The turtles, the Rainbooms, and their friends led their new allies down to an alley way, before Applejack lifted up a manhole cover.
“Wait a sec, you bros live in a sewer?” Jake asked the turtles.
“Well, we can't afford a penthouse.” Raph answered sarcastically.
“He's right,” Spud agreed, “In these markets it's so difficult to find affordable housing.”
“Come on, let's go.” Applejack said, as they all started going down.
As the Hex Squad were the last Gus spoke to the others, “Should we?
“Relax, it's just a sewer. It's not like there are monsters living down there.” Luz said.
“Well, you never know!” Mikey poked his head out, while putting the others on edge, until Raph pulled his bro back into the sewer. So the Hex Squad went down one at time before closing the lid.
The ninjas led their allies through the sewer system, as Rose spoke, “So you've been living down here for fifteen years, Leo?”
“That's right.” Leo confirmed.
“Dang, and all this time we never even knew.” Trix said impressed.
“You should be lucky me or my gramps never found where you guys lived.” Jake said.
“What do you mean?” Donnie asked.
“This isn't the first time we've been down here in the sewers. In fact we had to face Chang and another enemy down here before.” Fu Dog explained.
“Huh, and how did we never know about that?” Mikey asked the others who were just as confused.
They made another turn down the subway tunnel before arriving at the lair, “Home sweet home.” Raph said, as they entered.
Their allies entered and looked around, “Wow!” Luz gasped.
“Not a bad set up.” Eda admitted.
“Love what you guys did to the place.” Edric added.
“You have any ideas the kind of raves that could be hosted here?” Trix asked her friends.
“My thoughts exactly.” Pinkie agreed.
“Turtles? Friends? Are you back?” came a voice, as Fugitoid stepped out of the dojo, “Oh, good you're back. Did you catch...” he stopped in place seeing their guests who were just as shocked.
“Is that a robot?” Jake asked surprised.
“Yes it is, but don't worry he's a friend.” Twilight assured them.
“Well, greetings all. My name is Professor Zayton Honeycutt. But you can call me Fugitoid.”
“You're a professor?” Spud asked.
“Of what?” Gus inquired.
“I teach high school science, but my intellect far exceeds that.” Fugitoid explained.
“It's true.” Spike confirmed.
“Well, Fugitoid we'd like you to meet some new friends,” Pinkie began introducing, “This is Jake Long and his sister Haley. They're both dragons by the way.”
“Dragons?” Fugitoid wondered, “But this isn't Equestria.”
“Long story, Fugitoid, but just let her explain.” Raph insisted.
“And this is Trixie; their friend. Spud, Rose, and Fu Dog!” Pinkie continued.
“Mutant turtles and robots? We've been missing out.” Spud told Trix who rolled her eyes.
“And now we have Luz, Amity, Willow, Gus, Eda, King, Edric, Emira, and Hooty!” Pinkie finished.
“Hoot-hoot!” Hooty cheered startling Fugitoid.
“Oh, dear!” Fugitoid said startled.
“Alright, now that we're on a first name basis all around, I think you turtles should shed some light on your story.” Amity spoke to the mutant bros.
“Agreed.” Leo confirmed.
“Unless one of you wants to take a guess at it yourselves.” Mikey suggested.
“I think I'd rather hear it from all of you.” Willow admitted.
“Oh, and I had a good theory planned out.” Hooty sighed.
“It probably wouldn't make sense anyway.” King replied.
“Alright, everyone. Get comfy,” Sunset began, “There's a lot you need to hear from both our sides.” So the Am Drag Crew and the Hex Squad took a seat around the sofa and TV to listen to their hosts origin story.
After telling them the story, both sides were surprised after all they heard, “So you bros were regular turtles, and your father Splinter or Hamato Yoshi was a human.” Jake began.
“But coming into contact with this mutagen turned you guys into this while it turned Splinter into a rat man?” Rose continued, as Leo nodded.
“You've been fighting mutants, aliens, ninjas, and other things here in the city for awhile now?” Edric asked.
“More or less.” Raph replied.
“Dang, that Shredder sounds like one nasty guy.” Trix said shocked.
