Time Ticks on

by Golden Script

21. Warrior, Come Out to Play-i-ay~!

Author's Note:
This chapter contains the character from The Mighty Warrior of Epicness. It was an honor to work with Shinigamisparda on this chapter, he was an amazing co-author. Go give him some love!

“So, let me get this straight. Nicholas is the man that helped you defeat Discord, but Michael is standing in front of me, too.” Celestia had arrived shortly after Luna sent her a message saying that the Elements were still fighting Discord. The princess of the sun, not knowing what was actually happening, trusted her student to accomplish the task given to her, and stayed in the library awaiting the six mare’s return.

“Sort of; I’m Nicholas, Michael is currently hiding in the back of my mind. The worst he could do is talk, which wouldn’t benefit him in any way. He fears you more than most,” I told her stoically.

“Alright. Is there anything that I should worry about? Is he a threat to anypony?” She asked simply.

“He is not a threat to anyone as of now. As long as you are around me he will not attempt to escape. He knows that you would incinerate him before he could pull out the watch. He believes he’s murdered the Elements of Harmony, and I don’t think my mental fortitude is strong enough to contain him if he were to see them. His mind works in ways that not even I understand, and he’s done the same for… her. To Michael, they are dead, and if anything were to prove him wrong, he’d flood my system with adrenaline and remove me from power. In short, he’d have the ability to kill the Elements. I wish to seek the mental strength to hold him back and if you could help me find such strength I would be immensely grateful,” I finished my rant with an apologetic bow of my head and a sad smile.

“There is a zebra in the Everfree that once helped me focus my magical abilities. Most of the things she had me do were mental exercises. Maybe she could help,” Twilight said from off to the side. I was currently isolating my sense of hearing and not looking at any of the ponies’ faces, and minding myself towards Twilight. To Michael I was simply sitting in a room with Celestia.

“Yes, I think that should work. Can you have someone show me to this zebra’s place of residence?” I asked, eager to begin.

“I would be willing to take you to her.” Celestia said from her seated position before me.

“Thank you, Princess. How soon would you be willing to depart?” I looked up towards her, keeping her mouth out of my point of view.

“Right now, if you’re ready,” She stood and I looked back down as I replied.

“Twilight, go get your friends, I need them to all be accounted for before I leave. Don’t want them to bump into me on the way over, do we?” The words alone might seem a bit threatening, but there was a sense of jest in the tone, showing that I was simply covering all of my bases.

“Good. I’ll go and get them now,” She walked out of the room and I let my guard down a little, allowing Michael to start talking from my mouth.

“Celestia, it’s been too long,” He said in a half angry, half menacing tone.

When I noticed Celestia lighting her horn I quickly scribbled on a piece of paper that he only had control over my mouth, not my body, and that there was no reason to be concerned.

“No, actually, I believe that a thousand years is a much shorter time period than I would have preferred,” Celestia seemed irritated more than hostile, but still on guard. That was good.

“Oh, you wound me so, my dear princess!” He said in a pained tone, as if he’d been physically wounded. “Why such unfriendliness is thrust upon me, I don’t know!”

“You know exactly why I’m being so ‘unfriendly’, Michael. My sister befrended you, then you betrayed her in the worst possible way; and on top of that, when you had clearly won the fight, you nearly murdered two of our subjects!” She growled at him.

“Oh, that’s ancient history, literally! You should really lighten up and live a little!” Michael was losing control over my body at this point, so I slipped back in.

“I will lighten up when my successor is ready to take the throne and rule the kingdom in my stead, and until that day comes, I will be as heavy as I want!” More than a little rage showed through here, but I quickly doused the flames.

“And that’s a good thing. Keep it up princess. Nicholas is back, just so you know.” I said, holding my hands up in the “calm down” position, palms facing her.

“Ok.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Now, all we have to do is wait until Twilight comes back with her friends.”

As if on cue, there was a knocking at the door. I had a moment to lock Michael out before Twilight came through the aforementioned portal.

“they’re here.” She said simply. As I got up and walked towards the mare I had a thought.

“For future reference, Twilight, never open a door that I am behind without my express permission, please. We would hate for Michael to realize what I’ve done.” I smiled and patted the mare on the head, ruffling her mane a little.

“O-of course, Mr. Faraday.” She responded.

“Not Faraday, remember that.” I told her.

“Oh. Yeah, right.” She had the cutest look on her face of embarrassment. I had to hold myself back from just scooping her up in a hug!

“If I ever identify myself as Faraday, I want you to knock me out. No hesitation, ok?” I said to the purple mare, but looked at Celestia, too, signifying that this went for, not only Twilight, but the princess, also.

“Got it. If you call yourself Michael, knock you out.” She said like she was trying to remember it.

I then walked past the door, still holding Michael out, and greeted the mares on the other side.

“Hello, girls.” I said as I walked through the doors.

Six beings were instantly on guard, five mares and a baby dragon, that is.

“Michael, don’ pull nothin’ funny.” Applejack, if I remember correctly, said.

“I’m not Michael. He’s currently hiding from her in the back of my mind.” I motioned to Celestia as I said this.

“Then who are you?” Rainbow Dash flew up to me, coming inches from my face. “Are you a spy?” she barked in my face.

Despite the abuse, I didn’t flinch.

“I am not, in fact, a spy; I’m just a soul in this world, trying to make my way.” I said dramatically, one hand on my chest, the other raised in the air, in a theatrical pose.

“There’s no need to be sarcastic.” Said Twilight, but Rainbow didn’t let up.

“Are you sure? One minute you’re trying to kill us, the next you’re giving us our elements and pointing us at Discord! If you ask me, that’s more than a little twofaced, and definitely not loyalty!” as she said this, she flapped her wings, moving her forward. I moved myself back, if only so we didn’t end up mashing our faces together.

“It was twofaced, yes, but against Discord. We had similar goals and the only way I could get close was to surprise him. What’s more surprising than a longtime friend suddenly turning on you?” I asked the mare, pushing her face away from mine. When my two fingers left her face she was back on me—or she would be, if I hadn’t held my hand out to catch her whole face in my palm.

“Rainbow, calm down. I believe he’s shown that he’s on our side.” Twilight said, pulling the mare into a sitting position with her magic.

“But he betrayed Discord!” She yelled.

“Because he was our enemy!” I yelled back. “Now stop being childish and listen!”

She sat quiet, stunned as I continued. “Thank you. Now, my name is Nicholas. I am the original owner of this body. Michael is the psyche that is squatting in my brain. He was put there by Discord and he would not hesitate to murder all of you. The only things keeping him from doing that is my years of practice, holding him back and blocking the senses. The second is Princess Celestia.” I looked to the princess, who had recovered from my outburst fairly quickly. “I am going to see a zebra in the Everfree to train my mind to hold him back permanently. Until then, you are not allowed to venture into the forest for any reason, if you see me—ever—you are to move yourselves as far away from me as fast as possible. If I have seen you, then you’re already dead.” The mares, including Celestia, were quite shocked at this revelation. I have the power to stop time, why are they so surprised? I finished with “do not hesitate, because I can assure you, I will not.” I began walking towards the door to leave, but the Princess of the Sun stopped me with a slight tug on my coat.

She turned to the other six mares. “That being said, me and Nicholas, here, are going to be leaving, do not exit the library until we are safely out of Ponyville. I’ll send a letter when we reach the forest,” Celestia finished for me.

There were several moments of silence before I coughed.

“We will be leaving now.” I said as I walked out the door, Celestia close behind.

My coat whipped in a sudden wind as I exited the establishment.

We had just arrived at the edge of the forest. I looked around, finding a hut off in the distance that was surrounded with animals of all kinds. If I look a bit further I could see the green of another forest… or was that a farm? I couldn’t quite tell. Either way, we weren’t heading that direction, so it didn’t matter much.

“Let me tell the Elements where we are,” Celestia said, stopping to write a short letter.

‘Let me OUT!’

I nearly fell to a knee. The mental pressure Michael was putting on me was tremendous.

“We need to keep moving,” I said simply, beginning my walk once again.

“it’ll only take a moment.” She continued her letter, but I didn’t have time for a letter.

“I don’t have a moment!” I nearly yelled, which was distracting enough for him to slip out.

“Celestia, I see that you’re just as pathetic as ever,” he said, but I was busy trying to restrict his movements. He was already reaching for the pocket of the vest that was under my coat.

She was stunned for a moment before looking up, the parchment forgotten. “Michael?” she asked, fear lacing her voice.

“And now you can add two and two,” He tried to rush her, but my limitation only gave him the ability to take a single step.

“Michael, release your control over Nicholas!” the mare demanded. Michael’s grin only grew.

“Why would I give my body to a wimp like him?” his words mean nothing to me, but Celestia was a different story.

