The Avengers are in this universe? Which version?

He waves and arm. “MRD, we’re pulling out.”

I get off the soldier under me and, after giving me a nasty scowl, which I answer by showing my claws, he hightails it to the vehicles and the three machines turn around and drive off.

“That clearly wasn’t your first fight,” Kitty says encouragingly as she and Rogue join me.

I smirk. “Yeah. After a soul-sucking centaur from Tartarus, MRD grunts are less than a walk in the park.”

There is a very long pause as Kitty just stares at me, it clear she isn’t sure whether to believe if I’m joking or not.

We head over to where the Battle of the Bands is ending, just in time to catch the Sirens running off.

“Should we go after them?” Kitty asks, looking to me, clearly trusting my judgment as the one who knows the most about them.

I shake my head. “They’re powerless. They’re no threat to anyone anymore. They won’t be a problem. Living life without their powers will be punishment enough for them, trust me.”

“Doesn’t look like Trixie gets along well with your friends,” Rogue remarks.

I look to see Trixie is clearly talking to Twilight, I don’t remember what she says and we can’t hear from this distance, but, recognising the scene, I turn my head towards where I know Trixie will be spotted by Pinkie.

I can just about catch as Trixie throws down a smokebomb on the stage, causing it to fill the whole stage with smoke, but keep my main focus on the edge of the bleachers.

Sure enough, Trixie seems to appear in a puff of smoke a few feet from it, her posture as she appears and runs indicating she’d been running prior.

I nod to Rogue and Kitty.

We move towards the stage. As we get there, the girls are pulling out of their group hug.

Soon as Rainbow spots me, she frowns.

“And where were you this whole time?!” she points an accusing figure at me. “You realize we got trapped under the stage for hours, right? If you’d been here, protecting us, like Twilight said you were here to do, we’d have never been trapped in the first place.”

“Correction,” I fold my arms. “Twilight told you I was here to protect you girls from the MRD, which, with Rogue and Kitty’s help, I did.”

Suddenly, the mood changes to uneasy shock.

“The MRD were here?” Applejack asks nervously. “When?”

“While you were all… beating those Sirens with magic music?” Kitty says, looking confused. “Ya know, even for us, that is just weird.”

“That final performance kinda sold it to them you girls aren’t mutants,” Rogue smirks, folding her arms. “Once they saw that giant magic horse in the sky, the MRD ran for it with their tails between their legs.”

“They had tails?” Twilight asks, puzzled.

Sunset, Spike and myself all facepalm, Spike responding, “It’s a figure of speech, Twilight.”

“Oh,” Twilight’s face turns pink. “Right.”

“Now, we need to speak with the one mutant who is here, then 23 needs to come with us to Xavier’s school,” Rogue says, glancing to me and I nod. “We need to get to the bottom of why she ended up in our purple friend here’s world to begin with.”

Twilight looks surprised. “23, you’re staying here?”

I nod, folding my arms. “For now, at least. I don’t exactly plan on making it permanent, but there’s tons of things we don’t understand and we gotta get to the bottom of them first. And, we can only do that in this world.”

Especially that memory and figuring out what was so bad about the future Laura had to travel back in time to another world to stop it.

“Well, I’m sad to see you go, but, know you’re welcome back in Equestria any time, 23,” Twilight comes over and hugs me… which I awkwardly return.

We say our goodbyes to the others and head off, myself following Trixie’s scent.

It stops in the parking lot, though a fainter version heads off.

“Guess she caught a cab?” Kitty suggests.

I sigh in frustration, rubbing my temples. “Frankly, Trixie is going to be hard to track down. Without some of the other X-Men, getting her alone to talk is going to prove a lot harder. If wed gotten to her during the Battle of the Bands, it would’ve been much easier.”

“Either way, it seems her power is hidden thanks to how much she likes using those smokebombs,” Rogue puts a hand on my shoulder. “From what I’ve seen, she’s someone with a flare for the dramatic?”

I nod, sighing again. “Yeah. She’s a performance magician. Honestly, I’m kinda dreading telling her she’s a mutant, because I hate to think how much bigger her head’s gonna get after that.”

Rogue gives me a sympathetic look. “Well, in the meantime, let’s go back to the mansion. The other X-Men are certainly gonna be interested in meeting you, 23.”

“Especially your dad,” Kitty says, snickering. “Daddy Logan. Who’d have ever seen that happening?”

We head back to the Black Bird, though I make a point to meet with Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna, telling them to keep an eye on Trixie for her safety and Rogue giving them the X-Men’s number, in case they’re ever needed and Forge lifts us off, us flying off towards upstate Neigh York.

Time to start getting some answers.

___________________________________________________________

The Black Bird lands in the underground hanger and I follow Rogue and Kitty out, Forge staying behind to do a check on the systems.

The hatch opens, revealing the big blue hairy form of Hank Beast Mccoy.

“Ah, welcome back, ladies. Things went… well… I take it?” he asks, taken aback when he sees me. “Is… is this the mutant Cerebro detected? She seems… different than from what Jean described.”

“No, she ain’t the mutant we’d been looking for,” Rogue says, glancing to me, “but, she’s more important right now.”

“Oh, really?” Beast looks to me, intrigued. “And just what, my dear, is so fascinating about you, if you don’t mind my asking?”

I just hold up my right fist, my claws coming out.

I have to hold back a small laugh as Beast’s face goes blank.

“Yeah,” Kitty grins, putting her hands on my shoulders. “And if that’s not shocking enough, she’s actually Logan’s—”

A snarling yell cuts her off, as I’m tackled and go for a tumble as the man I’m now biologically related to himself tries to pin me down.

Reacting on instinct, I use his momentum to kick him off, whirling around, flashing my claws, snarling back.

“Just couldn’t wait for answers, huh, Wolverine?”

He responds by snarling again, his claws coming out and charging at me.

“Logan, stop!” Rogue yells, running between us, causing him to freeze up. “She’s not our enemy! She’s your kid!”

Logan’s face goes from angry, to puzzled, shocked, confused and bewildered so fast, I’m surprised his face didn’t get whiplash.

“She’s— But— What…?” is all he finally manages to get out after several moments.

Kitty comes and stands behind me, hands on my shoulders. “It’s true. She’s got your healing factor, those heightened senses, you name it.”

“She doesn’t remember how she got this way, so attacking her isn’t gonna do anyone any favours,” Rogue says firmly.

Logan looks from her to me, staring for several moments and I think I know what’s going through his mind.

He’s remembering when he saw this world’s X-23 when he and Mystique went to save Christy Nord from Weapon X and my very different appearance is not matching his memories.

“Perhaps we should prove her heritage, before we go any further?” Beast suggests, coming over. “A simple DNA test should settle the matter, hmm?”

Pretty sure a DNA test on someone who everyone knows is a clone won’t yield any information not already obvious from the fact I’m a clone, but, whatever. If it’ll keep Logan from trying to shish kabab my ass, I’m for it.

We make our way to the lab, where I provide a sample of my blood, Logan doing the same so the computer can compare the results immediately, without needing to use any database.

