> The Freelancer and The Huntsman
>  by DarkSpider
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> 1. Fun Times and Strange Offers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So exactly who are you supposed to be, Stevey?” A guy in a black and gold set of Halo armor asked, his voice slightly muffled from his helmet.

“Oh just an old RWBY OC of mine I designed a while back,” a boy who was wearing a blue and white hoodie, black tracksuit bottoms along with some blue and white trainers, admitted with a smile. He had black hair with a blue and white stripes on the fringe along with a pair of black sunglasses.

“Eh, I'd stick to actual characters.”

“You would Treny… or should I call you Wash for today? You never had any creativity. Why be the same as everyone else? Other groups would have already took all the good costumes anyway.” 

“Screw you, Steven. And don't call me Treny. You KNOW how much that pisses me off.”

“But it got you into character didn’t it,” Steven chuckled.

The armored guy just looked at his companion for a moment before walking away without a word.

“I’d almost say you were Washington… all we need now is a car to hit you and I could make the claim,” Steven said as he walked up next to him his hands behind his head.

Trent laughed sarcastically. “Oh haha. Real fucking funny. So what do we do now?”

“Walk around… see some of the guests… buy some souvenirs and enjoy the day,” Steven replied.

“So basically the same as any other convention, eh? All right. Lead the way.”

“What else were we gonna do?” Steven chuckled before looking forwards to see two people ahead them at a nearby stall, one of them had what looked to be a hammer of some kind on her shoulders whilst the other looked to have a sword on his back and putting something on his face.

“Not a bad Amy Rose cosplay,” Steven admitted to Trent, who nodded in agreement.

“Maybe and…” Trent looked back and noticed they were gone. “...where'd they go?”

“I actually don’t know… they just faded from existence in front of my eyes… how about we don’t go to that stall?”

Trent nodded. “Yeah. I agree.”

“Well what should we look at first? I’ll let you decide this one being I decided that we’d come here?”

“Hmm…”





One hour later

“Well… what now?” Steven asked as he looked at some of the nearby stalls wares many of them selling nothing that interested him.

“Hell if I know,” Trent responded with a shrug. “Hopefully someone here has SOMETHING good “

“As long as we avoid that one stall I don’t care,” Steven admitted as he stopped at a nearby stall that looked to be selling objects ranging from strange swords to pieces of parchment, before he added “This stuff looks promising.”

“Eh. Let's see what they got.”

They both then looked at the wares as they saw that on display were three weapons that interested Trent, these being three Halo weapons, these being a pistol, shotgun and a rifle.

“I see something you're missing to complete your look Wash,” Steven chuckled gesturing to the guns. 

“No shit. So is there anything here you'd like?”

“Nothing looks to fit.” Steven sighed.

Seconds later, a tall man dressed completely in red spartan armour appeared in the stall before he said “Are you a red or a dirty blue soldier?”

Trent looked at him for a moment before saying, “Um...neither, technically.”

“Relax… I just like playing the part kiddo… even I can’t stand that guy. A friend of mine said I should go and ask like him,” the man chuckled before placing a hand out to Trent “The names Andrew.”

Trent shook his hand. “Trent. And this guy is my friend, Steven.”

“So we have an unarmed Freelancer agent and an unarmed Huntsman… not very well equipped are you?”

“And how did you know that?” Steven asked.

“I was walking around an hour ago and heard you say you came as your RWBY OC… also helps a lot of people do that here, you get used to what costumes are supposed to be after a while.”

“...So you're a creepy stalker?” Steven pointed out.

“Trust me… there are many vendors here who fit that more than me.”

“Like that weirdo who kidnapped two people earlier?” Trent asked.

“...Kid… you need to be careful who hears you say that stuff… some vendors will have your hides if they hear you,” Andrew warned as he looked around himself nervously.

“Oh really?”

“That vendor is the worst of the worst for it, he doesn’t care how you end up after one of his deals.”

“So those two guys are pretty much screwed?”

“Not always, some get lucky… depends what they bought from him,” Andrew admitted.

“Wonder what happened to them…”

“If I had to guess… they’re in a new reality,” Andrew admitted.

Trent just looked at him for a few seconds before tilting his head. “I'm sorry, WHAT?”

“Did you say a different reality?” Steven asked in surprise.

“I did… I’m different to the others who do this to people. I know the cost of it on their families better than most.”

“Okay, what the hell are you talking about?” Trent asked.

“That man you saw is commonly know as the Merchant, he tricks people into buying his products at prices that are too hard to resist before sending them to new realities against their will. I, on other hand, don’t force it on people. I tell them what's gonna happen and continue to support them after.” Andrew admitted. “People like those you saw need help recovering from what happened to them. They need people who are willing to help them.”

“...Trent… he’s not lying at all. He’s being honest.” Steven told his friend.

“How the hell will you know that?” Trent asked.

“He didn’t pause when he was explaining it, he’s not acting defensively when you asked him what he meant and he’s stilling looking us in the face in a way to speak,” Steven admitted.

“He can be a psycho or high as fuck.“

“If I was psycho, you think I would have been allowed to open a stall here,” Andrew pointed out as he took of his helmet to show them his face which showed that he had bright green eyes and a messy head of black hair.

“There are obvious psychos, like Joker and Needles Kane, then there's subtle psychos. You can be one of the latter.”

“If I was a psycho then why do you think I know what happened to those two people you saw?" Andrew pointed out. “If I’m a psycho for knowing that, what does that mean for you who saw it happen?”

Trent stood silent for a moment before sighing. “Okay, you got me there.”

“Will you just hear me out? Most people don’t manage to see it happen even in a packed area. The fact you saw it happen speaks volumes. You two could both help them… same as my son tries to do.”

“...You’re saying someone in your family had this happen to them… why tell us this?” Steven asked.

“Because I lost him because of a man like that vendor, but this one took him from his own home. I could only stop him from being taken away completely by stopping them.”

“So what do we have to do with this?” Trent said.

“I think you could both help me find those who need help. Those who are now lost. But I feel like I should warn you… there’s little chance anyone who is tricked by people like him can get back… it’s almost always a one way trip.”

“What about their families and friends.”

“...As I said, they think them dead, and many never find out the truth. I try to ensure that the families of those who get tricked at least find something to know they're gone so they can at least grieve… or I create a clone of the person to take their place,” Andrew admitted.

“Okay…”

“Look, I know this is hard to believe, and I can’t blame you for thinking I’m a liar… but I believe everything happens for a reason… maybe the reason you saw what happened today was to help people like them… if you wish I will leave a clone of you both in this world to take your places.”

“And exactly what's in it for us? We won't be able to see our love ones again, so we should get at least something out of this.”

“Tell me… why did you pick your costumes?” Andrew asked.

“I just like Wash. He was a badass and had a few funny moments with him.”

“I guess… I always wanted to be my OC… I wanted to feel significant,” Steven admitted.

“What if you could become them?" Andrew asked. "Powers, equipment, skills, everything.”

“Wait, seriously?” Trent said, surprised. “No kidding?”

Andrew gave him a deadpan expression. “No... I’m telling you all this just to mock you. Of course l’m serious! All people who have this happen to them take the form and powers of what they were dressed as and brought from their vendor.” 

Trent looked at himself and then at Steven. “What do you think about all this, Steve?”

“Sounds too good to be true,” Steven commented.

“I’ll admit it, if I hadn’t done this so much I would have said the same thing,” Andrew admitted as he put his helmet back on, “So… what takes your fancy Agent Washington?”

Trent looked at the guns. “How much for these?”

“You're helping others and you know my secret. So for the guns it would cost a fortune under normal circumstances, but…I’ll give you the three on display along with a AI chip for the Epsilon AI, for only thirty dollars.”

“Wait, Epsilon? Really?”

“As in Church, and yes I am serious. I do my best to help those who buy from me.” Andrew explained as he rolled his eyes under his helmet.

Trent shrugged. “Okay then.” He reached into his backpack and pulled out his wallet before taking out the money and giving it to Andrew.

“And what about you, friend? A Huntsman without a weapon, we can’t have that. Let me see what I have for you.” Andrew said as he reached under the counter pulling out a case that held two swords. 

The swords almost looked mechanical in nature, their colour schemes looking similar but switch between the hilt and blades. The first had a white hilt and a black blade whilst the second had a black hilt  with a white blade.

“These are the swords known together as Sacred Darkness. Separately they are unnamed, so I’ll leave that task to you.”

“And what do they do exactly?” Steven asked curiously looking at the blades.

“The one with the black blade can turn into a machine gun, whilst the other turns into a long range sniper rifle that has a bayonet below it, and they're only ten dollars a piece… what do you think?”

“Trent… what’s your opinion on these things?” Steven asked curiously.

“Not bad,” Trent said. He then turned to Andrew and said, “Though, what should we expect from this?” 

“Honestly… I couldn’t tell you, each reality is different with it’s own quirks… but they always have things from whatever you brought in them… so in your cases things from Red Vs Blue and RWBY,” Andrew told them. "Apart from that, I couldn’t tell you.”

“So, we're going to some random, alternate universe, with little to no chance of seeing our love ones ever again, and becoming fictional characters, weapons, skills, and all that, in order to help people who went through the same thing, but without knowing the consequences. Am I missing anything?”

“Not really… just that I fully intend to help you in any way I can once you get there.”

“Before we do this, answer me this. How can we help these kinds of people, if they'll be in different realities?”

“When you are used to your powers and abilities I will explain everything about that. To start with, you should learn how to use your new stuff when you arrive, find somewhere to stay and all that. I’ll try to drop you near some sort of civilization.”

Trent sighed. “Okay then. You said you can make copies of us so no one knows what happened?”

“If you wish I will do that, they’ll have your memories and live your lives like you would have.”

“Up until we came here?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Andrew said.

“Yeah...I think that's best for me. Rather my family doesn't know about any of this. At least then they won't mourn…”

“Honestly… you know where I came from Trent. They wouldn’t care if I did disappear.” Steve admitted with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Okay, then just do it for me.”

“If you are sure that’s what you both want.” Andrew said calmly as he removed the swords from their cases before putting them into their scabbards and passing each of the products that they had brought to them.

Trent shrugged. “Hey, who knows, might be interesting. Though, if this actually happens, I'm glad I didn't dress as Church.”

“...You realise that you will have Church nagging you right? Maybe you’ll be like Carolina by the end… oh and heads up your gears will stick to your suit, they seem to stick to you instead of needing a sling to hold any guns,” Andrew admitted.

“Between having him in my head, and constantly dying as Church, I prefer former. As for the magnet  thing, that'd be useful for holding them.” He then grabbed the shotgun and placed it on his back, where it stuck to perfectly. “Cool, it works.”

“Yeah it does,” Steven added as he placed both scabbards at his sides before he added “Wait… you mentioned we’d have to deal with things from Red Vs Blue and RWBY right?”

“Yes… Yes I did,” Andrew admitted with a smile.

Trent grabbed the pistol and put it on his right hip. “As long as there's no idiot like Caboose I'll need to deal with, that might not be so bad.” He then picked up the rifle.

“Right… you ready for the AI chip?”

“Is this gonna be painful?”

“You really want me to answer that?” Andrew replied as he walked out of his stall behind Trent’s back.

“Wait what?”

“Okay, and now,” Andrew said before attaching the AI chip to the back of Trent’s neck.

“Okay then… so, now what?”

“Now you disappear,” Andrew replied with a smile.

“Wait… wha….” Steven said as his knees suddenly began to give way as he grabbed his head in pain.

Trent looked at his friend in shock before he took a knee and grabbed his head in pain. “GAH! MY FUCKING HEAD!!”

“Have fun,” Andrew added as he clicked his fingers before a portal opened below them as they both fell through.
> 2. New Companion and Strange New World
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Ugh…What hit me?” Steven asked as he slowly began to wake up whilst rubbing the side of his head.

He then slowly looked up to see that he was in some sort of tattered, decaying stone room. Some of the walls seemed to have once been made of wood but had decayed over time but was still able to support what was left of the room. At the back of the room were two stone thrones with what looked to be two damaged flags that seemed to have a faded symbol of some kind on them, those being the Sun and the Moon.

“Well… I guess that man was telling the truth,” Steven added as he looked around the room to see Trent on the ground, seeming to still be unconscious before he said, “Trent… I think you should get up.” He shook Trent's body in an attempt to stir him from his slumber.

Trent groaned. “Five more minutes, ma.”

“Trent, we ain’t home. Would I be waking you if you were?” Steven asked.

Trent sighed and sat up, opening his eyes under his helmet. “Hey Steve. What happened?” He asked as he placed a hand on his head, his voice no longer muffled.

“How much can you remember from before we fell asleep?” 

“Let's see...we were at a convention, we ran into some guy in red armor, and...he told us about being sent to another reality?”

“So with that information… what do you think has happened?”

Trent lifted a finger before looking around. “Uh, where are we?”

“In some sort of decaying building. I just woke up so I’m clueless as to where we are as well,” Steven admitted.

“Fantastic.”

“Is this another alien temple?” Trent heard a familiar voice say in his head.

“What do you mean temple?” Trent asked Steven.

“I didn’t say anything about a temple,” Steven admitted in confusion.

“Then who did?”

“I did.”

Trent looked around. “Okay, am I the only one hearing that?”

“The only one hearing what?”

“I think he means me,” the voice said, before a small figure in white armor similar to Trent appeared, floating in midair.

Trent looked at the figure for a moment before turning to Steven and saying, “You see the small guy too, right?”

“Yes, yes I do… and he looks somewhat familiar.”

“Hey, I'm standing right here,” the figure said.

“And you are?” Steven asked.

“Names Church. Who the hell are you?”

Steven then looked to Trent before he said, “Please say I misheard what he said.”

Trent then snapped his fingers. “Didn't that Andrew guy say he'll give me the Epsilon AI with the guns?”

“Oh son of a bitch,” Steven groaned.

“What are you talking about?” Church asked Trent. “And seriously Wash, where the hell are we and why are we here?”

Trent looked at Steven. “What do you think we should tell him?”

“He’s your AI… you work this out,” Steven suggested.

Trent glared at Steven before sighing and looking at Church. “Epsilon, we're here because some guy sent us to help some people. That's all I can tell you right now until I know more. As for where we are, I don't know. I guess we should look around to find out.”

Church looked at him for a moment until he shrugged. “Okay then.” With that, he disappeared.

Trent turned back to Steven. “Where should we go first?”

“Well considering we have no food, maybe that should be a priority,” Steven pointed out.

“That's WHAT we should DO, not WHERE we should GO.”

“Let me finish. And for where we should go, we should find civilization and find out what we have nearby.”

“Fine.” Trent looked at the floor and saw his rifle. He looked at his back and his hip and saw his shotgun and pistol were still on him. He then picked up his rifle and turned back to Steven. “Okay, lead the way.”

“We better find some high ground so we can work out where to go,” Steven suggested.

“You know, I think first we should focus on getting out of here.”

“And how will we do that if we don’t know which direction we can actually head in and what is actually nearby to head towards.”

Trent shrugged. “Let's just walk out of this room, and see where we end up. Better than just standing around and talking until we die of starvation.” Trent then walked away.

“Well if you're sure,” Steven replied hesitantly before he began to follow.

“So, any idea how to use those?” Trent said, gesturing to the weapons on Steven's hips.

“Nope,” Steven admitted.

“Hmm. Well, any idea what he meant when he said we'd have to deal with stuff from RWBY and Red vs Blue?”

“I guess he means we’d be fighting that sort of stuff. So I’d assume Grimm may be one of them,” Steven admitted.

“Well fuck.”

”Grimm?” Church asked Trent. ”Like the Grim Reaper?”

“No, Grimm are black and white creatures that range from large bears to giant scorpions, and are very deadly.” Trent said, before looking to Steven. “Anything else worth mentioning about them?”

“Umm… just they're able to survive almost anywhere, and they are attracted to any negative emotions, like hate and anger.”

“So, like Omega?”

Trent shrugged. “Basically. Luckily, I remember that any kind of weapon can harm them if you don't hit armor, so I'm good.” He waved around his rifle to emphasize his point.

“Talking to Epsilon again?” Steven sighed.

Trent nodded. “Yeah. Dude's wondering about Grimm. Why?”

“Just give me a heads up if you’re not talking to me, okay?”

“Noted.” Trent looked at the decaying walls. “Man, how old is this place?”

“If I knew I’d tell you, but most likely pretty damn old.”

“I could've told you that.” Trent then sighed. “Hopefully we can find the exit soon.”

“Let’s hope that’s the case,” Steven admitted as they saw what looked to be dim light in the distance. “Maybe that will lead to something.”

“Then let's go.” Trent then ran off towards the light.

“Yeah… lets see where we exactly are,” Steven muttered under his breath as he ran off after Trent.





As they both got outside they looked around to see that in front of them was some sort of gorge that seemed to be cut off from the rest of area the only connection being a now destroyed bridge.

“Well… that says a lot for our current situation,” Steven sighed in annoyance.

“Yeah…” Wash took a deep breath. “Now what do we do?”

“I don’t know,” Steven admitted, “We can’t get off this place unless we can find a way to cross this gorge.”

Trent looked down the ledge and saw nothing but fog. “No idea how deep it is. And I don't exactly want to test if this armor can take fall damage right now.”

“Well whatever this place is, it seems to be secluded and hidden. It must hold some sort of significance.”

“Like what?” Trent looked at the structure. “Looks like a ruin you'd find in a place like Rome or something.”

“I guess we need to hope someone else comes and finds this place and, by extension, us.”

“And how the hell will they be able help us? Fly over here and fix the bridge?”

Suddenly they heard a scream that seemed to come from beyond the fogline before Steven said, “I get a feeling someone's on the other side. Let's head back and watch from afar. There must be a reason why they are here.”

“Okay then. Lead the way.” Trent replied before they both disappeared behind a collapsed wall that seemed to be able to obscure them from sight.

Within seconds, a cyan figure landed nearby, with ropes in its hands. It tied one to a small post before it started to worked on the second one. However before it could tie it to the other post, three dark lights appeared that the figure seemed to miss.

“You see that?” Steven asked reaching towards one of his blades almost as if it was a natural reflex to him.

“Yeah,” Trent whispered, keeping his rifle close.

“Something's wrong here,” Steven added as he noticed a small trigger on the handle of the sword which he pressed it down as down before the the blade of the gun separated into two, the bottom looking like a bayonet and the hilt lengthened slightly as a scope appeared above the top of the blade.

“Okay, now that's cool.”

“Oh, what's that?” a female voice asked from behind them.

Trent blinked for a moment before turning towards the voice, seeing a bipedal creature that was completely pink, with poofy hair that was a darker shade of pink, and bright blue eyes.

Trent stared at it for a second, blinking, before saying, “Hey Steve? You see the weird pink alien too, right?”

“I’m trying not to,” Steven admitted.

Trent continued staring until he whispered to Steve, “What the hell is it?”

“I believe that it’s a person,” Steven mocked.

“A person? I’m a pony silly,” the pink pony chuckled.

“...what the hell is going on?” Trent said, shaking his head.

“You really think I know what's going on?” Steven asked.

“I'm just thinking out loud.” Trent sighed, and placed a hand on his head. “What's next, more of these weird aliens?”

“Did you not just hear her say she’s a pony?,” Steven asked.

“A pony that's pink, has hands, walks on two legs, wears clothes, and speaks English. That can be seen as an alien for us!” Trent shouted.

Steven seemed to ignore Trent and said, “What’s your name miss… umm?”

“Pinkie Pie,” the pink pony said cheerfully.

Trent looked at her and tilted his head. “Pinkie Pie? Why does that sound familiar…”

“Probably that thing to do with Deadpool,” she replied before she disappeared as a group of creatures that looked similar to her crossed the bridge that the other figure had repaired.

“How does she know of Deadpool?” Steven asked.

“Hell if I know,” Trent said, shaking his head.

“Well...that was interesting,” Church said, appearing between Trent and Steven. “Do I even wanna know who Deadpool is?”

“Probably not,” Steven admitted.

“You know, it's rather lucky none of those things heard Wash's outburst, wouldn't you agree?”

“Yeah. Although… they do look a lot like us,” Steven admitted.

“Yeah, like how I look like Bugs fucking Bunny,” Trent replied.

“Well you did use to have his teeth,” Steven smirked.

“Fuck you,” Trent growled.

“Never knew you swung that way,” Steven chuckled.

Trent growled at Steven before he smacked him in the back of the head.

“What?” Steven smirked before he added “Maybe we should keep an eye on those ponies. They may be able to tell us where we are.”

“Or they can kidnap and dissect you,” Church said. “Either one.” He then disappeared.

“Well that was helpful…” Trent muttered sarcastically.

“What other choices do we have? They managed to get here and they may be the only ones who know a way out.”

Trent sighed. “Fine. You lead the way.”

“Besides, if they were to dissect anyone, it would be you to learn about Church,” Steven added as he walked away.

“Only if they don't know that he's not a ghost,” Trent replied as he followed Steven.

“True,” Steven replied as they reached the door to see Pinkie Pie with five other figures as they followed them silently as Steven reverted his sniper back to its sword mode.

“What do you think they're doing here?” Trent whispered.

“Must be something in this place they need.”

“Like what? There's nothing but decay in this entire dump.”

“Well it’s not like Church could do some recon or check if they are the only lifesigns.”

“Actually, I'm picking up another energy signal nearby,” Church said, appearing near them.

“Wait, seriously?” Trent asked.

“No, I'm just shitting with you,” Church said, sarcastically. He then looked over Trent’s shoulder. “As for why they're here, maybe for those.”

They all then looked into a room to see the ponies looking at a pedestal with 5 stones on it. A moment later, two ponies that were cyan and yellow flew up to the stones and brought each of them in front of the others. Then a purple one sat down by the stones and a purple glow came from its head. The other 5 stepped back and began to leave until a dark blue mist surrounded the stones before creating a tornado around them. The purple figure stood up and jumped into the tornado before disappearing.

Trent blinked for a moment before whispering, “What do you think just happen?”

“I have a feeling something bad,” Steven admitted, “Maybe we should help them?”

“How?”

“How about you ask them?” Church said, pointing at the room before disappearing.

When they looked again, they saw the ponies staring at them. “Well shit,” Trent muttered.

“Umm… I’d say run away, but we don’t really have anywhere to run to,” Steven admitted

Trent was about to replied before he was tackled by a rainbow blur. When he looked at his attacker, he saw a cyan pony with rainbow hair glaring at him. “Where did you take Twilight?” It shouted.

“Who?” Steven asked calmly his hand resting on his black hilted sword.

Trent headbutted the pony and pushed her off before getting up and aiming his rifle at her. “Bitch, what's your problem?”

“I think the only problem is that awful outfit,” a figure with white skin and purple hair. She also wore a long white dress that was covered in mud said calmly.

“Says the person who wore a dress into a ruin,” Steven sighed.

“What did you do to our friend?” An orange pony with blonde hair and a Stetson hat said, glaring at them.

“I don't know who the hell you're talking about,” Trent said, keeping his eyes and rifle on the cyan pony.

“Yeah, sure,” the cyan pony said sarcastically. “As if you're not working with Nightmare Moon.”

“Who the FUCK is Nightmare Moon?!”

Steven then sighed before turning one of his swords into a sniper and firing a round into the air, making everyone stop before he said, “We had nothing to do with this. We woke up in this place not even an hour ago and now we’re being assaulted by you. So how could we even have had time to plan any of this?”

“Then where's Twilight?”

Epsilon appeared in front of everyone and said, “If you're talking about that purple one, I think she's up there.” He pointed out a window and they saw a nearby tower with lights shining from it.

“That seems likely,” Steven sighed reverting his gun back to his sword before sheathing it.

The ponies Then ran out the door, towards the tower. Trent took a deep breath and said, “Should we follow them?”

“...What do you think?” Steven replied.

Trent sighed. “Fine. Let's go. Come on Epsilon.” He then walked out and went the same direction as the ponies, with Steven following quickly behind him and Epsilon disappearing.





As the duo caught up with the mares they looked in front of them to see a large back figure that held some similarities to the ponies they had spoke to but she had both wings and a horn.

“Okay...what the hell is that?” Trent asked.

“You think I know?” Steven admitted.

“That’s Nightmare Moon,” Pinkie Pie explained to the duo.

Nightmare Moon looked at the two in surprise before saying, “And what are you supposed to be?”

Trent looked at her before saying, “I'm getting an evil sorceress vibe from her, what about you guys?”

“Same.”

“Maybe,” Steven sighed. “I need to say though… what's an evil villain without somebody following them like a loyal dog?”

