Chapter 33- Fourteen Assemble
“Sir Travis, you must rise,” A voice knocked from outside his door. “Your meeting is in one hour.”
Travis Touchdown woke up from slumberland, lucky enough to remember everything. Usually, he could only recall part or nothing from his dreams. Maybe this place wasn’t so bad. Was this Paradise? Not the one that you use to escape death, but lets you live without worry? He picked himself up to walk over to his bathroom and shower. It took roughly about 30 minutes at a leisure pace between Canterlot and Ponyville. If he wanted grub, he would have to make it quick.
While he was inside, Princess Luna peeked her head to look around a bit. She smiled, seeing Travis was not around. The alicorn had come in to wake him up, but she had no idea how to face her knight after last night. She blushed, turning to walk over to get breakfast ready.
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Rainbow Dash was not an early riser. True, she did get up and go to her job on time. But it was always a struggle. Luckily, it was Sunday. Still, she had made sure to wake up early in order to let Phoenix wake up. Hair unbrushed and all over the place, eyes swollen a bit, and her teeth needed a brush. But she still had to get Phoenix to his meeting, and he needed to shower. She walked in to her guest room, leaning against the doorway. She smiled despite herself.
Phoenix was asleep, on his back to look at the roof. Thanks to the whole building made of clouds, light was slowly being filtered into the room. He had taken off his suit and clothes, leaving him only in his underwear. The normal intense gaze he could display was hidden by a smile of a human who had slept on the softest bed ever.
“Come on Phoenix, time to get to work.”
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Dan turned his head to the side, having decided to sleep on the couch once more. It was really comfortable to him, despite the smell of fur on it. Sort of reminded him of Mr. Mumbles. Pinkie Pie yawned, making her way down the stairs. Thanks to the Crusaders, she had her bedroom in order. Thanks to Dan’s foresight and having the house furnished for free- The rest of the house was set. Full kitchen decor, bathroom essentials, and some rugs and other things to decorate the living room. Later, they would have to stop for other things.
Still, Pinkie smiled to look down at Dan. His left hand was raised up into the air, draping over the back of the couch. His other hand was wrapped around Mrs. Smartypants. Unlike other humans, he liked to sleep in his clothes. Because this was her first night in a new place, she had not slept too well. Even then, the pink earth pony felt her heart warm and fuzzy. Her own place, thanks to this wonderfully angry man. She walked over to the kitchen and started to make pancakes.
“Dan, wakey wakey! Breakfast!”
“Mumur... mur.... Punish the Crusaders first,” Dan said with an evil grin and sat up slowly.
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Snake walked out of his room that he had shared with Trixie. At her insistence, they had two beds. He wondered why she had not bothered to get two rooms, but she wouldn’t hear of it. The blue unicorn was paying anyway, so maybe it was for the best. But, he was styling. Black slacks and suit, with a white shirt underneath. It had taken the tailor a while, but they managed to cut down some clothes for larger stallions to fit down for Snake.
Across from him, Spy walked out as well. Like clockwork, the espionage agent was used to waking up early and getting dressed. Blue moved his hands to adjust his gloves and his cuffs to look presentable. The two sharply dressed men turned to look at each other, the only ones moving in the hallway at the moment.
Snake nodded to the Spy, not sure what to expect from him. All of his senses told him not to drop his guard. The other man in turn moved his left hand up to his hat and tip it in a greeting. A little gift from Zecora in return for the flower. Ah, his passion for hats would be his undoing. Shortly, each human were met with their partners, as they walked out into view.
“Shall we?” Spy said, smiling to lead the way downstairs and see what was for breakfast. Trixie only nodded greetings. Snake was a man of few words. And the unicorn was not sure how to act around the zebra. Zecora smiled at them all and turned to follow after her partner. When the others had left, Trixie begun to follow after them. He rear was still sensitive, and a bit red. Why did Snake had to spank her so hard?
At least she could manage to go a whole three minutes without talking in third person...
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“Moma, do you have to go?” Dinky said, looking up at her mom. Derpy had gotten up with Sokka to have them all join in for a muffin breakfast.
“Oh, I am sorry. But I have to,” the gray pegasus said. She frowned a bit, but it was necessary. Sokka needed a guide. Most likely, fillies would not be allowed.
