> The Equestrian Edda
>  by Grey Ghost
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Hughes Irritating High School Musical
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jason sighed as he relaxed, lounging around lazily on Rarity’s throne. About a week had passed since Tirek’s rampage and things had settled down quite nicely. The biggest changes where Megan, who was now around Jason’s age and seemed to have stabilized there, and Twilight’s new tree castle, which was just awesome.

“You know, I’m trying to polish the throne, Jason,” Rarity said, giving him an annoyed look as she looked up from her work.

“I can see that,” he said as he placed his legs over the side, letting out a fake yawn.

“Now you're just being spiteful.” Rarity glared at him, a pout forming on her face.

Before they could continue, a stallion wearing a blue uniform trotted in, pulling a cart of books behind him. “Excuse me princess,” he started, giving her a smile, “Where do you want all these books from Princess Celestia?”

Twilight didn’t look up from her papers. “The library,” she gestured with her hoof. “Third door on the left.”

“Even this one that's glowing and vibrating?”

That made Twilight look up, to see that indeed, at the very top, was a vibrating book, flashing purple every so often. She levitated it down, flipping it open.

“What is it, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked as the rest of the girls trotted over. Jason sat up on the throne but was otherwise too lazy to investigate.

“It looks like a message to Princess Celestia from my friends at Canterlot High!” Twilight exclaimed, a look of shock on her face.

“How is that even possible?” Rarity questioned, giving her wings a light buzz.

“I have no idea but...” Twilight’s eyes widened, “It looks like they need my help.” Twilight closed the book before gesturing for them to follow her. Jason sighed as he got up, joining in.  After a few minutes, Twilight pulled a book off the shelf. “The way Sunset Shimmer described them, I think these new girls sound an awful lot like... the sirens.”

Jason groaned, running a hand down his face.

“What?” Rarity asked, raising her eyebrow at her husband’s behavior.

“I’m just trying to figure out why things from Greek mythology keep appearing in a universe based off Norse myth.” He shook his head, looking at Twilight. “But you continue, I’ll save any more comments for the end.”

“Er... thank you,” Twilight said before clearing her throat and beginning the tale. The Sirens had used their voices to cause chaos, feeding on the negative emotions to become stronger. Then, Star Swirl showed up and kicked them into another world. At least, that's what Jason got of of the story.

“But Star Swirl must’a sent ‘em there ages ago. How come they’re just surfacin’ now?” Applejack asked once Twilight was done with her tale, frowning a little.

“I don't know. But if my hunch is right and it is the sirens who have come to Canterlot High, this spell they've cast is just the beginning. My friends need me. I have to get back to them.” Twilight proclaimed, walking toward a very odd looking mirror.

“I hate to burst your bubble, Twilight, but the connection between their world and Equestria will still be totally cut off for a super long time.” Rainbow Dash reminded, hovering in the air. She went to land, only to frown, looking at her talons, deciding not to scratch up the floor.

“Okay, first of all, if there was bubble-blowing going on, why wasn't I told about it?!” Pinkie demanded, zipping in between the two, “And secondly, if the connection is totally cut off, how was Sunset Shimmer able to get a message to Twilight?”

Twilight gasped, a smile appearing on her face. “Pinkie! You’re a genius!” she shouted before dashing away.

Pinkie smirked. “Yeah, I get that a lot,” she said before pulling Dash down so they were muzzle to muzzle, “Now about those bubbles...” she started, giving Dash an intense look before she turned to watch Twilight walk by, the alicorn carrying several strange objects in her magic.

“Let me help,” Jason said, shifting into Grey Matter, leaping onto Twilight’s back. The collected ponies, and dragon, watched as the two bickered and argued over what went where until they had constructed a strange machine around the mirror.

“...And the interval between the two points is defined as the square root of the sum of the squares of the separation between the points along three spatial dimensions.” Twilight proclaimed to their audience, smiling at them.

“Yeah, I don’t think they get it,” Jason said, tapping the Omnitrix and returning to normal. He rubbed his neck, looking back at the mirror, “Think it works?”

“Thats what we’re going to test.” Twilight lit her horn up, grabbing the book up in her magic and placed it on the machine. Immediately, magic rose up out of the book and into the machine. They let out a collective ‘aww’ as it roared to life and soon the mirror's glass was replaced with a swirling purple vortex.

“Don't suppose we could join you this time around?” Applejack asked, with her and the other girls giving a hopeful smile.

Twilight gave them a smile but shook her head, “Better not. It could make things pretty confusing if Canterlot High all of a sudden had two of all of you.”

They exchanged glances before nodding in agreement.

“But I still get to go, right?” Spike asked, waddling up to Twilight, “There isn't another one of me at Canterlot High. And you never know if you might need your trusty assistant.”

Twilight gave him a smile and nod.

“Yes!” he smiled, fist pumping.

“Well, sounds like fun, count me in,” Jason said, looking at the portal. “I don’t have anything planned.”

“I dunno Jason,” Twilight said with a frown, “Are you sure?”

“Oh, just let him go, Twilight,” Rarity said, primping her mane. “If anything, it’ll let me get my cleaning done.” She fixed Jason with a glare, which he returned with a smirk.

“Well that settles that, then. Shall we?” Jason asked, moving up to the portal, looking over his shoulder to see Twilight and the girls sharing a hug. He couldn't help but smile, shaking his head, “Typical ponies.”  After a moment, Twilight separated from the girls and she and Spike raced through the portal. “Well that’s my cue, tell Chrissy what I’m up to Rares,” Jason instructed before moving through the portal himself.





Rainbow Dash sighed as she tossed her soccer ball from hand to hand. She paused, turning to Sunset Shimmer. “I’m starting to think she isn’t coming.” As if on cue, Twilight and Spike shot out of the portal, landing a few feet away.

“Twilight!” the girls all shouted at once, with Sunset Shimmer jogging over to her.

“I’m back...” Twilight said sheepishly, giving them all a smile. She frowned, turning to Sunset Shimmer as the other girl offered a hand to help her up. The two looked at each other rather awkwardly before another person was shot out of the portal, colliding with Twilight.

“‘Ow does walkin’ into a portal shoot ya out the otha side?” the new arrival, a young man in green sneakers, rather scuffed up jeans, a jean vest with the sleeves cut off, a black shirt and a green mohawk, said as he got to his feet, brushing himself off. “Oi! The hell’s up with my voice?”

“Jason?” Twilight asked as she sat up, blinking a few times.

“No ya knob, I’m Hughes,” he said, pointing to himself with his thumb. “And If I’m here, and that damned watch ain’t on my wrist,” he held up his bare right arm, “Then I have to assume it’s in use.” He looked into his shirt, letting out a sigh as he spotted the Omnitrix resting on his chest, “Yup... called it. Ya can’t change me back can ya?”

“This unit is experiencing interference from the portal. User will remain in current form until interference is removed,” it chirped.

“Lovely,” he said, wearing a very displeased look on his face.

“Uh... Twilight,” Rainbow Dash asked as she and the rest of the girls all stared at Hughes, “Who is that?”

Twilight sighed, getting to her feet and brushing herself off. “It’s a long story... And I've got some bad news about those new girls.”

“Well, you can tell us all about it at Sugarcube Corner!” Pinkie declared with a big grin.

“Pinkie’s right, we’re going to want to get comfortable for this,” Twilight said before she and the girls started to walk away, with Sunset trailing behind.

“Oh yes, this is just gon’ be lovely,” Hughes muttered to himself as he started to follow them, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

“You're telling me,” Jason commented with a laugh, “You’re always the one getting on my ass about everything, now you have to drive.”

“Oh stuff it ya wanker,” Hughes retorted with a snort, blocking Jason out as he followed the girls, wearing a rather miserable look on his face. Once the group reached Sugarcube Corner, they gathered around a table, each with a milkshake, while Twilight explained everything about Jason and Hughes.

“Oh, I do hate that you had to return at a time of crisis. There's so much catching up to do!” Rarity exclaimed, giving Twilight a smile.

“For starters, a certain blue-haired guitar player was just askin' about you,” Applejack added, giving Twilight a smirk.

“Flash Sentry was asking about me?!” Twilight asked with a blush, looking off to the side, twirling her hair around her finger. This lasted only a moment before Hughes slapped her upside the head. “Ow! Hughes! What the hay was that for!?” she demanded, rubbing the back of her head.

“The hell’s wrong with you?” he asked, crossing his arms, giving her a stern look, “You're like twenty-five and you have a crush on a high school student? Besides, I thought you were terrified of Flash.”

“Thats because he’s a stalker!” Twilight countered, glaring at him.

“Oh I see, it’s okay because this Flash Sentry plays the guitar while pony Flash just gets labeled as a stalker. Thats totally not shallow, Twilight.” Hughes glared back, much the to shock and confusion of the girls.

“Hey! Twilight is not shallow!” Rainbow Dash snapped, coming out of her stupor.

“Oi, wasn’t talkin’ to ya bluey,” Hughes said, snorting a bit.

“Who are you calling bluey?” she snarled at him, leaning across the table.

“You!” he proclaimed, getting in her face. “Have you seen yourself!? You’re blue! Humans don’t come in blue, or pink or yellow or white out white!”

“Okay, Ah think everyone should just calm down,” Applejack said, getting between the two and pushing them back into their seats.

“Perhaps you could give us just the slightest bit of gossip from your world?” Rarity asked in hopes of getting the conversation back on track.

“She's got an official title now!” Spike spoke up from Fluttershy’s lap. He had been turned into a dog, something Hughes didn’t exactly understand. He put a dog treat to his mouth, pretending to play the trumpet, then announced, “The Princess of Friendship!”

“Wow,” Sunset said, wearing a genuine smile, “Wow, that's really impressive. Guess you really were Princess Celestia's prized pupil.”

“She’s even got her own castle!”

“A castle?! You have your own castle?!?” Rarity asked with sudden fervor, grabbing Twilight by the shirt and giving her a vigorous shake. She blinked, remembering herself. “Eh...” she pulled away, grabbing a napkin and patting Twilight’s shirt, “Ooh, uh, lovely.”

“Can we get to the point please?” Hughes asked with a sigh, running a hand down his face. “Taking care of evil songstresses should take priority over gossip.” He shot a glare at Rarity, who looked away sheepishly.

“Yeah... but first, take a look at this Twilight,” Rainbow said, pulling her phone and starting up a video. Said video was of herself playing guitar, only to gain pony ears and pegasus wings. “Pretty sweet, huh? It happens to all of us when we play.”

Twilight studied the video carefully before sitting back in her seat. “Hmm. My crown was returned to Equestria, but some of its magic must have remained here at Canterlot High. Now that we're all back together, we can use that magic on the sirens. Just like when we were able to use it on Sunset Shimmer when she turned into that horrifyingly awful winged monster! No offense.”

“None taken,” Sunset said with a sigh, before giving a smile. “Heh. I'm used to it.”

“Wait,” Hughes spoke up, looking at her. “You turned into a raging she-demon?”

“Um... yes...?” Sunset asked, looking away.

“That’s metal as fuck.”

Sunset blinked, looking at him a bit strangely. “Uh... thanks...” she said, deciding to take the statement as a compliment. After a few more minutes of discussion, the group got up, heading to a party at the school to deal with the dazzlings.





“So, this is high school eh?” Hughes asked as he looked around the auditorium. Various groups stood around, all glaring at each other, with several arguing with each other. “Smells like teen spirit,” he said with a smirk as both Hodgepodge and Jason groaned in the back of his mind.

Pinkie suddenly appeared in his face, causing him to jump back a bit. “Your pun is bad and you should feel bad.”

“Okay... that one sucked,” he said, holding his hands up. This seemed to please Pinkie, who moved off to devour some cookies. He leaned back on the table, letting out a bored sigh. He frowned at Twilight, who was busy flirting with human Flash. “What a knob,” he muttered, turning his attention to the doors as three girls walked in, one of them having the biggest head of hair Hughes, Jason, or Hodgepodge had ever seen.  He stared at it, several questions coming to mind about said hair when Twilight’s voice derailed his train of thought.

“There isn't going to be a Battle of the Bands! We're gonna make sure of that! Alright, girls, let's do this! Friendship is Magic!” Twilight declared, standing with the other girls, holding hands as they waited for... something to happen.

“Oh for the love of...” Hughes groaned, placing his head in his hands, “Am I the only intelligent one here? I mean really.” He pushed away from the table, moving over toward the confused group when the big haired girl started to speak, riling up the crowd. He paused as a green mist filled the air, which the big haired girl and her two cronies absorbed using their necklaces. "Did nobody else see that?” he asked, though the girls didn’t really respond. “Seriously, am I the only one that saw that?” The girls all turned, hurrying out of the room. “Oh bollocks,” he muttered before following after them.





“It doesn't make any sense.” Twilight said as they regrouped on the school's front steps. “I should have been able to create the spark that would help us break their spell. That's how it worked before.”

“I think it’s ratha obvious,” Hughes said, looking intently at the ground, resting his chin on his hands, “We have to fight fire with fire.”

“Whatcha talkin’ about?” Applejack asked, looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

“The last time you lot used your magic was with the tiara, and now it shows up when you play your music. So obviously, we have to beat their music with our music,” Hughes stated before looking at them. “Unless you  want to do it like the Greeks and just slay them.”

“Let’s not resort to violence, Hughes,” Twilight said quickly, wincing at the horrified looks the rest of the group gave him.

“Alright then, battle of the bands it is,” Hughes said with a nod, hopping to his feet. He looked at them, cracking his neck. He paused, looking back to see they still giving him odd looks. “What?” he asked.

“Not to say that your idea is bad but... how would just us playing defeat the Dazzlings?” Rarity asked, giving him an unsure look.

“It wouldn’t alone, what we need is a musical counterspell!” Twilight said, a smile forming on her face, “And with everyone together for the competition, it’ll be the perfect chance to break their spell!”

“Guess the Rainbooms are the band to beat,” Applejack said, giving Twilight a smile.

“And I believe you, Twilight,” Rarity started, pointing at the startled purple girl, “just became the Rainbooms' newest member.” The girls all rushed forward to hug Twilight, leaving Sunset by herself, a sad look on her face.

“You shouldn’t frown,” Hughes said, getting her attention. “Doesn’t look as pretty as your smile.”

“What?” she asked, her frown vanishing, being replaced by a rather surprised look.

“I said, your frown ain’t as lovely as your smile,” he repeated, leaning on the handrail.

“Oh um... thank you...” she said, looking away as her yellow cheeks tinted a bit red.

“No problem, love,” he said with a smile, before frowning again as Pinkie shouted something about being ‘besties’ and a slumber party at her place. “Oh bollocks...”






Meanwhile...






Chrysalis sighed as she boredly listened to the noble before her blather on about something. She didn’t even remember what he wanted, her mind too busy wandering. Mostly over how much things had changed for her race. No longer did they have to hide, scraping together whatever love they could manage to steal. Now they were, largely, accepted into pony society. There was very little need for love harvesting when ponies gave it freely, which led to the biggest of her worries.

With less of a need to actively gather love, many of her harvesters had asked to... leave. Thier slackened duties had given them an abundance of free time and many had taken the opportunity to grow as individuals and become more independent. Such as it was, many of them wanted to leave the hive and see the world. She sighed, leaning back on her throne, and closed her eyes.

“Are you paying attention, your majesty?” the noble asked, causing her to sit up with a blink.

“I apologise,” she said with another sigh, looking at the speaker, a blue unicorn with rather fancy clothes. “My thoughts have been wandering.” She cleared her throat, getting up. “Why don’t you return tomorrow? I should be able to devote my full attention to your petition then.”

The unicorn sighed, but nodded. “As you wish your Majesty.” He gave a polite bow before trotting out of the room.

Chrysalis closed her eyes, passing orders onto her drones, telling them to let the remaining petitioners know that court was over for the day. “How does Celestia do it?” she asked with a sigh, collapsing back into her throne.

“With a lot of patience,” the aforementioned alicorn spoke up, trotting into the room with a smile.

“Oh joy, you’re here,” Chrysalis said, rolling her eyes. “Whaddaya want, Celestia?”

“I was informed that you were holding court today since Twilight and Jason decided to go on an adventure,” Celestia replied, not seeming to mind Chrysalis’s abrasive attitude.

“Well, I suppose you're better to talk to than the nobles...” Chrysalis said, getting off her throne, stretching out. “Come on, we can talk in my chambers,” she said, leading Celestia out of the throne room.

“Chrysalis, is something the matter?” Celestia asked, giving Chrysalis a motherly look.

“Ugh... this is what I don’t nee-” She paused, tapping her chin. Perhaps this once, she could ask for advice. “Actually there is. Ever since changelings were accepted into Equestria, we haven’t needed as many harvesters to gather love, and many of them... want to leave the hive.” She turned, looking Celestia in the eyes. “I... don’t know what to do...” She let out a groan, her ears drooping.

“You’re suffering a condition most mothers suffer from when their children leave home,” Celestia said, never losing her smile. “I believe it’s called ‘empty nest’ syndrome.”

“Are you making fun of me?” Chrysalis growled, narrowing her eyes.

“Of course not,” Celestia said with a dismissive shake of her head, “I think you should let them go.” She raised her hoof to silence Chrysalis. “You didn’t let me finish. Let some of them go out and every few months have them come back and let another group go out. I do something similar with my royal guard during peacetime, to keep them from burning out on their shifts.”


Chrysalis blinked, tapping her muzzle in thought. “You know, that does sound like a great idea.” She smiled. “Looks like you're not useless after all.”

“I’m going to let that one slide,” Celestia muttered, giving the changeling empress an unamused look. She raised an eyebrow as Chrysalis paused, looking a little... queasy.

“We’ll have to cut this short,” Chrysalis said quickly, shuddering a little. “I apologize. You can talk to Pupa and reschedule,” she said, bolting into a room a little further down the hallway. Celestia moved to follow, only for the changelings guarding the door to bar her entrance with a glare.

“Strange...” Celestia muttered to herself, wondering what that was all about.





“Heading to bed?” Hughes asked from the couch, watching as Sunset Shimmer walked out of the kitchen.

“Oh I didn’t realize you were up,” she said, looking at him with a bit of a frown. “We didn’t wake you did we?”

“Nah, the couch did.” He shook his head, shifting around again, trying to get comfy.

“I don’t know why you insisted on sleeping on the couch,” she said as she walked closer, taking a seat on the couch’s arm.

“Gee, maybe ‘cause a young bloke like me sleepin’ in a room with several young girls totally doesn’t look bad at all,” he countered, scowling a little. “Bloody ‘ell, this place is the worst...”

“It’s not that bad,” Sunset said, shaking her head, “You know, none of us really know that much about you.”

“Not much to know, I’m some jerk’s alternate personality and I’m kinda a dick,” Hughes said with a shrug. “Though... we’ve all been a bit... wired since that thing with Tirek.”

“Thing?” Sunset asked, her curiosity piqued.

“Yeah, he stole our life force and we all died,” he explained. “Obviously we all got better but... Jason’s acting like a right bastard, I’m even more of an asshole, and Hodgepodge... no he’s about the same.” Hughes said, stroking his chin.

“I can’t imagine what it's like having to live in the same body with two other people.” Sunset shuddered a little. “What is it like?”

“Eh it's not so bad,” he said with a shrug. “Jason’s usually in charge, Hodgepodge controls a specific form as do I, I just got stuck with the human form.” He looked at Sunset for a moment. “You uh... wanna... go out after all this?”

“You're asking me on a date?” Sunset asked, not really sure how to react. “Weren’t you just yelling at Twilight for having a crush on Flash?”

“I got mad at her for having a crush on someone that’s several years younger than her, who's not even twenty,” Hughes clarified, letting out a yawn. “You just think on it alright? We both need the sleep. Night Sunny.”

“Night Hughes,” Sunset said, resuming her walk back up to Pinkie’s bedroom, her face flush from the sudden nickname.





“You know,” Hodgepodge said as Hughes moved backstage with the girls, “I just realized something.”

“That this Celestia and Luna have freakishly long legs?” Hughes asked as he leaned on the wall, crossing his arms.

“Well yes, that is freaky... stop getting me off topic!” Hodgepodge snorted. “I meant, just look at those Dazzlings! They’re a glam rock band. Especially Adagio, she looks like something the eighties hacked up during its death throes.”

“Your point?”

“My point is, you have to beat their glam rock pop whatever with grunge, or at the very least punk rock.”

“Hmm... ya got a point,” Hughes said, pushing away from the wall. He grabbed a spare guitar before moving onstage. “Change of plans,” he said, giving the guitar a test strum, “I’m taking over as lead.”

“What? Who said?” Dash asked, giving him a bit of a glare.

“I did, ya just have to trust me,” he said, smirking a bit. “Just follow my lead,” he told Pinkie, who started belting out some drum beats, and he joined in himself a few moments later. “Breakin' rocks in the hot sun,” he sang into the mic, calling up an old favorite.

They played through the song rather beautifully, with the girls somehow knowing how to play the song despite never having practiced or even heard it before. The only thing that really went wrong were the acts of sabotage: someone swung Rarity around like a rag doll via magnets and someone chased Fluttershy around the stage with a stage light. Of course, Hughes was the only one to even recognize it as sabotage, with the girls just arguing with each other.

“Enough!” he shouted, getting their attention, “We have enough to deal with as it is, we don’t need to go blaming each other over what was obviously the other bands trying to sabotage us!” He gave a sigh, shaking his head, ‘Bunch of idiots...” he grumbled, crossing his arms.


After they calmed down and got some more practice in, they utterly crushed a solo cellist with a rendition of “Rock Me Amadeus.” Now they were in the semifinals against human Trixie and her band, the Illusions.

“This is it!” Sunset said with a rather big smile, “Last round and you’re in the finals!” She turned to Twilight,  “Unless you think the counterspell is ready to be played now.” Twilight gave a quick head shake, gulping.

“Don't worry, Twilight,” Applejack said with a reassuring grin. “Finals aren’t until tonight. We'll get in a little more practice before we're supposed to hit the stage. We won't let you down!” The rest of the group, including Hughes, all gave their own assurances.

“Um, I was just wondering...” Fluttershy spoke up, “We haven't played any of my songs yet, and...”

“Ya know what,” Hughes spoke up just as Dash opened her mouth, “You're right Flutters, I already have the song for this round picked out, but we’ll play your song in the finals, alright love?”

“Oh, that would be nice,” she said with a smile before Trixie’s band finished their song and made their way off stage.

“Hmph,” Trixie snorted, giving them the stinkeye.  “You’re never gonna top that performance, ‘Rain-goons’. You shouldn’t be allowed to when you have such a big advantage over the rest of us.”

“Oh blow it out your arse,” Hughes said, pushing past her and into position on stage. The others joined in not too much later and on Pinkie’s cue they started to play. Only instead of what Hughes had planned, Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here,” out came that ego trip that Dash called “Awesome As I Wanna Be.” Hughes just glared at her throughout the bit, at least until Sunset flew across the stage, tackling Dash and cutting the song short.

Sunset got up, biting her lower lip, noting every eye was on her.

“Now that’s the bad girl we love to hate!” Flash shouted, causing the gather students to jeer, hurling their own insults at Sunset, who just stood there like a lost puppy.

“Oi!” Hughes shouted back, moving out into the spotlight, “You shut your damn mouth mate, before I come down there an’ kick your teeth in!” He flipped them off before grabbing Sunset’s hand and pulling her off stage.

“I-It wasn’t like that...” Sunset said, looking at the floor, rubbing her arm.

“What was that?!” Dash demanded, glaring at her.

“You were showing them your magic. I-I didn't know what else to do,” Sunset explained, unable to meet her friends gaze.

“OK, look,” Hughes cut in, putting his hand on Sunset’s shoulder, “That last bit was a mess ok? Lets not play the blame game. Sunset could have handled it better and Dash could have stuck with the damn song I picked,” Hughes cast her a glare before letting it go. “We can still do this, but we can’t just fall apart, right?”

“Good show, ‘Rain-brooms’,” Trixie said, walking over.

“That wasn’t even clever,” Hughes shot at her, causing her to blink before continuing on her tirade.

“I uh...especially liked the part where Sunset Shimmer, in a fit of jealous rage, knocked out Rainbow Dash mid-guitar solo!”

“It wasn't a fit of jealous rage!” Sunset nearly screamed, causing Trixie to flinch back.

“Oh hey,” Hughes coughed, pointing behind the two. “The almighty tallest have picked out the winners!” Celestia and Luna were indeed on the other side of the stage, going over their notes... until the Dazzlings came out and sang them a little song. “Oh, fuck me...” he muttered to himself, running a hand down his face.

The two freakishly tall humans walked out onto the stage with Celestia clearing her throat, “The band that will be joining the Dazzlings in tonight's finals... The Rainbooms!”

“Anyone not see that coming?” Hughes asked, looking at the others, who were rather shocked that they had won. “It’s... it’s like I'm in a show for pre-teens...” he grumbled to himself as they made their way off stage through a booing crowd.





“How did we end up ere’ again?” Hughes asked as he lounged on the floor of the basement, listening to the girls argue. They had been at it for the past few hours and it was getting on his damn nerves. “You know what, fuck this,” he said, moving to sit up when Sunset broke into the argument, managing to calm everything down. “About damn time.” He jumped to his feet and brushed himself off. “I mean really, were all of you too stupid to realize that they were trying to play us?”

“Hey!” Dash snorted, pointing at him, “It’s not like you tried to help at all!”

“I thought it best to let you all work it out,” he said with a shrug before pulling out Laevateinn, “Now how's about we bust the door open and lay the musical smack down on those posers?” The girls let out a collective cheer but before the door opened, with Spike padding in. “Every single time...” Hughes muttered, putting the sword away as he moved out of the basement. “I’ll meet up with you girls in a few minutes, I gotta go get me some new duds.” He ran off before they could stop him, not about to let himself be put into any of this Rarity’s strange pop monstrosities.

** five minutes later **

“OK... did not expect to see that...” Hughes stared up into the sky, watching as three multi-colored ghost fish flew around the stage, firing red sound waves at Twilight and the girls.

“Did we step into the Powerpuff Girls?” Jason asked, disbelief in his voice.

“This is coming from the guy who turned into Mewtwo to help a pretty purple pony princess fight the Shao Kahn of centaurs,” Hodgepodge countered, snorting in amusement.

“Sunset Shimmer!” Twilight’s voice cut in, reminding the three of why they were there, “We need you!” Hughes ran up to the band, just in time to see Sunset toss aside her jacket.

“Hey girls,” he said, giving them a tired smile, catching his breath, “Sorry I took so long... I had to... know what, doesn’t matter.” He nodded to the DJ in the strange car-thing. “I think it’s time to show these harpies who’s the better band.” He smiled at Sunset, grabbing a discarded mic as the sound of trumpets started to pour from the speakers.

He picked up lead vocals, the girls joining in, all them getting into the beat. Hughes blinked a few times as a strange tingling filled his body. His ears moved to the top of his head, shifting into pony ears. Hodgepodge’s horns and wings sprouted from him, causing him to shiver. Sunset had gone through a similar transformation, having just gained pony ears and longer hair.

The eight of them rose up in the air, firing off a rainbow into the sky. Said rainbow condensed into a ball before morphing into a ghostly alicorn. It reared up onto its hind legs, firing off a blast of magic that destroyed the ghost fish and removed any remaining traces of the Dazzlings’ magic.

Hughes staggered a bit as the song came to an end, the world reverting back to normal as the band’s magic subsided. He steadied himself in time to witness the Dazzlings, once again as humans, sing badly off key and get run off stage. The girls moved to the stage, with Hughes stopping Sunset.

“You okay, Hughes?” she asked, looking up into his eyes, making him gulp a little.

“Yeah,” he said with a nod, “uh....That song... was... for you ya know...” he looked away, a blush on his face.

“What? You love me?” she asked, a teasing hint to her voice.

“No,” he said firmly before looking into her eyes, “At least not yet. It’s more of a... deep attraction. Not saying it won’t turn into love but it ain’t there yet. Anyway... about that date.”

Sunset just smiled, reaching over and taking his hand. “You know what? I’d love to.”





The next morning Hughes and the girls had gathered at the portal, saying their goodbyes.

“Can’t wait to get out of this freaky place,” Hughes muttered, putting his hands in his pockets. He smiled tiredly as Twilight and Spike moved through the portal. “Well... I suppose I’ll see ya in a few days,” he said to Sunset, the two of them sharing a smile. He stepped toward the portal, stopping just before going through. “You girls hear that?” he asked, turning back toward the school.

“I don’t hear anything,” AJ said with a shrug.

“No, I hear somethin’,” Hughes insisted, moving away from the group. “I’ll be back in a few, don’t wait up!” he called back. As he moved closer to the sound, it become clearer – a pair of voices shouting and a third sobbing loudly.

“This is your fault you waste of scales!” Adagio shouted, getting into Sonata’s face, the poor blue siren stumbling back into Aria.

“You’re always dragging us down!” Aria berated, pushing Sonata to the ground. “You're such an idiot! We’ve lost our magic and it’s all your fault!”

“I-I’m sorry!” Sonata wailed, curling up, unable to stop her tears as her former ‘friends’ turned on her.

“Come on, Aria,” Adagio said, sneering at the sobbing siren. “We have better things to do than waste our time with this garbage.” The two gave her one last glare before stalking off, leaving Sonata to weep.

“Hey,” Hughes said, kneeling down in front of Sonata. “Looks like you need a place to stay.” He smiled at her, holding his hand out, “I think I can hook you up.” She looked at his hand before looking up at him, gave a shaky smile, and took his hand. He held her up, nodding his head, “Come on, let’s go home.”





“Any idea what could be taking him so long?” Rarity asked Twilight, eyeing the portal warily.

“No,” Twilight said, shaking her head, “He was right behind me, he should be here.” On cue, the portal shimmered and Jason stumbled out, shaking his head.

“Jason!” Rarity said, trotting over, pulling him into a hug, “OH! I missed you ever so much!” She nuzzled his face, closing her eyes.

“I missed you too Rares,” Jason said, hugging her back.

“Jason,” Twilight cut in, her voice stern. “Why is there a siren here?” she asked, causing the couple to turn back toward the portal. Floating there was Sonata, back in her true form, looking rather lost.

Jason just smiled, turning back toward the alicorn. “I am so glad you asked. I invited her.”

His only reply was a chorus of, “You what!?”


> And Then There Were None
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You have no idea how good it feels to be away from that place...” Jason said with a shiver as he sat with the girls, who were all staring at Sonata, the poor siren.

“I thought you enjoyed it?” Twilight asked, raising her eyebrow.

“I enjoyed some of it,” he replied, taking a long sip of his mead, “But you try being stuck in the uncanny valley for a few days. It ain’t fun.” He shivered a little. 

“Oh yes, that place is rather dreadful,” another male voice cut in. Several pairs of eyes turned to the source, with Jason letting out a sigh.

“Whaddaya want Paradox?” Jason asked with a sigh, running his hand down his face. 

“I am sorry for the intrusion but, Ben is in need of some help,” Paradox said, checking his watch.

“Which Ben? Mine or yours?” Jason asked, giving Paradox a small glare.

“Both,” the time walker replied, putting his watch away. “The choice is yours but we haven’t much time, I have other appointments to keep.”

Jason sighed, getting up. “Alright, I’ll help... I still owe you for the Azmuth thing.”

“Excellent!” Paradox said, now standing next to Jason. “And now, we must be off.” He waved to the girls before the two left the room and vanished.





“Ugh, another boring day,” Ben whined as he sat upside down on Twilight’s couch. He watched as his friend and sisters were going over a political meeting of some kind that was coming up. He was only there because Tia and Lulu felt that he needed to be re-involved in the state of the world. Especially with Fear still running about.

As if to answer him, a swirling blue vortex opened up. From it walked Jason and Professor Paradox.

“Hello Ben!” Paradox said, giving him a smile. “I see you’ve been doing well.”

“Sup Ben?” Jason asked, still looking rather clean from the wedding.

“Jason? Paradox?! What the what?” Ben said as he sat up from the couch.

“Oh, hello Jason!” Twilight said with a wave. “You’re not going to be rude this time are you?”

“I’m working on it. Also, tree castle beats crystal castle, seriously,” he said, looking around. He then turned to Ben. “You busy?”

“Our brother is currently being indoctrinated into the working modern world of politics,” Luna said. “Also, who the hay are you?”

“Mind your language, sister,” Celestia chided. “Though she does have a point. While it is nice to see you again, Professor, your friend is unknown to us.”

“I’ve been here before. Name’s Jason, newly appointed god. Don’t ask, it’s a long story,” Jason said, shaking his head. 

“I’ll tell you all about it later, Princess,” Paradox said, turning to Ben. “For now, we need young Ben’s assistance.”

“Aw, do I have to?” Ben whined. “That sounds like work!”

“Ben! Your friends are asking for help. It would be rude and unfriendly for you to refuse,” Twilight explained to him.

“Ugh, fine!”

“Wow, your Twilight is bossy.” Jason said, giving the alicorn a raised eyebrow.

“Watch yourself, Mr. Hughes. You’re in my home, after all.”

“Am I?” he asked, fading away. “Or am I here at all?” he whispered into her ear, having appeared beside her.

“EEK!!” Twilight fired a magic bolt at Jason, striking him... in a very unfortunate place.

The image faded away. With a smirk on his face, Jason reappeared sitting next to Ben. “I love doing that.”

“Yeah, ya keep it up and you two are on your own,” Ben said with a glare. “Don’t mess with my friends. Especially not with what’s happened around here lately.”

“Geez, relax, it’s just some harmless trolling. You act like I’m gonna beat her up and take her lunch money.”

“I don’t take too kindly to those messing with a distraught mother.”

“...Why does that always happen to me?” Jason said with a sigh. “It’s always the worst time to do anything.”

“If I may cut into the banter, we have a schedule to keep,” Paradox cut in. “Are you ready Ben?”

“Hold on a sec, gotta let you know who know I’m leaving.” Ben got up and let out a loud whistle.

“What?” Jason asked, tilting his head a little to the side.

Ben sighed and said, “Wait for it.” A moment later, Ben was tackled by a mint green blur. Jason blinked and saw Lyra hugging Ben closely.

“D’aww, thats adorable,” Jason said with a smile. “I see you two worked it out.”

“Nope,” he said as he pried the mare from his face.

“You called, my Benny boop?” Lyra asked with a bright smile.

“Benny boop?” he questioned.

“Yep!” Then she booped his nose. “Boop!” Lyra giggled to herself as Ben rolled his eyes.

“Crazy mare. Anyway, I’m going to be leaving for a bit, so please don’t tear apart the castle... again.”

“Oh. Okay!” Lyra leaned in and kissed his nose. “Have fun!” Ben set her down and the unicorn cantered out with a smile.

“Freaky stalker mare,” Ben sighed.

“You should give her a chance, worked for me and Chrysalis,” Jason said, standing back up.

“Screw that noise,” he said with a laugh. “Me? Dating a pony? Yeah, not happening.”

“And what would be wrong with dating ponies?” questioned a set of three voices that sent chills down Ben’s spine. Celestia, Luna, and Twilight were all glaring at him, very unamused.

Ben gulped. “Well… gottagoseeyabye!!” He ran over to Paradox and whisper-yelled, “Get me out of here!!”

“Right on time,” Paradox said with a smirk as the three men vanished into another blue portal.





The three reappeared in a very run down looking building with its front wall missing. Standing in front of the three were two Ben Tennysons, one without his coat and the other with his coat but looking very confused.

“Hey, another me!” Ben Prime said looking at Ben. “Though... I have no idea who you are...” he said looking at Jason.

“I’m not you, ya pretentious prick,” Ben snipped. “I just look like you when, in fact, I’m much better.”

“Ben,” Paradox said, looking at Ben Prime. “These young men are beings known as Displaced. In their universes, you and your world were nothing but a cartoon.”

“Wait, what?” Ben Prime asked, rather confused. “Then why do they have Omnitricies?”

“Well, it’s a rather long story, but suffice it to say, they ended up in different universes with them, though young Ben here got your form as well.”

“To be fair, I pretty much always looked like this,” Ben said with a shrug. “I’m just that good.”

“God you're cocky,” Jason said, rolling his eyes. “I’m Jason, Prince of Equestria, nice to meet you two.”

Ben rolled his eyes. “Shut up, Jason. I’m Ben Ten, or at least that’s what I go by, son of Poseidon.”

“Are you two done?” Paradox asked, giving the two Displaced a look.

“Wait,” Ben Prime cut in. “What kind of place is called Equestria? That just sounds lame.”

“Oi!” Ben called out. “Watch it! My home is called Equestria too and I’m not gonna let you of all people bad mouth the place that’s been my home for the past five millennia!”

“Enough!” Paradox said, slamming his cane into the ground. “We are here to protect Ben, not so you three can have a watch measuring contest.”

“Hey, you brought me here, Paradox,” Ben said, pointing at the professor. “You came to me, knowing well enough how I feel about humans. This is on you.”

“To be fair, I’ve mostly got jotun blood,” Jason said with a shrug.

Paradox sighed, running his hand down his face. “Can we please stay on topic?”

“What is the topic?! What on Earth is going on around here?!” shouted the Ben that was wearing his jacket. “None of you are making any sense!”

“If you give us a moment.” Paradox said, looking at the other three humans. “Can I explain, or would you three like to continue arguing for the sake of arguing?”

“Go ahead,” Jason said, leaning against a  wall.

“Better do it before I lose interest,” Ben said with a deadpan.

“Thank you.” Paradox said, clearing his throat. “To make a complicated idea simple, there are an infinite number of universes and an infinite number of you, Ben,” he said looking at the coat-wearing Ben. “Someone has been going through the timelines, kidnapping various Bens.”

“What? So... these are all me?” He did not look any less confused.

“Not these two,” Paradox said, gesturing to the Displaced. “In their universes you were nothing but a cartoon character, but we’re not here about them. You see, you are the only Ben Tennyson not to encounter the Omnitrix. That makes you special and it’s the reason you're being targeted.”

“Targeted by who?! And for what? I’m not special! I’m just a high school student!”

“I haven’t the foggiest but I’m off to find out,” Paradox said, looking rather determined. 

“If someone is travelling through time to kidnap Bens, it has to be Eon,” Ben Prime spoke up, causing Jason to groan.

“His tracks are covered too well,” Paradox started, “If Eon is involved, someone else is the mastermind.” A portal opened up behind him. “Keep Ben safe.”

“I’ll protect him like he was my own... me.” Ben Prime said, giving Paradox a smile. 

“Levity and humor, excellent,” Paradox said, walking toward the portal. “Get it out of your system now,” he said, looking back at them. “If I’m right, there won’t be any opportunity for it later.” With that he disappeared into the portal.

“That guy is way too vague,” Jason said with a sigh. “So... what do we do now?”

“So... what is Equestria like?” Ben Prime asked. “I’ve never heard about it before.”

“It’s a planet full of colorful ponies that have total control over the sun and moon and live in harmony with other creatures right of greek mythology,” Ben summed up.

“Mine’s Asgard after Ragnarok,” Jason added, putting his hands behind his head.

“Wait... your worlds are full of talking, colorful ponies?” Ben Prime asked before bursting into laughter. 

“...Why did we agree to help this guy?” Jason asked, glaring at Ben Prime.

“I wouldn’t have if I’d known,” Ben said as he slumped against the wall. “So you know, those ponies are like family to me, so watch it. I’m not against letting out Rath to kick your butt. I’m not in the mood.”

“You're taking this rather well,” Jason said, looking at Watchless Ben. “This probably all sounds insane to you...”

“I’m still hoping this is a dream,” Watchless Ben sighed. “But when it kicks in, no doubt I’m gonna have a major freak out.”

“You should try being a Displaced, I think me and Ben can agree, our lives are filled with this crap, a lot of it actually...” he said with a sigh. “Wouldn’t change it for the world though.”

“All I know is I’m getting too old for this,” Ben sighed. “Look kid, the faster you come to terms with this, the easier it’s gonna be when ya freak.”

“You’re a big ball of sunshine, aren’t ya?”

“Shut up before I decide I’m not gonna help anymore.”

“Ignore him, he’s a bit of a misanthrope,” Jason explained before a purple colored object was tossed into the room. 

“Get down!” Ben Prime shouted,  tackling Watchless Ben to the ground as the object exploded.

Ben shot to his feet, pulling out his Proto Sword. “Let’s get this over with.”

Eon strode in rather cockily, knocking Ben Prime away. “You're not the one I want, you are.” he said moving closer to Watchless. “The one without a-”

“Flare!” Jason shouted, firing off a ball of fire that slammed into Eon, exploding on contact. The force of the explosion threw Eon out of the building. “You should get out of here.” Jason said, looking at Watchless.

“I got him!” Ben shouted as he grabbed Watchless’ hand. “Come on!”

“Gah!! This is so weird!!”

“Shut up and move!”

“I hate Eon...” Ben Prime said as he got to his feet. He shifted into Wildmutt, running after Eon. 

“Yeah, so do I,” Jason said, shaking his head. He shifted into Four Arms, following after him.





Ben tried his best to keep his cool with the screaming teenager running in front of him, but it was quickly wavering. After about a whole minute, he had to put a stop to it. Ben grabbed Watchless Ben and shoved him into the nearest building.

“Alright, kid, it’s time for you to shape up. The more you scream, the worse off we’re gonna be.”

“Are you out of your mind?!” he shouted back. “We’re being chased by monster me’s! Do you have any idea what I’m going through?!”

“You think you have it bad,” Ben growled. “You’ve only just begun to see the weird crap I go through daily. Now quit your whining and stay focused on keeping alive.”

Before Watchless could respond a red energy blast was fired at them, exploding at their feet and sending them flying out of the alley. Out of the smoke walked Vilgax, glaring at them. “Fear me, Ben Tennyson.”

“I’m not Tennyson!” Ben yelled as he fired an energy arrow at the creature. Vilgax sneered, knocking the arrow away.

“You look like him to me, whelp.” Vilgax sneered again. “For over a decade that little pest has stood between me and conquering the universe.”

“Yeah, well I’m not him. I’m Ben Ten, defender of Equestria and hero of the gods! Now back off, calamari face!” Ben fired another arrow, missing Vilgax’s face. Wildmutt jumped in, standing protectively in front of Watchless.

“As quippy as the other Tennysons, I see.”

“Don’t lump me in with them,” Eon scolded, moving over to Vilgax. 

“Wait, you're a me too?” Watchless asked, looking at Eon.

“Eon has merely been helping me to collect Ben Tennysons all throughout the multiverse, whisking them out of their timelines to mentor them and mold them. Why settle for the Omnitrix when I could possess the watch and it’s wearer, not just one. I can control every Omnitrix by controlling every Ben who wields one!” Behind them, several other Bens appeared, as well as Albedo.

“Yeah... you wouldn’t control me and Ben here,” Jason said, walking over to stand next to Ben.

“Not like it matters, you have all the same aliens as us,” Mad Ben said with an Australian accent, his clothes torn and covered in spikes.

“Heh, actually you’d be wrong there.” Jason said, turning to Ben. “How about we give them a little slice of home, hmm?” 

Ben gave an evil smirk. “Let’s do it. Going hero!” He lifted up his watch and slammed down the core. In a flash, a large dragon appeared. “Snarl!!”

With a call of, “Omnitrix, Requiem,” Jason did the same, shifting into his siren form. He sucked in a large breath before letting it out as a sonic blast, sending them all flying backward.

Benzarro, a strange deformed version of Ben, got to his feet, snarling. “Ben smash!” he shouted as the other evil Bens got to their feet, all of them rushing at the four. With a bolt of light, a portal opened, a figure launching out of the air. 

“Fourmungousaur!” yelled Ben 10,000, transforming into a giant four-armed Vaxasaurian with a nice mustache and beard. He came down hard, sending the evil Bens back from the shockwave.

“Did you know he could do that?” Jason asked Ben.

“Nope, never got to finish Omniverse.” Ben moved over to Watchless Ben. “Get on. We’re getting you outta here.”

“Wait, what?!” But Ben wasn’t in the mood for complaints, grabbing the watchless teenager and placing him on the back of his neck. Watchless let out a terrified scream as Snarl took off into the sky, high above the battle beginning to form below.

Paradox looked on with a smirk, “As an old friend used to say, its hero time!” as behind him two more figures exited the portal.

“Alright, hater-Bens,” said Ben 23, “Get ready to meet Build-A-Guy!” In blue flash, a blue version of Bloxx appeared. Beside him, a ginger haired girl used her own Omnitrix to turn into Wildvine.

In response, Mad Ben shifted into Rath, Albedo became Ultimate Spider-Monkey, Benzarro became Snare-oh, Nega Ben became Gutrot and Bad Ben became Gravattack.

“Well isn’t this a party?” Jason asked, flying up next to Ben. “You okay up here?”

“I’ve got our watchless comrade,” he said back. “You all just try and keep the others off of us while I find somewhere to stash him.”

“Why do I not like the sound of that?”

“Sit down and shut up.”

“In that case, Omnitrix, Atomos.” Jason shifted into his centaur form. He slammed into the ground with a thud, snorting. He charged forward, knocking Nega Ben away from Ben 23. “Pay attention,” he chided him. 

“Hey, I’ve got it under control... whoever you are?” The thirteen year old looked up and down the centaur Jason and his eyes lit up. “Hey, you mind if we get some pictures when this is done? The fans back home would love seeing me with a centaur!”

Jason just shook his head before before moving off to help Ben 10k.





“Going somewhere?” Bad Ben asked, gripping Ben up in his gravitational powers and pulling him to the ground. Try as he might, Ben was unable to keep himself from being forced down, impacting hard.

Shaking his head, Ben snorted a puff of smoke. “That was uncalled for.” The Omnitrix timed out, returning him to normal whilst Watchless Ben was still on his back. Slightly irritated, Ben shrugged off the useless Ben and stared down Bad Ben. “Now, you’ve done ticked me off.”

“Heh, like I’m scared of you,” Bad Ben chuckled as he levitated a building into the air, chucking it at Ben.

Ben shot back an evil smirk. “Oh, it’s not me you should be scared of.” He activated the Omnitrix via the voice command. “Omnitrix, I need... Rath.” In a flash, the human was replaced with an Appoplexian who didn’t look very happy, even letting out a loud roar into the air.

“Ha! Still not scared!” Bad Ben taunted.

“You should be, Bad Ben Tennyson,” Rath growled as he slowly approached his foe. “Because you’re not dealing with Ben anymore. You’re dealing with Rath, and Rath,” suddenly right in front of Bad Ben, “doesn’t mind killing his foes.” He slammed his fist right into the alternate Ben’s face, sending him flying into a nearby building.

“I’m not scared of you.” He got to his feet, gripping Rath up in his powers and trying to crush him. Rath growled as he used his own muscles to overpower the gripping gravity upon him.

“Rath is the strongest of all!” He slammed his fists into the ground, sending out a massive seismic quake at Bad Gravattack, throwing him off balance. Rath used that moment of hesitation to pounce on the Galilean and began to punch and pummel him without mercy. “Do you fear Rath now, Bad Ben Tennyson?!”

Albedo, in an attempt to aid his ally, fired a string of webbing at Rath, catching him in the back of his head. He pulled back, dragging Rath away from Bad Gravattack.

“Oh?! Now Albedo wants a piece of Rath? Rath ain’t gotta problem with that!” Rath quickly flipped himself over and, using his legs, yanked Albedo over to him. This led to a rather nasty punch into Albedo’s face.

Vilgax merely watched from a nearby building, a smirk on his face.

“Vilgax!” Eon said, walking up behind him. “Are you just going to stand there or are you going to join the fight?!” he demanded with a glare. 

Vilgax slowly turned, grabbing Eon by the head and lifting him into the air. “I will do whatever I please.” He pulled Eon close to his face. “And you are in no position to ever demand otherwise. Now open the portal,” he commanded, tossing Eon to the ground.

“We’re partners in this endeavour,” Eon said, getting to his feet. He looked at Vilgax for a moment before opening up the portal. Vilgax reached into it, pulling out a strange golden device. He placed it on the ground, tinkering with it.

“I should be in on every detail of your plans! Especially if they suddenly involve a bomb!” Eon shouted, watching him with a glare. 

“Not just a bomb,” Vilgax spoke up. “A Chronosapien time bomb.”

“You're going to destroy this Ben and his timeline?” Eon smirked. “Nice!”

“On the contrary, the detonation won't even touch this Ben or his timeline,” Vilgax began, “It’s designed to wipe other timelines from existence!”

“Which ones?”

“All of them,” Vilgax said with a smug smirk as he finished the last of the commands, arming the bomb. It powered up, firing a blast of red energy into the sky, which started to expand. Seeing his handiwork, Vilgax started to laugh. “Only this timeline will be left intact, while all others will cease to exist.” He crossed his arms. “So every Ben Tennyson not from this timeline will be destroyed, including those other fools with Omnitricies.”


“But I’m an alternate Ben Tennyson not from this timeline. What-what happens to me?” Eon asked, throwing his arms out. 

“Thank you for your help Eon, your assistance is no longer required,” Vilgax said coldly, watching as Eon tried to escape. The blast expanded, catching Eon just as he jumped off the roof, erasing him. Bad Ben was next to be erased, having been tossed into the blast by Rath.

“What is that?” Albedo asked as his Ultimatrix timed out, starting at the ever expanding wall of red in horror.

Rath was so enthralled by the spectacle, he didn’t even notice that the Omnitrix was timing out. Now Ben was left to stare at it and did not like the look of it, especially not when it consumed Nega Ben. “Whatever it is, ain’t good for any of us.”

In a mad dash away from the wall, Ben Prime, in the form of Astrodactyl, scooped up Ben 23, only for the 13 year old to be grabbed by Benzarro’s wraps and tossed back into the wall. 

Mad Ben’s Omnitrix timed out, dropping him to the ground. “What in the world is that?” he asked, completely forgetting about Ben 10k, whose Biomnitrix also timed out.

The eldest Ben rushed towards the growing dome, slamming his wrists together. “Atomic X!” he called out as he transformed into a starry version of Atomix.  He leaped up high into the sky and punched the wall, causing several miniature explosions to occur. This backfired on him, unfortunately, as Ben 10,000 was also consumed in the blast, as well as Albedo, Gwen 10, Benzarro, and Mad Ben.

“Fuck...”Jason said as his Omnitrix timed out. “Ben, run!” he shouted, hauling ass as fast as he could away from the blast. He kept running, only to be consumed as well.

“Jason!” Ben called out, being the only one actually to run fast enough from the blast. He, Watchless Ben, and Ben Prime all ended up high atop the water tower, the wall of red light still coming towards them. “This is not good, not good at all.”

“Where’s Paradox?” Ben Prime demanded of Watchless, his eyes wide with panic.

“I don’t know! He was here and now he’s not!”

They all watched in horror as the wall reached them. Ben Prime moved in front of Watchless, groaning in pain as he started to fade away. As he did so, his Omnitrix fell back onto the other Ben’s wrist.

“It’s just a gadget! Be the hero!” Ben Prime called out as he disintegrated. Watchless felt a hand on his shoulder and saw Ben looking back at him as he too was fading away.

“You’re our only hope now, Ben. Help us, Ben Tennyson, save the world.” Ben then joined the others. The blast continued, moving across the world before it too faded away. Watchless walked the now quiet town, not sure what to do with himself. A moment later, Vilgax burst from a building, glaring at him. Vilgax gave chase until Watchless was against a small broken piece of wall.

“What did you do?” he asked, making sure to hide the Omnitrix.

“What I had always planned to do all along. The moment I discovered your universe, I knew I had found the means to rid the multiverse of any Ben Tennyson who had ever even heard of the Omnitrix. Now you are the only Ben left,” Vilgax raised his arm, charging up a blast, “And you're no threat to me.” he fired it off, smirking.

Watchless dodged the first, and the second, having run himself into a corner.

“But that won’t stop me from destroying you too.” Vilgax said, charging up the third shot. 

“Ah, there you are,” Paradox called out, opening up a portal behind Watchless, pulling him inside a split second before the blast hit. 

“Run from me for the rest of your life Ben Tennyson, for at long last, the universe is once and truly mine,” Vilgax said with a cackle that echoed throughout the ruined town.




> And Then There Was Jason.... Oh And Ben Too
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Paradox stepped out of the portal once more and paused to look around. “Perfect, right on time,” he spoke as the various Bens followed him through. He and Watchless Ben had successfully rebooted Ben Prime’s timeline and had gathered up the various Bens, though now they had to help two others... “Welcome to Midgard, home of Jason Hughes,” he told the little group. They were in what looked like an alley on a rather cold night.

“Should have brought a jacket,” Gwen said with a shiver, hugging herself and rubbing her arms in an attempt to get warm.

“We’re here to reboot Jason’s timeline, in a time where Jason wasn’t his name.” Paradox moved up to the mouth of the alley, snow crunching under his boots. “And unlike Ben Prime’s timeline... this won’t be pretty.” He turned back to them, his face grave. “How do you all feel about taking a life?”

“Wait, what?!” they all shouted.

“Wh-what do you mean take a life?!” asked Watchless Ben.

“Do you see that young family there?” Paradox asked, pointing across the street. A young man and woman were walking home from the park. A small child, no older than three, sat upon the man’s shoulders.

“What about ‘em?” asked Ben 23. “They look like an ordinary family, well, without their phones at least.”

“That’s Jason, or as he is known at the moment, Corypheus, and his parents. We have to make sure his father dies tonight,” Paradox said, closing his eyes.

“T-there has to be some other way!” Gwen said shaking her head.”There’s always another way!”

“I’m sorry, young Gwendolyn, but sometimes there is no other way.” Paradox started. “If this event doesn’t occur, Jason will not grow into the man he was and we simply cannot allow that.”

“B-but I can’t kill anyone! I’m famous! The public will destroy me!”

“I’ll do it,” 10k said, stepping forward. “This isn’t a responsibility any of you should carry.” Any further debate was cut off as the sound of yelling could be heard.

“It has begun.” Paradox said darkly, lowering his head a little. “I am truly sorry that you all have to be here...”

“You shouldn’t watch this,” 10k said. Darting out of the alley, he ducked behind a car to watch for his moment.

“Heathens like you are to be purged from this world!” a rather crazed looking man yelled, aiming a pistol at Toya. Several others were behind him, each holding a gun.

“Terra,” Toya said softly, not looking over his shoulder. “Get Cory out of here.”

“I’m not going to leave you,” Terra said, hugging a rather terrified Jason to her chest. 

“Terra, trust me,” he gave her a strained smile. “I’ll be alright.”

“Liar...” Terra said quietly before fleeing as fast she could. In an instant Toya sprung forward, his left arm morphing into a blade, which he stabbed into the pistol-wielding zealot’s neck. The others opened fire, while Toya used the dead one’s body as a meat shield. 

“Sorry about this...” 10k said, shaking his head. He decided against using a fusion, instead going with Rocks. He put his hand on the ground, causing a small tremor to occur. The vibrations caused Toya to lose his footing, giving his attackers an opening. They took it, and in a hail of gunfire, Toya lost his life. His body fell to the snow, which was soon dyed red with his blood.

“We still have more to do...” Paradox said as a quiet 10k rejoined them. “Things still need be put right that once went wrong.”

“This isn’t enough?” Gwen asked, looking up for her huddled position, hands over her ears and tears running down her face.

“...Did we do the right thing?” 23 asked.

“Yes we did,” Paradox said with a sigh. “But Jason still needs a little help.” He opened his watch and suddenly they all found themselves on a roof. Down below, a sobbing Terra was clutching an equally sobbing Jason close to her. “We... have to separate them.”

Watchless Ben glared at Paradox. “Haven’t we destroyed their family enough?”

“Ben,” Paradox said, looking at Watchless with a look that verged on tears. “Life is cruel sometimes, and this is how Jason’s life is supposed to go. If we don’t do this Jason will never be the man he should be, who he’s supposed to be.”

“Doesn’t mean we have to like it,” 23 said with his arms crossed, looking away.

“And you shouldn’t, when you start to, you’re already too far gone,” Paradox said, watching the scene below.

“I love you Cory,” Terra said, placing Jason on the ground. She stepped back and began to charge up a spell.

“M-mommy?” he asked looking up at her with tear stained eyes.

“Now, we have to disrupt the teleportation spell,” Paradox said, with a hard voice. “I recommend one of you use Buzzshock.”

Watchless looked down upon the grieving mother, sighing as he lifted up his watch. “Let’s just get this over with.” He pressed down on the core and transformed into the living battery that is Buzzshock. He began to rub his hands together at a rapid pace, building up an enormous amount of static electricity. “Here goes nothing,” Watchless said as he released the electricity into the air above Terra.

“What?” Terra exclaimed as the spell went haywire. She couldn’t stop it as it sent Jason to an unknown location. She stared on in shock, falling to her knees, tears streaking down her face.

“Thankfully the hard part is over,” Paradox said as the group found themselves in a quiet little town, the only noise in the air was from Jason, who was laying in the snow, crying.

“What? We gotta make sure he gets frostbite?” Gwen asked rather bitterly. 

“No, we just have to make sure he’s given to the right people.” he said, walking over to the crying child and picking him up.

“The right people?” asked 23.

“Well, maybe ‘right people’ isn’t the word I would use to describe them,” Paradox said as he walked over to a small house. He placed the child on the doorstep, giving a knock. He vanished just as a woman answered.

“Oh, you precious little thing,” she said, lifting Jason up. “Who left you here, hmm?” she asked as she took him inside, shutting the door behind her. 

Watchless sighed. “At least that’s over.”

“Yes...” Paradox said, putting his hand on Watchless’ shoulder. “Now lets go collect Mr. Hughes and set Ben’s timeline right.” 





“Okay... this is just weird.” Jason said as he looked at the group of assembled Tennysons, raising his eyebrow. Currently they were in the void, and for some reason none of them would look him in the eyes.

“Well?” Ben 23 asked his fellows. “Do we tell him or not? The drama is eating me!”

“Tell me what?” Jason asked, raising his eyebrow, “And who the hell are you guys anyway?”

Watchless stepped forward. “We’re mostly different Ben Tennysons and one Gwen from throughout the multiverse. We need your help to stop Eon and Vilgax from destroying us all.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Jason asked, running his hand down his face. “Alright, I’m up for it, but what was that about telling me something?”

“That’s all on you, dude,” 23 said looking at Ben 10k.

“We uh...” 10k started before Paradox cut him off.

“We had to set your timeline right Jason, by making sure you were separated from your family.”

Jason stared at him for a moment. “I expect you to give me all the details later,” Jason said, his emotions unreadable.

“We still have to set that other Ben’s universe right,” Gwen spoke up, having been very quiet.

“You mean my Ben?” Jason asked, looking at Paradox. 

“Yes... sadly... we must take his parents’ lives as well to set it right,” Paradox said in a low voice.

“I’m not doing that,” Gwen said quickly, shaking her head. “Not again.”

“I’m not either!” 23 shouted. “I’m not gonna be your accomplice in murder, time-man!”

“There’s no way I could do it,” Watchless said solemnly. “Never again.”

“I’ll do it,” Jason said stepping forward. “I’ve made the sacrifice before and I’ll do it again if it helps my friend.”

“Thank you, Jason,” Paradox said, before whisking them off to their next gruesome task.





The group found themselves on a lone country road in the middle of the night. They could hear the crickets chirping from the corn fields all around them, not a soul around for miles in every direction. And the only light came from the crescent moon above them.

“Well this certainly isn’t horror-esque,” 23 quipped.

Jason said nothing, pulling out Gungnir. “Just say when, doc.”

“Are you sure this guy isn’t a serial killer?” Gwen asked, looking at Jason with wide eyes.

“Of course he isn’t,” Paradox said with chipper tone despite the circumstances. “He’s Jotun, there’s a difference.” He turned to Jason. “Jason, while this may be a difficult thing to do, it will also be most simplistic. All you need to do is to make sure that car,” he pointed off into the distance, a pair of headlights moving around erratically in the night, “hits that one.” In the opposite direction was another, much calmer car heading their way.

“What’s so special about these two cars?” asked Watchless.

“Because this is Ben’s beginnings. A tragic one rivaling Jason’s quite well.”

“We like to keep score, whose world gets more horrible,” Jason said with a dry chuckle. He waited for the cars to get closer before throwing the spear. Gungnir sailed through the air, piercing the drunk’s window. In a panic, he swerved into the other lane and slammed into the other car, the sounds of screeching metal filling the air.

Most of the Bens and Gwen turned away at the sight, leaving only Paradox, Jason, and 10k to watch the carnage unfold. After a moment, the others looked as well and were horrified by the sight. The two cars were both engulfed in flames, debris still scattering about. They could hear the screams of the people within, burning alive.

Then a single voice sounded out in the night... from the other side of the cars. “MOMMY!!! DADDY!!!”

They all looked over to see a little girl lying at the edge of the road, covered in dirt and blood bawling her eyes out at the crash.

“Now this is unexpected,” Paradox said, rubbing his chin. “I was not aware of a little girl being in the car.”

“Wait... shh...” Jason said, holding his hand up. “No way...” he said shaking his head. “Paradox... do you know Kat Shifter?”

“Personally, no, but I have heard of her. She’s a troublemaker that one, but she’s doing right nowadays, so I hear.”

“Thats her... she’s Ben’s sister... a fact that Hughes decided not to share until now,” he said with a glare. “Yeah, well, fuck you too, jackass.”

“Umm... who is he talking to?” Gwen asked, taking a step back from Jason. 

“A mental construct within his mind conjured by your shared celestialsapien form,” Paradox answered. “Most intriguing of this turn of events. Too bad that Benjamin is still trapped within the flames.”

“Wait, he’s what?!” Watchless and 23 both looked at the car in horror.

“Then why are we just standing here?!” 23 shouted. “Somebody save him.”

“That won’t be necessary. Watch.”

And so they did. Deep inside the flames, a light began to shine, growing and growing until it blinded them all momentarily.

“And that’s that,” Paradox said with finality.

“What’s that?” Watchless asked. “What just happened?”

“Something wondrous for young Ten to discover soon enough,” Paradox said, checking his watch. “Almost time for us to go.”

Jason held his hand out, recalling Gungnir. The spear flew into his hand and from there he returned it to his cube. “Let’s go already.” he said, clearly unnerved by Kat’s crying. Pausing for a moment, he cast a Sleep spell on Kat. “Sleep well...” he said before following the others back into the void.





“Whoa!” Ben shouted as he popped into the Void not too far from the others. “Whowhatwherewhenwhy?!” He looked around at the assembled Bens (Ben Prime just now joining them), Jason, and Gwen with a blink. “Woah... Jason you sure do drag me into the craziest things.”

“Ben,” Jason said, taking his friend by the shoulders, looking into his eyes. “We... we have to talk after this okay? A serious talk... you... may hate me.”

“Hate you?” Ben asked with a look of confusion. “While I may not completely like you, Jason, I doubt I could hate you.”

“We’ll see,” Jason said, pulling away. He turned to address Paradox. “Do your magic, Prof.”

“Of course,” he chuckled, opening the portal. Nearly all of them went through it, though it closed before Watchless could.

“Wait! Paradox? Hello? Hello!” he shouted out into the nothingness. “I can’t believe they forgot me. Guess I’d just get in the way. I’m not a real hero, like the others.”

“Nonsense, Benjamin,” Paradox said, putting his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “You have proven that inside you,” he tapped the top of his cane against Watchless’ chest, “beats a heart most valiant.”

“Then why didn’t you take me with the others?”

“Meeting your counterpart Bens was one thing,” Paradox started, “Arriving along with them would have hopelessly garbled your timeline.”

“I don’t–”

“Get it?” Paradox cut in, looking at his arms. “No, I don’t imagine you do.” He gave Watchless a smirk. “Ready to join the fight?”





Vilgax smirked as he fired a final blast at Watchless, only for him to be pulled into a portal by Paradox. “Run from me for the rest of your life Ben Tennyson,” he started, “For at long last, the universe is once and truly mine.” He smirked, starting to laugh in triumph. The sound of a portal opening behind him filled the air, bringing his laugh to a quick end.

“Wrong, squidface!” Watchless said as he stepped through.

Vilgax spun around to see Watchless and Paradox step out of said portal. “Back so soon?” he asked sneering, “You should have stayed lost in time with that pretentious Paradox.” He started to approach Watchless, glaring at him.

“Stay back,” he warned Vilgax, displaying his Omnitrix.

“How thoughtful, you saved me an Omnitrix,” Vilgax said, coming to a stop. “Too bad you don’t even know how to use it!” He raised his arms up, slamming them into the ground with enough force to knock Watchless off his feet.

“I just finished  a crash course.”

“So now you think you are a hero?” Vilgax questioned.

“I know I am! It’s Hero Time!” He pressed down the watch and transformed into Clockwork.

“A chronosapien!” Vilgax said in shock. ‘This shouldn’t be happening,’ he thought to himself, he had won already.

“Here goes nossing!” Watchless-Clockwork said as he began to twist the key on his head. There was a clicking within his golden form and his chest began to glow green. He leaned back and fired a massive green energy beam into the sky, which encompassed the entire planet. It began to shrink, and as it shrunk towards Watchless, all the Bens appeared from the dome. They were all a little delirious from the experience.

“That sucked...” Jason said, shaking his head.

“How?” Vilgax asked, turning to Watchless.

“Let me guess, chronosapien time bomb? Paradox was right; once I transformed, I could see the sotobro effect. Just figured I’d suck the ripple back in.”

Vilgax rushed at Watchless only to be tackled by Eon.

“Backstabber!” Eon shouted as he and Vilgax tumbled along the ground. He moved to stab Vilgax, only to be backhanded into the sky by Fourmungousaur. 

“You ok, Ben?” Jason asked his fellow Displaced. “That was a weird experience, man.”

Ben jumped up from the ground where he had been laying with a smile and a “Whoo! What a rush! I haven’t felt like this since I had that heroin bag explode in my stomach back in ‘13!”

“I’m not gonna ask.” Jason said, rushing over to help Gwen, in the form of Wildvine, and 23, who were fighting off Benzzaro Frankenstrike. “Omnitrix, Nightshade!” he commanded, shifting into his Gengar form. He used Psychic to lift Benzarro up, tossing him into a building.

“Seriously?” Gwen asked, looking at Jason. “You give your aliens hero names?”

“No,” Jason said, his voice raspy, “I give them names because my Omnitrix is voice activated, it’s more for convenience.”

Ben just looked at Jason for a moment. “...yeah, not gonna ask how that’s possible, so!” Ben suddenly moved aside as Nega Ben jumped at him. He looked down at the emo teen with a smirk. “Nice try, kid. Ya gotta be better than that to beat me.”

“Whatever,” he said boredly, shrugging his shoulders. He stopped, watching as Ben Prime ran past them. Albedo (as Ultimate Echo Echo), Bad Ben (as Buzzshock), and Mad Ben all gave chase.

“Time for you guys to go!” Ben Prime said with a smirk before Bad Ben shocked him. “Ben!” he shouted, rushing toward 10k and Watchless.

“Yeah?” they both asked, turning to look at him.

“You’re still Clockwork,” 10k reminded Watchless with a smile.

Watchless looked at himself for a moment then ran forward a bit before letting out a massive energy blast. Ben Prime slid underneath the blast, letting the full brunt hit Albedo, Bad Ben, and Mad Ben. Clockwork then ran the beam over the others, taking Benzarro and Nega Ben (who simply didn’t care).

Eon stared in shock as the blast headed his way. “Noooo!!” he screamed as he was struck.

The Omnitrix timed out just after, returning Watchless to his normal state. Ben Prime gave him a thumbs up as he looked out at the result. “Are they all–?”

“Returned to the unsightly timelines that spawned them.” Paradox said with a nod as 10k sailed overhead.

“Tennysons!” Vilgax shouted, his voice full of rage.

Watchless stepped back momentarily, before smiling. He turned towards Ben Prime, taking off his Omnitrix and throwing it at his counterpart. Prime immediately slipped on the watch, locking it back in its true place.

The others decided to power up as well. Gwen activated Cannonbolt, Ben 10,000 crossed his arms and turned into Atomic X, while Ben 23 did a quick little wave motion with his arms before transforming into Electricyeti (Shocksquatch), pointing twin finger guns at the Displaced. Jason cracked his neck, slamming down on his Omnitrix, shifting into Razor. Ben quickly wiped his hand over his Omnitrix, sending the selector into a spiral before flicking back the screen and slamming down, turning into Emerald Streak. Ben Prime went with his iconic slamming of the watch, turning into Diamondhead.

All of them lined up, ready for action. Watchless pointed over his shoulder with a thumb, saying, “This one’s yours.”

“Got it!” Ben Prime said with a smile. Vilgax gave a snarl, charging at them in a blind rage. Prime surged forward in response, the two meeting head on as Diamondhead slammed his fist into Vilgax’s face. 23 went next, blasting him with a surge of electricity. Ben soared down from above, slamming his back hoof into Vilgax’s gut. Jason spun around, slamming his tail across Vilgax’s face. Gwen plowed into Vilgax, sending him flying back. 10k created small distortions, warping Vilgax’s body.

Vilgax let out a grunt of pain, falling to his hands and knees, rather injured from the beating. Gwen smirked, rolling up into a ball, spinning in place, 10k nodded to 23, who smirked, rubbing his hands together to build up a charge. He placed his hands on Gwen, who launched forward as though from an impromptu railgun. Prime ran ahead and slammed his hand into the ground, creating a diamond ramp for Gwen. She used it to sail into Vilgax, hitting him with enough force to rocket him out of the town.

10k folded out of existence only to reappear in Vilgax’s path. As squidface just about reached him, 10k put out his hand and flicked the warlord high, high into the air. On either side of Vilgax, Ben and Jason flew past and then slam kicked him towards the ground, breaking the sound barrier. The various Omnitrix wielders gathered around as Vilgax fell, hitting the ground hard enough to make a small crater. 

As Vilgax feebly tried to get up, Prime turned to Watchless. “You’ve earned it.” 

Watchless smiled before running at Vilgax. Just as the monster looked up, Watchless slammed his foot across his face with a “Kyaa!” Vilgax was knocked out instantly.

Watchless turned around to a chorus of Omnitrices timing out and Paradox nodding at him.

“Well that was fun, despite... some things.” Jason said, rubbing the back of his head.

“That was awesome!” Ben shouted, feeling really hyper.

“We’re done!” 10k announced. “I’ll take the alternate Bens back to their own realities.”

“Allow me,” Paradox said with a bow, opening a portal.  As 10k passed Jason, their watches flashed a blue color.

“Fusion function acquired,” Jason’s Omnitrix chirped.

“Huh... I had no idea it could do that.” Jason said, staring at it. “Anyway, later Tennysons,” he said with a small wave. Ben rolled his eyes at Jason, before offering a two fingered salute to the passing Bens and Gwen. 10k, 23, and Gwen all disappeared with Paradox, leaving Ben, Prime, Watchless, and Jason with Vilgax.

“You people and your watches,” Ben said with a sigh, putting a hand to his head. “I’m getting too old for this.”

“Now you’re just quoting Star Wars.” Jason shook his head, putting his hands in his pockets.

“You two are strange, you know that?” Prime asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Heh, you try being us, kid, I doubt you’d last a month.”

“I’d give it a week,” Ben quipped.

“True, true,” Jason agreed, much to Prime’s annoyance.

“Say... I don’t suppose you’d share some of those scans of yours with me, would ya?” Prime asked with a hopeful smile.