Nightmare chuckled. “If you want to see my servants, I'll gladly introduce you to them.” Her hand and horn then began to glow a dark blue color. A moment later, everyone's shadows started moving and shifting before they all gathered in the center of the room, with figures coming out of them and taking shape. They all took a form akin to a werewolf, having pure black fur, a white skull like mask on their faces, blood red eyes, and bone like spines coming out of their forearms and neck.

Steven then looked towards Trent before he said “She can’t be serious… are those what I think they are?”

Trent just stared at the Grimm. “Grimm… You just HAD to mention servants! God fucking dammit, Steven!”

Steven then quickly grabbed both of his swords before he shouted, “You six get back!”

Nightmare Moon let out a villainous laugh. “Have fun, my pets.”

One of the Beowolves growled and ran straight at Trent, tackling him and sending them both through a wall and falling to the ground below.

“SON OF A BIIIIII-!!” Trent screamed as he fell, with three more Beowolves following them.

“Great… just great,” Steven groaned as he brought his swords up, decapitating two of the Beowolves, causing them to dissipate into the shadows before he rapidly changed his other sword into it’s sniper rifle before quickly firing three shots in quick succession, each shot hitting separate Beowolves in the head killing them instantly.

“...How did I manage to do that?” Steven said in surprise before he quickly turned around aiming his rifle at Nightmare Moon.

“Do you really expect that to intimidate me?”

“Honestly… no,” Steven replied before taking a shot which hit her leg leaving a bullet wound in her leg, “Honestly I was aiming to do more than that, but that’ll suffice.”

“You useless welp!” She then pointed her hand at Steven, her hand and horn glowing again. A second later, Steven was engulfed in the same blue aura and thrown through the hole Trent and the Beowulf made. She then turned to the 6 mares in front of her. “Now...where were we?”


Meanwhile with Trent


Trent was laying on the ground, shotgun in hand, when the last Beowulf lunged at him, with him shooting it straight at the chest, killing it and causing it to dissipate into the shadows without a trace. Trent then took several deep breaths and shook his head before standing up.

“Healing unit is on and working Wash.”

“Thanks Church.” Trent then picked up his fallen rifle and put on his back.

Seconds later the sound of Steven shouting above him was heard until he hit the ground beside Trent, and said, “I really hate that bitch.”

“You okay?”

“What do you think?” Steven muttered as he slowly looked up, his arm bent backwards, and he was somehow still alive, even though he fell a distance that would kill a normal person.

“...how are you not screaming in pain because of that?” Trent asked, pointing at Steven's arm.

“I’d say because I’m awesome, but I seriously have no idea.”

“Come here.”

“Okay,” Steven replied before trying to stand only for his legs to give way. “Might have an issue with that.”

Trent stood silent for a second before saying, “Hey Church, is there a way I can use my healing unit on him?”

“Not that I know of. At least, not right now…”

“Damnit. Guess we're stuck here for a little while buddy.”

A couple moments later, the sun started to quickly rise.

“Well… that's a funny time for the sun to rise,” Steven chuckled.

“Yeah, though why did it rise so quickly? Did someone just send us forward through time or something?”

“Who knows?” Steven asked as he tried to chuckle only to be find he was slowly beginning to struggle to breath freely. 

“Well...what now?”

“I… think I might be... in it worse than I thought, mate,” Steven said seeming to grow weaker.

“What?” Trent knelt down to Steven. “Dude, stay with me.”

“Heh… I really wish my semblance...worked right about now,”

“Why?”

“When I designed this guy, his Semblance was based around controlling light… I made it so if I’m under the sun I could heal from most things… and of course this would happen while I’m in… the dark.”

“Do you think it'll work if I take you to the sunlight?”

“No…idea,” Steven said as his eyes began to slowly close.

“Steven?”

“I’m here… just about.”

Trent hesitated for a moment before grabbing Steven's good arm over his head and lifted him up. “Come on dude. We need to get you some help.”

Steven could only grimace before he suddenly began to shout out in pain “Stop! It hurts!”

“I'm sorry dude, but you'll have to suck it up if we're going to get you anywhere.”

Seconds later a bright light shone above them before Steven said, “Looks like an angel’s come for me… always thought I’d belong to the devil.” before one of his injuries on his arm began to heal slightly.

Trent looked towards the light, his visor blocking most of the glare from his eyes, and saw what seemed to be a tall white figure falling slowly towards them, the light seeming to be coming from its body.

“Who are you?” Trent asked it.

The figure then landed in front of them as they saw that the figure’s hair consisted of four colours, these being light cerulean, light turquoise, very light cobalt blue and pale pink. She had a horn and wings like Nightmare Moon. The light she was giving off seemed to be helping Steven somewhat as he began to breath easier.

“I’m Princess Celestia, Ruler of Equestria,” the figure said her voice calm and soothing.

“And what do you want?”

“My ponies that were above told me you both fell from the room they were in and told me you were trying to help them. I came down to check you were okay… and I can tell your friend is not faring as well as you.”

“Yeah...my guess is because of my armor. That, and I don't think his aura helped with the fall.”

“His-”

“NOT NOW, CHURCH!” Trent yelled.

“Who are you taking talking to?” Princess Celestia asked in confusion.

“I'll explain later. Right now, I just want to get my friend to a hospital.”

“I don't think your friend needs it.”

“The hell are you talking about?”

“Maybe you should check his body,” she replied with a smile

Before Trent can say anything, Church said, “Bio-Scans shows that his injuries are healing just fine, Wash. Somehow...”

“What?!” Trent yelled before looking at Steven.

“Told you my semblance was based on light,” Steven chuckled as he used his good arm to help him stand his legs seeming to begin to support his weight again.

“Now… would you be so kind as to tell me your names?” Princess Celestia requested.

Trent hesitated for a moment before saying, “Call me Agent Washington, or just Wash.”

“I’m Steven Daystar, it’s a pleasure to meet you princess.”

“Well Steven, Agent Washington… what are you actually doing this deep in the Everfree Forest?” Princess Celestia asked.

“Well we woke up in that dump not too long ago, and later on met that bitch who summoned werewolves to attack us,” Trent said.

“Beowolves,” Steven added “they’re called Beowolves.”

“I'm pretty sure she doesn't know what those are, so I stuck with what they looked like.”

“So she called Grimm to attack you?” Celestia asked, to their surprise. “They’re appearing more and more nowadays but I never expected her to be able to summon them.”

“You know what Grimm are?”

“I know of them… but I am unsure where they came from.” Celestia admitted.

“All I can recall right now is they're attracted to negative emotions, and come in a bunch of shapes and sizes. My friend here knows more about that stuff.”

“I guess,” Steven agreed as he finally managed to stand on his own.

“You know, I'm surprised you guys are so calm about the large furry here,” Epsilon said, appearing in front of everyone.

“Who… or what is that?” Celestia asked in surprise.

Trent sighed. “This is my AI companion, Epsilon. Or Church. He goes by either. He's the guy I was yelling at earlier.”

“Sup?” Church said, staring up at Celestia.

“With everything I’ve seen in the heard about this year… I’m not going to question this,” Celestia sighed.

“Yeah...I'm on the same boat, considering what I've seen and heard TODAY. Seriously, where the HELL are we?”

“You don’t know?” 

“Well we woke up in a ruin after collapsing in a hall so… I’d say no,” Steven admitted.

“Doesn't help that we're most likely the only ones of our entirely species in this planet,” Trent added

“I’ll help direct you out of this place. I’ll see if we can find anyway to help you work out what happened,” Celestia told them.

Trent grabbed his rifle and put his shotgun on his back before looking up at Celestia. “Well Princess, lead the way.”
> 3. Proper Introductions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So exactly who, and what, are you?” The purple pony, named Twilight Sparkle, asked Trent and Steven. “And where did you come from?”

“The castle, before your rainbow haired friend fixed the bridge and Pinkie found us,” Steven admitted.

“As for what we are, we're humans,” Trent said. “Basically, we're aliens as far as you know.”

“You're more equine than those things that appeared from space a while back,” Pinkie commented.

“I'm sorry, what?” Trent said in surprise.

“Don’t worry. All will be explained later,” Celestia told them.

“As long as they don't try to kill me, or impregnate me, I'm fine.”

“...I'm not going to ask,” Celestia replied as she just continued to walk forwards.

Steven then whispered to Trent, “How does she even know her way around here?”

“Hey, that's a good point,” Trent said. “How DO you know where you're going?”

“I used to live here, with my sister.”

“Seriously? This place looks EXTREMELY ancient though.”

“Well it has been one thousand years since I was last here,” Celestia admitted.

Trent blinked before looking at her and said, “...what?”

“She said she lived here over one thousand years ago,” Steven repeated.

“I got that. But how the hell is that possible?”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

“How can she have lived here a thousand years ago? Unless she gone through some form of cryo-sleep, got sent through time, or is a robot, I don't see how that's possible.”

“You're definitely not from around here, are you?” the orange pony, who introduced herself as Applejack, asked.

“Didn't we already say that?”

“Never made it clear did we?” Steven sighed his right arm still dislocated. “We said we’re aliens, by extension not from here. As in, at all. And don’t ask where our ship is because we don’t have one. Although we have no need to say take me to your leader, now do we?” he added with a chuckle.

“Well being I’m right here, I guess not,” Celestia agreed.

“But you're a princess,” Trent said.

“Yes. I don’t see what that has to do with me not being a leader.” Celestia admitted.

“My point is, shouldn't there be a king or a queen or something? Or did you just keep the title ‘Princess’ because it “sounds pretty”?”

Twilight and Applejack stared at him shock, and then looked at Celestia with fear in their eyes.

“Well done Wash… you just pissed off royalty,” Steven groaned in annoyance.

“Not really,” Celestia replied. “You have no knowledge on how royalty works here, it’s just simply how yours worked. Am I right?”

“Yeah, it is,” Trent said with a shrug.

“Then it would be wrong for me to hold it against you on the account of you not knowing something like that,” Celestia admitted.

“Okay then.” Everyone just continued walking in silence when Trent realized something. “Hey, what happened to the bitch that sent those Grimm at us?”

“That's actually a fair point… what happened to Nightmare Moon?” Steven asked.

“We took her down by using the Elements of Harmony and the Magic of Friendship,” Pinkie said.

Trent stopped for a moment before looking at the pink pony and tilting his head in confusion. “I beg your pardon, what?”

“I said that we took her down by using the Elements of Harmony and the Magic of Friendship,” she repeated, pointing at the necklaces she and Applejack had, and the crown Twilight had.

“...that sounds so STUPID.”

“Sounds like something from a children's television show,” Steven sighed.

“For little girls,” Trent added.

“So something you’d have liked to watched,” Steven chuckled.

“Tell me Steven, you think your aura is functional?”

“If I knew that I wouldn’t be worried about you hitting me.”

“Who said anything about hitting?” Trent asked, pointing his rifle at Steven.

“That too,” Steven sighed in annoyance.

“You will shoot your own friend?” Twilight said in shock.

“If his aura works, he'll be fine.”

“What? How does that work?”

“One's aura can heal minor injuries, but a bullet wound is not a minor injury,” Steven pointed out.

“Don't forget it can act as a shield,” Trent added. “Like a health bar in a videogame.”

“But if it isn’t working, that will kill me, you idiot,” Steven added.

“I know. That's why I asked.” He then put down the rifle and turned to Celestia. “Hey, how much longer is it going to take to get to wherever we're going?”

“Not that long,” she replied as they walked into a large throne room to see a mustard yellow pony with a horn on her head in the center of the room, looking around.

“Who are you?” Trent asked her.

She turned towards him and widen her eyes when she saw him. “What are those?” she asked Celestia, pointing at Trent and Steven.

“We’re not from around here,” Steven said calmly.

“And to answer your question, we're humans,” Trent said.

The pony stared at them for second before shaking her head. “Wait, humans? Aren't those just an old pony’s tale?”

“They could have been…but not anymore. We’re both human,” Steven admitted.

“Well you're probably some sort of superhuman right now, but yeah,” Trent said. “Name's Wash, and this is Steven. So I'll ask again, who are you?”

“She’s one of my students, Sunset Shimmer,” Celestia admitted.

Before Trent can respond to that, Epsilon appeared and said, “Seriously? Sunset Shimmer? Applejack? Twilight Sparkle? Pinkie Pie? What is with these names? This makes Donut’s name seem normal.”

“What’s with the name Epsilon?” Pinkie argued back.

“It's a letter in...wait.” Epsilon turned to Pinkie. “How do you know my name?”

“It’s in the script,” she replied with a shrug and smile.

“...I feel like we shouldn’t question this,” Steven sighed.

Sunset was looking at Epsilon. “What are you? Some kind of ghost or something?”

“Like you heard from Pinkie, his name is Epsilon,” Trent told her. “But he also goes by Church. He's an AI fragment that's basically my companion. For better or for worse.”

“AI… What does the A stand for?” Pinkie asked.

Trent looked at her for a second before saying, “Artificial.”

“And the I?”

“Intelligence,” Epsilon told her.

“Ah… And the A again?”

Epsilon and Trent looked at her for a second before Epsilon turned to Celestia and said, “Yeah, um...if she's like another guy I know about, NEVER let her get a hold of a gun. EVER!”

“I don’t see why it would be a problem if she did?” Celestia admitted.

“No trust us, NEVER give her a gun or any weapon for the sanity of the planet.”

“Yeah, because I don't want to end up dying by accident,” Trent added. “I'm not like Church. I won't be able to come back.”

“What are you talking about?” Twilight asked, confused.

“There's this guy, Caboose, who was a...teammate, to Epsilon. And he was known for killing Church in any body he had. And for hurting, shooting, or blasting anyone who he was trying to help. But mostly Church. I think he actually liked killing Church...”

“As much as cars for you,” Steven chuckled.

“I'm not like him on that.”

“Anyway, what are you going to do now?” Celestia asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Where are you going? What are you going to do? Where are you going to live?” Celestia clarified.

Trent and Steven stared at each other before looking back at Celestia. “Um...now that you mention it...we have no idea,” Trent said.

“Well… what are your aims now?”

Trent shrugged. “All I know is some weird guy in red armor sent us here so we can help people. How we do that is beyond me.”

“I know one thing I need; the hospital,” Steven admitted.

“Oh, let me help you.” Trent then grabbed Steven's arm and broke it back into place.

“GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!” Steven screamed in pain as he gritted his teeth.

“There. That should do it.”

“Have I ever told you how much of an asshole you are,” Steven said angrily.

“Oh, constantly,” Trent said, cheerfully.

“You're enjoying watching this ain’t you?”

“Maybe.”

Steven then groaned as he suddenly felt feeling in his arm again before he was able to move it with ease. “I guess my Aura is working.”

“Good to know.”

“Hey, I have a question for “her royal highness”,” Epsilon said.

“What do you want to ask me?”

“You have any idea why I’m picking up 5 other people nearby?”

“Maybe some of the other ponies who were at the castle with us,” Steven suggested.

“Oh it’s just Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Princess Luna…and whoever that filly is,” Pinkie explained.

“Who?” Trent asked.

“Honestly… we don’t have a name for her yet,” Celestia admitted.

“No, I mean who are all those people? Well I can guess who “Rainbow Dash” is. She's the bitch who tackled me, right?”

“Well that's a rude thing to call her,” Twilight commented.

“Well she attacked me for no reason whatsoever, so I don't give a shit.”

“Maybe you should drop this mate,” Steven suggested. “We don’t really want them trying to hunt us down.”

“Hey, she's the only one I have a problem with so far. Well, her and the one who sent those Grimm after us.” He then turned to Twilight. “Seriously, where is that tall black bitch? I wanna put a bullet through her eyes.”

Celestia only smiled before she said, “That problem has been dealt with. You won’t have a problem with her anymore.”

“I'll believe that when I see her. Alive or otherwise.”

“Well maybe those guys can tell you where she is,” Epsilon said, pointing to another part of the room, where the remaining 3 ponies from before came in, as well as a blue pony with a horn and wings that was about their size, walking with a limp, and a pure black one with the horn and wings as well, but the size of a little girl.

“I have a feeling I shouldn’t ask, but why has she got a limp?” Steven asked before he began to realise who the mare was.

“Well she's still healing from you shooting her in the leg,” Twilight said.

“Wait, what?” Trent asked, looking between Twilight and Steven.

“...Oh… so that's the person who we was fighting before,” Steven replied regretfully. “If it means anything I’m sorry about that.”

“Okay, can someone tell me what's going on?”

“That's the mare we were fighting before,” Steven clarified gesturing to the limping mare.

“Wait, seriously?” Trent said, looking at the blue pony.

Epsilon shrugged. “Eh, I can see it.” He then disappeared and reappeared in front of the smaller pony, causing her to jump and hide behind the limping one. “But who's the kid?”

“That’s what we don’t actually know,” Celestia admitted.

“What the heck are you?” Rainbow asked, looking at Epsilon.

“Name's Church, Miss Pride Flag. I'm an AI fragment that is partnered with that guy in black armor over there,” he said, pointing to Trent.

“...AI?”

“He's basically a living computer,” Trent explained. “He can power up certain functions in my suit, as well as search for energy readings and check vitals. But that's not important. What is important is how she,” he pointed to the blue mare, “looks like that and why I shouldn't be shooting her right now.”

“Because you’d be killing royalty and probably will be hunted down and executed for your crime,” Celestia suggested.

“Royalty? She tried to kill us with Grimm. Who gives a shit about royalty if someone does that for no good reason?”

“...we should… being that if what I’m assuming is right she can make us enemies of the state, you for the threat and me for shooting her earlier.”

“I don't give a shit about any of that. Especially if I'll get attacked again.”

Steven then sighed before walking over to Trent before striking him in the back of head with the hilt of his sword.

“OW, JEEZ THE BACK OF MY HEAD!” Trent yelled before falling over, unconscious.

“...How did he actually say that before knocking out?” Steven asked before shrugging his shoulders.

Epsilon shrugged. “I've been wondering stuff like that for a while. I just stopped questioning it.”

“Like how you’re a magnet for getting blown up whenever you get your own body,” Steven chuckled.

“Shut up.” Epsilon then looked at the ponies. “Now can someone please explain what the hell is going on?”

Steven then bowed to the limping mare before he said, “I’m sorry for my friend’s hostility towards you,” he then turned to Rainbow Dash before adding, “And for how rude he’s being to you.”

“Oh, I believe he was justified for headbutting Skittles,” Church said. “At least THAT was in self-defense.”

“Hey!” Rainbow said.

“Tell me I'm wrong. Your friend disappears, and the first person you see that's not in your group, you tackle to the ground and threaten him. He just responded to that appropriately. With what you did, I'm sure you would've done the same in his shoes.”

“Yeah I would really threaten royalty,” Steven groaned as he rolled his eyes.

Church shrugged. “Yeah, that was stupid. You should talk to him about it when he wakes up. But everything else seemed reasonable to me.”

“Yeah… probably should do before he shoots me with a tank,” Steven groaned. 

“Wash is no Caboose. I'd be more worried about this one,” he pointed at Pinkie, “being near any form of artillery.”

“I’m not that bad; I don’t have a gun called Freckles yet,” Pinkie chuckled.

“Okay, how the hell do you even know about that?”

“Don't worry about it,” Applejack said. “That's just Pinkie being Pinkie.”

“I feel like I'm going to get a major headache from her…” Church muttered.

“Umm, I just realized something. Who are all of you?” Steven asked nervously just realising that he hadn’t asked what the names of the newcomers were.

“Well, my name is Rarity, darling,” the mare with pure white coat and what looked to be purple hair and tail that were curled.

Next to her was the yellow mare who looked to have a long pink hair that covered her right eye. She was looking down to the ground trying to avoid his gaze as Steven faintly heard her trying to say something that he couldn’t make out.

“I’m sorry I didn’t hear you. Would you mind repeating yourself?” Steven requested only for her to become even quieter obviously scared.

“That's Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash told him. “As for me, I'm Rainbow Dash, best flyer in Equestria,” she said, a large amount of pride in her voice.

“Then… who are the you two?” Steven asked curiously, asking the remaining two ponies. “You said you didn’t know one's name; but what about the other?”

“She is my younger sister, Princess Luna,” Celestia said calmly yet consciously seeming to be gauging everyone's reactions.

Epsilon looked at everyone before he said, “Okay, what the hell? I swear, only you two,” he pointed at the princesses, “have names that make some sense. Though, I have a few questions. But first...” he looked at Trent, who groaned.

“Oh...my head...” Trent said, before getting up and looking at everyone. “What I miss?”

“Oh just their names,” Steven admitted.

“Oh? What are they?”

“Fluttershy, Rarity, and Princess Luna,” Church said, pointing at each mare respectively.

Trent stayed silent before facepalming. “Seriously?”

“What's wrong with our names?” Twilight asked.

Trent waved his hand in dismissal. “Not important.”

“You're not going to try and threaten anyone again are you?” Steven asked.

Trent shrugged. “Only if I get a proper reason not to besides “she's royalty”.”

“At least you’re understanding that,” Steven admitted with a smirk.

“First, I want to know a few things,” Church said, looking at Celestia.

“What do you want to know?”

“First off, why do some of you have wings, some have horns, and you and these 2 have both?”

“Why are you wondering that? You say that like it’s not normal seeing them.” Celestia admitted in confusion.

“It's not,” Trent replied. “Ponies where we're from are just animals used for kiddy rides. And even then, none of them have those appendages.”

Steven could only groan at this looking down in annoyance. “Would you please shut the hell up before you get us killed.”

“What? She asked.”

“And some things shouldn’t be said,” Steven added.

“Hey, I'm just making a point.”

“Wait, what do you mean “used for kiddy rides”?” Rainbow asked.

“Oh simple,” Church said. “He means that ponies are just medium sized, four legged, non sentient animals used at fairs for little kids to ride the backs of.”

The ponies, excluding Celestia, looked at them with a mixture of surprise and shock and said, “WHAT?!”

Trent nodded. “Yeah.”

“Where in Equus are you from?” Sunset asked.

Trent leaned closed to Steven and whispered, “Should we tell them?”

“Well do you want to be called crazy and experimented on?” Steven asked.

“We already risk that last part just for being aliens, and who the hell cares if they think we're crazy? All in all, what do we have to lose if we tell them what happened to us?”

“You know what? Go ahead. I’ll just let this one blow up in our faces,” Steven sighed.

Trent then looked and the ponies and said, “Okay everyone, take a seat because this is pretty crazy.”
> 4. More Questions Answered and a New Job Offer
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So...let me get this straight, you two are aliens,” Applejack said.

“From an alternate reality,” Sunset continued.

“Who were at a convention,” Rainbow added.

“Dressed up as fictional characters,” Rarity commented.

“And some guy gave you both items and sent you here to help people who had a similar fate?” Twilight asked.

“When you put it that way, it sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?” Steven asked.

“But it's all true,” Trent told them.

“I believe them,” a young voice said. Everyone turned towards the voice and saw the small black filly looking at them.

“Seriously?” Trent asked, to which she nodded.

“Well that was a surprise. I expected you all to deem us insane,” Steven admitted as he rubbed the back of his head.

“Oh trust me, most ponies would, with that story,” Celestia chuckled.

“No shit,” Church told her.

“Why are you not surprised about this, Church?” Steven asked curiously.

“I found all that out by checking Wash’s head while you guys were busy earlier.”

“And you didn't say anything?” Trent asked. “Hell, why do you still call me Wash if you know I'm not actually him.”

Church shrugged. “Eh, I prefer calling you Wash. Besides, why does it matter? I'm pretty much stuck with you now, so might as well get used to it.”

“Could be worse, Church. You could have been stuck in someone who became Caboose.” Steven admitted with a smirk.

“Being stuck as an AI with him is better than having a physical body he can kill one way or another.”

“You make it sound like you enjoyed getting blown up.”

“Okay, that's enough,” Trent said. “Can we discuss something else besides Caboose and his team killing?”

“Maybe a good idea,” Steven said. “Well anyone want to ask us anything?”

“Well if you're telling the truth about all this, then I have a few,” Twilight said.

“Well fire away,” Steven requested.

“What exactly can Epsilon do? Besides what Wash said earlier.”

“Let's see,” Trent said. “He can power any armor enhancement I have, check vitals, basically detect anyone apparently. Oh, and he can possess anyooo-I mean, any electronic.”

“Wait, what were you about to-” Sunset started.

“Next question!”

“Here's one,” Rainbow said before looking at Steven. “What was that thing you did with your sword earlier?”

“My sword? Oh, do you mean when it changed to a sniper rifle?” Steven asked.

“Wait, when was this?” Trent asked.

“After you were thrown from through the hole.”

“Right… So what happened?”

“Well I decapitated two of them, then switched the sword to a sniper and killed the other three simultaneously,” Steven admitted.

“You say that like it was easy.”

