> The New Salamander
>  by Piece Bot
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1 - The Salamander Lives (EDITED)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A man named Derrick was at a costume party with his friends near Halloween. But that night, something very strange happened.

This is where our story begins…

“I’m at a costume party that is being held beside a bonfire. Considering one of my favourite characters uses flames, I decided to go as him.” Derrick said, talking to one of his friends at the party. He was wearing a black vest with yellow trimming and nothing on underneath, a scale-patterned scarf was around his neck and on his legs were baggy white pants, tied to the middle of the lower legs. A black cloth made out of the same material as his vest was tied around his waist with a brown belt and a silver buckle tying it in place. He also wore black sandals on his feet.

“So that’s why you’re dressed as Natsu.” His friend said. They clanked their beer bottles together and took a swig. “Do you also have the Fairy Tail tattoo?” He asked, pointing towards Derrick’s right bicep. Derrick nodded and showed him. “That’s cool. Want to go outside? We’ll get warmer that way.” He asked, gesturing to the bonfire.

Derrick shrugged. “Okay, I don’t see why not.” He agreed and followed. Soon as they got near it though, his friend got behind him and suddenly pushed Derrick towards the bonfire. Stumbling towards it, he tripped on a loose pebble and fell in.

Only for a woman to appear in the fire, and stop his fall. “Fire, bend and break. Light, protect and shield,” she said, as the fire bent away from her and Derrick. As his friend watched, the woman stepped from the flame, and saw fire run around her heels playfully. It was in that moment that they realized she had cat ears and a tail.

Derrick fell on his hands and knees, expecting to be burnt. Feeling nothing of the sort, he turned and looked as the various people around the bonfire gasped and stepped back from the woman. His friend though, smiled goofily and wobbled where he stood.

“Hiya toots, why the ears and tail?” Derrick’s friend slurred at the woman, barely even noticing the flames around her feet.

“Hmm?” she asked, tilting her head as the ears flicked and her tail began playing with the fire.

“Max, don’t do this.” Derrick warned, silently thanking the woman for saving him from the fire.

“I’ll do what I want.” Max said and stumbled closer, his beer sloshing out of the bottle somewhat. “I asked why you had ears and a tail. Seems strange for a pretty girl like you.” He repeated as his eyes blearily followed her tail.

“Oh, those? I’ve had them since before this universe even existed,” she said, shrugging.

Derrick’s eyes widened as he heard that but stayed crouched in the flames. ‘How can she be that old?’ He thought as he saw Max continue chatting with her.

“Is that so?” Max asked, leaning back a bit to look at the ears. “You don’t look that old.” He slurred, hiccuping a bit.

“Well of course not. Age is easily defied,” she said.

“Sure, whatever you say.” Max said, blinking with one eye and then the other as he tried to clear his vision.

“Normally, I wouldn’t offer this. But, would you like to leave this world?” The woman turned around and offered a hand to Derrick.

Derrick looked at the hand, then to his drunken friend and then back to the woman. “Sure, why not. My friend seems to be an idiot anyway.” He said shrugging as he stood up, and held his hand in hers.

“Well,” she suddenly kissed his forehead, “enjoy yourself.”

Getting a surprised look on his face, Derrick disappeared and in a blink, reappeared somewhere entirely different. Quickly patting his body to see if everything was in place, he sighed in relief to see that his limbs were all in the right place. Feeling something wet surrounding his feet, he found that he was standing in a small puddle of water amidst a big blanket of snow.

“Why am I not cold?” He asked himself as he stepped out of the puddle. Soon as he did, the water almost immediately got refrozen. “Just how cold is it here? Wherever here is.” Derrick mumbled and putting a hand to his forehead tried to figure out where the closest settlement was. Feeling something tap him on the shoulder, he turned around and found a black smoke creature. Derrick’s mouth fell open, turned and promptly ran in the direction he was about to head in anyway.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!” He screamed, arms flailing above his head as he attempted to outrun the smoke monster. Seeing the snow melt as his sandals came into contact with it made Derrick’s run immensely easier but it didn’t seem like the smoke monster was hindered by the snow either.

Feeling a burst of energy, he instinctively made the energy move to his feet. Looking down at his feet, he was shocked and scared at the fire coming off of his feet. “AH! FIRE! GET IT OFF GET IT OFF GET IT OFF!” Derrick shouted as he failed to put out the flames on his feet. Not realising that his feet and shoes weren’t the slightest bit burnt, he continued patting it out with his bare hand while rapidly hopping away.

“Hands not burning. Great. Feet not burning. Even better.” Derrick reasoned as he realised he wasn’t burning in the slightest but a lot of hops told him otherwise if the vast amount of footprint puddles were anything to go by. “Maybe I should’ve realised this sooner.” He added. Seeing the black smoke monster looming over the horizon, he promptly turned and ran, hoping that there was a city or town in this general direction.

Eventually coming upon tall crystal structures, he laughed to himself and put on a burst of speed. Noticing something pink come down around the crystal, he checked behind him and found the smoke hot on his heels. Panicking, Derrick dived for it and ended up sliding in on a puddle of water just as the pink wall came down and knocked off a piece of something from the smoke monster.

“Who goes there?” A gruff voice asked as it poked Derrick with the tip of a spear.

“Ouch.” Derrick said, wiggling a bit under the poke.

“Get up.” The voice said again, sounding distinctly male as he was picked up by the scarf.

Feeling his windpipe being constricted by the grip, Derrick gagged and tried to claw his way out of it.

“Don’t bother. I have an iron grip.” The voice reacted to Derrick’s clawing. “Come on. The princess will want to see you.” He said and dragged him by the scarf, his feet scuffing along the ground.



After having been dragged all the way to someplace, Derrick’s face was slightly blue due to his brain not receiving any air. Based on what he’s seen, he was most likely dragged to somewhere with crystal. It seemed the whole place has been built with crystal alone.
        
“Ack! Help!” Derrick choked out as he tried for the umpteenth time to claw at his captor’s hand.

“I found someone at the edge of the city!” The voice said loudly.

“Get off him! He can’t breathe!” A female voice this time commanded. Immediately feeling the grip lessen, Derrick got some breath back and pulled his scarf out of the hand.

“Thanks.” He breathed, going into a sitting position and turning around. Looking up, Derrick swore he felt his neck creak at the sheer angle he had to look. He found a group of about three or four people with only one difference. They had tails, horns and wings. Derrick’s eye twitched and his mouth fell open in an almost perfect ‘o’.

“You are most welcome.” One of them said. The voice was attached to a woman with pink skin and her hair had purple, pink and blonde hues. She was wearing coloured crystal as armor that covered most of her body, only leaving the arms and legs free. As well as room for her wings. Derrick highly doubted the armor was practical but if anything he’s seen so far is anything to go by, then maybe it was.

“Who are you?” Derrick asked bluntly, sitting cross-legged. He got hit on the side of the head by something blunt. “Ow! What was that for?” He groaned, rubbing the sore spot.

“The person you are addressing is called Princess Cadence.” Gruff Voice emphasised the word princess in case the meaning was lost to the human before him. Derrick thought that privately nicknaming him Gruff Voice was a riot.

“Where’s your tail?” Another female voice asked. Derrick looked in her direction and found that she was dressed similarly to the princess, except the crystal was coloured gold and not silver.

“Don’t have one.” Derrick replied. The all gasped at that.

“Why not?” She asked.

“Evolution most likely.” Derrick replied and stood up and dusted himself off, not even noticing little flames appear and disappear as he patted himself. “What are all your names? May as well ask considering I’ll be here a while.” Derrick asked, rubbing his hands together as he looked up.

“You already know Princess Cadence and Gruff Voice. I am-” She was interrupted by laughter.

“HA! Gruff Voice!? That’s his actual name? HAHAHAHA!” Derrick bursted out laughing but was stopped mid laugh by a sudden blow to the head, making him fall into a crouch. “Augh! What is your problem with me?” He asked angrily.

“My mama gave me that name and I wear it proudly to this day.” Gruff sniffed and gave him another whack for good measure.

“Oh come on! I didn’t even do anything that time!” Derrick said, jumping up with flames suddenly appearing on his fists. Gruff was silent but readied his spear all the same. If he was surprised by the flames, then he didn’t show it. Derrick, however, had a different reaction. When he looked down to his fists, his eyes widened and he began running around like a chook with its head cut off. “FIRE! AGAIN! WHY ME!???” Derrick shouted helplessly. Some snow was chucked onto him but all that did was melt away almost instantly, leaving the flames untouched.

“How did that not work?” Dazzle Gleam asked in shock, following his running with her head.

“I have absolutely no clue.” Cadence answered, following him with her head as well. “I would rather you didn’t do that Gruff.” She held a hand out to stop him from whacking the human over his head again.

“I was only going to give him a small tap, Princess.” Gruff replied, giving a frown as he held his spear in place by his side.

“You know,” Derrick placed his hand on his chin, stopping his running suddenly, “if flames come from my hands and feet, then maybe I can also do this.” He said and feeling hot embers in his gut, Derrick tried to bring that feeling up to the surface and out of his mouth but the only result he got was some fire drool. “Well that didn’t work.” He said in confusion and looked at the armored group. They all made weird faces and backed away a bit. “What?”

“Y-you have drool. Fire d-drool coming from your mouth …” Dazzle said hesitantly, pointing to him. Derrick only raised an eyebrow, and then made an attempt to look down. Soon as he did, he freaked out and began running around in circles.

“You may as well knock him out, Gruff. This could take a while.” Cadence suggested and with a salute from the Pegasus, Gruff immediately gave Derrick a hearty thwack on the head, instantly knocking him out. “That may have been a bit hard. Bring him in and take him to a guest room. I’ll speak with him when he wakes up.” Cadence said with a sigh and smile. She walked inside the crystal castle and stopped every so often, making sure that her personal guards were following her. Once they had him safely inside and in a guest room, Cadence turned to the two guards.

“I want you two to guard him until he wakes up.” She said authoritatively.

“What?” “Why?” They both asked at the same time.

“Who knows where he came from? Other people could be looking for him and they may want to attack him so while he rests up from the … beating,” Cadence grimaced at the word as she knew it wasn’t the right one, “I want you two to look after him. No buts.” Cadence said as she saw the both of them try to protest again. With that, the princess walked away to the balcony to tell Shining of what had happened.

“I thought guarding Princess Cadence was boring, this will be even more so since he won’t even be able to talk back.” Dazzle complained; jabbing a thumb in the direction of the closed door.
“We do what Princess Cadence tells us.” Gruff said as he stood at attention.

“I know you follow whatever the princess says to the letter but would it kill you once in a while to loosen up a bit?” Dazzle asked as she looked at him in a mixture of disbelief and pleading.

“I would but it’s not break time yet.” He answered in a monotonous tone. Dazzle just sighed and stood loosely at attention in front of the door.
> Chapter 2 - Crystal Magic (EDITED)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Why does it feel like I ran my head into a brick wall multiple times?” Derrick groaned, rubbing a bump on his head.

“Because that’s what it feels like when you get hit with the butt of a spear multiple times.” Gruff answered as he stood beside the door. The other guard, however, walked right on in and patted him on the head.

“I never got to introduce myself. My name is Dazzle Gleam.” She said brightly, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Derrick hissed when she patted him but sat up and looked her up and down. She was clad in the same gold crystallised armor as Gruff Voice was, her skin was dark blue and her mane was two-toned, having green and white twine throughout. “Dazzle Gleam?” He asked, rubbing his head again.

“Yuh huh?” Dazzle asked as she stopped bouncing.

“Tell me something. Your name is Dazzle Gleam and his name is *snort* Gruff Voice.”

“I heard that!” Gruff shouted into the room.

“Sorry. Can’t get over it. My name is Derrick. Pleased to meet you. Now him,” he pointed to Gruff. “Not so much.” He said and got up off the bed, stretching. He could have sworn he heard a few bones crack into place as he straightened.

“You shouldn’t be up and about so soon after you’ve been knocked out.” A voice floated through the door, accompanied by the same pink lady that saved him earlier.

“Hello Princess. I was out how long exactly?” Derrick asked, walking over to her with Dazzle following him.

“4 hours, 3 minutes and 55 seconds.” Gruff supplied as he stepped into the room. His skin was a dark grey and his mane looked like it had been lit on fire with how brilliant of an orange it was.

“There you go. Considering how hard he hit you, you should’ve been out at least another four to five hours.” Cadence said and stepped out of the doorway and back into the corridor beyond. “Now, if you’d like to come with me, I would like to ask you a few questions. My husband would like to meet you as well.” Cadence said and strolled down the hall, expecting for Derrick to follow.

“Okaaay.” Derrick said slowly and immediately began following her. Hearing the sound of clanking crystal behind him, he turned and continued walking backwards. “Who’s her husband?”

“Her husband is Prince Shining Armor. He is the brother of Twilight Sparkle, who in turn is the esteemed student of Princess Celestia herself.” Gruff said with a slight tear in his eye.

“Yes, yes. Everyone knows you hold royalty in the highest esteem possible.” Dazzle said, giving him a light slap upside his head. “At least tone it down in front of the guest.” She added.

“I will not. He needs to know just how much regard I hold for the royalty of Equestria.” Gruff said in a huff.

“Alright, jeez.” Dazzle said and walked up to Derrick, who had turned back around.

“Why does he talk like that?” Derrick asked with a bored expression.

“Like what?” Dazzle asked confusedly.

“The way he emphasises the words ‘prince’ and ‘princess’. It’s just so … grating.” Derrick answered through clenched teeth as Gruff Voice prattled on and on about how it was royalty this or royalty that. “What did Cadence mean when she said that I was meant to be out for another four or five hours?” Derrick asked, knowing that him not using a title would only infuriate Gruff.

“Exactly that. You weren’t meant to wake up this quickly.” Cadence said over her shoulder. “I don’t mind you calling me Cadence, either but at least use my title when in public.” She addressed Derrick and looking out the corner of his eye, he swore he could see Gruff glare at him but it was gone as he immediately went back to a stern but neutral gaze.

Derrick thought about how he could’ve possibly gotten up a lot more quicker than expected. If he could use flames from his hand and feet as well as drool fire, then maybe he got Natsu’s durability as well. He couldn’t dwell on it any further though as he heard two doors creaking open at the same time, making him forget about his musings for the time being. No sooner had he taken a step into the room, than a white blur stopped in front of him.

“Who are you, what do you want and why are you here?” The white person asked Derrick in rapid succession.

“Derrick, nothing and no idea.” Derrick answered just as quickly, blinking in confusion. “Who are you?” He asked, stepping to the side. The white person stepped with him. Derrick noted that this particular person wore golden armor on his body without any crystallisation effects present on the metal. He also had a horn amidst the different shades of blue in his hair.

“This is Shining. Despite how he looks, he’s the one that actually brought down that barrier around the city. Even now, he’s trying to keep it up.” Cadence said with a bright smile as she gave Shining an adoring look.

“He’s your husband then?” Derrick asked as he looked at Shining with an incredulous look.

“What you giving me that look for?” Shining asked as he took a step back and placed a hand on Cadence’s shoulder.

“What look?” Derrick asked.

“That look.” Dazzle quipped, pointing to his face.

“This is the way I usually look.” Derrick asked with a shrug. He heard Gruff sigh. Turning to him, he saw Gruff give a look that was identical to Derrick’s. “Oh that look. I was just wondering why you all have different skin colours.” Derrick said with a shrug. “Prince Shining Armor’s skin looks like mine only a heck of a lot paler, Princess Cadence’s skin is pink. Dazzle’s skin is dark blue and Gruff Voice’s skin is flat out grey.” Derrick explained.

“That’s just how we are.” A third female voice said. Derrick walked to the side and found six more different coloured people with various layers of modern-looking clothes for the cold weather.

“Oh this is just great. More colours to assault my eyes with. Sooner or later I’m going to have a seizure attack.” Derrick muttered and sighed, rubbing his eyes. “I’ll figure this out later. Why is there a shield around the city?” He asked Cadence, ignoring the new voice.

“Because Sombra has returned.” The voice said insistent on being listened.

“And who is this ‘Sombra’?” Derrick asked while making quotation marks in the air when he said Sombra.

“He is not to be taken lightly.” Cadence warned, moving Shining’s hand off of her shoulder.

“That still didn’t answer my question. If he’s not to be taken lightly, then maybe I should punch his lights out.” Derrick said with a grin, punching his fist into his palm for effect. As he did, a few flames erupted from the contact but quickly died out.

“That won’t be necessary. We’re trying to restore the Crystal Heart which is Sombra’s one weakness.” The voice spoke again and Derrick gave the female a hard look.

“What’s your name?” Derrick asked her. He saw her blink and backtrack a bit.

“My name’s Twilight Sparkle.” She responded. Derrick smiled and breathed out.

“Does that mean you sparkle in the sunlight? No? Oh well. Would have been hilarious if you did.” Derrick said to his stunned audience. “Is there anything else you can tell me about Sombra besides him being weak to some Crystal Heart?” Derrick asked, bringing the subject back a relevant one.

“That is all we know, unfortunately. The other thing is, is that he’s been gone a thousand years and has only come back now.” Cadence said recovering from the odd human. 

“Uh huh.” Derrick mumbled and moved to the balcony and took a look at the sprawling city of glittering crystal structures. Focusing on a couple of pillars that looked like the gateway to the city, he found a mini black speck of something. Without any regard for his safety, he leaped the balcony railing and fell five stories before landing on the ground in a crouched position, making a crater. Ignoring the gasps and screams of the ponies above him, he began running to what he saw at the gateway.

Sliding to a stop as he got near, Derrick picked up the crystal and felt a sudden jolt as his right hand automatically spazzed, clenching the black crystal tightly. “Augh! I can’t get this thing off!” Derrick panicked and moved over to a pillar, smashing his hand against it in an effort to get his hand to unclench. “It’s not working! Why can’t I get it off!?” Derrick yelled through gritted teeth, flames spurting around the clenched hand sporadically as he kept banging it against the pillar. He flared his nostrils as he managed to break the pillar clean in half but the crystal was still attached to his hand.

Stopping his hand waving for a moment, he looked down at where he picked up the crystal and found a black and red coloured horn on the ground, which seemed to be growing another crystal. Not learning from just a few minutes ago, he picked the crystal up with his other hand but found it didn’t attach itself. He dropped it and it cracked, making fractures spiderweb across the surface. “If that can crack just from being dropped, then why can’t this one?” Derrick asked himself and proceeded to slam his hand against the other pillar this time. Repeatedly. When the other pillar broke, Derrick had enough of the crystal being attached so he did the next best thing. Throw fire at it.

“Karyu no Tekken*!” Derrick shouted as he gathered flames in his left fist and punched the crystal repeatedly, hoping to break it that way. The only result he got was a massive headache and a few bruises from the missed punches. “I really need to get this off before the- oh hell.” Derrick groaned as he saw a shadow hover over him. Looking up, he found Gruff flying above him. “What do you want!?” Derrick shouted up at him.

“Princess sent me here to see why the pillars are broken.” Gruff Voice said as he alighted down on the ground.

“The only reason why the pillars are broken is because I kept slamming my hand against them in an effort to dislodge this!” Derrick shouted angrily, waving the crystal-encased fist at Gruff. Gruff’s eyes widened but other than that, his expression remained the same.

“If that’s the case then maybe a spear could work?” Gruff asked monotonously, readying his spear. Derrick shrugged, not seeing any reason it wouldn’t. Taking the shrug as sign of permission, Gruff pulled the spear back and thrusted it forward, hitting the crystal square on. The only thing the crystal did was separate the spear’s head from its body.

Derrick hissed in pain as he looked at the crystal on his hand. He saw it slowly grow and the stop when it reached his wrist, completely encasing his hand in black crystal.

“We need to get you back to the Princess.” Gruff commanded. Derrick flared his nostrils again but only nodded as he felt Gruff pick him up by the back of his vest and fly back to the castle.

Soon as he touched down, Gruff kept let go of Derrick, who stumbled forward and held his hand close to his chest. Ignoring everyone’s questions, he stormed past them, leaving burnt footprints in his wake which led to the room he was in earlier. He left the door open but sat down on the bed with his back facing the door. He looked down at this hand and futilely tried to move it inside the crystal. Even though he could feel his hand move, it barely even twitched inside the casing.

“What was that about?”

Derrick whirled at the voice and found it belonged to Dazzle. She was leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed over her chest. “What was what about?” He asked, trying to play coy about it.

“Earlier. When Gruff flew you back inside, heck, even when you jumped the balcony!” Dazzle said, her arms now unfolded as she walked into the room.

Derrick sighed as he realised it wouldn’t work. “When I jumped the balcony, I saw something extremely small near the gate. I didn’t know what it was and I wanted a look at it. When I got there, I picked it up and this happened,” Derrick showed his arm. The crystal had crept up slowly, stopping again halfway up his forearm. “I broke both entrance pillars trying to get my hand out of it, I even used flames to try and punch it off. When Gruff arrived, he tried to pierce it and break it off that way. The spear broke, leaving this undamaged. And when the spear broke, the crystal started growing around my hand but it’s stopped for now.” Derrick explained.

“Well that explains the pillars.” Dazzle mumbled. “Princess Cadence needs to see this.” Dazzle said and grabbing Derrick by the other arm, pulled him up and pulled him along the hall, back to the balcony.

When they arrived, the six people from before were nowhere to be seen but Shining Armor, Cadence, and Gruff Voice remained. Noticing him before he noticed them, the three of them walked up to Derrick and confronted him. “Why did you jump off the balcony?” Shining asked, leaning in close. Dazzle moved him out of the way though and told them what Derrick told her.

“Now that we understand the situation, we have to figure out a way for the crystal to stop growing, or failing that, at least slow it down.” Shining said as he looked at the crystal arm with suspicion.

“Where’s the sparkly vampire?” Derrick asked. Cadence looked at him for a moment but remembered his strange words from earlier.

“You mean Twilight Sparkle. She and her friends went searching for the crystal heart while setting up a festival at the same time.” She informed Derrick who’s eyes widened.

“A festival. You are hosting a festival while this Sombra is banging on your doorstep and you have them searching for the crystal heart as well?” Derrick asked incredulously.

“That’s pretty much it.” Dazzle answered with a nod.

“And now we have my arm situation to deal with as well.” Derrick added and moved backwards, stopping once he hit the balcony railing.

“You’re going to jump again.” Gruff said bluntly.

“You saw right through me. Before I jump, I want to know if I can help with anything.” Derrick said.

“You can try and help with preparing the festivities.” Cadence suggested.

“That’ll do. I’ll try and find one of the other people who I saw with Twilight to see if I can help out.” Derrick said and jumping the balcony again with a salute, he felt his arm drag him down to the ground a lot faster than intended. As his arm crashed into the ground where he made his crater, he felt a shockwave travel up his body, making his teeth rattle in his skull. Righting himself, he ran in a random direction to see if he could help with any of the festivities.
> Chapter 3 - Crystal Fair Help Part 1: None of Your Business (EDITED)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Sliding around a corner as he ran, Derrick saw one of Twilight’s friends from earlier. It looked like one of the pink-haired ones. Running towards them, he skidded to a stop as he found her blowing some weird two-tubed horn. “What are you doing?” He asked her. The girl stopped her blowing at the question. She lowered it and looked at him, blinking a couple of times.

“Blowing this flugelhorn. What are you doing?” She asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

“I am trying to see if I can help with anything. Do you need any help?” He asked and glanced at her clothes. He found that she was wearing a double-layered pink sweater with a group of three balloons emblazoned across the chest area. As for her legs, she wore a pair of snow jeans and some fur-lined boots which seemed strange, considering he thought that they some weird horse/person combination if their muzzles, manes and tails were anything to go by.

“You know, I do need help with getting a jester costume together. Think you can help with that?” She asked, smiling and tilting her head to the side slightly. She lowered the horn to her side, knowing that he would grab it again.

“A jester costume? Really?” Derrick asked with a raised eyebrow. “I’m not any good with needle and thread but I’ll see what I can come up with.” He sighed, seeing her nod enthusiastically. He pinched his nose and exhaled slowly. “You want me to make you a jester costume. That should be fine. The only thing is that I need your measurements.” Derrick confirmed; blushing as he said the last part.

“Certainly!” The girl said happily and whispered the required measurements in Derrick’s ear. He blushed when she mentioned her chest size but other than that, the measurements seemed good to him. Coughing as she finished, Derrick went to turn but remembered something.

“What’s your name?” Derrick asked.

“Pinkie Pie! Good luck with the costume!” She said and went back to blowing the flugelhorn. “WAIT!” Pinkie shouted at him as he turned. Derrick turned back and tilted his head.

“What?” He asked.

“What’s the matter with your hand?” Pinkie asked, pointing to the crystal that was now a little past his elbow. Holding it by his side, Derrick looked at it, then back at Pinkie.

"It’s complicated.” He said and ignoring any other the questions she may have had, Derrick started to walk away. Scratching his head, he left the girl to her bad musical skills and went off to find a tailor or something. After having walked around for a good couple of hours, he finally found a seemingly empty material booth.

Soon as he walked up though, a sickly looking, white-skinned female popped up out of the booth. She was wearing a white dress with blue diamonds in groups of three. The diamonds created a pattern that went all around her dress, creating a kaleidoscope effect as her dress shined in the sun. Putting his crystallised hand above his forehead, Derrick squinted and looked at the purple, coiffed hair of the woman as the light from the dressed bounced onto his crystal and scattered the beams in all directions.

“Hi. Is there any chance you can turn your dress off? It’s giving me a headache.” Derrick said as he tried to squint through the rays of light.

“Oh hello there, darling. I’m sorry I can’t help you at the moment, I’m trying to help put the Crystal Fair in order so if you don’t mind, I really need to get back to work.” The woman said in a haughty manner.

“No, no. I need help in putting together a jester costume for someone named Pinkie Pie.” Derrick said with a strained smile.

“Oh? Pinkie? She asked you to put a costume together?” Rarity said with a hint of jealousy in her voice. Derrick picked it up and tried to figure out if he could phrase his next sentence another way.

“She did. She told me what materials she wanted and what her measurements were even though I said I was no good with thread and needle.” Derrick said as he finally let his arm relax, feeling it drop like a cannonball and banging into his side. He winced at that but the seamstress didn’t seem to notice.

“Well if that’s the case, then why don’t you let me take over the job and you can go somewhere else?” She asked hopefully.

He put his crystal-free hand up to sign for her to stop. “Hang on a sec. What’s your name?”

“Rarity.” Rarity said with a small smile.

“Rarity. Nice to meet you. I’m Derrick. Princess Cadence asked me to help with the Crystal Fair in anyway I can, and if helping Pinkie make a costume is helping, then I don’t see why you should take over the job.” Derrick said with a hard glare.

“Well, um, oh. If Princess Cadence sent you to help, then by all means, take whichever materials you need.” She said with a quick laugh, and then letting Derrick take whichever materials he needed.

“Thank you.” Derrick said politely and took his handful of materials to a nearby bench. Feeling around his clothes, he realised he didn’t have any needle and thread. “Uhm, not sure if you’ll give me it, but I need thread and needle.” Derrick said with a sheepish smile. He saw Rarity give a huff and levitated a spool of black thread and a very pointy needle over to him, making sure to jab him in the palm of his hand as he grabbed the items.

“Ouch.” Derrick muttered and sat down to work, shaking his hand to get rid of the pain. Managing to balance the needle between the crystal and the table, he threaded the needle and picked it up before it fell to the ground. Silently putting the needle through the first couple of coloured patches, he looped it by going under and over. When he got to the end of a seam, he pulled it tight, burnt the freed end of by lighting a small fire with his finger and fed more thread before starting the process over again.

Soon enough, he got about half the costume done, making sure to keep muttering the measurements under his breath all the while to keep them fresh in his mind. After a few hours of gruelling, non-stop work, he got the costume done. Wiping a bit of sweat off his brow, Derrick stood up and walked over to Rarity, showing her his work.

“Well?” Derrick asked, keeping his face neutral.

Rarity pulled a face and leaned back a bit. “Well it definitely screams ‘Pinkie’. I’m sure she will enjoy it.” Rarity said, turning a bit green at the shoddy stitchwork.

“That’s good to hear.” Derrick said and nodded, carefully folding it up and walked back to where he thought he remembered Pinkie’s location was. As he did, he automatically swing his arms, unknowingly showing the crystal one off. Rarity saw it and wondered how it had gotten like that.

“Excuse me! Derrick?” She called out. Derrick glanced her way and shuffled around, automatically keeping his arm from sight.

“What is it?” He asked with a groan.

“What’s the matter with your arm? It’s unusual to see something like that.” Rarity answered, pointing to the aforementioned arm.

“None of your business.” Derrick responded and set a fast pace as he made a beeline for Pinkie’s last known location.

Still finding Pinkie blowing on her flugelhorn, Derrick strolled up and presented her with her costume. “Here you are. One jester costume as ordered.” Derrick said with a grin.

“It’s perfect!” Pinkie said in glee, clapping her hands together. “I’ll try it right now!” Pinkie said in delight and ran off somewhere to change into her costume. While she was doing that, Derrick placed his hand on his other one and tried to forcefully break it again. “Karyu no Akugeki*.” Derrick whispered, feeling his energy pool at the palm of his hand. Releasing it, he forcefully pushed into the crystal but it didn’t even make a crack.

Sighing in anger, he moved to a nearby wall and managed to place the crystallised arm flat on the wall. “Karyu no Enchu!**” He shouted at his hand, feeling the flames burst out from his elbow but seeing no reaction from the crystal on the outside. He felt the crystal pushing forward and eventually making a hole in the wall but there was still no crack in it. “What’s this crystal made of!? Tadanite? Adamantium? What!?” Derrick shouted desperately at his hand. Pulling his arm out of the wall, he found the crystal had gone halfway up his bicep, stopping just short of the tattoo. He was too busy studying his arm to see a terrified child hiding in the corner of the room he had punched a hole into.

“This is a bit tight in the chest but that’s fine.” Pinkie mumbled as she tried to adjust the costume to make it fit more comfortably. The mishmash of colours in the different patches suited her personality perfectly. She would have to apply the eye make-up later. Feeling that it fit rather comfortably, she looked out the mouth of the alley at a shout. Seeing Derrick force his black arm into a wall, she ran out and tried to get him to stop. “Why did you punch a hole in the wall?” She asked as she placed her hands on her hips.

“Because I can’t get this stupid crystal to stop growing!” Derrick shouted at her.

“Growing?” Pinkie asked. She looked closely at his arm and found that it certainly was growing but it seemed to be going at a snail’s pace. “Have you told the Princess?” She asked, placing a hand under her chin, making it look like she was thinking some deep thoughts.

“Yes. They said to help you guys with the Crystal Fair while they tried to find out why this even happened in the first place.” He said angrily, although he had gone from shouting to speaking rather loudly.

“Hmmm. We need to get you to Twilight.” Pinkie said and grabbing the crystal, she pulled him along. “She should be at the library.” Pinkie said as they ran. Derrick looked down and found that she had no shoes on. 

“How big is the library?” He asked as his arm slipped out of her grasp. He immediately began running himself to stay side by side with her.

“BIG.” Pinkie said and meant it. “Think about the biggest library you’ve seen and then times that by a bagillion. That’s how big it is.” Pinkie continued and turned the corner, forcing the Dragon Slayer to slide around by hooking his palm around a pole and spinning around it.

“That is … big.” Derrick gulped. Seeing that she had stopped, Derrick tried to stop but instead, flailed his legs as he tripped and fell on his back. Groaning in pain, he stayed down a few moments, trying to get his breath back. Turning his head, he saw Pinkie lean down and offer him a hand up. Taking it, she pulled him up quickly and held his shoulders as he steadied himself. “Thanks.” Derrick said and stomped up the stairs to what he assumed was the library.

“Wrong one. It’s behind you.” Pinkie said with a giggle and bounded up the set of steps on the other side of the street. Exhaling, he climbed down and headed into the library. He whistled as he looked around at all the books.

“That is a lot of books.” He said in awe.

“Of course they are, Captain Obvious.Twilight is trying to figure out the Crystal anthem so that we can all learn it in time for the fair tomorrow.” Pinkie explained, hiding a smile behind her hand at Derrick’s glare. “Where did those flames come from anyway?” Pinkie asked casually as she hopped down the stairs. Derrick followed at a slower pace as he examined the books.

“No idea, to be perfectly honest. I guess you could say I make them.” He said absently.

“Make them? Without any magic?” Pinkie asked as she jumped past the second floor landing and landed neatly on the steps to the lower floor.

“No, it is magic. I say a spell and it conjures up a few flames. It helps that I can create them at will, even if my magic drains a bit.” He explained as he jogged down the steps to catch up to the overly-exuberant girl.

“So you can create these flames with magic?” Pinkie asked, clasping her hands behind her as she stopped on the bottom floor of the building.

“I guess. There’s no knowing about it as magic is extremely hard to explain.” Derrick said as he unsuccessfully crossed his arms over his chest. Pinkie simply shrugged, her answers having been sated for now. She lead Derrick throughout the numerous bookshelves and as he glimpsed through one, he swore he saw a blue-haired girl in a sun yellow dress speed reading a book.

“Here’s Twilight!” Pinkie said grandly as she showed her friend off.

“You!” Both Derrick and Twilight shouted at the same time, pointing fingers at one another.

“You jumped off the balcony!” Twilight shouted at him, a very surprised look on her face at seeing him alive. “That must have been at least five stories high! How did you survive it?” Twilight asked him, adjusting the light pink glasses on her face.

“How can I say this? I appear to have the durability of a dragon.” Derrick suggested, hoping he didn’t sound like a madman to these girls.

“OF COURSE!” Pinkie shouted, causing one of the people behind a bookcase to shush her. Ignoring them, Pinkie put her finger up in the air. “That explains the flames!” She said to the both of them.

“Yeah, well, that still doesn’t explain this!” Derrick retorted, showing her his arm which was now completely covered in crystal. It appeared to have stopped at his neck, not wishing to advance any further for now.

“You certainly didn’t have that the last time we saw you. How did it happen?” Twilight asked in concern, her questions about him having draconic properties shelved away in her mind for now.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Derrick said through gritted teeth.

“Why not?” Twilight pressed.

“Because I don’t!” Derrick shouted, his body bursting into flames at the anger directed to the crystal covering his entire right arm.

Both Pinkie and Twilight backed away quickly to stop themselves from getting burnt by the sheer amount of heat he was giving off, let alone the fire itself.

“Derrick, calm down!” Twilight said, covering her eyes at the brightness of the flames.

“No. I need to get this crystal off and everything I’ve tried to do to get it off hasn’t been able to help.” Derrick said coldly. Both girls could hear how much hurt and anger were in his voice. Both of their eyes widened though when the word ‘WATER***’ popped up behind Derrick. It transformed into a ball of light and flew towards him. When it touched his flames, it immediately turned to water, simultaneously drenching him and dousing his flames.

“Wh-who did that?” Twilight asked in shock. She ran behind Derrick but couldn’t see anybody. “There’s nobody here.” Twilight said in confusion.

“There she is!” Pinkie said triumphantly and ran after a blue-haired girl in a sun yellow dress.
> Chapter 4 - Crystal Fair Help Part 2: Solid Script Magic
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Laughing while being chased, Levy looked behind her to find the pink-haired girl running after her. Turning a corner, she turned back and threw her arms wide, shouting ‘HOLE*’ as she did.  The word spread out on the ground in front of her and as the girl ran around the bend, Levy saw her ear twitch. Jumping just on the edge of the trap, the girl with the gaudy jester costume moved her arms apart and tackled the surprised Levy.

“How?” Levy coughed as she struggled to get out from underneath the girl.

“Pinkie Sense. That’s how!” Pinkie said happily, straddling her as she kept the blue head down.

“I don’t get it.” Levy said as she tried to wriggle out from underneath her captor.

“There’s nothing to get! I feel something twitch in my body and I react accordingly.” Pinkie said simply, ignoring the girl’s wriggling.

“Woah!” Twilight shouted as she fell into the hole that Levy made earlier. Pinkie bent over backwards to see a cloud of dust come out of a hole.

“So that’s what I jumped over!” Pinkie said as she rolled backwards and into the hole.

“Ow! Pinkie! Get off me!” Twilight said in a huff as she felt Pinkie squish the air out of her.

Listening to the both of them argue made Levy get up and tiptoe away, knowing that they would be occupied for a bit.

In another part of the library, Shining was looking up books on crystal magic, to see if he could try and find something to help that newcomer. This time, he had changed out of his guard uniform and into a sweatshirt with his cutie mark of a shield with a magenta star in the middle. He only wore some light-blue, fur-lined slacks for pants. His horn wasn’t glowing as he had switched the shield spell over to Cadence, therefore making the shield a different colour and earning him a rest.

“Not in that book.” Shining muttered as he stood up and got another book from the shelf. “Twilight should be in this library somewhere. Maybe she can help me.” Shining said as he held the book in his hand and began wandering around the gigantic library. Soon enough, he came upon a hole in the floor, nearly falling into it but what saved him where the voices of Pinkie and Twilight.

“Twily?” Shining called out. The voices stopped and then he heard a foot stomp. Looking down, he found both Twilight and Pinkie standing close together in the hole. “What are you doing down there?” He asked, kneeling down to help them up.

“I ran around the corner to try and catch up to Pinkie when I fell in.” Twilight said as she climbed out. She saw her brother pull Pinkie out of the hole as well. “How are we going to fix that?” Twilight asked, pointing to the obvious hazard.

“I know!” Pinkie said and rushed off to someplace, only to rush back and begin putting nails and wood over the hole at a fantastic rate. Soon enough, she was done and grinned proudly. “There we go. All done!” She said with a tah-dah gesture to the now-covered hole.

They both clapped and Shining turned to Twilight. “Twily, I need help in trying to find a solution to Derrick’s crystal arm problem. Do you think you can-” He was stopped by a terrific shout.

“AHHH! I JUST ATE FIRE!!”

“That would be Derrick.” Pinkie said and ran off in that direction with Shining and Twilight close on her heels.



After Levy had tiptoed away, she ran back to where she had found the guy that was on fire. When she reached the place, she found him scratching at his pink hair with barely a scorch mark on him. As the man turned around to have a look at the books, Levy found that he had a Fairy Tail mark but it was covered with some sort of black crystal. Walking up to him, she tapped him on the shoulder.

“Hmm?” Derrick asked, looking down to see a blue head. His jaw dropped as he recognised the clothes and face. “No way.” He said in disbelief. “Levy?” He asked.

“Do you know me?” Levy asked, looking at him oddly.

‘Oh wow this is awkward.’ Derrick thought and sighed.

“Sorry. Must have been thinking of someone else who has the same name. I’m Derrick.” He said and stuck his hand out for Levy to shake it.

After shaking it, Levy heard a growl come from him. “You okay there?” She asked.

“I’m fine, just hungry. For some reason though, I feel like I should eat fire. Do you have any?” Derrick asked slowly as he tried to work out why he was feeling like that at the same time.

“Not sure why but okay. If that’s what you want.” Levy answered with a raised eyebrow. Pullin some sort of pen out of her pocket, she wrote the word ‘FIRE**’ in the air. As she finished and put the pen away, the word lit up in a burst of flames.

Thanking her, Derrick concentrated and sucked in the air surrounding the word, making it go into his body. When he finished, he patted his belly and then realised what he had done and screamed. When he had finished, Levy looked at him with her hands covering her ears.

“You scream loudly.” She said calmly, taking her hands off her ears.

“You. You seem very calm for someone who had just witnessed fire eating.” Derrick said, just as calm.

“I could say the same to you.” Levy retorted and crossed her arms over her chest. “What’s with the arm?” She asked, pointing to the crystal.

Derrick touched it and followed it with his hand, finding it had spread across his chest and began going down his other shoulder however it did shrink slightly as his body absorbed the flames he ate. “It’s … a long story. I’ll tell you some other time.” He said softly as they both heard running footsteps at that moment. They turned to see Pinkie running in with Shining and Twilight on her heels.

“You three okay?” Derrick asked, noticing that Twilight’s hair was in a dishevelled state.

“We’re fine. The important thing is are you okay?” Twilight asked. “We heard you scream halfway across the library.” She added.

“I appear to be fine. I feel a bit better anyway.” Derrick said with a shrug.

“You definitely don’t look better! In fact, you look worse than when we left you!” Twilight said in protest as she fussed over him and the crystal slowly inching its way across his body.

“You!” Pinkie shouted and went to tackle Levy again. This time, Levy stepped to the side with another Hole spell appearing on the ground just as Pinkie touched it. She fell in and then looked up at her. “What is up with these holes? He has fire magic and you have hole-y magic.” Pinkie pointed to Derrick and then to Levy, not even realising she had made a pun.

“I don’t just have hole magic. I have other magic as well.” Levy said and demonstrated by thrusting her right arm out and shouting the word ‘STONE***’. The word materialised and plummeted like a rock on top of Pinkie’s head. The word cracked down the middle as a giant bump formed on top of her head.

“Ouch.” Pinkie said as she rubbed the bump, not noticing the word on either side of her in the hole. Levy stood there with an equal face of surprise and shock.

“You are something else.” Levy breathed.

“Twilight, I feel fine. I’m just not sure about this crystal, is all. While I’m here, do you need help with the fair?” Derrick asked as he patted his hand against his crystal one.

“I do but that’s not-” Twilight was interrupted by Pinkie. She looked in her direction and found in another hole however this one had a stoned word in it.

“Not important!? You need to help these people and free them from Sombra’s mind control!” Pinkie said as she jumped out of the hole. Looking back at where she just was, Pinkie proceeded to cover up the hole like she did with the other one. Wood.

“Where did you get the wood from? There’s only crystal around here from what I remember.” Derrick asked as he beheld the sight of Pinkie work overtime to cover the hole up in just a few seconds.

“I have my ways. Derrick wants to help doesn’t he? Let him help.” Pinkie continued on from where she had left off.

“But-” Twilight protested but was cut off by Shining.

“No buts, Twily. Pinkie is right. We need to think of the citizens of the Empire. I told you that Cadence and I were busy working on finding a cure for that crystal growth Derrick has.” Shining interjected and gave Twilight a stern look before she relented.

“Fine. Derrick and … what’s your name?” She asked, blinking at Levy.

“I’m Levy. Nice to make your acquaintance.” Levy said and shook Twilight’s hand.

“Pleasure to meet you as well. I want the both of you to head back out and try to fashion a crystal heart out of … well, crystal.” Twilight finished.

“We can do that.” Derrick and Levy said at the same time.

“Good. I’ll finish trying to learn the Crystal Anthem. I think Fluttershy is okay with bringing some crystal yues for the petting zoo and Rainbow Dash is fine with trying to keep the weather nice and sunny. Rarity is making costumes and-” Twilight was once again interrupted, but this time by Derrick, and was starting to get ticked off with it. “What?” She asked through gritted teeth.

“I ran into Rarity and she didn’t seem to like me using her materials for Pinkie’s costume. But she seemed to be doing fine on her own.” Derrick said and trailed off at the end as he saw Twilight’s left eye began to twitch. “I’ll … shut up for now.” Derrick added lamely.

 “Thank you. Pinkie is alright, actually, can you help me with the anthem? It will be better with two people rather than me on my own.” Twilight asked Pinkie, who nodded and skipped over to her side. “Applejack is helping set up the various stalls so after you’re finished with the heart, see if Applejack needs a hand with that.” Twilight finished and turned to the table where she was reading before this whole mess started. Pinkie sat down next to her, leaving the others to fend for themselves.

“Hey, um, Derrick. I have the guards helping out Applejack with the stalls so you can both focus on the making the crystal heart.” Shining said helpfully and walked away to look for a few books, seeing that Twilight couldn’t help him.

“Okay, Levy. You heard the Unicorn. Let’s see if we can make a crystal heart.” Derrick said and marched off to the entrance. Levy ran to catch up with him.

“Why do you have the Fairy Tail mark?” She asked.

“The mark?” He blinked and looked at his right bicep. There definitely was a red tattoo there but it was magnified because of the crystal. “Oh. I have this because this was meant to be a costume. I got transported here and I seem to be stuck with it.” Derrick quickly explained as they climbed the stairs.

“That would explain why I haven’t seen you around the guild before.” Levy said in response as they slowed to a walked when they got outside. Looking left and right for a bit, Derrick tried to find a suitable chunk of crystal to fashion while Levy tried to find a place to fashion said crystal. “Let’s actually try walking around.” Levy suggested and Derrick agreed, not being able to think of any better ideas.

“You mentioned a guild. You mean the Fairy Tail guild?” Derrick asked with excitement in his eyes. Levy nodded.

“Yeah, that’s the one. I’m actually here on a job to try and help out a suddenly appearing city with its library troubles. It called for a solo so I decided to come alone, much to the protest of my teammates. I’m part of a team called Shadow Gear and the team consists of me, Jet and Droy. I do most of the book-related jobs while they just cheer me on.” Levy said with a wave of her hand and finally finding a chunk of crystal that looked good enough to fashion for what they needed, she grabbed it and held it in both hands.

“We need to find someplace to fashion this properly. Wait. You seem to be taking this like it’s a stroll in the park. Didn’t what I just say about this being a costume confuse you at all?” Derrick asked in confusion. The blue-haired girl next to him merely shrugged.

“It’s nothing considering what Fairy Tail and Equestria go through on a daily basis. You just happen to be another weird thing to happen to this world.” Levy answered.

They both fell quiet after that and resorted to a somewhat companionable silence as they searched for some sort of forge or something. Eventually coming across one on the other side of the city, Derrick looked up to find the sun was slowly going below the horizon. He watched Levy place the crystal on the anvil, finally letting her arms rest from having to carry it for the fifth time after switching back and forth with Derrick.

“We need some heat so that it will be easy to chisel away at it.” Levy said and prepared to write in the air. Derrick held up a hand though to stop her and lit up his hand on fire.

“Allow me.” Derrick said and focusing on the flames, intensified the heat to practically melt the anvil underneath it. Cringing a bit, Levy began to slowly chisel away to form the heart as well as the stand it goes on. By the time Levy had finished, Derrick’s hand was shaking as the crystal was now halfway down his left arm, stopping just below the elbow with the crystal on his chest having been moved down to stop just before it reached his abdomen.

“Crystal Heart’s done.” Levy said and wiped sweat from her brow. She gave Derrick a smile before looking at the crystal. “Uuh, Derrick, the crystal has grown even more.” Levy stated, pointing at him.

“You think I don’t know that? I can definitely feel it on my body and now, I can barely even feel my right hand moving. It may not look like it had moved on the outside, but I definitely moved my hand on the inside of it.” Derrick said as he sighed sadly. “Anyway, let’s just- OOF!” Derrick was suddenly knocked backwards and into the ground by what looked like an iron pillar that was attached to the roof that definitely wasn't there before.
> Chapter 5 - Aliens and Magic Part 1: Iron Strike (EDITED)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Holding his head from the blow, Derrick sat up and rubbed the sore spot, nearly bumping into the iron pillar again. Feeling something smack into his head, Derrick cringed and felt something fall into his lap. He looked down and found it was a black and green cylinder with a button on top. Standing up with a raised eyebrow, he held it and heard a message sound in his head.

‘I am the changer of shape, seeking to understand the many forms of life. Call for the man of many shapes during your hour of need and I will come, a one man army. Activate the cylinder and in a flash, I’ll be ready to clash.’

“It rhymed. Here goes nothing.” Derrick said bluntly and pushed the button on top of the cylinder. There was a bright green flash and two figures appeared, one seemed to be a slightly older human male, locked in a sword fight with a strange insect like humanoid. Derrick looked at the fight and immediately made flames appear on his hand. 

“You’re fighting. Why are you fighting?” He asked, increasing the brightness of the flames a little bit.

The man held his hand up, his opponent pausing. “I suggest you put that flame out.” He turned to Derrick, looking him over. 

Derrick closed his fist, causing the flame to go out. “There. You didn’t answer my question though.” He said, placing his hand on his hip.

“Sparring, and now that I see we’ve been summoned, I do believe the match is over.” He flicked his sword, causing the sword to collapse in on itself. He stored it in his pocket, looking at the insect. “That sound good?”

“Yeah, that sounds great...” she, from the sound of her strange, echoey voice, said, stabbing her greatsword into the ground, panting a little.

“Sparring. That didn’t look like sparring to me. What are your names?” Derrick asked, scratching his head and ignoring the echoey quality of her voice for now.

“I’m Jason Hughes and this is my daughter Freya.”

“Hi.” Freya waved, still trying to catch her breath.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Derrick.” Derrick introduced himself and looked at the both of them. “I don’t mean any offense but Freya doesn’t look anything like you.”

“I’m a shapeshifter,” Jason said with a shrug, “So, any reason you called me out here?” he leaned on a wall, eyeing Derrick with a raised eyebrow.

“Shapeshifter. That would explain it then. I don’t think there was a reason.” Derrick answered but immediately ducked as another iron pillar was shot through the entrance, embedding itself in the wall behind him. “That may be a reason?”

“The hell was that?” Jason asked, looking at the pillar, then at the entrance.

Standing in front of the entrance was a man with iron-studded gloves and boots. He wore a black and grey cloak and off-white baggy pants. He had black hair with what looked like iron bolts embedded in his arm and face.

“That would be Gajeel. The Iron Dragon Slayer.” Derrick said as he got up from where he ducked and went to stand beside and Jason and Freya.

“Did I get pulled into another anime?” Jason asked with a sigh, facepalming, “I swear, I better not get punched into a planet again.”

“Again? What happened the first time?” Derrick asked in surprise.

“I had to fight Broley.” Jason answered simply.

“Geh hee.” The man at the entrance said with a wide, toothy smile. He said something else under his breath and transformed his arms into long, metal poles which he spun around in a circular motion. Derrick jumped on to the nearby table when he saw Gajeel begin to spin.

“How tough is this guy exactly?” Jason asked, not seeming the least bit impressed.

“He can bring down an entire guild and force them into hiding. A guild has about hundred or so people in them. He is ranked the strongest in his own guild.” Derrick answered. “There are basically four levels within the guild. C, B, A and S. S class is the strongest and Gajeel is an S class wizard.” Derrick explained further, noticing the look on their faces.

“Right, ok.” Jason nodded. “I don’t exactly know what’s your problem, wizard, but I suggest you reconsider it.”

“I don’t want to reconsider it. I’m doing this because my master said so and plus, it’s fun.” Gajeel answered and, muttering something else under his breath, puffed his cheeks out and let loose a silvery-grey roar that was full of miniscule bits of iron. Jason swept his arm out, erecting a wall of ice that easily stopped the attack. 

Derrick looked at Jason with raised eyebrows but not bothering with any questions, ran out from behind the ice wall. Filling his fist with fire, he ran up to Gajeel and punched him in the face. It didn’t have any effect though as Gajeel’s skin turned into iron at the moment of impact. He grinned and picking up Derrick, threw him at the ice wall. 

“I gotcha.” Freya’s horn glowed, wrapping Derrick up in her blood red magic. “Just let my dad handle it.” She set him back on his feet, now standing next to her. 

“Thanks, Freya.” Derrick thanked her and shook his hand, trying to get rid of the pain of nearly breaking his hand.

Gajeel got an angry look when Freya caught him with her magic. Walking towards the group, he stopped in front of the ice wall and tilting his head to the side for a bit, grinned and mumbling something, turned his hand into a spear. He thrusted the spear through the wall, making a hole in it.

“Having fun?” Jason asked, having suddenly appear behind Gajeel, “I don’t even know why you’re smiling. You can break ice, almost every living thing can do that.”

“I’m smiling because I am having fun. I live for this sort of thing.” Gajeel said, taking his arm out of the wall and whirling around to bash Jason with the spear head. Jason just stood there, not even flinching as the spear hit him, though a large portion of his shaggy hair was severed. “What? Iron Dragon’s Club!” Gajeel shouted, transforming his leg into a large, steel club and forcefully kicked Jason in the abdomen. Once more, Jason didn’t even flinch. 

“You are going to have to hit a fuck ton harder than that if you actually want to hurt me.” Jason commented, looking down at him.

“Are you kidding me?” Gajeel asked in disbelief, stopping his attack for a second to eat a bit of iron off the floor. After finishing the iron, he wiped his mouth and clapped his hands above his head, fusing them into a giant sword. He then brought it down on top of Jason’s head, intending to cleave him in two. The blade slammed into Jason head with a loud thunk. He winced ever so slightly, a trickle of blood running down his face.

“Alright, that stung.” Jason pushed the blade aside, cracking his neck.

“That only stung him?” Derrick asked in surprise.

“Dad’s descended from gods and giants, and that guy isn’t exactly Grandpa Gilg.” Freya shrugged, leaning on her sword. “In all honesty, the only reason that guy hasn’t been vaporized or turned into ground beef is because Dad likes to make a good first impression.”

Gajeel was equally surprised. “No way. No way you can survive my Iron God Sword.” He said, getting a slightly scared look on his face. He backed up a bit and made the rest of his body turn into iron scales.

“Alright, I’ll go easy on ya, Omnitrix, Rath.” Jason vanished in a green flash, replaced by a very angry looking tiger man. “Rath is gonna tear you a new one!” he roared, snorting in rage.

“I would like to see you try.” Gajeel said, not phased by the transformation. He got into a battle stance and waited. Rath let out a scream of rage, rush forward, throwing a punch at Gajeel’s stomach. Gajeel blocked it with both arms crossed, the force of the punch making him slide back a few feet. When he stopped, he rushed at Rath and went for a punch to the throat.

“Ha! That tickled!” Rath declared, grabbing Gajeel’s wrist, spinning around, and swinging him into a pillar before tossing him away. Gajeel landed halfway across the city, making a crater path into a few houses. Getting up almost immediately after, he jumped up high and made his way to Rath in leaps and bounds. Soon as he was on top of Rath, Gajeel shouted something and turned his legs into a giant drill. His legs then spun around at a rapid speed as he impacted into Rath. Rath brought his hands together, unleashing a shockwave, sending Gajeel flying backwards.

“Did that one tickle?” Gajeel asked as he flipped around, dragging his hand across the ground to stop himself.

“No, it was more like a bee sting!” Rath snarled, rushing forward. He leapt into the air, arms raised, falling towards Gajeel. In response, Gajeel leapt up into the air as well, transforming his arm into a giant sword and swung it towards Rath. “Omnitrix! NRG!” Rath shouted, turning into an armored form. The sword hit him in his armored head, letting out a loud dong but didn’t do any damage.

When the sword hit, Gajeel’s arm shook from the force of the blow. His arm went back to being covered in scales and when it did, he grabbed a hold of the armored head in both hands. “Metal! Thanks for the snack.” Gajeel thanked him and began munching on the armor, only to break several of his teeth.

“Good luck with that idiot,” Jason said, now sporting a Russian accent, “This armor can only be damaged by taydenite, the hardest substance in the universe.”

Gajeel howled in pain, only to replace his teeth with sharp bits of iron. “That’s better.” Gajeel said, his voice having a metallic edge to it now. Releasing the head, he then fell like a rock, making a miniature crater as he landed. “I may not be able to damage it, but I can sure as hell try.” Gajeel said with a smirk. Puffing out his cheeks again, he then blew iron wind towards the tinhead. It merely plinked off.

“You can’t pierce it moron.”

Gajeel’s response to this was to scream loudly and rush at Jason, giving him quick alternating kicks and punches.

“He transformed. Twice. How?” Derrick asked Freya, his mouth hanging open slightly.

“What do you mean how?” Freya asked, looking at him, raising her eyebrow.

“He went from being a human, to a wrestling cat and then to a Russian bucket. You can’t just switch forms like that!” Derrick answered, walking a bit away from her.

“Well he can, that's why he has the Omnitrix.” Freya followed him, hefting her sword over her shoulder. “And dad isn’t human, he’s Jotun.”

“Jotun. Like an Ice Giant thing from those Norse legends? That would explain the ice wall. And the Omnitrix explains the shifting forms. Now I get it.” Derrick went and sat on the nearby table, looking out at the fight.

“You done yet?” Jason asked Gajeel, crossing his arms, “You’re not getting anywhere.”

Gajeel quit the punching and kicks at the question, feeling slightly out of breath. “I’m not, but why don’t you try hitting me for a change?”

“You really don’t want me to do that.”

“And why not?” Gajeel asked, crossing his arms.

“Because I can vaporize you.” Jason answered simply. Gajeel’s face dropped at that.

“I’ve got iron scales made from my own body. It increases my strength and can increase my durability as well. I’m sure I can survive any blast you throw at me.” Gajeel said seriously.’

Jason tapped the device on his chest, returning to his normal form. “Kaio Ken x200!” he shouted, becoming engulfed in a furious red aura. He assumed a stance, pulling his hands back. “Ka...me...”

“Hey uh...where are we exactly?” Freya asked, taking a step back.

“We’re in the Crystal Empire. A shield is around the city, trying to keep Sombra out. I think, no, I know the shield will collapse when he unleashes that.” Derrick said with wide eyes, immediately scooting back on the table.

“Seriously man, just give up.” Freya cast a few quick spells on herself and Derrick, still backing away.

“Gajeel, she’s right!” Derrick shouted at him, falling off the table and hiding behind it.

Gajeel merely growled at the both of them but after seeing the terrified look in their faces, he realised that maybe he shouldn’t antagonise the guy any longer.

“Ha...Me...” Jason pulled his hands back further, a large sphere of energy forming in his hands.

Taking a breath, Gajeel steeled himself and braced for impact. “I can definitely take this blast.” He growled to himself.

“Ha!” Jason vanished from view. A moment later, a loud explosion filled the air, and a massive blast of energy shot up into the sky. When Gajeel heard the blast, he opened his eyes and looked around. Seeing no-one was there, he then laughed.

“Hahaha! That’s right! Run like a coward!” Gajeel said triumphantly.

“Boo.” Jason had appeared behind him, still rocking the aura. Gajeel jumped a mile high at this, almost scared out of his wits. When he landed, he looked at Jason with wide eyes.

“Don’t do that!” Gajeel growled.

“Are we done here?” Jason asked, crossing his arms, raising his eyebrow.

“With what you just did, yeah, we’re done.” Gajeel said in a sigh, disappointed at not being able to defeat him. His skin turned back to normal and he sat in slump. “I know when I’m beat.”

“That was something.” Derrick commented.

“What were you even trying to do anyway?” Jason asked, dropping the aura, though he was panting rather heavily now.

“Master told me to help out someone here. She must have run off after I knocked a pillar into him.” Gajeel answered, pointing to Derrick. “Considering what he did to that anvil in the back of the shop there, he seemed like a good opponent to fight anyway.” He tried to explain, and moved his finger from Derrick to the partially melted anvil.

“And who is your master?” Freya asked, placing her hand on her hip.

“Master Makarov. He is the master of the Fairy Tail guild.” Gajeel answered with a shrug, stretching his arms into the air to get the kinks out of them.

“Are we cool now?” Jason asked Derrick, raising his eyebrow, “Because I’d rather go help them with Sombra than deal with this idiot.”

“We’re cool. I was meant to get the crystal heart back to Twilight when I was attacked by him.” Derrick answered, moving over to the crystalline statue. “I can’t exactly carry it by myself though.” He said with a sheepish grin, showing the crystal covering his arm.

“How did that happen?” Freya asked, reaching out, rapping his knuckles against said crystal.

“When the shield came down, a bit of something from a smoke monster got cut off and landed on the ground. I went to see what it was and when I picked it up, this started happening. No idea how to stop it, or even slow it down. Princess Cadence and Shining Armor are helping me in figuring out how to though.” Derrick explained, not feeling anything when she rapped against his arm. “It’s spread to just above my stomach and just below my elbow on my other arm.” He added, showing where the crystal was.

“Esuna.” Jason held his hand out, casting a spell on Derrick. Derrick only raised an eyebrow as he felt nothing happen. Looking down at his body, the only thing that seemed to happen to the crystal was make it shrink slightly.

“Didn’t work. What was that meant to do?” Derrick asked in confusion.

“It’s supposed to remove harmful effects.” Jason grumbled, looking at it. “I really hate Sombra’s crystal magic...”

“I don’t even know why it reacted the way it did. Maybe it’s because I’m a Dragon Slayer now? Whatever the case may be, we still need to take this to Twilight and her friends.” Derrick wondered and gestured to the crystal on the melted anvil.

Jason rolled his eyes, scooping up the heart. “Where are they?” he asked, gesturing for everyone to get close to him.

“Her friends are all over the place so the safest bet would be at the castle.” Derrick said as he moved closer, thinking back to when Twilight had directed everyone to go to different places.

“I need the location of a specific person.” Jason insisted. 

“Oh. Well why didn’t you say so? Twilight is down on the first floor of the library with Pinkie.” Derrick said with confidence.

“Thank you.” Jason rolled his eyes. He placed a hand on Derrick and Freya’s shoulders before teleporting them to the library, appearing next to Twilight.

“Ah!” Twilight gasped at their sudden appearance.

“I think I’m going to be sick.” Derrick muttered, turning slightly green.

“Oh suck it up ya wuss.” Freya shook her head, looking at Twilight. “Hi Aunt Twi.”

“Yeah, yeah. In a minute.” Derrick said softly, waving his hand and moving a bit away from them.
> Chapter 6 - Aliens and Magic Part 2: Time Reversal
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hi … Why did you call me that?” Twilight asked, looking at the three of them with wide eyes.

“The crystal heart!” Pinkie said excitedly, having walked out from one the library shelves while reading a book. She had looked up and found the group with the heart in one of their hands.

“That's because in our world, you;re her aunt,” Jason explained, tossing the heart to Twilight, “Though, I very rarely ever come across unicorn Twilight...”

“In your world? I am a Unicorn though. See the horn?” Twilight said, pointing to the horn on her forehead after catching the heart in her magic.

“Yeah well, for the past fifteen years you’ve also had wings,” he sat down, running a hand through his hair, “So, it’s really weird seeing you as just a unicorn...on top of being anthro.”

“Wings? That’s not possible. Everyone knows that there are only three Alicorns in existence. Cadence, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.” Twilight counted off on her fingers.

“What’s this anthro business?” Derrick asked, putting a hand up after having recovered from the teleportation. “Also, is your world where you came from when you walked out of that light?”

“Well actually it is possible Twilight,” Jason argued, “I came to my Equestria three years after this point and I’m been there since, so about...eighteen years give or take.”

“No, it’s not! I wouldn’t even know if getting permanent wings through magic would even work.” Twilight argued back. “I’m not sure how it works in your Equestria but it’s just not possible here.” She added, crossing her arms.

“Well, considering that 90% of all Twilight’s get wings...I mean hell, my alicorn form is based off of you.”

“Only 90%? If it was 99% I’d be more inclined to believe you. And if this Alicorn form is based off of me, then let me see it.” Twilight said with a skeptic look.

“Omnitrix, Star Dust,” Jason commanded, shifting into a four-legged alicorn. His coat was a deep green while his mane and tail were black with green stripes. “Ta-da!”

Both Twilight and Pinkie gasped at the form. “There is no way that is me. That’s not even the right colour …” Twilight said with a bit of a laugh but it was clear that she was swayed a fair bit by Jason’s transformation.

“The Omnitrix took a sample of your DNA and randomized it,” Jason explained, “So in a way, I’m related to you through this form.”

“That would explain why it’s a different colour, but I’m still standing by the fact that it’s not me because clearly, I’m not a pony.” Twilight gestured to her body and raised her eyebrows

“Does the concept of the multiverse mean nothing to you?” Jason asked, getting annoyed. 

“Of course it does. I’ve written several theories on the matter but that’s all they are. Theories. I didn’t think they were possible at all.” Twilight sounded a little hurt.

Welp, it’s not a theory, it’s all real.” Jason shifted back, crossing his arms. Twilight leaned back in her seat and chewed on her bottom lip for a bit, thinking about the possibility.

“If it’s all real, then that would mean that there are multiple Equestrias but they would all be different in their own way. You’re from one of them?” Twilight said slowly, looking at Jason.

“Bingo, but ours is even more different, considering Faust created Equestria out of what was left of Asgard.”

“Your Equestria is Asgard? So does that mean the Norse gods and goddesses exist there as well?” Derrick asked him with wide eyes.

“They did but Ragnarok was millions of years ago, only ‘god’ left is Hel, my grandmother,” Jason explained,  “And I’m one of the last jotun remaining.”

“That’s gotta suck. You doing anything about your species going extinct?”

“I have kids,” Jason gestured to Freya, who waved, “And this.” He held up the device on his right arm. 

Twilight looked over to Freya and waved back hesitantly. “She doesn’t really look like you, to be honest. And I don’t think that device on your wrist can give you kids.” Twilight pointed to his wrist.

He sighed, pinching his nose. “One, I’m a shapeshifter, secondly, this thing houses the DNA of over a million species and be used to bring any of those species back from extinction.”

“What, really? How does it work then?” Twilight asked, her eyes lighting up at that.

“I have no idea, I’ve never used it like that before.” He shrugged. “Unless you mean taking samples.”

“It can take samples too?” Twilight asked excitedly.

“Freya, do you know what that thing I used to summon you was?” Derrick asked her, scratching the back of his head.

“That's my dad’s token.” She turned to look at him. “It’s a unitrix, a prototype of the Omnitrix, that thing on my dad’s wrist.”

“A token. This can be used to summon him at any time?” Derrick idly rubbed his arm as he looked at Jason as well.

“Yeah, but you have to remember, he has a life of his own ya know,” she reminded, “Geez, I wish I brought a change of clothes, this armor is squeezing my chitin way too much.”

“I know, I know, just wondering theoretically. You couldn’t get some armor that was a bit more loose?” Derrick asked as he leaned back against the wall.

“No duh,” she retorted, rolling her eyes.

“No Twilight it can’t sample you,” Jason informed the excited unicorn, taking a seat at her table.

“Aww. Why not?” Twilight asked, her face falling at that. “Is it because it already has the DNA from the Twilight in your Equestria?”

“No, it’s because I already have the scan of an anthro unicorn, another Equestria’s version of Starswirl, now if you find me a species not in the Omnitrix, I’ll show you how it scans.”

“Is the DNA of a Dragon Slayer in there?  I look human, I know, but my body can handle fire. I can actually eat fire and not get burned.” Derrick asked, explaining the ways he wasn’t human.

“That doesn’t mean you’re not human,” Jason said, rolling his eyes, “We’re way off topic, remember, Sombra trying to get in?”

“Right. The rest of my friends had checked in and said that they were all finished. Pinkie and I have learned the anthem with the heart, we’re good to go for the fair. We just have to report back to Cadence.”

“Good ole’ Caddy,” Jason smiled, “Tell her to let him in.”

“Why? From what I hear, apparently he’s bad news.” Derrick questioned.

“I said, let him in, I’ll handle it in a way that doesn’t end with him getting executed by the heart.”

“If you’re sure about that then follow me.” Twilight said, getting up and walking towards the entrance. He nodded, getting up, following after her.

Derrick leaned away from the wall and followed them, wincing a bit as he felt the crystal grow slightly.

“You ok there?” Freya asked, walking up behind him, sword over her shoulder.

“I’m fine.” Derrick asked as his hand involuntarily clenched against the pain. “Let’s just get to the castle. Word of advice though, don’t antagonise Gruff Voice. He’s one of Cadence’s guards and will bop you over the head if you do.” Derrick advised her. “Is that sword not heavy to you or something?” He asked, looking at the sword on her shoulder.

“Please,” she said with a giggle, which sounded odd with her echoey voice, “I can lift up to a ton easily.”

“Only a ton? Then how heavy is that sword?” He asked with a pained smile.

“Eh, twenty pounds.” She shrugged nonchalantly.

“That all? Thought it would have been heavier.” Derrick said with a small hand wave as they started to climb up the stairs. “So what’s this token thing you mentioned? I know it’s what I used to summon your dad here but do you know if there is more to it than that?”

“Not really. Most Displaced have a token but some don’t make them as they just want to be left alone.” She explained. “So, how long have you been here?”

“Twelve hours. From what I can tell with the sun and all.” Derrick shrugged. “So Displaced is … what?”

“If you want the whole story talk to my dad, he’s the actual Displaced in the family.” She shrugged. “I’m just glad I’m not one.”

“I’ll be sure to do that then. Soon as he’s finished with Sombra.” Derrick said, nudging open the front door with his shoulder.

“The castle is this way. See? Straight down here.” Twilight said, leading the group towards the crystal castle in the distance.

“Twilight, I had my wedding here, I know where I’m going.” Jason rolled his eyes. “Thank you though.”

“Oh. Sorry.” Twilight apologised. “Forgot you were from a future version of Equestria? That right?” She asked, tilting her head slightly.

“Yup.” He nodded, looking up at the castle. “Still pretty though.”

“Mhm. What are you going to do to stop Sombra?” Pinkie asked as she clasped her hands behind her back.

“You’ll see, it’s a surprise.” He smirked. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”

“Aww. You know I don’t like surprises unless I’m the one giving the surprise!” Pinkie said as her face drooped a bit.

“Too bad.” 

Pinkie simply poked her tongue out at him in protest.

“I really hope Gruff doesn’t bop me over the head for going missing for the whole day.” Derrick grumbled as he glared at the castle, or rather, one of the guards standing on the balcony.

“You’ll be fine,” Jason said, giving a dismissive hand wave. He put a hand on Twilight’s shoulder. “The rest of you put your hand on my back.”

Pinkie immediately placed a hand on top of Jason’s head with a massive smile. Derrick though, managed to grab the back of Jason’s top as he couldn’t move his arm up and down anymore. Freya placed her hand on his shoulder. A moment later, they were on the balcony, startling the guards. One of the guards immediately whacked Derrick on the head, not phased in the slightest by their sudden appearance.

