Prologue

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A nice, quiet, relaxing day in Jump City, the coastal city home to a group of crime-fighting teens with incredible powers and skills who save the day from all sorts of villains: the Teen Titans. It had taken a few weeks for the group of five to get used to the new changes in the city since their return recruiting new Titans around the world in case of any other disasters that could befall another continent or the world itself: new stores replacing their old favorite hangouts, more skyscrapers for living space or more office oriented businesses, and more people moving to Jump City, whether as tourists or new faces planning to stay permanently. As awful as it was to lose their favorite places, they had to embrace the new changes and look toward the future.

Beast Boy, however, is unable to move forward, but not from the city's new change in economy and citizens. Mere weeks ago, he thought he spotted someone he thought was considered gone after her brave sacrifice some time ago and chased after her. That person, or former Titan, was Terra, a young girl with the power to control the earth. At first, she was unable to control her overwhelming power, running away when she feared her strength, only to come back with full control while under the wing of a mastermind of a villain the Titans have ever faced in their young lives: Slade. The cynical man had once tried to force Robin, the Teen Titans' leader, to join his side as his apprentice, and had done the same to Terra, who was desperate to keep her powers under control when she met him. But Beast Boy convinced her not to follow him, that there was still some good in her despite the bad things she did to him and his friends when Slade and Terra took over the city. She fought back and redeemed herself, but while unleashing her powers against the villainous masked mercenary, she activated an underground volcano underneath the city, which would have engulfed and destroyed the whole city. Sacrificing herself by unleashing every ounce of her earthly power to contain the eruption, she saved the city, but trapped herself in stone, her imprisoned state a memorial to her as a true Titan, and a close friend to Beast Boy.

Unfortunately, meeting her again was not as joyful as he thought when he tried to find the blonde-haired heroine. Finding no sign of her statue under the city, a sign of hope for the animal shape-shifter that Terra was back, Beast Boy found her enrolled at a school, but she had no memory of him, the Titans, Slade, or her powers. He tried desperately to jog her memory, even when his other friends found it hard to believe Terra was really back, that desperation causing them to drift further apart, especially after throwing mud at her to try reminding her she can move the earth, only to get splatted in the face and grow cross with him. Their final encounter ended in heart break when Terra, or if it really was the Terra he thought he knew, tells Beast Boy things change, but he couldn't accept it no matter how badly the truth hurt. After trying to hand her his communicator so they could stay in contact in case she ever got in trouble, she turned it down and went about the rest of her school day, leaving Beast Boy behind as the realization finally kicked in after so many attempts to get his friend, and crush, back since her return.

Inside the Titans Tower, an obvious base of operations out on an island not too far from the city shaped in the letter "T", the group of young superheroes were spending the day relaxing, seeing how there were no villains causing any trouble today. In the huge lounge room, they were all gathered doing their own thing: Raven was busy reading her favorite novels, Robin and Starfire were making snacks for everyone for movie night tonight, and on the wide sofa were Beast Boy and Cyborg playing a fighting game. Unfortunately, Beast Boy wasn't feeling competitive as he barely moved his character while Cyborg went all out with different combos.

"K.O.!" the announcer in the game announced as Beast Boy's character's health was fully depleted, letting out a painful cry in defeat as it echoed through the speakers.

"Ha ha! Perfect victory yet again!" Cyborg gloated. He looked at his competitive buddy, his cocky smirk fading when he saw Beast Boy was barely paying any attention to what was on the screen, his thumbs rarely pressing the buttons on his controller. "Yo, B.B., were you even trying, man?"

"...Good game," Beast Boy mumbled, putting the controller down on the couch and slumped in his seat.

That gave the half-man, half-robot hero his answer, having a gut feeling he knew what's gotten his gaming rival down in the dumps. The other three titans had noticed Beast Boy's behavior changed a few weeks back, right after they had taken care of the mysterious monster that was able to meld with any surface, giving its body the similar thickness to whatever it touched. They thankfully stopped it with Beast Boy coming to save the day, though it was a bit overkill when he turned into a T-rex, chomped it, and slammed its body repeatedly until it could no longer fight.

"Still upset about Terra," Robin said.

"I cannot believe Terra is free, but she does not remember any of us," Starfire said. "Not even Beast Boy..."

"I don't even know how it was possible, even after we tried to figure out how she managed to free herself if no one else did," Raven said. "At least Beast Boy wasn't crazy when we all saw her when we went out for pizza the other day."

"Enrolled in a school, and she didn't recognize us as she passed," Robin said. "She definitely avoided us when she saw Beast Boy...Speaking of avoiding, Beast Boy wasn't just hiding from Terra back there. Any time someone else walked by and saw us, he looked like he wanted to sink into his seat and hide."

Starfire gasped, getting an idea. Rummaging through the freezer, she pulled out a big tub of neapolitan ice cream, then floated over to the depressed shape-shifter.

"I heard that if someone is upset and feel like the world is at an end, they gorge themselves on the frozen cream of cows until they cannot consume anymore, replacing that hole with ice cold dairy produce!" Starfire opened the tub of mixed ice cream, then placed it in Beast Boy's lap, who wasn't even bothered by the cold plastic container. Beast Boy's eyes trailed down to the ice cream, but he shook his head, not in the mood for any. "No? But that always works on the movies with the romance."

"Well, it was a good try, but I'll gladly scarf that down to fill the hole in my stomach," Cyborg said, reaching out and snatching the ice cream, getting up from his seat to get a spoon to dig in.

Starfire hated seeing any of her friends fight or get upset over something as serious as Beast Boy's dilemma. Even seeing them hurting themselves from something traumatic or stressful upset her, like when Robin obsessed over Slade when he was killed after being tossed in the lava by Terra. She had one other idea she hoped would work, but she wanted to see Beast Boy smile and be his goofy self again.

"Beast Boy, it has been quite some time since I have been given...'the face'," Starfire teased, making Robin tense up out of jealousy.

"The what?" the boy wonder questioned.

"It is impossible for me to resist 'the face', even when I am down in the metaphorical dumps like Raven," Starfire continued, making Raven grumble at the comment. "Come on, Beast Boy. You know you want to do it."

She gently poked Beast Boy's arm, her eyes begging him to transform into a cute kitten and melt her heart at the adorable animal with big eyes. Sadly, he didn't want any affection unless it came from the Terra he lost forever.

"I'm not in the mood," Beast Boy finally said after a long moment of silence, shocking Starfire.

The depressed hero stood up and slumped off to his room, his fellow Titans and close friends watching him leave in despair. "He...didn't want to do 'the face'," Starfire uttered, Beast Boy's despair far worse than she thought.

"I think he still needs some time alone to get over this," Raven said. "He'll be his old self again and annoy us with his shenanigans."

"Let's find some good, hilarious comedy movies for tonight," Cyborg suggested. "That should cheer him up in a heartbeat."

As much as Raven didn't like comedies, if something can get Beast Boy's mind off of Terra, she would endure it for his sake. Evening began to set in, but while the rest of the Titans were ready to watch the movies they rented from the new video store, Beast Boy moped in his room, hunched over on his bed with his hands covering his face. His mind raced, memories of his time with Terra kept flowing, depressing him even further when seeing the amnesiac girl out in the city when the gang went out. Not only that, but while he was in the city, he swore he heard people's voices talking about him, or he imagined he did and his loss began to affect his self-esteem, thinking everyone was talking behind his back about his green skin, pointy ears, and his animal transformations. Cyborg stands out more than he does, but no one bats an eye at his robotic limbs, or even Starfire or Raven when they fly around. He never let anyone's comments of his appearance bother him as a kid when he gained these mutant powers, but in his depression, it began to hurt as he felt alienated more so than the literal alien girl in the group.

Having made his decision, Beast Boy wrote a sad goodbye letter to his friends, leaving it on his desk, along with his communicator. "I'm sorry, guys," he uttered to himself, feeling tears begin to well up in his eyes. He didn't want to leave his friends, but he can't take being around Jump City if he ends up seeing Terra out in the streets. "I can't stay here anymore..."

Rubbing his arm against his face to dry up his tears, Beast Boy headed toward his bedroom window, opened it, then dove out, turning into a peregrine falcon and flying out and away from Titans Tower and Jump City. Even as he flew, tears still kept shedding, blinding his view as he shook his head to try to shake them away. Not paying attention to where he was going, he didn't notice a mysterious portal begin to open up in his flight trajectory. When Beast Boy did finally notice, he was too late to veer away from it, letting out a startled screech in his avian form as he helplessly flew into the sparking, purple portal, closing up behind him and leaving no trace of him.

Canterlot High School: a building where many students partake in all sorts of academic courses suited to their liking, while also honing the spirit of being a Canterlot Wondercolt and making several new friends while getting a higher education. This school is also known as a central point of magical mishaps and dangerous creatures from an alternate version of their world called Equestria, which was a world filled with colorful talking ponies, many of which resemble everyone in this world as a pony; from the colors of their skin, to their hair color, personality, and even signature marks found on their clothing that ponies bear on their flanks called cutie marks, which were images that showed a pony's true talent. Since the former bully of Canterlot High, Sunset Shimmer, tried to use the Element of Magic she stole from a pony princess named Twilight Sparkle from Equestria, who was formerly a pony herself before running away into this world, things have never been the same for this generation of students and staff with new thrills, and even new magical powers none of which the humans knew would be possible outside of fiction.

Late in the night at said school, a young girl was busy with a little project she had in mind after a few events began leading to some troubling situations involving Equestrian magic. Her name was Twilight Sparkle, not the pony princess, but her human counterpart in this world who was once enrolled in Canterlot High's rival school, Crystal Prep, only to transfer to this one after the Friendship Games, where she also got involved in some of Equestria's magic after trying to figure out what it was when her seismograph fluctuated after the Sirens attacked CHS during the Battle of the Bands. Her skin was purple, like her counterpart's fur color, her darker purple hair with a pink streak down the middle tied up in a ponytail, and she wore a blue and white striped blouse with a purple skirt with pink and white stars spread out around it. The only difference between the two Twilights were the pair of big-rimmed glasses the human Twilight wears, sometimes being called Sci-Twi by her group of friends.

Twilight was typing away at her laptop in one of the science labs in the school, even though it was supposed to be closed this late at night. She was at least given permission by the principal if she wanted to continue studying, and with the main topic being the strange magical occurrences that fluctuated more recently after unleashing the magic she stole from her friends and used by force by Principal Cinch, her former principal at Crystal Prep, trying to keep it under control was a top priority to her and her new friends. Her laptop was connected by a USB cord to a little device she built, only a simple circular metal board with a section on the outer edge able to scan specific items on top of it, there were four square prongs that circled the central part of the device, and it was as light as her own laptop to carry around. While busy working, her canine companion, Spike, padded his way over to her, leaping up into her lap and startling the teen. The little pup had purple fur with green ears, a tuft of green fur on his head.

"So, are you going to make this lab your new home away from home?" Spike asked jokingly.

"Is it that late already?" Twilight asked. She then looked out the window, surprised to see it was night time, and the time on her laptop on the bottom right of her screen read 9:30 PM. "Heheh. I didn't even realize how late it was. But, the good news it that I'm almost done."

"And what exactly is it you're done with?" Spike asked as he turned around in his master's lap, staring at the screen with puzzled interest.

"After that little incident with Juniper Montage, the magic that came from that mirror had to have come from a leak between our world and Equestria's," Twilight explained. "If there could be other leaks of magical energy elsewhere, we need to keep them controlled. And this is going to help us do that."

"It's not going to steal and contain magic like the last one, is it?" Spike asked worriedly.

"Thankfully, no. This is much different. It's a portable magic portal, but I'm going to start off small in case it accidentally pulls in something dangerous from Equestria," Twilight said, patting the worried puppy on the head. "If I can figure out how the portals work, we could use our magic we got from Camp Everfree to fix the seams in the tears between our worlds." Grabbing Spike and gently putting him down on the floor, Twilight reached over to her backpack, pulling out Sunset's old journal that was used to communicate with Princess Twilight in Equestria. "But for it to properly work, we'll need a catalyst to connect the portal between both worlds, and I'm taking Princess Twilight's idea when connecting the portal and using Sunset's old book."

"Is Sunset ok with you borrowing it?" Spike asked.

"All the pages were filled up and she's got a new one," Twilight reasoned. "Besides, it'll have some use besides gathering dust in her locker. Now, I just need to put this here..." She placed the book on the scanner, then turned to her laptop and typed away, activating her device as it hummed to life. "And now...let's see if this test run is successful."

With one press on the Enter key, the scanning module's laser light ran over the entire book, then after a few seconds, the center of the board sparked as the magical energy flowed from the book and into the device. The electric sparks soon began to turn purple, a swirling vortex slowly appearing as it grew into the contained field of the prongs. Twilight grinned as it worked while Spike stared in awe, almost similar to the portals he jumped through chasing after a jackalope, where he got his ability to speak after passing through the magic Twilight stole from Fluttershy. The portal finally stopped its growth, big enough to let something like a hawk or falcon fly through.

"Wow. It worked," Spike said. Before Twilight could cheer, the device began to sputter, magical energy sparking dangerously as the program on Twilight's laptop began flashing a warning signal, which meant something went horribly wrong. "Uhh, what's happening!?"

"I-I don't know, but I probably jinxed my expectations!" Twilight said. She tried to shut down her portal, but no matter what she did, she kept getting errors with each command she typed in. "I can't shut it down!"

The portal began to warp slightly, startling Twilight as they could see something begin to come hurtling through the unstable magical entrance. She dove out of her seat and ducked to the floor, holding Spike as the object, living or non, was flung straight out, crashing through the window at what could have been deadly speeds. Needing to disable her portal manually, Twilight quickly got on her knees, staying low and grabbed the book, pulling it away from the scanner, dispelling the flowing magic enchanting it and making the portal disappear. Once her portal whirred into silence, the duo sighed in relief.

"Well, that didn't work," Spike stated, knowing something bad would have happened with all the different test runs his master did with her other works. While Twilight checked on her laptop, thankfully unharmed as her program had settled down along with her portable magic portal, Spike looked at the broken window with a wince at the sizable hole made by whatever came out. "Oh boy. I don't think Principal Celestia is gonna like seeing this in the morning."

Twilight looked over her shoulder, only to groan worriedly at the mess and broken window. "I'm gonna be in so much trouble," she uttered. Slowly approaching the window, she looked outside for any sign of a magical creature that came through. "I don't know where it landed, but I hope it was just a rock...or whatever creature it was is friendly and didn't get too badly hurt?"

"It was big enough to break through the window," Spike said.

"I'll alert the others if they see anything odd at school tomorrow," Twilight said, pulling out her phone and texting her friends, warning them about her invention bringing in something from Equestria by complete accident. "After getting flung at that speed, whatever it was might be unconscious and badly cut from breaking through the glass. And I'm gonna explain to Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna what happened to the window and hopefully not get suspended for destroying school property."

"They can replace the window, unlike that horse statue you destroyed at the Friendship Games." Twilight winced, letting out a sigh after being reminded of her magically corrupted state. "Oh. Sorry. Forgot you were still sore about that."

"At least it wasn't as bad as the collateral damage Sunset dealt when the same thing happened to her," Twilight said. "Let's head home and get some rest, Spike."

Closing her laptop, Twilight placed it and Sunset's old book in her backpack, then took the portable portal and carried it under her arm. Spike followed after her as she made sure the doors were locked, then headed back home to get some rest for school tomorrow, Twilight mentally making a note to herself to work on whatever kinks happened to her entire project. While they headed into town to their home, outside of the lab room's window in the bushes, a green peregrine falcon laid on the ground, letting out a pained squawk. It soon shifted into a human, Beast Boy letting out a groan as he squinted his eyes open, only to pass out from the pain and disorienting sensation after flying through the mysterious portal.

The New Kid in Town (Part 1)

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The morning sunlight shone down on Canterlot City, early morning risers getting up to start their day, including the teachers and staff at Canterlot High. Hidden in the bushes near one of the school's science labs, Beast Boy grimaced as he began to regain consciousness. He let out a groan, rubbing his face, thankfully resilient after crashing through what felt like glass.

"Well, looks like something crashed through," a female voice said from inside the building. The Teen Titan overheard them as he slowly got his bearings, sitting up on his knees while making sure his face wasn't badly scarred with glass shards. "Twilight did warn us about something coming through."

"Let us hope we don't have another dangerous creature running around our school," another female voice said. "I'd be surprised if this becomes a normal thing in the next few years."

"Don't tempt fate, sis," the first woman playfully chided.

He didn't hear them anymore, probably leaving the classroom and heading elsewhere. Beast Boy opened his eyes, looking back at the building and the hole he seemed to have made as a falcon, which was now covered by a piece of plywood to keep the breeze from flowing in. Peeking out through the foliage, he had no idea where he was; clearly in a different town, but nothing familiar like Jump City.

"Where am I?" he asked himself. Hearing a pair of footsteps, he ducked inside the bushes and peeked through the leaves. It was a pair of adults making their way to the entrance, but to the shape-shifter's surprise, their skin were different than normal color just like his. One of them was a darkish purple with light pink and white hair, the other was pure white with pink hair, the former dressed as a teacher while the latter was most likely a nurse. "Whaaaaaaa-?"

The women paused, hearing Beast Boy, but he quickly turned into a fly, hiding from them as they looked toward where the sound came from. "Did you hear that, Redheart?" the teacher asked.

"I think so," the nurse replied, then let out a huff. "It better not be Snips or Snails sneaking around in the bushes again. Those two can be so troublesome when they hurt themselves, even if it's just a small bump."

"Try teaching those three girls who get into a lot of mischief in my class," the other woman said. "Every time I see them in the library, they keep looking up music videos on school property, and I have to reprimand them every single minute."

Beast Boy watched them walk off, perched on a leaf, stunned by who he just saw. Flying up a little higher, he saw more of the staff at what he assumed was a school, and they all had different colored skin with lots of varying different hair colors, from one solid shade to varying ones in streaks, stripes, even just the fringes of their hairstyles. Hovering back down in the bush he woke up in, he shifted back to normal, dumbfounded.

"This is definitely not earth," he uttered to himself. "Ok, what happened before I got knocked out? I ran away, flew into a portal that came out of nowhere, and now I'm here in a different town where the people all have different skin tones that aren't like the usual colors normal people have...Either I ended up in an alien world, or another dimension. I need to call the other Titans for-" By instinct, Beast Boy reached into his pants pocket to grab his communicator. He remembered he left it back in the Tower, and why he ran away in the first place. "...Oh...right..."

Beast Boy silently pondered what he was going to do now. With no way to contact his friends, if it was even possible in another dimension or alien world, he was stuck here. While contemplating his predicament, a thought came to him. Maybe this was fate helping him escape from his old life, to get away from the pain in his heart from feeling different and Terra having no memory of her life as a Titan or the relationship they had. It may have been selfish for him to leave his team, but he couldn't deal with his self-conscious thoughts about the citizens in Jump City and his depression in losing the Terra he knew.

"...I guess...if I'm stuck here...I can try to start over," he concluded. "Live a normal life and not as a mutant hero who turns into green animals to beat up bad guys." Looking down at himself, his hero outfit would definitely stand him out among the rest of the people here, especially teenagers. "But I could use some new duds. Too bad I didn't bring money with me...if they even accept the same currency." Looking back at the building, an idea came to him. "...Since this is a school, they must have a lost and found storage somewhere...And maybe they have some lost clothing that might fit me."

Looking around to make sure no one was watching, Beast Boy turned back into a fly, buzzing after the two women who nearly caught him, slipping through the door as they entered the school. Squeezing through one of the air vents, he then turned into a mouse and skittered through the air ducts, looking through each room until he found where previous lost items in the school were held. Leaving the air duct, he leapt down to the floor, turning back to normal as he looked around the empty office, hitting the jackpot as he searched a nearby cabinet.

After a bit of digging, he managed to find some clothes that fit him, though it was a bit tacky and felt like they were kept in the 70's. Beast Boy shrugged, taking it as he put on the mismatched, hippie-style outfit he donned after stripping out of his suit. Now sporting a tye-dye shirt, a dark pinkish jacket, and a pair of lime green pants, all that was missing to make him look like a hippie was a pair of shades and an afro wig. There was even a backpack that was still in good condition, a simple black and completely empty, stuffing his old outfit inside for safekeeping.

"Not exactly the best find," he grumbled. "But it's something, at least.

Before he could scrounge for a small mirror to get a better look at himself, the slight noise he made caught someone's attention, the door to the room slamming open. "What do you think you're doing!?"

Beast Boy shrieked, quickly turning around as he was confronted by an older woman. She had blue skin, long dark and pale blue shaded hair, wearing a light purple blouse, the blue crescent moon on the white collar of her shirt, long blue pants, and white heels. From the way she was dressed, she looked like one of the school staff, or more likely one of the higher-ups like the principal.

He giggled nervously, trying to find an excuse as to why he broke into the office. "Uhh...hi?"

"School is about to start, and you're breaking onto school property?" the woman questioned, crossing her arms while leering at the delinquent.

"W-Well, you see, I'm kinda new here," Beast Boy said, tapping his fingers nervously. "I just moved here last night, and...I got a bit lost finding the principal's office. T-The door was opened so I thought this was it...and uhh...yeah."

The Titan gave her a wide grin, hoping his lie was believable. She was a bit skeptical, even as she looked back at the door with a grimace.

"...There are signs near the doors that tell you whose office belongs to whom," she stated.

Beast Boy began to sweat. "...I'm not that observant with signs?" he said in excuse.

The woman let out an irritated sigh, keeping her composure as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Clearly, the generation of youths today are going to the dogs," she muttered to herself. "Alright. I'll show you to the principal's office."

The animal shapeshifter breathed out a sigh of relief, surprised his bluff actually worked. He followed the woman out of the empty room and into the main office. After a bit of navigating through the halls, they arrived at the principal's office, Beast Boy seeing the name "Celestia" as the school's head principal. Inside was said principal at her desk, her skin a pure white with long hair of light colors of green, blue, and pink. She wore a tannish-yellow dress jacket over a white and purple shirt, a sun-shaped pin attached to the collar, and a pair of purple dress pants. Beast Boy was already beginning to feel nervous; he had never been enrolled in school since he was homeschooled by his late parents, and just being around this principal, despite how calm and friendly she looked, he didn't want to find out how angry she could get.

"Well, hello there," Celestia greeted the green-skinned hero, then looked at the woman who escorted him. "Vice-Principal Luna, who's this?"

Beast Boy winced as the principal mentioned the woman, who he now knew was named Luna, was the vice-principal. "I heard him rummaging around the lost and found box in the office," Luna said. "Knowing all the students at this school, he's definitely a new face, and somehow managed to sneak in without any of the other members of staff spotting him."

Celestia looked at Beast Boy, who began sweating profusely as he expected being sentenced for breaking and entering, but the principal looked back at Luna with a smirk. "You forgot to lock up that office last night, didn't you?" Luna winced, but she didn't seem to deny the claim, grumbling irritably while looking away with her arms crossed. Celestia chuckled, then focused her attention back on Beast Boy. "So, young man, what are you doing snooping around my school?"

"W-Well, uhh...I'm new around here...and want to...enroll?" Beast Boy stated timidly.

"I see. And you moved here to Canterlot City from where?" Celestia asked.

"Jump City," he answered. The two women looked at each other, never hearing such a place. "It's, uhh...really, REALLY far away. Like...across the sea?"

"You mean you're a foreign exchange student?" Celestia asked.

"Y-Yeah! That's it!" Beast Boy exclaimed, quickly calming himself before he got caught in his lies. "I'm a foreign exchange student! Here to join...this school!"

"I have not heard of another school informing us of an exchange program," Luna said.

"Me either," Celestia agreed. Curious, she typed at her computer, looking through the school records and any email notifications on anything she must have overlooked. "Hmm...I don't see anything about an exchange student coming to CHS. Even if we did, we would have gotten word weeks in advance."

Beast Boy winced, gulping nervously as he tried to come up with a decent lie. "Uhh...M-My old school had some...really messed up systems and stuff. Pretty bad," he lied. "So, instead, they sent a letter through the mail. It...should have arrived the other day?"

Both women doubted the teen, but Celestia gave Beast Boy the benefit of that doubt and looked through some of the recent mail the school had gotten that weren't put through their computer systems. "Let's see..." As the principal skimmed through the addressees of the letters, she hummed in confusion. "Uhh...Oh dear. Some of these are actually utility bills for the residences in town."

"Ugh, again?" Luna groaned in irritation. "It's like these weird video game subscriptions that keep getting in my mailbox at home, and they're addressed to some of our students, not me...I have a feeling I know who's responsible for the messed up mail sorting; one of our own students."

"Are you sure, Luna?" Celestia questioned skeptically. Luna approached the principal, whispering something to her about who she suspected it was. It dawned on Celestia, surprised, but believable over this special student. "Oh my...It was no wonder she was interested working with mail...I guess no one can stay mad at someone as special as her..."

"I still wonder how she's still able to see with those eyes," Luna said, pitying this special student, which caught Beast Boy's interest. "Thankfully, she's safe from being bullied here with her...'condition'."

Celestia nodded solemnly in agreement, then turned back to Beast Boy. "Well, if the letter is lost in the mail, hopefully we'll get it sorted out in a few days," she said, relieving the Titan a little. "Until then, we'll enroll you into the system as a new student, then see if your records finally arrive to put in. What's your name?"

"Bea-err...Garfield," the Titan corrected himself, almost giving out his hero name out of instinct. "Garfield Logan."

"Ok, Garfield." Celestia typed away, inputting Garfield's information like he was filling out his entire life. As long as he didn't mention anything about his heroic persona and his super powers, he should be in the clear. Finally, after several minutes, the needed info was gathered and Celestia finished placing him in the system. "And done. Welcome to Canterlot High, Mr. Logan."

"Thanks," Garfield said.

During that time, students had begun to arrive and get themselves ready for classes as the bell rang. "Well, today is a Friday, and considering it'll take a couple days until we get your class schedule ready, we'll let you have the day off and get a tour of the school so you don't get lost on Monday."

"Cool. I get a free day," Garfield said with a cheeky grin. "So, who's gonna show me around?"

"She should be coming to my office right about...now," Celestia said, timing it perfectly as her office door opened up.

"Hey, Principal Celestia, Vice-Principal Luna." A teen girl walked in as she greeted the two heads of the school. She was orange-skinned with fiery red hair with several yellow streaks, wearing an orange shirt with a red and yellow sun, a black jacket, a purple skirt, and a pair black boots. She noticed the Titan sitting across from Celestia, who was staring at her strangely tough-looking outfit despite how she expressed herself. "Hey there. You new around here?"

"Uhh, yeah," Garfield said.

"Sunset, this is Garfield Logan," Celestia introduced. "He's a foreign exchange student and will be starting class on Monday. Would you be his guide and show him the school?"

"Sure, no problem," Sunset said. "Nice meeting you, Garfield. Sunset Shimmer." She held her hand out to him, who took it and gave it a friendly shake. "So, when did you move here?"

"...Heheh...Uhh, well..." Garfield tapped his fingers together, feeling unsure of himself if he should be honest, or stretch the truth a little about his predicament. "...I know this is gonna sound crazy, but...I got here last night?"

Both women and Sunset gawked at the shape-shifter in shock. "L-Last night!?" Luna exclaimed.

"You don't even have any residence planned for you to stay from your old school?" Celestia questioned.

"Yeah, I told you my old school was...pretty bad," Garfield lied. "I was told to just get on the plane and arrive here. I...slept at the airport, then hitched a ride here at around 2 in the morning."

"And what about your parents? What kind of people are they to let their own child, who is still too young to be out on his own, to just go on ahead without any residence to even settle into as they moved?" Luna asked irritably.

Garfield grimaced at the mention of his parents, lowering his head as he stared at the ground in melancholy. "...M-My...I lost my parents...when I was a kid," Garfield admitted, making Luna balk at this bit of unfortunate news as the two women and Sunset felt pity for his loss. He never did think about his parents much, but it still hurt when reminded of their fate, at least being honest about some of his life. "They died in a boating accident..."

"...Oh my...I'm so sorry," Luna apologized sympathetically.

"I've gotten over it...sort of," he mumbled.

"Well, luckily, we have set up a program for our students to offer boarding to newer students from across the country to see how Canterlot High is one of the top-ranked schools in the nation," Celestia offered. "They're up on the main bulletin board in the hall. I'm sure one of our students would be happy to make you their roommate."

"Ok," Garfield said. Taking in a deep breath to calm his nerves, he stood up, ready to get started with the tour. "Alright, dudette, lead the way."

Sunset nodded, then lead the new student out to see all the school had to offer. Celestia and Luna felt sorry for Garfield, concerned about his reasons for being here if he actually grew up poor with no one to care for him or really was in a terrible school and wanted to leave from how nervous he felt about enrolling.

After adding himself into CHS's school system, Sunset took him to one of the other offices to get his school ID taken, which was mandatory for all students for any scholastic activities requiring them or getting prepaid lunch in the cafeteria. Unfortunately, it was being run by the photo-crazed teen, who Garfield found out was named Photo Finish, and stuck him in odd poses while taking his picture while strangely getting the perfect smile photo on his new ID. He was still seeing spots as he tried to follow Sunset down the hall.

"Sorry. I should have warned you about Photo Finish," Sunset apologized. "She's a great photographer, but she can go a little bit haywire with a camera."

"I think I went blind," Garfield uttered. After blinking his eyes and shaking his head, he was finally able to see normally. While wandering the halls, he met a few other teens, even some pre-teens who were like the few other people he had seen since he woke this morning. All of them had different colored skin tones, and even though their hair was supposed to be as natural as their skin, it was odd seeing them so differently dyed or streaked that made them seem like they came from one of his favorite anime movies. "So, uhh...you know where that bulletin board is at so I can find a roomie to stay with?"

"It's on the way," Sunset said. "We're coming up to the gym, so we can cut across to reach the main hall faster."

"Ok, cool," Garfield said. "And as soon as possible, I'd want to get me a part-time job since I'm...flat broke."

"I can give you a tour of the city after school," Sunset offered. "There's a lot of places willing to hire. Maybe some of my friends can give you a good word with their managers." Their tour of similar halls looking at similar looking classrooms lead them to the gymnasium doors. Garfield wanted to take this shortcut to see if anyone's got a room available and maybe job applications to get some cash. As he opened the door, Sunset winced when she remembered what was going on in the gym today. "Wait, Garfield, don't go through yet! Today's-!"

Too late. He opened up the doors, hearing the sounds of excited cheering and mock battle cries as two sides of the court. Red rubber balls bounced all over the large courtroom.

"Incoming!" a voice shouted as the other side from where Garfield entered flung a barrage of dodgeballs toward the enemy team, only for the teens to flee and leaving him in their trajectory.

He screamed and panicked, but was too slow to react, getting struck by each one as they hit his shoulders, legs, and gut. The last one hit him directly in the face hard enough to stick to his head, his whole body flipping rapidly before he fell to the ground on his back with a thud. Sunset sighed, rubbing her forehead and shaking her head.

"...Dodgeball day," Sunset finished, albeit a bit too late for the groaning teen. She walked over to Garfield, grabbing the ball and peeling it off his face, leaving a red rubber imprint on his partially squished face. "You ok, Garfield?"

"Uhhhh...Anyone got the number of that bus who ran me over?" Garfield asked in his daze, eyes swirling around in his head.

"Whoa! Time out, guys!" Both teams stopped their game as one of them called a time out. Walking over to the downed Titan as Garfield came to, he saw a blue-skinned girl, her hair in streaks of a rainbow colors, wearing a white shirt with a cloud shooting a red, yellow, and blue lightning bolt underneath it, a blue jacket worn over said shirt, blue sweat pants with rainbow colored lightning bolts running down the sides of her legs, and white and blue sneakers with red soles and laces, a pale yellow lightning bolt one the sides of her shoes. "You alright, new guy?"

"Define 'alright' after getting smacked by balls at blinding speed," Garfield muttered. The girl held her hand out to him, taking the offered limb, and stood back up with a grunt. "Was this some sort of initiation I wasn't aware of?"

"More like you weren't paying attention to what was going on through the window to find out it was a bad idea to cut through here," Sunset uttered to herself. "Anyway, Garfield, this is one of my friends, Rainbow Dash. Rainbow, this is Garfield."

"Should have ducked, dude," Rainbow teased with a small laugh. "What were you even doing coming in here in the middle of the best game of dodgeball I'm having?"

"Getting a tour of the school," Garfield said. "I do wanna know where everything is, including the locker rooms."

"Those are out in the halls," Rainbow said, pointing her thumb at the doorway. "I'd love to keep chatting with you, Garf, but I've got a game to win." She snatched the dodgeball out of Sunset's hand, running back to her side, eager to finish her game. "Game's back on! Get wrecked, scrubs!"

The hollering cheers came back, Sunset and Garfield yelping as they fled back to the doors, shutting them behind them before they were assaulted by more dodgeballs, the latter more so. "...Well, she's competitive, I'll give her that," Garfield said.

"And a bit reckless," Sunset added. "We're gonna take the long way around." Garfield nodded in agreement, continuing the tour while avoiding getting hit by something else along the way. After finally getting around to the main hall and finishing the rest of the tour, Sunset showed Garfield the bulletin board the principal mentioned. "And that's pretty much all there is to see around CHS. But if you're still a bit lost, there's a map that goes with the class schedules just in case."

"I'll probably get that on Monday," the Titan said, even though he might dread learning if it meant starting his life over. The bell rang again, students filing out from their classrooms and either made their way to their next class, or to Garfield's shock, leaving the building. "Uhh, isn't it a bit too early for some of them to leave the campus?"

"It's an early day today and most of us have a free period," Sunset explained. "Mostly because a friend of mine notified us about something that happened last night, and if it was hazardous, we don't want other students to get hurt. You'll get used to some of the crazy and weird stuff that goes on at this school."

"Can't be any weirder than me," Garfield commented, pointing at his head while wiggling his pointed ears.

Sunset noticed, but was more focused on his odd apparel choice if it was the only clothes that were on his back. "Right. Anyway, why don't you take a look at the board while I head to my locker and grab my things. I'll show you around town and meet the rest of my friends. Without getting injured in the process."

"Sweet. I'll be here looking," Garfield said slyly. Sunset went down a hall to where her locker was, leaving the shape-shifting teen to watch everyone as he waited for her to return. "Wow. I think I might like being in school. Maybe that's why Terra didn't get so burdened by-"

Realizing who he was talking about, Garfield's grin fell as he thought about Terra again. Even in another world away from her, he still can't get her out of his mind. Sighing sadly, he looked at the bulletin board, hoping to distract himself with something besides the most depressing moment of his life. While looking at some of the flyers for a roommate, he was a little disturbed by the amount of money some of them needed for monthly rent. He doesn't even have a job yet, and his best bet to find any place to rest was turning into a squirrel and finding a hollow hole in a tree. His searching came upon one that was pretty simple, and with no price as he took it down and read it to himself.

Looking for a cool roomie.
Only qualification needed is being cool around a tortoise and NOT being Zephyr Breeze!!!
Come to this address if you're interested and I'll see if you're cool enough to be my roommate.
Best time to swing around my place is around 4:00 PM
And once again: NO, Zephyr Breeze! You can't be my roommate! Leave me alone!

Despite the odd message to this Zephyr Breeze, Garfield seemed to have found a perfect place to hunker down, hopefully for free. Stashing the flyer in his backpack, he looked for any job applications, though he didn't have much with how few there were that were posted. Sunset soon returned with her own backpack on while making her way through the crowd to reach him.

"Ok, all set. Found anything to help you out?" Sunset asked.

"I think so, but I think I'll do some job searching in the town," Garfield said. "Let's see the sights."

Even though this place was called Canterlot City, the area was more like a town that seemed as big as a city. There were many houses in the neighborhood near the school, but the places of business were in another section of town, from fast food joints to convenience stores, along with a mall that had everything and more. Their first stop was at a more than average clothing store, the mannequins wearing quite fashionable designs for what appeared to be more of a suburban area.

"This is the Carousel Boutique," Sunset introduced. "One of my friends works here, and she's quite the fashion diva." Looking back at the Titan, she stared at his apparel, having a gut feeling her fashion savvy friend inside was going to have a fit at his wardrobe. "...Speaking of fashion, you kinda look like you picked up those clothes at a discount disco shop."

Garfield slumped his shoulders, leering at Sunset in offense to her statement. "It was all I had," he said. "Besides, I make this look good."

He straightened himself up, standing in a cool-looking pose. Sunset wasn't impressed, his suave stance making him look goofy with his mismatched attire.

"...We'll let Rarity be the judge of that," she said. Garfield sighed, following Sunset inside, getting a closer look at all the different outfits on display. "Rarity! You here!?"

"I'll be right out, Sunset!" After a bit of waiting, Rarity came out from what looked like a private workroom in the back. Her skin a pure white with purple hair done in stylish curls, wearing a light blue dress with patterns of double diamonds around it, a purple skirt reaching an inch above her knees, and purple and white heels with diamonds accenting her flashy style. She was a thing of beauty, but that didn't distract him enough from his own infatuations with Terra, before she became Slade's apprentice and losing her memories with the new life she had. "I need a break after working on-"

Rarity paused, gawking at Garfield as he grinned sheepishly while waving at her. "I want to introduce you to a new Wondercolt at CHS," Sunset said. "I thought we'd swing by while showing him the-" Suddenly, Garfield yelped as he was swept away by Rarity, dragged by his arm as his backpack slipped out, falling with a thud and startling Sunset. "-...town?"

Garfield was flung toward a nearby dressing room, held against his will inside while Rarity glared at him. "Help! I'm gonna die!" he screamed in terror.