“Not on your life Tennyson,” Jason said, shaking his head

“Sure,” Ben said with a shrug, surprising Jason. “I suppose it’s any young boy’s dream to become a griffin or a dragon.”

“Ugh fine,” Jason said, shaking his head. “If Ben’ll give them, I might as well.”

“Sweet!” Prime said, fist pumping. Prime and Ben put their watches side by side, both glowing green and announcing, “Database updated, new DNA available.”

“Well, here goes nothing.” Jason said, doing the same. “Database updated, evolution feature acquired, fusion feature acquired, new DNA available.”

“You just keep turning out to be and more awesome.” Jason said, looking at his Omnitrix with a smirk.  

Ben rolled his eyes. “It’s just a watch, Jason. All it is is a tool, nothing more.”

“I’d rather praise it than have it turn on me if it becomes self-aware,” Jason said, shaking his head. “You ready to go?”

“I don’t know,” Ben said thoughtfully. “Kinda have a chance of a lifetime here. Meeting the actual Ben Tennyson. Even in all my years, I never thought this would happen.”

“Yeah, we did just fulfill every kid’s dream, we kicked Vilgax’s ass, hard.” Jason said, looking at the groaning alien.

“This ‘Equestria’ does keep sounding interesting,” Prime commented, looking thoughtful. “I might actually like to visit sometime.”

Ben actually smiled and tossed him his badge. “Just give me a call, Tennyson. I could use some help from the original in tracking down Fear one of these days.”

“I suppose you could stop by,” Jason said, tossing Prime a Unitrix core. “But... me and B have to talk about something.” Jason said, shifting into Hodgepodge. “Tata!” he said, opening up a portal.

“Wait!” Prime said, making them pause. “Why don’t you come to my universe to hang for a bit?”

“I love it! What about you?” Hodge asked, turning to Ben.

Ben looked at Prime in shock before smiling. “You know something, in the over five thousand years I’ve been alive, I’ve never done this before. But just the thought of getting to go to your universe, I have no choice.” And then... Ben squeed for the first time in his life.

“Sweet,” Prime said with a smirk.


> And Then There Were Fanboys
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After saying their farewell to Watchless Ben, and seeing that he could still have a future as a hero with the Plumbers, Ben Prime, Ben, and Jason arrived via portal just outside Mr. Smoothie. Jason and Ben both looked around in awe at seeing the world that they only knew of through television.

“Suck on this, boys back home,” Ben whispered to himself as he put his hands in his jacket pockets. “Now this, is a dream come true!”

“Heh... lets hope it tastes good.” Jason said a grin growing across his face. Ben looked down at his own smoothie and tasted it experimentally. He smiled, same as Jason, as they gulped it down.

“Ah,” Ben said as he finished the drink. “Okay, I need the recipes for these. Beats water, milk, and cider any day.”

“I live off mead and wine now,” Jason said, looking at his now empty cup. “Though, that was pretty good.”

“I have bad memories of alcohol... especially after that disaster at Yellowstone,” Ben shuddered. “That was the worst thing ever.”

“Did you destroy your world or something?” Tennyson asked, sipping from his smoothie.

“...” Ben looked away in silence, sipping on his second smoothie, not looking at either of them.

“Why does that not surprise me,” Jason said with a sigh. “You do the most insane things Ben.”

“The strange thing is I never got caught. I still have no idea how I almost set off that volcano... or how I got to Chernobyl.”

“Your world is insane, and this is coming from a guy with an uncle who’s a giant wolf,” Jason said, shaking his head.

“Don’t I know it,” Ben said with a shrug. He turned to Tennyson who was looking at him in a little bit of shock mixed with respect. “You hear some weird stuff out of the Displaced. Remember that.”

“On that we agree. You should really met Gilgamesh, Tennyson, that guy is a riot,” Jason said, with a smirk.

“Giga-who?” Tennyson asked, confused.

“Gilgamesh, the very definition of crazy,” Ben sighed. “He’s nuts, that’s what he is. A mental patient in waiting.”

“He has his moments,” Jason said with a shrug. “Helped me out a lot, I’ll tell you what.”

“I was there, remember?” Ben said as he started on his third smoothie.

“I meant even before that goof,” Jason said, taking out a flask, taking a long guzzle out of it. “Man that stuff is good...”

Ben and Tennyson both stared at Jason in shock. 

“What?” he asked, looking at them.

“Are you seriously drinking?!” Ben asked, looking slightly aghast. “Dude, kids are around!”

“I live off the stuff, I mean actually need this to survive,” Jason said, rolling his eyes.

“You guys certainly are something, buuuut,” Ben and Jason turned to Tennyson, their eyes going wide at the ten empty cups, and the quickly draining eleventh. “Smoothie drinkers, you are not.”

“Well, dang,” Ben said shaking from his shock. “I guess that’s what happens when you try to best the master.”

“Heh, I suppose you're right B,” Jason said laughing a little. “So... now what?”

Just as Jason asked that, a familiar van pulled up to the side of the road in front of them. In the driver’s seat was Tennyson’s partner in heroics, Rook. “Ben! Where have you been? You missed the bi-weekly Plumbers meeting, again!”

“Oh hey, it’s that guy,” Jason said with a wave.

“Awesome!” Ben shouted. “It’s Rook! Cool!”

Rook, on the other hand, was looking at the three highly confused. Especially after he caught glances of all three wearing Omnitricies. “...Ben? What’s going on?”

“Weird multiverse stuff my friend,” Jason said with a laugh. “You get used to it after a while.”

“Um... okay. I am going to assume that means Professor Paradox is involved.”

“That would be correct,” Ben said as he finished another smoothie.

“So... ‘sup Rook?” Jason asked with a smirk.

Rook sighed, dragging his hand over his face. “Magister Tennyson needs to see you.” Rook opened the door then glanced at the other two Omnitrix wearers. “The two of you should probably come along as well.”

“See Plumber HQ?” Ben asked with a growing smile. “Heck to the yeah!”

“These two are Ben and Jason,” Tennyson said getting up, gesturing for the Displaced to follow.

“This is gonna be awesome!” This had to be one of the better days in Ben’s life.





“So, did you guys ever try to find Blukic and Driba?” Jason asked as they followed Rook and Tennyson into the base.

“We did not even know they were missing. We just assumed they were busy working on something,” Rook answered as they rode the elevator down.

“They got stuck as breezies for a while,” Jason said, shaking his head. “Annoying little bastards.”

“Do you really need the language, Jay?” Ben asked, getting a little tired of it.

“Yes I do, I will not censor myself Ben,” Jason said, crossing his arms. 

“Are you two sure you’re friends?” Tennyson asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I don’t have friends,” Ben answered with a shrug. “I have creatures that I stand to be around. As long as they’re not human, I can at the very least tolerate them.”

“I’m not human,” Jason chirped, leaning on the wall. 

“You look human,” Tennyson spoke up. 

“Nah, I’m Jotun,” Jason clarified, a smirk on his face.

“Whatever the heck that is,” Ben said with a smile. “At least you’re not a jerk anymore.”

“Jotun come from Jotunheim, there were two types, ice and rock... now their restless spirits are the windigos.”

“...I’ll stick with Greek. It makes more sense to me.”

“Those guys rape people with no remorse.” Jason said with a look of disgust.

“That was only Zeus, everyone else was consensual.”

“Poseidon raped Medusa.”

“She doesn’t exist in Equestria. That was back on Earth before people stopped believing.”

“This is a very enlightening topic,” Rook said as he wrote down their whole conversation in his little book.

“He’s like Twilight,” Jason said with a laugh. “It’s rather cute really.”

“Cute?” Rook asked, looking very confused. “How is proper note taking cute? Is this something of your culture I have yet to study?”

“It’s just, you remind me of someone who does the same thing. A purple alicorn princess by the name of Twilight Sparkle.”

“Alicorn?” Tennyson and Rook asked.

“Winged unicorn,” Ben filled in.

“A lot of ponies in our world.” Jason said. “I could demonstrate if you’d like.”

“Same,” Ben said as he raised his watch. “Though I mostly stick with my pegasus form.”

“Omnitrix, Stardust.” he commanded, shifting into his alicorn form. Tennyson and Rook both stared at him like that, until Tennyson burst out laughing, even to the point of crying.

Jason glared, gripping Tennyson up in his magic, squeezing. “I could crush your throat with my mind kid.”

“Okay, okay... its just, it looks so lame!” Tennyson said before Jason dropped him on his head. “Jerk...” he muttered, getting to his feet.

“Don’t laugh at me then,” Jason said, adjusting his wings.

“I take back what I said,” Ben said looking at Tennyson then back to Jason. “You are still a jerk.”

Tennyson crossed his arms, mumbling to himself.

“Is he always like this?” Jason asked, looking at Rook.

“No, mostly he’s arrogant, lazy, and a bit self-absorbed.”

“Sounds about right,” Tennyson said with a smirk.

Finally, the elevator shaft ended, revealing the Plumbers’ Headquarters in its entirety. Ben and Jason both stared in awe, as Tennyson and Rook watched on with smiles. “Like what you see?” Rook asked sincerely.

“Ben likey,” he said in awe.

“Bigger than I expected,” Jason said walking around. “Sup,” he said, waving to some plumbers, who stared at him.

“I think they’re surprised to see us, Jason ol’ buddy.” Ben smirked as he saluted a few of the passing magisters.

“Well good, they need more ponies in their lives,” Jason said with a big smirk.

“You two are weirdos. Big weirdos,” Tennyson said, rolling his eyes.

“Keep that up and I’ll bring Hodgepodge out,” Jason warned.

“You mean that strange looking thing made out of all of those animals?”

“Yes,” Jason said, nodding. “That one.”

“Don’t mess with a draconequus. They don’t play fair,” Ben warned them, speaking on high experience.

“Hodgepodge is cool... he’s more of a troll than anything,” Jason said, shrugging. “He mostly spouts internet memes and the more stupid tidbits I have rattling around my head.”

“What’s a meme?” Ben asked, sounding completely confused.

“I’m not touching that.” Tennyson said, putting his hands up. “I’ve had a hard enough time trying to explain it to Rook.”

“I too am still confused by the World Wide Web. Perhaps we could collaborate into understanding together, Mr. Ten.”

“Just Ben, please, Rook,” Ben said with a wave of his hand. “But if you have to use an honorific, it would be Prince Ten. And no, I don’t mess with the internet. It doesn’t serve any purpose outside of educational research.”

“If we’re doing titles, I’m a prince as well.” Jason spoke up, “And a god.”

Ben rolled his eyes. “I’m not ever considering you a god, Jay. Sorry, can’t do it.”

“I didn’t ask you to,” Jason said, “I don’t want people worshipping me. That’s a little creepy.”

“You lost me.” Tennyson said, looking between the two.

“In our respective worlds, gods are real. In Jason’s, the Norse myths are what rule. In mine, it’s the Greek with a little Roman thrown in here and there.”

“The Romans just stole the Greek myths and renamed them,” Jason quipped, spreading his wings out boredly.

“They created some of their own, too, Jason. I don’t go baggin’ on your beliefs, don’t bag on my family. And why are you still transformed?” Ben cocked an eyebrow at him. “What’s the point?”

“I find it fascinating,” Rook said as he measured Jason’s wingspan. “Very educational for the records.”

“I feel like it B,” Jason said, looking at Rook. “Wanna see something cool?”

“Oh yes, please. Show me what it is that is ‘cool’.”

Jason tapped his Omnitrix, shifting into Razor. His body was consumed in green flame and in his place appeared a perfect copy of Rook. “Hello, my name is Rook Blonko, nice to meet you.”

“Whoa!” Rook said as the two proceeded to perform the classic mirror gag.

Ben facepalmed. “You and your changelings. Weird bug-pony things.”

“That thing is awesome!” Tennyson exclaimed as he watched Jason continue to screw with Rook. ”Which alien is that?” he asked, browsing through all his new forms. 

“It’s called a changeling,” Ben answered, moving off to lean on the rails.

“I can’t wait to try these all out!” Tennyson said, looking like a kid at Christmas.

“Just make sure you’re in a large area when you use the dragon,” Ben cautioned.

“Here we go!” Tennyson shouted, slamming the dial down, expecting something awesome, only to get a breezie instead. “What the heck is this thing?”

Ben stifled a laugh. “That’s a breezie. One of the weakest, if not the weakest, creature in all of Equestria.”

“Those two Galvan are stuck as breezies,” Jason said, snickering as his Omnitrix timed out. “Think of them as pony fairies.”

“This is so lame,” he pouted, crossing his arms.

“You didn’t get it from me,” Ben smirked. “I don’t have a breezie form.”

“I got a lot of forms Ben doesn’t, I actually try to scan things, and I usually leave auto-scan on,” Jason said, taking a jab at Ben.

“Because you actually care,” Ben countered with a smirk. “I don’t care about the Omnitrix. I don’t need it except to save my mental state. I can survive on my own, thank you very much.”

“See? Lazy.”

“Lazy? How am I lazy? I’m quick, man. Ya gotta be to survive on your own.”

“As can I,” Jason said, looking at him. “So you’re just lazy. Ben doesn’t do more than he actually has to.”

“No duh. I do what I need to and that’s all. What else am I supposed to do?”

“Make sure all the races have a back up, idiot.”

“I am the backup, nimrod.”

“Thats not what I meant, fool.”

“Enough of this,” Ben sighed. “You rely on the watch, I barely use it, case closed.”

“Well this certainly is unexpected,” Max cut in, having spotted the group. “Didn’t think I’d see you again, Jason. Especially not here.”

“Sup, Max,” he said, giving a wave.

“You know Max Tennyson?” Ben asked, a little surprised.

“I visited Jason’s universe following some Incursean activity,” Max explained.

“They tried to take over the planet. Rainbow Dash used the power of Bifrost to show them the door rather quickly,” Jason said with a smirk.

“That was about the the time when Azmuth detected another Omnitrix and asked me to investigate,” Max added.

“Wow, I still have to deal with Fear. Our timelines are so screwed up."

“Bah, we can deal with whatever the worlds decide to throw at us, Ben,” Jason said, “We’re heroes, remember?”

“Yeah, yeah. Help the needy, protect the ponies, bad things happen, somewhat happy ending. Yay.”

“You’re such a downer,” Jason said, rolling his eyes.

“It’s like watching an old married couple,” Tennyson said, resting on Rook’s shoulder.

Ben slowly turned to glare at Tennyson. “Shut it, Tennyson.”

“Ben wishes he could get someone as awesome as me,” Jason teased.

“Mah barn door don’t swing that way, darlin’,” Ben said with a faux southern accent. “I’d throw myself to Lyra before ever going after you.”

“Is this usually how Earth friendships are?” Rook asked Tennyson. “It seems more insulting than anything else.”

“You should see how Twilight and I are,” Ben quipped.

“Eh, it’s just that me and Ben have such abrasive personalities,” Jason said with a shrug, “You should see us when we really ague.”

“Oh gods,” Ben said as he put his hand to his face and chuckled. “Remember the Ansem thing? Hoo, wow, that was heated.”

“Yeah, I wonder what happened to that guy after we purified the Empire?” Jason asked, watching some Plumbers walk by.

“He’s probably dead,” Ben said nonchalantly as he peered down to the lower levels.

“That sounds unfortunate,” Rook commented, not fully understanding what they were talking about. 

“Eh, darkness cannot be destroyed, only channeled,” Jason commented as Tennyson reverted to normal, crushing Rook under his weight.

“I still say he’s dead.” Ben looked at Max and waved again. “So, uh, question. Any chance we could get a full tour? Is there, like, protocol for extradimensional beings coming to visit or something?”

“You’d be surprised, really,” Max said with a chuckle. “But, I do believe I can arrange for a tour.”

He fist pumped. “Yes! This is gonna rock! I get to see the actual villains from the show!”

Max just shook his head. “Follow me please,” he said, starting to walk away. Ben skipped one step before walking up to Max’s side, still in awe of the place.

“Ya know, I should build some place like this back in Equestria. Have my own underground lair, like a personal Batcave. That’d be sweet.”

“If I wanted that I’d restore Valhalla,” Jason said as he followed Ben, hands in his pockets.

“What do you even do in Equestria?” asked Tennyson as he and Rook followed just behind.

“Usually? Nothing,” Ben shrugged. “I used to be a diplomat, but I’m pretty behind on the times. Being stuck in stone for a few millennia will do that to ya.”

“I do a lot of things,” Jason said, looking back at him, “Normally it’s just royal duties, but things get crazy every once in a while... like going to that high school dimension...” he said with a shudder.

Ben laughed out loud. “You went to that crazy place? HA! Oh, boy, I still remember when ol’ Sombra made that freaky mirror. Craziest thing he ever did, that nervous little unicorn. Though, it was nice seeing the stone age up close.”

“Everypony was a high schooler, even me, god that a was weird place,” he said, shaking his head.

Rook continued to write down everything. “This could make an exceptional novel,” he commented.

Ben chuckled, the euphoria just glowing from him. “Ah, this all takes me back. The good times, the bad times, the exceptionally bad times. Ah, memories.”

“Yeah, though I still hated the Omniverse redesigns,” Jason commented, moving some hair out of his face.

“You’re just jealous Tennyson and I have the better watch.” Ben and Tennyson high fived.

“You both have that stupid iPhone watch,” Jason countered, “Mine actually looks like an advanced piece of technology.”

“No, it looks like you have a worm on your wrist,” Ben counter countered. “It’s not supposed to be obvious you’re wearing the most high tech piece of equipment in existence.”

“Bah, we’ll never agree on this,” Jason said, shaking his head.

“I’m gonna say that’s a win for me.” Ben smiled confidently as he and Tennyson shared a fist bump of victory.

“You don’t even use yours properly,” Jason said, giving Ben a glare.

“Would you if you had my curse?” Ben asked with a daring look.

“Yes Ben, I would. I’d get as many scans as possible so I could bring all of those species back if they go extinct.”

“I would rather fight to keep those species alive and in peace with the rest of the world. The more you use that watch, the more dependent you become on it. The Omnitrix’s purpose for me is to keep me sane and alive. Did you already forget what happened when Azmuth took it off of me? That wasn’t just pain, Jason. If he hadn’t put that watch back, I would’ve died.”

“So instead of just taking a scan as a back up you’d rather be lazy about it?” Jason asked, crossing his arms.

“Did I ever say I didn’t have scans?”

“Does anyone else feel like, what is the expression? A fourth wheel?” asked Rook.

“Can we, you know, have some fun and not listen to you guys argue?” Tennyson asked with a frown.

“Sorry,” Ben admitted. “I get a little heated when others question my reasonings. It’s just better off I don’t use the watch all the time.”

“What possible reason could you have to not use the Omnitrix?” asked Rook, looking between Jason and Ben. “The Omnitrix is a powerful device that even Ben admits he needs.”

“Meh, I’ve needed it less and less, I got magic, motherfucker!” Jason said with a smirk.

“Language, man!” Ben chided. “This is a kid’s show, watch it! Besides, magic is weird.”

“I feel very much ignored,” Rook commented before sighing. “It’s like having three Bens around.”

“Sorry Rook, I get caught up in the moment rather easily, and B, I’m not going to censor myself,” Jason said, letting a multicolored distortion form in his hand.

“Well, if you ever come around my place with that mouth and… that,” he pointed at the ball of magic. “I’m kicking your hind-end out of the castle.”

“You could try, though I imagine it’d be like Hulk Vs. Juggernaut and we’d be locked in place via stalemate.” Jason said, letting the ball dance on his fingers.

“Hulk vs. the what now? Nevermind,” Ben shook his head. “I hate pop culture, anyway, no language in my world, Jason. You do, and Imma kick yer butt. Okay? I don’t need my daughter learning such things from a jerk.”

“You have a daugher?” 

“Adopted.” Ben shrugged. “No big whoop.”

“Yeah, me and my spouses are working on kids now,” Jason said with a chuckle, “Hey, you guys got a training room?”

“Of course, it’s this way,” Max said, turning a corner and bringing them into a rather large room, about the size of a football field.

“Oh, this is good for me!” Jason said cracking his knuckles, “How about some practice, hmm?”

Ben held up his hands. “I’m no fighter, Jason. You know that. I only fight when I need to.”

“You know, I’d love to see you guys go at it,” Tennyson said, looking between the two, “I wanna see what you guys can really do.”

“Aw, why’d do you have to say that?” Ben complained. “How am I supposed to turn you down, huh? That’s just not cool, dude.”

“Ben’s not very good when it comes to his idols, apparently,” Jason said with a snicker, leaning on the wall, “So, I take it thats a yes then?”

Ben stuttered for a minute before slumping with a sigh. “Alright, fine. I’ll do it.”

“Oh good, now we can spend the next hour trying to one-up each other,” Jason said, taking off his coat and shirt, tossing them to Rook, “Hold those for me, I don’t want them getting ruined.

“Don’t go showing off,” Ben remarked, moving to the center ring. “This is a sparring match, not see how much we can beat the crap out of each other.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Jason said, cracking his neck. He got into a stance, watching Ben closely.

Ben took a deep breath and let it out slowly, standing perfectly still. “Alright, Jason. Let’s see what a youngin’ can do. Bring it.”

“Don’t call me that,” Jason said with a roll of his eyes, “It ill suits you.”

He smirked. “Just fight already. We’ll see if that windbag of a fighter actually taught you something or not.”

Jason was in his face in an instant, throwing a punch at his face. It was caught by Ben’s hand just as fast. “Nice footwork,” he commented with a smile. “Still needs work though.” He kicked Jason’s legs out from under him and jumped away.

“Or does it?” Jason asked from behind him, hitting him with an open palm strike. “Ben, I’m descended from Loki, illusions are my thing, keep that in mind.”

“Certainly,” Ben said, rubbing his back. “So why don’t we make things a little more even on my side of things, eh?” He dialed into his watch and transformed into a furry, canine-like pony. “Lupin, at your displeasure!”

“Well now, that is certainly a most interesting creature,” Rook commented. “I would love to get a closer look at it.”

“Not even gonna ask, Ben,” Jason said with a shake of his head. He paced around the pony before darting forward, aiming to sweep Ben off his feet. The wolf-pony closed his eyes, kicking back Jason’s strike. Jason cringed, throwing his hand out, sending Ben flying with a blast of air. 

Ben went rolling, but quickly used the momentum to land on his hooves. “Come on Jason!” he declared. “Show me something new.”

“Ok then, you asked for it,” Jason said with a chuckle, “Omnitrix, Second Sight,” he commanded, shifting into Mewtwo.

“The heck is that thing?” Tennyson asked, looking at Jason with a mix of awe and disgust.

Ben’s eyes widened at the sight. “...Benny want.”

“Later,” Jason said before hurling a shadow ball at Ben.

“Nyah!” he shouted, dodging the attack. “Don’t wanna do that! Okay, maybe Lupin wasn’t my best idea. Gah!” he shouted running from Jason’s relentless bombardment.

“You did ask for this,” Jason reminded, hurling another shadow ball at him, a smirk on his face. 

“Yeah, I did, and now I’m regretting it, so!” He quickly typed into his watch and transformed into his Gengar form. “Let’s even the odds with Shadow, shall we?” He fired a quick nightshade from his eyes, striking Jason’s left shoulder.

“Gah!” Jason hissed, floating back, “Ok, lets up the ante.” He tapped the Omnitrix, shifting into Mega Mewtwo Y. He smirked, darting forward and attacking with a thunder punch. 

“Enope!” Ben sneered, sinking into his own shadow just as Jason passed over him. He popped back out behind Jason and slammed into his back. “Shadow sneak, always goes first.”

Jason reeled before spinning around and slamming an ice punch into Ben’s face. The Gengar staggered back, his smile literally frozen.

“S-s-sooo not c-c-cool, dude!” Ben groaned, slapping the Omnitrix back into his normal form, shattering the ice. “Yeesh, I think I got freezer burn.”

“Sucks to be you,” Jason commented, using bulk up before flying forward with a dynamic punch. 

“Woah!” Ben said, putting up his wrist in defense. “Shield!” The watch beeped, creating its energy shield, Jason slamming right into it.

“Ow...” Jason said, rubbing his head, “Totally forgot about that...”

“You’re slipping, kid,” Ben smirked.

“Or am I?” Jason asked as his body glowed blue and Ben was raised into the air and tossed around like a rag doll.

Ben groaned as he hit the floor. “So…. not… cool... ow.” Just as Jason picked him up again, Ben decided to give him a quick taste of his archery skills. “Omnitrix, bowcaster!” The watch quickly turned into an energy crossbow and fired right into Jason’s chest… dropping Ben ten feet back to the ground. “Oh come on!” he groaned.

Before Ben could recover, Jason lunged on top of him, sword to his throat, “Ha...” he panted, having reverted to normal.

“Congrats,” Ben laughed, “You beat a pacifistic old man. How do you feel now?”

“Not a good as I look,” he said with a laugh, getting up and putting his sword away. He looked down at Ben, holding his hand out.

Ben reached up grabbed his hand, Jason pulled him up to his feet. “Of course the barbarian would win,” he joked, playfully punching Jason’s shoulder.

“I am not a barbarian,” Jason snorted, rolling his eyes.

The two heard clapping from the sidelines, remembering that they were basically a show. “That was most amazing, you two!” Rook applauded.

“Thanks,” Jason said, walking over, “Well I think we should be getting home.” He turned to Ben, “You ready?”

“You guys are leaving already?” Tennyson asked with a frown, “I was hoping you’d stay longer...”

“Yeah well, I have a kingdom to get back to,” Jason said with a shrug, “And I’m sure Ben has stuff he has to do as well.”

“‘Has to’, definitely not ‘wants to’,” Ben clarified. “I hate work.”

“Of course you do,” Jason said with a smirk, “So... yeah I suppose this is goodbye.”

“Don’t worry, Tennyson. If you ever need any help, you can contact either of us whenever. So see ya around!”

“Omnitrix, Hodgepodge,” Jason commanded, shifting forms, “Come on, we have things to do,” he said. Grabbing a zipper that had appeared out of nowhere in midair, the draconequus unzipped a portal. “Ladies first,” he said, smirking at Ben.

“Then why are you looking at me?” Ben asked with a smirk. He gestured towards the portal. “Ladies first.”

“I insist, Jen,” Hodgepodge said, snapping his fingers.

“Hodge, I swear if you just gender swapped me, I’m not getting you a Hearth’s Warming present.” 

He just laughed, patting Jen’s head, “Oh, you weren’t going to get me one anyway, liar,” he said, pushing her through the portal. “Th-Th-thats all folks!” he said, looking into the fourth wall and giving a wink before zipping the portal up behind them.

> Road Trip
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So,” Twilight began, looking at Jason like he was insane, “You’re telling me that that weird human took you to another universe, in which you and our entire reality were erased and then restored?”

“Yeah, that’s about right,” Jason said with a nod, taking a bite of his sandwich.

“You know how utterly insane that sounds?” Twilight asked, giving him a rather flat look.

“Not two months ago we fought an army of killer shadows trying to eat the planet... insane is just how we do things, Twilight,” he countered with a roll of his eyes. “You know... why don’t I get a throne?” he asked, casting a glance around the room. The girls were currently in their thrones, with him sitting in a chair taken from another room in the castle. 

“Ya already got a throne in yer castle,” Applejack snorted, rather amused, “‘Sides we’re here to figure out what ta do about her.” She pointed at Sonata, who was busy reading comics with Spike.

“I say we let her stay!” Pinkie shouted, jumping up and down on her throne, “She’s so much fun to hang out with!” Pinkie bounced one last time before the ground started to shake. The floor in the center of the thrones started to shift and grow, quickly forming into a large table. A 3D map flickered to life across it with the girls’ cutie marks floating over Ponyville.

“Well, shit,” Jason said blinking, “Wasn’t expecting that at all...” He reached into the map, waving his hand around, distorting it a little. 

“Oohh....” Sonata said, floating over and gazing down at the map, “Thats really, super cool!!”

“Uh... getting back on topic,” Dash said, watching as Sonata and Pinkie ‘rampaged’ across the map, “Whadda we do about her?”

“Well, I have been going over everything I can find about sirens and I found out that they need to feed off emotions, kind of like changelings. However, Chrysalis tried to give her some love but Sonata said it was too sickly sweet,” Twilight recounted, tapping her chin. “So, if she’s going to stay here, we have to find something for her to eat.”

“Didn’t you say the sirens had gems?” Rarity asked, primping her mane a little.

“They did, it was what allowed them to feed off negative emotions,” Twilight agreed, “Without it I don’t think she can eat.”

“Well, can’t we just make her a new one?” Dash asked, holding up a talon. “I mean you guys made me new legs, can’t you just make her a new gem?”

“Oh I got this one!” Hodgepodge declared, loud enough to make Jason wince.

“Got what?” he asked, rubbing his head. 

”You just take some of that goo changelings like to spit at everything, put it in some mood crystals and bam! Awesome new gem!

Jason blinked, relaying the message to Twilight.

“Hm... that could work...” Twilight sat back in her throne, rubbing her chin.

“Um... Twilight,” Fluttershy spoke up, getting their attention. “Our cutie marks um... moved,” she said, pointing to the floating images, which now hovered over a rather lonely looking town surrounded by mountains.

“Why the hay did they move there?”

“I don't know,” Twilight started, giving it a hard look, “But it seems like the map wants us to find out. The Tree, the chest, this castle, and now the map. How can we not follow it?”

“Y'know what?“ Dash asked, talking into the air, “There's a ton of room for dangerous adventure along that route. Count me in!”

Applejack nodded her head. “Aw shoot, I reckon yer right.”

Pinkie paused before tapping her chin and breaking into a smile, “Well, I was planning on organizing my baking sheets, but okay!”

Rarity just sighed, realising she was getting dragged into another adventure, “Very well.”

“Oh um...” Fluttershy frowned, putting a hoof on her stomach, “I dunno if I should go...maybe I’ll just stay here with Spike.”

“Awesome!” Spike shouted, having gotten a big foam finger and what looked like a beer hat, “Me and Big Mac have a huge weekend ahead of us talkin' hoofball, and... and trading hoofball cards, and arguing about hoofball stats...”

“O-o-on second thought, m-m-maybe I'd better go with them. In case they need me.”

“Ahem,” Jason cut in, pointing at Sonata, “We have a starving siren here,”

“Oh right,” Twilight said, giving a sheepish smile, “Getting the goo shouldn’t be too hard, but mood crystals are rather rare. Best place to get them is probably the Crystal Empire,” she turned to the map, “So while we’re investigating with town, you can take Sonata up to the Empire and get a crystal.”

“Aw yeah!” Sonata squealed, flying up into the air, “Road trip!”

“Uh... ya’ll can’t really go out like that ya know,” Applejack pointed out with a frown.

“Oh yeah, duh,” Sonata said with a giggle before her body shimmered. She shrunk down to their size, becoming a very aquatic looking pony that reminded Jason of a vaporeon, with a fin replacing her mane and a fish tail instead of a normal pony tail.

“Why didn’t you do that before?!” Dash shouted, looking at her with an incredulous look.

“I forgot,” Sonata said, causing the entire group to facepalm and/or facehoof.





“Everything is so shiny!” Sonata cried in awe as she trotted off the train, her eyes sparkling as she looked around at all the shimmering buildings and ponies.

“Oh, this is going to be a fun trip,” Lightning Dust snorted, watching rather bemused as Sonata pranced around like an idiot.

“Just let her have fun,” Jason said, stretching his limbs out, smiling as Zed padded out behind him. “She hasn’t been herself in, like, a thousand years.” He quickly rounded up the wayward siren, corralling her towards the marketplace.

“And you couldn’t send someone else to do this, why?” Lightning asked, adjusting her helmet, “I mean, you’re a prince, they have people for this kinda thing.”

“Unlike Celestia, I like to do things myself,” Jason said, pulling Sonata away from a food cart. “Not only that, but she’s starving and the quicker we get that new gem on her the better.”

“Well you’re the boss,” Lightning said with a shrug, keeping an eye out for any trouble. “You ever consider breeding your uh... dog?” Lightning asked before flinching back as Zed growled at her.

“Zed is a Baskurr, and yeah I have, but as you know, she’s the only Baskurr here,” Jason said, patting her head, calming the irate Baskurr down, “I’d probably have to go back to Tennyson’s world to find her a mate.”

“So like... does she she lay eggs or?” Lightning asked, eyeing the Baskurr curiously, “I mean, she is a reptile... right?”

“You know... I have no idea,” Jason said with a shrug, “I’ll talk to Fluttershy about it. I bet you’d like pups one day wouldn’t you girl?” Jason asked, scratching Zed’s ears, making her growl contently. She looked up at him, licking his hand.

“Well when you do, let me know, I so want one,” Lightning said, eyeing Zed for a few moments more before going back on alert. Jason gazed at Lightning Dust, a small smile on his face. The pegasus had changed much during her time in his employ. Sure she was still brash and abrasive but she had also cleaned up her act and did her duty well. 

“We’ll see,” he said, looking around the market for the mood crystals, “Anyway, keep an eye out for the crystals, I’m not exactly sure what they look like.”

“Prince Jason!” a vaguely familiar voice called out, catching the group's attention. A familiar crystal pony trotted over, a big smile on her face.

“Oh, hey,” Jason said, his eyes widening with recognition, “I remember you, you were at the trader’s fair. Uh... Citrus right?”

The mare giggled, not seeming to mind the incorrect name, “No silly! My name is Citrine!” She blinked as Sonata suddenly appeared in her face.

“Hi! I’m Sonata! It’s nice to meet you!” the hyperactive siren exclaimed, grabbing Citrine’s hoof in both of her own and giving it a powerful shake.

“Forgive her, she’s just... excited,” Jason said with a laugh, shaking his head, “I didn’t think I’d see you again,” he said, smiling down at Citrine as she recovered from Sonata’s ‘attack’. 

“Oh it’s alright!” Citrine said, regaining her smile, “It’s always nice to meet a friendly pony!” She turned her full attention back to him. “So, your Highness, what brings you up to the Empire? Official business?”

“Nah, I’m looking for some mood crystal to help out Sonata here,” Jason said, patting the siren-turned-pony’s head.

“Mood crystal, hmm?” Citrine asked, rubbing her chin, “I can help with that! Follow me!” she said with a grin, starting to trot off.

“Well, you heard the lady,” Jason said, starting to follow her, Lightning and Sonata on his heels.





Chrysalis sighed as she left the room, feeling much better than she had when she woke up. She wasn’t having the best of days, as both of her spouses had decided to just up and leave, dropping everything to go off on some adventure.

“I never get to go on adventures...” she muttered to herself, grumpily sitting down on the throne. She had cancelled court for the day, mostly due to how utterly boring she found it, and she had the sneaking suspicion that the nobles didn’t like her. She snorted at the thought, utterly hating the thing ponies called ‘politics’.

With nothing better to do, she closed her eyes, allowing herself to submerge into the hivemind. She shifted through the voices until she found one, this ‘ling being one of her harvesters in the Empire. 

‘My child, have you found them?’

‘Yes mother, they're looking for something called a... mood crystal.’

‘Keep an eye on them. Oh, and when you get the chance, tell Jason we’re going to have a nice long talk about him and Rarity just up and leaving me here.’

‘Yes, mother.’

Disconnecting from the harvester, she sifted through the voices again, looking for a very particular one.  Since Rarity had become part changeling, the two of them had discovered that  they could speak through the hivemind, though Chrysalis had to initiate the contact for it to work. This time though, something was wrong. Rarity’s voice was weak and she almost mistook it for just another drone.

‘Rarity? Are you alright? Something seems very, very wrong with you.’

‘Chrysalis! Oh thank Faust you contacted me!’

‘I get the feeling that something has gone terribly wrong. What is it?’

‘Well... you see, the girls and I went to investigate this village and we found that they had all removed their cutie marks. We uh... had our marks stolen...’

‘What!?’

‘They have us locked in a house, I think they’re trying to brainwash us. Chrysalis?’

Rarity didn’t get a response as Chrysalis got off her throne, her eyes filled with rage. She issued forth an order, almost all of her drones dropping what they were doing, heeding their mother’s call. 

“Your Majesty, where are you going?” Pupa asked, looking rather concerned as Chrysalis trotted out of the throne room, her guards falling in behind her. 

“I’m going to get my wife. You stay here. If anyone asks where I am, tell them I went to go rescue Rarity and her idiot friends.” With that, the empress lifted off into the sky, dozens of armed drones following after her.

“I feel sorry for whoever pissed her off.” Pupa turned, trotting back into the castle, shaking her head. 





“I think this is about all we need,” Jason said, hefting a shard of crystal the size of his head, “How much?” he asked, his gaze turning to the rather plump griffon that sat behind the stall.

The griffon stared at the shard, stroking his beak in thought. “For something that big... hundred bits.”

“What!?” Citrine screeched, looking rather indignant. “Thats highway robbery!” Jason raised his hand, silencing any further complaints from the mare. He pulled out a sack of bits and tossed it onto the stall. “That should be enough, yes?”

The griffon greedily snatched up the sack, peering inside of it, “Oh yes, this is more than enough!” He cleared his throat, looking up at the group. “Pleasure doing buisness with you.”

“You have a good day,” Jason said, leading the ponies away, into the market crowd, “Well, that guy was pleasant...”

“Why did you pay him?” Citrine asked, frowning up at him, “He was obviously overcharging you!”

“I have a lot of disposable income,” Jason said with a shrug. He opened his mouth to respond when a loud shout caught their eye. A humanoid figure barreled through marketplace, pushing aside anypony that got in their way.

“Stop, thief!” a blue crystal pony shouted, doing his best to follow after the bandit. 

“Omnitrix, Bloxx!” Jason commanded, shifting into a multi-colored, gorilla like creature that looked like it was made out of legos. He extended his arms, using them to outpace the criminal. “Not a fan of thieves, you know,” he said as he morphed his body into a wall, blocking their path.

The thief skidded to a stop before attempting to turn around, only to be blocked by approaching guards. Looking around for another escape route, they pulled something from out of their cloak. They hurled the object at the ground, creating a smoke screen.

Sonata gasped, looking around. “They’re gone! Oh wait,” she paused, pointing her hoof, “There they are!” Said thief was attempting to flee down an alley.

“Oh no you don’t!” Lightning Dust sneered, bolting after the thief, then slamming into them and sending them crashing into a wall. Before they could react, she pointed her spear at their throat. “Don’t even try it,” she ordered, glaring down at them.

“Alright, stand down Lightning,” Jason ordered, entering the alley, having reverted back to normal. “Well now, lets see who's behind the mask, shall we?” He reached down, pulling the thief's hood off, only to step back in surprise. Staring up at him was Trixie, the mare still in her transformed state, only she looked terrible. Her mane and coat were a mess, and she looked like she hadn’t had a decent meal in months.

“Don’t look at me!” Trixie hissed, pulling the hood back up.

“Trixie, where the hell have you been?” Jason asked, pushing Lightning’s spear away. “We looked for you after the wedding but we couldn’t find you.”

“Why would I want to be found?” she asked bitterly, her purple eyes glaring up at him from under the hood. “I’m a freak! Nopony would want to look at something like me...”

Jason sighed, running his hand down his face. “You are not a freak,” Jason said, holding his hand out to her. “Look, I’ll try my best to get you back to normal, but you can’t live like this, Trixie.”

Trixie stared at his hand for a few moments before reaching up and grasping it rather shakily. “A-alright... I’ll try...” she said with a nod, allowing him to get to her feet.

“Ok, good,” Jason said, giving her a smile. “First things first, we smooth things over with the local guards...” he paused, looking Trixie over, “Then get you cleaned up.” He motioned for her to follow him, walking out of the alley. Trixie watched after him for a few moments before following after him, hoping that for once, things would look up for her. 





“I've got a good feeling about today!” the mare known as Starlight Glimmer stated, looking at the recently equalized ponies that had come into town. “So, do any of you have anything you'd like to say?” They either ignored her or gave her dirty looks. “Aw, pity. Well, let's try this again tomorrow, shall we? No new friends today, I'm afraid!”

“Wait!” Fluttershy, a recent convert, called out. “I'd like to lock them in.”

“Marvelous, Fluttershy!” Starlight said, giving her a smile, “That's the spirit! Party Favor, will you...” she paused, looking around as an odd buzzing filled the air. 

“I told you she was coming,” Rarity said with a smirk, “She wouldn’t just leave us hanging, after all.”

“Who are you talking about?!” Starlight demanded, her calm demeanor slipping away. She already had to deal with this group of meddlers, she didn’t need more.

“Oh, you’ll see,” Rarity said, never losing her smirk. All around them, dozens of black, insectoid ponies dropped to the ground, some armored and all of them armed. A very tall one landed last, looking around somewhat frantically. “Starlight Glimmer, may I introduce, my wife, Empress Chrysalis, ruler of the changelings.”

“Changeling?” Starlight asked, not sure what to make of all of this.

“Are you alright, Rarity?” Chrysalis asked, trotting over to the white mare, looking her over. “You don’t look alright.”

“Uh, hello!” Dash cut in, “We had our cutie marks stolen by these weirdos! I don’t exactly think we’re okay!”

Chrysalis snorted at Dash’s comment but turned her gaze toward Starlight. “You! Return their damn cutie marks, now!”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Starlight responded, standing her ground. “They are so close to embracing true harmony!”

Chrysalis just glared at her, lighting her horn up. “I am so going to enjoy this.” She signaled to her drones, who proceeded to bind the townsfolk with goo, leaving just Starlight.

“You can’t do this! This is our town!” Starlight shouted, lighting up her own horn. 

“I can and will! You took my wife and friends captive and tried to brainwash them into some idiotic friendship cult! You brought this on yourself!” she hissed, firing off a shot, which Starlight managed to dodge. The bolt of magic instead struck a house, which exploded in a rather spectacular fashion.

Starlight gritted her teeth, going through her options. She could obviously flee, this pony was clearly stronger than her, but, if she could equalize her, her followers may stand down. Starlight smirked, charging up the removal spell, only to realize Chrysalis didn’t have a cutie mark. Chrysalis took advantage of Starlight’s lack of action, blasting her into a nearby stack of barrels. Most of them broke open, drenching her in water.

“She still has her cutie mark!” one of the trapped ponies shouted, being followed by more shouting, most asking why Starlight had betrayed them

“Well, isn’t this lovely, you can’t even practice what you preach,” Chrysalis taunted, a smirk on her face. “I believe there's a word for that... ah yes! Hypocrite!”

“Shut your mouth!” Starlight shouted, getting to her hooves, seething in rage. “You ruined everything I’ve worked to build!”

“Oh please, don’t blame me your your failures as a leader,” Chrysalis scoffed, readying another spell. Starlight glared harder, charging up her own spell. Starlight dodged Chrysalis’s spell, casting her own, setting up a blinding light, darting off to make her escape.

“Bitch!” Chrysalis spat, shaking her head. “Find her!” she ordered, sending her drones out. She was so going to enjoy her next meeting with that pony. “So much fun,” she muttered to herself, trotting over to Rarity, her thoughts mostly centered on revenge. No one harmed her mate and got away with it.





“There you go, Sonata,” Jason said, attaching the newly forged gem around her neck with a smile. “That should do it!” 

“Oh, I can’t wait! I’m going to be the bestest singer ever!” Sonata declared, prancing around in a way that reminded Jason way too much of Pinkie Pie.

“I’m sure you will,” Jason said with a chuckle as he walked into Twilight’s castle with Trixie and Sonata following him. “Hey girls! You back?” 

“We’re in here Jay!” Dash called, her voice originating from the throne room.

“So,” Jason asked as he walked in, “How’d it go?”

“First, it was like really, really creepy, with all these ponies with weirdo smiles! Then that meanie pants Starlight Glimmer stole our cutie marks! I thought we were gonna get brainwashed but then Chrysalis came with all her guards and saved the day!” Pinkie exclaimed, having tackled Jason to the ground, jumping up and down on his chest.

“Wait, what was that about Chrysalis?” Jason asked, clamping his hand on Pinkie’s muzzle to quiet her.

“What she means is, I invaded a town,” Chrysalis said from where she was sitting next to Rarity, holding the smaller mare rather protectively. 

“You what!?” Jason asked, pushing Pinkie off, moving over to Chrysalis, “Who gave you permission to do that!?”

“No one, Jason,” Chrysalis said, moving over to him, “Rarity was in trouble and I needed to help her.”

Just as Jason opened his mouth to respond, there was a bright flash and the two of them vanished. Those still in the room stared at the spot the two had stood before Trixie spoke up.

“Does that happen often?”

Twilight just sighed, rubbing her forehead. “Way more often than you’d hope.”

> Argument interrupted
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You invaded a freaking town! Do you know how insane that is?”Jason shouted at Chrysalis, his eye twitching.

“I did what I had to do to keep Rarity safe from a cult!” she shouted back at him, glaring rather hard, “It’s not my fault you went galavanting off to the Empire!”

“I was helping Son...” he paused, turning to look at what looked like a tall human male in a bright red duster and anthro versions of Celestia and Luna, his eyes a little wide, “Oh uh... hey...”

“Oh great, Displaced,” Chrysalis said with a snort, “That’s just what we need right now.”

“Forgive us... we were uh... having a bit of a spat...”Jason said, coughing a little, “I’m Jason and this is my wife Chrysalis.”

“Charmed,” Chrysalis said with a scowl.

The man stared at them blankly for a few moments before putting on a big grin. “Hello, I’m Vash and these are my friends…”

“We already know that they’re Celestia and Luna,” Chrysalis interrupted as she held up a hoof to stop him.

“Just uh... bit weirded out by the whole anthro thing,” Jason said, giving the two an uncertain look.

Vash just shrugged and kept up his grin. “Hey, they certainly beat that manticore I ran into when I first woke up here. Oh and Discord, these two are definitely normal compared to him.” Celestia and Luna frowned at him for that comment and he let out a nervous chuckle before turning back to Jason. “So, what’s up with the two of you being here? And did Chrysalis say something about a Displaced or something?” he asked as he scratched the side of his head.

“You my friend are a Displaced,” Jason said, turning to me, “You dressed up as Vash the Stampede, went to a con, bought something from some creepy guy and ended up here, am I right?”

Vash pulled out his gun and looked at it for a moment before reholstering it. “I might’ve, oh and there was this creepy smiling guy who gave me a sales pitch about the merchant’s stall, is that part par for the course too?” he asked.

“No,” Jason said, shaking his head, “Never heard of a smiling guy involved with the Merchant,” he said with a shrug. “But uh... you said Discord right? You didn’t happen to just seal with away did you?” Chrysalis smirked before Jason shot her a look. “Don’t you dare Chrissy.”

“Killjoy...” she mumbled, looking away with a pout.

“Anyway uh...” Jason paused again, giving the other man a look, “You... you realize you're no longer human right?”

Vash gripped his left arm and his eyes widened in shock.  “Okay, that certainly is hard to believe, but maybe you could explain?” he suggested with a laugh and a big grin.

“You BECAME your costume,” Jason started, walking over. “Vash is not human, he is a Plant, which is what you are now.” He held up his right arm, the Omnitrix chirping as it scanned Vash. “Yup, you ain't human.”

Celestia and Luna’s eyes widened in shock at this revelation, but Vash still wore that grin. He walked over to Jason and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, do you mind if I have a brief chat with you in private?” he asked. Jason nodded and they walked deeper into the library. Once they were far enough away from the others Vash leaned towards him and started to whisper. “Were you serious back there? About me becoming my costume?”

“Yes, I am serious,” Jason said, looking into his eyes. “You're a Displaced, one of Yggdrasil knows how many. There's a Nemesis, great guy by the way, a Pyramid Head, a Jesse and James, a Mewtwo, you name it, there's a Displaced for it.”

“And when you say that I became my costume, do you mean what I think you mean?”

“You are Vash, down to the genetic level,” he held up his arm, “I got lucky, I just bought this thing, doesn’t make my life any less insane,” he muttered, running a hand through his hair. “Also, you should count yourself lucky, normally when a Displaced gets sent to this time period, they get sealed in stone like Discord.”

Vash dropped his grin and turned serious for a moment. “Okay, but there’s one more thing I need to know. If I really am Vash down to the genetic level, then does that mean…” he asked, gripping his right arm, hoping Jason would get the picture.

“Yes, thats what that means,” Jason said, crossing his arms. “You best learn how to use it before you put a hole in the moon.”

Vash gained a horrified expression, staring off into space.

“Hey,” Jason said, giving him a light smack. “I bet you’re thinking about losing the arm huh? Don’t.” he said, looking intently into his eyes, “This world has some insane shit in that, you are going to need that arm.”

“And what if something happens and I lose control?” Vash spat at him. “Would you want to have the destruction of an entire city on your conscience?”

“Would you want a soul sucking demon from the pits of hell stealing the very magic from these ponies?” Jason countered, “Because that will happen and you will need a way to stop him. But,” he said, his gaze softening, “I can help.”

“Yeah, you said that in your message. And if that watch is what I think it is then I know exactly how you would help. But you’re wrong about me needing this arm. I’ve seen what Celestia, Luna and many other ponies can do. But, I’ll hold off on doing anything too rash,” Vash told him as his  face returned to its normal grin. “After all, this is the only organic arm I have left,” Vash started with a chuckle and devious smirk. “I don’t even want to think what alone time would be like with a metal prosthetic.”

“I know someone you could ask,” Jason said with a laugh. “But anyway, hey!” Jason called out to Celestia and Luna, “I need some things, mostly metals, a forge and your best mage.”

Celestia and Luna looked between each other with an odd look. “And what dost thou plan on doing with these things?” Luna asked carefully.

“I’m going to make Vash a power regulator,” Jason said, crossing his arms. “I’d just conjure one up as Hodgepodge but I don’t think you guys want to see another Draconequus at the moment.”

“I’ll let you do that, I’ll stay here with Lulu and Tia,” Chrysalis said with a smirk, “I bet they’d love so see what our versions of them are like, wouldn’t you?” she asked, looking at Celestia.

Vash walked up to Jason and put a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll help you with the power regulator. This is to help me after all. Besides, I know my way around a forge and I’m sure that I can figure out anything I don’t understand,” he told him with a big grin.

“We still need someone well versed in magic,” Jason said, shaking his head, “I’d get Twilight but... she won’t be born for a few centuries...” he mumbled, stroking his chin, “Is uh... Starswirl here?”

“Yup, he’s one of Celestia and Luna’s advisors and their Court Mage. Do you want Clover’s help too, or will he be enough?” 

“I think they’ll do fine,” he said, nodding. “Omnitrix, Grey Matter,” he vanished in a flash, being replaced by a small grey creature. “Well let’s get started,” he said, leaping up onto Vash’s shoulder.

Vash carried Jason to Starswirl and Clover’s study and explained the situation to them. It took some time to get Clover to stop panicking, but after some reassurances from Vash and Starswirl, she calmed down quickly enough. Once explanations were dealt with,  Vash led the group down to the forge area using a slide hidden in the wall. Once they  were in the forge, Vash let Jason down onto a table and gave him some parchment and quills so he could start sketching and explaining what they were supposed to do.

“And don’t ask me to explain this stuff,” Jason said after he had finished with the sketching, “I just... do things as Grey Matter, I don't really understand it all myself. I need you,” he pointed at Vash, “to get the metal ready and you,” he pointed at Starswirl, “I need you to enchant some storage crystals.” He looked up at them with  a little glare. “Well? Get on with it!”

“Yeesh, you’re pushy when you’re in this form,” Vash told him as he picked up the sketch and went to get the necessary materials. 

Vash then took off his duster, pulling on an apron and grabbing his tools. He put them down in a neat and orderly way before turning to the forge with a grin. He lit a fire at the base of the forge and allowed it to heat up for a moment, trying to figure out where to start. He paused, turning to check on Starswirl. 

He was dutifully enchanting the crystals as instructed and was even explaining the proper way to do it to Clover. Every once in a while Clover would nod and follow her master’s example. 

Jason was off in the corner, fiddling with some wires, his little hands moving like lightning. “You know... last time I did something like this, I was making a friend a new pair of legs.”

“I’m afraid to ask, but why did they need a new pair of legs?” 

“She got them cut off by a crazed dictator while saving my life,” he said, his voice getting dark. “I turned him into paste.”

Vash nodded. “I can understand that. But there was a reason why I picked this costume above all the god-like entities that pop culture has to offer. I never want to take a life. I personally believe that it’s not my place to say who gets to live or die, no matter how bad they may be,” he told Jason with determination in his eyes.

“You're a better man than I,” Jason admitted, letting out a sigh. “Me? I’m a warrior to the end, I’ll die in battle, or at least I hope. I have Yggdrasil knows how long to work that out.”

Vash started to laugh at Jason’s response. “Me, a better man? Not really, I just have a moral compass that I learned from a tv show that I watched years ago. I can guarantee you that I wanted to kill Discord when I saw what he had done to Celestia and Luna in their first battle. I just don’t act on those urges,” Vash finished with a shrug.

“He’s actually a nice guy, at least mine is,” Jason said, looking up from his work, “Got himself a rather nice mare. Still a bit of an annoyance though.” He went back to his work, mumbling to himself about things Vash couldn’t really comprehend.

“They have a kid on the way,” he added, pausing to wipe the sweat off his brow.

Vash paused, looking Jason in the eyes.“Who in their right mind would want to have a kid with Discord?”

“The Element of Kindness,” Jason replied. “She reformed him and they hooked up. I’d say ponies changed him for the better.”

Vash just blinked before going back to his work, “Well that’s odd, but I guess that just makes me all the more adamant about my position on killing. If even Discord can be reformed, then anyone can,” Vash beamed.

“Well, I’m done here,” he said hopping off his table. He moved over to Starswirl and Clover, tapping the Omnitrix and shifting into a four-legged unicorn. “You need any help?” he asked, though the voice of Bob Dylan left his lips.

“We are almost done here as well. Perhaps Vash would like thy help?” Starswirl suggested.

“Hey, I can handle things just fine here!” Vash called out. “This just takes a lot of time otherwise the metal will be too weak and break with a stiff breeze.”

“Okay then,” Jason said as he reverted to normal. The Omnitrix chirped, passing a yellow light over Starswirl. “Alright, was not expecting that to happen, but I suppose the DNA of an anthro pony is different enough from the four legged kind to warrant a scan... I should totally get one of Celestia or Luna...”

This caught Vash’s attention and he quirked an eyebrow at Jason. “And why do you want a scan of one of them? If you already have a scan of something like Discord then you wouldn’t need their magic. Or is there something else about their form that interests you?” Vash asked as he slid over to him with a devious smirk.

“I’m married,” he said flatly, “But I scan everything I can. Never know what forms will come in handy, plus if any of them go extinct, the Omnitrix can bring them back from their DNA.”

“I know, I just felt like messing with you. Plus, I don’t know what you and your wife do behind closed doors,” Vash said with a chuckle. “From the sound of things it seems like both of you can change your shape, who knows how crazy the two of you get.”

“Yeah, me, Chrissy and Rarity do get into some kinky stuff,” he said, leaning on the wall with a slight grin.

Vash’s eyes widened as he said that. “Wait a minute, when you say that do you mean… are you?” he asked, unable to complete his sentence.

“Polygamus? Yup,” he said with a nod, “Wedding was awesome... at least after we stopped Ansem from eating the world. Had a bunch of other Displaced there for the ceremony,” he turned to Vash, “On the subject of Displaced, you should probably make a token.”

Vash placed an arm around Jason’s shoulder with a grin. “This token thing can come later, I have a very important question to ask. Polygamy may be accepted in your world, but what do you think are the chances that it’s accepted here?” he whispered to Jason.

“You’d have to ask,” Jason said with a shrug, “But, you need to know something, something very, very, very important,” he looked into Vash’s eyes, a dark look forming on his face. “Elements from Trigun will appear in this universe. Most likely, you’ll have to fight a version of Knives.”

This caused the grin on Vash’s face to falter and he let out a sigh. “You couldn’t just let me have my fantasy of having a group of wives with Celestia, Luna and who knows how many other of the beautiful mares that live in this world. Still, I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks for the warning.”

“Hey, I’m just looking out for you,” Jason said, pulling away, popping up the dial of his Omnitrix. “Now... I have a Plant scan I have to try out and name.”

“Well, have fun with that,” Vash said with a sigh as he silently agreed with Chrysalis about Jason being a killjoy. “By the way, I’m almost done with the metal so we can finish up this power regulator whenever you’re ready.”

“Well, let’s get on with that first,” he said, shifting back into Grey Matter. He hopped up onto his table and grabbed whatever he had been working on, jumping over to Starswirl and Clover. “Just waitin’ on you,” he said, looking at Vash.

“Alright, don’t get your tiny panties in a twist,” Vash told him as he put the finishing touches on the metal and held it out for him. “Now do your thing. I’m curious on how this is going to turn out.”

He gave a little smirk, starting to put it all together, his hands a blur. “Alright, it’s done,” he said, holding up a crystal studded arm band, “Now let me see your arm.”

Vash did as he asked and held out his right arm for Jason to see. “So, this will help me prevent… that from happening?” 

“Yup,” he said, jumping up onto Vash’s arm, attaching the ring above his elbow. “See, when you power up the arm, the crystals will absorb it and activate the dampening spell inside them, preventing any more energy from gathering. You may need to replace the crystals at some point but I don’t think Swirl over there would mind.”

“Of course not,” Starswirl said with a nod. “If this will truly help Vash then I’d be more than happy to offer up my assistance. Though, may I ask why are making something like this for Vash? He has no magic that one would normally need a dampening spell like this.”

“You want to tell him?” Jason asked, looking up at me, making some more adjustments to the band.

Vash turned to Starswirl with a smile, “If this works like it’s supposed to, then you won’t ever have to find out. Now, please don’t tell Celestia and Luna about this. I don’t want to worry them over what should be nothing.”

Starswirl didn’t seem to like that answer, but he accepted it and gave a slight nod.

“That should do it,” Jason said, jumping to the floor and reverting to normal. “Well, anything else you need any help with?”

“No,” Vash said as he looked over the band. “The castle is finished and things have been pretty quiet ever since we defeated Discord. Actually, you could explain that token thing now. That sounded like it was important.”

“Every Displaced has a token, it lets other Displaced summon us. This includes guys who decided to become monsters and psychopaths,” Jason started. “We each make our token out of something that represents us, mine is a Unitrix core.”

Vash reached into his pocket and pulled out one of his bullets. “Will this work?”

“Anything will work.”

“Okay, so what am I supposed to do now? Is there like a magic word or something to make it work?”

“Just focus on it and make a phrase. Something like your mission statement,” Jason explained, “And don’t make it something stupid like Wade, his phrase is just pathetic.”

Vash grinned at him. “I make no promises,” he said before starting on his message. “I am Vash the Stampede. I am a hunter of peace. If you fight to defend peace and the lives of others then I will be more than willing to help. Just call on me and together we will create… LOVE AND PEACE!” Vash cried as he struck a pose. With the message finished, he turned to Jason with a goofy smile. “How was that?”

“A lot better than Wade’s,” Jason said with a smirk, “Now we just have to send that out into the multiverse.”

“And how do we do that?”

“I’m going to change into Hodgepodge, for the love of Yggdrasil do not put my ass in stone,” he said, shifting into an almost exact copy of Discord, though his eyes were green. 

“Hi!” Hodgepodge said with a big grin, taking Vash’s hand and shaking it vigorously. 

Vash didn’t seem very phased, shaking his hand.. “I’m guessing your personality changes with some of your forms, huh?” he asked curiously.

“Nope!” he said with a laugh, “I’m an entirely separate person! He needs someone to help him run Alien X so the watch created me! Anyway, we have to get that token of yours out there or you’ll only be able to do incoming crossovers.”

“What was that?”

“Oh, nothing you could comprehend,” he said, grabbing the token and looking it over. “Not bad.” He drew his lion paw back before punching the air, which shattered and revealed a black abyss behind it. He flung the bullet through the hole, “Bah! I was aiming for a screwball, not a sidewinder,” he pouted, crossing his arms.

“I think you already have enough of a screwball in that head of yours.” Vash said with a chuckle.

“Oh hush, you,” he snorted, flicking Vash’s head. “Don’t incur the wrath of the meme god.”

This just caused Vash’s grin to widen. “Oh please, I bet you skip leg day.”

“Do you even lift bro?” he asked, narrowing his eyes. 

Vash narrowed his eyes at the draconequus as well and the two continued to stare one another down for a while. He burst out laughing and doubled over, then looked up at Hodgepodge with a grin. 

“Heh,” he laughed, giving a smile in return, “You’re alright, Mr. Stampede. Now we have a Plant form to name, wanna help?”

He picked himself up and scratched his chin in thought. “Hmm, well the only two were named Vash and Knives. So maybe something weapon based like Knives’ name would work?”

“Actually, there were more in the manga, Domina, Telsa and uh... give me a moment..” he said, pulling out a copy of the Trigun manga. He skimmed through a few pages, “Ah, it was Chronica.” he said, tossing the book aside, which exploded into snow.

“Okay, so Telsa sounds similar to Tesla who was a famous scientist and inventor who dealt with electricity. And considering Plant is another term for places that make energy maybe something dealing with an inventor or energy could work?”

“Hmm... hows about Gram?” he asked, tapping his chin.

“I like it, it’s short, and is based off of someone who changed the world,” Vash said with a thumbs up. “Now I’m kind of curious what this Plant form looks like. I mean, it is based off of my DNA after all,” he finished with a chuckle.

“Let’s see, shall we?” he asked, tapping the Omnitrix and shifting forms again. Standing there was a young man with blonde hair, decked out in a green body suit. 

“Well now,” he spoke with the voice of Clint Eastwood. “This is something.” He flexed his fingers, looking himself over. “Not very imaginative with the clothes however.”

‘I’ve got to try something,’ Vash thought. He reached out with his mind to see if Jason’s new form had a telepathic link like Vash and Knives had. ‘Gram, can you hear me, or can I make jokes about you and not get you angry? Starting with the fact that your new form isn’t even half as handsome as I am.’

‘Don’t make me shift into my Mewtwo form, Vash,’ Jason said, crossing his arms and giving an unamused look.

‘Hi Vash!’ Hodgepodge called over the link.

Vash beamed at this discovery. ‘This is so cool, do you think you have the telekinesis like Knives? Or no, considering there’s no canonical instance of Vash himself using it? Oh, and hi Hodgepodge, how did you get on this frequency?’

‘We all share the same mind ya tit!’ an irritated British voice responded.

‘Hey, there’s no need to use something so beautiful as an insult. Also, which form is that? And why is it so British?’

“Thats Hughes,” Jason said, shaking his head. “I think its time we got going Vash, me and Chrysalis have to have a frank talk about her decision to invade a town.” He tapped the Omnitrix, returning to normal.

“Okay, it was nice meeting you, and thanks for everything,” Vash said as he extended a hand for him to shake. “If you ever want my help with anything, just call me. I’m a full-fledged Displaced after all.”

“I’m not leaving right this moment, I still have to collect Chrissy,” Jason said with a laugh, taking his hand anyway. “Shall we?” he asked, giving it a shake.

“Way to ruin the moment ya big killjoy. Fine, let’s go find your wife so you can get the hell out of my dimension,” Vash told him, giving him good natured smirk.

“Yeah, yeah,” he said, moving toward the exit, “Nice meeting you two,” he called to Starswirl and Clover.

They waved back and said their goodbyes. When the pair arrived back in the library, they found that Chrysalis had shifted into pony Luna and was trying to get a rise out of the two sisters. 

“You two are no fun,” Chrysalis said with a snort, reverting to her normal form in a burst of green flame. “Oh hey, Jay.” She trotted over to her husband, giving him a nuzzle.

“Don’t think I’m not still mad at you,” he said, stroking her mane. “Well... it was fun.”

“Yeah, it was. Like I said earlier, thanks for everything. It was nice meeting the both of you. And hey, maybe I’ll meet your counterpart, Chrysalis,” Vash suggested with a grin.

Jason moved over to Celestia, taking a quick scan, “Some advice Celestia? Make peace with the Changelings as soon as you possibly can, it’ll do wonders for both your kingdoms. Also, don’t screw up Sunset.”

“We will be sure to follow that first bit of advice, but who is this Sunset of which thou speakest? Or art thou insinuating that we cannot do our job with the sun?” she asked with a glare.

“I’m not insinuating that you suck at your job, what I’m telling you is that, one day you’ll meet a filly named Sunset. You’ll know her, don’t screw her up,” he said cryptically before turning to me. “To get us out of your hair, all ya gotta do is say, ‘Jason, our contract is complete.’” He put his arm around Chrysalis, looking at Vash.

“Jason, our contract is complete. Now get out and stay out,”  Vash said with a big smirk.

Jason smirked back before he and Chrysalis vanished in a flash of light, returning to the Everfree castle. “Okay Chrissy, we have to...” he started, blinking as she ran out of the throne room, moving as fast as her legs could take her. “The hell?” he asked before following her, seeing her duck into one of the side rooms. The guards at the door gave him an unsure look before allowing him inside. He froze, staring at Chrysalis, who was in the process of what looked like laying an egg.

“You know I was trying to keep this as a surprise but uh... surprise!” she said, giving him a smile. “You’re a father!”

He just stared at her before sighing. “And now I can’t be mad at you, god damnit.”

She just smiled, continuing to lay eggs as he muttered about how insane she was.
> Lizardy Madness
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jason sighed, looking out at the village that had sprung up around the castle.

“Are you sure it was a good idea to hire Trixie?” Rarity asked, joining him out on the balcony. She adjusted her wings, looking up at her husband with a hesitant look.

“I think it’ll be good for her. She’ll be able to get used to her new body here and not someplace where people will judge her.”

“I suppose you're right,” Rarity said, noting a twinkling in the distance. “Hmm..I wonder what that is.” She spread her wings, buzzing out toward the object. She returned a moment later, holding that strange scale from before. 

“That thing was still out there?” Jason asked, taking it from her. “I wonder what this thing came from anyway?”

“Perhaps it’s a Displaced token?” Rarity suggested, fixing up her mane.

“If it is, I’m not getting a message from it,” Jason said, turning it this way and that in his hands.





Several Universes over, Drake stood in lizard form over the corpse of a particularly uppity Keter Class AEC that had to choose that day to try and escape confinement. The lizard snorted, blowing tiny droplets of blood off his muzzle in the process. The AEC’s sole talent was causing heart attacks on contact - nothing even remotely worth assimilating. As he proceeded to desecrate the remains further, he felt a most curious tugging sensation behind his navel.

With a last confused glance at his stomach, he disappeared in a flash of light.





“I suppose it’s just a weird scale,” Rarity said after a few moments of nothing. “I’ll be heading to bed, Chrysalis is already waiting for us.” She gave him a wink, quickly trotting back into their room.

“I’ll be right there, babe!” Jason called with a grin on his face. He turned on his heel, starting to head inside.

He was interrupted, however by a sudden flash of light and the curious feeling of something large and scaly smashing him into the floor with a strangely distorted, “Oh fuck!” issuing from, presumably, its mouth.

“Get the fuck off me!” Jason hissed, pushing at whatever the hell it was.

The thing obliged, rolling off and revealing a demonic - and quite nauseous - looking giant lizard-beast that promptly regurgitated an improbable amount of blood and acid onto the balcony, melting a hole straight through. It shook its head and squinted at Jason, “Oi... where the HELL am I?”

“My castle. I take it this is your scale?” Jason asked, holding it up.

“Yeah. So, who’re you?”

“I’m Jason Hughes, and you are?” Jason raised his eyebrow, looking the creature over.

The creature impossibly shifted into a human being with several reptilian features, including a swishing tail with wicked looking scale-shaped blades.

“I’m Drake Long, nice to meet you.” Drake went in for a handshake, stepping carefully around the puddle of vomit melting through the floor.

“Okay... may I ask what the fuck you are?” Jason asked, eyeing the man’s hand warily. 

Drake shrugged. “Human... ish. I just have some... very interesting DNA that just so happens to be more reptilian than anything else. Or at least, that’s what the doctors told me. Don’t worry, I’m not about to give you some weird disease or anything. Even though I can spit clouds of hallucinogenic chemicals...” Though Drake whispered the last part to himself, Jason still heard it.

“Yeah, don’t do that,” Jason said glaring at him. “I take it you didn’t even know you had a token?”

“Huh? No, I did... uh, you heard the message right? Sometimes it doesn’t play, I think... I think I messed it up a little when I made it. I think the message only plays once, so... yeah.” More shrugs, this time with an additional tail flick that carved a small gouge into the stone floor.

“You know, you picked a great time to show up,” Jason sighed, running a hand down his face.

“What’s happening?” Drake wondered, idly gouging patterns with his tail and toe claws.

“My wives are inside waiting for me,” Jason deadpanned with a glare.

“Oh. Uh... I have no idea what to say to that. Sorry.” Drake was already halfway to the railing, planning on finding someone else to bother. “I’ll uh... I think I’ll just leave for now.”

“Hey, I’m not letting you out of my sight lizard boy.”

Drake glared, “Look man, you got multiple women waiting for your scruffy ass. I am not about to intrude into someone else’s sexytime like that. Other than being incredibly awkward, I am also in a relationship with someone who can set me on fire from the inside out. Ergo, good day, have your sex, I’m going to go find someone else to talk to.” With that, Drake leapt from the balcony, sprouting a pair of wings and taking off into the sky with the resounding thunderclap of Mach 3 flight.

“Oh hell no!” Jason said, jumping off the balcony and shifting into Slipstream. He put it into high gear, following after him.

Drake noted the pegasus following him and, after slowing down to properly process the fact that a small gray pony was catching up to Mach 3 flight, shifted and grew, growing to just shy of a thousand feet long and becoming a massive, winged snake flying at Mach 4.

“I said I’m not letting you out of my sight!” Jason shouted, still keeping up with him.

“You asshat! Aren’t your wives waiting on your stupid ass!?” Drake took things up a notch once more, vents opening up along his sides as his serpentine form grew a rainbow colored crest. “Let’s see how you deal with speeds like this!”

An earth shattering roar erupted from Drake’s position, flames blasting from the vents and the edges of his wings, as the massive snake blasted from Mach 4 straight to Mach 10, leaving behind a crimson shockwave and a massive trail of smoke.

“Oh come on!” Jason sneered, glaring, “Ok think... um... Omnitrix, XLR8!” He dropped to the ground as he shifted, starting to race after the beast. “Hey!  I’m not leaving you alone!” he shouted up at him, still able to keep up.

“Tch. He won’t leave me alone, fine. Then how about....” Without warning, Drake dove, wings disappearing and flames sputtering out. Shrieking out of the sky, the massive snake managed to accelerate a tiny bit further and thus slammed into Jason ten seconds later with all the force of 61869999300 Newtons, destroying the ground and Everfree forest for almost a mile in every direction due to the shockwave.

XLR8 was gone at that point, though there was a strange green substance in the crater. It sloshed together, raising up to form Goop. “Oh thank Yggdrasil for the quick change.” 

The basilisk was gone as well, though the bottom of the crater was filled with disgustingly foul reddish orange slime. As Goop looked on, the small lake of slime roiled and quivered, compressing back into the giant winged snake he had been chasing. 

Except this time it was on fire.

“Seriously bro?” Jason asked with a sigh, looking at him.

“SERIOUSLY.” Crackling flames only added to the ominous quality of Drake’s triple-toned hiss.

“I could just send you home ya know,” Jason said, watching him closely.

