Going to conventions can leave you with many dangers. Not seeing the table you wanted to see, not getting that plush you want, getting sucked into a war between angels, demons and ponies...what is that last one just me?
I am Ren. Well, now I am. I can't remember my name from before, but enough about that. This is a story about angels, demons and ponies. I was called by the pantheon to save this world from the true evil, the prime evils. Along the way, I find friends, romance and bigotry galore when I'm not killing demons, undead, fallen angels, those that do evil and doing my meditation. I may not always agree with the pantheon but where the gods wish to see, I am their eyes and where they wish to strike, I am their fists.
This is a displaced fic, I'm at least hoping it can be recognized as one, with the Diablo universe (mostly 3) There will be blood and may or may not have sex so it will be rated mature. I always welcome feedback and love hearing from readers, so don't feel shy.
You know how they say if something's too good to be true, it usually is? Well, I wish I put more stock into what "they" said. I'm not saying that I wouldn't still do what I did but I might have done it a bit later. Anyway, I'm rambling, my name is, Ren, well, now it is, I honestly can't remember what it once was. I am, or was once, a human. I lived in a small town in Colorado and had a few good friends, I can no longer remember their names, but their faces will always remain with me.
One of my friends, a woman with jet black hair, asked if I'd accompany her to a convention that would be coming. I was rather curious about conventions but never went, I was never good with crowds. After some rather intense pleading and the use of some of her "assets," I had agreed and even said I'd go as a character from Diablo.
The days up to that went rather quickly and I found the orange robe and loose brown shorts rather easily; the robe I made, however, to save some money and make sure the measurements were right; I even got prayed beads to go along with it, might as well go with the pantheon of the game in mind, and we were on our way to the convention. She was, unsurprisingly, a Demon Hunter and pulled the look off rather well. We didn't have to get any of our other friends, I guess I was the only one she could convince, so we went right to the center where the convention was.
It wasn't that big of a convention, truth be told, so my nerves weren't as bad as they could be. The entry price was easy, fifteen dollars. Most of the people weren't in anything over the top but there were a few, including a Resident Evil merchant. My friend was trying to get me to go with her there but I declined, though she drooped a bit at that. As we kept going, the crowd got thinner and thinner, I should have felt that that was strange but I was happy for the break.
"Where are we even going?" I aske, interest piqued.
She wouldn't answer, so I let it drop.
After a few more minutes of walking, there was no crowd at all. The hair on the back of my neck began to stand as I just realized how far we were from all the other attendees.
"Is this him?" came a deep voice.
She looked to the ground, sullenly, before giving a slow nod to which a sinister cackling filled the halls.
I couldn't move as the light seemed to completely leave except for a slightly dim red light surrounding shards of a black stone. My mouth refused to work and I was too scared to move aside from the little tremors of fear running through my body. I could swear I heard a distant, voice coming from where we came from but my fear forced me to stare at the scene in front of me.
"Yes," the voice from the stone came, "your fear is delicious. Now, die before me Nephalem!"
my eyes widened with fear as a a claw came towards me from the stone's circle but before I could do anything, something appeared and blocked the claw with a staff, the merchant.
"Nephalem, to me!" shouted the voice I heard earlier.
Before, I could register it, my feet ran to the voice and found something that shouldn't have been there, an angel straight from Diablo 3. The figure was hidden by the shadow of a cloak and armor and its wings held a light that cut through the darkness like a hot knife through butter. As I was about so tay something, I felt a searing pain in my abdomen. I looked down as my legs began to lose their strength and saw a glowing sword deeply embedded into me, small red streams beginning to spill out around where it and my flesh met. I looked at the angel with terror in my eyes and a question etched in my mind: "why?"
With one motion, the blade was ripped out of my chest, causing me to collapse and my mortal essence to begin to freely flow.
"I am sorry, my friend," the figure said looking down to me, "This had to be done."
It was then that the merchant wandered to the angel's side, his eyes, cold as steel, only lingering on me for one second before he looked at the angel.
"You owe me, Tyrael." he said as he vanished, only leaving me to look at the angel as my vision slowly turned to black.
I felt as if I was floating through warm water as light, once more came into my vision. I felt warmth return to my body, along with my strength. I stood up and my ears rang, blood once again flowing to them. I took a steady breath and felt pain in my chest, but I could breathe!
"Nephalem," came a sweet female voice before six figures appeared before me.
Two of the figures were female, judging by the chest plates of the armor, the other four, male. It was then that I saw what they were, angels! My body tensed a bit and my abdomen burned at the revelation.
"Do not fear, Nephalem." came a male voice that flowed with the coolness of the river's water.
"We are not here to hurt you." finished the calming female voice from earlier.
We all stood a moment as I slowly relaxed, their very presence seeming to instill a calm humility within me. I looked closer at the beings and they seemed to have auras rising off of them.
"Nephalem, we have called you here to purify the demons' presence from another realm." a male angel with a gold aura stated.
"You must be our hands and our eyes." continued another male angel with red and green aura intertwining.
"To strike with strength capable to shatter the mightiest boulder." came one with a brown aura. "Your movements as fluid as spring water." added one with a blue aura.
"You will be as a breath of life to the populace." came one of the female angels with a wispy green aura.
"They must not lose hope. Please, Nephalem," spoke the calming female angel, "give them that hope."
The beings were then quiet, allowing me to think about it. My emotions were storming inside me like the perfect storm. I feared for my friends, I was angry about my fate and I was uncertain about my future. This was then trounced by another thought, who were these angelic beings? Their energy, their very presence, radiated energy and their words held power. Their likeness to the beings in Diablo was quite interesting. Then, I remembered, one of the pantheons and looked to them.
