//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 - Meeting royalty and the Mother of all Exposition Dump // Story: The Lost Ones // by Arceaion //------------------------------// Twilight paced back and forth in worry outside of a room in Ponyville General Hospital, at her side Spike sat in concern as he watched Twilight pace. "Twilight you need to sit down, the princesses said they would be here as soon as they looked at the spell matrix you mentioned and there's nothing we can do for the mare till they get here either." He said in a shaky voice. Twilight went to respond but was cut off when she was slammed into by a bouncy pink wall. "Twilight!" Pinkie yelled happily before she was dragged of by Applejack. "Give her some space Pinkie." Applejack said as she looked to her distraught friend. "You alright there sugar cube?" She asked in a kind voice. Twilight slowly got up and looked at the apple farmer in concern. "I don't know." She said in a shaky voice. "The Princesses will be here in a bit; they went to get the others." Applejack said in concern as she looked at the door the mare Twilight found was in. "Something fierce must ‘a happened cause they are mighty riled up." She said in concern. As Applejack said this Princess Celestia and Luna both turned down the hall they were, the doctor that had helped treat the mare and the other three Elements with them. As they neared Twilight stepped forward and Celestia hugged the distraught mare. "My faithful student, I'm glad to see you are safe." She said quietly as she rubbed twilights back. After a moment Twilight pulled away and stood back from the princess who looked over the six mares before her. "At present we do not know anything as to what has been happening." She said calmly. "The Magic circle Twilight found was not one we are familiar with." Luna said calmly as she looked at the door in concern. "We hope that the mare that Twilight brought in may provide some answers." "About that your majesty," The doctor interrupted. "I would believe I may be able to shed some light on our... patient." He said calmly. "Anything you can tell us will be of value doctor..." Celestia trialed of and the doctor sighed. "Doctor Cure All." He said as he rubbed his forehead. "First off I would like to say that despite the similarities to us, she is not a pony." He said receiving raised eyes from everypony present. "For starters while she has the physical appearance to a pony she has no hooves or tail on her body." He explained. “Aside from this her metabolism is different from ours as well, I don't know what she is but that doesn't particularly matter at this moment." He said calmly. "As for her injuries, we could not find any recent one however her body is rather... concerning." He said as he rubbed his face. "Can you elaborate doctor further on what you mean?" Celestia asked in a concerned voice. Doctor Cure All sighed and nodded. "First off when we attempted to remove the armor we had a significant trouble, it was almost as if it was sentient and was refusing to wouldn't let her go." He explained. "After removing the armor we found that under it was what we thought to be a sort of skin tight covering to protect her body however we could not find a way to remove it and any attempt to cut it was met with failure as we could not pierce the material. The material converting her body is black and has several red lines like marking that move from her feet to shoulders and neck; they appear like circuit boards in those new computer thingies." The Doctor said calmly. "Was there any tears or damage to the clothing?" Luna asked curiously. "None that we could find." The doctor replied. "After failing to remove the clothing one of the nurses suggested the use of a medical scan spell to see any injuries and from the scan we found even more concerning things." He said as he removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes as he opened the medical file showing the princesses the scans results. "First off her internal are similar to our bodies and scans on the muscle and body itself revealed that they were in a state of near exhaustion however; we found arcs of some type of magical electricity running through the body. Wherever this electricity passed the damage was almost immediately healed. We also found that in her chest was a strange stone like object that seems to be embedded into her body however it’s literally connected to her, almost like it was grown within her. We have confirmed it’s not any sort of tumor or other anomalous growth meaning that it’s meant to be there." "Could you get a blood sample and if so was the blood on the ground hers?" Twilight asked in concern. The doctor nodded. "We did get blood samples and I can confirm the blood that was on you when you arrived was entirely hers." The doctor said with a kind smile however it soon faded. "Princesses I can understand how this can be concerning however I fear these is something far more problematic." He said calmly earning a raised eye from the group. "Using the Medical scan we were able to examine the woman’s body and what it showed..." The doctor shuddered. "From what the scan reviled she has several runic symbols carved into her body and from what we could determine they were done at a young age. She couldn't have been any older than seven when it was done and the scars were filled it with what we