//------------------------------//
// Log 17- Shatter Me 
// Story: Of Magic and Machines 
// by FrostTheWolf 
//------------------------------//


Of Magic and Machines- Shatter me




Castle of Friendship (A few days prior)

        Watching the snow sprinkle out onto the ground outside, Faith was a little… distracted by the current circumstances. Her Father and Uncle had been gone for some time, and was also feeling quite nervous after her encounter with the Displaced Nightmare Moon some time before then. On a clean and empty sheet, she had written another diary entry into her journal. It was her second one, but she wrote anyways to express her concerns with her father’s and uncle’s absence. 

        It was only after she had written there that she noticed that a page in the book was glowing and it was the page next to the one where she had written her first entry.

        “Is something wrong, Faith?” Sombra asked, noticing the look of surprise on her face.

        “No… I’m just wondering why this page is glowing.” She replied as the Code Queen flipped through the pages again to the spot where she was referring to. Once Faith was there though, both her and Sombra were surprised to see ink bleed onto the page and form words. Even though Faith wasn’t writing at all.

        I must say Faith, that is an interesting tale to be sure. Out of all the displaced I had met and heard about, not once have I heard of them returning to their homes. I would very much like for you to tell me the full story one day, if you have the time.

        Now, from the way you wrote your entry, I'm assuming you didn't expect a response of some kind. Well, allow me to introduce myself then; My name is Robin, and I'm a tactician, Archmage, and swords-master. What you currently have before you is none other than my token. I use this to connect with the other displaced that wish to speak to me, such as yourself. 

        I find the situation you're in to be rather... interesting. I can still remember the first day I entered Equestria over 1500 years ago. Back then I had little control over my power, and it was only through intense studying and training did I manage to reach where I am today. I wish you the best of luck in finding a way home.

Sincerely,

        Robin

        “Wait… So this… is Robin’s Token?” Faith said to herself as she picked it up and held it at different angles. “I honestly did not expect a token to appear as a book.”

        “Well, this Robin did call himself an Archmage. Archmages use tomes like this one to store spells and notes on their magic. I believe your Uncle carries one for his notes on his magic so he would refer to them when he needed to.” Sombra pointed out. As Faith looked through the pages though, the former king noticed that a lot of the pages were blank and looked like a journal rather than a tome. “My theory is that he sent out an empty tome so any Displaced that find it can write in it and communicate with him with only putting in enough magic so it could travel around to end up in the worlds of other Displaced.”

        “Well, that does make sense. But how can this be helping me with my worries for Dad and Uncle Nicko?” She asked him. A very good question to pose to him at this time.

        “Faith, it is almost midnight. Maybe you should get some sleep. I’m sure that a response will probably come in the morning.”

        “...... Yeah, you’re probably right.”



Present Day

        “And that’s how I found out about Robin.” The Code queen told her father, Anson Nocte. It was only a few moments before sunrise and today was a very special day. Heart Warmers eve. Known as Christmas eve back home, Faith and her uncle, Nicko Nocte, had originally planned to try and surprise her father and the rest of her family by finding their way home. But over time, she had been beginning to feel that this place is more like her home then back on earth. She had met a lot of people, had powers, and even felt like some of the Equestrians were beginning to feel like family to her. She had gotten to know Chaotic, Discord and Celestia’s Son, quite well in that timeframe and when he asked about the book, that’s when Faith told Anson and him about Robin.

        Right now though, they were trying to make some final preparations for tonight’s festivities and the best way to start with that was by going into the Everfree and cutting down a Heart’s Warming Tree. Of course, this would’ve been a LOT easier if her father had not tried to decimate every tree in sight with one of his skills, but it at least got the job done. As they were starting to carry it back, it started to begin lightly snowing again.

        “Alright, the sooner we get this tree back to town, the sooner we can prepare for the rest of the time. I honestly can’t actually believe that Amy agreed to distract Nicko while we take care of these things.” The Infinity Sword said as he carried the tree by the trunk while Faith carried it by the base with the help of Moby and Remy.

        “Hey dad… Do you remember when you use to tell me stories?” Faith asked him.

        “Yeah, what about them?” Anson asked.

        “Remember when you were telling me about when the Infinity Sword met Jack Frost.”

        “Ah yes. Jack. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him. He was a pretty cheerful fellow that was for sure.” Anson said, recalling the time where he met the Spirit of Frost in person. “In fact, I think you would like him if he met you.”

        “So you’re saying that Jack is-.”

        “-A Displaced, yes. But the same things I said in the story apply to him. You need to believe in him in order for you to be able to see him.” Anson retold his daughter, as they made their way back to town, dropping off the tree. “Still though, I wonder how he has been doing recently…”



The Void (Black Frost PoV)

        “That was far too close!” I thought to myself as I barely escaped from Blood Cleaver. I knew she would soon be on my tail once again, so my best shot was to get as far away from this universe as possible. The problem was, that currently distance, direction and time was beyond my control in The Void. Making any attempts besides obvious traps to create an advantage useless.

        If I was to stand up against Cleaver, I would have to refill my magic reserves, I was still far from empty, but I was getting closer than I could have ever imagined I’d ever have to be. The stunt I pulled in Robin’s universe having taken a lot more out of me than I thought.

        Quickly I swept my gaze and took in all surrounding universes. A few of them had powerful Displaced I could most likely drain of magic, but there was one that somehow felt familiar… and it was filled with multiple Displaced. I would normally had avoided entering a universe with multiple Displaced, but these were weaker than Blood Cleaver, and I could probably pick them off one by one anyway. There was also the point of this universe having an already set invitation, after all, I could feel one of my tokens already in there.

        I smiled to myself. This would be perfect for me to take care of Blood Cleaver, the time dilation would allow me to spend enough time in there to recover fully before Cleaver caught up to me, and with her still exhausted after having chased me, I would be the-

        Any further thoughts of mine were shattered as I was thrown against edge of the universe I intended to invade. A quick look back confirmed my fears, Blood Cleaver had already caught up to me and had landed the first hit, and she looked absolutely furious.

        “Welp, might at least not waste the opportunity to regain some energy.” I thought to myself as I activate a passage, connecting it to my token.

        Unfortunately Blood Cleaver seemed to have understood my plan as she screamed, “As if I’d let you!” as she grabbed onto me.

        I was already in a relatively bad situation, but it only got worse from there. Because of the sudden addition in weight, the passage shifted and our point of entry changed. Further decreasing my chances of draining another Displaced of their magic.

        As Blood Cleaver and I fell through, my only thoughts were on how much I would enjoy getting back at Blood Cleaver after this was all done and over with.



Ponyville

        “Okay, that should do it.” Anson sighed a little, shaking out any loose pine needles around the back end of Twilight’s castle while Faith used the Nasod blades to cut loose any branches that were sticking out.  Pinkie and Discord were with them adding decorative trinkets to the outside of the tree, but at one moment, the earth pony’s whole body shook rapidly as if she was freezing from the cold before settling down a few minutes later. 

        “Oh my… That was quite a doozy.”

        What she said had caused Faith to chuckle a little to herself, but when Anson and Discord looked at one another, they knew that a doozy was no laughing matter. It meant that the unpredictable was going to happen. And they will possibly get blindsided by it.