“It was. It was almost as if I’d been doing that my whole life,” Steven admitted.

“Well good for you. I was tackled several stories above ground, landed back first, and nearly got torn to shreds. I'm just lucky Epsilon was able to give me a heads up and that this armor is so durable. As well as have a functioning healing unit.”

“At least you have armour and a healing unit,” Steven argued.

“You have aura and a pseudo healing factor with that semblance.”

“Se-what now?” Applejack asked.

“A Semblance,” Steven repeated.

“What's that?” Sunset asked.

“A Semblance is the manifestation of someone's innate and personal power and is an ability that is unique to each individual, with the effects varying greatly from user to user. The nature of one's Semblance is noted as representing an aspect of their character. However, a person's Semblance can be similar to the Semblances of their parents or other family members.

“What?” Rainbow said.

“Basically, it's a power unique to everyone.” Trent said. “Steven's semblance is related to light.”

“Which is why my arm healed up after he snapped it back into place before,” Steven added. “One of its quirks is that I can have an accelerated healing factor when under direct sunlight…but I’m guessing my power is weaker without it.” 

“So you're more vulnerable at night?” The kid asked in a curious tone.

“I believe that may be the case.”

“Alright, that's it,” Church said, annoyed. “Does anyone mind telling me what happened with Nightmare Bitch, how she,” he pointed at Luna, “changed from Nightmare to that, and where SHE” he pointed at the filly, “came from?”

“Concerning what happened to turn my sister back to normal, we have the Elements of Harmony to thank for that,” Celestia explained.

“That's still a stupid name.”

“Okay then,” Trent said. “But what was with all that Nightmare Moon shit in the first place? What, is it that time of the month or something?”

“Do you need knocking out again?” Steven groaned in annoyance.

“Are you going out the way to try and get yourself into trouble?” Celestia asked Trent.

“No,” Trent replied. “I just want an actual answer.”

Luna the looked towards Trent before she said nervously, “She was a manifestation of my anger, jealousy and resentment towards my sister because of how our subjects showed little respect for the night.” 

“Holy crap, you can talk,” Trent said in surprise.

“Yes, we can talk,” Luna replied.

“Sorry. Just surprised since you've been quiet this whole time.”

“Wait, so she was basically all your negative emotions given form?” Church asked.

Luna nodded. “Yes. Why?”

“Let's just say, I know a lot about different personalities given form…”

“Umm, would you be able to explain a bit more, if you don’t mind that is?” Fluttershy asked meekly.

“And another finally talks,” Church commented.

Trent sighed. “Long story short, there's a reason Epsilon is known as an AI fragment.”

“And what do you mean by that?” Twilight asked.

Trent looked at Epsilon. “You okay with me telling them?”

Epsilon shrugged. “Go right ahead.”

Trent then looked at the ponies. “Well, to keep this from getting too long, I'll just tell some of the major stuff right now. Basically, there was a group known as Project Freelancer, and they got a hold of an AI, called the Alpha. The Director wanted all his soldiers paired with an AI partner, but they can only get the one.”

“So what did they do?” Sunset asked.

Trent stayed silent for a moment before saying, “They tortured the Alpha. They traumatized it, trying to cause split personality disorder. And whenever it did develop one, they turned them each into a separate AI, naming each after a different letter in the Greek alphabet. The Alpha’s rage became Omega, his trust became Theta, his deceit became Gamma, et cetera.”

“Then...what is Epsilon?”

“I'm the Alpha’s memories,” Church told her. “And basically, I'm the most like him.”

Trent nodded. “He has a good memory on things, no pun intended, and even use memories of the other fragments to help him with some things.”

“How does that work?” Rainbow asked.

Trent shrugged. “I don't entirely know. But I do know that it's useful.” He then looked at the black filly. “Though, can someone tell us where she came from?”

Twilight shrugged. “To be honest, we don't exactly know. After Steven was thrown off the tower, my friends and I used the Elements of Harmony on Nightmare Moon, turning her back to Luna. And...she was just there, lying next to Luna.”

“I assumed that was the case, but that doesn't tell us who she is,” Steven commented, pointing to the small filly.

The filly looked down. “I don't who I am. All I remember is waking up and everypony staring at me.”

“So you don’t have any name you remember then?” Steven asked.

The filly shook her head.

“Hmm. Has it not occurred to you all that maybe you should give her one? I mean seriously were you just going to have everyone call her little filly?” Steven asked.

“Well we don't have one right now,” Twilight said. “We've been...occupied.”

“With what exactly? Deciding if Rainbow should hit Wash again?”

“Well we've been distracted, dealing with you three.”

“You know what I’m not going to question this lack of judgement from you all.” Steven said in annoyance as he squeezed the bridge of his nose.

“I have another question,” Celestia said “What are you going to do with your lives now you're here? You must have some sort of plan.”

Trent shrugged. “Like we said before, we don't know what we'll do now.” He then rubbed the back of his neck. “Didn't really think that far ahead. All I know right now is that we have to wait for that Andrew guy to come and explain things to us. But we don't know how long that'll be.”

“Well he did say we wouldn’t see him again till we were used to our new powers and have somewhere to live,” Steven pointed out.

“Well, your powers. I might just need to get used to my equipment, but yeah, no idea what to do in the meantime.”

Celestia then looked to Trent before she said, “Well what about forming your own private defence company?”

Trent shrugged. “Sure.” He then looked at her in surprise. “Wait, what?”

“She said why not make our own private defence company… is she insinuating that we reform Project Freelancer?” Steven asked.

“I'm not so sure how I feel about that” Church said.

Trent waved his hand in dismissal at Church before looking at Celestia. “Why would you do that?”

Celestia shrugged. “Simple, we have a lot of old ruined military bases that are just taking up space. It seems a waste to just tear them down when they could be used for other purposes, don’t you think?”

“What do you mean…?”

“I mean...” Celestia said before sighing. “As much as I hate to admit it, my military are in shambles and today proved that. What they need is someone who is not associated with my guard to outdo them to make them actually want to work again.”

“What does that have to do with us?”

“I think she wants us to be the ones to correct their mistakes. Basically be a cleanup crew to begin with,” Steven suggested.

“Seriously?”

“And if that isn’t what you’d fancy, how about the chance to create your own experimental weapons?

“I'm okay with that.”

“I guess I am as well… I guess we do need some sort of job, and if this goes as planned I guess we could be able to deal with those Grimm easier,” Steven admitted.

“Well this might be interesting,” Church said.

“One question though,” Trent said, looking at Celestia. “What's the catch?”

Celestia looked at him in confusion. “Catch? What makes you think there's a catch?”

“This just sounds too good. We're just two aliens and an AI, as far as you know, and you're offering a place to stay and a potential job.”

“There...is more to why I’m offering you this deal,” Celestia admitted.

“I knew it. So? What is it?”

“We need help defending from those Grimm and other things. We have little in ways to fight them and none of our soldiers can handle them, but you could. I… no we all need your help, too many of my ponies have been killed already and we have nothing that can handle them,” Celestia said.

Trent blinked before looking at his two companions. “What do you guys think?”

Church tilted his head in thought before shrugging. “Sure.”

“If she’s willing to beg us to do this, she must be out of any other options,” Steven admitted. “Sure if you're up for it, so am I.”

Trent then looked at Celestia. “Okay Celestia. We’ll do it.”

“You’re serious?” Celestia said in surprise.

“Lady, you are borderline begging us to help you. Besides, we came here to help people anyway. Don't see why we can't help you.”

“Thank you. You both have no idea how much this means to us.”

“Who knows…” he then looked around again. “Any last questions?”

All the ponies in the room just shook their heads.

“Well then, what now?” Steven asked.

“Well I guess you could go to Ponyville while we get you some escorts to take you to your new base?” Celestia suggested.

“I'm sorry, where?” Trent and Epsilon said, simultaneously.

“Ponyville, it’s the nearest town, just outside the Everfree,” Pinkie Pie explained.

“The what?” Trent asked.

“The Everfree Forest, it’s the name of the forest we are in right now,” Pinkie admitted.

Trent looked out the window and, now that there was light out and no fog, could see a bunch of trees passed the ravine. “Huh… didn't know that. Well, if that's what we should do, then let's go.”

“Although we do need an escort. We don’t exactly know the out this forest,” Steven pointed out.

“We don't know our way through anything here,” Trent added.

“I could show you around,” Pinkie admitted as she seemed to bounce around the two.

Trent looked at Steven. “You think this is a good idea?”

“Seriously… do we have any better ideas?” Steven asked.

Trent sighed. “Fine.” He then walked towards the exit swiftly followed by everyone else.
> 5. A New Home
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the group exited the Everfree, Steven covered his eyes with his hand slightly as his eyes adjusted to the full effect of the sun above them. “Wow, the sun's bright here.”

“You're really having a problem with it?” Trent asked. “Isn't your whole special power related to light?”

“We don’t all have a helmet that reduces the glare.”

“Then get some sunglasses.”

“That's a good point, where did my sunglasses go that I had before we got sent here?” Steven asked

“Oh yeah…” Trent shrugged. “No idea.”

“Oh you mean these things?” Pinkie said, holding Steven’s sunglasses in her hands.

“Where did you find those?” Steven asked.

“On the ground in the room where the Elements were,” Pinkie answered.

“How did I miss that?” Steven groaned as Pinkie passed him his sunglasses and he placed them on before he began to smile. “Now I remember why I had these for my costume.”

“And why's that?” Sunset asked.

“Because they just fit the personality of the guy,” Steven admitted, looking over his glasses.

”Isn't the character based off him or something?” Church asked.

Trent shrugged in response. “No idea.” He then looked at Steven. “Church is confused on what you mean.”

“The guy was based off of my opposite when I designed him,” Steven admitted.

“What do you mean?”

“You know how I’m more calm and focused? He wasn’t like that. He was more like you actually.”

“Why would you have him be like me?”

“Well he was everything I’m not, including popular. Besides, back home, who did I respect the most.”

“Huh. Well at least, personality wise, you stayed the same.”

“Which is lucky for us all. We don't need two of you,” Steven said as he chuckled.

Trent responded to that by smacking Steven on the back of the head.

“What?” Steven asked.

“That's what you get for being a smartass.”

“As I said, I was designed to be like you,” Steven pointed out with a smirk.

“But you're still you, so you don't have an excuse.”

“Heh, true,” Steven admitted before he said, “So, anything you want to do while we wait for wherever you’re thinking of sending us to be sorted?” He asked Celestia before he looked towards the others and added, “What is there for us to do in this place anyway?”

“Well being this town isn’t a city like Canterlot, not a lot really,” Rarity pointed out.

Trent looked at her. “Canterlot? Don't you mean Camelot?”

“No, Canterlot is the capital of Equestria,” Twilight explained. “And what's Camelot?”

“Camelot was a great kingdom in our world’s legends,” Steven explained.

“A myth,” Trent added. “A place with a great king, and he had the best sword of the land.” He then shook his head. “Anyway, what exactly is so important about that canter-place outside of being the capital?”

“Canterlot is only the most impressive, important place in all of Equestria, as well as the place where the princess resides,” Rarity explained.

“Okay, but besides that last part, why is it so important?”

“Everypony who's anypony resides there and it's home to all the nobles and richest ponies of Equestria,” Rarity added.

“So it's where the one percent lives?”

“Pretty much,” Sunset admitted.

“Then I rather stay away from there.”

“You really hate the rich and famous don’t you?” Steven asked with a sigh.

“Why wouldn't I? More often than not, they're a bunch of egotistical, stuck up assholes who only care about their money and public image, and doesn't give a flying fuck to normal people like you or me.”

Celestia just rolled her eyes before she muttered, “Seems like the opinion of nobles is no different wherever you come from.”

“I guess it's a multi-dimensional constant,” Trent commented.

“I suppose,” Steven agreed.

They continued walking in silence for a few moments before Trent walked beside Steven and said, “Hey Steve?”

“Yeah, what's on your mind?”

“How do you feel about...all of this?” Trent asked, waving his hand around them.

“Like I should have dressed as something cooler,” Steven joked.

“Why?”

“Because then I could have been something to really annoy you, maybe Deadpool.”

“Then you'd probably be an insane wacko that looks like a human tumor under the mask. Or so many other things that people describe his face as.”

“Um...who, or what, are you two talking about?” Sunset asked.

“Just something from before we were sent here,” Steven replied casually.

Celestia then coughed getting everyone's attention before she said, “If you don’t mind, I have to get ready to announce my sister’s return.” 

“What do you mean?” Trent asked.

“Think about it, what would people say if somebody who they had no idea existed claimed to be the sister to their Princess?” Steven pointed out.

“I'd believe her. But I'd be more concerned about the two aliens with weapons, and one in body armor that completely covers its body, from head to toe.”

“Well considering those other things that appeared, and the fact you could pass as equine, I think everypony wouldn’t worry as much,” Pinkie admitted.

Church then appeared and sarcastically said, “Yeah, I'm sure they can pass for furless equines without hooves, a muzzle, a tail, or wings or horn.”

“Then you’d look more like minotaurs,” Pinkie suggested.

“Yeah sure,” Trent said dismissively. Then he looked at her. “Wait, what?”

“She said that you would look more like a minotaur,” Rarity repeated.

“Minotaur… you mean those half man, half bull things? The Greek monsters that live inside a giant maze?”

“Wash, talking anthropomorphic ponies, pegasi, unicorns, Grimm, just think for a second.” Steven suggested.

“Oh. Good point…” Immediately after he said that, everyone heard a loud rumbling sound. Trent then put a hand on his stomach. “Sorry. Guess being sent to an alternate universe, fighting Grimm, and dealing with furries makes a guy hungry. Where's the nearest food joint?”

Pinkie then jumped up and down before she said, “I’d say we eat at Sugarcube Corner.”

“What's that?”

“It’s just the best bakery in the whole of Equestria,” Pinkie said somehow appearing behind Trent.

Trent looked back and forth between Pinkie's current location and her previous one. “Wha-how-when... How did you do that?”

“Don't bother asking,” Applejack said casually. “That's just Pinkie being Pinkie.”

“And that means?” Steven asked curiously.

“Basically, don't try to figure out how she does anything,” Rainbow explained. “Otherwise you'd get a headache.”

Trent, Steven, and Sunset nodded at that and Twilight looked at the pink mare, deep in thought.

Trent cleared his throat. “Anyway, where's this bakery you guys mentioned?”

“I’ll show you, follow me,” Pinkie said excitedly before bouncing away.

Trent hesitated for a moment before turning to Steven. “Should we?”

“Well do you want something to eat?”

“True…” he then shrugged and followed Pinkie with Steven swiftly following behind him.

“So how are you guys planning to pay for it without any money?” Epsilon asked Trent.

Trent immediately stopped when he heard that. “God DAMN it!”

“Why are you shouting Wash?” Pinkie asked.

“Church just brought up a very good point.”

Church then appeared in front of them. “Just wondering how Wash and Steven will pay for anything without any money.”

Pinkie then looked up thoughtfully before she said, “Well I guess you could repay me in a different way and I could waive the cost of your meal.” 

“What way?” Church and Trent asked simultaneously.

“Right now, nothing. How about you owe me a favor in the future? And you have to do it.”

Trent looked at Steven. “What do you think?”

“Well… do we really have a choice? We’re broke,” Steven pointed out.

“Besides, it's probably something like be her friends or hang out with her if she's anything like Caboose,” Epsilon commented. “And she is a lot like Caboose from what I've seen so far.”

Trent sighed before looking at the mare. “Okay Pinkie, it's a deal.”

“Do you Pinkie Promise?” Pinkie asked.

“Why do I feel like you're talking about a different kind of promise then a usual pinky promise?”

“What do you mean by that?” Pinkie asked.

“I mean I feel like your promise is different than how we do it back home.”

“In what way?”

“I don't know…”

“If you don’t know then why would I?” Pinkie asked.

“Okay, can we just move on?” Church asked.

“Sure. Move on to what exactly?” Pinkie asked.

“Let's just go to that bakery you mentioned…”

“Oh okay,” Pinkie replied before she gestured in front of her and said, “Here it is, Sugarcube Corner.”

Steven and Trent then looked up to see a life size gingerbread house before Steven looked around and asked Trent, “How did we even get through town with nobody giving us strange looks?” 

“Good question,” Trent replied. “I'm dressed in this and your face is actually visible and there's the fact that we're carrying real weapons.”

“Maybe they’re just hiding in their houses?”

“Why?” Church asked. “There a zombie outbreak or something?”

Trent shrugged. “Well dawn was only an hour ago, maybe they're sleeping.”

“I guess you're right,” Steven replied as they realised Pinkie had already walked inside the store.

“It's nine in the morning,” Church explained as Trent followed Pinkie inside.

“Wait, then why did the sun rise so late?” Trent asked.

“We’re in a world with candy colored anthropomorphic ponies. Do you really expect any of this to make sense?” Steven pointed out with a smirk.

Trent lifted a finger up to say something but stood silent and lowered it. “Touche.”

“What did you expect?” Steven said as he walked into the building.

“Don't know, but whatever it was, ending up here definitely wasn't it.”

“Hey we both agreed to this, we only have ourselves to blame.”

“True…”

“Why did you guys agree to this?” Church asked.

Trent shrugged. “Honestly, I did it because I figured it'd be a good thing, helping people with problems after being taken from their homes.”

“I guess in my case it was to ensure he didn’t say something to get himself killed,” Steven admitted.

Trent responded to that with a shot to the arm from his pistol.

“Well we both know it’s true,” Steven added seeming unfazed by the bullet.

“I'm not the one who dislocated his arm.”

“It’s not a dick measuring contest,” Steven argued.

“Never said it was. Just saying you're the only one who actually got injured."

“And who has the suit that can heal almost all his injuries?” 

“I feel like we talked about this already.”

“We probably have,” Steven replied. “Anyway what are you wanting to have?”

“What is there?”

“We have everything from sandwiches, pies and everything in between,” Pinkie explained with a chuckle from behind the counter.

“Got any cookies?”

“What kind would you like? We’ve got, chocolate chip, walnut, plain. Take your pick.”

“I'll have some chocolate chips, please.”

“Make that two sets,” Steven added.

“Okay so about eight chocolate chip cookies between you. Does that sound good to you?” Pinkie asked.

Trent shrugged. “I'm okay with that.”

“Same,” Steven added.

“Okay then,” Pinkie replied before quickly passing them two small paper bags before saying, “Remember you both owe me one.”

“Noted,” Trent muttered.

“Okay then, eat up,” Pinkie replied cheerfully. “Oh how are you going to eat with that helmet on?”

“I'm not going to eat with it on.”

“So you're finally going to take your helmet off?” Steven chuckled.

“Yes. Just because the actual Red vs Blue guys wore their suits and helmets on all the time doesn't mean I will.” Trent then put his assault rifle on his free hip and rose both his hands to his helmet before taking it off, revealing his face to be peach with spiked brown hair and matching eyes. He then put his helmet on the counter and began eating the cookies from one of the bags.

“What are they like?” Steven asked curiously.

Trent swallowed before saying, “They're actually pretty good.”

“Really?” Steven asked as he took a bite of one of his cookies before saying, “Wow you're right these are good.”

“What I tell ya?” Trent then ate another cookie before saying, “Hey Pinkie, how do you…” he stopped when he noticed she wasn't anywhere in sight. “Where'd she go?”

“You think I have any idea where she is?” Steven sighed before they heard people cheering outside.

“The hell is that?”

“No idea, maybe we should find out?” Steven suggested.

“When I'm done,” Trent replied, finishing his third cookie.

“Yeah I guessed that,” Steven sighed as he walked towards the door.

Trent finished the last cookie before throwing out the bag, putting his helmet back on, and grabbing his rifle. “Okay, now I'm ready.”

“Took you long enough,” Steven chuckled before they walked out of the bakery to see that the streets were line with ponies seeming watching something down the road.

“Okay, again. What's going on?”

“Oh I don’t know, maybe we’re both just high on something and we’re hallucinating all of this,” Steven said sarcastically.

“No, I can see this too,” Church said, appearing between them.

“Well can’t you just slow down time and find out then?” Steven asked Church. “Or is that too much on a strain on you?”

“I only do that to plan things out with the others. Not to see the main attraction on a parade. Besides, can't get too far from Wash while he has me.”

“Well okay then,” Steven said before he realised one thing Church had just said, “Wait… you remember being with the other AI’s. How?”

“What do you mean?”

“Church what's the last thing you remember before you woke up here?” Steven asked.

“Well...we were surrounded in Hargrove’s office and everyone was about to fight their way out. Why?”

Steven then looked to Trent before he said, “So… Church is from the very moment he dematerialised and scattered the others.”  

“Apparently…” Trent replied. “How the hell did Andrew…” he then shook his head. “You know what, the guy made our weapons and costumes real and sent us to this world, I'm not going to bother questioning it.”

“Probably a good idea.”

“Um, you guys notice something,” Church asked.

“What?” Trent asked.

“There's several ponies staring at the you right now,” he told them before disappearing.

The ponies all just started at them both and for some reason not running for their live at the sight of the duo, they just stared at them both in shock. Not moving.

Trent looked at all of them before saying, “Nothing to see here people. Just two heavily armed aliens passing through.”

“Did you seriously just say that?” Church asked him.

“What else can I say?”

Surprisingly, the ponies all just shrugged at this and turned back around towards the parade.

“Huh. That went much better than I expected.”

“Or you just got lucky,” Steven suggested.

Trent just shrugged. “Either way. So what now?”

“Maybe try to find one of those people we met earlier,” Steven suggested.

“We didn't meet any people earlier. Last person we met was Andrew. And maybe Church if you count him.”

“...I meant Pinkie and the others.”

“So you meant ponies.”

“Yes I meant the ponies.”

“Well then where should we look? Better question, how do we find them? We don't know where they could be nor do we know anything about this place.”

“Well considering they for better terms saved this place, probably with those Princesses.”

“And where will they be?”

“Riding a chariot with everyone watching,” Church said, looking into the crowd.

“What?” Trent asked. Church pointed at where the crowd was looking and they saw Celestia and Luna in a chariot with Luna wearing some sort of flower necklace.

“Well guess I was wrong about how she would have been treated,” Steven admitted.

“What do you mean?”

“Remember how I said that she could have been treated badly before? Well that.”

“Wow, that seems sad for you to believe. Isn't that more my thing?”

“Sometimes even I live off what the facts could lead to, and not what it has.”

“Well what should we do? I'm not so comfortable just walking up to them while there are so many pe...ponies watching. Not to mention I'm not so sure how some of those guys will react to us walking up to them with weapons on us,” Trent added, pointing at a few ponies in gold armor at either side of the princesses.

“Yeah I guess you're right about that,” Steven agreed.

“So...what do we do?”

Seconds later they noticed Celestia gesture towards them before one of her guards nodded and walked away from the chariot towards Trent and Steven. He then looked to them before the said, “The Princesses have requested that you wait for them at the nearby library. They both wish to speak to you in private.”

“What library?” Trent asked.

The guard only gestured his hand towards a large tree a distance ahead of them.

“That's a library?”

The guard just rolled his eyes as he walked back towards the chariot.

“Well he’s very charming,” Steven chuckled.

“Yeah. Well...might as well go there.” Trent then walked towards the library with Steven following swiftly behind him.





As they entered the library, they looked around to see that it was very simple and looked to have been carved into the very tree. The walls had multiple shelves that were filled to the brim with many books and scrolls of all shapes and sizes, there was a table in the centre of the room that had two open books in front of what looked to be a wooden carving of a horse's head and on ceiling there was what looked to be a painting that resembled the sun.

“Nice place,” Trent commented as he leaned on a wall.

“Bit small for a library,” Steven added.

“True, but it's pretty impressive for something made inside a tree.”

“That is true,” Steven agreed.

“Why did they do that though?” Church asked as he appeared on the table. “Wouldn't it be better to build an actual library instead of just carve one in a tree?”

A few seconds later footsteps were heard from some nearby stairs before the group turned around to see a small purple creature that had what looked to be green spines along his head and back walking down them. It was rubbing its eyes before it saw the trio in front of it and began to slowly try to back away back up the stairs.

“What the hell are you?” Church asked it. “Some mutated iguana?”

“Hey! Dragon. Dra-gon! No lizard. I don't do that tongue thing!” The dragon said, glaring at Church, crossing his arms and sticking his tongue out at the AI.

Trent stared at the dragon for a second before saying, “Okay, how the hell is there a Mulan reference here? Does that movie exist here or something?” He then pointed at the small reptile. “And from now on, I'm calling you Mushu. Or Eddie.”

“Really?” the dragon asked, almost looking annoyed.

“Okay then, what would you prefer he calls you?” Steven asked. “He takes requests.”

“Shut up with that SAO crap,” Trent said.

