“So, how do you guys know about Bill?” asked Dipper as he, Jack, Flynn, and Twilight sat at a table in the Golden Oaks Library later that night.
“Oh, we’ve had our fair share of encounters with the supernatural during our adventures, especially with that isosceles monster,” said Flynn. “Come to think of it, how do YOU know about Bill Cipher, Dipper?”
Dipper sighed. “I met Bill when my Grunkle Stan’s business rival summoned him in an attempt to steal the combination to his safe directly from his mind. Me, Mabel, and a family friend named Soos were able to drive Bill out, but ever since then, he’s been a thorn in my family’s side… mostly my side,” he explained.
As Twilight looked at the drawing of Bill, she had more questions than answers about him… and moreover, he seemed so harmless… she just couldn’t see him being the almighty being Dipper and the others were making him out to be.
"I don't get it, what's so dangerous about this little guy?" When she asked that question all three males looked at her with dumbfounded looks.
"Okay, picture Discord, except his intentions are destructive and multiply his powers by cancer." stated Jack with a monotone voice. Twilight just looked at Jack with disbelief, she then turned to Flynn.
"He's not over exaggerating this time Twi, he's that dangerous. He could probably drive ten men insane if he wanted to… in fact, I’m sure he’s done it before,” said Flynn.
A look of concern crossed Twilight’s face. “Okay, how in the wide, wide, world of Gaia did ANY of you ever get away from him?” she asked.
“In a word: luck,” said Dipper. Jack and Flynn nodded in agreement. "And up to a certain point he only had power in a dimension called the mindscape, having no power over the physical world until he managed to find a way into our reality."
“Wait a second… are you saying that Bill Cipher somehow managed to get himself access to the material plane?” asked Flynn, just a hint of panic on his face.
“Unfortunately, yes. But, lucky for me and probably all of Equestria, I managed to give him the slip, and with any luck, he won’t know where I’ve gone.”
"Oh my shit..." Jack held onto his top hat and threw the front door open. "PINKIE!!! GRAB THE GOLD AND SHOVEL!!! WE GOT SOME DIGGIN' TO DO!!!" With that he shot out of the library.
Flynn facepalmed and placed a hand on Dipper's shoulder. "Well, at the very least you bought us time to form a plan of action, one that doesn't involve me burying my life savings." He got up and hugged Twilight. "See you later Cus, I have to go spend some time with Fluttershy."
Flynn walked out of the library and down the road. "Hey Flynn!" He looked over his shoulder to see Rainbow Dash and her partner approaching. The young man standing next to the rainbow-haired girl wore a grey shirt, light brown khakis, and black boots. He also had on a brown aviator jacket and a pair of goggles around his neck. His green eyes glowed under the light and his red hair was spiky and had a white streak on the right side and a pair of red wings were folded behind him.
"Jet! Back from your trip, I see?" said Dusk.
"Yeah," replied Jet. "Gotta say, flying over the Everfree is a lot tougher than actually walking through it. Those vines just won't let you leave!"
Flynn nodded. “Walking through there isn’t such a picnic either. Every time I get too close to one of those things my magic doesn't respond correctly… and I have a funny feeling that those vines are getting closer to the city,” he said.
“Aw, come on, Flynn! You ain’t scared of a bunch of plants, are ya?” asked Rainbow Dash with a cocky smirk and a hint of challenge in her voice.
“Of course not… all the same though, I think there might be something truly terrifying coming our way soon, and we’ll need to get ready for it,” said Flynn.
Rainbow and Jet frowned. “It wouldn’t happen to be about that ‘demon triangle’ Jack was yelling about, is it?” asked Jet.
"Unfortunately, it does," said Flynn.
"How bad is it?"
"Imagine an evil Discord with actual intentions to make your life a living hell. Then give him the power of both regal sisters and then some."
Jet winced. "You're kidding me. Right? Please tell me-"
"He's not exaggerating," said Dipper, walking up to join the group.
"Oh. Wait. I've never seen you around here."
"Jet, this is Dipper," said Flynn. "He's got first hand experience in dealing with Bill and barely escaped."