“You have no idea.” Karai said.
Luz looked down, “I'm sorry to hear that he killed your father. I know what it's like to lose a dad.” Amity comforted her making her smile.
“The guy makes Belos seem like a saint.” King whispered to Eda who nodded.
Emira turned to Sunset, “And you Sunset, are actually a unicorn from a world called Equestria; populated by ponies, and other creatures considered mythical in this world?”
“Correct.” Sunset confirmed.
“Wow, that's amazing!” Luz smiled, “ When I learned the Boiling Isles had stuff like that I was excited.”
“The Boiling Isles has creatures like that too?” Fluttershy asked Eda.
“Sure. Griffons, vampires, giraffes.” she listed.
“Giraffes?” the ninja team asked.
“Yeah. We banished those guys to the human realm. Buncha freaks.” Eda replied.
“Well, that's not very nice,” Fluttershy frowned, “They may have long necks, but that's no reason to call them that.”
“You've see a giraffe?” Eda asked.
“Every time I visit the zoo.” Fluttershy admitted.
“Well, they are masters of deception. So I can't blame you for not seeing them for what they really are.” Eda admitted much to Fluttershy's confusion.
Amity continued, “So anyway those geodes you girls wear grant you magical powers like those medallions the turtles wear?”
“Sure does.” Applejack nodded.
“That explains why it was so tricky fighting you girls.” Jake confessed.
“So magic does exist in this world?” Luz asked.
“Well, depends on where you look,” Twilight admitted, “ Mostly Equestrian magic can be found in our home city.”
“And one of our old enemies used ancient magic to summon a demodragon to our world.” Donnie added.
At the sound of that Eda almost choked, “A demodragon?!”
“Yes.” Donnie answered surprised by her reaction.
“Whoever decided to do that was either a giant risk taker or a colossal idiot!” Eda ranted.
“I pick the latter.” Raph replied.
“Demodragon?” Jake asked Fu who explained.
“Really nasty type of dragon found only in the netherworld. Trust me. If they lived on earth with us, they'd be running the joint!”
“Jeez, glad I never had to deal with that here,” Jake said in relief, “And makes me glad I was in Hong Kong during the Kraang Invasion.”
Raph turned to him, “That reminds me, Jake. You've been living here in New York all this time?”
“That's right.”
"Jake, if you've been dealing with stuff here in New York all this time, then where were you when we could've used your help when New York was invaded 4 times?!"
"I think it was 5 times." Mikey leaned in, and Raph pushed him back.
"Well, as I said, for the Kraang invasion I was in Hong Kong. But for everything else it was outside my territory." Jake explained.
"Your territory?" Sunset inquired.
"The AM Drag is meant to protect magical creatures, it ain't about sci-fi," Jake stated, "Unless you count the time I was in Hawaii, but that's another story."
"He does have a point," Amity agreed, "It's not always best to get involved with matters outside your territory."
"Luz learned that after she caused my memories to get burned up," Willow said, giving a knowing look at her friend who shrunk down sheepishly.
Leo spoke up, "Yeah, well sometimes what doesn't look like your fight could end up becoming your fight down the line."
"Exactly!" Luz said. "Like how my shenanigans ultimately fixed your broken friendship."
"Can't really deny that." Amity admitted.
“Point.” Jake admitted as well.
“I just can't believe your planet was actually destroyed some time ago by these Triceratons.” Gus said in surprise.
“Yeah. Wiped out the entire planet with us managing to escape.” Rainbow added.
“But thanks to the Professor and some time travel we stopped it from happening.” Sunset smiled at Fugitoid who looked happy.
“I'd hate to imagine something like that happening to the Boiling Isles.” Luz feared.
“You and me both.” Eda agreed.
Mikey got up, “Now then, how about that tour?” the group smiled eager to see more of the lair.
They first stopped into the dojo, as Leo spoke, “This is our dojo. We practice our ninjitsu here and use it for meditation as well.”
“It is very tranquil for it.” Rarity added.
“Definitely has that zen atmosphere,” Luz said, as she walked around before spotting some picture on the mantle. She noticed the one of the turtles as tots with their weapons, “Oh, you guys look so cute!”
