When Lightning Strikes- Uncle Fazbear
Power Pony HQ
For quite some time, Lance found the three fillies that he was asked to keep an eye on quite enjoyable as they were silly. When Pinkie brought out cookies for the three of them to have, Rainbow herself made quite a mess when she tried to eat one and ended up putting her face in it. Light and Golden, on the other hand, were pretty much enjoying themselves. Lance’s Blaziken, Kai, was helping the Adept keep an eye on the both of them while Lance was trying to help with cleaning up Rainbow’s face.
“Geez… you are just a handful aren’t you?” Lance asked. Rainbow giggled a little bit as Lance had to set his tokens aside to help the filly get the cookie crumbs off of her face. But it was around then that the little pegasus saw a golden coin with a bear on the front. What she personally saw as a teddy bear.
Stretching out her neck, she grabbed the coin using her teeth and nuzzled the coin using her hooves and muzzle. However, when she felt the coin warm up a little, instead of dropping it, Rainbow just hugged it more. Lance himself did not even notice what the filly was doing until he turned around to see her with a coin he set down earlier. One with the familiar face of a bear that he had encountered before.
Freddy.
“Oh boy… Rainbow-.”
“Papa-?”
A golden flash went off in the room and a few seconds later, a familiar figure was in the room. A bear that had golden fur, a top hat, and a black bowtie around the neck. Freddy Fazbear himself had made his grand entrance, almost startling Kai and making Light and Golden giggle with delight.
“Here’s…… FREDDY!!!” announced the bear, trying his best to not sound like Jack Nicholson on The Shining. Mostly because of the fact that there were three children in the room.
“Um… Freddy?” Lance said, tapping him on the shoulder and almost spooking him. “Easy there big guy, it’s just me… Well, me and-.”
“Who’s dis, Papa?” Rainbow asked, using a hoof to try and touch Freddy on the nose. She giggled a little upon seeing his nose twitch a little and tried to do it a few more times, until Lance asked her politely to stop since it was impolite and that he didn’t want to tell Max about Rainbow or her sisters getting in trouble with anypony. Especially one that the little filly summoned accidently out of pure curiosity.
“Well, hello there little one-. Wait a second… Papa?”
“Technically, I am her dad. Long story short, these three fillies are my daughters now. I’m getting married in a few months-.” Lance paused for a minute, looking at Kai on the other end of the room. “I’m sure you’re familiar with Kai? He is the Pokemon you gave me after all. With him is Light Sweet and Golden Spark, my two other daughters besides Rainbow here; who happened to be the pony that used your token.” Lance held the little filly up, who held Freddy’s token in her mouth like it was a cookie that she wanted to eat.
“Congratulations man, and welcome to parenthood. If you count making and taking care of animatronics made from your own essence and a small child ‘parenthood’.” Freddy said, using two of his paws to go along with the act of putting the ending of the previous sentence in quotations. “So, who’s the lucky lady then?”
“Another Displaced I met named Max. Kind of a long story, but now we’re getting married, have these three youngsters and a fourth one on the way.”
“Good for you man,” The bear said at first, until he noticed what the Adept said at the end of his sentence. “Hold on… Fourth one on the way…?”
Freddy narrowed his eyes at Lance with a grin, elbowing him in the side jokingly.
“Lance, you sly dog!”
“Like I said, long story. But yes. That happened.”
Before Lance could say anything else, he heard something in the back of his head. “Well, speak of the devil. Max needs me to meet somepony. I’m sorry if this sounds like I’m asking a lot, but can you help Kai watch the girls for a little bit? I won’t be gone long… Hopefully.”
Lance then disappeared in a small vortex, leaving the Blaziken with the stuffed bear and the girls. Soon though, Rainbow began to crawl on top of Freddy and mess around with his hat. and the rest of his fuzzy mechanical self.
“Y-you so cuddly!”
