> Divided By The Flames > by New Dawn > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > One: Enter Sakuya, The Blossom Princess > --------------------------------------------------------------------------         I looked out at the crime scene. The scene where many cosplayers went missing, all in the span of a year. Eyewitness reports say they went missing after talking and/or buying something from a stall that sold video game related items. I should explain, I am a private detective, mostly leading the investigation of the missing cosplayers.         "No clues..." I mutter.         Walking around a bit, I notice a lot more cosplayers than usual. Interesting. Some people must have their hopes up that they'll be next. Only a few have made it back... It's been a few years since he's been missing but today was the first day of Comic con again. I flung my hands in defeat and decided to head home right now. Every year it gets worse. More and more are go missing each year. I only had just started when I heard that my boyfriend and his brother was on the list of the missing.         On the way home I passed a simple yard sale. It was selling a manner of video game related objects. Must have been left over from last year's Comic con.         "May I interest you in some of my wares?" The merchant at the stall asks. He was surprisingly still in cosplay as the merchant from... Gah! What game was it?! I can't remember! I take a quick glance at the stand. Not much was left... Only one thing caught my eye. A single helm, two pink flowers decorated it.         "I see one of my items has caught your fancy?" The man asks.         "Yeah. This." I say, holding up the helm.         "Ahhh... This little beauty, huh?" He chuckles.         He takes it from my hand.         "Eighty." He states.         ... What?         "It's because it took me a lot of time and effort to manage to get it this perfect." He replies to my expression.         "Makes sense, Right?" I mutter.         At the time, I wasn't in my right mind. The case was still weighing heavily on my thoughts. I hand him the money and he hands me back the Helm.         "Why don't you give it a try? Just to make sure it's the right size." He then points to the back of the helm.         "I can adjust it if it's too big for you." He says.         I nod and place it on. A perfect fit. Almost... Too perfect... Then the realization slammed into me like a cargo truck the minute I started feeling tingly.         “You..” I snarl         "You've gotten too close for comfort... Goodbye, Selene." He says with a laugh.         "WHERE... is..." I start to say as a dark void opens up underneath me. The minute I enter, I fall unconscious.         Gaaahh... My head hurts like hell... My eyes flicker open as I find myself sitting on top of... a crystal Eiffel tower? Many things sat down below, pointing in my direction.. they almost looked like....         "Oh hell no." I mutter.         Ponies. CRYSTAL ponies to be exact. If this is someone’s twisted way of making fun of me since I actually ENJOY the show then it ain’t funny! Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I was a Pegasister.         “Miss, are you okay?” A crystal pegasi asks, hovering over me.         “Uh… Y-yes!” I shout, slightly startled.         “Well, I’m… going to have to ask you to fly down.. It’s dangerous up here.”         Wait… Fly down? I looked below me to find that I was actually flying. HOLY SHIT I’M FLYING!!!         “Uhh… Yeah, Don’t know how to react to this…” I mutter.         Wait, How do I land? HOW DO I LAND?! Don’t tell me I’m stuck up here for who knows how long!                  “Are you ok? Did you fly up here, not knowing how to fly down?” The pegasus asks again.         “Uh… kinda?” I hesitantly ask-say. “I’m a bit… new to this.”         “I see. One of those creatures huh.” He mutters.         “Hold on…… creatures?” I asked. Was there more than one person stuck in the same situation I was. If so, who were they?         “Yeah, A white one. Introduced himself as Messiah I think. Said something about exacting.. revenge I think?” He says, rubbing a hoof on his head.         “Revenge? On who?” I ask. Could this ‘Messiah’ be a possible suspect? I must gather a few more details before finding out for sure.         “Somepony named… Gah.. What was it… My memory is terrible, forgive me.” He apologizes. Better try a new approach since this one isn’t exactly going well.         “Could you give me a description?”         “I don’t… Ah yes, he was... well, Obviously white.”         “Any features that stood out?” I interjected while trying to figure out how to land properly. Damn my ability to multitask!!         “He had a thing sticking out of his back with a pair of wings wrapped around his waist.”         Yep. Sounds like someone crazy. “Speaking of wings, Just tuck yours in.”         “Wings, Yeah… I understand that I’m flying but there’s no way I’d just…” I stop as I see a wing on each of my arms. Commence Panic? Y/N?         “GYAH!!! Since when did I have WINGS?! I thought… Stupid multitasking!”         I’d take the Y option right around now.         “Miss! Calm down! You’re going to-” His words are cut off as the whistling of wind rushed through my ears.         “Oh come on…” I mutter, flailing around and now I’m plummeting down to the ground. Just my goddamn luck!!         “Hold on!” A bubbly voice calls out.          In a second that I was falling I landed on something squishy. Turns out to be a giant mattress, filled with feathers. And hay. Wait…… Hay? Where the Buck am I?! Matter of fact, WHY DID I JUST SAY BUCK!?!!         “Are you ok?” The voice asks.         I pull my head up to be met with a wall eyed stare. Oh dear… It’s Derpy! The best pony!         “Oh! Y-yes.” I reply, snapping my head in a nod. She was real. One hundred percent freaking real and she was… Adorable! She also had… tear stains? Was she crying? “Are you okay?” I ask.         “Huh? Oh.. U-uh. Yes.. A little bit I guess.”         “I-is something wrong, Miss?”         A fresh tear sprouts in her eye.         “C-come by the Inn later… I can tell you then.” She replies solemnly. The… inn? What the heck happened there that made the pony I want to hug so much… Sad? Taking her advice, I began to follow her.         Once we were in her room, She locked the door and sat down in a chair.         “It all started apparently a few months ago… I think… I was at the beach with my daughter and husband… When that creature came... “ She says.         “Creature?” I ask, suspicious.         “He called himself… Well, Dinky called him… Mister but… to be honest, He never really introduced himself. The last thing I remember was a voice telling me his name… was Jake.” She finishes.         …. J-jake?... He’s… Alive?  HOW THE MOTHERBUCKING HELL!?!!! IF HE’S NOT DEAD BY THE END OF THIS, HE’LL WISH HE’S DEAD!!!         “T-thank you... “ I say, barely containing my anger.         “If I could… Are you here because of him?” She asks.         “I guess you could say that.” I replied back. “I know him. He’s my… well… how should I put this…… He’s… My boyfriend.. Or coltfriend in pony terms.”         “So… he’s your special somepony?”         “Yes, and once I find him he’s going to wish he never went to that convention.” I mumbled. “Besides that though, what happened?”         “I can’t remember much after the building collapsed...” She says, looking down. “But…… *sniff* I don’t know where my little muffin is… And with Time Turner gone…… I don’t know what to do… Why did this all had to happen? I just don’t know what went wrong…”         I swear, My heart just exploded once she said that. I had to restrain myself from releasing a grin.                  “Then how about we find out together?” I offer.         “Y-you mean it?”         “Cross my heart, hope to fly, Stick a cupcake in my eye.” I say, doing the actions as well.         Derpy smiled, flying up and hugging me around the shoulders. Oh my god, my fantasy of hugging her is COMING TRUE!! After having to mentally punch myself in the throat, I returned the hug. Around then though, was when Derpy asked me a question.         “Thank you… I’m sorry, but you never really told me your name… What is it?”         I sneak a glance at the mirror hanging from the opposite side of the wall. My suspicions were correct, I was actually Konohana Sakuya.         “Call me Sakuya, Konohana Sakuya.” I let go of the pony now as I took a chance to look around the room. However, one thing caught my attention. A feather that was on the floor. For a moment, I thought it was one of mine. But, when I got closer, it looked a lot different. Almost fire like. As I pick it up though, something rang through my head.         I am Ember Valkyr, the Tortured Phoenix. If you are in need of help, call upon me and my pain and rage will turn your enemies to ash.         I stepped back a little. What the hell was that just now? But it was surely interesting… I’d better pocket it for now. Might be useful in the future.         “Uh… D- Miss, Did you hear anything?” I ask.         “N-no… Why do you ask?” She looked at me with those googly eyes. God, I feel like I’m going to have a heart attack from all this cuteness.         “No reason…” I tell her. “Oh, I almost forgot. What’s your name? I told you mine so I was wanting to know yours.”         She smiled. “Derpy. Derpy hooves..”         “So… Derpy. What should we do now?”         “Well…… I have a home in Ponyville… We should start there.”         “Okay, how far is it away?”         “Uh… A day by train I think?” She questions. “Maybe shorter by flight…”         The thought of flying had me panic after my last encounter. “Then TRAIN IT IS!!! Whoops, my bad.”         Derpy laughs a little. “It’s no problem.”         We begin to walk- er I mean, trot to the train station… Outside in a blizzard. Looks like the empire revealed itself a bit sooner than expected. I wonder what happened to Sombra... Maybe he was sent to the pits of hell or someplace. Oh well. After getting the tickets though, we were soon held up by… wait, PINKIE PIE!?! In a Detective’s hat!?         “Hold up… This train is a crime scene.”         Oh god… Don’t tell me… This is the MMMystery of the Friendship Express isn’t it? Great… This is going to be a LONG day. Atleast I can contribute to the eating... maybe. Probably… I hope the Buffet isn’t shut down because of this-.         “Because of this investigation, nopony is allowed near the buffet until this is solved.”         FFFFFUUUU-!!!!!! I WAS HUNGRY TOO! CELESTIA, WHY DO YOU HATE ME SO MUCH!!!?         “Wait, Does that mean-” Derpy begins.         “No free food…” I sighed. “Well, at least we can have room service-.”         “We’re also putting room service on hold as well.”         GOD MOTHERBUCKING DAMMIT!!! ME AND MY BIG MOUTH!!!         “This is the worst train trip ever!” I shouted. “Come on Ditzy, let’s go.” As we go though, I thought I saw one of the other ponies glance over at us. A unicorn of Lavender color and… Oh crap… Please don’t tell me that twilight is here too… Wait, she’s more surprised at...Derpy?         “Ditzy? Is that you?...... Oh dear Celestia it is!!!” She says, hugging her like she was a lost relative. And I thought I was a hugger.         “Uh.. It’s good to see you too?” Derpy says, confused.         “Ditzy… Nopony has seen you in six months. Where have you been? Dinky even thinks you’re dead.”         Wait… WHAT!?! WHAT DID YOU DO, JAKE!!?         “W-what do you mean?”         “Everypony thought you died in the fire that killed Time Turner. Orpheus and his brother have been taking care of Dinky ever since.”         Wait, ADRIAN was also here too!? Good god, what else has happened here? Those two better have a good explanation when I get my hands on them!!         “Not only that, but… Let’s just say that there been a lot of-. Oh, Who’s your friend?” She asked, now looking at me. Oh god, think of something!!         “I’m Sakuya. Konohana Sakuya.”         Very smooth…         Shut up, brain. No one asked for your opinion.         “Interesting… You kind of remind me of Orpheus… Would you happen to know him?”         “Well…”         “She’s his Marefriend.”         DERPY!!! WHY!?!! Why… Just I have no words…         “Wow!! Wait, He said something about his special somepony…” Twilight says.         "What did he say..." I’m actually a bit scared now.         “He said that he missed her or something like that. Can’t really remember to tell you the truth. Especially when the Library almost got blown to bits.”         WHAT…… THE… BUCK!?! JAAAAAAKKKKEEEE!!!!!!!! GODDAMNIT, I CAN’T LEAVE YOU ALONE FOR FIVE MINUTES!         “Though, everything turned out well in the end. Dinky even met somepony that she thinks is her new daddy.”         Okay… what? What did I miss?         “I’m sorry, what?”         “Well, somepony that helped Orpheus came one day and was able to help Dinky emotionally. She said that he even reminded her of her dad… Now, where did I place that…… blasted sketch? Ah, here it is.” Twilight was taking out a notepad with her magic and showing both Derpy and I a simple drawing she made. What we saw surprised the both of us.         A… human? What the hell was a human here for? Even though he looked badass, all this did was give me more questions than answers. I’ll get to the bottom of it however, On my honor as a detective!         “How did he get here though?” Ditzy asked.         “Well… how should I put this… He was summoned… I think…”         Wait… Summoned? What is this, a children’s card game? But it is interesting…Grrr… This only raises more questions!         “What was his name?” I ask.         “Anson Nocte.”         Now where did I hear that before? Wait… Wasn’t he that kid who went missing alongside someone else that had his last name? Yeah, He returned a long time ago, with some other people… I was at the station that day, checking out who was missing… So this is where he went… Wait… If he was here… then what about that other guy? N-never mind… I’ll sort this out later.         “Anson, huh...” I mumbled.         “You heard of him?” Twilight asks.         “Sorta.” I reply.         Twilight frowns and looks to Derpy.         "Well, can't be helped I guess..." Twilight sighs. She seemed to be in distress over something, but I’m not sure what. Maybe I should ask about it later.         “So where exactly is this train going?” I ask.         “Canterlot.” Twilight answers.         Right… Let me bang my head against a pole twice and see where we go then.         “We’re supposed to be going to Ponyville… Did we get on the train at the wrong time?” Derpy asks.         I shrug and sit down in a seat. A single wing took up about half the whole seat. So, basically I now took up an entire seat, Just because I can’t use the wings. Thanks Atlus!         “So, I don’t think I got your name.” I ask Twilight.         “Oh, It’s Twilight Sparkle.” She smiles at me.         “Miss Twilight, I was wondering why you sounded distressed a moment ago.” I ask.         She bit her lip. “Well… It’s about what I mentioned earlier… About Dinky…”         Oh here we go.         “She’s been… Missing for around  a month now. Orpheus and Rainbow are still out there, trying to find her.” Twilight explains.                  Derpy gasps, tears welling up in her eyes.                  Oh goddamn it Jake… You’re stupid….         “W-was she ok? I mean, the entire time I was gone?”         Twilight lowers her head. “Not… Really. At night I would catch her crying to herself, while in the mornings she’ll play it off as nothing happened.”         “Well, I guess we’ll have to find her. For all of our sakes.” I say, leaning back and putting my feet up.         Twilight blinks. “Uh… She could be anywhere in Equestria. What makes you think that you can find her?”         I stand up and look down at Twilight.  I should mention now, In my free time I obviously play video games and watch anime. Time to insert an epic anime line.         “Just who the hell do you think I am?! I’m a detective! I care about all of you, even though I just met you. I won’t stop until I find who I’m looking for, On my honor.” I say before sitting back down.         Thank god for Gurren Lagann.         