“Nicholas is stronger and more courageous than you could-” she never finished, though, because it was then that she found a cold circle pressing against her forehead.

“Insolence.”

The sound of a gunshot rang through the forest.

“They should be there by now,” said a purple unicorn as she paced around the center of learning.

“Don’ worry none, the princess’s probably jus’ gettin’ Nicholas to Zecora’s place,” Applejack assured her.

“But she should have sent a letter to tell us when they got to the forest! That was the plan!” she passed faster as the other five mares exchanged glances.

“Listen, dear, they must be fine. Remember, this is Celestia, Princess of the Sun, we’re talking about,” Rarity pointed out.

“But there must be something wrong!” Twilight barked hysterically.

“Why don’t you just go after them?” asked a young drakes voice from the stairs. Turns out, Spike had walked down the stairs only moments before; hearing the tail end of the conversation, he thought he’d throw in his two cents.

“Spike, you’re a Genious!” Twilight yelled cheerily as he was lofted into the air by the mare’s purple aura. “We’ll just head out and see what’s wrong ourselves!”

“But, um, Nicholas said to stay put,” Fluttershy pointed out, causing Twilight to droop a bit.

But, before any of the other beings in the room could speak, she steeled herself once again. “We must. For Celestia, we must! What if she’s in trouble and we’re the only ones who can help? What if Nicholas released Michael? Or, worse yet, what if they’re both in danger? They might both be on the edge of life and death and we’re the only ones who know where they’re going!” Twilight was becoming hysterical again, her voice slowly rising as she convinced herself that this was the right thing to do.

“Twi! Calm down!” Applejack put a hoof over her withers. “This’s crazy talk! If’n any trouble rustles up, the princess’ll handle it, no problem.”

“Applejack…” Twilight trailed off, lost for words.

“Have confidence in Celestia, dear. She was your mentor, after all; you must know something about how much power Celestia has,” Rarity’s hoof joined Applejacks, and, pretty soon, it turned into a group hug.

“I’m sorry, girls, but this is something I have to do.” Twilight put Spike down, only now realizing that he’s been suspended in the air since she lifted him, and started towards the door.

Rarity went to stop her, but Applejack lifted a hoof to stop her. “She ain’t lyin’,” The Farm mare said, simply allowing Twilight to leave.

“MY FUCKING FOOT!!” I shouted out, screaming in pain.

“Nicholas? Is that you?” Celestia asked, obviously confused.

“Of course it’s me! If it were anyone else, you’d be dead right now!!” I writhed on the ground, holding my foot as gingerly as one could while a crumpled heap.

“Oh, my- Let me help,” the tall mare rushed over, using her magic to seal the hole in my foot, sock and shoe, in that order.

“Did… he just shoot himself in the foot?” I asked myself.

I watched as Celestia healed his foot, helped him up, and conversed with him for a short time before walking into the woods.

Staying behind for nearly a minute, questioning what I’d just watched, I realized they were getting away. ‘Just because nothing’s happened yet, that doesn’t mean that nothing will happen soon. He nearly lost control right in front of me!’

I followed the two deeper into the forest, following the path to Zecora’s hut not a mile into the forest.

All of us were walking in silence, albeit, I needed to, to stay off of Nicholas’—or, rather, Michael’s—radar.

Celestia broke that silence, giving me something to focus on, other than staying quiet.

“Explain Michael to me,” she requested.

“That’s very general. Do you want me to tell you what he’s like, because I’m pretty sure you already know; or maybe you want me to tell you what he looks like… oh, wait-” Nicholas gestured to himself.

“I need not the sarcasm, Nicholas. Tell me how you switch between one and the other; how he can take control, and you likewise.” She elaborated.

“I… I never understood it myself, really. I think of it as air pressure. When I spend too much time in control, he can build up power. Once he gets enough power, he can force me out, but it usually requires some sort of trigger, like seeing someone he thinks is dead. Imagine the shock of seeing a long-dead pony coming back. He utilizes the adrenaline pumped into my system to switch our psyches out.”

As Nicholas was saying this, I was frantically searching myself for a parchment and quill. Sadly, I didn’t have any on me. I resolved to memorize the explanation for later, which took my concentration off of being sneaky—which wasn’t exactly my strong suit to begin with.

All I heard was a “snap” and suddenly Nicholas was on top of me.

I felt a small, cold circle pressed against my forehead.

A voice reached my ears.

It angrily said…

“Die.”

*THUD!*

“Ow… God freakin’ dammit, how can the same thing happen twice?”

Michael, Twilight and I turned to see a figure that had seemingly fallen onto the ground from nowhere. He groaned as he stood up to a massive height of at least eight feet.

“Ugh, at least, I don’t feel like I drank the entire world’s supply of alcohol this time.”

“W-What? W-Who are you?” I stuttered, looking at the individual. He was apparently the same species as Nicholas but considerably more muscular, clad in the armor of a warrior. A red scarf flowed from around his neck, ending with a golden insignia and a spear was held in his hand.

“Huh? Oh hey, Celly! Or, that is, ‘Other Celly.’ Or, rather, uh… hi.”

“Shut up!” Yelled Michael from his position above Twilight. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll leave now!”

“Huh?”

The warrior turned and saw the situation, taking merely a second to process it, before his eyes hardened. In a flash he dashed towards Michael, about to swing his weapon at his head.

“Too slow,” and Michael disappeared. I knew exactly what had happened, and looked around for the biped, finding him over to the left and behind the armor-clad giant. He raised his arm, which I saw had his pistol in it, and took aim at the newcomer’s head.

“Watch out!” I yelled, rushing towards the armored being with speed I didn’t even know I had anymore.

But I was too late.

A gunshot rang out through the forest and there was the being lying on the ground, motionless. I didn’t know what to say or do, but soon I didn’t need to.

“Ow! Mother piss bucket, that hurts!”

I was stunned to see the being get up, barely a scuff mark on his helmet. Our enchanted armor never stood a chance against his weapon!

“Huh, I guess I really haven’t gone against firearms before. Still, with all the lighting bolts I’ve deflected, this is just embarrassing.”

“How… you’re alive?!” I yelled, rushing over to the fallen aggressor. Anyone was better than Michael, and if this new human had a sliver of a chance to contain him, then I was going to take that chance.

“Wow, I’ve never had a Celestia be concerned about me before. This is… weird, actually. Nice, but weird.”

“H-Huh?”

“Meh, nevermind. I’ll explain later,” he answered before standing up to face Michael. “And as for you, Mr. Shitpunk Mc’Asshole, you want to hurt the ponies? You’re gonna have to go through me!”

“Go through you? Shouldn’t be too hard. Of course, that armor could be a bit of trouble,” Michael got a creepy grin before he said “let’s fix that.”

I looked back to the biped standing next to me to warn him to be careful, but was surprised at what I found.

What was once a respectable knight, was now only a man wearing a loincloth and a simple white kimono-like undergarment. It took me a moment to understand what I was seeing, and even when I understood it, I was still confused.

“Dang, your armor’s heavy! You know that?” asked Michael from where he had been standing, only now he had a pile of armor the exact same shape, size, color and style as the other human had been wearing, literally, moments before.

“What in the hell?” the warrior thought aloud, looking at himself. “Huh. Oh well, not sure how this happened, but EARTHQUAKE!” As he shouted this, he slammed a foot onto the ground and, just as he said, an earthquake suddenly came to be. Oddly enough, it seemed to be directed and managed to catch Michael off guard, sending him flying into the air backwards. The warrior jumped and was instantly above him, only a few feet between them.

”GOTCHA, BITCH!” he shouted in an accent that was not his own, before firing beams of energy from his eyes.

When the smoke cleared there was nothing left of Michael. He was just not there.

“Did you… just defeat him?” Twilight asked hesitantly, not getting her hopes up.

“Wait, did I really just… kill him?” he muttered, seemingly shocked. “But… I’ve never come close to killing another Displaced before. Was he just a regular-?” he cut himself off and spun his weapon, deflecting a series of bullets that seemingly appeared from nowhere. The projectiles exploded the earth and wood they struck.

Before anypony--or human--had time to react, there was some soft clapping in the opposite direction of the bullets.

“You’re good! Really good, in fact. Maybe even too good,” said Michael from right next to me.

Naturally, I jumped as far away as my wings would carry me; and, luckily, I wasn’t his target.

Michael ran towards the warrior with speed that would put sound to shame, indicated by the small sonic boom that surrounded him.

As he approached the other human, the warrior readied a swing, releasing the tension in his arms when Michael was within reach. The warrior ended with his staff pointed straight up, but Michael had not been harmed. In fact, he seemed to be invigorated, more than anything.

