Spider in Equestria

by DarkSpider


13. A Hearth's Warming Surprise

I was sitting on the chandelier in the throne room, holding Sebaste’s token, when Cece walked in.

“Seriously, how can you navigate through this place so easily?” She asked me.

“Easy. My spider-sense works like a map, allowing me to know where I'm going.” It's been a few weeks since our meeting with Celestia and Luna, and Cece was still getting used to living in the castle. Today was Hearth's Warming Eve, and we were about to get ready for the party later. And I was getting prepared for the stupid “tradition” Cece made for herself a few years ago.

“That spider-sense of yours is crazy.”

I rolled my eyes and dropped to the floor. “Says the girl who turned into a hedgehog who can track anyone in the world, crush robots, and can keep up with Sonic.”

Cece looked like she was about to say something when she noticed the gun in my hand. “What are you doing with a gun?”

I looked at it and smiled. “This, my little sister, is the token to one of those Displaced I mentioned. The one who is responsible for me and Rainbow being friends to be exact.”

“That doesn't explain why you have it right now.”

“I was getting to that. Anyway, I was thinking that I might as well invite them to the party. I mean, they can use as much time off as they can get, considering…” I shook my head. “Not important. Now, without further adieu…” I looked at the rifle. “Hey Sebaste, Sasha, come on over. You guys, and any guests, are invited to this year’s Hearth's Warming party.”

A portal then ripped open in front of us, and three armored figures walked out, one was lightly armored than the others and was feminine while the other two were more familiar. “You called?” Sebaste joked.

I smiled. “Great to see you guys again.”

Sebastian grinned under his helmet, “You too Dark.” The girl looked at me in interest.

“So you're Dark? Sasha and my brother mentioned you when they had gotten back…” she said.

I nodded. “Yup. Tito, aka the DarkSpider, though most call me Dark now. And this,” I pointed to Cece, “is my younger sister, Cece.”

Cece stared in shock at the new arrivals. “Okay, so you're friends with the guy from Halo, some stripper, and a knight?”

I immediately smacked her in the back of the head.

“Stripper?! That's rich, coming from a short pink hedgehog!” The girl said, an insulted look that turned to anger on her face. Sebaste quickly backed away, knowing how easily his sister got angered when insulted.

Cece immediately pulled out her hammer. “What did you say, you stu-” I immediately used my webs to stick her feet to the ground, her hands to the hammer, so she can't throw it, and her mouth shut.

The girl had pulled out a double edged sword, and with a flick of her wrist, the blade separated into a bladed whip, while her gauntleted hand glowed with arcane energy. “If you even think of attacking me, you’ll find out I'm more than a match!” She snarled.

“Alex, calm down!” Sebastian said to her, the Astartes moving between the two. “This is a misunderstanding.”

“Yeah,” I said. “Cece was just surprised to see you. And trust me, she could've called you a lot of worse things if she wanted to.”

Her eyes still flinty, Alex dispelled the energy surrounding her hand and retracted the blade and sheathed it. “Very well.” She said, her voice steely with anger.

“Geez, that… was too close.” Sebaste said, “Last time she got angered… she nearly wiped out an enemy unit…”

“Tell me about it. Now,” I turned to my sister, who was still struggling out of my webs. “I'll let you out, if you promise not to insult….” I turned to the others. “Name please?”

“Alexandra, Sebaste's younger sister.” The girl replied.

“Thank you.” I looked at Cece again. “If you promise not to insult or hurt Alex, I'll let you out, okay?” She just mumbled a few things. “Good enough for me.” With that, the webs vanished from her and she reluctantly put away her hammer.

“I'm sorry about that, Alex doesn't really like getting insulted.” Sebastian said, “And I'm not exactly a knight, more of a super soldier from a future time period even farther than the Halo timeline.”

Cece blinked a bit. “So, let me get this straight. So you guys are a Wonder Woman wannabe, a futuristic Captain America, and Iron Man with guns?”

“Soul Calibur!” Alex snapped, still miffed. “I'm Ivy from SoulCalibur!”

“What's that?”

“Basically a game done by a company called Namco.” Sebaste said, “It's a fighting game where you select a character and you duke it out for how many rounds you set the game, person who wins the rounds wins the game. And Sasha is actually an augmented human from the 41st millennium, at least, that's the time where his character came from.”

I randomly stated “Not to mention Alex’s character, Ivy Valentine was raised by a zombie pirate and wields something from the being Nightmare, who is a being possessed by Soul Calibur, and Ivy made it her mission to destroy everything to do with Soul Calibur. Oh, and apparently she'd lose in a fight against Black Orchid from Killer Instinct.”

“Don’t you actually mean Soul Edge?” Sebaste asked

I shrugged. “Probably. I haven't seen the Death Battles involving Soul Calibur characters in a while, and that's the only way I know anything about that game. I mostly stuck to the Marvel and/or DC fights lately.”

“Eh, to each his own. But anyways, Sasha and I were the first Displaced your brother met.” The Spartan said to Cece.

Cece blinked some more. “Um….what?”

Sebaste blinked himself before facepalming. “Great… long story short, the three of us are from another Equestria.”

“Sebaste,” I said. “I told her about Displaced and about you guys.”

“...”

At that moment, Twilight, Rainbow and Rarity came into the room. “Oh,” Twilight said. “Dark, Cece, glad we...found...you.” She then noticed our newest guests.

“Well this is awkward …” Sebaste said, rubbing the back of his head. “Hey Twi.”

“Sebaste? Sasha? What are you two doing here? And who is…” She then looked at Alex and she, as well as Rainbow and Rarity, blushed hard, causing me to snicker.

“Oh for the love of…” Alex grumbled before her gauntlet glowed and she was in a red and orange dress. “This better?”

“Much. Tell me Alex,” I said. “How many people did you cause to go speechless since you became a Displaced?”

Alex glared daggers at me, her fingers starting to curl into a fist as she tried not to lose her temper. She then turned to the three mares, who weren’t blushing anymore. “Anyone else want to make any more stupid remarks on how my character was designed?” She snapped angrily.

“Um...who are you?” Rarity asked.

“This is my younger sister Alexandra.” Sebaste replied, walking up to Alex and putting a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. “She appeared just after Sasha and I had a bit of a robot problem back in our Equestria.”

“That's right,” Twilight said. “You mentioned your sister last time, and even showed a hologram...and Dark laughed like crazy when we saw that.” She ended, glaring at me.

“Hey,” I said. “You guys looked hilarious when that happened. And it's still funny seeing you so shocked.”

“It's… nice to meet you three.” Alex said, having calmed down. “I'm sorry, I just… have a short fuse on me when someone insults me or makes fun of my costume. I didn't ask to dress like that you know!”

I looked to her. “I wasn't trying to insult you or your character. I was curious, considering the girls’ reaction to seeing you, I wanted to know if it's a regular thing.”

“No, thankfully.” She said, “I'm mostly helping our Twilight with ruling Equestria. It's not easy for her…”

“Speaking of which, how have things been going with you, Dark? It's… been awhile.” Sebastian said.

“Yeah,” I said, shaking my head. “It’s been weird. Met Lyra and Bon Bon, as well as Trixie, swung around Manehatten, beat up a few ponies trying to rape Lightning Dust, found Cece and stopped her from giving Rainbow a concussion, met Coco Pommel, went to Canterlot, and met the Royal Sisters, as well as Discord. What have you guys been doing the last month?”

Sebastian sighed, “Seb and I got yanked into a new War… just as we were heading back to our Equestria… and other than preparing for the negotiations with Ahriman, not much.”

“Wow. And I thought my time was crazy. I don't know how much of that I can deal with before losing it.”

Sebaste chuckled, but it was an empty one. “Trust me, some things you should be glad you're not involved in…” he said. “Unlike me and Sasha, we’re just soldiers, back when we got Displaced, we were cocky, too cocky… and it took Ahriman and his allies to bring us down to earth… While we may be involved in two different wars, one to defend another universe, the other… just a feud between two factions, we never lost sight of what we had sworn to do, protect those that need it.” He said, his voice sounding much older than he was.

“Well...” Cece said. “That's depressing.”

Sebaste shook his head to clear it. “Sorry, my mind was wandering. So, Hearth's Warming, eh?” He said, clapping his hands.

“Oh right,” Twilight said. “Today's Hearth’s Warming Eve and we're going to have all of Ponyville here in the castle for a party later.”

“If anything, it’s like Christmas back on Earth.” Sebaste said. “And I know a few good tunes for this!”

When the other two looked confused, Twilight nodded. “Dark told me about Christmas a while ago, and they seem very similar.”

Alex gave a small smile, “In a way, it’s true. They both have carolling and decorating trees. Although with humans, we usually open our presents on Christmas Eve.” She chuckled.

Cece looked at Alex. “That was the tradition we had back home. Me and Tito always open a present each at midnight on Christmas Eve with….our…” she looked away and put up her hood. “Hey, I'll check to make sure everything’s ready.” With that, she ran away before any of us could stop her.

“This… is another reason why being a Displaced can be such a burden…” Sebaste groaned, “...it tears families apart…”

“I’ll go after her.” Alex said before her gauntlet glowed and she teleported out after Cece.

““Wait.” I said, but she was gone . “Well, now I'll have to find them.”

“Erm, what should Seb and I do?” Sebastian asked.

“You can help out with decorations, but make sure nopony finds out you're humans. That's not something we need right now.” I put on my hood and scarf and ran off, looking for Cece and Alex.

“Why do I get the feeling he just jinxed us?” The Spartan asked, deadpanning. Sebastian shrugged.


(Third Person POV, Main Entrance)

Cece was sitting by the wall, memories of the parties she had back home, running through her head. “Why did this happen?” She asked herself. “I didn't want to be pulled from home and turn into...this.”

“A lot of us wish this…” Alex’s voice said from behind her, causing her to spin around to see the Ivy Displaced walking towards her. “But then again, we didn't know what we were about to go up against when we buy those things from the Merchant…”

“Tell me about it. By the way, you should find a way to cover your face.Tito doesn't want anypony to find out about humans. Not yet at least.”

The air around Alex’s head shimmered before a scarf and hood appeared on her head, covering all but her eyes and nose. A heavy winter coat also appeared on her body as her dress was too light for the freezing temperatures outside.

“You’re… not the only one who misses their family. While I'm happy to be with Sebaste, I miss my mom and dad.” Alex said, her voice shaking. “I would stop at nothing to see them again…”

“Just my mom I miss. Never was close to dad. But yeah, I hear ya. And the worst part is Tito doesn't seem to care that we're stuck here.”

“Did he have a hard time before the both of you were Displaced?” Alex asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Meaning, was he bullied or something back on Earth? Because if he was, that may explain why.” She said

“Oh you have no idea. He practically shut himself out of the world because of it.”

“Then that's probably why Tito is a lot more happier here. He doesn't have to deal with bullies.” Alex said, putting a hand on Cece’s shoulder. “I’d feel the same way if I was in his shoes…”

“I...guess you're right…”

“That's pretty much spot on.” A voice came from above. The two looked up and saw Dark on the ceiling.”Hi guys.”

Alex chuckled, “Seb was right about you being a wallcrawler.” She said.

Dark shrugged. “I did base my costume off of Spider-Man.”

“So I heard that your first encounter with my brother and Sasha came as quite the surprise for you.” Alex said as she looked up at Dark.

