Ready Player One (Multiverse Crossover)

by PlasmaBolt305

First published

A curse has been set on Equestria by a mystic being of unspeakable power and the only way to stop them is to join the egg hunt.

After the events of Nightmare Moon, a mystic being by the name of Maternal the Creator of all believes that Equestria has a worthy being to take his place so he encases the planet in an Interdimensional wormhole station in the universe. Therefore, everybody that lives in Equestria has enhanced physique also can die and come back to life but with a price, Maternal sends all beings on Equestria a message that he has created an easter egg that is somewhere in the universe and if somebody can find The Egg using three keys they will become his successor and he will give his powers to them. Among the millions to receive this message, a pegasus named Jonas was born with the gift of speed but is burdened with the death of his parents, he will have competition especially when some of the worst villains in Equestria will cheat to win.

Prolouge

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Third POV

How do you see the universe? Do you see it as an endless dimension of stars and planets? Is the Universe really that vast and empty? What do you see when you peer into the unknown void?

In the center of the Universe, an endless horizon of clouds and beautiful sunset that will remain that way forever yet occupying this empty dimension was a large throne of colorful metals from gold, silver and sapphire to emeralds, rubies and obsidian floated and sitting on it was a being that radiated unbelievable power. The being was a human wrapped in a hooded cloak that had golden emblems embedded on its silky material, he had eyes that radiated wisdom along with a silver beard that flowed with the wind. This human was Maternal, the creator of all worlds and beings, the ruler of the universe.

Maternal glances at a golden hourglass and the sand was close to ending which means his time to fade will be soon. Maternal was about to fade and still hasn’t chosen a suitable successor to inherit his title when he passes, he has watched all the dimensions and all the beings in them but none deemed worthy of his attention. They were power-hungry, all of them, they will do anything for power especially killing and harming others, Maternal hated beings like that but he created them and he can’t blame them for what they had become.

Maternal stroked his beard and mumbled, “Maybe I haven’t looking in the right dimension.” He thought for a couple of minutes before his mind received a buzz which meant one of his planets has achieved a milestone or in other words, something major.

Maternal held out his hand and a sphere of shimmering gold which displayed a world of color coming to rest on a motion of beings except these beings were ponies. Knowledge flooded Maternal’s mind as he received the information which made him understand what he was looking at, the Mane Six that they now call themselves and they represented The Elements of Harmony which are Magic, Loyalty, Kindness, Laughter, Honesty and Generosity. Their ruler is an old friend of his, Princess Celestia and now co-ruler Princess Luna after the Mane Six restored her from her dark aspect Nightmare Moon.

“Hmmm, it is a big accomplish for this planet but how can I choose?” Maternal wondered as he looked around but then looked back at the hourglass which was about to run out in a couple of minutes.

“If I can’t choose a successor then I will have to wait for the successor.” Maternal declared and held out both of his hands. In his left hand were three keys, a copper key, a jade key and a crystal key and in his other hand was a golden, shiny egg. The hourglass ran out of time and Maternal could feel himself fading but he looked at the planet now known as Equestria and realised he could finally put his theory to the test, a test he has created many years ago then smiled, “Let the games begin.” He said before fading into a colorful wisp of smoke and descending to the planet of Equestria.

Chapter 1: Let the Search Begin!

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Third POV

Equestria has finally been restored to order!!! Just as an evil darkness threatened to erode Equestria in eternal darkness, a light emerges! Six mares have discovered The Elements of Harmony and vanquished Nightmare Moon. These six heroes are Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash also go by the name of The Mane Six. Nightmare Moon has been destroyed which allowed Princess Luna to be restored back to her original form therefore letting her become co-ruler alongside her sister Princess Celestia. These young heroes now wield these powerful artifacts and will not let anything happen to our beloved world. The front cover of Canterlot Times said. This was being read by Jonas, a pegasus who had a dark blue coat and a sky blue mane and tail, and a cutie mark of a horizontal blue fireball.

“Whenever I am busy, I always miss something cool.” Jonas said sadly as he stared at the picture of the six girls standing alongside Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Looking at a picture like that brings back bad memories but Jonas pushed them aside and focused on getting back home to his Aunt, Frosty Mane. Jonas looked around to make sure nopony was around before taking a deep breathe and got into a racing position.

Jonas’s cutie mark glowed an impressive blue and energy surged through his body and made his wings glow with energy and then took off at high speeds which made him leave a trail of sparkling blue. Jonas reached the sky in less than a second and started zooming to a valley not far from Ponyville at speeds faster than the Wonderbolts! Jonas quickly came down near his Aunt’s house and made sure nopony saw him then entered the house. Jonas appeared before his Aunt who was the only family he had left, his Aunt was the nicest pony in the world! Frosty Mane is a unicorn and has a silver mane and tail that glimmered and sparkled in the sun and coat of smooth cherry red along with emerald eyes.

Frosty Mane greeted her nephew with a big smile, “Hi sweetie! How are you?” she said happily

Jonas responded with a smile, “I’m fine.” but felt a little bad about lying to her. Turns out that was a bad idea because his aunt’s face got more serious when she realised her nephew just lied.

“What’s wrong?” She asked concerned and Jonas let out a sigh and decided to come clean.

“I just… I never asked to have these powers and now I have to keep them hidden from everypony because a pegasus is not supposed to have magic.” Jonas said sadly and sat down on his flank.

Frosty Mane walked over to her nephew, sat down next to him and gave him a hug which he returned with a smile on his face, she released the hug and looked into Jonas’s eyes.

“If you are the first pegasus to have magical abilities, then you are destined to accomplish something beautiful and will never be forgotten by anypony so don’t let your powers hold you back.” His Aunt said to Jonas who nodded in response.

Jonas went to his room and lay down on his bed staring through his window and wondering what he will accomplish in the future.