Soon, the other two fillies came over and before Freddy even realized it, he was sitting on the ground and all three of them were snuggling him. Kai face-clawed himself because of the recent turn of events, chirping something that nopony could translate. But… then again, that was nopony. Freddy was the one who placed Pokemon in his world and was able to understand them, despite the fact that most individuals could just hear brief chirps.
“Why yes, yes I am small one! So, how’s life been with the kid, Kai?”
At first, the Blaziken was startled by the fact that he could understand him. But after the brief shock, he continued. A few more chirps were spoken briefly, explaining how Lance and him met Gilgamesh and the others in their Equestria a few weeks back.
“Oh cool, you met the Servants too? Yeah they’re pretty cool. Glad I met ‘em, they helped get the ball rolling in me making actual friends in the multiverse along with Folteren and all.”
Kai nodded his head, mentioning to him Lance’s encounters with Saber and their training session. Which ended on a not so positive note because of Grail being a total ass and getting on Lance’s case when he mentioned that both of his parents were dead. Then there was the part where before they left, he tried to blast Grail with a lightning infused Kamehameha, just to piss him off for kicks… and Luna’s enjoyment. Freddy grinned at that.
“Glad to hear that the Grail got his for being a d*ck, especially about someone not having parents. I can relate to the kid on that, both in the reasoning and the retaliation.”
Kai chirped again, informing Freddy that Lance’s mother had died because of the amount of blood that she lost when he was born and his father was driven to commit suicide. After that, came the encounter that the Pokemon had heard about with Jason. Especially when Lance met the Ormagoden side of him. From what the Blaziken could recall, Jason had crashed into his world after an encounter with a villain named Eclipse. It almost got to the point where the ensuing fight between the three of them almost wiped out the city of Sun Fransokyo… If it weren’t for Hodgepodge. Of course, he was the reason a chunk of the population turned into Bicorns and Taltzponies.
During that time though, Kai said that he was getting shipped. No literally… Shipped. When this world's Pinkie Pie, or in this case Filli-second, saw that Kai was “left behind”, she decided to package him up with a bunch of treats and send him to Lance through the mail. Kai, despite being uncomfortable, still had a hole to breath and Pinkie did write fragile on the side of the package to make sure that the mail-mares handled him with care. When he was out of the package, he was inside the location of Mane Hero Six, home to the Human Hiro Hamada, a Pony BAYMAX, and also where the next Displaced met him. The Delta Guardian, Zinnia.
“Okay the whole mailing you across the country thing I am NOT cool with. I made you guys with sentience and you should be given the respect that entails…”
He sighed, seeming to feel a bit of guilt.
“Though I suppose it was my fault, since I didn’t give you all the ability of full speech....I might have to speak with the Pink One about that. Still the Delta Guardian girl... Y’know it’s been a while but… Isn’t that something from Pokemon?”
Kai sighed, telling him that it was based off of it since she had told them about having a son that was a Bagon and that she was a Draconid. A human that had characteristic of Dragon type Pokemon.
“Seriously? Awesome! What kinds of characteristics do you mean?”
Briefly, the Blaziken said that she knew moves that a Dragon Pokemon knew like protect and Dragon Claw. Plus, she was able to teach him Shadow Claw so he could deal with psychic types and also helped him and Lance figure out Mega Evolution. At that point, Kai showed the Mega Stone that he hid under his chest fur to show the bear what he meant. But the point where the bear became curious was when he said that Zinnia had her own pair of wings.
“Okay, so taking care of a Bagon made her grow wings? How’s that work?”
Kai sighed, telling Freddy that weird things happen here on a daily basis. In fact, he was able to meet Max in person a few days after Lance had originally met her. Still though, there were a couple of things that Kai had seen with Lance talking to himself or Lumen. One being a “Ghoul Problem”.
Freddy blinked. He didn’t remember Lance mentioning it and the subject made him think of anime and zombies both… Maybe he would mention it whenever Lance got back.
Just as he thought that, A rift opened and Lance came back through, holding his coat in his right hand and just wearing his blue polyester shirt. “Okay, I’m back. Were the fillies too much trouble for you two?”