Twilight blink while the car falls silent. Twilight begins giggling a bit.                  “Thanks… We should be stopping soon at Canterlot. The train should be going right back to Ponyville afterwards if you just show your ticket to the canterlot station.” Twilight says after recovering.         We thank her and she goes back to whatever she was doing.         “Did you really mean that?” Derpy asks.         I nod. She immediately glomps me afterwards, catching me off guard.         “Thank you~!” She squeals, tears running down her eyes.         “Hey, Hey, Be careful. You don’t want to get hurt.” I tell her, returning the hug.         She wipes away a tear and nods. After that, It’s just a long wait to ponyville.         “Are we there yet?” A young colt behind me yells. The train picked up a few other passengers while at canterlot. And that one has been loud as hell.         “No, We’re not.” The mother replied.         “I wonder if Jake had to suffer like this with Dinky…” I mutter to Derpy.         “She’s a kind filly. She almost never complains…” Derpy replies. Well, at least that has something for me to look forward too.         “Attention passengers, We are now approaching Ponyville station. Please gather your belongings and prepare to depart.” An intercom says. It’s probably a spell used by a unicorn or something.         “Looks like we’re almost here…” Derpy says.         “You nervous?” I ask.         She shakes her head. “I’m more scared than anything…”         Well, that’s some confidence right? But I can kinda understand where she’s coming from.         The brakes squealed as the station rolled into sight. Outside I can see basically the town that was in the show, only with a few more ruined buildings. Please don’t tell me that… I swear… I’ll make him wish he’s dead…         “W-what the hay happened!?!”         I shrug. “I don’t know… But I may have an idea…”         Twilight shrugged. “Oh hey, there’s Thanatos. Maybe we can ask him.”         Excuse me?! If that’s who I think it is… Maybe I can get some answers out of him.         “Uh…” Derpy starts.         “Better to find out later Derpy… I might know who this one is…” I mutter to her.         “It can work.” Twilight said to herself. “Orpheus and Thanatos are brothers after all.”         As I suspected. Welp, Looks like I might be able to enjoy myself after all… Soon we were able to get off the train, with some difficulty on my end, and approached Adrian.         “Twilight I already sa-....”         His expression is priceless. For a persona, he’s pretty funny now.         The silence is thick as we stare at each other.         “Uh….” He utters.         “Yep. You haven’t changed a bit.” I joke.         “S-selene?!” He shouts, stumbling backwards.         “Took you that long?”         “... DON’T KILL ME! I LOST JAKE!” He shouts.         … Wow. Is it me or has he changed a lot?         “Well, Really-” He stops short once he sees who’s next to me.         “W-wait…… Aren’t you… Ditzy?”         “Why does everypony call me that?! I’m Derpy!” She shouts. Wow… And she told me her name was Ditzy… Something must’ve changed within the past five minutes to her personality.         “Uh.. O-ok?”         I giggle a little at his expression.         “So, Where exactly is he?” I ask.         “I dunno. To be honest he can just go be eaten by a manticore for all I care.” He grumbles.         … Ok, what the FUCK did I miss?! Those two were inseparable back on earth! Did Discord happen?! Nightmare Moon?! Some random MLP villian?!         “Oh and Twilight, this came in the mail for you.”         Twilight took the letter that Thanatos-er I mean Adrian handed her and began to read… “You have been cordially invited to the royal wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and *GASP*... MY BROTHER!?!”         Well, that definitely answered my question. Looks like we’re there. The dreaded Canterlot wedding. I hope we can be able to make it out of the incoming fight alive. Wait, Sakuya uses fire skills so… How do I use them?! Gah… This is the worst situation ever.         “There’s one problem…” Twilight then speaks.         We all look at her.         “Rainbow won’t be able to make the Rainboom that the princess wants.”         Wait… What now? Where is she?         “You mean she hasn’t gotten bored of the search?!” Adrian shouts.         “Guess not.” Twilight says.         “Search? Wait, you mean…” Derpy’s eyes start tearing up again, this time with happiness due to her giant smile.           “Yeah. They went searching for Dinky about a month ago.” Twilight says.         “So no telling how far they’ve gotten.” I mutter. Damn. And I thought we were getting somewhere. Back to square one...                 “Well, We can probably figure something out. I might be able to do something with my magic.” Twilight says.         I turned to talk to Adrian… Oh come on! He ran! CHICKEN!         “Uh, Mrs Sakuya?” Twilight asks.         I turn my attention to her. “I know where Orpheus went… But I’m not sure you’ll like it one bit.”           “Exactly… Where?” I ask.         “The tower that shows up at night…” She pauses dramatically.         “Tartarus.”         Woah woah woah. Slow down for just a second! Are you serious?! That exists?! Ok, Yeah. I’m going to have to be brought up to speed. I’m tired of asking questions with no answers.         “I can see you haven’t been informed.” Twilight replies. NO SHIT SHERLOCK!!!         “You think?!” I shout.         She facehoofs. “Right, sorry, that was obvious.”         She removes her hoof from her face and gestures for us to follow.         “I’ll explain a bit more in detail in the library.” She says, walking away. “Follow me please.”         I turn to Derpy. She’s following Twilight… I knew I could count on you!         I sigh and run to catch up.         So, Here I am, sitting in a chair that’s too small thanks to this oversized wings! They aren’t even technically wings! I really am hating my life.         “So, What exact have you been told? That would make it a lot easier to weed out the information you two have already heard.” Twilight asks, levitating a cup of tea to me.         “You may need to start from the beginning. We haven’t heard all too much.” Derpy says, munching on a blueberry muffin. Cutely, If I may add.         “That may be a bit hard… And a bit long.” Twilight says, giving a crooked smile.         “We’ve got time.” I reply.         Twilight sighs and starts to tell us what has happened from the beginning. Two hours later         “... And that’s about where we are.” Twi finishes, sipping on her cup of tea.         … Ok yeah, That all was a thing. Nothing wrong with that beside… Oh.. EVERYTHING! It’s all not scientifically plausible! Yet it’s  real!         “It sounds so hard to believe…” Derpy says, letting it sink in.         “It IS hard to believe.” I add. “On so many levels.”         “I understand, but right now, we have a lot of other things to focus on and worry about.” Twilight told me. “For example, the surprise announcement of my brother getting married.” Oh here we go again, now Nerd Pony is going on a personal rant. Somepony get me some earplugs because this is going to make my head explode. Thanatos, or should I say Adrian, soon helped me out by getting me out of the room and into another room that seemed to be a study area. Looks like he’s not such a chicken after all.         “If I hadn’t saved you back there your head might’ve exploded from sheer boredom.” Adrian jokes.         I crack a smile. “Yeaaah, You haven’t changed. Much.”         “W-what’s that supposed to mean?!”         “Nothing. You know, You get angry too easily.”         “Do I?”         I try to give him a deadpan stare. “Yes. Yes, you do.”         He returns with a glare.         “Anyways… Twilight should be toned down by now. Or maybe not.” Adrian says, opening the door.         I take a peek out to be met with a glare from Twilight. “I’m not that talkative, am I?” She asks.         I slowly shake my head yes alongside Adrian’s and Derpy’s. Twilight frowns and sighs in annoyance.         “Guess I better write a letter to the princess… She’ll most likely want to meet you.”         “Keep me out of this. I’m heading back out. With Lyra most likely following me.” Adrian replies, walking out the door before anyooopony, Anypony, could object.         “And I wanted to make a Phoenix Wright reference…” I mutter under my breath.         “Spike!” Twilight yells.         Bursting down the stairs is everyone’s favorite drake, The underdog Spike!         “Yeah Twilight?” He asks.         “Take a letter.”         Do I REALLY have to listen to her ramble on and on about what happened? All you have to say is ‘Dear princess Celestia, Rainbow can’t make the sonic rainboom due to her being out with a jerk who doesn’t care about his friends or family. Also there’s a new alien here that knows stuff from the future. Your faithful student Twilight sparkle.’ and that’s all there is to it! Sometimes, I wish I can tone stuff out like Jake does… “... Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.” Oh that was quick. Spike rolled up the scroll and blew a stream of fire, turning the letter into magical smoke.                  “Now we just have to wait.” Twilight says.         “Or we could, I don’t know… Tell your friends?” I deadpan.         “I’m just going to ignore your tone.” Twilight replies, levitating Spike on her back.         Why do I get the feeling that Twilight is a jerk?                  “Well, We should go check out my home…” Derpy says, getting up.         “I guess.” I mutter, walking out with her. > Two: Derpy's "Grotto" and Drunk Shenenigains > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Me and Derpy stood in front of a wooden door. It's designed very interestingly. It has both a hourglass, scratched out if I may add, A stream of seven bubbles and a single place for a new engraving. "Here we are..." I gulp and push open the door. A gust of wind blows an unhealthy amount of dust in my face. As I walk in, the smell of old food penetrated the depths of my nostrils, almost making me want to throw up on the inside. “Well, It looks sort of well? There’s a lot of clocks however…” I say. We walked down a small hallway into a room. I assume this is Dinky’s room. All the stuffed animals sitting around were torn and wrecked. The curtains were shred and the bed’s insides were pulled out. “W-what happened? It wasn’t like this when I was last here!” Derpy said, a little shocked and saddened by the condition of the home. “She must have taken her anger out on the room…” I reply solemnly. I pick up a drawing that looked very recent. It had four words on it. I MISS YOU MOMMY. “Oh Dinky…… I’m so sorry…” Derpy told herself. She was now hugging me again. For comfort this time… I think. She was heartbroken anyway. “We’re gonna find her… She’s bound to be somewhere…” I whisper to her. As I turned around, I noticed a couple of letters on the table that were unread. One of them with a royal seal. I went over there to have a look with her. The opening words changed my mood rather quickly. You are Coronally invited… Oh god, I can probably tell what’s going to happen next. Lo and behold, it seemed like we were both invited to come with the girls and Adrian to the Royal Wedding. Well, at least this gave me a chance to kick Jake’s ass once I see his sorry face! “Well, Do you want to look around much longer? Or is there too many painful memories?” I ask. Derpy remains silent and looks at a broken picture frame on the wall. It had both Dinky and Derpy standing next to a brown maned stallion. Oh god, Is that the… Please don’t tell me he was the Doctor in this universe! “I’ll miss you, Time Turner.” Derpy said as she began to trot out the home again. Damn it, HE WAS THE DOCTOR!! NO! Oh god… There could be the possibility that he was just a normal stallion named Time Turner… Ugh… I shouldn’t focus so much on that right now. The whole situation was giving me a small headache. The Next Day (Canterlot) Grrr…… WHERE THE BLOODY HELL WAS THAT COWARD!?! Jake should be around here somewhere!! “I swear, I’m going to kill him…” I mutter. “Uhh…… Ms. Sakuya?” “Yeah?” “I’m kind of hungry. I think there’s a bakery around the corner.” Derpy tells me and looks at me with her signature googley eyes. Damn it, why do the feels have to hit me now? “Do you want to come with me?” Okay, honestly people, how can I NOT say yes to that Face!! “Hnng…Ok.” I tell her. “Yay!! Thanks, Sakuya!!!” She tells me, hugging me again. “I wonder if they have the giant muffins that I’d see at that warehouse store… Those were good…” I mumble to myself. As we continue to walk up, I watch Derpy as she approaches the Muffin Stand and asked for an order. “One Ketchup muffin, please?” “Uh… mrs, Sorry but we haven’t received our shipment from Caneighda yet. I’m so sorry.” The attendant says, just now marking said muffin off the chart. What went through my mind was basically muffin rage derpy. Laser eyes and everything. “What was that? I don’t think I quite heard that right-.” “I'm sorry Derpy, but ketchup flavored muffins only exist in... Caneighda?" I try to tell her. It was hard for me to understand him. Damn pony language and their pun based countries. She looks down and sighs. “Aww… do they have any Chocolate chip muffins?” “Let me check…” I internally groan until I hear something hit the floor. Footsteps… And not to mention the quick flash of light. ...Fuck. “... We’re being watched… Footsteps.” “Huh? How’d you know that?” “Call it a detective’s intuition…” I wait a full minute as a young boy steps out from around the corner. The most notable thing is that he’s wearing a full coat in the middle of spring. Or I think it’s spring… I’ll ask Derpy later. “Sorry about that… I was trying to be cautious since I didn’t have any clue on where I ended up exactly.” He spoke. Who is this kid? I thought there wasn’t any other humans here… “It’s alright… I guess… So, What’s your name kid?” I ask. “Nicko Nocte.” I reel back in shock.  Is he the one who went missing? “Y-you’re… THAT Nicko?! The one that went missing alongside hundreds?!” “Umm… Excuse me?” Nicko asked. “Did I somehow gain a reputation while I was gone? Because I’ve only been gone for seven years in my Equestria and it’s been almost over twenty years back home for me.” I chuckle a little.“Allow me to explain. My name is Sakuya here… But back on earth it was Selene Harben, Detective in… I guess I can’t say training. I was put on the biggest case yet. I can’t go into details, but I assume you know. It was about over a hundred different cosplayers suddenly going missing.” “...... Miss, I think you honestly gone head over heals with this. Besides, it’s not like you can find all the Displaced in the world and send them back home.” He says. “Besides, this sounds more like a personal investigation then one that would be assigned to you.” Shit he’s good. “You know kid, You’re pretty good.” I mutter to him. “Umm, thanks?” He pauses for a second. “Quick question, do you know anyone here that goes by the name ‘Orpheus’?” “Yeah. He’s the one I’ve been personally involving myself in this case with.” I reply, Toneless. “Let me guess… He’s important to you?” Nicko asked, holding something that looked closely like an evoker. “Spot on.” Nicko grinned a little. “Okay, why don’t you catch me up to speed on everything because it seems like there’s a lot of information that I don’t know-.” There’s a huge bang and a small piece of something pink falls from the sky. Shit. “That’s not a good sign, is it?” “Nnnope.” “M-miss… Sakuya, I’m s-scared…” Derpy adds, hiding behind one of my legs. Nicko himself drew his sword as he saw something swarm onto the streets. Changelings…  And I still have no idea how to shoot fire. "Changelings… Damn it. The LAST thing I expected… Although… This will give me a chance to break loose a little.” Nicko mutters “Oh... This is bad! Why did this happen now?!” I shout, panicking. I try everything to focus my energy to do something. But that’s when I see this Nicko kid jump at the Changelings and attack them with some kind of magic. Which was unfamiliar to me… Looks like some kind of magic that would be in a card game. Is that all you got you