”Well, here’s to Jay getting his own world.” Dash toasted, already a little buzzed. The others raised their glasses, clanging them together.
“Not something I really expected,” Jason said with a laugh. He took a sip of his drink, which was chilled to perfection just from his touch.
“A lot of unexpected things happened,” Celestia added, sipping her own drink.
“Hey, what’s this?” Pinkie Pie asked, picking a strange blue cube out of her mane.
“I think that’s a token,” Jason said, taking it from her. “I have no idea what it is though... I bet it summons Loki from The Avengers. Imma be so hype.”
Jason turned the cube over in his hands, its softly glowing blue sides pulsing with hidden light. Suddenly, he was able to hear the summoning phrase of the token in full clarity.
“Uhh. This is the... Animorph... Wade. Call me... if you need any help?”
“Animorphs huh? I vaguely remember that show... hey Wade, I don’t really need any help, but who doesn’t want to just enjoy a party?”
“Of course! Who doesn’t like parties?!” Pinkie shouted, getting up, almost knocking Slash’s plate off the table.
“Oi, careful,” he chastised, moving it out of the way of the energetic mare.
“Huh, guess he ain’t coming,” Applejack said, shrugging a little.
“What? He hasn’t even gotten here yet and he’s already bailing? What a lame-o,” Rainbow Dash snorted. “I guess if I was about to come face to face with the awesomest pony in any Equestria, I might hightail it too. If I wasn’t already that pony, obviously,” she stated with a nod of her head, taking another swig of her drink.
“I think the booze is just going to your head,” Gilda said, reaching out to take the drink from her.
“It’s going... going to mah belly,” Rainbow Dash stuttered, pulling her drink back out of the griffon’s reach, “Not my head. Mah head’s as clear... as clear... as clear as the skyyyyyyy~” she hiccuped, proof of her drinking having overtaken her tolerance.
“Yggdrasil, Dash, how much did you drink?” Jason asked, looking concerned. “This is about Gilgamesh’s Dash drinking you under the table, isn’t it?”
“Only...” Dash screwed up her muzzle in contemplation. “I think... yeah, I’ve only had six... Or was it seven? I can handle... twice that, easy! Ah’m not even buzzed!” She took another pull, swaying on her hooves.
“Someone cast a sleep spell on her,” Jason said, sighing.
“I’m impre... imbal... invisible to spells!” Rainbow Dash belted out, leaning against Gilda.
“Yeah, yeah, let’s get you to bed. And I’m telling you right now, if you piss in bed I’m going to kick your ass,” Gilda said said, pulling Dash onto her back.
“And we’re one pony down,” Pinkie started, suddenly wearing a strange hat on her head. For some reason. She also had a toy microphone she held in one hoof, making her voice echo and warble, “And before a new guest can even arrive! Who will be next? Will Twilight prove how much of a lightweight she is? Will Applejack win by a landslide, showing us the true stomach of the Apple family? Stay tuned folks, next time here on...” a drumroll sung out, coming from seemingly nowhere, “Uh... dangit, I had something for this... Party Palooza?” she finished weakly, looking to her remaining friends for their input.
“Um... what?” Applejack asked, rather confused by Pinkie’s antics.
“Nothing!~” Pinkie trilled, tucking the hat and microphone away, before turning to Jason, “Hurry up hurry up, you gotta make them come over here, before we lose any more ponies! Do it for the sake of the party!”
“Ugh, if he doesn’t want to come he doesn’t have to,” Jason said, rolling his eyes, “I’m not going to make him.”
“Why would he not want to come?” Pinkie asked, her eyes getting watery and her mane drooping. “Aren’t you having fun? Isn’t the party fun? Is it not fun? What’s not fun about it, tell me and I’ll-”
“Ugh, fine, I’ll call him again. Hey Wade, I don’t know if you're busy but Pinkie’s bugging me to get you over here, you’d be doing me a solid if you drop by,”
Pinkie started bouncing happily, singing something about ‘new friends’ or something.