“Ow.” Derrick muttered. “Jason and Freya, this is Gruff Voice.” Derrick introduced them as he endured the throbbing on his head. “Gruff Voice, this is Jason and Freya.”

“Hello.” The guard said gruffly.

“Sup?” Jason asked. “Where’s Caddy and Shiny? Throne room I take it?”

Gruff’s eye twitched as Jason gave nicknames. “Yes, they are. Do you need me to escort you?”

“You shouldn’t have called Cadence and Shining Armor nicknames. Gruff takes his position as a member of the guard very seriously and holds them in the highest esteem possible.” Another guard, this one a female, said with a smile. 

“Yeah? I’m a prince of Equestria too, fucks your point?” he asked, moving past Gruff, heading toward the throne room.

“You may as well hear this as well as this is news to me too.” Derrick said and beckoned the two guards that spoke to follow them. Twilight and Pinkie followed Jason, unsure of what else to do.

“So new plan” Jason announced as he entered the throne room, “Caddy, let Sombra in.”

Cadence looked up at him with sullen eyes. “Why would I do that? I’m doing everything I can to not let him in.” She said as she saw the people walk in behind him.

“Because I can stop him without killing him.”

“How will you do that?” She asked. “I’m not going to let down the shield unless you give me a really good reason to do so.”

Jason sighed, holding his hand up, casting a spell, putting Cadence to sleep. “Relax, it’s just a sleep spell, she needed it anyways.” Jason cracked his neck, moving over to a window.

Cadence’s head slumped forward as she quietly slept and the magic of her horn faded out. As it did, the blue shield surrounding the city started to lift up and then quickly moved back until it winked out of existence. At the far side of the city, Sombra smoked his way into the city, invading every home and crystal wall along the way towards the castle.

“That's my cue.” Jason jumped out the window, landing hard on the ground, cracking it. “Hey! Smoke monster man!” Jason shouted, getting Sombra’s attention. “Omnitrix, Clockwork.” He shifted again, this time into a tall, metallic creature with a wind up key on top of its head and a green porthole in its chest.

“Yess?” Sombra’s voice sounded smokey as he hissed when he rose sideways out of the wall, looking at the metal man quizzically. “You don’t have crysstal.” He hissed again.

“Oh I do, but you’ve got to come down here first.” Jason waved, suddenly taking on a Swedish accent. Sliding back into the wall, Sombra’s shadow moved from wall to wall, leaving every wall he touched the colour of midnight as he headed closer to Clockwork.

Clockwork reached up, turning the key in his head. “Psyche!” He shouted, unleashing a green blast from his chest once Sombra got to ground level. Once the blast faded, Sombra was gone, replaced by a small foal, sitting in a pile of Sombra’s clothes. “Tada!” Clockwork called triumphantly, placing his hands on his hips, striking a pose.

“His big plan was to turn Sombra into a baby?” Twilight asked in disbelief. Derrick looked out at the blackened walls and he saw them return to their normal colour.

“Well that’s anti-climactic.” Pinkie said with a frown.

“What? Did you expect him to use a Spirit Bomb or something?” Freya asked, raising her eyebrow. Both Pinkie and Twilight looked over to Freya, noticing what she actually looked like.

“You … are a changeling.” Pinkie said dumbly.

“You going to invade us like you did with Canterlot?” Twilight asked, narrowing her eyes at her cautiously. 

“First off, that's extremely racist, secondly, fuck you.” Freya glared, bearing her fangs a little.

Both of them moved back a bit when she bared her fangs. “I just assumed you were one of the changelings that invaded Canterlot.” Twilight said simply, shaking her head a bit.

“It’s hard to judge a single individual when it’s a lot simpler to judge a race and therefore create stereotypes.” Pinkie said with a straight face.

“Jason is my father, logically I’m not from this universe,” Freya said, giving them both a flat stare.

“That part may have slipped our minds.” Twilight said, idly scratching at the side of her lip.

“I’m completely lost.” Derrick said with a slack jaw.

“It doesn’t matter,” Freya said, sighing a little, “I forget other universes aren’t as well off as my own.”

“What are we going to do about that baby down there?” Gruff asked, pointing with his spear towards baby Sombra.

“Not point weapons at harmless infants,” Freya chastised, pushing his spear away.

“Sorry. Won’t happen again.” Gruff sighed, standing a little loosely at attention.

“What’s that face for?” The female guard asked Derrick, whose face was one of surprise.

“Gruff doesn't have the emotional range of a teaspoon.” Derrick said in awe and wonderment.

“I suppose you could have Caddy and Shiny take him,” Jason reappeared in the room, holding Sombra, who was swaddled in his cape, not looking very happy, though now his horn was that of a normal unicorns and his eyes were no longer green and purple.

“Aww … he’s so cute!” Pinkie cooed. “It’s hard to believe he was invading mere moments ago.” She added as she leaned down to look at Sombra better.

“We’ll certainly take care of him. What I want to know is why my wife is asleep.” Shining demanded as he ran into the room, panting slightly. “When I saw the shield go down, I ran over here as fast as I could but it doesn’t look like there’s any danger here.”

“Oh, I just put a sleep spell on her.” Jason shrugged, rocking Sombra a little. “I think his mind might still be there, but I’m not entirely sure.”

“As long as it wasn’t an eternal sleep spell then that’s fine. What do you mean his mind might still be there.” Shining asked, folding his arms across his chest.

“Never actually did that before,” he said with a shrug, “I honestly have no idea.”

“For your sake, I hope it is.” Shining warned. He sighed, exhaled and tried to calm himself. 

“Yeah, like you couldn’t just use a mind wipe spell, though, that might not be exactly ethical...” Jason mused, stroking his beard.

“Maybe not. Can I hold him then?” Shining asked, a lot calmer than how he felt before.

“Sure,” Jason said, passing the tiny foal off to Shining. He took the foal carefully, and gently rocked him when he made it into his arms.

“Jason, Freya mentioned something called a Displaced and that you were one of them. Can you explain what they are?” Derrick asked, tapping his hand against his leg.

“You bought something related to the character you became from some weirdo and than bam, you landed in Equestria.” Jason didn’t  even bother to look back at Derrick.

“No .. I didn’t do that. I fell into a fire wearing this costume, saved by a woman and that woman sent me here.” Derrick said, moving a bit closer.

“Well that's different...” Jason mumbled, looking back at him, “Same thing applies though.”

“Okay, and what about the thing that summoned you here? What’s that about?”

“Each Displaced makes a token and sends it out into the multiverse, to come to the aid of those that call upon them.”

“If that’s what it does then I want to help. How would I go about getting one of these tokens?”

“Just take an item that represents you, focus on it, put a message in it and toss it into the void.”

“I’m not even going to ask about the void as that sounds a whole nother can of worms.” Derrick said. Looking around a bit, he then looked at himself and saw his scarf. “Will my scarf do? I just don’t want to lose it, is all.”

Jason just shrugged. “You can use literally anything.”

Thinking for a bit, Derrick finally decided on using his scarf. “I’ll use my scarf. Do I have to say a message as well?” Derrick wondered. The female guard managed to get the scarf off his neck and placed it into his hand. “Thanks, now for the message.” He said and tried to think of a good one. “I think I have it.” Holding his scarf tightly, Derrick thought really hard about the message and said it out loud. “I am fire, I am light. If you need a way to light the darkness that surrounds you or just to have someone to talk to, I will be there. Wear this scarf and in a burst of flames, I will come running.” He finished, proud of his message. “What happens now?” 

“Omnitrix, Hodgepodge,” Jason commanded, shifting into a strange mishmashed creature. 

“Ah!” he exclaimed, stretching his limbs out, having the voice of Christopher Walken, “I was hoping he’d let me out again.”

“AAAAH! IT’S DISCORD!” The various coloured horse people screamed at the sight of him. “How did he get out?” Twilight wondered a little more logically than the rest of her friends.

“Who’s that?” Derrick asked.

“No, I’m Hodgepodge, totally different person,” he spoke again, coiling around Twilight, “Besides, I’m a lot better than him.”

“How are you better than him?” Twilight asked as she crossed her arms over her chest. The other people in the room slowly calmed down as they realised he wasn’t harming any of them.

“Well, I haz teh internetz to troll you better with, Hodge responded, “Besides, he mellowed out after he and Fluttershy hooked up.”

“Oh no. Not the internet. Did you break him much?” Derrick asked as he closed his eyes and groaned.

“That’s good to know? Not sure how that Fluttershy thing works out but hopefully they’re both happy.” Twilight said.

“Well, then they hooked up with Nightmare Moon, you got with Flash Sentry, Dash hooked up with Gilda, Applejack is still single, Pinkie got with Cheese, Rarity got with Jason, and now they all have kids!” Hodge smiled, “As you can see with dear Freya over there.”

“Alternate Equestria, keep that in mind. I have no idea who Flash Sentry or Cheese are but I’m sure they’re all happy. What happens with Derrick’s scarf now?”

“I’ll take that.” Hodge was suddenly behind Derrick, stealing the scarf from him. He punched the air, breaking reality like glass, revealing a black emptiness behind it. “Anyone got a rock?”

“Ooh! I do!” Pinkie cried out. She suddenly moved behind the throne and plucked out a rock from an invisible crevice. “There are rocks everywhere if you know where to find them.” Pinkie said simply and tossed the rock to Hodgepodge.

“Thanks!” He tied the scarf around the rock, tossing it through the hole, which suddenly wasn’t there anymore. “Welp! That's taken care of!”

“That was surprisingly simple.” Derrick said with a small smile. “What happens now?”

“Well, the authors want Jason to stick around and train you, or we could toss the script out of the window. Personally? I just want to troll everyone.” He snapped his fingers, switching everyone’s gender, except for himself. “Rule 63 bitches!”
> Chapter 7 - Aliens and Magic Part 3: Rule 63
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Why?” Derrick whined only for his voice to sound a lot higher. The girls in the room looked down their shirts only to find that nothing was there.

“You broke the fourth wall didn’t you?” Pinkie asked, her voice sounding a lot deeper than usual.

“This definitely feels weird.” Twilight and Shining said at the same time, only to look at each other and find similar expressions. A girly scream sounded out and they all looked towards Gruff which is where it seemed to originate from.

“I did it for the lulz!” Hodgepodge shouted, throwing his hands into the air, laughing maniacally, thunder crashing in the sky behind him.

“Well this is new,” Freya commented, flexing the scorpion tail that she had acquired.

“Oh dear, forgot about that,” Hodge stopped mid-evil laugh, frowning at the changeling before restoring her original gender. “There, that's better.”

“Not sure how you did this to me but take a look at the crystal on my body. If you look through it, you can see that I look like I still have a male body even though I clearly sound different.” Derrick said with a huff.

“Right. The crystal. I still have no idea how to counteract that. Sorry.” Shining apologised.

“Hmm...”Hodge pulled out a stick, pushing it into the crystal, pulling away a section before taking a bit. “Mmmm...tastes like black berry...”

“It … wha? What was that for?” Derrick asked, wishing he could lift his arms in disbelief. “I thought it would have tasted like licorice but black berry sounds nice.”

“Want some?” he asked, holding the stick out.

“I would but I can’t actually raise my arms unfortunately.” Derrick answered. “It’ll be interesting to see if I could actually eat the crystal.”

“Shall I get rid of it for you?” he asked, floating around him, munching on his crystal. He snapped his fingers, the crystal vanishing off Derrick, reappearing in his hand as a giant piece of rock candy.

Flexing his arms at finally being able to move them again, he looked down and instantly closed his vest. “That’s definitely different. Is that candy the crystal that was covering me?” He asked, feeling the gender swap changes taking effect now.

“Yup, that's it alright, eat up!”

Holding his vest closed with one hand, Derrick took the crystal from Hodgepodge and bringing it to his mouth, he bit into it, fully expecting his teeth to break. When they didn’t, he was pleasantly surprised and ended up eating all of the crystal candy.

“That was not too bad actually.” Derrick said with a smile after he swallowed. Feeling a surge of energy, he opened his palm and found a crystal floating there. “That wasn’t there before.” He said curiously. Suddenly, Derrick found himself going through the Mega Man power up scene. A blinding white light enveloped him and when it was over, he found himself surrounded by floating black crystals. When he touched them, they melted into his body, one by one. “I don’t know what that was about but I think I can make crystals now.”

“Sweet.” Hodge said, smiling down at him.

Derrick smiled back and he scratched his head, unwittingly letting go of his vest which fell open to reveal had nothing on underneath. “Are we still gender bent?”

“Yes you are, nice rack.” Freya smirked, taking a nice long look.

Derrick looked down at himself at that and blushed immensely, hastily closing his vest. “The one time I wished I had something on underneath.” He grumbled.

“Aw, come on,” Freya whined, crossing her arms.

“You actually like it?” He asked with a raised eyebrow, hesitantly letting go of his vest again.

“Why wouldn’t I? Those things are at least a C-cup.”

“She gets the sex mania from Loki,” Hodge explained, looking over Twilight’s shoulder, “That guy would sleep with anything.”

“I have no words for this.” She said simply and saw out of the corner of her eye, that her brother, Cadence and the two guards left them alone. “Maybe you should at least change them back before they leave the room.” She said, pointing to the leaving group.

“Oh fine.” He snapped his fingers, restoring the retreating group. “Happy now?”

“Yes. Very much so. At least the royalty won’t get laughed at.” She said, giving Hodgepodge a smile.

“You put too much stock in royalty you know,” Hodge booped her nose, “I mean really, it’s a bit sad.”

“That may be so but they help keep the place running.” Pinkie supplied, stretching her arms above her head.

Derrick poked his chest to see if they were real and feeling a bit of pain as he did, confirmed that they were real. “These are real. You think they’re at least a C-cup?”

“Hell yeah I do!” Freya smirked, reaching out and poking one of them.

“Take it somewhere else you two!” Hodgepodge shouted at them. “I will not allow you to defile this room with rule 34!”

“Okay fine. We’ll take it somewhere else then.” Derrick said and poked his tongue out at Hodge. “Do you want to take it somewhere else?” He asked Freya.

“Let’s.” Freya smiled, licking her lips.

“Isn’t she like 15?” Twilight asked, her eyebrow raised.

“Changelings have different social norms, she’s of age by their standards.” Hodge shrugged a little, “Oh Derrick, Jason told me if you hurt her, he’ll erase you from existence.”

Derrick gulped at that. “I don’t doubt it.” he said and taking Freya’s hand, walked out the throne room. “There should be a spare room around here somewhere.” he muttered.

“Twilight, I remembered I have to prepare food for the fair so I’ll go and do that now.” Pinkie said and excusing herself, she completely ignored that she was genderbent and just took it in her stride.

“So...what do you gentlemen want to do hmm?” Hodge asked, looking at the gathered stallions. “We could play some D&D, maybe some Magic: The Gathering, FNAF, Uno.”

Hearing the mention of games, Pinkie turned around and walked back. “On second thought, the food can wait. What do you want to play Twilight?” She asked her friend, sitting down on the floor.

“What’s FNAF?” She asked, raising an eyebrow and sitting down as well.

“Five Nights At Freddy’s.” Hodgepodge said simply.



WORD OF WARNING: THIS IS JUST A SHORT CLOP SCENE AND IMPACTS THE STORY A LITTLE BIT. YOU CAN SKIP THIS BIT IF YOU WANT TO AND NOT INTO THIS SORT OF THING

Finally finding a free room, Derrick opened the door. “This should be as good a room as any.” He said and walked in, leading Freya inside. 

“Seems nice enough,” she agreed, placing her sword by the door, rubbing her shoulder a little.

Derrick closed the door, being sure to lock it as well. “I did not think these doors have locks on them.” He then looked over to Freya and rubbed his arms.

“You’d be surprised,” she leaned down, taking her greaves off, letting them fall to the floor. She moved up, taking her armor off, exposing her natural, shiny back armor underneath.

“This is how you usually look?” He asked in pleasant surprise.

“No duh.” Freya rolled her eyes. “I am a changeling...well half changeling anyway.” She went to work on getting her breastplate off, sighing in relief as she pried it off.

“Never seen a changeling before.” Derrick said with a shrug and crouched, taking his shoes off. Getting up, he untied the bottom of his baggy pants and stretched. When he was done, he took his vest off, seeing no point in having it on anymore. Freya smirked, letting out a whistle.

“What?” Derrick asked with a smirk, blushing profusely at the same time. He grabbed his breasts and bounced them up and down in his hands. “You like this?”

“Hell yeah I do,” she licked her lips, showing off her fangs. In response, Derrick grinned and found himself moving forward towards her. “Ever done this before?” she asked, wrapping her arms around his waist.

“Does ‘no’ count as an answer?” He asked back, wrapping his arms around her waist as well.

“It does,” she leaned close, nipping at his neck. “Is it alright if I feed?”

“Go ahead.” Derrick answered as he felt a bit of pleasure from where she nipped.

“Thanks,” she smiled, her horn lighting up a deep red, sucking in the lust, “Mmm...that's good...”

Derrick slowly reached up and carefully fondled with Freya’s breasts, unsure of what else to do with his hands.

She let out a long moan, giving his ass a squeeze. “No need to be gentle.”

He gave a soft moan at the squeeze and began to fondle her breasts more roughly than before, listening to what she said. Letting go suddenly, he untied his belt and shimmied his pants down to his feet, stepping out of them. 

“Ooh, even nicer~” Freya smirked, giving a toothy grin.

He looked down and blushed at what he saw. “You like this too?” He asked, posing a little bit.

“Yup.” she reached down, giving it a rub. Derrick’s body grew all tense and he let out a shuddering moan at the touch. In response, he managed to bring his arms up to her head and brought Freya’s head in for a kiss. She closed her eyes, locking her lips with his. He closed his eyes and taking his hands off her head, he moved them down to her waist and let them rest there. “Well...” she pulled away panting. “This is getting heavy...”

“How … so?” He asked, panting from the kiss.

“The lust coming off you...it’s so intense...”

“That must be good … for you then.” He said and moved their bodies to the bed.

“It’s good for both of us...” she kissed him, falling back on the bed, pulling him down on top of her. He kissed back and he felt his breasts squish against hers, moaning at the touch. She leaned up, nibbling at his ear. “I’m going to make you never want to be male again...” she muttered into his ear, biting at the lobe.

“How you going to do that?” He breathed, small pleasurable shudders going through his body wherever she touched him.

“By rocking your world,” she said, a large predatory grin spreading across her face.

CLOP ENDS HERE, MORE STORY BELOW



“Oh come on, this game isn’t even that scary!” Hodgepodge called, looking away from the computer screen, “Ponies, what a bunch of cowards.”

Holding each other for comfort, both Pinkie and Twilight were shaking in fear. “This is not a game. How can this even be classified as one!?” 

“It’s a HORROR game. By Yggdrasil you ponies are pansies. I bet the original Dracula movie from the 30’s would give you nightmares for a month.” He grumbled, crossing his arms.

“I’ve seen that and it was only a tiny bit scary. This, however, is pure nightmare fuel.” Pinkie protested as she stared at the screen while Twilight clicked around with the mouse. The doors on the screen opened and closed. When Freddy’s laugh sounded, they both trembled.

“Remind me to never let either of you play Silent Hill.”

“Duly noted.” Twilight said absently before she screamed in fright at the sudden scare of Bonnie.

“Seriously! This isn’t that scary!!” Hodge protested. “Stop being Pewdiepie!!”

“Alright Mr. I’m Not Scared. Why don’t you try playing it?” Pinkie asked and handed the mouse over to him.

“Kay.” he took the mouse from her, starting to play, looking rather bored. “Well, this got dull. You two wanna see baby pictures of the other you’s kids?”

“How many times have you actually played this?” Twilight asked as she jumped a bit at Freddy’s jumpscare.

“Twilight, I spend 99.9% of my time in Jason’s head. You know what I do in there? I watch the void. Terrible, ugly, unfathomable things lurk in the void. Things that, if you even caught a glimpse of their toe nail, you’d be reduced to a jibbering mad man. This? This is nothing.”

“I’ll just shut up then.” Twilight said with a frown. “I’ll exit out of this.” She said and exited out of the game.

“What do the kids look like?” Pinkie asked, bouncing up and down as she recovered from being terrified.

“I’m glad you asked!” he produced a flash drive, plugging it into the computer. “Whose do you want to see first?”

“Let’s go with Fluttershy.” She suggested.

“Alright.” he opened up the picture folder, pulling up a picture. “This prime example of chaos is Eris, daughter of Flutterbat and Discord.” On the screen was a very strange creature, longer than a pony but shorter than Discord. She had two symmetrical horns, the forearms of a racoon, the body and head of a pony and a dragon tail. Her coat was a light pink and her mane was a butterscotch yellow. Her ears were tufted and she had a slight hint of vampire fangs.

“Eris. Nice name. Her coat is Fluttershy’s inverted colours.” Twilight said as she propped her chin on her knee.

“No kidding. I didn’t think racoon was part of whatever makes up Discord.” Pinkie commented.

“We can actually use whatever animals we want.” Hodge corrected. “Who next?”

“What about the other me?” Twilight asked, biting one of her nails.

“Why are you biting your nails?” he asked, raising his eyebrow.

“Hm?” Twilight asked, getting her finger out of her mouth. “No idea. It’s a habit I’ve had since I was little.” She explained, putting her leg down and resumed sitting cross legged. “I would either bite them while I was reading a book, concentrating too hard or just plain bored.” She explained further.

“Well anyway, here is your son, Dusk Star.” He switched to another picture, this one of a male, alicorn pony, with a deep purple coat, his mane and tail blue with purple stripes.

“He’s gorgeous.” Twilight said with a soft smile.

“It’s strange seeing an Alicorn with four legs instead of two.” Pinkie commented, brushing part of her poofy mane.

“And it’s weird seeing ponies on two legs instead of one.” Hodge countered.

“Huh? Where did you see a one-legged pony? Was it here?” Pinkie asked, immediately excited.

“That was a typo Pinkie.”

“Aww. I hate it when the authors do that.” Pinkie said with a frown and her mane deflated slightly.

“.... Anyway, are there other kids we have or is it just the one for each pair?” Twilight asked, steering the conversation back to the pictures.

“Of course there are other kids.” He rolled his eyes. “You guys multiply like rabbits.”

“We don’t multiply like rabbits. We multiply like people, silly.” Pinkie said as nodded her head from side to side, poking her tongue out at him.

“It’s an expression Pinkie.” Twilight muttered.

“Anyway, here’s Beowulf.” He moved to the next image of a four legged hippogriff, his crest feather marked with the colors of the rainbow, his tail sporting the same colors.

“That must be Rainbow’s kid.” Twilight remarked, spotting the different colours.

“Did she and Gilda have a kid?” Pinkie asked, clapping her hands together.

“Yup. ”

“I didn’t think any kid of Rainbow and Gilda would turn out to be a hippogriff though.” Twilight said, her hand on her chin as she studied the picture. “What’s Rainbow like in your Equestria?” She asked, stretching her arms above her head and giving her feet a little shake to get the pins and needles out of them.

“Alright, but you asked for it.” He brought up another picture, this one of a blue pony with a rainbow mane and tail. Her forelegs were missing, replaced by mechanical talons and her wings were far larger than they looked like they should be.

Both of them gasped at what they saw, with Twilight gripping the sides of the monitor as she muttered ‘no’ over and over again.

“Eh, don’t get all worked up,” Hodge said, patting her head, “She actually likes the talons.”

Twilight closed her eyes but the image was burned into her mind. She moved back a bit and sniffed.

“If it makes you feel better, you made those talons.”

“It … does. A little bit.” Twilight sniffed, running her hand over her nose. Pinke just patted her on the shoulder, looking at the picture with a sad face.

“Why are you two even sad anyway? That whole thing happened fifteen years ago.” Hodge rolled his eyes. “Ponies...I swear...”

“Because she looks like our friend with the only difference being that she’s a pony and that she has talons.” Twilight answered, looking Hodge in the eye.

“It was one of the defining moments of her life to be honest,” Hodge replied, shrugging, “Anyway, who do you want to see next?”

“Ooh! Me! The other me’s kid!” Pinkie announced excitedly, shaking Twilight roughly as she did.

“Alright, well here’s Surprise.” He brought up a white pegasus with blonde mane and tail, both as curly as Pinkie’s hair. “She’s basically just a retooling of Pinkie to be honest...”

“Of course she is! That’s just the pony version of me with wings! Still, she looks adorable!” Pinkie said gleefully, clapping her hands together in delight.

He rolled his eyes. “Well that's three of you down, and keep in mind, AJ is still single.”

“Right. What about Rarity?” Twilight asked, biting her nail again.

“You should really stop that, it’s not good for your nails.” He snapped his fingers, a taffy appearing in her mouth.

Twilight merely snorted, keeping her mouth closed as she glared at Hodge. 

On the screen was a lime green coated bicorn, his mane and tail a deep purple. “Behold! Prince Elusive!”

“He’s handsome.” Pinkie commented, a sort of dreamy look in her eyes.

“He’s also part changeling.”

Twilight looked at the screen in shock while Pinkie simply stared, a tiny bit of drool leaking out of the corner of her mouth.

“See, Spike gave Rarity this cursed book and the more she used it, the more changeling she became.” Hodge explained. “She’s fine now, still mostly pony, but she’s still noticeably different.”

“Rarity is part changeling. I did not see that one coming.” Twilight said after having gotten over the initial shock and swallowing the taffy. “How is she noticeably different? Does she have changeling armor on or something?”

“She has the weird saddle thing and the wings.”

Twilight felt around her midriff and then her back as she tried to imagine what Rarity must feel like. “That must be life changing for her because I can’t really imagine what it would be like.” She said after a few minutes.

“If you say so. Anyway, am I forgetting anyone??” he asked, tapping his chin. “No I think that's everyone...would you like to know more about our world?”

“That would be great!” Twilight said, her eyes sparkling at the prospect of new knowledge.

“I wonder how Derrick and Freya are doing?” Pinkie wondered, tapping her chin in thought.

“Oh, they're doing fine,” he said dismissively, “Now, how should I start? This might get a little, complicated...”
> Chapter 8 - Aliens and Magic Part 4: Meet Crystal
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------




THERE IS ANOTHER CLOP SCENE HERE. I’VE MARKED OFF WHERE YOU CAN START THE STORY IF YOU WANT TO SKIP PAST THIS. IF YOU ARE READING THE CLOP, PLEASE REMEMBER THAT DERRICK IS STILL GENDER BENT.
“How are you going to rock my world then?” Derrick asked with an uneasy smile.

“Oh come on,” she leaned down, nipping at his neck.”Don’t you trust me?”

“Of course I do. That smile just makes me feel a bit uneasy.” He moaned a bit at her nipping and roughly squeezed one of her breasts in response.

“You know...I could be anyone you want...” she nibbled his ear, giving it a tug.

“You’re a changeling … oh right. You can shift forms. Why not … just be yourself?” He said, panting a bit from what she was doing to him.

She gave him a smile. “If that's what you want...” she reached up, grabbing his breasts, rubbing her thumbs across his nipples. He could only gasp at the sensation, not used to feeling anything like this. Trying to imitate her, Derrick grabbed her breasts, and lightly rubbed against her nipples.

“That's it...don’t be afraid to ‘explore’.” She winked at him, moving her hands down to his hips.

“You’re really into this, aren’t you?” Derrick asked, leaning to the side and rolling over, bringing Freya on top of him.

“And you aren’t?” she asked, looking down at him.

“Of course I am. I just still can’t believe I got gender swapped.” Derrick answered with a sensual smile, rubbing his hands up and down her sides before playing with her folds.

She moaned, arching her back. “That's it...keep doing that~”

Smiling even more at this, he played with them a bit more before gently inserting a couple of fingers, slowly moving them in and out, feeling his fingers get coated with her juices.

“Oooh~” she moaned, kissing him. “You sure you’ve never done this before?”

“I’m definitely sure of that. Am I really that good?” He kissed her back, steadily thrusting his fingers faster and faster.

“That and you taste wonderful...” she pulled him into a kiss, her horn still glowing.

Falling back onto the bed once she let go, he wondered what else he could do with his other hand. Moving it to the top of her folds, he found a little nub. “This is new …” he muttered, lightly flicking to see if it garnered any reaction.

She gasped, her body going stiff. “Now that’s the spot~”

Pleased at having found a new pleasure centre, he started to flick the nub quickly while simultaneously thrusting his fingers in and out of her.

She moaned, moving her hand down, doing the same to him.

He gasped at that, momentarily pausing as new waves of pleasure washed over him. After getting used t it, he moaned, restarting the motions from before.

“I told you this was amazing…” she moaned out, nipping at his nipples, raking her fangs over one.

He couldn’t speak as his brain overloaded at the sensations. All he could do was continuously flick her nub and thrust his fingers, squirming slightly as he felt an unfamiliar pressure build.

She did the same to his nub, purring softly as she drank in the lust.

He squirmed some more, moaning out as he felt her flick his nub. His fingers slowed their thrusting as he felt the pressure build more, feeling it threaten to release.

“Yes!” she cried out, licking her lips, panting heavily.

Feeling the pressure peak, he moaned out loudly, feeling something squirt out of him. After having experienced his first orgasm, Derrick, laid still, panting heavily with a dopey smile on his face. “That … was … amazing~” He said dopily.

“I told you...” she huffed, leaning down, kissing him deeply. Derrick kissed her back just as deeply, propping himself up on his elbows. 

“I am ... definitely not going back ... to being a male ... after this.” He panted.

“I also told you you’d be saying that as well,” she smirked, nuzzling him. Smiling at her, Derrick nuzzled back and sat up fully, holding Freya as she sat on his lap.

“I’m going to need a new name, aren’t I?” He asked.

“Only if you want to,” she rested her head on his chest, her horn losing its glow.

“How about Crystal?” He asked.

“I like it…” she said, yawning softly.

“That’s good to know.” Crystal said, yawning as well. She leaned back on the bed, still holding Freya as she did. She closed her eyes, dozing off with a frazzled smile on her muzzle.
THIS IS WHERE THE CLOP ENDS AND THE STORY BEGINS



“Let me get this straight. Yggdrasil is a world tree and is connected to nine different realms?” Twilight asked, tapping a quill against her chin.

“They’re actually universes and there are about ten of them now,” Hodge corrected, eating a bag of pork rinds.

“Oh.” Twilight said, quickly correcting the notes.

“What kind of universes are they? I wasn’t really paying attention.” Pinkie asked, putting her hand up.

“Did I also mention, about seven of those were made from the body of a giant?” he asked, making sure to crunch his food as obnoxiously as possible. 

“No, I don’t think you did,” Twilight answered, quickly scanning her notes. “That is very interesting how they’re made from giants though.” she continued, doing her best to ignore the crunching.

“No, no, seven entire universes were made from one guy, who was murdered in his sleep.”

“Um, oh. Well then. That’s certainly something.” Twilight said, blinking a bit to try and wrap her head around it.

“Don’t think too hard on it Twi, you’re not rated for Void logic.” he said, holding up a instruction booklet with her picture on the front.

“There’s an instruction booklet on me?” Twilight asked, dumbstruck. “Why am I not that surprised by it?”

“As it turns out, Pinkie is a defective model.”

“I am? Whoopee! I’m defective!” Pinkie said in delight waving her arms in the air. “Wait. Why am I even defective in the first place?”

“You know and do things no mere mortal should...” Hodge mumbled, “Anyway, don’t piss Yggdrasil off or it’ll eat you.”, 

“I’m going to take that literally.” Pinkie said, giving Hodge a salute.

“You should.” he nodded his head. “ Anyway, what do you want to know next, or have the authors decided to move onto something other than exposition?”

“Definitely something other than exposition. They feel it’s getting a bit stale now.” Pinkie replied, nodding sagely.

“Oh good,” he smiled, “So, Jason’s going to stay a while, beat Derrick into shape, make a man, or shall I say...woman out of him...”

“Sounds good to me.” Pinkie agreed, trying to stifle a laugh.

“Woman? He doesn’t want to change back?” Twilight asked, putting her notes and quill away.

“Nope.” He smirked. “Anyway, you two want to go back to being lovely ladies or give all the fan girls a yaoi scene? I’m not into it myself but 	you know some who read this story are.”

“I wouldn’t want to disappoint the fans but sadly, we both want to be changed back.” Pinkie said, giving Twilight a smile.

“Oh, right. Yeah, I … don’t want to do whatever a yaoi scene is.” Twilight told him, thinking about it for a bit. Hodge nodded, changing them back. 

“I am curious. Which way do you two swing in this world?” he asked, coiling around them.

“Bisexual.” Pinkie said immediately, not shy about her sexual preference. Twilight, on the other hand, blushed immensely and mumbled which way she swung.

“What was that my dear? I couldn’t quite hear you.” Hodgepodge said, sticking a hearing aid in his ear.

“Lesbian.” Twilight said quickly, idly prodding both her forefingers together.

“Than you two are perfect for each other! I know Twipie is a bit of an odd ship but I love it!” he smirked. “And if you ever want foals, I could easily switch you to Dusk Shadow or Bubble Berry...come to think of it...should R63 Pinkie have Pie in his name? Who does he think he is anyway?”

“Someone completely different on account of him being male.” Pinkie answered, not noticing that Twilight’s blush grew redder.

“Well? Kiss already!”

“Oh fine!” Twilight said, goaded into it. Getting a determined look, she walked over to Pinkie, turned her around to face her, and kissed her deeply. Pinkie smiled and kissed back, wrapping her arms around Twilight.

Hodge just stared, his jaw hanging open. “You know...I was just messing with ya,...I didn’t expect you to do it...”

“It’s too late to say it now, now is it?” Twilight asked, smirking as she wrapped an arm around Pinkie’s shoulders.

“Wait...you two were together this whole time weren’t you!? You’ve been playing me this whole time!?”

“Yup! We didn’t expect you to ask us about which way we swung but the jig is up now~” Pinkie sang, poking her tongue out at Hodge playfully.

“You win this time girls,” he narrowed his eyes at them, “But I will have my vengeance!!”

“We’ll be waiting for that revenge. Don’t you worry about it.” Twilight smirked.

“Surprise!” he flicked her nose. “You’re in heat! Have fun Bubble Berry!” he snapped his fingers before exploding into confetti.

“I’m going to get that draconequus back.” She grumbled, her face of shock turned to one of frustration as she rubbed her thighs together.



“Sleep well?” Jason asked, looking down at Crystal, his eyebrow raised. Freya was nowhere to be seen, leaving just the two of them.

“Hi, Jason.” Crystal greeted, looking up at him. “Would it be a bad thing if I said yes?”

“No, but keep what Freya and you did to yourselves, I really don’t need to hear it.” He responded, tossing her clothes on the bed.

“Right. I can definitely do that.” Crystal replied, putting her clothes on. 

“Freya and I are going to be staying awhile, train your ass into shape. I’m not going to lie, I’m going to beat you into the ground while I do it.”

“I have no doubt you will. We could probably train back at Ponyville if you’re staying a while, or out in the snow would do.” Crystal suggested, her eyes widening.

“We can train in Ponyville,” he nodded, “At least until we start getting to the really destructive spells.”

“Destructive?” Crystal asked excitedly. “There’s a magic guild near Ponyville called Fairy Tail. I heard it from someone who was on a job here. Fairy Tail is the most destructive guild in Fiore, well, Equestria in this case. I’m sure the more destructive spells will be fine to use near Ponyville.”

“One of these spells destroyed a world once.” Jason looked at him. “Out in the snow would be best for that leave of spell.”

“The snow would be the best in that case then.” Crystal agreed. “We should get going to Ponyville then right? Seeming that the training is sorted out.”

“We’ll leave when the girls are ready to leave.” He moved to the door. “Freya is with Rarity, getting some clothes made. We can start training now if you want.” 

“That’ll be good. The sooner we start, the more intense it will be right?” Crystal replied, following Jason out the door.

“I’m not going to destroy you, relax, besides, I can heal any injury you get...aside from reattaching limbs.”

“What was that last part?” She asked, cupping a hand to her ear. “For a second there, I thought you said you couldn’t reattach limbs.”

“I can’t.” he looked back at her. “I’m not going to sugar coat anything. If you don’t want to be my student, I don't think any less of you for it.”

“Oh, I’ll still be your student, I’m just trying to figure out why I would need my limbs to be reattached in the first place.” Crystal replied with an uneasy smile.

“I’ll try to avoid it.” he nodded, stopping a guard. “Is there a training room nearby?”

“Down this corridor, third door on the right. That room is usually reserved for training guards but there aren’t any guards there so you should be fine.” The guard directed them before continuing on his patrol.

“Thank you,” he replied before leading Crystal down the hallway.

“What are we going to work on first?” Crystal asked, following Jason to the training room.

“What do you want to work on?” he asked, opening the door, walking inside.

“Getting better control of my magic would be a good start.” Crystal suggested, shaking her arms and accidentally sending crystal shards into the door frame as she followed him in.

“...Yeah, we’re going to need to work on that...” he muttered. He moved a bit aways, pulling out a small grey cube, placing it on the floor.

“What the heck is that?” She asked, looking at the cube and crossing her arms in front of her in case she fired off any more shards.

“This is my storage cube, it holds all my stuff.” He sat down, gesturing for her to do the same.

Crystal sat opposite Jason, raising an eyebrow. She gestured for him to continue and looked at the cube curiously. “I don’t think that small thing can hold anything in it.”

He casually reached into it, pulling out his sword. “Any other stupid comments?”

“Nope.” Crystal said, firmly keeping her mouth shut and eyeing the sword warily. He rolled his eyes, putting his sword in. 

“Now, do you have any idea how to work magic or is it just instinct?”

“I’ve been getting by on instinct and what I’ve seen my character do on his show but I can’t really … work it.” Crystal explained.

“Right then.” he nodded his head. “I want you to close your eyes alright?”

“Yeah, okay.” Crystal closed her eyes, doing just as he said.

“Now, when you use your magic, even by instinct, you can feel it. What I want you to do is look inside yourself and find that feeling again.”

“This sounds like some Buddhist stuff but okay.” Crystal mumbled and tried to find some sort of magical feeling inside herself. Closing her eyes tighter, she tried even harder to find it when that feeling couldn’t be found the first time.

Jason just watched in silence, pulling out a book, starting to quietly read.

Exhaling rapidly, Crystal tried to calm down by taking in slow, deep breaths. After having successfully done so, she tried again and thought she found a flicker of something. “I ... think I found something. It’s a flicker but it’s there.” Crystal said, her eyes still closed.

“Good, good,” Jason looked up, smiling. “Now, focus on it. Don’t be afraid of it, it’s a part of you. Make it brighten but don’t make it spark.”

Crystal nodded and focussed on the flicker, trying her best to make it even more brighter. Doing a few breathing exercises calmed her down enough to make the flicker bright but as soon as she was aware of it, the flicker dampened.

“I made it bright but as I was aware of it, it dampened.” Crystal called out, her eyes staying shut as she focussed on the flicker some more.

“It’ll take you some time, but you can keep it from dampening, you just have to concentrate on it and not let go.”

“Easy for you to say,” Crystal mumbled and concentrated. This time, she managed to brighten it and actually kept it at that level of brightness. “It seems to be working.”

“Good, now hold out your hand, and will it to manifest.”

Slowly moving her hand out, she splayed her palm and willed her magic to do its work. What manifested was a combination of small crystals and fire. Inching her eyes open, Crystal looked at her hand and a big smile came across her face. “Look! I did it!”

“Good job. Now, do it again.” Jason smirked, leaning back.

Closing her hand and then opening it again, Crystal closed her eyes and concentrated on the bright thing in her, willing her magic to manifest again. Opening her eyes to see if there were any results, she found that the same thing happened again. “It worked again.” Crystal said in slight disbelief.

“Good, that means, at least, you can summon up for magic at will.” He smiled, holding out his own hand, conjuring up a multicolored distortion. 

“What. Is that?” Crystal asked, pointing to the distortion in Jason’s hand.

“This...is Ultima, my most powerful spell.” He stared at the distortion, letting it hover over his hand.

“Ultima. That another Final Fantasy spell?” Crystal asked, staring at the distortion intently.

“The most powerful...powerful enough to destroy a world.”

“That certainly sounds lethal.” Crystal blinked at it, then looked up at Jason. Concentrating on the flicker in herself, she opened her palm and found the combination of crystals and fire there again. “I seem to be getting the hang of this.”

“Good, that means I can begin to teach you some of the lower level spells.” Jason got to his feet. “Let’s start with Fire.”

“That one’s simple.” Crystal said, lighting her hand on fire. “What do you want me to do with it?” She asked, scratching her head with her other hand.

“Right, ok, lets try Blizzard.” He sighed, before smiling. “Lets just see how good you are at this.”



“The others should be ready by now.” Crystal said, walking out the door of the training room.

“You did well,” Jason said, shifting back from Hodgepodge, who had restored the training room to normal. “Didn’t think you’d get the base level spells so quickly.”

“Heh, neither did I.” Crystal said with a laugh, holding her vest closed with a bit of crystal acting as a zipper. “The base spells seemed really easy to get once I got hold of that flicker.”

“True, but that's just the base four elemental spells, we haven’t even gotten into the white mage spells, haste, silence, all that good stuff.” Jason closed the door, following her down the hall.

“I don’t think I’ll get those spells.” Cystal said and stopped walking at the end of the hall as she watched Pinkie and Twilight walk by, looking extremely tired and pleased. “What happened to you two?” Crystal asked.

“Something nice...” Pinkie said, wearing a dopey grin on her face.

“Hodge.” Twilight said, giving Jason a soft glare.

“That would explain it. I suppose you both are ready to go?” Crystal asked, stepping back a bit from them.

“We definitely are …” Pinkie answered for both of them.

“That’s good to know. Where’s Freya again?” Crystal asked, looking over her shoulder at Jason.

“With Rarity, come on.” He navigated the castle expertly, humming a soft tune to himself.

The three girls followed him, idly chatting amongst themselves as they headed to their next destination.

“That should be everything, darling.” Rarity told Freya, handing her the bundle of clothes she had wanted. It only took a few hours but after having worked herself to the bone a few times before this particular workload, Rarity felt that it was worth it.

“Thanks m-Rarity...” Freya spoke, taking them. “I’ll just get changed...” she hurried into the backroom, getting changed out of her armor.

“Oh, hello you four. Everything alright?” Rarity asked as she heard footsteps come her way. Looking at the group, she spotted a third girl and wondered who it was. “Who’s this?” She asked, pointing to Crystal.

“This used to be Derrick,” Jason said, placing his hand on the girl’s shoulder.

“Hi, Rarity.” Crystal said, giving a wave.

“She used to be Derrick?” Rarity asked in disbelief, eyes narrowing as she tried to replace the girl with Derrick.

“Yup. Some gender swapping happened and I stayed this way. Also, I go by Crystal now.” Crystal answered, giving Rarity a nod and a smile “If it	helps, I made a complete abomination of Pinkie’s costume.” She smirked.

“That does. A lot. You need to replace the colour patches you took.” Rarity said, finally recognising Crystal as Derrick. “I’m not even going to ask about the … gender swap because that seems to be a whole nother can of worms I’d rather not open.” Rarity added.

“Good, it wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense anyway.” Jason laughed, shaking his head. “We ready to go everyone?”

Rarity, Twilight, Pinkie and Crystal all nodded at him.

“We’re ready to go. We missing anyone?” Twilight asked, looking around.

“Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy all went on ahead if that’s what you’re wondering.” Rarity replied.

“Alright!” Freya came out, now decked out in her new clothes. “Let’s get going!!”

“We’re all here now so the only thing left is to go to the train station.” Crystal said, watching Freya run up to the group. “You’re looking good.” She told Freya.

“What are we standing around for then?” Pinkie asked and began leading them to the train station.

Freya smiled, putting her arm around Crystal, pulling her close. Crystal moved closer to her, leaning into the embrace.

“How long is the train from here to Ponyville?” Crystal asked Pinkie.

“About a few hours. It does have to travel down a mountain after all.” Pinkie answered, turning around and clasping her hands behind her back while walking backwards.

“Sounds good to me. I just hope I don’t get motion sickness on the train.” Crystal said, giving Pinkie a smile. “You feel more comfortable in those clothes?” She asked Freya, picking at them.

“Yup! I’m all good now!” she leaned over, giving her cheek a peck. Crystal blushed a bit at the peck.

“Good to hear.” She replied and looked at the station in the distance. “I didn’t think it would be so far to the station.”
> Chapter 9 - Aliens and Magic Part 5: Ponyville
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Eventually arriving at the station, the group made it inside just before the train moved away and down towards Ponyville. Sitting on a spare seat near a window, Crystal glanced at Jason.

“How much can that cube of yours hold?” She asked him, referring to the cube he had showed her earlier. “I’m guessing it’s an infinite space thingy otherwise how else would it hold that sword,” she added, wrapping an arm around Freya as she sat next to her.

“Yeah, it's got an infinite space in it.” he said with a nod. “It’s very convenient.”

“So you put anything and everything in it. Must be handy to carry every possession you have with you everywhere.” Crystal said, twirling a lock of her pink hair.

“This cube you’re talking about sounds like what I can do whenever I grab something strange.” Pinkie commented, taking a rubber duck out of her mane. “See?”

Feeling the train go over a particularly big bump in the tracks, Crystal felt herself become a bit queasy.

“I think I’m going to be sick.” Crystal said softly, looking a bit green in the face.

“You two have been fairly quiet.” Twilight said to Jason and Freya, rubbing one of her eyes to get a bit of dirt out of it. “Is something wrong?” She asked.

“Hm?” Jason asked, looking at her. “Nah, I’m just having a conversation in my head.” He shrugged. “Sorry, I get lost in my head sometimes.”

“I’m still a bit weirded out by you guys honestly...” Freya muttered, casting a spell to counter Crystal’s motion sickness.

“Why? Because we’re not like the ponies you’re used to seeing?” Twilight asked her, raising an eyebrow and gesturing with her hand.

“Were you talking with Hodge?” Pinkie asked Jason while Crystal silently thanked Freya for the spell.

“Ye	ah, that's it.” Freya nodded.

“Him and the other two that live in my head, Gram and Ormagoden.” Jason explained. “You don’t want to meet Orm.”

“I’m gonna say he’s a very bad voice. What about Gram?” Pinkie asked.

“I don’t know how to stop you from being weirded out then.” Twilight said with a slight frown.

“Gram is basically Clint Eastwood.” Jason leaned back, putting his hands behind his head. “There was another guy but he left.”

“Who’s Clint Eastwood again?” Crystal asked, breathing in and out slowly so that sick feeling wouldn’t come back.

“..Don’t make me slap you...” Jason said, his eye twitching.

“I may have struck a nerve.” Crystal said, biting her bottom lip.

“Maybe you should have paid more attention to pop culture.” Freya smirked, punching her arm.

“Maybe I should’ve. Was Clint Eastwood the one who starred in all those westerns?” Crystal asked, rubbing her arm where Freya punched her.

“You're damn right! The Man With No Name!” Freya extended her arm, mimicking a gun with her hand, pretending to fire it. 

“This may sound stupid but I’ve only heard of him, and even then, it was in passing. So sorry for asking who he was?” Crystal said nervously, leaning towards the wall as much as she can.

“Eh you're fine, I just have weird parents.” Freya waved her hand dismissively. “I mean, she drunkenly sang, ‘The Real Slim Shady,’ to a group of nobles at the Gala.”

Crystal snorted with laughter as she tried to keep it contained at that.

“I’m sorry but...I don’t see myself getting drunk...” Rarity said, raising her eyebrow.

“You’re not the mom I was talking about.” Freya responded, crossing her arms.

“You have a second mum?” Crystal asked, looking at Freya and Jason with her mouth open slightly.

“Yeah, the woman who laid my egg, Empress Chrysalis.” Freya smirked, watching their jaws drop.

“I’m polygamous.” Jason smirked as well, “Blew your guys’ mind huh?”

“You … you, you, your second mother is Chrysalis!?” Twilight screeched, her jaw practically dropping to the floor.

“That explains it!” Pinkie said in triumph, hitting her fist into her palm.

“Actually, Rarity is my second mother,” Freya pointed out, “Not only that but changelings and ponies have been at peace since I’ve been alive, hell, they even live as one country.”

“What.” Rarity, Twilight and Pinkie said at the same time, feeling like their minds had blown.

“I’m just going to wait this one out.” Crystal said, eyeing the changeling and jotun.

“A few months after I first came to my Equestria, Chrysalis completely surrendered to Celestia and her hive was absorbed into the country,” Jason began, “Shortly after that, she was granted the old castle in the Everfree to be her hive’s new home. She then managed, with the help of Maud, another Displaced, and myself, to gather the queens of the other hives and was elevated to the role of empress.”

“The sister of the other me helped you out?” Pinkie asked.

“I didn’t know you had a sister.” Twilight told Pinkie.

“So you and Chrysalis helped her become Empress? What’s that like?” Crystal asked.

“Basically, she rules over the changelings as a race, but she’s still a part of Equestria. Fun fact, our Equestria is actually a hexarchy.” Jason pulled out a black crown, inlaid with emeralds, placing it on his head.

“You’re a prince!?” The four girls asked at the same time.

“How the hell did you become a prince?” Crystal asked, looking at the crown on his head.

“Alicorns have divine right to rule.” Jason shrugged. “It was Celly’s idea anyway. I rule over the Everfree forest and Valhalla, the village that sprung up around the old castle.”

“That makes sense, I suppose.” Twilight said, having gotten out her scroll from earlier and jotted down whatever Jason said. “Valhalla is a village you helped create?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, the influx of nobles from Canterlot after that thing with Fenrir certainly helped...” Jason got a far off look in his eyes as a memory replayed in his mind.

“What’s a ‘Fenrir’?” Twilight asked.

“If your dad is a prince, what does that make you?” Crystal asked Freya.

“Fenrir is my great uncle, a giant wolf who ate the All-Father Odin at Ragnarok and whose sons devoured the sun and moon.” Jason snapped out of it, looking up. “He died several million years ago and Canterlot mountain grew over his bones.”

Twilight, Rarity and Pinkie crowded around one of the windows and looked at the mountain they were currently descending.

“I don’t think Fenrir is in this particular world.” Crystal called out to them but they stayed near the window. “He’s not, is he?” Crystal whispered to Jason.

“No he’s not, I imagine he’s tied to Norse universes.” Jason snorted. “And again, he;s been dead for MILLIONS of years.”

“Girls, come back here.” Crystal called them over. Hearing her this time, the three of them came back and sat back down. “Fenrir isn’t even here, and if he was, he’s long gone ok?” Crystal assured the three of them.

“And if he was, I’d kill him.” Jason said simply, running a hand through his beard.

“I don’t doubt that.” Crystal said with a bit of fear in her eyes. Pinkie looked out the window as she felt the train level out.

“We’re almost at Ponyville.” She said boredly.

“You sound bored.” Freya turned to her. “Got nothing to cheer ya up?”

“For once, I don’t have anything to cheer me up. But once we get to Ponyville, I know I’ll brighten up!” Pinkie answered with a smile but her face still showed that she was bored.

She nodded, leaning on Crystal’s shoulder. “I’m uh...not going to get swarmed by an angry mob am I?”

“I honestly have no clue. This is the first time we’ve seen a changeling since the wedding so who knows?” Twilight said with a bit of concern on her face.

“You could always disguise yourself.” Crystal suggested. “It may not be what you want but it could work,” she added.

“I refuse to hide myself.” Freya growled. “I shouldn’t have to do that to appease some racist ponies.”

“It was just a suggestion.” Crystal muttered.

“I don’t really know how the town will react so we’ll just have to see.” Twilight said with a soft smile.

“I’m not afraid to lay the fuck smack on some ponies.” Jason got up, cracking his neck. “Come on, trains pulling into the station.”

Getting up, Crystal stretched her arms and cracked her neck, getting the crinks out of it. After having done that, she, along with the rest of the 	group, walked out of the train and into the town proper. Freya took her hand, squeezing it a little as they stepped off the train.

“It’ll be fine.” Crystal said to her, squeezing her hand back. Leading the group further into town, she then realised she had no idea of where to go to. “Where do we go? I’ve never been here before.” Looking up as a shadow fell over them, Crystal found that the shadow belonged to a blue-skinned pony but this one was wingless. Seeing she was opening her mouth, Twilight immediately shut it with her magic.

“Rainbow, don’t say a word. Come down here and we will explain, okay?” She said and kept her magical grip as Rainbow glided down on a cloud of air. She was wearing a dark-blue shirt along with denim shorts with a slit in the back for her tail to poke through. On the shirt was a white cloud with a multi-coloured lightning bolt on it.

“So? I’m waiting. Why is there a changeling and two weirdos with you?” Rainbow said, crossing her arms and tapping her foot as she waited for some sort of explanation.

“A lot of things happened while you were helping out the Empire. That’s where we met these three.” Twilight said, gesturing to Crystal, Freya and Jason. She then proceeded to explain why they were all together as a group, along with showing the notes she had gathered by talking with them.

“So these three are not from this world and you trust them just like that?” Rainbow asked.

“Yes, because Jason helped defeat Sombra and the other two helped out with various tasks.” Twilight answered.

“Sorry. I still don’t buy it.” Rainbow said and splayed her hand, sending a harsh burst of air towards Freya but that was only because she was the closest one out of the three of them.

“Oh it is on!” Freya snarled getting to her hooves. She snorted, bringing her hand down and sending a bolt of lightning onto Dash.

Bringing her hands up to try and deflect the bolt, Dash felt the lightning run through her, causing her mane to spike up. Getting a bit of mobility back, she clapped her hands together and sent a ripple of air to the changeling. The air she sent was slightly electrified due to her body still going through the after effects of being shocked.

Freya smirked before cracking her neck. “Haste!” She shouted, her movements looking like she was in fast forward. She darted toward Dash, laying punch after punch before throwing her to the ground, spitting some goo at her and in a flash had her cocooned.

Dash barely had time to bring her arms up to defend herself before the changeling cocooned her in the blink of an eye. “Hey! What gives?” Dash shouted as she struggled in vain to get free of the cocoon.

“That's what you get for being a racist and attacking me.” Freya smirked, crossing her arms.

“I’m not racist. I only attacked you because you happened to be the closest! If it was one of your friends, then I would have attacked them instead.” Dash protested, ceasing her struggles for the moment while she caught her breath.

“Still you attacked me for no reason so...in the cocoon you stay!” she smiled starting to walk away.

“Don’t walk away from me! I attack things I don’t trust!” Dash shouted at her as she began to struggle harder than before to get out of the cocoon.

“You’re not going to get out~!” She called back, cackling at the top of her lungs.

Dash could only scream in response.

“Rainbow … you should have learnt by now to talk with new people instead of attacking them out of the blue.” Twilight told her entrapped friend with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s more fun if I attack first, ask questions later.” Dash snorted.

“It’s also a really stupid thing a child would do.” Jason looked down at her. “Should I reduce you to a child as well? It might be good for you.”

Dash eyeballed Jason before realising he was talking seriously. “No, I’m good thanks.” She answered, knowing that she had no idea what these people were capable of.

“Smart choice,” Jason said with a smile before walking past her, following Freya.

“You attack people because you don’t trust them? That is not a good start to getting new people to trust you.” Crystal said, leaning down to look at Dash better.

“So? The talking bit comes later after I explain why I attacked them.” Dash answered.

“Does it work?” Crystal asked, stepping to the side as she began to follow Jason and Freya.

“Less often than not.” Dash replied and looked at Twilight pleadingly. “Can you help me out of here?”

“No can do. I think it would be better if you stayed there for a bit to think things over.” Twilight said with a shake of her head. Leading the other two to where Jason and Freya were, both of them mouthed that they were sorry.

“Oh yes,” Freya called back, “I should tell you, if you don’t get out of the cocoon quick enough, you’ll be converted into a changeling~! So if I were you I’d hurry up!”

“What!?” Dash squawked at her, immediately working double time to get out the cocoon.

“Is that true?” Crystal asked.

“I’m not telling~” Freya smirked, continuing on her way.

Crystal gave Freya a frown and scratched the back of her head. “Where we going anyway?”

“Twilight?” Jason asked, looking over his shoulder. 

“I need to report in to the Princesses and tell them what happened so I figured we could just go back to the library.” Twilight answered, gesturing to the giant tree they were walking towards. “Oh, by the way, one thing you should know about Rainbow that differs from your one. 	She’s … had her wings amputated. I got no idea how or why because it happened before we met.” Twilight added, saying the last part softly.

“Ours had her forelegs cut off.” Jason stared at the ground. “We made her new ones.”

“I hope she’s happy with her new legs.” Crystal said, closing her eyes for a bit.

“Of course she is, they let her punch holes in reality.” Jason laughed. “You have no idea how big her ego is now.”

“I imagine it would be.” Rarity said with a smile. Twilight opened up the door and lead everyone inside, calling out for Spike at the same time.

“Spike!  Can you come down?”

“Yeah?” Spike called back, and upon seeing the group, took a step back. “Um, Twilight? Who are these?”

“These are friends we made in the Crystal Empire. Long story. I’ll tell you sometime later.” Twilight answered, rubbing her forehead.

“Sup?” Freya asked, looking down at Spike.

“Nothing much.” Spike answered, trying not to freak out at the changeling.

“You’re a dragon. I thought seeing pony/human hybrids was weird enough.” Crystal said in disbelief to him.

“Of course I am! Why wouldn’t I be one?” Spike asked the one who spoke.

“No idea. I’m Crystal by the way.” Crystal replied, walking up to him and circled around him slowly.

Spike followed her with his eyes until she disappeared behind him. He looked over to the third person and waved at him. “Hi! I’m Spike! What’s your name?”

Jason just laughed. “I’m Jason but you can call me Jay. I’ll be staying for a while to beat Crystal into shape and maybe teach anyone else who wants to learn.”

“That reminds me! Spike, I need you to write a letter to Princess Celestia.” Twilight said with a grin. Promptly grabbing a piece of parchment and a quill off the nearby desk, he stood at attention and listened to Twilight as she recounted the events of what happened at the Crystal Empire. Reading it over and repeating it back to her, they both gave a nod at it being correct and with a puff of green fire, sent it off to Celestia.

“There we go. Since the three of you are staying for a while, we need to figure out accommodations.” Twilight said, dusting her hands.

“Where’s a place that can house three beings from another universe?” Pinkie asked, tapping a finger on her chin.

“There’s a hotel nearby but I don’t think they would take kindly to you three.” Rarity said with a puff of air and looked out the window.

“We can just shack up in the Everfree.” Jason shrugged, leaning on a wall.

“The what?” Crystal asked, taking a quick look out a window to the distant trees. “That the Everfree?”

“Yup, that's where we live in our universe, rebuilt the old castle into our hive.” Freya sat down, putting her hooves up on the table

Crystal hummed and idly played with some fire in her palm. “We could train there as well. It’ll be out of the way of the town.” She suggested, turning around and leaning gently on the window.

“And we can use the timberwolves for practice.” Jason said, popping up the dial of his Omnitrix, flipping through it.

“Do you have a timberwolf form in there?” Twilight asked, gazing intently at the watch.

“What’s a timberwolf?” Crystal asked, feeling very stupid at asking these questions.

“A timberwolf is just that. A wolf made out of magical twigs.” Pinkie answered, grabbing a random book off the shelf and flipping through it. “See?” She asked, shoving the book into Crystal’s hands.

“It’s made out of twigs.” Crystal said bluntly, looking over the picture.

“Yeah, they're kinda stupid too.” Jason added.

“So they have all the brains of a rock. Good to know.” Crystal said as she poked her tongue out the side of her mouth as she looked through the rest of the book.

“I’ll have you know, rocks are actually smart! So it’s an insult to rock kind to say they’re dumb!” Pinkie protested.

“Okay, sorry. I didn’t think rocks actually had brains because they’re … well, rocks.” Crystal immediately backed down, leaning further into the window in an attempt to dislodge Pinkie’s hard stare. “You’re scary.” Crystal added in a small voice.

Twilight looked like she was going to say something but was interrupted by the sight of Princess Celestia touching down in her chariot just outside. “Why is Princess Celestia here?”

“I dunno, probably to see the otherworldly visitors.” Jason didn’t look up, still moving through his watch.

Sidling away from Pinkie, Crystal looked at the front door as Spike opened it up. She saw an alabaster Alicorn walk through, a white robe flowing from her shoulders with gold trim. Crystal saw out of the corner of her eye, Twilight, Pinkie and Rarity quickly bow before the princess before straightening up.

“Permit my asking, why are you here, princess?” Rarity asked.

“I am here, Rarity, to see these three creatures Twilight spoke of in her letter. And I can see that her descriptions were spot on.” Celestia answered, closing the door behind her and looking at Crystal, Freya and Jason. “You must be the three. How did you get here?”

“Transdimensional teleportation.” Crystal answered, folding her arms. Looking over to Jason, she sighed. “What are you looking for in that watch?” She asked, twirling a lock of pink hair around her finger.

“I like to keep stock every now and then, helps me to remember what I have and what I don’t.” He explained, never looking away.

“Interesting. And, Freya is it? What do you have to say for yourself? It’s not everyday a group of aliens show up.” Celestia asked the changeling, taking a step closer to her.

“What?” She asked, looking up at her. “I just got pulled along with me dad.” She shrugged, putting her hands behind her head.

“And that must be Jason?” Celestia asked, looking over to the bearded man.

“Yup.”

“Pleasure to meet both of you.” Celestia said with a soft smile. “Crystal, you can make fire, is that correct?” The princess asked her.

“Yeah, why?” Crystal asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I just wanted to confirm something.” Celestia replied and gestured for Twilight to walk outside with her. Once the door closed, Crystal let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding.

“Is it just me, or did she seem subtly intimidating?” Crystal asked.

“She’s just a blow hard, she shrugs off all her problems on Twilight and her friends.” Jason shrugged.

“That’s a bit lazy of her then. Should we start walking to the Everfree or hang out around here for a bit?” Crystal said with a thin-lipped smile and crossed arms.

“I don’t see why not, they can find us if they need us.” He put the dial back down, moving toward the door. “Come on Freya, lets go.”

“Alright, alright sheesh.” She got up, stretching. “We should probably check on Dash while we’re out.”

“Good idea.” Crystal said and followed them, waving to Pinkie and Rarity as she did. “I wonder if she’s gotten out of the cocoon,” she wondered out loud, stretching her arms behind her head. The trio walked past Twilight and Celestia and were soon on there way to the Everfree. They stopped by where they knew Dash would be though to check up on her.
> Chapter 10 - Aliens and Magic Part 6: Finale (EDITED)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Looking down at the cocoon, Crystal found that Rainbow's fur had turned shiny and black, a jet-black horn jutted from her head with electric blue spiralling around it. Her hooves had a few small holes in them but the only thing that was relatively unchanged was her mane and tail, even if they had a slight green tinge to them.

“She wasn’t strong enough to get out of the cocoon.” Crystal stated, kneeling down next to Dash.

“Nope~!” Freya kneeled down, tearing the cocoon open with her horn, releasing the new changeling.

When it opened, Dash’s eyes snapped open and rose up, shaking her head. “Ugh. What happened?” Dash asked, rubbing her face. Feeling something on her head, she felt it around with her hand. “I have a horn. I must have converted into a changeling.” Rainbow said softly, looking at the three of them.

“What? You're not going to freak out?” Jason asked, raising his eyebrow.

“Why would I? I freaked out already after you all left. I guess I sort of accepted it after tiring from trying to break free.” Dash said simply, shrugging. She stretched and heard a few cracks. Feeling something fluttering on her back, she tried to feel around and found it to be membranous wings. 

“Wings? Wings!? I have wings!?” Dash asked in a slight panic.

“This you freak out over?” Crystal asked in disbelief.

“You don’t get it. My wings were amputated. I didn’t think the conversion would affect that! The nerves were shot, so I had to go with having nubs. I didn’t think the wings part of being a changeling would come into play because of that.” Dash explained, her new wings fluttering haphazardly all the while.

“Nice...” Freya smiled, walking around Dash. “You made an excellent drone!”

“A … drone?” Dash asked with a straight face, trying to get used to having wings again. “Why would I be a drone?”

“What? You think you’d turn into a queen?” Freya scoffed, “Your ego never changes.”

“I thought of that, but I also thought I’d turn into a changeling like you.” Dash confessed, standing up and rolling her shoulders, wincing at the itchiness her wings provided.

“You are like me except I am a queen and you are a drone, my drone.” Freya smirked, looking her over.

“Well that’s just great.” Dash said sarcastically, folding her arms over her chest. “I’m not sure how to feel about that.”

“It doesn’t matter how you feel, what matter is you are mine now.” Freya crossed her arms smirking.

“Twilight is going to be pissed.” Jason sighed, running a hand down his face.

“I wonder how Twilight and the others will react to Dash being a changeling. It most likely won’t be pretty.” Crystal said with a frown, tapping her foot impatiently.

“How do you think I’m yours? Because you converted me?” Dash asked Freya, raising an eyebrow.

“Because I can do this.” She smirked and suddenly Dash was standing at attention.

“What is this? Why can’t I move?” Dash asked, trying in vain to move her fingers to no avail.

“You hear that voice in your head?” Freya asked, tapping Dash’s head. “That's my voice. You are now connected to me via a hivemind and you will do whatever I command you to do, when I command you to do it.”

Dash winced as she heard Freya speak in her mind. “This must be how Chrysalis commanded her army,” she commented.

“Well of course, duh.” Freya commented back.

“I don’t get a say in what you make me do, do I?” Dash asked for confirmation, trying to move her arm but found that Freya still had a hold on her. “I don’t like this one bit,” she growled.

“Changeling hierarchy is confusing.” Crystal mumbled, holding her head to try and make sense of all this.

“You don’t have to like it.” Freya shrugged. “Now dance!”

Dash heard the command and instantly found herself dancing to some tune only she could hear. 

“This is so humiliating.” Dash grumbled. Crystal found herself trying to hold back laughter as she witnessed Dash’s crazy dance moves.

“Well maybe you should think twice about attacking people hmm?” She asked, a smirk of amusement on her face.

“I definitely will if that will make me stop dancing.” Dash answered with a snort.

“Nope!”

“Oh come on! What do you want from me then? An apology? Actually think about why I attacked you?” Dash asked, only feeling slightly desperate.

“No I want you to keep moving that sexy body of yours.” She smirked, licking her lips.

“What?” Dash asked in astonishment.

“You heard me!”

Dash only grumbled and began to move her body more sexily than before.

“Alright, alright, that's enough.” Jason cleared his throat. “Dash, do you want to stay a changeling or go back to being...whatever the hell you were before?”

“I’ll stay as a changeling. If only to keep the wings.” Dash answered confidently.

“I’m pretty sure you’d at least get your old wings back if I change you back.”

“You can do that?” Dash asked, eyes widening. “I just don’t want to risk it though, in case it doesn’t work.”

“It’ll be fine, now do you want to go back or not?”

Dash thought about it for a bit and shook her head. “No, I’ll stay as a changeling. There could be other benefits to being a changeling anyway.”

“Oh, one other thing I should mention.” Freya cleared her throat. “All drones are asexual.”

“They are?” Dash asked in surprise. “So I won’t be able to love someone?”

“Nope, and you’ll never have children, those organs are gone.” She sighed. “You really, really shouldn’t stay like this.”

“If you change me back, will I have wings?” Dash asked immediately, not liking the sound of being a changeling anymore.

“Yes I’m sure.” He rolled his eyes. “Unless you want to try and become a queen...though I have no idea how you’d even do that.”

“Change me back then, please.” Dash said with conviction, having finally made up her mind about it.

“Omnitrix, repair genetic damage.” Jason held his arm out, the Omnitrix let out a green energy pulse, hitting Dash. Her exoskeleton burned off, revealing her original form.

“Thank you.” Dash said, giving a quick feel around her back to find that her wings were there. “My wings are here too. What was that green beam?” Dash asked, flexing her wings a bit and scratching her cheek.

“It was the watch fixing your DNA.” Jason turned, looking to the forest. “Now come on, we have things to do.”

“Right.” Crystal said and rubbed the back of her neck. She gave Dash a smile and followed Jason, sticking close to Freya.

“You going to the Everfree? Why?” Dash asked before they got out of earshot.

“To train!” Jason shouted back.



A few months have gone by and during that time, Jason and Freya both trained Crystal. Having had her butt handed to her multiple times, Crystal figured that a few dozen more wouldn’t hurt. She has definitely felt herself get stronger every time they trained, even if it was only bit by bit. The three of them were currently sitting up in the library in the Castle of the Two Sisters.

“Come on, you ready to train some more today?” Crystal asked them.

“Actually, it might be time for us to go.” Jason got up from his chair, stretching himself out. “I mean, Hodgepodge did the math, a few months here is what? A week or two home? We really can’t stay too much longer.”

“Awww. Okay. I didn’t think you would stay this long though. A couple of weeks, maybe a month, tops.” Crystal frowned but immediately smiled as she got up from her chair. “Thank you for training me though. It’s been really fun.” She added, giving the both of them a smile. “How do I send you back?”

“We don’t have to leave right now...” Freya moved over, pulling Crystal into a deep kiss.

“You don’t? The way Jason said it made it sound like you did.” Crystal said, kissing Freya just as deeply.

Jason sighed, heading to the door. “Come find me in Ponyville when you’re done.”

“Yup, got it.” Crystal said as she blushed profusely and gave Jason a sheepish smile. She then wrapped her arms around Freya when she heard the door close, smiling up at her. “We’re all alone now, aren’t we?” She asked, giving Freya a quick kiss.

“That we are...” she smiled, licking Crystal’s lips. Crystal caught Freya’s tongue with her lips, suckling on it a bit before going in for another kiss.

