//------------------------------//
// Goodbye Null Void 
// Story: Elevin 
// by Zanazuma 
//------------------------------//

Kevin E. Levin, the baddest dude to have ever existed (at least in his own eyes), was doing his damn best to resist the overwhelming urge to cry. He was a real man, he wouldn't let himself do such a girly thing! But… No matter how much he tried to distract himself, Kevin found his eyes watering against his will. "Kwarrel…" He found himself muttering, tears spilling quietly onto his cheeks. God. He probably looked like a little kid or something huh? Kevin silently chuckled to himself as he wiped the tears away, before falling back into silence, watching the Null Void's constantly changing landscape from the small floating island he had chosen to reside on for the time being. 

This place was beyond depressing. Kevin cursed at himself for ever having any shred of trust for that damn Vilgax, he's the reason he's locked in this stupid place. But was he really? Kevin thought to himself. If he hadn't tried to absorb all that energy out of Ben's weird watch thing then he wouldn't have been all mutated and blinded by his own anger. Kevin let a sigh escape him, forcing his mind to focus on anything else, he wondered how his mom was doing. It's been, what, a year? Longer? Since he had last seen her. Hopefully she's alright. 

Before anymore depressing thoughts could invade his head Kevin rested his hand on the ground, with a grunt Kevin focused his beforehand uncontrollable absorption powers. After a moment a layer of stone had covered Kevin's hand and arm, stopping at his shoulder. With a grin Kevin closed his hand to make a fist, admiring his work. "Thanks Kwarrel, I can never thank ya enough…" Kevin muttered under his breath. Without Kwarrel Kevin could've never hoped to control his power the way he is now, he owed that man a debt he could now never repay. All because of that bastard Morgg. Kevin found himself gritting his teeth at the thought of that damned guard, causing his concentration to break and his control over his power to lessen, meaning that the stone covering his arm fractured before crumbling off of him. 

Kevin cursed as he looked at his arm, it seems he doesn't have as good control over his power as he first thought. Oh well, better than nothing he guessed. However, before Kevin could explore his thoughts any further, a loud chorus of howls interrupted his self introspection. Kevin resisted the urge to groan, great, more of those Null Guardians were on their way. Kevin debated on whether to stay and fight or not. On one hand he lost most of his overwhelming power when he reverted back to his original form after Kwarrel's teaching but on the other hand Kevin doubted those flying mutts could chew through solid stone. Hmmm… what to do, what to do? 

With a smirk Kevin, once again, placed a hand on the cold ground beneath him, forcing a layer of stone to cover his whole body. Oh yeah, he was so going to enjoy this! With that thought Kevin flexed his non-existent muscles as a show of strength before getting on his feet, ready to crack a few heads together as he saw a small group of Null Guardians approaching his location. However, before they could even reach him, a flash of bright white light covered his vision. Kevin let out a (very manly and dignified) yelp as he momentarily lost his vision, stumbling back and right off of the small island. "Oh sh…!" Kevin let out before screaming as he felt himself falling. No way. This… this couldn't be it! All because of one stupid damn mistake! He was supposed to get out of here! This… this… 

And, just like that, Kevin fell unconscious as gravity took full control…

__

Kevin groaned as he returned to the land of the living, the start of a splitting headache already forming. What… what had happened? Kevin questioned himself as he forced a hand to his forehead to message his aching temples. But, much to his surprise, he did not feel his hand touch his head. Instead, in its place, he felt a hoof. Kevin, now fully awake, forced his eyes open, looking at a hoof where his hand once was. "Wh… what?!" Kevin all but screamed, taking a good long moment to examine his new body. He was… a horse? No, he is far too small to be a horse. A pony then? 

"This can't be happening…" Kevin muttered to himself as he forced himself to his feet, or uhh… hooves he guessed. Standing on four feet was an odd adjustment to make, he'd admit, but he had learned to control far more limbs than this back on Incarcecon, so it wasn't as bad an adjustment as one would think. Kevin took another moment to get a good look at his new surroundings. A forest, dark and foreboding, loomed over and around him. Well, at least it wasn't the Null Void, anywhere was better than that… Wait?! Kevin widened his eyes as he realized something. He wasn't in the Null Void anymore. 

Kevin let out a laugh of disbelief as the realization dawned on him, he was free. No more crappy prison food. No more avoiding packs of Null Guardians. No more stupid guards telling him what he can and can't do. "I did it Kwarrel! I… I actually did it!" Kevin shouted, not caring if anyone heard him, he was far too jubilant even despite his current situation to care. He didn't know how, exactly, he was free but that didn't matter, all that mattered were the results. And the results were that Kevin E. Levin was a free man (colt) once again! 

