Ponyville 'Loving Heart' Hospital
One Day Later
In a private room, the Titans met with the three princesses' available. Over the last day they had been doing nothing but... watching them - though in a non-threatening, though still-creepy manner. It was almost as if they were acting like the fangirls did on their homeworld...
Still, business had since turned serious.
"... I apologize, I really do, but I do not believe that the artifact can work in reverse," Luna said sorrowfully.
"And you're sure of this?" Cyborg said, raising an eyebrow.
Celestia nodded. "I'm afraid you're not the first to come through it. The last, from what I know, was over a hundred years ago. He believed he was in another part of his own world, and was afflicted by some sort of strange spell, until he stumbled upon a settlement and learned otherwise."
"By the time he re-found the artifact, a year later, it had vanished," Luna stated. "It appears to only be visible when it is receiving or giving..."
"Alright, but it hasn't been over a year," Cyborg said slowly. "That might give us the time to study it."
"Extensive efforts have been given to the study of it, though they can prove dangerous," Luna said. "Whenever it is active, a number of hostile forces seem to converge on it. None of us have been able to ascertain exactly what it is."
"There are also stories of those attempting to enter it again," Celestia stated. "But none were accepted by it."
Cyborg raised an eyebrow. "Well, no offense, princesses', but we might have an edge on you when it comes to that."
"Cyborg's pretty much a walking lab," Beast Boy grinned, causing Celestia to chuckle. With that, he quickly turned his grin towards Raven. "See! Even a friggin' princess thinks I'm funny."
"Why must people encourage him," she muttered, before taking a deep breath and glancing over everyone. "Look - none of this matters. Even if we did figure out a way to re-enter the artifact, I believe what this... 'Doctor' says about it."
"But that's stupid!" Beast Boy said. "How could our universe be gone?! How could everything just be - poof?!"
Raven gave a deep, long, sigh. "I can just... sense it. Even its border-worlds such as Azarath are gone - tied to it, I guess you could say."
Beast Boy blinked in disbelief. "B-But... p-poof?!" His face turned positively grim. "D-Does that mean everyone is..."
"Dead?" Raven groaned. "Yes, they are all dead."
Beast Boy let loose a squeak, along with the rest of the group.
"But," Raven continued. "They died long before the universe ended. If what the 'Doctor' says is true, this essentially proves that the Big Bounce Theory isn't just conjecture. It's the truth."
"Yayyy - science..." Beast Boy muttered.
Twilight raised an eyebrow. "The Big Bounce theory?"
"Mmmmm," Cyborg said, shaking his head in disbelief. "It's basically a theory our astronomers came up with in... well, a bit before most of my team was born. I don't know how things work here, but in our universe, every single galaxy was destined to move away from each other due to the force of the Big Bang, what created it, and what seems to have created this one. This is until gravity finally takes over, slowly them down and then bringing them back together. Then.... CRUNNNCH! Everything becomes a singularity again... but that's not the end. The singularity should expand again if that's the case..."
Twilight's eyes widened. "Fascinating. If you have time later, do you think you could explain in more detail?" she asked eagerly.
Cyborg raised his eyebrows. "Heh - well, alright. Glad I'm not the only one interested in the end of the universe, as weird as that sounds."
"Mrs. Spock and Robocop, sitting in a tree..." Beast Boy chuckled, only to be elbowed by Cyborg. "Ouch! Duddde!"
Luna blinked in confusion. "Mrs. Spock? Robotcop? Are these other heroes in your home universe?"
"Hell yeah they are!" Beast Boy giggled. "Leonard Nimoy could have probably taken down Slade if he wanted to!"
"Speaking of which," Raven muttered. "I distinctively remember us trailing Slade before we arrived here."
"Yeah- it's weird!" Beast Boy said. "I can't even remember entering the Stargate - er, I mean uh - artifact at all!"
Cyborg nodded. "Neither can I - my video went blank the two days prior to us entering... well... null space, I guess you can say." Cyborg then gave him a blank look. "But wait - you seriously pictured it looking like a Stargate?"
He gave a huff. "Yeah, so what?! What did you see it as, Mr. Roboto?! A hard-drive?!"
"Pffft," Cyborg laughed. "No! It looked exactly like the Artifact from Eureka!"
"Wah?!" Beast Boy groaned. "Seriously?! Stargate SG-1 was so much cooler than that stupid show!"
Cyborg rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah- because aliens would build pyramids out of stone! And to be landing platforms - seriously?"
"So what if it's a dumb concept? The show was so much more fun! The cast had a great dynamic! It's like - Macgyver versus aliens! "
"So was Eureka's!"