Several seconds passed, eventually turning into a full minute. Pinkie was getting more and more despondent by the second, offput that someone might actually not want to come to one of her parties.
Suddenly, a hole opened in midair, and a pony was shoved through violently, landing on her face in the middle of the room, much to everyone’s amazement. She slowly raised herself off the floor, looking around the room. Pinkie gasped, and quickly ran up to her, getting right in her face with a brilliant smile.
“Flutters!” she shouted, drawing the familiar yellow pegasus into a hug, and turning to the local one, “You didn’t tell me you had a twin!”
“Oh um... I don’t,” Fluttershy claimed, hiding behind her mane.
At the same time the new one stated, “She doesn’t.”
“Sorry for the face steal,” the new Fluttershy said, twitching a now obviously leathery wing. When she opened her mouth, pointed fangs could also be seen. “I kinda injured myself when I got your call. Had to morph to get rid of the da-NO. Bad Twilight, put the dang pad and quill away!” she suddenly belted out, glaring at Twilight.
Twilight sheepishly lowered the pad of paper she had grabbed, setting it back on the table she had gotten it from.
“So... you got Displaced as Flutterbat?” Jason asked, pointing at Fluttershy, who was similarly batified.
“You already know about Displaced? Good, saves me the trouble of having to be the introductory guide. And no, I didn’t get Flutterbat, I kinda made this form by mixing Fluttershy’s and Ferdinando’s genetic profile. Oh, your majesties,” she said with a bow towards Celestia and Luna, “Ex-Queen Chrysalis,” she bowed towards Chrysalis, who got an irritated look from the assumption.
“I am empress thank you very much,” she huffed, crossing her arms. “I swear, why does everyone still get that wrong?”
“Forgive her, she’s still pissy about that book thing,” Jason said, causing Chrysalis to glare at Celestia, who just looked away, whistling softly.
“Apologies,” Wade/Flutterbat started, “My version of Chrysalis seceded the throne to her daughter Insectum, and currently lives in Ponyville with her marefriend. I should have realized full well that my own version of Equestria wouldn’t reflect completely on yours. I’ve been to many different Equestrias, but none where Chry- Queen Chrys- Empress Chrysalis is just a normal face to see in the room. Most Equestrias don’t view her or hers in a positive light.”
“I found that out the hard way...” Chrysalis said, looking away with a sigh.
“So welcome to the party, Wade. Dash was here but she got drunk off her ass and Gilda dragged her to bed.” Jason said, offering him a drink.
“Gilda?” Wade asked, tilting his head in confusion.
“The griffon she’s dating.”
“Oh. Well good for her. Maybe I should suggest that in my world, getting Dash a boy... coltfriend might steer her away from so many pranks...” Wade got a contemplative look on his face, wrinkling Fluttershy’s familiar features.
“Yeah screw the pony puns,” Jason said with a roll of his eyes,”Take a seat already, you're making me antsy.”
“Oh thank god. You wouldn’t believe how many variants try to correct me when I say someone, or anybody. So... can you let me go now?” He asked Pinkie Pie, who was still holding him in a bear hug.
“Ok!” she said, letting him go and trotting back to her seat. Wade was unceremoniously dumped on the ground, having not being given time to position all four hooves under himself.
“So, been Displaced long?” Jason asked, pouring himself some more booze.
“About four months. Yourself?” he replied, scooting past Applejack to pour himself a cup of water from the pitcher.
“In all honesty? I got no idea. Half a year maybe?” he asked, looking at Twilight.
“That sounds about right to me,” she said with a nod.
“Damn. Anything happen here yet? Bad, good, or otherwise?”
“Yeah...” Jason said, taking a long sip of his drink, “You ever watch Ben 10?”
Wade stiffened, his posture wary as he replied, “Yeeees? All of them, even the live action movies.”
“Pony version of the Forever Knights took over for a few days, killed thousands.” Jason let out a sigh, “Dash lost her legs and Slash over there got discharged from the guard due to injuries...”
