Discussions and Discoveries
(Celestia)
Celestia had no idea exactly what she expected to find when she and Luna got to Ponyville but a village-wide party was not it. Her ponies were so caught up in their merrymaking that many of them didn’t even notice their Princesses arrive, Celestia recognizing the stench of alcohol in the air and correctly assumed that that may have had something to do with it.
“Well, if nothing else, it seems they are in no danger,” Luna quipped.
As if in response four ponies were thrown through one of the windows of Sugarcube Corner. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Big Macintosh, and Bulk Biceps groaned as they got up. Before they could utter a word a large armored biped burst out of the door.
“WHOO! OH YEAH! ARM WRESTLE CHAMPION RIGHT HERE! FOUR AGAINST ONE, AND I AIN’T EVEN TRYING!” He then began to do some sort of shuffling motion in victory. “Oh yeah! I’m da bomb! Can’t stop dis! Can’t stop-oh, hi your majesties, wassup?”
Jenny stumbled out of the building soon afterwards and giggled as she moved over to Luna. “Hey, hey LUNA! Hey. Did you know there’s two of you?” She then fell onto the ground and giggled drunkenly. “Soooooooooooooooooooooooo many ponies!~”
The armored warrior and the two Princesses looked down at her for a moment.
“Ok, so the girl can’t hold her liquor. Gonna have to remember that,” the warrior quipped.
“Um… are we to assume you are this ‘Gilgamesh’ who had asked to speak with us?” Luna.
“Indeed, my astute alicorns, twas I who called thee to discuss matters most urgent to the fate of thy kingdom and thy world,” he replied, puffing his chest out. Both were quite surprised to hear anyone but Luna use ancient Equestrian.
"Uh, so I'm assuming that you have something to tell us about Invention's plans?" Celestia asked
Gilgamesh shook his head. "I'm afraid it's more complicated than that." He turned to the ponies who he had thrown out the window before. "AJ, Dash, get the girls, Fluttershy included. You'll all want to be around to hear this. I'll get Jenny sobered up."
"Gotcha. Sounds important I guess," Rainbow replied before flying towards Fluttershy's cottage while Applejack headed inside.
"Ok, girl, up and at 'em," he said, lifting up Jenny before holding a hand over her head. He concentrated for a moment before a yellow light glowed over her head. "Esuna."
Jenny woke with a start, her eyes no longer bleary. "Bwuh? Wha happened?"
"Grab Ed, Jenny. We all need to talk."
"Huh? Oh, um, ok." she nodded before heading back inside the pastry shop. They all waited a moment before another human-like creature exited.
“I'll never understand why you organic creatures choose intentionally poison yourself with those-oh. Um, hello Princess Celestia," he said nervously. "Princess Luna, good to see you again."
Luna looked at Ed in surprise before squinting at him. “You look familiar...”
"Uh, well I'd better. After all, it's not like my body does any growing. It's Edward. Ed."
Celestia looked at her sister for a moment. “Luna? What is he speaking of?”
Luna’s eyes widened for a moment before she looked at Ed in shock. “You... You were Invention’s pilot!”
Ed gave them a small bow. “Indeed I was.”
“The arrogant sounding one who would intentionally aggravate the tall one.”
"Hey, that was just some teasing! And I'm not 'arrogant'!"
"Whatever you say, Gregory House," Gilgamesh muttered.
"Who?"
"Ugh, never mind."
"I get it!" Jenny exclaimed.
“Thank you! You have no idea how annoying it can get sometimes when no one gets my references.”
“Pardon me!” Celestia interrupted. “Now, I was under the impression that what we were being called here for was of the utmost importance not only to Equestria but possibly the entire world. If so, could we please begin discussions? Like who exactly you are and what is he doing here?”
“All good questions, all of which will be answered soon enough.”
Moments later Applejack stepped out of Sugarcube Corner with Twilight, Spike, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity in tow, none of whom were drunk, thankfully. Just a few seconds later Rainbow Dash came with Fluttershy who meeped and hid behind her foalhood friend when she saw the armored warrior. Gilgamesh smiled and extended his hand towards her. She flinched only to look on in surprise as he snapped his fingers and suddenly a sunflower appeared in his hand. He gently slipped it behind her ear while she was still stunned.
“A mare a cute as you should have some equally cute accents,” he complimented, causing the pegasus to blush and look away, no longer afraid of the armed giant.
“Well well, it seems the brute can be charming when he wants to be,” Rarity quipped. “But where in Equestria did you get that sunflower?”
“I’ve been studying Pinkie Pie,” he answered.
“Ah,” the group replied.
“Anyway, let’s all head inside. I think Golden Oaks would be a good place to talk.”
The group of twelve entered the library, doing their best to make room for everyone in the lobby.
“Spike, could you make some tea?” the warrior asked.
“Sure, I’ll make a pot,” he complied before heading into the kitchen. They all waited patiently until he returned with a pot of tea and and several mugs, pouring Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Jenny, Gilgamesh, and both the Princesses a cup.
Gilgamesh took a sip and sighed contently. “Ahh. Not as nice as Zecora’s blend, but still good. Ok, now where to start?” he asked aloud before thinking. “Ah, that’ll do. First off, what Jenny, Invention, and myself all have in common. We are those who have arrived in our worlds after being torn from our own and whisked to different versions of Equestria possessing different forms and/or powers upon our arrival. One of our kind used the name ‘Displaced’ and the name has sort of just stuck.”
“Wait, so there are more like me? How many more?” Jenny asked.
“I myself have met… eight of them. And am aware of… six more, but from what I understand there may be hundreds, if not thousands of us.”
“T-Thousands?” Twilight asked, speaking for everyone else.
“Oh yes, and almost every single one is in their own alternate version of Equestria.”
“‘Alternate version of-’ you mean alternate universes!?”
“Indeed,” he replied simply before taking another sip of tea.
Ed hummed a bit as he rubbed his chin. “Well... I guess The Captain’s theories were right after all.”
“‘Theories?’”
Ed blinked a bit before he realized he’d said that out loud. “Oh um... well, before all of... the incident happened, The Captain spent most of his time trying to find a way home, and developed a rather complex theory on dimensional travel by scientific means.”
“Really? What kind of progress did he make?” Twilight asked with a twinkle in her eye.