"YOU'RE going to die!? Have you looked in a mirror with those clothes!?" Rarity questioned, pointing at his attire. "They look like they came from the bargain bin of bargain bins in a run down disco store! That closed down DURING that time!"

"...W-Well, it was all I had," Garfield mumbled timidly.

"I'm going to rectify that." Standing him up, Rarity pulled out a measuring tape and began to work.

Placing him in different poses to get Garfield's measurements, she got what she needed, then tore his clothes right off his back. "Ahh! Hey! Not the duds! I wanna keep those!"

"I am burning these hideous things! They are an eyesore to the fashion industry!" After taking off Garfield's lost and found clothing, she left the changing room, throwing the disastrous clothes away to burn later as she looked through something else for the Titan.

Beast Boy poked his head out nervously. "Sunset? Help?"

"Heh. Sorry, Garfield," Sunset apologized, picking up his backpack. "Once Rarity gets like that, there's no chance of stopping her."

He swallowed nervously, dreading what the fashionista will do to him after stripping him down to his boxers without batting an eye at what was on them. "Here, put these on," Rarity said, tossing a set of clothes at his face, sending him falling back into the dressing room. "I would have come up with something much better if I got to know you more, darling, but simplicity will have to do."

Garfield grumbled, but went along with it since she swiped away the only casual clothes he was able to find for free. And if she expected him to pay for these clothes, he was giving her an I.O.U until he found a suitable job to pay her. After putting on his new clothes, he looked at himself in the full body mirror in the dressing room, his worst fears assuaged with the simple look Rarity promised. Wearing a simple purple T-shirt, the hem of the collar, sleeves, and trim black, along with black loose jeans with a purple streak running down the right side of his leg, this was much better than what he found. Ironically, it was almost like his hero outfit, even with his boots, which Rarity thankfully let him keep.

He stepped out, showing the two girls his new look, Rarity nodding her head in approval while Sunset was a bit surprised by his new image. "Wow. Definitely a lot better than...whatever it was he was wearing."

"Far better," Rarity said. "Now, who is he, again? A new student, you said?"

"Yeah. That's Garfield, a foreign exchange student...from a pretty awful school," Sunset said.

"I'll say if they think those old rags were considered a proper form of attire at his old school," Rarity uttered to himself.

"Well, thanks for the new duds, but...I don't really have any cash on me to buy this," Garfield said sheepishly.

"Don't worry about it," Rarity assured, shocking the teen at her overly generous gesture, even though they had just met. "Consider your new outfit a gift for the new Canterlot Wondercolt. Trust me, darling, it'll save you the embarrassment when you officially start school."

"...Wow...Uhh, thanks," Garfield said, still feeling it a bit odd that he was getting a new outfit for free, even though he felt like he should owe her for it. "I still feel like I should owe you something for this."

"There's no need, Garfield," Rarity reassured. "Just as long as you don't ruin those clothes. Or wear something as hideous as...that ensemble."

Garfield let out an irritated huff, still thinking he looked good in the getup he found, but relented as he went with the fashionista's opinion. Sunset handed him his backpack back, saying goodbye to Rarity and continued on their way through the rest of the town. While admiring more of the area, Garfield's stomach began to growl, his depressed state back home barely making him eat, and he had nothing to snack on back at the school.

"Uhh, Sunset, there anyplace we can chow down?" Garfield asked sheepishly. "I...didn't really eat anything since yesterday."

"Really? Not even on your trip over last night?" Sunset asked. The shape-shifter shook his head in response, preventing feeling anymore pity after revealing how he lost his parents. Sunset hummed and looked around, spotting a building with the name "Sugarcube Corner" on a sign on top of the front door on the other side of the street. "Let's get something there. One of my other friends works there. We can kill two birds with one stone."

"Sweet," Garfield said, eager to sink his teeth into whatever sweets the restaurant had. As they walked inside, business in the bakery was average in the afternoon, some of the students from CHS sipping from shakes as they hung out. There were so many different scents wafting from the freshly baked goods in the kitchen, making the Titan salivate and his stomach growl even louder. "Oh man. I must be in tasty treat heaven. Pinch me, I must be dreaming."

"Okie dokie!" Someone granted Garfield's wish, pinching his arm hard. He yelped, quickly turning to face a pink-skinned girl with curly and floofy pink hair, almost looking like it was made out of cotton candy. Underneath the work apron tied around her, she had a white T-shirt, a trio of balloons in blue and yellow hidden behind said apron, a frilly pink skirt, white leggings, and white and blue shoes with pink laces. Garfield didn't even see this girl anywhere in the shop, at a table or even behind the counter, and she just suddenly appeared out of thin air and pinched him. "Hello!"

"Hey, Pinkie," Sunset greeted, barely disturbed by the widely grinning girl suddenly standing beside them.

"What-Who-How-Why!?" Garfield stammered, trying to figure out how she got here. "Where did you come from!?"

"I was right beside you the whole time, silly!" Pinkie said, further baffling Garfield, though her bubbly attitude reminded him of Starfire.

Garfield looked at Sunset, doubting this strange girl was even anywhere near them most of the day. "Garfield, this is Pinkie Pie. She's a little bit...kooky."

"...Right," he mumbled.

Before he could introduce himself, Pinkie grabbed Garfield's hand and shook it hard, shaking him as well as he yelled. "Hi, Garfield! I'm Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie reintroduced herself in her own way. "You must obviously new because I know everybody in town, and I don't know you, which means you ARE new and new people means new friends, and I love making new friends!"

"N-Nice m-meeting you, too! C-Can I-I-I have my a-a-arm back!?" Garfield demanded.

Pinkie let go, leaving the shape-shifter shaking like he was in the middle of an earthquake with his arm outstretched. "So, where are you from? Are you hungry? I like your ears! Are you DC or Marvel? What's your favorite color?" Pinkie rapidly spouted, even as Garfield recovered from the insanely powerful strength from the bubbly teen.

As soon as he regained his balance and some feeling in his arm, he stared at Pinkie, processing the odd question she asked him. "Wait, what was that last one?"

"What's your favorite color?" Pinkie asked again.

"No, before that," Garfield corrected.

"Where you're from?" she asked.

"The second to last thing you said," he said, starting to feel a migraine, and he didn't know why.

"Oh! I like your ears!" Pinkie said, making the green-skinned teen groan in irritation.

"Never mind," he grumbled, his stomach distracting him from the ensuing headache he was going to get.

"Well, that answers one of Pinkie's questions," Sunset said.

"And Sugarcube Corner's the BEST place to sink your sweet tooth into!" Pinkie added. "But, since all your teeth get to munch into a yummy pastry, then shouldn't the expression be their sweet 'teeth'?"

Garfield raised a finger and opened his mouth to respond, but the more he thought about it, he started to question Pinkie's logic about one's sweet tooth. "...Uhh...You know, that is weird," he said to himself. His hunger came back on topic from his rumbling stomach. "Heheh. Uhh, I kinda don't have any money to buy any food, even though I really wanna try some of these goodies..." He looked at Sunset with a timid grin. "Can you spot me a couple bucks?"

"I got this, Sunset!" Pinkie answered for Garfield's guide, skipping off and stood behind the counter. "For new customers, allowed by Mr. and Mrs. Cake, A.K.A. the owners, they can get a free sample to try our sweets, and maybe buy some more in the future!"

"And she has a really good memory of who she meets," Sunset said. "Trust me. Two dopey boys, Snips and Snails, tried to disguise themselves to snatch a ton of free samples when they came back."

"They weren't good disguises anyway," Pinkie said. "So, if you'd like, Garfield, you can take a pick out of any of these yummy-nummy desserts!"

"Wow. New clothes and a free sample? Must be my lucky day." Garfield approached the display case, unable to decide which one he wanted to try. They all looked so good and smelled amazing, it was a tough choice as he pressed his face into the glass. His eyes soon fell on a simple looking pie, the flavor "Apple" displayed in front of it. "It feels like forever since I had pie. I'll try that apple one!"

"Coming right up!" Pinkie ducked down, grabbing the pie and cut a sample-sized piece for the newcomer, then placed it on a paper plate, along with some plastic cutlery. "Dig in!"

"Will do!" Taking the plate and fork, he speared the small piece of pie and stuffed it whole in his mouth.

The moment his taste buds touched the flaky, sweet dessert, his eyes grew wide. It was delicious, but that's not what shocked him; this apple pie tasted exactly like the pie back in his world, back in the cafe Terra showed him when they went on their fast and, to his sorrow, last date. It felt impossible to make something this similar in an alternate world, but somehow, it was. His mind went back through that very date he cherished with Terra, bringing tears to his eyes, the flavor in his mouth disappearing as it upset him more with the harsh reality he suffered earlier.

"I know; a classic pie, but it's the best kind of pie for a reason," Pinkie said. "Brings a tear to my eye every time I bite into a slice. Good choice to start on!" She grinned innocently, ignorant of the depressed look in Garfield's eyes before finally noticing the distant gaze he had. He began to slowly chew, then swallowed, barely savoring the sample treat. "...Garfield?"

Seeing Pinkie losing her smile, Sunset approached the dazed Titan, surprised seeing him more upset than mentioning his deceased parents. "Garfield?" she gently called out. She placed her hand on his shoulder, snapping him out of his depressed daze as he came back to reality. "Are you ok?"

He looked at the two girls, both of them greatly concerned with him after "blanking out". He didn't want to burden them with his past and wanted to start anew, but forgetting everything was impossible: his team and best friends, his past adventures, even Terra, before and after she gave up her memories.

"...Thanks for the pie," Garfield solemnly answered, discarding his plate and plastic fork in the nearest trash bin before leaving the building, wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt.

"...Did I...say something wrong?" Pinkie asked, worried she came on too strong with her silly antics and overly cheerful personality.

"I don't think so," Sunset assured. "I need to catch up with him before he gets lost."

Sunset hurried after Garfield, leaving Pinkie behind the counter as she tried to figure out what went wrong.

Garfield walked a few blocks down the road, his mind wandering to Terra with his head low and his hands in his new pants pockets. Even though he was still hungry, he wasn't up to stuffing his face anymore. He didn't even glance at a video store he passed by to see what this world had for video games or even any movies he wanted to see. His wandering lead him to the park, lush green fields separated by sidewalks leading around a path, some foliage, a playground where some kids were playing, and even a pond. He walked over to the water, spotting a few ducks floating on the water's surface, content as they quacked and waited for someone to toss them some pieces of bread to feed them.

He sat down on the grass, watching the water fowl, almost wanting to turn into one and swim away his problems. But that would be a bad idea; even though some of the pets he caught a glimpse of didn't have normal fur either, a green duck could spout some trouble from other people as some kind of disease-ridden bird that could infect the other animals nearby. All he could do was watch the peaceful scenery, letting his mind drift off to something else and not his broken heart.

"Garfield!" Sunset called out, finally catching up to him. He looked back, almost forgetting she was giving him a tour of the town. "Hey, what happened? You ok?"

"...Yeah...I just...remembered something," Garfield said. "...It's...kinda personal..."

"Oh. I see." Sunset sat down beside him, seeing he was a little bit more calm after what happened in Sugarcube Corner. "Was it about your parents? Homesickness? That can happen, even after only one day away from home...I kinda had that feeling a few years ago when I moved here."

"Maybe a little," Garfield said, even though this pain was far worse than losing his parents or being away from Jump City.

"Well, whenever you're ready to talk about it, I'm here to listen," Sunset offered, patting the teen's shoulder. "And so will my other friends after meeting the rest of them."

"Thanks," he said, giving her a small smile. "Sorry about running off."

"It's fine," Sunset said. "Besides, coming out here, I was going to lead you around here next. There's a friend of mine who doesn't live that far away from here, and she might help you get a job if you're interested." Sunset stood up, Garfield following her down the road, growing curious as to where she was going to take him. A half mile away from the park, they came upon a couple acres of apple trees, the orchard well cared for with bright red apples fresh for the picking. Up ahead on the path was a farmhouse, a red born slightly worn down as it's seen many years of repairs. Coming out from the barn was a teen girl carrying out some crates, her skin a lighter shade of orange than Sunset's from what Garfield could see. "Hey, Applejack!"

The girl put down the heavy crates, revealing the rest of herself as she wiped her brow. She wore a stetson hat over her blonde hair, which was tied up in a ponytail, a white T-shirt with the top around her shoulders green and a red apple on her chest, a blue jean-skirt, and brown work boots with red apples etched on the sides.

"Howdy, Sunset!" Applejack called out, waving them over as Sunset and Garfield walked over to her. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Garfield Logan," Sunset introduced. "He's new in town and a new Wondercolt starting Monday. I was showing him around town and thought you might use a hired hand around your place."

"Well, we could sure use some help," Applejack said, rubbing the back of her neck as she looked out at the orchard nervously. "This year's harvest is definitely goin' to be overwhelmin' this year. Big Mac's gonna be too busy with me gatherin' and he won't be able to deliver our crops to the markets."

"I can deliver the apples," Garfield said. "It sounds like an easy job."

Applejack hummed skeptically as she examined the skinny shape-shifter. "How much can ya lift with them skinny arms, Garfield?"

"Uhh...how much do you expect?" he answered sheepishly.

"Let's see if y'all can lift one of them crates, then go up another until ya can't," Applejack said, pointing at the half-dozen crates she carried out.

"Piece of cake," Garfield gloated.

He approached the stack of crates, seeing them filled with bottles of apple cider. Garfield started with one crate, which wasn't too much of a hassle, then two, then three, but with the fourth case, he struggled to hold them up for longer than a few seconds before he had to put them down. He could lift more if he were a five-hundred pound gorilla, but he would have to keep his shape-shifting under wraps.

"Hmm...Not bad, even though that's just cider in them cases," Applejack commented. "Can ya drive?"

"Uhh...sorta?" Garfield said, scratching his head nervously.

"Can ya drive a stick-shift?" Applejack asked, pointing at the nearby pickup truck with several more cases in the back.

"...You got a moped instead?" he asked, giggling sheepishly at his odd request.

Applejack raised a brow, even Sunset as they both knew the best way to carry several dozen heavy crates of anything was in a truck, not a motorized scooter. "...Ah'll have to talk to mah brother if we can show ya how to harvest the apples and bring them to the storage shed properly instead," Applejack muttered to herself. "If ya want the job, you're gonna have to show up on time and pull your weight. No whinin' or complainin'."

"Yes, ma'am," Garfield said.

"Just give me a couple days to talk this over with mah brother and Ah'll tell ya if ya get the job." Garfield nodded, able to wait a few days without money to get some cash in his pockets. "Anyway, nice meetin' ya, Garfield, but Ah gotta get back to work."

"Ok. I'll see ya at school, boss!" Applejack let out a sigh as she left, waving goodbye to Sunset and her soon-to-be employee and she went out to find her brother. Looking up at the sky, Garfield wondered how much time he and Sunset spent on his tour. "Hey, Sunset, what time is it?"

"Let's see..." Sunset pulled out her phone to check the time, and a few other messages from some of her friends. "It's almost 3:40."

"Oh, cool! I can meet my new roomie right now!" he said, pulling out the flyer he took from his backpack. "You know where this address is at?"

Reading the address, Sunset was a little surprised, knowing exactly where the house in question was. "Yeah. When you enter the neighborhood, it's on the second street down. Although, that's-"

"Thanks!" Garfield interrupted. "I'll catch ya later, Sunset! Thanks for the tour!"

He ran off before Sunset could tell him she knew who lived there. "Oh boy," Sunset said with a sigh, making her way back home while looking through her texts. "He's gonna be in for a big surprise when he sees who he's gonna have to live with."

The New Kid in Town (Part 2)

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"Ok, I think this is the right street," Garfield said to himself. "Or was it the last one?" He scratched his head, looking at the road signs to see if he was on the right track. "Maybe I should have stuck with Sunset instead of running off."

Garfield finally found the right street, but with it connected to a crossroad, he whined and had no idea where to go. Making his way down one direction, he caught the pattern of the address numbers on the mailboxes, thankfully going the right way as he watched closely for the right number for his new roommate's house. Despite his anxiety searching for the house, the suburban neighborhood was definitely a lot more quieter than the usual hustle and bustle of a big city. He eventually found the right house, a two story building like the rest of the homes, a basketball hoop set up by the driveway near the garage.

"Hey, new guy!" Garfield nearly jumped, a familiar voice calling out to him from down the road. That person was none other than Rainbow Dash, walking over to him with a friendly wave. "Doing some sight-seeing without Sunset?"

"I guess you can say that," Garfield said. "I'm looking for a place to stay, and I think I found where my new roommate lives."

"Wait, you mean...here?" Rainbow asked, pointing her thumb at the house they stood in front of. Garfield nodded, showing Rainbow the flyer with the address. "...Dude, this is my house. And you came to see if you qualify to be my roomie?"

"Your house?" Garfield's gaze shifted from the flyer, to Rainbow, then to her house, blinking a few times as the writing closely resembled the athletic teen's behavior. "...Well, I guess the odd description fits your personality. But who's this Zephyr Breeze guy you didn't want?"

"Ugh. He's my best friend's brother who has the hots for me." Rainbow Dash shuddered. "He can't take the hint that I don't like him, and he always tries to find a way to smooth-talk me into going on a date with him. Trust me."

"Ok, duly noted," Garfield said. "Creepy stalker who's got a thing for you. Steer clear away from him."

"Good," Rainbow said. "Well, since you're here for a spot as my new roomie, come on in, Garf."

The two approached the door, Rainbow taking out her house keys and unlocking it. Once they walked inside, Garfield got a good look at what was in her house: there were several trophies under Rainbow Dash's name in almost every kind of sport known to mankind, pictures of her winning different events, some with her parents being overly proud of her accomplishments, even though some of them had Rainbow with participation ribbons. Rainbow's dad had a muscular build, wearing a green polo shirt and blue jeans, sporting a buzzcut with the same rainbow hair his daughter had, though his skin was a darker shade of blueish-purple. Her mother, however, could have passed as her twin or older sister, though her short hair was auburn in color with a few streaks slightly dulled in the middle, wearing a yellow long-sleeved polo shirt and teal sweat pants, and she had freckles on her cheeks.

"Wow. That's a lot of trophies," Garfield commented. There were several more pictures of Rainbow, most of them with her as a baby or a young girl. "Your folks must love you a whole lot, huh?"

"Yeah, but I think they love me a bit too much," Rainbow said. "Kind of embarrassing having them around as they cheer for me over the dumbest things." Garfield snickered at the thought, imagining her parents going nuts while watching her hanging up a coat or towel. After witnessing the "trophy room", Rainbow showed Garfield the rest of the house: the kitchen, garage, bathrooms, and bedrooms, ending with the room he would be bunking in. There wasn't much in since it was just a spare room, but there was a dresser, the mattress fitted with sheets and a comforter, and a small T.V. with a D.V.D. player. "And here's where you'll be staying. It's not much, but it's at least got something to entertain you while in the privacy of your room."

"Well, I guess it's a start," Garfield said, putting his backpack down near his bed.

"So, let's start discussing your rent," Rainbow said, making the shape-shifter flinch at the mention of payment.

"Uhh...Right." Garfield giggled timidly, tapping his fingers together while giving Rainbow a nervous grin. "See, about that...I've got a money issue at the moment. Kinda just moved here, flat broke, so...I don't know how I can afford to pay a week's rent, let alone a month."

"And you expected me to just give you a room for free?" Rainbow asked.

"Well, I expected to pay rent, but you didn't mention how much it would be," Garfield stated. "I think you were more worried about this Zephyr guy."

"...Right," Rainbow muttered, bringing her hand to her face as she failed to mention how much rent would cost. "And I'm gonna take a wild guess and say you want to get away from your parents and the crummy apartment you moved into in the city, right?"

"Actually...I came here by myself," Garfield admitted, refraining from talking about his parents. "My old school...doesn't exactly plan everything properly, so..."

"Yeesh. Good thing you moved here to a better school." Rainbow hummed, tapping her finger against the empty dresser in thought. "...And you're planning on getting a part time job?"

"I think I've got one, though I'm going to have to wait about a week for Applejack to tell me if I get it," Garfield said with a small laugh.

"Working with AJ, huh? Heh! Good luck working yourself to the bone," Rainbow teased, giving the green-skinned teen a light punch on the arm. At least it wasn't a dodgeball to the face again. "Well, until you start earning some green, green boy, how about you do some chores as a method of paying off your rent until you earn enough?"

"Sounds like a deal," Garfield said, holding his hand out to seal the deal with a handshake. Rainbow reached out to shake his hand, but he quickly swiped his arm back, giving her a serious look. "You're not gonna make me do all the chores your parents want you to do, right?"

"Come on, dude, I can do my own chores within ten seconds flat," Rainbow gloated with a smirk.

Garfield leered at her skeptically, keeping his jaw locked in a frown. He slowly extended his arm out, keeping his straight face, finally sealing their deal as they shook hands.

"Ok, then," he said. "Deal."

"Great. Get yourself settled in, and I'll order us some pizza." Rainbow pulled out her phone and dialed a number. "Anything specific you want?"

"Anything but meat," Garfield requested. "I'm a vegetarian."

"No problem." Rainbow walked out of the room, only to yelp as she tripped over something in the hall, hitting the ground with a grunt. Garfield poked his head out into the hall, looking down to see what exactly his host fell over. Looking up at him was a green tortoise, ignorant of his big shell being a roadblock that tripped over its owner. "Should have closed my door..."

"So this is your pet tortoise you mentioned in your flyer." He knelt down to get a closer look at the reptile, gently running his hand over the smooth, spotted shell. "What's the little guy's name?"

"Tank," Rainbow grunted, slowly getting back up. "Guess my mom wanted him to run around my room while I was at school."

"Don't know how we missed him." Garfield carefully picked up Tank, the slow tortoise already taking a liking to him as he was lightly petted on the head. "Didn't think someone like you would have a tortoise for a pet. I did have a pet worm, although it got a little bit...messy. Heheh."

"Yeah, well, we kinda clicked," Rainbow said. She winced, nearly forgetting about her phone and was about to order them pizza. "Get acquainted, you two."

She headed downstairs, apologizing to the employee at the pizza place she called for not responding and began ordering. Garfield headed back in his new room, taking Tank with him, gently setting him down on the floor. He let the tortoise wander around, growing curious about his backpack while the teen took off his boots, letting out a sigh as he plopped on his new bed.

So far, this world wasn't that bad. He managed to find himself a place with a cool roommate with a cool pet, he got himself a free outfit to fit in with his new schoolmates, and already met a few girls who were interesting to be friends with. Sadly, he was already starting to miss the gang back home. He wondered if they noticed he was gone and read his letter, or if they were searching for him right now, but couldn't since he wound up in a completely different world. It's only been a day, and Garfield was already feeling homesick.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he felt something tap his hand, hanging over the side of the bed while staring blankly at the ceiling. Looking down, Tank was trying to get his attention, sensing his distress. Letting out a sigh, he pet the tortoise's head, assuring him he was ok. He didn't know how long he was contemplating his situation, his nose smelling the pizza delivered to Rainbow's home.

"Smells good," he said, getting up from his bed and carried Tank with him. "Time to chow down on some other world pizza."

The rest of the evening, Garfield spent the time getting to know Rainbow a bit more as they ate their pizza. She got him the veggie lover's, complying with his vegetarian diet, and it was one of the best pizza's he's had in a while. He practically scarfed down his whole pizza in one go, almost forgetting how hungry he was all day. He figured his host was competitive and athletic, but she also mentioned being in a band with the rest of her friends and played the guitar. He got a taste of what she could play after they finished eating, and his mind was blown, literally and figuratively at her talents in shredding out on an electric guitar.

They headed back upstairs, getting a better look at Rainbow's room as she invited him in to play some video games. She was definitely all about sports, some bands he knew nothing about, and a few fictional novels about an explorer called Daring Do. His attention was brought back to the games Rainbow challenged him in, getting used to the new kind of controller as they played for several hours. He may have lost more times than he won, but he vowed he was going to get better and beat her when she least expected it. After the bit of fun, Garfield headed for bed, wanting a good night's sleep in a comfortable bed after spending the last unconscious on the grass.

Early the next morning, Garfield was snoozing away, his limbs splayed out as he messed up his sheets in his sleep. Rainbow was up before him, snickering to herself as she quietly opened the door to his room and crept up to his bed, holding an airhorn behind her back. Deciding to give her roommate a hilarious wake-up prank, she held the airhorn up to Garfield's face, pushed down on the button and let out its piercingly loud horn. Garfield's eyes popped open, letting out a panicked scream as he flailed around, falling out of bed with a thud with his comforter following after him.

"Rise and shine, dude!" Rainbow said while laughing hilariously.

Garfield grumbled, quickly getting to his feet with a dirty leer toward the prankster. "Dude, not cool!" he exclaimed, flailing his arms around. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

While the green teen complained, Rainbow Dash saw he was in nothing but a pair of green boxers with yellow rubber ducks on them. She snorted, trying her hardest to hold back her laughter, even with him giving her the death stare.

"Nice underwear," she commented, letting out a giggle as she struggled not to burst her guts out.

Garfield looked down, shrieking like a girl as he grabbed the comforter and covered himself, his green cheeks turning red in embarrassment. "Can you please get out of my room!?"

"Ok, ok!" Rainbow said. "Hurry and get dressed, though. I'm meeting up with the others down at Sugarcube Corner for breakfast, and consider this a bit of help for when you do get a job with AJ at her place. You're gonna need to wake up super early when doing farm work."

She then left, chuckling to herself after finding him in an embarrassing set of underwear. Garfield grumbled, wishing Rarity got him a set of PJs, or even some new underwear that didn't hinder his machismo if someone knew what he wore. Making sure to close his door so Rainbow didn't try to sneak some pictures, he got dressed back up in his new clothes, then followed Rainbow Dash down to Sugarcube Corner for breakfast. When they arrived, they found Sunset and the rest of the girls Garfield had met yesterday along with another girl he hadn't met.

"Hey, Garfield," Sunset greeted. "Find your way to your new roommate ok?"

"Yeah, but I didn't expect it to be Rainbow Dash at first," Garfield said.

"I could have warned you, but you left in such a hurry, so I decided to let you see who it was." Rainbow snickered, Garfield definitely getting surprised when he decided to be roommates with the girl who beaned him in the face with a dodgeball. Garfield could only chuckle sheepishly, unable to deny he has a habit of rushing into things sometimes without thinking, whether it's asking for directions or fighting against a tough villain. "Anyway, since you know most of the girls, I want to introduce you to Twilight Sparkle. She was the last new student at CHS before you."

Garfield turned to the purple teen with glasses, holding his hand out to greet her. "Name's Garfield."

"Nice to meet you, Garfield," Twilight greeted and shook his hand.

The shapeshifter blanched when he heard her voice, finding it oddly familiar. Even though it wasn't possible, Twilight almost sounded a lot like Raven; more likely the happy emotion of the broody, emotionless Azarathian he met in her mind. Maybe it was an odd coincidence to hear someone sounding close to someone else they knew, but, being curious, Garfield wanted to know.

"...Uhhh...Can I ask you something...weird?" Garfield asked.

"Garf, have you met Pinkie yet?" Rainbow asked, pointing her thumb at the grinning, pink-haired girl beside her. "We've seen weirder things that won't even offend us at this point."

"Or, maybe he's trying to ask her out on a date because he likes the nerdy types," Rarity said, giving Twilight a teasing smirk.

"N-No! That's not what I was going to ask!" Garfield exclaimed, he and Twilight blushing as the girls laughed at their embarrassment. Garfield recovered, clearing his throat, ignoring the others and readdressed his curiosity to Twilight. "What I was about to say is that you sound kinda like a friend of mine back home. If you don't mind...can you say something in a moody, monotone voice, like you don't have a care in the world about anything around them?"

The girls all stared at him with the odd request he made while he grinned uneasily. "...Well, I guess so," Twilight said, granting the new guy his request as she cleared her throat, then looked bored as she tried to act like Pinkie's sister, Maud. "My name is Twilight Sparkle. I love reading books, studying, doing science experiments, and learning more about my friends."

Garfield's jaw hit the floor, literally; it was as if Raven were actually here, even though he was sure there was no way she could transport herself to another world. "Ah think ya hit the nail on the noggin, Twilight," Applejack commented, chuckling at his shocked expression.

"Did I really sound like your old friend?" Twilight asked.

"...You could be her twin if she had siblings," Garfield uttered, finally picking his jaw off the ground.

After getting to know Twilight, he sat down with the girls, Pinkie buying everyone breakfast as she put in everyone's order for the owners. "Hey, where's Fluttershy?" Rainbow asked.

"She texted me saying she'll meet us a bit later," Rarity said. "She wanted to make sure her little animal friends at the shelter got their breakfast first."

"An animal shelter?" Garfield asked curiously.

"If you like Tank, then maybe you'll like the different pets Fluttershy loves to take care of," Rainbow said. Her phone buzzed, pulling it out from her pocket, letting out a sigh as she read the message. "And the critters down at the park. She's there right now giving them breakfast."

"She does have a way with animals," Sunset said.

Breakfast finally arrived, an assortment of different breakfast pastries each of them ordered. Garfield didn't pick anything too expensive, not wishing to mooch off of someone else's generous offer to pay for his food and promise to pay Pinkie back for his order when he has the money. While he happily ate what he got, the girls around the table looked at each other before addressing the new kid.

"So, Garfield, are you enjoying Canterlot City so far?" Rarity asked.

"It's not bad," Garfield said after swallowing his mouthful of breakfast. "Much more peaceful here than where I lived."

"Well...you're going to find out it's not so peaceful around here," Twilight responded, giggling nervously. "Sunset said she showed you around the school, and it was let out early yesterday...Did she tell you why?"

"Not exactly what the reason was," Garfield said. "Something dangerous could have happened that could hurt everyone...What exactly was it?"

"We didn't want to scare you off since you just got here yesterday," Sunset said. "Canterlot High, and the rest of the area, has had a few...'supernatural' things happen."

"And by 'supernatural', she means magic," Applejack summarized. "Crazy magic portals to another world, strange creatures that don't normally exist here, stuff like that."

"...Oh, that's all?" Garfield asked, shocking the girls at his nonchalant response. "I've seen some weird magic before. Some kinda cool, others...not so cool."

"...Well, glad to see he's not freaking out knowing about this," Twilight said. "But, speaking of portals, I hope nothing dangerous went through my experimental one I was working on the other night."

"That's the reason why school was let out early yesterday," Sunset explained. "You see, there have been some strange magical mishaps that began appearing elsewhere around the area, the farthest from Camp Everfree. And the night before you arrived, Twilight's portal went haywire, and something flew out from it and crashed through the window of the science lab she was in."

Garfield winced, sweat beading down his head, remembering flying through a portal and crashing through glass, waking up the next morning in this world. "...R-Really?"

"Thankfully, the portal was small, so nothing too big or dangerous could have gotten through," Twilight said. "It was big enough for a small animal or a bird similar in size to maybe an eagle or falcon. But, with the world I tried to connect it to, who knows if that creature could be a serious threat."

That explained how he got here. Garfield didn't feel like eating anymore, keeping his cool as best as he could. He didn't want to tell them HE was the one who went through that same mysterious portal as a peregrine falcon, or let Twilight know that the world she tried to connect her portal to ended up in his world and not this magical world they mentioned. Breakfast was suddenly interrupted as the T.V. screen in the lobby, which was playing a few commercials for some products, shifted to an emergency broadcast with an alert jingle, getting everyone's attention.

"We interrupt your scheduled programs to bring you a special news bulletin," the news anchor said. "There have been reports of what appear to be wild lions running amok out in the forested area near the park in Canterlot City."

"Wild lions?" Rainbow questioned.

"Maybe the circus is in town!" Pinkie guessed.

"Then they wouldn't be considered wild, Pinkie," Applejack stated, the screen changing to a newswoman on the scene making the report, people running away in fear as they heard roars in the distance.

"As you can see behind me, people are in a panic, and you can hear the roars from the beasts out in the woods," she announced. "Authorities have been alerted along with animal control, but where they came from is a mystery as the nearest zoo is several miles from this location, and with no mention of any escaped creatures in the past twenty-four hours. Everyone is advised to stay indoors until this-" Suddenly, the newswoman flinched when they heard a girl scream out in the forest, the cameraman forgetting keep his focus on the reporter as he zoomed in to get a good look at who was trapped in there with those beasts. The girls all recognized that scream, where they saw a yellow-skinned girl with long pink hair running between the trees as a trio of lion silhouettes chased after her, wearing a blueish-green dress that had three different pink butterflies on the right side, a lace of ribbon around her waist with a pink butterfly clasped on it, and pink sandals with white socks with pink laces wrapped around them into little bows at the top of each sock. "Oh no! Someone's still out there!"

"Fluttershy!" the girls exclaimed.

"We gotta help her!" Rainbow said, shocking the shapeshifting Titan.

"Whoa, whoa, what!?" he shrieked. "You're going to stop a small pride of lions!? Are you nuts!? Let animal control deal with them!"

"Not when one of our friends are out there!" Applejack said.

"Just stay put, Garfield," Sunset advised. "If these lions appeared mysteriously, I'm hoping they aren't the kind of lion I'm thinking of."

Garfield stammered, unable to stop the girls as they all ran out and headed for the park, Pinkie leaving money on the table to pay for their bill. He let out a groan, slumping back in his seat as he watched the T.V. He didn't want to stand idly by and watch someone get mauled by wild lions that appeared out of thin air in an environment where the dangerous feline species aren't normally found. Garfield followed after them, making up his mind, knowing they're going to need a superhero like him to take on those lions.

Fluttershy panted, weaving her way through the trees as she escaped from the beasts pursuing her. It was such a peaceful morning feeding her little friends, but when they suddenly got startled by something behind her, she just had to get attacked by something that came through a mysterious portal, quickly disappearing as fast as it had appeared. And those creatures weren't any normal lions from their roars as they hunted her; they were manticores. Part lion and part scorpion, its stinger-like tail was just as deadly as its paws and sharp fangs. Even with her ability to fully understand and communicate with any animal, her magic wasn't able to get her through with the manticores.

They managed to catch up to her, clearly faster with four legs than two, making her scream in fright as they cornered her against a tree. "Oh no," Fluttershy whimpered. "P-Please, don't eat me. I-I can get you something much more tasty than...m-me." The manticores growled, caring more about their next meal than bargaining with the animal lover. "S-Somebody help me!"

The manticore in the middle let out a roar and lunged forward, only to ram into the tree Fluttershy was cowering against, zipping off mysteriously by a rainbow blur, saving her from the hungry felines. "Made it just in time," Rainbow said, setting Fluttershy down after regrouping with the others.

"Thanks, Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy said.

"You're not hurt, are you, darling?" Rarity asked, Fluttershy shaking her head, physically unharmed. The trio of manticores ran toward them, following Rainbow's trail toward them, the mythical creatures shocking the others as Sunset's hunch was right. "W-What in the world are those!?"

"Manitcores!" Sunset said. "If you don't get mauled by their claws or teeth, their stingers might be even worse with how dangerous their poison is!"

The mythical lion-scorpion beasts lunged at the girls, the lights from Twilight and Rarity's respective gems glowing on their person, the former holding them back in her telekinetic hold while the latter trapped them in a cage of diamonds. "Where did they even come from!?" Twilight asked, both her and Rarity struggling to keep the ornery manticores held back.

"I don't know," Fluttershy said. "I was feeding the squirrels and birds in the park, then I heard something appear behind me, and the next thing I knew, I ran for my life when they roared and chased me."

"Couldn't you have calmed them down?" Applejack asked. "You can talk to animals!"

"I know, but they wouldn't listen to me," Fluttershy whimpered. "And I couldn't understand them either."

"Maybe we can try to ask Princess Twilight to bring pony Fluttershy here and see if she can help calm these beasties down!" Pinkie suggested. Rarity and Twilight's hold faltered, the manticores managed to smash through the magic holding them back. "Or maybe we don't have enough time!" Pinkie dug into her pockets and pulled out some candy, using her own magic to make them glow. "Eat candy!"

Garfield hid in the bushes as he managed to catch up, peeking through the foliage just in time to watch Pinkie throw pieces of candy at the manticores, to his shock when he saw the mythological creatures in the flesh, even though he's seen plenty of strange ones in the past. Before he could comment how candy was going to sway the carnivorous beasts, they suddenly exploded at their paws, startling the manticores as the fireworks lit up in front of them. His jaw dropped in awe, heavily surprised as he got a hint of what "magic" they were talking about. He continued watching, despite sneaking after them to help, seeing what else the girls could do: Rainbow Dash moved as fast as Kid Flash, even sharing the same cocky personality as she taunted the manticores after dodging their swipes and stinger tails, Applejack's super strength able to pick up a heavy-looking log with ease, using it to bat away the ones that tried to get close to her, Rarity's diamond shields protecting herself or the other girls, Twilight's telekinesis that could rival Raven's, and Pinkie's odd exploding candy power. He wondered if he really did leave home if there were others with superhero powers in this world, though he didn't see Sunset or Fluttershy's if they had any.

While two of them tried to fend off Rainbow's speedy taunting and Pinkie's exploding candies, the third one smacked Applejack and her huge "stick" away, charging toward Twilight, Sunset, Rarity, and Fluttershy. "Look out!"

The four girls scattered, Sunset diving out of the way while Twilight and Rarity used their magic to protect themselves. Fluttershy was unfortunately the manticore's target, running off as she was chased yet again. Before they could try to help her, the other two manticores smacked Applejack, Pinkie, and Rainbow back into the others, letting out collective groans as they wound up in a pile. Luckily, right as the duo were about to lunge at the helpless girls, Rarity cast a barrier around them, giving them enough time to recover and defend themselves. Garfield could see the others could handle them, but with Fluttershy completely defenseless, he ran off after her and the last manticore before she got hurt.