“HOME IS FULL OF BOREDOM. MY GIRLFRIEND IS ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE PLANET FROM WHERE I WAS, I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF A BASE CAMP WITH NOTHING TO DO OTHER THAN GUARD A STUPID TIGER THAT GAVE PEOPLE HEART ATTACKS, AND I JUST KILLED IT A FEW MINUTES AFTER IT BROKE OUT OF ITS CAGE AND KILLED ALL MY TEAMMATES.” The quetzalcoatl shook itself and compressed back into Drake.

“So if you could kindly step off and get back to your spousal duty, I’m gonna go find something to eat. You guys have donuts on this planet?”

“I am not letting you roam free in my world,” Jason said, reverting to normal. He clenched his fist, starting to conjure up an Ultima spell. “What about that do you not understand?”

“And I’m perfectly safe as long as nothing tries to kill me. Have some faith in the shape shifting lizardman, why don’t you? C’mon man, you got wives waiting for you.” Drake ignored the Ultima and strode off, ignoring the tiny chunk of biomass calling to him from under a rock.

“I said no,” Jason repeated, holding his arm out, “Don’t make me force you to leave.”

“Oh please, that ain’t gonna do jack shit against me, pal. But whatever. It’s your world, ne?” Drake shoved his hands into his bright orange jumpsuit pockets, idly scratching at his neck with his tail.

‘I think I should get more outfits than just this stupid jumpsuit... maybe Rarity could help with that... haven’t seen her in a few weeks, but that should be fine enough...’

“Yeah, I doubt this won’t hurt you. Ultima packs a hell of a punch.”

Drake shrugged and meandered toward the edge of the crater, noting the wave of destruction stretching from the impact point, “Holy shit... I knew Isaac Newton was the deadliest son of a bitch in space... but damn, even planetside he’s deadly.”

“And I’m going to have to clean it up, thanks a lot asshole,” Jason growled at him.

“Hey, you’re the one who followed the guy that just wanted to explore the planet for a few hours. Granted, I coulda handled that better... stupid short temper... but still. You don’t just leave your spousal duty to follow one dude.” Drake paused, hand on his chin, “At least... I think that’s how it goes...”

“Crap like this happens more often than you know,” Jason said with a sigh, “I can’t in all good conscience let you just run around unsupervised.”

The lizardman stopped and stared, “Ho- are you one of those hero types!?” The expression on his face was a mixture of surprise and a tiny bit of respect.

“Depends on who you ask really,” Jason shrug, “Why do you ask?” he looked the lizardman over, frowning a little.

“Not a lot of people like that back home. Most of the planet’s stuck in pragmatism and anti-heroism. Me n’ Eve are about the only heroes we got... and I’m not exactly a hero considering how many people I kill due to collateral.” Drake muttered.

“Jason if you had to deal with a Displaced you could have just said so,” Rarity said as she landed next to him, looking at Drake, “Hello there, my name is Rarity, a pleasure.”

Drake stared at the pony with wings, uncomfortably noting the familiar hairstyle. “Uh... hey, I’m Drake. Drake Long, shape shifting lizardman and occasional hero of the day; at your service.” He bowed theatrically, arms sweeping out and tail lashing.

“Quite the gentlecolt,” Rarity said with a giggle.

“You act like you’ve never seen a pony before,” Jason chuckled. 

Drake scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, “Ah heh, that’s because I haven’t. Everyone back home was just a human with tacked on parts like mine... except more unicorn horns and feathery wings... some of the D-Types had horns too... and the Princesses... and Doc Twilight... had wings and a horn... there were tails too, but none as amazing as mine.”

“I never want to go to your world,” Jason said with a shudder, “That’s way too close to the uncanny valley,”

“To each their own... so, back to my other question, do you guys... have donuts?”

“Of course we have donuts you fool, why the hell wouldn’t we?”

“Jeez, just asking, jerk.” Drake folded his arms, “Ah, Rarity, please don’t call me a gentlem- colt... I’m not. I’m just very... how did the on-site psychiatrist put it before her mind broke under the strain...?” He tapped his chin and trailed off, lightly slapping the back of Jason’s head with the flat side of his tail.

“Stop that,” Jason said, slapping the tail away. The Omnitrix chirped, taking a sample from Drake’s tail.

“Uh... what was that? What was that noise?” Drake twitched, slightly paranoid about strange noises.

“The Omnitrix took a sample of your DNA,” Jason said, popping the dial of the Omnitrix up, browsing through the selection for the new form.

“Oh shit. If you’re doing what I think you’re doing... uhh...” Drake seemed inordinately nervous as Jason scrolled through the forms, subtly stepping between Jason and Rarity.

“And what do you think I’m doing?” Jason asked, not looking up from the watch. “Ah here we go, my sample of whatever the hell you are.” Jason peered down at the silhouette, which was reptilian. 

“Well... it looks like you’re planning on trying to do something with that sample. Uh... my DNA doesn’t exactly... play nicely though...”

Jason just smirked, pressing down on the dial. He shifted forms, this time into a large Komodo Dragon-like armored lizard with an electric blue mane. “Well, I certainly feel stronger.” 

“Ohhhh dear. Better hope your mental defences are up to par... My... species... I guess? has a four way split consciousness and three of them are going to be actively fighting you for control for a while until you stabilize....” Drake warned, slowly backing off with Rarity behind him.

“I already have two other personalities in my head,” Jason just rolled his eyes, “I’m pretty sure I’ll be fine.”

“No fourth? Oh man you’re screwed... if you don’t have a fourth... it automatically locks into an insane bloodrage. And that fourth part is always the strongest part.” Drake backed up further, “Rarity, you might want to run, because if Jason loses control, I’m the only one who can stop him.”

“I have confidence in him, he’s had a history of... bloodrages after all,” Rarity said, shaking her head.

“Does that include a maddening desire to kill and devour every sentient being in the Universe?”

“Erm, perhaps not...” Rarity said with a nervous chuckle.

“We’re boned,” Drake muttered. “Okay, Jason, you’re gonna wanna stay calm, because the bloodrage is gonna hit hard and hit fast. It’s most likely gonna latch onto Split 3, the predator instincts. One of your personalities was probably funneled in there, so be wary if he/she starts acting more homicidal than normal.”

“Bah! As if simple blood rage would take me,” Hughes spoke through Jason, sounding rather confident.

“Hey, who’s that new guy? The lizardy one with the red eyes.... oh dear. Best wish us luck readers, this won’t end well at all.” Hodgepodge spoke next before Jason howled in pain, shaking his head.

“And there it is, folks. Rarity, you may want to run and/or fly as fast as you can. And I mean haul ass. Your life may literally depend on it.” Drake never took his eyes off of the new lizard, hands already lengthening into the talons of 682.

“Do try not to hurt my husband,” Rarity said before taking to the air, flying back to the hive.

“Tch. We’re annoyingly resilient, us S’xeituus. He’ll be fine.”

Jason growled flickering his tail, his eyes pure red. 

“Oh fuck... red eyes, check. Cross shaped pupils... thankfully not yet...” Drake muttered, shifting into full lizard form, standing a good two feet taller than Jason. “Thank God we’re already in a destroyed crater...”

Jason roared before barreling at Drake, biting into his forearm. He shook his head much like a dog to maximize damage. Drake roared in annoyance, blasting Jason and carving massive trenches into the blue lizard’s armor. Shaking off the bleeding, Drake ceded control over to SCP 682, eyes changing from emerald green to blazing orange and body growing more powerful.

Jason got to his feet, snarling in rage. He let out a roar, causing a blast of intense wind to smack into the the larger lizard.

“Tch. You’ll need to do better than that to best me, whelp!” Out came the organic rockets, explosive shards of bone firing from 682’s open shoulders and smashing Jason through whatever rubble lay in the area, improbably arcing around to blast the berserk reptile from multiple directions.

Jason howled before shielding himself with a dome of ice. He burst out of it a moment later, pouncing on 682, ripping into his neck and tearing large chunks of flesh and muscle out.

“WAHAHAHA! MUCH BETTER! THAT’S IT! FIGHT LIKE THE BEAST YOU ARE, YOU BLOODRAGE FILLED WASTE OF REPTILIAN GENETICS SIRED BY THE FILTHIEST LIZARD WHORE IN THE SLIMIEST BROTHELS OF LIZARD-TOPIA!” 682 gave as good as he got, the crater running red and green from the strange mix of blood and acid each carried in their veins.

Jason bit into the elder’s stomach, 682’s innards starting to freeze and shatter like they had been exposed to liquid nitrogen. 682 roared in pain as blue and orange liquid spurted from the wound, unfreezing the organs as they regenerated. The oddly colored antifreeze dyed the ground further, now making the crater seem like a crude(r) rendition of Jackson Pollock’s distinctive art style.

Jason hissed, letting out a roar that shook the very ground from the sheer force.

“You call that a roar!? THIS IS A ROAR YOU INSOLENT BASTARD CHILD OF A DISGRACED GECKO WHORE!” What followed wasn’t so much a sound so much as it was a lethal application of force in a radial area that forced all the air for a several hundred meter radius away, creating a temporary vacuum. Such was the volume that even the far away Ponyville heard it, all of its inhabitants wondering what that terrifying sound was.

Jason got to his feet, snarling in anger. He pounced again, wrapping his tail around 682’s neck, slashing his face with his claws. SCP 682 just laughed, easily ripping through the un-bladed, finned tail with his own red hot tail blades and leapt into the air, wings ripping from his sides as he ceded control to AEC 682 and shifted into a far more agile, though now slightly smaller than Jason, size.

Jason recovered quickly, his tail healing almost instantly. “Ok let me try something,” Hodgepodge said, worming his way into the drivers seat. Jason’s eyes turned plaid, as did his mane. “Oh goody it worked, but the body still needs some work... hmm...” 

“Plaid? Really? What a horrible choice of colors.” AEC muttered, still wary but not exactly prepared to attack.

“Oh hush you, don’t question me, I’m not all there,” Hodgepodge thought for a moment  before their body shifted, taking on the characteristics of various dinosaurs. “There! Much better~!”

‘AEC, tell Jason that his other voices are insane, will you?’ Drake muttered from inside his mindscape.

‘You do it, hatchling.’

With that, Drake found himself back in the driver’s seat, body shifting to a well balanced mix of power and speed. “Okay seriously, that has got to be the weirdest damn S’xeituu form I’ve ever seen. And I can turn inorganic at will, so that’s saying something.”

“What? Not a fan of dinosaurs? I thought it was appropriate as Jason wanted to be a paleontologist before coming here.”

“I like dinosaurs just fine. They taste great when they’re still futilely trying to claw your throat out. I ate the last dinosaur alive three weeks ago after it thought it could take on the Emperor of Reptiles, a.k.a. ME.” Cue proud pose.

“Meh, thats Godzilla’s title.”

“Like hell it is! Godzilla’s King of the Monsters!” Drake yelled.

“I’ve heard it both ways,” Hodgepodge taunted with a smirk.

“Che! Don’t make me laser-eyes you into extinction, Triassic Man.”

“Oh please, if I were in my true form I’d turn you into a chihuahua, so you can bark all you want doggy.”

“Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!” With one last huff, Drake dropped back to the ground, back in his human form. “You gonna change back now?”

“Nah, I want to stretch my legs. Yes, screw you too Hughes. Omnitrix, Hodgepodge.” he ordered, shifting into his corresponding form. “There we go! Wait, the italics are still on give me a moment.” He looked up, commandeering his author’s mouse cursor.  He moved it up, clicking off the italics button. “Testing, testing. Ah there we go, normal text!”

“... okay then. So, donuts? I don’t have any cash though, so... wanna help a brother out?” Drake asked, looking up at the draconequus.

“Sure! But first,” he snapped his fingers, fixing the crater, though it kept all the weird colors. “There, soo... Donut Joe’s it is!” A moment later they were in said establishment, startling the patrons. “Well? Order your donuts already.”

“Lesseeeeee... Three chocolate, two glazed, one pink frosted sprinkled donut... and whatever the hell a cronut is.” Drake ordered, tail wagging back and forth.

“You got it!” Joe said, quickly gathering up the donuts, bagging them. “Here ya go, that’ll be five bits.”

“Huh. Lot cheaper than they’d have been back home... Oh wait, shit,” Drake turned to Hodgepodge, “Uhhh you’re paying for this right?”

Hodgepodge rolled his eyes, pulling the bits from behind Drake’s ear. “Here you go, kind sir,” he said placing them on the counter. “Come on, let’s get back to the village.” He snapped his fingers, teleporting them back to the Everfree village. “Well, ready to go home?”

“Nah, I kinda still need to talk to Jason about that S’xeituu DNA he scanned. Know the dangers and such, y’know?” Drake stuffed a donut into his mouth, rapidly consuming the donut by unhinging his jaw and swallowing it whole.

“Oh fine, also, thats a really lame name,” Hodgepodge said, tapping the Omnitrix, switching back to Jason.

“Okay... my head hurts a lot...” Jason said with a groan.

“Serves your fool head right for selecting that damn sample in your fancy watch, idiot.” Drake slapped the back of Jason’s head again, this time with more force.

“Shut it,” Jason said, growling at him.

“Honestly, not even asking about the dangers of transforming into an unknown race? That’s just stupid.” Drake sighed, “Well, might as well get comfortable, because this is gonna be a long talk about your new form.”

“Turning into unknown races is kinda my thing,” Jason said with a laugh, “Besides, I’m Jotun, I can handle it.”

“If you turned into a S’xeituu where there were more sentient beings than just me and Rarity, you would have fallen even faster and the streets woulda run red with chunky pony salsa. Look man, us S’xeituu? And believe me, it’s just us. Thank god. Anyway, from what I know about myself and my... race, I guess... well, you know the four way split consciousness thing... I guess I should start at the beginning... Okay, this is gonna sound insane, but I’m actually not the first mind to inhabit this body. SCP is; he’s the Predator Instinct part of my split. He came first, back when the S’xeituu were an actual race in some Universe. Then came AEC, the Paternal Instinct. The Bloodrage manifested after a particularly intense bout of emotion. Unfortunately, the Sapient Mind, me, didn’t naturally manifest, since those only manifested upon adulthood and the moment this body reached adulthood, the Universe ended on SCP. Flash forward an indeterminable amount of time, and we get this one guy who seals the quantum mess that is the body of a S’xeituu into a patch of fabric. The same one sewn to the back of my shirt. I buy that patch, I get sent to Equestria, and I get turned into the main facet of the mind of a beast that literally survived the end of a Universe. That’s my start, so that’s how I know about my race. You with me so far?”

“Yeah, I got ya,” Jason said with a nod.

Drake nodded as well and continued, “Right well, the S’xeituu are not a natural species. We’re too good at unconsciously adapting to everything to even remotely resemble anything living. Hell, we can actually switch between being organic and inorganic. I literally adapted to a laser by turning to glass once.”

“Sounds like my race. The first Jotun, Ymir was the first being in this universe. The Jotun have been around for so long that we laugh in the face of biology.”

“Huh. That’s actually pretty cool. Anyway, the creators of the S’xeituu were the ones known as the Aosif. Brilliant geneticists, the lot of them, S’xeituus wiped them out for being horrifyingly cruel slavers, warmongers, and bioweapon manufacturers. The S’xeituu were an old race. Billions of years of evolutionary stagnation, since they were already at the top of the ladder. Thing is, nothing can kill a S’xeituu without complete disintegration of all of its cells. Yes, even the dead ones that flake off every second. As for why this is a problem, the consciousness of a S’xeituu is spread out through its cells, with a connection that transcends spacetime. Ergo, if almost all of a S’xeituu is destroyed, the largest clump of dead cells will reanimate and start consuming raw materials until it regrows its body in full.” Drake toyed with a random twig, waving it around as if it were a lecture pointer.

“Go on...”

“Right. So, after that first transformation, you should be fine. The Bloodrage only really manifests upon the first transformation; after that, it’s only if your mental defences are shattered while you’re pissed off. Uh, be warned though, S’xeituu DNA is notoriously expressive, so you may end up gaining another voice in your head.” More donuts were consumed as Drake spoke. “The abilities I have are exclusive to me, due to the runic system carved into my lizard form. Those mess with my DNA and store the DNA of the things I choose to assimilate, allowing me to use their abilities. They’re carved into my soul, apparently, so unless you copy them exactly onto your soul, you’re not gonna get anything beyond the standard reactive adaptation and immortality.”

“I’m already sorta immortal,” Jason said, leaning against a tree.

“Oh, well, being a S’xeituu would make you even more immortal, probably. So... I’m pretty sure that’s about all you need to know about the S’xeituu... unless you want to know culture and stuff. For a race of immortal beings with anger problems, there was a surprisingly rich culture, even without a lot of the cultural items present in most societies.”

“Uh huh... whatever you say lizardman, all I know is you gave me yet another voice in my head.” Jason sighed, hanging his head.

“Maybe you just shouldn’t have scanned me, then,” Drake muttered, looking around at the village. “So what else is there to do around here?”

“This is normal Equestria, not your weird human place, what do you think?”

“I’m gonna guess that there aren’t video games or anything present in twenty first century earth.” More mutters as the lizardman drew patterns in the dirt.

“Well... there are but they’re all mine,” Jason said, watching him, with a raised eyebrow.

“What do you have?”

“A PS3.”

“Damn. Haven’t had one of those in a long time...”

“Meh, not a whole lotta power out here.”

“So, what games? Anything good?”

“My whole collection. I went home and cleared my room out.”

A quick facepalm from Drake. “That’s not saying much.”

“Or is it?”

Flat stare. “Nope.” Drake sighed and dropped his face into his hands, “If you’re not gonna let me game, then I guess I’ll just... go home. Ugh. Snow and corpses, here I fucking come.”

Drake looked up, “Uh... how the fuck do I get home again?”

“Drake, our contract is complete,” Jason said simply.

“The fuck was that suppo-Ohhhhhhh shiiiiiiiiii......” And thus the lizardman disappeared into a swirling portal of madness, spewing obscenities the whole way down.

“So... coming to bed?” Rarity asked, batting her eyes rather suggestively. 

Jason just smirked, scooping her up into his arms, “What do you think?” he asked, heading back toward the castle, a bit of a spring to his step. Once they got there however, they found that Chrysalis was no where to be found.

"She must have gone to check on the eggs," Rarity said, flying over to the bed.

"Should we wait for her?" he asked. The two of them exchanged a glance before smirking.

"Nah.” Just as they got into bed, Chrysalis came trotting into the room, three eggs held aloft in her magic.

“Ah! There you two are! I was wondering what happened to you,” Chrysalis said, moving over to a corner and looking it over.

“Yeah...” Jason said, blinking a few times, “Chrissy, whats up with the eggs?”

“These are our eggs!” she cooed, spitting some goo in the corner. She gently sculpted what looked like a nest out of it, setting the eggs inside.

“I get that but, what makes these eggs so special out of the what, hundred you laid?”

“Because those are my eggs, these are our eggs,” she pointed out, “Those eggs are unfertilized, and depending on how much and what kind of love they’re given, will hatch into various kinds of drones.” She gestured to the nest. “These eggs were fathered by you and will hatch into monarchs.” She moved over to the bed, climbing in with them. “Now! Let’s have some fun shall we?” she asked, licking Jason’s cheek, a predatory smirk growing on her muzzle.
> Hodgepodge In Being Hodgepodge
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello all! Now you’re probably asking why a story, which has always been in third person, has suddenly gone into first person? Well that’s because our dear author Shagohad isn’t writing this chapter. I, everyone’s favorite draconequus, Hodgepodge, will be writing this chapter. Hell, Shag doesn’t even know I’m writing it, he’s off completing his pokedex in AS or something. Anyway, our little chapter will start off right after Ormagoden, that's the angry new guy that came with the new lizard form, came into being and-

Hodge! Why didn’t you tell me you were writing a chapter?!

Because this is my thing Discord! Get your own!

Oh come on. Can’t we share? Please?

I said no! This is my chapter and you’re not stealing it from me!

Fine, we’ll do this the hard way! dhh;ldhsn.sspniwohs_@429582727220282025a gon hrhrjh;nflhndh[heiwnhrhrfhn;fnjflnf;f;jnkf@$252^$$*5CBRhrffweteonhrhnuhehhownh4hhonrhrlshnl!$@%#&&

And stay out! OK, sorry about that everyone, Dissy and I had a bit of a... disagreement. Now anyway, where were we? Oh yes, the story. So, Orm showed up and Jason and Hughes decided to see if they could reason with him. They of course kicked me out of the room and so here we are, with me dicking around Valhalla, annoying the nobles. 

“Give me back my sweater!” Jet Set seethes, jumping up as I dangle it in front of her, only to pull it away before she could grab it. I play keep away for a few more minutes before tossing it to her.

“Boring!” I shout, floating away, leaving her to fume over her humiliation. Serves her right really, she called me shmorgishborg. My name is Hodgepodge damnit! Get it right!

“Do you really have to do that?” Twilight asks, looking up at me with a pout. I assume she took it upon herself to be my handler for the day. At first she tried to rein me in, as it were, but once she saw that I just ignored her, she gave up and took to following me around and trying to placate the people I annoyed. 

“Do I have to? No. Do I feel like it? Yes.” I look back at her, doing the backstroke. “Unless of course, you have a better idea?” Of course, I know what she’s going to ask, I am the author after all.

“Well, how about a game?” she asks so innocently, not even noticing the smirk growing across my face. 

“What kind of game Twilight? Connect Four? Sorry? Trouble? Clue perhaps?” I ask, pulling out said games from my mane, tossing them away, where they all set themselves up upon touching the ground. “Maybe Mouse Trap?”

Twilight just stares as my copy of Mouse Trap assembles itself. “What in the world is this thing?”

“That’s Mouse Trap my dear,” I say, leaning down. “The goal of the game is to catch the mouse, like so.” I set off the machine, and Twilight watches as it moves about, ending with the trap coming down.

“That seems like it's severely overcomplicated,” she comments, looking up at me.

“Most people just set it up to watch the machine go off,” I reply before snapping my talons. “You know what? How about a game of Dungeons and Dragons?” I ask, grabbing Twilight up before she can answer and teleporting away. We reappear in a black void, with all the other players in our little game: Pinkie, Dash, Gilda, AJ, Shiny, Sunbutt, Lulu, Cady, Megan and Rarity.

“Uh, what just happened?” Dash asks, looking absolutely confused, just like the others.

“Hello friends!” I shout, getting their attention. “Welcome to the first, and hopefully not last, session of Hodgepodge’s mind!”

“What,” AJ deadpans, staring at at me like I grew a second head.

“Well, I got bored and decided to drag you all into a D&D game so yeah, lets get started!” I vanish from their sight as the world goes white. “Okay, now I shall be the DM and omnipresent narrator.”

“We do not have time for games Hodgepodge,” Luna snorts, looking annoyed. “Release us at once!”

“Hush you!” I snap my talons then clear my throat. “Welcome fair adventurers, to the fight of your lives! You have just entered a land most strange, where the odd and the weird gather in droves and the people move to the beat of their own drum! Why I’m talking about... New Jersey! More specifically Weird New Jersey.”

“Are we really doing this?” Shiny asks with a pout, “We were in the middle of something important.”

“Yes, making a Mane-iac cosplay is sssooo important,” I snort, “Now let’s begin shall we?” The world goes white again and the merry band of adventurers find themselves in a rather empty tavern, all dressed up for their parts.

“Hodgepodge!” Celly snaps, looking herself over, “Why are Luna and I filles?!”

“Because you’re the apprentices of Magus Twilight,” I answer. “Let’s see how you two do as the students, hm?”

“Hodge, what the hay did ya turn me into?” AJ asks, noticing her new lizard-like tail.

“Well, I couldn’t exactly turn you into a dwarf, so I made you into a Tatzlpony!”

“A what now?”

“You know, like the tatzlwurm, only with less wurm and more pone.”

“You can’t just go around changing ponies!” Twilight protests, looking rather adorable in her little Magus outfit. I was tempted to make her into something like Gandalf but I don’t think she’d appreciate a sex change. 

“Oh relax Twilight, it’s just a game, it’s not like I won’t turn you all back when we’re done.” Let’s just list off the heroes of this tale shall we? Pinkie Pie the bard, Gleaming Shield the paladin-

What’s a paladin?

I said out!

Anyway, Rainbow Dash the barbarian, Gilda the archer, Cadance the cleric of Arkvoodle, lord of the sacred crotch, Rarity the sorceress, and dear old mom is a badass dragoon. What, playing favorites? Why, I would never do that.

“Why am I a mare?!” Gleaming shouts, obviously upset over her loss of manly bits. Dash and Gilda just stare at each other, realising they had swapped bodies.

“The whole point of Dungeons and Dragons is to role play, relax and enjoy yourself, just not too much, this story is rated teen after all and I’m not writing about clopping pone damnit.”

“‘Dungeons and Dragons’ huh?” Twilight asks, glaring up at the ceiling, “You're just ripping off Oubliettes and Ogres, aren’t you?” 

“You did not just call D&D a ripoff! Just for that, you all get mad cow disease!”

“You can’t just do that!” Twilight barks, pointing her hoof at the sky.

“I can do whatever I want! I’m the DM!”

“That doesn’t mean you can break the rules!”

“Mom! Tell her I can do whatever I want!”

Megan, much to her credit, just sighs and shakes her head. “OK, everyone just calm down.” She pauses, looking the group over. “I know this is a bit strange and rather sudden, but this could be fun, so why don’t we give it a try? As long as Hodge doesn’t break the rules.” She gives the ceiling a rather stern look.

“Oh fine, I Pinkie Promise not to do any bending or breaking of the rules. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” I mutter, which seems to please them. “Anyway, welcome to the wonderfully strange land of Weird New Jersey! You are all gathered here at the request of Magus Twilight, who herself was sent here by the rulers of the land, the Marks, to investigate the disappearance of Sir Spike the Gallant. Now, what’s your first order of business?”

“Do we know anything about the town?” Twilight asks, quickly taking control of the situation, or as much control as she thinks she has. 

“Yes, you are currently in the town of Wild Wood, a coastal town. Nearby is a forest known as the Pine Barrens, a nasty and terrifying place said to be home to a ferocious monster. Sir Spike came here several weeks ago to investigate local disappearances and now he too is missing.”

“Hmm...” Twilight rubs her chin, looking around, “I think our first course of action is to find out what Sir Spike was doing before he disappeared?”

“Yeah, and how do we do that?” Dash asks, flexing her talons, noting how different the real thing was from her usual prosthetic talons.

“Ask around, duh,” Gilda replies, crossing her arms, “I can’t believe I got dragged into this stupid game...”

“Oh it’s not so bad,” Cady says, checking her equipment. “It can get really intense if the DM plays it right.”

“I used to have so much fun playing tabletop games,” Megan comments, watching as Twilight took initiative and trotted over to the lonely looking barkeep.

“You used to play this stuff?” Gleaming asked, trying to ignore her rather nice sounding voice, which, by the by, is the voice of Scarlett Johansson, not that any of these clowns know who that is.

“Yeah, I played mostly during my late teens after the bridge disappeared,” Megan explains, leaning on her spear wistfully. “I tried a lot of things to keep, well... the fantasy alive...”

Well, let’s skip past all the boring stuff. Ummm... what was the dividing line thing again? Ah, yes.





“So what did you find out, Twilight?” Rarity asks as they regrouped in the town square, the group having split up gather more information.

“Well, Sir Spike was here, but he didn’t stay in town long. He went to the local baron, somepony named... Coop.” She points to the nearby castle, situated on a cliff overlooking the ocean.

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Dash proclaims, zipping into the air, heading straight for the castle.

“Here we go again...” Applejack says with a roll of her eyes. She lunges forward as though to hold Dash back, only for her lower jaw to split open and three green tentacles shoot out of her mouth and quickly coil around Dash. “What the hay!?” Applejack shouts, somehow still able to speak normally.

“Like I said, Tatzlpony,” I reiterate, taking glee in the varying degrees of ‘want’ (mostly of the ‘do not’ variety) the others had on their faces. “Now, you all run along, you have a baron to meet.” 

Now Baron Coop is sitting on his throne, munching on a chicken leg as our merry band walks into his dining hall. He is a rather plump man, with blond hair and a blond goatee. Sitting on his right is his right hand man Jamie, a rather squirrelly looking man with black hair. Opposite of him is Kiva, the Baron’s... Knight-commander? Yeah, let’s go with that, I don’t know how the feudal system works.

“Oh hey,” Coop starts, not bothering to swallow his food, “You must be those guys the Marks sent down here to find that lizard guy.”

“Um... yes, we’re uh... looking for Sir Spike...” Twilight states, unable to look away from the horrid display of table manners.

“Whoa Twi, he eats as badly as you do,” Dash points out, much to her friend’s annoyance.

“Yeah, he was here,” Coop nods, tossing his now finished chicken bone over his shoulder. “He was looking for uh... what was it again?”

Kiva sighs, rolling her eyes. “He was looking for the old Leeds homestead.”

“Leeds homestead? That some sorta farm?” Applejack asks, tilting her head to the side like an adorable puppy.

“It was the home of the Leeds family,” Kiva starts, clearing her throat, “Legend has it, she and her husband where among the first settlers here. He was a drunk and barely took care of his family, which had ballooned out into twelve children. When she found out she was pregnant with a thirteenth child, she screamed to the heavens, ‘Let this one be a devil!’ and so it was. One stormy night, she gave birth and while it started as a normal child, within several minutes, it grew into a hideous beast. It slaughtered its siblings and escaped through the chimney, and to this day it haunts the Pine Barrens, known only as the Jersey Devil.”

“That doesn’t explain why Sir Spike was looking for it,” Celly points out, a frown on her muzzle.

“Perhaps he was looking for a way to slay the beast?” Woona says, “It does sound rather dangerous.”

“Oh yeah, that jerk is a real problem,” Jamie says, crossing his arms and nodding his head. “Only thing is, no one can kill it, it just keeps coming back.”

“Well, we’ll just have to find a way to keep it from coming back!” Dash exclaims, cracking her borrowed talons with a loud pop.

“Yeah, good luck with that,” Coop says with a laugh, shaking his head. “You really want to try, be my guest but I’m not wasting any of my guys on a stupid idea like this.”

“I think we have this covered,” Cadance says, nodding her head. “I mean, we have a pretty diverse group here, I’m sure we can do it.”

“Whatever you say, pretty pink pony,” Jamie says, giving a shrug. “You guys go get yourself killed, we’ll be here in this nice safe castle, eating this awesome feast,” he said, grabbing a piece of chicken and taking a bite out of it. 

“Let’s just get this over with, I really want to get back to normal.” Gleaming quickly trots out of the castle, marching out into the woods, not waiting for the others.





So, our merry little band has been wandering around the Pine Barrens for a while, having encountered several hopkinsville goblins, a goatman, and Bunnyman.

“You're just throwing cryptids and myths at us aren’t you?” Megan asks, hefting her spear over her shoulder as she looks down at the corpse of Bunnyman, who still looks ridiculous. I mean, he’s a guy in a pink bunny suit wielding an axe.

“Maybe~” I say, making a jackalope scurry by just for the lols.

“Whats a cryptid?” Twilight inquires, panting a bit. I may have nerfed her a bit, her Alicorn magic is kinda OP for this kinda thing.  

“Ask Jason later, he can explain it better than I can,” Megan replies, leaning on her spear.

“Wait... do you hear that?” Cady asks, swiveling her ears around. A horrific shriek fills the air and the group looks around, weapons and magic at the ready. From out of the trees it came, a terrifying mix of man, horse, bat, and dragon, its eyes aflame and flame shooting out of its nostrils with every breath. 

“I-Is that... the J-Jersey Devil?” Celly asks, looking up at it like a terrified foal.

“Why yes, yes it is,” I confirm. “What do?” I pause for a moment before clearing my throat, “But that will have to wait until next session, as we’ve run out of time.”  With that, I take us out of our little make believe world and to the Crystal Empire. Of course, I sent Celestia and Luna home, along with Megan, as they don’t really have any bearing on the plot of the next chapter. Oh, but I did drag Flutters and Chrissy along, just ‘cause.

“Um... Hodgepodge dear,” Rarity starts, looking around, very confused, “Why are we here?”

“Well, you need to do some shopping for the foal and Shiny and Cady need a little help,” I say, looking at said couple. “Tell them about those weird dark pulses you’ve been getting.” The Omnitrix starts to beep, flashing red. “Welp, looks like our time is up. Same time next week? Great! Seeya then!” 





Jason blinked, shaking his head. “Okay, my head hurts more than usual... why are we in the Empire?” he asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked around.

“We’re not entirely sure but um... since Hodge already seems to know...” Rarity pawed at the ground a bit and hesitated. “Well... we’re going to have a foal...”

Jason stared at her before scooping her up and letting out a hoot. “We’re having a kid!” He spun around, holding her close. “Best news I’ve had all day!”

“Oh yes, can’t wait to see what this one looks like,” Chrysalis said, a grin on her face.

> Ghosts And Nightmares
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Ugh, the cold sucks.” Rainbow Dash shivered as Jason led them into the tundra surrounding the Empire.  

“Suck it up Dash,” Jason said with a snort, brushing some hair out of his face. “You could’ve stayed behind with Fluttershy and Rarity,” he said, looking over his shoulder.

“I look pregnant to you?” she asked with a huff.

“Than stop yer belly aching,” Applejack said with a roll of her eyes. “Ain’t like we haven’t gone anywhere cold before.” Currently, the small group, consisting of Jason, Dash, Applejack, Shining Armor, Twilight and Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy, who was due at any time, was staying back at the palace while the only recently pregnant Rarity had decided to stay behind and shop for the baby, much to Chrysalis’ irritation. 

“Hold up,” Jason said, kneeling down. He frowned, watching as something moved about in the snow. “The hell is that?” he asked, reaching out for it.

“Hello!” The snow burst, and from it, a small crimson creature, shaped roughly like a shrimp, with a single eye and a large crab claw, stared deeply at the jotun.

“Uh... hi,” he said, looking at it, while the others jumped back. He held his hand up, seeing Shining was about to blast the thing. “What are you doing out here?”

“I dunno! I just woke up here! What’s your name?” The creature crawled forwards, reaching out to Jason like a child would its parent.

“My name is Jason,” he said, scooping the creature up, holding it at eye level.

“Hi, Jason! You wanna meet my friends?” The creature’s eye shined with childish innocence, but it still felt off.

“Uh... ok?” he asked, looking at the others, nodding at them to be ready for anything.

“Okay! I’ll call them right now!” The creature’s eye glowed, and from it a torrent of crimson energy flowed out, which formed into a large, intricate circle, filled with various runes and magic symbols. The circle glowed again, and it shot a pillar of scarlet light into the sky. It glowed with power, shaking the area, displacing the snow.

“Every time with you Jay!” Shining shouted as he threw up a shield over the group, giving the jotun a glare. “Trouble just follows you, you know that?”

“Hey, its not my fault!” Jason argued. Pulling his sword out, he watched the pillar closely.

From the pillar of light, a tall, humanoid shadow formed. Around it, five more smaller shapes appeared. The tall one stepped forwards, and the light disappeared. “Who has summoned... the Azure Nightmare?”

Coated in dark blue armor, with bat wings upon the helmet and a horn that somehow glowed with red energy. Its right arm was much larger than the left, and seemed to be coated in chitin.

“Oh great, Nightmare,” Jason said with a groan. “Please for the love of Yggdrasil tell me you’re not insane, because I really don’t want to get involved with another crazed Displaced.”

“Insane?” The armored knight’s voice lost its evil echo instantly. “I’m not insane. Well, I’m pretty sure I’m not, but considering how many creatures that crawl out of the Void that I’ve dealt with first hand... Maybe.” He shrugged, and took a dramatic bow. “So... Who do I have the honor of addressing?”

“I’m Jason Hughes, prince of Valor. I’m going to assume you already know my companions. You can drop the shield, Shiny,” Jason said, looking back at the stallion. Shining gave one glance at Nightmare before dropping the shield, though he stayed on alert.

“Yeah... Uhm... Let’s see...” He rubbed his chin, and pointed at Dash, “I recognize you, just not the artificial limbs... Not gonna ask, I know better. I think I know you...” He turned to Applejack. “Yeah, that’s right! The farm girl.” He turned to Shining Armor, “I... I think... Oh, yeah! The moron that got blindsided by dæmon harpies! HAH! That was a laugh!”

“I’m Pinkie Pie!” said party mare shouted, suddenly on Nightmare’s shoulders, “Do you like cake? I bet you like Devil’s cake!”

“GAH! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!” The knight tumbled about, grabbing at the pink party pony latched to his shoulders. She hopped off, and he continued to swing, quickly losing his balance and falling on the ground. “Mmph mmph mmph-hmmph.”

“Well, that’s rather rude! You’re not even going to introduce us?” The group turns to the new voice, and sees five young human girls. Each of them wear a different outfit with a color scheme matching their hair and eyes. Yellow, blue, red, pink, and a black-haired one with a purple outfit.

“Huh, actual fairies,” Jason said, kneeling down, looking the girls over.

“Fairies? Boy, you got the wrong idea here.” The red haired one sneered and shoved him aside. She walked over to the fallen knight, “Hey. You... you alright there?” She continued to poke and mock him.

“Mmph mmph mph mmph mmph.”

She leaned in closer, “Whazzat? Can’t hear you.”

The knight pulled his head out and grabbed her by the neck. “I SAID IF YA DON’T QUIT POKING ME I’M GONNA THROW YOU BACK TO NEW YORK WHERE YOU CAME FROM! CLEAR ENOUGH FOR YA?”

The redhead poked the inside of her ear. “Yeah, yeah. I hear ya. Can ya put me down, now?”

“Wait, you’re telling me a bunch of kids got displaced?” Dash asked, raising her eyebrow. “That’s just messed up.”

The blonde one smirked. “We’re just way older than you think. Honestly we’re all at least 20-something. The forms we were given are just... smaller than we’re used to.” She gave herself a once-over, still smiling.

“So... you got younger?” Jason asked, getting to his feet, brushing himself off. “Not the weirdest I’ve heard.” He cracked his back, putting his sword away. “I mean, look at my life.”

Nightmare dropped the redhead in the snow. “Boy, whatever you claim to have seen, I bet you that I have seen ten times worse. And that’s before I was Displaced.”

“Ah-hem? Still not going to be a gentleman, I see...”

“Bite me. Wait, don’t. Er, anyways... These are my companions. The redhead is Kyoko. Blonde is Mami. Bluenette is Sayaka. Pink is Madoka. Black is Homura. Don’t make any innuendos around them, they’ll jump on it. In more ways than one.”

“Yeah, I’m happily married. And don’t tell me you’ve seen worse until you and your timeline get erased from existence. That shit was not fun,” Jason said, crossing his arms. “Fucking Vilgax.”

“I still don’t believe you on that,” Twilight said, giving him a look.

“I don’t care what you believe, it happened and let me tell you, getting erased fucking hurts.” Jason glared at her, causing her to roll her eyes. “Next time I see Vilgax I’m going to murder him.”

“That’s about the four hundred billionth promise to slaughter someone I’ve heard.” Nightmare tilted his head. “Care to make number four billion and one?”

“Can we get back on topic please?” Shining asked with a sigh, shaking his head, “Are all of you Displaced insane?”

“I dunno, probably,” Jason said with a shrug, “Anyway, since you're here, wanna help out?” Jason asked the newcomers, looking them over.

Nightmare shrugged, and swung his sword around. The blade’s fleshy form glowed and pulsed before turning into a shortsword and being sheathed on the knight’s hip. “Why not? What do you require of us, Your Highness?” He entered a mock bow, smiling all the way.

“Don’t do that.” Jason glared. “Anyway, Discord picked up some weird time-space nonsense and since I’m the de facto problem solver, I got sent to check it out.”

“We’re afraid it might be some cult trying to resurrect Sombra,” Shining added, adjusting his scarf.

“Can we just get moving?” Dash asked, shivering rather heavily. “I want to get there before I’m turned into a pegasicle.”

“Ow, that pun really hurt,” Pinkie said, rubbing her head with a frown, causing Dash to glare at her.

Nightmare scowled. “I have quite a bit of beef with Sombra, or at least my incarnation of him. I would be glad to assist you...” His sword rattled in its sheath, and the sound of an angered hissing echoed through the tundra.

Kyoko took a bite of an apple, before tossing it aside. “Let’s do this.” The other four nodded.

Nightmare looked to Jason. “Well, it looks like my ilk are more than ready to assist you. Lead the way, Jason.”

“It’s just up this way,” Jason said, pushing past the others, letting his hair blow in the cold air.

“You know, I’m rather jealous he’s so resistant to the cold,” Twilight admitted to the others as they trotted after Jason, keeping an eye out for any trouble.

Nightmare shrugged. “I’m a dæmon. We’re easily adaptable to temperature extremes. I’m also an accomplished mage. Altering my own internal body heat isn’t much of an issue.”

The five girls did the same. Mami wiped snow off her skirt, “We’re... for lack of a more precise term, liches. We can cut off our sense of feeling if we need. Temperature’s not much of a problem for us either.”

“Jason’s a jotun, he doesn’t even feel the cold, at least, I don’t think so. I’ve never really asked,” Twilight said, tapping her chin, “I’ll have to ask him about it later.”

“Wait, he’s a WHAT?” Nightmare stopped, and his hand flew to his sword’s grip. “You have exactly ten seconds to explain why I’m following a jotun.”

They all just blinked, looking at him, “What the hay’s up with you?” Dash asked, looking at him like he was crazy.

“Last time I was in the vicinity of a jotun, it was during a Ragnarok. I’m NOT moving an inch until I hear why a member of a supposedly extinct species is right in front of me.” He unsheathed the blade slightly, and his entire form became engulfed in crimson magic.

“Ragnarok already happened.” Jason stopped, looking over his shoulder. “This Equestria is Asgard millions of years later. I’m one of the four remaining jotun, the others are my sister, my mother and my grandmother Hel. I was raised on Earth, or Midgard and only recently found out I was a jotun a few months back.”

“I KNOW Ragnarok already happened. I just said that I was there. Now, how in the nine hells did you survive? Wait, your grandmother is WHO?” His aura faded, and his murderous glare turned to one of confusion.

“Hel, goddess of death,” Jason said, raising his eyebrow. “She’s rather... eccentric...” 

“I know who Hel is, but YOU’RE HER GRANDSON?” Nightmare let go of his blade. “Oh, by Nyarlathotep, I’m so freaking dead for this. I just threatened a descendant of one of the last members of the Norse pantheon... OH, PLEASE FORGIVE ME!” He dropped to his knees... and began to beg. “I’M SORRY! I’M SO SORRY! I WAS COMPLETELY UNAWARE! I BEG FORGIVENESS OF THEE! PLEASE!”

They all just stared at him, rather confused by the sudden change of emotions. “Eh, you're fine, not something I flaunt. You want to meet her later?” he asked with a smirk. 

“I don’t think you quite get it. After the Ragnarok Wars, as the event is collectively called, the Norse pantheon is reduced to basically Hel and a few others. I’m not sure who... but frankly, anyone or anything related to them is technically on the ‘endangered deity’ list. Threatening you is equivalent to skinning about a dozen elephants.” Nightmare shuddered, “And if my masters get wind of it... I’m dead.”

The redheaded girl punched him in the arm. “Calm the frick down, man! Yer such a worrywart, y’know that? I mean, c’mon. What, ya think that just because some Viking gods are dead, threatening their kids is gonna put you on the wanted list?”

Nightmare turned to her, “Basically. Yes. The Norse pantheon is almost nonexistent. Any surviving members SHOULD be kept in a secured location, or at least get some brand of survivor’s benefits.”

“You realize this stuff doesn’t carry between universes right? There are an infinite number of them where the Aesir are still alive,” Jason said, crossing his arms. 

“I know that. My bosses literally RUN a fair portion of those universes. But this section of reality has practically none left. And we obviously can’t just send a few over for the sake of any kind of breeding programs... ew... So, long story short, we have to keep what’s alive here... well, alive. Otherwise, you’ll suffer so much you’ll WISH you were suffering a fate worse than death.”

“That’s why I’m glad I have no boss,” Hel said, having arrived unnoticed, “Hello all. I couldn’t help but notice my name was coming up a lot.”

“What, do you just spy on me all day?” Jason asked, raising his eyebrow. 

“Only between books,” Hel said with a smile, causing the young man to groan in annoyance.

Nightmare, however, dropped to his knee, “Lady Hel! I am truly sorry for my brashness!”

“Why are you kneeling?” Hel asked, looking rather amused by the daemon.

“I acted without thinking, and nearly drew my blade against your descendant. I truly apologize, Lady Hel.” Nightmare dipped his head further down, not noticing Sayaka sneaking up behind him.

*BRRRAAAAAAAPPPPPP*

“GAH! WHAT THE HELL, SAYAKA?” Nightmare fell over, grabbing at his ears. “SON OF A- GYAGH! THAT HURT, DAMNIT!”

“You meet the most interesting people Corypheus,” Hel said with a laugh, watching the two in amusement. “I should visit more often.”

“Don’t you have a job to do?” Applejack questioned, raising her eyebrow.

“Eh, watching the dead gets boring, plus they just sleep anyway,” Hel said waving her hand dismissively.

“So wait, death is like a dream?” Pinkie asked, blinking a few times.

“Oh yes, all the dead souls sleep and share a collective dream,” Hel explained. “Cuts down on making something to please everyone, they can just dream up what they want.”

Nightmare nodded. “Yep. Seen it. Very interesting architecture, I must add. For reference, no. I didn’t die. I’ve never died. Let’s just say it was a very interesting field trip. Can we get on with our job? Which is hunting down Cult of the End Times number four-quintillion and sixty eight?”

“Oh those silly cults always amuse me, the next Ragnarok won't happen for several billion years,” Hel said with a bit of a laugh. “Well you have fun, I’ve got to get back before Sigrun punches my father in the face.” She smiled, sinking back into the shadows. 

Nightmare stared at the spot where she disappeared from. “...Well, that happened. We gonna move on?”

“No, we’re gonna stand here until Rarity pushes her kid out,” Dash said with a roll of her eyes. “Of course we are!”

“Very good, then. ONWARD!” He pointed his sword out at the tundra. “Lead the way, brave jotun!”

“Yeah... ‘interesting people’,” Jason said with a roll of his eyes before resuming his march into the tundra. After a few more minutes of travel, they came across a cliff, with a cave sealed with a green colored magic barrier. 

Nightmare cricked his neck. “Alright, step back. I got this.” He raised his large claw, and a pulse of red energy seeped into the barrier. In only a moment, the barrier completely dissipated into dust. “What’d I tell ya?”

Mami peered in, “It’s... pretty dark in there. Can’t tell what’s what, really.”

Nightmare rolled his eyes, and held his claw out. A red glow emerged from the palm, and from it, a small form appeared, in the shape of a humanoid being with butterfly wings.

“Airy is here to SAVE THE DAY!” The small creature laughs, and poses dramatically.

“Did you just summon Navi?” Jason asked, staring at the creature.

“Er... no. This is Airy, a Fae Sirenis. Her people, though small, are very capable. They’re natural magicians, and can influence nature through song. They also make damn good flashlights.” Nightmare held the Fae by her neck, and shook her for a moment. She began to glow, casting a pure white light over the cave’s entrance.

Jason reached over, the Omnitrix chirping as it scanned Airy. “Well... never thought I’d get a fae scan...”

Nightmare looked to Airy, and his companions, who all began to giggle lightly.

“What?” Jason asked, looking at them.

“Oh, nothing. Just an inside joke. You wanna test that scan of yours out now? Or later?”

“Let’s try it now,” he said, dialing it into the Omnitrix before pressing it down, shifting forms. “Well, this is different,” he said, his voice distinctly female. He looked himself over, humming softly.

Mami tugged on Nightmare’s arm. “Is he really that dense?”

He whispered back, “Give him a minute...”

“Female only species huh?” Jason asked, sounding rather amused than anything else.

The seven collectively responded with, “...wot.” 

Airy floated over to Jason, “You’re... not... concerned or anything? You kinda just lost your... important parts.”

Jason just laughed, shaking his head. “I married Chrysalis, I spend most nights engaged in freaky shapeshifter sex, this is nothing.”

The five girls shifted slightly. Nightmare looked to them. “Oh, brother. Look what you’ve done. You’ve given them ideas. A LOT of ideas. Y’all may wanna tighten up your pants.”

“But we don’t wear pants,” Pinkie pointed out.

“Point still stands. Well, Jason, you mind scouting ahead?”

“Nope!” he said chipperly, looking around as he started to glide further into the cave.

The rest of the group followed close behind. Nightmare’s sword grew out to full size, and the eye in the middle looked around furiously.

“I know, I know... This can’t be right...” Nightmare mumbled to himself, petting the blade with his free hand.

“Thats just creepy,” Applejack said with a shudder, shaking her head.

“Yer face is creepier, horse lady.” The blade’s eye turned to the mare, and gave off a glow.

“And it talks,” Dash said with a shudder shaking her head.

“Hm... thats odd,” Twilight said, her horn glowing, “I’m picking up traces of time magic.”

Nightmare raised his blade, “Yeah... me too... But there’s something else... I can smell it... I smell...” A dark chuckle, “I smell souls.” The warrior charged forth, screaming at the top of his lungs.

“BLOOD! DARKNESS! GYAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

“There goes the element of surprise...” Kyoko muttered, summoning a spear into her hands.

“Wait!” Twilight shouted, chasing after them. 

“Ah hell!” Jason cursed, reverting to normal before chasing after Twilight and Nightmare, the others on his heels.

“I WILL FILL THESE HALLS WITH THE BLOOD OF MY ENEMIES! YES! GIVE ME YOUR SOULS!” Suddenly, the laughing and maniacal roaring stopped. “What is this? Is this really what I came across worlds for? BAH! One measly equine? This is by no means worthy of my ti- OOF!”

Anyone present would be able to see how firmly Nightmare suddenly became lodged in the wall next to the team. “Ow... Think you’re funny, do ya? YOU DARE TO-”

“Stay... away...” 

Mami generated a musket. “Sorry, bub. Not an option. Come out with your h- OUCH!” A blast of magic silenced the magical girl, and she found herself lodged in the floor.

A very tired looking gray unicorn stood in the center of the room, various pieces of machinery scattered around, Sombra’s horn in one of them. “We ordered thee... to stay away,” he said, shaking his head a little, looking like he was about to drop from exhaustion. 

“Oi, pay attention.” Homura appeared by the unicorn’s side, with a handgun cocked at his head. “One wrong move, and the new carpet style will be ‘pony brain’.” Her thumb pulled back the hammer, and its loud *CLICK* echoed in the room.

Twilight came barreling into the room panting. She looked around, her eyes going wide as she spotted the unicorn. “Don’t hurt him!” she shouted, blasting Homura away, galloping over to the startled stallion.

“GAH! What’re you doing?”

“This is Prince Grey Ghost!” Twilight pointed at the stallion, who looked at her warily. “He’s Luna’s son!”

“Didn’t see that coming,” Dash said as she glided into the room, the others following in afterwards.

“Wait, When did Luna have another kid?” Jason asked, looking at Grey Ghost rather suspiciously. 

“He’s uh... Sombra’s son as well,” Twilight said a little sheepishly.

Kyoko raised her spear. “So... do I stab ‘im?”

Sayaka used her saber to lower Kyoko’s spear. “Pretty sure we don’t need to... I think. On second thought, let’s get a few extra guns from Homura.”

“You can’t hurt him!” Twilight shouted, lighting her horn up, taking a defensive stance in front of Grey.

“Twily... you sure this is a good idea?” Shining asked, looking rather unsure.

“I’m not going to let them hurt him just because of who is father is,” Twilight snorted, glaring at the girls.

“Well if Twi say’s he’s okay, he’s okay!” Pinkie declared, trotting happily up to the prince, who looked, very, very lost.

“Hell, not like I haven’t made questionable friends,” Jason said, moving over to Twilight with Dash and Applejack in tow.

Shining just sighed, trotting after them. “Please don’t make me regret this Twily.”

Mami pulled her head from the rock. “I’d like the option that doesn’t involve getting my head bashed in.”

Nightmare groaned. “That... is a fantastic idea, Mami... I think... I might need to sleep on it... Guh.” The daemon knight promptly drifted into slumber.

“Lazy ass...” Homura walked over to the sleeping knight and fired her gun right next to his head.

“AH! Homura! Don’t! Fucking! DO THAT!” he screamed, grabbing at the sides of his helmet. “MY EARS! AGH!”

“Can we focus please?” Jason asked, glaring at the two, “We still have no idea what the prince is...doing... aw crap...” he said, turning around to find that the prince had moved over to the horn, channeling some magic into it.

“Now can we kill him?” Madoka steadied her bow, staring at the grim unicorn.

“YES! THIS IS ALL THE CONFIRMATION I NEED! COME, GREY GHOST! LET US PARTAKE... IN GLORIOUS COMBAT!” The daemon knight’s blade slammed into a magic barrier, which crumpled under the blade’s power.

Grey Ghost paid him no attention, pouring more magic into the horn until it glowed and released a pulse of magic that knocked them all off their feet. The sound of a foal crying filled the air and Jason stood up to find that the horn had been replaced with a squirming grey foal. Grey Ghost gave a shaky smile before collapsing, his body limp.

The newcomers spoke, again, in unison. “...Wot de fock?”

“I think he just... resurrected Sombra,” Dash said, getting up, shaking the dust off her coat like a dog.

“Aw! He’s a really cute foal!” Pinkie said, lifting little Sombra up, cradling him gently.

Nightmare stomped his way over, and levelled his blade at the foal. “I care not for what form this thing assumes. He is still an unforgivably cruel beast, and he shall be put down like one.” Nightmare raised Soul Edge, which stared down at the foal.

“Hey, uh... partner? You might wanna cool yer jets a bit. This one’s... different.”

The knight stopped, and looked his blade in the eye, “What do you mean?”

“Well... His soul... Something about it... It’s just... off... Y’know? It’s not evil. I almost feel like it’s... painted over. Like there’s an old, ugly, cracked wall, and it has a fresh coat. I can still feel the evil hidden there, but... It’s like it’s just not there right now.”

“What would you have me do, then?”

“How about we not kill the baby?” Jason asked, his sword at Nightmare’s throat.

“That’s a pretty good idea, man.” Mami levelled a musket at Jason’s head. “But can you put that down first? He’s kinda our ticket home.”

“Im pretty sure a musket can’t hurt me,” Jason said, giving her a flat look.

“How about we don’t find out, Jay,” Applejack said, looking at them with a frown. “Everypony just calm the hay down.”


Soul Edge clattered to the ground, “Oof!” Nightmare lowered his hand, and sighed. “Very well. You may feel free to do as you wish. I shan’t claim the life of a child, tyrant reincarnated or not.”

“Good,” Jason said, lowering his sword. “Now, what do we do with him?” he asked, gesturing to Grey Ghost, who was being tended to by Pinkie and Twilight.

“We take him to the Empire, he’s suffering from extreme magic exhaustion on top of normal physical exhaustion.” Twilight didn’t look up, checking the prince for any other wounds.

“Luna’s going to flip,” Dash muttered under her breath, looking from Sombra to Grey, an uncertain look on her face.

“We’ll have to keep this on the down low,” Shiny spoke up. “Faust knows the panic this will cause if the populace finds out about this.”

“Fan-freaking-tastic, now can someone GET ME OFF THE GROUND HERE? It’s cold and hard and uncomfortable!” Nightmare responded by kicking the blade and spinning it through the air, letting it land in its sheath.

“Never do that again.”

“Don’t tell me what to do. Now, I assume we’re done here?” Nightmare turned to Jason, and handed him the foal from the ground.

“Yes, yes we are,” he said, cradling the shivering foal. “You ready to go?”

“Indeed we are. Ladies?” The five gathered around the knight, and a red magical circle inscribed itself into the ground. “I do believe our services here are completed. With this, I bid you adieu.” The circle sent an enormous crimson light into the sky, with the sound of rumbling and crashing overtaking everything else. When the light faded, the circle had melted the cave floor, and the light had made a perfectly circular hole in the rooftop.

“At least they left us an easy way out.”

> Birth of Chaos
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Where is he!?” Luna demanded as she popped into existence, scaring the poor receptionist right out of his seat. 

“W-who?” the young stallion asked, looking up at the lunar goddess, gulping rather loudly.

“My son!” she shouted, glaring down at him, “Where is Grey Ghost?!”

“Yggdrasil, Luna,” Jason said as he walked into the room, rubbing his ears. “You don’t need to shout. I think you made the poor guy deaf.” He pointed to the terrified stallion, whose ears where folded against his head in an effort to protect against further sonic assaults. 

“Er... I apologize...” Luna said, having the decency to look ashamed. “But please Jason, I need to see him.”

“What am I going to do, keep a mother from her son?” Jason asked, rolling his eyes. “Come on, they’re this way.” He turned on his heel and walked down the hallway, Luna quickly trotting after him.

“How is he?” Luna asked as they moved into a more isolated part of the hospital, which was being guarded rather heavily.

“He’s... I’ll let Twilight tell you,” he said, opening the door for her, letting her enter first. The room was rather spacious, with the group having congregated inside. Luna immediately moved over to the bed, looking her son over. Grey Ghost was sleeping rather peacefully, hooked up to several different beeping machines, though, he did have an inhibitor ring on his horn.

“Why is his magic restricted!?” she boomed, causing the group to shudder from the force of her voice, her mane whipping back and forth violently. “Somepony will pay for this insult!”

“Auntie, please,” Cadance pleaded, trotting over to her, enduring the goddess’s wrath, “It’s for his own good! He's got severe magical exhaustion and we don’t want it to get worse.”

Luna sighed, taking a deep breath to calm herself.  “Do we know how he’s stayed alive this long?”

“Judging by the notes we recovered from his cave, it seems he used some kind of time dilation spell. The past thousand years have only been a few days for him,” Twilight spoke up. “He must have come out sometime after Sombra was defeated...”

“Speaking of Sombra,” Shining spoke up, looking toward the foal, who was asleep in a crib in the opposite corner of the room. “He can't stay here. If the crystal ponies find out he's here, even as a foal, they'll panic.”

“Why don't we take him?” Jason asked, walking over to the sleeping foal. “I mean, we don't have anything against him and we could use the practice for when our kids arrive.” He reached into the crib and lifted the foal up, cradling him gently. 

“I really wish you would consult with us before just make decisions like this...” Rarity grumbled, shifting her wings in agitation. “But... I don't see why we can't... if Chrysalis is okay with it.”

The empress just shrugged. “What’s one more kid? Besides, he’s rather adorable.” 

“Well now that that’s settled, will you guys be staying the night?” Shining asked, looking the group over.

Twilight spoke up before anyone else could. “As much as I want to, B.B.B.F.F., we have to get back as soon as possible. Not only is Fluttershy due at any time, but we need to get winter started in Ponyville.”

“I’m staying here,” Luna said, taking a seat next to Grey's bed. “I’m not leaving his side.” She cast a sad glance at Sombra. “Please... take care of him...”

“Of course Luna, of course,” Jason reassured her before he and the others departed, leaving the night princess with her sleeping son. She had already lost him once, she wouldn’t lose him again.





“He looks too cute to be evil,” Pinkie said, staring intently into Sombra’s eyes. The foal just blinked at her, reaching out to boop her nose. She scrunched up her muzzle, causing Sombra to giggle and do it again. Pinkie giggled with him, booping him back, the two having a friendly boop fight.

“Well that's good, he’s got the pink one’s seal of approval.” Chrysalis rolled her eyes but couldn't keep the smile off her face. 

“I think he’s adorable,” Fluttershy commented, laying on her side across most of the cushions that were on the train. It was a wonder how she was still moving around this far into her pregnancy.

“Y’all realize that he’s gonna need a new name right?” Applejack spoke up, fluffing one of Fluttershy’s pillows. “Ah mean, he ain’t gonna a be the person he was before and it’d be a shame if he had ta live with a name that wasn’t his. ‘Specially one with as much baggage as ‘Sombra’.”

“She has a point,” Rarity said, looking at Jason, who nodded in agreement.

“Ooh! You could call him Umbra or um... Penumbra, or Inky, or Blinky or Clyde!” Pinkie rambled off, listing off a few other random names.

“Pinkie, none of those names fit the kid,” Dash rolled her eyes, watching as Sombra nibbled on Chrysalis’s tail, though she didn't seem to mind, as she smiled gently at him.

“We could call him Kol, it’s a Norse name that means ‘dark’,” Jason said, ruffling the foal’s mane.

“A bit on the nose, but I think it works well enough,” Twilight said with a smile.

“Seems a little... plain,” Rarity pouted.

“Okay, uh... how about Hakol?” Jason suggested, “It means ‘dark horse’.”

“Works for me,” Chrysalis said with finality, effectively ending the conversation.





“You do realize you live in the Everfree forest now, right?” Jason asked with a sigh, looking down at the irate stallion standing in front of his throne.

“That’s no excuse for unscheduled weather!” Jet Set seethed, glaring at him.

“And how do you expect us to have scheduled weather when pegasus magic doesn’t work here?” Jason asked, sounding rather annoyed, 

“Why don't you turn into that ridiculous mixed up creature of yours and fix it!?” Jet Set snarled, his eye twitching a little.

“Yes, because throwing a chaos god at a forest rife with chaos magic is sure to end well. Besides, you do realize he’s not just an alternate form, but his own person? He might just do something unpleasant to you for even asking,” Jason snapped back.

“That’s it!” Jet Set shouted, throwing his hooves into the air,  “We’re moving back to Canterlot!” He tore out of the castle, leaving a cartoonish dust cloud in his wake.

“Good riddance!” Jason shouted after him, taking a deep breath to calm himself as Gilda strode in, looking a little concerned. “Hey G, something bothering you?”

“Something’s up with Dash,” Gilda said, sitting on her haunches, flicking her tail. “She’s been acting weird.”

“Weird how?” Jason asked, leaning back in his chair, gesturing for her to continue. 

“Like, all the other ponies are trying to set up winter and she's... trying to stop it? I think it has something to do with her turtle.”

“Tortoise,” Jason pointed out.

“Whatever,” Gilda said, rolling her eyes. “Point is, she’s being weird and like, you’re the only one that’s not busy, could you talk to her or something?”

“Of course I can G, as soon as I’m done here,” Jason said with a nod.

“Thanks Jay, I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me,” Gilda returned the nod, then got up and headed out of the room. 

“What was that about?” Chrysalis asked, walking into the room. She placed a kiss on Jason’s cheek, taking her seat next to him. “You know, we still need to make Rarity a throne of her own.”

“Yeah but let’s worry about that later,” Jason said, shaking his head. “Something’s up with Dash, Gilda thinks it’s got something to do with Tank.”

“What is it now?” she asked with a sigh and a roll of her eyes. “I swear, ponies are so high maintenance.”

“I won’t argue with you there, but still, we should see what’s eating her.” Just as Jason moved to get up, the pony in question burst into the room, Tank floating after her, pulled along by a leash.

“Jay! I need your help!” Dash panted, pausing to catch her breath.

“Does this have anything to do with you trying to stop winter?”

“Uh... maybe...” she said with a sheepish grin. “Look, you need to help! I gotta stop winter from coming so Tank doesn't have to, you know...”

“Spit it out!” Chrysalis hissed, frowning.

“I don’t want him to hibernate!” Dash admitted, hugging Tank close to her, the reptile letting out a sleepy yawn.

Chrysalis just stared at her for a moment. “This is too stupid to deal with, you do it. I’m going to check on the eggs.” She got up, quickly trotting out of the room, leaving the remaining two in silence.

“Dash I...” Jason started, running a hand down his face. “You sound like a child. Tank needs to hibernate, like all reptiles. Hell, even Zed is hibernating right now.”

“Wait, what?” Dash asked, blinking in surprise.

“Well, she is a reptile, she needs to hibernate, just like Tank does. Stopping winter is just going to hurt them and all the other animals that hibernate,” Jason pointed out. “I know you love Tank but you have to let him go, besides it’s just for a few months.”

“No way!” Dash shouted, darting up into the air, “I’m not going to give up on Tank!” She bolted out of the room, dragging the poor tortoise along behind her. 

“That could have gone better...” Jason sighed, getting to his feet, "Welp, better tell Twilight." He ended court for the day, heading out of the castle and toward Ponyville.





“Prepare yourselves everypony, winter is coming!” 

“Seriously?” Jason groaned, running a hand down his face. He blinked and the next thing he knew he was flat on his back, buried under several feet of snow. He sat up, barely feeling the snow as it rolled off his body. “OK, the fuck was that?” 

Jason noticed Rainbow Dash nearby... with a very, very, very pissed off looking Chrysalis flittering over to her.

“You!” she screamed, her face  contorted in rage. “You feather brained nimrod! You could have killed someone! I swear to everything sacred in this world, either you let that tortoise hibernate or I'm cocooning your dumb ass until spring! Are we clear!?”

“But-” Rainbow Dash started, only to fall silent as Chrysalis spat some goo past her head, daring her to open her mouth again. The tension lasted a whole minute before Discord appeared, looking absolutely terrified.

“Fluttershy’s water broke!” he exclaimed, his eyes wide. “What do I do!?” he demanded, grabbing Jason by the shoulders and shaking him vigorously.

“Take her to the hospital, you goon!” Jason shouted before letting out a grunt as Discord dropped him like a sack of potatoes.

“Hospital... right...” Discord nodded, snapping his talons and teleporting those relevant to the hospital. “Somepony help! There's a foal coming!” he cried, getting the hospital staff into gear. They got Fluttershy into a room, then asked everyone besides Discord to wait outside.

“You know...” Dash started, rubbing her arm, “I feel kinda silly now, freaking out about Tank like that.”

“I would say you should feel stupid, but as long as you know you were wrong,” Chrysalis responded, pouting as Jason glared at her.

They sat there in relative silence for the next few hours until the cries of a foal broke the quiet. A few minutes later, the doctor trotted out, pulling his mask down. “She's ready for visitors now,” he said with a smile.

The group made their way into the room, spotting a very tired Fluttershy and Discord, fawning over a pink bundle in her hooves. 

“Hello, everypony,” Fluttershy said with an exhausted smile. “Say hello to Eris.” She turned the bundle so they could all have a look at the foal. The first thing everyone saw was a tiny light pink muzzle poking out of the blanket, followed by the beginnings of a light yellow mane. Her face looked mostly like a normal pony foal, except her ears had little tufts of fur on the ends.

“Well, ain’t she a cutie?” Applejack asked, giving the foal a smile.

“Oh my, yes,” Rarity agreed, nodding her head.

“Now I get to throw her a ‘welcome to the world’ party!” Pinkie cheered before zipping out of the room. 

Jason chuckled, shaking his head, and gave the new family a smile. Opening his mouth to speak, he instead vanished in a burst of light. Fluttershy frowned, rocking the now crying Eris.

“So...” Chrysalis started, looking at Discord, “You knock up Moony yet?”
> When In Doubt, Just Eat It
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Well congratulat...” Jason paused before looking around. “It's always at the worst times,” he groaned, running a hand down his face in annoyance. He looked around to see a silver Sonic-style hedgehog lying on the ground surrounded by guards.

“You! Strange creature!” called one of the guards. “Move away from the prisoner!”

“Um... dude... I... could you, I dunno, help me stand up?” the hedgehog asked, looking up at him with wide eyes.

“Oh, this is even more lovely,” Jason sighed, hanging his shoulders. “The princesses hate you don’t they?” He held his hand out to help the hedgehog up.

“Kind of. They hate Blaze much more, they think I’m just a sidekick... So... who are you?” the hedgehog asked, gladly accepting the assistance.

The guard commander did not look amused. He was getting scared, since the hedgehog's previously broken leg had already fixed itself.

“Creature, I repeat, move away! Don’t force us to make you sorry!”

“I’m Jason Hughes, Prince of Equestria,” he said as the Omnitrix chirped and scanned the creature. “Well, an Equestria anyway. And relax, you couldn’t hurt me if you tried.”

“That’s not helpful, you know. I’m Silver, by the way,” the hedgehog mumbled. “Just make sure they won’t kill me right now, please. I’m still weak. That mech has a really powerful punch.”

“Relax,” Jason said with a roll of his eyes. “Now hold still, I’m going to cast a few Cure spells,” he said, casting the spell several times.

“Soldiers, this thing is an ally to him! Arrest both of them, now!”

“Alright, y'know what,” Jason said, turning to glare at them. “Omnitrix, Stardust,” he commanded. Disappearing in a flash of light, he was replaced by a green alicorn with a black and green mane. “Now all of you calm down!” he shouted, glaring harder. The hedgehog smirked while the ponies gasped. 

“A changeling! Kill it, show no mercy!” the commander shouted, sending the guards at the two Displaced.

“Okay, now... now I’m getting annoyed,” Jason snorted, shifting into Lodestar. He held his pincer-like hands out, then brought them together. All the guards flew toward each other, colliding mid-air rather comically. “Don’t mess with science, it doesn’t end well.”

“...I kinda expected something more, but I guess there was no reason to send them all to the hospital,” Silver admitted.

“An attitude like that is probably why they hate you in the first place,” Jason spoke, tapping the Omnitrix and reverting to normal. “Now, you were saying something about a mech?”

“Yep. He is in a museum. Much more interesting enemy. We should hurry, I’m worried about my companion. Well, not as much about my companion, about the mech. An angry Blaze is a dangerous Blaze.”

As if on cue, the mech flew through the wall of the museum and landed at the other end of the street, flattening some buildings, a large dent in its front. Silver blinked and looked back towards the museum. A light purple anthropomorphic cat was standing in the new hole. She wasn’t very happy, to put it kindly.

“Are you done talking to some Displaced you summoned despite everything I told you back in the Everfree Forest?”

“I take it that's Blaze?” Jason asked, giving her a rather unimpressed look. 

“Don’t insult her skills, character, actions and pretty much anything else. Don’t make jokes and try to avoid any memes. Also, don’t call her ‘cute’. Luna made that mistake once,” Silver whispered. In the meantime the mech finally stood up.

“Yes, I’m Blaze. Now excuse me, we have an Emerald to reclaim. Aim at the eye.” After those words the cat jumped several meters in the air and kicked the robot in the aforementioned eye, sending it back to the ground. Silver turned towards Jason.

“Do you want to help us with delivering this trash to the nearest dump?” Silver asked, picking up several bricks and throwing them at the enemy. The snake-like machine hissed.

“I don’t see why not, seems like you two could use the help,” he said, cracking his neck and then his knuckles.

“I’ve had enough! Officer, activate Sol Cannon!” a voice commanded from inside the mech. It reared up, starting to fire lasers at the three Displaced.

“Why?! Why did it have to be a laser?!” Silver screamed, jumping behind an abandoned carriage. “Jason, Blaze! We need to destroy its laser gun!”

“Omnitrix, Chromastone!” Jason shouted, shifting again. He absorbed a laser shot, firing it back in a beam of rainbow energy. This seemed to confuse the mech, something Silver decided to take advantage of.

“Take a load of this!” Silver exclaimed as he lifted an entire carriage, sending it hurtling through the air. It shattered beautifully against the head of the mech, toppling it once more. “Eat dirt, it has a lot of minerals!”

“An excellent idea, hedgehog!” stated someone from inside of the robot. “Get Chaos Striker underground, officers!”