“Just call me Spike,” the dragon said sounding annoyed.

“I rather call you Eddie,” Church said.

“Where did you even get that from?!” Spike shouted.

Trent said, “Where I'm from, there's a little dragon in a movie named Mushu who said what you did, and his voice actor was a guy named Eddie Murphy.”

“And since Wash brought it up, I decided that it’s a good name for you, Ed,” Church said.

“I’m sorry for my friends, they're idiots,” Steven sighed.

“Why do I feel like you got that from some movie somewhere?” Trent asked him.

“Have I?” Steven said calmly.

“I don't know…”

“So Eddie, you know why we're here?” Church asked the drake.

“You look at me like I have any idea who or what you even are,” Spike pointed out. “Besides I can only see one of your faces.”

“Well if you don't know why we're here, why are you here? You look a little short to be a librarian here.”

“And you look too armed to be civilians,” Spike pointed out.

“Hey, we just fought a bunch of large wolves and was flung off a tower from a tall black bitch,” Trent said. “We would be dead without these.”

“No you’d be dead without your armour,” Steven muttered under his breath.

“That too.”

“Is all you two do is argue?” Spike asked.

“Trust me, this isn't nearly as bad as some of the guys I used to hang out with,” Church told him.

“And what even are your names? I told you mine so it’s only fair you tell me yours.”

“Right,” Trent replied with a nod. “Call me Wash. The guy in the shades is my friend Steven, and the little guy on the table is called Epsilon. But most just call him Church.”

“Should I ask why he’s called that?”

“Called what?” Church asked.

“Your name, what else?”

“What about it?”

“Where’s the name Epsilon from? Sounds weirder than most names I’ve heard of.”

“There's a flying pride flag walking around named Rainbow Dash, and a pink pony who has too much caffeine in her coffee called Pinkie Pie. Compared to them, what the flying fuck is weird about my name?

“Those names are normal, yours...not so much.”

Church just looked at Spike, most likely glaring at him, before saying, “You know what, fuck this.” He then disappeared.

“I think he hit a nerve there,” Steven said.

Trent shrugged. “Probably.”

A few minutes past before both princesses, the seven mares and the unnamed filly walked into the library and almost instantly Spike bowed to them, whilst Steven and Trent just stood there.

“Took you all long enough,” Steven said.

“Yeah,” Trent said. “So why did you tell us to get here?”

“Why are you both not bowing?” Spike asked.

“Why should we?”

“Well she is royalty,” Steven pointed out. “Admittingly not our royalty but royalty nonetheless.”

“Yeah, after all the shi-” Trent stopped himself when he saw the filly. “All the stuff we been through today, I don't really care.”

“For once you controlled yourself,” Steven commented before adding, “Anyway, why did you want to talk to us Princess?”

“I would have thought you’d want to know the location of the base I’m giving you,” Celestia pointed out.

Trent tilted his head in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Well, do you know where the base that I’m giving you is?” Celestia pointed out with a smirk.

“I barely even know where we are right now, so I'm gonna go ahead and say no.”

“Then how would you have found your new place without my help?”

Trent stood silent for a moment before looking away and muttering, “Good point…”

“So are you going to listen to me or just continue trying my patience?”

“Just continue already,” Church said, appearing in front of Celestia.

“Church, be civil,” Steven requested.

“Hey, if she wants to tell us something, she should cut the crap and just say it.”

“And if you didn’t have that habit of interrupting I was going to tell you,” Celestia admitted as she crossed her arms.

“Then just say it!” Church exclaimed.

“Impatient little thing, isn't he?” Celestia said before she added, “The ‘base’ in question is located around five miles west of Ponyville. It’s out of the way so you shouldn’t be interrupted, but…”

“But what?” Trent asked.

“The whole place was damaged in a battle around thirty-five years ago. Since then, it has been left alone and as far as I know it is undisturbed. The damage report I received after the battle told me only two buildings were left standing, those being the barracks, which was still full of equipment, and a supply depot. The rest of the base was destroyed but even those buildings may have crumbled by now.”  

“Anything else you feel we should know?”

“Not right… actually yes. The area where the weapons were stored was locked with multiple keycodes and normal keys, once everything is set, I’ll send someone to bring them to you,” Celestia added.

“So that means you can’t hack the door Church?” Steven pointed out.

“If the whole thing used a digital lock or something, I could,” the AI said. “But I won't be able to opened something like that.”

“Anyway, getting there may be harder for you all unless you have a way to travel long distances.” Celesia admitted.

“Why's that?” Rainbow asked.

“Well considering it’s five miles, on foot for us it’s a small walk,” Steven admitted.

“Yeah, except it'll take about an hour or 2,” Trent commented.

“Ha, I can get there in a couple of minutes,” Rainbow bragged.

“Oh yeah, the pony that can fly is faster than the humans on foot, one covered on armor,” Trent said. “Big. Flipping. Deal.”

“You can fly super duper fast Dashie, and they are much slower. I mean you don’t have any suit modifications apart from the healing unit yet right?” Pinkie said.

“How the hell do you even know that?”

“Actually, he has a few things besides just the Healing Unit,” Epsilon commented.

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked him.

Instead of responding, a small hologram HUD appeared besides Church with a list of words, a few grayed out while a few others were white. “See this here? All the white ones are enhancements or other features I spotted in Wash's armor.” The features that were white were Healing Unit, Grav Boots, EMP, Bio-Scan, Helmet Cam, and Voice Amplifier.

“Huh. That's more than I thought I had,” Trent muttered.

“What do they all do?” Twilight asked him.

“Grav Boots allow me to stick to the ground in zero gravity, the amplifier is basically a built in megaphone, the healing unit heals me and others, once I figure out how to give it to them, and the emp shuts down nearby electronics.”

Twilight looked at him in confusion. “Don't you mean E.M.P?”

“Yeah, emp.”

Twilight lowered her eyebrows. “It's pronounced E.M.P.”

“We call it emp,” Church told her.

“It stands for Electro-Magnetic pulse,” Steven explained. “It basically knocks out electronics, but I assume you know that.”

Twilight flung her arms up in annoyance. “I know that! They are the ones who don't!”

“Sheesh Twi, calm down,” Applejack said, putting a hand on the unicorn's shoulder. “It's not that bad.”

Twilight took a few deep breaths. “I'm...I'm sorry. But that is just so annoying…”

Trent chuckled. “The original Washington felt the same way when Church's buddies did the same thing, then he found out that even a computer refers to it like that.”

Steven then sighed before he said, “Princess maybe we should wrap this up before she asks for a demonstration.”

“That may be a good idea,” Celestia agreed.

“I second that,” Trent commented.

“Well, I guess the easiest way to get you out of this would be to teleport you both there,” Celestia admitted.

“Wait what?” Trent and Church said simultaneously.

Celestia could only smile before her horn and hands began to glow in a yellow light before they were all surrounded in a flash of light before disappearing from the library.





As the group appeared at the base, they saw that it was in ruins, many of the buildings nothing but rubble. The only standing structures being two large building one at the back of the compound and the other near the front that each seemed to be in disrepair but somehow still standing.

Trent fell to one knee, putting a hand on his head. “What the hell was that?”

“I’d guess teleportation,” Steven said as he shook his head.

“How the hell is that possible?”

“Do I need to say it,” Steven sighed. “We’re in a world where magic exists and this confuses you?”

Trent stood silent for a moment before muttering, “Shut up.”

The rest of the ponies and Spike were looking around while the two were bickering. “Well this place is a dump,” Rainbow said, crossing her arms.

“Well I’d have never guessed,” Steven replied sarcastically before adding, “This place has only been abandoned for around thirty five years so I’d say it could be worse. The fact even one building is standing is a miracle.”

“Barely standing,” Church said, looking around the place. He then looked at Celestia. “So you never felt like getting rid of all the debris?”

Celestia shrugged. “I never believed that it would be needed again after it was destroyed, so I just left it behind to fade from memory.”

“Don't see why you couldn't just repair it and start over again,” Trent said.

“Because soon after the battle where this place was destroyed the war ended and almost all races signed a treaty that declared that we would all be at peace, there was no need for it anymore,” Celestia admitted.

“Still, always good to be prepared.” Trent walked around to explore the place.

“I couldn’t take the risk so we all dismantled out more… advanced weapons, but we did hide bits of it amongst the wreckage of old bases, or hidden in vaults, I may have done as they asked but I did bend the terms on our side.”

“Noted,” Trent said while leaving to look around.

“Still, with all the Grimm attacks it might have paid to have places fortified,” Steven suggested.

“Do you mind me asking exactly what ARE these Grimm that you all talk so much about?” Luna asked.

“Don’t you know your alter ego did somehow call them to kill us,” Steve pointed out.

“Yes, and I figured they were just monsters she created out of your shadows. But if what Tia said earlier is true, they've been around for quite some time.”

Steven then rubbed his hand through his hair before he saying, “The Grimm are creatures of destruction, they have no soul and are drawn to feelings of negativity like envy, sadness, loneliness, and hatred and normally often congregate towards the source of these emotions.”

Luna’s eyes widened before lowering her head and sighing. “Then it's no wonder my...other self was able to control them…”

“Why would you say that?”

“She was basically that. All of my negative emotions given form and infecting my mind…”

“Well that's just great, here's to hoping that thing stays gone.” Steven replied.

“Indeed.”

“Well, I believe that we should get going and let you get settled in. I’ll get you some supplies sent here soon, and when you know what you need here, don’t hesitate to ask and I’ll get somepony to help you build your new home,” Celestia offered.

“That’s kind of you, hopefully we’ll find a way to take you up on that offer,” Steven admitted with a bow.

Celestia only smiled back at him before she teleported everyone away from the base to what Steven assumed was Ponyville before he jumped to the top of a nearby structure to scout the nearby area. 





Meanwhile

Trent was walking around the ruins of the base, looking around and seeing nothing but rubble. “Man this place got messed up.”

“You're telling me,” Epsilon said, floating beside Trent. “And they expect us to stay here.”

Trent shrugged. “Could be worse. At least we have a roof over our heads. Sure it'll take a while to fix up the place, but we'll be fine.”

“And like I asked before, how are you planning on paying for said repairs? I don't even know if I can say the two of you even have an actual job. Miss Ruler over there wants you to attack monsters that are attracted to anger and fear. You guys will just die.”

“We'll be fine. We handled the Beowolves okay.”

“You got lucky. But trust me, luck doesn't last.” He stayed silent for a moment before saying, “How exactly do you plan on surviving against monsters that have apparently destroyed cities? The two of you are just a couple of idiots who barely know what you're doing, if at all.”

“Then you should feel right at home, Church. Only difference is that there's no arrogant asshole who won't shut the fuck up about a stupid war that never existed!”

Church looked at Trent for a second. “I'm guessing you don't like Sarge.”

Trent sighed. “Of all of the people you were relatively closed to, I hate him the most. The whole thing just got old REAL quick for me.”

Church just nodded before looking around and spotting something underneath some debris. “Hey, what's that?”

Trent turned towards what he was looking at and walked up to it, removing the debris and seeing a gun. “Sweet, new weapon.”

“Weird, that looks like something from the UNSC.”

Trent shrugged. “Either way, I call dibs.” Trent then put his rifle to his lower back and reached for the gun. The moment he gripped the handle, he heard an unfamiliar voice in his head.

“For those who are in need of a scout, a commander, or a friend, I will answer the call. My name is Eliteslayer, but for those who knew me back then as Sebaste, I have returned… and I am ready to serve and protect…”

Trent then immediately looked around to find the speaker, but found nothing. “Um, Church? You heard that too, right?”

“Yeah.”

“What the hell was that?”

“Hell if I know. There's no one around who's within hearing distance without shouting, and it wasn't through the radio.”

“So the only other explanation is that someone just sent me a telepathic message?”

Church shrugged. “Sure.”

Trent sighed. “Okay. Let's go see how the others are doing.” He then stood back up and began walking back the way he came, the gun still in hand.

“You're seriously bringing that thing?”

“Of course. It's a gun made by the UNSC, or at least similar to one. It could be useful.” A few moments later, they made it back to where they arrived but didn't see anyone. “Where did everyone go?”

Seconds later a gunshot was heard above them as Trent looked up to see Steven on top of one of the nearby structures holding his rifle in his hands.

“What the hell dude?!” Trent yelled.

“Just a few nearby Grimm approaching the base,” Steven replied as he jumped down, landing next to Trent. “I was just ‘dealing’ with them.”

“Okay...where did everyone go?”

“I’d assume back to Ponyville or wherever they live.”

“Really? Huh. I miss anything else important?”

“Not really, just that she’ll send some supplies when she’s able along with some contractors when able.”

“That's it?”

“That's it. Also what's that thing you’re holding?”

Trent lifted up the gun. “Found it under some rubble. Also, I called dibs.”

“Should have assumed you do that.”

And...that's about it…”

“Okay then. So what are you going to do now? I’m going to scope out our surroundings and see if we have anything I can scavenge to help us, and of course deal with any Grimm.”

Trent shrugged. “Eh, I'll just see if this thing still works.”

“Okay then, have fun.” Steven replied as he walked out of the base and into a nearby forest.

Church looked at Trent and asked, “Not going to mention hearing a voice when you picked up the gun?”

Trent shrugged. “We have enough problems to deal with without him thinking I'm crazy. Now come, I wanna see if this thing actually works.”
> 6. Crash Landing
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sebaste groaned as he streaked across the sky in the Broadsword, Rainblade keeping pace  with him. The day had gone by without a single sign of enemy contact, making him wonder if the report he had received had been false.

“You okay?” Rainblade asked on the comms.

“Yeah, just frustrated. It’s like they just went off the map, other than those raids. But right now, I’m just looking forward to relaxing back at Ponyville… OH COME ON, NOT NOW!” he yelped as a portal engulfed the fighter. Rainblade watched in shock before plunging in behind him.

‘Hold on, Seb…’ she thought as she entered the portal. ‘I won’t let you get hurt this time!’





Meanwhile

Trent was firing his new gun at some trees. “Not bad,” he said, putting it down.

“You sure it's a good idea using that thing?” Church asked, appearing next to him.

“Hey, if we're going to be dealing with Grimm for a living, I might as well make sure our equipment works.”

“Maybe, but we just found that thing, which is more advanced than what this world seems to have, under some rumble of an old base and it talked to you. I'm not sure it's very safe.”

“Don't worry about it. It only did that once. Though, I wonder who that Sebaste guy is.”

Little did they know, they were about to find out as what looked like a portal opened up in the sky and spat out a jet fighter with the UNSC logo, followed by a cyan/metallic blur, both of which seemed to streak towards Ponyville. They then heard what sounded like Rainbow’s voice shouting, “Turn the plane! That’s Ponyville you’re gonna crash into!” before the jet swung to the side and smashed into the tree line at the edge of the town. What now appeared to be a pony pegasus with cybernetics flew down to the crash site.

Trent blinked before he said, “Should we check that out?”

“I think that'd be a good idea,” Church said before disappearing. Trent nodded before running towards the crash site. When he got there, he saw the crater where the plane had crashed, but no plane, just one annoyed Recon Spartan who was shaking his head at where the plane had been. The pegasus hovered right next to him, and the two seemed to be having a chat over what happened.

“Wait, that looks like a soldier of the UNSC,” Church told Trent.

“Yeah, and some weird pony...” Trent then walked to the two slowly and as quietly as he can.

“I’m just glad that catastrophe was averted… but where in the Multiverse are we?” they heard the Spartan say. “I know a Displaced summoned me, but as for who, I have no bloody idea!” he threw his hands in the air.

“Hey, that sounds like that Eliteslayer guy.”

“This is really starting to confuse me,” Trent muttered.

“Seb, calm down.” The pegasus said, causing Trent to blink in shock as he recognized Rainbow’s voice, and as he looked closer, he saw the familiar rainbow mane and cyan fur, but they were marred by the cybernetic wings, tail and front legs. Even her right eye was cybernetic. “Getting frustrated isn’t gonna help.”

“HOLY SHIT, IT'S A TERMINATOR PONY!” Trent screamed once he finished processing what he saw. Afterwards, he realized what he did. “Son of a bitch…”

The two spun around, the cyberpegasus’ right hoof splitting open and a gun barrel poked out from it, while an assault rifle materialized out of nowhere into the Spartan’s hand and was at the ready before it got lowered. “Church? When did you start wearing Washington’s armor?” he asked in shock.

Trent tilted his head in confusion. “Um, are you talking to me?”

“You don’t…” the Spartan then facepalmed. “Right… his voice is different and I would be on one of his ships…. Not near Ponyville. I’m guessing you were at a con and ended up buying something that wound up with you being here in Equestria?” he asked.

Trent looked at him in silence before saying, “You psychic or something?”

“Yeah, I’m psychic.” the Spartan said sarcastically. “Meaning, no I’m not. The same thing happened to me, only I’m in a different Equestria.”

“Wait, seriously?”

“I'm guessing you're one of those people that Andrew guy mentioned,” Epsilon said, appearing between the Spartan and Trent.

“Epsilon. If you’re talking about the Displaced, then yes, I’m one of them,” the Spartan replied. “But where are my manners, the name’s Sebaste, and this is Rainblade.” He said, nodding towards his companion.

“...Is she a Terminator?” Trent asked, staring at Rainblade.

“No, she was my old world’s Rainbow Dash before she was turned into what she is by another version of her that belonged to another displaced after he and I had a little… spat.” Sebaste said with a bitter edge to his voice.

“Okay, you lost me. Anyway, the name's Trent, but you can call me Wash if you want, and you already seem to know Church.”

“Sup,” the AI said.

“Sorry about the near disaster earlier, I was heading back from patrol when you summoned me,” Sebaste chuckled nervously.

“Wait, summoned you?” Trent asked.

“Did you pick up a Halo 5 REQ assault rifle with a energy bayonet?” the Spartan asked.

Trent looked the weapon in his right hand and lifted it up. “You mean this thing?”

Sebaste nodded. “Basically, you’re part of a multiverse, with different Equestrias and each with their own person who was Dimensionally Misplaced, or as they’re more commonly known, Displaced. And the only way to contact one another is through Tokens, objects that represent you.”

“Okay, before you say anymore, we should probably get my buddy, Steven.”

“Was he sent as a RvB character also?” Sebaste asked

Trent shook his head. “No. He became a RWBY OC he made up. He left a few minutes ago to patrol for Grimm.”

The Spartan blinked. “The only RWBY Displaced I know is a Sun Wukong.”

“The monkey guy?”

“Yep, and you mentioned Grimm? Shit….” he groaned. “Just be glad they’re the only foes you’ve encountered.”

“We haven't been here for 24 hours yet, and already been through a lot of shit, like me being tackled off a tower because that of Nightmare Whore sending Beowolves at me. As for other foes, Pinkie mentioned some aliens that showed up awhile ago, but they didn't say much about it.”

Sebaste stared at Trent in shock. “Wait, you fought Nightmare Moon?” he asked. Shaking his head, he then asked, “Do you have a base or something that I can head to? I think that crash ended up alerting the ponies at Ponyville to what just happened.” He jerked his head to where voices were starting to filter through.

Trent nodded. “Yeah, not too far actually. Follow me.” Trent then turned around and walked away, Epsilon disappearing.

Rainblade hesitated as Trent walked away. “Can we really trust him?” she muttered to Sebaste.

“We may as well, we’re in an Equestria that’s new to me and you.” he replied. “Besides…” he continued with a grin, “I thought you wanted more time to hang out with me to make up for lost times.” Rainblade shoved him playfully before the two followed Trent.





As the group arrived at the base Sebaste saw that it was in ruins, many of the buildings nothing but rubble. The only standing structure being a large building at the back of the compound that seemed to be in disrepair but still standing.

“Geez, talk about disrepair….” Sebaste muttered. “Rarity would have a fit…”

“What do you expect? This place was abandoned for a long time after a battle,” A voice said from behind them.

Both Sebaste and Rainblade turned to the owner of the voice. “I’m guessing you’re Steven?” Sebaste asked.

“Guessing you met Wash already then,” Steven replied as he walked towards them.

“Yep, I ended up having a bit of a… crash landing after Trent summoned me.” Sebaste said.

“What do you mean by that?” Steven asked in confusion.

“What he means is that your friend summoned him while he was flying a vehicle of his back to our Equestria’s Ponyville.” Rainblade replied.

“That reminds me, what happened to that thing?” Trent asked.

Sebaste smirked. “You remember when that assault rifle materialized in my hand?”

“Kinda. I was too busy mentally freaking out about the fact you have a pony that looks like the annoying bitch who attacked me earlier crossed with one of the most dangerous machines in sci-fi.”

“Well, I can do the same thing with vehicles. Like this…” The Spartan seemed to concentrate at a certain spot before a single Mantis walker appeared at the same place.

“JESUS CHRIST!” Trent yelled in surprise.

“Heh, you should have seen the others when they found out they had the same abilities.” Sebaste chuckled.

“Others?” Church asked, reappearing.

“The Equestria I’m in has two other Spartans and an Astartes, a supersoldier from a tabletop game called Warhammer 40,000. A new arrival recently made things a bit topsy turvy though…” He said, wincing at the memory of blades easily negating his shielded armor. “In total, my Equestria has four Displaced, five including me.”

“Huh. Well as far as I know, Steven and I are the only Displaced here,” Trent said.

Sebaste nodded before he took off his helmet, revealing a mop of short reddish brown hair and a face that appeared in its twenties with bright green eyes. The most defining feature was the two slash scars over his right eye.

“God damn dude, what happened to you?” Church asked.

“Being in a war can do this to a guy.” Sebaste chuckled before he turned serious. “But my past isn’t one I talk about, if at all.” his tone held a note of warning.

“Okay I don’t know if you told Wash yet, but you know why we’re in this world? The guy who sent us here told us a bit, but not as much as we’d like,” Steven told the Spartan.

“Honestly? I don’t know why the Merchant sends us to different Equestrias…” Sebaste replied.

“Actually, it wasn't the Merchant,” Trent explained. “We stayed away from him when we saw him take 2 people, one dressed as Amy Rose, the other in some blue and black costume. Don't know what he was dressed as. But it looked like he had a sword on his back.”

“Wait…  two people dressed as…” Sebaste’s eyes widened in shock. “No way… this has got to be a coincidence….”

“What is it?” Epsilon asked.

“I know who you’re speaking of, but I’m still trying to process this…” Sebaste muttered.

“Wait, you do?” Trent asked in surprise. “How?”

“Because me and a friend of mine were the first displaced he summoned, we met his sister afterwards at a Hearth’s Warming party and then… I don’t remember what happened after that…”

“A heart what?”

“It’s our equivalent of your Christmas.” Rainblade said.

“But Christmas was a while ago. How did you meet them for a Christmas party? And besides, they were “Displaced” only a couple hours before us.”

“Time is different here. An hour on earth translates to days in Equestria.”

“So...how long have they been there?”

“A couple of months, since I saw them last.”

“Seriously?”

“Like I said, time flows differently.”

“Do you know their names?” Church asked.

“Tito and Cece, DarkSpider and Amy respectively.”

“DarkSpider? Never heard of him,” Trent said.

“Spiderman OC, he prefers to use a blade to webbing, though he’ll use both.”

“Sounds familiar to me, the sword thing I mean,” Steven chuckled.

“What can you tell us about them?” Trent asked.

“Well, Cece is a nasty piece of work with that hammer of hers, while Tito, her brother, is more of a try to calm things first before fighting kind of guy. Right now, things are a bit… crazy for them to put it lightly.”

“Why?”

“After a Delsin Rowe displaced ended up in their Equestria, the evil counterpart of that displaced attacked. The three of them plus their Rainbow Dash managed to stop it, but in the process, many of the ponies saw Tito with his eyes glowing red and a look of anger on his face. They’ve become so scared of him, he’s hanging out at Canterlot just so that things can calm down.” Sebaste explained.

“And his sister?”

“Same thing. But they keep in touch with the Mane 6 both in Ponyville and in the Wonderbolts.”

“Mane 6?” Church said, confused.

“If you’ve gone up against Nightmare Moon, you should have seen six mares facing her also.”

“Oh we did. Then Celestia, Bacon Hair, Luna, and that small black one that came out of nowhere.”

“Wait, Sunset Shimmer and Nyx are in this world?” Sebaste blinked in surprise.

“Sunset, yeah,” Trent responded. “Why?”

“And who the hell is Nyx?” Steven added.

Sebaste sighed. “Okay, let me ask the two a question. Have the two of you heard of a TV series called My Little Pony?” he asked in a resigned voice

“...Oh son of a bitch,” Steven groaned as he heard that, “I knew the names Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash sounded familiar.”