“Holy crap... Oh, Captain Slash, didn’t see you there.”
“Let me guess, theres a version of me in your world I take it?” Slash asked, currently wearing his shades.
“Yeah, Celestia sent him, private Grinding Gears, and lieutenant Esper Elegy for me to get some male morphs off of. I only had Spike before that, with nothing but female morphs besides that. I decided to make a mix morph of them,” Wade gave Slash a knowing grin, “It was only after that I became aware of your...ethnicity, shall I say.”
“Uh huh...”Slash said nodding his head.
“Regarding Dash’s legs, might I suggest something?” Wade asked.
“We already made her new ones,” Jason said, shaking his head.
“Oh, well if thats taken care of, I guess it isn’t that big of a deal. But something you should know about my token,” he plucked the cube from Jason’s hand, “It functions as a default Escafil Device. But only for one individual per universe, for some reason. If you had Dash activate it, she could... just a second, let me demonstrate.”
Wade closed his eyes, until the the hoof on his front right leg shifted colors, turning an emerald green. And then an embossed emerald dagger popped out of it, appearing with a flash of light. Before anyone could do something, he plunged it hilt deep into his other front leg, gaining a yelp of surprise from everyone present. Drawing it out, the wound started bleeding steadily, and he made the dagger disappear again.
“Morphing,” He started, his voice straining from the obvious pain. His fur shifted from muted yellow to a deep, bright pink. his wings became insectoid in appearance, an electric blue replacing the leathery wings of Flutterbat. Chitin spread from beneath his skin, forming plates and a carapace where a hide once was.
“Repairs all damage. Even amputations. Just saying.” he stated, his voice a feminine, low buzzing trill that almost mimicked Chrysalis’ exactly.
“Still ain’t got nothing on this baby,” Jason said with a smirk, showing off the Omnitrix.
Wade suddenly froze, his wings buzzing irritatedly. Chrysalis and Slash immediately grew wary, knowing the indications of an angry queen about to attack.
“You wouldn’t happen to be named... Jason by any chance, would you?” he asked. his eyes unbreaking from Jason’s own.
“I am, yes–” Jason said, looking at him.
Wade drew back, shrinking suddenly. Whereas his previous ‘morph’ had taken almost a full minute, this one happened in only a split second, leaving the entire room suddenly looking at what appeared to be a fat, yellow mouse with red marks on its cheeks.
“Ah crap–”
“CHUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!” With a violent cry from the diminutive pokémon’s maw, a huge arc of lightning flew straight at Jason.
Jason didn’t move, letting the bolt hit him. “Okay... that tingled...” he said, glaring at Wade. “The hell was that for? Ben bad mouth me or something?”
<Don’t bother,> Those present heard echo in their minds, <I already heard all about you. You’re nothing but a manipulative jerk who goes out his way to screw over other Displaced!>
He shifted again, suddenly the picture perfect appearance of Twilight, without wings.
“Flux!” he called out, his horn lighting up a deep emerald green as he shot a ball of shadow at Jason.
Jason flew back, smacking into the wall. “Kid... you have no idea who you’re fucking with. You guys stay here, I got this,” Jason held his hand out, a glyph appearing under Wade. It exploded, sending him flying out the window. Jason followed, the two of them now in the moat area.
The Twilight lookalike was trying to get to his/her feet, but one of his legs had been blown off in the previous attack. Abandoning his attempts to stand, he shifted once more, This time to the form of a greenish... copy of Pearl, from the cartoon Steven Universe.
“Ok. Did not expect that, but then I don’t think you expected this. “Omnitrix, Nightshade,” he shifted into Gengar. Grinning his inhumanly large grin, he said, “Lets see if this works like I hope it does.” He tapped the Omnitrix, and was suddenly surrounded by a white sphere. He burst out of it, now a Mega-Gengar. “Oh, hell yes!”