Kai shook his head, chirping a little. Freddy himself smiled as well. “Yeah yeah, we were just chilling out with the kids and Kai was tellin’ me what you’ve been up to since we last met up.”
“Wait… you can talk to Pokemon? Like Mewtwo or something else?”
“No. No Psychic stuff involved. Remember, I made Kai here. All the vocalization patterns for their dialect I whipped up and can understand.” The bear replied. “Oh and I was wanting to ask you something. Kai overheard you talking to yourself about a situation involving a ‘ghoul’, what’s that all about?”
Lance, at first, was surprised to hear that. But then, he sighed. “I was just thinking about that actually. There's another displaced here. Two in fact. Both of them are girls that got themselves displaced as ghouls from Tokyo Ghoul. A major problem with them is that when one was driven to the brink of starvation, she lost control of herself and consumed a colt’s mother right in front of him. Since then though, another being called the one eyed owl wanted me to convince the power ponies of their innocence and prove that they aren’t a threat to the public. Even put a guy named Arima to keep watch every now and then.”
“Sounds like some kinda shady conspiracy biz to me!”
“Whatever floats your boat…” Lance sighed. For a moment, his head turned as he held the same item that he used earlier. The Adept was grinning now. “Well, guess you’re going to get your chance to meet Max. She was wanting to come here to pick up the kids.”
“Mama’s coming-?” Rainbow asked, looking at the Adept.
“Yes she is, Rainbow.”
“Yay-!!”
“It may take some time, but she should be here in like five minutes.” Lance said. “She had some… things to deal with on her end. Another Displaced to be specific.”
Freddy gave a thumbs up and a shrug. He seemed to remember something and his mood seemed to drop a bit. It was about then that Lance finally noticed Freddy’s eyes. His previously damaged eye was now a shattered mess, looking to have been brutally savaged and ruined. The other was no longer a pinprick of light, but rather now had a full eye, with a golden iris and a white pinprick at the center of his pupil. He looked up at Lance as he inspected him.
“You okay Freddy? It looks like something is up with your eye.”
He waved Lance off.
“Don’t worry about it. And… Don’t call me Freddy. My name’s…”
He shook his head and knocked himself on the head with a paw. He seemed to exhale, though he didn’t draw breath.
“Calvin. My real name is Calvin…. Now to just remember it… But still. Before anything else, can you tell me if you’ve ever met or even caught wind of a Necromorph, a Cthulhu, or a Jenny XJ9 Displaced? Or at least anyone relating to those?”
Lance shook his head. “No, but may I ask you something, Calvin? Why are you… Inside Freddy?”
The bear shook his head. “I am...was… Freddy. Ugh…”
He sighed. “When I first met you, remember how I was? Violent, insane? All that?”
Lance nodded. “Hold on a sec. Kai? Can you take the kids to the break room? We need to talk in private.” The Pokemon nodded as he picked up Rainbow, having the two other fillies follow him out. The door closed behind him, leaving both Lance and Freddy in the room. “I do, but you changed since then. Why bring it up now?”
“Because I finally remembered. Kid… My mind, for the first time in a thousand years… I can actually think. When I first arrived to my Equestria… When I was first Displaced, wanna know what happened in less than five minutes of my arrival? The sisters. It was in the age of Discord, during his reign the first time in that world. The two sisters believed that I was him in disguise, and while I was scared out of my wits, wondering if the same thing had happened to my best friends, they struck with the intent to launch a surprise attack. They hit me with a spell meant to disrupt even someone as powerful as Discord himself, and this was me before I had any knowledge of what I capable of doing. I was left disoriented, confused, and afraid as they aimed to end me. Then… he arrived. Discord himself. He ‘saved’ me…”
He spat out the world like it left a bad taste in his mouth.
“He saw the potential in my abilities and while I struggled to understand what was going on, where I was… He got in my head. My thoughts dulled, my memories blown away like so much dust… When he was done, I was left as ‘Golden Freddy’... At least the version you know.”