Trent snapped his fingers. “Oh yeah. Death Battle. That must've been what Pinkie meant. Wait…”

Sebaste nodded. “Yep, Sunset is from the Equestria Girls offshoot while Nyx is a fan-made character from a fanfiction novel.”

“Who exactly is Nyx?” Trent asked.

“She’s literally Nightmare Moon reborn, but without being power hungry. In fact, she’s usually depicted as Twilight’s adopted daughter.” Sebaste explained.

“Wait, you mean that black filly who...appeared… Okay then. Well at least we have a name for her now.”

“Wait, Twilight's adopted daughter?” Church asked in surprise.

“She was the one who found Nyx after a summoning spell went wrong.”

“Well that's not the case here,” Trent told him. “From what we were told, she just appeared beside Luna after those element things were used on her. Didn't even have a name for her until now.”

“Hmm… that is odd...”

Church looked at him and said, “You're a guy who's apparently traveled the multiverse, is a companion to a cyborg pony, can summon anything related to the UNSC, and, apparently, met a guy who can shoot webs from his hands, and you find the info on the filly odd?”

“Because the way Nyx was formed was from a spell and Twilight’s blood. The only other time I heard of this happening was with Delsin’s Luna.” He said.

“So the bookworm used blood magic to bring Nyx to this world originally, eh?” Steven said calmly from the top the remains of a nearby wall.

“It was actually a cult bent on bringing Nightmare Moon back that ended up bringing Nyx into the real world.” Sebaste snapped.

“So...would we have to deal with that?” Trent asked.

“Thankfully, no.”

“Good. We already going to have our hands full fixing up this place, which still needs a name, and dealing with Grimm, and we don't want to deal with a crazy as shit cult.”

Sebaste chuckled. “I would definitely agree with that.” He then cast an eye out at the ruins. “So who gave you this base?” he asked, as he turned to look at the two. Rainblade meanwhile had settled herself on a warm spot on one of the stones and was now dozing, twitching once or twice every few seconds.

“It was Celestia. She was practically begging us to form a group to deal with the Grimm,” Steven explained.

Sebaste raised an eyebrow. “I’ve met quite a few Celestias, and they weren’t as desperate as that…” He then frowned. “Then again, the Grimm aren’t exactly a foe Equestria has encountered before.”

“Considering they’ve apparently massacred entire towns and killed a lot of her guards, she was out of options when we arrived.”

“Good point.”  He then looked over at Rainblade and chuckled. “It’s funny how many variations of Rainbow Dash I’ve encountered, yet they have one thing in common: loyalty to their friends.”

“And punching things… really hard,” Steven added with a smirk.

“I can vouch for that one,” Trent commented.

“That too.” Sebaste said with a laugh. “I ended up on the wrong side of my world’s Rainbow’s gauntlets once. Had to buff out the dents a few weeks afterwards after I recovered from being slammed. But once you get to know her, she’s a cool friend to hang with.”

“I'll take your word for it. Don't think I'll actually be on good terms with this world's Rainbow for a while.”

“What, worried she do what she did in Death Battle to you,” Steven said calmly.

“She can be a bit… hard headed,” Sebaste said. A noise that sounded like a snort escaped from Rainblade as she shifted in her sleep.

“I wouldn't say that. I'd say she seemed a little trigger happy, but without the trigger,” Trent said. “As for that Death Battle comment, I have better aim than a stormtrooper and can think of more things than just gain her trust, scream “die”, and fire a bunch of rockets at her.”

Sebaste snorted in amusement. “That’s one episode I remember laughing at the end result.”

“And why's that?” Church asked.

“Rainbow defeating Starscream obviously,” Steven said.

As Sebaste opened his mouth, he heard the sound of wings flapping nearby. “Um… does anyone else besides you guys and your Celestia know about this base?” he asked.

“Sunset and Twilight know the actual location, while the other 5 just know the direction it is from Ponyville,” Church told the Spartan. “Though I wouldn't be surprised if those two tell their friends about it. Why?”

“Because I’m hearing wings coming this way, and a blip is on my HUD.” He said. “And it’s coming fast.”

“Oh boy…” Trent muttered.

Steven then looked around before he said, “Rainbow Dash incoming at twelve o’clock.”

“Great, it's our version of the flying pride mascot…”

Sebaste quickly slammed his helmet back onto his head and sealed it as Rainblade woke up with a start.  “Let’s hope she’s in a good mood…” Sebaste muttered as he watched Rainbow fly into view. He then blinked as he saw her. “Another anthro world? Geez, must be my lucky day….”

“How come?” Epsilon asked.

“Because a few other Equestrias that I’ve been to, they’re anthro. Seems your world is the same as those.” he explained as Rainblade walked up to look at the new arrival as she landed. “Guess she’s here because of me crashing.”

“Well, you did appear out of nowhere, in a ship, and nearly crashed into her town, so that makes sense.”

“Not exactly my fault, that’s actually the first time I’ve gone through a portal in a fighter.” Sebaste said, raising his hands defensively. “It messed with the electronics and caused them to go haywire. I was lucky enough to still have control over it and crash it into those woods.”

“Hey, I saw something huge just crashed here, what happened?” Rainbow asked, landing. Then her eyes widened when she saw Sebaste and Rainblade. “Okay, who are you, and what the hay is that?” she finished, pointing at Rainblade.

Rainblade gave a small scowl at the comment and flattened her ears. Sebaste knelt down and put a hand on her shoulder. “The name’s Eliteslayer, Special Operative and a Displaced from another Equestria. And this is Rainblade, your… counterpart.” he coolly replied.  “I assume you’re Rainbow Dash?”

“Yeah...and what do you mean my “counterpart”?”

“Meaning she’s you from a different Equestria, unfortunately, she’s the way she is after another displaced and I had a little spat. She’s still getting used to the Equestria I’m situated in.” he explained. “As for the crash… sorry about that. I wasn’t expecting to get brought here when I was returning from patrol.”

Rainbow just stared at him before tilting her head and looking at him like he was crazy. “What?”

Sebaste sighed. “The short of it is, we’re not from around here. We were brought here by what’s called a Token. One that your friend Trent ended up picking up.” He nodded towards the assault rifle the other spartan was holding.

“Hey, how was I supposed to know that this gun would pull two people from another dimension to here?” Trent asked.

“It’s common for new Displaced to find a token for another displaced and summon them when they least expect it,” Sebaste replied with a rueful chuckle. He then noticed the holo comms button on his left arm flashing. Oh crap… that’s probably Vik or Alex…’ he thought. Judging by the looks he was getting from the others, they had also noticed. ‘Damn it…’

“Um...what's that?” Church asked.

“It’s… a holo comms. One of the other displaced in my world must’ve noticed my disappearance and is trying to contact me.” Sebaste then tapped the button and a holographic version of a female Spartan Scout with Ivy Valentine’s right arm armor appeared in miniature on his arm.

“Seb? What happened? You and Rainblade vanished all of a sudden.” She said. Turning her head, she looked at Trent, Steven and Rainbow. “Guessing these guys had something to do with it?”

“One of them. But I’m fine, just had a bit of a crash landing.” Sebaste said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

“That's a girl?” Church asked. “Good thing Tucker isn't here right now.”

“Agreed,” Trent said with a nod. He then looked at the hologram of the woman. “So who exactly are you? Another AI?”

Alex shook her head. “If I was an AI, I wouldn’t disappear like this.” She then turned and walked to the side, vanishing as she did so. She returned to view a second later. “I'm using a holo comms like what Seb has installed in his armor.”A voice behind her made her turn her head. “Yeah, I got him on the comms. Tell the others he’s fine.”

“Who was that?”

"That was Sasha, our resident Astartes. Seb here caused quite the commotion after you summoned him, we thought he had been shot down by enemy AA fire.” Alex gave the Recon a reproachful look. "But I’m glad he and Rainblade are all right. My name’s Alexandra, or Alex for short. I’m one of three Spartans here, Seb being the first.”

“Name’s Trent. The little white guy is my AI, Church, and the dude in the shades next to me is Steven. Nice to meetcha.”

“It’s nice to meet other Spartan Displaced.” The sound of raised voices was then heard in the background, followed by the sound of electricity. Alex whirled around and groaned. “I have to go, my sister and Rainbow are at it again… Seb, be careful.”

“Aren’t I always?” he chuckled before her hologram shimmered and vanished.

Rainbow shook her head. “Okay that's it, what in the world is going on?!”

Sebaste chuckled. “I did say I was from a different Equestria. Sorry if I’m confusing you, Dashie.”

Rainbow just glared at him before saying, “That's it. Either you start making sense or I'm gonna clobber ya.”

Sebaste took his helmet off and returned the glare. “You wouldn’t even last ten seconds against me,” he growled, his light tone replaced with one of steel. “I’ve told you where I’ve come from, and that’s all I’m giving out to you.” Rainblade started to back off as she caught his tone. “So unless you want your tail kicked, don’t fight me. Otherwise, you’re gonna be in for a hard time.” A massive two-handed hammer that crackled with energy then materialized in his hands. He then shook his head and dismissed the weapon in his hands. “I’m not here to fight, but I will defend myself if necessary. And I honestly rather not make any more enemies, beside, I have enough of those already.” He said in a more normal tone and a wry chuckle.

“Both of you need to chill before you end up getting someone killed.” Steven said calmly.

Sebaste gave Steven an exasperated look. “Like I said, I’m not here to fight. But I do apologize for giving Ponyville a bit of a scare with the crash landing.” he said.

“And we all know Rainbow is hot headed, so it’s not a problem,” Steven admitted.

Sebaste chuckled before he began fiddling with a piece of his arm armor. “C’mon… please work this time…” he muttered before a single blade shot out and locked in place. “Yes! Finally got this thing working…” it then retracted and vanished. Noticing the looks he was getting, he asked, “What?”

“What is that?” Trent asked.

“Wristblade. Sometimes I don’t have time to summon a weapon, so I installed this to use when that happened,” the Recon explained. “But it’s been a bit finicky lately.”

“How so?” Church asked.

“Keeps getting jammed on a component on my armor. Gonna have to fix it when I get back to my Equestria.” He then looked at Rainbow and gave a small smirk. She felt a tap on her shoulder and then jumped after hearing someone screaming, “BOO!” from behind her.

“Surprised?” she heard Sebaste’s voice behind her.

Rainbow looked behind her and saw someone who looked exactly like Sebaste. She looked between the two Spartans before saying, “How are there two of you?”

You have holographic projections?” Church asked Sebaste.

“Hardlight projections, yes. So they can hit as hard as I can, and I can fight at two different spots at once. It’s come in handy more than once.” He gave a wink to Rainbow. “I’ve pulled that particular prank quite a few times, consider it a way for me to pull a prank without getting slammed.” Rainblade snorted with amusement.

“How do you have that?” Trent asked.

“It’s… hard to explain. I’ve had it since my first Displacement. I’m still honestly trying to figure out how it works…”

“And you don't need an AI?” Church asked.

Sebaste shook his head. “It’s linked to my armor.” He then seemed to remember something. “You mentioned fighting Nightmare Moon, how long ago was that?”

“l’d say it was earlier today,” Steven replied.

Both Rainblade and Sebaste looked at him in shock. “You're kidding, right?” The Spartan asked.

“Nope,” Trent said. “Not one hour after waking up in that castle, we ran into her and she sicked Beowolves at us thanks to this idiot,” he gestured to Steven, “opening his mouth and mentioning henchmen. He was thrown off the tower when I was tackled through a wall.”

“It's rather funny in hindsight seeing Wash freak out before he finished off the ones that attacked him,” Church said.

“So we're in season 1 territory…. Makes sense now…” Sebaste muttered.

“How so?” Trent asked.

“Because Nightmare Moon showed up in the first two episodes of Season 1. That explains why you two encountered her.” Sebaste explained.

“I remember fighting Nightmare Moon, left me with a broken wing and leg.” Rainblade remarked.

“Was that all? She broke the majority of my bones and almost killed me, I was lucky that my semblance gives me faster regeneration when under the sun… and the fact Celestia found us relatively quickly,” Steven admitted.

“I didn't have that luxury… took me at least two weeks to recover.” Rainblade said.

“I’m pretty sure knowing your personality that something like that was just a walk in the park for you,” Steven admitted with a smirk.

“Well I can be pretty awesome.” The cyberpegasus said with a grin.

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash shouted back in annoyance. “I always mean to crash when I do!”

“Sure you do,” Steven replied as he looked to the sky.

“What does that mean!?” Rainbow shouted grabbing ahold of Steven only to be grabbed seconds later and her right arm being pinned behind her back.

“Okay, okay, I give, I give, just let go!” Rainbow shouted back in shock at how fast Steven had reacted.

“Say please,” Steven taunted as he pulled her hand upwards slightly as she gritted her teeth.

Rainbow growled. “Please!” she shouted before Steven let her go as he had promised.

“That wasn’t so hard… was it?”

“Alright, if you're done playing “Pick on Rainbow Dash”, I have some questions to actually ask.” Sebaste said, sounding like he was trying not to laugh.

“Well then shoot,” Steven replied as he went back to looking at the sky, but still paying attention, “not literally mind you.”

Rainblade snorted as Sebaste rolled his eyes. “For starters, what exactly are your abilities?”

“You’ll need to be way more specific on what you mean by that? If your refering to my Semblance it’s light manipulation, I can bend the light around me, although I only know how to use it to hide the flash from my sniper when I fire it and make it appear somewhere else nearby me,” Steven admitted.

“You must be a crack shot then.” Sebaste remarked.

“Not really… it's just all I’ve managed to use as of yet, with practice I could possibly create a flash of light to blind someone, but I don’t know how to store the light I use in larger quantities or how to release it more effectively.”

“So basically a flashbang?” Sebaste asked.

“As I said, I don’t know. I haven’t learned how to access it effectively… or at all. When I was designing it, I made it a wide scope for it’s abilities because I never planned to do anything more with him then dress as him at the convention.”

“You're not the only that thinks that. Many displaced were expecting to just get something and continue enjoying whatever con they're in. Including myself…” he added the last part in a barely heard whisper.

“Anyway, why are you asking?”

“I was honestly curious, the only other RWBY characters I’ve encountered are Weiss, Blake, Ruby and Sun.”

“So the actual teams do exist somewhere,” Steven chuckled.

Sebaste nodded. “Yeah, and this Sun has a Beacon for Displaced. I'm actually one of the combat trainers there.”

“Really? I’d never guess... who’s your training dummy then?” Steven asked

“Usually one of my holograms.” Sebaste said.

“I see… to be fair that makes a lot of sense.”

“Yeah, I’d rather not get in trouble with the Headmaster…” Sebaste chuckled nervously. “And honestly, clobbering students would look bad on my resume.”

“I’m pretty sure even you have some students you take it a bit farther with when you spar.”

There was an awkward silence from Sebaste.

“Your silence all but confirms that one.”

“That kind of training I only do with my team.”

“Okay, I'm getting bored,” Church said.

Sebaste turned to Church. “Then is there anything you'd like to know, Alpha?”

“Wrong AI, dipshit. I'm Epsilon, remember.”

“Sounds all Greek to me.” The Spartan said with a grin.

“Fuck off.”

“Okay, that's enough outta you Church,” Trent said, putting his hand up. He then turned to Sebaste. “Anything else to discuss?”

“Unless you have any other questions, then no.” Sebaste replied. He then sat down on a nearby piece of rubble.

“I’m sorry that we don’t have anywhere more reasonable for you to sit,” Steven admitted as he rubbed the back of his head with his right hand.

“It's fine, I’ve done this more times than I can count.” Sebaste chuckled.

“Still… I bet we both wish this place looked more presentable for our first guests.”

Trent shrugged. “Definitely could be worse. At least there are some buildings intact.”

Sebaste shrugged. “I’ve seen cities destroyed in different Equestria, even Canterlot once. A destroyed base isn't something new to me.”

“That’s gotta suck,” Church commented.

‘Like you wouldn't believe…, Sebaste thought.”Anyways, what exactly is the story behind this place?” He then asked, looking around.

Trent then said, “Was an old military base, but got messed up in some battle a while ago and Celestia never felt the need to fix it up til now.”

Sebaste raised an eyebrow. “Must have been some battle.”

Trent shrugged. “Probably.”

The Recon Spartan frowned. “Did she say how long ago this battle was?” He asked.

“We don’t actually know,” Steven admitted begrudgingly.

“Who cares?” Trent asked. “It was years ago, that war's over, and now this base are belong to us.”

Shrugging, Sebaste stood up and began to walk around, Rainblade following behind him. “I'm gonna check some stuff out, see if anything's salvageable for you guys to use.” He called behind him.

“If you do, you’ll be lucky, but go ahead,” Steven said calmly.

Sebaste gave a wave of acknowledgement before he and Rainblade vanished at a corner.

“Umm, I’m going to head back to Ponyville, i’ll see you both later,” Rainbow Dash said quickly before flying away from Steven and Trent.

A few minutes later…

“Geez, whatever this battle this base had been in, it's been trashed pretty badly…” Sebaste muttered as he tossed aside a piece of machinery, Rainblade hovering next to him.

“Think that's bad, you should have seen some of the bases I fought at.” The Pegasus snarked. “There wasn't enough left to do a dance on them.”

Sebaste gave a bark of laughter. For a while, it felt like the old times before the Equestrian Black Crusade.

It was then they were cut off as a certain non-robotic rainbow annoyance crashed into Sebaste before landing backwards on both feet and glaring at him.

Sebaste coughed as he stood back up. “Geez, I knew I was a target, but not that kind of target!” He joked, wincing as he felt a bruise starting to form on his chest. “Did you really have to ram into me like that?”

Rainbow didn’t reply to that question and just continued glaring at Sebaste.

“What, do I have something on my armor?” The Spartan asked, making a show of checking his armor.

“I don’t trust you… or any of your kind,” Rainbow said maliciously

“Surprise, surprise…..” Sebaste muttered before suddenly appearing at her side, a combat dagger at her throat.

“Now listen here, Rainbow…” The Spartan growled, causing her to gulp. “I don't care if you don't trust me, but I'm not here to cause any kind of trouble. But if you insist on picking a fight with someone that's more experienced in combat, you’ll find that I won't show mercy…”

“How in Tartarus can I trust you! Your turned me into that!” She shouted gesturing towards Sebaste’s Rainbow, “I can never trust anyone who would do that to anyone… and I am almost sure that those two will do the same to everyone here!”

“You think I would harm one of my friends?! I'm not like the Displaced who's actually responsible for how Rainblade is!” The Spartan snarled.

“Hah! So your kind did do that!” She shouted back.

“It was another Rainbow that turned me into this…” Rainblade spoke up. “She works with the Displaced he mentioned.”

“How can you be sure of that fact! For all I know you could be tricked into believing that to be the case!”

“Because I have the video that will show you what she's talking about…” Sebaste said before a holographic version of Rainborg's video of her turning his old world’s Rainbow into who she was now began playing in front of her. Rainblade looked away, not wanting to relive the memory.

After the video finished Rainbow looked away, almost looking sick before she said “that video must be false... nopony could be that cruel.”

“Unfortunately… it's not.” Sebaste said, a bitter tone in his voice. “I’ve run scans on this, and it's authentic.”

“That can’t be true,” Rainbow Dash replied before backing away from the two of them.

“Rainbow, use your head for once! If I was lying, I would have been evading your questions! I'm not one for telling falsehoods, besides, I learned what happened if I did that the hard way…” Sebaste snapped.

Rainbow Dash just looked away from him as Sebaste swore he saw tears welling up in her eyes before she turned and flew away.

“C’mon…. Let's try and at least salvage something…” Sebaste muttered as he walked deeper into the base. Rainblade looked back to where Rainbow had flown off before following her friend.





Rainbow landed in by Golden Oaks before going inside. When she entered, she saw Twilight writing something down with Spike next to her. When Twilight heard the door close, she turned towards her winged friend. “Oh, hello Rainbow. What are you doing?”

Rainbow sighed. “Just checked on some crash nearby from some weird plane. And you wouldn't believe what I found.”

“Really? What?” Spike asked.

“Another human with similar armor as that Trent guy, and…” Rainbow shook her head. “Another me.”

“What?!” Spike and Twilight asked in unison.

“That's not all. This me is...weird. She's short, walks on all fours, and has metal parts all over her. Even one of her eyes.”

“Wait wait wait,” Twilight said, her hands up, trying to process what Rainbow just said. “Are you sure that's what you saw?”

“Yeah. They're at that old base, helping those guys right now if you don't believe me.”

Twilight stood silent for a moment before taking a deep breath and turning to her assistant. “Spike, take a letter.”
> 7. A Bunch Of Exposition And Some New Weapons
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sebaste grunted as he dropped the portable generator in front of his fellow Displaced. “Found this in the base. Still works too.” he said, leaning on it. Rainblade hovered nearby, her ears twitching.

“I’m amazed you found anything,” Steven replied.

“You just need to look in the right spots,” Sebaste responded.

“To be fair, neither of us are Bear Grylls,” Steven admitted.

“... I have never heard of that person.” Sebaste deadpanned. “Ever.”

“Bear Grylls was a British adventurer, writer and television presenter from Northern Ireland before we were displaced,” Steven explained.

Sebaste shrugged. “I wasn't really able to hear about other people through the news, due to my family not having a TV.” he said, toying with a combat dagger.

Trent shook his head. “I think the better thing to bring up is how does that still work after 3 decades of gathering dust?”

“I’m guessing it was stored away in case the main generator was either shut down or destroyed.” Sebaste said as he nudged one of the geodes protruding out of the case of the generator. “I had found another generator a few miles from this one, but it was burnt out.”

“What is there to power at this point though?” Church asked, appearing beside Trent. “Everything here is trashed.”

“That's the weird thing, somehow a communication console was still intact,” Sebaste admitted.

“Okay seriously, what is the tech level here?” Trent asked. “From what we've seen, it's around medieval times, yet generators and consoles existed thirty plus years ago?”

“That's what I was trying to figure out… maybe they used some kind of magitech…?” Sebaste  asked himself, scratching his head.

Trent shook his head. “Okay, this is raising too many questions.”

Rainblade looked at them, confused. “What's so important that this generator thing is here?” She asked.

“Simple. This is - for us - a medieval setting. So how the heck is this thing, much less a communications console of all things, working in this mess?” Trent explained in disbelief while staring at the offending piece of machinery.

“Don’t know, probably a military secret of some kind?” Steven said dismissively with a shrug.

Trent scoffed. “Military Secret Project? Like what, the UNSC? Project Freelancer? That's stupid.”

“What's that?” Rainblade asked.

“Where we're originally from, the UNSC are some organization in the future who made the armor people like Seb and I are wearing. At least, in a game series called Halo.”

“In my case, they're an organization that the Reds and Blues got in after shutting down Project Freelancer,” Church said.

Trent started talking again. “The point is, how can we remake our own equipment, when there is no UNSC existing here? Sebaste and I are one thing, but that,” he pointed at the generator, “kind of stuff is completely different from our gear.”

“In any case, we’ll figure out how this thing managed to survive a base getting gutted by whatever destroyed it...” Sebaste theorized.

“Questions we need to figure out at a later date,” Church said.

“Agreed.” Sebaste then stiffened. “Picking up four contacts, coming this way.”

“Ditto.” Rainblade replied to Sebaste.

“Any idea who, or what, they are?” Trent asked.

Sebaste didn't answer, when he did, his voice sounded puzzled. “IFF is picking up Celestia, Nyx and Twilight's signatures, but I don't know the last one….”

“Wait, your thing can actually tell it's Celestia and Twilight?” Trent asked in disbelief at Sebaste, pointing a finger at him.

“Both have been assigned as Friendlies, so that's what they show up on the IFF as.” Sebaste replied.

“And what does IFF mean?” Steven asked curiously.

“Identification, Friend or Foe.” Sebaste said. “Helps when you need to tell who’s good or bad.”

“That must be useful,” Steven agreed with a nod of his head.

“It's come in handy more than once.” Sebaste said as he scanned for both the familiar coats of the two ponies. He soon spotted Celestia and Twilight, along with two other ponies as the four rounded a corner.

“Hey… Church can you identify the other two?” Steven asked.

The AI nodded. “Oh yeah. It's Sunset and that Nyx kid.”

Trent stared at Church. “And how do you know that?”

“Because they’re right there,” Church said, pointing to the right, where said ponies were walking to the Displaced.

There was a small flash from Sebaste's right shoulder pad before a commander’s rank was seen on it.

“What was that for?” Trent asked.

“Back in my Equestria, I hold the rank of Reserve Commander. It's become sort of a reflex for me…” Sebaste said, rubbing the back of his head.

“Doubt it'd be much use right now,” Trent whispered as the ponies reach them. He then turned to them. “So, what brings you girls back so soon?”