“Well... every attempt at making a machine ended rather badly, and in one case comically.”
“Ooh! How did the funny one turn out?” Pinkie asked excitedly.
“Well, you didn’t hear this from me, but he ended up pasted to the wall by pink goo. And will never admit it.”
Many snickered at that.
“Impressive that he attempted it with only mechanical means. I almost feel bad about making all of his effort nearly meaningless,” Gilgamesh said.
“Huh? What do you mean by that?”
Gilgamesh reached behind himself and pulled out two folders.
“This is a message and formulas from one Auric Fulcrum, one of the most powerful and, in my own humble opinion, righteous of all of us. He sent these out a while ago and I’ve been passing them along,” he explained as he handed one to Ed and one to Jenny.
Ed looked at the folder curiously. “Interesting... These look incredibly close to what The Captain came up with. I should know, I recorded every one of his experiments.”
“If they’re that close then I must say I’m even more impressed. Auric isn’t just merely an intelligent being, he Understands. To put it simply, his initial experience travelling to his Equestria gave him the knowledge of how everything in all universes works. From the tiniest atom, to the largest of star systems. From what I gather, he has to ignore it sometimes or else he’d go completely insane.”
“Whoa…” Jenny muttered, looking at the letter. “Wait, who’s ‘Discord?’”
All the ponies, and one drake, looked to her in concern.
“Why do you ask?” said Celestia.
“It says here that this ‘Discord’ guy could be useful for creating a barrier to unnatural forces from outside the world from invading.”
“You can’t be serious! Anything involving him is a bad idea!” Twilight shouted.
“You might be surprised, Twilight. Though he’s by no means become some paragon of virtue he’s turned over a new leaf in several dimensions, even my own. I have a feeling that the many difference Celestias got the idea after the Changeling Invasion happened in each of their universes.”
“‘Invasion!?’ Those creatures actually mounted an invasion of Equestria!?” Luna shouted.
“Perhaps it wasn’t a good idea to send both Shining Armor and Cadence to the Crystal Empire after all,” Celestia muttered.
“Wait… what did you say?” Gilgamesh asked, looking thoroughly confused. “You don’t know about an invasion, but Cadence and Shining Armor are in the Crystal Empire?”
“Yes… Why?”
There was a long pause as the warrior looked over the equally confused equestrians.
“Ok, I’m going to list of a bunch of names of people, places and events and you tell me if they mean anything to you.”
Celestia and Luna shared a glance for a moment before nodding. “You may begin.”
“Ok, I don’t want to make any assumptions, so… Nightmare Moon.”
Luna winced a bit at that one and looked away. “Unfortunately.”
“Sorry. Um, you already mentioned Discord, so… Chrysalis?”
Celestia looked confused for a moment. “Who?”
“We’ll get back to that. You mentioned Shiny and Cadence, the Crystal Empire, so I’m assuming Sombra made an appearance?”
Luna shook her head. “Sombra has long since been deceased. When we first went to liberate the Empire, he attempted a forbidden spell and while the Empire was banished for 1000 years, his body was found where it was left lifeless.”
“Wow. But, it is ‘Prince Shining Armor’ now, right? Not just Captain?”
Twilight smiled a bit at that. “That’s right.”
“Ok, then what about… Plunderseeds?”
Pinkie snickered at that while Celestia shook her head. “I have not heard of those.”
“Then you still have the Elements of Harmony at your disposal?”
Twilight nodded. “They’re in the vault in Canterlot.”
“And Celestia never sent you… an unfinished spell of some kind?”
Twilight’s face scrunched in confusion. “Unfinished spell?”
Celestia looked to Gilgamesh somewhat nervously which he noticed, giving her an almost imperceptible nod of assurance.
“Ok, apparently your timeline has some noticeably large differences between mine and many of the others I’ve visited.”
Ed nodded a bit in thought. “It would make sense for that to be the case. No two universes are the same, even in Invention’s theories. There would be increasing amounts of differences the farther one would travel from their original location.”
“Then I must be pretty far because almost everything I mentioned still happened despite whatever interference from Displaced came about. For example, Queen Chrysalis is the leader of the Changelings, or at least one of their hives, and foalnapped Cadance to take her place and get inside Canterlot as well as weaken Shining Armor. The event became known as the ‘Canterlot Wedding Invasion.’”
Everypony stared at Gilgamesh in surprise before Applejack looked over at Twilight. “Sugarcube, suddenly I’m mighty glad that the wedding went off without a hitch. Even if you had half a mind to beat Shining’s head in with the guard’s spear.”
“He got engaged without telling me. He had it coming. I would have understood if there was an emergency, but the whole city was as peaceful as could be.”
“Well, at least that part’s consistent,” Gilgamesh muttered. “Anyway, I think I can see why that invasion didn’t happen seeing as Changelings seem to have a particularly different biology here than in the other versions of Equestria. Namely, they eat love, not consciousness. Chrysalis probably saw no merit in kidnapping the Princess of Love considering it’s not their food source here.”
“‘Love?’” Jenny asked. “How does something eat love?”
“How does something eat consciousness?”
“... Point taken.”
Ed looked up a bit in thought. “Well... in theory, if a species were to develop a form of vampirism that affected electromagnetic wavelengths, it might be possible...”
“Anyway, basically what happened was that Chrysalis fed off Shining’s love for his fiancé and hypnotized him into compliance. Before the whole thing was done she’d absorbed enough power to beat Celestia. The Elements of Harmony were cut off by her army, but then Cadance and Shiny joined their powers and sent them all flying with a massive barrier spell. Power of love wins the day and all that stuff.”
Rainbow smirked and looked a bit smug. “Well, that shows how awesome ponies are compared to a bunch of bugs. I bet I took out a whole bunch of ‘em.”
“You did… and then you got captured along with the rest of your friends.”
She blushed a bit as the others snickered. “Minor details.”
“Anyway, next up, Sombra. In the other timelines he didn’t die after his banishment, and when he was originally banished he made the whole Crystal Empire disappear along with him. When it came back so did he, as some sort of evil, cloud of darkness, master of fear type thing. Cadance did what she could to hold him off with a barrier spell, Shining was put out of commission by him, Twilight and Spike went to try and find the Crystal Heart while the rest of the girls tried to keep the populace happy so they could empower the Heart when they found it.”