“My god… I’m sorry to hear that.” Lance said, placing a hand on Freddy’s shoulder. He cracked a small smile.
“Kid, story’s not over yet.”
“Oh, right… Continue.”
“Alright then. Well, while I was in that state, I was a close ally to Discord. We brought the madness on Equestria and eventually the sisters used the elements of harmony on me and him putting us in stone. For a thousand years in stone, my mind and his were linked up, and he taught me every little trick he knew… Back then I didn’t have as much raw power, but I began to use skill as a substitute. When we broke out you know the story, I took out the elements’ new bearers and the princesses, leaving Equestria in ruins, Discord turned on me and I put an end to him… And then I found a certain kid’s token dropping on me.”
He elbowed Lance. “From there I got involved with other Displaced, making foes and friends alike. Something which brought out me and not...me. Eventually as I went, I finally started to recall, the influence left by Discord getting some static thrown over it. I started trying to figure out what was wrong, and so I made the choice to reverse what Discord and I had done. As far as all but the princess remembered, it was the day before I woke and all was well. There I met Cadence, and she showed me that Discord had left a big ole chunk of his power in my head… She got it out, I started doing my own biz, making my own country with Shiftlings and Pokemon, playing god like the jackass which I still am… Anyway, you met my ‘kids’, right? Well there was one you didn’t meet, but I’ll get to..that…. later. But still, the last summon got was the one that finally made the crack which broke the dam.”
He tapped the side of his head.
“It was someone I knew before getting Displaced. Meeting her again was enough to get me to finally remember everything. But still, on the night I was Displaced I wasn’t there alone. Two kids who might as well be mine and my best friend might just be out there in the multiverse, and I won’t stop until I can either find them or find a way back to our Earth. While I was meeting her though, there was trouble back in my Equestria. See, all of my ‘kids’ were mad with parts of myself as a base to grow from. But there was one that I made differently… One I made as a prison for my madness and for the chunk of power from Discord. Back then, it was my kryptonite. Just by proximity it could recombine itself into my head and make me just as crazy evil as before. I left it in an empty, powerless animatronic… By all means it should’ve slowly burnt itself out. But he didn’t. Springtrap found a way to get materials from the Displaced I met and a way to power himself up. While I was meeting Violet, he attacked. I fought him when I returned and won, but uh…”
He pointed a paw to his face, more specifically his ruined eye. “He got a few good hits in.”
“Oh… You can’t fix it… Or do you not want to fix it?” Lance asked. He knew some situations that some people don’t want to fix themselves, just to live the life of being someone else that they couldn’t be.
“Bit of both. Eye’s damaged beyond repair and not even an add-on like the one I got from the Servant’s version of Nightmare Moon could fix it. But even if it could be I might not want to fix it. It’ll make me remember my mistakes.”
“Because you might lose Calvin?”
He snickered.
“I am Calvin dude. My head’s still just a bit blurry.”
“Sorry, I just thought that you had two souls in there. Like you and the soul of Freddy. Guess that’s not the case…… Can I ask you something though?”
The Golden Bear nodded.
“Is it possible for me…… To see your actual face?”
“Well it’s not a costume, I am an animatronic, but I can just whip up a facade/illusion on my endoskeleton.”
“Can’t you just take off the top like a helmet? Your eye is right there. Something makes me think that your body is just wearing it like a suit.”
Freddy blinked and shrugged, placing a paw on either side of his head and ripping it off showing his animatronic ‘skull’ with a grin
“You tell me kid.”
“Okay, noted. Still though, despite what you look like on the outside, I still believe you can accomplish what you want to achieve. I believe you still have a heart. I saw it when you were with the girls just now.”
Freddy grinned. “Heart’s just a part of who a person is. I remember who I am, therefore I have my old ‘heart’ back. I always did have a soft spot for kids...”