If my guess was right, then they were a part of the larger pantheon. The golden one, with his righteous attitude that radiated warmth, was Ytar, God of the sun that blessed the monks with a holy aura. The blue one, with the smoothness of water itself, Ymil, the God of rivers. The brown, whose powerful aura seemed like it could carve the earth itself, was, Zaim, the god of mountains. The one with the entwining energies, whose voice resounded with a finality and knowing what will happen, was, Itherael, the god of fate. The wispy aura, that gave the same caress as a breeze on a sunny day, belonged the the goddess of the sky, Inna. The last, whose very presence could soothe any man and stomp out all sorrow, was the goddess of hope, Auriel. uIt truly was as the monk from the third game suspected, the angels were the gods that they worshipped.
"The pantheon..." I muttered.
"So, you truly do know of us." barked Ytar with a laugh. "I thought no one would with how we were portrayed in those games."
"I told you, they would." muttered Itherael, while he took out, what looked like, a ledger.
"You really shouldn't argue with the one that records fate, Ytar." Inna said with a giggle.
The apparent deities laughed a bit before Auriel spoke to me.
"Will you accept what we have called you for?"
"Doesn't Itherael already know?" I asked, quirking my eyebrow.
"Fate has nothing written for you, Nephalem." Itherael answered.
I looked at the angels for a bit. My mind flooding with questions and different responses. On one hand, I was being asked for help. On another han, one of the angels killed me. I looked among them and didn't see the one that I saw at the convention.
"Tyrael, is not here, Nephalem." said Zaim.
"He has not returned since he got you." Inna said without any of her cheer.
"He is fighting for your people while you fight for us, Nephalem." finished Itherael, looking into his ledger once more.
My eyes grew at that statement. He was fighting? Why was he fighting for your race when he killed one of your race, a lesser being? All the conflict inside me melted, however, as I felt arms embrace me and a calming wave crash into my inner turmoil. Auriel, held onto me and ran her hand soothingly down my back. I was slowly feeling any trepidation against helping them vanish as the affection she was showing. Ytar, approached and held out brass knuckles as, Auriel, pulled away. I reached for the dusters, hesitating a moment to see the faint, golden glow of them.
"I give you these so that you may show the demons my wrath." he stated with a dead, serious expression.
I swallowed a bit and grasped the knuckles, putting them on and doing a test punch into my palm, feeling the weight on my hand that was almost nonexistent but the power that it brought with it.
"Now go, Nephalem. I christen you Ren, vassal of the gods." Auriel's voice rang out, causing the knuckles to glow bright.
The light around me began fading once more and the beings vanished from my sight. Before long, I was in dark woods that, for some reason, seemed vaguely familiar. A scream came from the other side of a bush, however, cutting off my thoughts. I dashed to the brush and saw a horrible abomination stepping over dead bodies towards a cloaked woman. Without hesitating, I leapt into action, striking the creature in its back with a sickening crack, it turned around and looked to me with its glowing eyes. The creature looked like a rotting cross between a man and a horse, the mane and skin on part of its head removed, showing its dirt stained skull beneath it. It gave a nightmarish wail before swinging at me. I backflipped out of the way jumped to it again, bringing my heel onto it with a golden aura.
"Feel the wrath of Ytar!" I shouted as the creature was cut in half from the kick.
I stood there, waiting for any sign of the walking corpse to still be alive...well, as alive as it could be, but was instead tackled by the cloaked woman, her hood falling off to reveal deep green hair and a light green horn along with a face with the mix of human and equine. She gripped me tightly, showing she had some pretty good strength and cried into my chest.
"Oh, thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she sobbed, hugging me tighter, squishing her a-cup breasts into me causing my face to heat up quite a bit. "I know! I know, I shouldn't have come here without more guards, but I thought two would be enough. I couldn't leave the city with any fewer guards, not with more and more of these, things, coming!"
She kept like that, crying into me and holding me tighter if I tried moving so, I stayed there with her until she started calming down a bit and looked up as me with her purple eyes.
"I'm clover, who are..." she trailed off a bit and hugged a bit tighter looking to me in shock and, a tinge of red?
"I am ren. Where the gods wish to see, I am their eyes. where they wish to strike, I am their fists." I replied, remembering the intro of the monk from Diablo 3.
The walk through the forest was mostly uneventful, if a bit awkward with the constant staring of the green “unicorn,” as she called herself. I would look to her, periodically, mostly for directions. The woman would dart her eyes away before she pointed a direction. “I won’t bite, you know.” I told the flustered female. “O-of course not,” she stuttered, “ I am sorry. I just was not expecting a stallion here. Especially one so...strong.” We continued on in silence a bit longer as I processed her words. “I go where the gods tell me.” I started, “They have told me to strike at this evil that plagues these lands. I shall defeat these undead and release your people from the grip of evil.” The forest was all that could be heard once made our way to her town. Clover came closer but I was too busy thinking about everything that happened, until a nearby bush shook. We stopped and she ducked behind me holding onto my robe. I raised my eyebrow at this but aside from that, my focus was on the brush. The bush shook a little more and I readied myself, preparing my knuckle duster for whatever was in those bushes. Clover pressed herself a bit closer to me and I slid my foot into a better stance. Time seemed to slow as we waited for whatever was in there but eventually something did jump out. Clover gave a preemptive scream of terror as the vicious...terrified bunny dashed away from us. I slowly released a breath and relaxed my stance a bit as Clover clung to me. “You okay there?” I asked, being sure to hold back the chuckle playing in my throat. She was just silent and didn't let go, so I just knelt down, much to her dismay. “Hop on.” I said. She gave a small “eep” before she complied. We then began our trek, once more. She seemed to enjoy herself a bit if her sighs of content were anything to go by. I just shrugged it off internally as we finally entered a clearing where I could see a small, walled town. I started walking that way before a cylinder fell in front of me from some strange warp hole looking thing that quickly vanished once it deposited its payload. I picked up the strange device and a voice sounded: “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.” “Activate? How in the name of creation do I do that?” I pondered out loud. “Maybe like this?” Clover asked before pressing the top of the cylinder, getting a chirp in response. I looked to the unicorn who just gave a bashful smile. I gave a sigh before I had her get off my back. She groaned a bit but hopped off right before a bright green light was emitted from the device. She leapt back onto my back as I dropped the device and readied my stance waiting for whatever was about to happen.
