> A Forsaken Symbiote > by Brony Parasite > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Old Friends, And New Rage > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 'Curse you pigeons! I'll get you back for that!' I thought as the seventh bird today used me as a toilet. I was currently in a crouched position, in my 'black spider suit' form. So, I don't look scary. 'Ugh, why me?' I mentally cry in my stone prison. I've been in here for god knows how long. My last host is dead, poor thing. And white stuff stuck to me. They didn't even clean me anymore! I thought being with these ponies was going to be cool. Oh, right. My name is- Was, Lee White. I went to Comic Con dressed as Venom, met the Merchant from Resident Evil, and became the Simbiote I pretended to be. Before you ask how I got in here, let me tell you: Not. My. Fault. I just happened to be at the wrong place, at the wrong time. Racist Ponies... I heard the sound of clopping hooves that drew my attention, and six mares came into view. I mentally remember each one as I saw them. The first was a Pegasus that had a blue coat and a messy rainbow mane that seemed brash, the next was another Pegasus with a yellow coat and pink curly mane, she seemed shy, an all pink one that was hopping around happily, one with an orange coat, though her mane was had to see with the Stetson on her head, a white unicorn that had a purple mane, she looked like a snob. But the pony that got a metaphorical smile on my face, was the all purple unicorn that had a baby dragon on her back. Twilight Sparkle. "Why are we here again, Twilight?" The brash one asked. Which I dub Skittles! "Yes, I thought we were hear to help with the Gala?" The snob questioned. Marshmallow! Twilight turned to her friends. "We came here so I could show you girls my favorite statue, 'Black Spider'" Wow... just... wow... Celestia gave THAT much thought into naming me? "Why's it you're favorite statue? Um, if you don't mind me asking..." The shy one whispered. From hence forth, thee ist Scared Cat... Though you probably know that already. "Its okay Fluttershy,"Darn! "When I was a foal, I used to go to the gardens to read, I always came to this statue. I'd tell it about my day like it could hear me! I guess next to Shining and Spike, it was one of my only friend." 'Awww... I like you to Twi!' "Really, Twah?" Said the orange one. Cow-Girl! "Yeah! I spent half my time here. I had some fond moments with this statue..." Twilight began to daydream about some of the wacky stuff she did here. I loved having her here, but as she grew older, she started focusing more of her time studying, and less time hanging in the gardens. She hasn't visited me in over five years. She sighed happily. Then the pink one, which I'll call Pinkie, spoke. "Why's he so white?" 'Ouch.' "Princess Celestia started losing support keeping the statues maintained ever since Discord broke free." Informed Twilight, giving me a sad look. "If you'd ask me, they should all be destroyed!" Marshmallow remarked rudely. "Why? If they ARE alive, then that would be like murder!" Pinkie said. Smart girl! Marshmallow seemed to reeled back from that. Serves her right. Twilight ignored her friends, and called for a couple guards to take me to the train station. Once we got out of the passenger car, I was transported to a tree library. It didn't surprise me, considering there princess controls the sun. They placed me to the side, so I wouldn't get in the way... So, next to the door... When I was set up, Twilight began to clean me... Awkward. But anyway! She and Spike -Who also used talked to me, but a lot less- started doing there own things, but Twilight always took small amounts of time to sit and read to me, or talk about what she's doing. I enjoyed every minuet of it. I've always been the guy thats easy to listen. But all good things come to an end. As night fell. 'She'll be back. I have no doubt...' I thought, trying to comfort myself. I did have doubts, who wouldn't? The night seemed to last an eternity, until I heard the sound of rattling at the door. There was a final click, and the door opened, there stood three ponies. A yellow-green unicorn with a purple eyes, mane and tail. And two Earth Ponies, one brown, with a silver mane, blue eyes, and the other was silver, with a brown mane, and red eyes. "We'll get what we need, and take care of anypony here." The unicorn stallion whispered in the dark to the two earth ponies. If I wasn't in stone I think I'd punch him, with what he said about Twilight, I was furious. How dare they break into Twilights home. How dare they try and steal her things. How DARE they threaten an innocent pony and young Dragon. *Crack* '...What?' *Crack* *Crack* *CRACK* *CRACK* The intruders seem to have heard it to. They look all over the place, until there eyes rest on my freed form. "Okay, two ways out. There's the easy way, you give up and turn yourselves into the authorities. Or, the hard way." For extra effect, I punch my firsts together. They don't seem too scared. The blue eyes pony rushed me with a knife... He jumped on me... Only to be consumed by me. First host in forever! I over powered him easy, and now I look pony. I drop the knife. The other two seem worst for the wear. I wish I had a camera. I double web sling the two remaining baddies, and pull them over to me. "Hard way it is." I said before my teeth popped out of the suit(You know, like the real Venom). I rushed them. {Twilight's POV} I heard a ruckus downstairs and went to investigate... > My New Host > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- {Twilight's POV} I heard a ruckus downstairs and went to investigate... To find everything fine. I sighed. I went back into my room, and got in bed. "What was it Twilight? Something wrong?" Spike asked, half asleep. "No Spike, everything's fine. Besides, what could go wrong in Ponyville." I giggled, turning over to get some sleep. 'What could go wrong...' ----------- {Lee's POV} I finished the two intruders, and jumped off the last one kicking him in the head. I was about to take them to the authorities. When my spider sense told me someone was coming... I guess... I throw each one up, and proceeded to web them to the ceiling. I also webbed there mouths, so they didn't groan too loud. Then I jumped where my statue was, and hoped that she was too tired to notice my color. Twilight came into view. She did a quick once over, then went back to what I assume is her bedroom... Huh... I waited a little bit before moving, once I was sure she'd be in bed, I grab the three webbed-up ponies. I carried two of them in one arm, and that unicorn in the other. I then used my web on the doorknob, twisted my wrist just the right way to open the wooden obstacle. I walked out of the library. The town was darker then I expected, just barely any light from the street lamps illuminated the area I was in. Must be nice. I set out to find the police station so I could go about my day- er, night... 'Wait... Where's the police station? Do they even have one?' I pondered these questions as I webbed the nearest building and pulled. I then jumped from building to building as I looked. -------------- Nope... Nopenopenopenopenope... NOPE!!! No darn police department! No wonder this guys came here... I had to drag them up to Frickin' Canterlot and drop them at the barracks... THE BARRACKS!!!!!!!! Do you know how far that is? Let me give you a hint. Up the mountain, and behind the castle... Ugh... I finished cleaning up and went to my secret lair... in the Castle of the two sisters... What. One of my hosts helped build the place, she practically designed the place... 'Wait, if she made the blueprints, doesn't that mean she DID design the place? Then why wasn't she credited!?' I was so distracted, I almost forgot to find a host. I zipped back to Golden Oaks(I read the sign, I'm not stupid), and went in. She was the most powerful Unicorn of her time, I felt it. Like my spider-sense, I feel magic. So when I felt the magic of the filly(Eww, I would never), I knew she was. I stood outside her window and peered in. Twilight was still asleep, so it was my chance. I turned to liquid form and slid into the room. I looked over unconscious form, she was so peaceful, so calm, so innocent, so. Cute... 'And so vulnerable.' Shaking my head of that last thought, I slithered onto her. Her eyes opened when I was almost done. she tried to scream, to struggle, but I covered her before she could try and stop me. "Sleep..." I whisper in her mind. And she fell into blissful dreams. I know, I'm in her head. Looks like I found my new host. I get out of bed and head back to the window and open it up. I jump on the sill and shoot a web to a random building, I jump. 'I forgot why I loved web-slinging!' Took me an hour, most of my energy and Twilight's, but I finally got to the castle. I totted inside to set up shop, I first found the secret entrance to my home. It was a large barren room, with old markings on the floor. I looked for a way to see. 'Wait...' I blink, and see everything as if it where day. Pretty much the same thing, only a bed in one corner, and a small bookshelf in the other... And everything's COVERED in dust. I trot over to the bookshelf. Most of the things on it where books, but there where a couple of oddity's: a music box, a purple gemstone, a pony skull(No idea how that got there), an old jar containing the remains of an experiment, and a box of purple, red, and white chalk. I look for something specific. Once I found it, I took out an old tome I was glad survived. I jump on the bed(after brushing off most of the dust), and read the title: Sacrifice Magic: A Beginners Guide. That may have been the title, but the magic wasn't bad... if you have regenerating abilities. The spells cost an arm or a leg, but I can spar a few. What, did you think I'd hurt anypony? 'Still don't like saying it.' I open the first page and begin reading, wondering what I forgot... > Its A Girl! > --------------------------------------------------------------------------         {Third POV}         Lee had finished the fifth chapter of the tome, when he heard a hollow laugh.         “The heck?” Asked, his and Twilight’s voices in sync.         The Symbiote jumped off the bed and wandered to the sound. He trotted out of the room, to find a floating pony shadow in a cloak.         “I’m gonna need better webs for this…” Him and the sleeping pony murmured.         Lee kept to the dark parts of the castle, but yellow eyes shot him a glare.         “Crud…”         {Somewhere In The Castle} There was a light thud, followed by a groan as a young woman appeared from nowhere. "Satané, that stings," she moaned, using the nearby wall to stand. Rubbing her head, she looked around. It was very familiar surroundings. "Well, in the Castle of the Two Sisters this time, eh?" She shrugged. "Could be worse, I suppose. Might as well take a look around. What's the worst that could happen?" She stopped midstride after those words left her mouth. "Merde, I hope I didn't just jinx myself there." With that thought, the woman proceeded deeper into the ancient castle.         “WHAT THE!?” The sound of Lee being slapped around could be heard.         “You… DIE!!!” Yelled the Shadow.         “What did I do to you!”         There was a crash, followed by the black suited Twilight flying towards the woman.         "Woah!" she yelled, catching them and bracing herself from getting slammed. "Whew, that could have really been bad," the woman joked.         The symbiote looked at the woman with surprise, “W-what?” They spoke.         The Shadow looked to them in weak interest.         “If you help the beast, then you are an… Enemy.” "Oh, va au diable," the woman swore at the shadow. She looked at the pony in her arms with a small smirk. "So what're you supposed to be? Spider-mare?"         Lee’s eyes widened, then he mumbled that he wasn’t a mare, then he jumped out of her arms, “If you have to know, I’m Venom.”         The shadow tried shooting at the two, but Lee webbed the ceiling, and the woman, then proceeded to pull them both up. "Holy!" she shouted in surprise at being yanked up. "Warn me next time!" “There wasn’t any time! Who are you anyway!” The two voices asked, holding onto the ceiling. "Name's Kat. You?" “Lee. Or Venom if you prefer.” "Why do you sound like Twilight?" Kat asked. Lee paused, there was no memory of this ‘Kat’. Heck, there wasn't any human related things in Twilights mind. “Uhh… I- um...” Lee was cut off by the Shadow. It cackled, “Time to see your fears.” "Been there, done that," Kat said with a quirky smile. "Got anything original? Because, I mean, come on! A shadow creature showing others their worst fears? It's been so overdone, darling." Lee snickered at her comment. “So true…” Lee rolled his eyes. The Shadow sighed. “You want original? I’ll give you...original.” The Shadow’s eyes turned white. It’s body began to warp, and distort, a second him appeared, and did the same thing. One began to take a human form, while the other took a more pony form. After a couple seconds, the process was complete. In front of Lee and Kat, were two exact copies. Lee’s mask did the equivalent of raising an eyebrow, “What in the name of sanity?” "I don't like where this story's going," Kat muttered, worry lining her voice. The Shadow talked throw the two clones, “Is THIS original for you?” "Little better," Kat admitted. Lee looked at Kat with surprise. The Shadow smirked with both of the doubles, then the Kat clone raised its hand, and two more of each was created. “Thank you for the help… girl.” The other Kat said with her voice.  The first Kat clone jumped high, and slammed in front of Lee, then a shriek from its throat blasted at Lee. The symbiote yelled in pain, and jumped off of Twilight, leaving her unconscious on the floor, while Lee was as far away from the clone as possible. Kat looked between Venom and Twilight for a moment. "...We're gonna talk about this later," she told him. "But first!" She moved quickly and slammed her fist into the clone, blasting it into the far wall. "Need to take care of these things!" The other clones ran at Kat while Venom jumped on Twilight once more. The first Venom clone tried to punch Kat. She spun on her heel, ducking below the Venom clone before slamming her knee into its stomach. Venom winced, he didn’t want that to- wait, he was a parasite, it would hurt Twilight… All the more reason not to make her mad. The second Kat clone tried jumping Kat, but Venom used his webs to pull the fate closer to him, before summoning the weapon that brought him to this world. The Black Scythe. It appeared out of nowhere, and into his(or Twilight’s) mouth, and he cut the female Shadow mimic in half, making it go to the three remaining clones. "Ooh, shiny," Kat smirked as she slammed a Venom's head to the floor. She curb stomped the clone out of existence a moment later. "Now start swinging so we can get out this mess." Venom remembered the tome back at his place. “I’ve got an idea!” Lee jumped off of Twilight, turning his form into a more human-like appearance. He was slightly taller than Kat, and held the Scythe in his right hand. The Scythe vanished, and picked up the purple unicorn in one arm. He held out his hand to Kat. "Whatever you're planning better work," Kat told him, taking his hand. "I'm trusting you. Don't screw up." Lee smiled, not that she could see because he had no mouth. He tossed her onto his back, held Twilight close. Lee shot a web at the other end of the hall, then pulled himself, the human Kat, and the bundle of fluff that was his host towards the room he called home. The shadow followed them as they swung from web to web. “You are both… Cowards!” The Shadow yelled at them as they escaped. “I wonder why he talks so weird?” Lee asked as he set Kat down outside of the exposed secret room. "Probably a ghost thing," Kat said, looking a little woozy. "Woah, if I had known that was your plan, I probably would have just flown." Lee started at her. “You can what?” Wordlessly, she floated up into the air, stretching her limbs. Lee sighed, “Whatever… that wasn't my plan, this was.” He gestured to an old book sitting on a bed. "A book?" Kat deadpanned. "Your plan is a book?" Lee put a hand over where his heart would be in mock hurt, “That was uncalled for… It's a magic book, one I can use.” He walked over to the bed and set Twilight down. He picked up the book, and opened it. "You can use magic?" Kat asked, both suspicious and surprised. “Kinda, I obtain the abilities of all my hosts, but magic is… difficult using, to say the least.” Lee explained, still looking through the large spellbook. "Oh," she replied simply. There was a silence for a moment. "So... you're not evil, right?" “No, I just can’t survive without a host for too long. I don’t want to die, and I don’t want Celestia to turn my into a statue… again…” Lee replied, “So what about you? Care to tell me anything yourself?” "So you were stoned too, eh?" She quipped leaning against the wall. "Seems to be the common trope for us." “Us? There's more!?” Asked Lee in excitement. "Oh yeah," Kat nodded. "We're all over the place, have been for a long time. Thousands, enfer, tens of thousands of years. Displace pop up pretty much everywhere." “Where are they?” "Different Equestrias," she shrugged. "Haven't ya ever heard of the Multiverse?" “I thought that was some sort of fictional thing… but we ARE in a land a talking racist ponies ruled by a sun deity. So how’d you get here?” Lee went back to reading, but still paying attention to Kat. "You mean your universe here or how I was Displaced?" “My universe… but also how you were… ‘Displaced’...” Lee clarified, playing with the new word. "I came here by a random act of chance. Being Displaced, well I bought a cat from the Merchant." Lee’s eyes widened, “The Merchant!? He sold me the Scythe!” He demonstrated by summoning the Black weapon that brought him here. “You mean every other ‘Displaced’ was sent here because of him?” "Well, not only him. There are others, but the Merchant holds the record for the most Displaced." Lee growled. Glaring at the black farm tool in his hand. Lee shook his head to clear it and continued looking through the tome. “So why were you turned to stone?” Lee asked, wanting to change topic. "Almost ripped the world apart in a psychotic rage," she answered nonchalantly. “HAH! I was stoned because I saved a royal guard from an Ursa Major.” Lee chuckled, thinking of Celestia’s face when she saw him holding the unconscious guard. Ah, what he would give to have not been there. "Tia can overreact when she sees something odd," Kat giggled. Lee chuckled darkly. “It was the gloating afterwards that got my spirit crushed...” Lee stared into space. Kat winced. "Ouch. This seems like the kinda Tia you want to keep away from until you can build up relations." Lee smiled, “That's why I took Twilight as a host, to make sure the elements won't be used against me.” Lee turned the page and found what he was looking for, “There we go, ‘Fire Defense’!” Lee read. "Fire? You sure that'll work?" “Its just to draw it out, its a Shadow, all it wants is light. So we make it come to use. I studied shadow ponies before I was turned to stone. Once its near, I’ll make a dark capture seal, with that, It’ll be trapped in a dark realm for eternity.” Lee explained. "Alright, how do we begin?" Lee took a box of chalk out of his bookshelf, “With these.” Lee set them on the floor, and pulled out one of each. A red, white, and purple peace. He began to draw circular symbols. Kat watched from the bed, stroking the sleeping Twilight. "Is there anything I can do to help?" Lee slapped himself, “Of course, the fire seal will attack anything unless its blood is transferred into it before the sell is on it. Would you get yours and Twilights blood? Not too much, just a bit. I think I have an old needle in the medicine box over on the wall.” He pointed to the wall, almost done using the white and purple chalk. Kat didn't get up, instead her hand began to glow. She bit off a small bit of her thumb, letting it bleed. Kat noticed a small cut on Twilight's side from when she unconsciously fell to the floor and small blobs of blood began to float from it and Kat's own wound. "Will this do?" she asked, presenting the two blood orbs. “Oh, I didn’t even notice that… I’ll heal her after we're  done. And yes, it’ll do nicely.” Lee finished the white symbols. “Now, keep them there while I finish the seals.” Once he was done with the red one, he proceeded to use his Scythe to cut his index finger off, “Ahh!” He hissed in pain. Kat saw the severed limb with wide eyes. "Uhh... ow?" She said dumbly. “Put the blood in.” Lee told Kat through gritted teeth. She did as told, though still looking a bit confused. Lee put his other hand on the symbol, the seal glowed, and continued to glow until fire burst out. Lee walked over to the other one, and instead of cutting another finger off, he cut the other ARM off. He screamed in pain, and Twilight stirred, but did not wake. Lee then put the only remaining arm on the symbol. "It really takes all this for a spell?" Kat asked, uncertain about the symbiote's plan. “I’ll regrow them once I refuse with Twilight. I’m a blob of goo, and this is sacrifice magic. I said I could use magic, but my magic comes with a price… One that I don’t actually need to pay… it just REALLY hurts.” Lee panted, “Go find him, and tell him where we are. I’ll handle the getting him in here…” "Alright," Kat said, floating to her feet. She ran out the door and little way into the halls. "Oi! Shadow pony... creature.... thing! We're down here! Come get us ya putain de salope!" The Shadow Pony appeared at the other side of where she was, “What did the ape call… me?” "You heard me! ...even if it was only in French... I need to rethink my insults." The shadow raised an eyebrow, “French? I have no idea what that... is.” Kat deadpanned. "Prench, I cursed at you in Prench. Better?" “What's that!?” Lee yelled out his question. “Wait, you think that there's a pony version of French!? Funny…” "Well there is on most other worlds!" She snapped back. Lee stayed quiet, while the Shadow Pony rushed at her. “GET IN HERE!!!” Lee yelled. "Imma comin!" She did a quick one-eighty and rushed back into the room. The Shadow Pony flew into the room, but as he entered, the fire blasted him. He began drawing closer to the source, until he was right above the purple and white seal. Lee moved his remaining arm away from the seal, and a black hand came out of the symbols. It grabbed the Shadow Pony, who screamed like two year old. The hand went down with the shadow until both the hand, and the shadow where gone. “Well…” Lee stood up and walked over to Twilight and bonded to her once more, “I’m hungry, you?” "I could eat," Kat shrugged. "What did you have in mind?" “I know this great Griffon restaurant, Grey’s And Lan’s Meat Palace… Its the only place open… But I think Sugarcube Corner would be too. Both lights were on.” Lee suggested. Kat thought on it for a moment. "Let's go to Sugarcube. Just give me a moment to change." “I’ll do that too.” Lee said, changing the form of his black suit into the dress that looked like the one Rarity made for the Gala, but black and white instead of the usual blue. “Huh, I don’t even want to know why Twilight’s dreaming about this…” Twilight’s eyes opened as if she were awake. Kat pulled out an odd badge and pressed on it before attaching it to her jacket. There was a green flash, blinding Lee for a moment. When his sight returned, a golden furred earth pony was standing in Kat's place. "This will do nicely," she spoke with Kat's voice. “Hm… What's your pony name? If Twilight’s memory serves me right, then Pinkie will want to meet you.” "Pony name?" Kat asked, confused. “Um… Never mind, your name will do.” Lee said with Twilight’s voice, “Let’s go!” The two arrived at Sugarcube Corner in under a minute. Inside it was pretty much the pastry shop. Mrs. Cake called, “Oh! Hello Twilight. Who's this?” “Um… This is Kat, I’m treating her to dinner!” Lee exclaimed. “Okay, is she staying?” “No, she just came to visit.” “I understand, what would you like dear?” Mrs. Cake asked. "Whatever you recommend, Mrs. Cake," Kat said with a smile. "I'm not all that picky." “That would be one of Pinkie’s Cupcakes. I think we have a batch out. There choclate.” Mrs. Cake said in her motherly voice. “And you?” She turned to ‘Twilight’. “I’ll have the usual. A Strawberry Shortcake!” Twilight beamed. "Sounds fattening," Kat smirked. "You should be careful of your figure, Twilight." Lee murmured something about being starving and that he hasn’t eaten in a thousand years. Mrs. Cake giggled, she trotted out of view to get there orders in. The two Displaced took the nearest seat, sitting on opposite ends of the booth. "So..." Kat prodded. "I'm guessing you have question, hmm?" “Yeah, first, who are you supposed to be?” Lee asked. "Originally, I was dressed as Kat, the protagonist from Gravity Rush. But I felt a change of style was needed." “Okay…” Lee thought about the next thing to ask. “So, once you leave, I wont be seeing you again, will I?” “Not necessarily,” Kat said, taking out a shiny, black diamond and pushing it towards ‘Twilight’. “This is my totem, basically a Displaced calling card. By using this, you can contact me whenever you need. Whether it be for a good, ol’ fashioned beatdown or you just need somepony to talk with. I’m always just a phone call away.” ‘Twilight’ smiled, taking the totem in his/her magic. “Next, how do I make one myself?” “It’s fairly simple,” she explained. “A totem, or token depending on who you talk to, is supposed to be something that gives other Displaced an idea about the type of person you are. As you can see, mine is a black crystal, due to my affinity for making gems with my powers. It also contains a message to others, detailing how I can help. All you have to do is to pick something that resembles you, input your message, and the Void will take care of the rest.” “Okay…” Venom looked around. Nobody watching. Lee jumped off of Twilight, turning back to the somewhat human form, and sat down cross legged. He did a simple seal, and sacrificed his pinky finger. Hissing quietly, he used the seal to create a necklace with a white and black Scythe on it. “Is there anything else I need?” “A message input usually helps. Just to let them know who you are and what you could offer them,” Kat replied. Lee thought for a second, then it hit him. “I’m Lee Connors, or if you’d like, Venom. If you need a mostly-friendly superhero to help you save the day, then I’m here. I’ll help when you need me.” Lee finished, and looked at Kate. “How do I send?” “Let me help.” Making sure nopony was still looking, Kat proceeded to put her hoof on the middle of the table. Under her hoof, a swirling portal opened in the table. “Just drop that in there and the Void will distribute it.” Lee jumped back onto Twilight, and dropped the new totem into the Void, and turned back into the dress. “I’ll give you yours after dinner.” ‘Twilight’ smiled. Just then, Mr. Cake came out of the kitchen with their orders, he looked a little disheveled. “Here is your order Twilight…” He said, dropping off the tray of goods on the table and quickly left. “Um… That was… Weird…” Lee commented. “Either Pinkie is up to something, or the twins must be proving to be a problem,” Kat said, taking a small bite of her cupcakes. “Who? What twins?” “Oh, has that not happened yet? Oh well, wibbly wobbly timey wimey. Don’t worry about it then.” Lee was confused. Twin? And was that a Doctor Who reference? ‘Twilight’ sighed… wait… twins… exhausted Mr. Cake… Lee lost his appetite. “I think I know when these ‘twins’ come in.” ‘Twilight said, holding in whatever was in her stomach. “Are you alright?” Kat asked. “You don’t look so good.” “I’ll be fine…” Lee got Twilight’s stomach under control. “So, how are your Elements of Harmony like?” Twilight began eating her own food. The two finished eating, and went back to the castle. “So… This is it.” Lee stated. Kat smiled. “It’s not a ‘goodbye’, Lee,” she giggled. “We can see each other again anytime. It’s just a ‘see ya later’.” Lee smiled sadly, “You kinda remind me of my little sister.” He jumped off Twilight, fully restored. “Oh! I almost forgot.” Lee went into the room, grabbed two pieces of Magic chalk. One red, and one white. He drew a different seal with both. “Hey, you wouldn't happen to know anything to make this one painless, would ya?” "I do have healing crystals that can restore immediately, but I don't think it'll remove the immediate pain." “Thanks, I could still use that.”  