As the two continued to argue, Twilight blinked, glancing at Raven with a slight, sarcastic smile. "I have no idea what's going on."
Raven groaned, returning the smile to a small degree. "Welcome to my world."
Twilight grinned. "You mean... welcome to our world! Hehe!"
Raven raised an eyebrow, causing her to simper.
"Er - sorry, jokes were never my strong suite."
Raven gave her another small smile. "At least you admit it."
Twilight blushed ever-so-slightly.
"I have to say," Luna said, glancing at the two arguing Titans curiously. "The legends about your... exploits... fail to speak of your personalities much. I never imagined the Titans to be so... argumentative. Or at least some of them..."
Raven shook her head. "Though I still can't wrap my head around how there are legends about us here, I'm even more shocked that our... colorful personalities weren't the highlight of them."
Luna chuckled slightly, turning towards Princess Celestia. "Tia, is it not strange?"
Celestia, however, didn't respond... to them.
"So Stargate SG-1 is a show about four humans travelling to different planets?" she asked, joining in. "That sounds pretty interesting, actually!"
"Hah!" Beast Boy grinned. "Score one, Beast Boy, Score zip, refridgerator!"
Cyborg gave him a smirk. "Let me tell her what Eureka's about first!"
"Sure!" Celestia beamed.
"Awww man," Beast Boy grunted. "I wish I had brought some of my DVDs with me... and maybe my laptop." He quickly gulped. "Not that I've been downloading movies illegally cus my allowance sucks or anything..."
Cyborg rolled his eyes. "Yuh-huh." He then smirked. "But that doesn't mean we still can't show the princess."
"Huh?" Beast Boy blinked.
"Come on, man!" Cyborg cried, exasperated. "Don't you remember when we were in Siberia? Remember that movie night we had?"
Beast Boy's eyes widened. "Oh yeah - your projector! Duuuude! We can still watch TV! How many episodes did you record?"
"All of them," Cyborg grinned maniacally. "Every. Last. One. Both shows."
"Projector?" Princess Celestia asked, smiling slightly. "By that you mean you can watch your homeworld's shows?"
"Hell yeah, princess!" Beast Boy said, before simpering slightly. "Er - I mean um... indeed, your highness."
She rolled her eyes. "No need to be so formal." She then smirked slightly. "But - would you mind showing me a few of these... 'episodes'? For cultural exchange, of course."
Their eyes widened in glee.
"AWWWWW YEAH!" Cyborg cheered.
"Dude, do you know what this means?!" Beast Boy said. "Princess - you know what this means, right?"
She blinked in confusion.
"Come on, let's tell her, Cy!" he grinned.
They then turned towards her and shouted: "OLDSCHOOL SCIFI CHANNEL MARATHON!"
The two then stood silent, as if waiting from something from Princess Celestia.
"... Um," she stuttered, before slowly grinning. "Ah, here we go." She took a deep breath, and roared: "BOOYA!"
"Awwww yeah!" Cyborg said, bringing up a hoof. "Hoof-bump me, princess!"
She glanced at it awkwardly for a second, before slamming her hoof into his, a fan-girlish glee in her eyes. "I can tell this afternoon is going to be quite interesting!"
The two of them giggled, before leading Princess Celestia to the door. "Wah?! Naw - this is going to be awesome!" Beast Boy shouted.
"MOVIE MARATHON IN THE WAITING ROOM!" Cyborg cried.
Before they exited, Princess Celestia turned to Luna, and with mirth Luna had never seen before, she mouthed:
"I'm going to go watch movies with Beast Boy!"
Luna rolled her eyes, and the trio made their leave.
Raven shook her head in disbelief. "Princess Luna, your sister has no idea what she's getting into."
"Indeed," she chuckled. "I've never seen her wish to... hang out with anyone before. Her work is a top priority to her."
"Yeah," Twilight huffed, with just a hint of envy in her tone. "It's like a new side to her... something I've rarely seen come out. It's like she's constantly putting up this facade as a caring, though serious leader... when she wants nothing more than to be easy-going."
"Well, from what I've heard the two of you talking about, you two seem to be quite the fans of ours," Raven smirked, glancing at Luna.
She blushed in embarrassment. "I'm sorry - I didn't mean to make this awkward..."
"It's alright," Raven said casually, before taking a deep breath. "But yeah... it seems like it's going to be a long shot for us to go home... even if Robin is ready to go by the time the portal closes. None of us want to risk putting him in that thing injured."
"So... you're trapped here," Twilight said, a hint of sympathy in her voice. "I'm sorry... I wish there was something we could do. This must be a drastic change for all of you."
