*Seth*
So Filia, that Mararuns guy or whatever the hell his name was, and I all made our way to a nearby abandoned building. It was familiar to me since it was the bar that the guys and I went to for Shining Armor’s bachelor party, there were even still bottles on the shelf behind the bar table. I couldn’t help but wonder if there was still any booze in any of them. Not that this was the best time for drinks. The dark grey unicorn offered to keep watch from the window, for now at least. Filia and I walked over to one of the booths to catch up abit.
“So…” I began to say, “It’s good to see you again Princess. Granted I hoped it’d be under better circumstances, but hey we didn’t exactly meet under good circumstances ether.”
“It’s good to see you too. So, how have things been in your universe? Are you and Rainbow Dash still dating?” She asked me. I couldn’t help but smile a bit at that.
“Well, technically we’re not dating anymore.” I said as I used my hooves to part my mane to show the ring around the base of my horn.
She took a second to get what I meant, “Oh, um…. congratulations to you two. When was the wedding?”
“It was back in April.” I said, reflecting on the day, well mostly just seeing Rainbow in her wedding dress. She looked so beautiful that day. I mean she’s always beautiful, but I digress. “So how have things been on your side since the war ended?”
“Well, surprisingly, the changelings haven’t made any attempt to get Queen Chrysalis. Though personally I think that’s a good thing, it doesn’t interfere with the rebuilding of Equestria. Granted we had to raise the taxes a little bit to get the money to do so, but it’s not hurting the economy too bad. Still, some ponies are a little upset. Though most know it’s still better than being ruled by Chrysalis and Drez.”
“Hmm… I see.”
“Then the Crystal Empire returned, my mother sent Cadence, the Elements of Harmony and I to protect it from King Sombra, wait do you know what I’m talking about?”
“Yeah, similar events happened over in my universe.”
“Okay, that saves some explaining time. Anyways, it was tough, but we held him off long enough for Twilight and Spike to find the Crystal Heart and using it to defeat Sombra. Cadence was put in charge of running the Empire, though personally I think she’s might not be the best choice.”
“What do you mean? My universe’s Cadence is doing just fine.”
“Yeah, but I’m pretty sure that Cadence still has her Shining Armor.”
“Oh, yeah… Sorry. I forgot that in you universe he’s… passed on.”
“Yeah, I mean no disrespect to Cadence, but she just has been very depressed since the war. I’m a little worried about her. Come to think of it, auntie Luna’s been acting kinda worried too about something, but that’s besides the point.”
“How about Discord?” I ask.
“What about Discord?” She asked sounding confused.
“In your universe did your mother set him free?”
“Yeah, but he gives me the creeps. I’m assuming he was reformed for you guys too.”
“Yup, Fluttershy and I reformed him. Hell, I even started calling him dad.”
“Well, good for you. Oh, is Twilight an Alicorn over on your side too?”
“Yeah, one for the best things to happen to me financially.”
“What?”
“Well now that’s she’s a princess and basically has money from the royal family, I got a large pay raise. I mean it’s not like Rainbow and I are super rich or anything, but it’s good to have extra money just in case. I mean, what if we ever decide to have foals? I know right now that’s not an option with Rainbow trying to get into the Wonderbolts and all. Though if we fail it definitely won’t be an option. Which reminds me what is your plan exactly?”
“Well…” She began, though sounding a little bit uneasy. “While we were all standing in front of the High Tower I was able to feel a strong magical field around it, most likely some kind of forcefield. So I figured that if I found two powerful unicorns to pry open the forcefield long enough for me to get inside. I could stop this “Stallion in the High Tower” before more lives are lost. I saw you at the gathering, so I went to find you first. I guess I was lucky that you happened to be with another unicorn when I found you. Granted you were fighting him. Good thing I stopped you two.”
“How do you know he’s even powerful?” I ask her.
“Well seeing that he beat you up pretty bad, he’s definitely at least as powerful as you are.” She then let out a loud yawn and then laid down on her side of the booth, “I’ll go over more of my plan tomorrow, but right now I think it would be best to get some sleep.”
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-Just a little over an hour later-
I just laid there in the booth, pretending to sleep. Pretending for two reasons, one, I still didn’t exactly trust this Mareruins guy, and two since I don’t trust him I couldn’t fall asleep even if I tried. Though eventually I opened my eyes and sat up. I saw the grey unicorn still by the window keeping watch. He was still looking outside, so he didn’t notice me get up.
