A few hours after returning home, we find toby lying on his bed staring at the ceiling, playing his guitar. When there is a knock at the window. A feint "Yo!" could be heard as toby sat up and looked towards the window, he already knew who it was.
"Hey Regret, you okay?"
The masked boy opens the window and looks around frantically. "No! those girls are driving me nuts! they're with me twenty-four freaking seven!"
"Hehe, that's what you get for showing off, you got some fangirls."
"It's not funny! it's seriously cramping my style, i'm supposed to be the dark lone wolf, slashing out myths without problem and going solo into danger! I can't have a bunch of little girls following me around all the time!"
"Really? You're actually trying to be that guy? *sigh* I'd love to help you, but i'm grounded for fighting..."
Regret tilted his head in confusion. "What?"
"*sigh* I was thrown into a simulation and had to fight some myths, i got cut on my arm and didn't notice it until i got back and mom saw it. Luckily she didn't notice my guitar because I had put it in my dimension cube, and she wasn't mad at Psy." By now, Regret had climbed in and hid in the corner.
"So, was it as exiting as you had hoped?"
"I was terrified! I never wanna do that again! It was traumatizing."
"Heh, the first one always is."
"How do you do it? you fight those things all the time and think nothing of it, the only reason I lived was because of the adrenaline rush I got when i realized I might die."
"I can't tell you how I do it, everyone has their own thing they do, you need to find what works for you."
"Okay...Hey, Regret?"
"Yeah?"
"It's...um..."
"It's about the weapon isn't it?" Toby nods nervously.
"It won't make myths attack me more than normal or anything?"
Regret takes hold of the guitar and rubs his hands over the rune carvings. "No, they're too stupid to tell the difference between a normal opponent and someone who can use runes."
"Oh... Well thanks for telling me, it's been grating on my mind for a while."
"No problem, if you need to learn anything else... ask Psylocke, because i hate explaining things."
Toby smiled at the gesture of Regret finally having a normal conversation. He then noticed a slight shimmer in Regrets mask and notices that he has eyes of a strange color. "That's cool, don't see many with gold eyes. does Vice have them too?"
"Yeah, but his are brighter, mine are dull, kinda sucks for me, I'd like heroic sparkling eyes too."
Toby got up and sat down across from his friend."Oh, I've been meaning to ask you some more things about myths and stuff too..."
"Like?"
"Why are they called that anyway?"
"Well they began just copying old folklore like gryphons and unicorns, which i guess aren't just stories anymore... they copied manticores, dragons, and we even saw a cyclops or two, so we called them Myths, and because the first MythBusters were a group of teenagers with no imagination, we got our organization. I wanna be called something cool like 'The Universal Defense Corpse' but nooooo...We're the freaking whimsical 'Mythbusters' maybe we should start carrying vacuum cleaners everywhere, maybe it would fit the name better."
Toby laughed and fell over.
Regret holds his hands up. "Okay, calm down, not that funny."
"I'm not laughing at the joke, I'm laughing because i pictured you walking around trying to fight things like that."
Regret shivers. "That would be a sad attempt at victory..."
Regret got an idea a few moments later. "Hey, i just realized that guitar is Tobi's right? like, the other one?"
Toby regained his posture trying to ease his sore lungs. "Hehehe... Yeah, he gave it to me."
Regret gave Toby an incredibly evil smile that was hidden by the mask. "How about I train you to use it?"
The question caught Toby off guard. "What? why would you want to?"
"It's the whole reason we're here! we were supposed to gather some ponies to make a whole new branch of mythbusters here, but the ponies can't harm them at all!"
"Oh yeah...auntie twilights magic worked, kinda... but they started shrugging it off after a while."
"Okay then, let's go."
"Where?"
"To the everfree, to train!"
"I can't! I'm grounded!" Regret grabs Toby by the collar and jumps out the window, landing perfectly.
Regret grins evilly once more, and once again, Toby is oblivious to it. "There we go, doesn't that feel much better than being locked up?"
Toby paniced. "No! Mom's really nice, so she only put me in there for an hour, if she finds out i'm out, i'll get in worse trouble!"
Regret chuckled. "Don't worry, I've got this." He pulled out a small pill and held it in front of Toby, he then smacked him behind the head, knocking some spit from his mouth onto the pill. Toby held his head. "OW! What was that for!?"
Regret tossed the pill onto Toby's bed, and within seconds, it become a copy of Toby sleeping on top of the covers."
The boys eyes widened. "How'd you do that!?" Toby gasped out.
Regret gave him a wink. "We may be nearly the same age, but I have much more experience with being a ninja than you do."
