Chapter 4
The door to the study opened, causing Nova to groan as she continued going over the paperwork before her. She didn’t even look up to see who had entered, assuming it was one of her assistants. “Yes?”
“Hey, sweetie,” a familiar voice said, causing her to freeze.
Her head snapped up, her eyes going wide as she saw her father standing in the doorway, a bright smile on his face. A bright light flashed as she cast a spell on the stallion, shock overtaking her as she confirmed it was indeed her father and not a trick.
“D-dad?” she stuttered as he walked further into the room. “But… you…”
“I know,” he said as he walked around the table and pulled her into a tight embrace. “I’m so sorry I haven’t been here for you guys. I was fighting so hard to get back to you all.”
The shock she felt kept her from having a strong initial reaction, but as she was hugged by her father, she finally let it all out as she wrapped her forelegs around him. Burying her face into his neck she finally let all the stress out as she cried into him.
“Shh, it’s alright,” he said in a soothing voice, patting her back. “I’m here now.”
They held the embrace for a long moment before she finally pushed herself back, staring at him with a tear stained face.
“We needed you! Mom needed you!” she yelled, all of her emotions finally showing after years of hiding them.
“I know, I didn’t choose to leave you all like that,” he said calmly, his own tears running down his face.
“Star Chaser needed you!” she all but roared as she shoved him back roughly. “Why did you have to play hero and go fight the Watcher?! Lance was the only one who should have gone!”
“Mistakes were made, all I can say is I’m sorry,” he said just as calmly.
“Mistakes?!” She snapped, walking away from him to stare out the window. “Mom and Star Chaser is dead, and you say ‘mistakes were made’?”
“I’m… having trouble processing everything that has happened,” he admitted, stepping up next to her. “I’ve spent the last thirteen years alone fighting monsters, my emotions are… dulled.”
She just scoffed at him, shaking her head. “I looked for you,” she suddenly said, staring out the window. “As soon as we gained access to Dimensional travel I left to see if I could find you. Because I just had this feeling you were alive.”
He did not answer as he stared at her, letting her speak.
“Know what I found?” she asked, turning her head to him.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
“Yeah. You already know,” she said, shaking her head. “I thought that was a fake you, or an alternative. I guess it was you after all.”
“Why didn’t you contact me then?”
“Because I was so sure you, the real you, were dead. Because there was no way you would be alive and not come back to us. So that HAD to be a different version of you.” She turned to him fully, her own eyes narrow as they stared at each other. “So you’ve lied to me, saying you were trapped in a dimension fighting monsters. You were out adventuring and doing whatever you wanted, without a care in the world.” She took a heavy step up to him, getting face to face with him. “I KNOW you knew what was happening here. So tell me, why?”
“Nothing I say will appease you,” he said with a sigh. “Can I explain myself?”
“No need,” she said bluntly. “Get out. I’m done with you. You abandoned this family, willingly, for whatever reason, and let Star Chaser go down a very dark path. If you’d been here… he would not have gotten to that point.”
“Star Chaser did exactly what he was supposed to do,” Frederic suddenly said, catching her off guard. “You’re the one who strayed from the path.”
“What… are you saying?” she asked, her eyes twitching.
“There’s no need explaining it,” he said with a sigh as his horn flashed and an object appeared next to her. “At least Star wasn’t a disappointment,” he said coldly as the object flashed, causing her to collapse. Once she hit the ground, he turned around and kicked the table in anger. “Fucking damn it. Why’d she have to get my smarts?!”
A groan behind him caused him to turn around and take on a more caring expression.
“What?” she muttered as she slowly pushed herself up, looking a bit dazed. “What happened? Dad?”
“You passed out when you saw me, you were so excited to finally have your dad back in your life that you overloaded,” he said calmly.
“I did?” she mumbled, still out of it.
The object flashed a few more times as her eyes took on the same color as the flashes. “Yes. You also told me about an alternate me you saw, but you realized it was a different me. I’ve been stuck in a different dimension this entire time, and you believe me.”
“I of course believe you, dad,” she replied.
“Good, and you’ll always believe me, right?”
“Yes.”