“And still am.” Mikey boasted.
Luz noticed the rat man in the photo, “Is that Master Splinter?”
“It is.” Leo confirmed.
“He really is a rat man.” Jake gasped.
Eda got a good look, “Well, he's definitely better looking than most of my ex-boyfriends. And I dated a lot of guys.”
Jake then spotted the picture of Yoshi, Shen, and Miwa, “And this one?”
“That's sensei before he became a mutant.” Donnie explained.
“And these two with him?” Rose inquired.
“That's his wife,” Karai answered, “Tang Shen; my mother.”
“Your mother?” Emira asked.
“So this baby in the picture...” Spud noticed.
“Is me.” Karai confirmed.
Haley unleashed her dragon wings to fly up closer to see, “Aw, you were so small and cute.” Karai smiled, but looked dismal knowing her upbringing from that point wasn't so glamorous.
Jake saw more pictures around the mantle of the turtles, the Rainbooms, and more friends they made from Carmen Sandiego and her team, the Bat Family, Creepie Creecher, Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable, two other versions of the turtles, Static and Gear, Moo Montana Cowlarado and Dakota, the Power Rangers, Team Shine, the Digidestines, the Spy Racers, other mutants, and students at CHS along with Blade Swipe, and Bright Eyes.
“Wow, you guys sure know a lot of interesting people.” the American Dragon said surprised.
“Now this is bein' popular.” Trix agreed.
“We have a lot of friends, in our world and other worlds.” Mikey explained.
“So there really are other worlds?” Luz asked in concern.
“Yup.” Pinkie smiled.
“Let's move on.” Donnie said, as they continued with Luz walking behind still looking a bit down.
They entered the lab, as Donnie spoke, “Welcome to my lab, but please don't touch anything.” King and Gus were looking ready to do so, but stopped as Donnie looked in their direction.
“Wow, you got a lot of equipment here, Donnie.” Spud looked around.
“I am an inventor after all.” the genius turtle explained.
Metalhead approached, “Hello, everyone. Good to see you.”
“Hi, Metalhead.” Pinkie smiled at him.
“Another robot?” Luz asked.
“This is Metalhead, I built him many months ago.” Donnie explained.
“Delighted to meet you all.” Metalhead waved at the new groups.
“Donnie, you are one smart cookie.” Trix admitted.
“Like a turtle do.” he boasted.
Emira looked and jerked back seeing the frozen mutagen man, “Donnie, what's this?”
“It's so gross!” Haley gagged.
Fu Dog looked, “Ugh, or do we even wanna know?”
“He was a friend who got mutated, but unfortunately he lost his mind to it, so for his safety and ours we had to put him in ice.” Donnie told them.
“It's shocking to actually see what that mutagen you guys deal with can actually create.” Trixie shuddered.
"Yeah, better be careful you never come into contact with the stuff," Raph began scarily, before pointing at Mutagen Man, "Or you might end up like that!" Trixie shrieked as she hid behind Edric and Emira.
King climbed onto a desk and spotted some pictures of symbols with one catching his attention, “Meh?! Hey, Luz, Eda! Look at this!”
The group gathered around as King pointed to the symbol, “Hey, that's the same symbol on the device.”
“What device?” Twilight asked.
“What brought us here,” Luz explained, “I found this metal device that created the portal that sent us here along with Kikimora and the scouts.”
“That's the symbol of the Kraang.” Leo noted.
“What?” Luz gasped.
“And that device that brought you here had to be one of their portable portals.” April called it.
“Why would something like that be in a world like the one they came from?” Casey asked his friends.
Fugitoid spoke, “My assumption is the Kraang also tried to terraform their world called the Boiling Isles a long time ago, but I assume were unsuccessful.”
“Them Kraang have probably been just about everywhere, haven't they?” Applejack asked her friends who couldn't help but agree.
“Huh?” Jake wondered, before speaking to his friends, “Remind me to one day call Lilo and ask her if Jumba's ever met the Kraang before.” Trix and Spud nodded.
Soon they were all in the kitchen relaxing with Eda talking about some of the stuff on the Boiling Isles, with Luz.