identified as stone. While we could not get a sample due to the covering the scan determined it to most likely be obsidian." He said drawing gasps of shock and looks of digest from the group. "Furthermore the symbol around her right eye that we assumed to be a tattoo was made the same way and at the same time, her left eye shows signs it was forcefully removed no more than a year ago but the eyes is still there and the only abnormality to it is that in the place of a pupil it has a strange symbol on it." He explained. "Thank you for your assessment doctor, is there anything else?" She asked Doctor All. Doctor Cure all nodded. "One final thing, whoever did those runic carvings on her knew exactly what they were doing and whatever they were trying to do I fear was a success." He said in a warning tone. "Furthermore Given the physical state of her body I'm inclined to believe that she has some form of military background or training as she is in near peak physical condition and as side from the runic scars her body is convert in old burn marks, small scars most likely form projectiles as there was fragment still in her skin and slash marks from bladed weapons that are likely from past fights." He explained as he turned and began to walk down the hall. "I don't know what happened to her or how she ended up as she did but I know she's been through Tartarus and back so please be careful." He said over his shoulder. As Doctor Cure All left Celestia and Luna looked at each other before turning to the door. "Twilight, you mentioned she woke for a moment and saw you?" Celestia asked receiving a nod from the worried mare. "Then I ask you to come in with us, your presence may help keep this individual calm." She said. "If you think it will help Princesses then I'll do my best." Twilight said hesitantly as she walked forward just as a scream pierced the air drawing fearful looks from the group before Twilight and the princesses ran into the room. Eris groaned as she woke up and looked around finding herself in what looked like an empty void. With a groan she rose slowly and looked around seeing that the void wasn't exactly empty but rather there seemed to be shadowy humanoid like beings walking around in a stupor. Eris slowly walked over to one of them and as she reached out the shadows seemed to sense her presence and turned to her causing her to take a step back as more began to look at her. "W-what's going on?" She asked in a shaky voice as the shadows began to walk toward her. The one in front of her that she was about to touch raised its hand and for a moment made contact with her; in that moment memories flooded through her and she gasped as she tried to pull away in fear of the foreign memories. "NO, I DIDN'T WANT THIS!" She screamed causing the shadow to stop as Eris fell to her knees. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know." She said as the shadows drew closer. "I didn't know!" She repeated as the shadow one more touched her and memories flooded her mind. Eris screamed in terror as her eyes snapped open and she shot up looking around the room she now rested in just as a purple anthro unicorn and two Alicorns rushed in and gawked at her. Eris took a deep breath as she looked around realizing she was in some sort of hospital, for a moment she simply sat there in the bed before turning to the window and looking out at the small town below her. Slowly she got up and walked to the window the ponies outside of the window catching her attention till she heard a throat being cleared and she realized who was in the room with her. "Oh, sorry about that. I was… distracted." Eris said as she turned and put on a smile as she closed her left eye as to hide the Ouroboros symbol on it. "It's quite alright young one; could you please tell us your name?" The white Alicorn, Celestia, said. "Before I do I need to ask if the name Janus Murphy Helsing sounds failure to either of you?" She asked calmly. Celestia looked at Luna who shook her head and Celestia turned back to Eris. "No, it doesn't, why do you ask." "Because I am Eris Karma Helsing and I'm looking for my brother." Eris replied as she returned to the bed she had been in and sat down on it. "Well I assume you have some questions so ask and I'll answer." She said calmly. The two Alicorns looked at each other as Twilight stepped forward and looked at the Eris. "Are you alright, you screamed and when I brought you here you were almost dead." Eris forced a smiled and shook her head with a sigh. "Yes I'm fine and wouldn't be the first time I've been at death's door anyway." She said before seeming to space off for a moment. "Though given current events I wouldn't be surprised it I'm not at his door for a very, very, long time." She said with a grimace. "As ominous as that sounds we have a few important questions to ask but first we would like to know if you could tell us what this is." Luna said as she stepped forward and handed Eris a paper with a very specific circle on it. As soon as Eris saw the image she grabbed the paper and examined it closer, the look on her face darkening further as she turned to the two Alicorns her eyes sending shiver down their spines. "Where did you get this?" She asked darkly. "We found it in the same place we found your body, you were actually in the center of it." Celestia said in concern. "What is it?" Eris looked around