“Wow! So I did it? I stopped him?” Twilight asked.
“Sort of. You got a lot of the work done and got past most of his traps, but you wouldn’t have succeeded without help. And that help ended up saving the day, too!”
“Who was that?” Spike asked.
“You, big guy!”
The baby dragon just looked dumbstruck. “M-Me?”
“Yup! Took a lot of guts to try and scale down the side of the palace and get the Crystal Heart to Cadance with an evil unicorn king trying to kill you all the while. You even got your own stained glass window in Canterlot for it.”
He slowly started to grin before cheering to himself. “See Twilight, I told you you should take me with you more often. I saved an Empire!”
Twilight was about to retort when the warrior cut in.
“OK, kid, don’t get a swelled head. That’s supposed to be Rainbow schtick.”
“Hey!” the cyan pegasus shouted.
“He’s got ya there, sugarcube,” Applejack taunted. Rainbow just huffed in response.
“Ok, next up on the list is that Discord comes back. Or, rather, Celestia has him released.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow at that. “Which I still find to be something quite unlikely to happen at the moment.”
“Well, from what I guess, that whole ‘being beaten by an invading force’ thing with Chrysalis gave you, or rather the other yous, the idea to recruit some help, so you had him released with the hopes of him being reformed. And it worked! Well, for the most part. He’s still a trickster and a bit self-centered, but he’s not going out and causing chaos anymore. And you can thank your choice on who best reform him for that.”
“And who would that be?”
The warrior smirked and pointed to one of the mares, utterly stunning both her and everypony else.
“M-Me?” Fluttershy asked.
“You’re kidding,” Rainbow said.
“You’d be amazed at what a little genuine kindness can do,” Gilgamesh replied.
Jenny, still utterly confused, looked around at everyone. “So... I’m in an Equestria with a completely screwy timeline compared to yours, have super sword powers, and have to deal with an inventor who was such an idiot in the past he got himself labeled a criminal?”
Ed and Gilgamesh both exchanged glances before the warrior continued.
“I guess that’s enough recounting differences for now. We should get to the meat of this topic,” he said.
“‘M-M-Meat?’” Rarity asked, horrified.
“Oh… better watch my expressions.” He coughed. “Anyway, first off, the Queen Chrysalis of this dimension is no more. Or, rather, she’s returned to whom she once was.”
“What?” Celestia asked in surprise.
“She was once a pony, affected by the massive bomb in the past, whose mind and body were overwhelmed by the millions of consciousnesses that flooded into her. She is now free but wishes to remain hidden, likely for fear of what aggression may be enacted upon her if somepony found out who she was.” As he finished that sentence he gave a look to both Jenny and Pinkie Pie. Amazingly, both of them seemed to catch the hint. “In addition, though the changelings here around Ponyville have been reduced to nothing due to magic feedback, the others around the world still exist. And without their leader to guide them they will be much more… instinct prone. I wouldn’t be surprised if you get many reports of attacks when you return to Canterlot.”
Celestia and Luna looked at each other in worry. “That... is most unsettling.”
“I agree. Things never work out entirely to our satisfaction, it seems. Secondly… I need to tell you all a story.”
Everyone paused for a moment, utterly confused.
“‘A story?’”
“Yes. It’s one that you know, but that you only know a small piece of,” he explained before taking another sip of his tea. “Once upon a time, there was a boy. He wasn’t anything particularly special, but that changed one day. Due to forces beyond his control he was whisked away to a land not his own with no way to return. He made a particularly bad impression upon his arrival, through no fault of his own, and was labelled a criminal. Thankfully, he did manage to make a friend, but she wasn’t human like him. He still felt lonely, away from his family, with no way to return to them. But he found that he wasn’t the same as he used to be anymore. He found he could build things, things neither he nor anyone else could’ve hoped to build. And, with time and effort, he built himself a family. A family not of flesh and blood but of gears and metal, and even pieces of his own soul.”
Everypony took a glance at Ed, none of them having any doubt of who Gilgamesh was talking about. With a small nod, he motioned for the warrior to continue.
“He made five family members, one girl and four boys, all very unique due to what part of his soul he gave them. Though they did not have easy lives, having to steal just to survive and constantly being hunted due their status as criminals, they were still mostly content. All but one of them. One of the boy’s new family, named Alex, had a fire burning in him, an unquenchable desire. A desire to know, to understand, to see new things and meet new people. And one day Alex snuck away from his family and attempted to make some friends with the locals. He thought that since he was friends with one of them, the same friend the boy had made when he arrived, that it wouldn’t be too hard to make new ones. Instead, he was nearly killed by those he wanted to befriend. Why? What crime had he committed? Simple: he was different, and the locals were scared of things that were different. So scared that they tried to destroy him instead of understanding him.”
Fluttershy was covering her mouth and crying openly, looking up at the warrior with the same shock as the rest of the ponies. Pinkie’s mane had deflated as well. Twilight shook her head and looked at nothing in general as she started to try and sort through the information. “That’s.... why would somepony be so cruel...”
“Alex survived thanks to his family coming to rescue him, but he was never the same. That fire inside him had taken on a new form as a new desire burned inside him: revenge. When he saw that his creator, his father, was building a weapon, something to give the locals as a peace offering, he saw his chance to take it. He worked tirelessly to help finish the weapon, a giant made of metal, and once it was finished he stole it and used it to attack all that had wronged him. He killed more than those that had hurt him because in his mind they were all the same. The boy, his father, tried to stop him, begged and pleaded for him to listen, but Alex was too far gone to listen. So the boy made the hardest decision he ever had to… he destroyed his invention, and his son along with it.”
Everyone was silent, not daring to break the atmosphere that had descended over the room. Eventually, Jenny found her voice. “Monsters are not born.... They’re made. One event caused a domino effect that turned one innocent child into a terror like no other.”
Applejack looked outright disturbed by what she had heard. “He... killed his own...”
Ed spoke up, drawing everyone’s attention. “It was not a choice, that the Captain took any form of enjoyment from. Even now, he holds in his pain for the sake of the others.”
“Sister,” Luna whispered as she turned to Celestia.
