//------------------------------// // XXI. Realization // Story: Replicated Wanderer // by QuartzScale //------------------------------// Starswirl was a busy stallion. After his first freak out courtesy of Commander Hurricane sending a messenger to tell him about the Siege of the Crystal Empire he had composed his last will and testament. It was a morbid affair not helped by the two arguing follows behind him… though any pony was a foal to him at this point. “Starswirl! Another report!” Another guard swooped in with the same ragged look. “Again!? What is it this time!?” Starswirl nearly choked but managed to cough himself back up to full strength ready to take on anything. “Sir! Hurricane requests that you and the Pillars teleport directly to the Crystal Empire. We have captured the city and are treating the survivors. We have also seen to the defeat of Goring Corundum… up until he turned into an Umbrum Soldier and attempted to kill both Commander Hurricane and X. They have repelled him and may need assistance in finding him and stopping him from regaining any power.” The guard recited in one go. “Motherbucker!” Starswirl screamed out nearly blowing a gasket as Celestia and Luna turned over a table and conjured up two specially made helmets for each other. Their argument clearly over with no winner in sight. “They need you and the Pillars, sir.” The guard informed the perturbed wizard. “Understood… are they waiting for me?” Star Swirl quickly brought up as he looked out the door seeing all the guards of the castle waiting for him. “Yes, sir. We are here to watch out for these two while you are out.” The guard whispered to Star Swirl who merely nodded as he trotted out the door. “Celestia. Luna. You are both to complete your homework by the time I get back. The reports on transfiguration and the effects on simple metals for Celestia and elemental fury and the aspects of elemental magic on a daily basis for Luna.” Star Swirl ordered before he fully left the room. “Yes Star Swirl…” The two groused as they got their books out and began reading on the subject. Star Swirl quickly rushed out of the room and galloped to his compatriots. Mistmane was charging her horn up already while the others were huddled together. Star Swirl lit up his horn with her as the two teleported out of the castle and into a designated place that Mistmane was focusing on. Hurricane had been waiting for around an hour for Star Swirl to appear. The message he sent was teleported through several unicorns working in tandem. He didn't want to wait several hours for a messenger to get there and back. A large explosion of magic emanated from the center of the medical facilities they had erected. In truth, it was several buildings that were now working as operating rooms and lounges to patch up everyone. “Good to see you being so prompt.” Hurricane growled out keeping his mask up even around close acquaintances. “This is awful… what happened here?” Meadowbrook muttered as she looked over the injured. “It was a close match… without X being around it would have been worse. About thirty casualties on our side and the rest have been injured. We don't know how many will make it. We were hoping your medical knowledge would help us in these matters.” Hurricane pointed out as Meadowbrook dragged Somnambula aside with her to start treating the troops. “Where is X?” Star Swirl stepped up his face scrunched up into a pointed scowl. “He went after Corundum. Somewhere in the frozen wastes up north. That monster became an Umbrum, Star Swirl. A Faust damned Umbrum! We need to take care of this now before it gets worse.” Hurricane mentioned while Rockhoof and Magnus took up their respective weapons. “Yes. You are right. Meadowbrook! You and Somnambula remain here and help as many ponies as possible. We shall go find X.” Star Swirl informed the other two who nodded and returned to helping ponies. “But how will we find him? We can't exactly track his footprints in the snow. The winds have picked up and probably covered them up already.” Magnus groused as he took to the sky to get a good lay of the Crystal Empire. “Worry not. We had a feeling we would have to track him down someday. Back during our experiments I cast a tracking spell on him. It was one of the few spells I did cast that managed to affect him in any palpable way. I placed another tracker on a small emblem of mine that he kept on his person. He hid it in his arm… I wish he would let me study him more closely.” Star Swirl muttered under his breath the last part. “Sounds like a plan then. Let’s get to him before Corundum has any more chance to escape.” Rockhoof announced as the four raced off north of the city into the snow. Star Swirl knew the way and Mistmane had cast a spell to teleport them back to the Empire when it was all said and done. They didn’t need to stay in the snow for very long even if they were kept warm by heating spells placed on each other. I was within forty feet of the target but visibility was low. The wind had picked up letting the snow whip around in a frenzy. Needless to say it was only minutely a nuisance. My eyes could focus on heat signatures which Fefnir immediately switched to. I could see the dark red spots amongst the field of blue… and for some reason something else. There were six or seven other bodies as well. “Come on, will you just make up your mind already?” A female’s voice asked over the wind. “You either come with us or the tin can gets you, it’s not that hard of a decision.” “Fine… weird harlot… lead the Faust damn way.” Corundum growled out as he coughed out some more black slime that had been leaking from his throat. “We are gonna have to ask the boss to take care of that for you,” another female’s voice commented, retching at the display. “I do not want to see that any longer than I need to.” “Need… hatred… “ Corundum gurgled as the crystal on his neck glowed slightly as more fractures appeared on them. “Need it… quickly… “ “I think we can arrange something,” yet another female voice said as an unknown energy signature appeared. “Now, take a step through this distortion.” “Corundum! Get back here!” I dashed in through the snow with a fully charged shot aimed directly for him as he stepped through the weird tear in space… ‘What!?’ “Oh look, metal Pinocchio showed up,” A pink skinned human girl spoke up, standing next to the distortion. Clad in a black jumpsuit, she bore the emblem of a two headed eagle on her chest. “Boss lady did want to tinker around in his head.” She brushed a few strands of green hair out of her eyes. “Whatcha think, Sour?” “I think we’ll get a raise if we bring her a shiny new toy,” a yellow skinned girl noted, a pink and yellow bow and arrow appearing in her hands. “Just remember to keep him intact girls.” Taking aim, she fired a few energy bolts at my chest. I quickly rolled into the snow to escape the shots and switched over to Goo Shaver, the weapon Tidal Whale or Duff McWhalen, wielded. I quickly jumped back into the air throwing out several blocks of gel like ice around me. As soon as I hit the ground I switched over to Storm Tornado for the range. The yellow girl aimed her bow at the ice, firing a few shots at it to test what would happen. The arrow sunk into the block of ice and lost all momentum as soon as it went straight through it. “Alright, so the ice isn’t normal,” Sour noted. “Girls, don’t touch it. Something tells me it does more than dampen momentum.” I fired the Storm Tornado sending a wave of ice and the slush from the Goo Shaver towards the girls closest to the portal which Corundum had gone through. I needed to get through before he got away fully and the colorful spandex wearing hookers were getting in my way. I didn’t know how long it would take for anyone to notice I was chasing after Corundum alone and I had no idea whether Hurricane would act or not. There was no time for banter and I needed to