Fluttershy panicked, trying to dodge through the trees again, but the manticore had much better reflexes, weaving closer to its new prey. Fluttershy tripped on a root, falling to the ground with a grunt. She tried to crawl away, but the beast caught up and pounced her, trapping her as she turned to face it, terrified of the wild animal from Equestria. She screamed as it lunged its jaws at her, only for its ears to perk up when it heard something coming toward them. Jumping out of the bushes, to both Fluttershy's and the manticore's surprise, a green lion leapt out, roaring aggressively as it tackled the hybrid creature off the poor girl, both felines tumbling across the ground as they both fought for dominance.

Even though the manticore was caught off guard, it tried to scratch its opponent away, but the mysterious green lion seemed much more smarter when it came to fighting than itself. It lashed its scorpion stinger, making the lion leap back, avoiding getting stung and pricked with its venomous limb. Both predators stared each other down, slowly circling in their "battlefield", Fluttershy watching from a distance behind a tree as she got away, though her intrigue on her mysterious animal savior kept her from running back to her friends.

The manticore made the first move, roaring as it tried to pounce its foe, but the green lion tackled it, sending them crashing into a tree, followed by a hard smack in the face by a green paw. The manticore tried to retaliate with its tail again, only to miss and yelp in pain as the lion chomped down on its poisonous limb, pulling hard, threatening to tear it off. The lion let go, then pounced on the manticore's back, biting into its neck, not deep enough to draw blood, but hurting enough to make it yowl in pain. And with a surprising amount of strength, Fluttershy's savior tossed the hybrid beast into another tree. The impact knocked the wind out of the manticore, passing out a moment later after trying to get back up.

Fluttershy expected the lion to kill and eat the manticore as its prized hunt, but it instead turned to look at her. Along with the odd green coloring, lighter green for its fur while the mane was darker, the blank white eyes it had was a bit unnerving, but it didn't show any kind of aggression the manticores had. It sat patiently as it stared at her, letting her know he wasn't going to harm her. She stepped out of her hiding spot nervously, staying cautious as she carefully approached the lion.

"T-Thank you," she said, waiting for a response from the lion. It nodded its head silently, able to understand her clearly. Slowly, she held her hand out, letting her pet it, hoping the reward it wanted wasn't a piece of her arm. This docile green lion intrigued her, wondering where it came from and if it was sick with its green body and pupil-less eyes. "What kind of lion are you?"

Just as she was about to hear a response from her savior with her magic power, the manticore's scorpion stinger struck the green lion in the back, letting out a roar of pain as the poison began flowing into its wound. Fluttershy gasped, watching the manticore quickly limp off, getting its slow revenge as its opponent fell and winced in agony while finding the rest of its small pride for some help. She did hear her friends point out the other manticore along with some magic as they tried to catch it, but her focus was on the unfortunate beast who rescued her writhing in pain.

"Oh no! I don't know if there's a way to cure manticore venom if it's hopefully like scorpion venom," she uttered helplessly. "T-Try not to move, otherwise the poison will-" Suddenly, the lion began shifting forms, quickly turning into a honey badger, shocking Fluttershy as she stared at the green creature. "-turn you into a badger!?" The mysterious transforming creature clearly not of this world stood up, the poison from the manticore slowly fading away to nothing but a sharp pain, then skittered off into the woods. "W-Wait! Hold on! What are you!?"

Fluttershy lost sight of the green-furred morpher in the bushes as she chased after it, blending in too well with the bushes scattered around. She began wondering if that creature had come from Equestria as well, and why it saved her.

"Fluttershy!" Sunset called out. Turning around, Fluttershy saw the rest of her friends running over to her, Twilight and Rarity using their combined powers to contain the unconscious manticores. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," she said, looking back at where she last saw her savior.

"What happened to this last manticore that was chasing you?" Twilight asked. "This one got pretty roughed up by something. Almost like...another wild animal got to it."

Fluttershy didn't answer, still pondering what she saw, Pinkie peeking over her shoulder to see what she was trying to see. "You don't think there's a really REAL lion that got loose and is on the prowl for human flesh, is there?"

"...Well...if I told you, I don't think you would believe me," Fluttershy said as she looked back at the other girls.

"Come on, sugarcube. We've got a friend in our group who's actually a unicorn, we're friends with a princess from another world, fought sirens, people possessed by crazy magic from said world, and just now, manticores," Applejack said, emphasizing the trio of unconscious beasts from Equestria behind them. "What could be stranger at this point?"

Fluttershy nodded slightly, glancing back at the bushes for a moment, finally forgetting about the green-tinted shapeshifter to tell them about it. "...I was actually rescued from that manticore...by a green lion," Fluttershy said. The others blinked, never hearing anything like what Fluttershy described. "I told you it was unbelievable..."

"Mind if I took a look?" Sunset asked, getting permission as Fluttershy nodded her head. She held the yellow teen's hand, her gem glowing as her eyes flashed white, looking back at what Fluttershy had seen. After a moment, she gasped when she returned to reality, her shocked gaze startling their other friends. "I-It was a green lion! And...it transformed into a badger after it got stung!?"

"Wait, Fluttershy was being serious!?" Rainbow asked.

"And this mysterious green lion turned into a badger?" Rarity questioned.

"Actually, it turned into a honey badger," Fluttershy corrected. "Since they're quite tolerant to different toxins from poisonous animals, it must have turned into that species to numb the poison from the manticore's stinger."

The girls looked at Sunset, hoping she might have an answer to what this creature really was, but from the look on her face, she was just as confused as they were. "I've...never heard of any kind of creature that can morph into anything besides changelings...but, even the badger it transformed into was also green..." Sunset lifted a hand to her head, unable to find an answer on her own. "I need to tell Princess Twilight about this, and have her and her friends ready to take these manticores back to their natural habitat in Equestria..."

"Hopefully the portal that brought these manticores has disappeared," Twilight said. "Don't want to have anymore dangerous creatures that came from there to show up here again."

"Let's get these manticores to the portal back in front of the school before they wake up and try to fight back," Applejack suggested, rubbing her arms tiredly. "Pretty tough for bein' part lion..."

Taking the manticores, the girls made their way to the school to take them back home, Sunset making sure to warn Princess Twilight through her enchanted book before sending them through. Fluttershy looked back once more, hoping to get a glimpse of the green, white-eyed creature watching them, but seeing no sign of him, even though its body was camouflaged with their surroundings, she hurried after the girls.

Scampering deeper into the woods, the green honey badger stopped behind a tree after getting far enough away from Fluttershy. Sitting against the tree, Garfield turned back to normal, wincing as he rubbed his back from the manticore's stinger.

"Man, that is going to be sore for a week," he grumbled, feeling sore, but he was grateful for his knowledge on many different animals he could transform into. "Thank you, almighty honey badger; cute, dangerous, and mightier than a great white shark. I bet one of them could kill a great white if they grew gills." Garfield stood up after resting, the manticore's venom feeling more like a mere wasp's sting with how numb the wound felt, but he had taken worse injuries in any animal form. He slowly made his way out of the woods and back to Sugarcube Corner, wondering if the girls noticed he had left when they went out to face the manticores. "At least I know they can protect themselves...sort of. Better make sure to play dumb if they show me what they can do, along with those manticores, otherwise they'll start to get suspicious."

After finding his way back to civilization, Garfield made his way toward Sugarcube Corner. Their table for breakfast had been cleared since they've been gone, and when he asked one of the owners if they came back, they said they didn't return. With no way of knowing where they were, he decided to take a walk around town to get more of his bearings, this time taking a look at some places that could interest him in the future. He wished he had a phone or something to communicate with them so he didn't get himself lost, though he was probably going to have to save up some money for one, assuming Applejack will be willing to hire him despite his lack of driving skills.

While passing by Canterlot High, deciding to wait at Rainbow's house if he didn't find them, he was lucky to find them in the front yard of the campus, gathered in front of the stone pedestal. Whatever they were doing, he hoped they took care of the manticores.

"Hey, girls!" Garfield called out. "Did you deal with those escaped lions?"

They nearly forgot about him while dealing with the manticores, just now finishing sending them back through the hidden portal in the pedestal when they saw him approach them. "Well...as I thought, they weren't exactly lions," Sunset said. "They were...manticores."

"Manticores? Like, the weird lion animals with scorpion tails and bat wings in mythology?" Garfield asked, feigning ignorance. The girls expected him to freak out after just learning about there being magic in town, even when they silently promised to show him they weren't making it up with their own powers after breakfast. Surprisingly, he did seem interested despite his strange reaction to Twilight's portal she was working on. "How'd you beat them?"

"Well, like I said, we have some magic we got after a little school field trip at Camp Everfree a while back," Sunset said, the girls all showing their accessories that held their magic gems, gleaming a little as the sunlight reflected off them. "We may only have one kind of power that's unique to us, but they can be pretty helpful in a pinch."

"As long as we don't use them too much, otherwise they'll get too out of control," Twilight said, the majority of the group turning to Rainbow Dash with a leer. Rainbow giggled nervously, rubbing the back of her neck, learning her lesson and keeping control of her power. "Mine is levitation, Applejack's is strength, Rainbow's is speed, Rarity's is ethereal diamonds, Pinkie's is exploding candies, Sunset's is mind reading, and Fluttershy's is communicating with animals."

Garfield did see a majority of their magic when they fought the manticores, but when he learned of Sunset's and Fluttershy's abilities, he was lucky they didn't read his thoughts or talked to the animal lover when he rescued her. "...Uhhh...Can you really read minds, Sunset?" he asked nervously. "Like...did you read mine at all yesterday?"

"It's not exactly instantaneous," Sunset explained. "Only when I make contact with you and choose to look into your mind. But that's if our magic is under control, Rainbow Dash."

"I'm keeping my zipping around to only real emergencies! I swear!" Rainbow exclaimed.

Garfield mentally sighed in relief, his old life kept a secret unless he wanted to reveal everything to Sunset, which he didn't want. "Hey, we didn't introduce you to Fluttershy yet!" Pinkie interjected, getting behind the green-skinned teen and pushed him toward Fluttershy, making them awkwardly bump into each other. "Garfield, Fluttershy! Fluttershy, Garfield!"

The two blushed, Garfield nudging Pinkie back as he stepped away from Fluttershy. "Heh. Uhh, 'sup?" he greeted awkwardly, Fluttershy mumbling her own hello. "...So, you can talk to animals?"

"Mhmm," Fluttershy uttered. "I...like all sorts of animals, and...well, since I felt like I knew what they wanted...it seemed to fit me."

"Speaking of animals, there was something else that appeared with those manticores," Rarity mentioned. "Fluttershy was saved by a green lion, or some kind of creature that could turn into different animals."

"A...shapeshifter?" Garfield asked, trying to keep a confused look as a bead of sweat began rolling down his head nervously.

"I think it's a changeling, but Twilight's looking into it as we speak," Sunset said. Her statement confused Garfield as she looked at the science nerd, who wasn't doing any research right now. "Oh, not this Twilight. Sorry. There's another Twilight, but she's a princess, and she's from the same world those manticores came from. That's where the magic around here's been coming from."

"Another...Twilight?" Garfield asked, his thoughts comparing Twilight to the princess version of her, wearing some kind of flowing pink dress with a tiara on her head. Sunset explained to him more about the other world, Equestria, and how everyone on the other side were ponies, ranging from normal ponies to unicorns, pegasi, and alicorns, which was a mix between all three races and are considered the major rulers of the kingdom. He was surprised to hear Sunset was actually a pony from that world, a unicorn no less, along with some of the worst disasters he's ever heard at this school: Sunset as the former school bully who used magic from something called the Element of Magic to turn into a demon, a trio of sirens that almost took over the school with their hypnotic voices, Twilight's magic stealing device she crafted to study it during the Friendship Games not too long ago, the girls' gems giving a counselor magical powers she couldn't control to try to keep Camp Everfree from being taken by someone wanting to buy their family's property, even an envious teen who used a magic mirror after trying to be in a movie she was desperate to be in, being too young to even be the character she wanted to play, only to turn into a monster while also kidnapping the girls in said mirror. And Garfield thought he and his friends had wild and dangerous villains. "...Ok...That is...quite a lot to take in."

"You're not too freaked out, are you?" Twilight asked.

"I've...heard of worse," Garfield chuckled. "One crazy day like that isn't gonna make me run for the hills."

"Maybe next time, we'll bring ya along to see what other shenanigans we get into," Applejack said with a laugh, giving the teen a friendly slap on the back. Garfield winced as she smacked the sore spot where he was stung by the manticore, letting out a strangled yelp, tearing up as he tried not to buckle from the pain. "Oops. Did Ah accidentally use mah magic? Sorry, sugarcube."

"...N-No...problem," Garfield whimpered, giving Applejack a forced, toothy grin with a shaky thumbs up. "I'm c-cool..."

"Well, I'm in the mood for a smoothie after taking down those manticores," Rainbow said. "Who's with me?"

"Meeee!" Pinkie squealed.

Rainbow and Pinkie raced off to get their victory smoothies, the other girls followed at a slower pace, Garfield joining them after the pain in his back subsided. "Are you ok?" Fluttershy asked Garfield.

"Yeah. I'll live," he said.

"You don't have to worry about anything happening with us around to save the day," Fluttershy said. "I hope Princess Twilight lets us know what that creature was who saved me from one of the manticores. Maybe we could be good friends."

Garfield looked away from Fluttershy, hiding his grin, the animal lover unaware she was walking alongside said creature. "Maybe it likes to protect pretty girls from danger," Pinkie said, startling Garfield as she suddenly appeared beside them. "If it saved Fluttershy, it's got to be pretty nice!"

"H-How did-!?" Garfield stammered, looking ahead of the group, then back at Pinkie, who mysteriously vanished, then somehow was back to racing Rainbow Dash when he looked back. He looked at Fluttershy, finding it impossible for someone to react so calmly to someone who's able to break the laws of physics, or even logic. "...Uhhhh-"

"That's Pinkie Pie for you," Fluttershy said. "I know she's a bit strange, but you'll get used to her, Garfield."

"If you say so," he said, hoping he'll get used to Pinkie Pie if she doesn't make his brain hurt with her antics. "So, since you like animals...what's your favorite animal of all?"

"Oh, my. I don't even know where to start." While Fluttershy gushed about all of her favorite animals to Garfield, he had a feeling they were going to get along great, even if a part of him would eventually feel homesick as he wondered how his team was faring without him around.

A Ruff Day

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Since the appearance and capture of the manticores a few days ago, Garfield spent his time relaxing and be a normal teen, only instead of having to expect a super villain running amok, he had to worry about mythical creatures from another world in a whole other world he was sucked into. He hung out with the girls for the rest of the weekend, learning more about the others and what Equestria was like from Sunset, at least all she knew before she ran away to this world when she was younger.

Then came the start of his first day of school; getting his schedule, learning more of the layout of the building while searching for his classes, and, the worst part, trying to catch up with whatever lessons he missed out on for the year. He may have been home schooled and have an extensive knowledge on animals via his shapeshifting prowess, though that was when he was a little boy, and he had traveled from place to place, stuck with the Doom Patrol for a while before splitting up, then finally made his home in Jump City with his new friends and teammates. He never had the time to learn a lot and missed out on a lot of schooling, but high school education was going to be dull and murder to his brain with all the different subjects he needed to study for. Luckily, he met two genius friends who could help tutor him and explain some of this stuff better, if he stays awake long enough to listen to Twilight's extensive lectures, which sounded more boring than what his teachers explained.

After school, Applejack decided to hire Garfield after some thought, definitely going to be needing the help this year. His first task was helping Big Mac with some deliveries of apple products for the different stores in the area, from just the fruit itself to sauce, juice, cider, et cetera. The older brother of the blonde cowgirl evaluated his first day, making sure he stored the products sold to the shops properly. He did ok, even though he tried to overcompensate with how much he lifted after watching him carry several heavy crates with ease, but he learned to pace himself a bit. They got the deliveries done in no time, having Garfield around can save Big Mac and Applejack some energy to get the rest of the harvest done this year. But, if he was going to be their delivery boy, he was going to have to learn how to drive a truck, and how to use a manual stick-shift, not a moped he rambled about on the ride over.

It was now Friday once again, to Garfield's relief, wanting to spend the weekend relaxing after his pounding brain tried to process the lessons thrust on him the whole week. "Uuuuuuugh. I'm not gonna be able to get all this," he whined miserably. "Why did I decide to enroll? How am I supposed to understand all these algebra equations, the history of a world I don't know about, and figure out all the elements in the periodic table in a few days!?"

"You know you can ask us for help, right?" Applejack said.

"He was kind of struggling in chemistry," Rarity said. "Perhaps there's a study method you're used to learning. It worked on us when Twilight helped us for those exams."

"Guess I'm a slow learner," Garfield muttered, knowing it's going to take him years to get any of the study material he's given. "And I kinda wanna earn some dough so I can pay my rent for Rainbow Dash and avoid doing a whole lot of chores."

"Well, better get started, then," Applejack said. "And don't forget about your homework, either."

"...Right. Homework..." Garfield mentally groaned, wishing some dangerous creature from Equestria could show up and distract him right now.

He and Applejack said goodbye to the others and made their way to the farm to get some work done. His job for today was making sure the livestock were fed and their pens were cleaned. The chickens and pigs cooperated with him as they went for their dinner, cleaning the chicken coop of any loose feathers and droppings while leaving any of the eggs they laid alone, not wanting to disturb them if Applejack decided to breed a few more chickens for their farm. That, and he didn't want to tick off the Rooster, knowing just how aggressive those birds can be with their mother hens.

Right as he moved on to the pig pen, Applejack's younger sister, Apple Bloom, ran up to him. "Hey, new guy!" she called out. Unlike her older sister or the most normally skin-colored older brother Garfield met in this world, Apple Bloom had yellow skin like Fluttershy, but her hair was long, red, and had a pink bow tied behind her head. She wore a green t-shirt, blue jean shorts, and a pair of orange boots with red soles. "Are ya busy right now!?"

"I was just about to clean up the pig pen," he said.

Apple Bloom looked at the pen, the pigs rolling around in the mud, their trough had bits of last week's meal still caked at the bottom, and their little shed to rest had mud tracked all over on the inside. "...Looks fine to me," Apple Bloom said. Garfield sighed heavily in exasperation, obviously wanting to keep his job and do as his boss says, and her little sister, who knows more about farmwork than he does, was oblivious to how badly the pigpen needed to be cleaned. "Anyway, we got a delivery to make, and since Applejack and Big Mac are a bit too busy with the harvest, it's your job to do it."

"I'm not sure if your sis told you, but I can't drive that old pickup," Garfield said. "...Or drive a stick-shift. How do you expect me to make a delivery if I can't transport the goods?"

"It ain't that big of a load; just a crate of apples to the animal shelter," Apple Bloom summarized. She pulled out a slip of paper from her pocket, which had the address for said shelter written for him. "Shouldn't be that hard carryin' some apples there on foot."

"Have you done that before?" Garfield asked.

"Ah've done lots of stuff on this farm," the preteen answered vaguely, making the shapeshifting teen grumble. "Now, chop chop, mister delivery man! Time and money's wastin', and you're wastin' mah time and money!"

"You're not the boss of me!" Garfield shouted, flailing his arms around while Apple Bloom ran off giggling. He sighed again, looking over the address with a groan. "...Might as well do this before she tells Applejack I've been slacking. Little troublemaker..."

Deciding to get the job over with before getting in trouble, Garfield made his way to the barn, grabbed himself a crate of stored apples, and began his trek down the road to the animal shelter. At least he got a little more of an understanding of the town thanks to the couple deliveries he went on with Big Mac, even though he could have done so as a bird, but after saving Fluttershy from the manticores, he didn't want "the green creature's" presence known to the public. At least the shelter wasn't too far away from the barn, being a few blocks away.

Once inside, he walked over to the reception desk, finding no one around. "Uhh, hello?" Garfield called out. "Delivery from Sweet Apple Acres!"

A moment later, the door to the back where all the sheltered animals are kept opened up, the sounds of different creatures could be heard from the main lobby. And to Garfield's shock, the person who came out to greet him was none other than Fluttershy.

"Oh, hi, Garfield," Fluttershy said.

"Fluttershy, you work here?" he asked, only to realize he sounded stupid when it would be obvious Fluttershy would work somewhere around animals. "Oh, duh. You like animals. It makes a lot of sense."

Fluttershy giggled in response. "I know. But I like working here. Can you bring the apples in the back?" Garfield nodded, lifting the crate and following Fluttershy into the back. He found many kinds of household pets being cared for in the shelter, from average animals like cats and dogs to smaller ones like gerbils, hamsters, birds, and fish, the rodent species roaming about in the many twisting tubes built in the room for them to explore safely. Some of them got excited when they saw someone new walk in with Fluttershy, some of the loose pets out of their cages running up and trying to paw at Garfield. "Ok, ok, easy, everyone. Don't want Garfield to trip over you."

"Sheesh. Didn't think you taking care of so many pets," Garfield commented, carefully stepping over the excited canines wanting to be petted by him, placing the crate down on a nearby counter. "And you take care of them by yourself? Must be tough."

"Oh, it's a lot easier with this." Fluttershy pointed at the pendant around her neck, where her magic gem granting her ability to speak with animals was located. "I know what they want or need, when they're hungry, or if they want to have a little chat. They have a lot of things to say."

"You sure it's not just, 'Gimmie food! Food!' or, 'Play with me or I'll tear up the sofa!?'" His joke got Fluttershy to laugh at the absurd things her animal friends really tell her, but she could imagine that being true before she understood them clearly. "Well, the delivery's done. I'm gonna head back to Applejack's."

"Are you sure you have to leave so soon?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well...I don't know if her sister told her I was making a delivery," Garfield said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "I don't want to lose my job I just got a couple days ago for leaving my post."

"I can text her and let her know you'll be late while you stick around to help me feed everyone," Fluttershy said, taking out her cell phone. "...If you don't mind."

Even though it was going to delay him from cleaning that pig pen, despite it going to get dirty again within a couple hours, that was going to be future Garfield's problem. "Eh, why not? At least I don't have to clean up after he pigs...until I get in trouble for it."

"I'll take the blame for you," Fluttershy said, quickly texting Applejack to let her know Garfield was going to stay and help her out for a little bit. "The storage room is back through that door. You can put the apples in the empty bin in the fridge and bring out some food for everyone."

"Ok." Finding the door Fluttershy mentioned, Garfield carried the crate in the room where the pet food was stored, placing the apples in a storage bin in the fridge.

He got to work with Fluttershy feeding all the animals, filling up food bowls or feeding them by hand. Fluttershy was a little amazed seeing her animal friends quickly warm up to Garfield so quickly, even the birds as they perched on his arm while pecking at some bird seed in his palm.

"Wow, they never usually warm up to anyone they just met," Fluttershy commented. Her own pet rabbit, Angel, who she brought with him, proved her wrong when he leered at the green teen. "Well, not all of them."

"I guess you can say I have a way with animals in my own way," Garfield said with a toothy grin.

"Did you want to be a zoologist?" Fluttershy asked curiously.

"Ehh...I didn't really put much thought in my future," he admitted. "I just...went with the flow in my life, no big plans or anything. Just winging it most of the time."

"Oh. I just thought that since you were curious about my love for animals," she said. "I'm usually really shy when it comes to meeting new people, but...somehow, with you, Garfield, I don't feel all that timid as I usually do."

"Maybe because we have some things in common," he guessed. "Do you like video games?" Fluttershy gently shook her head, scratching that similarity off the list. "Ok...Uhh, I'm a vegetarian."

"So am I," Fluttershy said.

"Cool! But, uh, don't be off put by this, but when I was younger, I did like eating meat," Garfield said.

"Really? What made you want to change your diet?" Fluttershy asked. "...Was it because you were...chubby?"

"Pthh! No way! I'm as skinny as a twig," Garfield scoffed, rolling up his sleeves to show his thin arms and minuscule biceps. He looked down at a puppy sitting in his lap, knowing the exact reason he turned away meat years ago. He pet the content pup resting on his legs as he spoke. "I think as I got older, I didn't enjoy eating any meat that much, and whatever kind I ate tasted...bland for me, I guess...It's not weird I used to eat meat before, right?"

"No, it's fine," Fluttershy assured. "We are omnivores, but all of us can decide what we do or don't like to eat. Better to eat whatever makes you healthy than not eat anything at all."

"Heh. That's true," he said. "But I love me some dessert. Balances out those healthy veggies with sugary ad fatty treats, right?"

Fluttershy giggled, unsure if that was true, but it could make sense if Pinkie could scarf down sweets without suffering in a diabetic coma. They continued feeding the pets and playing with them until it was almost sundown. With the sheltered animals put in their cages for the night, Fluttershy and Garfield exited the building, neither of them realizing how late it got with how busy they were with the animals and learning more about each other.

"Boy, time sure flies when you're having fun, huh?" Fluttershy asked.

"No kidding. I just hope Applejack doesn't kill me for sticking around this long," Garfield said. "Although, I don't think there were that many chores I needed to do. I'm sure the pigs can stay dirty for another few days before needing a bath." Fluttershy nodded in agreement, making a note to herself to apologize to Applejack for keeping him away from his work. "Well, I'm heading back to Rainbow's. See ya later, Fluttershy."

Right as he was about to walk away, Fluttershy quickly, but gently, grabbed his arm, getting his attention. "Garfield, if you're not busy tomorrow, do you want to...come by the shelter and help out some more?" she asked, her cheeks turning a light pink as she pulled her arm away, looking down as she tapped her fingers together timdly. "That is, if you don't mind."

"Hmm...Well, tomorrow's Saturday, and I have the day off from Applejack's farm tomorrow," Garfield pondered aloud. "And I don't think I had anything planned for the weekend except homework..." He rubbed the back of his neck, easily won over by Fluttershy's cute shyness from her request, grinning wide and nodding his head. "Sure! It's a date!" Fluttershy gasped a little, Garfield reacting a couple seconds later when he realized what he said. "Ah! N-Not like a DATE date! I just meant I'll be over tomorrow to help!...B-But I mean, any guy would probably kill to ask you out for a date! Er, not me, but I-I mean no, I could if I wanted but-!" He stopped himself, already making the situation awkward as he blushed in embarrassment. Fluttershy didn't say anything, trying to understand what her new friend meant, even though he was being silly at this point. "...I'll see you tomorrow!"

He quickly ran off, making his way to Sweet Apple Acres to pick up his backpack while leaving Fluttershy confused. After gathering his belongings, he trudged along the road back to Rainbow's house, chastising himself for sounding like an idiot in front of Fluttershy. He was only trying to be funny, but Fluttershy's reaction to his, "It's a date," comment made it seem like he was trying to hit on her, followed by his stupid rambling trying to avoid the subject and constantly bringing it up. After losing Terra, he didn't want to get involved in finding a date again when the girl he loved still lingered in his mind. He didn't want to lose someone else like that, even after it's happened several times with Terra in different ways.

Back home in Rainbow's house, his roommate saw him walk by while she watched a movie in the living room. "Hey, Garf. Applejack run you ragged today?"

"Not really," he said. "Cleaned up the chicken coop and made a delivery to the animal shelter Fluttershy worked at. I ended up staying behind to help her with the animals longer than I should have."

Rainbow began to smirk, cackling cheekily. "Oh, really?" she asked. "Are you sure you didn't stick around because you like her?"

Garfield cringed, grumbling irritably as she teased him. "N-No!"

"Well, you two seem to hit it off well, both of you clearly interested in animals," Rainbow mentioned. "I know she's always nervous being around anyone else, but maybe finding a boyfriend will be good for her. If I text Rarity right now, I bet you she'll say you two should go out with each other."

Garfield huffed, making his way upstairs to put away his stuff. "We're not dating, and I'm not interested in going on a date after..."

The sudden pause in his statement made Rainbow curious, Garfield stopping for a moment with his head hung low. "...After what? Did you have a bad relationship?"

"...I don't want to talk about it," he mumbled, continuing his ascent and made his way to his room.

He found Tank in Rainbow's room, her door wide open and the tortoise out of his little habitat pen for some "running" room. Leaving him be, Garfield walked to his room, tossing his backpack in a corner and plopped down on his bed, letting out a heavy sigh. He began to wonder what was happening back in his world: if his friends were ok, the Teen Titans were still holding strong throughout the world, and, as much as he wanted to ignore her, wonder what Terra was doing. Did she get her memories back? Or was he only grasping at a hope that continued to remain lost? Maybe tomorrow, he'll get his mind off of everything that made him miserable with some chipper animals with Fluttershy.

The next day, Garfield walked to the animal shelter, unsure when the best time to come around was, though he figured about 10 A.M. would be a good time. When he walked in, he could see Fluttershy panicking as she paced around in the next room from the door window. Wondering what was going on, he let himself in, hoping whoever owned the place didn't mind he was wandering around the entire building without an employee or volunteer guiding him.

"Hey, Fluttershy," he greeted.

"Garfield, thank goodness you came!" Fluttershy exclaimed worriedly. She rushed over to him, dragging him over to a small medical table for minor veterinarian examinations in the shelter, where a brown and white collie laid on its side, whining in pain and agony. He recognized the pup as Winona, Applejack's canine companion, whom he met on his first day with a slobber attack from the energetic collie. "I've tried everything, but she's not telling me what's wrong!"

"What's up with Winona?" Garfield asked. "Did she get hurt?"

"I don't know! Maybe she's in too much pain to tell me?" she uttered.

While he tried to figure out what was wrong with Winona, Garfield noticed something was missing around Fluttershy's neck. "Uhh, where's your magic pendant thing?"

Confused, Fluttershy touched her neck, realizing she forgot to put on her pendant this morning. "Oh. That's why I wasn't able to understand her. I didn't think of it when Angel was acting a bit grumpy this morning when I gave him his breakfast. I hope I left it in my backpack when I got back home. Can you see if you can figure out what's wrong with Winona until I get back?"

"Sure, I'll give it a shot." Fluttershy grinned, then left to find her backpack and search for her pendant. As soon as she was out of sight, Garfield looked around to see if anyone else was around the shelter. "Ok. Coast is clear. Time to find out what's wrong with you, girl."

Winona whined, squinting her eyes open, seeing Garfield for a brief moment before he suddenly disappeared. A moment later, a collie like her suddenly leapt up onto the counter beside the table she laid on, though due to the color blindness all canines had, she didn't know this collie was two different shades of green fur, and its white eyes had no pupils.

"Hey, you feeling alright?" the new dog said, sounding a lot like the new human her master had hired on their farm.

"Who...who are ya?" Winona asked, sporting a similar southern accent like Applejack, though sounding a bit younger than Apple Bloom. Before she could ask her new friend more questions, she whimpered and squirmed. "Urgh. Mah tummy's hurtin' real bad."

"Oh, so you just have a stomachache, huh?" Garfield asked. "I'll make sure to let Fluttershy know. What exactly did you eat?" Winona groaned, her ears pressing back against her head as she seemed to look guilty. "...Did you dig into some garbage you weren't supposed to get in?"

"...M-Maybe," Winona uttered. "But it smelled so yummy and Ah wanted to try it."

"Better not be chocolate. That could do some serious harm to a dog," Garfield said. He walked up to Winona, gently patting her head with his paw, assuring her she'll get better soon. "Don't worry. I won't tell Applejack you decided to go dumpster diving."

"How do ya know mah master?" Winona asked curiously.

"Well, if you can promise to keep this a secret from Fluttershy, since she can understand animals pretty well." Garfield backflipped off the counter, transforming back into a human, shocking the collie as she let out a startled bark. By some strange magic she couldn't comprehend, her canine friend had turned into the new human she met a few days ago. "I can turn into other animals, but keep this between us, ok, girl?"

Winona nodded, her tail wagging slightly before her stomach grumbled, making her wince and whine miserably. Fluttershy came back in the room not a moment later with her pendant, along with Applejack when she began to expect the worst from her pet.

"Consarn it, Fluttershy, Ah thought Sunset told us to keep our gems on at all times in case of trouble," Applejack warned, not being too harsh with how easily upset Fluttershy could get.

"Sorry, I won't forget next time," Fluttershy apologized.

Applejack rushed over to Winona, surprised to see Garfield here, though she was more concerned with the health of her little companion. "She ain't too sick, is she?"

"I wasn't able to figure it out after getting used to having every creature talk to me with my magic," Fluttershy said. "Did you find out anything, Garfield?"

"I believe I have, ladies," Garfield said, gently rubbing Winona's belly. "Winona's got a little stomachache. She must have eaten something she wasn't supposed to."

"But Ah fed her breakfast before doin' mah mornin' chores today," Applejack said. Her phone suddenly buzzed in her pocket, pulling it out and seeing who messaged her. She got a text from her older brother, along with a picture of what looked like a knocked over trash can in the kitchen. She looked at the collie in disappointment, the cat out of the bag when she saw that look as she whimpered sadly. "Winona, ya know better than to get in the trash. Must have snuck back inside and stirred up trouble before ya started gettin' sick."

Winona whimpered apologetically. "She says she's sorry," Fluttershy translated. "But now we at least know what's wrong with her. I think I have something to help soothe her stomach pains." She headed over to the medicine cabinet, looking at each bottle before finding what she needs, then went back to Winona. Pouring some of the liquid medicine into a spoon, she hovered the medicine up to the sick puppy's nose. "Drink this, Winona. It'll help you feel better."

Curiosity overwhelming the smell of the medicine, Winona clamped her maw on the metal spoon, sucking in the medicine and swallowed it, smacking her lips while cringing at the awful taste. "Yeah, I hate medicine, too," Garfield said. "Why can't they make stuff that tastes good if it's good for your health?"

"Probably not in a hundred years, but at least now Ah know she's gonna be alright," Applejack said, petting Winona's head, the collie already starting to feel a little better.

"For someone who says they don't know what they have planned for the future, you could make for an experienced veterinarian," Fluttershy said.

"Heh. I just have a way with animals naturally," Garfield said sheepishly. She looked at Winona, her tail gently thumping the table, her energy slowly coming back as her stomachache slowly faded. "I used to travel around a lot when I was a kid, so I got to see many different types of animals."

"Ah thought ya lived in someplace called Jump City," Applejack said.

"Yeah, but only for the last couple years," Garfield admitted. "Before I settled there, my parents actually used to travel the world, studying all sorts of creatures, and they took me everywhere."

"Oh, so that's why you know so much about animals?" Fluttershy asked curiously. "I'd love to meet them if they came here with you."

"...Yeah...they're...not really...around anymore," Garfield uttered, surprising both girls and felt sorry for him. "I'm ok, though. I got over what happened, so I don't let it bother me too much."

"Sorry to hear that, sugarcube," Applejack said sympathetically.

"So...you've been an orphan?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yup. But, I met a whole lot of friends, and...I used to just wander from place to place before finding a new home back in Jump City," he said. "I lived with a group of friends who were just as different as I am, and even though we got on each other's nerves, we always got each other's backs. Wish they were here so you could meet them."

"I would love to meet them," Fluttershy said. "What are they like?"

Just as Garfield was about to talk about his friends, both Fluttershy's and Applejack's phones began to vibrate. Both girls pulled out their phones, reading a text message that shocked them.

"Uh oh. Looks like we got some more magic portal trouble," Applejack said.

"What's going on now?" Garfield asked curiously, wishing he had a phone of his own.

"There's...a pack of wolves made of sticks and bark at the school's football field?" Fluttershy said, confused by the odd description of the creatures.

"Uhh...is that supposed to be a riddle?" Garfield questioned, scratching his head.

"Whatever it is, if they're like wolves, they could seriously hurt people," Applejack said. "Come on, Fluttershy. Maybe your magic can help convince a pack of wolves to calm down."

"I hope so," Fluttershy uttered, trembling a little after her failed attempt last time with the manticores. "Garfield, can you stay and watch Winona until we get back? I know we promised you could come with us next time, but...it's dangerous."

"Sure, no problem," Garfield said. Fluttershy and Applejack quickly ran out to take on the dangerous creatures from Equestria. Not too long after they left, Garfield looked back at Winona, gently lifting the collie and placing her in one of the empty kennels. "I know you're not gonna get out, but just in case I don't make it back, I don't want them to think I just left you by yourself unsupervised in a shelter." He closed the door and locked it after patting her side. "Get well soon, and try to stay out of the garbage next time."

Winona yipped in response, watching Garfield run off after Fluttershy and Applejack to help with this new threat in town.

At Canterlot High, over where the football field is located, the school's team ran in a panic while Sunset tried to usher them to safety, leaving Pinkie and Twilight to try to hold off the mystical wolves that lunged through another portal while the students were busy practicing. "Get into the school! Quickly!" Sunset said, guiding the last of the football team inside. Once they all ran through the door, she quickly shut it, looking back as she watched fireworks and bits of bark flying all over the field. "Timberwolves. Why did it have to be timberwolves?"

Running back toward the field, she saw the pack continue trying to sink their jagged fangs into Twilight and Pinkie while they held them off. Eight of the monstrous beasts made of wood had jumped through when the magic portal appeared, connected with logs, branches, and even leaves, formed into wolf-like forms with glowing green eyes. They might not be as deadly as a manticore, but they can be just as menacing as a real wolf, and hard knock down.

Twilight tossed aside any that lunged for her or Sunset, slamming them into the ground or in the bleachers. Pinkie, meanwhile, tossed exploding candy at them, blowing the timberwolves to pieces fairly easily. Unfortunately, despite crumbling them to bits with their strengths, the enchanted wood formed back the timberwolves back to normal, barely leaving a scratch and only infuriating them more.

"Oh, come on!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Just stay down! Bad wood doggies!" She dug into her pockets for some more ammo, only to find them empty. "And I didn't stock up on explosives today!" One of the wolves tackled Pinkie, letting out a shriek as she was pinned down. Right as it thrust its fangs into her, a rainbow blur tackled it off her, smashing it and scattering its pieces across the field. "Phew! Thanks, Dashie!"