“Crystal?” Freya asked, pulling back a bit.

“Yeah? What?” Crystal replied curiously.

“Sorry about this!” She gave a sheepish smile before casting Sleep on her. Not having any time to react, Crystal’s eyes closed and she slumped towards the floor, instantly falling asleep as the spell took effect.

Opening her eyes, Crystal yawned and blinked, looking around the room from where she was lying on the floor. Loud screams and explosions filled the air, the ground shaking. Hearing this, Crystal shakily got up and slowly walked to the door, trying to balance herself on the shaking ground. Walking through it, she got her balance right and began running full pelt to where she believed everything originated from. Getting outside the castle, Crystal looked around frantically and found a plume of smoke rising from somewhere nearby. Recognising the direction, she huffed and ran as fast as she could towards Ponyville, the screams and explosions only getting louder the nearer she got.

“Why is this even happening?” Crystal asked herself as she got closer, racing past the forest limits to try and figure out what the heck was causing this.

“Someone help!” Twilight shouted running out of her library, which was on fire.

Crystal made her way over to Twilight and grabbed her by the arms. “Twilight, what happened here?” She asked roughly, looking at the tree house. Concentrating, she let go of her and walked up, breathing in the fire and toxic fumes until there was nothing left to make the tree burn. “I’ll ask again. What happened?”

“H-he went insane!” she cried, “H-he’s killing everyone!”

“What? Who went insane?” Crystal asked, trying to get a bit more information out of her before trying to help any others. “You don’t mean Jason, do you?” Crystal asked nervously.

“H-”There was a sickening cracking sound and she fell limp against her, a large piece of blue diamond sticking out of the back of her head.

“A diamond?” Crystal asked, looking at the direction the diamond must have come from. Recognising its colour, her eyes widened in fear as she realised that it belonged to Jason. “Oh no.” She muttered to herself. Looking at the direction again, Crystal took off that way, hoping to catch up to him.

Rarity’s scream pierced the air, spurring Crystal on. Quickly running to her, she tried to comfort her but at the same time, kept her eyes peeled for any rogue diamonds. Taking a quick look around at the fires, Crystal left Rarity for a moment to try and absorb the flames so that they won’t get any further out of control.

“Come on, Diamondhead. Where are you?” Crystal muttered after having absorbed the flames and made sure Rarity was fine before taking off in a random direction.

“S-someone help!” Dash shouted, drawing Crystal’s attention. She watched in horror as Jason brought his foot down on her head, crushing it.

Filled with rage at him killing her friends, Crystal covered herself in a thick layer of black crystal. She charged at him, ignoring the gory remains of Dash’s head as she went to punch him. He caught her wrist, punching her in the stomach before tossing her away.

Crystal grunted and screamed as she was tossed away. Smashing into a building, she coughed and wiped her mouth, standing up. The layer of crystal on her was completely obliterated near her stomach and chipped away from when she landed in the building. Shaking her head, Crystal snorted and filled her hands with flames. Running towards him, she shouted something and combined both hands, clapping a massive fireball towards him. She then sent a small flurry of crystals after the fireball in case he managed to block it. He rolled out of the way, sending a shockwave of ice spikes at her.

Gritting her teeth, Crystal lit herself on fire and to the fires she absorbed earlier, turned the temperature up to such a degree that she left scorch marks wherever her feet touched the ground. Sidestepping the spikes in front of her, she then jumped above the second set and touched down, sending a shockwave of blistering flames his way with large shards of crystal mixed in.

He slid back a bit before changing into Four Arms, rushing at her. He threw two punches at her, using his other arms to try and grab her.

Crystal gasped as he punched her and dodged one of the arms before feeling him grab her with his second arm. Clasping her hands together, she gritted her teeth and formed a crystal spike between her hands. She then went and slammed the spike down onto the hand that held her.

He grunted in pain before tossing her into a building, cracking his neck.

Crystal gasped in pain as she felt a building crash around her. Coughing a bit of blood, Crystal glared at Four Arms and lit one hand on fire, while covering the other in crystal. Placing the fire in the crystal, she then wrapped it up in even more crystal before running up to him and chucking the crystal fireball at the four-armed monster. He brought his arms together in an attempt to block it, only to be sent through a building and tumbling into town hall.

She gave a savage grin at her small victory and ran after him, covering herself in crystal as she did. Igniting her hands, Crystal fired off a few fireballs at him as she slowed down to try and catch her breath and saw the fireballs careen wildly away from him. Once she got her breath back, she walked up to him and leaned down over him.

“Why did you go insane?” Crystal asked gruffly.

He started to laugh, looking up at her. “I didn’t.”

“What?” Crystal asked through gritted teeth. “What do you mean you didn’t?”

He got up, brushing himself off. “It was all just a test Crystal.”

“Just a test!? I saw you crush Dash’s skull beneath your foot! I saw Twilight get impaled by a diamond! I helped stop fires around the town!” Crystal cried, waving her arm at the destruction and looking up at him with tears gathering in the corners of her eyes...except it was all fixed. There was no destruction and everyone seemed fine. Crystal took another angry look around and found that it was all fixed. No destruction anywhere.

“Wh-what? But … there was …” Crystal trailed off as she wiped her eyes. “How and why? Why did you make me believe you went insane and killed two of my friends?” Crystal asked, ineffectively trying to push him backwards.

“I needed to test you.” He looked down at her. “I needed to know what kind of person you really are.”

“And the verdict was?” Crystal asked with slight anger in her voice as she closed her eyes and exhaled.

“You passed with flying colors.” He smiled, patting her shoulder. “Now come on, let's go to Sugarcube Corner and get you some food.”

“That’s … good.” Crystal said as she sighed in relief, letting the last of her anger go. Turning around, she then began to walk to the bakery. “I passed with flying colours. Did anyone here see what we did?”

“Everyone in town saw.”

“Oh.” Crystal said in a small voice, suddenly feeling self-conscious about herself. “Were they hurt in any way?” She asked, hoping no one was actually hurt. “Was Freya in on this as well?” Crystal continued suspiciously.

“No Crystal, no one was hurt.” Jason rolled his eyes. “If if makes you feel any better the guy who trained me did the same thing.”

“He - oh.” Crystal stammered. “At least the town is fine. How did you make me think it was all real though?”

“Because I can cast illusions.” He smiled sadly. “You know...Freya’s going to miss you...”

“She is?” Crystal asked, her mood turning slightly gloomy. “I didn’t think she would.” Crystal added softly.

“Why wouldn’t she? You two have been close this whole time.” Jason slapped Crystal upside the head. “Yggdrasil you’re dense.”

“I may be dense but I thought she wouldn’t because of what she said about changeling drones being asexual and I have no idea if Freya is a drone or a queen.” Crystal replied, rubbing the sore spot on her head.

“You don’t pay attention at all do you? Of course Freya is a queen, otherwise Dash wouldn’t have obeyed her.”

“Yeah, well changeling ranking is confusing to me. I’ll going to miss Freya as well.” Crystal said with a soft sigh and found that Sugarcube Corner was just up ahead.

“That's why...I’m giving you two one last night together. Don’t make me regret it got that?” He asked, moving into the building, leaving Crystal on her own.

“Yup, got it.” Crystal replied as her face lit up. She then followed him inside, hoping to actually get something to eat.

“Hey.” Freya slipped in behind her, kissing her neck. “You did good.” She wrapped her arms around her waist, hugging her close.

“Hi. Thanks for that.” Crystal said with a smile, leaning backwards into Freya. “You put me to sleep because of the test, didn’t you?” she stated, knowing it to be true.

“Yeah...sorry about that...” she dragged Crystal to an unoccupied corner of the room, the table already set with food.

“Oh well. At least nothing bad actually happened.” Crystal shrugged, sitting down at the table. “It’s fine though. You’ve apologised twice so I think that’s enough apologising.”

“I made sure to order all your favorites!” Freya smiled, gesturing to the food.

“Oh! Thank you. But what about you though?” Crystal asked, enthusiastically digging in. “Are you going to eat?”

“I’m saving my appetite.” She winked, licking her lips.

Crystal blushed, instantly knowing what she meant by that. “Fair enough,” she said with a shrug.

“But take your time and enjoy your meal, I can wait.”

Crystal did just that, managing to finish the meal in about an hour. While she did, they both talked about anything that popped into their heads.

“You know...my mother has been pressuring me to start my own hive.” Freya nuzzled Crystal, who had been moved into the changeling’s lap.

“She has? Why is that?” Crystal asked, nuzzling back.

“My sister Sif is going to inherit my mother’s hive and Heimdall will be leaving to go off on his own soon. Can’t have too many queens in one hive, even if they are related, that's how assassinations start.”

“Ah, got it. And you’re thinking about starting one with me?” Crystal asked, looking at her 
curiously.

“Well...yes...” she leaned down, nibbling on her ear.

“I … like the sound of that, actually.” Crystal replied, biting on her bottom lip as she thought through it.

“R-really?” she asked, looking at her in genuine surprise.

“Yeah, really. I mean, it’ll be different, and new, and exciting but if it’s with you then I’m happy to do it.” Crystal answered with a nod and a smile.

“Oh! You make me so happy!” she purred, hugging her lover tightly.

“Freya, a bit too tight!” Crystal gasped as she swore she felt her lungs get crushed slightly. “I’m happy that you’re happy though,” she rasped, managing to hug her back, even if it was with a lot less strength than she hoped.

“Oh! Sorry.” Freya blushed, loosening her grip on the poor human.	

Crystal sucked in some much needed air. “That’s … fine. It was just unexpected, is all. Now, how do we go about making a hive?”

“Well...” She leaned down, breathing hotly on Crystal’s neck. “I could pump you full of eggs...”

Crystal stiffened at that. “Is there any other way? I may as well know all the options.” She said, leaning back a bit to look at Freya.

“Well...you could go back to being male for a bit or we could just convert a whole bunch of people.” She hummed, stroking her hair. Crystal thought the different options over in her mind.

“The eggs sound very appealing …” Crystal mused, looping her hands lazily around Freya’s neck.

“Really?” she asked, giving a laugh.

“What’s so funny? The other two don’t sound like a lot of fun for me.” Crystal said with a shrug and a smile, giggling slightly. “The egg option sounds like it would be a lot more fun than the other two. That’s all.”

She giggled with her, nuzzling her neck. “You're the best you know that?”

“Nope. I may need to hear it more often.” Crystal answered with a smirk, giving Freya a kiss on the cheek. “Do you know how long the eggs will stay in me?”

“Hmm...about three months give or take. They have to incubate.”

“I figured that, I just didn’t know how long.” Crystal said with a shrug. “At least I now know.”

“Honestly...I’ve been thinking about staying...”

“You … what? You’re thinking of staying? Why?” Crystal asked in surprise.

“You silly...” she said, nibbling her ear again.

“Oh! Because of me!” Crystal said with a laugh. “What about your family though?”

“Not like I can’t visit them, I mean, you do have my father’s token.”

“This is true. Hodge probably has a copy of mine anyway.” Crystal replied. “Should we tell Jason about this?”



THIS IS A SLIGHT CLOP SCENE. I’LL MARK OFF WHERE THE STORY RESUMES. DON’T READ IF YOU DON’T LIKE CLOP!!
“We can tell him later...” she licked her neck, her hands sliding under her shirt, grabbing her breasts, giving them a squeeze.

Crystal stiffened under the groping, panting a bit as she tried not to moan. “You do know we’re still in public, right?”

“Oh I know, makes it just that much more exciting huh?” She grinned deviously, tweaking her nipples.

She desperately tried not to moan at the touch. “Maybe just a bit.” Crystal panted, a blush adorning her cheeks. She nervously looked around and thankfully found that no-one was staring at them yet. Keeping her hands looped around Freya, she leaned in and kissed her passionately.

She returned the kiss, groping and squeezing her lover’s breasts, her horn glowing as she sucked in the lust. Breathing through her nose, Crystal continued kissing and moved her hands from around her neck and slid them down until they rested atop of Freya’s breasts. She gave them a gentle squeeze through her shirt, still slightly nervous about the other patrons.

“Come on...you can do better than that...” Freya egged on, keeping one hand at Crystal’s breasts, her other hand slowly making its way down south.

“You want me to do better? Fine.” Crystal replied, moving around so that she was straddling Freya while they still faced each other. She quickly moved her hand under Freya’s shirt, groping one of her breasts while the other one began to move down below, unintentionally mirroring her.

She cooed, licking her cheek. “That's it! Much better!”

“Glad to please.” Crystal smirked, letting out a small moan.

“Now...” Freya nipped at her neck. “Are you ready to be stuffed full of eggs...?”

Crystal leaned closer, nipping softly and breathing hotly on her neck. “More than ready.” She whispered lustily, not caring anymore about the other occupants in the restaurant.

Freya smiled, her horn glowing again, teleporting them back into the forest, more specifically, a flowery meadow.

Crystal let go of her and fell backwards onto the grass, lifting her head and supporting herself with her elbows as she gazed at the sudden change in surroundings, smiling at the meadow. “This doesn’t fit with the Everfree at all. It’s actually nice here. I thought you liked being in public though. Why teleport us?”

“I do but I’m not going to just start doing it in the middle of Sugarcube Corner...just feels wrong...like stabbing your childhood...”

“I suppose that makes sense.” Crystal replied, sitting up properly and looking at her lover with half-lidded eyes.

She smiled, grabbing Crystal’s pants, pulling them off and tossing them away. Shivering a bit at the sudden contact with the air, she leaned forward and smiled wickedly, taking off Freya’s shirt and throwing it to the side.

She giggled, tossing her own shirt away. “My, my, an eager one aren’t you?”

“What can I say?” Crystal asked with a grin. Freya pushed her down, kissing her deeply. Crystal laughed and kissed back, groping Freya’s breasts roughly as she tried to get her tongue into Freya’s mouth. Freya smirked, kicking her own pants off.

“I’m going to make you scream...” she licked her fangs, a predatory grin on her face.
STORY RESUMES HERE!



“So...you two had fun...” Jason commented as the girls stumbled back into town

“Heh, heh.” Crystal said with a loopy grin, leaning on Freya for support. Freya tenderly nuzzled her neck, rubbing Crystal’s stomach gently.

Crystal hummed and held Freya’s hand against her stomach but looked at Jason worriedly, unsure if she should be the one to break the news or not.

“You can’t stay Freya.” Jason sighed, shaking his head. “And no, before you go off on me, you're my successor.” He looked his daughter in the eyes. “You're my first born...hatched, whatever, point is, I need you home.”

Freya looked away, taking in a deep breath. “I’m sorry Crystal...”

“It’s fine …” Crystal said, sitting down cross-legged and drawing circles in the dirt dejectedly.  “I didn’t think he would let you stay anyway.”

Freya dropped to her knees, pulling Crystal into a tight hug. “I love you...” she whispered softly, nuzzling her.

Crystal sniffed, hugging Freya back just as tightly. “I love you too,” she whispered, still looking at the ground, not willing to look either of them in the eye.

Freya gently grabbed her head, lifting it up so they could look eye to eye. “I will always come back to you.” She lifted up Crystal’s hand, placing a small disk in her hand. “This will let us talk no matter where we are.”

Crystal looked at Freya with tears in her eyes and closed her hand around the disc. “You promise?”

“I swear it” She pulled her into another kiss. “I don’t expect you to wait for me and you shouldn’t...”

Crystal kissed her roughly, feeling tears slide down her face. “If that’s the case, then I don’t expect you to wait for me either.” She said with a watery smile and a slight waver to her voice.

“I’ll wait...if you wait...” Freya said softly, not wanting to let her go, tears flowing down her muzzle.

“You … will?” Crystal asked, looking at her with slight hope in her teary eyes.

“Of course I will...I’ll wait until the end of time...” she got to her hooves, pulling Crystal up with her.

Crystal gave her a tight hug and whispered, “Thank you.”

Freya hugged her back before stepping away, rubbing at her eyes.

“Here.” Jason tossed Crystal a storage cube. “A graduation present. It’s a copy of my cube, full of spell books and other assorted things, like a sack of enigma berry seeds and a device that’ll play any song you can think of.”

Crystal fumbled with it for a bit before finally catching it. “Oh, thanks. This’ll be fun to play around with.” She said after rubbing at her eyes.

“Just...let me know when it’s time?” Freya asked, glancing at Crystal’s stomach.

“Hmm. I definitely will.” Crystal nodded, giving Freya a smile as she took notice of the glance. “I suppose you want to head back home?”

“All you have to say is, ‘Jason, our contract is complete.” Crystal took a deep breath and calmed herself.

“Jason, our contract is complete.” Crystal repeated, placing the disc that Freya gave her inside her cube.

They gave one last wave before they vanished in a green flash, Jason’s token falling to the ground. Crystal walked up to the token and held it tightly, giving it a sad smile.
> Chapter 11 - Ice Field (EDITED)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Placing the token in the cube, Crystal held it tightly, blinking away the last of her tears while walking in a random direction. She sighed to herself and thought back over what happened the previous few months. Concentrating on what Jason taught her about spells, she remembered a few of them but that was most likely what the spellbooks he gave her were referring to. Looking down at the ground as she walked, Crystal didn’t notice that she nearly bumped into someone until a couple of hands were placed on her shoulders.

“Derrick? Where have you been for the past few months?” A familiar voice asked, causing Crystal to look up at her old name.

“In the Everfree, training with Jason and Freya, who just left. Why? Has something come up?” Crystal asked, looking at Levy worriedly. She still had the same clothes from when she was in the Crystal Empire. A sun yellow dress, with white trim on the bottom hem.

“You’re not Derrick.” Levy said in surprise as she beheld Crystal’s face and voice.

“I am. I just had a gender swap and my name is Crystal now. Is something the matter?” Crystal repeated, looking at Levy intently.

“Not really. I just thought you stuck around in the Crystal Empire after Gajeel attacked. I tried to calm him down after the fight but he already was so we both went back to the guild. Where’s your vest?” Levy said, and after looking at the red shirt, looked back up to Crystal.

“My vest? Shit, I must have left it back at the castle. I’ll go grab it later.” Crystal said, looking at the Everfree, then back to Levy, gently taking her hands off her shoulders. “There has to be another reason why you stopped me. What is it?”

“Oh! Right. Since you’re here, why don’t I introduce you to the guild?” Levy asked, clasping her hands behind her back, smiling as she swayed from side to side.

“Seeing new faces will do me some good.” Crystal said in way of answering. “Why don’t you show me the way?”

“Sure!” Levy said in a chipper manner, turning around and leading the girl towards the Fairy Tail guild. Crystal nodded and scratched her head, giving a small sigh as she followed.

“The name suits you.” Levy said with a smile, glancing back at her before bringing her gaze back to the front so she wouldn’t hit anyone.



In a distant corner of Canterlot, in a dark alleyway where there were only a few shops that sold suspicious magic items, a hooded figure walked through it, finding the shop he was looking for. 

“Ice-Make: Diamond Cage!” The figure shouted, throwing one of his hands out to encase the poor salesman in a block of ice, watching in smug satisfaction as the trapped stallion looked at him in horror.

“Why? Why are you doing this?” The salesperson asked, fear making his voice waver while, looking at the hooded figure. The figure didn’t answer. He only swept passed and grabbed an amulet encased in a domed glass display case from behind the counter. Not wishing to hear another word from him, the figure punched the salesperson, knocking him out cold.

Leaving the shop, he made ice form around the lock, intentionally sealing the occupant inside, grinning maliciously all the while. Looking at the amulet in his hand properly, he smashed the glass and tossed it to another individual, who watched the entire ordeal take place.

“This what you wanted?” He asked, folding his arms after taking his hood off, revealing grey hair the same shade as his partner.

“Oh yes. Trixie is pleased you did well.” Trixie answered, walking out of the shadows, revealing that she was wearing black leggings, a purple, star-studded skirt as well as a light pink, low-cut shirt with a blue crescent moon and wand in the middle. She walked up to him, trailing her fingers across his arm.

“Now for us to take our revenge. Trixie for Twilight, you for Gray, Lyon.” Trixie said, giving him a manic grin as she placed the amulet around her neck. Feeling power surge through her, Lyon saw the blue unicorn’s eyes light up red as well as her horn give off a faint red shine as her body accepted this new power.

“Perfect.”



“Here we are!” Levy announced, giving the large, three storey building a few blocks down from Twilight’s library a grand gesture.

“I do not know how I missed this the first time I walked through the town.” Crystal said, her mouth hanging open as she looked at the building. “It’s freaking huge!”

“I’m actually surprised you didn’t stop by, considering you have the mark.” Levy said, lifting up Crystal’s right sleeve to show what she was talking about. Crystal glanced at it before Levy put the sleeve back down.

“I was busy with other stuff. But since we’re here, we may as well go in.” Crystal said, rubbing her eyes and flashing Levy a smile. She smiled back and led the way inside, ducking casually as she opened the door and a chair came flying out, shattering against the stairs that lead up to the entrance.

“The hell was that?” Crystal asked, looking at the splintered remains before moving her head to peek around the side of the door. Her eyes widened and she immediately ducked as a fully naked body came flying past, bouncing along the stairs and coming to a stop, only for him to immediately get up and rush back inside, howling in fury. “Levy? I think they’re all mad.” She said with a blank expression.

“That’s one way of putting it. Quick! While nothing’s flying past!” Levy said and immediately grabbed Crystal’s hand as they both ran inside. They both quickly went to the side where no-one was fighting and made their way to the bar at the back. Looking around in amazement, Crystal mentally gave a whoop of joy as she watched the bar brawl.

“I finally get to see the guild!” Crystal was unable to contain her excitement, placing her storage cube in one of her pockets.

“Yeah? Oh right, you said you were from a different world. If the fighting gets too out of hand though, the master will step in but that hasn’t happened for a few weeks, oddly enough.” Levy informed her, leaning against the wall near the bar.

“Maybe they haven’t been that bad.” Crystal suggested, sitting down on a stool at the bar near Levy. “Is Gajeel here? I want to see his reaction if he remembers what I looked like.” She added with a smile, taking a look around the room again. Her eyes stopped roving when she spotted the half-naked guy from earlier. “He doesn’t look that banged up actually.” Crystal commented, pointing to him.

“They never do, not unless they fight seriously at any rate. Grey! Your clothes!” A voice answered from behind Crystal, making her spin around to find a white-haired woman wearing a dark pink dress. Hearing a shout of indignation, she twirled back around on the bar stool to find Gray stomping away from the fight to hopefully find his clothes.

“You’re Mirajane …” Crystal breathed, swivelling back to face her.

“That’s me! Don’t wear it out.” Mirajane responded with a light-hearted smile. Humming to herself, she busied herself behind the bar and idly commented, “You’re new. Where did Levy find you?”

“Crystal Empire. It was during my last job there. I haven’t seen hi-her for the last few months actually.” Levy answered, correcting herself during that slip up. If Mirajane noticed, then she didn’t comment about it. Rather, she cleaned a few glasses and rested her upper body against the counter, looking at Crystal.

“What’s your name?” Mirajane asked.

“Crystal.” Crystal replied, jumping a bit at the sudden attention.

“Fitting name. Why have you come to Fairy Tail?”

“Levy wanted me to after I showed her this.” Crystal replied, turning to the left while lifting up the right sleeve of her shirt, revealing a red Fairy Tail mark on her bicep.

“Where did you get that?” Mirajane asked suspiciously, touching the mark to see if it was real.

“Back home. It was meant to be a temporary tattoo but when I got sent here, it was somehow made real and permanent, along with the magic that goes with it.” Crystal answered, brushing the fingers off and lowering the sleeve.

“Magic? What kind of magic?” A third voice popped up, making Crystal turn her head towards it. The voice belonged to an eighteen year old girl with dark-brown wavy hair,wearing  the top half of a blue bikini and short red pants that came halfway up her knees.

Before Crystal could answer, a group of screams came from outside the guild, causing the fighting inside to almost immediately stop. She hopped off the stool, running towards sound while she noticed someone else do the same. Shouldering open one of the double doors, she quickly stepped down, hearing footsteps behind her as she did. Leaving it open, Crystal stepped onto the ground and took off, hopefully leading them to where she heard the screams.

“Oi! Slow down!” A male voice called out from behind her. Crystal skidded to a stop, turning to find Gray catching up to her.

“Was I really going that fast? And where are your clothes?” Crystal answered, raising an eyebrow at Gray’s state of dress. Glancing down at himself, he growled at himself and glared at her.

“There’s no time for that!”

“No time for what? Undressing? You appear to have it down to an art.” Crystal commented.

“It’s a habit.” Gray answered, brushing past her roughly and stalking off to the screams.

“Yeah, I know.” Crystal grumbled, rubbing her arm as she went after him.

When they both arrived, they found that most of the ponies in the marketplace had been iced over, including most of the ground. Other than that, Twilight was casting spells at another blue Unicorn, while a third person cast ice spells at random intervals, which is where the ice seemed especially thick underfoot..

“Lyon.” Gray cursed under his breath, running out to meet the ice mage.

“Oh hell.” Crystal muttered, ducking under a misfired spell from the blue Unicorn. “Okay, fine. Magic, highly unpredictable. Ice magic, a lot more predictable.” Crystal mumbled, weighing up the options of either helping Twilight or Gray. Running to the latter, she skidded on the slick ground, managing to bowl over Lyon in the process, falling onto him in a tangle of limbs.

“Seriously?” Gray asked incredulously.

“I did not intend for that to happen.” Crystal groaned, untangling herself and standing up, trying to find purchase on the ice.

“I’ll make sure it won’t happen again, intentionally or not.” Lyon answered, standing up and dusting himself off before throwing a single hand out, shouting “Ice-Make: Eagle!” at the same time.

“I am not having this.” Crystal said and raising her arms up, created a crystal shield between herself and the eagles. She forgot that the eagles flew past every obstacle in their way, hitting their target dead on. Observing the eagles fly either over or around the shield, Crystal covered herself in flames and added a thick layer of black crystal to herself, hoping that would be enough to stop the attack. It wasn’t. Most of them burned up but the last one Lyon had fired managed to catch her in the chest, causing her flames to go out as well as a massive crack in her armor forming where the living ice sculpture hit.

“Ice-Make: Shield!” Gray shouted, banging a fist into his open palm and quickly lowering himself, spread both arms wide open, barely managing to block Lyon’s ice sword in time.

“When will you learn that I’m better than you!” Lyon snarled, jumping over the shield as he prepared for another attack.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie can see you’re running out of power, Twilight Sparkle.” Trixie grinned, sending a powerful bolt of red energy towards her. Twilight tried to counter it but found that it missed her completely, instead, it went over her head and towards one of the trapped citizens. The bolt hit, causing the unfortunate to age rapidly into the ripe old age of ninety.

“An age spell? When did you learn how to cast an age spell?” Twilight asked, her mouth hanging open as she tried to breathe to get some energy back.

Not bothering to answer, Trixie smirked and levitated Twilight towards her. “I win.” Trixie said softly, teleporting Twilight out of Ponyville and deep into the Everfree.

“I did not see that coming.” Crystal commented watching Twilight vanish. She then turned her attention back to her own fight, firing off a stream of flames towards Lyon. He dodged under them, getting up close so he could rapidly punch her. He was stopped by Gray slamming an ice hammer into his back, making him fall flat on his face, effectively cracking the ice.

Feeling heat come closer, Crystal turned and inhaled, swallowing the flames while looking Trixie with a grin. “Got anymore where they came from?” She asked, moving closer to her, knowing that Gray will be able to handle Lyon.

“Uum.” Trixie blinked, not even sure how to respond to that.

“You will pay for that!” Lyon shouted, standing up and covering one of his hands in ice. Once he finished, it ended up looking like a wolf’s head. Satisfied with it, he charged Gray, sending multiple punches his way, the magic in the wolf causing him to punch faster and harder than normal. Gray grunted with each punch, ineffectively protecting himself from each punch by moving his arms to where he thought they would be, only for them to appear in another place entirely.

“You know, single-hand-use is unbalanced.” Gray tittered, managing to jump back and up to a nearby roof, getting away from the flurry.

“You going to do something or do I have to burn you to make you talk?” Crystal asked, threatening Trixie by lighting her palm on fire.

“I … uhh, no?” Trixie asked hopefully, slowly backing away from the pyromaniac.

“Too bad. I don’t like the fact you teleported Twilight anyway.” Crystal said with a shrug, pointing her finger at Trixie’s arm, sending a small stream of flames towards it. They made contact, making Trixie scream as she desperately tried to put the burn out. “It’s just a burn. Seriously, you can barely see it.” Crystal said nonchalantly. She walked closer and grabbed Trixie where she got burned, and gripped hard. “You going to make me disappear too or are you admitting defeat?”

Lyon growled, jumping up to Gray, only to find a double-handed ice battle axe come towards him. Not being able to do anything in time to stop it, he let it hit him, sending him crashing back down to earth.

Gray crouched on the side of the building, smirking at him. “I told you using one hand unbalances the ice magic.” Gray said, looking to see if Lyon would retaliate. He did but it was with a giant ice dragon. Eyes opening wide, he managed to dodge the first strike, the dragon making part of the roof collapse in on itself. Still falling through the air, the dragon turned around and crashed into him, sending him flying across the marketplace and into an apple stall, making it collapse around him as the dragon turned around to attack once more.

Seeing this, Crystal dropped the still stunned Trixie onto her feet and ran up to the dragon, breathing fire onto it to see if it would melt. It didn’t. Instead, Lyon directed it to attack Crystal, grinning maliciously.

Seeing it switch targets immediately, Crystal stopped her breathing and covered herself in a thick layer of crystal, most of it being concentrated around her stomach. Crisscrossing her arms in an x formation, she tried to see if that would stop it. It still managed to get through her defenses and plowed into her, sending her skidding across the ice and crashing into Trixie, bowling her over.

Trixie fell and tried to break her fall by throwing her hands out but was saved from the horror of her arms breaking by Lyon catching her. He looked at her with a smile and placed her back on her feet before turning to face down Gray, who had just gotten out of the wreckage of the apple stall.

Gray jumped down, panting as he wiped his mouth and breathed out cold air, looking at Lyon with tired eyes. “Ur would be disappointed you were doing this.” He said simply, walking slowly towards Lyon, getting ready to unleash another spell.

“Ur? Disappointed? Are you kidding? I’ve surpassed Ur! She should be proud of what I’ve done!” Lyon said maniacally, throwing his arms wide as he cackled.

“Proud? You think our master would be proud?” Gray asked, pouring more into his ice spell, getting enraged at what Lyon was saying.

“Oh, most definitely.” Lyon answered, smirking and laughing darkly as he gathered ice in his dominant hand. Spinning around, he then threw his hand out, making an ice serpent appear and fly straight towards Gray.

Gray threw both his arms out, creating a massive ice shield that the serpent rammed against repeatedly. Panting at feeling the last dregs of his magic, Gray ran out from behind the shield and formed an ice cannon, aiming it directly at Lyon. Pulling the ice string, it fired an iceball and barreled into him, making Lyon cough in pain as specks of blood flew out his mouth.

Dissolving the crystal around herself, Crystal hesitantly got up, ears ringing as she tried to figure out if the fighting had ended or not. Turning slowly on the spot, she found that Lyon and Gray were just about to have a final confrontation while Trixie stood blankly, looking at her partner weirdly. Giving a sigh, Crystal walked up to her and placed a hand on Trixie’s shoulder.

Trixie tensed up and slowly turned her head to look at Crystal guiltily. “Trixie hopes you are not going to burn her again.” Trixie said, glancing at the burn still on her arm.

“I won’t, I just want you to do one thing for me. Otherwise I will make your shoulder hurt like hell.” Crystal said, tightening her grip ever so slightly.

“What?”

“Bring Twilight back.” Crystal said simply.

“Of course. Trixie is surprised Twilight Sparkle hasn’t made her way back yet already though.” Trixie answered, immediately teleporting Twilight out of the Everfree. 

“Thanks for bringing me back.” Twilight gasped, placing a hand on her forehead as she looked at both of Trixie’s and Crystal’s faces. Trixie looked apologetic while Crystal looked relieved.

“At least you’re back.” Crystal said, taking her hand off of Trixie’s shoulder. Trixie winced when she did, immediately feeling a slight burn on her shoulder.

An explosion of ice caused a mini blizzard to form, temporarily obscuring the marketplace from view. At the epicentre was Gray and Lyon, locked in an evenly matched melee fight.

“Give up! It’s over!” Gray panted, trying to get Lyon to stop.

“I won’t! Not until I’ve finally defeated you!” Lyon panted, putting just as much strength as Gray was into this final showdown.

“Well then you’re going to have to wait a while longer.” Gray said, headbutting Lyon hard. Lyon’s head jerked back, taking his body with him as hell backwards into unconsciousness. “That took a lot longer than I thought it would,” Gray frowned, stepping over Lyon before leaning down near his head. “You really need to learn when I’m just not worth it and that you should probably try and find some new goal in life or something like that.” He told him and stood up, trying to disperse the ice crystals as he walked to where he last saw the newcomer.

“Will you be fine now, Trixie?” Twilight asked her, having talked through a little bit of what drove Trixie to do this in the first place.

“Trixie is sure. She just wants to make sure Lyon is okay.” Trixie said, gesturing to where she last saw him. Taking the amulet off from around her neck, Trixie shuddered as the extra power left her, transferring back into the amulet.

“He’s fine.” Gray said, shrugging with his hands in his pockets, walking up to the trio.

“You still haven’t put any clothes on.” Crystal muttered under her breath, looking at Twilight pointedly. “What were you doing in the Everfree to not actually have you come back here?” Crystal asked her, watching out of the corner of her eye, Trixie slowly walk up to Lyon.

“Where Trixie sent me was a flowery meadow, in the middle of the Everfree. I actually managed to study it and the surrounding area before Trixie brought me back.” Twilight explained, eyeing Crystal with a slightly suspicious look as she saw her tense at the mention of the meadow.

“We’ll talk about the meadow tomorrow, in private.” Crystal said quickly, noticing Gray cock his head at that as well as Twilight’s suspicious look.

“I don’t even want to know what you two are talking about but, you.” Gray said, scratching the back of his head with one hand and pointing at Crystal with the other. “What’s your name and why were you in the guild building?” Gray asked.

“My name is Crystal. I was there because Levy invited me.” Crystal answered simply, covering her mouth as she yawned softly.

“Levy? You the one she wouldn’t stop talking about from the Crystal Empire?” Gray asked, eyes blinking rapidly.

“I suppose so. What did she say?”

“Only that you helped her out with a couple of things on her job.” Gray said, shrugging. “No big deal. But, you should come back with me anyway. The Master will want to hear about you.” Gray said, giving Crystal a smile. “Levy also let it slip that you were from another world. It’ll be interesting to hear about this.”

“Fine, you got me convinced.” Crystal said, raising her arms up in mock surrender. “What about all the snow and ice here though?”

“It’ll melt overnight.” Gray said flippantly, leading Crystal back to the guild.

Twilight merely raised an eyebrow at Crystal’s odd behaviour with the meadow but gave a look over to Trixie and Lyon when a red flash appeared and disappeared in their direction.

“Augh! I forgot to get the amulet off of her! I just hope Trixie doesn’t get into any more trouble later on down the line.” Twilight said in worry and frustration. While thinking about her home, she teleported there to do some light reading by taking out the thickest book she could find in her library. She then closed it with a loud thud and looked out the window to where she knew the marketplace would be, thinking about all the damage their fight had done. “That’s going to be a lot of paperwork Princess Celestia will send my way.” Twilight said with a groan, rubbing her temples to soothe her nerves.
> Chapter 12 - Meeting a Dragon Part 1: Dragon Fight
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Let’s see here. No ice, check. Building repairs … still ongoing.” Twilight said with a frown, walking through the marketplace as she checked off the list Celestia had sent her. Usually the list would be sent to the local guild but this was a special case, considering Twilight was a part of the fight that took place, even if it was brief. She helped out Makarov from time to time when he was overloaded with paperwork from the princesses, as well as a few of the other guild masters around Canterlot but mostly stuck to Makarov for convenience’s sake. Recognising Gray from the day before, Twilight tapped her quill against the paper, marking her place before walking up to him.

“Have you seen Crystal? She said that she had to talk to me about something today.” Twilight asked, watching him lean against the wall with his hands in his pockets.

“Last I saw, I punched her through some sort of flame portal after grabbing her vest.” Gray said casually.

“You what?” Twilight asked, faint surprise evident on her face.

“What? She wanted to see how she would fare against me.” Gray answered, moving away from the wall and turning towards the guild. “If you want, you can come with and ask the others. I’m sure they’ll say the same thing.” He continued, looking back to see if Twilight would follow.

“You took her vest as well?” Twilight asked. standing in place as she watched him move away.

“I gave it back after she yelled at me.” Gray shrugged, leading her to the guild. He then stopped and began to walk back toward her.

“Nope, I’m not dealing with her.” Gray said as he walked passed a confused Twilight. Looking to where Gray had a little bit earlier, she found Pinkie skipping along the way.

“Hey Pinkie! Did you do something to Gray?” Twilight asked when Pinkie drew near.

“Did I? I don’t remember. It’s good to see you though!” Pinkie answered, giving Twilight a hug.

“We see each other every day though.” Twilight pointed out, hugging her marefriend back.

“I know, it just makes the day a bit brighter whenever I say that to you though.” Pinkie replied with a smile. “What were you and Gray talking about?”

“About him punching Crystal into a portal, which I suspect leads to another Equestria.” Twilight said, moving back a bit to gauge her reaction.

“He punched Crystal into another Equestria.” Pinkie asked, getting a furious look. “In her state!?”

“Wait, wait. Calm down. What are you talking about?” Twilight asked, putting her arms up to try and console the distraught mare. “What state is Crystal in? She said that she was going to talk to me about something today. Could this be related to that?”

“Maybe, I dunno. But if she hasn’t told anyone yet, then she most likely will very soon.” Pinkie said through gritted teeth, still furious at Gray. “Now I just need to go give Gray a lesson in respecting women.”

“Would it help that she asked him to fight her?” Twilight said helpfully, lifting a finger as she turned to watch Pinkie stalk to Gray.

“How could she even think of …” Pinkie’s voice trailed away, arms up in the air as she grumbled to herself while chasing after Gray.

“I’ll never understand her.” Twilight muttered, doing what Gray suggested and heading to the guild. Once she arrived, she magicked open one of the doors and stepped inside, gazing at the oddly placid atmosphere. “This seems wrong.” She said aloud, wondering why no-one was shouting and having fun. Walking through the many tables in the centre of the room, Twilight made her way to the bar in the back.

“Is there any reason why they’re like this?” Twilight looked down at Makarov, seeing the very small man sitting on the countertop, his staff across his lap as he drank from a mug.

On his head, he wore and orange striped hat that ended in a couple of tails. He had a bushy white moustache that covered his mouth completely. On his upper half, he wore a white undershirt with a black Fairy Tail mark stamped on to the front of it. An orange hoody with blue cuffs rested on his shoulders. Orange shorts were on his legs and to top it off, he wore shoes that had curled-up tips.

“Didn’t Gray tell you what he did?” Makarov asked, sighing as he finished his mouthful.

“Yes, but I didn’t really believe it. Plus, Gray punching someone into another universe seemed highly unlikely. No-one is that strong.” Twilight answered, turning around and leaning against the bar next to him.

“Gray needs some answering to do if this new girl doesn’t show up within the next twenty four hours.” Makarov replied, trying to think of someway to cheer the guild up.
“Master, can you come up here?” A woman’s voice called out from the balcony above.

“What is it, Mirajane?” Makarov asked roughly, placing his mug on the counter and standing up to stretch.

“One of the ‘S-Class’ jobs are gone!’ She called out, but her voice sounded a bit further away.

“WHAT!?” Makarov thundered, causing everyone in the guild to stare at him in shock.



“Gray, you bastard! Give me my vest back!” She shouted at the flames, standing up and stomping back to the flames. Out of them, a black vest with gold trim flew out, smacking her in the face. Growling, she grabbed her vest and chucked it back at the flames, only for them to no longer be there. “I hate it when he does that,” She muttered, stretching her back and cracking a few bones.

“Having a little spat with your boyfriend?” Draigo asked with a smirk on his face.

“He’s not my boyfriend.” The girl replied angrily, walking to her vest and picking it up, not even bothering to turn around at the voice.

“If you say so. Is this your scarf? I was kind of expecting a guy since the voice I heard was definitely male,” Draigo said as he unwound the scarf and floated it over to the girl using a bit of wind.

Quickly dusting the vest, she put it on and left it hanging open. Finally looking up, she found the scarf he was talking about. Quickly grabbing it, she wrapped it around her neck and sighed at the familiar comfort.

“Definitely mine. The message you heard was when I was male. I actually am the person you summoned, I just had a bit of a gender swap.” She answered, turning around and brushing her pink bangs out of her face.

Draigo grew back to his full size as the girl before him wrapped the scarf around her neck. He then checked on Twilight inside of the library. Twilight was still looking for a book that could help him. Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, was hovering next to Draigo’s head with her mouth wide open.

“How did you do that? One moment there’s nothing, then a pillar of flame, and then this weird thing pops out of nowhere. Your powers are even stranger than I thought they were, Draigo,” Dash said as she gestured with her hooves.

“Oh, this isn’t my doing. What summoned her was the scarf and the action of wrapping it around my neck,” Draigo explained to the bewildered pegasus, “What is your name, young lady?”

“Crystal,” Crystal answered, gaping up at him when she finally saw what belonged to the voice. “You are a dragon. That is awesome!” She crowed. Finally registering what the blue pony said, she glared up at her. “I’m not a thing. I’m just weird.”

“You’re the first whatever you are that I’ve seen. So, you’re a ‘weird thing’ for now,” Dash told her as she flew down to Crystal’s level.

“Crystal is a human, Dash. Most Displaced are,” Draigo told Dash as he lowered his head and looped his neck around so that they had a bit more privacy from prying eyes.

“Those things that Lyra keeps going on and on about? I thought they were a myth.” Dash commented as she flew around Crystal to inspect the new arrival.

“I don’t remember meeting this ‘Lyra’ before, but humans like Crystal, and myself actually, aren’t a myth. Now, Crystal. You’ve got two choices. One, stay here and wait for the biggest nerd on the planet to find out about you arriving and then asking you more questions than any school test ever. Or two, come with me to a more secluded area for a nice chat and possibly a bit of sparring.” Draigo gestured towards the library as he mentioned the ‘nerd’ and then towards the lake in the distance for the secluded area.

Crystal's eyes followed Dash as she shuddered at the mention of the ‘nerd’. Wrapping her arms around herself, she looked towards the lake that the dragon had gestured to for the second option. “The second option sounds a lot better to me. Also, I don’t think I caught your name.” She cocked her head to the side as she rubbed her arms up and down.

“Ah, where are my manners. My name is Draigo. Are you cold? I can help warm you up as we fly to the lake if you’d like,” Draigo told her as he extended one of his claws out for her to climb onto.

“Nah, I’m not cold. I never get cold. This just helps comfort me.” Crystal explained and felt a bit queasy at the mention of flying. “Also, I think I’d rather not fly. I get motion sickness if I ride something I don’t consider a friend. Sorry about that, Draigo.” Crystal told him, stopping the rubbing of her arms.

“That’s quite alright, Crystal. That is a strange quirk you’ve got, though. Hmm, think you can run to the lake without completely exhausting yourself?” Draigo asked as he stood up and extended his wings.

“Ha! Of course, I can. I’ll even race you there.” Crystal said with a snort of laughter, getting into a running stance.	

“A race? Count me in,” Dash said as she landed next to Crystal.

“Alright, don’t cry when you lose, Crystal,” Draigo said as he got ready to take off, “Ready, set, go!”

Draigo took off with a massive sweep of his wings, knocking the two below him to the ground from the sheer amount of air that he displaced. Dash was quick to recover and was soon in hot pursuit. Cartwheeling sideways to recover, Crystal took off after them, her legs pumping as she slowly caught up to them.

“Oh, she’s not so slow after all. Try to keep up with this then,” Dash challenged as she shot forward, creating her signature rainbow contrail behind her.

“Not this time, Dash,” Draigo called to her as he increased his wing beats and parted the air in front of him with his powers to give him a little edge.

“You two won’t get away that easy. Karyū no Kagizume!” Crystal shouted as her feet lit on fire, effectively propelling her forward as she jumped in the air and made herself perpendicular to the ground.

It wasn’t long before all three of them were at the lake and cooling down from their race. Rainbow had won, but just marginally. Draigo had gotten second, but only due to how long his neck was since Crystal had propelled herself through the air like a rocket. They sat or laid on the ground and enjoyed the sun and scenery around them.

“So, Crystal. You’ve got fire abilities. Anything else?” Draigo asked as he laid spread out to absorb as much sun as possible.

“I can literally stand in the middle of a patch of flames and not get burned. I can also make crystal.” Crystal answered, holding her palm out and focussing on it. A small crystal shard formed from her skin and the sun reflected off of it, creating spots of light that were dotted around them. “That’s about the extent of my powers. I can create more than this, I just don’t want to exhaust myself.” She added as she leaned back on one of her hands, her vest on the ground nearby.

“Oh? Sounds like some of the dragons that I created,” Draigo said matter of factly as he levitated the crystal over to him to get a better look at it.

“There is no way you created the dragons. For one, they’re missing or presumed dead. Two, you don’t look like something that managed to create awesome, flying lizards.” Crystal said in disbelief, sitting up and adjusting the bandages on her chest.

“Ah, mortals and their disbelief,” Draigo said with a sigh, “Okay, dragons may be gone from your world, but they are thriving in mine. Describe a dragon you’d like to see.”

“How about one with red scales and orange spikes?” Crystal asked, not really believing him.

Draigo tapped into his power reserves and began creating the described dragon. The outline first appeared in the air and then got more and more detailed. As it turned solid, the colors of its scales and spines began to show. Finally, once it was completely solid and had its spikes, wings, and everything else it dropped to the ground with a soft thump. The dragon stood up and looked at Crystal. It wasn’t very big, about the size of Spike, but it walked on all four legs toward the girl before it.

Staring in awe with her mouth gaping open, Crystal watched as Draigo created the dragon she asked for. When it began to move around and walk towards her, she slowly closed her mouth and watched it as she gently petted its head.

“Wow … it’s gorgeous … you are an amazing individual.” Crystal breathed and praised him.

“Heh, he’s not even the most amazing that I’ve made. Heck, I made two kinds of dragons. A winged dragon, like him and me, and a more Asian style dragon.” Draigo said as he shrugged off the praise, “When you’ve got nothing but time and powers like that you tend to experiment and fine tune the creation process.”

“Sounds like you had a good time creating the dragons.” Crystal said with a smile and felt her belly rumble. “Got any fire? I’m hungry, or at least, that’s what my stomach is telling me.” Crystal asked, stopping her petting for a bit to stretch her arms.

“Does it matter about the heat or color of the fire?” Draigo asked as he quirked an eye ridge at the strange request.

“Not really. I just want it to give me some energy back.” Crystal said with a shrug, not phased by the strange look both of them were giving her.

“Wait, you’re going to use fire to give you some energy? Do you eat it or something?” Rainbow asked as she trotted over to the lake and splashed some water on herself.

“I eat it. That not a normal thing here? Eating flames?” Crystal wondered, watching Rainbow intently.

“No, eating flames isn’t normal here. I can technically eat anything and everything to gain energy, but fire isn’t usually one of my choices,” Draigo explained as he looked to where Crystal was watching so intensely, “Something wrong with Rainbow or do you like her rump that much?”

“Rainbow’s a pony here. I was too busy looking around to notice it before.” Crystal answered, tearing her gaze from Rainbow and back to Draigo as the rest of his question registered with her. “No, I’m actually into someone else,” Crystal replied, drawing circles as she looked at the ground near her legs.

“Of course I’m a pony. What else would I be? Don’t worry about the staring. I’m just too awesome for ponies not to,” Rainbow told her cockily as she trotted back to the group.

“Oh? Someone I know or perhaps someone unique to your world?,” Draigo asked her as he summoned a crimson flame onto his now open claw, “Here’s that fire you asked for.”

“More like a whole different world but I can’t say anything more beyond that,” Crystal answered Draigo cautiously. “Back on my world, you look more human than pony but still have pony traits, such as your wings and rainbow trail.” She continued, turning her attention to Rainbow, and continuing to look down at the ground. She looked up though at the mention of a flame. Standing up, she walked over to Draigo and grabbed the flame in her hands. “Thanks for the meal,” She said, thanking him and then stuffed the fire into her open mouth.

“Huh, looking like a human...that just seems weird to me. Anyway, I’m going to go find a nice cloud and chill for awhile.” Rainbow said as she readied herself for flight.

Right before Rainbow could take off, the trees nearby shook violently and the birds took to the air in alarm. Out of the forest walked a white dragon with a serpentine body, no wings, and two horns protruding from its skull. It looked like the exact opposite of Draigo and its gaze swept over to the three as they stared at the newcomer.

“There you are, Draigo. It has been a long journey, but I can finally challenge you. Come and meet your fate you fake god,” the dragon shouted at him.

“Oh, long time no see, Shen Long. You’ve come all the way across the world and the first thing you want to do is die? What a shame. You used to be such a great dragon. I remember the day that I first created you. How long has it been now? Five, six million years?” Draigo asked as if the answer didn’t really matter.

“It has been four billion years. You created me and my mate, then you left. It was only a few years ago that I realized that you truly aren’t the god of dragons. Now you must pay for your deceit. I’ve trapped your energy in this artifact and now that you’re powerless, I can kill you and rule over all the dragons.” Shen Long brought out an artifact that looked like a pendant made for a dragon his size.

“Hmm, as interesting as that would be, I’ve got a guest. Besides, I doubt you could beat her, let alone me. If you need me to stop the fight I will, Crystal,” Draigo said as he stood. He towered over Shen Long at nearly double the size overall.

“You think I can’t beat this little...thing? That is insulting. Come little beast, I’ll use you as a warm up for my fight with Draigo,” Shen Long said as he stalked toward Crystal.

“Yeah, yeah, give me a sec,” Crystal mumbled, waving a hand at the white dragon while she tightened the bandages around her chest.

Shen Long didn’t wait and launched a torrent of fire at her as she was adjusting her bandages.

Not bothering to look up as the flames hit her, she automatically opened up her mouth and sucked the flames in, feeling more energy coalesce inside her than before. Once she was done tightening her bandages, she smirked at the dragon.

“Double meal. First time for everything. You ready to start?” She asked, standing still with her hands on her hips while bouncing on the balls of her feet lightly.

Shen Long wasn’t fazed by his flames being consumed and took a swipe at her with one of his claws followed close behind by his other.
Crystal backflipped as she dodged the first swipe and feeling the air part, felt herself thrown far off to the side, making a crater where she landed. “That hurt my everything.” She groaned once she stopped and held her side as she stood up, feeling her hand become sticky with blood.

“Draigo, you’d let such a frail thing fight your battles for you? Not only are you a fake and an abandoner, but now you are honorless as well,” Shen Long spat at Draigo, “Small being, why not join me in battling Draigo. It would bring much honor to you and would save you from an all but certain death at my claw.”

“She doesn’t have to listen to your deluded speeches, Shen. Also, from the little I’ve seen of her abilities, you’re in for more of a fight than you think,” Draigo commented as he looked down at Shen Long, “Rainbow, go tell Twilight to send a message to Celestia for aid,” Draigo whispered to Rainbow as the pegasus hovered next to his head.

“On it,” Rainbow replied as she sped off toward the library.

Growing crystal around the wound, Crystal figured it would have to do for now as she ran towards Shen Long with a slight limp. “Hey, you dragon reject! I’m still here!” Crystal shouted as she gathered flames in both of her fists. Combining both of them, she clapped her hands together and shot a massive fireball towards the dragon.

Shen Long turned toward the diminutive being and couldn’t react as the fireball connected with his head. He had figured that since it was fire that he wouldn’t be affected by it and cried out in pain and shock as the fireball exploded. Quite a few scales flew from him, leaving the skin beneath exposed.

“I was going to let you live, but now I’ll make sure your death is slow and painful,” Shen Long said as he took in a breath and released a torrent of water from his maw.

“I wouldn’t have taken the offer anyway.” Crystal retorted and her eyes widened when she saw the torrent of water come for her. “Draigo, I need your help here!” She shouted as she skidded to a stop before the wall of water, knowing that she won’t be able to stop it. Draigo immediately parted the water around Crystal and into the lake behind her.

“Well, Shen. It seems your warm-up is over,” Draigo said as he stepped between him and Crystal, “Get to a safe distance. Help should arrive soon.”

“Got it,” Crystal said, silently thanking him for stepping in. Looking for a place that would be far enough away, she spotted a hill behind the flattened trees. She bolted for it, shedding her crystal shell along the way.

“Now, you get the fight you wanted, Shen,” Draigo said as he slowly walked toward his created ‘son’.

Shen Long took the opportunity to launch an all-out attack against Draigo as he walked forward. Blast after blast of water and fire erupted toward Draigo as Shen Long attempted to overwhelm him.

Draigo was unphased by the onslaught. He used his magical might to make both fire and water go harmlessly into the sky. Once he reached Shen Long, Draigo unleashed a flurry of blows. Claws, teeth, and wings went into a blur as they struck at Shen Long. Draigo adjusted where he aimed his attacks with each new blow so that Shen Long wouldn’t be able to block or redirect them.

Blood, scales, and flesh flew in every direction as the fury that fueled Draigo shone in his eyes. Never before had Draigo felt such a burning feeling. He continued to attack and demolish the form before him even well after Shen Long’s life had ended.

Draigo suddenly stopped as he felt something touch down on his back. Looking back, he saw Princess Celestia with a look of concern on her muzzle. It was only then that Draigo looked back and saw what had become of Shen Long. The lower half of Shen Long’s body was intact but broken while the only evidence that was left of the upper body was strewn about the area.

Having gotten to the hill, Crystal turned to see the tail-end of the fight. This made her eyes widen in horror at the sheer ferocity that Draigo fought with. The crystal around the wound in her side dissolved as she sat in shock, making it bleed out and herself to slowly fall unconscious.

“Hold still, young one. We shall treat thy wounds whilst my sister calms Draigo,” Luna said as she touched down next to Crystal. Crystal couldn’t do a thing as she shivered uncontrollably due to being unconscious from the loss of blood.
After Draigo had calmed down sufficiently, he looked back at Crystal with concern etched onto his features.

“Worry not, Draigo. Our magics are strong and she shall make a full recovery within a couple of hours,” Luna told him as he looked down at them both.

“Thank you for coming so quickly. It can’t have been easy. Allow me to carry her to the castle so that she can rest and be attended to as needed,” Draigo said to both Luna and Celestia as he picked Crystal up and started the flight back to the castle.



After a couple hours of rest at the castle and some more tending to by medical ponies, Crystal began to stir from her sleep. Draigo took notice of this since he hadn’t left her side and brought over a glass of water and a pitcher.

With Crystal’s eyes fluttering open, she felt a residual stinging pain in her side as she groaned. “My everything hurts.” She said softly and slowly sitting up, Crystal took the offered glass of water and then a sip later, she coughed, a speck of blood flying out and into the water.

“Damn, if only I could use my Aether right now I’d be able to fully heal you in an instant. I’ll see if there’s a medical staff member outside the door,” Draigo said as he observed the blood in the water and then opened the door to check outside. What he found surprised him. Celestia and Luna were waiting just outside, looking worried and overworked. “Perfect timing, ladies. Would you cast another healing spell on Crystal? She just coughed up a bit of blood,” Draigo asked the two.

“Certainly, I had hoped she’d be doing much better by now,” Celestia commented as she walked into the room with Luna and Draigo close behind her.

After having seen the blood fly into the glass, Crystal carefully put it aside and gingerly checked herself for other scratches the medical staff may have missed. Feeling something sticky along her abdomen, Crystal looked down and found a fine scratch stretching across it, weeping tiny drops of blood.

“How did that get there?” She asked herself softly and looked up when she heard hooves on the floor. “You must be the Princesses,” She observed, suddenly going into a coughing fit.

Seeing this, Celestia immediately cast her healing spell and held until well after the coughing fit was done, “You are correct. I am Princess Celestia and this is my sister, Princess Luna. How are you feeling?”

“I’m feeling better. Well, better than I was after the fight.” Crystal answered, leaning forward as she crossed her arms over her abdomen. “I still feel pain in my side, but it should go away in a bit,” She added.

“Thou must be more resistant to magic than We first thought. Our healing spells should have mended all the injuries thou hast sustained,” Luna commented with a little worry showing on her face.

“What kind of magic did you use?” Crystal asked in return as she tensed up at Luna’s comment.

“You are very welcome, Crystal. We used basic healing magic that we ramped up a bit to compensate for the size difference between you and the typical pony. While you were out, Draigo filled us in on the events of earlier today. The battle was seen by almost all of Ponyville since it involved colossal sized dragons. I think the one most affected by it was Spike. He doesn’t really know the customs of the dragons here and was shocked when he found out that the entire fight was basically for ‘leadership over the dragons’. Anyway, these events have not affected the gala’s schedule and we would love to have you if you are feeling up to it,” Celestia informed them as she used her magic to scan Crystal for any missed injuries.

“Oh. Thank you for that then.” Crystal said, visibly relaxing. “I would love to come to the gala. Only problem is, I’ve never been to any sort of dance or worn a dress before.” She continued, not noticing Princess Celestia’s scan. “I’m sure I’ll feel up to it by the time it rolls around.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll be going as well and I’ve never been either. Celestia has told me about past galas, though,” Draigo said and then leaned closer to Crystal, “I’ve got a plan to liven it up and you’re welcome to join in.” Draigo winked and then produced some flames, “Here, try eating something. It’ll probably help the healing process.”

“I’m never one to say no to a free meal,” Crystal said with a soft smirk and taking the flames Draigo gave her, slowly started to eat them. “Of course, I’ll definitely join in on whatever plan you have,” Crystal said through a mouthful of crackling flames.

“Well, we shall leave you since we have to organize the rest of the gala,” Luna commented as she left the room.

“Crystal, with your permission I’d like to try using a different healing spell on you since you’re still coughing up blood, have stinging on your side and have a bun in the oven. It’s a spell I’ve been developing in hopes of it affecting Draigo, should he need it. It’s been in development ever since the day Draigo told us about this ‘war’ he was recruited into,” Celestia told her as Draigo smiled at the amount of care Celestia seemed to hold for him, even after she had beaten him silly.

“Ah, dammnit. I thought I wouldn’t have to tell you about that.” Crystal said, feeling angry at herself but it soon cleared. “You’ve got the permission for using the spell. As long as I know what it is, then I’m fine with it.” She said.

Celestia lit her horn with her golden aura and it intensified as she started to cast the healing spell. Crystal’s entire body became engulfed in the magic’s golden aura as Celestia continued to cast the spell. This spell seemed to drain her quite a bit more than the spell before had. After several seconds of holding the spell in place, Celestia released the spell and scanned Crystal’s body once more. When she found no wounds left she let out a triumphant cheer and her smile couldn’t have been any bigger. The spell she’d been developing had worked and this gave her hope that she could succeed in healing Draigo in the future.

“The spell has worked like a charm and with no ill effects on the future generation. It seems that to heal you properly I had to treat you as if you were a dragon instead of a pony,” Celestia told her with a big smile.

“Good to know,” Crystal said with a relieved sigh. “I suppose that makes sense, though, considering I’m what’s called a Dragon Slayer back in my world,” She said absently as she did a check for herself. There wasn’t any pain in her side and she didn’t feel any blood coming up. “The spell really did work,” Crystal confirmed.

“I’m glad to be of service. What do you mean by ‘dragon-slayer’, though,” Celestia asked as she looked to see if Draigo reacted to this news?

“Ah, that would explain why your fire magic affected Shen Long. I doubt it would work the same on me, though,” Draigo said as if he had heard that Crystal said something about the weather outside.

“Of course it won’t. There are just as many Dragon Slayers as there are dragons. What I mean by Dragon Slayer is that a person or pony is taught magic by a dragon. This person or pony can then do all sorts of things, like, cover their body in whatever the dragon taught them and all sorts of stuff. If a Dragon Slayer actually kills a dragon, then they themselves become a dragon.” Crystal explained, putting her hand on fire to demonstrate what she meant.

“Well, I guess it’s a good thing that you didn’t kill Shen Long. Unless you want to be a dragon,” Draigo thought out loud, “Anyway, don’t you have a gala to organize Celestia?”

“That I do. I’ll see you two later,” Celestia said as she trotted out of the room to help Luna with the gala preparations.

“Now that she’s gone, I’ll tell you my plan to liven up the gala,” Draigo said as he closed the door so they could talk without being overheard.

“Which is what?” Crystal asked, placing a hand under her chin. “Whatever it is, it had better be good.”

“Oh, it's good,” Draigo said as he transformed into a human form with far less clothing than previously, “I’m going to show up in this form and have some music blaring as I burst through the doors and start doing muscle poses. If you join me then you wouldn’t have to wear a dress and you’d be highly entertained by the looks on all of the attendants faces. Not to mention Celestia will be glad of the change of pace.”

Crystal’s jaw dropped when he transformed into a very muscular human with barely any clothing on. “I … um … words not working right now.” She said, closing her mouth and blushing a bit. “That will, uuh, definitely liven up the gala,” She added after a few moments of flapping her mouth open and closed. “How do I exactly fit into … this?” She asked, waving her arm at what he looked like.

“Well, you could be a female version of this and join in or you could distract the band that’ll be playing so the music will be heard by everyone. I’m sure that the band will stop once the doors fly open and that the speakers that my other partner in crime will be using are going to be loud enough, but it is an alternative if you don’t feel comfortable being like this in front of a giant crowd,” Draigo told her as he paced back and forth.

“Female version sounds tempting,” Crystal said slowly, looking down at herself and tried to imagine if she could actually pull it off. “I can’t really see myself doing that. It’s not that crowds frighten me, it’s just I can’t really see myself like you.” Crystal said after careful consideration.

“If it’s the amount of clothing that you wouldn’t be wearing then rest assured. We’d have to go get you some sort of outfit since I’m just transforming into it and don’t actually have any article of clothing. I’m not trying to persuade you, just clarifying what it would be like,” Draigo said as he resumed his draconic form, “Oh, I forgot to mention that we’d be wearing masks so that we could slip away and then return later to enjoy the free food.”

“The clothing doesn’t bother me either. I don’t even really care about the amount of clothing. It’s just the muscles that I can’t see myself having.” Crystal clarified. “Masks are good to wear as well.”

“Ah, self-image issues,” Draigo said as he looked at the young woman before him, “Look, the only reason I’m doing muscle poses is because I can transform into what you saw before. You, on the other hand, have less muscle due to being a girl. So, instead of doing muscle poses, why don’t you do poses that will show off that rocking body of yours? You have a body that a lot of ladies would kill to have.”

“Oh, really? If that’s all then I’m perfectly fine with the first option. Quick question, are there any clean bandages around? These seem to be sticky with something.” Crystal agreed and pulled a bit at the bandages on her chest.

“I’m sure we can find you some in the medical wing as we go get the clothing you’ll need. Oh, don’t worry about the monetary value of the clothing. I’ve got more money and gems than I know what to do with and can create more if I really need to,” Draigo said as he produced a ruby from out of nowhere to prove his point.

“Now I’m really sold if all the expenses are taken care of,” Crystal said, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. She went to grab her vest, but she only grabbed air. “My vest must still be near the lake. If it wasn’t shredded in the fight that is.” Crystal said with a small frown, looking out the window.

“We can check for it later and if we can’t find it I’ll talk to Rarity about replacing it. She still owes me for saving her from some diamond dogs and if you can describe it she can make it,” Draigo told her as he placed a claw on Crystal’s shoulder to try to comfort her a bit.

“That would be great. I would ask my own Rarity to see if she could make it, but we’re not exactly on the best of terms.” Crystal said with a small sigh and looked over to the dragon. “We have a party to plan, don’t we?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.

“We do. Shall we get going? There are plenty of clothing stores here in Canterlot and my other partner in crime is here as well. We’ll stop by the medical wing first, though,” Draigo said as he walked out of the room and toward the medical wing of the castle.

“Sounds good to me. It’ll be interesting to see who your other partner is.” Crystal said, following him after closing the door behind them. “Something’s been bugging me, though. Celestia said something about a ‘war’. What ‘war’ is she talking about?”

“Oh, it’s this stupid fight that two Displaced got into and the being that displaced them decided to turn it into a full-blown war between Displaced. Celestia and Luna shredded my wings and then made one of my legs useless while the others were heavily injured after I told them about it. The only reason I agreed to join was the chance to fight dragons that could possibly be close to my power,” Draigo said, sounding very annoyed.

“I may have struck a nerve there. Now that you told me it’s between a couple of powerful Displaced, I’d rather have Gray ice me over and over before going there.” Crystal said with a slight shudder, feeling her bandages come loose a little as they neared the medical wing.

“It’s just really, really stupid to turn a fight between two people into a ‘war’ that involves unrelated parties. The original two seem to be about the same power wise, but I’d love to just squash that stupid being who blew it out of proportion. Anyway, I’m rambling. Now, on to the shopping district,” Draigo said as he navigated them through the castle hallways.

“Off to the clothes store are we? This’ll be fun.” Crystal told him, hugging herself and rubbing her arms up and down.

“Yep, my partner’s hotel is close to the shopping district as well,” Draigo told her as they neared the entrance to the castle, “I put her up there since she actually lives down in Ponyville. All in secret, of course.”

“Of course. It’s a she, is it? How did you bring her up here then? Mission Impossible style or just an airlift during the night.” Crystal asked, placing her arms behind her head as they walked through the entrance.

“Oh, she just got a ride with a friend of hers who was already coming to Canterlot to perform at the gala,” Draigo told Crystal as they continued to walk towards the clothes store, “That way she’s not associated with me and the surprise has less chance of being found out.”

“Aww. Thought it would have been more exciting than that.” Crystal said with a slight frown but perked up a bit as she tried to figure out who the partner could be. “It makes sense, though, to not ruin the surprise.”

“Oh, believe me. If she hadn’t told me about her friend coming up here anyway, I would have flown her here myself during the night,” Draigo admitted as the first store came into view, “Now, think about the outfit you’d like to wear. We’ll be at the first store in a minute.”

Crystal fell silent as she thought hard about what her outfit could be. Every once in awhile, as she thought of an outfit she liked the sound of, her face lit up, but that was it for any sort of communication Crystal had.

The first clothing store came into view and the pair entered the store as a bell jingled over their heads. The clothing inside of the store varied from high end to everyday. Most of the store was for mares and a bit of it for stallions. The clothing, though designed with ponies in mind, seemed like it could be simply modified to fit a bipedal frame.

As they were browsing through the clothes a salespony came trotting up to them. She was a tan-furred earth pony with a gray mane and tail with a spool of thread and a needle for her cutie mark.

“Hello and welcome to my store. Is there anything I can help you with?” the mare asked, she balked as she finally noticed that her two customers were a dragon and what looked like a very small minotaur without any horns.

“Yes, my friend is in need of some clothing for a costume party we’ll be attending tonight,” Draigo told the salespony.

“What kind of clothing are you looking for, ma’am?” the mare asked Crystal curiously.

“Do you have anything in red?” Crystal asked the pony, crouching so that she was eye to eye with the salespony.

“We have plenty of clothes made from red cloth. Are you looking for a dress, shirt, or something else?” she told Crystal as she trotted towards the fancier section of the store.

“I’m looking for a short dress … and a small shirt,” Crystal said, her thoughts cycling through the outfits she had thought of before.

“Any particular material you’d like it to be made of?”

“Either satin or cotton. I haven’t decided about that yet.”

“Very well, we’ve got both and can make anything we don’t already have made. Now, what kind of dress? Something poofy? Figure hugging?” the mare asked as she went through the dresses hanging up before her.

“I don’t really like poofy so figure-hugging would be better for me,” Crystal answered, leaning forward as she scanned the various articles of clothing. “Yeah, definitely figure-hugging,” Crystal said as she thought through about the choice some more.

“Alright. Now, since you want a shirt as well. Did you want the dress to be backless and/or strapless?” the salespony asked as she brought a few dresses out that matched the criteria so far.

Crystal narrowed her eyes as she looked at the few different dresses. Running the choices through her mind once more, Crystal figured it would be better if she went backless but with straps to keep it in place.

“The backless strapped one sounds good to me,” Crystal said, nodding to herself.

The salespony took away any dress that didn’t match what Crystal wanted and left the two or three that still fit.

“Okay. Now that we’ve narrowed it down to these select few. Which would you like to try on?” the mare asked as she took each dress off the rack so Crystal could get a better view of them. All of the dresses were red and were backless with straps. Each were made of satin or cotton and had a slit for easier walking.

“Remember, the price doesn’t matter and it’s how you feel in the dress that really counts,” Draigo chimed in from across the store. He’d stayed near the entrance since clothes were no longer necessary for him.

“Oh, right thanks for reminding me,” Crystal called out to him. “Can I try this one on?” Crystal asked, showing the salespony the dress she had chosen.

“Of course, right this way,” the mare said as she lead Crystal to the fitting rooms. Heading into one of them, Crystal closed the curtain and changed into the dress, leaving the bandages on underneath. Looking at herself in the mirror, Crystal ran her hands over her body and struck a few poses to see if the dress stretched well enough. Satisfied that it did, she changed back into her regular baggy pants and sandals and walked out of the change room, holding the folded dress in her arms.

“This one’s perfect for me,” She said with a beaming smile.

“Alright. How about the shirt then?”

“Anything orange for the shirt?” Crystal asked, tapping her finger against her chin.