The light faded, revealing a young man, in his late twenties. He wore an old grey hoody and a pair of jeans. A rather large scar was present on his left cheek, and his hair reached down to his waist. He glanced around, locking his eyes on me.
“Sup?”
My stance relaxed a fraction but not much as I looked the human up and down. My hand darted to the top of my head after seeing his hair and I felt my bald scalp with a groan, I was hoping I didn't feel my hair because of the bald cap I put on, but no, I was legitimately bald now. My hair was gone! I then ran my hand down my beard. At least that was still there. I then locked eyes with the human again and made sure my stance was right. “You're the voice from that cylinder. How did you get here?” Clover hid her head behind mine and held onto me tighter.
“You summoned me, that's why.” He crossed his arms looking me other. “So...Why'd you summon me?”
“Summoned?” I asked, as I relaxed. “What are you talking about?” Clover hopped off my back and looked the new human over until she saw the scar on his face and gasped. “Oh! Who hurt you?! Did your herd do something?” she asked with a kind of fury lacing her voice. My eyes darted from on the the other, my mind riddled with questions for both but ultimately, the other human held my interest more. “Did the pantheon send you as well?”
“Okay first off, I turned the guy who gave me this scar into meat paste.” He glanced at Clover and then to me. “Pantheon? What, do you think we’re Smite or something? You summoned me from my universe jackass.”
My eye twitched a bit at the name but ultimately I kept my focus. “Listen here, you badass wannabe,” or not, “I have no idea what you're talking about but what I do know is that I was sent here by fucking Diablo angels!” Clover’s ears splayed back at my outburst and she got a little bit behind me. “I get brought by one of my best friends to some stupid con, taken to black rubble that apparently houses a prime evil, saved and then killed by the damn angel of justice and some douche in a merchant costume from Resident Evil 4, sent here by one of the Diablo pantheons, save a rather attractive anthro and now have some fart-knocker talking about summons. I hardly know what the fuck’s going on anymore!” I pant a bit after my rant while Clover pats my back, albeit with a rather red face.
“That happens to 99% of us,” the man explained. “Your a Displaced, welcome to the club.”
“Displaced?” I asked trying to recover my composure. “So...attractive huh?” Clover purred with a giggle.
“Yeah, it's kinda self explanatory.” The man shifted, rubbing his neck. “You were 'displaced’ from your universe and placed in another.” He narrowed his eyes. “And if anyone tells you it means 'Dimensionally Misplaced’, slap them and tell them to stop spreading that stupid shit.”
“Right…” I cough still trying to wrap my head around this and ignore the anthropomorphic unicorn nuzzling into my side. “but how did-” A blast cut me off as a hole appeared in the ground where more dead began to rise up. I quickly got into position as the rose. A light flashed as a skeletal pony with wings appeared and hovered amidst them.
“Hey asshole, we’re trying to have a conversation.” The man glared, looking unimpressed. “Go back to your hellhole before I use your skull as a cereal bowl.”
The being rasped a bit before looking at us, his eyes alight with a green fire. Clover clung to me, her pupils shrinking to pin pricks. “No. That can't be real...Sir Hurricane?” The skeleton cackled before he looked at the man that yelled at him, his eyes’ flames burning brighter. “You doth not know your position, creaton.”
“Oh, I'm very keenly aware of my position.” The man cracked his neck, tossing off his hoodie to reveal a well toned, and scared chest. “I am Jason Hughes, ruler of Jotunheim. Descended from Ymir himself. I am the slayer of Fenrir, queller of the Forever rebellion.” The wind picked up, clouds forming above. “Tell me Hurricane, think you can best a god?”
Hurricane laughed once more as more and more dead arose. “The gods themselves cringe before the might of Diablo. By him, all shall fall and my dead shall bring me your head as a trophy, Hughes!” he turned to his men, “Bring me their bones and deliver to me the head of the Nephalem, as well as this ‘Jason Hughes.’”
The men didn't get a chance to move before Jason did. He turned into a blur, weaving his way through them. Most were cut to pieces, though a few were torn apart or frozen and shattered.
The skeletal beast growled in anger before a female voice echoed through the air. “Hurricane, not now. We must strike later.” A woman in tainted demon hunter clothes landed beside Jason, her very presence one of pure power and terror itself. She looked to the skeleton, not even bothering with the others.
“or, I could just do this.” Jason flicked his wrist, making Hurricane screech in pure agony. “I wonder if you'll just drop dead if I cast Life?’
The woman raised an eyebrow as the feat of Jason before a demon claw rose from the ground, and took hold of him. She placed a hand on Hurricane’s leg before the two vanished in a pentagram.. The claw rose further revealing a demon that looked like a Baron of hell from doom on steroids. I only hesitated a moment before I rand and punched the creature in the shin, causing it to drop Jason in surprise, though it was more pissed off. “You will be purified, foul demon!” I shouted only to get kicked back to Clover. The creature focusing on Jason with a snarl. Jason leapt up into the air, screaming like an animal. He knocked the demon onto its back, proceeding to beat it's face in, not seeming to care if he was covered in blood and gore. Clover fussed over me as I got back up, seeing Jason pounding the creature into a bloody pulp. I looked with both awe and a bit of jealousy while Clover proceeded to empty her stomach’s contents. I winced a bit at her retching but still watched the visceral display before me, it was like a car crash...or a very fucked up movie. “I think you got it.” I said finally noting that the corpse stopped twitching.
Jason jumped off the body, panting heavily. “I feel...A lot better.”
“I should hope so, sir Viking Warrior.” I said, with a small chuckle. “What in the name of the late King and Queen was that about?” Clover said, as she swallowed dryly. I rubbed her shoulder consolingly as she dry heaved a bit more but looked to Jason once more. “You were saying?”