"Yeah," Raven said, with an actual hint of sorrow in her voice. "It doesn't bother me too much: wherever we go, it doesn't change our mission. Yet still... we guarded our city for over five years. It's... weird to lose that role it just like that." She gave a grunt. "However, after that, we spent a lot of time abroad... and nearly our entire rogue gallery was behind bars by the time it was over. So... I think it'll help soften the blow somewhat." She narrowed her eyes. "Save for Slade, of course... the snake in the shadows: always one slither away from us..."
Luna nodded. "The legends spoke of him. He was your arch-nemesis, wasn't he?"
Raven nodded. "He was. He may not have been as powerful as some of the morons we faced, but he just had this way of getting under your skin - even mine. With him, things were personal... He wasn't insane, nor was he stupid. A definite sociopath, but he seemed to embrace that. In fact - though I hate to say it - he was an absolute genius. Everything he did was a small piece of a bigger puzzle, yet his singular goal in the end always seemed to revolve around us..." She shivered slightly. "As creepy as it sounds, it was like we were his... playthings."
Twilight nodded, sighing. "I bet you're glad he's long gone, though..."
"Somewhat," Raven grunted. "He's out of our lives, that's for sure. But... it's hard knowing he could have carried on after we left... who knows what he could have done? And I wouldn't put it past him to figure out a way to cheat death a second time... and we never did figure out who was behind that metal mask..."
Luna suddenly furrowed her brow, glancing away from Raven in deep thought. "The man... in the metal mask?"
Flash!
She shook her head again, gulping. "Neigh! I... see something..."
Celestia threw her an annoyed look. "Amusing... tis nothing-"
She turned her head towards it, her eyes widening.
"T-Tither?"
Then, immediately after, a strange, metallic mask began to slowly form from wisps of light in front of the artifact, then a neck... a torso... legs and a body.
"I told thou! Tis a curse! Yonder comes a demon!"
"Enough with thine cowishness!" Celestia groaned.
Then... the figure emitted a grim, dark laugh.
"Now... isn't this amusing?"
Flash!
"Princess Luna... are you alright?" Twilight asked, nudging her slightly.
She rapidly shook her head, as if trying to get rid of unwanted memories. "I am fine, Twilight Sparkle..."
Raven raised an eyebrow.
Luna quickly coughed. "A-Anyway, Slade... what did he look like?"
She thought for a second, before stating: "Well... we have no idea what he really looked like. He always hid his face behind this strange, orange mask. It looked something like a slasher villain would wear."
"Slasher villain?" Twilight asked.
"You'll probably learn about them from Beast Boy eventually," Raven muttered. "But anyway - aside from that, he had a tough build, and his suit augmented that: it was half-metal, orange and black." She then glanced towards Luna, curiously. "Getting the picture?"
"All too well," Luna said silently.
...
"...Anyway," Raven said, glancing at her suspiciously. "It's strange to think about, but I guess we're going to be living the rest of our lives here..." She glanced away from the duo. "And From the books you brought me, Twilight, and thanks for that by the way-"
"Any time!" she chirped.
"- This seems to be a place without much crime... and even if there were, I still can't figure out how to use my powers..." She brought a hoof to her chin. "It's going to be interesting trying to lead a normal life. But I guess a fresh start would be... nice."
"Well - were not completely without bad guys popping up every so often," Twilight said.
"Yeah - but you and your friends seem to be able to handle them pretty easily," Raven shrugged. "The Elements of Harmony, right?"
She raised an eyebrow. "I wouldn't say easily. A lot of the time we won just by luck..." She then raised a hoof. "Plus - that book was written over two years ago."
"Indeed," Luna nodded. "Since my return four years ago, there has been a drastic rise in criminal activity in all sectors of Equestria. Even Ponyville suffers from it occasionally..."
"As well as from the random monster attacks every other week," Twilight muttered.
"If only the Doctor were here," Luna sighed. "Perhaps he could have figured out a way to transport you back home."
"I keep hearing about this guy," Raven said. "But I've also heard he disappeared?"
"Indeed," Luna nodded. "Sometime during a very... long leave of absence of mine, he arrived in that time period. It is believed he traveled from this one."
"Interesting," Raven mused. "Did he ever return?"
Luna slowly closed her eyes. "It was there where he was believed to have... meant his demise." She then narrowed her eyes in spite. "By a single pony: Captain Black Harness. A fallen champion."
She sagged her head in sorrow.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Raven whispered.
...
"He was a good friend," Luna sighed. "And without him around... there will be even more foes to face." She then gazed back at Raven. "This is why you must keep your mantle. We cannot do everything alone."