“Orange is an unusual choice, but we do keep a few for those ponies that either choose it or have a color scheme that it would compliment,” the mare remarked as she pulled out her selection of orange shirts.

“Yeah, well, I’m trying out a fire colour scheme. Orange and red sounded like good choices for that.” Crystal retorted and took a look at the different shirts.

“I meant no offense. It’s just that very few ponies wear orange except for when they need something that can be seen easily. Of course, you’re not a pony...I digress,” the salespony replied, “Will any of these shirts fit what you had in mind?”

Giving them a once over, Crystal touched one of them and found that she really liked the feel of it. Shifting her dress over to one arm, Crystal grabbed the shirt and showed the salespony the bright orange of it. “This one does. This one definitely fits my needs.” Crystal said with a smile.

“Excellent, let me ring those up for you,” the mare said as she trotted toward the register. Crystal followed her and looked over to Draigo to smile at him.

“Sorry this is taking so long,” She told him once they got near.

“Not a problem, we’ve got plenty of time. Now, how much do I owe you?” Draigo asked as he walked toward the register to pay for the clothing.

“That’ll be one hundred and eighty bits, please.”

Draigo reached between his scales and pulled out the correct amount of bits, “Here you go.”

“Thank you and come again,” the salespony called to the pair as they left the store.

“Let’s pick up some non-descript full face masks and then head to the hotel to meet with our other partner,” Draigo said as he walked toward a magic tricks and prop shop.

“Sounds good to me,” Crystal said, grabbing the clothes Draigo bought for her and carrying them in her arms, followed him to the store. “Thanks for paying for these by the way.”

“You’re very welcome. I’m glad that I could put some of my money to good use,” Draigo said as he walked up to their next stop, “We should be able to find some masks in here.”

Upon entering the store and being directed to where the masks were kept, the two found some masks that would work perfectly for their needs. They were soon paying for their masks and on their way to the hotel to meet with their fellow cohort.

“Now, the pony that you’re about to meet doesn’t know that I’ve added you into the plan. So, she might not talk about it until I can explain,” Draigo said as they walked into the hotel.

“That’s fine with me. I’ll just stand quietly until you explain why there’s another human in Equestria. That’ll be great to listen to.” Crystal said sarcastically.

“Right, I’ll make it quick. I don’t think she’ll freak though since she lives in Ponyville. That place has a lot of odd occurrences and they tend to take everything in stride because of it. Unless it’s something blatantly dangerous, then they tend to hide in their houses or nearby buildings,” Draigo told Crystal as they stood outside the door of the pony’s room, “None of them know I’m human, by the way. The only time I’ve been in my human form I was covered from head to toe in armor and they never saw what was underneath.”

“Oh. Well, then you’ll have to explain why TWO humans are in Equestria. But since you claim she’s from Ponyville, I’m sure it will go over smoothly now that I’m thinking about it,” Crystal said, cocking her head to the side.

“Yep, that’s going to be a really fun conversation to have later on. For now, I’ll just say that you are like me,” Draigo said as he knocked on the door.

The two of them heard hoofsteps from behind the door. The sound stopped for a moment and then two thuds were heard as the door shook a little.

“Oh, it’s you Draigo.”

The pair then heard the locks on the door be undone. The door opened after a blue aura surrounded the doorknobs and the room’s resident let them in. Draigo stepped through the doorway and then laid on one of the two beds in the room.
Scratching her head in confusion at who this ‘partner’ could be, she stepped through after Draigo and stood to the side awkwardly, rubbing one of her arms.

“Hi?” Crystal asked the pony, giving her a small wave.

“Sup, name’s Vinyl Scratch,” the pony said  as she closed the door and then turned to face her two guests with her purple sunglasses covering	her eyes. Vinyl was a white furred unicorn with a mane and tail that were blue and lighter blue striped. She used her magic and redid the locks on the door while facing the unknown being in the room.

“Vinyl, this is my friend Crystal. Crystal, this is Vinyl Scratch or DJ Pon-3,” Draigo introduced the two, “Crystal here is like me and will be joining us tonight.”

“So, we’ve got another shapeshifter, huh? Well, welcome aboard. Has Draigo told you what exactly is going to happen tonight?” Vinyl asked Crystal.

“He said something about bursting in a fanfare, striking poses, wearing masks, speaker hijacking, and the band, along with everyone else, having hilarious reactions.” Crystal counted off on her fingers, placing her clothing on the other bed.

“Well, there won’t be any speaker hijacking, but everything else is correct. I’ve got some portable speakers ready to go that will definitely overpower the band that’s playing. I just hope Octavia doesn’t get too mad at me. It never pays to have a roommate mad at you,” Vinyl replied as she trotted over to the nearby desk chair and took a seat.

“I bet it doesn’t. I’ve got an idea that could probably entertain the guests some more but may cause collateral damage. Wanna hear it?” Crystal asked, lying on her front on the bed.

“I’m all ears, my dear,” Draigo said as he turned his head toward Crystal.

“We could put on a fire show. After the posing, I figured we could dance while doing some fire tricks.” Crystal suggested.

“Ah, that would add a bit more of a ‘wow’ factor to it. Celestia and Luna will most likely know who’s responsible, even if we didn’t do the fire show. So, let’s do it,” Draigo responded with a grin.

Crystal gave a whoop and pumped her fist in the air. accidentally sending a crystal shard into the ceiling. Looking up, Crystal grimaced at it. “Whoops. I thought I had a handle on that.”

“No worries. If your powers are similar to mine then the more emotional you get the more they are affected. For example, I lost my temper a while back and created a pillar of flame that took out almost an entire hectare of land and extended so far into the sky that I was afraid I’d catch the atmosphere on fire,” Draigo told the young dragon-slayer.

“You did what?” Crystal said in astonishment, her eyes blinking owlishly. “What on earth could get you so riled up like that?”

“A very bad memory that I thought was buried. It was of the gypsy who displaced me and my first experience with the void,” Draigo growled when he thought of the gypsy, “Thankfully some stupid diamond dogs decided to kidnap Rarity while I happened to be watching and I was able to calm myself even further.”

Crystal put her hands up in the air, making her head fall to into the mattress. “Sorry I brought it up. Didn’t think you would act this way.” Crystal apologized, but it was muffled due to her face being squished into the mattress.

Draigo sighed, “No, I’m the one that’s sorry. It’s something that I should be over. Sure it’s a bad memory and if that specific gypsy shows up here, somehow, I’d love to give her a piece of my mind. None of that is a good reason to lose my temper or growl. You’d think that a being of my age would be able to get over something like that. Heh, some primordial dragon I turned out to be. Can’t even act properly.”

“You’d think but frankly, some things are hard to get over. Especially if you hate that thing with a passion.” Crystal told him, lifting her head up and resting it on her now-lowered arms. “Vinyl, what song you going to use for the plan?”

“Well, the song for when you two burst in is called ‘The Pillar Men Theme’. Since you want to dance afterward and show off your fire stunts. I’ll have to come up with something appropriate. Any suggestions?” Vinyl replied as she propped her head on one of her hooves.

“Hmm. How about ‘I Burn Remix’? Do you have that one?” Crystal asked, lifting her head up slightly.

“Does it sound like this?” Vinyl replied as she played the song she hoped Crystal meant. Bobbing her head to the beat, Crystal gave a soft smile, showing her sharp teeth a bit.

“That’s the song,” Crystal replied.

“Well, now that the songs have been chosen and Vinyl knows about you joining us. How about we go look for your vest? If I fly us we can be there in twenty minutes. We’ve still got a few hours before the majority of the crowd is at the gala,” Draigo said as he looked at the clock between the two beds.

“My vest? I almost forgot about that!” Crystal exclaimed, shooting straight up. “Of course you can fly us there. I just hope it’s not in pieces.” Crystal added, blinking a bit as she looked out the window.

“Alright, let’s go,” Draigo said as he jumped out the window and hovered in place.

“We’ll see you later, Vinyl.” Crystal said, and giving her a wave, ran up to the window and jumped out, landing on Draigo’s back. “To the lake!” Crystal announced grandly, pointing to where said lake was.

“To the lake it is,” Draigo replied as he sped away towards the lake in question. He grew to his full size once he was far enough away to not smash any buildings and increased his speed. The pair were by the lake in no time and began searching for Crystal’s vest.

As soon as they touched down, Crystal immediately ran to the place where she last saw her vest. By the lakeside. Quickly moving her hands over the ground, Crystal couldn’t feel any sort of cloth there. Scanning as well as using her hands, she tried to see if she could spot the vest.

“Found it!” Crystal cried out, spotting it floating in the lake. Running up to the lake’s edge, Crystal jumped in and began to swim out to it. Grabbing it, she tread water and held it up triumphantly.

Draigo tapped into his power and brought Crystal back to shore in a sphere of water, “Blast, that drain is still there. I guess I forgot to destroy that thing Shen was using to steal away my power.”

Crystal smiled at him as he brought her to shore. “I can find the pendant for you!” Crystal announced, swimming to the edge of the sphere and sliding out, shaking herself to get most of the water off her.

“Sure, shouldn’t be too hard since it’s sized for a dragon,” Draigo answered as he watched the happy woman below him.

“Shen Long was here … wasn’t he?” Crystal asked as she ran to the previously known location. “So it should be somewhere around here. Or maybe on his … body …” Crystal trailed off as she observed the mutilated remains of the white dragon.

“I’ll search his remains if you’ll search elsewhere. The last I remember he had it in one of his claws,” Draigo told Crystal as he walked over to what remained of Shen Long.

“Right. Okay.” Crystal said in a small voice. Turning around so that she couldn’t see what remained of Shen Long anymore, she began to slowly search the nearby flattened trees. “If it was in one of his claws, then could it have gone in the lake?” Crystal asked hesitantly.

“It could have since I was so merciless that parts of him flew everywhere. I’ll look there after I’m done searching his body,” Draigo replied as he searched Shen Long’s remains for the pendant.

Crystal looked behind and near all the flattened trees yielded no results. Sighing, she placed her hands on her hips and tried to think of where else the pendant could have gone to. Seeing that the only place left was the lake, Crystal began to walk to the water, in spite of her growing fear.

“No luck over here. How about you?” Draigo asked as he turned to see Crystal walking towards the lake’s edge.

“No luck here!” Crystal said over her shoulder as she inched towards the lake. Holding her breath as she ducked her head underwater, she tried to look around but could only see inky blackness. Gasping for air as she brought her head back up, Crystal immediately began to swim out towards the middle of the lake. Taking a deep breath, she held it in and dived, trying to look for the pendant.

“I can’t find it!” Crystal shouted when she went back up to the surface, angrily slapping the water in front of her.

“Well, we’ve searched everywhere else so it’s definitely in the lake somewhere,” Draigo said as he walked away from Shen’s corpse and toward the lake, “Let me get rid of the water, for now.” Draigo extended his wings to their maximum span and began to manipulate the lake’s water. Soon enough there was a massive orb of water floating by Draigo’s head as the lake stood empty. He’d made sure that Crystal would land softly on the lake’s bed so that she wouldn’t get injured again.

Crystal took one look around the lakebed and found the massive pendant Shen Long had shown them. Glancing back to Draigo, Crystal slowed her breathing and held her hands out, covering the pendant in a thick layer of black crystal. Walking backwards slowly, she imitated grabbing it in the air. Lifting her hands up, the amulet lifted up as well. They both moved at the same time and when she eventually got back to the shore, she lowered her arms, causing the pendant to drop with a loud thud.

“There ... we go.” Crystal panted, kneeling down in near exhaustion.

“Thank you, Crystal,” Draigo said as he returned the water to the lake and grabbed the pendant before raising it to eye level, “Something so small has been such a pain in my side.” He crushed the pendant in his claw and felt the stolen reserves return to him.

“No problem,” Crystal replied with a tired smile, getting up and walking over to him. “We should probably head back now.”

“You’re right. Care for a bit more energy before we take off?” Draigo asked as he extended a wing for Crystal to climb on.

“No thanks. I’ll be fine.” Crystal answered, climbing up onto Draigo and nestling herself in the gap between a couple of his spines.

“Alright, let’s go see how Vinyl is doing and get ready to ‘entertain’ the gala-goers,” Draigo said as he took to the skies with strong, smooth wing beats.
> Chapter 13 - Meeting a Dragon Part 2: The Gala
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Draigo and Crystal were soon flying over the city limits of Canterlot and heading toward the hotel that housed Vinyl. As they passed over the walls, the citizenry was split between running for cover and smiling as they recognized Draigo. The hotel wasn’t far from the city walls if you flew and they were soon landing in the street in front of the hotel.

“Alright, let’s get to the room so that you can change and then we’ll head out to the castle,” Draigo said as he shrunk down and walked through the hotel’s front door.

“Coolio,” Crystal said as she slid off his back before he changed. Walking through the front doors after him, she found a few ponies looking at her and she wasn’t sure if they wanted to run, or if they should wave. “Canterlot ponies seem a lot more skittish,” Crystal whispered to him.

“There’s a lot less weird things that happen here than in Ponyville. I’m pretty sure the nobility here would be useless if something strange did happen,” Draigo explained as he continued towards Vinyl’s room, “There is a disadvantage to living in a place that has the only three Alicorns, the royal guard, and the only Primordial Dragon living in and guarding it, even if it is just being unprepared for dangerous events.”

“Never really seen Canterlot back home. I was dumped in a snowy region which I later found out was the Crystal Empire and then I rode in the train all the way to Ponyville. So I wouldn’t really know how the nobles there would act.” Crystal said with a shrug.

“Wait, that place came back? It’s been missing ever since Celestia and Luna defeated Sombra, way back when,” Draigo told Crystal as they reached Vinyl’s room. He knocked on the door and was promptly let through by the DJ.

“It went missing? I didn’t even know it WAS missing. When I landed, this smoke monster thing came after me so I ran and eventually found a city full of crystal.” Crystal answered with a slightly surprised expression, bouncing slightly on the bed she left her clothes on.

“What are you two talking about?” Vinyl asked as she closed the door and walked over to them.

“Oh, the Crystal Empire. Nothing to be concerned with,” Draigo answered as he brushed the subject off as if it was unimportant.	

“If you say so. You guys ready for this? It’s gonna be great!” Vinyl exclaimed as she pumped a hoof in the air.

“Crystal needs to change and then we’ll be all set.”

“Yeah, that,” Crystal said, pointing to Draigo and then to her clothes. Leaving the shirt on the bed, Crystal grabbed the dress and walked into the attached bathroom, closing the door behind her. In what seemed like no time at all, she opened the door again and came out wearing the red dress with her original clothes folded. Placing them next to the shirt, Crystal adjusted the straps and smiled. “Now I’m ready.”

“Alright, let’s get this show on the road,” Vinyl said as she grabbed Crystal’s clothing in her magical aura and trotted out the door, “I’ll put your clothes with my gear for when you’re done.”

“Sure, okay.” Crystal said and looked to Draigo. “What do you mean the Crystal Empire went missing?” She asked him once she figured Vinyl was out of earshot.

“Sombra took the city with him when he was defeated and it’s still gone right now,” Draigo told her as he made his way out of the room.

“Ohhh. Gotcha. My Equestria must be ahead of you then. That makes sense.” Crystal said, nodding her head and following him out the door, locking it behind them.

“Apparently it is. It’s not a big deal, though. The empire will come back eventually and then I’ll deal with Sombra myself if the ponies can’t handle him,” Draigo commented as he saw Vinyl waiting with their masks, “Ah, right. Won’t do for someone to recognize us if we want to go back to the gala later on.”

“That would not do at all.” Crystal agreed, grabbing her mask and putting it on her face. “I can barely see out of this. But it should work just 	fine.” She said, her voice muffled slightly by the mask.

“Yep, I’m only wearing one so that Celestia and Luna won’t harass me about the stunt later on,” Draigo admitted as he put the mask under one of his wings.

“Fine by me.” Crystal said with a shrug and pointed at the wall to her left. “That where the gala is?”

“Yeah, it’s in the ballroom of the castle. We’ll have a little walk across the drawbridge and then we’ll burst through the doors as Vinyl blares the music through her speaker system,” Draigo ran through the plan one last time, “Ready?”

“Yup. Just wondering how we’ll burst through the doors.” Crystal said.

“Oh, I’ll take care of that with a little application of power,” Draigo said as he transformed into the very exposed version of his human form and put on his mask.

“This should be very fun then,” Crystal said in glee, keeping the mask in place by fusing crystals to the underside of it and her face. “I can’t wait to see the look on their faces.” She continued.

“Neither can I. Now that I think of it. We’ll get two reactions tonight. One for our initial appearance and then again when we show up later. Huh, two for the price of one,” Draigo said with a finger to his chin as they walked across the drawbridge.

They were soon at the two massive doors leading directly to where Celestia was greeting her guests.

“Showtime,” Draigo said as he forced the doors open with some wind.

Music came from the speakers that Vinyl had set up as the two walked into the room and began to do their poses. Draigo stuck to muscle poses mainly with a few that seemed fairly normal. While Crystal struck poses that would make any man in the room lust after her with a few blown kisses for added effect.

The reaction of the gala goers was to stare at the two as if they had two heads each. The only ones to have a different reaction were the three Alicorns in attendance, who were smiling and giggling, and a group of six mares that were each trying to figure out who would do something like this.

Getting sick of doing the same poses, Crystal decided to turn it up a notch by having minuscule flames dance along her body, making it look like she was glowing while striking a few more sexy poses.

As she did this Draigo made his own body glow by imbuing it with light magic. He continued to strike muscle poses and decided that a few blown kisses to the mares in attendance wouldn’t hurt, especially towards the Alicorns.

Soon the song was over and a new one took its place. Draigo walked over to Crystal and whispered, “How would you like to do this?”

“We could try sparring with our fire but not really hit each other?” Crystal whispered back.

“Sounds good to me, just try not to hit too many things that look expensive otherwise the guards will interrupt us,” Draigo told her as he struck a fighting pose.

“Perfect,” Crystal commented and striking a similar fighting pose, faced down Draigo.

Draigo opened up by throwing a punch that sent a fireball careening toward Crystal.
Dodging the fireball by moving to the side, Crystal stuck her hand out at the same time and caught it. She let the flames dance in her hand before flinging it back to Draigo.

Seeing his own fireball coming at him, Draigo placed his right arm below his left and put them out as if he were going to block the incoming fireball. Once he felt the fireball touch his skin, he brought his left arm up and his right arm down at the same time. The fireball broke apart and dissipated in a shower of embers.

Bringing her hands into fists, Crystal put them in front of her and gave a few quick jabs to the air, sending multiple fireballs in quick succession. She quickly followed that by kicking her leg into the air, sending a stream of flames after the fireballs.

Draigo bobbed and weaved, dodging the fireballs. He then brought his hands together with his fingers extended and palms facing each other. As the stream of fire neared him he stuck his hands out and parted the stream, letting it pass by him. In retaliation, he created a couple of flame daggers that extended from the bottom of his fists and charged at his partner.

Seeing Draigo create a couple of flame daggers, Crystal created a couple of flame daggers from the bottom of her fists too. In addition to this, a fine layer of crystal covered her hands so that she wouldn’t get unnecessarily hurt. Seeing Draigo get closer, Crystal crisscrossed her arms and brought them up to her face, ready for his attack.

Noticing all this, Draigo threw a punch straight at Crystal’s crossed arms. He held back enough strength that she wouldn’t get more than a bruise from blocking it. He knew it was all for show, but wanted it to look fairly close to a real fight so that the audience was more entertained. Besides, she really couldn’t do all that much harm to him even in this form.

Feeling him punch her arms just hard enough for a bruise to form, Crystal let out a hiss and uncrossed them. Raising both her daggers, Crystal brought them down, aiming straight for both arms. Intending to graze them, Crystal lowered the heat of the flames but kept the brightness up so that the audience wouldn’t realize anything was amiss.

Draigo let her attack through and felt his skin get a little burnt as her daggers passed by. Letting out a grunt, he threw a punch at her head that he knew would miss due to the momentum that her attack carried. He then jumped back and prepared for her next assault.

Smirking behind the mask as he missed hitting her head, Crystal jumped back to her original position and eyed him down. Dissolving the daggers, she breathed and laid her hand flat, slicing the air with it to send a stream of flames his way.

As Crystal jumped back, Draigo took an aggressive stance. When she sent her blade of flames towards him he copied the motion and sent his own on a collision path with her’s. When the two flames met they created an explosion that filled the area with a thick cloud of smoke. Taking advantage of this, Draigo charged into the cloud of smoke and reappeared right before Crystal with smoke trailing off his body.

Crystal gave a small gasp, stumbling backwards when he suddenly appeared in front of her. Giving her hands a small shake, she shot her arm forward and covering her fist in the same amount of flames as her daggers, punched him in the arm as she stepped back towards him.

Grunting from the blow to his arm, Draigo threw a right hook as he covered his fist in crystal and fire. He was aiming for Crystal’s right arm, hoping to give a blow for a blow.

“You’re not the only one who can use crystal to their advantage,” Draigo told her quietly.

Grunting as Draigo hit her arm, she brought her foot up to his stomach and tried to push him away from her.

“That was very surprising,” Crystal whispered to him.

As Crystal kicked his stomach, Draigo grabbed her ankle with his left hand and lifted her from the ground. “What’s so surprising? You saw me create a precious gem earlier today,” he said as he threw her high into the air.

Feeling herself be flung, Crystal gasped in surprise and flailed her arms to try and catch on to something. Seeing nothing to grab onto, she fell back down on her back, cracking the floor.

Draigo flinched as Crystal hit the floor, he thought he’d given her enough time to correct herself and land on her feet. Charging in as if to finish the fight, Draigo brought his foot up and gave an exaggerated stomp towards Crystal’s abdomen. He’d have to make sure she didn’t have need of medical attention once they were done.

Eyes widening at the stomp, Crystal rolled out of the way just in time to see him stomp the floor where she mere seconds ago. Getting into a kneeling position, she threw a fireball at him, not willing to do anything more advanced than that.

Draigo winked at Crystal as he watched the fireball come towards him. He let the fireball connect with his head and promptly collapsed to the floor as if he’d been knocked out by the hit. Draigo rose after a short amount of time on the floor and walked over to Crystal. “I’m getting kinda hungry, you?” he whispered to her as he looked out at the crowd of ponies.

“Yeah, I kinda am.” Crystal whispered back and gave a wave to the crowd.

“Okay, let’s get out of here,” he told her as he raised an arm and then quickly brought it down as he created a wall of smoke between them and the ponies, completely obscuring them. Grateful for the veil, Crystal gave a sigh and ran out the doors before the smoke could dissipate. Draigo followed close behind as they made their way to where Vinyl had her synthesizer hooked up to her speakers.

“Any injuries that need to be looked at?” Draigo asked as he transformed into his draconic form.
Breaking the crystals apart as she took her mask off, Crystal coughed a bit of smoke while stretching her back.

“None that I can feel.” Crystal groaned as she stretched.

“That’s good. That fall looked like it could’ve really hurt,” Draigo commented as he grabbed Crystal’s clothes and handed them to her.

“It did, but nothing I couldn’t handle. I figured if I can handle fighting an actual dragon, then I can definitely handle a small fall.” Crystal said, taking her clothes and putting the orange shirt on over her dress.

“I figured you were fairly tough, but I sometimes forget how frail other beings are since my own defenses are really hard to get through,” Draigo said as he watched Vinyl start to pack up her equipment.

“Hmm. Did you see what we did, Vinyl?” Crystal asked her, stretching her arms into the air.

“Oh, yeah. It was awesome! The reaction was hilarious and the fight afterwards caught even the Princesses off guard.” Vinyl exclaimed as she put her speakers in their travel case.

“That’s fantastic!” Crystal said in glee, clapping her hands together. She heard her stomach growl and clutched her abdomen. “All that fighting made me hungry, though.”

“Hahaha, would you prefer food or flames?” Draigo asked, curious to find out which she preferred for actual hunger.

“Food. Proper food. My stomach needs to grind something every once in awhile.” Crystal answered, chuckling a bit.

“Alright, let’s go back to the gala and enjoy the buffet that Celestia and Luna have put together for us. Oh, don’t worry about not getting an actual invitation. You and Vinyl are my plus ones,” Draigo explained to them.

“Thanks, Draigo. I’ll be spending most of my time near Octavia, though,” Vinyl said with a grin on her face.

“That’s completely fine, Vinyl,” Draigo said as he turned to Crystal, “Are you going to change or go back inside in the outfit you fought in?”

“I’ll keep the shirt on, I’ll just change into my pants as well,” Crystal said, looking around for a place to change.

“Allow me,” Draigo told her as he brought a circle of earth up around Crystal so she’d have some privacy while she changed.

“Thanks.” Crystal thanked him and quickly changed, leaving the dress and vest folded up. “I think this looks good,” She said, jumping up onto the lip of the earthen circle lightly.

“Okay, I’ll seal off the circle so no one runs off with your clothes. This may be Canterlot, but crime still happens, no matter who says otherwise,” Draigo said as he closed the circle and lowered it a bit to be less conspicuous, “Now, let’s go. I’m starving and I’m pretty sure there’ll be at least some meat for visiting dignitaries.”

“That’s good to hear,” Crystal said, rubbing her stomach as she watched the earth mound lower. “What kind of dignitaries? They other country representatives or something?”

“Yeah, there will probably be some griffons, minotaurs, zebras, and possibly a dragon sent by whoever is in charge right now. I kinda doubt the dragons would show up, though,” Draigo said as he walked towards the very doors they’d burst through earlier.

“Sounds like a cool meeting,” Crystal replied and recognised the doors they crashed through earlier. “There’s no back entrance or something? I think the ponies would put two and two together if we went, in the same way, we went out.”

“I think that’s giving them a little too much. The Alicorns, on the other hand, they’d definitely figure it out. Let’s enter through the garden instead. There’s an entrance that leads straight into the ballroom as well as a zoo of some kind,” Draigo cringed when he thought of Celestia and Luna figuring out that it was him who pulled that stunt off.

“Ooh! A secret passageway! That just screams murder to me.” Crystal said, following Draigo as he changed directions.

“Murder? Who’s going to kill someone with this many powerful beings right inside?” Draigo asked curiously as he navigated around the castle and into the royal gardens.

“I don’t know. I usually associate secret passages with murder mysteries. Seems like the perfect place for the killer to slip away.” She said, shrugging. Looking at the gardens, she saw that there were many statues there. Noticing one that caught her eye, Crystal walked up to it and found that it was made of all sorts of different creatures. “Is this Discord?” She asked, pointing to the statue.

“Yes, it would apply to him and me if we had actually fought all out. Since we didn’t and I finished him quickly, no mortal will lose a thing. When Discord ruled, there was no way to tell the time. Day and night changed at random times. There were areas where gravity didn’t work, the rain was chocolate milk, the ground was checkered in a multitude of colors, and a whole lot of other things. He liked changing things up daily to keep the chaos fresh,” Draigo told Crystal, “Okay, I gotta ask. What did you mean when you said you had your gender swapped? You were a guy and then a girl? You didn’t have ulterior motives for keeping that body, right? Also, how long have you been a girl?” Draigo raised an eye ridge and waited for her response.

“I’ve been a girl for about three months actually. I’m just going to say that someone showed me it was much better being a girl than a guy and let’s leave it at that. The way you described how Discord ruled sounded like it was pretty chaotic.” Crystal said, scratching her cheek and inspecting the statue closer.

“Three months and you’re already pregnant? You work fast, my friend,” Draigo commented, “I’m pretty sure the words ‘Spirit of Chaos’ tell you what he’s all about. Is there something interesting about his statue? Oh, who convinced you to stay like that? Twilight? Pinkie? Perhaps it was another Displaced, even if it is extremely improbable?”

“Yeah, well, it was mutual.” Crystal replied with a slight blush. “I’m a bit dense so it may have to be repeated a couple of time for it to get through.There’s nothing particularly interesting about it, I just wanted to see what he was like up close. None of them. It was someone completely different. You’re not that far off with the third option though.” Crystal answered, looking at Draigo carefully.

“Good, good. I was kinda afraid that Discord was escaping from his prison somehow,” Draigo said with a relieved sigh, “Oh? Related to a Displaced or very close to a Displaced?”

“Related. You going to quit with the questions or do I have to suffer through more of them?” Crystal answered with a furious tone in her voice.

“Oh, I’ll stop. Twilight, on the other hand, will never stop until she’s satisfied so be careful,” Draigo said as he chuckled at the frustrated mage.

“Oh man. Forgot about her for a minute there.” Crystal mumbled, running a hand down her face.

“Yeah, it’s kinda easy to forget with what has happened today,” Draigo admitted as he thought of something, “Have you asked for advice from Cadence about you and your lover? Have you met her yet?”

“No, I haven’t asked yet but I have met her. She was the first princess I met, actually. But she’s rather busy at the moment.” Crystal trailed off, looking around at the other statues.

“How is she busy? She doesn’t even seem to have any ‘royal duties’ as far as I’ve seen.” Draigo asked as he started to walk toward the ballroom entrance, “Come on, it may be a buffet, but they’ll stop bringing food out after awhile.”

“Not so much royal duties. She’s more taking care of a baby Sombra rather than taking on royal duties.” Crystal answered, quickly following after him.

“Wait, Sombra’s still alive?!” Draigo said as he froze mid-step, “Do you realize what he’s done and is capable of? Do you realize the impact that will leave on the crystal ponies when they learn that their tormentor is alive and being looked after by their new princess? Cadence is ruling the Crystal Empire, right?”

“Yes, he’s still alive! I’m a bit fuzzy on the details, but I know something turned back Sombra’s biological clock. His mind may not really be there because it apparently has never happened before. And yes, Cadence is ruling the Empire.” Crystal said in a hushed whisper as they walked into the ballroom proper.

“Ugh, for your and the Crystal Empire’s sake I hope his mind isn’t there. If he shows signs of his mind still being there then call for help or use the elements on him again or something. I’m unsure what the original plan to defeat him was, but that would probably be the best bet since I’m guessing the preparations for it were fairly complete before whatever happened, happened,” Draigo whispered to her as the ponies stared at the pair of them, “See something interesting, puny mortals?” Draigo asked the crowd of ponies in a harsh voice.

“That may have been a bit harsh,” Crystal muttered, patting Draigo on his leg. Looking around at the crowd, she bared her sharp teeth and saw with satisfaction the entire crowd move back a bit. “I’ll be sure to keep all that you said about Sombra in mind,” Crystal added.
Draigo sighed, “Sorry, thinking about Sombra and knowing that, had I been in the area, I could’ve helped. It gets me riled up, which has been a lot easier since I became a dragon. Anyway, let’s see what has been prepared for us to eat.”

“Let’s.” Crystal agreed and walked through the crowd of ponies, making a beeline for the buffet.

Draigo followed her as he flared his frightful aura. The crowd of ponies parted before him as if they were wheat being blown by the wind. “Heh, it’s the simple things that you have to remember to appreciate.” He grabbed a plate with his magic and proceeded to fill it with an array of food items.

“The simple things are better appreciated if they are seen from a different perspective,” Crystal said, grabbing a plate and filling it with various food stuffs.

“Hmm, you have a point. Where would you prefer to sit? We could join the Princesses, try to find Twilight and her friends or just go back outside to eat in private,” Draigo said as he looked around to see if he could spot the lavender unicorn, just in case.

“I actually want to see Twilight and her friends, believe it or not. It would be a nice change to answer a few questions compared to everything that happened today.” Crystal answered.

“Well, you’ve got a point,” Draigo said as he continued to search for Twilight and her friends, “There they are. They’re fairly close to Celestia. I guess being her student has its advantages.” Draigo proceeded to walk toward the group of mares and heard them talking about the stunt they’d pulled earlier.

“I think they were aliens,” Pinkie said as Draigo and Crystal walked up to the group’s table.

“Huh, she’s closer than she thinks,” Draigo whispered to Crystal as they got close enough to draw the entire group’s attention.

“Very close.” Crystal whispered. “Hello. I’m Crystal, a friend of Draigo’s.” Crystal said, introducing herself. “Quick question though. Do you know where the bathroom is?” She asked, feeling a bit queasy from unintentionally smelling all the different foods.

“The bathroom is down that hall, first door on your left,” Draigo informed his guest, “Before you ask Twilight. Yes, she’s a Displaced like myself. She’s, well, a human.”

Crystal quickly put her plate on the table and giving a quick wave, bolted for the bathroom.

“WHAT!? She’s human? I thought they were a myth that only crazy ponies believed in,” Twilight exclaimed as the rest of the group chuckled at her reaction.

“Yep, she’s human. You know what else? So am I,” Draigo said as he set his plate down on the table and transformed into his armored human form as his concern for Crystal’s health grew. He removed his helmet to prove he truly was the same as Crystal.
The reaction that he got from Twilight and the others was jaws hitting the table with eyes as wide as their plates.

Wiping her mouth dry as she walked back, Crystal closed her eyes and breathed slowly. Getting back to the table, she opened her eyes and looked around. “What did I miss?” She asked.

“Oh, I just told them that I’m a human and showed them what I look like to prove it. That reaction of theirs never gets old. They did a similar one when I told them I was a primordial dragon,” Draigo told Crystal as he chuckled before he began to eat the food on his plate.

“So, you’re telling me that I could’ve been getting information about a new species this entire time!? Argh, do you even realize how frustrating that is?” Twilight asked Draigo. She looked at Crystal and began to scrutinize them both for any information she could glean from their appearances.

“Is that what he said? I thought it was just me avoiding you for the entire day.” Crystal said, scratching her cheek as she pushed her plate away, not feeling particularly hungry at the moment.

“Oh, there’s that, but what Twilight means is that she could’ve been pumping me for answers had she known I was human earlier. Good thing I kept it a secret until now,” Draigo told Crystal and muttered the last bit to himself.

“What exactly are you looking for?” Crystal asked Twilight, who continued to scrutinize them closely.

“Anything. For instance, you’ve got a bruise on your arm as well as a burn. Also, you seem to have a slight shine to you as if you’d just gotten done with a hard workout.  You don’t have any fur except for on your head and your forelegs have those weird ‘things’ on the end of them instead of hooves. Finally, you just dried your mouth after coming back from the bathroom, indicating that you most likely threw up. Need I go on?” Twilight said as she demonstrated her observational skills.

“No, because I’m going to tell why I have all those things that you said. The bruise is because I bumped into a door frame, the burn is a tattoo. You are observant because I actually was working out a bit before I got here. The fur on my head is called hair and the ‘things’ on the end of my forearms are my fingers. I threw up in the bathroom because I’m-was, sick.” Crystal said, folding her arms as she stared at Twilight; nervous about her near slip-up.

“So, those things at the end of your forearms are called fingers? They seem awkward to use,” Twilight asked trying to clarify the information she’d just been given.

“Yes, these are called fingers and they are attached to our hands. You get used to them after awhile and they are what enable us to hold things without the use of magic,” Draigo answered the curious mare as he wiggled his fingers to show her what part he was talking about.

“Fascinating. Crystal, why do you have sharp teeth all around your mouth while Draigo only has them in four spots?” Twilight asked as she produced a quill and pad of paper.

“Because they make me become nightmare fuel.” Crystal said with a shrug and smiled, showing off her teeth. “To be honest, though, it’s a dragon thing. The character that I became had sharp teeth because he was trained in magic by a dragon. I must’ve gotten them when I got transported to my Equestria.” Crystal clarified after seeing their faces.

“Does that mean you have dragon magic as well? What’s it like? I’ve tried asking Draigo, but he didn’t really know since he’s been like this for so long,” Twilight asked as she jotted down everything that was being said.

“That’s cute. You’re like a living typewriter. Anyway, using dragon magic feels like you’re getting this big buzz every time you use it, sort of like after having about a hundred cups of coffee. I can’t really explain it that well, but that’s what it feels like for me. It must be different for each magic user.” Crystal answered, scratching the back of her head.

“Ooh, ooh. Do you sing about your hated enemies like Draigo?” Pinkie asked out of the blue.

“That was a one-time thing. You’ll never hear me sing again,” Draigo said with a bit of panic in his voice.

“Why? Y’all had a wonderful voice, even if it did scare me half to death,” Applejack piped in.

“Personal reasons,” Draigo answered with a bit of blush showing.

“No, I don’t sing. Never really seen the reason to do so in the first place. I didn’t know you sing, though! You should sing a song!” Crystal said, slapping Draigo on the shoulder.

Draigo sighed, “Any requests? I can tell that none of you girls will give up unless I sing so I might as well sing something you’ll like.” He shifted back into his draconic form and grew to a little taller than Celestia. If he was going to sing, he was going to do so in comfort. He stood up and waited to see if any of them had a request.

“You heard of ‘Summer Lovin’?” Crystal asked, looking up at Draigo.

“Yep and if memory serves I’ll need a partner to properly sing it,” Draigo said as he began to walk toward Celestia and Luna’s raised table.

“Celestia, would you sing a song with me? It was requested and I need a partner to pull it off,” Draigo explained to the surprised princess of the sun.

“What song is it and who requested it?” Celestia asked curiously.

“The song is called ‘Summer Lovin’ and everyone at Twilight’s table wanted to hear me sing. So, would you join me in singing it?” Draigo asked, hoping she would agree.

“Hmm, I do remember a song by that name. If Twilight and her friends would like to hear it then I’m glad to help you out,” Celestia said as she stood and joined Draigo at the edge of her raised platform.

Draigo started the song and Celestia joined in flawlessly. They were soon engrossed in their singing. They didn’t even notice Luna give them both a knowing smile or Twilight and her friends start to dance to their song. Soon enough the entire ballroom grew silent as they listened to the song of the powerful duo. After a little bit, all of the mares echoed Celestia while the stallions did the same for Draigo. It was now a full blown musical number.

The song continued for a little bit then as it ended the pair looked out over the crowd of ponies and flinched when applause erupted from everyone attending the gala.

“Thank you, Celestia. It was fun,” Draigo said softly with a bit of a blush somehow showing through his scales.

“Yes, we should do it again sometime,” Celestia told him as she returned to her table.
Draigo slowly walked back to Twilight’s table and before anyone could say a thing he began eating once more.

“That was something. You two sing really well together.” Crystal complimented him, eating from her plate after finishing her dancing.

“Yes, you and Celestia were really good, darling,” Rarity piped in.

“The song was okay, I guess,” Rainbow said as she looked away from everyone.

“Alright, alright. Isn’t there something else you could talk about?” Draigo said without looking up from his plate.

“We could talk about me doing basic elemental spells, but that can be left for another time. I’d rather talk about why you didn’t say that you had such a good singing voice.” Crystal said, resting her head on both her fists.

“Well, it’s never come up before,” Draigo said as he played with his food with one of his claws, “To be perfectly honest, I’ve never thought of my voice as ‘good’, more like intimidating. That’s why I’ve only really sang when no one else could hear me or so I thought.” Draigo looked at Applejack with a mild glare.

“Hey now, ah thought you were upset and needed to get somethin’ off yer chest,” Applejack said defensively.

“So why do I get the feeling you two don’t really like his singing?” Crystal asked, pointing to Draigo and Applejack.

“It’s not tha ah don’t like his singin’. It’s just that last time I heard him sing he had fire dancing across his body in the middle of the night and then burned up almost an entire hectare of ma land with that pillar he created,” Applejack answered, “It scared me worse than anythin’ ever has before.”

“Of course I don’t like my singing. Didn’t you hear me? I’ve always thought my voice was more intimidating than anything. Why would I want to be intimidating while singing something that isn’t meant to be an intimidating song?” Draigo told her energetically.

“No, I just usually filter that stuff out,” Crystal said absently, chewing on some of her food. “That hectare burning sounds like it wasn’t a good thing, though,” She added.

“I went back and fixed it after I’d calmed down properly. Heck, Celestia is my witness,” Draigo muttered as he looked down at the floor.

“Yep, it’s true. That hectare was empty so nothing got destroyed except for some grass,” Applejack clarified.

“At least trees didn’t get burned otherwise you would actually have something to argue about.” Crystal said, looking first to Applejack, then the princesses. “They look different here than from where I’m from,” She muttered. “What am I saying? Everyone here looks different.”

“Really? What are they like in your world?” Draigo asked as Twilight once more brought out her quill and notepad.

“For one thing, even though they still are the Princesses, they also govern the magic guilds in my world. They also look more human than pony and still have pony traits.” Crystal said, trying to remember what Celestia and Luna looked like back home, considering she’s only met them a few times.

“So, you blend in a lot better than I do when I’m in my human form. That actually sounds kinda nice. I mean, even when I’m a dragon I stand out. The only way I don’t stand out is when I’m trying to hide my identity from everyone,” Draigo told her as he finished off his plate of food.

“That so? Now that I’m thinking about it, every pony at this table is different. Twilight’s job is the same there as it is here. Taking care of the library. Rainbow does not have wings, but she can use wind magic to lift herself up so there’s that. Pinkie is a baker, Rarity is a dressmaker and holds her Boutique close to the Fairy Tail guild and Applejack is a farmer and sells whatever she produces in the marketplace. Also, all of you are more human than pony in my world.” Crystal rattled off as she screwed her eyes shut in an effort to compare the two.

“Huh, doesn’t actually sound all that different, besides them being more human. Pinkie helps out in a bakery, Rarity is a dressmaker and owns her Boutique, and Applejack is a farmer and sells a good majority of what is produced. Rainbow seems to be the most different of the bunch,” Draigo explained as he pointed to each pony as he mentioned them.

“Fluttershy also takes care of animals,” Crystal added, finally opening her eyes as she remembered Fluttershy.

“I-I take care of animals as well,” Fluttershy quietly said from across the table, “There’s quite a few that live in my cottage with me too.”

“Yep, not all that different,” Draigo commented as he propped his head up with one of his claws.

“You do? That’s good to know.” Crystal said with a nod and looked over to Rainbow. “You okay there?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just really hard to imagine not having wings to fly with,” Rainbow responded as she was snapped out of her stupor by Crystal’s question.

“Darling, I know it may be a bit personal, but do you have a special somepony or somepony you’re interested in over in your world?” Rarity asked with a sparkle in her eyes.

“Uum …” Crystal said dumbly, blinking owlishly at Rarity. “Yes … why do you want to know?” She asked nervously.

“Oh, I’m just curious about the relationships in your world and I’m wondering if they are similar to ours like our professions are,” Rarity told her.

“All that I know for sure is that Twilight and Pinkie are together. Other than that, everything seems to be up in the air.” Crystal said with certainty.

“Twilight and Pinkie? I’m sorry, darling. I just can’t see that,” Rarity said skeptically.

“Believe it or not, they are together. I don’t even know how they got together since they appeared before I even landed in my Equestria and frankly, I don’t want to know.” Crystal said, laying her hands flat on the table.

“I’m not into this mushy stuff, but I am curious if the me in your world has somepony she’s interested in,” Rainbow said as the other mares around the table nodded their heads in agreement.

“I would like to think she does, but I have no clue. I think all of you are still single, excepting Twilight and Pinkie.” Crystal answered.

“Well, there you have it, ladies. Now, can we change the subject? It seems that all you girls want to talk about is love and relationships. And yes, I know that sounds like I think you’re stereotypical girls, but I don’t,” Draigo told the group of girls before him.

“Sounds to me like ya jus’ don’t want us askin’ about your interests there, Draigo,” Applejack quipped.

“That would be preferred, yes,” Draigo answered nervously.

“What don’t you want to tell us?” Crystal asked innocently, clasping her hands and bringing them up to the side of her face.

“Nothing, nothing at all,” Draigo responded as he looked out the window towards the garden.

“It doesn’t sound like nothing~” Crystal sang.

“Think back a bit to that thing that you didn’t want me asking about. Cause I can easily set them on you,” Draigo counter attacked and hoped she would actually remember.

“What thing?” Crystal asked, trying to figure out what he meant. Thinking back, she remembered it as her face fell. “Oh right. That.”

“Yep, though now that the girls here know that there’s something I want to hide they’ll probably push me to tell anyway,” Draigo admitted and looked sidelong at the rest of the table. The girls, especially Rarity, could smell interesting news about who he liked, “Crap, I was right and I really don’t feel like running away.”

Crystal didn’t say anything. She just let her head rest on the table as the blush slowly intensified as her eyes looked at the group.

“I’ll take my secret with me to the grave,” Draigo proclaimed, “I’ll take yours with me as well,” Draigo whispered to Crystal.

“Now, darling, there’s no need for that. Just tell us what we want to know and we can continue on with our night,” Rarity said with a gleam in her eye.

“Ha, it’ll take more than that to make me spill the beans,” Draigo challenged as the mares went into a huddle, “Celestia save me.” He intoned under his breath.

“Save you? What about me? Wait. Am I even safe?” Crystal whispered in a panic, looking at the huddled mares.

“They’ve smelled a possible new relationship with one of their friends. They should concentrate on me until I’ve told them. That should be long enough that you will be forgotten,” Draigo hurriedly whispered to Crystal without taking his eyes off the huddled mares before him.

“Oh no.” Crystal squeaked, watching as the mares broke off from their huddle. “We’re doomed.”

“I’m afraid so. It was an honor fighting alongside you, my friend,” Draigo said melodramatically.

“Yup. Nice knowing ya,” Crystal said with a gulp and a scared look on her face.

When the mares broke their huddle they began to assault each of their victims in turn, giving them just enough time to partially recover their nerves. It was only a matter of time before one of them broke down.

Turns out that Draigo was the weaker of the two when it came to resisting ‘peer’ pressure.

“Alright, fine. I’ll answer your question if it will make you stop,” Draigo said as he broke down before the onslaught of the mares.

“Alright, then darling, who does Crystal like?” Rarity asked with an evil grin on her face. Crystal merely crossed her arms and smirked at Rarity.

“Why would I say who I like?” Crystal asked.

“Oh, darling, you misunderstood. I was asking Draigo since he seems to know who you like,” Rarity clarified for Crystal.

“Ohh. Good luck with that then, considering he doesn’t even know …. dammit!” Crystal cursed,  trailing off as she realized she left herself open for a verbal onslaught.

“Well then, let’s focus on you then, Crystal. What is he or she like?” Rarity asked as the mares’ attention focused on the female mage.

“Well, uuh … I vote for a tactical retreat!” Crystal said, sweating bullets while raising her hand up. “Who’s with me?”

“Vote seconded,” Draigo said as he rushed toward the door to the gardens after he’d put Crystal onto his back.

“Those mares are crazy!” Crystal shouted, ducking her head under the archway of the door as they went past it.

“They’re all single and thirsty for a relationship so when they sense a friend likes someone they latch on like leeches,” Draigo told her as he checked behind him, “Crap, they’re pursuing us and Rainbow’s catching up quick. Ideas?”

Looking around the gardens, Crystal saw the entrance to a hedge maze. “Will the hedge maze work?” She asked, looking behind to check on their pursuers.

“It won’t stop Rainbow or Fluttershy, but it’ll definitely allow us to lose the others,” Draigo told her as he steered toward the maze’s entrance.

“I have an idea on how Rainbow and Fluttershy won’t be able to get us. You go one way, I’ll go a different way. Just trust me.” Crystal said, sliding off his back and once she hit the ground, began running towards on the side paths peeling off from the entrance. Heading into one, she ran her hand on the top of the hedge, concentrated and managed to make crystal cover her path of the maze, acting as a roof. Having done so, Crystal continued running, anxious to lose the mares.

“I hope she knows what she’s doing,” Draigo said to himself as he ran in the opposite direction of Crystal.

“Now I see the flaw in my plan,” Crystal muttered, skidding to a stop just the edge of the path she had taken. Looking above to see if either Fluttershy or Rainbow were there, Crystal ran into a different path, not bothering to place any crystal as it would just consume her energy.

“There’s no use in running, Crystal,” Rainbow called from above her chosen target, “We can get Draigo anytime since he lives here. You, on the other hand, don’t.”

“Crap.” Crystal panicked, looking above to see Rainbow flying there. Looking in front of her, she found she had reached a dead end. “Why did it have to be a dead end?” She groaned and throwing all logic out the window, made herself catch fire and ran straight through the hedge wall and into the path beyond.

“You’re really lucky that the hedge maze is still green, Crystal. Otherwise, you would have set the entire place on fire. I still don’t suggest doing that again,” Rainbow commented as she flew lazily above Crystal.

“Okay, I get it! Fire bad for hedge.” Crystal mumbled and ran in a completely new direction. “I hope Draigo is faring better than I am,” She muttered, skidding around a corner.

At that moment, Draigo was feeling a lot more confident about escaping since Fluttershy was the one pursuing him. That confidence would vanish in the next few moments.

Fluttershy, knowing she was a slow flyer, recruited the aid of the animals in the gardens. A flock of birds dive bombed Draigo and began to peck him all over. While the pecking did nothing the amount of birds made him slow down enough for Fluttershy to catch up.

“Agh, go away you stupid birds,” Draigo cried out as his vision was effectively blocked by the feathery assailants.

“I’m sorry Draigo. I really didn’t want to do this, but we really need to find out who you and Crystal like,” Fluttershy told him in a very nice way for what she was doing to him.

“You’ll never take me alive, copper,” Draigo called out, “Please be able to get away somehow Crystal,” He muttered to himself.
Reaching yet another dead end. Crystal skidded to a stop, panting as she tried to think of something to get away.

“Are you okay? You seem to be in a lot better shape than what your performance indicates,” Rainbow wondered as she hovered in front of the panting woman.

“Oh, I’m perfectly fine,” Crystal said flippantly before resting her elbows on her knees as she leaned down.

“Uh huh, sure you are,” Rainbow said as she landed in front of Crystal and tripped her, “Just sit there and answer some questions.”
Crystal shot Rainbow a glare when she fell but leaned back into the hedge slightly anyway. “Fine. What questions? I thought the interview was over when we ran out the hall.” Crystal muttered.

“Well, kinda. See, the others still want to know about who you like. So being the loyal and awesome friend that I am, I gotta find out as much as possible while they’re getting here,” Rainbow explained to the irked human.

“Oh, really?” Crystal huffed, crossing her arms as she laid down on the ground and looked up at the sky.

“Yep. So, make this easy on both of us and spill the beans,” Rainbow said as she pointed at Crystal with her hoof.

“The only thing I’m telling you is that it’s a she, happy?” Crystal said in frustration.

“Not really cause I’m talking about mushy feelings,” Rainbow told Crystal as she stuck her tongue out in disgust, “I’ll do it for my friends, though. Any particular reason why you don’t want us to find out who you like?”

“Because unlike your friends, I like keeping my romantic life secret from anyone I don’t know, even if they look like someone I do know. Now will you quit asking?” Crystal growled, thumping her fist against the ground, leaving a scorch mark where she hit.
Rainbow took a couple steps back from the angry woman and sat on the ground with a sigh.

“Yeah, I get ya. I don’t want the others to know about who I like either,” Rainbow admitted with her ears drooping to the side.

“At least that makes two of us,” Crystal muttered bitterly, even though her gaze had softened. Sitting up and drawing her knees to her chest, she then stared angrily at the ground in front of her.

“I mean, I’ve worked really hard on my image and if they found out they’d never let me hear the end of it. The rest of the town would then hear and see me as soft. I’m not soft! I’m tough!” Rainbow exclaimed as she struck a pose she thought would make her look tough.

“Ha!” Crystal barked harshly, looking at Rainbow for a split second before turning her gaze back to the ground. “You’re the toughest pony I know.”

“Thanks, that means a lot coming from someone like Draigo,” Rainbow admitted and then quickly went to clarify, “A Displaced, that is.”
Draigo was then seen flying above them while a flock of birds pecked away at him. He was only able to fly over the hedge and a little ways away before he crashed to the ground. The birds made it really hard for him to flap his wings properly.

“Get away, you’ve already grounded me,” Draigo said in frustration as Fluttershy and the rest of the girls came over the hedge to land between Draigo and Crystal.

“Do you give up?” Twilight asked.

“I give up, but that doesn’t mean I’ll tell you anything,” Draigo responded, “Besides, I really don’t want to hurt any of you and that’s basically what I’d have to do to get away.”

“I got no problem doing that,” Crystal muttered vehemently.

“Did they hurt you?” Draigo asked as he looked at Crystal intently.

“Nope,” Crystal answered, gazing darkly at the ground in front of her.

“Then don’t hurt them. It’s that simple,” Draigo said to the brooding, pink haired woman.

“I’ll think about it if they don’t ask anymore questions about who I like,” Crystal answered, glaring daggers at Twilight.

“Okay, fine. I won’t ask about who you like and neither will the rest of the girls,” Twilight said as the group nodded in agreement even though they were a tad disappointed. They were mostly ashamed that they had made their guest so angry.

“Oh, I feel terrible for not being kinder,” Fluttershy admitted, “Is there any way we can make it up to you, Crystal?”

Crystal snapped her attention to Fluttershy, slowly softening her gaze as she looked at her. “Maybe a little consideration for the privacy of other ponies,” Crystal said, getting up and dusting herself off.

“I reckon we can remember that,” Applejack replied, “If it weren’t fer us pushin Fluttershy to stop Draigo from runnin then I’m sure she would’ve stopped. The fault lies with everypony besides her.”

“Since that’s the case, then why didn’t you send Twilight after Draigo? Or even have her cast some sort of scanning spell to tell you what you wanted to know? It would have saved us a lot of trouble.” Crystal said, crossing her arms and glaring at the farm pony.

“Well, for one Draigo is immune to magic and I know I can’t keep up with him, especially if he flies away. Second, I could’ve cast a spell to tell me your locations, but keeping you in one place would’ve been impossible without being able to see you. Also, I don’t know any spells that let me read another’s mind and I don’t think there is such a spell,” Twilight explained as she backed away slightly from the glaring gal.

“I wasn’t talking about reading minds. I meant to see if you could cast a spell that can tell you if we were lying or not. A lie detection spell that could be used by listening for heartbeats.” Crystal clarified, pinching the bridge of her nose while placing a hand on her hip. “Or maybe even a full-body scan. Who knows?”

“Oh, right. Well, that doesn’t do us any good if you don’t answer the questions and you obviously didn’t want to,” Twilight told Crystal as she blushed from embarrassment.

“I don’t but,” Crystal sighed, looking at Twilight. “I’m going to tell you something. Hopefully, it will tide you over till I come back.” She then turned her gaze to Draigo and gave him a smile. “I want you to be ready to send me back immediately after I say it, okay?”

“Ready to fire, Ma’am,” Draigo said as he saluted and stood up.

“The real reason why I went to the bathroom so quickly is because … I’m expecting.”

“Crystal, our contract is complete,” Draigo quickly intoned as the six mares squeed in joy as they tried to run up and hug Crystal.
Before they could, Crystal disappeared into a portal that appeared beneath her feet. When she fell, she hit Gray, making him curse loudly.

“Yeah, stuff you too!” Crystal said just as angrily, not noticing the portal close above her.

“Can you get off of me?” Gray asked, huffing as he tried to get Crystal off of him.

“Oh, sorry.” Crystal apologised, getting up and taking a look around. “This is not the guild.”

“No, it’s not.” Gray said, crossing his arms and looking at Crystal quizzically. “Where did you come from?”

“Another Equestria.” She said absently, taking in her surroundings. It looked like she had come through the portal into a port. There were ships docking and taking off as well as crowds of people bustling to and fro.

“Uh huh, sure. I would not believe, if it weren’t for the fact you are wearing a bright orange top instead of your usual open vest.” Gray observed, laughing at the glare she gave him. “Okay, jeez, I’ll stop.” He said, raising his hands up in defense. “Seriously, though. Are you okay?” He asked in concern, heading out the alley and towards the port.

“I’m fine … just looking at the sudden shift in location. I was in the hedge maze over in Canterlot, and now I’m here … which is where exactly?” Crystal asked, fidgeting with her hands as she followed Gray.

“Oh. This is the port closest to Ponyville. I was planning to tackle a job by myself because I heard rumours of Lyon being at the location this job is at.” Gray answered, handing Crystal a piece of paper.

“Hey, Gray!” A voice called out, causing him to turn around so fast he nearly got whiplash. Looking to see that Pinkie was whom the voice belonged to, he cursed and turned on his heel, quickly walking away from the both of them.

Crystal scrunched up the paper Gray gave to her and placed it in her cube which, thankfully, survived the cross-universe trip. “Pinkie, stop.” She said, holding a hand out. To her surprise, Pinkie actually skidded to a stop in front of her. “Why are you chasing Gray? And how long have you been doing that, anyway?”

“I’m chasing him because he punched you into another universe. I planned to teach him a lesson in harming women but it looks like you’re alright!” Pinkie said, calming down and getting back to her usual peppy self after seeing Crystal was unharmed. “Six hours, I’ve been chasing him!” She added, watching Gray slip around the corner.

“He punched me and I just happened to fly through a portal after he did. You know I’m a Displaced so it was bound to happen sooner or later.” Crystal said, giving a laugh while walking after Gray.

“Yeah, well-hey!” Pinkie said, running after Crystal. “You sure you should have asked him to a fight in your condition?” She asked, after having caught up. Crystal tensed, hoping she wasn’t going to say what she thought she would.

“What ‘condition’?” Crystal asked nervously.

“You being pregnant of course!” Pinkie said happily, skipping beside her.

“Of course you would catch onto that.” Crystal said with a groan, cradling her face in one of her hands. “I did it because I wanted to see how strong I was compared to him. I made sure to protect myself properly though.” Crystal said reassuringly.

“If you managed to do that, then great. You’re going to have to tell the rest of our friends eventually though.” Pinkie advised sagely, nodding her head in agreement to her own words.

“You girls coming to Galuna Island or what?” Gray called out from the mouth of the alley, which opened up directly onto the harbour. “You may as well, considering you’ve been following me all this time.”
> Chapter 14 - Water Voyage
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Galuna Island!?” Crystal said in shock, pulling out the paper Gray gave her from the cube. Uncrumpling it, she looked the page over and found that it was an S-Class job. “S-Class!? You’re taking us on an S-Class mission!? That’s the highest mission there is!” Crystal said in protest, walking up to him and punching him hard in the arm.

“Crystal …” Pinkie said nervously, standing just behind her.

“If you want me to calm down, I won’t! He wants us to go to an island full of demons!” Crystal said in frustration, turning to Pinkie and pointing back to Gray, making him dodge to the side as a few shards of crystal were sent his way.

“I think you should calm down though.” Pinkie said forcefully.

“Why should I?” Crystal growled, growing crystal around one of her clenched fists. “Gray is the idiot that wants to go on this job to try and find someone!” She added, turning to the wall beside her and punching it, causing cracks to form as the crystal around her fist broke apart.

Wanting to stop her in her tracks, as well as to try and calm her down, Gray gathered up his ice magic and launched a spell at Crystal, trapping her in an ice net.

“Ice-Make: Fishnet. Comes in handy when someone needs to calm down.” Gray said, placing his hands in his pockets as he looked at the stunned mage.

“I’m perfectly calm. I just don’t see why you have to go an S-Class job to try and find Lyon.” Crystal said, struggling to keep the anger out of her voice.
****************************************************************************************************************
“S-Class? What’s that?” Twilight asked Makarov, observing the guild as they all watched their master to see what his next move would be.

“You’ve been helping for the past couple of months, so it’s no wonder you wouldn’t know. S-Class is the highest rank in the guild. Only four people have access to the job request board and they are the strongest mages here. Reason being that they have the risk of the mage dying if they accept a request. If someone’s taken it, then they’re very stupid.” Makarov explained, hopping off the counter and walking up the stairs to the next floor. “Do you have any idea who’s taken it?” He asked Mirajane once he got to the top of the stairs.

“The only thing I could find were a few ice shards on this side of the bannister.” Mirajane said, walking over and showing him.

“Must have been Gray. Why would he take a job though? He knows the rules.” Makarov said, looking at the slowly melting ice curiously. “Someone needs to bring him back though. Which job did he take?” He asked Mirajane, glancing at the job request board.

“The job to lift the curse off of Galuna Island.” Mirajane said, remembering which ones were on the board and which ones weren’t.

“That one? Hmmm. Twilight, you want to go and get Gray to come back?” Makarov asked her, climbing on top of the bannister and looking down at the Unicorn.

“Is what he did that bad?” Twilight asked, looking up at the both of them.

“Yes. The other S-Class mages won’t be able to get back in time.” Mirajane called down.

“And the others can’t help why?”

“Because they aren’t Unicorns like you. You can do more magic than all of us combined with that horn of yours.” Mirajane answered, disappearing as she climbed down the steps.

“I’ll go and get Gray then. Can I ask for help in case I can’t?” Twilight asked and looked at a couple of the guild members just in case.

“Yes, you can. Who do you want to take?” Makarov grunted, standing behind Twilight and on top of the counter.

“Thank you. I want to take Levy and, is it … Cana?” Twilight asked, looking over at the girl drinking straight from a keg of beer on top of one of the tables.

“That’s right.” Cana said, stopping her drinking for a bit to answer. Looking at Twilight, she placed the keg down next to her, and quirked an eyebrow. “You want me and Levy to help?”

“Yeah, I do. If I’m not able to bring Gray back, then I want you two to help. That okay with you two?” Twilight asked, nervously tapping her index fingers together.

“Fine with me. If we manage to find Crystal along the way, then that’s even better.” Levy said, heading out the door.

“Almost forgot about her.” Twilight mumbled guiltily, following both her and Cana out the door.
****************************************************************************************************************
“Remember what you were like on the train?” Pinkie asked Crystal, watching her as they stepped onto a boat Gray managed to procure.

“Yeah … oh no.” Crystal said, feeling queasy just from the mere motion of the rocking boat.

“Do you get motion sickness?” Gray asked her as he carefully sat down, making sure not to capsize them.

“Yeah. I think it’s about to get even worse thanks to what’s happening with me.” Crystal replied, sitting near the edge of the boat in case she really did throw up.

“Which is … what?” He asked, trying to get some more info out of her.

“I’ll tell you when we get there.” Crystal mumbled, wrapping her arms around her stomach gingerly. After her little blow-up in the alley, both of them managed to calm Crystal down by convincing her to go along with them. When she had managed to convince Gray to let her go, she followed the both of them and helped them find a boat, even if it was with a bit of reluctance. When Gray found one, along with someone willing to take them there, Crystal merely groaned, not believing that she was actually doing this.

A fourth person stepped onto the wooden row boat, rocking it slightly as he expertly moved with the motion of the sea to his place on the boat. Crystal looked up at him and saw he had a light grey coat and was wearing a black undershirt, white overcoat and dark, water-resistant pants. He had no shoes on and wore some sort of beanie that was meant for seaweather.

“Who are you?” Pinkie asked, bouncing a bit in her seat.

“I’m the one that will take you three to the island.” He said simply, grabbing an oar and pushing off, directing them to their destination with powerful strokes. “Blackhead said that two of you were mages. I take you to the island so that you can lift the curse, yes?” He asked them.

“Yeah, that’s why we’re going to the island.” Gray answered, leaning back and looking at Crystal worriedly as she leaned over the side, clutching onto the boat so hard her knuckles turned white. “You sure she’s okay?” Gray whispered to Pinkie.

“Yeah, she’s fine.” Pinkie said happily but shot Crystal a worried look all the same.
****************************************************************************************************************
“Gray is going to an island so the only logical place to go to would be the port closest to Ponyville.” Twilight said, thinking aloud as she quickly finished checking off the marketplace.

“Of course it would be. How else would he get there?” Cana asked, looking through her pack of magical cards.

“We can just take the train to the port.” Levy suggested, looking over Twilight’s checklist. “You missed one.” She pointed out.

“Thanks. The train doesn’t go to the port, which I think is a stupid idea. We’ll just have to walk there instead.” Twilight said, absently ticking off the item Levy had pointed out. “Checklist done. Now we walk to the port. Shouldn’t be more than about six hours with scheduled rests.” Twilight added, scrolling up the checklist and placing it in her pocket.

“Seriously? You girls are going to walk for six hours straight to the port?” Rainbow called out, landing beside them. “Why are you even going there in the first place?”

“We are going to get Gray and bring him back to the guild.” Twilight answered, looking over to Rainbow, shaking her quill to get the last of the ink off. Once she did, she lit her horn up and teleported the quill, ink and scroll back to her library.

“Gray? The one who’s always half-naked?” Rainbow asked, seeing them nod their heads in confirmation. 

“Have you seen him?” Twilight asked, rubbing her wrists to get a bit of circulation into them after having gone over the checklist multiple times.

“Last I saw, him, Crystal and Pinkie were getting into a boat. Not sure where they were headed though.” Rainbow nodded her head, looking confusedly at their reactions. “What?”

“You saw them at the port? How long ago?” Cana asked, folding her arms over her chest after adjusting her bag.

“About three hours? I think?” Rainbow asked, not entirely sure of how long ago she saw them.

“That’s fine, we’ll just have to run then to cut our time in half.” Twilight said, sighing as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

“You seriously think you can run for three hours straight? Why don’t you just use your magic to teleport there?”

“For one, I need to see where I have to go for the teleportation spell to even work. Second, I can’t teleport the three of us without collapsing as soon as I make it to my destination. So we’ll have to run there to make up for lost time.” Twilight explained calmly, turning away from her friend and started to jog in the direction of the port.

“Sorry, no dice.” Rainbow said and grinned, grabbing onto the back of Twilight’s shirt, causing it to tighten around her front. “I’m going to take you there in a fraction of the time.”

“What?” Twilight managed to get out before she was suddenly picked up and flown at an incredibly fast speed towards the port. Once she was set down, she watched Rainbow hightail it back to Ponyville to most likely retrieve the other two. Fixing up her shirt, Twilight sighed as she felt it become loose again. As she was about to scan the horizon for them, a rainbow trail signalled their position. “There they are.” She murmured, crossing her arms over her chest as she tapped her foot.

When Rainbow lighted down, she unwrapped bother her arms from around Levy’s and Cana’s waists, stepping back a bit to shake the stiffness out of them. “Here you go! Told you I could get the three of you here in a few minutes.” Rainbow said proudly.

Levy smoothed her hair and dress as she tried to catch her breath from the sheer speed at which Rainbow had flown. “You weren’t kidding about you taking us here in less than ten minutes.” She gasped, walking forward a bit.

“I’m just glad we got here. Now all we have to do is catch up to Gray and the others.” Cana said, glancing back to Rainbow. “Do you remember which way the were heading?”

“West-North-West. Port’s that way, Twilight.” Rainbow said, walking up to her, grabbing her shoulders, and turning her until she faced in the right direction.

“Ah, right. Thanks. You want to come along and help?” Twilight asked.

“Nah, I got to get back. I promised the CMC, Applejack and Rarity I’d go camping with them. According to Rarity, it takes a couple of days to pack but really? A couple of days? I think she’s just overreacting. Anyway, gotta go.” Rainbow explained, running backwards before turning around and leaping into the air, flying back to Ponyville.
****************************************************************************************************************
“Have we made it yet?” Crystal groaned, staying close to the edge of the boat in case she got sick again.

“We are nearly there.” The captain said and turned to look at his three guests. “Do you know what the curse does to people if they stay there long enough?” He asked, crouching down and placing the oar back where he got it from, letting the current and wind power the boat for a bit.

“No. What?” Pinkie asked.

“It does this.” The captain answered, taking off one half of his jacket to show off a mottled, blackened arm. It looked like it was meant to be part of a demon. Pinkie’s and Gray’s eyes widened at the sight while Crystal leaned over the side, staring glumly at the moving ocean below them, watching the stars in the sky fade in and out as the ripples obscured them.

“It turns you into part demon?” Gray asked, eyes boggling at the sight. Pinkie was going to ask the captain something else but she stopped as she noticed he was no longer there.

“He’s gone!” Pinkie said, planting her hands on either side of her head.

“Did he fall in?” Gray asked, quickly looking over either side of the boat for any signs of bubbles.

“I didn’t hear a splash …” Crystal grumbled, leaning back up and looking blearily at the island. “Is it just me, or is that getting closer?” She asked, pointing to the suddenly looming rocks.

“Yup.” Pinkie gulped, immediately clinging onto the boat. “Everyone brace yourselves!” She shouted just in time before the boat smashed against the rocks, flinging the occupants somewhere onto the island.
****************************************************************************************************************
“No luck here. What about you?” Levy sighed, trudging back to the proposed meeting place if they didn’t manage to find anyone willing to take them. Along the way there, she had met up with Cana, who only shook her head.

“Nope. Maybe Twilight had some luck.” She suggested, patting Levy on the shoulder. They both walked back to the meeting place, which happened to be a one of the cafes strewn along the dock, hoping to get some of the sailors to buy something to eat or drink. They found Twilight already sitting at one of the outside tables, chatting it up with one of the patrons.

“Who’s this?” Levy asked, taking a seat at the table with them while Cana sat opposite her.

“Oh hi you two. I’m just talking with this captain. He says he can get us to Galuna Island, even if no other captain is willing to take us.” Twilight explained, smiling at him. The captain in question had on a white sailor’s hat, a white jacket with a light blue undershirt, black pants and white sneakers. His coat was a light-green one and he had neon-yellow for his mane and tail.

“How did you manage that one?” Cana asked, pulling out a flask from her bag and taking a swig from it.

“I told him that Princess Celestia asked me to go to this island for a personal reason, along with my two friends. Who could say no to the princess?” Twilight said, sporting an embarrassed blush on her cheeks.

“I did not think you would use your position with the princess like that.” Cana said, quirking an eyebrow at Twilight.

“She is very convincing. We will leave at dawn. No later, no earlier.” The captain said, getting up and tipping his hat in Twilight’s direction and slowly walking away, back to his boat to sleep for the night.

“Where are we going to find accommodation?” Cana asked, watching the captain move away before turning her gaze back to the others.