"I had no idea there was Titans blood in the key," Luz said, dismally. Amity flinched at her mentioning the key, which didn't go unnoticed by Trix, Donnie, and Sunset, "We don't know what Belos is planning, but whatever it is, he's got another thing coming!"
"That he does." Eda smiled proudly at Luz.
As everyone continued talking, Amity slipped away out of the kitchen. Donnie, Sunset, and Trix looked at one another before they followed.
They found the purple haired witchling sitting alone on the couch, with a very sad look on her face.
"Amity?" Sunset spoke up, getting her attention. "Are you okay?"
"I'm... fine," Amity looked away.
"Girl, you say you're fine, but we can clearly tell you ain't," Trix stated. She took a seat next to her and laid a hand on her shoulder, "Come on now, tell old mamma Trixie what's troubling you?"
"Does it have something to do with what Luz said about losing the portal key to Belos?" Donnie asked.
Amity shut her eyes and buried her face in her knees before she finally said, "It was my fault!"
"What do you mean it was your fault?" Sunset inquired.
Amity sighed and explained, "A few weeks ago, shortly after me and Luz became a couple, she came down with common mold."
"Common mold?" Donnie raised a brow.
"One of the illnesses on the Boiling Isles," Amity answered, "Anyway, the common mold was making Luz act slightly deluded and she tried eat the portal key, so I took it until she got better. Then we all learned from the Echo Mouse that the portal needed Titan's blood to power it and that there was a whole lake of it called Eclipse Lake. Eda and King went to Eclipse Lake while Willow and Gus stayed behind with Luz. I volunteered to go along, cause I wanted to prove to Luz that I was an awesome girlfriend, while foolishly bringing the key along..." her voice cracked a bit as she said that.
"Why was it foolish?" Donnie asked.
"The Emperor's Coven scouts were there, also looking for Titan's blood," Amity stated. "And on the way, we ran into a scout who turned out to be Belos' right hand, the Golden Guard. We took him captive but he later tricked me into setting him free. Then he ditched me and went to Eclipse Lake. While Eda held off the scouts, King and I hurried to Eclipse Lake, only to find out it had long since dried up. The Golden Guard was digging his grave. He told me that he couldn't return to the Emperor after he failed his last mission. I felt sorry for him so I tried to offer him friendship, but when he saw I had the key, he tried to steal it, because it had Titan's blood inside. We fought and reached a stalemate. But then he threatened that the coven would go after Luz if I didn't give him the key. And so I gave it him..."
"Dang!" Trix said. "That's a hard choice, girl!"
"While I managed to crack the key and get some of the blood on my glove for Luz to use for her portal, I essentially gave Belos the literal key to Luz's world!" Amity said, her voice cracking more, "So, yeah! I completely screwed things up for my girlfriend..." She screamed in frustration buried her face in the couch arm.
"Amity, it's not you're fault," Sunset eased her, "You didn't know."
"But it is!" Amity insisted, "If I hadn't taken the key to Eclipse Lake, we wouldn't have lost it to Belos! I don't expect you guys to understand. I mean it's not like any of you ever messed things up for your friends?"
Trix looked away for a moment before she said, "Actually... I screwed things up for Jakey once."
Amity looked up in surprise. "You did?"
"Yeah, I did," Trix nodded. "You see, a long time after Jake wished Rose had never been taken by the Huntsclan and she left for Hong Kong, he finally decided to find someone new. So me and Spud tried to help by letting him be one of the bachelors in our charity auction. When it was Jake's turn, two girls bidded on him, a pretty girl, Danika. And a weird nerdy girl, Vicky. Vicky was about to out-bid Danika, when Jake got everybody to look at our principal. Then he paper airplaned a dollar at Danika so she could win."
"Wait, so he cheated to get the prettier girl?" Amity asked, in surprise.
"Yes he did," Trix frowned, "After the auction, I called him out for it, but he just brushed me off. Then shortly after, he suddenly started acting all freaky and ran right in front of a bus!"
"What's a bus?" Amity asked.
"It's a human vehicle," Donnie explained.