“Aw, ok. I will stay home like a good girl and color” Dinky said. The little unicorn wanted to be a good girl for her mother.
“You are a brave little one, aren’t ya?” Sokka asked, looking down at Ditzy. “You mother was very brave yesterday too. I can see it runs in the family.” The teen smiled, now enjoying the taste of a fresh blueberry muffin. It looks like he was going to be eating these for a while.
“Really?” The filly asked, looking up at the stranger that spent the night. “Is moma a Hero?”
“She sure is. Trust me, I’m a Hero too,” Sokka said and closed both eyes. Derpy blushed a bit, turning her head to the side. People only called her brave for being able to raise a child on her own.
“Be a good girl for moma” Derpy said to lead the way out.
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“Wakey wakey!” Ralf shouted, stretching out his arms to the sides. He had bragged through the door to Cherilee's bedroom to startle her awake.
“I’m up! I’m up!” Cherilee said, lifting the dark eye patch over her eyes. “Is it another attack!?” She shouted.
“Nope! Just a new morning! Rise and Shine! Up and at em soldier!” Ralf said, grabbing hold of her bedsheets to rip them from her bed.
“Mr. Jones! You do not barge into a lady’s bedroom like that!” Cherilee said, finding herself almost out of her bed.
“But we only got 30 minutes until the meeting,” he said. Luckily, his old combat fatigues had dried overnight. He was dressed and ready to go. Thanks to the life of a soldier, he was ready to go at the crack of dawn.
“Oh my gosh! Is it that late already?” Cherilee asked. Because there was no school on weekends, she was used to sleeping in late.
“Come on! I got breakfast ready!” Ralf said, turning to walk out of her room. Cherilee released a sigh, shaking her head to the sides. Really? This guy was her champion? She got up and walked over to brush her mane. It would be nice, waking up to someone that would make her breakfast now and then.
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“Oh... my head,” Ash said, picking himself up to look around. A blasted alarm was smashed to pieces by his metal arm as he stood up. The sales clerk had to pick his free hand up to rub his eyes and try to wake up. “I really need some coffee,” he said. He was in what looked like a bedroom, one that he usually saw in movies of hoity toity women from swanky hotels. It was lavish. “Where am I?”
A moan close to him made him pick up his eyebrows. His head turned quickly to look behind himself. Mayor Mare slowly picked herself up to yawn. Her mane was a mess, and she had some dry patches of hair on her coat.
“Oh, morning Mr. Williams. Or should it be Ash?” She asked, smiling at him. The mayor walked over to rub lovingly against his bare legs.
“What happened last night?” He asked, suddenly very afraid for his sexual orientation.
“Oh, we all split up. We did some shopping for you. And well, we... ‘Got hammered’ as you put it,” Mare said, moving to lean back from him. “We drank so much of my private stash of wine and in all honesty, I can’t remember much. But I do know this much. You are impressive,” she said with a proud smile.
“Oh my, my hips are so sore. We should get ready for the meeting.”
Ash opened his eyes wide at that statement. Now, he had woken up. Both perked their eyes up, looking as a goat walked past them and gave them a suggestive wink.
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Samus and Big Macintosh flew down through the skies. The red earth pony had his mouth open, laughing a bit. While they had gone to sleep late talking, the two woke up early thanks to the computer. With the mission done, they had time for joy riding.
“Hah!” Big Macintosh said, looking out the window to see a bird looking at them confused as they speed past it. Samus giggles, caught in the excitement created by her partner. Side to side, rapid dive, and also a loop de loop made the stallion lift his hooves up and open his eyes all the way. No wonder pegasus love to fly!
“Come on, we have to pick up Phoenix,” Samus said as she straighten out the ship.
“One more loop?”
“Oh, ok. But only because you are so cute.”
“Eeyup! Still got it.”
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Samurai Jack had woken up early, standing outside the Golden Oaks Library. The warrior held his weapon out in front of himself, concentrating. A white blindfold had covered his eyes, blinding the human as he meditated. Spike watched with anticipation. This was going to be good!
Jack raised the sword over his head and then stuck the empty air. The sound of air being cut was almost as sharp as a whistle. Whenever Spike swung something, it sounded like a whoosh, like a baseball bat. But Jack made it sound like a instrument. Forward slice. Horizontal cut. Jump swing. Rising slash. One by one, Samurai Jack went through his morning routine. He could not help but smile though, having a spectator for once.