“B-But… the bomb… it killed so-”
“He overloaded the machine’s engine,” Gilgamesh explained. “He wanted to make sure that no one else could use it, and tried to destroy it thoroughly and completely. However, it wasn’t enough, and a different race managed to pick up some pieces.” He took another sip of his tea. “Celestia, in none of the other Equestrias I’ve been to does this race exist. What can you tell me about the Elves? How is Equestria’s relationship with them?”
Celestia’s eyes widened slightly, not enough for most to notice, as she looked at the warrior. “Equestria and Luonto have been at peace for over 700 years. There is even an active trade between our nations.”
“I see. But would you consider your nations friends or merely on peaceful terms?”
“I have been personal friends with the royal family for quite some time, and Luna recently joined me for a visit.”
The warrior took a moment and sighed. “I hope I’m being paranoid, I really hope I am, but… Celestia, Ed told me that the Elves stole a lot of Invention’s creations, even claiming them as their own. My biggest concern is that what was stolen includes a lot of weapons, and one particular device that is able to display the schematics of anything and everything anyone in any dimension has ever invented, so long as they have the proper coordinates from where it’s from. This worries me because the history of our race, the human race, is practically a catalogue of different kinds of warfare. We’re very flawed creatures, Celestia, able to be more benevolent than angels at some times and more malevolent than demons at others, and our inventions reflect this. At our best we’re gods of creation, inventing things that others think impossible or have never even thought of. We’ve made an ethereal storage of nearly all knowledge from the beginning of our existence and devices to access it nearly instantaneously from anywhere in the world. We’ve made vehicles that can cross the distance that would take a carriage months if not years to travel in less than a day. Diseases once known to wipe out entire regions have been cured, we can communicate with others in real time from the other side of the planet. We’ve even managed to set foot on our own moon. And all of this without any magic.”
All of the ponies looked completely shocked, Twilight’s own expression also mixed with a childlike wonder.
“But at our worst,” he continued, instantly changing the mood as he paused to take a sip of tea. “Imagine a bomb. A bomb of such destructive force that if it were to detonate everything within a two miles of it would be vaporized. Not destroyed, not set on fire, not even turned to ash, vaporized. Broken down to the smallest atom, not any physical evidence of its existence remaining. Now imagine from that initial explosion comes a shockwave of such force that anything around two miles from the initial blast would be levelled. Another two miles outward from that, the heat would be so great that metal would melt. Four miles outwards from that, the blast would still be powerful enough that winds would be upwards of 200 miles per hour. Another six miles from that the heat would still be so great that anything that could be set on fire would be on fire. And now, add to all that, our unwanted guest: radiation. An unstable form of matter that horribly mutates anything it doesn’t kill. Those who absorb too much get to suffer the agonizing pain of having their internal organs rot inside their own body. Those that live become carriers, infecting others with admittedly less powerful but still most likely deadly levels of this poisonous energy. It can even be carried by water, damaging all who drink from it. And this horrible sickness will hang around for no less than fifty years.” Everypony looked horrified at what they’d heard, even Celestia and Luna who’d seen something similar. “Now imagine that this bomb can be fired and hit any target within about 4,000 miles, and can reach it’s destination within half an hour. Now imagine a nation armed with hundreds if not thousands of these weapons.”
The princesses gave the warrior a look of realization as they both thought over what could come to be. Luna looked over at Gilgamesh and frowned. “Let us hope that it is just paranoia.”
“But just to be safe,” Celestia continued, “It would be best if I sent an ambassador to visit them. It has been quite some time since our last visit.”
“That could work. But, if I may, I’ve got my own suggestion,” the warrior began. “You see, even if this king and queen do not bear your country any ill will there may be factions within it that do. After all, Sombra came from within your own nation, not from outside. If you send an ambassador they might go into hiding, if they exist. Worse yet, the royalty would go out of their way to hide evidence that would reveal their plans if you announced an ambassador coming, assuming they did have plans against you.” He then smirked. “But what if you sent someone else? Someone who you don’t have any legal control over? Someone who, if they were caught in the elvish lands, you could deny anything of having to do with them? Someone,” he turned to Ed before finishing with, “already labelled as a criminal by your own government?”
Celestia’s eye twitched. “You’re not suggesting...?”
“How would Invention feel about it?” he asked Ed.
The mechanical being pondered for a moment before answering. “I’m not completely sure, but… I think he’d be open to the idea. One less threat to worry about.”
“It would be a great cover, don’t you think?” Gilgamesh continued, turning to the solar diarch. “Besides, from what I understand he’s going to be heading into Luonto to retrieve what was stolen from him anyway. This way you could keep tabs on him as well.”
Everyone was silent as they looked at Celestia, waiting for her response. It was several moments before she sighed and looked at Gilgamesh. “I will admit, your plan has merit. However, if word of this were to be made public there would be countless nobles that would use this as an opportunity for power themselves. If I am to trust... him, with this task, it will have to be in secret.”
“Well, first of all, it’s just a suggestion. You can keep it as a last resort. But certainly, after everything I’ve told you, can you really still be so distrustful of him?” he asked, causing Celestia to look away for a moment, frustrated and confused. “Second, you’re right that If you were to do it then it would have to be secret, so then perhaps you could have the message sent by somepony you have no control over.”
“And who might that be?”
“That sounds like the Cutie Mark Crusaders,” Spike scoffed under his breath. Everyone turned to him, his eyes widening in shock when he realized he spoke out loud. “Oh no.”
Applejack scowled as she looked up at Gilgamesh. “Ah’m sorry, but there ain’t no way, no how, that I’m lettin Applebloom and her friends get involved in this anymore than they already have. There anyone else ya’ll have in mind?”
“‘Already have?’” Gilgamesh asked.
Ed’s shoulders sagged a bit as he leaned over. “The three fillies met with Boris and Victoria the first time they ran off, and they all came back to the ship. We sent them home immediately afterwards.” Ed explained.
The large warrior put a hand to his chin and looked over the ponies in the room. “Hm… Well, you six are too high profile and too close to Celestia to not get noticed by someone. Same goes for Jenny, and even Spike might stand out. We need someone that no one would notice, either because they would could be stealthy enough, or because no one would think twice about seeing them. The only other one than those three fillies I could think of would be Derpy Hooves.” Everypony winced a little at that. “And, sorry to say girls, but it sounds like the CMC would be the best option. Though we could make sure to have them supervised by Big Mac. Or Zecora. Scratch that, Big Mac and Zecora.”