“Good good,” he said as he tossed the object back into his pocket dimension.
After a few moments she blinked and smiled as she stared up at him. “Dad!”
“Hey, sweetie!” he laughed as they hugged again. “You okay? You fell kinda hard just now.”
“I’m fine,” she assured him as he pulled her up to her hooves. “I’m more worried about you! You just got back from fighting monsters?”
“Yes, fighting monsters,” he confirmed.
“Come on, Dad, let’s get you looked over first before we do anything else, okay?” she said, waving for him to follow.
“No,” he said firmly, causing her to turn to look at him. “I’m okay. But I do need something, if you can help me, honey.”
“Of course, dad,” she replied, turning to him. “What are you needing?”
A smirk took his face. “The Elements of Harmony.”
ooo000<^>000ooo
A groan escaped Annabel’s throat as she slowly came to, her eyes opening to reveal nothing. Confusion overtook her as she tried to look around, but realized she was in a dark room, on a hard floor. She moved her hoof to her face and heard the sounds of chains on a metal floor, causing her entire body to seize up. Her breathing caught as she sat there, not moving.
“How much did you tell them?” a voice echoed around the room, startling her.
“F-Fred?” she all but whimpered, her eyes darting around in the darkness.
“How much did you tell them?” the voice repeated, less patient this time.
“Freddy I’m sorry! I promise I didn’t tell anyone anything!” she screamed, her panic taking over as she began to hyperventilate.
“That annoying mare seems to know a lot about me,” he growled, seeming to be close to her.
“I told them about my stuff, not yours!” she yelled. “I didn’t tell anyone you were directing me!”
“Shut up,” he hissed with a stomp. “Why would you reveal anything to them? They’re not your friends. They hate you.”
“I-I know! But a few of them are trying to help me-”
“Out of pity, they feel sorry for you. Unlike me, they don’t care about you at all. If it wasn’t for me, you’d have died all those years ago when you tried to OD,” he said as he stepped up to her in the darkness. “Do you really think they’ll ever accept you? Did you think pushing the blame on me would make them like you?”
“I swear, I wasn’t going to tell anyone about you! I kept it out of my diaries and-”
“You kept diaries?” he growled. “Great, what do they know about me?”
“Nothing! They still love you, Fred! I promise!”
“Not my Daughter,” he muttered as he flicked on a light, revealing they were in a shipping container, with her chained to the floor. Very similar to the situation she’d been in all those years ago.
“No no no no,” she began to mutter as she curled in on herself. “Not here, please, Fred…”
“I wouldn’t have had to do this if you’d stayed loyal to me,” he said coldly. He used this as a punishment to keep her in line, as it always worked in the past. It had become his go to after she was rescued from the Lakeside Stalker all those years ago.
“I… swear I didn’t betray you… You’re my only friend, I wouldn’t do that…” she mumbled, eyes wide as she laid there in the fetal position.
“Lies, if you really considered me your only friend, you wouldn’t have done this to me,” he snapped, punching the wall and shaking the whole container.
“Fred…” she winced as she shut down and began to mumble to herself.
“Maybe a night down memory lane will fix your loyalty issues,” he said as he spun around and walked for the other end, leaving her there. He glanced back, watching her have one of her break downs, and rolled his eyes. “Drama queen,” he spat out as he shut off the light, plunging the room into darkness yet again.
ooo000<^>000ooo
“So, Fred’s back?” Jun asked aloud as he piled more food onto his plate. “That’s neat I guess.”
He spun around and walked back to his table, dropping his food onto it and sitting down.
“I wonder where he’s been,” he said, nodding to his companion. “Probably fucking off doing who knows what,” he mused. “That guy was always up his own ass anyways. No idea what they all see in him.”
Letting out a loud burp he glanced around before leaning across the table, “what do you think? You think he’s up to something?”
His companion, his body pillow of the late Queen Twilight, did not provide an answer to him. He’d ‘found’ it in an abandoned store a few days ago.
Despite the body pillow not responding, he nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I also never trusted him. I may have been the ‘villain’, but he always made me uncomfortable when I was in the same room as him. Weird ass guy.”
