//------------------------------// // Building Bridges // Story: And Then There Were 10...Er...67 // by Grey Ghost //------------------------------// “So this ‘Alien X’ allows you to bend the very fabric of reality?” Celestia asked. Despite her calm tone, her sharp gaze was boring holes into Jason’s head. “Um... yeah.” Jason coughed into his tea. He had noticed that, whenever some shit happened, Celestia always debriefed those involved with tea. It was weird. “It’s not that simple though.” “How is it not?” Luna asked, raising her eyebrow. “Look, in order to use Alien X I have to get the other personalities to agree with me,” Jason explained, sipping his tea. “Are you saying you're hearing voices Jason?” “Um... sorta... just two. A guy named Hughes and Hodgepodge.” “Hodgepodge is a separate personality?” Celestia asked in surprise, Luna mirroring her reaction. “You couldn’t tell?” Jason asked, raising an eyebrow. “He’s more or less the more chaotic parts of my personality. Hughes is the same but he more represents the asshole parts of my nature.” “I see...” Celestia said, rolling her eyes at his crude language. “Well I suppose we should accept that Canterlot won’t collapse?” “Oh yeah, god magic is holding this place up,” Jason confirmed, nodding his head. “Well that’s good to know,” Luna said, letting out a sigh. “Now that that is settled, let us discuss the settlers.” “What settlers?” Jason asked, looking confused. “After your... execution of the Forever King and your recent slaying of, what did you call him? Fenrir? Anyway, since Canterlot is in a rather sorry state, there are many nobles that wish to rebuild the village around the Castle of the Two Sisters,” Celestia said, seeming to enjoy his bewilderment. “Castle of the – what the hell!?” he demanded, clutching his tea cup, the liquid starting to freeze, “I have no idea how to rule people!” he shouted, a shrieking wind kicking up in the room. “Jason!” Celestia quickly wrapped a wing around the man, trying to calm him. “You need to relax, you’re causing a blizzard,” she said, giving him a gentle nuzzle. Her actions had their intended effect, causing the jotun to relax. As he did, the wind died down, though there was a layer of frost around the room. “Ok... I’m good,” Jason said letting out a long sigh, looking rather tired. “Those powers, are they some form of magic you learned?” Luna asked, having shielded herself from the outburst. “No...”Jason said shaking his head, “It’s all me. I’m a jotun remember? They’re mostly associated with ice and wind. Coming here and learning to use magic must have brought it up to the surface.” “I see,” Celestia said. Lighting her horn, she heated the rooms slightly to evaporate the frost. “Jason, I highly suggest you get training for these powers, as they appear to be tied to your emotions. If you were to enter your ‘berserker’ rage as you call it, you could cause a massive blizzard.” “Yeah, yer right, Celestia...” He nodded in agreement, relaxing in his chair. “I’ll send for Cadance. If anypony can help you control your abilities, it will be her.” Celestia said, already scribbling away on a scroll. A second later she ignited it with magical fire, sending its ashes out of the window. “Sister, are you sure that’s such a good idea?” Luna asked, a look of concern on her muzzle, “I can’t imagine that Chrysalis and Cadance will get along.” “I think Chrysalis will be on her best behavior if it means Jason will get the help he needs.” They both looked at the jotun, who had since fallen asleep. Celestia smiled maternally, covering him with a quilt. “So, sister,” Luna started, smiling as well, “Tell us, how did your date with Slash go?” “Oh it went swimmingly,” Celestia said, taking on a dreamy look, “Sadly, his injuries have excluded him from the guard permanently, I am just thankful that they are not severe enough to cripple him.” “That is truly good to hear...” Luna said, letting out a sigh, “I hope it stays happy for you...” “Luna you have to let it go, what happened to them isn’t your fault.” Celestia moved over to her sister, pulling her into a hug. “How isn’t it? I should have seen what was happening to Sombra... and now I’ll never be able to save him,” Luna started, tears starting to flow down her muzzle. “And then Grey... none should see their mother like that.” She pulled away, levitating Jason onto her back. “I’ll take him home... I need some air,” she said, teleporting