complete my mission immediately. I dashed forward ready to tank whatever they tried to do as I switched over to Electric Spark and charged it up, ready to fire it off. “Wow, he really thinks he can take us,” the pink girl laughed cracking her knuckles. “Must have a circuit broken. I mean really, you think you can take down the Shadowbolts?” “Whore Squad. Got it, understood and in the vault.” I muttered as I dashed towards the tear. Sour split her bow into two hand sickles and jumped in front of me. “You’re not getting through, rust bucket.” She slashed at my chest in a V pattern. I released Electric Spark sending several walls of electricity around me as the sickles touched my chest causing me to flinch back but sending most of the electricity into the girl. I switched over to Chameleon Sting and charged up keeping it as secondary fire while I blasted away at random with uncharged shots. There were small nicks in my chest from where the sickles had touched but the sudden surge from my own weapon sent her flying off elsewhere… hopefully paralyzed. The pink girl summoned a heavy looking handgun into her hand and fired it at me. “Whoa, look at you with all the weapons. Boss lady’s gonna love figuring out what makes you tick.” I released Chameleon Sting turning invisible and immediately charged forward towards the pink girl. As she kept firing I got close enough that when my small window of intangibility ended I grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward hitting her gut as hard as I was capable of doing without killing her then fired several buster shots into her at the highest possible level without being lethal to keep her stunned for as long as possible. I needed time… energy levels were already low and fighting… five more targets was becoming very difficult. Without the other cyber elves acting as my eyes and ears I was forced to do something drastic. I wrapped my arm around the pink girl crushing her arms against her torso… hard enough to keep her trapped but not hard enough to crush her ribs and charged up a fully powered buster shot aimed directly against her head. I had other weapons to use but the bluff may have been enough to at the very least buy some time. “Stop or else.” “Too bad for you, I ain’t a normal girl.” Pink slammed her head back into mine, disrupting my vision. Prying herself from my grasp, she grabbed my arm and tossed me over her shoulder and into the snow. “Good to know.” My arm was still aimed at her only lower half and I fired up into her crotch. I could never repeat what she said that day so I quickly switched over to Goo Shaver. The sensors in my head told me that there were targets west of me and one north of me. I fired the slushed ice along the ground towards the targets and immediately rolled towards the tear. The nearby grey girl summoned a hand axe and jumped towards me. She brought the axe over her head and slammed it down towards my body. I quickly grabbed the axe… I was so glad I had better reflexes than when I was human otherwise I would be dead… she just stared down at me. Her eyes were kind of dead… or something. The Suffering Circuit inside me seemed to be sensing some horrible things bubbling through her. Before I could think on that for long, she adjusted her axe, causing it to look like a gun. This was immediately confirmed by her opening fire on me. I kicked her away from me as the shots scratched against my helmet tearing through it revealing a head of hair underneath. I actually had hair… huh, that was interesting. I switched over to Rolling Shield and started to charge once again. I didn’t have all day to deal with these weird girls. “Get up, Lemon,” Sour commanded, glaring at Pink. “You can worry if you can still have kids later.” “Still working on getting feeling back in my legs,” Lemon wheezed, rolling over onto all fours. With a heave of effort, she returned to her feet. “I think we should stop playing with him and use the Konami Code maneuver to finish this.” I decided now was the time to leave. The tear was still in sight and I had a decent shot of reaching it at this point. I quickly ignored the teenage mutant ninja high schoolers and dashed for it… Rolling Shield was fully charged as I turned up my audio receptors in case any of them tried something dangerous. “We’re not done with you!” Sour shouted, firing off a few more arrows at my back. “Don’t just stand there you idiots! Shoot him!” The others didn’t need to be told twice and let loose a hail of energy shots at me. Rolling Shield activated as the energy shots hit the shield bouncing off helplessly and dissipating. It didn’t mean that the shield was perfectly stopping them. The bolts were doing the most damage causing fractures to spider web through the shield. It was still enough to get close enough to the tear as I jumped into it. The sudden energy shift tore the shield apart as I disappeared into the tear. I fell over, my balance escaping me as my surroundings suddenly shifted without warning. I was in a town of some kind, but not one that I had ever been to. Gone was the snowy tundra, replaced by a bright sunny day. What caught my eye were the ponies, or at least, what I thought were ponies. They walked on two legs, possessing human like bodies. Ignoring that as quickly as possible and pushing it out of my mind so I don’t continue with another crazy episode I took in the rays of the sun as my armor started to repair itself and my power cells started to heal back up. A few of the ponies had stopped their business, watching me with hushed whispers. “Maybe he’s one of the riders?” a blue mare suggested to a coal black stallion next to her. “No way, riders cover their faces, remember?” he replied, eyeing X closely. “Think he’s a friend of Wyatt’s?” The blue mare suggested. “The faces are similar.” ‘X! Finally your energy is back. I’ve been scanning the area ever since we landed in the sun. Your armor and energy levels were really low. Nearly fifteen percent and you barely got away from seven targets. Regardless I’ve managed to get faint signals of where Corundum may have run off for. He seems to be moving north… I think. Also… where are we?’ Nana resounded internally as several trackers appeared on my motion sensors. ‘Also Falcon Armor and Gaea Armor has been effectively integrated. Ready to equip whenever ready.’ I sighed heavily stretching out my limbs… even if it did absolutely nothing for me. I needed to take out Corundum soon. Commander Hurricane gave the okay and if his umbrum form went wild he would probably try to kill as many people as possible. Hatred is bred by the survivors. I also wanted to get away from this world as quickly as possible since anthropomorphic ponies were starting to freak me out more and more by the second and if I had sweat glands still they would have broken from the sheer amount of fear sweat that I possibly could release. “You don’t think he’s one of those monsters do you?” a grey pegasus mare with criss crossed eyes asked. “Nonsense, he’s far too well behaved to be a monster,” A brown stallion with an accent dismissed, putting an arm around the mare. “A monster would be rampaging by now.” I tilted my eye at the couple staring at them for a moment… ‘keep calm, keep calm they are just another form of ponies… maybe. Remember, fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little tiny voice in the back of your mind which you are now strangling with its own words because this is a messed up situation.’ I coughed slightly getting their attention. The mare clenched up slightly while the stallion stood firm. “Have either of you seen a pony like creature wander pass here. He’s… dangerous. Very dangerous… like mass murderer dangerous.” I calmly stated knowing that it would cause a panic but better someone knows that something bad would happen than hiding it until it was too late. “The only pony I didn’t recognize come through here was a sickly stallion with a persistent cough,” the brown stallion started, tapping his chin in thought. “But he hardly seemed dangerous at all.” “Ha… isn’t that how all things are. The most dangerous things are always unassuming especially ones who torture children, cutting open ponies, and basically cutting off unicorn horns to use them for his own purposes. But you know I guess since the earth pony with a cough looked harmless, then of course it’s harmless. Thanks for the information though.” I muttered the last part and immediately dashed off for the signal. I needed to get to him before he tried to do something dangerous. Ponies parted out of my way, more than a few hiding behind something. It made me wonder how often they had trouble that someone like me got them preparing for the worst. ‘Sixty meters until target is found X. I’ve gathered that he might take altitude again and suggest switching to Falcon Armor for this fight. I think I’ve found a way to assist in this fight if you switch into that form.’ Harpuia informed me causing me to stop before I got any closer to my target. Finding the right files within my head I started to install the necessary changes. Luckily, the heavy sunlight made my processor speed up completing what would have been an hour down to seconds. I, reluctantly, struck a pose extending my body out in an X pose as my armor flashed in on a beam of light and it switched over to Falcon Armor. Everything about the armor screamed bird as the arms and legs had markings resembling talons and the chest plate even had a beak. The shoulder pads were larger allowing for streamlined movement and the built in jetpack whirred to life. I lost my ability to charge my special weapons… but I did gain one giga attack. At this point precision and mobility were looking like better and better choices. The charged shot also pierced through objects. The signal led me to a tree house; a house literally made from a living tree. A sign hung next to the door, labeling it as ‘Golden Oaks Library’. “Huh… That’s a thing.” I muttered and realized that I didn't have a plan of attack to deal with this. As I walked up to the door, I could hear muffled voices coming from within the library. “This dark magic poisoning is far worse than what Shining and Spearhead had.” “Think you can do something about it, Twi?” “Please… you must hurry… it’s… it’s coming soon… those damn monsters sent a golem after me.” Corundum’s sly voice coughed out selling the facade. ‘Great… kick in the door, open it civilized, kick in the door, open it civilized… god damn it. Neither is useful.’ I mentally lambasted myself since now there were potential hostages at this point. I raised my foot and placed my foot against the door. It was now or never and if Corundum got back to full force… or heaven forbid cut off another unicorn horn to find out how to use it there was no telling how dangerous this could be. I pulled my foot back and kicked in the door with a fully charged shot. Corundum saw me and instantly sneered before turning back to his sniveling look once again. “Aiyee! He’s here… protect me before it’s too late!” Corundum screamed before coughing up a load of black slime which… also had him dodge the charged shot I fired at his head. The problem of the Falcon Armor was that the shots were made for precision and not widespread damage. They were even thinner than a pony leg and his dumb luck saved him once again. “Holy shit, an evil Mega Man!” a male voice shouted, catching me off guard. The owner of the voice was a young man with shaggy brown hair. “Thank god it’s not Zero, our computers would be so boned.” Ignoring the weird guy, I immediately dashed in knocking the guy to the side as I shoved my buster into Corundum’s face. He glared at me realizing I might actually get him until his right eye twitched… I probably should have thought ahead but words would waste time and Corundum had obviously got them to buy his story hook, line, and sinker. “Bind, please!” Before I could react to the odd voice, chains appeared from out of nowhere and wrapped around my body. I looked at the chains… they seemed magical but unlike the magic from Star Swirl it seemed different. Thaumic sensors were ranging a little higher than his first recorded measurement but they also moved. I quickly struggled and switched over to Homing Torpedo. “Okay, Evil Mega Man, just chill for a second will ya?” the man asked, stepping over. Summoning a small, silver square in his hand, he attached it to his belt. “Don’t go all T-1000 on us.” I pulled the chains in from wherever they were coming from snapping them off as I grabbed Corundum with my free hand gripping around his neck as he struggled against me. No time for conversation and no time for worrying about other things until Corundum was taken care of. I would keep my promise, no matter what. “Okay, that’s it.” Conjuring a silver case, he opened it up and pulled a card out. “You wanna go Terminator, I can fix that.” Opening his belt, he slipped it in and closed it. ‘Kamen Ride: Decade!’ I looked at the man ignoring him and looked back at Corundum. Charging my buster I readied it to finally deal with this monster. He didn’t cry or beg for mercy… he just smiled, as if he heard a joke only he understood and watched my eyes as the buster came up to his face. “Land, please!” the odd voice from before called out. Some drum music started play and the word “don” was chanted rhythmically as a black gloved fist clocked me in the side of the head. I was sent flying out the window with my hand still gripped around Corundum’s neck. It’s weird that most people don’t remember that as a robot I can lock the mechanisms in my body to keep things from dropping out of my hand. My buster shot unfortunately wasn’t locked and went flying wildly creating a large hole through the entirety of the tree revealing the outside world. “Looks like we’re staying in a hotel for a bit,” a feminine voice said. A moment later and a yellow helmet appeared in the fresh hole. It square shaped with silver brackets dividing it into eye and mouth portions. The figure wearing the helmet jumped out of the hole and revealed the rest of their outfit. A long black coat covered their chest with yellow, jewel-like portions on either side of the breasts. Ignoring the constant transformations and focusing on Corundum who was struggling even worse against my grip I turned my buster toward him once again. I charged up and backpedaled slightly to keep them from charging in to stop this. He needed to be taken out now. Decade was wielding a sword against me and the yellow one seemed to be evaluating me on some level. It was distracting enough that Corundum was fighting me every step of the way but this was ridiculous. “Who the hay shot a hole in the house?!” another voice, a scaley head peering out of the hole. “Oh come on! Can’t monsters at least respect the notion of home!?” “Technically I made the hole, Spike,” the feminine figure said, turning her attention to the dragon. “I thought that was easier than risking a drawn out fight around the books.” “Fair enough,” Spike replied, poking his head back inside. “You two hold him off, I’ll be down as soon as I’m changed.” “You… are… the worst… heroes… being strangled… rragh… here!” Corundum shouted out clearly losing his cool as my buster finally charged up and was pushed into his face. Decade unfolded his card case into a sword and slotted a card into his belt. “Attack Ride: Slash!” With a slice of his blade, he sent a thin energy wave at the wrist that was strangling Corundum. Corundum fell out of my grasp and scurried back over to the strange armored people… I fired wildly at his legs trying to at least paralyze him but he was slippery, using his umbrum abilities to turn his legs to smokey shadows at intermittent times. The figures were too focused on me to notice… and Decade as he was called looked ready for battle. “God damn it all… “ I uttered as I switched over to Goo Shaver. “Looks like our new friend can change his abilities on the fly too,” the mare said, tapping a hand to her belt. “Connect, please!” A small magic circle appeared at her side and she pushed her hand into it. When she retracted to it, an odd, silver sword was in her grasp. “Corundum… you know how this will end.” I calmly stated looking him straight in the eye. ‘Fenrir… overclock special weaponry.’ I mentally ordered as several lines appeared over my body feeding into the buster while the constant sunshine kept feeding my internal generators. “Decade… if you are a hero you will stand aside.” “Give me one good reason why I should.” Decade pulled out another card and slotted it into his belt. “Depends on which story that monster told you. There quite a few that he could come up with based on how he acts. Or didn’t you notice how he has been acting since I showed up?” I mentioned… as Corundum rushed into the tree. “He has been less scared and more… angry,” the mare noted, lowering her sword slightly. “He lies!” Corundum shouted from the shadow of the inner dwellings of the tree. “He killed the Mi Amore Family in cold blood! All slaughtered at his feet… a soulless golem who thinks nothing of mortal life!” Corundum yelled before falling into a coughing panic spitting up several globs of black slime. “If he thought nothing of mortal lives, he’d have shot us with that buster of his while we were distracted just now,” Decade said, turning to the treehouse. “And I happen to know that Megaman X is a hero under normal circumstances.” “Yes! You know what he is! You know that he isn’t doing what he normally does, don’t you!? Is my life meaningless so long as you meet your memories in physical form.” Corundum shot back folding his ears down looking about ready to cry as more black slime came out of his mouth. “No life is meaningless,” Decade retorted, walking up to the door. “But I’m starting to think something’s rotten in the state of Denmark.” “I don’t have time for this.” I muttered and dashed in knocking Decade aside as I fired down on Corundum’s head who rolled to the side. Fenrir’s enhancement made the buster shot go down twenty meters causing the dirt to turn into molten slag. “Stop running!” “I can help,” the mare said, taking off one of her rings and replacing it. “Bind, please! A yellow magic circle appeared beneath Corundum, only instead of chains, lines of rock appeared and wrapped around his body. “Heh… stupid heroes. Always believing things without the smallest basis of proof. Typical idiot hero, isn’t it?” Corundum grinned as his flesh melted off his face turning into black inky smoke and tearing its way out of the tree trying to bring the tree down on everyone. “Buck you all!” “That looks like proof to me!” Decade shouted, removing the one card from his belt before quickly slotting in another one. “Attack Ride: Illusion!” grey silhouettes appeared before four copies of Decade solidified into existence. Each of them grabbed the trunk of the tree, keeping it from falling. “Wizard, go with X and chase down Corundum!” Decade ordered, strain obvious in his voice. “I’ll do what I can about the library.” “God damn it! God damn it! Mass Murderer and Near Genocider on the loose!” I dashed off not even waiting for anyone else. A monster on the loose that would kill without prejudice. As long as he killed it wouldn’t matter whom he did. Corundum soared through the air revealing his mantis-like shadow claws though most of his inky flesh was torn and bleeding black slime. He was looking for a way to keep going and things would get worse and worse by the second. The now revealed Wizard, took off her yellow ring and switched it for a green one. “Hurricane, please!” She ran through a green magic circle and her outfit shifted. Once the circle faded she summoned a whirlwind beneath her and took to the skies after Corundum. “X! Just what is Corundum?” Wizard asked, glancing down at me. “That kind of magic, is he something like King Sombra?” “Who’s that? Forget it no time. Umbrum, creature of shadow that feeds on hate. Orders from Commander Hurricane and Star Swirl to deal with him. No questions just move.” I cut off the weird mare who I think hitched up in place when I mentioned Commander Hurricane and Star Swirl. “Then he’s exactly like Sombra!” Wizard shouted down at me. “King Sombra was an Umbrum who took over the Crystal Empire a thousand years ago. He petrified and shattered Princess Amore and turned the Empire against Equestria. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna managed to seal him away but he cursed the Empire to vanish until his return.” “Really…? You’re doing this now when you have a monster that enjoys violating ponies by forcing crystals to grow in their bodies rupturing them from the inside out and turning them into golems just because he thinks that they are the next step in evolution. Really? This is the best time to talk about history? Focus on that… and when we are done we can talk about anything you want… within reason.” I growled out keeping the emotions down since he could feed on hatred and having my emotions on would make it easier to regenerate. “You didn’t let me finish!” she chided. “I bring it up because Sombra is here.” Glancing around she added. “Just keep an eye out for a pink filly and a grey foal!” “Less talking, more chasing.” I shouted back as Corundum started to charge up magic off in the distance. Wizard pushed herself forward, the whirlwind under her getting stronger. It had taken an hour of trekking through the snow after getting information from Hurricane on where Corundum was launched. There had been several areas that looked as though that someone had fought for long periods of time. “What do you think, Star Swirl?” Mist Mane spoke up as she and Rockhoof looked around noting several areas where combat took place. “I don't know… there is too much unknown magic flowing through this area. Somepony was here though… “ Star Swirl muttered darkly feeling something at work at this point. “Aye… there be many a problem around here. Magnus flew back to check back on Somnambula and Meadowbrook. We can't remain out here all day either. Any idea where X is at?” Rockhoof questioned as he looked around noting the disturbed snow and several places that looked as though something melted through the landscape. “Something is odd is happening here. I can sense magic that I have not senses for many months. It's as if someone has torn a hole through reality.” Star Swirl muttered as he lit his horn scanning the area. There wasn't any sign of whomever meddled with such magic and even less sign of where it originated from. “Over here. I've found the cause for our problems.” Mist Mane informed the others as she lit her own horn capture the rift that had been slowly closing. “Of course! I can feel that something dragged X through that thing. The tracking spell is weak though…” Star Swirl stated as worry clouded his face. “Shouldn't ya use your magic ta recall ‘im back?” Rockhoof brought up. “If it were only so easy. Our magic combined can barely lift him or contain him. No… I shall go in after him. I'll open up the rift to his general location then bring him back… and hopefully eliminate Corundum as well. “So shall I hold the rift open until you get back?” Mist Mane smirked as she realized what was going on. “I'm sorry to be the one to ask.” Star Swirl grimaced. “No it's quite alright. Going to another realm or wherever this rift leads is too dangerous. I shall do it since I know that the realm will be in good hooves no matter what." Star Swirl stated. “Fine Star Swirl… but take no longer than you need to.” Mist Mane replied as she lit her horn and struck the rift with her magic keeping it from fully dispersing. “I know. I'll be back quickly.” Star Swirl assured his two companions as he lit up his horn, shot the