Outside Planet Equestria

Maternal’s essence came upon the planet he was looking for and it expanded and widened until it was big enough to cover the entire planet in which that was what he intended. The colorful essence wrapped Equestria in a wonderful assortment of colors before returning back to normal. Another wisp of essence split into an arrangement of portals that led to various parts of the universe that will help lead them to the keys and eventually the egg. Maternal’s consciousness still had enough power to leave his spirit with them to help guide them along also he provided them access to his memories. Maternal knows Princess Celestia as much as she knows him so she will know what to do when he appears. Maternal summoned a spirit messenger to display his challenge in the sky where everyone can see and he hopes that one of them will come out on top.

Back to Equestria

The next day, Jonas and his Aunt went to Ponyville to do some shopping because they were low on supplies. Everypony was happy and cheerful also very nice to them when they asked for directions plus they managed to get to Sugarcube Corner where once they entered, they are greeted by Mrs Cake.

“Hi Frosty Mane! How long has it been?” Mrs Cake asks happily

“Oh CupCake, it’s been a while!” Jonas’s Aunt responded cheerfully and then turned to Jonas, “Would you mind getting the fruits for me, dear?”

“Of course.” Jonas responded with a smile which her Aunt returned before turning to talk to Mrs Cake while Jonas turned towards the door. Jonas headed outside and after some asking around for directions, he finally stumbled into the pony who sold the fruits he was looking for.

“Can I have five carrots and seven grapes please?” Jonas ordered politely

“Of course, that will be ten bits.” The mare replied with a smile

Jonas paid her and received the groceries and headed to Sugarcube Corner but not before something caught his eye to his right. Jonas saw six mares walking and talking to each other then realised he was looking at the Mane Six, The Mane Six that vanquished Nightmare Moon and the reason Jonas recognized them was because of their picture with The Princesses.

Jonas snapped out of his daze and continued to Sugarcube Corner and would have made it if it wasn’t for a pony’s scream. Jonas looked at a mare pointing at the sky which he followed her gaze and gasped.

In the sky was what looked to be a spirit made out of the wind but it had a very peaceful aura to it, the air around it rippled into its form solidifying it and keep its physical form.

Everypony gathered near the spirit but were still cautious so they kept their distance from it and the Mane Six appeared in front of the crowd.

“Wow, a living spirit! This is amazing!” Twilight exclaimed

“Now is not the time to get all sappy about this thing, we don’t know why its here.” Applejack reminded her

“It looks harmless.” Fluttershy said

“I have to agree with Fluttershy, it looks anything but dangerous.” Rarity agreed with her

“OH I CAN THROW A PARTY FOR IT!!!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed while jumping up and down.

“Now wait just a minute, it could be a spy of some sort.” Rainbow Dash said and eyed the spirit

“I can assure you, I am no threat.” The spirit said calmly in a male voice

Everypony jumped at the sound of his voice but mainly surprised that he can talk and stared at him in wonder and awe thinking who is he exactly?

A flash appeared in front of the crowd and beside the Mane Six and after the glow died down, it revealed Princess Celestia and Princess Luna as they stood beside the Mane Six and stared at the wind spirit.

“WHO ARE YOU?!” Princess Luna shouted in her royalty tone which made the spirit flinch a little but Princess Celestia looked more closely at the spirit then her eyes widened with realisation and gasped out loud, this caused everypony to look at her confused.

“What is it, sister?” Princess Luna asked her

Princess Celestia didn’t respond but instead took a couple steps forward and looked at the spirit before asking, “He sent you, didn’t he?”

The spirit nodded in confirmation her suspicions and replied, “Yes, Maternal sent me to inform of something very heartbreaking.”

Princess Celestia widened her eyes at this but gestured the spirit to continue.

The spirit looked over the crowd and announced, “Maternal, the creator of all worlds and beings, the ruler of the universe, is fading and he hasn’t chosen a successor to take his place as ruler.”

Everypony mumbled a little to each other in disbelief before Twilight asked, “So what is he going to do?”

The spirit looked at her and replied, “Maternal looked over all his planets but the beings on them are power-hungry and greedy, but when Nightmare Moon was defeated here, it caught his attention and he believes that this planet contains a successor that will take his place as ruler of the universe.”

Everypony was silent in shock at this statement especially the Princesses who were stunned at Maternal’s judgement but Rainbow Dash flew up to the spirit and asked, “So who is the chosen one, huh?”

The spirit looked at her and shook his head, “Maternal has not chosen a successor because the successor will be determined through the challenges he has created.”

“Well what are the challenges?!” Rainbow Dash yelled

“Rainbow!!!” Twilight scolded angrily but the spirit held up his hand indicating that he understands why she is frustrated right now.

“Maternal sent me a message to share with all of you but beware, this message will appear to all living beings on this world no matter how good or how evil they are so beware and be cautious around those you go against.” The spirit warned them with caution in his tone

Princess Celestia got worried about this because she had some powerful enemies that she and her sister had defeated in the past and this message was going to drive them insane with greed, especially since the throne of the universe was up for grabs.

Everypony nodded at the warning and the spirit opened his hand and solidified into Maternal sitting on his throne facing them directly but since this was just a message, it still looks very real. Everypony gasped at the sight of the creator, THE CREATOR, himself standing or rather sitting before them.
“Hello, if you’re watching this, I am dead.” Maternal started out calmly “I have scoured all of the universes I have created but none had the potential of playing my game but Equestria has.”

“Wow, this is an honor!” Twilight exclaimed excitedly while the other girls nodded in agreement.

“I need a successor but since I couldn’t choose one, I will wait for a successor. I have hidden somewhere in the universe, an easter egg. First being to find the egg will inherit my powers and become the Ruler of The Universe themselves.” Maternal said

“Unbelievable.” Princess Luna said in awe while her sister nodded then both paid attention to Maternal’s message.