away before Celestia could say anything. She reappeared in front of the hive, the guards at the gates greeting her. “Hail your Majesty,” one said saluting. Luna was still unsure of the changelings that made up the Valor guard, mostly due to the fact that she could not judge how well they were trained, though some had to have infiltrated the Solar or Lunar guard at one time or another. “See to it that Jason is taken to his room,” she said, gesturing for them to take him off her back. “Of course ma’am,” the guard spoke as it and its sibling lifted Jason into their magic. They went inside, another pair of guards emerging to take their place. She turned away from them, staring up at the moon. “Grey Ghost... where are you?” she asked, before letting out a sigh. A moment later she blinked out of existence, returning to the castle. “So...” Jason started, twiddling his thumbs a little. Currently, he was sitting in the meeting room with Cadance and Chrysalis. They had been sitting there for several minutes of awkward silence and it was too much for Jason. Much to their credit, neither mare looked at the other, their eyes roaming around the room. “You know what, I’m going to go do something productive, you two work this out and get back to me later.” He got up, both mares locking their eyes on him. “No,” he said, holding his hand up, “You two work it out! I mean it!” He left the room, passing Cadance’s guard on his way out. ‘What was his name? Flash something? Eh, doesn’t matter.’ Jason thought to himself. “Hey, Speed!” Jason called out to a passing guard. ‘Speed’ saluted, waiting for orders. “I want you to go into town and tell the Elements that I would like to see them.” “Yes sir!” Speed said before flittering down the hall. Jason watched him go for a moment before heading towards the kitchen. There he found Gilda, who was in the middle of gutting Saehrimnir. “Bit early for that ain’t it?” he took a seat next to her, watching her work. “Hey, he came to me telling me to ice him because of how awkward your marefriend and the pretty pony princess were making things,” Gilda said, not really caring about staying clean as she emptied the boar’s body cavity. “That doesn’t surprise me,” Jason said, scooting back a little to avoid getting splattered with viscera, “I just hope they can work it all out...” *** Chrysalis couldn’t help but avoid Cadance’s gaze, the tension in the air giving her a headache. “Look,” Cadance said suddenly, getting Chrysalis’ attention, “Just tell me what you and Shiny did um... in bed,” Cadance pleaded, though the empress just stared at her. “Please Chrysalis, it’s been bothering me ever since the wedding.” Chrysalis stared at her a little longer before she fell out of her chair, laughing herself hoarse. “This isn’t a laughing matter Chrysalis!” Cadance shouted at her. “I want to know what disgusting sex acts you were making my husband perform while you were mind raping him!!” “Oh, Cadance,” Chrysalis coughed out, getting back into her seat, “I haven’t laughed that hard in a long while,” she said, taking a deep breath, “To answer your question, we didn’t do anything. I didn’t actually need to mind control him that much to drain him of his love.” “Then why did you?” Cadance asked, narrowing her eyes. “To shut him up,” Chrysalis said, adjusting her wings. “What?” Cadance asked, rather surprised by that answer. “I seriously have no idea how you put up with him,” Chrysalis started, “I’ve never really cared about what you ponies call pop culture and all he would talk about was nerd crap.” She rolled her eyes. “Not a day went by without him bitching about some Power Ponies character or how they were releasing some new collectable figure. It got so bad that I just snapped and put him under the deepest mind control that I could.” She looked Cadance in the eyes. “Do you have any idea what he wanted to do for his bachelor party?” Cadance just shook her head dumbly. “He and his damnable nerd friends were going to spend the last day of his bachelorhood playing Oubliettes and Ogres!” She slammed her hooves onto the table, seething. “I mean who does that!? Sure we play it around here but it doesn’t consume our lives to the point where we’d waste the last unwed day of our lives playing the damn game!” She panted a little, glaring down at the table, which had been dented by her hooves. “It probably helps that I’m as big a nerd as he is...” Cadance said with