"Luckily, Jake got out of the way in time, but he said he had no idea what came over him," Trix continued, "When we told his gramps and Fu, they said he was under a siren song. Fu explained that siren's were beautiful but evil water spirits that hypnotize men and lure them to their doom!"
"I've read about sirens," Amity stated, "We have them on the Boiling Isles. But no one's ever seen one."
"We have sirens in Equestria too," Sunset noted, "In fact, we know three of them. But they're not evil anymore."
Trix continued, "I suspected that Danika was a siren, cause she was beautiful and the captain of the swim team."
"Uh, Trixie," Donnie broke in, "No offense, but that's kind of stereotyping."
"Yeah," Sunset had to agree, "The sirens we know aren't affiliated with water."
"Yeah it is," Trix admitted in embarrassment, "Any-who, Jake brushed me off again, thinking he was just in love. So Fu gave us this Siren detector and me and Spud followed him on his week with Danika and each time. Jake kept falling under the spell and doing all kinds of crazy stuff, until finally he believed that he was under a siren song, but didn't think it was Danika. But his gramps told him he shouldn't see Danika, so he finally decided to finish Bachelor Week with Vicky. But I secretly followed him and found out he was seeing Danika in secret. Then he fell under the spell again and almost walked off the edge of a tower!"
"Whoa!" Amity gasped.
"Me, Spud and Fu managed to save him. And after Spud scanned her necklace, we all accused her being the siren," Trix went on, "But it turned out, Danika wasn't the siren at all. She thought we were accusing her of stealing the necklace that Vicky gave her and ran off in tears. That was when we realized that Vicky was the siren!"
"Vicky was the siren?" Donnie asked in surprise.
"Guess not all sirens are beautiful." Sunset stated.
Trix went on, "Turned out Vicky framed Danika cause she was jealous that she got Jake instead of her, saying if she couldn't have him, then Danika wouldn't either. And she bragged that it was easy since everyone... including me," she added sheepishly, "Thought all pretty girls were evil. She then mesmerized Jake, Spud, and Fu and had them attack each other. Luckily, the siren song didn't work on girls, so I tried to fight Vicky. Until she sicked them on me. I managed to hold them off and knock out Vicky, freeing them," Trix then looked down in guilt, "But poor Jakey was left with no beau. All cause I was bad judge of character... So, yeah. I get where yah comin' from, Amity."
"Wow, that's rough." Amity said.
"And I get where you're coming from too, Amity," Donnie chimed in, "Me, and my brothers. We've all made plenty of screw ups in the past, but our biggest blunder was when we accidentally dropped a bunch of mutagen all over New York."
"What? How'd you do that?" Amity asked.
"Well, it started when we hijacked a Kraang ship that was full of mutagen canisters," Donnie began, "We got too cocky and paid the price. The Kraang had a battle suit on board called a biotroid, and those things are tough! We barely managed to beat that thing! Unfortunately, in all the chaos, we accidentally opened the hatch and the all mutagen canisters rained out over the whole city! One hit April's dad and mutated him into a bat. When April found out, she was so angry that she ended our friendship." He looked saddened, "And said she never wanted to see us again. To my face."
"Dang, boy!" Trix said.
Amity covered her mouth in shock, before she laid a hand on Donnie. "I'm sorry."
“Well, good news is April forgave us and our friendship was restored. And we managed to change her dad back to normal.” Donnie explained in relief.
Sunset took a seat next to her, "I've made some screw ups too, Amity. I once stole a crown with a magical element in it and brought Equestrian Magic in this world. It doesn't work the same as it does in Equestria and causes all kinds of chaotic things! And some people have become corrupted by it and turn into being of destruction!"
"Whoa!" Amity said, eyes wide, "Guess you all do know what I'm going through?"
"Yep, and we all still feel guilty about them sometimes," Sunset explained, "But Master Splinter once said, we can't change what we do in the past, only work to make tomorrow better."
"And if Luz isn't blaming you, then you shouldn't blame yourself." Donnie advised.
"Yeah, girl," Trix agreed. "So don't go carrying all that guilt weightage. It's not good for you."
Amity thought about what they told her and smiled, "I'll try. And thank you. All of you."
