When lightning strikes...

by FrostTheWolf

Strike 30- Lost Metropolis

Author's Note:

Quick Note: The Next few chapters for Lance, except for one of them, will be primarily focused on the story and not on crossovers. Also, we get to see one of Lance's other relatives.

Crossover with Evolve Me Not by BronyParasite.

When Lightning Strikes- Lost Metropolis

---

Lance’s room (Power Pony HQ)

It was only a couple of hours after the sun began to rise and right now, Lance was taking his time in trying to understand his newfound powers and abilities. Pinkie was helping watch the kids, so it provided the Adept more time to figure out what exactly he was capable of. He knew that it involved having Aurora possess the jacket. But everything after that was just… a blur. It seemed to rely on both Aurora and himself in order to fully be able to use the new powers.

One thing that he did know was that Lumen had a Septima now. Anthem. Twilight ran some scans on her because she thought it was somehow related to a group of Sirens they locked up, but couldn’t find any results relating the two. That was when the Adept had to explain to Lumen how her new powers worked. It could only happen when Lance was near the brink of defeat and if the song is pulled off successfully, not only would it restore his will to fight, but his power would get a substantial boost. In other words, it was a revival song with added benefits.

Now though, the Azure Striker was checking his inventory. With Filli-second handling the kids, he thought that he would try to pitch in on dealing with Sumeragi. But his attention was diverted elsewhere when Aurora caught his attention.

“Aurora? What is it?” He asked her, noticing the filly’s scared expression on her face.

“S-something's wrong… There’s a flashing red in your bracer, an alert… A distress call from an unknown source.” Aurora replied inside Lance’s communicator. Hearing that it was a distress call alerted the Adept. Somepony could’ve been in trouble.

“Where’s it coming from?” He asked, holstering both of his guns and putting on the jacket time gave him. As he was getting his combat gloves and bracer on, the filly inside his communicator answered his question.

“New Yoke City… But there aren’t any Power Ponies there, who could have our… Thing, whatever it’s called.”

“You mean our frequency for radio communication?” He asked, walking towards the elevator and pressing the button for the rooftop.

“Yeah, that. Shouldn’t we… Y’know, tell at least one of the others?”

“It could be a false alarm for all we know. Plus, Pinkie is helping the kids, Solaria is with Masked Matterhorn and Radiance up in Sea-addle and Applejack went to go see her family. Plus, Zapp said that she and Saddle Rager were going to run some recon on something that’s going on in Baltimare that could be related to Sumeragi.” Lance told Aurora. “Before we go, we’ll shoot a message to Humdrum, but tell him to PLEASE not tell anypony else. I rather not have them freaking out over this if we find out it’s a bluff.” He remembered to say goodbye to the kids a few moments ago on the way to the elevator, so they wouldn’t be worried about that. Now, he was just hoping that Humdrum doesn’t crack under pressure.

“Where’s Lumen, though? Tell me she isn’t busy as well.” At the moment that Aurora mentioned that, the breezie popped up from a chest pocket in Lance’s jacket.

“I’m right here, Aurora.”

“Heh, sorry. You’re just really quiet,” The filly’s digital face blushed. Lumen was going to comment, but was interrupted when she felt Lance shift a little.

“What’s the best way for us to get there as quick as possible?” He asked. “I can’t teleport us there since I haven’t seen or been in the location before, so we need some kind of transport that can get us there quickly.”

Aurora thought about that for a moment, “Well… There is the Thingamajig, which daddy used to teleport to far away cities. It was decommissioned since only three ponies knew how it worked, dad, Gadget, and me. It’s under Centrail park.”

“Okay, and where exactly is that?” After Lance asked that, a purple line appeared in his vision. “Alright, let’s go.” With his speed and flashfield, Lance followed the lines through the air as they led him into the public park. “Okay, how am I supposed to go under the park?”

The purple line pointed to a lamp post, “Push that, and a doorway will open under you. It’s like a slide. It’ll bring you to the Thingamajig.”

“Thingamajig?” Lumen questioned. “Is that for the lack of a better name or because the real name was too complicated?”

“Later. Gadget had a knack for making bad or weird names, so Pinkie renamed it.” Aurora giggled, “And you should have been around when Zapp renamed a swamp boat the Whamper!”

“ …… Should I be concerned about this?”