Celestia then looked towards the group before she calmly said, “I received a letter from my student about some strange occurrences, that she believed was happening here, so I decided it would be best for me to check it out myself.”

Church shrugged. “Well besides Seb here nearly crashing in that town, and learning about some random guy we never met, nothing's wrong.”

Sebaste stepped forward. “Sorry about that… Trent ended up calling me here when Rainblade and I was heading back from a patrol in our Equestria. The portal messed with my fighter’s electronics and ended up crashing into the woods.”

“Hey, don't blame me,” Trent said. “How was I supposed to know picking up this gun would have pulled you two here?”

“Seb wasn't blaming you.” Rainblade said with a roll of her eyes, her wings giving a small whirr as they shifted.

Sunset waved her hands in front of herself. “Okay, is anyone else going to bring up the fact that there's another human in armor similar to Wash, and some robot that looks just like Rainbow Dash?”

“Hey! I'm a Cyberpegasus, not a robot!” Rainblade said in an offended tone.

“As for the reason they're here, multiverse,” Church explained. “Basically they're from an alternate Equestria, and Sebaste, the guy in the armor, is one of those guys who were taken from his dimension and sent to Equestria, like Wash and Steven, and those two that they saw disappear.”

The ponies all blinked at that explanation, before Twilight said, “What?!”

Trent then said, “Long story short, they're from a different universe with their own version of you, and are like Steven and I.”

“And you got them here with a gun?” Sunset asked.

Trent stood silent for a moment before turning to Sebaste. “Yeah, how did that happen?”

Sebaste pinched the bridge of his nose. “What you picked up is known as a Token, an object that represents who you are and in a way, your calling card, literally. They're used to call over other Displaced in order to either help or just hang out.” he explained. “When you used that assault rifle, you called me over from my Equestria.”

“So what, me using it makes you show up here? Does that mean I can’t use it unless I want to summon you?” Trent asked.

“You can still use the weapon, just… don’t say my name around it; I’d rather not keep getting pulled out of my world because my name kept getting mentioned.” Sebaste said, before looking at the four ponies. “Twi, I can see you trying not to spew a ton of questions, if you have any, go ahead and ask me. Within reason, of course.”

Sunset put a hand on Twilight's shoulder. “Considering how crazy this all sounds, I don't blame her. But I have a question myself. If you really know different versions of us, what are they like?”

Sebaste gave a chuckle. “It really depends on which world I’m in. Some versions of you are friendly, some are suspicious of others appearing on their worlds, and some…” Here, he gritted his teeth.

“Some what?” the filly asked.

“Some… I’ve had to fight because they had become corrupted by evil forces.” Sebaste replied to her, with his tone now steely.

That caused Sunset and Twilight to do a double take. “What?!”

“You think that's crazy?” Trent asked. “You guys are apparently part of some TV show for little girls where we're from. And the whole thing dealing with Nightmare Moon is all part of the first episode, according to Sebaste.”

At that, everypony, sans Rainblade, blinked, with Twilight looking like her mind broke.

“I think we broke Twi…” Sebaste snickered. “She reminds me of Dark’s Twi when I told her that another version of her was a mate to another Displaced.”

Sunset was the first to recover, shaking her head. “Okay, first of all, what?” She asked Trent. She then turned to Sebaste. “Second of all, WHAT?! And third, who in Tartarus is Dark?”

Rainblade, meanwhile, was howling with laughter, rocking back and forth in the air.

“You wanna answer that last one?” Trent asked Sebaste, trying hard to keep standing due to him laughing at Sunset's reaction.

“Okay, you know how Trent mentioned two others that disappeared before he and Steven were sent here?” Sebaste asked the ponies.

Sunset nodded. “Yeah. They said those two are kinda the reason they chose to leave their homes. To help people like them. Why?”

“Because I’ve met them in another Equestria. They’ve had a bit of a rough ride, but they're fine.”

Church nodded. “Oh yeah, they're just branded as freaks by ponies they helped and forced to stay in a different city if what you told us is correct,” he said sarcastically. “But yeah, they're just fine.”

Celestia then spoke up as she asked Church, “What exactly do you mean by that?”

“According to Sebaste, things aren't so good for Dark and his sister,” Trent replied. “From what I can understand, an evil version of a Displaced, that's what people like us are apparently called, came to their dimension and attacked their Ponyville. After beating him, the ponies grew afraid of Dark, causing him and his sister to stay in Canterlot until things calm down.” He then turned to Sebaste. “Anything else you want to add?”

“Nope, you're spot on. Although… I have a sneaking suspicion that his Rainbow Dash is starting to fall for him.” He then shrugged. “But that's just me.”

That caused everyone to stare at Sebaste in silence. “What?” they all asked simultaneously.

“Multiverse, some Displaced end up dating or even marrying one of the Bearers, and it depends on which world. Most of the time, it's Twilight, but I’ve seen Rainbow, Fluttershy and even Applejack thrown into the mix.” He then paused. “Come to think of it, a few have also dated or married one of the Royal Sisters. Either Celestia or Luna, depending on which world.”

Everyone stood silent for another moment before Trent said, “Well, that'd make things incredibly awkward if our version of any of those ponies end up in one of those dimensions with us. And makes me happy none of the others are here to hear this...”

“Frankly I doubt anyone but Applejack or Pinkie would believe us anyway,” Steven admitted as he climbed back up a roof of a nearby building.

Sebaste snorted. “Ain't that a the truth.”

Trent shrugged. “Still, I'd prefer not telling any of the others about that.”

“Agreed,” Sunset commented.

“If that's what you wish,” Celestia replied.

After a moment of silence, Trent turned to Sebaste. “So why exactly do you think that?”

“Because usually Rainbow isn't one to show her feelings, instead maintaining a tough girl attitude to the point of being paranoid.” The Spartan replied. “There are times where that shell cracks and shatters, but it's usually after she's had a close shave with death and was rescued by someone or if she got to know the person better. Although sometimes she needs someone to knock some sense into her when she goes all gun-ho.” He gave a wink at Twilight. “But Dark’s Rainbow no doubt has her hands full with controlling her new powers at the moment.”

“Wait, what new powers?” Sunset asked.

“Try Aquamancy. Or Hydrokinesis, or whatever you call controlling water.” Sebaste said with a smirk. Rainblade rolled her eyes.

Everyone stayed silent for a moment before Trent said, “If that bitch learns blood bending, I'm just gonna run.”

“Blood bending?” Twilight asked.

“You don't wanna know,” Trent replied with a slight shiver.

“So, let me get this straight,” Church said to Sebaste. “This Dark guy has spider powers, a sister that turned into a hedgehog with a hammer, is seen as a freak to the people he saved, and apparently has a version of the LGBT mascot, this one of which being able to control water, falling for him. Is there anything else you wanna say about this guy, or are we done?”

“Well…. He’s got a Pokemon.” Sebaste said off handedly.

“A what?” All the anthro ponies and Church said in confusion.

“Seriously?” Trent said in a dry tone. “I swear you're making some of this shit up now.”

“I'm not even kidding.” Sebaste said.

“You know what? I'll believe it when I see it. I'm sure a few of the stuff you said is a load of bullshit anyway.” He then turned to the ponies. “So you guys gonna leave again or ask this guy more questions? Preferably not about this Dark guy. I would rather learn more about him myself than be told by someone else.” Trent then went to a nearby wall and leaned on it.

Sunset cleared her throat before facing Sebaste. “Okay then… if you don't mind me asking, what happened to you two?” She asked, gesturing to his face and Rainblade.

The Spartan's face turned somber. “War is what happened. These scars I got after I got ambushed by a rogue night guard armed with fighting claws. Rainblade…. She was from an old Equestria that I had lived in before I was transferred to the Equestria I live in now. She was kidnapped and turned into a combat drone after another Displaced and I, along with a friend of mine, had a spat that nearly destroyed that Equestria…” he said.

Everyone stared at him in shock.

“Ho...ly...shit…” Trent said. “That's gotta suck.”

“Understatement of the millennium,” Twilight said with sympathy.

Sebaste snorted bitterly. “When you’ve been fighting for about 23 years, you tend to become bitter with having to fight over and over.” He said. “But it's what I have to do in order to protect those who can't fight back.”

“23 years?!” Everyone, excluding Celestia and Rainblade, exclaimed.

“Damn,” Church said. “That really gotta suck.”

“The heck are you, a parrot? What's next, Church wanna cracker?” Sebaste asked, getting a chuckle from the group.

“Shut the fuck up, asshole.” The AI replied cheekily.

Sebaste gave the AI a cheeky grin. “Then again, parrots don't exactly cuss like a pirate.” he said.

“Dude, do you really wanna piss off an AI who can possess you?” Trent whispered to Sebaste so the ponies didn't hear.

“Relax, I’m just messing with him.” Sebaste replied. “I'm not gonna go that far.”

“I take it you're not the smartest in your group then.” Trent commented from his place.

Sebaste gave Trent a deadpan look. “Who do you think trains Alex and the others? Not one of the captains or the princesses.” he retorted.

“Would they almost crash a ship into a populated town?” Church asked.

“Wait, what?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah. This guy was in a ship when he was summoned and almost crashed it into that little town of yours.” Trent commented off-handedly, while Sebaste just stared at him.

“Ponyville,” Sunset said.

“I'm not saying that.” Trent replied back.

“Well where is it now?” Twilight said.

Sebaste rolled his eyes before a single one seater jet fighter materialized behind him, the landing gears creaking a bit as it hit the dirt. “You mean this thing?” He asked, jerking his thumb at it to the now dumbstruck group.

“Where in Equestria did that just come from?!” Twilight exclaimed.

Sebaste rubbed the back of his head. “It's… one of a few abilities I have. I can summon any vehicle or weapon from the universe my armor came from.” he replied.

“And a mech, if that MANTIS is anything to go by,” Trent muttered.

Rolling his eyes, Sebaste continued, “Besides that, I can use any armor ability, whether it's active camo…” He then shimmered and vanished before reappearing next to Twilight, causing her to jump in surprise. “...or a hardlight copy of myself.” A second version of him then appeared next to him before fizzling out.

“Wait, any armor enhancement?” Church asked.

“Those that are at least available in Reach and Halo 4. None of the RvB stuff.” Sebaste said.

“So, Jetpack, Bubble Shield, and Hard Light Shield included?” Trent asked.

“Yep.” Sebaste replied.

“Hard Light Shield?” Church asked.

“Basically that thing Felix always used,” Trent explained.

“Oh.” Church stated, blinking once.

Sunset cleared her throat. “Um, I'm sorry, but what are all these enhancements you're talking about?”

“Basically like the stuff Church showed you in the library. Except instead of super strength or speed, he has jetpacks and some kind of sentry.” Trent commented off-handedly.

“But anyways, that's the extent of my abilities.” Sebaste said as the Broadsword vanished. “Any other questions?”

Twilight hesitantly rose her hand.

“Yes Twi?” Sebaste asked.

“Um...not to sound rude, but how long are you two staying here?” Twilight asked after lowering her hand.

“At least until one of my team opens a portal to here from their end or if Trent says “Our contract is complete”.” Sebaste explained.

“Wait, what contract?” Trent and Church asked.

“Think of a token as a contract that you sign that allows that person to help you.” Sebaste said. “Of course, you need to be careful of who you summon, otherwise you might end up summoning someone that might end up wanting to kill everyone here just for the fun of it.”

Everyone stood silent at that for a moment.

Celestia then looked towards Sebaste before she asked, “Are there any of these Displaced you’d recommend we avoid?”

“There is at least one that you should be wary of.” Sebaste looked up into the sky. “His name is Ahriman, leader of the New Black Legion and recently made Void Dweller.”

“Void what now?” Church asked.

“A void dweller is a literal God in the space between our universes. They're capable of displacing someone or even destroying said universe they watch over.” Sebaste explained. “The Merchant could easily be classified as a void dweller, seeing as he's managed to displace thousands if not millions of people into different versions of Equestria.”

“So…a bunch of black and white monsters that are known for destroying entire cities, some unknown aliens that have been seen a while ago, evil “Displaced” who can completely wreck our shit if we accidentally summon them, and literal gods that can wipe us out whenever they want.” Church then looked at Sebaste and Rainblade, then to the 4 ponies. “Is there anything else we should know about that will likely kill us horribly?”

“Um…” Twilight started. “We should discuss that later…”

“Yeah,” Sebaste nodded. “Anyway, there is a school for Displaced that was created by a Sun Wukong displaced for those wanting to control and learn more about their powers.” Sebaste said, tossing a coin to Trent. “If you ever want to apply, use this to talk to him. You’ll be seeing me directing close combat and vehicle training there.”

“Sun Wukong?” Trent asked. “That Displaced you mentioned earlier, right?”

Sebaste nodded. “Yep, right now, he’s dealing with becoming a father at the moment.”

Trent nodded. “Okay.” A couple seconds later, he did a double take. “Wait what?”

Celestia just smirked at this before she said “As much as I enjoy learning about this, I believe I should work on getting you access to the vault under the base like I promised,” and with that she walked away from the group seemingly towards one of the collapsed buildings.

Trent looked at the princess for a moment before turning back to Sebaste. “But really, what?”

Sebaste snickered. “You heard that right. He’s gonna be a dad to his first daughter.”

“Do we even want to know who's the mom?” Sunset asked.

“Well…. I'm not gonna tell you outright, but I do know she's one of Twi’s friends, has pink hair and jumps at every shadow during Nightmare Night.” Sebaste grinned.

Everyone blinked for a second before Church said, “Wait...does she have yellow fur and wings?”

“Maybe…” Sebaste said. “Then again, those hints should have the answer be staring you right in the face.”

“Well first, none of us are very familiar with this world, and don't know what “Nightmare Night” is. And second, from what I've seen so far, there are a lot of ponies of various colors. For all I know, you can be talking about anyone. And finally, we don't know much about Purple here besides a few friends, and being Celestia’s student.”

“Nightmare Night is Equestria’s version of Halloween, just like Hearth's Warming is their version of Christmas.” Sebaste said. “As for who the mom is, I think Twi knew who I was describing.”

Twilight and Sunset blinked, their pupils shrinking to pinpricks. “Wait, seriously?”

Trent cleared his throat. “So, if he's talking about who I think he is, that just makes me want to keep this conversation between us. Lord knows how she'd react…”

Twilight nodded. “Agreed.”

“That's a good idea,” Sunset said, Nyx just silently nodded.

Turning to Nyx, Sebaste then knelt down and gave her a kind smile. “Hello Nyx.”

The filly blinked before looking around before looking at him in confusion. “Um...are you talking to me?”

Sebaste deadpanned. “Is there any other black alicorn filly that has Nightmare Moon's eyes named Nyx here?”

The ponies stared at him in confusion when Church spoke up. “Reminder, but she only showed up a couple of hours ago, and no one had any idea what she was called. Why else do you think we were confused when you actually mentioned her name earlier?”

Rainblade snickered as Sebaste groaned. “He’s got you there, Seb.” She remarked.

Rolling his eyes, Sebaste explained Nyx’s backstory to the group. “Seems the way she appeared here is reminiscent of what happened with another Displaced named Delsin, where a younger pony separated from Luna when she was hit with the elements while she was still Nightmare Moon…”

All the ponies blinked, wide eyed. A few moments later, Trent said, “And if we're lucky, we don't have to worry about all that bullshit.”

“But if I were you Sparkle, I'd be careful,” Church said.

“Well...that's unexpected,” Sunset said.

“Understatement,” Twilight and Nyx muttered simultaneously.

“Look, just because Nyx is literally Nightmare Moon reborn doesn't mean she can’t do good now. Hell, from what I remember, she became Nightmare Moon again, but due to Twilight literally raising her, she gave up trying to take over Equestria and even stopped an invasion from destroying Ponyville.” Sebaste said.

Sunset blinked. “So, Twilight's adopted daughter, Nightmare Moon reborn, made using Nightmare Moon’s remains and Twilight's blood, and by a cult that worshipped Nightmare. And yet, despite all that, she was still good. Am I forgetting anything?”

“You know, we been doing recaps like that a lot today,” Trent commented. He then looked at Church. “You think we're gonna stop anytime soon?”

“Doubt it. Especially if we get a load of exposition all at once like we been getting.” Church replied with an eyeroll directed at the ponies.

Rainblade walked to to where Sebaste was. “Okay, I think you’ve confused these guys long enough. Let's give them some time to recover.” she said, poking the Spartan.

“Alright, I’ll stop.” Sebaste said, chuckling. “Not like this hasn't happened before.”

He had only finished saying that, when they heard the voice of Steven calling to them, “Hey, Trent! You didn’t say anything about us having a private party here!” as he approached them.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Trent demanded in confusion at his fellow displaced, as he approached them with ease.

“Sounds like Pinkie…” Rainblade said as she scratched her ear with one wing.

Sebaste facepalmed. “I still can't figure out that mare….” he muttered.

“Tell me about it.” Twilight chipped in with an eyeroll.

“So, is that it then?” Trent asked the Spartan and Rainblade.

“Just one more thing. Your token.” Sebaste said, looking at Trent. “In order to be summoned to other Equestrias, you need to create your own token.”

“Um…” Trent looked at Steven and then back to Sebaste. “Do we have to do that now?”

“Unless you’d rather make it after I leave?” Sebaste asked.

“Honestly, I think we should think about this for a bit. Whenever we figure things out, and if we need help, we'll call ya.” Trent lifted Seb's token to prove his point.

Sebaste sighed. “I’ll help if the situation calls for it, but I have duties back in my Equestria that sometimes require me to stay there. So don't expect me to come running every time you have a panic attack.” He gave a stern glare at the two.

“Duly noted.” Steven and Trent replied in unison.

“Now, were there any more questions you lot wanted to ask?” Sebaste asked.

“Yeah, I have one last one regarding that dark guy,” Trent said, lifting a finger up.

“What, where?!” Sebaste asked, looking up at the sky.

Trent froze for a second before looking at his finger then put it down. “Oh, sorry. But still, got a question about that Displaced you talked so much about.”

Sebaste then gave Trent a mischievous grin. “Just messing with you, I knew who you meant. What about him?”

“What's his token?” Trent asked with a raised eyebrow under his helmet.

Pulling out a single medallion, he tossed it to Trent. “This is his token.”

Trent caught it in his free hand, and he saw that it was shaped like a spider, with DS on the center. A second later, he heard an unfamiliar voice in his head.

“My name is Dark. I'm a web-swinger with a blade and a lot of heart. If you need a companion to talk to, or an ally to help fight your enemies, just toss this medallion to the air and I'll be there. I'm always willing to meet new people. But know this, I will not allow anyone to harm innocents.”

Trent shook his head. “Good to know…” he muttered as he tossed it to Steven.

“So that what it looks like,” Steven replied as he looked at the medallion.

Sebaste held his hand out. “I’ll take that back now, please. But don't worry, if you're lucky, you may find your own version of this.”

Steven just sighed as the passed the medallion back as he said, “Can’t you just create a copy of it to save time?”

“Ah who cares?” Trent asked. “If it's as easy as finding Seb's token, we'll find it in no time. Besides, I am definitely not ready to meet this guy just yet.” Trent then leaned closer to Steven and whispered in his ear, “And I want to try to figure out what Seb was lying about involving him before we meet him.”

“Seb, we need to get back to our Equestria. Twi’s probably panicking over what's happened to us.” Rainblade said, looking up at the Spartan.

Sebaste nodded. “Alright.” He then looked at the group in front of him and Rainblade. “Remember, be careful of who you encounter in the multiverse. Otherwise, you may end up calling someone that may end up hurting those you care about.” he warned.

“Will do,” Trent said. “So, just say our contract is complete, right?”

Sebaste nodded before two swords and an energy sword hilt landed nearby, the blades embedding themselves into the ground.

Everyone stared at the swords, with Trent and Church focusing on the glowing sword.

“Is...is that what I think it is?” Church asked.

“Basically,” Trent responded, before quickly stating, “Dibs!” He then grabbed the Energy Sword and observed it. At once, a trio of voices sounded in his head: “This is Sebastian of the Dark Angels, and Spartans Viktor and Alexandra of the UNSC. For those out there, if you are outnumbered and need help, or if your world and its inhabitants are in danger or you just want to hang out, call upon the protectors of Humanity’s future, from both the 41st Millennium and the 23rd century. Ave Imperator! For the Emperor and the UNSC! For Equestria!”

“So these belong to friends of yours?” Trent asked Sebaste and Rainblade in disbelief.

They both nodded curtly.

“Need I ask what the other tokens are?” Steven asked curiously as he picked one of the swords up looking over them.

“Looks like 2 swords to me,” Sunset answered with a shrug.

“Thank you for stating the obvious… would you likes a medal for that brilliant deduction,” Steven replied as he rolled his eyes.

“Wow, you're not very good at comebacks, are you?” The orange unicorn asked, crossing her arms.

“No he is not,” Trent stated, still observing the Energy Sword.

Sebaste picked up one of the blades and clicked something on the hilt. Instantly, the blade separated into a whip like form, before it formed back into a single blade. “Like my Assault rifle, these are real weapons, so use them well.” he said.

“We'll keep that in mind,” Trent said, turning the Energy Sword off. “But if anymore tokens can be used as weapons, we're gonna need somewhere to put them.”

“Didn’t Celestia say she was giving us access to a vault under the base?” Steven pointed out.

“Oh yeah…” Trent then shook his head before turning back to Sebaste. “So again, just say our contract is complete and that's it?”

Sebaste nodded as Rainblade leapt into the air and hovered next to him.

“Well okay then,” Trent said. “Sebaste, our contract is complete.”

In an instant, a portal opened behind Sebaste. “Well, see you two around. Hopefully I’ll see you guys at Beacon if you choose to join!” he said before giving a two fingered salute and walking into the portal, Rainblade flying in after him. The portal then closed with a snap.

A couple moments later, Trent took a deep breath and gave a sigh. “Steven, what in the flying fuck did we get into…”

“...You want my honest answer on the subject?” Steven replied with a smirk.

“Oh, simple,” Church said. “You are now dealing with large monsters who are known to have leveled cities, a bunch of magic talking horses that are from a little girl show where you're from, and apparently a bunch of multiversal shit that has a fifty-fifty chance of completely fucking us if you're not careful. All because you saw that Dark guy and his sister get Displaced.” He then looked at both Trent and Steven. “Seriously, you guys should've just left when they disappeared. Then we wouldn't have to deal with this shit.”

“Well I wouldn’t have, can say the same for Trent,” Steven admitted with a smirk.

“Well good luck with that, all I can say,” Church said, before disappearing.

“I’d honestly forgotten how much of a dick he is.”

“Well I didn't, and now I never will,” Trent said, still looking at where Church was. He then turned to Steven and the ponies. “So what do we do now until Celestia is done unlocking that vault?”

“Now that's a good question… it’s not like we have a mess hall or somewhere to rest right now,” Steven pointed out.

“We are really gonna need some stuff if we're going to live here. And I need a place to put these,” Trent said, lifting his hands to show the weapons in each.
> Chapter 8
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Half an hour after Sebaste had returned home the group had just remained in the open clearing as Steven had once again climbed back up to the top of one of the remaining buildings coming back down periodically to talk with the others.

It had became clear to him that in moments like this he almost regretted not having a companion like Trent had with Church and it hadn’t helped that seemingly nobody had seemed to bother coming up to him or least ask why he kept returning to the same building.

Steven could just only sigh at this thought as he looked down to the group below him before back to the sky to see that they were still clear with no Grimm appearing nearby them.

It was then he lowered his rifle before he muttered, “My god this is boring.”

“Well what do you expect, being here all alone?” a voice said from behind him as Steven turned around to see Pinkie standing behind him.

“Well considering they all decided to remain outside when we are currently unsure whether this place is secure, kind of means someone needs to be aware if any Grimm approach… in fact what are you even doing here?”

“I came up here to see what you was doing.”

“I meant here, as in the base. I’m pretty sure you didn’t come here with the others.”

“Ohhh. I came to see who came here from that other world. Also plot convenience,” Pinkie admitted with a chuckle.

“Wait what?”

“So anyway, where are they?” She asked, looking around the base.

“You didn’t…you know what, I’m not going to question this,” Steven sighed. “They both went back already. You missed them.”

Pinkie then looked down seeming upset as her hair seemed to flatten a little for a second as she said, “Awe… I wanted to throw them a welcome party.”

Steven simply rolled his eyes before he said to her, “They’ll probably come back again sometime.” After thinking for a moment, he said, “How about whenever someone comes around next time, Trent and I can let you know?”

Her hair then seemed to suddenly bounce back up to normal as she smiled as she said “So, what exactly did they tell you?”