Jack ended his routine by lifting himself to stand straight. With a flourish, he swung the sword down at his side and point the blade out. With a hand practices thousands of times, he raised the sword up with his right hand. His left hand moved to guide the sword in place as the sacred blade was sheathed slowly.
“That was awesome!” Spike said, clearly in awe. Jack smiled, moving his right hand to push his blindfold over his eyes.
Both of them turned to look at the door as it was opened. Otacon walked out, dressed in his usual clothes. He was munching on an apple. “Morning all,” he said to the two. He had slept well, in a soft bed instead of the outdoors. Jack and Otacon spent last evening telling tales to their respective partners. The samurai smiled, for Otacon reminded him about those tiny astronaut humans. Otacon liked Jack because he reminded him of nothing of that disturbed and deranged Gray Fox. Jack was even kind enough to offer to wrap up the engineer’s leg so he could walk better.
Behind him, Twilight walked out slowly. The purple unicorn had her face to the ground, blushing furiously. The shame of her acts yesterday still fresh in her mind.
“Morning Twilight,” Spike said, lifting his eyebrows. Why was she acting so weird?
“Good morning, Doctor. Miss Sparkle,” Jack said, bowing at his waist.
“Could we keep what happened yesterday between ourselves,” Twilight said, biting her lower lip to look at everyone.
“Um, sure Twilight? But why would-” Spike was interrupted when the samurai moved a hand to pet the dragon’s head.
“Rest assured, we will not,” Jack said with a nod. Otacon nodded, wanting to keep his partner happy. He had a lot to answer for, and he was not looking forward to telling all the others he had helped the changelings.
“Lets get to that meeting.”
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Rarity yawned, letting herself indulge in a late morning. Last night’s date had been canceled unfortunately. The fancy unicorn had gotten herself dolled up in a nice new dress and hat. Nate had gotten a brand new suit thanks to her, though it was a bit old fashioned by his tastes. Frilly shirt? Nate had stayed most of the afternoon getting measured to have the suit ready by evening.
Still, they had not been able to go out. Rarity had waited most of the evening for Sweetie Bell to return. The poor filly had not made it back home until seven pm. By that time, Rarity had reached exhaustion as well. All of the prior days event and making a suit for Nate took her toll on her. Glad her sister was back home, they both agreed to postpone the date for another day.
Still, there was the meeting of the morning. She woke up and moved to brush her hair and get ready to face the day. When it was around 8:30, she went downstairs to look for Nate. He was already up and about, getting dressed in his usual adventuring gear.
“Morning Nathan,” she said with a smile. “Did Sweetie Bell make breakfast?” She asked.
“Actually, no. She woke me up early, saying she had something to do. She looked worried,” Nate answered. While not the best of cooks, he had managed to prepare some egg omelets for breakfast with toast. “You have to hurry and eat, we got to make it to the meeting.”
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Fluttershy woke up early, moving out to feed the animals. She needed a distraction. After yesterday’s revelation, she had to think. A hunter. A hunter needed a Prey. A hunter would only hunt if he was hungry. How could she make Soma hungry? After they both came back, she had begun to teach her partner how to care and feed for animals.
The young man smiled in turn, watching how little animals would move over to his hand and eat from it. Normally, no animals got close to him. As if they could somehow be able to sense the darkness in him. But thanks to being to accept himself, he could start over clean. Fluttershy squeaked at the first signs that animals had come to also accept him as they did her.
But that was then, and this was now. Both had gotten up to feed the animals, and were now making their way to the meeting. Maybe she could talk to Spy again, or maybe even Samus. Surely they knew how to make a young man hungry.
The soul hunter in turn was having a peaceful time. For the first time since he had woken up, he had not thought once about Dracula or his powers. All he wanted to do that morning was feed animals again. For some odd reason, feeding ducks was relaxing.
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Sephiroth walked down the road, heading over to the Apple Farm. After a night of sleep, he was feeling much better. When he woke up, he found Bon Bon staring down at him. Under the pretense to wake him up. He was not so sure, but he said nothing. Lyra was at his side, smiling up. Both opted to skip breakfast, since they were heading to an Apple Farm. With any luck, they would be providing apple theme refreshments. Also, Lyra needed to get Sephiroth away from Bon Bon. Her roommate had hugged the Cetra all to herself last night.