Laughing to himself, he leaned back, looking around his messy trailer. A moment of sadness flashed over him, but he quickly recovered and went back to being cheerful.
“Oh well, at least I’m not alone, right, Queenie?” he chuckled, playfully slugging the side of the pillow. This caused it to slump over and hit the floor, leaving him sitting there with a blank look on his face. “... fuck I’m pathetic.”
“Pathetic and a traitor,” a cold voice said from behind him.
“Shit,” Jun cursed as he tried to jump forward, away from whoever was behind him, but he found himself caught in a strong magical grasp and was thrown through the wall of his trailer. His body bounced across the ground a few times before crashing through a tree, bringing it down onto his trailer, finishing it off.
“Oh come on, I JUST got that place set up!” he groaned as he pushed himself up, just in time for his assailant to appear before him. His eyes went wide as he looked up at the stallion before him, a sheepish smile appearing on his face. “Fred! You gotta know I was just talking out my ass, trying to impress my lady friend.”
Frederic only raised an eyebrow as he stared down at the smaller Pegasus.
Then his earlier words hit him as he stood up fully before the Alicorn. “Wait, traitor? I haven't betrayed Lance and them. I mean they’re ignoring me and treating me like trash, again, but I haven’t done anything against them for it.”
“I’m not talking about them,” Frederic said calmly. He then leaned down to the confused stallion, putting his mouth next to his ear. “You betrayed Lilith.”
“Fuck,” Jun hissed as he transformed into his Demon form just in time to take a direct hit to the face. The trees behind him were demolished as he crashed through them as the Alicorn followed after him.
Jun landed on his hooves, spinning to face the incoming threat. The next hit landed on his face, but his body didn’t move this time as he held his ground, muscles rippling.
The two locked eyes as Frederic sprang back, seeming to rethink his approach.
“What the hell, bro? When did you switch to Lilith’s side?” Jun asked, heavily confused by this new development.
“Day one,” Frederic answered.
“That figures, you always were kinda gay,” Jun countered with a chuckle. “Guess your dad was right about you.”
“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll hold your tongue,” Frederic growled, two swords appearing next to him, held in his magical grasp.
“Nah, fuck you,” Jun laughed, flexing at Frederic. “Yo daddy said you cried when he caught you sexually harassing your mom.”
“Lies from a spiteful old man,” Frederic yelled, seeming to lose his cool.
“I saw the memories, you inncest freaky boy. Your dad killed your dumb ass for fucking your mom,” Jun threw back, still flexing on him. “So come on, hit me with your best shot.”
“I have a better idea,” Frederic said with a sinister smile as he teleported them closer to town.
“Why are we-” Jun began, but Frederic dashed into him and jammed both blades into his chest, which only caused Jun to laugh as he grabbed the hilts and held them in place. “Bruh, come on, you know that won’t kill me, right?”
“Guys! Help!” Frederic suddenly yelled out, surprising Jun. “Jun’s gone crazy and is trying to kill me! HELP!”
“Bro, what are you doing?” Jun asked, raising an eyebrow as he continued to hold onto the blades.
“What the fuck, Jun?!” Lance’s voice called out from behind him, startling Jun even more.
“Lance?” he asked, starting to turn, which allowed Frederic to pull his blades free and slice across Jun’s throat, cutting his voice off. This of course wouldn’t kill him, but that wasn’t his plan here.
“What’s going on?!” Lance demanded as he, Lacy, and Twilight rushed towards the pair.
“I don’t know!” Frederic exclaimed, dashing back. “I ran into him and he asked how I got out of the Watcher’s trap, and then started spouting nonsense about some woman named Lilith and how I’m too great of a threat to keep around!”
His words seemed to hit each of them differently as they looked at Jun as he struggled to reform his injured throat, but the wounds seemed to be healing much slower than normal.
“He also said something about me getting in the way of their plans, whatever that means!” Frederic added, which seemed to be enough to get Lance’s mind working.
“Explain yourself, Jun,” Lance declared as all eyes fell on the Demonized Jun.