“No, I don’t think they do it anymore since Humdrum. Gadget was a genius, but she tended to be a little… Overboard.” Lance heard that part specifically once he found the post and pushed it. The slide was grey, and felt painful when his skin touched it. It had dozens of twists and turns, all leading to him bonking his head or him trying to stop it with his hands. After a bit, he was flung out onto a mattress that hadn’t seen the light of day for three years. “I think somepony forgot to clean the Tube of Doom, it looked less painful.”

“And I was just about to ask how overboard was this Gadget… God, what the hell is that smell? Did something die down here?”

“Funny you say that…” Aurora giggled nervously, “I think I brought a squirrel in her before I died… Oh, and the fridge looks like it’s fully stocked…”

There was a giant computer, along with what Lance assumed was the teleporter or Thingamajig. The screen turned on.

“W-w-w-welc-c-c-c------come- Welcome Lance-ce W-Walker-er.”

Lance stepped back, a bit shocked. “Uh Aurora… How does it know my name?”

“Oh! That’s Sandy! The AI before Iris! It looks up whoever enters in the Police Database to determine threats. Gadget and daddy coded her.”

“Well, that explains things.” He muttered, trying to ignore the smell of dead squirrel and whatever bomb went off in the fridge. “Sandy?”

“Ye-yes?” The computer acknowledged.

“I need to get to New Yoke City to answer a Distress call. Can you help us, please?” The Adept asked, watching the AI’s screen as it flickered in and out.

“I-I can try-ry, bu-u-u-u-u-u-but my-my-my syst------tems are…… Faulty… Not advised. Coo-Coordina-na-nants set-et… 95% ch-chance-ce-ce of su-sucessssssss.”

Lance looked at both Lumen and Aurora, seeing them look back at him before he glanced back at the AI. “Thank you Sandy. I really appreciate you doing this to help us.”

“This-this unit-t-t-t-t-t is designed-ed to ai-aid any po-power p-p-p-p-p-pon-n-ny at al-l--ll costs to th-this unit…. You ar-are we-welcome, Mr. Wa-Walker..” Sandy replied.

“Please… You can just call me Lance. Or my codename; Gunvolt…” He told her. “You may commence the sequence.”

“Countdown in-n-n-n-n-n te-en ni-ni-ni-nine, eigh-ght, seve-s-s-s-s-... Threeeeeeeee… One-one-one-” Before Sandy could finish, a bright light engulfed Lance, Aurora and Lumen. When it faded, they were standing just outside the city of New Yoke.

“Okay… Where to from here?” Lance asked Aurora.

“Scanning… First of all, we’re all here in one piece. I recommend not doing that again though, at least until Humdrum can fix it. As for location… The signal is an alleyway somewhere near the middle of the city, east side.” Aurora stated.

“Ugh, is it just me or does something smell like… rotting meat?” Lumen asked as Lance leaped to the next rooftop.

“Yeah, I smell it too,” The Adept replied. “Aurora, do you have motion sensors?”

“Nah, that app cost too much. One bit? Nope! I take only free apps… But I can sense life.” Aurora hummed, then gasped. “Holy buck!”

“Aurora? What’s the matter?” Lance asked, a little surprised by Aurora’s choice of words.

“I sense way too many lifeforms! Or none lifeforms! I can’t tell, it’s like dying lifeforms, but there are so many. Heck, I even sense big lifeforms! This isn’t a bluff…”

Lance himself was shocked by that. Many lifeforms, but dying? What the hell was going on? This whole thing made him think of the book known as The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan. But worse… A lot worse. It was like worse than if this was a Zombie Apocalypse. However, he didn’t have time to think as something began to pick up on his radar.

It was about half the size of the city, and seemed to reside in the sewers. It barely picked up on the radar, and kept disappearing. “Well, I guess we need to go underground. Where’s the nearest sewer entrance?”

“Every city has a manhole every fifty hooves or so, it’s not hard to find.” Aurora shrugged. Soon, Lance found one nearby, but not until he noticed something else first. A dead rat that had it’s flesh decaying on the outside.

“Okay, that is sick.” He muttered before turning his attention to the manhole, it’s cover thrown to the side. That… was not normal. Going through the open hole, he landed on the pavement portion of the sewer below and used his powers to provide some light.

“Aurora…… where’s that signal?”

“D-down the left tunnel…” Aurora replied shakily. Lance made sure his guns were armed with Dullahan rounds before carefully proceeding forward. However, he soon began to notice that the water below was murky… and not because of it being a sewer. It was because of the crimson blood that flowed through it.