“What was your last question going to be?” Jason flicked his wrist, cleaning the gore and blood off himself.
“I was going to ask how someone could even ‘displace’ another being. I mean, what kind of being has that kind of power?” Guards began coming from the city and grouped around the scene, all mares, with looks ranging from disgust to admiration. From among them stepped out a blue unicorn with wings. She was covered in armor from head to toe and held a huge war hammer slung over her shoulder. “Who is responsible for this?!” she boomed, “Explain thyselves, now!” I sighed at this. Can't a man ask one question without a group of things interrupt? Clover looked over to the mare and grinned. “Princess Luna! These two stallions saved us.” Clover started before she shuddered at the sight of the body again. “May I ask that we take any other talks inside walls?”
“Hold on.” Jason grabbed his hoodie, slipping it on. “I'm not done here yet.”
The princess looked at Jason with a confused look and a slightly red tint. “Then finish your business here. We will begin burning these corpses.” she said before barking orders to the troops.
“yeah no. Omnitrix, Alien X.” Another bright green flash went off, and Jason was replaced with a tall humanoid, whose skin looked like the night sky. He stood perfectly still, not moving.
“Omnitrix…” I thought, a smile creeping to my face “No way, a Norse god follower and a Ben 10 fan? Wasn't expecting that. Something tells me I shouldn't expect anything anymore.” Luna blushed more at the new form of Jason, seeing her stars seem to sparkle inside him.
“Motion carried!” Jason thrust his arms out. The world shuddered, and in a blink, the bodies were now living ponies again, seeming to be utterly confused.
The guards gasped a bit, dropping any weapons in shock. The newly revived ponies looked around, before the group realized that had been altered. One mares lower half had been replaced by a snake tail, one unicorn had two horns, a pair of pegasi had taken on bat-like features and a rather normal looking pony had red markings under her eyes and a strange split in her jaw. After but a moment, the guards screamed and made to get their weapons but stopped as I approached the newly revived, mutated ponies. They began to back away until I touched the cheek of one of the bat-like ponies, she couldn't have been more than eighteen. The mare cried in fear but couldn't flinch away. I just came up to her and held her in his arms. The bat pony shivered a bit before openly crying into my shoulder.
“Motion carried!” Jason shouted, this time, transforming the demon into a Minotaur. He reverted back to normal, clutching his head. “Hurt any of them and I'll erase you from existence.”
Clover came to me, placing her hand on my back as I gently held the poor mare who held onto me as though her life depended on it. “How didst thou do this?” Luna whispered, tears beginning to travel down her face.
“Alien X allows me to alter reality as I see fit.” Jason gave a pained smile. “I mean, as long as the others agree. The uh... Changes were something I had to concede to too bring them back.”
“They're monsters now!” spat one guard, chucking a rock near one. I caught the rock, my eyes a mixture of sadness and fury. I crushed the stone in my hand, letting the dust and salt fall harmlessly onto the ground. I glared at the unicorn who dropped another stone she was about to throw. Luna also fixed the mare with a glare, stopping over to her and slapping her. “Thou doth not use those words on mine subjects!” she roared at the guard that was now holding her cheek with a shocked expression. “Return to your home! I shall be sure to tell mine sister of this injustice of yours.” The mare quickly saluted before running back to town, the other guards shaking a bit at the actions of one of their diarchs.
“They aren't monsters,” Jason spoke up, composing himself. “Each one of them is the beginning of a new tribe of pony.” He gestured to the minotaur. “And that guys the first minotaur.”
“Huh...the bull of Minos.” I said before I recalled what Clover said, “Luna?” I looked to the lunar diarch raising an eyebrow. “As in, Princess of the night, and adorable alicorn? Has a sister that controls the sun and is rumored to gorge herself on cake?” I looked to Jason and coughed, “She doesn't mean that, does she?”
Jason just rolled his eyes. “Anyway, what we have here is a Naga pony, a bicorn, a pair of strix and a Tatzlpony.” “You're really pulling creatures from all over in aren't you? Next you'll make a hippogriff and a Phoenix.”
“I don't have to make a hippogriff, since a pony can just mate with a griffon,” Jason replied
The strix I was holding before held onto my arm, hiding a bit from the guards. “There are already phoenixes as well. Princess Celestia, just received a Phoenix chick from a farmer and his wife.” Clover said, holding his other side.
“Now we can go inside,” Jason proclaimed, zipping up his hoodie. “Her clothes for all these guys.”
It was right then that my mind decided to remember that there was a naked female holding onto me and I felt a powerful hear roar to life behind my cheeks. The two mares giggled at my sudden reaction and we promptly made our way into the town to which many ponies began running and screaming while a few winked at Jason and me before they did the same. “Okay, now I can see it. All that's missing is one going-” “The horror, the horror!” came an over dramatic voice. “Okay, now all that's missing is the Main Six.” I said, chuckling a bit. The guards sighed a bit at the reaction of the “brave” ponies in town, making sure not to look at the either Jason or me. “So, Jason, right?” I asked, looking to the other human.
“Yeah.” He nodded, looking at me.
“What being can do this? ‘Displace’ beings from one universe, to another?” my look grew serious, “Is it evil?”
A Nephalem and a Jötunn part 2: troubled times and intolerant minds
My question hung in the air, my eyes focused on my fellow “displaced.” The mares that were with me clung a little tighter, almost sensing the seriousness in my statement. “If my guess is right, Diablo himself has entered my world. Did this force bring him there? Is it working with the prime evil?” I clenched my fists. The rage beginning to build as I imagined my friends and family suffering, screaming in agony.
“What? Nah,” Jason dismissed quickly. “The Merchant is just an asshole. A bunch of Eldritch beings from the void do this sorta thing for shits and giggles.”
I began getting a bit less angry but still looked at Jason for a few minutes, searching for any signs of deceit. “They screw with worlds for shits?”
“Dude, their beings beyond mortal comprehension who live in the void between universes. What do you expect them to do?”