        This was abruptly followed up by hearing a loud BOOM!! in a field outside of town. At first, it sounded like a tree falling down, but Anson thought otherwise. “Pinkie, get inside. Faith, stay with me.”

        “Okie dokie, Sonny!!” The Pink Earth Pony replied, racing back into Sugarcube Corner. That’s when Anson looked at his Draconequus friend and posed a question to him. “Hey Discord… Is it just me or does the magic in the air feel… familiar?”

        The Draconequus soon raised one of his eyebrows and sniffed the air a little before looking back at Anson. “Yeah, almost like the time we met…… Jack.” He sniffed the air again and then his face cringed, like he had smelled a bad odor. “Something’s not right about the other being that came with him I think.”

        “Wait… other being?”

        “Yeah, it smells like blood. Can’t make out if it’s a he or she.”

        A second BOOM!! was heard and seemed to have been closer than the previous one, this one accompanied by a light blue light shining through the snowfall, showing them what direction to go if they wanted to investigate.

        As they followed the light and sound they began to make out more sounds and lights making it through the snowfall until the came out into a part where the snow seemed to simply stop falling.

        In the middle of the ‘clearing’ were two figures fighting. One by shooting icicles, and freezing the terrain by creating giant spikes of ice. The other was moving at incredible speed and was shooting beams of light blue light that seemed to melt anything they touched and explode on impact. Both of them seemed to be shouting at each other over the howling of the ever present wind.

        “What the heck-?” Anson said to himself. “Discord, something is wrong here. I can’t make it out, but I believe Jack is fighting somepony.”

        “What was your first clue?”

        “One of the fighters is throwing Ice Spikes all over the place like spears. I can’t make anything out, so can you get closer and try to see what is happening?”

        “I can try. I have a hunch that one of them might sense me though if I get too close.” The spirit warned before diving into the ground like it was a pool of water, swimming like an eel.

        As soon as he did, the figure fighting Jack jumped high into the air, seemingly exposing itself to any and all attacks. That is until it moved sideways in mid air to avoid Jack’s attacks. Pursuing his opponent Jack too followed up by flying into the air. Their fight continuing in a similar fashion to as how it had been progressing earlier, only now in a three dimensional space and no objects to hide behind.

        At first Anson didn’t notice it being much of change for how easy it was to observe the two while waiting for Discord, that is until one of the icicles that had missed its intended target landed no closer than 3 feet away from him. Almost striking his daughter.

        “That… was too close.” He noticed the figures that were in the air and snarled a little. “Faith, can your drones zoom in to see those two up there?”

        “I can try.” Faith coughed a little, shaken a bit, but not hurt. A small screen pulled up as she tried to close in on the two of them. “All I can make out is that one of them is a man and another one is a woman in dark clothing. The man is casting the Ice Spells and the Woman is doing that… Laser beam thingy.”

        “Plasma to be specific.” The Spirit of Chaos that had left only a few moments ago said upon returning. “Head’s up though, They’re heading back this way.”

        “Wait, Wha-!?”

        BOOM!!! 

        Accompanying the sudden explosion was a rain of ice chunks from the blown up mountain of ice that had been flying their way. As the assault of ice began to descend however the woman suddenly appeared before them with her back turned towards them and began blasting any of the ice chunks that came to close. As soon as the threat was over she once again seemed to disappear, only to re-appear high up in the air to once again fight against Jack.

        This time, the fighting duo were close enough to be heard over the sound of the wind.

        “Multi-form!” The woman shouted with a familiar voice as she seemed to split into two. One of the two began to slowly descend towards Anson, Discord and Faith.

        As she landed she looked upon them.

        “You guys alright?” She asked as the sounds of fighting resumed above them, a few more chunks of ice falling around them.

        “Y-yeah-.”

        “Yeah, just who the hell are you?” Anson demanded, interrupting what Faith was going to say. He was a little on edge after he almost saw Faith got injured a few moments earlier.

        The woman in front of him bowed a little. “My name is Blood Cleaver, and that,” she pointed towards the fight. “is me battling against Jack Frost, or as he’s currently calling himself, Black Frost.” Cleaver introduced herself and Frost.

        “Whoa, Lady. Black Frost? What’s up with the change? That’s different from the last time I saw him.” Anson replied. Faith herself was back on her feet as she looked and observed the two fighters battling it out against one another.

        “Well, from what the Cutie Mark Crusaders told me, he was discorded.”

        Both Anson and Faith looked at each other in confusion, unsure of what Blood Cleaver was talking about. That was when their Discord came out of Anson and decided to step up to the plate in regards to explaining. “It’s an ability where a Darconequus steals somepony’s harmony and has them act the opposite of what they normally would be. Something tells me Jack’s Discord did this to him.”

        “That would be correct. Heh, I wasn’t there when it happened, but apparently Discord back in Jack’s Equestria already learnt his lesson. Because after Jack returned as Black, Discord wasn’t seen leaving the site. Although I doubt he’s dead. It ain’t easy getting rid of you lot.” Blood Cleaver said as she chuckled a little, pointing at Discord.

        “Actually, I know I’m in no position to ask this of you, but could I ask for your assistance? I might not look like it, but I’m currently not capable of containing Black. Would you mind helping a lady out?” She asked.

        “Anything to get my friend back,” Anson retorted. “Just leave my daughter out of this-.”

        “No dad.” Faith interjected. “I’m fighting with you. If Blood Cleaver needs help, then that means trying to fight him alone will end up getting yourself hurt or worse,” Around that moment, all six of the Code Nemesis’ blades began to materialize. “Now, how do we do this?”

        “Ah, that. Well, for a start, we have to avoid all the Ki blasts, icicles and anything else flying from those two.” Blood Cleaver said as she gestured behind herself where the fight had once again distanced itself away from them.

        “Otherwise, it’s mostly the containing part I need help with. Word of advice though, if you have to hit him, hit hard. He takes close to no damage from punches that break rocks. And sharp weapons don’t cut him, so don’t fight him head on if he tries to attack you. And watch out for his magic, I believe he is low on reserves, but he could still freeze you solid I believe. He did it to another Equestria’s SUN with no visible effort before and didn’t even use half of his reserves.” Blood Cleaver warned them.

        “Not a problem. Just need to change my code real quick.” Faith responded as she had another screen appear and typed a few keys.

        “Huh, you’re some kind of class changing Displaced?” Blood Cleaver asked, curious about Faiths transformation.

        “You could say that,” Faith told her as she changed her form. Her appearance, along with the appearance of Moby and Remy changed along with it, surprising her father.





        “Neat. However, While you help… well, me. I’ll be staying here. The Multi-Form technique let’s me split my power and body into multiple selves, but I only have about a millionth share of my total power, if I go out there I’ll be minced meat. But I’ll signal myself that you’re going to help me.” Blood Cleaver explained.

        “Got it,” Faith replied, seeing her father draw his swords. “You sure you’re gonna handle this, dad? Blood Cleaver said-.”

        “I know what she said about weapons not cutting him, but he doesn’t know that my weapons aren’t ordinary,” Anson smirked. “You know, when I said I wanted the chance to have some Father-Daughter time to ourselves, this was not what I had in mind.”