“No clue, but I’m sure we’ll be able to catch up to them. They should’ve arrived at the island by now, if not then they’re very close to it.” Twilight answered, resting her head against the tabletop while cradling her face in her hands. “This is ending up in a disaster.” She groaned.

“It’s not a disaster. We’ll get on the boat in the morning and then get off at Galuna, depending when we get there, it will be about noonish, I think.” Cana reassured Twilight, patting her on the shoulder.

“Yeah, well, we had better get there as soon as we can. Who knows what’s happening on that island.” Twilight replied, straightening up in her chair and looking at the both of them. She then eyed the flask in Cana’s hand and raised an eyebrow.

“How can you drink that much and still have enough cognitive abilities to think straight?” Twilight asked, referring to the keg of beer she had drunk earlier at the guild.

“I’ve gotten used to it, especially after drinking for five years.” Cana said with a shrug, taking a sip.

“Aren’t you eighteen though?” Twilight asked, jaw dropping in astonishment.

“Yeah, so?” Cana asked, looking pointedly at Twilight.

“Thirteen year-olds can’t drink. Their bodies are unable to handle it.” Twilight explained, stressing the fact that she shouldn’t have even been drinking at that age.

“Turns out my metabolism is stronger than most.” Cana replied, giving Twilight a grin. This shut Twilight up for a moment, giving Levy a chance to speak.

“There’s accommodation not far from here. I found it while searching for someone to take us to the island. It’s fairly cheap too so there’s that.” Levy interjected, placing her hands flat on the table.

“Not like there’s any other option. Let’s go with that.” Cana agreed, standing up while putting her flask away. She then gripped Twilight’s shoulder and brought her to a standing position as well. “Come on. Levy, can you lead us there? I think I broke her brain.” Cana said with a chuckle, gently steering Twilight in Levy’s wake.

> Chapter 15 - The Island
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Crystal blinked her eyes open, wincing and groaning at the harsh rays assaulting her vision. Turning around to be on her stomach, she blew some sand out of the way before finally standing up. Hissing as she held her side, she glared at the distant shore and huffed.

“It’s official. We’re swimming back.” Crystal muttered. ‘Where are the other two?’ She thought, scanning the beach for her companions. Seeing a pink leg poking out of a bush, she sighed and began to slowly walk to it. “Come on, Pinkie. Get up.” She said, and gave the leg a small kick once she reached it.

Pinkie gave a yelp and stood up, leaves in her mane and tail. “You got sand in your hair.” Pinkie pointed out, stepping out of the bush. Crystal quickly brushed it out and shook her head to see if that would get rid of the rest of it.

“Thanks. You got leaves in your mane and tail. Have you seen Gray?” Crystal asked, looking from side to side.

“No, silly. I only just got up from that crash landing.” Pinkie replied, smiling and bobbing her head from side to side. "Oh, right." Pinkie ran her hands through her poofy mane to get the leaves out and did the same for her tail.

“Right. A crash landing is still a landing.” Crystal said, shading her eyes from the sun. “He’s not on the beach, and he doesn’t appear to be anywhere near you so that would mean he got flung further into the forest,” she surmised, frowning. “Come on, let’s see if we can go find him if he hasn’t woken up already.”



“Gray? You here?” Pinkie called out, looking under rocks and in trees.

“I don’t think he’s under a rock.” Crystal called out, a bit aways from her and checking various bushes.

“You never know. Rocks are very good at hiding secrets.” Pinkie replied, looking at Crystal while hanging upside down from a tree branch, not bothering to fix up her skirt.

“Whatever you say. I think Gray has woken up and walked off without us.” Crystal said, looking up at Pinkie and sporting a blush as she desperately tried to keep her eyes trained on her face but was unsuccessful as they kept wandering up her body.

“You sure? I think I see someone moving thattaway.” Pinkie pointed, arching her back and flipping down to land on her feet with her arms outstretched to either side in order to keep her balance. Pivoting around, she grabbed Crystal’s hand and began to lead her.

“What did they look like?” Crystal asked, blush fading away and pulling her hand out of Pinkie’s grip to brush aside branches as they walked passed them.

“No idea. It was very hairy and was coloured turquoise. That’s strange, even for me.” Pinkie answered, keeping her eyes peeled for whatever she saw. “I think it was also wearing a white lace headband and had big rat-like ears.” She added as an afterthought. Crystal blanched at the description, hoping that it wasn’t what she thought it was.

“Please don’t tell me it also wore frilly clothes.” Crystal groaned, holding a hand against her head.

“I think it … did …” Pinkie trailed off, jaw dropping at the sheer size of the animal lumbering about with icy spikes in it’s side.

“Gray’s been through here.” Crystal whispered, pointing to the ice around the area.

“Do you think this rat ate him?” Pinkie asked in a very loud whisper, getting the rat’s attention.

“No … but maybe we should run. I don’t think we can fight Angelica on our own.” Crystal said, leaping to the side and running past it, dragging Pinkie after her.

Ten minutes earlier, Gray groaned and sat up, rubbing his face to see if that would wake him up. His vision blurred slightly from looking at the sudden brightness of the sun, a stark contrast from the dark of the night before. “Pinkie? Crystal? You around here?” He asked out loud, standing up and looking around for any signs of them. Finding none, he began to walk forward, hands in his pockets while on the lookout for anything suspicious.

He winced as he tried to roll his shoulder, feeling slight pain flare through it. ‘Must have been caused by the crash.’ He thought with a glum look on his face, wondering about the fate of his friends. Hearing rustling in some nearby shrubbery, he stopped and automatically gathered magic in his hands for a spell while looking in that direction.

“Who’s there?” Gray asked the shrub. What burst out of the bush was a giant rat with turquoise fur. It wore a pink bow below its neck, a black corset-like top with pink frilly edges and was wearing a white lace headband on its head. “That’s something you don’t see everyday.” He said in shock. When the rat screeched at him, he directed his magic towards the forest floor. “Ice-Make: Floor!” Gray shouted, covering the ground between him and the rat in ice.

When the rat began to run, it got a surprised look on its face and skidded on the ice instead, heading straight for the ice mage. Gray quickly leapt to the side to get out of the way but the rat’s tail managed to trip him up, making him bang his head against the forest floor.

Grunting in pain, he rolled over and held his head, shouting in shock as he leaped backwards to avoid a swipe from the giant rat. Gathering magic for another spell, he ran back to get a bit of distance and prepared it. “Ice-Make: Arrows!” He shouted and an ice bow formed around his hands. Pointing it horizontally at the rat, a bunch of ice arrows were shot at high speed towards the creature. Not bothering to see if the attack worked or not, he took the opportunity to run away from the giant rat, creature, thing and further into the forest.

After they heard a screech, Pinkie and Crystal double-timed it. Letting her go on ahead, Crystal slowed and turned, lighting one of her hands on fire and covering the other in crystal, she wondered why she didn’t do this before. When Angelica came close, she combined the two, creating a crystal fireball. Tossing it up and down in her hands a couple of times, Crystal chucked the ball at the rat and felt her magic drain quite a bit when the ball made contact, exploding against the fur.

Angelica gave an infuriated howl, feeling the crystal break apart and embed itself into her skin while the flames spread out, burning a fairly large patch of fur. Giving in to instinct, she gave a pained howl and took off in a random direction after shaking the flames out.

“That was a little too easy.” Crystal panted, watching the rat run away.

“It’s a giant rat. Anything would run away after being burned like that.” Pinkie said, having walked back to Crystal after noticing she wasn’t with her.

“Burned fur ...horrible stench. I’ll be back.” Crystal groaned, covering her nose and mouth as she bolted behind a nearby tree to throw up. Pinkie shook her head and followed her, leaning against the trunk on the opposite side.

“You did not think that through.” Pinkie giggled, nose wrinkling at the stench the rat had left behind. “It is a terrible smell though.” she continued, her voice coming out nasally as she pinched her nose between a couple of fingers.

“You’re telling me. I didn’t think I’d find so far behind me.” Gray commented, stretching his arms by crossing them over his body as he walked towards Pinkie. “Where’s Crystal?”

“Behind this tree. She should be done in a couple of minutes.” Pinkie said nasally, jabbing with a free thumb behind her.

“I need to get away from this stench …” Crystal mumbled, walking slowly out from behind the tree and clutching her stomach. She barely even noticed Gray and Pinkie were there.

“I think we all do. You tell me what’s going on with you once we get clear.” Gray ordered, supporting Crystal.

“I can do that.” Crystal mumbled, feeling a headache coming on from the massive drain in her magic as well as the sudden bout of morning sickness.

“Great! Let’s see if we can figure out why we’re even here in the first place.” Pinkie said, placing her hands behind her head. She walked beside the two of them, sending Crystal concerned glances every once in awhile.

“It says,” Crystal paused to get the mission paper out of her cube, “That we need to lift a curse off the island. Gray said he wanted to come here because he heard that Lyon was around. Isn’t that right?” She asked, turning her head to him.

“That’s right. I heard rumors that Lyon was on an island and I didn’t see any island-related jobs on the regular board so while everyone went home for the night, I grappled up with my ice hook. Then it was just a matter of taking the job and then leaving.” Gray said simply, as if it was an everyday thing for him.

“I think we can stop now. I can barely smell the burnt fur now.” Crystal said, taking Gray’s arm off of her shoulders and sitting down with a thump. She crossed her legs and stretched, taking in slow deep breaths. She heard the others sit near her. They were probably grateful for the stop.

“I think you have something to say, now that we’ve stopped.” Gray said, waiting patiently for Crystal to speak.

“Okay, fine. I’m pregnant. There.” Crystal said, rubbing her eyes and not looking him in the face. After about ten minutes of nothing but silence and the various sounds of the forest, she looked up to see Gray have a blank look on his face. “Gray … you okay there?” She asked, waving a hand in front of his face.

“If you’re pregnant, then why did you let me take you here?” Gray asked after having thought through what she said for a bit.

“You think I didn’t try to stop you? What did you think all that yelling was before you iced me?” Crystal retorted.

“Now it makes sense.” Gray got a bit of emotion back on his face, smiling at them.

“You are taking this news extremely well.” Crystal said, narrowing her eyes at him.

“How else am I meant to take it? You’re pregnant. So what? As long you protect yourself properly you should be fine.” Gray shrugged, finally coming back to his senses. “Of course, we’ll both protect you as much as we can." Gray added.

“That’s right. We’ll both protect you so long as we know you can protect.yourself. Seeing what happened with that rat before, you most certainly can.” Pinkie answered with a vigorous nod of agreement.
****************************************************************************************************************
As the first rays of dawn hit their eyes, the three occupants in room 104 instantly sat up, rubbed their eyes and bolted out the door. Twilight remembered to leave the right amount of bits on the counter before rushing off after the others.

When the three arrived at the docks, they ran to their boat and hopped on just as it was beginning to take off, thankful that they weren’t there one minute later.

“Cutting it close, aren’t we?” The captain asked, chuckling to himself at the dishevelled trio.

“We didn’t think of setting an alarm.” Twilight answered sheepishly, sitting down on the deck of the boat to catch her breath.

“We made it just in time though.” Levy sighed in relief, sitting next to Twilight.

“We got four hours ahead of us so I suggest you get comfortable.” The captain ordered, tipping his hat at the three women before turning to the helm and keeping them on course.

“Four hours should give us plenty of time to talk about how to get Gray back home. He’s obviously at the island by now.” Twilight said, covering her mouth as she yawned.

“So, any ideas?” Cana asked, picking out six cards from her deck and sitting opposite the both of them.

“I could probably write our ideas down but I don’t have any paper.” Levy said, looking at the cards Cana had picked out. “What are you doing with them?”

“I’m making calling cards. Two for you, two for Twilight, and two for me. If we separate once we get to the island, this will help us talk to each other or, if we desperately need help, direct us to the person in need.” Cana explained, placing both her index and middle finger on one of the cards and concentrated a bit of magic into it. Once she was done, a cartoonish version of Twilight’s face popped up. The word ‘CALL’ was above the face in yellow letters while below it, the word ‘DISTRESS’ appeared in bright red letters. She repeated it for the other two cards, the only difference being the faces on each. Once done with all three, she handed them out to each recipient.

“This will definitely help. Thanks, Cana.” Twilight said, flashing her a smile.

“No problem.” Cana shrugged and took out her flask from her bag.

“You’re drinking? At this hour?” Twilight asked in disbelief.

“No, I’m drinking water. Helps to stay hydrated.” Cana gave Twilight a pointed look and took a long draught from it. A bit of the liquid fell past her mouth, letting both Levy and Twilight know that it was indeed water and not alcohol like Twilight originally thought.

“Water drinking aside, what ideas do we have?” Levy asked, steering the topic back on point.

“We could always grab his neck and drag him home.” Cana offered casually.

“No, that’s too rough. Remember, Crystal and Pinkie will be with him as well.” Twilight reminded them, placing an elbow on one of her eyes and habitually start biting her nails.

“Oh right. Our main priority should be Gray though.” Levy pointed out.

“Makarov did say that we should bring Gray back.” Twilight sighed, bowing her head and looking down at herself. “We need to think up of something before we get there.”

“How about, we trap him in one of my cards and take him home that way?” Cana asked, picking one of her cards out and flipping it around to show them a blank face.

“It’s blank.” Twilight said, raising an eyebrow. “Why are you showing us a blank card?”

“Let me give you a demonstration.” Cana said and smiled, moving her hand and slapping the card against Twilight’s cheek. She poured her magic into the slap, forcing Twilight to be sucked inside the card. It dropped onto the deck, with Twilight banging against the inside of the card in protest. After giving her a few minutes to think about it, Cana waved her hand over the card, releasing the spell on it, feeling a considerable drain in her magic.

“That was not nice.” Twilight shivered, looking at the blank card beside her. “I don’t want to go back in there but I can see how it can be effective.” Twilight said, picking the card up and handing it back to Cana.

“Your welcome. Only drawback is it drains my magic by a considerable amount. So maybe it can be used as a last resort.” She said, grinning.

“That’s one idea. Any others?” Levy asked, twirling a lock of hair around her finger. “We could always help them.” She suggested.

“Help them complete the S-Class Quest?” Twilight asked in surprise. “We’re tasked with bringing Gray home and that’s it. Nothing else.”

“Think about it. If we help them with the quest, then it would go by a lot quicker. Getting the mission done quicker means getting Gray back to the guild a lot quicker.” Levy tried to persuade the both of them.

“It would be quicker if we just persuaded him to come home.” Twilight retorted, resting her head in one of her hands.

“While that is true, we’ve got to think of other ways to get him home if diplomacy fails.” Cana said.

“Halfway there, pretty ladies.” The captain announced cheerfully.

“Only halfway? Feels like it’s been a lot longer than that.” Cana said drily.

“If we can’t think of anything else, then we’ll just go with one of two options. Join them and help, or convince Gray to come back to the guild.” Levy repeated their ideas back to them.

“I really like the first one. I haven’t seen any action in awhile.” Cana said with a grin.

Twilight shook her head at that. “I still think we can talk him out of it.” She said with conviction.

“Whatever the case, we’ve got to do something about getting Gray home.” Levy shrugged and looked at the card Cana had given her. “This is meant to help us chat with each other if we get separated?”

“Yeah, it is. Just touch the ‘CALL’ option and think about who you want to chat with. The ‘DISTRESS’ option is there if you need both of us to come to your aid.” Cana repeated her instructions to them, hoping it will stick this time.

“Call and Distress. Simple enough.” Twilight murmured, looking over her own card.



“Here we are.” The captain announced, shaking his three guests awake. All three of them opened their eyes and sat up, yawning for various lengths of time. Twilight got up after stretching and observed the beach they were docked at.

“Thank you.” Twilight said, and walked down the gangplank that had been set up. The other two thanked him as well and followed. The captain tipped his hat and removed the gangplank once he was sure they were off. Immediately looking at the beach for clues, Twilight and the others walked slowly around, trying to find any tracks.

“Can’t seem to find any tracks.” Cana muttered, turning towards the others.

“I can’t find any either.” Levy frowned, placing her hands on her hips.

“I found something here!” Twilight shouted from the other side of the beach. Looking at the two sets of footprints, she followed them with her gaze until they disappeared into the treeline. “I think I found two sets of footprints here.” She said once the others were near her.

“Two? Rainbow said that Gray was with Crystal and Pinkie, right?” Cana asked, looking at the same direction Twilight.

“They disappear beyond here.” Levy commented, waving Twilight and Cana over.

“They do. It could be ages before we can find them then.” Twilight groaned. “Yes, Crystal and Pinkie are with Gray.” She answered Cana, placing a hand on her forehead, just underneath her horn.

“No choice but to move forward then, right? No use finding them if we stand here.” Cana shrugged and lead the way into the forest.
> Chapter 16 - The Village
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	A loud thud sounded out throughout the guild as something heavy dropped. The various guild members looked in fear as they beheld an armored red-head dropping a giant horn onto the floor, effectively cracking it. Some of the guild members kept their faces buried in their mugs while others wondered what the woman was doing there.

“Why is Erza back so soon?”

“She carried that thing all the way back on her own?”

“She won’t like it when she finds out what Gray did.”

Erza wore metal armor covering her upper body. There were little flaps of metal extending from the piece covering her midriff that covered a navy-blue skirt. She wore metal gauntlets to cover her hands, wrists and forearms, letting part of the material covering the skin so that it wouldn’t chafe, show. She ignored the various whisperings of her fellow members and stared straight ahead at where she expected her master to be. On top of the bar counter, overlooking the guild. But he wasn’t there. Finding this slightly odd, she frowned and walked up to the bar, wondering where he could be.

“Mirajane, where’s Master?” Erza asked, looking at her while she cleaned a few glasses.

“Hello, Erza. Back so soon?” Mirajane asked with a smile. “Master Makarov had to attend a guild master meeting. He left yesterday so he should be back in a few days or so. It varies how long these meetings go for really.”

“Fine," she sighed and sat down on one of the bar stools. “Are there any S-Class jobs still available?”

“Yes, but you’re going to need to bring someone back from one.” Mirajane replied, leaning over the countertop.

“Who?” Erza asked, showing a bit of surprise at this. Usually the others would be able to handle themselves.

“Gray. He stole an S-Class job. We’ve sent Twilight, Levy and Cana after him but they haven’t reported back. Before he left, Master Makarov said if Erza, Laxus, Gildarts or Mystogan come back from their jobs, send them after Gray as it’s high time he was returned home.” Mirajane said.

“Gray? He knows the rules though. Why would he do such a thing?” Erza asked, wanting to get some more information.

“No clue. But he’s gone and we need to bring him back. You can take someone with you if you think it will help.” Mirajane said.

“Which job did he take?” Erza sighed, getting up and preparing to leave even though she just got back.

“The Galuna Island job.” Mirajane commented, giving her another smile before attending to another guild member.

“Guess I have no choice. Lucy, you’re coming with me.” Erza didn’t wait for a reply as she picked up the giant horn she was carrying and strode out the door with it, another thud sounding as she placed it somewhere just outside the door.

“What? Me? You want me?” Lucy asked, visibly shaking while going after Erza.

“Yes, I do. Your celestial spirits can help and I don’t want to overwhelm him unless absolutely necessary.” Erza replied, turning her head to look briefly at the blonde before marching off to the port.

“B-b-but … oh fine.” Lucy sighed, not wishing to incur Erza’s wrath. “How are we getting to the port then? The train doesn’t go there which is a really poor design plan.” She asked, finally catching up to Erza’s strict pace.

“We’re going to walk.” Erza said in a curt manner.

“Of course we are.” Lucy sighed, slumping forward and dragging her feet slightly. She was wearing black boots that reached up to just under her knees, a blue skirt with a brown belt to hold her whip as well as a keyring for the celestial keys. She uses the celestial keys to summon special spirits to either help her out with everyday tasks, or to fight battles.
********************************************************************************************************
As Gray, Pinkie and Crystal talked about various things, a plan of how to proceed among the subjects, Crystal heard footsteps and crunching leavings a little ways of.

“Do you guys hear that?” Crystal asked, cupping her hand to her ear.

“Hear what?” Gray asked in confusion.

“Ooh! Do you have super hearing!?” Pinkie asked excitedly, looking at Crystal expectantly.

“Must have gotten that too when I jumped worlds.” Crystal mumbled, scratching at her ear as the footsteps got closer as well as a few voices chatting. “And it sounds like Twilight, Cana and Levy are here," she informed them.

“They’re here to take me back to the guild.” Gray sighed and stretched as he got up. “May as well get this over with.” He said, rolling his shoulders and immediately taking off further into the island.

“Gray! Get back here!” Pinkie shouted, running after him.

“Why does this happen to me?” Crystal groaned and slouched after them, walking quickly to try and catch up to Pinkie at the very least. She glared at herself though when she heard someone shout her name. Knowing it was Twilight and the others, she turned around and gave them a smile. “Hi, guys. What’s up?” she asked nervously.

“Taking the three of you back.” Cana said dismissively.

“Three? I’m the only one here. Can you see anyone else here?” Crystal asked, gesturing around them to show that there really was only the four of them.

“Well, no, but we know for a fact that three of you are here.” Twilight answered, placing a hand on her hip.

“Of course you do.” Crystal sighed and turned, walking after Gray and Pinkie.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Levy asked her.

“To go after Gray and Pinkie. That a problem?” Crystal asked, blinking as she turned back to look at Levy.

“No, I was just wondering if we could follow.” Twilight suggested, looking at Crystal expectantly.

“Sure. I don’t see why not. I failed in stopping Gray from coming here so I don’t see how you can succeed where I failed.” Crystal shrugged, and walked on, leading the three of them behind her. “Did Makarov send you to do this?” she asked after a bit of silence.

“Yes he did and I intend to keep that promise.” Twilight answered, nodding primly. “He also said I could choose a couple of people to help so Levy and Cana are here because of that.”

“When were you meant to report back?” Crystal asked, slowing a bit to walk side by side with them.

“We were meant to report back? He didn’t say anything about that.” Twilight said innocently, looking at the three of them in confusion.

“Oh boy. He’ll probably send an S-Class after us then.” Crystal said as she blanched at the thought of having to possibly face Erza. “I really don’t want to face any of them at the moment.”

“We were so busy trying to get here, I guess we forgot.” Levy said with a sheepish smile.

“You forgot.” Crystal repeated in a deadpan manner, giving her a blank stare.

“We had to get up at dawn and onto a ship to get here.” Cana answered, mirroring Crystal’s look.

“You couldn’t report while you waited to get on the ship?” Crystal asked, scratching one of her ears as she thought she heard a far off shout.

“We were too busy trying to figure out where to stay for the night, and then Cana managed to break Twilight.” Levy answered, smiling at Crystal. Crystal looked Twilight over at this, trying to discern if she had any broken bones or not. After seeing that she was fine, she raised an eyebrow.

“Cana broke her brain?” Crystal asked.

“Drinking when you’re thirteen is not legal!” Twilight fumed, crossing her arms. the other three chuckled at this, knowing full well that Twilight wasn’t going to drop it.

“So? I still did it.” Cana smirked, replying to Twilight and Crystal while moving some branches out of the way. “Where did Gray go?” Cana asked, trying to get them to focus back on the mission.

Crystal pointed in the direction they were going in. Walking quickly ahead of them, she brushed apart a bunch of foliage that was in her way, nearly smacking into a wall made out of extremely tall and wooden spikes. Mouth gaping at the sudden wall, she looked both ways and found it extended far out to either side, curving off the farther away it got.

“That’s a big wall.” Cana commented, walking past Crystal and heading off to the left.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Levy asked, following Cana. Not believing they had any choice, Twilight and Crystal followed after.

“Where else? To the entrance to see if there are actually any people here.” Cana said matter-of-factly, grinning at them while taking a swig from the flask she had fished out of the satchel she was carrying.
********************************************************************************************************
“Gray! Slow down!” Pinkie shouted, running after the ice mage and unintentionally leaving Crystal behind.

“I’m not going back! Not until I’ve confronted Lyon!” Gray shouted behind him, giving a quick glance back before deftly dodging to the side as he saw a chunk of dirt flying towards him. Most likely an effort by Pinkie to stop him.

“At least let me- oh. Nevermind!” Pinkie said happily, suddenly appearing in front of Gray, causing him to crash into her and making the both of them tumble down a small slope. At the bottom, they were a tangle of limbs that had a hard time of getting each other apart.

“What was that?” Gray asked, having finally extracted himself from her.

“What was what?” Pinkie asked innocently, sitting up and giggling.

“You, teleporting. That’s what!” Gray answered, standing up to look at their surroundings better.

“So? I do it all the time. Everypony in Ponyville are so used to it, they wave when they see me pop by.” Pinkie shrugged, smiling and jumping up, placing a hand on her forehead to look around. Spotting a structure in the distance, she pointed it out to Gray. “Was that there before?”

Gray simply nodded and sighed, holding his head in his hands as he realised he would have to put up with Pinkie for the entire way there. “Yes, it was. We need to find a village first though and rest up before we continue on.” He suggested, placing a hand against his forehead to look at their surroundings.

“If it’s a village you want, then there’s one we ran passed back that way.” Pinkie supplied, frowning at the far-off building before turning and marching in the direction of the village. She stopped after a bit when she noticed Gray wasn’t following. Turning her head slowly to look at him, she gave him a quizzical look. “Something up?”

“Just thinking. Why would Lyon come here? Why didn’t he just slink off and join a guild or something?” Gray wondered, finally getting it into his head to follow Pinkie rather than just stand and stare at nothingness.

Pinkie had no answer for this so she resorted to clicking her tongue against her teeth.



“Can you stop?” Gray asked after having listening to her tongue clicking for the past ten minutes.

“It’s fun when I do this though.” Pinkie protested, poking her tongue out at him, feeling a bit peeved at not being told to do something she considered fun.

“If it’s fun, then try to do it quietly. I’m trying to find that village you said we ran passed.” Gray said, placing his hands in his pockets and slouching a bit. Pinkie obliged and tried to click her tongue quietly but it ended up being the same volume so she eventually stopped doing it. “I think that’s the village. Is it?” Gray asked, perking up a bit at seeing the giant wooden spears stick up out of the ground, making a makeshift fence. Fantastic defense if anything couldn’t fly.

“That’s the one. I think I see the others there.” Pinkie said, bouncing up and down as she tried to get the others group’s attention, not noticing Gray sporting a big blush at her movement.

“Where did you two run off to?” Crystal asked once she and the others had walked over.

“No idea. We ran, and ran, and ran until eventually stopping. We found a building in the far-off distance but Gray decided to rest up at a village, so I pointed him back to this place.” Pinkie explained.

“I’m glad you did. I have a few questions to ask him before we take him back anyway.” Twilight levitated a scroll and quill from out of her pocket, clearly intending to start right away.

“Why don’t we get into this village first before you start interrogating him, hm?” Cana suggested, jabbing a thumb at the nearby fence.

“Sounds good to me.” Levy agreed and without any further talk, the group walked up to the entrance and called out, waiting for someone to answer.

“No-one’s home. I suggest we bust it open.” Crystal said with a grin after having stood there in silence for a few minutes and lit up her hand in preparation.

“What? No! We’ll wait a bit longer for someone to answer.” Twilight argued, much to Crystal’s chagrin.

Gray had his eyes squinted at the top of the spikes, waiting for something to poke their head out to see what the commotion was about.

“‘Keep Out’ … they certainly don’t want any visitors.” Levy said, looking up at the sheer size of the gate. “It’s definitely got some good defense capabilities.” Levy said, impressed by it, even if it was a bit primitive.

“Who goes there?” a voice called out from above their heads, causing Gray to smile at it.

“Finally, someone answers,” he muttered and called out to the person. “We’re responding to the job request you sent to Fairy Tail!”

“Fairy Tail? Then why didn’t we get any notification of it having been accepted?” the person asked, feeling suspicious at this random group of possible mages.

“Probably a mix up with the paperwork! That sort of stuff gets mixed up all the time when politics are involved!” Crystal called out, answering him and giving a thumb up to Gray.

“Then show us your mark!” He called back, getting another guard to come closer and help verify them. Once he did that, he looked back to find four different-coloured marks, placed on various locations of their bodies.

Levy’s mark was on her left back shoulder blade, Cana’s was just above her left hip, Crystal’s was on her right bicep and Gray’s was just under his left collarbone.

“All but two. Should we let them in?” the guard who called out asked his companion.

“They must be with them for a reason. Let them all in but keep a careful watch on the Unicorn and her pink friend. There’s no knowing of what they can do,” he suggested, signalling one of the other citizens to raise the gate.

“Why do I get the feeling we’re walking into a monster’s mouth?” Twilight said nervously, following the group as they went inside as she watched the gate rise up, revealing that they were spiked on the bottom as well.

“No idea, but this is all very familiar to me.” Crystal whispered to Twilight, not wanting the others to overhear. “If it helps, I’ll tell you why when everyone’s asleep,” she added, silencing Twilight for the time being.

“Fine, but I’m holding you to that.” Twilight said sincerely, both girls jumping a bit at Pinkie’s sudden intrusion.

“You two must Pinkie Promise on it!” Pinkie declared, causing Crystal to screw her face into confusion.

“What the hell is a Pinkie Promise?” Crystal asked.

“You must cross your heart, hope to die, stick a cupcake in your eye. If you break it, I will hunt you down forever.” Pinkie said happily, not fitting the tone of her words at all.

“She’s scary.” Crystal muttered once Pinkie was out of earshot. With their little conversation finished, Crystal looked at the villagers and nodded her head at them. “Definitely familiar,” she groaned, casting her eyes downward. “You all have demonic features, don’t you?” Crystal asked, surprising the entire village as well as her friends.

“How did you know that, young one?” a wizened elderly with a dark green coat, snow-white mane and tail as well as wings, marking him a Pegasus, walked up to Crystal, hands clasped behind his back. He even wore a white, full-length robe to cover his body up with.

“Gray, Pinkie and I ran into one of you at the docks. He helped us get here after vanishing. Oddly enough, he didn’t give out a name.” Crystal explained, pointing to Gray and Pinkie as she mentioned their names. “I just figured the lot of you were the same. Do you know why you’re like this?” she inquired, sitting down on the ground, cross-legged.

“The moon,” the village collectively answered, pointing up to a purple moon.

“I don’t think it’s meant to be that colour.” Levy whispered, the others gazing in stunned silence at it.

“It’s not.” Crystal agreed, waiting for who she assumed was the village chief to speak again.

“The moon has cursed us to grow demonic at night. See for yourselves,” the elder said, tossing aside the white robe he wore. A clawed hand that was dark blue in colour was revealed. The other villagers did the same, showing off an assortment of demonic features such as horns, claws, wings and scales in some cases; all of them a different colour than their coat colour made it out to be.

‘Figured.’ Crystal thought as she gauged her friend’s reactions to it. All of them appeared to have varying degrees of shock, with Twilight being hit by it the hardest.

“How does this count as a curse? It’s look more like a birth defect … a village-wide birth defect.” Twilight said, her rational side winning out as the rest of her brain shut down from the revelation.

“Trust me, my dear, when I say that this is most certainly a curse. From that cursed moon you see above you, right down to our hideous features, it definitely is a curse,” the elder proclaimed.

“What’s your name?” Cana asked.

“I am simply known as Elder. Apparently that’s how I became the leader of this village but I’ve done a good job of it for the past twenty years or so.” Elder answered, shrugging.

“Wowzers, that’s old!” Pinkie exclaimed, jaw hanging as her arms dangled by her sides.

“Pinkie, hush.” Twilight said, placing a hand in front of Pinkie’s muzzle.

“Mmfmmfmfmf!” Pinkie said, her voice muffled by the hand.

“Do you think we can stay here while we try to sort this curse thing out?” Gray asked, pointedly ignoring Pinkie’s antics.

“You may. We’re going to have to keep a close eye on your two friends though, just in case they get out of hand.” Elder said, watching Pinkie and Twilight closely.

“I assure you we won’t do anything rash. Right Pinkie?” Twilight asked, jerking her hand back when she felt something wet glide along it. “You licked me!”

“Don’t worry! We won’t!” Pinkie said, saluting Elder and grinning innocently at Twilight.

> Chapter 17 - Temple Trouble
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	While discussing on what to do next, with particular attention paid to the structure that Pinkie and Gray saw when they ran on ahead, the village went to sleep. The Fairy Tail group stayed up though to discuss some more plans before turning in themselves. When they finally did go to sleep, Crystal put her hand on Twilight’s shoulder and beckoned for her to follow her outside the hut the village was kind enough to lend out.

“What’s up?” Twilight asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest as she watched Crystal pace back and forth.

“Remember how I told everyone I was from another world?” Crystal asked, stopping her pacing to look at Twilight.

“Yeah, what about it?” Twilight asked, getting a curious look on her face.

“In that world, everything happening here with Fairy Tail, this island and possibly whatever happens after this, is all part of a show back home.” Crystal replied, giving Twilight a serious look.

“Wait, what?” Twilight asked.

“A show. It’s when you watch something on a weekly basis through a magic screen. That’s the best way I can describe it without going into too much detail. From what I’ve seen happening here, it is definitely following the plotline of the show but I only got partway through watching the arc after this one before I got Displaced.” Crystal explained, sighing and resuming her pacing as something else was brought forth.

“Before you say anything, there’s something else. I don’t know how to say this … but you remember that field you said Trixie teleported you to?” Crystal asked, stopping her pacing to look at Twilight.

“Yeah, what about it?” Twilight asked, tilting her head to the side a bit, making a mental note to ask Crystal about this ‘show’ thing sometime later on. “You said you would tell me about it the day after, except you were nowhere to be seen.”

Crystal nodded, letting out a shaky breath. “I got summoned to another Equestria. It’s bound to happen from time to time so everyone may as well get used to it.”

“Another Equestria? What was it like?” Twilight asked, her ears flicking up as she listened.

“The same as this, except with a lot less magical people around. Also, you, Pinkie, Rainbow, Rarity, Fluttershy and Applejack were ponies.” Crystal answered, stopping her pacing and leaned on the wall of the straw hut their group was staying in. “The one that summoned me was a dragon that could transform into a human as well as control the different elements. We had a good time until I got chased through a maze.”

“We were ponies in that Equestria?” Twilight asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest in disbelief.

“Seriously? I mention a shape-shifting dragon and you being a pony in that world is what you question?” Crystal answered with her own question, raising an eyebrow before raising her arms and shaking her head. “Nevermind. I’ll make this short so that we can rest up for tomorrow. That field where Trixie teleported you to is where I got pregnant with Freya’s eggs. That may explain a few things you found out from your time studying that meadow.” Crystal said as she breathed and closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose.

Twilight had nothing to say to that so she chose to don a blank stare as she tried to process the information Crystal had told her.

“Great. While you try to process that, I’ll head to bed.” Crystal said after a few uneasy moments of awkward silence. She turned away and looked briefly up at the structure as a bright purple beam broke the night sky. Not thinking too much of it, she gave a few concerning glances back to Twilight before heading into the hut for the night.



“Which way is the structure again?” Crystal asked, placing a hand on her forehead to block out some of the sun as she tried to find it.

“Look up.” Gray said, pointing helpfully to the spire jutting out from what looked like the centre of the jungle.

“Now I feel like an idiot.” Crystal huffed, lowering her hand while walking in the direction of the building. As she, Gray, Levy and Cana got closer, they found it to be a gigantic temple in the shape of a stepped pyramid. Twilight and Pinkie had stayed behind to talk more with the villagers. They thought it would be as good a chance as any to learn more info about what kind of curse they were dealing with.

“Let’s head inside. It would be good to see if we’re dealing with anything out of the ordinary here.” Cana said and lead the way inside. Once the four of them were in, they decided to split up and to meet back at the entrance after a couple of hours of searching. For convenience sake, they all went by themselves in four different directions. Gray followed the slope of the temple until he hit some stairs that lead down further into the temple and most likely the island itself. Crystal moved to a set of stairs that lead up into the temple and began climbing them. Cana and Levy took off in opposite directions, both intending to move to the stairs when they finished looking around.



When Crystal made it to the top of the stairs, she took a quick look around and thought for a bit on how to proceed. She was currently in a corridor with stone walls and a stone floor. The walls were decorated with ancient paintings depicting some sort of ritual or other, leading her to think that this may have been the site of a cult.

‘This is either a cult, or something else entirely …’ Crystal’s thoughts trailed off when she rounded the corner and took the next flight of stairs up. She continued to follow the stairs until they ended on the roof. She heard voices as soon as she emerged from the stairs and went to hide behind a nearby pillar. While listening to them, Crystal realised that they were talking about some sort of magic ritual for Moon Drip and she thought she recognised a couple of them.

‘Is that Lyon and Trixie?’ Crystal asked herself, leaning around the side of the pillar to see if she could spot the origin of the conversation.

When Gray made it to the bottom of the stairs, he found himself to be in a cave system with narrow, rocky corridors, glistening with moisture. He followed the path until it became an intersection of three interconnecting corridors, including the one he was in. At a whim, he chose the left path and walked down it, eventually coming upon a large room filled with water as well as a giant iceberg.

‘How did an iceberg get stuck in a cave like this? It should have melted ages ago.’ Gray thought to himself as he carefully navigated the rocky floor in an effort to see the iceberg better. Once he made it to the edge of the water, he crouched down and hopped into it, wading up to the iceberg’s edge. Peering closely into it, he saw the shape of an extremely large foot. Following it up, he stepped back until the hulking behemoth was entirely in his vision, making his eyes widen as he recognised the form.

“De-Deliora?” Gray whispered, fear and shock running through him at the thought of him possibly coming back to wreak havoc.

When Cana and Levy split up, they both headed in opposite directions at first, in order to cover more ground but that soon proved fruitless so they both met back up in the main room after finding that their respective corridors lead to dead ends and empty rooms.

“You find anything?” Cana asked Levy, who only shook her head in response.

“I think it would be best if we explored where Gray and Crystal went. You go up and I go down?” Levy suggested.

“Sounds like a plan to me.” Cana drawled, heading upstairs while Levy took the stairs going down.

On her way down, Levy heard drips coming from somewhere down below. She quickened her pace and nearly stumbled on the last step as she ran full pelt down the rocky corridor. She hoped to catch whatever that dripping source was before it stopped completely. Coming up to a junction with three intersecting corridors, she took a quick breather to try and figure which one held the dripping. Thinking it came from the right, she took off down that way, slowing to a fast walk when needed. When she emerged at the end of the corridor, she looked up to find the dripping coming from the ceiling.

“There … should not be a leak. It’s solid rock!” Levy said as she squinted up at the dripping water. After a good while, as well as a good look around, she turned back up the corridor and went into the one opposite her when she came up to the junction. Following its twists and turns, she ended up in a rather large cavern with its dominating being an iceberg.

“How did an iceberg get in here!?” Levy shouted in surprise.

“Levy?” Gray called out, recognising her voice. He jerked his head up and looked over to the entrance.

“Yeah? Do you have any idea what’s going on around here?” Levy asked, making her way towards him, being careful not to slip on the wet floor.

“I don’t know what Lyon is planning, but I know it has something to do with Deliora.” Gray answered, pointing to the encased demon.

“That is huge!” Levy exclaimed, looking up at it.

“Yeah, it is. Do you know how Crystal and Cana are doing?” he asked her, looking up at the demon as well and trying not to think of how it got like that in the first place.

“No clue. They both headed upstairs.” Levy informed with him with a shrug.



“Up and up and up. These stairs seem like they could go on forever!” Cana grumbled, finally emerging into fresh air on the top of the temple. Looking up at the sky, it seemed to have darkened somewhat, signalling that sunset was near. “That sky is odd. I just hope that-” Cana’s ramblings got interrupted by a rather loud shush. Looking at the shusher, she found it to be Crystal, who was crouching behind a pillar. She made her way over and placed a hand on her hip.

“Why’d you shush me?” she asked.

“Don’t you hear them?” Crystal asked, pointing to the group up ahead.

“No, but I guess you can. What are they saying?” Cana asked, crouching as well so they could hear each other better.

“They’re muttering an incantation of sorts.” Crystal replied, peeking out from behind the pillar to snag another look at them. Soon as she did, they stopped their chanting. A bright pink circle appeared on the roof, with two more seemingly stuck in mid-air. Suddenly, a bright purple beam shone down on the magic circles, crashing down into the roof which surprisingly didn’t crack. “That’s the beam I saw last night.” Crystal breathed.

“It is?” Cana asked, looking at her in surprise.

Crystal managed to give a nod before ducking back behind the pillar as a ball of ice shot past her and over the roof. “Okay … Lyon is definitely here …” she said through shuddering breaths at the close call. She heard the pillar crack before it began to fall backwards onto the roof behind them. Both Cana and Crystal looked behind themselves slowly before waving. “Pizza delivery?”

“No-one ordered pizza … did they?” One of the acolytes asked the group at large, and they soon began talking amongst themselves.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie demands you all to be quiet!” Trixie shouted, lighting up her horn in a red hue threateningly.

“And there’s the Vastly Underpowered Trixie.” Crystal muttered, standing up with Cana doing the same.

“Do you have a plan?” Cana asked tentatively.

“Nope. I usually just wing it.” Crystal grinned and crossed her arms.

“Great.” Cana sighed, taking a swig from her hip flask.

“Seeing you again gives me the perfect opportunity to do this!” Lyon shouted, moving out from the group to stand out more. He looked to be wearing a white helmet with curved ram’s horns and a fancy blue sigil on the forehead. He also wore a white overcoat, over his attire from when he attacked Ponyville a couple of days earlier.

He raised up a hand pointed it at Crystal. Concentrating on his magic, he shouted, “Ice-Make: Diamond Cage!” A blast of ice formed from his outstretched hand and barreled towards Crystal, sealing her inside a diamond-esque sphere before she could react.

“I got to get away before this destroys my body!” Crystal said in a panic, trying to waddle but realised it sooned proved to be useless. Giving a huff, she then slowly fell to her side and began to roll, heading straight for the stairs. She knew that fire wouldn’t work on this kind of spell so she didn’t really bother with it until she managed to get herself far enough away from Lyon.

Cana brought out her deck of cards and chose three cards, seemingly at random.

“This is no time for card tricks!” Trixie protested, shock evident on her face at the mage’s actions.

“Before I deal, why did you encase Crystal in ice? She can just breathe fire onto it.” Cana asked with a slight slur.

“This type of spell, she cannot. It’s nigh unbreakable! Speaking of which, Trixie, can you see she stays within the temple? It wouldn’t do well for her to break out of the cage I placed her in.” Lyon asked Trixie kindly. Trixie merely rolled her eyes before giving a huff and teleporting in a flash of red light.

“Um, second question. What’s that light behind you?” Cana asked him, picking a card out of the three she had in her hand and placing the other two back in her deck.

“That? I don’t see why I shouldn’t tell you. It’s Moon Drip. What that means, is that it can melt unmeltable ice, such as the ice made from Iced Shell. You’re going to have to ask Gray about that one.” Lyon said with a chuckle before shouting out a spell, making eagles fly forth and straight towards Cana.

Cana’s eyes widened and she dodged to the side, only for the eagles to swoop around and crash into her back. She gasped in pain and crouched forward before slapping her chosen card onto the roof. It depicted a fountain with water gushing over the sides. She activated it with her magic, sending multiple lethal currents of water towards Lyon.

While Lyon was distracted, Cana ran back down the stairs after stumbling for a bit, hoping that Crystal was okay. Lyon, for the most part, dodged the currents of water before one of them managed to stab him in the chest, making him cry out.

“Reitei, are you alright?” A pink-haired woman asked, having only seen the ending of the brief battle, along with her two companions.

“Yes, I’m fine. I just want the three of you to go to the village and destroy it. Completely. I believe these intruders have learned a bit too much. Do you have that, Toby, Sherry and Yuka?” Lyon asked, clutching his chest as he glared at the three of them behind his mask. The three sighed and nodded, heading back the way they came.

Toby, a fairly well-built man, has dog ears on his head, a small dark nose and the lower part of his face resembled the muzzle of a canine. He has shoulder-length brown hair and usually goes topless. The lower part of his body is usually covered with light blue jeans and dark brown loafers.

Yuka, a young man with spiky blue hair and a green tracksuit, walked beside Toby and Sherry with his hands in his pockets. “I don’t think Angelica will be able to help with this one,” he muttered.

“Shouldn’t Angelica be able to help out?” Toby asked Sherry, pointedly ignoring Yuka for the moment.

Sherry was wearing thigh-high black leggings, a black corset-type dress with a pink material underneath the tied up lace on her chest.

“She’s licking her wounds but once she is done, we will be able to destroy the village as Reitei commands.” Sherry answered, giving a massive smile at the mention of Reitei. She was even on the verge of having lovehearts appear in her eyes before Yuka brought her back to reality.

“See? Told you she wouldn’t be able to help.” Yuka countered.

“Yes, she can! She just needs another hour. Besides, I know what we can do in the meantime.” Sherry proclaimed, speeding up her walking by a fair bit.
> Chapter 18 - Ice Ball
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Ow. Ow. Ow. Maybe rolling down the stairs wasn’t such a good - ow - idea after all!” Crystal berated herself as she bounced down the staircase, making to the floor below the roof in time to see a red flash appear in front of her. Out of the flash, Trixie stepped out, clad in all her stage magician’s glory.

“Lyon has told Trixie to make sure you don’t run away. Trixie doesn’t see the problem though. You seem to be doing just fine in staying in one place.” Trixie told Crystal, much to her chagrin.

“I’m not staying in one place. See?” Crystal said waddling slowly towards the next staircase on the other side of the corridor. Trixie placed a hand on the ice ball covering her and tutted.

“What do you think you’re doing? You can’t go anywhere like that.” Trixie cooed, lighting up her horn and firing a red beam towards Crystal’s legs, freezing them in place to the floor.

“What? Trixie, let me out of here right now!” Crystal shouted at her attacker, her eyes literally burning pits of fire.

“What can you do to stop the Great and Powerful Trixie? Burn her?” Trixie asked obnoxiously a smug grin on her face.

Crystal’s eyes lit up further, an idea forming in her head. She breathed in and puffed her cheeks out, feeling power form in her breath before breathing out a harsh wind full of crystal and ice particles.

The force of the wind knocked Trixie back, pinning her against the wall as the various sized chunks of ice and crystal assaulted her, pinning her in place by stabbing her purple, star-studded dress into the wall.

“Is that … ice?” Crystal asked herself, trying to light her feet on fire so she could melt the ice as she looked at Trixie at the same time. She saw Trixie sparkle as she struggled to get free even though the shards of crystal were embedded into the wall. “How did I breathe ice? I can’t even use that damned ice spell Jason taught me.” Crystal breathed, struggling to get out of the icy prison her feet were in. She then felt them melt, causing her to slip, slide and crash into the floor.

“You alright, Crystal?” Cana asked, breathing a sigh of relief that her cards worked on Crystal’s frozen feet. She grunted as she tried to get Crystal back up but soon realised it was much easier to roll her instead.

“I’m fine. I just didn’t expect you to use your cards on me.” Crystal said hurriedly, trying to keep her lunch down as Cana rolled her.

“What did you do to Trixie?” Cana asked, eyeing the struggling woman for a bit before letting Crystal roll down the stairs herself.

“That charlatan breathed crystal and ice into me!” Trixie answered haughtily. Cana just shrugged, mildly surprised at the ice thing before hurrying down the stairs after Crystal.

“Crystal?” Cana called out, not seeing where Crystal had gotten to. A shout sounded out from the direction of one of the windows. Cana ran up to it and found Crystal rolling down the hill screaming something along the lines of her being a maniac as she rolled into the forest. “Well. Shit.”



        “Twilight, what are you doing?” Pinkie asked her friend, staring quizzically at Twilight.

        “Trying to figure out how to destroy the moon. That’s the only way they said it would work and I’ve asked every single villager. They all said the same thing and without any of my lab equipment, I can’t run tests on them.” Twilight explained, gazing up at the sky above the village where it was getting darker by the minute.

        “Okey doke! But I don’t see how the moon is connected to their curse.” Pinkie replied, spinning around to look at the small village.

        “The worst part about this is that I can’t see a connection either!” Twilight said exasperatedly, throwing her arms up in the air before sitting on the ground suddenly. “Can you build a pit?” Twilight asked her, looking at the front village gates.

“Of course I can! I can build big pits short pits long pits smalls pits round pits square pits-” Pinkie was cut off when Twilight held her muzzle shut with a hand.

“I just want you to build an average-sized pit about fifteen feet deep. Can you do that? I want you to put in front of the village gates in case anyone we don’t know wanders in. Okay?” Twilight told Pinkie slowly and when she finished, Pinkie nodded her head energetically, racing off and nearly taking Twilight’s hand with her. “That girl just doesn’t know how to keep still,” she muttered, smiling to herself at Pinkie’s antics.

Pinkie was done within ten seconds, having dug out the pit with nothing but her bare hands. She looked over to Twilight and grinned, putting a pile of woven leaves and fronds together over the pit in an effort to camouflage it. “There. Done!” Pinkie announced, dusting her hands off.

“That was fast.” Twilight commented, slipping an arm around Pinkie’s shoulders once she was finished.

“I pride myself on being fast! Wait, that’s Rainbow.” Pinkie said, thinking on it for a bit.

“Still though, you are fast when you want to be. Probably all that sugar you eat on a daily basis.” Twilight replied before looking up and frowning at the moon. “I just can’t believe they want us to destroy the moon.”

“What was that? Too busy looking at a flying rat.” Pinkie said casually, shrugging and pointing to a far off silhouette.

“A flying rat?” Twilight asked in surprise.

“Oui, oui, capitan! Ze rat is flying by it’s tail!” Pinkie reported in a terrible Prench accent, now wearing a military uniform and using her hands as binoculars.

“Knock it off! Is the rat doing anything other than flying?” Twilight asked, knowing there was no use in arguing with the overly-hyperactive mare. She watched the villagers look at Pinkie weirdly out of the corner of her eye before looking at whatever Pinkie was looking at.

“Ze rat is holding a bucket! A giant bucket! Also, it iz wearing a black corset with a frilly headband. And haz torqouise fur ma-am!” Pinkie continued her observations, rotating her hands around her eyes to zoom in.

Twilight blinked and waved a hand in front of Pinkie’s hands, trying to see if she was actually using binoculars. Sighing, she scratched her head at Pinkie’s observations and went further into the village. “Let us know if they mean business!” Twilight called out over her shoulder to which Pinkie gave thumbs up.



“Who’s Deliora?” Levy asked him, having gotten over her initial shock of seeing a giant iceberg in the middle of an island.

“Deliora is a demon. I didn’t find this out until later on, but he’s a demon from one of Zeref’s books.” Gray said, clasping his hands in front of his face as he watched Levy sit near him.

“Deliora is one of Zeref’s demons?” Levy asked, eyes widening in fear as she looked back up to the iceberg. “How did someone manage to encase him in ice then?” she asked another question and turned her attention back to Gray in time to notice him flinch and a pained expression crossed his face at the question. “You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

“How’d you know that?” Gray asked, looking at her in faint surprise.

“The way you reacted. You briefly got a pained expression and you flinched.” Levy stated the obvious, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Leave it to you to notice that. No, I don’t want to talk about it. It’s too painful to remember at the moment.” Gray said, chuckling and shaking his head before getting up and stretching. He stopped when a harsh purple light burst out of the ceiling to land on top of the iceberg. “We need to head up and see if they noticed this.”

Levy nodded in agreement and followed him back through the cave system and up the stairs where they nearly collided with Cana.

“Crystal. Ice. Hill.” Cana said hurriedly to her teammates and pushed past them, running out of the temple and down the hill. Levy and Gray shared a look before splitting up, with Levy going after Cana and Gray rushing up the rest of the stairs to the top. Once he got to the top, Gray skidded to a stop at seeing some sort of cult kneeling around the same purple light.

“What is going on here?” Gray asked out loud, looking around at the other people assembled. The ones that weren’t kneeling were looking at him beneath darkened hoods. One person in particular, was wearing the same dark robes as the others and a dark purple helmet with curved rams horns protruding from the top of it.

“Hello Gray. I can’t believe you managed to track me down in such a short amount of time,” the helmeted person said with an echoing chuckle.

“Lyon?” Gray asked in surprise and soon after got into a fighting stance. “Why is Deliora down under the temple?”

“That’s easily answered. I want to surpass Ur.” Lyon answered, taking off his helmet to show snow-white hair on top of a pointed face.

“That’s what you told me when you attacked Ponyville. Are you still on about that?” Gray asked, placing a fist into an open palm to prepare an attack. Lyon simply nodded and thrust out a hand, shouted an incantation and made an ice tiger that lunged towards him in a biting motion. Gray stepped to the side and gritted his teeth in pain when the tiger turned its head and bite into his arm.

“Ice-Make: Arrow!” Gray shouted, moving his hands into position as an ice bow and arrow appeared in them. He pulled back the arrow and let it loose, repeating it a few times before the weapon could vanish. Lyon leapt out of the way and nearly banged his head into a nearby pillar, only stopping himself by twisting around and hitting his back into it. He gritted his teeth and shot the other hand out.

“Ice-Make: Mouse!” Lyon shouted, a small mouse squeaking as it made its way towards Gray. While he looked down at the mouse in confusion, Lyon made another spell. “Ice-Make: Dragonfly.” A hoard of dragonflies flew out from behind him and barreled into Gray, making him cough and move backwards. “Give it up, Gray. You’re no match for me.” Lyon said cockily.

“Ice-Make: Floor!” Gray said in return, falling forward and putting his hands on the roof, making it slick with ice. Lyon kept his footing and laughed at Gray’s foolish attempt to knock him over.

“You should know by now that that won’t-” Lyon was cut off when a large hammer slammed into the back of his head, making him fall forward and crack the ice.

“You should really learn when to shut up.” Gray groaned, panting as he slowly walked towards Lyon.



Crystal wanted to shout obscenely at Cana for letting her roll down the hill but knew that it wouldn’t do her any good. At least her life force wasn’t feeding Lyon any more, which probably meant she could use fire to melt the ice around her body. She pinballed off a few trees in the forest before coasting to a stop near a cliff overlooking a beach. She didn’t know how but she managed to get back up on her feet and stood for a few moments, watching the waves crash against the shore.

“I don’t think I’m getting out of this ice any time soon.” Crystal told herself, breathing out a cloud puff. Even though her head, arms and legs felt perfectly fine in the open air, she was somehow breathing out ice. “There is no way this ice is affecting me like the Sombra’s crystal was.” Crystal shook her head at this and swore the ice ball had shrunk slightly. “Nope. Can’t handle this. I need to get back to the … village,” she sighed and realised that she had no idea of where the village could be.

“NO! BRING THE BUCKET UP MORE ANGELICA!” A far-off voice shouted out, causing Crystal to look up at it. What she saw caused her to glare in despair and waddle into the forest.

“Giant flying rats. This world will be the death of me, I swear.” Crystal vowed to herself and went to waddle as fast as possible in a random direction, praying that was where the village was.

After some time, she huffed and puffed her way back up the hill the temple was located on to see if she could spot the village from there. Squinting her eyes, she found a few spiked poles poking up out of the trees. Glad to have finally found a direction, she went to take a step but was stopped by being hit in the back of the head and tumbling back down the hill. When she came to a stop at the bottom, Crystal glared at whoever or whatever hit her.

“Gray! I finally find the village and you go and hit me in the back of the head!” Crystal yelled at him before realising he was looking up to the temple roof. She groaned and slowly made her way back up the hill and over to Gray when she realised he wasn’t listening. “You okay there?”

“Crystal?” Gray asked and looked at her, his eyes widening in fear when he saw her state.

“What? Something wrong with my face or this giant ice ball I’m stuck in?” Crystal asked sarcastically.

“The ice ball. You need to get back to the village. It’s the only place that’s farthest from Lyon’s range.” Gray answered, his troubles momentarily forgotten.

“That’s where I’ve been trying to get to icypole! I was about to go there too when you went and thwacked me in the back of the head!” Crystal cried, demonstrating by managing to reach around and hitting him in the back of his head.

“Not my fault! I got thrown off the roof by Lyon!” Gray protested, giving Crystal a push and forcing her back down the hill.

“Oh come on!” Crystal shouted, rolling back into the forest. Gray ran after her and tried to direct her back to the village without her getting back up.
> Chapter 19 - The Flying Rat Brigade
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	When the villagers guarding the wooden gates at the top noticed a round and slowly shrinking ice ball being rolled towards the village, they squinted their eyes and found one of the Fairy Tail wizards pushing it along. They barked some orders and one of the gates were opened, allowing them entry.

Gray heard Pinkie shout something before suddenly rolling Crystal down into a pit. She barely had time to scream before the pit’s floor met her ice body. She groaned when she came to a stop and laid there as the ice ball broke apart; looking up at the top of the pit.

“Who’s idea was this!?” Crystal shouted out to the people that had surrounded her.

“Mine …” Twilight called out, raising a hand. She cringed at Crystal’s look and looked up when Pinkie called out for her. “Can someone help her out of the pit please?” Twilight asked a couple of the onlooking villagers and went to see what Pinkie wanted. Crystal huffed as she got up and raised her hands for one of the villagers to grab onto. She grabbed on tight and felt herself be pulled up. When she got to the top, she crawled over the edge and stood, rubbing her hands together to get rid of the dirt. Crystal sniffed the air and covered her mouth as she fought some bile down.

“Oh god, what’s that stench?” Crystal groaned as she covered the lower half of her face with her hands.

“What smell?” Gray asked, looking at her weirdly.

“‘What smell’ he asks, that smell!” Crystal shouted at him, pointing to the giant flying rat with a bucket. “If you can’t smell, you can at least see it!”

“I can’t smell as good as you, hothead so get over it.” Gray called out to her as he rounded the pit and walked over to Pinkie and Twilight.

“Capitan, I think ze rat is closer!” Pinkie reported, still sporting that fake accent.

“How close?” Twilight asked, a hand placed on her hip as she looked at the flying rat for herself.

“Just beyond ze borders ma’am!” Pinkie replied, taking her hands off of around her eyes and pointing to directly above them.

“What? No, it’s … wait. Yes it is. We need to get everyone into the centre of the village.” Crystal spoke hurriedly when she realised that the Flying Rat Brigade was close.

“Why? All that it’s carrying is a bucket.” Twilight stated.

“And three mages. The bucket has started to smoke by the looks of it.” Pinkie replied. When she heard this, Crystal got a panicked look in her eyes before getting everyone to meet in the centre of the village. By the time she had gotten everyone there, the Flying Rat Brigade were hovering over the village. Crystal watched the bucket slowly tip and nodded to Cana and Levy. During the round-up, she noticed them walk into the village and told them to use their fire spells against whatever liquid was in the bucket. They didn’t agree to it, at first, but after hearing how urgently and panicky she sounded, they agreed.

As the bucket tipped, Angelica swung it around the village so the light green goop in it covered it entirely. Crystal scrunched her nose and tried not to chicken out at the stench. With another nod, the three mages let loose their fire spells. Crystal used her fire breath, Levy used the word ‘FIRE’ in her solid script magic and Cana used three of her cards to create an explosion spell. Soon as the spells were clear, Twilight erected a large enough shield to cover the villagers and mages. The combined fire spells hit the centre of the goop and created a hole via massive explosion.

The goop that was in the hole was vaporised by the sheer heat of the explosion, making the rest of the viscous liquid hit the village and leave the occupants relatively unharmed. Whatever it hit, it slowly ate away at until the only thing left was the ground the villagers were standing on. Twilight lowered the shield and rubbed her head to try and stop the throbbing.

“I don’t think it worked.” Toby said, scratching his ear as he looked at the village from on top of Angelica.

“No kidding. We just need to work extra hard at getting those intruders for Reitei.” Sherry sounded sarcastic as she crossed her arms over her chest. She looked down at the village and frowned when a glowing object sailed towards them. Her eyes widened when she recognised what it was and went to order Angelica to dodge but the ice lance grazed Angelica’s side, throwing the three mages off her back and into different locations on the island.

“Now we just need to make sure they don’t cause any more trouble.” Gray grinned, dusting his hands. Crystal watched the villagers look around in sorrow and saw some of them slide down into the crater that the goop had made. After it had done it’s work, it just disappeared, leaving the ground free to walk on but everything else to remain in shambles.

“That’s it! We need to get Lyon to stop whatever he’s doing and get these villagers back to normal!” Crystal declared and heard her friends cheer her on. She turned and looked at them and smiled. “We need to split up though. There’s six of us, and three of them. So we split up into pairs?” Crystal suggested, doing the math on her fingers.

“I vote to go with Twilight!” Pinkie said immediately, latching onto the Unicorn in a near death grip.

“I’ll go with Levy. We’ve worked together before.” Cana smirked and wrapped the smaller girl in a shoulder hug.

“That leaves me and the popsicle. Okay, we’ll split up and hopefully get to the three wizards that fell off Angelica in time.” Crystal said with a grin, patting Gray on his head at the same time. He growled at her patting but otherwise, didn’t complain. The other four nodded and followed Crystal and Gray towards the village gates. Once they were outside, they took off in different directions and hoped that at least one of the mages they were after were somewhere along the way.

“So that’s where the demon got to.” A voice said quietly; following one of the pairs through the treetops.





“This doesn’t look like camping gear, Rarity.” Rainbow eyed the laden cart that Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were pushing and pulling in tandem for Rarity. The cart that they were pulling was filled to the brim with dresses, shoes, makeup and a very large tent that seemed to take up most of the space. Scootaloo wore a green zip-hoody with dark purple trackpants. Sweetie Belle wore a flowery summer dress with patterns of flowing purple and white throughout it. Apple Bloom wore a green plaid shirt and dark blue denim jeans. All three fillies were sweating and panting by the time the group stopped to make up camp for the night.

“Oh, nonsense, Rainbow. It’s just the essentials,” Rarity said flippantly, waving her hand and lifting up her yellow-rimmed sunglasses.

“Essentials, Rare? It’s just a bunch of make-up, shoes and dresses. Who could you possible meet out here in the woods?” Rainbow cried, flinging her arms to the side to show what she meant.

“Rainbow has a point, Rare. They don’t look like camping gear, much.” Applejack told her, tipping her Stetson so that her face got a bit of shade. 

“Well I never! This is essential camping gear for a lady like me!” Rarity protested, resting her sunglasses in her mane, close to the base of her horn as she directed Sweetie Belle and her friends to try and set up her tent.

“I don’t believe this!” Rainbow threw her arms up in the air, reaching for her own tent and setting it up in the clearing herself while Applejack did the same. The campsite was three long logs spaced around a campfire, with enough room between the logs and the forest edge for setting up tents.

“Keep a lid on it, Rainbow. At least she didn’t pack an extravagant tent or anything like that.” Applejack told her friend, before looking over to the three girls and watching them pitch up the exact tent she just described. Before she could curse, Scootaloo held something up.

“What’s this? It looks like a weird flute or something.” Scootaloo said, looking at the twisted wood with three holes on one end and what looked like miniature tree roots on the other end.

“It’s a flute!” Sweetie Belle squeaked and snatched it from Scootaloo.

“Hey! No snatching!” Scootaloo protested, reaching for it but Sweetie Belle moved it out of the way, causing Scootaloo to overreach and smack into Sweetie Belle, sending them both sprawling onto the ground. The flute flew out of Sweetie Belle’s hand and rolled over to Rainbow and Applejack. Rainbow picked it up and gave Applejack a weird look before moving her finger across the wood, sending a gust of air through it. A strange note played out as the eyes lit up purple for a brief second as some kind of magic worked.

Soon enough, the ponies felt their eyes close and slump to the ground, sleeping calmly as the flute rolled out of Rainbow’s hand and into the middle of the camp. The rolling stopped when a sandalled foot gently rested on top of it. The man belonging to the foot stood tall, had blue lines covering his bare torso while a ripped dark blue cloak covered his waist and legs. He had spiky silver hair on top and identical tattoos around his eyes that were in the shape of two arrowheads, one on top of the other.

“Who would have thought following this group would have turned out to be a success? They only played one note though. They’ll wake up in the morning, unfortunately, so I should leave when I have a chance,” the man told himself, picking up the flute and lifting himself up with his magic, quickly made his way towards Appleloosa for a little distraction.





“Erza, no-one is going to take us to Galuna.” Lucy complained, posture slumped forward with a dead look on her face.

“Nonsense. Of course someone would-” Erza waved Lucy’s complaint away but stopped when she heard a couple of ponies talking about a magical attack at Appleloosa. “An attack on Appleloosa?” Erza whispered to herself, twirled on the spot and walked over to the couple that had spoken. After a few tense minutes of speaking, Erza made her way back to Lucy and placed an armored hand on her shoulder. “Lucy, we’re going to Appleloosa. There’s a wind mage there that has a hold of some sort of flute.”

“A wind mage? At Appleloosa? There’s only farmponies there. Why would a wind mage go to Appleloosa?” Lucy asked, freezing up momentarily at Erza’s grip.

“I don’t know and I really hate to go against Master Makarov’s orders but we don’t have a choice here. Come on.” Erza told her, tightening her grip and effectively dragging Lucy behind her and back to Ponyville for the train station.

“Why am I the one that’s always getting dragged?” Lucy complained, resigned to her fate but helped Erza move along more quickly by keeping in time with her steps.





“That one’s Sherry,” Gray said in surprise when he recognised the waist-length pink hair and clothes. She was face-down in the dirt, laying still for a few moments inside a crater she had made upon landing.

“Of course it’s Sherry. Is she the one that controls animals?” Crystal asked, sliding to a stop as she panted to catch her breath.

“That’s the one. She already seems out for the count anyway, so I suggest we-” Gray was interrupted by the shifting and moving ground underneath Sherry. A wall of earth suddenly rose up, obscuring their vision. When it disappeared, a giant earth-like golem covered in rocks loomed above the pair, smashing trees and leaves out of the way as it moved about. On top of the golem, something moved and stood up slowly, perfectly balancing itself on top of its head.

“Doll Attack: Rock Doll,” Sherry muttered, directing the doll to turn around with a speed that belied its size. Crystal managed to duck under the doll’s swing but Gray ended up taking the brunt of the force, smashing his back into a tree with a loud crack.

“I don’t think you’ll be able to move after that attack, snowball,” Crystal observed, quickly running to him and turning him onto his stomach. He let out a loud groan and laid still as Crystal went over his wound. “This doesn’t look good.”

“It definitely doesn’t feel good so why don’t you take care of that rock thing, and I’ll take care of myself, okay, dragon breath?” Gray said rhetorically, pushing her away from him as he saw a rocky punch come their way. Gray cried out when the punch hit his already damaged back and laid still for the time being.

“We may have gotten off to a rocky start, but maybe we can sort out our differences, mano a mano, huh? What do you say rock creature?” Crystal asked cockily, not really feeling her bravado as she dodged another punch, feeling it graze against her side.

The golem roared an unintelligible answer and brought both fists down on Crystal’s head. She grunted and crossed both arms above her head as she tried to block it, covering her arms in a layer of crystal to try and block it further. The dual fist still managed to send Crystal to both knees, even though she was struggling to hold the rock fist above her head. The pressure let off when the rock golem lifted his hands at Sherry’s command.

“Impressive. Very, impressive crystal-user,” Sherry said and despite having fallen what was most likely a few hundred feet, looked and felt good.

“Close on ... the name, ... Sherry,” Crystal panted, slowly getting up and realising she was ankle deep in sludgy earth. She tried to move her feet but couldn’t really get them out of it. All the heat she had been naturally generating melted the earth where her knees were and turned it into a droopy sludge. “Why can’t I move?”

“Perfect. Doll Attack: Mud Doll,” Sherry said, grinning widely as she lifted her hands and created a golem that was a mixture of dirt and mud, rising out of the ground from just underneath Crystal. She fell backwards and landed on her back as the size of the golem forced her to rapidly crawl backwards and heard the crash of rocks falling to the ground as Sherry’s first doll crumbled in on itself.

“Mud can be hardened, can’t it?” Crystal wondered and rose her temperature as fast as she could. The mud slammed into her just as the mud around her ankles hardened and she spat it out. “Blegh! This is going to take weeks to get out,” she muttered in disgust. She tried to move again but her feet were stuck in this new layer of fresh mud.

Sherry laughed and went to attack again but she and everything else froze in time. A white blur moved about, helping the frozen Crystal and Gray move away from the battle while time slowly regained its normal speed. When it did, Sherry looked around in surprise at the sudden disappearance of her two victims. She screamed in anguish and plodded off through the forest on a slow search for them. If that failed, she would head back to Lyon to give her report if the others hadn’t already.

Crystal looked around, as did Gray, as they found themselves a lot further away from the ocean and a lot further inland.

“What happened?” Gray asked groggily, rubbing his head with a hand as he sat up and winced as his back twinged with pain.

“Dunno. You doing okay?” Crystal asked, leaning down to help her friend stand up.

“Just a broken back,” Gray chuckled and placing his hands on the small of his back, pressed inward and stretched forwards at the same time. A loud crack sounded out and Gray sighed in relief. “There we go.”

“That didn’t sound healthy,” Crystal muttered but looked at the ocean before turning around. “Think we should head back to the village?”

“You think?” Gray scoffed and ran back into the island with Crystal hot on his heels.
> [BONUS 1] Chapter 20 - Double Dragon Slayers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Far off in the distance, trees falling over, mechanical clanking sounds and giant footsteps could be heard. Every time a tree fell, dirt got blown up before quickly settling. Crystal looked at the giant machine in the distance with a fair amount of disbelief. She couldn’t believe that the Phantom Lord guild would uproot themselves and walk all the way to Ponyville from the other side of the Everfree. She wore a bright and slightly larger than normal orange shirt in place of her usual red one, her white baggy pants tied off mid-calf and black sandals as she still hadn’t retrieved her clothes from Draigo.