Luna frowned and shook her head. “I’m sorry, but tasking three so young would be reckless and dangerous. If we are to do so, it would be after a great deal of consideration and time spent looking for alternatives.”
Celestia nodded in agreement. “Luna is right. This could escalate into a matter of our kingdom’s security and fate. I would rather not put such a burden onto three so young, even with supervision.
Jenny had been bobbing her head in agreement for most of the conversation before a thought popped into her head. “Hey, just how am I high profile? I only got here a few days ago. I’m practically a nobody to every nation everywhere, and even with magic, word of some random person appearing wouldn’t really draw that much attention and would take a while to get anywhere.”
“Hm… maybe you’ve got a point. In most cases the Displaced are too well known or too eye-catching to go unnoticed, but here you could just be mistaken for an elf. In addition, I suppose you could tell everyone you’re headed to Fluttershy’s, while heading towards the Everfree.” Gilgamesh said.
“And you could just send me the message so nopony would know!” Spike added.
“Yes, that would work. But, once again, this is only if we decide to go down this route. I would prefer not to, and not just because of our… history,” Celestia reiterated as she stood. “I would like to say it has been a pleasure meeting you Gilgamesh, but what you have told me is going to be something I must think over with my sister and council.”
"'Council?'" the warrior asked. "I'm surprised to hear that there's anypony that has any true sway in the governing of Equestria other than you two. After all, I'm not sure about here, but back where I'm from there's really only one noble who I could really call 'noble.' One Sir Fancypants. Everypony else is more concerned about trying to be as rich and as snooty as possible than actually doing any legitimate governing."
Luna raised an eyebrow at that. “What would be the point of even having nobles if all they did was parade like a flock of peacocks?”
Celestia nodded. “That is true, and giving the populace some control over their kingdom allows many of them to feel at rest.” A sigh slipped from her lips shortly after. “I just wish some bits of the past would fade away already. Specifically the “almighty ruler” persona they have given me and my sister.”
Gilgamesh set down his teacup before standing up and approaching the princess, then surprised them both by giving them a firm hug.
“I’m sure it must be difficult for the both of you. I myself have no interest in ruling others for that exact reason. But I guess sometimes we have to do things we don’t want for those we love.” He released them both and smiled. “But hey, you’ve already both lived for over a thousand years. I’m sure that you can get rid of that dogma around you in time. After all, times, what you’ve got the most of.”
Luna looked away for a moment and had a small grin. “Twould be easier if our sister didn’t use her “authority” to hide cake everywhere.”
“LUNA!”
Jenny snickered. “Got a bit of sweet tooth, huh Princess?”
Pinkie looked at her friends. “I told you I didn’t hide that one.”
Celestia shot her sister a small glare while a blush lightly tinted her cheeks. “Aside from that, you are completely right Gilgamesh. There are just some things that refuse to pass on.” She smirked a little herself and looked at Luna while she whispered to the warrior. “Besides, with that little stunt she just pulled, it’s my turn.”
Gilgamesh smirked before taking his seat again. “I wish I could be around to see it,” he whispered back. He then returned to his seat and grabbed his helmet, placing it on his head. “Well, I guess I’ve done most of what I can here, but there are some things I need to tell you before I leave. Namely, the other Displaced that you should be aware of.”
Jenny looked over at him and took a swig from her tea. “Yeah?”
“Ok, first the Auric Fulcrum guy I mentioned. He’s got golden hair and carries around crystal sword. He’s from a Golden Sun version of Equestria, if you ever played that game.”
“You mean that one with all the cutesy looking spirit things?”
“The Djinn, yes. Also, he didn’t always look like he does now, and as it turns out his previous form has a mind of its own. So if you meet a massive headless suit of armor called Dullahan, don’t worry, he’s one of the good guys.”
Jenny blinked dumbly for a moment before looking at her tea and sighing. “Alright, it seems I need something harder than tea.”
He chuckled for a moment. “You might want to stick to sipping wine, because I don’t think you can handle anything heavier. Anyway, speaking of things that would probably scare you but you don’t have to worry about, there’s a Nemesis out there as well. You know the one from the third Resident Evil game?”
“Never played them.” Jenny sipped her tea again. “Horror games weren’t my thing.”
“Well, once again, don’t panic if you see an eight foot tall monstrosity with tentacles sticking out of it’s body, wearing a black trenchcoat, and carrying a rocket launcher.”
Rainbow looked over at Applejack. “You don’t hear that every day.”
The farmer shook her head in agreement. “Nope.”
Jenny set her tea down and sighed. “So, aside from walking heart attacks and Auric, is there anyone else I should know?”
“Well, there’s Jason Hughes-”
“Wait wait wait, let me guess. He’s a giant tentacle monster of some kind from one of those films.”
“No, actually he’s completely human. Even got to look exactly the same. However, he does have an omnitrix.”
Jenny blushed a bit as she sat back. “Oh... okay then.”
“Oh, so you know what that is? Good because he told me there was a Ben 10 out there, the older version. Haven’t met him myself, but Jason said he’s alright.”
“I’m just glad he isn’t a japanese tentacle monster. That is something I don’t want.”
“Let’s move on. Next we’ve got Xante, a lich mage and master of both ice spells and ‘rainbow magic.’ Unlike the rest of, he’s apparently not from earth and got stuck in his Equestria due to the Merchant. Kinda goofy, but not a bad guy.”
Jenny giggled a bit. “If by ‘goofy’ you mean he’s anything like you, I think I’ll manage.”
Gilgamesh chuckled before continuing. “Next there Typhon, Heir of Breath. He’s actually taken the form of John Eggbert from Homestuck if you’ve ever read that webcomic. He’s a bit of trickster but still good. And Auric even called him ‘God Tiered.’ From what I’ve seen, it’s a deserved rank.”
Jenny hummed a bit as she rubbed her chin. “Sounds interesting... I wonder if I could meet him at some point.”
“From what I understand he doesn’t do much travelling outside of his own realm. Anyway, next is… Kat Shifter.” he finished with a sigh.
Twilight looked over at the warrior and frowned. “Are you alright?”
Pinkie hopped over and patted him on the shoulder. “There, there.”