I just sighed at that and started walking with the others again. My mind was reeling. I was full of questions and each one answered was just bringing up more. “You must be used to this kinda shit, huh?” I said with a small smile. “You must be used to answering these things and seeing creatures from myths walking and talking. How long does it take to get used to?
“Give it a few months.” He shrugged.
“A few MONTHS?” I almost yelled, causing the mares on either side of me to jump. I thought back to my world once more. A few in game days in Diablo 3 was enough to let the prime evil to bent the world to his whim and nearly destroy the game’s equivalent of heaven. What would happen after a few months? “My friends will be dead by then…” I said, slumping my shoulders. “My home will be gone.” Clover nuzzled my arm and looked to me with a sad smile, thee other mare squeezed my arm tighter. “Mayhaps it would be better to take this to a pub?” the bat mare said, “Tis always good to have a drink to be sure the mood won't be too bad.” “Can you even drink, filly?” Clover quipped. “Of course! I’ll have you know, I can handle my mead!” I sighed. I know that the monk in the game never drank but alcohol did sound good right now. “I...could use a drink. Do you mind, Jason?”
“Again, all the resurrected people are naked,” he reminded, pinching his nose.
I again felt the heat rise behind my cheeks. I simply cleared my voice and nodded. The trek didn't take that long. The Princess gestured to a small store. “That is the clothier’s establishment. Please tell her it shall be covered by the crown.” she said before giving Jason a wink and walking away. “It seems like someone’s caught the fancy of a princess.” I said with a small chuckle.
“Yeah, that happens a lot.” Jason strolled over to the clothing store, gesturing for us to follow. “So Clover, what makes you think I have a herd?”
We went to the door and Clover raised an eyebrow. “Well, it would be almost criminal if strapping stallions didn’t have herds.” she said at the door, “With there being so few males when compared to females, I just assumed you belonged to a herd.” The others all went inside while I quirked an eyebrow at her and looked to Jason before following.
“oh no, I am,” he chuckled, a smile on his face. “It's just not a common practice anymore.”
“What are you saying?” Clover began with a bemused look, “herds are all over Equestria. It is curious for there not to be herds. Even before the unification one hundred years ago there were herds.” “One hundred years?” the bat pony said, wide eyed. “I don't understand. I was told about it just three days ago...the summit was only one week ago.” The other newly resurrected mares all nodded with agreement, their eyes filled with disbelief. Clover looked at them in shock before her ears flattened to her head with a far-off look in her eyes. “The unification happened one hundred years ago. The fire of Devotion still burns on in the cave at the base of Mount Canterlot.” The mare looked at Clover in complete shock, her grip on my arm tightening as tears welled in the corners of her eyes. Clover swallowed before continuing. “The wounded warriors that died that day were given a preservation spell, so their bodies would be able to be visited and respects could be payed for thousands of years.” The mare once more tightened her grip on my arm. “The medic said I would live...said my body could fight the poison.” Clover looked to the mare with a sad smile but said nothing more. The other once more buried her muzzle into me and wept. I only stood there, I had no words that I could say.
“Hey.” Jason reached out, turning her head towards him. “You've been given a second chance, you're the start of a new tribe, don't get bogged down in self pity.”
“I...I'm sorry,” she said diverting her gaze from Jason, “I know it's a weak thing to do but...I miss my family. My mother...my father…” The mare tried her best to calm herself down before I cleared my throat. “I know how you feel.” I told her softly, “My friends are back at home, as is my mother, Lilly. I miss them but we can't spend our time in the past. The gods shall help us on our path but we must be the ones to walk it.” With that, the mare fell silent. She slowly let go and a smile came to her face. There was still sadness in her eyes but there was also one more thing, hope. “Then I guess first I should get myself some new clothes.” she said before smirking to me “Mayhaps something that won't hinder a certain stallion’s view of my body?” The heat came back with a vengeance as she winked and giggled.
“It's on the crown,” Jason informed the owner, leaning on the wall.
The unicorn behind the counter, a pearly white mare with a red mane nodded her head and gestured to the dressing rooms for the mares. “I will not hear anything of it. I can give the dears some clothes, maybe something for more private times as well?” She said with a wink. The heat behind my cheeks had turned into a blazing inferno at that and I joined Jason against the wall. “Geez, these ponies really know how to turn up the heat.” I said with a sigh of defeat.
“Hey, no use in fighting it.” Jason smirked, looking down at his shoes.
“Never said I was against it.” I mumbled, glancing at the dressing room the mare went to, then to Clover. “Just not used to it is all.” The unicorn behind the counter came up to the two with her hand below her chin. She hummed a bit before snapping her fingers. “Come, come, dear colts, can’t have them having all the fun.” she said with a giggle, “Mystique’s Boutique also has clothes for stallions.”
“Oh no.” Jason shook his head. “Rarity would be pissed if I let anyone else make my clothes.”
“I...uh...I think I’m fine.” I said as she dragged me over to an empty dressing room. “Oh, there's no doubting that, young stallion, I shall just make you go from fine to amazing!” Mystique sang as she pulled me into the dressing room. Clover began laughing heartily at my predicament and leaned against the wall and waving at me as I was finally pulled inside. “He never stood a chance.” she giggled. Time seemed to flow a bit longer as I was in the dressing room and being fitted. After a while I finally emerged wearing puffy and baggy clothes that looked like they belonged on a Shakespearean actor. The shirt was a perfect silk that felt heavenly and was frilled at the chest and the sleeves proofed. The royal red pants were baggy and easy to move in while the shoes looked like a hardened leather but felt like they were made of clouds. I sighed before fixing mystique with a small glare. “Oh, come now, I’m sure your comrades will agree with me. You look positively dashing.”
Jason let out a barking laugh. “You look like an idiot.”