“In order to find the egg, I have placed three keys somewhere out there and have hidden them very well. These keys are not going to be under a rock somewhere, they can only be acquired through three challenges, one for each key. It is up to you to figure out what those challenges are and how to beat them. To do that, I have created an Archive that holds all of my memories of my entire life, the clues will be in that place if you can find it.” Maternal continued

Everypony was excited at this but The Creator wasn’t done yet.

“I have casted an enchantment on your planet, you will all feel stronger and faster than ever before but the good thing is you cannot die. If you die, you will return in less than ten minutes and the reason I give you this was because my challenges are not easy, they guarantee death to anything that participates so do not worry about losing your lives but this only happens when you enter the challenges. Last but not least, the challenges are not on your planet, they are on other worlds but you can access them from here if you find the clues within my memories, you must find the keys within a specific order. First, The Copper Key, then The Jade Key and finally The Crystal Key. All will be difficult to acquire but with teamwork, you will succeed, good luck Equestria.” Maternal finished and both the message and the spirit disappeared into thin air. Immediately, a building appeared just outside of Ponyville and it marked MATERNAL ARCHIVES in front of it.

Everypony started shouting all at once and Princess Celestia had to calm them down and address them, “My little ponies calm down! The spirit was not lying, Equestria’s worst enemies will rise from the depths and threatens to take the throne so we must remain vigilant and as for the challenge, we will start tomorrow and I will allow you to choose your own groups and scout the Archives to see what you can find. If you find anything, report to us and we will all take it from there and be careful!” Princess Celestia announced worriedly

Everypony split off and began talking about what they were gonna do and who they were going to pick for their group. Jonas was in shock the entire time but went to go find his Aunt nonetheless and found her next to the Cakes. She sees Jonas coming towards her and rushes to meet him and crushes him in a hug.

“Are you alright! Your not hurt are you!” His Aunt fussed over him while Jonas was trying to breathe.

“Yes! Yes! I’m fine.” Jonas replied and escapes his Aunt’s tight embrace and looks at the Archives to see The Mane Six and The Princesses entering the building. Frosty Mane followed his gaze and replied, “Well you can go in there tomorrow, so for now let’s go get some sleep honey, its getting late.”

Jonas looked at the sun which was setting on the horizon and might as well call it a day, “Ya sure, I can use some sleep.” He walked home with his Aunt right beside him.

In The Archives

The Mane Six and The Princesses entered the building and were taken aback by the architecture of this marvelous structure. A massive lobby was opened up before them made of glass and metal, a beautiful spiral staircase led up to more floors and a counter was set in the front of the lobby and standing there was another one of Maternal’s creations.

“This place is amazing!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she flew around the place

“Indeed it is, the work is simply beautiful!” Rarity exclaimed as she marvelled at the quality of the material used to make this building.

“I never thought that our planet is actually the most qualified for this challenge much out of the entire universe.” Princess Luna said in disbelief

“Well, I’m glad he saw us as a capable race.” Princess Celestia said while her sister nodded and they turned back to the Archive.

“Where do we go?” Fluttershy asked and immediately got a reply.

“Why you follow me, of course.” a voice replied behind her which frightened her and made her hide behind the Princesses. The voice belonged to a robot of some sort that stood on two legs and had a stretchy stance to him, his skin was silver and had a proper suit, tie and pants to match his attire.

“Sorry that I scared you.” The robot apologised to Fluttershy who came out of hiding and nodded.

Applejack trotted up to the robot, “Who are you?”

“I am The Curator, Maternal assigned me here to monitor and show beings around the Archives so I am here to show you around.” The Curator introduced himself to ponies.

Twilight was eager to get the challenge started, “Well then let’s go!” and The Curator led them to where they have to go. They passed screens that displayed some of Maternal’s memories like when he created a planet and when he first came into existence.

“So, how long has Maternal been alive for exactly?” Twilight asked curiously

“Since the beginning of time but in years that will be 150,000 years.” The robot responded and left the Princess’s student speechless.

Rainbow Dash asked the next question, “How hard are the challenges?”

“All I can say is that they are not easy to do much less to figure out.” The robot replied

“Does the creator like parties?!” Pinkie Pie asked excitingly

“Yes but rarely experiences one.” The Curator replied and stopped and faced a screen before snapping his fingers. Immediately the screen became three-dimensional and one word appeared, READY.

Chapter 2: A Race but Hard to Finish

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The Curator faced them and said, “Good Luck!” before disappearing in a shower of gold.

Everypony was confused as they stared at the word Ready that was displayed on the screen.

“So does it want us to do something?” Rarity asked

“Ah don’t know, sugarcube.” Applejack replied

“Maybe we say something and this thing will show us what it can.” Princess Luna guessed

“Ok so what do we ask?” Twilight said confusingly but beaten to the punch by Rainbow Dash as she flew up to the screen.

“What is the first challenge?!” Rainbow Dash yelled at the screen and in response the screen began to hypnotise the ponies as it created a whirl of colors and then finally coming to rest on a scene where Maternal is shown. Rainbow Dash stumbled backwards and nearly knocked herself out against the ceiling.

“What just happened?” Rainbow Dash asked in shock

“It seems that you may have given us a hint for the first challenge.” Princess Celestia complimented her and she blushed a little at the comment.

Princess Luna looked at the scene confusingly, “What is it?”

“It look like a memory of the dear’s life.” Rarity said

“Shhh, let’s hear what he is saying.” Twilight hushed them and they all listened and watched the memory.

It displayed Maternal in his regular form strolling through a city of some sort with huge buildings that made them feel like ants, people were everywhere calling for cabs and everything. Maternal took a deep breath, “Ha, New York, a place big enough for people but never big enough for the future.”

Maternal looked at a map that he had in his hand which showed New York City but it was edited with a red marker. Maternal continued drawing until it looked like a race track zooming through the city and he wrote START on Staten Island and FINISH in Central Park but something was missing.