“Yeah, it’s just… Kat was my first student. A good friend of mine, who I still see as a little sister. She’s fun to be around but… she’s been hurt in the past. Badly. I think she’s going to be ok and things are getting better for her now, but… let’s just say she’s done a lot of things she regrets. Things I think I might’ve been able to stop if I taught her better.”
“Well... can you stop them from happening right now?” Jenny asked.
“Heh. Nope. Already happened. Some of them can’t be fixed either.”
“Then stop worrying about them. It’s the past, and we can’t change that.” Jenny looked down at her hands and sighed. “We have to live with the choices we make, and... all of this, makes me realize just how much better I could have been to my own brother.”
Gilgamesh chuckled. “I knew you’d make a great knightess. It takes a lot to admit to your own mistakes. Anyway, Kat can control gravity. She’s a bit childish and she might be rude, but please give her a chance if you meet her. She’s got long blonde hair and red eyes.”
Applejack raised an eyebrow. “So... the big galoot who danced into town is calling someone childish?”
He chuckled at that. “Point taken, I suppose. Though when you’ve lived for a millenium and a half, I think you get the right to not act your age.”
Luna beamed. “Tis true! Many pranks have been had since our return!”
Jenny laughed a bit before looking back to Gilgamesh. “Well anyways, is that all of them, or are there still more?”
“Almost. I’ve only met one more, but… he’s a strange case. You said you’ve never played horror games, but if you’ve spent enough time on the internet you might still be familiar with the name ‘Pyramid Head.’”
Jenny’s face said her thoughts clearly, and so did her mouth as she jumped behind the couch. “Nope nope nope nope nope.”
“Ok, ok, calm down! Believe me, I had a similar reaction, but he’s not bad… At least I don’t think so. Well, that is to say that everything that I’d heard about him before was bad, but when I met him… he was actually pretty nice. I honestly don’t know what’s up with that.”
Jenny peaked over the couch and looked at Gilgamesh. “Then let’s hope that if I ever do meet him, it’s the nice him.”
“Yeah, definitely, which brings me to the last few I’ve got to mention, those I haven’t met. I’m told there’s a Alice out there, one from American McGee’s version of the story, and there’s a Jack of Blades from Fable. They and old PH are part of group that Auric called the ‘Triad of Madness,’, people whose powers and weapons are actually keeping them insane. However, like I said, I met one of them that didn’t seem so bad, so take that as you will.”
Jenny just slid behind the couch and gave him a thumbs up. “Gottcha.”
“Ok, please come out of there, this is getting silly.”
Twilight rolled her eyes and her horn lit up, lifting Jenny back to her previous place on the couch. “Please stop hiding behind my couch Jenny.”
“Sorry.”
“Anyway, let’s move on to the last few,” Gilgamesh continued. “I’ve been told there’s a ‘Nocturne, Demon Lord’ out there. Despite the name Auric vouches for the guy, so I’d say he can’t be too bad. You’d need a full length mirror to summon him, and apparently he helps people for a price. I’m not sure what that price is though.”
Jenny nodded in thought. “Sounds about right... Demon Lord, cost for help. Those seem to go together quite often.”
“Yeah. Next up, there’s actually a Ghost Rider out there somewhere, but I don’t know anything about him. And finally, I’ve been told there’s a Solaire from Dark Souls as well. I also don’t know anything about him.”
Jenny’s face fell for a moment. “Does ‘Solaire’ wear a suit of armor with green shoulders, a sun on the chest, and have a crystal staff?”
“Uh, I don’t know about the crystal staff, but the rest sounds right. I’m pretty sure he was a meme on the internet for a while.”
“Yeah..... He uh... kinda already got back to earth.” Jenny had a drop of sweat roll down the side of her face. “And almost destroyed it.”
Gilgamesh just stared. “Ok, well that’s a thing. I guess it’s a good thing there are multiple versions of Earth as well so they don’t all have to experience that.”
Jenny looked over at him. “Key word, ‘Almost’. It really made a lot of heads turn when the sun started moving closer though.”
“You know what? I don’t think I want to know.”
“Yeah, that’s probably for the best.”
“Uh, anyway, sort of weird way to end this, but I guess that’s all I can do,” he said as he stood up and unclipped his weapon. Before the Princesses could ask what he was doing he cut a hole in reality, stunning them both. “Ed, I hope you and your family can have a happy life.”
Ed waved and smiled. “The best of luck to you as well Gilgamesh.”
He then turned to Jenny. “Miss Eriman, this is by far one of the most morally grey Equestrias I’ve been to. It may be difficult but I want you to hold strong. I know there’s a strong sense of justice in you and you’ll do what you can to uphold it.”
Jenny nodded with a smile. “Alright. But uh... can I have one last hug?” She pouted and held her arms out. “Please?”
He chuckled and rolled his eyes. “Sure, you can haz hug. C’mere, kid,” he said with his arms outstretched. In an instant, he was glomped by both Jenny and Pinkie yet again. “And you can too, Pinkie.”
“I’m gonna miss ya, you party animal!” The pink mare said.
Jenny and Pinkie let go and gave Gilgamesh a wave, along with everyone else in the room. “I’ll see you later Gilgamesh, have fun fighting and everything.”
“Thanks,” he said before turning to the portal, but stopped. “Oh, wait I forgot!” He reached over and grabbed both of Jenny’s gauntlets, and her hands by extension. “A little something from me to you.” There was a bright flash and then he let go.
Jenny looked at her gauntlets, about to ask what he did before noticing that there was a symbol on the back of each of them, the same as on the end of his scarf and the back of his shield. “Woah.”
“I made your gauntlets have the same properties as my Genji Gloves. They’ll provide you better physical and magical defense and also make you immune to Paralyse and Toad spells. Also, you can use them to summon me.”
Jenny continued to look at her gauntlets before a thought came to mind and she chuckled. “Then be prepared to visit often, cause that was my go to strategy when I was having trouble in Final Fantasy. Spam the summons!”
He chuckled. “I’m afraid I’ve got things to deal with in my own world, so please try not to abuse that ability.”
She smiled and looked away. “I’ll try, but no promises.”
He then turned to the Princesses, who were still mildly shocked. “Jenny is a powerful warrior with a strong heart, but she still needs training and experience. I recommend that you find someone to train her in battle, assuming you can’t do it yourselves. I gave her some ground rules, but there’s only so much I can teach in one fight.”
Celestia and Luna both gave the warrior a small nod. “We will do what we can.”