"You're a ninja?" Toby asks.
"The student does not question the teacher..."
"But the teachers job is to answer students questions in order to teach them..."
"Would you let me have my moment!?" Regret shouts before regaining his posture.
"Oh, and take this." He handed Toby a dimension cube. "It's got basic gear, like a notebook on runes and some first aid stuff, and a couple of other things."
Toby smiled brightly. "Thanks!"
"Don't mention it." Regret smiles as he and Toby head into the woods.
A little while later, Toby and Regret stand in a clearing deep in the everfree, beside a lake and waterfall. "This area is usually myth and monster free, so it's a suitable sparring zone." Regret places his arms behind his head. Toby's eyes widen.
"W-wait...sparring? I have to fight you!?" he backs away a little.
"The best way to learn is by doing it yourself, combat is easy once you do it enough, trust me." Regret places his left hand on his right glove and jiggles the metal plate on the back hand, making a small clicking sound. The glove lights up with runes on the plate. He repeats the process with the other glove. Toby shacks his head. "Trusting you is what got me out here, I don't want to fight!"
Regret rolls his eyes, still blocked by the mask. "Look, I know you're probably scared because i have more experience or whatever, but like I said, you'll get used to it."
Toby folds his arms. "What if I don't want to get used to it?"
"Well, that's too damn bad." Regret's shoes glow and a loud crackling of fire can be heard as flames shoot out of the heels and he rockets towards Toby. "AAAAAAAH!" The boy screams and shuts his eyes. When he opens them, he finds Regret holding his fist just an inch from his face. Regret stands at ease. "You need to stop freaking out, seriously..." He says.
"You flew at me at, like, mach three! A little warning would've been nice..."
Regret smiles evilly once more. "Well the myths don't care if you ready or not, speaking of which..." He says as he gives Toby a swift side kick to the gut, sending him flying at least fifteen feet, landing on the grass. "Ow!owowowow!" Toby whines, holding his stomach. Toby then removes his guitar from his back and activates it. He fires three shots at Regret, which are easily avoided.
"C'mon, that all? I was hoping you where as tough as your twin back at HQ, haha, that dude can punch right through a concrete wall." Toby rushes in swinging the guitar, the bladed edge nearly hitting it's target, but not quite. "Hahaha! you can do better!" Regret kicks Toby away once more. He gets up again, and this time coughs up a little bit of blood. Regret quickly returns to his serious side. "Alright, lets head back." he turns away.
Toby yells out. "What!? we just started!"
Regret turns his head to see the weary child. "If you're coughing up blood when I haven't even done anything serious, then your not worth training. stick to helping out your mom and aunts around ponyville. They would die if you were their protector, so leave the fighting to the real heroes, I can find someone else to train."
"I can fight just fine!"
"You were cowering just a moment ago, and when i start the sparring session, your on the ground in seconds, how am I supposed to train you to protect others when you can't protect yourself? You have heart, I'll give you that, but that won't help you when it's pierced by a blade."
Toby activates all the runes on his guitar and extends the blade on the edge. He reaches into his pocket, taking his dimension cube. In seconds, he's put on the fingerless gloves, the red trench coat, and the sunvisor attachments for his glasses. "I'll show you!" He shouts, finally regaining his will to fight that he had gotten in the training room, and with his newfound determination, rushes towards his teacher. Regret smiles and gets into a combat stance. "We'll see."
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Elsewhere
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A blonde boy walks through a brightly lit hall, searching for something. "Oh, c'mon, where is it...?" he mutters to himself.
"Serge?" he hears his name and turns.
"Oh, Zero, what's up?" He asks.
"...We were... called to the main office...important...business."
"Alright, I'll be there in a minute, I just need to find my ball. the stupid thing keeps disappearing."
Zero looks around him and shuts his eyes. "I...will aid you..." He begins walking slowly, heading towards a door to their left.
"...It is right..." He opens the door, leading to a storage room. "...here..." he says, grabbing a glowing ball with slight electric pulses coming from it, out of a box. Serge happily scoops it up. "Thanks buddy. I just can't understand how this thing does that... good thing you have your second sight, huh?" Zero simply nods.
The two boys headed for the main office to see what they were called for. As they walked, they felt a presence behind them but ignored it. Zero entered the room first, with Serge following directly after, however the doors closed before he could get through, causing him to walk into the doors. "OW! WHAT THE HELL!?" he shouts. Faint laughter can be heard all around him. "shut the hell up! it's not funny!" he yells at the laughing voice. As they stand in the room, Ms. Varren sits behind the large desk in front of them, it is plain dark oak color, various papers and office equipment scattered on top. The rest of the room is unappealing, with only a small coffee table and a small couch on their right, and on the left there are various bookcases and desks.