Silver sighed,  watching the machine shatter the pavement and bury itself like a huge worm. He decided to levitate himself to the top of a nearby building in order to avoid any potential attack.

“I hate this kind of enemy,” Silver said loudly. “It’s the battle with Iblis all over again, now we have to wait for them to resurface.”

Blaze landed on one of the lanterns.

“I’ll prepare a warm welcome gift for their return,” Blaze spoke, starting to focus fire in her palms.

They didn’t have to wait long. There was nothing subtle about the techniques this mech was using - its return took place in one of the houses, utterly destroying it. 

“There he is!” Silver shouted, pointing at it. 

Blaze wasted no time. Unfortunately the fireballs she threw missed terribly, since the robot was agile enough to dodge them. She quickly dropped that plan of attack, deciding to rush it while Silver hurled various objects at it.

“Omnitrix, Second Sight!” Jason shouted, shifting into Mewtwo. He glowed a bright blue, gripping Chaos Striker up in his psychic grasp. “Hit it already, you goons!”  he commanded via telepathy.

Silver stood there, just staring at Jason in awe. Blaze took much less time admiring his work and instead decided to act. In a matter of ten seconds, she laid several blows into the mech's eye.  After the fifth kick the snake finally stopped tossing around in Jason’s grip, and there was a small trail of smoke coming from it. Deciding it was finished, he dropped it.

Jason floated over to it, looking it over. “So, just who’s inside of this stupid Zoids wannabe?” he asked. Reaching out with his mind, he narrowed his eyes in concentration.

“I’ll flatten you!” the mech shouted, suddenly rising and jumping up into the air.

“Son of a-” Silver stared at the sight of Chaos Striker, coming down right on top of him.

Jason’s eyes went wide as the mech came down, utterly crushing Silver under its weight. “Omnitrix, Ormagoden!” he sneered. He let out a roar before jumping on Chaos Striker, ripping into its metallic hide, acid dripping from his muzzle. Blaze just raised an eyebrow at this, seemingly not moved by her friend’s death.

Jason roared again, digging his claws into the mech, ripping out wiring and working his way inside of it. As he screamed with an unrelenting blood rage, he grew another set of arms. Tearing away the last of the armor that stood between him and the pilots, he glared at them with a heavy, malevolent gaze.

Changelings.

The one in the center was very similar to Chrysalis. She had a very long, green mane and similar body proportions. She eyed Jason, trembling in fear. 

“No, no, no! Officer, activate Chaos Blast!”

That was the first time Blaze had shown emotion. Her eyes widened and she gasped.

“They can use chaos energy now?!”

The chestplate of the robot suddenly heated up and started glowing. The changeling smiled deviously.

“Ponies will have to do a lot of clean up around here. Soldiers, abort the mission!” After those words all the changelings disappeared in a flash of teleportation.

Jason looked at the chest plate, leaping onto it and tearing into it. Once the outer layer was off, he gazed at the inner workings, trying to find the source of the chaos energy. His eyes landed on two glowing jewels and without really thinking about it, grabbed them with his tongue and with a quick bob of his head, swallowed them whole.

Blaze just stared.

“You just ate something that has the potential to destroy an entire multiverse,” she finally said.

“I don’t die,” he replied simply, growling in pain as the Emeralds burned at his insides. He quickly shook it off as lines appeared along his body, channeling the chaos energy out into the air, preventing it from building up.

“You are seriously overpowered,” Blaze stated coldly.

“And I’m barely containing an infinite amount of blood rage. I lose control and everything else dies,” he commented before hacking up the gems, which were now covered in his saliva and stomach acids.

Suddenly with a loud pop, Silver appeared next to them.

“...And there goes another of my lives, wasted like the others in a ridiculous way,” he recapped gloomily. He carelessly kicked the machine. “Stupid robot. Another hundred rings to collect.”

Blaze rolled her eyes.

“We should be going. Soon there will be two angry alicorns in this city and we have what we wanted. Even more than we wanted, two Chaos Emeralds at one...” Suddenly she stopped. “How?!”

Silver and Jason looked at the two gems. Jason didn’t understand what she meant, but Silver did.

“The second one isn’t a Chaos Emerald, it’s a Sol Emerald! And it shines! It got its power back!” Jason only replied with a confused look, so Silver explained. “When we arrived in Equestria, all the Emeralds had lost their power. After some time, the Chaos Emeralds regained theirs, but the Sol Emeralds remained dull. No idea why.”

“Don’t look at me, I deal with Norse stuff, Sonic was never my thing,” Jason said, reverting back to normal. He reached out, quickly getting a scan off Blaze. She took a step back and frowned.

“What did you do?”

“Took a scan of your DNA,” Jason said, crossing his arms. “I try to scan everything I can.”

Silver smiled.

“Kinky.” Blaze punched him and the hedgehog was sent to the pavement. “Worth it!”

“You two sound married,” Jason commented, looking at them with a bit of a smirk. Silver ceased moving, only to burst out laughing two seconds later. Blaze just scowled deeper.

“We aren’t,” she said curtly.

“Unfortunately, Blaze over here is very resistant to any attempt to woo her, no matter who tries,” snickered Silver. “Not that there is much of a choice in magical pony land.”

“Can we please leave this place already?” asked Blaze. “I don’t want to face the Princesses with only two Emeralds and three lives in reserve.”

“Eh, I could take them if they do show up but if they do, I suggest sitting down with them and talking it out,” Jason said, sounding rather serious.

“I don’t think it would work in this case,” Silver said sadly. “We kinda... almost destroyed this world on the same day we arrived here. After that we were helping Discord with pranking both of them. For years. We have a very strong reputation of being terrorists.”

“And we don’t care what ponies think about us,” snarled Blaze. “I don’t like this only because it makes our job harder. Finding all the Emeralds isn’t easy when two demigods are after you. But as I said, this isn't a good place for chatting. How fast can you run?” she asked Jason.

“How fast can you run?” he countered, raising his eyebrow.

“I haven’t checked. Probably somewhere around three hundred miles per hour. Silver can use his telekinesis to fly two hundred miles per hour.”

“Then let's go. Omnitrix, XLR8,” he said, shifting into a strange velociraptor-like creature with a black and white suit and a helmet. Blaze gaped at the sight for a moment, but in the end she shrugged and jumped to the roof of a nearby building, making her way towards the border of the city. Silver looked at his new friend.

“I wonder about something...  could you take a look around this city and tell me if you see any gold rings?”

“Sure,” he said with a nod before instantly zipping away, leaving only a brief blur in his wake. He came back a second later, his face plate sliding up, “Nope, I didn’t see anything like that.”

“I see... I guess it was be too good to be true. I could sell those rings to others and become a billionaire. Let’s go.”





“Ah, the Everfree,” Jason said as the group came to a stop, the Omnitrix timing out and reverting him to normal. “Home sweet home.”

“Wait, you live in the Everfree?” asked Silver. “Or was that just a joke, one of those that aren’t funny?”

“I live in the old castle,” Jason said, stroking his chin, “‘Course its a changeling hive now but, comes with the territory. And before you ask, I managed to get the ponies and changelings to live together in peace, hell I even married their leader.”

“That’s cool, man. Just one question. What or who are the changelings?”

“A little warning, Jason,” said Blaze, heading into deeper the forest. “He only knows about Equestria what he has seen himself. I don’t know if you are one of those bronies, but he isn’t. He never met a changeling before.”

“Where are you going, Blaze?”

“To get us dinner.”

“Uh oh. Jason, you better be ready to transform into something fireproof. When Blaze is hunting, the entire forest is in danger.” Silver dodged an incoming fireball.

“I’m a jotun, fire isn’t really an issue for me,” Jason said, giving a shrug.

“Double uh oh. In this case I really hope we won’t have to fight somewhere in the future. I don’t know how much is true when it comes to Marvel, but do real Jotun have ice powers?”

Jason raised an eyebrow before throwing his hand out, sending a shockwave of ice out into the forest. “I am the Lord of Winter for a reason,” he answered, leaning on a tree.

“Then I’m completely sure I want to be your friend, as ice is our only weakness, both for me and Blaze. That’s how the Princesses imprisoned us. Luckily, somepony was lazing around and our cell wasn’t cold enough yesterday... though, to be honest, if at the time Blaze hadn't been trying to imprison Iblis, then their plan would probably have failed. Hold on, do you even know who Iblis is?”

“Nope, like I said, Sonic isn’t my thing,” Jason said with a shrug. “I take it he’s evil as hell though?”

“Sure. He is a classic lava monster who wants to burn the world. The Merchant added him as a little... bonus to the Power Ring and Sol Emeralds Blaze bought before she was banished to Equestria. In the end we found a way to imprison him, but that’s when the Princesses found us and at the time Blaze couldn’t help me. Since I had used too much psychokinesis at once, I couldn’t do anything. I get a terrible headache every time it happens.”

“Well, I can’t help you there, unless you want a DNA splice,” Jason said with a shrug, sitting down. He popped up the Omnitrix’s dial, flipping through his forms. “Now... I have two new forms here I need to try out.” He pushed the dial down, shifting into a red hedgehog with yellow stripes going through his fur. “Hm... not bad...”

“How... extreme that would be?”

“Depends on the species, really,” Jason said, tapping his new shoes. “Forget about that for now, this form needs a name.”

“Green Grass?” At this Jason looked with disappointment at his companion. “Sorry, my imagination isn’t exactly wild. I also think all those pony names affected me.”

“Thats a stupid name,” Jason said with a frown, crossing his arms. “Ugh...think.” He banged his head on a tree until an idea came to him. “I got it! Dead End!”

“Any idea in which way this form is going to help me?”

“What? How would me getting a form from you help you?” Jason asked, raising his eyebrow.

“Because you mentioned something about DNA splicing. Well, if you can’t help me, then maybe you know someone who can? Some Displaced out there should have psychic powers.”

“Hey, I never said I couldn’t splice you, I was just confused on why you thought me getting a hedgehog form would help you,” Jason said, reverting to normal.

Silver shrugged.

“A little miscommunication. Whatever. Hey, if you scanned Blaze too, then you still have one more form to try. I wonder how a male cat from the Sonic universe would look like... Because if it would be like Big the Cat... heh.”

“What, all male cats from that world are big and fat?” Jason ask, frowning a little.

“There are only two cats in Sonic games. Blaze and Big. Big is... well, big. And fat, yes. I’m honestly curious how you'll look.”

“Well here it goes,” he said before dialing in the other new form and activating it. He shifted into an orange cat with tiger stripes, wearing a sleeveless vest.

“Well... you aren’t fat. That’s something.”

“I’d have been pissed,” Jason said, flexing his body this way and that, letting out a rather content purr. Silver burst out in laughter.

“Pff, sounds just like the one time I put catnip on Blaze’s nose when she was asleep. Speaking of which... don’t get close to catnip in this form. It’ll probably make you very angry. That’s how Blaze reacted once she woke up, though I don’t know how much was caused by her being a cat or just her being Blaze.”

“Good to know,” he said with a nod before reverting to normal. "You know, I should probably get going. Discord and Fluttershy just had their first kid and you kinda summoned me right from the hospital.”

“What? Discord is a father in your Equestria?! Oh, dear... yes, you'd better go. I didn't know that was possible. Wait, do you have our token? Mine and Blaze’s?”

“I don’t think so,” he said, shaking his head. Silver reached out and... literally pulled something from nowhere. Two big, gold... circles to be specific, connected like links of a chain.

“Here you go, our Power Rings. I don’t know why they are linked, but I think the Merchant was behind it. Summon us if you meet him, we reeealy want to kick his ass. Also, you can summon us if you need someone as perfect as me.” He grinned.

“Yeah, yeah, just send me home already,” Jason said with a smirk, placing the token in his pocket.

“Um... how? I’m new to all of this.”

“Just say, ‘Jason, our contract is complete.’”

Silver nodded. “Okay. Jason, our contract is complete.” After those words a portal appeared next to them. “It looks a little bit like a time portal from the game that I won’t mention. Anyway, it was nice to meet you, Jason.”

“Hey, you stay safe and try not to piss off the ponies,” he said before stepping through the portal, his token reappearing at Silver’s feet.
> The Most Important Night Of The Year
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Oh, thank you so much, Tree Hugger!" Fluttershy said, watching the earth pony in awe.

"It's nothing," the laid back pony said, gently setting a now calm Eris down in her crib. She had a bright green coat, and her reddish mane and tail were done up in dreadlocks.

"You just have to tell me your secret, Eris is so fussy," Fluttershy smiled. There was soft pop as Discord popped into existence. He hummed to himself, putting his hat on the hat rack,loosening his tie.

"Flutters dear, I'm home! Sorry for being late, Celly kept me a bit... longer..." He blinked, staring at Tree Hugger for a few seconds before giving her a smile, "Forgive my manners, I didn't know we were having company today. I'm Discord, it’s a pleasure too meet you miss...?" he asked, holding his talon out.

"It's like, totally nice to meet you," she said, taking his talon and giving it a shake. "I'm Tree Hugger."

"Tree Hugger is a member of the Equestrian Society for the Preservation of Rare Creatures!" Fluttershy started, "We met on one of my trips to see the Breezies."

"It's always nice to meet a friend of Fluttershy's," Discord said with a smile. He nuzzled Fluttershy before laying down on the couch. "So where's Moony? Sleeping like always?"

"Now Dissy, you know Moony is nocturnal," Fluttershy said, though she couldn't keep the smile off her face. 

"Your family is like, totally radical," Tree said, looking at them with a small smile. "I'm really digging your off beat aura."

"Oh, thank you," Discord said with a smile, putting his talon and paw behind his head and his hoof and foot up on the table.

"Oh Dissy, Tree is going to be my plus one for the gala," Fluttershy said, passing them both a cup of tea.

"That's nice," he said, sipping his tea. "Has Moony picked her plus one yet?"

"I think she's going with Sonata. Have you decided who you're going to take to the gala?"

"Not yet," Discord said before sitting up abruptly. "Wait... the gala is tonight, isn't it?"

"Um... yes..." Fluttershy nodded, frowning a little.

"My ticket still hasn't arrived!" he nearly shouted as he grabbed his head, his eyes wide in realization.

"Well, it didn't arrive here..." Fluttershy said, tapping her chin. "Maybe they sent it to your old home?"

That caused a light bulb to appear between Discord's horns. "Why didn't I think of that? Well, I'm off, Flutters my dear. I'll see you ladies at the gala!" he sing-songed, kissing Fluttershy and Eris on the head before bursting into confetti.

"That dude is so totally righteous. You’re lucky to be mated to him."

"Oh um... thank you," Fluttershy said, hiding behind her mane.





"Do I really have to wear this?" Jason asked with a sigh, watching as Rarity put the finishing touches on his suit. "Can't I just wear my armor?"

"Of course not," she said, rolling her eyes. "The gala is the most important event of the year. You have to look your best."

"I look my best in armor," he tried to argue, frowning at her.

"I highly disagree, now just stand still so I can put on the finishing touches," she snapped, causing the jotun to grumble and stand as still as possible. Rarity just smiled, humming to herself as she worked.

"Best not to argue, Jay," Dash said, having thankfully already gotten her dress on. "You know how Rarity gets."

"It was sorta cool she made this for me," Gilda said, looking over the tuxedo Rarity had made for her. Rarity had offered to make her a dress but Gilda had refused on the grounds that she wasn't going to 'look like a dweeb'.

"Hay yeah, you look so hot," Dash said, kissing her cheek, chuckling at the face Scootaloo made. "Hey, you aren't upset I'm taking Gilda as my plus one are you?" 

"Nah!" the young pegasus said, giving her a smile, "I'm going as Spike's plus one!"

"It's going to be great!" Sweetie Belle piped up, the Crusaders all cuddled together smirking.

"We're going to the gala!" they chanted, jumping up and down, making the adults groan and roll their eyes at them.

"How are the four of us gettin' along?" Applejack asked, looking at the three fillies.

"We're doin' great AJ! This night is gonna be perfect!" Apple Bloom smiled, her excitement rather infectious.  

"Now ya'll just calm down, sugarcube," Applejack said, "It ain't like it's a life-changin' experience or nothiiiiing..." Her lip quivered and she started to tear up. "My little sister's all grown up!"

"Oh here we go," Dash said, rolling her eyes at Applejack's dramatics,"Are you done yet Rarity?"

The fashionista took a step back, rubbing her chin, and examined her work before breaking into a smile. "There! You look simply divine, darling!"

"The things I do for love," he muttered with a roll of his eyes, though despite himself, he couldn't hold back a smile. "Whatever makes you happy, love." He looked around at the gathered group. "Are we all set?"

"Yup," Applejack said, wiping at her eyes. "We're jus' wait'n on Megan, Chrysalis and Trixie." As if on cue, the aforementioned three walked into the room. Megan wore a rather nice looking red dress, done up with gems and frills, as per Rarity's normal style. Trixie wore a similar dress, styled after her cape, with a matching hat. Chrysalis was in human form, wearing her own dress, which was her usual colors of black and various shades of green.

"Must I do this?" Trixie asked with a sigh and a frown, as she adjusted her hat.

"You need to get out more," Jason said, shaking his head. "OK, if we're all ready, the carriages are waiting for us." He moved over, locking arms with Chrysalis. Rarity took her place at his other side, the trio leading the group out of the castle and into their awaiting transports.





Despite Canterlot's rather sorry looking state, the turnout for the gala was as large as ever. Jason sighed, glad his fear of crowds had lessened into a mere dislike of them.

"Just relax and try to have some fun," Chrysalis said, kissing his cheek. The others had spread out around the room, mingling happily, though there was no sign of Discord yet.

"I'm with Chrysalis on this, Jason," Megan said, brushing some hair out of her face. "Just think of it like a more important prom night!"

"I didn't go to prom," Jason replied with a flat look.

Megan opened her mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by the announcers blowing their trumpets. "Announcing the spirit of chaos, Discord, and his guest, the, uh..." He paused as Discord leaned over to whisper in his ear. "The Smooze!"

Megan's eyes widened and she turned around, trembling at the mere mention of the name. Her eyes locked onto the green ooze that slithered up next to Discord. She let out a shriek of terror and in the blink of an eye, she had run up the main flight of stairs and jumped on Celestia's back, holding on for dear life.

"Megan dear..." Celestia started, looking at the human with a slight frown. "Are you alright?" 

"The Smooze!" Megan shouted, pointing at the blob. "Jason! Do something before it smothers us all!"

Jason just blinked, looking between the Smooze and his mother, not sure what was going on.

"Megan, why don't we go somewhere quiet and you can tell me all about it, hmm?" Celestia asked, moving down the stairs and out toward the balconies while Megan babbled on about the horrible singing Smooze.

"Any idea what that was about?" Jason asked, looking at Discord. The spirit of chaos shrugged, adjusting his top hat. He wore a rather nice, orange tuxedo top with matching hat and a cane.

"I honestly have no idea. To be frank, I don't really know Smooze here, but all our other friends were already coming so I figured, what better way to make a new friend than to take them to a party!"

"So, wait," Jason said, not taking his eyes off the Smooze, "You brought a creature you don't know to a party because no one else could come with you? That's insane." 

"Oh you're just overreacting," Discord said, rolling his eyes at Jason. The two then watched as the Smooze slithered by, eating the jewels off of a passing pony. Discord frowned, seeing the unamused look on Jason's face. "Okay, okay, I'll keep an eye on him, no need to worry."

Jason just rolled his eyes as he approached close enough to the Smooze to get a scan off of it. "Chrysalis, I'm going to check on my mom, you and Rarity just have fun, alright?"

"Of course," she said, nodding. She grabbed Rarity, dragging her away from Fancy Pants and his entourage, and into the ballroom. Jason just chuckled as he went out onto the balconies. Megan was sitting at one of the tables with Celestia, shakily drinking a cup of tea.

"You okay, mom?" he asked, taking a seat at the table.

"Y-yeah I'm okay..." she said, taking a sip from her tea. "J-just me overreacting..."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"B-back when I was a little girl... Ponyland was almost destroyed by a singing ooze called the Smooze... it almost took over until the flutterponies saved us..."

"Was that the same Smooze that Discord just brought with him?" Jason asked, deciding he was better off not asking what the hell a flutterpony was.

"I-I don't think so. This one is a different color... and it's not... singing..." she said, shuddering as The Smooze's song replayed in her head, bringing back terrible memories of the formless horror.

"Well, if you're feeling better, I'm going to go join the party." Jason got up, placed a kiss on Megan's cheek, and proceeded into the ballroom. He stood in the door, gazing out across the room. Spike was at a table with the Crusaders, the four of them seemed to be having a good time. Trixie was off with Twilight, probably arguing about magic. He spied Chrysalis by the refreshment table, so he headed over to her.

"Hey," she said, and the two shared a kiss. "How's your mom?" 

"She's a little out of it, but otherwise she's cool." He took another look around. "Where's Rares?"

Chrysalis rolled her eyes. "That blob thing Discord brought with him ate her dress and she snuck out. Mumbled something about her 'secret stash.'"

Jason sighed, running his hand down his face. "You wanna dance?"

"Sure." Chrysalis finished up her drink, taking his hand. "We need some music first, you know."

"Good thing Twi put me in charge of the music tonight." He walked over to the music setup, where his MP3 player sat, hooked up to a sound system. He flipped through the song list before deciding on the Bee Gees and hit play. As the first notes filled the air, Jason and Chrysalis took to the dance floor. The ponies, having never heard disco before, weren't too sure at first, but once Pinkie and the Smooze hit the dance floor, the rest of them joined in the fun.





The hours passed rather quickly with everyone enjoying themselves, Jason's choices in music were a hit with the ponies, and he and Rarity, who had somehow gotten a new dress, were just coming off the dance floor when Chrysalis bolted out of her seat, her eyes wide. She reverted to her original form, not seeming to care if it ruined her dress.

"Chrysalis dear, are you alright?" Rarity asked with a frown, "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Eggs!" the stressed out empress shouted. "The eggs are hatching!"

"Oh shit! I'll get-"

"No time!" Chrysalis shouted, her horn glowing. A circle of flame appeared around the three of them and in a moment they sunk into the floor, vanishing. They reappeared in a heap at the hive, Chrysalis immediately pulling herself to her feet, tearing ass to their room.

"This is not how I imagined tonight going..." Jason grumbled, getting to his feet, brushing himself off.

"Hurry your asses up!" Chrysalis screamed back at them.

"You go ahead, Jason," Rarity said, getting to her hooves, brushing her dress off. "I'll catch up." Jason nodded, running down the hall. He found  Chrysalis in front of the nest, a soft chittering sound filling the air.

Chrysalis turned to look at him, a serene smile gracing her muzzle. "Come look at them, they're beautiful." He moved over, taking a seat next to her. He let out a small gasp as he looked down at the hatchlings – his children.

The first one that caught his eyes was a little girl, if the lack of a scorpion tail was anything to go by. She was humanoid, with a mostly human body structure, though her legs still ended in hooves. She gazed up at him with curious red eyes. The other two, while not humanoid, were still different from any changeling Jason had ever seen.

The only male in the group had a reddish tint to his body, which had more gaps in the carapace than usual, said gaps giving off a yellow glow, which matched his eyes. The other little girl was a deep blue color, and her tiny wings were rather moth-like.

"Why don't you name them?" Chrysalis suggested, smiling at him.

Jason thought for a moment before smiling back. "I got it. Freya," he looked at the little humanoid nymph, "Sif," he looked at the other girl, "and Heimdal," he said, looking at the little boy. The two of them snuggled together, tears silently running down his face. Today certainly was the most important day of the year.
> Creepy Anime Stuff
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Welcome to Griffonstone, the worst place to live," Gilda proclaimed, and Jason couldn't really argue with her. The place looked terrible, with all the houses in severe disrepair, many having collapsed, with trash everywhere. Not that the griffons seemed to care, they just went about their business like it was nothing.

"Uh G, I know you used to tell me your home was a dump but I didn't think you actually meant it literally," Dash commented as they walked into town, her eyes wide.

"Yeah, Griffonstone sucks, has for a long time," Gilda snorted, not exactly happy she was back.

"What happened to it?" Pinkie asked. "It doesn't look anything like Twilight said it would."

"I'm sure the king can tell us," Jason said, only for Gilda to bark out a laugh. "What?"

"Griffonstone doesn't have a king and that idol is just a stupid story." Gilda snorted, rolling her eyes.

"Oh you better believe that idol is real," an elderly griffon protested, walking out of a collapsed house. 

"Ugh, go away Grampa Gruff,  we don't want any of your stupid stories," Gilda growled, giving the old bird the stink eye.

"I wanna hear what he has to say," Jason said, the ponies nodding in agreement.

"I'll tell you the whole story..." He held his talon out. "For some bits, that is." Jason stared at him for a few moments before pouring some bits into the griffon's talon. Grampa Gruff smirked, beginning his tale. The first griffon king had indeed found the idol and used it to unite the griffons, but it had been stolen during the last king's reign by a monster and lost into some kind of abyss.

"So all we have to do is find the idol!" Dash exclaimed, flying into the air and smirking. 

"Yeah well, you guys can do that on your own," Gilda huffed, starting to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Dash asked pouting.

"I'm going to see if my bakery cart is still here," Gilda said, not looking back. "With my luck, someone stole it."

"Oooh! If it's baking count me in!" Pinkie shouted, bouncing after Gilda.

"Okay Dash, guess that just leaves you and m-" Jason started before he vanished in a green flash.

Dash just sighed, shaking her head. "Looks like I'm on my own!" she said before zipping off toward the abyss.





The device went off in a flash, dropping Jason on the floor. "Seriously?" he asked, getting to his feet. He brushed himself off, looking around.  "Okay, who summoned me and why? I'm kinda busy at the moment for Yggdrasil’s sake!"

The red-haired woman just stared at him, assuming he was human for a few seconds before grinning, showing off her teeth. "Summoned? Is that what I did when I pressed the button on that thing?" she asked, pulling off her coat and draping it over Fluttershy so she wouldn't freak out when she woke up.

Gilda just sat there staring at the two before she sighed. "I'm going to go to my room, and try and forget this ever happened," she said simply and left. The woman rolled her eyes, seeing as she would probably get lost; it was bigger on the inside, magic was the best.

"Yes, summoned," Jason said, turning to glare at her. "Now please, tell me why the hell am I here? I'm, you know, rather freaking busy." He ran a hand through his hair, sighing loudly. "I'm Jason, and you are?" he asked, looking into the woman’s eyes.

"I'm Grell, and I was just wondering what the button did; not like I knew it was going to open a portal to who-knows-where!" she exclaimed. She adjusted her glasses and stared into the air for a moment. She then quickly pulled her glasses off and let them hang on their chain, seeming to calm down a bit.

"Grell! Why was Gilda stuck in your spider's room in her web?!..." the Undertaker yelled, trailing off as she realised someone else was there. "Who the hell is that? I thought we agreed no more-"

Grell cut off her rant. "We did, I pressed the button on that cylinder thing and then he appeared; said I summoned him. No idea how I did though." She turned to Jason. "Jason, this is the Undertaker, Undertaker this is Jason."

"Okay, I'm not liking the tension in the room," Jason said, eyeing the Undertaker warily. "Should I be worried for my safety?" he asked, reaching into his pocket and narrowing his eyes slightly.

Undertaker gave a cackle. Grell groaned. "Not this again," she muttered.

"Perhaps, perhaps not," Undertaker said with a giggle, pulling her scythe from midair. She spun it around her fingers, smirking the whole while.

"Knock it off," Grell said, trying to grab her scythe without losing a finger.

"Nope!" she replied with another insane giggle and spun around like she was dancing.

The red-haired woman epicly facepalmed, it was normally her doing the crazy stuff.

Jason just groaned, running a hand down his face. "I always get the crazy people, don't I?" he muttered, watching the Undertaker spin around like an idiot.

"Whatcha mean?" Grell asked, ignoring Undertaker's attempts to annoy her further.

"Just tell me what you need, please?" Jason asked, groaning and running a hand through his hair.

“What I need? I don’t need anything really. And you sound pretty annoyed, so what’s your problem?” she replied.

"I was in the middle of something important thank you very much," he said, crossing his arms, his eyes glowing a bit.

“Can I ask what?” she asked, now wondering what exactly was so important.

"I am helping my friends restore Griffonstone thank you very much."

“Griffonstone? Isn’t that the place where... stuff, happened? Nah screw me, I’ve got no idea where that is. Care to explain further, Mister Portal Hopping Man?”

"It's the griffon kingdom that became a hellhole after they lost some kind of idol," Jason explained.

“Huh, I’ve heard of the griffon kingdom. Never been there, I was planning to though; I wonder what the cinematic records of griffons look like,” she mused. “I’ve also never heard of you, have you been in Griffonstone for the last thousand years? I’m assuming you’re immortal to some degree, seeing as the only ‘humans’ here are Undertaker and I, and now you are added to that list.”

Jason just started to laugh, finding that rather humorous.

“What’s so funny?” Grell asked, cocking her head.

"I'm not exactly human, never have been," he said with a smirk.

“Then what are you?” she asked, slightly confused, with a frown starting to appear, Undertaker had vanished to who-knows-where.

"I am a jotun, and I'm not from this universe in the first place."

“Isn’t that what Loki is?... You’re not from this universe? Well that makes a lot of sense, well; Undertaker owes me a look at her eyes. I knew the multiverse theory was true!” Grell said with glee. “What universe do you come from, if not from this one?” she asked, now extremely curious.

"A universe based on post-Ragnarok Yggdrasil, where Asgard has become Equestria," he explained, leaning on the wall.

“Uh huh... How did you get here then? Can you dimension jump like we can, but only to the Reaper Office? (Which totally shouldn’t exist.)”

"Again, you summoned me," he restated simply.

“Which means?...”

"Which means YOU summoned me," he said again, sounding annoyed.

“I still have no idea who I did that, I pressed the button on the cylinder thing and you appeared... Is that how you summon people? With cylinders and button pressing?”

"That was my token, most Displaced have them, as should you."

“What’s a Displaced?” she asked, sort of more confused than when the conversation started.

"Displaced are people that bought something from a weird guy, usually at a con, and got sent to a version of Equestria," he explained, fiddling with the Omnitrix.

“Bought something from a weird guy? Yeah, I was missing my chainsaw; I went with the scissors, but then I spotted the perfect replica... Hang on, you mean there’s more people in different multiverses just like us?”

"We're all stuck in the Equestrian multiverse, though Yggdrasil is technically it's own multiverse."

“It is? And how many is 'we'?”

"How the hell should I know?" Jason asked, raising his eyebrow.

“Okay, from that reaction, there’s a ton, and you were talking about these tokens earlier; could you explain in more detail?” Grell asked.

"Tokens are your calling card."

“How does that work?”

"You take something that represents you, put a phrase in it and toss it out into the void."

“That easy?” She grinned. “Wait here, I have an idea.”

Grell left the room fairly quickly and headed to her workstation. She threw open the door and stared at the mess, but ignored it all and went searching for- “Aha! There you are,” she said, brandishing her scissors.

She ran back to Jason and waved the scissors. “Got my token, I knew keeping these were a good idea!”

"Those are scissors... someone already has scissors," Jason said, giving an unimpressed look.

“Aw, but these are different! They’re safety scissors! Plus they can cut cinematic records! What if I... Nah, changing their colour is not a good idea. What if they’re yellow and expect my outfit to be yellow!” She gasped dramatically. “You sure these aren’t okay? They’re my little red death scythe safety scissors.”

"The fuck is a cinematic record?" Jason asked, looking rather confused. "That some kind of weird ass anime thing?"

She pouted.

“It’s from Kuroshitsuji, a.k.a. Black Butler. It’s basically your life story in a movie. Reapers like me kill people on the To Die list, and watch their cinematic record and decide whether they live or die. Unless you’re me, who didn’t follow the rules; until I got demoted and had to use safety scissors. That wasn’t really me, per se. More Grell in the anime. And what the hell is wrong with anime?!”

"And what does mine say?" he asked, raising his eyebrow, ignoring the question about anime.

“Oh it’s amazing, I saw it when you appeared. You’ve led such an interesting life in Equestria, I can’t see what exactly happened unless I kill you; my glasses help with that. People with amazing lives are very hard for Reapers to avoid. Such as Sebas-chan, and you for example.”
She took a breath.

“There is a reason I go on a little murder spree now and then; the longer-lived the person, the stronger the temptation to kill them becomes. It’s easy to hold down the temptation, just take the glasses off.” She shrugged, unconcerned.

"I highly doubt you want to," Jason said, laughing. "Unless you want to piss Hel off. That and I'd set the Omnitrix to self-destruct."

“It’s pretty hard to kill a Reaper,” she said with a grin. “So, can I use the scissors or not? I’m not sure what else I could use if I can’t.”

"If that's what you want." Jason said, shrugging. "I'm not one to judge. Just don't make your message something stupid like Wade did."

“Hmm.” She thought for a second and held them up.

“Hi! My name’s Grell Sutcliff, call me if you need help or just wanna blow stuff up,” she said, then turned to Jason. “What now? I know it’s supposed to go to the void, but how do I do that?”

"Omnitrix, Hodgepodge," he said, vanishing in a burst of light, being replaced by an entirely different being with a different cinematic record.

“Th- that’s amazing! How the hell did you change your cinematic record?!” Grell asked, staring at him... who now looked a bit like Discord.

"Hi!" He clapped, smiling. "I'm Hodgepodge! It's nice to meet you!" He grabbed her hand, shaking it vigorously, grinning all the while.

“Uh, hi?” she replied, kinda confused.

"What?" he asked, tilting his head innocently.

“I’m just kinda confused, why are you introducing yourself to me again? And you still haven’t answered my previous question.”

"Well that's because you asked Jason. I'm Hodgepodge," he reiterated, pointing to himself.

“So, multiple personalities? And that’s why your record changed, it didn’t change; just switched. Cool,” she said with a grin.

"I am no mere personality!" he pouted, crossing his arms.

“Okay then. Back on topic, Why did Jason choose you?”

"'Cause I can do this," he said, pinching the air, which broke and shattered, revealing a black hole in reality. "Tada! A hole to the void!"

“Wow, that’s awesome!” she exclaimed, watching the tear. “Is it a good idea to keep it open long? I’ve seen several movies in which a tear in reality destroys the world.”

"Don't question me!" he scolded. "Now toss it in the hole!"

“Okay,” she said, tossing the scissors into the rip, watching them multiply and fly off in a million directions. “Well, that was interesting.”

"Yup," he said, repairing the hole with some concrete. "Well, I think it's time we got back. We have things to do and people to murder at some point in time, maybe. I think."

“Okay, see ya then,” she said with a grin.

"Just say, 'Jason, our contract is complete."

She nodded. “Jason, our contract is complete. Seeya Jason, Hodgepodge!”

"Bye!" he said with a wave, vanishing in a flash of light, followed by his token falling to the ground.

“Well, that was fun,” she said with a grin.





Jason blinked as he came back to the world, finding himself at the edge of Griffonstone. "Wonder how long I was gone..." he mumbled to himself. He turned his head, spotting Gilda at the edge of a cliff, pulling Dash and Pinkie up from over the edge. "Girls!" he called, rushing over to them.

"We almost had it Jay!" Dash lamented, hanging her head, "We almost had that damn idol!" Gilda screeched, socking Dash in the eye. "What the hell G!?" she hissed, placing a talon over her eye.

"Don't you understand!? You're more important than some stupid idol!" She quickly pulled Dash into a hug. "You and our chick are the most important things in the world."

Pinkie gasped. "Dashie you're..."

Dash nodded. "I wanted to keep it a surprise..."

"Allow me to get you an early baby shower present." Jason cracked his neck. "Omnitrix, NRG," he commanded. Immediately after transforming, he ran off the cliff, falling like a brick. He smashed through several outcroppings before hitting the ground hard enough to create a small crater. "Now, where is that idol?" He spent the next few moments scouring the ground before coming across the idol, half buried under some rocks, and a strange one eyed, horned skull.

"Let's try this out..." he said, tapping the Omnitrix and returning to normal. He grunted as the wind pushed him back but he held his ground. He focused his powers and willed the wind to calm. It responded in kind, reducing its speed. Jason snagged the idol, kneeling in front of the skull.  "This is what you get, asshole." He held out his arm out and the Omnitrix let out a chirp, taking a sample from the skull. He got got to his feet, looking at the idol, it belonged to the griffons... and he knew just the one to give it to.
> The Delta Guardian
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So how is Gilda handling being a queen?" Jason asked as he and Dash walked out of the castle.

"She's taking it well, she wants to know if you'd set up a meeting with Celestia," Dash asked, fluffing her wings a little. 

"Hey Jason! Dash!" Spike shouted, rushing over to the two. "Um... can you spare a few minutes?" he asked, looking rather out of breath.

"Sure, Spike," Jason said, picking the Drake up and setting him on Dash's back. "Whatcha need?"

"Well um... ever since that whole uh... 'by order of the princess'... thing..." Spike said, "Am I... I dunno... do I deserve the girls...?"

"Whoa, Spike," Dash said, looking up at him, "You're one of the best dragons ever. Don't ever talk like that, you got me?"

Spike blinked, not having expected that reaction. "Yeah... what do you think Jason?" None of them noticed the portal that opened in front of them.

“I’m not sure if you should be asking me for advice, Spike,” Jason said as he walked through the portal. Rainbow Dash trotted in after him, Spike on her back.

“Weren’t you the one that told the Crusaders that we could be a herd?” Spike asked, its voice male.

“Yeah, and I’m still being told it's a bad idea.” Jason paused, looking around. “Okay, this is not Valhalla.”

Upon a nearby bed, a woman wearing nothing but panties stared at the three visitors, not entirely sure what she was looking at. She waved awkwardly at them, before clearing her throat.

“Uhh, hi?” she started, looking from one to the other. “Not entirely sure what’s going on here, with the portal and stuff, but I guess welcome to my bedroom.”

“Seriously, lady?” he asked, quickly covering Spike's eyes, “Put a shirt on.”

She looked down at her chest, just now remembering that she was, in fact, mostly nude. “Can you see mine anywhere? It’s the only one I’ve got and I have no idea where it is. Black, with red markings on the chest.” she said, standing and looking around.

“What is it with you guys and clothes anyway?” Dash asked, rolling her eyes, “Over there," she said, pointing with a talon to the corner of the room, where said article of clothing was laying on the floor.

“I forgot why, myself, talon pony,” the woman replied, grabbing the shirt and pulling it over her head. She ignored the fact that she was still in her panties. “I haven't really had to cover myself for a while, so it’s just natural for me. Also, you’re freakin’ adorable in a deadly sort of way.”

“Thanks,” Dash replied with a smirk. Jason just rolled his eyes, pulling his hands away from a frustrated Spike's eyes.

“Anyway,” he cleared his throat, “I’m Jason, this is Rainbow Dash and the little guy is Spike.”

“Nice ta meet ya!” Spike said, dropping his irate look and shooting the woman a smile, waving at her.

“Nice to meet you too, Spike. I’m Zinnia.” Her eyes flicked to the ‘door’ of her room, seeing a tuft of maroon hair. She rolled her eyes and giggled slightly, causing her chest to bounce. “And the mare who thinks she’s being sneaky is Whiplash, my personal assistant, assigned by Celestia herself.”

“H-hi.” the anthro pegasus stuttered, stepping around the corner and getting a good look at their impromptu guests. Her eyes lingered on Jason before she let out an involuntary “Woof!”

“What?” he asked blanky, looking at the pegasus.

“I think she likes you, dude.” Zinnia stated, causing Whiplash’s face to turn from forest green to dark red in a matter of seconds. “And I must say, I wouldn’t mind a go at you myself...” she added, falling into a lidded gaze that most would call ‘bedroom eyes’. If Zinnia saw them herself she would have called them ‘creepy’.

“I’m married,” Jason said flatly, crossing his arms, “So, no thank you.”

“Shame. Wouldn’t have minded a little five-way. I’m sure talons can scratch that particular itch just right.” Zinnia’s gaze turned on Rainbow Dash, whose wings sprung to attention at the husky tone of the woman’s voice.

“C-can we change the subject, please?” Whiplash asked, blushing even harder than before as she fought to keep her own wings down.

“Fine,” Zinnia groaned. “Just try’na have some fun...” She trailed off as a loud *crack!* filled the room, her head whipping around to see the egg sitting on the other side of her bed, a large crack forming in it’s sky-blue shell.

“Is that an egg?” Dash asked, letting Spike off her back. “You hatching a dragon or somethin’?”

“I didn’t think it would be this soon, and probably not the kind of dragon you’re thinking of, but yeah!” Zinnia began breathing heavily, sweat forming on her brow. “My baby boy’s hatching! Whiplash, blankets and food, now!” she barked, and the upright pegasus shot out of the room.

“What kind of dragon is it?” Spike asked, waddling over to Zinnia. “Ya know, I’m a dragon too!” he smiled proudly, striking a bit of a pose.

“Not the dragon that I’m holding, dude,” Zinnia stated, giving the drake nervous smirk “This one’s more of a Dragon-Type.” The egg gave a lurch, the crack growing as Zinnia struggled to keep a hold of it. “I have no idea what I’m doing!” she shouted, looking desperately to Jason for help.

“Set it down,” Jason said, gesturing toward the bed, “Make a nest out of your blankets,” he instructed.

Zinnia did as instructed, hands shaking as she pulled the lilac sheets around the hatching dragon. “What now?” she asked, trembling as she stood up. Whiplash returned at that moment with the requested items, and Zinnia quickly took a large bite out of the sandwich before spitting it out. “The fuck?! Why the fuck is there a flower on my sandwich!?”

“Here,” Jason said, pulling a sack out of his pocket, tossing it to Zinnia, “Go nuts. There's several pounds of jerky in there.”

“Jerky?” Whiplash asked, head tilted slightly to the side. “What’s jerky?”

“I’ll tell you later,” Zinnia said, opening the bag and pulling a piece of meat out. “More importantly, what kind of jerky? Beef? Turkey? Oh, please say you just gave me turkey jerky!”

“Boar, taken from the body of an immortal boar that resurrects himself the day after you kill him,” Jason said with a grin. Dash stared at the jerky, licking her lips.

Zinnia stared for a moment before seeming to click back into consciousness. “Saehrimnir?” she asked, throwing the piece of jerky in her hand to Dash before grabbing another piece for herself, devouring it in seconds.

“Huh, I’m surprised someone actually knew that,” Jason said, watching as Dash snatched the jerky away, starting to nom on it like a madmare.

“Meh, I liked the Thor movies and decided to read up on Norse mythology because of them.” Zinnia’s attention was drawn back to the egg as it gave one final shake before the shell burst, sending shards in all directions. The dragonling left behind was a small, sky-blue drake with a tan underbelly and a silver-grey set of spines that ran the length of it’s slightly elongated neck. Tiny white fangs poked out of it’s mouth, glinting as it looked around, blinking it’s coal-black eyes. It seemed to lock onto Zinnia after a moment, reaching out with it’s stubby blue arms as it gurgled at her.

“Oh geez, is that a Bagon?” Jason asked, looking at the little creature, kneeling down to get a better look.

Zinnia lifted the drake into her arms, smiling slightly. “Yeah...” she said, lifting a piece of the jerky to the Bagon’s mouth. “I think I’ll call him... Stryker.”

Jason held his right arm up, revealing that he owned an Omnitrix to Zinnia. It chirped, passing a yellow light over the newborn.It didn’t seem to like the light, starting to wail rather loudly.

“Aw come on Jay!” Dash groaned, covering her ears, “I thought you were better with kids!”

“I usually am...” he grumbled, rubbing the back of his head, “Uh... sorry about that...”

“It’s fine.” the woman said, smiling. “He’s just hungry.” She proceeded to feed Stryker the boar jerky, taking a piece for herself every so often. “This is good!”

Uncatalogued DNA detected, the watch chirped.

“Yes I know, I have to scan the pegasus," Jason said with a roll of his eyes. He moved toward Whiplash, only to stop as the watch scanned Zinnia. “Wasn’t expecting that...” he said, blinking in surprise.

“Me neither...” Zinnia agreed, glaring at the watch. “Unless you aren’t human.”

“I’m not, and I already have a human form.” Jason explained, “That means... you aren’t human.”

“Fucking wonderful!” Zinnia Roared, her voice raising in volume to the point that everyone in the room – except, surprisingly, baby Stryker – had to cover their ears or suffer the complete destruction of their eardrums. “As if I wasn’t fucked over enough in my life, now I’m not even a human fucking being!!!”

“Calm down!” Jason shouted, giving her a nice slap. “You should consider yourself lucky, a lot of us get turned into monsters.”

“Whadda’ya mean, monsters?” Zinnia’s facial features were clearly waging war, the main factions being rage, confusion and intrigue. Intrigue seemed to be winning.

“You haven’t had the talk yet, have you?” he asked with a sigh, running a hand down his face.

“Yes, I know what sex is.” Zinnia sighed. The war had ended, with annoyance reigning supreme over Zinnia’s face. “I tried to talk you into it, remember?” 

“Not that talk,” Jason said, looking at the floor, “You went to a con, cosplayed probably, bought something from some creepy guy and wound up here correct?”

“Incorrect! I was given my anklet, wherever the fuck I left it, by a nurse at the mental hospital where I lived after my brother disappeared. Then a dragon ate me. Now I’m here.”

“Okay, that's different,” Jason said with a blink, “Still, you are now a Displaced. There are Yggdrasil knows how many of us, each sent to a different version of Equestria.”

“Are they taken by Void creatures?”

“It’s usually by one guy, The Merchant...who is dressed as the Merchant from Resident Evil 4,” Jason said, waving his watch arm, “I bought this thing from him and got sent to my Equestria.”

“Ah, never played that. But still, guy sounds like a dick. At least my one was hot and let me do her first.”

“Do her?” Spike asked rather innocently. 

“He’s a minor? Fuck...” Zinnia sighed, dejected. “Why didn’t you say when I suggested the five-way!? Now I look like a pedo!”

“You’re fine,” Jason said, giving her a pat on the back, “Anyway... this is a Pokemon universe, yes?”

“I’d guess so. A Salamence and a Hydreigon duked it out at the castle the other day, if that helps. The Salamence was Stryker’s biological mom, but she died and gave me his egg. The Hydreigon ran off, don’t know where to.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, a tremendous roar echoed through the halls of the cave, causing everyone to stiffen up. Whiplash threw Zinnia’s shorts at her in a panic, the woman pulling them on quickly after gently placing Stryker back on the bed.

“Whiplash,” she barked, pulling her cloak from atop the bed when she spotted its corner hanging off the roofing’s edge. “Watch Stryker for me.” The pegasus just nodded, taking a seat beside the frightened child.

“Don’t worry,” Jason said, quickly stealing a scan off Whiplash, “I got this. Omnitrix, XLR8,” he commanded, and in a flash of green light, shifted into a vaguely velociraptor-esque creature before zipping out of the cave in a blur. Zinnia chased after him, the roaring leading her to the second of the many hangar-like caves in her home. There, she found a large creature that appeared to be a hybrid of a bat and a wyvern stood in the centre of the room, a white cloak of fur running down it’s back, covering the coarse black hairs that covered it’s purple scales everywhere but it’s underbelly. A powerful tail whipped around behind it in annoyance as Jason zipped in and out, delivering punch after punch whilst avoiding it’s claws. Its large, sonar-like ears pulsed once before it let out a deafening screech, sending Jason flying back before he flipped over, landing at Zinnia’s side.

“I don’t think that’ll work against a Noivern, Jay,” Zinnia stated, focusing on the burning feeling in her stomach. “You need something good against Dragon- and Flying-Types.” She spat the Ember at the dragon, cursing the fact that that was the only thing she could consciously do as it burned out on it’s leathery wing. They dodged as the Noivern let loose a Dragon Pulse, destroying a chunk of rock where they had just been standing. “It’ll just use Boomburst again if you try and get close.”

“Ok fine, gives me an excuse to do this anyway, Omnitrix, Second Sight,” he commanded, shifting into a tall, cat-like creature with a purple tail.

“Where the actual fuck did you meet a fucking Mewtwo!” Zinnia shouted. Even the Noivern seemed to do a double-take as it now faced one of it’s Gods – or at least a copy of it.

‘A Mewtwo Displaced by the name of Medulla, nice guy.’ Jason spoke via telepathy before hurling a shadow ball at the Noivern.

“I’ll have to look out for him then, won’t I,” Zinnia whispered, spitting another Ember at the Noivern whilst it was distracted. “Dammit, I apparently used Dragon Claw yesterday, too! Where the fuck is that now?!”

‘Don’t worry I got this,’ Jason said, catching the Noivern with a Thunder Punch, sending it to the ground. He shifted back to normal, quickly stealing a scan off of it.

“Wow. Remind me not to piss you off, man,” Zinnia stated, walking over to the downed dragon. It stared at her, obviously injured. “Why did you attack my home, big guy?” she asked it, reaching out and stroking its neck. What she didn’t expect when asking, however, was for it to answer.

Jason only heard a rumbling growl from the Noivern. Zinnia looked to Jason in shock, looking for an answer. However, he didn’t seem to be able to hear anything coming from the drake, as he just gave her a blank stare.

"Hey, Jay?” she started, an idea forming in her head. “Can you go ahead and turn into the form you got from me?”

“Uh... sure,” he said with a nod, “Give me a sec to find it, I have like three forms in here that look human,” he muttered, popping up the Omnitrix’s dial, browsing through it. “Ok I think this is it...” he said, pushing it down. With a flash of green, Jason morphed into a male version of Zinnia, though his hair remained its original colour and was slightly longer. Instead of hot-pants, he wore a pair of black skinny jeans, and a black muscle shirt replaced Zinnia’s t-shirt, the red markings forming a delta sign. An emerald-green cape hung around his neck, fastened by a golden buckle also in the shape of the delta sign, and the same sign was tattooed onto his face, surrounding the left eye. Dragonair tattoos circled his arms, the tails disappearing under the cape and the heads resting on the backs of his hands. Black combat boots finished the look, with crimson shoelaces keeping them strapped tight.

“Well this is new,” Jason spoke, blinking at his new form. “This form got a lot better of an outfit than Gram did.” He looked up at Zinnia. “What do you think?”

Zinnia stared for a moment before smacking herself, shaking herself out of the trance. “I think I’m really disappointed in the fact that you’re married.”

“I am confused as to why the young ice-child became a Draconid,” Noivern added, blinking rapidly. Jason jumped at the new voice, staring at the drake for a moment.

“First off, I’m a jotun, not an ice child,” Jason said, shaking his head, “And secondly, how the hell do you even know that?”

“Your essence is imbued with the powers of ice. I merely assumed you were a child to the Ice-Types as the Draconids are to the Dragon-Types. My apologies, Jotun.” The drake bowed his head to Jason, rising as the strength returned to his body. “I now feel foolish for acting so brash, as the scent of Sky Slicer’s scales still burns on the wind. Tell me, Draconid girl, has she passed?”

“If Sky Slicer was the Salamence, then yes, she died two days ago. She was burned in this room yesterday, and she entrusted her child to me, who hatched this morning. I have named him Stryker.”

“I can vouch for the hatching, little guy’s back that way,” Jason said, gesturing to the chamber they had come from, “He seems healthy, though I don’t know much about Pokemon health in the first place.”

“I would see the child, if the guardian would allow it.” It was posed as a question, but both Jason and Zinnia could tell it wasn’t.

“I’ll just go get him.” Zinnia said before heading back to her bedroom, leaving Jason and the Noivern alone. Upon arriving, she found Spike and Stryker bouncing on her bed with Whiplash watching them, Rainbow Dash drumming her talons on the stone floor. The prismatic mare perked up when Zinnia walked in, scrambling to stand.

“What’s going on?” she asked, gripping Zinnia’s shirt. “Did you win? Where’s Jason?”

“Come with me and you can find out, I just came to get Stryker.” Zinnia removed Dash’s talons from her shirt before scooping Stryker up into her arms and leading the way back to where Jason and the Noivern were talking about his Mewtwo form and how he had acquired it. Noivern had just seemed to wrap his head around the idea of multiple universes when he noticed the others enter, and almost immediately a smile appeared on his face.

“Ah, the hatchling is indeed quite healthy. And strong! To have only just hatched and already be able to cause Twisters!” proclaimed, his booming laughter filling the caves soon after. “I believe he will grow to be a great warrior!”

“Thats always good to hear,” Jason said with a smile, “I’ll have to come back when he’s a Salamence.” 

“I’ll give you a call, but why’re you skipping a stage?” Zinnia said, brow raised. “Shelgon’s defences would probably be pretty handy at some point.”

“Because I already have a form with unbreakable armor,” Jason said with a shrug, “NRG’s suit can only be pierced my taydenite.”

“Oh yeah. Well, it wouldn’t hurt to come see your nephew every now and then, would it?”

“What?” Jason asked, looking at her like she was insane.

“Hey, you took both his DNA and mine.” Zinnia punctuated both parties by poking Jason in the chest. “That makes you family, and you clearly can’t be the father if you’ve already got a wife, can you? That makes you Uncle Jay.”

“Oh sweet Yggdrasil, its the Apples all over again,” Jason groaned, hanging his head.

“Your family just gets weirder and weirder Jay,” Dash said with a snicker, “Lady, you have no idea how crazy this guy’s family reunion is going to be.”

“Well, he said he’s Jotun, so I’m guessing he’s related to at least one of the Norse Gods. Which then means he’s related to almost all of them. And then there’s the Apple comment, so I’m guessing there’s some ponies in there somewhere. Add in the wife... yeah, sounds like a fun reunion.”

“Actually, he’s got two wives,” Spike called up, waddling into the room, “And he’s also related to Gilgamesh.”

“What he said,” 

“Gilgamesh? Who’s that?” Zinnia asked, before her face met her palm. “Wait, don’t tell me, it’s another Displaced.”

“Yeah, great guy,” Jason said with a nod, “But, I’m only related to two Norse Gods, Hel is my grandmother and Loki is my great-grandfather. They’re uh... all dead besides Hel.”

“You do realise that if Loki’s your great-granddad, then that means you’re related to Thor, and Odin, and the Midgard Serpent, and everyone else in Loki’s extended family, right?”

“That was only in the Marvel stuff, Loki wasn’t actually Thor’s brother,” Jason said, shaking his head. “Plus the serpent isn’t even a god, just some weird... snake jotun.”

“Aww, and here I was wanting to meet Thor in person,” Zinnia said, pouting slightly. She soon perked up, though. “Oh well, worth a shot!”

“I have no idea how I’m going to survive if everything is this crazy,” Whiplash stated, holding her head. “I’m just glad you’re not somehow related to a snake thing.”

“She kinda is now,” Rainbow Dash pointed out.

“But he just...” Whiplash started before Zinnia cut her off.

“He said the snake wasn’t a God, Whiplash, pay attention,” Zinnia said before turning back to Jason. “And on that note, how do I make one of those portal-calling doohickies?”

“Find something that represents you and focus on it,” Jason instructed, “Then you put a phrase into it and throw it out into the multiverse.”

“Hmm... ah, I’ve got it!” the woman shouted before turning back to Whiplash. “Where’s my anklet?”

“It’s, uh... tied to your cloak for some reason.” the mare replied.

“I wondered what that was!” Spike proclaimed as Zinnia pulled the cloak around to grab at the offending trinket.

“Okay, got the object!” Zinnia turned the anklet over in her hands for a moment before looking at Jason again. “I have no idea what to say.”

“Well, what do you stand for?” Jason asked her. “Try to vocalize that and make it known to the world.”

“Okay... yeah, got it.”


“For those of you in need, whether it’s in a fight or you just need some advice, I am here. Merely hold this trinket and call my name and I will be there. I am Zinnia. I am a Draconid. I am the Delta Guardian!”

A moment of silence passed in the cave before Rainbow Dash burst into laughter, rolling around on the floor. Spike was soon to join her, and even Whiplash had a giggle at Zinnia’s expense. The Draconid just huffed before realising something.

“Wait... I only have one of these,” she said.

“Yeah, so?” Spike asked, having recovered from his laughing fit.

“I’ll kinda need it if I ever find a Mega Stone for Stryker.”

“I can help with that,” Jason said, tapping the Omnitrix and shifting into a strange creature that was made up of pieces of other creatures.

“Hello!” it spoke, grabbing Zinna’s hand and shaking it. “I’m Hodgepodge! I share Jason’s head with like, two other people!”

“Multiple personalities? Just means more uncles for Stryker!” Zinnia exclaimed, pulling the draconequus into a hug.

“D’aww! I’d be happy to!” Hodge said with a smile, hugging her back, “Here ya go!” he said pulling a strange stone out of Zinnia’s hair.

“Salamencite? Nice!” Zinnia said, snatching the stone from the Draconequus. “But I still only have one anklet, and that has my Keystone in it.”

He stretched his arm out, taking it, then grabbed the ring with both hands, pulling apart,  and separated the anklet into two of itself. He dropped one into her hands before opening up a hole in the world and tossing the other through.

“Well, that was easy,” Zinnia said, fastening the original anklet to her leg. “What now? I can’t think of any other questions for you right now. Oh! Do you have one of my token?”

“Yup,” he said pulling it out of his ear, “I’ll put it in with all the other tokens we have. Though,” he floated over to the Noivern, “You got any friends we can scan? We can never get enough DNA!” He paused, shooting Zinnia a look. “You make a dirty joke and I swear I’ll make you as sexless as a barbie doll!”

“Aww, but dirty jokes are the best jokes!” Zinnia whined.

“There are others who were coming to see Sky Slicer, but they will not arrive for quite some time,” the Noivern replied.

“I can give you guys a call when they do if you want!”

“Sounds fun!” Hodge said with a smile. “I can’t wait!” He hugged Zinnia again. “We’d best be going before they get worried about us.” He flexed his talons before slicing open another tear in reality.

“Alright, I’ll see you guys later then!” Zinnia said with a wave as Rainbow Dash and Spike joined Hodgepodge at the tear. “Oh, I almost forgot! Could one of you smack Jason for the horrible rhyming he put in his call please? Thank you!”

“Yup!” he said, pushing the others in before waving one last time and diving through the tear, which sealed up behind them.
> Deer Are Jerks
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"This is nice," Jason commented, lounging around in one of the dens. The hatchlings were cuddled up with him, the four of them listening to music. He gently stroked Sif's head, the hatchling chittering at him softly. Like Chrysalis had said, their chitin was soft and squishy, with her being a slightly lower temperature than her siblings.

The current song ended and Eminem came on. The  hatchlings each held a look of displeasure before Heimdal hissed, voicing their collective displeasure.

"Okay, okay, relax, I'm changing it," Jason assured, reaching over and skipping to the next song, which was Elvis. They chittered in approval, relaxing again. "You guys are going to be fun as teenagers..."

They laid there for a good while longer until Chrysalis poked her head in. "Having fun?" she asked, trotting over to them. The hatchlings chittered excitedly at the sight of their mother, causing the Empress to smile.

"Of course we are. I'm an awesome, fun dad," Jason said playfully, and a smile graced her face in response.

"Of course you are, dear," she said with a chuckle. She charged her horn up with love energy, lowering her head. The hatchlings quickly touched her horns to hers, absorbing it greedily. "You're feeding them next."

"Yeah, yeah," he said, watching with a smile. The hatchlings were too young to draw in love by themselves, which meant adult changelings had to feed them. Jason had done it a few times and it still felt weird. "So where's Rares?"

"Off making clothes for the young ones, not sure why, but whatever keeps her happy." 

"Good," Jason said, simply happy the two weren't yelling at each other anymore. Ever since Rarity had started to get hormonal, she and Chrysalis had been at each others throats.

Chrysalis opened her mouth to speak, only to stop and look toward the window. Her horn flared and she threw up a shield just as a bunch of vines burst the window open, showering them with glass. The young ones chittered in fear, clinging to Jason as best they could.

"The hell was that?!" Jason demanded, doing his best to calm the children. 

"The forest is attacking the town," she answered, levitating the hatchlings onto her back.

"Why does that not surprise me?" he asked, pulling out his sword. He proceeded to cut at the intruding vines, which just kept growing.

"That's not going to help." Chrysalis commented, tending to her young.

"You got any better ideas?" he asked, still chopping away at the vines. He thought about using Heatblast, but he decided it wasn't worth burning the forest down.

"I don't know, just fix it!" she hissed. "This is probably Discord's fault again!" She fired a spell at a vine before backing out of the room. 

"You got it, boss lady." Jason said with a sigh, shaking his head. "The things I do for love..."





"Thank you for seeing me uh... Princess," Gilda said, adjusting her wings nervously. Being queen was something she was still getting used to, though she was thankful her regalia didn't involve a dress.

"It's no trouble, Your Majesty." Celestia smiled, leading the griffon to her private tea room.

"You really don't have to call me that..." Gilda protested, unable to hide her embarrassment.

"It is only proper," Celestia replied as she stepped into the room. "I ask that you have your guard remain outside, so we may talk freely."

"You guys wait out here..." Gilda instructed, watching as her guards saluted, taking up positions on either side of the door, next to the already present pony guards. "So uh... I have no idea what we're doing..." Gilda said, shutting the door behind her.

"Please, come sit," Celestia instructed with a smile, gesturing to the seat across from her, already pouring out the tea. Gilda walked over, taking the chance to look around. The room was rather simple, rather surprising considering the rest of the castle. There was a rather beautiful view out the windows, giving a wonderful look down at the city below. "I do hope you enjoy this brew, it’s zebrican red tea, recommended by Gilgamesh. I can see why he likes it." She smiled, taking a sip from her tea.

"Smells good," Gilda added before taking a sip from her own cup, giving a trill of pleasure. "This is good!"

Celestia couldn't help but smile. "Now, I believe we are here to establish diplomatic relations between Equestria and your nation's newly installed government."

Gilda let out a barking laugh. "Yeah, no offense Princess, but we need a lot more than 'diplomatic relations.'" Gilda said, giving quotation marks with her talons.

"Indeed, according to the report Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Jason gave, Griffonstone is in dire need of aid," Celestia said with a nod, "Which I have no problem lending."

"Really?" Gilda asked, tilting her head to the side. "You'd help us that easily?"

"In the name of friendship, I would," Celestia nodded. "I have discussed the situation with Luna, Cadance, Twilight, and Jason, and we have a proposal. If you allow it, we would like to offer Griffonstone protectorate status."

"I uh... have no idea what that is..." Gilda admitted sheepishly, trying to hide her embarrassment with her cup.

"Griffonstone would become much like the Crystal Empire is to Equestria. Your nation would become an autonomous territory of Equestria protected both diplomatically and militarily and in return, we shall exchange craftsmen and artisans as well as military personnel."

"You know, those griffons are gonna wanna get paid for all that," Gilda pointed out, her beak contorted into a frown. "Like, paid a lot..." Gilda had indeed, well hopefully, had found a way to change the griffons’ attitude for the better, but that was still a long ways off.

"Don't worry about that," Celestia said, giving a dismissive hoof wave. "The Crown will pay for everything, that is if you accept the offer."

Gilda stared down into her cup, her eyes lingering on her reflection. With a deep breath, she steeled herself, looking into Celestia's eyes. "Griffonstone accepts your proposal, Princess."

Celestia couldn't help but smile. "Wonderful." She poured them both some more tea. "Now, let's work out the details."





"I hate this forest so damn much," Lightning Dust commented, bursting through a bundle of frozen vines. "There's always something with this stupid place!"

"Complaining isn't going to help," Maud responded, beating back an oversized venus flytrap, "This is why I prefer rocks..." She blinked, kicking another fly trap in the face before it was frozen solid by Jason, in the form of Articguana.

"Point is," he started up, freezing a few more plants, "We have to find this King Ass and tell him to call off his damn plants!" Before he and his little band had decided to prance into the forest, he had sent a letter to Celestia about the situation and she had told him to handle it himself and that he should speak to King Aspen, who lived deep in the Everfree.

"His name is King Aspen," Maud corrected, following in his path of wintery destruction.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever..." Jason snorted, rolling his eyes. He froze another wall of vines, which Lightning shattered easily. They continued for several more minutes before several armored deer sprung out of the bushes, surrounding them.

"Halt! You are trespassing in the territory of the deer! Turn back immediately!" the leader, a tall buck with red armor, shouted, glaring at the trio.

"Look, I don't want to be here anymore than you want me here but I need to see your King about the forest attacking my town. I was having a nice time with my kids before this crap started, and I would like to get back to it."

"You have brought the destruction down on yourself," the deer sneered. "You dared to intrude on the great forest and our territory. We are merely reclaiming what is ours!"

"Oh shut up," Jason growled, shifting back to normal. "Now just take me to see your King before we have problems." He drew his sword, glaring right back.

"King Aspen does not wish t-"

"Either he sees me or I plunge the forest into winter," Jason snapped. His eyes began glowing, the wind kicked up and frost started to cover the area, much to the deer's horror.

"Fine, we will take you to him," the leader snorted, glaring heavily. "Follow us," he ordered, turning away from them. "Hurry up, creature!"

"My name is Jason, asshole!" he shouted after him, putting his sword away. "Come on, let's get going," he ordered, moving after the buck, muttering some rather unflattering things about said deer and his manhood. 

They trudged on for several more hours until they reached the outer walls of a city, guarded by a number of armored deer. 

"You are lucky, very few outsiders get to see Thicket," the leader of the deer said. The doors opened and a regal looking white deer stepped out of the city, looking at the small group with disdain.

"Why have you come here?" he asked, sizing Jason up.

"I am Jason Hughes, prince of Equestria. I am here because you have attacked my village." Jason stepped forward, close enough for the Omnitrix to get a scan.

"What trickery is this?!" King Aspen demanded, jumping away, causing the deer and Jason's companions to jump into battle stances.

"Look! Just call off your damn vines!" Jason shouted, snarling at Aspen. "And don't give me any of that 'it’s our forest' crap! As I recall, this forest is in Equestrian territory, so no, you get the hell out of my forest!"

"We have lived here peacefully for generations! We will not leave to feed your need for destruction!" Aspen shouted back, getting into Jason's face.

"We're building a town! Not an amusement park, you idiot!" Jason screamed, his eyes flashing red as he clenched his fists.

"Why not just teach us how to make our town like yours?" Maud cut in, causing both males to stop and look at her. 

"That... works for me," Jason said, nodding his head. " Maybe we can do that?" he asked, letting his anger bleed out.

"If you swear to stop damaging the forest, then we will teach you how to live with the forest," Aspen concurred, regaining his composure. "I apologize for any damage we inflicted on your town," he added, holding his hoof out.

Jason smiled, taking the proffered hoof and giving it a shake. "I accept your terms," Jason said, nodding. "Speak to Maud here about setting everything up. I need to go make sure my wives aren't killing each other... Come on Lightning. Maud, I leave everything in your hands. Hooves. Whatever.  I'll also be sending Zecora later to help."

"Safe travels," Aspen called, watching them go. "Now Maud, let us begin," he said, leading the seemingly bored pony into his city, hoping this plan would work.





"I take it I missed some stuff?" Jason asked, popping back into the den, only to find a few scorch marks on the floor.

"Yes, Heimdal had the hiccups and started to spit fireballs," Chrysalis replied. Part of her mane was singed, and still smoking a little.

"I assume that's not normal?" he asked, taking a seat and watching the hatchlings play.

"No Jason, that's not normal, but they're not exactly normal are they?" she asked, watching as Freya, with a look of concentration, pulled herself to her hooves. She locked her gaze on the two of them, toddling over.

"No, they are not normal," Jason agrees, scooping Freya into his arms. "How is she walking already? Humans... and Jotun... I think, don't walk anywhere near this early."

"Larva and foals can usually walk within the first month," Chrysalis explained, smiling as Freya grabbed at Jason's nose. A sudden sneeze caught their attention and they turned to see Sif freeze her brother solid, only for the ice to melt almost instantly, heat waves radiating from Heimdal's body.

A big grin wormed its way across Chrysalis's face. "I was ssssooo right in courting you."

"Gee, now I know how a piece of meat feels," Jason joked, unable to hide his own growing smirk.

> Fire vs Ice
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"And you were worried." Jason smirked at Twilight.

"Yeah, well... I'm just glad it all worked out," Twilight responded, sipping at her drink. "So... how's being a dad treating you?"

"Pretty good." Jason smiled, watching the yak representatives enjoy one of Pinkie's biggest parties yet. "At least they don't cry in the middle of the night, though they have a habit of sneaking into our bed."

"So I've heard," Twilight said with a giggle. "I've also heard you had an altercation with King Aspen."

Jason snorted. "Fuck that guy. The Everfree is not his private forest." He slammed back the rest of his drink, placing the empty cup on the table.

"Hey uh, guys," Dash called, gliding over. "My talons are uh... tingling," she said, hovering slightly above the ground. "Like when I open up a portal."

"That's weird," Twilight said, rubbing her chin, "If you didn't open a portal then that means..." She looked back at Jason, he eyes wide in worry.

"That means something very bad is about to happen." Jason said, looking around. He put his hand into his hypercube, wrapping it around the hilt of his sword. The party came to a dead stop as the ground started to shake. Turning their gaze to the horizon, a large shape rose up amongst the mountains, its body seeming to light the sky on fire. It stood taller than the mountains, its body wrapped in flames.

"Feeble creatures of Asgard!" it roared, its voice deeply masculine. "I am Surt! Ruler of Muspelheim! You have trespassed into my realm and I shall punish you for this transgression!"

Jason whistled, getting the attention of the panicking populace.  "Everyone just calm down! There is no reason to panic! Wonderbolts!" he snapped, causing said ponies to salute. "You will stay here and protect the town, the princesses and I will deal with this." Jason turned to the Elements. "You girls sit this one out, keep the party going!" he ordered, rushing out of town with Twilight and Celestia on his heels.

"Oh no you don't!" Dash shouted, darting after them. There was a boom, then a portal ripped open behind her. "Uh...I didn't  mean to do that..."

A blur of green and gold tumbled past Jason, landing in a heap with a massive groan. A timberwolf landed much more gently next to it, bending its head down to nudge the prone form.

"Did somebody get the number of that... hells, I don't even know what just happened," a feminine and somewhat squeaky voice spoke. The figure revealed itself to be a small humanoid with a rounded face and long, pointy ears, almost like the typical depiction of a Christmas elf... if you squinted a bit. She slowly dragged herself to her feet and looked up, eyes seeming to lock onto the form of Surt against the skyline.

"What," she spoke in a dead, emotionless monotone. She glanced back at Jason and the other ponies, then her gaze shortly returned to Surt. It was in that moment that her gaze changed from a deadpan to a scowl of pure, untamed fury.

"How the actual fuck did a Primal show up? Equestria doesn't have the means to create or support one."

"Hi," Jason said, looking down at the little creature, "And that's not a... primal, that's Surt, and he sounds really, really pissed."

She shook her head in response, practically tearing the heavily decorated book from its loop on her belt. She snapped it open in one quick motion, making a small crystal on a guide rail pop up and light with a magical glow.

"We can argue terminology later. This 'Surt' needs to be destroyed as quickly as possible. He's probably going to get stronger the longer he stays in this realm."

"That's... not how that works." Jason said, sighing a bit. "You do realize you're in another universe?" he asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Point still stands. Do you really want that thing around any longer than it has to be?" she fired back, flipping rapidly through her grimoire. "I really wish my Carbuncles weren't still out delivering letters. It would make this so much easier."

"She is right," Celestia agreed, magicking her custom armor on, levitating her scimitar into the air. The little elf shuddered at her voice, quietly muttering something under her breath.