Twilight nodded. "And for whatever reason, like Luna said, it seems like there's been more monsters and bad guys popping up now than ever," she said, before smiling at Raven. "But you know what? The Doctor once told me that the artifact chooses who it takes in. Like a living being, almost - he said it can observe and make decisions. You know what I'm getting at, right?"
Raven thought for a moment, before nodding in understanding. "... If it can choose who it wants to go in... perhaps it can choose who goes out," she mused. "And we... happened to be chosen by it. Was it for a good reason, though?"
"I think it was," Luna beamed. "And in either case, Equestria would be honored to have the Teen Titans in our ranks of protectors... if you're willing. You are more than welcome to settle down and live normal lives. Nobody deserves more of a rest." She narrowed her eyes. "But are any of you willing to do so?"
Raven shook her head. "I'm not sure we could if we wanted to, especially not Robin..."
Luna nodded in understanding. "Well then, perhaps we should begin discussing accommodations, even with Robin in bedrest."
Raven managed a chuckle. "Well - you wouldn't happen to have a massive, capital T-shaped tower anywhere, would you?
Twilight shook her head. "Not at the moment..."
"However," Luna spoke next, a strange twinkle in her eyes. "We could always build one."
Raven's eyes widened. "... Mmmm, you've got my attention.
And as the three continued their conversation, a strange, ethereal voice, coming from an invisible source spoke, its volume soft and low.
"Oh isn't that cute" it chuckled, directed towards Luna. "You call yourself a protector... yet you can't even protect yourself." A cheshire-cat like smile suddenly appeared out of thin air. "Time for your lullaby, little Lulu. You know very well you shouldn't be up at this time of day..."
A few rooms over, a group of both ponies and Titans sat by a projected image on the wall. On it was a pair of uniformed humans approaching man sitting the roof of his two story home, apparently called 'Macgyver'. He didn't bother to gaze at them, however, instead, he simply continued to look through his telescope.
"Huh, so that's what human houses look like," Princess Celestia mused.
Applejack furrowed her a brow. "They sort of look like ours, I guess- just a little taller."
"And a little less colorful," Cyborg chuckled. "No offense."
"None taken," she shrugged.
"Colonel Jack O'Neill?" one of the officers spoke.
Colonel O'Neill continued to glance through his telescope. "Retired."
"I'm Major Samuels."
"Air Force?"
Rainbow Dash suddenly fluttered into the air. "Wait wah- air force?! B-But they don't have wings!"
"Naw, we got jets for that, Dashie," Beast Boy smirked.
"Wah?! What's a jet?! Can they go fast?!"
"Oh yeah," Cyborg chuckled. "I'll show you a video of them later."
"Awwww yeah!" Rainbow grinned.
"Yo, pay attention! They're about to talk about the Stargate!" Beast Boy said.
"Yes, sir. I'm the General's executive officer.
"A little piece of advice, Major? Get re-assed to NASA. That's where all the action's gonna be. Out there."
"I'm under orders to bring you to General Hammond, sir."
O'Neill shrugged. "Never heard of him."
"He replaced General West. He says it's important. Has to do with the Stargate!"
This got O'Neill's attention.
"Hell yeah!" Beast Boy said in a giddy tone, beginning to hum the theme song.
"Ooooo, what's that circle thingy Macgyver was looking through, though?" Pinkie bounced.
Applejack coughed. "Er - that's a telescope, Pinkie, and we uh- already have those..."
"Ooooooh," Pinkie said, obviously having no idea what she was talking about. "What does it scope, though, telegrams?"
Beast Boy and Cyborg stifled a laugh.
"Man, you're friggin' hilarious, Pinkie!" Beast Boy grinned, before taking another bite of pink cake that had been sitting by his lap. "Great cake, too. Seriously, this is the best cake I've had in..."
"In trillions of years?" Cyborg joked.
"Yeah, that!" He then furrowed his brow, shaking his head. "But it's weird... I mean the cake is great, but I've eaten a lot of stuff lately... and it just doesn't feel very filling. And what's with every uh - pony giving us weird looks when we came into town?"
Cyborg smirked. "Gee - couldn't be that you're a green, furry bug, I'm half-robot, or golem, whatever they call them here, and Raven is... well, Raven."
"Hey - only I get to make fun of Raven!" Beast Boy pouted.
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "It's probably cus you're a changeling, furball. A fuzzy one, but a changeling nonetheless."
"Well duh," Beast Boy giggled. "You just saw me-"
Princess Celestia shook her head. "It's the name of a species here on Trinity. It isn't an adjective."