“Crap baskets,” Wade uttered, suddenly looking unsure. “‘I won’t need flame based spells, noooooo, lets just focus on dark spells, I like those.’ Stupid!” He extended an arm, and the emerald tinged nails at the end started sparking. “Fire!” he called out, a significantly smaller ball of fire erupting from his hand than the ball of shadow he had launched previously.
It dispersed itself across Jason’s skin, barely singeing him.
“Double crap. Um. Elfire?” The nails on his hand sparked,and a gout of fire erupted from the ground around Jason. It stung slightly more, but it wasn’t anything of consequence.
“Kid, I don’t know who told you about me but it seems they didn’t tell you that I’m sort of a nature god. It’s a long story.” He moved up to Wade and proceeded to Lick him.
“Waste!” he called out, drenching the area in thick shadows. The Lick still hit, but now Jason was having trouble seeing what happened.
“Okay, now you're just pissing me off,” Jason growled, “Seriously, the hell’s your problem?”
“He trusted you!” came from his right, “Ruin!”
An arc of darkness splashed out of the shadow, doing jack all against Jason’s Mega-Gengar evolution.
“Who trusted me? I mean Ben sorta trusts me, Umm... I didn’t see Dox or Drake long enough to really to know them, I’m pretty sure Gilgamesh and Tomas trust me. Who the fuck are you talking about?”
“He trusted you, he didn’t do a damned thing to you, and you went and screwed him over! Went right to the straight up nutjob Princesses of his world and tried to screw him over! He almost died because of you! Goetia!” A stream of shadow tinged lightning danced across the shadows, lighting up Jason and actually stunning him momentarily.
“Wait... you're talking about Don aren’t you?” Jason asked, his voice going quiet. “That asshole never trusted me. Hell, I don’t even know a damn thing about his world.” He just stared at Wade, peering straight through the shadows at his energy. He slowly lost Gengar’s trademark grin, not pleased at the news.
<He warned me about you,> Wade claimed, suddenly shifting to bat form, flying out of the cloud of shadowy smoke. It slowly dispersed, before Wade changed once more midair, becoming a black scaled dragon. Jason dodged out of the way of the pathetically telegraphed attack, throwing Wade back with a Shadow Punch.
Wade belched a wave of fire towards his antagonist, but Jason split the attack with a Shadow Ball. “Kid look, just leave it alone, what happened between me and Don is our business. I refuse to let this explode like that thing with Auric and Teridax.”
“Tell me why,” Wade asked, stalking closer, his now serpentine neck coiling into an S, looking slightly downward at Jason, “If I like your answer I’ll concede defeat. If not, I’ll keep fighting–” He raised a scaly arm closer to his face, a strange box melting out of his flesh. “Or I could have 13 more hours until I return to my Equestria. Damn. I guess I’ll... try to fight for that long? Or something? Don’t think I’ll just believe you though, Don told me how manipulative you are.”
“Manipulative? Thats the worst descriptive ever used to describe me. Look I wasn’t in a good place when that asshole dragged me to his universe. I had just watched my friend lose her legs, killed the guy that did it and spent days awake making her new legs. Then while I’m there that guy acts shady as all hell, so I decide to go have a chat with his Princesses and he threatens me. Then he attacks me. The leg is his fault and I regret it but that didn’t give him the right to come here and help a war criminal use necromancy to resurrect a giant wolf and tell me he’s going to destroy everything I love. FUCK THAT GUY!”
The towering drake recoiled at Jasons outburst. “No. He told me you threatened him.”
“He spouted off something about being killed or imprisoned. I have no idea. I don’t know a damn thing about that guy’s world, but I do know that there’s something off about him. Seriously, stay as far away from him as possible.”
“But,” He stuttered, looking progressively cowed, “He was a good guy, put in a bad situation...”
“Listen to me, I will freely admit I wasn’t thinking right but there is something wrong with that guy. I don’t know what but he is not a good guy. Good guys do not associate with war criminals.” He turned, pointing at Canterlot. “You see how that mountain is half gone?”