Maternal tapped the marker against his chin thoughtfully, “It would be good but something is missing...hmm.” He suddenly heard a loud roar to his left which made him look and see a movie theater headline that displayed Jurassic Park and King Kong on it. Maternal smiled at that and looked at his map and checked it off.

“So how does this tells us what the first challenge is?” Applejack asked confused

“Is the first challenge, a race perhaps?” Fluttershy suggested and Princess Celestia widened her eyes at that.

“Fluttershy, you could be onto something.” Princess Celestia agreed

“Yes, this must be the first challenge.” Princess Luna added

“A race in New York City!” Twilight exclaimed and jumped up happily

“YAY! How do we get there?” Pinkie Pie asked and the whole group fell silent on that because they now realised that New York City is not on Equestria.

“Let’s figure this out tomorrow, we have royal duties to attend.” Princess Luna said

“Yes.” Princess Celestia faced the Mane Six “You all need some sleep, goodnight my little ponies.”

“Goodnight Princesses.” They said and they exited the Archives and went there separate ways for the night.

In Mt Everhoof

A deep cavern descends into a labyrinth of sharp and dangerous turns that led into the unknown. A figure moves in the darkness and he was carrying a statue of somesort, he set it down in an open area next to four summoning circles. The figure began chanting ancient words of power and the summoning circles and the statue began to glow with power before the glow died down to reveal the five deadliest villains in all of Equestria. They revealed to be Queen Chrysalis, Lord Tirek, King Sombra, Cozy Glow and Discord, the most powerful villains to Princess Celestia!

They all looked at each other confusingly and wondered why they here because you could never get these five villains to meet no matter what and two, why would they meet in a dusty old cave?

“Alright! Which one of you brought me here?!” King Sombra roared and glared at the others

“I don’t know but it wasn’t me!” Queen Chrysalis shot back at King Sombra and the two began yelling at each other.

Discord was playing with a rubber ball boringly as he looked at Tirek and Cozy Glow who were approaching him, “So it was you who brought me here!” Tirek accused him

“Why would I bring you here? I was stuck as a statue.” Discord replied and nodded towards a broken pedestal on the ground next to him.

Cozy Glow flew up to Tirek’s face, “What are we doing in this disgusting cave anyway?” she asked

“Don’t ask me you puny insolent! I didn’t bring anyone here!” Tirek roared at her which caused her to be pushed back by how loud he shouted.

“Now for real, who brought us here?” King Sombra asked

“That would be me.” a voice replied from the darkness and all five villains looked to the source of the voice and saw a figure wearing a dark cloak that concealed his identity.

“WHO ARE YOU!” Tirek shouted impatiently at the figure and the being removed his cloak to reveal a ram with massive horns and a blue coat along with yellow eyes.

“I am Grogar, the ancient sorcerer of Equestria.” The ram replied

“Why did you summon us?!” Queen Chrysalis demanded him and Grogar smiled

“Well I am sure you all heard that the ruler of the universe is fading, correct?” Grogar said and they all nodded in agreement.

“The blasted princesses and the little mane six are preventing each one of us from taking the throne but if we worked together, we will crush them and take it for ourselves!” Grogar said as he paced back and forth looking each of them in the eye.

The five villains nodded at each other and looked back at Grogar but Cozy Glow asked the question that everyone else was wondering, “If we help you then who becomes the ruler of the universe?”

Grogar smiled evilly, “Me because I summoned you here and if we win then you can choose your own planet to rule over and I will grant you the power to crush anyone that stands in your way.”

“Sounds good to me.” King Sombra agreed then grinned like a maniac “I’ve been waiting for the fall of Equestria for too long.”

“I will devour all magic and show them who stronger!” Tirek added with a crack of his knuckles

“I will unleash my changelings upon other planets and feed off of their love.” Queen Chrysalis added hungrily

“I will torture that puny Celestia and show her true magic!!!” Cozy Glow laughed evilly

“I will throw Equestria into so much chaos, not even the Elements of Harmony can repair it.” Discord said with a grin

“Now my friends, when the ponies figure out the first challenge, you five will enter it and win the first key and we continue like this until we find the egg.” Grogar ordered and the five of them nodded and went their separate ways until the call came.

In Ponyville

Jonas woke to the sound of a royal horn bellowing into the morning sky, and immediately shot out of bed and zoomed down stairs and out the door. Jonas looked outside and saw Princess Celestia and Princess Luna escorted by royal guards enter the town and were walking to the town’s square, everypony woke up and started gathering around them to hear the news.

“Jonas? Honey, are you okay?” His Aunt called down from upstairs

“Ya I’m okay, The Princesses are in town and they seem to have some news for us.” Jonas responded and his Aunt came downstairs to see what was happening.

“Well, let’s go see what the news is shall we?” His Aunt replied with a smile and they both went outside to see what’s up.

“My little ponies, gather around!” Princess Celestia said and everypony including the Mane Six listened to what The Princesses had to say.

“We have made a discovery last night and this corresponds with Maternal’s challenge.” Princess Celestia announced and gestured for Princess Luna to step forward and speak.

“Last night in Canterlot, I discovered a portal that led to another world, we sent a scout to see where the portal leads to and we have confirmed it led to New York City, Maternal’s first challenge.” Princess Luna announced and everypony cheered then began questioning what is the challenge before Princess Celestia calmed them down.

“Calm down everypony! Yesterday afternoon, The Mane Six accompanied us into the Archives where we discovered that in order to achieve the first key, one of us must win the race in New York City to obtain it. We will all participate in the race including me and my sister and if you wish not to race then that is fine but may the fastest win!” Princess Celestia shouted and again everypony cheered happily and The Wonderbolts appeared led by Spitfire.

“Alright, anypony who wants to participate in the race, follow me!” Spitfire ordered and began flying towards Canterlot followed by almost everypony in Ponyville.