He nodded back. “My the winds of Freedom carry your wings,” he said before finally stepping inside the portal, vanishing as it closed behind him.
As soon as he was gone, Rainbow looked over at Jenny. “Hey, what’d he mean by that ‘winds of freedom’ line?”
Jenny paused for a moment before thinking it over. “Well... The hero of the game that Gilgamesh was from was a traveler that was often associated with wind... So it probably has something to do with that.”
“Well, now that the one who wished to speak with us has left,” everyone turned to look at Celestia, “my sister and I must return to Canterlot. We have much to discuss and debate with the council regarding what we have been told.”
“And I guess I need to tell the Captain what might happen,” Ed added. He turned to the Princesses and bowed. “Luna, it was a pleasure to see you again.”
Luna gave Ed a nod in return as she smiled softly. “As it was to see you again as well.”
He then turned to the older sibling. “Celestia, I know we haven’t had the best history, but thank you for hearing this all out.”
Celestia frowned slightly. “It is my duty as a diarch of Equestria to ensure it’s safety. Hearing out what you had to say... is something I should have done over a thousand years ago.”
“We all make mistakes,” he replied. He headed towards the door before stopping to look at Jenny. “I’ll make sure to have Steve put on some tea for the next time we meet.”
Jenny smiled and gave him a wave. “Sure, see ya later Ed.”
He smiled a bit and walked out of the door. “Farewell, Ms. Eriman.”
(Invention)
Peaking from an alleyway across the street, I got a better look at the airship. The decorations I had seen before were placed to form an intricate lion’s head with single gear behind it. The ship was at least two thirds of the size of my own, but it would do until I can remake the Gilgamesh. Perhaps I could find the maker of this ship and use their innovations to further improve on the design.
I shook my head for a moment and focused on the ship’s crew. It had seemed to be that the Elven race had improved quite a bit more than I thought. The uniform for the crewman all resembled the standard appearance of an average highschool uniform for the japanese made in a dark grey, but were thicker and with pockets lining the front of their coats and the sides of the pants. The rigidness of a few segments on the arms, legs and torso suggested that it wasn’t a form of insulation alone that was causing the thickness. Most likely metal plating to prevent arrows from piercing through those locations, as an arrow of any kind would disable the arm or leg struck in those locations.
These shipman were prepared for defending against an army. It made me wonder just why they had such a large amount of protection for the crew, and why a delivery to a hospital would require such drastic measures from both the guards and the crew. I walked out of the ally and moved casually towards the hospital, making my way around back the long way and avoiding the guards’ gaze. It was a trick that I’d learned early that made this so easy to do.
If you act like you’re supposed to be doing whatever or going wherever you are, none will question what they see you doing, or where you’re going. The only exceptions are those who are particularly observant by nature, or are actively looking for oddities.
Once I was closer to the ship, I started to be able to hear what was being said by some of the crew members as they were hauling moderately sized crates off of the ship and to the building. Most of it was just meaningless chatter and instructions on where to go. That was until a smaller member of the crew almost dropped a box, and drew the attention of the one that appeared to be the overseer. “Watch it with those crates Cabin Boy! You drop any of that Mineral Powder, and I drop you off the ship!”
The smaller Elven hastily got the box back under control and started going faster towards the building. “Y-Yessir!”
I turned my attention to the boy for a moment before shaking my head and focusing on the ship. Off to the far side, I could see a spot I could get onboard without notice. Several ropes were being used to keep the ship from floating away, and one was taught enough that I could climb it up to the port side railing. The crew had left most of the ropes unattended as they unloaded their cargo, so the chances of getting noticed were minimal with the crew busy, even in broad daylight.
That still left the guards however, and most of my methods of incapacitation that I had available required somewhere to hide in the shadows, or were for large groups and drew lots of attention from the surrounding area. This left me with one tactic, sneak past without harming anyone in any way, shape, or form.
Which was disappointingly easy, considering the guards were more focused on finding pony thieves and watching the elven workers that they didn’t think to look for me. I just walked close to the wall they were perched on and over to the rope. No fancy gadget, no special plan, just walking over, and climbing up the rope.
Once I was on deck, I crouched behind the railing and made my way towards the first doorway I could find. That door happened to be a hatch on the floor that headed for the store rooms, so I carefully opened it and slipped inside.
I ended up landing with a muffled thud on a large stack of crates that were off to the side, and I could see a large majority of the rest of the cargo hull. There were about three more elven inside, with at least two of them moving on and off the ship to grab more crates from the other side of the room. I slipped down from the large crate and when I landed on the ground, I noticed something odd. Placing my hand on the floor, it felt smooth and cool, rather than the slightly rough, wooden feel you would expect from a sanded board. Is this.... metal painted to look like wood? I glanced around some crates and saw the same cabin boy again, struggling to push a larger crate. Poor lad. They keep driving him like that he’ll throw out his back or arms.
The crate caught on an edge on the floor and the cabin boy ended up tipping it over, and sending several bags of something sprawling across the floor, probably this mineral powder that I had heard the supervisor speaking of. The boy started to panic and upturned the crate again, trying to cover his mess before anyone saw, only for the supervisor to grab him by the collar. “What did I tell you!”
“I-I’m sorry sir! I-I-It caught on th-”
The larger elven punched the boy in the face and dropped him on the floor. “Sorry doesn’t make us any profit you little worm!” He looked away for a moment. “Haggard! Cormin!” Two other crew members came up to the first. “Take the Cabin Boy and throw him in the brig. Perhaps he’ll learn not to be such a pathetic worker.”
My blood was boiling as I watched the two pick up the younger elven by the arms and chuckle to each other as they hauled him away. When I steal this ship, I’m keeping the boy. No young deserves to be treated so poorly.
I took a cursory glance into the crate I was next to, and my eyes narrowed when I saw what was inside. Swords. These elven aren’t just a delivery crew for medical supplies. They’re something else entirely. I started sneaking around through the cargo hold, opening crates slightly to see what was inside before closing them again. I found more weapons, mostly swords with the exception of other kinds of blades. There were also random novelties that would not be expected on a ship delivering medicine, such as lamps and other products made in Equestria. Even some children’s toys hidden in bags. The rest of my findings made sense, and consisted of the supplies one would need to stay airborne for long durations of time, such as parts for the ship’s main burner, fuel, food and the like.