‘Well, if I want to keep an eye on him, maybe it’ll be best to do so while acting to be keeping watch with him.’ I thought to myself as I slide out of the booth and begin to walk over to him
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*Razor*
Mehrunes Dagon Razor sat in what remained of one of the booths next to a semi-broken window. It was only semi-broken because all of the other windows in the bar were either completely shattered or were simply holes in the wall at this point. This window was lucky enough to survive with only a few cracks in it. Though it looked as if it could go any minute.
On the other side of the window, the sun hadn’t set. Not that there was any sun to speak of. Or a moon. The sky hadn’t changed at all since he first got here. The sky was still giving off that purplish glow that seemed to emulate the sun when it really didn’t, and none of the stars in it had moved an inch. There weren’t even any clouds in the sky. Nothing had changed. All of this made telling time in this place kind of a pain in the flank. Razor himself wasn’t even sure if it’d had been an hour that had passed since he got here or 6, or maybe even a whole day. Time seemed to have no meaning here.
There wasn’t really anything much outside of his window, just a view of the cafe across the street, but since it was completely destroyed, it was just a view of rubble. So really there was nothing to look at. He couldn’t hear anything either. If there were any other battles going on, he didn’t hear any of them or anything that could have been signs of a battle. Even the dragon, which at this point was the only thing here that really worried him, was as silent as the rest of the city. While under normal circumstances that would have been a good thing, now it made him feel uneasy.
Really, there were a lot of reasons to feel uneasy in this place, but the silence only made it worse. Two of those reasons actually, were at this point, sound asleep behind them. He hadn’t heard anything from either of them after they finished that conversation of theirs an hour ago. Apparently the alicorn had some kind of plan, and in retrospect, it wasn’t that difficult for him to believe that she was Princess Celestia’s daughter in her universe. All the mannerisms were there, but still, that would have made them….
Either way, it wasn’t important. Then there was the other one. Clearly these two trusted each other, but Razor wasn’t sure he could trust either of them. He wasn’t an idiot. He knew what he was to them, and if they were friends, what was to stop the two of them from ganging up on him and taking him out when he wasn’t expecting it. Yeah, they said that they needed him for whatever plan that the alicorn had… Filia, that was what her name was, but still. They were friends. She was an alicorn, and the other one, he almost killed Razor when he went nuts. Against one of them, he had little doubt that he would win, but against both, he wasn’t so sure.
The thought did cross his mind to kill them both right now. They were sleeping, neither of them would know, but he didn’t even know if he had it in him to do that. Yeah, he had to kill them at some point, but doing it like that. It was just too cruel, even for him. Besides, if something went wrong and one of them woke up, then this whole thing would have gone from “seemed like a good idea at the time,” to “why did I decide to do this in the first place?”
As he dwelled on those thoughts for a while, his eyes moved to one of the holes in the wall that was formerly a window. Suddenly, a new thought entered his head. He could leave. He could just slip out while they were sleeping and leave them here. They wouldn’t even know he left. Then, maybe somepony or something else, maybe the dragon, could come in and take care of both of them. Then their blood wouldn’t be on his hooves. Yeah, it still would be in a way, but it sounded better than just killing them himself.
Suddenly, the sound of some other pony’s hooves hitting the floor took him out of his thoughts. Instinctively, turned to see that the black unicorn had woken up and was now walking towards him. Seth… Yeah, his name was Seth.
‘Damn,’ Razor couldn’t help but think. If he was going to get out of here, well, his chance was gone now.
“Hey,” Seth said to him as he sat down in the ruined booth across from him.
“Hey,” Razor said back to him, if only to be polite. “Can’t sleep?”
“Not really,” Seth replied without even looking at him. His attention seemed to be more towards the floor than towards Razor.
“Narcolepsy?” Razor asked. Seth either ignored him or was pretending not to hear him, as he remained silent for a few moments before he spoke again.
“I’m gonna try to put this as delicately as I can,” Seth said as he drew his attention back up towards Razor. “How do I know you won’t kill me in my sleep?” Razor couldn’t help but laugh a little bit to himself at that. “Is something funny?” Seth asked the moment that sound hit his ears.
“You don’t know me,” Razor replied to him after his laughter died down. He shifted in his seat a little bit so that he was facing Seth completely. “So let me explain this to you. If I ever kill you, you’ll be awake, you’ll be facing me, and you’ll be armed.”