After his short celebration Kevin went back to inspecting his new body. He had to admit, he disliked it far more than his fully mutated form, at least that was cool looking. This body was a damn pony! That wasn't cool, like, at all! The furthest thing from it actually! And he was so damn short! With a huff Kevin looked over to his right, spotting a small pond. Kevin grinned to himself before walking over, taking a good long minute to properly analyze his new self. His coat (he guessed that's what one would call it) was a light gray while his hair was the same her black as it had always been and… was that a tail? Kevin looked back towards his rear end to confirm that he did, in fact, have a tail. With that out of the way Kevin returned his attention back to his reflection… man, were his eyes always that big? Well, at least he still had his super awesome lock necklace! It would have sucked big time if he lost the thing. 

Kevin stuck his tongue out as if he needed even more confirmation that the pond was, indeed, showing him his reflection and not some weird illusion. With a groan Kevin finally walked away from the pond, getting a good handle on the whole walking on four hooves thing rather quickly. It wasn't as weird as controlling four arms plus wings Kevin readily explained to himself. 

As Kevin walked through the dimly lit forest, the sun's rays barely cutting through the treetops, he began to question why he took this form of all things. Like, he only just learned how to revert back to his original self and now he was forced to be into yet another body that wasn't fully his own! The universe was a cruel place indeed. Wait! Kevin looked down at his hooves as an idea brewed in his head. Maybe… maybe if he focused hard enough, just as Kwarrel taught him, then maybe he could revert back to himself like he did before! With a determined glint in his eyes Kevin closed his eyes and clenched his teeth as he attempted to force his body back to normal… only to be met with failure as minutes passed with no changes. After releasing a breath Kevin glared down at his hooves, why… why wasn't it working? Was he trying to force it too much? Was… was he stuck like this?!

Kevin's eyes widened at that thought. "Oh no. No, no, no, no…" He muttered to himself, horror painting his features. "Not again. Not again…" He continued, his breathing becoming irregular as panic consumed him. When one thing goes right another thing always has to go wrong huh? Kevin grit his teeth as he resisted the urge to cry out to curse at the sky, as if the sun and clouds were responsible for all of this. But, instead of doing so, Kevin just pathetically cried. Out of frustration more so than sadness. As the tears stained his cheeks he roughly wiped them away, Kevin E. Levin DOESN'T cry. Ever. 

Before Kevin could continue his futile attempts at returning to his old self he heard a voice call out. "Umm… excuse me? Is… is somepony there?" The voice said, it was so small and quiet that Kevin barely even heard it over his own thoughts. Also, did they just say… 'Somepony'? Kevin resisted the urge to groan, he could practically feel his masculinity fade away by the second. After a moment a pony, a bit larger than himself and with wings safely tucked on her back (why didn't he get wings?), walked through the thick brush that originally divided them. She (at least, Kevin assumed it was a she) had a yellow coat with light pink hair. When she met his eyes she let out a small gasp. 

"What is a little foal doing all the way out here?" She asked, getting nothing more than a shrug from Kevin before his eyes slightly widened before narrowing. Wait. Did she just say little?! "You shouldn't be out here… It's almost night time and I don't think anypony should be in the Everfree when it's dark out…" She continued, shuddering slightly as if a chill ran down her spine. "My name's Fluttershy… what's yours?" Her tone was still soft, quiet. 

"Uhh… Kevin, Kevin Levin." The human turned pony answered, unsure on what to do in this situation. Usually, back when he lived on the streets, if some random adult came up to him to try to talk he'd just run the other direction and never look back. But now? It's not like he had anywhere to run, he did want to get out of this damn forest sooner rather than later after all. So he'd endure a few stupid questions, maybe this Fluttershy could even show him the way out if he was lucky! 

Fluttershy gave Kevin a small, but still overwhelming kind, smile. "It's nice to meet you, are you lost? I wouldn't mind showing you the way out. We can go to my cottage so you can rest for a little bit, then we can go into town to find your parents. I bet they're really worried about you…" 

Kevin resisted the urge to roll his eyes. His dad was long gone and his mom… his mom probably didn't even care, he was far too much trouble anyways so he couldn't really blame her. But he decided to play along for now, the longer she believed him to be a lost little kid (foal, his mind tells him. Which he adamantly ignored) the better. "Uhh, yeah!" He shouted, his voice a little higher pitched then he remembered. "It would be super awesome if you could help me out of here ma'am!" Kevin continued, almost wincing at his fake overly enthusiastic tone. He hated this. Acting like some little kid (even though he was one). 

Fluttershy nodded, the same kind smile never leaving. "Oh it's okay… I know this place can be a little scary." She said, a chuckle escaping her as Kevin stopped himself from correcting her. He wasn't scared, Kevin E. Levin isn't scared of anything! "Come on, we just have to walk this way for a little bit…" She said, pointing a hoof towards where she had originally appeared from. Alright, good, finally, some progress is being made. 