        “Hah! Good Luck! Make sure not to get in the way of myself. I’d hate to disintegrate you with plasma.” Blood Cleaver said before flying upwards and shooting a small orb into the air, the orb exploding with a loud Clap working as a signal. The other Cleaver quickly allowed herself a moment to do the same to let them know she heard the signal.

        Nodding to herself Cleaver landed once again and smiled. “She’s ready now, now go out there and show him how you catch a spirit!”

        Both Nocte’s nodded, charging into the fray. Anson went head on into the fight, while Faith stayed behind. The Battle’s Seraph’s specialty involved attacking her opponents from afar with Electron Beams. Not only that, but she could modify her drones so the beams would come out in different ways. The same worked for when she was using one of her new primary skills, Particle Ray.

        This skill was paired up by another one Faith had acquired called El Crystal Spectrum. A passive skill that allows her to change to a different type of Force Field that’s around her, and in turn, affect the size and damage of the beams she would fire. This was paired up with two other passive skills to allow for her to have three modes to choose from along with a fourth one when you combined all three. 

        Amplify, Spectrum and Reactive and Fusion.

        Right now, Faith was using her Spectrum force field. Because of this, The single beam that she fired split apart into three once they went through the field and towards Black Frost. She was aiming for the lower half of the body, since their focus was to contain him and prevent him from running away.

        The sudden assault surprised Black, but he quickly recovered and gritted his teeth in frustration over now having to face an additional opponent. Trying to gain an advantage he quickly shot forward towards Faith and tried to blast her with ice magic from a close range, at the same time moving in a way so that Blood Cleaver could potentially hit Faith if she tried to shoot him.

        In response to this Blood Cleaver decided to give herself and her allies another advantage and began casting a barrage of Ki blasts over the sky, creating a wall of them that was pressing down from above, forcing all of them down to the ground before they stopped in mid-air a few meters over the ground.

        Faith meanwhile, had slid out of the way and thought of something. She remembered that, after spending time overlooking her new skill tree, that she had a new skill that might work for the current situation. But right now, she waited to see what was the outcome of Ms. Cleaver’s attack.

        Having forced Black down to the ground, allowing Anson to help out as well. Blood Cleaver began using more precise attacks as to not hit either Anson or Faith by mistake. Her current beams had now taken on a green tint and the small Ki blasts had become white instead of blue.

        Black himself was about to retaliate against Blood Cleaver, but soon found himself being attacked from behind as he narrowly dodged the first of Anson’s two swords. The second one the Infinity Sword held in reverse and caught him off guard by using Harsh Chaser to try and pull him down to the ground and restrain him. It worked, but what took Black by surprise was who was attacking him. For he had seen him before.

        “Anson?” Black asked in surprise before gathering his wits and created a wall of ice between them to give himself an opening. Using that opening to his fullest he created a lot of big ice spikes all over the clearing to use as cover and began weaving between them to lose his opponents and strike them from behind.

        However, this was the moment that Faith used Kugel Blitz. A slow moving Electron Ball that dealt a lot of damage, but also pulled their opponents towards her. The skill was based off a specific type of black hole created by energy. In this case, Faith’s energy was being used not just to hurt Black, but pull him towards the group as he fell forward onto the ground with a THUD!

        Quickly getting up and narrowly avoiding a beam that would have hit him in the head, Black shouted a few curse words and released all the wind surrounding them from his control, allowing the falling snow to enter the clearing and further obstructing everyone's vision.

        Everyone except Faith. While she couldn’t see a thing, Moby and Remy could. They were her helpers, weapons and in this case, sight. She could see what they saw. And right now, she was seeing Black head towards her father. “LEAVE MY DAD ALONE!!” With this, she conjured and released another Particle Ray, this time with the Amplify forcefield as she tried to hit Black in the upper chest area where his arm was stretching out towards Anson.

        Not having enough time to dodge, Black instead conjured up small blocks of ice to take the hit for him. But before he could retreat he found his lover jaw getting hit by a powerful kick delivered by Blood Cleaver. While Blood Cleaver couldn’t see much herself, she had a pretty good idea where everyone were because of her ability to sense their power levels.

        The kick sent Black through the air. The strike was both surprising and quite painful, making Black accidentally let go of his staff. As Blood Cleaver felt the opening in Black’s defences she quickly took advantage of it by showering him in a barrage of kicks and punches, keeping him pinned against one of the ice spikes he previously created. Large cracks began to spread through it as she applied more force to her punches.

        Faith herself checked on her father before looking back at Blood Cleaver. She was surprised that she could move so fast, but had a feeling that something was wrong. Very wrong. Like she had been set up. 

        Before Faith could voice her suspicion, Blood Cleaver winced in pain and quickly distanced herself from Black, holding her left arm. The whole arm had been frostbitten and had turned black, just like dead meat. “Dammit, forgot about that.” Blood Cleaver swore as she quickly fished out a knife from somewhere and cut her left arm clean off, splattering a surprisingly small amount of blood into the snow.

        “Well, seems I finally got you. You sure you’d not rather leave and stay out of this?” Black asked with a confident smirk. Blood Cleaver however didn’t falter.

        “As if, what you’re doing is wrong, and I was told to help you return to normal, so that’s what I’m going to do. Now, let’s see about that trapping. NOW!” Blood Cleaver shouted. To the Frost mage’s surprise, he was soon attacked by a series of rapid slashes from Anson’s Maelstrom Rage skill and then was soon thrown against the same wall by the Infinity Sword. Conjuring four small blades, he used two of them to pin down the sleeves of Jack’s clothes and the other two to pin down the pant legs. “That… was for almost hurting my daughter.”

        As soon as Anson was done, Blood Cleaver appeared before Black and gripped his throat with her now only hand and held him up before bashing heads with him. The unpleasant sound of two craniums bashing together sounded loud enough to wake an Ursa Minor, peacefully sleeping in the middle of the Everfree forest. And Black visibly winced at the contact. Blood Cleaver however seemed completely unphased by it.

        Black was about to once again try and freeze Blood Cleaver after she had so foolishly gotten close to him a second time, but found that he couldn’t, or rather that he no longer wanted to. Memories began spilling into his head in quick succession, filling his mind with different parts of his life the last ten thousands years and memories of who he was.

        As tears began to form in the corners of his eyes, his irises turned back into his regular light blue. His hair once again went back to its snow white color and his clothes and skin recovered their regular colors as well.

        “I-I-” Jack began as he realized what had happened, but before he could say anything else Blood Cleaver leaned backwards for a moment and once again bashed heads with him, this time knocking him out and severely bruising her own forehead.

        “Was that last hit on the head necessary?” Faith asked, crossing her arms while looking at Blood Cleaver and her father, who seemed okay based on appearance.

        “Yes, he was about to panic, he wasn’t himself when he did what he did, and he did some stuff he’s really going to regret. It’s best for him to rest now and to wake up later in a safe environment where I can properly help him. It’s too cold for that outhere.” Blood Cleaver explained as she shuddered from the cold and picked up her cut off arm. “Think we can go someplace a bit warmer? I’d love some Hot Cocoa right about now.”

        “Well, there’s Twilight’s castle. That seems the best because I don’t think Pinkie could help us back at Sugarcube Corner.”

