//------------------------------// // Double Dip- MY NAME IS TYRONE DAMMIT! // Story: FUSION FALLS: TAKE TWO! // by The Cowardly Christian //------------------------------// FUSION FALLS: TAKE TWO! I OWN AND REGRET NOTHING! ...III... I OWN AND THANK GOD FOR EVERYTHING! ...III... ...opening song... Hey girl, hey girl don't lie to me tell me where did you sleep last night In the pines, in the pines where the sun never shines I will shiver the whole night through Hey girl, hey girl where will you go I'm going where the cold wind blows In the pines, in the pines where the sun don't ever shine I will shiver the whole night through Hey girl, hey girl don't lie to me tell me where did you sleep last night ... Star looked around her at the old castle that she grew up in. Everything looked the same but it was off like something was changed but she couldn't see what was changed about her surroundings. And there was her mother. Moon was still herself, but she was all distorted when Star tried looking at her. And in the background was this tall man with a blank face... just standing there... "I don't work for Mina...she works for me...," Moon said in a distorted voice. "Music Maestro...," the blank face man said. Causing music to play around Star as the world around her warp. ...(Song starts...Demons by Starset)... A naked and terrified Star found herself running through the wilderness... Mayday, mayday, the ship is slowly sinking They think I'm crazy but they don't know the feeling They're all around me circling like vultures They wanna break me and wash away my colors Mina's giant minion's chased after her, all the while watching all her hard work: helping Eclipsa, helping the monsters and trying to do what was right for Mewni- Wash away my colors! -get blown to bits... Take me high and I'll sing Oh, you make everything okay, okay, okay (okay, okay, okay) We are one and the same Oh, you take all of the pain away, away, away (away, away, away) Save me if I become... And then they were there... my demons! And then they were there... I cannot stop this sickness taking over Quirky guy... It takes control- Kelly... -and drags me into nowhere Talon Raventalon... I need your help Tom... I can't fight this forever Her daughter... I know you're watching I can feel you out there Spider with a top hat... I can feel you out there Buff frog and his children... Take me high and I'll sing Oh, you make everything okay, okay, okay (okay, okay, okay) We are one and the same Oh, you take all of the pain away, away, away (away, away, away) Save me if I become my demons So many screaming in agony, dying horribly; yelling things like: 'Why did your mom kill us, Star?' Take me over the walls below Fly forever, don't let me go I need a savior to heal my pain When I become my worst enemy The enemy 'Why did you kill us Star?' yelled others! Take me high and I'll sing You make everything okay We are one and the same You take all of the pain away Star suddenly finds herself surrounded by everyone who was displaced by the merge... all accusing her of ruining their lives because of the merge. Take me high and I'll sing Oh, you make everything okay, okay, okay (okay, okay, okay) We are one and the same Oh, you take all of the pain away, away, away (away, away, away) Save me if I become my demons Star breaks down sobbing and pleading how sorry she is... Take me high and I'll sing Oh, you make everything (my demons) okay, okay, okay (okay, okay, okay, my demons) We are one and the same Oh, you take all of the pain (my demons) away, away, away (away, away, away, my demons) Save me if I become- Then she looks up just in time to see a Solarian guard bring his boot down to crush her- -my demons! ...(song end)... "-Star wake up!" Marco shouted as he shakes her awake. Star wakes up in a cold sweat from the nightmare she keeps on having. The night terrors have been causing her to lose lots of sleep and had been happening to her for months on end. They come and go, but always return with Star waking up screaming. "Star you need to have Princess Luna help you with these nightmares," said Marco deeply worried . "No, I don't need her help, I'm fine," Star dismisses stubbornly. "Star, from what you told me about your nightmares- "I'm fine," Star said firmly. "Star is everything okay?" Moon asked behind the door. "Yes mom," Said Star, quickly cutting off Marco before he could say anything else. "That's good. Get dressed and come down, I made breakfast and we need to start early if we're going to do the activities you have plan for us." "You heard her, we need to get ready,"Said Star as she ran from the room before Marco could stop her. Marco sighed in resignation...but obeyed...what else could he do? Star hastily gets her things while repeating an internal mantra over and over again... "I'm happy, everyone is happy, I love my mom, my mom loves me. I have completely forgiven her! We all make mistakes and I love her! I have a good life, good family, good boyfriend, good friends. We are ALL happy! I am happy! I am happy! And it doesn't matter anyway; I never have to deal with kingdoms, betrayal and Mina ever again!" ... A door burst open as Mina was thrown outside of a shack, the year hasn't been good to her. Without magic, her age has caught up with her. Turning her into a hideous, withered crone. She's still is able to move around but soon her body will fail her... "Come on! I hate monsters, you hate monsters! And it's not like your picky for new members! There's only five of you for crying out loud!" Mina shouted exasperated. "Were desperate, but were not that desperate! Do you realize it is mainly due to you and your little 'stunt' that freaks and abominations are being accepted? That Rabble rousers like that half-breed chink Jake Long spewing that 'equal rights' gobbledey-gook are so popular? That respectable civil servants like me and the other Founders are ignored and ostracized?" Exclaimed the man known as Henry Saltonstall; who was once a high-ranking politician in Columbia before the Merge struck it out of the sky. "What? What are you talking about? I- "You lead an army to publicly massacre a civilian population! What the blue blazes where you thinking?! Stupid dag-nabbed teens and their new-fangled gadgets caught so many examples of you and your army murdering monster children, Mewman children, Mewamn civilians, Mewman house pets! You name it, you killed it and they got to serve a heaping helping of golden propaganda fodder for the 'equality movement' to plaster around for every Tom, Dick and Harry to gawk at!" "Those traitors deserved it! Living with the monsters- "You idiot! Only half of the Mewmans still living in the capital actually liked those freaks! The rest tolerated them at best! The minority you had in Moon's little 'town' were just the most radical! Your actions did nothing but traumatize, enrage and unite both sides against something they mutually hated more then each other! YOU! Congratulations 'Monster Slayer' you single handily ended centuries of Mewman and monster animosity!" Saltonstall spits out infuriated. "What? No... That, that can't, I didn't..." Mina babbled looking lost. "Speaking of your 'followers', where are they?," he asks in a sarcastic, rhetorical way. "Well, uh, you see..." Mina stuttered. "I'll tell you where they are! Psychologically broken both from the trauma of mega-magic twisting their minds and you ordering them to murder their fellow Mewmans! An entire batch of potential recruits turned against you and to a lesser extent anyone who agrees with your ideas! AKA US! The few that WEREN'T sent to asylums are now the 'civil rights' movements greatest supporters! Their first hand accounts on the 'horror's of racism and their consequences' have already yielded some kraut documentary filmmakers a dozen or so Emmy's and Oscars! We can't top that!" Saltonstall was practically, spitting fire at this point. He'd a lot of rage built up after watching his beloved city and livelihood go to shit...so it was nice to be able to vent for once... "Well, I mean... Sure, when you say it like that it sounds terrible..." Said Mina trying to downplay it...and failing miserably... "Say, didn't you have someone dumb enough to still stand with you? Manfred something or other? Where is he?" Asked one of the few remaining 'founders', while peeking from a window. "Uh...well...no one would give me shelter or food... and Manfred was just useless... so... I may have sorta... accidentally... ate him?" A nervous Mina said while sweating... There was a long, awkward silence... "Get the frak out of Uselessville before I change my mind that getting the bounty on your head is less important then the risk of further being associated with you!" Saltonstall growled out. Meanwhile, Charles politely leads a young girl name Amanda out of the same shack. "Sorry little lady, we'd like to have you... But the child labor union has been watching us like a hawk and we just can't afford another scandal right now...," Charles explained politely. "Ah, what a gip...," Amanda groaned. Amanda's town- Muckledunk -was full of incompetent adults. Just like most of the other cities that came through the merge... But surprisingly, this city fared better then most of the others. This was mainly due to the adults there being mostly kind and compassionate people who happily embraced non-humans with open arms. This plus they're already large monster population has made them a very popular non-human tourist destination. Amanda, was the only one who really hated the monsters. Using her family's wealth, she constantly tried to ban monsters from the city which always failed and backfired on her... but after the merge, her family's fortune became worthless. Between that and how unlikable she was, she quickly ended up the most hated person in her city and was soon kicked out. Both she and Mina ended up in one of the many 'Uselessville's' that now dotted the world. which were similar to the ancient 'Hooverville' Shanty towns of the great depression. Except instead of mostly poor you instead had the useless adults from other worlds. They lost everything and ended up here as there was no other place to go... Here their stupidity was no longer praised or tolerated and no one else wanted them. As a dejected Mina and Amanda wandered about, they happened to see many familiar faces... Many adults from Dimsdale ended up living here after losing their jobs and kids. The fact they left their kids in the care of VICKY- never caring about how much proof that they showed of her abusing them, only caring more about their own happiness then theirs -usually caused their own lawyer to give up on the cases then and there. Both of them walked past a very filthy looking FORMER banker named Mr. Poe. "Hmmm...Count Olaf." He holds up one picture. "Count Olaf wearing a fake mustache." He takes a good look at both, clearly in deep thought... before throwing them up in the air in exasperated defeat. "Oh, blast it all! What's wrong with me? They still BOTH look like completely different people!" Mr. Poe said as he puts his face in his hands and groans in despair. "The kids were right... I am bloody useless..." He wasn't alone as Mr. Lancer- former teacher at Casper High -was there as well. After having his face, car and home destroyed, he'd lost his job too. There are also plenty of Skyway Patrol and other types of cops that came through the merge. They're here because there incompetence had gotten them banned from ever having any sort of LEGAL authority ever again...or even to hold a butter knife for that matter... Their was also the idiot parents from the Goosebump books who refused to believe that their children were in danger and kept nearly getting them all killed...like the one's who psychologically tortured their kids-turned-chicken by EATING chicken in front of them...or the parents who forcibly sent their kids to school despite one being as fat as a blimp and the other thinner then a photo negative thanks to a curse... Suddenly an armored car with a government official shows up. The man and the woman got out of the car and the man grab a megaphone from the car. And began speaking into it to gather as many people as possible. "Alright, listen up you parasites! Times are tight and your sucking up taxpayer money by being too stupid to find work! Not cool! So the military is forming the 'Redshirt army'! You'll get pay, food, a roof over your head and all that is asked of you is that you sign away your rights and become cannon fodder soldiers, bait for giant monsters and test subjects! The president's lawyer, Legal Lee -who unlike other displaced and far more sucky lawyers he was able to convince the bar exam that his license was still valid... AND got 5,000$ in a wrongful termination of license suite -has already smoothed it over, now who wants to sign up!?" Shouted the former Saint turned government official... Everyone in the area rushes over excited. Except for Mina and Amanda- the former has a price on her had and the later REALLY didn't want to take the risk that she'd be forced to go back home where an angry mob no doubt waits - they keep walking, until the reach the government aide buildings where the food and other supplies are kept. There people are already lined up for the watered down and tasteless food that's cheap and brought in bulk. Then there are the shelters which are full with a long wait list, all paid with most minimal amount of tax payer money they can get way with. While they waited in line for some food they overhear some guards talking how they needed to move a magical object that was recovered from a recent raid to Gravity Falls. Mina didn't care about what they were saying till one of the guards asked whatever happened to that princess who caused the merge. this prompts one of the guards to reveal that she's also staying at Gravity Falls. "Star! This whole mess is her fault!... we'll I'll show her!" Mina said as she turns to Amanda. "Hey little sister, would you like to strike a blow for all monster slayers everywhere?" Amanda just looks at her weird...but beggars can't be choosers...right? "If I say yes, will you get me food?" She asked finally... Mina takes this as a yes, grabs her and stows away on the truck headed for Gravity Falls. ...neither noticed the guards they overheard m̷̛̛̜̿̽̌͗́͗̏̉̋̃͂̑̽͒͗̀̅́̎͂͊͒͊̒̍͒̇̾̽͐̎̐̇̚͘͝͝͝ẽ̵̙͕̞͇̞̠̙̹̜̪͚̘͈̬͗̾͒̄͑̿̈́̿́͗̈͊͂̾̅̓͆͂̎̎̉̿̊͋͊́̏̎͑͂́̑͘̕̚̕̚͜͝ͅl̴̢̛̛̗̠̝͙̺̗̲̬̫̖̪̮̤̹̲̠̳̩͇̥͒͂̉̾͒̈̔̄̐̑͑̋̀̆̾̌̉̚t̷̨̡̡̢̛͔̖̱͍̖̤̱̟̬̹̹̩̼̥̰͚͖̗̱̼̹͔̖̼̪̫̳̥̳̗̮̘̣̝̼͔̠̻̬̟̼̄̔̏͛̋̈́͐̃͊̐̋̄̐͘̕͜͜͝ͅͅį̶̡̨̼̮̞̮̩̤̹͔̪̺̱̳̘̯͙̹͇̠̭̮͔͇̦͓͕̮̳̘̮̬̯̓̃̊̑͐̏̔̄͐̈́͋̔͑̓̄́͛͗̐̆́̅͐̀̈́͘̚ͅṉ̸̛̞̭́͑̏͘ĝ̴̨̥̳̻͙̳͖̬̺͙̼̰̳͚͚̭͓͌̿̿̒͑̊̈̎̔͗̅̾̇̍̿̚͝ ̶͍̩̤̪͎̖͓̥̗̻̩̞̹̥̟̬̥̱͕͎̟̼͕̼̦̳̞͎̯̝̂͋͑͐͗̂̈́̏̋͐̉̍̃̈͛͛̎̔̉̽̇̓̇̔̾̈́̂̀͘̚̕͜͠͝͠ͅą̵̡̧̨͓̗̜͎͈̜̼͇̮̟͙͓͎̟̪̹͈̜̭̠͓̣̫̬͔̠͎̪̗̻̺̬̤̪͈͌͗̓̾͌̅̍̑̀̂̌́̈́̐͘̚͝͝͝͝͝ͅẁ̸̨̨̢̙̭͓̟̺͔̹̭̣̥̖̯̥̖̲̠̱͙̤̰̠̟̬̠̝̜͙͍͓̝͇̰͎͍̘̫̘̆̒͋̿͆̃͜͜͝ͅͅͅa̴̛̛͉̤̳̮̮͙͉̺̘͍̫̰̝̙̜͓͍̗͇̫͍̳̣͓̝̎̋͑͋͛̐̓̾̈́̅̄͆̇̈́̑̈̇̓̈́͊̈́̏̎̚͠ỹ̸̧̢̛̛̤̞̳͙̦̰̮͙̗̙͙͖̺̤̯͙͖̤̔̋̄̈́̌͂̃͋̒͒͛̆̋͒̊̽̑̑͊̐̎̒̔̀̏́̐̉̈̚̚͘̚͘͝ͅͅ ̸̧̩̝͉̳̠̦͕̗͎̝̱̭͕̻͓͓͖̥͕̪̳͕̼͔͚͓̇̈̔͛̄͆͑̏̀̀͐̽͗̈̆̇͆̉̔́̑̔̉͝ͅͅͅͅȋ̵̡̧̡̡̡͔̩͈̫̙̝͍̤̬͚̠̞̠̞̥͕̝͙͉̰̼͈̠͕̬͍̞͕̱̳̗̭̮̬n̶̢̨̧̡̧͖̟̘̞̳̠͙̲̯͖͖̝̗̬̝̞̝̘̗̪͈̰̤̠̻̞͈͈͔͚̞̘̝͚̱͋̂̂̿̀̿̏̏̀̈́͘͠͝͠t̷̢̢̡̛͈̭̗͇̩̹͈̳̯̦̣͓̥̹̮̱̥̫̠͚͗̔́̉̏̊̾́̈́͒̈́̃̅̒̉̊̇̍̈́͋́͒͊̈́͗͘͜͜͜͠ỡ̶̧̧̭͕͚̲͙̞̹̺̪̤͕͚̼̻̺͖̦̝͈͇͉̙͈̭̰̞̭̮̭̖̦̻̀͌̓͌͛̈̄̈́̊̆̃̌̈́͊̈́̆̅̈́͊̂̇̒̄̆̓͛́̂͆͘̚̕͘̚͠͝ ̷̧̡̧̡̡̧̢̞̰̪̪̝͔̰̤̬͖̝̠̺̘̤͕͚͍̥̙̻͖͍̲͍̩̞̘̲̰̜͎̣̣̯̟̱̐̔̊̓̽̎͆̓̇̐̉̄̿̉̄̍̄̊̽̏̂̾̒̐̓͆̒͌̒̅͛́̕̕͜͝͝͝ͅt̵̖̣̦̙͔́̂́̀̅̌͋̔̍͋̒͌̄̉̇̄̇̊̂͊́̽̓̊́̆͒̌̅̎̍̈́̕͝͝h̷̘̹̝̼̜̟͍̞̟̲̰͌̀̈́̄̐̒̀̆̚͘̚͝͠ͅę̵̛̺͉̺̪̜̭͎̹̬̜̙͔̺̳͎̱̼̙̭̬͕̤̬̂̓͊̂̐̉̾͗͌̈́̉͛́́̒͋̆̍͑̔̅̾͐̄́͂̈̈̅̓̓̐͆̍͘̕̕̚͜͝ ̷̧̡̧̜̖̖̘͕̮͇̲̬̰͕̞͓̻̼̫̞͔̫̙̙͚̻̫̟̗̲̭̦̹̪̙̯͈̥̼̭̫̤͍͉̣̋̍̈͜͜͜͜ͅs̷̨̼̩͕̺͖͖̟̫̯̐̃̓̀̃̈́̑̍̏͌̿̎̓̑̅͊͋̓͌̀̐̊̋̑̑̀̊̍͒͆̍̓̍̊͠͝h̵̛͖̝̻͓͙̭̭͎͉̺͍̹̟̰͙̦̪͐̿͐̀̽́̎͗̽̾̔̀̄̍͌̆̋̀̋̍̄͌͛͐͒̑́̂̊̐͂́̈́̔̏̈́͋̔͊̓̄̚͘͠͠͝͝͝͝a̶̧̡̡̱̜̭͎̫̟̹̱͔̮͙̣͈̳̖̻̤̯̘̞̘̫̮͓͋͛̒̐̃͆̍̕d̴̛̛̛̰̻̟̰̺̊̑̊͛̾̊̊̆̇͂̀̽̆͛̓̌͠͝͝ͅo̸̡͚̯̹̬̦̬̼͖̩̹͎̖̫̲͎̝͉̼͎̫̬̼̫͒̏̋̎͑̓̇̒͗̏̋̍̾̃̕̚͜w̶̡̠̞̦͙̣͔͖̹̜̪͛́͋͒́̉͑̚͝͝͠ś̷̢̨͍͈̱̥̤̪̳̤̜̼̙̫̟̭͍̯̫̮̱̫̠͙̳͉͊̎́̄̅̾̊̒̒̿̐̍̈̽̅͌͒̏̒̾̎͊̈͆̏̾̇̆̈́̄̕͘͜͜͝.