rift and stabilized the portal. Taking a deep breath he poured more magic into it to force it to X’s general location. With a quick leap he jumped into the portal while Mist Mane kept things stable. Rockhoof pulled out his shovel and made certain to keep watch over the area creating snow walls to keep the winds at bay while they waited for their return. Corundum wasted no time charging up whatever magic he could firing everywhere in Ponyville. The laser beams he fired were not as strong as they could be but they managed to burn through several of the buildings. They didn’t burst into flames but they did disintegrate whatever they hit. By sheer chance the ponies were getting out of the way dodging the beams and managing to get out of town. A large thin beam of plasma shot out trying to strike at Corundum. He dodged out of the way firing beams of magic back as we traded blows weaving out of the way of each other's shots Corundum attempted to charge up a large shot which left him wide open and allowed me to shoot him in the gut sending him spiraling down into the town. “Wizard! Did you see where he fell!?” I cried out as she came over to look for his trajectory. “Yes!” Wizard shouted back, altering her course. “Follow me, I think we can finish this monster off!” Corundum wasted no time and ignored us, shooting the thin beam through several houses slicing them in half. The energy had finally reached critical mass as the ground exploded in a hail of fire and slag. He turned to the mares grinning with his nearly rotten smile as black slime poured down from it staining the ground. Then he flew off continuing his rampage willingly taking on hits so long as he destroyed everything he could. The crystal on his neck started to fracture raining pieces down as his form started to falter. Corundum looked down at the weird armored figure and pointed his jaw upwards. Magic formed above it as it started to rain magical energy beams of death. Using the distraction he soared away while the cries of ponies rang out amongst the town. Corundum, tossing him down into a crowd of ponies that were still fleeing from the widespread destruction. Corundum knocked the blade out of his gut as he noted all the ponies around him… and decided to help himself to a meat shield. His eyes lit up when he saw a grey unicorn colt leading a pink earth pony filly by the hand away from the destruction. Knocking the colt aside with the blunt end of his left mantis claw grabbing the filly with his right claw. “G-get away from her you meanie!” the colt shakily shouted, firing a small bolt of red magic at Corundum’s head. In fact, it was the same kind of magic that made up Corundum’s body. “Do it again. Do it again! It tickles.” Corundum growled out maliciously licking his lips as he stared down his prey. “Don’t worry though… I’ll return her soon enough. Maybe after I flay her open like a flesh suit? Foals enjoy playing with organs don’t they?” Corundum took off to the skies holding on to the pony and laughing the entire way “No! Leave her alone!” the colt shouted, firing off a few more bolts of magic. After a few shots, only sparks came out and he fell to his knees. “Damn it, Damn it, Damn it!” I shouted as we passed through the ruined town stopping in front of a colt collapsed on the ground. “Hey! Wizard! This the one?” “Yes! That’s Sombra!” Wizard landed in front of the colt and helped him up. “Sombra, did he hurt you?” she asked, stroking his mane. “H-he took Di!” Sombra latched onto her, holding back a sob. “I-I couldn’t save her!” Wizard stood up, showing off her ring. “Don’t worry, that’s what us heroes are for. You just get to safety.” I wasted no time and took off into the air using the Falcon Armor to chase after the departing Umbrum. Thanks to my internal power source I could keep flying without the limitations that were in place in game. I charged up my buster aiming for the shoulder that wasn’t holding onto the filly. “I’m not scared of you!” the filly shouted, giving Corundum a glare. “The riders are gonna turn you into dust, just like all the other monsters!” “Good… And you’ll make a decent flesh suit after I rip you to shreds. A good harvest.” Corundum answered without breaking the twisted grin on his face… while black slime leaked almost incessantly. Before he could say anymore a large buster shot tore through the left mantis claw tearing it off of its body. Corundum fell down back to the ground tearing through the earth as he nearly lost his grip… instead tightening it before the filly could escape. “Connect, please!” A green magic circle appeared next to the filly and a moment later a hand shot out of it and grabbed the filly. With a heave, it wrenched the filly free and pulled her through the magic circle. “Nopony’s becoming a flesh suit on my watch,” Wizard said, the filly at her side. “Di, get back to the library and tell OOO to use the pink set, okay?” Corundum looked at the weird armored figure and spat out gallons and gallons of black slime out of his maw. The black slime started to move on it’s own grabbing Wizard sinking into her legs piercing them as the slime hardened. Several magical spheres appeared over his body and shot out cutting off the pink filly and striking me out of the air into one of the buildings. “Okay, I think you need to visit a dentist,” Wizard joked through clenched teeth as she switched to Land form. “But lucky for you, I have a drill in my bag of tricks.” “Drill, please!” A magic circle appeared beneath her and her legs started to spin like a drill. A moment later, she disappeared beneath the earth, kicking up dirt as she did. Before Corundum or I could wonder where she went, a hole appeared beneath the umbrum and she jumped out to slash his chest. Letting the cut occur the slime that emanated out from the room shot out grabbing Wizard’s arms and legs with the largest wrapping around her throat. Figuring out that she was in front of him now he slammed her head first into the ground over and over again dragging it through several times until he launched her through the nearest building still covered in slime and stuck against the wall. I finally got up noticing her near me. “So… got anything to distract him?” I muttered as I switched over to Fire Wave. “If I could move, then maybe,” she said, struggling against the slime that kept her pinned to the building. “Ugh, I feel like bad modern art right now.” “Fireproof?” I looked over to her and aimed my buster up… waiting for the signal. “I do have dragon essence in me, that might offer me some resistance to fire,” she answered, starting to trail off as if to think. “Actually, I’ve never hurt myself when breathing fire, so I’m sure it’ll be fine.” “Well… one life to live. This’ll be interesting.” I released the flame and saturated her entire body to melt the slime off. It turned slowly to ash and Wizard thumped down on the ground on her back. “You can rest when you’re dead.” Then the scream of a little filly called out from beyond the building. “Di!” Wizard shouted, forcing herself to her hooves. Retrieving her dropped sword, she dashed off to the source of the scream. The slime had formed enough to grab the filly as Corundum affixed one eye on Wizard and I while the other focused on Di, as she was called. The mantis claw has slid into place near the filly ready to strike and Corundum started to speak. “Pretty filly getting skinned, speak any words will bring her end.” He focused on Wizard especially. “Same goes for weaponry… X… “ Corundum hissed out barely masking his rage as all the slime bubbled. “If you want her back though… well I could be persuaded…” Wizard’s weapon trembled in her hand as she looked between the filly and the umbrum. “What do you want?” she hissed, staring at the umbrum. “Heh… heh heh ha ha… X… allow her to stab your power core and I will walk away without consequence. The pony will go free and I will die.” Corundum stated drawing the claw along Di’s belly. “Unless you’d rather explain to others how you let ponies die needlessly.” “You want me to trade one life for another?” Wizard questioned, taken aback by the idea. “How good are you at catching, Wizard?” I muttered toward her as my armor turned a deeper purple color. “Pretty decent given my rider powers, why?” Wizard muttered back keeping her head facing Corundum. “Good to know.” I raised my buster as Corundum raised his mantis claw. Dark Hold took effect creating a large time bubble over the area for three seconds. 