the room before taking a deep breath. "This is an Alchemical Transmutation circle and not the kind of Alchemy that is used for mixing potions and such but true alchemy, the kind spoken of in legends and myths." Eris said as she looked at the paper. "This circle in particular is a forbidden type of alchemy. It is the most dangerous thing to exist in this world right now. I recommend you destroy it as soon as you can." The three ponies looked at Eris in concern causing her to sigh. "You better pull up a chair, there’s a lot I have to explain." She said with a sigh. The Three ponies looked confused but nodded and walked over to a small table set in the room and pulled the chairs out so that they were facing Eris. "Alright, now can you please explain all this?" Celestia asked in a patient voice. Eris nodded and took a deep breath. "First I want it known I am not from your world, or this dimension for that matter." She said earning a raised eyebrow from the group before her. "I am what’s known as a Dimensionally Misplaced, or Displaced for short. In my world we have these grand festivals and celebrations that center around fictional stories and games, these events are called Conventions and a lot of people that go to them often decide to dress as their favorite characters. At the conventions there is a chance you could meet a being known as the Merchant, a creature know as a Void Dweller who is so powerful that he can send people to other worlds, dimension or realities transformed into the person they were dressed as." Eris explained as she looked out at the window. "A year ago my brother disappeared at one of these conventions, at the time I was serving my fourth tour of duty in the military ao I had no idea he was missing till after my tour was completed I was forced into retirement due to injuries sustained in the field. When I returned home I went to see my brother only to find he's been missing for six months." Eris balled her fist and looked at the princesses. "I spent the next six months tracking where he could have gone and it all leads me to a convention, when I went there I managed to find and confronted the merchant; the bastard had made him a displaced so I decided to jump in and find him." Celestia nodded. "So that's why you asked if we knew the name but if he wasn't sent here then where is he?" She asked. "Displaced don't all go to one world; instead we follow the Multiverse Theory meaning that he could be anywhere out there." Eris explained with a sad sigh. "How will you find him then?" Luna asked in concern. "I am sorry to say this but we don't have the capabilities to send you to other universe." "We Displaced can create what is known as a Token, an item that both identify who we are and where we stand in the moral spectrum." Eris explained. "These Tokens can be used to summon the Displaced that makes them, I will find my brother eventually but even if I do I don't even know if he'll remember me." "And why is that?" Twilight asked. "When we are displaced our bodies change to become the person we were displaced as." Eris said with a sigh. "The Lucky ones, like me, are able to retain all our memories from before we were displaced. The unlucky forget about their life before being displaced and become the character they turned into. Some of the ones that forget are still lucky and only get a few quirks of their characters personality or just forget a few small details but then there are those who forget everything or have their entire life rewritten to fit their new existence." "So who did you go as?" Twilight asked curiously. "If you were displaced then it means that you went as someone right?" Eris shook her head. "I didn't go dressed as anyone but rather I purchased all my items from the Merchant after he told me where my brother went." She explained. "Of course I didn't get out of this unscathed, I'm not human anymore but rather a fictional creature." "And what might that be?" Celestia asked as she leaned forward. Eris looked down at herself and sighed. “I'm a Homunculus." She said sadly. "The items I purchased were from all different franchises and games, if you want I can explain each one but that's up to you." "We would like to know, this is all new and anything you tell us will be kept private." Luna said in a kind voice. Eris nodded still looking down. "The first Items are from a series known as the Fate/ Series. The Items are known as Noble Phantasms and they are weapons of extreme power. The first item I purchased is Caliburn, Golden Sword of the Victorious. It is a powerful weapon and whoever wields it is guaranteed to never lose in battle, ever." She said with a faint smile. "Second is the Scabbard of Caliburn known as Avalon, The Everdistant Utopia. Avalon has the power to heal any wound and when it is paired with Caliburn it becomes even more potent." "Would you allow us to examine these items?" Luna asked excitedly. "No." Eris said sternly. "Noble Phantasms can only be wielded by their owner, anyone else trying to use it is more likely to die touching them due to the raw power they contain. The Only exception is if the Noble Phantasm accepts the one who touched it as worthy to bear its power where it will then bind itself to the individual till death." Eris explained. "Finally I have access to what's known as The Gate of Babylon, a requiem containing every Noble Phantasm to ever