"Made it just in time," Rainbow gloated, though it was short-lived when she saw the timberwolf she easily smashed through reform itself. "Uhh, ok! Breaking them isn't gonna work!" She quickly ran away when it chased after her, outrunning it with her enchanted speed. "Sunset, do you know what these things are!?"

"They're timberwolves, and we just had to get a dangerous pack come from Equestria!" Sunset said.

"Ok, but can you explain how they keep rebuilding themselves!?" Twilight exclaimed, slamming another timberwolf to the ground, only to back away when it reformed and glared at her for smashing it.

"All I can recall is that they're enchanted beasts from the Everfree Forest back in Equestria," Sunset explained while nervously staying on her guard. "No pony has ever tried to study them because they blend in with the foliage, and since they live in what I assume is a normal wolf pack, there could be dozens of them lurking for prey. And destroying them...well, I don't know if they can even die!"

"Well, if they're made of wood, then let's find some fire and burn them! Who's got a lighter!?" Pinkie asked.

Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy soon arrived at the school after getting the group text, but when they saw the pack, they didn't know whether to hide behind the bleachers or try to help. "Oh my goodness! What are those things!?"

"Clearly not normal wolves," Applejack said. "Fluttershy, ya think ya can talk to them?"

"I don't know," Fluttershy uttered nervously. "But if it didn't work with the manticores, I don't know if my magic can help me talk to these wolves made out of nature itself." Neither of the girls were aware of one of the members of the pack sneaking around the other end of the bleachers. Its growl caught their attention, slowly turning around, then began to panic as they're now about to be discovered by the rest of the timberwolves. "Oh no."

"N-Nice wooden puppy," Applejack said, hoping it wouldn't get hostile if they tried to be nice.

The timberwolf barked, charging them, making Rarity panic as she created her diamond shield, making it smash itself to pieces as it rammed into the barrier. "Definitely not nice!" Rarity exclaimed. She then shrieked when she saw the wood and bark moving on its own, the timberwolf forming itself back together, shaking off the impact as it glowered at them. "Ok, we're in a bit of trouble. THEY CAN COME BACK TO LIFE!"

Rarity's screaming alerted a couple more wolves to their position, all the girls surrounded by four timberwolves each. While holding them off as best as possible, Garfield arrived, shifting into the size of a fly as he observed the field. Even though he wasn't good at riddles or puzzles, he expected the text to be a code and the animals were a play-on words for the gray wolf, otherwise known as timber wolves. These wolves were literally made out of wood, always coming back no matter how many times their bodies have been blown to pieces, and the only way that would be the best way to beat them is with fire.

"Oh man. This is gonna be tough," he uttered to himself. "Well, if they behave like real wolves, then maybe another beast should show them not to mess with their turf."

Garfield turned into a kitten, the same one he used to tease Starfire with, hoping their more bite than literal bark by instinct. He pounced down toward the circling pack, the timberwolves surrounding the girls, Rarity keeping her shield around them to protect them, though not much longer with how exhausted the ones who could fight were getting.

"This is really bad!" Twilight exclaimed. "There's no way to stop them!"

"Ah think Ah'd rather deal with another manticore than these things!" Applejack said.

Garfield ran up to the pack, catching Fluttershy's attention when she saw an odd green kitten coming toward them. "Oh no, run away, little guy!" she called out.

He didn't listen, stopping a fair distance from the wolves and mewled loud enough for them to hear. Their ears perked up, staring at the odd green kitten with a cute face, letting out a playful hiss at them while scratching the air. Luckily for Garfield, they did behave like real canines, and their instinct to chase around a small cat weaker than them kicked in, ignoring the girls and began running toward him. Letting out a yowl, he ran away, giving them a chase as he headed out of the football field and toward the bushes not too far away from the school.

"...Well, that was lucky timing," Pinkie said.

"That poor kitty's gonna get hurt! We've got to help him!" Fluttershy said, blindly running after them.

"Fluttershy, wait!" Rainbow Dash called out, the other girls running behind her, not willing to let her get hurt just to save the life of a little cat.

Garfield leapt into the bushes, lying in wait for the right moment, watching the timberwolf pack loom closer as he let out a threatening growl. The wolves weren't scared in the least as they prowled for their easier prey. Without disturbing the leaves, Garfield shifted into a much larger feline, his growl deeper, and much more menacing, confusing the timberwolves as they looked at each other with a questioning gaze and murmur. The closest timberwolf was suddenly tackled to pieces by a saber-toothed tiger, not a helpless little kitten. Completely caught off guard, they yelped when this mysterious creature smacked them hard with its powerful paws, scattering their pieces all over.

When the girls finally caught up with the creatures, they all gasped when they saw the prehistoric feline standing over the broken timberwolves, though its fur was green and its eyes were nothing but white sclera, no irises or pupils, just like the lion Fluttershy met a week ago who rescued her from the manticores.

"Is that a real saber-toothed tiger!?" Twilight exclaimed, shocked and amazed at seeing an extinct animal in the flesh with her own eyes.

"And it's...green?" Rarity questioned. "Why is it green?"

"It...can't be," Fluttershy uttered. The tiger looked at the girls, definitely confirming that it had to be the same shapeshifting creature with its eyes and protective demeanor, even as the timberwolves pieced themselves back together. Not lowering its guard, the green prehistoric feline growled and crouched, ready to pounce as the pack surrounded their new foe. "It is."

"She's right," Sunset agreed. "It's the shapeshifter."

One of the wolves howled, commanding the others to attack the saber-toothed tiger together. One pounced on Garfield's back, trying to bite into his neck, but he reared back, smacking another leaping in front of him with his paws, then bucked the wolf on his back forward, slamming it into one of its pack buddies. He tried to go for the alpha, only to get tackled by two timberwolves, trying to smack them away while avoiding getting scratched and bitten, the rest of the standing pack pouncing on top of him.

"We gotta help it!" Rainbow said. She quickly zipped off, then reappeared with a few containers of sprinkles, tossing them to Pinkie. "Incoming!"

Zooming toward the pack, she ran by and kicked the wolves on top of the tiger, freeing him, rolling back up on his feet to continue fighting. Spotting the alpha, Garfield roared and run toward the pack leader, zigzagging around the timberwolves trying to stop him, assisted by Pinkie, Twilight, and Rarity as they continued trying to wear out the wolves with their magic. He pounced on the alpha as it tried to evade, managing to knock off its back half while the front was still connected. It struggled to put itself back together, only to have the rest of it broken apart, first the torso, then the still functioning head.

After what felt like hours of constantly smashing the timberwolves over and over, Garfield pounced the leader again, keeping its paw held down firmly on its rough neck, then growled at the other members of the pack. Right as they were about to attack, the alpha barked at them, stopping this never-ending battle. It looked up at the saber-toothed tiger, ready to react if it tried to trick them. It let out a bark in surrender, Garfield lifting his paw away and letting the alpha get back up.

"Uhh, what's happening?" Rainbow asked.

"I don't know, but...I think the timberwolves are...giving up?" Sunset wondered.

The girls looked at Fluttershy, hoping she could understand them, but with the timberwolves being different creatures like the manticores, she couldn't understand them. They watched the alpha and shapeshifter as they seemed to discuss something, Garfield then turning back to the girls, nodding his head to Sunset's response.

"Guess that answers that," Applejack said, though still very confused as she scratched her head.

"Better warn Twilight again," Sunset uttered, pulling out the enchanted book from her backpack and writing a quick message to the princess from the other world.

The girls escorted the timberwolves to the portal, at a safe distance, Rarity and Twilight ready with their magic in case any of them decided to stray off and attack one of them. Passing the football field, they saw the football team watching in awe as they corralled the Equestrian enchanted wolves to the front of the school, some taking out their phones and taking pictures or recording the odd scene, along with the green saber-toothed tiger assisting the seven magical girls. Once back at the pedestal where the school's statue once stood, the timberwolves slowly walked through, where Princess Twilight on the other end made sure that they returned to the Everfree Forest where the belonged.

After the last of them left, the alpha looking back at Garfield for a brief moment before walking through, the girls all sighed in relief. "That was a close one," Pinkie said. "I thought we would be wood wolf food for sure." The girls then looked over at the green tiger who helped them, a new thought crossing the party thrower's mind. "Unless we're soon to become tiger food for helping us, I vote Rainbow as the sacrifice!"

"Whoa, hold on a second! I'm not become cat food to that thing!" Rainbow exclaimed.

"He won't hurt us," Fluttershy assured, slowly approaching the calm saber-toothed tiger, eyeing her while sitting patiently. "You were that kitten earlier who distracted them, weren't you?" Garfield nodded his head slightly, remaining quiet so she didn't hear his voice, assuming she could if she was a creature that didn't exist today. She kneeled down in front of him, trying to figure him out while the other girls watched in awe, the shapeshifting creature completely harmless unless it needed to defend itself or others defenseless against more dangerous creatures than itself. She reached her hand out, getting the chance to rub the creature's head, hearing the tiger let out a low purr. "Thank you again. Can you tell us what are are?"

Garfield continued to remain silent, looking off elsewhere, then, to Fluttershy's surprised squeal, turned into a hawk, letting out a caw and flew off into the sky. The girls all watched in awe as their savior left without a word, but at least they saw firsthand that he was an ally, not another wild animal from Equestria.

"It really can turn into any animal," Rarity uttered as they watched the green hawk disappear in the distance. "Sunset, did Princess Twilight figure out what that creature was yet?"

"So far, the closest possible creature it could have been was a changeling, like I guessed," Sunset said. "The only problem is the fact that this friendly creature's transformations are always different shades of green, and those eyes...Changelings could turn into anything of any color, not stick with one and have no pupils or irises like a mindless puppet's."

"So, it's not this changeling thing?" Fluttershy asked. "It's...something else?"

"Probably," Sunset answered, still unsure. "We'll have to ask it when it doesn't just leave after saving the day."

"But why green?" Rarity questioned. "Doesn't really go well if it can turn into any kind of animal, even something as ancient as a saber-toothed tiger."

"Does it have a skin condition where it's always green, even though it's common for reptiles and amphibians to have that skin pigment?" Twilight questioned. "Also, what else can it turn into?"

A lot of questions rose from this mysterious green shapeshifter and what it could do, but at least they knew it was friendly and could help them with any other creatures that curiously come through the mysterious portals that have begun appearing.

Garfield swerved over toward the animal shelter after getting far enough out of sight from the girls, diving down into the bushes outside the building. Turning back into a human, he let out a breath, dusting off his clothes of any leaves before making his way inside. Letting himself into the back, he went over to the kennel he placed Winona in, the collie barking and getting up as she pawed at the cage, already feeling good as new and wanting out.

"Well, look who's all better," he said. He opened the cage, only to have the puppy leap at him, quickly catching her and laughed as she attacked his face with affectionate licking. "Ok, down, girl! I don't need a tongue bath!"

He placed Winona down on the floor, letting her run around a bit, then helped Fluttershy a little bit by feeding some of the other animals while "waiting" for her and Applejack to return. It didn't take long for the two to return, Winona yipping happily when she saw her owner, running up to her and scooped up by the farm girl.

"Looks like the medicine kicked in, and Winona's already feeling better," Fluttershy said.

"Ah'm just glad it wasn't anythin' too serious," Applejack said between her laughter while her dog licked her face. "Thanks for both of your help."

"...Both?" Garfield asked. "I just knew she had a stomachache from the noises she was making."

"But since I didn't have my gem on me, I wasn't able to understand her," Fluttershy said. "You have a way with animals, Garfield."

"Too bad I'm not like you, able to talk to them like a person," he said with a grin.

"Well, thanks again, you two," Applejack said. "Hopefully, Winona's learned her lesson and won't go diggin' in the garbage again, right?" Winona whined, understanding the message clearly. "Ah'll see y'all later."

Fluttershy and Garfield waved goodbye to Applejack as she headed back to her farm. "So, what else do you want me to do?" Garfield asked Fluttershy. "I started feeding the other animals while watching Winona."

"We can clean some of the cages. They're a bit messy." Garfield grimaced, but at least they wouldn't be as messy as a pig pen he avoided yesterday. While they got to cleaning, Fluttershy told him about what happened at the school earlier, along with the friendly shapeshifter who helped them fend off the timberwolves. It didn't take long for them to finish cleaning the cages and kennels, soon heading out to Sugarcube Corner for a little break. While slurping on their shakes, Fluttershy offering to pay for the two of them, they overheard some of the other younger crowd in the shop about what had happened at the school. "Oh my. I guess what happened at school is slowly spreading around."

"That's what happens when magical creatures are running around in another world and causing trouble," Garfield said nonchalantly.

Fluttershy looked at her phone, seeing the bit of news spreading around about the timberwolves, along with the saber-toothed tiger someone snapped a picture of and posted on a social media site. "Even the friendly creature who saved me last week. Look."

Fluttershy showed Garfield the picture taken not too long ago, nearly choking on his shake as he took a sip when he saw himself as that prehistoric tiger. Struggling not to blow his drink out his nose, he coughed and stared at the image, along with the heading involving the wooden canines and a green mammal, which was supposedly an extinct creature, pretending to be surprised at the sight of both the timberwolves and himself.

"Holy cow! It's a green saber-tooth!" he exclaimed. "Is that even real!?"

"It was, and I actually touched it," Fluttershy said. "Too bad it didn't talk back to me. I would love to know who he is and what he really is."

"Uhh...H-How do you know it's a he?" Garfield asked nervously.

"Well, it was a male lion when it saved me from the manticores, and even though saber-tooth tigers are extinct, its muscle build looks more masculine than a females if I compared them to other wild cats," Fluttershy answered. "And if it could turn into something like a saber-tooth, it could turn into just about any kind of animal in the world, extinct or alive today."

"Heh. That's a...crazy theory, huh?" Garfield asked, chuckling timidly. "At least it's friendly, right? So, it's not a threat to society, is it?"

"Thankfully, no," Fluttershy said, shaking her head. "Sunset thought it was something called a changeling. They're shapeshifting bug ponies in Equestria who could turn into anyone and anything, but it doesn't sound like a changeling if the animals it turns into are always green."

"M-Maybe it's a weird changeling who likes the color green?" Garfield theorized.

"Hmm...Maybe, but then there are the eyes," Fluttershy continued. Garfield began to worry, already caught on camera when he tried to keep from being noticed by anyone else. And if anyone found him transforming in the act and getting a picture of it, he might not have a choice but come out and admit he was the mystery animal hero who saved Fluttershy and her friends. "...Well, as long as we know he's good, we don't have to worry about him causing any harm."

"Yeah, unless he's forced to turn into a T-Rex, or a..." Garfield didn't finish that thought, recalling the one dangerous form he took that made him more aggressive no thanks to a certain villain named Adonis. Being exposed to that biochemical liquid, they both turned into deadly werebeasts, losing all sense of human consciousness and turning into a feral beast, attacking anything in their wrath. He only used it once, when it was Raven's birthday; the day her father, Trigon, would be summoned and lay siege on the world with his demonic power. He only used it for a little while to try to save her with the rest of the Teen Titans, but even though it was brief, he was mere inches away from losing control and giving into his held back carnivorous instincts. "I hope I don't have to use that against something from Equestria."

"What did you say, Garfield?" Fluttershy asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"N-Nothing! Just...talking to myself!" he quickly said, slurping away at his shake to hide his grief from his worst moments in the past. "Love this shake, though!" Garfield nearly finished his whole shake, drinking too fast as he winced from the brainfreeze he just gave himself. "AHHH! Brainfreeze! Nnngah!" Clutching his head, he fell out of his seat and rolled around the floor in agony. Fluttershy leaned over and watched him, hoping he was ok. "Bad idea! Never drink shakes that fast!...Oh, hey, a quarter."

Fluttershy giggled, seeing he was fine, then went back to drinking her shake, being careful unlike Garfield was with slower slurps.

Heads or Slingtails

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Another Monday, another day of school for Garfield as he can't wait to get his brain to explode with more tough studies. At least he spent Sunday helping Fluttershy out some more, right after doing the morning chores he was assigned to do at Sweet Apple Acres. It was a lot easier handling animals than doing farm work at five in the morning, considering Fluttershy's idea in animal care for the future if he can't be a superhero as his full-time job.

"Ugh...I hate Mondays," Garfield grumbled, still tired from waking up early this morning and trying not to fall back asleep during the first period of the day.

As he walked down the hall to his next class, he saw some students grouped together, watching something on their classmate's phone. "Whoa, no way!" one of them exclaimed. "Did that really happen at practice!?"

"Yeah, and I got some of it recorded," another said, one of the football jocks who was there during practice when the timber wolves attacked. "Wish I got those wooden dog things coming out and attacking us, but you will not believe what happened next."

Garfield froze in place at the mention of the Equestrian wolves made of wood, spinning around in a one-eighty on one foot, trying to hide the sweat starting to bead down his head as he walked over to the group. "Uhh, what was that about a wooden dog?" he asked nervously.

"There was more than just one, and they were alive, like a pack of wolves!" the jock said, almost expressing excitement despite almost losing his life. "Here, look. There's not much with Sunset Shimmer and her friends fighting off these things, and I have no idea what happened when this green cat waltzed up out of nowhere."

Garfield gulped nervously, squeezing in with the rest of the football player's friends to see the video on the small screen of the cell phone. There was some bits of the fight before he came along as the kitten, though it cut out and came back once the timber wolves chased after him. It continued off with the girls all escorting the dangerous, now suddenly docile, timber wolves, along with a green saber-toothed tiger.

"No way! Where did a saber-tooth tiger come from!?" one teen asked excitedly.

"This has got to be edited," a skeptical teen said. "Wolves made out of bark and twigs and an extinct tiger brought from the ice age, but with green fur?"

"I'm telling you, I saw it with my own eyes!" the jock exclaimed. "Ask the rest of the team! We all saw it, even Sunset and the girls! They nearly died fighting those wolves!"

"With how many different kinds of creatures that exist in that Equestria world where all the magic is coming from, they might have animals that might be prehistoric to us, but exist there," one student theorized.

"I still think that video's edited with a poor excuse of adding that saber-tooth, while making its fur the wrong color and lacking any eyes," the skeptic grumbled, then turned to Garfield. "What do you think? Is it all faked?"

"It's not fake!" the football player said in defense to his proof.

Garfield stammered, not willing to give any comments as he was that "fake" saber-toothed tiger. Luckily, he was saved by the warning bell ringing.

"Uhh, well! That's the warning bell!" he said with a nervous chuckle. "Better not be late! See ya!"

Garfield sped off, kicking up dust as he ran and turned down the hall to his next class. "...That new kid is kinda weird," one of them commented.

"And yet he's become best friends to the seven most popular girls in school no less than a week being enrolled here...Lucky dog," the skeptic teen grumbled irately.

Throughout the rest of the morning until lunch period, Garfield wasn't able to focus on his classes' lessons after witnessing that video. It wasn't just that one student who recorded that Saturday; the rest of his teammates had gotten evidence of that day on the football field, showing it off to any other classmates while the teachers weren't looking. This began to make him paranoid, fearing any of those videos or pictures could have a slight chance of revealing him shapeshifting, thus making them all discover who has been these mysterious green creatures. So far, the girls had kept the shapeshifting creature a secret, but someone could have possibly seen him and begin to spread rumors about a rare animal that can morph into others. Unfortunately, some have speculated that when they saw the green kitten and saber-toothed tiger, they were one and the same, believing that it might be another creature that came from Equestria.

Throughout his paranoia, Garfield thought everyone was looking at him, thinking they secretly knew HE was that mysterious creature. He was clearly overthinking things, but he tried not to show too much attention when one of them asked or showed him the timber wolves' attack. His body was on autopilot as lunch came, grabbing a tray and picking a table away from the rest of the different groups of students, deep in thought with his worries as he tried to come up with a plan if his shapeshifting powers were discovered. He didn't notice Fluttershy walking over to him after getting her lunch, spotting him sitting by his lonesome.

"Hi, Garfield," Fluttershy greeted, but he didn't respond, too lost in his head to be wary of his surroundings. She sat down beside him, gently tapping on his shoulder, finally getting his attention. "Are you ok?"

"Oh...Uhh, yeah. Just...kinda exhausted from learning," Garfield said, reassuring her with a grin. "My brain needs to reboot. Give me about...the end of the day before it starts back up." Fluttershy laughed a little, understanding how overwhelmed he is with all the curriculum he needed to catch up on since he arrived. "Was your day just as boring?"

"No, not really," she said. Her phone suddenly buzzed, seeing what kind of message she got. "Oh boy. Here comes some more of this."

"More of what?" She showed him what's been slowly going around, which happened to be the incident with the timber wolves. "...Oh...I saw and overheard others talking about it."

"Yeah. But I'm a lot more curious about the shapeshifter who saved us," Fluttershy said. "I wonder if he's too scared to show us who he really is...Or what he really is..."

"Along with everyone else who watched that video," Garfield uttered to himself.

Soon, the other girls came over to join him and Fluttershy after waiting in line for lunch. "Oh man. I thought we were awesome before, but we're starting to become internet heroes. Did you guys see the videos and pics posted online?" Rainbow asked.

"I'm pretty sure we've all seen it, but I kinda wished they didn't get leaked out that way," Sunset grumbled. "Can't really help witnesses who want to take recorded evidence of something 'amazing'."

"And some of them think that those timber wolves were fake!" Rainbow complained. "I mean, have they forgotten about what happened with Sunset, The Dazzlings, Twilight, Gloriosa Daisy, and Juniper Montage!?" Sunset and Twilight growled bitterly, leering at Rainbow for her mentioning all the dangerous Equestrian magic that was unleashed, along with their transformations. "...Heheh...no offense?"

"I should be used to that, but it doesn't help if you keep bringing it up," Sunset said, her arms crossed over her chest while tapping a finger against her arm.

"Speaking of Saturday's fiasco, did anyone else notice they caught our helpful shapeshifter in the shot?" Rarity asked.

"Spreadin' like a wildfire to a wheat field in the middle of a hot July day," Applejack said. "Pretty soon, the whole world's gonna want to know why there's a green saber-toothed tiger runnin' around here."

"Oh, I hope they don't capture and hold him in captivity," Fluttershy said worriedly.

"He could probably escape whatever cage they put him in!" Pinkie said. "You all know what I think the green transforming buddy of ours really is?" She waved her friends closer, making them lean closer as Pinkie didn't want anyone else to hear her. "...He's a blob."

"...A blob?" Sunset questioned.

"Yeah, it makes sense, doesn't it!?" Pinkie asked, as if she came up with the most genius answer to the biggest life question. "The animal shapeshifting, AND sentient?"

"Or it could be a changeling who waltzed through the portal," Sunset theorized, then looked at Twilight. "Speaking of portals, is your experimental portal working right this time?"

"After the malfunction last time, I triple-checked every single calculation in my system's algorithms, along with anything wrong with my laptop and internal workings of the disc for my portable portal," Twilight said. "Everything was flawless when I first tried it, but I don't know what caused it to short out. When I tried again yesterday, in a more open environment with no expensive equipment that could break-" She giggled sheepishly, having made a mental note to test her experiments outside a building that were as dangerous as a magical portal. "-it was a success with no problems whatsoever."

"Good. Now we won't have to struggle trying to drag dangerous creatures that come through the randomly appearing portals back to the permanent one in front of the school," Rainbow said.

"But there's something that started bothering me when our mysterious ally left us," Twilight interjected. "He flew off as a peregrine falcon, and my initial portal when I gave it a test run in the lab was about the same size for a controlled experiment. And, judging by the hole in the window made by the thing that went through during the mishap...if my estimations are correct...I think our animal friend might have been the one who crashed into our world."

Garfield was about to take a bite of his salad when Twilight relayed her hypothesis to everyone, making him pause while glancing at her nervously. "Are you sure about that, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked.

"It's just a hunch, but he showed up the next day when the Manticores came through, and if my portal opened up in a storm in the middle of the sky, that might have caused the short-circuit, blinded by the powerful wind and rain and flying through it unexpectedly," Twilight said. Garfield knew he didn't fly through a storm, but it sure did appear out of nowhere, and it did spark wildly when he went straight through it. "That might not tell us who he is, but it's a possible theory to how he might have arrived here."

"I still think he's a magical blob!" Pinkie exclaimed, making Sunset facepalm with a groan.

"The only magical blob I've ever heard of from my own knowledge and what Princess Twilight's told me is something called The Smooze," Sunset said. "And that's more of a slime than a blob."

Garfield whimpered, poking his food with his fork. Thankfully, they didn't find it suspicious that he had also arrived unexpectedly yesterday, and with a poor excuse as a transfer student with information from his "old school" lost in the mail and with no electronic records of him. He didn't know what was worse: being known as the green shapeshifter by the whole school, or having his new friends find out he's from another world.

While lost in thought, some other students at another table were looking at the video from Saturday on a phone, a trio of pre-teens who had a knack for causing trouble: Apple Bloom and her two friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle had white skin like Rarity, but her curly hair was a light pink and fuschia, wearing a white and light pink striped shirt under a lavender light overcoat, a yellow skirt, and lavender boots with yellow laces, while Scootaloo had orange skin and messy purple hair, a black, short-sleeved hoodie, green khaki shorts, and black-grey boots.

"Aww, man! Where were we when this happened!?" Scootaloo whined. "Those wolves look so cool."

"And clearly dangerous!" Sweetie Belle said bitterly, leering at her friend. "Rarity fought those things, and she almost got eaten by them!"

"And Rainbow Dash came in to save the day," Scootaloo said. "She's way faster than those mutts made of bark and twigs."

"Don't y'all think it's weird how they attacked at first, but then a while later, they were all tame?" Apple Bloom mentioned. "And there's also...a green saber-tooth tiger with them, who didn't even try to hurt Applejack, Sunset, or anyone else...Ah don't think somethin' like that really exists."

"Maybe it's a lion Fluttershy took care of at the shelter that was spray painted green?" Scootaloo theorized. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle stared blankly at the pre-teen, even knowing Fluttershy has a way with animals, they doubt she could talk to a dangerous predator without getting mauled. "...What?"

"Ah don't think a shelter for PETS will allow somethin' as dangerous as a LION, Scootaloo," Apple Bloom grumbled.

"Speaking of, last week, Rarity said something about a green lion that saved Fluttershy from...manticores, I think she called them?" Sweetie said. "And just a couple days ago, another green lion-"

"Tiger," Scootaloo corrected.

"Same thing! They're both cats, but I bet they're not as worse as Rarity's mean cat, Opal!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed. "Anyway, as I was saying, there was another green lion that appeared out of nowhere and stopped more creatures that came from this other world."

"Huh. Sweetie's right," Apple Bloom said. She looked at the video, paused at the moment where the recording caught the green saber-tooth tiger, noticing the lifeless-looking eyes it had. "And Ah overheard mah sis say that these lions that helped them were one and the same. Which means...there's a new creature runnin' around here that can show up at any time when there's trouble." The trio of friends looked at each other, all three of them smirking as they simultaneously came up with an idea. "Y'all thinkin' what Ah'm thinkin', girls?"

"Internet fame if we find and follow them and record that green lion in action?" Scootaloo asked.

"Even though I'm sure it's not just a lion if Rarity's called it a shapeshifter, but it can't be that hard finding an animal that's unnaturally green," Sweetie Belle said. "I'm in!"

"Next time Applejack and her friends find out about somethin' new that appeared out of nowhere, we'll quietly tail them, and find our target," Apple Bloom said, Sweetie and Scootaloo nodding in agreement.

A few days had passed, news of the mysterious green creature spreading all throughout the school and social media and if it was truly friendly or waiting for anyone to lower their guard to become its next prey. Garfield couldn't go from one class to another without someone mentioning his animal form, only raising his fear of being discovered as the heroic shapeshifter and what everyone would think of him. It wasn't uncommon for him to transform back in Jump City since a majority of the citizens in his world didn't bat an eye from superhero teens with incredible powers saving the day. Even if Canterlot City had magic creatures from a different world, along with seven girls with magic that came from that very same world, he didn't know what to think if his own mutative shapeshifting powers were similar to whatever a changeling from Equestria looked like.

"Ugh, this is so frustrating," Garfield muttered to himself, taking a walk in town to try to clear his head. "I didn't think having a secret identity was going to be this hard. I really, REALLY don't want anyone to figure out it's me that's been saving everyone as 'the green creature'." He sighed, rubbing his head as he tried to think of a way to throw people from speculating it was him. "If I get knocked out by something even worse than a manticore or timber wolves, they're sure to know it's me if I change back...I guess Beast Boy's gonna have to come out of his early retirement, and I can wear my mask to hide my face...at least, most of it..."

Looking around, he quietly snuck into a nearby alley, going through his backpack, and pulled out his old outfit he kept stuffed inside. Digging around the pockets, he took out the old mask he wore when he was in the Doom Patrol, mostly purple and able to fit his pointed ears comfortably. It would cover the upper half of his head, but left the area around his mouth exposed. Even though it kinda worked hiding his identity, he would have to deepen his voice around others, and maybe add a bit more to his mask to fully conceal his face due to his growing paranoia. Stuffing his superhero outfit back in his bag, he left the alley, finding a solution to making his secret identity more secret at the Carousel Boutique. Aside from clothing, there might be some fabric he could buy, or maybe a scarf to add an additional feature to his mask to better hide his face.

Thankfully, Rarity wasn't working today, so Garfield bought what he needed, then made his way back to Rainbow Dash's house. He passed by her as she lounged in the living room couch, watching a movie about her favorite fictional adventurer, Daring Do, heading upstairs and shutting the door to his room. He pulled out his outfit and mask once again, getting straight to work on upgrading his mask. He didn't hear Rainbow follow after him when she noticed him rush upstairs.

Right as he was about to get to work, Rainbow barged in without knocking. "Yo, Garf, you all good?" she asked.

"AAAHHH!" Garfield shrieked, scrambling all over as he hid his superhero outfit and fabric under the bed. He stood up, stiff as a board, glaring angrily at the girl barging in on his privacy. "Dude! Seriously! Do you ever knock!?"

"What were you hiding that's making you all jumpy?" Rainbow asked, then gave a sly grin and began to tease him. "You hiding some magazines you don't want me to look at?"

"It's none of your business when it's MY stuff!" Garfield argued. "And if there's any kind of 'magazine' I care to look at, it's comics!"

"You sure about that?" she asked teasingly, making Garfield growl with the biggest frown he ever gave anyone. "Dude, relax. I'm just kidding." He reared an arm back, then shot it at the door, pointing at it while silently ordering her to get out. "Alright, alright. I'll leave you with your 'comics'."

She laughed and left Garfield alone, making the shapeshifting Titan grumble. "If Cyborg were a girl, I think Rainbow would fit the bill...without the robot parts," he muttered to himself. "I need to get a lock for this door...or maybe something heavy enough to bar her from waltzing in without permission." He spotted Tank slowly crawling by, picking up the tortoise up to his eye level. "You wanna block the door to my room so your owner doesn't barge in on me again?" Tank just tilted his head slowly in confusion, but Garfield chuckled, patting his shell. "Nah. I wouldn't let you do that."

He lowered Tank back down and let him "run", then closed his door, grabbed his clothes he flung under the bed, and got back to work, hoping Rainbow doesn't interrupt him again.

The next morning, Garfield and Rainbow hung out downstairs, eating some breakfast while scrolling through different channels for something good to watch. Garfield managed to sew the fabric to his mask, making sure it was comfortable over his mouth as he put it on so it didn't suffocate him while breathing. After several minutes of channel clicking with nothing good on, they heard the front door open, getting a surprise visit from the rest of the girls, deciding to hand out at Rainbow's house. As they talked about their week or about their recent struggles against Equestria's most dangerous creatures, Garfield noticed Twilight was a bit preoccupied with her phone. She was eagerly waiting for it to ring, and when it did, she immediately read the text and sent another back.

"Having fun with your phone, egghead?" Rainbow teased. "I'm hearing that going off more than Tank when he's hungry."

"She's probably in the middle of a deep conversation with her boyfriend," Sunset said, making Twilight blush heavily.

"N-No I'm not!" Twilight denied. Her phone rang again, but Pinkie swiped it out of her hands before she could see the recent text. "Hey!"

"Yup! It's Timber Spruce alright!" Pinkie said after seeing who the sender was.

"Uhh, who is Timber Spruce?" Garfield asked.

"One of the owners of Camp Everfree," Applejack said. "Her sister, Gloriosa, was the one who went mad with power with those gems we have now tryin' to save it."

"Oh, now I remember you saying something about that moment," Garfield said. "...Wait, how old is this Timber guy?"

"A little older than us by a couple years," Sunset said. "Twilight's got a thing for older guys."

"No I do not! Stop teasing me!" Twilight exclaimed while the girls all laughed as they made fun of her. "And give me back my phone, Pinkie!" She snatched her phone back from Pinkie, the heat from her blushing face fogging up her glasses. When she got another text from Timber Spruce, their romantic conversation came to a halt as she gasped in shock at the new message. "Uhh...looks like we've got some more Equestrian beasts to stop."

"Oh no. What now?" Rarity whined.

"Timber's saying some giant lizard creatures have made their home up on the nearby mountain at Camp Everfree," Twilight paraphrased. "Some campers said that they were almost crushed by boulders when they spotted them on the mountain trail, flinging them from their tails by a cave that's not too far from the trail."

"Oh my," Fluttershy uttered worriedly. "They could hurt the woodland critters there, too."

"Any idea what these big lizards might be, Sunset?" Rainbow asked.

"Hey, it's been a long while since I've lived in Equestria," Sunset said. "Even I don't know half of the different kinds of creatures that exist in my world when I've been so busy learning about everything else in this one."

"You could ask Princess Twilight," Applejack suggested. "Meanwhile, Ah think we'd better head to Camp Everfree and take care of them lizards before they could seriously hurt someone."

"I'll have to stop by my house and pick up my portal," Twilight said. "I don't think we'll be able to keep something that big unconscious for long if we try to transport them back to the portal at school."

"Should I come with?" Garfield asked curiously.

"Probably best not to tag along," Sunset said. "Sorry, Garfield. I know you want to see some Equestrian creatures, but I don't think dangerous ones are a good example."

"Ok, that's cool," he assured. "Just show me some pics. That's fine with me." The girls got up and headed out, Fluttershy giving Garfield an apologetic look before following the others to prepare for the trip to Camp Everfree. As soon as they were gone, he got up from the couch and went upstairs to his room. Unzipping his backpack, he pulled out his superhero uniform. "If those lizards are anything like prehistoric dinosaurs, there's no way I'm gonna let them face something that dangerous."

After Twilight gathered her laptop and metal disc for her portal, all seven girls headed out in separate vehicles, Applejack taking her truck with Rainbow riding with her, while the others carpooled in Fluttershy's car. Just about thirty or so minutes on the road, they reached the entrance of the camp, thankfully getting more business after the Rainbooms helped save the camp from turning into another pointless mall by the man who tried to take it from Gloriosa and Timber; Filthy Rich. The girls saw a lot of activity from some campers, both young and old, as they pulled inside. Overlooking the campers as they partook in some crafting was a young man wearing a red shirt, green cargo shorts, brown hiking boots, and a black beanie. He had green hair and his skin was a light tangelo.

"Timber!" Twilight called out, getting the counselor's attention as he turned around.

"Hey!" Timber greeted as he waved at them. Twilight was eager to see him again, running up to him and hugged him, nearly knocking them over. "Sheesh. You really seemed to miss me after we just texted each other."

"I'm mostly glad you weren't crushed by a rock," Twilight said, playfully bantering with Timber as they usually communicated with each other.

"Oh, gee, thanks," Timber said sarcastically. "But, I was here all this time. Gloriosa was the one who was leading this morning's hike up the mountain, and she and the others with her ran back in a panic. Thankfully, no one was badly hurt, but we might lose some business if something more dangerous than a bear starts roaming around the campground."

"Don't worry. We're on it," Twilight assured her boyfriend. She took off her backpack, showing Timber her new device. "I've worked out the kinks on a little experiment I've been working on since we wondered where the crystals came from, and aside from a little boo-boo in the science lab, it's in perfect working order. I just hope that the size of these lizards doesn't exceed the limit of the portal's height and width."

"And if we can get a description of what they looked like, I could let an outside source tell us what we're dealing with," Sunset said, carrying her magic journal in her hands.

While the girls followed Timber to where Gloriosa was, back at the entrance gate where they parked their vehicles, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo poked their heads up from under the tarp in Applejack's truck. "Score," Scootaloo quietly cheered. "Good thinking with the tarp, Apple Bloom."

"Kinda lucky we were hanging out this morning at the farm," Sweetie Belle noted.

"And we actually get to see some new critters from this magical world," Apple Bloom added.

The trio of miscreant pre-teens carefully snuck out of the back of the pickup, Scootaloo holding onto a video camera to get the footage they needed. Making it to the forest trail, they followed it toward the mountain where they overheard the mysterious Equestrian lizards making their nest at. While hiking up to their destination, Scootaloo began recording, aiming the camera at her and her friends.

"Hey there, internet, it's Scootaloo of your favorite video content creators, the CMC," Scootaloo said, starting off their video with an over-the-top intro. Even Apple Bloom rolled her eyes in the background at the ridiculous greeting. "Today, we're on the hunt for the rumored 'green creature'. That just so happened to be the mysterious saber-tooth tiger that was with the best athlete of all time, Rainbow Dash, and the rest of her friends, who aren't as important as her when they stopped these strange wolves made out of wood."

"Oh brother," Apple Bloom muttered.

"We're here at Camp Everfree, where we got word that some new dangerous creatures have appeared and almost harmed the campers," Scootaloo continued, ignoring the young farmer's comment. "It's a two-fer today, but why are we looking for these creatures than the green saber-tooth? Well, I'll tell ya why, and it's an awesome theory! From overhearing the girls with all the magic-Hey!"