Jonas looked at the crowd heading to Canterlot and looked down sadly because he knew his Aunt wasn’t going to let him race, since he has blazing speed on his side.

His Aunt must’ve saw his expression because she smiled and gave Jonas a hug and whispered in his ear softly, “Go.”

Jonas widened his eyes and released the embrace and looked at his Aunt again and she nodded with a smile on her face. Jonas had tears in his eyes and he hugged his Aunt before following the crowd to Canterlot and his Aunt wishing him Good Luck.

What nobody didn’t realize was that there was someone watching them in the darkness and the figure’s eyes glowed green before vanishing into the black.

An hour later

Jonas was one of the hundreds of racers standing before the portal that led to New York City, racers piled into the city so it was a tough time concentrating when they are ponies, griffons and dragons yelling and talking to one another even though they were right next to each other.

“This is crazy.” Jonas mumbled to himself and saw everypony were in the groups that they chose, ponies teamed up with ponies, griffons teamed up with other griffons, dragons teamed up with other dragons. They were piling up front and pushing Jonas to the back which basically meant first come, first serve.

Jonas flew and hung out in the back of the crowd and waited until they started going into the portal which since it was 50 feet long, that wouldn’t be long from now.

Meanwhile The Mane Six were in the front of the crowd along with The Princesses, the girls were all excited especially Rainbow Dash.

“This is so cool!” Rainbow Dash said as she looked over the crowd “I can’t believe I am going to be racing against everyone in Equestria!”

“Ya but there are so many ponies here along with griffons and… dragons.” Fluttershy said with a shudder

Applejack patted her back, “It’ll be fine partner, we got each others backs.”

Twilight nodded and smiled, “As long as we stick together, we’ll be okay.” then she looked at Princess Celestia who was looking over the crowd “Princess Celestia, what made you want to race?”

“I never got the chance to have fun, what better way to have fun then have some friendly competition?” Princess Celestia said with a smile

“Best of luck Twilight Sparkle.” Princess Luna wished her

“You too.” Twilight said and looked at Pinkie Pie who was super duper happy.

“EVERYPONY IN ONE PLACE, THIS MEANS A PARTY!!!” Pinkie Pie screamed out loud in happiness

“Well I hope we don’t get run over by anypony else.” Rarity said as she looked at the crowd

“We won’t.” Twilight promised then looked at The Princesses who began speaking, “Citizens of Equestria, we would like to thank you for participating in Maternal’s challenge, may the best team win!!!” Princess Celestia shouted and everybody cheered until a voice said beside her, “Yes she wished everyone good luck, even us!”

While the crowd was talking and everything, The Mane Six and The Princesses looked and saw Discord, Queen Chrysalis, Lord Tirek, King Sombra and Cozy Glow standing there in front of them as a group.

“How… This is impossible! How were you released from your prisons?!” Princess Luna shouted

Discord replied, “Well that is irrelevant, but don’t worry, we are not here for Equestria, we are here for the throne of course!”

“Yes!” Cozy Glow said “Once we win this race, we will have the upper hand in this challenge!”

“Like you said.” King Sombra said and walked a couple steps forward, “May the best team win.” he said with a smile and the villains turned to the portal and stepped through it without permission.

Princess Celestia growled at this but she couldn’t do anything about this because there were too many innocents in the area. Rainbow Dash flew up Princess Celestia and said, “Don’t worry Princess! We will win this race!” she assured her

“Yes! We won’t give up!” Twilight said and the girls had looks of determination on their faces and all began stepping through the portal. The crowd began to shrink as they entered the portal to New York City and Jonas was still hanging at the back of the crowd as they ventured through the portal and when the last of them disappeared Jonas looked back at Equestria before stepping through the portal.

Jonas entered the other side and gasped, this New York City was massive! Even bigger than Manehattan and Canterlot combined! Jonas doesn’t know how a planet can build something like this but whoever built this, they are very good at what they do.

Jonas looked in front of his and expected a crowd but instead he got 10 different portals in front of him which confused him.

“Where did everyone go?” Jonas asked himself but when he looked above the portals, each had a fraction over it, 60/60 RACERS.

“That must mean the amount of racers allowed in each race.” Jonas realised and looked through the line of portals until his eyes rested on the last one because it read 29/60 RACERS.

“Might as well hurry up.” Jonas said and with his speed, he zoomed to the portal, slowed down and stepped through. Jonas reappeared on what looks to be an island just off of New York City, he looked around and saw that he was racing against some dragons and griffins but when Jonas looked to the front, he paled dramatically.

In the front of the group was The Mane Six and The Princesses along with the five most POWERFULEST villains in all of Equestria. The villains were Discord, Queen Chrysalis, Lord Tirek, Cozy Glow and King Sombra all standing in the same spot just to play for the throne, Jonas did wonder if they played, who was going to come out on top.

“I am up against some ponies way out of my league.” Jonas said and he heard a rumble in front of him that jarred him out of his thoughts and he saw a gigantic bridge constructing until it connecting with the starting line so hard, it shook the ground.

In the Front of the Group

The Mane SIx and The Princesses took their places while the villains took their places.

Princess Celestia looked towards her student and her friends, “Remember what Maternal said, we will feel stronger and faster than usual and we cannot die here so do not fear of messing up, we are all in this together.”

Twilight nodded and looked at Fluttershy who was shaking in fear and Applejack put a hoof on her back, “It will be fine partner, we are going to win.” Applejack said confidently

“YA!! I’m gonna leave those bad guys in the dust!” Rainbow Dash said and looked at the Mean Five which made Cozy Glow look at her.

“We’ll see about that losers!!!” She yelled back and before Rainbow Dash can shoot back a response, a countdown began to happen and all racers got ready.

In the Back of the Racers

Jonas saw the countdown 3...2...1… he waited for zero but it never came which confused Jonas until he heard something like a firework going off and looked up to see a green firecracker sail down to the large START sign in front of them and exploded in a shower of green sparkles which meant GO!!!