"How did you escape?"
"Let's just say I put a lot of distance between us that can't be covered even with a plane," Dipper said.
"Yikes. So, uh, what exactly can he do?"
Dipper and Flynn looked at each other. "Where do you want us to start?" asked Dusk.
"Uh, gimme the three I should be most careful about."
"Currently, manipulation of space-time, distortion of reality, and opening a portal into a dimension to summon an army of dream demons," said Dipper.
Jet looked in disbelief. "O... Kay... He's not here now, is he?"
"Scared?" teased Flynn.
"No... You?"
"He can't come here. When I got here, the only device that can bring him over was destroyed in the process."
"So, we're safe?"
"Bill found a way from the Mindscape directly into the physical plane. I don't think getting here will be too much for him to figure out."
Jet looked at Rainbow Dash. "So, how are we preparing?"
“Well… normally I’d say I could take him on myself, but given everything Dippingsauce here just said, I think we’ll need a bit more finesse than just charging at him guns blazing,” said Rainbow Dash.
“All right, here’s what we’ll do. We’ll get some rest first, then we’ll meet up with the others tomorrow and figure out a plan to stop Bill getting at our minds, or the minds of anyone in town. Agreed?” said Dipper.
“Agreed,” said the other people present.
“All right. Then, I guess I’ll see you guys in the morning. Good night, everyone,” said Dipper.
And with that, the group departed, each of them heading for home to get some sleep in preparation for the big day tomorrow.
…
That night, Dipper couldn't sleep. His mind kept wandering back to Bill, then Mabel, then everyone else. He rolled around in his bed restless as a sugar high child. With a groan, he got out of the bed and went downstairs. He looked through the library shelves for a book he could use to put himself to sleep.
After almost ten minutes of no results, he went back up and pulled out a battered old book from inside his vest. On the front was a six-fingered hand with the number 3 in the middle. He opened it and pulled out a pen, thinking of something to write.
"Can't sleep?" Dipper turned towards the stairs and saw Twilight standing at the top.
"Yeah," he said, slipping the book back into his vest. "I keep thinking of Bill... And Mabel. And everyone else back home."
Twilight walked in and sat next to him on the bed. "Yeah, I’m having a little trouble sleeping myself. I can’t stop thinking about Bill either, and how much danger all of Equestria, maybe even all of Gaia, will be in when he gets here… if he gets here, that is,” said Twilight.
Dipper nodded. “There will certainly be dire consequences when and, hopefully if, Bill shows up… he’ll probably come after me first before turning the town into a living nightmare and unleashing madness untold upon the rest of the world,” he said.
“That may be… but, rest assured, Dipper, none of us are going to let anything happen to you or the world if Bill shows up,” said Twilight, placing a comforting hand on Dipper’s shoulder.
Dipper smiled. “Thanks, Twilight,” he said.
As Twilight gazed into Dipper’s big brown eyes, she caught sight of something on his forehead. “Dipper, what’s that on your forehead?” she asked Dipper.
Much to Twilight’s surprise, Dipper turned bright red. “W-well… it’s… actually my birthmark. It’s how I got my name, actually. Kids used to tease me about it back home all the time,” he said.
“Well, can I see it?” asked Twilight.
“Uh… sure,” said Dipper, pulling back his bang to reveal a birthmark in the exact shape of the constellation Ursa Major, or the Big Dipper, which Twilight recognized with shock and surprise as she let out a gasp.
“What? What’s wrong?” asked Dipper.
“Th… that’s not just a birthmark, Dipper… that’s a Mark of Power! It means you’re a Spellcaster, like me,” she explained. “See, look.”
Twilight pulled up on her bangs, revealing her own birthmark, in the shape of a sparkling star.
“But… how can I be a Spellcaster? I don’t even know any magic!” said Dipper.
“Well, then I can teach you, but it’ll have to be after Nightmare Night. Maybe this is exactly what we need to stop Bill!” said Twilight.
Dipper, for the umpteenth time today, was confused. “What’s Nightmare Night?”
Twilight gave Dipper a brief explanation of what Nightmare Night was. After the explanation, Dipper spoke up.