“I would like to retract my previous statement, you’re not ‘really good’,” he jumped, just as the warrior brought his weapon down, only to bring it back up again, but Michael wasn’t there anymore. He was now several pony-lengths above him, Michael’s hands in his pockets.

“You’re perfect.” Michael then disappeared, repairing right next to the warrior, who was still trying to slash at where Michael previously was.

What happened next was too fast for me to comprehend, but by the way the warrior’s body was being smashed around, I could assume that Michael was beating him badly.

I decided I had stayed on the sidelines long enough. I pulled my magic reserves through my horn, picturing a forcefield around the warrior. I opened my eyes to find Michael standing next to a golden bubble, slightly confused before he looked over at me.

“Stay out of this, Celestia. You shouldn’t interfere with a fight between gentlemen,” he said before he was in front of me, grabbing me by the horn and throwing me against a tree.

“Princess Celestia!” Twilight called. I looked at her just in time to hear the loud sound of flesh-against-flesh nearby. I turned and saw Michael in the air again, and the warrior looking like he bucked him in the head. He then quickly leaped at his armor and spun rapidly. In seconds, every piece was back in its proper place… somehow.

“Gentlemen don’t strip their opponents,” he said as he took a battle-ready stance. ”Even when they really want to.”

“What?” I asked.

“What?” he replied, the kind of answer one gave when trying to pretend they didn’t say anything. He then spun quickly and within a moment was completely surrounded by a barrier of… bubbles?

“Now, where are you?” he muttered. Looking around.

It took me a moment to realize his plan, to make it so that Michael would have to pop the bubbles to approach him, thus giving away his location. I knew that Michael was gone, though.

I also knew it wouldn’t work. Even if this was some fool-proof plan of the warrior’s, Michael would find a way.

“You’re an inventive one,” echoed a voice from the forest, seemingly all around us at different points in time. One word would be said from one direction, and another from a different direction. “but, really? A barrier of bubbles? What kind of protection does that provide?”

“They make a nice and noisy pop,” he replied.

“Really?” Suddenly, Michael was in front of the bubble-encased warrior, a short stick in his grasp. “So, if I just-” he was cut off as he poked a bubble with his stick, causing an explosion equal to that of a hoof-thrown bomb, pushing him back into the air.

I was just about ready to throw common sense to the wind. First, this new human appears out of nowhere; then, he faces Michael in a fight--kind of--and actually provides a challenge; and now explosive bubbles? This day has just turned out… I don’t even know.

The warrior dashed forwards, the bubbles seeming to move of their own accord to grant him passage, and grabbed Michael by the head. He raised him up and proceeded to slam him down, only for him to suddenly disappear before he made contact with the ground.

“What the hell?” the being muttered.

“You know that’s not going to work,” Michael said from a tree, sitting as if he had simply woken up from a nap. “You’ve done it several times, and each time I’ve recovered easily. Just give up already!”

“H-How-? How did-? But, that’s not possible! I should’ve at least seen some movement! You could only do this if you-!”

Suddenly, the warrior’s eyes shot open. For the first time I saw something that I hadn’t seen the entire bout: fear.

“Stop time,” he said, barely above a whisper.

“What was your first hint?” Michael asked, standing from his seated position.

I saw the warrior shaking, his armor clattering as he shivered. He quickly cast magic that caused him to glow certain colors for a moment, likely some kind of beneficial enchantment.

“S-Stay away from me,” he said, taking a step back.

“What, you finally realizing how-” and, for only a moment, Michael was right in front of him, “SCREWED you are?!” and he was gone before the warrior swung his weapon, which was somehow considerably faster than before. Not that it was enough.

”GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!” he shouted, and that’s when all Tartarus broke loose.

Earthquakes, eye lasers, exploding bubbles, hurricane force winds, lightning bolts, blades of air, even some strange gloves and what appeared to be giant versions of bullets fired in every direction as the warrior screamed in terror. He had lost all composure and was simply shooting off his power madly.

I barely had enough time to teleport myself to Canterlot.

‘Wow, that’s a lot of power. If I’d stayed even a moment longer, I probably would have been obliterated.’ Michael thought from his Time Stasis.

‘Stop fighting this guy! He’s obviously versed in combat!’ Yelled Nicholas from inside his own head.

‘Oh, please. As long as I have my watch, I can dodge anything he throws at me!’

‘But not everybody else can!’

‘Celestia made it out fine, see?’ Michael walked over to where Celestia was standing only milliseconds before, the flash of magic and afterimage of her form still there.

‘I guess you’re right,’ Nicholas thought before Michael happened to look in the wrong direction.

What they saw froze them in place.

Twilight was standing in the direct path of a missile.

‘TWILIGHT!’ Nicholas burst out, sprinting towards the terrified unicorn, completely forgetting that he wasn’t supposed to be in control of his own body.

‘No! How is this possible! You’re still so weak from trying to keep me at bay!’ thought Michael, as that was all he could do.

But it didn’t matter; Nicholas was dead set on keeping the lavender Unicorn safe, if that meant his life.

My heart was pounding in my head. Everything seemed to slow down. For a moment I thought I was in time freeze again, until I noticed I couldn’t move. All I could see was that strange conal object heading right towards me. I saw one of them strike a tree and explode in fire, blasting the poor plant to splinters before setting those aflame. And right now, one of those things was heading right towards my face.

‘I’m going to die.’

It was the only thought in my head. I thought when you were faced with death your life was supposed to flash before your eyes. Maybe it did for some. For me, all I could see was that object heading towards me at a seemingly crawling pace.

‘I’m going to die!’

Then, it all changed.

One moment, my world was one of chaos and insanity; large explosions everywhere, winds whipping my mane in my eyes, lasers cutting trees, rocks and earth as easy as a warm knife through butter… and then…

All I knew was brown.

But it wasn’t the dirt. No, I figured that out when I found it to be soft and smooth. I found it comforting, and another thought entered my mind.

‘This wouldn’t be such a bad way to go, would it?’

Time seemed to speed up as I heard a blast. For a moment I felt and heard nothing, even my vision just turned to white. Then I felt wind ripping past my mane and tail, heat somewhere nearby, and my ears were ringing. Soon it was over, but it still took me a moment to realize the truth.

‘I’m… alive?’

As my hearing returned, the only thing that registered was some soft muttering.

“Twilight… Twilight, are you alright…? Please be alright… I just ask that…”

This muttering continued for several minutes before I looked up to find the most confusing thing to happen yet.

Michael was cradling me, crouched over my own form.

“Michael?” I asked, realizing exactly how hoarse my voice sounded… no pun intended.

He jerked his head away from my shoulder, looking deep into my eyes. “You’re ok?” He asked, fear predominant in his eyes, but a sliver of hope around the edges.

“Y-yeah, I am…” I said, scooching back and away from him. “But, why are you… protecting me?”

“What?” He asked, then looked down at his hands, grasping and ungrasping them slowly. “I’m back in control, somehow…” he said slowly.

“Michael…” I said, just as slow.

“No, it’s Nicholas now,” he said, happiness obvious in his voice. “I’m back…” he looked down at his hands again just before realization struck him. “But, are you sure you’re ok? I could run you back to Ponyville if you need it,” he said, checking me over quickly for any damage. I did the same.

“I’m fine, Nicholas. But, how did you stop that… thing?”

“I blocked it with… wait… how did I-?”

Nicholas turned round and I followed his gaze, shocked to see the warrior had somehow moved in front of the path of his own attack. He panted and seemed to be in some pain, though not nearly as much as I would expect, and smoke rose from his back.

“I’m so sorry,” he wheezed. “I… almost killed you. I’ve never lost control like that before.” He looked up and met my gaze. “Please forgive me, Twi-” He cut himself off as his gaze changed to Nicholas. I saw both fear and rage in his eyes.

It took me a moment too long to realize what he was thinking. “Wai-!”

“GET OFF HER!” he shouted before smacking Nicholas to the side with the back of his hand, enough force to make him smash through a tree.

I was stunned for a good three seconds.

This three seconds were enough for the warrior to jump after Nicholas and land on top of him, pointing his spear directly at his chest.

“STOP!” I yelled, rushing over to halt the execution.

The warrior stopped and looked to me, stunned that I was now standing between his weapon and Nicholas.

“What are you doing!?”

“This human is my friend! If you want to hurt him, you’ll have to go through me!” I repeated his words from before.

“W-What!? Your friend had a gun to your head!”

“That was not my friend… this is…” I trailed off, the adrenaline slowly leaking from my system. “There’s a lot of explaining for us to do, and I want you to not try to stab anyone until we’ve finished,” I said, putting extra emphasis on “not”.

Nicholas groaned in pain as he struggled to open his eyes. I saw blood staining his teeth. A flash of movement came next and the warrior’s blade was at his throat.