That got Lance thinking a little… Thinking about something from earlier… Now a new thought came to mind. “Well, it might not be much…… But what if you got the chance to be part of the family… Not as a babysitter…… But as an uncle?”
Freddy grinned.
“Sure! Oh yeah and before I forget…”
Freddy lit up a paw and a pulse of magic went over his exposed skull, giving it a new appearance. A human face grinned back at lance, his eyes matching Freddy’s still, but now having the looks of an average human, presumably around twenty years old. He had slightly pale skin and ironically gold/blond hair, and a slightly narrow face. After a moment Freddy snapped a paw and the facade was one and his costuming/head was put back in place.
“Behold the face of Calvin!”
“Welcome to the family, Uncle Fazbear… Or Uncle Calvin to be specific.” Lance chuckled, patting him on the shoulder. “I’m glad to have you on board.”
“Glad to be on board, kid!” Lance chuckled, patting Freddy on the back before turning around, he felt another presence in the room.
A pair of white hooves covered his eyes and Celestia’s voice said, “I think you need practice with sensing where someone is.”
Lance felt the hooves on his face and smiled to himself. “Is that you, Max?”
“That mare you’re gonna marry? Nope, though I’d like to *hic* get her to try some of my sister’s moonshine.” The hooves left his face and Lance noticed a jug floating in front of his face. “Wanna try some?”
The Adept sighed. “No thanks… Also, even though you might know me… I was never properly introduced to Celestia… Plus, your energy is the same as hers, not like when I saw her briefly earlier today.” The Azure Striker had learned a few things from what Majin Buu had taught him, but expanded on that to try new skills for any necessary situation. Right now, he was feeling Max’s energy that was created from the Magic she had control over. He recognized it from the first day they met.
“Aw, you had to see through my disguise that fast?” She said, a wave of gold magic flowing down her to reveal a nice silk dress and a ring that caught the bear's attention as it glistened in the light.
“To be frank, I never saw through your disguise. I could just feel your magic in the room.” Lance said. Turning around, he kissed her briefly on the cheek before remembering about Freddy.
Freddy blinked and glanced at Lance.
“So this is her then?”
“Yes it is.” Lance said as he made his way to her. “Max, I would like you to meet Calvin, or as he’s known in his world; Freddy Fazbear. He was doing great with the kids earlier today.”
Freddy gave a mock-salute to her and then turned back to Lance.
“Oh hey before I forget, remind me to have a chat with your worlds Pinkie Pie about etiquette when dealing with sentient beings.”
“You mean with Kai? I’m sure she’ll be somewhere…”
He nodded. “Yeah. Kai, and every other one of the Pokemon that I’ve produced or led to the production of, all of them are sentient. I’m kinda miffed by one of them being shipped around like that…”
“Kinda figured they would be sentient and sapient,” Max said. Lance himself sighed, trying his best to catch her up to speed on what they were talking about. It took some time, but soon, everything was explained to Max. Now came the hard part.
“So… do you think Freddy can be a great uncle for the kids? They enjoyed being with him earlier. Especially Rainbow.” He asked as Kai brought the kids back into the room. Rainbow, immediately made her way to Freddy and jumped on his shoulder. “Teddy!!”
“Sure. Oh, that reminds me.” Max turned to a corner and said, “Lucky, come meet your sisters and father.”
“Lucky?” Lance asked, wondering what Max was talking about. Soon, he realized that the name sounded like the name of a child. “Wait… Did you adopt another child?”
“Maybe.... Yes. He barely survived being burned alive and I wanted to make sure there wasn’t another attempt on his life.”
A colt suddenly appeared with a pop. He had a grey mane and a pale blue coat. His eyes were a soft green and his cutie mark was a four leaf clover. Lance was surprised to see the youngling so quickly. “So… The girls now have a Brother? Not to mention Calvin as an Uncle."
“Yep. Wow, I just noticed that we’re going to have five children once our son is born.”
“Yeah… Hey Max, is our son…… well…… How should I put this…” He said before whispering the next part. “Human?”
