//------------------------------// // Chapter 13: Winterspell // Story: Swords, Sorcery and Shenanigans // by FrostTheWolf //------------------------------// Swords, Sorcery and Shenanigans- Winterspell         For Spike right now, the situation he was in had just elevated from good to downright bad. He had just stopped by Sugarcube Corner, only to find out from Pinkie Pie that Anson was gone. Great. Both of the Nocte brothers were now missing and Molly was gone as well. The dragon though was waiting to hear from Lyra first in regards to Amy before assuming the worst in regards to the current situation.         Spike was right now at the door to Rarity’s, waiting on the mint unicorn to get back to him. She did so a few moments later. But the news she had was not good news.         “Spike, this is really bad. Amy’s now gone too!”         Now Amy was gone!? The last time the dragon heard about her, she was in a deep coma and the doctors at the Ponyville Hospital did not know when she would wake up. Now we have a pair of brothers and two sisters on the loose and with no idea on where they would be heading.         “Oh dear Celestia, Twilight is going to flip when she finds out.”         “Flip about what?”         The two of them froze at the sound of the new voice that just began to speak. The door to the boutique slowly opened as a little girl around Applebloom’s size stepped out. Spike recognized her from the train, but never quite got the chance to talk to her or the tall human with blue hair and pointy ears that accompanied her.         “I’m sorry, but I don’t think we’ve met before. Who are you?” Spike asked. The dragon did not know who this girl was and wanted to know first before answering her question.         “I’m Ciela. Nicko’s mother.”         Now this was where Spike was slowly beginning to panic a bit. Especially with what he had heard about the Chiliarch from the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The Dragon was sweating bullets and Ciela could tell that he was nervous.         “Are you okay, mister…… What’s your name?”         “Spike.”         “Right. Are you okay, Spike? You look like my son when he’s trying to hide something.”         Something inside Spikes brain told him that trying to lie to her would only result in him ending up in a full body cast. So, fearing for his life, he told her what was bothering him.         “Well, I’m a little worried. I woke up a few moments ago to find Nicko was missing. I told Lyra about it and we found out that Anson, Amy and Molly were also gone as well.”         Ciela herself was stunned. What would her sons be doing at this hour? Spike himself was worried that what he said had angered the little girl. But instead, it had her react in a different way than he expected.         “That is definitely serious.” She told Lyra and Spike. “But something tells me that we have an even bigger problem than just them disappearing.”         “What do you mean?”         “My sons would probably not be leaving in the middle of the night unless there was a specific reason.” The Chiliarch explained. “Like a thing or a place that seemed suspicious. Was either of them looking at anything earlier in the day?”         “Well, Anson was helping out Pinkie Pie at Sugarcube corner and Nicko was helping up with construction preparations at the-.” Spike stopped. He just realized something… Something important. “Oh horseapples.”         “What’s wrong?”         “I think I might know where they are.”         Spike took a few minutes to explain about the Castle that Twilight and him were looking at and how Nicko was assisting them. Ciela herself began to slowly piece together what must’ve happened. Nicko found about it from Twilight, only to convince Molly and Anson to go along with him to investigate it. Still, that doesn’t explain what happened with Amy.         “What are we going to do now?!” Lyra panicked. “BonBon will flip if she finds out that Molly has gone missing and blame me for it.”         “Calm yourself.” Ciela told the mare. “Let me go get Luke.”         “No need.” Another voice could be heard as Ciela’s Husband soon emerged from behind the door. However, he looked extremely different from what he looked like before. His hair was now the same shade of color as the Chiliarch except for a strand of sapphire hair and he now wore a new set of clothes. His huge coat was now over his shoulders and his belt appeared to be different this time. Luke now wore what appeared to be a fancy dress outfit, but he now had a collection of throwing knives and his gunblades from before looked a lot different than the ones he kept earlier. “I’m already awake.”         “Wow… you look… different.” Spike said, spellbound by Luke’s new appearance.         “It happened when we settling in earlier. Ciela use to be a Noblesse and I was a Royal Guard. But we were drained of those powers when we originally fought Eric. Now, I have a new set of powers that go along with my wife. As an old saying goes, fight fire with fire. But in this case, fight darkness with darkness.”         Ciela could not agree more. Earlier, she gave Luke something she found that the Chiliarch thought could help him. To her surprise, it took his skills to the next level. He was now a Dreadlord. The Swordsman that was the right hand man of the Terrormancer. A powerful hunter and Assassin that was also a resourceful tracker.         Something went off in the distance as the four of them turned to the sound of a large BOOM! Purple electricity could be seen in the sky as both the Dreadlord and the Chiliarch looked at each other. They recognized the sight of that kind of power anywhere. It was the Diabolic Esper. Not only that, but the Dreadlord could feel multiple souls closing in on the town of Ponyville.         “Both of you go find Leo, Yuri and Caliburn. We’re going to need everyone that can fight.” Luke told them as he prepared himself for a fight, grabbing a few of his knives from his waist.         “Something tells me that we will be expecting company real soon.”         The halls of the inner chambers in the castle were filled with the sounds of explosions and the smell of gunpowder. Anson was trying his best to stand his ground against the Tactical Trooper that he was up against. But right now, he was dodging more than attacking. The Knight with the Cannon had pinned him down to where he did not have a lot of room for any kind of counter attack.         ‘Geez, does this guy even take a break inside that suit of his?’ Discord asked as Anson dodged another rocket that was aimed for his face.         ‘What I’m wondering is how this guy can even keep it up for this long. It’s almost like this knight is equipped with cheat codes.’ The Infinity Sword told the Spirit as he tried to throw a few swords using Sword Blasting. The results of the attack were less than satisfactory as it looked like the swords just bounced off of his opponent. Barely even scratching their armor. Discord shouted out inside Anson’s head about how that was “unfair” and that some kind of hit was suppose to dent their armor completely.         ‘Crap. I’m running out of options on how to beat this guy. Any options?’         ‘Have you tried thinking outside the box?’ Discord asked him.         ‘And what the hell is that suppose to mean?!’         ‘Shake things up a little. Use that brain of yours to perform your attacks in different ways. This guy probably remembers how you would normally fight, so pull off something that they would now expect!’         Now that actually made sense. The Teen soon realized that he needed to get a little creative in order to win against this high powered opponent. In fact, he had a few tricks up his sleeve that he never had the chance to try out yet. Forming an extra version of his secondary blade Conwell, he threw it onto the floor at his opponents feet. The impact formed a huge spell circle as it ensared his opponent in what came next          “RAGE CUTTER!!”         Without warning, wave after wave of swords emerged from below the Iron Soldier as they began to damage it’s armor. Pieces of it’s suit began to chip away like old dry paint as it began to break apart. Anson used his own hands and magic to control the path that the blades took, causing the opponent to drop their weapon. It rolled onto the floor as the Tactical Trooper laid on the floor, trying to crawl towards it. Instead, Anson picked up the weapon and aimed it towards him.         “Well now… You want to know the new sensation that’s sweeping the nation……? B*tches… loves… cannons!!”         CLICK! CLICK! BOOM!!         The opponent that stood in front of them exploded into a pile of dust and metal as nothing remained of the trooper that was once there. Anson was personally relieved that this fight was over. It really exhausted him after having to stay on his feet for most of the time. However, when he did sit down, something else caught the eye of the Infinity Sword.         Something that looked a lot like his necklace was in the middle of the dust pile. This time though, it looked a lot like a snowflake and was cold to the touch.         The reaction from Anson’s own hand surprise the boy as much as it’s magical properties were. Could this small thing have actually kept the whole set of armor together? It lightly pulsed inside Anson’s hands as he put the charm in his pockets. It may come in handy later when he needed it the most. But right now, he needed to rest. The Infinity Sword deserved it after almost getting blown up to pieces.         His rest did not last long when his brother and Eris came crashing into the room in a blink of an eye.         “Oww…… My freakin back.”         “Nicko? Are you okay?”         “Anson?! Oh thank god, we’re back!!” Nicko shouted, sounding relieved. Anson himself just raised an eyebrow as he looked at his brother with a expression of confusion on his face.         “Uhh… Are you okay brother?” The Infinity Sword asked him. “You look like you’ve not seen me in months.”         “Bro… You have… no freaking idea of what… we’ve just been through.” Nicko said, pausing in between each sentence so he could gasp for air. Eris herself looked tired as Discord emerged from Anson so he could be by his daughter.         “What happened?” He asked.         “Remember that research report by Clover the Clever about the Displaced and how they mentioned the Multiverse Theory?” Eris’ question received a nod of the head from her father and from Anson. On that note, she continued. “Well, Nicko and I got ourselves sent to another Equestria that's home to another Displaced. A Kaiser named Ryu.”         “Kaiser?”         “Where he is from, Ryu is an Elder Dragon. A wise and powerful dragon with very high magic and combat skills. He even could turn into a dragon. I actually was able to improve on how to fight because of him.”         “Yeah, but how did you get sent there in the first place?” Anson asked.         “All Displaced have a token that represents themselves and can allow other individuals to either summon them to their world or summon themselves to the world that is home to that individual. Nicko’s Token is a Rune Slayer Mark and he gave that to Ryu for when he needed his help, while in return; we received Ryu’s token. What he calls a Dragon Tear.”         Nicko pulled out the charm from his pocket to show what he meant to both Anson and Discord along with pulling out one of the Rune Slayer Marks from his bag. Both of them were quite surprised by what they were and the fact that they could summon others who are stuck in the same situation as them. But now, something new came into Nicko’s mind. Something that he wanted to ask his brother. “Hey Anson.”         “Yes, Nicko?”         “Can you check your bag real quick? If I have a token on myself, then there’s a possibility that you have one too.”         Anson thought that Nicko brought up a very good point and obliged. Soon enough, he did find something. Though, what he found was not what he expected.         “Holy crap.” Anson cursed. What he found was a Dark El Shard fragment. In Elsword, the item could be bought from the Item Mall as a job advancement item that allows Sheath Knights at level 35 to advance to the Second Job Class without having to perform the chain of quests like you would normally do. The same thing went for Nicko’s Rune Mark, but Anson’s was something that he really did not anticipate.         “Well, that answered that question.”         “Yeah. I just honestly did not expect to have a token like you would.”         “Well, we’re both technically Displaced, so that sort of makes sense.” Nicko told him. “Still though, maybe we should focus less on ourselves and try to stop Eric before that crazed maniac tries to kill any of our friends.”         “Good point.” Anson nodded as his brother helped him to his feet. Discord and Eris returned to being inside the bodies of the brothers as they began to look for an exit.         This though was easier said than done. A lot of the rooms inside this castle had traps inside that would remind the pair of siblings of Castlevania. Hidden doors, falling chandeliers, trap doors below your feet, chimeras… You name it; they have to deal with it. It seemed like Eric prepared ahead of time to make their chances of reaching him impossible.         But Nicko and Anson did not let this slow them down. In fact, it gave them motivation to push onward and allowed the two swordsmen to have fun with whatever challenge they were put up against. They took turns with each challenge they came across, using their skills, swords, and sometimes their street smarts in order to be able to move on. Especially when one of the rooms seems to be a challenge room where somepony asked them questions and they had to answer them like they were on Jeopardy.         