“Please tell me I’m not the only one seeing this,” Crystal asked Gajeel, who just sighed and shook his head.

“You’re not the only one.” Gajeel said, crossing his arms and looking at the machine from the window of the guild. The entirety of Fairy Tail was holed up in what was left of the guild after the Elemental Four attack with most of Ponyville’s residents having fled to Canterlot when it happened. The only residents remaining were Rainbow, Fluttershy, Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie and Rarity but even they don’t think they stand a chance against Phantom Lord’s mobile guild. Twilight had sent Spike to Canterlot along with the others as she didn’t want to see him hurt.

Crystal sighed, took a long look at the machine that was slowly making its way towards Ponyville and then walked outside to have a walk around. She felt something hit her head and rubbed the sore spot while picking the item up. She looked it over and found it to be a dragon’s claw with a cat’s eye marble stuck in it connected to a loop of iron chain. As she looked, a message played out, causing her to wince at the voices.

”I am Connor Fortino.”
“And I am Scratch the Exceed.”
“Should you ever find yourselves in need of an ally on the field of battle,”
“Or a friend to aid you in times of necessity.”
“Simply wear this pendant and tap the eye twice. We shall be there to give you the strength of iron.”

“Another Displaced?” Crystal asked the pendant and looked out over to the machine between the buildings while rubbing her slightly distended stomach for a bit. “I think some help would be nice when that thing gets to Ponyville,” she added and put the necklace on, then tapped the eye in the middle of the dragon’s claw twice as per the message’s instructions.

As she tapped the pendant, the cat’s eye would flash, a pinprick of light appearing in the slitted pupil before it shot out a beam of light in the form of a dragon’s maw. Once the light had cleared, she would see an almost spot on duplicate of Gajeel, though he lacked the piercings and his hair wasn’t as long, more shoulder length spiky than the full waist length. The other notable feature was that floating next to him was a small feline with white angelic wings. He looked around before seeing Crystal. “Well at least I wasn’t asleep like with Jacob when this happened.” He chuckled.

The feline nodded. “Indeed, though the salmon was nice to wake up to.” The cat spoke. “So you would be our summoner this time?” At this Crystal gave a nod, her eyes still wide from the Gajeel look-a-like.

Crystal then flicked between the summoned duo and the guild hall behind her, trying to process why there was an almost Gajeel look-alike. “I was talking with you only seconds ago!” Crystal cried, not really noticing the slight differences he appeared to have. When she looked him over and fingered the pendant that summoned him, she then realised what she said and promptly apologised. “Sorry! You look just like someone here minus the piercings and shorter hair. I don’t really recognise the flying cat though. Manners are a good thing to have, so my name’s Crystal. What’s yours?” Crystal rambled as she continuously twirled a lock of her salmon-pink hair around a finger in embarrassment and offered her other hand to the look-alike.

The man gave a chuckle and shook her hand. “Connor. Connor Fortino. And this is my buddy Scratch. And while flying cat is funny and accurate, he’s what's known as an Exceed.” Connor then blinked as he noticed the guild building before looking at Crystal. “So I know in some worlds Fairy Tail was a show, guessing you got Displaced while dressed as Natsu?” He said, looking around at his surroundings.

Scratch was about to say something before they were interrupted by the loud thuds of the tower that was slowly making it's way towards their location. “While I enjoy a nice conversation, it seems we were summoned for a more pressing matter.”

“Yup, I was. Got the mark to prove it too but I used my scarf as a token so I can’t really show you the scarf.” Crystal answered and looked at the slowly moving building, along with Connor. “That has been moving this way for the past few hours. It’s only just gotten halfway through the Everfree by the looks of it. You got Displaced as Gajeel and … I’m really sorry, I don’t know who Scratch looks like if he was Displaced as well.” Crystal apologised and laid a hand against her head. “I figured I could take it on with the help of the guild for when it actually arrives but with you here to help, things can go much smoother.”

Connor gave a nod. “Well, not so much Displaced as him, as I am actually his great-grandson. Him and a handful of Fairy Tail members ended up on Earth from Fiore after a magical incident.” He said. “As for Scratch, he’s not so much as another Displaced as he is a…..how did you describe it again?”

Scratch floated over and landed on Crystal’s head. “A magical construct created from both the magical energies that transported you as well as a portion of your own mind. In simpler terms I’m his conscience personified.”

“You are his great-grandson!?” Crystal asked while her mouth fell open. “That’s really unexpected,” she blinked, looked him over again and despite the uncanny resemblance to her own Gajeel, there wasn’t really anything that screamed ‘grandson of a legendary dragon slayer’. She then looked up to the sky in an effort to see Scratch on her head. “You’re just a magical being created from his mind? Wouldn’t that make you an imaginary friend?”

Scratch and Connor both looked at each other before Connor gave a laugh. “Interesting way to put it, but no, he’s full flesh and blood. Eats, sleeps, and has emotions just like a normal sentient being. As for it being unexpected.” He gave a grin, his teeth sharpening as his skin quickly became coated in iron scales, his fingertips lengthening into pointed claws. “That enough proof for ya?” He said with a laugh.

“I, uhh, yeah. Proof enough.” Crystal blinked, looking a bit frightened of his new look before quickly getting used to it. “I just thought you were Displaced from a comic con or something of the sort because that seems to be the norm,” she scratched her head and breathed out. “Within the few months that I’ve been here, I picked up a couple of tricks that the Natsu from the show wouldn’t be able to do,” she said as she coated her right hand in a layer of black crystal.

Connor blinked and jumped a bit at the sudden black crystal. “Woah, reminds me of the crystals that Sombra used.” He said, his scales returning to skin as his claws and teeth dulled once again. He then thought for a bit and looked at the guild building in the distance. “And yeah, I’ve met a few other displaced, some from conventions, others just unlucky to buy something from a shop or street vendor. Hey, guessing since you said you were just talking to me a few minutes ago, that means that the fairy tail members are in this universe too right?”

“That’s because it basically is. I grabbed a cut-off of his horn when I first arrived and then this grew over my body.” Crystal answered and broke off the crystal on her hand into tiny bits and pieces. “The magic that was left in the cut-off must have embedded a bit of itself in me because I can do a bit of Ice-Make as well. I’ll show you what I mean if we get into a fight. As for the guild members, they’re all hiding out in the guild hall behind me. We’re biding our time and waiting to see what that moving guild is going to do when it gets here. Just don’t mention you’re Gajeel’s grandson. That would probably freak them out,” she further explained, jabbed a thumb at the three-storey building behind her, turned and beckoned for him to follow.

He snapped his fingers. “Darn, well guess that plan can wait for another time then.” Scratch simply rolled his eyes. “Anyways, that’s phantom lord’s guild right? Scratch, what do you have on it?”

Scratch looked at the moving fortress. “From the memories that were given to me, we need to take out that pillar on the fortress. Phantom Lord’s mobile guild has a massive lacrima cannon built into it.”

“So not only do they plan to wreck the guild and anyone in it, but a cannon that size would probably decimate the surrounding village and landscape.” Connor said with a growl. “Crystal, you have our help. No one harms my friends and family.” he said, tossing aside the shawl he was wearing, revealing the fairy tail mark on his right shoulder.

“That’s a cannon?” Crystal asked, stopping in her tracks and putting a hand over her eyes to see if she can see it more clearly. “It doesn’t look much like a cannon. Just a white building with legs.” she looked over to him when he said he would help and grinned at the mark. “Glad you’re helping, it’s not like I summoned you with that intention or anything. You want to meet your family and say you’re not their grandson?” she asked, pulling up her right sleeve to reveal her own red fairy tail mark.

Connor gave a chuckle. “We can leave out the grandson part. They know about the Displaced right? We can just tell them I got Gajeel’s powers.” He said, still keeping his eyes on the Phantom Lord guild as it slowly moved closer.

“Yeah, they know about Displaced. They also know that they were a show back on my Earth so they probably won’t be as freaked if they learn that a version of themselves got magicked to your Earth. This Displaced stuff is doing my head in, let’s just go into the guild.” Crystal said, holding a hand on her forehead in an effort to stop an oncoming migraine and lead both Connor and Scratch to the guild.

The two followed behind her, looking at the world around them. “Lotta similarities here. Oh, just curious, is your world inhabited by bipedal or quadrupedal ponies?” Connor said, looking around as they got closer to the slightly damaged guild building.

“Bipedal. Definitely bipedal.” Crystal answered with conviction. “None of them are here though besides the Element Bearers, and even they don’t think they stand a chance against the massive lacrima cannon,” she added and opened the buckled in door to the guild with a heave.

Connor nodded. “Same in my universe.” He said, helping her push in the door. When he saw the insides of the guild he gritted his teeth, seeing the damage that was still being cleaned up from whatever happened with the previous assault. “Damn, they did a number on this place.”

“Yeah … we still need to clean up but with that thing looming towards us, it’s slowed down by a fair bit.” Crystal said softly and picked up a few broken chairs and put them on a pile resting by the door.

“Heya, Crystal? Who’s this?” A blue-haired, dull orange sundress wearing girl asked, pointing to Connor when Crystal made her way back to him.

“Levy, this is ...” Crystal trailed off as a grin took over her features. “This is a second Gajeel.”

At this Connor nearly fell over. “Oi oi….” He said, standing back up straight before looking over at the girl. Though when he did, whatever he was about to say was stuck in his throat. “D-Did you say...Levy?” He said, looking at Crystal.

“Yeah, I did. Why you ask?” Crystal asked tilting her head to the side inquisitively.

He pulled her aside quick and whispered. “So I know I said I was Gajeel’s great-grandson in my world, but I may have forgotten to mention who my great-grandmother was.” he said, glancing back at Levy, seeing the slightly confused look on the blue haired mage’s face.

“Levy?” Crystal asked in hushed whisper, looking back at her, smiling after studying her features for a bit and then turned back to Connor. She looked up at his face and noticed a slight resemblance to Levy with the eyes. “That’s … um … wow. I’m, uhh, I’ll just go clean up a bit more.” she said hurriedly, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment before moving away.

“Is something the matter?” Levy asked the second Gajeel as she watched Crystal walk away in embarrassment.

Connor just stood up and chuckled. “Uhhh, yeah everything’s fine. Just something I remembered I needed to tell Crystal.” He then shook his head. “And she’s just being a goof. The name’s Connor, and while I look a lot like Gajeel, I’m not him.” he chuckled.

“Oh, that’s good to hear. My name’s Levy. Are you one of those Displaced that Crystal sometimes mentions?” she asked, offering a hand out to him. As she smiled at him, she closed her eyes and tilted her head.

He nodded. “Yeah. And my buddy Scratch is….” He looked around, not seeing the exceed anywhere near before spotting him helping clean up. “There he is.” he said, pointing at the flying feline.

“A flying cat? Haven’t seen one of those around before.” Levy commented, scratching the back of her head and watched him with interest. “Are those wings magic? They don’t look like they’re a part of him.”

He nodded and called Scratch over. “Scratch is an exceed. Basically magical felines.”

Scratch nodded. “The wings are a magic called Aera. For myself they are a flight based magic, but they have a secondary ability of minor gravity manipulation.” He said, floating over and lifting her a little over a foot off the ground, showing almost no strain whatsoever lifting a girl easily 6-7 times his size.

“Oh, wow. I haven’t seen magic like that before.” Levy breathed and giggled a bit when she was lifted up. When she was put back down, she smiled at Scratch. “I don’t think exceed are a part of this Equestria. But if they’re like you, Scratch, then they wouldn’t be so bad. Is there a particular reason why Crystal summoned you two then?” Levy asked, calming down a bit from the weightlessness and a bit of a frown tugging at the side of her lips as she suspected a couple of reasons as to why she did.

Connor looked at her and rubbed the back of his head. “Not gonna sugar coat it. I’m more than likely here because of that behemoth heading towards us. See, Scratch isn’t just a normal exceed, he also has the knowledge of events that were experienced by the Fairy Tail guild from my original world. And from what he’s told us, that thing is on it’s way right now to try and raze this place to the ground and dance on the ashes.”

Scratch nodded. “We wish it could have been under more relaxed circumstances, but rarely does fate take requests.” He said, floating over to a boarded up window, peeking out. “And judging by it’s pace and our current location, I’d say there’s approximately twenty minutes until it reaches the outer edge of the Everfree”

Connor gave a sigh. “Well, once this is over and those Phantom lord pains have been sent packing, we can have a celebration, and I can tell you guys a few of the misadventures of my family and their friends before they ended up on Earth.” He said, not realizing he had just let slip that he was a descendant of someone from Fairy Tail.

“Figured as much. The last time Crystal summoned someone, he got turned into a she and then got pregnant. Hopefully things end happily this time. You helping us defeat Phantom Lord will be a good thing.” Levy sighed, not really noticing his slip up. She frowned and looked like she was going to say something before being called over by another guild member. “We can talk more after the attack,” she said with a wave.

Crystal paused from her cleaning and looked out the boarded windows and frowned at how close the moving behemoth of a fortress was. “Did that thing just begin to walk faster? I could have sworn it would take another few hours to reach here,” she asked Scratch and looked at him sternly.

Scratch looked at the structure. “It’s possible they have different speeds, or perhaps it was warming up and is now going a fully revved up speed. I estimate around twenty to thirty minutes before it arrives at the edge of the forest. If we are to do anything, it has to be soon.” he said, looking at Connor.

The Gajeel look-alike however was still somewhat stunned over the knowledge that Crystal used to be a he, and that she, was pregnant. “Note to self, when concerning the Displaced, don’t expect any form of sanity,” he muttered before Scratch flew over and slapped the back of his head. “Right, sorry. Impending attack. What’s the plan?”?”

Crystal looked over and saw him standing still for a few seconds after noticing that Levy had finished speaking. She went to wave a hand in front of his face to see if he was still working but stopped when he suddenly spoke.

“The plan? The plan was to see what that walking fortress was going to do. After that, it depended on what it actually did.” Crystal blinked, wondering why he was unresponsive for a few seconds. “You okay, though? You looked like you were half dead for a few seconds,” Crystal asked in concern.

Connor nodded. “Just a bit of brain short circuiting due to multiverse and Displaced stuff.” He said with a chuckle. “Though I don’t think that is such a great plan. What if they do have that giant cannon and it can fire as soon as it gets close enough? We need to be proactive, not reactive in this case.” He looked around, wondering if the guild master was around or if he was elsewhere.

“What did … nevermind. You can tell me after. So if they do have that giant cannon, we need to be proactive you said? That would mean we need to go down to the basement.” Crystal said after shaking her head. She looked at some of the guild members that were on top and figured they could try and clean the rest of the floor up by themselves. “Basement’s this way. Hopefully the others won’t get a heartattack when they see you,” Crystal said with apprehension and lead them to the stairs that lead to the basement.

He nodded and Scratch resumed helping others clean up, shifting into his more humanoid form, scaring a few of the newer guild members when he lifted up a large broken piece of table. He followed behind her, thinking for a bit. “Well it will be interesting if Gajeel is there. Though I’ll try not to call him grandpa when I see him.” he laughed a little.

“You managed to not call Levy, grandma so there may be hope for you yet.” Crystal laughed and poked her tongue at him playfully. When she saw Scratch become more humanoid, she just groaned and walked down the stairs to the basement. “Gajeel is probably down here anyway along with the rest of the guild,” Crystal told him and as they entered the underground room, the quiet chatter almost instantly stopped when they saw who Crystal was with.

He nodded and watched as pretty much all of the guild members and ponies looked at him. He thought for a split second and waved. “How’s it going folks. I’m Connor, a Displaced like Crystal.” He then saw Gajeel among the group and waved at him, emphasizing his motions to look like a dork and break the tension. “Hi Grampa!” 

“Scratch that hope. You’re devoid of it.” Crystal whispered to him in a deadpan.”:All hope for Fairy Tail is lost,” she added, leaning against the wall and banged the side of her head against it. Ignoring the pair for now, the group, as one, turned their heads to Gajeel when Connor spoke to him. Gajeel had a look of disbelief, astonishment and horror all rolled into one.

Connor rolled his eyes. “What? They looked like they were just about to prepare to just curl up and take whatever Phantom Lord is about to bring. Figured I’d break the tension with all the grace of a rocket powered wrecking ball.” He chuckled. “Besides, I was probably gonna either let it out at some random point, or say something just as I get sent home so it was a last minute thing.” He then looked at Gajeel. “And no need to be so horrified, you don’t have any unknown children around the world somewhere. Like I said, I’m a Displaced like Crystal. It just happened to be that my great-grandfather was Gajeel after him and a group from Fairy Tail ended up in my world after-” He stopped himself by shifting his hand to iron scales and smacking himself across the face. “Sorry, was trapped as a statue for about 1500 years, and about 300 of which I was conscious, I had Discord as the only one to talk to. His crazy tends to be infections at times.”

He then noticed a few people staring at his hand, shocked that he had just used the same magic as Gajeel. “Oh, and I also got my great-grandfather’s Iron Dragon slaying magic.” He said, shifting his hand back to normal.

Gajeel coated his hand in iron scales as well and narrowed his eyes at Connor. “You’re a Displaced?” he asked, leaning away from the makeshift bar and stalked towards him, acting like he was about to hit him. 

Connor blinked, noticing the iron coating Gajeel’s arm. He watched the Iron Dragon Slayer, keeping his gaze focused. “Yep. Granted I didn’t buy a prop from some guy at a convention. My Displacement was a bit more due to some magic backlash due to me inheriting the dragon slaying magic.” He tilted his body a bit, shifting his weight to his back leg, just in case Gajeel went to actually swing at him. Crystal sidled away from them both and ended up near Twilight and the other Element Bearers.

Gajeel cracked his knuckles, even through the thick coating of iron, and stopped walking when he was a few steps in front of Connor. He let the poor boy sweat for a few more seconds before suddenly smiling, showing his fangs, and giving a hearty laugh. “Did you think I was going to hit you?” he asked, patting Connor on the back hard after losing the iron scales.

Connor gave a sigh. “Part of me did yeah.” He chuckled. “Granted you would have probably ended up on the floor, but still, I’d rather save the brawling between guild mates for when we celebrate kicking Phantom’s ass.” He smirked. “Now then, how about we work on doing what Fairy Tail is known for, and go wreck their shit.” He said, slamming his fist into his hand. The guild cheered at Connor’s little speech and began talking again with more fervor than before.

“I honestly thought that he would hit him but, at least we have another Dragon Slayer to help.” Twilight said, smiling at Connor before turning to Crystal. “How you doing though?”

“I’m fine. Just trying to keep it together before the Phantom Lord guild get here.” Crystal said nervously, the tension she was feeling leaked onto her face as she walked over to Connor.

“At least you made the guild happier, Connor.” Crystal said with a soft smile, most of the tension she was feeling being focused around her eyes.

“Master, is it alright if a Displaced Dragon Slayer helps?” Twilight asked Makarov, turning to him after Crystal had left, entirely unsure as to what Fairy Tail’s rules were concerning Displaced, or even if there was any.

“The more, the merrier. We need all the help we can get!” Makarov answered Twilight and raised his voice and frothy mug so that Connor could hear over the din the guild was making.

“Master Makarov is on your side too. Isn’t that great?” Crystal asked and leaned against the wall near Connor, grinning up at the taller man and giving him a thumbs up. She then scratched the back of her head and looked at him seriously. “Quick question though. What did Levy say to you that made you unresponsive for a few seconds?” 

Connor chuckled and nodded. “Hey, different dimension or not, Fairy Tail is my family. I won’t hesitate to help them out. Heck, I'm trying to get the guild set up in my own universe.” he then blinked and looked at her. “Oh, about how you used to be a he and then got pregnant after being genderswapped. Just a brief shock of surprise really.” he smiled and looked over at Twilight, Makarov, and the others. “Alright, so according to my friend Scratch’s knowledge...actually I'll let him explain.” He paused for a moment before Scratch, once again in his smaller form, flew down the stairs and landed on the table.

Seeing the small flying feline was a shock to some of the ponies and mages present, but a somewhat greater shock was how suddenly Fluttershy was on him, inspecting and fawning over him. Connor and a few others couldn't help but laugh at the sight.

“That would be take a while to sink in, yeah.” Crystal said, and crossed her arms, slightly annoyed at Levy for revealing her state of welfare. “I can protect myself, so don’t go thinking I won’t be able to handle a fight just because I’m pregnant,” she grumbled but then giggled at how Fluttershy fawned over Scratch though. “Forgot to mention, Fluttershy really likes animals so the explanation may take a bit.”

“You’re so cute~” Fluttershy cooed as she crouched in front of the table and patted the top of Scratch’s head. She wore a soft green dress that stopped just short of her knees, which was trimmed with white and had a group of three pink butterflies embroidered on the left shoulder. The pink mane that usually covers her face was now tucked behind an ear so she could fully see the magical creature in front of her. “What’s your name? If you don’t have one, then how about I call you Fluffy?” Fluttershy asked sweetly. Crystal let out a tiny laugh at what Fluttershy said but managed to keep quiet enough so only Connor could hear.

Connor himself was struggling to restrain his laughter as Fluttershy coddled his partner. He was almost able to calm down but completely lost it at ‘Fluffy’. He was practically on the ground, rolling with laughter at the exceed’s current situation.

Scratch gave a groan. “Miss Fluttershy, could you please let me go.” he said, surprising a few of the group that he could speak.

“Oh, sorry.” Fluttershy said quickly, taking her hand away and placing it behind her back. “I’m sorry if I offended you,” she said softly, a bit of a pout on her face but otherwise, didn’t make any more moves to cuddle him.

Connor slowly recovered and leaned against the wall as Scratch cleared his throat. “No offense taken.” he said, looking at the assembled ponies and mages. “Now, about why Connor called me down here.” He was stopped by Twilight.

“But I didn’t hear him call out for you or anything. One moment he is just standing there, then the next you fly down.” The lavender unicorn stated. 

Scratch nodded. “Connor and I share a mental link, since I was created partially from his own consciousness. It allows us to communicate telepathically, and as of yet, we haven’t found a distance limit.” He said, earning a few looks of interest. “Now then, about Phantom Lord. On their base is a large lacrima powered cannon known as the Convergent Cannon Jupiter. It uses incredible energy to fire a beam strong enough to wipe out a mountain. It’s known charge time is between fifteen and twenty minutes, meaning it’s possible they have it charged and ready for when they get in range.” 

Connor then took over. “Meaning any mage who has the highest defensive capabilities should be getting to the upper level of the guild hall to ready their abilities as soon as possible.” He said, his voice losing the jovial, teasing tone before, his posture shifting to that of someone who was trained for combat and assault. Some of the mages nodded at him, taking note of his tone and immediately went up the stairs to get to the upper level as quickly as possible.

“That’s a fair few mages. That would mean the ones who have the more powerful magic attack the cannon?” Crystal asked, all mirth gone from her eyes as she realised the gravity of the situation. She saw Twilight head up as well and went over and grabbed her shoulder. “Why are you going up there?”

“I’m a unicorn. I can do magic and cast shields. Big shields. I was thinking I could cast a big and strong enough shield to combat the Convergent Cannon Jupiter, even if it’s for a few seconds.” Twilight explained, gently took Crystal’s hand off her shoulder and continued on her way up. Crystal huffed and turned back to the group.

“That means the ones whose magic focus more on attack will need to help us in destroying the Convergent Cannon,” Crystal said in a loud voice, making sure that they could all hear her.

Connor nodded and looked at Crystal. “Lighten up a little with Twilight. Her brother is the captain of the guard in Canterlot and one of the strongest shield casters in pretty much any universe I’ve seen.” He then looked at the group. “Fair warning, there’s going to be some pretty tough mages guarding the cannon and it’s power source. If you don’t think you can handle the possibility of taking an enemy’s life if they give you no quarter, then stay back and help try and protect the guild from anything else they try to throw at it.”

“He’s also the prince of the Crystal Empire. What’s your point?” Crystal muttered, rubbed her eyes, and looked at the group. “Which one of you is willing to stay behind and protect the guild if you can’t handle going up against the cannon?” Erza, Gray, Loke and Cana put their hands up to show that they were staying behind. The only ones that were left seemed undecided. Elfman, Gajeel and the remaining Element Bearers. “I don’t see why you five aren’t staying behind like Twilight,” Crystal commented, raising a brow at them and crossing her arms over her chest.

“We don’t want to sit around and twiddle our thumbs while we wait for them to arrive. We want to get straight to the action.” Rainbow explained.

“Um, I’d like to stay behind, if that’s okay.” Fluttershy whispered, putting her hand up to join the other four.

“You got all this, Connor?”

Connor gave a nod. “Yep. Though just remember, if things get way too hectic or your own lives are at risk, do not hesitate to high tail it out of there. A guild we can always rebuild, lives of friends and family are impossible to replace.” He said, cracking his knuckles. “Now then, there’s going to be some turbulence when we get up there.” He said, feeling the loud thumping, signaling the moving guild had gotten a bit closer. “And I’d say that they are about to knock on our door any moment.” he said, nodding at Scratch. “Well then boys and girls. It’s time to knock some heads and show them what they get for messing with Fairy Tail.” Everyone nodded at this and ran up the basement stairs towards the ground floor. Crystal went up to join them but stopped when she noticed Makarov wasn’t joining in.

“I thought you would be all for this, Master.” Crystal said to him curiously.

“Phantom Lord will pay for what they did. I’m all for this, don’t get me wrong, but I’m still recovering from what Aria did to me. Both of you go on ahead and make sure Phantom Lord know what it means to be part of Fairy Tail.” Makarov grunted, stood up on the bar and gave Connor and Crystal a big smile, raised his hand up and pointed two fingers to the ceiling, with his hand turned inwards. “Make sure you both give them hell.”

Connor smiled and felt the guild master’s passion for his family and his guild. He returned the smile with a sharp toothed grin. “Count on it.” he said, heading out the door to go kick some phantom ass. Scratch nodded as well, flying off and shifting into his muscular form, his hand gripping his blade as he flew out to join the fray.

Crystal nodded and went to join Connor and Scratch after giving Makarov a thumbs up. When she did, the Jupiter Cannon was a lot closer than before, having stopped just on the border of the Everfree Forest. It was crouched and the white pillar on top of it was opened up.

“That cannot be good.” Crystal murmured, watching the magical energy swirl around the hole and then unleash a giant beam of white light towards the guild. Everyone that thought they were in the path of it scrambled to get out of the way while most of the defensive mages stood their ground and immediately cast various spells of protection around the guild. Most notable of these was a gigantic purple, shimmering shield that was tinged with blue.

Erza ran out to the borders of Ponyville, stopping in the exact place she thought the beam would hit. While she ran, her body glowed and she changed into a navy blue and white armor, covered in spikes. The helmet she now wore consisted of an open face plate with dark blue spikes covering her ears and the top of her head, all of them facing forwards. The most notable thing of the armor was the two massive shields adorning her forearms. When she stopped in front of the beam, she placed them both together, creating a shield barrier larger than Twilight’s own.

The beam hit, making Erza slide back a dozen or so feet. She grunted with the effort of holding her two shields together. She felt and saw them crack and break before eventually breaking entirely just as the beam petered out into nothingness and lost all of its power.

“That … wow.” Crystal breathed, her eyes opened wide in shock and awe at the sight. “That packs quite a punch.”

Connor nodded and looked at the mages and ponies that were with them. “Aright you lot, we've got a twenty minute window to get to that cannon and destroy its power source. Not sure if we can block out a second blast so let's get this show on the road.” he said, his magic circle appearing over his legs, turning them into iron poles before he used them to catapult himself towards the giant cannon.

Most of the mages stayed behind while Gray, Gajeel and Rainbow followed Connor as best they could. Crystal sighed and prayed that her flying trick still worked. Focusing her power in her legs, she took a running leap, and once in the air, made fire flow out of her feet, propelling her towards the cannon. When she got there, she slowed down and leaned against Connor to catch her breath as the others made it to them.

“I … wonder how … big the … lacrima ... is …” Crystal panted, leaning away from Connor and bending over on the stationary cannon to try and slow her breathing while watching the other three began to explore the fortress at a decent pace. “We should … stick together …” Crystal wheezed.

Connor looked at the imposing fortress, his eyes focused on the cannon. “The main lacrima will be about the size of a decent boulder. Probably about double if not triple Reedus’ size.” He said, likening to the ballooned out artist mage of the guild. He then looked at the exhausted fire dragon slayer. “We’ll stick together at first, but knowing Phantom Lord, we may have to split up should we encounter one of the Element Four.”

“Well won’t that be great?” Crystal seethed, standing up properly and letting out a breath.

“Wait, so we stick together until we come upon an Element 4? Is that how it works?” Rainbow asked as she shook her head in confusion.

“We have to defeat the cannon. That’s our top priority. If we encounter the Element 4, then the one most suited to taking them out is the one that stays behind to fight them.” Crystal explained and pointed to the fortress, having gotten her breath back. “We don’t have a lot of time so we need to take this lacrima out as fast and efficiently as possible,” she added as she lead the group towards the fortress. As the six of them went through the doors, the Dragon Slayers stopped in their tracks as a weird smell permeated their senses.’

“What is that?” Crystal asked, covering her nose at the smell of the saltwater.

“Smells like the ocean.” Gajeel commented, looking around the wide hall they found themselves in.

“One things for sure, this place is huge.” Rainbow whistled, jumping up and flying about the corridor until a blast of water hit her, bringing her back down to the ground in a sopping mess. “Blegh! What was that!?” Rainbow shouted, lying on her side as coughed up some water.

“That … would be me, prismatic wench.” A voice called out as a body of water formed into the vague shape of a female. The water soon solidified into a slender woman wearing a dark blue full length jacket, a fur lined shawl, and a tall hat. Her large curled light blue hair bounced a little as she became solid. “Drip drip drop, Juvia of the Element four is impressed you all managed to get into the guild and stop Jupiter, but do not underestimate Phantom Lord’s mages.”

When the woman solidified, Connor blinked and opened  a nearby window to look at the sudden weather change. “Yep, raining.” He cracked his neck and formed his scales, blocking a second blast of water blast that was heading for Rainbow. “Man, glad I don't have to worry about rusting.” he said then helped the pegasus stand. “Rainbow, you and Scratch fly out that window I opened. If I’m right, the lacrimas should be located at the base of the cannon.

Scratch looked at Connor, getting the instruction before diving out the window, shifting to his smaller form to cut through the rain easier.

Rainbow looked at the window after thanking him and nodded. She jumped out the window and flared her wings, following Scratch towards the base of the cannon, using her own brand of air magic to make sure she didn’t get wet along the way.

“Not this woman again,” Gray groaned and took a defensive stance, readying himself for an attack. “You three go on ahead. I can take care of Juvia easily,” Gray informed them, not taking his eyes off the water-woman for a second. He watched her hand slice through the air, creating a wall of water that went straight for him. Gray gritted his teeth and slipped to the side, watching the wall of water barely miss and head straight for the wall behind him. “What did I say to you three? I got this! Go!” Gray shouted at them when he noticed that they hadn’t moved.

“Come on. We need to get to the cannon and I doubt we’d be able to fly the rest of the way up.” Crystal said and proceeded to run with the others further into the fortress at Gray’s command.

Connor nodded and just as he was about to run past Gray he remembered something. “when you win, make sure it’s outside.” He said, patting the ice mage on the shoulder before rushing off with the others.

“If you say so.” Gray said, dodging another water blast and managing to hit Juvia with an ice hammer, the attack almost effortlessly passing through her water body.

After running through seemingly endless corridors, the three of them were stopped by a man wearing an orange kimono and had black and white colours for his hair. A strip of black paint adorned the skin under his eyes and across the bridge of his nose and on his waist, he wore a belted katana.

“Hey! It’s fire guy! I'll handle Totomaru while the both of you continue on.” Crystal told them and taking in a few breaths while without waiting for an answer, ran ahead and socked him in the face with a crystalline punch. Totomaru dodged it and knocked Crystal to the floor by a fire punch to the gut. She cried out from the sudden spike of pain, wrapped her arms around her stomach, and rolled to the side when Totomaru went to stomp on her. She smacked her back against the wall and stood up slowly, using it to brace herself.

“Blue fire!” Totomaru shouted as he gestured with his hands and a stream of blue flames shot towards Crystal. They covered her as she coughed up a bit of blood, and slowly but steadily breathed the flames in.

“Tasted a bit like ice-cream.” Crystal commented, wiping her mouth free of blood. “Apparently you didn’t learn from our last encounter,” she told him, standing up fully against the wall were a silhouette of her remained from the mass of flames that had assaulted her. She gathered flames in one of her fists and then promptly punched herself in the face.

Totomaru grinned as he forced Crystal to punch herself a few more times by controlling the fire she had conjured up. He stopped the punching and flashed to her side, crossing the width of the hall in less than a second.

“You didn’t learn either. I am the master of fire. All. Flames. Bow. Before. Me!” Totomaru punctuated each word with a punch of blue-coloured fire to her head, leaving Crystal dazed and confused for a few long moments.

When she snapped out of it, she dodged a kick, grinning a bit sadistically as the kick continued straight into the wall where Totomaru stood stock-still as the pain traveled through his body.

“You sure I didn’t learn?” Crystal asked with a grin, covering her body in her customary black crystal armor, focusing most of it around the bulge of her belly. “Come on, Totty. You can do better than bash me in the face,” she taunted, punching both her fists together as she got into another fighting stance. She grinned to herself when she noticed him flare up at the nickname she gave him.

“Eat rainbow fire, you bitch!” Totomaru hollered, shooting a rotating ball of different coloured flames out of his hands. As it sailed towards the crystal-covered mage, it grew about five different legs, making it look like a miniature spinning, colourful galaxy, before exploding upon impact with a sudden wall of ice.

“Ice-Make. Didn’t ... think it would ... come in ... handy in ... a firefight.” Crystal muttered, wiping the sweat off her forehead as she twirled and kicked the ice wall with what strength she had left. Thanks to the fire that had boosted her kick, the ice shield rammed into Totomaru before he even had a chance to blink, slamming him into the wall behind him and into the next room. Crystal walked over to the hole at a sedated pace and peered in, observing the damage she had caused.

“You learned some new tricks …” Totomaru coughed, holding his side as he carefully stood up. Glaring at her, he twirled a couple of fingers and made a pitiful fireball before promptly falling back down to the floor.

“That trick saved me. Didn’t think I would thank Sombra for saving my life.” Crystal murmured before leaving the hole and slowly but surely made her to the top of the tower where the lacrima cannon was. When she came upon some fighting sounds along the way, Crystal looked into a room and watched Connor and Gajeel fight Sol and Aria for a bit before wrapping her arms around her stomach and winced when a bit of pain spiked through her abdomen. She then moaned out in pain and collapsed in front of the doorway.
> Chapter 20 - Ice Tricks Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After getting back from saving the cursed island, Crystal discovered that Erza and Lucy were off on their own adventure, apparently recovering a dangerous flute and rendering it useless in the process. After debriefing and getting debriefed, Crystal stayed in Ponyville for a few days to recover. She took a few odd end jobs, helping out Ponyville and others in a matter of life and death situations such as managing to reform Discord, and helping Spike out with handling a few pets from Twilight and her friends. Now? Now Crystal is trying to figure out why she’s needed in the Crystal Empire.

“So, why does the Crystal Empire need to be the next city to hold these special games?” Crystal asked, placing a hand on her hip. She, Twilight, and Pinkie were in Twilight’s library. Twilight and Pinkie were sitting on a couch and Twilight had just finished talking about some kind of games that the Crystal Empire needs to host.

“To get it back on the map,” Twilight was patient enough with Crystal to at least explain it all properly. “It’s out in the middle of the snow, and it takes two full days by train to get to there from here.”

“Why can’t Spike do it?” Crystal asked curiously and even looked around for the young drake.

“Because he’s helping Rarity out with shopping for the moment. Pinkie and I are going to do some asking around and basically try to figure what to do to help out Shiney and Cadence,” Twilight answered with a smile.

“And you want me why?” Crystal asked with a raised brow.

“To keep us warm on the ride over!” Pinkie cheered. Crystal face palmed.

“You know that Twilight can perform heat spells, right?” Crystal asked through her hand.

“The more the merrier?” Pinkie guessed with an increasingly lopsided smile. It looked like her mouth was going to fall if she kept it up.

“That, I can take,” Crystal grumbled. “In that case, Gray could come along.”

“Gray?” Twilight asked confusedly, leaning forward a bit. “Why?”

Crystal smiled and laughed a tiny bit. “Because the Crystal Empire is covered in snow and an ice mage would actually be useful for a change.” She breathed slowly before feeling bile rise in the back of her throat. “Urp - where’s the bathroom?”

“Upstairs, first door on the left,” Twilight said and Crystal wasted no time in rushing up there. Twilight stood and walked over to one of the shelves, looking for a particular book. When she found it, she brought it out but before being able to walk back to Pinkie, there was a knock at the door. She called out, “who is it?”

“It’s Gray,” Gray called back. Before Twilight could take a step, Pinkie bounced off the couch and over to the door. She opened it up and grinned at the ice mage.

“Speak of the devil slayer!” Pinkie cheered and waved Gray inside. His look was one of confusion and felt a bit disturbed at Pinkie’s nickname for him.

“A devil slayer, I am not. I don’t even know what that is,” Gray replied. He stood to the side of the door, Pinkie closed it, and he leaned against the bookshelf while putting his hands in his pockets. “Anyway,” he added when Pinkie wasn’t offering an explanation. “Where’s Crystal?”

“Bathroom,” Twilight said with a wave of her hand, having resumed her position on the couch, legs tucked under her, and nose in the book she had chosen.

“Of course,” Gray pinched the bridge of his nose.

“What do you want with her?” Twilight wondered.

“Oh, Gajeel wanted to try and teach her something. I said it was impossible, but he seemed pretty insistent,” Gray answered. Twilight looked at Gray before looking at the bathroom where Crystal had run off to. They talked for a few more minutes, biding their time until Crystal came back. It was roughly half an hour before she came back downstairs. Her hair was a mess and after a sneeze that spouted a gout of flame, moaned weakly and fell onto the spare couch.

Twilight quickly got the first aid from the bathroom. When she got back to Crystal, Twilight took her temperature with a thermometer and frowned at it.

“I can’t tell what her usual temperature is,” Twilight announced, showing the others that the digital reader read well over a hundred degress celsius.

“It used to be thirty-six, but last I checked it was roughly one hundred and twenty,” Crystal replied, sitting up and holding a hand to her forehead. “Sweat? Is anyone else hot?”

“It’s a hot flash,” Pinkie giggled. “Females who are pregnant sometimes get them,” she explained at Gray’s confusion. Crystal slowly stood and grabbed Gray’s hand before placing it against her forehead. Gray looked at her and slowly blinked, unsure of what she was doing.

“Ice me. Now, Fullbuster,” Crystal answered his questioning expression.

“Yeah, no. If I do that, you’ll most definitely die,” Gray replied, taking his hand away. “Gajeel wanted to see you about something but …” he looked at Twilight as she tilted her head.

“Gajeel can come too. If it’s what I’m thinking it is, then Crystal should have no problem with what he needs to do,” Twilight told the group and promptly left them to it. They looked bewildered and stared at each other for a few seconds before quickly following her. Gray got Gajeel to join them and they were on their way to the Crystal Empire.





The train was more rickety this time around but that could just be due to there being more snow falling on the tracks than usual this time of year. Nonetheless, the train blasted its way to the Crystal Empire, slowing to a stop as usual when it reached the station. The group of Twilight, Crystal, Pinkie, Gajeel, and Gray disembarked and went their separate ways, with Twilight and Pinkie heading to the castle while Crystal, Gray, and Gajeel, headed to the snow.

Crystal kept her hands alight, keeping herself and her fellow dragon slayer warm as they trudged away from the city. However, they didn’t know that fourth person was following the group, keeping his eye on the fire dragon slayer.

“I wonder what’s going on here,” the man spoke to himself, uncaring about the weather and what it was doing to his half-naked body. He brushed his black bangs out of his face and sat in the snow when the trio stopped.

“Here’s good,” Gray announced with a devilish grin. Crystal didn’t like that look and neither did Gajeel for that matter.

“Gray, what are you planning?” Crystal poked a fiery finger at him, raising a pink brow.

“I’m going to see if you can learn a bit of Ice Make,” Gray replied, keeping that grin on his face even as he took off his shirt.

“I’m going to check on the ponies,” Gajeel grumbled and trudged back to the city.

“What!? You’re leaving me!? With this ice freak!?” Crystal shouted indignantly, tossing a fireball at Gray as she gestured wildly back at him.

“Good luck!” Gajeel laughed. Crystal growled and turned back to Gray. He had covered himself in snow at the sudden fireball and didn’t look pleased.

“That was uncalled for,” Gray was monotonous in his manner and shook himself off.

“Derrick seems to have gotten himself into some trouble,” the man chuckled, making a wide berth of Gajeel to make sure not to be seen despite his black robes making him a sore spot on the landscape. “This should be interesting.”

Sometime later after a bit of a spat, both mages had calmed down enough to where Gray explained how being an ice mage works.

“So you want me to get naked?” Crystal deadpanned.

“Wha- no!” Gray shook his head. “Just down to your underwear. It’s how I trained.”

“Yeah, no. Not happening,” Crystal shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest. She looked back at the city, then at Gray. “Why don’t we try later. After Twilight and Pinkie have figured out what they’re doing. Huh?”

“Okay, fine,” Gray sighed heavily and went back with Crystal.
> [BONUS 2] Chapter 21 - An Engaging Reunion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Freya wrapped a white, dragon-scale patterned scarf around her neck and saw a pillar of fire appear in front of her. A young girl with shoulder-length salmon-pink hair, a red shirt, white pants that were tied off midway up the calves and black sandals on her feet stepped through, looking around before spotting Freya.

“Freya!?” The girl asked in surprise, her eyes widening at her. 

“Crystal!” Freya smiled, pulling Crystal into a hug. She smiled, now at least a head above the girl. Crystal hugged back and smiled, pulling away.

“It’s so good to see you! If I’m remembering right though, it’s only been about half a week here. Is there any particular reason you summoned me?” Crystal asked, looking up at Freya and wrapping their hands together.

“It’s been a lot longer than a week.” Freya chuckled. “It’s been three years for us.”

“Three years? It’s only been a couple of weeks back home though,” Crystal said in surprise and moved in to hug Freya tightly, only now noticing the height difference. “Hodge said that a few months back home would have been a few weeks here.”

“Time differences change all the time.” Freya shrugged. “It’s all relative apparently.” 

“Apparently.” Crystal echoed and stepped back to look Freya over properly. “You’ve grown. Did anything significant happen over the past three years then?” Crystal asked, wrapping her hands around her stomach as she smiled warmly at her girlfriend.

“Nah, not really. Things with Earth are finally starting to smooth out.”

“They are? Well that’s good to know. You didn’t answer my earlier question though. Besides hanging out, was there a reason you summoned me?” Crystal reminded her and looked around the room they were standing in. Black chitin appeared to cover the walls with bits of stone poking where parts of the chitin had fallen off. In the middle of the room was a bed and beside it was a bedside table. “Is this your bedroom?”

“Yeah, cozy huh?” She smiled, buzzing her wings a little.

“Very cozy,” Crystal agreed, walking around Freya and sitting down on the bed. “It’s got a nice homely feel to it too.” She then giggled a bit at Freya’s buzzing wings.

“I’m so excited to see you!” She smiled, hugging her again. 

“I’m excited to see you too!” Crystal cried while hugging Freya back as she fell backwards onto the bed from the force she was hugged with. “Other than reconnecting with me, I’m still having a hard time figuring out why you summoned me,” Crystal said.

“Well...” she looked away, a pensive look on her face.

“Well ... what?” Crystal pressed gently, confusion in her eyes. “Did something terrible happen?” She asked softly.

“No...” she turned back, steeling herself. “Crystal...will you....”

“‘Will you’ … what?” Crystal asked slowly, noticing the look on Freya’s face and groaning inwardly a bit at this game of repetition.

“Marry me!” Freya blurted out.

“Huh?” Crystal asked in a small voice, her heart racing as she turned the complete question over in her head. When she thought it through and smiled at Freya as her heart calmed down. “Yes, Freya, I’ll marry you!” Crystal said happily and raised her head up to mash her lips against Freya’s. Freya returned the smile, kissing her.

“Is this what had you worked up?” Crystal asked with a chuckle after breaking the kiss, resting her head back against the bed. “You should’ve known I would’ve said yes,” she told her.

“How am I supposed to know that?” Freya asked, rolling her eyes.

“I already agreed to carry your eggs. Marriage is either a step back, or a step forward, depending on how you look at it,” Crystal shrugged and sighed, wiggling out from underneath Freya to sit up properly. “Besides, I wouldn’t dream of spending my life with anyone else.”

“I love you so much Crystal.” She nuzzled her, placing an arm around her.

“I love you too, Freya. So, so, much,” Crystal replied, nuzzling Freya’s neck happily before looking at her with a slightly worried look on her face. “What about your family? We’ll have to tell them, won’t we?” She asked softly, rubbing her arms up and down in nervousness.

“I already talked to my father about it.” Freya smiled, nipping at her neck.

“He obviously agreed to it then?” Crystal wondered, gasping a bit at the nipping and held Freya’s hands in hers softly.

“Of course. My dad’s not an asshole.”

“I never said he was.” Crystal replied, shaking her head at Freya’s reply and kissing her on the cheek. “What about your mums? Did you talk to Rarity and Chrysalis about this?” She asked, worry and nervousness creeping back into her voice as she put her hand down and clenched the bedsheet underneath her.

“They’re fine with it babe, relax.”

Crystal let out a breath and unclenched her hand. When she lifted away from the bedsheet, an imprint of her hand was burned slightly into it and she winced at it.

“Sorry about the bedsheet. At least they’re fine with it.” Crystal sighed, calming down and looking up at Freya. “Do you mind if I stay here for a bit? Things are crazy back home and it would be nice to get away from it for a while.”

“Of course you can stay.” Freya chuckled, ruffling her hair. “You worry too much.”

“Stop…” Crystal chuckled, moving her head away from Freya’s hand. “Thanks and you worry too little. Someone has to be the worrier in this relationship,” Crystal said, poking her tongue out at Freya playfully and giggled.

Freya smirked, grabbing her tongue. “Whatcha gonna do now huh?”

Crystal shrugged in confusion, smiling widely as best she could with her tongue held out. She tried to blow on Freya’s hand but ended up spitting out excess saliva instead. She tried to talk her way out of it but ended up making muffled noises before eventually stopping and staring at Freya’s hand, crossing her eyes to see it better. Freya poked her forehead, releasing her tongue, letting the human fall back onto the bed. She fell backwards and ran her tongue over her mouth to get feeling back into it.

“What was the poke for? All you had to do was release my tongue,” Crystal whined softly, rubbing her forehead while looking up at her fiancée with a soft glare, nestling comfortably into the bed.

“I felt like it,” Freya said simply. Crystal sighed and narrowed her eyes at Freya.

“Is that so?” Crystal asked, reaching up and bringing Freya down to her level with a hug. 

“Yup!” She laughed, hugging her back. Crystal giggled and nipped at Freya’s neck slightly before nuzzling into it and sighing.

“Seeing you after everything that happened when you left is great,” Crystal told her and after a bit, let her go only to kiss Freya fiercely. She kissed back, closing her eyes, pressing against her. Crystal smiled into the kiss and closed her eyes, carefully wrapping her hands around Freya’s neck loosely. “Not to ruin the moment, but do you think I can meet Rarity and Chrysalis later?” Crystal asked after breaking off the kiss again; smiling at their closeness. 

“Sure. I doubt they’ll say no.” she cooed, nuzzling her cheek.

“Thanks, babe,” Crystal told her, leaning into the nuzzle and hugging Freya closely, enjoying the feeling of holding her again. “You’re amazing but, you need to let me up. I want to have a look around your home.”

“Sorry.” She stood up, rubbing the back of her neck with a sheepish chuckle. Crystal smiled reassuringly, sat up, slipped off the bed.

“You want to give me the grand tour?” Crystal asked, scratching her arm.

“Sure!” She took her arm, leading her out of the room. Crystal wrapped her fingers around Freya’s and took a look around the hallway, noticing the same chitin that was in Freya’s room.

“I think I’m seeing a pattern with the walls here,” Crystal observed and then chuckled to herself. “Forgot. This is the hive, isn’t it? So what’s the first stop?” She asked Freya, looking around with wide eyes as they walked.

“Why don’t you tell me your first impressions?” She asked, leading her to the ballroom.

“It’s shiny and black, but, it feels natural to look at as well,” Crystal told her, glancing at the walls and not really noticing where she was being taken to. “How did it get like this?”

“My mom made it like this.” Freya shook her head. “Well, her and her drones anyway.”

“I meant how did the walls get like this. In case you forgot, I don’t exactly know what goes into making a hive, a hive.” Crystal replied, and reminded Freya.

“Oh well, spit. Lots of spit and goo.”

“Is this goo the same stuff you used to cocoon Rainbow Dash back when you met me?” Crystal asked, mulling the information over.

“Yup.”

“Huh. I thought it would have been more green then. The colour suits the hive though,” Crystal told her with a small shrug. “It’s been three years, so you’re probably a lot stronger than when we first met,” she added casually, watching a massive room open up before them. “What room’s this?”

“This was the old ballroom. It still sorta is but it's also where we eat.”

“So it’s a dining/ballroom?” Crystal asked, letting go of Freya’s hand and slowly walked around the room, taking care to walk around the edges as she looked to the center, where she was a very large, glowing pillar in the center of the room.

“Yeah, that thing houses our love supply.” Freya walked up, putting her hand on the pillar.

“It’s big and long. It contains enough love to help fuel the whole hive?” Crystal wondered, walking through the tables and chairs to reach the glowing pillar. Her eyes lit up when she saw it but restrained herself from touching it by placing her hands in her pockets.

“Well, this is only the top part. Most of it is in the caves under the castle.”

“It goes underground?” Crystal asked, looking at the bottom of the pillar to see a tiny bit of light leaking through the ground. “How many changelings are actually in this hive?” She asked, crouching down to try and see if she could find the hole the pillar was inserted into.

“Oh.... about six hundred. About half of that is here or gathering love and the other half is out exploring Equestria.”

“Oh. I thought there would have been more.” Crystal murmured before standing up and stretching, looking up at Freya. “Do you and your family eat here, or somewhere else?” She asked, figuring that this ballroom were more for the drones than the hive Queens.

“We just feed off dad.” Freya shrugged.

“Right.” Crystal murmured, facepalming and giving a sigh. “I’m an idiot,” she groaned. “Where’s the next room?” She asked, feeling eager to continue the tour, as well as to try and get her mind off of her little screw-up.

“Come along dear.” She chuckled, shaking her head. Crystal gave her a smile as she rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment and followed her out of the room.

“I still can’t believe it’s been three years since you last saw me,” Crystal told Freya, wrapping their hands together.

“Time is just weird like that.” Freya shrugged.

“Okay, fine. What were you doing before you summoned me?” Crystal wondered.

“Playing Fallout.”

“How far are you into it?” Crystal questioned, giving a small smile at the fact that Freya had entertainment and looked around the hallway before realising that it was the same as before. “If they were here, where would Rarity and Chrysalis be?”

“Probably in the throne room.” Freya shrugged. “I don’t really pay attention.”

“Throne room. Forgot they were royalty. I suppose you’ve gotten a lot stronger as well?” Crystal asked, trying to see if she could get Freya to ask questions of her own and gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

“You don’t want to hear about any of that do you?” She asked, looking down at her. “How has the world been treating you? Anyone I gotta destroy?”

“I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t want to hear but my world’s been treating me just fine. They were a bit shocked when they found but they quickly got used to it, knowing that nothing could be done about it and no, I don’t think you have to destroy anyone. Yet,” Crystal answered, tilting her head to the side in thought. “Did you tell your mums about me being pregnant?”

“No. I told my MOMs that I got you pregnant.” Freya grinned cheekily. 

“You got an answer for everything, don’t you,” Crystal said, poking her tongue out again at her playfully. “At least it won’t be a surprise. Where are we going?” 

“Hey, at least I don’t talk funny. Next you’ll be saying ‘aboot’ and ‘zed’” Freya teased, chuckling.

“‘Aboot this, aboot that’? No way I’d say that. But ‘zed’ is high up on the list of things I could possibly say.” Crystal replied, giving a chuckle of her own when she saw them wander into a vastly different room from the one before. “Which room’s this?”

“Oh this is the egg room. This is where mom lays eggs.” Freya gestured around. “They fall through the hole in the floor and the drones tuck them safely in cubbies until they hatch.”

“‘The egg room’?” Crystal echoed, letting go of Freya’s hand and took a quick walk around it. She ignored the chitin on the walls and inspected the various features. 

“Well yeah, where else is mom going to lay eggs?” Freya rolled her eyes. 

“You got a point there. Is it just your mom that lays eggs or does Sif help?” Crystal asked awkwardly. “You told me she is meant to be next in line to be Queen of this hive so I’m just guessing at the moment,” she explained.

“Well no, see, I just assumed too but uh...I’m taking the hive and Sif is going to move to Jotunheim.”

“You’re taking the hive over?” Crystal asked, her mouth open slightly as she gazed at Freya.

“Well yeah. My mom is empress and I was first born so...”

“That’s great. I’m happy for you, really,” Crystal told her as she gave her a warm smile. “It just means I’ll have to take care of these by myself whenever they hatch,” she added, giving a slight shrug as she put her arms around her stomach.

“Now what makes you think that?” Freya asked, pulling her back into a hug, nuzzling her head. 

“We’re from different worlds. Literally. I can’t expect to summon you or for you to summon me every time we have a problem. You even said yourself that you have a life of your own so I can’t expect you to be there whenever I need you,” Crystal explained, rubbing her face into Freya’s chest.

“That's not really fair to you...” Freya frowned, stroking her head. 

“I know and it’s not fair to you either but that’s what it’s like when this kind of relationship happens. We’re literally universes apart and I don’t know if you’re doing something important or not when I summon you,” Crystal informed her, taking comfort in the strokes and Freya’s general closeness.

“Now I know how Toya and the others felt...” Freya sighed, not letting the shorter female go.

“What kind of feeling would that be?” Crystal asked, her voice muffled slightly.

“Not being able to see your loved ones for years...”

Crystal unwrapped her arms from around herself and returned Freya’s hug, smiling reassuringly when she looked up at her. “We’ll do our best but I’m not sure how long that would be, considering you were fifteen when I last saw you.”

“And how old are you?” She asked, easily lifting Crystal off her feet, carrying her bridal style.

“I’m eighteen,” Crystal answered, looping her arms around Freya’s neck for support. “I was eighteen when you last saw me and I’m still eighteen now. This age difference may be a problem if whole years go by before we see each other again...”

“I know I know.” Freya nodded, starting to walk down the hallway. 

“Well, we could always make the best of the time we spend together,” Crystal shrugged as best she could and concentrated on Freya’s face. “Where are you taking me this time?”

“Oh I dunno. Maybe to the cocoon room and leave you plastered to the ceiling for safe keeping.”

“Huh? Why you going to do that?” Crystal asked in surprise; her eyes widening at Freya as her mouth fell open slightly.

“Well, you can’t leave me if you all tied up.” Freya grinned. 

“No, I can’t. Besides, you know the only way I can go back is if you send me back with the right words. I wouldn’t be able to move around either,” Crystal told her, giving her a small pout.

“No, but you’d be all mine!”

“I’m all yours anyway! You know that!” Crystal said, a bit of fear clouding her face when she heard Freya’s tone.

“Babe I’m kidding relax.” Freya rolled her eyes, laughing.

“It’s not funny. You sounded serious there,” Crystal managed to punch Freya on her back. “You sounded like you were going to actually cocoon me,” she took a breath and rested her head against Freya’s body. “I got an idea. How about we see Chrysalis and Rarity? I want to see if she can tell me how to deliver eggs.” Crystal suggested.



Over the next couple of weeks, Crystal got introduced to the rest of Freya’s family and had learned how to deliver eggs properly from Chrysalis when the time came for her own children. The hive was as familiar to Crystal now as the Fairy Tail guild back home. Not even realising her stomach had swelled a tiny bit while staying, Crystal turned to Freya and asked an important question.

“I don’t think we discussed this, but when will the wedding take place? I assume it’ll be before I lay these eggs,” Crystal asked her with a curious look.

“Whenever Dad can get the family together.” Freya shrugged. “I have a lot of siblings out in the multiverse.”

“He really got around, didn’t he? Meeting a lot more Displaced will be fun though,” Crystal said, smirking slightly. “Here’s another question. Which world will the wedding take place in? Mine, or yours?”

“Here of course, it’s eaiser.” Freya nodded, fluffing Crystal’s pillow. “COmfy?” She asked, tilting her head. 

“Yeah, thanks. The wedding being here would definitely be easier,” Crystal agreed, settling back into the pillow. “Far as I can tell, I only got a couple of months to go so the wedding could take place soon,” she said, blinking at Freya with a comforting smile.

“You just worry about staying healthy.” Freya licked her cheek, placing a blanket over her. 

“That’s what I’ve been doing. Well, trying to in between guild wars.” Crystal replied, closing her eyes at Freya’s lick.

“Well now you got me to protect ya.” Freya smiled, nuzzling her. She turned on some music, cuddling up with her mate. 

“Even though I can protect myself just fine on my own?” Crystal giggled, readjusting herself to be more comfortable with Freya by her side. “I like this sort of music,” she commented, listening to the music for a bit.

“I had no idea you were into Manowar.”

“I used to listen to them back on Earth. Haven’t really had a chance to do the same with that music bracelet Jason gave me,” Crystal replied, giving a short peck on Freya’s cheek and snuggled up to her.

“You’d be surprised how loud that thing can get.” Freya closed her eyes, nuzzling Crystal’s head. 

“With my super-hearing, it’ll probably be louder than how most ponies or people will be able to hear it,” Crystal mumbled, giving a yawn and snuggling in a bit closer before falling asleep, smiling at Freya’s nuzzle. “I love you, Freya,” Crystal whispered before completely drifting off, burying her face into her lover’s chest.

“I love you too Crystal...” Freya smiled, holding her close, letting sleep take her.
> [BONUS 3] Chapter 22 - Guests Arrival
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Are we going to try calling everyone up again or wait around a bit more?” Crystal asked, swinging her legs a bit as she sat on the edge bed and looked up at Freya expectantly. For the past month they’d been trying to figure out how to get everyone together for the wedding but they all seemed to be busy.

“We’ll just call.” Freya shrugged. “It’s easier.” She kicked open her father’s stash of tokens, looking through them. Crystal slid off the bed and had a look through the tokens. She picked up what looked like an anklet and studied it for a second.

“Whose token is this?” Crystal asked.

“Oh that's Zinnia’s.” Freya looked over, retrieving Vash’s bullet.

“Zinnia? Hmm. If you can, would you and your family like to come to my wedding?” Crystal asked the anklet uncertainly after giving a shrug.

Freya cleared her throat, speaking into the bullet. “Hey Vash, if your not busy, can you round up Tamara and your side of the family? I’m getting married and it’d mean a lot if you guys could make it.”

All of a sudden a fake crackling noise came from the bullet and a voice came from it. “The number you have called has been disconnected. Please hang up and.... Ow! Okay Morning I get it no more jokes. Yeah Freya, I can get everybody. We wouldn't miss your big day for anything.”

Much like the bullet, a slight static noise emanated from the anklet for a moment before a woman’s voice could be heard. “We apologise for the inconvenience, but this token is no longer in use. Please whistle an inverted Epona’s Song, and a Void Dragon will arrive to give you an up-to-date model, thank you!”

Crystal remembered what Epona’s song was and did her best to whistle it backwards, wondering if this was just a joke. Moments later, a large black Dragon’s head with a flowing mane of pink Stardust rose from the ground, seeming to ripple into existence from nowhere. It looked around for a moment before seeming to bow to the two, placing a small, purple device on the ground and leaving again. Crystal picked the device up and gave Freya a weird look before looking it over. She found a latch and flipped it open, making it look like a phone of some kind. She put it to her ear and spoke into it, repeating the same question as before once it seemed someone had picked up.

“Who is this?” The voice on the other end questioned. “Vash, is that you? You’re not funny with that girly voice y’know.”

“I’m going to pretend to ignore that. My name is Crystal and I’m getting married to Freya. We were wondering if you and your family would like to come to our wedding?” Crystal asked after giving a small sigh.

“Oh! Well why didn’t you say that first!” Zinnia cried happily. “Tell my little Frey-Frey I’ll be right over, and congratulations to you both!”

“Yeah, sure, thanks,” Crystal said before closing the phone and turning to Freya. “Zinnia said ‘tell my little Frey-Frey I’ll be right over, and congratulations to you both,” she repeated the message to Freya with a cheeky smile.

Freya rolled her eyes, grabbing Gilgamesh’s token. “Hey grandpa, when you can stop being all warriory, can you drop in? I’m getting married.”

“Usually when you speak into a token, a portal appears. Does it take that long to round up the family?” Crystal asked before grabbing an hourglass token.

“It is short notice.” Freya shrugged. She dropped the tokens back into the chest, sitting down. “And there are time differences...” 

“Don’t I know it. Hey, Draigo? Remember me? Before you act all huffy, I’m getting married and wondered if you could drop by for the wedding,” Crystal spoke into the hourglass before putting it back in the chest and sat next to Freya.

A portal opened before then and out stepped an armor clad man. His armor was black with gold details with horns on the helmet and pauldrons. A black cape with purple lining flowed from his shoulders as a glowing yellow orb roved back and forth. A single ring could be seen on his ring finger that was gold and silver with a sapphire crescent moon and a ruby sun set into it.

“Of course, I remember you, Crystal. My wife and I wouldn’t miss your wedding for anything,” Draigo told her.

“Wow that armor is gaudy.” Freya shook her head. “Looks like you're trying to be a Final Fantasy villain.”

“It may be gaudy but it gets the job done,” Crystal said with a shrug and looked at Draigo. “What do you mean ‘wife’? Last I remember you didn’t have any courage at all to get with anyone,” Crystal asked him.

“That was quite a while ago, Crystal. I’m married to Celestia and Luna now. Luna just prefers to stay low key until she knows how people will react to her appearance,” Draigo told her, looking down at his shadow.

Another portal opened up and a tall man in a red duster flanked by several other figures stepped into the room. “Hey, Lovebug. Sorry we took so long but some of us were being difficult,” he said, shooting a look at three diamond dogs.

“Love bug really?” Freya asked, crossing her arms. “Still as lame as always Vash.” she moved over, pulling him into a hug.

“Hey, I thought the nickname was cute,” Vash chuckled as he returned the hug. “So who's the lucky lady that you're marrying?” He asked with a grin.

“This pink haired anime trope right here.” Freya pulled Crystal over, kissing her forehead. Crystal giggled before waving at the man.

“Hi, I’m Crystal. I may be an anime trope but that doesn’t mean I can’t embrace it fully,” Crystal introduced herself to him.

“Glad to hear that. And it’s very nice to meet you Crystal,” Vash grinned.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Vash,” Crystal replied, mirroring his grin. “The one in the gaudy armor, he’s like a brother to me,” she then gestured to the man in the armor.

“I could just be a dragon, you know,” Draigo said, giving a wave to Vash.

“That had better be a man-sized dragon,” Vash chuckled. “Otherwise you’d probably destroy the room. And I don’t think these two would appreciate that.”

“Oh, I can be a range of sizes, but I think I’ll keep with this ‘gaudy’ armor for now. I don’t want to freak anyone out,” Draigo replied.

“Yeah, I don't think there's anything you can do that’d freak me out,” Vash shrugged. “I’ve seen and done some crazy stuff in my day.”

“Oh, I believe it, but I was thinking about those who have seen me before. Even Luna and Celestia freaked out when they saw my new look,” Draigo told him with a shrug.

“What new look?” Crystal asked him.

Draigo sighed before looking at her, “Do you really want to see?”

“I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t want to see,” Crystal pointed out.

“We’re getting off topic.” Freya tapped her hoof. “We still have introductions to do.”

“Right, right. Sorry, sweetie. Freya, this is Draigo. Draigo, this is Freya,” Crystal smiled apologetically and gestured between the two of them.

“It’s good to meet you, Freya. This is my wife, Luna,” Draigo said, gesturing to his shadow as Luna materialized from it. Except it seemed to be Nightmare Moon instead of Luna.

“Greetings, We are happy to attend your wedding,” Luna said.

“Huh, wasn't expecting that to happen today.” Vash commented. “And here I thought I'd be the only one here with Luna as a significant other,” he continued, gesturing to his own Luna.

“I would have brought Celestia with me, but Luna is a safer bet when visiting Displaced’s worlds. You were right about coming in your true form, Luna,” Draigo said, running a hand through Luna’s mane.

“Yes, it is strange seeing another version of one’s self,” Luna said, gesturing to her counterpart.

“And both Nightmare Moon and Luna exist here.” Freya chuckled. “It’s a Lunapalooza.”

“Or a Lunafest, whichever you prefer,” Vash added in with a chuckle of his own.

“Sorry, bathroom,” Crystal said quickly as she ran out the room, holding her stomach as she went in search of one.

“So, who’s world are we in? I don’t recognize it so far and I’m curious,” Draigo asked after Crystal had left to find a bathroom.

“We’re in my world.” She grinned cheekily.

“Oh, so we should be expecting Jason at any time then?” Vash asked.

“Jason? Last time I saw him he was threatening/asking some elves for help solving his ragnarok problem,” Draigo mused.

“It wasn’t Ragnarok.” Freya rolled her eyes.

“It was about a god who caused ragnarok and Jason didn’t really explain it much further than that. So, I assumed he was trying to stop another ragnarok or something very similar from happening,” Draigo explained. “Anyway, I’m guessing he solved that problem. How long ago was that anyway?”

“Eighteen years.” Freya gestured for them to sit.

“So, figured out any names for your kids yet?” Draigo asked as he took a seat and his Luna curled up next to him.

“Kids?” Vash asked. “This is the first I’m hearing of this,” he frowned.

“Yeah, Crystal is pregnant. I’m only assuming they’re Freya’s kids,” Draigo informed Vash as he gestured to Freya and where Crystal was last seen.

“Well congratulations are in order again,” Vash smiled.

“Of course they're my kids.” Freya grinned. “Anyway, these are my siblings.” She gestured to the others with Vash.

“Tamara, Tiberius, Rover, Toya, Dot and uh... is that.. Zecora?” Freya blinked a little.

“Yes,” Tamara laughed. “She’s my daughter.” Freya blinked, just staring at her. “What, surprised that I became a mother?”

“No...just that its... Zecora....” Freya rubbed her neck.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Zecora waved. “How do you do?”

“Pretty good you?”

“I am fine, even if we are only meeting for the first time,” she smiled. Crystal walked back into the room and glanced at the new positions of everyone before sitting next to Freya.

“Did I miss anything?” Crystal asked them.

“Just some introductions and some catching up. Turns out that it’s been eighteen years since I met Jason and all of these are Freya’s siblings,” Draigo said gesturing to the group around Vash.

“Oh and that's not the craziest part,” Vash laughed. “This one here, Jason and I had together,” he explained, putting an arm around the only human-looking one among the group.

“That’s a lot of siblings. How did you and Jason have a kid together?” Crystal asked after giving a wave to the others.

“Jason shapeshifted into a woman and became the mom… after we decided to have a drinking contest.”

“Huh. Another case of genderbending. How did Jason take it?” Crystal asked, eyes widening in surprise at Vash’s explanation.

“His first reaction was to choke the life out of me,” Vash chuckled weakly.

“That must have hurt,” Crystal commented, wincing a bit as she imagined it.

“Eh, it hurt more when I was choked by the cyborg,” Vash shrugged.

“Cyborg? What did you get Displaced as?” Crystal asked him as she wrapped her hands around her middle.

“A Plant named Vash the Stampede,” Vash chuckled. “But the cyborg that choked me was another Displaced.”

“You don’t look very leafy if you got Displaced as a plant,” Crystal observed and shook her head at his next sentence. “Someone got Displaced as a cyborg? That has to be worth something,” she added.

“Wrong kind of plant,” Vash laughed. “I’m more like a… energy being.”

“You don’t look like a plant but you suck up energy like a plant does?” Crystal asked, frowning a bit in confusion and leaned against Freya.

“Close enough,” Vash shrugged.

“I’m marrying into a big family, aren’t I?” Crystal asked as her eyes wandered over Vash and his family, now only noticing how many there were.

“And you haven't even met Zinnia and Rita yet,” Vash chuckled and grinned at her.

“I may not have met her, but I did hear her voice. Before I introduced myself she thought I was you,” Crystal informed him and picked up the device from the floor that had enabled her to call Zinnia to show what she meant.

“Weird, though I guess pretending to be a girl to trick her would be something I’d do,” Vash admitted, rubbing his chin.

“Oh, speaking of weird. Crystal, remember Joseph from that robot pony incident? The one who had the talking potato,” Draigo said with a grin.

“The Aussie that had trouble with Aperture? Yeah, what about him?” Crystal asked, looking at Draigo curiously.

“Well, turns out we were right. He really is crazy. He’s got two other personalities that can take over his body if he’s not careful,” Draigo said.

“Really? He’s crazy?” Vash asked. “Guess I'll have to be careful if he summons me again.”

“Yes! I knew he was crazy! But that’s a bit of a bummer, what with him having two uncontrollable personalities,” Crystal crowed and then mellowed out as she spoke and turned her attention to Vash. “He’s summoned you before, Vash?”

“Oh yeah, twice actually. I’m actually the one who had to give him his big Displaced talk,” Vash explained.

“Wait, really? What happened the second time then?” Crystal wondered, leaning forward a bit.