“I went to the medical wing after I got ran over by a team of nine reindeer and a sleigh to see if our son was okay and the doctor said that he was growing too slowly to be a colt, so I guess that means that he’ll be human,” She said, walking over to Kai and picking up Golden.
Freddy put a paw to his chin in thought. "Still... I can't help but wonder which of you he'll take after. Time powers versus lightning septima and all. Or he'll get both..." Freddy looked up at the two.
"Welp, the next generation's gonna destroy us."
“You got run over before you visited me?” Lucky asked.
“Hey Max? Mind if I come back to your world for a second? I need to take care of a couple of things.” He asked her as the rest of the girls joined them. “Oh and did you give Freddy the Wedding invitation?”
The golden bear shook his head. “I have been invited to nothing!”
“Well, lets take a moment to fix that. Max, do you have an invite?”
“I don’t have one for him, but I can get one of the ones with a blank where the name is,” Max said. “I made several for those you want to invite and what was that about you wanting to take care of two things?”
“Well first, I wanted to send an invitation to my cousin, Sun Wukong, and ask him to be my best man. Second… I want to meet these ‘Reindeer’ that you told me about a few moments ago.” The Adept replied. He decided to put his coat back on and prepare himself for when anything else came to mind. “Plus, the blank invite can work. I can write his name in there for him.”
“The reindeer have been taken care of. Yes they ran me over, but it didn’t hurt and they have already apologized. Besides, that happened last day.” Max snapped and two scrolls appeared in her hand.
Lance took one of them and wrote Freddy’s name in there for him before handing it to the stuffed bear that the children saw as lovable. Afterwards, he told the bear that he was allowed to leave anytime he wished, especially if he was being serious about his talk with this world's Pinkie Pie. The Adept then sighed. “Still though, I wanted to make sure that this doesn’t become a repeat incident. I don’t want the word on the street being that ‘Grandmother got ran over by a reindeer’.”
“That was the headline for Equestria Daily this dusk. I liked the irony of them not knowing that’s the name of a song.”
“ …… Can I still come anyway before I say goodbye to the kids?” The Azure Striker asked.
“You can come through the portal whenever you want, that’s the reason we had it opened,” She dismissed.
“Can I have another sip?” Lucky asked, holding up the jug.
“Well, if that’s everything, then I’ll come with you for a minute before I have to go. Wanna make sure that Lucky is adjusting well to being with us beforehand.” Lance did bring up a good point. Lucky was a new addition to the family and for being somepony who was just adopted by the royal family no less, it would take quite a bit of time to adjust. So, the Adept wanted to make sure he felt comfortable in his new home.
“Sure, just don’t drink the entire jug. That’s the last until I find where Luna left her recipe.”
“What recipe?” came a curious Breezie that now entered the room and sat on Lance’s shoulder.
“The one for her moonshine. I’ve looked all in her rooms but haven’t found a secret panel, so I’m looking in my office.”
“Isn’t that Alcohol?”
“Not my Luna’s. It can affect breezies like alcohol, but for ponies it’s just a sweet, fruity drink. I think I read something about her finding out about it by experimenting with how dense she made moonlight,” Max said, taking a thick book out of her bag and flipping through it.
“Right… So, shall we go?” Lance asked. “We don’t want to keep your Twilight waiting or anything like that.”
“Yeah... about that. I actually had her get all of her friends so they could work with their counterparts from here.” Max put the book back in her bag and turned towards the portal.
“But they still don’t me… well, except for your Twilight. Maybe this’ll be the chance to meet them.” The Adept replied, now noticing Rainbow crawl on top of his head and poking at Lumen. Rainbow saw the act as playful, however, Lumen didn’t like the feeling of a huge hoof on her face.
“Rainbow, please stop poking your aunt.”
“Aww… Aunt Lumen so cute!!” Rainbow argued.
“You can cuddle her, though. Just make sure you don’t cuddle too hard,” Max said, plucking Light from her flight.