Kat opened a portal and took out a green crystal. "Just break it and, boom!, instantly healed." Lee took it, and held it under his neck. He cut his left arm off, grabbed the crystal with his remaining arm, and broke it, spreading green dust that absorbed into Lee, healing his arm. The old arm landed on the seal, dissolving at the touch. Lee slammed into the seal, “What color do you want?” "Red?" Kat said, a little confused as to what was happening. Lee smiled. “Well, say hello to your new friend…” Lee pulled his hand back. In the middle of the now powerless seal, was a baby symbiote of red color. “...Or whatever you want her to be to you… oh, and its a girl!” The black symbiote held the infant in his arms. “You wanna name her? Or shall I?” Lee teased. Kat was staring agape, her mouth opening and closing in shock. She couldn't even form any words. Her mind had taken a vacation. “Huh… I’ll get back to you in a bit.” He said, webbing Twilight onto the bed. “She won't be a baby for long, but she will be like a child for a while. And she will be able to do more than me! But less powerful. You’ll also have to either be the host, without her overpowering you. Her host will not be able to wear her though. You should either be the host, or use one of your crystals to house her. Listen to me, I sound like a mother telling a new babysitter how to do there job. Oh, and she’s also my totem for you. Got that?” Lee rambled. After a few moments, Kat slowly nodded. “Uh… huh…” “Now, what ya gonna name’ er?” Lee looked at Kat with sad eyes. “I’m sorry if I’m giving you a bit too much. She won't be much of a burden, I swear.” He gave her what looked like a smile. “I won’t force you, it’s your choice.” He said. Kat finally shook herself from her daze, going so far as to slap herself with her hoof. “Okay… okay, I’m better now.” She looked at Venom. “It’s not that I don’t want her, it just kinda came out of nowhere. I just was caught off guard and… and I sound like a teenage boy being told his girlfriend is pregnant with his child… now this feels really awkward.” Lee blushed, “I’m not your girlfriend, and I didn’t get pregnant, I used a spell.” Lee looked at the sleeping form in his arms, “Maybe I should have told you… but, its too late, I messed up.” “...that sounds like the excuse you give for not taking birth control,” Kat commented. “Shut up! That's rude!” Lee growled, blushing. “Look, are you going to take her, leave her, or keep talking about childbirth?” “Alright, alright!” Kat said, giggling away her earlier shock. “I’ll take her; she was made for me after all. Hmm, but a name… well, it should go along with Venom, just due to it--her! I said her! So… how about… ooh! Cancer! That’s a pretty name… ugly subject, but still a pretty name.” “Cool, Cancer it is!” Lee announced. Lee gave Kat, Cancer, and backed away. Kat poked at her new symbiote, hoping that something would happen. “Is… is there a way for her to just latch on to me or…?” Lee walked back over to them. He touched Cancer on the forehead, and she latched onto Kat’s arm, but wasn’t long enough to go all over her body. “She’ll be able to talk to you mentally once she learns to talk. But here’s the catch.” Lee leaned closer to Kat, “All she can do is turn into a blade, heal wounds, and turn invisible. She will learn as she grows.” “So… like a blade arm?” Kat asked. “Yeah, and any other kind of sharp weapon… As long as its as long as her.” “Is she too young to be a full length sword?” “She can be one, but not for too long. She’s still a baby, so she needs a host more than me.” Lee folded his arms, “But keep her away from high frequency soundwaves.” “I’ll do my best to keep her safe… by the way, did you mean she turns invisible or that she can also make her host invisible?” “When she needs to, she has camouflage, to keep her safe from prying eyes. I don’t have it, but most symbiote’s do.” Lee explained. He looked to the window. “Crap, Twilight’s exhausted and I need to get her home.” “That was all my questions,” Kat said, noting that Cancer had receded into her jacket and had settled on her back. “Thank you for this gift, Lee. I’ll treasure her always.” She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Lee blushed, “I-I’ll s-s-see you later Kat!” He waved after picking up Twilight. He webbed to the corner of the room. “I can’t wait to help you in the future!” He yelled, leaving as fast as he could. Kat giggled, smiling. “Ah, boys. So easy to startle ‘em.” Her symbiote shuddered on her back. “You’ll learn someday to, Cannie. Hmm… Cannie… Eh, it’ll work for now.” She opened up a portal and started walking through. “I hope he does well, who knows when we’ll need his help. Welp… allons-y!” And like that, she was gone. {Lee’s POV} ‘Like my sister...’ I thought, hoping them well. ‘See you later, Cancer.’ > Spidermen Part 1: Your A Klyntar > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- {Third POV} Lee had decided not to take Twilight back home, he still had to take care of that Shadow Pony the that seal. He wondered how he would take care of it. He then heard a ‘whooshing’ sound, followed by a clatter. The symbiote looked to see some kind of a black flip phone hit the floor it had the venom emblem on it. “What?” Lee asked dumbly. He webbed the phone into his hand, “Another Displaced? I wake up, and already I find another token.” Lee looked over the phone to find the massage. The message said,"...Hi listener I'm Jeffery the Spider man. If you need a friend, some help in a fight, just someone to talk to, hell a person to relate to use on speed dial 1 and I might pick up...ok where is off button on this...ah there." Lee’s eyes widened. He quickly dialed one, and waited... In another end of the multiverse about the same time frame as earlier. Jeffery the Spiderman is working on upgrading his web shooter for elemental webs. Since the gems in this world can give special properties to the webs. Jeffery as he worked on his web shooters for a freezing effect said, "I wonder if that phone has gotten anywhere, if so then I hope that Doc Ock hasn't found it." As the spider powered human said that he feels his phone vibrate in my belt so he answer it. "Hello...." said Jeffery still in costume as he is pulled to a different world. As he is pull the thought happens to him, 'Oh my spider powers I'm being pulled to battle world.' Another black spider-dressed humanoid with the phone. Lee dropped the token, and looked to the almost identical Displaced in front of him. Jeffery then jumped in shock seeing what looks to be an identical being to himself. “... I’m gonna need to sit down…” Lee flopped on his butt. Jeffery said, "I second that notion" he then makes a web chair and sits in it. After catching his thoughts, breath, and head. He sighed, “You must be Jeffery.” Before they could continue, the seal on the floor began to glow, and out came the Shadow Pony… Again… The Shadow pony looked at the two Spidermen, and flew as fast as it could to get away from them. Lee ignored him, choosing to focus on the second spider. Jeffrey reacted by dodging and webbing it up with a normal web set. Then said, "I love my spider powers. Now Mr. Copycat may I ask are you a Klyntar?" “Um, what?” Lee tilted his head. Jeffery responded with, "A Klyntar is a symbiotic organism from marvel universe. The famous ones are Venom, Anti Venom who is not a true Symbiote, Carnage, Scream, Hybrid, Toxin. Venom is the oldest and the Father to Carnage, Hybrid who was a mix of the life foundation team, Scream who is one of them that wasn't killed and mixed into the being known as Hybrid, and Grand Father to Toxin. That assure it?" Lee face palmed, “Oh! I know that, I just forgot about that name. Yeah, I am one.” Jeffery asked, "So you the One known as Venom? Or are you just a different Klyntar that came here?" “Oh, I’m Venom alright, but you can call me Lee.” Lee looked where the shadow was, “Your webs fail you, look.” Jeffery looked "Oh, well that is interesting. So you get tricked by the Merchant?" Lee nodded, “I think most Displaced are…” Lee turned to the seal. “Now, how did that moron get out?” "Maybe when I entered your respective reality I caused your seal to become unstable, due to the most likely alien magic that is on my body. That magic could have reacted with yours bringing it to that unstable point." Answered Jeffery “Oh, come on! I cut my arm off to get him in there!” Jeffery asked, "What do you mean?" He was interested. “This… dimension has a special kind of magic. Its hard to explain, but here's the jist, I sacrifice a part of my body, and creates the magic that goes into the symbols.” Lee pointed at the dead seal that used to have the shadow pony in it. “Depending on how powerful the seal is, determines how much to sacrifice. Heck, it was so diverse that even earth ponies could use it.” Jeffery said, "Cool, do you have a host right now? Since you would need one to help your healing abilities." Smiling under his mask since the conversation is rather interesting. “Yeah, she’s sleeping over there.” Lee gestured to Twilight. Jeffery said, "Cool you have bonded or at least taken as your host Twilight. Me I haven't met the mane six yet, since old sunny eyed racist unforgiving bitch Celestia turned me to stone for not saving the crystal empire from Sombra. Ok I did beat him, but he made the empire disappear." “Let’s see. Your Celestia’s racist, mine is too. She turned me to stone because I was saving lives.” Lee scoffed, “Uh… Mane Six? You mean the New Elements of Harmony?” "If that is Pinkie Pie, Twilight, Rarity aka the baby dragon slave driver, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy then yes I am. Luna in my world was not for my being stoned and hell, I can safely say she is one of my best friends." Jeffery commented. Lee chose to ignore what Jeffery said, instead, he walked over to the bed and picked up the book. “This is the second time I’ve had to take care of him tonight, and I’m already tired…” Lee grumbled. Jeffery said, "Wait get some sleep first then do the magic. Its better quality and safer to do magic when you're not tired or impaired too much." He was at this point just being nice as it was most likely his fault for the seal failed. “Yeah, I could use some sleep… Besides, the Shadow can’t exist in the day…” Lee explained, shaking his head to keep him awake. “But I need to take care of Twilight… and I need a host to sleep.” Jeffery said, "Since Twilight is out of commission you could use me for the host." He offered nicely. Lee would have smiled if he could, “Thank you, it would only take a couple hours. Ready?” Jeffery nods and said, "Yes, I am ready." “You will be in control, be careful, it could be a bit much.” Lee then jumped on Jeffery. The feeling was different than Jeffery’s suit, he even felt more stronger. ‘Night...’ Lee whispered before falling partly asleep. Jeffery relaxes and starts to do basic combat training keeping calm. He decided not to test his limits as not to cause Lee any unneeded stress or strain. About an hour or two later, Jeffery heard moaning for Lee’s room, Twilight was stirred. Jeffery then heads to Lee's room to see Twilight and at least fake like he is Lee. Lee woke up instantly, ‘Nononono! I haven't told her about my existence yet!’ Jeffery stops and heads back to where he was he then chuckles and thought ‘Ok ok I will not tell her about you yet.’ ‘Don’t even let her see you, I don’t want her to freak out, just let her rest and go somewhere else!’ Jeffery then jumps and sticks to the ceiling to keep stealth and sneaks quietly to a different location. Lee once again rested, ‘I’m never fully asleep, I just rest and daydream. Its very depressing.’ Jeffery nods and is breathing quietly trying not to get caught by Twilight. They get to the old throne room, having not been caught by the lavender unicorn. Jeffery relaxes when they get there. He then sits in the chair and feels a bit like a king. Lee chuckles, ‘If only Celly knew I was here. Then she’d storm the castle!’ Jeffery thought, 'My Celestia would do that too, she would probably get into full armor...that is if her fat ass can fit in the armor from all the cake she eats.' Lee mentally laughed, ‘Oh god… She has been looking a bit chubby, but give her a bit of credit, she got you and me… So she probably made armor for her cake diet!’ Jeffery nods and is holding in his laughter, 'She probably did just encase I got free.' ‘No, she probably did it so she could show off, she uses the… Mane Six, as you put it. She just throws her problems under the rug out of laziness...’ Lee mused. 'That is true, she does throws her problems at Twilight and her friend like a proverbial dart board' Jeffery thought. ‘Hey, wonder what the chances are that two black suited spidermen meet up?’ Jeffery answered in his thought, '0.00000792 to 2.9 billion’ ‘Why don’t you sleep? I'll rest easier not talking… No offence...’ Jeffery didn't answer since he closed his eyes to sleep. “Hey, Jeff~ Hello~” Lee tried. Jeffery wakes up easily, standing in front is the humanoid symbiote known as Lee, or Venom. “Its night fall. Now or never!” Jeffery said, "For what?" To which Lee face palmed. “The Shadow? Oh, and Twilight left.” Jeffery said, "I'm up what do you need help with if anything?" Lee nodded, “First, I searched through your memory’s and saw something about your web-shooters. What can they do?” "They can with the help of gems can give the webs special attributes. Like a special fire rube fragment can give a fire effect, a sapphire can cause ice effects, and so on and so forth with each elemental gem." Answered the black spandex clad spiderman. “What about a black crystal that's also a token?” Jeffery said, "A token?" He tilts his head confused. “A summoning object, like that flip phone I got.” Explained Lee. Jeffery said, "Well it could easily open a portal to that persons universe or summon that person much like I was threw the phone call I answered to come here." “What if I changed it so a different universe would be connected to it?” Lee asked, walking back to his ‘secret’ room. "Well it could open a new portal to that world and two of the same type of crystal in a two different universe could be used like a doorway that is much like the mirror for the equestria girls movie" Said Jeffery “I understood about most of that, so would he be a threat?” "Well if his intentions are ill then yes. If not then no he wouldn't be a threat. It all depends on morality" said Jeffery relaxing. “He’s evil, so… He’ll be no harm?” Jeffery said, "He could be harmful to people." “Okay, I’ll come to that bridge when I get there.” Lee’s eyes narrowed. They arrived at Lee’s home, and Lee started reading his book again. “Oh, I forgot to give you my totem/token!” Lee pulled a black necklace with a black and white scythe on it, he presented the token to Jeffery. Jeffery then takes it and puts it into his belt pouch. "Thanks" “No problem.” Lee continued reading until he found the spell he needed, he used red and purple chalk, then placed the totem on the new seal. Jeffery watches with anticipation since anything could happen. Then the black spandex clad hero said, "Also, if you ever need help I'll only be a phone call away." “I’ll definitely call my friendly-other-worldly-Spiderman if I need to.” Lee chuckled. He then summoned the Scythe, “What did the Merchant send you with?” "I was sent by my web shooters and belt. How about you?" said Jeffery with a smile. Lee shook the black weapon, “This is what got me here.” Lee then cut his arm off, shrieking in pain. The arm fell, and turned into dark mist, making the seal glow the colors of the chalk. The symbiote panted, “Took more than I hoped…” Jeffery was a tad worried, since Symbiotes although have a great healing factor. The healing factor takes time and too much damage can be too much for anything with a healing factor to bounce back from. Lee hissed, “I hate this magic.” Lee looked over the seal, “I think I made it so the world he will be sent to has no magic, so he’ll turn into a normal person/pony once there. We just need to find the guy.” Jeffery nods and said, "Lets go, Symbiote." Lee paused, “Was that an insult?” "No it was just me trying to be funny." Said Jeffery then he asked, "I know of a mirror that can lead to different close dimension. That turns anyone who enters to human and there is no magic there naturally." “I was teasing, but thanks for the information!” Lee laughed, “Oh… Um, how ARE we gonna find him?” "We first need to go there. We then search for him when we get there." Said Jeffery. Lee nodded, then the two left the room. “H-hey…” Lee began coughing violently, holding his chest. Lee fell to the ground, hacking, and spitting out a sickly looking black goo. Jeffery the grabbed the crystal and said, "Hop on Lee, you look in need of a host again." Lee nodded, he then fused with Jeffery. The symbiote felt the relief of having a host once more, he sighed, “Thanks Jeff, I owe you one.” "I'll hold you to that, may I ask, Lee, have you given off any spawn, if so naturally or magic/unnaturally. Since if the unnatural it might cause your spices spawning rate to go to a higher rate" said Jeffery trying not to make a Twilight and bondage joke. Jeffery’s mask heated up, ‘You know I can read your mind, right? And… yes, I created one using magic as a gift to my friend Kat… Don’t even think about it, I’m in your head.’ 'I wasn't going to think about you making friends with a cat girl.' Said Jeffery. Lee mentally face palmed, ‘Whatever, lets just find that Shadow.’ Jeffery felt stronger with Lee over him, to which Jeffery thought knowing that his thoughts are heard. 'This suits power is addicting.' ‘I know, I am the suit.’ They heard a crazed laugh, which was followed by the Shadow appearing. It smiled, “Now there is only… one.” Jeffery replied, "You got a mastery in stupid if you think your going to beat me." Lee was surprised, they must not have synced fully like him and Twilight did. The monster scoffed, “You must be more foolish than I thought. I am the Shadow... Pony!” "You're just a batman rip off" said Jeffery than thought, 'Hey Lee sorry about the mind cut out there I put my mental shields up for moment since I thought I felt a psychic presence try and enter my mind.' Lee thought for a moment, ‘What in the name of Doctor Strange!?’ Lee felt something strange, like he was being pulled apart. “That weird girl taught me a valuable lesson… BE ORIGINAL!” A red symbiote was ripped out of Lee. “Your world has an interesting… creativity.” A white and black symbiote was pulled out of Lee. ‘GAH!!!!’ Lee fell off Jeffery, as more symbiotes ripped out of his back. Jeffery yelled, "That's enough! I'll fight you alone if you stop hurting my friend." The Shadow laughed, “Oh, you crack me up… how is this, you fight one of my new symbiotes, and if you win, I’ll leave. But if you lose, I shall have your mind!” The Shadow stopped, and Lee passed out. "Fine, but I get to pick the Symbiote I fight ok?" Asked Jeffery. Then four of the nine symbiotes that are there started to go unstable and merge into one to keep stable. “Fine, Anti-Venom, Carnage, Toxin, Scream, Hybrid. Step forward.” The Shadow ordered. The Symbiotes stepped forward. Jeffery said, "I will fight the symbiote known as Hybrid." The Shadow nodded, “The rest of you, leave.” Every other symbiote left. Jeffery and Hybrid got into fighting stances ready to engage. > Spidermen Part 2: Well... That was fast... > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jeffery and Hybrid are breathing in sync waiting for the moment they feel is right to start the fight. After a few minutes of this odd standoff stare down, Hybrid charged at Jeffery and used his six tendrils that are always out of his body in his default form to try and impale our spider hero to end it quickly. To which Jeffery reacted by twisting his body around Hybrids tendril assault and fired webbing into the tendrils. That action strangely caused Hybrid to roar in pain as he pulled them back to their default position. “Have fun!” The Shadow takes a seat in a dark chair. Hybrid roars out and then his color shifts to green and then rushes at Jeffery at an unprecedented speed. Jeffery couldn't react fast enough and is cut deep into his costume as blood is dripped from his chest. The black suited hero starts to engage Hybrid in his lasher form(green hybrid) in hand to hand combat. To a bit of success Jeffery is managing to barely to match Hybrids hand to hand combat speed. Hybrid has Jeffery in a headlock to try and eat his brains. Only for Jeffery to use his web shooters to blast Hybrid in the face with his anti symbiote webbing attack which is an intensely heated webbing. The Symbiote Hybrid roars in pain and turns to his goo like form to slide back to a safe distance from Jeffery. Jeffery pants heavily from all the fighting he has had to endure. He the thinks 'Not sure how much longer I can keep fighting. My anti-Klyntar web attacks are doing well, but its a matter of time till Hybrid figures out how to disable my web shooters. Just as he thinks that Hybrid changes to a blue color then fired a set of webbing into my web shooters causing them to rupture and burst. Leaving the Human Spider with out his ace weapon. Jeffery then said, "Damn it." Hybrid goes back to red coloration and said, "Its only going to get worse wall crawler." Then Hybrid rushes at Arachnid man to tendrils ready to kill or at least horribly mamine him. As Amalgam Symbiote charges at our Displaced visitor, who pulls out something from his belt. Jeffery says, "I have one chance" he then throws down a crystal that when exposed to light gives of a sonic attack deafening everything in the area, due to this attack Hybrid, Lee and every other Symbiote is being inflicted on an insane amount of pain. Lee shrieked, jumping up to try and stop the pain. He summoned his Scythe and charged at the source, swinging it blindly. As Lee is doing that Jeffery takes his chance and uppercuts Hybrid and picks up the crystal and puts it next to the writhing form of Hybrid to keep him there. Jeffery then give a victory pose then mouths to Shadow "I win." Then he removes the crystal and puts it away before his head is lopped off by Lee who he can feel swinging wildly. Lee falls to his knees, “Why the hell did you do that!?” The Shadow laughs, “You honestly think I’d uphold my end of the bargain? You are… stupid.” “No he is not! You know why?” Lee throws the black crystal Token to Jeffery. Jeffery caught it and placed it into the web shooters crystal slot and fired off the last webbing he could from the ruptured cartridge at Shadow. Shadow yelled in fear as the portal opened, and he was pulled halfway in, “I shall be back! And when I am, I’ll kill Your precious... Twilight!” Lee’s eye twitched. He webbed the Shadow’s human neck, twisted his wrist to make it wrap around its throat. “Nope.” The Shadows eyes widened, and he fell. There was a sickening crack, then the portal closed. Jeffery said, "Well that was interesting, sorry about the sonic attack I needed to win the fight and my web shooters cartridge had ruptured." Lee stood in silence. Then looked at Jeffery, “Its okay, if I was you, I’d do the same thing.” Lee then looked at Hybrid, “Well, I can’t take care of them… not yet, and you need new web shooters… Care to take your prize?” Jeffery said, "I'll take Hybrid, but be careful it appears that shadow thing has brought from out of you all the spawns of Venom with their personalities. So I would be careful since Carnage and Scream are running around here. " “Thanks, I’ll take care. You better do the same, Celly’s probably got something planned. So… I guess I’ll see you later?” "Um that's the thing I'm not sure how to go back to my world. This was my first time doing a universe jump. Heck its my first meeting of another one that was tricked by the Merchant." Said Jeffery picking up Hybrids unconscious body. “Better figure that out then.” Lee snickered, “Let’s go back to my lair, that good with you?” Jeffery nods and said, "Yeah let's go to your lair. There maybe Celestia brought cake to attack us with." “Uh, yeah... “ The two walked to the room, where they saw a white symbiote slime through the wall. Jeffery gets ready to fight even though he knows that his body is still healing from the fight with Hybrid. “Damn it! He destroyed my home!” Lee yelled, looking over the area. The bed was in splinters, the bookshelf was pretty much nonexistent, and anything that was in it was ripped, broken, or not there. Lee walked to what was left of the shelf, and knelt down, and picked up a broken music box. Jeffery went to comfort his friend. "We can maybe fix the damages" “No, it was made with magic…” Lee looked the box over, “It’ll be fine though, it just needs some time. But you should get back home.” Lee set the box down, and stood up, he searched the wreckage, he found the Flip Phone undamaged. Jeffery said, "Maybe ending the call will send me back home." trying to be helpful. “Heh, yeah. That makes sense… But here's some advice.” Lee leaned closer to Jeffery, “Home is where your friends and family are and sometimes, friends ARE family. Take this to heart, because being alone is not something you’d like to be.” "I'll keep that in mind, maybe I'll summon you if I get lonely. Remember I am always a phone call away." Said Jeffery still holding the unconscious Hybrid. “Tell me how Hybrid is doing. I like keeping track of symbiotes from my world.” Jeffery said, "I'll let you know Lee." Lee did a thumbs up, “I’ll see you later bro!” Jeffery thumbs up and said, "See you.". He waits for Lee to hang up the phone call. Lee presses end call and Jeffery poofs out of existence. Lee sighs, ‘Nice guy, hope I see him again- Spider-sense tingling!’ Lee twirled around, to see Twilight, mouth agape. “I can explain.” > Twilight... I'm A Jerk! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- {Twilight's POV} 'Ugh, what a weird dream...' I groan. I open my eyes and see a concrete ceiling abundant of cracks and mold. I blink. "Where am I?" I ask aloud. I sit up to get my bearings, and see I'm in a small room with old antiques, I throw my hooves off the purple bed. Questions filled my head, like: what happened? Am I still dreaming? Why are there weird drawing on the floor? Why am I not sleeping? As these go unanswered, I look at an old bookshelf and see one book not covered in dust. I use my magic to try and levitate it over to the bed. Said book proceeded to fly through the air and slammed into my face, and the force of it sent me off the bed, "AHHH!!!" and onto the floor with a loud thud. I groaned, 'Magic warm-ups Twilight, magic warm-ups...' After a couple seconds of catching my breathe, I sat up and look at the cover of the book. The title scared, yet intrigued me. I kept it in my magic grasp, and trotted out. I continued until I realized where I was: The Castle of the Two Sisters. Once I proceeded this, I knew where I was, and how to get out. I charged up my magic in order to cast the spell, it wouldn't get me all the way out, I'd walk the rest of the way. As soon as the spell was set, I thought of my home. I didn't put enough magic to get there, just the amount necessary to arrive closer. It felt... different. Like I was putting more power then I used to, so I held some energy back... at least I tried. As I pulled it back, it made a sling-shot effect that teleported me and the book to an unknown area. Not pleasant. I groaned, rubbing my horn and eyes in pain. 'I could have sworn I put just a little power into that...' I was pulled out of my thoughts but a very familiar voice, "Oh! Um... Twilight? W... What are you doing here... If you don't mind me asking..." I looked up to find the only Pegasus that could have sounded that held back, "Hey Fluttershy... Why are you doing in the Everfree Forest?" I asked, still rubbing my eyes. "W-what do you mean?" She asked, "We're not in the f... forest..." I then heard her hoof pawing at the ground. 'Wait...' "WHAT!?" I shouted, jumping into the air and opening my eyes. Sure enough, I was on the opposite side of town! My face went blank after that. 'How did I do that? I've never gone that far before... Maybe that dream wasn't fake...' Fluttershy backed off a bit, a questioning look on her face. She changed that to a look of concern, "I-is something w-w-wrong?" I stop. It was probably just a magic surge, there was nothing to worry about... Right? "I... Its nothing, I thought..." I pause. 'I shouldn't tell her, she'd freak out.' Fluttershy moved closer, and I shook my head, "See you later Fluttershy!" I galloped as fast as I could to my library, I had to figure out what that creature was. I then notice that the sun was high in the sky. "How long was I sleeping!?" I arrived home and the first thing I noticed was that my statue was missing! "Spike!" I called. Almost immediately, Spike came running in. He know stood in front of me, "What do you need' Twi!" He saluted. "Where's the statue Princess Celestia gave me!?" I asked. "I thought you took it!" I froze. 'So it is real. And I think I helped it escape...' I started shivering, I used to tell it everything, and it is most likely a threat. "Write a letter to the Princess." Spike nodded and grabbed a paper and quill, "Dear Princess Celestia. I fear another statue from the garden has escaped. I wish that you send a squad of royal guards to Ponyville at once. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle." Spike chuckled, "This sounds like the Nightmare Moon thing again!" Just as he finished, he burped out the green fire that told me she replied. Spike read, "My dearest student, though I take this into account, there are no more 'Discord's' in the garden. If there was I'd know. I am sorry to say I will not send any solders on a goose chase. My most humbled apology's Twilight." Once Spike finished, I felt hollow. She didn't believe me... It hurt... Spike smiled, oblivious to my pained expression, "Well, that was just like Nightmare Moon!" I stayed silent. I trotted up to my room, and went to my bed and fell on the matrices. I sobbed till I fell asleep. I woke up a little bit later, rubbing my puffy eyes and composed myself. I looked to the bed post and found a sticky note on it. 'I went to Rarity's to help out. -Spike' I glared at the note. He abandoned me too... I rolled off the bed, landing on my hooves. I trotted my way down the stairs and out the door. 'I'm going to prove myself! I'll see what the... whatever it is wants, and show the Princess I'm right!' And so, I set out to understand this black creature, and learn why Celestia doesn't trust me. I stood outside the forest, readying myself for the journey. Until I heard laughter behind me. I turned to see Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie coming out of a bush, snorting and giggling with apple juice all over them. "That never gets old!" Rainbow announced, wiping a tear out of her eye. Pinkie snickered, "Yeah, I wish we could do this every week... Applejack will never let us near another apple tree in months!" The two continued until Dash spotted me, "Oh! Hey Egghead! What you doing hear!" She smiled. I sighed. 'I'm going to have to tell them... aren't I?' I then explain what happened, from the nightmare, to the letter. "Oh... That's harsh..." Rainbow remarked. "That's not nice... That's not nice at all!" Pinkie said, then her face contorted into the 'I have an idea' look, "Why don't we come with you!" My eyes widened, "No! I need to do this alone!" Rainbow gained a mischievous glint in her eye, 'Uh-oh...' "Then I guess we'll just have to tell Spike then... and then he'll tell Princess Celestia you're doing this." She smirked. I glared at her... then I sighed, "Fine..." The two pranksters jumped into the sky simultaneously high hoofed each other in midair, which I then ruined as I said, "But, if on the slight chance you see it, you can't attack it, I just need to know what it wants." They seemed mostly okay with that. Rainbow had the harder time accepting it, but she didn't argue. The three of us turned back to the dark forest. Not knowing what could be lurking in it. There was an uncomfortable silence, that was broken by Pinkie. "I need to pee." We reached the Castle in no time. That wasn't the problem. "Okay," I turned to the girls, "We're going to have to split up-" Pinkie interrupted, "But you should never split the party!" Dash burst out laughing, and I just raised my eyebrow. Once Dash calmed down, I continued, "Because the building is so huge, Dash will take the back, Pinkie will take the front, and I'll be in the middle!" Pinkie sighed, "Fine..." "Okay..." Rainbow whined. I smiled, "We'll meet here after we're done." The two nodded. Dash flew to the other side. Pinkie hopped across the bridge. And I teleported. I was looking for that room I woke up in. 