It was a wonderful sunny day in Rainbow Falls, the town having just gotten back to normal after the weird invaders had trashed the Traders’ Exchange. Today was the annual Town Fair and Citrine couldn’t help but smile at the thought of the town’s foals coming to look over her wares. She hummed to herself as she placed her newest creations on her stand, quickly taking her place behind it.
Not too far away a small portal opened up, dropping a bipedal creature into an alley. With a quick glance at its surroundings, it placed a mask on its face, vanishing from sight.
Citrine continued to hum to herself, rather excited at the prospect of customers. That excitement was quickly hampered when a loud voice broke the early morning quiet. That obnoxious minotaur had set up shop a few stalls down from her, as always being as loud as possible. What was his name? Mild Bill? It didn’t really matter. Hopefully he’d just move on in a few more days so she could get some peace and quiet. A faint shimmer caught her eye but when she turned to look it was gone. With a shrug, she returned to gazing out from her stall, trying to keep herself entertained by pony-watching.
“Excuse me,” an older stallion’s voice cut in her reverie. She turned, spotting a middle aged brown minotaur looking down at her.
‘Great, more of them.’ She blinked at the thought, shaking her head. ‘No, bad Citrine, don’t be like the Knights.’ She took a deep breath, putting on her best smile. “Hello sir, my name is Citrine, may I interest you in some of my wares?”
He leaned down, inspecting the ChamAlien figure. “These are highly detailed, are they hand made?”
“Hoof made, each and every one!” she beamed, her face full of pride.
“I don’t believe I’ve ever seen creatures like this before, are they your creations?” he asked, looking up at her.
“Oh no, these are all forms of Prince Jason,” she explained. “He allowed me to make these based off forms he hadn’t used before. He even got his Crystal Pony form from me, can you believe it!?” she squeed, rearing up a bit and clapping her hooves together.
“Prince Jason?” he asked, raising his eyebrow.
“Oh yes, the prince was here during the Traders’ Exchange, he helped drive off those weird frog creatures,” she said, shuddering at the memory.
“Where can I find Prince Jason?” he asked, standing up to his full height.
“He lives near Ponyville in that old castle. He may be rather busy though, he started building a village around his castle, so he may have a lot on his plate.”
“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind,” he said, starting to walk away. “Thank you!”
“You’re welcome!” she called out, “What a nice minotaur.” she said softly, letting out a sigh as Mild Bill started to shout again, “I really dislike that one, though...”
“You know, I was starting to miss this place,” Jason said as he cracked his back, looking up at the barn. Applejack had recruited him to help out around the farm. Currently, she had him painting the barn.
“Well, ya’ll gave been so busy with all that weird stuff, ah figured we could spend some time together as a family,” Applejack replied, punctuating the thought by bucking a nearby tree.
“By doing chores?” Jason questioned, raising his eyebrow.
“Ain’t nothin’ like bonding over a hard day’s work!” she said chipperly, wiping the sweat from her brow.
“Country folk,” Jason said with a sigh, dipping his paint brush back into the can.
“Oh quit yer belly-aching, city slicker, and get back t’ paintin’,” Applejack teased with a smile, “Yer plumb lucky, us ponies gotta hold the paintbrush in our mouths.”
“Yes, never have I been more thankful for opposable thumbs. I thank Yggdrasil everyday that I don’t have to paint with my mouth,” Jason said, rolling his eyes as he moved the brush up and down the wood. “I swear you’re just using me to get stuff done around the house, like Mr. Miyagi did to Daniel.”
“Ah didn’t promise to teach ya any fancy fighting nonsense,” Applejack said, moving to another tree, “Plus, Ah reckon that movie ain’t realistic.”
“What gave it away? The fact that it was fiction?” Jason asked, moving away from his original spot.
Applejack gave him an unamused look, “Keep that up and ah’ll make ya paint the barn as Appleseed.”
“Slave driver...”
“What was that?”
“You heard me.”
“Oh, that’s it!” Applejack scowled. Giving him a hard look, she tilted her hat a bit for emphasis.