"Welcome boys." She says. Zero and Serge sit on the couch while waiting for instruction. There have been a few minor incidents with the gate closing procedures, as more energy has been pouring through the gates it is taking longer to close them, all I need is for you two to go remove the energy fields that have appeared, there is one in ponyville and one in the desert to the west of there. that is the best direction i can give you at the moment."
After being dismissed the two boys leave to head to the desert as the third member of their squad appears beside Varren.
"I'm sure you heard everything?" she says.
"Of coarse..." comes a boy who seems to have appeared out of thin air.
Varren sighs. "You still haven't had a bio file created by the way."
"I don't want one, Zero just let you because he's a puppet, i don't need my info in your systems so you can blackmail me."
He gives a sinister smile. "But that doesn't mean I'm not on your team, I'd be happy to take the ponyville case..."
"Very well," Varren says. "But make sure you don't do anything drastic, we don't want attention drawn to us, do you hear me Saint?"
"Crystal clear boss." he says, fading into a shadowy vortex.
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Ponyville 20 Minutes Later
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Pinkie Pie dances around her kitchen singing various tunes to fit her mood, which is, as usual, all smiles. "I can't believe they've been here for weeks and I forgot to throw them a welcome party! that's so unlike me... I'll just have to make this one an ultra fantastic deluxe super party!" She says to herself as she bakes the cake she is going to surprise them with when they come for their daily break. Unbeknownst to her, someone made an unexpected visit... She hears the front door bell's jingle, telling her a customer has come in. "I'll be right there!" she calls. Why did the cakes have to make a delivery today of all days?
As she steps out to the front counter, she is shocked by the sight before her. Another human! This one with black hair slicked back in a dignified manor, but his eyes were wide as if in shock, and his smile...that smile was one from her nightmares, but of coarse she had learned to never judge on appearance alone. He wore a black shirt with the sleeves torn off and a picture cracked skull with a scythe stuck in its left eye socket in the center of the chest, bright brown pants with a belt around the waist and a chain hanging from his right hip, apparently clipped to the belt, on the bottom of the loop in the chain was a small cube, it was purple with misty patterns. His shoes seemed to be thick and were pure black, most likely steel toe, although Pinkie had no idea how she knew what "steel toe" was. As she was processing this boy, he spoke to her with a seemingly restless manor. "Hi there little pony, how's it goin?" his "h's" were dragged on a little and he tilted his head a little as he spoke, Pinkie immediately knew something was up.
"Um, can I help you in some way?" she says nervously."I'm a bit busy setting a party up for my friends, so i wanna get back to that as quickly as possible, i'll try my best to get what you need first though." she was saying anything in an attempt to move things along at this point, the boy didn't seem to mind. He lifted his hand and pointed to the kitchen. "There aren't any other ponies here at the moment, maybe I can help you out? I love parties..." he says, adding a giggle at the end. This immediately perks her up and she leads him into the kitchen. "Here we are! thanks for offering to help. for a moment I thought you were really creepy, but you seem nice enough." He gives her a smile. "Things aren't always what they seem, sometimes the cover of the book explains it all."
"What does that mean?"
"Tell me...what is your favorite type of party?"
"Oh! that's a toughie... I love all parties, It's so hard to choose..."
"I'll make it a little easier by telling you my favorite then..." The boy then reaches for the cube and magically summons a scythe to his hand."My favorite party is..."
He pounds the handle to the ground. "A CORPSE PARTY!!!" As he yells, the floorboards began to shack and crack, pushing up as whatever was underneath clawed their way out. Pinkie Pie tried her best to escape, but all exits were locked, the front door and all the windows were sealed by a magical force she could not overcome. "Why are you doing this!?" she screamed, on the verge of tears.
"Fear of death is what makes you enjoy life all the more...we fear it, hate it, and avoid it, but it is what every life comes to in the end." He said with a sinister smile that could only belong to that of a demon. Pinkie froze when the floorboards cracked and finally, the creatures emerged. She could only cower in fear as skeletons of ponies rose from the ground and began to walk near her, bones creaking and chattering, closer and closer they got. The boy simply sat down, and with a voice smooth as silk, said, "Watching a peaceful death of a living being reminds us of a falling star; one of a million lights in a vast sky that flares up for a brief moment only to disappear into the endless night forever.If you spend all your time worrying about dying, living isn't going to be much fun.Some are so afraid to die that they never begin to live.