exist. In short I have an armory of weapons, armor and items that are powerful enough to destroy worlds locked away in a pocket dimension that only I can access." The Princesses looked at Eris in concern however this only caused her to giggle. "It's quite alright princesses, I won’t harm you or any pony unless I'm threatened." She said in a kind tone causing the princess to relax. "You said that this was but the first, we assume there are more." Luna said in concern. Eris nodded. "The next I will talk about is the armor I wear and I recommend you not touch it or even try it on." She said in a warning tone. "That armor is an ancient relic forged by dwarves known as the Berserker Armor. It is a dangerous and cursed relic that is feared by many." She said as her tone darkened. "The Person who wears the armor and syntonizers with the dark magic contained within it becomes unstoppable, it inhibits the person’s ability to feel pain and even fear." She said calmly, the princesses looking more concerned as she kept talking. "Humans are incredibly strong beings however we are limited by our pain; it's a warning to prevent the body from destroying itself however without it we become truly powerful monsters. Furthermore any injuries that would prevent the wearer from fighting are fixed by the armor impaling itself into the wearied to support and reset bones however this comes at the cost of destroying the wearer’s body and eventually they will simply bleed out." "Why would you take such a dangerous relic!?" Twilight yelled causing Celestia and Luna to look at the mare shocked and Eris to sigh. "Because it wouldn't affect me like it would others for a few reasons." Eris explained sadly. "Frist, I'm a trained soldier and have served in several rounds of battle. I know how to control my bloodlust and that's what the armor uses." She explained. "Besides that the armor would only be able to enhance me and I'll explain why later." She said before looking back to the princesses. "Now the next item is from a game franchise and was used by a being known as the Fierce Deity. The Sword is a double Helix blade 78' inches long and very powerful." She explained. "Is it cursed or dangerous in any way?" Celestia asked. Eris shook her head. "No, it's just a magic sword that sends waves of magic out when swung. The waves are strong enough to classify the weapon as an anti-siege weapon since at its full power it can destroy castle walls." She said with a shrug. Celestia looked at Luna in concern before turning to Eris. "That is not just a magical sword." She said calmly. Eris shrugged. "It's my least dangerous weapon given it can only destroy a castle. Then again I guess you could say that the danger of my weapons depends on knowing that what I have is actually really weak compared to most other Displaced." She said with a sigh. "The Last items are a pair of weapons I would rather not discuss." "And why is that?" Luna asked. "Because they are weapons that you wouldn't understand, you have nothing like them in this world." Eris explained with a sigh. "I honestly only got them because they are familiar to me, as is the armor that come with them." She explained. "And how dangerous are they?" Celestia asked. "Unlike my other weapons and armors the items for I'm referring to don't have any special or magical powers." Eris clarified. "They are just weapons my world uses and as such I'm most familiar with them but don't mistake them for weak, like I said the Double Helix Sword is my weakest weapon." "We see." Luna said with a frown. "So what is next?" Eris smiled. "Me." She said simply before sighing. "Originally I was what's known as a Human; and don't pretend you don't know because I know you have a mirror that leads to a world full of us." She said as she looked at the sisters. "Anyway, as I said originally I was human but... let's just say that was changed when I came here. That Circle you showed me is what's known as a Human Transmutation Circle, it is used to create what's known as Philosophers Stone." "Imposable!" Twilight said drawing the attention of Eris. "The Philosopher's Stone is a myth, it can't exist." Eris rose and walked toward Twilight with a dark look, as she reached Twilight she leaned forward and looked Twilight in the eyes as she opened her left eye showing the Ouroboros Tattoo. "Impossible you say?" She asked in a sad tone. "Remember this young Twilight Sparkle, nothing is impossible." She said darkly as she reached up to her chest and thrust her hands in to it slowly pulling it apart earning a disgusted and shocked look from the princesses which quickly morphed into just shock as she showed the hole she made in her chest. Resting inside the hole was a glowing red stone that pulsated with an eerie glow. "Four point eight five billion souls trapped in a single container that is my very heart." Eris said. "A philosopher’s stone is made from the souls of living beings and I have four point eight five billion trapped in me, all of them trapped, scared and confused." She said as she released her hands from her chest allowing the hole to close up with a crackle of red lightning. "Each of their lives I've seen as if I lived it, each of their emotions I fell and in turn they feel mine." Eris said darkly. "A Homunculus is an immortal being made from the Philosopher's Stone. One singe soul controls the body while all the other souls