Dark jumped off the wall and landed in front of them. “You have no idea. But it was nice meeting them. Heck, your brother helped out on one thing.”

“What was it?” She asked, her eyes sparking with curiosity.

“Well, if it wasn't for him, me and Rainbow might still be at each other's throats.”

Alex smiled at that, “He… never really liked seeing others get bullied. I'm glad Seb was able to help both you and Rainbow solve your problem.” She said. “He mentioned that she was your favorite character.”

Dark rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. “Yeah...please don't say that out loud. Don't want Rainbow’s ego to grow even more than it already is.”

Alex giggled. “Don't worry, I won't.” She said. “From what my brother and Sasha showed me of their recordings of our world's Rainbow Dash, she definitely doesn't need a bigger ego.”

Dark nodded and said, “Well, I came here to let you know to cover your face so nopony knows about the whole “you being human” thing, but I see you got that done with, so I'll be off.” He turned around and took a step forward. “Oh, and Cece, don't think I falling for that stupid game of yours.” With that, he swung off.

Cece just turned away and muttered with a smirk, “We'll see, Tito. We'll see.”

A while later, there was a tremendous crash from inside the castle, followed by both Sebaste and Sebastian swearing up a storm. “Oh no… now what?” Alex muttered with a sigh.

“You go check it out,” Cece said. “I have to...get a few things first.” She then ran off.

Alex teleported over to where the racket was, only to find that a tree that Sebaste and Sebastian had been decorating had had fallen on top of the two. Sebastian had managed to jump clear but Sebaste was now trapped under it. Seeing this, Alex couldn't help but laugh at their predicament.

“Little help here?” Sebaste asked in annoyance. “I can't exactly lift this thing myself!”

Dark then walked in. “Okay, what was that...noise…..what happened here?”

“Apparently wearing armor while decorating a tree was not a good idea…” Sebaste groaned, “Long story short, tree go boom…” This sent Alex into hysterics, she fell to the ground laughing.

Dark just sighed. “Need help?”

“Yeah…” Sebaste said. Sebastian walked to one end of the tree and readied himself to lift while Dark jumped to the ceiling and webbed up the other end.

“On 3… 1…. 2….3!” Sebastian said, before heaving on his end. Dark pulled his end and they easily lifted the tree up.

Sebaste scrambled out and backed away from the tree. With a grunt, Sebastian dropped his end.

“Well, that ended up as a “tree”mendous fail….” Sebaste said.

“That joke was bad and you should feel bad,” Dark said, dropping his end and jumping back down and landing in front of the others.

Sebaste chuckled, “I’ll “leaf” the jokes alone for now. For now I’d better “stick” with decorating…”

Dark opened his mouth, but closed it and looked around. “Um, Alex? Where's Cece?”

“She said she had to get some stuff…” she said, then asked, “why?”

“Damn it. Bet she's already starting…”

“What is it that she has planned that has you so… Oh bugger me with a plasma pistol…. Don't tell me, mistletoe?” Sebaste asked with a deadpan look under his helmet

Dark blinked a few times. “Wow. First guess. But yeah. She tries to get me under the mistletoe with a girl. Been doing that for 4 years now, since I turned thirteen. Sees it like a game.”

Sebaste chuckled and took his helmet off, “Younger sisters do seem to so that.” He said, getting a glare from Alex. “You’d better be careful. She might get you when you least expect it.”

Dark shrugged. “True. She's a lot more agile now. But I haven't lost to her yet.” Dark then smirked. “Besides,I got one thing now that I never had before that'll help me.”

“Dude, you just activated Murphy's law with that last statement. Even if you manage to sense her with your spider sense, she’ll still catch you unawares.” Sebaste said.

“How so?”

“You’ll find out on your own time. In the meantime, we need to get the rest of these decorations up before the other ponies arrive.”

Dark shrugged. “Sure. Where to?”

“Last place is the castle entrance. I’ll use this to get to the high places.” Sebaste replied before a Halo Reach style jetpack appeared on his back. Two jet nozzles unfolded like wings before the jetpack was activated and Sebaste rose up.

“Cooool.”

“Too bad they didn't have this in Halo 3, would have made dealing with those drones a lot easier…”…” He said as he landed, the jets retracting back into their slots. “But anyways, let's get these last decorations up.”

““Yeah...I have no idea what you're talking about. Only played Halo Reach and that was years ago.”

Sebaste shrugged before grabbing the box of decorations and heading to the castle entrance. “I’ve also played Reach, actually managed to pull a triple headshot in one go on there once.” He said

Dark nodded and followed Sebaste. The others followed the two, Alex having recovered from her laughing fit.

“Hey, can I ask you guys something?”

“Sure, what do you need to know?” Sebastian replied.

“You said you can be Displaced as anything, as long as you buy something from the Merchant and wearing a costume of it, right? And you met a few Displaced?”

“That is true, but there are… other ways of being Displaced. There are beings called Displacers who can displace others at will. One displacer we met was also a literal god called a Void Dweller.” Sebaste said, his eyes darkening under his helmet. “They live in the Void, and they are capable of taking out anything that ticks them off.”

“Soooo, gods, cartoon ponies (in some dimensions humanoid ponies), wars and random people becoming fictional characters. Is that everything?”

“Pretty much. But not everywhere is war-torn, you get some universes that are really nice. Like those two Team Rocket Displaced I mentioned the first time, their world is a Pokémon filled place.”

“Really? Hmm. Always wanted a Pokemon, but I never liked Team Rocket. Always made me want to punch something whenever they were on unless they were actually doing good.”

“These two aren't like the cartoon characters, Jesse actually has an adopted daughter. Ever heard of Screwball?” Sebaste asked

Dark’s eyes widen in shock. “Screwball? As in,” he looked around and whispered, “daughter of Discord, chaos magic-using pony, Screwball?”

Sebaste chuckled, “Bingo, she summoned us to try and get her dad away from Luna and Celestia. Unfortunately, that didn't work in her favor and Discord got put back from where Screwy had removed him. As for the little troublemaker herself, she got sent back to her mom.”

“Jessie? Or someone else?”

“Jessie. Her brother helps Applejack in the orchard.”

“Okay...hey, here's an idea. Let's NOT tell anyone, especially Fluttershy, about Screwball and her relationship with Discord. That'll be a weird conversation. And I DON’T want to talk about the other versions of Screwball I've heard of. Agreed?”

“Okay, no need to get your mask in a twist…”

“My mask isn't twisted. See?” He pulled his mask out of one of the pockets of his cloak.

“Figure of speech… seriously, you sure you're not Draxx in disguise?” Sebaste asked, a grin hidden under his helmet.

“Do I LOOK like a shirtless green buff alien dude with red tattoos to you?”

“No, but the way that went over your head made me think of him.”

“Kay...hey, speaking of Displaced you met, how about you tell me about that Deadpool one? Deadpool’s my second favorite Marvel character, and you can tell who's the first.”

“Oh god… the guy was… exactly like the comics described him, a merc with a mouth and an all round 4th Wall breaker.” Sebastian answered, a deadpan expression on his face

“Um, we're talking about the one from the main comics, or the one from Deadpool Kills The Marvel Universe? Wait, what fourth wall could there be now?”

“You know how Pinkie makes references to things that other ponies would find ridiculous or how she pulls stuff out of her mane? That's 4th wall in action.”

“First off, I believe that mane is her hammer space. Cece has one now too. And yeah I know about that, but that was in the SHOW. How will that make sense here?

“Well… Deadpool literally puts her shenanigans to shame, when he showed up he was in a Buzz Lightyear suit. And… well, you wouldn't believe it but another Astartes suddenly appeared, claiming that we were characters from a story and that he was the author of that story. That day was… wacky to say the least…”

Dark snickered. “Yup. Sounds just like the Merc. I wonder how...never mind. But, I have a question. Have you met any Five Nights Displaced?”

“Thankfully no, but…” Sebastian paused, obviously remembering something he didn't want to remember. “During the War of Shadows, we ended up encountering a Freddy on the enemy side…”

Dark paled and went silent at that.

“Thankfully it was only that one time…” Sebastian said before they arrived at the castle entrance. “But it's not something I like remembering…”

Dark put his cover on. “Okay, now what?”

“I’ll get the high spots, Sasha and Alex can help string the garlands over the windows, would you mind adding the ornaments on them after they finish with that?” Sebaste replied as he prepared to activate his jetpack.

“Sure. Guess I'll just stick to the wall until then.”

“Hey, if you want, you can web swing stuff to me, I can't exactly carry a box and jetpack at the same time.” The Spartan chuckled. He then asked, “So what's been going on with you? You never told me how you and Cece found each other.”

Dark jumped to a wall and after sticking his back to it, turned to them. “Funny story. You know the episode Saddle Row Review?”

“ Yeah, but I never really got around to watching it, mostly stuck to fanfics.” Sebaste said as he attached a star to the ceiling.

“Well, that happened, and I tagged along with them to Manehatten. While they were getting the shop ready, I was swinging around the city all day, and, like I said before, met/saved Lightning Dust. The next day, after we got back to Ponyville, we had a certain visitor…”

“Coco Pommel and your sister was with her?” Sebaste guessed.

“Okay, it's obvious about Cece, but how'd you know about Coco?”

“Dude, since Coco is pretty much Rarity's student, it'd make sense for her to visit sometimes.”

“That doesn't explain how you knew she was with Cece.”

“It was a lucky guess! Besides, Cece couldn't have been staying on the streets the whole time she was out there.”

“Yeah...anyway, I was reading a little bit of a Daring Do book when I heard crashing. When I got to the throne room, I saw Applejack unconscious, and my sister standing over Rainbow, ready to hit her with her hammer. So, I used one of her weak points to stop her and help Rainbow. After that, we talked about our time separated and then went to Canterlot to meet Celestia and Luna.”

“Speaking of which, how are things between you and Rainbow? I noticed that you two managed to make your peace at the party.”

“Much better, thanks to you. Though, Cece still seems surprised that I'm friends with her. Or anypony for that matter.”

“Huh… well considering that you two were at each other's throats, I'm not surprised it came as a shock for the others.”

“First off, the only ones who know about that are you, me, the Mane 6, Spike, and Starlight. I never told Cece about it. Second, I mean she's surprised I'm friends with anypony.”

“Ah. Well, I'm glad to hear that things are better between you two.” Sebaste chuckled, “Remember when I scared Rainbow with that Hologram?”

“Still mad at you about that,” came a voice. Turning to the door, Dark saw Rainbow hovering.

“Erm… eh heh…” Sebaste chuckled nervously. “It was just a prank…”

“Yeah, and I'm gonna get you back for it.”


(First Person POV, Dark)

I shook my head. “Let's worry about that later.” I turned to Sebaste. “Did Twilight ever say when's the party?”

“She had said that it would start in five hours.” He replied.

“And how long ago was that?”

“Three hours ago.” Sebaste used his jetpack to land on a ledge and sit on it. The jet nozzles then folded back into the pack. “So we have at least an hour before the town arrives.”

“So what now?” Said someone. Turning around, I saw it was Cece, and when she saw me, she had a huge smirk on her face.

“Okay, someone tell me that smile doesn't say devious right there.” Sebaste chuckled nervously.

“What? I'm just happy to see my brother right now.”