Steven then looked to her before he recounted some of the information that he had been told a few minutes before by Trent.

Pinkie then looked at Steven clearly understanding him before she asked, “What do you think about all this? What are you calling this place? What's your favorite cake flavor? What can you even do apart from swinging those things around? Is it possible for me to do those things?”

Steven then sighed before he said, “Sorry, but you need to slow down.”

“Huh?” Pinkie replied in confusion before she realised what Steven meant as she said before she said, “So it would be better if I asked each question one at a time wouldn’t it?”

“Most likely,” Steven agreed with a smile.

“Okay. What do you think about all this?”

“If you mean being appearing here when we did… pretty awkwards timing. If you mean the whole Displaced thing… very, very confusing.”

“I think you may have a point. This place can be crazy at times, and it's gonna get crazier now...”

“I don’t doubt that fact,” Steven agreed with a chuckle before adding “Next question.”

“What are you calling this place?”

“...Actually, I don’t think we came up with a name yet. I think we need to work that one out.”

“Seriously? Do those two really lack the imagination to figure out the name of the place their main characters are gonna stay?”

“Wait, what?”

“Don’t worry about it. Next question. What's your favorite cake flavor?”

“Wait, sorry?”

“I said what's your favorite cake flavor?

“Why would you need to know that?”

“I want to bake you a cake obviously,” Pinkie replied with a smile. “I wanted to know what you prefered being we barely know each other.”

Steven just smiled as he said, “I used to be a fan of chocolate cakes. But my mother used to enjoy putting different things inside, there was one time she put lemon curd and pieces of meringue instead of the icing. It was different but tasted quite nice as well.”

“Interesting,” Pinkie replied as she seemed to place something into her hair. “Next question,  What can you even do apart from swinging those things around?”

“What things? My weapons?”

“Yeah, those things you used when those Grimm attacked before?”

“Oh my swords… well I have my Semblance.”

“Oh right, you mentioned that at the Castle. A power unique to everypony, right?”

“Ah yes, that is correct,” Steven replied with a nod of his head.

“Trent said yours has to do with light. What exactly can it do?”

Steven stood silent for a moment before saying, “I...don’t really know. What I do know is that after I was knocked from the castle earlier I was on the brink of death until the princess was above me and I was enveloped in light before my body healed at an abnormally fast rate, as far as I know that could just be my Aura and I haven’t even found what my Semblance actually is yet.”

“Ooo, is it possible for me to get one of these Semblance things?” She asked with a bounce.

“It’s highly possibly you could, to my knowledge anything with a soul could eventually find their own Semblance. But before I could even help others unlock their own I need to understand it myself.”

“Okay. Can you promise you’ll help me with mine as soon as you learn how.”

“You want a lot in terms of promises from me, I’d say you owe me,but I’m already in debt to you for before.”

“Oh yeah you are,” she said, rubbing her chin. “I think I’ll hold up on using that for now though.”

“Sure, you do that,” Steven sighed in agreement.

They both then remained quiet for a bit before Pinkie asked, “So… what are your thoughts on that Dark person?”

“Frankly, I have no idea until I meet him. I try not to cast judgement on people from others opinions. I prefer to make that choice myself. Why?”

“Hmm,” Pinkie hummed. “Just checking, since Trent thinks Seb was lying about him.” She then looked towards Ponyville. “And I know a few people can't wait for you two can meet him and Cece.”

“Really? Who exactly?”

She shook her head. “No one you need to worry about. Now let's stop talking about Dark before people start thinking we're promoting that story. Maybe the others have something to talk about that.” With that said, she hopped off the building and landed perfectly fine before skipping to where the others were.

At this Steven just shook his head before he muttered to himself, “I swear she’s crazy.” as he looked around the base one last time before joining her.

When they reached the group, they saw the 3 ponies and Church looking at Trent while he was slamming his head on a nearby wall.

Steven then looked to them in confusion before he asked, “why is he doing that?”

“We just learned some more bullshit monsters we might have to deal with here,” Church told him.

“And that is?”

Sunset started listing things with her hands. “Manticores, hydras, timberwolves, Ursas, cockatrices, cragodiles, that sort of thing.”

“And that's just in that forest that castle is in,” Church added.

“That's not entirely true,” Twilight said. “Hydras never been seen in the Everfree.”

“Wow. One thing in that list that isn't in that forest. How reassuring,” Church said in a dry tone.

“I’m sure you're exaggerating it. It’s not like we’ll need to go back in there anytime soon,” Steven replied calmly.

“I wouldn't count on it…” Pinkie muttered, with nopony hearing her.

“Okay then…” Steven said, shaking his head. “Seeing that I feel like they are both about to have a breakdown, I think we need to change the subject,” Steven admitted calmly.

“Any ideas?” Twilight asked.

Steven then looked to Pinkie as he remembered what she had done for them before he said calmly, “Well we need to work out how we will fund ourselves here.”

Church nodded. “That's a good thing to discuss.” He then looked back at Trent, who hasn't stopped. “Should I get him?”

“Do you want to let him get brain damage?” Steven asked. “Well, more than he already has.”

“Sounds very tempting.”

“Just get him,” Sunset said.

“Fine.” Church then disappeared before reappearing next to Trent, with the Displaced momentarily stopping to face the AI. All the group were able to see were their heads bobbing up and down, the only way of knowing that they were talking. A few moments later, Trent turned to the group and approached them.

When he reached them, he said, “So, talking about our money problems now?”

“Well, it’s one thing we need to consider if we intend for this place to be restored and ran efficiently. Nobody would help fix or even work for us if they aren’t repaid for their services,” Steven pointed out.

“Well some might,” Trent commented. “But it'll certainly just be a shitty job done.”

“Along with that we’ll need someone to deal with our finances. And I’m pretty sure you would find some way to screw it up.”

Trent shrugged. “Probably. Wasn't the best at math…” he muttered. “But first, we need to figure out how to get money, before figuring out how to properly spend it.”

“Well… do you have any ideas how you’d do it?” Steven asked.

Trent and Church stood silent, looking at each other, before shrugging.

It was then Steven looked around before he said, “Not to worry you, but where is Celestia?”

“Oh, she went that way a little while ago to try to open the vault she mentioned,” Church said, pointing to one of the more ruined buildings in the base.

“Yeah, she went there before Sebaste left,” Sunset added. “You only just noticed?”

“Frankly, I had my eyes to the sky or the forest most of the time. So no I was unaware of that fact,” Steven replied.

“Well you were here for a few minutes before that, so what's your excuse for not noticing then?”

“When she left I had already gone and I just assumed she left,” Steven admitted.

“And you ask where she is now, even though you already thought she was gone?” Sunset asked with a raised eyebrow. “I swear, it's almost like you aren't paying attention to what you're saying.”

After a moment of silence, Church simply turned to Trent and said simply, “I like her.”

“Of course you do,” Steven groaned before looking back to Sunset as he added, “and no offense, but I was more focused on making sure there was no Grimm around.”

Pinkie groaned before facepalming. “Please don't make saying that a habit,” she muttered, nobody really hearing her.

“I highly doubt you need to check every few minutes dude,” Trent said. “Besides, so long as there isn't a strong amount of negative emotions, they shouldn't be interested in this place, right?”

“Right now we barely know what’s in the forests that surround us, and it’s not like the base is secure to not have anything able to get in.”

“Well with that mentality, good luck going to sleep tonight.” A few seconds later, Trent looked up at the sky. “Well, when it actually reaches nighttime. Sheesh this has been a long day...”

“Has it really, I never noticed,” Steven replied sarcastically.

“Again, you're not really very good at your comebacks,” Sunset said.

“She's definitely right this time,” Twilight commented.

“You know what… I’m really not going to bother,” Steven sighed.

“That's good,” Trent said. A few moments of silence later, he turned to Church. “So you guys just do this all the time? Just stand around and talk?”

The AI simply shrugged. “Meh, didn't really do that so much after getting out of that memory unit. Kinda feels weird doing it again after everything with the Director, and Chorus…”

“Understandable,” Trent said with a nod. He then turned to Steven. “Hey, you wanna see what's taking her so long?” He asked before walking to where the Solar Diarch was.

“Probably a good idea,” Steven replied, following him.

“I'm not so sure we should disturb the Princess,” Twilight said.

“Too bad, I'm already halfway there,” Trent said, Church having disappeared.

Twilight sighed before she followed the Displaced, with the other 3 ponies deciding to come along to see how things will go.





As the group made their way toward the building Church had gestured to earlier, they found that the most of the building had crumbled leaving only a small doorway that seemed to be open. It was then Steven looked to the group before he asked them, “Do you think she’s down there?”

“Nowhere else she could've gone unless she felt like teleporting back to Canterlot,” Sunset replied with a shrug.

“Would she have left you all here?” Steven asked curiously.

“Well Twilight and I can just teleport back to Ponyville if we needed to. But the princess would at least let us know she's leaving, instead of just go without saying goodbye.”

“I see, so being you haven’t been told that, this would be our best option,” Steven admitted as he made his way towards the door and down the old staircase.

“Looks like it,” Trent said as he followed Steven being followed shortly after by the rest of the group.





As the group made their way down an old, ruined, crumbling corridor they found that only one narrow corridor was walkable with the remaining corridors being blocked by rubble which made it clear that someone had been clearing a single path to a location.

“Well… who wants to bet Celestia cleared this path?” Steven asked the group.

“I prefer making bets on stuff that aren't insultingly obvious, Steve,” Trent commented.

“Man, you really need to relax,” Steven replied before adding, “none of you would happen to have a light?”

“I can see just fine,” Nyx said with a shrug.

Sunset simply lifted her right hand and both it and her horn glowed for a moment before a small ball of light came to existence from her hand, lighting the way as it floated beside her. “There. That should help the rest of us see.”

“Where you learn that?” Trent asked.

Sunset shrugged. “You live in that castle and spend your free time in the library, you learn a few things,” she said simply.

“If only we could all be so lucky to have that chance,” Steven remarked.

“We can't do magic, so it doesn't matter,” Trent said as they continued walking.

“I was more referring to living in a castle.”

Trent shrugged. “Personally, I'm okay with living like a normal person.” After a moment of silence, Trent said, “How have we not reached her yet?”

“No idea, maybe it’s just a really long tunnel,” Steven suggested.

“Oh really?” Trent said with a sarcastic tone. “I just thought we've been on a treadmill this whole time and that's why we haven't got to her yet.”

“I guess that's why I feel so tired out all of a sudden?” Pinkie replied seeming to lag behind a bit.

Sunset turned to Pinkie with an amused look. “Huh. Until now, I didn't think you can get tired.”

“I’d say everyone would get tired, it is more likely she’s got an unbelievable amount of stamina,” Steven suggested.

“Judging by all the sugar she seems consumes, she's probably in a constant sugar rush,” Twilight said with a shrug.

“That seems like a likely outcome,” Steven added with a nod of his head.
“So, are we just gonna ignore the fact that she thought I was serious about the treadmill thing?” Trent asked.

“Frankly… are you gonna question logic here?” Steven asked.

“Well what else can we do instead of walk in silence?”

“I know,” Church asked, appearing on Trent's shoulder. He then looked at the ponies. “I've been wondering this for a little while and just forgot to ask among all the other questions. How is it that you ponies, who can fly and use “magic”, have been having so much trouble with Grimm, when these two guys, who've no doubt never heard a gun before today, was able to kill nearly a dozen of them on their own?”

“He's right you know,” Trent commented. “Even with everything else I've seen today, that doesn't really make sense. And not one word about the world we're now in, Steven.” The armored Displaced said in an annoyed tone.

“I wasn’t going to say anything,” Steven retorted.

“Considering the rest of the day, I'm not taking any chances…” Trent muttered.

“I guess that's fair,” Steven replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

Twilight and Sunset both let out a sigh. “From what we can figure out, they're highly resistant to magic,” Twilight explained. “Nothing short of alicorn magic can affect them.”

“And we're not exactly a race who enjoys making weapons besides the older stuff like crossbows and swords or spears,” Sunset continued.

“Need I point out that my swords were effective… could it just be those who fought them were inadequately trained to face them effectively?” Steven asked.

“Well…” Twilight said, rubbing her arm.

Sunset just sighed. “When you have a millennia of peace, you may end up getting soft. Literally 99 percent of the Royal Guard are very incompetent. They couldn't even watch a foal without needing a lot of help.”

“And Celestia has them tasked with protecting her… seriously?” Steven replied in both shock and embarrassment for the ponies around him.

Sunset shrugged. “She's the most powerful pony in Equestria. Personally, I believe she can take care of herself just fine. If anything, it's probably to keep an image or something. Your guess is as good as ours.”

“Frankly I’d rather have one hundred competent guards than thousands of useless ones.”

“There aren't that many guards. Just about a hundred. Three hundred at most.”

“It was an analogy, I didn’t know just how many she had, I just picked two random numbers.”

Twilight then looked like she was about to respond but never did as the ground saw a dim flickering light ahead of them father down the tunnel.

“Finally…” Trent muttered. “I swear, we walked halfway back to town by this tunnel…”

At this Steven walked slowly in thought at the prospect of what Trent had suggested before the group got closer to where they had saw the light ahead of them before the group made their way towards it quicker than before.

As the group reached Celestia she turned back to them slightly as the group saw she was standing in front of a large rusted vault door which looked to have the faded number ‘09’ on the front. The door itself had what looked to be multiple keyholes along it majority having keys inside of them along with a few damaged combination locks above them, one on each side of the door that was resting on two large damaged locks, one of which had fallen to the ground.

“Wow, this place has definitely seen better days,” Sunset commented.

“What's with the number on the top?” Trent asked to no one in particular.

Celestia looked at the door before she said, “Yes it has. To be fair I should have expected as much when the whole pathway was covered in rubble. I fear what states the others will be in.”

“Others?” Trent asked in confusion.

“I’ll explain once I get this door open,” Celestia responded before adding, “If only this one wasn’t broken this would be so much easier.”

“No shit,” Trent and Church said in unison.

Celestia seemed to ignore the two of them as she once again tried to get the broken lock to work before she muttered in annoyance, “I really should have kept the instruction manual for these things.”

“Ya think?” Church asked.

“You think you could do any better?” Celestia asked in frustration.

“I said if it was it was digital lock, I could. Otherwise, I can't do anything. But from what I can tell, I have a better memory then you, if you can't remember to actual combinations and codes.”

Celestia then stopped in thought as she said, “The broken lock wires are linked into a central console near the centre of the vault door. It's why I can’t get in and need to resort to attempting to hotwire the lock using the exposed wires.”

“Wait, how and why do you know how to hotwire something?” Sunset asked in shocked surprise.

“You really think i haven’t needed to know how to do things like this before? I was well aware by the time vaults like this one would be needed there would have been some, complications so I learned how to work some things like this uncase I ever needed get access to one.”

Sunset and Twilight just stared at her in surprise while Trent just chuckled with his arms crossed. “Can't argue you with that.”

“Can't you just blast it open with your lasers?” Church asked.

“Need I point out how unstable the tunnel is? If I do that it could collapse again,” Celestia retorted.

Church and Trent looked around before Church said, “Point taken.”

“Of course, if I am right, we had power here so you could hack the electrical components of this and open it even with the damage it has sustained throughout the years.”

Church looked to the locks for a moment, before saying, “Okay, be back in a bit.” With that, he appeared to run to the locks and disappeared into them.

Trent then looked to Celestia. “So what exactly did you mean by “others”?”

Celesia simply sighed at this before she said, “The other vaults we stored our experimental equipment inside. This one was vault number 9, the one I hoped would have been easiest to access. But as you can see, it wasn’t.”

“Well being abandoned for a few decades can do that.”

“I was well aware of that fact, the other reasons being that…” Celestia said before muttering the rest under her breath.

“I'm sorry, what?” Trent asked.

“We don’t know the locations of 96 of the vaults anymore.”

“What?” Sunset, Trent, and Twilight said in unison.

“You heard me, we no longer know the locations of 96 of the 99 vaults we had made, this one and two others were the only ones we could find the records for the rest,” Celestia admitted.

“So, you're telling me there are 99 of these things all over your country, and you only know about 3?” Trent asked. “And how do you expect us to find the other?”

“Hopefully the rest of the records on their locations will be found within due course, but it appears some of the records were missing when we searched for them.”

“Why do you care?” Church asked Trent after reappearing on his shoulder. “Not like it's our problem. Just this one, since it's connected to our base.”

“Any weapon is useful if it means it can help us fight Grimm,” Trent explained. “And if these vaults have weapons or other equipment, even experimental, they can do us some good.”

“Besides, it’s better we find them before someone who doesn’t know what they are getting into finds it and risks unleashing something beyond their comprehension,” Steven added.

“Yeah, that too.”

“So I take it you're done?” Sunset asked Church.

The AI nodded. “Yeah, but it's very rusted. It's unlocked now, but you guys are gonna have to open it manually if you want anything.”

“Great…” Trent said sarcastically.

“It could be worse, the door could have not have been possible to open atall,” Steven pointed out.

“At least, not without bringing the whole tunnel down on top of us,” Trent said with a shrug.

“So, how do we get this open?” Steven asked calmly.

“I believe I can help with that,” Celestia interrupted before adding “just be ready to help move the door once it begins to open.”

“Yeah, I can totally do that,” Trent said with sarcasm in his voice. “I'm just a regular guy in a suit of armor, I can actually help open a door that huge and heavy.” He then said in a serious tone, “Though if I had a strength enhancement, that'd be true, but I don't.”

“As long as we can move it enough to walk through it will be enough for the time being,” Celesia admitted as her horn ignited as a golden glow wrapped around the vault door before it slowly began to move forwards.

Trent sighed. “Fine.” He then turned to Steven. “Come on.”

“You make it sound like this is a chore,” Steven replied as they both walked towards the door as they began to assist Celestia in slowly inching the door open further. It was then Steven looked towards Twilight and Sunset as he asked them, “Are you two going to help or what?”

Sunset shrugged when Twilight looked guilty before their horns and right hands started to glow and they began helping with their magic as the door continued inching it open even further till each of the group could pass through into the vault.

Once the group got inside, they looked around them to see that the inside of the vault looked to have multiple chambers. One looking to hold multiple guns of several different shapes and sizes, another one seeming to look like some kind of control room that looked like it may be connected to something else. The next seemed to have what looked to be a few gold bars which seemed to have been left behind and the last was a long wall covered with security boxes that looked to be behind a alarmed laser wall.

“Is this a vault, or an armory?” Trent asked in shock.

“Are we not sure it’s both?” Steven asked.

“Probably,” Church said with a shrug.

“Although will this stuff even work after this long? Won’t any weapons down here be rusted by now?” Steven asked.

“Or busted?” Sunset added.

“That as well,” Steven agreed with a shrug of his shoulders.

It was then the group saw a long rectangular table ahead of them resting against one of the walls. The table itself was empty of almost anything apart from what looked to be a few cylindrical objects resting next to them on the table with a small sealed letter in front of them.

“Huh. Wonder what this is,” Trent said, picking up the letter.

“Looks pretty clean for something that's been down here for a few decades,” Church commented.

Trent shrugged before opening the envelope and reading the letter inside. “What the…”

“What's wrong?” Steven asked as he walked over to the side of Trent.

“Take a look at this,” the Freelancer told his friend before handing over the letter.

It was then Steven looked at the letter as he began to read the letter to himself to find the letter read.



Hello Steven and Trent,

If you are reading this letter, congratulations on finding the first of many of this worlds lost vaults, I say lost being as it seems that the ones who should have montiered them have in many circumstances failed to do so.

Located in this vault are a few blueprints to help you get started on your new job, these being only the firsts. The rest, as of now, are hidden away from prying eyes. A large majority of these blueprints are hidden in the other lost vaults and some with many civilians I have bestowed the information onto. With any luck those individuals will come to you in due course.

Beyond this, till a time when you need my assistance again you shall have little direct support from me. Your path till then is your own to forge, but I would recommend you make finding the larger vaults a priority. You never know what or who may be contained inside of them.

All I have said is up to your interpretation and if you search these places out is done at your discretion.

Hopefully I will never require your assistance in any personal matters but on the off chance something comes up, I look forwards to seeing you again.

Sincerely,
The soon to bane of your existence Andrew.

P.S. I’m not being serious on the ‘Bane of your existence’ thing I swear.



Steven then read the letter in his head once again before he looked at Trent and said, “I doubt he’ll ever require our assistance, I can’t see how we’d be able to do anything to benefit him, also told you we’d need to find those vaults.”

“Maybe, but how the hell did he put that here when the place was sealed shut,” Trent asked.

“And who are these “others” that have more blueprints?” Church added.

“Do I look like I know the answer to that?” Steven responded as he looked to Celestia.

“What does the letter say?” Twilight asked.

Trent grabbed the letter out of Steven's hands and handed it to Twilight, allowing the two unicorns and the earth pony to read it.

“Well, that's...interesting…” Twilight said as she gave the letter to Celestia who also read the letter before muttering something to herself.

She then looked to both Trent and Steven before she said, “This creature couldn’t have given us the location of the others, could they?”

“Guess not,” Trent said with a shrug.

“So we basically have to go on some scavenger hunt?” Church asked.

“Well we could get you a body and send you out alone to do that,” Steven responded with a smirk.

“No thanks. I'm fine with you two doing all the work.”

“You sure?” Steven asked before walking over to the table before opening one of the cylindrical objects before he laid one of the blueprints that were contained inside out on the table before he said through a chuckle, “Oh you’ll love this one Trent.”

Sunset approached the table and looked at the blueprint. “What is this anyway? Looks like some weird car?”

“Wait, what?” Trent asked. He approached the blueprint and looked at it. When he saw it, he blinked inside his helmet.

“You can't be serious…” Church said.

“What?” Sunset asked.

“It's a Warthog,” Trent said before grabbing the blueprint and looking at the details.

“Um, looks more like a manticore to me.”

“I see it as a puma,” Church said.

Trent shook his head. “Whatever. I'm not the one who named it that. It's called a Warthog and I'm sticking to that. And trust me, this thing will be very useful for us.”

“How?” Nyx asked.

“Simple. It has a mounted turret and is a car. In other words, we can drive and shoot at the same time. And apparently you can drive it across an ocean just fine…” Trent muttered, recalling a random RvB scene.

Twilight frowned in confusion. “You mean it can float?”

“Nope. You can drive it on an ocean floor.”

Twilight blinked. “What?”

“You heard him,” Steven replied, “And yes it makes no sense.”

“I stopped caring about that a long time ago,” Church muttered.

“You would stop caring after being around the reds and the other blues for so long,” Steven responded under his breath.

“Eeyup.”

It was then Celestia walked over to the group looking over them at the Warthog blueprint before she asked the group, “How do you intend to make this ‘Warthog’ exactly?”

The Displaced paused and looked at each other before they turned to the Princess and shrugging.

“Best we got is getting parts with our future funds and follow the instructions,” Trent said.

“I see,” Celestia responded seeming to be lost in thought before she said, “With your permission I would like to borrow the blueprint for a while.”

Church looked at the blueprint for a couple of seconds before saying, “Go ahead. Got it memorized now.” As if to prove his point, he pulled up a small holographic replica of the blueprint for a few seconds then let it disappear.

“Well in that case, here,” Trent said as he rolled up the blueprint and gave it to the Celestia.

As soon as Celestia was given the blueprint she smiled at the group before she said, “Thank you, I can assure you that you will look forwards to what we will do with this.”

“Um...why?” Sunset asked.

“You’ll just have to wait and find out,” Celestia responded with a smile.

“Yippee,” Trent said sarcastically.

“So let's recap,” Church said. “A vault that has several weapons and a control room, plus gold, a country wide scavenger hunt, and a way of getting a ride I'm actually familiar with. Is there anything else that I've missed that's come to our attention in the last hour?”

“Well there is the fact that the Grimm are magic-proof but apart from that I think you got everything,” Pinkie responded.

“Right…”

“We've been doing way too many recaps today…” Trent muttered.

“Well if that's everything, how about we just head back to the surface,” Sunset suggested.

“Let me handle that,” Celestia responded before anyone could argue as she teleported the group back above ground.

Trent stumbled a bit before taking a knee. “That is seriously disorienting…”

“You get used to it,” Sunset said with a shrug.

“We’ll take your word on that,” Steven replied as he covered his mouth with the back of his hand.

Trent looked at the sky and saw the sun still pretty high. “This is a really long day. What time is it?”

“About three in the afternoon,” Church said.

“Sheesh…”

“What time does the sun even set here anyway?” Steven asked curiously.

“Six PM, of course,” Twilight said. “Why?”

“Oh you know, I’m just not sure how the daylight saving times work here, or which season we’re in or even what the natural times for sunrise or sunset are at right now,” Steven explained.