Even though the Rune Slayer and the Infinity Sword were able to handle every challenge they came across with ease, they still knew that they couldn’t let their guard down against Eric. Whatever he was doing, the two of them could tell that he was patiently expecting them. Waiting for them. Wanting to fight them.         “Let’s take a break real quick.” Anson suggested as he sat down on the rough stone floor. “My legs are killing me.”         As the swordsman sat down though, the snowflake charm fell out of his pocket and down by his side. His brother noticed it and pointed at the object. “Hey, what’s that?”         “What’s what?”         “The snowflake by your leg.”         Anson turned to soon realize the charm on the ground. “Oh this? I found it shortly after destroying one of the guardians inside this castle. Strangely, it was inside it’s armor.”         “You mean like it kept it together?”         “From what I can tell, yes.” Anson said as he began to inspect it like it was some sort of device. “Hey, do you think this might be a token of another Displaced?”         “Maybe, but who exactly would have a token of a snowflake?”         “Well duh. A cryokinetic.” Eris told the brothers, pointing out what she thought was obvious. “But why do you think it’s a token? Maybe it’s just a snowflake that hasn’t melted yet.”         “Well, I felt it’s magic pulse in my hands shortly before you two crash landed and it was cool to the touch. Normally, these would melt if we humans touch them. However, it’s not the case with this one.”         “Maybe a powerful ice ninja like Sub-Zero?” Nicko teased a little. When he and his brother played Mortal Kombat, he always used the Frost Ninja to beat the crap out of his brother. The Infinity Sword just saw this as him rubbing in his face.         “Why don’t we try to use the token and see what happens?” Discord suggested. “We have some time on our hands, so why not?”         The redhead with the two swords considered the idea and then soon tried to figure out a way to perform the summoning. Nicko was going to tell his brother to be careful since bringing a Displaced could go either two ways. You either summon them to where you were or accidently bring yourself to where the other Displaced is. However, Anson wasn’t that careful as the magical residue of the snowflake began to spread rapidly. The glow of the object soon became brighter as a vast light expanded outward and a cold chill in the air partially froze the floor.         Nicko was forced to close his eyes due to the bright flash that occurred. When he reopened them, Discord and his brother were gone. No signs of the two remained as Nicko cursed to himself. His reckless brother was now stuck in the same situation that he was in moments earlier. He just hoped that Anson came back as soon as possible and not caused any trouble while he was there. Wherever he was that is... Meanwhile…         Jack was flying down to the gardens in Canterlot. It had been quite some time since he had time to get down and talk to Discord, the ‘God’ of chaos. Now Jack was unsure if Discord could actually hear him as he never had before his imprisonment. Yet Jack had almost felt compelled to talk to Discord whenever he had been close by. And no matter if the Lord of Chaos could hear him or not, it was always fun to taunt him with word.         But on his way to the statue Jack suddenly felt some kind of tugging. It was a weird feeling as it was not tugging in any specific direction but still ‘away’ from his current position. After a while the tugging got stronger. Unsure of what he was feeling; Jack did what he thought would be the right thing. He tugged back.         At that very moment the tugging stopped and Jack remembered from where he had felt this feeling before, the void. And as to confirm his suspicion he suddenly heard a loud scream.         “AAAAAAAHHHH!!!! Are you kidding me!?!” A falling bipedal screamed as he fell from the sky. Looking up, Jack saw that it was (in fact) falling and not flying. He knew what flying looked like and that was not it.         “Well, guess I better help.” Jack stated to himself as he stretched his arms in a wide arc to create a very tall and very long ice slide to let the bipedal slide down from vertical to horizontal propulsion without breaking any of it’s bones. Upon first landing on the slide though, the impact registered a crack due to the weight of the biped’s clothes and the two swords that he was carrying. Yet, the slide held and let him slide down safely to the ground and onto the grass. Unfortunately Jack had not really paid attention to where the slide ended and the biped (that was now close enough for Jack to confirm it being human) slammed right into the base of Discords statue.         “Oww… my head.” The human moaned as he tried to get back up on both of his feet. He looked in the direction of Jack, but at that current moment, he could not see anything. Just the slide which mysteriously appeared right beneath him. The boy turned around, seeing what exactly he collided into.         “Hey, would you look at that. It’s the voice that’s inside my head.” Jack heard the biped say, chuckling to himself. Now somewhat worried, Jack decided to get rid of the slide and turned it into what could be described as ‘ice dust’. Making it fall as if it had always been made of nothing but dust and only now had gravity pull it apart, only for the dust to vanish in the grass below.         ‘Did he just say voice in his head? Has Discord managed to escape?’         As Jack could not let Discord escape while he was still meant to be imprisoned, but the human showed no signs of being controlled; making Jack reconsider his earlier thoughts of freezing the human solid by surrounding it in an absolute zero atmosphere. Instead he lowered the temperature to a noticeably lower level and walked up to the human, inspecting him to see if he really was not under control.         Moments later, due to the change in temperature, the Draconequus himself emerged from the boy and began to act like he was cold. “Brr… Who turned down the Thermostat? Isn’t it suppose to be summer around now?”         “Possibly,” The boy answered Discord’s question. “Then again, we’re probably in another Equestria like what happened to Nicko, so maybe the circumstances are different.”         “Could be. Still, it’s a lot warmer inside your head then out here Anson.” The spirit now turned to notice the statue of himself. “Oh boy… That… could be problematic.”         “Indeed it could, a Discord from another Equestria? Hope he’s friendly.” Jack commented out loud to himself, believing the Lord of Chaos could not hear him. The Draconequi’s ears twitched a little as he looked around. Looking at his companion, Discord asked him a question.         “Did you hear that?”         “Hear what?” Anson asked him, looking slightly confused.         “I thought I heard somepony talking just now.”         “Wait, you can hear me?” Discord heard the voice again, clearly not being a spawn of his own imagination. The Spirit turned around, looking at the ground below him as he looked at where Jack stood, making the snowmancer feel quite nervous.         “There it is again.” Discord said. He now noticed the ice dust by his jumbled feet and proceeded to pick it up. “Okay, either somepony is playing around with my head or I think a pile of snow is talking to me.”         “Wrong on both there, Discord.” He heard the voice again. “Hmm, you can hear me but not see me… I might be able to fix that!” The voice said almost happily.         Suddenly, from where the chaos spirit had heard the voice originate from, emerged another human in brown jeans and a blue hoodie with white, snow like hair.         “Did it work?” The human asked, looking up at the lord of chaos.         “My… it did. I’m actually quite impressed. Would you mind doing that to my friend as well so he doesn’t think I’m going crazy?”         “Eh heh he” The snowboy chuckled, scratching the back of his head. “Sorry, I can only be seen or heard by those that believe in my existence. So, if you want him to see me, you gotta convince him yourself.”         “Convince him, you say?”         “Discord, who are you talking to?” Anson asked him as he looked at the Draconequus in confusion.         “Oh, sorry about that Anson, I was just talking to…… what’s your name?”         “Jack. Jack Frost.”         “I was talking to this guy named Jack Frost. He’s the one that made that frozen slide that you landed on.”         “Oh? Then why can’t I see him?” The Infinity Sword question him.         “He says that he can only be seen or heard by those that believe in his existence.”         The boy just raised an eyebrow at the statement. Just as much as it confused him, it also made him wonder if what Discord said was true or not. He didn’t read much fairy tales back home, but he still personally believed in the existence of fictional beings such as Santa Claus even though they were mostly considered as “Imaginary”. Closing his eyes for a minute, he took a deep breath. Only thinking one thing.         I believe in the legend of Jack Frost.         When he reopened his eyes, the teen was stunned to see the snowy haired boy with the brown trousers and blue hoodie standing right by Discord. “Holy crap, it worked!”         “Wow, you really are something else. Being able to believe in someone like me just like that.” Jack Frost said, While looking at Anson, suddenly realizing something else. “Hey, dude. This might sound weird, but may I try and touch you?”         “Umm… Okay I guess? Just the shoulder please?” He replied. The Infinity Sword was confused by Jack’s request, but he decided to just keep calm and carry on for the time being.         The human calling himself Jack Frost obviously perked up at this and with one small step left behind all the distance between them without any visible effort at all and laid one hand on Ansons shoulder, making him flinch. The Infinity Sword could feel the cold touch of the boy standing in front of him.         At the touch, Jack seemed to feel relieved. As if he had expected Anson to disappear or something. But what really confused the redhead was that he could see tears forming in the corner of Jacks eyes.         “I-It has been so long… so long since I was able to touch someone… Thank you.”         “Y-you’re welcome… I guess?” Anson was not quite sure what was going on. Being on the Autism Spectrum didn’t help any for him because he wasn’t able to get much social cues during conversations. Discord himself was also a little puzzled as well.         However, seeing the puzzled faces of the two guests, Jack realized how strange of a situation this really was. “Oh, I should probably explain that. You see, when no one can see or hear me, it goes the same for the other senses. Meaning I’m unable to touch them as well. I haven’t felt human- no, any contact at all for quite a while. It gets really depressing after a while.”         “I see. Just out of curiosity Jack, how long has it been since you last… well… felt human?”         “You mean as in touching another human or feeling like one myself?”         “Does both count?” Anson asked.         “Well, no. They are two different questions entirely? Okay, now you got me confused.”         “I mean as in both being able to touch someone and feel human.”         “Ah, that does make more sense. Well, I always feel human… But I haven’t touched any other human before coming to Equestria. Let’s see… I think it was about fifteen thousand, nine hundred and ninety seven years ago? Wow, I’m getting old!”         Anson though, just stared. “Holy sh*t! Ahem. Please excuse my poor choice in grammar. I was just really surprised by what you just said.”         “Oh, yeah right, I almost forgot humans only have an average of 205 years lifespan. I must be really old by your standards.”         “That’s way more than old. That’s like Immortal if you ask me.” Discord said.         “Yeah, kinda comes with the job” Jack replied, shrugging his shoulders.         “Job? What kind of job?” Anson asked. He was now curious by what Jack meant by that sentence.         “Well, yeah. I didn’t get these powers just to kill time did I? They come both with responsibilities and the burden of eternal life… or at least until something outright kills me.” Jack mumbled the last part.         “Well, we’re here now.” Discord said cheerfully, trying to mess around a little with Jack’s hair. “And I believe what Anson found was the reason why.”         “Really? You guys know how to travel the void to different dimensions? That’s kinda cool!” Jack said, ignoring Discord messing with his hair. He kinda enjoyed the contact after spending most of his life as an untouchable spirit.         “Yeah. This though was our first time. It happened once to my brother already, but the guy he met turned out to be an Elder Dragon who had very strong magic.” The boy told the Snowmancer as he held out the snowflake he acquired earlier. “This may take a bit to explain, but let’s start with just a simple question. Are you familiar with something called the Multiverse?”         “Of course. It was just a theory at first until it was proven by a scientist called Mengar Blugten in the year 2067. It was quite a big subject in school.”         Ignoring the part on the year or the scientist, Anson continued. “Well, for us, there are multiple forms of Equestria that are at different locations in time and space. Now, for another question… Would you have happened to end up here after purchasing something from a weird merchant?”         “Weird merchant?” Jack asked back with a slightly displeased face. “Not really, I didn’t purchase anything from the asshole. He tried to take my staff. So naturally, I fought back, punched him in the face and froze him solid… And then I kinda blacked out and found myself here in Equestria.”         “Well, even though you and I ended up in our own version of Equestria under different circumstances, we are both referred to as Displaced or short for dimensionally misplaced.”         “Interesting, I take it this merchant guy is behind this then?”         “Honestly, I don’t know.” Anson told Jack. “But what I do know from my brother is this. Displaced have something called a token that represents themselves and can use the tokens of other Displaced to summon them and have them fight alongside you in battle. However, it works two ways and unfortunately for me, the second way was what happened to Discord and I. Instead of us summoning something to where we were, we got pulled in to where you were.”         “Hence, falling out of the sky.” Discord added on for comical effect.         “Oh, I’m sorry for that. I think I might be the one at fault here. You see, I felt the tugging that I guess was meant to summon me. But I was not sure of what it was so I did what anyone who wants to stay does, I pulled back. And suddenly, you were falling out of the sky.” Jack said blushing while awkwardly scratching the back of his head.         “Well…… this is awkward.” Discord mumbled as it got a little silent. “I guess it explains why it backfired though.”         “Yeah, I think so.” Anson said. “Say, since we are here, why don’t we do something and have fun with Jack? I mean, this is the first time in a long while that’s he’s ever had people be with him before.”         “Really? You’d do that for me?” Jack smiled. Anson nodded his head, showing his approval and his answer to the boy’s question.         “Oh, this will be great!! But we should go someplace else first. There’s a high risk that either Princess Celestia & Princess Luna notice Discords presence and I don’t think that would be a good thing.”         “Princess Luna? Who’s that?” Anson asked. He knew Prince Artemis back from his world. Could this “Princess Luna” be somehow different? Discord himself had no objections as he hid himself inside Anson.         “Okay, now. I’ll give you guys a ride, just keep you arms and legs out to the sides and you should be fine.” Jack said as he pushed off the ground and weightlessly floated away while doing a brief motion with his right hand, suddenly making a strong wind burst forth taking Anson with it. Anson himself, followed Jack’s instructions and the same results happened. Both of them were now airborne like a flying pegasus. Just without the wings, kinda like Discord did when he drifted through the sky like a chinese dragon.         Looking back at Anson, Jack felt the urge to start up a conversation as he had not had a proper one for quite a while. “So, Anson. How come your Discord is all nice and understanding while the one here was trying to take over the world and spread chaos like he was some kind of god?”         “Well... at one point, the element of kindness; Fluttershy, thought that Princess Celestia should give him a second chance and tried to reform him. In the end, it worked out well and Discord; along with Eris, helps out Celestia and the Elements of Harmony. He and Celestia even have a young three year old son named Chaotic.”         Jack looked as if he stumbled in mid air. “Wait, Discord has a son, WITH CELESTIA?! Never saw that one coming… And who is Eris?”         “Eris is a Draconequus that’s Discord’s daughter.” Anson told Jack. “From what I can recall, she was a figment of Discord’s imagination like somepony named Screwball. However, this occurred at a point where he was very lonely and wished to have someone that he could care for.”         “Okay, I have to ask. Did that happen before his imprisonment or after?”         “Before, my dear Jackie.” Discord teased. “She was the only one who kept me company while I was in stone. It can get quite lonely and boring when you’re inside there for over a thousand years.”         “Yeah, I know the feeling.” Jack said, looking down a bit saddened by his own loneliness. “But that is the reason why I visit Discords statue from time to time. I kinda felt bad for him standing there all alone. He might have been quite a jerk but even he doesn't deserve such torture… I might just have answered my own question why our world doesn’t have an Eris.” Jack said, looking a bit proud over himself.         “Who knows? Maybe your version of  me doesn’t have that kind of heart like I do.” Discord said as he did something that reminded Anson of a scene from The Grinch, in which it showed the inside of his chest with his heart two sizes two big. The Infinity Sword couldn’t help but chuckle at the amusement of the Draconequi’s joke. While Jack seemed to be lost to the joke.         “Maybe, But I’m not in doubt that if you could become as you are now Discord, then maybe mine could too? He was not what I would consider evil after all. He would never go as far as to hurt somepony as far as I can remember.” Jack said shrugging.         “Hehe… It’s a possibility.” Anson chuckled as Discord returned back into the boy’s body as they continued to glide through the air.         Soon they had reached the outskirts of Ponyville. However they did not stop there as they continued towards the forest next to the town. More specifically, the Everfree. Anson landed shortly after Jack as he looked into the forest. “Oh boy… This place again.”         “Again?”         “Well, when I first arrived in my Equestria, I ended up in Appleloosa and then walked from there, through the Everfree forest to Ponyville. I fell asleep at a makeshift platform that was being used for a duel, so when I woke up the next morning, I had a girl with a fiery attitude and anger management problem (No pun intended) thinking that I was her opponent.”         “Ah, I see. Well… I think I might be able to grant you the ability to become intangible like me for a short amount of time, so the animals of the Everfree won’t harm you.” Jack said as he conjured up some snow in his hands and began crafting them into a flawless snowball which he then breathed a cold breath upon and then smiled a wicked smile towards Anson. “Look out.” He said as he threw the snowball at Anson before he could do anything about the situation. Getting hit however only resulted in a flash of sky blue light.         “That should do it.” Jack said and started marching inwards towards Everfree.         “Thanks. That was helpful.” Anson complimented as they began to walk. He remembered that when he first fell asleep, he had to cast an ability he knew called Sword Shield which placed a small ring of swords conjured by sorcery around him. The ring served for protection purposes and anything that touched the mystical blades got cut like they were attacked by an actual sword. It also had the chance to stun targets if he was lucky.         “No problem, with that enchantment you should be able to turn invisible by clearing your mind, and you should be automatically intangible by anything and everything that you do not purposely touch. However it does take it’s energy from you so after it has been drained the enchantment will dispel.”         “That’s alright. At least I have a new trick I can use to scare the crap out of Nicko.” The swordsman said mischievously.         “Yeah, what I wouldn’t give to see his face at that moment. Wait, I got an idea. You said tokens work both way right? Well, there is nothing interesting going on here right now, maybe we can go to your world? Then we won’t have to avoid the princesses over here.”         “As much fun as that sounds, I don’t think I can.” Anson said. “My brother never gave me his token. The only one I have is mine and yours and I don’t think I can summon us to my world if I’m currently here in yours.” The Infinity Sword pulled out the dark El Shard from his pocket and the snowflake so he could show the boy both of them.         “Mind if I take a look at mine?” Jack said pointing at the snowflake.         “Go ahead.” Anson handed him the small snowflake as it glowed in his hands. It was cool to the touch.         “Thanks.” Jack said as he took the snowflake and inspected it. He was deep in thought until he finally remembered when he had created this snowflake. “Oh my god! This is the snowflake I lost when I was tampering with the void. It should still have some recording stored on it.” The snowboy exclaimed as he crushed the snowflake into dust that flew up a bit into the air and formed a small cloud projecting a picture of pure black.         “Hm, it only seems to have caught the endlessness of the void. What if I fast forward?” Jack said as the picture flimmered. And then suddenly went out. “Well, that was a waste.” Jack said as the cloud reformed into the shape of a snowflake. Anson then picked it up. It was still cool to the touch and still glowed in his hands.         “Hey, why did you have these snowflakes in the void anyway?” Anson asked out of curiosity.         “It was purely by accident actually, was training with my magic when I suddenly froze a part of the world itself and when I tried moving it kinda tore a hole into the void. I sent in a snowflake to investigate and then went on my merry way to come back later to see what my snowflake found, but it never returned and I finally gave up and closed the hole..”         “You froze a part of the world?” Discord asked. “Which part?”         “Not entirely sure, I don’t mess around with the worlds fundamentals that often, I don’t want the world collapsing on me, you know?” Jack answered.         “Good point.” Discord replied. “You’re quite talented with your powers, Jack. What other things can you make?”         “Well, I found out that if I push it far enough I can reach absolute zero. Meaning I freeze anything caught in my magic. It was really creepy the first time around. Imagine a bird stopping 3 feet from your face and not falling to the ground like it is supposed to because the air around it is as solid as the ground down below.”         “Wow… I was thinking about creating Ice Figurines, but that is a whole another degree.”         “I guess, but it is really taxing, you know that humans never did find out how to reach absolute zero, even back home it was just a concept. It’s easier to introduce the whole solar system to an ice age and still have more magic left then keeping absolute zero up for more than three minutes.”         “Interesting. Have you tried to create anything… you know… living?” Discord asked as the three of them approached a clearing in the forest. He was curious to see what else was Jack capable of.         “Aha! I knew I had forgotten something.” Jack exclaimed as he stopped and suddenly held up a crooked staff that seemed to appear out of nowhere. “Give me just a minute.” He said as he raised his arms with the staff in hand and released a powerful surge of magic that was felt by both Anson and Discord. Making a powerful surge of winds to start moving in the sky. “That should do it.” He said and looked back at his friends.         “What did you do?” Asked Anson as he saw nothing new or out of the ordinary.         “Simple, I ordered the winds to return a long gone race of ponies back to Equestria. My little Frost Ponies have been gone for so long.” Jack said as he smiled towards the Draconequus.         “F-frost ponies?” Anson stuttered a little at what Jack said.         “Yes. It took a lot of time and magic to create them, but once they were made they required no further assistance. Well, that is until the incident with Nightmare Moon...”         “Nightmare Moon?” Discord asked. “What does she have to do with it? Isn’t she just the spirit of nightmares?”         “What, no. Nightmare Moon was known as Mare in the moon. Banished into the moon for a thousand years. And after a thousand years on the longest day of the year, the stars aided her in her escape and she came back to rule over Equestria. However, she was stopped by a unicorn mare called Twilight and her friends. As wielders of the Elements of Harmony, they defeated Nightmare Moon and purified her of her dark magic, reverting her back into Luna, Princess Celestia’s sister.” Jack explained.         “Well, at least the part of Twilight and her friends still remains the same. There’s just some differences with some of the other details. Like right now, Twilight is actually an Alicorn.” Discord remarked.         “Huh, never thought there would be another ascending so soon, well, good for her. As for how Nightmare Moon came into the picture of me having to whisk away my Frost Ponies and not let them return for a thousand years, it is because the corruption of Luna heavily affected my ponies making them vulnerable towards corruption. And I simply could not allow that. I mean, look at what happened to Sombra.”         Anson did not know who this “Sombra” Jack mentioned was, but just nodded his head and went along with it. He soon heard a new sound as he tilted his head to the left. The sounds was of hooves trotting along the roads of the Everfree.         “Are those your Frost Ponies?”         Jack looked towards the sound of hooves and furrowed his brows, “No. Or at least I don’t think so. I don’t control my Frost Ponies, they are their own. Besides I didn’t summon any here in the Everfree, this is not the best place for a pony. It might be that Zebra I have seen around here.”         “Yeah. But that’s one pony.” The Infinity Sword said.  “I’m hearing multiple sets of hooves. Like four to five of them.”         “You are right, we should probably hide.” Jack said as he became invisible to both Anson and Discord one again. “Don’t worry, I’m just making sure so that nopony sees me by mistake, there might be ponies able to see me. Never hurts to be careful.”         A few moments after saying that, Anson activated the new enchantment that Jack had given him as he hid behind a nearby tree. The two of them waited to see who was coming over until they heard a few voices. A few… young voices.         “Come on, Applebloom. Admit it… We’re lost!”         “We aren’t lost, girls! We’re just taking a shortcut!!” A second voice responded to the first.         “Yeah, a shortcut that has had us be trotting around in circles.”         