Less than a few moments later, it confirms what was already obvious, I’m Wolverine’s clone.

“Well, it’s like you said, um, 23?” Beast says, turning to me. “Are you sure you don’t want to use an actual name?”

I nod, scowling. “I don’t want to be called Laura, ever. I’m… it’s hard to explain, but that name gives me bad vibes.”

Beast sighs. “Fair enough. One rarely goes wrong when choosing… their… name…? That’s odd.”

“What?” Logan asks, his question causing me to pause as I’d gotten up and was turning to leave to go find Jean to ask about when we can start figuring out my memory dream.

“If, Laur—um, 23 were just your clone, Logan, only your DNA should’ve shown up in the test,” Beast says, sounding confused.

“And I wasn’t?” Logan asks, that question definitely making me more interested in this than what I was before. I’m not just Wolverine’s clone? Who else’s DNA was my body created from?

Beast shakes his head. “While the signs of genetic cloning are indeed there, a second DNA marker was detected. Give me a moment,” he starts typing away. “I’ll see if I can find the matching DNA.”

We wait for several moments, myself and Logan glancing at each other, both equaly tense.

After what feels like forever, Beast goes “Ah ha,” indicating the computer found a match.

“So?!” Logan and I say in unison.

“The computer has a match,” Beast says joyfully. “It would seem the other person young 23 here shares her DNA with is… oh, my goodness.”

The hesitation suddenly in his voice is seriously putting me on edge.

“Who is it, Hank?!” Logan says forcefully.

Beast slowly turns around to us and the look on his face makes the already uneasy feeling in my stomach from his tone triple.

“Mariko Yashida.”

I just stare at him… my brain not processing the words he just spoke.

I… But… What?!

Author's Note

Phew.

took me most of the day to do it, with it being 5:50pm as I start this Author's Note, but i kept my promise and Chapter 3 is done and up.

Well, that was quite the ride, huh?

23 gets to fight several MRD, learns someone other than the government is now finding them, we get more hints as to Trixie's mutant powers and we get a massive bombshell, 23 doesn't just have Logan's DNA, she's got Mariko Yashida's too?

How? She's clearly a clone, but, why would Weapon X have merged Mariko's DNA with Wolverine's? There can't be any strategic reason.

What logic could there be is basically making what they intended to use as a weapon Logan and the woman he wasn't able to marry's child?

Weapon X must be losing their minds!

Unless... it wasn't Weapon X?

Could someone else have been involved? But, who? How? And why?

Could it in any way related to the strange memory dream 23 had while unconscious?

Will Professor X or Jean be able to shed some light on the matter when they try to help 23 with her memories?

...

Or, will any answers just lead to more questions?

And just what are the X-Men going to do about Magneto and Quicksilver?

You'll have to wait and see, as it's almost past 6pm and i not only want to get dinner, i want to beat the Dragonite Raid in Pokémon Violet that started today as well as catch a shiny Hisuian Sliggoo.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter and, til next time, stay safe, stay clean and goodnight everybody

Chapter 5

___________________________________________________________

“What’s the story, Jean?” Bobby aka Iceman asks, leaning on the edge of the desk behind him.

We’re inside the lab underneath the school.

It’s been about an hour since Jean tried to help me with the memory dream I have of Laura’s final moments before I wound up in her body.

It had taken a while for the two of us to really recover and process what we’d been through inside my head.

I’m still internally freaking out about the whole changing the future twice thing. I can only imagine how much worse it is for Jean.

Sure, she seems okay with learning her world was a cartoon in my world and that this version is blended with another cartoon’s world altogether, but having that piled on top of learning you’d avoided another apocalyptic future without even knowing it?

Everyone has a breaking point. I just hope Jean’s is still far off enough she’ll have properly processed all this prior to hitting it.

Everyone is here, aside from Scott and Storm, whom Jean informed me she’d left to deal with the matters they’d been involved in at the time to come and help me.

“What’s the situation with… her?” Logan points at me with folded arms as he leans against the wall.

Jean is standing in front of everyone, myself standing next to her. I’m still just wearing my pants, shirt and socks. Didn’t feel it was worth getting on all my clothes for this.

Plus, it will probably lead to less tension if I don’t look more like I’m itching for a fight despite still being exhausted thanks to Rogue’s drain of my powers on top of the mental exhaustion of the memory dive… well, no more looking for a fight than natural.

I am still Logan’s clone, after all.

Tildi is watching me with concern. Wonder if I made a friend in her?

She needs better taste. Being Logan’s clone, I doubt I’m a good candidate for her friend group, when she gets one after the school reopens, anyway.

Jean takes a deep breath and looks around at everyone.

“Okay, so, Hank, would you like to go first?”

I glance at her with a cocked eyebrow. Since when was Beast involved in our explanation?

The mentioned blue-haired mutant is sitting by one of the computers and presses a button, a holoscreen appearing… displaying me? Huh?

“Well, after the initial tests on her DNA, I had 23’s body scanned while she was unconscious and the results are quite interesting.”

The image changes to a display of my muscles, statistics I don’t bother pretending to understand with arrows pointing to specific parts of my body following.

“As you can see here, according to her medical scan, she’s no ordinary fourteen-year-old mutant,” icons flash near my muscles. “As she was created from Logan’s DNA, as can be expected, 23 here possesses a strong durability, heightened senses, reflexes, agility and some animal-like attributes.”

A snort from Bobby earns him a scowl from both myself and Logan and a hard nudge in the thigh from Kitty’s elbow.

Beast coughs, continuing. “Yes, well, while her skeleton, much like her musculature, can withstand greater pressures than a normal human skeleton, unlike Logan, she can only withstand so much weight and pressure without sustaining fractures, as she does not possess an Adamantium skeleton, only claws in her hands and, also unlike Logan, her feet. If not for her healing factor, I would be far more concerned by this revelation, myself.”

My claws briefly highlight.

“While not to extraordinary levels, like, say Juggernaut, 23’s physical strength is quite high. At my best estimate, her body is at the height of how strong a human her age can be. Highest round off I could make of her strength? I’d wager she could lift about eight hundred pounds.”

Another snort from Bobby earns him glares.

“What?” he says, giving me a smug look. “She may technically be Wolverine’s daughter, but you expect me to believe she can really be that strong, at her age?”

My claws come out as I snarl. “Wanna go a round in the Danger Room, one on one to test me, Iceboy?!”

I’m not proud of any of the things Beast just listed about my abilities, hell, some of them honestly took me by surprise, but I’ll be damned if I let someone with Ben 10’s teen voice mock my strength just because of my physical age.

“Getting back to the topic at hand,” Beast says, it not escaping my notice there’s slight exasperation in his tone, “23’s makeup suggests she is not just a random child. She was created as she is for a purpose.”

“A purpose, at least in part, I can tell you,” Jean gets everyone’s attention back on her.

“Okay, Jean,” Logan nods, his expression respectful, “what’s the kid’s deal?”

Jean glances at me and I nod.

She takes a deep breath, then begins.