“I... uh yeah?” he stated, slowly changing into a normal-looking human male with brown hair.
“That’s his fault. He resurrected the beast that did that. All because he wants to watch me suffer. Does that seem like a good man to you?” Jason asked, letting his guard down.
“I... That isn’t... No.”
“I think he played you like a damn fiddle,” Jason said, floating over to Wade.
“...I’ll find out for myself.” Wade claimed, suddenly looking at Jason with determined eyes. “I’m not a complete idiot. I can tell you aren’t a bad guy by the people around you. I’m sorry I attacked you... I forgot about the slight effect the siren dagger has, must have let it overwhelm me. That’s no excuse, though. I don’t know if you’re lying, if you’re telling the truth, or if you yourself be tricked into believing he’s a bad guy through some means. I will get to the bottom of this myself. And thank you for not pounding my ass into the ground, like I’m sure you are perfectly capable of doing.”
“Kid, you have no idea,” Jason said reverting to normal. “What I can tell you is, just leave Don alone. You're not a part of this. What happens between me and him is our business, don’t get dragged in. Plus, I know a crap ton of other Displaced you should meet instead.”
“If he’s gotten as strong as you, or anything like that I know I wouldn’t stand a chance, if he actually is evil.” Wade kicked at a rock, sending it flying over to collide with a tree.
“You shouldn’t kick rocks,” Maud said from behind Wade, “They have feelings too.”
“NYEAHAFAGAHG.” Wade let out, quickly hopping away. “Maud. Hi. Hello. Don’t do that. Please.”
“You hurt the rock’s feelings. You should apologize.” she said boredly.
“I... yeah, sure. What’s the rock’s name, so I can apologize properly?” He asked, trying to mimic her speaking tone.
“Her name is Calcite,” she said, pointing to the rock.
Wade leaned down, then looked back at Maud to see if she was still watching. Seeing no escape, he picked up the rock and addressed it, “Hi there... Calcite. Sorry for kicking you.” He then looked pointedly back at Maud.
“She accepts.” As she departed, she moved past Jason. “Goodnight boss, make sure Pinkie doesn’t get drunk.”
“You got it, Maud!” Jason said, watching her go.
“I still can’t believe she’s related to Pinkie Pie,” Wade muttered, tucking the rock into a pocket.
“They make for a good contrast,” Jason said .
“Scarily so.”
“You know... you could use some training.” Jason said turning to Wade. “I wouldn’t mind whipping you into shape. It’ll have to wait until after the wedding though.”
“Wedding? I thought Chrysalis was good in this universe though... wait, Twilight’s already an alicorn in your world... whose wedding is it exactly?”
“Mine!” he said happily, “I’m getting hitched to Chrysalis and Rarity!”
“Oh. Double wedding? Not my speed, but I can’t fault you for your own preferences. Feel bad for Flufflepuff... wonder if she found someone else seeing as you’ve taken her main squeeze?”
“Who?” Jason asked looking at him blankly.
“Pink ball of fluff. Looks the the wooly mammoth version of a pony. That one morph I did before I... attacked you, was a half changeling, a mix of Flufflepuff and Chrysalis... Apologies, you just told me you were getting married, and I didn’t say congratulations.”
“Thanks though... Flufflepuff doesn’t exist here. I don’t think this universe would support something like that.”
“Not surprising. Is this weird? Us just talking? After... all that?”
“Yeah, town isn’t really built yet and the only ponies here are some nob- and here they come...” Jason said with a groan as some ponies trotted over, muttering complaints about the noise. “Come on, let’s go inside,” Jason said, heading back into the castle, the changeling guards saluting him.
“K.” Wade responded, following with heavy steps. He looked at a watch on his left wrist and let out a wince.
“You ok?” Jason asked, looking back at him.
“What? Yeah. No. I mean, sorta? I used up a ton of magic for absolutely no reason. I feel... kinda drained. Spacey. Ya know?”