He turned to Lance, coughing as he struggled to heal the wounds, locking eyes with the other man. He started to approach them, but a strange feeling overcame his body. Without warning he launched forward against his will and his hoof struck out for Lance.
“Jun?!” Lance yelped as Lacy intercepted and kicked the incoming stallion aside, sending him crashing through some brush.
“I told you!” Frederic yelled to them as he spun his swords in the air.
“Is he possessed by something?” Lacy asked, glancing around suspiciously.
“Possibly,” Twilight mused, a grim look on her face. “But I think our fears have come true. He may not have ever truly been on our side.”
“Yes, exactly!” Frederic added as he rushed past them. “I’ll handle him, go get the others!”
“I’m coming,” Lacy stated as she dashed after him, much to the Alicorn’s displeasure.
“I can handle him on my-”
“Don’t care, I need to speak to this dumb ass,” she growled as she cut him off.
“Very well,” Frederic relented as they burst through the foliage to find Jun sitting there with his hooves up.
“What the fuck is up with you?!” Lacy screamed in anger as she landed a few feet away from him.
“It’s… not me,” Jun choked out, his voice still gravely from the damage he’d received.
“You attacked Lance, looked like you to me,” she snapped, bonking him on the head with her hoof. “You possessed or some shit?”
“Yes!” he forced out.
“By who?”
“Frederic!” he yelled, pointing past her at the stationary Alicorn just watching them.
She narrowed her eyes, locking them with Jun’s as she read his reactions. A long moment passed before she gave a nod to him. In a flash her large sword appeared next to her and she spun to confront the Alicorn behind her. But as she turned she found herself face to face with some kind of floating orb.
“You Lance’s are always a troublesome bunch,” Frederic said as the orb flashed and she collapsed.
“What the fuck?!” Jun growled as he forced himself.
“You’re done, clone,” Frederic said calmly as he moved closer, kneeling next to the slowly recovering Lacy. He whispered something in her ear, causing her to ridge and jump up, her eyes locking with Jun’s.
“Uh… you good, Lacy?” Jun asked as complete rage took over her face.
“You tried to…” she began, her sword flashing to her side as she squared up with the worried looking Jun. “... I thought we were becoming friends.”
“We are?” he said, turning to the smiling Frederic.
“What have you done?”
“Me?” Frederic asked, feigning shock. “You’re the one who tried to take advantage of her after you knocked her out.”
“What?” Jun deadpanned with an amused look on his face.
“You’re fucking dead,” Lacy said in a low voice as she took hold of her weapon.
He looked between the pair, a look of defeat and pain on his face. “... fuck this shit. Fuck all of you,” he said as his wings flared and he shot backwards, disappearing into the forest.
Lacy started to go after him, but Frederic stopped her. “No, you need to go get looked at, he hit you rather hard after all.”
She spat onto the ground as she took a step back, turning to the sounds of someone coming their way.
Scamp burst through the foliage, landing before them as she stood up straight, a pissed off look on her face as she glared at Frederic, then to Lacy. “What happened? They said Jun attacked you guys?”
“Guys lost his shit,” Lacy hissed, kicking a rock into the forest. “He fuckign tried to… fuck, he tried to do shit to me when he knocked me out!”
“...” Scamp looked to Frederic, who only sighed and nodded his head. “How could he knock you out?”
“I-”
“She tried to talk to him and he hit her unexpectedly,” Frederic interjected, getting a slow nod from Lacy.
“Yeah, I guess I fucked up big time or something,” she grumbled as she rubbed her head. “I’mma kill him for… trying that shit on me.”
“Get to Calypso,” Scamp ordered as she walked past them. “I’ll go after him and figure this out.”
“I’ll come as well,” Frederic offered.
“Yes, you will,” Scamp said firmly, giving him a side eye. “Lead the way.”
“Can do, Mrs. Scamp,” he said with a bow, taking the lead as Lacy stood there, seeming confused.
“Lacy,” Scamp said, putting a hoof on her shoulder. “Go get looked at.”
“I’m… going,” she said, seeming to be trying to work something out in her mind.
Scamp gave her a reassuring nod as she followed Frederic, her eye narrowing at his back side. Things weren’t adding up in his favor.