“He summoned me in the middle of this firefight in the dark with like a dozen turrets in the dark. Lucky for me though I can dodge bullets so I was able to help him take them out pretty quick. After that, the chamber changed and I ended up having to help him with a short puzzle.”

“So the both of you were puzzle solving? The chamber changing sounds like something Aperture would do but it doesn’t really matter. It’s just nice getting to know you,” Crystal replied to Vash with a smile before turning to Freya. “You okay there? You seem really quiet, Freya,” Crystal asked her concernedly, gently rubbing the small of her back.

“Huh... oh just uh... I'm related to Zecora...”

“Is there something wrong with that?” Tamara asked.

“Who’s Zecora?” Crystal asked, looking at Freya in confusion.

“Zecora is a zebra who lives out in the Everfree.” Freya gestured to the side.

“I’ve never met her,” Crystal shook her head as she looked at what appeared the only zebra-looking figure in the room.

“And now an anthro version of that zebra is my niece...who is older than me...”

“That is the trouble with the time differences between our worlds,” Tamara sighed. “I may technically be your little sister, but I’m many years older than you.”

“I can tell ya old croon.” Freya smirked, winking at her sister.

“I thought you not seeing me for three years was bad enough,” Crystal groaned, rubbing her eyes. “You can’t even see your siblings for long stretches of time.”

“An old croon am I?” Tamara chuckled. “I think someone's just jealous I ended up with a better figure than her,” she smirked. Crystal glanced at Tamara and immediately blushed upon seeing what she looked like. To hide it, she pulled her scarf up and did her best to cover the lower part of her face.

“I think I’m jealous of your figure,” Crystal mumbled, her voice muffled further by her scarf.

“Ha! I’m only 18 Tamara, I’m not done yet.” Freya smirked, shaking her head.

At that moment a tear in the reality opened up and out stepped Gilgamesh. “Hey Freya! Sorry for not responding immediately, needed to get some things in order. Now c’mere you!” He called before rushing over and hugging Freya tightly. “Still being the terrifying warrior that you were back in the colosseum?”

“Yeah,” she grunted out, looking up at him. “Your uh... cracking my chitin.”

“Oh, um, sorry,” he apologized, releasing her. He then took a quick glance around the room, his eyes stopping on a few in particular. “Oh boy. And here I thought it would be confusing with just two Lunas in the same place,” he said as his own Luna stepped out of the portal. “Lulu, we’re going to need a way to distinguish you from the others.”

“‘Others?’” She asked before seeing what he meant. “Oh, I see. Um… suggestions?”

Gilgamesh thought on it for a moment before reaching behind him and pulling out a black kimono with silver lining. “How ‘bout this?”

“Ah, one of my favorites. Yes, that will do nicely,” she said as she levitated the clothing onto herself. “So, I think introduction are in order?” She said as she put her forelegs through the sleeve.

“Well I’m Vash,” Vash waved. “And from my world we have my Celestia and Luna, Morningstar, and all of Freya’s siblings: Toya, Tamara, Rover, Tiberius and Dot. Oh and Zecora, Tamara’s daughter,” he pointed out.

“Oh boy. And here I thought that you impregnated Jason was going to be hard enough to wrap my head around. I think I’m gonna have to make a list for this extended family,” Gilgamesh commented.

“And Zinna’s side still hasn’t shown up.” Sif strode into the room, dropping it a few degrees with her presence. 

“Ah, Sif! Good to see you, too!” He said. “By the way, where’s Jason? I assumed he’d be here as well.”

“Father is a little tied up at the moment, the American ambassador is throwing a hissy fit.”

“Hi, I’m Crystal,” Crystal waved at Gilgamesh. “I’m the only one here from my world and kind of new to all this.”

“Ah, is that a genderbent Natsu I see? So you’re the one who’s gonna hitch up with Freya? Don’t worry about the whole Displaced confusion thing, I’ll help you out with that. I guess it’ll be a test run for me as an IDC Ambassador,” he replied.

“Hi Sif, great seeing you again,” Toya chimed in, waving at her.

“Yes, yes, and thanks for the help,” Crystal answered Gilgamesh, “Hi, Sif. Didn’t see you there.”

“I just walked in.” she waved. “Does anyone need anything?”

“A stick of dynamite would be nice. I could use a spicy snack,” came a new voice. Moments later a white draconequus with a teal mane and tail, pink eyes, two ram-like horns, griffon talons, and pony hooves floated in out of the tear in reality. He was also dressed in a blue hawaiian shirt, red swimming trunks, a straw hat, and neon green sunglasses. He was also sipping from a can with a radioactive warning label on it through a straw.

“Dearest nephew, you may be half-draconequus, but if you keep eating and drinking such things you’re going to give yourself an ulcer,” Gilgamesh’s Luna chastised.

“Meh,” he replied simply and continued to sip. “So, gettin’ married, huh Freya? That’s cool.”

“N-nephew?” Vash’s Celestia questioned, her eye twitching. “Someone please tell me that doesn’t mean what I think it means.”

“Did Discord and Celestia get together in your world, Gilgamesh?” Crystal asked, her eyes widening at the sight of the draconequus.

“Yes, this is Celestia and Discord’s sun, Flux,” he answered.

“Ooh! A brother from another mother!” Eris teleported in, grabbing the new arrival and pulling him into a bone crushing hug. “Now we just need Bedlam and Hodgepodge!”

“Say no more!” Toya beamed, pressing the dial down on his Omnitrix and changing into a draconequus.

“Did somebody ask for me?!” The new draconequus grinned, floating up.

“I don’t think this world can handle three draconequii,” Crystal commented, looking uneasily between the three floating beings.

“It already does my fine genderbent friend.” Eris grinned. 

“Yeah, and the most you’ll have to worry about are some references and maybe some candy weather patterns… and gravity hiccups. But other than that we’ll be fine,” Bedlam waved off.

“Yeah, and dad decided to stay behind and help mom out a bit, so you all won’t have to worry about two Discords,” Flux stated. “Oh, and speakin’ of family, where’s the Blueblood of this universe? Never asked that last time, right unc?”

“Oh yeah, I guess we never did,” Gilgamesh agreed.

“Permanent exile to Midgard,” Freya cleared her throat. “She isn’t allowed back here. Ever.”

“Oh. I guess we’ll have to coordinate that another time. Blueblood really wanted to see how his other turned out,” Gilgamesh said. “Also, where are those two? I’ve never kept a portal open this long, I don’t know if it’ll cause any-”

“Coming! Just a minute!” Called a panting voice. A moment later a familiar alicorn and a changeling queen stepped out. “Sorry. We, um… we didn’t get much sleep last night,” Twilight said with a blush.

“Oh, really subtle, Twilight. I’m sure they have no idea what you meant,” Nectar replied with a smirk.

“Sh-Shut up!”

“So, any eggs yet?” Freya asked with a snicker, frowning as Sif kicked her in the leg. “Killjoy...” Freya muttered, brushing some frost off her leg.

“N-No! I mean, we only just… I mean it was only yesterday we-” Twilight stuttered only for Nectar to cut her off.

“Oh just let me,” Nectar said. “See this?” She said as she held up her left foreleg, a gold band around it. She then used her magic to levitate Twilight’s left foreleg up, showing off a similar gold bracelet. “Boom. I wanted it, so I put a ring on it. Just yesterday, actually.”

“I’m… still having trouble believing it honestly,” Twilight muttered, her face flushed red.

“I’m going to go get some water, anyone else want anything?” Crystal asked, rubbing her temple as she stood up.

“Painkillers, I’m going to need some after hearing about Twilight’s sex-life,” Vash chimed in.

“Same,” his Celestia nodded.

“Hey... uh...where’s Adagio?” Freya blinked, looking around.

“Uh… still in the mirror world,” Vash sighed.

“I don’t hear anything from anyone else so I’ll be back with the water and painkillers,” Crystal said, walking out of the room.

“What about your dynamite, Flux?” Gilgamesh asked.

“Eh, auntie’s right, I should probably lay off a bit,” he shrugged before finishing off his can and snapping, causing it to burst into glitter. He then snapped again and summoned a lemon which he then bit into.

“Okay then Vash, go back and get it.” Freya crossed her arms, tapping her hoof.

“Do you want her to sing at the wedding or is she another member of this vast family of yours?” Draigo asked.

“The latter,” Vash sighed again. “And I would go get her, but I’m not that far in the timeline.”`

“Oh that's just lovely.” Freya sighed, shaking her head. “Alright.” She brought her hands together. “Now, the room’s getting crowded and who knows who else is going to show up. Why don’t we go to the rec center?”

“Actually, I’d like to check on Bartz, and then Luna and I… well, we need to have a talk with your Luna,” he said nervously. “Flux, you make sure not to give Twi and Nectar trouble, okay?”

“Hey, I’m here to relax, unc. You go and deal with your younger gallivanting,” he smirked.

“Mouthy little prick,” Gilgamesh muttered before turning to Freya. “So, any idea where they’d be?”

“In Canterlot, dealing with their jurisdiction.” Freya shrugged.

“Oh great, so we’re going to have to deal with the earth-relations?”

“No idea what they’re talking about, but a bigger space sounds nice,” Draigo commented.

“I agree,” Vash nodded. “And Freya, I’ll be sure to record the wedding and show it to Adagio. I know it's not the same as her being here but… it’s the least I can do.” Freya kissed his cheek before moving toward the door, gesturing for them to follow.

“We’ll see the rest of you later. Especially you, pal,” Gilgamesh said pointing to Draigo. “Anyone who models their armor after Golbez is someone I want to know.”

“I’d like to get to know you as well, Gilgamesh. I have always liked your character and would like to see the man behind the character,” Draigo said with a smile and a thumbs up.

“Glad to hear it,” he said before summoning his weapon and cutting another tear in reality. “After you, Lulu,” he said motioning towards it. She hopped inside and he followed after with the tear closing behind them.

“You guys coming or what?” Freya asked, leaning on the door frame. 

“I’m coming,” Vash nodded. “Come on guys, let’s follow Freya.”

“Alright,” Bedlam grinned and floated over the changeling’s head.

“Oh, and who are you? I don’t think I was here to hear it,” Flux asked, floating besides the other draconequus while lounging.

“Name’s Bedlam, I’m the personality Toya’s Omnitrix created,” Bedlam commented and poked a talon against his Omnitrix symbol.

“Cool. So what’s your brand of chaos?” He asked as he bit into the lemon again.

“Depends what mood I’m in,” Bedlam shrugged. “Usually I just mess with Toya’s head when he isn’t changed into me.”

“I’m so glad my Discord is still a statue right now. I’m not sure I could handle twenty-four seven shenanigans being pulled,” Draigo said as he followed after the draconequii.

“Yeah, I heard how dad used to be. Now he’s kinda doing the ‘I’m going to help you, but I’m going to annoy you to death first’ thing,” Flux said. “Me, I’m like a Rube Goldberg line of dominoes kinda guy. It’s like trying to see how much chaos you can cause with as little influence as possible.”

“Ooh,” Bedlam said, jotting down notes. “I’m gonna have to give that a try. I bet the best part is just watching everything fall into place,” he snickered.

“Hey! Both of you knock it off!” Eris stepped in. “We don’t just do chaos here!”

“Hey, I promised Unc I wouldn’t be causing any problems, and I keep my promises,” Flux responded, holding his arms up in surrender. “I won’t be causing any chaos, I’m just making small talk,” he smirked. “Not my fault if someone else gets ideas from it,” he muttered under his breath.

“Don't worry Erry, I’m not gonna cause any trouble,” Bedlam smiled, a halo appearing over his head.

“It’s my experience that someone who says that is just trying to get whoever is yelling at them to lower their guard,” Draigo commented after seeing the halo above Bedlam’s head.

“Hey Freya, been meanin’ to ask you somethin’,” Flux said to his relative.

“What’s that?” She asked, looking at him.

“Jason said that he, Chrys and Rares sometimes had others join in like with Zinnia right? That ever happened with anyone else? Like Cadance and Shining?” He asked with a smirk.

“Nope. Why?”

“Flux,” Nectar said in a warning tone.

“Oh just wondering what else is different in this universe,” he answered with a trollish grin.

“FLUX! WHAT THOSE THREE DO IS THEIR OWN BUSINESS!” Twilight shouted, only to realize what she’d just blurted out. “Oh no.”

Nectar sighed. “Just couldn’t keep those pretty lips shut, could you?”

“Can you keep it down? I’m back with the pills and water,” Crystal told her as she walked back in, rubbing her ears before handing Vash and his Celestia the pills and water they had requested.

“So, let me see if I got this right. Shining Armor and Princess Cadence are letting the one who impersonated Cadence join in on their bed time fun? THAT’S A HORRIBLE IDEA!” Draigo said as he tried to rid his mind of that imagery.

“And that is the reaction I wanted,” Flux said smugly as he tossed the last bits of the lemon into his mouth, earning him a roar of laughter from Bedlam.

“Three years of fighting alongside one another, nearly dying to save each other, and about a decade of getting to know each other personally can do a lot to change how you view someone else,” Twilight answered. “I certainly never would’ve thought that Chrysalis would become one my best friends… or that I’d be marrying a changeling,” she finished with a blush.

“Ah, okay. That changes things. I thought it was sooner than that,” Draigo said, calming down a bit after hearing the backstory of the situation.

“I don’t see what has you all so worked up,” Vash shrugged. “In my world, changelings and ponies have been getting along for a long time. Though… I did help with that a bit,” he admitted with a chuckle.

“Which my parents helped with.” Freya smirked at him. As they moved through the hive, numerous guards, both ponies and changelings, saluted, not batting an eye at the strange group. 

“It’s got nothing to do with Chrysalis being a changeling. It’s got everything to do with her being an enemy of theirs. I wouldn’t be comfortable allowing an enemy share my bed. Now that I know she wasn’t an enemy of theirs when it began I’m good,” Draigo explained.

“What? Never heard of hate sex?” Freya asked with a big grin. 

“I don’t think he has,” Crystal said as she narrowed her eyes at Draigo.

“What? So, I’m not as socially experienced as you guys. You can’t blame me since I was alone for most of my life as a Displaced,” Draigo told them defensively.

“Well it's a shame you haven't heard of it.” Tamara chuckled. “Some zebras find it very therapeutic.”

“It’s a hard concept for a lot of changelings to grasp.” Sif closed her wings, noticing a few in the group were shivering. Crystal saw a few of the members shiver so she went close to them and lit her hand up on fire, hoping that it would warm them up.

“It may be a hard concept to grasp but some changelings do get it,” Crystal replied to her.

“Yes but, changelings feed on love, the idea of ‘hate sex’ is a ‘does not compute.’ For most of the drones.”

“Hate and love are opposites so I can see why most of the drones can’t grasp it properly. Are we going to the rec room?” Crystal asked when she noticed where the group was going.

“That's what I heard,” Vash said, shrugging. “I don’t recognize this place with all the changeling stuff around.”

“Why don’t you recognise it?” Crystal asked Vash from behind him.

“Because it’s hard to recognize a castle that's been converted into a changeling hive.” Freya chuckled as she pushed open a large set of doors, opening up into the village. Crystal put her flame out when she figured that they were warm enough and took a quick look around the section of the village the group was in.

“I don’t think I’ve been outside the castle since I got here,” Crystal muttered.

“It's my first time in this part of their universe too,” Vash said.

“Welcome to Valhalla! Changeling capital of Equestria!” Freya threw her arms out, a look of pride on her face.

“Meh, Gunsmoke is cooler,” Bedlam shrugged.

“Never heard of it, so I wouldn’t know,” Crystal shrugged, her hands in her pockets as she looked over to the draconequus. “Which draconequus are you again?”

“I’m Bedlam,” he huffed, snapping his talons and creating a flashing neon sign with his name on it to appear over his head. “And Gunsmoke is a village/small city in Vash’s universe.”

“You compensating for something with that sign?” Crystal asked, smirking a bit as she pointed at it.

“No, just making sure you don't forget my name again. Reality warpers don't need to overcompensate. We can be whatever our partners want us to be.”

“Gunsmoke is not better than Valhalla.” Freya snorted indignantly.  

“Never seen Gunsmoke so I can’t make a comparison. Besides, you sound a little bit biased towards Valhalla,” Crystal told her with a friendly smile.

“Don't be upset,” Bedlam grinned. “Gunsmoke has had a thousand years to expand and make improvements. “Valhalla will catch up someday… maybe.”

“I will fire a kamehameha up your nose Bedlam.” Freya narrowed her eyes. “Or do something worse.”

“Pffft, as if you could do anything to me,” he waved off dismissively.

“I could, I dunno, take your binky.” She grinned evilly, dangling said object from her hand.

“Wh-whatever… I grew out of that thing ages ago,” Bedlam faltered, paling and turning his head up.

“You don’t sound like you have,” Crystal teased.

“I guess you won’t mind if I get rid of it then.” Freya hummed, conjuring a fireball in her other hand. 

Bedlam gulped loudly and started sweating literal bullets. “N-nope. W-wouldn't care at all,” he said, trembling at blurring speeds.

“You really don’t sound like you’ve given it up~,” Crystal said in a sing-song voice as she walked over to Freya and lit her finger up on fire, placing it close to the binky. “You sure you don’t care what happens to this?”

“Okay, I’ll be good,” he slumped over, his normal color returning. “I forgot you knew my one weakness,” he huffed.

“Relax baby brother, I wouldn’t have done it.” Freya popped the binky in his mouth, kissing his forehead. 

“You're the worst,” he grumbled, putting the binky in a kangaroo-like pouch on his torso.

“Love you too Bedlam.” Freya smiled, waving at a few passing nobles. 

“Sif is cooler than you,” he muttered.

“Literally or figuratively?” Crystal asked, scratching her cheek a bit.

“Both.”

“Well thank you for thinking so Bedlam.” Sif smiled up at him.

“And thank you for never threatening to destroy my stuff,” he smiled back.

“Where’s your brother? I don’t think I’ve seen him around here, Sif,” Crystal asked with a curious look.

“Heimdal prefers hot places. He’s normally out with the dragons.” Sif shrugged. “It was time for him to leave home anyway.”

“I’m sure old Hothead will be here for the wedding no matter the weather,” Bedlam shrugged. “No one in this family misses things like this. Even the grumpy members.”

“Adagio is...”

“Why do you want this ‘Adagio’ to come to the wedding so badly, Freya?” Crystal asked softly.

“Because she’s my sister. Family means a lot to changelings and she deserves to be here with the rest of us.”

“I might be able to help with that,” Bedlam said, scratching his chin with a talon.

“Oh yeah?” Sif asked, tilting her head.

“Well, I may not be able to fully bring her here, but I might be able to rig it so that her and the other Dazzlings can see and talk to us,” Bedlam explained.

“How ya gonna do that?” Freya asked, raising her eyebrow.

“Eh, to keep it simple I’ll just say cross-dimensional wankery,” he shrugged, conjuring up a hand mirror.

“If there’s a gem trapped inside that thing I’m going to chuck a spirit bomb at you.” Freya warned. 

“Why would a gem be trapped in a mirror?” Crystal asked confusedly, looking between the hand mirror and Freya.

“We can get you caught up on your lesbian gemstone cartoons later, right now I’m doing something important,” Bedlam dismissed, creating an orb of magic in his paw. “Believe it or not I’m not screwing around right now, Freya.”

“Thanks.” Freya smiled, pulling him into a hug. 

“Easy there, you do not want this magic to touch you,” he warned, holding the orb away from her. “Now let me do my thing.”

“Sorry.” She backed off, looking at the orb. Bedlam scrunched his face up, putting the orb in the surface of the mirror and causing the surface to ripple like water. All of a sudden, the image of three young women appeared and he handed the mirror to Freya.

“Hello?” She asked, looking into it.

“Who's there?” The orange haired one asked, staring in the direction of the mirror.

“Adagio, it’s me, your big sister Freya.”

“Sister?” Adagio asked, her eyes widening. “Is that really you?”

“Yeah its me, big hair.” Freya chuckled.

“You hardly look different,” she commented, her eyes starting to water.

“It’s been eight years for me sis...” Freya paused, looking down, “It’s been a long time for you hasn’t it?”

“Far longer than I'd like,” she sighed, looking down as well. “But it’s a relief to see you again.”

“I’m getting married soon.” Freya smiled. “I really wanted you to come.”

“I wish I could… but we’re still trapped in this world. But at least I can see it from here,” she offered with a weak smile.

“You gotta be strong Adagio, things are always darkest before the dawn.”

“I’ve been staying strong for about a thousand years now,” Adagio chuckled, winking at Freya.

“Well that's good to hear. Though I’ve been meaning to ask, how do you get all that hair under a hood?” Adagio blinked, looking confused.

“Good question… I have no idea. I just kind of… do it.” Freya chuckled.

“We aren’t interrupting you guys are we?” Sif asked, peeking into the mirror. 

“Sif!” Adagio beamed. “It's good to see you too. Still the number one ice queen?” She asked with a smirk.

“It’s nice that they can see each other again,” Crystal told Bedlam after walking away to give them a bit of privacy.

“Well, family is important to me too,” Bedlam said, scratching his cheek.

“Freya’s the only family I know so I don’t know if I can say the same thing,” Crystal replied with a small shrug.

“Not anymore,” he replied, hugging her tightly. “You're my sister too now. Welcome to the madhouse.”

“Ah...thanks…” Crystal managed to say from the within his tight hug. All of a sudden, Bedlam’s symbol started blinking red.

“Whelp, looks like that's my signal to get out of here. Hope we meet in some other chapter or crossover,” he said before turning back into Toya. Crystal covered her eyes as he changed back and smiled at him.

“Welcome back, Toya,” Crystal greeted him.

“I didn’t go anywhere,” he chuckled. “I was watching and listening the whole time. I even teased Bedlam about his binky along with you.”

“Huh. Didn’t think you were still aware. Is the mirror still functioning?” Crystal chuckled a bit before gesturing to the mirror Freya was holding.

“The fact that it's still there at all means it's working,” Toya replied. “Bedlam weaved some serious mojo into that spell. I could even feel it from my corner of our head.”

There was a screech as Valkyrie suddenly dive bombed Toya, grinning as she pinned him down. “Sup bro?”

“Sup to you too my kinda sorta twin sister?” Toya grinned, not even bothering to struggle.

“My head’s gonna hurt after this wedding’s over. There’s too many relations to keep track of,” Crystal groaned, rubbing the side of her temple and closing her eyes.

“Bedlam says he has an educational song for that if you think it’ll help,” Toya chimed in.

“Seriously? There’s a song about this family?” Crystal asked in disbelief.

“He says he just wrote it. Got inspired while watching Animaniacs reruns in our head,” Toya shrugged.

“Oh no. Please don’t tell me it’s sung to the tune of ‘Yakko’s World’,” Crystal groaned rubbing her eyes at the thought.

“Freakazoid was better.” Valkyrie stood up, offering a hand to Toya. 

“Yeah, but Animaniacs had more educational songs to choose from,” Toya said as he took the offered talon. “So seriously, how have you been Val? Still getting caught stealing from pantries,” he smirked and socked her arm.

“That was one time!” Valkyrie huffed, giving him a shove. “I’ve left my thieving past behind me forever.”

“Really? One time?” He smirked. “Because I could start naming dates and times, Birdbrain.”

“It was the only time!”

“You are still so easy to mess with,” Toya laughed. “And those feathers of yours look like they're about to fall out they're so ruffled.”

“If this is what twins are like, I’m really looking forward to my own,” Crystal muttered sarcastically.

“Well, they’re not really twins. They were just born on the same day,” Sif explained. 

“Yeah, that’s why I call her my kinda sorta twin,” Toya shrugged. 

“They definitely act like twins though,” Crystal told them and moved back over to Freya to see how she was doing. “How’s the catch up going, Freya?” She asked her, standing just out of range of the mirror’s view.

“Hm?” Freya asked, looking over her shoulder.

“Are you alright?” Crystal asked her.

“Yeah.” She smiled, gesturing for her to come over. “Come here babe.”

Crystal moved closer and stood beside her and looked up at her with a smile. “You sound fine, at least. Is the mirror still working?”

“You tell me?” Adagio chimed in with a chuckle. “And good job picking up the anime cliché,” she said to Freya.

“Yeah, it’s still working. Hi, I’m Crystal and I don’t care if I’m an anime cliche,” Crystal introduced herself when she looked at the mirror.

“And I’m Adagio. Nice to meet you.” Adagio introduced herself with a smile.

“Crystal is my fiance.” Freya purred, nuzzling Crystal’s head. 

“I figured that out, Freya,” Adagio chuckled. “And I hope the two of you are happy together.”

“I wish I could be there,” Sonata pouted. “I’d so love it to be able to catch the bouquet.”

“We wish you could be here as well,” Crystal smiled at them warmly. “There isn’t a way for any of you to come here?”

“Not that we know of,” Adagio sighed. “We were just dumped here in the middle of an empty field by that old pony’s spell. The only one who might be able to help us is Dad. But his token thing he gave me hasn’t worked since we've been trapped here,” she explained, holding the token up.

“Could the spell have interfered with the token in some way?” Crystal asked, peering at the token Adagio was holding.

“Maybe,” she shrugged. “I don’t know anything about how it works.”

“You keep saying you’ve been trapped somewhere. Where would that place be?” Crystal queried as she snaked an arm around Freya’s waist.

“In some world filled with these things called humans. Though… places here are named like back home in Equestria. I hear there's even a Canterlot somewhere,” Adagio explained.

“There’s a human version of Equestria? I don’t think any magic I know will be able to help where you are. At the very least you can see us, so I guess that counts for something,” Crystal said quietly with a slight frown.

“True, it is a small comfort seeing the family again,” Adagio nodded.

“You know...dad could come get you...” Freya muttered softly.

“He could?” Adagio asked hopefully. “That… nothing would make us happier than to be there for your wedding.”

“Of course he could. He just might be awhile.”

“We can wait. I mean, we’ve waited this long, haven't we?” She smiled.

“Which would be what? A thousand years or so? That’s how it usually goes with these banishment spells,” Crystal shrugged.

“Yes, thank you for that reminder, Crystal,” Adagio frowned.

“That’s what family is for Miss Adagio. Annoying you, reminding you of things you don’t want to be reminded of and being there for you when you need it among other things,” Draigo commented, having just heard the tail end of the conversation.

“I’m sorry but… who are you?” Adagio asked with a tilt of her head. “And what’s with that… interesting armor?” She finished, trying to be diplomatic.

“I like it!” Sonata chimed in.

“You would,” Aria frowned at her.

“My name is Draigo and the armor is for many things, but chiefly for intimidation. The ponies of my world need to learn to not bother Celestia and Luna with petty worries that can be handled by someone other than the Princesses. So, I make sure they are learning bit by bit,” Draigo said, inclining his head in greeting.

“Oh, nice meeting you I suppose. I’d shake your hand but,” Adagio said, tapping her hand against the mirror.

“Of course. I hope Jason is able to get you soon. Having as much of Freya’s and Crystal’s family here as possible means a lot to them,” Draigo said.

“You and us both,” Adagio nodded. “Do you have any idea how awful it is to be a teenager for a thousand years?”

“It’s affected Aria the worst,” Sonata said. “Her diary is filled to the brim with angsty poetry.”

“I thought I told you to keep out of my stuff!” Aria boomed, the two getting in a squabble.

“No idea how bad that is, but I was banished to the moon for a thousand years during a visit to another world,” Draigo informed them.

“How did you get banished to the moon?” Crystal asked Draigo, not able to take her eyes off of Aria and Sonata arguing.

“That world’s Luna shot me with the Elements of Harmony after I got corrupted and I’d beaten Celestia and another Displaced named Skye,” Draigo replied.

“Well this got depressing...” Freya sighed, shaking her head. “Big hair, what possessed you to get yourselves banished anyway?”

“I have no idea,” Adagio shook her head. “I don’t remember it very clearly. But those two say something about me seemed off and told them to do crazy things,” she said, pointing at the still arguing sirens.

“I see.” Freya sighed. “But don’t worry, we’ll get you out.”

“I’m sure you will. I believe you, sis.” Adagio smiled.

“I’m not sure what I can do to help but we’ll both try. The rec room isn’t far from here, right?” Crystal told them with a smile before looking at the parts of the village she could see.

“Nope, it’s right there.” Freya smirked walking up to a large building. She opened the doors, strolling in. The group followed her in and arranged themselves around the spacious room.

“Are there books on magic here?” Crystal asked.

“Why would magic books be in a rec center?”

“For recreational spells? Maybe? I don’t know. I wanted to help bring Adagio here but I’m not sure if I can even devise a spell so I don’t know what I was thinking,” Crystal replied. There were a few young ponies and changelings around, stopping whatever games they were playing to look at the group.

“I’m sure they’ve tried this, but they could always find the connection between that world and this one. I remember Celestia telling me about a mirror that Starswirl used to travel between worlds, but I’m unsure if that exists here or not,” Draigo said with a shrug.

“Oh it does but we try not to mess with it. It’s Hughes only way back.” Freya shook her head.

“Ah, I see. If I knew how this mirror was connecting to them then I might be able to do something, but I think it’s safer and better to just wait for Jason to pick them up,” Draigo said, rubbing his chin in thought.

“Yeah, Jason does have that transportation technique,” Vash commented.

“Yeah. It’s so unique to just teleport to someone.” Sif rolled her eyes.

“No one likes a smart ass, Sif.” Vash frowned.

“It’s better than being a dumbass, though,” Draigo pointed out.

“I have my moments.” Sif giggled.

“What kind of jokes do you like doing, Vash?” Crystal asked him.

“Usually ones that make the entire room groan,” Vash chuckled.

“So very lame jokes, got it,” Crystal nodded with a smirk.

“The lamest of jokes.” Valkyrie grinned. “He defused a mob once with a terrible joke.”

“Hey, someone has to do it,” Vash shrugged.

“Toya, I think that relations song that Bedlam thought up of will come in handy right about now,” Crystal told him, rubbing her forehead as she looked around at the group.

“Alright,” Toya shrugged and changed back into Bedlam. The draconequus appeared in a flash with an accordion and a grin on his face. He started playing the instrument and belted out into song. He hopped around the room and used his magic to create colorful visuals.

“...And that's all the members of our hectic little clan~” he finished, sliding on his knees.

“That cleared everything up now. I didn’t think Freya had such a big family,” Crystal commented after watching the performance and sat against an empty space of wall.

The children present started to stomp their hooves in applause, many cheering for an encore. 

“Looks like I’ve got fans now,” Bedlam smiled, tossing the accordion over his shoulder and making it explode into glitter.

“So, not that the song wasn’t entertaining, it was, but what can we do while we wait for new arrivals and everyone else to finish up their different tasks?” Draigo asked.

“We’re in a rec room. Who wants to play a few games?” Freya asked, grabbing a basketball off the rack.

“How would we play basketball if we can use our powers?” Crystal asked, eyeing the basketball warily.

“Isn't that what makes it more interesting?” Bedlam grinned.

“No, we’re not using powers. Just a nice game of basketball.” 

“I’m fine either way. I would have probably deflated it or burnt it to a crisp if we played with powers on anyway,” Crystal shrugged, leaning her head against the wall. “Power Basketball sounded like a fun idea though. I could referee the game if you want,” she suggested to them.

“No, we are not destroying the rec center.”

“Okay, fine. How about I referee the normal game instead?” Crystal asked after shooting Freya a glare.

“Yes.” Freya nodded.

“Glad we got that sorted. Now we just need teams … the team sorting may take a while,” Crystal sighed as she observed the group.

“We can’t even do boys versus girls since the girls seem to outnumber the boys, once again,” Draigo commented as he looked around the group.

Out of nowhere, the phone that was apparently Zinnia’s new token began ringing, filling the room with a light-hearted jingle that nobody could quite place. Crystal looked for the source of the jingle and soon realised it was coming from the token in her pocket. She brought it out, opened it up, and placed it against her ear.

“Hello?” Crystal asked with a strange look.

“Crystal, right?” Zinnia’s voice asked. “Listen, could you put me on speaker phone? I wanna gauge how many people are there and how many guests I can bring.”

“This is Crystal and, sure, but there are a lot of guests here,” Crystal warned before taking the phone off her ear and managed to put it on speaker without ending the call prematurely.

“Hello?” Zinnia called out, greeted with a variety of replies. “Oh damn, that is a lot… Hey, uh, how many people would you say is acceptable for me to bring as guests? Because I have over eighteen people who all show varying degrees of interest and I need to know how many to cut out.”

“Just bring as many as you like!” Bedlam cheered with a manic grin. “Vash already brought a gaggle of people, why can’t you?”

Silence greeted the group from the other side of the phone for a few seconds. “...some of these people are as big as Canterlot Castle,” Zinnia said finally. “And they really wanna come. Maybe just the kids?”

“Aunt Zinnia, you’re talking to a room that has reality warpers in it,” Bedlam deadpanned. “I think we can manage to shrink down a couple people.”

Hushed chatter came from the phone’s speakers for a time before Zinnia spoke again. “I’m restricting myself to five, but thanks guys. I’ll be over faster than you can say ‘cum soaked fucknuggets’.”

“That’s an odd choice of words,” Crystal said in surprise.

“For Zinnia, no, it really isn’t,” Vash offered, rubbing the side of his head. “In fact, kinda surprised it was that tame.”

“That was ‘tame’? You’ve got to be joking,” Crystal replied with her mouth hanging open for a few seconds.

A ripple in reality spread out from one of the room’s walls, a random brimstone door forming in it and swinging open, allowing Zinnia to walk through dressed in a black suit, her shirt made of what looked like fine purple silk and her large purple wings poking out of the back. Her long, raven hair was tied into a sensible ponytail, and a simple black cloth eyepatch sat on her face, covering her left eye. When she turned to the door, a stylised purple wisp could be seen stitched into her suit jacket.

Following behind the Draconid was a young, silver-haired man with sky blue Dragon’s scales covering his body. Like Zinnia, he wore a simple black suit, though his shirt was a fine silver with the faintest signs of a scale pattern sewed into the jacket sleeves. Shortly after him came a young girl with a long braid of brown hair, dressed in a simple black dress with small, ice-blue snowflakes sewed into the hemline. Shortly after the two teenagers came a pair of Pokemon - a Noibat wearing a red cravat and a Tyrunt in a slate grey bow tie.

“Hello all!” Zinnia cried happily, quickly rushing Freya and pulling her into a crushing hug of congratulations. “To anyone who doesn’t know me, I’m Zinnia, the half-Salamence nymphomaniac aunt who hopes the incredibly lucky spouse-to-be will treat my little Frey-Frey right otherwise she’ll end up in my next batch of stew.”

“Yeesh Zinnia, I doubt even Jay threatened the poor girl like that,” Vash said, digesting the entirety of the threat.

“No, he did a pretty good job of it,” Crystal said with a shrug.

“Nice to see you too Zin,” Freya chuckled, not seeming to be bothered by the bear hug, “You doing good?”

Zinnia chuckled, setting Freya down and stepping back. “Frey-Frey, the last time I saw you, I had both my eyes. I can’t actually believe how long it’s been. You do still remember your sister and your cousin, right?”

“Sup Rita?” Freya looked at the young woman, shooting her a grin.

“How you doin’ Frey,” Rite shot back, smirking and crossing her arms. “Last I saw you, I didn’t even know you weren’t single! Keeping things from me were you?”

“Am I that different?” the young man asked incredulously, looking down at himself. “I know I’m in my Human form, but still…”

“Behind you, is me. I’m Crystal and the soon-to-be wife of Freya,” Crystal introduced herself from her spot on the floor.

“Stew!” Zinnia let out with a smirk between fake coughs.

“No, anime cliche. Nice to meet you too,” Crystal said with a grin.

The Draconid stared at Crystal for a few seconds before snapping her fingers in accomplishment. “Genderbent Natsu Dragneel!”

“Got it in one,” Crystal said with a chuckle.

“...And what if she can’t keep her hands to herself?” Floyd asked, walking into view, Megan striding beside him.

“I’ll make sure Zinnia doesn’t try to jump your bones again. No one wants a repeat of last time,” Megan assured him.

“...I feel like I’m out of the loop,” Vash said, scratching his head. He looked between Zinnia’s group and one of the new arrivals. “That’s the last time I take a one thousand year trip to the store.”

“I hate to ask because Zinnia sounds like a sex demon, but what happened last time?” Crystal asked cautiously.

“You don’t wanna know,” Zinnia said quickly, cutting off any other answers. “But I can safely say nothing like that will happen unless you’re in my Hoard already, and not during the wedding. I’m cutting down since I’m engaged myself.”

“Aww, good for you Zi,” Vash said with a thumbs up. He ignored the flat look he was getting from his three mares.

“Meh, just wondering. Congratulations on the engagement,” Crystal grinned at Zinnia.

“Thanks,” Zinnia chuckled.

“Still waiting for my family to recognise me…” the silver-haired teen grumbled.

“Oh don’t be so silly Stryker,” Zinnia giggled. “Of course they won’t realise who you are as a human!”

“Alright, I believe introductions are in order for a few of us,” Megan cut in, “I’m Megan, Jason’s mother and this is Floyd, Jason’s cousin.”

“‘Sup?” Floyd asked, looking the group over.

Chuckling, the Draconid waved politely. “Pleasure to meet you. Zinnia Kazoku, close friend of Jason and mother to his daughter Rita, who is the lovely young girl in an original Rarity Pokenid line of dress. The scaled young man with the silver hair is my son Stryker, he is normally a Salamence or a Bagon depending on his mood, but due to a gift from Arceus, my world’s version of Odin, he can shift into this human form whenever he likes.”

“Finally,” Stryker groaned good-naturedly, rolling his eyes.

“Hello,” Rita greeted, curtseying politely.

“We’ll all get along fine... as long as Chesty La Rue keeps her hands to herself.” Floyd glared at Zinnia, crossing his arms.

Zinnia looked down at her chest for a moment before grinning. “Flatterer~” she cooed, winking with her good eye at Floyd, though the effect was lost with the other eye covered.

“Hi sis!” Bedlam beamed, rushing over and hugging Rita. “I don’t know if we’ve already met yet considering the place in the continuity this is all in.”

“I’m starting to feel like an outsider now,” Crystal commented as she slowly stood up and leaned against the wall.

“Eh, you get used to it,” Valkyrie commented, offering Crystal some jerky. 

“What’s this?” Crystal asked as she took the piece of jerky and looked at Valkyrie curiously.

“Boar meat. Made some this morning.”

“Hm. Okay, thanks,” Crystal shrugged and began chewing on the jerky.

“I’ll let Sah know you liked his meat,” Valkyrie chuckled. 

“Wow sis, phrasing,” Bedlam snickered, floating over the griffon’s head.

Valkyrie just shrugged. “How else would you phrase it?”

“It’s the way you said it that makes the difference,” Crystal pointed out but grinned just the same.

“It seems you picked up your dad’s knack for not understanding double meanings in things,” Vash commented with his own chuckle.

“No, I just don’t care.” Valkyrie shrugged again.

“That’ll certainly get you far,” Crystal chuckled.

“Heh, looks like the family’s almost all together again,” Vash commented. “All we need now is Jay, Chryssi, Rares and the straggler kids.”

“‘Straggler kids’? Other than Heimdall, who else is there?” Crystal questioned.

“Is Elusive here? The room’s so crowded now I might’ve missed him.”

“I actually don’t know if Elusive is here or not,” Crystal said with a furrowed brow as she gazed around the many guests in the rec room.

“Nah, he’s getting his mane done.” Valkyrie shook her head. 

“Considering his mother, that’s actually not surprising,” Vash said with a shrug.

“It seems like most of the guests are actually here with the exception of Gilgamesh, who is helping Jason out with something. What are we going to do now?” Crystal asked the group.

“I can already feel my Rarity’s disapproving glares if any of us mess our outfits up,” Zinnia muttered, shivering slightly. “Doesn’t help that she’s part Ghost Pokemon… I’m gonna try and avoid any and all chances to crease, stain or tear this suit.”

“Ditto,” Rita and Stryker toned simultaneously, faces pale.

“Your Rarity is part Ghost Pokemon?” Crystal asked.

“Mhmm,” the Draconid hummed, nodding. “Dusknoir, to be exact. She’s surprisingly good friends with Giratina.”

“Mismagius would have been better,” Valkyrie commented. 

“Really? I thought Misdreavus would have been a better fit,” Crystal shrugged.

“I dunno, Frosslass is a pretty fabulous pokemon that might fit her,” Vash added.

“I never picked it,” Zinnia shrugged. “The whole ‘half Pokemon gene splicing’ thing is decided by your, and I quote, “Destined Pokemon Partner”. I just wait for the partner to show up, ask if they wanna go through with it, and splice away.”

“Huh. That’s interesting,” Crystal commented before walking up to Freya. “Any idea on what we should do now, Freya?”

“Mom,” Stryker said in a hushed tone so as not to disturb anyone else. “You think we should go find a couple rooms for us? I feel like we might be here a while, maybe a couple days.”

“Good idea,” Rita agreed.


“Yeah, let’s,” Zinnia said with a nod, straightening out. “It was nice to talk to you all, but we’re gonna go claim a couple guest rooms. I’ll hang my symbol on mine so you know where to find me later, it’s the one on my back.” Turning to give a quick look at the symbol - a flaming wisp of energy with three horizontal lines in the centre - Zinnia and her group promptly made their way out of the room and down the hall.

“They didn’t stick around long. Maybe it was night when I summoned them?” Crystal wondered as she watched Zinnia’s group leave.

“It could’ve been,” Vash shrugged, “Time zones are weird between different universes.”

“Eyuppe.” Valkyrie agreed, nodding sagely.

“Time zones are weird anywhere,” Crystal said with a wry smile. “It seems like all the guests have arrived, huh?”

“Yup, everyone important is accounted for,” Vash commented, looking between everyone.

“This is a lot of guests for a wedding,” Crystal said quietly as she took it all in and tried to not freak out. “How and where are we going to fit everyone?”

“You could always do an outdoor wedding,” Bedlam pointed out. “There’s plenty of picturesque locations in Equestria. I hear Rainbow Falls is nice this time of year.”

“Rainbow Falls? Never heard of it,” Crystal said with a shake of her head. Bedlam snapped his talons, a brochure of Rainbow Falls appearing in Crystal’s hands.

“Rainbow Falls has a brochure?” Crystal asked in disbelief before she read through it.

“We’re having the wedding in Jotunheim,” Freya stated firmly.

“I know that, I just didn’t expect all this,” Crystal replied, gesturing to the people around the room.

“No one does,” Megan giggled, shaking her head.

“And there’ll be even more guests at the next wedding if Vash or Toya ever work up the testicular fortitude to pop the question to their girls,” Bedlam remarked, filing his talons casually.

“Vash doesn’t even need to, they got him whipped already,” Freya teased.

“Then why doesn’t he get married already?” Crystal wondered.

“He’s afraid of commitment.”

“I’m right here Freya, and no,” Vash pointed out with a frown. “And no, I’m not afraid of commitment.”

“Then why not get hitched already?” Crystal asked Vash. “If you’re telling the truth then why aren’t you married already?”

“Well, first there was the fact that I left their lives for nearly a thousand years, then I had to wait a decade for Luna to return, and then there was waiting for her to get back to full strength after the elements hit her and now I’m trying to come up with a grand, over the top way to ask them… along with making three rings,” Vash rambled off. “Does that answer your question?” 

“Yeah, it does,” Crystal said with a nod. “I can’t think of anything we can all do together other than get you settled in and prepare for the wedding.”

“Hopefully dad doesn’t take too long...” Freya muttered, buzzing her wings.

“He shouldn’t but you know how these things go,” Crystal told her and held Freya’s hand comfortingly.

“Yeah, even with the slow grind of politics, he’ll find a way to be here before you can say, boo,” Vash offered with a smile.

“I’m feeling tired so I’m just going to head back to your room, okay?” Crystal said.

“Alright babe,” Freya acknowledged, kissing her forehead.

“Let me know how everything else goes,” Crystal smiled and hugged her before waving to the others and slowly walked back to Freya’s room.

“So, the wedding is in Jotunheim. Are we going to have Jason’s Rainbow take us there? Cause that’s going to be rough with so many people,” Draigo wondered.

“Nah, we’ll just take the gate.” Freya shook her head. 

“Ugh, I don’t like the cold,” Morning commented, bristling on her lower half.

“It’ll be fine,” Valkyrie assured her. 

“Says the one that’s completely warm blooded,” Morning muttered.

“If you don’t like the cold then stick near me and I’ll warm up the area around me to a more comfortable temperature without affecting the actual environment of Jotunheim,” Draigo said with a smile.

“Thanks,” Morning nodded. “One of the downsides of being a naga is that heat regulation becomes a concern. I constantly have to put a heat spell around myself in the winter otherwise I’d start hibernating.”

“Ah, my dragons and I don’t have to worry about that, but that does seem to be a pain to worry about when the weather turns cold,” Draigo said with a nod.

“Pro tip, don’t mess with anything like that, you’ll piss my dad off,” Freya commented, “And you know, the rest of us who are actually from there.”

“So, even if it’s just enough to keep those that can’t stand constant cold warm and doesn’t melt anything I’ll still piss him and others off? That’s harsh,” Draigo said with a shake of his head.

“I dunno, how would you feel if someone went to your ancestral home, and decided to start fucking with its enviroment?”

“I’m not messing with the actual environment. Just keeping people from freezing and hibernating during your wedding. So, excuse me for trying to keep your guests happy and awake,” Draigo said defensively.

“Like I said, it’ll be fine,” Freya said, waving him off.

“Yes, I’ll just need a few layers to cover up my tail,” Morning offered. “I wouldn’t want to disturb a place sacred to the family just for my comfort.”

“Alright, is there a place where we can just go all out with our abilities or let off some steam somehow?” Draigo asked. “Or maybe just a scenic area to fly around?”

“Yeah, Nifelheim.” 

“So, this world has nothing to see when you’re flying around outside?” Draigo asked curiously.

“You’ve seen one Equestria, you’ve seen them all.”

“I have a feeling you’re generalizing a bit too much there,” Vash offered. “Though I guess some landmarks are usually the same,” he admitted with a shrug.

“Well, I’m going to go flying if anyone would like to join me,” Draigo said as he stood up and looked for a way to the outside.

“I’d join you, but I can’t fly,” Vash commented, pointing out his wingless back. 

“Are you fine with riding on the back of a dragon?” Draigo asked.

“Nah, I don’t have any problem with that,” Vash said. “I’ve already ridden on the back of a Noivern before.”

“Not sure what a Noivern is, but I’ll be able to fit you and your entire family on my back. So, you can bring whoever would like to come along for the ride as well,” Draigo said.

“Well then, I’ll go with you, it’s a rule.” Valkyrie moved away from the wall, stretching her wings.

“Sounds like it could be fun,” Bedlam said, slapping the Omnitrix symbol on his chest and reverting to Toya.

“Alright, would someone lead the way outside?” Draigo asked. “Everyone who’d like to join us. Follow us to the outside.” Valkyrie moved out of the room, leading the way.

“So, this is where Freya’s hive is located. Interesting,” Draigo said as he took in the scenery around them once they were outside.

“No, this is Valhalla formerly known as the castle of Two Sisters,” Valkyrie corrected.

“Your world is a lot different from mine then. This castle is all by itself in the middle of the Everfree in mine,” Draigo commented.

“We are in the middle of the Everfree.”

“Yeah, but we’re in a town right now and this castle doesn’t have a town around it in my world. It’s by itself,” Draigo said.

“If you wanna see something different, you should check out my world’s Ponyville,” Vash commented, walking up to Draigo. “It was the first place where changelings and ponies lived together. And it’s not even called Ponyville where I’m from.”

“Huh, that sounds like an interesting place. I’ll have to check it out if I get summoned to your world, Vash,” Draigo said as he looked around. “Now, is there an area where I can turn into a dragon without smashing anything that shouldn’t be smashed?” Valkyrie rolled her eyes, leading them into the forest. Once they were far enough into the forest, Draigo began to change. His armor became scales, claws, talons, and fangs. A tail and wings sprouted from his body as he went onto all fours. Once the light hit his scales a multitude of colors could be seen along his body. His eyes had black sclera, golden irises and slit pupils while his spines, talons, and teeth were serrated. Once he was done transforming he grew until he was fully sized and took up about a football field worth of space.

“That's highly inconvenient...” Valkyrie muttered, looking him over.

“My size, having to change into a dragon, or something else?” Draigo inquired in a deep, booming voice as he laid down and laid out a wing so everyone who couldn’t fly could get on his back.

“The size...” Valkyrie shook her head.

“Yeah, well, I can’t fit everyone on my back if I’m any smaller and I don’t care if you think it’s inconvenient.” Draigo replied.

“Don’t worry Draigo,” Vash started, climbing up and patting his back. “It’s not the size of the dragon, it’s how you use it.”

“Don’t need to be a dick about it,” Valkyrie huffed as she spread her wings, taking to the sky.

“Thanks, Vash. At least someone on this world isn’t insulting and criticizing my appearance and size. Is everyone ready for takeoff?” Draigo said as he looked over his shoulder at his passengers.

“All systems green, captain!” Vash said with a thumbs up, slipping a pair of orange tinted glasses over his eyes.

“Alright, let’s see what this world is like from the air,” Draigo said as he slowly beat his wings to gain altitude before flying after Valkyrie at a leisurely pace. Twilight’s tree castle loomed in the distance, with the half mountain of Canterlot resting on the horizon. “I hope the ponies don’t panic too much when they see me flying overhead.”

“You worry too much, I’m sure that the ponies here don’t just panic at the drop of a hat,” Vash assured him, patting one of his spikes.

“I’m sure you’re right, Vash, but they’re prey with intelligence. Their instincts should kick in when they see a predator like me flying around. I mean, I’m all for intimidating and frightening the ponies back home to help them get rid of their reliance on Celestia to solve their problems, but this is different,” Draigo replied as he flew towards Ponyville and Canterlot.

“I guess you make an alright point,” Vash admitted. “Just try flying in a nonchalant way?”

“Yeah, nonchalant. Okay, let’s gain some altitude as well,” Draigo said as he climbed to just below cloud level and tried to be nonchalant as he flew along. “Think Valkyrie is leading us somewhere or are we just flying around for now? I’m fine either way, though.”

“With Valkyrie it can be hard to tell,” Vash shrugged. “She usually just does whatever she feels like.” The fact of the matter was, no one really seemed all that bothered by the dragon, except for a handful of human tourists.

“Hey, do you see the humans down there or am I just hallucinating?” Draigo asked as he noticed the bipedal forms below him.

“Yeah, the tourism trade is booming,” Valkyrie nodded her head.

“Tourism? From another of the worlds in this universe or do humans naturally live alongside the ponies here?” Draigo inquired.

“They live on Midgard, ya know Earth? We’re on Asgard.”

“Right, that’s the name for earth in norse mythology. I wasn’t sure I remembered correctly,” Draigo said. “Why are only the humans worried about a dragon my size flying around?”

“My dad can turn into a million species, they’ve all seen worse.”

“Ah, right. Omnitrix. That makes sense,” Draigo said as he flew down to a more leisurely altitude to fly at. “What is it about your family that makes you criticize how I look whenever I show up? Jason did it, Chrysalis did it, and now you and Freya.”

“Hey, feel lucky the only thing Jason’s done to you is criticize how you look. When he was pregnant with Toya he smacked me through a wall,” Vash chimed in. “It took me forever to fix the damn thing.”

“Dang, that must have really hurt. Is he always in a sour mood then?” Draigo inquired.

“No, as he likes to say, he’s a bit of a dick. And the reason I got sent through the wall is because I was asking dumb questions while he was going through morning sickness.”

“I guess being a dick is genetic considering the impressions a few of his kids gave me,” Draigo said with a grin.

“You’re probably right,” Vash said with a chuckle. “Even Toya has his moments of being a dick.”

“Well, should we check out somewhere to kill some time?” Draigo asked.

“Sure, I’m up for anything,” Vash said, looking around at the landscape below them.

“Alright, Canterlot, Ponyville, or somewhere else? It seems like we’d be fine going anywhere, though. So, maybe just Ponville?” Draigo said as he looked around for places to land.

“Eh, Ponyville works, it’s a nice enough place even with tourists seeming to be everywhere.” Vash shrugged.

“Well, if you think about it. We’re kinda tourists ourselves right now,” Draigo said as he slowly descended towards an open area on the edge of Ponyville, landed, and laid down with a wing extended to let his passengers off. Vash and his group all jumped off, a few of them stretching their legs due to the slight discomfort that came from dragon transportation.

“We’re not tourists, we’re guests,” Vash corrected, putting his glasses away.

“Well, you’re not wrong, Vash,” Draigo said as he shrunk down to Vash’s size. “Any idea what that giant tree is? I’m not talking about Golden Oaks Library. The other one.”
> [BONUS 4] Chapter 23 - Unknown Places
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Point of View: Ken

Anytime I tried to drift away in sleep the night after I sent out the Alok Kun, I was unfortunately unsuccessful. For the most part, I was just lying there, awake and staring into nothingness, even though I felt Applejack’s warm presence next to me. Right now… even though it didn’t look like it, I was worried. Worried about many things that I had been putting off for sometime that might affect how good life was for me right now… But most importantly, I was worried for Applejack… For Pinkis… for their safety. Caex was right… I was feeling the effects of fatherhood. But it felt like there was something more. Something that I could not see right now… Either that or I was feeling the effects when it came to lack of sleep.

When I finally laid my head down and closed my eyes, I woke up to something completely different. All around me was the deep ink like blackness of the void with small dots of white that served as stars. It was then when I turned around though did I find something unexpected. I wasn’t alone. Right behind me was none other than the princess of the night herself. Princess Luna.

“Greetings Ken,” She broke the silence, bowing in response to my presence. “It has been a while since we have last spoken to one another.” The Alicorn wasn’t wrong when she said that. The last time we had a chance to talk was around two weeks to possibly a month ago. Time flew by very quickly and because of it, I was personally surprised when I first saw her standing there. In return though, I acknowledged her presence by nodding my own head before speaking.

“Princess Luna, It has been quite some time. Should I assume that right now we are in my dreams?” I asked, unsure if we were in there or in the “soul room” like Coryena would put it. The Alicorn nodded, answering my question without the use of words. So, in response, I replied with a follow up question. “So my friend, what brings you all the way out here? My dreams aren’t quite as… interesting as some would imagine.”

“Ah yes… But I am here so I can talk to you without having to wake you or fair Applejack up in the temple.” That… actually made sense. She is the Princess of the Night. I just didn’t expect her to be a dreamwalker. If that was the case though, then there must’ve been another reason why she was here.

“What would you like to talk about?” I asked politely. Curious as to what the Lunar alicorn wanted to talk to me about at this hour. What I heard from her next though surprised me.

“I would like to discuss with you two things. The first is with how to defeat Nightmare Moon in the near future, but the second one is more of a… personal question I want to ask you.”

A personal question? That was… kind of unexpected. Then again, there are a lot of things here that not a lot of people can expect so who am I to judge?. “Alright, what would you like to ask me?” I asked her, calmly and quietly awaiting her response as the mare looked back at me with a small blush on her face.

“I w-was wondering if… well… if I could become part of your hoard.” Well that just escalated quickly. I never expected that kind of question to be heard from a Princess. “A-a long time ago, I knew the Onyx Dragons before they were driven so close to extinction. I feel as if I… was somehow responsible. So please… Let me help you make things right.” I took some time to think this over. I knew that I was the head of the Hoard and that Luna was a nice person. But after what happened with Pinkis, I didn’t want anypony else I cared for getting hurt. Sighing a little, I looked back at her with the most honest expression I could come up with at the time.

“I’m okay with it. But we should talk to Revaan about it first just in case,” I replied to her, the alicorn nodding in response. With that though, I saw her horn shine a little and when I woke up, I found her just mere inches away from my bed. And the only thing I had on was a pair of pants.

“J-just let me get a shirt and we’ll be off.” I said, a little bit shocked by seeing her so suddenly. Acknowledging my present… situation, she let me grab a shirt to throw on from the closet as I walked with her to Revaan’s chambers. It was still early morning and the sun had not risen yet, but it was then that I had to focus on something else right now. Excusing myself for a moment, I made my way to the infirmary. Where I found myself face to face with the stallion in charge of the clinic.

“Good morning, Dr. Cross,” I acknowledged him, who was looking through the papers that were on the clipboard that he had as he redirected his focus towards me. “How are you?”

“Okay for the most part. Like any other typical morning here in the hollow,” He sighed a little, drinking from a small coffee cup. “I would guess that you are here to see Pinkis?”

I nodded my head, explaining that I wanted to see her current condition. He soon lead the way towards the room in the clinic where she was and when I saw her on the bed in there asleep, I felt like I had to breath a huge sigh of relief. As Dr. Cross explained to me, it took a while in order to make sure that she was stable. But he was thankful that she was resting properly and if we gave her time, she would expect to make a full recovery. Not only that, but what happened to her didn’t hurt the child that Pinkis was having. However, void travel to get her here accelerated her pregnancy and now she was at four months and a small round tummy was visible now.

Still though, seeing that made me feel happy for her.  She was safe now and with the possibility that her friends would be staying here too, I had a good feeling that nothing bad will happen to her for a while now. “Thank you for taking care of her, Dr. Cross. Can you let me know when she is awake so I can see her?”

“Certainly Ken.” He replied, allowing me to breath a sigh of relief. That was only for a short while though because when I was walking back there, I began to hear some commotion from back at the temple. It sounded like AJ was up, but what she was doing at this hour in the morning was beyond me. Especially with the fact that it sounded like she was yelling or chasing somepony. 

When I got there though, I found a very strange sight. Applejack was in her dragon form and from the angle I was seeing it, she seemed to be intimidating a unicorn that was paler than Twilight and had two different color tones in her mane and tail. Her mane was tied up in the back and judging from her expression, something made her feel intimidated. However, I can’t exactly judge from first glance.

“Okay, just what the hell is going on here?!” I shouted, my voice roaring a little so both mares could notice that I was here. Applejack herself though, from her position, did nothing to back down as she looked at me.

“Ken, stay out of this. This is personal.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” I asked her, “I just got back from checking on Pinkis and I find you intimidating a mare. Can you please tell me what is going on?” She growled a little, looking back at me as she scraped the ground with her claws and sighed.

“Before I met you Ken, my friends and I went to a village community like this one where this mare named Starlight Glimmer was running it. That same night, she stole our cutie marks and cut us off from all our talents and barely escaped when we tried to catch her. Now I found this lying mare crawling around here and I was suspicious of her motives.” That got me thinking though as I looked at her. She seemed to have a look of guilt on her face, but also was gritting her teeth. Why would she be here then?

“Well… Then let me ask her,” I told her. For a moment, Starlight’s expression lightened up a little and Applejack looked at me with a expression of disbelief. But then I told her my reason. “You are the element of honesty, so you can catch her when she is lying…” It was then that I turned to her and got on my knees to not look so intimidating.

“W-who are you?” She then asked. “H-how do you know Applejack?”

“That… is a complicated story. However, right now, I’ll be asking the questions,” I told her, looking back at AJ as she reverted back to her earth pony form and nodded her head. “Starlight, what is your reason for being out here in the Obsidian Hollow?”

She took a moment, taking in her surroundings before breathing in a little and slowly responding to my question. “I… i just needed a place to start over. I do admit… I originally had plans for revenge against the humiliation and shame that was brought against me back then… but the more I thought of it, the more I soon realized that the only way I could overcome my past mistakes was to start over and begin a new life… I was with one other being though, but she and I got separated in this place.”

I looked back at Applejack, raising an eyebrow. “One… other being? Who?”

“I don’t know what she was… but she called herself Crystal. We split up a little while ago and I think she might be somewhere in this place.” Starlight replied. Taking a moment to look at Applejack, she soon gave me a surprising response.

“She’s telling the truth, Ken… All of it.”

That got me thinking a little as I returned to Applejack and Starlight. “If that’s the case, then I got a possible feeling that this “Crystal” is a displaced and that she might cause a commotion if she startles somepony else. Starlight, where did you two split up at?”

“I-i think I remember last seeing some… wooden racks that held something when we split up.” My mind was now on Overdrive now. That she was talking about the weapon racks in the armory!!  Not only that, but I also kept my supplies in there. If something happened in there, it would have to lead to a huge cleanup and I was not in the mood for one after the last two times Asphyxious was here.

I bolted out of there as fast as I could, hurrying to try and make sure that everything was still intact and hopefully, I could find this Crystal individual.

Point of View: Crystal (Few minutes ago...)

After discovering a shortcut into the temple, Starlight and I split up after seeing all the weapons in the armory. I walked along the racks and looked at the varied weapons, wondering what kind of steel they were made of. After hearing rapid hoofsteps recede into the distance, I didn’t think Starlight would get caught so soon but it was bound to happen sooner or later. She wasn’t exactly stealthy to begin with.

I rubbed my dragon-scale scarf along the side of my neck to try and get rid of a few sweat drops and twisted the ring on my finger in nervousness. There was a corner of the room that didn’t seem to be lit up like the rest of the room, so I carefully lit my hand up on fire and inspected the corner more closely. It looked like there was a bag full of supplies and tokens. Sifting through the tokens, I recognised a couple of them and fingered the pendant under my scarf  as I looked them over.

“Zinnia’s band and Connor’s necklace. I don’t recognise the other ones though,” I muttered under my breath and stood up from my inspection. I stretched, put out the flame on my hand and wandered out of the armory and into a corridor connecting this room to some other part of the temple. This place was huge! It certainly didn’t look like it from the outside when Starlight and I found that shortcut.

This place didn’t look that foreboding and even though I could pick up the scent of dragon no matter which way I turned my head; trying to find Starlight by smell was out of the question. I heard running footsteps from a fair distance away and decided to quickly head back to the armory. It was the only room that seemed of interest for now as well as being the first place I thought of to hide in. When I got back, I didn’t really think things through, considering that there weren’t any hiding places in the armory!

Panicking, I brought a solid-looking cube out of my pocket and reached into it, feeling for something that could I could possibly defend myself with. After groping around and touching a few objects, my fingers brushed against the pages of a book and I sighed, shaking my head at it. I don’t think bringing a dragon killer here would be the best of ideas. I reluctantly let go of the book and brought my arm out of the cube. I placed the cube back in my pocket and shook my hands to loosen up in case the footsteps running towards me were hostile.

Peaking my head from behind a pillar, I could now see who was coming. It looked to be some guy-. Oh god, what happened to his arm!? I gasped at the sight, hoping that the shadows in here would hide me. But I was still trying to be cautious. What exactly was he doing here?

Point of View: Ken

As I entered the armory, I began to see many things. Weapons, supplies, tokens… but no sign of this Crystal individual. Still though, I remained a little bit cautious and tried not to scare her. Given the shadows in here, it might be the best time to try that new trick I learned from Revaan.

“Alok Kun,” I said to myself, letting a small dragon of light emerge as it took a look around. Not long after though, it split into several small balls of light as it went to each of the unlit torches in the room, setting them ablaze. With the newfound light… came the appearance of a new figure. One that was a young girl, but strangely reminded me of Natsu from Fairy Tail. “Would you happen to be Crystal?” I asked her, trying to sound calm in my voice.

“Yeah, who’s asking?” Crystal replied and I watched her light her hands up on fire.

“My name is Ken Ahkrin. I’m not your enemy… Your friend Starlight told us that you were here and I came looking for you.” I told her honestly. However, whether she wanted to believe me or not was another thing.

“I thought I heard Starlight run away from something. It sounded like a dragon was chasing her but with that scent all around, it was hard to tell,” Crystal told me and she put out the flames, seemingly satisfied with my answer.

“That… would be my marefriend Applejack. She can turn into an earth dragon at will and has a bit of… history involving Starlight.” I replied, trying my best to sound discreet.

“She can what? If you’re telling the truth about Applejack then I’m glad I didn’t call my brother for help,” Crystal said, a surprised tone to her voice. She roved her eyes over my body and her gaze lingered on my arm. “What happened to your arm? I didn’t think dragons could do that sort of thing.”

“I’m a Scalebound. My soul is bound to a dragon that’s my partner and with it, I gain my powers and combat skills,” I explained. “The arm is the proof of our bond… So Crystal… what brings you to our Temple in Obsidian Hollow?”

“I’m not really sure. All I know is that I was helping Starlight with something and we found a shortcut into here,” Crystal said unsurely. “We got separated and I found myself interested in your token collection,” she pointed to the mess of tokens in the corner. “I only recognized a couple but I think it was because this could be a chance to learn about a different sort of dragon species.”

“Oh?” I asked, intrigued by what she said. “Which tokens?”

“Zinnia’s anklet and Connor’s necklace,” she explained, lifting up her scarf to show a necklace with a pendant of a cat’s eye marble inside a dragon’s claw.

“Well, looks like you and I both have some similar friends then,” I chuckled, looking back at the two tokens as she placed both of them back on their respected shelf. “How did you meet them?”

“I met Zinnia at my wedding, and I met Connor after summoning him for help in a battle with a walking cannon.” Wait, wedding!? What the actual hell was she talking about?

“Could you care to be a bit more specific? I remember Zinnia telling me that someone named Vash and another guy named Jason were the leaders of their own branch in the Kazoku Family hoard and the temple here was the home of the place, but-.”

“Will you quit your rambling? I was getting to that part. Zinnia was at my wedding because I married Jason’s daughter! See?” Crystal said, holding up her hand so that a ring could be seen in the firelight.

“Oh sh*t, I’m sorry for interrupting you! I didn’t realize you were related to him,” I said, feeling like my behavior earlier was some sort of grave injustice that I needed to fix. “If that is the case… then there is a room here in the temple with your name on it.”

“What do you mean there’s a room here for me? I only got here yesterday,” Crystal asked in disbelief, not really believing me.

“Jason is the leader of his own branch in the Kazoku family. Therefore, not only him, but also related family members have a place to call home too. You’re married to his daughter, so that means you're in his family.”

“That’s unexpected,” Crystal told me in a quiet voice as she walked to the door. “What would this make us then?”she asked when she turned away from the door and began to pace in front of it. “Cousins? Friends by default?”

“How about we start with Acquaintances and when we get to know each other better, we’ll work our way from there?” I offered to her since this was basically the first time that either of us had met one another and things must’ve been confusing for her. So instead, my offer involved taking it slow and seeing what would happen.

“That’s a good start. I don’t even know your name so how about we start over? Hi, I’m Crystal and I got separated from Starlight,” Crystal replied with a sigh, stopping her pacing and offering her hand out. Smiling a little, I extended my own hand to shake it as I introduced myself.

“Ken Ahkrin, Scalebound and Fellow Displaced. Nice to meet you Crystal.” Crystal gave a small smile and took her hand back.

“Nice to meet you too, Ken. Where did your marefriend chase Starlight off to? I lost track of their footsteps somewhere around the middle of the temple.” Crystal asked, poking her head out the door and looked up and down the corridor.

“Follow me, they were in the main square just a moment ago.” I said, walking back towards the two mares right where I last found them.

“Main-oh,” Crystal gasped when she observed the square and followed. “The temple didn’t look this big from the outside.” I heard her breathe.

“Trust me, the temple is only one part of it. There’s a huge community next to it that the temple overlooks. You can see it from the edge here.” I said, having her, Starlight and Applejack walk over to see for themselves.

“Whoa, this is a nice view,” Crystal whistled, leaning on the balcony railing next to Starlight to get a better look and sounding like she was impressed with it. “Wait, what do you mean the temple is only one part of it? I thought the temple was the whole thing in Obsidian Hollow.” Crystal questioned, looking at me inquisitively. That was when I pointed to her down below and when the sunlight crept in, it revealed every home inside the town and all the ponies, changelings and griffons that called the place home. “This is a very diverse place. I don’t think I’ve seen this many different species living together before,” Crystal commented, eyes widening at the spectacle.

“Many of them came here when a lot of their homes were destroyed because of Lord Tirek’s rampage. But in a few short months, they were able to get this place up and running,” I said, looking back at her. “Now thanks to Revaan and I, Zinnia and also my Twilight, the Hollow has changed a lot in only a little bit of time. We can even reach Ponyville from here using the Mirror Gate inside the archives.”

“That’s insane. Show’s what you can do when you put your mind to it, huh?” Crystal said, leaning away from the balcony and turned towards Starlight and Applejack. “You okay there, Starlight?” Crystal asked, concern showing in her voice.

“Y-yeah… Just… It’s a lot to take in…” She said, looking back at me for a moment. I looked back at Applejack, who was giving me a confident nod. A sign that she wasn’t lying. So now was when I decided to ask her something that might’ve swept her and everyone nearby off of their feet.

“If you want Starlight, you are more than welcome to stay with Applejack and I at the temple here. If you want to get some confidence before seeing Twilight again.”

“She can stay?” Crystal questioned in surprise. However, the most amount of surprise that I saw was from Applejack as she looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

“Of course… She wanted to start over from her previous mistakes and here, we treat everypony like family and care for one another. Support one another. With the right help, we can help Starlight.”

“Starlight had me convinced that you wouldn’t though,” Crystal said, looking down at Starlight and then back to me. I deeply sighed, looking back at them honestly.

“I believe that everyone in one point in their lives feels like they make a big mistake in which they feel as if they can’t be forgiven for it. It may be true, but I am one who believes in second chances. To help anyone I come across that needs it. Not to mention that when Starlight told Applejack and I her story, Applejack can tell that she wasn’t lying. Therefore, I truly believe her when she says that she wants to start over by allowing her to start over here with us.”

“That’s … wow,” Crystal said slowly and gazed down at Starlight. “Do you like the idea of staying here, Starlight?” She asked, crouching down so she didn’t tower over her so much. I did the same thing, and the first thing that I saw was tears. Not tears of sorrow though… more like tears of joy.