Apple Bloom swiped the camera away, getting fed up with the overly-winded monologue. "Basically, mah sister and her friends fought manticores a couple weeks ago, where a green lion saved Fluttershy, and now a green saber-tooth tiger helped them fight off and tame them wood wolves," she summarized. "With them showin' up, so does this green creature, so we can get footage of both of them to get some views."

"I was gonna get to that!" Scootaloo complained.

"And y'all were takin' forever!" Apple Bloom argued.

Scootaloo growled, then took the camera back, Sweetie grinning sheepishly in the background as she waved nervously at it. "So, with my more awesome explanation ruined, we're gonna get up close and personal to both these creatures and study them."

"Well, anything you write is a bit long-winded, Scootaloo," Sweetie Belle noted. "Looking through a thesaurus to look up all the different names for 'friend' does not mean use every single synonym it lists."

"At least I used one for that speech," Scootaloo grumbled, Apple Bloom behind her snickering at her disgruntled muttering.

After hiking up the slope, they reached the cliff where they heard the dangerous lizards were, spotting a cavern in the mountain. They didn't see any sign of these creatures outside, so they decided to risk looking inside. From the sunlight seeping through the cave, they found what they were looking for: three very big reptilian beasts that screamed deadly, their tough skin a couple shades of gray, their tri-horned heads and back legs speckled with red spots, black fur on their back, and their spiked tails looking strong enough to launch the heavy boulders that almost got the campers earlier. Luckily, they were sleeping, taking a little nap after scaring off people from their new territory.

"Wow, they're big," Sweetie Belle whispered, all three girls trembling just from seeing how much bigger they were compared to them. "Probably bigger than a bear."

"They kinda look like ankylosauruses," Apple Bloom said.

Scootaloo slowly panned the camera, getting a good shot of the giant lizards before turning it back to herself, grinning nervously while trying not to show her fear. "H-Here they are. M-Man, they're...really cool...and dangerous..." She looked around the cave, but aside from the slumbering reptiles, there was no sign of the exact creature they wanted to get footage of. "But...our real target isn't here..."

Getting a crazy, yet very stupid idea, Scootaloo carefully crept closer to the beasts, shocking Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. "What are you doing!?" Apple Bloom hissed.

"Well, whenever that green creature is around, there's always something dangerous from that other world going crazy," Scootaloo said.

"And you're gonna make them go nuts and attack us!?" Sweetie Belle squeaked, struggling to keep her voice down so they didn't wake up the creatures that were even worse than walking into a bear hibernating in its den.

Seeing Scootaloo was dumb enough to go through with this crazy plan of hers, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle ran up to her, quickly pulling their brash friend away before she kicked one of the reptilian behemoths. "You're going to get us killed!" Apple Bloom said.

"If there's someone in danger, it's sure to come help us!" Scootaloo explained, trying to squirm out of her friends' grasp.

"What if it's only in Canterlot City, not out here in this forest!?" Apple Bloom hissed.

Their struggle caused them to slip, all three of them falling over and smacking into the side of the nearby creature. Startled awake, it alerted the other two as it crawled away from the three girls. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo sat up, gulping nervously as they were being stared down by the irate reptiles from another world.

"...Uhh...n-nice lizards?" Scootaloo uttered sheepishly, now beginning to regret waking them up.

After getting more information from Timber's sister, Sunset waited for Princess Twilight to send her the results as to what they were dealing with. She soon got her answer as the book flashed, and after reading the words as they appeared on the pages, Sunset grimaced at the type of Equestrian lizard that were here.

"Oh boy," she uttered, then turned to her friends, waiting at one of the benches with Timber and Gloriosa, Twilight's boyfriend's sister having pink skin with her long hair in two shades of purple, a daisy wreath wrapped around her head, wearing a yellow shirt, blue jean shorts, and sandals, along with a blue scarf around her neck, where she once had a necklace that held the girls gems. "Guys, we might have a bit of a problem with these 'lizards' roosting on the mountain near the camp."

"And that kind of problem would be...?" Twilight asked, everyone waiting for Sunset to elaborate on the details.

"Well...These lizards are called slingtails, and rightfully called that because...they fling heavy boulders at intruders invading their territory," Sunset said. "The worst thing about it is that these things actually live close to the Dragon Lands back in Equestria."

"'Dragon' Lands!?" Gloriosa and Timber exclaimed.

"Yup. There's dragons in Equestria, and the slingtails could be just as bad as them," Sunset said.

"...And I thought what I turned into was the worst," Gloriosa muttered.

"So, what happens if you can't stop them?" Timber asked nervously. "I doubt Filthy Rich might come back to take the camp again if he knew about this, but if they cause more trouble..."

"We'll figure it out, Timber," Twilight assured. "We just...gotta come up with a plan."

Suddenly, Rarity's phone rang, quickly answering it when she saw the caller ID. "Hello, mother...I'm kind of in the middle of something important...No, Sweetie Belle's not with me. Why?"

Applejack's phone rang, too, answering it as well. "Yeah, bro?...No, Ah haven't seen Apple Bloom since this mornin'. Ain't she playin' with her friends?" Applejack went from confused to concerned as Big Mac told her he hadn't seen them anywhere at their home. She let out a frustrated huff. "Consarn it, Apple Bloom. Ah'll give her a call and find out where she is," she said before hanging up. "Along with those other two girls."

"If they get into any trouble, Sweetie Belle's going to be grounded for a month, for sure," Rarity grumbled. The quiet setting was interrupted by loud screams in the distance, startling everyone as they looked in the direction of the mountains. "What in the world?"

"Wait...didn't that sound like-?" More screaming interrupted Applejack as they heard a trio of girls crying out for help. She and Rarity looked at each other, recognizing two of those voices. "...Please tell me our sisters and Scootaloo are back in Canterlot City and those are just girls who sounded just like them?"

"Nah. It's probably them since I saw them sneak out from the back of your truck," Pinkie said, shocking everyone, especially Applejack and Rarity.

"Why didn't you say anything, Pinkie!?" Rarity screeched, but Pinkie gave them a shrug.

"I thought you knew they snuck in and hid under that tarp you left in the back," Pinkie said.

"They might be getting attacked by the slingtails!" Gloriosa said. "That cliff was exactly where we saw them!"

"Come on!" Sunset said, the group quickly rushing off to help Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo before the slingtails could seriously hurt them.

Running down the trail, they reached the mountain, where they could see some rocks of all sizes getting flung from the cliff side. While avoiding the rocks, they spotted the CMC on the ledge, avoiding the slingtails' rock throwing as they got perilously close to the edge.

"Oh no! There they are!" Rainbow said. "I'll save-YIPE!"

Everyone jumped back as a lobbed boulder fell over them. "How sling happy are these slingtails!?" Pinkie exclaimed.

"Very if they're agitated!" Sunset explained.

One rock from the slingtails headed straight for the three girls, the trio leaping back, only to end up falling over the edge of the cliff, screaming in terror. Twilight was ready to catch them with her magic while Applejack and Rarity watched in horror, but the sound of a falcon's screech echoed throughout the forest caught her attention. Diving down from the air, a familiar green peregrine falcon swooped down swiftly, heading straight toward the falling pre-teens. He then transformed in midair, turning into a gorilla, catching Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, holding them tightly in one arm as he used the other to grab the branches on the many trees as he swung to a slow descent.

"What the heck was that!?" Timber exclaimed after witnessing a falcon turn into a huge, green gorilla.

"A friend," Fluttershy said.

"And just in the nick of time," Applejack said, both her and Rarity breathing a sigh of relief.

The gorilla lowered the girls once they landed on the ground, the trio slowly looking up at their savior. Despite it being a different species, the primate's green fur and blank white eyes matched the similar features on the shapeshifting creature they were searching for.

"Whoa," Sweetie Belle uttered.

"Hah! See!? I told you if we got in trouble, he'd show up!" Scootaloo gloated, but when she looked up at the gorilla, he let out what sounded like an irritated snort, then gently flicked her on the forehead. "Ow! Hey, I'm trying to make you a star here, and this is how you thank me!?"

"Girls!" Applejack called out. Despite being happy seeing them, the CMC grimaced, knowing they were in a lot of trouble. "What in tarnation are y'all doin' here!? And why were ya messin' around with those slingtails!?"

"What's a slingtail?" Apple Bloom asked.

"Those dangerous creatures who were throwing boulders at you three!" Rarity reiterated.

"We just wanted to see the green creature up close," Sweetie said.

"And get it on camera!" Scootaloo added. "Oh! Speaking of!" She tried to record the shapeshifter, only to be yanked away by Rainbow Dash. "Hey! I need to get it on camera!"

"Save it, squirt!" Rainbow said. "You three are in so much trouble, and in grave danger right now!" More boulders began to rain down on everyone, Twilight grabbing some with her telekinesis while Applejack and the gorilla caught the rest and tossed them aside. "Timber, Gloriosa, get these three out of here!"

"Uhh, no problem," Timber said, unable to help but eye the green gorilla helping keep everyone from getting crushed by falling rocks. "You sure he's a friend?"

"He is," Fluttershy assured. "He saved me from one of the manticores in the pride that chased after me, and he saved all of us from a pack of timber wolves not too long ago. He'll gladly help us out again, right?"

The shapeshifting creature turned to look at her after tossing back another boulder, nodding his head in response. "...Ok, I guess we'll take your word for it," Timber said.

"Fluttershy and I will help make sure these three don't try to get in the middle of the action," Sunset said, making the three younger girls cringe as their respective sisters and Rainbow leered disappointingly at them. "Plus, since our magic isn't all that useful for fighting, or dealing with ornery creatures like those slingtails, we'll just get in the way."

"We've got this handled!" Rainbow said.

The girls able to use magic ran up the trail to the cliff with their animal shapeshifting ally running alongside them, turning into a wolf to move faster than a hulking gorilla could, while the others took the CMC to safety, to Scootaloo's dismay as she wanted to get more of the green creature in action. The wolf ran on ahead, charging toward the slingtails, shifting into a rhino as he got closer while weaving around rocks. He rammed into one of the slingtails, managing to shove it back a bit, but they were tougher than their long-ranged attacks made them appear, the attacked reptile smacked his face with its tail. The rhino shook his head, recovering from the swift, painful blow, then transformed into an elephant, letting out an enraged cry and charged once again, ramming his tusks against the slingtail's horns as they clashed.

Rarity and Twilight helped back their animal shapeshifting ally with their magic, covering him from the other two slingtails constantly flinging rocks at him. Applejack fired back with their same methods with her enhanced magic strength while Pinkie and Rainbow tried to distract them with explosives and dashing around them respectfully. The one having a power struggle with the green elephant managed to lift him off his feet, then gave him a hard smack between the eyes with its spiked tail, sending him flying back toward Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack with a pained and startled trumpet. They yelped, using their combined power to stop the heavy pachyderm from crushing them.

"Could you have picked an even heavier animal to turn into!?" Twilight exclaimed.

The elephant let out a sheepish toot, then shifted into a wolf, giving the girls some relief as he landed on the ground. Rainbow yelped, nearly avoiding a wide-swinging tail as she retreated back with the others. "OK, those things have really thick scales," Rainbow said.

"And if they can toss something as heavy as an elephant, I don't know how we're going to attempt to knock them out," Rarity added.

While they tried to come up with a plan, down below the cliff, Sunset, Fluttershy, Timber, and Gloriosa guided Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo back to safety. They stopped when they heard several fireworks going off above them, Pinkie using every single piece of candy at her disposal to try to distract the slingtails. Scootaloo grumbled, looking around until she found a tall enough tree nearby that was easy for her to climb.

"I am NOT missing out on any of this!" she said, running over to that very tree she was looking for and began to climb up.

"Scootaloo, what are you doing!?" Sunset exclaimed. "We're supposed to go back to the campground! It's dangerous to be here!"

"We're fine over here!" Scootaloo called out, making Sunset grumble irritably. The pre-teen finally reached up as high as she was able to, sitting on a sturdy branch that could handle her weight, getting a perfect view of the battle as she aimed the camera at the slingtails. "Sorry about the interruption, but now we're gonna catch some good ol' fashioned monster fights!"

"Is she always this hard-headed?" Gloriosa asked, gravely concerned for the tomboy's safety.

"Like a familiar athlete friend of ours," Fluttershy muttered.

Pinkie stopped tossing her explosive candies, seeing they barely fazed them physically and only frustrated them more. "Nothing's working! We need something bigger than them to trounce them!"

The wolf let out a curious growl, having no choice but to go all out with the slingtails. He sprinted forward, ignoring the girls calling out to him to wait and figure out what to do, already way ahead of them with his own plan. As soon as he got within a few feet of the trio of slingtails, he leapt and turned into a condor, flapping his wings hard as he flew around them, picking up dust and dirt from the explosive candy and disruption of the earth from the reptiles' boulder tossing. The shapeshifter shrouded them in a huge cloud of dust, Scootaloo keeping her aim on her video camera steady as she watched the green condor soar up, then dove down into the dust cloud.

The girls watched with anxious silence, wondering what their friend was up to. Suddenly, a loud smack was heard from inside the cloud, one of the slingtails flung out and crashing hard into the side of the mountain, falling to the ground in a heap. The other two skittered out in surprise and fear, keeping their distance as they turned to face the dust cloud.

"W-What the heck just happened!?" Rainbow exclaimed.

"What just happened!?" Scootaloo asked in shock.

"Scootaloo, what do you see!?" Apple Bloom asked.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6863vjJ9Ds

The dust began to blow away from the wind, and what was revealed inside that smacked the unconscious slingtail aside surprised everyone witnessing it. Standing twenty feet tall was a massive green tyrannosaurus rex with black stripes running down its back. Jaws dropped at the sight of one of the most dangerous prehistoric beasts to have ever roamed the earth, and in the flesh. The shapeshifter let out a threatening roar, making the ground tremble as birds in the area flew away in fright from the prehistoric battle cry. Even Sunset, Fluttershy, Gloriosa, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom were shocked hearing what everyone believed to be the sound a T-rex would make if they were alive.

"W-What the heck was that!?" Sweetie Belle asked, terrified.

"Uhh, maybe a giant green tyrannosaurus rex!?" Timber exclaimed, pointing up where they can see the towering dinosaur's head from their point of view.

The shapeshifter charged forward, each stomp creating a loud thump as it ran toward the other slingtails. Panicking, the slingtails tried to toss rocks at him, but the T-rex's naturally tough skull bashed them to pieces, even as he kept coming toward them. Lowering his head down to one, he headbutted the closest slingtail hard, knocking it back and on its back. Letting out a quick roar, the dino lunged its head toward it, snatching it in his powerful jaws and shook rapidly like a dog would to a squeaky toy, only wanting to disorient it, not eat it for a snack. The slingtail tried to smack his face with its tail, but it was barely able to see after getting shaken around and being held in the air higher than its ever been in its life.

The other conscious slingtail picked up a huge boulder in its strong tail, ignoring their bigger foe and focused on the girls standing by watching the T-rex take them on. Unfortunately, it didn't count on their stronger predator to being just a ruthless animal that was all brawn. Noticing the boulder sailing toward the girls, even as they saw it and screamed, trying to scatter, the shapeshifting creature quickly turned, swinging his tail hard against the boulder, sending it hurtling back toward its sender. It struck the shocked reptile, shattering to pieces upon impact with its head, stunning it as it staggered in pain. After shaking up the one in his mouth enough, the T-rex flung the disoriented slingtail toward its unconscious friend, making it bounce across the ground before landing on its knocked out friend in a pile.

"Land sakes," Applejack uttered, the girls baffled as they watched the green king of dinosaurs easily dispatch the slingtails.

"He really can transform into any creature, even those that have been extinct for millions of years," Twilight said in awe.

"Whoo hoo! Go, ya motha fudgin' T-rex!" Pinkie cheered. "Show those slingtails who rules this land!"

Despite how awesome it was to see a tyrannosaurus rex fight in real life, Rainbow snapped Twilight out of her own daze with a nudge to her shoulder. "Shouldn't we get that portal ready to send those slingtails back, Twi?"

"Oh! Right!" Twilight said, quickly going through her backpack and pulling out her portal, Sunset's old book to connect it to Equestria, and her laptop to power it up.

While the shapeshifter dealt with the last slingtail, Scootaloo was on the edge of her branch seat, filming everything as her shock turned to excitement as she witnessed one of the most awesome things that could fit in a movie, but it was all one hundred percent real. "Oh man! You guys need to see this!" she said, laughing giddily as watched the T-rex headbutting the last slingtail back toward the wall of the mountain, pinning it as it scrambled to escape the monstrous predator. "This is so cool! I gotta get closer!"

Scootaloo climbed down, surprising the camp owners, animal lover, and former bully as she ran back up the trail. "Scootaloo, wait! Get back here!" Sunset called out. "Ugh! Why can't you three just be normal little girls instead of go looking for trouble!?"

"That'd be boring," Apple Bloom said.

Sunset growled, running after Scootaloo, the others in their group hurrying after them. Up above, the T-rex rammed his head into the pinned slingtail again, watching it slump slightly as it grunted in pain. He backed away, but the last of the Equestrian rock-flingers wasn't down just yet. Trying to be sneaky, it tried to smack the shapeshifter's face with its tail, only for it to be nabbed by the dinosaur's maw with a swift snap. It was then flung up in the air, and with one hard tail swipe, the T-rex sent the slingtail flying toward its slowly wakening companions, bowling them over and knocking all three of them out at once. Coming out victorious, the shapeshifter let out a roar in triumph, startling the girls at how terrifyingly accurate fictional movies about how he sounded.

Twilight finished setting up her portal, typing away at her laptop to expand the lavender gateway. "Ok, let's hope I can get it wide enough and not cause a short or malfunction," she uttered to herself. Thankfully, there were no sparks as the portal grew taller and wider, big enough for the slingtails to go through. "There. That should be good enough."

While the shapeshifter carried the slingtails individually in his mouth, setting them down next to the portal, Scootaloo arrived with her camera, filming the green T-rex as he assisted the girls. "And now, we see the mighty T-rex build up his body pile to devour their flesh."

He heard the excited pre-teen, letting out a disturbed growl, clearly not interested in "devouring" something with a face. "Scootaloo, we told you to stay with the others!" Rainbow scolded, only to groan when she saw Fluttershy and Sunset not a moment later with Timber, Gloriosa, and the rest of the trio of troublemakers. "And we clearly wanted Timber Spruce and Gloriosa Daisy to be safe, too..."

"I saw everything, and I got it all on camera!" Scootaloo excitedly said, turning to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. "You two have GOT to see what he can do!"

"You three have seen enough!" Applejack scolded, marching over to her sister and her friends as they winced. "Y'all are gonna be grounded for the next year for doin' somethin' this crazy, and until y'all get it in your heads, ya AIN'T gonna go near anymore of these dangerous creatures to get internet fame!"

"Yes, Applejack," the trio simultaneously answered glumly, but Scootaloo kept aiming the camera at the green shapeshifter.

Before the T-rex tossed the beaten slingtails through the portal, Sunset made sure to ask Princess Twilight if a portal appeared anywhere in her world that could cause some chaos in any pony towns. After a while for a response, the princess gave the ok, and the king of dinos threw them through the portal. With the last one sent back to Equestria, Twilight closed up the portal before something else tried to come through, then shut it down and disassembled it back into her backpack.

"Nice work, big guy!" Rainbow complimented, then lifted her hand up. "Up top!" The T-rex stared down at her, letting out a deadpanned grunt, waving his stubby arms to emphasize they weren't meant for high-fiving. "...Oh. Forgot T-rexs' have short arms...Well, super awesome job, regardless!"

He simply nodded, then turned to walk off after rescuing the camp. He stopped when he felt something grab onto his tail, turning back to see Fluttershy had run up to him and held his tail.

"Wait, please don't leave," Fluttershy begged, clearly not wanting her savior to leave them again so suddenly. "I know you must not like being around other people, but you obviously care about protecting us from harm. We want to know you a bit more, and...if you want to...show us who you really are?"

The look on Fluttershy's face could make any straight-faced man melt, even a sentient shapeshifter who's a terrifying T-rex at the moment. Looking away from the animal caretaker, he saw the other girls were just as curious as Fluttershy, especially Scootaloo with her hand with the video camera strapped to it, wanting to see who the mysterious green creature really is. It was a difficult choice to reveal himself, but he broke when he looked at Fluttershy again, letting out a low grumble, sounding similar to a defeated sigh. Fluttershy was a bit startled when he transformed, losing her grip on the dinosaur tail as they all watched him shrink.

They were all surprised to see him shift into a human form, showing them his true self. He wore a full-body suit, mostly black while the center from the neck down lower waist was purple, a silver belt, silver gloves, and purple boots with black laces and black and silver soles. His face was completely concealed by a mask, the upper part purple with silver trimming on the sides and around the eyes while the rest was covered in a black cloth. The only part of his face that could be seen was his eyes, and he also had pointed ears that hid in the mask, pointing up to fit snugly against the sides of his head.

"The creature's...a person?" Scootaloo questioned. "Aww, man. That's lame. I thought it would be some kind of alien."

"Or he could still be a blob, but can turn into a person to hide his real identity!" Pinkie said, though her theory was still pretty far-fetched.

Ignoring Pinkie, Fluttershy was still amazed that her hero and ally the last couple weeks was a human with the power to turn into any creature still around today or even extinct. "Is this...what you really look like?" she asked out of curiosity.

"Yes. This is the real me," the hero said, deepening his voice despite it being a bit scratchy, trying to mask it and hide how he really talks.

"...Do you have a name?" Fluttershy asked.

His eyes glanced at the others, particularly Scootaloo, knowing full well she's "documenting" him, then looked back at Fluttershy. "Call me...Beast Boy."

A New Hero in Town

View Online

"...so be cautious on the highway if your commuting to the city today. Now, onto today's top story if you missed it this morning." A week had passed after taking care of the slingtails at Camp Everfree. Garfield overheard the news report from one of the student's phones as he walked down the hall to reach the cafeteria for lunch. "For the past few weeks, Canterlot City has been faced with some pretty mysterious creatures not of this region, or even this world. Witnesses have seen a group of teenage girls handle these dangerous beings, these girls enrolled at Canterlot High, where reports of even more mysterious events had occurred in the last couple years. But there appears to be someone else helping them, or perhaps, something?

"Just a week ago, more dangerous creatures had been sited in the mountain range near Camp Everfree. A video released by three young girls who caught sight of these creatures went viral, and views had skyrocketed upon being uploaded, reaching millions of views in a matter of days." The live report transitioned from the reporter to the video footage Scootaloo got from the tree with the battle against the slingtails, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Twilight Sparkle fighting them off, along with the reporter's main focus of his news story: the green shapeshifter turning into several different animals to fight them off. "There has been a sighting of this mysterious, shapeshifting being, changing into many different animals, but with different shades of green for their skin and fur. There were pictures of such a creature like this earlier on social media when another disaster struck Canterlot High with more enchanted monsters, which was a perfect representation of a saber-toothed tiger from the ice age."

There was a picture that took up the screen, showing the green saber-tooth with the girls and the timberwolves. It cut back to the video, where the cloud of dust cleared away after a slingtail was smacked out, revealing the green T-rex letting out a roar, the audio from the video playing, where everyone can also hear Scootaloo behind the camera squeal and laugh in awe.

"It seems as though this shapeshifter appears to turn into any kind of animal, including those that have become extinct several millions of years ago," the reporter continued. "What's shocking is what happens near the end, where we see just what this creature truly is."

It cuts back to the near end of the video, where the giant T-rex shapeshifts into a human being, his face concealed behind his mask and wore black and purple. "Do you have a name?" Fluttershy asked in the recording.

"Call me...Beast Boy," the young hero answered, the video ending with Beast Boy turning into a peregrine falcon and flew off.

"This young man who goes by the name Beast Boy; just who is this supernatural superhero? Where did this heroic vigilante come from? And will he show up again in more times of crisis with the otherworldly creatures?" The student's phone vibrated, cutting out the website showing the live news channel's report as a text window popped up.

"Man, I wonder who this Beast Boy guy is," they said while checking their texts. "Turning into any kind of animal sounds so awesome."

Garfield couldn't help but grin at the comment his superhero persona was given. He continued on his way to the cafeteria, hearing his fellow classmates discussing Beast Boy and what else the shapeshifter could turn into. Once he reached the massive dining hall, he spotted Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo with other students around their grade crowding them, basking in their "fame" with the video they posted. Eventually, their five minutes of fame will fade, and everyone's main focus would be on Beast Boy if he shows up to save the day. Granted, this would be a little nerve-wracking having to switch between two different personas without arousing suspicions, but he did miss being praised as a hero since he arrived here.

"Yeah, we were really there," Scootaloo gloated. "It was dangerous, but I was brave enough to get up close to those lizards. I call them slingtails, because they like to throw rocks with their tails."

"And she's lettin' this get way too over her head," Apple Bloom uttered to Sweetie Belle.

"Should we not mention our video was on the news earlier this morning?" Sweetie asked. "About that hero, Beast Boy?"

"Ah still can't believe the creature's actually a person with real superpowers," Apple Bloom said.

"So mysterious and brave," Sweetie Belle sighed dreamily. "Saving damsels like us in distress."

Garfiled chuckled and shook his head. "Already getting admirers, and one of them has to be a third of the troublesome trio." He got his lunch and sat down at a table, trying to keep his own ego in check so he didn't get careless and be found out as his hero persona. The girls met up with him after getting their lunches. "Looks like word spreads pretty fast around here if anything exciting kicks up."

"Ah really can't believe Scootaloo posted that video," Applejack grumbled. "That internet fame's gonna get to their heads, and they'll probably try to pursue that Beast Boy fella."

"Thank goodness he's been around helping us," Rarity added. "Sweetie Belle is definitely grounded for not telling our parents where she went and for almost getting herself killed, but I'm glad Beast Boy showed up and rescued the girls in time."

"Don't forget about Fluttershy the first time he showed up," Rainbow said. "He's certainly got a way with saving helpless girls in the nick of time."

"I wish we figured out just who he is," Sunset said, tapping her food with her plastic fork while pondering who their mystery hero was. "Changelings transform in a veil of green flames or aura, and the only way magic can be used in this world so far is our gems, the Dazzlings' gems, or normal items becoming enchanted with Equestrian magic leaking through the portals that appear. So, even if he was a changeling, I don't think it's possible for him to do so if he was here as a human."

"Should I try building another spectrometer and use it to see if there's any magical energy he uses to shapeshift?" Twilight asked. Her suggestion made the other girls freeze in shock, all eyes turning to her with disbelief. Realizing why they were staring at her like that, Twilight giggled timidly. "W-Well, I won't let it absorb magic and contain it like last time. It'll act just like a radar..."

"I think we'll find out why without another technological disaster, Twilight," Sunset said.

Garfield rolled his eyes, finding it amusing to hear them talk about how his powers worked as he took a sip of his soda. "Or, what if Beast Boy was a mutant, who was bitten by a radioactive monkey in a jungle somewhere, changing his DNA to become any sort of animal he wants!?" Pinkie theorized, making the Titan grunt and choke on his drink.

He sputtered and coughed, catching the girls' attention as he struggled to breathe. "You alright there, Garf?" Rainbow asked.

Once he caught his breath, he let out another cough. "Y-Yeah," he assured, his voice raspy his his soda stinging his throat. "W-Wrong pipe."

Fluttershy rubbed Garfield's back while he tried not to show just how closely accurate Pinkie's guess was, having no idea if they really are random or she knows far more than she does. "I doubt a 'radioactive monkey' would be able to survive radiation poisoning and live long enough to bite someone in a delirious rampage," Twilight stated. "Besides, radiation can cause very severe harm to any living creature: organ failure, brittle bone structure, or instantaneous death. Any of that DNA transference from anything made by science, alien technology, or even radiation is just made up, especially in superhero comics or movies."

"But there are superheros who get powers from magic," Rainbow corrected, showing off her magic gem. "We have magic, and we're heroes."

"Ah don't think what we have counts, Rainbow Dash," Applejack said.

"What about your theory that Beast Boy was supposed to be a blob, Pinkie?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well, that was before he showed his true form," Pinkie stated. "I bet he could really turn into a blob! With big googly eyes and a derpy smile!"

Garfield sighed in exasperation, shaking his head, taking a break from drinking his beverage before Pinkie shocked him with figuring out how he was born. "She's too much for me. Starfire would really get along with her."

"Who's Starfire?" Fluttershy asked.

"One of my friends back home," Garfield said. "She's just as kooky as Pinkie, but not that crazy. You can kind of say she's an alien, even though she's been hanging with me and my old friends for a few years, yet she still doesn't know how a microwave works." That got Fluttershy to giggle as she imagined Garfield's friend trying to figure out how to use a microwave. "I think you'd all like my other friends, too. The one I mentioned before who sounded like Twilight, her name's Raven, and she's a really big bookworm. There's also Robin, a pretty serious guy, but he's pretty cool and does some pretty sick martial arts moves. And there's-" Garfield paused, figuring out how to describe Cyborg. He knew his best friend was once shunned by his appearance with his roboticized body and got used to it as he's seen as a hero, but he didn't know how the girls would handle knowing someone like Cyborg is able to exist. "...Well, he goes by Stone, but we call him Cyborg since he likes messing with technology and robotic stuff. He's also my very best friend, and he's just as much a total gamer like me!"

"Maybe we can find a way to bring them here from Jump City to meet them," Sunset suggested.

"Heheh...Well, they all have pretty busy lives," Garfield said nervously. "Good luck trying to get them to come down with their busy schedules."

"If you can find a way to contact them and plan something for summer vacation, having them visit for a couple weeks and show them around Canterlot City," Twilight said. "And I'll even schedule times for the best date for their arrival and departure, tours, hanging out, and so on."

"Of course the egghead would do that," Rainbow teased, making the four-eyed teen glare at the athlete in annoyance.

"...That would be...fun," Garfield uttered, but he knew it was impossible trying to bring them here from another world if the portals are connected to Equestria.

The next few weeks were highly uneventful, which was a shame for Garfield, wanting to avoid doing a lot of homework from his classes. At least there weren't any random portals bringing in more species of creatures for him to deal with for now. There was also the harvest he helped Applejack and her family out with, gathering apples and bringing baskets of them to the barn. With the last of the trees cleared and every single ripe apple picked and stored away to be sold later, Garfield joined the Apple family to celebrate a successful harvest this year.

"Ya did pretty good out here with us, Garfield," Applejack said, both teens taking a breather on the porch with some glasses of apple juice. Winona napped at Garfield's feet, giving her a few pats when he felt her sidle closer to him in her sleep. "Wouldn't have been able to get through the season this year without your help."

"Even though I looked like I wasn't fit for farm work?" Garfield asked.

"Sure surprised us. Too bad it doesn't look like ya grew much muscle; you're still thinner than a branch on a tree." Garfield frowned, rolling up his sleeves and flexed his biceps.

"I have some muscle!" he argued while Applejack snickered at her teasing.

"Ah'm just messin' with ya," Applejack assured, but Garfield still held his scowl from the jab at his masculinity. "Well, with the harvest all done this year, Ah think mah family and Ah can handle everythin' else for the rest of the year."

Garfield stopped himself from taking another sip of his juice, saving himself from choking, but he didn't like how Applejack worded that statement. "...So...does that mean...I'm gonna be laid off?" he asked nervously.

"Now don't go thinkin' we're gonna fire ya because harvest season's over," Applejack corrected. "Next year, we'll give ya a call for help if we need it, but we don't need extra hands for some of the minor stuff we can easily do around the farm."

"Oh...so, I get paid leave?" Garfield asked hopefully.

"Not a chance," the farmer chided, nudging Garfield's arm. "But, if you wanna do some more work, Ah think Ah know the perfect place."

"Really?" he asked curiously. "Where?"

Fluttershy hummed a little tune as she tended to her animal friends in the shelter. Her own pet rabbit, Angel, tapped his foot impatiently, wanting his owner's attention, but she was too busy dealing with the sheltered pets than the spoiled bunny. She was interrupted from her work from the sound of the front door opening, the tinkling bell alerting her to visitors coming in.

"Fluttershy, y'all back there!?" Applejack called out.

She walked out to the reception area, surprised to see Applejack and Garfield. "Hi, you two. How's the harvest?" Fluttershy asked.

"All done until next year's," Applejack said. "But, since Garfield's gonna be on call until then for the next big harvest, Ah figured y'all could use an extra hand with the animals here at the shelter, what with how much of an animal whisperer he is like you."

"I should have guessed," Garfield mumbled.

"Oh. Do you want to work here, Garfield?" Fluttershy asked curiously.

"If there's enough room for me, I'll give it a shot," he said.

"And he can have me, Granny, or mah brother as a reference since he did such a good job with the livestock, and even figured out what got Winona all sick that day," Applejack added.

"I could use a working buddy who knows a lot about animals like I do...Let me just find an application and I'll give it to the owner after Garfield fills it out. Then, if the interview goes well, we could work the same shifts..." Fluttershy's cheeks began turning pink when she mentioned worked the same hours with Garfield. "...T-That is, if you want to..."

"As long as I don't exhaust myself lifting heavy stuff," he said, grabbing a pen from the reception desk. "Where's that application?"

A couple days after filling out his application to work at the shelter and getting an interview set up, the owner hired him after evaluating his responses and, at Fluttershy's behest, gave him the same hours she had for her shift. Fluttershy could easily handle the animals on her own, but they thought she could use a bit more human company to help build her social skills more. And the owner was a bit surprised seeing just how easily Garfield can handle animals, even with prior experience with the animals on the Apples' farm.

Fluttershy showed Garfield around on his first day, where everything else aside from the pet food was, and what else they do to properly care for the animals up for adoption. He was even introduced to her pet rabbit, Angel, but Garfield could clearly see he's not much of an angel as his name implied. Fluttershy asked Garfield to look after him for a bit while she groomed a few dogs in need of a haircut, and he learned the hard way how needy this little bunny was as his first test from Fluttershy. He tried feeding Angel a carrot, but the fussy rabbit kept smacking it away, along with any rabbit food or even crispy lettuce. And grooming him was also a pain, especially when it came to fluffing his tail. Garfield swore this rabbit was smarter than he seemed, always smirking as he was pampered like a spoiled prince. As much as he wanted to scare the living daylights out of Angel by turning into a fox and threatening to eat him for dinner, this rabbit was smarter than he seemed and would probably tell on Fluttershy about his shapeshifting powers. All he could do was just bend to his will and resist the urge to punt the annoying cute fluffball out the door.

With the days that passed as the two worked together, they got to learn some more about each other. If there was a critter acting up, Fluttershy would play her tambourine and calm them down with the jingling sounds from her instrument. Garfield was a bit shocked to see that she got a bit too into her playing, which activated her Equestrian magic and grew pony ears, a pair of pegasus wings on her back, and her long pink hair grew longer and looked like a tail. He did learn that the girls playing music released their magic and "ponied up" as they called it, but seeing the transformation in person was astounding to him. Music can definitely soothe the savage beast, along with a kindhearted girl who knows what they need to be comfortable.

One day, after school, Garfield and Fluttershy were busy cleaning up the shelter after taking care of the pets there today. Garfield swept the floors, humming and whistling a song he used to hear back in his world while he worked. Fluttershy brought her pet rabbit again, trying to be naughty as he hopped up onto the counter. He heard the snickering bunny near a box of treats for the dogs, turning to see Angel about ready to kick it over and dirty the floor.

"Hey, don't you dare do it, you little rodent," Garfield warned. Angel reared his foot back to kick the box over the edge of the counter, but Garfield ran toward him, quickly snatching him and holding the squirming rabbit in his arms. "You might get away with this at home, but not here while I'm working here as part of my job to keep it clean." Angel bit his hand, making the teen yell in pain and drop the fussy rabbit and fled. "What is wrong with that rabbit? Does Fluttershy spoil him rotten every day?"

Ignoring the freely roaming rabbit, Garfield went back to cleaning. He heard something fall with a thunk a while later, the sound of some kind of liquid flowing out of a bottle. It was one of the bottles of shampoo used to clean the pets when they get dirty, and the culprit was none other than Angel, who stuck his tongue out at Garfield and hopped away smugly. He let out a frustrated groan, needing to talk with the troublesome bunny one-on-one to see what his deal was with him. Just as he was about to get a mop to clean up the liquid soap, Fluttershy walked in, carrying a box of pet toys for the shelter animals to play with.

"How about after we tidy up, we play with the critters?" Fluttershy suggested, not paying attention to where she was stepping.

"Whoa! Careful, Fluttershy!" Garfield warned.

As she stepped in the small puddle, her foot slipped, letting out a startled yelp as she fell, tossing the box as toys flew up in the air. Garfield ran up to her right as she walked over Angel's mess, quickly catching Fluttershy before she landed on her back. He breathed a sigh of relief and helped her back up, only to step on a squeak toy underneath them, losing his own footing as he stumbled, making himself fall over with Fluttershy right behind him with a squeak. Both of them crashed to the ground, Garfield grunting in pain from the fall on the hard surface and Fluttershy landing on top of him.

"Oh my. I'm sorry," Fluttershy apologized. After recovering from the slip-up, she got up on her knees, hovering over Garfield as he groaned in discomfort. When he opened them, they both stared at each other awkwardly, Fluttershy feeling her heart skip slightly while looking into Garfield's emerald green eyes. Her cheeks began turning a shade of pink, flustered not only by hurting him while she nearly slipped, but also by being this up close to a boy who tried to help her from falling. She quickly stood up, her blush deepened to a bright red, stammering nervously as she looked away from him. "S-S-Sorry!"