        “Yeah, that would probably be for the best. I don’t know when we are in time right now, but I don’t think Pinkie would take well to seeing me walking in like this,” Blood Cleaver gestured to her cut off arm. “And snowflake over there would most likely appreciate a quiet environment for his rest.”

        “Well, it’s seven years after Tirek fought Twilight and when Nicko and I fought that Diabolic Esper named Eric. Any other questions?” Anson asked her as they started to walk over to the castle.

        “No, I think I’m cool.” Blood Cleaver said as she picked up the unconscious spirit and followed after the pair.

        “Alright. I just hope the fight didn’t attract Celestia or Artemis’ attention.” He told her, “Mostly, a friend of ours named Amy is known for causing more chaos than what just happened.”

        “Ah, well, I do hope they don’t nag about it too much. I’m not on best terms with Celestia or Luna where I’m from… Also, who’s Artemis?”

        “Celestia’s brother.”

        “Huh, I’ll have to cross that one off the list then. And with tha-” Blood Cleaver said before stopping in her tracks and facepalming. “I forgot to signal my other self… wait here for a moment.” Blood Cleaver said before dumping Jack onto the ground and quickly ran off back where they had come from. It didn’t take her long to return with her other self.

        “There, now we’re good to go.”

        “Alright, Right this way.” Anson told her as he opened a backdoor into the castle and guided her into the room that he would normally stay in. “Alright, You can set Jack on the sofa and I can get the first aid kit for your arm. Also, please don’t knock over the boxes by the shelf. They’re heart's warming gifts for my friends and family.”

        Both Blood Cleavers nodded. “Sure, but the first aid kit won’t be needed, I just need something warm to warm myself with and I’ll be fine in no time.” Said the one armed Blood Cleaver.

        “Alright. I think I noticed Spike in the kitchen preparing some warm drinks. I’ll go check with him. You said you wanted Hot Cocoa right?”

        Both, Cleavers nodded in response while the one who was still intact removed Jack from the injured ones shoulder.

        “Alright. I’ll be back in a minute.” Anson replied and took a moment to leave the room, hanging his swords up on the coat rack by the door. Soon, he came back with the Hot Cocoas she asked for and one for Faith. He himself just got himself a cup of coffee that he set down on the table in the center of the room. Discord himself appeared from Anson’s body, having a small cup of tea as he looked at Blood Cleaver. “So Cleaver... Would you happen to be a Displaced?”

        Blood Cleaver took as sip from her cup and then looked back at Discord. “What gave it away, the crazy powers? The fighting another Displaced? or was it the not flinching at losing an arm part?”

        “No, it’s something different. Looking at you, you strangely remind me of Pinkie Pie for some reason.”

        Blood Cleaver smiled a big smile. “You don’t say… Well, I can explain it simply. I’m Pinkie’s sister in my version of Equestria.” Blood Cleaver explained.

Anson almost choked on his drink when he heard that. “H-her sister? Well… That’s surprising.” He kind of looked embarrassed, Blood noticing a blush appearing  on his face. “Oh, sorry for interrupting. Go ahead and continue.”

        “Well, there’s not much else to explain. My name is Blood Cleaver, Pinkie Pie is my sister, my special talent is blood magic and I’m a Displaced with the powers of a Saiyan.”

        “Saiyan? Like Ki blasts and such? Interesting.” Anson replied. “I got Displaced here many years ago as an Infinity Sword, my daughter Faith is here as a Code: Nemesis,” During that moment, Faith remembered for her to turn back into her normal outfit by changing her source code again. “And my brother was Displaced here as a Rune Slayer. Though, he has been through a lot. He even jumped in front of me to protect me from a blast that could’ve turned me to stone if it weren’t for him.”

        “So he got stoned? It’s not uncommon  for the common Displaced to get stoned actually, you’d be surprised how many have had to live through that. And most of them have to live with it for over a thousand years, even though the elements can reverse the effect if it was an accident. Most just don’t know how to use them correctly.” Blood Cleaver stated.

        “Umm…” Faith said, interjecting after Blood Cleaver finished. “My uncle is a different case. When my dad and him tried to fight against a Diabolic Esper that was rampaging through Ponyville, he redirected a blast from the Elements of Harmony towards my father and he took the blow instead. But it wasn’t just him getting stuck in stone. Discord’s daughter, Eris was also sealed since she was in my Uncle’s body. When Chaotic, Discord’s son, and I found their statue, the two of us freed them. However, the seven years he was here were… how many back on earth, Dad?”

        “Twenty-one.”

        “Yeah. So he was surprised to wake up and find out that he was my uncle.” Faith giggled. “Wait til you meet him. He’s a bit… well… clumsy at times, but know’s what’s important.”

        “I can imagine his surprise. I mean, Pinkie was quite surprised when she found out about me. I had of course known about her all the time, but she hadn’t.” Blood Cleaver sighed. But soon cheered up again. “So how are things here in Equestria otherwise, how much progress has Twilight done on her research regarding the elements and their rainbow powers?”

        “Well, there’s been a LOT of different things going on. Mostly because of the amount of trouble our friend Amy gets in. Her ENTIRE family is living here. But she has still been able to complete some tasks and balance research with her responsibilities.”

        “So… She hasn’t gotten much done? Well, I guess. In my Equestria the first Displaced was my teacher Pan. She mostly kept to herself and only helped out Equestria when it really was in trouble, so Twilight wasn’t disturbed much and got a lot of her research done. We even found out how to use our rainbow powers perfectly. But before we go any further, I’m going to reattach this.” Blood Cleaver said as she held up her blackened limb. Unaware of the maid who just opened the door.

        “........Dear lord please tell me she’s not like Amy?”

        That’s when Anson turned towards the door and saw who spoke. “Oh, hi Yuri.”

        “Hi Anson, who’s your friend?” Yuri asked, trying her best to hold it together.

        “Well, the one re-attaching her arm is Blood Cleaver,” Anson said, just as she finally fixed her arm problem. If by fixing, you mean disintegrating it and remaking her arm from the same matter. “And the one on the couch is Jack Frost. Blood, this is one of our friends named Yuri. She basically tries her best to make sure Amy doesn’t cause mayhem every five seconds.”

        “Which isn’t going so well seeing how Amy keeps pissing Celestia off…… a lot.”

        Just as the Sakra Devanam said that, the front door of the castle went off with a large slam that almost shook the building as they heard a new voice. “I’M BACK B*TCHES!!!”

        “Speak of the devil here she is, the bane of Celestia’s headaches.”

        “Nice to see you too Yuri…..who the hell are these people?”

        Anson soon got up, putting himself next to Blood Cleaver and Amy. “Amy, meet Blood Cleaver. Blood Cleaver, meet Amy. The self proclaimed Crimson Avenger who also uses blood magic. As for the other one, that’s Jack. He’s… A friend of mine.”

        “Which is kind sick if you ask me.” Said Yuri.

        “Nice to meet you.” Both Blood Cleavers said in unison before looking at each other. “Oh, right. Wait a sec.” The spoke before slowly gliding together into one again.

        “Wait so you can pull you head off without dying and stuff?” Amy asked as she tried to pull her own head off. 

        “Eh… no. I’m still very much mortal. I’m just really hard to kill since my magic allows me to function as long as my vitals are alright and functioning… The heart doesn't count as a vital organ for me though. But cut my head off in my sleep and I’m as good as dead…” Blood Cleaver explained.