"Hey, us screw ups gotta stick together," Sunset smirked.
Back in the kitchen, Gus was marveling at the refrigerator, “Wow, this is awesome!”
"That's our fridge." Leo stated.
"We have those back in the Boiling Isles, Gus." Willow reminded him.
"Yeah. But this one's a human world fridge!" Gus pointed out.
Mikey appeared next to him, "And this fridge has something no other fridge has!" He said.
"Really? What?!" Gus asked.
Mikey opened the freezer to reveal, "Ice Cream Kitty!"
"Meow!" the mutant cat said.
Gus gasped in awe, "Amazing!"
"What is that?" Jake asked in confusion.
"Aww, kitty!" Haley smiled.
"Is that a cat?" Edric started.
"Made out of ice cream!" Emira finished.
"Actually, she's mutant cat made out of ice cream." Pinkie explained.
"And she's very sweet." Fluttershy said, petting Ice Cream Kitty.
"Oh sure!" Fu said sarcastically, "That sweet act is how they lure you in!"
Raph ignored Fu and said, "You guys think Ice Cream Kitty's something, say hello to Chompy Picasso." He held out the little alien turtle, who chortled.
Luz gasped, her eyes shining, "¡Ay, que lindo!" She grabbed Chompy and snuggled him, "Sooo cute!"
"He's adorable!" Willow gushed.
"Yeah he is!" Spud agreed, taking Chompy and holding him close, "Aww, hey little guy."
"I'd wouldn't get too close, Spud!" Twilight warned.
"Why?" Spud asked, and Chompy beached fire, setting his beanie a flame. "Aahhh!" He screamed. "Get it off me! Get it off me, it burns!" Spud ran around while Eda and King laughed.
"I gotcha, dude!" Mikey filled a pot with water and threw it at Spud, only to miss and splash Raph instead.
"Mikey!" Raph growled.
Just then Amity, Sunset, Donnie, and Trix came back in, as the witchling asked, "What's going on in here?"
"We heard screaming," Donnie said.
Spud ran past them, shouting, "Ahh ooo ahh!"
"Ah not again, Spud!" Trix groaned, before she grabbed a nearby fire extinguisher and when Spud ran back, she sprayed his whole head, putting out the fire.
"That's why." Rainbow answered his question.
Spud wiped the foam from his face, "Whoa! This little dude's got some major fire power." He pointed at Chompy.
"Are you okay, Spud?" Fluttershy asked.
"Yeah," Spud replied, "Believe it or not, this wasn't the first time my head was set on fire."
"He's right," Haley confirmed sheepishly. "And I was the one who set it on fire. Long story."
“Quite a firecracker that Chompy,” Eda admitted, “But you're not the only one with a little buddy like that, Raph.” Owlbert came to life and flew off Eda's staff, along with Amity's cat palisman Ghost, Willow's bee palisman Clover, and Gus' chameleon palisman Emmiline.
“Oh, my gosh!” Fluttershy gathered around, “And who're these cuties?”
“They're our palismans, Fluttershy.” Willow explained.
“Think of them as magical partners that reside at the top of our staffs.” Gus explained.
“Oh, I wish I could take them home with me!” Fluttershy scooped the four palismans up into her arms to hug them, as they enjoyed the affection.
“Eda, what is a Palisman really?” April asked the Owl Lady.
“Well, April. A palisman is a sentient magical totem that rest atop a witch's magical staff. They are usually made in the shape of an animal of some kind. They contain a magical essence and harbors various magical properties, including the ability to switch between wooden and living forms at will.”
“Interesting.” April said intrigued, as the Owl Lady continued.
“They are carved from the wood of the ancient Palistrome tree, and traditionally witches in their teens carve their own palisman and staff from the wood of the tree at school or with parental supervision. It's part of their education, actually.”
“What if the witch doesn't know what animal to carve?” Shini wondered.
“Well, they're typically carved into the shape of an animal or living creature, but for an alternative, they can be carved into an egg shape. In which case the palisman itself will develop inside the egg over time and eventually hatch from it once it has established a proper bond with its owner, as was the case for Luz here.” she motioned to her apprentice.