“I feel like an idiot.” I said before going back into the dressing room and not letting Mystique inside as I changed. “Well, I never!” She harrumphed. “Mystique, he has to fight in his clothes, you know.” “Such a shame. A mare should be the one to fight, not a stallion.” In less time I came out with some black pants that were made of a tough material that was still easy to move in. Instead of a full shirt, the top looked like a kimono with one of the sleeves behind his back, exposing a shoulder that had a tattoo of a dragon going around a yin yang sign. My hands were taped and his beads were on his right wrist.
“I'm gonna be honest, the gender norms are getting a little irritating,” Jason pointed out, giving both mares a flat look.
“Oh, sorry dear, it's just, there are already so few stallions out there.” Mystique began, “They only just started allowing stallions to fight. I guess I'm just still getting used to it.” Clover looked to Jason with hurt eyes. “I’m sorry, Jason, I didn't mean to offend. The Princesses are working on making stallions being seen as equals but it’s hard to overcome prejudice. My mother still thinks unicorns are superior to everything else…”
“It's fine.” Jason pushed away from the wall, stretching out. “It's just, the Equestria I'm from is at least a thousand years in the future, so, this isn't even an issue.”
“The future?!” said Clover with her eyes growing wide. “Oh! There are so many things we could learn from you! What time are you from? What’s the state of our nation? Have we finally achieved peace?” I closed the mare’s mouth and sighed a bit. “No ruining the future, Twi-I mean, Clover.” I said, “If you stress about it it could ruin the future.”
“Of course, making these new tribes will change a few things.” Jason winked, flashing a smile.
The sound of another dressing room opening came before a mare pulled my arm to her chest, pushing it against her, now clothed, breasts. The heat returned to my cheeks as I turned and saw the bat mare smiling at me. She was wearing a classy, yet form fitting, white dress that reminded me of something an Ancient Greek might wear. She reminded me of Sophitia from Soulcalibur. “Now then,” she said with half-lidded eyes, “I don't think, I've told you my name yet…” I couldn't even reply to her. My brain was too busy registering what was going on. Then, it went haywire as I felt a soft sensation on my lips, she had kissed me. “I am Songbird.” She whispered as she parted her lips from mine. Clover quickly grabbed my other arm and I looked to Jason. “Jason, what just happened?”
“You were just kissed by Songbird here,” Jason replied. “I am rather surprised she's lavishing her affections on you.”
“I have a habit of not stepping on another herd’s hooves.” Songbird said “I don't think your herd would appreciate another mare trying to court you.”
“Actually, I can sleep with whoever I want.” Jason ran a hand through his hair. “You have no idea how many kids I have.”
“You have kids?” I asked a bit bewildered “you've been here long enough to HAVE kids?”
“I first came to Equestria when I was 21, I'm thirty five now.”
“Well, can't say I don't want to have kids…” I muttered to get both my arms hugged “So, I guess, I should hurry and fight these demons so I can get some.”
“Doesn't look like you'll have a shortage of mares,” Jason offered, looking over as the other mares left their changing rooms.
I looked to the mares that all wore the same Greek style before looking back at Jason. “I uh...I guess you have me there.” I said before getting serious once more, “I may need help with a certain skeletal asshole though.” I offered with a smirk.
“You make it sound like I'm leaving soon.” Jason patted my shoulder. “I'm offering to train you and Equestria’s soldiers in the various things I know. However.” He held his hand up. “I'm only going to involve myself in your battles if it's dire. Teach a man to fish and all that.”
I smiled a bit and bowed at the other man. “I would be honored to train under you, though I may need a few drinks beforehand.” I said with a chuckle. “There's a lot that's happened and I think a drink and a spar would be great.”
A Nephalem and a Jötunn part 3: Between a Jötunn and a Hard Place
After a bit of time, I met Jason outside the town walls, cracking my neck as I quickly ran through all the ways the monk would fight in the games and let out a slow breath as I got into a fighting stance, my knuckles glowing with holy elemental power. I had no idea what to expect but I still smirked. The mares had all come to the town’s entrance to watch the scuffle, Songbird, Clover and Luna, for some reason, were closest to the action, sitting with tense anticipation.
“So, Mr Hughes, you ready to start this off?” I asked, watching the man closely but still giving a friendly smirk.
“Are you?” Jason kept his hoodie on, his eyes following my movements.
“Does the pope shit in the Vatican?” I said, taking a small step forward, keeping my stance.
Jason cracked his neck getting into his own stance. He winked and suddenly, I was thrown into a wall. “Think you can trust your eyes?”
I fell from the wall and cracked my back. “By the gods, that hurt. Seems a might have to be more adaptive.” I said before launching at Jason and bringing my glowing kick down on him. He caught my leg, tossing me into the ground. I grunted, jumping back to my feet before throwing a few punches at him as fast as I could and then going for a head butt.
Jason countered my punches, ducking down and ramming his shoulder into my chest. I coughed and stumbled back a bit before trying to punch him again, shaking my head slightly to clear my vision from a bit of haze.
“That all?” Jason asked, grabbing my fist and twisting it.
I grunted before looking up to the sky, a beam of light striking me, healing everything and knocking Jason back a bit. I then launched with greater speed giving faster and faster punches and kicks before aiming my right palm for his face.
“Feel the wrath of Ytar!” I yelled, a pulse of holy energy hitting Jason before I started breathing heavily.
Jason tumbled away, and after a few moments rose back to his feet. He grimaced, a large burn going across his face. He flicked his wrist, releasing a bit of magic, the burn quickly healing. I took a deep breath and took another stance waiting for the next nove of the, obviously superior, warrior.
“Okay, you don't totally suck.” Jason narrowed his eyes,cracking his knuckles.
“Well gee…” I said regaining any energy. “thanks for the vote of confidence, Jason.”
He grinned, suddenly in front of me. He punched me in the gut, knocking me back with a burst of wind. I rolled with it before jumping to my feet, trying to keep my balance. I leapt toward Jasone in a blink with a punch to his cheek. He took the punch, hitting me with a fire ball.We I prepared myself to burn but the flame just went around like a twister not harming me at all.