“First of all, 23 doesn’t come from our time period. She’s from an unknown number of years in the future.”

At that, Bobby, Kitty and Tildi’s eyes widen.

“Whoa, wait. She’s from the future?” Kitty gasps, pointing at me with disbelief. “How? Why?”

“It’s a little difficult to fully answer,” Jean says apologetically, “due to the natural psychic resistances 23 has, I couldn’t fully restore the last memory she has from the future, but I was able to grasp several key aspects.”

I give another nod before she continues. She clearly wants to keep making sure I’m okay with what info she offers. The wrong piece of info could lead to disaster.

“Well, from within the memory, 23 was going by Laura in the future. In the memory, she was with three other mutants. A man named Cable, who was missing his left arm, a young green mutant boy who was also missing an arm, his right and the head of a mutant named Apocalypse.”

“Apocalypse? Sounds like a friendly guy,” Logan says sarcastically.

“What’s with all the missing limbs in the future?” Bobby asks frowning. “That Cable guy’s missing an arm, the green kid’s missing an arm too and this Apocalypse guy is missing everything but his head? How was he even alive if he was just a head?”

Jean sighs and I have a hunch it’s out of frustration from Bobby’s constant interruptions.

“Thanks to information from when Rogue and Kitty first met 23 and what I could glimpse both in the memory and her reactions to the memory, in the future she’s from, those three Sirens that were defeated at Canterlot High School won in her future, taking over the world and seeming to cause an even worse outcome than the future we all managed to stop.”

Logan’s eyes widen. “What? You mean, everything we did, was for nothing?”

“Sort of,” Jean nods. “See, it wasn’t through any fault of our own. When 23 became aware of her surroundings in our time, she wasn’t actually here, in our world.”

“World?” Bobby cocks an eyebrow.

I choose to answer this time.

“At the entrance to Canterlot High in Canterlot, there’s a horse statue,” I fold my arms. “At the base of that statue, normally, once every thirty moons, a portal opens to another world directly parallel to this one. In that world, ponies and other quadrupeds are the dominant species.”

“But, what does this other world have to do with the future you came from?” Kurt asks, perched atop a chair.

I close my eyes and sigh. “In that world, there’s a very important pony, an Alicorn Princess, named Twilight Sparkle.”

Brief snickers from Bobby are cut off by a grunt and I press on.

“You see, in that world and this one, there are aspects called The Elements of Harmony. This world’s Elements were dormant for countless years, until several months ago.”

“Wait a minute,” Hank frowns, rubbing his chin in thought. “I remember my instruments picking up unusual energy readings from the Canterlot area several months ago.”

I nod. “That was the night of Canterlot High’s Fall Formal, where Twilight Sparkle, having travelled to this world through the portal, worked alongside five other girls and awakened this world’s Elements of Harmony in order to save a Canterlot High student, Sunset Shimmer, after she’d been corrupted by ill-used magic.”

“Is this Miss Shimmer alright?” Hank asks, seeming quite concerned, bless him.

Rogue chooses to answer. “Yeah, she’s fine. Met her when we ran into 23 there. She even somehow awakened her own Element o’ Harmony, from what 23’s told us.”

“Wait. Will these Elements still work now?” Kurt asks, looking worried. “Should we need them, since this Princess Twilight Sparkle lives in the other world, wouldn’t they be inert again?”

I smirk. Tired as I am, this feels kinda nice. Seeing the X-Men confused and intrigued by Equestria Girls lore is kinda funny.

Makes me feel more normal, after everything.

I shake my head. “There’s no need to worry, Kurt. There’s another version of Twilight right here in this world.”

To the confused looks, I briefly explain how most everyone being in this world has an Equestrian counterpart, Sci-Twi being Twilight’s.

“Given time, I’m sure Miss Sparkle will be drawn to those other girls,” Beast nods, thinking it over. “So long as the need for those Elements don’t show up before then, we should be fine.”

I can feel Jean’s mind staring at me.

We can’t just tell them everything, but she clearly is not approving my withholding information either.

“Anyway,” I hold up a hand, “getting back on topic. In the future Laura’s from, in the other world, Twilight was murdered by a being called Lord Tirek. The details aren’t important right now, but, with her dead, Twilight didn’t come to this world to help CHS stop the Sirens, which is how they took over the world.”

Jean continues for me. “After Laura was sent to the past, 23 found herself in Equestria and, during a battle between Twilight and Tirek, 23 noticed something that made her uneasy, something that told her something bad was happening.”

“Um, this might seem like an odd question,” Tildi holds up a hand. “But, if 23 knew Tirek killed Princess Twilight in the past, why didn’t she just know that when the two were fighting?”

Jean and I sigh, her answering. “Because, when 23 found herself in Equestria’s past, she didn’t remember why she was there. Her memory had been erased upon arrival in that world.”

Logan stiffens.

Yeah. Knew the mention of memory erasure, especially when it pertains to what is essentially his daughter, would get his attention.

“So, it was her gut instinct, the background memory of what she knew, that made her act?” Rogue asks.

Jean nods. “Because 23 stopped Tirek from killing Princess Twilight during a point where she was vulnerable, she was able to turn the tide and defeat him, meaning she was alive to come here and stop the Sirens, changing our future.”

“And we never even woulda known it,” Logan chuckles, nodding to me. “Nice work, kid.”

“Um… wait. I just realized something,” we all look to Kitty, who’s frowning slightly. “Doesn’t 23 hate being called Laura?”

There’s a slight pause as glances are shared around the room.

Kitty continues. “When we met up with 23 in Canterlot, she made it very clear, on several occasions, she wanted us to only call her 23, never Laura. But, Jean, you kept referring to her as Laura whenever talking about the future, so, what’s the deal? She even referred to herself as Laura, and why in the third person?”

All eyes turn to Jean and myself and I sigh.

Folding my arms, I look away, so I’m not meeting anyone’s eyes. “Because, technically speaking, I’m not Laura.”

To the confused voices, Jean puts a hand on my shoulder.

“You see, 23, in spirit, isn’t Laura. 23 is someone else, from a completely different world from ours or Princess Twilight’s.”

“Wait. What does that even mean?” Tildi asks, sounding confused and worried… and that makes me feel hurt, for some reason.

“In the future, the green boy from 23’s memory seemed to have a mutant power that allowed him to send Laura through time, back to the past. However, something seemed to go wrong with the process, likely due to his powers being so weakened and it somehow pulled 23’s essence from their universe and into Laura’s body. However, there being a version of Laura in 23’s world, she knew who she’d become once she had her senses.”

“Why were the green mutant boy’s powers so weakened?” Kurt asks… though, from his expression, I think he already has an idea.

“If the Sirens had control over the world in Laura’s future, it would stand to reason that, at some point, they found a way to either weaken or drain mutant powers for their own gain,” Hank says, rubbing his chin. “Since he and Cable were missing an arm and that Apocalypse was missing everything but his head… I shudder to think how it was done.”

“So, what you’re saying is, she’s not the same Laura,” Logan says, looking at me with a bit more of a firm expression. “This kid isn’t the same person, just someone puppeting a dead shell?”