        “Well that sucks.” Amy said as she put her head back on. “You’re like me but without the whole immortal thing going for yeah.”

        Blood Cleaver shrugged. “Probably, but blood magic differs greatly from world to world, mine is based on a runic language I made by imitating the old language spirit class use for their spells. Many don’t think that solid class like me are able to perform magic.”

        “Umm… Sorry for interjecting Amy,” Anson spoke. “But where’s Nicko? I still need to get the last of the gifts hidden and prepared for the Heart’s warmers eve party tonight.”

        “Oh…...crap I forgot about the little guy. Guess I must have lost him while coming here.”

        Amy though, should’ve been a little bit more careful with the words she decided to use. Because moments later, both doors were thrown wide open and outside stood the Rune Slayer that she was talking about. “I… HEARD THA-! ... Oh god, did you find a way to clone yourself?” He asked, looking at Blood Cleaver. The lighting making the two of them look almost identical.

        “I already figured out how to do that smartass, and the only I do is when I’m alone with Rainbow Dash.”

        “Right… I’ll be right back. I need to pick something up in town.” Nicko said, before turning around. He didn't leave yet though. “Oh and please don’t tell Eris that I’m in town. I don’t want her to follow me because it’ll spoil the heart’s warming surprise I have for her.” As he ran outside though, he almost tripped over a snowmare body that Scootaloo and her friends were trying to make.

        “AW! COME ON!” Yelled Sweetie Belle. “It took us five hours to make that snowmare of Amy, and now it’s ruined!”

        “Nice going dumbass.” Said Scootaloo looking at Nicko with an annoyed expression on her face.

        “Hey, I’m in a hurry! I got to get to the Jewelcrafter before the sun sets!!” Nicko apologized to the girls as he ran. Only now though did Anson realize what his brother said.

        “Wait a second, did he say Jewelcrafter?” He said. “Why would he be there?”

        “Simple, he doesn't want to be left behind by his brother.” Blood Cleaver said cryptically. Anson just rolled his eyes, thinking that Blood Cleaver was trying to mess with his head. 



Later that evening…

        Jack stirred from his dreamless sleep as he had a headache. Opening his eyes, he noticed that he was inside some for of building that he didn’t recognize. Still a bit groggy from his first sleep in one thousand seven hundred years he didn’t immediately recall the events that had led to him being knocked out in the first place.

        The main reason Jack avoided sleeping was because he didn’t actually require any sleep, it was something left over from his time as a human, the other was that once he did wake up, it took him a fair amount of time to gather himself, mainly due to the wast collection of experiences cluttering his mind from the past ten thousand years of his life.

        The only one that noticed him while he was in this state was a young girl with white hair draping down the back of her head. She had what looked like two floating metal heads by her side and seemed to be the only one who noticed Jack’s brief movements. “H-hey, take it easy.” She insisted, placing a hand on his shoulder and assuring to him that he was safe.

        “W-Where am I? And I’m sorry, but who are you?” Jack asked cautiously as his mind was still rebooting and there was a slight chance that he already knew her.

        “You’re in our world. And my name is Faith,” She answered, trying her best to ease any confusion. “Faith Nocte.”

        Jack nodded as he began looking around. “I’m Jack, Jack Frost, in case you didn’t know that already. But considering the fact that you can actually see me I’m guessing you already knew that. I’m sorry if I’m supposed to remember you or something, but my mind get’s real fuzzy after just waking up. It should be over in ten to fifteen minutes.” Jack apologized.

        “Actually, this is the first time we met.” She pointed out. “I only know about you and believe in you because my father told me about you many times when I was younger.”

        “I see. I’m sorry. Right now I’m still going through the memories of before Equestria was founded. You know, it’s very weird, right now I know of Equestria and it being my current land of residence, but I have no idea how it’s like. Memories get confusing like that sometimes.” Jack told the girl while chuckling.

        “I see what you mean. I have a hard time of trying to remember someone’s name.” Faith replied back. “But I still remember a few. Like Uncle Nicko, Grandpa Luke, My dad Anson-.”

        “Wait, Anson? The name is ringing a bell…” Jack said as he sighed. “Guess I’ll have to wait a little while longer… Who is that then?” Jack asked pointing towards the sleeping form of Blood Cleaver.

        “Oh that’s Ms. Blood Cleaver. Don’t worry, it just one of her forms and she’s asleep right now. The real one is with my dad and uncle.”

        “This is quite surreal. I have no memories of other Humans yet, but I do remember names. Although Blood Cleaver’s seems to be a recent addition.”

        Faith sighed a little. After what had happened, she rather go into specific details on how Jack knew her. “Hmm… It’ll probably come to you in time. I just hope that everything goes well tonight for heart warmer’s eve.”

        “Ah, yes. I just remembered a few seconds ago. It’s quite the holiday.” Jack commented with a smile on his face. “I take it you’re looking forward to it?”

        She nodded her head, smiling. “Yes I am. For the past couple of days, I’ve been working on a surprise gift with my father. It’s going to be a MAJOR surprise for Uncle Nicko because of all the hard work we put into it.” 

        “That sounds like a great idea, it’s good to see youngsters these days tha-” Jack trailed off as he suddenly began to frown. But quickly returned to his cheery self. “Sorry, I just had a bunch of bad memories of the crystal empire, Discord’s era and Nightmare Moon come in all at once. As glad as I am to regain my memories, those aren’t good ones. And, I think I’m about to regain the last ones right about-” Jack once again trailed of and suddenly went stiff. He slowly turned his head and looked towards Blood Cleaver, then looked down to his hands before placing them on his own face. And then continuing to sit still in such a position.

        “Jack?” Faith said, worried a little. She reached out to tap him on the shoulder. As the code queen touched his shoulder, she felt as if she had put her hand on top of a frost bitten piece of cloth, even though they were inside and protected from the cold weather, it felt as if Frost was still out there. Jack himself shuddered at her touch.

        “I-I…” Jack whispered before removing his hands, tears beginning to run down his face as he had a faraway look in his eyes.

        Faith did the only thing that came naturally to her. Back home, her father comforted her when her mom passed away by hugging her. Now, she was doing the same to Jack. Wrapping her arms around her and trying to hold him close, speaking the words that he had said back then. “It’s okay… Everything is going to be okay…”

        “I-It’s not… Faith… I killed someone. I killed someone before I came here, before Blood Cleaver could stop me.” Jack said looking at Faith with sorrow filling his entire soul.

        “You didn’t kill them. You weren’t yourself,” She told them. “You were the opposite of the person that I’m seeing right now in front of me.”

        “B-but, I still should’ve been stronger. I’m over ten thousand years old, I should have been strong enough to resist it, but instead, I didn’t even notice or realize what had happened. All I knew was that Discord had changed my way of thinking a little bit, not that I wasn’t myself… I’m afraid, because it wasn’t just something made by Discord that was acting, but me. All of the ideas, they came from me. Parts of me that I have locked away and ignored, trying to shape myself into the one I define myself as. The parts you saw, they’re just as much me as the ones you see now. And it scares me.” Jack explained his fear as he pulled in his legs close to himself and began hugging them.