̷̢̢̨̡̛̰̰̱̞̘̪̲͍͔͕͈̞̻͈̩̥̖͖̖̘̯̰̪͍͍̜̮͇̹̜̝͓̮̯̄͑͆͊̿̈̔̅̀̆̐͗̾̿͌̏̇͋̾̈͌̌̇̏̅̏́̍͊̇͊̌̃̄̚͠.̵̨̨̢̫̠͙̙̮̺̱̺̥͇̟̺̪̣̦̟͓̠̖̯̼̤̯͍̭̗̙͒͊͊̈́́̄̀̓̾͆̇̄̂̋̈͆́͛̀̕͘͝.̷̨̧̧̢̧̣̪̮̱͚̩͎̱̟̻͖̱͇͈͕̦̠̩̤̰͚̜̘͔̼̥̯̱̗̥͚̺͛̎̌̍̊͆̾̓̀̊̾̌̾͑͐̑̑͑̈͂̔̈́̾̿̓̉̋̀̑̈̚͝͝͝ͅ ... The last couple of days had been crazy for Twilight since she returned to Canterlot. The first thing that Twilight did was to reassure her parents that she was fine... ... "I'm sorry for freaking you out, but after the 'wedding' and the 'merge'...I was- among other things -No longer bound by the restrictions of our past world...well I found myself thinking all these new things: Why are we friends? Should I really be friends with ponies who treat me so poorly? Why do I keep obeying Celestia without question when lives are at stake and her methods so needlessly convoluted? Why dose our whole society revolve around-" Twilight shakes her head as she trails off, "Sorry, I'm rambling. Long story short: I freaked out and I just needed to be alone for awhile to rethink my life..." Twilight Velvet sighed, "Well, I suppose that's understandable, we were ALL freaking out that day. And YOU were at the center of it. Were not happy how you handled this and wish you'd at least kept some form of contact with us to at least make sure you were alive and safe...but what's done is done. The important thing is that your here now." She said with a smile... "And now you can come back to Canterlot and we can be a family again!" Exclaimed Night Light excited Twilight winched, "Right, about that..." ... She explained how she wouldn't be living in Canterlot again- too many bad memories and she just wasn't ready to face her former friends and mentor again - and would instead be continuing to live with the beavers. They'd become like family to her... well THAT and she still needed her sessions with Stump. Although Disappointed, her parents understood she needed to do what was best for HER and vowed to support her all the way. Thus both halves of her now extended family would endeavor to get to know each other for Twilight's sake... ... WOO-HOO! Shouted Twilight Velvet and Mrs. Beaver as they went over the waterfall in just a barrel... ... Which actually wasn't that difficult, but I digress... ... ANYWAY, Twilight would also go visit Dipper and Wendy at the shack- she tried to also visit Pacifica, but her dad had her locked up tight after the kidnapping -Both Daggett and Norbert would come with her as they enjoy the shack's stuff, while Twilight enjoys figuring out how the strange objects worked. The REAL stuff mind you- Not the stuff made up by Stan, like the hampire which is just a piece of ham with fake vampire fangs on it... It also gave her a chance to pursue... 'other' subjects matters she'd become interested in... ... Dipper whimpered in pain, as he was once more forced to torture himself. Everyone laughed at his teeny weeny...but few people got the unfortunate implications of such a 'defect'. Not only was he forced pee to standing up and lean forward and at a 45 degree angle whenever he used the toilet...BU IT HURT LIKE CRAP! Seriously, forcing out all that urine out of such a tiny hole? IT BURNT! There were times that Dipper had literally popped a blood vessel and peed blood from the effort! It was HELL... He was so busy sobbing...he never noticed he had an AUDIENCE... 'Day 10 of my observations of obstacles faced with one who has minuscule human MALE genitalia...' Thinks Twilight to herself as she secretly recorded and wrote down everything...her scientific desires eager to learn more with an almost morbid fascination... The fact her new friend and his 'tic-tac' was 'cute' when nude was just a bonus! OH! And she would of course use this research to help ease his pain! That...that was the priority... obviously...(nervous cough)... ... Much to her surprise, Sunset personally came over to see her after hearing about her return. They talked and bounded over being hurt by those they loved...well, mostly Celestia, really. After making sure she was being taken care of, Sunset also made sure that Celestia doesn't have any say in anything in regards to Twilight by placing a restraining order on her. When Celestia confronted Sunset about this, Sunset replied that she had her chance to do right by her and blew it...AGAIN. Twilight has the help she needs now and even made some REAL friends while doing so...And quite frankly they didn't trust Celestia to not ruin it all with her 'help'. They didn't want or need her help and she could either accept that or get lost... Not too long after that, there was ANOTHER issue in regard to her former friends. Having learned of her return, They all wanted to talk with Twilight and rebuild their friendship/ herd... Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie were the first to show up... but they were turned all away by Daggett and Norbert. When they tried to persist, they were berated by Stump who- YET again -explained why they ruined their friendship with Twilight and why they had no one to blame for that but themselves. Which sent them away in tears... Then came Applejack and Rainbow Dash who were more forceful. They flat out threatened to smash the dam to bits if they weren't let in to see Twilight. When Stump stood in their way the two laughed him off... After waiting patiently for Stump to give them a thrashing, Daggett and Norbert called the police on them... That got them in trouble with Sunset, she was so furious she had Rainbow kicked out of the Wonderbolts. In addition to that, she's going to make them do community service. Rainbow's now forced to work as a show pony, entertaining the children in the section of the casino meant for them while their parents enjoyed themselves. Applejack on the other hand was already having problems with her farm and her being arrested just made things worse. But unlike Rainbow, this actually lead to some good news. For her arrest allowed Applebloom the opportunity she needed to make her move to save her family's farm... ... "Dang it Applejack! This was the last thing we needed right now!" Shouted Granny Smith irritably to an incarcerated Applejack. "But Granny it was Twilight! I have to fix things with her!" Big Mac just hung his head silently in shame...thinking desperately on how things had gone so wrong for his family... "Look I admit the bail might set us back a bit, but we still got a couple of weeks left before they foreclose on our farm- "No we don't! Thanks to your arrest, they're foreclosing tonight!" Applejack looks like she'd been physically slapped as she gaped at her elder... "WHAT?! THEY CAN'T DO THAT!" "Apparently they can! Something about a...morality clause? Force...Majeure something or other?" She sighs and shakes her head, "There was a lot of legal jargon I didn't get...BOTTOM LINE: Your getting arrested was all the justification the bank needed to speed up the foreclosure to tonight...in other words...WERE SCREWED!" Applejack's heart raced, she began to feel faint as her world seemed to literally crumbled around her. "No...that's...that ain't right! That ain't right at all! Quick! Pay my bail! Maybe I can- "Do what?! Even if we had the money to pay your bail- WHICH WE DON'T! -we've already tried everything! And no lawyer will help us since- again -WE HAVE NO MONEY! But more importantly, they know Princess Sunset wants this to happen! No one we could afford is crazy enough to go against that spitfire!" "Speak of the devil and she'll appear." Said a smug voice behind them. They turned around to see a smug looking Sunset, Applebloom...and ed boys?(1)" Applejack glared, "What are yah'll doing here?! You- ZAP! "Nope, for once your going to shut up and listen." Said Sunset as she activated the 'muzzle' spell inscribed in the jail cell. While Applejack frantically tried to get her mouth to work again, Sunset turned back to the rest of the Apple clan. "Right I'm just going to be blunt about this: in several hours I'll be legally allowed to take your farm and evict you. I know for a fact you don't have enough money to pay for bail forget about the farm! Your only hope is Applebloom here." She points to the smirking Applebloom. "Applebloom?" Asked Big Mac, talking for the first time since he came into the room. "Yes, Applebloom has organized the Ed's and various other parties to approached me with a plan on how to turn your farm's fortune's around...and I liked it." Confessed Sunset with a shrug. "Really?" Asked Granny Smith, echoing the shock of the rest of the Apple clan. "Yep, her plan is perfect for not only making your farm profitable again but to make MORE then enough money to justify me giving you a loan to cover your debts and most of your business expenses." "So...the farm is saved?" Asked Big Mac as he looked toward Applebloom amazed...only to feel a deep sting in his heart when she refused to look him in the eye... Sunset nods, "Yep- she then slams a contract on a nearby desk -provided you immediately sign over all rights and ownership immediately to Applebloom here..." She says flatly. "WHAT?!" Exclaimed Granny while Applejack was stopped from doing likewise. "Yeah, move over ponies! Were large and in charge!" Bragged Eddy.(1) "If apple's keep a doctor away, can a carrot keep away a gynocologist?" Asked Ed as everyone looked at him baffled. "Uh...I'm TERRIBLY sorry about all this, but I promise we WILL save your farm." Bows an apologetic Edd. Sunset rolls her eyes at Edd's remark but nevertheless pushes the contract forward on the desk toward them..."Yes, well, anyway, so if you could all just sign this we can be on our way." "B-b-ut she's just a little filly!" Exclaimed Granny in disbelief. "I know, which makes it all the more sad she has more common sense then most adults I know." Snarked Sunset with a shrug. Applejack- although unable to speak -was still able to make it very clear that she was refusing to sign ANYTHING. Granny Smith just looked conflicted, "I, That's, your really, it's all, sweet mercy, your throwing so much at us here out of the blue! We need time to think about this- And that's when Sunset decided she had enough, some people might think of her as a bitch now. But she preferred to think of it as 'tough love'. Sometimes the thing a person needs the most...is a good kick in the plot. Someone doing that to HER certainly would've made her early life more easier if nothing else... In any case... "Right, look, I'm a very busy woman. I have literally an entire KINGDOM to keep from falling apart. So let me be blunt: Neither Applejack nor you are illegible to make decisions here- "WHAT!?" -She's currently 'technically' a convict and it was easy for my lawyers to declare you mentally infirm 'enough'- EXCUSE ME?! -so only Big Mac actually needs to sign!" She gears up her now seemingly trademark 'reason you suck speech' as she turns around to lay into the big Stallion...Only for it die on her lips as what saw stopped her dead in her tracks. Big Mac had ALREADY signed the contract...and was holding it to an equally stunned Applebloom... "Big Mac?" Asked the youngest Apple in surprised disbelief. Big Mac sighed, "I'm sorry Applebloom. I may not have joined the rest of the family in shutting you out, but I didn't STOP it either. I rationalized that I just didn't want to get involved and escalate things...but the truth was I was just being a COWARD..." While everyone watched this little drama...the Ed's quietly made their way out of the room...for all their faults...they know that this was a PRIVATE moment... "I was scared of everything that was happening, being trapped in a new world, where nothing I thought was right worked anymore. I didn't know how to cope and it's painfully obvious everyone else in the family don't know what the hay they're doing either..." The stallion then gains a look of resolve, "But YOU DO. You've taken to this world like a duck to water, you've made friends who can help you but more importantly you can help us if we just LET you." Big Mac then hands the contract to the equally stunned Sunset before looking back at her little sister, "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. But I promise I will be now, if I can't take a leap of faith for my own kin...then who can I?" "...Big Mac..." Applebloom tears up as she reaches over to hug him... Having caught the tail end of it, the ed's can't help but 'Awwww' at the sight before leaving the room... "PSST! Hey, Sockhead! Level with me? Is it a good thing or bad thing we never used to get so 'real' back at our old world?" Whispered Eddy genuinely curious. Edd looked to say something...then looks baffled..."Uh...I'll have to get back to you on that..." He admits thoughtfully as they head down the hall... Sunset looks at all this...it was all so touching...such a happy reconciliation between estranged family members...she wondered if- a flash of a certain Alicorn went through her head -but she quickly shook it off. 'No! Don't even go there...that is completely different! She had her chance and blew it! I have my own life now...' She thinks to herself...she then notices Applejack angrily trying to speak...and smirks... 'Speaking of which...' She saunters over, "Oh, don't worry about the bail. In addition to everything else, that contract also immediately enrolled you in a new work release program I just cooked up...as long as you behave yourself, and OBEY your YOUNGER sibling...you'll have paid it off in a couple months or so..." Applejack groaned...but resigned herself...she didn't like it...but apparently she had no choice... but it was basically just working on the farm- more or less -so maybe it wouldn't be so bad? "Oh, and you'll also be working under your sisters new business partners, come on in boys!" Applejack went deathly pale, 'Oh, buck me.' She groaned... "Well hello new UNPAID INTERN", Said Flam with a laugh. His brother Flim smirked, "Oh, brother I think this is the start of something beautiful..." Leaving the Cowgirl to her fate, Sunset goes to her next appointment...the 'trial' of the parents of the remained of the CMC... ... One of the results of said 'trial' was that the CMC's parents would be spending more time with them...as would many other families... Hondo Flanks and Cookie Crumbles- Rarity and Sweetie Belle's parents -aren't able to travel as much as they like anymore, thanks to all the changes caused by the merge. Both of them are now working at the casinos and spending time with their kids now, instead of just having Rarity take care of her sister all of the time. Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood- Scootaloo's parents -on the other hand had to face charges of parental abandonment. Between them both world traveling adventurers who study exotic plants and creatures for the advancement of science and medicine, they barely spent any time with their daughter. The charges were only dropped after they talked with Sunset who gave them jobs at one of the resorts, nor are they allowed to just spend years away from home. Sunset made it clear that the only reason why they weren't being sent to jail was that they at least made sure Aunt Holiday and Auntie Lofty were looking after Scootaloo. But that doesn't change the fact that They needed to start thinking about their child rather then their own needs... Sunset brought up the case of a young Japanese man name Setani (2)as an example: he had been abandon by his parents after they left to take care of children in another country. After the merge the bank they had their savings in went belly up- Which happen a lot around the world after the merge happen, thanks to largely how many of the bank's in some worlds were just ran poorly - home they were running lost all of it's funding and was taken over by the government. They were then both sent home. Where they found that their son was now living with Mai- a student of a Santa Claus Academy in her world -and now works as a Santa for the Japan Santa branch. At first they were happy he found such a rewarding and altruistic career...but then were completely shocked when their son flat out told them he wanted nothing to do with them and would do nothing to help them. Leaving them to fend for themselves. At first people were sympathetic and demanded he have mercy...so Setani made an interview explaining how they cared more about other children then their own son. Never caring or treating him like they did the others. Heck, the only present they ever sent him was a picture of them happily playing with all the other kids. This caused many people to take Setani's side and his parents were soon forced to flee the country in shame, NEVER to return. And that was just a small piece of the clusterfuck Japan had become. This was due to so many neglectful or abusive parents enabling their children into doing dangerous things like fighting, drugs, using robots to shoot at each other, steal people's souls with cards, etc... This has lead to many parents being jailed and losing custody. (3) Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood weren't the only ponies in trouble because of how they raised their children. By pony standards it's apparently okay to leave their children in the care of others for years, spend a huge amount of time away from them, and even letting them live far away to make a living for themselves. Like the Earth pony Cheese Sandwich who was allowed to leave his hometown and live on the road as a young foal. Needless to say Sunset quickly fought to make laws that prevented things like that from happening again...or at least she's been TRYING to do that...but some 'people' were blocking her...and she had a suspicion or two about WHO and WHY... ... ARMACHAM EXECUTIVES CAUGHT IN SEX SCANDAL WITH UNDERAGE MINOR! GENEVIEVE ARISTIDE ARRESTED! ARMACHAM STOCK TANKS! NORTHWEST LAWSUIT PENDING! Pacifica sighs as she reads the headline... RING! She shudders in pain at the sound of the BELL...but not having a choice, she goes to her father to learn of her next 'social call'... ... Then Candance showed up, Twilight was so happy to see her! Both of them were overjoyed to be reunited- ... "Sunshine sunshine, ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves and do a little shake!" Twilight joyfully reunited with her old foalsitter as they did their standard friendship 'dance'... Completely Oblivious the affect it was having on all the MALES in the nearby vicinity... 'Stupid Sexy Twilight.' Thinks a flustered Dipper to himself as he tries to ignore his new best friends sexy, naked, purple plot shaking round in the air not too far away from his face... The alicorn of LOVE...suddenly smirked evilly... "Hey, Twilight. I have NEW version of the dance, want to try it out?" She asked with a very smug, amused look... A still obvious Twilight happily agreed, despite the tortured- yet aroused - expression of her current best friend... Poor Dipper's ensuing boner was so erratic, he was worried he'd have to put it in a sling... ... Candace thank the beavers, and Stump for being there for her when she ran off. She also thank Dipper and Wendy for helping Twilight to stop hiding from her past and face it instead. Shining Armor wanted to see Twilight too, but Candance forbids it along with his parents. Their relationship has been on the rocks since she was released from the catacombs and learned how poorly he'd treated Twilight. The fact that Shining had also slept with Chrysalis while disguised as her did NOT help matters... Honestly, if it weren't for the fact that- among other things -he'd been influenced by magic, she'd have left him for good... Nevertheless, those kinds of things were hard to forgive even in the best of circumstances- which thanks to the PTSD Candance had gotten from the whole experience, it most certainly was NOT -Thus they'd called off the wedding and were currently in the middle of relationship counseling(among other things). Then there was Spike... He'd been a mess since Twilight ran away. Without Twilight- the closest thing he'd ever had to a mom - to give him self worth, Spike had fallen into a deep depression. Celestia had TRIED taking care of him, but like many others Spike had blamed her for what happened and wasn't having any of it! So Sunset stepped in and sent him to a psychiatrist to help him with his issues. She also got him a job at one of the resorts which is run by dragons from many different worlds... So when he heard that Twilight was back, he was proud to say he FLEW after her... ... CRASH! When a large purple and green blur swooped in from the sky and tackled her, Twilight naturally panicked and screamed for help. But her yelps paused when she felt something wet on her face...was that tears? "TWILIGHT! I'M SO SORRY!", The blur sobbed... Twilight's eye's widened... "Spike?" She exclaimed in disbelief. Spike was now twice her size, wings and was BUFF?! ...he was also wearing a rather filthy looking loincloth? "Spike?!" She exclaimed again as she jumped out of his grasp. "HOW, WHO, WHAT!?" She exclaimed bewildered. Spike chuckled, "Yeah...I...among other things, I had a 'growth spurt'...it's kinda complicated..." "Well tell me all bout it! I..I missed you." Said Twilight sincerely to her adopted son, but then she frowns. "But first get ride of that ratty thing, it's VERY distracting." She said as she quickly reached over to rip off the loincloth- "Wait, don't- RIP! Twilight went green, "So...when you said you had a GROWTH SPURT..." She practically gagged at the sight of her son's now exposed GIANT cock as a now mortified Spike frantically tried to cover it ... So as it turns out, Spike had genitals the whole time...they were just too malnourished and tiny for anyone to SEE(without a microscope)...he never said anything as he'd been too embarrassed- I mean, who wouldn't be? This -among other reasons -was why that one of the first things the other dragons did for him was to immediately send him to a hospital to be checked out! As they were quick to point out: his stunted, diminutive size was not healthy for a dragon his age. The fact he hadn't already grown wings YEARS ago was especially concerning! Turns out Spike was malnourished due to the pony/herbivore style diet that he'd been forced to eat since birth. While eating Gems were important too- and probably the reason why he hadn't starved or lost his fire/magic years ago -it was MEAT that a growing carnivore needed the majority of to grow big, strong and healthy. So he was forced to undergo numerous physical therapies, diet regiment and other health projects to reverse his various 'defects'. Once she got over her disgust and embarrassment, Twilight felt horrible for how she's inadvertently ruined Spike's health and apologized profusely... Spike forgave her... after all it wasn't her fault no ponies knew how to take care of dragons... if anything this made how well she HAD raised him- since filly school no less! -all the more impressive! Spike would then also tearfully apologized for not standing with her during the wedding. "Everyone was yelling...it was confusing...then everyone just decided you were in the wrong...and you didn't seem to disagree...so I just went along with them?" HE groaned in resigned defeat, "I'm sorry Twilight, I don't know what I was thinking..." Twilight forgave Spike seeing how he's still just a child(well, mentally anyway...), but sadly he couldn't be her assistant anymore. Her sessions with Stump had really helped her explore the relationships in her life with greater clarity... "I'm sorry Spike, but apparently there is such a thing as 'loving someone too much', while I won't cut you out of my life completely...what we had wasn't healthy!For your own good, you need to have your OWN life, SEPARATE from me..." If they'd been paying attention...they'd notice the world around them briefly...'s̴̼̅h̵̜͗i̵̯̚f̵̛̤t̶̮̽'...? ... .̵̡̝̭̞̮̖̖̪̤͙̟̫̈̇̊̄̂͋͒͛̎̆̇́̚ͅ.̵̣͈̪̳͋́́͗̈́̂̐͌̐̈́̄̏̔̿̈́̾͒̒͘͘͝͝ͅ.̶̰͈̜̪̪͎̼̀̈́̀̽́̌͌̈́̒͆̊̓͊̐͑̕͝w̸̧̡̡̞̭̩͙͙̼̱̺̟͈̹͇͓̘͇̥̹̥͇͋ĥ̸͓͙̜̬͎̹̲̞̥̗͙̰̤̖̰̫̙̺̬͉͗͝͝ͅȁ̵̡̢̫̝͚̘͎̼̲̬͍̖̺̺̘̥̯͙̣͕͎͊́̈́̇͆̂̑̅̇̕͝ẗ̸̢̩͚͇͕̥̬͔͙̟̱͈̳̮̬́̈́̓̓̈̌͛͠ ̴̖̻̠̯̭̙̮͎̩̰͎̯͇̞͒̎̆̒̋̎͒̉̍̓̓̀̕͜͝͝ͅt̶̳̮̳͎̹͓͖̫̯͕͇͔̠̓̊̈́̏͆̑̈́̎͝͝ḧ̷̭̥̮̤̩̫̺͓̻̯͖̪̼̀͌̆͐̀͂̅e̸̛̞̬͈̲͚̞̎̽̈̓͋̉́̏̔́̽͜ͅ?̴͇͊̈́́͂̓͐̿͋̒̈́̔́̕͝͠.̴̬͈̖̱̹̙͙͛̄͛͆̓́͆́̓͊̈́͊͐͋̍̐͌̽͜͝͠.̵̛̳̞̯̗͔̻̘̱̬̞̮͆̑̌͛͒̌͛̂́͆́͠͝͝.̸̡̩̪͉̺̹̩̜͈͕̜͈̊̿̊̓́̔̎̒́̃͋͆͒̔̎͛͝͠ͅ ... Mable and Dipper nearly feel to the floor as both felt a stabbing pain in their hearts... ... .̵̡̮̦͍͚̤͓̭͕̙̳̗͍̗̻̌̂͒̑͜͝.̷̧̢̛̻͎̠̦͖͚̱̥̳̟͈̲̲̜̟͚̩̤̝̋͛͂͛̅̇̎̇̂͊͒̈́̈́̈́̚͜.̴̢͖̣̖͙̘͙̠̩͎͇̫̞͈͙̰̳͑̓̉ȋ̵̭̠͎̞̩̙͔͈̮̰͔̗͓̻̟͉̫̜̯͐̆̋͊͊͗̎̑̈́̋̃̉̒́̈́̕͘͜͝t̸̡͙̱̲̲̃͜͜͝ ̷̦͒͛̒͑b̸̧͚͈͙͕̘͔̱̩̦̠̘͉̞̱̰̳͉͒̃̕̚͜ē̸̺̟̱̗̳̰͗́̑͂̀͐̊g̷̡̡͚͎̺̩͍͙͈͎͈̭͇͓̳̘̲̝̻̭̓̉̍͜ͅï̸̢̢̙̞̭͖̲̫̟̘̯̥͜ͅn̸͔͍̆͌̊͋̄̎͌̃͗͑̔̈́̋͂͛̃̀̿͛̕̕s̷̨̜̬͇̥̫͕̯̮̝̜̃̈͆̾̈́̂̐̋̑͛̽͋̅̚͘.̷͕̐̒͛́̌̈́͆̂͗̾̓͂̂̍͐͠͝.̴̨̛̥̪̼̱̮̜̤̹̹̦̝̖̜̘̱̘͎̬̬͇͋̊̂̂̓̓͗͊̔̋̂̄͘͜͝.̸̪͔̳͓̣̤͈́ ... -Spike understood. He wasn't sure W̷̖̍H̶̹̄Y̵̻̿, but he understood and agreed with her completely... Q̵u̴i̷c̷k̶l̷y̷ ̶m̶o̶ving on, Twilight promptly asked the elephant in the room... "I'm sorry, I gotta ask...Why the loincloth?" Spike groaned, "All my other clothes were destroyed by 'accident'...I'm pretty sure Ember and Smolder are conspiring to get me to just go 'au natural'... Twilight smirked at the sound of the GIRL names, "Oh? Has some found their 'special SomePo- DRAGON'." She corrected quickly while still repressing the urge to 'squee'... Spike went very red as his surrogate mother was quick to demand details... ... The Butterfly party were currently at to partake in Star's father survival training in the woods: which means no shelter, food, or clothes...much to their embarrassment- HI-YAH! Screamed a naked Star as she karate chopped multiple dummies as she ran through an obstacle course... -Well to MARCO'S embarrassment in any case... "Uh...sir?" Marco asks as he awkwardly covering himself, slowly slinks shuffles forward while also trying to not stare at River's nudity. "Please, call me River! You've more then earned that my boy!" River said as he gives him a whack on the back for emphasis that almost knocks him over. while trying to ignore the pain in his spine, Marco began again. "Uh,okay...Anyway, so I was just wondering..." "Ah! Say no more my, boy! I know some people who can discretely hook you up with elixirs to make your tiny dong grow to at least average!" "WHAT?!" Screams a flustered Marco. "NO! That wasn't what I was going to ask! And- not that it's ANY of your business! -for the record I'm a GROWER, not a shower!" He defends indignantly. River gives him a once over, "OOOOOOOOOKAY, if you say so." Said River as he tried- and failed miserably -to keep the rampant skepticism from his voice. Marco's eye twitched as his thoughts raced furiously... 'Why am I even here, doing this? ...oh, right, I was worried about how Star's been acting recently...' He remembered in resignation... Steeling himself, he tries again... "Uh... I get your REALLY into survival training... but why have Star do the 'no clothes' bit? I mean... she's your DAUGHTER. Naked in PUBLIC... Around a bunch of equally naked GUYS...I mean, how are you okay with that?," Asked Marco bewildered. River gave out a sigh. "Honestly? I agree, I actually wanted to exempt her from the whole thing so she could take a much deserved relaxing VACATION. But Star insisted! Said she wanted to do more things with my dear Moonpie! ...which is weird, considering they've hardly spent any time together or talked together during this whole thing...," River explains as he trails off confused. "Come on Marco it's not that bad," Kelly sauntered up, her naked form thankfully covered by her hair. "Easy for you to say,"said Marco trying very hard not to look at her exposed flesh. "In addition to my parents being nude, I have...uh..." Marco trailed off nervously- BUMP! "Come on Marco, join in!," Star shouted as she grabs Marco while swinging by on a vine. GAH! A startled Marco exclaims at this sudden 'abduction', he instinctively uncovered himself and grabbed on to Star for dear life...exposing his 'tadpole tail' to all... Kelly just giggles as she said brushes her hair away revealing her naked body to Marco, which between this and Stars naked body pressing into him...was more then enough for Marco's 'little friend' to rise up and forever prove that he was neither a shower nor a grower much to the girls amusement... Having teased him enough, both girls gave him a break. Taking a resigned Marco by the hand they lead him through the rest of the survival course... Despite the initial awkwardness, Marco had a fun time together with Star and Kelly... Just swinging through the trees, dodging obstacles and working out in the buff...it was a nice change of pace... The only real blight was both Marco and Star being uncomfortable seeing each others family naked- especially when looking at Moon gave Marco a VERY mortifying boner- that left an annoyed Star having to fight against a knee-jerk urge to rip off said boner -Thankfully, the parents left to take River to the hospital after he ate a beehive... Now that they were alone...Marco braced himself to FINALLY confront Star... "Look Star, I'll reluctantly admit I'm having a great time... but what's been going on with you lately? Before this it was landmine testing, then bear-baiting, THEN blood hunting, then mosquito poison racing BEFORE THAT and SO ON!... you set up all these activities that you claim are for you and your mom to do together... yet you not only don't spend anytime with her at all during them, but you also invite as many other people as you can to be with INSTEAD of her," Marco pointed out. "He's right, it is weird," Janna said who is suddenly there lounging on a chair naked in the sun, next to an equally naked Tom(4). "GAH!" Marco gasp as he tries to look away from her