3… I dashed into Corundum grabbing Di and tearing her out of the slime. 2… I pulled her into my grasp and turned to Wizard. 1… I threw Di over towards Wizard as the effect fell and the mantis claw immediately tore into my gut raising me off the ground and causing sparks to flow through my body from the impact. Wizard managed to catch the filly, quickly setting her down on the ground. “That was your big idea?!” she shrieked her gaze locked onto the hole in my stomach. “That was part one. I was hoping you would have attacked him and stopped him while the claw was still in my gut.” I deadpanned as I turned back to Corundum firing several buster shots into his body. Wizard grabbed one more ring off her belt and slid it onto her finger. “Kick Strike!” Leaping into the air, she positioned herself to perform a dropkick on Corundum. A large, yellow magic circle formed beneath her foot and crashed along with her directly into Corundum’s face. Corundum screamed as the magic in the kick pierced through his core destroying his body as the black slime and shadows turned to ash and dissipated leaving behind a large fractured red crystal laying on the ground. Star Swirl landed hard as he rematerialized in a very lush forest based town. The ponies were… weird to say the least. Remembering that in a multiverse such as this anything was possible. Still he didn't want or need to stay more than was was required. “Where are you…?” Star Swirl muttered as he lit up his horn recalling the tracking spell and placing a ward on the portal making others less likely to want to be in the area. The small pulsing of his magic soon led to a very large tree near his position. It was his best option though he really hoped that this would go smoothly. He needed to return with X to help handle the aftermath of this bloody coup. Wizard sighed in relief, adjusting her belt and undoing the transformation to reveal a purple alicorn mare. “That took some effort, but that bastard’s finally gone.” Glancing over at Di, she turned her focus to me. “You alright?” “Who? Me?” I motioned a finger to my body. “Yeah, see… I’m truly a hole-y figure.” I pushed my arm through the hole in my gut and waved to Wizard before pulling it out of the wound. “If it weren’t for the smokey slime monster, that would’ve been the most disturbing thing I’ve seen all day,” the mare said flatly, pointing a finger at my wound. “But you seem to be okay. What about you, Di, you alright?” The filly nodded, looking over the dried slime on her outfit. “I’m fine, but I think my clothes need a trip to the incinerator. Thanks for saving me.” She glanced over to me. “You too, Mister.” “Yup. I’m so glad Commander Hurricane, Princess Platinum and Chancellor Puddinghead weren’t here as well. They would have found me getting stabbed through the gut again far too reckless. Well, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?” I shrugged as my body started to regenerate under the sunlight. “Or what doesn’t kill you is actually slowly killing you,” Wizard responded. “But, I’m glad that you have an auto-repair function.” Clearing her throat, she moved up and held her hand out. “I’m Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria, it’s a pleasure to formally meet you.” “X. That’s what I’m going with for now… can’t be too careful when that damn serpent could be around listening.” I shook her hand keeping my name close to the vest. I was too distracted with Corundum that I nearly forgot Discord could have also been around ready to strike. “Serpent? Who or what are you talking about?” Twilight questioned, tilting her head at me. “You know… him. Chaos… and don’t you dare say his name. He could be anywhere and as mortal enemies we are probably going to kill each other on sight. Me especially after what he tried.” I muttered the last part raising my buster around slightly charged. “Oh.” Twilight nodded in understanding. “You mean Discord. Well, you should be fine; I doubt any Discord would want to leave their universe. Besides, if yours came here, I imagine ours wouldn’t take too kindly to having a doppelganger.” “Right… I’m not lowering my buster. He already decided to try and make me his equal where I’m from. Something strange he called a Spirit of Order or something like that.” I stated keeping track of my sensors. I could pick up his thaumic signature from anywhere within fifty meters. “Right.” Twilight lit her horn up, cordoning off the area with the magical equivalent of police tap. “I’ll ask that you stay around to give your statement to the royal guard.” “This is a weird Equestria… Star Swirl never mentioned anything about a Princess of Friendship or anything more than the Equestrian Army to deal with threats… oh. Oh! This is that thing… huh… lots of things are starting to fall into place now.” I placed my hand underneath my chin closing my eyes in contemplation. “You must have been Displaced to an Equestria centuries in the past,” Twilight surmised. “Star Swirl vanished not long before Celestia and Luna defeated Discord. My rider powers are based on some of his work. Hay, I became an alicorn by finishing his last spell.” “Displaced? What’s that? Also what about the other ponies that he is friends with?” I crossed my arms trying to keep my confusion from getting out of control. “How about we take this discussion back to the library?” Brushing her dress off, Twilight turned back towards where we came from. “You and Wyatt can discuss this while I find a healing spell for the tree.” “Uh… sure. I’m curious now.” I followed after her making sure that Diamond stood next to her. I didn’t know anything about what was going on. The walk took a few minutes, the Decade guy still holding up the tree. Though, they did seem a bit more tired than when we left him. I noted Sombra hugging onto his leg. “Hey, Twi,” all the Decades said at once. “Did you have a nice stroll around the town? I’ve just been here, practicing my tree hugging.” “I can see that.” Lighting her horn up, Twilight grabbed the tree in her magic. “Spike! Can you grab me any book with botany spells, specifically ones concerning trees?” “Want me to take over… Wyatt was it?” I stepped up to the person holding up the tree. “Yeah, the name’s Wyatt,” Decade replied, sounding less tired as the aura from Twilight’s horn spread around the tree. “And I think I can handle this now that Twi’s helping me.” “Fine. So… displaced. What are they?” I leaned against one of the only intact walls inside the library. “People who were costumed in one situation or another and found themselves pulled into a version of Equestria. That’s the short version anyway.” “Long version, please.” “Well the long version isn’t much longer,” Wyatt admitted adjusting his footing to ease the strain of the tree. “The case for most of us displaced is that we go to a con of some kind, buy an object related to our costume and the one selling it turns out to be an entity called a Void Dweller.” I looked towards the door as a dragon stepped out of the library. He moved over to Twilight a stack of books in his arms. “All the magic botany books I could find,” the drake offered, holding them out. “Thank you, Spike,” Twilight replied, picking up the books in her magic and looking through them all at once. After a few minutes, she pointed at one with a green cover. “Aha! Mending a broken tree. This spell can reattach