“Right, and I'm Spartan Palmer.” Sebaste said sarcastically. “I know the look of a prankster when I see it.”

Cece chuckled. “If you were a spartan, you'd be running around in nothing your underwear and a cape with a spear, kicking people into pits.”

That got me to go crazy in laughter, almost falling off.

“...” Sebaste was silent for a while, then he spoke, “I have one thing to say to that.”

His voice then came from behind her. “Boo.”

“AAAAAAHHHH!!!!!” Cece screamed, then she pulled her hammer out and slammed it behind her, crushing the hologram.

“Glad that wasn't me there!” Sebaste chuckled before the Hologram fizzled out.

Cece looked between where the hologram was and Sebaste, shocked. “But...how...who...WHAT?!”

“Hologram, perfect for multitasking or pranking someone.” Sebaste replied, barely containing his laughter.

Cece turned to Sebaste with fire in her eyes. “You wanna try and scare me? Well, you succeeded, but now I'm mad. And I'll show you what happens when I'm mad.” She picked up her hammer and ran at Sebaste.

Sebaste leapt to the side and said, “Olé!” as she ran past.

Cece growled and leapt towards him, hammer raised. “Get back here.” Only to bounce off an energy shield that sprung up in front of Sebaste.

“Sheesh, for a hedgehog, you have a short temper!” He said.

“You know,” I said, watching Cece chase Sebaste, trying to smash him, “she's actually a lot calmer than she used to be. This is tame compared to how she was a few years ago.

“Really?” Sebaste grunted as he dodged another swing. After dodging a few more swings, he then summoned a Gravity Hammer and smashed the floor, sending a shockwave out and causing Cece to be sent flying backwards. “Enough is enough. Either calm down or I bring down my own version of the hammer!” He growled, hefting his weapon, energy crackling around the head of the hammer.

Cece got up and looked like she was gonna lunge at him again, but I decided to put a stop to this and put my hand to her weak spot, causing her to fall down to one knee. “He's right Cece. Stop this before you cause a mess. Or worse, get yourself hurt.” With that, I removed my hand and she got up and reluctantly put away her hammer, glaring at Sebaste.

Sebaste's weapon then vanished from his hand as he got out of his combat stance.

“What was that all about again?”

“All I did was have a hologram pop up behind her and she goes nuts!”

“The only time I like being scared is Halloween.” Cece said.

“And watching those stupid Resident Evil movies,” I muttered under my breath.

“I'm sorry.” Sebaste said, taking his helmet off while giving Cece a smile akin to a teasing one. “But you did kinda ask for that when you said that to me. But it wasn't to scare you senseless, just in fun.”

“Don't blame her. She saw a parody of that movie 300 and always sees Spartans as that. Trust me, there's a few more things she could've said that might make you very mad.”

Sebaste chuckled, “Believe me, I'm not as quick to anger as Alex or Sasha. But if someone were to threaten them or anyone I’m protecting, that's when you don't mess with me. I mostly stay out of fights, which is why I only brought out the Gravity Hammer at that last second.”

“Well that makes sense, but don't you have that active camo thing? Could've used that.”

“I only use that when I'm scouting or moving to a sniper spot.” Sebaste replied. “Other than that, I just stick with my Hologram ability or any of the other non active camo abilities.”

“Okay. Now before anyone gets even more confused about what we're talking about, I have a question.”

“Yes?” Sebaste asked.

“Now what? It looks like we're done with most of the decorating.And the rest? Well everyone else will take care of that.”

“Well, it’s been five hours now… Oh crap…” Sebaste swore, jamming his helmet back. “I need to run to Pinkie, I have to get the music ready!” He then ran towards the throne room, the thrusters on the back of his suit flaring.

“Wait, Cece chased him for 2 hours?”

“Seems like it…” Alex said, shaking her head. “Time sometimes speeds up for him, but it's actually been 50 minutes.”

“Good. Now, Cece, what were you-,” I turned and noticed she was gone. “Great. Now she's somewhere in this whole place unsupervised. *sigh* I just hope she doesn't mess with anything.”

Sebastian then looked up at Rainbow, “Was there something that you needed to tell us or were you just hanging out?” He asked.

Rainbow shrugged. “I thought I'd come here before the party and have some cider.”

“Little early to get drunk, isn’t it?” The Astartes chuckled.

“What?”

“Um, Sasha?” I whispered. “Hard cider isn't a thing here. I don't even know if alcohol is.”

“Oops…, Nevermind then.” Sebastian said, rubbing the back of his helmet in embarrassment. “I thought you were drinking a type of cider that exists in our Equestria…”

Rainbow looked at him confused. “Uh...okay?” She shook her head. “Anyway, see you guys at the party.” And with that, she flew off to God knows where.

“You too!” Sebastian called out to her.

Alex chuckled. “She's definitely nicer than some of the other Rainbows I’ve met.” She said.

“Yeah” I said. “Though, I could only imagine how you'd react to her before she talked to your brother. You would've had a pegasus that was extremely quick to anger. Oh, and hated my guts.”

Alex raised an eyebrow. “Mmhmm… Sounds like how a lot of others encountered their Rainbow Dash. She usually attacked without asking first.”

“After seeing someone save Applebloom and Scootaloo from a pack of Timberwolves?”

Alex winced. “Okay, maybe not every Displaced encountered her like that…” she amended.

“Yeah. Now, I'll ask again: What do we do before the party?”

“May as well head for the Throne room and wait for the guests…” Sebastian said.

I shrugged. “Sure.”

The three of us then headed over, Sebastian leading the way. “So… Besides the webs, what else do you use?” Alex asked, her eyes curious.

“What do you know about Spider-Man?”

“I know that he mostly used webs, but he also used some S.H.I.E.L.D tech like a bike made especially for him, he even went through several different dimensions, including one where… he was dead.”

“Did you get that from the Ultimate Spider-Man TV show?”

“Yes, and I’ve read the Death of Spider-Man comics and what follows after.”

“Death of what now?”

“That universe that Spider-man went through and ended up meeting a red and black Spider-Man? The Peter Parker there… sacrificed himself to stop the Goblin and four other villains. And he was dying of a bullet wound.”

“You mean the Miles Morales dimension?”

Alex nodded. “The comics called it “The Death of Spider-Man”.”

“Did not know that. Then again, I don't know much about Miles’ dimension beside being a new Spider-Man, and he has camouflage. Anyway, I have all of Spidey’s powers. The original, not Miles. Also, organic webs, like in the movies. I think that's all my powers.”

“Anything else? I remember hearing that some of the Spider-men used weapons, like Spider-Man 2099, he had claws and spines on his arms.”

“Those spines are just the costume. As for weapons, I just have a sword.”

“Kinda like that medieval Spider-Man.”

I nodded. “Spider-Knight. I like that show. But yeah, I got a sword. Bought it from the Merchant, along with my mask.”

“I also got my Snake sword from the Merchant, same with the gauntlet…” Alex fell silent. By that time we had arrived at the throne room doors. Sebastian opened the doors, and was instantly greeted by a blast from Pinkie's party cannon.

“... Really?” Sebastian said. From inside, we could hear Sebaste trying not to laugh.

“Huh. Got hit with the party cannon twice now. You guys need to be more prepared for stuff like that.”

“Believe me, that's nothing compared to getting stabbed by a lightsaber or getting disintegrated by a Void Dweller.” Sebastian said. “And that was Sebaste who got hit by the party cannon first.”

“I thought you got hit too. She shot everywhere.”

“Nope, I was in the far corner of the room at the time.” Sebastian said. “I know enough to stay outta range of her Party cannon, just wasn't expecting to get blasted this time.”

“Huh.”

Alex had her hand over her mouth, obviously holding in her own laughter at Sebastian’s predicament. “L...Let’s go inside.” She snickered. “N...No use standing around.”

“Aye.”

The three of us then entered to see the Throne room in all of its Hearth's Warming Eve glory. Alex had an amazed look on her face, and while I couldn't see Sebastian's face, I had a feeling he had the same look.

“Wow. Nice job.”

“I agree…” Sebastian said with a chuckle.

“Thanks,” a certain high pitched voice said behind me. Turning around, I saw everyone's favorite party pony. “It was a little difficult getting the decorations on the chandelier, but Sebaste helped with that.”

“Eh, it was no biggie.” Sebaste said. “Happy to help.”

“Well,” I started, “seeing all this Christmas-like stuff makes me regret not asking Rarity to make me a red and green suit.”

“But don't act like Buddy.” Sebaste joked.

“Um...details?”

Sebaste then facepalmed. “Seriously? You’ve never seen Elf with Will Ferrell in it?

“Oh right. Sorry, but with all the stuff I've watched, there's a lot of people with the same name. But yeah, I loved Elf. Will Ferrell is hilarious.”

“Agreed.”

“Hey Sebaste? Did you see Cece anywhere? She vanished after you left.”

“No, I haven't.” The Spartan replied, frowning. “But… I did pick up something or someone a few times on my HUD on my way here…”

I sighed. “Hey, does that assault rifle actually work?”

Sebaste chuckled, “Yep, same with the Chainsword.”

“Okay...how can I get more ammo?”

“You didn't see the Infinity sign on the ammo count?” He asked

“I haven't looked at the ammo counter. No reason to. So you mind if I shoot a few things tonight?”

“Sure, mind if Sasha and I join? We could use the practice.”

“Um...what are YOU gonna shoot?”

“I’ll set up a few Holograms of either Elites or Brutes.”

“Okay...make sure that's away from the party. Don't want to cause a panic, seeing someone shoot more people.”

“Don’t worry, that was our plan anyways. I usually take precautions when doing target practice.”

“Good.” Then I muttered, “Gonna have enough trouble trying to hiding a gun in public, don't need more risks.”

“What were you planning on shooting?” Sebastian asked.

I looked away. “Oh nothing special. Just a few...plants.”

Sebaste heard the hesitation in my voice and said, “Dark, whatever you do… don't do something rash.”

“What do you mean?”

“You hesitated when you answered, and you looked away before you said anything. That means you have something else that you plan on shooting.”

I turned to them. “I'm not going to hurt anyone. All I want to shoot right now are a bunch of certain plants. That's it. At least for tonight.”

“Alright. I’m just warning you, just don't plan on doing anything rash with these weapons. They're meant for those that would fight to protect those that need it.” Sebaste said.

“Um, Sebaste, can I ask you something? In private?”

Sebaste frowned before nodding.

We walked out the throne and closed the door and I turned to him. “Okay, stupid question, but you don't mind if I shoot a bunch of mistletoe, do you?”

Sebaste looked at me before he started to laugh. “That's what you're taking out? Mistletoe?” He asked. “Trying to foil your sister?”

“No. Webbing her to a wall while she's trying to hang one up is foiling her. Shooting mistletoe is just a backup.”

“Now, personally, I'd say the Assault rifle was overkill for taking down Mistletoe, but if you want to, that's fine.”

“Kay. Though, don't tell anyone please. This'll seem stupid to everyone. ESPECIALLY not the girls. Knowing a few of them, they might help Cece.”

“My lips are sealed like the hull of a Battleship.” Sebaste said.

“And now I can't help but think of that board game. And now the pony version from Read It and Weep.”

Sebaste snickered. “I’ve seen the movie based off that game. Was really good, though other people didn't really like it.”

“Never saw it, though it looked like something from Michael Bay from the commercials.”