body. Janna laughs as she gives him a pose. "Yeeaaah, I'm gonna have to side with Marco here. I'm all for keeping our friendship together, bonding closer, etc... but inviting your boyfriend AND Ex-boyfriend to a naked survivalist thing together? That's just weird Star," stated Tom flatly. "Yeah, especially when comparing their junk is like comparing a Spanish sesame seed with a demonic foot-long..." Teased Janna Marco bristled at that, but ignored it to get to his point. "Seriously Star, what's going on with you recently?" Marco asked concerned. Before Star can respond- CRASH! Marco quickly grabbed Star and pushed her out of the way before she got run over by a truck that just tore through the underbush. As it passed he saw an aged Mina was driving... Tom immediately went to his attack mode. He blasted the truck with fire. His fire forced Mina to race away, leaving as fast as she came. "What was that?" Kelly asked having just ran out of the restroom. "Mina's here," Marco said as he instinctively pulls Star bare body towards his to keep her safe- modesty be dammed! - while the others call the cops... ... In the forest hours later - Amanda wondered why she ever got involved with this nutjob. She was setting up a campfire to keep warm while eating the last of their food. They'd stolen it awhile back when they killed some guy's and took his debit/credit cards. With so much chaos still ongoing thanks to the effects of the merge, no one would've looked into a few more random corpses on the highway and they could've lived off those cards for months! But NO! Mina had to make a spectacle of the whole thing! It hadn't been enough to kill them, she had to SET THE FREAKING HIGHWAY ON FIRE! It wasn't long before the cards were voided and the police were back on their trail! Now they're down to bags of chips, some can foods, some sodas and several bottles of water. And because of Mina driving the truck through that 'nudist camp', she'd decided they needed to ditch their clothes to remain 'inconspicuous'...her pleas of that being an idiotic plan had been ignored when the lunatic of a battle axe had stripped her anyway! And thus a naked, shivering Amanda struggled with a can of beans as she regretted not taking her chances with the 'redshirt army'... Although forced to ditch the truck, a now equally naked Mina had managed to at least take the one crate she hadn't broken into yet. The rest had contained nothing but now defunct Pre-Merge magical stuff...and a rotting red herring? Amanda was considering how to sneak away and turn her in when Mina finally broke it open! "Finally!" Mina exclaimed triumphantly. "So what is it?" Amanda asked, despite the situation she couldn't help but be curious... "It's a sword," said Mina excited, it was so long since she'd had one! She felt like a real warrior again! "A sword? What is so special about...," Amanda asked as she turns around- only to abruptly stop! She watched dumbstruck as she saw Mina's body had become silver in color, like she was made out of metal! "What happen to you?" Mina looked startled, she hadn't been expecting this! And then...she heard the whispers...and just like that...all her anxieties and doubts just washed away... She could practically feel her body be refilled with new energy and purpose! "Something great! ... The sword is talking to me...with it I shall strike Star and her fellow monster smoochers down! Then they will be like us and our army will march across this miserable planet and sweep away all who've wronged us!," Mina cackled. SHE WAS BACK BABY! ... The next day at the shack - Dipper is reading an article about how the Roman gods were doing under Ceaser's leadership. Dipper notes that these Roman variants were seemingly more disciplined then their hedonistic, Greek counterparts. They also still have their powers unlike many other former gods thanks to being from- among other places - worlds like Juniper Lee's and the 'Gods of Manhattan'. They're now either work with the local government in the city of Rome or are celebrities. Apollo- for example -is now a music star. There are also now many other lesser known gods. Like Cloacina the Roman goddess of the sewers who works with the sewer workers of the city. She is surprisingly now one of the most powerful gods, as unlike the gods like Zeus who is known but no one really prays to him anymore. (5) There are also many 'new' gods thanks to the mixing of the magics/reality structures of places like the aforementioned 'Gods of Manhattan' world. Like Marcus Gauius Apicius: God of 'Roman cuisine so great you'll invent doggie bags just to enjoy more', Peregrinus: God of Graffiti, Maximinus Thrax, Gordian I, Gordian II, Pupienus, Balbinus and Gordian III: the six Co-Gods of unlucky leaders, Caracalla: God of Roman baths and Alea god of Tabula. (6) While Dipper wonders how the reality structures/magicks of both those worlds and his would intermingle with each other(7), he begins to move on to another article about how XJ9 foiled yet another rouge A.I. attack which seemed to be- among other things -using the fantastic machines of the Horizon Zero Dawn world that had spread around the world since the merge. With the machines animals running wild and causing all computers to go haywire, This was causing many cities across the world to be damaged despite their best efforts to thwart them. In the aftermath of the attacks, a company called Anderson's Robotics is offering to rebuild the affected cities for free, they are also now approaching Mr. House for a potential partnership for the restoration project...an possibly a potential merger between the two corporate entities? 'Hmmm... Mr. House already has the household robots market cornered...but combing them with Anderson's paratech capabilities seems to be a sound move in these crazy times...', muses Dipper to himself. "Hey Dipper, I think I finally figured out this copier," Twilight's voice suddenly called out to him, interrupting his thoughts. He then puts the paper aside and goes back to working on the clone-copier with Twilight. After one of his 'flashes' he'd learned of the copier in the Shack that bring copies to life. He purposely brought a copy of his hand to life before destroying it with water to test it He then called in Twilight to help him figure out how it works. He even showed her the journal which had a drawing of a crystal bulb that can make shadow copies of anything it's shined on, but only as long as the light is making a shadow. Whether this was meant to be a prototype of the copier or just a similar invention, they had yet to decide... When Twilight asked how Dipper knew about this, Dipper finally told Twilight about the flashes he gets now and then of things that were going to happen, which- among other things -had helped him find the journal in the first place. He then revealed to her that he'd been starting to have flashes of him using the copier to make clones of himself so that he could keep Wendy and Robbie apart during the upcoming party at the shack. Twilight- trying VERY hard to hide her arousal at the sight of Dipper VERY respectable list - points out that the visions- as he sees it - probably won't happen as Wendy is not only still not talking to Robbie after he left her to die, but more importantly the relationship he has with Wendy's seems far stronger in this version of reality. Thus she theorizes that he might be seeing an alternate timeline which has become more unlikely thanks to both the Merger and all the 'changes' Dipper has made thanks to said flashes. In the copier room, Twilight was examining the copier. She has found that there are tons more gears in it than it should be physically possible for a machine of it's size to have, the bulb is made out of some kind of crystal and some kind of red liquid inside of a glass container that the light of the crystal bulb is focused through. Which somehow cause anything that the copier scans of a living being is brought to life but in paper form. "What did you find out?" Dipper ask. "Well it seems that the Author Went and used several magical items to make this copier. Which- and this is just a guess mind you -he used to study COPIES of dangerous creatures." "Hmm...maybe we could test it on me then? Even if Robbie is no longer a factor, I'd still like to give Wendy a great night. I've even remade the list to include both Wendy activities and experiments you and I can preform on the clones," Dipper said as he proudly whipped out his brand new list. "No, that's a bad idea," Said Twilight while she both had a 'Smartypants incident' flashback AND wiped away the bloody nose she was getting from the perverse thoughts she was having toward his list...and HIM. "Dipper take it from me, living life by a list will get you nothing but trouble. But more importantly: They might be clones but they're still you. Killing a clone would basically you murdering another sapient being." Said Twilight assertively as she regained her composure...which she immediately lost again as she was once more assaulted with a vision...not of a flashback...but a flashFORWARD. Dipper- deep in thought over what Twilight just said -didn't notice as he continued on,"Yeah, I guess, You're right. Bringing to life a SAPIENT clone that can be easily killed with water would just be cruel. Reminds me of those 'quick clones' that the MIB used to use...how horrible must it have been for them...to know that once there time was up they just ended up melting..." Dipper shuddered just thinking about it. "It was probably only how their reality functioned that allowed them to do that without ethic dilemmas or the clones going insane from existential dread..." He mused out loud, he then FINALLY noticed Twilight looking dazzled as images of 'memories' regarding a weird pond and an army Pinkie's staring at a wall with drying paint dance across her vision. "Twilight?" Dipper asked concerned as he went over to help her. Twilight was dazed, but she got through it with Dipper's help,"I... think... I think I just had my own flash forward. I was zapping clones of... Pinkie? Yeah, that's it! And not caring about their lives as long as the real one was found," Twilight said shaking her head to get her thoughts in order. "Huh... Do you think it's like mine? A future where there was no Merge?," Dipper asked inquisitively. "Maybe... but will theorize more on that later. Right now we should focus on making sure that this clone machine is disabled so there won't be any accidental cloning, Just to be safe," said Twilight grimly. Despite what she was saying, she was clearly still shaken over what she'd just witnessed 'herself' do. "Hey, I just got a text. You guys have a machine that clones people? How?" Asked Mable as she walks in. Dipper frowned in confusion, "Yes and you just need to put someone inside the copier. But what do you mean text- BUMP! Mable quickly grabs Dipper and flings him on to the copier before anyone can stop her. "Yes! Conga line with nothing but Dippers! I just need a naked leprechaun fighting a goat over a tin can and my dream will finally come true!" Shouts Mable excited! The copier spat out a Dipper clone, he looked at himself in horror. "There! now there are two Dippers! LET'S GO FOR A DOZEN MORE!." CRACK! Twilight had finally recovered and promptly kicked her in the cootchie before she could do anymore damage. "Do you have any idea what you just did?" Screamed Twilight and ORIGINAL Dipper while CLONE Dipper just looked at himself in both confusion...which quickly began to turn to HORROR. "What? I made another bro-bro to do stuff with me?" Mable gasped, still clutching herself in pain. "AND WHAT ABOUT THE FACT I DIE WHEN I GET WET?" clone Dipper suddenly shouted, the full implications of his mortality' hitting him like a sledgehammer. "Wait... die?" Mable asked confused. "Dang it Mable, I was just about to explain that to you! Why do you never listen!?" Demanded Dipper exasperated. "Nevermind that, even if that wasn't a factor. Just cloning a new life for your own selfish desires is just immoral! What were you thinking?! Again, Mable just looked at them at all baffled, "That I liked my brother...and wanted another? Someone to do a neverending clone conga line with? Because it sounded fun?" She offered...still not really getting what the problem was...they were both smart, couldn't they just fix the water issue? She thinks, not getting how difficult that would be to accomplish BEFORE he got wet and died. The ethical issues likewise completely went over her head... "You always do this! You never listen to anyone unless it's what you want to hear!" Accused the furious Dipper clone, "You are completely selfless! You never cares about what happens to others as long as it benefits you! ," he growls. "You- SPLAT! Mable- again, not really taking the situation seriously -sprays him with a can of silly string to calm him down. She just smirks, "Easy there clone bro, I'm still your- ack!" Mable cried out as the now very infuriated Dipper clone punched her in her face! Mable clutched her bruised cheek as she stared at clone Dipper in stunned disbelief. "I'm not your brother and I don't have to put up with you frak anymore!" the clone Dipper screamed as he grabs a nearby tool and swung at Mable while she ran away in terror. ...Earlier In The Shack... The party is in full swing as the kids were- as long as you ignored their irritation over the exorbitant entry fee and the unfairness of the 'exit' fee- having a great time Thanks to the campers from Camp Lakebottom, camp counselors, Sunset and her sisters showing up the party was packed. This would Cause even more people to show up once the social networks lit up, Stan was outside making sure that no latecomers crashed the party... without paying the 'party crasher' fee FIRST that is... "This is it guys, this is the big leagues," Eddy said as he, Edd and Ed walk up the road to the Mystery Shack. "Oh, goody! This'll be fun!" Ed yelled out excited. "Indeed, it's Almost a shame we're going to be working," Edd pointed out. "So what? We'll be rubbing elbows with the big boys now! REAL kids, not the same old crowd of the cul-de-sac. A REAL social group, not those old has-beans," Eddy said. "Hey we're right here," said Kevin indignantly as he and the other kids had tagged along to join the party...although unlike the Ed's, they had to pay to get in. "Just be glad we're letting you tag along Shovel-chin," Eddy grumbles back. Since the merge, things in Peach Creek had greatly changed from what was 'normal' to them. For one thing: all the new kids that filled the school and surrounding neighborhoods,... this on itself was a HUGE adjustment for the kids who couldn't remember the last time they actually interacted with other kids besides themselves before...heck, it had been almost as if no other kids EXISTED in their world sometimes. And that went DOUBLE for the adults who they were suddenly able to see, aren't out of view and were actually getting involved in their lives and ASSERTING their authority as adults. Something that was- more or less -practically unheard of back in their old world...well, in a MEANINGFUL way