'Where could it be! I should have memorized its location!' I trotted down the hallway I was is until I heard a strange noise coming from close by, 'Gottcha!' I galloped as fast as I could. I reached the area that the sound came from. It had that room I was looking for, but that's not what I was looking at. Instead, I was looking at a giant, black bipedal creature, that was looking away from me. 'I can't do this...' I was just about to leave when it turned around quickly. We stared at each other for a moment. Then it said in a slightly deep voice you'd hear from a teenager, "I can explain." ------ {Lee's POV} I waited for her to calm down. It only took a few minutes for that, so I began to explain, "Okay, my name is Lee. My race is Klyntar/symbiote, a parasitic race that needs a host to live, and if I don't, I'll die." Ponies didn't know what a parasite was, so that was good. She would kill me if they did. Twilight looked fearful, "S-so... are you bad?" I smirked, might as well have some fun, "Yes, I eat children and destroy hope." She began shaking, 'I'm such a dick.' I laugh at her. I mean, full blown fall on the floor laughing. She seems to get that I was kidding, "I'll take that as a 'no' then..." I calmed down, "Yes, I'm not Discord bad... I'm more of a prankster..." I look into the distance, remembering the pranks I used to pull on Starswirl... The geezer couldn't take a joke. Twilight glared at me, then raised her eyebrow, "You need a host to survive? Like a pony to control!?" Wow... Just... Wow... "No dingus, to live with... How about I show you?" Twilight hesitated. "Fine, I'll see what you mean." She sighed. I walked over to her, "You wont regret this!" I leapt onto her. She struggled, tried using magic to get me off. I finally attached myself to her, and her relaxed, "This... This isn't that bad!" I chuckled, 'I knew you'd like it!' Then, I felt something. 'Damn it!' A wormhole opened up underneath us. We both yelled in fear. 'This isn't good...' > Carnage Begins, And a Toxin Save > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- {Rainbow's POV} I had been looking for whatever Twi was freaked out about. 'Maybe after this I can get that nap I was gonna have.' I had found my way into the barracks. 'Why it was at the back?' As I thought that, I heard a crash and did NOT scream like a filly. After I was sure I wasn't dead, I tried figuring out what it was, and with my vast knowledge of breaking noises, I assumed it was most likely a vase, or some sort of pot. With my quick precision, I dashed out of the room, and to the sound. Yep, a vase. First guess. I tried looking for what had caused it, but no dice. Until I heard a it again, but with a low rumbling. I turned to investigate. But my vision was clouded by red and black. I screamed in fear, pain, and... Glee? Before I passed out, I heard a voice say, 'Hello, pony... Sleep...' --------- {Pinkie's POV} I hoped happily along the corridor, happily humming a random tune. I picked up a rock, " Anypony there!? No!? Okay!" I picked up another rock and was about to do the same, until I heard Rainbow scream. "I'm coming Dashie!" I sprinted as fast as I could to help my friend, until I tripped and fell on my face. I felt blood coming out of my nose, and forehead, it hurt a lot, and I cried in pain. I held my sobs back best I could. I saw a half red, and half black gooey thing slither its way over to me. It went up my hoof, and came all the way up to my shoulder. I tried shacking it off, but I couldn't even move because my head hurt so much. I passed out before it was done. > Screaming For Help > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- {Trix- Third POV} Trixie sat at the edge of the Everfree Forest. She had heard that Twilight Sparkle went to investigate something, the rumor started a while ago, and Trixie was going to out do the pony who humiliated her. Trixie walked into the wild forest, she wasn't afraid, no she was to- I heard a snap. "AAAHHHHhhhhh..." I sighed in relief, it was just a frog. I- Trixie continued, bravery in her steps as she trekked through the dangerous lands. After an hour, Trixie found the castle she had been looking for. She took a deep breath, and walked in. The room was old, but not dusty. 'Strange...' She thought to herself, scratching her chin in concentration. "It does not matter, I am the Great and Powerful Trixie, I will not be made a fool by clean ruins." The great mage journeyed into the depths of the castle. I- Trixie saw a shadow pass her, pony in shape, yet to fast that the great mage didn't see it. Not that Trixie cared, she was looking for Twilight Sparkle... It passed her again. And this time, she saw it. A red and black Pegasus with white eyes. Its mouth open in-pony like, and its right hoof was the shape of a blade. It cackled, and lunged at Tri- Me, I didn't care about Twilight, this wasn't worth revenge. I screamed and ducked, barley missing it by an inch. I tried to make a run for it, but a searing pain in my back. I fell, crying as I did. It raised its blade over its head, a gleeful grin plastered on its face. I didn't want to die, but I was just a show-pony... Then, a plan formed in my head. I took out my smoke bombs, and just as the blade came down, I throw it down. I white cloud appeared, but the sword-like arm cut throw my left flank. I scream in even more pain, and the red monster backed away. I took that as my cue to leave. I ran to a random hallway. 'Please let this nightmare end!!!' I reached a point that I just collapsed. I felt blood pouring onto the floor at an alarming rate. I felt week, and my crying just seemed to make me more tired. My peace was interrupted, and I froze. A yellow slime splashed in front of me, and I tried to get up but it lashed out. I screamed. I am Scream... > The Venom Is Back~ > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- {Twilight's POV} "Bye Deathwing! Thank you for the cake!" Me and Lee's voices yelled. I loved the feeling of our voices being in sync. We walked through the vortex and this time we didn't fall. We stepped out of the portal to see the room Lee said was his hideout. I saw my saddle bag and picked it up. 'Is that my book!?' "I think, I found it here when I woke up." I said, strapping it on me. Lee slithered around my body and fixated around my hoof like a bracelet. 'Can I stay with you? My home is kind of not safe...' I giggled, "Sure, you do need a host to live, and I'd hate for anypony to freak..." Then it dawned on me, "RAINBOW!!! PINKIE!!! They came with me to investigate! What if something happened to them!?" 'Calm down, they aren't here Sparkle-Butt. They most likely left. We've been gone for hours.' I tried taking deep breathes to calm myself. 'I hope you are right...' 'Don't worry, I am.' Lee sounded nervous, like he wasn't telling me something. I teleported out of the castle, the bridge behind us. 'Please be okay girls...' {Third POV} [Location: Just Outside The Everfree Forest] '...And then, I said: 'Why didn't you use the money mom and dad gave you?' She face palmed and said: 'I didn't want to use it!' Hah! And it was my birthday! She could have paid for it, and yet, she stole it!' Lee finished telling Twilight about how his sister stole for his sixteenth birthday present. "And you think that's funny?" Twilight asked, head tilted. 'Yes, she never got caught, and we returned it in a day. People can find bad situations they were in funny.' Lee chuckled. Twilight thought about it, and there where moments in her life that she hated, but at a second look, they seemed funny. 'Like once, my dad backed up into a mailbox! He never lived that down...' If he could, Lee would wipe a tear from his eye. The two trotted back to the library. Telling stories about this and that. The two got along pretty well, they had more in common than they thought. Both liked to read, star gazing, and he missed his sibling. "What happened to her?" Twilight had asked quietly so nopony heard her talking to herself. 'She died. I left while she withered away...' Was Lee's grim reply. And so, the two arrived in silence. They stepped in, and Spike came down faster than a bullet. He rammed into Twilight, hugging her like there was no tomorrow. Twilight yelped in surprise, "... Spike, is something wrong?" The little dragon squeezed harder. "U bn go fr des!" He yelled, face covered in purple fur. "What? I didn't hear that..." "YOU'VE BEEN GO FOR DAYS!!!" Spike yelled, tears brimming in his eyes. 'So the greedy beast has a heart? Who knew...' Twilight growled lowly, so Spike wouldn't hear, 'Don't say that again slime ball!' She gave Spike a questioning look, "Days? I could have sworn I was just gone for hours..." Spike kept hugging, and Twilight joined the embrace. After a moment, they ended it. Twilight told Spike to go to sleep, and he did. 'You didn't have to call me slime ball, that hurt...' "I did. Don't call Spike a 'Greedy Beast'." Twilight said. 'Mothers instinct?' "W-what!? N-no!" 'Whatever...' Lee sighed. Twilight saw something in the corner of her eye, she trotted towards the coffee table. On it was Discord's long fang. Twilight picked it up. She and Lee heard a voice, I am Loki, Master of Chaos and Defender of the Balance. If you fight for Balance, for Freedom, and for Good, know that I will come to your aid! But know this...if you fight for imbalance or for the forces of evil....be aware that there are many fates worse than Death! Twilight gulped, 'Good thing we fight for good...' 'Wait, was that the guy who embarrassed us!?' 'It wasn't that bad.' 'I've been fighting Over Powered fire jerks and a Demon that I didn't help with!!! I'm trying to help and all I do is stand around!' Lee yelled, causing Twilight to back track. After a moment, Twilight thought of something, 'How about we take some time off from fighting. Why not take a day to just rest?' Lee sighed, 'That actually sounds good.' Twilight smiled. She trotted up to her bed. Her schedule may have been messed up, but her new friend Lee was worth it. She reached the bedroom and teleported into her bed, blankets over her. 'Sweet dreams Sparkle-Butt.' 'Night Tar-face.' Lee huffed, and Twilight fell asleep. [Location: Sugarcube Corner] Pinkie's body lay on her bed, Gummy slept at the foot of it, and a red and black bipedal sat cross-legged on the floor. The pink mare stirred, mumbling for help, or one of her friends. She woke with a jolt, screaming and waving her hooves to shoo away anything that would hurt her. Toxin yelped, backing away from Pinkie. "Aaahhhh!!! Don't eat me!!!" Pinkie cried, eyes closed in fear. "Aaahhhh!!! Stop screaming!" He slithered away. Pinkie's screaming weakened as the seconds ticked by. Soon, she stopped all together. Her fear was replaced by confusion as to why it didn't attack her. She opened her eyes to see the symbiote huddled in a corner. Confusion turned to concern, and she jumped off the bed. Pinkie trotted over to him, "What are you?" It was the only question she thought of, and regretted due to how mean it sounded. He looked at her, a nervous look in his eyes, "I don't know. All I know is that I need somepony bond to." Pinkie tilted her head, "What? Like a friend?" "Yes, but like a host." Pinkie giggled, "Well, if you wanted a host, why didn't you ask? I'm the best party thrower in ponyville!" "What does hosts have to do with parties?" Toxin tilted his head. "I host parties! Birthday parties, anniversary parties, birthiversary parties, parties with tis and that!" Pinkie began to ramble, and Toxin listened. "No, not that kind of host. I'd live with you, and I'd give you abilities." Pinkie giggled, "Then why didn't you say so!? I'd love to be a superhero! Wait, what's your name?" The symbiote alien smiled, "My name is Toxin. So that's a yes?" Pinkie thought for a moment, then she made a 'ding' sound. "Eeyep! I love new friends, and I know we're gonna have fun!" Toxin giggled lightheartedly. He liked Pinkie. He stood up to his full height, "Ready?" The pink mare nodded so much Toxin's head hurt. Toxin jumped at her, scaring her for a moment but didn't scream. They fused, becoming more tuned and close. A new bond formed then and there. 'Let's check out what we can do together!' Toxin said, causing Pinkie to look around. "WOW!!! Its like your in my head!" She yelled. Toxin sighed, even an infant like himself knew that this was telepathic communication... > Sorrow And Death > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- {Third PoV} Twilight was sitting in silence on a foldable chair she pulled out and set so it was facing the door. She held a book in her purple aura, the title of which was ‘Parasite’s effects On Their Host’s’. She trusted Lee(After all they went through, how could she not?), but the fears of what they’re fusion would do to her was too much to bear. ‘Sparkle-Butt. I could just tell you the side-effects’ Lee said simply. Twilight mentally face-hoofed. “Oh horse apples! Why didn’t you tell me!? I’ve been reading this horrid book for hours!” It was true Twilight loved books, but this current book held nothing but misspelled word, awkward phrasing, and half-baked theories/less-than-thought-of guesses. ‘You looked cute with your cheeks puffed up like that!’ Lee giggled. Twilight blushed. Had she really puffed out her cheeks? And did he really think she looked cute? She shook her head. Nah! They were two different races, and he was really two himself! Why was she even thinking that? She shrugged it off. Twilight rolled her eyes, “Yeah, funny…” To this, Lee laughed even more. He was having a blast! The front door burst open. Standing there, sweating like no tomorrow, was an orange Earth Pony mare named Applejack. She panted, fear written on her face, “Twilight! We need your... help!” Twilight jumped out of her chair, “What's wrong!?” As Twilight started thinking about worst case scenario’s, the apple farmer gave her one she wouldn’t even consider. “Someponies been murdered!” Lying under a tree was a tan coated pony with dark blue/pink mane. Her Cutie Mark was of three pieces of candy. She was covered in blood, her neck slashed, and organs splayed on the grass for all to see. The townsponies knew this mare as Bon Bon, the local candy mare. Her sister Lyra Heartstrings was weeping over her cold body. Twilight was horrified. What kind of pony would do this? ‘Carnage.’ Lee said simply. “Carnage? Who’s that?” Twilight whispered, voice shaking. ‘He’s one of nine creatures, he was bred to kill. He must have found a host and used them to do this.’ “How do you know it's him?” ‘Because the others weren't bred to kill like this, and only two would kill randomly. I don’t see any bite marks, so Carnage would be the prime suspect. But the others could have too. Its not like I know them too much, and they could have different personalities than what I remember.’ Lee wasn't an expert, but he thought at least half were good. He thought Toxin, and Scorn were good, and he thought Anti-Venom, Carnage, and Scream were bad. Twilight shuddered, “We have to stop this.” Lee mentally nodded. He was feeling kind of sick too. ‘Why don’t we look for something in the library? Maybe we’ll find a spell to help us.’ Twilight gave one last look at the dead body. “We could have stopped this…” Pinkie sat in her room. She had heard the news. One of her good friend were gone. Bon Bon had spent a lot of time with the Cakes, and the two got to know each other. Hay, Bon was the first friend in Ponyville, other than the Cakes. ‘I’m sorry…’ Toxin felt awkward. He didn’t understand much about grief, and could barely sympathize with his host. He pulled what he thought was his face out of her bloodstream and began making silly faces. Pinkie giggled, but kept most of her sad expression. Pinkie sniffed. She smiled sadly, “Thanks… I needed that…” Toxin mentally applauded himself. He grinned. Pinkie sighed, “Who would do that to Bon Bon!? She’s so nice! She also has one of the best sweet shops in town! Am I next!? Are the Cakes next!? What am I going to do!” Toxin thought for a moment. He ‘smiled’, ‘Find whoever did it! I can give you powers, and we can track the killer Down!’ Pinkie’s face lightened up freakishly fast, and she grinned evilly. “That sounds great!” Lyra sat in her and Bon Bo- Her house. She stared blankly at the opposite end of the room. Her eyes were puffy, and her cheeks damp. She sniffed, wishing her sister was there. Lyra used her magic to levitate a bottle of Sweet Apple Cider. Applejack had given it to the broken mare after the body was moved. The mint green mare took a swig and shuddered. Bon Bon was always there for her, and she couldn’t even say goodbye. Anger filled Lyra, and soon, the whole bottle was emptied. Lyra swayed to her bed, already drunk. ‘How’d that happen? Did Applejack add extra tooooooo-’ The poor mare fell over, crying- no, wailing. “Bon Bon… Why you! Why couldn’t it be me! You had so… *Hicup* Much to live for…” Lyra sobbed. Her sister had a business, and Lyra was unemployed. Lyra wished her sister was there. What Lyra wouldn’t give to see her. One. Last. Time. The thought made it all the more worst. She would never see her sister again. The two of them were both adopted by the same family, and always stuck together. What was she going to do? She didn’t have a job, a sister…   A purpose… Little did she know, a purple and silver slime smashed through her window. Lyra turned to the noise, hoping to scare off the intruder(She’s drunk and mourning. She isn’t thinking straight). She nervously trotted over to the window. She looked out… And saw nothing. Lyra sighed, turning around. ‘Not even burglars like me… She sauntered to her bed, the one goal in her mind was hitting the hay. She sat in her bed, and rolled the rest of her limbs onto it. Once she drifted off into a nightmare, a young symbiote began fusing with the mint green unicorn. 'You will get your revenge. Lyra Heartstrings.' > Pinkie and Toxin: Let Me In I- *ZAP* > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- {Third PoV}         Lee jumped out of the purple and black vortex, stone tablet in hands. He set it down on a table. Wiping away a tear.         Shaking his head, he called out, “Sparkle-Butt! I’m home!”         After a moment, Twilight came trotting down the stars. “You were gone?”         Lee chuckled, “Are you serious? I’ve been gone for…” He looked at the clock, “Ten… Minutes…” He face-palmed.         “What’s that?” She asked, pointing at the Dragon encyclopedia.         “Something I want you to study. I think it's the key to beating Carnage.”         Twilight brightened up at that. She ran to it, picked it up with her magic, and teleported.         Lee chuckled and went up into the bedroom and set up a place. He pulled out all his Token’s from Twilight’s saddlebag. A black crystal, a flip phone with a spiderman symbol on it, a pendant, a charm, a black orb, a fang, and the tablet. Lee wondered how Cancer, his first kid was.         Lee shook the thought off as he looked them over. He had met many friends, but could he really call them that? He barely knew them! And they him! If they knew all the horrible things he had done, none of them would even give him a glance other than to kill him. He feared the Gunvolt would figure him out, but to his relief, the guy just forced his help on the ex-human. If they knew about his past, or what he did to his enemy’s. Even Twilight, the closest pony he’d been to for years would hate him.         Lee sighed, and looked at Twilight. He felt butterflies in his stomach as a blush crossed his face. His eyes widened, and he looked away.         ‘I can’t fall again...’         Toxin and Pinkie stood together, preparing to find Bon Bon’s killer.         “Do you know who it is?”         ‘No.’         “Do we have a power to help us track the killer?”         ‘Nope.’         “Do we have any clue? Or are we going to wing it?”         ‘YES! Don’t you just love it!?’         Pinkie thought for a moment, then smiled. She giggled.         The two were outside. Toxin stay’d in the party mare’s blood stream. They wandered for a bit, then it hit Pinkie! The morgue! She and Toxin could search for clues there! And with Pinkie’s ability to pop out of nowhere, she trotted into the police station.         ‘Act cool!’ Toxin said, sounding sick. She realized she should have warned him.         Pinkie nodded. She walked up to the receptionist's desk, placed her right foreleg on the counter, and spoke in a mock private detective from an old movie. It sounded like she was trying to sound old and gruff, but sounded silly, “Would ya mind takin me tah see da body of a miss Bon Bon?”         The stallion on the other side had been reading a magazine. He didn’t move it to see who it was, he most likely didn’t care. Not that the two airheads could tell.         “Relationship to the victim?”         “Long time friend!”         He didn’t move the magazine and sighed, “Only family can see the body.”         Pinkie was shocked, “But we were really close! I’m Pinkie Pie!”         The stallion finally moved the reading material to look at the mare, “Oh! Then by all means! Get the buck out…” He deadpanned.         Pinkie was shocked.         She trotted out the door, then after ten seconds later went back in.         She spoke as if an old lady, “I’m here to see my niece, Bon Bon. I heard tha-” Before she could continue, the stallion grabbed a taser from under his desk and shot Pinkie with it. She yelped, sparks flying off her body, and she flew out of the station. And he still didn’t put down the magazine.         “That’s it!” Pinkie said.         Toxin took that as his cue. He crawled out of her bloodstream and covered her from head to hoof.         “Shall we?” They spoke in sync. They nodded, and slammed into the wall, and disappeared. ‘Stealthy-stealthy time!’         The two crawled on the ceiling and into the morgue.         The library was getting stuffy, and Twilight, with her newly appointed outdoor spirit, was getting restless.         ‘You need some fresh air. That’s a side effect. I make you miserable when I need a stretch. Let’s get these powers kicking up so we don’t lose sync.’         Twilight sighed, “This better not happen often.”         With that, Lee fused with Twilight. And what Lee called the ‘Venom-Link’ was established. Venom slipped out the window after leaving a note for Spike telling him she went to see Pinkie(Because even if she denies it, Spike will most likely shrug it off as her being Pinkie Pie and playing a game).         They swung from web to web. They were passing the marketplace when a pony Twilight knew as ‘Rose Luck’ turned her head in their direction. Venom jumped behind a building just in time.         ‘Carful! That pony almost spotted u-’ Lee was cut off as a pony shouted the horror, the horror. She then proceeded to faint. The ponies around her started looking around, and they eventually saw Venom.         They all screamed in fear(which when a full-grown stallion did so in a higher pitch than even Daisy, Lee almost lost the link as he mentaly cackled).         One of them yelled, “That must have been the one who killed Bon Bon!”         Another one stepped forward, “Yeah! I happened to like her!”         A mob formed, all carrying pitchforks and torches. “Bu- but…” Twilight was stunned. Were they all like that? Was she like that? Were her friends like that? She didn’t have much time to think about it as the mob began throwing random stuff at them.         ‘I know I should be a bit more concerned about your safety, I have to ask: Where the fuck did they get the pitch fork!?’         Twilight sprung into action as she jumped off the building and webbed another one and escaped sight. Lee turned into a necklace with a Scythe.         The crowd rounded the corner and stopped seeing the purple mare.         “Where did it go!?” One of them asked.         “Yeah, we need to get rid of it!”         Twilight coughed, sweat began to trickle down her face, and she started to shake. She gulped, “I- I th-th-think it w-w-went tha-that w-way…” She pointed in the opposite way of the library. The group paused, and turned their heads in the direction. Five seconds passed, and the crowd charged the at where Twilight pointed.         Twilight sighed in relief. She turned towards the library and headed off. Once she returned, she went into her room and sat on her bed. Lee was quiet, and seemed to be resting.         “Does this happen a lot?” She asked, feeling a pang of guilt for how she reacted when they first met.         ‘Kind of. Mostly fear and terror, and less kill the monster… it was probably one of the more peaceful meetings with ponies I’ve ever had. Heck, even Clover was worst than you.’ Lee said. Twilight raised an eyebrow.         “Clover? Who’s that?”         Lee stayed quiet. Then spoke in a tired and weary manner, ‘My biggest mistake… Let’s leave it at that...’         Twilight wanted to know more, but didn’t press. Clover… That name sounded familiar. She would have to ask Lee about this ‘Clover’. But right now, she needed to study the tablet, and hopefully not be disturb-         A loud and persistent knocking was heard. Twilight moaned.         ‘Go get it, I’ll stay here.’ Lee jumped off Twilight and turned into his bipedal form and walked into the bathroom. Whatever reason he’d need to go in there was beyond her.         The purple mare stood up and trotted to the front door and opened it with her magic. What she saw made her eyes wide.         “Uh…” She so smartly said. > I Thought Being A Symbiote Was Bad... > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- {Third PoV}         Twilight closed the door. ‘What?’         The mare at the door was Vinyl Scratch. She had an invitation to a party tonight.         Weird…         She walked into the bedroom, where Lee sat cross-legged/armed in his “human” form. He had a bored expression, and seemed to be playing with his Scythe.         “The hell was that about?” He asked, twirling the deadly weapon.         Twilight looked at the the invitation, “Vinyl Scratch. She had an invitation to a party tonight. I don’t think I’ve ever been invited though.”         Lee smirked, “Wonder why…” Twilight glared.         “What’s that supposed to mean!?”         Lee moved his head as if rolling his eyes, “I’ve seen your dance moves. My sister was better at ballet than you with dancing, and my sister NEVER did ballet.” His Scythe disappeared, and he stood up. “Look, maybe you should go. We both need a break, and a party is just what we need!”         This time, Twilight rolled her eyes. “Lee, you can’t go there. You’re nothing like any race known to Equis! The Royal Guard will be sent, and they’d take you!” She started hyperventilating, and Lee shushed her with a finger. “Girl, I can shapeshift. Plus, the party isn’t tonight, right?” Twilight seemed to calm down. She forgot he could do that, and she sighed in relief. “I’ll just turn into a pony, and you’ll just say I’m an old study buddy.” Twilight smiled, “I’ll see if I can find a spell to help you last longer in that form.” She trotted downstairs. Lee turned to the pile of Tokens. He picked them up and stored them in him ‘Venom’ space(one of Venom’s powers is a dimensional space). “I’ll read the tablet while you do that.” He pulled said token out of his chest, sat down, and started to decipher it.         Five hours passed, and Lee learned a quarter of the words. “God I love photographic memory…”         Twilight trotted back into the room, a book Lee never saw before levitated in her aura. He admired her smile, then grimaced at what he thought.         “I found what we need to keep you in a pony form for longer than your normal self. It’ll take some time putting the finishing touches on it.”         Lee shrugged. “Sure. I’ll need to bond soon, I’m feeling withdrawals.” Twilight nodded, and Lee slithered his way towards her. They bonded, but just enough so he could live. Twilight started dozing.         ‘That was horrid! I can’t believe it was that bad!’ Toxin whined. They saw the body, and determined she was killed with a knife, or sharp object. Toxin seemed shaken, and Pinkie was starting to get scared.         “Yeah, it… was…” They were outside, and a quarter mile from the police station.         ‘I think we should get some help. Maybe we could-’ Before Toxin finished, a pony in shades bumped into Pinkie, and took a double-take.         Vinyl Scratch, one of Pinkie’s first friends along with Bon Bon, seemed less enthused than usual. Bon Bon introduced the soon-to-be party pony to the wannabe DJ. The two clicked, and helped each other with the others dreams. Vinyl hasn’t been around Ponyville in a while, so this surprised Pinkie.         Vinyl spoke, surprised. “Pinkie? What’s wrong?” She stopped, sorrow taking hold. “Nevermind, I know. Bon Bon, right? I heard it from Tavi.”         Pinkie was confused. ‘What? Do I look sad?’         ‘Your mane is a bit droopy. Weird...’ Toxin informed. Pinkie looked to her side, and sure enough, there was her pink mane with way less poof to it. It was half way to ‘flat mode’.         She looked back to Vinyl, and nodded. “I’m trying not to be saddy-miss-sadderson. She wouldn’t want that.”         Vinyl smiled. “You know? Your right! She wouldn’t want this. I came here to have a party, but when I heard about her… death, I stopped working on it. Now I’ll have it in honorary of her life! Thanks Pinkie!” Vinyl said, trotting away.         “What just happened?” Pinkie asked, not expecting an answer. Which made her jump when Toxin did.         ‘I think you got the plot moving...’ Toxin said. And with a twitch of Pinkie’s tail, a potted plant nearly fell on her head as she barely dodged.         “Geez! It’s like some mastermind is made that you said that!” Pinkie said, just for another pot to fall and miss.         ‘We better get inside. We should prepare for the party. We don’t know if the murderer might be there or not.’ Toxin explained. ‘We need to protect ponies from whoever it is.’         It took the rest of the day to get the spell ready. Twilight sat in the middle of the library and placed the book in front of her.         “Okay. This spell was hard, and the fact it was made for another being to turn into ponies. I couldn’t find something that would keep you stable in a shape shifting, so I got a transformation spell instead. It uses a condaxiumel seal to re-” The purple mares rambling was interrupted when Lee cut it.         “Where’s Spike?”         Twilight froze. “At Rarity’s. Him and the Cutie Mark Crusaders are having a sleepover.”         Lee tilted his head. “Aren’t they girls? That must be awkward...”         “He’s the one who suggested it.”         ‘You go Spike. You got all dem bitches.’ Lee wished he could smirk.         “Just tell me what it does. I don’t speak any other magic talk other than Dark and Sacrifice magic’s.” Lee sighed. Twilight tilted her head.         “You know Dark Magic? But that’s forbidden!” Twilight yelled, fear written over her face.         “I know of it. I understand it, but I don’t use it. I based some of my skills off it, and adapted some of it’s practices to my Sacrificial Spells. Just to make them more flexible. Magic you use has the defense, but what I aim is to use offence as defence. Protect by attacking. And I wanted my spells do adapt to defense and offence. No evil here.” Lee said, sitting down.         Twilight sighed. “It… it will give you the power to change into a pony at will. But it isn’t perfect. You can only have one form, and you need to think of what it looks like when I cast it. You’ll only have one chance, and whatever you choose, and there is no changing it after the spell is complete.”         Twilight gave Lee a serious stare. “One chance. Don’t mess up. If you think of anything else it wont work, and if there is a messed up part of the body, you have to deal with it and you can’t go to the party.” Lee sighed.         “I get it. Ready as I’ll ever be!”         Twilight got in a crouched position and readied her horn. It lit, and Lee got distracted by the. Worst. Possible. Thing!         He took notice of how Twilight looked… And her image implanted itself into his head. He tried thinking of a male pony instead, but all he did was change the color and the hairstyle a bit.         A beam of purple encased him, and he felt that it was too late. His body shifted, and he felt blood flowing. He felt flesh, bone, blood, and magic. He felt a mouth appear on his face, two eyes, and a snout. Hair, fur, cutie mark and the rest of that category also felt new to him… or her…         Twilight opened her eye to see Lee… only to find a mare, similar to hersel. The exceptions of which were vast. The color of his- her coat was a dark grey, her mane was raven black with two white lightning boltish streaks in the messy mane. Twilight moved her head to see her cutie mark was a black Scythe. She had a horn that was a shade lighter than the coat, and when she opened her eyes, two, pale blue orbs stared back at her.         “Ohhhh~ That hurt-” The mare froze. Her voice sounded almost like the combination of Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight herself. “Oh my god I’m a girl!!!”         Twilight’s shock turned to amusement, “Looks like Carnage gets a mother after all.” She erupted with laughter, and Lee blushed crimson.         “Th- that’s a rude thing to say! I got distracted!” She laughed harder, “Stop it! How do I change back!?”         Twilight calmed herself just enough to reply. “The transformation- Hahaha!!! Needs at least- Hahahahahahah!!!! Two days to settle with your body- Ahahahahaaaaa~ So your stuck like this for that duration… Ahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaa~!!!”         Lee’s eyes grew. “Damn it!”         After Twilight calmed herself completely, she gave an intense stare. “You’ll need a name...”         “Nonononononononononono!!! I’m not giving myself a pony name!” Lee flailed her hooves, a pleading- almost begging, look.         “I’m not calling you Lee in front of my friends. How about Ruby?” Twilight tilted her head.         Lee growled. “No… Fine, I’ll name myself…”         She thought a moment, then came up with a cool enough name. “Say I’m half Zebra, and I havn’t learned magic yet. My name will be Xilery Star.” Xilery was a Zebra name Lee remembered from when he came into Equestria. He befriended her before her passing…         “Xilery? I like it.” Twilight said. She smiled, and ‘Xilery’ just stared. “Are you going to smile?”         Xilery seemed to force herself to smile. Twilight gave her a concerned look, and Xilery explained. “I haven't had facial muscles in years.” Twilight nodded at that. The truth was, she didn’t want to smile. She couldn’t. She smiled when other people got hurt, or something funny happened, and maybe even when someone was being nice. But she didn’t feel any of those.         She wouldn’t feel any of those. > How To Dress, How To Dance, And How To Make Friends > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- {Lee Connor/Xilery’s PoV}         For the next week, I learned how to be a pony. Walking wasn’t an issue since I had to walk on all fours when I’m fused with a pony, so I was in the clear their. But acting like one was a bit difficult. I was also having eating problems… I was craving weird things like pickled hayfries, and burnt toast. I was also licking my pillow in my sleep. Weird, I know...         The sleeping arrangements were: Twilight on master bed, Spike in basket, and me in the extra bed(from the episode where Rarity and AJ had a sleepover with Twi).         We told Spike that Princess Celestia sent me as a new friend to study about new bonds. He bought it, and I almost did myself. She had told him with such a straight face that I thought she’d been thinking it was true! She was the perfect host for me…         Anyway! So, as I was saying, Twilight was helping me with settling in as a pony. She used a scanning spell on me, and figured I was a normal pony, but my magic sense was stronger than most ponies. I asked her what that meant, and she explained.         “All beings have magic. Earth Ponies, Pegasi, Unicorns, Dragons, Griffons, etc. Unicorns have the ability to use magic in it’s purest form, while others have a more subtle use. Unicorns, and Alicorns with the proper training, can sense this aura of magic. In your parasitic form, you are undetectable to that sense, but in this form, you're a beacon. But as long as nopony is using the spell to detect magic aura, you should be fine. Earth Ponies might feel uneasy around you because of your aura, so be careful.”         I understood that 100%! And it made me uneasy. But, Celestia wouldn’t know I had this form, so I’d be golden.         But those things weren’t bothering me. No, what was really bothering me was…         The dance.         It was tonight, and I needed to figure out how to tell the lavender Unicorn that I… That I…         That I don’t dance… There, I said it. Singing I can do, but I’m a horrible dancer. I mean, Twilight was bad, but I was worse. I was called names for how bad at dancing I was! And I have a fear of ponies. It wasn’t that bad with Silver(gosh I miss that chick), but that was mostly because her ponies were mello, and I ended up getting drunk… I suck at drinking! One glass made me drunk for three or four minutes! Good thing I don’t have a brain… I walked right into that one didn’t I?         So that’s one of my phobias. Dancing. And Ponies, but that’s two. I didn’t want to fail Twi though…         I sighed. “What’s wrong?” I jump from the sudden sound of Spike’s voice. The little drake was right next to me.         I shake my head. “U-uh- Nothing. Just thinking.” I hated the fact that I sounded like a scratchy version of Twilight.         “Nothing wouldn’t have you hyperventilating.” He said. I froze. I was what? He continued. “It’s okay. I understand getting freaked out over… Whatever you are freaking out over.”         I took a deep breath. “Twilight and me are going to a club tonight, but I can’t dance if my life depended on it...”         Spike seemed to stop dead in his tracks, then started laughing. “Oh my gosh! That’s it!? Hahah!” Was I so trivial? I thought he’d react better than that.         “Shut up. It isn’t funny!” I didn’t like Spike. He always called me ‘copy-cat’ because I looked and sounded like Twilight. I really couldn’t say anything…         He started to calm down, and ended up coughing. “Look, sorry. It’s just that I learned how to dance three days ago.”         I raised my eyebrows, “Really!? Can you teach me?”         He smirked. “Sure thing. But it’s gonna cost ya.”         I narrowed my eyes. “What…?”         He blushed, “Oh, just help me with Rarity…”         The blush freaked me out, but after he finished the sentence, I understood. Twilight had told me that he had a crush on one of her friends… Or I stole the information out of her head.         “Look… I don’t know much about girly things. I’m a tomboy, and was never one for girly things like make up or dresses… ever…” He seemed a bit down, and I sighed, “What exactly? I’ll help in anyway I can, but you have to teach me how to dance.”         He nodded his head rapidly, and said, “Thanks Xilery, I’ll help you with dancing! All you have to do is mess up her date with a stallion that she’s started flirting with.” ‘What…?’         “What…?” I repeat. “You want me to sabotage a date? Spike, you're getting a bit overboard. What’s she done so far?”         “She’s made him three suits! And said she’d be finished ‘dressing the mare’.” I wanted to laugh, but jealousy was never something to laugh at.         “Look, Spike. I’ll see what’s going on. But you’re overreacting. I once had a crush on a… guy.” It was really a girl, but I didn’t want Spike thinking I was gay, “He was the average… guy, who was what every other… mare, wanted. I tried, and tried, but I never could get close. At one point, I started getting jealous, and I… hurt the last mare that dated him. I was almost arrested, but I got lucky. I regret that day with every fiber of my being, but I let my jealousy control me. After I see what’s going on there, I want you to come clean with her. If she truly cares that way for you, then she’ll accept. If not, then I’ll be here with a tub of ice cream. Sound good?”         He stared at me, and nodded. I smiled, and turned on my hooves. I trotted towards the door and chuckled. “I’ll be back. Look after the library until Sparkle-Butt get’s back buddy.”         I arrived at Rarity’s boutique without meeting Pinkie. I didn’t want to see her yet. I didn’t want to be the talk of the town a week after my release.         I opened the door to the dress shop, and found Rarity finishing up with a female customer. The female customer picked up a dress, and ran out, saying her thanks.         The marshmallow Unicorn noticed me, and beckoned me inside. There seemed to be some livelihood in the Boutique.         “Greetings darling! Welcome to Rarity’s Boutique. Where everything's chic, sleek, magnifique!” I flinched at the ‘darling’ part.         “Uh… I was wondering, have you been seeing anypony lately?” She seemed mad, and a blush came onto her face. She took a deep breath, and asked.         “Why on heaven would you ask such a personal question, darling?” Oh, I should have said that better.         I chuckle nervously, “Well… You see, Spike saw you with a guy, and I wanted to put his fears to rest.” Rarity seemed to calm down more.         “Oh, sorry darling. You sounded a bit… suggestive…” ‘I know I sounded stupid… Just say I’m unladylike while you're at it.’ The fashion designer giggled, “I know Spike has a crush on me. He gets a bit protective sometimes… I do not have a coltfriend(snort). The last stallion who came in here was a gentlecolt named Time Turner. He and Mrs. Hooves came here to get a suit/dress. Those two look so cute together.” I sighed in relief. It didn’t take as long as I- “Oh! Where are my manners. I’m Rarity! As you can see, I work in the fashion line. And yourself?” I hate my mouth… “My names Xilery Sign. I’m currently unemployed, and I’m living with Twilight.” As I said that last word, Rarity squealed. Uh-oh… “You must be the pony Twilight said she’d introduce us too! The friend she never appreciated! Oh, you must tell me how you and Twilight met! And, don’t mind me asking, what will you wear for the party?” Oooohhhh!!! I knew this would happen! I will never wear a dress as long as I liv- Rarity pulls me into the Boutique and I suddenly see myself on a circular pedestal. Almost like… Almost like were Twilight was nearly suffocated when she came to Ponyville the first time! I was about to panic, when Marshmellow(She lost the right of me calling her by her real name when she dragged me here) started taking measurements all over… And I mean all over. After that, she ran into her workshop mumbling plans for a new dress. I tried moving, but felt that my hooves were stuck! A little white Unicorn filly walked up the stairs I assume lead to the first floor. The filly, who I guess was Sweetie Belle, Rarity’s little sister, looked at me with unamusement. “Dress making?” She asked, voice flat. I nodded. “Didn’t ask for it?” Again, I nodded. “Stuck in place?” Once more, I nodded. “Celestia save you.” She turned and left. I wanted to beg her to save me, but I guessed that wasn’t gonna happen. I turned back to where Rarity disappeared too. I waited a minute, heard rustling, and then my captor reappeared. She had fabric all over her, and glasses that made her look more professional. I was doomed…         “There! Now that wasn’t too bad, now was it?” She asked as the restraints on my hooves fell. I didn’t care though. I was looking in the pony-sized mirror at my reflection. The dress she made was small, and seemed made for dancing(wow, everything comes back to that…). The design was simple and the whole dress was softer than anything that I had worn. It was so soft that I was in a state of bliss. It was black and white, but mostly black(like my true form). It had white threads like webbing, and the earings(hell those hurt) were a shiny light purple.         The whole dress making process wasn’t even that bad. The less I struggled, the faster it went. We even got to know each other a bit better. I guess she’s my third pony friend, not including anthro-Mane Six, and the Masked Matterhorn. Though I’d hardly call them friends.         “You look beautiful darling! You'll make some stallion a luck pony! Or mare…” She gave me a grin, and I blushed.         “Th-Thank you miss Rarity… Wait, I don’t have any money!” I started to panic, but the fashionista put a hoof on my shoulder.         “Think nothing of it darling. Think of it as a ‘welcome to Ponyville’ present. And I think I’ll be seeing you around here more often. Oh! I simply must take you to the spa! Me and Fluttershy will be going. I hope you come!”         Darn… Well… She was offering for some quality time, and was practically begging me.         “Sure, I’ll come. Tell Twilight when yo-” I couldn’t finish my sentence as I was crushed in a bear hug… What? Hugging!?         “Ki** *er.”         I raised my eyebrow. I thought I heard something. Shrugging it off, Rarity finally let’s me go.         “I’ll see you then Xilery!” She pushed me out the door(not violently). I sighed. Friendship was a risk…         ‘What am I thinking!? I have no plan, no goal, and I don’t even want to make friends! I don’t have a purpose… But it’s too late. I was too deep. I couldn’t leave now…” I head for the Golden Oaks Library.         I arrived at the library. My journey wasn’t that eventful, so I pretty much zoned out for the majority.         I opened the door, and heard Spike call, “Be there in a moment!” There was a rustling, and Spike came running out of the kitchen. “Xilery! Did you scare the stallion off?”         I fight the urge to roll my eyes. “Spike, he was a customer. Time Turner. That guy has a marefriend named Mrs. Hooves. Rarity isn’t with anyone.”         Spike looked shocked, but shook it off. “I knew that! Good job. Uh, let me take care of dinner and we’ll start.” He turned and rushed into the kitchen again.         I needed to have a talk with him before he goes overboard. But right now, I need to dance. The “dancing” I did at Silver’s world was mocking, and in my drunk state, seemed to look good.         When Spike came out, he told me how to stand. “You’ll need to make sure your loosened up. Don’t want you stressed.”         I did as he said, and we started dancing. > Shut Up And Dance > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- {Lee/Xilery’s PoV}         I sighed. Wonderful… I had just came back from another world…         It wasn’t that bad though. Cool dude too. And neat weapons! I got a few guns, but I put them in my ‘Venom-Space’ to check out later. I did that all in the other world, and know I was stuck as Xilery again. A couple token’s fell to the floor, including Silver’s, Lance’s, Loki’s, and Kat’s. I moved them with my hooves to the side, where I told Spike to take care of them. He said he couldn’t, so I just placed Lance’s and Silver’s on my person, while I hid Loki’s and Kat’s behind a bookshelf. All with my hooves. The transformation didn’t give me pony magic, so I was less a mare than Butterfly. I mean, she can’t fly much.         What happened was, after practice, I had sat in a chair and fell asleep, awaiting my “date” with Twilight. I was then sucked through a portal and into a firefight between a man and machine. After I arrived, I met a guy         I looked at the clock. I’d been gone for a half an hour. I shake my head. ‘I thought I was gone more than an hour!? Well… It’s time… Why am I doing this!? Stop, stop, stop…’         I mentally sigh. This better not get out of hand- er, hoof.         I heard the clopping of hooves over by the stairs, and turned my head. My jaw hit the floor. Twilight was in a simple blue dress, with stars, and light blue shoes. She also sparkled a bit. ‘Wow...’         “You like it? It’s the only dress I think I could dance it. Rarity made it for me, and I even wore this to the Gala.”         I was finding trouble breathing. I couldn’t think of what to say. She gained a sad look.         “It’s too much, isn’t it? I should have asked Rarity to make something better, bu-” I cut her off.         “It’s perfect… You just struck me speechless…” She smiled, and trotted down.         “So!” She held out a hoof so I could take it, “Shall we?”         I nodded. {Toxin’s PoV}         I was in Pinkie’s bloodstream like usual. She hopped towards the ‘club’, all the while talking about this and that. I gave a few comments, but I liked listening.         “... So then I was like, Wazzup!!! And then Rainbow started using it! And then I heard Derpy use it, and Neon Lights and even Vinyl! It then got world wide.”         ‘Wow! World wide?’         “Yep! And I didn’t get any credit for it!” She seemed a bit irritated. I don’t know why though…         This feels wrong...’         Pinkie continued on for a minute, until we reached the party house. It was BIG. One way to describe it is think Rainbow’s cloud fortress, but multiply it by three.         I was SO going to party hard.         “Okay! So for the first three hours we’ll stay backstage and help out. Then, we’ll have twice that long to party, and another hour out of all to look for the killer. Got it?”         I mentally nodded.         This was going to be crazy. {Lee/Xilery’s PoV}         We arrived at the club. I had one thing to say. Big. Huge. Well, bigger than any club I’d been too. Twilight and I kept close, but not that close.         “So, how was your life before...?” Twilight asked me.         I grinned, “Well, you know I’m not from this world. I was a teenage student living in an apartment. I lived with my sister, and mother. Dad left when my sis was born. Wasn’t that great anyway.” Twilight seemed sad, but I continued. “My family hated each other. Except mom. Loved the morons she called kid with all her heart.” Twilight giggled at that.         “It wasn’t until I was fifteen that things went downhill. Mom was killed in a car accident, and I went to live with my aunt. Her name was Blair, and her son Chris. A couple years later, I was hit by a car like my mother. Due to miscommunication, I was sent to eye surgery, which wasn’t a problem. I lost my eyesight, and grew closer to my sister. A year later, I was sent here as a Symbiote.” As I finished my backstory, Twilight’s eyes grew wide. I decided to defuse the situation. “I’m fine though. That was decades ago, and I’ve moved past it. That was out of my control anyway.”         Twilight still gave me a sad look, so I took her hoof and pulled, “Come on! I’m here for fun, not pity!”         Twilight laughed as we ran into the building.         Once inside, my mouth dropped even more. I thought it looked big on the outside, but inside was wider. The dancefloor was one hundred hooves wide both ways, a DJ booth next to it, there was a restaurant in the corner, dozens of tables, and a lot of ponies in the building.         Twilight pulled me to the side and sat me down on a table for two. I looked to the DJ stand and saw Vinyl switch with a dark blue unicorn with black hair and grey eyes. I couldn’t see his cutie mark, but I felt something wrong.         I shook my head, “So, what do you wanna do?” I asked. Twilight’s eyes started to glow, and so did her horn, and my body.         Immediately, my inner fear struck, and I started to panic. “Waitwaitwait! I d-don’t think we should! I mean, I’m a girl, you’re a girl, what would Ponyville thi-”         Before I finished, she cut me off. “Shut up, and dance with me!”         As soon as I heard those words, a different song played. One I recognised. I looked over to the DJ stand, and the stallion winked at me! I was about to go after him, but the music seemed to have Twilight under some sort of spell… It was working on me too, as I didn’t have a care in the world!         We started dancing, and I felt butterflies in my stomach. I wasn’t supposed to do this like… well, this!         My new heart was pumping faster than the Flash! I needed a breather… Nah!         We continued to dance, all the while getting closer and closer. I felt my heart swell, my knees shake, and my brain becoming mush. I was pretty much putty.         We continued to dance until the song ended. We leaned closer, I felt her breath on my face. I closed my eyes. Three inches. Two. On-         I snapped back to reality when I heard a scream. A child like scream too.         Twilight’s eyes shot open. “PINKIE!!!”         As soon as I was sure nopony was looking, I summoned my Scythe. Twi and I sprinted towards where the scream came from… Backstage…         I didn’t see the stallion, but I didn’t care. One of Twi’s friends was in danger.         When we arrived, my eyes widened. A shadow held Pinkie by the back of her head. “The Shadow!? I thought I killed you!”         The Shadows eyes turned to me, and I froze. They weren’t yellow… They were green…         “You can’t kill what you can’t touch, Lee Maris Connors.” She said and she threw the pink pony to the ground. The darkness faded, revealing a white mare with green mane, and eyes. A brown cloak covered her cutie mark. She grinned darkly.         My heart ached. “No… It can’t be…” > Old Lover Of A Symbiote > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- When Lightning Strikes- Old Lover of a Symbiote Dance Club (Lee Connors’ World)         Lee Connors stood still, fear written over his muzzle. In front of him was Clover the Clever, his old host and marefriend. Her smile was lopsided, with a dark gleam to it.         “Oh, it can be.” She said, making Lee back up quickly. A dark aura surrounded her, and her voice sounded sickly sweet.         Before he could react, Lee was thrown to the side by a black tendril. He grunted in pain, while Clover’s smile want full on. Another tendril shot out from behind her, and struck the Pony/Symbiote in the shoulder, drawing a crimson liquid. Lee screamed in pain as his mind started thinking of ways to escape.         “Wow, you seem weaker than I remember, Lee. Did that Twilight Sparkle soften you up? Or was it Celestia’s imprisonment?” The tendril embedded in Lee’s shoulder removed itself and wrapped around Lee’s throught. “It was just a matter of time before the princess killed you anyway. I just thought me coming back from the grave and killing you myself would be a worse way to go.”         Lee’s heart, mind and lunges were aching. The grey mare struggled to be free of the shadow and away from Clover, but to no avail. Twilight’s horn was enveloped in a purple aura. But as the Celestia’s student charged her spell, a dark hand appeared over her, and came down on the unsuspecting mare.         Clover cackled, “I can’t wait to have some fun with your new host! I can hardly keep my hand off her!”         Three swords appeared at either side of her, which she thrusted at the helpless Displaced. Two of the blades barely hit Lee, one scratching her cheek, and the other cutting her left hind leg. The last one embedded itself into Lee’s right hoof, causing him/her to croak a scream of pain. More fear gripped him, and his eyes widened at the sight before him.         A tendril slithered towards Twilight’s nearly unconscious form. When it arrived, it wrapped around one of her hind legs, and dragged her towards the two.         “I’ll make you do to her, what you did you me!” She said. “But first…”         The tendril holding Lee suddenly tightened so fast, that Lee heard multiple cracks. It then whipped him/her at the nearest wall, which gave way under the force, and Lee was let go. His/her broken body rolled across the ground, and he swore he heard screams.         Clover slowly walked out, smirking all the while.         The only thing going through Lee’s mind was. ‘Help… Someone, please!’         Then, a single object appeared in his/her hand. What he guessed was a M6C Magnum Sidearm from Halo(because he got it from a Halo Spartan). Black liquid engulfed it, and Lee sighed in relief.         Clover was confused, until Lee let loose a hailstorm of bullets. Clover backed up when they made their mark, but didn’t seem to do much.         Lee quickly flipped her hair and grabbed Lance’s token in his/her mouth. He/she yelled as loud as his/her lunges, “LERNCE!!! AH NID YER!!!”         A vortex began to form. One that Clover was not familiar with. However, as it opened, Lightning surged forth, electrocuting the pony. Soon, another form emerged… No, three forms emerged. One Breezie, one unicorn and what looked like a human. Then, the fourth came out, kicking the mare in a blitz of fire.         “Okay, WHAT THE BUCK WAS THAT!?!” The Breezie shouted.         Clover glared, eyes turning red. “Who the hell are you!?”         “Ugh… My head…” The human told himself. “Did anypony get the license plate number on that… Oh.” Lance now stared at Clover, not noticing Lee nearby. “You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?”         “Kill you? I’m starting to want to… Stay out of my way, or you’ll end in the same fate as that.” Clover pointed at Lee’s pony body.         Lance looked, a little surprised at first. But then sighed. “Guess I just need to demonstrate the lessons I learned from Luna University.”         “Wait, you went to college? What could you possibly major in?”         “Pony psychology…” Soon, Lance disappeared, smacking Clover with as much force as twenty centaur. “WITH A MINOR IN PAIN!!!”         Clover dissipated into her shadow form. “Do you know who I am?”         “A whiny mare that sounds like she just got dumped by her coltfriend?” Lumen replied.         “THAT’S NOT HELPING ME HERE!!” The Azure Striker yelled.         “Just saying what everypony else was thinking,” Lumen sighed, making the Adept smack himself.         “I am Clover the Clever, apprentice to Starswirl the Bearded and founder of Equestria!”         “...... Your point being?” The Lightning Adept said back, looking unimpressed. Solaria herself was just as confused as the others while Lumen and her attended to the pony on the ground and Kai stood by Lance’s side.         The shadow turned back into her pony form, and smirked. “You’re screwed…” Three spheres of pure chaos appeared around her. Anything around them turned into a twisted, dark version of its original form. “I gave you the choice to run,” Ten Shadow’s appeared next to, and around her, “but I guess you’re too stubborn to listen to reason. You look like he used to, but you don’t act like Lee. You seem more justice oriented.”         “Lee, you say? In that case…” Lance smiled, looking at Lee’s token. “He must’ve called on me to put you in your place.” Quickly, he drew not one, but this time, two guns and began to fire multiple Dullahan shots. Ther energy blasts destroying the shadows Clover made on contact. Kai also pitched in, destroying a few shadows with his fire based attacks.         The shadows disappeared, and Clover too, though none of Lance or Kai’s attacks hit her. The dark mare appeared near to the Blaziken, a crazed grin across her face as a tendril smacked him into the clubhouse. What surprised the mare however, was that when the Pokemon hopped back onto his feet and grabbed Clover in the face before throwing her into the ground.         Clover faded back into her shadow form and passed by it. She took pony form a distance away from them.         “Wow… Just… Wow… You really don’t know who you’re defending, do you? He’s probably worse than I am!”         “He’s a friend and I don’t care what you think about him.” The Adept shouted, he felt something vibrate from his coat and went into it, finding a small gem with a note attached to it.         Hey, sorry that I had to drop this in your coat, but this can help you when you’re in a pinch. Toodles!         -Loki         Before Lance even had the time to understand what he found, Clover went back on the offensive. Multiple blades were sent flying at the Adept as Clover yelled, “Then you need to choose better friends!”         Before the blades met him, a purple shield materialized right when they were mere inches away. Twilight Sparkle limped out of the club.         “T-Twilight?” Lance said, recognizing the Unicorn mare.         She limped to Lance’s side, glaring at Clover. “Don’t. Touch. My. Friends!”         “Kai, stay with her!” Lance ordered the Pokemon. He nodded as Lance stepped out of the shield, while thinking to himself. “Loki, whatever you left behind, I hope it helps me right NOW!”         Clover the Clever glared daggers at Lance. Several swords, tendrils, and shadow ponies were summoned, and thrown at Lance. The gem he held glowed brightly and soon, emitted a powerful shockwave that caused everything that Clover summoned to fade to dust while violently throwing her to the ground. Before she could even get up, Lance got out his blade and pinned it to her face.         “You have nowhere left to run. Clover the clever? More like Not-so-clever if you ask me.”         Clover glared up at the adept. Then, she faded into her shadow form, and disappeared.         Silence fell, until a sob cut through the air. Then, Lance realized something. “Oh Sh*t, Twilight!” He hurried back over to her, trying to make sure if she was okay. She seemed fine, other than that she was staring at the grey unicorn sobbing with an expression mixed of sorrow and shock. “Twilight, are you okay?”         She nodded. “I just have a sprained hoof… I think Lee needs more help than I…” She pointed at the mare.         “Wait a minute… That’s Lee?” Lance asked. “Good lord, he looks like he’s in bad shape.” Kai returned to the Pokeball that Lance kept on him as he picked up the Mare with his arms. “Solaria, make sure that everything around town is alright. Lumen, stay with me. We need to get him to a hospital.”         “Whoa whoa whoa, hold on…” Lumen interjected. “Who’s ‘He’?”         Lance motioned to the pony he was carrying. “A good friend I know.”         Twilight stood forward, “No! We can’t take him there! Bring him to my library!” She turned to the club, “Solaria, right?” She pointed to the yellow unicorn.         “Yes?”         “My friend Pinkie is in there and hurt. Could you bring her with us? I need to explain what’s going on.”         “Got it… Oh and one other thing?” Solaria mentioned. “Call me Sunset. That’s my name.”         Twilight smiled, “Nice to meet you Sunset. I think you know who I am. And I think you can guess what Pinkie looks like.” She turned to Lance, “Ponyville’s fine. Mostly. We’ll handle Ponyville later.”         “Right… Uh Twilight… I might want to let you know this now… but given the circumstances of how we last met, Masked Matterhorn and I kept that to ourselves to avoid confusion amongst the team. So, this is Sunset’s first time in hearing about you and Lee.”         Twilight sighed. “It isn’t that confusing. Just say an alternate Twilight joined the team as a part time member- Ugh! Why are we talking about this! Lee’s bleeding out!” Twilight lifted the bleeding, sobbing, and bruised mare in her aura. “I’ll be back to pick you up when Lee’s in a stable condition. Should only take a few minutes.”         Twilight gave a final wave, before teleporting away. As soon as she was gone, the remaining heroes heard slow clapping. The only question was… from who?         “Do you hear that?” Lance asked. Solaria just shook her head, thinking that she was hearing hooves hit the ground. Instead though, when the two of them turned around, they saw something else. A human in a white trench coat. His face pale, and eyes yellow. He grinned, showing off his razor sharp teeth.         “That was quite a show! Bravo, bravo!” He chuckled, “No hard feeling about the head, right?”         “I’m sorry, but who are you exactly?” Lance asked, trying to sound polite.         The man giggled, “Me? Oh, I’m nobody, just your average… whatever I am. But, if you must call me something, then call me Time Spinner.”         “Time Spinner? That’s new…” That’s when Lance realized something that he said a moment ago. “Hold on… Would you happen to be the guy who hit me in the back of the head earlier?” When he nodded his head, the Adept twitched. “Son of a-!!”         “Silence!” Time Spinner said. “I said I was sorry, and I knocked you out for good reason… But anyway! I can’t believe how easy that was… I thought she’d get a few hit on you, but all worked out in the end.”         “Okay, I have a few questions to ask you. People don’t just randomly show up like how you did after a fight that took up the entire town just occurred.” Lance pointed out, pointing a finger at the shape that the Dance Club in ponyville was in to prove his point. “So, Time Spinner, care to explain why you knocked me out and why you are here?”         “To answer why I knocked you out, I was bored and didn’t want the group to split up. You’ll be staying here for awhile anyway.” He cleared his throat, “As for why I’m here, I thought checking up on my Displaced is a good one… Lee does tend to ruin lives in the worst people…” He smirked darkly.         “Wait… What the hell do you mean staying a while?” Lance questioned.         “Let us just say, Clover isn’t the only threat to Lee. You’ll have to help him… he really sucks at keeping himself alive. I believe I can trust you to protect my Displaced? Since you don’t have a choice. The way between the worlds is severed. The best you could do is give them a message through me.”         When Lance heard that, it was a shock to the system. It meant that he was cut off from Max. He promised to be back soon, but now, he was going to make her worried. “How long is this going to go on for? I need to give a message to someone I care for. Can you do that?”         Time Spinner stood still for a moment. Then, he sighed. “Oh, of course. I’d hate not too. I myself fell in love. I even had a daughter of my own…” A sad expression graced his face. He shook his head, “But, this isn’t about me. What’cha want to say? Wait! Just say it to me, and I’ll send THAT to everyone who you want.”         Lance sighed. He thought inside his head for a minute before opening his eyes and speaking out loud. “I want you to tell Max Caulfield to not worry about me. That I promise to be back as soon as I can. Whatever is going on, I don’t care what hell I need to go through in order to get out of this. But I will survive… I will make it through this.” He honestly assumed the last part since he did not know what else to call it given the circumstances.         Time Spinner smiled, “That you will my boy, that you will. I’ll send Jubilee to give the message. Anything else?”         “Yes, to you.” Lance snarled. “I want to make it clear that I’m not doing this because you told me to. But because Lee needs my help and it’s the only way I can get back to my Fiancee. This doesn’t mean that I trust you though. You reek of cowardice and trickery. Next time, you talk to me directly instead of surprising me with my face hitting the floor.”         He raised his arm, “Power Ponies honor. I won’t. First introductions are crap for me. Don’t call me what I reek of, I put that on me to make myself seem like… whatever you called me. I kinda zoned out… Anyway!” He slung an arm around Lance, “You remind me of myself! So heroic! But as the saying goes: You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain. Trust me, Lee knows what I’m talking about…” He moved his arm away.         “I get what you say, but the difference is that I’m not like you. I’m different.”         “Oh, tell me the difference… I’m older than you, I used to be normal, I was tricked by a Displacer, I turned into a hero, and here I am. A Displacer myself. What difference is there. You have a family? Trust me, that only amplifies the possibility that you’re gonna go rouge.” Time Spinner chuckled. “Even if you don’t, there are many friends that could betray you. And what’s considered evil to one person, can be considered good for another.”         “Maybe… But what I know is that people can change for the better. I have something to fight for.” He said. Lance remembered Freddy. From the first time they met to when he had seen him recently. That served him as a prime example to him. “Is there anything else you're suppose to be here for? You sound like you are a busy Displaced.”         “I am, but I’m also not. Time Travel is so confusing to those who aren’t meant for it. But I do have to go. I just thought I’d be friendly and warn you. I don’t think you’ll go that far off the deep end. But others might, and I’m sure that your family is a perfect target for your enemies. And if they’re gone… who’s to stop you from killing the attacker… I’m just speaking from experience.”         “To answer your question, I would stop myself. Even if I have to kill myself to do it.”         That shocked Solaria. She didn’t expect Lance to actually say something like that. Why would he say that anyways? Was it to impress this man? Did he truly mean it?         “And there comes the die part. Die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain. Think of me as the other end of that choice… Maybe… Just maybe, you're fooling yourself…” And with that, he opened a locket and looked fondly into it. “If you want to talk to me, just yell my name. After all, I’ve got all the time in the world…”         Lance sighed as he disappeared. “Wait a second… Power ponies honor? Solaria, do you know what he’s talking about?”         “N-no… But it does make me feel curious about who he is. Maybe it’s another universe or something.”         “Can we chat about it later? Something tells me that Twilight needs us right now.”         Just then, a flash of purple light engulfed the area, and Twilight appeared. “Okay, let’s go. Sunset, you got Pinkie?”         “Oh yeah, uh one second. I was held up.” Sunset soon returned carrying Pinkie in her Levitation magic. “There we go.”         “Okay. As we go, I’ll explain how Lee and I know Lance.”         “It’s kind of self explanatory. Solaria, remember when Masked Matterhorn and I told you about an individual known as Venom?”         “Yeah?”         “That was Lee and Twilight.”         “Are you freaking serious!?” The Unicorn gasped. “I never knew!”         “That’s why he had to tell you,” Twilight deadpanned. “The two of us fuse, and we make Venom. I don’t know much about Lee himself. I never got the chance. All I know is that he used to be human, then he turned into a parasite. He’s only recently a pony. I used a spell on him so he didn’t die without me when he wanted to be alone. That’s pretty much it.”         “Question though…” Lance interjected. “Wouldn’t the spell have some sort of limit? Like it could only last for a certain amount of time?” As they went in, Lance pointed at the pony on the nearby bed, who was violently shaking. “Because something tells me that’s not normal.”         Twilight sighed. “He’s gone into shock. And the spell should wear off by tomorrow-.”         “That doesn’t appear to be the case.” Solaria said as she pointed a hoof at Lee, where the magic from him was beginning to evaporate like steam. “Something cancelled it out!”         Twilight ran to Lee, mumbling, “Is this okay? Does this mean he’s dying? No, no, no… Oh!” She perked up. “The spell’s finishing up! The injuries made it complete! I didn’t even think that were possible! It’s like he’s eating the spell to make it permanent! This is great! This means he’ll be able to switch in between Symbiote and pony forms!”         Lance then realized something. This only started to begin once he used the gem, it dispelled Clover’s magic… Could Lee have somehow got caught in the blast? It would explain why the spell on him was fading away.         “No… He’s not eating it… The magic is being removed from him… It’s like what happens when you draw water from a lake. It’ll soon become empty.” Lance said. “I could only assume that this was a mistake on my end that I wasn’t aware of.”         “Oh pony feathers! I’ll have to do the spell all over again to get him the disguise back!” As she said that, Lee finally finished taking the form Twilight and Lance knew him as. The symbiote quickly jumped on Twilight, fusing with the purple mare as she purred.         After the fusion was complete, the duo sighed. “Lance… Thanks for the save… We really owe you…”         “I wouldn’t really call it that. It was my stupidity that got us into this mess.” Lance said, holding the gem from before. “Remember this, Twilight?”         The Venom mask pulled back, revealing Twilight’s face. “Yes, I do… Why?”         “I just figured out that the gem has the ability to cancel out anypony’s magic within a certain Radius. You and Solaria might not have been effected, but Clover and Lee were both caught in the shockwave that was emitted. I really need to be more careful with this.” He sighed, placing the gem in his pocket. “Can’t believe that Loki left me a few tricks to keep me alive right now.”         Lee slithered off Twilight, much to the mares displeasure. “In any case, you still saved me from Clover. Is there anything I can do?”         Lance sighed. “Dude, we’re not out of the woods yet. Not by a long shot.”         Lee raised a part of his mask that Lance guessed was his eyebrow. “I know Clover is still out there, but you don’t have to stay. I can handle-.”         “It’s not like we have a choice. We can’t go back. That’s what we were told. It seems that you caused a lot of ponies to get angry and now, we can’t go back to Maretropolis until we clear up this mess. I feel bad for having to be away from Max, but right now, we need to make sure that we clear this up… pronto.”         Lee sighed. “I’m sorry… I never asked for this…”         “Never asked for what?” Solaria asked. “For all we know, Time Spinner could just be trying to mess with our heads. Then again, he said that you ticked off a LOT of people.”         Lee seemed to gulp. “Y-yeah… I had that effect on royalty… And ponies… and family…” He coughed, “But I didn’t piss off too many that are still alive. Celly, Lulu, Clover are the only ones I know. Maybe Discord, and Sombra, but that’s it.”         That’s when Lance dropped a bombshell. “What about your sister?”         Lee froze. His “eyes” narrowed. “She’s been dead for a thousand years… Don’t even mention her… I’ve had enough heartache…”         “Dude… She isn’t dead… I heard her shortly after you left.” Lance told him. “It was brief, but all I heard was her saying your name.”         Lee started shaking. “Maybe you were hearing things… I don’t see how she could have survived…”         Lance sighed… He had to pull out the big guns. With his control of electricity came certain perks. One was that he was able to use Neuroelectric energy like thoughts and turn them into sound clips on his phone. Taking it out, he said one thing… “Just listen…”         PLAY         “Lee… Brother……”         Lee fell to his knees. “AMBER!!!” His volume made Twilight backtrack, her eyes wide. Lee started sobbing again, and Twilight quickly went to his side. She held him as he melted into her embrace.         Lance and Solaria stared at the sight. After a couple moments, Twilight pulled Lee closer and closer until they fused, and the sobs were silenced.         “I think he’s had enough… And I think I have too… I’m still surprised THE Clover the Clever is alive! She’s one of the mares that founded the friendship between all pony tribes! I can’t believe you didn’t know who she was! But, she might not exist in your world…” She sighed. “Good thing Spike isn’t here. He’d pass out. I’ve got a single spare bed… Lance will take that, Solaria can take my bed. I think I’ll do a night of study again. Lee will keep me company.” She looked at Pinkie. “But first, I’ll bring Pinkie home. The Cakes will be worried.”         “That sounds okay… But can I ask you something?” Solaria asked. “Where are your friends? Like Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy?”         Twilight seemed surprised by the question. “Well, I haven’t seen Rainbow in a while. I think she’s having a bad mood or something. Rarity went to Las Pegasus to meet a client, but should be back by tomorrow. Applejack is at Sweet Apple Acres. And Fluttershy’s at Canterlot trying to apologize to the animals… I actually got a letter today that she wanted us to go there and pick her up since she ran out of money and was scared to go down the mountain… So… I haven’t talked to them in weeks.”         “Okay, but it just seems… odd for them not to be around. Mostly, they’re here to help you out anytime you need it.” Solaria stated. “Also, for some reason, I feel two presences around Pinkie. Almost like when Lee is with you.”         Twilight’s eyes widened. “W-what!?” And just like that, Pinkie shot up, screaming something about tacos. She turned to look around the library, then her eyes landed on Lance.         The first thing to come out of her mouth was, “Holy crap! It’s Discord all over again!” She seemed to be thinking, then. “Would you by any chance be able to make cotton candy clouds? I’ve always loved those… Wait, I’ve never seen you before, are you new in town?”         “You could say that. But can you answer me a question, Pinkie?” Lance asked. “We know that Twilight has Lee… Would you happen to have someone or something that’s like… a symbiote?”         Her face froze. “Wha- *Gasp* Twilight! You have one too!?” Red and black goo began to crawl around the Earth pony, almost like when Lee and Twilight Twilight became Venom. “Ta-da! Call us Toxin!”         Twilight’s facial expression was blank. “You… Had a Symbiote this whole time… and didn’t tell anypony?”         “Well, I wanted too, but then Bon Bon was… murdered… And I didn’t know who to trust!” Pinkie said this while waving her hooves, “I know everypony in Ponyville, but my Pinkie Sense never told me that a new pony came to town, so it had to be one of my friends! But I was friends with so many that if I told you, AJ, Dashie, or anypony else, it’d be spread like wildfire and alert the killer that I was looking for him or her.”         “That… Is actually good thinking…” Lance complimented. “But that makes me wonder about something. Besides Lee, who has Venom, and Pinkie, who has Toxin… What other Symbiote could be out there?”         “I think I know the answer.” Lee said through Twilight, “The first shadow I met created a bunch of them. There should be… Scorn, a purple Symbiote that can take control of machines, Scream, a yellow and red Symbiote who can control her hair in a murderous way,” Lance chuckled at that one, “Hybrid, though they’re with another Displaced named Jeffrey, Carnage, a red and black Symbiote that can see everything around it. That one is most likely the killer. And… The one I’m most scared of…”         “Hmm… Do they each have personalities?” Lance asked. “If they came from you, couldn’t they think, feel and act on their own for a short while without a host?”         Venom shrugged. “A short while, though they still need a host. The personality is probably to their respective characters. Toxin as you can see,” They pointed at the two new Symbiotes who were rolling on the floor, laughing like a child, “Acts like a three year old. Scorn, I think, will want to please her host in any way, shape, or form, Scream whispers to her host, driving them insane, Carnage is a psychopathic killer, and… Anti-Venom, is worse…”         “Hmm…… That makes me concerned on something.” Sunset said. “Twilight, you said that you haven’t heard from Rainbow in a few days right?”         Twilight’s eyes widened in horror. “Oh no! Her, Pinkie and I went to the castle together! I got Lee, Pinkie got Toxin… Rainbow must have gotten one too! Oh, this is all my fault...”         Lance now looked at Twilight. “Lee? If you got Twilight and Pinkie got Toxin, then if by the off chance Rainbow got something, then who do you think it would be?”         “At best, I’d say Scorn, at worst, I’d say Anti… But I’m not an expert. Symbiotes take hosts at random. They usually don’t care who they are. I think we should check on Skittles tomorrow. I think we all need some rest. We’ll take watch, you two get some shut eye.”         “Sure…” Lance said, laying down. Lumen though, had to say one last thing as she flew over and let Lance and Sunset sleep.         “Twilight… Lee… I have a weird theory on something… You said somepony died recently, right?”         Pinkie hopped over, “Yeah, Bon Bon… Why?”         “Well, if there was something wrong with Rainbow, wouldn’t she come to Twilight for help? Like, immediately because of how fast she is? Because I have a weird feeling that if she did… No, that just doesn’t sound right…”         “It must be either Scream, or Carnage. Unless she’s just scared… We’ll know tomorrow…”         “Yes, but what I’m saying sounds impossible. I’m saying that if either or were controlling her at the time, then she would be the murderer because they were using her like a puppet.” Lumen sighed. “I don’t want to say that a friend of yours is a killer, but I just have a bad feeling that we might be getting in over our heads on this…” The breezie then sighed, floating over to Lance. “I just want to make sure Lance is okay. He’s getting married soon and I want to make sure he’s back in one piece to return to his Fiancee and their kids.”         “Don’t worry… We’ll make sure he makes it out of this alive… Toxin? Would you search the perimeter every half hour?”         Toxin(Pinkie and the Symbiote) saluted, “We’ll make sure that nopony sneaks up on us!” The two flicked Pinkie’s wrist, and out popped red webbing that pulled them to a window that bursted open, causing them to yelp in surprise. Venom face hoofed.         “Figures… The strongest Symbiote, is the stupidest… but Pinkie’s reliable enough… I hope… Her Pinkie Sense might not work on Symbiotes.”         “Let’s just hope it helps… Who knows what we got in store tomorrow. Especially after the night we’ve been through.” Lumen sighed.         “We’ll keep an eye out… If you need anything, we’ll be sitting in that chair.”         Lumen nodded her head before flying over and sneaking into Lance’s coat pocket.         “Goodnight. See you tomorrow. And sorry about this mess, I shouldn’t have summoned you.” Venom sighed. “We just suck at being a Displaced!” They laughed.         “It’s okay man. We’re glad to help. Besides, sometimes heroes can’t do everything on their own.” They hear Lance tell them briefly, who woke up from the last comment they said. “Let’s just hope what Time Spinner said is the least of our worries.”         Venom gave a confused head tilt, but shrugged it off to Lance having known someone named Time Spinner. Solaria went up the stairs to the beds. “G’night Sunset!”         “Night guys.” But the moment she looked outside, the unicorn stopped talking. She could see something in the distance that moved. Something that wasn’t Toxin. After what Time Spinner had said to her and Lance, she was worried about if this was one of the individuals that was going to try and hurt Lee.         She used the open window as a chance to sneak out, avoiding the chance that Toxin might see her as she went into the Everfree under the cover of night. She felt something Sinister in here. Something evil… Something powerful.         “What’s a nice mare such as yourself doing here?” A dark, chilling male voice spoke in front of her. Solaria used an illumination spell to try and see the individual.         “Who are you?”         What greeted her was another human, with tan skin, and pure black eyes. “Killjoy… That’s what the white man calls me. And I will make this world whole.”         “You didn’t answer my question.” Solaria told him, now acting even more cautious, channeling her fire based powers. “Who are you? What is your name?”         He sighed, “I have no name, thank you for reminding me. Call me Killjoy. Everything calls me that.”         “And why are you here, Killjoy?” The Unicorn then asked.         He groaned, “Like I said, I’m here to make this world whole. Whole with yours, and others. I’m guessing you’ll ask me what I mean, so here’s that answer. I want to bring all worlds together. Why you’ll ask? Because there shouldn’t be a multiverse.” A sick grin spread across his face.         “Okay… Good luck with that,” Sunset said before disappearing. She wanted to be far away from that freak. With a name like Killjoy, it gave her the creeps. She soon returned back to the library, falling asleep shortly afterwards. But while the few of them slept and by the time Toxin returned, something else was happening.         The Reckoning had begun. And a Shadow was being born. This shadow… was untamed. A ravager of not just people, but worlds. A harbinger of war, chaos and conflict. It was like death itself. But it wanted more than just to be pleased by hearing the screaming of helpless souls. It wanted a war. A war that could only happen if the multiverse… was non existent. With a loud shriek, tendrils formed from the wraith, opening a stream of arcane magic that was considered to keep the world's balanced. “May the dawn of a new age… begin.”         The stream was now shattered apart like a mirror that hit the floor. The chaos that was about to unravel was nothing that anyone or anypony could be prepared for. But, the monster had left a sinister message behind. Welcome to the Nightmare Breach… End Chapter 20 > To Canterlot... And Nightmares > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- When Lightning Strikes- To Canterlot… and Nightmareland Next Morning         The air was cool as Lance opened his eyes again. He found himself inside the same place where he fell asleep. But for some reason, he felt like something happened. Rising quickly from the bed without making any noise, Lance paced himself slowly towards the door and drew out his pistol. Looking through the window though, he had a glimpse of what was going on.         “What the hell?”         There were cracks throughout the sky. In each seemed to be a different place. Some looked destroyed, with a dark, horrid nature to them. Others, seemed to be peaceful and quaint like this one, or less midevil like Lance’s.         “Oh, you’re awake!” Toxin/Pinkie said at the doorway. “Venom wanted to see you when you woke up. Something’s got them spooked.”         “I think I know why. Look…” Lance told the earth pony, pointing to what was going on outside.         They looked, but their face didn’t seem to change. “See what? I see some weird red stuff in the sky, but other than that, everything’s fine.”         “Was that there before?” Lance asked, putting on his coat and getting his equipment.         “The red? It was there since… midnight last night. Venom seemed extremely freaked, and started pulling books and went outside. They’re in the backyard.”         “You guys have a backyard?”         “I know, I didn’t know library’s had backyards either! You learn things everyday. We asked Venom since when, and they said Spike and Twilight built it after we beat Nightmare Moon.”         Lance thanked Toxin and then stepped outside, surprised to see Lee and Twilight. They were sat in front of another one of those cracks, this one right on the ground, facing up. They were mumbling something incoherent.         “Um… You needed to see me?” Lance said, trying to sound simple, but get to the point.         Venom jumped, “Ah! Oh, it’s you Lance… Sorry, we were up all night studying this phenomenon. Can you see it?”         “Yeah… Something tells me that this is bad. What do you see?” He asked. “Pinkie only saw them as red cracks.”         “We see worlds… Worlds like Equestria, but not the same Equestria. They exist, but it seems only you and I can see it. Toxin can see red, but when he leaves Pinkie, Pinkie can’t see anything. Ponyville doesn’t seem to notice it either.” Venom stood up, and shot a web at the portal. It didn’t go through. “They seem to be some kind of… looking glass to other Equestria’s. I’ve even seen some Displaced, though it seems one way.”         Lance had a look at them again, then he recognized a few. Freddy’s world. Maretropolis. Max’s world. There were a bunch of them in the mix. However, he then felt something. Like a cold chill went down his spine. “Somethings not right about this.”         “Wow, great deduction Sherlock. This could either mean nothing, and pass by as a natural phenomenon, or stay, and conti-.”         “No, I don’t mean that… Did I tell you that I can sense the energy radiating inside each being in the world, including Displaced?”         “Being part Lee, we would have ignored whatever you said about your powers. It doesn't suit us about knowing every detail about every Displaced we come across… But no, you didn’t tell us.”         “Well, I can. Last night, I only felt you, Solaria, Lumen, Pinkie and Myself. Now…… There’s five times the amount of Displaced then last night.”         “What!? Five time!? How is that even possible!? There can’t be that many, or that few if you’re sensing all across the multiverse! Can you sense who they are?”         “No… Only a couple I’m familiar with. But right now, I can’t tell how many. And I’m talking about right here in this present moment on this world… Um… Guys…” Lance said, looking up at a cloud above them. “Remember last night when Sunset could feel Pinkie and Toxin?”         “Yes? We remember… Why?” Venom asked.         “Well… Besides her and you… There’s one above us.” Lance retorted, gun and blade at the ready.         Venom summoned two pistols from their storage space, and pointed up, only to be rammed by a red and black pegasus.         The two pony symbiotes slammed into the fence, sending them into a house not too far from the library. Lance was quick to react as he saw the one he thought to be Carnage try to pin down Twilight and used his left hand to fire a Ki blast at the Symbiotes face. Which exploded on contact and gave the Unicorn a change to move.         Venom took that chance to buck the murderous creature in the gut. Carnage went flying, but not before another symbiote came through a wall, it’s yellow hair lunging at Venom. Scream held Twilight and Lee in a choking hold.         “Twilight!!” Lance tried to call out, trying to aim his weapons at the hair and fired out three shots from his Orochi clip before using his Flashfield to load watts of electricity into the symbiote.         