serve as a means to keep them alive." Eris said in disgust. "Accelerated regeneration, immunity to disease, never hungry or thirsty, and 'blesses' with power beyond imagination." Eris listed off with each step back to her bed before turning and sitting down with a completely false smile on her face. "All at the expense of a planets worth of people." The Princesses and Twilight look at Eris with horror as Eris sat down. "I didn't know this would happen when I made the deal, I just wanted to find my brother. She said in a completely miserable tone. "I'm so sorry." Luna said sadly. "If there's any way we can help... We certainly will try." Eris shook her head. "Once a soul is inside a philosopher stone it will begin to lose its individuality. Eventually they will simply assimilate into a faceless nameless mass of souls trapped inside me, stripped of any memories or individuality." Eris sighed and shook her head. "So, what are you going to do?" She asked the two princesses. "First we will have the Alchemical circle destroyed; such horrors cannot be allowed to be done here." Celestia said. "And what of me?" Eris asked. "You are free to go, it is obvious that you have no ill intent, wish to cause my ponies trouble or harm them and the answers you have given us will suffice however know that we will be watching you." Luna said kindly. "While you have shown that you are willing to cooperate you are still a very dangerous woman and we cannot simply let you run around and do as you please." Eris smiled. "Glad to see I got a sensible Celestia and Luna and not one that was obsessed with destroying evil or something." She said happily. "But before you all leave I would like to speak to you both alone, without Twilight." She said calmly. Luna and Celestia looked at each other before turning to the Unicorn in thought. "Twilight, you can go back out and be with your friends." Celestia said. Twilight nodded and left leaving the Princesses with Eris. Eris nodded and looked at them calmly. "What I tell you now cannot be told or even hinted at to any living creature." Eris said calmly as she looked at the two Princesses. "And I want you to Pinkie Promise this.” She said calmly earning a confused look from the royal sisters. "What do you mean?" Celestia asked confused. "In will say no more till you have that promise." She said calmly. The Princesses looked at each other. "Very well, we Pinkie Promise that we will not say a word of what we are to discuss to a single living creature." Luna said calmly however as soon as she agreed both her and Celestia felt as though something was hovering over them. Eris nodded with a small smile. "I want you to think of the world as a tree and every action, every choice creates a new branch, however if this world is a tree then all the branches must come from a single point." She said calmly. "The main trunk of the tree is the original and unaltered timeline where everything went exactly as it was supposed to; this is called the Prime Timeline and is the progenitor of all choices and actions." Celestia frowned. "I don’t understand what you’re trying to imply." Eris nodded. "My world didn’t just tell stories; we recorded events occurring in other world, one of which was this one." She said calmly. "You must be wondering why I purchased so many weapons and effective turned myself into a one woman army, the cause is because I've seen the Prime Timeline and I know what will be happening in the future." She said earning shocked looks from the Princesses. "However just like how we see the original timeline we also see many of the branching paths that could happen. I know what should happen in this world however that does not mean that things won't go wrong." "What have you seen to that would lead to acquiring the weapons and powers you did?" Luna asked in concern. Eris sighed. "I can't tell you the future, knowing such things could change the fate of this world however I will say this; there are things in the future, things that if changed could benefit this world but there are also thing in this world that if changed will doom it." The two princesses nodded in understanding and turn to leave however before they do Celestia turns and looks at Eris. "I know you said you wouldn't change anything but I have to ask, will Twilight be safe?" Eris was silent before sighing and looking away. "Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic and so much more." She said calmly. "She will rise higher than any pony before her but at the same time fall so much further." Eris said calmly. "I can't tell you anything about her, not till the very end." "Why not?" Celestia asked as a small hint of fear entered her voce. "Because her destiny is both completely malleable and set in stone." Eris replied. "No matter what she does, no matter what you do, her destiny is forever set to end in a single path." Celestia seemed to want to say something however she simply sighed and nodded. "Will you protect her?" She asked in concern. Eris smiled. "Do not worry Celestia, no matter how dark the sky may grow the sun shall always rise again. All you have to do is trust in your students decisions and back her, no matter what." She said kindly. "Thank you Eris, get some sleep, I’m sure you're still tired." Celestia said and exited the room with Luna following. Eris sighed and lay back into the bed before closing her eyes.