“Whaddaya gonna do?” he asked, glaring at her. “Knock my block off?”
“Ah’m fixin’ to!” she said, galloping over to him. “C’mere ya varmint!” She tackled him, nearly knocking over the paint can. They tumbled down a small slope, with Jason pinning Applejack’s arms to the ground.
“Ha! Not so high and mighty now are ya?” Jason asked with a grin.
“Jay, ah don’t like that look,” Applejack said with a gulp. Not that she didn’t completely trust him, of course, but she had seen that look before... it was the same look Dash always wore when she was up to no good.
“Omnitrix, Spidermonkey!” Jason commanded, shifting into a four armed, blue monkey creature. “They say two heads are better than one. Well I say four arms are better than two!” he proclaimed, using his lower set of arms to tickle her exposed stomach.
“Jay! Ya cheatin’ varmint!” Applejack managed to get out in between laughs, kicking her hindlegs uselessly.
“Um... what’re ya’ll doin’?” Apple Bloom asked, interrupting them. They both turned to see the little filly standing not too far away, giving them a strange look.
Jason smirked, a twinkle of mischief in his eyes. “Well you see Apple Bloom, when a man loves a-ow!” Jason shouted as Applejack managed to kick him rather hard in the shin.
“She ain’t old enough for them kinda jokes, Jay,” Applejack said, getting back to her hooves. She retrieved her hat from the ground, giving it a quick brush off before putting it back on her head. “We was just wrasslin’, Bloom.”
“Yeah and I was winning,” Jason said, reverting to normal, brushing his hands off.
“Ya’ll was only winnin’ ‘cause ya decided t’ cheat,” Applejack said, sticking her nose up in the air.
“You’re just a sore loser AJ,” Jason taunted, flicking her ear. She snorted at him, kicking his shin again.
“Yeah and yer a sore winner,”
“Um... Jay has a visitor back at the house,” Apple Bloom said, trying not to laugh at her siblings’ antics.
“Who is it?” Jason asked, rubbing his chin and glaring at a smirking Applejack.
“It’s a minotaur, said his name was Max Power.”
“Why does that name sound familiar?” Jason pondered, scratching his neck. “I swear I heard that name before...”
“Yer probably just imagining things,” Applejack said, giving him a nudge. “Go talk to yer guest, ya can finish painting later.”
“Well thank you master for this wonderful break you’re giving me,” Jason said as he dodged out of the earth pony’s striking distance, only to receive an extremely dirty look instead. He quickly composed himself, brushing off any excess dirt from his person. Making his way to the farmhouse, he spied the minotaur sitting on the porch, having a rather nice conversation with Granny Smith.
“So I told him, ‘from the bark you dummy, the bark!’” Max said with riotous laughter as he slapped his knee, having just finished a joke Jason wasn’t around to hear.
Granny Smith paused her own laughter, clearing her throat. “Well here he is Mr. Power, the Apple family’s own prince.”
“Hello, Mr. Power,” Jason said, giving a polite nod. “Please forgive my clothes, you caught me in the middle of painting the barn.”
“No harm done, can’t fault a man who knows the value of hard work,” Max said with a smile.
Jason tilted his head, running a hand through his beard, “Have we met before? Your voice sounds so damn familiar...”
“I just have one of those voices,” Max said with a shrug. “I’d like to talk to you about that invasion about a month back.”
“Give me a minute here,” Jason said holding his hand up, “Okay... so Discord has the voice of John de Lancie, Cheese Sandwich is freaking Weird Al and you have the voice of... Colonel Campbell... Yggdrasil I wish I knew that guy’s real name.”
Max blinked a few times, looking at Jason strangely.
“Wait... guy named Max... with the voice of Colonel Campbell... oh shit!” Jason said, his eyes going wide. “You’re Max Tennyson!” he exclaimed, climbing up the porch stairs and grabbing the minotaur’s hand, giving it a frantic shake. He stopped, realizing something. “Why the hell are you in Equestria?” He took a step back, eyeing the ‘minotaur’ suspiciously.