limbs and other materials of a tree so long as not much time has passed and the pieces being mended are still relatively healthy.” The aura around her horn and the tree shifted and after a few moments, a creaking started to come from the library. “Neat… So anything else that I should know about Displaced now that your arms aren’t full.” I motioned to the now repaired tree. Pulling the handles on his belt, Wyatt’s copies faded from existence as he undid his transformation. “We can summon one another through tokens. Mine’s my Decade card. It’s pretty easy to make one: just pick something you think represents you, concentrate and make a message for it and then toss it so it can go out into the void for others to find.” “Huh… “ I raised my hands up looking over and focusing on them. After a few seconds something started forming in my hands… it was a large white case shaped similarly to the cases that usually held cyber elves within them. “You mean like this thing?” “Yeah, that can work,” Wyatt nodded, leaning in to get a closer look. “I have no idea what it is but it should work fine.” “It holds cyber elves. It’s a way to summon us to another’s aid… or at the very least a copy.” Nana finally spoke up rising from my body revealing her form. A tall female reploid with pink hair and two sevens on her chest flashing a holographic blue color. “Nana! I told you you all need to remain hidden!” I yelled out frowning at her sudden burst. “It’s fine. We’re sure that we can afford some risks here. This information is a necessity if this is what is going on now.” Nana informed me coaxing Harpuia, another reploid in X’s image though wearing a modified Falcon Armor clad entirely in green plating and Fefnir, another reploid in X’s image wearing a modified Gaea Armor, plated entirely in red. “Cyber elves?” Twilight questioned. “I’m not familiar with that term.” “We are full fledged A.I. Capable of high levels of technological advancement and specialized fields. I, in particular, am the one who holds several Petabytes of data detailing all technology for the past years of human history since 21XX. Harpuia is a strategist program capable of detailing millions of plans based on his own calculation. Fefnir is a combat expert with knowledge of all possible styles of fighting and any weapon possible. I can’t detail the others right now but that is what we are.” Nana explained detailing a few more options they had behind them. “How fascinating,” Twilight replied. “But what sort of people use X’s to denote a year? Is that supposed to be like the numeral for ten? But then why start with regular numbers?” she muttered the last part to herself. “It was the year when the Maverick Wars started. When everyone died.” Harpuia explained overhearing the muttering easily enough. “One reploid became a virus and sent the world into war and destruction leaving nothing but a ruined earth and mistrust amongst those born and those created.” “So it’s a time people wanted stricken from the records?” Twilight guessed, putting a hand to her chin. “Or maybe, due to the chaos of the event, the exact date was lost?” “No. It’s just that all the people who kept track of dates like historians were all dead. It only got worse due to the second war where ninety percent of all reploids and sixty percent of all humans were wiped out in one go. No reason to keep track when every one who would care is too busy trying to survive after widespread genocide and the slow decline of humanity as a viable species.” Fefnir interjected revealing just how bad things had gotten in that time. Twilight shuddered, returning the books to Spike and took Wyatt’s hand. “I’m so glad you didn’t come from a world like that.” Reaching down, she placed her hand on Sombra’s head. Wyatt managed a grin. “Same, I’m not exactly the Mad Max type.” “It’s a good thing she managed to take out Corundum’s crystal. That thing acted like his mind and heart. He had knowledge of how to make unstoppable golem armies by turning ponies into crystal golems exploding them like flesh balloons.” I sighed out looking towards Wizard, or Twilight as I now knew. Retching, Twilight nodded in agreement. “Okay, I’m glad I took him out. The last thing I would want to see is Spike’s cousin explode in a gore pile.” “You did destroy the crystal right? I remember it was fracturing while we fought it but I kind of got distracted with the hole in my gut.” I looked over as I placed the cyber elf container on one of tables. “My Finish Strike took care of it,” Twilight assured. “Wait, what’s this about Diamond Tiara exploding!?” Spike asked, glancing between Twilight and myself. “Sombra told me that someone had taken Di, but holy crap!” “Held onto her like a meat shield and threatened to turn her into flesh puppet unless Twilight killed me.” I bluntly stated crossing my arms as I did so. For some reason there was a blip on my thaumic sensor coming in. Spike stared before bolting off into town. “I have to make sure Di’s okay!” “Be careful with her!” Twilight called after him. “She’s a little shaken up by what happened!” “X! X where are you!” An older sounding voice called out revealing a tall quadruped pony wearing a star adorned cloak and wizard’s hat with bells. His beard reaching well below his chest. “Oh, there you are Star Swirl. Corundum has been dealt with finally.” I called out as the stallion trotted over the debris around the slowly healing tree. A strange high pitched noise came from Twilight’s direction and before I could react, she rushed up into Starswirl’s face. “Oh my gosh! It’s really you!” She paused, a giddy look on her face. “Well, not my version of you but you nonetheless! I’m a huge fan of all your work!” Flaring her wings out, she continued. “In fact, I became an alicorn thanks to completing one of your spells!” “Of course… good to hear.” Star Swirl patted the very enthusiastic mare pushing her slightly to sit down with his magic and turned to me. “Agito was quite clear that you were a misanthropic dick who borderlined on specist,” Wyatt spoke up, eyeing Star Swirl critically. “Doesn’t tell a lot of good stories about you. Said Somnambula had the looks though.” “Yes of course because in a web of alternate universes of infinite possibilities every single me is the same just like you aren't a horrible monster in another one and a killer in another or mayhaps a different universe where you've been kept at home. All alternate universes are different and should any being immediately take at face value that their version is the quintessential version out of all versions they would sorely be mistaken. Regardless I've come for X. Things need to be pushed forward for our plans now that the Crystal Empire is free.” Star Swirl lectured before turning to me. “Before you go.” Wyatt cleared his throat. “We could talk about a few things. Say... my new X cards.” Holding his hand out, he resummoned his case and pulled out a card displaying my image. “What’s happened in the past thousand years, maybe take a trip over to the human continent.” “Do we have time Star Swirl?” I looked down at the pony who was lost in contemplation weighing his options. “As tempting as exploring those links are there isn't. Mist Mane is doing her part right now to keep the portal open. Project Harmony is also in dire need of being started now that we have access to the Crystal Empire. Also some of my scrying attempts of our neighbors have been revealing golem technology trickling into their borders which is harrowing if it is as horrible as the massacre that happened to the Amore family.” Star Swirl groused looking dire as he explained all the trouble occurring. Wyatt looked between them. “You guys do know, you don’t have to keep it open right? I can just make a new one. Been flexing my Decade powers lately.” Wraggling his finger, Wyatt made the air in front of him warp. “It's more because I was being polite. I have other problems