“What the he-?” Before Lance could finish, he heard an inhuman/pony screeching, followed by two yelps and a gunshot. He tried to follow the sound of where it was coming from, using his and Aurora’s senses as guides. But what he actually found when he turned the corner was beyond his understanding.

Four ponies and a human female fighting a giant, bipedal alligator and two giant frogs, all covered in gore.

“Killitkillitkillitkillit!!!” Screamed a white Pegasus with a yellow curly mane. Lance didn’t know who these ponies or the woman was, but he did know that if he did not help them, they would end up getting killed. On the fly, he switched clips to Vasuki as he fired several shots around the room that deflected off of the walls and struck the abominations. Once he tagged them completely, the Adept unleashed as many volts as he could into them, trying to fry them with his powers and making sure those monsters stayed dead.

When he was done, he landed just in front of the five of them. “Are you guys okay?”

The human, surprised, pointed her pistol up and shot once from surprise. The ponies, on the other hand, looked fearful at the Adept. Lance though, tried to calm them all down. “Easy there everyone. I’m not going to hurt you. We got your distress signal and tried to get here as fast as we could.”

“Th-that wasn’t our distress signal. We sent two of our own in here last night to investigate the disturbance. Three and Rade probably got attacked, and we’re still too far away from them.” A Unicorn with the same mane cut as Masked Matterhorn said.

The woman narrowed her eyes at Lance and held out her hand, “Aya Brea.” In return, Lance shook her hand and then replied by saying his own name.

“Lance Walker, at your service-.”

Aya pulled her hand back and held her head in pain, “L-Lance… Walker… Why does that name sound familiar?”

“A-are you okay-?” He was cut off again when she hugged him tightly.

“L-Lance! It’s you, right? Really you? It’s me, Aunt Jiri-... Jir… Uh…” She groaned.

“Oh my god… Aunt Silvia!?” He asked, blown away by what he heard. He soon hugged her back, holding her close. “I-i can’t believe it’s you!! Oh, I’ve missed you so much!!”

“Not to ruin a family reunion, but we still have a bunch of parasitic monsters that have two of our own,” Said the Unicorn, “I’m Twi- I mean Mist. These are my friends, Firefly, Surprise, and Posey.” She pointed to a pink Pegasus when she said Firefly, the white Pegasus when she said Surprise, and a yellow Earth Pony for Posey.

“Nice to meet all of you. Now… as for your friends… Aurora?”

“Yes, I detect two pony lifeforms up ahead.”

“Guide me there. It’s time to kill some bugs.”

“Actually, this parasite doesn’t seem to be a-” Mist tried, but Firefly glared, shutting her up.

“This obviously needs to be dealt with because it has seemed to be under everypony’s noses and has grown out of control.” Lance retorted, “And I don’t need an explanation on what they are because something tells me that they can take on multiple forms. I already found a bunch of dead rats aboveground.” Given the directions from Aurora, Lance followed her instructions as he pressed on, the others soon following him.

“I actually know what these things are,” Said Aya, “They’re Mitochondria took over them. It was a part of a PS1 game called Parasite Eve I used to play when… Uh… My son wasn’t around.”

“Heh… Looks like that’s one thing I need to tell Sun next time I see him.” Lance said to himself, unaware that Aya was listening to him. She was about to ask, when more mutated Rats jumped out of opened pipes. Aya started shooting the Rats on the left, while Mist helped by using her magic. For those that came towards Lance, he activated one of his skills at the cost of one skill point.

Three massive orbs of lightning violently surged around the adept, frying all the Rats that tried going for him and the ponies behind him. After a few more minutes, they were clear to advance.

“So… You’re w-with the p-Power Ponies?” Asked Posey.

“Yeah. I have been for a little while. Been trying to help manage things in the city while also managing my family life.” He replied. The last part though, specifically got Aya’s attention rather quickly.

“Family?”

“Yeah, I’m getting married to two Displaced and currently am helping raise four children. Well six if you count Shalltear in her world and also when our boy Lyall will be born.”

Aya scratched her head, “Wow, I might need to ask you for pointers.”

“Remind me about that when we’re done and I can introduce you to Max. She’ll be a great place to start.” Lance explained, handing the family photo that he kept on him to her as she looked at it… with Firefly peeking over her shoulder, as well as Surprise.

“Aww!” Surprise gushed.