        “I haven’t been through anything like that, but you just need to stay brave in times that seemed impossible. I was afraid of myself for many reasons when I was younger. But my dad taught me how to have courage and to overcome your fears no matter how scary they might be. But the most important thing I learned is that to overcome something, you need support. And for that, I’m here to help you.” Faith placed her hands on Jack's, ignoring the chill going through her hands. Soon though, the door slightly opened a little as a familiar face opened it.

        “Faith, it’s time for-. Oh…” It was Anson. Jack’s first friend. “Jack?”

        Jack looked up and saw Anson, “Anson?” he asked in disbelief at how much the young boy he had known had changed, suddenly it also clicked in his head that Faith had said her father knew him and that her full name was Faith Nocte, the same as Anson Nocte.

        Jack looked away from Anson, not willing to meet his gaze for what he had almost done to his daughter.

        “Hey buddy? What’s wrong?” He asked. “It seems like you and Faith were getting along just fine now.”

        Jack shook his head. “I tried to hurt you… I tried to KILL you! How can I ever forgive myself for something like that?” Jack asked Anson.

        “Because I forgive you.” He said, taking out something Jack would recognize. The Snowflake that was his token. “You were the first Displaced I met and you’re my friend, I care for. I know that it wasn’t you who did this, but still have the memories. But I forgive you either way.”

        “I-I don’t know.  Anson, you weren’t the first. Before I came here I actually managed to kill another Displaced, before Blood Cleaver chased me off. Even if you do forgive me, I can’t forgive myself. I went against my calling, my very nature. I’m supposed to care for and protect everyone, and yet…” Jack said, still not looking at Anson.

        Anson sighed. “Jack, look at me. Do I look upset? No. I’m not upset or mad at you. I’m relieved that you are okay. Some things you can address later, but for tonight, it’s suppose to be a night of joy. Forget about the things that Black did. Just focus on being you, Jack. The cheerful happy self that you are.” With the last sentence, Anson patted him on the shoulder and Faith decided to surprise Jack by hugging him from behind. 

        Jack allowed the hug while he thought about what Anson had said. Finally he stopped hugging his legs and released himself from Faith’s hug. Standing up he faced Anson. “I guess I could do that, for a little while at least.” Jack said before smiling a sad smile.

        The Infinity Sword smiled, looking at his friend. “Now that’s the Jack I know. Come on, I think a light snowfall in Twilight’s castle is what she needs for this time of year.” He soon opened the door for them to step out into the hallway as Faith exited first. Anson still held the door open for Jack as they walked into the crystalline hallway of Twilight’s castle.

        Jack followed them, but looked back towards where Blood Cleaver had been to wake her before they left. However found her missing. Furrowing his brow he turned back to follow the Nocte family again.

        Soon though, Nicko noticed his brother and walked up to Anson, greeting him. “Hey there, man. How’s it going?” He turned to look at the position where Jack was before looking back at Anson. “I’m guessing you brought a guest to the party?”

        “Hi, My name is Jack Frost. And you would be Nicko Nocte, correct?” Jack asked, basing his guess on Nicko’s appearance of how similarly he looked to how Jack remembered his brother and held out his arm for a handshake.

        “Why yes it is,” Nicko greeted him, shaking his outstretched hand. “Anson told me about you some time ago and I got to say, I’m glad to meet you in person.”

        Jack rubbed the back of his head. “I’m glad to meet the brother of a friend of mine as well. Now, what do you say we get a move on? As much as it’s somewhat recognized to be fashionably late, I don’t think Twilight would appreciate it.” Jack said with a smile.

        “You do bring up a good point. Because from what I know, It’ll be more than just the Royal Siblings that’ll be dining with us.” Anson replied. “There’s Amy’s family, Cadence, Gleaming Shield, Blueblood… I really hate that guy, and a few special guests coming in later.”

        “Special guests?” Nicko asked.

        “Dad, that’s a secret.”

        “Oh right… Whoops.”

        “Well, we wouldn’t want to keep them waiting, would we?” Jack asked. Anson smiled a little as they entered the dining hall. As time ticked on, everyone was able to conversate amongst each other and enjoy the food that was being served. Even though Amy personally tried to raid the kitchen to see if she could find any meat. Which, to Nicko and Anson’s understanding; wasn’t the first time she tried something like that. Nor would it be the last. 

        The most surprising part came when they were handing out gifts later in the afternoon and it was Anson’s turn to give something to his brother. Before he could speak though, the door to the castle was kicked in and barely missed Blood Cleaver’s face. Turning back around, two individuals stood at the entryways as they walked on in. 

        “Sorry about the door, but that’s my way of saying Happy Holidays.” Jack himself was confused by who they were. But he soon got his answer when Faith responded to them.

        “Grandma!! Grandpa!!”

        “Holy Sh-!” Was Nicko’s only response to what was happening.

        “Well, that certainly is a way to introduce a surprise, wouldn’t you say Jack?” Blood Cleaver asked with a small smile.

        “I-I guess?” Jack responded while looking at what was left of the door.

        The Duo that were known as Luke and Ciela walked in, but the emotional waterworks began to overflow once the two of them saw Nicko. They had not seen their son in over twenty years and he looked like he had not aged at all. “My god, it’s great to finally see you again,” Luke replied. “Not that we’re going anywhere anytime soon.”

        Now that confused Nicko for a minute. “Wait, what?”

        “Yeah…” Anson sighed, embarrassed a little. “I might have went behind your back on this one brother, but I asked Twilight to help with something that blows your original request out of the water.” He then turned to Faith, and had her stand by her side. “I asked Twilight if there was a way to bring everyone in our family here because I’ve been seeing a lot of things that I normally wouldn’t see from either you or Faith. A lot of personal change and I believe that it’s for the best. Hell, the reason why Amy was distracting you all day was so that we could move everyone in and finish building the house we were working on.”

        “Wait… let me get this straight…” Nicko replied, “Equestria… is now our home?” Anson’s only reply was a nod and a smile as he hugged his brother. 

        “This… was the best insane surprise plan that you ever came up with.”

        “You should’ve seen what happened when I was in Jack’s world. If he didn’t conjure a slide for me to land on, I would’ve plummeted to the ground.”

        “Well, I couldn’t just let you fall and hurt yourself like that, now could I?” Jack asked.

        “Nope, not at all.” A familiar voice interjected, appearing next to Anson. Discord then sighed. “If it weren’t for my assistance and also having to distract your friend with the mechanical arm, then we wouldn’t have had enough time to pull this off.”

        “Wait, Leo is here too?” Nicko reacted, surprised.

        “Yeah, but he’s right now taking the night off.” The Spirit of Chaos replied. “Caliburn is making sure he doesn’t have too many drinks at the tavern.”

        “Pfft. Good luck with that.” Ciela snickered. “He beat my husband in a drinking contest during our anniversary one time.”

        “...... Moving on,” Anson said as he looked back at Nicko. “Brother, do you happen to have any gifts for anypony this evening?”

        “Actually…” He replied as Jack now noticed a small box in his hands. “I do. Where’s Eris?”

        “Right here.” Eris chuckled a little as she slid out from behind where Jack was and playfully booped him on the nose before going over to Nicko. The Rune Slayer then turned to Jack. 

        “You alright there? I know Eris is playful at times, but I honestly did not expect that.”