“Not really, no,” Jason said shaking his head, “Any way I could help?” Jason asked, nodding to the guards on either side of the castle’s front entrance.
“Not unless you have a spare alicorn amulet or otherwise magical object I could absorb. I flung shittons of magic around for no reason there...” Wade looked back at his watch, “And now I'm running on empty. I guess it's not that big of a deal,” he looked back at Jason with a hint of envy, “I just kinda wish... there was a bigger result. I threw everything I had at you, and you're just standing there, being polite, with a grin on your face. Four months... four whole months and I haven't gotten any stronger.”
Wade scoffed, a harsh laugh, “There’s still loads of people out there that can floss me out of their teeth. I couldn't even get you to flinch with all of my power. What do I do when I come up against someone that actually wants to hurt me?”
“Kid, I’ve fought things you would tremble at. When I first got here, I was a gibbering wreck,” Jason said with a bit of a laugh. “Now look at me. In all honesty, it just seems like you need a trainer. I wouldn't mind whipping you into shape, you look like you could handle it.”
“Anything you could do in the next-” Wade paused, lifting his right arm to better look at it. The flesh on his arm rippled, a boxy rectangle surfacing and forming. It looked to Jason like an old TV remote, or maybe an old cell phone. Red lights on the front denoted- “12 hours, 49 minutes, would be most welcome. Otherwise, anything will have to wait until next time.” The box sunk back into his arm, disappearing. Wade looked straight up, marvelling at the night sky. “Surprising, isn't it? No matter which Equestria you go to, they all have the same night sky, the same stars, the same moon. Peaceful, really.”
“I wouldn't say that," Jason shook his head. "This Equestria is actually Asgard, or rather what’s left of Asgard after Ragnarok,” he paused, looking at Wade. “Say, how does that morphing of yours work?”
Wade gave a short laugh, shooting Jason a look. “Z-space enabled magic nanites. When I morph, matter is borrowed and stored in either a parallel or pocket dimension. Haven’t been able to figure out which yet. Basically, every cell in my body is switched out, yet the consciousness remains present, even in a body that wouldn't normally be able to house it. I’ve learned that the cell transfer also extends to anything I touch, or wear." Jason tensed, and Wade let out another laugh, “Don't worry, I can’t strip you of the clothes you’re wearing just by patting you on the shoulder. Everyone exudes their own magical resistance, although that can't stop the acquiring process, for some reason...” Wade trailed off, “...still don't know why. As you've seen with the timer, I can also store random items by morphing. Haven't hit a limit yet... But anyway,” Wade flashed a jazz hand at Jason, “I acquire DNA through physical touch, and that either gets stored in myself or in Z-space. Again, not sure which.”
“Yeah the Omnitrix is still better bro,” Jason said holding it up. “Better in every single way. I already have a million forms in this thing, plus whatever forms I scan in.” He looked at Wade for a moment. “I take it you want to ‘acquire’ me, huh?”
Wade eyed Jason warily. “Not gonna lie, acquiring Displaced usually ends up in some odd variations. I am extremely interested in seeing what will come from your DNA. If you would allow it, that is.”
“Go for it. kid,” Jason said, holding out his non-Omnitrix hand.
Wade grasped his arm tightly with his left hand. Jason suddenly felt... complacent. His flesh crawled, like ants were wriggling around just underneath. But that didn't matter. Nothing mattered. He was as calm as ever, his eyes refusing to focus on any given thing. The seconds slid by like glaciers, allowing him to see everything and nothing all at once. Jason couldn't remember what was happening, where was he? Where was here? What had he been doing?
Suddenly everything snapped back into focus. Jason looked at Wade, who pulled his hand away.
“You were actually affected by the acquiring trance, that’s rare.” Wade gave him a once over, and let out a low laugh as he looked back at his watch. “As powerful as you are, even you are only worth six recharge points. At least some things are constant.”