“Let's get back to the others, I think the party is about to start, and as for Battleship, it was actually done by a different producer, not Michael Bay.”

“Kay…” With that, we went back inside and saw Pinkie on the chandelier, humming to herself.

“How… how in the name of Bugs Bunny did Pinkie get on the chandelier?!” Sebaste asked, a deadpan look on his face.

“She was up there when I first got here. One second I'm alone, the next, there's a pink pony right up in my face. As for your question, in the words of JoshScorcher: It's Pinkie Pie. Don't question it.”

“Right…” Sebaste said.

I just sat by the wall, put on my headphones, and played “All I Want For Christmas Is You” from Big Time Rush.

Sebaste walked over to the DJ station and plugged his iPod in after selecting a single song. “Ever heard of the Bell song?” He called over to me.

I took out a headphone and looked at him. “Huh?”

“Ever heard of the Christmas bell song? Not Silver bells by Bing Crosby”

“Um, no. But I know Jingle Bells. That's my favorite Christmas song.”

“Huh… Well, take a listen to this.” He said before turning on the song.

“Nice.”

“It's done by a group called the Trans Siberian Orchestra, and this is actually my favorite Christmas song.”

“It sounds great,” Pinkie said, suddenly behind Sebaste.

Sebaste yelped and jumped, accidentally activating his thrusters at the same time. He smashed into the ceiling and crashed onto the floor, groaning.

I laughed so hard, I was rolling on the floor. “I guess that's karma for scaring Rainbow last time you were here. HA!”

Pinkie leaned over Sebaste. “Sebaste? You okay?”

“Uuuugh, anyone get the ID of that Pelican?” He groaned as he started to get up. “Yeah, I'm fine Pinkie, just a bit stunned from smacking into the ceiling.” He then winced as he stood up, falling back down onto one knee. “Or maybe not… feels like I sprained something as I landed…”

Pinkie looked at him confused. “Pelicans have ID?”

“It's a human thing…”

I sat up. “I'm with Pinkie, what are you talking about?”

“I was talking about the vehicle from the Halo series. The UNSC Pelican transport?”

“Ooooh, Halo vehicle. Sorry, but the only ones I know are the Banshee, and Warthog. And I only remember that last one because of what I DID see of Red vs Blue.”

Sebaste rolled his eyes, before limping to a nearby chair and sitting down in it just as the rest of the Mane 6 came in.

Applejack was the first to notice us. “Sebaste? Sasha? What are you doing here?” Then she saw Alex. “And who’re you?”

“Dark invited us over for the Hearth's Warming party.” Sebaste replied, stifling a groan of pain.

Alex stepped forward, removing the winter clothes she was wearing and revealing her dress. “I'm Alexandra, Sebaste's sister. But you can call me Alex.” She said to Applejack. “It's nice to meet you Applejack.”

“Uh...nice to meet you too. Wait, Sebaste's sister? Didn't he mention a sister last ti-” at that moment she immediately stopped and blushed lightly. “Oh. Now I remember.”

Alex gave a small glare at Sebaste. He immediately recognized it as her You and I are gonna be having a little chat after this look. “Yes… I'm the Ivy Displaced.” She showed her gauntleted hand and brought out her sword in one fluid motion. With a flick of her wrist, the blade separated into its whip form. She then retracted the blade and sheathed it.

Fluttershy hid behind Rainbow before they all sat down on their respective thrones. I web zipped to the underside of the chandelier and looked down at everyone. “So what do we do now?”

“Well the castle is all decorated, so all that's left is to wait for the guests to arrive.” Sebaste said, grunting in pain as he moved his injured leg to a more comfortable position.

Twilight nodded before she immediately turned to Sebaste. “Sebaste, are you okay?”

“Yeah, just had a bit of an accident a few minutes ago. Leg's either sprained or broken…” he replied.

“What happened?” Rainbow asked.

“Got surprised by Pinkie and ended up slamming into the ceiling.” He said, “Must’ve activated my thrusters by accident…”

“You did,” I said, lowering myself upside down with my web.

“But yeah… that's pretty much what happened. So I hope you don't mind the Spartan sized dents on both the ceiling and floor…” He chuckled, before wincing.

They looked around and noticed what he was talking about. “Will you be okay?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, just won't be able to walk around as much.” Sebaste said. Alex was observing in the corner of the room. She then walked up to him and pointed her hand at his leg. Both her hand and his leg began to glow before he yelled in pain. The glow then faded and Sebaste sighed in relief.

“Um,” Applejack started, “ what happened?”

“Healing spell.” Alex replied as Sebaste gingerly put weight on his leg before standing. “Something the Twilight in our Equestria showed me. Along with a few other things.”

“Oh boy…” I muttered.

Twilight immediately teleported in front of Alex with an excited look in her eyes. “Can you please please PLEASE teach me that spell? Celestia knows it could come in handy.”

Alex backed away in surprise and shock, instinctively drawing her weapon. “Please… don't do that.” She asked, re-sheathing her sword. “Yes, I can teach you, but next time you get excited, please don't teleport in front of who you ask. The next person might think you’re a threat and act accordingly.”

Twilight’s ears fell back and she rubbed her neck and blushed in embarrassment. “Sorry.”

Alex giggled, “Don't worry, I’ve had that happen with the Twilight back in our Equestria. When she’s teaching me new spells, she can get really excited. But this is only when she's not holding court.” She said. “I’ll show you after the party if that's okay.”

“Thanks.”

“I'll be right back, gotta get something,” I said before web swinging out.


(Third Person POV, Throne room)

Twilight looked at the door, confused. “Where could he be going? And what can he be getting?”

Sebastian shrugged from his position. “Dunno, probably some small errand.” He said.

“Probably…”

“Hey AJ,” Rainbow said, looking at the earth pony. “Bringing anymore cider later?”

Applejack chuckled. “Yes Rainbow. The rest of the family will be bringing more cider later, as well as some presents.”

Remembering the beginning of a certain Hearth's Warming Eve episode, Sebaste quietly snickered.

Rainbow turned to Sebaste, confused. “What's so funny?”

“Just remembering something funny from back on Earth.” Sebaste replied.

“Ooo,” Pinkie said. “Tell me what it is.”

Thinking fast, Sebaste said, “There was a TV series called AFV, or America's Funniest Home Videos, where recorded videos were submitted and shown on live TV. I thought the show was hilarious! There were so many fails and goofups on that show…”

“I prefer Ridiculousness to be honest,” someone said. Turning to the door, everyone saw Dark with his sword on his back and his cover off. “One good thing about visiting my dad is discovering that show.”

“Heh, I’ve seen a few Bob Saget episodes on YouTube, the sound effects kept me laughing so hard.” Sebastian chuckled from where he was. “Those were good times.”

Dark nodded and web zipped to the chandelier and just sat on it, watching some videos on his phone.

“So besides Dark, how have things been going with you six?” Sebaste asked.

“Great!” Rainbow said. “You'll never guess what happened to me last week.”

“You did a double sonic rainboom?” Sebaste joked.

They all looked at him confused. “A what?”

“Don't even tell them,” Dark yelled. “That was the dumbest version of Rainbow I've seen. I don't blame JoshScorcher for hating it.”

“I was kidding! Sheesh….” Sebaste muttered, while Sebastian and Alex both barely managed to hold a straight face. “I'm guessing you became a Wonderbolt?”

“Okay, how did you know that?” Rainbow asked, before looking at the chandelier. “And I'll find out what this double Rainboom is about, Dark.” He just rolled his eyes and watched Death Battle: Master Chief vs Doomguy.

“It's not hard to guess, you’ve been waiting to be inducted into the Wonderbolts for a while now and by the sound of how excited you were, your dream had come true.” Sebaste replied.

“Still took 6 seasons and over a hundred episodes for it to happen though,” Dark said. “Wait…” Dark looked down towards the other Displaced. “What was the latest episode you guys knew about/watched?”

“I believe it was “A Hearth’s Warming Tale”.” Sebastian said.

Twilight perked up hearing that. “Oh, I love that story. Wait, episode? You mean it's part of that whole show thing to do with us?”

“Yes…” Sebastian said, giving Dark a warning look not to spoil anything before sticking his helmet back on.

“I'll talk about it later Twi,” Dark said. “Right now, you got a party to host.” He then whispered so no one could hear. “ And a story to tell.”

Sebaste chuckled before activating the song “Luna's Future” by Aurelleah in his helmet. “Let's get this party started!” He said

“Wait, you know that song too?”

“Yeah. When I first heard it, I was floored by it.” Sebaste replied. “I never expected to hear Luna sing a solo… it… it was amazing.”

“Wait,” Rarity said. “Luna? As in Princess Luna?”

“No. I mean a completely different Luna.” Sebaste snarked before switching the music to the album “Hydra” by Within Temptation. “Of course I mean the Princess! There's only one Luna in Equestria!”

“Okay,” Dark said. “Quick question. Any of you girls seen Cece?”

They all shook their heads. “Why?” Applejack asked.

Sebaste then tapped his helmet in what seemed to be annoyance. “Either my helm’s glitching or I need to update it, I keep picking this single signature, and… wait, it’s outside the door!” He summoned an SMG and threw the door open, aiming his weapon at the same time.

“Whoa,” Cece said. “A little much, don't you think?”

Sebaste lowered his weapon. “You can't always be too careful. In my line of work, it’s better to be safe than sorry.” He said, making the gun disappear.

“Oh, you can do that too?”

“It's one of my powers. I'm able to summon any weapon or vehicle from the Halo universe. That's canon of course.”

Pinkie looked surprised. “You can summon a cannon too?”

“Canon, not cannon!” Sebaste said in exasperation.

Both Alex and Sebastian busted out laughing at that.

“That's what I said.”

Sebaste started to sputter, sending the other two into fresh gales of laughter. “Okay, anyone getting a Black Adder vibe here?” Sebaste asked, a deadpan look hidden under his helmet.

“A what?” Dark asked.

“Black Adder? Rowan Atkinson? Hugh Laurie? Stephen Fry?” The Spartan asked.

“...I'm drawing blanks here.”

“Ugh, never mind… Pinkie, I mean Canon, as in it exists in the game universe! I mean, yes, I can summon a cannon, but… you wouldn't really want to see what it's capable of.” Sebaste said.

“Oookay then,” Cece said. “Any reason you had your gun out? Only bad places I know of in this world is that forest around Ponyville and a few alleys in Manehatten.”

“Kept picking something up on my HUD, and I wasn't sure if it was a friendly or not.” Sebaste said. “Didn't know it was you.”

“Well who else would it be? Nopony else would be coming for another twenty minutes, and Spike and Starlight are getting a few things.”

“Cece, If you’ve been fighting in a bunch of wars, you’d be unsure of who would be hiding around the corner yourself.” Sebaste retorted.

She rolled her eyes and sat against the wall.

Sebaste sighed and turned on “Paradise (What About Us) (Feat. Tarja)” by Within Temptation in his helmet. “So… Where exactly did you end up when you arrived here Cece?”

“Well, I ended up in Manehatten, unconscious. Coco Pommel found me and brought me to her apartment. After I woke up, I found out I changed and got the rundown about this world. Then I spent two weeks looking for Tito, and found him here in Ponyville. And with friends.”

“Huh, that is interesting…” Sebaste said, “And all this time the both of you were just a train ride away from each other…”

“Yeah. Anyway, after that, we went to Canterlot and met with those other two princesses.”