Wow. Thanks for that lovely image now implanted in my head, there, Logan. Love you too, Dad.

“23 shouldn’t be blamed for possessing Laura’s body,” Jean says quickly, keeping her hand on my shoulder. “None of this was her fault. She didn’t ask to have her essence dumped into Laura’s body.”

Logan turns and leaves, everyone sighing.

“Considering he’s been wondering how to think of you since finding out about your DNA, I can’t say I’m too surprised by that reaction,” Beast says, shaking his head, before looking to me with a kind smile. “Don’t worry, Laur— I mean, 23. Given time, I’m sure Logan will be less hostile.”

Bobby scoffs, folding his arms. “It’s Logan. Don’t count on it — ow!”

___________________________________________________________

A knock at the door makes me open my eyes.

After everything was talked about down below, I’d come back to the room I woke up in, it clearly being one I’d been given for during my time in this world, drawing the curtains, leaving the room in semi darkness, and just laid down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.

It’s not like there’s much in the room to look at. A bed, a dresser, a closet currently void of clothing and a small radio with a digital clock on the bedside table to my right and a carpeted floor.

I’d just been laying here with my eyes shut, going over everything, trying to piece together what I know about this world, both from Wolverine and the X-Men and EQG.

Now that I had the time to think and I know why I found myself as 23 in Equestria… I’m honestly not sure what I should do next.

Now I know I don’t need to hang around to prevent a horrible future from happening due to having already unintentionally prevented it back when I fought Tirek… what point is there in my hanging around?

I mean, I guess there’s the Friendship Games. Maybe I can prevent Sci-Twi from having to deal with the Midnight Sparkle trauma?

Then again, it is something that gives her and Sunset something directly in common, something only they can understand about each other…

It was during those musings the knock came.

“Come in,” I say lazily, slowly pushing myself up into a sitting position.

The door opens slowly and Tildi slips her head through, looking unsure. “Is… is it alright if I come in?”

I sigh, giving a small smirk. “Pretty sure the last thing I said was “come in”, right?”

“Oh— I— um— right,” she nods, blushing and comes in, closing the door behind her.

There’s silence for a moment as she just stands by the door.

I prop my elbow on my knee, leaning my head into my fist. “I assume you had a reason to come in other than just stand there in awkward silence?”

She blinks, blushing again, before looking away, concerned. “Um… you’re, still you, right?”

I blink… a bit taken aback by that question. “Um… yes? What do you mean, exactly?”

“I mean, you’re still the same you who comforted me before, right?” she looks to me with determined concern. “That was you, not you trying to pretend to be Laura?”

It takes a few seconds for what she’s asking to process, before I lift my head up and nod. “I’ve honestly never pretended to be Laura. Didn’t see a point. I just never mentioned how I wasn’t the real her.”

“Stop!” I’m taken aback again as she points at me, her expression now firm. “Don’t do that!”

“Uh, do what?” I ask, very confused.

She points harder at me. “Saying you’re not the real Laura. Just because you’re not the original, it doesn’t make you any less the real you! Understand?”

I blink, before being unable or care to hide the smile that forms on my face. “Thanks, Tildi.”

“No problem,” she grins, before coming over, climbing onto the bed and crawling over until we’re sitting opposite each other. “So, is it really true? You’re from another world?”

I nod, leaning back, propping myself up with my hands flat on the bed. “Well, yeah. In my world… mutants are both well known, but not.”

“Huh?” she frowns, cocking her head to the side.

I think for a moment, before elaborating. “I mean, in my world, we know about mutants, but we don’t have news reports about them or anything like that?”

“You mean you live in a world without prejudices? You don’t have groups form to specifically target people for being born how they are?” Tildi’s eyes light up and she sighs. “Sounds like your world was a paradise.”

I sigh sadly, shaking my head. “No, unfortunately. We do have those, far more than I’m comfortable admitting, honestly. They just weren’t going after mutants.”

“Oh,” Tildi’s expression sadden and she sighs again. “Guess all universes have problems, huh?”

I nod.

“Are you… planning on going back?”

I cock an eyebrow at her.

“To your world, I mean,” Tildi looks to me, worried. “Now that you know you stopped the horrible future Laura wanted to stop… are you going home?”

I give a sad chuckle. “Can’t. Princess Twilight looked into it and I’m stuck like this. Whatever went wrong with the time travel and dimension hopping power used on Laura, it locked me into her body. I couldn’t return to my original body, if it still exists, even if I wanted to. And going back to my world as a mutant would not go well, trust me.”

“So, you’ll be staying here?!” her eyes light up again.

I give a reassuring smile as I shake my head. “I have responsibilities back in Equestria. I’ll come to this world as often as possible and stay for as long as I can each time, but my main stay will be Equestria.”

“Oh,” she says, looking downcast.

I watch her for a moment, before putting a hand on hers.

She looks up and I give her a reassuring smile again. “To be fair, I’m not going back for some time. I need to keep up to date on things at CHS for a while on Princess Twilight’s behalf. Plus, there’s a mutant at CHS who I’ll need to keep an eye on.”

Her eyes widen. “Another mutant? What’s her power?”

I take my hand back and rub my chin. “From what I observed, best guess is something like Kurt’s teleporting.”

Tildi’s expression becomes worried. “Is it safe for her to be there on her own? What if the MRD see her using her powers?”

I can’t help chuckling at that, folding my arms and leaning back against the wall. “Honestly, it’s thanks to who she is that I think it’ll be a long time before, if ever, the MRD figure out she’s a mutant from her using her powers.”

To her puzzled look I explain how Trixie’s teleports seemed to generate puffs of smoke and, thanks to her flare for dramatics as a stage magician and her frequent use of smokebombs for exits, she’s unintentionally hiding her powers.

Anyone seeing her teleport will just think she’s really good at her stage magic.

Well, as long as she doesn’t do something like teleport from the ground to the top of a nearby building.

That would draw some attention.

We have a good laugh at the idea of Trixie’s bewildered expression as she suddenly finds herself on top of a building, demanding to know how she got up there.

Author's Note

Well, that took a little longer than I'd like to admit, but, here we go.

I was worried I wasn't going to get an update done today, losing my interesting in doing so before midafternoon, but, after a snack around 2pm, I found myself with the drive to try again.

As you can see, the issue is that I needed to find a way to get the information explained to all the X-Men without it just being an info dump that the readers themselves don't actually need, since most of us have watched EQG and Season 4, so don't need it explained to us.

Also, while I learned about it only as I was getting to the part where Tildi enters 23's room, I found out something from my Neighbour that had gone completely over my head due to either spending most of the day at the other end and then here on the computer, typing away.

A couple of plastic bags have been found in a park near our house... filled with flesh and bone remains.

It's unclear if they're animal or human, but... yeah. Not exactly what I was expecting to happen during the start of my days off :twilightsheepish: :applejackunsure:

I can actually hear sirens off in the distance right now as I'm typing this, so... this could be quite the more interesting evening than I'd have originally expected.