Scream… Well, screamed. And recoiled from the attack. But Venom turn offensive. The duo summoned their Scythe, and webbed the side of the handle. They slashed Scream, causing her to shriek in anger, but Venom didn’t give it time to recover, as they whipped the Scythe around their head and ramming Scream on the side of her head again and again. Scream grabbed the Scythe, only for Venom to pull back the web, and disconnect it. The web whipped the newest symbiote in the face, and as Scream fell off the building, Venom webbed the Scythe once more and pulled it to them.         Carnage recovered in the air, and shrieked in anger. In Lance’s mind, he remembered when he sent out high pitched sound waves with his fingers to reveal Twilight when she came to Maretropolis. Now, he wondered if the same method could somehow work here. Holding his hands, he prepared his right hand like it was a finger gun and began to charge some energy.         “I got an idea, but I need you to buy me some time!” He told Venom, looking back at her.         Venom nodded, but Scream jumped them, the two tumbling through the house. Carnage looked as if they were about to run off, when a red and black web wrapped around Carnage’s leg, and pulled the mare down.         Lance looked to his side to see Toxin, holding the other end of the web. “I’mma comin ta get’cha!” Toxin then pulled a flailing Carnage with the web into the side of a building. Toxin’s right for leg turned into a sharp, slightly curved blade. They ran at the dazed Symbiote and host, ready to attack. Carnage saw this coming, and created a blade of their own. The four clashed, and Lance swore he heard star wars music.         “Toxin, try holding Carnage down with your webs! I don’t want you to get hit by my next attack!!” He yelled so Toxin could hear him.         Toxin nodded, never looking away from Carnage. They jumped backwards, which ended up backflipping a buck into the red symbiote, and landed on the side of a building. Carnage was too dazed to do much more, and Toxin webbed them up as much as they could. “That won’t hold them for long!”         “Okay, COVER YOUR EARS!” With that, Lance released the wave of high pitched sound from his fingers as it drove towards Carnage and hit them dead on. The Symbiote screamed in pain as it dropped down to it’s hooves.         “D-did that work?” He asked, looking at Toxin.         Toxin looked dizzy, and shook their head to clear up the haze.         Where Carnage once was, now lay Rainbow Dash with her eyes closed. Fresh scratches and bruises scattered her body. Toxin’s mask moved away from the party mares face, “Dashie!”         “Pinkie, wait!” Lance tried to tell her beforehand. He still remembered that they had to deal with Scream.         Pinkie ran as fast as she could to check on her friend, but as she got closer, Scream smashed through a wall, the intent to kill on her face. Pinkie tried to stop, but it was too late as Scream impaled Pinkie with one of her hairs.         Dash seemed to have woken up at that split second, and rage filled her features. The red symbiote went over her again, and she screamed like an animal, taking the yellow symbiote.         Lance’s first instinct was to rush to Toxin. He was worried about Pinkie. The Adept was trying to find something in order to help her and scrambled through his pockets in order to try and find something to stop the bleeding. Then, he remembered something… Something from the first Displaced he met.         From Blood Cleaver.         Going back into his pocket, he took out the Senzu bean that she gave him and held it out to her. “Pinkie, I’m trying to help. Please, eat this.”         Pinkie coughed up blood, “This… Isn’t… Very… Fun…” She tried to eat it, but couldn’t reach it. Lance lowered his hand a little to the ponies mouth, trying to help her chew and swallow the bean so it’s healing effects could take route.         Meanwhile, Carnage was blindly attacking Scream screaming furiously and desperately. Scream just dodged each attack with ease, smirking all the while.         “Wow Carnage, you sure do have a soft spot for the loud mouth… Oh, was she your friend? We’re sorry, we should’ve killed her more slowly. We are the Great and Powerful Scream!” Just as Scream said that, Carnage got a hit in. She had cut the side of Scream, and bucked the yellow boast with one hind leg.         Scream yelped, and backed off. Venom came out of the building, and the two Symbiotes circled the Unicorn.         “Did you say great and powerful? Trixie!?” Venom’s eyes widened. “You’re Scream!?”         “Great and Powerful? Look’s more like a great bitch to me!” Carnage growled.         Scream backed up, fear written over her face. She turned, and used webs to try and get away. Both Venom and Carnage glared at Scream, and they both tried going after the web haired psycho show-off. But Scream saw this coming, and shot a beam of magic at a building, causing it to collapse. Carnage was caught, and Venom had to save a little filly inside the house.         Carnage finally got out from under the rubble, and flew off. Venom pulled the filly to safety as Rainbow got away.         “Lance! Is Pinkie ok!?”         Lance gave a nod, setting her down in the backyard on a table. “She’ll be fine. She just needs rest though. What happened though that cause this was beyond me.”         Venom teleported next to Lance, “What? The hair?”         “No, before that. Everything was going fine until the Symbiote from Carnage revealed the host. For a moment, Pinkie lowered her guard down to rush to her and that’s when Scream hit her. After that happened, Carnage woke up and went at Scream. Pinkie looked like she knew who was the host though.” Lance sighed a little. The next part he said rocked Twilight’s world.         “She called her Dashie.”         “Rainbow Dash! Drats! We knew we recognized that voice!”         “I noticed something else too… It seems like your Rainbow has control over Carnage, but it’s greatly affected by her emotional state. Hence, her going after Scream after she hurt Pinkie.”         Venom paused, “Oh… oh, oh, oh! Of course! Symbiote’s don’t take full control of their hosts! They twist the desire into something of the parasite’s desire. I forgot since I changed how my bond works! It should be the same with the other hosts! Rainbow was mad since Pinkie was hurt, Trixie wants revenge because Twilight beat an Ursa Minor- non-violently, we might add.”         “That make me wonder some things… One, Why Venom chose you and Toxin chose Pinkie. And Two… Who else might be possibly hosts depending on this new information… Remember the pony who was killed in ponyville?” Lance asked, recalling last night.         “Well, most Klyntar don’t care much about their hosts other than a few key things. Lee chose Twilight because of three reasons… First, because she used to talk to him during his imprisonment in stone. Second is because he was weak, and had nopony else around. And third, because of her magical talent.” Venom scratched their head. “I guess for Pinkie, it was because of her childlike nature, and she was in the right -or wrong, depending on your perspective- place at the right time… It’s just whatever the Symbiote wants, or can get.”         Lance understood that. But then, something else came into his mind. “Alright… This might sound weird to ask, but the pony who was killed… Bon Bon right? Did she have anyone that she considered as friends or family that lived here in Ponyville?”         “Well, there’s Lyra, her adopted sister. The two were adopted by the same family. But Lyra seems fine.”         “Don’t you think though that if somepony was mourning for the death of a family member that they somehow lower their defenses to let anything in to help the grieving process?” The Adept cleared his throat. “Think about Rainbow and Trixie for a minute. Rainbow was affected by Anger and Trixie wanted revenge above all else because of her pride… Do you think that Lyra could be vulnerable because of the amount of sorrow she might be facing?”         Lance’s theory was that for the other symbiotes, they were triggered based on emotions. Possibly negative. He paused a minute, letting Venom be able to process their train of thought.         Finally, “We think you’re right, but we can’t just barge into her house and demand that she give an addictive monster that gives her the power to absorb weapons. Think of what an angry, grieving pony with your gun could do.”         “I’m not saying that we would do that. Vigilantes are formed when people believe they could take the law into their own hands. Plus, I can only use my gun. Anypony else tries to use it and it won’t work.” He sighed. “Something tells me though that we caused a lot of attention. Would Princess Celestia need an explanation for why all of this happened?”         Venom growled, “Princess Celestia doesn’t care what happens. All we have to do is write to her that it’s taken care of. Reason four of why Lee chose Twilight as a host is that Twilight is trusted by the Princess. Hiding in plain sight, and being able to tell her that ‘everything’s fine’ comes in handy… The towns ponies should be arriving to see what’s going on. I’ll take care of them, while you get Solaria and Pinkie to the train station.”         “Where do we go from there?” Lance asked, Pinkie up Pinkie just as Solaria came trotting out.         “What the buck happened-!?!”         “No time to explain now, we’ll talk later.”         “I’ll distract them, and you’ll buy a ticket to Canterlot.  I’ll meet you there.” Venom turned, and slingshot themselves in the opposite direction from the train station. Lance nodded as the two of them hurried and made it over to the train station. They were able to get a ticket to Canterlot and get onboard the train in a first class room before the train left the station. Moments after they were off, Pinkie was beginning to wake up.         “L-lancie…”         “Easy there Pinkie… You’ve been through a lot.” The Adept calmed the mare as she sat next to him. “How do you feel?”         “Like I just ate... Tartarus. My chest hurts…” Pinkie said through pants. “I thought I’d never breath again…”         “Easy there. Just relax… I gave you a Senzu bean. Let it sit in a couple of minutes and you should feel better soon.” He told her. “How’s Toxin?”         “He’s in my bloodstream… He was freaking out because he thought I was going to die... and now he’s resting…”         Everyone in the cabin sighed with relief as Solaria spoke. “Well, it’s good to see that you are okay. On the off chance though, should we take you to a hospital?”         Pinkie giggled softly, “No silly… I’m fine, and if I did go, they’d take Toxin out of me… and I don’t think he wants to leave…”         “Good point.” Solaria replied. “Sorry about not realizing that sooner.”         “S’okay… I’m new to this too… I’d say the same thing… in your position Sunny…”         “Well, now that still leaves us with a lot of things to deal with at this rate.” Lance said. “First, there’s Scream and whatever other symbiote that might try and attack us. Second is the cracks in the sky. Pinkie, you can’t tell what they are, but Twilight tells me that it’s because you haven’t traveled to other worlds with Toxin yet.”         “Worlds?” Sunset questioned, only to realize something. “Oh boy…”         “Solaria? What’s wrong?”         “There was this colt I ran into last night after you fell asleep. His name was Killjoy and… well, he said something about wanting to make this world whole…”         Pinkie was about to ask, when everyone heard a knock. Outside, Twilight was glaring inside at Lance.         “Hey, Pinkie just woke up.” Lance briefly told her. “Come on in.”         Twilight face-hoofed, and responded muffled, “I don’t have any bits, and I need a ticket…”         “Oh, I already got myself an extra one for you. Lumen is in my coat pocket, so she counts as luggage.” That’s when Lumen emerged from the coat and glared at him while he slipped it through the window after opening it, and gave Twilight the extra ticket.         “I am NOT a piece of Luggage!!”         “Not with that attitude you aren’t.”         After a minute, Twilight sat down next to Sunset with blood covering her face that wasn’t there before she entered the train.         “What happened?” Lance asked. “Hit your face against a door?”         “For your information,” Twilight snapped, “The conductor was checking me out, then tried coming onto me… I bit his ear off.”         “Ouch… Teaches him not to mess with you again.” Lance said, getting a cloth out of his jacket for Twilight’s face. “Now, Sunset was saying something that might relate to what’s going on with the cracks we’ve seen.”         “A colt I ran into last night named Killjoy was saying about how he personally wanted the worlds to be whole. As in no Multiverse… Something tells me that the cracks have happened because of something he did and now… a bunch of other worlds might be combined into one.”         “Well, that must be why you guys are here. I’ll try and locate this… Killjoy, so we can kick his butt to fix these cracks-” Twilight was cut off by Pinkie though as soon as she heard the Unicorn try to place a heavy load of responsibility on herself. Laughing.         “Hahahahah! Cracks! *Snort* Like butt cracks! Hahahahahah!” Pinkie then turned serious, “Who could be called Killjoy… That isn’t a nice name…”         “Well, whatever it is, we’ll have to find him. But first, we should get some rest. It looks like the two of you have been through a lot after what happened with Scream in Ponyville.” The Adept told them, motioning to both Pinkie and Twilight while she was holding the cloth Lance gave her. “Which reminds me… anything new from Fluttershy?”         Pinkie fell asleep in an instant, but Twilight didn’t seemed fazed, “Yes, she had to sleep in an alleyway last night. She couldn’t afford a place, and the Royal Guard didn’t seem to recognize her as the Element of Kindness… Shows you what the Princess thinks of us…”         “Hey now… You don’t need to be like that. Maybe the guard was a new recruit and didn’t know who she was.” Lance said. “Let’s not point the finger- I mean hoof, at anypony just yet.”         Twilight quietly growled, letting some of her mane flop over her right eye. “Lee was imprisoned because of her… I just don’t know what to think…”         “Maybe it wasn’t Lee, but the host that Lee chose. Anything can make a mistake Twilight.”         Twilight sighed, “Okay… But I’m not sleeping. I’ve got to work on something. Mind helping me?”         “Sure I guess. What do you have in mind?”         “I’ve been thinking about how the Symbiotes seem to be able to sense other Symbiotes. Lee said he sensed Carnage, and Scream, but he was unfamiliar with the feeling since he was the only one of his kind in Equestria until the first Shadow attacked and forced him to… breed… I don’t even want to know how it happened… Anyway, if I can figure out how to use this power better, I could sense them before they attack. But first, I need you to stop that stones power from draining magic. I’ll handle it from there.”         “Hold on a sec… You said that the Shadow forced Lee to…… Breed?” Lance was a little surprised by the statement when she said that.         “Yes, and he’s hating every word out of my mouth about it. It’s a thing Klyntar can do.”         “Well, I think I found out something… You ever had that feeling when you know that someone you know in your family is nearby like a brother, sister or even parents?”         “When I was around my BBBFF, yes… I mean brother… Stop calling me that!” Twilight mumbled the last part.         “And think that, but then think about when Lee sensed Carnage and Scream… Don’t you think that’s familiar?” The Adept had an idea of where this was going. He was a quick and excellent problem solver and can recognize certain connections in minutes.         “Yes, now get to the point… But if you’re going to say he can sense family, you’re even dumber than you look. It’s an ability.”         “No, I’m not. I’m saying that he could sense them because he made them. Carnage and the other Symbiote are his children and he is the father. That’s why he could sense them. Because they are family. He’s a father… Like me…”         Twilight growled, “It’s an ability… All Klyntar can sense their own kind. He wouldn’t be able to sense Anti-Venom because he’s not a Symbiote. They can sense him too.”         “Right… What about the material though? You said Anti-Venom isn’t a Symbiote. Why is that?”         “The Shadow took a genetic… Let me phrase this so you can understand… It took the genetic start-up, and memories from Lee to create the perfect killing machines… Too good… It created perfect replicas of the beings in the comic books back on earth. Carnage, the serial killer, Anti-Venom, the clone, Toxin, the heroic misfit, Scorn, the cyborg Klyntar, Hybrid, the unstable four Symbiotes who merged into one to survive, and Scream, the psychotic killer of Hybrid’s former hosts. From what Lee told me last week, a Displaced named Jeffrey faced off against Hybrid while Lee was weak. Jeffrey won, and took Hybrid as a prize. The others abandoned the Shadow, and Lee got rid of the Shadow by sending it into a world without magic… I’ve had some time with Lee.”         “Wow… that’s quite a story. So… if Jeffrey has Hybrid, Pinkie has Toxin, Rainbow has Carnage, Trixie has Scream… Then-.” Lance lost focus as he dropped a photograph that fell out of his coat towards Twilight and Lee.”         “Who’re those?” Twilight asked more softly as she levitated the photo towards her. Lance sighed to himself, before answering her question.         “The fillies and foal in the photo… are my kids. Light Sweet, Golden Spark, Lucky, and Rainbow Dash. The girl that’s in there next to me… She’s my fiancee. We’re getting married in a few months.”         Black slime jumped off of Twilight, and formed into a black Spiderman. “Dude, I think I saw her last night… I almost had a bloody nose…”         “You saw Max?”         “Through a crack… Jeez she doesn’t mind taking her clothes off… In front of everyone…”         “When did you see her?” Lance then asked.         “I said last night… Girl stripped in front of two guys… outside no less… One of them was pale with a white trench coat. Looked cool...”         “Well, we do have an ‘open’ relationship.” Lance said, the term confusing Twilight.         “Is nothing sacred!? I’ve been in one relationship, and look how that turned out!”         “Basically, open relationships a-”         “I know what it means lover boy… I just don’t see how it could work…”         “Maybe that’s because you get jealous all the time.” A smooth voice spoke. “Message delivered. Oh, and might I say, your future wife is… unique…”         “Tell me about it,” Lance sighed. “She is pregnant with our son after all.” It only took Lance a few moments to realize that Lee wasn’t the one talking during then, but instead a different person.         Time Spinner walked out of his shady little corner. Lee seemed to recoil and jump onto Twilight. “She kept ruining my conversation by punching me, and throwing me around. Then coming onto me. Oh, I do so hate it when you humans over react.”         “Right… You might want to introduce yourself to Lee and Twilight before they start to think you’re the enemy.”         “Right! I’m Time Spinner, your Displacer.” Time said with a mock bow. “I’m also the one who sold Lee that Scythe…”         “So you’re the one who sent Lee here!? You took him away from his home!” Venom snapped.         “Venom, wait-.” Lance tried to say. Before he could though, he was thrown into the back of the cabin.         “We don’t care! He took everything from us!” Venom was about to attack, when Time Spinner flicked his wrists towards the duo. Venom froze, unable to move a muscle.         “I don’t care if I took everything. You weren’t anything when I found you, just a blind, worthless teenage boy who absolutely loved his punk of a sister. If anything, I spared you the trouble that was Amber… But, you’ll be glad to know she was with friends.”         Venom started moving again, “‘Was’? What d-does that mean!?” Lee’s black Scythe appeared and Venom tried slicing Time’s head off, but froze again.         Time walked around Venom’s motionless form, looking closely at the Scythe. “I see you’re using Penance a lot… I was wondering if you’d throw it away after I sold it to you… Meh, I always loved using it!”         The scythe disappeared, and Venom fell to the floor of the train.         “So, are you going to listen to my explanation, or am I going to have to freeze you again…”         Venom growled, but made no move to attack. Lance himself tried to move and when he did, he looked at Time. “Why don’t you tell us instead of leaving us in suspense?”         Time sighed, “Killjoy is a voidborn, like dragonborn, but instead of being born with dragon blood, he’s born in the void. Created is more like it though. Him and about four others were created by none other than my Displacer, Failure, or Fail Mother… Weird name, I know. She created them to help the balance of the multiverses Displaced when the Merchant started- surprise to say, they didn’t like this and tried to kill her. Killjoy is the weakest, but that doesn’t mean he’s easy. In his eyes, he thinks the multiverse is a fluke- a failed attempt at perfection. He’ll stop at nothing to achieve his goals, even killing worlds that get in his way… I’m surprised he hasn't tried destroying more worlds, at most he’s killed ten universes and two halfs.”         Time Spinner gave a yawn, “And he’s killed more than his share of Displaced. So I’m bringing help.”         Lance raised an eyebrow. “What kind of help exactly?”         “The… Well, help is help. They’re names are Chaos Jenny, Cole MacGrath, Darth Folteren, and three others I’d rather not talk about… They’ll be here in a few days.” Time Spinner shrugged. “Anything else?”         “And which ones do you know are probably ones that are not going to-. Wait… did you say Darth. Like as in Sith lord Darth?” Lance now had a bad feeling about this.         “Personally, I’m a little worried about the time where we’ll need to wait. A few days could be a LOT longer back in our world than here. Plus, who knows what Killjoy would be doing within that timeframe.”         “Fine… You want help? I’ll get one here sooner.” Time said, rolling his eyes.         And with that, he vanished. Venom went back and sat in their seat, and the suit disappeared. Twilight looked very grumpy.         “So he’s the one who brought Lee here?!” She asked.         “Yeah… But there was something about him the other night that just didn’t feel…… Well, right.” Lance replied. “He made a promise to me to deliver a message to my Fiance Max under “Power Ponies Honor”. I’m still a bit confused by that.”         “Don’t focus too much on it. He’s probably trying to psych you out.” Lumen told him as he looked back at her. All Lance did was sigh.         “I’m going to get some fresh air, I’ll be back in a little while.” With that, the Azure Striker walked out of the train car, but instead of walking to the one behind it, he instead just walked on top of the train and sat down. Using the chance to get some air, take in the sights and watch the tears in space above them change like clouds in the sky. He used the chance to cure his boredom by shooting at any targets that seemed like a challenge. Rocks by a lake. Timberwolves trying to hunt a squirrel. That sort of thing.         His alone time was interrupted as another crack opened on the top of the train. Inside, he could see what looked like… Zombie ponies…         Three seemed to see the adept, and sauntered through the crack and onto the top of the train. “Great… Just when I thought I was getting a much needed break from craziness.” The Adept groaned, now getting both of his guns ready.         The zombie-ponies groaned, moaned, and hissed. One looked familiar to Lance… It looked like Rarity. But not the Rarity he knew. After all, she would be complaining about her tattered mane.         One of them leapt towards Lance, only for it to be grabbed by him and have volts of electricity course through the monster, weakening the body before he blasted it’s head off. The other two were already charging towards him, snarling all the way. One lept up, while the other(Rarity) took the hooves on approach. Cracking out his energy blade, he jumped to the right to avoid Zom-Rarity’s incoming attack and kicked her off the train while using his blade to dismember the other undead monster into three pieces, including the head as they also fell off the train. For added measure, he switched to his Mizuchi sniper clip to shoot the Zombie Rarity between the eyes before the Train began to go through a huge tunnel.         Once the train was out, five more zombie’s came out, but one was human! It looked like it was a Displaced, too. From what Lance could guess, he was dressed as the Medic from TF2.         “You have got to be kidding me…” The Adept snorted, looking down at his left gauntlet, showing him that he still had three skill points that he could use. Lance soon began to channel all three of them as electricity began to violently crackle around him.         Electrified chains surged from all directions, acting as spears piercing through their bodies and destroying the medical equipment of the undead medic before it turned them all to ash. The crack seemed to close, and soon, the Azure Striker could see a castle on the mountainside in the distance as they were getting closer to it.         “That must be Canterlot,” He presumed, given what Twilight told him earlier. “I better go back to Lee and the others. They might want to know what exactly happened out here.”         When Lance told Twilight, Sunset and Pinkie what happened, Twilight started to pace. She mumbled theories, possible side effects, how this could be the end of the multiverse! And then sighed.         Sunset took hold of Twilight’s shoulders, “Snap out of it!”         Twilight seemed to be calming down. “S-sorry…”         “It’s okay Twilight, I understand why you’re freaking out.” Lance said.         Twilight smiled appreciatively, then gained a look of determination.         When the train finally stopped, the six heroes, Lance, Lee, Twilight, Sunset, Pinkie and Toxin stood in front of the doors of the train. When the train stopped, the doors opened. To their confusion, music started playing.         What they saw, surprised them.         It was another human, this one wore dark robes, and a red mask hid his face. To his side was a small, orange and purple filly, wearing a black cloak.         The dark figure chuckled, “Okay kiddies, let’s play…” End Chapter 21 > WRONG TARGET!!! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Friendship Express         “Why hello there, Kiddies.” The cloaked human said in a low, but menacing voice as he and the orange filly by his side “greeted” Lance, Lee and the rest of their crew. On instinct, Lance had electricity channel through his arm, but not in an attacking motion. More of a way to look intimidating as he grabbed one of his guns with his right hand and his septima energy blade with his other hand.         “Who… the hell… are you?” He growled, wanting answers.         But instead of the intended effect, the man laughed. “Haha! That’s cute!”         Two cloaked ponies came out of nowhere, “HI/HEY!” They said in unison. They sounded like Pinkie, which scared Twilight a bit.         “Diane, Surprise, give them some room.” Whispered the filly.         The two backed off, and pulled their hoods off. The one to the right had a blond mane, and purple eyes. Her coat was pure white, and her bright smile rivaled Pinkie’s. The second was dark pink, with dull blue eyes and a straight black mane. A sick smirk chilled the group to the core.         “You may call me Darth Folteren... I’m your backup...”         “Wait… you must be the guy that Time mentioned-.” Before Lance could say anything else and put his weapons away, The Pinkie Pie that Lance and Lee knew came out alongside them and saw both Diane and Surprise.         Her eyes dilated, and she ran up to them. “Ohmygosh! Therearetwomoreofme! Isn’tthatawesome!”         “Toxin, calm yourself.” Sunset told Pinkie, making sure that she would settle down and not do anything reckless. “We have some bigger things to focus-.”         “Thinkofalltheparty’swecouldcomeupwith! OhthatremindsmethatInevergaveLanceyandLeeaparty! Youguyswannahelp!?”         The blond, which everyone assumed was Surprise yelled “Yay! I’d love to help!”         The raven maned mare moaned as her smirk faded. “Damnit, I wanted to kill something…”         This made Pinkie back off a bit, “Wh- what?”         “Don’t mind her, she’s insane.” Said Folteren.         “Am not! You guys are! I’m perfectly normal!” Diane protested.         Folteren sighed, “She is… She’s nice once you get to know her though.”         Folteren turned his head to the left, which everyone mirrored, to see Diane killing ants with a Lightsaber.         “... Most of the time…”         “Well… that’s… good to know I guess. Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Lance and this here is Lee, Pinkie, Twilight, Sunset, and my partner Lumen.” The Adept finished by pointing at the Breezie on his shoulder. “I guess you are aware of the current situation?”         “Yeah… Psychopath wants to destroy the multiverse… I think our back ups almost here. Oh, and this is Scootaloo.” Folteren pointed at the filly, “She wanted to come here.”         “Really? You brought a filly here?” Twilight asked. Folteren chuckled.         “She wanted to come, and I needed to keep an eye on her since her guards sick.” The sith shrugged, “Animatronics… Unreliable pieces of crap.”         “Wait? Animatronics? Is Freddy here?” Lance asked. He remembered his last encounter with them and the golden bear and hearing that made him think that they were pulled into this conflict as well.         “Fred? Haven’t seen him since I gave Bonnie a shoto- that’s a lightsaber.”         “You gave Bonnie a lightsaber?” Lance asked, the Adept being a little jealous, yet concerned.         “Sure. I also gave Freddy my Discord…” Hearing that made Lance remember when Freddy used to be the Spirit of Madness before reforming himself. Now, the bear was going to be an uncle for his kids. Those were the times. At that moment though, the train began to slow down and Canterlot was soon coming into view.         “I think we arrived at our destination.”         Folteren seemed to be in a world of his own, but snapped out of it. “So, you know Freddy. How? Did he help you out? Saved me from Changelings, and from fighting the Elements.”         “Wait, wait! What!? You fought me and my friends!?” Twilight asked.         “Actually, I took over Equestria with the help of half.”         Twilight was originally shocked by this, but soon, Lance tapped her on the shoulder, reminding her that they were from a different world and with different worlds comes different changes of events and people. Soon though, Folteren was curious about the Azure Striker.         “What are you? Some kind of Dark Jedi? You aren’t a Sith, I’d feel your power.”         “I’m an Adept. My Septima, or as you would call it power, is Lightning and Electricity and my hand to hand weapon allows me to channel that energy into a blade. It’s a bit confusing, but I’m not a Jedi.” Lance assured Folteren, not wanting to get on his bad side. “Plus, I mostly use my guns instead of my blade at times.”         Folteren scratched the back of his head. “I guess that’s cool. So… Were you Displaced by Time Spinner too?”         “Yeah…” Lance sighed. “He hit me in the back of the head with a frying pan along with Solaria and my partner Kai.”         “He’s Lee’s Displacer.” Twilight remarked.         “Solaria? Kai?” Folteren asked.         “Oh Solaria is the secret identity that Sunset has. We’re from Maretropolis,” Lance told him, pointing at her and himself and then took out Kai’s Pokeball. “Kai is my Blaziken partner that Freddy gave me and let me raise from when he was a Torchic.”         Folteren facepalmed, “Oh this is ridiculous. A Pokeball? Kinda cruel, don’t you think?” A Mudkip popped out of Folteren’s cloak. “I keep Waffles in his own pond.”         Lance raised an eyebrow as he let Kai out of the Pokeball. “You named your Mudkip Waffles?”         “Nope, Freddy gave the name and shoved this little dude in my face and told me to take care of him. I didn’t get a choice, but I don’t regret it. He really likes human food though...” Folteren pat Waffles’ back, and the water Pokemon hopped down, making a squeak. “He’s also a troll.”         “Right. Kai here was a little impatient himself, but another Displaced named Zinnia was able to help us trust one another… even after our Pinkie decided to ship the Combusken form of him by mail after I forgot him on my trip to Sun Fransokyo… Not our brightest moment.”         “Waffles is a bit too laid back-” The dark lord was interrupted by the sound of water, and glared down at the little pokemon. “Stop using water gun on Twilight!”         Waffles stopped, and skipped until he was under a seat. Twilight was soaked, and growling. Scootaloo started laughing along with Surprise and Diane. Lance and Kai facepalmed themselves, looking at Mudkip. “You do realized that you also soaked Lee right?”         The Pokemon just curled up in a ball. Folteren removed his hood and mask. He had yellow eyes, and brown hair. “Like I said, he’s a troll, but also a bit of a jerk unless you’re Shadow, Scoots, or me. He’s squirted a member of a cult, Goldie - a replica of Freddy - , several battle droids, and even Rainbow Dash at one point. I tend to keep him away from Chrysalis, and the other rulers during meeting. And when I’m bored, I just watch him go into Ponyville and ruin others day.”         “Have you considered training him?” Lance asked, the mega bracelet on his wrist becoming slightly visible. “Maybe he’s trying to tell you that he wants to evolve.”         “My sister Shadow’s doing that! And no, he’s been that way since Mr. Fazbear gave him to us.” Scootaloo said.         The train slowed nearly to a stop right outside of Canterlot. Lance soon turned to face the nearest door as it slid open         “Well, guess we gotta take care of some dush.” Folteren mumbled.         “Ladies first?” Lance offered, letting Diane, Surprise, Twilight, Pinkie and Sunset out of the train before Lance and Folteren stepped out, with Scootaloo between the two of them. Waffles hopped over to the others.         Ponies stared at the humans, and a guard tried to arrest them, only for Folteren to shock him. “Get out before I filet you.”         “Hey, take it easy. No need to scare them more. This world’s already in a state of panic.” Lance reminded the Sith Lord, pointing at the cracks in the sky. “A lot of things are going on that might worry some ponies, so let’s just try to not make them scared sh*tless.”         “I don’t care. We’re on a deadline. The others will meet us at the caves beneath Canterlot. I’d ask if you knew, but you’re not living here… I don’t like the name Canterlot. I renamed it Terran…”         “You WHAT!?” Twilight yelled.         “Easy, both of you.” Lance said, trying to make sure the two of them don’t begin arguing. “And to answer your question, Time Spinner only told us who, not where or when.”         Folteren sighed, “Whatever… Anyway, we need to get down there because that’s where Killjoy’s base is. Time isn’t able to help, but I think… eight Displaced, and a bunch of non-Displaced can beat this moron.”         “I’m gonna go suit up. Come on Pinkie.” Twilight said as her and the party mare left.         Scootaloo looked at Lance’s wrist closely, “What’s that?”         Lance turned to look at the filly as she bumped it with her hoof. “Oh this is my Mega Bracelet. It allows Kai to Mega evolve when situations can get out of hand.”         “Mega evolve?” Scootaloo asked.         Folteren growled, “Pokemon… What’s next, alternate worlds?”         As the group waited, Folteren asked. “So… You seen Freddy recently? How’s he been?”         “Great actually. Although, he’s been… a bit down in the dumps. He told me about how he became insane and that his real name was Calvin. But all and all, he’s now Uncle Fazbear and helping me and my fiance’ look over my kids.” Lance told him. “Although, it’s been awhile since I last saw the Animatronics.”         “Calvin, huh? And congrats. Who’s the lucky bride?” Folteren smirked.         “Her name is Max. Max Caulfield last time I remembered. She’s quite an interesting person. Also likes to disguise herself as Celestia to play tricks on me.”         Folteren’s smile faded, “I don’t like that b*tch…” He shook his head, “This Max sounds nice. I’d love to meet her and the kids. And don’t worry, I’m actually good with them. I’ve got three, including Scoots, and Shadow.”         “I got four and a fifth on the way. Light Sweet, Golden Spark, Lucky, and a filly Rainbow Dash.” Lance replied, showing a picture of the family by the memorial statues of the princesses in Max’s world. “Here’s a look at them.”         “Aww! They’re cute! But beware…” Folteren paused, “Of puberty. I have a teen, and oh gosh I wish I didn’t teach her the dark side. Our fights are pretty heated.”         “Right… I’m just waiting until Max is done with her pregnancy.” Lance sighed. “Unlike our other children, our fifth one is actually human. But let’s worry about family later. I think Lee and Toxin are getting Antsy.”         Folteren pulled out a couple pendants, “Wanna fix that? These are built to give me a pony disguise. They need a week to get used to a universe, and that’s why I didn’t use it. It changes the race of a pony and/or human into anything. I used it to become Pinkie’s Granny Pie.”         “Thanks, but I’ll pass,” The Adept insisted. He had a feeling that they were getting closer. It was a chill through his body that he couldn’t ignore so easily. “Hey, did Time give you a description of what Killjoy looked like?”         “He said Sunset knew,” Folteren remarked as he started messing with the ground, “Other than that, he said that Kill was able to mess with reality, control mindless creature, and create illusions.”         “So like possess others? Mind Control?” Lance wondered. He remembered that a Jedi can do a Jedi Mind Trick, but he didn’t think that applied to the current situation.         “Killjoy ain’t no Jedi. He’s a humanoid voidwalker, like Displacers, but Kill doesn't Displace people, he kills worlds, and he’s mess with some Displacers plan. Time said he wanted us to kill him so those Displacers would give him stuff.”         “Right-.” That’s when Lance noticed that something was off. Scootaloo, who was by the two of them earlier, was nowhere to be found. “Hey, wasn’t Scootaloo by us earlier?”         Folteren looked around, then shrugged. “I think she got bored. I’ve done that before… Hey, Sunset. Mind finding her?”         “I thought she was with Twilight and Lee?”         “No, Pinkie and Toxin went together to suit up… Time told me about the Symbiotes.” Folteren pulled up a rock, and an entrance appeared on the ground. “Mind finding her? It’ll be like saving a cat from a tree.” He teased.         Venom and Toxin jumped off a room of a near by building. “We’ll help ya!”         “Thanks girls.” Lance smiled, watching Sunset and the two other ponies began to look for her. “I’m betting she’s the curious type?”         “Pretty much. Venom’ll have to stay, but Toxin’s good.” Folteren said as he descended.         “Any idea why she might’ve ran off?” Lance turned to Toxin, who was right next to him. What he heard her say though was… out of the ordinary.         “A pack of scorpions chased her into a cake?”         “Nah, it’d be a lava rat...” Said Diane.         “Oh, oh! A Llama!” Surprise chimed.         “Boredom.” Folteren mumbled.         “Hey, why don’t we make the search easier by splitting up? Pinkie can look up top with Diane, Sunset and Surprise while Venom, Folteren, Kai and I can check inside here? We can cover more ground like that.” The Adept suggested to the Sith lord.         “She wouldn’t be down here. This is where Killjoy will be, and where Violet, Tara and the others will be.”         “Did you tell her that?”         Folteren’s eye twitched, “I just opened the path, I think… She might have gone in here when I wasn’t looking… Fine. We’re still on a deadline.”         And so the Displaced want down. Venom then asked, “And Lumen? You never said.”         “Lumen always stays with me.” Lance replied. “It’s kind of obvious. She’s my sidekick after all.”         “Let’s just get down there…” Folteren groaned.         When they arrived, they saw a female red robot, an evil looking dude, and six girls in the corner. Lance noticed the girls first before any of the others and decided to walk in that direction, letting everyone else do what they pleased.         Folteren was the first to speak, “Guys! Now that we’re all here, let’s introduce ourselves! Vive, you’re up!”         The robot sighed, “I’m Chaos Jenny, or Violet “Vive” Hope.”         The evil looking dude stepped forward, “Names Cole MacGrath.”         The girls all stood up. The pink one spoke, “Names Tara Smith, Blossom, Spirit of Knowledge and Wisdom.” She pulled a white haired, and white eyed girl in front of her, “And this is my daughter Bell.”         The light blue one spoke next, “Hiya! I’m Mable Smith, Bubbles, Spirit of Nature and Harmony!” She pulled a darker blue girl in a hug, “And this is Breannin! My girl!”         The green one smiled proudly as she pulled a raven haired girl next to her. “And I’m Amber Connors, Buttercup, Spirit of… Something violent… And this is Barasia!”         Lance took initiative to speak next. “I’m Lance Walker. Back in Maretropolis, I go by Gunvolt, but Lance is fine. With me are my companions Lumen and Sunset Shimmer along with my partner Kai.” The Blaziken himself bowed as a sign of respect to everyone else around him.         “At least SOMEONE has respect.” Chaos said, glaring at Cole.         “You love me!” He replied.         ‘Creepy...’ Lance thought to himself, before turning back towards Folteren and Twilight. But he soon noticed that Twilight… or in another case, Lee… wasn’t acting normally.         Twilight’s eyes were wide. “D-... Did you s-say Connors...?”         Buttercup nodded, “Yeah… Why do you as-” She seemed to notice the Symbiote on Twilight. “L-Lee?”         Lee jumped off of Twilight and embraced Buttercup as best he could.         Folteren facepalmed, “Oh, I forgot to mention Lee’s sister is here…”         “Wait a minute… You knew?” Lance turned, asking him. “Why didn’t you mention it earlier?”         “I forgot! It was a minute to you, but three weeks for me!”         Lance just sighed as he watched brother and sister reunite with one another. But the only pony in the room that wasn’t comfortable was not him, but Lumen. She heard a deep menacing laugh that quietly echoed around the room. “L-lance…”         “What is it Lumen?”         “I f-feel scared.”         Instinct soon kicked in for the Adept as out of the corner of his eye, he saw something that wasn’t in the room a few moments ago. A humanoid figure that looked like he came straight out of the void.         “He’s here!”         Everyone backed up from Killjoy as he laughed, “Wow! Is this all Stopwatch could come up with!? A tin can, a freak, six girls, a gender confused Adept, Pinkie wannabes, and a goth prince!”         “Screw you, Nocturne!!” Lance shot back, tempted to grab hold of his weapons, but restrained himself.         “I’m not goth!” Yelled Folteren as he pulled two metal rods from his sides. Beams of red and purple shot out of them, and the clones turned their own red beams on.         “You ever heard of ‘don’t judge a book by it’s cover’? I’ll rip that smirk off your face!” Chaos said as a blaster-like weapon came out of her arm.         Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup got into battle stances, and Lee retook his position on Twilight.         “Pathetic…” Killjoy mumbled as three cracks opened, and out came zombie-ponies.         “Gynoid! Hold them back!” Yelled Blossom, and Bell, Breannin, and Barasia stepped towards them, raised their arms, and beams of energy spat at the undead ponies. There were three, so the Gynoids held them off.         “Well. What else do you got!” Challenged Cole, only to get slapped by a fish at the hands of Chaos.         Killjoy just growled, and four more of him appeared… Only for the Powerpuff Girls to knock the copies away and fight them. Killjoy was surprised, but shook it off as he headed towards the Adept, Sith, Klyntar, Chaos, and Cole. A psychotic gleam in his eyes.         Lance stepped forth, in front of Cole since he was on the ground and took initiative. It had been quite some time since his skill set had recharged and now seemed like the best chance to catch the voidborn by surprise. Electricity began to form around him as he swiped away two Skill Points and the lightning went forth in a stabbing motion.         The Electric sword went forth, shocking Killjoy a little bit, but not so much as for him to back down. That’s when something else passed Lance, causing him to be knocked backwards.         Venom, with Penance out, sent the Scythe at the voidborn. His Scythe met flesh, and they tore Killjoy’s arm off.         But as Venom was about to attack again… Killjoy disappeared. Only to be replaced by a screaming Scootaloo, whose wing was not attached to her body.         “SCOOTALOO!!!” Folteren screamed.         “Sh*t!! That was an illusion!!” Lance growled. “Is anyone a doctor!?”         The clones ran to the fallen filly, picking her up and backed to a more defensive stance. Venom didn’t seem fazed at all.         “What the hell!?” Folteren growled, “Shouldn’t you have sensed there was danger!? You have a spider sense!”         “Yeah, but it’s not my fault she went missing! If you were a better parent, she wouldn’t have gotten kidnapped...”         “What!?” Folteren backed off a bit.         Lance began to notice something though. Lee’s behaviour, unlike before, was different. A LOT different. He was acting in ways that he wouldn’t have during the last two times he met. If Killjoy made Lee fall for that illusion, then could he control them? He was unsure of the theory, but whatever was going on, Lee was making things worse.         Moving towards the clones, he used the remaining skill point he had to use [Galvanic Patch], a healing skill that helped him heal the filly’s wounds. However, with his back turned, something new began to brew and it was between Lee and Folteren.         “You’re worse than Celestia! You hurt my daughter, and you don’t even care!” Folteren growled.         Venom rolled their eyes, “Like I care. She isn’t my Scootaloo, so why should I care?”         Folteren had enough. Electricity surged through the Sith’s hand, and he let loose a torrent of Force Lightning on Lee and his host.         Lee recoiled, then readied their Scythe. “We’ll protect my world no matter what!”         ‘I don’t know what’s wrong… I didn’t mean that!’         Killjoy groaned, “Man… Something's… Wrong…” The voidborn opened a portal, “I’ll see you all soon!”         “Oh hell no you don’t-!” Lance yelled, shooting a fast paced Dullahan charged shot towards him, which disappeared with the closing of the portal. “Pfft… coward.”         The crack started to seal, but Folteren was still mad. “I’LL KILL YOU!!!”         Venom shook their head, “Wh…? Why do we feel weird...? Wait, is Scootaloo ok!?”         “Folteren stop!!” Lance shouted. “Killjoy must’ve put him under some kind of mind control that fades when he leaves. They didn’t-”         Folteren ignored Lance, and used his lightsabers to slash Venom. Unfortunately, Venom didn’t have any protection against lightsabers, but with Venom’s sharp skills, they ducked… But they weren’t fast enough.         “AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!” Twilight screamed.         “LEE!!! TWILIGHT!!!” Lance hollered, rushing to them and taking out his own weapon. “That is enough!! I’m not letting you try to harm my friends anymore, you bastard!! I even tried to heal Scootaloo and THIS is what I get!? That is just Low...”         Folteren backed up a bit, “I-...”         Lee jumped off Twilight and onto Folteren. Folteren didn’t like this, so he used the force to push off Lee. Lee only flew off the Sith, and Lee tried jumping on him again. Folteren tried cutting him, but Lee just took it without flinching. Lee was pushed off by Folteren’s force push again, but this time, Lee stayed off.         Buttercup ran over to see what was going on, only to see Lee fighting Folteren. She ran to help Lee, and the Symbiote attached to her.         Lance meanwhile gritted his teeth. “Alright, I’ve had enough. This charade ends now! EVERYPONY COVER YOUR EARS!!” He threw what almost looked like a rubber ball on the ground until it went off with a piercing sound that hurt everyone’s eardrums. It was the only Flashbang that Lance had, but it was the only other trick he had to deal with a Symbiote since they were HIGHLY affected by loud noises.         Lee was a pile of goo, and Folteren stood shaking. A pop sound announced the arrival of another Displaced… Or Displacer…         Time Spinner walked out with a bag of popcorn, “Wow! You not only messed up on capturing Killjoy, but you started a rivalry.”         And just then, Buttercup blasted Folteren to the side. The Sith countered by pulling out a blaster pistol and shooting the Transhuman in the eye. Buttercup recoiled, and the others joined. Surprise and Diane attacked the Gynoids, Chaos and Cole started attacking Blossom and Bubbles. Lance was about to intervene, but Time Spinner pulled him back.         “This is a fixed point. You can’t stop it. Nobody dies though. Trust me. Oh, and I told your fiancee I’d keep you safe. If you went in there to stop it, you would have gotten a Scythe and Lightsaber through your chest.”         Lance sighed. “Yeah, but still. I hate myself for this. I wasn’t able to stop them from trying to kill one another…… But maybe… there’s something you and I can do.” The last part caught Time’s attention and his curiosity.         “What would you have me do? It’s a fixed point, but I will intervene. They are my Displaced.”         “It’s not what I would have you do, but rather what I would do for you. I have a suspicion of where Killjoy might be going to. The point where he caused this whole calamity in the Everfree. You helped me with making sure I could help Lee, now I’ll help you…… by making Killjoy pay for all the pain he has caused.”         Time patted Lance on the back, “That’s a good plan. We’ll discuss more after I stop this.” The Displacer said as he disappeared.         When he reappeared, every Displaced froze. “Man I love this…” He mumbled, “Alright! You guys are killing each other, but there will be no end until both sides are gone! What about… A game! Everyone lives-.”         “You’re making this sound like Defense of the Ancients.” Lance deadpanned, leaning against a wall and calling Kai back to his Pokeball. Time rolled his eyes.         “Everyone lives, but the winner get’s to injure the other severely… Who’s in?”         Lee shrieked, “Fine!”         Folteren growled, “Fine…”         Time smirked, “Kay! I’ll call it the War of Shadows! But it looks like friends and family are a bit hurt…” He looked to the one winged pegasus filly, and hornless mare. “Let's get that fixed up.”         The mare and filly began to float. Scootaloo’s remaining wing became more leathery and black, and her stub grew a new one, but they weren’t pegasi wings, they were bat wings. While Twilight’s stub grew a new horn, but this one was black, and sharper.         “Now, those who participated in this endeavor will be in charge of either side. The Powerpuff Girls shall be the generals of the… Alliance, while CJ and Cole will be the generals of the… Empire. Lance may join either one and a general. And no, this won’t take out of your lives. It’ll happen later, and I’ll even send some people back in time to get some volunteers.” Time Spinner continued, “As a prize, everyone will gain an Insanity, or Sanity gem that enhances their powers.”         One of the people in the crowd soon raised a hand, asking about Lance and what side he would be on, He just stayed quiet, his only answer being “I have other business to attend to right now and a family to raise.”         “It’ll be months later for you. And I never said when.” Time said, “But if you change your mind, just give me a call…” Time levitated a white sleeveless hoodie towards Lance, with a pair of clock like hands on the back on it. “It was all I had…”         “It’s alright. Thanks!”         “Well, if that’s all…” The Displacer clicked his fingers, and everyone from another world like Buttercup, Surprise, Chaos, etc. Lance, Lee, and Time Spinner were the only ones left.         “Before I send you home Lance, I’d like to talk to you.” Time said.         “Sure thing.” He replied, following him out of the small corridor. A crack opened, and Time stepped through it. Lance followed.         Lee was mentally shaking. ‘Why me? What did I ever do…’         He was interrupted as Time Spinner reappeared with a goofy grin. “I’m surprised he didn’t join you, after all, you are a member of his team~”         Lee growled and formed himself into his human form. “Why’d I say those things! I never wanted to hurt the filly or anger her father!”         Time smiled evilly, “Cause I made you silly filly! I needed to start that war, and if you refuse, I’ll kill Twily in the most painful way possible…”         Lee gulped and stared at the one eyed man in pure fear.         “You’ve got some time here. Carnage, Anti-Venom and Scream aren’t going to beat themselves.”         Lee froze. “You owned the scythe before me… You gave me this damn this… You made me hurt Scootaloo… You’re the one that forced me to kill Clover! Was there ever even a Killjoy?”         Time smirked, “Good eye you have Connors. Yep, I made you kill Clever, and there is a Killjoy, but he was never here.”         Lee shuddered, “Why are you telling me this...?”         His answer came in six words. “Mostly for your reaction… And boredom...”         Lee stumbled back, holding in his sobs. He’d done so many awful things because of this man. No, not a man, a monster.         “Get away from me you sick bastard…” Lee growled.         Time Spinner laughed, “Oh my gosh! What’re you gonna do? Freeze?” Lee was about to reply, but was cut off, “But, I am getting bored. Maybe you should go and cool off, I think Fluttershy’s still in need of help.”         Before anything else could be said, Time disappeared. Leaving Lee wallowing in self loathing and hatred. > Recovery > --------------------------------------------------------------------------         After Time Spinner was gone, Lee took Twilight in his forelegs after changing into Xilery. He used his back as he made his way to the hospital. It took less than five minutes until he arrived, and when he burst through the door, he was immediately assaulted by a stallion tazering him on his horn.         ‘Shit! These things are sensitive! How’d I get that but not magic!?’ Lee thought as he fell to the floor.         A mare with a white coat and green eyes wearing a nurse's cap rushed over and smacked the stallion. “We help ponies not hurt them!”         Xilery/Lee groaned, “Help… Spark-butt…” ‘I will forever hate tasers…’         They seemed to get the point, and picked up the unconscious mare Xilery/Lee so brilliantly dubbed Spark-Butt. After that, the nurse helped the symbiote-turned-grey-mare up and brought her to a room before she passed out.         When Xilery woke up, all was a heart monitor. She opened her eyes and was suddenly blinded with a white light. Groaning, she shot a string of black web towards it, and the room was dark.         After a moment of clearing her thoughts, Xilery sorted through them, wincing at her most current mistake. ‘I really blew it… Folteren, Lance, Scootaloo… Amber… Wow, I really screwed up. I started a war with an insane Displaced king.’         