As the three voices approached the clearing, Jack and Anson could now see who was talking. They were three young fillies that Anson saw as the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Only difference is that the Cutie Mark Crusaders he knew were a bit older than these ponies, not to mention that he never saw them as ponies before.         “What the hell-?” Anson said to himself, thinking that nopony could hear him. However, all three ponies looked in the direction of where they heard the voice just now.         “Girls, did you hear that?”         “Yeah I did, Sweetie Belle. Do you think that was a ghost?”         “I don’t know, Scootaloo… Hey, if it was, do you think we could get a cutie mark for Ghostbusting?”         Meanwhile Jack was facepalming at himself, forgetting to warn the Infinity Sword about the enchantment not silencing the voice, only making him invisible or intangible. Jack didn’t want to accidentally force his new friend into the same position he had been himself. Walking over to where he could feel his enchantment taking place, and the position of where the voice had come from, he started to whisper to the Infinity Sword while revealing himself to the two.         “Dude, the enchantment only works on light, not sound. So… I think it be best if you helped them get out of here. Seeing as the are lost. Discord, Are you able to make Anson look like a pony? I don’t want the crusaders to think he is a monster and try to get a cutie mark in monster fighting or anything equally stupid.” Jack said, confident the Cutie Mark Crusaders could not hear him.         “I believe I can give it a shot.” The Spirit told the Snowmancer as he did a quick snap with his eagle talon. Soon, Anson turned into a light red Earth Pony stallion with the a Cutie mark of his Sigil that would normally appear when he casted certain abilities and attacks when he was in combat.         Anson himself though was a little irritated. ‘You could’ve given me a warning before you did that, Discord.’          ‘Sorry, no can do. Be thankful that this is only temporary’         The Infinity Sword sighed again, looking back towards Jack. “Now what do we do?”         “Well, what about giving three small fillies a little scare from the Everfree?” Jack grinned while looking at the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who still where unable to see the Infinity Sword hiding behind the tree.         “You got any ideas?”         “Plenty.” Jack said as he started walking towards the unknowing fillies, who were arguing about how one would go about capturing a ghost so they can be “Cutie Mark Crusaders: Ghostbusters”.         Walking up right next to the fillies, Jack filled his lungs with plenty of air before exhaling it in a steady yet soundless stream straight upwards, resulting in a fog as the ice induced air collided with the warmer atmosphere creating small water droplets in the air. The sudden fog making the fillies grow wary and huddle together, expecting something to jump at them.         “Eh, girls. I think this might have been a bad idea…”         “How so?” Scootaloo asked, trying her best to be brave.         “Well, isn’t it usually much warmer outside during this time of year? It’s getting colder just as we speak.”         A few moments later, Anson decided to walk into the clearing. The young girls could only see his shadow as they stared at him with scared expressions while Jack could barely hold his laughter. It might been a bit mean of him to have suggested such a prank, but it would be funny for all involved afterwards. Especially the girls once they realized how much they let their fantasies get to them.         Speaking of the girls, they began to shiver in place once they saw the two swords that the figure had holstered on it’s back. Their fears began to elevate when they saw this ponies eyes glow red. Anson didn’t even get the chance to say anything by the time the three fillies began to scream and gallop out of the forest with their tales in between their hindquarters. When they were far enough, Anson said something for comical effect.         “Wait! I just wanted to be friends!!”At this, Jack burst out laughing and walked over to The Infinity Sword.         “We should probably make sure your ‘friends’ make it back to Ponyville safely. We don’t want any blade wielding maniac trying to get them, do we?” Jack joked as he had seen how intimidating the light red pony had looked from his position behind the CMC.         “Hehe… Good point.” The Earth Pony snickered as he began the unfamiliar process of learning how to trot on four legs towards Ponyville. Which happened to be the exact direction the fillies had galloped off to. All the way to their clubhouse. From a distance, Anson could see them inside the makeshift tree house, shaking a little like they scared themselves to death.         “You think we took it a little overboard?” He asked Jack as the snowboy floated right beside him.         “No, I think it’s gonna be alright if you introduce yourself, and show them you’re no bad pony. Then they will only be able to look back at this memory and laugh at themselves in the future. Don’t you think?”         “Alright, if you say so.” The Stallion sighed as he trotted up to the clubhouse. He was still trying to think through what to say inside his head. But by the time he reached the tree, he was a little more confident than a few minutes ago. “Excuse me, would you happen to be the three fillies that were in the Everfree just now? I didn’t mean to frighten you.”         Scootaloo, hearing the voice, peaked a little outside the clubhouse and saw the earth pony. Despite earlier, this… stallion, looked a bit cool because of his armor and gear. “W-who are you?” She asked.         “I’m Anson Nocte. Who are you girls?”         “Hold on, how do you know that there was three of us?”         “I heard three voices in the forest earlier.” Anson told the young pegasus. “I was going to say hi, but then you three began to run away from me like I was a ghost.”         “Oh my gosh! You were the ghost pony!?” Another voice squeaked as Applebloom and Sweetie Belle stuck their heads out the window. “Ah’m sorry if we ran away from you. We were just scared!”         Soon, all three fillies began to climb down and circle around the Infinity Sword. The ones who originally feared his shadow were now in awe of his presence. He looked as strong as a royal guard, but didn’t wear any specific armor or gear that would show that he was with them. This now got the three fillies really curious. “Are you some kind of Guard, Mr. Anson?”         The Earth pony shook his head. “Nah, just a traveler.”         “What kind of traveler?” They asked, even more curious now.         “One who searches… for legends.” Anson smirked, looking back at Jack. “Are you three interested in a story?”         