at least... And as a result most of the Cul-De-Sac kids were having some trouble adjusting... Kevin wasn't seen as the cool kid anymore thanks With how much like a jerk he acts. How he keeps calling everyone who he doesn't like dork was ESPECIALLY irritating. Not to mention that he's no longer the 'tough one' at school as older and bigger kids quickly took that spot, so all his threats now fell flat. Soon, no one outside of their little group wanted to have anything to do with him. Then there's Sarah who quickly learned that acting like a spoiled brat was now no longer something that people just put up with. It soon caused her to be the most disliked kid in school. Well That, plus her going around destroying things in a fit of rage. Which was unfortunate for her, as she can no longer beat up much bigger and older kids like she did back on her old world. The last time she got in a fight with older kids she got beaten up badly...not just because of her opponent being bigger and stronger but because she tried to lift something bigger and heavier then her, which- unlike back in her old world -now caused her to pull her muscles off her bones. She ran to her mom to get her to 'make the problem go away' like always...but due to her lack of experience with ANYTHING to do with her children...or a world were bad parenting had ACTUAL consequences...That accomplished nothing but leading to her being arrested for her blatant favoritism of Sarah and borderline abuse/neglect of Ed. Jimmy quickly became known as the lamest crybaby of the school. But things got worse for him when he tried to frame the Ed's for the destruction of the school garden, hoping he could take the heat off Sarah- with her recent troubles, he could no longer play the victim and 'hide beneath her skirt' while she beat up all his problems for him - but to his shock, the school didn't just blindly believe that the Ed's did it. Worse, the school had installed cameras which caught Jimmy pouring weed killer into the planting soil. Needless to say Jimmy is not only in deep trouble with the teachers but is now the school pariah for ruining all their hard work. Nazz found herself no longer the school beauty. With plenty of other girls around, Nazz just became one of the crowd. She's just wasn't interesting enough to stand out on her own 'merits' anymore... Johnny- on the other hand -somehow became an internet star be posting videos of himself and Plank. People- for some reason -found his interacting with Plank very interesting. The money he makes from the ads on his videos made him one of the few kid at school who wasn't dependent on his parents to give him money. Seeing money signs the Ed's soon began making videos of their money making scams- as well as their hi-jinks -to their shock, they became a hit as well. Rolf, thanks to both his experience in trying to fit in with an 'alien'- from his perspective at least -culture and his urban ranger leadership skills had become a bit of community leader. Helping fellow displaced people from other worlds find there place in this crazy new 'world'. "AND STAY OUT!" "PLEASE! I Just need to talk to her!" Begged Tambry as the Mr. Handy's dragged her away... Stan shook his head at this sad sight, He left Soos and the eyebots in charge of keeping an eye on the party...then saw the Ed's. "Hey Eddy, you guys get your butts over here! ," he yelled as he waved them to the front of the line to get to work... Not too long after the Merge, Eddy tried to scam Mr. Pines. To his surprise, Mr. Pines was not only not fooled but turned the tables on Eddy. Much to his surprise, instead of calling his parents or the police... Stan was so amused by his con that he agreed to let it go on the condition that he his friends work at the shack as unpaid interns..., while also teaching Eddy to improve his conman skills! Eddy was already making a killing from his part in the Bingobezzlement racket! Now if they could just stop Ed from stealing the pugs from the traffickers... ... The party is in full swing with the kids enjoying themselves or helping themselves to the food and drinks being served by a Mr. Handy. Wendy is also making sure the party wouldn't get too wild. They're helped by Sunset's sisters who also came for the party. Seeing how all of them are essentially giant amazons, it was very easy for them to keep the younger kids in line. In one corner of the shack Sasha is talking over the phone. Explaining to a camper's parents how the 'people in Riley's head and/or emotions' were simply benevolent, semi-autonomous mental constructs that seemed to simply be a 'quirk' of their former world. Milla suddenly pops up, throws his phone away, tells him to lighten up and forget about work for once. And makes him dance to the beat, at first he's startled but it's obvious that he quickly gets into it. The human Applejack and Applebloom were congratulating pony Applebloom on her recent success of saving her family farm. Pony Applebloom thanks them and then asks if they'd be interested in doing business with her farm. The humans then learned how pony Applejack is still sulking over how she had to take orders from her little sister and that her little sister is better at keeping the farm afloat then she was. Granny Smith and Big Mac- conversely -were thankfully not only okay with this but actually thriving under her supervision... Vinyl and Octavia were talking shop with their pony counterparts Vinyl and Octavia. They're discussed how Vampire Queen Marceline was going to hire some local musicians as back up band members for her shows. They talk of joining together to have a better chance at being hired and get their big break. Human Rarity is talking to Raz about the possibility of creating brand new uniforms for the Psychonauts. Raz fantasies about looking like the Psychonaut Death Trooper's from issue #24... before being shot down back to Earth by Lilly pointing out they don't have the money for that. Lilly politely thanks Rarity for the offer, but explains how they were currently focusing on getting their finances straight and simply couldn't afford to do anything that frivolous... Human Fluttershy was talking to Wendy about the habits and ecology of Deer Women. Pony Fluttershy- meanwhile -was with a bunch of Eco-friendly kids who are expressing their concerns on how the pampered Equestrian animals weren't adapting well to a world where the ponies aren't in control of everything and they have to do things themselves without the ponies to take care of them. Like how a domesticated animal struggles adapting when released back into the wild. The ponies are having enough trouble in making a living in the new world they found themselves in, to bother taking care of the animals as well. Human Rainbow Dash was getting annoyed of people saying how sorry they were she got kicked off the Wonderbolts. Having confused her with PONY Rainbow Dash. Said pony wasn't at the party herself as she's too busy trying to find a new job. While on the dance floor... Slenderman is dancing?! "Do the Slender! Do the Slender! Do the Slender!" Slednerman shouted knocking everyone over. "Ugh, No thank you," said human Limestone, she like everyone else was dismissive of the box office flop and just ignored him... "I SAID DO IT!", He screamed suddenly, bowling her over in shock. Off to the side Sunset is talking with her fellow princess Melody the mermaid princess, along with Pacifica- who'd FINALLY snuck away from the mansion after her father celebrated the successful acquisition of Silver Shamrock thanks to her...'contribution'. "You haven't used Adam?" Pacifica asked Princess Melody, desperate to not think about how dirty she felt... "It's all still being tested so that what happen at Rapture won't happen again. I really don't know about anything about it," Melody admitted with a shrug. "When it hits the market there be a big demand on 'weight lose', 'Booze resistance and cigarette resistance Adam," Sunset pointed out. "But enough about that, how's your home coming along?" "Still being rebuilt, were being forced to rebuild it sector by sector due to other issues that keep popping up...," Melody explains. "I still can't believe that your old underwater kingdom was destroyed by that sponge and starfish," Pacifica said. "Don't remind me," Melody said with a groan. "At least there was a empty city for all of you to just moved in," Pacifica pointed out. "More importantly, thanks to your people, both those idiots will never hurt anyone ever again," Sunset said relieved. Nearby Rose and Trixie with PONY Trixie. "Oh, yeah, Jake's been having crazy problems with the whole 'clothes disappear when transformed' thing ever since the merge," Rose explained to Pony Trixie who'd just learned that Wendy kept spare clothes around in the forest because her clothes don't just reappear when she turns back to human. "Come on guys, stop telling that story!" an embarrassed Jake said as he walks up to the group. "Really? Why? It's not like there is anything to see. I've seen you plenty of times and I'm not gonna lie. You're smoother then a ken doll 'down there'," Trixie pointed out. "It's the same with other reptiles. It all goes inside of us. It's the reason why you don't see anything hanging under a male snake or lizard," Jake said with a red(er) face. "Tell that to Spike.", teased Pony Trixie. Indeed, different worlds had different rules in regards to such things, with the merge...some rules stayed the same, some rules went away and others changed drastically...there didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it...but so what else was new? While Jake indignantly sputtered denials...Pony Trixie got a devilish idea...she offers him a drink from her hat. Exhausted from this argument, he complies- POOF! And thanks to the Ed boys new line of prank products, he involuntarily turned into his dragon form. Thus destroying his clothes... "Aw, man! Come on!", Shouts Jake annoyed. The girls scold Trixie for that, but are amused themselves... BUMP! They're even more amused when Mable- being chased by 'Dipper' -knocks Jake over, causing him to temporarily revert back to human...sadly, that's all the time he needs to get exposed to the girls... "DAWM!", shouts several girls nearby impressed impressed. "I guess we know why your name is LONG..." Teased/complimented Trixie playfully to a blushing Jake's distress... The smiling stopped when they saw PONY Trixie LIVESTREAMING this from her hat somehow, then the angry shouts began... Nearby Harry was talking to Hermonie over a videophone. With all the anti-magic rallies and witch hunts that were happening in England after the ritualistic-infantcide, Hermonie parent's had moved to America. She's currently the only one of his old friends that he was still in contact with. "I know we cut off ties with Ron and his family when they STILL sided with Dumbeldore after everything, but this new Norsefire group...," Hermonie was suddenly interrupted when Danny laughs from nearby. Harry who is eager to change the subject, pounced on this much needed distraction. "What's so funny Danny?" Danny holds up his phone, streaming news coverage. "Valerie just fled Amity Park to get a ghost hunting job! She just sent me these hilarious pictures!" He holds up his phone "Get this, my old 'friend', Tucker thought to ride my coattails and try to run for mayor in my old town!" "Isn't he 14?," Hermonie asked incredulously. "HA! Well that had to be a short campaign," Harry stated with a chuckle. "That's the best part... it was!" Danny said smirking. "Him being my 'former friend' made him so popular that those idiots gave him the job on the spot!" Hermonie sputters at the idiocy of this while Harry laughs. "So what did he do?" Harry ask. "About as well as can be expected, that idiot sunk all of the cities few remaining resources and revenue to bring the city 'into the future'," Danny snarked with amusement. "So what? He made the city automated? Gave everyone the latest gadgets? Tossed out everything low tech or obsolete?" Hermonie asked confused. "All of the above! He ripped out the whole towns infrastructure and bankrupted the city giving everyone gadgets they didn't need/want/use/know how to use and trying to set down new infrastructure how he wanted and not consulting anyone how to assimilate it into the city properly. The city collapsed with an hour of the cities 'grand re-opening!," Danny explains showing a picture of a Tucker being tared, feathered and run out of town on a splintery rail by an angry crowd of naked girls like Paulina...and...Sam... Danny frowns...he found himself saddened to see Sam like this...he tried to remind himself why he broke things off with her... 'She only...cared...about...what...what...what my ghost powers...give her...' Danny frowned...suddenly...something about that seemed... off...like...something had put blinders on him before...but now he was seeing...he wanted to say...clearer? "Wait, why are they naked?" Harry asked suddenly. Danny quickly shakes these dour thoughts off as he easily got back to happier topics! "Tucker made all the girls in town wear 'anime style' clothes so naturally they crumbled like paper within the hour!," Danny elaborates with a snicker. (8) Hermione face on the videophone showed how annoyed she was with the information. "For crying out loud! Where was the governor during all this? Tucker should never have been allowed to be mayor in the first place!" Danny merely shrug. "He had bigger things to worry about what with the merge fraking up everything, by the time he found out what was happening, the town was already ruined. And he more or less washed his hands of them. They're now just another 'Uselessville'." Danny showed a picture of townspeople and the still naked girls huddling around dumpster fires shivering, desperate for rags to cover their shame. There is also a picture of a crippled Dash working at one of the few local fast food shop's still open, along with his former flunky Kwan who is now his manager. Star was about to get another soda- CRASH! "Get back here!" clone Dipper shouted drawing attention away from the sword wielding mad woman. To Mable being chase by Dipper swinging a hammer at her. Who are followed by another Dipper and Twilight. BOOM! A nude, metal-like and blood covered Mina stepped out of a now flaming hole in the wall she dramatically slung her sword out, bloodlust and madness radiating from her "Sorry to crash the party Princess," Mina said smugly pointing the sword(9) at Star with menace... Who was- along with everyone else -completely ignoring her to watch the drama between clone and Mable... Mina blinked in bafflement... then growled, "Oh, come on! I spent hours practicing to get the whole flaming hole thing working! And I had a cool one-liner and everything!" Star looked over, "Wha? Mina? When did you get here?" Asked an oblivious Star confused, while everyone else just kept watching the Clone try to murder it's 'sister'... Mina's eye twitched, "Are you kidding me- I- You -wha- She pinched the bridge of her nose, but decided to just continue... "You may have everyone else on this dirt clog fooled but I