"He's still pretty far away," Dash added. "Wish I had my armor..." she grumbled softly.

"We need a game plan here," Jason said, trying to get them to focus. "We can't just rush him and hope for the best." Jason reached into his cube, his armor appearing on him.

"Best bet for that is to find and try to contain him in a place where his power is weakest. Basically, the place with the strongest Water or Ice affinity. Whether or not there's one on Equis... I honestly can't say. Multiverse theory is weird," the elf admitted, still shuddering a little as if trying to contain her emotions.

"I already told you, that's not how things work here," Jason argued, pulling out his sword, extending it with a flick of his wrist. "This universe is based off Norse mythology not... whatever the hell you're talking about."

"Okay, so if that's the case... then the only 'Plan' that would even work is hitting him until he dies. Unless if you can create a vacuum at will and simultaneously sap all of his magic. Which I heavily doubt. Now excuse me while I burn off some of this rage before I completely snap." The little humanoid gave Jason a smile that didn't seem entirely sane, then turned back towards Surt.

"It's funny, really. I never found a proper use for this spell before now. There was never an enemy strong enough for me to have a need for it." She laughed, a pulsating green aura flaring up around her body. "I developed it as a contingency, just in case something like Bahamut appeared on Equis."

She raised her book, pointing the crystal at Surt. Streams of magic flowed into her from all directions, twisting around and passing through her body into the crystal, which shone like a miniature sun.

With a scream of mindless fury, all of that magic was unleashed in a barrage of a million or more blasts of... nothingness, each surrounded by a shell of blinding white light. They all homed in and collided with different points on Surt's body, exploding violently like fireworks. This went on for a minute or more before the little elf snapped her wrist down, cutting off the spell. Surt just stood there, smoke pouring off his body, his eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

"Oh, he looks pissed," Dash said, gulping audibly.

"Whew," the little humanoid breathed, shaking out her hand. "It's a really good thing most of that was just ambient magic, then. Okay. I don't even know if I can get my other major technique to work here. Either way, we've got the big guy's attention, so let's get him somewhere we won't have to worry about collateral damage."

"There's nothing around for miles besides Appleloosa," Twilight pointed out, "Only place more desolate is the Badlands."

"Okay, you're a spell caster," Jason said a loud, running scenarios through his head, "You ride on Celestia's back and keep him busy. Think you two can do that?"

The little elf winced at Celestia's name, but nodded nonetheless and approached the armored alicorn.

"If things change, I've got some other Jobs I can switch into. Paladin, White Mage and Dragoon. Don't know if you know what any of those are, but pretty much call out if you need an alternative Tank, Damage or Healer," she advised.

"I'm Jason by the way," he said holding his arm out, "Sorry we had to meet like this."

The little elf snorted, shaking her head. She took Jason's hand and gave it a firm shake, then hopped on Celestia's back.

"Call me Kikiru. Trust me, you aren't the first ally I've met like this. Knowing my luck, you probably won't be the last."

Jason chuckled. "Same here. Omnitrix, activate ultimate mode." It chirped in response, moving from his arm to his chest. "Twilight, Dash, back them up," he ordered before running forward. Once he was far enough away, he channeled Way Big's power, growing in size, then cracked his neck.

"That watch truly is a masterpiece," Celestia commented, spreading her wings and taking to the sky, followed by Dash and Twilight.

"Seems like it might be. Haven't seen enough of it to really form a proper opinion," Kikiru admitted, starting to draw in more magic from the atmosphere.

Jason rushed forward, swinging his blade, which had grown in size with him. Surt slapped the blade away, punching Jason in the face, sending him stumbling backwards. 

"Child of ice, we may be kin but you will find no mercy from me if you wish to throw in your lot with these creatures." Surt snorted, catching Jason's blade, kneeing him in the stomach before tossing the sword away. 

"Yggdrasil you hit hard..." Jason coughed, stumbling back, catching his breath. Surt took a step forward, only for Celestia and Twilight to blast him in the face. Kikiru was not one to be left out either, aiming for Surt's eyes with a repeated trio of poisonous and corrosive spells. 

"Begone!" Surt snorted, letting out a gout of flame from his mouth, sending the two alicorns scattering to get out of the way. Jason caught his breath, rushing at Surt, slamming his fist into the fire giant's chest. Surt took a step back, grabbing Jason's arm and throwing the young Jotun a good distance away.

"Damn it," Kikiru muttered, watching this from her perch atop Celestia's back. "Times like this I really wish I'd put a little more effort into finding the other Soul Crystals."

"Is that truly your best?" Surt snorted, taking several earth shaking steps toward Jason. 

"Fuck off!" Jason shouted at him, firing off a Flare. Surt took the blast, grabbing Jason and hauling him to his feet. He proceed to beat the ever loving hell out of him, denting and scorching his armor. He sent Jason back to the ground, the Omnitrix deactivating and returning the Jotun to his original size.

"Well, that really isn't good," Kikiru commented, standing on Celestia's back. "Sorry, but I've got to bail here."

With that, Kikiru's body was engulfed in white light, replacing the green robes she'd been wearing with dark violet armor covered in bladed protrusions. She Jumped off of Celestia's back and landed next to Jason's prone form, managing to lift the Jotun with her enhanced strength before leaping away yet again. Once they were in some semblance of safety, Kikiru's clothing changed once more, this time into a set of white and red robes.

"Probably should have given you the full rundown before we started this, but I suppose that's just me not having my head in the game," Kikiru admitted, taking her new white-winged staff in hand. Jason's body was soon covered in a pale green glow, healing his visible injuries and revitalizing the fallen Jotun. 

"I'm not sure how many more times I can bring you back like this, but we need to find a way to finish this."

"Oh I agree..." Jason said, getting to his feet. He sighed as he took stock of his armor. "The Dwarves are going to be pissed."

"I really don't envy you in that," Kikiru chuckled dryly, casting an additional pair of spells that wrapped Jason in a pair of reactive barriers. One would serve to reduce the injuries taken, while the other was meant to stop them outright. "The Soul Crystals automatically managing my wardrobe is both a blessing and a curse at times."

"What do we do now?" Dash asked, flying over. "He just kicked Jay's ass!"

"Well, Jason's back on his feet now, so we're not entirely out of luck yet," Kikiru responded, frowning up at Surt's face. "I'm not sure if we can even do any permanent damage to him right now. If I could use Soul Drain we might have a chance, but... well, let's just say it operates similarly to the Elements of Harmony. There's nobody around that I've formed a strong enough bond with to actually activate it."

"Let's not do that," Jason said, shaking his head. A moment later, Celestia slammed into the ground, groaning in pain.  

"Celestia!" Twilight shouted, zipping over to her former mentor, eyes wide in panic. Kikiru was quicker on the response and Celestia was soon sharing the same array of healing and barriers that Jason had received. As a side effect of proximity, both Twilight and Rainbow Dash were also quickly covered by the reductive barrier.

"Calm down. I've still got plenty of magic left and I can technically revive the recently deceased. A little smack like that is nothing," KIkiru told her before applying the secondary barrier to both Twilight and Rainbow.

"Man that feels weird," Dash muttered, shuddering a little.

"Okay, so...You're something from one of the Final Fantasy games, right?" Jason asked as he pulled his helmet off, letting it drop to the floor.

"I…" Kikiru paused for a moment, shaking her head. "I know I wasn't always a Lalafell, but my old memories are hazy at the best of times. Quite frankly, I think I might be better off without them these days, but that's not exactly relevant to our current situation."

"Oh no, it is..." Jason said, conjuring up an Ultima spell, "Because this particular version of Ultima can destroy a planet..."

"Sounds about on par with the Ultima Weapon from Eorzea," Kikiru deadpanned, Job Changing back into Dragoon. "Pro tip. Don't miss, or I will be extremely annoyed."

Kikiru stared up at Surt once more, frowning and trying to sort out any possible weaknesses in the Fire Giant. It was already heavily impressed upon her that this wasn't her Equestria, that many of the natural laws she knew just didn't apply. The trick was finding a Multiversal Constant between their different worlds that could actually help in this situation and allow her to do something to help take him down. Surt may not have been a proper Primal, but in terms of raw power he matched one or even surpassed it.

"Jay... is this a good idea?" Dash asked, eyeing the multicolored distortion with a gulp. 

"Nope, that's why you are getting out of here. I'm not getting a pregnant woman killed."

Dash opened her mouth to argue before sighing. "You'd better not get us killed." She spread her wings, taking off back toward Appleloosa.

"Okay. I've got a possible way to up the power on your Ultima. It's crazy, stupid… and might get me killed, but it's worth a shot," Kikiru said, turning to Jason with a fierce look in her eyes. 

"You got a way to send me into a trance powered by thousands of souls?" he asked, looking down at her.

Kikiru blinked in confusion, shaking her head.

"Not quite. It all depends though, how does your Ultima activate? Is it a ball cast and detonation on contact with the enemy? If so, I can up the impact force, possibly making it detonate inside of Surt."

"It's more of a... wave that cuts through the enemy and explodes. Like I said, it can destroy planets." Jason said, letting the distortion grow.

"Right. There goes Plan A," Kikiru grumbled, "Okay. Charge the spell up as much as you can. I'm going to run interference for a few minutes, then pop back and put as much of my energy as I can into it. Times like this I'm glad my Magical reserves aren't used across all of my Jobs. Sound good?"

"Sounds good..." Jason said, nodding.

"I shall come with you," Celestia said, spreading her wings.

"I'll stay here with Jason," Twilight said, trotting over to him, her horn glowing as she started to pour her magic into the spell.

"You should stay and help charge it too," Kikiru added, deliberately avoiding Celestia's name as she pulled Gae Bolg from its place on her back. "I'll be fine alone, and the more of a charge we can give the Ultima, the better the end result."

"I do not like the idea of leaving a comrade to fight alone," Celestia argued, frowning a little.

"Please… just… don't," Kikiru's voice shook with barely-contained emotion. If one looked closely, they could see the tears beginning to run beneath her dark visor. Without another word, she leapt toward Surt, covering an impressive distance with each bound.

Surt snorted, looking down at the Lalafell. "Show me, little creature, show me the strength that gives you the confidence to face me!"

Kikiru gave a dark chuckle in response.

"I don't know about Strength or Confidence. Maybe I just don't have a self-preservation instinct anymore. Either way, let's see just how tough that hide of yours really is!"

Kikiru's body rocketed forward on the force of a single jump, nearly breaking the sound barrier with its speed. The strike connected, but didn't pierce. Still, the little Dragoon wasn't worried, using the redirected momentum to repeatedly bounce herself up Surt's body from thrust to thrust.

He growled, the angry giant trying to swat her away. Kikiru laughed as she continued to gain height on Surt's body, making extra certain to deliver one of her strongest attacks right to where the nethers would be on a normal human. She didn't really expect it to have much effect, but she felt it necessary for thoroughness.

"Annoying insect!" he shouted, his body erupting into flames of various color and intensity. Kikiru rolled her eyes at the admittedly hammy declaration, making a mental note of just how many times she'd heard that in the past.

Kikiru leapt away from him, but kept up her assault. She formed Javelins from concentrated energy and launched them at the Fire Giant, making sure to never stay in one place for too long. She knew she wouldn't be able to keep this tactic up for too long, but hopefully Surt would drop his fire aura soon so she could get up close and personal again.

He snorted, sucking in a rush of air, then unleashing it in a torrent of flame. Kikiru took one long leap back to give herself a little more time to react, then Job Changed to the final job in her arsenal and the only one she hadn't used since breaking free of her prison. Her body was surrounded by white light, which quickly resolved into a suit of shining silver armor with a pristine white surcoat. She drew the blue and white broadsword from its place at her hip and tugged the shield from her back, then raised both in salute.

A quick pulse of magical energy showed that the action had some additional effect and was followed by several more seemingly useless actions that all produced some manner of magical action around her. Just before the fire actually struck, Kikiru smirked and crouched behind her shield.

"You are skilled," he admitted, looking down at her, a look of slight respect in his eyes. "I would know thy name, warrior."

"I am Kikiru Kiru. The ponies of my Equestria decided to give me the title of Warrior of Light. I have to admit you're putting up quite a challenge yourself. Much more than most of the enemies I faced before my imprisonment," Kikiru replied, rising from behind her shield and flicking her sword down to dispel the ring of flames still smouldering around her body.

"Come Kikiru, let us engage in glorious battle!" He conjured up a black bladed sword, its blade igniting. He drew his arm back, bringing it down with all his might.

"Oh I am not getting hit by that," Kikiru said, flicking her sword out to the side and raising it to the sky. The air around her distorted with a new barrier and several hexagonal plates, just in time to intercept the hit from Surt's attack and repel it. With the short time she had before the barrier wore off, she leapt onto Surt's blade and began running up it. Time was running out and Kikiru knew she had to make a decisive move here.

The Lalafell lobbed her shield ahead of her, impacting Surt's face with heavy force. She didn't bother catching it, instead sliding her broadsword back into its sheath and focusing all of her power into the blade. The intent was to hit Surt in the face with her knockoff version of  Zantetsuken. How much damage it would do, or if the technique would even work at all, was a different story. She'd never had a need to use it on an enemy before, much like Ruin X. With a howl of pure fury, Curtana was released from its sheath, cleaving across Surt's right eye in a trail of blinding light. Kikiru saw an opportunity and followed the momentum of the strike, spinning and stabbing Surt in the face before releasing all of the power left in the blade.

The great giant let out a growl, taking a step back, covering his face. "I will crush your bones into powder!" He reached out, trying to grab her in his giant mitts. Kikiru let herself fall towards the ground as the barrier from Hallowed Ground ran out. She was tiring too quickly, a sign of just how much her Zantetsuken and Spirits Within combo had taken out of her. Only a last-second thought allowed Kikiru to Job Change back into Dragoon before hitting the ground, narrowly avoiding ending up as a tiny red smear.

"Well, it's been fun, but if you're just going to rage like an infant instead of fight like a proper warrior, I'm out," Kikiru chuckled, then leapt back to her allies. She stumbled on the landing and fell face-first at Jason's feet.

"You on?" Jason asked,"I'd cast a few Cures but... my hands are still kinda full."

"Cures won't do much for me at this point. I burnt through my energy… forgive the pun," Kikiru dragged herself back into something resembling a standing position, then Job Changed back to Summoner. "I think I ticked him off with that last comment. Pretty much insulted his status as a warrior. So yeah, we might want to speed this up."

"We've poured as much as we could into this spell," Celestia said, panting heavily. All three of them looked exhausted.

Kikiru nodded in understanding before adding her own power to Ultima, sending streams of green light into the distorted ball of power. After less than a minute she stopped, falling to her knees and spitting a small amount of blood into the dirt.

"Gave it… all I could…" she coughed out. "End it, Jason." 

Jason let out a war cry before releasing the spell. It flew through the air, colliding with the giant in a massive explosion that shook the ground for miles. Jason covered his eyes, shielding them as a mushroom cloud akin to a nuclear device filled the sky.

"You still with us?" he asked, looking down at Kikiru.

"Not for… much longer," she laughed, which quickly turned into another coughing fit. "Think I put a little too much into it."

He sighed, drawing on what he had left, casting a few Cures on her before he collapsed next to her. Kikiru sighed, shaking her head.

"Anybody want to go see if Surt's still around? Not that it's likely for anything to survive an Ubercharged Ultima to the face, but still," Kikiru commented. "I'd go, but I'm still a hair away from coughing up my lungs again." 

Before anyone could answer, Surt's sword came bearing down from the smoke. A burst of darkness heralded the arrival of Hel, who caught the blade between her fingers like it was nothing.

"You really need to stop spying on me..." Jason coughed, internally grateful that his grandmother had stepped in.

"Why can't I have a badass grandma that can double as a Deus Ex Machina?" Kikiru whined, weakly punching Jason's shoulder. "You're lucky as hell and you complain about it."

"You dare interfere, Hel?" Surt demanded, coming into view as the smoke cleared. 

"Know your place Surt," Hel snapped, glaring up at him. "Return to Muspelheim, now."

Surt snorted, withdrawing his blade with a look of hate. "Do not think I will let this transgression slide." He slashed with his sword, cutting a hole in midair. "We will end this, prepare for that day." He turned his back to them and stepped through the hole, which sealed up behind him.

"Such a hothead." Hel snorted, running a hand through her hair. "You all alright?"

"Been better… been worse, hard as that may be to believe," Kikiru volunteered, staying in her prone position and weakly waving a hand. "Call me Kikiru."

"Nice to meet you," Hel said, grabbing her hand and helping her to her feet. Kikiru gave a quick nod of thanks and stepped back, still a little wobbly on her legs. "Well, if that is all, I think I shall take my leave, do stay out of trouble, Corypheus," Hel said before vanishing in a flurry of darkness.

"Love you too grandma..." Jason said, getting to his feet, "Hey... Kikiru, mind if I get a scan off you?"

"Uh… sure, whatever you mean by scan," Kikiru replied, tilting her head at the odd request. Maybe it had something to do with his transformation power. That would make sense. Jason held out his Omnitrix arm. The device chirped, passing its beam over her.

"Now... what's a good name for a Lalafell?" he asked, still panting.

"Depends, really. There are a bunch of traditional naming conventions for Dunesfolk Lalafell, but it's generally a syllable repeated twice, followed by a third syllable that's shared between both the first and last name," Kikiru frowned, considering a few possibilities. 

"Here, let me change first," he said, popping the dial up to browse the selection before bringing it down and shifting forms. The resulting form looked much like a gender swapped version of Kikiru, with pale blonde hair tied up in a samurai-esque ponytail and brilliant green eyes. Unlike Kikiru, however, he hadn't managed to copy any of Kikiru's Jobs. Thankfully the Omnitrix had managed to produce suitable clothing, in the form of a light cloth tunic and pants covered by a leather vest and matching boots. The most striking portion of the outfit was the bright blue scarf around his neck.

"Well," Kikiru commented, "That's about what I expected. You're just a little taller than me… and it looks like you didn't get my mark either."

She subconsciously rubbed at a spot underneath her headband, then shook her head and set out to explain further.

"You didn't get any of my Jobs with this form, but Lalafells do have some natural advantages that you might be able to take advantage of. We're naturally adept at magic and any task requiring high dexterity. How you'll be able to use that, I'm not sure, but there you have it. As for a name… Hm… Well, since you're effectively my 'brother', we'll call it Jajahuru Kikihuru. If the naming conventions were any more lenient, you'd just have my last name instead," Kikiru rolled her eyes and shrugged.

"Welcome to the family!" he said with a smile, hugging her, "You are now invited to that Apple-Pie family reunion that AJ and Pinkie are putting together!"

"I…" Kikiru sighed again, shaking her head. "As much as I'd like to, I can't. There's too much going on back on my Equestria and my Carbuncles are likely freaking out if they showed up at the Castle and I wasn't there."

"It won't be for a while. I'll let you know through your token, which reminds me, mind teaching me some of those moves of yours? My non-pony magic is rather lacking."

Kikiru smiled softly and chuckled to herself, then nodded.

"Alright, Jajahuru. I can spare a few hours getting you up to speed. Let's see if this works though… DISCORD!"

The sudden shout took everyone nearby by surprise, and with a shudder in reality, two Discords appeared, one looking significantly more frazzled than the other. Before anyone could say a word, one of the Discords tackled Kikiru and coiled around her in a protective hug, holding on tight.

"Confound it all Kikiru, Don't disappear on me like that!" he scolded, then coughed and looked around in confusion. "Well. This is interesting…"

"Hello me," the other Discord said, currently feeding his daughter, who was calmly suckling from a bottle. "Now all we need is Hodgepodge and we could have one heck of a time!"

Kikiru's Discord perked an eyebrow, then gave his counterpart a sad smile.

"Perhaps. Though there do appear to be quite a few differences we'd need to work out before that could happen," he said, then looked down at his charge. "Now, aside from the obvious way back home, what did you need, My Little Summoner?"

"Erm… Well, I need to give Jason the basic rundown of the Guild's Magic classes and I obviously don't have all of the books on hand, or even spare copies of some of them to leave with him," Kikiru squirmed a little in the Draconequus' grasp, a bit embarrassed to be so close to him in public. The Chaos Spirit chuckled and snapped his fingers, causing a stack of books to appear on the grass in front of Jason.

"Now, is there anything else? Food, snacks, spontaneous changes in weather?" Kikiru's Discord questioned, gently setting Kikiru down and floating into the air.

"Err… Not that I can think of," Kikiru replied.

"Oh!" Jason said, snapping his fingers. "Dis, did the Enigma berries bloom yet?"

"Yes my dear boy, they did." He snapped his talons, a basket of the fruit appearing at Kikiru's feet. 

"These are Enigma berries, if you ever take significant damage, these will heal you up most of the way. Best to plant a few and grow yourself some trees, get yourself a good supply going."

"I'll take care of that," Kikiru's Discord commented, levitating the basket before making all but one of the berries vanish in a cloud of dark energy. "I'm the one providing most of her food supply these days anyhow. Silly Lalafell."

"Oi!" Kikiru snapped indignantly, "I'm not the one who went on a home redecorating spree and magically stocked all the shelves before I had any say in the matter!"

Kikiru's Discord just rolled his eyes before booping Kikiru on the nose and phasing out of existence, leaving her to grumble in annoyance at the missing Chaos Spirit.

"So... you two, hmm?" Discord asked, floating over. "I can certainly say, I am one lucky guy."

"Ignore him," Jason said rolling his eyes. "Anyway, thanks for the help and uh everything else."

"Eeyup," Kikiru replied, still shuddering at the mental images Jason's Discord had just produced for her.

"You ready to go home?"

"As I said, I can burn a few hours teaching you," Kikiru replied. "I just… need a moment to recover from that… Permission to slap your Discord?"

"Nah, you'll probably upset Eris," he said gesturing to the baby.

"Right, right," Kikiru sighed, glaring at the Draconequus. "You got away this time, Discord… but know that one day, it may not be today, or even tomorrow, but one day… I will have my revenge for the mental scarring you just gave me."

"Okay, putting that behind us, you ready?" Jason asked, hoping to defuse the situation.

"Can I take notes?" Twilight asked as she got comfy against Celestia's side, having already conjured up a scroll and a quill.

"I'm leaving the books with Jason either way, so feel free," Kikiru shrugged. "We'll start with the Thaumaturge spells, which are the basis for the Black Mage Job you might be more familiar with."

"Let's do it," Jason said with a smirk, cracking his fingers. This was going to be fun.

What followed was a veritable light show of fire, ice, lightning and other spells. Jason's eagerness to learn worked well with Kikiru's eagerness to teach, resulting in a large amount of progress being made.

Once Jason had learned the basic Thaumaturgy Kikiru offered him, she moved on to Conjury. This included a few additional elemental spells, but mostly focused on healing and protection for allies. Jason again proved to be a swift learner, taking in a majority of the spells without trouble.

The final Discipline was Arcanima, which was the basis of the Summoner's abilities. Its spells focused on poisoning enemies and enhancing the Arcanist's summoned companions, the Carbuncles. Unfortunately the Carbuncles Jason summoned weren't quite as permanent as Kikiru's, likely due to some difference between the different universes. It was something to research and look into for later.

With magic out of the way and Kikiru still having some time before she absolutely had to be back home, she began to teach Jason more about swordsmanship, lance work and martial arts. It was much easier to do this while Jason was in his Lalafell form, since Laevatein somehow scaled down to fit his smaller body, likely due to a quirk in the Omnitrix or his storage cube.

"Well, you've got the basics at least," Kikiru breathed out a long, tired yawn after they finished up the last round of sparring and drills. "I'm pretty confident you'll be able to work out the rest on your own."

"Thanks Kikiru," Jason said, reverting to normal. "Is there anything you need before going home?"

"Don't worry about it Jason… just having someone to carry on the old Guild's knowledge is enough for me." Kikiru smiled sadly. "Keep yourself in one piece. I'll be testing you on what you've learned when we next meet!"

A small, seemingly normal stick appeared in Kikiru's hand and she tossed it away. A Timber Wolf materialized out of thin air to catch the stick before padding to a stop at Kikiru's feet. She quickly mounted the wolf and ran off, a rift in time and space opening not far in front of her. Without worry Kikiru rode through it, quickly vanishing from sight. Jason drew his arm back, throwing his token in after her.

"That's the third time we've been invaded in the past year," Celestia commented, letting out a yawn. 

"Yeah... yeah it is..." Jason said, laying down against her. "Let's just... take a nap... someone will come get us..." he said before passing out. Twilight was already out cold, Celestia's wing placed over her.





"I hate this place, Uncle," Charmcaster moaned, poking at the fire with a sigh. Nothing had gone right since the rebellion had failed. They had been lucky, escaping Canterlot's dungeons during some kind of disaster. After that they had wandered until the centaur known as Tirek stole their magic and the chaos stone. The magic had returned, but not the stone.

"Stop complaining, you sound like a foal," Hex growled at her, staring into the fire. He quickly spun around, looking into the darkness. "I know you are there."

"Good," came a woman's voice. "I have a deal for you two. One you're just going to love," she said. As she came into view, the fire danced across her purple armor and a grin formed across her lips.





Kikiru slowly trudged back into the Castle of Unity, feeling more drained than ever. It felt like going back through the rift to her Equestria had drained what little energy and magic she had left in her. Maybe she'd consider asking Discord to bring by one of those berries once she got back to her room.

When she finally made it to the little apartment and opened the door, Discord was waiting for her with a grim expression on his face.

"Discord? What's going on?" Kikiru asked, barely suppressing a yawn as she walked forward and nearly collapsed into the Draconequus' waiting embrace.

"Your little trip," Discord spoke, his tone bitter. "You were taken from me without the slightest bit of warning."

"I-" Kikiru tried to speak up, but Discord gently placed a claw on her lips.

"I don't blame you, but I wish there was more I could do. Some way to keep you free of the possible influence these other Equestrias might have on you," He sighed and shook his head.

They stayed like that for a moment, before Discord frowned again and looked down at the Lalafell in his arms. She had fallen asleep in the pause and the Chaos Spirit was actually impressed she'd lasted that long. He carefully lifted her and tucked her into bed, making sure to place the plush incarnation of himself in her arms.

After a long time just sitting there watching her, Discord knew what he had to do. He could only hope Kikiru would forgive him if she ever found out.

He worked his Chaos magic, slowly delving into Kikiru's sleeping mind and carefully bypassing all of the barriers and traps she'd placed. It wasn't something that he could do while she was awake, since Kikiru would easily detect his presence. However, now that she was asleep and completely out of magic aside from the small ambient trickle, Discord was able to gain entry.

It only took a few minutes to bury the memories of the day and replace them with false memories of magical research and development. She had expressed an interest in developing new Carbuncles and Discord saw no reason to deny her that goal. It provided a quick and easy reason for why Kikiru would feel so tired the next morning, even with a full night of sleep.

Once the mental aspect was finished, Discord retraced his steps out of Kikiru's mind and made the necessary alterations to the waking world to support her new memories. It was fortunate that Kikiru hadn't visited Ponyville, or that would lead to much bigger problems maintaining the lie.

Once Discord was finished with his tasks, he floated back over to Kikiru and gently bent down. Discord placed a kiss on the forehead of the little Lalafell that was supposed to be his most bitter enemy, wondering just how all of fate had been twisted to make them best friends..

"Sleep well, My Little Summoner."

With one last mad grin, Discord snapped his fingers and vanished from the apartment. There was still chaos to cause elsewhere, namely that little border town he hadn't bothered learning the name of.

> Time To Feed The Trolls...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Okay... not gonna lie... that felt nice...” Jason said with a sigh, pulling his shoes on. After their merciless beatdown by Surt, the three battered royals had decided a trip to the spa was in order. 

“It’s always nice when a stallion comes in!” Aloe chirped, currently filing Celestia’s hooves. 

“I don’t know why not, you girls do excellent work.” He pulled out a sack of bits, placing it on one of the massage tables.

“That's quite a lot of bits,” Lotus piped up, currently massaging Twilight’s back, the alicorn cooing in delight.

“And you earned every one,” he smiled, getting up and cracking his back. “I should get going, girls. Zed, let's go girl.” He whistled to the Baskurr, who had been patiently waiting at the door for her master to finish.

“Come again soon!” Aloe called out, only to shield her eyes as the two vanished in a burst of green light.





"Always, always when I'm relaxing..." Jason grumbled, running a hand through his long, messy hair. Before him were two very strange looking creatures that he had no reference for. 

Serket blinked. "He doesn't look like an army." 

Nitram shushed her. "Appearances and ce1l1ngs, M1ndfang!" He stepped toward the strange man. "Welcome to Equestr1a's Moon! How can you be of service?"

"Well, what did you summon me for?" the man replied, looking at the two with a critical eye.

Serket raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "We were advertised a one man army. What do you THINK we summoned you for?" 

Nitram rolled his eyes. "To put 1t less rudely, OUR FR1ENDS H8VE 8EEN SWALLOWED UP 8Y AN 1NVAS1ON AND WE'D REALLY ENJOY SOME ASS1STANCE!" He paused to inhale. "Sorry, th8t was actually ruder."

"You need an army? Well, I sorta am," he said, holding his arm up and gesturing to the watch-like device around it. "Know what this is?"

Serket sighed. "No, I don't, and unless this is a superweapon, I don't particu--MMPH!" 

Nitram, still holding a hand on her mouth, nodded. "Sure. An Omn1tr1x, but 1'm not sure how much help 1t would be what with the ten-m1--OW!" He pulled his hand back, as if it were bitten. (Wait, what am I even narrating. Of COURSE it was bitten. Even a complete moron could figure that out. Where was I?) He glared at his matesprite. "That wasn't necessary!" He nodded at the man. "Cont1nue."

"Hodgepodge says hi, Discord!" Jason shouted. (Do excuse you, and get back to your story. I have stuff to do, things to narrate, and Pinkie isn't here.)

Serket and Nitram exchanged glances. "eR," "You DO realize that there IS no Discord here?" 

He just smiled. "That's what you think."

"Um... Okay then. What's your name, anyway?"

"My name is Jason Hughes and this is Zed, and we're everything you need."

Serket blinked. "Riiiiiiiight. Follow me, then. I think I may have gotten a viewport working at some point." ("You mean Captor left 1t open." "Shut it.")

She led Jason, and the Canisaur (It's a canine dinosaur, what am I supposed to call it?), to a transportalizer, whooshing off first. Nitram shrugged. "Off we go, then."  

"What's that?" Jason asked, looking at the platform with a raised eyebrow.

Nitram shrugged. "Just a transportal1zer. Hop on, and 1t'll take you to the computer la8. Well," he added as an afterthought, "there's also a corr1dor 1n 8etween, but yeah. 1nstant transport." He rolled his eyes. "Come on then!"

"Alright then, let's go for it." Jason said cracking his neck and getting onto the platform, Zed behind him. With a surprisingly strong push, Nitram ushered them onto the transportalizer, before using it himself. He let them see a dark corridor for a second, before ushering them onto another transportalizer.

They materialized in the computer lab, where Serket was already waiting. "Look what the cat dragged in. What took you so long?"

With another eyeroll, Nitram plopped himself onto a convenient chair. "T8ct, M1ndfang. They've never seen a transportal1zer 8efore."

"Keep that up and I'll just go home," Jason glared, crossing his arms.

Nitram's eyes widened. "nONONONO!" He composed himself. "1 mean, you can't!" he glared at Serket. "Show them!" 

Wide-eyed, Serket nodded. She clicked around for a moment, before opening the viewport. "8ehold. The Canterlot Invasion."

And surely, it was indeed a sight to behold. Several massive flying battleships clouding the Canterlot skies, smaller but more agile dropships interspersed around, gigantic mechas crushing buildings beneath them... and between them, thousands, nay, tens of thousands of little dots swarming between.

"Changel1ngs," supplied Nitram dryly. "When 1t was just a couple of hundred, we could t8ke them. 8ut th1s?" He snorted. "1'll just repeat my quest1on. How can you 8e of serv1ce?"

Jason just stared before a smirk slowly grew across his face. "Well, well, well, today is in fact a good day to die." ("Better not be Heroic," Nitram snarked. Ironically.) He pulled a sword out of his pocket, giving it a flick, extending it to its full length. "This is going to get messy."

The trolls exchanged glances, then grinned.

"This..."

"Oughta..."

"8e..."

"Fun."

-----

With another *whoosh,* the trolls and Jason (and his dog[?], I guess,) materialized in mid-Canterlot. Around them, changelings flew through the streets in a frenzy, blotting out the sky and surrounding any ponies still lucky enough to be uncaptured. Jason glanced back and forth at the sheer chaos around him. "So, did you have a plan here, or are we basically just going to fight until one of us dies?"

"Err- you provide a distraction," Serket offered. "Nitram and I will try to find our friends, and get them free. After that... fight until they're all dead, I guess."

"Zed, hunt." Jason ordered. The Baskurr let out a happy growl before running off, shifting into a large crab like creature and dozing through a nearby clump of changelings. Jason reached out, the Omnitrix passing a yellow light over Nitram. "Might as well scan one of you trolls, just in case. Omnitrix, Splice." There was a bright green flash and Jason was transformed into a car sized komodo dragon with an electric blue mane. He let out a bloodcurdling roar, quickly scaling a building and leaping onto a passing drop ship. 

"Well. He doesn't mess around," Serket noted. Turning back to Nitram, she gestured down the street. "Come on. Let's find our friends."

-----

The moment Jason climbed aboard the battleship, he found himself face to face with a legion of changelings streaming from the ship's interior. He gave a toothy grin as he leapt towards the swarm of insects, tearing through the bugs. Several of the changelings took to the air above him, concentrating their blasts of magic at the great creature. At first, the magic actually seemed to have an effect, tearing into the beast's flesh... that is until it adapted. Its wounds healed almost instantly, the magic now having no effect whatsoever.

"Come to me!" he roared, racing through the ship's corridors, ripping apart any changeling that came at him, reveling in the bloodshed. He burst through the doors to the bridge, letting out another roar, acid dripping from his maw. The changelings opperating the ship's controls let out screams of terror as Jason leapt towards them, tearing them apart. 

The battleship, absent of its recently deceased commanders, succumbed to the force of gravity as it careened towards the ground. In a ferocious crash, the ship dug into the Canterlot streets, twisting metal and sending debris flying before it slowly ground to a halt. Jason rose from the smoking wreckage.

"Weaklings," he snorted, tapping the Omnitrix and reverting to normal. He held his arm out and fired off a multicolored orb of swirling energy at another battleship, which exploded with a massive boom. Zed burst through a nearby building before her Nemetrix timed out. She growled acknowledgement to Jason, who gave a confident grin as changelings started to surround them. "You guys sure you want to do this?" he asked, drawing his sword. When the changelings made no move to retreat, he gave a shrug. "Suit yourselves." And then metal flashed through the air and green coated the road.

-----

With a jolt, Maryam returned to consciousness. Stirring, she glanced around her. The walls were rock, with bright crystals protruding from within the stone. The low ceiling gave off an air of confinement. She glanced around, and saw many of her friends already up and glancing around at their new prison. Maryam quickly got to her feet, drawing attention. 

"Oh. You're awake," Captor noted. 

"Yes, I Am," Maryam replied. "I Don't Suppose You Know Where We Are."

"II diidn't," Captor explained. "But 2omehow Makara wa2 able two 2hed 2ome liight on the topiic. Apparently, we're trapped iin the abandoned cry2tal miine2 under Canterlot." 

"I... See," Maryam said. "And Why Can't We Simply Escape. Blast Our Way Out With Your Psionics. Or Ampora's Magic. Or Zahhak's Strength."

"1t's no us3," Pyrope interrupted. "Th1s whol3 pl4c3 1s l4c3d w1th so m4ny m4g1c4l ch4rms 4nd 3nch4ntm3nts, 1t's lock3d up t1ght3r th4n 4 Boondoll4r hor4d3r's s3cr3t st4sh. Noth1ng w3'v3 tr13d so f4r h4s 3v3n scr3tch3d th3s3 w4lls. W3'r3 not g3tt1ng out 4ny t1m3 soon."

"Hey!" Vantas called. Maryam turned to see him leaning closely to one of the cavern's walls. "Would you shut up for a second?"

"4nd who 4r3 you to t3ll us off?" Pyrope cried. "Do you r3m3mb3r how you w3r3 th3 f1rst to go? W41t to s3t 4n 3x4mpl3, oh w1s3 4nd pow3rful l34d3r!"

"No, seriously," Vantas insisted. "Shut the fuck up and listen."

A sound, like the whistling of wind, was reverberating through the caves. And it was getting closer.   

-----

Elsewhere...

Nitram ran full tilt into an alleyway, cursing in the back of his mind. He'd noticed a small swarm of 'lings chasing some ponies there and had followed. Only now, however, had he noticed that the changelings outnumbered both him and the ponies, which he noted consisted of several families. 

"All r1ght," he growled, "Step away from the pon1es." Entirely unsurprisingly, his statement was received with unanimous amusement from the 'lings. At the sound of the insects' chuckles, Nitram gave a grimace, before hefting his lance and charging into the swarm.

"Nitram!" Serket called from the other side of the alley. "Stop running off like that. W8 up!" She took to the air, zooming towards her comrade, until a blast of magic struck her back and she crashed into the ground. Turning back, she saw another huge cloud of changelings hovering above her. "Oh shit," she muttered as she gave the fluorite octet a roll. 

Get Equipped!

With a flash of blue, a sword appeared in Serket's hand. She gave a glance back at Nitram, before she turned to the changelings before her. "Alright, let's m8ke this quick."

As Serket flew head first into her attackers, Nitram found himself quickly being overtaken. Between stabbing any bugs who came too close, and rolling out of the way of magic blasts, the troll could barely keep himself from being killed. A changeling rushed towards him, but Nitram swung his lance, knocking the bug away with its blunt side. 

The changeling recovered, and leapt back towards the troll. This time, Nitram simply shoved his lance through the insect, impaling it like a marshmallow on a stick. A black marshmallow that was green on the inside, impaled on a very, very pointy stick.

A jet of green flew past Nitram's ear. The troll glanced back, spotting the changeling who'd attacked him. He put a hand to his forehead, and the insect went limp at Nitram's Communion. The changeling straightened itself, and under Nitram's influence, turned and rapid-fired blasts of magic into the swarm of changelings still alive. Several of the bugs took the hits and fell away, before another insect tackled the Controller's buggy puppet, and quickly ended him with a bite to the neck. 

Nitram grimaced, before he caught the new changeling in his telepathic snare. The changeling's eyes went blank; then, it hurled itself towards Nitram, making no attempts to resist as the troll stabbed through the bug.

The remaining changelings organized themselves, forming a line as they all rushed Nitram simultaneously. Nitram's expression became more and more panicked as he raised his lance against the bugs. Frantically, he stabbed every changeling within reach, and occasionally took a step back as he found his efforts to hold the great changeling line at bay to be quite futile. 

His back found the hard brick of a wall, and as he thrust his lance forwards, spearing one last bug on its tip, finally a changeling broke through his offense. The changeling's insectile face filled Nitram's vision as his lance clattered to the ground, the insect hissing as its mouth opened, revealing the razor fangs tucked away within. Nitram did what he could to shy away from the creature pinning him to the building wall, and waited for the pain.

A noise like the crushing of steel reverberated through the streets. Nitram glanced up, and saw the changeling's attention locked on a point farther along the street. It froze for a second or so, before it took to the air, zooming away from Nitram with a strange panic. Confused, Nitram glanced towards the spot the changeling had been looking at. 

Up the road, stood an Arch Deconstructor, like a hulking black knight the size of a skyscraper, balanced on its three tripod legs. Its arm cannon was trained on Nitram and the group on ponies he'd been protecting, and glowed green as it was obviously charging some great magical blast. Nitram glanced at the ponies, cowering in fear, and then at the hulking mech. And he knew what he had to do.

As Nitram bent over and retrieved his lance, hidden mechanisms in his metal legs whirred into action, opening vents, aligning circuits. At Nitram's command, the rocket jets fired and he was propelled through the sky, towards the enormous tripod and its massive cannon. Nitram readied his lance as the energies building up in the cannon swirled and crackled with power, clearly almost charged. 

Just as the weapon was ready to fire, Nitram streaked into the cannon, and struck like an arrow at the center's opening. The cannon exploded with a great green explosion, a ball of surging balefire– and Nitram was caught in the center. The Deconstructor stumbled backwards from the force of the blast and toppled, broken, to the street, crushing the road beneath it. But the rising smoke, and that fiery blaze from which it streamed, was all that filled Serket's tearing eyes.

"Nitram!" Serket shrieked as she caught sight of her matesprit's burning demise. A changeling sprung at her from behind, but with a blur of orange it was sliced in two; Serket blasted into the air, jetting towards the cloud of smoke that remained of Nitram's funeral pyre. 

She caught sight of an object, enveloped in smoke, dropping swiftly from the cloud, and she dove towards it. Arms outstretched, she caught Nitram as he streaked towards the ground. Slowly, horrified, she lowered herself to the road and gingerly placed Nitram's body on the ground. His eyes were closed, his mouth barely open. His skin was streaked with charred burns, and the metal of his legs still glowed faintly with a blazing heat. His clothing was tattered, and one of his horns had snapped away from his head. He was, without a doubt, completely and utterly dead.

"N-Nitram?" Serket stammered futilely. "P-Please. Say something. Anything!" Nitram remained unresponsive, as droplets of water fell from Serket's reddening eyes. Her face curled into a snarl of rage. "Nitr8m you idiot! H8w could you 8e so STUP8D!? H8w could y8u do s8mething so 8one-headed!? Nitr8m, you f8cking f8ck! H8w could you do this!?" 

She slammed her fist into the ground, denting the asphalt in her rage. Slowly, her fingers uncurled, and her voice shook as she spoke. "D-d-don't do this. Don't... l-l-leave........" And she leaned over the Page of Breath's body and the living's lips locked with the dead's.

Serket sprung back as suddenly Nitram's body lit with a golden glow. The light shone through the streets, a light of brilliant yellow as with a jolt Serket spotted the wavy golden lines of the Breath symbol hovering above Nitram, and beneath it, a single word, in font of gold. Heroic.

The winds circling through Canterlot picked up speed, their shrill voices merging into an eerie, yet almost calming, choir. The text above Nitram faded away, leaving only the golden symbol of Breath as its hue slowly darkened, changing from brilliant gold to a cooler shade of blue. Nitram's body was encircled with the blue glow, as the freed light became harsher and harsher, more and more intense. 

His body slowly pulsed with radiance, as the wind became faster still. Around his corpse, a blue spirograph faded into existence, a swirling pattern of circles. More of these circles appeared, each bigger than the last as they extended into the sky. The wind reached destructive levels, almost like a raging hurricane as the sky swirled with clouds of blue and gray. 

Suddenly, the wind stopped, as the world lay still, caught in the eye of the storm. The brilliant glow of blue spread throughout Canterlot, a radiance matching the sun in glory. Nitram's body, in the center of it all, became completely invisible against the harsh blue, a shining spark in the middle of a glimmering fire. 

Slowly, the spark rose into the air, as spirographs swirled around it and stray sparks danced in the cool blue light. Nitram was a shining beacon, and through all the light came the symbol of Breath, the cool blue lines shrinking slowly into the dazzling spark as the blue light faded away. The symbol took its place, the sky in the ocean of Nitram's shirt, the deep blue of his cape and his pointed hood, the gold band around his scanty shorts, and the brown of his fairy-like wings. 

Nitram floated, high in the sky, and looked down upon himself. "1...1 can fly..."

That's as far as he got before Serket slammed into him midair, tackling him against a building as she gave the resurrected troll a frantic, but no less passionate kiss. Nitram's eyes went wide as Serket's arms wrapped around him, embracing him like a well loved stuffed animal. 

Abruptly, she stopped and pulled away, giving Nitram a glare filled with a terrifying fury. "Don't y8u EVER DO TH8T AGAIN!!!" she shrieked at the confused, but no less horrified troll. Then, with another loving squeeze, she kissed him again.

"What... what happened?" Nitram asked when Serket finally broke away. 

"Isn't it o8vious? You went God Tier!" Serket proclaimed with joy. She gave a glance downwards. "Though, you might want to put on some shorts 8efore your friends see you like that."

Nitram nodded in agreement. "Yeah. My... fr1ends." He glanced away from Serket for a moment, staring off at something she couldn't understand. "My... my fr1ends." And with those words, Nitram dissolved into a gust of wind and blew away, off to spread the freedom of the breeze.

-----

Vantas took a flying leap back as the rocky wall closest to him lit with a faint blue glow. "What the fuck is that?" The other trolls echoed his expression of shock and awe as the luminescent wall shone brighter, it's glow intensifying. With a gust of air, the rock dissolved away, a scattered wind flowing away through the mines, and the trolls' shock swelled as they spotted the floating figure behind the vanished wall.

"Nitram?" Vantas asked incredulously.

"The one and only," Nitram grinned back from beneath his hood, in his snug blue pajamas. "N1ce to see you all aga1n."

"Y0u went G0d Tier?" Megido cried. "That's amazing! H0w'd y0u d0 it?"

"Well..." Nitram rubbed the back of his head. "Err- 1n h1nds1ght, 1t's k1nd of a b1t awkward to talk about."

"Forget that, what the hell are you wearing!?" Vantas shrieked. "Would it kill you to put some gog-damned shorts on?"

"Y3s. Pl34s3, N1tr4m," Pyrope added, clamping a hand around her nose. "Oh gog th4t 1mag3 w1ll n3v3r l34v3." 

"Ugh. Forget that," Nitram ordered. "Come on. We've st1ll got an 1nvas1on to stop!"

"And how are we goiing two do that?" Captor asked. "The la2t tiime we triied that, we got our a22e2 handed to u2 on a 2iilver, blood2taiined platter."

"Serket and 1 called 1n some 8ackup," Nitram grinned. "And that's not all. Guess who else 1 found." Before any guesses could be announced, Vantas spotted the group trotting in beneath Nitram: a coterie of familiar ponies, and a ragged, pink alicorn behind them.

-----

"You all fought well," Jason said as he took a seat against a ruined building. All around him were dead changelings, killed in so many different ways: some were burned, crushed, frozen, vaporized, electrocuted, torn apart, shot full of diamond shards and many other imaginative ways. "May whatever deity you pray to reward you for your efforts and bravery."

Zed let out a short growl, trotting through the carnage, passing crashed ships and mechs. Entire blocks were full of bodies and wreckage. She moved over to him and licked his hand.

"Hey girl," he said softly, petting her head. He let out a sigh, looking around, "You know... only a few months ago, killing was a big thing but now..."

Zed tilted her head, letting out a growl.

"But it's not really about the killing, it's about the battle itself, testing yourself against your enemies, to see who they are and how strong their convictions are."

Zed just stared at him.

"Don't give me that look, Gilgamesh isn't here and you understand this better than anyone."

Zed snorted, licking her lips.

Jason rolled his eyes, tossing her a price of meat, which she snapped up eagerly. He looked down at his torn clothes, sighing. "Rarity is going to be pissed..."

"Hey! Monster 8oy!" Jason glanced over to see Serket, flying over to meet him.

"Jeeeeeeeez," the troll said as she alighted next to the human. "You've 8een 8usy."

"What can I say?" Jason replied. "I get shit done."

"No kidding," Serket said, still a bit in awe. "I think Nitram sort of just freed pretty much everyone, so we'll have some 8ackup soon enough."

"It's good to hear that," Jason said, relief evident in his voice. "I can only deal with so many giant chess mechs and changeling battleships at a time, you know?"

"Hey!" The two turned to see Nitram swirl into the street on the breeze. "There you two are. We've 8een look1ng everywhere for you."

"Dude, what happened to you?" Jason asked, catching sight of Nitram's new outfit. "And- err, would you please put on some shorts or something?"

"Ugh. Aga1n with the shorts?!" Nitram moaned. "Look, can we may8e try to stay on-top1c? 1 was com1ng to tell you that 1 found the others."

"Gr8! Where are they?" Serket asked.

Nitram gave a grin. "They're already here."

A flash of blue and a huge group of fighters appeared in the street. The trolls, weapons deployed and ready for battle, the Elements of Harmony, looking a bit nervous at the sight of the trolls but more than prepared to help out, and Cadance, looking haggard but determined. Jason gave a smile.

"Alright. Now that's what I call backup."

A crunching sound brought their attention back up the street. A siege titan ripped through a building, turning its attention towards the group. A deconstructor blasted through another building, intending to aid its mechanical counterpart. Several battleships appeared in the above airspace, raining changeling troops on the party below.

And with a smash, Queen Chrysalis landed in the midst of the road, smiling deviously at the amalgam of opponents before her. "Hmph. These are the heroes that are giving my forces such a hard time? This is Equestria's last hope? Pathetic."

"Let's see you say that with your face shoved into the ground, Chrysalis," Rainbow Dash shot back.

"You aren't getting the drop on us this time," Serket grinned.

Vantas couldn't help himself. He gave a smirk. "Hey, everybody. Get them."

Chrysalis raised her hoof, a command to her troops to attack. On cue, the changelings engulfed themselves in green magic and sent themselves spiraling like meteors towards the ground. Rainbow Dash took to the sky, smashing into one of the diving insects and sending it spiraling away. She darted towards another one, giving it a powerful kick. Zahhak and Serket followed swiftly after her, knocking away any incoming changelings. Megido raised her hand, telekinetically flinging clumps of the changelings into the ground.

Despite attempts, large groups of changelings made it, crashing into the ground and shaking rubble off of their shells before dashing towards the trolls and the ponies, but met heavy resistance. 

Vantas and Twilight led the charge as insects locked in combat with their opponents. Applejack sent Changelings flying with her powerful kicks, as Twilight and Rarity provided magical assistance. 

In a flash of green, Jason shifted form, becoming a red manta-like creature. Taking to the air, Jason fired green lasers from his eyes and tail, blasting changelings left and right. 

Makara and Pinkie flung pies and related pastries into the enemy's midst, as Captor and Ampora peppered the forces with beams of energy. Nitram and Peixes ran enemies through with their respective weapons, as Maryam and Leijon sliced changelings apart with both claw and saw.

Vantas made a rapid sprint towards Chrysalis. Dual-wielding sickles, he swung the weapons as if they were mere appendages, slicing through changelings like tissue paper. His trail of blood had almost reached the queen when he found himself in the shadow of something massive. Glancing up, he spotted the massive arm of a siege titan, threatening to crush him beneath its bulk. With a burst of agility, he leapt backwards, just avoiding the arm as it smashed into the road. 

Vantas turned, and leapt onto the arm, before running along its length towards the shoulder. He stuck a sickle into the metal, dragging its tip along as he ran, making a long cut along the machine. Atop the titan's castle-like head, changeling mages glanced over the edges, firing spells down at the Threshecutioner. One jet of green caught him in the shoulder, and sent him barreling over the edge of the limb. He crashed into the ground, but soon returned to his feet and leapt away to avoid more of the mages' attacks.

A smaller drop ship hovered just above the battle, packed to the brim with changeling reinforcements. Pyrope glanced towards the drop ship, before equipping her jet pack. With a blast of flame, she took to the air, soaring towards the ship. Its doors slid open, revealing the squad of changelings inside, and revealing to the squad the maniacal troll waiting for them. 

Pyrope zipped into the ship, and seconds later its floor was soaked with green. The troll gave a grin, before dashing to the ship's controls. She quickly input a series of commands, before turning and leaping from the drop ship's doors. The vehicle blasted off as she allowed her rocket pack to slowly lower herself to the ground. Her gaze turned to the sky, as the dropship blasted off towards one of the larger battleships, and collided into it with a huge explosion.

Nitram dashed forwards, spearing through a line of changelings. Applejack, galloping in the troll's wake, turned and gave a buck to an insect as it leapt towards her. The unfortunate bug was sent flying into its friends, who in turn crashed into the ones behind them. Applejack turned, retrieving her lasso as another changeling pounced towards her. She knocked the bug away before, twirling her rope, she lassoed him in midair. Giving the rope a tug, she slammed him into the ground, before flinging him into another group of his allies. 

Applejack turned towards Chrysalis, still standing cocky as her army and the trolls clashed. Sprinting at the queen and whirling her lasso above her head, Applejack tossed the rope at her.

Chrysalis just gave a smirk as a changeling dove from the air, towards the lasso. Grabbing the rope in its mouth, the changeling dragged Applejack off the ground and into the air as she desperately tried to retrieve her lasso. The earth pony gave several vicious tugs on the rope as her legs flailed for ground, but the changeling held fast. Another changeling, soaring through the air, rammed into Applejack, before the two of them crashed into the ground. 

The earth pony slowly rose to her hooves, brushing off a bit of dirt. "Yer gonna need more'n that t' stop me," she muttered.

Jason zipped through the air and blasted a group of changelings tailing Rainbow Dash out of the sky. Rainbow turned towards the Displaced. "Hey, thanks," she said. "Who're you again?"

"Jason Hughes. You don't know me," Jason replied. He glanced down towards Chrysalis, who was surrounded by a team of changelings. "There's too many of these guys to take out individually. We've gotta get Chrysalis."

"Heh. Leave it to me," Rainbow replied, giving a grin. "Just blast a hole in their forces, and I'll fly through it."

"If you think you can handle Chrysalis, go ahead," Jason said. Turning his attention back to the Queen, he readied a blast of energy. Releasing a great green laser beam, Jason attacked the buzzing swarm. The group predictably solidified into a wall of insect, protecting their queen. The laser blast obliterated the clump of bugs, and Rainbow dove down through the resulting gap in the wall. 

She streaked towards Chrysalis at such speeds that a cone of air began forming around her, and her eyes narrowed as she struggled to press against the drag. Chrysalis smirked before turning. Rainbow's eyes flew wide, and she furiously attempted to stop herself as she zoomed towards the Queen. Chrysalis gave Rainbow a powerful, double-legged kick, sending her flying yet again and crashing into another building.

"I warned her," Jason said as he fired and zoomed towards another group of changelings.

The changelings pressed their attack, putting pressure on the ponies and the trolls. Maryam sawed through insects by the dozens, spilling green ichor through the streets. Pyrope stabbed through any changelings within reach as Peixes tossed her trident at another dropship. 

Several archers peered over the top of a building, firing arrows down at Zahhak. The troll, taking notice, zoomed towards the archers, their arrows simply bouncing off his well-muscled body. In a flash, Zahhak disappeared, only to reappear behind the archers. He gave the archers a tap, and they faded away into nonexistence.

The siege titan raised an arm, preparing to slam it down on the trolls below. Jason flew beneath its arm, before in another flash he became a tall, hulking dinosaur-like creature. He gave a grin as he caught the arm on its downwards swing. "Not gonna happen, buddy." 

One of the battleships fired a scorching red ray of energy down towards the trolls. Captor, floating into the air, removed his glasses. As energy bubbled up in his eyes, he released a blast of psionics, countering the battleship's attack and resulting in a huge explosion where the beams met.

The deconstructor stepped towards the group. Its arm cannon lit with a green glow, and it released another beam of energy. Twilight stepped up, her horn aglow with lavender. A great pink shield bubble appeared around the trolls and ponies. The beam blasted into Twilight's shield. The barrier held for several seconds, then cracks spread across the bubble's surface, before it shattered with a bang. The unicorn stumbled back and fell to the ground. 

Cadance gave Twilight a concerned look, before Twilight began to get to her hooves. The alicorn spread her wings and took to the air.

The Princess of Love soared through the sky, her horn charging with energy as she aimed for one of the battleships. Immediately, a dozen squads of changelings zipped towards her, preparing to attack the princess. 

Nitram gave a grin as his hand shone with blue. A gust of wind yanked the changelings in one direction, then blasted them in another. Before long, they found themselves trapped in a flurry of air currents, rapidly changing direction to keep them from making any progress. Serket, catching sight of the huge clump of changelings, gave a grin before giving the fluorite octet a roll.

Holmes's Fury

An enormous magnifying glass appeared, floating above the group of insects. The sun's light, magnified eightfold through the glass, flash fried the clump of changelings, who quickly dropped out of the air. 

Serket turned and gave Cadance a thumbs up. The princess gave an appreciative nod back, before she turned back towards the battleship. With a grunt, she released an enormous blast of magic at the carrier. The battleship exploded as Cadance's attack hit it, the princess smiling gleefully at her success.

The deconstructor released another blast of green at the ponies and trolls. Twilight fired a blast of her own magic at the beam, hoping to counter it; it did little more than slow it down. Rarity stepped up next to Twilight, and fired her own beam. The beam slowed a bit more, but still continued to press towards the group, and all of the two's struggles would do nothing to stop it.

"Cadance!" The princess glanced down towards the source of the cry, and spotted the unicorns' plight. Cadance alighted behind them and fired a her own blast of magic, joining with Twilight and Rarity. The two beams, both the ponies' and the deconstructor's, rammed into each other. Slowly, and ever so gradually, the ponies' beam broke through the deconstructor's and impacted into it with a huge explosion, knocking it into a building behind it.

Amazingly, the deconstructor began to stand back up– that is, until Zed, again in the form of the rocky crab thing, rammed into the giant mech, crushing it beneath its bulk.

"Hey. Jason!" Jason, struggling to hold back the siege titan's attack, turned to the source of the voice and found Nitram floating next to his head. "Can you hold that th1ng st1ll for a moment?"

"Depends. What'd ya have planned?" Jason asked.

"Oh, you'll see," Nitram replied before darting away. Jason turned back to the siege titan, before slamming a hand on the Omnitrix. With a flash of green, he became a towering creature with a great fin poking from his head. Now equal in size to the titan, Jason wrapped the mech in a great bear hug, pinning its arms against its sides.

Nitram, meanwhile, hovered down next to Leijon as she clawed through another squad of Changelings. "Hey, Le1jon," he said. "1 need you for a sec."

":33< Ooh! What're we doing?" Leijon asked.

Nitram gave a snap of his fingers. Leijon was encircled with a blue aura, before she found herself floating into the air on a gust of wind. Leijon's face filled with delight as Nitram pointed to the siege titan. "You see that 81g mech over there? T8ke 1t down."

With a squeal of joy, Leijon took to the sky, zooming through the air at the siege titan. Her claws deployed, she soared towards one of the pinned limbs, before slicing right through it. The arm fell to the ground as she zipped over, cutting off the next one... and the next one... and the next one. When all four of its arms had been severed, Leijon floated up to Jason. ":33< You can let it go now," she grinned. ":33< Though, once you do, you may want to run."

"Great. This thing struggles like all hell," Jason grunted back. A flash of green and Jason had returned to his human form. He quickly turned and sprinted out of the way as Leijon turned and rocketed towards the mech's legs. With a flick of her claws, she slashed through the mech's legs, leaving its de-limbed torso to fall unsupported to the ground.

Pinkie Pie, tugging vainly at the green resin sticking her to the ground, noticed a shadow slowly darkening around her. She glanced up, and her eyes went wide as she saw the body of the siege titan toppling towards her. She let out a scream of fright as she tugged even more desperately at the goo binding her to the road.

Suddenly, with a rush of wind and a blur of colors, Pinkie was in Makara's arms as he raced through the streets. The titan crashed into the ground harmlessly behind them as Pinkie glanced around wildly. "What? How? Where did...? Huh?"

"Shh," Makara said, patting Pinkie on the head. "It's OK now, sis. Everything's OK now."

"Aww, thanks for saving me, Maky," Pinkie grinned. "Come here!"

Vantas turned his head away from the sight of Pinkie and Makara hugging it out, and towards Chrysalis. He gave a grin when he noticed Chrysalis no longer looked too confident.

-----

Vinyl smiled at the changelings in her path. "Really, guys. That's not a good idea. I could hurt you." Her statement was met with grins and leers. She shrugged. "Your choice. I prefer not to blow up the audience, but you've made your stance quite clear to me." 

With a flash of her horn, all the changelings in her path collapsed, their corpses occasionally sparking in green lightning. The pure white unicorn shrugged and trotted off at a steady pace. She still had work to do.

-----

The Hive Lord lowered his binoculars angrily. "Damn it. We're being slaughtered up here." He glanced at the Drone Director. "Where in Tartarus did they manage to pull THAT guy from?"

DD shrugged. "Don't know, boss. I suspect shenanigans."

Noir growled. "It's always the bloody shenanigans. The Queen's gonna chew my head off if this goes on like this. I think I need to step in."

DD shook his head. "Not sure that's a good idea boss. What can one changeling do, even if he is a hive lord?"

"They're about to find out what I can do," Noir replied, spreading his wings. "Besides, the Queen'll be happy that I'm 'taking initiative' or whatever daft thing she'll say. Anyways, I better get over there now." With a leap, Noir was gliding off towards the battle, leaving DD alone on the rooftop. 

"Why am I always the one getting left alone?" DD asked.

-----

As tremors shook the area, Celestia regained consciousness, and peered around her. Everything was distorted, and a green filter obscured most of her vision. It took her several minutes to realize what had happened– after she'd been defeated, the changelings had sealed her up in a cocoon. Even so, she did what she could to observe her surroundings.

She couldn't see much, but down the street she observed flashes of light, and figures moving about. What was going on? A couple shouts pierced through her slimy prison, and with a jolt, she recognized the voice of Twilight Sparkle. 
She had escaped? And those taller figures next to her– were the Doomed Gods in Canterlot? 

Her horn lit up as she slowly begun melting her way out of her cocoon. Whatever was going on, she'd figure out soon enough. And if the trolls were attacking Twilight... then they'd need Faust herself to save them from her wrath.

-----

Ampora and Peixes, having broken through the Queen's defenses, attacked Chrysalis with all their might, though to little effect. The changeling queen blocked Ampora's blasts with her shield bubbles and moved too quickly for Peixes to land a solid hit. She took a flying leap over the sea-dweller's trident and landed behind Peixes, before firing off a bolt of green magic. Peixes raised her trident to block the beam, but was sent flying back regardless. 

Chrysalis turned, and fired another blast of magic at Ampora, who countered with a jolt from his wand. The beams of green and white met, and quickly, Chrysalis began to overtake her opponent. The changeling queen grinned, until she sensed motion behind her. Dodging to the side, she evaded another jab of Peixes's trident. "Hmm," she mused. "You recovered so quickly? Impressive."

"You'll find t)(at I am very resilient," Peixes replied. Dashing forwards, she stabbed her trident into the ground, before vaulting through the air and landing a solid kick to Chrysalis's face. The Queen stumbled back as Peixes turned to her teammate. "Now, Ampora!" she cried.

Ampora swung his wand, ready to release a blast of white, but a glob of green slime landed on the weapon's tip. Ampora groaned, before turning to see who spat the disgusting resin. His eyes widened, and he leapt backwards to avoid a deadly knife swing. Instead of cutting skin, it only sliced the tip off his scarf.

"Hey, Chrysalis," Hive Lord Noir said. "Am I late?"

"You better believe you are, Noir," Chrysalis replied as she sent Peixes flying away. "Now, help me kill these idiots, or you're going to be wearing one of those silly hats you force your subordinates into."

"Sweet Tartarus, I hate you," Noir growled.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Chrysalis smiled.

And from across the battlefield, Vantas spotted his enemies and his eyes shot wide. "Hey! Serket, Nitram!" he called. As the two flew over, Vantas narrowed his eyes. "Noir's joined the battlefield. Come on. Let's go."

"Alright, hold on a second." Vantas turned to see a purple unicorn standing to his left, and giving him a glare. "You don't honsetly expect to take on both Chrysalis and this Noir guy without some pony assistance, do you?"

"I'll be joining in too," Cadance said, landing nearby. "I have a score to settle with these insects."

"Fine, then," Vantas said. "The more the merrier, I guess. Now, how're we going to get to her?"

Nitram's hand, covered in a blue aura, released a huge burst of wind and punched a hole through the cloud of changelings surrounding the Queen. Vantas gave a whistle. "Wow. OK then. Let's go!"

The Threshecutioner lead the charge, dashing through the gap in the changelings' defences before it could close again. Serket and Nitram flew alongside him, and Cadance and Twilight followed afterwards, blasting away any insects who came too close. As Peixes rolled to dodge one of Noir's blasts, and Ampora countered one of Chrysalis's, Vantas finally reached his opponents. "Peixes, Ampora! Tag out!" Vantas commanded. The two trolls glanced back at Vantas, then at each other. Then, they turned and fled.

"Hmph. Well, if it ain't the Threshecutioner and his little friends," Noir taunted. "I suppose I should've known you wouldn't just stay locked away. You didn't before."

"You know me, Noir," Vantas grinned. "I may be the leader, but I'm not tied down by it."

Cadance took a step forwards. "Changeling Queen Chrysalis and Hive Lord Noir," she said, with a very authoritative tone. "For crimes against Equestria, you are hereby placed under arrest. Now, will you surrender, or are we going to have to incapacitate you?"

"I believe you already know the answer to that, Cadance," Chrysalis replied. 

"You're correct there," Cadance grinned. "And I am so happy about your decision." 

Cadance leapt from her standing position, charging at the Queen. Chrysalis quickly dodged out of the way, and fired a blast of green magic. Cadance countered, with a blue beam of her own, the two attacks colliding and resulting in a huge explosion. 

The princess took the initiative, flying forwards through the smoke. Her eyes widened, though, when she saw Chrysalis's feet soaring towards her face. The princess was sent flying away by a massive buck and crashed into a building.

"Hmph. Pathetic," Chrysalis grinned. Gazing at the spot where Cadance had hit the wall, she was blindsided when Twilight sent a blast of magic into her side, knocking her to her feet. Chrysalis glared back towards Twilight, but stopped when Twilight enveloped her in a purple aura and telekinetically slammed her into the ground. 

The Changeling Queen groaned as she rose to her feet. "Hmm," she said, a bit wearily. "Maybe this will be interesting after all..."

Over with Noir, Vantas was finding it difficult to land more than a glancing blow on the Hive Lord. Noir was fast, and his knife flew like a bullet, reflecting every one of Vantas's sickle swings. Vantas growled as he sped up his pace, attacking with greater and greater frequency, and was only more frustrated to see Noir do the same. The space between them was so occupied with flashing metal and sharp edges that a flea could not make it through uncut.

Serket, flying in from the side, gave her fluorite octet a roll, the dice landing by Noir's hooves.

Geyser!

Noir leapt back to avoid the fountain of boiling water as it blasted from the street, spraying scalding liquid into the air. Put off guard by the bizarre attack, Noir was caught again when Vantas pounced upon him. The Threshecutioner, swiping with his sickle, slashed Noir across his chest, opening a bleeding cut. The changeling growled in anger and pain, raising his knife to counterattack. 

Vantas swung his sickle again, catching Noir's knife inside the circle of the scythe's blade. With another flick of his wrist, Vantas tore the knife from Noir's grip. The weapon clattered away, useless, as Vantas made another slash. Noir leapt away from the attack, and a familiar horse-shaped bludgeon appeared in Noir's hooves. Vantas charged again, but Noir raised the cast iron horse hitcher, and knocked Vantas away. The troll clattered to the street, before slowly beginning to return to his feet.

Meanwhile, Chrysalis and her enemies were slinging spells at each other, each trying their best to defeat the other. Chrysalis dodged a blast that turned a streetlamp into an orange, and another that made a newspaper stand behind her explode in a burst of feathers. She retaliated with a beam of her own.

Twilight put up a shield to block Chrysalis's enormous laser, though when cracks began to appear, Cadance landed beside her, reinforcing the spell with some magic of her own. Chrysalis grinned at her opponents' troubles. "Transformative magic? Destructive magic? Hmph. Nothing I haven't dealt with from your princess, and I disposed of her long ago."

Cadance grinned. "Oh Chrysalis, I'm quite sure you never had to deal with magic like this." Cadance charged up a spell before releasing a bolt of magic. The spell struck the ground below Chrysalis, and suddenly, a giant block of pink crystal burst from the street, catching Chrysalis below the jaw and knocking her away. Chrysalis groaned, and returned to her hooves, only to find them encased with crystal and stuck to the ground. 

The queen turned to see Cadance, her own front hooves enveloped in spiky gems as she threateningly smacked the crystal knuckles against each other. "Oh, this just keeps getting better and better," Cadance grinned before she charged towards Chrysalis, eager to give the Queen a well-deserved beating.

-----

Serket swooped down from the air and grabbed Noir around the middle. She turned away, carrying him up into the sky as the changeling struggled to escape. Tossing him into the air, Serket turned towards Nitram and nodded. The Page gave a nod in reply, then with the gesture of a hand, sent Noir slamming into the ground with a blast of wind.

The Hive Lord moaned before, amazingly, he began to stand. Serket, intent on fixing that as quickly as possible, zoomed down at Noir again, but was caught off guard as the Hive Lord fired a bolt of magic into her face. The Thief was blasted away by the attack, toppling to the ground. She rose quickly and assumed a fighting stance as the scarred changeling approached her. 

Noir, holding another of his countless knives in his hooves, swung the blade like a baseball bat, and Serket barely dodged the attack. She wound back for a punch when the cast iron horse hitcher, suspended in Noir's telekinesis, whacked her from the side. Slamming into her head, Serket was sent flying by the weapon. She crashed into the ground, and struggled to get to her feet as the changeling began to approach.

"Oh f8ck no!" Nitram screamed as he appeared before Noir in a gust of wind. With the flick of a hand, the troll sent Noir riding an updraft into the sky. Nitram appeared before the floating Hive Lord in a flash, and punched him across the jaw. Before Noir could respond, Nitram was behind him, giving him another powerful hit. 

Then, the Page was at Noir's side, slamming his fist into the changeling's stomach. With a gale-force blast, Noir was flung into one building, and then another, before another updraft sent him even higher into the sky. Nitram appeared above him, and before the changeling could react, the Page's lance pierced through the Hive Lord's chest. He grimaced in pain as Nitram sent him shooting towards the ground, which he hit at speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour. 

Noir groaned, beginning to get to his hooves. He spat a glob of resin onto a hoof, and then began rubbing it over the gaping hole in his chest, trying to contain the blood. Big mistake.

Nitram turned his attention to Vantas, who had returned to his feet. With a snap of his fingers, a blue breeze lifted Vantas into the air. Another snap and he went streaking towards Noir like a furious arrow.

Chrysalis spotted what was going on, and gave a roar of rage. With a swing of her horn, she blasted both Cadance and Twilight away with a magical shockwave. Then, she charged towards Noir, intending to stop what was about to happen.

"Nope!" Jason said, as in a flash of green he became a multicolored, Lego-esque creature. The alien expanded himself, surrounding Chrysalis like a great wall, before he built up and over to trap the Changeling Queen in a dome. "You're not getting out of here," Jason told the Queen. Chrysalis just growled, and began shooting the most powerful blasts she could muster at the dome confining her.

But it was too late. Noir glanced up and spotted Vantas, like an arrow soaring towards its insectile target. Noir made to dodge, but it was still far too late. With a swing of his sickle, Vantas sliced through his carapace and Noir's severed right leg toppled to the ground.

"Ah! Fuck! Fuck again!" Noir screamed as he cradled the painful stump that was all that remained of his leg, desperately trying to keep his blood from spilling over the streets. 

As Chrysalis finally smashed through Jason's self-construct, Noir took a glance around. The streets were littered with the corpses of changelings, and those who remained were obviously quite tired. They could summon in a couple mechs or battleships, but the trolls had made it quite clear that those were only a minor nuisance. No... as much as he hated to admit it, there were many ways that this could end, and none ended with the changelings winning. 