So, everyone's on the up and up now, including on exactly who 23 is, instead of going off the idea she's simply Wolverine's daughter from the future and 23 seems to have made a friend in Tildi. How nice for her.

So... what's going to happen now?

What will 23 get up to while she tries to figure out her next move?

Will she go out and explore downtown Neigh York? Might she meet other Marvel heroes, like a certain web slinger?

You'll have to wait and see in the next chapter, because it's almost 6pm and I'm hungry.

Just gonna fix some errors I've noticed in the previous chapter over the week and then I'm off to get some dinner.

Hope you were able to enjoy this chapter and, til next time, stay safe, stay clean and see you later everybody

Chapter 6

___________________________________________________________

Magneto’s ears perked at the sound of the door sliding open.

He did not get up from his seat.

The cage, for lack of a better word, was fine, all things considered.

He had access to a computer (locked out from all main systems, obviously), the chair in which he was seated and a large television if he felt inclined to watch it.

Frustratingly misguided as Charles’ students were, he had to commend them on being at least somewhat hospitable to their prisoners.

He wouldn’t have been as lenient if the roles were reversed.

The room itself being large panels of glass and metal did irk him a little, thanks to the metal collar around his neck preventing him from using his powers.

It was vexing, being impressed and insulted by his treatment at the same time.

“So, to whom do I have the pleasure of being interrogated by?” he called, not turning around. “Are you here to lecture me, Logan?”

“You’ll wish it was my dad after we’re done!”

The newly familiar voice took him completely off guard and he turned in his chair… to see the mutant girl with claws from Canterlot.

She wasn’t wearing shoes or her jacket anymore, but it was definitely her.

Then, her words caught up with him and he remembered what she’d said back in that city.

“You were serious?” he stood up and faced her, his eyes wide. “Wolverine sired a child?”

“Says the old man with three offspring of his own,” she scowled back at him.

He hesitated, then composed himself and nodded. “You’re right, my dear. That was quite insensitive of me. So, to what do I have the pleasure of meeting with Wolverine’s daughter for?”

Her scowl just deepened, becoming an outright snarl. “You are the reason we struggle getting humans to see logic, Magneto. You ruined things and nearly doomed us all, twice!”

Any humorous comment he may have had planned regarding the girl’s similarities to her father were put on pause by her choice of words.

“What do you mean?”

She clenched her fists, her snarl becoming darker. “Charles showed you the future if mutants and humans didn’t start working together. And what did you decide to do after Senator Kelly saw reason and halted his plans? You had him abducted, Mystique take his place and nearly brought the very future you were warned your current actions would lead us into to pass anyway!”

She slammed her fist on the glass, causing him to wince, to his surprise.

The anger in her eyes, he’d never seen such anger, not since… since…

“You let your hatred for humans who are long dead, and no doubt rotting in hell now, dictate your actions and it lead to multiple casualties and even the death of one of us!” she practically screamed at him. “Emma Frost is dead because, thanks to the chaos you caused with those Sentinels you had Mystique send to Genosha, with so few options available due to dealing with both you and The Phoenix, Emma had to give up her life to stop The Phoenix.”

She slammed her hand against the glass again.

“If not for you, the X-Men might’ve been able to rescue Jean and find a way around the release of The Phoenix where no one got hurt and no one died! But, thanks to you and your Sentinels causing the X-Men to crash, they weren’t able to stop The Phoenix being taken by a group of mutants called The Inner Circle and Emma had to make a snap decision to save us all, giving up her life in the process, because of you!”

The venom in her voice was strong.

“You see yourself as mutant kind’s saviour, but, in your hubris, you murdered one of your own! Emma Frost’s blood is on your hands, Magnus!”

However, he got the oddest feeling it was… hiding a different pain. There was anger, but not entirely about all the things she was saying.

“Exactly who are you, my dear?” he finally asked after several minutes of careful consideration. “How are you Wolverine’s daughter?”

She pulled back, her snarl somehow deepening further.

“I’m from a future you made worse!”

He paused… as her words slowly filtered through and properly processed.

“From… a future?” he finally managed, confused.

She held up her fists, her claws coming out.

“I’m from the future that was the original end result of what you did, Magneto! I was sent back in time to stop that future… a future where you murdered my father!”

His eyes widened. “What? I would never murder Wolverine! He and I may have our differences, but he is one of Charles’ children! I could never take any of their lives! And, before you correct me, my dear, Emma Frost was not one of his children,” he added, seeing her lips tense. Besides, he still wasn’t sure what she meant by Emma Frost’s death being his doing.

The girl screamed with rage and looked like she was about to slice through the glass he was honestly glad now was separating them, but stopped herself at the last second, growling like a wild beast.

“You took the Adamantium out of his body!” she growled, before snarling as she punched the glass. “Whatever you did, it made his mutation evolve further. Or, rather, devolve! He became a beast and nothing more. You basically murdered his very soul, leaving nothing but a husk!”

Magneto just stared at her, bewildered.

He… he would never have done something so barbaric.

Surely, this girl must have gotten things confused… right?

The two stared at each other for several moments, before the girl’s eyes wavered and she seemed to think of something.

She gave a growling sigh and stepped back, eyes closed, head bowed down, fists clenched at her sides.

“I’m not doing a good job of explaining this, am I?”

He made no motion to correct her, which she seemed to have wanted and continued.

“In the future I’m from, after the X-Men stopped you and The Phoenix, three new villains rose from the ashes of that nightmare and took over the entire world.”

Villains? Had she really used the term “villains”?

Then again, she was young. Perhaps that was her best way of coping with whatever had happened.

The girl gave a dark chuckle. “Funny, you saw humans as the villains, the ones who would rob you of yours and every other mutant’s freedoms, but three mystical Sirens did it instead.”

“Sirens?” Magneto could not help back cock an eyebrow at that.

“They used the power of their voices to control the entire planet… including you,” the girl pointed ominously at him. “They made you pull the metal right off Logan’s bones… and you didn’t resist them.”

“No, I… I can’t have. I wouldn’t have!” Magneto hurried forward, placing his hands on the glass. “That’s barbaric!”

She looked at him coldly. “You didn’t have a choice. You refused to work with the X-Men and humans to stop them and, in your naïve efforts to take them on alone, they took control of your mind and forced you to attack others. Friends and family alike. No one was spared.”

“Family?” his eyes were wide with fear.

“All because you refused to listen. You refused to think working with humans could work, deciding mutants needed to be the victors.” She scoffed. “In the end, everyone lost. Think about that, Magneto… while you still have the free will to do so.”

She turned and walked off, ignoring his cries for her to stop and further explain, the door sliding shut behind her.

___________________________________________________________

“Nice performance, kid.”

I turn as the door closes behind me, cutting off Magneto’s cries.

Logan is standing in the steel hallway, Tildi beside him.

I give a light shrug. “Spinning a good yarn with the performance to boot was a skill I was quite good at back in my world. I even once considered getting into acting, but real life held me up there.”

“So… none of what you told Magneto was true?” Tildi asks, concerned. “Wolverine doesn’t… go feral in the future Laura came from?”