“No idea what that is, first day of summer, and six AM and PM respectively,” Twilight said casually.

“Wait, if dawn is that early, why did it happen over two hours late today?” Trent asked.

“Well after Nightmare Moon defeated me, she decided to repeat what I did to her and imprisoned me in the sun. However once she was defeated the spell she used dissipated and allowed me to return,” Celestia explained.

The three non-ponies looked at her in confusion and blinked. “What?” Church asked, tilting his head.

Celestia simply shook her head before she said, “Nightmare Moon trapped me on the sun, which was the opposite to what I did to her. Then once she was defeated the spell she used was broken which allowed me to return to Equestria.”

The three continued staring at her until Trent said “WHAT?!”

“What is it you don’t understand?” Celestia asked.

“You were in the SUN? And not only that, but you didn't get burn to an utter crisp when you got so much as 100 miles near it? And you were able to get from there to here in less than a year? How the fuck is that possible and don't say anything about magic, Steven,” Trent said, pointing a finger at his friend.

“I wasn’t going to,” Steven responded.

“I don't know what's I find more as bullshit,” Church said. “What you just said or what Celestia said. They're both very unbelievable.”

“How is what Celestia said unbelievable?” Nyx asked.

“I think I understand,” Twilight said before looking at Trent. “Who controls the sun where you're from?”

Trent blinked and looked at her as if she was crazy, though nobody was able to tell because of the helmet. “I'm sorry, what?”

“The sun. Who controls it in your universe?”

“No one,” Trent said as if he was stating a fact even babies would know. “Nobody controls the sun.”

“Then who changes it from day to night so the world doesn't die from heat or cold?”

“No one. The planet does that on its own by spinning around the thing. Nobody can control the sun. And nobody can control the time of day. It just works on its own.”

“Wow. Your world is really different from ours…”

“What, you're saying someone actually CAN control that stuff here?” Church asked. As if to answer that, all the ponies looked at Celestia. After a moment of silence, Church said, “You're kidding.”

“Maybe I should have said magic,” Steven responded with a chuckle.

“Shut up,” Church and Trent told him in unison.

At this Celestia just rolled her eyes before she responded by saying, “To make a long story short, both me and Luna are in charge of the sun and moon respectively. I control the times of the day, while she controlled the night. This came to head when my sister became Nightmare Moon due to everypony sleeping through the night she worked so hard to make beautiful while they played and enjoyed themselves during the day.”

Trent looked at Celestia before he just looked at the sky and sighed. “Fine. Sure. Whatever.” He then shook his head and began walking away from the group.

“I don’t think he took that fact very well,” Steven responded as he rubbed the back of his head.

“To be honest, it looks like he just completely gave up on figuring out how we work compared to you,” Sunset said as she saw him banging his head on a wall several yards away.

“Is he gonna be okay?” Nyx asked.

“Most likely,” Steven replied. “If not, I’m sure Epsilon will look after him.”

“I wonder how he's taking this,” Sunset commented. “I mean, aren't AIs something that work on logic and science, and he's from a world where what Celestia does is impossible? Wouldn't this drive him insane to find out?”

“Trust me, this is more sane than he’s used to. He’ll be fine.”

“Besides, Delta’s the logic guy,” Church said, appearing near them. “He'll be the one who finds it crazy. As for what you just said Steven, that's bullshit. I may be used to a lot of crazy shit, but this isn't sane compared to all that. I've just seen and gone through enough to not bothering questioning anything anymore.”

“True… I guess,” Steven responded before looking at the others as he asked them, “Do you have anything else you require to ask us?”

They looked at each other and shrugged.

“I suppose I’d better also ask how you’re planning to get yourselves home, I’d assume teleportation for most of you,” Steven admitted.

Sunset shrugged. “Yeah, pretty much.

“I see, I guess the only one who can’t leave that way is Pink…” Steven then stopped as he realised that Pinkie had already disappeared where she was moments ago dust settling from where she was. “How does she even do that?”

Sunset and Twilight shrugged. “We've only met her yesterday,” Twilight said. “She's...rather strange.”

“You don’t need to tell me that twice,” Steven agreed with a smile.

“Well then, with that we will take our leave, if you're ready that is?” Celestia asked the reminding ponies.

The 3 ponies nodded. Sunset then looked at Steven and Church. “Well, see ya guys later. And…” she looked at Trent still banging his head before sighing. “Send him my regards.”

“No worries, we’ll make sure to do so,” Steven responded.

At this Celestia nodded her head to both Steven and Church before igniting her horn in a golden light and the three of them disappeared in a flash of light.

Steven then stood still for a few seconds before he turned to Church before asking him, “So… How long should we wait before we stop Trent from causing himself permanent brain damage?”

“I don't think there's enough in there in the moment to cause any notable differences any time soon,” Church replied. “I'd say give him another few minutes. Ten tops.”

Steven then looked back to Trent then back to Epsilon before he said calmly with a smirk, “I hate to say it, but I agree with you on that.”





After Celestia had returned both Nyx and Twilight to the Library in Ponyville, the remaining two ponies teleported to Canterlot.

Upon appearing in the throne room in Canterlot, Celestia looked to Sunset before she said to her calmly, “Well, all in all I think today has been a very eventful day.”

Sunset chuckled. “You think? Nightmare Moon returned, you got imprisoned, Twilight and the others found the Elements of Harmony, they freed your sister, those 3 and Nyx showed up, we find out they're from another world, you gave them that job, we got to Ponyville, we got to the base, met more like them, found out about Displaced, opened that vault, found out about that scavenger hunt, and learned their world didn't need somepony to control the sun or moon.”

“We really have been recapping things a lot today haven’t we,” Celestia chuckled.

Sunset blushed and chuckled sheepishly. “Sorry. But yeah, that's all happened and it's only about four in the afternoon. So calling it eventful is quite an understatement.”

“Yes. Though I'm not so sure those three are not going to be the most reliable for the time being.”

Sunset shrugged. “They may not be the brightest. I mean, Trent threatening to shoot Luna was very stupid. But they seem nice enough. And they agreed to help us with our Grimm problem when the griffons refused. So that's a plus.”

“As always you just keeping looking at the surface and not seeing what they hide, you seem to be underestimating just how important Steven could be to our cause.”

Sunset frowned. “How so? Seems to be an average guy with impressive weapons and a neat way to heal thanks to light. Not to mention he states the obvious a few too many times. Really the best thing I've seen about him is that he seems to help keep Trent's head on straight and is the smart one of the two.”

“Again, you only see what’s in front of you. There’s more to that man than meets the eye, but as to what depth that is I can’t understand.”

Sunset shrugged. “Whatever you say princess.”

“But that still doesn’t solve the problem for them being unreliable. They are too far out to be useful and aren't very easily contactable. We need a way to fix that problem.”

Sunset thought about it for a few moments before a thought came to her head. “You know, I have an idea to make it easy to contact them, and to have someone keep an eye on them when Twilight can't.”

“And just who are you thinking could do that,” Celestia asked with a knowing smile.

Sunset smirked. “Let me get something before I tell you,” Sunset said before walking out of the throne room.
> Chapter 9
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two hours after the group of ponies had left, Trent had left to the Vault while Steven had spent the majority of his time either waiting near the top of the crumbled buildings watching the surrounding area, or simply scouting out the remains of the base for things that they may have missed when they’d looked around before.

He was currently sitting atop one of the broken buildings looking towards the sun on the horizon, knowing once it sets he’d find out the downfalls of his Semblance, whatever said downfall was.

“Steven?” Steven barely heard from below.

He then looked down from the building to see Twilight near the base of the building as he shouted down to her, “I didn’t expect any visitors to show up at this time of day.”

Twilight shrugged. “Any reason you're up there?”

“Why do you think I’m up here?” Steven asked as he rolled his eyes before jumping down to the ground just in front of her.

“I'd figure you've already explored this place enough by now.”

“Well I’m not exploring this place. I was more keeping an eye out on the surroundings since Church and Trent have decided to live in the vault right now.”

“What are they doing there?” Twilight asked, tilting her head in confusion.

“Wish I could tell you that, but I honestly have no idea what they are up to down there.”

“Hmm,” She simply replied.

“What, you thinking they’re up to something that would endanger you or the people here?” Steven asked.

Twilight shook her head. “No. I doubt Trent can do much on his own and Church doesn't seem to care about that. Besides, I didn't see anything dangerous down there. At least more so than the weapons you two already have.”

“Weapons I have no doubt you want to take apart and find out just how they work.”

Twilight chuckled a bit in embarrassment. “Maybe. Though really yours is the one I'd want to figure out. And that sword Trent has now. As for his guns, seem like normal guns that the griffons use.”

“So you're saying these griffons use similar weapons to Trent? That will be something that’ll interest him.” He then looked back to Twilight before he asked her, “Why are you here anyway if you don’t mind me asking?”

Twilight shrugged. “I figured I can take you guys to Sugarcube Corner and have a bite to eat. You guys still don't have anything to eat yet after all.”

“I guess you have a point. I’ll try to find the others and see if they want to come,” Steven replied as he began to walk towards the Vault, “You coming, or are you waiting out here?”

“I have a faster way of getting there.” With that said, Twilight closed her eyes and her horn started glowing. A moment later, in a flash of light, the 2 of them were instantly in the Vault, causing Trent to jump from his seat.

“Son of a bitch!” Trent shouted in surprise until he processed who it was. He then sighed. “Did you have to do that? Scared the crap out of me.”

“Sorry,” Twilight said. “But figured that it would be better than walking here.”

“You could have asked before doing that,” Steven replied as he covered his mouth with the back of his hand.

Trent shook his head. “So what do you want?” He asked as he sat back down and continued looking at a few blueprints on the table, with all his weapons nearby.

“I was thinking I can bring you two to Sugarcube Corner to eat,” Twilight told him.

“Sorry Twi, but I'd prefer not to owe any more favours than I do now,” Trent said with a wave of his hand.

“You wouldn’t need to owe me anything.”

Trent turned to her. “And why is that?”

Twilight shrugged. “You two are willing to help out with our Grimm problem and helped save me and my friends when Nightmare Moon sent those Grimm at us. Really it's the least I can do.”

Trent stood silent for a moment before looking at the blueprints on the table. “Church?”

“Got them saved, Wash.”

“Okay.” Trent grabbed his rifle, deactivated Energy Sword, and placed them on his back and hip. He then turned to Steven. “You need anything?”

“Do I look like I need anything? I literally have everything I own now on me,” Steven argued back.

Trent shrugged. “Just checking.” Trent then stood up and turned to Twilight. “Let's go,” he said, bracing himself.

Twilight nodded and her horn started glowing. In a flash, the three of them were back in Ponyville.

Trent waited a few seconds before relaxing. “That wasn't as bad as all the other times we teleported.”

“Still not used to it,” Steven responded once again covering his mouth.

“At this rate, we might need to.”

“Let's hope I do get used to it soon,” Steven responded, “otherwise those teleporters will do me in.”

After a few moments of walking, Trent said, “You think we can make some of our own in the future?”

“If we find blueprints, who knows,” Steven responded, “It’s always a possibility.”

“Your own what?” Twilight asked.

“Teleporters,” Trent replied. “Church and his old group used them from time to time. I didn't see blueprints for one in the Vault, but who knows. Maybe there's a blueprint in one of the other 98.”

“That is a likely possibility,” Steven agreed.

“Hopefully it won't be as painful to deal with,” Church commented.

“Okay?” Twilight said, unsure how to properly respond.

“Just don’t think about it, it may be for the best,” Steven responded looking at Twilight as they reached the door to Sugarcube Corner.

As the three of them stood outside the door they saw no lights on inside the building as Steven looked to Trent and said, “Want to bet this is an attempt at a surprise party?”

“Probably. Though not to good an idea to try surprising a guy with a gun in his hands. Especially with Grimm being a thing here.”

“Do you want the non-trigger happy one of us here to take your weapons then?” Steven asked.

“No, I'm good,” Trent responded. “If anything, I can use it to intimidate anyone who pisses me off. But you should go first.”

“So you’ll be intimidating everyone then,” Steven responded before opening the door as they found all of the lights inside the shop switched off.

“Seems like a good option for me,” Trent muttered while he waited.

It was then the lights suddenly turned on as they saw around 50 ponies crammed into Sugarcube Corner as they both saw a large banner that read ‘Welcome to Equestria’ as everyone in the room shouted exactly what it said on the banner.

“Why am I not surprised,” Steven thought to himself, faking surprise for the sake of Pinkie.

“How are all these people in here?” Trent asked as he entered the bakery.

“Ponies,” Twilight corrected as she followed. “And I honestly don't know. Something like this happened last night for my welcome party. Everypony in town somehow fit in the library just fine.”

“I’m not going to question it,” Steven responded with a shrug of his shoulders. “Anything we should know in advance?”

Twilight shrugged. “It's your welcome party. So all I can say is have fun and enjoy the snacks,” she said before walking to her group of friends.

Trent looked at one of the tables before turning to Steven. “I'll just be enjoying the treats if you need me.” With that said, he went to the tables, took off his helmet, and started eating.

‘Great let the one of us who doesn’t speak to people normally handle things,’ Steven thought to himself.

It was then that he saw Spike make his way towards him as some of the ponies seemed to somehow make space by moving around to the sides of the room, while others stepped outside to allow more space for everyone to move around inside.

Once Spike got up to him he looked up to Steven before he asked him, “umm… can I ask you something?”

“Sure ask away,” Steven responded with a kind smile.

“I overheard Twilight mention something about a Rainbow Dash that was covered in metal? Is that real or has simply not had enough sleep again and seeing illusions?” Spike asked curiously.

“Is that the only reason you're asking?” Steven asked.

“I may be curious about if it actually existed… it does sound a little cool,” Spike responded.

“Like something out of a comic book?” Steven added as Spike rubbed the back of his head, “I hit the nail on the head right?” 

Spike simply chuckled nervously before nodding his head, “Yeah, she made it sound like that hero from my comic books, you know the one whose body was covered by weird alien metal, great with computers.”

“I see, well I can say that Twilight was right and told you the truth. A version of Rainbow did appear that had some of her features looking relatively cybernetic in nature.”

“Why did they come here?” Spike asked.

“As always when things go wrong, blame Trent… or Murphy if Trent's not around to screw things up.”

“That guy that your friend named me after?”

“Oh right, and no it’s not that Murphy, I’m referring to the concept of Murphy's Law.” Steven clarified.

“And that is…”

“It’s the idea that things will go wrong in any given situation if you give them a chance, or more commonly, whatever can go wrong, will go wrong." 

“Okay… so what did Trent do?” Spike as, wanting to get back on topic.

“I wasn’t there when it happened, but I doubt you’d believe what he told me had happened anyway.”

“You two are aliens from another world and met an alternate version of somepony I know earlier today. Try me.”

“Repeat the same as before, and add from a parallel dimension which is most likely more advanced than here,” Steven admitted calmly.

Spike blinked for a moment then shrugged. “Okay.”

“I honestly expected you to be more surprised by that statement. It’s not exactly something you normally hear.”

“Neither is the fact that 6 mares defeat a demigod with rocks, or aliens with no proper combat experience beating a few monsters known to destroy cities or a cyborg version of somepony I personally know. So compared to the rest of the day, it's not that unbelievable.”

“In my defence, it felt like I’d been using those swords my entire life,” Steven argued back.

“Convenient,” Spike said, rolling his eyes.

“Need I point out the Gemstones saving your friends asses, with the power of friendship,” Steven retorted.

“Hey, those things have been known about for years. It's just that everypony thought they were just a story.”

“You always need to remember, that even the largest story has some truth to it, a legend needs some basis to begin from afterall,” Steven admitted to Spike as he walked outside the bakery with Spike following.

“Noted,” Spike said with an eye roll. Looking back at Sugar Cube Corner, he asked, “Don't wanna enjoy the party?”

“Believe it or not, I’ve never been one for parties, going out and being with others. I’ve always been the guy in Trent’s shadow clearing up his mistakes… or paying for his tab when we went out.”

“And you two are friends?”

“Is it that surprising? Is there not a saying that opposites attract?”

“Still, I can't see how that works.”

“Think of it this way, because we're both the opposites of each other in some ways, we cover for each other's shortcomings. In my case, he deals with the crowds and I make sure he doesn’t get himself killed by keeping my head clear and solving the disputes he causes without it becoming a fight when possible.”

Spike shrugged. “If you say so.”

“Spike… why do you care anyway, it’s not like I’m really anything to you, but the weird creature who simply appeared and has two guns.”

“I heard how you helped saved Twilight and the others from Grimm. Grimm! Nopony but Celestia has been known to defeat those things in decades.”

“All I did was fight them with my sword or shot them… I do not see how that's a task normal people can do, nor why Celestia was the only one capable of killing them before us.”

“There was a time that she wasn't the only one capable of killing Grimm, but all those ponies just ended up wiped out eventually. Most ponies don't like guns nowadays, so none are made here, despite the danger. Plus the fact that Grimm are immune to any magic less than that of an alicorn.” He then looked around before whispering, “Not to mention the guard are complete jokes, to be honest.”

“What, are you saying that's not common knowledge?” Steven asked back.

“The guard, the guns, or the magic resistance?”

“The guard, obviously the others are common knowledge from what I’ve heard.”

Spike shrugged. “The guard is pretty much just so the citizens can feel safe. I mean, anything that can be a problem to Celestia could easily deal with any guards.” 

“In other words glorified statues,” Steven responded with a sigh.

“Yeah,” Spike nodded. After a few seconds he and a thoughtful expression. “Actually, there's currently one guard who is actually pretty effective. Not against Grimm, but still.”

“I suppose I should attempt to meet this single semi-effective guard at some point then… does this guard have a name by chance or do I need to go around asking for the only competent guard on Equestrian soil?”

“His name is Shining Armor. Last I heard from him, he has recently been promoted to Captain.”

“Well at least someone competent is at the helm of the guard.”

“Yeah,” Spike shrugged. He then turned around and said, “Well, I'm heading back to hang with Twilight. See ya, Steven.” With that said, Spike returned to the building as a griffon with red and silver feathers walked out of Sugar Cube Corner just after Spike had entered, taking a quick look at Steven before seeming to smile as she walked away towards the edge of the town as Steven sat on a bench outside.





A few hours later, after the party had finished and everyone had dispersed both Steven and Trent began to make the long trek back to their base. Steven had opted to take with them one of the gifts that had been given them which was a simple wooden box that had a letter tied to it, strangely addressed to him.

“How long have we been walking?” Trent asked.

“About 90 minutes,” Church told him. “At this rate, just another 30 to go.” Trent groaned at that part.

“Oh, what's wrong? You ate too much food?” Steven asked with a smirk.

“Shut up,” Trent sniped, a hand clutching his stomach. “Not like I knew we'd be walking back. Plus we don't have any food back at the base so I thought I'd eat enough so I won't be hungry til tomorrow.”

“Two things, how did you not consider the fact we’d need to get back after, and why did you not do what I did,” Steven added holding a small bag filled with leftover food from the party.

“The food was too good, and because I thought we could just ask Twilight to teleport us back.”

Church appeared floating beside them, looking at Trent. “Considering your reactions to teleporting earlier, I'd say you likely would've been puking everything out if you did teleport back.”

“That is also a good point as to why we are walking,” Steven agreed.

“Why did you tell me that now and not sooner?” Trent asked Church.

“I thought you'd know,” the AI responded.

“Well he clearly didn’t,” Steven chuckled.

“Fuck off,” Trent muttered. “Both of you.”

“That's easier for me than it is for Church,” Steven responded with a smirk as he looked at the gift he had picked up as they had left.

“First off, fuck you. Second, what's in that anyway?” Trent asked.

“I have absolutely no idea. It was left at that party specifically addressed to me, I haven't had a chance to open it yet.”

“Why not?”

“Honestly, I just decided to leave it for now. Afterall, why would I open some addressed to me, with no identification as to who actually sent it? I just found it too suspicious to open, and maybe too dangerous to leave near normal people.”

“What, you think it's a bomb or something?” Church asked.

“No… I just have no idea what it could be, and I think it would be better to be safe than sorry. I was going to open it away from anyone who could get harmed if it was something like a bomb.”

After a few moments of silence, Trent immediately took the gift from Steven and opened it.

“Let me guess. I’m too cautious right?” Steven asked before looking into the what the gift contained to find a large rolled up scroll.

“Yup,” Trent said, handing it to Steven. “Besides, who'd wanna kill us now? We haven't done anything to piss off anyone. Except for that prism bitch, but I think she hates only me and is okay with you.”

“I wouldn’t be sure of that, but okay,” Steven responded as he took the scroll from Trent, opened it and began to skim read it before saying, “Check the box this was in.” Trent simply gave the box to Steven.

It was then Steven quickly looked at the inside of the box to find three numbers engraved into it ‘079’ he then looked back to Trent as he said, “What would you say if I told you this was one of the vaults?”

“I would ask how you know that just by a few numbers.”

“Less the numbers itself and more the style of the text it is in. The style is a match to what was on the vault door in the base, admittedly the one on the door is heavily faded so I can’t use the colours to help, but being this is one of the plans supposedly left for us I’d take this as a pretty clear sign.”

Trent blinked for a few moments before looking a Church. “You have a translation?”

“Yes, I have the best translator ever,” Steven responded sarcastically. “It’s written in English.”

Ignoring him, Church said, “Basically he thinks that because the way the number is written is similar to our Vault, he thinks that's good enough evidence to say that it's another one.”

“Well Celestia didn’t tell us what else we have to tell if it was one of the missing vaults.”

“Remind me to ask her next time we see her.”

“That may be for the best,” Steven agreed as he continued walking while reading the scroll he had gotten from the gift while the group continued to walk in silence for the rest of the trip.





As the group got back to the base, they headed to the barracks to turn in. Trent sat down on his new bed and took off his helmet and placing it on the ground. “Welp, our first day in our new life is finally over. Man, it feels like it's been, like, nearly 2 years.”

“A little bit over exaggerated there, but I know what you mean.”

“Met a bunch of anthropomorphic horses from a kid show, fought Grimm summoned by this world's version of Satan, and no I don't mean Salem, got a job and a scavenger hunt, met a Displaced and learned about that whole thing, and learned the supposed fate of the guys who we saw Displaced.”

“Okay, this recapping has gotten old,” Church said, appearing by Trent. The hologram looked between the 2 Displaced. “ I gotta say, if this is just our first day, I can only just imagine what the rest of our lives will be like. But, at least by the looks of it, I won't end up with a migraine from you two.”

“Give it time, then we'll see if you still think that,” Trent said.

Before Church can reply, they all heard a knock at the door. Trent blinked and looked at his companions. “Um, were we expecting any visitors?”

“How could we? Very few people know we are even here,” Steven pointed out.

The person continued knocking, before straight up slamming it. Trent facepalmed before looking at Steven. “Can you see who it is and get them to stop?”

Steven simply sighed slowly standing up before saying, “Okay, okay. I’m coming.” as he walked towards the door before opening it to find Sunset standing there with a suitcase, duffel bag, and wearing a set of pyjamas.

“I have a feeling I’m going to regret asking this, but why are you standing outside?”

Sunset shrugged. “Well Princess Celestia figured you guys should have somepony who can keep an eye on you and keep you in contact with her. So, I'm your new roommate.” Sunset then walked pass Steven and set her stuff down by a random bed before sitting down on it.

Steven then sighed as he closed the door muttering to himself, “I don’t know why, but for some reason, I swear this is also Decades fault.”

“Who?” Sunset and Church asked, confused.

Trent waved his hand dismissively. “Just some Sentai nonsense he likes.”

Sunset nodded before blinking and looking at Trent. “Huh. First time I see you without your helmet on.”

“Well while I seem comfortable enough to sleep in my armour, I rather keep my helmet off during that,” Trent responded before laying down, putting his hands behind his head and closing his eyes. “If you're sleeping here with us, then don't disturb me when I'm sleeping unless it's important.”

“Noted,” Sunset said with an eye roll.

Steven then walked up beside her before saying, “You can still back out if you wish… he is a handful to deal with.”

“Actually, this was my idea. Besides, gives me something to do instead of being stuck in Canterlot now that Twilight is staying in Ponyville.”

“Yeah, now you're stuck in a crumbling building with almost no food or any basic necessities, what a brilliant trade-off.”

“Well the princess is giving us some bits tomorrow for supplies and getting some builders to help fix some things here. Like the plumbing.”

“Maybe make sure the actual foundations are safe before that,” Steven suggested with a sigh. “Look, even if you weren’t staying, we couldn’t send you back out as you are. So get comfortable for tonight and we’ll work everything else out in the morning.”

With that said, they all went to sleep, finally drawing the first day of their new lives to a close.