"Ugh...No biggie," Garfield groaned as he sat up. He eyed the troublesome rodent, who was busy laughing his fluffy tail off after witnessing the hilarious pratfall his owner and new pampering slave had. "Your little bunny rabbit was the one who made us trip, knocking over that bottle of shampoo while I was trying to clean up in here." She looked at Angel, still laughing, making her sigh at her misbehaving pet's antics. "Does he despise everyone?"

"W-Well, Angel's not really...much trouble to take care of," Fluttershy mumbled. She looked down at the mess on the floor, avoiding Garfield's gaze as she carefully stepped around the scattered toys and spilled soap. "...I-I'm...gonna get the mop."

She carefully rushed to the supply closet, confusing Garfield with her vague answer. He let out a sigh, left to picking up the toys by himself, some of them needing to be washed so none of the pets tasted soap on what could be one of their favorite toys. After placing the toys back in the box and moving the now almost completely drained bottle of shampoo up on the counter, he turned to leer at the mischievous rabbit.

"You and I are gonna have some serious words, you little demon," Garfield said, but Angel blew a raspberry at him and hopped off, feeling satisfied with his annoyance quota.

"So, he came to your rescue, but he ended up slipping and you fell on top of him?" Rainbow asked with a laugh, the girls gathered at Sugarcube Corner as they heard from Fluttershy about what happened with Garfield that day at the shelter.

"It was...a little embarrassing," Fluttershy murmured, her cheeks bright red, even still after mentioning the awkward situation the other day. "I...kinda avoided him after that..."

Rarity had a knowing grin on her face as she read Fluttershy's facial expressions throughout her story. "Is it because...you're starting to grow a crush on Mr. Logan?" she asked, making the animal lover squeak in surprise at the claim, her blush burning even hotter. "Oh my goodness, you have a crush on Garfield!"

"I-I do?" Fluttershy asked timidly.

"Oh, it is so obvious, darling!" Rarity said. "You two are pretty close since he met you."

"Yeah, you both like animals, know a lot about them, can understand them better than anyone else, and you're both vegetarians!" Pinkie listed.

"Garfield probably can't understand critters as well as Fluttershy, but he sure does know what's wrong with them," Applejack said. "If you're busy, Ah'll let him see Winona if she gets sick again."

"So, are you gonna ask him out?" Sunset asked curiously. Fluttershy mumbled shyly, twiddling her fingers with her hair veiling her face. "Or, if you're too nervous, we ask him if he likes you and set you two up on a date."

"O-Oh, I-I don't know," Fluttershy uttered.

"I say we find him and ask him if he likes you right now," Rainbow suggested, making Fluttershy flinch, unsure about being upfront with Garfield so easily. The girls left after finishing their shakes, then headed out to find where Garfield was. "I wish Garf had a phone so we knew where he was at now."

"He should have enough at this point for a cheap one," Twilight pondered, running through the math of his paychecks from working with the Apples and the shelter the last couple weeks.

"Maybe we can chip in and get him one as a gift!" Pinkie suggested. "That way we can tell him through text what he missed out on, and Fluttershy can privately have a conversation with him if they start going out!"

The girls giggled as they teased Fluttershy some more. While searching for Garfield around stores they expected he would be at, they heard a commotion over in the alley between a couple stores.

"Hey, man, get off of her!" a young woman shouted while another screamed, both voices sounding familiar to the group of seven.

"Hey, wasn't that Vinyl Scratch?" Rainbow asked. Looking down the alley they heard the yelling from, they found a man veiling his face with a ski mask harassing the dubstep DJ they knew in school, white skinned with two-toned electric blue hair, and her more sophisticated, orchestraic friend, Octavia, grey-skinned with long black hair. The guy shoved Vinyl off of him while trying to defend Octavia, sending her falling on her back while trying to take something in Octavia's purse. "What's going on!?"

"A robbery!" Pinkie exclaimed, alerting the bandit and frustrating him with more witnesses catching him in the act.

"You just gotta make my day a whole lot harder!" he exclaimed angrily. He tugged the purse out of Octacia's hand, nearly ripping the strap off, and right as Rainbow and Applejack rushed the thief, he turned around and pulled out a handgun concealed under his black jacket. "Try anything and I'll kill you all right where you stand!"

Applejack and Rainbow froze, all the girls staring at the deadly firearm in fear. The threatening gaze through his mask's eye holes and a slight wave of his gun silently commanded all his hostages to get away from the street and get himself caught. The girls did so, keeping their hands up, not willing to risk getting shot. Twilight could have used her magic to swipe the gun away with her magic, but this was far more terrifying than some random beast from Equestria; she can't stop a speeding bullet going over 2500 feet per second compared to a wolf made of bark that only moved a slight fraction of that bullet.

"You won't get away with this," Rainbow grumbled, but the robber shoved the athlete toward Octavia, pushing the girls deeper down the alley.

"Try me, little girl," the man threatened. "Empty your pockets and put them down at your feet. Not letting you try to call the cops on me." After they were gathered, the girls slowly took out everything in their pockets and placed them on the ground in front of them: phones, wallets, keys, and from Pinkie, several bags of candy. The robber looked at the sugar-crazed party goer, who only giggled sheepishly in response. He then noticed the necklaces on some of the girls, interested in the price something that rare would fetch on the black market. "Hand over those necklaces."

"W-What? Y-You can't take these!" Sunset exclaimed, quickly shutting her mouth as the barrel of the robber's gun was pointed at her.

"That wasn't a suggestion," he warned. "Hand them over. Now." Sunset gulped, terrified being at the end of the firearm, only seeing these kinds of weapons in action movies, and those were fake to make the firefight scenes look realistic. She did as she was told, along with the others who were wearing theirs. Luckily, Rainbow's magic gem was in her wristband, and she wasn't planning on having her friends lose their Equestrian magic. Once he had six of the seven special gems placed in his hand, he held them up and examined them. "These things better be real expensive gems, or we're gonna have some problems."

"Oh, we've got a problem, alright," Rainbow muttered under her breath.

Taking a risky move, she activated her gem and rushed at the robber with blinding speed. Before he knew what happened, Rainbow tackled the man, knocking the wind out of him as he hit the ground, shocking her friends with her brash move as she tried to get the gun out of the robber's hand, the other accidentally flinging the necklaces out of the alley. He caught his breath, letting out a grunt as he grabbed Rainbow's wrist, twisting it painfully to get her to stop going for his gun. She yelled in pain, then grunted as he kneed her in the side, falling to her side as she clutched her side in pain.

"Rainbow!" the girls shouted, but they couldn't help her when the robber quickly got up, forcefully picked Rainbow up on her feet by her hair, then while keeping her in a headlock, aimed the gun at her temple.

"Don't any of you move!" he shouted aggressively, forcing them to step back, some of the teens in tears as they dreaded to see their friend die. "I don't know how you moved that fast, but what you did was pretty stupid, girl. I didn't want to get any blood on my hands, but since you're so disobedient, I just might resort to killing you if it'll get the message to your friends not to get on my bad side."

"P-Please don't kill her," Fluttershy pleaded, trembling fearfully.

"J-Just take everything we have and l-let us go," Octavia added.

"How can I trust you won't rat me out to the police if I just up and leave?" he questioned rhetorically. The girls all looked at each other, feeling absolutely helpless, even Rainbow as she stopped struggling. "Exactly. Once I'm far enough away, one of you girls are gonna call the cops once I'm far enough away. I'm not going to jail. No one's gonna save you."

"I guess these comics in this world aren't all that bad," Garfield said to himself as he left the comic book shop, buying himself a couple issues of some comics he took an interest in. "Useful reading material if there's nothing to do at the shelter...or maybe sneaking something to read in the middle of a boring class." He chuckled sadistically at the thought of getting away with hiding his comic behind a school book, looking interested while the teacher paid no attention to him. While walking down the sidewalk, wondering where else he could spend his alone time, he winced when he felt something hit his side. Looking at the thrown object, he raised a brow, kneeling down to stare at a few familiar necklaces. "Huh?...Aren't these...?"

He heard a grunt come from across the road, along with several girls crying out in shock. After hearing them calling out Rainbow Dash's name, thanks to his enhanced senses, he growled, clutching the necklaces and quickly ran into a nearby alley to privately change into his superhero persona. Once he was suited up and his mask was on, he turned into a falcon, flew up over the buildings, and found the girls being held hostage by a robber, Rainbow held in a headlock with a gun pointed to her head.

"I'm not going to jail," the robber said to his hostages, Beast Boy swooping down behind him, changing into another animal. "No one's gonna save you." Tapping the dangerous man's shoulder, he quickly turned around, his startled shock turning to confusion when he saw a green-furred kangaroo staring at him. "...What in the world?"

Rainbow knew who this marsupial was from its green fur and blank eyes, letting out a small laugh, irritating the robber. "Told ya your weren't gonna get away with this."

Growling, the man ignored the brash athlete's comment, pushing her back toward her friends while focusing the ill-looking kangaroo that escaped the city zoo. "What is with this thing's eyes?" he asked himself, the roo tilting its head curiously. "Eh. Go on...Shoo. Go back to...wherever you came from," he said, waving his hand at it to try to get it away. The kangaroo smacked his hand away, getting annoyed by the random wild animal, then pointed the gun at its head. "I think it's not feeling well. Better put it out of its misery." Quicker than her could react, Beast Boy smacked the robber's gun hard out of his hand, thankfully not discharging as it clattered to the ground. "Agh! You stupid-"

He tried to punch the shapeshifter, but Beast Boy ducked and weaved, teasingly holding his paws up in a boxer pose, bouncing slightly on his stronger legs. He gave swift jabs to the robber's face, chest, and abdomen, frustrating the robber in the most comical way possible. The robber yelled and tried to charge the marsupial, but Beast Boy leaned back on his tail, giving him a hard kick to the gut, pushing him in the air while knocking his own air out from his lungs. The shapeshifting hero started juggling the bandit, spinning him around with both feet, getting him dizzy while kicking him up in the air. One last kick sent the dangerous criminal flying into the wall, letting out a grunt, then slid to the ground with a pained groan.

Shaking his head, the robber noticed his gun nearby, but just as he reached out for it, he grunted when a black boot stepped down on his hand, the other kicking the firearm away from him. "Robbery, attacking high schoolers, and attempted murder with a deadly weapon." The masked man looked up, confused seeing a young, costumed teen boy standing over him, swearing he was attacked by a wild kangroo earlier. "I think you're gonna be seeing a lot of time in jail, buddy."

"W-Wha...?" he uttered. "W-Where's that...dumb animal?"

Beast Boy stepped off the man's hand, grabbed the collar of his jacket, then hoisted him up against the wall, slamming his back into it hard. "Right in front of you," he growled. "You're lucky I messed with you as a kangaroo. Or would you rather be mauled by a bear instead?" Giving the criminal a scare, Beast Boy turned into a grizzly bear, looming over the man as he looked up in terror at the dark green bear, letting out a roar right in his face. Several seconds of silence passed before the robber let out a frightened groan, passing out in fear with his head and limbs slumped down. Beast Boy dropped the man, turning back to normal, letting out a snide grunt in satisfaction before turning to address the nine victims. "Anyone hurt?" Quicker than he could react, Pinkie rushed her savior with a squeal and caught him in a bone-crushing hug, his eyes nearly popping out of his mask as he gasped for air. "Besides...me!"

"You saved us!" Pinkie praised, waving the helpless hero around, turning his bones into jelly as he was flailed around while in her powerful grip.

"Couldn't have picked a better time?" Rainbow questioned, rubbing her neck, definitely going to be feeling some bruises later.

Pinkie finally let go of the animal shapeshifter, making him collapse to the ground with a groan before being helped back up by her. "At least no one got seriously hurt, thank goodness," Rarity said. "But next time someone has, oh, I don't know, A GUN, can you just do as he says before he decides to shoot it!?"

"Let's just be glad it didn't get any worse," Sunset said, shuddering slightly, imagining how quick or agonizing it would have been getting shot would be. "Thank you, Beast Boy."

"Don't mention it." As the girls gathered back their belongings and Octavia called the police to have the robber and attempted murderer sent to prison, Beast Boy pulled out the magical necklaces the unconscious robber took from the girls. "I think these belong to the six of you. They were on the other side of the road while I was flying around and heard the commotion."

"Oh, thank goodness!" Rarity squealed, eagerly taking her necklace back while Sunset, Applejack, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie took theirs back. "Saving our lives and giving back what was stolen or lost. My hero."

She leaned toward Beast Boy and planted a smooch on his cheek. He was glad he was wearing a mask, otherwise they would have seen his green cheeks turn red with a heavy blush. He cleared his throat to compose himself, shifting his gaze while humbling accepting Rarity's gratitude, despite how awkward it was being kissed by one of his new friends.

"A-All in a day's work, miss," Beast Boy simply said, trying to keep his voice from cracking.

"Wait, before you leave as your signature falcon," Pinkie interjected before the hero turned to leave. "-...Can you turn into a few more animals for me?" she begged. Beast Boy stifled a sigh and kept himself from rolling his eyes, but he nodded, accepting the odd request for saving her and her friends' lives. "Yippie! Do...a monkey!" He did so, turning into a green chimpanzee. "Now a pony! A platypus! Opossum! Dolphin! A gerbil!" He went in order of Pinkie's requests, showing them, along with Vinyl and Octavia's transformations into green-skinned animals with blank white eyes. "Aaaaaaand...an alligator! With no teeth!" Beast Boy squeaked awkwardly, unsure if he can do a toothless alligator, but he complied to the best of his abilities, turning into the dangerous swamp dwelling reptile, but still bore the rows of razor sharp teeth as he hissed and showed his maw. "Whoa...Even the alligator's all green like the rest of his animal forms!"

A collective groan rang out in the alley, even Beast Boy let out an exasperated grumble at the oddest statement Pinkie's ever made. "Pinkie, alligators are reptiles; their natural skin is already green."

"Oh. Right!" After entertaining Pinkie enough, Beast Boy turned into a falcon and flew off, watching police cars roll up and take unconscious, scared silly robber away, just in case he woke up and tried pulling a fast one.

He flew back to the alley where he changed back to Garfield, making sure no one saw his falcon form swoop down in the alley. He managed to get a glimpse of the robber, now awake, completely hysterical while trying to tell the officers he was attacked by a teenager who turned into animals, and got beaten up by a kangaroo, but the cops weren't buying his story, one car hauling him to jail while the other police duo made sure the girls were ok, both physically and mentally. After double checking to make sure they were unharmed and suggesting calling their parents to pick them up, the other officers left to continue their rounds. Garfield crossed the road, making sure to watch for any cars, meeting up with the girls.

"Hey, what just happened?" he asked curiously. "I just saw the police cars while walking down the road."

"...We were almost robbed," Applejack said. "And Rainbow, gettin' a bit too hot-headed, almost got herself shot tryin' to fight back against a normal person. With a gun."

"Oh, jeez." Garfield cringed, pretending he had no idea, but he was lucky he was there in the nick of time. "So, did the cops save you?"

"It was actually that Beast Boy kid we saw in that video," Vinyl said. "And we saw him turn into just about everything. Kinda funny when that guy was juggled by him as a kangaroo, but not after..." The DJ paused, swallowing the lump in her throat, Garfield clearly seeing all the girls still shaken up by something in their world that was far worse than a dangerous creature from another one. After recovering from her daze, she grabbed her headphones and placed them over her ears. "I-I gotta get my mind off what happened. I'm gonna blast some beats, go home, and lie down."

"I'll tag along," Octavia said, surprising her friend, who was the polar opposite in enjoying certain genres of music. "I really don't want to be alone after...that..."

Vinyl nodded in agreement, the two friends heading off to the DJ's home and try to forget about today. Garfield walked his friends back home, knowing they were going to need a bit of time to recover from such a terrifying event. After taking Applejack, Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, and Sunset back to where they lived, he escorted Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash to Fluttershy's address.

"Hey, Rainbows!" Rainbow winced, recognizing the voice it came from before letting out an irritated groan. At the address where Fluttershy lived, lounging on the porch was a teal-skinned person, wearing something from the seventies that seemed far worse than the first outfit choice Garfield found in the school his first day here, which only made it worse with his dirty blonde hair in a man-bun. He strutted his way toward them, Rainbow letting out another annoyed groan, looking away from his flirtatious gaze. "Fancy seeing you around."

"Zephyr, not now," Rainbow growled. "I'm not in the mood for any of your advances, which are NEVER going to work."

"Oh, so this is that Zephyr you mentioned in your roommate notice," Garfield uttered.

"Ah, I see. My good looks and charm are enough to make your heart pitter-patter," Zephyr said, clearly oblivious to Rainbow dismissing his stubborn flirting.

"Zephyr, stop," Fluttershy said bitterly, surprising Garfield hearing her sounded irritated for the first time since meeting her.

"Aww, come on, Flutters, you can't deny the connection I have with Rainbows," Zephyr said, then eyed Garfield. "...Unless that kid's seeing her, which, I doubt he stands much of a chance compared to-"

"GO INSIDE, ZEPHYR BREEZE!!!!!" Fluttershy shouted, startling him, Garfield, and Rainbow with her outburst. Zephyr grimaced, then slowly backed away before turning about and running inside. Fluttershy breathed heavily, turning back to face Rainbow and Garfield, who both blinked in stunned silence. Garfield could still see she was shaken up about earlier, Zephyr Breeze's annoyance hitting a nerve with her after mentioning him and Rainbow dating. "...S-Sorry...M-My brother's...kind of a pain sometimes."

"...He's your brother?" Garfield asked. He put the pieces together after Rainbow mentioned him as his best friend's brother, and Fluttershy was her best friend out of the other girls. "...Well, that's...interesting. And he apparently really has a thing for you, huh, Rainbow Dash?"

"Don't remind me," Rainbow grumbled. "I just wanna run for the hills anytime I see him and his dumb face. He thinks I'm playing 'hard-to-get', but he's too stupid to realize I don't like him."

"I see..." Garfield turned to Fluttershy, who seemed conflicted, holding herself while deep in thought. He gently placed his hand on her shoulder, startling her and snapping her out of her head. "Hey, it's alright, Fluttershy," he assured. "Just go inside, take a cold shower, and do something to distract yourself, like beat up your brother for being a nuisance." That got her to smile a little, even though she wouldn't go as far as hit her brother, being far too nice to harm anyone. "If you need someone to talk to, I'll hear you girls out."

"O-Ok," Fluttershy murmured, hiding behind her hair as she concealed the light blush on her cheeks.

"Speaking of talking, we were trying to find you earlier to know if you can get a cell phone right now," Rainbow said.

"Uhh...I think I can get a cheap one," Garfield said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, seeing how much he had on him. "Yeah, I've been saving enough, I think, even with the 'outrageous' rent you have me pay."

"Hey, it's not THAT expensive," Rainbow argued, despite Garfield's teasing chuckles. "Well, if you can get one today, you can get our numbers so we don't have to figure out where you are in town if you're by yourself."

"Ok, I'll head back before the shops close and see if I can get a decent one," Garfield said. "You good going back home by yourself, though?"

"Super speed, dude," Rainbow said, showing off her gem. "I can get back home in ten seconds flat."

"I'll see you back home, then," Garfield said. Before he left, he surprised Fluttershy with a hug, her face turning beet red in surprise with a stifled squeal, feeling him gently pat her back in reassurance. "You're gonna be ok, Fluttershy. I know it was pretty scary what you and the girls went through, but if you need an ear to talk to, I got two ready and waiting."

Fluttershy looked at Rainbow Dash, who wore a cheeky smirk as she watched her reaction. Garfield let go of Fluttershy, keeping her head low with her hair covering the heavy blush on her face as the teen ran off with a wave back to town to get himself a phone.

"Well, that seems to prove how much of a soft spot he has for you," Rainbow snickered. "You're gonna ask him out, right?"

"I-I-I d-don't k-know," Fluttershy stammered, her hands playing with her long bangs timidly as she glanced back at Garfield.

"Either you ask him, or he's gonna, or I'll back you up as your wingwoman and convince him to go out with you on a date," Rainbow said. Fluttershy mumbled something, but Rainbow took it as a maybe and gently smacked her friend's back playfully with a giggle. "Sounds like a plan. But, for now, I'm gonna head home and see how Tank's doing. Later, Flutters."

Rainbow dashed away with her superspeed, heading back home and leaving Fluttershy to herself, her heart pounding in her chest from the caring embrace Garfield gave her. "...O-Oh...my..."

Mall Time Disaster

View Online

"Oh man! I can't wait to get my hands on this new 'Ultimate Warrior Showdown'!" Garfield excitedly said.

"Me too!" Rainbow added. "A whole new roster of fighters, AND a demonic villain who's supposed to be even worse than the last guy!"

"Sweet!" Rainbow and Garfield continued to talk about the newly released game as the group carpooled together to the mall.

"We're going to be hearing this all day, aren't we?" Twilight asked. "I really don't get these dumb, violent fighting games. Why can't there be more educational ones?"

"Then that would be like learning stuff in school," Sunset said. "I mean, there are some games with challenging puzzles, although they also have some action or a strict time limit to complete them."

As they got closer to the mall, Rarity looked through her phone to see if the mall's theater was playing anything good today. She talked with the others days before their little outing, figuring out a way to get Fluttershy hooked up with Garfield, and the best way was a scary movie, with the girl clinging onto her man at a horrifying scene or a jumpscare for protection. Even though Fluttershy won't be fond of watching creepy, terrifying, or gory scenes, she'll at least be able to hold onto Garfield and be a small step closer to upgrading their relationship from friends to a lovely couple.

They finally arrived after finding a decent parking spot, the lot nearly filled with many other gaming fans, frequent shoppers, moviegoers, or groups wanting to hang out in the mall's food court for the day. The inside of the massive building was packed, many different stores bustling with activity, some of the security on staff wandering about to make sure no one caused any trouble.

"Man, this mall is huge," Garfield said. Being guided by the girls, they found the game store that had the game he desperately wanted to try out. There were cutouts of some of the characters and a couple banners to announce the hyped game of the year, though the doors were closed while employees inside were getting things ready for what they expect to be a busy rush. There was already a lone of people waiting for the store to open, most of them teens who can't wait to buy "Ultimate Warrior Showdown". "Oh boy...it's gonna be a while until it opens. I hate waiting!"

"How about we watch a movie until it does?" Rarity suggested, getting knowing looks from all but Fluttershy.

"Yeah! And movie theater popcorn and candy is always the best!" Pinkie added.

"Ooh! Is the new 'Cutie Critter Crew' movie playing today!?" Fluttershy asked excitedly.

"I don't think so, but there's a better one I found," Rarity said.

"What is it?" Fluttershy asked.

"W-W-W-We're...w-watching t-t-t-this!?" Fluttershy shivered frightfully, the gang reaching the theater and her enthusiasm gone with a pale face after Rarity asked the clerk for tickets to a horror movie: "The Dead Rise Again"

"Sweet! A zombie movie!" Garfield cheered. "I don't care if I didn't see the prequel yet! I love horror movies!"

"We should have a sleepover marathon and watch all the scary movies we can get our hands on," Rainbow suggested.

"N-No thank you!" Fluttershy squeaked, still shaking as they got in line to get some snacks at the concession stand.

After getting their popcorn, candy, and drinks, Pinkie with both arms full of goodies, they found the room where their movie was playing, trailers for future films already underway before getting to what everyone wanted to see. After finding a few empty seats, Rarity made sure that Garfield and Fluttershy sat beside each other, ensuring that Fluttershy would only grasp onto her crush and neither of them, or someone else who sat around them. Things seemed to be going ok at first, but when the creepy and scary zombies and monsters in the movies started showing up, instead of Fluttershy screaming and holding Garfield, he did the exact same thing. It was the least masculine thing any of the girls have seen someone like Garfield do, and his shrieking sounded more like Fluttershy's as they both held each other in fear. Rarity grumbled, her expected romantic gesture she expected ended up flopping because of the green teen's cowardice for scary movies after saying how much he likes the genre.

Once the movie was finally over, with a promise of a sequel after a shocking twist at the end, everyone filed out, ignoring their other fellow audience members commenting on the film. "Well, that has to be the most humiliating thing I've seen," Rarity grumbled.

"I thought it was pretty spooky!" Pinkie said. "But can't they come up with another idea of how the infection starts besides some dangerous chemicals 'accidentally' leaking out when someone tries to take the scientist's work?"

"I was talking about Garfield," Rarity corrected, the young man she mentioned now all giddy after watching the movie while Fluttershy was still shaking like a leaf.

"Well, they were both holding each other when the zombies started popping in out of nowhere," Rainbow mentioned, making sure the future couple didn't hear them. "Doesn't that count?"

"But it's not romantic!" Rarity seethed, gritting her teeth irritably. "Ugh...I swear, whatever's going on in that boy's head is worse than what goes on in Pinkie's. No offense, darling."

"Eh, even I don't know what goes on in my head half the time," Pinkie said, shrugging off the comment.

"You all have no idea," Sunset grimaced, still recalling the first, and last time ever, delving into Pinkie's head when she discovered her unique magic power.

"We'll have to come up with a plan B," Rarity said.

"Or maybe we should let them get together on their own instead of tryin' to hook them up on blind dates they ain't aware of," Applejack said.

"But Fluttershy's not used to talking with others, let alone a boy she has a crush on," Rarity whined. "And Garfield...well, boys can be a bit dense when it's obvious a girl likes him. And he's one of those kinds of boys."

"Is that why you don't have a date?" Rainbow asked teasingly.

Rarity gasped, turning to glare at Rainbow with her fuming red. The others laughed at her reaction, though it was her fault for stating what she believed was a fact, and she had her own share of crushes that failed to notice her and her flirting, at least when she did it on purpose to get her way. The group left the theater and made their way to the game store, where a huge line formed, the store now opened and filing customers went in to buy the new release or any other games they had on their shelves.

"Hope they have enough copies before we get up there," Garfield uttered to himself. As he reached into his pockets, the one where he kept his wallet was empty. Yelping, he patted down his pants, only feeling his new phone. "Oh, shoot! My wallet must have fallen out of my pocket during the movie! H-Hold my spot in line! I'll be right back!"

"And if one of us has to buy the game for you if you don't make it back, you're paying us back!" Rainbow called out as Garfield was already sprinting back to the movie theater.

Slowly, the line moved, customers ahead of them ecstatic of their new game or the featured new release that was announced. The girls managed to reach the store entrance, where they heard someone discussing different games, old classics, game developers, and updates or new releases this year or in the coming year everyone's been waiting for.

"Almost there," Sunset excitedly said. "Hope Garfield gets back quick. Not sure how many copies are left."

Suddenly, the television sets in the store started to break into static, interrupting some important news regarding the new game to many fans' disappointment. "Hey, what's going on?" one of the employees questioned, grabbing a remote and tried fixing the problem, to no avail.

The static finally faded, only to have a portly looking young man standing in place of the person who was on the screen earlier. He wore a black overcoat, the shoulders shaped more like shoulder guards on a set of armor with the top being a silverish-gray, a tan vest with a brown shirt underneath, a brown sash worn across his chest, which held what looked like small T.V. guides, brown fingerless gloves, brown pants, and tannish-gray boots. His orange hair was in a sort of mullet style, both sides of his long, upper-back length hair draped over his shoulders, part of the back of his hair tied in a ponytail that was almost hard to notice, and jagged sideburns.

"Greetings, fellow gamers!" the mysterious person interrupted. "We interrupt your regularly scheduled gaming news to bring you this!"

"What the heck happened?" the manager questioned, clearly upset with someone tampering with their store's electronics.

"Do not adjust your sets! I'm in full control now!" the young man said. "This mall now belongs to me: Control Freak!"

"Uhh, is this some kind of practical joke?" Pinkie asked. "Because this is a weird prank."

"This is not a joke!" Everyone looked at the screens in shock, able to hear them, even though they have no idea where the show was broadcasting from. "Now, I want you all to bow down before me, or face my wrath!" The store was silent for a few seconds, only to be followed by uproarious laughter. Control Freak glowered at them, his eye twitching before his frown turned into a wicked smirk. "Very well, then. Behold the power I possess, plebeians!"

Pulling out a black remote controller with red buttons from under his coat, he aimed it at them, pressing a button with a flash coming from the end. Another flash lit up the cutouts of the warriors from the new game: a knight in gold armor with a spear and shield, a ninja in a black full-body gi, a brutish barbarian wielding a massive hammer, and a dark samurai wielding a katana. Their eyes began glowing red, and they started to move, startling those who were standing beside the cutouts as they swung with their held weapons. Everyone screamed in panic, fleeing the store and the living warriors coming to life, along with the cash registers and video game cases Control Freak manipulated to life with his powerful remote.

"Quick, everyone get out of here!" Sunset quickly ordered, even though most of them were already thinking that the moment video game character cutouts came to life and swiped at them. Once the girls filed out after the customers and employees, Control Freak transported himself from the T.V. and appeared inside the store, cackling darkly as he investigated the racks of games he didn't animate with his remote. "Just who is this guy!?"

"And what kind of magic is he using to make everything come to life!?" Twilight asked.

"Whatever it is, he's not taking over the mall!" Rainbow said.

Control Freak walked out with his warrior entourage, along with some of the games he stole. "Huh. Some of these titles and box covers aren't all that different from what we have back in our world. Interesting."

"Hey!" Rainbow called out. Control Freak looked up, only to yelp in shock when a rainbow blur whizzed by, smacking aside the ninja cutout. Rainbow skid to a halt alongside her friends, each of the girls with their defensive magic ready to stop this mysterious villain. "Your not going anywhere, buddy!"

"What the-? Did you just...?" Control Freak growled irritably after nearly getting sideswiped by the super swift teen. "I thought this place didn't have any superpowered teens, but I guess I had my hopes up too high."

"Put everything back where they were and leave, or prepare for a whooping, tubby!" Rainbow taunted.

"I'm not fat! I'm big-boned!" Control Freak stated. "And if you think I'm just going to give up to a bunch of girls, think again! Attack, my minions!"

The four cutout warriors let out battle cries and charged toward the girls, along with the monster games and registers from the game store.

"Ugh. Come on, wallet," Garfield muttered, looking around where they sat in the theater to find his missing wallet. Thankfully, the next screening wasn't for another half hour, and the ushers let him in after explaining his situation. He found it under his seat, breathing a sigh of relief as he picked it up. "Must have slipped out while I was freaking out with Fluttershy. I gotta ask Rarity if she can find me some pants with pockets that aren't so loose."

He left the theater room with his wallet safely tucked in his pocket, whistling joyfully in eagerness, ready to get his new game and play it until late in the night. Right as he was about to leave, he heard screams coming from outside. Through the glass windows of the movie theater's entrance, he was surprised to see several inanimate objects roaming around, terrorizing the mall shoppers, and his friends were going around stopping these living items and rescuing the helpless civilians.

"Everything's coming to life!" he heard someone scream as they ran past the movie theater.

"Everyone get out of the mall!" Sunset ordered, escorting everyone along with Fluttershy, the others left to deal with the living electronics, toys, and even food.

"What is going on out there?" Garfield asked, finding this random attack somehow familiar to him. He then heard a familiar laugh, and when he saw who it belonged to, his jaw literally hit the floor in both shock and disbelief. Causing trouble with a familiar-looking remote control that made anything he pointed at come alive with a click was the Teen Titans' "arch-enemy", Control Freak. "Control Freak!? What's he doing here!? And HOW did he get here!?"

Shaking out of his stupor, Garfield quickly ran into the theater's bathroom, thankfully keeping his backpack on him as he suited up to deal with the worst villains he and his friends had faced, and worse is considered an insult with how ridiculous Control Freak's idea of being evil is with his intellect. After donning his superhero persona and his mask, Beast Boy snuck out of the stalls as a fly after locking the one he dressed up in, leaving the theater and flew up to a higher vantage point.

"Keep trying all you want!" Control Freak mocked, watching his huge assortment of minions attacking the magically gifted girls. "Soon, my new comrades and I will take over this world, and with no Teen Titans to mess it all up like they always do!"

Beast Boy dove down as a falcon, letting out a screech, alerting everyone and everything to his presence, then slammed down on the barbarian cutout as a gorilla, ironically squishing the heavily-muscled warrior into a crumbled heap. "Think again, Control Freak!"

"B-Beast Boy!?" Control Freak shrieked in surprise. "W-What are YOU doing here!?"

"That's what I want to know!" Beast Boy exclaimed.

"Wait, you two know each other?" Applejack asked.

"He's not exactly a friend," Beast Boy said. "He claims to be the greatest supervillain, but of all the technology he could come up with his so-called 'higher intelligence', he wastes it on that remote that makes anything around him come to life."

"So, instead of a doomsday device, he makes a remote control to make inanimate objects come alive and cause trouble?" Twilight summarized.

"Kinda lame if you ask me," Rainbow said.

"I AM NOT LAME!!!!" Control Freak screamed, flailing his arms angrily. "I am the Teen Titans' arch enemy!"

"No. Not even close," Beast Boy said irritably.

"And...what he's using isn't magic?" Sunset asked.

"Look, I'll explain everything later," the shapeshifting hero interjected. "We gotta get that remote out of Control Freak's hands before he does anything more annoying than make cutouts come to life."

"I'd like to see you try when you're in my domain!" Ordering his other cutout warriors and technological minions to attack, he quickly fled to one of the shops in the mall to recruit more appliances and objects.

"Oh, no you don't!" Beast Boy chased after Control Freak, only to get tripped up by the samurai cutout's sword.

The techno-nerd villain reached a nearby electronics store, several clicks of his remote bringing many T.V.s, refrigerators, microwaves, and more appliances to life, increasing his massive army. He sent them to fight the girls and Beast Boy, the shapeshifter ripping through the other warrior cutouts as a rhino. As Control Freak walked past a candy store, he yelped as his feet suddenly lit up with explosions, Pinkie walking out from the store with a massive variety of candies to use.

"You may make living things come to life, but I can make candy explode!" Pinkie gloated. "You walked into the wrong domain, Freaky Controller!"

"It's 'Control Freak'," Control Freak corrected. "But if you like candy so much, let's see if you like getting bitten back."

Aiming his remote, the light flashed with a click. In Pinkie's hands, the candy she held glowing before stirring, startling her as she dropped them. They now had faces, their growls high pitched and almost cute, but Pinkie didn't find it cute when they all began swarming her and bit into her skin.

"OW! Hey! Candy, too!?" she exclaimed, yelping as she shook them off, fleeing from her own ammunition with all the assorted candies chasing after her.

"Like I said, this mall is MY domain! I control EVERYTHING!!!!" Control Freak cackled, then continued casually wandering to the other stores.

Fighting the bigger appliances were more of a hassle for the girls than the game cases, registers, and the now destroyed cutouts Beast Boy tore through. The T.V.s shot out sparking cables, lunging them at the teens to either bind them or shock them. Rarity unfortunately got hit by the latter, the electric shock frizzing out her hair into a poofy mess. Enraged, she summoned her diamond shields, forcefully shoving the shocking appliances away from her, not caring if they had to pay the stores for damaging their electronics.

"When I get my hands on that overweight nerd, he's going to pay for ruining my hair!" Rarity shrieked.

Applejack winced, feeling something trying to crawl up her boot. "What in tarnation!?" She saw one of the animated candies growling as it climbed up her boot to sink its small fangs in the farm girl's leg. Applejack grabbed the jawbreaker between her fingers, staring at the squirming hard candy in befuddlement. "He's able to bring food to life, too!?"

"Yup. He can make ANYTHING come to life," Beast Boy said.

"Well, that's...kinda disturbin'," Applejack uttered. She looked back at the jawbreaker. "Not such a good little minion if we can just eat you, aren't ya?" she asked the candy with a smug grin, making it shriek as it continued to squirm away.

Right as she was about to pop the jawbreaker in her mouth, Beast Boy quickly snatched it out of Applejack's hand, threw it on the ground, and shapeshifted into an elephant, crushing the hard candy to pieces before reverting back to normal. "Bad idea," he said.

"OWIE! Bad candy! Bad candy! I'm not food! You are!" Pinkie screamed, still being chased by the horde of candies. Having gotten bitten enough, she growled, snatching two big handfuls of the evil sweets. "That's it! Behold the power of my sweet tooth, evil goodies!"

"Wait, Pinkie!" Beast Boy tried to warn, but it was too late as Pinkie scarfed down both handfuls. The hero teen let out a sigh, facepalming and shaking his head. "Oh boy. Not a good idea."

"Why is it such a bad thing?" Applejack asked.

Pinkie licked her lips, humming in thought with a wide grin. "Who knew evil could make sweet candy taste delicious!?" The other candies shrieked in terror, fleeing from the candy-loving girl. Unfortunately, Pinkie's grin didn't stay long, her stomach grumbling loudly as her face went from light pink to green. "...Bathroom."

Faster than Rainbow Dash could run, Pinkie sped off to the nearest bathroom, her vomiting able to be heard in the central halls of the mall, making the girls cringe. "Oh. Now Ah see what ya mean," Applejack grimaced.

Beast Boy hung his head with a groan, then quickly got back to focusing on catching Control Freak. "Where did that-? LOOK OUT!" He quickly shoved Applejack away from another T.V.'s electric cables, getting smacked in her place and sent flying into a video store. Smacking into a shelf, he let out a groan, rubbing his head as he stood up. When he opened his eyes, Beast Boy noticed a cardboard cutout nearby, his eyes popping out of his mask at the familiar creature on it. In tattered robes, the raised hood barely showing anything underneath but a piercing red eye, and tentacles writing from underneath, it was the very same demon from the movie "Wicked Scary" back home, even bearing the same title on the side. "No way! "Wicked Scary"!? It exists in this world!?"

"I know!" Control Freak said, geeking out along with Beast Boy as he slid up beside the shapeshifter. "This world has many things similar to what we have back home! Maybe a few differences here or there, but I'm dying to see what they did with this movie, and its alternate ending and deleted scenes!"