“Why the hell is Rainbow a filly?” Asked Firefly.

“That’s the Rainbow from Max’s universe. She adopted her after finding her barely alive. In her world, I heard that Spike is the element of loyalty.”

“Element of what?” Firefly asked, before Mist commented.

“Alternate timeline,” She rubbed her horn, “Sheesh, that’s a really messed up world.”

“You tell me,” Lance turned a corner as they continue. “When I first met her, she told me that her Celestia and Luna handed down their powers to her before they died. And don’t get me started on our… relationship.”

“I still can’t believe you’re married… To two different woman, no less.” Aya said.

“Well, the wedding is in a couple of months…”

“Hang on… What’s this thing about your… relationship?” Firefly asked, confused.

“Basically, we’re in an open relationship… Meaning that we’re allowed to basically-.”

“Cheat on the other without fear.” Aurora interrupted.

“I know what an open relationship is, I had the same thing with L- Lance’s uncle.” Aya said, “But I was too shy to really argue the point.”

“I didn’t know you had an open relationship… Then again, Uncle Steve, from what I heard, was a real asshole.”

“How d-did you know?” Asked Aya in confusion.

“I overheard my dad talking about it one time. I think he was calling you to see how you were doing,” The Adept replied, before looking back at his tracker as they approached a chain link fence gate that was partially broken. On the sides of the fence were brief bits of fur and a pony’s mane. “I think we're getting close to your friends. You guys ready?”

Aya reloads her gun, “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

The other ponies nod, but Posey freezes. “I-isn’t this under… The cathedral?” As soon as she says that, screams are heard.

“Ah crap! That must be civilians!” Firefly yelled as she flew up and through a hole in the ceiling.

“Mist, go with Firefly and check above ground. Aya and I will proceed forward.” Lance told them as the pony chased after their teammate. Using his energy blade, Lance cut the lock on the gate cleanly in half as the two of them ran inside. Aya held her gun out in front of her.

“They’re up ahead.” Said Aurora, “One right, then a left.”

“Who’s taking point?” Aya asked, “Whoa, did I just say that?”

“Aurora, I need a description on the monsters in the room. We need to clear them all out before we rescue anypony.” Lance asked, moving right while Aya moved left through the dimly lit room.

“There’s only one monster, but… Another lifeform… This one seems different somehow… Stronger than we’ve seen so far.” Aurora said.

“Something more powerful!?” Surprise asked fearfully.

“Okay everypony, spread out,” The Adept told them. “Surprise with me, Posey with Aya. Aurora, what does this monster look like?”

“Almost… Human… Female, but… scarier…” The screen Aurora was on started becoming staticy, and her image turned black.

“Aurora? Aurora!? Damnit, I lost contact with her.” Lance cursed. “Aya, can you make any sense of what she was saying?”

Aya looked fearful, “I think… I know…” She gulped, “But you aren’t gonna like it.”

They rounded the last corner, and saw two ponies stuck in reddish cocoon. Posey started to make her way to them, but Aya held her back, shushing her. Lance did the same thing with Surprise, but soon, he saw exactly what Aurora was trying to warn him about.

Standing between the two pods was a woman with crimson flesh like clothes that barely covered the top half of her clothes and had massive, mutated hands. Her hair was stretched in four separate directions and looked like spikes. But the creepiest thing about her was that he could not see her legs. Lance wasn’t even sure if this woman had any.

“Ah, you’ve finally arrived. I was waiting for you two~” She cooed in a demonic voice. Aya backed away.

“Eve…” She whispered.

“Oh, so you know me? Then you know what I want,” Eve said, smirking.

Aya aimed her pistol at Eve and readied it, “I think. The game's plot never got past giving birth to the Ultimate Being and Evolution. I really don’t get it.” Eve glared. Lance didn’t back down either. But something didn't seem right… Why would she want them here?

“Aya… I got a bad feeling about this…” He told her, taking out his second pistol. “I think we just walked right into a trap.”

Eve sent a green beam of energy towards them that steadily grew. Aya went in between both and turned sideways, meaning it went flying by her, while Lance rolled to the right. “You alright?” He called out.

When he did, Eve started turning the beam, and Aya followed it as it neared Lance. It died before it could hurt him, and Aya shot a couple bullets at Eve, who took them without a care. Meanwhile, Posey as Surprise were getting their friends out.