“How’d I do this already?” I mumbled before a man of fire formed from I the flames, causing them to disappear.
“I have been sent by the Ytar.” came it's crackling voice “I am an elemental. Here to assist in battle.”
The fire being then looked to Jason, it's yellow eyes burning passively. It then tried to hit him with a flaming punch.
Jason grabbed its fist, freezing it solid before shattering it. “They do know this is a sparing match right?”
I just sighed. “In all honesty, I'm not sure. I hardly knew what the Angels were thinking in the game besides hating demons. The pantheon really can be strange at times.”
The elemental looked at Jason again, regrowing his arm before looking to me.
“We are sorry Nephalem.” it crackled
“My name is Ren, you know.”
“Apologies, Nephalem.”
I sighed before I gestured him to sit with the others and looked at Jason.”
“Sorry. Where were we?” I asked back as I back stepped.
“I dunno, are they gonna interrupt again?”
“Honestly, I'm surprised they even interrupted in the first place.” I said holding up my stance again.
Jason rolled his eyes, casting a trio of spells on himself. He grinned, his body flashing yellow. He darted forward, moving like he was in fast forward.
“Is that a fucking haste spell?!” I shouted trying to dodge any hits he launched.
“Along with Shell and Protect.” He slide his leg behind mine, sweeping it off the ground. He grabbed my neck, driving me into the ground.
I coughed and looked at the warrior.
“Hey Jason, do you know what the best thing about being a monk is?”
“Can it save you from taking Ultima to the face?” Jason asked, bringing his other hand up, a strange, multicolored distortion dancing in his palm.
“Oh you cheap ass-” I started before I summoned another strike of holy energy to hit up, hoping to cancel the broken spell.
“Ah, ah, ah.” Jason shock his head. “Do you want me to leave a crater? This happens to be the version that destroyed a planet.’
“Of course you’d have the most broken incarnation of the spell.” I sighed, “So, what do I do to make you dispel the damn magic nuke?”
“Nothing. I win.” He got up, extinguishing it by closing his hand. “Git gud scrub.”
“Can I haz alcohol now?” I said before getting up and cracking my back.
“Yeah.” He nodded, smiling at me. “it's all on me.”
“Nonsense!” shouted Luna pulling them both into a hug, pressing her D cups into the two of us. “The merriment shall be on us! Never have we seen anypony, stallion on mare, fight with such strength!”
I just swallowed hard before I was pulled away from her by Songbird and Clover, who then pressed into either side of me with a squee. Luna smirked as she pressed her chest into Jason more with a look of triumph.
We all went into a pub, run by a bubblegum pink pony with a red, curly mane and in a bar wench outfit. She was darting, table to table, bringing various drinks to tables. She then jumped in front of the group, full of energy.
“Hi, I'm Surprise, what can I get y’all?” she said with a slight southern accent.
“Whatever the hardest drink you have is.” Jason took a seat, putting his feet on the table.
The mare took off to the bar to get the drinks together as the rest of us sat down. I sighed, putting my elbows on the table and put my head in my hands as the two mares flanked me on either side.
“What? Don't like having sexy woman hang off you?” Jason questioned, raising his eyebrow.
“It's not that.” I started with a weak chuckle, “I just can't get the thought of my world out of my head. I thought I saw Diablo’s black stone before I was ‘displaced.’” I looked to Jason with serious eyes. “I thought all of this was supposed to be a cartoon or a game not both and not real.”
“It's the multiverse,” Jason explained, shrugging. “Everything and everyone exists somewhere out there.”
“So you were being serious about the multiverse?” Clover asked, wide-eyed. “Starswirl has been talking about it for the past few months but I thought it was my teacher just spouting nonsense.”
Luna rose her eyebrow at Jason. “Doeth thou mean to say that thou art from another universe?”
“Of course that’s what he’s saying, silly.” Surprise exclaimed from behind Jason before starting to set down a drinks ranging from ones that looked like vodka to mead. She giggled at the surprised look I had. “Oh, you’ll get used to this kinda stuff, sugar. Also, welcome to our town.” She finished with a wink.
I took a swig of my drink and let out a hum. The familiar taste of the cornmeal based drink that is whiskey. I kept drinking as Luna tried her best to “woo” Jason. I knew that if there was one meme I thought I'd embrace, it'd be the next line I mumbled.
“Curse these ponies, they’ll drive me to drink.”
Songbird giggled as she began drinking her amber drink and Clover sighed contentedly sipping her clear drink.
“Comin’ on strong aint ya Luna?” Jason asked, all ready on his eighth drink.
The princess giggled with her cheeks taking on a slightly red tinge.
“Art thou saying you object?” she slurred finishing her fourth before running her tongue up the glass. “I doth love a stallion that's nice and strong.”
“Oh no, I like it.” He winked at her. “Never been with an alicorn before.”
“Well, perhaps we can fix that?” She hiccuped with a singsong voice.
Clover rolled her eyes while the princess wasn't looking and Songbird giggled more, her own cheeks beginning to tinge and her head resting on my shoulder. I rise an eyebrow finishing my fifth drink looking between Clover and Jason.
“Are we the only ones here with a higher alcohol tolerance?”
“No.” spoke Clover, after finishing her second shot and sipping a water, “I know my limits and don't drink enough to get drunk.”
“Normal drink doesn't affect me.” Jason shrugged. “I got a goat for the good stuff.”
“Good stuff?” I asked, starting my next drink.
“I milk a goat for Mead, what do you think?”
“Wait, wait, wait. You have the full Viking mythos in your world?!” I shouted with wide-eyes, “What does Yggdrasil look like? What about Niddhögr? What's Surt like in real life?”
“Yggdrasil is a tree of incomprehensible size that floats in the void, I sealed Muspelheim, and Nidhogg just naws on the roots, every waking second.”