“The fuck was that?” Jason asked, looking at Wade with wide eyes. “Don't ever do that again,” Jason hissed, his eyes now red. His fingers had grown claws and his teeth had become fangs. “Great, you took down my disguise.” He glared, shaking his head.
“First off, I couldn't do it again even if I wanted. I've already acquired you. Second, that wasn't much of a disguise. You look completely badass now, with the–” Wade hissed, flailing a hooked pair of hands forward to draw attention to his nails. “--and the fangs, ya know. Wonder if mine will look even remotely that cool...”
“You might come out with nine heads, Jotun don't have a shared body plan like other races,” Jason said, quickly hiding his non-human features with a dose of magic.
“Scary,” Wade uttered. “I’m... going to have to apologize to everyone, aren't I?” he asked worriedly.
“Yes,” Jason nodded, “What made you think you weren't?”
Wade winced, “Not really that I thought I wasn't going to have to. More like I fervently hoped.” Wade let out a low sigh, “A stupid hope, but a hope nonetheless. Well!” Wade turned towards Jason, a fake smile stretched across his face, “I can stay out here for the next 12 hours, or I can go back in there and face the music for my colossal bout of making an ass out of myself. I'm leaning towards the first one, but that might just be me being heavily anti-confrontational. Everything is just so much easier when you're blinded by stupid rage. Maybe not better, but it leaves less in the way of making a decision.”
“Wade, listen to me carefully: Suck it up,” Jason said, looking at him, “You’re going to have to do a lot of things you've never wanted to do before, like kill someone. So you're going to suck it up like a man, go in there and apologize.” He approached the door, looking back at him expectantly.
Wade let out a low sigh, obviously dreading the coming conversation. Despite this, he moved alongside Jason, waiting for him to open the door.
Jason opened the door, gesturing for him to go inside, "Moment of truth."
As Wade walked into the room, all chatter died down, several pairs of eyes landing on them.
“So,” Chrysalis said, looking between them, “I take it you two worked things out?”
“Yup,” Jason said with a nod, “Now Wade would like to apologize. Isn’t that right, Wade?”
“Um... I...” he stammered, seemingly trying to sink backwards into nothingness. “I would... would like... I would... to apologize?”
“Good, good,” Chrysalis said, motioning with her hoof for him to continue.
“For... uh... being a complete jerk and not getting all the facts before I attacked your friend and... ‘almost’ ruined your party?” he continued, weakly.
“Ah don’t know,” Applejack said, looking him over, “Ya’ll did just up and attack mah brother fer no reason.”
“In my defense,” Wade started, “I heard from another Displaced that he was nothing more than a jerk that went out of his way to screw him over, and almost got him killed. Add to that the effects of the knife...” Wade stopped, hanging his head. “I’m sorry, I’m just making excuses. I acted in a manner that was rude, and I can only hope that you forgive me my transgressions.”
“Uh huh,” she said, getting off her chair. She moved over to him, looking him over critically. “If’n you're really sorry, ya’ll won’t mind lendin’ a hoof round’ the farm.”
Wade let out a sigh, “Won’t be the first time. What season are you in?”
“Of what?” Jason asked, looking at him, “Oh, you mean the show, right?”
“Uh, well that would be useful information as well, but I meant apple season, more like. Like is it the beginning of the harvesting season? Are all the trees bare from the end of a harvest, meaning there would be a completely different set of tasks to be done. If we’re before the harvesting season, then theres upkeep that needs to be done, on both the barn and the harvesting supplies like the buckets and carts...” Wade trailed off, a sheepish look on his face, “Or I could just shut up and let Applejack explain, seeing as it is HER farm... sorry...”
“Well then, it should be good news for you that its applebuck season. We’ve been a little short hoofed since Bloom spends most of her time with Spike.”
“Well then, I guess I’d be more than happy to help.” Wade turned back to Jason, “I’m only here for the next 12 hours though, you’ll have to summon me again if I’m to actually get anything done...”