Moving to one of the far corners of the hold, I got behind the last crate and looked out over the hold. The crew were heading back aboard and the supervisor was talking with a brown unicorn who I assume was the head of the hospital. “Thank you for delivering the shipment intact.”
“It’s no problem sir. We’re just doing our job”
“Your employer should receive the bits some time tomorrow, if the trains are on schedule.”
The supervisor shook the unicorn’s hoof and smiled. “It’s a pleasure doing buisness with you.” The way the elven said it, made my skin crawl. This man was a twisted one, I could feel it.
I waited for a few minutes as the Hospital’s head of staff left the ship, and the supervisor headed up the same ladder as the rest of the crew. Once he was gone, I got up and looked over the hull. It was fairly spacious, but still somewhat cramped with all of these crates. I looked at the one I was next to and realized I hadn’t opened it yet. I may as well check. Never know what one may find. I noticed that the crate also was nailed shut, so I pulled out my sword and pried the lid off of the box.
I did not expect to find what was in that crate.
I reached inside, and pulled out a flintlock pistol, followed by several rifles and towards the bottom of the box, a copy of my own two pistols. “What is this?” I looked over the replica and scowled as I took in the details. It was a near perfect match, but made to fire regular ammunition rather than the crystal munitions that mine were capable of firing. The rifles were the same, copies of The Eagle. I even found parts to an experimental gun that I had never finished, the shotgun I was trying to develop. Magic laced crystals do not make for good skattershot, so I was trying to shape them into slugs, but the carving process always broke the spell in some way.
I scowled as I looked over the various firearms. “This... is very bad.” I looked over the crate and saw the same emblem on the ship was engraved on the sides and lid. “Whatever family has this crest as their emblem, is the one that I need to find.”
Walking away from the crate, I moved over to some of the bags that had fallen out of the box earlier, and looked over them. The powder itself was a light yellow color, but there were specks of black throughout the dust. “What are you made off...” I reached into my coat and pulled out a single empty vial and scooped up some powder, sealing it with a cork before stuffing it back into my coat. This may have been a medicine of some kind, but I was not going to do anything with it until I knew what it was made of. Mixing it with an antidote would either make some kind of super potion, or a toxic hazard, so I wasn’t keen on taking the risk.
I stood back up and headed over to the crates I had been hiding behind for the most part and sat down. “Once I have enough equipment I can start experimenting. For now, It’s time to wait and let the ship get far enough from Canterlot.”
A chuckle escaped my lips as I smirked. That’s when I get to start the exciting part of the plan.
(Gilgamesh)
I rode my naginata through the Rift back towards my dimension, my thoughts wandering.
Jenny. I hope you can deal with what’s to come. I have a feeling that your world is going to get really complicated. I wonder if there even is a ‘true evil’ for you to combat.
I was about to finally reach my Equestria when I felt a strange tingling. The sensation grew and grew and suddenly I felt it become a pull.
What!? What the hell is-!?
Before I could even finish that thought I was being dragged by some kind of unseen force faster than I could ever move through the Rift myself. After mere seconds another portal opened in front of me.
And so here it is! Just in time for Christmas too! Chapter 25 is finally finished, and though the crossover is done, I have news for all of you! As a wonderous Christmas present to you all, I am now officially going to Co-Write the entire story alongside Shinigamisparda.
That's right, from this point on, you'll have two people to complain to praise worship express your opinion to.
Also, expect more musics.
MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HANUKKAH, AND MERRY KWANZAA TOO!
Stats
Page generated in 0.026 seconds
Total duration
992 users online
1,860,587 hits today, 2,280,440 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Ah, the true spirit of Christmas. STRESS INDUCING CAPITALISM!
Nice chapter. I wonder if Kat Shifter will ever end up in Invention's version of Equestria (I like Gravity Rush, and it would be nice to see Kat in Equestria).
I really enjoy this chapter.
three words Harry Copperfield Didsion[sp?] i want to see more of him, great capter tho
Author is a confirmed Gravity Rush Kat fan?
Good on him. 10/10 in my book.
Glad Tia is getting over her bias toward Invention.
Well.... Not to sound insulting, and trust me that's not the point, but er... The quality of this story is beginning to drop... At first Invention was, well, a normal guy with an interesting personality. He didn't have too many Deus ex Machina's, but.... Now you have a character who is nothing but Deus ex Machina's as a major part of your story.
D:
Rest in peace, good story.
5416515 look up, Gravity of the Situation.
did you hear the news?
the war is finished.....people are pulling out...
its over... ;(
granted, hopefully people can revive it..but still...
5546956
5548407 Sorry to say, no that's not the case. It's not the living Doritos, it's just a small, four sided, ruby pyramid.
5548414 Awww...
Read through. Did like. Will favorite.
5584437 The problem is, that one of his 'gone nuts' creations essentially was responsible of a nuclear bomb like explosion going up, and Celestial knowing that he had made this creation blames him for this tragedy.
5423295 How is he using a deus ex? He still got a lot of problems, he can't even instantly fix his ship, he is worried about his children, he steals an airship to get them back, despite the story revealing it's not necessary anymore, leaving him with one hell of a dept to the princesses.
He doesn't get offered an all problem solving solution by any kind of gods, there is no Deus Ex Machinima at work here.
5407228 bugger off lad!
A mature person wouldn't stoop to this, but this is a comment section, so I get to be as immature as I want. As such, all that I have to say is . . . MOAR!!
Ah think that's all ah can stomach, *climbs over fence*
Bai-!!!! An' thank you for the fun chapters.
When update?
5752855 You don't say...
Sadly i felt this story got worse as time went on. It started out amazing, with me being excited to see what he would build and how the other characters would react, and then you added jenny. It all went down hill from there good plot went out the window and we were left with a weird Humor Crack-fic thing in it's place with lots of non-essential characters being thrown in every other chapter reducing the quality of the story over all each time. At first I thought we were going to see him have accidents involving his experimentation on discords tooth, but noooo we got some boring meta alternate reality character spam and some more Displaced stuff that is really Meh.
((Side Note) something that would have been cool as a side story or something would be Invention before he was put into stone Ex:a source of back story making the main story make more sense cause at this point there is none -_-)
hey, does anyone have a link to the 'jack of blades' fic?