"Sorry, Chryssie," Noir said. "Invasion's off." And then he disappeared in a flash.

"Noir? What are you doing!?" Chrysalis cried as her kismesis teleported away. She glanced angrily at the spot where the Hive Lord had previously stood, but in doing so failed to spot the incoming Page.

"Yaa!" Nitram cried as he flew towards the Changeling Queen. Chrysalis barely noticed in time, and sidestepped the incoming lance. Cadance stepped up, and with a fierce bolt of magic, the alicorn blasted Chrysalis into the air. The Queen involuntarily somersaulted away before she spread her wings, straightening herself out. 

Nitram stretched out his hand, engulfed in a blue aura. Chrysalis, hovering midair, found herself suddenly assaulted with a furious gust of wind, flinging her into one of the many buildings lining the street. The queen disappeared in the dust as she slammed into the third floor of the building, before her wings gave out and she fell hard to the ground. She began struggling to her hooves when she caught sight of the eight dice as they rolled to a stop before her.

A Swift Boot to the Rear!

"Wha-?" Chrysalis barely had time to process the scene when an invisible force gave her posterior a firm kick, sending her flying through the air towards Applejack and Zahhak.

"Together?" Applejack asked.

"D --> Together," Zahhak replied, as he took an offensive stance.

Applejack turned and readied her legs as the Changeling Queen soared towards her. With a grin, she delivered a two-legged buck to Chrysalis's face, just as Zahhak swung his fist and caught her in the barrel. The Queen changed trajectory yet again, Applejack and Zahhak's dual strike knocking her down the street. She crashed into the road, sliding along the pavement before she ground to a stop in the middle of the street.

Chrysalis groaned. Slowly, she began to rise to her hooves. She opened her eyes, and found Twilight standing before her, her horn aglow and pointed at the Queen's heart. Behind Twilight, Vantas stood by, his sickle poised to attack should Chrysalis move. Twilight spoke up. "I'd advise you to surrender, Chrysalis, before we have to make you."

The queen's face curled into a hate-filled scowl. Unbeknownst to Twilight, magic was gathering in the base of Chrysalis' horn, preparing a teleport. But as she readied her exit, a thought flashed through her mind. She took a glance at Nitram, hovering on the slight breeze, and his insectile wings. Her gaze shifted to Vantas, standing behind Twilight. She smiled.

"Mmm. I'm sorry, Twily," Chrysalis replied, lying through her teeth, "But my partners and I have other plans." As she finished her sentence, the Changeling Queen reached out through the vast mental plane of the Dreamscape, seeking the mind of the troll closest to Twilight and pouring every ounce of her dominant, insectile influence into the Threshecutioner's psyche. 

Vantas gave a small cry and his free hand flew to his head. He released a groan, before he glanced towards Twilight, his eyes faintly glowing green, and the grip on his sickle tightened. With a war cry, Vantas leapt towards Twilight, whose eyes went wide as she spotted the weapon zooming towards her head.

"Twilight!" A beam of gold hit Vantas in the chest, and sent him flying into a building. As the troll slumped over, unconscious, Celestia soared into the street. "Are you OK, my student?" she asked the frazzled librarian.

"What– how– why– what is going on!?" Twilight cried. Celestia ignored her, turning towards the Changeling Queen. Chrysalis grinned, before she disappeared in a flash of green. Celestia gave a growl of annoyance, before she turned again to the rest of the trolls, as well as Jason.

"I should've known," Celestia proclaimed. "It was all an elaborate setup all along. There were unanswered questions– How did you know the capabilities of the changeling's machines? And why did you speak to Chrysalis and her lackeys with such a tone of similarity? The answer to both questions is the same: you were allies all along!"

The ponies gasped, and backed quickly away from their troll partners. The trolls gave expressions of shock and objection. Nitram shook his head in a gesture of denial, as Jason spoke up. "Now, hold it. You've got to be mistaken here-"

"How could you?" Twilight cried. "I thought we were allies! I trusted you!"

"You're lucky I got here when I did," Celestia told her student. "Otherwise, I'm quite sure you'd all be dead by now."

"n-n-n-nO!" Nitram objected. "nO, yOU'VE GOT IT ALL WRONG! wE WERE NEVER ALLIED WITH THE CHANGELINGS. yOU'RE BEING TRICKED!"

"Quit your lies, heathen!" Celestia screamed, slamming her hooves down and lighting her horn.

"Oh no you don't!" Jason shouted back, slamming his hand over the Omnitrix. In a flash of light, he became a green plant-creature. At his command, vines sprung from the ground, wrapping themselves around Celestia's body, her legs, and her horn. As the princess struggled in Jason's grip, the Displaced turned to the trolls. "I've got her. Get us out of here!" he cried.

"R0ger that," Megido replied as she outstretched her arm. In a flash, a transportalizer platform appeared in the middle of the street. Seizing the trolls with her telekinesis, making sure to drag the unconscious Vantas from his slumber by the building, Megido dumped the lot onto the platform, where they vanished with a *whoosh.* Megido turned and nodded to Jason. The Displaced nodded back, and, releasing Celestia, he leapt towards the transportalizer and he too disappeared. *Whoosh.* Megido turned and gave a glance at the ponies, still reeling in shock. Then she, too stepped onto the platform, and the both of them disappeared. *Whoosh.*

The ponies were left alone, glancing awkwardly at each other, struck dumb by shock and confusion. They stood like that for a while, until Celestia broke the silence. "My little ponies, you should know that I am very proud of you. Even if you were taken with the trolls' farce, you helped to stop a catastrophic invasion of Canterlot, and for that we are all in your debt." 

As the Elements of Harmony seemed to brighten at this, Celestia continued with the positive talk. "Besides," she said, glancing towards the exhausted Cadance, "We've still got a wedding to celebrate!"

-----

With a *whoosh,* the trolls materialized in the Moon Lab. Megido quickly laid Vantas's unconscious body over a table. Maryam appeared by his side, checking his vitals, laying her hands on his forehead, and his arms. Finally, she spoke. "He's going to be fine," she said. "He just needs a bit of rest. Celestia wasn't aiming to kill. However..."

The trolls all fell silent as they remembered the disastrous series of events that had landed them in this situation. ":33< Was... was Vantas really trying to attack Twilight?" Leijon asked.

"No. He wa2n't," Captor spoke up. "Ju2t before he attacked her, II 2en2ed a 2piike of p2ychiic actiiviity. II think Chry2alii2 maniipulated hiim."

"But- )(ow did s)(e do it?" Peixes asked.

"Trolls 4r3 4n 1ns3ct1l3 r4c3," Pyrope offered. "S331ng 4s Chrys4l1s w4s 4bl3 to control th3 Ch4ng3l1ngs– 4lso 4n 1ns3ct1l3 r4c3– m4yb3 sh3 h4s som3 sort of 1nflu3nc3 on us."

Another bit of silence followed, before Leijon spoke up again. ":33< So... what do we do now?"

"Alright. With Vantas out of commission, looks like I'm stepping up," Serket announced. "As for what we do– simple! We lay low for a while, keep quiet until we find an opportunity to prove Celestia wrong."

"1 second that plan," Nitram said. "Celest1a st1ll th1nks that we're a threat. 8ut 81g d1sasters are a d1me a dozen 1n Equestr1a. The next t1me someth1ng 8ad happens, we'll just 1ntervene and redeem ourselves."

The rest of the trolls either nodded in agreement, or, like Pyrope and Ampora, simply remained silent. Jason chose this time to speak up.

"Hey, Zed and I ought to start heading back," he announced. "Time works weirdly between worlds. I've stayed here maybe half a day. A week could've passed back home, or a minute. In any case, I don't wanna risk missing something important back home." He put a hand behind his head, a bit guilty. "I really hate to leave you all like this, but..."

"It's not a pro8lem," Serket said. "We can do this ourselves."

"OK," Jason replied. "But if you ever need some help, give me a call." Several moments later, a large green portal had opened up in the lab. Jason strode towards it, before he froze, and glanced back at the trolls. "Hey. Thanks for calling me over. It was a good fight. And thanks for the troll scan." Without another word, he turned and disappeared into the portal, leaving the lab silent in his wake.

Vantas stirred, before slowly he sat up. Opening his eyes, he glanced around. "What the fuck just happened?"

-----

"...Stallion and Mare! You may now kiss the bride." The occupants crowded into the Canterlot Palace Hall rose to their feet in cheer as Cadance and Shining Armor kissed with a passion that comes only from almost losing the one you love. Celestia gave a warm smile as Shining's parents gave whoops of celebration and the Elements of Harmony joined in. And in the back of the hall, Vinyl Scratch leaned against the wall, smiling to herself.

"Vinyl!" The unicorn turned to see Octavia trotting up to her. "There you are. How was I?"

"Excellent as always, Octavia," Vinyl replied. "You and the quartet were magnificent."

"Thank you," Octavia said. "Err- You probably ought to head up to your booth now, right? The after party will start soon." Vinyl nodded in response. "Great. Now, if you'll excuse me, there are a couple hors d'oeuvres I'm anxious to try." Octavia almost galloped off in the direction of the buffet, Vinyl turned and left the hall.

Her booth sat out in the Palace Ballroom. She took a step up into it and felt the familiar touch of her turntables and speakers. She gave a smile. For just a second, her glasses slid down her muzzle, revealing the bare, shiny white surface beneath. And as the first guests began pouring into the party room, her hooves touched her turntable and the records crackled with the slightest bit of green energy.
> Metal Man
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Jason!” Rarity snapped, spotting her husband trying to sneak into their room. “What happened to your clothes?! You look absolutely filthy!” She marched over to the stunned jotun, taking in his appearance. “What is... is that... blood!?” she shrieked, backing up a little, looking queasy.

“Um... yes, yes it is Rarity, I was just going to uh...shower...” Jason said with a sheepish laugh, slowly backing into the room.

“Oh...oh dear Celestia I’m going to be sick...”Rarity pushed past him, running into the bathroom, the sound of vomiting following a few seconds later.

“Well...fuck...” Jason mumbled, sighing a little. He moved over to his dresser to get out some clean clothes when his surroundings abruptly changed, being replaced by some type of ship. Near by were Iron Man and a minotaur in a similar suit. Jason sighed, putting his head in his hands. "This couldn't have waited? I wanted to take a shower..."

"You can use mine after you help me out with a small red problem," said Jacob before a giant, metallic, crimson fist burst through the wall. "And by small, I mean big."

"That shouldn't be hard," he said, cracking his neck.

"If my armor wasn't in disrepair at the moment, I could kick his ass off this ship. I'll distract him while you beat the snot out of him," said Jacob before disappearing out of thin air and popping out of a flower pot. "Hey, Scarlet Bastard! If you want my bounty, you have to catch me!" He then started running around the minotaur while shooting the joints of the suit with the plasma gun.

The young man cracked his neck, smirking a little. "Omnitrix, NRG," he said, shifting into a large suit-clad creature with three glowing slits in its helmet.

Flipping away from a punch, Jacob said, "Not bad, but I would not mind it if you don't go nuclear. The radiation armor is being repaired at the moment." He pulled his gun and tried it, only to get clicking noises. "Damnit!"

"I'll go with something else then," he responded, tapping the Omnitrix and shifting into a grinning Gengar. He smirked more, throwing a shadow ball at Dynamo.

A crack then started to form on the chest plate. This caused the Dynamo to ignore Jacob and turn all of his attention to Jason. A miniature mini gun popped out of his right arm. The turrets started spinning and firing large bullets at the pokemon.

"You realize I'm a ghost, right?"

"Wait, what?!" shouted the Dynamo as the bullets just went through Jason. "Fine, how about we make a deal? You stand aside, and I will collect the guy in the suit."

"And why we would I do that?" Jason asked, never losing his grin.

"Because if you don't, I will use the EMP to shut down this ship, killing anything that isn't currently covered in high quality armor." said Dynamo with a smirk.

This just caused Jacob to laugh. "You bastard. You do realize that by using the EMP, you will also shut down your suit. Including the life support functions. Now Jason," said Jacob before pulling out another pistol. "Let's teach this guy some manners."

Jason leapt forward, throwing a shadow punch aimed at Dynamo's face.

The Dynamo tumbled backwards near the edge of the ship, before he tripped over Jacob's outstretched leg. The Dynamo fell off. While he was falling, Jacob shot a hole in his jet fuel tank. 

"Well that guy is boned," Jason said, watching Dynamo fall, his face neutral. 

Jacob cleared his throat. "While our horned adversary is indeed boned, he shouldn't be dead. He was using a stolen life support system. At least there is no way he could fly back up here. Also, here," Jacob said before tossing Jason a towel and a spare suit. "Figured you could use these. Also, the bathroom is four doors to the right." 

"Thank you," Jason said, returning to normal. He caught the towel, walking past Jacob, soon vanishing from sight.

About thirty minutes later, Jason returned clean. Jacob was giving orders to some droids before turning around to see Jason. "Sup?"

"Nm, I feel a lot better... changeling blood is very hard to get out of one's hair," he said, looking around. "So..."

"Wanna do something childish and immature?" said Jacob before pulling out a water balloon. 

"Sure, why not?" Jason asked, shrugging his shoulders.

Jacob snapped his fingers, causing the ship to fly over a small village. "I took the liberty of cloaking this, so we shouldn't have much of an issue." He picked up one of the balloons and aimed it carefully. He threw the balloon to where it bounced off of three minotaur's heads and popped on a child's horns. "Top that."

Jason tapped his chin, thinking. He created a snowball in his hand, which he threw down at a guard. It grew in size as it flew, becoming the size of a small child before it slammed into the guard, sending him cartwheeling into a water trough.

"Not bad," said Jacob. "How about this? Take a look at the flag on top of that building twenty yards from us." He pulled a slingshot out of a pocket and fired a small metal ball at the golden ball on top of the flag. The golden ball fell off and into a gutter, where it rolled onto a street. A villager tripped on said ball and landed on a smaller villager. The small villager slipped and fell on a trashcan lid and slid into the pile of snow made by Jason. Jacob looked at Jason with a sheepish grin. "Uh… I meant to do that."

"Of course you did," Jason said, rolling his eyes. "OK, as fun as this is... why don't you give me a tour of this thing?"

Getting his composure back, Jacob led Jason to the first of many rooms. "First up is the laboratory. It has all the bells and whistles needed," he said before gesturing to a bell and a whistle. "Over on the table closest to you is my chem lab. Don't touch anything glowing." He then reached into a drawer and pulled out a small glass vial filled with a grey powder. "This is one of my first scientific breakthroughs. A new element!" said Jacob with a large amount of enthusiasm.

"It's... powder..." Jason said, raising his eyebrow.

"Not just any powder!" said Jacob before pulling out a steel hammer. "When this power comes into contact with any metal, it changes said metal. For instance, if I were to put this on a piece of copper, it would become brittle. If I put this on steel, It would turn it into a random fictional metal. Watch." Jacob then took the cork off of the vial and lightly sprinkled it on the hammer. No change seemed to happen until it sparkled with lightning. "Great, it became Uru. Now I gotta find someone who can wield this."

Jason reached out, wrapping his fingers around the handle, easily lifting it up. "Can I keep this?"

With slightly raised eyebrows, Jacob said, "Sure, but if you are going to practice using that, I recommend that you find someplace barren and empty, to avoid collateral damage." Jacob then laughed. "If I was a dwarf, this would be much more fitting! Hahahahahaaa. Anyway, what are you going to name it?"

"I dunno," Jason said, shrugging. "Though I've meet the Dwarves, nice people, made me and my friends armor... which I have to get repaired..." he said, sighing.

"You know, I could help you out with that," said Jacob while holding a finger to his ear. "I just received word that my suit has received it's last cosmetic repairs and I think that I could fix it up a bit. If you don't mind, that is."

"You can try, but I doubt you can work with the scales of the world serpent and the fangs of Fenrir," Jason commented, twirling his hammer.

"You'd be surprised," said Jacob

"Well if you want to try, be my guest," Jason said, pulling his armor out of his pocket and placing it on the lab table.

"I think that I might need something, one sec." Jacob then ran to a box and started throwing out stuff. "No." Two bitching ravens were thrown out. "Nah." A unicycle was thrown out. "Maybe in the bedroom." A smaller box that was covered in a white sheet as thrown out. "Here we go." He pulled out a ray gun with a stopwatch on it. "Let's hope this works." He fired the gun at the armor. The armor's chipped pieces and rusted bits slowly reverted back to its original quality. "There, good as new. Literally."

"How the hell did you manage to do that?" Jason asked, running his hand over the armor, letting out a whistle.

"This gun allows me to reverse the time of an inanimate object. I literally made it as good as new," said Jacob with a little pride.

"That's pretty awesome. Best thing I made was a pair of legs for Rainbow Dash," Jason said, stroking his beard gently. "Hey, can I get a look at your armor?"

"Alright, sure. I'll even give a demonstration of it's most impressive feature." Jacob then turned to a small microphone. "Jarvis, I want the Mark 50 down here as quick as you can get it."

"Yes sir," said a voice from a loudspeaker. Ten seconds later, the Mark Fifty walked in and opened up, allowing Jacob to slip in and activate all functions. The suit closed on itself and the eyes lit up in a pale blue. "Alright, now for that feature, or should I say, those features." Noticing Jason's curiosity, Jacob elaborated. "The first one is a portal cannon that allows me to travel to any universe that my token was activated in, and the second one is this." He then shouted, "Uru armor!" The armor flashed brightly all over and then dimmed to reveal a very unusual-looking suit of armor. "Pretty cool huh? I can use a pocket dimension to exchange my current armor with another one."

"Yeah, that's pretty awesome," Jason said, looking it over. "Where would I get one of those?" he asked, putting his own armor back into his pocket.

"I could make one for you, but that takes out the feeling of success when you use something you make in battle. There is also the possibility that you aren't worthy of this. For instance, I couldn't pick up that hammer if I tried, and this armor would most likely crush you," said Jacob with a small amount of seriousness.

"Well, Odin thought I was worthy enough to inherit his power," Jason responded, "but I'd rather not take the risk, I got kids back home." 

"Ah parenthood. How is it?" Inquired Jacob.

"Good, though Rarity and Chrysalis are at each other's throats."

"Pregnancy, or other reasons?" asked Jacob.

"Rarity is pregnant and she's getting on Chrissy's nerves. I've never heard them argue that much before. It's headache inducing."

"In that case, you need these much more than I do," said Jacob before pulling out odd looking earplugs. "These will block out ALL sound. And I literally mean that." Jacob handed them to Jason before saying, "Do you want to continue with the tour?"

"Let's," Jason said, flashing a smile.

The next door that they came across was a ridiculously large door. "This is where Bubbles, a 'monster' that I raised sleeps. It is getting close to winter and she is in hibernation. I recommend that we don't walk in. She is not exactly happy in the mornings." 

"What kind of monster?" Jason asked, stopping in front of the door.

"Ursa Minor," Jacob said. "Despite common belief, they are actually quite intelligent." He seemed to smile at that. "She wrote me a poem when she was six and I was sick. Didn't have the heart to tell her that it was already written."

"Huh, I figured they would only be usable with the Nemetrix..." Jason muttered, stroking his chin.

"Would you like to hear it? Or would you prefer that we go the next room, I.E. the gallery." said Jacob.

"Let's keep going," he said, gesturing forward.

"Alright." The duo then made their way into an ornate dining room. "Want anything?"

"No thank you, I'm good," Jason said, shaking his head.

"Fine then. Next up is the library." The pair walked into a library that dwarfed Twilight's. "There is also a secret in here, find the switch and it will show you a room of pure archeological and scientific perfection."

"I see," Jason said, nodding. "Your Twilight get her castle yet?"

"Nah, last time I checked, I was in season 2. I think that Hearth's Warming Eve is coming up." Jacob replied. "I also plan on getting my revenge on Sombra and Celestia. Celestia at the wedding, and Sombra when his empire of hatred returns."

"Why are you getting revenge on Celestia?" Jason asked, an edge creeping into his voice.

"I think that it would be best if I showed you, rather than tell you." He flew over to an obscure book labeled 'Secret' and pulled on it, causing the fireplace to extend and open to reveal a ladder. Jacob went down the ladder. "You coming?!" 

"Yes, I'm coming," Jason said, jumping down the ladder and looking around.

What Jason saw was something that would drive most people insane. It looked like he was in a kaleidoscope filled with an array of memories of multiple colors flying around. Jacob then cleared his throat. "This is known as my time room. It allows me to watch all of my memories like movies. Be they of peaceful times," He pulled out a yellow plate that had a much younger version of himself being enthusiastic with a group of his students. He was bouncing from desk to desk, pointing to various points on a timeline with a cane. "Sad times," The next one showed a roughly ten year old Jacob in a black suit standing over a grave. The grave read, 'Here lies Dawn, Mother, Nurse, and loving wife.' "or many other types of memories."

"Dear Yggdrasil, this place is giving me a headache..." Jason groaned, rubbing his forehead in pain.

"I'll ignore that." said Jacob before pulling out a memory of long ago. 

"I think that it would be best if I do some narration. You see, I arrived here roughly 1010 years ago. I met a pegasus mare by the name of Surprise. She ran a theatre in Pegasopolis, or Cloudsdale, take your pick, while I wrote plays or musicals that were based on books or movies from back home. For ten years, our antics with the citizens drew us closer and closer. She even adopted me as her older brother. We then had an idea to go to the Crystal Empire for some skiing and other winter activities. Little did we know, Celestia was having a secret war with Sombra. I guess that the reason for secrecy was because she didn't want to cause panic. Anyway, we flew there for a while and we saw a battle taking place. We both noticed that the Crystal Ponies were being turned into creatures that belong in Tartarus or something like that. Donning suits ripped straight out of Naruto, we snuck into the main observatory where Sombra was. We asked him to make the battle fair, and he called Surprise a whore, in pony terms, at least. I got pissed and charged at him. Sombra's first move was encasing Surprise in a dark magical crystal. We had a fight filled with passion and hate, until Sombra pulled out a corrupted crystal heart and ejected me out of the empire, then he, the crystal ponies, and the empire, disappeared into a pocket dimension. I helped any wounded ponies that I could back to the closest base and then flew home, only to find guards at my doorstep telling me to go to Canterlot for a trial for my 'destruction' of the crystal ponies and the Crystal Empire." The memory then faded, causing Jacob to sigh and pull out another one. "Damn two-parters," he mumbled under his breath.

"And you want revenge on her for the trial?" he asked, holding his head.

"Not quite. She could have just arrested me on the spot and had me executed. The thing is though, the trial was rigged," said Jacob before tapping the next memory. "When I got to the Castle, I was bound, gagged, and given a toddler as a defence attorney. The other thing was Luna was the Prosecutor and all the witnesses were nobles who weren't even there. The trial was over in five minutes and I was sentenced to be trapped in stone for all eternity. I am mad at Celestia because she treated me like an animal and a joke, disrespected both my and Surprise's good names, and because I could not say what actually happened!" He had a look on his face that was of unbridled fury.

"Look," Jason started, straightening up, "I'm not going to defend her but, sometimes leaders have to do horrible things to keep their country safe."

"I know that, which is why I will use political revenge instead of gory revenge. Do you want to go back to the library so I can explain? You seem to be in pain," he explained with a worried look.

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Jason said, climbing up the ladder, then collapsing into one of the chairs.

Jacob climbed out as well and closed the hole back up. "Note to self, next time that I show guests that, bring sunglasses." He cleared his throat, getting Jason's attention. "The plan is simple, yet clever. Step one, I escape from stone hell. Check. Step two, I gain the other two countries that are not under Celestia's rule's respect as well as admiration for being a generous innovator who makes the common being's life as well as the noble's life easier. Check. Step three, I gain the support and respect of at least two of the Elements of Harmony. Step four, I wait until a day when I can look like the brave and kind knight that I see myself as. Example – A Canterlot Wedding. Step five, I use steps two through four to get Celestia to publicly apologize to me, thus showing the truth. Step six, forgive Celestia and help Equestria. Step seven, Celebrate that steps one through six worked. Any questions?"

"Nope just... Try not to hurt Chrysalis..." Jason spoke, giving his head a good shake.

"I promise that I will not harm the Queen, though I cannot say the same for any drone that attacks me or anyone close to me. Cross my heart, and If I lie, I will slowly and painfully die." His eyes glowed blue for a second. "I might try to set up negotiations though."

"Good," Jason said with a smile, "I hope it goes well. Now... I think I should be heading home..." he said with a yawn, "I'm exhausted..."

"Before you go, I have to ask, are you capable of splicing DNA with that?" he said, pointing to the Omnitrix. 

"Yes... yes I am... interested?"

"Can't say that I'm not." said Jacob.

"What did you want?"

Jacob started thinking aloud. "While I wouldn't mind Big Chill's ability to go through walls, fly, and freeze things, Grey Matter's intelligence and Upgrade's interfacing and upgrading abilities would be more useful. Can I get all three, or do I have to pick one?".

"Only one and no, you can't get Upgrade, that form is iffy as it is," Jason said, shaking his head.

Jacob sighed, "Fine. I'll take Big Chill's. I am already classified as a level twelve intellect anyway."

"Omnitrix, splice target human with Necrofriggian DNA, please," Jason commanded.

"Affirmative," It chirped, hitting Jacob with a blast of green energy.

Jacob then phased out of his suit and flew. "I can get used to this. Here." He then handed Jason a red gear with an arc reactor in it. You can use this to call me when you want, it also works as an infinite source of clean energy."

"Thanks," Jason said, nodding his head. "Welp, send me back."

"By the way, I am planning a huge winter festival at my main fortress in a week. You are more than welcome to come and bring two guests," offered Jacob. 

"Just give me a call, I imagine it'll be a fun night out with the spouses," Jason said with a smile.

"Until then, our contract is complete. Now, if you don't excuse me, I'm gonna go for a test flight," he said before turning invisible and diving through the floor.

Jason rolled his eyes, vanishing in a burst of light, his token falling to the ground.
> Behold Hughes' Henshin!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“This was a nice idea,” Twilight said as she took a bite of her sandwich. With all the crazy happenings life kept throwing at them, the group had decided to hold a picnic. Everyone had turned out, and the collected mishmash of creatures where having a great time.

“A very good idea,” Fluttershy added, cuddling up with little Eris, who kept trying to steal some of her mother’s sandwich.

“Persistent isn’t she?” Chrysalis asked with a chuckle, shaking her head.

“I’m glad it’s just the one,” Discord said, coiling around his family protectively. “I have no idea what I’d do if I had a many as you two did.”

“Technically, we only have four,” Jason pointed out. “The rest are drones.”

“Yes well, I think we’ll just be having the one,” Rarity said, taking a break from her salad. “I just know this is going to ruin my figure.”

“Ya’ll just don’t have the hips fer it,” Applejack teased, earning a glare from Rarity.

“I always wanted to be a mom,” Sonata said, looking up from her pie, her muzzle covered in gooey pie bits. “Guppies are just so cute!” she squeed, clapping her hooves together.

“Makes me wonder how Luna’s kid will turn out,” Jason said, stroking a sleeping Hakol’’s mane, the little guy having worn himself out.

Rarity moved to speak, only to vanish as a blur tore through, knocking most of their food over.

“Rarity!” Jason shouted as he got to his feet, looking around. “Do any of you see her?” he asked, cradling Hakol close as the foal voiced his displeasure at being woken up. They spent the remainder of the day looking for her before turning in, Jason tearing a tree out of the ground in anger. 



 

For many hours the next morning, Jason still searched in an effort to find any information on Rarity’s kidnapper. So far, the trail was cold. “Okay... back at the scene of the crime, “Jason said, glaring at the spot where Rarity had been. “Omnitrix, Clockwork,” he commanded, shifting forms, “Now let’s see vhat ve can see.”

Clockwork reached up, turning the key on his head, the area around him started to move in reverse, akin to a tape in a VCR on rewind. Eventually he reached the point he wanted and ceased, then watched intently.

“Alright,” Clockwork muttered, “Vhere are you?”

As if on cue, a blur zoomed in and snatched up Rarity, and kept going. Clockwork narrowed his eyes as he turned the picture back a bit, stopping as the blur came into view. He blinked in surprise. Even though the shape was at a full stop due to the freeze frame, it still came through blurry and out of focus. But one thing Clockwork kept in mind from what he could see. The creature was red, bipedal, had a weird looking spoiler thing sticking out of it’s head, and glowing blue eyes.

“Oh great, more veird sentai sings,” he groaned, shifting back to normal. “So fucking dead,” he said. He cracked his knuckles, the air around him starting to become colder, frost forming on the grass. He started to walk away, leaving frozen footprints in his wake.





Another full day passed by in Equestria, however, in the Human world, a different investigation was going on. Across the street from Canterlot High, a sports car of the most unique nature was parked in the early afternoon light as one human was chatting with another. The car itself was racing red with chrome segments and resembled a hybrid between a formula race car and a high end sports car.

The two humans stood out as they chatted, mostly because one of them was surrounded by a blue outline. The outlined human looked to be in his mid twenties, chocolate skinned, a bit on the thin side with a bit of muscle. Atop his head was short black hair, and he had eyes to match. He was wearing a red plaid button up shirt and dark blue jeans with grey sneakers. His compatriot looked to be around the same age. His skin was lightly tanned and he had deep green eyes with medium length smoky hair. He wore a white muscle shirt under a red jacket with brown cargo shorts. His shoes were black with white laces, and his build was a bit lean with some thinness.

The outlined human sighed. “Okay Jason, we’ve been over this. If that SpeeDemon IS here, what makes you think it’ll show up here of all places?”

Jason shrugged. “Honestly it’s just a hunch.” He looked over in response to a small series of beeps. 

Beside him was a small Hot Wheels-sized police car, it beeped a few more times as it’s headlights lit up in tune with it’s code.

“Justice Hunter thinks out of ALL your hunches,” the outlined human droned, “This one lacks reason.”

“Oh come off it Tyson,” he chuckled as he leaned back on the hood. “Besides, if it hadn’t been for Dimension Cab and Aria’s tinkering with the Tridoron, we couldn’t have even got through that portal in one piece.”

Tyson huffed and crossed his arms. “If I wasn’t body impaired, I’d slug you.” At that point, Tyson’s body fizzled out of existence. Inside the car known as the Tridoron, a silver bulky looking belt with a red key looking switch near it’s top right side and a black glass circle dead center on its front came to life. A red ‘face’ composed of two large red LED oblong shapes that resembled eyes, and a smaller more narrow one resembling a mouth, switched on. The belt was fixed into the dashboard as it turned left and then right and sighed, the three shapes becoming thin red lines.

Nearby however, a red haired girl had been observing them. This girl, having heard of the kidnapping plight from the other world, assumed the worst. She then produced a familiar book.





“Jason, calm down,” Chrysalis sighed, watching as her husband walked in circles around the room. After his discovery of the culprit, Chrysalis had ordered the changelings to scour the land for any sign of either it or Rarity and had so far turned up nothing.

“I can’t calm down!” he snarled, glaring at her. “Rarity is still gone and I’m going to strangle whoever took her!” 

“Shoutin’ at ponies ain’t gonna help things Jay,” Applejack reminded, placing her hoof on his leg. “Ah know yer worried, we all are, but if we don’t keep a level head, we’ll never find her.”

Jason closed his eyes, letting out a long sigh, “You’re right, you’re right.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I just want her to be safe...” 

“Ah know, ah know,” she said, hugging his leg. 

“Twilight’s magic book is glowing!” Sonata called, catching their attention. She floated up, grabbing it off the portal machine, flipped it open and gave it a read. 

“Well?” Chrysalis asked, raising her eyebrow, “What does it say?”

“Umm...” Sonata said, putting her face into it and narrowing her eyes. “It says something about some weird thing,”

“Will you just give me that,” Chrysalis said, as she grasped the book in her magic and levitated it over to herself, “It’s like having two Pinkies with you here. Now lets see what your mistress has to say,” she said, giving Jason a smirk.

“Haha,” he deadpanned with an unamused look.

“Jason, I don’t have much time since I stepped out for a moment, but I think I might have a lead. Lately there’s been this weird guy hanging around outside of the school. I wouldn’t think much of it, but recently I discovered that he can change form. Prior to writing this, the guy transformed from a weird looking form that was red with these weird eyes and a thing on his head, to a human. Then the next thing I know, he starts chatting with what I think is a ghost. If I was a betting mare, I think he’s the one you might be looking for. Get over here as soon as you can.”

“It seems Rarity was taken to...” she started before Jason snatched the book up and placed it on the machine, flipping it on. “Alright, well, don’t die, Hughes is a lot more squishy than you.”

“I’ll be fine, and I won’t come back until I have Rarity,” he said, stepping through the portal. Hughes flew out the other side, landing in a heap on the ground. 

“I really hate that fucking thing...” he grumbled as he got to his feet, brushing his clothes with a scowl. “Stupid horses and their damn magic portals.” 

“That was quick,” Sunset said. She brushed some hair out of her face as she approached.

“Ello’ luv,” Hughes said with a smile, putting his arm around her. “Jason wants something to murder and I feel really sorry for the wanker who stole Rarity. Nothing good’s comin’ ‘is way.”

Jason blinked in surprise as he stared on toward the front of the school. “Uh... did anyone else see the random mohawk guy come through the portal?”

Justice Hunter beeped a couple of times as one of it’s police sirens went off for a millisecond. Turning toward the Tridoron, he leaned in the window and looked at Tyson, the belt turning to him.

“Translation?”

Tyson shook a little, “He said that you should be cautious, this human might not be friendly. The others and I are on standby.”

Jason nodded as he leaned away from the car and approached. “Hey there,” he looked around for a moment before he approached with his hands in his pockets.

“The hell are you?” Hughes asked, raising his eyebrow, looking at Jason suspiciously.

Sunset pointed at him and backed up a step, “He’s the one I told you about.”

Jason looked at Sunset, “You were spying on me? Why?”

“Because no normal human can change shape and talk to ghosts,” Sunset countered quickly.

Jason’s eyes widened for a moment and he looked to the side, “Crap...”

“Hughes, beat it out of him.”

“Gee Jason, not sure how you want me to do that, I ain’t exactly got the watch now do I?” Hughes asked with a roll of his eyes. “Alright mate, where’s Rarity and why did you take her?” he asked, pulling away from Sunset.

Jason blinked a few times, “Uh... are you talking to me?”

“You’re the one who turns into the red and black sentai thing yeah?” Hughes asked, drawing Laevateinn and pointing it at Jason. “So why'd ya take Rarity?”

Jason gazed at the sword tip, “Okay, first off,” he gently placed a finger on the flat of the blade and moved it from him, “Don’t point that at me, second, pointing a sword at me is a REALLY bad idea.”

“Mate, you're lucky it's me pointin’ it, if it were Jason you’d be in more pain than you can imagine.”

Jason stared evenly at him. “Right. Listen, I don’t know what your problem is pal but I’m giving you one last warning,” he smacked the sword so it jostled slightly, “get that out of my face right now. I don’t want to fight you, and you don’t want to fight me and my friends.”

“Well, seein’ as how we killed the guy who killed Odin, you ain’t much of a threat,” Hughes said, glaring at him, “Now just tell me where ya took Rarity so Jason will stop shouting, it’s givin’ me a bloomin’ headache.”

Jason sighed, “Well you can tell this other Jason that he’s being irrational and needs to hakuna his matatas.” He straightened up. “Now, sword away or I will restrain you.”

Sunset tilted her head and looked around, seeing things in the corner of her eyes. “Hughes, be careful, I don’t think he’s bluffing.”

“Yeah and I ain’t bluffin either,” he said, still pointing the sword at Jason. “Hey watch, I don't suppose ya fixed the interference problem?”

“Negative,” the Omnitrix chirped, “This unit recommends use of evolution feature.”

“I’ll keep that in mind...” he mumbled, narrowing his eyes at Jason.

“Alright, have it your way, man,” he said.

The moment he stated that, from out of nowhere, objects the size of Hot Wheels cars descended from the sky, generating their own highways. Several of the cars flew off the highways, which vanished behind them, and smacked into Hughes, before remaking the tracks and circling the group. They repeated this process many times as Jason surged forward, bringing his elbow down hard on Hughes’s sword wrist.

“Gah! You fuckin’ wanker!” Hughes hissed as the sword tumbled away. “Alright, lets see what this does,” he said, pulling down his shirt collar and moving to activate the evolution feature.

Jason quickly snapped his head around and yelled, “Spin Mixer, Rolling Gravity!”

From behind Hughes, an orange and black car resembling a cement truck came down and shot a wad of wet cement at his hand. The moment it touched, it hardened, it repeated this with the other hand before another car came down. This one was yellowish brown and black, and faintly resembled a steam roller. Jason jumped back as the one known as Rolling Gravity circled Hughes’s cemented hands, the gravity increasing massively.

“I really fucking hate this place,” Hughes snorted, falling to his knee and glaring at Jason.

Jason turned his head and nodded to Justice Hunter, who circled Hughes and Sunset, causing walls resembling cell bars to appear.

“Alright, now,” Jason looked down at Hughes. “What the hell is this about Rarity missing?”

“Pony Rarity,” Hughes said, glaring at him. “Some Sentai looking asshole stole her and Sunset ‘ere told me about you so I just put two and two together.”

Jason shook his head. “Did it occur to you to maybe not threaten first? I mean come on, shoot first and ask questions later much?” He stared at Hughes for a few moments. “Hold on...this sentai thing you keep talking about. Did it by chance move really fast?”

‘Yeah.”

Jason shook his head in mild annoyance. “Shit.” He turned his head to look at Justice Hunter who was resting on his shoulder, “Tell them to let them out. Tell Commercial to escort Sunset inside the school.”

Hunter beeped and whirred his sirens a few times before taking off. A yellow dump truck-looking car sped down and broke the cement around Hughes’s hands with ease, the cage and gravity well vanishing soon after. Sunset was about to speak, but a rectangular red truck drove in front of her and emitted a series of digital sounding beeps. The truck seemed to usher her toward the entrance.

“If anything happens,” Sunset said, “I’ll tell the girls and we’ll come running.”

Hughes moved up to Jason, decking him rather hard in the jaw. “Wanker,” he snorted shaking his hand. “That's for all the damned cars.” He turned, retrieved his sword and stored it away.

Jason stumbled back and rubbed his cheek, an emergency siren meeting his ears. He turned his head and waved frantically at a miniature ambulance.

“No thanks doc, I’m fine, please no.” The shift car acknowledged and rolled away as Jason turned to Hughes. “Okay, I deserved that, but listen. That thing you saw, I’m looking for it too. What you saw was something called a SpeeDemon. Where I’m from, they’re pretty dangerous.” He crossed his arms. “But this one’s tricky. It’s much faster than the other ones ...”

In a few seconds, Tyson projected himself beside Jason. The outlined human scowled at him. “Maybe you should introduce yourself?”

Jason nodded, “Oh right, my name is Jason Lee,” he pointed a thumb at Tyson, “and this hologram is Tyson.”

Tyson gave a half wave.

Jason’s look became focused, “Trust me man, I wouldn’t hurt Rarity. Hell, me and her are friends back where I come from.”

Tyson rolled his eyes, “She can’t get over all of your form changes.”

“She’s Jason’s pregnant wife,” Hughes explained, taking the time to tap the Omnitrix. He shuddered as the evolution feature activated, though he looked the same.

“Oh,” Jason smiled, “Well, congratulations!”

Tyson tapped his wrist. “Dude, the SpeeDemon?”

Jason nodded, “Right, now here’s the thing, I’ve tracked it here but I don’t know where it is. So I’ve been chilling here, mostly because this place seems to be the epicenter of weirdness at times”

“Hm ... monster on the loose, changing forms,” Hodgepodge started sounding a little giddy, “I wonder, is this finally the crossover we’ve been waiting for?”

“Just focus, Hodge,” Hughes said with a sigh, leaning on a wall. “We have a pregnant mare to rescue, no time to listen to you ramble about the fourth wall.”

Jason looked at Tyson who leaned over to whisper in his ear, “I think this guy might have a screw loose.”

Jason shook his head. “Listen, I realize we haven’t gotten off on the best of terms, but if you want to save Rarity and your child. You’re going to have to trust me.”

Hughes titled his head. “How in the bloody hell did you figure that out?”

“Hey, I might be a Kamen Rider,” Jason smirked as he ushered Hughes to follow him toward his car, “But that doesn’t mean I’m not good at deduction.”

“Damn,” Jason stated in surprise, “he’s good... Wait, did he say Kamen Rider?”

A squeal was heard from Hodgepodge.

“For the record, it ain’t my kid,” Hughes said, walking after him. “It’s Jason’s kid.”

Jason nodded as he came to the car, “Right,” he stopped when a series of ninja sounding honks met his ears. A purple car landed on the hood.

“What is it?”

The purple car beeped frantically then rotated slightly down the road. Jason turned his head and widened his eyes. A blurry shape with glowing blue eyes was glaring at the three from far down the street.

Jason smirked in triumph, “Gotcha.” He opened the driver side door as Tyson vanished. “Hop in dude! We’re going after this guy full throttle!”

“This is going to be so much fun,” Hughes said rather sarcastically as he climbed into the car, crossing his arms.

Jason placed his hands on the steering wheel as the buckle straps shot out from the seat and strapped him in. Hughes looked from side to side in surprise as the straps came on. TysonBelt turned to Jason.

“Alright man,” Tyson said as the LED readout got an intense look, “Let’s open her up!”
Jason nodded and gunned the ignition. A roar akin to a formula car engine revving was heard as the Tridoron roared down the street toward the SpeeDemon. The SpeeDemon took off down the street as Jason took a corner sharply, the wheels skidding on the street. 

Jason looked to his side as a green car covered in spines fixed itself in a wrist thing he was wearing. “You’re not getting away.” 

A series of green energy spikes shot from the front wheel of the car, one of them grazing the creature, causing it to veer right toward the harbor.

“Try to keep this damn thing still, I’m tryin somethin’ here,” Hughes commanded as he tried to focus, eyes locked on the SpeeDemon. A moment later, several bolts of lightning rained down from the sky, slamming into the creature.

Jason nodded, “Nice.”

The SpeeDemon slammed into the ground and skidded to a sharp halt, but it was still out of focus. The Tridoron slowed to a full stop as Jason pulled TysonBelt free of the dashboard and got out. Jason strapped the belt to his waist as three Shift Cars sheathed themselves in a holder on his right side.

Jason stood tall and pointed, “Alright QuanTus, where’s Rarity?”

The creature spoke, but to Hughes, it sounded like someone someone on a sugar rush, the words audible but hard to make out.

Hughes blinked in confusion. “The hell did he say?”

Jason turned to his comrade. “Oh right. To you and others that don’t have Shift Cars or Signal Bikes, you can’t perceive or hear a SpeeDemon.”

As if on cue, a Shift Car sped down and attached itself to the center of Hughes chest above the Omnitrix disc. The car itself was composed of a black and red car attached to a white motorcycle.

“Huh,” Jason remarked, “Looks like Dead Heat wants to give you a hand.”

As Hughes looked at the SpeeDemon known as QuanTus, the creature was now in perfect focus. Two large glowing blue eyes were fixed on Hughes and Jason. Its natural body armor resembled a hybrid between chitin and metal and was a deep crimson. Between each plate was slimy looking chrome flesh, and in his mouth were rows of sharp chrome fangs. Two black horns stuck out of the top of its head, but they were curved in a fashion similar to a spoiler on a car.

“Unknown device is attempting to interface with this unit,” the Omnitrix chirped, flashing a purple color.

“I dunno, figure something out,” Hughes said, glaring at the thing, “Iffin’ it tries something hostile, fry it,” he ordered. Throwing his arms out, he fired an energy beam at the SpeeDemon.

QuanTus sped around the attack and bull rushed Hughes, but a red sports car intercepted the creature before fixing itself onto the wrist device on Jason’s. Jason reached up and rotated the back end of the car until it faced up, making the car resemble a makeshift lever.

TysonBelt then called out, “START YOUR ENGINE!”

Jason reached down and turned the key on his belt, before placing his hand on the back end of the car.

“HENSHIN!”

He then pushed it forward slightly and a mechanical noise was heard as he then placed it back into it’s original position. 

TysonBelt then called out, “DRIVE, TYPE, SPEED!”

In an instant, a music score was heard as holographic pieces of armor assembled on Jason’s body. Standing before Hughes, as a tire fixed itself diagonally on Jason’s armor, was a man in red, black and chrome armor with headlight-like eyes, with a spoiler atop the helmet. 

QuanTus growled. “Kamen Rider.”

Jason nodded, “Kamen Rider Drive, to be specific. Now,” he bent low, “I believe you have someone precious that my friend here wants back.”

“That looks so utterly stupid,” Hughes said with a sigh, running his hand down his face. “This, this is why I hate this place. I couldn’t get some eldritch Norse demon, I get Turbo knockoffs.”

Drive shrugged. “Meh, honestly I don’t mind it.” He rushed toward the SpeeDemon with the sound of a burnout and engaged it in battle. 

“I can assist, if you allow me.”

Hughes looked around for the sound of the voice. “Who said that?”

“I did. I am known as Shift Car, Dead Heat.”

“I say we let it, I wanna see what we turn into!” Hodgepodge exclaimed. “I’m all for a Kamen Rider team up!”

Red electricity surged from Dead Heat into the Omnitrix disc as it communicated with the genetic device.

“User Hughes, will you allow this unit to cooperate with Dead Heat?” the Omnitrix chirped, flashing purple again. 

“Ya know, I don’t see why not,” Hughes said with a sigh, “Let's see how ridiculous this is gonna be.” The two devices continued to exchange information before the Omnitrix activated.

“Altering Omnitrix armor protocol. Running new program: Burnout.” It flashed as armor started to appear on Hughes. The armor appeared on him in segments before fully completing. A loud roar of an engine akin to a muscle car was heard. Like Drive, there was a leather body suit under the armor segments, but the armor itself was sleek looking. It was a shining black with silver trim and segments. Six spike-like exhaust pipes stuck out of the top of his head in the style of a mohawk. The fingers ended in sharpened points. The headlight lenses of the helmet closely resembled the car portion of Dead Heat’s head lights. A few other spikes were on the shoulder pad and attached to the ankles of his boots were tires. 

The Omnitrix emitted a guitar riff then announced powerfully, “Type, BURNOUT!” 

“Yup... insane,” Hughes said with a sigh. “Alright, let’s get this over with.” He turned toward the SpeeDemon, cracking his neck. “You gonna give up the girl mate?”

QuanTus smacked Drive into a wall and glared at Burnout. “I’ll give you what’s left after I consume her.” He then shot out beams of intense heat from his fingers before rushing Burnout. The SpeeDemon plowed into him and the two barreled through a wall.

“Oh, fuck off mate,” Hughes snorted, kneeing QuanTus in the gut. “The ‘ell we ever do to you? What, you work with those weird sentai space guys who tried to take over that one time?”

QuanTus laughed low ash he uppercutted Burnout into a catwalk, “No, I was merely running from the Kamen Rider, but I found myself famished. Imagine my surprise when I find one of those ponies carrying an additional life within itself. It’s like a buffet.” He looked around, noting Burnout had sped around to get a better ambush angle. “Perhaps, when I finish with her, I’ll consume the life within her to tide me over for the trip back.”

“RIP HIS THROAT OUT!!” Ormagoden snarled in the back of Hughes mind, the beast’s bloodlust starting to push its way to the front.

Jason sped into the warehouse, “I’m not one to act out of spite,” a black car fixed into his wrist, “But that was uncalled for.”

“DRIVE, TYPE, WILD!”

in a blink, his armor became heavier looking, black and chrome, and more akin to a police car. He shoulder checked QuanTus toward Hughes, who had emerged and rushed the SpeeDemon from behind.

“Go on, man,” Drive said, “Take this guy down so you can rescue the damsel!”

“Fuck you, you damned car freak!” Hughes shouted, slamming into QuanTus. He tackled him to the ground, channeling Ormagoden’s rage and proceeding to pound the SpeeDemon’s face in. He lifted him up into the air before bringing him down on his knee, right into his back. He tossed QuanTus away, breathing rather heavily.

Drive nodded as he approached the downed monster, clicking a red button then cranking the car lever.

“THE FINISH!”

Drive closed the distance, front flipped in the air, then drop kicked the monster. It soon exploded into a shower of flames as Drive disengaged his transformation.

Jason looked around for a moment as he turned to Hughes, “Nice one.”

“Still need to find Rarity,” Hughes commented as the armor vanished, “That was... interesting, at least...” 

Jason nodded, “Don’t worry about that, man,” he turned his head as a small taxi cab honked excitedly, “I have some trusted friends on it.”

In a moment, Rarity rounded the corner and she smiled as the cab landed in her hand.

“If it’s alright with you both, I’d rather like to get my hooves back,” she said, looking rather shaky on her feet.

Jason nodded. “Sure, congratulations by the way.” He walked past her and looked at Hughes giving him the, ‘go on man,’ signal.

“I’ll warm up the car.” Dimension Cab followed after him.

“Yeah, lets get you back before the kid ends up some weird satyr thing,” Hughes said as he moved over to her, putting his arm around her. “Jason’s been yelling his head off and givin’ me a right headache,” he grumbled as he helped the woman out to the car.

Jason went at an easy pace as he looked back at Hughes and Rarity and shook his head.

“You two are lucky,” his eye back on the road, “having each other, and you’re about to have a kid to. I mean hell,” his look became slightly distant, “there’s a girl back on my... Equestrian Earth that I kind of like,” he shakes his head, “But there’s no way she’d think of me like that. She sees me like a rival.”

“She ain’t my girl,” Hughes said, giving Jason a flat look.

“I know,” he looked at Hughes in the mirror. “I was talking to the person in your head. A friend of mine told me about you. Honestly, I think you’d make a good rider, BUT,” the school rolled into sight, “Aurora is very picky about her choices.”

Rarity tilted head, “Aurora?”

Jason brought the car to a halt. “Trust me when I say this, you Displaced, have your own small fights. We Riders, we have a much bigger battle coming.” His look became serious. “Just know this,” he turned back to look at the two, “Enjoy every moment you two can spend. The Riders that Aurora has chosen, we don’t get that liberty until everything is said and done.”

Jason hopped from the car and opened the door for the two, “Do me a favor, if you ever meet someone named Liam, you or the OTHER you, tell him that Decade is currently active and he’s next on his list.”

“Don’t call what Displaced go through small,” Hughes said, getting out and helping Rarity out, “Some of us have to fight wars.”

Jason nodded as he leaned back with a saddened look, “Yeah, but let me ask you something,” he looked at Hughes, “If you were plucked from your world, given the powers of a Rider, and you find out that the fight you fought is just an opening act that will lead to a fight that could mean all the Equestrias out there could be destroyed. What would you think is small or big then?”

Rarity gasped, “All the Equestrias? Destroyed!?”

Tyson shook his head as he projected himself, “Dude, you’re saying too much.”

Jason shook his head, “Forget I said anything, just know we Riders are out there if any of you Displaced or others in your position need help.” He opened the driver door and got in, smiling at Hughes as a black Shift Car covered with green digital lines landed in Hughes’s hand, “We’ll be there as fast as we can muster.”

On the roof of the Shift Car was an Omnitrix symbol. “It’s yours, and it seems to like you. Its name is OmniShift.” Jason pointed at Hughes. “It may not look like it, but it’s alive.”

The taxi cab honked a few times, “Right,” he turned the car to face the statue, “See ya, oh and Jason,” he nodded at Hughes, “You’re doing good work, never forget that.”

He sped at breakneck speed towards the statue... then passed through and vanished in a flash.

“That was so cool,” Hodgepodge said, “but...there are more Riders out there?”

Jason mentally nodded, “Apparently, but let’s get back.”

OmniShift honked at Hughes.

“Come on, let’s go,” Hughes said, leading Rarity through the portal.

“Ah!” Rarity said with a smile, looking down at her hooves, “It feels so good to be me again!”

“Yeah I-” Jason started before the Omnitrix went off, shifting him into Alien X.

“Jason, we have to talk,” Hughes said, standing away from the other two personalities.

“About what?” he asked, rubbing the back of his head, “Everything okay?”

Hughes took a deep breath before turning to Jason, looking into his eyes, “Jason... I want to be my own person.”
> Dream Warriors
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I’m just glad to be back on four hooves,” Rarity commented, brushing Opal’s mane. The group had gathered at her boutique for a ‘pet grooming day’ that she had set up. She dozed off for a bit, accidentally jabbing the brush into Opal’s back. Opal let out a yelp, jumping up and attaching her claws to the ceiling. “Oh my! Oh I’m sorry Opal, I didn’t get my normal beauty sleep last night.”

Opal glared down at her, hissing.

“Ah’m just glad yer safe, I dunno what Jay would have done if you and the foal were hurt.” Applejack yawned, closing her eyes, only to be startled awake by Winona’s bark.

“I don’t want to talk about what I would have done,” Jason commented as he cleaned Zed’s fangs. The Baskurr’s chompers were rather dirty, with bits of meat stuck between them. “You’re doing good, girl. After this, how about we go fishing?”

Zed let out a happy growl, her tail wagging.

“Alright Winona, time for your brushin’.” Applejack reached around for Winona’s brush, only to grab Gummy instead. The little alligator gr“abbed onto Winona’s ear, causing her to shake her head, throwing him onto Owlicious, who panicked, taking off and knocking Twilight into a tub of water. “Oops... guess I’m too plumb tuckered out to do this right...”

“Did any of you guys get any sleep last night?” Jason asked, watching as Pinkie chased Owlicious around. 

Fluttershy let out a loud yawn. “I even went to bed early last night, Dissy got Eris to bed, but then I had a really scary nightmare.”

“Me too!” the other girls shouted out, all looking at Fluttershy.

“Uh, only, you know,” Dash said, gesturing with her talons, “I didn't think mine was that scary!”

“Of course it wasn’t Dash, of course it wasn’t.” Jason rolled his eyes, earning himself a glare from the pegasus.

“Well, mine sure was,” Twilight started, leaning over the side of the tub, absolutely soaked. “There was this blue smoke monster and... what?” she asked, noticing they were all staring at her with their jaws dropped. 

“I dreamt about a blue smoke thingy too!” Fluttershy said, gesturing to herself.

“Me too!” AJ, Rarity and Pinkie piped up.

“Welp, I think we have a dream demon on the loose,” Jason joked, moving from Zed’s teeth to her paws, trimming her nails.

“So what?” Dash asked, taking to the air, talons behind her head, “Probably just a coincidence.”

“That's an awfully big coincidence.” Twilight climbed out of the tub, grabbing a towel from Spike’s arms as the little drake waddled over. 

“Huh,” Spike interjected. “I wonder why I didn't have that nightmare. I slept great!”

“Well, nothing in the world is coincidence, so you should probably send a letter to Luna... hopefully we can pull her away from Grey Ghost...” Jason suggested, giving Zed a treat for being on her best behavior.

“You have a point Jay,” Twilight nodded, turning to Spike, “Spike could you send a scroll to Princess Luna?”

“Sure!” Spike exclaimed, tossing the towels away, somehow pulling a quill and scroll out of his tail.

“Is... is... no one going to question that?” Jason asked, looking at Spike with a raised eyebrow, while Pinkie held her hoof up, making a shushing motion. Jason just rolled his eyes, deciding to just let it go.

Spike scribbled away at the scroll, transcribing Twilight’s words before sending the scroll off with a puff of flame. Not a second passed before Luna nearly bashed the door down, quite a feat for such a heavily pregnant mare.

“Which of you saw the creature of blue smoke in your nightmare?!” she demanded, looking at them rather frantically.

“I don’t think I’ve seen anyone but Pinkie move that fast...” Jason commented, scratching the back of his head. 

“I know! She’s stealing my mojo!” Pinkie pouted, glaring daggers at Luna, who seemed to ignore them.

“Welp... sorry girl, but... I don’t think I’m going to be able to take you fishing today.” Jason pet the Baskurr’s head and Zed let out a low growl, somewhere between disappointment and frustration. “I know girl, I know.”





“We've prepared everything exactly as you requested.” Twilight led the group into her room, which had several smaller beds arranged in the center of the room.

“Good,” Luna took to the air, flitting about the room. “As you six slumber here, Jason and I will pursue the creature into whichever of your dreams it infests.”

“Let me get ready. Omnitrix, Pesky Dust,” he commanded, shifting forms. He trilled, fluttering in the air, “Ready when you are Luna!”

“Ooh! It’ll be like a Princess slumber party!” Pinkie giggled, jumping into her bed. 

“Speaking of princesses,” Twilight climbed into the largest bed in the room, “Aren't you going to ask Celestia for her help as well?”

“There is nothing my sister can do,” Luna shook her head. “She has no power in the realm of sleep. Only Jason and myself can move from dream to dream. I am afraid nopony else can help us tonight.”

“Even us?” Applejack asked, getting herself comfortable.

“Especially you,” Luna sighed, casting each of them a sad glance, You have all suffered so much because of me. You need only slumber while we hunt the Tantabus in your dreams.”

“Alright! Let’s get started!” Jason trilled, buzzing over them all, knocking them all out with his dust.

“I know you said nopony can help, but I'm no pony!” Spike pointed to himself, puffing his chest out “I'm gonna stay up and watch over the girls, just in case!”

“We’ll leave it to you Spike!” Jason nodded, looking at the sleeping mares. “So... who’s first?”

“We shall start with Rarity.” Luna floated up into the air. A white light emanated from her horn, branching off into six white tendrils. Each slithered down to one of the mares, attaching to their forehead. 

“Why does she get to be cooler...?” Jason muttered, flittering over to Rarity. He concentrated, the world around him melting away, being replaced by what he assumed was Rarity’s dream.

“Should have seen this coming...” he sighed, looking around. He was in a large blue tinted room, with pink dresses floating in the air. Suddenly, one of them shifted into a horrible monstrosity, flying at her. “Yup... Chrissy is right, ponies can really be dumb...” He watched as Rarity blasted it away, Luna bursting out of the dress. “Ok, so, game plan? Do we have one?”

“Simple, we stop the creature!” Luna snapped, watching as the Tantabus, a small wisp of purple... smoke, phased through three more dresses, turning them into monsters.

“That's... not really a plan...” Jason sighed, flying at the wisp while Luna took care of the dresses. Just as he reached it, it flew out the window, which suddenly became walled off with bricks. “Oh come on!” Jason complained, “Why does Pesky Dust have to suck so much!?”

“Jason, you stay and handle the nightmare, I will give chase,” Luna commanded, moving off into the next dream before he called reply.

“I really hate this form...” he grumbled darkly before moving off to help Rarity fight off the fashion demons.





The next few dreams weren’t any better. Pinkie Pie was just jumping from scene to scene randomly, Fluttershy was being menaced by a monster version of Angel, Applejack was mourning in a field of withered apple trees, Dash was being tormented by an overly cute and kid friendly world, and finally Twilight’s dream, where she was being menaced by horrible bat books. Truly the most terrifying of nightmares.

“Actually, books attacking Twilight... I can totally see that as her greatest fear.” He watched as Luna crystallized the Tantabus... only for it break out and consume everything, forcing Jason out of the dream. “Ow...” he whined, rubbing his head. Seeing the girls were awake and chatting with Luna, he tapped the Omnitrix, reverting to normal. “You guys have the weakest nightmares ever.”

“Please Jason, we have bigger problems at hand,” Luna held her hoof up, stopping whatever conversation that was brewing. “Infecting all those dreams gives it more and more power. Soon it will be able to escape into the real world and infect Equestria with its nightmare plague!

“Well, there goes my night,” Jason sighed, leaning on the wall. “The hell do we do now?”

“What if...” Twilight tapped her chin, “What if everypony in Ponyville were having one dream?”

Luna looked deep in thought, staying quiet for a few moments before speaking. “I... can create shared dreams, yes, but for so many ponies at once? I have never done anything like that. The amount of power it would take...”

“Well, it is worth a try isn’t it?” Fluttershy asked, clutching her blankets close.

“Of course.” Luna nodded, a determined look on her face, “I will do anything to end this, including accept your help. I cannot allow the Tantabus to escape into the real world. All of you must now go back to sleep and hope that I can create such a dream. You too Jason, I will need your help as well.”

“Whatever you say, Luna,” Jason said, moving over to the bed Spike was on and climbing in. Jason closed his eyes, letting sleep overtake him. 





“Well, well, well this is new,” Hodgepodge said, looking at Hughes and Jason, a big grin on his face. “All of us together and NOT in god mode? Why, this is unprecedented!” He pulled the two into a hug, his grin widening.

“Yes Hodgepodge, this is just lovely,” Hughes glared, pulling away. Ever since they had stepped through the portal to CHS, Hughes had retained his transformed appearance and accent, even in the mindscape.

“Wait... if we’re all here doesn’t that mean...” Jason was interrupted as a roar erupted behind them. They all spun around, spotting a very enraged looking Ormagoden glaring at them.

“Okay, I’ll keep him busy, you two mooks go deal the tantabutt.” Hodgepodge tackled Orm, the two of them smashing several buildings.

“We need to do something about that guy...” Jason muttered before he and Hughes ran toward the center of town. What they found was rather... weird. Big Mac was a princess, flying around and zapping flying muffins, an overly beefy Spike was riding on the back of a giant Derpy Hooves, Filthy Rich flew around on a wave of bits and Lyra and Bon Bon were...Cat-Dog?

“I don’t even...” Hughes sighed, running a hand down his face, “Ok, so, what's the plan Jason?”

“I don’t really think there is one.” Jason shook his head. “Just... attack the thing, I guess.” Jason cupped his hands, drawing them back. “Ka...me...ha...me...ha!” he shouted, thrusting his hands forward, unleashing a bright beam of energy that knocked the Tantabus away from a glowing rip in the sky. “I’ve always wanted to do that,” Jason said, wearing a stupid grin on his face.

“Idiot,” Hughes muttered, rolling his eyes. A grunt caught their attention, and both turned to see Luna floating in a sphere, dozens of the white tendrils extending from her horn. 

“I cannot hold this dream together much longer!” Luna lamented, tears flowing down her face. “Equestria will fall because of me!”

The Tantabus roared, doubling in size, knocking away anyone close to it. 

“Am I crazy, or did it just get even bigger after Luna said that?” Spike asked, eyeing the Tantabus wearily. 

“I think it's feeding off your guilt, Princess Luna!” Twilight deduced, turning around to look at the lunar princess.

“If that is so, then perhaps that is how it grew strong enough to escape in the first place!” Luna lamented, tearing her gaze from Twilight, the flow of tears increasing. 

Applejack, cosplaying as Mistress Mare-velous, jumped onto a building. “Say what now?!” She watched in horror as the Tantabus, now in the form of a ghostly purple alicorn, used its ‘horn’ to tear open an enormous hole in reality.

“I created the Tantabus to give myself the same nightmare every night... to punish myself for the evil I caused as Nightmare Moon!” Luna explained, her voice hoarse from both the strain of keeping the dream up and her rampant self-loathing.

“That wasn’t you Luna...” Nightmare Moon spoke up, meekly moving out of her hiding place, “It was all me. If Eclipse and I had never been formed you never would have done any of it... it’s all my fault... I’m so sorry Luna...I’m so sorry...” Moon whimpered, collapsing into a sobbing heap.

Luna floated there dumbstruck. Here was the very being that had caused all of her suffering and she was laying on the ground, sobbing like a foal.

“No Moon... it’s not your fault...” Luna started, “If anything good came from any of this... it is you.”

“W-what...?” Moon asked, lifting her head up.

“When you and Eclipse escaped my mind...I wanted to hate you, no, I did hate you,” Luna said, causing Moon to flinch away, “I wanted to blame you for everything. But it’s not your fault. The circumstances of your birth are not your own choosing. Ever since you have come into your own as a pony, you have been nothing but a model citizen... I am sorry, Nightmare Moon, I should have given you a chance, can you forgive me?”

Nightmare Moon just blinked before slowly nodding. “O-of course P-Princess...” she stuttered dumbly.

“Good...” Luna smiled slightly, “Now I think... I think it’s time I forgave myself...”

The Tantabus, already halfway through the tear, pulled back with a surprised ‘look’ on it’s face. It started to shrink down, the tear closing. Unbeknownst to all, Hughes had made his way to the tear. He looked back at the group before taking in a deep breath and leaping through it just as it closed.  The Tantabus, now reduced to Luna’s size, moved through the sphere surrounding her, allowing itself to be reabsorbed by Luna. 

The princess smiled, looking at the gathered ponies. “Thank you. Thank you all...” She dropped the spell holding the dream together and the world went white.





Twilight sat up with a gasp, looking around. “Luna did it!”

“Oh she sure did,” Hughes said, standing against the wall, looking at them, rather amused.

“H-hughes?” Twilight asked, her eyes wide, “B-but how!? Jason’s over there!” she pointed at the jotun, who, like the others, was just waking up.

“Well, I’ve been wanting to be my own person and when that dream thing cut open a hole in reality, I jumped through,” the human explained, crossing his arms.

“But, doesn’t Jay, like, need you in his head?” Dash asked, a frown on her face.

“I’ll be fine, Dash,” Jason said as he got out of bed, moving over to Hughes, “He’s his own person and I have no right to keep him here if he doesn’t want to be.”

Hughes smiled. “Thanks Jay. Now,” he moved away from the wall, “I have a girl to go surprise.”

“Wait!” Pinkie cried out, dashing over to him, “I have to throw you your ‘happy birthday / congratulations on the new body party!”

“Later, Pinkie Pie, I just need to go see Sunset right now.” Hughes turned, quickly striding out of the room. 

“Jay...” Applejack began, getting out of bed, “Are you sure about this...?”

“It’s the right thing to do...” Jason responded, placing a blanket over Luna, who was asleep on the floor. 





It took less than an half an hour to get Hughes ready, with Jason giving him a bag of bits and at least half of his clothes.

“Hughes... stay safe, okay?” Jason asked, the two standing in front of the currently inactive mirror.

“Jay, I’ll be fine,” Hughes said with a roll of his eyes, “But thanks for worrying about me.”

“It’ll be weird without you, you know?” Jason asked, rubbing the back of his head.

“Jay, we’re brothers,” Hughes said, putting his hand on Jason’s shoulder, “No matter where we are we’re still connected.”

“Ready when you are, Hughes,” Twilight called from the machine, flipping it on. It took only for a moment for the portal to activate.

“Hey... take this with you...” Jason held out the power morpher. “Just in case, ya know?”

Hughes smiled, taking it and placing it in his pocket. “Thanks Jay. Everyone,” he called, looking at the gathered group of ponies, “See ya around.” He gave them a quick, two fingered salute before stepping through the portal. Omnishift, which had vanished after their last return from CHS, honked and quickly followed after him.

“Huh...” Jason blinked, “Guess it liked him more than me...” Twilight started to speak but Jason didn’t hear her, instead all he heard was a loud roar that shattered his thoughts.

I WANT OUT!





Animo huffed as he paced around the poor excuse for a lab that the so called ‘Overlord’ had provided for him.

“A waste of my talents!” he roared, knocking a table’s contents to the floor, “I deserve better than this, you blasted monkey!!”

“Oh, I agree.” 

Animo whirled around to see a human, female by the voice, standing in the doorway, wearing purple colored armor.

“You... you’re Eclipse, yes?” he asked gingerly, his expression neutral.

“That is quite correct Dr. Animo.” She stepped into the room, looking around. “And I do believe your talents are being wasted.”

“What exactly are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be preparing for an invasion?” Animo asked, taking a step backwards.

“Oh, I am, but I thought I’d come talk to you first.” She picked up a beaker, swirling the contents around.

“Why?” 

“Because I’m tired and I’m pretty sure you are too,” Eclipsed started, turning to look at him. “I’m tired of Don sitting on his ass doing nothing. I’m tired of waiting. So I’ve decided that he can fuck off, I’m going forward with or without him.” She placed the beaker down, holding her hand out. “Care to join me?”

Animo stared at the hand for a moment before a grin spread across his face. “Why yes m’lady... I most certainly would.”
> Sass Vs Snark
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You know Rarity, not that I’m not supportive and all but, we’re here for more than just this, ya know,” Jason commented as he munched on a sandwich, watching the girls as they gushed over Rarity and her new boutique. Chrysalis, standing next to him, just rolled her eyes.

“I still don’t actually understand this ‘fashion’ nonsense.” Chrysalis frowned, glaring at the racks of clothing behind the refreshment table. “It’s just clothes, who cares what they look like?”

“Don’t you wear clothes?” Gilda asked, pouring herself some punch.

“I only wear clothes when something important happens... like politics...” Chrysalis hissed, scowling. After months of ruling Valhalla with Jason and Rarity, the empress had come to despise the whole concept. In a hive, if something needed to get done, it got done, there was no arguing and bickering over if there was even a problem, how to fix it, how much it would cost, or who would fix it.

“I don’t get fashion either, but it makes Rarity happy...” Jason just shrugged, leaning back on the table. 

“Ooh! I’m so excited I could just sing!!!” Sonata bounced up and down, currently in her pony form. 

“Yup, that's why you're here, just not right now okay? Wait until the customers start coming in.” Jason instructed, to which the eager little siren nodded. “Good...”

“I never could have gotten the boutique ready for the grand opening without the help of my new manager Sassy Saddles!” Rarity’s voice drifted over, catching the group's attention. A cerulean  unicorn walked into view, her face in a clipboard. She blinked, looking up at them.

“Bust my buttons, Rarity! The ponies from Ponyville!” she exclaimed, looking the group over. Most just fired off greetings while Gilda and Chrysalis glared at her.

“I don’t like her...” Chrysalis muttered, snorting a little, narrowing her eyes at the new arrival.

“You just met her.” Jason rolled his eyes, moving toward the mare. “Nice to meet you Sassy, I’m Jason, Rarity’s husband.”

“Oh my! What a gentlecolt!” Sassy smiled, “Rarity is one lucky mare.”

Jason just smiled. “I suppose she is, I’m sorry I can’t stick around but, Twilight, Gilda, Chrysalis and I have to get go-”

“Nonsense, Jason.” Chrysalis came over, closing his mouth with her magic. “I’ll stay here with Rarity, you three go deal with your damned politics.” She released Jason’s mouth, earning her a glare.

“Fine, just try and keep Sonata in line...” He motioned for Gilda and Twilight to follow, walking out of the building.

“I’ll see you girls later.” Twilight briskly followed after him, leaving Gilda for a moment.

“Later babe.” The griffon winked at her lover before catching up to Jason and Twilight, glad to be out of that frou-frou place. “So... what are we doing again?” Gilda asked, her guards moving from their positions outside the door to follow them.

“We’re going to have a council meeting over what to do about Surt,” Jason informed her, for what felt like the tenth time that day. “We have to have some kind of plan to deal with him and if he attacks again.”

“Surt’s that...” Gilda snapped her talons a few times in thought. “That uh...big fire dude right?”

“Yes, Gilda, that's the big fire dude.” Twilight rolled her eyes, shaking her head. “Do you even pay attention at all?”

“Hey! It’s not my fault you go on about boring stuff!” Gilda huffed, clicking her beak. “You know how hard it is to just memorize all the weird names you throw at me!?”

“Okay...” Twilight cleared her throat, quickly thinking of a new topic. “So, how is Griffonstone coming along? I heard the first wave of workers arrived.”