“So... that cube of yours... you were saying it can heal people,” Slash said, interrupting them. “How exactly?”
“Well one person per world can activate the token, and use it as a default Escafil Device. Once they’ve activated it, they can then ‘acquire’ the DNA of any living creature they touch, and use that DNA to change into them. The change itself erases any damage, it’s not like a scab or an amputated leg is written on your DNA. That is kinda wonky, however. I’m well aware that with that logic, it shouldn’t do anything regarding hair length or whatever.” Wade suddenly shrunk, becoming a dark pink, flat haired version of Pinkie Pie. “But it does, regardless. That answer your question?”
“So... it could heal nerve damage?” he asked, lowering his shades to look Wade in the eyes.
“It could heal decapitation, if you could survive the shock long enough to morph.”
“Let me use it,” he said, holding his hoof out expectantly.
“Go for it. I don’t care which one of you it’s slaved to. Jason?” he asked, looking around for the cube.
Jason scooped it up, tossing it to Slash, “Go nuts with it.”
“Now how does this thing work?” Slash asked, inspecting the cube closely.
Wade walked over to Slash, grabbing the cube and holding it flat on his palm. “Okay, just touch one of the sides and I’ll attach it to you.”
Slash placed a hoof flat against the surface nearest him, waiting expectantly. They both stood still like that for a few seconds, nothing seeming to happen, before an ambiguously gendered voice echoed through out all the minds present.
<Species not recognized. Master control present, registration unlocked. Registration granted. Please have a wonderful day.>
The cube started to glow from within, sinking tendrils of bluish light into Slash’s outstretched hoof. Within seconds it was over, and Wade threw it over to Jason.
“There, it’s done. He’s now the only one in your world that can morph. To acquire a morph, simply make a physical connection with another living being,” Wade led Slash over to Applejack, manually placing his hoof on her withers, “keep contact, and focus on that person, how they look, how they smell, what you think about when that person is in front of you.” Applejack’s eyes grew cloudy, refusing to focus on any one given thing, “Good, she’s under the acquiring trance, just wait till it’s done aaaaand,” Applejack suddenly shook herself free of her daze, glaring at Wade.
“Okay, now you have her DNA inside you, to morph just do the same thing you did with acquiring, but keep a mental image in your head of your form slowly becoming hers. When you want to return to your own form, just do that in reverse. Also, with the default Escafil Device, there’s a two hour time limit, if you’re in a morph for longer than that, you’ll be stuck in that form, and lose your original. You can still reacquire the ability to morph by touching the cube again, but you won’t have anything to get your original form off of. Speaking of, it’s a bit different from changeling transformation. Changelings, no matter how much of a visible change you have inside you are still a changeling. With morphing, you become that creature down to the molecular level. So don’t get weirded out if you start feeling hungry, and can’t feed off of love while in morph.”
“I’ll be fine,” Slash said, rolling his eyes. “You act as if you’re talking to a nymph.” He closed his eyes, focusing on Applejack, slowly taking her form. He opened them, examining himself before morphing back.
“How do you feel?” Celestia asked, with a hint of worry.
“Like a million bits.” He trotted over to her, pulling her into a rather passionate kiss. He pulled away, looking into her eyes. “I do expect my position back.”
Celestia just nodded, a dreamy look on her face.
“Well thats all fine and dandy but ya’ll got work ta do,” Applejack said, nudging Wade toward the door. The group watched as Wade was dragged out of the room, protesting all the way.
“She’s going to work him to the bone,” Chrysalis stated, taking a sip of her drink.
“Serves him right if you ask me, just attacking Jason like that, how rude.” Rarity agreed, snuggling into Jason’s side.
“You guys wanna take bets on whether or not he collapses from exhaustion?” Slash asked, smirking a little. The group burst out laughing, before collecting themselves... and placing said bets. It was supposed to be a party night after all, and there was no harm in a little gambling. Plus... it wasn’t like Wade stuck around to find out about it.