“Luz?” they asked.
“Eda managed to find me some Palistrome tree wood and asked me to carve my own. So I carved mine in the shape of an egg and hoping one day it'll hatch into a palisman of my own.” Luz explained.
“It's that easy?” Spud asked.
“Not quite,” Eda continued, “A newly-carved palisman will not become animate until their owner is able to establish a proper connection with them by expressing their truest and deepest wish to them, which will then cause the palisman to come to life and become bonded. Depending on the person, this ambition ranges to an attainable dream, such as a future occupation, or a deep, personal desire. Sometimes, it might take a while for the person to figure out what their truest wish actually is.”
“That does sound like a lot of work.” Rainbow admitted.
“It does, but the results are worth it.” Amity explained as Ghost went back to her and nuzzled her.
Eda spoke, “Although as of late the palistrom trees have become increasingly rare and the ones left are heavily guarded. So I talked with principal Bump of Hexside to arrange a Palisman Adoption Day.”
“Palisman Adoption Day?” Rarity asked.
“You mean a teen witch can adopt a palisman?” Leo asked.
“But who made them?” Trixie wondered.
“Well, a palisman can only be as loyal to their witch as long as they're treated well. But a palisman can desert their creator if they've been treated badly and won't go back to them unless their trust is earned back. Sometimes a witch can just abandon their palisman on their own or even die.”
“So the palismens become orphans?” Fluttershy asked sadly.
“Yeah,” Luz answered, “Luckily we have an ally called the Bat Queen who takes in stray palismens, and she agreed to bring some to the school for a chance to be adopted by a student.”
Eda continued, “When the young witch steps forward and speaks of their greatest ambition, if a palisman is compatible with the emotion of that ambition, they will come forward to meet their new partner. If the individual doesn't know what they truly want, the palismen will sense the lack of conviction and none of them will come forward.”
“That's how it worked for me.” Luz said sheepishly.
“Your world sounds like it's got quite a magical system.” Jake admitted.
“Yeah, it'd be a lot better if it wasn't being run by a tyrant.” Eda mentioned.
“Emperor Belos?” Rose guessed.
“Yeah.” Luz confirmed, “Under his rule a witch can learn one type of magic after joining a specific coven. And once you’re marked by that coven you have to forsake learning any other types of magic.”
“Someone clearly doesn't know the meaning of quantity.” Donnie noted.
“Yeah, isn't have more than one type better than only one?” Twilight asked.
“Indubitably.” Fugitoid agreed.
“Any other types that goes against this law is considered to be wild magic, which I've gained a reputation for having.” Eda boasted.
“I have my own magic using these.” Luz showed them some glyphs before activating the light one creating a ball of light that floated up.
“Amazing.” Trixie marveled.
“Where did you learn these?” Karai asked the girl.
“Actually, I found some of them on the island as markings, and some I made on my own. Like that invisibility one I used during our fight.”
“Clever.” Donnie commended her.
“When most of my magic was drained I decided to start learning glyph magic with Luz.” Eda explained.
“Just when we finally have magic figured out we learn newer types that're just as complicated.” Applejack told her friends who agreed.
Soon they were back in the living room with Mikey teaching Gus about comics, while Luz was currently looking something up on Donnie's laptop away from the others. She looked at her phone and sighed in defeat.
Sunset seeing this walked over to her, “You okay Luz?”
“Hey Sunset, it’s nothing.”
Sunset scowled, “Luz, don’t tell me it’s nothing. What’s wrong?”
Luz seeing no way out answered, “When we first arrived here, I actually thought I was home, but then you guys started talking about other dimensions, and my Glyphs were working here. And I just looked online and while Connecticut is still a state here like New York, there's no town of Gravesfield here. And tried calling my mom, but no answer, like before.”
“Luz, I’m so sorry.” Sunset said, before using her powers to see in Luz’s memories, more particularly, when she made the promise to her mom to stay with her, “But in a moment, you made a promise to your mother.”
Luz did a double take, “How do you... oh right, you can see into my memories.”
“You must really love your mom that much.”
Luz nodded, “I just, I just miss her so much. But if I do see her, would I have to give up my friends, Eda, my girlfriend?” she looked sad.