“Thats…. reassuring…” Seth replied in a manner that might as well have said ‘yeah, sure that’s true.’ “Thanks.”
“It’s what I do,” Razor said to him as he turned his attention back to the destroyed cafe across the street. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Seth prop his hoof up against the edge of the window and leaned his head on his hoof, much like Razor was doing now. Razor couldn’t help but mentally laugh to himself at that. Was this guy trying to prove he was just as badass as he was? Yeah, like that was gonna happen.
The two of them remained silent for several moments before one of them spoke again. Surprisingly, it wasn’t Seth who spoke this time.
“So, you’re married to Rainbow Dash eh,” Razor said. Seth didn’t respond immediately, in fact, he jumped a little at that.
“How did yo-”
“You two were talking in normal indoor speaking voices you know,” Razor said before Seth could finish.
“Oh, right… So we were,” Seth said as a look that seemed to be a mixture of minor defeat and realization came across his face. He let out a loud sigh before he relaxed a little bit again and went back to looking out the window. “Yes, yes I am.”
“So what’s that like?” Razor couldn’t help but ask. If he was gonna continue this conversation, he might as well encourage it.
“How do I even put it into words?” Seth said as he got all dreamy eyed and he could tell that he was picturing the cyan pegasus in his head. “It’s the most amazing thing in the world. Every second I spent with her I might as well be in heaven.”
“Gotta say,” Razor said as he finished that sentence. “I never really expected her to marry somepony like you.” Razor regretted those words almost immediately as he said them. If he loved Rainbow that much… Razor’s thoughts were instantly broken at the sound of Seth letting out a little laugh like Razor did earlier.
“Yeah,” he said. “A lot of other ponies say the same thing. Hell, she even said the same thing before she met me. Still…” he said as he got all dreamy eyed again. The look on his face told Razor that he might as well have been in the clouds, which probably wasn’t too far from the truth. “She’s the most beautiful mare I’ve ever met. I’d do anything for her.”
“So then,” Razor said. “You must really wanna win this, huh?” After hearing that, it wasn’t hard at all for Razor to figure out what really kept this guy going.
“Yeah,” Seth replied, his head still in the clouds for several moments before he spoke again. “What about you, you got a special somepony?” The moment those words hit Razor’s ears, he felt as if his face caught on fire and he quickly looked away from Seth over at the corner of the broken booth bench he was sitting on as his mind immediately went towards one particular pony. One purple, particular pony. In reality, he was just blushing, but he didn’t want Seth to see it. Though this act did not go unnoticed by Seth it seemed.
“No, no no no, not really,” Razor replied rather quickly. “I… I I I don’t have anypony like that. Not yet I mean, I…”
“Really,” Seth replied, sounding more than a little confused. “Not even somepony that you’re interested in?”
“No,” Razor replied as quickly as he could, hoping that it would make Seth stop this line of questioning. Seth on the other hoof, seeing Razor’s reaction, had no interest in stopping now.
“Not even a little?” Seth asked.
“No,” Razor answered quickly, hoping a little more that he would stop.
“Oh come on,” he said, now sounding a bit more interested. “Don’t tell me it’s Rainbow Dash?”
“No, it isn’t Rainbow Dash,” Razor answered without even realizing it.
“AHA!” Seth shouted as he pointed a hoof at Razor. “So there is somepony that you like.”
‘F*CK!’ Razor couldn’t help but mentally scream to himself. He walked right into that one.
“So who is it?” Seth asked. “Is it Twilight?” The moment that name hit his ears, the small campfire that was Razor’s face suddenly erupted into what basically was the whole house he shared with Daedalus catching fire as he immediately looked away from Seth at the wall behind him. There mere mention of her name was enough to set him off as all kinds of images of her burned through his mind. His heart skipped a beat as every part of her called out to him. Her mane, her laugh, and of course, her sexy badonkadonk. Oh the things he would do to that badonkadonk.
“It is Twilight isn’t it?” Seth asked after a few moments. A few moments in which Razor kept thinking about Twilight. Of course, Razor didn’t respond. “Come on, you can tell me,” Seth pryed. “Even if we both somehow get out of this alive, we’re from different universes so it’s not like it’s gonna matter.” As much as Razor didn’t want to admit it, he did have a point.