Jack smiled, understanding what Anson was trying to do. The Infinity Sword took a deep breath as he heard the girls plead a little for the “story” that he was going to tell them about. “This is a story of a friend of mine who is responsible for many things. Some would consider him as a guardian for what he does and what he is capable of. He is the one to bring forth the first snow, the one to start snowball fights and he is the one for making frost as beautiful as it is.”         “What is your friends name?”         “Jack,” Anson told the girls. “Jack Frost. Now, girls. Can you do one thing for me? I’m sure you’ll like what happens afterwards.”         “Oh really? What’s that?” Sweetie Belle asked as she tilted her head.         “I want you to close your eyes…… and believe…… in Jack Frost.”         The girls were skeptical at first, but followed his directions anyways. The Snowboy took this as his cue while the girls were keeping their eyes closed. Jack used his magic to form a thin layer of misty clouds above the trio; making it snow lightly just as the girls opened their eyes. Soon, all three fillies were surprised by the surprise snowfall above their heads, only to soon see Jack smiling at them when they looked up; him hovering above them.         “Oh my!! Y-you’re real!!?!”         “Indeed he is,” Anson nodded as Jack descended down to the level of the three small fillies. “In fact, he’s been around for a very long time. But hasn’t had any friends at all. Which brings me to a question for you.”         “Yes?” Scootaloo asked.         “Could you three be Jack’s friends?”          “It would mean the world to me if I could have three such wonderful fillies as my friends.” The Snowmancer told them with a genuine smile, showing his snow white teeth.         All three of them eagerly nodded their heads as they jumped towards Jack, hugging him as soon as they landed on the boy. The Fillies were smiling; just as happily as Jack was. Jack now had more friends. The young boy with a special gift no longer had to be alone.         “Hey, Jack. Mind if I ask you something?” Scootaloo asked while looking at her new friend.         “You just did, Scootaloo.” The Snowmancer teased the little pegasus.         “No, I mean like a serious question.”         “Sure, I don’t see why not. I mean, I haven't talked to anypony for quite a while until Anson came along.” Jack responded, still smiling at the fact that he was now able to speak to ponies.         “What are you? I mean, you don’t look like any kind of creature I have ever seen or heard of.”         “An excellent question. I am, or was. Depends on how you think about it, a creature know as a human. That is until I decided I wanted to be so much more. I had decided to become someone meant to protect and cheer up children. And so, I became the spirit of frost. One meant to protect and amuse the young. A Guardian If you like. I became who I am, Jack Frost.”         The Girls marveled at the details Jack told them. They were liking their new friend even more! Anson himself smiled as he saw of the four of them cheerfully enjoy each others company. Soon though, the ringing of what sounded like an alarm clock went off in his head as he heard Discord calling to him.         ‘Not to interrupt the mood or anything, but we got to go back. Eris and Nicko are probably worried right now.’         ‘Assuming you have a way to get back.’ Anson told him.         ‘I do. I believe Eris did the same thing with Nicko. She reversed the teleportation spell so it would send them back to the place where they were pulled out of our world.’         ‘So, in theory, this should return us back to the castle?’         ‘Yes.’         Anson himself sighed as he heard the Draconequus. ‘Sure. Just give me a moment to say goodbye.’          The Infinity Sword soon began to walk over to Jack as he got his attention with the waving of a front hoof. “Sorry to interrupt, but I must get going. I have some people that I care for waiting for me back home.”         “Ah, yes. Of course, but before you leave, I think I got something I have to do. Could you wait just a moment?” The Snowmancer asked The Infinity Sword.         “Sure.”         “Great, It should not take long. Could you just give me my token for a short while?”         The Infinity Sword nodded, handing the snowflake to Jack with his hoof. Taking the snowflake, Jack stared at it for a while before starting to speak to himself.         “Right, let’s see what this little bugger can do.” He said as the snowflake started to shine brightly, making everypony in the room shy away from the light. Once the light died down the snowflake was gone, instead Jack was holding something new, vaguely reminding one of a very beautiful snowflake.         “Ah, brilliant. Now for the next step.” The Snowmancer said as he cleared his throat. “To those of you to find this token, to those of you who need a friend, a Guardian or just someone to talk too. I let you know, that I am here. Either come to me or call me. I will not refuse. I am the one of legends, one long forgotten and alone. I am the ageless and the young. I am the one they call Jack Frost. Call me if you need me, for I am one to abide.” Jack ended his speech as a hole opened right in front of him. Jack, getting the memo, tossed his new token into the hole and saw it divide into many copies, finding themselves worthy Displaced. But before the hole could close Jack reached out and caught one to give back to The Infinity Sword.         “Well said,” Anson told him. He reached into his side pockets to pull out the Dark El Shard that he had and gave it to Jack. “For you. If you need me by your side. I believe you know how it works?”         “I think I do.” Jack replied, taking the Dark El Shard, while handing Anson his own token.         “Alrighty then. Thanks for everything Jack.” The Earth pony thanked him before he began to trot back into the forest. He did so in order for him to be out of sight when Discord turned him back to normal and for when he sent them both back. Despite his time with Jack feeling a bit short, Anson really enjoyed being with his new frosty friend. With a snap, the two of them disappeared in a bright flash of light.         Back in the Castle of the Royal Pony Siblings, Eris and Nicko had been waiting almost Twenty minutes for his brother to return with Discord. In fact, they almost thought that they lost him to the void. Soon though, something barreled through a hole in the wall and almost gave the two of them a pair of heart attacks. When the smoke cleared from the impact, all they saw was a light red earth pony dressed in Anson’s clothes. Safe to say, it was him.         “Oww… my head.”         Nicko himself though, had a mischievous grin on his face. “Smile brother.” The Rune Slayer soon took a photo of his ponified brother as he chuckled to himself. “That’s definitely going on Facebook.”         That’s when Anson realized what was going on. He looked at himself, still seeing that he had four hooves and a tail. Now though, he was furious. Beyond Pissed.          “DDDIIISSCCCOOORRRDDD!!!!” End Chapter 13