        “Well, neither did I.” Jack responded, not really phased by it. Only a bit surprised about meeting a female Draconequus.

        Nicko was hesitant at first, but then, he calmly began to speak to Eris. “Eris, you and I make a great team… and I just… well, I don’t think I can put it in the right context. But I wanted to get something for you that really expressed how I felt.” He then showed the box that he had for her and opened it, revealing a beautiful sapphire diamond ring. The Draconequus herself was beyond shocked. Words could not even comprehend what she was thinking.

        “Eris? Will you-?”

        “Yes.” The Draconequus replied, hugging him and tackling him to the ground. “There’s no way in Tartarus that I am saying no to that!”

        Anson himself just looked shocked as everypony else in the room cheered and congratulated them. Looking at Jack, he could only think of one thing to say. “Well… That escalated quickly.”

        “Nah, I saw it coming.” Blood Cleaver spoke up from right next to them. “But, it sure is nice to see love like that.”

        Before Anson could say anything else though, one of his friends soon caught his attention as he looked back at her. It was Pinkie Pie, who was happily smiling. “Hey Sonny!”

        “Hi Pinkie, what brings you here?”

        “Well,” She said, looking upward. “It is the season.” Anson soon looked up, only to see that Blood Cleaver was at the top of a ladder holding the Mistletoe. All he did was smile and nod his head, thanking her mentally. 

        “Yes it is, Pinkie.” He replied as the two of them kissed one another. Shortly afterwards though, both of them noticed Faith as she asked them a surprising question.

        “Hey dad, Is Pinkie going to be my new Mom?”

        Pinkie’s only reply to that question was a giggle as she messed around a little with Faith’s hair. “If that’s okay with Sonny, then it’s okay with me.”



        Pinkie Pie, Anson and Blood Cleaver were all walking down the hallway to the front entrance of Twilight’s castle. They were planning to go outside for a while to get some fresh air since it had become too crowded inside, making the temperature rise at a steady pace.

        While walking they spoke about whatever came to their minds.

        “So, have a date set up yet?” Blood Cleaver asked.

        “Well, the Gala is on New Year’s eve,” Pinkie replied. “So maybe then? After Hearth’s Warming though, that’s for sure. I wanted to be able to spend my favorite holiday with one of my best friends.” The Earth Pony bounced happily as she scratched the top of Anson’s head to mess with his hair.

        “I’m all for it. Still though, I’m surprised about Nicko and Eris. I honestly never expected him to propose to her.” Anson said, recalling everything that happened a few minutes earlier. “I’m happy for them.”

        Blood Cleaver nodded. “I can only hope to have something like that myself in the future. A little hard when I’m not welcome in my native universe, safe for a few individuals that still see me as a friend.”

        “Well, you’re always welcome here Blood.” Anson smiled, kneeling in a little to whisper “Both you and Jack.”

        “Yepperoni! I’ll even make sure to throw you a Welcome Back to our World party when you come back! … Say… You kind of remind me of my sisters back at my family's rock farm.” The Earth Pony replied, looking at Blood from all angles. “Do you happen to be secretly related to me somehow? Because if you were, I’ll be super happy to find a long lost sister!! We can bake cakes, throw parties-.”

        Blood Cleaver laughed at Pinkie’s enthusiasm. “Pinkie, while I would love that, I’m from another universe and not even the same race as you are. But You’re not entirely wrong. While not technically correct, you could say I am indeed your sister in my home universe.” Blood Cleaver explained.

        Pinkie gasped, which soon lead to her hugging Blood Cleaver so tight that she would probably slip out of her arms. “Oh my gosh!! This is the best Hearth’s Warming EVER!!!”

        “Pinkie…” Anson raised an eyebrow, looking at her. “Can you give her some space?” 

        “Whoops! Sorry Sis…” Pinkie complied, letting go of her grip on Blood Cleaver.

        “Don’t worry, I don’t mind. I’m used to worse.” Blood Cleaver chuckled. “As glad as you seem about having an additional sister Pinkie, I’ll have to warn that the circumstances around my creation are not a very pleasant experience for all involved. I try and prevent it from happening in any universe where it’s likely I’ll be created.”

        “Don’t worry,” Anson smirked, while Pinkie was just bouncing around joyfully in the cold snowy streets. “I’ll be making sure to keep an eye on her and if anything’s up, I’ll summon you… Which reminds me… I never gave you my token, did I?”

        “Ah, no. I should give you mine as well, shouldn’t I?” Blood Cleaver said as she took out her token and presented it to Anson. Blood Cleaver’s token was a black kitchen knife with a red sheen around the edges and a crimson red handle, each side of the blade decorated with a single equally crimson rune.

        Anson soon got out his own token. A dark purple Gem that was known as a Dark El Shard. “Just use the crystal and I’ll come.” He told her as the two of them exchanged tokens. “Have a safe journey, Blood Cleaver.”

        “Aww, you’re leaving?” Pinkie pouted to herself. “Well, that’s a shame. I had so many things to ask you, but I guess that can wait.”

        “Pinkie, I’m not leaving just yet. The party is still going, isn’t it? I’ll be leaving afterwards since I have my work in the Multiverse cut out for me, but I’ll make sure to visit some time.” Blood Cleaver explained smiling.

        “Yay!!” She squealed, hugging her one more time. “Happy Hearths Warming!! Come on, Sonny!! Let’s get inside and go sit by the fireplace.” Anson smiled, agreeing with Pinkie and waving goodbye to Blood as they walked inside the Nocte family’s new home.

        “You too Pinkie, you too. But you had questions for me you said? We still have some time. I can try answering some for you if you wish.”

        “Well… Why would you want to prevent your own birth in other worlds?” She asked. “Are they like big meanies or something? Oh, and why can’t you return to your universe? You’re not banished or something now are you?”

        “Oh, no. I’m not really banished, there’s nothing physically keeping me from returning, but I’m kind of a wanted woman in my version of Equestria. And the reason I wish to prevent my own creation… It’s a bit complicated, but it has to do with a few circumstances that if  not changed or controlled could end very badly for all involved. The only reason I avoided the worst outcome was because I met my world’s original Displaced. But many of the worlds where I come into being… they’re not as lucky… And since there’s not much point to letting more versions of me pop up and live miserable lives that they can’t escape like I did, I try to prevent it all from happening.” Blood Cleaver explained to Pinkie Pie.

        “Oh… so if you don’t help them, they’ll be sad all the time?”

        “Well… perhaps not all the time. The reason I’m wanted, the reason I wouldn’t have had a good life unless I changed somehow is because of my creation. The reason I say it’s complicated when I call you sister is because I’m not technically your sister, even in my universe, I’m more… part of what once happened to be Pinkie Pie, and her other half who has adapted to her role and taken on the name, that’s who I call sister. So… You see why I don’t like myself being created? In order for me and my sister to be created, the original Pinkie Pie has to cease to exist. And even though we’re both created as a result, we’re both incomplete. Only after several years do we become whole enough to count as separate entities instead of two half souls who are two parts of a whole.

        And because of this, because I’m unhappy about this turn of events, the still undeveloped form of me does something that gets her wanted. She tries to kill the one responsible for doing it to her and her sister.