"An adjective?" Beast Boy groaned, scratching his head. "Ugh... I hate not having finished grade school..."
"It means it's not a description, kid," Cyborg said, sticking his tongue out, before giving him a nuggie. "Who needs school when you got Dr. Borg here?"
"Hah! I knew you'd love that name!" the voice of Dr. Adorable called.
Cyborg groaned, closing his eyes. "Son of a... gun. That guy... he's starting to grow on me."
"Heh, thanks Cyborg," Beast Boy said, a warm smile on his face. "But yeah - so ponies are afraid of changelings?"
"A bit," Princess Celestia stated, before chuckling sheepishly. "Though they wouldn't be afraid of one so adorabl -" She coughed. "I mean uh, cute - I MEAN... noble as you."
The entire group turned towards a now-sweating Princess Celestia, smirking.
"Errr, yes," she giggled. "Can I get some more of that cake, Pinkie? Please?"
She nodded, bouncing to it. "Okidoki fanmare loki!"
"What can I say," Beast Boy grinned. "Who doesn't dig the fuzzy ma- er, pony - changeling... crap. This is getting confusing."
The group giggled at this.
"What do ya know," Cyborg chuckled. "Looks like some girls actually like you, BB."
"Yeah yeah, your cheeks are as green as mine right now, Mr. Roboto," Beast Boy said, sticking a forked tongue out. "And Starfire's always liked me!"
He rolled his eyes. "Ooooh you."
"Still," Beast Boy said, raising an eyebrow. "Do changelings have like - problems eating or something? Do they need a lot of food?"
Fluttershy actually chuckled slightly. "I-In a way..."
"But dearest," Rarity cooed. "I don't think you'll have any trouble getting what you need..."
Beast Boy glanced at her curiously.
"Pssst, BB," Cyborg whispered. "Raven read up on them. Said that they need only one thing..."
"W-What's that?" Beast Boy asked.
"Tons... and tons of bacon," he grinned.
"Dude - screw you!" Beast Boy growled. "This is like - vegetarian land, and it sucks to be you! Finally the tables have turned! You mad, bro? You mad?! Haha!"
Cyborg smirked. "Actually - I don't mind good healthy fruits and veggies, just that nasty tofu crap of yours." He then grinned wickedly. "And guess what - they've never heard of it! BAHAHAHAHA!.!.!"
"WHAT?!" Beast Boy roared, actually standing up.
In the meantime, the group of ponies watched the back and forth with great amusement.
"Boys," Applejack said, rolling her eyes. "It's like busting on each other is all they do."
"I think it's friggin' hilarious!" Rainbow Dash laughed. "Man, are you guys recruiting?! Cus seriously, if I weren't trying to join the Wonderbolts, I'd be joining the Titans!"
"Oh yeah?" Cyborg smirked. "What powers you got, hot stuff?"
"Pfffft, isn't it obvious?" Rainbow Dash grinned. "The power of awesome! PURE. AWESOME!" She then tilted her head slightly. "Oh, and I can fly at supersonic speeds."
Cyborg's eyes widened. "Jesus Christ!"
Rainbow blinked. "Kazoontite."
Cyborg gave her a blank look. "But seriously - how the - is this more of that magic stuff? I mean I believe in it and all, but - damn!"
"All these, baby," she grinned, flapping her wings.
Cyborg raised his eyebrows. "Well damn, girl. Tomorrow you should show me and BB what you can do. Even Raven might be into it, too..."
"Yo, speaking of her, I wonder what's going on with her and that purple chick?" Beast Boy said.
Applejack put on a sarcastic smirk. "Twilight Sparkle, kiddo."
"Heh - sorry," he said, grinning sheepishly. "But they've been gone for like - forever."
"I dunno," Cyborg shrugged. "Girl-talk or something? Who knows. They'll probably be here-"
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!"
ZAAP!.!.!
SHIIINNNNG!.!.!
The group gasped.
"Luna!" Celestia cried.
In an instant, Beast Boy, Cyborg, and a second later, the rest of the ponies rose their hooves.
"Sounds like trouble," Beast Boy growled. "Man - I never get to finish any T.V. Shows!"
"STARFIRE!" Cyborg shouted. "GET OVER HERE, QUICK-"
"Right here! What is going on?!" she cried, zipping in from Robin's room.
Cyborg narrowed his pony eye. "I dunno, but we got a princess to go Mario on! We gotta move - TITANS, GO!"
At that, the entire group was on the move, including the new 'honorary' Titans, apparently.
"So. Awesome!" Rainbow squeaked.