“I mean, what does it look like? I've heard he’s supposed to be a worm, serpent or dragon. Sorry, just love the mythos of nearly every place out there.”
“I dunno.” Jason shrugged. “I don’t like to go into the void that often.”
“The void was the area between universes, right?” I said, as a very tipsy Songbird finished off my nearly forgotten drink.
“Yeah, mortal beings can't survive there.”
“So since it’s the void, does that mean it's infinitely big or infinitely small?” said a slightly tipsy Clover as Luna nuzzled into Jason’s neck.
“Probably both.” Jason chuckled, putting his arm around Luna.
“So, you wouldn't happen to have any of this ‘good stuff’ on you, would you?” I asked before looking into my empty glass with a slight frown.
“You couldn't handle it.” Jason shook his head.
I gave a slight glare to the Jötunn. “Is that a fact?”
“Yeah, yeah it is.”
Surprise refilled my glass and I drank giving a grunt of annoyance. It took a few more drinks before the alcohol finally started to take effect, giving me that warmth that settles in your stomach. I gave a content sigh and the mares on either side of me did the same with a smile. Luna,who had become a bit more than tipsy giggled and snuggled into Jason.
Jason scratched her ears, sipping at his last drink.
“You might want to stop that, man.” I chuckled, “Keep that up and she might just ravage you.”
Luna pouted at my words but, nonetheless, leaned her head into Jason’s fingers’ ministrations giving off a bit of a warm sigh as her wing draped over the Jötunn.
“So,” Songbird slurred with a giggle, “what are your ur herd mates like mr god?”
Clover rolled her eyes but payed attention, nonetheless, her interest piqued.
“Who do you want to know about? I have three.” Jason it his cup down, looking at us.
“Three?!” I exclaimed, nearly spitting out the last of my drink. “That’s quite the harem. Who are they?”
“Rarity Belle, Chrysalis and the third is more of an extended thing. A displaced in the form of Vash the Stampede.”
“Nice group, man.” I said as Surprise poured me another glass. “So, how’s the one in the different universe working out? I assume you and him at least get some alone time?”
“I haven't seen him in years.” Jason shrugged. “It was a blackout drunk kinda thing. Didn't expect to ever get Loki'd.”
“Are you referring to when Loki became a female?” I asked looking him up and down before taking a drink of my whiskey. “That musta been a sight.”
Luna giggled bubbly. “Turned into a mare? Now I wish I could've seen that.” Jason gave her a smile, shifting into a rather appealing female version of himself. She just looked at him with wide eyes for a moment, her wings snapping open before she coughed and barely managed to put her her wings down. “Change back. Then you, me, relations. Now!”
The other mares giggled at their princess’ reaction before Songbird nuzzled my shoulder. I merely looked at the Jötunn, my face gaining a new hue of red. I couldn't even start a response to what I saw Jason do except a few, tongue-tied attempts.
“I don't need the watch to shape shift,” Jason explained, changing back.
“That. Was. Pretty hot, Jason.” I said before I chugged the rest of the drink. “Does that mean you can turn into the aliens without the watch too?”
Before anything more could be said, the door to the pub slammed open and an old unicorn stallion came in with an old toga, messy and stained, his mane frazzled from lack of sleep and an uncaring attitude for one's appearance, who started to mumble to himself various randomness and magical equations. He quickly looked at our table and he darted over, looking Jason and me over closely, much to my surprise.
“Professor?” Clover started, Luna face palming at the unicorn’s actions.
“Yes, yes, Clover, I’ll check over your findings later.” he said, going back to his inspection. “I knew it!” the unicorn shouted with a manic grin, his eye twitching, “I knew there were beings from other dimensions here! The ether analysis was right!”
The unicorn then took out a few needles and made like he was going to take some blood, on reflex, I punched the random pony who looked completely shocked at my actions. I looked to Jason for backup and gestured to the lunatic.
“Starswirl,” Jason introduced.
“Oh. Yes that would be me.” The unicorn said, shaking off his shock. “The smartest unicorn to grace Equis.” He said, with a grin before bringing up the needles again. I glared at him as he approached.
“I don't care who you are, no sticking any needles in my arm without reason!” I growled, causing Clover to caress my arm in an attempt to calm me down.
“This is for science, creature!” he argued.
“That's not a good enough reason to take my blood! What next? A sperm sample?”
“Don't be silly!” Starswirl scoffed, “Hair and tissue samples are next.”
I groaned looking to Jason. “He’s not how I was expecting he’d be.”
“Oh? Just how didst thou perceive, Ser Starswirl?” asked Luna with the other mares looking at me confusedly.
I just looked at them all a bit, my mind rapidly sobering up.
“Oh, you know, more…scholarly?” I said weakly not wanting to compare him to a character that isn't even born yet. “I mean, not so…personal bubble popping?”
Starswirl just chuckled and look at me like an idiot.
“Oh, come now, creature. This is all for science. I cannot be bothered with such ridiculous things as ‘space.’”
Luna just perked up and looked at Jason.
“We hath our own experiment for you.” she said hotly, nibbling the Jötunn’s ear. “What say we test thou’s...stamina?”
“I think you’ll give out long before me.” Jason smirked, putting his arm around her.
“Didst thou just issue us a challenge?” Luna smirked back while giving a playful glare.
“No, just simply stating a fact Luna.”
“Well,” Luna replied with a huff, “we shall prove thou wrong!”
Luna then pulled Jason out of the bar shouting something about the fun being doubled, much to my amusement as well as my chagrin. I slowly pushed my chair out and got up before Starswirl put his hand on my shoulder.
“Now, now,” the coock began, “we have some tests to run on thou as well.”
“I apologize, Ren,” Clover said with a strained smile, “ please just humor him? I’d be grateful if you did.”
“I think she means sexy times follow…” giggled Songbird.
“I said no such thing!”
“But you were thinking it.”
I just tiredly sighed at the back and forth before I nodded.
“Fine.” I said, “but just blood, okay. Also, I'm not just some animal.”