“How did that go?” Alex asked.

She shrugged. “Ask Tito. Wait, where is he?” She said, looking around.

“Oh geez, he must already the party! We’d better get over there!” Sebaste said, before getting hit with a ball shaped object to the head. “Ow!”

“I'm still up here,” Dark said.

Sebaste glanced up, rubbing where the web ball had hit on his helmet. “Let's… just get to the party, besides, I don't think you’d want to miss what Alex has in store for it.”

“Yeah Tito,” Cece said with a barely concealed smirk. “I'm sure the party will be great.”

Sebaste rolled his eyes from under his helmet before he headed to the main hall.

“This might suck,” a voice suddenly said, besides Sebaste. Turning over, he noticed it was Dark, with his cover on.

“It might not…” the Spartan replied with a shrug. “Just don't think about what Cece has planned and everything will go okay for you.”

“Dude, if I put it in the back of my mind, she'll win. I know what you mean, but I can't FULLY be at ease until after she runs out. Or after the party. Whichever comes first.”

Sebaste quietly chuckled as they reached the main hall. The party was already in full swing and the Spartan could see Alex waiting by the DJ stand. Upon seeing the three, she jerked her head at Sebaste, who nodded. “I’ll be right back.” he said before walking over to Alex.

“You ready?” Sebaste asked his sister as he walked up to her. She nodded nervously before he activated his external speakers.

“If I may have everyone's attention?” He asked, causing the ponies to turn around and look at him and Alex in surprise and confusion.

“Um, what are they doing?” Twilight asked Dark.

Dark shrugged. “About to sing Slim Shady?”

“My name's Sebaste, and for your Hearth’s Warming entertainment, I would like to introduce my sister Alexandra, she will be singing an old holiday song that the both of us, along with a friend of mine like to listen to when this holiday rolls around.” The Spartan continued, looking at Alex, who was wearing a scarf over her face. “So without further ado, here is my sister with the song “Merry Xmas (War is Over)!”

Alex then stepped up to the microphone as Sebaste plugged in his iPod and started the song. She then lowered her scarf and began to sing, her voice almost crystal.

“So this is Xmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Xmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very Merry Xmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Xmas (war is over)
For weak and for strong (if you want it)
For rich and the poor ones (war is over)
The world is so wrong (if you want it)
And so happy Xmas (war is over)
For black and for white (if you want it)
For yellow and red ones (war is over)
Let's stop all the fight (now)

A very Merry Xmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Xmas (war is over)
And what have we done (if you want it)
Another year over (war is over)
A new one just begun (if you want it)
And so happy Xmas (war is over)
We hope you have fun (if you want it)
The near and the dear one (war is over)
The old and the young (now)

A very Merry Xmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

War is over, if you want it
War is over now

Happy Xmas”

The song finished, and Alex then bowed before raising her scarf back over her face. After a few seconds of silence, there was a multitude of ponies clapping.

“Not bad,” Dark said, walking up to Alex.

“Thanks Dark.” She said. “That… that was the first time I've really sang in front of a bunch of ponies.”

“Well covering most of your face helps.”

Before she could reply, she was wrapped in a hug from Sebaste. “You did good. Mom and Dad would be proud of how far you've come.” He said, a smile hidden behind his helmet.

“Hey Sebaste, I just remembered something.”

“What is it?” He asked.

“How old are the Mane 6 in your dimension?”

“I don't know, I didn't bother asking, because if there's one thing you don't do, you don't ask a lady their age, at least in our dimension.” He replied.

“So you have no idea how old any of them are?”

“To quote Big Mac: “Nnnope”.”

“Huh. You know, I wonder how many Displaced actually knows the age of their Mane 6.”

“I honestly don't know, and why did you want to know?” Sebaste asked just as Sebastian walked over to them to congratulate Alex.

“I wanted to know if they were around the same age as the Mane 6 here, or older, though it's most likely the latter.”

“They're… the Mane 4 now, since Rainbow and Applejack are… you know.” Sebaste said, his voice pained.

“Oh. Right...sorry.” He said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

The Spartan sighed. “It's fine… I… I just really wish that damn war hadn't happened…”

Dark opened his mouth to say something, but stopped when he heard someone calling for him. Turning around, he saw Lyra and Bon Bon walking to them.

“Hey Dark,” Lyra said. “Who are your friends?”

“Spartan Sebaste-915, at your service.” Sebaste said, giving the two of the a bow, “and these two are my sister Alexandra and my friend Sebastian, or Sasha to his friends.”

“Spar-what?” Bon Bon said.

“Spartan, I'm an augmented super soldier in metal armor.” Sebaste replied.

“Well it's nice to meet you,” Lyra said, smiling at them.

“It's nice to meet you too Lyra.” Sebaste said, “Both you and Bon-Bon.” At that moment, a prismatic blur zipped by, clipping his helmet at the same time and knocking it off. “Ah crap!” The Spartan groaned before grabbing the helmet before it hit the floor.

“What was that?” Dark said, shocked.

“That was a certain pegasus running for the cider barrel.” Sebaste grumbled before looking up and freezing when he realized Lyra was still looking at him. Oh blast me with a Scorpion tank… he mentally swore. Alex and Sebastian looked at him in panic.

“Crap…” Dark muttered.

Lyra stared at Sebaste for a second, before falling back, fainting.

“Lyra!” Bon Bon yelled, catching her friend.

“Seb, put it back on NOW, before anypony else sees you!” Dark silently yelled.

Sebaste slammed his helmet back on, then activated his active camo. “If anyone asks, I’m at the corner near the door.” He whispered to Dark before heading to the spot.

“Dark…” Bon Bon said. “What's going on?”

Dark hesitated for a minute before sighing. “Find me after Lyra wakes up, then we'll explain.”

Both Alex and Sebastian quickly teleported to a different part of the room. “Throne damn it, that was too close!” Sebastian muttered.

“I… I thought Sebaste was gonna get caught…” Alex said, shivering.

“We’re just lucky she didn't connect us with being humans also…” the Astartes said.

“What are you guys talking about?” Cece said, walking to them.

“We… nearly got found out.” Alex said. “Rainbow knocked Sebaste's helmet off as she was going to get more cider. Unfortunately he was talking to Lyra at that moment and… well you know how she can get when humans are involved…”

“Lyra? You mean that green unicorn that Tito talks to once in awhile? What does she have to do with humans?”

“Apparently she's studied us here, so she knows more about us than any pony, even Twilight.”

“Despite the fact that Twilight met humans before, not counting us, and became one at least three times.” Dark said, landing in front of them.

“Wait, Twilight turned into a human? When?” Cece asked.

“I didn't tell you? Awe well. I'll tell you another time.”

“That was still too close for comfort…” Sebastian said.

“Aye. By the way, you mind helping me explain our situation to them?”

Alex sighed, “We may as well, since we're pretty much involved in this…” she said. She then shook her head. “Sometimes I just wish things would go better for us…” she muttered.

“Thanks.” Then a thought came to Dark's head and he chuckled. “I just had a crazy idea for you and your brother.”

“What exactly do you have in mind?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Just thinking about you two singing a song about Halo later.”

“Unless there's a song that has a female singer, I'm afraid the only song is….” Her eyes widened as she realized what she was saying.

“If there wasn't a female singer, why would I want both you and Sebaste to sing it?”

“If it's the song I’m thinking of, then we may be able to pull it off…” She said. “Which song did you have in mind?” She then asked.

“Ever heard of “Angel By Your Side”?”

Sebastian winced under his helmet. “I’ve heard a bit of it, and… it's not really my thing.” He replied. “I'm more familiar with the song Breaking Benjamin did for the Halo 2 soundtrack, “Blow Me Away”.”

Dark shrugged. “It was just a random idea, but it won't go with the holidays, now that I think of it.”

Alex giggled. “True, besides, I think Twilight would get more than a little confused.”

“She'll be busy for a little while.”

Sebastian chuckled before he spotted Rainbow flying over to them.

“Hey guys,” Rainbow said, landing next to Dark. “What are you talking about?”

“We were talking about what happened a few minutes earlier.” Alex replied.

“What happened?”

“Lyra and Bon Bon saw Sebaste without his helmet,” Dark told her.

“WHAT?!” She yelled, causing a lot of ponies to turn to her. She lowered her head and whispered, “Why would he be walking around without his helmet?”

“Except he had his helmet on when you knocked it off in your rush to get more cider.” Sebastian responded. “Things went downhill after that.”

Rainbow’s ears folded back and she blushed. “Hehe, sorry. Didn't see you guys.”

Alex gave the pegasus a small smile. “It's fine, but now we have to explain who and what we are to Bon Bon and Lyra.” She said.

Sebastian then noticed something odd about the group. “Weren't there 4 Displaced in this group?” He asked.

Everyone looked around. “Where's Cece?” Dark asked. Then he saw a hint of red above him and remembered his sister’s plans. “Hey Rainbow, look over there,” He said, pointing in a random direction. While she was distracted, Dark jumped to the wall and tied Cece up in a cocoon. “No.” He whispered, crushing the mistletoe she was hanging over his head. Then he dropped down in front of the others. “Found her.” He said, dropping her webbed up body in front of him.

Alex took one look and started snickering. “Guess she got a bit tied up in the end…” she laughed.

“Um, Dark? Why did you tie her up?” Rainbow asked.

“I think she was doing a little “tradition” involving Dark.” Sebastian chuckled.

“Oh? What tradition?”

“Let's just say it's something that Cece is really passionate about,” Dark said, while his sister’s answer was blocked by the web attached to her mouth.

“Hey Dark, you may want to clear the cobwebs from Cece’s brain.” Sebaste’s voice said from right behind him and Rainbow, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Dark looked at Cece. “I don't think that's possible. Wait, when did you get here?”

There was a shimmer before Sebaste appeared out of thin air. “Just a few minutes ago.”

“So...you saw what just happened?”

Sebaste chuckled, “Couldn't really miss it.” He said.

Dark looked at Cece. “What should I do with her right now? I can't leave her like this, and I don't trust her to be alone.”

Sebaste shrugged helplessly. “I have no idea.”

Dark was about to say something, when Pinkie appeared behind Alex. “I can watch her.”

Alex jumped in shock before a magical discharge from her gauntlet missed Pinkie by inches, splattering on a nearby wall. “Sorry about that Pinkie…” she said.

“It's okay Alex. Oh, and Tito? Bon Bon wanted to talk to you about something on the library.”

Dark sighed. “Lyra must've woke up.”

“Which means we need to explain what and who we are?” Sebaste asked.

“Aye. Pinkie? You said you'll watch Cece?”

“Absolutely,” the pink pony said.

“Fine.” The webs vanished from Cece and Dark pushed her to Pinkie. “She's all yours, Pinkie.”

Pinkie smiled and hugged Cece. “Ooo, we're going to have so much fun together.”

Cece glared at Dark. “I'm going to get you for this,” she mouthed, before being dragged off by Pinkie.

Dark then turned to his fellow Displaced. “Well, time to explain this to two more ponies.”

The three nodded before all four headed to the library. “This… is gonna be difficult…” Sebastian muttered.

Soon…

Alex let out her breath as the doors of the library opened. “Here we go…” she muttered under her breath.

Dark walked in and saw Lyra and Bon Bon staring at them.