“Yeah, they arrived last week. Bunch of earth ponies. Celestia said they were the best she could find.” Gilda nodded. “She also came through on the bits too, actually got those lazy assholes to do something. Maybe all the work will make them give a crap about their homes.”

“Chrysalis told me she assigned one of the smaller hives to help out as well.” Jason looked down at her. “How’s that going?”

“Better than I thought. The fact that changelings just work and don’t use bits might be a problem later... I have to make sure the fat hens don’t abuse the free labor.” Gilda huffed but then smiled a little. “Pinkie’s baking tips helped though, place is less... assholey...” 

“I don’t think that's a word,” Twilight chimed in.

“Yeah well, I made it a word.” Gilda looked back at one of her guards. “Remind me to add that to our dictionary.”

“You can’t do that!” Twilight exclaimed, her eyes widening.

“Hey! I’m a queen! I can do whatever I want, dweeb.” Gilda laughed. “Just try and stop me!” Jason just chuckled, putting his hands in his pockets, watching the two of them argue back and forth.





“Ah! Son of a whore!” 

Sunset Shimmer blinked as she stepped out of the bathroom, wearing just a towel. Today had been a gym day and upon returning home, she had decided to jump in the shower. Moving into the kitchen, she spotted Hughes clutching his thumb, shouting out a stream of obscenities.

“Uh, Hughes? What are you doing?” she asked, an amused look on her face.

“I was tyrin’ to make us something to eat but I cut me damn thumb!” he growled, looking at her. “Can ya get me a band aid or something?”

“Yeah, I can do that.” She bent down, pulled open one of the drawers of their counter, and found a box of band aids. “Here, let me see your hand.” She opened the band aid up and quickly placed it over his cut. “There, that better?” she asked with a teasing smile. 

“Yes Mom, it’s all better.” He rolled his eyes, but was unable to keep the smile off his face.

“Good.” She leaned over and planted a kiss on his cheek. “I thought you were going to order out?”

“Yeah but I figured it’d be more special if I cooked ya something.” He smiled, kissing her back. “Don’t know how to cook worth a damn, but worth a shot, yeah?”

“Oh Hughes, you know how to make a girl feel all warm inside.” Sunset laughed, shaking her head. “I’m just going to order us some pizza.”

“Get some bacon on it,” Hughes called as she walked over to the phone. He thought for moment before smirking. “Maybe dinner and a show?” he asked, winking at her.

“And what kind of show would that be, hm?” she asked, a smile worming its way across her face.

“I think you know...” Hughes shot back, grinning in return.

“Yeah well, we’re not that far along Hughes, so keep it in your pants.” She shook her head, picking up the phone and ordering their pizza. Hughes just watched, taking in her curves, mentally stripping her towel off. “Hey, I’m going to get changed,” Sunset spoke, breaking Hughes from his trance. “Keep an ear out for the pizza?”

“‘Course, love.” He nodded, getting up and stretching. Sunset moved off toward their room while Hughes flopped down on the couch. He grabbed the remote, turned it on, and flipped through the channels. “Bloody hell, why do I even bother? Nothing good on TV in this damn place...” he grumbled, settling on one of the less offensive sitcoms. “What I wouldn’t give for some M*A*S*H...” he sighed, lounging around, waiting for either the pizza to arrive or Sunny to come out. 

As luck would have it, Sunny came out first, having changed into her pajamas.

“Bit early for those ain’t it?” he asked, removing his feet from the couch so she could sit down.

“Maybe, but we’re not going anywhere tonight.” She plopped down on the couch, snuggling up with him. “So, whatcha watchin’?”

“I dunno, some stupid show about a talking dog.” He shrugged, putting his arm around her.  They sat there quietly for a few moments before Sunny spoke again.

“So... the Friendship Games are coming up soon...”

“Friendship... games?” Hughes asked, staring at her as he processed what she just said. “That sounds incredibly fucking lame. How do you win that? Having the most Facebook friends?”

“Well, I have no idea what Facebook is but the Friendship Games are a series of contests between Canterlot High and Crystal Prep. It’s held every four years and I was thinking about signing up,” Sunny explained, getting comfortable. 

“Let me guess, you want me to sign up as well?” He sighed, running a hand down his face. “Really Sunny? I can barely stand going to school as it is. The only reason I go in the first place is because those freaks with the legs threatened to call child services on me...” He snorted. “I already went to fucking high school...”

“No, Jason did,” Sunny corrected, poking his chest. “Just because you got his memories, doesn’t mean that any of that knowledge applies to this world.”

“Alright, alright, if it pleases you my queen, I’ll sign up for the stupid games...” He rolled his eyes, letting out a long sigh.

“Oh come on, it’ll be fun.” She kissed him before looking up as the pizza guy knocked. “Sweet, food’s here, go set the table will ya?” she asked, standing up and moving to answer the door. 

“Yes, dear,” he teased, getting up and heading into the kitchen. By the time she came back with the pizza, Hughes had finished setting the table and was eagerly awaiting said pizza. “Hey Sunny... did you ever find out what happened to the Dazzlings?”

“What, Adagio and Aria?” She grabbed a slice of pizza, taking a bite out of it. “Why would I do that? They lost their magic, not like they could really do anything...”

Hughes sighed, running a hand down his face. “Sunny, ya ever hear of Murphy’s law? ‘Cause ya just invoked it.”

“Uh... no?” she asked, looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Murphy’s law states that what can go wrong, will go wrong.”

“You're just being superstitious.” She gave a dismissive hand wave, going back to her pizza.

Hughes sighed, grabbing himself a slice. “We are so fucked.”





“Adagio, what are we even doing here?” Aria asked with a sigh as they walked through the halls of Crystal Prep. After their defeat at the Battle of the Bands, the two sirens had been attending Crystal Prep for some plan that Adagio hadn’t been keen on sharing with her yet. 

“We’re getting our revenge, of course!”

“By switching schools and living like teenage girls?” 

“No, you goon!” Adagio snapped, whirling around on her. “We’re going to make sure those girls lose the Friendship Games!!”

Aria just stared at her for a second. “Seriously? That's it?! They steal our magic from us and your best plan is to make sure they lose a stupid contest that they haven’t won in years!?” Aria shook with rage,  her hands balled into fists. “Are you stupid!?” she screamed, getting in Adagio’s face.

“I don’t see you coming up with any better ideas!” Adagio snapped back, pushing Aria away. “So unless you have a better idea, I suggest we go with my plan!”

“You call that a plan!? That's something that moron Sonata would have come up with!”

“Oh, you did not just compare me to that loser!” Adagio grabbed Aria by the collar of her shirt and drew her arm back to punch her in the face when a new voice joined in.

“Um... e-excuse me?” 

They both turned to see Twilight Sparkle, clad in a Crystal Prep uniform, her dorky look complete with glasses. They looked back to each other and then at her.

“Yes? What do you want?” Adagio asked, not releasing her grip on Aria’s shirt.

“Well...Principal Finch is looking for students to participate in the Friendship Games and I know you both transferred from CHS, so I figured you might... I don’t know... have... inside knowledge?”

The sirens were quiet for a few moments before they looked at each other, devious grins appearing on their faces.

“Why, we’d love to!” Adagio released Aria, the two of them moving over to Twilight. “It’s all in the name of good fun, right?”

“Y-yeah...” Twilight nodded, meekly pushing her glasses back up her nose. “I can um... take you to register...”

“Lead the way, my dear!” Adagio said, throwing up her best smile. Twilight, being a socially awkward nerd, just nodded, leading the grinning sirens to their destination.





“Oh, Jason, there you are,” Chrysalis spoke up from her place at the council table. “I’ve been waiting for at least an hour.”

“Wait... I thought you were with Rarity...?” Twilight blinked, tilting her head as she looked at the empress.

“I was, but she kicked me out after I cocooned that bitch Sassy Saddles.” Chrysalis huffed, hissing at the name.

“You cocooned Sassy?” Jason groaned, running a hand down his face. “And why, in Yggdrasil’s good name, did you do that?”

“She was walking all over Rarity!” Chrysalis snapped. “Strutting around like she owned the place, turning Rarity into a doormat! I don’t know about you Jason, but I refuse to allow my mate to become a wallflower!”

Jason just sighed, taking his seat with the others.

“Are we finished?” Luna asked, not looking amused by the changeling’s antics.

“Yes moonbutt, I’m finished.” Chrysalis rolled her eyes, looking at the alicorn.

“Good.” Celestia cleared her throat, watching as Gilda and Twilight took their seats. “Now... let us begin...”





Sea Breeze let out a deep breath, placing the walnut he had been carrying on the platform. Winter was only a few months away and the Breezies needed to replenish their stores before the seasons changed.

“Huh?” he asked, looking toward the horizon as black clouds gathered, blocking out the sun. A loud boom tore through the village, tossing the poor fairy ponies all other the place. Sea Breeze could only stare in horror as a hole formed in reality.

“Let us remember this day for all time!” Eclipse shouted as she stepped through the tear, scythe in hand. “The day the first sun fell to our might! Now... charge!” she screamed, unleashing her horde of dark elves on the helpless fairies. 


> Finding Blueblood
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Does anypony have any ideas on how exactly we are to deal with this threat?" Luna asked the gathered royals. She was laying on her side, due to her swollen belly.

"Even the combined might of Jason and myself seemed to do nothing but annoy him," Celestia spoke, looking at the gathered group. The first Equestrian war council in centuries had been called, consisting of Luna, Celestia, Twilight, Cadance, Shining Armor, Jason, Chrysalis,  and Gilda.

"Seeing as Hel had to come bail our asses out, I doubt even all of us together could take him," Chrysalis said, buzzing her wings. "It's highly logical that we should call for help." 

"Jason's the expert on this sort of thing," Cadance pointed out, causing all eyes to lock on the young Jotun.

Jason sighed, reached into his cube, and pulled out the map of the realms. He laid it out over the table, gesturing for them to come in for a better look. "Now, I doubt Midgard is going to be any help. The Dwarves probably won't get involved but we may be able to commission armor and weapons."

"Will we be able to count on Hel?" Celestia asked, pointing at the goddess's realm.

"I doubt it," Jason said, shaking his head. "She won't want another Ragnarok starting before it’s supposed to..." he said, looking at the map again. "We MAY be able to get the light elves," he pointed to one of the realms. "They live here in Alfheim."

"How sure are you that they will lend aid?"  Luna asked, looking very serious.

"Not sure at all, but it's worth a try," Jason said, his voice full of confidence.

"Take Twilight with you," Celestia spoke. "I give you both full authority to secure an alliance."

"As do I," Luna added, to which Cadance nodded.

"I'm going too," Chrysalis said, getting to her hooves. "I'm not getting left behind this time."

"Alright then, let's get going," Jason said with a nod as he got to his feet, putting the map back in his cube. "Wish us luck."





“You know Jay, I can’t keep doing this,” Dash sighed, ruffling her feathers, “I mean really, Faust knows if this’ll mess up the foal.” Dash glanced at her stomach before looking up at the jotun, frowning.

“Yeah, I know Dash, but you’re the only convenient way to get to Alfheim.” Jason looked up from the map, taking in their surroundings. The White Tail Woods were quiet and peaceful, very much the opposite of the Everfree. “Plus, Hodge will bring us back.”

“Good, because I’m not missing the Wonderbolts so you can go play with fairies.”

“Elves.”

“Same thing!”

“Dash, I don’t think ‘Elves’ are the same thing as fairies.” Twilight gave her friend a look, raising her eyebrow. 

“Ugh! It doesn’t matter, egghead!” Dash rolled her eyes, flexing her talons. “Are we there yet?”

“We should be in a few minutes.” Jason didn’t look up from his map, still walking forward.  He stopped, looking up as an object tumbled onto his head. “Ow...”

“What the hay was that?” Dash asked, moving over to inspect it. She lifted up the object, tilting it this way and that. It was some kind of hourglass, which swirled with energy. “Think it’s a token?”

“Probably,” Jason muttered, rubbing his forehead. “Give it a shake.” Dash nodded, shaking it as hard as she could.

“Eh... nothing.” Dash shrugged, looking down at it.

“I dunno, call them or something.”

“Ok, uh, dude with weird hourglass thing I, Rainbow Dash, Bifrost incarnate, summon you!” Dash cried holding the hourglass above her head.

A portal appeared before them as a crimson and gold armored human stepped forth from it. He had a spear in one hand and a shield in the other while a war axe was strapped to his waist. A helmet with a red plume and a face mask covered his head while the rest of him was covered in platemail with scale mail beneath.

“Huh, flashy for no real reason.” Jason looked the human over, raising his eyebrow.

“Well, if you’re talking about my entrance then I have no way of changing it. If you are talking about my appearance, it’s easier to not damage anything if I get summoned like this. Not everyone thinks about the size others could be when they summon people,” the man said as he walked up to the group, “Now, Rainbow summoned me for a reason, hopefully. What can I help you with and why do you have talons? Weren’t hooves good enough?” he asked as he pointed at the metallic talons.

“They got cut off.” She glared at him, narrowing her eyes a little.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to offend. Personally, I like having claws more than my hands. I can do everything I can with hands, but can also use them as weapons. You do know that I’m a dragon, right? It was in the message.” He motioned toward the hourglass in her talons and tilted his head to the side, questioningly.

“I didn’t hear any message.” She shrugged, tossing the hourglass up and down in the air.

“Huh, well then. Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Draigo and I’m a Primordial Dragon,” he told them as he put his shield and spear on his back.

“I’m Jason Hughes, prince of Equestria, ruler of Jotunheim and Lord of Winter.” Jason bowed slightly. “We were just on our way to see some elves about a giant problem.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Jason Hughes,” Draigo inclined his head a bit and put his right hand to his chest to return the bow, “You have elves in this universe? What’s the ‘giant problem’ and is there someway that I may help?”

“Well, not this universe, we have to crossover into Alfheim and I’m sorry but I doubt you could help with the problem itself.” Jason said, shaking his head.

“Hmm, that bad, huh? Well, perhaps you are right. I can wield all of the elements, though. That includes Aether, Nether, Space/time, and quite a few others.” Draigo said as he removed his helmet to scratch his head while surveying the group before him.

“Huh, what do you know,” he said with a shrug, “Anyway, you wanna tag along?” 

“Sure, seeing elves and new places sounds a lot better than appearing in a world just to be sent back right afterwards. Mind if I change into my draconic form, though?” Draigo asked.

“I’m not hauling your big ass through a portal.” Dash snorted. “So no, you can’t.”

“Well, I can be as small as Spike or as big as any dragon you’ve seen, if not bigger. What size would you prefer?” Draigo asked, as he started to change anyway.

“Just be like Spike.”

“As you wish.” Draigo’s form began to shrink as scales replaced his armor. Spines, claws, and wings sprouted and his weapons melded into his body. Soon enough a small dragon with scales that  seemed to shine different colors, depending on the angle you saw them, was before them on all four legs. “Ah, so much more comfortable. I’ve spent so long like this that a bipedal form is no longer as comfy. Now, shall we be off?”

“Yeah, yeah, but you’re on your own getting back.” Dash darted into the air, quickly opening up a portal. She wrapped them up in her contrail, dragging them through. “Peace!” she called, dropping them on the ground, darting back through as the portal closed.

“Is it always like that when she sends you to another world?” Draigo asked as he oriented himself.

“Yup...”Twilight grumbled, getting to her hooves, shaking her head.

“Remind me to slap her when we get home...” Chrysalis grumbled, buzzing her wings.

“Well deserved retribution aside, how do we find these elves, or do they find us?” Draigo asked as he looked around at their new environment.

“I have no idea, never been here before.” Jason got up, brushing himself off. “Come on, best get to wandering...”

“I’ll see if there’s anything noticeable from an aerial view,” Draigo said as he took off and grew to just bigger than Celestia.

“I doubt it, Elves are masters of illusion.” Jason looked around, taking in their surroundings. “They won’t be found unless they want to be.”

“Think a giant dragon appearing in their land would make them show themselves or just keep in hiding?” Draigo called down as he circled above them.

“Why don’t you just land so we don’t have to find out?” Chrysalis asked. “There was no reason for you to go up there anyway.”

“Oh, fine. You mortals can be so touchy about things,” Draigo commented as he landed next to the group. “Any other ideas then, miss snarky?”

“Walk.” She moved past him, not bothering to look back.

“Well, duh. I meant any ideas for finding the elves if they don’t want us to find them. You know, just in case?” Draigo said as he walked at the back of the group.

“I dunno, I could start lighting the forest on fire.” Jason shrugged, conjuring up a fireball and letting it dance across his fingers.

“Hmm, that could work. Although, you are trying to get their help with your problem and that might make them not want to,” Draigo commented, his claws starting to glow a bit as he walked. “I’ll see if I can find them using Aether to sense them.”

“Aether?” Jason asked, raising his eyebrow. “The fuck is that?”

“In a nutshell, it’s life-force. The very thing that allows things to live and be created. If there’s life then there’s Aether as well as Nether,” Draigo told Jason as his claws glowed brighter.

Jason smirked. “Omnitrix, Ghostfreak.” He shifted with the customary bright flash. “Can’t detect this form.”

“Huh, I didn’t think there’d be something that is ‘alive’ that Aether couldn’t detect or affect. Well, if I think about it, there’s exceptions to everything,” Draigo said as his eyes widened momentarily when Jason became undetectable. “Think the elves can do something similar to that?”

“I don’t know. Every ‘universe’ is different. I mean, this world was made out of the body of my ancestor, things get weird here.” Jason shrugged, his voice raspy.

“This world was made from the body of your ancestor?! What the hell did you descend from, giants?” Draigo asked in amazement.

“Yes. I am a jotun. All but two of the nine realms where made from the body of the first one, Ymir, from whom all giants descend.” Jason explained.

“Dang, that’s one huge body. Any reason why you aren’t bigger? I mean, when you think giants you think of something that’s about… this big,” Draigo said as he grew to his full size. He was now about a football field long and wide enough to fit the entire group on his back with room to spare. His wingspan was longer than his body and his feet left giant indentations in the ground where he stepped.

“Because I’m twenty one, idiot.”

“Are you still growing due to a lengthened lifespan then? I was displaced like this so... yeah, no second puberty for me.”

“Why would there be a second puberty?” he asked, glaring at the dragon with his one visible eye.

“I just assumed since it seemed like you meant you are still growing since you’re so young.”

“I am not young,” Jason countered, glaring harder.

“Everyone I’ve met, so far, is young when you compare them to my age. That’s including Celestia and Luna,” Draigo said as he walked at a very leisurely pace so he wouldn’t outpace the rest of them. “Care to take a guess at how old I am?”

“No,” Chrysalis commented, looking at him. “And I doubt you’re the oldest thing in this universe.”

“In this universe I may not be the oldest thing, true. I am still very, very old,” Draigo admitted as he got a far away look in his eyes. “Being immortal the way I am has its drawbacks.”

“Oh, don’t get all sentimental on us, we have better things to do you know,” Chrysalis snarked, rolling her eyes.

“Do we? Right now, it seems like we have nothing better to do than talk and wait for either the elves to show themselves or for my magic to possibly detect them,” Draigo challenged as he continued to work his magic.

“I don’t know, but if I have to listen to yet another one of you immortal things bitch and moan about it, I’ll lose my mind!”

“Well, I’m sorry for driving you crazy. If there’s a way for me to make it up to you, besides just not talking about that subject, let me know,” Draigo said as he looked down at her.

“Well... how tasty are dragon eggs?”

“Chrysalis!” Twilight gasped, looking at her with wide eyes.

“I’m kidding,” Chrysalis sighed, shaking her head. “Ponies...”

“I may be able to create dragons, but I can’t produce their eggs. I doubt you could break the egg anyway. They’re about as hard as dragon scales, in my world, and a being of your size doesn’t seem to have the strength to break them.”

“Of course not.”

“Are you really talking about eating dragon eggs?” Jason asked, moving his eye to his back, looking at them.

“It was a change in topic. I didn’t want Chrysalis to be annoyed so I just went with it. What can that form you’re in do? I mean, it’s not ‘alive’ yet it’s not dead. It’s a curiosity.” Draigo asked to change the subject once more.

“Most things a ghost can do.” Jason shrugged. “Become intangible, phase through stuff, possess people.”

“Ah, okay. These elves are really good at hiding, by the way. I’ve yet to detect anything beyond animals and plant life. Should I push out my magic as far as I can to see if I can find them?”

“No, don’t waste your energy,” Jason said shaking his head, “We’ll find them when we find them. They’re probably already surrounding us...”

“Well, you’re right. There’s an army of, what I assume are elves, around us. They’ve just now entered the perimeter of my magic and they’re tightening their formation. Now what?” Draigo said as he tensed for a potential fight.

“Put your hands up and be as non-threatening as possible.” Jason shifted back to normal, putting his hands up. “We come in peace!” he called out, motioning for them to do the same.

Draigo followed suit as he shrunk down to the same size as Spike and stood on his hind legs, “We mean you no harm and seek your aid!”

The forest around them melted away, revealing at least two dozen elves, all aiming arrows at them.

“Nice welcoming committee,” Chrysalis snarked, putting her hooves into the air.

“Now is not the time to be snarky. Should they decide to release those arrows then the ones to survive will most likely not include you or Twilight,” Draigo told he without taking his eyes off of the impending threat.

“We’d be fine, thank you very much,” she hissed at him.

“If you say so. All I know is that you need their help, so try to be nice.” Draigo’s tail twitched back and forth nervously.

“Why are you here?” one of the elves asked, aiming his bow at Jason’s head. “We do do not take kindly to your people, jotun.”

“Yeah, and I don’t like people pointing arrows at me,” Jason responded, glaring. “We’re here to discuss Surt. I am Jason Hughes, ruler of Jotunheim.”

“I am Draigo, primordial dragon and ‘god’ of dragons for my world.” Draigo’s wings fluttered with a nervous tick as his tail continued to twitch back and forth.

“Just go back to being human.” Jason looked at him, giving him a commanding glare.

Draigo answered him by transforming back into his armored human form and placing his weapons and shield on the ground before resuming his previous posture. “Better? I’ve never been in this kind of situation so I’m nervous, sue me,” he commented, his voice now echoing a bit due to the face mask on his helmet.

“We don’t mean any harm.” Twilight gulped, holding her hooves up. “We just want to talk! I swear on Faust’s good name!”

“We come from Asgard, we would have words with your leader,” Jason insisted, not backing down. The elves conversed amongst themselves, eyeing Twilight.

“You, horse, are you familiar with one known as Blueblood?” the lead elf asked, never breaking eye contact.

“Blueblood!?” she asked, her eyes going wide. “S-she’s here!?”

“I think that answers your question,” Draigo said as he cautiously moved one foot forward to relieve it a bit.

“We shall take you to our village, but be warned, any of you step out of line, we will kill you.” The elf lowered his bow, gesturing for them to follow him into the forest.

“You heard the man, follow him.” Jason started to walk, keeping his hands up, quickly falling in behind the elf.

“Well, it’s progress. Hopefully, nothing happens in the village that we don’t want to happen,” Draigo said with his fingers crossed. He levitated his weapons and shield behind him as he began to follow the group toward the village.





“Blueblood is in here.” Their guide stopped at the door to a rather plain looking hut. “I ask that you remain inside. I will collect you when our leader is ready to meet with you.” He pushed the door open for them before turning on his heel and walking away.

“Well, at least he’s courteous...” Jason mumbled, stepping inside the hut. The smell of herbs filled the air, a rather overpowering scent, causing both Twilight and Chrysalis to cover their noses.

“That's... really strong...” Twilight coughed, shaking her head.

“How about some air circulation then?” Draigo asked as he brought his arm up and caused the air around Twilight and Chrysalis to blow the fragrance away from them.

“Thanks.” Twilight smiled before gingerly stepping further into the room. “B-blueblood?” she asked looking around. The main room was empty, with most of its table covered in potion making equipment. 

“Twilight?” came the response, off in another room. “I-is that really you?” Out of the room walked Blueblood...only she wasn’t exactly a unicorn anymore. She still had her horn, only she was taller, with her fur having been turned into scales, while her tail had become that of a dragon, ending with a tuft of fur. She still had her mane, and she had blonde feathering around her hooves.

“Whoa...” Twilight blinked, taking in Blueblood’s new appearance.

“So, I guess the overload spliced you with dragon DNA,” Jason commented, stroking his beard while looking the mare over.

“Huh, anything else change besides your outer appearance?” Draigo asked as he walked towards Blueblood.

“And who exactly are you?” Blueblood asked, taking a step back.

“Before we get all lovey dovey,” Chrysalis cut in, “ I do want to remind everyone that she IS a war criminal.”

“She is? Well, is this her punishment? Being sent here?” Draigo asked as he studied the mare before him.

“No, she stopped a reincarnated Nightmare Moon from killing Celestia.” Jason sighed, placing a hand on his head. “I honestly don’t know what we’re going to do with her.”

“Well, perhaps she can be of use during the negotiations. She might know more about the elves’ leader,” Draigo suggested.

“No, she’s going to stay here until we figure out what to do with her,” Jason said firmly. He leaned on the wall, his face contorting in pain, placing a hand on his head. 

“If you say so,” Draigo said with a shrug. “My name is Draigo, Blueblood. I’m like Jason, a Displaced.”

Jason panted a little heavily, clutching his head. 

“Let me!” the voice echoed through his mind. “Let me out so I can feast on their bones! Disgusting, self-important creatures! Release me so that I may devour them! OUT! OUT! OUT!!!”

“Jay?...” Chrysalis asked with a frown, placing a hoof on his shoulder. “Are you alright?”

“Is the herbal stuff in the air affecting you?” Draigo asked as he turned to look at Jason.

“Forget it... I’m fine...” He shook his head, standing up straight. “No reason to worry over me, I’m fine.”

“Okay, just let me know if you want some fresh air like Twilight and Chrysalis have,” Draigo told Jason as he returned to looking Blueblood over. “You’re the first kirin that I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen quite a lot.”

“So that's what I am...” She looked down at herself, flicking her tail. “I didn’t know it had a name.”

“Yes, a kirin is a pony, or horse, mixed with a dragon,” Draigo explained as he walked around her. “Was it you or the elves that put all this herbal fragrance into the air?”

“The couple that nursed me back to health mixed a lot of herbs to aid in my recovery.” Blueblood nodded, unable to look them in the eyes.

“Ah, that makes sense. Aromatherapy is a fairly common medical practice,” Draigo said as he stopped in front of Blueblood and began to change into his draconic form.

She backed up again, not sure what was going on.

“Don’t be afraid. I’m just getting comfortable since it seems like it’ll be a while before the elven leaders are ready,” Draigo said as he finished transforming, stretched, and then laid on the floor with his forelegs crossed in front of him.

“I already don’t like them,” Chrysalis huffed, “Too secretive.”

“You're just mad they make changelings look like chumps,” Jason teased, getting a glare and growl out of Chrysalis. 

“Now now children, calm down. We’ll probably be here a while, so we might as well get along,” Draigo commented without looking at the quarreling duo.

“And you be quiet,” Chrysalis snapped, “before I come over there, mister scales.”

“You try being comfortable in your original form after being in another for more time than you’ve previously been alive,” Draigo replied as he turned his head around to look at the changeling.

“Oh, cry me a river.”

“Don’t tempt me cause I really could give you a river,” Draigo replied as he summoned two orbs of water to circle around his head.

She just growled, spitting some goo at him.

Draigo batted the goo away with his tail and smirked. He then used one orb of water to clean up the goo after it had landed.

“Chrysalis!” Twilight snapped. “You're being childish!”

“Do any of you have questions that you’d like to ask Blueblood before the elves come back?” Draigo asked as he turned both orbs of water into vapor.

“Not really, bitch can rot for all I care.” Chrysalis snorted, glaring at Blueblood.

“What a lovely sentiment,” Draigo said sarcastically, “Twilight?”

“Honestly? I don’t even know where to start. She’s been gone for at least ten months. Just thinking about what to do with her is making my head hurt.”

“Okay then, I’ll let you three think of what to do with her while I learn a little more about her,” Draigo proclaimed as he returned his attention to the Blueblood. “So, any new abilities or traits since becoming a kirin?”

“I-I don’t know what you mean...” Blueblood said, looking at him, tilting her head.

“Like being fire resistant, a breath weapon, being able to eat more things, better senses, able to use magic beyond your original magic. Stuff like that,” Draigo said with a comforting smile.

“I honestly don’t know... I've been mostly thinking about going home and...” she closed her eyes, looking away.

“And getting put on trial for something that would be seen as heroism in another universe?” Draigo suggested.

Chrysalis burst out laughing. “You think she’s being put on trial for saving Celestia? How stupid are you?”

“I’m just going off of the info I’ve been given since this isn’t my universe, remember?” Draigo countered, “What did she do that was so bad? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Oh you're going to love this. She helped a genocidal madman overthrow Equestria. For three whole days they slaughtered anyone who wasn’t a pony and refused to leave. And it is all her fault.” Chrysalis glared, causing Blueblood to flinch and whimper.

“Okay, that’s one side of the story. What’s your side of the story, Blueblood?” Draigo asked as he looked at the sad kirin before him.

“I-I just wanted to help Equestria!” she sobbed out, collapsing into a heap of tears.Twilight looked rather torn, Chrysalis just watched in disgust and Jason said nothing.

“So, you wanted to help Equestria and ended up getting used by this ‘madman’ that Chrysalis mentioned,” Draigo said as he walked over to Blueblood and wrapped his arms, tail, and wings around her in an effort to comfort her. “Please be at ease, cousin.”

“I-I’m not your cousin...” she squirmed, looking at him, deathly confused.

“You are part dragon. That makes you a cousin of mine since I’m the first dragon in my universe.”

“But...” she closed her eyes, nuzzling into him, starting to cry her eyes out again.

“That’s it, get it out of your system,” Draigo replied in a soft voice as he continued to hold the sad kirin, “They may not know what to do with you, but you are more than welcome to come with me when I end up leaving. It’s an offer, think about it before you answer.”

“I-it’s my fault! It’s my fault they all died!” she wailed, holding onto him, sobbing loudly.

“So, that ‘madman’ had nothing to do with it? I think not,” Draigo answered as he stroked her mane comfortingly, “The fact that you feel so badly about it means that you truly are sorry about what happened.”

“It doesn't matter what her intentions were, her actions still got thousands of people killed.” Jason snorted, holding his head again.

“That’s true. I’ve never said otherwise. To me, she’s just a confused youngling who had good intentions, but horrible results. Truthfully though, they are mortal and she, right now, is my kin,” Draigo said as he continued to comfort the crying mare in his embrace, “Family, whether blood related or transformed, will always get my support if I know they need it or they ask for it.”

“I can’t let you leave with her.” Jason narrowed his eyes. “No matter what, she has to pay for what happened.”

“Did I say she wouldn’t get her just desserts?” Draigo replied energetically, “She has my support, not my protection. You can punish her, but if she so chooses then she can come with me while under that punishment. I know good and well that justice needs to be satisfied, but making her feel better will help her accept that punishment.”

“As long as we’re on the same level.” Jason nodded, leaning on a wall. After a moment, he popped up the dial of his watch, flipping through it.

“Think of something?” Draigo asked as he returned to comforting Blueblood.

“No, I just... need to focus on something else...”

“Well, the elves are sure taking their sweet time. What do you think is keeping them?” Draigo asked, hoping that a change in subject was what Jason meant.

“I have no idea, what do I look like an elf?” Jason snapped, growling.

“Just trying to change the subject,” Draigo calmly responded, “You guys are doing more growling than the two draconic beings in the room. You need to learn to keep calm.”

“I am calm!” Jason snapped, his eyes glowing red as he panted heavily.

“Your voice says otherwise, Jason,” Draigo responded as he turned his head to look at the upset jotun. “You might want to get your eyes checked, they’re really red.”

“They’re supposed to be red.” He sighed, closing his eyes, then took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.

“Uh huh, if you say so,” Draigo replied skeptically. “Anyway, what would you guys like to do to pass the time until we’re summoned?”

“We could continue the awkward silence, that's always fun.” Chrysalis laughed, giving Jason concerned looks every now and then.

“We could, but I’m sure Twilight has at least some questions about something that she’d like answered,” Draigo commented and noted Chrysalis’ expression.

“I don’t think Blueblood is in any position to answer any questions so... why don’t you tell me about yourself?” Twilight asked, conjuring up a scroll and quill.

“Well, to start, I created the dragons of my universe,” Draigo said as he swiveled his head to look at Twilight while continuing to hold Blueblood.

“And how did you do that?”

“With my dragon creation power. I can make any kind of dragon and with any amount of power so long as it’s my power level or lower. They aren’t always loyal to me, though,” Draigo admitted.

“Can... can you create one now?” She asked, looking up at him with hopeful eyes.

“Of course, I can. What are you going to do with the dragon after it’s created, though?” Draigo asked.

“Well, I dunno... adopt it maybe?” She tapped her chin, shrugging.

“Well, if nothing else I can just take him or her back with me. Now, I need some specifics. Size, winged or wingless, color of scales, any specific abilities, and so on,” Draigo explained.

“Oh well um...I dunno...”

“Okay, just think about the abilities you’d like and I’ll do the rest,” Draigo told her as he began the creation process. A draconic outline soon appeared on the floor between Draigo and Twilight. It slowly filled in with scales, claws, wings, and spines.

“Uh...maybe something elemental? Would a little bit of each be too much?”

“So, you want another version of me? I can do that if that’s truly what you want,” Draigo said as the form’s color filled in. Its body scales were gold and its spines, wing membranes, and belly scales were stark white.

“Sure I guess? But can you make it young? Maybe around Spike’s age?”

“I ask because I do wield all of the elements. I can make it as young or old as you’d like,” Draigo responded as the form shrunk down to Spike’s size.

“This is so amazing!” Twilight squealed, watching in amazement.

“I’m glad I can entertain someone with my abilities,” Draigo chuckled as the form solidified more and more, “Now, male or female. Also, do you have a preference for eye color? I leave those two for last.”

“Let’s go with... female! And eye color... uh... seafoam green!”

“Okay, a female with seafoam green eyes,” Draigo said as the dragon took on a more feminine form and the eyes filled in as seafoam green. “One last detail. If you are going to keep her then you have to name her. Otherwise, I’ll name her.”

“How about... Delta Wave?” Twilight asked, looking the little dragon over.

“Delta Wave it is. Say hello, Delta,” Draigo told the wyrmling.

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you,” Delta said as she looked around the room.

“She can talk and use her abilities, but you’ll need to teach her everything else. I may be able to create them, but giving them my knowledge when they aren’t going to be in my world isn’t something I do. That way they don’t have conflicting information. She will be a really quick study, though,” Draigo said as he examined Delta for anything he’d missed. “Also, she won’t be anywhere near my strength. She should be able to hold her own against your dragons, though.”

“Oh! This is going to be amazing!” Twilight squealed, clapping her hooves together.

“I imagine Spike will love the company,” Chrysalis said, finally smiling for once.

“I’m sure he will. Just make sure to protect anyone who gets on her bad side. I’m pretty sure they won’t last long since she has all of my elemental abilities, even she only has a tiny portion of my power,” Draigo explained and grimaced as he imagined the result of the first being to piss Delta off.

Jason was silent, his breathing steady, almost like he was asleep.

“Well, Jason seems to be asleep. Let’s try not disturb him,” Draigo noted as he looked over at the young jotun.

“Oh he’s not sleeping,” Chrysalis corrected. “He’s having a conversation.”

“A conversation with who, himself?” Draigo asked with a raised eye ridge.

“No, a conversation with the being in his head.” She rolled her eyes again. 

“It’s just him and Hodgepodge now isn’t it?” Twilight asked, snuggling with Delta, draping a wing over the young dragon.

“I think... unless you count that voice of rage and bloodlust as a separate entity...” Chrysalis hummed a bit, tapping her chin.

“That might explain the glowing red eyes earlier,” Draigo commented.

“No, his eyes are just naturally red.” Twilight shook her head. “He hides them with illusions.”

“Ah, I just change mine to hide what they really look like,” Draigo explained as he watched Twilight snuggling with Delta.

A few quiet moments later, the elf returned. “He is ready for you.” He held the door open, gesturing for them to move out.

Draigo let go of Blueblood and wrapped Jason in some air to allow him to continue his conversation while they traveled to where the elf’s leader was. “Okay, let’s go you two. Jason didn’t want Blueblood coming so she’ll have to stay here with Delta.”

They got to their hooves, following him out the door. The elf led them through the village, with the other elves watching them.

“When should we ‘wake up’ Jason?” Draigo asked as they continued their journey.

“When we get there.” Chrysalis shrugged as the elf lead them into what would normally pass as a city hall.

“That’ll work. Are we seeing their king or their mayor? Cause this place doesn’t seem grand enough for royalty,” Draigo whispered quietly.

“I don’t think the elves have royalty,” Twilight commented, “I do know one of the old gods ruled over them but, who knows what’s happened since then.”

“Hmm, I see. Well, this should be interesting,” Draigo said as they continued into the building.

“Jason!” Chrysalis shouted, slapping Jason hard in the face.

“Okay, you really didn’t need to do that.” Jason glared, opening his eyes, rubbing his cheek.

“Have a nice conversation?” Draigo asked as he let Jason down to the floor.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Jason grunted, walking beside them.

“Just figured I’d ask. We’re almost to the elves’ leader,” Draigo explained to Jason.

“We are here.” The elf pushed a door open, leading them inside. The room was rather large, with an elf in fancier clothes sitting at a desk watching them.

“Why have you come here, Jotun? I don’t believe your kind has ever been welcome here,” he spoke, narrowing his eyes at Jason. 

“We hail from Asgard,” Jason started, stepping forward. “Recently, Surt invaded our realm, we were hoping you knew of a way to keep him from returning.”

The elf scoffed. “I see no reason why we should get involved with your affairs. If you offend Surt, than you should be prepared to meet the consequences!”

Jason reached into his pocket, pulling out a long spear, which he slammed into the ground, cracking it. “You once served Freyr, one of the Aesir. I am Jason Hughes, the chosen successor of Odin himself! You owe your allegiance to me!” Jason shouted, power radiating off him, giving even Draigo pause. 

The elf, taken aback, quickly recovered, clearing his throat. “What is it you want exactly?”

“I want to know of anyway to prevent Surt from returning to our realm, and promise of aid if he were to return.” Jason spoke, his voice softer this time.

“I’d do it if I were you. I know I’m powerful enough to destroy this world with ease, but he feels strong enough to destroy at least an entire galaxy if not universe with just as much effort,” Draigo said as he reassessed Jason as a potential sparring partner and ally in the future.

The elf sighed, rubbing his temple. “Fine.” He reached into his desk, tossing Jason a small stone carved with a rune. “That stone was a gift from Odin himself, it should seal Muspelheim for some time.” 

“Thank you.” Jason placed it in his pocket, turning to leave. “I’d stay but we have to get going, we have a war criminal to retrieve.” He walked out of the room, spear resting on his shoulder.

“Speaking of which, any idea what her punishment is going to be?” Draigo asked as he followed the spear wielding god-like being.

“That's not for me or Twilight to say. It’ll be decided by the whole of the hexarchy.” Jason shook his head, snagging a scan off of a passing elf on his way back to the hut. “Get up, Blueblood, you’re coming back with us.”

“Y-yes, of course, Jason...” Blueblood nodded, getting to her hooves, her eyes red from her near-constant sobbing.

Jason sighed, turning to Draigo. “Thanks for coming with us.”

“You’re welcome. It’s been enlightening. Should you actually need my help with something, which I kinda doubt right now, then don’t be afraid of summoning me again. Also, if Blueblood’s punishment does involve exile or something like that then you can send her to my world where I’ll be sure the sentence is carried out for its duration,” Draigo said as he glanced at the red-eyed kirin.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Jason turned to look at him. “You ready to go home?”

“Just one last thing,” Draigo said before turning to Twilight and Delta. “Delta, you are welcome to visit me for anything. I am technically your dad. Twilight, tell anyone interested in Delta that if they break her heart or are no good that I’ll come to visit them. There, that should do it.”

“Of course.” Twilight nodded, giving Delta a nuzzle.

“Draigo,” Jason said, looking at him, “our contract is complete.”

A portal appeared before Draigo with swirling energy and there was nothing seen through it.

“Goodbye, and good luck with sealing off your world,” Draigo said as he stepped through and vanished in an iridescent flash of light, leaving behind a copy of his token on the ground.

Jason grabbed it and put it in his pocket. “Alright, now let's go home.”





“Jason!” Celestia shouted as the young jotun came into view. She rushed over, a look of horror on her face.

“What? That face just screams that nothing good is happening.” He sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets. It was bad enough he had to deal with the mess that was Blueblood but now he had something else to worry about.

“Sea Breeze of the Breezies just appeared in the throne room...” she huffed out, trying to catch her breath. “He says Eclipse is invading his home.”

Jason’s eye twitched and the castle shook as he punched a wall. “She fucking dies.” He moved past her, cracking his knuckles. He had been waiting a long time for her to stick her neck out again, and this time she wasn’t getting out alive.
> Invasion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jason groaned as he placed a hand to his head, gritting his teeth from the pain. Orm raged inside his mind, demanding to get loose.

"It's only getting worse, isn't it?" Chrysalis asked, moving over to him and placing a hoof on his shoulder.

"I-I'm fine," Jason said, shaking his head, blinking a few times. "Come on... we have a war council to attend." He pulled away, moving down the hall. Chrysalis sighed, following after him. Gathered around the war table were the other royals, along with Seabreeze, who looked absolutely devastated. 

"Now that we are all here," Celestia cleared her throat, "Let us begin. Seabreeze has come to inform us that as of now, Eclipse is laying siege to the Breezies' homeworld." She nodded to Seabreeze.

"Please," the tiny pony begged, looking at them all with pleading eyes, "We breezies don't fight, we just want to live in peace..."

"Relax, dear friend," Luna cooed, gently patting his head, "We will not let your people suffer." She turned to Jason. "You have the most experience with the powers Eclipse wields, I believe you should lead these proceedings."

Jason massaged his forehead, nodding. "This is a bit out of my league, so..." He pulled the strange book out, placed it on the table, and flipped it open. "Twilight, quill please." Twilight just blinked, levitating the quill over to him. "Thank you." He started to scribble away.

"Jason? Is that a token?" Cadance asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Yup, I just hope Hodge's info on the guy is correct..." he said, closing the book and looking at it with a sigh.

The next few minutes passed by in silence until it was broken by a purple glow. The eye on the front of the book emanated the soft glow until it slowly died out, returning to its original state.

"Okay... wonder what that means..." Jason muttered, opening the book and flipping through it until he came to a message he had not written.

Quickly reading it over, he picked up the quill once more and scratched out a response. Once he finished, he refrained from closing the book, watching it intently. Minutes later the tome glowed once more, and he watched as words began to appear on the page.

I’ll be there shortly.

"Okay, looks like he got the message," Jason said looking up, "To answer your questions, his name is Robin and he's supposed to be a tactician." Jason rubbed his head again, drowning out Orm's screams with Elvis lyrics.

"A wise choice indeed," Celestia said with a nod, sipping at her tea.

Minutes later and the hum of energy could be heard in the air. Off to the side of the room a black portal came into existence, wisps of the Void flowing around it. All eyes were turned to the phenomenon as an individual stepped from the ether, carrying a sack over his shoulder.

The individual was of average build and height, reaching roughly five foot ten. He had silver hair and was wearing a black cloak as well as a white cloth undershirt beneath. From his garb it was clear to see he was suited for action, the sword attached to his waist highlighting the fact.

His brown eyes narrowed as he took in the occupants of the room, his gaze lingering on each for a few seconds before moving on to the next. His calculative gaze ended upon Jason. “I’m assuming you’re Jason?” he asked.

"Yes, that would be me," Jason nodded, getting to his feet. "Welcome." He held out his hand, giving a smile.

Robin eyed the hand for a moment before returning the gesture, smiling softly as well. “So, I heard you’re having an elf infestation?”

"Well, not us specifically. They're invading Vanaheim, where the Breezies live." Jason explained, gesturing to Seabreeze, who nodded his head.

Robin glanced at Seabreeze, giving him another look over. “I see, and from your letter I can assume you plan on fighting back against these forces?”

"Of course," Luna spoke up, adjusting her position, making sure she wasn't putting too much weight on her stomach. "We will not let the abomination cause any more suffering than she already has."

Robin’s eyebrow raised as he took notice of Luna’s stomach, but he didn’t comment on the matter. “Abomination… I assume you’re referring to the being known as Eclipse?” He returned his focus to Jason. “You mentioned the individual was leading an army into battle, but beyond that you didn’t elaborate. I’m willing to help you, but I need as much information as you can give.”

"Take a seat," Jason said, gesturing to an empty chair before retaking his. "You know of Nightmare Moon, correct?"

Robin nodded as he accepted the seat, setting his bag on the floor beside him. “Yes, I’m aware of Nightmare Moon and her quest for eternal night…” he trailed off as he looked at Jason with surprise. “What, was she not defeated in your timeline?”

"Oh no, she was, and she's sorta... back," Jason said, rubbing the back of his neck. "You, uh... wanna take this Luna?"

"Of course." She nodded. "Some time ago, I asked Jason for his aid in ridding myself of the last traces of the Nightmare in myself... it did not end as we hoped. It was able to use Jason to leave my body, splitting itself into Nightmare Moon, who is harmless, and Eclipse, who made herself a new body from Jason as well as creating her own Omnitrix."

Robin frowned as he listened closely. “Alright, but what exactly is an Omnitrix?”

"This." Jason held up his Omnitrix arm, showing Robin. "The Omnitrix is a device that stores the DNA of over a million species. It allows its user to change into any of those species." He demonstrated, shifting into Wildvine.

Robin hummed as he looked over the new form. “Fascinating. You’re the second individual I’ve met to utilize morphing based abilities. The other goes by the name of Wade and he uses some type of blue cube.”

"Ah, that dope." Jason laughed a bit. "Yeah, I met him too. Personally, I think my device is better than that stupid cube of his."

Robin’s eyes hardened as he looked Jason in the eyes. “While I’ll admit your device appears to be superior, I would prefer if you didn’t insult my apprentice so freely. He’s a bit out there, but he’s a good kid.”

"Guy tried to kill me after being chumped by a psychopathic war criminal," Jason deadpanned.

Robin groaned as he rubbed his temples. “Honestly, I would’ve thought after all the training I put him through he would be wise enough to be skeptical about information from a single source. And negative information to boot, by the sound of it. I’ll deal with him later, hopefully he’s learned his lesson since then.”

"I think we're getting off topic." Twilight coughed, looking at them. "Evil being laying siege to helpless Breezies?"

Robin chuckled as he placed his hands in front of himself. “Believe me, I haven’t forgotten. So Eclipse, a version of Nightmare Moon, is marching onto Vanaheim, the home of the Breezies. Behind her is an army of elves that follow her command. I need every little bit of intel that you have.”

He pulled out a book from his bag and a quill from within his cloak. He opened the blank tome to the first page and prepared to write. “I want to know the size of the enemy forces as well as our own. I want to know about equipment, arms, the technology of your weaponry. The more I know the better I can prepare for the coming storm.”

"I didn't see much..." Seabreeze admitted sadly. "They came out of a rip in the world itself and blocked out the sun..."

Robin paused before he even began writing. “So the forces are not of this world? And what do you mean they ‘blocked out the Sun?’”

"Darkness came out of the hole, it spread over everything," Seabreeze recalled, trembling in fear.

"Okay, how much do you know about Norse mythology?" Jason asked, "Because some of this gets a bit out there."

Robin sighed as he put down the quill. “Joy, religion is being brought in. As for your question, I’m not overly familiar with the mythology. I know small snippets, but anything beyond that is unknown.”

"It's not religion," Jason started, "It's real here. You're currently in Asgard. The Breezies inherited the realm of Vanaheim and Eclipse seems to have taken up residence in Svartalfheim, realm of the dark elves."

Robin appeared annoyed at the information, but he didn’t voice his complaints. He instead began writing down information within his book. “Alright, so we are unaware of the total number of forces that Eclipse is commanding. How many soldiers do we have for the coming battle?”

"We can spare at least 5,000 of our own troops," Celestia said, clearing her throat, "Cadance?"

"We can spare at least a thousand," Cadance spoke up.

"I uh, can't really spare anyone..." Gilda said, rubbing the back of her head, "We're mostly focused on rebuilding..."

"Relax, Gilda, it's fine." Luna soothed, before the table turned to look at Chrysalis.

The Empress sighed, rolling her eyes. "I've been communicating with the queens. In light of the situation, they're willing to commit at least 2,000 drones...on the condition that I take command of them."

"Can you handle that?" Jason asked, his eyes a little wide.

"I'll be fine, I can handle it," she assured him, giving him a peck on the lips.

Robin watched the proceedings quietly before he looked at Jason with a raised eyebrow.

"We're married," Jason said with a smile, putting his arm around Chrysalis.

“Congratulations,” he said in a monotone voice before continuing his note taking. Not breaking stride, he continued on. “So that leaves us with roughly 8,000 troops to deploy. Not bad, but I would have hoped for more.”

"I'll also be able to bring the windigos, and," Jason said, looking at Celestia and Luna, "we should be able to have Xemnas help us."

Celestia sighed, shaking her head. "If you believe it will help, we will allow him temporary freedom."

Robin’s writing faltered once more as he looked at Jason with surprise. He quickly recollected himself and asked, “I really hope you’re not talking about the cannibalistic type of Windigo. In addition to that, why would you want, from the sound of it, a convict helping in this battle?”

"Because he can create an army out of nothing," Jason responded.

“That hardly makes me feel better considering he’s currently imprisoned for a reason I don’t know,” Robin retorted. “How do we know he won’t stab us in the back?”

"Because he helped us stop his brother from destroying the world."

Robin sighed as he eventually relented, “Alright, fine, if you trust him enough then I’ll take your word for it. Still, I’ll be keeping a close eye on him.”

"Of course," Jason said with a nod. "While they're handling the logistics, why don't we go get acquainted?" Jason asked, standing up.

Robin rolled his eyes as he stood up, hoisting the bag over his shoulder once more. “Very well, I need to know all the individuals I’ll be working with anyway. Still, let’s not take up too much time.” He gave the rest of the group a look. “When we return I want to know exactly what you have planned. While I’m here, I want to be informed of every military decision you agree upon.”

Celestia nodded. "I shall send word to have Xemnas brought to Canterlot."

Jason nodded, walking out of the room, gesturing for Robin to follow. The mage followed close behind, his free hand toying with hilt of his sword as he walked. Robin was the first to break the silence. “I’ve met a couple of Displaced, and by far your world has the greatest changes.”

"Well, to be fair, it wasn't originally Equestria," Jason said with laugh.

Robin smiled. “True, but there are other details. You marrying the Empress of the Changelings is a big one. In addition to that it was clear that both Celestia and Luna are pregnant. Even a smaller change can drastically alter the original timeline.”

"Who cares?" Jason asked, shrugging his shoulders. "At least about the timeline thing."

Robin frowned. “You should care, considering what’s happening. After all, it can be considered your fault this war started in the first place.”

"No it can't," Jason said looking into his eyes 

“Yes, it can,” Robin repeated with firmness. “Luna said she wanted to be completely rid of the influence of Nightmare Moon. She came to you specifically and asked for help and it was because of you and your foreign device that the Nightmare was able to create a new body.”

"Robin, I was born here." 

Robin pursed his lips as he thought on what Jason said. “Is that so? Then I apologize for my assumptions… however, the end result remains the same.”

"You shouldn't be afraid of changing the future," Jason said, looking out a window, "It's not like you're altering the past."

Robin closed his eyes remained silent for a few moments. When he spoke again, his voice was hollow, “You really don’t see the bigger picture, do you? With every action that you, I, or anyone makes, we’re altering the future for better or worse. Events don’t simply die out, they change perspective.  It’s not that you shouldn’t be afraid of the future, but you should be wary of it.”

"And the same wouldn't apply if we weren't displaced?" Jason asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Did I say it wouldn’t?” Robin replied, smiling softly.

"My point is, embrace the future, don't shun it."

Robin shook his head as he still held onto his smile, but didn’t respond. The two lapsed into silence as Robin continued to follow Jason through the halls. The quiet was once more broken by Robin, “So, how does the title of Emperor feel?”

"It's prince, actually." Jason corrected.

“Oh? Did you not marry Chrysalis and is she not an Empress?”

"I did but, I'm Equestrian royalty, I was a prince before we married. She and Rarity became pony royalty as well."

Robin grunted as he situated his bag into a more comfortable position. “I swear, I ask a single question and only get more questions for my efforts.”

"It was me though who united the changelings and ponies, with the help of a Displaced named Kat Shifter."

“Never heard of her.” Robin sighed shortly after. “Listen Jason, as much as I’m enjoying our talk, that’s not the reason as to why I’m here. So unless you have any questions for me, I think I’ll return to the war council.”

"You go, I have to go get Rainbow Dash." He nodded, starting to walk off.

Robin shook his head, walking down the hall they came from. He made it back to the council easy enough, the voices hushing as he entered the room alone. He retook his seat and dropped his bag by his side before looking over the faces of the others. “So, what plans have you come up with?”

"Due to the... condition of my sister and myself, we will be unable to join you in battle," Celestia said, sitting up, "We need to keep a portal open long enough to get our forces through all at once."

Robin nodded absentmindedly, his thoughts elsewhere. Just before Celestia and Luna left the room he called out to them, “Celestia, you have a connection with the Sun here, correct?”

"Of course." She nodded.

“Have you tried to move the sun so it’s no longer blocked by the Moon?” 

"You misunderstand my friend, every realm has its own Sun and Moon."

Robin drummed his fingers on the table in thought. “I see…”

"I can't believe you're having a war council without me," Hel complained, rising up out of the shadows and crossing her arms.

"Jason explained that you wouldn't get involved," Luna commented, a frown forming on her face.

"Not militarily, but I can help get your army there, I don't think Lady Dash can keep a portal open that long or ferry that many people through." Hel rolled her eyes before looking down at Robin. "Ah hello there, I take it Corypheus summoned you?" 

Robin looked up at the giant, raising an eyebrow in question. “I’m assuming you’re referring to Jason? If so, then yes, he did summon me. May I inquire who you are?”

"Forgive my manners," she said, giving a slight bow. "I am his grandmother. Hel, goddess of death. A pleasure to meet you."

Robin looked amused as he returned the bow with a low nod of his head. “The Goddess of Death, hmm? The more I learn about Jason the stranger he appears.”

"Oh, you have no idea." She laughed. "Why, my brothers include a giant wolf, a giant snake and an eight legged horse! But you're not here for me, you're here to help Cory."

“Indeed, but I’ve been called on short notice and I can only do so much. While I can direct the placement of the troops, I am unaware of the battle’s landscape or the size of the enemy force,” Robin explained as he fetched his journal once more.

"I myself cannot commit any forces," Hel spoke, earning a glare from Shining Armor.

"And why not?" 

"Because the army of the dead is only permitted to march during Ragnarok," she answered, looking down at Robin. "May I speak to you in private?" She asked, opening up a black portal.

Robin deadpanned as he looked between Hel and the black portal.  He sighed and checked the inside of his cloak before rising from his chair. “I suppose so.” He entered the portal, Hel following him close behind. They walked out into a grey expanse that seemed to stretch out in every direction.

"Very few get to see Yggdrasil, it drives most mad to be out in the void," she commented, looking up at the empty black sky, "We can talk privately here, the only one out here is Nidhugg but he's too busy chewing on the roots to bother us."

Robin coughed into his fist as he regained Hel’s attention. “And what exactly needs to be discussed which requires so much privacy?”

"I'll save you the unnecessary details, but Cory has recently gained a form that has given a voice to the rage and bloodlust inside of him and a previous voice has left his mind. This new voice has been eroding his self-control. I would task you with keeping an eye on him."

Robin closed his eyes in thought as he lowered his head. He was silent for almost a minute before his eyes opened once more. “I can go one step further. With a little help from me, I should be able to help him contain the voice. I’ll be unable to fully remove it from his head, but I can push it deeper into his mind, lessening its influence.”

"That's something you'll have to discuss with him, I cannot make that choice for him. I merely ask for you to watch him...in exchange," she waved her hand a little and what looked like a sapling grew up out of the ground, "You may have a piece of Yggdrasil itself."

Robin looked down at the sapling, sensing the power in such a little thing. “I can sense a lot of power emanating from it, however,” he looked back up at Hel, “there might be something else you can do for me. I only ask this because you are the Goddess of Death. Do you know what a Soul Gem is?”

"I do," she nodded, "I don't use them myself."

Robin nodded. “You see, I’m working on a side project in my free time. I’ve run into a bit of a snag, however, and I require a catalyst, preferably a jewel of some kind. The reason I asked about the Soul Gem is because it is designed to hold vast amounts of energy. Would you happen to have any on you, large ones at that? I would rather not strike deals, but I will if I need to. I’m very passionate about this project of mine.”

Hel laughed, easily lifting the sapling out of the ground. "I believe this will do better than any gem you can run across."

Robin inspected the sapling with confusion as Hel handed it over to him. “Are you saying this little thing can hold more energy than a gem designed to entrap souls?”

"This is but a branch of the world tree," she gestured around them, "We're standing on it even now, its size is incomprehensible, really."

Robin’s eyes lit up as he looked back up at Hel. “I’m sorry to ask, but would it be possible for you to reshape it into a gem? I’d like to tinker with it at a later date.”

"I can ask the Dwarves, they can make anything out of anything. They even made actual growing hair out of gold." She laughed, smiling. "You know, I just so happen to be a fan of Fire Emblem, got any spare tomes?"

Robin furrowed his brow. “How do you know about the world of Fire Emblem?”

"I started playing video games in place of reading," she said simply, pulling out a purple 3DS.

Robin’s eyebrow twitched, but didn’t comment on the device. He reached inside his cloak and withdrew a green colored tome, offering it to Hel. “If you can ask the dwarves to alter the sapling, I’ll be more than happy to part with a tome or two. I usually carry a few Arcwinds around, so it’s no real loss to me.”

"Then we have a deal, and no I'm not going to screw you over like Satan or Hades, I have honor." She snapped her fingers, opening up a portal back to the war room.

Robin chuckled and left the void, returning to his seat. “So, did I miss anything?”

"You've been gone a few hours." Jason commented, munching on an enigma berry. "The others left to marshal our forces."

Robin groaned as he placed his head in his hands. “Wonderful, I missed more of the meeting.”

"Want a berry?" Jason asked, offering one.

Robin glared at Jason. “I think I’ll pass. While we’re alone though, I want to talk to you about something that Hel brought up. I heard you’ve been having trouble with a voice in your head?”

He sighed, leaning back in his chair. "She really needs to stop spying on me..."

Robin chuckled and tapped the desk. “Perhaps, but I’m glad she brought it to my attention. You see, I’m talented in many fields, and one of them happens to be of the mind itself. If you want I can help you subdue that voice of yours.”

"If you can help, try. Hell, I'll even throw in a bag of Enigma berries and some spell books."

“You don’t need to worry about repaying me, I got Hel to do me a favor. Anyway, I want to make a few things clear before I try anything. For starters, I cannot remove the voice from your head. It has become a part of who you are the moment you acquired the form. Secondly, it will occasionally come out under certain circumstances. Hel described this voice as one full of ‘bloodlust and rage’. Should you let your anger control you the voice will resurface. Lastly, you’ll need to meditate every once in awhile. I plan on creating a… ward of sorts within your mind. You should be able to maintain it indefinitely through sheer concentration and will alone.”

"You... you realize I'm a berserker, right?" Jason asked, raising his eyebrow.

Robin grinned. “There is a difference between ‘controlled anger’ and bloodlust.”

"I suppose you have a point," Jason said with a laugh. "Try away my friend."

Robin rose from his seat and walked over to Jason. He placed a hand upon his head and closed his eyes. “Try to remain relaxed. You should be able to ‘feel’ me within you, but beyond that nothing else should occur. Just promise me you won’t fall asleep while I mess with your head?”

"Yes, I promise I won't fall asleep."





I focused on Jason’s mind as I probed it and the information it contained. I was surprised by what I found simply on the surface. I could sense three different personalities, with one stronger than the others. I focused on the stronger of the three, and soon I could feel the rage pushing back against me. I grimaced as I felt the bloodlust attempt to envelop my own will. Whatever Jason had stored in his noggin was powerful. I would need to interfere directly.

I pushed a bit harder, and managed to break through Jason’s mental barriers. When I closed the opening behind me, the world turned white for a brief moment. Then it was replaced with a black void. 

“Hello!” A cheery voice called, belonging to a grinning... Discord!?

I eyed the creature warily, my arms held behind my back. This wasn’t the presence I had originally felt, but the thought of Discord running around through anyone’s head sent alarms off in my head.

“... Hello to you too. Discord, why are you here?” I asked, keeping my posture.

“I’m not Discord! I’m Hodgepodge! What, you trying to say we all look alike!?” He dramatically pointed a talon at me. “Dat's racist!!!”

I gave him a bored look. “I suppose it is, but as of right now I could care less.” My eyes turned cold as I stepped forward. “I don’t know what purpose you have in Jason’s mind but I suggest you either leave or I’ll force you out myself.”

“I live here.” He rolled his eyes and flicked my nose. “Why so serious?”

I scrunched up my face in annoyance and took a step back. He lived here? I suppose if he’s a separate personality of Jason that’s partially true. I sighed and rubbed my head with a hand. Nothing is ever easy, is it?

“I’m being serious because I offered Jason to subdue a rather bloodthirsty personality he recently picked up. What I didn’t think I’d have to deal with was a draconequus,” I said, glaring at Hodgepodge.

“It must be said, you never realize what you have until it’s gone...” Hodge sighed. “Orm wasn’t that big of an issue until Hughes, that was another guy who lived here, decided to leave. I kind of miss him... except for all the name calling.. and the insults... and the asshole attitude...”

I rolled my eyes once more. He might not be Discord, but he certainly acted like him to some extent. “So sorry for your loss, but I have my own problems. One of which involves sealing a very angry, very hostile personality. So if you’ll excuse me, I need to take care of that now,” I finished as I turned around, starting to walk away from him.

“Oh, you mean Orm!” He floated along beside me. “You’re going to need my help for this!”

I gave him an even look as I come to a stop. “And why exactly do I need your help? I’m quite fluent when it comes to tampering with the mind, and I don’t see this ‘Orm’ giving me much trouble.”

“Because Orm is an expression of Jason’s bloodlust. Now, that might seem ordinary but Jason is a jotun, and his blood is old. We’re talking, millions if not billions of years of rage condensed through the generations, into our sorry friend here.”

My eye twitched as I processed this new information. If it wasn’t one thing it was something else. I sighed and began to massage my temples. Apparently I could get a headache while inside someone else's mind.

“If that’s the case, then I could use some help. If we’re talking a time frame on such a wide scale then it could take me who knows how long to fix this…” I trailed off as I racked my brain for a possible solution to this. Normally I would be able to simply hold off the presence while I erected barriers, but with a being this powerful my concentration would be too diverted. I looked back at Hodgepodge and gave him a once over. “Do you think you can distract Orm and keep his attention away from me?”

“Does the internet have memes?” he asked, giving a bright smirk.

I gave him an unamused glare in response. “I’ll take that as a yes. Now, all we have to do is corral him into this vicinity.”

“That shouldn’t be too hard. He hates everything else that's alive.” Hodge nodded sagely. “He’ll be here soon.”

“Wonderful,” I stated, sharpening my mind. “Now here’s the plan. You’re going to distract him and keep him off of me for as long as possible. I’m going to be creating a mental ‘container’ of sorts to keep him locked away. Just before I close it you need to get out, otherwise you’ll be trapped in there with him… and in a very enclosed space too.”

“Yes, that does sound horrible.. I’ll make sure to avoid that...” he muttered as a roar pierced the air. A large lizard creature barreled out of the darkness, acid dripping from its mouth. “Speak of the devil...”

“And he shall come,” I finished for him. Within my mind I pictured the form of the construct I wanted to create. It would be clear, almost invisible to the eye. With any luck Orm wouldn’t pick up on it until it was too late. Now all I needed was that distraction.

I couldn’t help but smirk as I looked over at Hodge. “I think your roommate is angry. Why not go see what’s wrong?”

“Oh hai Orm!” Hodge smiled teleporting onto the creature’s back. “So... how's your sex life?”

“You waste of existence!” Orm roared, bucking like a bronco, trying to throw Hodge off. “I’ll devour your worthless essence!”

“Ick! I taste terrible! Like pecan swirls!” Hodge made a face, hanging on by Orm’s horns. “And we all know how horrible those are!”

“Cease your incessant prattling!” Orm roared, and I could feel the area filling with rage and hate.

I steeled my mind against the raging emotions, focusing on my task at hand. I began to construct the mental cell around the two personalities. To the unknown eye it would appear to be little more than a thin film of glass. But to those who were experienced with the mind, they would realize the prison I was slowly creating. I focused on the back first, letting my powers flow freely while Hodge had Orm distracted. I constructed the back half of the sphere first, out of Orm’s eyesight. With any luck Hodge could keep Orm occupied until the very end.

“I will grind your bones into dust!”

“I don’t have bones nimrod! We’re mental constructs in Jason’s mind. We don’t actually exist.” Hodge rolled his eyes in a 'duh' fashion. 

Orm just roared, thrashing around, shaking Hodge like a wet noodle. 

“Ride 'em cowboy!!!” Hodge shouted, waving around a cowboy hat.

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at the ridiculous display. I think I found the real reason this Orm is always so angry, especially if he has to share a mind with Hodge. I chuckled as I continued to build the sphere, the glass growing around the two rampaging mentalities. I was roughly 75% complete. Soon Hodge was going to have to act if he wanted to escape the same fate as Orm.

“Bye Orm! Have fun being a Rubix cube!!” Hodge gave the lizard a hug before appearing next to me.

“What!?” Orm shouted, only now realizing he was trapped. “I will find you fleshling! I will feast on your bones! Your world will be reduced to naught but ash!!!”

I merely laughed. This Orm sounded more like an angry child then the monster I perceived him to be. “Is that so? Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but you’re horribly weak compared to what I have to deal with.”

“Actually,” Hodge cut me off. “Orm’s species can survive and adapt to everything. The can even survive the destruction of universes. If one gets on your world, you're as good as dead, because they won’t stop, feel no remorse and are omnicidal assholes.”

I turned my head and gave Hodge a sad smile. “Then I wish I had him to deal with rather than the alternative I’ll be subjected to in the future.” I shook my head and flicked my hand, expelling my power onto the dome. It was time to put an end to this. I forced the bubble to close in on itself, the sphere shrinking by the second until Orm could barely turn his body.

“He’ll get back out you know, at some point at least,” Hodge pointed out. 

“Not if Jason takes precautionary measures,” I argued. “I should know since I’ve held something just as dangerous as your friend here for longer than I care to remember. I’ll instruct him on how to reinforce the barrier himself. I hope he enjoys meditating.”

“Yeah... that won’t last a chapter...” Hodge coughed, looking away. “Anyway, thanks for the help!!”

I gave the draconequus a smile and a wave. “Don’t mention it. Have fun with the extra space.” With that I broke the connection and left Jason’s mindscape, returning to my own.





Robin grunted before he started focusing his magic into Jason. Jason felt a small tingle within his head, but nothing more than that. Time dragged on as he remained seated in his chair, left with little to do other than twiddle his thumbs. After over a good hour and a half of silence Robin opened his eyes, smirking in victory.

Robin returned to his seat, falling into it with a huff as he looked over at Jason. “Well, that was more complicated than I thought it was going to be. For starters, did you know that you have two voices in your head? One appeared to be a draconequus that identified itself as Hodgepodge and the other was the troublemaker who called himself Ormagoden. I was tempted to seal the other as well, but he helped me quite a bit and told me you two were friends, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt.”

"We would have had one hell of a problem if you sealed Hodge," Jason said, giving Robin a flat look. "He's a nice guy and I can't control Alien X without him."

Robin huffed. “Well it’s a good thing I didn’t, then. Besides, I was only aware of a single voice, not two.” He ended with a sigh. “Regardless, Ormagoden shouldn’t be a problem for you any more as long as you maintain your cool and meditate every so often to reinforce the barriers I set up. Chances are you’ll hear him again soon though, as you enter battle, but he’ll fade into the background as things quiet down again.”

"Thanks," Jason said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small box. " I've been working on this for a while but... this is my displaced care package. It's basically just a bunch of stuff you might find useful."

Robin inspected the box with interest as he accepted it from Jason. He opened it, taking a look at its contents. Inside of the box was a leather bag which, upon closer inspection, held quite a few colorful seeds. The box also contained some form of wrist device, a few books, a glowing cube and Jason’s token.

Robin looked up at Jason with a raised eyebrow. “I appreciate the gesture, but I’m afraid I don’t know what any of this stuff does.”

"Enigma berries will heal you up most of the way if you're injured, you got enough seeds to start a grove or orchard or whatever. That wrist band will play whatever music you can think of, the cube is for storage, that cylinder is my token and those are extra spell tomes I had Twilight make."

Robin looked back into the box with renewed interest. “That’s quite a bit, are you certain you can part with all of this?”

"We have an Enigma orchard already and I made the cube and wrist thing," Jason explained. "Those books are copies of the originals, they teach Final Fantasy spells."

Robin snapped his head up in shock at the name of spells. “Final Fantasy? You wouldn’t by any chance know of a warrior named Gilgamesh, do you?”

Jason smirked a little. “Yup! Dear old dad, he whipped me into shape when I first got here.”

Robin was silent as he stared at Jason, unblinking. He remained in such a way for several moments before he snapped out of his stupor. “... Gilgamesh is your father? That carefree, kindhearted buffoon is your dad?”

“Well, adopted father but father nonetheless.” Jason didn’t lose his smile. “I’m surprised he doesn’t brag about me.”

Robin frowned and glanced down at the table. “When I visited him I stayed with him for a week, helping him and the united armies as a tactician. A lot had happened in that short amount of time, and while he wouldn’t readily admit it, I could tell he was stressed. That was roughly one month ago my time.”

“You mean the war? When dad was last here he told me it was over.” Jason shrugged. “Time is weird. That's why I let Hodge handle it all.”

Robin’s eye twitched and he inhaled deeply. “You know what? Fine. Time travel it is. Fuck it. There’s more important things to talk about anyway. Like the war you currently find yourself in.”

“I’m gonna rip her heart out,” Jason stated calmly, his eyes flashing red.

“Beautifully put,” Robin stated flatly. He took a moment to shake his head before looking back down at the box of gifts. “Are you sure I can take all this? I feel I haven’t done much to garner this boon.”

"You're helping out more than you know," Jason said with a smile. "Though I wouldn't mind taking any knowledge you feel like sharing, I'm a pretty good learner."

Robin chuckled and deposited the box into his sack before leaning back into his chair. “Is that so? Well, I have a few skills under my belt, so I’m more than willing to share what I know. What would you like to learn?”

"Magic, techniques," Jason listed off. "The realms are weird, basically anything goes in this place."

Robin hummed as he vocalized his thoughts, “Well… I can’t necessarily teach you my magic in only a day. The magic I have is powerful, but it requires learning another language as well as intense training. I can, however, leave you with a translation book as well as each of the starter tomes if you want.”

"That would be great," Jason said flashing a smile, "I need all the advantages I can get in this place."