as well since that chaos spirit nearly invaded Everfree Castle and got right next to the princesses. He has started to be more bold in his plans. Also Concerto is looking for you X.” Star Swirl explained. Snapping his fingers, Wyatt let the warp disappear. “Alright, just don’t hesitate to call me if you want help.” Reaching into his card case, he tossed me one of his cards. “Here. You can have this then.” I grabbed the card placing it in my buster for far later and handed the cyber elf case over. “Basically open this case and one of us will come out to assist you based on who you call. If you need strategy, Harpuia comes out. Weaponry is Fefnir, combat versatility is my cyber elf copy, and technology is Nana. There are others but they are locked right now.” “This should come in handy,” Wyatt said, holding up the case. “Hey, Twi, before they leave, think you can copy Maud’s research and the tokens we have? Give them a care package or something like that.” Turning back to me, he smiled. “If anything, next time you run into Discord, you should try calling Xemnas. Guys basically the god of Nothingness. Maybe he can cancel out Discord or something?” “If you say so… I'm not exactly in a rush right now since there are other things to deal with first.” I watched as Twilight used a pair of rings to conjure and copy a laptop and a box of random items. “Here.” Twilight smiled, passing the objects to me. “The laptop has everything we have on rider research, I hope it helps.” “Yeah. This should do fine.” I accepted the package and held onto them. “Upgrade time before we leave!” Nana immediately jumped into the laptop and started to surge power through it forcing several parts to change, becoming sleeker. “We have updated everything and fully remade this low tech to high tech Sir.” She saluted before returning into my body. “Hmm, that gives me an idea,” Wyatt said, holding the cyber elf case towards their version of the laptop and opening it. ‘Please choose your assistant’ The Case bellowed out as the first lid opened. “Nana,” Wyatt replied. ‘Complying. Copy accessed. Set personality’ The voice continued. “Let’s go with… upbeat and positive,” Wyatt answered, taking a moment to understand the request. ‘Perky 50’s flirt accepted.’ The voice answered as a bright light lifted out of the case. “Sup there handsome. So whatcha need me for?” The newly created Nana flew over to Wyatt rubbing her diminutive hand over his chest regardless of being a small fairy like figure. Wyatt chuckled nervously, giving Twilight a weak smile. “I would like it to be on record that the case said flirt, not me.” “Oh don't worry sweetie.” Nana flew over to Twilight. “I plug in both ways.” She ran her hand against Twilight’s cheek. “Just upgrade our laptop,” Twilight deadpanned, holding the device up. The Nana copy entered the laptop and while ignoring the… ecstatic moans coming from it the laptop fully upgraded to a sleeker model. “Done. Will that be all?” “Think you can stay in the laptop and act as an assistant?” Wyatt questioned, shaking the elf case. “Or do you need to go back in the case?” “If you want a different assistant I have to go into the case. If you want me to integrate into the tech all I need to know is if you're the one pushing my button.” Nana asked as she lounged out in mid air in front of his gaze. “Am I going to have to worry about you sneaking out and making a reploid body for yourself?” Wyatt asked, quirking a brow at her. “I get the feeling you’re gonna get handsy.” “Oh my sir. You are so naughty thinking so hard about giving me a body because you actually want to push my buttons.” The Nana copy blushed… as much as a cyber elf copy could. “Keep it up and I’m making a Fefnir copy,” Wyatt deadpanned. “Yes because he has the knowledge to upgrade tech. Oh wait, he only knows weapons.” Nana copy mock smiled. “And the G-Project could use a weapons expert to help them,” Wyatt retorted, using his pinkie to poke her nose which went through her. “See sir. I knew you wanted to get your hands inside me.” She chuckled as her form returned to full again. “I know she’s just teasing you,” Twilight commented, trying not to erupt into laughter. “Anyway, thank you a lot, X. This will be a great help to Equestria.” “Yeah… you picked a weird personality there. We're… we’re just gonna go. Star Swirl, you coming?” I motioned to the wizard who was looking over the tech. “Yes. Let's leave them to their work and head back.” Star Swirl lit up his horn as several hundreds of magical circles grabbed the two with thousands wrapping around us as we were dragged from that plain of existence and disappeared from sight. In truth, Star Swirl’s spell was little more than an illusion. He led me out back to the rift where I last saw it. It was stable at this point. “Seems as though there are problems in other worlds, isn't there?” Star Swirl mentioned as I looked down. “Yeah… wanna talk before we head back?” I motioned him to sit down near me as I placed the things down. “Yes. Before we go tell me more about yourself. It seems as though we are safe here.” Star Swirl sat down as well. “Where do I begin…? Well apparently I'm what would be called a Displaced. I wasn't always this being you see before you. Something decided to one day drag me from my world in a new guise for some reason beyond our comprehension. So I'm now here as this helping you with whatever you need.” I explained as Nana and Harpuia started to crunch numbers for some reason. “That is unfortunate for you. I will admit that this is extraordinary but as much as I want to study you, I need you to remain as X until we have gotten a handle on our world.” Star Swirl pointed out. “As remiss as I would be not to know your name… there is still the matter of Discord from our realm. I know of spells that can harm the very soul of those that have their true name revealed.” “I had a feeling that that was the case. Still it feels wrong just to keep who I am hidden beneath a title. But I understand why it's important. Anything else?” I muttered as I looked over the things I received. “About these items… we need a safe place to store them and since we can now continue our projects I was thinking that we can store them there as well. Are you ready for Project Harmony?” Star Swirl intoned ready to jump through the portal. “As ready as I'll ever be. What is Project Harmony?” I mentioned as I followed him through the portal. “You've returned… finally.” Mist Mane shuddered as she fell into the snow. She was not cold though she looked exhausted. I picked her up as Rockhoof and Magnus each took to my sides as we raced out of the area finally finishing up with the Frozen Wastelands and the things that remained. I didn't know what else to do as Star Swirl carried the objects in his magic and we raced off for the Crystal Empire. It was dark. It was dark and wet. The smell of iron throughout the air made it difficult to breathe. Blood, dried blood but blood nonetheless coated the room as the young mare looked over the contents of the room. She ran a hoof across her flank feeling her body as if for the first time. She felt her wings… and started noticing the small red crystals that were attached to them. She didn't say much about it but the small smirk that appeared told all she needed to know. The experiment was a resounding success. She let out a low chuckle that grew to uproarious laughter. The mare known as Crystal Shears slowly stood up from the table… and found a nearby window opening it to the entire city engulfed in madness as ponies kept playing doctor with each other. Revolution would happen. The world would know that progress was coming even if she couldn't remember what had happened after he was fed whispers about power beyond the veil… after that nothing. The world needed to become more, to be more. Goring Corundum would continue on as she flapped her wings and took off for the cloud cover above.