KNOW BETTER!" Mina ranted, ignoring how the Dipper clone had thrown his hammer at Mable's legs to trip her and is now just strangling her... "You call me a monster? Well, what dose that make you? I only massacred a city! You massacred entire universes! Ledgerdomain! Undertale! World of Exalted! The Planeswalkers world! XANATH! Discworld! The Genie Realm! The Kingdom Heart verse! The realm of magic! Your Mother fracking spells! All dead because of you!" Mina continues on while Pacifica is reluctantly saving Mable. She calms down clone Dipper while a sobbing and gagging Mable runs for it... "And say what you will about me. At least I'm brave enough to tackle my enemies head on! Did you do that? NO! You ran like a coward, killed magic and destroyed countless lives just because you didn't want to destroy an already broken city! Good call dumb-dumb!" Mina raved as Pacifica is comforting and hugging a sobbing Tyrone, who then sobs harder in pain when the tears make his EYES MELT! "And at least I'm strong in MY convictions! You? Your a hypocrite! All this flak aimed at me... but it takes two to Tango, doesn't it? Can't help but notice no one talks about MOON's roll in that whole fiasco? Hmm? Where's her punishment? Where's her ostracization? Where's the demonization of HER belief systems and all she fought for?! Huh!? I never would've gotten all that armor without her help! Sebastian was good, but even he would've taken years to get that much! Never mind the short amount of time I had to work with! SHE convinced the citizens of her 'town' to be my army! She was the one who cast the Solaria's Mega-spell on them! And yet... you SAID NOTHING! YOU NEVER TOLD ANYONE ABOUT WHAT YOUR MOTHER DID YOU HYPOCRITICAL, COWARDLY, STUPID LITTLE BIT-" "Uh, excuse me? Star? Could you tell your Sentai cosplaying friend to keep it down? Tyrone's eye's are melting! I need to apply first aide!" Pacifica spoke up. She was so busy focusing on 'reluctantly' saving Mable and soothing the Dipper clone, she had completely blocked everything else out until Mina started yelling. "Tyrone?", the semi-blind clone now named Tyrone asked in curious wonder... "Well, I can't keep calling you 'that clone', can I? Tyrone just sounds better somehow, don't ask me why," Pacifica said shrugging. Tyrone smiles warmly at her. "STUPID BITCH! YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LONG I PREPARED THAT SPEECH!" Mina screamed as she throws the sword at Pacifica. Tyrone jumps in front of Pacifica, taking the sword into his chest and exploding to dust in a flash of light. "Tyrone!", Pacifica shouted horrified. "Alright, that's it!" Danny growls as he went ghost and fire beams of energy at Mina. Mina rolled out of the way and summon the sword back to her hand. Danny fired more energy blasts at Mina who block them with the sword. As that was happening the kids in the crowd moved as far as they could from the battle, with Sunset's sisters protecting the younger kids. No one noticed a little girl sneaking off in the commotion... "Watch out! She has a magic sword!," Jake shouted to Danny. "I know. Don't get hit by it," Danny said as he avoided Mina's sword swings at him. "Take her outside!" Wendy shouted. "Right away!", The Mr Handy chime in as it flew into Mina, slamming her through a window. "You have to do better then that!" Mina shouted getting back up and pointing the sword at Danny and Jake "Don't have to," Jake said pointing to the side. "I'm not falling for that," Mina said smugly. ZAP! A energy beam strikes the sword, breaking it in half! "What?" Mina ask looking to the side and her eyes widen seeing, XJ-8 firing a missile that slams into Mina and takes her skywards- BOOM! -erupting in a massive fireball. "Sword recovered," XJ-8 said while picking up the sword pieces. "What is it?" Jake ask. "This sword- once touch by an organic being it -transforms the holder into a metallic being. Any organic being they hit with it will disappear... we're STILL trying to figure out what happens tot he victims...," XJ-8 explains. "So what are you going to do with it?" Danny ask. "I'm going to throw them into the sun," XJ-8 replied simply, before flying into space to do just that. Inside the shack Sunset was cautiously leaning out of the window, having watched along with the others. "She got here faster then I thought," observed Sunset. "Wait, you called the giant robot?" Lincoln asked. "Of course I did, with how many things that have been happening it's a good idea to have more then one hero on the payroll," pointed out Sunset. "Heh... well... that happened... oh, well! All well that ends well, right?", exclaimed Mable enthusiastically. Eager to put this insanity behind them so she could go back to the party- CRASH! Unfortunately for her, Pacifica had different plans. Emphasized by her FISTS! "You bitch! You stupid Bitch! This is your fault! Tyrone died because of you!," Pacifica cried out as she tightens her grip around Mable's throat. Dipper- AGAIN -reluctantly saves Mable... But after watching the closest thing he ever had to a brother DIE in front of him.. he couldn't even look at her... Dipper realized that once again people suffered because she just wouldn't listen to him and ONLY thought of herself... like always... He realized he had a LOT to think about... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... So caught up was he in his thoughts, he didn't notice how the ground s̶h̶o̷o̷k̴e̵ beneath him... ... Meanwhile, Star also had a lot to think about after what Mina had said... "Did I really do the right thing? Or just the easy thing? I remember those Law and Order episodes where they go after big companies after finding their connection to smaller cases. Like the mother who was medicating her psychotic son with her own meds that she got from mail order via the company," Star said to herself. "It didn't matter her insurance company wouldn't pay for her sons expensive meds, it didn't matter that the school refused to assist with the boy, it didn't matter she was giving him pills that wouldn't treat his symptoms because the school demanded she give him 'something'. It didn't matter what the company was doing was totally legal," Star again said to herself. "The minute they have a big obvious target like big pharma, all of the actual guilty parties were moved aside to take on the 'big obvious target' that was as guilty as the blacksmith who made the sword rather than the guy wielding it," Star said to herself. (10) "Come on Star, what choice did you have? The only other option was Eclipsa's 'spell of destruction' and that would have destroyed Mewni!" Marco defended quickly. "Oh, so as long as my world's okay that makes fraking over a hundred other worlds fine and dandy!?" Star asked sarcastically. "Uh...," Marco began unsure. "well...that's not...you couldn't...it's just." Sunset- having been listening in with interest - rolls her eyes as she abruptly buts in. "Oh, for the love of- Okay, chicken Little clear the runway. I'LL be the bad guy here!" Said the self-made Princess as she pushes a startled Marco out of the way to give the reality check she wished someone had given to HER back when she scrapped and bowed for HER mother's 'love'. "Whoa, wait, what!?" Shouted Marco surprised at this interruption. "Look, let's just rip off the bandage here: did you REALLY forgive your mother after what she did?" "Hey come on, that's a bit personal," Marco interjected, but Star angrily interrupted. "Of course, I forgave Her! With magic gone-" "I'm sorry...but what did magic have ANYTHING to do with her betraying you?" Sunset asked point blank. And that was it...with that one sentence...Star is left dumbstruck... and for the first time since the merge... she REALLY thinks it over... "Wow... Is that what I did? Destroy magic because it was just... EASIER to blame one big, easy target that I could get ride of... instead of facing the reality that so many of my people were horribly backward and racist?" Star bawled her hands into fists... "Or... the fact that my mom betrayed me and nearly destroyed all I helped build simply because she didn't trust Eclipsa." She started to shake, long repressed rage FINALLY allowed to bubble out. " No... because she didn't trust me? That she was willing to trust that psychopath MINA over her own Daughter!?" Star screamed out through the tears as she fell to her knees... "Pretty much," said Sunset flatly while Marco gaped at her in a 'what the heck' way. Sunset just shrugged at it, "Hey, you go fishing sometimes you get a boot." She snarked in defense. "I need to be alone...," Star said abruptly as she headed off, the cop too busy are talking with Stan to stop her leaving the crime scene. Marco glares at Sunset. "You know, you could've been a bit more gentle about that." Sunset again just shrugs. "Hey, pretending your happy and okay doesn't mean you ARE. She was clearly just pretending all was forgiven so they could be a family again. Heck, Maybe she even was able to convince HERSELF she was happy... but she WASN'T. Trust me, that kind of betrayal- Sunset pauses as she thinks of Celestia -There's no happy ending there." She says finally in resignation... ... -Back at Canterlot Castle - Star- EVENTUALLY went back to the castle... She enters the VIP area of the castle... There she found...HER with some bake goods on a table. "Oh, good to see you Star! I made more of your favorite," said Moon jovially...oblivious to Star's inner-turmoil... "Mom... we need to talk," Star said finally. Moon suddenly looks concerned as she now sees how somber Star is... "Mom... I'm not happy...Nothing would make me happier to say I WAS happy and I DID forgave you..." Star began to choke up, but SOMEHOW she kept herself going... "But I'm NOT and I DON'T." And just like that...the 'levee' broke... "I DON'T forgive you. ...I never did! I lied to you... and MYSELF!" On and on it went. Everything she'd bottled up: all her frustration, anger, HATRED, despair, guilt...was all gushing out now! "I watched a memory of what happened when you got sucked into the magic realm... Eclipsa was THIS close to getting through to Meteora and calming her down. But you ruined it! Yes, Eclipsa, shouldn't have done what she did. But your as much to blame for what happened as she was! But I'm not mad at that, How could you have known after all? For of the war, I get it." Star was shaking now, her eyes gushing tears as her mouth did likewise. "Star...," Moon tried to say something...anything...but she was so caught off guard from Star opening up to her...oh, who was she fooling? She just couldn't think of what to say...what COULD she say? "I could forgive you for that, I could also forgive you for not trusting Eclipsa, HECK I could even forgive you for not warning me about Mina being up to something at the castle! Yes, I found out about that. And honestly, I'm fine with that! You MORE then deserved a vacation from being responsible for everyone! I'd have been happy for you!..." Star paused once more...hesitating one more...if she stopped now...she could still... 'NO.' Thinks Star to herself as she dug her fingernails into her hands, drawing blood. 'Sunset was right...this isn't REAL happiness...I HAVE to do this...' So Before she could lose her nerve again...she went for the KILL... "But what you did... this isn't about not trusting Eclipsa... you... DIDN'T. TRUST. ME. I sacrificed so much to help Eclipsa's dream of equality become a reality, a dream you nearly destroyed! You nearly got so many of my friends killed. Strike that, a friend of mine DID die! QUIRKY GUY DIED! All because you trusted a bigoted whack job over your own flesh and blood! YOU TRUSTED 'CRAZY AS A LOON AND BLOODTHIRSTY AS A JACKAL MINA' OVER ME AND WE ALL NEARLY DIED BECAUSE OF IT!" Star takes numerous breaths to try calm herself. "Star calm down," Moon said in tears seeing how much she had messed up with Star. but Star wasn't having any of it, it was out there now and dammit if she wasn't going to deal with it! "I can relate with Sunset and her mom here! You both thought so little of us- your own DAUGHTERS -when it came to what YOU think is right. AND LOOK WHAT HAPPENED! Sunset gave up on Celestia- ON BEING A PONY -and joined her HUMAN family! But with me...Celestia can at least say Sunset was adopted...WHAT'S YOUR EXCUSE!? Do you have any idea what destroying the magic has done? How many LIVING creatures who were ONLY alive because of magic? All of the spells in the wand? Everyone who was eating, loving, praying, fighting, breathing, LIVING their lives before I wiped them all out! All the cultures that depended on magic to survive? What do you think happened to them when I destroyed the magic? The only reason why those who survived aren't in worse shape is because of the merge happened to bring us all together. AND EVEN THAT'S DEBATABLE! But above all else it means that I'm responsible for the deaths of countless LIVES! FOR A GENOCIDE! I'M A FREAKING THANOS MEME NOW!" Star glared at Moon...all love...all the care...all the happy memories...it was all gone...in her gaze...was nothing but HATE... "...You did this to me. I may have chosen this, I DO have to shoulder my fair share of the blame... but YOU forced me into a position where I literally had no choice but to either destroy magic or let our people SUFFER... You made me become the queen of genocide..." And like that...the fire of rage had died out as quickly as it had flared... "Mom... I can't be your daughter anymore... one day I might find it in my heart to forgive you... but not today... and not till you earn it," Said the former Princess as she again broke down while running from the room in tears. Moon is heartbroken and then she sees her husband having listened in. River just looks at her disappointed, he looks like he wants to say something... but stops himself...he just turns away...not even able to LOOK at her... "I'm going with our daughter...and for the record. I ALWAYS trusted her, I'm sorry you couldn't do the same," River said as he too leaves room also breaking down in tears. And Moon...just stood...there...she said nothing...she did nothing...what could she do...what could ANYONE do in such a situation...but fall to the ground, curl up and add to seemingly endless river of tears that flowed across the ground now... ... ...Elsewhere... Star is walking around the Canterlot garden in a melancholy manner during which the Ponytones were playing. Rarity didn't have much to celebrate these days, the Ponytones were one of the few joyful things she had left in her life... Sadly, such joy had to take a backseat as Star's somber presence prompted an equally somber Heartsong. With the tuneful pony's providing backup, Star found herself swept up into this melody as well... I've heard there was a secret chord That David played and it pleased the Lord She walks past a memorial stone commemorating all the KNOWN people who perished during the Merge But you don't really care for music, do ya? It was enchanted to update itself constantly...they had to demolish three blocks already to allow it to grow... Well it goes like this The fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, the major lift The baffled king composing Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Star goes past a support group for children that lost their 'imaginary' friends thanks to the merge... A boy named Calvin sobbed... Well, your faith was strong but you needed proof You saw her bathing on the roof Her beauty in the moonlight overthrew ya She tied you to the kitchen chair She broke your throne and she cut your hair And from your lips, she drew the Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah She walks past a bar where various reports TV's showed the ongoing wars, conflicts and turmoil tearing the world apart since the Merge... Well baby I've been here before I've seen this room and I've walked this floor I used to live alone before I knew ya And I've seen your flag on the marble arch And love is not a vict'ry march It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Star found a newspaper suddenly fly through the air and smack her in the face, she looked over it and sighed as it was about many children mourning the loss of Godzilla with a candlelight vigil over his corpse... Well, maybe there's a God above But all I've ever learned from love Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya And it's not a cry that you hear at night It's not somebody who's seen the light It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Star accidentally walked through a cobweb, crushing the spider... she then shed a tear as the smashed remains formed the impression of a top hat... Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Finally, having walked for so long...she finally sat down on a bench exhausted...and wept... Mmmm, Mmmm Mmmm, Mmmm To her surprise she finds a tissue box being levitated up to her, she looks up and sees Marco and many of her friends! "Marco told us what happened and we ran right over...", explained Juniper concerned. Star sighed, "Guys...I gotta asks...how are you still friends with me? After- "After what? You being forced to make a lose/lose decision after getting screwed over by all the adults in your life you THOUGHT you could trust?", snarked Jake. Star blinked, "What...what do you mean? "We mean you were basically forced into a situation were there was no good answer, were no matter what you did. Someone was going to get screwed over..." "But shouldn't I have been able to think of a better way- "NO! YOU COULDN'T! YOUR A FREAKING 14 YEAR OLD GIRL WHO WAS THROWN IN THE MIDDLE OF A FREAKING GENOCIDAL WAR! THE FACT YOU HANDLED IT HALF AS WELL AS YOU DID WAS FRANKLY A MIRACLE!" Marco panted as Star looked at her boyfriend stunned at his outburst...as was everyone else... "Whoa! Dang man! Where'd THAT come from?", Exclaimed Lincoln in both shock and respect... Marco sighed, "That's actually been broiling below the surface for months now...I just never let it out because Star SEEMED happy and I didn't want to open old wounds...", he confessed... Marco takes a moment to compose himself before turning back to his girlfriend. "Look Star...Maybe I'm not the best person to be talking to you about this. Maybe I AM biased. Maybe being your best friend, your boyfriend is making me shortsighted and clouding my view of some serious flaws of yours. These are all possibilities that I can't pretend MIGHT be an issue here. I freely admit to that- He takes a deep breath. -That being said...here's what I think." He pulls out his phone and begins to show her pictures of the various adults in her life. "If the MHC was less racist; Eclipsa would never have been imprisoned, nor would Globgor, Meteora never would've become Miss Heinous, and there'd be less problems with the monsters." "If Solaria had never gone on her insane genocidal crusade against monsters or at least NOT created that stupid spell to create Solarian warriors...again, things would be better with the monsters but more importantly there'd be no Mina! "Mina...do I really need to elaborate how many of our problems would've NOT happened if she'd just STOPPED being a crazy, racist, genocidal bitch... for FIVE seconds!?" "The Mewman people in general? If they'd just got over themselves, grew up, and stopped getting angry everytime someone tried to change things or told them something they didn't want to hear...AGAIN, so much problems averted! "Eclipsa...look, I like Eclipsa, I REALLY do. But let's be honest; without your help she wouldn't have felt motivated to do anything beyond help the monsters or free Globgor while she was in charge! I'm no politician, but the fact she needed to rely on a teenager to help her run the kingdom in any way dose NOT speak well of her capabilities as a ruler!" "All the other royals...they looked the other way from how poorly Mewni was treating monsters for centuries! For crying out loud, half of them qualify as monsters themselves!...but did they ever point that out? NO! It didn't affect them, they were given privileges because of their wealth...and apparently that was good enough for them!" Tom clenched in fury... but said nothing, he knew he had a lot to make up for his families 'looking the other way' for the sake of- (shudder) -POLITICS. Pony Head- by contrast -just looked bored as 'Earth Turd' continued... "Glossaryck...geez, where do I begin with him? Putting aside all the other crap he put us through...well, for an all-knowing entity, he really screwed us over here! He had to have known this would happen! That the Merge would happen! Yet he let it happen! Why? WHO KNOWS?! THE NUT JOB SAID NOTHING BUT 'GLOBGOR' FOR A MONTH JUST TO MESS WITH US! I SAY SCREW THAT LITTLE SMURF, HIS REASONS AND THE BOAT HE CAME IN ON!" Marco briefly considered saying something about Moon, but decided that would just be redundant at this point so he instead just headed right for the conclusion... Marco takes another deep breath, "Star...your an amazing, extraordinary, wonderful girl...who took on so much crap on her shoulders the past year or so...and was able to push far beyond what was expected of her...time and time again people underestimated you and time and time again you proved them wrong...but the fact is...you never should've had to deal with this crap at all! Your people acted like spoiled children, generations of politicians and most of your ancestors either couldn't be bothered to deal with the Mewni/monster situation or just made it WORSE. you were dealing with an avalanche of racism, xenophobia, negligence and the repeated failures of the ADULTS around you who should have known better! Star your a TEEN that was forced to fight a WAR that frankly should've been dealt with by ADULTS, years before you were even born!" Buff Frog steps up, "For what it's worth, I'll ALWAYS be grateful to you Star. You saved my family that day, no matter what else happens, you'll always be welcome in my household." Despite the situation, Star couldn't help but smile. "Thanks...don't get me wrong, I'm glad you and your beautiful babies are alive and well...but still, I can't just pretend all the other stuff isn't a thing, I mean just look at Raz! He could've been this Badass Psychonaut agent and I totally screwed that up!" "Whoa! Whoa! Hold on! Okay, technically that's true...but I don't hold that against you!", reassured Raz quickly. "Right, so obviously it's great you don't blame her for that...but might I ask why?", inquired Dib suddenly. "When it comes to being blamed for something you had no real control over- Raz pauses and looks thoughtfully forlorn -Well...let's just say I UNDERSTAND." "And I can guarantee most of the psychic community understands as well", interjected Lilly as she puts a hand of comfort on Raz. The fact that some psychics were mistreated because of their gifts being all too common was left unsaid... "How are you guys doing with getting the money to rebuild the Psychonauts?" Asked Juniper. Raz shrugged, "It's slow going...but I'm not worried. I'm used to having to work ridiculously hard to get something I want, so no harm done." Star frowned, "Okay, but still... "Enough with the pity party!", shouts Lilly suddenly. "Look, if it makes you feel better thanks to the merge, Raz and his dad had a heart-to-heart!" They quickly explained how it was learned his dad didn't hate him OR want him dead for being a psychic. He just wanted to make him stronger to face the world and his hate for 'psychics' was really just for the rival psychic family that cursed them with aquaphobia. It also turns out he and others in his family were secretly psychics as well... it was all a misunderstanding. And they thank Star for that. Taking cues from Lilly, everyone else began to tell Star how thankful they were for her and the Merge... "For what it's worth Star... I'm glad you did what you did. If not for you I'd still be stuck in that friendless hellhole of a world constantly saving stupid jerks from an even stupider jerk," Dib adds. "From what I've seen of other worlds... if not for what you did, I probably would've just forgiven my family for what they did and just let them keep treating me like garbage," Lincoln pointed out in agreement. "Rose is still with me, she found her real family and I'm no longer trapped in my 'destiny'," Jake said holding Rose's hand. "I'm no longer have to bare the weight of the world on my shoulders. Now I can just enjoy my life with my girlfriend without worrying about having to be the only one who does anything to protect the world," Korra said. "I'm way better off then I was before," Danny adds. "Me too," Dani adds. "I can leave Orchid bay and am free to let my friends in on my secret! Thank you Star!" Juniper said excited. Harry gave a smirk. "If I told you how much I was grateful for you... we'd be here all day..." "My sisters are free to be themselves!" XJ-9 said. "Star... you helped me get closure with my mom Celestia... I STILL can't say if that's good or bad thing yet and I'm still working through some things... but I'm definitely better for it... so thank you," said Sunset sincerely...Star nods in understanding... Mr Scotsman suddenly gives her a hug and swings her about excited. "Ah, las! Thank yah! Cause of you my family lives in a castle instead of a rinky-dink farm!" Everyone gives him a weird look. "What? I mean it! My family is happier now! That farm was a dump! We only stayed there because we were flat broke," Mr Scotsman explained flatly. "Thank you...," Star said crying. While they were all giving her a group hug...Sunset peeled Raz away to have a quick chat "I'm sorry Raz, I wish I could help get you and your friends get back on there feet, you've certainly proven your worth but..." Sunset trailed off sadly... "I know, I know... your purse strings are stretched too far as it is. It's cool. I earned all my Psychonaut merit badges in one day plus canoeing! Even if it takes me till I'm thirty, the Psychonauts will be restored!", Raz exclaimed brimming with confidence. Everyone smiles at him, it was hard not to love his enthusiasm and determination. Sunset smiles as well...but then fades, it was time for for more serious things... "Uh, Raz...did you look into what I asked? Raz sighed, the good mood now gone. "We checked...the guards who were SUPPOSED to be guarding the Van Mina stole were found dazed and confused...and had the same 'signs' Huntor did... This caught everyone's attention and Sunset decided now would be a good time to include them all in on this...they had all proven themselves in one way or another...and if her suspicions were correct... Sunset reveals about how she learned from Discord's card playing buddies about Slenderman who might be involved in causing the merge. How Star's actions SHOULD'VE only cause Mewni and Earth to merge. And also his 'scheme' might revolve around Gravity Falls. More importantly, it seemed like almost everyone above her who COULD stop him were dismissive of him as a threat... Once described, everyone gathered realizes they'd seen brief glimpses of him. Danny remembers the description of the guy who 'might' have given Dipper a vision of Wendy drowning was a dead ringer for him. Star remembers him from her nightmares. Korra remembers seeing something like him during her visit to the spirit world. Dib remembers seeing a picture of him in one of his books. More importantly, it seemed like almost everyone above her who COULD stop him were dismissive of him as a threat... A lot of 'normal' people didn't seem to take him seriously either...especially when he seemed to do nothing but do random crap like dancing at teen parties like an insane, homicidal weirdo... Needless to say, Dib was getting flashback of his world... They all can't make hide nor hair of it... but agree to keep a watch for him... ... -And then we'll hit those monster smoocher from behind like this; BWOOM! And then they'll all be 'Oh, no! An I'm like 'Take that!'" Exclaims Mina Loveberry- having somehow barely Survived the explosion -as she acts out her 'plan' through twigs and rocks... Amanda just sits on the Stump in the clearing...regretting all of his decisions... They had no food, she slept on rocks, she was naked and her master just grew more and more insane and...old? "And then I'm like Bam! Wham!" Shouts Mina...oblivious to her wrinkles...and her hair going White... Turns out it was only Solaria's magic that kept her alive so long...and now with it gone...she was quite literally on her last leg...even the metallic sheen had given up and crumbled off her awhile ago... "Huh, what was that?" Mina walks over to some bushes and pushes them aside. Down below they see just outside the forest they're in a children's Cornball game in progress...with children both Mewman, Monster and Human playing together happily! ...It turned Mina's insides with rage! "Hey you dumb kids! Stop that!" She shouts as she tries to run down the hill toward them...it was harder now for some reason... Amanda reluctantly followed... Mina's started to pant...her body felt weaker...exerting herself seemed to only make her more and more tired... "Dang kids...you...you can't have fun with monsters...that's...that's not the way things are supposed to be..." She's so tired...she starts to go on her hands and knees...her white her very long now... "That...that's the way...the way things have always been...if it's not broke...why fix...it...?" She's dragging herself now, her body having more wrinkles then leather now...and twice the liverspots... "Why...why you gotta change everything?...things were fine as they were...why...why...do I feel so alone...on my own world?" She says as she reaches out desperate... And with those final words...Mina Loveberry...last of the Solarian warriors...gave her last breath and died... Amanda just watched as Mina rapidly decomposed...even her clothes just seemed to rot away...her bones were all that was left...hand outreached toward the oblivious happy children as they continued to play. Clearly not knowing what just happened... And then the bones themselves rapidly crumbled...until the only evidence Mina had ever been there was her skull... crack Which was immediately crushed to dust by an equally oblivious monster girl... "Hey what are you doing her in the woods nude?! Come play with us! I can get you food and some spare clothes!", Shouts Katrina eagerly as she hands her a hot dog with 'I Heart Monster's' inscribed on the side... Amanda just blinks at it for a moment...then sighs and eagerly gobbles up the dog... 