“Well, cat’s out of the bag,” Max said with a sigh. Reaching up, he pulled a mask away from his face, causing his minotaur disguise to fade away. “As for why I’m here, Azmuth asked me to investigate extra-dimensional Incuresean activity. Didn’t expect to find a human, or another Omnitrix. Why don’t you tell me where you got that?”
“Hey, I bought this thing legally alright? It had nothing to do with Azmuth or your world,” Jason snapped, crossing his arms.
“And for that matter, how do you know who I am? And who Azmuth is?” Max asked, having taken a strange pistol-like weapon out of his pocket.
“Well, in my world you're fictional characters.” Jason looked at Granny Smith, who had decided to stay quiet for now. She gave him a subtle nod, trusting his judgement. “A character on a TV show following Ben starting from when he found the Omnitrix, up ‘til... I have no idea, I didn’t finish Omniverse.”
“I’ve heard weirder,” Max said with a smile and nod, “Doesn’t explain the Omnitrix.”
“I bought it from a guy at a convention and it sent me here,” Jason said, looking at him. “It’s a whole can of worms that I really don’t want to get into with you.”
“Regardless,” Max said, moving closer, causing Jason to take a few steps back. “I can’t exactly let you run around with that thing.”
“Max,” Jason said dangerously, narrowing his eyes, “This is my Omnitrix. I bought and paid for it, you ain’t taking it from me. I mean it Max, don’t try it. Not only am I a prince here but I won’t hesitate to use lethal force if I have to.” The two stared at each other for a long while, neither really backing down from their stance.
“Ah think ya’ll should jus’ sit down and talk this out,” Granny Smith said, catching both of their attention. “Ain’t no reason for ya’ll to start fightin’. Now come on inside, Ah’ll put some tea on.” The elderly mare got to her hooves, shuffling inside rather quickly.
Max released his tension and gave the younger man a tired, but still wary, look as he put away his weapon. “Well, you heard the lady, let’s go have a nice long talk,” he said, following the elderly mare inside.
Jason sighed, letting the aggression wash away, “You know... I really need to take anger management... I bet Celestia knows a good one...” he muttered to himself before following the others inside.
For about an hour, the two men sat in the kitchen of the Apple farmhouse, with Jason telling Max his story up to that point, with the older man nodding his head in acknowledgement. As Granny Smith predicted, not that she was ever really wrong, the two had calmed down considerably.
“So... think I could convince you to attend Plumber academy? You could probably do with some formal training,” Max commented, taking a sip of his tea.
“As tempting as that is, I have to decline,” Jason said, making sure not to make any smart ass remarks, “But I have duties here. I mean, I may shirk them sometimes and I have little tact but I do still have them.”
“Well the offer still stands if you ever decide to take it.” Max finished up his tea, placing the cup on the table. “Mrs. Smith I’d like to thank you for the hospitality.”
“Oh t’weren’t nothin’,” the elderly mare said with a laugh, “Ya’ll come back now ya hear, Max?”
“Of course,” Max said, giving her a smile. He turned to Jason, holding his hand out. The younger man stood up, grabbing his hand and giving it a shake. “You take care Jason, you’ve got a lot of promise, it’d be a shame to waste it.”
“I’ll try my best, Max,” Jason agreed, watching as the man pulled a small remote from his pocket. He looked at the two and smiled again.
“See you around,” Max said before pressing a button and fading out of reality.
Jason stared at the spot for a moment before facepalming.
“What?” Granny Smith asked, raising her eyebrow.
“I forgot to tell him about Driba and Blukic...” Jason scratched his beard for a moment, thinking. “Oh well.” He got up and stretched his back. “I better get back to helping Applejack.”
“No need, we finished up a bit ago,” said mare responded as she walked inside, “That Wade fella got done more than Ah realized.”
“So... rematch?” Jason asked with a toothy grin.
“Yer on!” she shouted, sharing his expression. Granny Smith just chuckled to herself as she watched the pair bolt out of the house to settle their score. She smiled serenely, rocking ever so slowly in her chair. With moments like this, life was well worth it.