“So…” Bon Bon said, “what exactly happened earlier, and what are you?” She said, pointing to Sebaste.

Sebaste sighed and took his helmet off. “I’m called a human, as for what happened, Rainbow ended up knocking my helmet off in her haste to get more cider. That's why Lyra ended up fainting, she… saw me without my helmet on.” He said. “And I'm not the only one.” Both Alex and Sebastian revealed their faces.

Lyra stared at them in shock. “You're...all...humans?” She then smiled and hopped around the place. “I knew humans were real. I knew it. I knew it. I knew it.”

“At least she's not going crazy,” Dark whispered to Sebaste.

Sebaste chuckled. “The thing is.. We’re not exactly from this Equestria.” He said to Lyra.

“Wait, what do you mean by that? There's no other Equestria in the world. Is there?”

“Try a Multiverse.” He said, activating a hologram of the Displaced they had met over the years.

“A what?”

Dark stepped up. “Basically imagine an infinite number of worlds, all with different possibilities, like say, Nightmare Moon won, or everypony being quadrupeds. Or one where everypony is a human.”

Lyra beamed at the last one, but Bon Bon looked skeptical. “That can't be possible.”

“Unfortunately, it’s true.” Alex said. “And the three of us are from a different Equestria. One where… Celestia is… dead. Killed during a war that both my brother and Sasha fought in.”

Lyra looked shocked when she said that, but Bon Bon looked furious. She clenched her fist and glared at Alex. “And how do we know you're telling the truth and this isn't just another stupid prank on Lyra?”

Sebaste's eyes then grew hard before he activated a recording of the Equestrian Black Crusade, showing them the final battle on Equis against Ahriman and his forces, in particular, the death of both Celestia and Applejack at the hands of a Chaos Lord ally. “Does this satisfy you?” He asked, his voice steely.

Their eyes widen and Lyra’s eyes started to fill with tears. Bon Bon shook her head. “No. This HAS to be fake. No one can kill Princess Celestia.”

Alex’s gauntlet suddenly flared with magical energy, “Would a human be able to do this?” She asked, holding up her glowing hand. “And I’ve seen the footage myself, it is real.”

Bon Bon pointed at Alex’s gauntlet. “That just proves you're not humans. Humans don't have magic.”

The three Displaced glared at Bon Bon. “That's because we were changed against our wills into the characters we dressed up as!” Alex snapped, “We didn't ask to get sent to our Equestria!”

“Okay,” Dark said, stepping between Bon Bon and Alex. “Don't want to see a fight between you two. Besides, I don't want blood spilled, or bones broken.”

“What do you have to do with any of this Dark?” Bon Bon asked. “Did you pay these three to do this?”

“Pay?! Either you have rock candy for brains or you’re just too stubborn for your own good, he didn't pay us!” Alex shouted before turning and blasting a nearby table to smithereens in anger and frustration. Sebaste then walked up to Bon Bon.

“We didn't come from the human world that Twilight went to. We’re from a completely different universe, one where you are just a cartoon.” He said, his voice quiet, but nonetheless angry. “What we are now are characters from games we created, and somehow, a being with much more power than us sent us to the Equestria we now reside in, changing us into them in the process. We are Displaced, and we… are as far away from home as the earth is from the moon.”

“Much further than that,” Dark said.

“Wait,” Lyra said. “Twilight went to a human world? WHEN?!” She said, shaking Sebaste.

Sebaste shrugged her off. “It's none of your concern, besides, I doubt Bon Bon really believes me.” He snorted.

“Well you can't entirely blame her,” Dark whispered to Sebaste, before sitting on a table. “Oh, and Alex, you owe Twi a new table. I'm not taking the blame for that.”

With a wave of her gauntlet, the table was instantly repaired. “Look, I know this is hard to believe, but we are telling the truth.” She said. “We don't know why we have these powers, but we've been defending our Equestria for quite some time now.”

Bon Bon closed her eyes and pinched her nose. “Okay, let's pretend what you're saying is true. That doesn't answer my question on what does Dark have to do with any of this.”

“Because he’s one of us, A Displaced.” Sebastian spoke up. He had been toying with the same combat knife he had toyed with the first time he had been summoned to Dark's world.

“So what? You're saying Dark’s a human too? Ha. Sure he is,” she said sarcastically.

“Actually, I am,” Dark said.

“Really? Prove it.”

Dark shrugged and took off his cover, revealing his face to them. “Believe us now?”

“Wait,” Lyra said. “You were a human this whole time? Well, that would explain how you knew so much about humans. But why do you cover your face?”

“Well I didn't want to draw attention to myself. That, and I was told not to let too many ponies know about that.”

“We all have secrets, some more than others.” Sebaste said. “But not everything you find out… is safe. We may not be from here, but we know many things you would not believe.”

“Oh? Like what?” Lyra asked.

“That there are millions of Displaced out in the Multiverse, each with a different ability, and not one of them looks the same, but they are all human.” A Battle rifle appeared in his hands. “Us included. Our abilities allow us to summon any weapon, melee or ranged, along with any vehicle. But Sasha and I have a few extra abilities.” Sebastian then stepped forward, but as he did so, his body then shimmered before his armor then grew bigger and he hunched over, his helmet growing broader while his gun changed into a squat double barreled gun with two magazines and a massive gauntlet formed over his right hand. A cross with a skull and crossbones appeared on his right pauldron. In seconds, he was in a suit of armor that towered over Sebaste and Alex.

Dark whistled. “Impressive. Though you got one thing wrong. All Displaced WERE humans, not are. Though I believe most might still be, but as you can tell by my sister they don't all stay that way.”

“Right, that's what he meant to say.” Sebastian said, his voice deeper after the change he went through. “Sebaste, Alex and I, along with Dark are some of the ones that are still human, just changed in one way or another.”

“Wait,” Bon Bon said. “If you have powers, what can you all do? You two can summon weapons and vehicles, but what about you two?” She asked, pointing to Alex and Dark.

“My character was able to use magic, along with Alchemy, but for the most part, she used this…” Alex unsheathed her sword. “A snake sword. Part blade, part whip. But I usually use magic in conjunction with my blade.”

“Wooow,” Lyra said.

Dark snickered. “You should've seen everyone's reaction to her when they first saw her. Hilarious.” Sebaste rolled his eyes.

“In order for us to help another Displaced, we use what are called Tokens, an object that's linked to the person that it originated from.” Sebaste said. “The way they work is that part of their soul is inside it, and the message that you hear is that person letting whoever picked it up know that they are available to help. In fact, that's how we met Dark.” He then realized something. “Dark, sometimes a Displaced doesn't have a way to get back. When this happens, just say “Our contract is complete.” They’ll get sent back to their universe. but a lot of Displaced are able to summon portals to their own universes.”

“Like you guys?”

“Exactly.” Sebaste said. “But more often than not, they’ll be calling you.”

“Huh. Think you can teach me how to do that in the future?”

“Unless you have magic… that's near impossible.” Alex spoke up. “The only way you’d be able to do it is if you brought a magic user or an artifact that can open portals for you.”

Dark shrugged. “Awe well. Oh, that reminds me. Remember when you said you'll help with Cece's token?”

“Yeah. I remember.” Sebaste chuckled. “While Alex teaches Twi that healing spell, Sasha and I can help Cece.”

Dark nodded and clapped his hands. “Okay. So, anymore questions?” He said to the two mares in the room.

“You never said what powers you have,” Bon Bon said.

“Oh, right. Forgot about that. Well, my powers aren't too special aside from one. I can stick to any surface, shoot a thick powerful web from my wrists, stronger than most humans, as well as more agile and a bit more durable, and I have a sort of sixth sense that alerts me of danger and allows me to survey an area around me, perfect for fighting or traveling. That's about everything off the top of my head.”

“Dark’s not the only one that's stronger than your average human.” Sebastian said, having reverted back to his power armored form. “Both Seb and I are also stronger, but we were augmented to be that way.”

“Of course the guy in Halo armor and the guy who could increase his size are stronger than most humans. By the way, can you jump super high?” Dark asked the Spartan.

“No, the reason I jumped that high was because of my thrusters. Other than that, I jump as high as a regular human. And that armor that Sasha had changed into is actually called Tactical Dreadnought Armor, or Terminator armor for short. it dwarfs even a regular Space Marine!”

“That's not what I meant. I was asking because apparently Master Chief can “jump around like he's on the moon” despite wearing such heavy armor.”

“He’s a Spartan II, They trained a lot harder than the Spartan IVs, which is what I am.” Sebaste said.

“Okay… I'm not going to question it. Anyway, I think we should-” Dark immediately ducked, narrowly missing a huge hammer that was flying at him. Only for Sebaste to get clobbered by it.

“That what you get for leaving me alone with Pinkie,” Cece said, walking to everyone, annoyed and covered in confetti.

“Um, Cece? What happened to you, and why are you here?”

“Pinkie started using her party cannon and I ended up in the blast radius. While Pinkie was apologizing to everyone, I left.”

“Anyone get the license plate of that Gravity Hammer?” Sebaste muttered as he stood up. He took one look at Cece and asked, “Party Cannon?”

“Yeah. Sorry about you getting hit. Keep forgetting about Tito’s spider-sense.”

“Eh, I’ve been hit harder by a Supergirl Displaced.” Sebaste said.

“Wait, what?” Dark asked.

Sebaste sighed, “You remember that war that I mentioned with the two factions? The enemy side has a Supergirl Displaced.”

“Oooo, yikes. Would NOT want to mess with a Kyptonian.”

“Um, I'm sorry, but who, and what, are you?” Bon Bon asked Cece, who took off her hood when she got to the library.

“Name’s Cece, I'm Tito's sister.”

“Who's sister?”

“Right. Only Pinkie and I still refer to him as that. Him,” she said, pointing to Dark.

“Wait,” Lyra said. “THIS is the sister you were talking about?”

“Yeah,” Dark said. “Though the red cloak is rather new, her appearance the exact same as I told you.”

“Woah.” Lyra then poked Cece on the forehead but Cece smacked her hand away.

“Personal space, missy.”

“That's the luck of the Lyrish….” Sebaste chuckled.

“Yeah sis,” Dark said. “Be happy this Lyra is nowhere near as crazy as some of the ones I read about.”

“Wait WHAT?” Lyra exclaimed.

“Oh...right. Guys? Little help here?"

“Erm… what Dark means is that… well, your passion for humans has kind of made you legendary back on Earth.” Sebastian said.

“But how can you know about her on Earth?” Bon Bon asked.

“It's… hard to explain. Somehow a woman named Lauren Faust saw events from your world and turned them into a show for kids. But she didn't expect it to become a worldwide sensation.” Sebaste said.

“And we're all in it,” Pinkie said, coming out of a bookshelf, knocking a few books down and shocking everyone.

“Anyone getting a season 4 vibe right about now?” Sebaste asked.

“Can you be a bit more specific?” Dark asked.

“What was that episode…. It had Pinks travel with Applejack and her family to find out her lineage…”

“Oh, Pinkie Apple Pie.”

“That's the one! She popped out of a bookshelf then too.”

“Oh right.” Then Dark leaned towards Sebaste and whispered, “You know, I wonder how a lot of things like that looked in this world, with it being anthropomorphic and all.”

Sebaste shrugged, “Dunno, probably something like Equestria Girls.”