a sheepish laugh, drawing Chrysalis’ ire. She ignored it and cleared her throat. “I have to say, Chrysalis... I’m rather curious as to what you and Jason do in bed...” she admitted with a blush. “Really? Why would you want to know?” Chrysalis asked, composing herself. “Well I am the Princess of Love after all, it’s my duty to make sure a relationship stays healthy.” “I’m not going to answer that,” Chrysalis said, keeping a neutral face, “Instead, I’m going to help you answer it yourself. Now tell me, what do changelings do?” “Um... shapeshift?” “Yes, that’s good,” she said with a nod. “And what does the Omnitrix let Jason do?” “Shapeshift?” “Good, good,” she said nodding, “Now, what do you think two shapeshifters do in bed?” Cadance didn’t answer, but her eyes widened slightly as her pink fur darkened into a bright red. “Also remember that Jason has a changeling form in the Omnitrix. Now multiply that by practically infinite combinations,” she said with a smirk, rather enjoying the princess’s blush. “O-oh my...” Cadance muttered out, trying to keep her wings under control. “Hey, you asked the question,” Chrysalis smirked, loving this. “Are you, um...?” Cadance asked, unable to finish the sentence. “If you’re asking if I’m going to start laying eggs soon, the answer is no, we agreed we would wait until the wedding, which is actually during mating season,” Chrysalis explained, buzzing her wings. “I really can’t wait, larva are so adorable.” “What do baby changelings look like?” Cadance asked, regaining enough of her composure to actually talk. “Like foals really, except squishier. Their carapaces haven’t hardened yet so they are very soft. I usually go down to the nursery and tell them stories.” “Stories?” Cadance asked, tilting her head. “Well of course, I am their mother, I would be remiss if I didn’t care for them,” Chrysalis said, looking rather offended. “Hey, I didn’t mean anything by it,” Cadance said, holding her arms up, “It’s just after the wedding, its hard to imagine you reading to children.” “We do a lot of things you ponies couldn’t imagine,” Chrysalis said, looking away from her. Cadance just sighed, looking at the empress. She had come here expecting to still hate Chrysalis, but now that they were talking, she found it hard to actually hate the mare. Heck, if this kept up, they might even end up as friends. At that Cadance smiled to herself, ‘One step at a time Cadie, one step at a time.’ “So, why did you drag us out here?” Dash asked, finding it endlessly fascinating that she could now tap her talons on the table. “Because we need to find Bifrost,” Jason said simply, gesturing to the map in front of them. It hadn’t been much help, only showing a picture of Yggdrasil with each realm represented with a orb to show their location around the world tree. “Why do we need to find it, dear?” Rarity asked, looking at the map. Despite being ungodly old, it was still as bright and vibrant as it was the day it was made. “Because Bifrost will allow us to travel across the realms,” Jason said, staring down at the map. “It’s completely unhelpful though, all it does is show the realms’ positions on Yggdrasil.” “Have you tried magic?” Pinkie asked, looking at the map quizzically. “What?” Jason asked, looking at her blankly. “Well it’s a magic map right? So did ya try using magic on it yet?” she asked, giving him a curious look. “Now I feel like an idiot,” Jason said with a sigh. He put a hand on the map, sending a pulse of magic into it. The map itself glowed, its image shifting. Gone was the image of Yggdrasil, replaced with a map of Equestria. “Thats amazing!” Twilight gasped out, her eyes sparkling slightly in awe. “Calm down Twi, you can geek out over it later,” Jason said, looking down at the map, “Show me Bifrost,” he ordered, sending it another pulse of magic. It glowed again, and the image zoomed in on the very castle they were all standing in. A very strange tree was highlighted near the castle, a rainbow encircling it. “Ok, what the hell is that?” “Hey Twi, isn’t that the Tree of Harmony?” Applejack asked, giving the image a good hard look. “I think you're right, Applejack,” Twilight said, tapping her muzzle with a hoof, “Why would it show up as this ‘Bifrost’?” “Only one way to find out,” Jason said as he got up, taking the map with him, “Let’s get going girls, we have a rainbow bridge to find.” They shared a look before moving out of their