Everyone took off with high speeds and Jonas had no choice but to use his super speed to help him out with the constant colliding of everyone else into each other. Jonas saw a gap appear between a griffon and a dragon and sped through it and continued maneuvering through the competitors until he came close to the front of the pack. It was until then the bridge had run out and immediately obstacles began hitting the racers, large metal machines on wheels began driving into the racers and they began falling, one long metal machine caught five racers.

Jonas saw one of these monstrosities came rolling towards him but he saw a gap underneath it and slid underneath and kept going, focusing on his surroundings.

The racers entered a dark part of the city where a giant beast lumbered out of nowhere, roared and began stomping and chomping on unfortunate racers, Jonas saw couple of racers get stomped but the most heartbreaking was that two of the Mane Six and two of the Mean Five got crushed by the massive animal.

“NOO!!!” Jonas heard somepony say and he looked and saw that it was from a lavender unicorn also known as Twilight Sparkle but nonetheless all of them made it out alive, according to the racers left and the names that he knew, he saw the remaining 11 racers but Fluttershy, Applejack, Queen Chrysalis, King Sombra, and Cozy Glow weren’t in there. From that encounter, the 11 racers including Jonas raced towards some buildings that were under construction but they weren’t out of the danger room yet. Giant wrecking balls began swinging and the first three swings caught three unfortunate racers who weren’t paying attention but Jonas quickly dodged all of them and looked behind him to see his blue energy trail and his wings glowing blue with speed. Jonas refocused on the racers in front of him and saw it had changed dramatically. The only racers that were left were Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Twilight Sparkle, Lord Tirek, Discord and himself which meant only six racers left out of the eleven that were just now here.

“This is intense!” Jonas said to himself and sped up to the remaining racers who were intent on finishing this. As Jonas caught up to the others, he looked up at a large skyscraper that gleamed in the sun but there was a massive and muscular figure standing on it and it jumped from its position and began jumping from building to building and was gathering giant slabs of stone in its hands. The six racers made a right and saw the finish line that was about two miles away standing there in all its glory and the other racers went for it, pouring on speed and leaving Jonas behind. Before Jonas can increase his speed, he saw the massive creature throw his projectiles and it crushed the racers in front of him and Jonas cried out in sorrow for them but they were gone and Jonas was forced to fly around the wreckage and speed for the finish line. Jonas got closer until the massive primate appeared in front of him which forced him to stop, just in front of the Ape’s face which he reared up and roared in triumph.

“How is anyone supposed to win a race like this?” Jonas asked himself and he suddenly appeared back in Canterlot along with the hundreds of racers who were looking up which made him look up and saw a massive scoreboard has appeared but nobody got any points which meant nobody had won the race.

“Oh well, better luck next time.” A pony said beside me and they all nodded and went back to their homes which meant in Ponyville, Appleloosa, right here in Canterlot or wherever they live. Jonas opened up his wings and headed towards Ponyville to see his Aunt and tell her what had happened during the race.

With The Mane Six and The Princesses

“I can’t believe we lost.” Twilight said in disbelief

“Ya and I can’t believe you lasted longer than I did.” Rainbow Dash wailed and the girls laughed a little at the joke

“Well at least we can try again tomorrow.” Rarity said hopefully

“Yes and we will win tomorrow.” King Sombra said as he and the villains walked up to them

Princess Celestia got her horn ready, “You won’t win, no matter what you try.”

Lord Tirek smiled crookedly, “I have to admit this race is extremely difficult but no matter, we will prevail whether you like it or not.”

Now Princess Luna decides to shoot back, “So! Even though the race is difficult doesn’t mean we can’t win it!”

Queen Chrysalis decided to make things more interesting, “Well then, how about we have a deal?”

“What deal?” Rainbow Dash demanded

“A competition between your group and our group, nobody else allowed. If you win the race then we will never enter The Creator’s challenge again but if we win, every citizen in Equestria will not be allowed to enter The Creator’s challenge and we will be the only ones to participate.” Queen Chrysalis offered

“We will never agree to something like that!” Twilight yelled

“You know Equestria could use some… dark chaos.” Discord said flexing his fingers and grinning at them while Lord Tirek cracked his knuckles to emphasize his point.

“Fine.” Princess Celestia spat out venomously and before she continue the villains disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

“Ah can’t believe we were forced to agree to something like that!” Applejack said in anger and the other girls nodded.

“Yes, those ruffians will cheat to win!” Rarity yelled in anger

“I don’t think you can cheat.” Princess Luna said which made The Mane Six and her sister look at her confused

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked confused

“When those wrecking balls came swinging down, I tried to teleport out of the way but it didn’t work and I got hit. Maternal must have put restrictions in his challenges to ensure everypony plays fairly.” Princess Luna explained

“So that is why my rainbow speed didn’t work!” Rainbow Dash suddenly realised

“So everypony is like earth ponies then?” Pinkie Pie said

“I guess so.” Fluttershy replied

“I need to catch some sleep and put Spike to bed.” Twilight said as she let out a yawn

“You all should get your sleep, we will try again tomorrow.” Princess Celestia said and the girls went back to Ponyville while the Princesses flew back to the castle.

Jonas’s Aunt’s House

Jonas flew and landed at his front door and took a deep and long breath.

“I hope she won’t be mad.” Jonas mumbled to himself and he opened the door to see his Aunt sweeping the house and it took her three seconds to acknowledge that the door had opened, her eyes met with her nephew’s.

“How did it go, dear?” His Aunt asked

“I lost and so did everybody else, nobody won today.” Jonas said sadly

His Aunt stopped sweeping and looked at him confused, “What do you mean nobody won?”

Jonas explained the race little by little and detail by detail with every little terrifying moment that scared the life out of him and also the group he was in.