As Sephiroth walked though, he came to a stop to look over at three young ponies. Tilting his head to the side, he stopped to turn and face them. They looked mildly familiar. One little filly that resembled a chicken was in a fancy dress. She looked uncomfortable. The second filly was wearing a tiara, very uncomfortable by the the looks of it. Applebloom missed her bow. The last one, a marshmallow unicorn, was dressed in a black plastic garbage bag.
But what bothered him the most? They all had their manes shaved off. Dan smirked, holding on to a pair of shears.
“My word. Dan shaved them. That seems worse than destroying them. Dan is a cruel, cruel man” Sephiroth said with a smile.
“Crusaders! What happened to you?” Lyra asked, aghast by the sight of them.
“This is our punishment. We have to walk through town all day like this,” Applebloom said with her head down.
“Not only are we blank flanks, now we are maneless.”
“Oh, this is just a treat,” Sephiroth said with a smile. His day was made. If Dan was this good at punishing, he could only imagine how good a leader the small human was. He marched off, fully intending to tell the others.
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Applejack opened her eyes, moaning a bit. Her eyes opened a bit, looking around. This was not her room.... She turned to look over in front of herself and spotted Dovahkiin snoring softly. Her eyes opened wide, finding herself frozen. What did she did last night?! She blinked once though, hearing the Nord stir. She held her breath, not sure what she should be doing.
The dragonborn merely turned on his side, facing her. Half of his face was buried into the pillow he used. A small smile crossed the Element of Honesty’s lips. Nothing had happened, just spending the night in the same bed. She released a sigh, glad that Applebloom had made it home late last night. Her sister looked worried all evening though...
“Dovah?” Applejack asked, her voice a bit soft. She moved her left hoof out to push at his face. No reaction. The orange mare merely shook her head to the sides and moved to get out of bed. Knowing him, the man would wake up right on the hour. It was kind of amazing how he would wake up with no problems. Deciding the room needed light, she walked over to push the curtains aside and let the sun in.
Huh?
She perked her eyes up, blinking once. Green letters, one’s she had never seen before, begun to appear in thin air. No matter which direction she turned, the letters were always there. “Lover’s comfort?” She shook her head to the sides and walked downstairs to get breakfast ready before the meeting. She still blushed, at the thought of calling Dovah her lover.
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As the humans begun to gather, some formed little groups to talk inside the barn. Both set of doors, the front and back had been opened to let air in and out. Haystacks had been set on the side, providing additional seats. Dovahkiin had helped set up, counting fourteen humans altogether. Mostly getting to know each other. Save the original Five. Dovahkiin, Soma, Nate, Dan, and Phoenix all stood together to welcome Dr. Otacon in their fold.
Not really a ceremony or anything. All the other humans and mares- and, Spike too- simply watched as the thinnest and weakest looking human joined the ranks of the first. It was odd, the Elements of Harmony had expected some sort of special spark or something form as the Elements of Change gathered. Instead, simply male camaraderie. Which meant hiding your true feelings behind machismo or a joke.
“About time. Maybe Twilight Sparkle can give us a break,” Dan said, moving out in front of the group to speak for them all. Still, he wanted the doctor here. One less crazy mare to worry about. Otacon looked smart and could most likely handle Twilight.
“Welcome to the group. Hit it off with Twilight?” Nate asked, crossing his arms on his chest. Otacon blushed a bit, not sure how to answer that. Snake raised an eyebrow at the reaction, but said nothing.
“I have something to tell you guys before we start the meeting,” Otacon said to look at his fellow Elements. Dovahkiin lowered his head and sighed. Nate slapped his forehead. Soma shut both eyes, not sure how he should feel over the engineer’s confession. Phoenix moved his right hand out to let it rest on the Element of Science’s right shoulder.
“Look, leave it to us. We understand what happened. Let Dan handle it,” Wright said with a smile.
“Me?!” Dan almost shouted.
“You are the leader,” Dovahkiin said.
“Damnit... Give me a minute to think.” The small human moved to pace back and forth, head lowered to think. If it weren’t for the punishment of the Crusaders, he would have been in a really foul mood. While Dan thought of a spin doctoring scenario, the others in the collective group socialized.