bug eyed freaks?” He asked them as he took a few more of them on with his sword. A few of them got towards me and Derpy and like on instinct, I shouted a single word. "Maragi!” Flying my arms forward three spheres of fire were sent at the changelings. “I can fight too you know!” I shout at him, smirking. I cast the spell again once more as more bug freaks hit the deck and the Sword Kid was looking at me now. "Nice job. But something tells me that we got more incoming.” He said, looking around. I see a few run away. Most likely to get cover. COWARDS! “Any idea where the head honcho in charge might be?” I heard him continue off of his previous statement “The castle most likely. If we’re where I think we are…” I reply. He remains quiet for a second before starting to talk again. “Great…… Well, this is going to be interesting. Sakuya, I got a plan.” “Who the hell were you talking to?” I asked him. “Eris… I’ll tell you later after were in a situation where we won’t get ourselves killed. Now, help me crank the catapult over here.” He says, walking over to said catapult. Just what the hell was this kid thinking though? "Fine.” I mumble. Something made me think that whatever he was going to do was Batshit insane, but nevertheless, I went along with it. Once we had it all the way cranked,  I told Derpy one thing. “Should I be the one to shout it?” She looked at me with confusion. “What? Whatev- Oh wait you mean like what ponies shout… Ummm.. Fire one or something like that?” I nod. “You can do it.. no wait, I wanna do it! No wait-” “I’ll just do it.” I finish and watch the boy climb in. “Alright, got it ready?” He asked us. “Yep. FIRE ONE!” Derpy shouts. … Can I just take this moment to face palm? “Derpy! I told you that was my job to shout that!” “Sorry…” Before I could scold her any more, her hoof accidentally hit the release lever. “Oops… I just don’t know what went wrong…” “Crap.” I mutter as the boy sailed out of sight. For a moment, I thought I heard him shout “This is the best day of my life!!”  But things came around full circle once he made contact with the glass. “SAIL!!!” “Looks like it our cue.” I mutter. “Time to fly~!” She shouts, taking into the air. “... NOOOOO!” "Come on…” "NOOOO!" “Pleease!” I whimper as she lifts me into the air. “You’re not as heavy as I thought.” She mutters. “Are you calling me FAT?!” “N-no! Just…… pleasly plump or something like that?” A bright crimson decorates her face. We soon entered the room and Derpy took up cover behind a fallen stone pillar as I land on the ground. “Never letting myself get talked into flying lessons by Derpy…” I cough. “WHO DARES TO STRIKE ME!!?! DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM!?” “Miss,” I heard Nicko say. “I got 99 problems, but a bitch like you ain’t one of them.” Damn, Chrysalis just got told!!! Do you need some aloe vera for that burn?! Chrysalis’ eye twitches a bit. “You’re serious, right? You’re going to try to fight me?! I already won!” “I think you haven’t realized that my kick broke your concentration. Which means your control over Mr. Armor is broken.” “WHAT?!” Oh crap, Now’s my chance! ROUNDHOUSE KICK, CHUCK NORRIS STYLE!! “Oooh… That’s going to leave a mark.” "They assaulted the queen!! Get ‘em!!” “Aw… Fuck.” I mutter, trying to figure out a ready position. Nicko, However, did something else entirely. He broke the green… goo? Holding Twilight, her friends and… Of course HE would get stuck! "Hope you can fight because we might need backup.” “W-who are you?” Twilight asked Faintly. God, did she sound weak. Must’ve taken a lot of magic out of her. “Names Nicko Nocte. At your service.” The boy swung his sword at a few changelings before he bowed. Pfft… Showoff. I manage to swat a few away with my wing as Twilight strikes up a conversation. “Are.. You somehow related to…” Twilight was cut off as a changeling missed her by a mile. WEAK! "Less talking, more fighting. We’re trying to buy Cadence time!! Not Socialize!!!” Ok, Mother! Geez. Pushy. "Sorry!” Twilight shouts as she shot a few with her magic. She then began to cast a shield spell. But all of a sudden, showoff kid slid under before it hit. “What are you doing!?” “What am I doing? I’m just getting started!!” Showoff retorted, Casting a spell and running to face the horde. “YOU’RE STUPID!!” “Am I?!” He cocks back at me, aquamarine magic forming in his fingertips as he executed another powerful spell that removed most of the horde in front of him. “LUNA… BLADE!!!”  Holy Shit, was that powerful.  Maybe’s he’s not such a showoff. The Mystical sword crashed into the ground, sending many foes flying into the wall. Twilight lowered the shield and now was my chance to scold him. “Just… You could have gotten killed!” “I took my brothers place to get encased in stone so he could defeat a madman. I’ve dealt with worse.” “Wait, You were stuck in stone?!” Twilight shouts, slapping a hoof to her forehead. “Uh yeah. Seven years. I got freed by my niece about a few days ago." “So you’re his brother…” She mutters. Wait, Ugh… I hate fatigue… It was plainly obvious! Wait… what was that about his brother? You know what? I honestly don’t give two shits about it right now. I’ve got too much on my plate as it is… Oh wait, Now’s the time Cadence and Shining make the love explosion. Wait, what the fuck is happening to Crysalis?! The minute the shockwave hit her, She fell to the ground in a violent seizure. Her body was sent flying with her brethren all the way out of Canterlot into the unknown beyond. I think.. She’s dead.. Oh...Well that got morbid really fast! I don’t think anyone else noticed… Damn my multitasking! “Are you okay, miss?” “Yes… Thank you.. Er.." Celestia says, standing up. “Nicko. My name is Nicko.” Celestia smiled warmly. “Thank you, Nicko.” Now Nicko, or should I call him Nick? Anyways, Nicko, was now looking back at Twilight, who had a puzzling expression on her face. Don’t hurt yourself jerklight. “Hunh? Is something wrong?” “W-well.. It’s just that… Do you know anyone by the name of.. Anson?” “You know my brother?” Wait… BROTHER!?! “Well, Yeah… He did kinda save us from a crazy.. What did he call them…?” “Esper? I thought it would be something along those lines.” Nicko said. “After all, we were both originally facing him until a jerk move by that guy had me jump in front of my brother as a human shield in order for him to survive. From then on was when my brother called upon Orpheus with this.” “I see now… It makes a lot more sense that way...” Twilight says. “For the record, when I woke up seven years later, I find out that he’s a father because his daughter was the one who freed me… and apparently is the reason why I’m here. But let’s worry about that later. I think a round two is in order for this Royal Wedding.” A second later a rainbow burst zooms through the broken window. “I heard that everypony was in Canterlot so- why are you all looking at me like that?!” I facepalm. Something told me that I knew exactly where this was going. “Where the buck have you been?” Adrian asks, an angry tone in his voice. “Lookin’ for Dinks of course!” “Dinks?” Nicko asks. “Yeah. Dinky, Ya know?” “Dinky?” Came a faint voice. Derpy steps out from where she was hiding. Everypony now looking at her with shocked expressions. “Oh yeah… Bombshell time, Derpy is alive.” “Oh my Gosh…” “Dear Sweet Celestia…” “I’m RIGHT HERE, you know!!” The Sun alicorn responded at her name being used for a curse word. “H-has… She been found yet?” Derpy asked meekly. Rainbow sadly shakes her head. The room falls silent once again. “No, but we’ll find her soon Derpy. I promise.” The silence reigns until Rainbow breaks it again. “He’s still looking for her, ya know?” "Wait… He? Do you mean Orpheus?” Nicko asked. “Yep. He actually hasn’t slept at all... Nor eaten…” Huh. Well, This is interesting... “He’s stupid… But that also kinda makes him cute.” I chirp up. Rainbow raised an eyebrow as she looked at me. “Who’s the new girl?” “Sakuya. Konohana Sakuya.” “O...kay. Moving on… What did I miss?” “Cool story bro.” Rainbow replied after explanations have been made. “Where’d you hear that?” Adrian asks, obviously