“So you raced against The Mane Six, The Princesses and the five worst villains in Equestria and you managed to make more progress than them?” Frosty Mane clarified

“Ya but the stupid primate prevented me from finishing the race.” Jonas said

“Well, what are you going to do?” Frosty Mane asked

Jonas looked at the window which showed Maternal’s Archives, “I’m gonna go into the archives and see what I can find, nobody can beat that race no matter what they try.”

His Aunt thought about this, “I suppose that won’t be a bad idea, but be back before dinner!” she called out as Jonas went to the door.

“Okay!” Jonas replied and closed the door behind him and looked around, some ponies were walking around and picking up some last minute things, some were talking about the race and whining about how they were so close to winning even though they missed by a mile and the occasional gossip.

“Okay, time to see how win this race.” Jonas said to himself as he entered the Archives to be greeted by an extraordinary structure and the amazing lobby that Maternal designed.

“Hello there!” a voice said to his left which made him turn his head in that direction to see that the voice belonged to a robot of some sort that stood on two legs and had a stretchy stance to him, his skin was silver and had a proper suit, tie and pants to match his attire.

“I am The Curator, Maternal assigned me here to lead beings around the Archives, I assume you are here to look for something?” He asked

“Yes, where do I go?” Jonas asked

“Oh no need to worry about that, I will show you around, follow me.” The Curator said and led Jonas through the mazes of hallways around this massive building until he stopped at a room with a giant screen on it that said READY.

The Curator turned to him, “Good luck!” and disappeared in a shower of gold

“WAIT! What am I supposed to do?” Jonas shouted but got no response, with a sigh he turned to the screen and wondered what he had to do.

“Umm… Show me… uh… New York City?” Jonas stuttered and the screen responded and showed Maternal designing the race in New York City with a marker and paper.

Jonas looked at this memory to see if he could get some information out of it but no luck and the memory ended.

Jonas thought to himself, “If he didn’t give us a hint in the drawing, then he probably talked it over with himself.”

Jonas looked at the screen, “Show me something in New York City that inspired his race.” he ordered and the screen revealed Maternal watching some television with some guy talking.

“New York is fine just the way it is, no change is needed.” The guy on TV said which turned out to be the mayor of New York.

Maternal grunted, “It needs a massive change.” He said but continued watching

“As your mayor, I can assure you that I will lower the crime rate in this place by 30%” The mayor promised

“The last mayor to say that didn’t make the crime rate decrease.” Maternal commented

“Onto the buildings, there will be more schools, more jobs and more money made! We will be able to forward at a speed faster than the speed of light!” The mayor shouted and spread his arms out and the crowd cheered.
Maternal turned the TV off, “More construction, that’s the last thing everybody wants, why can’t he be a dreamer and think of something that everyone will enjoy but you have to add more complications to my project.” he said and looked at the picture he created with the race

“How do you beat the race?” Jonas asked silently and hoped for an answer

“Hmm, Tyrannosaurus Rex is firmly in place, King Kong defends the end no matter what and nobody will get passed him so..” Maternal said before someone entered his room which turned out to be his friend, Alex.

“Maternal, what are you doing?” Alex asked

“I’m just looking at my race…” Maternal started to explain but Alex snapped

“Why do you keep focusing on some stupid race! We created something Maternal, something more important than a race!” Alex shouted

“Nothing is more important than what I am doing.” Maternal calmly replied

“The world is gonna move forward with or without you, its up to you whether you accept it or not.” Alex said before leaving the room

“You know what, forget it.” Jonas said and began walking back to the lobby to leave the building.

Behind him Maternal spoke, “Why can’t we go backwards for once… backwards.” At that moment, Jonas stopped and looked back at the memory, “Really fast, really put the petal to the metal you know.” Maternal finished

Jonas ran back to the screen, “Go back! Ten Seconds!” Jonas stopped and looked as the memory reversed back by ten seconds.

“Why can’t we go backwards for once… backwards. Really fast, really put the pedal to the metal you know.” Maternal repeated for Jonas.

Jonas widened his eyes and zoomed out of the Archives and stopped at the door to walk out, its nighttime and the moon shone brightly as Jonas ran back to his Aunt’s house. He opened the door to be greeted by Frosty Mane with an angry look on her face.

“You said you’d be back before dinner.” His Aunt said angrily

“I know, I’m sorry but I think I know how to beat the race.” Jonas said quietly

Frosty Mane’s angry look disappeared and was replaced by curiosity, “How?” but Jonas shook his head.

“I don’t know if I am right but I will have to find out tomorrow.” Jonas said and his Aunt nodded.

“Well then, come eat you dinner and get some sleep, honey.” Frosty Mane said and Jonas ate his dinner and went to bed hoping his plan was right.

Chapter 3: The Copper Key

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The birds chirped and a rooster sounded his morning call which made Jonas get up, clean himself up and headed downstairs to the door but his Aunt called, “Jonas, honey, be careful!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine!” Jonas replied back and headed out the door, opened his wings and flew to Canterlot.

A couple minutes later

Jonas landed in the Canterlot courtyard to see the same big crowd of contestants going through the portal so Jonas flew towards the portal to get a headstart. Jonas saw that Maternal hated construction and expansion which meant he hated limits, Jonas’s idea better work or else he’ll waste a whole day worth of racing.

“I hope this works.” Jonas said to himself and entered the portal.

New York City

The Mane Six, The Princesses, The Mean Five and a couple of other citizens got ready to race as the bridge build its way to the island where they stood on.

“I can’t wait to win this race!” Discord said rubbing his hands together excitingly

“In your dreams, Discord!” Twilight shot back

“When we win this race, you will be the ones crying!” Lord Tirek said and cracked his knuckles

“Well we are about to find out who wins this race.” Princess Celestia said and everypony got ready as the traffic light counted down.

In The Back of the Racers

Jonas was racing against the same group he raced yesterday and it was with some of the most remarkable ponies in all of Equestria.