Anger bubbled inside of her. She was raised in a peaceful household, no rivals, bullies, cliches, anything that’d prepare him for this kind of thing. His only friend had been Amber and the few that stuck around after he lost his eyesight… Who was he kidding? No amount of trouble in his past life would help a nineteen year old for a world of evil pastile horses… Humming along as she walked down the roads of Canterlot, nopony would ever suspect anything of the golden-furred earth pony. She just smiled brightly while the foal strapped to her chest giggled happily at her mother’s enthusiasm. The mare would often stop and look into a shop window and inwardly debate of going into see more. Many of the dresses and fashionable apparel were very appealing. In the end, she just kept to strolling along, enjoying a day out with her foal. The mare felt a strange feeling and started to look around a little closer, trying to spot any details she missed. That was when she saw the source of the disturbance: a panicking pink party pony pronking precariously. She knew that whenever the pinkius piecus was in peril, things were wrong. Tempting fate, she chased after the mare, weaving through the crowds and almost wishing she had the pinkie sense to avoid certain obstacles. It took awhile, but she finally tracked Pinkie to Canterlot Hospital, quietly wondering why she would be racing here. She walked in, noting nothing too out of the ordinary, but that was rarely the case with the mane six. Inside, Pinkie was running from a stallion holding a taser. Pinkie easily outran him, though his eyes were closed and he was screaming that she wasn’t allowed. A nurse to the side face hoofed and talked to a large stallion bigger than Big Mac, and he went after the two. The mare decided to walk up to the nurse, a questioning look on her muzzle. “Excuse me?” she asked the nurse. “Is everything alright? I’ve never seen Pinkie so… frazzled.” The nurse sighed, “I don’t know what’s happening either. I was about to ask when Trigger Happy, a transfer from Ponyville, tried to taze that poor mare. I sent security to help her.” “You… you seriously let a pony named ‘Trigger Happy’ be in charge of front desk security?” the mare asked. “Please tell me you see the problem in that.” She sighed, “I do, but I’m not in charge. He seemed okay when Dr. Scalpel asked him some questions. I’ll try and take care of it ma’am.” The large stallion came back with Trigger Happy and threw him outside. He then proceeded to walk away. Pinkie appeared in a moment and asked the nurse, “Did you check in a ‘Twilight Sparkle’!?” The nurse nodded, “I think we identified a mare by the name of that with a severe horn injury. The mare that brought her in is also under care, but we haven’t gotten a name in the archives that matches her hoofprint.” Pinkie nodded quickly, “Yes, them! I need to see them as soon as soonabley possible!” “Miss Sparkle is in surgery at the moment, but the other mare is in recovery…” The nurse seemed to be holding back something, but the frantic mare seemed to not care. “She’s in room 109-” Pinkie was long gone, a trail of pink dust was all that was left. The mare was left standing there, watching the dust fade away. She inwardly debated with herself on whether or not she should look into this. The curiosity was strong, but also was the sense of wanting to keep her foal from danger. Speaking of said foal, she looked to see the little pony trying to go after Pinkie as if it was something she was to do. That certainly weighed the scale more on going, but… “Pinkie~,” the foal whined, trying to get her mother to go after the party pony. The mare let out a sigh before smiling and ruffling the filly’s mane. With her mind made up, she trotted off down the hall. She kept close attention to the room numbers as she passed, finally finding 109 and quietly peeking in. Inside, Xilery/Lee was fuming about Folteren. “-nd that bastard chopped her horn off!” “I know…” Pinkie tried, but Lee wasn’t listening. “Now I’m supposed to fight in a war. Do you know how much experience I have in that!?” “None.” Pinkie replied, though her words were unheard. “None! And I’m supposed to know everything!? The closest I’ve come to leadership was in Sim Civilization!” Lee was about to continue ranting, but Pinkie shoved her hoof in the symbiotes mouth. “Shush! We can figure that out later!” The mare was trying to understand what she was hearing. It was clear she was listening to a Displaced, but it most certainly wasn’t one she could place. Despite her attempt at stealth, though, her little filly had different plans. “Pinkie!” the foal exclaimed, still reaching out toward the pink pony. “Huh?” Pinkie turned her head towards the sound and zipped to it like a rocket. She was right in front of the mare and looked at the foal. “Aww! Aren’t you a cutest wittle thing?” She lowered her head so that she was inches away from the baby's face, talking in a baby voice. While the foal giggled, the mare looked a little ashamed. She let out a nervous laugh before looking at the room’s occupants. “Sorry about barging in like this. My little filly here just really wanted to see Pinkie smiling after seeing her look so worried while running through town. She’s a big fan of yours.” “Really?” Pinkie asked, “But I don’t think I’ve even met you two before, and I remember everypony I meet! I would definitely remember this cutie if I ever did meet her… What are your names?” “This is Kuna,” the mare pointed to the foal before pointing to herself, “and my name is Kat. We’re sort of travelers and have passed through Ponyville a few times.” Xilery trotted over to the others. “I’m Auxiliary Con… I think I’ve heard the name Kat before though…” Kat shrugged with a smile. “I get around a lot.” She suddenly shivered for some odd reason, getting a funny look on her face. “Well, that was odd. Almost like a shiver of familiarity or something. Weird.” “Now that you mention it,” Xilery started. “I’m getting that too.” “Me three!” Pinkie said as she started shivering, teeth chattering. “What is that?” Suddenly, the red stripes on Kat’s jacket began to shiver like waves before extending down her leg, turning it a deep red. “Gah! Cancer, what are you doing?!” “Cancer!? Oh my gosh! It’s you!” Xilery turned into his symbiote form, “Kat, Cancer and a new addition!” “I don’t get it…” Pinkie said, scratching her head. “Yeah, I’m in the same boat with ya there, Pinks,” Kat said, looking confused. “Do I know you?” “I just turned into a symbiote, and you thought I was oblivious? Let’s see how many Venom’s you know, Jeffery is a maybe… Hmm… How about Lee Connors, the one who gave you Cancer?” Lee taunted. Kat’s eyes went wide, “Oh crap, Lee?! How in the world did I end up on your world without noticing?!” The symbiote shrugged, “I’ve had a rough day that involved a lot of universes crossing over. Maybe you got confused since the crack haven’t fully healed.” Lee shrugged. “I’m still confused…” Pinkie said, “Is she another Displaced like Lancie and Folty?” Lee nodded, “It was Kat who taught me about Displaced after I… Messed up with a shadow…” Kat blinked. “Pinkie knows?” she asked, not noticing Kuna was starting to chew on the very tip of Pinkie’s mane. “I… Kind of gave birth to a few other symbiotes just after you left… I still had the magic I used to make Cancer with in me, and that shadow broke out and… I guess forced… Ten spawn out of me, most of which is still trying to kill me.” Lee explained as Pinkie was swallowed by Toxin for a second then turned back as of not to frighten the baby. “Yeesh, and I thought I had problems,” she said with a humorless laugh. She grew a little somber when she remembered something. “I heard from the nurse… about Twilight…” “She’ll make a full recovery. I’m pretty sure. I’ll need to help her through the pain and confusion, but she’ll be fine. Another… Displaced helped her before you arrived…” Lee stated, “I do have a lot on my plate, but that’s what Displaced have to conquer because of our Displacer’s messed up heads.” Lee turned back into his/her pony form. “It’s not all bad. Pinkie and Toxin are with me.” “Well, I’m here for you,” Kat said, patting Lee on the shoulder. “I don’t let my friends down and I want to make sure I leave you here happy.” She chuckled, “Yeah, thanks. I think that’s what I need right now.” Lee walked back into the room and sat down on the bed. “How’s it going with you?” “Oh...um… you know, just the normal stuff,” she said, not looking Lee in the eye and laughing nervously. Lee gave a deadpan, “I may have nerve damage in this form, but I’m not stupid. If you don’t feel like saying it, I won’t push… But Pinkie migh-” Seeing that there was a lack of pink in the room or the hall, Lee guessed Pinkie had something else to do. “Nevermind then… So, uh, you’re a mother of a filly now! Congrats! Shame I didn’t get the memo.” “Oh, Kuna? I was already her mother when we first met!” Lee was silent. “I feel like a dumbass now… I hate it when that happens…” She rubbed the back of her head, “So… Have a significant other? You don’t have to answer, I just feel awkward.” “I used to,” Kat said sadly, looking away. She shook her head, “But that’s not important right now.” “Understood. Relationships suck anyway, it’s best not to have ‘em.” Lee rubbed her horn, “That bastard Trigger Happy tasered me on my horn…” “So I heard,” she giggled. “Just sounds funny, honestly, despite the seriousness of the situation. Hey, you mind if I let Kuna down? The little one needs to stretch her wings.” Lee gestured to the bed she sat on, “S’okay. I’m not really good with kids.” “Don’t worry, Kuna’s a good girl, aren’t you?” Kat said, nuzzling her foal. Kuna giggled cutely as Kat used her gravity powers to lift the filly out of the carrier and onto the floor. It was at this point that Lee noticed that Kuna was an earth pony. “I’d ask about the wings, but with all the dang crap I’ve seen I’m deciding against asking to further my sanity…” Lee said as she groaned. “Oh, she has wings, I just can’t have Kuna in her true form in public,” Kat said, closing the door to the room. “Too many ponies freak out when they see her.” Before Lee could retort, the filly next to her suddenly was consumed by green fire. “Wow… I understand this… My sanity isn’t hurt by this. She’s a Changeling. Right?” Lee questioned. “Yep,” Kat nodded. The changeling cutely giggled at Lee, deciding to flutter around the room. “A queen changeling, to be precise. Isn’t she the cutest~?” Kat d'awed over her flying filly. “I’d say yes, but I’d be lying.” Lee started, but before Kat could retort, he squee’d, “She absolutely the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen!” Kuna practically glowed from the praise, soaking in the love. Kat giggled at Lee’s reaction. “Yeah, she’s my adorable little bug. It’s nice getting to be a proper mother. The last couple times didn’t turn out like I had hoped.” “Tell me about it… I’m still confused about being able to reproduce without even trying.” Lee sighed, “I used to have dignity… Male dignity...” “Be glad you at least have some capability of reproduction,” Kat said, looking away. Lee looked at Kat with a sad look. “Um… Sorry… So, how long has it been since our last meeting?” “I wanna say… about five years? That sounds about right.” Lee was stunned, “F-five years? That long? It’s only been a month here! I knew there was a time difference when I met Lance again, but that long?” “Well, I travel the Void a lot so my time is a lot more wibbly wobbly than most. I get around more than I probably should. But, hey! When you’re a hobo, it’s what you do.” “I’d offer you a place here, but things are a bit too chaotic as it is and I doubt you’d even wanna live here.” Lee scratched the back of her head, “I’m, uh… I’m actually waiting on the results of a test right now. Once that’s in, we can take this somewhere else if you want. The Canterlot Wedding hasn’t happened yet, so there’d be less hate if Kuna was seen… Even then, CL snobs wouldn’t do squat.” “If you say so,” Kat shrugged. “And I’m not really looking for any place to settle, was just in the neighborhood to do some window shopping.” “The point was I knew you wouldn’t want the offer.” Lee groaned in annoyance, “I know that most, if not all Displaced, wouldn’t like a helping hand like that.” S/he jumped slightly when the door to the room started to open. Kat heard the door and quickly motioned for Kuna to come to her. The little queen sagged at having her fun cut off, zipping over to her mother and returning to her pony form just as the door opened. A nurse walked in, carrying a chart in her hoof somehow. “Miss Auxiliary, your test results came back. Congratulation.” “On… What…?” Lee asked. “You’re pregnant.” And with that, the nurse left. Lee just stared at the door blankly. “What… The… Hell…?” Lee croaked. Even Kat looked rather shocked at the, admittedly blunt and mishandled, news. “Um, I’m sorry, but… what was that about male dignity? Have you been sleeping around in the past month since I’ve been gone?” “No! I’ve barely even been in this form!” Lee started hitting his/her head. “I haven’t even kissed Twilight!” “Ah~,” Kat grinned. “So you two are seeing each other.” “Not… Not really… I haven’t told her my feelings…” Lee said nervously. “I kinda got interrupted when my ex-girlfriend impaled me with spikes.” “Well that’s rude. Someone must hold a grudge.” “I kinda killed her… By accident…” Lee said, looking away. “Heh, wow. Wasn’t sure you were that type of mare, Lee,” Kat chuckled morosely, leaning against the far wall with Kuna keeping close. “You make it quick or did she suffer?” “Suffer… I didn’t even know what I was doing…” Lee sighed. “I have a weapon… A scythe… In order for me to have used it, I had to kill the one I loved. I… Used it…” Lee shook his/her head. “Anyway… I suppose that’s it…” “Ya know, Lee, the more you keep this in, the more it’s gonna hurt. And the more it hurts, the more you’re gonna hurt those that are close to you. So, look me in the eyes and tell me everything that’s on your heart right now.” Lee sighed. “I’m a monster… That’s what…” Lee groaned. “I’m Venom, I live on a host and make them hate the world… I make Twilight hate the world. I lie. I’m a poison. That’s what’s on my mind.” “A monster, you say? A poison, you say?” Kat asked, moving over to where Lee was sitting. “Tell me, Lee, what pony was in here with us earlier, treating you like a friend?” “Pinkie…” Lee sighed. “And what is one the many things Pinkie is best known for?” “Being stupid.” Lee said dully. Kat deadpanned at Lee with a small glare. “No,” she said simply. “For being the friendliest pony in all Equestria. You’d be hard pressed to find any pony other than her that can be friends with anyone. That also means, she’s more often than not a good judge of character. Yet here she was, worried about, her friend. Pinkie Pie would never befriend someone she thought was nothing but a heartless monster. Twilight would never care about someone who was a heartless monster. I would not be talking to you if you were heartless monster. You’ve made mistakes, that’s all they are. Everyone makes mistakes, no matter who they are. And if you need anymore proof than that, then look at yourself. Someone who is only a monster and a poison would not be feeling as you are. They would be feeling pride and glee at having taken her down. Do you feel pride and glee right now?” “Dang it Kat… Why can’t you let me hate myself?” Lee said jokingly. “I don’t even know how to counter that…” “I can’t let you do it because I’ve been where you are.” Kat gently put her hoof on Lee’s shoulder, looking him/her in the eyes. “I was a monster some time ago, and I nearly destroyed any chance I would have at having friends and family. I don’t want to see that happen to anyone ever again; especially not one of my friends.” “Aw shuck…” Lee chuckled. “You’re all serious and I’m cracking up about how fast it is to made me feel better!” Kat smiled slightly, patting his/her shoulder. “Just means you’re not as down on yourself as you thought. Besides, I have another way to make you come back to normal.” “Really?” Lee asked, leaning back. “What?” “This.” Before Lee could do anything, Kat planted a kiss on his/her cheek. “Are you kidding me…?” Lee asked. “You’re such a tease, Kat…” “Comes with being a pony with a model’s body,” she said proudly. “Yeah, yeah, cute.” Lee rolled her eyes. “At least you’re feeling better. So, let’s go find a doctor who can explain how exactly you’re about to have a virgin birth. Because I doubt you’ve been touched by the divine.” “Who said I was a virgin?” Lee asked as they got out of bed. “I wasn’t half bad in the look department when I was strictly human, and I was a douche of a teen.” “Really? You been lettin’ things in then?” “What?” Lee asked, confused. “Oh, not in that way. I still don’t get this pregnant thing.” “Then we should go find out more information, shouldn’t we? That nurse obviously wasn’t helpful, so let’s find a doctor who can give us a more definitive result.” “Okay.” Lee responded. “But… Who’s gonna know?” Kat groaned a little. “Lee, do you wanna make sure you’re pregnant or not? We just head out and start asking for a doctor.” “Okay…” Lee replied. “Following you. I hate hospitals.” With a roll of her eyes, Kat picked up Kuna and put her back in the foal pouch on her chest. “Then come on. We can go check on your fillyfriend too.” Lee snickered. “Look, I just have a bad experience with doctors. They screwed up and I lost my eyesight back home.” “Well it’s not like they can do much to you here. Mare up!” she shouted out like a military general. “Come on, maggot. We gots us a doctor ta find!” Kat opened the door, hamming it up with a military march, making Kuna giggle even more than she already was. “I just don’t like hospitals…” Lee shook his head as he followed Kat. “Do you know Lance Walker?” “Lance? Lance, Lance, Lance… where do I know that name? Hmm…” Kat tapped on her chin as they walked trying to place where she had previously heard of that person. “Ooh, it’s right on the tip of my tongue. Gah! Darn it, it’s gone. Sorry, can’t seem to place it.” “He’s an Adept. Power Ponies…” Lee said, trying to jog her memory. “Hmm, no. Don’t think so. What are ‘Power Ponies’?” “It’s a group of super heroes. His are the mane six as heroes. Oddly enough, Pinkie’s is super speed but she’s slower than average Pinkie.” Lee shrugged. “Anyway, he’s a superhero I met a bit back… Kinda forced his help on me after beating me up… Anyway, he was here a bit ago, but instead of helping me he had difficulty deciding to help.” “Difficulty on whether or not to help a friend? Some hero,” she scoffed. “I know… And because he didn’t help, my Twilight got hurt.” Lee grumbled. “Even after, when he could have just said he’ll help me with the bastard next time, but no… He left. I guess what I’m trying to say is I’m low on friends and trust… And you said to get stuff off my chest, so...” Kat smiled and bumped his side. “Hey, I’m not turning my back on you. I may not always be around to help when you need it, but I’ll always be here for you in spirit. Ya can’t lose me as a friend that easily.” “Ditto.” Lee said. Kat shivered as a strange sound emanated from her jacket. She chuckled a bit before looking at a confused Lee. “Cancer seems to agree too.” Lee chuckled, before they yawned. “Man… I’m exhausted…” “Well, let’s go check on Twilight and see a doctor before getting you back to your room.” “Okay.” Lee nodded tiredly. They arrived at Twilight’s room where Pinkie greeted them. “They say Twi’s gonna be fine. Her horn’s darker, but it’ll be even stronger than before.” Pinkie explained. “Gah, Pinkie!” Kat flailed, nearly losing her balance. “How long have you been there‽” “Ever since I left…” Pinkie shrugged. “Why does everypony ask that?” “Because you’re Pinkie,” she deadpanned. “Why does everypony respond with that?” Pinkie asked again. “Nevermind Pinkie.” Lee stated. “You’ll find out someday, I hope. Anyway, Pinkie, can you find us a doctor that knows about Lee’s pregnancy?” “Lee’s… What…?” Pinkie said, eye twitching. “Pregnant. Now, can we-” Lee cut theirself off, seeing a group of Royal Guards and the nurse from earlier running down the hallway. Lee shoved Kat and Pinkie into the room, then closed the door halfway. “The Sacrificial Witch is in there!” The nurse yelled, pointing at Lee’s room. “Well… They figured out I’m a sacrifice mage…” Lee muttered to theirself. “Oh right. You said they didn’t look too fondly upon that kind of magic,” Kat recalled. “Yeah… And I used it a lot… I must be a beacon of that stuff by now… Same with Cancer.” Lee said in a whisper. “I’d rather not have to fight the Guard and get you both in more trou...ble… Oh I have stupidly terrible idea.” “It might work.” Lee said. “Go on.” “I use Cancer to conceal myself, pretend to be you, and lead the Guard out of here and away from you, Pinkie, and Twilight.” “Huh… Yeah, that might work.” Lee said. “We’re going to have to wake Sparkle-butt up.” Lee added. “Leave that to us.” Pinkie said as Toxin covered her, and an impish grin appeared on their face. “Don’t worry.” “I’m worried.” Lee said, their ears folding. “We’ve got this under control.” Toxin said. “Now I’m really worried…” Lee added. Kat nodded, agreeing to that sentiment. “I would much rather you two didn’t.” “Oh fine~” Toxin withdrew into Pinkie’s skin. “I’ll just see if she’s-” “I’ll wake her up.” Lee said, transforming into his Venom form and slithered onto Twilight. Twilight woke up with a gasp. “Hello,” Kat waved, unsure whether it was actually Twilight, or just Lee in control. “Who are you?” It was Twilight. “We don’t have time for this Twi, we gotta split like a banana!” Pinkie said. “I can explain later, but for the moment, we need to get out of here before the Guard finds us.” Lee engulfed Twilight. “Where are we going to meet up?” “Um, I… I have absolutely no idea.” “Donut Joe's?” Twilight suggested. “Donut!” Kuna cheered before Kat covered her mouth with a hoof. “Shh, baby girl.” Kat looked back up to Twilight. “Right, we’ll meet there once you four are out of here.” “Okay. We’re ready, start the distraction.” Twilight said as Lee withdrew into a bracer on her left forehoof. Kat undid the foal harness and pushed Kuna towards Pinkie. “Please Pinkie. Keep my little girl safe. I’m trusting you dearly.” “I’ll take care of her as if she were my own foal.” Pinkie replied seriously. She used Toxin to make her own foal carrier which she placed Kuna in. “Thank you.” Kat gave Kuna a small kiss on the forehead. “Be good for auntie Pinkie. I’ll be back soon.” “Bye bye mommy!” Kuna waved. The mare smiled before she looked to door, Cancer’s red form over taking her. The appearance vaguely reminded Lee of Carnage, but without the psychotic glee. “Well, this should be fun,” Kat said sarcastically. She pushed the door open unseen and closed it behind her, looking to Lee’s room where the guardsponies and the nurse were. Kat gave a sharp whistle to get their attention. “That must be her!” The nurse shouted, and the ponies made chase. “You want me, come get me!” Kat shouted, running just fast enough to keep ahead of the guards, leading them out of the hospital and into the streets. “Get her!” The lead guard shouted, sending a magic blast at Kat. She ducked underneath the blast just as it passed overhead. “Hoo boy. Don’t wanna know what that’ll do,” she muttered to herself. Kat looked back at them with a manic grin. “If that’s the best you got, then this isn’t gonna be any fun, boys~!” One of the rear end Unicorns teleported to her left and shot a fireball as a Pegasus guard swung his spear sending lightning her way. “Holy-!” She yelped, relying on her own powers to warp out of the way and to a few feet in front. “Since when can ponies do that?!” Kat screamed, taking off running. “I wasn’t informed of this!” The pegasus charged up his spear and sent a bolt of lightning towards Kat. She ducked in time, but she felt the heat and magic from the bolt. “Hey watch it! You’re gonna take somepony’s head off with that thing!” “Surrender and it’ll be easier!” The lead guard shouted. “Oh but where’s the fun in that, handsome~?” She called out. “Gotta enjoy the chase, boys.” Kat sprung into the air, landing on the side of a nearby building and running up it. Once to the roof, she took off and hopping from roof to roof. The pegasi took air and attempted to follow, while the unicorns teleported, and the three earth ponies went on a sprint. “I’ll commend you, boys! You know what you’re doing. But ya can’t catch me! You know why?” The pegasus shot another bolt out of his spear. Kat quickly dived between roofs, “You can’t catch me because I’m the gingerbread mare!” She shouted with a laugh. When the guards looked into the alley she fell in, there was no trace of Kat at all. “Blast! The witch must have used that dark magic!” The leader yelled. “Search the block! She can’t have gotten far!” As the guardsponies spread out in search of the shifter, far above on a lone cloud, said shifter was looking down on them with a chuckle. “Works every time,” she whispered to herself. Her symbiote retracted, leaving her golden fur open to the air again as she looked towards the hospital. “That should have been enough time for them to make a break for it. So…” With a quick teleport, Kat was on the ground about five blocks away from the Guards. “Time to take a nice stroll to the donut shop.” “Pony feathers that was close.” Twilight said, panting as she trotted towards the pastry shop With Pinkie trailing her. “Now, Lee, explain.” ‘Uh… Look Sparkle-butt… I don’t know how to explain this…’ Lee said awkwardly. ‘That weird cloaked guy cut your horn off… But, like, this pale dude gave you a new one.’ “... What?” Twilight wasn’t sure how to react. “That’s insane, even for you Lee.” ‘But it’s the truth. Look at your horn in the mirror.’ Lee stated. Twilight groaned. “Why is this happening to me?” They soon arrived at the delectable shop and took their seats outside. Lee took the chance to explain everything to Twilight as they waited for Kat. “Hello, everypony!” Kat called as she walked up to the group. “Ahh, what a wonderful stroll. How is everypony?” “Great considering.” Twilight stated, looking in a mirror Pinkie… Obtained through questionable means. Twilight cringed at her darker horn. ‘Tell Kat: ‘Insert Hellsing Ultimate Abridged Reference’.’ Lee ordered his host, mentally smirking. “Uh… Lee says ‘Insert Hellsing Ultimate Abridged Reference’...” Twilight repeated, confused. “I’m great!” Pinkie loudly said. “What’s Hellsing Ultimate Abridged?” Kat asked with her head turned. Ignoring it for a moment, she turned to Pinkie. “Can I have my foal back, please?” “Sure thing!” Pinkie said, hoofing the foal over. “She’s a very cute foal!” “Mommy!” Kuna gushed, holding out her hooves as she was passed over to Kat. With a little giggle, Kat held her filly in a close hug before returning her to the foal pouch. “Thank you, Pinkie. You’re a wonderful foal sitter.” “Aw, thanks. I wouldn’t have known a thing if it weren’t for the Cakes.” Pinkie said bashfully. “Don’t sell yourself short Pinkie.” Twilight said. She then turned to Kat and asked, “So… We haven’t properly been introduced, have we?” “I suppose we haven’t. My name is Kat Shifter. A pleasure to meet you,” Kat said, bowing her head slightly. “Well, we technically met, but you weren’t you at the time.” “Right… I’m Twilight Starswirl Sparkle.” Twilight stated. ‘Your middle name is Starswirl? Pfft!’ Lee snorted in response. “That makes a lot of sense, in retrospect,” Kat mused. “Oh and I shouldn’t forget, this here is Kuna, my happy little bug.” Kuna giggled, flailing a bit in an attempt to wave at Twilight. In doing so, she also transformed into a tiny little Twilight in her foal pouch. “Oh… She’s, uh… A Changeling…” Twilight said. “Sorry if I sound speciesist, I just had a bad experience with them. She’s pretty cute though.” Twilight nuzzled Kuna with her muzzle after the initial shock. “Changeling queen actually,” Kat corrected. “But yes, she is. Now that introductions are out of the way, how about we grab a snack? Sending those guards on a wild goose chase really builds up an appetite.” ‘Wish I had an appetite.’ Lee groaned in boredom. “Oh quit your moaning, I lost my horn you-” Twilight stopped upon realizing Pinkie and a few others were staring at her oddly. “Heh… Sure, food’s on me.” “What’dya guys want? I’ll go in and order for us!” Pinkie said in excitement. “I’ll take a couple chocolate raised, and grab a few donut balls for Kuna.” A cheer of approval from Kuna gave Kat a smile. “Oh and some milks.” “I’ll have a glazed donut and maybe some coffee.” Twilight said. “Tell Donut my usual.” “Roger! I’ll be back in a moment!” Pinkie said, before vanishing into the building. “So… Why are you here again?” Twilight asked. “Actually I was just passing through, doing some window shopping. I didn’t even know this was Lee’s world until I got curious after seeing Pinkie rushing through the crowds. I’d call that a happy coincidence.” “I’m not sure if I be-” Twilight started, but Lee cut her off. ‘Yo, multiverse, symbiotic creatures, a Changeling Queen, or Princess, with a bipedal/equine mother, and an interdimensional being that regrew your horn back. Coincidence is the most believable thing for us nowadays.’ Lee stated. “Oh… Right… Well, thank you for the assistance.” Twilight said. “Things have been pretty crazy. Portals opening up in the sky, “Displacers” fighting, a war and a shadowy…” ‘Ex-marefriend.’ Lee clarified. “Ex-marefriend of Lee’s coming back from the grave… Things have been getting stressful.” Twilight sighed. “I believe you on that. I’ve seen many ponies go through a lot of stress due to the Displaced’s effect on their world. It’s not always pretty, believe me.” “I’m not even sure how I could tell my friends and Celestia.” Twilight rubbed her head. “Ponies are so jumpy about everything and anything. I just- Ugh!” Twilight slammed her hoof into the table, snapping it in two. Kat looked down at the broken table before blinking once. Twice. Three times. “Well… that’s not something you see everyday.” She lifted her hoof, making it glow a gentle red as the table lifted back up together, but the crack still clearly present. “Sorry… I’m just so angry all the time…” Twilight said bitterly. “You want to talk to someone about this. In all honesty, I think you should go take everything to Celestia.” “She’s already imprisoned Lee before… Having Lee be ‘reformed’ as soon as he’s out might be a stretch for her to believe.She’s already after Lee and me, not even knowing I’m Venom…” Twilight said, looking down. “I’m just lost…” “Twilight,” Kat said, prompting her to look at the older mare. “Celestia has been your mentor for years, and trusts you above most others. If you go to her, and stand firm in what you believe, I know she will believe in you. I have doubt that she is any form of tyrant in this world, so I believe you have very little to fear.” “The last time I proposed the idea of something being good or evil, I was kicked out of my own brothers wedding.” Twilight deadpanned. “And look how she was proven wrong,” Kat added before sighing. “Look, I tell you this from experience. I tried to hide from her, tried to resolve my issues on my own, but in the end I needed her more than I ever could have realized. I’m not saying you have to do it, but I do recommend it. It’s getting too tiring for Displaced to be nothing but hated vigilantes.” ‘Tell Kat I did some bad things to Celestia personally and she holds a grudge against me.’ Lee said awkwardly. “Lee says he did some bad things to Celestia.” Twilight relayed what Lee said. “That’s why it has to be you and Twilight that go to her. You have to accept the wrongs you’ve done and believe that she will forgive. Sometimes, you just have to have a little faith in others.” “... Thanks Kat…” Twilight smiled. “We… Should probably conclude this meeting… There’s a lot to do that me and Lee are gonna be… Enduring.” “I have faith in you both. Don’t fall into the trap so many others before you have,” Kat said with a comforting smile. “What tra-” Twilight started, but was cut off by Pinkie knocking her off of her chair. “Hey Kitty- I can call you that, right? Anyways, do you have any advice for Lee and Twi about fighting another Displaced!?” Pinkie asked loudly. “Please don’t call me, kitty,” Kat sighed. “To be honest, even I still haven’t figured that out. With everything I’ve gone through over the past several years, I prefer to handle things peacefully. But otherwise the only thing there is beating them through force or tricks. Don’t lose your mind to your own power, as it will always be your greatest weapon.” “Y’hear that Lee? Looks like you screwed yourself over.” Twilight said, matter-of-factly, also in a smug manner. Kat chuckled softly, covering her mouth with her hoof. “Now now, don’t get snooty, Twilight. You’re supposed to be better than the Canterlot Elite, remember?” “I’ll have you know that it’s Lee’s fault.” Twilight ‘humphed’. “Yup… Pretty much.” Lee mused. “Lee just agreed with me.” Twilight smiled in triumph. “Although, I’m ninety percent sure I was under some influence.” Lee added. “Oh hush, you...” “Already bickering like an old married couple; that’s good. Mean you’re on the right track,” Kat said with a playful smirk. Twilight blushed. “Hey! We do not sound like that!” Kuna began to giggle, flailing her legs. “Deys funny!” she squealed in her lispy voice. Kat couldn’t help, but smile and chuckle too. “You must sound close because she’s getting quite the snack out of you two.” Twilight pouted. “We’re not a couple…” “Not yet, but you never know,” Kat chuckled, getting up from the table. “Now, as pleasant as this has been I really should be moving along. Things to do, people to see, you know how it goes.” “Bye Kat, Kuma. We love you Cancer.” Venom said. Kat snorted as a portal opened up beneath her hooves. “Looks like you really are embracing your femininity.” She gave them one more smile as she sank into the portal. “Take care of yourself, Lee, as well as those around you. Cherish and protect them.” With those last words, Kat was gone from the world once again. “... F*cking c**** b*tch…” Venom spat. “Twilight! Language! This is only teen!” She pointed at Toxin, who was in her mane. "What's with you over reacting?" > REBOOT PLANS > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Forsaken Symbiote is getting a reboot. Lee Connors will return in a new story with a new story to better support him and his host. More information in my blog post. When it's up, I'll add a new update with a link.