bored. “Orpheus.” She simply shrugs. "Right… Your Sarcasm is not helping, Skittles.” Nicko said. “Because now comes the hard part. Sakuya, remember when you asked me about who I was talking to earlier?” I slowly nod. “Well, that’s the thing. I had told you already about my story, the people I met and my Partner Eris. The Draconequus that’s Discord’s daughter… Well, Eris is actually with me.” The ponies erupt into choruses of  “WHAT!”’s and “EXCUSE ME?!”’s as they all looked at Nicko. He just sighed. “Ever heard of the Phrase Voices in my head? Well with her, she’s literally that. She’s a second pair of eyes and a trusted friend and comrade. She even was imprisoned in stone with me instead of fleeing to help my brother.” "Huh. And here I was thinking you were like a certain marvel superhero... merc... thing...” I mutter. Damnit, What was his name?! Dead… something.. Beat? I’ll figure it out later. Nicko sighs. A little bit of mist began to take form as… Is that Genderbent Discord?! Eris?! emerged from Nicko. She looked at Nicko with her arms crossed. “Well, This is quite a crowd if you ask me. Seems like you’re good with making friends from other Equestria’s, Nicky.” IT IS!!! HAHAHAHAHA! “Well… uh…” Twilight was speechless. Eris soon appeared next to the Unicorn, poking her nose. Twilight herself blinked a little at the gesture. “Geez, not as easy to tickle like the others.” Nicko himself facepalmed at the comment. “Eris, now might not be the time for playing around." Pinkie reaches over and hand-hoofs me a bag of popcorn. I then realize what Nicko said. “That’s my job!” I thought you were a detective… or is the term Private Investigator?” Eris questions. “Ok one, I’m a woman. I can have fun sometimes. Two, Yes Private Investigator is what it was on my job title.” “Yet, you say was. Is that suppose to be past tense?” Ok, I hate her. “Eris, that’s enough. We’re not here to irritate people.” Nicko told her, signalling with his hand. She soon turned back into mist and vanished. “Sorry if she got on your nerves, Sakuya. She can be like that at times.” “Nah. She’s just afraid that I’ll kick her-.” “That’s ENOUGH!” Celestia cried out, catching everypony’s attention. Celly you ruin everything... “We will postpone the ceremony to this evening. As of right now though, everypony, including Nicko and Sakuya, should get some rest.” I wonder if Luna has a secret moonshine vault.. I could use a drink as of now… I better warn everyone at least. I know how I can get when drunk. Or so I’ve been told... I suddenly start coughing. “GOINGTORAIDLUNA’SMOONSHINE.” “Huh?” “Nothin’~!” I smile innocently. I stand up and walk up. I’m soon flagged down by Rainbow. “Uh.. Hey… May I join you?” She asks. “The more the merrier. Just warnin’ ya, I’m a bit of a heavy drinker when I feel like it.” I tell her. She glares at me. “Think you can take me down?!” She shouts. “Do I hear a challenge?” “Bring. It. On.” She then rockets off to Lulu’s room. I wait in the hallway as she brings back a huge crate of black bottles. They even have skull and crossbones on them… Ok, that was a thing. “You first.” Rainbow smirks. “I’m not gettin’ out of this am I?” She smiles devilishly and hoofs a bottle over. Fuck me. I THOUGHT IT WAS FAKE! Bottoms up...I guess… I tilt the bottle into my mouth and what hits me is… interesting to say the least… Sort of fruity and spicy at the same time. I don’t taste anything that makes it relatively taste like alcohol...  Did Luna herself brew- OH GOD THERE IT IS! That’s actually really good! “Betcha can’t drink another shot!” Rainbow coos. She starts to bounce a little in the air like a tennis ball. Heehee… Bouncy Bouncy… "Oh hell yeah I can!! I bet you can’t drink two at the same time." “Game on!!” And the drinking contest begins! Fuck getting caught, it’s time for us to have a good time!! YOOOOLLLOOO! Fifteen minutes and Five shots later… Man, did I feel great!! I feel like I can do anything! FUCK THE POLICE!!! “WWOOOO!!! B-b...eat.. THAT RAINBOW!” I say as I take my...seventh? sixth? Shot. She picks up the bottle and swigs down what’s left. The flying mint bunny to the right did the same. “I… I can k-keep goiiing!” I pick up the bottle and drink a little more. I slam it down, cracking it a tiny bit. “T-twilight.. S-should join ush..” I slur. Rainbow stands up and nods. Adrian starts to walk past… This is where everything goes downhill… “NO…. IT’S SHENPAI!” I shout. “What the fu-?” I pounced at him, but he pushes me away. “COME BACK!” I shout. Rainbow then decides to follow, drinking whatever was left of the moonshine. Mr Flying Mint Bunny started to fly away then as well, clipping through the wall. “No! Why…  are you drunk?!” “Be… because I can!” “Fuck my life! Fuck it all!” We rounded the corner and came to the courtyard. Rainbow zoomed ahead to where Twi-Twi and Nicky were standing. She tossed behind another bottle. I temporarily lost interest in Adrian as I watched Rainbow interact. It seems that since I was turned into a persona, I have a slightly higher tolerance for alcohol. Atleast I’m still half sane… More like a quarter.. Ooooohhhh! SENPAII!!! “HELP ME!” “COME BACK SHENPAI!” I shout as I leap over passed out Rainbow. “I.. I win..” I briefly whisper to her as I run past. “NOOOO!” He yells as we round the corner. And that’s when the Hangover begins. It starts with me gaining temporarily all my sanity back. “The heck was I doing?” I mutter. Then the side effects hit me like a brick wall. A sharp pain hits my head as I clutch it and fall over. God damn hangovers! “My head! Gaah! SO THIS IS HOW I WAKE UP FROM A DRUNKEN STATE! GAAH!” I shout as my head pulses with pain. NEVER GETTING DRUNK AGAIN! FUCK SEEING THE FLYING MINT BUNNY AGAIN! “AAAAHH…”I moan. It was then that all I could feel was metal arms picking me up. “I knew you’d try something like this…” To put it simply, I then passed out. I wake up a few minutes later… on a train. “Well, this place is quite peacefu- AHH!!” GODDAMNIT NICKO! “Keep it down! My head is still pounding!” I shout, holding a hand to my head. My hearing fades in and out as I try to get rid of my hangover. I fall back asleep but am soon woken back up by someone speaking really loudly. “She found me… Brother.” What do people not know about hangovers!!! Wait… Who is this? I open my eyes to see two blurry red haired figures looking at each over. I pull a hand to my head. "Uh sorry to interrupt a sweet moment... But who the heck are you?” “Anson Nocte. Infinity Sword. Now, what business do you have with me and my daughters?” Fuck he’s loud… “Ngh.. Keep it down.” “Don’t mind her. Hangover’s getting to her.” Twilight mutters. “I-... What!?” Rainbow shouts. How come she recovers faster?! Gaaha! My heaaad… Stupid… Flying mint bunny… I watched way too much Hetalia back on earth… "… Maybe we should go to the library to talk about this?” Whats-his-name spoke. I felt someone grab me and lift me up. “M-mommy?” Huh? I-is Dinky here? “Dinky?!” “MOMMY!!!” Dinky yells as she lept into her mother’s arms… GAAH KEEP IT DOWN! "Holy shit! Derpy’s alive?!” That voice.. it’s not… It can’t be... “Mommy!! I’ve missed you so much! You won’t believe the fun adventures I’ve had with Orpheus, Faith and Daddy!!” Dinky yells. “UH… Huh? I’m co-… What?!” Derpy yelps. I think my hangover is lifting a bit… “Yeah… I think there are a lot of things that we need to talk about.” An… I need to remember his name..  Damn Hangover! “Yeah… There is.” Eeyup. That’s Jake… Wait… JAKE!?! GAAH! LET ME PUNCH YOU! How did I know who he was even though he was mute back on earth? I simply heard it in a dream. I'll explain later. “Well, let’s get Sakuya to lay down and have everypony come to the library so we could explain everything.” Twilight says. Wait, What?! “Screw all of you! I’m fine!” I’M NOT FUCKING HELPLESS, YOU ASSHOLES!!! STUPID STEREOTYPICAL REMARKS! I hate hangovers... > Three: Questionare! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Golden Oaks Library (Orpheus’ World)         As the groups settled into the library a silence took the air.         “So…” Twilight nervously said. “Who wants to start?”         “I believe I should.” Anson said. “That way, I could properly explain why Dinky refers to me as “Daddy”.”         “I’d like to know too.” Derpy spoke up.         “Well, it happened a little bit after I arrived here. I met Dinky, who knew Orpheus, and I was helping her with some Multiplication problems. During this, she looked a little upset and when I asked her what was wrong, Dinky said that I reminded her of her dad. Time Turner. That’s when I told her about my brother and then… she asked me if I could be her dad.”         “And you said yes.” Faith replied.         “Exactly. I didn’t want Dinky to feel alone because at the time, I had only known that she lost both of her parents and she needed somepony to help support her. I was only doing what I thought was best for your daughter, Ms. Hooves.” Anson finished, getting on the ground in front of Derpy like he was asking for forgiveness.         “It’s Ok… I understand.”         “Y-you do?” Anson asked, a little confused. The mare nodded her head in response, hugging Anson.         “You as well as Orpheus have taken care of my little muffin and because of that, I can see that she has grown up. You mind not be her real father, but I’m just as proud to call you her surrogate father. In addition, I’m glad to see that Dinky has a sister as well.”         Faith turned at that moment to look at Dinky as the filly looked at her. The two of them hugged each other tightly as they embraced one another. Both of them were happy. Faith always wanted to have a little sister and Dinky always wanted to have a big sister. Now, both of those dreams have just came true. But now, Twilight herself had a few questions. Specifically for both Anson and Nicko.         “Hey Dinky, can I please talk with Nicko and Anson? You can go to your room if you want.”         “Okay, Twilight! Come on sis!” Dinky cheered as the two of them went to the upstairs room that Dinky was living in. Now, Derpy, Twilight, Orpheus and the two brothers were in the room while Thanatos was keeping an eye on Sakuya for if she woke up.         “So Twilight, what is it that you need to talk about with us?”         “Well… There are a few things I want to well…… clear up, so to speak.” The Unicorn asked, taking out a small book that resembled a embedded notebook. “According to Anson the last time we met, he said that the two of you were twins. But looking at you now, you two seem to be much farther apart in age and not like twins at all!! What exactly is the reason for that?”         Both brothers looked at each other. Anson was now a little taller than his brother, but both of them looked almost the same. However, the difference between the two was their voices. Anson’s voice sounded a lot deeper now when he was speaking. “Well, between our Equestria and our home, there's a time difference of three. Which means that when one day passes in Equestria, three days pass back on earth. For me, I was encased in stone for seven years while Anson had been back on earth. Which means I’m 25 and he’s right now 39.”         “.... Ok, Yeah… WHAT?!” Orpheus shouts, falling back a little.         He recovers and continues. “It’s only been like, A month or three after you left here!”         “Did I doze off again?” Sakuya mutters, walking down the stairs.         “What can I say Orphy?” Anson said, shrugging his shoulders. “Different worlds, different time based differences. Also, hello again. Sakuya right?”         She nods and leans against the wall. “S’up?”         “Just trying to answer some questions Twilight had.”         “Jeeaaaa-Twilight trying to nerd you out?”         “No. Just trying to clarify some things.” She said.         “Whatever you say Nerd.”         Nicko sighs. Sakuya still looked a little Tipsy based on her choice in answers. “So yeah, to recap; I’m 25, he’s 39 and time is different in each world. Moving on…”         “Before anything else goes on, One last thing.” Sakuya says, climbing on the railing.         She suddenly leapt off, gliding down towards Orpheus.         “THE- Ow!”         Nicko facepalmed himself and Anson just sighed. Being a stagediver was one thing, but performing a WWE move off of the Bannister was not something that they actually expected.         “Seriously?! What are-”         “That’s for leaving me aloooneee Jake!”         “.... Ok yeah, Should I stay out of this?” Thanatos said from the top of the stairs.         “One, yes. Two, can we please focus back on what Twilight had to ask us?” Anson asked. “We did interrupt her mid sentence before Sakuya decided to go all John Cena on Orpheus. Which reminds me, are you okay?”         “Yeah… We are having a talk later.” He says, rubbing his head.         “Fine…”         “Okay. Now that is done, where do you think you’re going to go from here Anson?” Twilight asked.         “Well, I was thinking of staying with Nicko and Faith. I’m here anyways and I was thinking about ways for me to spend more time with my daughter. Plus, I wonder how Amy and the others are since I left.”         “Oh trust me… you rather not know.”         “Uhh… Who’s Amy?”         “ …… Remember Sakuya when she was drunk? Well, think that, but worse…” Nicko told them, pulling out his phone. “Listen…”         PLAY         “We only have one other option to handle a threat like this… But it was Decommissioned sometime ago, Princess.”         “The Judicator. A aerial carriage that allows for descents from up to 10000 feet!”         “Wow… I’m surprised you actually knew about that.”         “DO YOU EVEN READ MY CHRISTMAS LIST!!?!”         END         “Case in point.”         “Ok, Yeah. She’s worse than me drunk.” Sakuya said.         “Also, she once walk into a classroom at Celestia’s school for gifted unicorns, pretended to get herself stuck in a wall and said “Hey kids!! Wanna see a dead body!?” Trust me, My Twilight witnessed everything.” Nicko said, remembering one of the talks the two have had recently.         The Personas, Minus Sakuya who was busting her gut with laughter, and Twilight all had pale faces plastered on. “It’s not funny, Sakuya.”         “Jus-just the expression on Filly Twilight’s face would be priceless!”         “This happened when she was giving a speech at the academy… Not during her fillyhood.”         “I… Ok never mind.”         “Wait…… Why was I giving a speech?” Twilight asked.         “Can’t tell you.” Nicko quickly retorted.         “Why-?”         “Spoiler alert!”         “Spoilers..? WHAT?!” Twilight shouted.         “Four words…” Anson told her. “Just… Roll… With… it.”         “But- Urgh!!!”         “And why did you do that?” Orpheus asked in a whisper.         “Because any spoilers might unwind time and space as we know it.”         “Oh come on… Can’t you just tell me if Sakuya would lose to Rainbow in a race?” He asked.         “Well, Duh.”         “Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa, WHAT!?!”         “It’s not a spoiler if it’s obvious.” Nicko added onto it. “Anything else you guys want to ask?”         “I won a drinking challenge if that’s anything to prove!” Sakuya chirped.         “That had side effects.” Nicko said. “I was the one who had to hold Rainbow like I was cuddling Spike.”         “That… sounds cute.”         “She called me Papa.” The Rune Slayer added on.         “Aww…… The FEELS!!”         “What did I miss during the time I was trying to snap her out of her drunken state?!” Orpheus shouted.         “Rainbow thought I was a blanket, then called me Papa and snuggled in my lap.” Nicko said as the Cyan pegasus was just entering the room. Her reaction to what Nicko said was exactly what you would find on an old Mastercard commercial.         Priceless.         Click!         The next minute, Orpheus had darted in front of Rainbow with a mangled camera that had still managed to work. She didn’t even realized what just happened until Orpheus started talking again.         “Good thing we didn’t manage to mess this up too badly.” He says, taking out the film.         “And I was just about to ask what was going on.” Rainbow sighed. She saw the new figure next to Nicko and became confused. “Who’s the new guy?”         “Anson Nocte, at your service-.”         “Wait… As in Anson, Dinky’s father?”         “Wow…… News does travel fast.” The Infinity Sword said, gripping his swords and then stretching out his arms. “Yes, Dinky see’s me as that and Derpy approved of me being her surrogate father. Dinky now sees my daughter as her sister.”         “Wait, You’ve got a Daughter?” Both the persona and Pegasus ask.         “Did you not see the white haired girl that was with us?” Nicko asked sarcastically. “It wasn’t that hard to miss.”         Just then, Faith came out from Dinky’s room with the filly alongside her. “Hey there. Did you guys call me for something?” That was when Orpheus and Rainbow saw her, despite the fact that she saw them earlier when Dinky tackled Nicko in a case of mistaken Identity.         “... Ok, Didn’t expect that one!” Rainbow shouts.         “Well… Uh… Late congrats man.”         “Thanks. Always appreciated.” Anson replied         “Moving on…” Sakuya says from the corner.         “You had a question, Sakuya?”         “Nah. I’m just bored sitting over here.” Anson sighed. He personally thought that the so called Detective would have more questions for them like what their powers were and what not. But soon, Rainbow was able to fill the void for that.         “Hey, can we see how you two fight!?”         “Rainbow! Why did you… Never mind..” Sakuya mutters.         “Well, you probably already saw how my brother fights…” Anson said. “But, maybe I can explain a little more on how I fight since I’ve learned a LOT about it over the years we were separated. For one thing, my second sword has a name. Conwell. In addition, it has a soul that can talk to me like how Eris talks to Nicko. However, it doesn’t have a physical body.”         “Wow. You HAVE gotten more knowledge. Hope you haven’t gotten rusty.” Orpheus said.         “That’s not the only thing. Conwell allows me to summon multiple swords at once and attack multiple times, but I also have an awakening state where my strength is increased temporarily for 90 seconds at most. Same goes for my brother, but I’ve been practicing.”         Sakuya looked at him with curiosity in her eye. “Interesting..” She mutters.         “I believe though that the one I want to see fight though… is Faith actually.” Anson said, surprising everyone in the room, including his daughter.         “Well, Actually, How does she fight?” Thanatos asked, looking down. Instead of saying anything, Faith put both of her hands by her ears and snapped her fingers. Her earrings glowed and soon, both of the drones that served as her companions and her guardians took form in front of them. Putting a new terminology to the phrase “Digistruct” as they soon took in the surrounding setting. Even Dinky was quite surprised.         “With my partners.”         “Greetings.” Both Moby and Remy spoke, startling Sakuya and Twilight.         “Robots… Or are they Magical… Construct thingies?” Sakuya starts                   “And where can I get one?” Orpheus finishes.         “The proper term you’re looking for is Drone, Sir.” Moby said. “We are a pair of Nasod drones that were created to serve any purpose for Lady Faith. We are her teachers as we are her tools.”         “Dangit…” Orpheus mutters.         “Still on the search for a Tom?” Twilight asked.         He sadly nodded. Somewhere a certain Marshmallow pony is blushing intensely. Soon, Moby and Remy pulled up a series of screens that allowed for everypony to see what powers she was capable of as well as footage of her other encounters in some of the other worlds. Rainbow though, was personally impressed by the hyperactive skill that she could pull off named Lunatic Scud.         “Impressive!” She shouted.         “Why thank you. I still have a long way to go to learn everything, but I’m glad to hear your support. It’s quite encouraging.” Faith told her.         “I’ve actually got some questions on the topic of “Displaced”. Nicko mentioned it earlier and Twilight explained to the best of her ability. I just wanted to know what your Equestria was like.” Sakuya states.         “Well, the ponies in our world are anthropomorphic and Celestia has a brother instead of a sister named Artemis. So…… that’s a thing.”         “Now I really wish I still had my notebook.. Twi, can I borrow one?” Sakuya asked.         Twilight moves a pad of paper and a quill over as she plucks it from the air.         “Also, the first encounter that they had with a Displaced was our parents.”         “You mean Grandma Ciela and Grandpa Luke?” Faith asked out of curiosity.         “Yep, those are the ones.” Anson said. Out of curiosity, he asked Moby a question. “Hey Moby. Do you have a visual on the two people I just mentioned?” The Drone nodded, soon pulling up an image of the two of them from when he last remembered his parents.                  “Of course, they weren’t like this back then… Instead, they looked like this before they got diminished of their old set of powers.” Again, Moby changed the image.         “In fact, when Celestia and Artemis were younger, they served as bodyguards and caretakers for the two of them.”         “Woah.” Twilight simply sighed.         “Don’t. Even. Think about it.” Orpheus said, getting up and swatting Twilight before she could do anything.         “However, when we last saw them, we were six years old. When the two of us were eighteen, we saw them again, but it lead to an all out brawl between both Mom and Nicko before she realized that it was her son. She had not seen her children in 1000 years after all.”         “Wow. That’s deep.” Rainbow mutters, looking away. Nicko assumed that the Pegasus had learned that from Orpheus again, before looking at his brother. “Well, if there’s no further questions, then we should get going soon. You know… before Pinkie Pie throws Sakuya a party for coming to Ponyville.”         “Wait what-?”         “Did somepony say… PARTY?!”         “Damn it, Nicko. You just had to jinx it.” Anson sighed… “Well, maybe we should go after the party. We are guests after all.”         “Ooh! We have more interdimensional guests?! That’s the first ones in… A month!” Pinkie shouts.         “Would you like some help?” Faith asked her.         “Thanks!” Pinkie said before darting off. Faith herself just looked puzzled at her father as she looked around the room. “So… was that suppose to be a yes or what? Because that just confused me.”         “Just roll with it.” Orpheus mutters. Anson himself, snickered, surprised to see that the Persona actually said the same saying he said earlier.         “Oh yeah Rainbow, You’ll probably want to head back earlier from the party before the Tartarus crash gets you…” He said, rubbing his eyes.         “Psh! I dominated that tower!”         “I don’t think he meant it like-.” THUD!!! “-that…” Now Rainbow was passed out on the floor, asleep.         “Wait, She just slept off a hangover, How’d that work?!” Thanatos yelled.         “Meh. Tartarus works in weird ways.” His brother retorted. “Don’t question it.”         “Ok… then.”         The party that occurred later was one of the biggest that Pinkie Pie had ever thrown yet so far. Filled with treats and games galore plus much much more. With the amount of ponies that had arrived for the celebration, Spike and Twilight had only one… collective answer for all the guests that were there attending the party at that current moment. Which sounded rather profane at that moment in time, but also necessary so she could let off some much needed steam since some ponies started bringing in cameras and recording devices.         “HOW THE BUCK DID YOU PONIES GET IN MY HOUSE!!?!”         “I wonder the exact same thing everyday…” Thanatos sighed, retreating upstairs for some much needed sleep. Later, Nicko and the others said their final goodbyes before returning to their Equestria. But not without saying goodbye to little miss Dinky. Who now, despite losing  her father in the unknown fire that had occurred months before, now was part of a family that she was glad to have. Reuniting with her mother and now being able to have an older sister.