Rainbow snatched up the tiny pony, hugging her and almost losing her balance. “Yay!” Lumen sighed, snuggling with Rainbow after she got use to her hugging her and realizing that there’s probably no way out of this. Kai decided to stay behind while the Lance and the others went through the portal connecting Lance’s domain to Max’s. The Pokemon didn’t mind though. It gave him the chance to meditate in peace without any distractions… For a little while of course.
Equestria (Home of the Prophet)
By the time that Max, Lance and the kids had returned, Sol and Mun were waiting outside the doorway and expecting their arrival.
“You do know I won’t let you threaten my guests, right?” Max asked, seeing the prince in the throne room. “I’d rather be known as a gracious host than someone with an over protective husband.”
“I understand that… I just want to assure that it doesn’t happen again-.”
“Ah, Madam Maxine. You have returned-.” came the voice of a familiar individual as he trotted over. Lance turned to see the Reindeer that had just entered the room, Antlers and everything. “Pardon me, but who is this?” He asked, pointing a hoof at him.
“My apologies Prince Rutherford, this is-” Max started
“Daddy!” Rainbow interjected, plopping herself on top of Lance’s head and snuggling it. At the time, Lance noticed Rainbow holding a plushie doll of Freddy. He chuckled upon seeing that, but for the Reindeer, he was still confused.
“Come again?” the prince asked.
“My name is Lance Walker. Max is my fiancee.” The Adept told him.
“Lance heard about that little... ruckus last day and was concerned that it would happen again,” Max said, rolling her eyes.
“Wait, so he was the one that ran you over-?”
“Unintentionally! I was just being escorted. My drivers though sometimes don’t pay attention and act like idiots from time to time if I do say so myself.” The Prince sighed at the last statement after the sudden outburst. But there was one thing he wanted a better understanding of first. “Still though, I heard you define Maxine as “fiancee”. Does that mean-?”
Lance nodded his head. “We’re getting married in a few months, yes. Only a few ponies know though, so for now, lets keep this between us.”
“My snot is sealed. Still though, congratulations to the both of you.”
“Why thank you… Speaking of which, I had an idea for the invitations Max,” The Azure Striker turned to face her while he was speaking. “Why don’t we include a family photo? We can take one in the garden if you want to simplify things.”
Max’s eyes widened and she said, “Why didn’t I think of that? Yeah, let’s do that.”
“It’ll have to wait until tomorrow; there’s a press conference in twenty minutes,” Sol said.
“Twenty minutes? What for?” Lance asked, a little bit curious.
“Quill said something about letters asking if I was insane or wanting to expand Equestria,” Max said. “And then there were the questions I read in the paper this dusk, so I had it scheduled.”
“What kind of Questions?” Lance said, “Besides, where is this even being held at?”
“Most were very similar and were pointed to what kind of ‘mare’ I was. It’s going to be in one of the ballrooms, I think.”
“Well, why don’t we do the photo by the Statues of Celestia and Luna? It’s on the way isn’t it?” Lance suggested. “Also, do you need me there for the conference or are you okay on your own?”
“No time to find a camera and get it set up,” Mun interjected, catching Light before she hit the floor.
“I really think we should postpone the wedding until next year. If only to ke- wait, what am I saying?” Max stopped, rubbing her head in confusion. “When did I start caring that much about public appearance?”
“It happened gradually, I think,” Sol said.
“Hmm… Would you think the media would want to talk to Rutherford first beforehoof? Buy us some time?” Lance said, remembering the Prince’s presence in the room. “I believe they might have some questions for him as to why he’s here and what not.”
“I am actually taking a well deserved vacation. You have no idea what my brother is like,” The prince said. “But, I suppose I can do a few questions. Ah, I almost forgot; my brother would like to ally Reinia with Equestria.”
“We’ll have to work the details out later, but you can tell the reporters that you’re currently discussing it with me-” Max caught herself and turned to Mun. “You’ve forgotten that I keep a camera in my bag at all times?”