"Cool!" The two stared at the cutout for a moment, only for Beast Boy to raise a brow curiously. "Wait, why do I have a feeling of deja vu?" Control Freak smirked, using his remote to make the demon monster come to life, then zipped off to cause more trouble. "Oh, yeah. Now I remember." The demon growled, its cardboard tentacles whipping about as it menacingly approached the Teen Titan. "You know, I've faced worse monsters. Trigun makes you look like an ant."

Shifting into a bear, Beast Boy tore the cardboard apart, barely able to do much aside from look and sound intimidating. Outside, Twilight tossed the appliances back with her telekinesis, keeping them away from the frightened mall employees and shoppers while Fluttershy and Sunset escorted them out the doors. Rainbow easily sped past the growing number of animated minions, catching up with Control Freak at a book store, who was skimming through a Daring Do book, curiously reading a bit of this world's style of adventure mystery novels.

"You can't run forever, Control Freak!" Rainbow said.

"You know, this Daring Do chick is quite the adventurer," he said to himself, ignoring the rainbow-haired teen before glancing up at her. "Ever wonder what it's like to meet your idols face to face?"

"Uhh, why'd you ask something so-?" Out of nowhere, Rainbow was kicked hard by something, sending her staggering over. When she saw what struck her, she was shocked to see a Daring Do cutout come to life, though the fictional explorer's eyes were red like the other living objects Control Freak created. "Oh, you have got to be kidding!"

"I know! There's no possible way someone can escape a trapped room while tied up, walls closing in, sand spilling into the room, and while poisonous snakes are crawling through the holes in the wall and toward her!" Control Freak exclaimed, heavily engrossed in the story's scene he picked at random.

"You're a massive dork," Rainbow muttered under her breath. The Daring Do cutout quickly lunged toward Rainbow Dash, pulling off swift and surprisingly strong jujitsu moves for being being a flat, drawn-out character. Rainbow ducked and blocked the evil Daring's punches and kicks, unable to get closer to Control Freak as he wandered off, stealing the book in the process. "Darn it! Why don't you fight us for real instead of-WHA!?"

The Daring cutout grabbed Rainbow's arm, flipping her over onto her back, then caught her in an arm lock. So far, the group wasn't making much progress stopping the appliances, snacks, and miscellaneous items Control Freak brought to life with his remote, and more and more were being made with each shop he walks by.

"This is insane! How can we stop him!?" Sunset questioned.

"There's so many," Fluttershy whimpered.

Both girls screamed when several flying books headed toward them, only to be smacked away a green pterodactyl wing, Beast Boy letting out a screech before turning back to normal. "There's a way we can stop him! We did it before with my old team when we first fought him! Does this mall have a sprinkler system in case of fires?"

"It should," Sunset said, getting Beast Boy's idea. "Of course! If Control Freak is doing all this with that remote of his, short-circuiting it should cut off its power and turn everything back to normal!"

"Right!" Beast Boy said with a nod.

"Let's find Pinkie Pie and have her cause enough of a blast around the sprinklers to set them off!" Sunset said.

Her plan was doomed to fail before it even began when she and Fluttershy spotted Pinkie exiting the girls' bathroom, clutching her stomach, looking like she was going to hurl again. Her cheeks bulged as the evil candy was coming back up, quickly running back in the bathroom.

"Umm, I don't think Pinkie's going to be much help right now," Fluttershy pointed out.

"Ok, then," Sunset muttered. "Well, maybe we can pull a fire alarm, and that can set off the sprinklers instead."

"Worth a shot." Beast Boy scanned the area, though it was obvious a fire alarm wouldn't be out in the open if children could pull them out of curiosity. "Hope the others can keep everything distracted until I find one." Shifting into a cheetah, Beast Boy roared and dashed off, weaving around electronics trying to stop him as he sprinted through the mall. After a bit of searching, he found one down one of the emergency exits, quickly shifting back to normal and ran straight for the emergency lever while being chased by a flock of books. "Please turn on the sprinklers when I pull you!"

Once he grabbed onto the fire alarm lever, he gave it a hard pull, a bell ringing loudly throughout the massive building. The sprinklers turned on a moment later, where the hero was pelted by the flying books before getting drenched by the emergency sprinkler system. Control Freak grimaced, unable to hide his remote in time, shorting it out, along with his army as the electronics sparked and his control on his inanimate army ceased, every single object dropping all around the mall. Rainbow pushed the soaked cutout of Daring Do off her, relieved that the techno-geek's power was cut off thanks to every electronic's weakness: water.

"Ahh! Not again!" Control Freak grumbled, pressing every button, but nothing worked, just like his first defeat against the Teen Titans. "I need to invest in a waterproof casing for my remote!"

Hearing a roar, Control Freak turned in time to see a green lion charge toward him, letting out a girly shriek as Beast Boy rammed into him, slamming him to the ground. Pinning the defeated "villain" down, Beast Boy turned back to normal, snatching Control Freak's remote out of his hand, admitting defeat as the other girls, not including Pinkie, surrounded him.

"You're busted, dude," Rainbow growled, cracking her knuckles, ready to clock Control Freak for what he did to her.

"I'm starting to hate being a villain if I keep getting beaten," Control Freak muttered.

"And out of the others I've faced before, you're just the worst kind of villain to face," Beast Boy said. He then grabbed Control Freak by the collar of his shirt, picking him up and threateningly holding him. "Now, start talking, Control Freak. My friends and I put all of you who were part of the Brotherhood of Evil in jail after stopping The Brain."

"You know, prisons don't really keep bad guys in jail for long unless they find a way to break out," Control Freak stated. "Even I can with the right tools."

"Or someone else broke you out!" Beast Boy said. "You mentioned comrades. What group are you working with this time, and how did you get here!?"

"I'll never tell!" Control Freak exclaimed.

"Applejack, can you bend his arm behind his back?" Beast Boy requested. "Just not too hard. We don't want to break his remote hand."

"Oh, sure," Control Freak scoffed, Applejack gladly stepping behind the villain. "Like any of these girls can do any harm to-" Applejack quickly grabbed Control Freak's right arm, pulling it behind him and put a lot of pressure, making the villain yell out in pain, surprising him with how easily she locked him when he tried to break out of her grasp. "AHHHH! OW! L-LET GO!"

"Just so ya know, sugarcube, Ah've got quite a lot of strength," Applejack stated, putting a bit more pressure on Control Freak's arm, making him whimper as he grimaced in agony. "I really could just break it off, but you're lucky Ah ain't that kinda gal."

"OK! OK! YOU WIN! J-JUST DON'T BREAK MY ARM!" Control Freak pleaded. Applejack let go of his arm, still held by Beast Boy while rubbing his sore limb. "Just so you know, I'm not going to be the only familiar face you'll see. I was basically the test runner for his experimental portal."

"Whose portal?" Beast Boy demanded. "What are you talking about?"

"About a couple months ago, there was a strange fluctuation of energy outside the city back in our world. I was brought on board along with the others to help build a device to replicate that same energy, which happened to be a portal to another world," Control Freak explained, startling Beast Boy.

"A portal?" he asked nervously.

"I mean, it's not really much of a surprise with dimensional portals being made in our world, but this world seemed so much easier to take over," Control Freak continued. He glanced at the girls, Rarity still leering at him for her living flat screen T.V.s shocking her, even though her hair was know drooping wet, the sprinklers still active to drench out the "fire" around the mall. "I didn't know you recruited more Teen Titans since you're apparently here first. Where's the rest of your dumb friends?"

Surprising the remote-control wielding villain, Beast Boy punched Control Freak in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him as he coughed heavily. "Don't change the subject! Who else are you working with, and who's the real brains of the operation!?"

"Y-You...You're not supposed to be-" Beast Boy reared his fist back for another punch, making Control Freak panic. "O-Ok! I'll talk! Don't hit me again! T-The one in charge is-"

Suddenly, a beeping sound came from inside Control Freak's overcoat, startling everyone, including the nerdy villain. Beast Boy backed away, thinking there was a bomb strapped to Control Freak, even though being a suicide bomber didn't fit the lamest villain on the face of the earth.

"He's got a bomb vest! Hit the dirt!" Rainbow shouted, the girls quickly running back to a safe distance.

"What are you doing, Control Freak!?" Beast Boy questioned, even though he hated Control Freak, he didn't hate him enough to see him die.

"I don't know! You think I would kill myself to keep me from telling you who-!?" The beeping got faster until it was a high pitched whine, but instead of an explosion, Control Freak was shocked by whatever was on him, falling unconscious after several agonizing seconds.

Beast Boy panicked, the electric current running through him may have been conducted by his soaked clothing and probably stopped his heart. He ran up to the unconscious villain, pressing his ear to his chest, letting out a sigh of relief after hearing his heart beating.

"Oh man. I thought he was dead," he uttered. "But who else is planning to take over this world...?"

Without much information to go on, the police arrived to take Control Freak into custody after checking his vitals, just to double-check after being told what had happened in the mall. The sprinklers stopped after a while, leaving the shopping mall soaking wet with a lot of the different stores' items just as wet or destroyed no thanks to Control Freak. Pinkie finally emerged from the bathroom, the evil candy she ate finally expelled from her stomach as she regrouped with everyone.

"Ugh. Evil is delicious, but gives you such a bad case of indigestion," Pinkie mumbled.

"So, Beast Boy, care to explain who Control Freak is?" Sunset asked. "And...maybe yourself and where you two really came from?"

"Well, you saw what Control Freak can do. And like I said before about him: he's not exactly the most threatening villain I faced, and he tries to be me and my old team's arch nemesis when we barely heard of him to begin with," Beast Boy said. Looking down at Control Freak's remote, even though it was shorted out thanks to the emergency fire sprinklers, he didn't want it back in his hands, or in anyone else's if it was fixed. "This thing isn't crafted with magic; it's made with mad science, and the mad scientist is more focused on something else rather than take over the world with something better." Dropping it on the floor, he stomped on the remote, breaking it to pieces. "No one should have that much power over reality. I'm not taking that risk here in this world."

"Aww. I wanted to pry it open and see how such a device managed to make any inanimate object come to life," Twilight whined, but a serious glare from Beast Boy made her giggle timidly, shuffling behind Fluttershy and Rarity.

"And what about you and your world?" Sunset asked.

Beast Boy grimaced, which was thankfully hidden behind his mask. He already told the girls where he "lived" as Garfield Logan, and he didn't want them to find out his identity with the same place. He needed to stay vague about his true origins if he wanted to keep them from getting hurt by his other nemeses.

"It's...not much different from yours," Beast Boy said. "I was part of a superhero group we called the Teen Titans. It started small as we protected one city, but we recruited other teens with incredible powers or skills to be considered heroes all over the world. We've stopped all sorts of villains, monsters, even a demon from another dimension, who actually happened to be the father of one of my teammates that rested inside her." All the girls' jaws dropped at the last enemy Beast Boy mentioned, so much to take in despite that moment being incredibly vague. "He almost won, too, but we managed to win after everything almost seemed hopeless."

"Yikes," Pinkie said.

"So, then, you're not from Equestria, then?" Fluttershy asked, the hero shaking his head in response. "But...how did you come to our world?"

"A few months ago, after all of the Teen Titans stopped the Brotherhood of Evil...I left my team and tried to go solo," Beast Boy said, though it was more of a half-truth. He didn't want to bring up his sorrows with Terra, or his own self-esteem issues after having his heart broken. "I didn't want any sad goodbyes, so I left in the middle of the night. Just as I was leaving the city as a falcon, a portal suddenly appeared in my flight path, but I couldn't veer away and got sucked in. When I finally reached the exit, it felt like I was flung out, crashed through a window, and passed out from flipping around in that portal and my crash landing."

"So...that WAS you that night," Twilight said. "But my portal was supposed to open up to a part of Equestria during my test run. How was it that it opened up to a different world where I had Sunset's old enchanted journal as the catalyst to make the connected gateway?"

"Maybe there was an electrical storm in the other world, or the lingering magic in my old journal must have acted up and altered where the other side of the portal opened up to?" Sunset theorized.

"It was a clear night when I flew through," Beast Boy stated, debunking Sunset's first guess.

"Hmm...That is odd," Twilight muttered.

"Well, whether it was by accident or not, I'm actually grateful we have Beast Boy here to help us save the day," Rarity said. "He's definitely saved our skins on several occasions since he arrived."

"I wish he wasn't wearing a mask so we could see his face!" Pinkie said, making the shapeshifter sweat profusely.

"Uhh, I'd prefer keeping my mask on," Beast Boy insisted. "I have...quite an ugly face...and buck teeth...and really messy hair."

"Probably because, he can turn into any animal, his face might look like a lizard or something," Rainbow whispered to Applejack.

The farm girl elbowed her friend's side, but the Teen Titan heard her, giving the athlete a blank stare. "Anyway, if we can figure out a way to connect the portal to your world, would you like to go back?" Twilight offered.

"I appreciate the offer, but if Control Freak's promised there will be other foes of the Teen Titans's coming here soon, I'd better stay until I figure out who's behind all this," Beast Boy said. "Trust me: what I've faced, they're far worse than mythical creatures from a different world. Best leave them to me."

"Then we can be your backup!" Pinkie cheered excitedly, but quickly clutched her belly, keeping herself from overdoing herself and blowing chunks on everyone.

"...We'll see." Beast Boy gave the girls a two-fingered salute, then changed into a falcon and flew out of the mall to take his leave, but went around to sneak back into the movie theater's bathroom and change back.

"Wow. I just had to miss everything!" Garfield exclaimed, the group back in town, hanging out at Sugarcube Corner as he was given a summary over what happened while he was searching for his wallet. "That Control Freak guy sounded like a huge movie nerd!"

"He definitely looked the part," Rarity uttered.

"It's too bad we never got the chance to buy "Ultimate Warrior Showdown" no thanks to that dork," Rainbow grumbled. "Maybe we can get a hero's discount next time we visit?"

"I doubt that'll happen," Sunset remarked.

"I got beat up by a living Daring Do cutout! I think all of us deserve some kind of reward, like a free game or something!" Rainbow complained.

"And living T.V.s, cash registers, candy, and even the kitchen sink if it was possible," Applejack stated. "And everythin' in the mall got soaked, so Ah doubt they'd be willin' to give us free stuff as rewards for savin' them from a villain from another world."

While Rainbow continued whining about their hard work going unrewarded, Fluttershy tapped the sides of her shake glass, occasionally glancing at Garfield. She had a feeling Rarity planned them to watch a scary movie at the theater, along with where they sat, setting them up on some kind of mini-date. Fluttershy was new to this, but she didn't want her friends to try pressuring her, or Garfield, to get together as a couple because of her timidity. Her cheeks flushed red, her heart racing as she steeled her nerves, making the choice to be bold and admit her feelings to Garfield and see where things go.

"Umm...G-Garfield?" Fluttershy said, getting the teen's attention with a gently poke on his arm.

"Yeah, Fluttershy?" he asked.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she looked away for a moment, twiddling her thumbs, but summoned her inner courage, staring back at him with nervous blush on her cheeks. "I-I...I want...t-t-to tell you s-something," she uttered. Garfield waited patiently, wondering what was on her mind. "We've...k-known each other f-for...a while, now. You k-know a lot about a-animals, you're funny...kinda c-cute."

The other girls stopped their conversation as they heard Fluttershy, Rarity watching in anticipation as her friend listed a few things about Garfield that she likes. "Is she...going to ask him out?" Rarity uttered to herself, a bit surprised by Fluttershy's boldness.

"A-And...I-I didn't know what to think some time ago," Fluttershy continued. "W-Whenever I'm with a-anyone else, I...I get really nervous and shy. But...with you...it's different. I can...talk to you normally, and share a lot of stuff with you." She reached her hand out, gently laying it over Garfield's, who was still oblivious to what she wanted to say to him. "Garfield, I-I...really, really like you."

Garfield blinked a few times, still clueless. "...Uhh, I like you, too," he said, the other girls silently grimacing at his response. "I mean, all you girls are great, and being here's like I never left home."

"Umm, actually, I mean...I LIKE like you," Fluttershy reiterated, her blush turning a darker shade of red.

He finally understood what she meant, letting out a laugh over how dumb he was being. "Oh, LIKE like! Duh. You have a crush on-" Garfield paused, his comically brushing off the compliment quickly turning into shock when it sank in. He looked at Fluttershy, but he didn't share the same nervous excitement she did. He showed the opposite: anxiety, fear, and dread. "...Y-You...you mean...?"

"Mhmm," Fluttershy mumbled with a nod, biting her lower lip as her hand gently grasped Garfield's. "D-Do you...want to...g-g-go out...with me?"

Though the others silently cheered Fluttershy on and gestured Garfield to say yes, inside the shapeshifter's mind, he was terrified. Instead of Fluttershy, he saw Terra in her place, far more confident and outgoing than the animal caretaker he recently befriended. It didn't help that memories he tried to suppress came flooding back involving Terra: their first meeting, losing her after Robin merely guessed that she wasn't able to master her powers yet, her return and date that soon ended in betrayal, fights both through words and violence while believing she wasn't evil as she was "taken in" by Slade as his new apprentice, losing her as she sacrificed herself to save Jump City from a destructive volcano after using all her power to defeat Slade, and reuniting with her again, but having no memory of him, his other friends, their time together, her powers, or even the relationship he wanted to have with her. Despite giving up and leaving Terra as the normal girl she chose to be, if that really was the case, his past with her still lingered, and it still hurt him, even after getting sucked into this world to try to start a new life. However, he can't escape his fate as a hero, nor the relationship he hoped for a former Titan who felt the same way toward him like he had for her.

Not only did those horrible memories surface, but scenarios of Fluttershy being in mortal peril by his enemies from his world coming to hers and their other friends flashed through his mind. Control Freak may be one thing, but he couldn't imagine the worst ones coming through to cause much more trouble. She may not be able to be manipulated with her magic powers, but after seeing how terrified they were after being held at gunpoint that day, they would definitely freeze against the more dangerous criminals with powers that could devastate huge cities to ruins. He didn't want to lose anyone else, and with Fluttershy admitting her feelings for him, Garfield Logan didn't want to feel that same pain again.

He was snapped out of his daze by a tap on his shoulder, jumping slightly when he turned to see it was Rainbow getting his attention. "Well, aren't you going to say something, you dolt?" she questioned. He looked around the table, seeing the girls had worried or concerned expressions, including Fluttershy, frozen still and dead silent while he spaced out in his thoughts. "You've just been staring at her for the last few minutes like a deer in headlights."

"H-Huh?" Garfield uttered. While pondering how long he'd zoned out, he recalled Fluttershy's question earlier, along with her feelings toward him. Looking down, her hand was still gently grasped over his. He pulled his hand back, swallowing the lump in his throat as he stood up, startling Fluttershy. "I-I...I gotta go."

Ignoring his friends, he left Sugarcube Corner, needing some air to clear his head while leaving behind six confused girls and a dejected Fluttershy, tears welling in her eyes as she felt like messed up. "...D-Did I...say something wrong?"

"Why, of course not, darling," Rarity assured, moving over to pat Fluttershy's shoulder to console her. "It's not easy admitting to someone you like how you feel, and that's by far one of the boldest things we've ever seen you do. But, Garfield, on the other hand, could have at least been a bit tactful with his exit without leaving you a proper answer."

"Maybe he was a bit surprised to have someone he considers a friend admit romantic feelings toward him, thus conflicting his own feelings toward Fluttershy in a different light?" Twilight guessed.

"Then how come he spaced out like that?" Rainbow questioned.

Pinkie and Sunset looked at each other, having seen that very same blank stare the day they first met him. "I'm not entirely sure, but there must be something he's hiding from us that must be pretty painful to tell," Sunset said. "Pinkie and I saw that same depressed look and zoned-out gaze before when I showed him around town."

"I gave him a free sample of an apple pie, and the first bite he took, he got really sad," Pinkie added.

"Over an apple pie?" Applejack asked with a raised brow.

"Probably something personal that reminded him of home, or..." Sunset paused, recalling one part of Garfield he mentioned his first day with Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna that was quite upsetting, but not as much as his other two episodes. "...Or...maybe he misses his parents."

"What's wrong with calling them if they're back in Jump City?" Rainbow asked. "He's got his own phone now. He must have their numbers."

"He told me they passed away in an unfortunate accident when he was little." Rainbow Dash cringed, her comment making her feel like the biggest jerk in the world as she and the others were shocked at the sad news. "I don't really want to use my magic to pry into his memories without his permission. If it's too personal, I don't want him to hate me if I forcefully look into his thoughts."

Fluttershy was still a little hurt, but she knew Garfield wouldn't want to hurt her feelings like that. She was curious to know what made him act so strangely, and even if he does answer no, she hoped her crush didn't ruin her friendship with him. It was going to be awkward tomorrow at the animal shelter between the two, the day either going to be spent in silence or a long discussion with their relationship as friends.

Truths of the Heart

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One week had passed since the incident with Control Freak down at the mall. News about the mysterious villain with his universal remote blew up the internet, some security footage and recordings on witnesses phones showing the animated objects in every corner of the mall and the mystery shapeshifting hero helping the magical girls from Canterlot High stop Control Freak. Comments on social media sites that had the event featured on front pages were mixed from amazed, startled, and disbelief. Some tried to tell those who didn't believe it was all real that they were there at the time and how dangerous this madman was, only to spark flame wars and controversial theories.

It was also a long week for the seven popular girls at Canterlot High and their newest addition to their friendship circle. After Fluttershy admitted her crush to Garfield, he had been distant from everyone: at school, at the pet shelter, even in Rainbow's home. Anytime someone asked him what was wrong, he stayed silent and walked away, lost in thought with an air of depression. He couldn't even look at Fluttershy, which made working together awkward, and the animals in the shelter could sense the tension between them, making the shelter ironically the quietest place in town.

It was no better for Garfield, his thoughts plagued by his past with Terra as memories resurfaced. Every night was spent in a restless nightmare, his thoughts playing back all the painful moments with Terra: running away, being Slade's apprentice, their fights, and watching her sacrifice herself to save Jump City. He tried to stop her and plead with her, but his dreams continued to turn out bad, making up new worst-case scenarios where the results ended up worse than they had been. He wanted to get away from thinking about Terra, but Fluttershy telling him how she felt about him reminded him of her, along with her rejecting him after finding out she was back again.

Garfield sluggishly swept the lobby of the shelter, running on only a couple hours of sleep after yet another traumatizing nightmare involving Terra. He began dozing off mid-sweep, snorting awake as he stumbled forward before continuing. Fluttershy watched him from the reception desk, more worried about his health and depression to laugh at the almost comical fall he made. She didn't care if he said no to being in a relationship with her if it meant seeing him hurting himself from whatever was going on in his head.

Getting up, she walked over to him, gently grabbing the broom to stop him. "Garfield, what's wrong?" she asked.

He looked at Fluttershy, then quickly looked away and continued sweeping. "I'm fine," he mumbled assuredly.

"No, you're not." Garfield ignored Fluttershy, making her huff as she took the broom out of his hands this time. "You're exhausted, and ever since I asked you out last week, you've been acting strangely and avoiding us. What's made you so distant with us?"

"Nothing," Garfield grumbled, his exhaustion making him grumpy as he tried to avoid the subject.

"It's not nothing if you can't even look at me anymore," Fluttershy continued pressing. "Did something come up?...Is it me?"

"No! I just-!" Garfield growled, letting out a heavy sigh, too exhausted to argue along with realizing who he was about to yell at. "...I'm gonna clean the kennel."

"Garfield!" Fluttershy called out, but Garfield ignored her, making his way to the back to continue working.

Fluttershy sighed, finding no leeway in getting her crush to open up with his issues. As she returned to the desk, plopping down on the chair, Rarity walked in with her Persian cat, Opal, the grumpy feline inside her luxurious carrier.

"Hello, Fluttershy," Rarity greeted. "I just came by to give my widdle Opal her weekly grooming. She likes you more than...well, anyone else." Placing Opal's carrier on the desk, Rarity noticed the concerned look on Fluttershy's face. "Oh...Is Garfield still down in the dumps?"

"I can't get him to talk to me," Fluttershy uttered. She let Opal out of her cage, the picky cat sauntering out with a frown while getting petted by the only person she wouldn't slash her claws at. "I tried being a bit more assertive, but he looked so frustrated and tired...I really hope I didn't do anything wrong."

"Fluttershy, darling, it's not your fault," Rarity assured. "Neither of us knows what's gotten him so riled up. Rainbow's even saying she's heard him waking up in the middle of the night and not falling back to sleep."

"He did almost pass out while sweeping earlier...Maybe I should ask our boss if he should take a couple days off," Fluttershy pondered.

"I believe I have the solution to help get Garfield out of his funk and you two can have some fun together." Rarity dug into her purse, pulling out a pair of tickets. "I've got a couple tickets to the amusement park, and I will graciously give them to you."

"Are you sure?" Fluttershy asked.

"It's been over a week, and Garfield definitely needs to take his mind off whatever he's going through, so what better way to do that than going out one the weekend and having fun at an amusement park," Rarity said, then placed the tickets on the desk in front of Fluttershy. "And if he refuses, you put your foot down and drag his butt out there, with no choice but to have fun and throw his worries away!"

"Oh, I don't know, Rarity," Fluttershy muttered. "I don't want to force him if he doesn't want to hang out with me. Not after I asked him out and got no reasonable answer."

"Then make it just a day for the two of you to hang out and have fun instead of calling it a date," Rarity suggested. "If he refuses, maybe you can use your 'Stare' on him to get him to do what you ask."

"It only works on animals, and if they're misbehaving too much," Fluttershy stated. "I can't really use it on people, even if I know them." Rarity shrugged, merely giving a playful suggestion. Fluttershy picked up Opal and stood up from her seat. "I'll get him out of this one way or another. I just hope a day at an amusement park will help."

"It will, and it shall," Rarity reassured. "I'll be back in a little while to pick up Opal. Bye-bye, Opalescence! Mommy loves you!" Opal let out a hiss at her owner, obviously showing no similar sentiments as she was held in Fluttershy's arms like she was a royal pet. "Ugh. I really wish I knew why Opal doesn't appreciate me."

Fluttershy looked down at the Persian cat, who let out a low growl before licking one of her paws. "...Uhh, Opal...has a different way of expressing her appreciation for taking care of her."

"Quite a painful way if she scratches me or Sweetie Belle if you ask me." Rarity took her leave, leaving Fluttershy with Opal as she took the snobby cat to the back to give her her usual grooming treatment.

Garfield woke up under some rubble, Jump City in ruins the scenario his dreams took him to once again. This moment was where Slade had Terra decimate the city, where he succeeded in overthrowing the Teen Titans by using the earth-bending super teen. Dreading to see what happens next, he pushed the debris off of him, looking around desperately for the girl he pined for and lost several times.

"Terra!" he called out. He dreaded seeing her in that outfit Slade made her wear, the silver full-body suit that allowed him to control her every action if she refused to follow his orders. "Please don't let this happen again..."

"Beast Boy!" He gasped, hearing her voice, quickly turning into a cheetah as he raced down the ruined street to her.

The shapeshifter turned every corner as he heard Terra calling out to him, the environment around him changing after rounding a building or wall. The setting changed to locations he and Terra have been to, from the now abandoned amusement park back home to the caverns underneath Jump City where her petrified body was once a memorial to her heroic sacrifice. He found her in that very same spot, using her power to hold up the ceiling, dust and small rocks falling as the ceiling was caving in. Transforming back, Garfield ran toward her to try to help her.

"Terra, hold on! I'm-!" Out of nowhere, Garfield was blindsided by a roundhouse boot to the face, sending him sailing back and sprawling on the ground with a painful thud.

"I don't think you'll be much help for her with your shapeshifting powers." Groaning in pain, Garfield sat up, holding his face as he looked at who hit him. It was obvious from his voice, seeing how this was the man who tried to destroy the Teen Titans and their relationships with each other for a long while: Slade. No one had any idea what his face looked like, hidden behind a metal mask, one side completely black and blank while the other was orange and at least showed one eye, and there were a few slots at the bottom on the orange side where his mouth would be. He wore a black full-body suit with silver armor plating all over his outfit, boots in the same style, and a belt filled with pouches that held anything the dastardly mercenary carried. "You couldn't save her now than you would in the past."

"Slade," Garfield growled, hating this man with a passion. He tried to rip Robin away from them and manipulate him into being his apprentice, then did the same with Terra and fell to his demise when she finally broke free of his hold, and succeeded summoning Trigon when Raven turned sixteen when he somehow earned a second chance at life. A deep-seated anger inside of him wanted to tear Slade to pieces after all he's done, barely satisfied the last time when he destroyed a robot who impersonated him. "Get out of my way!!!!"

Getting up and running at the man, Garfield shifted into a rhino and charged at him, aiming his horn right through his black heart. Slade barely flinched, holding one hand up and quickly latched onto the curved horn, stopping the enraged Titan without even budging an inch. Garfield let out angry huffs, trying to push Slade, but to no avail.

"You call yourself a hero, but time and time again, you will just keep losing her," Slade taunted. Garfield snarled, then shifted into a tiger, hoping his changing form would stagger the mercenary. It didn't as he pounced Slade, letting out a gasp when the man's surprisingly strong grip snatched his neck, his paws flailing wildly while he was choked and tried to leave a scratch on the man's body. "Pathetic. You're far more predictable than your friends are. You're nothing but a wild animal going on a rampage, too stubborn to give up and realize you've lost what you can never get back."

Rearing his free arm back, Slade punched Garfield hard in the abdomen, who let out a gasping roar in pain and reverted the Teen Titan back to normal. Slade dropped him, letting the teen hit the ground as he weakly clutched his chest while struggling to breathe. Garfield looked up as he heard Terra grunt, only to watch as she couldn't hold up the ceiling any longer, heavy debris caving in on her and possibly killing her.

"T-Terra," he weakly called out, tears welling in his eyes as he lost her once more.

His grieving was short lived when Slade stood in front of him, grabbing the prone teen by the back of his shirt, then tossed him out of a cave and back into Jump City, no longer in ruins. He slammed into a metal gate, shakily getting back on his feet as he looked around for Slade.

"You again?" Turning around, Garfield saw Terra again, only this time, it was the Terra from the high school, the one who has no memory of him or her painful adventures in life.

"Terra..." He couldn't get another word in when the schoolgirl scoffed.

"How many times do I have to tell you? I'm not who you think I am!" she exclaimed angrily. "Why can't you just let it go!? Your Terra is gone! Just leave me alone before I get you arrested for stalking me!"

Stunned speechless, Garfield stared sadly at the girl as the bell rang, watching her leave to head back inside to resume her classes. When he finally moved, walked over to the gate, desperately reaching his arm out to Terra, his voice lost in his throat as she dejected him once more. He slumped to his knees, his heart aching from constantly watching his crush dying or telling him off, both sides of her constantly depressing him in these nightmares.

"You just can't seem to give up on her, can you, Beast Boy?" Slade questioned, appearing behind him without so much as a sound. "Or would you rather prefer to be called by your real name, Garfield Logan instead?" Garfield gripped the bars of the gate tightly, getting fed up listening to the tough mercenary. "You think you can run and hide from your problems, but they will never leave you. Not even in another world can you escape how you failed to be a hero." Growling, about ready to unleash the beast inside of him, Garfield quickly turned to transform into his werebeast form, but paused in shock when he looked at Slade. Held in front of him was Fluttershy, holding the girl hostage with a knife at her throat. "And you'll fail those who care about you in this world as well."

"F-Fluttershy???" Garfield was dumbfounded. This was the first time his nightmares around Terra brought someone from the world he's in now, especially someone like Fluttershy. Confused, but still mad, he tried to move, but the knife at the girl's throat made him freeze up. "Let her go!"

"Oh, so you have forgotten about Terra after all," Slade taunted. "You seem to care a lot about this girl."

"I-I...S-She..." Garfield continued to stammer, unable to find a retort, even though this Slade was just a nightmare, but it feels like the mercenary was mentally trying to torture him.

"You don't seem so sure of yourself," Slade said. "She sure does seem to have feelings for you." He held the blade closer, making Fluttershy whimper in fear, trying to lean away, but Slade's grip was far too strong for her to struggle. "I guess if you don't care about her, I can just end her life right in front of you."

"NO!!!" Garfield finally acted, unleashing the were-beast inside and ran at Slade with a menacing roar.

Slade let out small, mocking laugh, pushing Fluttershy away, and flung the knife at the enraged shapeshifter. It struck his chest, right in his heart, making his charge stagger as he let out a yelp in pain. Slade ran forward, leaping up to land a dive kick in Garfield's face, sending him flying back into the schoolyard gate, breaking it as the Titan shifted back to normal and fell in a dark abyss, blacking out as the last thing he heard was Fluttershy calling out to him tearfully.

"OW!" Garfield yelped, waking up from his nightmare by falling out of bed, landing on his head. Grunting in annoyance, he flipped out of his bed, flopping on his stomach with a grumble, then rubbed the bump on his head. "I'm never going to sleep at this rate..."

Getting up, he checked the time, just a little past eight in the morning. At least he slept longer than two or three hours, waking up at around 2 or 3 AM and staying up to avoid seeing Terra leaving him or dying before his eyes. But this was the first time Fluttershy had popped up in this nightmare, feeling conflicted by what nightmare Slade said to him. Garfield still loved Terra, and couldn't let her go, but since Fluttershy tried to ask him out, he didn't seem to share the same feelings until that moment Slade was going to hurt her. Looking back to the days where Fluttershy was attacked by creatures from Equestria that could have hurt her, he didn't think much about it when he saved her, even from the robber who held the girls at gunpoint. Maybe a part of him did want to start over with someone else, but because of his luck with girls, he was either shut down, or something terrible happens to ones he was serious about being with.

Needing to get his mind off his recent dream, Garfield got himself dressed and headed downstairs to find some breakfast. While rummaging through the fridge for something, there was a knock on the front door.

"Coming!" Rainbow called out. She opened the door to find Fluttershy stopping by. "Hey, Flutters."

"Hi, Rainbow Dash," she greeted. "Is Garfield home?"

"Yeah. I think he just woke up," Rainbow said. "Usually, this whole week, I kept hearing him waking up early in the morning. Guess he finally got some sleep." She let her friend in, both of them finding Garfield in the kitchen rummaging for his breakfast. "Yo, Garf, your girlfriend's here to see you."

Rainbow's little joke made Fluttershy squeak, but Garfield shot his head up, which made him smack the back of his head on the ceiling. He yelped, then turned to glare at Rainbow Dash. Even Fluttershy leered at her after recovering from the awful joke, especially after the awkward tension from her asking Garfield out. The athlete's grin faltered to a sheepish grin, giggling nervously, then zipped away.

"I could come up with a better joke than that," Garfield sarcastically said, rubbing the lump on his head. Now with him being alone with Fluttershy, he wished he could transform right now and hide away in his room to avoid talking to her, but he was stuck and had to face the music. "What is it?"

"How are you doing today?" Fluttershy asked.

"...Managed to get some sleep, but not enough for my weekend," he said.

"Well, you weren't as tired as you were yesterday," she noted. "You remember when you told me I can tell you anything that's been bothering me? I can do the same for you, you know."

"...Ok, but I'm fine," Garfield said. "Just...a few off days."

"Ok. And if you're feeling better today,-" Fluttershy pulled out the tickets Rarity gave her yesterday. "-do you want to go to an amusement park with me?" She blushed, grinning sheepishly as she stammered, realizing she sounded like she was asking him out on a date. "J-Just to h-hang out and have fun, n-not like a...date..."

Curious, Garfield took one of the tickets and looked at the name of the theme park. "'Equestria Land'? Weird name for someplace like an amusement park, but I've heard weirder names from thrift shops..." Looking back at Fluttershy, who seemed eager to hear him say "yes", Garfield handed the ticket back to her. "Sorry. I don't want to go. Thanks, anyway."

He began to walk out of the kitchen, taking a banana for his breakfast to avoid speaking with anyone else today. Fluttershy was disappointed, but she wasn't going to let this slide after a whole week seeing her crush moping around. Not going to take no for an answer, she quickly grabbed his arm, feeling him wince while he let out an irritated groan.

"You need a bit of fun after this week, and I don't want these tickets to go to waste," Fluttershy said.

"Then why don't you ask Rainbow Dash?" Garfield suggested.

"Because I want to take you, one of the closest friends I ever made, and I'm done seeing you miserable." Garfield rolled his eyes, but Fluttershy quickly turned him around, giving him the Stare, as Rarity suggested, dead set on getting him out of his funk. "You are coming along and you're going to enjoy yourself, mister! No ifs, ands, or buts!"

Garfield tried to argue with her and ask her to leave, but he froze when he stared at the intimidating glare she gave him, something he never expected someone like her to do. He wanted to say no, but he couldn't look away from that gaze, part of him feeling like he would be scolded further by his mother for disobeying her. Shrinking slightly, he shakily took back the ticket, unable to look away as her eyes continued staring into his soul.

"O-O-Ok. I-I'll go," he said. "L-Let me g-get my wallet first, t-then we'll go have f-fun."

Fluttershy's eyes softened, surprised to see that her Stare managed to work on a person when she used it on misbehaving pets if her tambourine didn't work to soothe them. "...Umm...ok. I'll...wait by my car," she said, Garfield nodding in terror before doing an about-face, his steps almost robotic as the fear from the Stare slowly ebbed away. "...That's odd...I thought he would keep fighting me. Does my Stare affect people?"

Before heading outside, Fluttershy found Rainbow Dash in the living room, feeling stupid for joking around saying she was Garfield's girlfriend when he's clearly having some relationship issues from his reaction a week ago. She stood in front of her friend, giving her the Stare, but instead of seeing that similar look of trepidation, Rainbow raised a brow in confusion.