        By now, I have found a way to reverse the effect, unfortunately the spell I know will only work for a short time after the split, after that, they’re too different to be turned back into one.”

        “Oh… What about me? Do I run the risk of having it happen to me too?” Pinkie asked, a little worried as she snuggled close to Anson. “I don’t want to disappear from Sonny.”

        “Don’t worry Pinkie. Your Equestria is far too different for it to happen, and I’ve already made sure to remove any of the factors I could that would lead to it happening. But if you want to be extremely sure, I know some things you could do to prevent it all entirely if it was to creep up after all.” Blood Cleaver reassured Pinkie Pie.

        “Okay, Thank you Sis! Good night!” She told her, holding Blood and Anson together in a group hug before the two of them walked back inside. But Blood wasn’t alone as Faith soon walked up to her, with Jack by her side. “Do you two have to go? We were having such a great time earlier.”

        “Unfortunately we can’t stay Faith. I need to get Jack back to his universe, and I have to continue doing my duty. We can come and visit from time to time, but ultimately we do have to leave.” Blood Cleaver explained. “But yes, I believe I speak for both of us when I say we had a grand time here.”

        “Indeed.” Jack confirmed.

        “I’m going to miss you two.” Faith told her, getting closer and hugging Jack unexpectedly, slightly blushing. “You know, I would be lying if I didn’t say that Jack looks… cute.”

        “He certainly does have the looks, but don’t be fooled. He is… how old are you again?” Blood Cleaver asked.

        Jack blushed at the comments to his appearance and took some time to respond. “Well, in my Equestria I’d be a little over ten thousand years old, however, the cycle of a year is slightly longer on my Equestria than it was on earth, so I’m not really sure to be completely honest, never thought it would matter to keep counting my age in Earth years.” Jack explained.

        “Right, so he is a bit old for you Faith. Unless your appearance isn’t the only thing not to age.” Blood Cleaver asked with a mischievous smile.

        “My body is the only thing not affected by time, and in my loneliness certain of my emotions have unfortunately dulled. I’m not sure I’ve felt attraction to a female during any of my ten thousand years on Equus. So the topic about any such relationships is unfortunately not currently up for discussion and I would appreciate if you’d drop it Blood Cleaver.” Jack told Blood Cleaver and gave her a stern look.

        “Still, I think you should have this,” Faith said, going up to Jack’s shoulder and kissing him on the cheek. “I care for you and see you as a family guardian, so I don’t want you to be left out or feel lonely.”

        “Oh, he won’t be lonely. From what I gathered he will have a hard time getting rid of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.” Blood Cleaver commented.

        “Eh he he…” Jack nervously chuckled as he recalled what little he had heard about the three trouble makers during his stay here.

        “Still, I’ll miss you Frosty. Goodbye and Happy Hearth’s Warming!” The Code Queen told him before walking inside and joining her father.

        “Well, I guess our time here is running out. What do you say we leave them a few presents before leaving?” Blood Cleaver suggested.

        Jack nodded and began thinking of what to leave behind while Blood Cleaver began preparing her own gifts. After they were done, Blood Cleaver decided to make sure Pinkie Pie would find them and make sure everyone got their presents. As they were done, Blood Cleaver took Jack’s hand and they leapt through a portal back to his universe.





Next morning

        Early in the morning, Nicko was stirred awake when he heard the sounds of hoofsteps walking past the door to his new bedroom. He and Eris were in their own room together and had a LOT of things to think about besides Hearth’s Warming and the Wedding, but his immediate focus right now was the hoofsteps outside his door. Leaving Eris in the bedroom, he quietly changed clothes and soon walked downstairs, where the first things he noticed was a Pink Earth Pony, A cupcake, and a whole pile of gifts that made it look like a excavator was used to deliver the presents because it almost reached the ceiling.

        “Holy sh-!”

        Pinkie soon turned around, noticing Nicko. “Oh, Hi Nicky!! Look who left us these Hearth’s Warming presents.” The Earth Pony replied, showing a letter that was left behind. Nicko picked it up, noticing that it was from Blood Cleaver and Jack. Reading the note, it said: “From Jack Frost and Blood Cleaver, wishing you all a happy Heart’s Warming!”

        “Well, that’s awfully nice of them to be leaving us with these,” Nicko replied before looking at the time and then looking at Pinkie trying to sneak around the pile to find her gift. “Hey, I got an idea.”

        “What’s that?”

        “Why don’t we put the gifts in everypony’s room so they could wake up to find them?”

        “That sounds PERFECT-!” Pinkie was about to shout it out loud until Nicko put a finger to his mouth and shushed her.

        “But we need to do this quietly…” He told her. “Do the presents have nametags Pinkie?”

        “Yepperoni! All tagged and ready to go! It even says who it’s from on each individual present.” Pinkie said excitedly.

        “Okay perfect. Lets carry a few of them upstairs before we come back for more. I got Eris’ and mine. Can you get Faith’s?” Nicko then asked. A nod of the head was the only thing he got before the two of them started to bring everything to their respected rooms inside the Nocte’s home. However, the Tricky part came after that, when they had to deliver gifts for Amy and her family on the other side of town. Fortunately, Eris was awake by then and a snap of Chaos Magic had them delivered to their respected places. Pinkie soon went back into Anson’s room while Eris and the Rune Slayer stayed in their room as a little bit of morning light pierced through their curtains. 

        “So, how about we open them?” Eris asked. “The suspense is killing me.”

        “Ladies first.” Nicko told her, kissing her on the cheek. 

        “Aww, you’re cute when you act like a gentlecolt.” She replied, soon unwrapping the first gift she received. “Oh my… This looks amazing.” The Draconequus now was holding a miniature frozen star that was glowing with Plasma energy on the inside. She saw it as both beautiful and chaotic, which really fit with her personality and with only a small tag at the bottom that read “DO NOT EXPOSE TO WATER”. The second gift that she received looked like a Spyglass, but had a very handy ability. She could be able to see things other than what was in front of her.

        The Draconequus found out this for herself when she looked through it at a window, only to be seeing Spike in his bed at the Castle.

        “Blood Cleaver and Jack have really good tastes.” She smiled. “Now, what did they give you, Nicky?” She cooed as she slithered over to Nicko’s end. He was holding two gifts, like with Eris, but that were quite different in size and got her to be a little… curious. 

        When Nicko opened the first gift from jack, he was a bit… surprised to say the least. It was an armband with a snowflake attached to it. A nice accessory for him to have on his wrist. The second gift though from Blood had a small note on the outside. “I was told to give this to you, so I thought it’ll be a good gift. See you around” When he set the letter aside, Nicko opened the small cardboard package to find a sword inside. It was as long as his normal weapons, but this one felt different as it had a strange crystal along the edge of it.

        “Wow… this is… awesome.” Nicko said as he gripped it “It feels a lot like my two other blades. I think this one though should have a name.”

        “Well,” Eris replied. “The gem looks like the void and Blood came here with Jack from the void… How about Void Edge?”

        Nicko thought the name through for a few minutes before smiling. “I think that would be a great name.” He soon dismissed the sword as he turned towards Eris. “Happy Hearth’s Warming, Eris.”

        “You too, my dear Nicky.” Eris cooed before she went to cuddle with her future husband, kissing him on the lips as they enjoyed each other’s presence.




End Log 17