“You can’t fight change! It’s coming, whether you like it or not!” Eve shouted as she rammed into Aya and backed away, leaving Lance’s aunt stunned on the floor. The Adept himself growled a little, using instant transmission to get close to her before using his energy blade to stab her in the shoulder.

“Don’t you DARE hurt my aunt, you B*tch!!” He roared, pulling the blade out as it cut cleanly through her upper left shoulder. He soon landed near Aya, trying to help her back up on her feet. “Are you okay?”

Aya nodded, “Thank you,” She said as she shot Eve in the same place Lance wounded her. Eve screamed in pain.

“Ahahahahahahahahahahaha! We will meet again, Aya Brea!” She then disappeared after flying straight up.

“Got ‘em!” Yelled Surprise, “Looks like you got her too!”

“Wounded, but not dead,” Lance sighed as he turned to the white pegasus. “We’ll get her next time though… Hey Surprise?”

“Yeah?” The white Pegasus asked, “What is it Gunvolt?”

“Do you girls have everything under control here? I want to talk to my aunt for a little while. It’s been a few years since I’ve last seen her.”

“Sure thing! I’ll go see if Mist and Fire need my help! Posey’s got Three and Rade.” Surprise said before, surprisingly, she disappeared.

“Heh… Energetic one.” He sighed before turning back to Aya. “Hang on for a second. I’m going to take us someplace that doesn’t smell like flesh and sewage.” Placing a hand on his aunt’s shoulder, he teleported the two of them out of the Manehattan sewers and into his room back at Power Pony HQ. “There we are. Home Sweet Home.”

“I’m… Feeling dizzy. Is that computer girl alright?” Aya held her head in her hands as she leaned against a wall.

“Yeah-.” He was soon interrupted when he heard his door open and an excited filly rushed in to leap into his arms. “Hey, Dashie.”

“Papa!!”

“Oh, so that’s your daughter… This is the weirdest day of my life…” Aya sighed, but smiled fondly at the filly. “Really cute, though…”

“Thanks, Auntie. Wait til you meet Golden, Light and my son Lucky,” Lance told her, noticing Rainbow stretch her hooves out in the direction of Aya. “I think she likes you.”

Aya leaned closer to Dashie. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m your great aunt Si-... Uh, Aya.” Though she seemed honest, uncertainty was written all over her face. The little pegasus didn’t care though as she soon jumped up on top of her and began hugging her.

“Aunt Aya!!”

“Now she really likes you.” Lance chuckled.

Aya hugged back, “My you’re a hyper one, aren’t you?”

Lance chuckled, “What can I say? She’s a hugger. Wait til you meet the rest of the little rascals. Rainbow here tried a couple of times already to break into the cookie jar.”

“Hmm… I’ll have to remember that next time I visit.” Aya looked down at Dashie, “I think I should spoil her the same way I spoiled you!”

“Well, guess she will like getting the special treatment,” Lance smiled, bumping his shoulder into a shelf as Sun’s token slipped from it’s normal place. The coin itself was almost about to fall, until Rainbow grabbed it with her mouth out of curiosity. Playing with it like it was a toy until Lance noticed it and had her hand it to him.

“Now now, Rainbow. Let’s not play with Daddy’s tokens, ok? It’s time to introduce Aunt Aya to your siblings.”

“Yay!!”

Aya smirked, “This is the craziest day of my life…” She shook her head as she lined up next to Lance to follow.

“Trust me, this is just as normal as it gets around here.” Lance smiled. They soon came across to the dining room, where Pinkie was having the rest of the kids have chocolate chip cookies and milk. Once she turned to notice the three of them, she was jumping for joy.

“LANCIE!!! YOU’RE OKAY!! …… Who’s your friend?” She asked.

“I’m Lance’s Aunt, Aye Brea. I just woke up in New Yoke,” Aya stated, “You look a lot like somepony I know…”

“AUNTIE!? You must be FAMILY!! Oh my gosh, this is so exciting!! I’m Pinkie Pie. Also known as a Super Duper Party Planner and Filli-second of the Power Ponies!!”

“Pinkie… Pie… What’s up with this places naming system?” Aya questioned, then facepalmed, “Nevermind. It’s nice to meet you Pinkie Pie.”

“Same to you Aya!” Pinkie trotted. “These are Lance’s kids. Golden Spark, Light Sweet, Lucky Clover and you have already met Rainbow Dash.”