“I…… could never be happier.” She cried, wrapping her front hooves around me. “T-thank you so much!!”

“Easy there… You still need to meet some other members in the family… and that goes for AJ too.”

“Say what now?”

“What other members?” Crystal asked, echoing AJ slightly.

“Well, there are a few in town… but there’s one in particular that asked me last night if she could be here as well. She is with Revaan now.” Just as I said that, the doors to Revaan’s chamber opened up as the onyx dragon emerged from its quarters. Alongside him was none other than the Alicorn of the Night herself… Luna.

“Princess Luna?” Crystal inquired with a surprised and a bit of a shocked look on her face. “Who’s the … that dragon is the one whose scent is everywhere …” Crystal mused and her expression turned to one of curiosity when she looked at Revaan.

“Revaan is my partner,” I clarified. “This temple was the home for many Onyx dragons like himself. Now though, he’s one of the last of his kind.”

“He’s one of the last of his kind? What happened to the other Onyx dragons then?” Crystal asked, not able to take her eyes off of Revaan. It was then though that I noticed Revaan grimace a little as I looked back at Crystal.

“Nightmare Moon happened. When she first originally came into form, she was jealous of the fact that Onyx dragons could control more than one element of magic. Not to mention that Luna’s lover before being banished to the moon was an Onyx. Nightmare corrupted most of them, leading them to their own demise by madness. But the rest of the puzzle is yet to be solved.” I said shortly, knowing that it’s a subject that he nor Luna would be wanting to revisit anytime soon.

“Oh. Sorry I brought it up then. It must have terrible memories for you two.” Crystal said softly, bowing her head at them.

“It is alright. You weren’t aware of the subject being one that we would rather not discuss, so don’t blame yourself.” Luna replied to Crystal as she smiled and looked at Starlight. “So this is the Starlight Glimmer that I have heard so much about?” Starlight at this point was blushing completely red. Flabbergasted that a princess knew who she was, the mare did the only thing she could’ve done in that moment.

She fainted.

“Is she okay?” Crystal asked, bending over and waving a hand over Starlight’s face.

“I think she’s just surprised that a princess knew who she was.” Applejack sighed. “Then again, Twilight does write to Luna and Celestia often.”

“Twilight does do that a lot.” Crystal murmured in agreement and stood up straight to look at Applejack. “I don’t know why but I can smell something about an egg on you, Applejack.”

Applejack chuckled as both Revaan and Luna wandered back into the dragons room. “You’re not wrong there… Ken, I think we should show her the eggs.” I nodded my head in agreement, but it was then that Crystal responded to AJ’s statement.

“Eggs? Plural? As in more than one? Wait. How did you actually have eggs when you’re a pony and not something that lays eggs?” Crystal asked in a rush, not really knowing if she said something offensive or not and flicked her gaze between Applejack and I.

“Technically, I’m pony sterile. Only affects humans and dragons. Plus, AJ has her dragon form…” I explained, looking back at her as I told her. “I think you can figure out the rest.” However, it was in this moment that I thought I was beginning to hear something. Something like… Oh my god…

“Applejack…” I said, looking back at her.

“Does anyone else hear egg's cracking, or is it just me?” Crystal asked, cringing at how loud the sounds were to her ears.

That was both Applejack and I realized it and we both simultaneously cursed at the same time. “Oh horseapples.” Crystal took off after hearing this, holding her hands over her ears as she followed the sound. Applejack and I raced after her, running towards the sound of the noise as all three came across a breathtaking sight.

Two small faces of a pair of tiny dragon-ponies were now visible. Oh my god, our children are just plain adorable!! 

“I think I’m going to have a heart attack from the adorableness…” Crystal murmured, watching the twin dragon-ponies after uncovering her ears. Applejack and I bent down, Looking to see the tiny faces of both of our kids. One was Onyx with an orange underbelly while the other one was a mix of Red and orange for the underbelly with small black tips for horns and the rest of the body.

“Oh my god, we’re parents now…” I said, looking at Applejack. “That reminds me of something though… We never got around to naming them did we?”

“Well, we never knew if they were a boy or girl yet, but I remember Revaan telling me some good news while you were gone on a displaced trip.” Applejack replied, pointing at the Onyx and Black one first before doing the same thing with the other. “Son… daughter…”

“That’s brilliant! Congratulations you two,” Crystal said excitedly, standing a bit away from us. “You two will be great parents.”

“Thanks Crystal… You know, it may sound weird… but can you help us with the names? I can’t figure them out despite the fact that my son’s pelt really reminds me of Magma in a volcano-.” That’s when it hit me, just as the little one coughed up a small ball of fire.

“Sure, I can help. Hmm. How about Magma for your son, and … Ruby for your daughter?” Crystal suggested, squinting her eyes at the twin dragons.

“That… is perfect,” I said, now having the chance to caress both of them in my arms just as I noticed Starlight waking up. “Welcome to the world you two… You are just plain beautiful.”

“Reminds me of my own,” Crystal murmured and looked over to Starlight as well, watching her wake back up. “Hey, Starlight. Welcome to the land of the living,” she greeted the Unicorn.

“Oww… My head… What happened-?” She asked, seconds before seeing Magma and Ruby. “Oh dear Celestia, those two are adorable! Who do they belong to?”

That’s when I chuckled and gave her an answer that shocked her once again. “They’re ours, Starlight. Applejack and I are now parents...” Looking at Starlight a little, I then chuckled for a moment. “And to them, they may see you as Auntie Starlight.”

“We’ll see about that one, Ken.” Applejack deadpanned, taking the chance to caress Ruby as I held Magma in my arms.

“They’re beautiful though,” Crystal commented, smiling at the twins and twisting her ring a bit. “You two are lucky.”

“Hey, we’re in this hoard together like family… that reminds me… we might need to tell Zinnia about this later.” I said, standing up to realize that Magma was already asleep in my arms. “Come on, I think the little ones would love it if they had some room to sleep.” With that, I got up and lead them into the chamber that Applejack and I would normally sleep in, letting out the soft carpet as AJ and I set them in a pair of newfound beds that Starlight etched their names using magic. “They look so cute in their beds.”

“They always do,” Crystal said in agreement, watching us from the doorway. “Just wait until they start crying during the night,” she added, putting a small smile on her face.

“Hence the reason for soundproofing.” I said, “Plus, Auntie Luna can watch over them at night. She is basically what some may call a “Dreamwalker” after all.”

“Zeref calls her a ‘Dream Traveler’ but it’s the same thing,” Crystal replied. “What does your dragon form look like, Applejack?” Applejack simply answered her question by shifting into her dragon state, her fur turning into scales as she looked back at Crystal shortly after her hooves turned into claws.

“How’s that?”

“Very impressive.” Crystal told her, her tone of voice confirming that. “It’s a lot different from seeing a human turn into a dragon, that’s for sure.”

“Thanks… I’m curious though… how come you are so interested when it comes to dragons… matter of fact, what can you do?” She asked. “Because you strangely remind me of Connor.”

“That’s a bit complicated. Short version, I’m a demon that happens to be a dragon slayer like Connor, except I control fire and crystal. I think this is the same mark as Connor’s?” Crystal replied and lifted up her sleeve to show a red Fairy Tail mark on her right bicep.

“Yep, that’s it alright.” I confirmed for her. “But we might need to take some time later to explain to Starlight what we are talking about.”

“I’ll explain what I am more then as well. Another reason I’m so interested in dragons is because I want to protect dragons.” Crystal explained nervously after nodding her head in agreement. That to me was a good sign. She wanted to help dragons just like Revaan and now with two new additions to our family, someone like Crystal was exactly what we needed.

“Sounds like you’ll fit in just fine.” I smiled, looking back at Crystal.

“Keep that in mind when I explain my reasoning for that later. Ruby and Magma seem to have fallen asleep.” Crystal said softly and watched the sleeping forms of the two dragon ponies. Dear lord, they looked even cuter while they were sleeping! 

“We should step outside then so we don’t disturb them,” I suggested, walking towards the door and opening it for them. I watched Crystal step to the side and look at Magma and Ruby happily. Slowly closing the door, I snapped my fingers and let a silver like energy cover over the door for a brief second. “There we go, safe and sound.”

“Does that spell mean the door’s locked?” Crystal asked when she turned her attention to the door.

“Even better. Soundproofing. They won’t be able to hear anything that happens out here or anywhere else in the temple. That way they could sleep peacefully.” I said to them.

“Doesn’t that mean we can’t hear them as well?” Applejack reminded me… and caused me to realize my mistake as I facepalmed myself. Turning back to the door, I snapped my fingers again, reverting the spell so it was no longer in place.

“Thanks for the save AJ.”

“No problem Sugarcube… We’re still new to this whole “parenting” thing, but it’ll take time… Ah reckon that there still is one thing that we’re going to have to do though… well two things really.”

I raised an eyebrow at that. “And those are?”

“Well… even if we are technically parents… we’re not married. And two… nopony else besides ourselves and Crystal knows about Ruby or Magma. We should break the news to them… including mah family.” Damn, she was right… On both accounts. But it was then that I noticed Princess Luna walking over towards us. Why do I have the feeling that she just overheard what Applejack just said?

“Besides Princess Luna most likely overhearing what you said, who are the others you’re talking about other than your family?” Crystal asked AJ, looking at Luna with a bit of apprehension.

“Well there’s my friends, my cousin Braeburn in Appleloosa and a few others. Plus, wouldn’t Celestia or the princesses know about this since ah am one of the elements of harmony?”

“She probably would sooner or later given how she is.” Luna then said. Great… talk about the literal meaning of “royal pains”. It was then though that I remembered something.

“Uh… Applejack… I think we’re forgetting a few people… Remember Zinnia? Technically, we’re one of the branches in her hoard, so everyone else will find out sooner or later.” I mentioned to her, looking at Crystal as well upon remembering that she was married to Freya and her father, Jason was the head of one of the other branches.

“If you two get married it will be an even bigger family,” Crystal commented and gave me a curious look after noticing me. “Why you looking at me like that, Ken?”

“Well… besides Zi… we haven’t really met anyone else in the family. I’m just a little nervous about making a good impression.” I tried to tell her, only for her to interrupt me before I could say anything else.

“Don’t be. I was the same way when I told the others I was pregnant at my own wedding. I’m sure they’ll be glad there’s a few more additions to this already giant family.” Crystal said reassuringly, shooting me a warm smile as a further attempt to soothe. That calmed me down, but surprised Applejack.

“Hang on, you’re pregnant!?” She asked, surprised about what Crystal said.

“Keyword being was, AJ. Three month gestation period thanks to Freya being a changeling. I ended up having four part demon, part changeling hatchlings.” Crystal explained, lifting up the correct amount of fingers when she mentioned numbers and then scratched her head as she smiled sheepishly at us. All I could do was stare at her, just like AJ and Luna right now. But I was the only one to speak up.

“…… How do you function?” Crystal’s face screwed up in confusion when she heard this.

“What do you mean, ‘how do you function’? I function just fine thank you very much,” she replied and crossed her arms over her chest.

“S-sorry. I was just surprised when you said Changeling and all that. I’m not familiar with them that much despite the fact that one of the locals of the townsfolk down below is a changeling named Maple Leaf.” I said, still a little surprised and trying to not do anything stupid. “How is Freya a changeling though?”

“You don’t know. Right. Jason married his world’s Chrysalis and Rarity. Freya is one of three children that Jason had with Chrysalis,” Crystal explained, realisation dawning on her face and then looked at Applejack and Luna worriedly. “They alright?” She waved a hand in front of their faces to see if that would grab their attention.

I looked back at them, assuring to them that Crystal wasn’t going to harm them and offered for both her and I to have a private conversation not far from them. When we moved away, I began to explain why they were worried. “The changelings that are here are here because they’re considered outcasts by this world’s Chrysalis. So besides them, a lot of ponies are nervous that Chrysalis is still an active threat after the stunt she pulled at the Canterlot Wedding, based on what Applejack told me.”

“Ohh. They’re still worried that Chrysalis will attack this village then?” Crystal asked, looking at Applejack and Luna then flicked her gaze back to me.

“Not just that, but also they’re worried that they might attack Ponyville and maybe attack Canterlot again because Twilight and the guards discovered the underground passage they used to infiltrate Canterlot last time.” I said again, based on what Applejack told me before. She and I had this conversation shortly after she had met Maple the first time she was here and also explained why she was concerned about them. Maple made sure to tell her that she and the other changelings that were here we’re not hostile, but she still had her doubts.

“There was an underground passage in Canterlot? There could also be one going out towards Ponyville then as well. Chrysalis would probably want to keep tabs on her enemies and an underground passage sounds like a thing she would do in this world.” Crystal theorized, scratching her cheek in thought.

“All of this just makes me think of something back home. During the Civil War, there was an underground railroad used to have african american slaves fleeing the southern United States to go to the north. This tunnel system just sounds like a literal definition of that phrase…” I said, looking back at her and scratched my chin. “If what you said is true, we should find a way to disrupt it so it won’t be a problem. Either that or use the tunnels as a way for us to find their hive.”

“Why not both? Find a way to disrupt the tunnels and use it to try and search for Chrysalis’s hive as well?” Crystal suggested, her eyes lighting up at this idea. I also liked it too, but there was one thing that came to mind as well.

“If we disrupt the tunnels, wouldn’t that mean that the tunnels would be blocked off?” I asked. “Or do you have an idea that can work?”

“It would, but, Applejack can control earth when she’s a dragon, right? If the tunnels get blocked before we’re able to find the hive, then Applejack could probably tunnel us out and block that tunnel off after we’re all safe,” Crystal informed me, smiling a bit as she talked through the idea.

“She can, but Revaan is still trying to teach her how to master it. At this point, she can conjure earth elementals, use stone to form walls, boulders, pull off a landslide to rush her opponent, execute an earthquake with the stomp of a hoof and, as I found out recently, bend lava to her will.” I explained to her, along with the fact that given Applejack’s personality, she might have a few extra surprises on hoof.

“She can do all that but she can’t tunnel through earth yet?” Crystal asked in slight shock.

“Remember, this is Applejack we’re talking about. She’s had to balance her training with her duties at Sweet Apple Acres. Trust me, I had to help her on the farm once, which led to a Displaced Derpy Hooves that had the powers of Saitama from One Punch Man crash into me.” I sighed, remembering my encounter with Derpy and her family a few weeks ago.

“S-Saitama? The guy that can destroy anything in one punch?” Crystal asked, eyes blinking rapidly at this information. “A Displaced Derpy has that kind of power?”

“Yup. Her niece Sparkler is Genos and her daughter Dinky has Child Emperor’s backpack.” I added on to what I said before. “Surprisingly, her token… and the one thing she can’t control herself over, is muffins.”

“It’s a muffin? What happens if someone or somepony eats it?” Crystal wondered and rubbed her chin in thought before shaking her head and getting a look of resolution on her face. “We’re getting off topic. If Applejack can’t tunnel through earth yet, then we’ve got to think of something else.”

I thought about it for a minute, then thought of something. “Hey… would it be possible that Chrysalis would send scouts to survey certain areas for activity? Maybe if we catch one, they could tell us about an entrance to one of the tunnels. It would be even better if they had a map on hand.”

“That would be possible. I mean, Chrysalis wouldn’t want anything to happen in her tunnels and it sounds like she could do in this situation.” Crystal mused, nodding her head slowly in agreement. “If she does, then we’ll need to figure out how to get one. They could be anypony, remember?”

“Right, but we always keep the walls to the Hollow closed. We technically live inside a cliff in the badlands.” I reminded her.

“Right. Cliffs. Hmm. How about we try and figure out where the scouts could pop up first before doing anything else?” Crystal suggested kindly after taking this new fact into account.

“Well, we have a map of Equestria in the archives,” I informed her as I stretched out my hands. “Why don’t we start there?”

“That sounds like a good place to start. Where are the archives?” Crystal agreed and asked as she looked at the doors hiding Revaan. “Probably just my ears playing up but I think Revaan’s talking to someone, behind those doors.”

“My guess is either Spike, who is Revaan’s son,” I said, noticing Luna and Applejack weren’t present nearby along with Starlight. “Or he’s talking with Luna and Applejack. Maybe introducing him to Starlight.” As I lead her into the Archives to where the map would be, I was surprised to find a visitor inside. It was Maple, the same changeling that I mentioned earlier… and she was quite as surprised to see us as we were to see her.

“Oh, hello Ken. Surprised to see you here,” She said, noticing Crystal. “Who… is this?”

“This is Crystal. She’s a friend of mine and a member of the hoard,” I introduced her to the changeling as we walked over to the map. “Hey Maple, do you think we could ask for your help?”

“My help?” She replied, tilting her head. “With what exactly?” It was then that I basically explained what Crystal and I were talking about a few moments ago, making sure to not skip out on anything so she could completely understand us.

“Oh I get it… You want to prevent the changeling drones from sneaking into the hollow?” I nodded my head in response, getting her attention. “Well, I don’t know much. But I believe that I know a changeling that can help you. He lives in the hollow like I do and he used to be a commander of Chrysalis’ swarm before he was charged with treason.”

“You know a commander that was with Chrysalis?” Crystal asked.

“Of course, he’s my uncle,” She answered Crystal’s question. “His name is Zektor and he used to lead swarms into battle and also was the one who trained the ponies that serve as the town guards. However, he was exiled after opposing against Chrysalis’ plans for the Canterlot invasion, saying that it would gravely affect the hive.”

“Saying my old war stories again, Maple dear?” A new voice said as I turned around to see a new changeling behind me. This one was a lot older, male in appearance, and had a scar over his left eye. The first thing he noticed though was both Crystal and I. “Who are these… strangers?”

“Hello, sir. My name’s Crystal Myriad. Ken and I were wondering if you could help us.” Crystal greeted and introduced herself kindly, smiling at him softly. Her gaze passed over his scar and winced a bit when she realized who did that. Taking a moment, I explained what we were talking about up to now and our plans for what we had seem to have gotten his attention.

“Well, you two really must be eager to get to her where it hurts,” he snickered. “The tunnels are used for more than just sending scouts though. It’s also used as a way to send supplies. Some fools have even used it to trade with desperate ponies eager to earn a few bits if they are offering any goods that the hive might see as an important resource. So by stopping the tunnels, you cut off more than just a way for scouts to travel…”

“You cut off the supply route.” I said briefly.

“Exactly… It’ll be good to give Chrysalis some payback. She stole my eye after I talked back to her and if I didn’t run when I did, she would’ve cut me in half.” The drone said, grimacing a little through having to remember old memories. “Theres one place though that you two may want to consider though… for more than one reason.”

I looked back at Crystal, raising an eyebrow only for a second until the drone pulled out what appeared to be a copy of an equestrian map. Only with a series of red x’s at certain locations. But one location though, set off alarms inside my head.

Sweet Apple Acres.

Crystal looked over the map as well and tried to figure out what locations the red x’s were marking before recognizing a couple.

“There’s one at Sweet Apple Acres and the Everfree Castle,” Crystal murmured and looked at me when she realized what the Apple Farm one meant. “Oh no.”

“The orchard and the castle are two of the primary stops for patrols for two specific reasons,” Zektor told us. “The apples there are used as a source of food and the juices from the fruit are an essential ingredient used in crafting Love Elixirs for when we need to feed. The castle is normally used to look around to find any supplies like weapons or armor that can be scavenged or medical supplies. However, I believe that everything from there has been picked clean as of recently.” I looked back at all three of them before using my right arm to set a finger on the orchard.

“We need to cut it off here. My marefriends family is there and if we try going for any drones at the castle and the queen gets word of our activities, Applejack’s family will be used as hostages,” I spoke in a deep and serious tone as I looked back at Crystal and Zektor. “I’m not letting them get hurt. For Applejack’s sake.” I remember a long time ago a promise that I made to Granny Smith. A promise that I would keep Applejack safe no matter what obstacles stood in the way.

Now… it was time for me to make sure the rest of her family was safe as well.
> [BONUS 5] Chapter 24 - Helping Out
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Point of View: Ken

When I would think of the changelings and this hive of theirs, I would always personally think of those cy-bugs from Wreck it Ralph because of when they speak of a group of them as a swarm. So much so that when Zektor was actually explaining how the hive operated with swarms out on patrol, I always kept getting reminded of it. Of course, this isn’t Hero's Duty… and no, not that kind of duty either… despite the fact that when Applejack trotted in and was helping us come up with a plan and she strangely reminded me of Sergeant Calhoun from Wreck it Ralph in the process.

As for Crystal… well… “We could hit the hive and then collapse the tunnels surrounding that area?” She suggested.

“Sorry, Crystal, but we don’t have the forces or the manpower right now to go for that kind of an assault.” Applejack replied back defiantly. The two of them have been going at it for the last twenty minutes, trying to come up with a plan that they can both agree with. However, so far… everything has been hit and miss.

“What do you mean we don’t have the right resources? Ken, Revaan and I could probably do it by ourselves.” Crystal pressed the issue, staring defiantly at Applejack.

“And ah told you that ah wanted part in this. That darn tunnel is connected to mah family’s farm. Therefore, Ah’m going to make sure they don’t get harmed.” The Earth pony shot back. Now seemed like a time for me to intervene.

“Okay, let’s just calm down for a minute… All we need is information. We should decide what to do after we get that first.” I told both of them, causing them to look towards me.

“If you want information then why don’t we try that tunnel in the Everfree Castle? Zektor even said that it had been picked clean by now, so it’s most likely been abandoned.” Crystal replied, pointing to the spot on the map before gesturing towards the older changeling.

“If it’s picked clean, then it would possibly mean that it wouldn’t be of any use to the Queen anymore.” I then said, scratching my chin before looking at Applejack, remembering something. “Hey AJ, remember the buckets with all the apples? How many do we got left?”

“Six or so, why sugarcube?” She asked, raising an eyebrow and adjusting her Stetson hat.

“Well, Zektor already said earlier that apples themselves were a much needed resource, so why don’t we use one of the buckets… as bait.” I suggested, catching everyone’s attention. “If we bait one of them into a trap, then we can use the changeling we captured for interrogation so we can pull information out of him. Once we have the info, we can proceed. But we need to work as a team if we’re going to pull this off.” 

“That could work…” Crystal said slowly, nodding to think it over. “How are we going to bait them if we don’t even know what tunnels the scouts use in the first place?” She asked, dragging her finger between a couple of different x’s. “I’ll assume that all these tunnels connect to one another some point. How will we know which ones are abandoned, and which ones are still functioning?”

I smirked a little, looking back at Applejack and remembering something. “Remember when I told you of that Displaced Derpy? Well, during one part of the meeting, AJ slammed Genos into a cliffside nearby. Given the impact and the fact that it happened recently, my guess is that it might have caused the ground to shake enough to the point where anything hiding an entrance would… slip out of place.”

“So you want AJ to hit something hard enough to cause a tremor that will uncover hidden tunnel entrances?” Crystal guessed, looking at AJ with an impressed look. “What will she hit though? The ground?”

“No, I’m saying that it’s possible that the entrance is already exposed. The impact was strong enough compared to a magnitude 5 quake.”

“The impact site was at Sweet Apple Acres, right?” Crystal asked, her mouth open slightly from the force of impact Applejack had used. I nodded my head in response as I looked back at Applejack, who also gave a confirming nod. 

“We should use the daylight right now to assess the impact and form a plan. Given who we might be dealing with, they might operate under the cover of night so we’ll need to use whatever time we got left right now to get ready.”

“It’s a start.” Crystal commented, giving a shrug and looked over the map, trying to spot any other familiar places then a thought occurred to her. “What are we going to get ready with?” She asked us, looking up from the map with confusion in her eyes.

That was when Applejack herself chimed in. “Ah got some stuff in the barn we can use. The rest just involves us improvising.”

“Improvisation I can definitely do. What sort of stuff is in the barn?” Crystal wondered as she stood up from the map, stretched and took a look at the archives near us.

“Well before ah met Ken, mah family and I had to deal with a varmint called the Sass-squash during the winter harvest. If ah remember correctly, we still have the makeshift cage and Big Mac’s net.” She replied back.

“You have a sasquatch cage in your barn?” Crystal asked incredulously, looking away from the archives and turning her attention back to Applejack. “Why was there even a sasquatch in the first place?”

I just facepalmed as I followed the two of them. “I think we’re getting off topic. The point here is that we have the proper equipment needed to carry out this plan. Now all we need to do is get ready.”

“We got the sasquatch cage, what else do we need?” Crystal asked curiously. That was when I thought for a minute before looking back at her with a simple grin.

“A place to put it and a trap to prepare.” I said, summoning my newfound bow. “Plan B would be target practice, but that’s if plan B is needed.”

“Would target practice involve the changeling scouts if Plan A fails?” Crystal asked me, an almost-predatory grin on her face. “I may like changelings but as far as I’m aware, the changelings in this world are too far gone to want peace.”

“We’ll see about that. Plus, Plan B is to slow them down so AJ can use her lasso to tie them up.” I explained to Crystal while dismissing my bow. “The New magic I’ve been practicing with allows my arrows to chase after targets that try to run. One shot in the foreleg can render their chances of escape. Not only that, but the fact that they might get hurt can play out with interrogating them.”

“Oh? How so, sugarcube?” Applejack then asked me just as we made it to the mirror that lead to Ponyville.

“We can propose a deal to them that if they tell us what we want to know, we can make the pain stop. If they refuse, the pain will continue to linger until they comply.” I said to them. “Onepony can only handle so much torment for so long until they break. And that could apply in a variety of different factors.” With it, we stepped through the mirror to find ourselves in the center of Twilight’s castle as the walls around us glowed a little with the light of the sun.

“That sounds like a cool weapon to have,” Crystal told me before she noticed our surroundings. “What place is this?” She asked as she spun slowly on the spot.

“Uhh… Twilight’s Castle?”

“I’ve never been here so how would I know if Twilight would have a castle or not?” Crystal asked in protest.

“... Does your Twilight have wings?”

“She gets wings?” Crystal retorted.

“...... Okay, I’m going to assume that Twilight in your world is not an alicorn yet is she? Because ah reckon that she ascended to that about two years ago… Geez, saying that just makes me think Gregar all over again.” Applejack sighed, looking back at me.

“Yeah, no kidding.” I chuckled, looking back at Crystal. “Gregar was a Displaced that showed up in the badlands about a month ago. After talking with him, we found out that he just defeated Sombra, something Applejack said they did already. He’s a nice kid… even thought of me as a brother.”

“Starlight managed to summon me just after we went and tried to get the Crystal Empire to be the next host city for the Equestria Games. Not sure how close that is to Twilight getting wings though,” Crystal explained after hearing a little bit of who Gregar was. “We’re in Twilight’s castle so where to next?”

“Sweet Apple Acres,” Applejack said as she began to trot out in front with a spring in her step, leading the way. It took about ten minutes to get there, but upon arrival, I turned to look back at Crystal and noticed something.

“Hey Applejack… Since when did Applebloom and her friends get their cutie marks?”

“Wait wha-?”

Crystal turned to see where I was looking and found three fillies running up to us. “How did they get their cutie marks?” Crystal asked as she crouched down.

“Something tells me that it’ll be a long story.”

“Their cutie marks match … except for the symbol. I don’t think that’s happened before,” Crystal remarked, taking a quick glance at all three cutie marks.

“Maybe all three of them did something collectively?”

“Maybe. Hello you three. My name’s Crystal and I’m a friend of Applejack’s and Ken’s. Can you tell us how got your cutie marks?” Crystal asked the three fillies as they got closer after introducing herself to them. All three fillies were not so comfortable with Crystal at first, but after Applejack nodded her head and told them that Crystal was a friend, they spilled the beans on everything… And when I mean everything… I mean EVERYTHING. Something having to deal with some “Diamond Tiara” filly or something like that. 

I honestly couldn’t keep track with what they were saying due to the constant interruptions by all three of them and how everything was described. It was like trying to understand The Matrix when you were watching it for the first time.

“That’s an interesting way to get a cutie mark, especially for all three of you,” Crystal commented after they were finished, sounding like she understood them perfectly despite all their interruptions. 

“What did ah tell ya, sis. Be patient and one day, it’ll come.” Applejack said, hugging her sister. “I’m so proud of ya’ll.”

“Thanks sis!” Applebloom cheered, before darting off with the rest of her friends. Now that everything was cleared up, it was time to begin preparations for our little “bug hunt”.

“That was sweet, but, if I were an entrance to a secret tunnel network, where would I be?” Crystal thought out loud and she turned on the spot.

“Well… three ideas come to mind… either in the hillside, somewhere in the orchard or…” Turning to Applejack, I then asked her something. “Hey Applejack, does the barn have a basement?”

“Yeah, but we only use it if we have too many apples picked from the harvest.” Applejack said back to me. That gave me a thought as I scratched my chin. 

“I’ll go check inside the house. Can you two check around the orchard?” I asked them. I wanted to inspect how the basement was because, if I was a smart changeling and used a tunneling system, I would hide out from under their noses and use a disguise to make it look like I was Applebloom or another one of the Apple Family in order to cover my tracks. “I want to make sure that we don’t need to fumigate the place if we do find traces of bugs.” The last part was supposed to be a joke, but I’m not sure if Crystal actually liked it. So I then apologized and walked towards the barn.

“Don’t make bug jokes if the jokes involve them getting killed,” Crystal sighed quietly before following me. “You think there’s an entrance in the basement?”

“It’s a theory, but it’s something I want to check.” I told her, explaining my theory to her as we walked over.

“It’s a good place to start, at any rate. I don’t think the basement would be a good place if multiple changelings are meant to leave the tunnel at once, though,” Crystal replied.

“What if there was more than one?” I said back as we walked inside and soon found the door to the basement downstairs as I opened it and walked down the staircase to turn on the lightswitch.

“There probably is but if there’s too many, then the ground would be viable to collapse because it's been hollowed out so much,” Crystal reasoned and noticing how dark it was, provided some light with her flames until I found the light switch.

“True… But it all depends,” I replied. “They could split off one big tunnel into several smaller ones to have them come from the floor or the walls. They probably took the collapse part into account and found a way to work around it.”

“That’s if there’s a tunnel in the basement in the first place,” Crystal told me skeptically as she began to inspect the basement. While she was inspecting around the walls, I looked in places where it might be more likely in order to hide something. There was the rug in the center of the room. The Barrels. The cabinet that contained all the supplies needed for peeling apples by one of the supports for the house.

But something with the cabinet seemed… off. Like it was falling backwards or something. “Hey Crystal, come look over here.” Crystal looked where I was and found the cabinet. She walked over to it and tilted it to the way it was supposed to be.

“There’s something here,” Crystal murmured before grabbing the side of it and doing her best to pull it away from the wall. “I think there’s an entrance here. Help me move this?” I nodded, helping her slowly push it aside as we moved it out of the way. In doing so, we found exactly what we were looking for.

I whistled a little, looking at how huge and deep the tunnel could go. “Jackpot.”

“This is a tunnel,” Crystal said with a grin as she crouched beside it. “It looks like it goes on forever but because it’s so dark, there’s no way of knowing how far or how deep it goes.”

“Changelings must be using torches or illumination spells in order to provide some light to see. Also, this place was kind of where I expected for the tunnel. AJ stores a lot of the extra stock and apples from Applebucking down here. If they needed apples for their Elixirs, then this is an ideal place to find them without all the trouble.”

“That’s true. Just be glad I’m able to create my own flames. There’s probably more entrances like you said.”

“Right.” I replied, “Let’s put this back and check on Applejack before we can plan out how to capture one that doesn’t require a butterfly net.” Crystal nodded and walked over to the cabinet before pushing it slowly back over the hole. Once we had everything back the way it was, we both walked back upstairs and out onto the orchard to where Applejack was.

“Any luck AJ?” I asked her, only for the Earth pony to turn back around with a certain expression on her face.

“I got some good news and bad news.”

“Let’s have the good news first then,” Crystal said as she crossed her arms.

“Well the good news is ah found the tunnel that was linked within the mountains and Ken was right about having it exposed because of Genos,” The farmpony said. “The bad news is though that those changelings made sure to close off the tunnel before anypony else could notice. Went as far as to cave in the entire tunnel, I can smell residue of dynamite inside. Probably stolen from Appleloosa I imagine.”

“In that case, we got some news as well. We found an uncollapsed tunnel in the basement,” Crystal responded as her eyes widened at the news. “They really used dynamite to collapse the tunnel?”

“I can smell the gunpowder. Probably did it this way so they make it impossible for Magic users to remove all the rubble.”

“That’s a fair tactic. Did you find any other tunnels out here?”

“As far as ah can tell, no.” The earth pony said. “Guess that means our only chance to find a changeling is to camp out in the basement… Which reminds me… Do we actually have a plan of what we’re gonna do?”

“I think our plan extended as far as finding a tunnel and then hoped for the best,” Crystal said uncertainly. That was when I had an idea.

“Applejack, do you have a spare barrel with apples… I think it’s time we lure them out with some bait.”

“Weren’t there barrels in the basement?” Crystal wondered.

“Empty ones.” I clarified. “We can use the apples to draw them out before sealing off any escape routes. After that, we can capture and interrogate for information. Sounds easy right?”

“Most plans sound better on paper,” Crystal muttered. “But it’s the start of a plan. We don’t know how often they come up for apples, do we?”

“True… But from what Zektor said, sometimes they make these runs two to three times a week… and one of the days that’s mostly done for them is the weekends. Such as today.” Yeah, given that it was Saturday, it was one of three days that the changelings in charge of food most often patrol. One was on Sundays during the start of the week, the second was Wednesdays for midweek and the last one was on Saturdays for the end of the week. Given the fact that the Hive sounded like a HUGE colony, it would possibly explain the consistent amount of trips. Like if it were a bee colony, the workers would have to take whatever pollen they could find in order to support their queen. The changelings in this instance was no exception.

“So the plan is to camp out with a barrelful of apples and hope that they haven’t met their quota for today?” Crystal asked.

“It’s a fifty/fifty chance. But it’s one I’m willing to take.” I told her.

“Camping out it is. Is there an apple barrel that’s full in the barn?” Crystal asked Applejack after nodding her head in agreement. Applejack did and within a few minutes, a fresh barrel of apples was brought downstairs as Applejack easily popped the top off.

“Here we go. One barrel of apples.”

“Thanks, now we just need to wait,” Crystal sighed as she sat to the side of the tunnel entrance in order to hear if any changelings would be coming down the tunnel. I myself decided to hide behind a crate near the back as Applejack hid in the back corridor where the basement’s bathroom was. We sat there quietly and waited and about an hour later, we finally heard voices.

“Well, looks like we’re in luck. A full barrel of apples…” One of them said, a male changeling drone. He seemed to be more of the proud self as he turned back to what was behind him. “What’s the hold up, Holly? We don’t have all day.”

“S-sorry…” Another voice weakly said. But what I saw though… surprised me. This changeling mare looked almost exactly the same as Maple. Just with a different colored mane and more of a Fluttershy like personality.

Crystal froze at the name and looked at the tunnel entrance out of the corner of her eye. She slid away from the entrance when the voices got closer and waited for them to appear. As they exited the tunnel, they turned around and examined the room. “Strange… normally I would have to move that before we could come out…”

Sh*t, they were onto us. Signalling something to Applejack, she changed forms and slammed her hoof down to create a thick stone slab by the entrance they just came through while I closed and locked the door by the stairs. Summoning Hawkmoon in the process.

“Got you…”

Crystal slowly got up and carefully moved behind the changelings before encasing both ponies in a black crystal shell, only leaving their heads exposed.

“Okay… Let me make this simple then… We know quite a bit about your little… operations within the tunnels,” I said, holding the map that I used to write down the entrances from Zektor’s copy earlier in the day. “So, I’m going to give you two options… Either you tell us about what’s going on and we’ll let you go… Or refuse… and I’ll let my friend Crystal here try to get you talking.” Crystal stayed behind the changelings and gave me a look of surprise.

The first thing that we heard though is from the mare. “I-i’ll talk. J-just please don’t hurt me…” All that did though was cause the other one to be furious.

“Traitor!! Damn it, Holly, you’re letting your feelings get in the way of your actions. Just like your damned sister-.”

Wait a minute… Sister?

“Do you want me to cover your head too?” Crystal asked the male changeling quietly when she visibly cringed at his outburst. She then walked around the duo to look at them both face-on. “Does the name Maple mean anything to you?” She asked them when she realised how similar Holly looked to Maple.

The changeling’s eyes widened. “Y-you know my sister!? P-please… tell me that she’s safe!”

“Maple’s your sister?” Crystal asked quietly before nodding her head at Holly. “Yeah, she’s safe. She’s in one of the safest places in Equestria,” she answered with a warm smile.

“T-thank you… I-i would do anything to see her again.” She said… This got me thinking as I looked back at her.

“Well…” I said, motioning to Crystal to cover the changelings mouth while I said the offer I was going to give to her. “If you can tell us more about the tunnels, I promise that I can let you see your sister again.”

“What do you say to that?” Crystal asked her after having covered the male changeling’s head as well, leaving a few small holes for him to breathe.

“Y-yes… I can tell you everything… Chrysalis forced me to work in the tunnels as punishment for my sister’s betrayal against the hive. I was the one who had to help dig the tunnels and work to the point of exhaustion… Treated like a slave…”

“Is there anything else you can tell us?” Crystal asked gently, frowning a bit at hearing this.

“A-all the tunnels are connected together to where the hive is located. It originally would take weeks for these expeditions to be done, but Chrysalis stole some spare traintracks and a few railcars in order to deliver goods from one point to another.”

“Sounds a lot like how a coal mine would work in the early 1900’s.” I thought to myself as I pictured what she said inside my mind.

“I got a sudden urge to sing ‘working on the railroad’ now. Chrysalis stole train tracks and railcars. There’s a tunnel network that all connects back to the hive. Is there anything else?” Crystal asked her, rubbing her eyes to quell her rage.

“I-it’s more than to trade goods… She puts any traitors like myself or ponies that she captures in work camps. We’re barely fed and only a select few know about it. Anyone who tried to argue against it like my parents… would be sent there… to die.” She shed a few tears now as she looked back at the both of us. I patted my hand on her shoulder to help her feel comfortable while Applejack did the same thing with her hoof “All I have left are my uncle and my sister… please… I want to see them again so much…”

Crystal exhaled and looked at the blocked tunnel entrance. “This world’s Chrysalis is beyond saving. There’s no way she’ll listen to reason now. You’ll see your uncle and sister soon. How far back does this tunnel go?” Crystal asked with an angered edge to her voice before shattering the crystal surrounding Holly, letting her go free.

“A-all the way back to the w-work camp. T-there’s a second train that leads to the hive itself, but it’s well protected and the entrance to the city is encased in a special spell to keep other species out.”

“Sounds like a reverse method of Shining Armors spell during the Canterlot wedding.” Applejack told us. “Just focused on keeping ponies and other species out instead of changelings… Is it underground though?”

“M-mostly. You can still see it from the outside. It’s like a huge cocoon.”

“Where would the cocoon be?” Crystal asked, leaning against the still-encased male changeling. “If you can see it from the outside then it’s gotta be somewhere that’s still covered to stop others from seeing it.”

The other changeling said nothing, but instead, Holly spoke up. “It’s a couple miles northeast of Tartarus.”

“Seriously? Does anyone here know where Tartarus is besides these two?” Crystal asked in disbelief.

“W-what I mean is that they’re along the eastern side of Equestria. It’s by a mountain range in the area and embedded in the side of the rock to blend in.” Holly replied. “It stands out though at night.”

“Because the changeling gel that is used to make the hive glows at night?” Crystal asked uncertainly. “At least it sounds easier to find than going northeast of Tartarus.”

“Yeah because trying to find that is like trying to find the gates of hell.” I groaned sarcastically. “I’ll take Holly back to her sister with Applejack. Once we’re there, we can figure out what to do next.”

“What about this one?” Crystal asked, patting the back of the changeling she was leaning on.

“That… I was going to leave to you. You do have a bit of rage… so maybe you need something to take your rage out on?” I said, while Applejack nodded. She kept the stone barrier up to block off the tunnel before moving the cabinet back in place… and allowing for Crystal to crack her knuckles in anticipation.

“Thanks. I really hate to punch a changeling but I hate it when ponies call others traitors even more so I’m going to make an exception for this,” Crystal said with a shrug and coated herself in iron scales. As we closed the door to the basement, we could hear loud piercing screams as the three of us waited on her. After about ten minutes, the screams could still be heard but it quickly rose and softened in pitch when the door to basement opened and closed quickly. Crystal looked at us and grinned.

“I didn’t kill him if that’s what you’re wondering. Just broken limbs.” I sighed in relief at that. I would never expect restraint from someone like Crystal with the way she was speaking about Chrysalis… but then again, there are surprises.

“Alright. Let’s go back. Holly deserves to see her sister again.” I said, smiling as I saw the scared look on her face change to one… of hope.

It took a small bit of time in order for us to finally make it through Ponyville without everypony running for cover in fear of Holly, but soon we made it back safe and sound. When we returned, we were back by the front gate in the town below the temple as we soon saw Mystic. The Unicorn was surprised to see us back so quickly, but she was more surprised to see Holly… well… in a different sense.

“Maple? Did you dye your mane while I was in Canterlot?” The question though got Holly to hide behind Crystal as I looked back towards the Unicorn.

“Mystic, this isn’t Maple. This is another Changeling we met named Holly… Speaking of which, where is Maple and Zektor?”

“They should be back at the center of the temple. They’ve been talking with that Starlight pony for a while now actually.” She replied. “She’s a nice mare to tell you the truth.”

“They have? Maple and Zektor will get a nice surprise then,” Crystal said. Mystic nodded, letting us go off on our own back towards the Temple as we made our way up and over. Once at the temple entrance and with the doors open, we not only found those three, but it looked like Twilight had decided to pay a visit too. They seemed to be getting along quite well… That was… until the moment they saw our new companion. “Everyone, this is-.” Crystal said slowly as she gestured to the Changeling.

Maple though was the first to react. “HOLLY!!!”

“MAPLE!!!” The changeling cried as tears came out from both of their eyes. Zektor soon joined both of them as they had a group hug in the middle of the temple. I personally stepped off to the side to give them some space, while walking to the confused Alicorn. Crystal copied my actions and joined me.

“Okay… just what is happening?” Twilight asked.

“We found Holly while trying to find out more about the tunnels that lead to the changeling hive. She and Maple are sisters.”

“We also found out about the hive and what Queen Chrysalis has been doing,” Crystal supplied in a slightly angered tone as she rubbed her eyes. Twilight looked a bit confused, so I had to be the one to fill her in… along with Holly once she was done reuniting with Maple and Zektor… and she was just as furious.

“There is no way in Tartarus that I’m going to let her get away with something THAT cruel!!”

“I’m glad it’s not just me. We can’t do anything about her hive though because it’s protected by a version of Shining Armor’s shield around Canterlot. It lets Changelings in while keeping others out.” Crystal informed the Alicorn with a smile.

“If that’s the case, then our only chance of stopping the hive is to have somepony in on the inside…” She said, looking back at us before looking back at Crystal. “Hang on… why do I sense changeling magic around you?”

“It’s either because I’m married to one, I got four half-changeling children or it’s some leftover magic from breaking the limbs of a changeling that called another one of his own a traitor,” Crystal said uncertainly. “Why do you ask?”

“Hmm… Well, I was originally thinking that the only way in was to disable from the inside, but I don’t want to risk Holly or Maple getting hurt. Given what you said… Would it be possible that you’re up for lowering the shields?”

“I’m definitely up for it, I’m just saying that I don’t think it’ll work because I don’t exactly look like a changeling,” Crystal answered, nodding her head at the question.

“Don’t you have like some sort of illusion spell or something to fool them?” I asked her, remembering that she was a master of multiple kinds of magic. “If not, then we can do this at night, where it’s the most exposed. It’s said to be in a mountain range to the east.”

“You mean the Appleloosan mountains?” She asked, only causing me to raise an eyebrow as I looked back at Crystal. Applejack soon got into the conversation and nodded her head to answer Twilight’s question. “I might have an idea then… But it requires two things.”

“What things do you need for this idea of yours?” Crystal asked, scratching the side of her mouth.

“First off, you’ll need to be inside to disable the barrier,” She said, drawing up a diagram on a spare scroll. “Second, we’ll need to borrow a few of Applejack’s barrels. I know a pony in here called Short Fuse that could create any kinds of explosives. Even ones used to look like Apples. So, the plan would be to put those explosives on whatever they use to haul them in. Once inside and the barrier is down, Ken will fire an arrow from his bow at each of the barrels at the different entrances in the city. When the explosives detonate, it should block off any chance for them to run out of the Hive and Crystal could then escape by any method she sees as necessary. Nopony will notice her in the mass panic.”

I… was speechless… I couldn’t come up with anything like that if I was given all the time in the world. All it took for Twilight was five minutes.

“That’s an extensive plan…” Crystal muttered.

“Yes, but something tells me you’re not the kind of pony to put something important like this off now… would you?” Twilight questioned. “Unless you want to wait and put some more thought into it first for something a little simpler. You do seem a bit exhausted after your time at the orchard.”

“I’ve handled a lot worse. I’m fine. I’m not putting this off for anything. I would try and talk to Chrysalis but she seems incapable of listening to reason at this point,” Crystal explained. “We destroy the hive’s many entrances but that would mean I either get trapped, or they get trapped and starve to death.”

“What do you suggest we do then?” I asked her. “I know you want to stop Chrysalis, but there are others who will be on her side once we are in the hive. Not to mention that there seems to be no source of resistance against the queen or her drones.”

“We could try and get the resistant changelings out of the hive before we blow it up but that may take too long. I really want to see if Chrysalis will listen but I know for a fact that it won’t work. She’s too cruel for it to work in this situation.”

“Hmm…” I hummed to myself, trying to think of any sort of possibility. Then… I looked at Holly. Her expressions was happy but mixed with a bit of fear…… “I thought of something… Chrysalis seems to be eager to put fear in her victims… Why don’t we give her something to fear instead?”

“Like what?” Crystal asked nervously. I smiled, letting the scales on my arm expand as I took up my Dragon armor form and looked back at her.

“Like me… In this form, my power is increased significantly and I’m a lot more agile… Plus, since Shining’s spell shattered to consistent blows towards it, a hard enough force could cause the barrier to shatter.” I explain as I then reverted back to normal. “The first time will serve as a warning. Give her one day to change… However, if she doesn’t comply, there will be consequences… What do you think?”

“I think I would like to help shatter the barrier but if what Twilight says about the changeling magic around me is true, then I’ll just go right through the barrier. It’s a good plan, nonetheless,” Crystal replied

“Then let’s combine both…” I said, “You sneaking in to disable it… I’ll crash right into Chrysalis’ castle to warn her. Sorry if this means you need to stay an extra day, Crystal. But I promise that I’ll make it up to you.”

“Don’t worry about the extra day. I’m getting used to it. If we combine both then how would me disabling the shield get her to comply in time if she even wants to comply?” Crystal asked.

“Oh we’re not asking her to comply…” I knew that my thinking right now might be one sided, but thinking about the death and destruction that Chrysalis would leave behind if unchecked would be a severe problem. “We’re going to use a special element for this.”

Both Twilight and Applejack looked at me when I said this. “Element?”

“Yes… The element… of surprise.”

Later that night

As the Night stars glowed above Revaan and I, we were watching the Hive down below. The changelings that called this place home really looked like ants down there from all the way up here as we waited on Crystal. We devised a plan to where she would signal us for when she was inside and the barrier was down so I could prepare to strike. Thanks to Zektor, we found out that the queen was in the back of the hive and in her own miniature castle in the back. My target was to crash either in the royal quarters where her room was or in the main hall, where she was likely to be. Now, we just needed to wait for the signal and be ready for anything. Of course, making sure we were hidden and able to see the signal was another thing. So we stuck to the clouds and I used a pair of binoculars that Aaron loaned to me so I can see from far distances.

After about ten more minutes, I noticed that there was a reduced glow to the outer exterior of the hive. Along with a small red flare in the sky. “That’s my cue.” I said as Revaan glided over, allowing me to change forms as I dove down head first towards the castle. Preparing my dragon arm, I drew it back, only to throw a punch forward as I slammed through the roof and onto the stone floor below me. The impact caused a crater in the floor as I looked up to see the startled changeling guards and the queen that was knocked off of her throne.

“What is the meaning of this!?” The startled queen called out while getting her hooves back under her.

“Queen Chrysalis…” I spoke, adding depth to my tone. “You are to pay for the crimes you committed against your people and all the lives you have stolen. Your acts against your own kind will not go unpunished.”

“I didn’t think the element of surprise would work that well.” Crystal said happily while she walked into the throne room.

“I had a feeling,” I whispered to her, before looking back at the queen. “Feel free to speak if you want… Put her in her place.”

“You think I would let you get away with storming into my home and then take orders from a pair of mongrels!?! GUARDS!!! KILL THEM!!!” She ordered, her drones being hesitant, but then charged at us from all angles. A perfect opportunity for Crystal. Crystal looked at the Changelings and covered herself in an armor of black crystal before proceeding to do the same to each Changeling that touched her. When they were covered with their heads still exposed the stayed on the floor, completely immobile.

“I don’t like fighting Changelings but this Chrysalis is so making me want to,” Crystal growled. “What are you going to do Chrysalis? Send more Changelings? I’ll just cover them in crystal like I did to all these!” The response though caught me by surprised as Chrysalis herself blasted a powerful beam of magic that went right through her.

“Crystal!!” I shouted, turning towards Chrysalis as I rushed forward and slammed the queen into the back wall. “Now you’ve done it…” Growling, my right arm tightening on her throat as I tried to control my anger towards her. Crystal was slammed into the wall at the other end of the room by the powerful beam of magic, her armor standing no chance against it. She fell to the floor from where she was pinned by the beam and ended up in a crumpled heap. I disrupted the beam, throwing the queen onto the floor with enough force to knock her out as my priorities in that moment changed.

“Crystal, please be okay… Don’t die on me…” I said to myself, checking to see if I could feel a pulse and tend to her injuries. However, I was surprised when I felt her hand move along my arm as I looked back at her.

“Remember what I said earlier? I’ve been hit by way worse.” Crystal replied with a grin. With that, I held her close in a hug, relieved that she had not been severely hurt or worse. All the guards were crystallized and the queen was unconscious as I looked back at her.

“Thank the ancestors you’re okay… Is there anything else we should do before we go back?” I asked her.

“Thankfully, Chrysalis isn’t dead. I can hear her soft breathing from here. Other than blow up the tunnels, I don’t think there’s anything else we need to do… did we get the resistant changelings out already?” Crystal replied, returning my hug and sitting up to rest her back against the wall.

“Thankfully, Holly and Maple helped with getting the changelings out and Zektor took a few fighters that he knew to help set the charges. We can detonate them once we’re out of the hive.” I explained to her, trying to help her up. “Should I carry you or can you walk?”

“I can walk, it’s just my entire body that hurts from the impact,” Crystal told me as she used the wall to balance herself as she stood back up.

“Hang on, I can have Revaan pick us up so it won’t be that hard for you.” I told her, having my right arm glow a little as Revaan flew overhead. Using my dragon arm’s capabilities, I fired out the energy hookshot as I looked at Crystal. “Better hang on.” Seconds later, we were airborne as I gently set her on Revaan and watched as the charges in the distances set off balls of fire in the night sky.

“Thanks, Ken. I would like to know what spell she hit me with though because it seems to be getting more painful to move by the second,” Crystal said, watching the balls of fire with grim satisfaction.

“More painful? Maybe it was a paralysis spell that was meant to break through shields and armor.” I said, thinking that through. “In any case… Revaan, when we get back, set us in my room so I can patch up Crystal.”

“You got it,” He replied, sweeping around as he soon arrived back in the temple after a couple of moments in flight. “One stop to your room as requested. Now, I’m going to leave you two be as I rest my wings.” Crystal slid off Revaan’s back and stumbled while I rushed to help guide her to the bed while she groaned in pain.

“It feels like my body is on fire and not in a good way.” she reported quickly. I nodded, taking a soul shard inside the drawer of my nightstand and cracking it open. Letting the magic seep into the wound and help her heal her wounds and cure her of any ailments that Chrysalis might have hit her with. 

“Did that work?” I asked her.

“Pain’s going away if that’s what you mean,” Crystal replied, breathing slowly as she felt the magic help.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” I asked her, seeing if I needed to do anything else. But what I heard her say next though… surprised me.

“There is, actually. Can you…… stay with me please?” Thinking about it for a minute, I soon sighed a little, smiling a bit as I gave her my answer.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” I asked her, seeing if I needed to do anything else. But what I heard her say next though… surprised me.

“There is, actually. Can you…… stay with me please?”

Point of View: Crystal

My question to him though… got an answer I did not expect. “Sure.” He said as he walked over to where I was after hanging his jacket up on the coat rack nearby. I wasn’t exactly sure what to say to that so instead, I carefully sat up so he could have some room to sit down.

“Um, really? I thought you would have gone into the other room or something.” I told him curiously once I finally found a few words to speak.

“Well, when I thought you said stay with me, I thought you needed some comfort after getting blasted by Chrysalis.” He replied back. I blinked at this and gave a small cough.

“Oh, um, yeah, I didn’t think Chrysalis would actually go for my taunt.” I said sheepishly.

“Well, not all Chrysalis’ in the multiverse are the same,” He said, looking back at me. “You know… You look really adorable in the posture you’re in.” I looked down at myself and felt a small blush form.

“I kind of figured that after she blasted me. I don’t mean to look adorable though,” I said quietly. He leaned over and playfully used his index finger to touch me on the nose, causing me to flinch.

“You’re still adorable even if you don’t mean it… No wonder Freya is lucky to have you.” He said to me.

“I’m lucky to have her as well even though she apparently doesn’t see me for long stretches of time,” I replied, rubbing the bridge of my nose as I crossed my eyes to look at it better.

“Just wait til she finds out that her and Jason have a room here with their names on it… The same goes for you too.” He reminded me. “And you’re free to do anything you want with it. Decorate it, personalize it… Hell, who knows what Zinnia has done with hers.”

“She probably has lewd pictures or something. I still can’t believe I already have a room here though,” I said with a grin. I breathed slowly as I felt whatever magic Ken used on me work, and shook my head to bring my attention back to him. “What did you use to stop whatever was happening to me?”

“Soul shards. There’s healing magic in them that I can let loose if I crack them open like an egg.” He replied, explaining a little more as he told me about it. After a bit though… there was one question that he then asked me.

“So… is there anything you would like me to do for you?”

“Make the extra day up to me somehow?” I reminded him as I tilted my head, wondering if he had anything in mind for it.

“Ah right…"


	
“If you need anything, I’ll be back over here to give you some privacy.” He told me as I heard his footsteps against the smooth floor.

“Got it!” I called out to him before I started to shower. When I had finished, I heated up my skin to dry quickly and tried to figure out where I had put my clothes. I blinked, placed a hand against my forehead and poked my head out the door to look at Ken. “I kind of need my clothes.”

“Okay, I’m going to set them by the door for you.” He said as I heard him walk along the floor to the door before walking back to the bed and laying back in it. Funny thing was, a few moments after I got my clothes, it sounded like he was going to fall asleep… Guess scaring the shit out of Chrysalis really can take a toll on his stamina. I put on my clothes quickly and figured to leave him be if he really was going to be asleep. I sat on the floor at the foot of the bed and crossed my arms around my legs as I thought about Freya and what would have happened if Ken hadn’t pulled out in time. I was thankful though that such a thing did not happen … but … it felt lonely being here without Freya.

I sniffed and rubbed my eyes before hearing Ken’s soft breathing. He really did fall asleep. At the very least he wouldn’t hear me sniffle. In the corner of the room though, I saw another door warmly lit up as it caught my attention. It had a claw over the front of it and the light that glowed from it resembled light from a fire. I rubbed my eyes again and stood up. I narrowed my eyes at the door curiously. Leaving Ken, I walked up to it and hesitantly knocked on the glowing wood. The knock caused the door to slightly move as I cautiously entered. When I closed it behind me, the movement of something caused me to jump… But the voice I heard calmed me.

“Easy there… My intention was not to frighten you.”

“R-Revaan?” I asked cautiously, trying to slow my heart rate as I moved closer to the movement. I stopped after a few steps though and took a proper look around the room. “What-What is this?”

“This is my chambers, young Crystal.” He said, adjusting himself as he looked at me. “You seem to have something on your mind…”

“Y-Yeah, I was th-thinking about how l-lonely I feel,” I stammered, rubbing a hand up and down my arm. I looked at him and blinked. “How could you tell?”

“Crystal… There was a time in life where I felt that same loneliness… At times, I still feel it… I had a loved one as well… Now though… she’s gone.” He told me. “There were days I thought that I would soon leave this world and find a way to rejoin her… But you… are different.” I was surprised by what he said and let it show on my face.

“Different how? Because I’m a Displaced?”

“No… Because unlike my lover… yours is alive and well…” Revaan explained. “When we first joined Zinnia’s hoard and became the head of our own branch, Ken and Zinnia’s intentions were to make it more like a family… and family members not only stick together… but care for one another… He cares for everyone that he meets. Especially Applejack, her friends, Pinkis… and also you too.”

“O-oh. Whenever I see her, apparently long stretches of time happen on her world despite only about a month or so passing on mine,” I told him as I idly twisted the ring on my finger.

“I understand completely… There is something that I’ve been working on for the Temple and that I add to with each member of the Hoard that we meet…” Revaan then pointed at another sub room, where I saw a circle of mirrors that had numerous names above them. “It’s a room of doors… doors to other worlds… Some are incomplete, but it would allow for easy travel between members of the hoard. They can come and go as they please… Just don’t tell Ken, I want it to be a surprise.” I looked at the oor and then back to Revaan.

“I won’t tell him until you’re ready which would most likely be after Starlight sends me home. But how is it possible? I thought you needed a token or something that can harness Void power for travel to be possible between the worlds,” I said in surprise and curiosity.

“That’s the surprising part… Look at the top of the doors.” He said. Right away, I saw that Zinnia’s door had a copy of her own token with it. “I had Twilight help me with the same spell that allowed us to easily travel between here and Ponyville without any long walks or flights. The tokens are used as a power source and a guide so the portal could lead to that particular destination… Now though… I’m missing one thing.”

“What thing is that?” I asked looking at the token in surprise and knew it would take a fair while to understand the mechanics behind it.

“A name. We have the archives, armory, sparring grounds… now what should we call this?” He asked, looking back at me. Seemed like he was letting me do the honors. I thought about a few names, names such as Quantum Leap, Dimension Walk or something insane like that but nothing really came to mind except for that first choice.

“Does ‘Quantum Leap’ sound like a good one?” I asked uncertainly.

“Hmm… Possible… I originally thought domain of doors, but I thought that sounded complex to understand.”

“‘Domain of Doors’? How about ‘Dimension Doors’? Nah, too on the nose but the other names are like that…” I rambled before trailing off, racking my brain for other ideas.

“Domain of Dimensions?” Revaan asked. That… did sound kind of catchy, I had to admit.

“That works out a lot better and is kind of catchy,” I replied, smiling at the name before scratching my head. “How did you deal with the loneliness though?”

Revaan sighed, looking back at me. “Simple… You don’t try to have yourself in the past when things get rough… You keep moving on. That’s how I was able to bond with Ken… Thanks to him, we found all of this… Thanks to him… I have hope again. Hope for a brighter future for myself, my kind… for all those I have met on my journey… everyone. Ken himself had doubts of his own capabilities once.” Wait, he actually did? What kind of doubts did he have? What Revaan said though made sense I suppose but it still left me a bit confused.

“So meeting Ken gave you hope?” I asked for clarification.

“Yes it did… Do you know what his name is short for?” He then asked me, wanting to see my response. However, I couldn’t formulate my answer and decided to let him speak. “Ken, even though it means Sword where he is from, is short for Kendov. The Dragon word for Warrior. His last name, Ahkrin, means courage. Kendov Ahkrin… Warrior of Courage. He demonstrates Courage not just on the battlefield, but in being able to overcome his own personal challenges and doubts.” I stared at Revaan and looked at the door leading back to Ken’s room.

“That’s an odd coincidence for a name but it does fit in with what I’ve seen him do,” I admitted. Now… what were his doubts though? “But one thing still has me confused. What doubts and challenges did or does he have to overcome?” I asked, trying to figure out what Ken had doubts about.

“Well… It started shortly after finding out that Applejack was pregnant… We were summoned by a Dragon Slayer of Iron that went by the name of Connor. We offered to help him with a task, but when things got out of hand, the only choice that Connor had to save his life and the life of millions of others was to encase himself in Iron. Ken though… was devastated. He thought that he let himself down by not being able to do anything to help him in that present moment. Not to mention that he was worried that if he wasn’t able to protect Connor… Then he couldn’t be able to protect Applejack.”

“That’s … oh. So because of Connor, Ken had doubts about being able to protect Applejack?” I asked him before I began pacing in thought.

“Exactly… That was when Caex, a blind dragon who was Connor’s teacher, had a talk with him and told him what exactly he was feeling… the first signs of fatherhood. Since then, Ken has met many others that had to go through struggles like he did… But I believe it was Connor who had a major impact on him the most.”

“I bet it would’ve, considering he started Ken on doubting himself,” I replied and smiled. “This talk made me realize that I don’t need to look at the past unless I have to. Far as I know, Freya will still be there so at least that’s something to look forward to.” I gave a shrug before I stopped pacing and smile at Revaan.

“I’m glad I was able to help… Now, you might want to try and get yourself some sleep. It’ll almost be dawn in a few hours.” He told me, lowering his head a little. “Sleep well, young Crystal.”

“Not sure how much good that’ll do but I’ll try. Thanks again, Revaan,” I told him with a smile before walking back to Ken’s room. When I got back, I slowly closed the door behind me before looking at the bed. I then gave a shrug and laid down beside Ken, closing my eyes so I could fall asleep.

Next Morning

When I slowly began to open my eyes the next morning, I almost expected for Applejack or somepony else to be the one to wake me up. As I turned around though, I soon remember my guest from the other night as she woke up seconds after me. “How did you sleep?”

“I slept well, considering I only got a few hours sleep,” Crystal replied as she turned on the bed to look at me.

“Oh? Was something keeping you awake at night?”

“Just some thoughts that Revaan helped me get through,” Crystal replied with a shrug. “It’s not a big deal anymore but since we’re up, we may as well see if the others are up as well.”

“I can take care of that,” I insisted to her, “Maybe I should make sure to get you home first. I wouldn’t want to keep anyone you know waiting right?”

“Right. That would be a big help except, Starlight is the one that summoned me so I’m not sure if you can send me home,” Crystal replied, sitting up and getting out of bed.

“True, but maybe I can still send you back if I had your token.” I explained to her. “Starlight’s not a displaced. I am… Besides, I think you would be happy to get some extra rest in your own world, am I right?”

“You’re right, but, if that’s possible, can you send me home after we spar? I didn’t really get a chance to see what you were like in battle yesterday,” Crystal said slowly, looking like she had to think of her words before she said them.

“We can. Though, a lot of my abilities are really strong in power and can take a toll if I drain too much energy. I save those for when the situation calls for it,” I told her, having her follow me to the training grounds. “Is there anything specific that you want to know? My dragon armor you saw the other day was a transformation ability I have.” Around then, I had my dragon arm glow briefly after I asked my question.

“I figured it would come out in the battle but, any other transformation ability you have would be nice to know. With your stronger powers, maybe you shouldn’t use them if I have any chance of going back home this week,” Crystal said with a small laugh.

“Sure. Well, to start… Let’s start with the arm.” I smirked, charging some of my energy as I lashed out at her with a line of energy. She dodged to the right, but I just smiled and used it to pull myself to where she once was before trying a low sweeping kick. She dodged the kick and fired off a few dozen crystal shards at me before following it up with a fireball. Moving to the right to dodge the fireball, I used my arm again to snatch the crystal shards and throw them back at her. “So… can you tell what I can do with the arm now?”

“Sure can. You can use it to redirect items and grab things from far away,” Crystal answered as she let the crystal shards break upon hitting her and gathered some fire in her hands. “Is there anything else?” She asked as she combined both fireballs to unleash a bigger fireball at me.

“That’s… where you're wrong.” I sighed, using my arm again to this time grab Crystal and yank her towards me. “Think of this as a Grapple tether… Depending on the mass of an object and how heavy, I can either pull myself to a certain location… or pull something to me. Think of it like Scorpion’s “get over here!” in Mortal Kombat, but made out of my energy. Or better yet… Nero’s arm in Devil May Cry 4.”

“In that case…” Crystal trailed off before punching me in the face as she got close and sending me moving backwards a few feet. “I don’t think they’re able to do that in Mortal Kombat or DMC 4.”

“I was just saying an example,” I smirked, thinking a bit to myself before deciding to take it up a notch. “Now, this you might remember from yesterday.” That’s when I dashed towards her with speed in my step as I caught her by surprise. “Only one of many for my… other set of abilities.”

Crystal stepped back in surprise and gasped at the speed I used. “That’s a big set of abilities then,” she remarked as she waited to see what I would do next.

“Oh trust me… I’m only going to use a few.” I assured her, seconds before forming a blade of energy in my hand and using it to cast a radial blind around the area. Preventing her from seeing me appear behind her as I prepared myself a weapon.

I am the bone of my sword. As my weapon took form and the blade solidified, I swung at her around the shoulder level. She must have heard the whistling of the sword because the next moment, she had ducked and made a sweeping kick at my legs.

“Enhanced hearing, remember?” Crystal asked with a smirk. I grinned a little, taking my sword and stabbing it into the ground as the energy I pooled into my next attack emerged from the ground as several spears created from my energy got her in the legs. Crystal hissed in pain as she stood still, pinned in place and she breathed fire at me. I dodge rolled to my right as I released her from the spears and went over to her.

“You okay? I didn’t go overboard now did I?”

“Of course I’m fine. I just didn’t expect that many spears to get stuck in my legs,” Crystal replied with a grin from her kneeling position. Dismissing my blade and calming down and offering a hand to help her back up to her feet.

“I think that should be good for now… I still want to make sure I have some energy to send you back home.” I told her while helping her stand straight.

“Fair enough,” Crystal replied and gave me a grin. “We just need to find Starlight and see if she still has my token.”

“Can’t you summon your token? I mean, I can make more than one of mine from the original.”

“I can’t. I never figured out how and I never really bothered to because I usually wrap it around my neck after I get summoned,” Crystal explained. That just got me thinking a minute and told her to wait there for a moment as I quickly went through the door to Twilight’s castle. She and the girls weren’t home, but I did see a scarf that was white and a note from Starlight. Thinking that this was it, I went back and handed her the note and the scarf.

“Would this happen to be it?”

“Yeah, that’s my token. What’s the note for?” Crystal asked before wrapping her scarf around her neck and over the top of Connor’s necklace.

“Looks like it’s a note to me or you if you came looking for it. Just saying where they were and stuff like that.” I said, showing her the brief note. “Otherwise, it just says that it might be a bit before they return from the Crystal Empire.”

“Is that all? I thought it would have been something different. Are you going to send me back then?” Crystal wondered.

“Sure, I can use your token to do so,” I told her, handing the scale I had as a token. “Speaking of which, that way I don’t forget, here’s mine.” Crystal unwrapped her scarf again and traded tokens with me.

“This is a dragon scale. From Revaan?” Crystal guessed when she examined it.

“Actually, Zinnia found it when we explored the temple for the first time,” I told her, wrapping the scarf around my neck as I look back at her. “This feels quite comfortable. How do I look?”

“So you made a token out of a random scale?” Crystal asked in disbelief before turning away from her inspection and over to me to have a good look. “Actually, you don't look that bad with it on,” she said in an approving tone.

“Why thank you. I’ll be sure to treasure it.” I said, wrapping some of the cloth around my fingers as I began to channel the necessary energy needed for her to be able to be sent back to her home world. “Have a safe trip, Crystal!” With that, we both said our goodbyes to each other as I let her go back to her own world. 

“One last thing. I may be too far to hear them, but I can’t hear Magma and Ruby. Maybe you should check into that,” Crystal replied before stepping through the pillar of fire and disappeared. Now I thought might be the best chance to check on Pinkis’ condition and possibly show her the newborns… If I could find them that is.

Point of View: Applejack

It had only been a couple of hours since mah friends and ah left the station in Ponyville to the Crystal Empire and everything for the most part was turning out alright. Starlight took one step ahead in helping out Ken by leaving behind the token of that Crystal fella’ back at the castle so if he stopped by, he could help send her back home. It might’ve been only a few days since Starlight had decided to be reformed, but the girls and ah could definitely tell the difference in her behavior.

Partway through the trip though, I began to smell something… Funny. “Girls, what smells like burning leather?” They all looked at me, thinking ah was acting funny or something. But what they did seem to notice (and what I felt at the time on my head) was the movement underneath my hat. Even when ah turned towards Rainbow at that moment, she gave me a glance almost like if a spider dropped down near Rarity.

“AJ… Don’t move a muscle…” That was when I looked up and saw the one thing ah was not expecting. Magma and Ruby were on my head, hiding under my stetson hat.

“S’okay, Rainbow…”

“Okay? Applejack, for all we know, the kids of some dragon could’ve snuck into your saddlebag-.” That was when ah shook my head, interrupting her with a hoof on her mouth and providing myself a chance to speak.

“Ah haven’t told ya this yet, but Ken and ah… we’re finally a family,” I said. “I would like ya to meet my son and daughter… Magma and Ruby.” Almost right away, except for Starlight… Everyone of my friends had only one way to react to this.

They fainted.