Cece rolled her eyes at their conversation when her eyes spotted a book on the floor. “Hey, what's this?” She picked it up and looked at it. It was a brown book with a picture of a sun on the center. She opened it and looked through it. “It's completely blank.”

Sebastian took one look and staggered back in shock. “Dark? You may want to see this…” He said, his tone more than a little surprised.

Dark turned to Sasha. “What's wrong Sasha?”

“Take a look at what Cece is holding…” Was his only answer.

Dark turned to his sister and froze. “Is that-”

“Ooo,” Pinkie said. “That's Twilight’ s journal that she uses to contact Suns-” Dark immediately put a hand over Pinkie’s mouth.

“Pinkie,” Dark whispered. “Don't talk about it when anypony besides Twilight and the others are around.”

“Mhmay.” Dark then took his hand off of Pinkie’s mouth.

“How about you go back to the party? We'll see you later.”

“Okie dokie.” With that, she skipped away.

“How in Vulcan’s name did this even get in here? It's supposed to be in that room!” Sebastian asked.

“What are you guys talking about?” Cece said, closing the book.

“We’ll explain later, right now we need to give it back to Twi.” Alex replied.

“I don't get it. What's so important about this book?”

“This book powers an artifact here in the castle. A very important one at that.” Sebaste said.

Dark put a hand on Cece's shoulder and took the book. “How about we explain it later. When we give this back to Twilight.”

“Speaking of which, we’d better get back to the party ourselves.” Sebaste then turned to Lyra and Bon Bon before showing them a medallion bearing the mark of the Princesses and the royal guard. “By the order of the Princesses, nothing is to be said of this. We can't have the others in Ponyville know about us. So can you keep this secret?”

Bon Bon looked away while Lyra nodded. “Okay, but I have one more question.”

“What do you need to ask us?” Sebastian asked.

“Who else knows about all this?”

“Twilight and her friends.” Alex said.

“And Celestia and Luna, as well as Discord,” Dark said.

“And that's all. Except for you two, those are the ones who know about us.” Sebaste said.

“Okay. Come on Bon Bon.” Lyra then walked out with her friend close behind.

“Uuuugh…. This is definitely one of the crazier days I’ve had…” Sebaste muttered.

Dark shrugged. “Honestly, this seems normal to me.”

“Eh, to each his own. We’d better head back to the party, Twi needs to know about her book being in here.”

Dark nodded. Then everyone put their covers on and they went to look for Twilight. They found her near the cider bowl talking to Applejack and Rarity.

“Oh, hi guys,” Twilight said. “How are you doing?”

“Other than things suddenly getting crazy earlier? We’re good. Speaking of which, I believe this belongs to you.” Sebaste said, pointing at the book in Dark’s hands.

Twilight’ s eyes widen when she saw the book. “Where did you get that!” She silently yelled.

“Somehow it was in the Library.” Alex said. “We… had a little bit of a situation with Lyra and Bon Bon….”

“Wait, it was in the library? What was it…” She then widen her eyes and she facepalmed. “Now I remember.”

“You forgot it there?” Sebaste chuckled.

“Yeah. I take it you know what's so important about that journal?”

The trio nodded. “Yes. It powers the mirror to that human dimension.” Sebaste replied.

Cece's eyes widened. “Wait, that does what now?”

“This journal is used to power up a mirror portal that goes to a human version of Equestria. In fact, that was one of the worlds we met the Kamen Rider Displaced.” Sebastian replied.

“Okay, what the heck? Since when is there a portal to a human world?”

Dark rubbed his chin. “Known to humans? About 3 years. In this dimension? About a few hundred.”

“It was quite a shock for us when we found out where we were.” Sebaste said. “And this was before we fought a freaking Grimm from RWBY…”

“It was pretty weird,” Twilight chuckled. “Took a while to get used to no magic. Or my horn. And Spike being a dog.”

Cece looked at Twilight, confused. “What are you talking about?”

“When Twi went through the portal, she became a human. And the reverse can be said for anyone from that world coming into here.” Alex explained. “They’ll end up becoming a pony.”

“So...if someone from this side goes through the portal, they become human?”

“Yes, unless they're already human.”

“And what if a hedgehog walked through?”

“Erm…” Sebaste tried to hold himself together, but failed miserably. “If Spike turned into a dog, what do you think is gonna happen to you?” He guffawed.

Cece puffed her cheeks in anger before pulling out her hammer and slamming it at Sebaste.

The Spartan thrusted backwards, the hammer missing him by inches. “Sheesh, you may want to get a handle on that temper of yours!” He said.

“Boooo,” Dark said, cupping his hands over his mouth.

The Spartan shot Dark a glare before he said “I don't see you coming up with better ones! Besides, you’re not the one in danger of getting pasted with a Warhammer!”

“Neither are you.”

Twilight sighed before lifting Cece with her magic. “Cece, calm down. And to answer your question, he has a bit of a point. You're the first of that species, so it's hard to determine what will happen to you if you went through. But I could try to run a few tests.”

Cece calmed down at that and was put down. When she got to the ground and released, she put away her hammer. Then she turned around. “See you guys later. Oh, and Tito, don't forget, the night is still young,” she said with a smirk, before running away from all of them.

“That girl… scares me…” Sebaste said, looking at Dark.

“Try living with her. But I will admit, she's not ALL bad. Christmas is just her most annoying time of year. As well as her birthday.” Then Dark turned to Twilight. “So Twi, why was that journal in the library instead of your room or something?”

“Well, I was going to send you-know-who a message and talk to her, since it's Hearth’s Warming and all, but I guess I forgot about it.”

Sebaste chuckled. “That’ll happen sometimes. I sometimes get distracted by other things.”

Dark just looked at the journal, lost in thought.

“Earth to DarkSpider, anyone in control?” The Spartan asked.

Dark shook his head and looked at Sebaste. “Not on Earth anymore.”

“Okay, someone switched your brain with Draxx’s because that totally went over your head…”

Dark sighed. “Sorry. I was just thinking about something.”

“The journal? Or the EG universe?”

“The latter.”

“Hmm… I don't know how a ladder is gonna help…” Sebaste said with a grin behind his helmet. He then dodged a swing from Alex.

“I REALLY hope your fighting is better than your jokes.”

“Everyone's a critic…” Sebaste then looked at Dark. “I'm guessing you're wanting to visit that universe someday?”

“Yeah yeah Squidward. Doesn't change anything.”

“Seriously? Squidward? Says the guy that looks like Spider-Man and Assassin’s Creed got put together!”

“Oh haha,” Dark said sarcastically. “Screw you.”

“Aside from my brother's jokes, what exactly is on your mind?” Alex asked, her form now in a suit of Spartan Scout armor, but still keeping her right arm normal.

Dark shrugged. “Nothing much. Just wondering what would happen to Cece if she went there. And what'll be like there.”

“More than likely She’ll turn either Human with Amy’s hair color and look, or as a… well, hedgehog….” Sebaste said, with a nervous look around.

Dark looked in the direction his sister left to. “I have a feeling she'll take that chance if she finds that mirror.”

“Let's… just hope that doesn't happen.” Sebastian said with a shudder. “If she does… Emperor have mercy….

“Um...why?”

“Because how do you think the “others” will react if they see a former human burst through the portal?”

“They might think it's just some pony who stumbled into it on this side.”

“Looking like Amy Rose?”

“Do they even have Sonic in that dimension? And besides, there's a Link pony running around, as well as those twins from Bioshock Infinite and that Jameson pony, so it's not that hard to believe there may be an Amy pony.”

“Okay, but what happens when they see three armored humans and a Spider-Man come out of the portal looking for her?”

“First off, I'll ask again, do they even have Spider-Man?”

“Dude, it’s a human universe, they're bound to have a lot of the same things as us.”

“Touché. But that's one of the reasons on what my cloak is for. So no one sees my costume. Outside of training and when I went to Manehatten.”

“Okay, but in our case, we’d stick out like a sore thumb.”

“We're not doing any of that today,” Twilight said. “We'll do it after the holidays.”

“By the way, how did it go with Starlight?” Sebaste asked.

“Oh, it went great.”

“I hope you didn't do too many impressions,” Dark said.

Twilight lightly blushed and looked away. “W-what are you talking about?”

This sent the other three Displaced into gales of laughter, causing Twilight to blush even harder.

“Oh throne, that's the most hilarious reaction I’ve seen!” Sebastian gasped. “Good one Dark!”

Dark lightly chuckled. “You know, I'm gonna get myself some hot chocolate. See you in a bit.” He then ran off.

Still chuckling, Sebaste looked at Applejack. “Mind if I had a noggin of Cider? I need a drink.” He asked.

Applejack nodded and gave him a bottle. “Here ya go.”

Taking his helmet off, he took a swig from it. “Ahhh, nothing like Apple family cider…” he said. “Thanks AJ.”

“Anytime Sebaste.”

“Anyway,” Twilight said, “I've been meaning to ask you two something. How long have you all been Displaced?”

“Fifteen years now. Alex is nine years Displaced.” Sebaste said. “It's… been a tough time for us.”

The mares all widened their eyes. “Wow. That's...unexpected.”

Alex chuckled. “I may not have been Displaced as long as Sasha and my brother, but that doesn't mean I don't get to meet other Displaced.”

“Exactly who did YOU meet?”

“I met the first Displaced my brother met, along with some others I can't remember off the top of my head… although I did meet a Warmachine Displaced, a character named Asphyxious.”

“Oh throne… Asphyxious… seriously, that guy can be a pain sometimes, but I blame the dragon genes in him.” Sebastian muttered.

“Wait, DRAGON genes?”

“He’s part dragon, so he’s really hoardy, has like... I have no idea how many mates he has, but he does have Chrysalis, his version of Twilight, Spider-Gwen and a female version of Revan from a game back on Earth called Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.”” Sebaste said

“First Dark with spider DNA, now a displaced with dragon DNA. What's next?” Then she had a look of realization. “Wait, you don't know how many WHAT he has?”

“Yeah… he has a lot of mates. He must be surrounded by kids by now…” Sebaste chuckled. “And his version of Twilight is a Kirin, a Dragon/Pony who’s one of his mates.”

Twilight blushed hard and opened her mouth in disbelief while Applejack snickered at her reaction and Rarity’s eyes widened.

“Why does Twilight look like that?” Dark said, walking to them, carrying a webbed up Cece over his shoulder.

“She had a bit of a shock. One Displaced we met has a hoard of mates, and by mates, I mean wives, and his version of Twi is one of them.” Sebaste chuckled.

“I know what mates are.” Dark leaned towards Twilight and waved his free hand in front of her. “I think you broke her.”

“Well, he...erm… also has Spider-Gwen as one of his mates.”

“Spider-Gwen? Wait...is that a version of Spidey who's Gwen Stacy?”

“Yeah, or as you would know her better: Spider-Woman.”

“Really? I thought Spider-Woman had black hair.”

“Different version of her. He also has a female version of Revan from that Old Republic game for the Xbox.”

“Never payed attention to that game.” Cece mumbled a few things. “Not important,” he told her.

“But yeah, after we told her this, she froze up.” He then winked before he whispered in Twilight's ear, “Someone stole a book from your library and is about to burn it…”

Twilight immediately jumped and looked shocked. “WHAT?!?!?” She yelled, looking around frantically, causing Dark to fall to the floor laughing.