Robin laughed as he rummaged through his bag, withdrawing four tomes and a white covered book. He passed them over to Jason. “Here we have Wind, Fire, Thunder, and Flux; Wind magic, Fire magic, Thunder magic and Dark magic respectively. If you’re as good at learning as you say you are it should be easy enough for you to pick up the language. To master the actual magic itself… takes anywhere from three to four years.”

"Well, I mastered Ultima in a few weeks..." Jason said, holding up his hand, conjuring up a multi-colored distortion. "But time isn't a problem, I have thousands of years ahead of me."

Robin scowled as he examined the distortion, muttering under his breath, “Great… another one.” He sighed and shook his head. “Then this magic should come easily to you as well. Still, there are many branches to this magic so it’ll most likely take longer than a few weeks. If you’re anything like Wade, and you practice enough, you should have this down within a year’s time.”

"Sir," a changeling interrupted, tapping on the door, "The army has gathered, they await your arrival."

"Thank you." Jason nodded. The guard saluted, quickly moving off to resume his duties. "Do you need armor?" Jason asked, looking at Robin.

Robin chuckled, looking at his bag. “I’ll be fine, I have an outfit I got from Rarity that I’ve yet to see any reason to wear. Considering I’m going into an actual war, now’s as good a time as ever to try it out.”

Jason nodded, reaching into his pocket and becoming clad in his armor. "Let's go then." He moved out of the room, taking a deep breath. He stopped when he realized Robin wasn’t following, but the mage waved off his concerns. “I need to change into my armor, and unlike you, I don’t have the benefit of simply reaching into my pocket,” he ended with a laugh. “I’ll be right behind you.”

"Understood." Jason nodded, resuming his walk, reminding himself that he still needed to get his armor looked at at some point. He made his way down to the base of the mountain, where the army had gathered.

Robin joined him a few minutes later, garbed in a red cloak with golden pauldrons, looking more like the general of an army than a tactician. He gave Jason a nod, letting him know he was ready.

"We're ready when you are Jason," Twilight called, trotting over, decked out in armor identical to Jason's. Chrysalis stood nearby, wearing a similar suit of armor.

"Right," Jason said, clearing his throat, firing a Flare up into the sky, "Warriors!" he shouted, making the soldiers go quiet, "Over the past year, we have come under assault from many an enemy that wished to destroy our harmony, and each time, with the help of our friends, we sent them howling back into the darkness, but now that one of our friends is in danger, will we leave them to their fate?"

"No!" came the collective reply.

"Then let us march and show them our unity!" Jason thrust a first into the air, giving Dash her cue. She quickly ripped a portal open, which Hel empowered, opening it up wide enough to let the army pass. With a massive war cry, the soldiers rushed through, Chrysalis and Twilight leading the charge.

"Zed!" Jason whistled, causing the Baskurr to come running. She shifted into Bug Lizard, letting him climb on. "Let's go." Jason held his hand out to help Robin on.

Robin looked wary of the large creature, but took Jason’s hand nonetheless, hoisting himself onto the beast. “And where exactly are we going?” Robin shouted over the yells of the soldiers.

“You see the big portal? We’re going through that,” Jason informed as Zed bounded off. She leapt over a few shoulders, passing through the rift. The scenery changed almost instantly, to a black filled sky with a devastated landscape. Zed landed with a thud, allowing them to dismount. “Zed, hunt.” With a snort, the creature bounded off toward the battlefield. “Robin, hold still.” Jason held his hand out, casting a few spells on him.

Robin smiled as his body glowed a number of different colors, colors he was very familiar with. “Ah, Protect, Shell, and Haste. I thank you for the help, but I’ll need to reinforce them myself. Resistance to all types of magic is usually a double edged sword,” he said as his body glowed once more, recasting the spells himself.

“Let's go then.” Jason nodded, looking toward the battle. The dark elves were an ocean of blackness, already clashing with the arriving Equestrian army. “You ready?” Jason asked, looking at Robin, grim determination in his eyes.

Robin gave Jason a grin as he stepped forward. “More ready than I’ll ever be.” A blue glow came from within his cloak before a green tome flew out of it and into his waiting hand. His eyes scanned the book as the pages turned on their own. When he was finished his eyes were glowing with arcane power.

He lifted his arms towards the sky, forcing his power unto the landscape. Clouds began to form from nothing, and lightning began to shake the skies. When enough clouds had gathered he extended a single finger and began to move it, and his arm, in a circular motion. The clouds reacted to his will and they began to spin in the air, picking up speed with every passing second. Once enough energy had been poured into the spell Robin swung his arm downwards.

A large funnel, easily a mile across descended from the magical storm, slowly making its way towards the earth. When it impacted it did so violently, right in the middle of the enemy army. The two watched as elves were carried upward due to the severe wind speeds, travelling at an angle away from the Equestrian armies.

“Impressive,” Jason commented, watching the tunnel with no small amount of awe. “You want a lift?”

Robin chuckled. “Sure, where to?”

Jason smiled, walking away a fair bit. “Omnitrix, Way Big.” He shifted into the towering alien, then lowered his hand to the ground. “Hop on,” he commanded, his voice booming through the air.

Robin blinked in surprise as he gazed up at the new form of Jason. His smile soon returned though and he hopped onto the offered hand. “So, what’s the plan?” Robin yelled up at Jason.

“Draw out Eclipse. Our main priority however is to find and protect the Breezies.” Jason broke into a jog, bringing his feet down on the elves.  He grunted as the elves' arrows pierced his skin, each full of the foulest black magic.

“Well then, you look for them, and I’ll keep them from attacking you,” Robin shouted as a yellow book flew out from his cloak. Soon after he started pelting the elven archers with bolts of electricity. The creatures screamed in pain as thousands of volts racked their bodies before going limp.

“I’m going to put you down now... how about you drop the bomb on them?” he asked, coming to a stop, looking at Robin.

“Sounds like a plan,” Robin called as he dropped down from Jason’s hand. As he landed upon the earth he drew his sword, the metal sparking to life as electricity traveled across the blade. A green book flew out from his cloak and hovered near him at the same time. Robin grinned as he looked at the surrounding dark elves, each of them closing in on him menacingly. He readied his blade as green blades of wind circled around his body.

“Time to take one out of Gilgamesh’s book!” Robin said gleefully as the new watch on his arm glowed faintly. A song started to fill the battlefield, horns piercing the noises of battle. The sudden song caused the elves to pause in confusion. When the introduction reached a crescendo Robin threw himself at the elves. They were unprepared for the sudden attack or the sheer speed at which the mage moved. His blade shimmered as he hacked his way through the army, moving with grace and agility.

He stopped for a moment to gather more energy around him, the wind raging around his body. With a swipe of his hand he unleashed his magic. Green blades of wind washed out over the army, cutting through armor, skin and bone with ease. Elven warriors came apart in a mismatch of bloody limbs. With his concentration diverted, he didn’t have time to evade the blast of dark magic that hit him from behind. The moment the magic hit his armor it turned red and was absorbed by the crystals located in his pauldrons.

Robin turned and gave the shocked elven mage a smile before swiftly decapitating him with a simple gesture of his hand. Robin checked his pauldrons, examining the magic held within. The magic was powerful, and the gems would no doubt overcharge if too much was absorbed over the course of the battle.

“Effectively brutal,” a new voice said from behind Robin, devoid of any real emotion.

Robin turned around and found himself looking at a tall, tan skinned man, his body hidden under a black coat. The mage gave the man a grin. “When it comes to war that’s all that really matters, isn’t it? I’m assuming you’re Xemnas?

“That would be me.” He nodded, looking out toward the elves. “Allow me to join you.” He held his hand out, summoning forth his keyblade. He raised his free hand to the sky, conjuring his Nobodies. “I owe a debt, and I intend to pay it.”

Robin grinned as he readied his blade once more. “Well, if there was ever a time to repay debts, a battlefield is a great place to start.” Robin’s blade glowed yellow as power grew within the steel. He extended the tip outward into the crowd and unleashed his attack. A beam of pure electricity erupted from his sword and skewered a number of elves before they had the chance to retaliate.

Xemnas laughed, moving gracefully through the horde, his keyblade cutting through most of them in a few strikes.





Jason reverted to normal, dropping like a rock. He hit the ground with a shockwave, an explosion of ice rocking through the area, freezing several dozen elves solid. He drew his sword, cleaving  his way through the horde, reveling in the bloodshed. He paused a moment to blare his own music before resuming his conquest. A blast of dark magic sent him tumbling, his sword wrenched from his hands.

“Fuck...” he muttered to himself before falling into his newly acquired Pugilist training. Using his armored body as a weapon, he parried and attacked in a flurry of blows, punching holes in several elves. Despite this, the elves kept coming. “Omnitrix, Diamondhead!” He shifted again, firing off shards of diamond into the oncoming elves. He changed his arms into blades, cutting through them. “OK... Breezies... where would a village of tiny pony fairies be located?”

“As if  we’d let you get there.”

“Oh come on...” he groaned, turning around to see Hex and Charmcaster, standing in the sea of elves. “What? Didn’t you two learn not to mess with me when I turned your leader into ground beef?”

“Trenderhoof was a fool who trusted too easily.” Charmcaster snorted before tossing a few tokens to the ground. They grew into full sized golems, upgraded from the base design, now powered by dark magic. 

“You think those are going to stop me?” Jason scoffed, glaring at them. 

“No, but this will...” Hex drew a sword in his magic, grinning. “I do believe you know of this blade... Dainsleif.

“Oh... fuck me...” Jason muttered, taking a few steps back. They stood there for a few moments before the golems charged. Jason cleaved through them, barely rolling out of the way as Hex slashed at him. He reverted to normal and drew Gungnir, fending off Hex’s assault, sparks filling the air.

Charmcaster was wrenched from the fight between Jason and Hex as a voice spoke from behind her. “You have quite a bit of magical power within you.”

“Who are you!?” Charmcaster jumped back, spinning around charging her horn up. “You’re one of those Displaced right? Well back off!”

Robin raised an eyebrow as he looked over the unicorn. “So, you’re not siding with the Equestrians? I can’t see why you’d follow these elves.”

“That's none of your concern!” she snarled, tossing at least a dozen tokens out. They grew into golems, charging at him.

A blue book shot out from Robin’s cloak and circled him once as he linked himself to his tome. His eyes began to glow with power as began to drain the book of its magic. Without so much as a twitch from the mage jagged shards of ice erupted from the golems, causing the constructs to explode violently in a shower of ice and rock.

“It is a concern to me,” Robin began casually as he walked towards the pony, “if you decide to attack me in the middle of a battlefield.”

“I-I said back off!” She fired off a few bolts of magic, gritting her teeth.

Robin sighed as he pushed away each of the bolts with his own magic, letting them strike the ground harmlessly behind him. “That’s strike two, girl. If you try something again, I promise you, you will regret the decision. Know when you’re beaten and run.”

She backed up before turning, tossing out a few tokens to cover her retreat. She didn’t make it far before a squad of changelings descended upon her, quickly cocooning her. 

“Why thank you, Robin,” Chrysalis commented, landing next to him. “We were wondering where those two had gotten to...” She looked rather battered, with cuts on her body, her wings slightly tattered and one of her eyes swollen shut. 

Robin looked over the cocooned pony. “I figured she was something special given the fact that she’s a pony fighting against the Equestrians. Regardless, I can deal with her later if need be.” He turned towards Chrysalis and looked her over, taking in her battered form. “Do you need a quick patch up? I can heal you with my magic,” he offered, retrieving a black book.

“I wouldn’t mind... I need to conserve as much energy as I can...” she panted a few times, wincing every now and then.

Robin nodded and reached his hand out towards the nearest elf. Black mist erupted from his palm and rushed towards the creature. Chrysalis and the Changelings watched as the elf slowly seemed to age, its skin becoming pale and its bones beginning to show. In only half a minute all that was left of the elf was shriveled skin and bones, the elf letting out one last scream before the light faded from his eyes.

Robin called back the black miasma and then directed it towards Chrysalis. As the black fog hovered around her, she began to feel stronger. Her cuts slowly vanished and her wings knitted back together, giving her the appearance of one not in the middle of a war.

“That was... disturbing...” she muttered, wincing again.

Robin blinked as he watched Chrysalis wince again. “Was that not enough? I can get more for you if you need it.”

“Every one of those winces... is one of my children dying...” she muttered before spreading her wings, taking to the sky again. The other changelings took up positions around Charmcaster, their weapons held high.

“Jason!” Twilight’s yell, powered by the Royal Canterlot Voice, boomed across the battlefield. “I found the village!” She fired off a magic signal visible to all. 

“About fucking time!” Jason called back. He knocked Hex away with a blast of wind, shifted into XLR8, and sped over to her. A whining sound filled the air, almost like a rocket. Jason skidded to a stop, opening his faceplate in horror. “Everyone down!” he shouted, dashing forward. A moment later the ground buckled and shook as an earthshattering explosion went off, consuming the tiny village... and most of the area around it.

Twilight could only stare numbly at the crater, unable to process the genocide that had taken place. 

“Pitiful little fairies. Worthless in all regards.” Eclipse lowered her arm, still full of magic from her Ultima spell. 

Robin blanched as he took in the devastation from the attack. Everything was gone. The town, the inhabitants, even the ground around the impact site. All gone. Robin narrowed his eyes as his gaze moved from the destruction to the one who caused it. A small fire of rage began to grow within Robin, but he quickly and swiftly calmed himself. This wasn’t the time or place to lose control.

Robin made his way towards Twilight and Jason, yelling at them and snapping them from their shock. “We’re still in the middle of a battle! We can grieve for those who’ve perished later!” 

Jason stood silently for a moment before throwing his head back, releasing a scream of rage. He summoned his sword back to his hand, the wind starting to howl. A wicked storm began to form and within a matter of moments it was a raging blizzard. He leapt forward, slashing at his doppleganger, who met his sword with her scythe. 

“The bait worked like a charm.” Animo stepped into view, his artificial horn glowing brightly. “That idiot always did have an anger problem.”

Robin glared at the one who spoke, and blinked in surprise at what he found. He shook his head before confronting the earth pony. “And just who might you be?”

“I am Doctor Animo,” he spoke with a swell of pride, “And while I know not who you are, I know a prime specimen when I see one. Besides, we can’t have you coming to Jason’s aid.” His horn flashed and several crystalline monkey creatures rushed between them. “Thankfully, Eclipse allowed me access to some of the samples in her watch. I think you’ll find these quite... the hoofful.”

Robin was gritting his teeth by the time Animo had finished speaking. He switched out his blue book for a red one. “A prime specimen? Do you have any idea who you are speaking to you incompetent, narcissistic fool!? I am not someone you speak down to, you lowlife piece of trash!”

“Insult me all you wish, it changes nothing. Get him!” Animo commanded, sending the monkeys howling at Robin.

A red glow surrounded Robin and the area around him began to heat up. The ground around him began to steam and turn soft as the temperatures continued to grow to near unbearable levels. With a scream of rage Robin unleashed his attack upon the nearest monkey. A jet of pure fire erupted from his hand as it fully encased the creature. A hissing sound could be heard over the torrent of flames, and when the attack was finally finished the monkey was gone, not even ashes left behind from the attack. 

Animo took a step back, eyes ever so slightly wide. “Well? Get him!” he commanded the other monkeys, who didn’t hesitate to do so.

Robin gave the assorted creatures a large smile as he kneeled upon the ground. His hands grew white as heat generated against his body. The blackened earth became little more than molten lava as Robin altered the landscape to his own desire. With a laugh the mage commanded the makeshift lava to wash over the remaining monkeys. The creatures screeched as they were submerged in molten lava, steam coming off their bodies as they slowly began to break apart. Before long each of the crystalline creatures had vanished under the sea of lava, burnt up due to the sheer heat they had been exposed to.

“Clearly, I underestimated you...” Animo admitted, backing up more, watching Robin carefully.

“That’s usually my opponent’s first mistake,” Robin replied, marching upon Animo, “and it’s almost always their last.”

“If you don’t mind, I could use a little help!” Animo called before a lumbering, green skinned creature with a cage on its head stepped between them, glaring down at Robin.

Robin returned the creature’s glare with one of his own. “Mind moving aside so I can forcibly remove the head of that pony? I find myself wanting a wall ornament for my home.” 

The creature just stared before the gate hiding its face started to open... revealing the most hideous thing Robin had ever seen. Utter terror gripped him, freezing him in place. Animo just smirked, trotting up to Robin, taking a sample of his blood.

“I believe our business is concluded, my friend.” He gave a mock bow before galloping off into the sea of bodies.

Robin’s terror stricken face suddenly melted away into absolute indifference. He continued to look into the horrible face of Toepick as he spoke in a monotone voice, “Did you know I can turn parts of my brain off? I can’t feel any emotions right now, including fear,” he spoke in a dead and hollow voice.

Toepick didn’t have a chance to respond before Robin extended his hand, palm facing his head. Robin suddenly squeezed his hand into a fist, and the reaction was instantaneous. Toepick’s head exploded into a shower of gore as face, cage, and brain matter coated the battlefield. Shortly after the headless body collapsed to the floor before the unemotional mage. A few seconds passed before a wave of relief passed over his face. “I hope I never have to experience something like that again,” he muttered to himself, shivering.

Twilight galloped over to him, stopping a few feet away. “Robin are you-” she was cut off as a sword pierced her throat, the young alicorn spitting up blood. She looked down, eyes wide in shock, gingerly touching the tip with a hoof. The blade was yanked back and she collapsed, choking on her own blood. Hex stood behind her, the sword levitating in his magic. 

Robin’s face paled as he silently rushed to the alicorn's aid. Without even looking at Hex he pulled out a black tome and quickly read over it. He began to pour his own energy into the unicorn. He smiled when he saw hole in her throat begin to close up… before returning to its previous bloody mess. Robin shook his head as he continued to pour magic into the dying alicorn, to little success.

“C'mon Twilight, don’t die on me,” Robin said more to himself then the alicorn he held in his arms.

“You won’t save her,” Hex stated coldly. “This blade never fails to kill and the wounds it inflicts never heal.”

Robin began to shake as he looked into the eyes of the dying mare, watching as the light slowly left them. So much the mage had experienced lately, so much to strain his already fragile mind. He lost his friend, he came to terms with the purpose in his life, and now he had been forced to hold a mare he called friend while she died in his arms.

“Kill them all…”

Robin’s mind snapped.






~meanwhile~


“I’ll rip your heart out of your chest!” Jason screamed, swinging his sword wildly. He didn’t care that Robin’s work was slipping, that Ormagoden was breaking his chains. He wanted Eclipse dead, dead and buried.

“Please, I’m better than you in every way possible!” she taunted while sidestepping his slashes, countering with a punch to the stomach. Their Omnitricies flashed blue, synching up. “And I just acquired all the scans you’ve gotten since we last met.” She blasted him into some trees, popping up the dial of her Omnitrix. She didn’t get a chance to activate any of her ill gotten forms though, as Jason burst through from the debris, sending a barrage of ice spikes at her. She threw her hand out, melting most of them with a blast of Fire. 

“I don’t care what you take! Nothing will save you from me!” Jason screamed, casting Quake. Eclipse stumbled, watching the ground crack and crumble, jumping onto another section as it rose up into the air.

“It must hurt to know that you failed! That because of your incompetence an entire race is dead!” Eclipse taunted, throwing out several blades of darkness. Jason tanked the hits, not noticing the nicks forming on his breastplate.

“You shut your fucking mouth!” Jason roared, ripping a tree out of the ground and chucking it at her. She easily cleaved through it, only for Jason to appear at her side, punching her in the face. Taking advantage of her surprise, he grabbed her arm, bringing his elbow down on it, breaking it. With a snarl, he tossed her down into the crater, following it up with a blast of Flare. He stood there, panting, taking a moment to catch his breath. He gave the battlefield a scan, his heart swelling as he watched the army of Equestria push back the tide of blackness. His blood ran cold however, when he witnessed Hex putting a sword through Twilight’s neck. That sword. He gazed on in mute silence as Robin tried... and failed to heal her. A whirl of darkness brought him back to reality, just in time to see Eclipse swing her scythe.

Jason let out a weak gasp as Eclipse’s scythe buried itself in his stomach, having found one of the nicks in his armor, easily cleaving through his spine. She just smirked at him, hefting him up into the sky, the fires of war painting the dark sky a deep red.

“I have been waiting for this moment for months,” she spat at him, a laugh escaping her lips, “I’m going to enjoy crushing the life out of those pretty wives of yours.” She brought him in close for one last taunt, but he reached out and gripped her Omnitrix.

“A little gift from me to you,” he glared back, surging magic into the device. “Choke on it.” He smirked at her before her Omnitrix overloaded in a spectacular explosion of purple energy, blasting the two of them out of Vanaheim. 
> It's Hero Time!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As Jason entered another universe, the Omnitrix activated, shifting him into Ormagoden. The reptile let out a roar, slamming into something on the way down. He hit the ground hard, a small crater forming under him. He rolled onto his back, grabbing the scythe and with a roar of agony, ripped it out, tossing it away. Jason took a few shaky breaths as his wounds healed, not even leaving a scar. Sniffing the air, he turned around, seeing what looked like a young human lying on the ground nearby. He soon got up, back turned towards Jason as he looked around.

“L-lumen… Are you there? Damn it. Not again-.”

The human stopped talking as he turned around, making eye contact with Jason. He seemed tense, as shown by reaching for the pistol that he had in his holster on his hip. Jason kept his eyes on him, taking a step forward. “Move,” he commanded, looking into the boy's eyes. “I’m busy.”

“You can talk?!” He said, not budging an inch with a bit of lightning surging from his fingertips. “What are you anyways? A Displaced?” 

“I said move,” Jason snarled, leaping over the boy and bounding off, sniffing at the air, trying to find Eclipse’s scent. However, he was caught off guard when the boy reappeared in front of him once again.

“I’m the one asking the question here, sir. After all, you did crash land here and destroyed my ride back to Maretropolis.”

Jason ignored him, still sniffling the air. “Where are you!?” he roared, acid dripping from his muzzle. He snarled, his tail gouging a large portion of the ground, giving the world a good indication of his anger.

“Okay, what the hell is your problem?” He heard the boy speak again. “I’m trying to help you out and you're going all Gojira on me. Can you just calm down for god’s sake!?!”

“You think this is angry!?” he snarled, whipping around at the boy and narrowing his eyes. “You don’t want to see angry.”

“Trust me… I’ve seen anger. And you’re not in the best position to be giving orders. Especially with my Breezie partner gone missing after you crashed into us.”

“You haven’t seen anger until it tears your world apart in a rage of blood,” Jason snorted, turning away and trudging down the street. “Now leave me be!”

What the reptilian did not expect though was to be held down by a series of Voltic Chains that sprang from all around him. The surge of electricity held him down to the ground, looking back at the young boy.

“I didn’t want to do that, but you forced my hand,” he said as he walked closer. He pressed a finger on Jason’s forehead for a minute, then stepped back. “Jason Hughes? Am I right?”

“No,” he snarled at the boy, his eyes darkening. “I’m Ormagoden,” he roared, knocking the boy out of the way, bounding off, his claws cutting into the ground.

“Well, crap,” he cursed, holding his ground as he added more volts into his chains. That’s when he noticed a circular symbol on the beast’s chest. ‘Huh? Is that… an Omnitrix?’ The boy didn’t know much about the series in which the object originated from, but the one thing he did know was that he couldn’t stay transformed forever. It times out after an extended period of time. All he had to do was wait it out and make sure this Ormagoden didn’t cause any casualties.

Ormagoden snarled, his body shifting, his hide thickening, no longer seeming to be affected by the electricity. The boy in front of him was caught off guard by this, backing up to keep his distance between himself and the beast.

“You are testing my patience!” the beast snarled, giving the boy a death glare. “Remove yourself from my way before I tear you apart!”

“Well geez… And I thought Ansem was the most crazy thing I had to deal with besides Freddy,” the blue cloaked teen told himself, thinking that the beast could not hear him. He drew out his weapon, switching clips on the fly to his Vasuki clip. Despite it not being as advanced as some of the other tools in his arsenal, the bolts in this clip could ricochet and tag multiple targets at once. But he was only going to attack if Ormagoden made the first move. Soon though, someone else arrived.

“There you are Lance– HOLY CRABAPPLES!!! What is THAT!?!”

It was Lumen. Always the one late to the party.

Ormagoden glanced at Lumen, glaring, “I will end you, you annoying pest!” he roared, lunging at Lance, his claws out, muzzle dripping acid. Lance ducked his head, putting his hands in front of his face to try something to not stop the beast, but stall him.

“Kame… hame… HA!!”

The short, but powerful blast struck Ormagoden in the chest, pushing it backwards a few inches. Ormagoden shrieked in pain, the blast going through him, vaporizing at least half of his chest, including his head.

“Uh… Lance? That was kind of overkill-.”

“Wait for it…… Something tells me he’s not dead.”

“How can you tell-?

“One word… Cell.”

The Breezie was confused for a moment, but soon began to see what the Adept meant.

The body thrashed around, its missing body parts instantly regenerating. He let out a blood curdling roar of pure rage, thick armor growing all over his body. “I WILL END YOU!” he shrieked, looking like something straight out of a nightmare.

“Well, I guess that can be considered as a warm up,” Lance said as he prepared himself.

“You can’t be serious…” Lumen said. “You’re going to fight him!?”

“Not fight… stall… See that circle on his chest? That thing is on a timer… So the longer we delay him, the sooner he’ll come back to normal,” the Adept told his partner. “There’s no civilians here, right?”

“None at all.”

“Well, try to contact Mane Hero 6 and don’t have them come here. I’m handling this.” 

Now Lance pulled out his second weapon. His energy blade. “Lumen, go!” The breezie nodded as the Adept charged, using the nearby wall to get over the beast and tag it using his gun and following up with his Flashfied, electrocuting it. However, he didn’t realize that Ormagoden was able to adapt to his lightning because of his Voltaic Chains from earlier.

Ormagoden just laughed, stepping toward him, his gaze dripping with malevolence. He moved to leap at Lance when the Omnitrix flashed red, emitting a beeping noise. The Adept took the chance to put his blade away and step back as a flash from the device soon blinded his vision. Almost like a solar flare… Dang it, he really needed to test that ability and see if he could pull it off.

“Fuck, that hurt,” Jason groaned, rubbing his head, which throbbed as Ormagoden screamed in his mind, demanding to be let out again so he could murder Lance.

“You okay there? Sure you don’t want to try and kill me?” he asked, cautious.

“You pissed off the one creature that could and would murder every living thing on this planet, and I don’t mean me,” Jason said, giving his head a shake, blocking out Ormagoden’s screams, at least for the moment..

“Well, I did have the stones to go up against a Displaced Spirit of Madness and blast someone acting as The Holy Grail so yeah, comes with the job description,” Lance replied, helping Jason up to his feet. “You must be Jason then, right?”

“Yeah, that's me,” Jason said, groaning a little, “And no kid, Ormagoden is worse than any of those things.”

“Including a Heartless mastermind?” Lance asked, referring to his encounter with Ansem. “That’s a stretch. Oh, name's Lance by the way. Lance Walker… but my comrades call me Gunvolt when I’m in the field.”

“Ansem was here?” Jason asked with a sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose, “I was really, really, really hoping that guy was dead.”

“Yeah, but with Xemnas and Alex, we were able to teach him not to mess with us.”

“But yeah kid, Ormagoden is worse than Ansem. Seriously, pray  he never gets out of this watch,” Jason said with a shudder.

“Right… He looked like he was searching for someone earlier. Thrashing out a bit and saying ‘Where are you!?’ and that kind of monologuing if you know what I mean.”

“Eclipse,” Jason said, narrowing his eyes, “That bitch needs to die.”

“Let me guess… psychopath?”

“She just committed genocide on the Breezies, what do you think?” Jason asked, crossing his arms. All that did though was make Lance worried. Scratch that… REALLY worried. 

“Oh crap… Lumen!! Damn it, I shouldn’t have let her go on her own!” the Adept cursed. His Breezie partner probably did not get far, so he needed to hurry and find her before Eclipse did.

“We have to find Eclipse,” Jason said, already starting to move, “And while we’re looking, you should know, she has an Omnitrix too-.”

“That’s not my major concern. My partner is a Breezie and if you just said that Eclipse tried to commit genocide on them, then that means she’s now a target,” Lance informed Jason. “I can feel Lumen’s presence though and it seems like she’s in Downtown Sun Fransokyo. We’ll need to move now if we are to catch up with her in time.”

“I don’t think Eclipse cares about Breezies like that,” Jason said, shaking his head, “She only attacked them because they were an obstacle in her conquest of Vanaheim.”

“Vanaheim? The hell is that suppose to be? A city?”

“Vanaheim is a realm,” Jason said, turning to him. “What do you know Norse mythology?”

“I thought it was a pun based on the city of Anaheim.”

“Really?” Jason asked, giving him a flat look.

“Coming from the fact that I was in a city called Maretropolis and that there’s a city to the north named Mareling City, someone else might think differently. Oh and word of warning, a lot of ponies I know here are heroes.”

“Ok, let's keep the mythology lesson short. Norse mythology is based around the world tree Yggdrasil-.”

“I didn’t say that I didn’t know it. I just said that I didn’t know Vanaheim.” Lance sighed. “Anyways, continue.”

“There are nine realms: Asgard, which is now home to Equestria, Midgard, which is modern Earth, Vanaheim, home of the Breezies, Alfheim, home of the light elves, Jotunheim, where my people are from, Muspelheim, home of the fire jotun, Niflheim, home of the dead where my grandmother rules-.”

“Wait, so your grandmother is like the reaper?” Lance said as the two of them began walking.

“No, she’s Hel, goddess of death,” Jason explained, looking at him, “She’s uh... eccentric as hell.”

“And isn’t Hel Loki’s daughter?” Lance asked, remembering what little he could remember of Hel from her Biography on SMITE.

“Yup, and I have a giant snake, a giant wolf and an eight legged horse as my uncles,” Jason said with a laugh.

“Let me guess, the Wolf is named Fenrir?”

“Yeah,” Jason said, rubbing the back of his head. “Some Displaced jackass and Animo resurrected his corpse, destroyed half of Canterlot mountain.”

“Well… this just makes me want to see what your life is like when you have a family reunion,” the Adept said as they crossed a street. The two of them were getting closer to downtown now, they could tell that from the steady flow of civilians moving in and out of the walkways, bridges and carriages that scattered the city.

“We don’t meet up all that often, seeing as how they're all dead and all,” Jason shrugged, “They did show up for the wedding though.”

“Wedding… Wait, you’re married? To whom?” he asked, turning another street corner.

“Rarity and Chrysalis,” Jason said, looking around, “Heh, Chrissy and I just had our first brood, changeling larva are adorable.”

“O...kay, finding out you're married to Radiance is one thing, but I never heard of Chrysalis and Changelings before… I’ll just go along with it…” the Adept said. “We should be getting close. I feel Lumen is only a few feet away.” 

“Let's just find her, Eclipse is the bigger worry here.”

Lance nodded in response as the two of them turned another street corner. Oddly enough, they came across what appeared to be a college campus and soon enough, Lumen found the two of them a lot quicker than expected. “Hey Lance. Glad you’re back in-. Wait… Who’s this guy?”

“Oh yeah… Lumen, this is Jason. Jason, this is my partner Lumen,” the Azure Striker told him as he looked around. “Say, where the heck are we?”

“This is where Mane Hero 6 is located. They’re students by day, heroes by night. Oh and they have a huggable robot too.”

“Wait what-?”

Before Lance could even respond, he turned around to see the “Huggable Robot” that Lumen was referring to. It was just as tall as they were, but also resembled a white balloon like pony.

“Hello, I am BAYMAX. Your personal healthcare companion…”

Lumen flew besides Lance as she began to speak. “BAYMAX, this is my partner Lance and his friend, Jason-.”

“Hey Lumen, can we talk to you for a moment… in private?” Lance then asked, backing up a bit from BAYMAX. During this moment, Jason and Lance took the time to explain to Lumen about what was going on and also the problem with Eclipse. In addition, it was suggested that Lumen can go back with BAYMAX and Lance can return once he and Jason dealt with Eclipse. The breezie was skeptical at first, but she soon saw the point in his reasoning once something dark and sinister crash landed nearby. 

Before getting the chance to find her, Eclipse found them first.

“Okay… next time, I’m vacationing in Germaney!! Nothing bad ever happens there!!” 

“Lumen, not now…”

Eclipse rose out of the small crater her impact made, cracking her neck. “I see you still live, Jason,” she commented, holding her hand out, conjuring her scythe up from shadows. “I’ll have to fix that, now won't I?”

“Not on my watch,” Lance cut in, arming himself with his gun and blade at the ready. Lumen and BAYMAX had already left the area, leaving him and Jason to fight this monstrosity.

“You think you can harm me, whelp?” she asked with a laugh, seeming amused by Lance’s statement. “You have no idea who I am.”

“No idea? Lady, I don’t care who or what the hell you are. All I know is that you have tried to hurt others and I’m not allowing that to happen while you are in my world.” The Adept was now channeling Lightning around his hands as he stood alongside Jason, waiting for Eclipse to make the first move.

Eclipse vanished in a haze of darkness before reappearing behind Lance, her scythe high in the air. Jason pushed him out of the way, quickly knocking her back with a blast of Flare.

“Pay attention!” Jason hissed, drawing his sword. Eclipse got to her feet, rather unfazed, shifting into Four Arms.

‘Seriously? And just when I thought that I didn’t want to deal with a Shokan,’ Lance thought to himself. He kept the Vasuki clip on for his weapon since the bolts could bounce off of hard surfaces and tag his opponents multiple times. Thinking that Jason himself was going to shift, the Azure striker kept his distance and opened fire.

Eclipse ripped a large chunk of the ground out and hurled it at them, her armor deflecting most of the shots. Jason shifted into Chromastone, destroying the chunk with a blast of energy. Eclipse charged out of the dust cloud, slamming her fists into Jason, sending him flying several yards back.

Lance’s shots were not to actually inflict damage to her. Instead, they were to “tag” her, and electrocute her as the Adept executed his Flashfield, an electrical barrier that triggered off bolts of lightning.

“You are a pest,” Eclipse growled, shifting again, this time into Diamondhead. She held her arms out, firing off a barrage of diamonds.

“Whoa, wait a second!? Jason, aren’t you suppose to wait for a little bit before shifting again?” Lance hollered, dodging the diamonds using his enhanced speed and sending some back by using his Ki to repulse the crystalline shards back.

“Not these Omnitricies.” Jason got to his feet, giving his head a shake. He tapped the Omnitrix, shifting into Upchuck. He grabbed a bench up his tongues, swallowing it before hurling it back up as a green energy blast, knocking Eclipse off her feet.

“There’s too many things I still need to learn about the Displaced,” Lance said to himself, using his Ki with his energy blade to fire a series of Slices at Eclipse while she was down.

“Begone!” she sneered, stabbing her arms into the ground, causing a massive wave of diamond to surge out of the ground and toward Lance. The Adept used his energy blade to cut through the diamonds, but missed one as it clipped him underneath his right eye along the cheek.

“Ngh… You just got lucky,” he retorted. “I’m not letting that happen again.”

“You're out of your league,” she retorted, shifting into Gravattack and starting to increase gravity around him by several Gs. Despite this though, Lance still held his ground and was able to focus his strength to use Instant Transmission to where he was right in front of her. Next though, lightning from all around him surged forth in a forward stab as he used two of his Skill points that related to his Septima. 






The attack formed a massive two handed blade that struck Eclipse. However, there was something that he didn’t expect that his partner was about to tell him about.

“You idiot!” Jason snorted, kicking Eclipse away, having shifted into Crashhopper, “You damage her core in that form and she goes Supernova!”

“I didn’t hit the core. Just her face. That way, she could shut herself up for once.” Of course, that was the intention. But the actual result came out a bit differently. Her core did take a small bit of damage despite most of the attack striking her face and upper chest.

“You’ll suffer for that,” Eclipse said, sneering as her Omnitrix timed out. She cast Quake, the entire area shaking, with large sections of it collapsing and others rising up.

“Hang on,” Lance told Jason, who was still in his Crashhopper form as he jumped upward, using his flashfield to float in the air and avoid the Quake. “Okay, got any plans for having her tire out? ‘Cause something tells me you don’t want to kill her here despite what Ormagoden was saying earlier.”

“No,” Jason said with a snort, his eyes narrowing, “She dies.” He shifted back to normal, slamming down toward the ground. He fired off another Flare, which Eclipse countered with one of her own, the two engaging in CQC. Lance though, felt like he should help. He didn’t want the thought of killing somepony to be on his conscience. So he thought of another plan. Snipe her from afar with Mizuchi to knock her out so Jason could do the deed himself when he’s back in his own world. Eclipse wasn’t even paying attention to him and he was on top of a rooftop, the perfect place for cover. Switching clips, he used his vision to zoom in on the two of them engaging each other in combat. Now… there had to be a way to talk to Jason so Eclipse couldn’t hear him.

The two jotun didn’t really pay much attention to him, their blades clashing in a brilliant display of swordsmanship. Eclipse hissed as Jason caught an open spot in her armor, stabbing into her flesh. He smirked, kicking her away, seeming to take pleasure from the fight. Lance saw this as his chance, shooting the blade and letting the electric shock kick in, causing her to drop to the ground.

Jason moved over her prone body, angling his sword downwards, placing his boot on her back to keep her down. He raised his arms up, ready to plunge the blade into her heart.

“Jason, stop!” Lance hollered. “If you’re going to do the deed, do it back in your world and not here. Please…” Lance motioned his head in the direction of a few of the citizens that were watching him right now. “If you do that here, they will see you as a killer. A murderer. I don’t want that for a friend I just met.”

“That is the price of battle,” Jason said, gazing down at Eclipse, “You walk onto the battlefield and you must be prepared to do what you have to, even if it means taking a life.”

Lance now sighed, doing something drastic. Pointing his weapon at Jason now. “Jason, you’re acting just like Ormagoden. I know you’re better than that so please, think this through.”

“You act as if I’ve never taken a life,” Jason turned to him, “I have and it was before Ormagoden formed in my mind. I am a warrior, I live and die by the blade.”

“But this isn’t your world. It’s mine and here, we play by a different set of rules. Kill her if you must. But not here. Here, I’m supposed to be a hero and set an example. How can I do that if I feel like I helped kill somepony?”

“Heroes don’t do good things, Lance,” Jason said, looking into his eyes. “They do what must be done, the things others can’t do. That's the sacrifice we all make.” He turned back to Eclipse, only for his eyes to widen as she cast a point blank Ultima.

The entire area shook as the blast went off, breaking most of the windows in the city. Several buildings collapsed from the force, with multiple skyscrapers becoming unstable. At the epicenter was crater, taking up most of the campus. 

“You are an idiot,” Eclipse snorted, her scythe at Lance’s throat. “An idealistic fool who has no understanding of how the world really works.”

“No… you are, for thinking I was to be fooled.”

Turning around, Eclipse soon realized that the boy in front of her was nothing more than a mere hologram as Lance stabbed Eclipse through the heart from behind. “I played that act for you to think that I could be tricked. That way, when your guard was down, I would strike. Now… You will pay for the people you’ve killed… Jason… Finish it.”

“I will not die here...” she coughed, elbowing Lance in the face, pulling herself off his blade. She shifted again, this time into a female version of Discord. “You should pray I never return boy... for if I do, your world will burn.” With that, she tore open a portal, diving through it before they could follow.

“When you do come, I’ll be ready.” Lance said as he looked at Jason. “Going for her heart was a mistake… Next time… It’ll be her head.”

“There won’t be a next time,” Jason groaned as he got to his feet, looking around at all the destruction, “This is my fault...” He turned to Lance, sighing. “Give me a moment to fix it.”

“Sure thing, demigod.” Lance chuckled, patting Jason on the back. “I think I’ve learned a bit from you. Sometimes, there are times where you will have to be brave, but also bold as well. Go to extremes to protect the people.”

“Omnitrix, Alien X,” Jason commanded, shifting once more. He stood still for several moments, not making a sound. Lance was going to speak, but he thought not to since the thought that came into his mind was that whatever Jason was doing required a LOT of concentration. After all, he was trying to fix an entire city. “Motion carried!” Jason suddenly exclaimed, thrusting his arms out. The world seemed to ripple and before Lance could even blink, the city was normal again, and everyone had been restored, almost as if the whole thing had never happened.

“Holy shit, that was impressive!”

The Omnitrix flashed, returning the jotun to normal, “Well, everything’s... mostly back to normal...”

“Mostly?” Lance asked, a little afraid to know what he meant.

“Well, I had to make a few... concessions to Hodgepodge before he’d agree to fix everything...”

“Who’s he?”

“It’s not important,” Jason said, shaking his head. “Anyway uh... a good portion of the city’s unicorns are now bicorns and most of the earth ponies are now uh... tatzlponies? Whatever the hell that is...”

“Is that what you mean by mostly being back to normal?” Lance asked.

“Yup... Hodgepodge only agreed to fix the city if he got to create two new races of ponies.”

“So should I expect to see ponies with two horns and serpent ponies?”

“Yeah, they’re probably not going to be happy about the sudden race change...”

Lance chuckled a little, pulling something out of his back pocket. “Here, I believe you're going back so let me give you my token.” The Adept gave him his Hairpin token, but Jason was personally surprised to see that he handed him three of them. “For you and your two wives. Best of luck to you man with parenthood.”

“Never read my mind again,” Jason said with a snort, putting them in his cube. “Anyway, I need to get back, things... Things weren’t going well...”

“Okay. I got to get some rest anyways. I’m here on hero business.” Lance smiled. “Oh and do you have a token by any chance?”

“Of course I have a token,” Jason said with a roll of his eyes, tossing him a unitrix core. Lance caught it, adding it to the ones that were already in his possession.

“Thanks man. I wish you a safe trip home.”

Jason nodded, shifting into Hodgepodge. “Oh, hi Lance!” he said with a wave. “Just so you know...” he leaned in close, “You were only supposed to get like two moves from Buu, not his whole move list… miscommunication between authors, I'm afraid.”

“Wait, what-?… Are you… Hodgepodge?” the Adept asked.

“Yup! Now we must be off!” He drew his arm back and punched reality itself, which shattered like glass. “Cya!” he shouted, diving through the hole, which fixed itself a moment later.  





“In total, we lost two thousand ponies and nearly three hundred changelings.” Celestia gazed down at the report, letting out a sigh. After Jason and Eclipse’s sudden departure from the battlefield, the dark elves had retreated, closing their rift behind them. Most troubling however, were the scant reports coming in of Twilight’s death. Though her body had not been recovered, at least not yet, she had gone missing.

“We got lucky.” Chrysalis sighed, looking over at Seabreeze. The tiny fae had been dead to the world since news of the battle had reached Canterlot. He just stared at the wall, his eyes hollow and lifeless.

“How are you holding up?” Celestia asked, casting a concerned look at the Empress, who had come out mostly unscathed. 

“I’ve... been better...” Chrysalis sighed, looking away from the last remaining breezie. “I just hope Jason gets back soon...” 

As if to answer her prayers, Jason tumbled out of a portal, holding his head in pain. “Dash! I need Dash now!”

“Jason! Are you alright, where's Twi-” Chrysalis started before Jason rushed out of the room. She and Celestia shared a look before getting to their hooves, chasing after him. They arrived on the nearest balcony, just as a rift closed. Dash grumbled to herself, casting a glare over her shoulder.

“Rainbow Dash,” Celestia spoke, getting the pegasus’ attention. “Where did Jason go?” 

“Freaking jerk tossed me over the railing and told me to send him to Jotunheim.” Dash adjusted her wings. “The hell crawled up his ass...” 

“If only we knew...” The three of them fell into silence, staring off into the night sky. They didn't notice a portal opening behind them, or the familiar alicorn that stepped out.
> Ahhhh! My Mind!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jason panted softly as he rested against a tree, the pain having subsided by now. He took in the peaceful silence of Jotunheim, glad for once in his life to be alone. He had already tried Gilgamesh and hadn’t gotten a response, and he wasn't about to summon Drake again, so his only hope was Zinnia.

The girl in question dropped into view, falling to her knees as she landed in the snow with her cloak falling around her. Zinnia shivered slightly, looking around before her eyes fell on the exhausted Jotun, then she rushed over to his side.

“Jason, what’s the matter?” she asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. She jumped slightly at how cold he was, so much so that she could still tell in a blizzard. “What’s going on? How can I help?”

“It wants out,” Jason said, looking up at her. “I can’t... it wants out, and it’s going to get out.”

“What wants out?” Zinnia asked. “Is it that thing Hodgepodge told me about, the Orm guy?”

“Yeah... ever since Hughes left I can’t suppress him anymore, and he wants out,” Jason let out a cry of pain, holding his head. “I know... it’s not a dragon, but you’re the only one I could think of...”

“What do you think I can do?” Zinnia shouted, flinging her arms out. “I don’t even have a hold of my powers yet!” A small blue drake fell from within her cloak, causing Jason’s eyes to bug out.

“You brought him!?” Jason demanded, his eyes wide in horror. “You have to get him out of here!”

“I panicked! We were on our way to Canterlot when you called and Whiplash stayed behind!”

“You...” Jason howled in pain before the Omnitrix went off, shifting him into Ormagoden. Orm let out a bloodcurdling roar, his hateful eyes locking on Zinnia.

“Okay, I’m guessing you’re Orm…” Zinnia said, pulling Stryker to her chest and standing up. Orm stood with her, eyes locked with hers. “Can… can you talk?” she asked.

“I am Ormagoden! And I will strip the meat from your bones, you waste of flesh and sperm!” he roared at her, lunging forward to snatch her between his jaws. Zinnia rolled to the side, keeping her eyes trained on the primal beast before her.

“Okay, now the cloak comes off,” Zinnia sated, pulling off her cloak and pinning it around Stryker’s neck before placing the drake in the snow. “Go hide, sweetie. Mommy has to deal with the nasty abomination.”

With that, Zinnia span back around just in time to dodge a swipe from Orm’s claws, bending backwards and spitting an Ember as she did so. The tiny flame burst in Orm’s face, distracting him enough for Zinnia to slip away.

“Okay,” she said to herself, her right hand subconsciously curling into a claw. “Jason said something about a Hughes leaving, so I’m guessing Hughes was the more aggressive personality that kept Orm in line. I need to induce a replacement.”

“I will not be chained again! Not by that whelp! Not by you! Not by anyone!” Orm roared, his body starting to crackle with electricity. He let out a shriek, discharging the electricity in a massive blast. Zinnia braced herself, arms crossed in front of her body. A green dome of light erupted from her core, acting as a barrier and deflecting Orm’s attack skyward where it exploded in a shower of sparks. Orm bellowed in rage, charging the girl. He whirled around, swinging his tail at her, snapping several trees like twigs. Zinnia moved to block, a claw of purple draconic energy encompassing her hand and adding to her strength. She then brought the other hand up, the same energy in that one as she raked the clawed construct across Orm’s chest. They locked eyes once more, and Orm saw that Zinnia’s regular scarlet eyes had shifted to a more draconic nature, her pupils mere slits and the whites of her eyes lined with her veins. Zinnia jumped backwards, hoping to gain some distance. Orm, however, tackled the girl as soon as her feet left the ground, the two of them crashing into the snow with Orm pinning Zinnia down.

“Get off’a me, you freak!” Zinnia Roared, her voice causing Orm to recoil just enough for her to kick him off.

“You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?” he growled, flexing his claws. “I’d be happy to rip them all out!” As the drake said this, he charged at Zinnia, swinging his claws in an upward strike that Zinnia just barely managed to dodge. Orm had, however, caught her shirt with a single claw, and their combined motions resulted in a massive tear right down the middle, exposing her bra.

“Oh, you done fucked up now!” Zinnia shouted, slamming her forehead into Orm’s with a vicious Headbutt. She followed this up by breathing a purple flame at the drake, the Dragon Breath attack dancing over his armour. Orm replied by raising his fists over his head before smashing them down on Zinnia, causing the Draconid to drop to the floor. She rolled out of the way of his foot as he moved to stomp on her head, springing up before throwing a punch directly at the Omnitrix. It sparked a bit, sending a surge of green energy through the lizard. With a pained roar, Orm collapsed onto his side, his body going limp.

“This thing on?” the body spoke, though the voice sounded more playful than furious.

“Hodgepodge?” Zinnia asked, relaxing slightly. Unbeknownst to her, her eyes returned to their regular look. “Oh, you have no idea how good it is to hear your voice!”

“Sorry about all this, we’re trying to straighten things out on our end, this form is more a communal effort than anything else. We’re going to have to give it a new name.”

“How about ‘Fucking Terrifying’? It seems pretty fitting for that beast,” Zinnia grumbled, pulling her torn shirt around herself. “Or maybe ‘Shirt-Ripping Ass’...”

“To be honest, I rather like you without it...”

Zinnia smirked, pulling one side of the tear away teasingly. “Oh really?” she asked, running a hand over her bra-covered breast. “And what if I took this off too?”

“You’d probably freeze, though you’d look good doing it.”

“Huh. You know, the cold isn’t really bothering me.” As she said this, Zinnia removed the tattered remains of her shirt and dropped them in the snow. “Must be the fire in me, keeps me warm.”

Hodgepodge went to speak when the Omnitrix flashed. “Personality instability detected. Analysing existing personalities.” It flashed more quickly for a few seconds. “Required qualities determined. Selecting personality base.” The form selection image appeared on the face of the Omnitrix and quickly flipped through all the scans Jason had acquired, finally stopping on the Plant form. “Personality base determined. Balancing.” The watch chirped before it went off, replacing the hulking reptile with the form of Gram. He sat up, blinking a few times, seeming a bit confused. Zinnia regarded the plant with caution, slowly moving into a battle-ready stance.

“Relax,” he spoke, looking up at her, “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Forgive me for being a tad skeptical after what just happened,” she replied, though she did come out of her stance, moving over to crouch beside him. “Who’re you?”

“I am... Gram.” he said, looking at his hands, “And you’re... Zinnia right?”

“Yeah… is Orm still in there?” she punctuated the question by poking Gram in the forehead.

“Yeah he is, he’s just... quieter now”

“Well, that’s good to hear.” Zinnia stood, placing her hands on the small of her back and bending backwards over them. This had the effect of making her near-bare breasts much more pronounced, causing a blush to form on Gram’s face. “Now, where’s Stryker?” she asked, the drake in question rushing over at the mention of his name, her cloak billowing behind him. The child took one look at Gram and screamed, firing a concentrated vacuum of air at the plant, the Twister attack pulled all snow and dirt in it’s path along with it. Gram’s eyes went wide before he rolled out of the way.

“Okay, baby dragons are dangerous, good to know,” he muttered to himself.

Zinnia grabbed the drake, holding him in front of her. “Stryker, no! Don’t attack Gram, he’s not the bad one!” she scolded, causing the drake to look away, dejected.

“He’s fine,” Gram said, getting to his feet, “He was just trying to protect his ma is all.”

“Yeah…” Zinnia sighed. “He still has to apologise though! Tell mister Gram you’re sorry, Stryker.” With that, she placed the drake down. The drake waddled over, holding his hands together shyly.

“S-sorry, mister,” he said.

A tree fell in the distance. All three heard the impact.

“When did you start speaking, son?” Zinnia asked, kneeling down. She pulled her cloak from the drake’s neck and wrapped it around herself.

“Yesterday!” he replied, waving his arms happily.

“What?” Gram asked, looking utterly lost, “What, is he talking or something?”

“Right, you need to be a Draconid to hear him,” Zinnia muttered, before frowning slightly. “Or whatever reality-warping thing Hodgepodge is… anyway! Gram, this is Stryker, my son. Stryker, this is Gram. He’s a person that lives inside Uncle Jason’s watch.” She then turned to Gram, concern working its way into her features. “So how’s Jay now? He doing any better?”

“I think he’s fine,” Gram said, rubbing his head. “Probably exhausted, but he’s fine. You weren’t hurt were you?” he asked, shifting focus onto her.

“My wrist aches a little from when I blocked him, but otherwise I’m fine.” She then looked down at herself, fluttering her cloak slightly. “Tore my only shirt, though.”

“That's good, I was afraid we had gotten you hurt,” Gram gave her a smile. “Jason wouldn’t have forgiven himself if you had.”

“That guy cares too much.” She dismissed the sentiment with a wave, but the blush rising on her face betrayed her gratitude. “Do you have a way out of here, by the way? I’m guessing Jotunheim isn’t your Equestria’s version of the North Pole.”

“That would be me,” Hel said, having emerged out of the shadows behind Zinnia. She chuckled a little to herself as the woman jumped up, a big smirk on her face.

“I take it you’re Hel, huh?” Zinnia asked, admiring the goddess. She extended a hand, causing her cloak to fall open once more. “I’m Zinnia, and this is my son Stryker. It’s nice to meet another member of the family we placed ourselves in.”

“Another one, Corypheus?” Hel asked, looking to Gram. Zinnia raised a brow in confusion.

“Corypheus? Is that another voice?” Her eyes then widened in horror. “Does he wanna kill me too!?”

“Corypheus is my grandson’s real name,” Hel enlightened, “Most just call him Jason.”

“Oh. Well, that makes me your sort-of granddaughter then, because Jason took my DNA and I made him be my brother.” Zinnia smiled innocently, accentuated by Stryker’s wide, glittering eyes as he clambered onto her shoulder. “And he’s Stryker’s uncle, too, though I guess that would be obvious.”

“Hello, little one,” Hel cooed, kneeling down, looking Stryker in the eyes. “Aren’t you just adorable?” she asked, grabbing him up, cradling him in her arms.

“I’m not adorable, I’m fierce!” Stryker complained, letting out the most adorable attempt at a roar to prove his point.

“Of course you are dear,” she cooed, tickling his stomach gently. Stryker resisted at first, but eventually fell into a fit of giggles.

“Wait, you understand him? I thought only Draconids could hear Dragon-Types talking.” Zinnia asked, a calm smile on her face.

“I’m several million years old, what do you think?” Hel asked, not relenting as she tickled Stryker silly.

“I guess you’ve got a point there, plenty of time to learn all languages in existence right there.” Zinnia looked to Gram, who still sat in the snow. “Hey, you alright there new guy?”

“Hm?” he asked, snapping out of his trance. “Oh yeah I’m fine. It was a pleasure meeting you but Jason’s ready to come out,” Gram said, tapping the Omnitrix and shifting back into Jason. The young Jotun blinked, shaking his head and groaning.

“You feel better now, Jay?” Zinnia asked. Stryker wriggled out of Hel’s grip, sliding down her leg before rushing over to Jason.

“Uncle Jason!” he cried, tackle-hugging the Jotun with very little effect, due to his small size. “You’re okay!”

“Yeah... got one hell of headache but I’m ok,” Jason said, managing a smile for Stryker. “Hey little guy, nice to see you too.” he reached down, petting the little drake’s spines.

“He’s talking now, apparently.” Zinnia said, chuckling. “You may need to switch to talk to him properly.”

“What do you mean, mama?” Stryker asked.

“Uncle Jason is different to me, Stryker.” Zinnia explained, kneeling down. “He’s not a Draconid, which is what I am, so he won’t understand you unless he studies how to talk to your species.”

“I can turn into a Draconid, though.” Jason added, cutting off Stryker’s sadness as soon as he saw the tears forming. “My watch lets me turn into other species, and your Mommy gave me a Draconid.”

“Oh. Do it now, do it now!” Stryker started bouncing in Jason’s lap, the Jotun looking to Zinnia.

“He wants you to show him.” Zinnia giggled.

Jason smiled and nodded, popping the dial up and turning into Catscratch, “See?”’ he asked, looking at Stryker.

“Whoa, that’s so cool!” the drake shouted, dropping into the snow. “I wanna pick one!” He reached for the Omnitrix on his chest, pushing down on it before anyone could stop him. He tapped it, causing Jason to shift into Upchuck. Stryker started giggling, reaching for the Omnitrix again before Jason pushed his hand away gently.

“You gotta be careful, the Omnitrix doesn’t like being messed with.

“This unit would not harm a child,” the Omnitrix chirped at them.

“Well, that's good to know,” Jason said, watching as the Omnitrix timed out.

“Wait, does your Omnitrix have an AI?” Zinnia asked, scratching her head and exposing her breast again. She looked down at Jason’s scowl before chuckling nervously, pulling the cloak around her with a, “Sorry.”

“This unit is self aware,” the watch chirped.

“Oh, cool.” Zinnia nodded before her eyes lit up. “Hey, can you tell me about my powers if you have my DNA?”

“Negative.”

“Oh, that’s a shame,” Zinnia sighed dejectedly, kicking a pebble. “Guess that was a bit of a stretch, eh?” she asked. Stryker moved over and hugged her leg, causing Zinnia to laugh and pick him up. “I can’t get upset about this, it just gives me a challenge!”

“Yes, well, I still need to talk with my grandson,” Hel spoke up, getting their attention, “Something rather important.”

“Is that our cue to leave?” Zinnia asked, ignoring Stryker’s whine. “‘Cause I kinda wanted to meet Jay’s wives.”

“I never said you had to leave,” Hel said, opening up another portal, Chrysalis and Rarity tumbling out of it.

“Oh,” Chrysalis said, helping Rarity to her hooves, “Hello Hel, always nice to see you.”

“Yes, nice,” Rarity grumbled, getting steady on her hooves, placing a hoof on her swollen belly. “Oh my, I didn’t know you had company,” Rarity said, looking at Zinnia.

“Hello, I’m Zinnia, and this is my son Stryker.” Zinnia said, shaking each of their hooves. She didn’t notice the cloak open so that it fell behind her shoulders, exposing her shirtless-ness to the mares. “I assume you’re Jason’s spouses?”

“Yes, I am Chrysalis and this is Rarity,” Chrysalis said, holding Rarity rather protectively, “Now, would someone please explain why we’re here?”

“Well, I kinda said I wanted to meet you two,” Zinnia explained. “But I expected to come to you, not the other way around.” She then turned to Hel, smiling slightly. “So what’d you want to tell Jay that doesn’t need me to leave?”

“This may sound insane, but we’re going extinct,” Hel started, taking a seat, not caring if she didn’t have a chair.

“Extinct!” Zinnia exclaimed, placing Stryker down. “No way, how!?”

“Really?” Jason asked, giving her a flat stare. “Did you just ask how the Jotun are going extinct? We’re dying out! There are four left, including me.”

“S-sorry, I was just shocked.”

“See, the problem is,” Hel started, looking at Rarity and Chrysalis, “Their children aren’t exactly going to be Jotun.”

“Well duh, I could’ve told you that.” Zinnia stated. “I mean, come on! I’m pretty sure you ain’t gonna get an Ice Giant out of a Pony or a… whatever Chrysalis is.”

“I am a changeling,” Chrysalis said with a snort, glaring at her.

“Really?” Zinnia shrugged. “Never met a changeling before.”

“Well, now you have.”

“If we could get back on track,” Hel huffed. “The point is, I’m in no position to have any more children, Terra refuses to remarry and Ib isn’t interested in having kids. Which leaves Jason,” she said, turning to the rather uncomfortable younger Jotun.

“So… Jay needs to pork someone who’s not his wife, huh?” Zinnia asked. “What?” she demanded when the others just looked at her with varying degrees of annoyance, all except Hel.

“You seem like a good candidate.” Hel leaned in close, looking her over, staring into her eyes.

“You want him to do me!?” Zinnia’s shocked look quickly morphed into a lecherous grin. “Well, if the Norse Goddess of Death and the Afterlife demands it…” as she said this, she slipped her shoes and shorts off, now standing in just her underwear. She looked around briefly before picking her discarded clothes up. “Can we go somewhere a little less… arctic?”

“Do we not get a say in this?” Rarity asked, looking at them, a rather angry look on her face. “I mean really, does marriage mean nothing to you people?!”

“Uh... maybe this isn’t a good idea...” Jason said, putting his hands up, “I mean really, this is just the worst idea I’ve heard since Celestia wanted to chuck the sun at Surt...”

“Now that’s just mean, Jay. I mean really,” she ran her hands over her chest. “Who wouldn’t want a piece of this?”

“That's not the point!” he shouted, his face getting rather red.

“This is an easy problem to solve,” Chrysalis said with a purr, “A foursome involving kinky shape shifter sex.” She moved up to Rarity, nibbling on her ear.

“S-stop that!” Rarity stuttered, trying to pull away, only to give into Chrissy’s advances.

“Ooh, me gusta!” Zinnia called, dropping her clothes again and pressing her chest against Jason’s. “Whadda’ya say, Jay? Kinky times?”

Jason looked from face to face before sighing and hanging his head, “Fine.”

“Good!” Chrysalis said before leaning up to Zinnia’s ear, “This is a one time thing. You ever come onto my mate again and I’ll jump rope with your intestines.”

“Ooh, I like you! You’re super kinky!” Zinnia said, pulling the changeling into a kiss.

“Well I’ll leave you four to it,” Hel said sinking into the shadows with a big smirk.

“Wait, I still don’t wanna do it in the snow!” Zinnia shouted, pulling away from Chrysalis, leaving the changeling breathless.

“I must agree with you there,” Rarity said. “As much as I hate to.” she muttered.

“Come on, Utgard isn’t that far away,” Jason said with a sigh, starting to walk away, hands in his pockets, muttering about sex crazed mares.

“Mommy, what’s happening?” Stryker asked, making Zinnia jump.

“Oh, crap!” she shouted, catching Jason’s attention. “Is there any way I can send Stryker home? I can get Whiplash or Sonar to watch him.”

“Not at the moment, the Omnitrix needs to recharge,” Jason said, shaking his head.

“Hmm…” Zinnia rubbed her chin, the brief thought of rubbing something else flashing through her mind. “Would you say Utgard is dangerous?”

“We’re the only ones in the entire realm besides the Windigos.”

“Windigos?” Zinnia’s confusion seemed to upset Chrysalis, if her scowl was anything to go by.

“Do you seriously know nothing about the world you live in!?” she demanded. “And don’t tell me it’s different from this one, there are the same species in them!”

“I’ve been there three days and have met the Princesses, a unicorn, and a pegasus.” she grumbled. “I’ve seen ponies that don’t have a horn or wings, but I’m not sure what they’re called.”

“Those are earth ponies,” Rarity clarified, staying close to Jason for warmth

“Oh, thanks.” Zinnia said. She picked up Stryker, smiling at him. “Anyway, the only other species I’ve met were Pokémon.”

“Well, you need to get out more,” the changeling huffed. “Maybe your version of me could use some help becoming Empress.”

“Yeah...” Zinnia stared into the distance, thinking. “I wonder what you’d look like anthro…”

“Probably just as beautiful,” she said, smiling. Utgard came into view, its imposing size dwarfing them.

> See Ya Later Dragon Lady
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reality seemed to shatter as Patty burst into the world, dressed much more modestly than anyone present was used to seeing her, a suit of black armour covering near every inch of flesh she had, with a blood red tunic beneath. In her arms was a bundle of towels and blankets, braced against her generous bosom as she landed in a crouch in the middle of the room, pieces of air clattering around her like so many shards of broken glass as the barrier between worlds repaired the point at which she had arrived.

“Where the bloody fuck is Jason!?” she screamed desperately, tears streaming down her face and teeth bared.

The changelings on guard jumped to attention, aiming their spears at her. They stared for a moment before Jason teleported in, holding his head.

“She’s gone, isn't she?” Jason asked, tears already sliding down his face. “Answer me dammit!”

“Shut yer hole, Jotun,” Patty spat, standing and striding over to him, revealing her greater physique as she stood easily three heads over him. “I’ve had to restrict my power in here, but we’re all fighting for our lives over there. Only reason she didn’t call you for help is cause she knows it’s one fight she won’t win.” Without a word, Patty held the bundle in her arms out, a small shape beneath the many blankets and towels shifting as quiet whimpers sounded out.

“Take your daughter. Keep her safe.” Jason took the babe quickly, cradling her against his chest. He looked down at her, unable to voice a response. He looked up at Patty, a look of utter despair on his face.

“...I know, Jason…” the taller woman sighed, closing her eyes against the tears that threatened to break through her visage anew. “I… I know. Listen, I can’t help you after this either. Soon as this fight’s over, my mind is going to be wiped, and I’ll be reset.” Pausing, she looked over her shoulder as a dark shape rose from a pouch that had gone unnoticed up till that moment. With fur a deep black-green colour and a crimson feather protruding from its head, the Sneasel looked down at Jason with curious eyes.

“This is Chill,” Patty explained in a monotone as Chill hopped down, padding over to Jason’s side and gazing at the bundle in his arms. “He’s… he’s Rita’s. Showed up on the day she was born… mere minutes before they got to the cave…” Pausing, Patty’s hand flew over her eyes, the woman barely containing the sobs that shook her shoulders.

“I'll remember for all of us,” Jason promised, putting his hand on her arm. “Yggdrasil will remember. I swear to you Patty, they'll never be forgotten.” He looked down at Rita and his gaze hardened. “And I'll take our vengeance.”

“NO!” Patty roared suddenly, eyes wild and burning with an untold fury. “Stay away from the Voidlings, Jason! Nothing in all of Anything can stop them!” Silence fell as Patty stared into Jason’s eyes, chest heaving. “Promise me…” she muttered, turning her gaze to the child. “No… promise her.”

Jason stared back at her, shaking with boiling rage. “I promise Rita, I'll keep you safe.”

Turning away, Patty sighed. “Listen, Jason…” she began, her hair falling over her eyes. “There’s a large chance you might… that she might… well…” Pausing, she took a deep breath before spitting it out. “There’s a chance that she might be Displaced again. And that you’ll meet the… the new one. It’ll be hard, but you have to remember, that won’t be your Zinnia. She won’t know you, or Rita, in the slightest. And any knowledge of her old self might…” She trailed off, unwilling to state what may befall the new cycle.

“I'll always remember, Patty, even if she won't.” He gave her a sad smile. “I won't do anything to put that Zinnia in danger, I swear on my soul.”

“Thank you…” Patty muttered before turning back to Jason. “Can you give Rita to Rares or Chryssi? I… I need to do something with you. In private.”

Jason nodded, passing Rita to the guards. They saluted, leaving the room without question. “What is it Patty?”

Eyes hardening, Patty held out her hand. “Omnitrix. Now.” Jason stared at her before relenting, unlatching the device from his wrist. He held it out, watching her.

Without a word, Patty reached into the Omnitrix itself, sending a surge of electricity down Jason’s arm. Seeming to dig around for a moment, she nodded, pulling out… Hodgepodge.

Jason stumbled back, looking at Hodge with wide eyes. “How the fuck did you do that. Put him back!”

“In a minute,” Patty shot back coldly, waving her hand. “Sleep for a bit.” Jason flipped her off before collapsing like a sack of bricks.

“So...” Hodge looked between the two, a weak smile on his face. Patty looked to him, her eyes cold and empty.

“Hodgepodge,” she said simply, walking over to the chimera of chaos. “I know what Jason said, but… I also know how he thinks. He’s gonna try to help Zinnia somehow and that’s gonna end up with him causing more trouble than he solves. I want you to do everything in your power to stop him if this happens.” Pausing, she glared at Hodgepodge. “And I mean everything. If he turns into you, just sit there and do nothing. If he becomes Alien X, refuse anything he proposes. Hell, if he gets another reality-bending form, just take it over and claim it's for funsies. Just don’t let him do it.”

“I...” Hodge bit his lip, looking down at Jason. “I don't need to promise that. Jason gave his word, he won’t break it.”

“Please, Hodgepodge,” Patty begged, and in her eyes the draconequus could see the absolute terror and sorrow of her soul. “Just… for me. Please.” Hodgepodge’s look softened and he nodded his head.

“I promise, Patty, I’ll stop him.” He solemnly crossed his heart, made small flapping motions with his paw and talon, then covered one eye.

Nodding, Patty leaned forward, pulling Hodgepodge into a long, passionate kiss before whispering in his ear. “...I love you…”

As soon as the words had left her lips, the Void Walker pushed him away, causing the draconequus to stumble and fall back, merging into Jason once more. The Omnitrix chirped with the confirmation that he had once more been “catalogued”.

“He’ll wake up soon enough…” Patty muttered, turning and walking away. “I need to be gone before that… no more goodbyes…”

And with that, she leapt, forcing her way through reality once more and leaving the wound to heal itself behind her.
> 2032
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a cold night when Jeffery’s limo finally pulled into his driveway. Jet lag was currently draining his will to live, as it did every business trip. He bade good night to his chauffeur, making a beeline right for his front door.

His home was rather modest for his work, he didn’t like to draw attention to himself. With a quick turn of the key, he unlocked his door, stepping inside. Immediately, his hopes of going right to sleep were dashed.

Sitting on his couch, sipping at a flask of scotch, was a scruffy looking young man he had never seen before. He wore an old grey hoodie, with a vaguely familiar diamond symbol stitched into it. His pants were just as old, a pair of torn up jeans. His face was hidden behind a modest beard, though Jeffery could make out a scar under his right eye.

“Ah, Mr. Parker, just the man I wanted to see.” The young man sat up, running a hand through his waist long hair. “I was hoping to talk about a few thin-”

“The hell are you doing in my house?” Jeffrey slammed his door shut, his hand already reaching for his phone. He let out a curse, tossing the phone away as it burst into flame. “The fuck?” He felt his heart pumping, staring at the charred device.

“Okay, let's do that again.” Jeffrey returned his attention to the young man, fighting the urge to flee. “My name is Jason Hughes. I apologize for breaking in, but I didn’t think you’d meet with me otherwise.”

Jeffrey studied Jason closely, glancing between him and the phone. “Just tell me what you want, money? I can wire you any amount you want.”

Jason pinched his nose, letting out a long, exasperated sigh. “Look, just sit down will ya?” Jeffrey complied, taking a seat across from his uninvited guest. “Now then, we’ll be discussing one of your older properties, specifically: Friendship is Magic.”

Despite his fear, Jeffrey felt a pang of disgust run through him. This was obviously one of those ‘bronies’ that wouldn’t let the show go. “That show went off the air over a decade ago,” Jeffrey informed, not even trying to hid his sneer. “We’re not going to bring it back, even if you hold me hostage.”

Jason just shrugged, downing the rest of his drink. “Eh, the show was never my thing, got really surreal after a while.” He placed his glass on the table, turning towards the kitchen. “You owe me five bits Chrissy, I told you you got cancelled!”

Jeffrey opened his mouth to ask who else was invading his home, only to emit a string of gibberish. A tall, black horse stepped into view, locking eyes with him. Expect, she wasn’t just a horse. In place of fur, she had shiny black chitin, as well as sickly green eyes, beautiful butterfly wings and a wicked, sharp horn.

“Damn,” she cursed, her voice echoing strangely. “And here I was hoping we’d be something like the Simpsons.” Chrysalis trotted over to Jason, taking a seat next to him. “Anyway, we were so hoping you’d discuss a few plans with us, Mr. Parker.”

“What...?” was Jeffrey’s befuddled reply.

“See, there are a lot of things the world needs to know about.” Jason sat forward, locking his fingers together. “And we need Hasbro to help us get things started. Think you can do that?”

Jeffrey looked between the young man and the living cartoon character. Was he losing his mind? Did Jason drug him somehow? No, he’d done his fair share of drugs before, and this didn’t feel like a trip. And if it was real...

“W-what do you need?”

Jason smirked, pouring himself another glass. “Now, that's a good question.”