Aya crouched, “Hello, I’m your great aunt, Aya. It’s nice to meet you all.” All of them were confused at first, but soon bombarded her with a bunch of hugs and love from them to her. After a little while and a long time showering off the smell of sewage, Lance had Aya follow him as he brought the kids back to Max’s home world. Aya was hesitant about this whole thing, but soon, she followed Lance through the doorway and arrived in the grand halls of the castle.

“Max, I’m home!!” Lance called out.

“I was wondering when you’d get lonely, Lancie,” Max said from behind them, sitting on her throne.

“Hey honey, I got someone for you to meet.” Lance told her, walking a little closer with Aya by her side. “Max, I would like you to meet my Aunt Silvia. Or as she is known as now… Aya Brea.” The Blond woman soon waved her hand, catching Max’s attention as she stood idly by Lance… with Rainbow holding her leg.

Max stood and walked over, sticking her hand out for Aya to shake. “Welcome to our crazy family, then. You’re lucky you didn’t visit two weeks earlier.”

Aya raised an eyebrow, confused as she shook hands with Max. “What happened then?”

Max smirked. “Well, I’d be making... inappropriate comments and asking if you’d like to bed me.” Aya blushed a little, causing Lance to facepalm himself.

“Uh… That’s… N-new…” Aya said nervously.

“Yeah… even though we're in an open relationship, Max swings both ways.” Lance sighed.

The pregnant woman giggled, walking around the small group and heading for the doors. “I was a guy back on earth, so yeah, I’m a little more into girls.”

“... This is normal?” Aya turned to Lance, “I’ll be dead within the week. It was nice knowing you.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’ve set up a little rule that we can’t sleep with others outside of our herd unless everyone does.”

“I’ve been a… Displaced all but one day. I need some time to think before you say something like that.” Aya rubbed her forehead, “I am so going crazy…”

“Most Displaced are once they see the Void, or get imprisoned in stone for a thousand years. The latter helped me accept my new gender mostly.” Max held the door open and waved for them to go through. “It’s not yet lunchtime, but we can get something to eat anyways.”

“And what’s this about a Herd?” Lance asked.

“Well, there’s you, me, Seph, and Asura’s giving us a shot, so I thought calling us a herd would be proper.”

“I… Uh… This is…” Aya tried.

“What gave you that idea in the first place?” Lance asked “Did you… You met Zinnia again didn’t you, Max?”

“Well yeah, she called Seph while we were in Asura’s universe, so me and Asura had to go make sure Seph didn’t lose herself to her magic. Besides, humans are considered herd animals.”

“I smell an old rap reference with that last statement.” Lance sighed.

“I don’t smell anything…” Aya teased, “Anyway, whatever you two say will get lost on me, so I’m out. If you need me I’ll be exploring.” Aya started down the hallway.

“Hang on, Aya. I was going to give you this.” Lance told her, getting out a gold coin from his pocket and tossing it to her. “Catch.”

Aya caught it with extreme precision. Examining it, she questioned, “And this is…?”

“It’s a summoning token of a Displaced that I see as an important member of our family. If you need help at all or just want to talk to someone, just shoot it and he’ll come.” Lance told her.

Aya placed it in her vest, “Okay, if you say so. That it?”

“That’s it. You can go ahead and walk around a bit. Hell, even try out the coin later. I’ll make sure to take you back to New Yoke once I’m done talking to Max.”

“Okay. Wanna come with me Dashie? Show me around?” Aya asked. Rainbow Dash nodded her head, racing down the halls as Aya followed her.

When Max and Lance were alone, Max had a new question for the Adept. “I basically hit on Sun’s mom, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, you did… Thing is though… I don’t think she knows that Sun is alive. Anytime she tried mentioning him, she falls into a small depressive state.”

“She’s in for one heck of a shock, then. And another if he tells her how we met.” Max opened the door to the dining room and entered. Lance followed her inside, sighing at Max’s comment.

“Yeah, I don’t think Aya is one to want to remember her old life. My uncle was a real jerk to her in how he treated her and when he died, Sun was only six. I also heard that she lost it when my mother died in order for me to be born too.” He sighed, looking back at her. “So, please, let’s not tell her that you and Sun did it until she’s more… comfortable.”

Max sat at the table and the two fillies ran over to sit in her lap. “I was just saying that Sun might before we get to talk with him about it.”

“It’s his mother. I highly doubt that he would want to openly talk about sex with his mom for pete’s sake.” The Adept sat down next to her, soon remembering something on the topic of family. “Oh and we still need to introduce both Sun and Aya to Seph and Asura.”