I sigh, folding my arms. “To hell if I know. I only have that one memory of Laura’s. Beast and Jean helped me come up with most of it.”

“That thing about my Adamantium, though?” Logan cocks an eyebrow at me.

I shrug again. “Someone once theorized removing your Adamantium, which keeps your mutation under control, does the opposite. It’s not too different from Sabertooth’s and we know how feral he is compared to you. Probably how Weapon X have kept him under control all this time. With each passing day, his mutation takes a little more of his cognitive thinking away, until he’ll be a mindless beast.”

Logan and I stare each other down.

After a while I snort, shrugging as I look away. “At least now Magento might actually think before he acts. After stopping however nightmarish a future my body’s from, I sure as hell won’t let him fuck up the one coming.”

Any further talk is cut off by a door opening and we turn as Jean is walking out of the room Professor X is being cared for in.

“Anything?” Logan asks, far nicer than he was talking to me.

Jean shakes her head. “I wasn’t able to contact him. Either he’s not checking in with Cerebro when we are… or something keeps him from doing so.”

“Well, if the future’s good, I can’t say I’m surprised,” the two turn to me.

I fold my arms. “Charles was warning you all to prevent a horrible future. If he’s not contacting you, it means things are going well. Plus, you’ve likely told him in the future when or if he ever contacted you and he’d be keeping that in mind.”

“So, no news is good news, is what you’re saying?” Logan folds his arms as he looks at me.

I nod, then turn and leave, Tildi following after.

___________________________________________________________

Jean gave Logan a very disappointed look. “Logan, please, you have to stop treating her like that. I know it’s only been a day, but 23 is doing her best.”

“How can I not, Jean?” he asked, looking to her. “You both said so, the soul inside that body isn’t the one that was born in it. She’s somehow mine and Mariko’s daughter, but whomever my daughter was is gone and she’s what replaced her.”

Jean looked at him for several moments, before sighing. “This isn’t about 23, is it, Logan?”

He blinked, taken aback. “What?”

“This is about you and the man you used to be, when you and Mystique were together,” Jean said firmly.

Logan’s eyes widened, before he scowled. “Don’t go reading my mind like that.”

“It was impossible not to, Logan,” Jean retorted firmly. “Your mind practically screams it whenever you look at her. You see yourself in her, in every way. You both have so much in common, yet you treat that as if it gives you less.”

He looked down in frustration, turned around and slammed a fist against the wall, resting his head against it.

Logan heaved a long sigh.

“Who was I before, Jean? Am I just some random soul that ended up in James’ body after what Weapon X did to him? Do I have the right to be called his name?”

“If you feel this way, maybe you should think of it from her side of things.”

Logan turned to see Jean giving him a firm, sad look.

“Logan, she took you into consideration right from the start. She refused to have anyone call her Laura out of respect for both her and you.” Jean walked up as he turned around and put her hands on his shoulders. “She’s lost everything and doesn’t even feel like she’s allowed to have what she could now. She wants to put her sadness of losing her old life aside and embrace this one… but knows that’s your choice as much as hers.”

Jean pulled back, keeping her gaze with Logan.

“23 wants to feel welcomed. She pushed it aside for others, is trying to figure out her place, in this world and Equestria, but she can’t do that if you shut her out. You’re the closest thing she has left to family now, Logan. If you take that away from her… what does she have left?”

Jean turned to walk away, before glancing back at him.

“She’s done everything we asked of her and even helped keep Magneto in check. If all she does is what she decides are missions, what life would she really have? She needs time and understanding. Just… think about it, okay?”

She walked off, leaving Logan alone in the hallway, his thoughts his only company.

Author's Note

So... I realized i hit a MASSIVE roadblock, since I hadn't addressed Magneto or Quick Silver since their capture in Canterlot.

So, i thought i'd do something a little different before moving on to the rest of the story, give Magneto something to think about other than his "I was right and eveyrone just needs to realize that" mentality he clearly had by the end of the show itself, with how he tried to justify to Wanda that having Sentinels stage a fake attack, injuring and possibly killing many mutants in Genosha as the right thing to help mutants.

And i initially was going to have 23 reference the Nazis by name, but, thought it better she point out the obvious fact instead: The Nazi humans her tormented him, his family and his people, are long dead. treating the rest of humanity with the same feelings he has to those now likely rotting in hell doesn't do him or anyone else any good.

it just further sows hatred and mistrust, until everything is destroyed.

Next chapter, things can actually move forward.

23 will be rested, fully able to use her abilities and start to investigate the world she'll now be spending a good amount of her time in.

Whom will she learn is in this world?

Which version of Spiderman is swinging around Neigh York?

Will she recognize the Avengers in this world?

Will she meet a certain mutant who knows more about her than she does?

You'll have to wait and see.

thanks to this long weekend, i might be doing another (definitely needed) update to another fanfic, one where i have a rough idea how to move forward.

its ending's blueprint is in my mind, it's just fleshing out that fic's world to get to that ending that's the tricky part.

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

Chapter 7

___________________________________________________________

I sigh as I walk with Tildi down the hall, my arms folded.

Now what am I supposed to do?

When I got asked to speak with Magneto shortly after I’d gotten up this morning, I hadn’t exactly planned on what to do after the fact.

“Hey, girls. Good morning.”

We stop and turn as Kitty comes towards us in her casual wear.

“Good morning, Kitty,” Tildi smiles, while I just nod in acknowledgement.

“What’s say we spend the day out instead of inside, huh?” Kitty puts her hands on her hips, grinning eagerly.

At once, Tildi’s mood changes. She leans closer to me, her head down.

I glance at her, then Kitty, who sighs, folding her arms.

“Tildi hasn’t left the grounds since we rescued her from the MRD. She… she’s worried she’ll get captured again, what with her family not exactly…”

I nod, before looking to Tildi and put a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, stay with me and nothing bad will happen. Any MRD asshole who tries?” I hold up my other fist, my claws coming out.

“Though it would be better if we just avoided those kinds of situations altogether,” Kitty says quickly, the strain in her tone making it clear she doesn’t like my implications of violence as my response.

I’m Wolverine’s daughter, Kitty. What do you expect? It’s not like I can take after my mother.

Tildi stares back anxiously at me for several moments, before looking away. “Well… I guess. But, we don’t have any clothes to wear out,” she indicates to me and then herself. “I mean, you’ve got your clothes, but, should you just go out in them when the MRD saw you wearing them?”

“Got ya covered, girls,” Kitty snaps her fingers, pointing. “We meant to tell you the day 23 arrived, Tildi, but, well, with her arrival, things kinda got away from us. We got you some new clothes. And, since you and 23 are about the same size...”

I can’t help scowling. I better not dislike where this is going.

___________________________________________________________

“See, Tildi. There’s nothing to worry about,” Kitty says encouragingly, turning around as we walk.

Tildi holds tighter to my arm as she glances around at all the people passing us.

We’re in a mall in downtown Neigh York, it reminding me a little of the one from my country in my world I would visit regularly due to passing through to work... whatever my job was, though the one I’m used to was outside.