”NO! I SAID NOT TO-!”

“Start talking,” the warrior ordered, his eyes still on Nicholas. I realized that he had stopped his spear just short of piercing Nicholas’ neck. “Now.”

“Um… where do I start?” I asked innocently.

“From the beginning!" he yelled.

“O-ok! This is Nicholas. You were fighting Michael. Nicholas is a peaceful person, doing what he can to avoid combat; but Michael… well, I think you know enough about him. Michael is much more violent than Nicholas. Nicholas has no quarrel with you.” I said worriedly, taking a tentative step towards him.

“So you’re saying he could turn back into that killer at any second?”

“Well… theoretically, yes. But, he seems to be fairly stable now. He says it’s like air pressure. When he holds Michael in for too long, he builds up power until he can take over Nicholas’ body. In this case, Michael would have no control, whatsoever, seeing as he just fought you for a good few minutes.” I explained hastily, slowing down when he moved the spear a bit further from Nicholas’ neck.

The warrior hesitated a moment more, extending his hand to Nicholas. A green light shone over his body and nearly all his injuries were healed, like he had already spent weeks recovering. The armored individual then turned and somehow cut a hole in the air itself before jumping inside. It closed behind him and, before I could even comprehend what happened, I saw the blade of his spear puncture a hole in the air, retreating not a moment later.

“I believe you, but I still don’t trust him,” his voice came from the hole. “This is the only way I can think to counter that ability he has.”

“Did anyone catch the number on that semi?” asked Nicholas from the ground.

“Nick, are you alright?” I asked gently.

“I think so, but the last thing I remember was being thrown through a tree. How am I not dead?” he looked at his arms and torso, inspecting his undamaged body.

“I healed you. But you should thank Twilight for convincing me not to decapitate you instead,” the warrior answered.

Nicholas seemed to gulp at this, his eyes growing a few sizes. “Did you really…” the unasked question hung, pregnant in the air, for a while before a simple nod answered it. “Thanks, I guess.”

“So, just what are you doing right now?” I asked. “Just how is… this supposed to keep you safe?” Honestly, I was starting to feel a little weird talking to a hole in the air.

“HALT, BY ORDER OF THE PRINCESS OF EQUESTRIA!” came a booming voice from the sky. We all looked up--even the hole in the air pointed itself towards the sound. Above was what looked like nearly half the Royal Guard, pegasi carrying chariots for unicorns and earth ponies, and Princess Celestia at the front.

“Princess Celestia!” I shouted, glad that she had made it out safe, and happy to see her once again.

“TWILIGHT, MOVE AWAY FROM MICHAEL!” Celestia yelled in the Royal Canterlot Voice.

“Nicholas is back, it’s no longer Michael!” I said as she landed.

Celestia paused for a moment, about to reply before she turned to observe her surroundings. “Where is the warrior?” she asked.

“Right here.”

Celestia jumped, as did the several guards who had landed, turning this way and that, unable to find the voice’s source.

“Can you see me now?”

All the ponies jumped again as they saw fingers extending out the hole, twiddling in mid-air.

“What magic is this?” asked Celestia as she approached and examined the small hole.

“Ah good, I was just getting to that. Basically, my naginata can cut holes in time and space, in reality itself. With it I can effectively teleport, but that’s not why I’m using it like this.”

“Then, why are you… ‘using it like this’?” I asked the question on everyone’s mind.

“Because, before I travel using this method, I pass through a great Emptiness, the space between all universes. It has been given many names, like ‘The Void Eternal’, ‘The Emptiness and That Which Fills It’, and so on. I call it ‘The Rift’. For my purposes, here, the most important attribute of this location, or lack thereof, is that time itself essentially does not exist.”

“So… what how does that have to do with anything?” I asked.

“He’s saying that I have no power over him while he’s in there.” Nicholas explained.

There was a resounding “oh” from the gathered ponies, though Celestia had connected the dots.

“Must you truly go to such an extreme?” she asked.

“He has the ability to stop time. That means I am essentially off guard all the time. To a warrior like myself, this is both the most disgraceful, and the most terrifying, thing I can imagine.”

Celestia seemed to understand, knowing what it was like to fight a being who could hit you at any time, litterally.

“Um, I’m sorry that’s such a big deal for you, but you can come out of there now. I promise I won’t use my powers,” Nicholas stated politely, getting to his feet.

“Not a chance. That fact that you even could do something to me is too much of a risk, as far as I’m concerned.”

“Well… in that case… Warrior, can I talk to you for a moment… in private?” Nicholas asked, walking deeper into the forest.

There was no response for a moment before the warrior’s blade barely stuck through the hole. We all watched in fascination as it slowly cut a path towards Nicholas, any spot it cut immediately resealing itself, like the fin of a shark through water.

Nicholas walked deeper and deeper into the forest, followed by the shark fin blade. When they both felt that they were out of earshot and sight, they stopped and faced each other. Well, Nicholas faced the blade; it was hard to tell where the blade was facing. Nicholas seemed like he wanted to say something, but was unwilling to initiate the conversation.

“So, what did you wish to speak about?” he asked.

There was another moment of hesitation before Nicholas looked directly at the floating hole.

“You must promise to never tell anyone, pony, thing, ever, without my express permission,” Nicholas said, giving the hole a stern stare.

“... Very well.”

Nicholas seemed to relax slightly, but kept his eyes on the hole.

“I’m about to reveal the secret of my power to you,” he explained.

“Ah, I see. The secret to your abilities is surely something you would wish to guard closely. I will keep it to myself… unless I decide I need to tell others to put down that ‘other you.’”

Nicholas gritted his teeth for a moment before growling out “That is the only exception. The ONLY exception. And you must know that it is him and not me.”

“I understand. I’ve met another who has had others inside his mind that would perform acts he never would.”

Nicholas seemed to relax completely, the tension melting from his shoulders. He steeled himself once more before doing something unexpected by the warrior.

He dug around in his pocket and fished out his watch, showing it to the hole, making his point quite clear.

“Ah, a powered object. That truly is a weakness. Without it you are nothing, and if others were to take it, your power would be theirs.”

“Well… nobody but me’s ever used it, so I’m not completely sure how it works. All I do know is that I stop time whenever I click the crown,” he indicated the small, button-like thing on the top.

“And your speed?” he asked.

Nicholas flinched. “H-How did you-?”

“Your blows dealt much more damage than they should’ve. Considering you can’t increase your strength, the only other option is speed. After all, speed is weight, and I have no idea how much weight you can accumulate.”

“Not nearly as much as you, I can assure you.” Nicholas felt his back, remembering flying through the tree only minutes before.

“Well? How does that work?”

“‘How’? I have no clue. But, there is one way to find out…” Nicholas trailed off, looking intently at the watch. “I always wondered what made this thing-” he pulled the back off of the watch, exposing the inner workings, “- tick.”

He heard the warrior chuckle. “Heh, I needed a stupid pun to help me loosen up.”

“Oh, come on; it wasn’t that bad, was it?” Nicholas said as he studied the internal springs and gears.

“No no, I’ve done worse. In fact I’ve practically made it an obligation to make stupid puns wherever I go. In fact, the only reason I haven’t been spouting references since I got here was due to the fact of being scared shitless of ‘Michael.’”

“Well, I’m sorry he... scares you so much.” Nicholas grunted as he pulled a small gear, no bigger than the last joint on one’s pinky finger. “Here. How do I get this to you?”

“You… want me to come out?” he asked hesitantly. Nicholas could hear the fear creeping back into his voice.

“Oh, right!” Nicholas placed the watch on the ground and lightly kicked it a few feet away. “Just don’t go after it, is all I ask.”

“... Ok. I see you’re going to some considerable lengths. I’ll trust you for now.”

The blade came out again and cut a hole large enough for him to exit out of.

As the warrior exited the hole in the air, Nicholas extended his hand towards the warrior, who was still hesitant to take the small gear.

“So, what do you intend to do?” he asked, observing the item.

“I’m not sure… there seems to be a slight pull… like a magnet…” Nicholas said as he moved his hand closer to the warrior’s chest.

Suddenly, the gear flew out of his hand, attaching to the small diamond on the warrior’s chest, slipping through the stone as if it were goo.

“W-What hap-!?” he asked, alarmed, only for him to suddenly be behind Nicholas.

“-an he really not-?”

“Gah!” Nicholas yelped. “Don’t do that! It’s my thing!”

“Oh, so there’s a time limit. That was about… thirty seconds. I doubt you have that much a limitation.”

“No… I can stop time for as long as I want… I did only give you a bit of the watch, so you couldn’t have gotten that much power from it…” Nicholas summed up.