“Yeah, it’s Twilight.” Razor finally came out and said. Now there was one more (and making potentially three) pony in his life that knew that. A fact that he wasn’t exactly happy about.
“Nice. I guess I can see why you’d like her. I mean, she is kind of attractive, in that nerdy librarian sort of way.” Seth said as Razor turned back around to look at him. Thankfully, the immense blushing on his face had faded, and if it were a fire at their house, Daedalus probably would have finished beating his flank for it too. “So you two married like me and Dash?” He asked. Razor didn’t respond, though the thought of that wasn’t too bad. Oh the things he would do to that badonka- “Engaged?” Seth asked again at Razor’s lack of a response. “Dating?” Still nothing, and at this point, Seth’s earlier enthusiasm with the subject seemed to have dropped. “Have you… even talked to her?”
“Yeah, once or twice,” Razor replied, turning his attention towards the ever so interesting spot on the floor that Seth was looking at earlier.
“So…” Seth began as he looked inquisitively at Razor. “What stops you from just asking her out? Knowing her, she’d probably say yes.”
“Dude!” Razor fumed at him. “We haven’t even known each other for that long.” Razor continued as his blush returned, completely oblivious to how weak that statement made him sound, though Seth didn’t miss it. “It’s not like I can just- Wait.” Razor said as he caught on to the other part of what Seth said. “Really….” he said, now his turn to be intrigued. “You really think so, you really think she would?”
“Well I can’t speak for the Twilight of your universe,” Seth replied. “But if she’s anything like the Twilight from my universe, then she REALLY needs to get a coltfriend.” At that, a small flicker of hope went up in Razor’s eyes and mind. Sure, it was small, and coming from a guy who was from another universe, he wasn’t sure how much it was worth, but still…
“Thanks,” was all he could reply.
“No problem,” Seth replied. “So, is the Twilight from your universe an alicorn too?” And the hope that was in Razor’s eyes left immediately in favor of curiosity. He heard both Seth and his alicorn friend Filia talking about that earlier, but he greatly doubted that what they were saying could be true. After all, spells to become an alicorn didn’t exist. If they did, then he’d probably know about them.
“No,” Razor replied. “No, she’s not an alicorn.”
“What?” Seth said, sounding kind of surprised. “Wait,” he paused for a moment and put his hoof to his chin. “Did the crystal empire return where you’re from?”
“Yes,” Razor replied. He could remember hearing about that. It was only all over every news outlet he could find when it happened.
“Okay…” Seth said, his hoof still to his chin. “Did Rainbow Dash get sent to the Wonderbolt Academy?” Razor only responded with a look of confusion. “Okay…” Seth said again as he tried to think of something that was probably more of a world changing event. After a moment, he seemed to have come up with one. “Did they announce that the Equestria games are going to be held at the Crystal Empire?”
“Yes,” Razor replied. He could remember hearing about that too. It was in the paper recently, though neither he nor Daedalus cared much for it.
“Okay,” Seth said, now seeming to have his bearings. “So, if that happened, then did Twilight get that spell that Starswirl the Bearded was working on from Celestia?”
“Dude, my friend Daedalus and I only just moved to Ponyville a couple weeks ago,” Razor finally replied. “We don’t even know half the ponies there yet let alone what’s happening on daily basis.”
“Oh,” Seth replied in understanding. “Wait,” he said again as something else about that statement hit him. “Didn’t Pinkie Pie throw you one of her ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ parties when you first arrived?”
“Yeah, yeah she did,” Razor replied, his mind going back to that party. It was a fun night. “But even with literally everypony in town in your house at once, it’s not like you’re gonna get to know EVERYPONY that well.”
“True,” Seth replied in more understanding. There was logic in what Razor said. Silence reigned between them for a few more moments before Seth spoke again. “So, if you don’t mind me asking. What made you guys decide to move to Ponyville?”
“Change of scenery mostly,” Razor replied, and that was true. Even with the enormous amount of property damage he may or may not have caused in Fillydelphia, a change of scenery was definitely necessary. “Better than Fillydelphia, that’s for damn sure.”
“Yeah,” Seth replied. “Though really, what’s not to like about Ponyville. Everypony’s nicer than you would believe, theres great food, great scenery, great weather-”
“And great mares,” Razor said before Seth could finish. Seth couldn’t help but laugh at this a little.
“Yeah,” he said after a bit. “And great mares.”