Kevin, keeping up the whole 'little kiddie' act, nodded happily. "Awesome! Let's get a move on Miss!" After saying that Kevin forced back a gag, he wanted to throw up. How do kids unironically act like this?! Fluttershy, not noticing Kevin's deceit, just quietly laughed at his (false) enthusiasm before turning and slowly walking towards the exit of this dump. The walk was, thankfully, quiet and uneventful. Fluttershy did ask a couple of questions but Kevin was practically a master at lying, so he had no issue in coming up with a fake cover story;

"What were you doing all the way out here?" 

"Explorin'. Thought I saw something shiny and decided to try and get a closer look." 

"Are you hurt?" 

"Nah, I'm tougher than I look ma'am!" 

"Do you know where your parents are?"

"Uhh… Maybe? I don't remember the address but I'm sure I'll recognize my house if I see it!" 

Yup, he nailed it. Before Kevin could continue mentally congratulating himself they had finally made it out of those damn woods, Kevin let out a sigh of relief, much to Fluttershy's amusement. The mare quietly chuckled into her hoof, causing Kevin's eyes to narrow. He hated when people laughed at him. Sure, Fluttershy probably didn't do it out of malice but that didn't matter, no one laughs at him, period. He'd let it slide this once, and ONLY this once, to keep up his facade if nothing else. "So uhh…" Kevin began, gaining Fluttershy's rapt attention, "Where's this cottage of yours?" 

"Just over here…" Fluttershy began, walking towards her home. "I live pretty close to the Everfree actually, to help all the little critters I can… it's a little… scary, I admit… living so close… but it isn't too bad…" She practically muttered, forcing Kevin to actually focus to understand what she was saying. Couldn't she speak up? He knows 'shy' is a part of her name but even so! This was just ridiculous… 

Not too long after the one sided conversation they had finally made it and Kevin had to admit it, the place wasn't too bad looking. It was a little too forest-y for his tastes but it was still leagues better than anything in the Null Void, then again almost anything was better than the Null Void so it wasn't exactly a high bar to pass but whatever. Fluttershy walked forward, greeting all of the little animals that seemingly surrounded the cottage as she went. After a moment she opened the door to her home before looking back at him, silently giving him permission to head on in. So, after a moment of hesitation, Kevin strolled on in like he owned the joint. 

The place wasn't too shabby. A little over decorated in his opinion but other than that? Pretty damn nice. 

"Would you like something to eat?" Fluttershy asked, her voice breaking him out of his thoughts. 

"Uhh, yeah sure. Why not?" Kevin mindlessly answered, still focused on analyzing every square inch of the cottage. As Fluttershy walked past him, probably towards the kitchen if she was sincere with that food comment, Kevin caught sight of something that was too good to be true. On the small coffee table that sat in the cottage's living room lay a small pouch, a golden coin next to it. Kevin, as if in a trance, walked forward and attempted to pick the coin up before cursing his lack of fingers. Come on. There has to be… 

After concentrating for a moment Kevin finally picked the coin up… somehow. Honestly he wasn't completely sure how he did, it was as if the coin was magnetically attached to his hoof. Oh well. If it works don't question it. With the coin secured Kevin brought it up to his mouth, experimentally biting into it to check its authenticity. "Ow…" Kevin muttered, his tooth aching as it bit into the hard metal. Welp, definitely real alright. Kevin grinned from ear to ear as he checked the pouch proper to confirm his suspicions. Yep, it was full of these coins! 

Kevin couldn't believe his luck! So, without a second thought, the newly turned colt picked up the small pouch… only stopping his theft for a moment as a small white rabbit kicked at his leg. Kevin, annoyed, tried to shoo the little nuisance away as he slowly and carefully walked towards the cottage's exit. Being as quiet as his hooves would allow. "Buzz off ya little rat!" He whispered, checking back to make sure Fluttershy was still occupied. Thankfully, it appeared she was.

The rabbit, a scowl on its otherwise cute features, ran ahead of him and tried to block the door. The rabbit then pointed back towards the kitchen. Kevin just rolled his eyes as he forcibly pushed the oddly intelligent rodent out of his way, "Stupid, little…" Kevin began, before stopping as he took a moment to consider what exactly he was doing. He had fallen back into his old habits already. Was it really this easy for him to relapse? What would Kwarrel think? Kevin shook his head as he narrowed his eyes, trying to ignore the burning pang of guilt that ate away at him.

"Sorry lady…" He finally said, his voice still a whisper. "But I need this more than you do…" And, with that said, Kevin opened the door and left. Not even bothering to look back as he bolted off, as far away as his annoyingly little legs would carry him. He left with an empty stomach but full pockets, Kevin would consider this a win… hopefully Fluttershy wouldn't take this too personally…