“I guess so. I wonder how I trigger it though?” He started to press the gem on his armor only for nothing to happen. “Huh. Is there a recharge time?”

“Maybe. You did only get a bit… huh, you seem a lot more relaxed now,” Nicholas noted.

“It helps that I finally have a counter.”

“Well, in that case…” Nicholas walked over and picked up his watch, brushing the dirt off the back before reconnecting it to his vest and placing it in his pocket. He clicked the crown, and everything stopped.

‘I wonder if he can see me?’ Nicholas thought to himself. As he walked towards the warrior he noticed that the large man in armor was shaking. With one final lurched he returned to fluid motion. He tried to talk only for no sound to come. He tried again, only to have the same effect.

Nicholas tried to motion that there was no sound in the Time Stasis, demonstrating by clapping several times very hard. The warrior seemed to get the idea and nodded and Nicholas clicked the crown again, bringing them both back to normal time.

“I… I entered your time stasis?” he asked.

“Apparently so. Congratulations, sir; you now have time-stopping powers!” Nicholas put his hand out to shake the warriors own, then a thought crossed his mind. “What is your name, anyway? I don’t think we ever asked.”

“Ah, that’s right. I think this may be one of the few times I’ve never introduced myself in an acceptably hammy manner. However, I believe you deserve a simple handshake,” he said as he firmly grasped Nicholas’ hand. “It’s Gilgamesh.”

Nicholas flinched and winced as his hand was tightly grasped by the warrior. “Nice to meet you,” he gasped out. As Gilgamesh released Nicholas’ hand, he shook it to try and return the feeling to it. “As you probably have figured out, I’m Nicholas, and this-” he pointed at his head, “-is Michael. Michael say ‘hi’,” there was a moment of silence as Nicholas listened to Michaels response. “No, I’m not going to repeat that to Gilgamesh.”

“I can hazard a guess,” Gilgamesh said. “Nicholas, it is very nice to meet you. And Michael, fuck you too, you psychopathic shit stain.” There was a calm smile on his face the whole time, making the words and tone clash.

“Um… you too. Anyway, the others are probably waiting for us. We should go back before they think we killed each other.” Nicholas joked, but the fear was a legitimate one.

“Good thinking. I’d like to hear your story, and I most certainly don’t mind giving a few peeks at Celestia’s flank. Though honestly, Luna’s more my type.”

Nicholas couldn’t help but give Gilgamesh a funny look. “Where did that come from?”

“Me wanting to lighten the mood… and also get a reaction out of you.”

A moment of silence followed this simple confession. Then, like a switch flipped, Nicholas burst out laughing.

“Oh, man… ya’ll really had me goin’ there! Yer funny.” Nicholas traded his “Proper English Accent” out for a “Hic Accent”, failing miserably.

“Glad you think so. Also, just because it was a joke doesn’t mean I wasn’t being serious. Let’s go,” he said as he walked back towards the group, smiling as he caught Nicholas making another befuddled expression.

After a moment of peaceful walking, Gilgamesh heard footsteps running from behind him. He turned just in time to receive a boot to the head.

“IF YOU TOUCH LUNA, I’LL KICK YOUR ASS!” yelled Nicholas in his face, having climbed on top of the warrior after he tumbled to the ground.

Gilgamesh stared for a moment before laughing. “Good to know we have the same tastes! And don’t worry, I’m more for trying to woo my own Luna. You can have her here. I’m sure you’ve earned it.”

Nicholas slowly got off Gilgamesh, eyeing him the whole time. “Fine. That’s fine. Just fine.”

As the two walked towards the group, Nicholas mumbled something to Gilgamesh.

“Just don’t touch her.”

I was simply flying back to Canterlot, having had a long day. I merely got a few hours of sleep before Discord escaped and I awoke again, and I was beginning to feel it.

Halfway through the leisurely “glide, flap, glide” routine I remembered from foalhood, I heard a familiar sound.

Nicholas’ signature gunshot.

There were two available reasons for this to happen. one, Nicholas was showing a pony how to fire his weapon, like he did for me all those years ago. two, Michael had been released and was shooting something or somepony. three, Nicholas had found an opponent that threatened him or somepony else and was trying to defend them.

‘Please, please let it be the first one, or at least the last one!’ I thought to myself as I searched for the direction of the noise.

After several minutes of loud noises and strange happenings, I believe I’d found the area the battle was taking place. I had also decided it was a battle because there were explosions. Michael couldn’t make explosions, as far as I knew.

Also, the fight had been happening on the other side of the forest, closer to Ponyville, while I was almost to Canterlot. This forced me to take much more time than I wanted to spend simply getting there, even at full speed--which was not at it’s full potential, since I’d been flying this whole time.

When I did get there, I found something peculiar.

Half the Royal Guard was on a small path leading through the Everfree, Celestia and Twilight were with them, but Nicholas--or Michael--were nowhere to be found. This scared me and relieved me at the same time. If they were just standing there, Michael couldn’t be causing too much trouble. But at the same time, where was Nicholas?

“Sister!” I shouted from my elevated position, “I heard fighting and hurried as fast as I could!” as I touched down, Celestia’s face didn’t change from its surprised expression.

“Luna, what are you doing here? You must be exhausted!” I noted my breathing was deep and labored, but pushed on anyway; for Nick.

“I am fine, sister. Where is Nicholas?” I took a quick scan of the area around us, searching for the cloaked biped in the foliage, or any indication of which way he might have gone.

“He is talking to the warrior, right now,” Celestia answered simply, looking in the direction they supposedly went.

I began walking in the aforementioned direction, only to be stopped by a small purple hoof.

“Nicholas wanted to be in private,” Twilight explained.

“-fter that he introduced me to his daughter, Skyrender. She was pretty cool, though a bit shy. To be honest, I think he wanted me to be her mate so we’d have an even more powerful descendant, but neither of us were the other’s type and we decided to just be friends. I don’t think human and dragon DNA would’ve mixed anyway.”

“Dude! You should have gone for her! She seems like a pretty sweet drake.” Nicholas responded to what I would later find out was the epic tale that was Gilgamesh and the Daughter of the Dragon King Crimsonwing (patent pending).

“I’ll be honest, she was pretty cute, and is probably a bombshell now, but I’ve only really had eyes for- oh hi, Luna!”

Nicholas fell silent at this, glaring at the warrior as they approached the small army and it’s leaders… and Twilight.

“Nicholas!” I exclaimed, cantering up to the human, giving him a slight hug before looking him in the eye. “Are you alright? Is Michael under control? What were those explosions?” I asked rapidfire, not giving him time to answer.

“Luna!” he shouted, stopping my onslaught with a squeak. “I’m fine and Michael is locked away… for now.”

“Whoa,” the tall human began, catching my attention. “You weren’t kidding. I’ve never seen my version of Luna be so affectionate with anyone but her sister. You really lucked out in the marefriend department.”

I stared at the warrior, a horrified expression replacing my worried one.

“Excuse me!? The what department!?” Celestia asked, both anger and surprise evident in her tone.

I looked to the warrior, who simply switched between looking at me, my sister, and Nicholas.

“You mean you didn’t know?” he finally asked Celestia. Before anypony could respond he sprinted to the edge of the clearing, grabbed and lifted up a downed tree, and set it down near the rest of the Royal Guard. “Oh, this is going to be deliciously awkward,” he said in a foalish tone as he sat down. He then removed his face guard, showing off his smile, and pulled a bucket of popcorn from… somewhere. “Take a seat everypony and enjoy the show!” he exclaimed as he stuffed the first handful into his mouth.

‘I’m going to kill him.’ I thought bitterly.

“Celestia, calm down; it’s not what you think!” Nicholas tried to head off the storm, failing as my sister’s mane caught fire and burst into an inferno of rage.

Celestia, the mistress of The Visage, kept a calm face through her following rant, intensifying the fear plastered on my and Nicholas’ faces.

“Nicholas, you have been our enemy from the beginning, destroying lives with Discord, turning Sombra into a psychopath, unleashing several horrors on our world that we were obviously not ready for; and you have somehow courted my sister.”

There were several moments of silence before Nicholas held a finger up.

“Actually, that was Michael.”

Then everything went to Tartarus… for a second time that day, as I am told.

“I WILL KILL YOU!!” Celestia yelled.

“Woohoo! True love versus overprotective family members, these never get old! Taking all bets, everypony!” the warrior shouted as he stuffed more popcorn into his mouth.

Sadly, some of the guards gave the warrior bits, telling him which side they expect to prevail.

“COME HERE, YOU LITTLE SHIT!!” Celestia barked, blasting my eardrums in--and I spent several centuries using the Royal Canterlot Voice.

“Celestia.” I said in a near whisper, compared to my sister’s shout. “Calm down.”

“Come on, Luna! Defend your beloved!”