'Screw it, I'll just repress my prejudices and abuse people through telemarketing when I become a maladjusted, bitter adult like everyone else...' She thought to herself as she goes to get fed and dressed... Fortunately her lack of importance actually helped her here, as no one knew who she was or that she'd ever had ANYTHING to do with Mina...and Amanda wasn't about to correct them... Mina would continue to be an urban legend...a skip rope rhyme teenage girls used to scare each other at sleepovers...a cautionary tale against bigotry that parents told their children...but nothing else would come of it... And so...the last bits of Mina would just rot away to nothing...unloved...unmourned and unnoticed...and the world...the world would move on without missing a beat... ... Meanwhile... Doctor Von Reichter turned on the recording: "I am once more experimenting with the remnants of the being once called 'Maestro Forte'." He has several mechanical arms tinker with the wreckage...said wreckage seemingly couldn't decide whether it was supposed to be the wrecked remains of a pipe organ...or a broken human corpse...constantly shifting between the two... "He was one of many people who'd been cursed by a high level thaumaturgical user in a convoluted plot to 'redeem' a spoiled pre-merge aristocrat, to be turned into various household objects. In HIS case, a large Victorian style pipe organ...contrary to the other residents of the cursed estate, not only did he not want to be turned back to a human being but actively sabotaged all attempts to END the curse." The Doctor paused as he noted that- for whatever reason the pieces seemed to react more positively when BOLTED TO THE WALL! ...why did he embolden and/or enlarge that sentence? Dismissing that last thought as inconsequential, the Doctor moves on... "More importantly, unlike the other recipients of this enchantment he'd found a way to better utilize and even weaponize the magic that was animating him. Able to use his music telepathically manipulate objects, create vivid imagery and could even cause enough damage to collapse an entire castle... "In any case, His plans to thwart the curse being broken failed and he ended up destroyed as a result. Fearing what such a person would like AFTER being returned to human...they left his 'body' where it lie, sealed up the room and silently agreed to never speak of him again..." "Although like many pre-merge aristocrats, he ended up broke when the emerge occurred..due to him, his wife and his household being technically 'beloved Disney characters', many fans were quick to 'crowdfund' them back on their feet...they now open their castle as a bed and breakfast/tourist trap..." "Shockingly, similar to how the Disney version of the Greek gods kept their powers. The greater the crowdfunding the more the Beast and his staff found they could gain the magic back and can now shift forms back-and-forth. Which they use to great affect during tours, especially during the 'Be Our Guest' Dinner theaters..." "This has now lead to many to theorize that 'Disney magic', thanks to all the love and belief poured into it...may now be a REAL thing, as similar popular Disney characters have had similar 'enhancements'...this apparently dose NOT extend to worlds that were made during Disney's infamous 'woke phase', no doubt because said 'Disney magic' was no longer 'believed' in or 'loved'. The Doctor paused to sigh, how he LOATHED to talk of such things as love and belief as if they were 'scientific'...but for better or for worse, this was the world he lived in now...and if there was still one universal truth- something that not even the Merge could change -it was that during such calamitous times one either ADAPTED or DIED...having taken a moment to compose himself, he continued... "Regardless of my skepticism to such theories, I'm in no position to ignore a potential source of Merge-immune magic...so I sent some agents to scope around the castle and similar Disney 'sites' to investigate the validity of such fringe-science..." "And while there was some promising findings, it was nothing compared to what we found in the Maestros 'tomb'...even after the spell being lifted AND the merge...there was STILL magic in his broken remains! Although dead, they still fluctuate from human to pipe organ, back again and so on!" He brings up a monitor showing Po the Dragon warrior using the technique he once used to thwart lord Shen's cannons to now -with some tweaks - thwart BULLETS... "My initial theory was that this 'condition' revolved around the spell being set to return them to 'normal' after the Beast meet the conditions set by the enchantress...this of course opens the possibilities of various philosophical/technical loopholes...for many of my contemporaries would argue 'normal' can be rather subjective, especially these days. Indeed, it's become increasingly obvious that what reality, society or an individual considers 'normal' is as varied as the grains of sand on beach. So it's possible that all the 'energy' that was supposed to go toward returning him to human...instead helped him gain greater power in his current form." "But I soon found this theory to be lacking. For one thing it's highly dependent on the assumption that 'conservation of energy' was both a thing on that world AND it's magic. And I've found ample proof from any pre-merge world that that was not always a given. But even if I could confirm that, it still wouldn't explain his magic surviving his 'death', the spell being broken AND the Merge!" "Which, brings me to a new theory...while it's possible the above scenario might've given an initial boost...I believe that Forte's continuous abandoning of his humanity to accept his current state allowed him to adapt and refine his 'abilities' above and beyond the others of his 'kind'. In other words he pushed his limits and forced himself down a different thamaturgical branch of evolution...or to put it in layman terms: through his dedication, conviction, genius and misanthropic rejection of his former human limitations he'd managed to unintentionally attain ENLIGHTENED magic." "I could do a whole other recording debating on whether or not the enchantress was simply negligent to allow the possibility of such a complication in her already convoluted plan, whether it was part of some 'scheme' of hers, or if Forte's evolution simply bypassed such countermeasures(11)...but again, that's a discussion for another time." He again looks as his experiments slowly but shirly...rebuild the 'corpse' that lay before him... Before he could continue his audio recording, his mobile device- set to alert him of any key words/phrases in the news -sent him the latest 'buzz'. Without looking up he motions to his idea men,"According to some of the party goers, one of the Pines twins was cloned. Find out how and report back," Reichter ordered. "Don't waste your time," a young girl said as she enters the room with a full backpack. "What have you got for me?" Reichter asked the young girl. She is one of his new minions, experiment 053 (AKA 'Babydoll'). Among other abilities, her appearance allowed her to blend in. (12) "While everyone was distracted with the fight, I investigated. I took notes, equipment and anything else I could carry," Babydoll said as she opens her backpack and pulls out- among other things - the glass container with the red liquid and the crystal bulb. "Good work Babydoll," Reichter said as he has the fix ideas take them to his lab for further research. "Thanks... by the way, where's my Partner?" Babydoll asked. "He isn't ready to come out of his tank just yet. Give it time and you'll be able to go on missions together," Reichter explains as he takes the items from Babydoll, accidentally bumping it-. ZAP! 'Dipper', looked around. One second he'd been in the shack with Twilight and Mable around the copier, now he was...where? "What...where am I? Who are you people!?", he exclaims confused. Being a practically a veteran to the strange and obscene, Reichter barely reacted to this oddity and quickly analyzed it's cause... "Hmmm...seems it has a default setting to copy the last thing placed into it...interesting...Something to look into later. In any case, never a bad thing to have an extra test subject..." "Wait! What? Hey! You can't- Babydoll, bored, left the room as the newly minted clone was dragged away...she went right to the tank of her 'partner in crime'...and gave it a loving caress... "Won't be long now...then we can be together..." ...In Space ... Since the Merge, many new alien races and cultures have appeared throughout the universe. With many galactic empires and other powers clashing, many have tried to stay on the sidelines till the dust settles. While others who had more or less lost everything after or even BEFORE the Merge, had taken up hiding or reeking out a living as best as they could. On a small outpost of a desert world- which was only settled for the massive amount of a scarce and volatile fuel source - In one of MANY settlements that sprang up around one of the drilling pits, a newcomer had came into town. Spinel has been searching for the ones that Bill Cipher needed for his plan. Here she would find the first of many... She walked past all the buildings till she reached the junkyard of the settlement, there she located her target. In the pit was a shack belonging to the FORMER Queen Vexus and her ONLY remaining loyal minions Krakus and Smytus, who had been banished from their planet by her own daughter. Since the merge both of them ended up on this planet to lie low due to the bounty on their head. Since then they've mostly picked through the leftover garbage and salvage the fuel to keep themselves powered up. "Former Queen Vexus? ," Spinel asked, walking up to the two. "Who wants to know?" Vexus asked, hand now secretly grasping a gun "I'm here to offer you some revenge against that robot from planet Earth," Spinel said. "Pull the other one! It has bell on it" Said Smytus, equally on alert for treachery. "Ah, come on! Don't be like that! We can have so much fun together!," Spinel exclaimed happily. "How? Giving us diabetes with your bubbly personality? How would you be able to help us anyway?" Vexus asked, eyeing her suspicious. "By helping you to help me, to help HIM," Spinel explained while producing a gem that she'd made, allowing her new 'friend' to project himself into this realm easier. "HELLO LONG, METALLIC AND SEXY," Bill Cipher said as he appeared. "I'M HERE TO MAKE A DEAL..." …III... TO BE CONTINUED? ...AN... Author's Note: (1) - no longer held back by the 'negative continuity'/ 'failure is the only option' laws of their reality and guided by new friends like Stan and the CMC's, the Ed's have been much more successful...them being forced to stop faking food for their scams and just MAKE the dang stuff was also a big help... (2) - Itsudatte My Santa! (3) - With the number of anime/manga parents that are always away and are so hands off that they don't mind their kids facing death almost every day. It be easier to list off the kids who HAVE both parents in their lives. I know that in Japan there is a big difference in cultures when it comes to raising children, but there are child laws which many of these anime parents break all the time. (4) - They're also joined by Tom who came to Gravity Falls to join in on the vacation with his new girlfriend Janna. The only one not around is Pony Head who is off doing a web video involving 'clothes or no clothes?: Necessary social stigma or unwanted earth turd hang up so no one can see how small his weenie is?' Marco would later try to sue Pony Head for showing UNCENSORED naked pictures of him for the video...which would not only fail but cost him 650$ in the ensuing counter sue...LSP would later sue for copyright infringement...and WIN...both that and the use of said naked pics much to Marco's frustration... (5) - MOST- but not all -gods feed on mortals praying to them or doing something that feeds to their domain of power. War gods- for example - will be empowered to great levels when in battle but become weaker during peacetime. But Cloacina- the goddess of the sewers - and others like her are more empowered more often. After all...who DOESN'T use a toilet ALL the time? (6) - Most of The magic in 'Gods of Manhattan' world didn't fade away, as unlike the Romanticist magic that dominated the Realm of Magic, it's largely run on ENLIGHTENED magic. Magic that is NOT dependent on an outside source, but rather one creates themselves through their own hands, intellect, accomplishments, trials/tribulations, ,finding inner-peace- Po the Dragon Warrior being a good example -or enlightenment, etc... In their world, if a person accomplishes things so great- be it good or bad -they gain the power to be reborn as gods after death. While the power of belief is somewhat involved in the mechanics of this world. Belief in that person directly is not on it's own a necessity. It doesn't matter if the person is remembered or even if people were EVER aware of them even existing! As long as the utility, concept, ideal, activity, niche, etc. is still being used or at least still a crucial part of society or the human consciousness...that god will remain alive and in power. Example: Even if Cloacina is forgotten, as long as people use toilets or at least a sewer system...she'll never fade away and still have her powers. (7)- It was becoming increasingly clear that the original 'laws' of this new age were optimistic and fairly short-sighted- an attempt to put things they didn't understand into 'neat, orderly categories' without bothering to fully understand them in other words - The mixing of these various different types of realities/worlds/dimensions/times/etc was producing many unpredictable and varied results. And thus said 'rules' would would need to be adjusted accordingly as more new information was gathered and the situation develops...assuming they aren't just flat out abandoned of course... (8) - Seeing how many anime's and manga's have female clothes bursting and ripping at the slightest impact. The clothes would be very poor and sown together to break so easily. Where anyone trying to wear it in a realist setting it would break apart even when they're just walking around. (9) - SCP 2200 (10) - The law and order dialogue was contributed by Wolvenstorm. (11) - The enchantress cursing beast is MAYBE understandable...but cursing his STAFF as well? And why the enchanted mirror? What was the point of that? Also, WHY did Forte have weird powers, but none of the other staff? There's a reason why fans theorize she was incompetent, cruel or maybe even secretly Belle's 'missing' mother scheming to get her daughter married into royalty... (12) - SCP 053 AN: Want me to continue this? I'm willing to take Bribes! Go to my Ko-Fi account! Love me, flame me, review me