Tildi is wearing a pink jacket over a black shirt and a white skirt, while I’m wearing a collared white shirt and red skirt with belt, both of us wearing sandals.

Not exactly my first pick for what I’d want to go out wearing, but a change of pace from my usual leather is still a change, I guess.

Kitty had suggested I wear a jacket too, but I wasn’t feeling the cold as much as she and Tildi were, so opted for just the shirt. I liked the cold back home. Heck, last year I wore my summer clothes all throughout winter.

Kitty takes us to a clothing store to try new outfits. Well, for me to try them, anyway. I couldn’t rely on borrowing Tildi’s all the time.

Shame Rarity had yet to finish some new clothes for me before I came to this world.

We spend a few hours, myself choosing what I feel best suits me, despite Tildi and Kitty’s attempts to get me to try some more girly attire.

I’m Wolverine’s daughter, damnit. Girly is not how I’m going to dress.

Hard to be intimidating to your opponent's wearing a frilly pink skirt and shirt, for fuck’s sake.

As we exit the clothing store with my choices, we head for the food court… where we start hearing shouting?

Great. Just what we needed, a Karen losing their shit over their order not being exactly how they ordered it down to the tiniest crumb being out of place.

As we enter the food court, however, it’s not just one Karen, but a whole group of them… but they’re not complaining to any of the food sellers.

They’re standing in front of a large screen overlooking the food court, on it is some random female news presenter I don’t recognize and… Captain America from Earth’s Mightiest Heroes: The Avengers? The hell?

“So, your opinion is that Senator Kelly wasn’t wrong to halt his Mutant Registration Program and end Project Sentinel?” the news reporter is asking.

Captain America nods. “Mutants have a right to live in this country just as much as any of us. I honestly don’t see why people see a difference between mutants and humans.”

“Fascist!” one of the males in the group of Karens shouts, tossing a bottle towards the screen… that misses.

Great. It’s a gaggle of drunk Karens, male and female alike. Even better. Suddenly, I’m not so hungry.

“Calling Captain America, of all people, a fascist?” Kitty snorts, her arms folded. “How pathetic.”

I can’t disagree with her. But, racism will do that to an idiot.

“You don’t see any differences between humans and mutants?” the reporter asks as we move to sit down. “Even with the obvious evidence of how different they are to humans like you and I?”

Captain America gives her a firm look. “Ma’am, if you think about it,I’m a mutant. I used to be a regular human, but then, I became the superhuman soldier I am now by my DNA being changed. I don’t see any difference between myself and the mutants.”

“Most would say you’re more a mutate than a mutant, though, Captain Rogers,” the reporter holds a pen to her chin. “Since your DNA was altered artificially, not by some natural evolution.”

“Is there really a difference?” Captain America asks incredulously. “Sure, I wasn’t born with the mutant gene, but I still ended up with a mutation, one way or another.”

“So, humans should work with mutants and not against them, that’s what you’re saying?” the reporter asks, an eyebrow raised. “Even despite groups like the Brotherhood of Mutants and all the destruction and mayhem they bring?”

Captain America gets a serious look on his face. “Ma’am, if we judge every mutant by the actions of a few, what does that say about us? The Brotherhood of Mutants regularly talk about getting back at humans as a whole, but that means they’re looking from the same lenses as those who want to punish all mutants for the actions of those like the Brotherhood.”

“Mutant lover!” a man shouts from the group.

We just shake our heads as Kitty orders our food.

Well, Kitty and I shake our heads. Tildi just scoots closer to me. Guess she feels safer with me. Poor kid.

“The truth is, ma’am, that mutants are free Americans, with rights, just like you or me,” Captain America continues, folding his hands together in front of him. “In the war, I fought alongside mutant and human alike. We didn’t care which side of the species we were on, because we were allies against a common enemy. An enemy who saw other humans as a separate species from themselves, an inferior species, that needed to be wiped out.”

“Captain,” the reporter says in a cautious tone, “you’re not suggesting you see similarities between the Nazis and your own fellow humans against the mutants?”

Captain America scowls. “I hate to say so, ma’am, but, yes, I do. Those going after the mutants, saying they don’t belong, that they’re a plague on humanity, a mistake… it disgusts me that I hear that kind of talk all these years after the war. I never thought I’d hear them from my fellow Americans, about other Americans.”

Hate to say it, but… the man’s got a point. An extremely uncomfortable point.

“Traitor!”

“Mutant lover!”

“Go back to the battlefield and day there!”

A loud smashing sound makes Kitty and I stand, Tildi quickly following suit.

“We’re out of here,” Kitty says and neither of us argue.

We head over to the place Kitty placed our order with and get only half what’s already done.

I cross my fingers as Tildi takes my other hand firmly in hers, gripping it tightly.

Please let us get out without a hassle. Please let us get out without a hassle.

“Hey!”

Fuck.

“Keep walking,” Kitty hisses as we take our food and move towards the exit.

“Hold it right there,” Tildi cries out as she’s pulled away from me.

Turning around, I see a man with short-cut brown hair. He’s wearing jeans and a tank top, the latter of which has a bird like symbol, top half ted, bottom half blue, with FoH in huge white letters on the front.

“You’re mutant lovers, aren’t you?” he demands, glaring at Tildi.

“Hey, she’s just a kid! Let her go!” Kitty demands, passing the food to me, leaving both my arms full.

The guy just scowls at Kitty. “Then you should teach the kid better manners, lady.”

The rest of his group yell and jeer at Kitty as if the guy just said something profoundly wise.

“You’re either Friends of Humanity or you’re the enemy,” he says loudly, Tildi whimpering as his grip on her arm tightens.

I snarl, dropping the bags of food, ready to bring out my claws for a fight.

Suddenly, I hear a sound I wasn’t expecting, before a web line comes from the left of my vision, catching the guy’s wrist.

Before he can respond, he yelps in alarm as he’s yanked back, before colliding and sticking to a… web on the wall.

“Now, now,” a voice that makes my eyes widen says, a red and blue figure swinging into view and sticking to the wall several metres up. “Can’t girls just eat in peace, these days?”

It’s Spiderman. But, not just any Spiderman. I recognize that voice. It’s Spiderman from Spectacular Spiderman.

There was always the theory a version of that Spiderman existed in the same universe as Wolverine and the X-Men, but I wasn’t expecting to that to be proven like this.

“Don’t get cocky, Webhead!” a voice says from behind me and I’m taken aback as a hand goes over my mouth and I feel a knife pressing into my back.

Glancing back, I see a dude with a bandana on his head with the same symbol as was on that guy now stuck against the wall has on his shirt.

“The Friends of Humanity have something against the friendly neighbourhood Spiderman?” Spiderman says with obviously fake, overdramatic movements. “I am shocked. Shocked, I tell you.”

“One wrong move, wall crawler and this girl gets it!” the guy behind me snarls, pressing the knife harder into my back.

“23!” Tildi looks at me in fright and I catch a glimpse of a glow in her eyes.

I slightly shake my head, silently indicating for her not to use her powers.