“Let’s hope my idea is correct.” Jonas silently prayed and he awaited for the green fireworks as the traffic light began its countdown.

Jonas heard the familiar firework sound and looked up to see the green fireworks hit the giant START sign and then exploded in a shower of green sparkles. Everyone took off with high speeds and high hopes of winning but Jonas knew they weren’t going to make it.

Jonas turned around and faced the back wall which looked like a regular wall and using his super speed, he zoomed towards the wall and closed his eyes, thinking that he is going to be another grease spot on the wall but instead the wall opened up to reveal a green code-like tunnel that led underneath the race!

Jonas opened his eyes and gasped at the tunnel as he cruised through it at high speeds but the real beauty was when he looked up. He saw the obstacles that started hitting the racers and taking them out and looked in front of him and saw holographic versions of every obstacle that he had seen.

Whenever he got to a certain part of the race, the obstacles would be boosted from the tunnel he was in, to the surface above him like the same gigantic beast that gave out a huge roar and started chomping racers.

“Does this mean I did it?!” Jonas said excited but he had one more obstacle to get passed which was King Kong. The Ape hung from the skyscraper like before to deal with the racers and when Jonas looked at them, they were Queen Chrysalis, Discord and Cozy Glow. Jonas felt sorry for them because they weren’t gonna make it past King Kong.

King Kong landed on the racers path and began slamming his fists into them but when the primate looked at the ground, he locked eyes with Jonas and roared in outrage.

Jonas got scared but he heard a sound in front of him and saw that a ramp had opened up that led back to the surface. Jonas increased his speed which made him a blur as he raced up the ramp, past King Kong who roared in anger, and reached the finish line gate as he sped to wherever the path took him.

In a Lobby above The Finish Line

“You cheated!” Rainbow Dash accused Tirek when she and him appeared in the mysterious but elegant lobby that overlooked the finish line.

“How did I cheat?” Tirek grumbled out

“You pushed me in the way of the wrecking ball!” Rainbow dash yelled and got up in Tirek’s face

“Too slow to finish.” Tirek smiled evilly

Princess Celestia came forward, “We were all slow and that is why we lost.” she explained

King Sombra turned his head towards her, “Don’t make it sound like it is all our fault! You friendship makers rely on your friends all the time and can never do anything for yourself!” he yelled
“Don’t talk to my sister like that!” Princess Luna yelled back

“Or what? What will you do? It won’t be hard for me to wreak havoc on Equestria.” King Sombra said

“SO CLOSE!!!” Cozy Glow shouted in frustration as she came into the conversation “I was this close to getting past that stupid ape but he had to kill me!”

“Ah don’t see how anypony can win this race.” Applejack said

“Ya, it’s impossible.” Twilight agreed

Queen Chrysalis turned to them, “Don’t think this means the deal is off.”

“We’re not chickens!” Rainbow Dash yelled

“I thought so.” Queen Chrysalis replied

“No need to worry we will win the race tomorrow!” Discord said cheerfully

“And is what you are going to say over and over again every time we get beat.” Princess Celestia noted

“Well its for motivation.” Discord replied and summoned a ball and started bouncing it

“Why are we even here? Aren’t we suppose to be back at Canterlot?” Tirek suddenly realised which made everybody look at where they are.

“Ya, why are here?” Twilight asked

Before anyone could respond, in Central Park, instruments started to play and they all look to see a blue pegasus zoom into the park.

In Central Park

Jonas flew into Central Park and was greeted by rows of trumpets and tubas all playing in harmony as they play a victory tune. The leaves around him suddenly began swirling and began forming the one and only… Maternal.

“Nice racing pegasus, you’re the first to finish.” Maternal congratulated him

Jonas was shocked that he was looking The Creator in person so he bowed, “Maternal… sir… it’s... such an honor.”
Maternal put his hand on Jonas’s shoulder and gestured him to rise, “The honor is all mine.” he said and he opened his hand and it revealed to be… The Copper Key.

Jonas looked at the key in wonder but took the key in his mouth and looked at Maternal who leaned down, “Get yourself a clue.” he said

Jonas heard a PING! Sound to his right and he looked to see a floating scroll and he began walking towards it, as he walked towards it fireworks exploded behind him and on the scoreboard, Jonas’s name showed first place with 100,000 points which meant he was in the lead.

Jonas took the scroll and noticed a portal that probably leads back to Canterlot but before he entered, he looked back at the beautiful New York City, Jonas has a feeling he won’t this place again for a long time.

“Well, here we go.” Jonas said and flew through the portal that lead back home.

In The Lobby above The Finish Line

Everybody was in shock as they saw Jonas receive The Copper Key and a clue for the next challenge, Discord broke the silence.

“Hmm, this is interesting.” Discord stroked his chin

“Yes it is, he managed to beat the race and received The Copper Key plus a clue.” Queen Chrysalis said in disbelief

“He will be an excellent help to us.” Discord suggested and that is when Princess Celestia snapped

“I WON”T LET YOU CORRUPT HIM!!!” Princess Celestia shouted loudly which made everypony reel back in shock at the princess’s tone.

“Why not?” King Sombra asked “He is neutral which means he hasn’t joined any of our teams which also means he can join our team.”

“He is an Equestrian citizen! He will never join you!” Princess Luna yelled and stood by her sister.

Suddenly, they all appeared back in Canterlot where a crowd was gathered to congratulate Jonas but he wasn’t there.

“We will see Princesses, we will see.” Cozy Glow said and The Mean Five disappeared in a huff of black smoke.

Princess Celestia teleported everypony to Ponyville then turned to The Mane Six and her sister, “We need to find Jonas before those villains corrupt him.”

“But where do we find the dear?” Rarity asked

Pinkie Pie jumped up and down, “I know where! Follow me!” she led the girls to a house just outside of town.