“Hey Sokka, what’s up?” Ralf said, walking up to the youngest human. He had come to like the water tribe teen, he was kinda of funny. “What you’d do to bond?”
“I officially know too much about muffins,” Sokka said, his eyes and face oddly serious. Ralf raised his eyebrow, not sure what that meant.
Samus had her arms crossed on her chest, expecting almost all of the men to ogle her in some way. So far though, it had been over 5 minutes and none of them had so much even turned to look at her direction. Just basic hellos or nods. Why were they not noticing her? Did her zero suit stink? The bounty hunter lowered her head a second to sniff her suit.
“Good morning everypony!” Twilight said, smiling at her friends and the gathered ponies. Spike had been riding on her back.
“You look happy,” Rainbow Dash said with a smirk. “Could it be you and a certain doctor hit it off?”
“I merely bonded with my partner,” Twilight said, shutting her eyes. That was her story, and she was sticking to it.
“Oh come on! Spill!” Pinkie Pie said, smiling to hug her friends together. The party pony could only hope her friends were happy as she was. She had no idea what Dan had done to the Crusaders. Sephiroth though, had went to Travis and told him. For some odd reason, Sephiroth thought Travis had a twisted sense of humor. He was right, as Travis had to hold his stomach to laugh.
Lyra and Cherilee nodded to each other, not really having a chance to talk a lot. Derpy soon joined them, offering a breakfast muffin to all. Zecora bowed her head in greetings to all, though she had to turn her neck to look back at Trixie. Why had the blue unicorn not step up to the others?
“You are not going to say hello?” Mayor Mare asked, lifting her eyebrows to look over at the only non-resident of Ponyville. “I am sure we have all swept the Ursa Minor event under the rug.”
“Rest assured mayor, I am fine where I am.” Trixie blushed, hoping that her rear was not red anymore.
“Alright! Alright! Time for the meeting!” Dan said in a loud voice. He had picked up his hands to start clapping. Everypony and every human stopped, turning to look at the leader. Even Princess Luna. “We got to start the meeting. Look, I am sorry ponies- But you have to sit the first part out.”
“What? Why?” Twilight asked, lifting her eyebrows. She had reason to suspect Dan, he could very well be planning the take over of Equestria. And with the group of humans collected, it could very well happen.
“Look, we have a lot to do, and it would go faster with less ponies asking questions and such. We will call you back when the introductions are out of the way,” Dan said, placing his arms behind his back with a smile. Without Applejack there, a lie or two could be used to cover for Otacon. And it would be weird to only kick out the living lie detector.
“Well, if its just introductions,” Cherilee spoke up, moving her left hoof up to point over at the bleachers. “I think its a good idea we ponies have our own meeting.”
“I think that is a good idea too,” Fluttershy seconded. While she did not want to be away from Soma, she could talk to the others more freely about bonding.
“I am against the idea,” Princess Luna said. She walked over to stand behind Travis, moving her wings out to wrap around his chest. Her face stretched out, resting over her partner’s right shoulder. Travis opened his eyes wide, not sure why Luna had become so possessive of him. This was not unnoticed by the others.
“Er... Luna, what’s up?” The assassin asked, not sure what was going on. He looked out to the sides, trying to see if anyone else was getting claimed by a pony. Zecora actually stepped up to Spy, moving in front of his legs. It appeared she did not want to break away either. Pinkie Pie frowned a bit, hating to be left out of things. She decided to hug Dan to herself.
“Oh for the love of all the right things in the world,” Dan sighed. “Phoenix?”
“Look girls, its just for an hour or so. We have a lot of work to do, and its just introductions and explanations of things. We will let you back into the meeting once we get to the war plans.” Phoenix said, smiling. “Trust me, I won't let Dan take over the world.”
“Shut up!” Dan said, frowning up at his so called right hand. The mares nodded, clearly trusting Phoenix more than Dan. The humans started to walk into the barn, while their four legged partners headed off to the bleachers.
Author’s Notes: We are almost to the end of Book One. I am not sure though, I could still add chapters instead of making a second Book. Rest assured, it will be the same story, I just do not want to make this story have so many chapters.
But then again, what do I know? What do you guys think?
Chapter proofreaded by the cheeky fellow, LyonAzakura.
And Yes, I am going to hell for shaving the Crusaders. Come and Join us!