It seems to work, if only because it confuses her, the glow fading before anyone else seems to catch it.

“You’re going to hold that girl hostage?” Kitty asks, before smirking as she folds her arms. “Oh, unwise.”

“What’s so unwise, girly?” he snarls, digging the knife deeper, it not seeming to have caught his notice I’m neither struggling to get free or move my back away from the knife like a regular person would in this scenario. “If she’s not a Friend of Humanity, she’s a traitor. And we all know what happens to traitors.”

“She’s saying it’s unwise because of this!” I shout, thrusting my back towards the knife, it pushing through my shirt and into my flesh as the back of my head collides with his face.

It works. The dude had not expected that at all and it throws him off, giving me time to yank free from his now lose grip and whirl around, grabbing his arm and hurling him over my shoulder, slamming him to the ground.

He cries out in pained confusion, before I step on his chest and glare at the guy holding Tildi’s wrist, my claws coming out.

His and all his fellow mutant hater’s eyes widen at the sight of my claws.

“Wanna mess with me? Do ya, punks?!” I snarl at them. “I’m not my dad. I’m far less restrained.”

I feel vindictive glee as the looks of shocked horror in their eyes grow even deeper at the word “dad”.

Yeah, it’s not exactly keeping my cover, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to let these punks push us around just because we won’t hate mutants like they do.

“I’d say that I’d advise you all to leave while ya can,” Spiderman shrugs, before firing webs at several of them and tossing them into a pile. “But, I’m not one to let those who’d beat up on little girls go unpunished.”

“Alright, alright! Break it up, all of you!”

We turn as three mall security cops come running over.

They look around at us… and I have the bad feeling we’re being seen in the wrong here: Spiderman has multiple people webbed up and I’m standing over a dude with a bleeding nose, my foot on his chest.

At least I had the forethought to quickly retract my claws.

“Sirs, these ladies are innocent,” one of the food court employees comes over, pointing her fingers to the other people. “These ladies were just leaving as these Friends of Humanity people were getting too rowdy and they attacked them because they thought it meant they were mutant lovers.”

I glance at her. Curious. The way she worded that, without mentioning we’re mutants… makes me wonder.

“So, you’re the ones we were called about,” a female officer says, looking none too pleased at the guy under my foot.

“We had a permit to protest here!” the guy says, before snarling as he points up at me. “They should be arrested for existing and disrupting us.”

“Disrupting you by… choosing to leave quietly?” one of the male officers, a black guy, says, folding his arms. His voice kinda reminds me of Bishop. “Since when is choosing to leave quickly disrupting others?”

“Besides which,” the other male officer says (he sounds like Steve Blum on helium, which is just doing my head in), “you’re permit was to protest, not destroy private property and assault others.”

He points and I notice the large screen from earlier has a hole in one of the lower corners, the image flickering around that spot.

“You three ladies better head off,” the female officer says as her male collegue goes over to the webbed up people and she bends down to put cuffs on the one under my foot. “The MRD were already called as we arrived. One of these guys must’ve snitched to them.”

“You too, Spidey,” the Bishop sounding cop says, glancing over at the webhead. “Knowing the Daily Bugle, you’ll get blamed anyway, so best get away so ya don’t give them more to work with.”

“Loud and clear,” Spiderman gives him a two-fingered salute, before looking to us and bowing dramatically. “Have a pleasant rest of your day, ladies.”

“Hold it!” I rush forward, grabbing him by the arm.

“Huh?” he glances back in confusion.

I lean closer, whispering. “You should come by Xavier’s school later. We should probably fill you in on things, Peter.”

His suit’s white eyes go wide.

I nod.

Letting him know I know his identity should let him understand I mean him no harm.

Besides, I need more info now. Knowing this world is a strange fusion of Eqeuestria Girls, Wolverine and the X-Men, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes: The Avengers AND Spectacular Spiderman, I need to get up to date on current events.

Plus, Peter should be aware Norman Osborne is very much alive.

He stares at me for a moment, before frowning and nods, swinging up and away.

“Aw, man. 23, you’re new shirt,” Kitty says and I turn to realize she’s standing behind me.

Glancing over my shoulder, I see a blood stain where the knife pierced my shirt. No wound, obviously.

I shrug. “Eh. I think it adds character. More me, ya know?”

We walk out, heading back for the mansion, deciding we’d had enough fun for one day.

___________________________________________________________

The door to the office opened and a man walked in.

“What?” an accented voice behind the desk asked, the speaker not turning around.

“Sir, we were tailing one of the X-Men, like you ordered,” the man said, reaching into his pocket, pulling out a photograph and putting it on the desk. “We learned something very interesting.”

The chair turned around and the man in it looked down at the photo of a girl with tanned skin standing over a man, twin metal claws protruding from her knuckles.

The man in the chair chuckled. “Interesting. What secrets have you been hiding, Wolverine?”

Author's Note

This is LONG overdue.

I'd honestly meant to get this out two weeks ago, but with my dad suddenly having to go to hospital, i wasn't exactly in the best headspace to write anything.

Not to mention, due to randomly stumbling on a secondhand copy of a region 1 version of 4kidz Winx Club season 2 volume 1 two weeks ago, my brain tried to get back to writing my WInx Club MLP fic, but my needing to really think the next part through kept the creative juices from flowing while the drive was there.

Ya need both at once to get anything done, after all.

So, instead, while it took 2 more days than planned, I got an update this weekend.

The biggest hurdle with this chapter was that 23 and Tildi needed to be out in public, but, unless it was in Canterlot, I wasn't sure how to naturally have 23 go about.

I also had intended for a mugging of sorts to be what gets Spidey on the scene and 23 itching for a fight, but, the more and more I tried on that premise, the less logical it felt.

Then, as I was listening to the Getting Stronger album by Michelle Creber and Black Gryph0n (Gabriel Brown) to try and get the inspiration juices flowing while going to sleep, one line in one of the songs reminded me so much of mutants fighting back against people like Friends of Humanity, that it finally clicked enough to figure out where I was going with this chapter.

I'd also wanted 23 to learn more about the extent of the world around her, so she'd understand she's in a fusion Yostverse (and its implications therein) without her needing to get too focused on researching. She's voiced by Pinkie Pie after all, not freaking Twilight Sparkle.

And she and Tildi needed new clothes. We never did see Tildi outside the outfit she was wearing when the X-Men rescue her in the show after all, do we? And you can't go out in public in your PJs all the time.

Although... it seems like their little outing has caught the attention of someone they probably don't want watching them.

Whom could it be? Will this lead to problems down the line... or just irritations?

You'll have to wait and see, because this is the last update this fic will be getting this year.

I might try updating the Peni Parker or WITCH fics at least one chapter before year's end, but don't quote me on that.

While we've had some very nice days recently, we're literally on the last day of spring and summer weather is some of the worst for writing inspiration. Hot weather is a real inspiration killer.

So, hope you enjoyed this chapter, again, i'll try updating some other fics before years end, but am unclear how that might go and, til next time, stay safe, stay strong and see you later everybody