I growled at him for a moment before realizing he was right and quickly teleported in front of my sister.

“MOVE, LUNA! I’LL NOT LET YOU BE STOLEN AWAY BY THIS CRIMINAL!”

“HE IS NOT A CRIMINAL, SISTER, HE IS A VICTIM! MICHAEL IS THE MONSTER, NOT NICHOLAS!”

“STAND ASIDE!”

Before I could plead with her more I found my flank encased in her golden aura and nudged to the side. It wasn’t rough, but it did move me, and unfortunately I tripped on something and began to fall. Instead of striking the ground I fell on something much softer.

“Ow… you ok Luna?”

I turned and saw Nicholas had put himself in the way and I landed on him. I found my face heating up despite myself. “Y-Yes. Nicholas, you didn’t have to do that. I would have barely been bruised by that fall.”

“One bruise is one bruise too many.” He put his head against mine before helping me up again and facing Celestia, eye to eye.

“Hey, come on, Celly; give them a chance to explain themselves!” the warrior called. “Besides, I want to hear how this happened, too!”

Celestia studied Nicholas’ face, looking for deceit or cowardice. Finding none, she relented.

“You may explain yourselves.” All parties sighed in relief, “But, if I find it unsatisfactory, Nicholas will be banished to the sun for all eternity and Luna will get a century time-out on the moon,” Celestia finished, causing both of us to gulp with fear.

“Well… it started when I was captured by Discord and Nicholas,” I started to say, being stopped by Celestia.

“So it’s some sort of Stockhoof syndrome?” She asked.

“Oh! That’s a perfect way to start a romance!” the warrior commented, receiving a glare from Nicholas.

“Oh will you just shut up!?” he shouted.

“Absolutely not, I’m milking this for all it’s worth.”

“Dick,” Nicholas muttered under his breath.

There was a moment of silence as I waited for the armored humans retort, but he gave none, so I responded to Celestia. “No, he was the only one who appreciated my night; and, a night or two later, he showed me how to place the stars properly, allowing current day astrology and astronavigation. Without him, we would have never found the Gryphon Kingdom before they attacked our own lands!” I informed her. She seemed surprised by this, probably assuming I’d thought up the current night sky on my own.

“Ah, love born under the stars. Now that is romantic.”

I turned to glare at the warrior again only to be surprised that his expression seemed completely sincere. He even sighed in a manner that wouldn’t have sounded out of place from a filly with a crush.

“Oh please continue, don’t mind me.”

“It had been a couple nights since I’d arrived in Equestria, and Luna was my only friend, besides Discord, who I know now was not my friend at all,” Nicholas explained. “One night I had a dream about a town. Luna was the one that showed me this town. The next day I brought us to that town, seeing that Discord was only using me to cause chaos and not help freedom. He told me that you two would use your subjects as guinea pigs for a strand of virus, and I look around now with relief that you didn’t.”

“‘G-Guinea pigs’? ‘Virus’? Where would you possibly get an idea like that from?” Celestia asked, completely aghast at the mere mention of such a thing.

“He showed me a vision of an Equestria where that was actually happening, though I had no idea it was a different dimension then. I had no idea different dimensions even existed, and I felt like… Luna had lied to me.” He looked to me with shame in his eyes before turning away.

“Oh, Nicholas,” I said, placing a hoof on his shoulder to comfort him.

“It was only later that I met a being from that universe who explained the situation to me. His name was-”

“Nemesis.”

Everypony turned to face the warrior, who had stopped eating and now simply sat with an ,almost terrifyingly serious, look on his face.

“You know him?” Nicholas asked.

“He’s a close friend of mine. We’ve helped each other out. So you mean to tell me that Discord showed you visions of what Ellura did to convince you to fight against the Princesses here?”

“Um… yes?” Nicholas answered nervously.

The bucket of popcorn practically exploded as it collapsed under his grip. For a moment there was no noise.

“Twilight?”

“Um… y-yes, sir?”

“Can you go and get your friends? I need to have a… chat with a certain draconequus.”

“S-sure,” Twilight said, scared out of her mind, before she teleported to Ponyville to round up her friends.

For a good few minutes, nopony moved, giving time for Twilight to reappear with her friends, the Elements, in tow.

“Oh… my…” Fluttershy stuttered, looking at the intimidating armored figure.

The warrior took a deep breath and closed his eyes. I think I heard him mutter “Be Like water” under his breath. When he opened his eyes his expression had softened, though not to the point it had been before.

“I apologize for scaring you. And for forcing this on you. However, I have to know how Discord was able to know of other dimensions, especially one he could use against Nicholas. So I’m afraid I’m going to need you to use the Elements of Harmony to temporarily release him from his imprisonment so I can question him.”

“WHAT?!” Twilight shouted, surprise clear in her voice.

“You heard me.” The warrior glared at Twilight, silencing her instantly. “I understand it’s not something you want to do. It’s not something I want to do either, but I have to know. As far as I can tell, no being has had knowledge of any events outside their own universe, without traveling to others or being told by other travelers. I need answers.”

“B-But, this is Discord you’re talking about!”

“Indeed! I refuse to allow this!” Celestia joined in.

“As do I!” I added.

He seemed to falter for a moment before standing up at his full massive height.

Gracious, he’s large!

“Well… there is one possible alternative. Nicholas, I don’t suppose you or Michael know how he came across this information?”

“Sorry, but I have no idea. And neither does Michael; though, to be honest, if he did know, he probably wouldn’t care.”

“Then I’m afraid there is only one option open to me.”

“Absolutely no-!” Celestia began, only for the warrior to cut her off.

“I promise you he will not escape. I stake my life and my very freedom on it. Should he somehow manage to flee I will track him down relentlessly until he is imprisoned once again.”

Everypony looked surprised at that response, not only because of the words but also because he seemed completely genuine.

Celestia stopped for a moment before regaining her composure. “And just who are you to promise such a thing? Any being can make such a claim, so who are you to make me believe it?”

“Well, his name is-” Nicholas began.

“Ah ah ah, leave the introductions to the professionals, please.”

“‘Professionals?’” I muttered.

He unclipped his weapon from his back, spinning it for a moment before holding it in front of him. Inexplicably, music starting playing.

“BEHOLD MY GLORY!” he began and quickly struck the log he was sitting on, sending it high into the air. “I AM COMBAT INCARNATE! STURDIER THAN THE MOUNTAINS!” The log came down and with a single punch cleanly split it in half. “MORE GRACEFUL THAN THE OCEAN!” Before the pieces had even touched ground he used his weapon to carve them into the shape of the cutie marks of myself, my sister, and all the Elements. “MORE INTENSE THAN AN INFERNO!” He quickly threw out a flurry of punches and smashed the sculptures to pieces, again before they touched ground. “SWIFTER THAN THE WINDS!” With a nearly imperceptible swing the pieces were sent away, scattered far beyond where we would ever find them. He spun his weapon again before dramatically jutting it into the ground. “THOSE THAT WORSHIP EVIL GAZE UPON THIS RED SCARF AND TREMBLE! FOR I AM THE ONE! THE ONLY!” He spun his weapon again before holding it behind him and striking a dramatic pose. “THE MIGHTY GILGAMESH!”

Again, without explanation, a series of bright neon arrows appeared and pointed at him. Above them, again in neon colors, was the message “This guy is totally awesome!” The words and arrows disappeared only for them to be replaced with an explosion of fire from behind him. The flames soon arranged themselves to spell “AWWWWW YEAAAAAH, BABY!”

We all stared in utter shock. I couldn’t even form a single thought in response to it all.

“So.... awesome,” Rainbow Dash muttered.

“Huh. Never had that happen before,” he said as the fiery lettering disappeared. “Usually I only get a tumbleweed.”

“You… you mean to say you didn’t actually expect something to-?” Twilight began.

“Oh, there it is!” he interrupted. Sure enough, a tumbleweed rolled by, only to disappear behind the foliage.

“Where would a tumbleweed even come from?” Twilight asked, questioning things she shouldn’t once again.

“I have trained in many arts,” Gilgamesh began, taking a more reserved, but no less dramatic, pose. “Recently I have begun to study one that is extremely difficult to master, but the results are exceedingly rewarding. It is called… Pinkie Pie.”

Pinkie giggled, now walking out from behind the warrior, even though several ponies, most of them being behind the warrior, had been watching him, not allowing her a chance to get behind him, without them noticing. “That’s my name!” she said.

“Indeed. And the name of several identical pink party-mares across the multiverse, all equipped with a smile that challenges Celestia’s sun in terms of radiance.”

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you had a thing for Pinkie,” Nicholas whispered to Gilgamesh, a sly smirk on his face.