“Well, Seph’s out training with Barbaroi. We can introduce them at dinner.”

“And Asura is with her?” Lance then asked Max.

“Dunno, I think Seph took him back to his universe.”

“Either that or he is learning something from Barbaroi,” He added on. “The character that Asura is suppose to be is mostly a brawler, but he can control energy called Mantra. My guess is that he might be learning how to control his Mantra.” Lance sighed a little in his chair. “Still, it remains to be seen… Hey, should we tell Sol and Mun about Aya?”

“Nah, they’ll figure out pretty quick that she’s part of the family by the way Rainbow’ll act. Besides, they’ll ask me before they do anything rash.”

“Good point.” Lance chuckled. “So, how was your day?”

“Same old same old. For some reason, after you’ve been a ruler for half a year you’ve heard all the common complaints.”

Lance laughed a little, smiling at what she said. “I’d figured. Today… was not quite same old same old. Where I found Aya was not the best of places to find a family member… You familiar with Parasite Eve?” He asked.

“Nope, never heard of it.”

“Think Resident Evil on Steroids.” The Azure Striker deadpanned. “New Yoke back home has had a wave of infestation to where many organisms now look like walking corpses. I found her in the sewers with a superhero team that were trying to find two of their own.”

“Huh, must be one of those games that wasn’t made in my universe.”

“It was an old PS1 game that Aya played when Sun wasn’t watching,” The Adept explained as he told her about some of the creatures like corpse Rats and the Alligator as well. “And trust me, there was some very messed up stuff down there. Like WAY messed up to the point that it might give the kids nightmares.”

“Yeah... I don’t think I need lunch right now.”

“Same. I think all I need's a glass of water. Would you agree?”

Max nodded and looked over at Silver who was standing by the door to the kitchens. He disappeared through the door and came out a few seconds later with two glasses of water on a tray.

“Thank you, Silver.” Lance told him. “Max, would Golden or Light like anything?”

The fillies giggled and pulled two cookies each from under their wings, obviously stolen from the Power Ponies’ cookie jar.

“I don’t think they need anything else.”

“What about milk to go with the cookies?”

Max shook her head. “They took those without asking, so they have to go without milk for them.”

“So, I’m guessing no milk because they were being mischievous?”

“That and because they stole cookies as big as their head. In fact.” Max lit her hand and two of the cookies floated out of the fillies’ hooves and over to Lance. “Could you return these two?”

“Sure thing.” Lance replied, taking a minute to walk out of the room and return them before coming back in. “There we go. Done.” However, the one thing that Max could easily notice was a few crumbs on his shoulder.

Max gave Lance an unamused look before shrugging and standing up, holding the fillies in her arms as they nibbled on their cookies. “I guess that’s as effective as any other way.”

“Who said I had it?” He smirked. Max soon noticed the little tiny breezie on his shoulder that was eating the cookie. “Lumen has been working up quite an appetite recently. In fact, she now has powers.”

The woman smiled and turned towards the door. “Either way, they’re getting dealt with.”

“Okay, do you need help with that?”

Max sighed and slowed her walk. “I guess...” Lance soon caught up as he joined his wife, walking with her and getting the door for her. That’s when Lance soon wondered something. “How do you think Lucky is doing?”

“He probably went to start on his homework.”

“He’s in school now?” Lance asked. “I didn’t know that they had schools here. What’s he learning?”

“He isn’t really in a school, he’s being taught by Mun. Lucky’s learning what everypony else is, but with more detail and politics since he won’t be able to escape them.”

“Teaching politics at a young age? Are you sure that’s a good idea?” The Adept asked, raising an eyebrow. “I know he’s young, but I highly doubt that he’ll be needed for jury duty anytime soon. I thought he would be taught things like reading and writing comprehension.”

“He isn’t going to be needed for anything, really. But if he goes with me when I visit another country, he’ll need to know his way around nobles.” Max turned a corner, almost running right into Aya.

“So like proper etiquette and manners? I thought that was the one thing you despised when I first met you, Maxie.”

“I still do, but I don’t want to come off as rude to the other nations. Sorry about that, Aya.” She just nodded her head as she turned around the corner with Rainbow Dash strolling right next to her.

“It’s okay, I wasn’t paying much attention.” Aya scratched the back of her head, “Guess I’m still… Processing everything.”