“Glad you snapped out of your funk!” Sebaste chuckled. “I knew that would work!”

Twilight then turned to Sebaste, furious. “Was that REALLY necessary?”

“It was the only way to snap you out of your trance!” He said, bracing himself for a magic blast.

“Actually, I think slapping her would've worked,” Dark said, getting up.

Twilight turned to Dark and saw Cece in a web cocoon. “Um, Dark? Why is your sister wrapped up like a Hearth’s Warming present?”

“Tradition. Both of them do a game where Cece hides and Dark finds.” Sebastian said.

“That's part of it,” Dark muttered, with Cece squirming.

Twilight shook her head. “Dark, let her go. I don't know what happened, but this doesn't look good.”

Dark rolled his eyes. “Fine.” The webs vanished and Cece got up and dusted herself.

“Now all we need now is some sunglasses to drop down and the words “Deal with it” to pop up.” Sebaste cracked. Both Alex and Sebastian rolled their eyes behind their helmets.

Cece looked at her brother, annoyed. “Still don't get the big deal. That pegasus looked pretty cute,” she whispered to him.

“Pega-” Sebaste said before he realized something. “Let me guess, you ran into Rainbow again?”

“No,” Dark replied. “Flitter.”

“Cloud Chaser’s sister?

Dark nodded. “I was talking to her and Cece was hanging from the ledge. You know the rest.”

Alex facepalmed. “Geez, I may drive my brother crazy sometimes, but not that crazy!”

Cece rolled her eyes and and crossed her arms. “Sue me.”

“Um, what are y'all talking about?” Applejack asked.

“Just something both Dark and Cece are dealing with during this holiday season.” Sebaste said.

“Yeah,” Cece said. “Just be trying to ha-” Dark then immediately webbed her mouth.

“It's not important,” Dark said. “Just two siblings messing with each other during the holidays.”

Sebaste then took another swig from the bottle of cider. “Well, Happy Hearth's Warming everyone and every pony!” He said, raising it in celebration.

“Is he drunk?”

Sebaste glared at Dark. “If I’d been drunk, I would have been slurring all over the place. It's regular cider.”

“That's why I was confused.”

Sebaste chuckled before he suddenly frowned. “Um… Alex? Why are you glowing all of a sudden?” She looked at him in confusion before she looked at herself and gasped.

“What's… What's going on?!” She asked, a trace of fear in her voice. A startled exclamation from Sebastian made the others turn their heads and look in shock as the Astartes was also glowing. Then Sebaste also yelped as a glow surrounded him.

Everyone's eyes widened at what was happening. “Um, is this normal for Displaced?” Twilight asked.

“No! I… I don't know what's happening!” Sebaste said before with a sudden cry he vanished.

“Sebaste!” Alex cried before she too vanished in a flash of light.

“Dark, I just wanted to say… I'm glad we met you. And I hope things go well for you.” Sebastian said before he vanished.

“What...just...happened?” Dark said, shocked.

They have been changed…. And the Equestria they came from is no more.” A new voice boomed before a portal ripped open in front of Dark. From it stepped out a figure that looked like Sebastian before his helmet changed with two wing like structures and a flowing cape. In his hand was an ornate sword with a arrow like point while in his other was a strange looking gun, the bottom part was magazine fed but the top had coils on it with two barrels sticking out of it.

“Who the hell are you and what are you talking about?”

“I am Company Master Sebaste, as for Sebastian and Alex, they will still be the same, other than Alex permanently being a Spartan/Ivy Valentine combination. But Sebaste… is no more, another has been chosen to take his place.” His eyes flared. “While they have been favored by many readers, their story has now changed. They will not remember those they met, but they may encounter them again. But the Spartan known as Sebaste-915 is now gone. In his stead, a new OC of mine will replace him. And the Equestria they are now in, is different than the one they were first sent to. But they will still exist in the War of Shadows and The War of the Chosen.”

“What the heck are you talking about?”

“You remember that “author” Sebaste mentioned?” The figure growled.

“Author? What author?” Twilight asked.

“I'm the creator of the three that vanished.” He said, “I had a bit of trouble with a certain Merc with a mouth a few years back.”

Dark glared at the newcomer. “You seriously expect me to believe you created them?”

“Don't push your luck boy!” The figure snapped before his hand glowed and a window to the new Equestria appeared. A familiar Astartes was shown dodging a hail of bullets from an armor wearing Rainbow, who was firing a strange looking automatic gun while using gauntlets to hold it. “This is where they are now, a world where a maniac has declared war on Equestria and Twilight and the Mane 6 are soldiers in this same world.”

“What?”

Twilight looked closer at the window. “So, if what you're saying is true-”

“You rebooted them?” Cece said.

“Indeed. While they were enjoyed by others, their story was… not as good as I had thought. I have it recorded and archived, but now their story has begun anew.” He said. “But now, I must continue with their story.”

“So, they won't remember any of this? Or any of us?”

“Unfortunately, yes, but not in the way that you think. Both Sebastian and Alex will have memories of you, but they will be blocked. But you will meet them again, some day soon.” The Astartes said. He then turned to Dark. “The Tokens you have won't summon anyone, but they are still yours. Use them well, and they’ll serve you until your dying days.”

Dark looked down. “You said Sebaste is no more? That he's been replaced?”

The Astartes nodded. “I'm sorry. It’s more that people are getting confused with both Sebastian and Sebaste's names than me getting rid of him because I wanted to replace him.” He then turned to Cece. “I know Sebaste and Sebastian promised to help make your token, but I believe I can do this to help keep this promise.”

Cece shrugged. “I don't really want that. I'm fine helping Tito out, but going to another dimension whenever a Displaced finds my token? No thanks. I rather stay here and occasionally tag along with my brother when he's called.”

“Very well.” He then turned to Twilight. “I believe Alex was planning on teaching you that healing spell.”

Twilight looked surprised. “Y-yes she was.”

“If I may, I can give you the knowledge to it.” He said, and while they couldn't see his face, he had a kindly twinkle in his eye. “It's the least I can do to help her keep her promise.”

“Um...okay…”

The Astartes then put one of his gauntleted hand on Twilight's head and his eye lenses glowed. “It… is done.” He said, backing away. “May you use this power well.”

“T-thanks.”

He chuckled, “You don't need to be afraid of me.” His eyes then flared again. “Hmm… seems my seals have sprung a leak… both Alex and Sebastian have faint memories of their former lives… but not enough to remember, they’ve past them off as nightmares…”

“You just made our friends disappear and are playing god,” Dark said. “Of course she's scared.”

“You think that I wanted to do this to them? I have been watching them since they first entered their first Equestria, how do you think I felt when I had to restart their story!?” The Astartes growled, magic arcing over his gauntlets. “As for playing god, I'm no god. I am just one of many that live in a different dimension. The true gods here are the Void Dwellers.”

Cece crossed her arms. “So what? You “rewrote” their lives and changed their fates?”

“Because I’m known as an author, a being that has the ability to rewrite the stories of those he has created.”

“Yeah, that proves our point.”

The Astartes sighed. “I must return to my dimension. Until then, may the Emperor protect you.”

“What about the others?” Dark asked.

“I shall be contacting Ahriman myself. As for the others… let them know of what's happened. And tell them that they will see them again…” The Astartes said.

Dark stood silent for a moment before looking at the Astartes. “You could've at least let us say goodbye.”

“Once things are sent in motion, they cannot be stopped. But I can grant you this….” He said before his hand glowed and the three were suddenly standing next to him. Sebaste and Sebastian had their helmets off while Alex was in her dress.

“Hey guys…” Sebaste said.

“Hey guys,” Rainbow said, walking to the group with Pinkie and Fluttershy before she saw everyone's faces and the ‘author’. “What's going on?”

“These three are… leaving their Equestria.” The Astartes said.

“Whhyyy?”

“They're being relocated to a new Equestria. At least Sebastian and Alex are… Sebaste however won't be making that journey. Someone else shall be in his stead.” he replied.

“What are you talking about?”

“I believe your friend Dark will be able to explain better. For now, you may want to say your farewells.”

“WHAT?” She yelled.

Dark walked up to Sebaste and stuck his hand out. “It was nice knowing ya Sebaste.”

Sebaste chuckled. “You too, I wish I could still hang around but guess fate has something else planned for me…” He said as he took Dark’s hand and shook it.

Dark then looked to Alex and Sebastian. “Until we meet again, good luck with your new life. And thanks,” he said to all of them.

“Thanks, and I hope everything will go okay for you.” Sebastian said, a rare smile on his face. Alex had tears in her eyes. “And you're more than welcome. It was an honor meeting all of you, and I hope that we will meet again. I hope things will go well.”

Cece sighed and walked up to them. “Well, I may not know you as much as Tito, but it was nice meeting you guys nonetheless. You definitely helped make this a good and memorable Christmas.”

Alex then looked at the Mane 6, “It was really nice meeting you all. I...I really wish we were leaving under better circumstances.” She said, her voice shaking.

Twilight sighed. “So do we. It was nice meeting all of you too.”

Pinkie was crying and pulled all three of them in a hug. “We're gonna miss you.” She said between sobs.

“Same here Pinks…” Sebaste said before looking at Rainbow. “Keep being awesome, and remember the advice I gave you.” He said to the prismatic pegasus.

Rainbow nodded before lowering her head. Pinkie let them go and went back to the group, her mane nearly flat. Applejack walked up to them and stuck her hand out, not saying anything.

Sebaste smiled before taking her hand and shaking it firmly. “Thanks for the cider. And good luck with your farm.”

Applejack nodded before walking away and lowering her hat. Rarity then went up to them and said “Well, it is sad that this had to happen, but it was a pleasure spending time with all of you.”

“Same here. We may have met only twice, but we definitely made some good memories.” Sebaste chuckled, remembering the first time they had met.

Fluttershy then walked up to them slowly. “It… It was nice meeting you all,” she shyly said.

Alex gave a sad smile. “It was nice meeting you too, Fluttershy. Make sure Discord doesn't get out of hand. Again.”

Fluttershy nodded and gave a small smile before stepping back to the group.

Sebaste then looked at Twilight. “I hope the lessons with Starlight go okay. And for what it's worth, don't be afraid to step up when others won't.” He said.

Twilight nodded, a small tear in her eye. “I'll keep that in mind.”

The Astartes then strode forward. “You’ll see each other again, but I will warn you, the world they will be in… isn't like this one. So if you do end up getting summoned there, be prepared for a more advanced Equestria at war with itself.” He then looked at the assembled group. “May your world never share the fate of the Equestria that these three first lived on. And good luck. Dark, to quote a certain song, “Heroes always get remembered, but legends… never die.” In a flash, the Astartes and three Displaced vanished.

Everyone stood silent for a few minutes before Applejack spoke up. “Okay everypony, I know what just happened hit us all pretty hard, but the night’s still young. Besides, it's Hearth’s Warming. We should be celebrating right now.”

Everyone nodded before they all dispersed, not noticing one of them was absent.


(Dark’s POV)

I slipped away from everyone while Applejack was talking. I wasn't in the mood to join the party anymore and decided to call it a night. I put the gun back on the wall and took off my cloak. I then took off my mask and laid down on my bed, ready to go to sleep, one last unimportant thought in my mind.

Hope Twilight doesn't find the burnt mistletoe anytime soon.