“Well, you obviously don’t know better. I was just referring to her ability to brighten anyone’s day.”

Nicholas made a face of realization, slowly moving away from Gilgamesh. “I see.”

“Well then, as fun as that was, it’s time we get the interrogation ready. Where is Discord right now?”

“He’s currently on his way to Canterlot. What do you plan on doing to him?” Celestia told him.

“Take him somewhere where’s there nopony to panic about his release. Somewhere out in the wilderness. Any suggestions?”

The Elements of Harmony and the two of us princesses got into a huddle. There were loud whispering noises and some random words muttered by Pinkie. The eight of us came out of the huddle to look at the warrior.

“We have decided on the Badlands, southwest of our current position.” Celestia, apparently the spokespony of our group, said to Gilgamesh.

“Good enough for me. And Nicholas, you will of course be coming along.”

“What?” the time manipulator asked with a surprised face.

“Someone with your abilities should be able to keep him from trying anything. Discord may be a goofball, but he’s not an idiot, he’ll know he doesn’t have a chance against your powers.”

“I… guess you’re right. I’m in,” Nicholas said, now more neutral than anything.

“Wait a moment, why are you even in front of us now? Weren’t you terrified of him before?” Twilight asked.

“Nicholas shared with me a few things, including something I could use to destroy him should he try to do the same to me. It was enough to earn my trust,” Gilgamesh explained.

“You know, I just realized that you have a way to destroy me, but I don’t know how to defeat you!” Nicholas exclaimed, taking a few steps away from the warrior.

“Don’t trust me?”

“Have you given me a reason to, other than throwing me through a tree?”

“That’s ‘punching you through a tree because I thought you might try to kill Twilight.’ But, I suppose you have a point. Help me with this errand, and I’ll lend you a bit of power.”

A moment of thought came across Nicholas’ face before he stuck his hand out to Giglamesh. “You’ve got yourself a de-” which was subsequently removed from the air by a navy blue hoof.

“Nicholas has enough power with his time stopping ability, he doesn’t need any more, or it might go to his head,” I told him in a “this is final” tone.

Once Nicholas had recovered from the hoof to the head, he mouthed to Gilgamesh “meet me after the battle.” I smacked him again, causing him to rub the spot once again and give me a pleading look. To be honest, I almost caved, but I didn’t let him know that.

“We’ll discuss the matter afterwards. For now, let’s move that statue.”

Hours later, the imprisoned Discord sat on top of a mountain in the hot and arid Badlands. Gilgamesh stood in front, facing him, with the six Elements surrounding the statue. Nicholas stood next to the warrior and the princesses flanked them both (with Luna on the side Nicholas was, of course).

“I don’t know if you can see me, but I know you can hear me, so let me lay this out for you: You’re surrounded by the Elements of Harmony, both the Princesses, and your former ‘Champion’, so don’t try anything. I’ve got some questions for you, namely in how you were able to find out about the version of Equestria with Ellura in it. You’re going to give me an honest answer or else things are going to get nasty.”

There of course was no response. He looked to the six mares.

“Do it.”

The six mares began focusing on their specific element, funneling their power into the Element of Magic, Twilight Sparkle. Twilight then used the accumulated magic to form a spell that would un-trap the currently trapped Discord. Once the spell was matured in Twilight’s mind, she released it upon the statue that was currently Discord.

And, of course, it was a rainbow.

The statue began to crack and crumble until the Spirit of Chaos was revealed, unleashing a loud groan as he cracked in body in ways that shouldn’t be possible (like turning his head a full 360 degrees).

“Ugh, I will never get used to that. I’d like to find the pony that said stone bedding is good for your back,” he muttered as he stretched out his arm. He snapped his claw and a fruit hat appeared on Gilgamesh’s head.

“Discord!” Celestia shouted. Gilgamesh simply took off his face guard, grabbed and apple, and started eating, his expression not changing a bit as he did.

“Oh, it’s you. Don’t you have a cake to eat, or something?” Discord said, obviously not happy to see the solar diarch.

“WHY YOU-!” Celestia began only for Gilgamesh to raise his hand and stop her.

“He’s just trying to get us to lose focus. Now then, Discord, how about that answer I want?”

“Why should I tell you? You’re just going to put me back in stone if I answer,” he replied, snapping his paw and causing sunflowers to sprout from out of Luna’s ears.

Nicholas reached over and pulled one of the seeds out of the flower, chewing on it for a moment, before spitting it out. “Too raw.” Luna gave him a glare.

“Oh look, you still haven’t lost your sense of humor! I was afraid you’d turned into a wet noodle when you switched sides.”

“I was never on your side, you just made me think I was,” he retorted angrily.

“I think Michael would disagree,” Discord taunted.

“Well he’s not here right now!”

“I can fix that.” the Draconequus said menacingly, putting his fingers in the position to snap, but Nicholas was faster on the draw, stopping time and rushing over to Discord, moving his fingers away from each other and holding them there. Nicholas then resumed time.

“H-how did you-” Discord questioned.

“I learned from the best,” Nicholas responded, “or the worst.”

“You! After all I did for you!”

“You mean all you did to me!”

“ENOUGH!” Gilgamesh shouted, catching everyone’s attention. “Discord, if you answer me, I promise you will be given a reward in return,” he said as he took a bite into an orange.

“WHAT!?” everyone else shouted.

“Oh? And what would that be?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“What kind of-?”

“If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise, now would it?”

“NOW HOLD ON A MIN-!” Luna began.

“Well, not much to tell. I just happened to get ahold of that little vial. It seemed so wonderfully chaotic, I just couldn’t leave it alone! And after I got that message from that walking science project I decided to take a little peek. And, lo and behold, another universe, another Equestria, one with some of the most disgusting things imaginable being conducted right under the snout of that version’s Celly, and even with her unknowing support! I knew it was too good not to use in case my Champion needed a little… persuasion.”

“You’re a sick fuck, you know that?!” Nicholas shouted in Discords face.

“So that’s it? Just chance?” Gilgamesh asked.

“I’m afraid so. Sorry if you were expecting more. Now then, about that reward?”

“Of course. I’ve got quite a few things to give you, actually, and I just want to explain why I’m giving them to you. You see, I happen to enjoy a well spun tale, and in my opinion, a good adventure usually requires a great villain to set things up. And, by my standards, you’re one of the best. You know why?”

“Oh please, go on. Flattery will get you everywhere.” Discord replied, batting his eyelashes at the warrior.

“You see, it’s not because you actually know how to have a good time. It’s not because you’re so great at manipulating others and making plans, although those things certainly contribute to it. For me, there’s one things that makes a good villain. They make you hate their rotting guts and make you want to see them lose.” he finished in an extremely dark and threatening tone.

“W-What?”

"TOKE WO TOMARE!"

As he shouted that phrase the gem on his armor lit up and the world suddenly stopped. Nicholas watched the warrior take a strange pose before he flashed in light. A moment later he was replaced with a large eight armed figure with different armor, but there was no mistaking that it was Gilgamesh.

Despite the lack of sound he unleashed a fearsome battle cry (or tried to at least) and after signaling Nicholas to move unleashed a flurry of lightning fast punches upon the frozen draconequus. The indications of force upon his body told Nicholas that Discord was going to be hurting badly when it stopped. The warrior halted his assault just before the gem ran out of energy.

The mares were both shocked and confused as they saw this new figure replacing Gilgamesh as well as Discord flying away from the mountain like he was shot out of a cannon. The warrior extended one of his many hands towards Discord and the gem in his armor radiated a different color, causing the draconequus to somehow get pulled back towards him. Just before he collided with him Gilgamesh pulled his arms back, ready for another strike.

”DORARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARARA!” he shouted as he unleashed another flurry of punches upon his hapless victim. “DORA!” With one final shout he punched Discord down at the mountain, causing it to actually shake from the force and make a large crater. Gilgamesh then raised one of his hands before clenching into a fist, which then radiated with power. Nicholas stopped time just before Gilgamesh’s fist came in contact with Discord for the final blow. He then proceeded to carry each of the Elements of Harmony down the mountain, which took several hours from his point of view. When he came to the princesses, he pulled them into his stasis, motioning for them to teleport them to the base of the mountain, where the other six were. Once they were all at the base of the mountain, he resumed time.

Everyone was shocked to see that after the blow hit, as made evident by the massive “boom!” coming from the summit, the mountain split down the middle before crumbling to dust.

“W-What!?” Luna exclaimed as she tried to take in what was happening. “He had that much power!?”

Before anyone could respond a hole in reality opened in the ground behind them. Out flew Discord, high into the air, clearly looking worse for wear. As he reached the apex of his arc and began to fall Gilgamesh shot out and once again began to hammer him with punched, forcing him further upwards.