seats, following him. They made their way out of the castle, crossing the drawbridge with haste. “What exactly is this Bifrost, Jason?” Rarity asked, making sure not to damage her hooves or step in anything as they moved into the forest. “Bifrost is the rainbow bridge that connects Asgard, where we are, to Earth, or Midgard, the world I came here from,” he explained, following the map. “Wait, rainbow bridge?” Dash asked, fluttering over to him, looking at the map. “Yup, a literal rainbow bridge that crosses realms,” Jason confirmed as he looked up from the map to make sure he was going the right way. There he saw a felled tree with a curious object lodged in it. From a cursory observation of the large crater in the tree’s trunk, the dark blue, almost black object had smashed into the tree with sufficient velocity to knock it over. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be a leaf-shaped, razor sharp scale. “Huh, weird,” Jason said, shrugging a little. He ignored the object, moving deeper into the forest. After a few moments he stopped when they came to a small ravine, which led to a cave. “This is the place, stairs are over there,” Twilight said before letting out a gasp as Jason jumped in. She rushed down said stairs, only to find the jotun at the bottom, seemingly completely uninjured. “That would have messed up a human...” Jason said, looking up at where he had been. He said nothing more and headed into the cave. The others followed after him, with Dash starting to make an uncomfortable face. “Um... Twi... Jay... my legs feel weird,” Dash uttered, looking down at her prosthetic limbs and rubbing them together a bit. “It’s probably just the power crystals interacting with the Tree’s harmonious magic, nothing to worry about, Dash,” Twilight assured, giving her a smile. “Thanks, Twi...” Dash said, though she wasn’t sure she herself believed that. “If it makes you feel better Dash... I can feel it too,” Jason said as he came to a stop, looking up at the tree. It was crystal in nature, being vaguely star shaped. At the end of each of its five main branches was a differently colored and shaped gem, matching the Elements’ cutie marks, and at the center of the tree was a larger, purple gem that resembled Twilight’s cutie mark. Further down the trunk were Celestia and Luna’s cutie marks, seemingly engraved directly into the surface. “It’s still so marvelous to look at,” Rarity said with a sigh, looking up at the tree dreamily. “Well the map says Bifrost should be here...” Jason said with a sigh and looked around. He approached the tree, putting a hand on it. “Well, this was a bust...” he said, walking away, only to notice Dash walking up to it, her eyes locked on the tree. It suddenly glowed, the gems inside of it beginning to shine. The gems flashed brightly and released differently-colored beams of energy, which coalesced into a rainbow and started to swirl around Dash. “Twilight,” Jason said in an unsure tone, “Is it supposed to do this?” “I don’t know!” the alicorn screamed, her eyes wide with panic, “This has never happened before!” They all watched in a mix of awe and fear as the energy flowed into Dash, causing her to glow. After a few moments it subsided, leaving Dash standing there, panting heavily. “Oh my, are you alright Rainbow?” Fluttershy asked, the first of the group to check on their friend. “Yeah I’m ok... I just feel... faster...” Dash said, spreading her wings and giving them a flap. They had grown much larger, almost like the princesses’. She tilted her head slightly and twisted it around, her eyes widening at the sight of her new wings. “I think I know what’s going on,” Jason said, getting their attention, “During Ragnarok, the fire giant Surt lit the Bifrost on fire. I imagine its energy escaped and became the Tree. I think it just gave some of its power to Dash,” he said, taking out the map. Sure enough, the image of the tree had been replaced by a silhouette of Rainbow Dash. “That’s amazing!” Twilight shouted, her gaze turning to the tree. “So... does this mean I can travel between worlds?” Dash asked, finding that it now took much less effort to get airborne. “We’ll test that out later, at the moment we should get back to the castle before Chrissy and Cadance kill each other,” Jason said, rolling up the map and storing it in his cube. ‘Heh,’ Jason thought as he left the cave, ‘Fenrir was right, Bifrost was closer than I thought.’