“Well, I guess we have a gameplan then.” Lance replied confidently. “Come along now, kids. Show me the way.”
“Okay, daddy!” Taking the lead, Rainbow pushed against the throne room’s doors, struggling until Max humored her and used Time to help her open it. The children guided both of their parents to the statues outside the throne room as they moved in a playful gallop with Light even flying a bit off of the ground using her wings. Rainbow even tried to join in on that as well. “Here we are!”
“Okay, come on! everyone gather around Celestia’s statue,” Max said, handing her camera to a guard.
Lance joined them, the fillies in front of him and Max. “Should Sol and Mun be in the picture too?”
“You have to ask?” She pulled the two over, making sure they were in the camera’s view. “Okay, now we’re ready!”
“Okay everyone, smile! One… Two… Three!” The camera flash went off with everybody in the room looking towards the guard. Soon Lance walked over with Max towards the guard. “How did it turn out?”
“Good, except Grandmother put her fingers behind your head,” the guard replied.
Lance turned to Max, who he saw was giggling to herself. “Was that Necessary? We are sending the photo with the invitations.”
“It was a family photo as well!” Max defended. “Besides, I couldn’t resist doing it at least once.”
Lance facepalmed at the response. “Should we try one more or are you okay this?”
“Why not? It’s a good picture anyways.”
Giving it another look, Lance then sighed with a smile. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” He then attached the picture to the second invite Max gave him before making a copy of the photo and giving it back to her. With that, he placed Sun’s name on the invitation and casted it into the void before returning to the kids. “You kids did great with the photo. Be good for mommy okay?”
“Kay, Daddy!” Rainbow said.
Lance smiled as he hugged Rainbow. “That’s my girl. Stay strong okay?”
“I will, daddy!” Rainbow replied. “Goodbye, Auntie Lumen!”
“I know you have things in your universe you need to do, but mine needs to know you, too,” Max said, giving Lance a kiss on his cheek.
“I understand that, Max. But I don’t want a Panic to ensue because of it.” He looked at Lumen as they made their way towards the room that held the portal, leaving Max with a kiss on her Cheek to return the favor. “After all, Duty calls.”
“Dooty!” Light said.
“No, not that kind!” Lumen shot back.
“Actually, that was her first word.” Max told the Breezie, using a finger to poke Lumen in the belly before going over to her.
Lance’s partner now looked back at him with an exhausted expression. “I’m never going to get used to this now, aren't I?”
Lance chuckled. “Call me if you need anything else, okay Maxie?” With him seeing Max nod her head, he walked through the doorway that would lead him back to his world before saying one last thing to her, looking at Light. “Kids sure do grow up fast now, do they?”
“They sure do. I just hope they don’t grow too fast.”
The Adept smiled, looking at her one last time before stepping in and fading away with Lumen. As they disappeared, Rainbow turned to Max. “Mama?”
A tear made it’s way down Max’s cheek as she picked Rainbow up and said, “He just has some grownup things to do, sweetie. He’ll be back before too long. I just hope he doesn’t miss a part of you girls’ lives.”
“When will he be back?” The filly asked. It was a good question. An honest question that some ponies would agree with. But Max just focused on being positive.
“He’ll be back when he’s done.” Max hugged Rainbow, trying not to let her voice waver. I just hope it’s soon.
Power Pony HQ
By the time Lance and Lumen got back, Solaria and Kai were waiting on them. The unicorn wanted the chance to briefly talk about something to him while Kai was just wanting to make sure that he came back safely. But, as the few of them were beginning to unwind from their previous endeavours, something lurked in the darkness around them.
“So let me get this straight… Freddy went to go have a chat with Pinkie before he left?”
“Something like that-.” Around now, the lights in the room they were in defused, leaving the halls pitch black. “Okay, who turned out the lights?”
“Don’t look at me, I didn’t do anything-.”
SMACK!!
Those were the only words that the Adept was able to say before he felt like he got the wind knocked out of him and his face hit the floor.
End Strike 19