”ARIARIARIARIARIARIARIARIARIARIARIARIARIARI!” he shouted before stopping and pulling back one of his fists. “ARRIVEDERCI!” he cried as the blow struck, unleashing another blast of force as it connected. As the Spirit of Chaos flew out of sight, Gilgamesh landed, pausing a moment before cracking his neck and turning to face his stunned audience.

“And that is what you get when you use the plight of a friend of mine to hurt others,” he said simply. A moment later Discord came crashing down into the dirt behind him, kicking up a large cloud of sand. “Stone him.”

The Elements of Harmony stood stunned for a moment longer before comprehending what was requested of them. Then then focused their power again, albeit in a less steady fashion, and sent another rainbow after the draconequus to bring him back to a similar state as before.

“How… how did… You punched a mountain into nothing! How!?” Nicholas exclaimed.

“Oh that’s nothing. That’s probably about… ten, fifteen… definitely no more than twenty percent of my full power.”

There was silence, all ten of their jaws on the ground, granted Discord’s was on the ground because his whole face was there, but the point still stands.

“And you did that just because of what Discord did to Michael?” Celestia asked, still shocked.

“Well, mostly because he used someone else’s suffering to his benefit, but that too. I don’t tolerate that kind of thing, especially when it’s done to my friends.”

“Good to know you think of me as a friend,” Nicholas said, a ghost of a smile present beyond his shock and awe.

“Well, we need to get this idiot. And I need to fulfill a few promises before I leave. The first one being to Discord,” he said as he returned to his previous form with a flash.

“Huh?”

“Well, I did promise that he’d get something for his trouble. The beating I just handed him, I was going to do no matter what he said.”

Before anyone could question him he walked over to Celestia and whispered in her ear. Her face soon turned to surprise. “Really? Fluttershy?” she asked.

“It worked in my dimension. And several others,” he assured her.

“I see. Well for now, we should take Discord back to Canterlot. If you could, sir Gilgamesh?”

“It would be my pleasure, your Majesty,” he replied as he cut a large hole in the air before picking up the now imprisoned Discord. He jumped inside and the rest followed, Nicholas stopping to take one last look at the now missing mountain.

“And he was afraid of me?” he muttered. He then turned and jumped in along with everyone else.

“This is a new development, we must inform the queen.”

“Right.”

Two shiny black bug-like equines flew away from the small hill, towards the aforementioned “queen”.

“She will be very pleased with us.”

“Very pleased.”

Gilgamesh, Luna, and Nicholas stood in the throne room of the Canterlot Palace, the Elements of Harmony and princess Celestia having gone to the garden to return the Discord statue to it’s rightful place. Nicholas turns to Gilgamesh and asks him a simple question.

“So, how about that power up you were going to give me?” Nicholas received another smack from Luna. “Luna, go home! You’re not you when you’re tired!”

“Believe me, Luna, I understand your concern over your coltfrie- er, boyfriend’s ego swelling to a size above Rainbow Dash’s, but when it comes to having powers and weapons to any amount others would consider ‘overkill’, there’s a saying I’ve subscribed to: ‘When you need it, and don’t have it, you’re singing a different tune,’” Gilgamesh explained.

Luna glared at Gilgamesh for a few seconds before relenting. “Fine, but when Nicholas becomes the next Sombra, I’m blaming you!”

“Point taken, but the fact is there is one thing that’s keeping me from just giving it to you now. It’s an item. And that means anyone who has it can use it. So, Nicholas, you got a way to keep in away from Michael?”

“I’d need to know what it is, first; but, probably.” Nicholas responded.

Gilgamesh sighed. “It’s one version of my token, the Genji Gloves. But they function as more than just a way to summon me. They’re gauntlets that give defense against weapons and magic and also render you immune to both Toad and Paralyse status ailments. And if anything of yours can be used by him, I may have to side with Luna on this one.”

“I… don’t think that he’d use them to the full extent. He focuses more on attack than defense, you see.” Nicholas explained.

“Hm… I’m sorry, but I just can’t risk it. It’s passive, so all he’d have to do is wear them. Instead, I’ll give you this, for the moment, at least.” He held his hand out and focused. A bright light radiated from his palm, which faded to be a medallion with the same insignia on his scarf and shield on it. “This just works to summon me, so it’s not totally useless.”

Nicholas reached out and took the amulet. “Either way, it is appreciated, good friend. I hope I don’t have to call on you in the future. Here…” Nicholas reached into his pocket, inexplicably finding a small hourglass, and held it out towards Gilgamesh. “This is my token.”

“Yeah, um… I already have that one. I kinda… fell on it and got warped here…”

“You… already have it?” Nicholas asked, his arm going slightly limp. “Well, I guess there’s no need for this.” He placed the hourglass back in his pocket and patted said pocket, finding it empty once again.

“Sorry, I kinda have a history of weird things happening to me… even by the standards of us Displaced. Oh, that reminds me, I think I’ve got something you can use,” he reached behind him and pulled out a folder. “This is from Auric Fulcrum, one of the best of us in my opinion. Read it at your leisure.”

Nicholas took the folder. “Thanks. I’ll get to it.”

“There is… one last thing I can offer you… It’s not something I can do now, but I hopefully will soon.”

“What is it?” Nicholas asked, a hint of curiosity in his eye.

“I… may, may being the key word here… have a way to deal with Michael.”

“WHAT?!” Michael suddenly took control, but Nicholas made a noticeable effort to push him back down, eventually succeeding after several moments of fighting for control.

“I… I want you to knock me out!” Nicholas yelled. “I can’t- can’t hold him back much longer!”

“YOU WILL NEVER BE RID OF ME!! THIS IS MY BODY AND-”

Nicholas, or Michael, depending on your point of view, then slumped to the ground, out cold, Gilgamesh’s head now where their head once was.

“You… headbutted him?” Luna asked.

“I find the unexpected methods work best,” he explained. “Can I tell you instead and you can pass it along?”

“Of course. What message do you want me to tell him when he wakes up?” Luna eyed the slumped body, subtly moving it to a more comfortable-looking position.

“I don’t have it yet, but I’m retrieving my weapons back in my world. One of them is blade called ‘Zantetsuken.’ It can cut anything, and I do mean anything. With the proper mastery, which I have, I can make it cut exactly what I want, and nothing else.”

“I still don’t see what this has to do with Michael.”

“When I said ‘it can cut anything’ I didn’t just mean materials. It can slice barriers in time and space, it can cut magic, it can cut ideas. What I’m saying is it might literally be able to cut Michael out of Nicholas’ body.”

“You… you mean…” Luna put a hoof to her mouth, processing everything she’d been told, and the outcome of such actions. “Mister Gilgamesh, I would personally be indebted to you if you would be kind enough to take it upon yourself to find your weapon and free Nicholas of the hell that is ‘Michael’.” Luna bowed to Gilgamesh as she said this, putting her head so low her horn nearly touched the ground.

“I understand, and I’d be more than happy to, but we must take a few things into account. First of all, I’ve never done this before. I have no idea what might happen. I can promise Nicholas won’t be damaged, but as to what will happen to Michael… it could destroy him completely, or it might give him his own body away from Nicholas. I have no idea, anything is possible.”

Luna paused to consider this. As much as she wanted her lover free of this curse, she couldn’t imagine the damage that Michael could do without Nicholas to reign him in.

“And second, is whether or not Nicholas wants him gone.”

“What are you saying?” Luna’s head whipped up, glaring at Gilgamesh. “That Nicholas wants this?”

“Look, I don’t know enough about what’s going on here. I know Michael is violent, and I know he’s done bad things in the past. What I don’t know is if he’s straight up evil. If he is, I’m sure Nicholas will want him gone, but if he’s just violent and a bit selfish… well, in my dimension, and in several others, even, Discord managed to turn over a new leaf, at least to some extent. The same could be possible for Michael and, to be honest, it might be beneficial to him to have someone in his head who can watch out for him.”

“You may be right… I will leave that decision up to Nicholas,” Luna told him. “I thank you for your help with everything, Gilgamesh.” Luna bowed once again, only this time, only her head bobbed a little.

“It was my pleasure. I promise you, Luna, if you need my help with Michael I will come running. Nothing would please me more than to see you and Nicholas have a happy ending.”

Luna blushed as she avoided eye contact. “Thank you.”

“And now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to return to my own dimension and retrieve my lost power. And also see if I can woo my own version of Luna.”

“What?” Luna asked, surprised.

“Hey, you’re a desirable mare. Don’t worry, it’s not like you’re cheating on him,” he explained with a wink. “Farewell, fair Mistress of the Night!”

He cut open a hole with his weapon and leaped inside, the portal closing behind him.

The only thought that went through Luna’s head after this was as follows:

‘Fair means pale...’