“Alright,” Lance sighed. “Hey, Max. I’m going back to my world so I can talk with my Twilight and Pinkie Pie on something. I’ll catch up with you later.” After seeing her nod her head, the Adept walked back into the mirror to his home, waving goodbye to Aya as he did so.

---

As soon as he came back, he found the two mares that he needed to be about to talk too as he entered the Command Center. Twilight and Pinkie were both in their power pony outfits and checking some background information on some of the files that were recently given to them from the Powers Division with Doctor Whooves. He soon knocked on the nearby table, catching their attention and having them look his way.

“Hey Lance. What brings you here?”

“I was wanting to see if I can talk to you two for a minute… something’s been on my mind and I think I need to talk to you guys about it.” The Adept told them, causing Twilight and Pinkie to look at one another before they shut off the monitors and had a look at him.

“What is it?” They asked.

“Well… I’ve been beginning to think that because of me being a Displaced and also because of my life with Max, I haven’t been able to be fully… committed to being part of the team like I was suppose to be.” Lance sighed, taking a seat on a nearby chair. “Sure I have helped with big cases in other cities, but I joined because I wanted to be able to assist you guys in the field. My aunt, Aya, help me realize that today and that got me thinking that I needed to be able to contribute more to the team.” Both ponies were quite surprised to hear this as they looked back at him, but soon began to realize what he was talking about. And they actually agreed with him. Twilight herself saw it as the Adept being able to recognize his flaws and try his best in order to fix them. Pinkie herself was… excited by this because she saw it as the chance to throw more celebrations. At one point, the Alicorn asked about Aya, but Pinkie was able to fill her in on the details.

“Where should we start?” Twilight then asked.

“Well first off, there’s one subject that I have been meaning to bring up for a while that I haven’t gotten to do and that is about Kaoru.” The Adept told them. “I already know that Detective Whooves and you are on good terms with her Twilight, but I need to find a way to prove her innocence. Any suggestions?”

“I would say that she wasn’t in control of herself. I can easily be able to convince the girls about her because of all the pockets of criminals she has helped taken care of and Detective Whooves can explain her case to his superiors.” Twilight told her, looking at Pinkie as she nodded her head. “But things like this take time. They aren’t instantaneous.”

“Like all things…” The Azure Striker thought to himself. “Okay. Now that moves onto the second and third thing that’s a higher priority. The second is the situation involving Manehattan. The third is Sumeragi. And I think that we can be able to kill two birds with one stone on this one.”

Both mares looked at each other, confused, before looking back at him. “How?”

“Manehattan recently has been hit by something out of the ordinary. A parasite that has been causing other creatures to attack other ponies and the worst part is that they look undead. But, because of this, it also leads me to believe that one member of Sumeragi might be setting up shop there. We need to go to the police headquarters in Manehattan and set up a team of heroes there to help with the problem.”

“I’m all for it, but what I'm concerned about is that if Sumeragi is trying to do something while our back is turned and it comes back to bite us later.” Lance told her before thinking of something. "Other than that, I'm all for them making their own team."

“That… I agree with,” Twilight replied. “Let’s wait til Aya is back though before we go to Manehattan so we can take her back. Oh and Lance…”

“Yes…”

“Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We’ll do everything we can to include you in more operations in the future.” The Alicorn told her. With that, Lance smiled. He and the others were making progress. Better do this now than never…

---

Seaddle

Cody was on his feet, having to keep moving and shooting. Zapp was on her hooves as well. The two of them had received a distress call about someone trying to take hold of the Space Needle in the middle of the city to activate a powerful machine, but what they found was not like anything they expected. The machine itself was intended to brainwash civilians by having them believe propaganda that Sumeragi had prepared.

“Tired already? You two are just too boring… Try impressing me a little.”

“Oh yeah!? Wait til I put my hoof right in the middle of your face!!”

“Cute…” Their opponent chuckled, before taking a newfound stance. “But words like that will not help you. You may be as fast as lightning, but I am light itself. I will not let you destroy the Amaterasu. I will not let you cease Sumeragi’s glorious message.”

“Prepare yourselves.”

---

End Strike 30

Comments

[FrostTheWolf]

6575729 If you read her side of the story, you'll understand

[zeldawolffang]

after reading this fic i went and bought Gunvolt and it's a great game! right now i'm at Nova and holy shit fuck that guy >.<

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

Dang, you put up some badass pics!