“From what I saw in your memories, it might not come to that. Your mother will love them.” Sunset assured her.
Luz smiled at her, “Thanks.”
“Pizza delivery!” a voice called, as the group saw Keno enter the lair with the Dazzlings and Chaplin all carrying several pizza boxes.
“Hey, guys, good to see you!” Pinkie cheered.
“We heard you have more friends joining us.” Adagio said, as the saw the two new groups.
“Hiya!” Sonata waved.
“We gonna get some intros?” Chaplin inquired.
“We'll talk while we eat, Chaplin.” Karai promised.
“Awesome, let's get our pizza on!” Jake cheered.
“Pizza?” Gus asked as he, Willow, and Amity were confused.
“A excellent human world dish,” Eda explained, “Tried it once, and Mm, I couldn't get enough of it.”
Soon the group were all enjoying a slice with Amity, Willow, and Gus looking very impressed by the tasty food.
Mikey noticed Luz not digging in before offering her a slice, “Hey, Luz, come and chow down with us.”
“Thanks for the offer, but I'm lactose intolerant.” she explained.
“Lactose in-what?” the party turtle wondered, until Donnie enlightened him.
“It means one can not consume dairy without getting sick. Dairies like milk, yogurt or cheese.”
“Then, no cheesy pizza?! You poor, poor girl.” Mikey said in sympathy.
“Yeah, but that's how it is,” Luz answered, before seeing Amity and the rest of her friends enjoy it, “But I'm glad to see my friends can enjoy something new.
The others were getting to know Eda more, especially hearing she was in the human world before.
"So, you've actually been to New York in the other human world?" Rainbow asked Eda.
"Oh, yeah. I caused all kinds of trouble." Eda bragged.
"Like what?" Donnie asked, knowingly.
"Well, I visited the Natural History museum and the curator tried to have me thrown out for 'borrowing' a few artifacts." Eda explained.
"And by borrow, you mean you were stealing?" Twilight inquired, with a frown.
"Ah, potato patoto," Eda waved off, "Anyway, when he sicked security on me, I brought all those giant skeletons to life and they smashed up the whole place! It even made the headlines." She showed them a newspaper. The front page showed a photo of Eda running away with a smirk, while dinosaur skeletons were crashing out of the museum doors. A t-rex was shown with a screaming security guard in its mouth, "And at a place called the Yankee stadium, I was heckling some baseball players and one hit the ball right in my face! So I enchanted the ball and bat and they ate his face! And when I crashed a Broadway show, I was booed off the stage. And let's just say, it was a performance they never forgot..."
Everyone stared at her in shock, "You are trouble." Leo stated.
“And proud of it!” Eda boasted with pride.
“I really like her.” Pinkie told the girls.
“Well, as troubling as your reputation goes, you know about this Kikimora and these scouts better than anyone. So we could use yours and the others help.” Leo said to the Owl Lady.
“Leo, you got yourself a deal.” Eda smirked.
Jake spoke up on behalf of him and his crew, “And you're right, the invasions may not have been my fight, but maybe things could've gone different if I did get involved. But I know this is gonna need all of us working together to stop Chang, Finn, and Kikimora.”
“So we'll do whatever we can to help.” Rose put in.
“Now this is gonna be one sweet team up.” Mikey said excitedly.
“And even if our enemies are teamed up, they won't stand a chance.” Rainbow smirked.
Meanwhile back on the surface inside an old building, were the three ladies who had regrouped there after leaving their enemies to fight amongst themselves.
“So we're all in agreement?” Chang asked the other two.
“Yeah,” Abigail agreed, “We help you take down this American Dragon and his friends and in return you help me capture those kids and their green men.”
“While helping me in dealing with a couple of rogue witches.” Kikimora finished, as the coven scouts were kneeling behind her.
“Yes. But remember our enemies will not be so easily defeated if our past experiences we've shared with one another are anything to go by.” Chang reminded them.
“Which is why combining all of our talents together should guarantee a victory.” Kikimora said.
“Well, ladies. We got us a job to do.” Abigail smirked along with her two new allies.