“So, it’s just like Halloween back home.”
Now it was Twilight’s turn to be confused. “What’s a Halloween?” she asked Dipper.
“Well, it’s just like Nightmare Night, except we get to keep all the candy,” said Dipper. "Also, my town loves that time of year so much, we celebrate it twice."
"Lucky." Twilight chuckled before getting up. "Well, I've got to get to sleep. Goodnight Dipper."
"Goodnight Ma...I mean Twilight." Twilight just smiled at him and walked up the wooden stairs to her bedroom.
...
Flynn sat in the living room of Fluttershy's cottage, looking over some notes that he had recovered across his adventures. Looking around them he sighed and closed the book in his hand. "I've gotta get some sleep, it'll do me no good to be tired tomorrow when we all try and formulate a plan." Setting the book down he blew out a candle and walked up to the bedroom where his future wife lay peacefully.
He took off his boots and trench coat and lay down beside Fluttershy. He turned and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close, causing a her to smile in her slumber.
"How'd I manage to land a girl like you Flutters?" He closed his eyes and began to dream his memories of when he first met his fiancé.
...
Fluttershy ran as fast as she could through the Everfree Forest, a pack of angry Timberwolves right on her tail. When she had tried to fly away she caught her wing on a stray branch and its many sharp thorns prevented any movement of the muscles after she had managed to detach the spiked piece of wood. As she came to a clearing she looked around frantically for a place to hide.
She found shelter in a hole under a tree stump. She cowered as she heard the wooden wolves searching the area. As one got close to her hiding place all movement above stopped. The wolves all turned their heads in a different direction and charged two new figures that had appeared. Two of the wolves were knocked away by a cane and the other three were caught in a grey aura and thrown up at a mountain.
"Oh I love it when you do that Flynn! It's so fun to watch them squirm in your grasp!" Yelled a crazy voice from above.
"You need serious help Jack, or at least a girlfriend to help you get control of these violent tendencies and cursing habits." Stated a calmer voice. Fluttershy peeked out of her hiding spot and looked to the new figures. One was wearing a dark purple suit along with a top hat and cane. The other wore a black trench coat, a white shirt, blue jeans and black boots. Both boys looked around 14.
"Ah what would you know? Remember what happened with that girl...oh what was her name again?"
"Please don't bring that up again..."
"Trixie! That girl that always mentioned herself in the third person!" Flynn facepalmed and looked around.
"So, you see any place where you could set up your future amusement park?"
Jack looked around with a finger to his chin. "I think I saw a good spacious area not too far back from here, and I saw a city nearby so it could get plenty of business."
"It amazes me how the Nightshade Family hasn't gone bankrupt with all of these parks they are setting up."
"Ah well, at least we get to go adventuring while we search for my first ever park!" They both looked around before looking at each other confused. "Hey, weren't those wolves chasing someone?"
"A girl I think, should still be around here." They began looking for the shy girl until Flynn spotted her and knelt down outside the hole and held out his hand. "Hey there, are you alright miss?"
Fluttershy nervously poked her head out of her hiding spot. Both of their eyes widened as they made eye contact. Flynn was mesmerised by her beauty and Fluttershy was drawn to the gentleness in his eyes. They stared at each other for awhile until Fluttershy eventually took Flynn’s hand and allowed him to help her up.
"H-Hello miss, are you alright?" He asked in a nervous voice. Jack just raised a brow at his friend, he looked to the expressions on their faces and put his hands up, turned around and walked out of the area.
"Um, yes...I'm ok." They just stared at each other for another moment before Flynn noticed her injured wing.
"That doesn't look too good, we shouldn't get you to a hospital." Fluttershy shyly nodded and took a step, only to fall and Flynn caught her before she hit the ground.
"Sorry...I-I think my ankle is sprained."
"No problem." He caught her off guard by picking her up bridal style and began carrying her towards Ponyville. She blushed furiously and wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling safe in his arms.
...
"I will always protect you Fluttershy. Be it from a storm to a demon, I will be your shield." Flynn whispered before he kissed her forehead and closed his eyes once more, falling back to sleep.