"What? Are you mad at me for that comment I made?" she asked. "I was joking! You should know me by now, Fluttershy!"

"...Do you...feel nervous?" Fluttershy questioned.

"...No...? Just...awkward with you looking at me like that," Rainbow said.

Fluttershy dropped her stare, growing curious as her Stare definitely works on animals, but why did it work on Garfield? She figured it might work on boys, but that was an experiment she would have to try, even if her social skills were still lacking when it comes to those she doesn't know. Fluttershy waited outside for Garfield, who was slightly annoyed that he was going, but didn't want to incur her visual wrath. As the two got in Fluttershy's car, neither of them noticed someone watching them from a distance through a pair of binoculars.

"Looks like Fluttershy convinced him to go after all," Rarity said.

Sitting in her car, Applejack and Sunset were the only ones out of the other girls to join the fashionista, Twilight busy working on her experiments, Pinkie working a full shift at Sugarcube Corner, and Rainbow needing to go to school later for practice with one of the many sports teams she's leading this year. "Isn't this kind of like setting them up on a blind date?" Sunset asked.

"Not if you think it like that," Rarity assured. "But, a friendly outing could change to a date with the right circumstances."

"In other words, a blind date," Applejack said, reiterating Sunset's earlier response. "Ya sure this ain't gonna make Garfield steer away from us? Especially Fluttershy?"

"He must be over all the self-drama after all this week. He deserves to have some fun with Fluttershy, and with a little tweaking, maybe get them just a tiny bit closer to where their relationship begins to bud into a flower of romance," Rarity said, slowly getting lost with a wistful gaze.

"Are you sure you're not talking about yourself with a guy you really like and not Fluttershy?" Sunset questioned.

Ignoring Sunset, Rarity watched Fluttershy's car pull off, following the couple a fair distance away so neither her nor Garfield noticed the trio tailing them.

Garfield expected Equestria Land to be a pretty childish theme park based around horses and pony mascots when they arrived. Thankfully, that wasn't so with all the rides they could see as they entered the parking lot. Maybe having fun at a theme park was what he needed, but with Fluttershy around, it was going to make the other patrons think they were out on a date. While partaking in the different games and rides, they still didn't notice Rarity, Sunset, or Applejack watching them from a distance while also having a bit of fun as well.

Fluttershy seemed terrified with some of the bigger rides, especially the roller coasters towering a few stories high with dizzying loops and terrifying drops. When they were in the lines for those rides, she had clung onto Garfield, worried about the anticipating start once they got in the cars, but like a switch being flipped once the ride reached its apex and plummeted to the earth, she whooped and hollered along with the other riders. Garfield was a little surprised to see a thrillseeking side to her, but with how timid and quiet as she seemed, who knows just what else Fluttershy wanted to do or liked doing out of bashfulness doing them in front of her friends or fear acting on them without a bit of a nudge. It was strange to see, but it was an interesting fact he noted about the animal lover. The haunted mansion ride, however, scared the living daylights out of her, even with fake bats "screeching and fluttering" over their heads. He was guessing Halloween was going to be dull if Fluttershy didn't like the spooky holiday.

While taking a break from some of the rides, they decided on playing some games and win some prizes. Some of them were fun and competitive like spraying water at a target to raise the bar above them first to win, while others were similar to cheap carnival games that were rigged to make patrons spend more money than they should. Those kinds of games involved tossing a ping pong ball into one of several fishbowls with colored rims for a specific prize, throwing darts at inflated balloons with accurate succession, or knocking over metal milk bottles stack up like pyramids off a platform with a couple baseballs. While passing by that kind of booth, the two men working it noticed them, both wearing smirks as they found the perfect couple to swindle their money on.

"Hey, you two!" one of them said, getting Fluttershy and Garfield's attention. The two men, to Garfield's surprise, were twins, both with yellow skin and red and white hair, both of them wearing blue and white vertical-striped shirts and white pants. The only difference between them was that one of them had a handlebar mustache while the other was cleanly shaved. "Yes, you, the lovely couple!"

"You look like you've got a good throwing arm!" the other man said. "Just knock over one of these small towers of bottles completely off one of these three tables, and you can win one of these stuffed animals!"

Hung around the booth were a variety of stuffed animals of various sizes and different colors: wolves, monkeys, butterflies, dolphins, and much more. As much as Garfield loathed someone else mentioning he and Fluttershy were a couple, he ignored them, the smug looks on their faces definitely telling him they had rigged this simple game to suck money out of players while persuaded by their charm. Fluttershy, however, was oblivious to their greedy ploy with all the stuffed animals they could win.

"Oh my, so many stuffed animals," she uttered. "Let's give it a try, Garfield."

"I don't know. Maybe we shouldn't trust half of this barbershop quartet with a fair game of knocking down a bottle tower," Garfield grumbled.

Over by a cotton candy machine, as Rarity, Applejack, and Sunset were having their own fun while spying on Garfield and Fluttershy, Applejack groaned in irritation when she saw them talking with the duo she loathed more than anyone else. "Oh no. Not Flim and Flam."

"Flim and Flam?" Sunset repeated. "Weren't those the same two guys who bought your bass Granny Smith accidentally sold?"

"And tried swindlin' me out of mah bass after tryin' to give back their money," Applejack added. "...And made me wear that dumb banana suit while promoting their store after provin' it was mine."

"Oh no. They're probably going to get suckered in by whatever tricky scheme they have planned while working here," Rarity said worriedly.

"So, what do you say?" Flam asked.

"Care to give it a go?" Flim added. "Only two bucks for three tries!"

"Ok!" Fluttershy went through her wallet and pulled out two dollars, placing them on the counter in exchange for three baseballs.

"Knock down one stack off the table, you get a small prize," Flim began explaining. "Two for a medium, and if you can knock all three stacks down with one ball each, you'll get one of the large prizes."

Garfield glowered at the two men, finding them suspicious, wondering what cheeky scheme they had going on. Fluttershy stuck out her tongue as she took aim, holding one of the balls firmly in her hand, reared her arm back, and threw. Sadly, she was as meek as she appeared, her throw barely making it halfway from the counter to any of the tables.

"Oh dear. Not hard enough," Flam said, his pity tone sounding like he was mocking Fluttershy to get her more frustrated and miss more. "Try throwing just a little bit harder."

Fluttershy took that as advice, rarely getting angry, but Garfield didn't want to take that risk after what happened earlier today. She threw the next ball, this time managing to throw it farther, but missed the bottles on the middle table by a few inches. With one last ball, Fluttershy grew serious, leering at the bottle pyramid, determined to win one of those stuffed animals. Her last throw was a little bit harder, and was aimed right at the bottom right bottle. It hit, but for some reason, the stack didn't even wobble or shift even a centimeter. Garfield knew Fluttershy wasn't much for physical activity, but the impact should have at least knocked the bottle and topple the stack over.

"Oh. I didn't knock it down," Fluttershy dejectedly mumbled.

"Too bad, my dear," Flim said with mock pity. "Care to try again?"

"Or would the gentleman watching like to give it a try and win the lovely young lady a prize?" Flam suggested, hoping to swindle who they assumed was Fluttershy's boyfriend.

He looked at Fluttershy, who seemed desperate to want one of the stuffed animals. She gave him a pleading look, making him sigh and give in, fishing out his wallet in his pocket and pulling out a few dollars.

"Fine, I'll give it a shot," he said, giving Flam the money while Flim laid out his baseballs on the counter.

While watching Fluttershy's first throw, it reminded him of Terra's attempt to try and win a prize from this very same game at the now closed down amusement park back home. At least the game was fair back in his world, but he had a gut feeling the two swindlers had rigged this game. Tossing one of the balls in his hand a few times, he gave the stack on the right a throw, purposefully only knocking off the top bottle. That got knocked off and fell to the ground. He then threw his second ball at the left stack, same accurate shot at the top bottle with the same result. With his last ball, he used the same tactic, Flim, Flam, and Fluttershy curiously wondering what he was doing only striking down the top bottles. As Garfield expected, he hit the middle stack's top bottle, hard enough to knock it over, only for the ball to bounce off it instead of fall over like the others.

"Well, technically, you're supposed to knock over the whole stack in order to win a prize, not three bottles in total," Flim explained. "Sorry. Better try again."

"What was up with that!?" Garfield exclaimed, figuring out their cheap scheme to keep players from winning the bigger stuffed animal prizes. "The others knocked down fine, and I used the same amount of force in my throw for all three of those top bottles! What are the middle ones reinforced from!? An anvil!?"

"Maybe you didn't throw it hard enough," Flam guessed smugly, stacking the knocked bottles back on the right and left towers. "Why don't you try again?"

Garfield growled, already getting irritated, and the girls watching the couple from a distance can see it. "Alright, then. I'll play again, AND knock them all down." Slamming a couple more dollars on the counter, he glared at the two men as Flim gave him his three shots. "And your unfair game isn't going to stop me from winning a large prize."

"Unfair? What an accusation," Flam said.

"How can we possibly cheat our clients of their money by a simple game with simple to win prizes?" Flim added.

Ignoring their feigned ignorance, Garfield was determined to one-up the scheming twins. Grabbing one ball, he immediately gave it a hard throw at the left stack, scattering the bottles around the booth with the powerful impact. Flim and Flam flinched, protecting themselves as the bottles were sent flying from Garfield's more serious throw.

"W-Wow. What an...arm," Flam commented nervously.

Garfield's second shot hit true like the first, scattering the bottles on the right stack, startling Flim as one of the bottles almost struck him on the head. Gripping his last ball tightly, Garfield glared at the super glued stack, winding up his arm, then threw with all his might. The ball looked like it was smoking as it sailed over the counter and toward the "tougher" stack. It struck the top bottle, causing the entire table to flip around rapidly as it suddenly jumped from the impact, making Flim and Flam yelp and hide before something broke off from the small platform and struck them. Jaws dropped from Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Sunset, and any other patrons near the booth after hearing the metallic clang and midair tumbling of the cheap pyramid. The table finally hit the ground, the bottles striking the ground hard enough to get peeled off from their welded positions, scattered around with the rest of them.

Garfield smirked, crossing his arms smugly, showing the two scammers he wasn't one to be cheated. "Bet you two didn't know this is my best game at any carnival or theme park, huh?" he gloated, relishing the shocked looks on the twins' faces. "Now, I believe the prize for knocking all three stacks was a large prize?" Flim and Flam were too stunned to respond, or even move. Garfield looked over the prizes, helping himself to a large green monkey, seeing how the two men were flabbergasted, dumbstruck, and terrified as their money-grubbing scheme was foiled by a teen with a surprisingly powerful arm. "Thank you, and good day to you gentlemen."

Fluttershy blinked, caught off guard by Garfield's throwing arm, only to be snapped out of her daze when he gave her the large stuffed monkey he won. She blushed slightly from the unexpected gift, but she was grateful for the gesture, saving her from wasting too much money on a simple game that had a cheap twist by two swindlers able to sucker her in with the promise of an animal toy prize. Clutching her gift tightly, she and Garfield headed off to get something to eat before enjoying some more rides.

"That was...incredible," Sunset uttered. "I didn't know Garfield was that strong."

"He didn't show it when he helped carryin' stuff on mah family's farm," Applejack said. "At least he showed Flim and Flam a thing or two."

After snapping from her shock, Rarity pulled out a list, crossing off a few things. "Winning a prize for Fluttershy, check. Bonus points for a big stuffed animal. Impressing her with carnival game skills, check," she listed off aloud. "Those two are definitely going to hook up after tonight."

"Are you sure that list is supposed to be meant for you and your expectations with a boy, not Fluttershy's?" Sunset questioned.

Rarity flinched, only to scoff, refusing to answer and hurried after the couple before losing them in the crowd. "Ah think that was a yes," Applejack said, both her and Sunset laughing at Rarity's reaction before catching up with her.

After partaking in some snacks, Garfield and Fluttershy continued their fun in Equestria Land as night settled in. The lights around the park lit up for patrons to see, along with get an impressive view on some of the roller coasters entrances to garner their attention more than in the day. The couple sat on a bench, taking a moment to relax as the theme park's night parade was about to start in a few moments. They basked in the nightly atmosphere, watching the lights and hearing the excited screams of riders all around the park.

"This was a really fun day," Fluttershy commented, hugging her stuffed monkey. "Did you enjoy yourself, Garfield?"

"Actually, I kinda did," Garfield replied with a grin. At first, he didn't want to go anywhere, but he couldn't deny himself by pretending to have fun after several rides and little games to win prizes. He was slowly enjoying himself, needing this distraction from his nightmares and Terra. "It's been a while since I've gone out to an amusement park. I think I really needed a day out. Thanks."

"It's no problem. I'm just glad to see you smiling again," Fluttershy said. The two were still oblivious to Rarity, Sunset, and Applejack watching and hearing them from a distance, making sure that Fluttershy and Garfield didn't get into a harsh argument and, for Rarity, to see them getting together before they left Equestria Land. In the moment of silence, Fluttershy wondered why Garfield had been so upset the past week, and after today, she hopefully might get the answer she needed if he was feeling better. "...Umm, Garfield? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure. What is it?" Garfield asked.

"...What happened last week that got you so upset?" And just like that, Garfield's smile faded and his fun day was ruined.

He looked down, both getting upset and feeling conflicted telling someone else what's gotten him so emotionally distraught. "...I...It's...complicated," he said with a sigh.

Fluttershy was a little disappointed, but if it was personal, she wasn't going to pry and keep upsetting him. "Oh," she mumbled. Looking down at the prize he won for her, then back at Garfield, she gently reached her hand out and touched his, making him turn his head to look at her as she gave him an understanding look. "Remember what you told me the other day? When we were held up by that robber?" Garfield slowly nodded his head. "Well, if you have something on your mind, you can tell me about it, too. Whenever you want to, that is."

Part of him wanted to remain quiet and promise her he'll tell her, but the sympathetic gaze in her eyes conflicted him internally. It was like that strange glare she made when she forced him to come out here to the theme park today, but it was more calming, almost like a mother calmly asking her child what they did wrong, promising they weren't mad and wanted the truth. Garfield had no idea what was going on with him, but he felt like he needed to take this weight off his chest, letting out a sigh and caved in.

"...There was...a girl I liked back home, and...I kinda went through a huge emotional roller coaster with her," he began, surprising Fluttershy and the three spies watching them.

"He has a girlfriend already!?" Rarity exclaimed in a hushed tone. "Oh dear, maybe we made a mistake getting them together."

"Ya mean you?" Applejack corrected, but Sunset quickly shushed them before they gave away their position.

"Oh...So, you're already...?" Fluttershy felt dejected knowing her crush was already seeing someone else.

"No, we're...apart," Garfield said. "I don't think we really started dating at all, and...so many things went downhill..." He let out a sigh as memories played back through his mind, forever haunting him. "Her name's Terra, and, unlike other girls I playfully show off for, she was the first who didn't scoff and walk off thinking I was a weirdo."

That hope came back when he said they weren't together, but Fluttershy wasn't one to gloat, especially seeing how forlorn Garfield looked, clearly still having feelings for Terra. "What happened to you two to break up? You sound like...you still like her."

"...Yeah...I do," Garfield uttered. He had to be careful not revealing everything to Fluttershy, otherwise she would figure out he was the hero shapeshifter, Beast Boy, and his other "normal friends" were superheroes as well. "It all started when I first met her. Terra always moved from place to place, and when she came to Jump City, I fell for her when I first laid eyes on her. She actually found my jokes humorous and we started off as good friends, even hitting it off with my other friends, too...But, she had a secret she didn't want us to know, and she accidentally told me. I did promise to keep her secret from the others, but it turned out one of my friends took a wild guess, and Terra got upset at me, thinking I told the others when I swore I didn't.

"She ran away, and I found out she moved away, so I didn't see her again." Fluttershy was shocked, wondering what Terra's secret was, but kept listening as Garfield continued. "A couple months later, she came back, and she wasn't even mad at me for what happened last time. I think she believed I did keep my promise to her and forgave me. She stayed a bit longer this time, and I tried to build up the nerve to ask her out since I was crushing on her bad. When I asked her out, I gave her a heart-shaped box with something I made for her inside. She took it, but didn't give me an answer, which I thought she rejected me until she snuck into my bedroom window and asked if she wanted to go out on a date later."

Fluttershy couldn't help but giggle at the irony, asking her out first, only to be left with no response until she asked HIM out. "Why did she delay her answer like that?"

"I don't know, but I was excited at least,"Garfield said, but his grin faded as the worst part of their true breakup was coming up. "We snuck out and went to places she liked to visit when she moved to Jump City, then went to an amusement park, which is unfortunately closed down due to...technical difficulties." Those "technical difficulties" ended up being his fault when he fought Slade, who had been following them on their date, destroying several of the attractions in the process. "...When we went into the mirror funhouse there...her...dad caught us, and told me Terra didn't really care about me and was just using me to get away from her family. He knew about me and my friends, and...I didn't believe him about what he said about her..." Fluttershy prayed this story didn't end sadly, but the look on Garfield's face and shaky voice said otherwise. "...Terra...admitted she didn't like me...I was upset at her, and she moved away the next day, leaving me brokenhearted and betrayed."

"Oh my...I'm so sorry," Fluttershy said sympathetically.

"It didn't end there, though," Garfield continued, startling Fluttershy, dreading to hear what else happened if their first breakup was that awful, but she had no idea how terrible it really was. "She moved back some time later, and she was the worst person I ever had to deal with. I still loved her, and anytime we saw each other, we'd get into a fight. She even argued with my friends, and sometimes...it ended with us getting hurt by her physically, not just emotionally." Fluttershy gasped in shock, appalled by Terra's violent outbursts. "...It wasn't her fault, though. Her father was part of the military, which explained why she moved around so much, and he's always been strict with her about who she hangs out with...Deep down, I knew she cared, but her dad was a horrible influence and began turning her into something she wasn't.

"I confronted her what felt like the last time, begging her to not let her father control everything in her life. I could tell she didn't, and after enough encouraging from me, she told her dad off...Sadly, they moved again, but for good, her dad promising they were never coming back to Jump City again after Terra was horribly influenced by a pointy-eared dwarf forcing her daughter to act like a delinquent." He may have overexaggerated Terra's "father" and what he did to her, but it sounded safer than Terra using her geokinetic powers to throw Slade into a pool of lava underneath the city. Fluttershy was still in shock, but he was sure she'd faint after hearing the truth behind that fight. "Before we were split apart again...Terra hugged me and said...I was the best friend she ever had."

Fluttershy began to tear up from such a sad end to their relationship, even Rarity, Sunset, and Applejack shed tears after hearing the heartwrenching goodbye Garfield made with Terra. "...Did you...try to keep in touch?" Fluttershy asked while wiping away her tears.

"We...had no way of communicating with each other after that," Garfield said. "But, several months later, after my friends and I took a trip outside of the city, when we came back, I saw Terra again."

"Huh!? S-She came back!?" Fluttershy exclaimed. "I thought you said her father wouldn't move back to your old home!"

"I don't know. I have no clue why or how she came back, but I was happy to see her again...Too bad it was short-lived," Garfield uttered. "She forgot who me or my friends were, even after I tried jogging her memory. Instead of helping her remember, I only made our relationship worse and worse until she kept avoiding me, saying she's not the girl I thought she was. I don't know if she really was Terra anymore, or if it was some other girl who looked exactly like her, but I was desperate to get her back, and it just kept tearing what I tried to salvage in our relationship apart. I ran into her father, yelling at him for what he did to her, but all he said was that she forgot about him and moved on, and suggested I do the same...but I couldn't..." Tears welled up in his eyes as he buried his face in his hands, his voice cracking as the disheartening end to their friendship and barely budding romantic relationship replayed in his head. "...I tried one last time...but she said the same thing her father said...I stopped trying after that, but...I still can't let go of her, even after moving here...

"I'll never forget her...I still love her, but...it's hard to let go of someone you love that much..." Garfield struggled to regain his composure, not wanting to break down in front of Fluttershy. He felt her gently rub his back, encouraging him to let it all out, and it did help calm him down a little. Taking in a deep breath, he let out a heavy sigh, rubbed his eyes, then looked at Fluttershy. "I was doing fine for a while, but when you asked me out, it reminded me of everything I went through with Terra...I'm also sorry I was avoiding you and the others. I tried coping by being alone, but I guess it got worse with the nightmares I've been having..."

Fluttershy scooted closer to Garfield, placing her stuffed monkey down on the other side of the bench, and surprised the teen with a hug. "I understand, Garfield," Fluttershy assured. "I'm sorry you had to go through all that much of someone you cared about."

Garfield took the friendly gesture, smiling a little and hugged Fluttershy back, feeling a little better. "Heh. You have no idea what else I went through," he said, then pulled away. "Want to know more?"

"No, I think that's enough for now," Fluttershy said. They heard music coming down the road, the parade already starting as they watched everyone rushing over to see it up close on the path they take around the park. "The parade's about to start. Want to watch it before we end the night?"

"Yeah," Garfield said, the two getting up and gathering their stuff before making their way to join the crowd and watch the light parade.

Their night ended, exhausted, but they had a lot of fun as Fluttershy drove back to her place. "Are you sure you don't want me to drop you off at Rainbow's first?" Fluttershy asked.

"It's fine. I need to clear my had after all the fun we had today with a nightly walk," Garfield said, clearly fine with walking back.

After Fluttershy parked her in her home's driveway, the two got out, Garfield taking out Fluttershy's new stuffed monkey from the car and handing it to her. "I still can't believe you won this for me," Fluttershy said sheepishly.

"I figured you'd want a big prize after showing those two jerks I wasn't monkeying around with their get-rich-quick scheme," Garfield said, joking around by making monkey noises and got Fluttershy to laugh. "But this was fun. Thanks for taking me. Even if it was by force."

"You're welcome," she said. "I had a great time too. Even on those scary roller coasters."

"And yet you're frightened by the haunted house. Can you make up your mind with what you're scared of?" Garfield teased, earning a nudge on the shoulder while he chuckled at Fluttershy's reaction. A little ways away from Fluttershy's house, Rarity, Applejack, and Sunset continued spying on them, watching them interact as they talked about their day at the amusement park. The couple went silent, a slight bit of awkward tension hanging in the air before Garfield broke it. "So...we still good? Even after I acted like a movie superhero who broods about his miserable upbringing or losses?"

"Of course. I wouldn't want to give up my friendship with you, even if we get split apart like with you and Terra." Despite bringing Terra up, Garfield was relieved knowing he wasn't going to lose his friends in this world for hiding from his past, or rather the white lies in his past he mentioned.

"Ok, cool. And I'll make it up to everyone with an apology feast at Sugarcube Corner tomorrow morning. My treat!" he said, though he looked around after a moment of silence.

"What is it?" Fluttershy asked curiously.

"...I had a strange feeling I was expecting Pinkie Pie to show up randomly and go nuts when someone mentions a party of any kind." Garfields answer made Fluttershy giggle.

"Knowing her, I was thinking the same thing," she agreed as they both shared a small laugh.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow morning." Garfield moved in and hugged Fluttershy, who hugged him back while still holding her new toy in one arm. Just as he pulled away and was about to wish her a good night, Fluttershy let go of the monkey and raised her hands up, gently cupping his cheeks. "Uhh, Flutter-?"

She moved closer, silencing the teen with a surprised squeak as she gave him a soft peck on the lips. Garfield stared wide-eyed, his first ever kiss taken by Fluttershy, barely coming close with Terra before Slade interrupted their moment and spread more drama in their relationship. Inside Rarity's car, the trio's jaws dropped while Rarity let out a squeal, anxious to see what happens after this sudden move Fluttershy pulled. As soon as she pulled away, Fluttershy realized what she did on impulse, blushing heavily and backing away from the dazed shapeshifter, his whole face turning a shade of red when his brain tried to reboot from the shock of his first kiss.

"U-Umm...G-Good night, G-Garfield," she stammered, quickly picking up her stuffed monkey and fast-walked inside her home.

Garfield finally moved, slowly turning out of the driveway and down the road to Rainbow's house, his legs on autopilot as his brain was scattered by the whirlwind of emotions from that kiss. He didn't blame her for doing that, but it still left him surprised. But the nightmare he had last night conflicted him just as much as Fluttershy's way of saying goodbye for the evening. Fluttershy was nice, but he saw her as a friend, but after working alongside her in the shelter, getting to know about her, and even their day at Equestria Land today, that small peck on the lips sparked something he thought he would never be able to feel again after losing Terra. His shocked expression began to melt, his lips curling into a smile and his heart beginning to race.

"...Wow...I didn't think Fluttershy was going to do that," Sunset uttered. "But it seems like Garfield's a bit...ok with that."

"Well, of course he is! That's a look that says, 'I'm in love!'" Rarity reasoned, then looked back at Sunset with a sly grin. "Maybe I should try helping you get back together with Flash Sentry. You did say he wanted to hang out with you some more back at Camp Everfree."

"As friends, not lovers," Sunset scolded. "It would just be weird going out with someone I used to be popular while turning into the school bully."

"Then I'll see if Princess Twilight has any free time to go on a date with him. Assuming she comes by and visits again," Rarity said.

"There's a Flash Sentry in Equestria, too, Rarity," Sunset argued irritably. "Alternate universes, ponies similar to the human counterparts in this world."

"Can't we just say it was a successful night and drop us off, Rarity?" Applejack questioned. "Ah gotta get up early to do chores."

Garfield continued walking in a lovestruck daze, passing the bickering girls he still didn't notice, reaching Rainbow's house and walked inside. Rainbow was watching a Daring Do movie when she heard him walk in.

"Hey, how was it, Garf?" Rainbow asked.

"...It was...awesome," Garfield sighed, ignoring the odd look Rainbow gave him in his lovesick state, heading upstairs to his room.

He tripped over Tank, barely feeling anything but ecstasy as he got back up, patting the tortoise's shell before walking in his room and closing the door. He flopped on his bed, a dopey grin on his face while staring at the ceiling. His ecstatic high began to fade as Terra came back to mind. His heart still had feelings for her, but with no chance of ever getting back together with her now, he realized that there might never be a chance for him to return home, or even attempt to rekindle what lost relationship he had with Terra.

Pulling out his phone, Garfield flipped through a few pictures he took with it, most of them being silly with Fluttershy and the animals at the shelter. He may not have known Fluttershy as long as he had with Terra, but they had several things in common, and after tonight, his heart feels mended as he seemed to have found new love. He really did worry about Fluttershy when she and the other girls were almost robbed, along with the random Equestrian portals bringing creatures through and Control Freak's attack with the looming threat of more villains from his world. His thoughts were interrupted when his phone buzzed, getting a text from Fluttershy out of the blue.

Umm, sorry about...earlier. I kinda...I didn't know what I...Please don't hate me.

Instead of texting back, he grinned and called her to give his response when she answered. "Hello?"

"You know, a couple's supposed to kiss on the third date, right?" Garfield teased, hearing Fluttershy squeak through the line.

"I-I'm sorry. I...I really don't know what came over me," she mumbled. "...I gave you my first kiss..."

"Well, you stole my first kiss, so I guess that makes us even," he said, practically hearing her shaking through the speaker. "You did catch me off guard with that, though, but I'm nowhere near mad."

"Oh, ok," Fluttershy said.

"Anyway, about you asking me out last week," he added, pausing a little to build up some suspense. "Give me a little time to think about it...but I'm asking you out first. Deal?"

He heard Fluttershy let out a high-pitched squeak, then the phone dropping on what he assumed was her bed, taking that as a yes.

5 Vs. 8

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On the outskirts of Canterlot City, it was a peaceful morning, the crisp air giving a slight chill to the late fall weather as winter would soon be on its way. Birds chirped with the morning sun, fluttering around and gathering worms to eat or feed their young, and squirrels were hard at work foraging for nuts and acorns to store away in the coming winter. While the critters went about their morning routines, their peace was interrupted when a portal suddenly appeared around their home. Startled, the animals fled and hid, peeking around to cautiously watch what mysterious danger made itself known to the world.

From the mysterious portal, five individuals walked out into the world, the portal closing up behind them as they looked at their surroundings. "So, this is the place Control Freak wound up in?" one of them questioned.

"Duh, pie-for-brains," another said, which made the first person growl irritably. "Where else do you think the energy reading from that other portal could have taken us? A land of rainbow ponies?"

"Remind us why you're the leader again?" a third member of the group questioned.

"Because I'm smarter than the rest of you doofuses, and I know how these portals work," the second person said in a know-it-all tone, which only brought more ire to the "leader". The birds and squirrels watching the strange people quietly chirped and squeaked as the leader of the group pulled out a device from their pack. An antenna extended out, showing the group a small layout of the area within twenty miles from their current point, a red blip out in the city giving them the location of the technological couch potato. "Hah! Loser's in prison! How dumb is he to get caught by cops in this world!?"

"Ah still don't know why the doctor bothered sendin' Control Freak through first," the fourth member of the group said while the last one nodded silently in agreement. "He's a hopeless villain with a knack for gadgets like you, but he spends all his time watchin' movies, playin' games, and 'vowin' to make himself the Teen Titans' arch nemesis'. We have better chances than that massive couch potato."

"Too bad we gotta bring the tub of lard back," the leader said with utter annoyance, homing in on Control Freak's signal. "His vest went off, which meant whoever managed to kick his giant butt was about to leak out the old man's plans with his pint-sized pea brain." He snickered, pulling out a video game controller, and with a push of a button, his pack sprouted a pair of propellers, allowing him to hover in the air as he looked out at the city. "But let's try to pick up on that loser's failure and spread the word about our takeover in this snot-brained world."

The others in the group chuckled or smirk as they made their way to the city. Worried about what they were going to do, a blue jay chirped to its woodland neighbors, volunteering to fly off ahead of them and warn the nice animal caretaker who understood them about these new, dangerous newcomers.

Down at Canterlot High, the gym was filled with cheering and hollering as the students in the class period were having a dodge ball match, everyone dressed in their gym clothes. The teams were split boys versus girls, and with Rainbow Dash as the girls' side captain, the boys were unfortunately getting creamed. Garfield and his team were busy avoiding Rainbow Dash's expert throws, but she didn't go so far as cheat with her Equestrian magic, not like she even needed it. Most of the boys were knocked out, encouraging their teammates to hit one of them, leaving only Garfield, Flash Sentry, a blue-haired, yellow-skinned musician who Sunset used to gain popularity when she was the school bully, but they were on good terms as friends again, and Bulk Biceps, a bulky white-skinned jock with a short blonde mowhawk. Fluttershy was far in the back on the girls' side, technically playing, but with Rainbow winning, she was content to just watch, and hope a ball doesn't roll over to her.

"Come on, boys!" one of the girls taunted. "Too afraid to hit a girl!?"

"YEAH!" Bulk exclaimed. "Uhh, I mean, no...My mom told me I shouldn't hit girls with anything!"

"It's a rubber ball, Bulk!" Flash called out, ducking a high-speed ball that barely missed his wild, messy hair. "They still have a full team, and it's just the three of us left!" Garfield yelped, leaping away from a barrage of rubber balls, but they headed straight for Bulk now. The muscular teen let out a feminine shriek, getting struck by every one before one in the face sent him on his back with a groan. "Ugh. Two now..."

"Sorry, Bulk, but you're out!" Rainbow said. Bulk got up, rubbing his sore face as he regrouped with his other teammates. "Just two left, ladies!"

Garfield quickly dove for a ball on their side, getting back up and using it like a shield to deflect any balls coming at him. "Ok, no more fooling around!" he exclaimed. "The boys will win this round, Rainbow Dash!"

"Fat chance, Garf!" Rainbow cackled, winding her arm back and flung her ball at her roommate.

Leaping to the side, Garfield let out a grunt as he threw his ball at Rainbow Dash. The athlete jumped out of the way, but one girl wasn't paying attention, getting hit in the leg, then headed to the side of the court with a huff. The odds were still in the girls' favor, five on two, but Garfield was able to handle several tougher villains that were worse than a game of dodge ball. Two of the girls teamed up on Flash, throwing two balls at him simultaneously as he tried to dodge out of the way, getting hit in the gut with a wheeze as he hit the ground.

"Agh, crud," Flash grunted, joining his team while catching his breath. "We've lost, guys. There's no way anyone can beat Rainbow in any competitive sport."

"Unless it was Applejack, then there would be a tie," one of the boys pointed out.

Garfield grunted, widening his stance with a serious scowl, clenching his fingers in preparation for a comeback. The girls giggled at his hunched stance, seeing he stands no chance by himself against five girls. Well, mostly four; Fluttershy looked nervous seeing her new boyfriend in the last couple weeks outnumbered in the competitive match they were both playing.

"Easy pickings, girls!" Rainbow said. "Hammer him good!"

Rainbow's other teammates let out a battle cry as they took a running start with a ball in hand, then threw them at Garfield. To their surprise, the last guy on the opposing team jumped and twisted his body, narrowly dodging the balls, grasping one with a spin, then gave it a quick toss once he landed. He got one of the girls, the enemy team staring in shock while the boys cheered Garfield on. He got a free hit on another girl before they snapped to their senses, Rainbow and her other teammate quickly getting their heads back in the game while the other two who were out joined their friend on the sidelines.

"Yay," Fluttershy quietly cheered. "Way to go."

"Fluttershy, we're trying to win here!" Rainbow scolded Fluttershy, startling a squeak from her. "I don't care if you're going out with him; kick his butt! He can take it!"

She tossed Fluttershy a ball, managing to catch it after nearly fumbling it for a few seconds. She continued watching as Rainbow and their other teammate tried to exhaust Garfield, but the teen had more stamina to spare, dodging balls while taunting them to waste their own energy and hoard the balls on his side. Once they were out of ammo, Garfield smirked, picking up a few balls and flung them around. In the wild barrage he unleashed, Rainbow was able to avoid getting struck, but her other teammate wasn't so lucky and was booted out of the game. Garfield's teammates cheered him on, chanting his name and commenting on his incredible dodging skills.

Rainbow growled, gripping a dodge ball tightly in her hand as she stared Garfield down. It was almost like a western-style duel, both players with a ball in their hand, judging what move their opponent was going to do next with the slightest twitch of their arms, fingers, eyes, etc. With a silent bell, both teens moved, giving their balls a hard toss, whizzing past each other as they flew toward their targets. Garfield leaned his body away from Rainbow's, but Rainbow smirked as she moved slowly on purpose, getting hit in the shoulder. The boys erupted into cheers, thinking they won, including Garfield as he cackled and danced around in victory.

"Oh yeah! I won five-on-one!" Garfield taunted, only making Rainbow's smirk widen and the girls on the side giggle at their stupidity.

"The teams were six-on-six," Rainbow reminded Garfield, pausing his happy dancing as he faced her, confused. "Do a head count, Garf."

"Huh?" He looked at the girls who were out, his teams cheering growing silent as they were just as confused as Garfield. "One, two, hmm...five? Wait, then who's-?"

Garfield was suddenly hit by a dodge ball, though it was more a light tap to his side than a smack, hearing it bounce and roll away from him. Slowly turning to see who it was, realization struck when his dumbfounded expression turned into a startled grimace. Fluttershy managed to quietly approach him, gently toss the ball Rainbow gave her, and got Garfield while the boys were too busy celebrating a bit too early. She waved sheepishly at him, stifling her giggles from the shock on his face.

"You're out," she said. "Umm...I think we win."

Garfield let out a girly shriek in disbelief while his teammates groaned. "How did we not notice Fluttershy was playing!?" one of the boys asked.

"She's basically a wallflower, so of course we wouldn't pay attention to her," Flash grumbled.

Garfield let out a fainting groan, wobbling to the floor in a heap in defeat. The girls ran up to Fluttershy, congratulating her on winning the game for them.

"Told you girls Fluttershy would be a great secret weapon if Garf was playing," Rainbow gloated, making the animal lover blush nervously from the praise.

Garfield groaned miserably as he stared at the ceiling. While wallowing in misery, Fluttershy approached him, holding her hand out to him, helping him back on his feet.

"Good game, Garfield," she said.

He let out a defeated sigh, then grinned at Fluttershy. "Yeah. Good game," he said back. "But, you know I was going easy on you girls, right? I could do a whole lot worse."

"You didn't even see Fluttershy like the rest of us!" Bulk Biceps pointed out, earning a death glare from Garfield, his attempt to act cool in front of her shattered by the obvious being stated. "...Well, we all did forget she was here..."

The bell rang, signalling the end of the period and time for lunch. Everyone headed to the locker rooms to get dressed back in their normal clothes, some taking their gym clothes with them to get them washed up for tomorrow. Despite trying to be aloof going easy on Fluttershy, he wasn't really going to hurt his new girlfriend that badly. It had been a few weeks since the two of them enjoyed their time at Equestria Land and started their relationship as a couple, and despite that sudden first kiss after that evening, they were content going at their own pace as their relationship continued to grow. Garfield and Fluttershy hung out a bit more on their days off from the shelter, called or texted to see what their plans were, and they went on a couple dates in that time, just casually hanging out and enjoying the day together. Their friends wouldn't let up on them as "the cutest couple at school", Sunset planning to put their picture together under that category for the yearbook.

In the cafeteria, after everyone gathered their lunches, the girls laughed as Rainbow Dash regaled the epic win Fluttershy got them in their dodge ball match, to Garfield's chagrin. "You can't be serious! Fluttershy got Garfield out!?" Sunset asked in disbelief.

"Yup. Just as I planned to win the match," Rainbow said cockily.

"But I thought you said you could take them out on your own," Fluttershy mentioned. "And, well, everyone was distracted, so...I thought I'd help us win."

"W-Well, I lost my guard on purpose for you to take him out," Rainbow backpedaled.

"Rainbow Dash lettin' someone else win?" Applejack questioned, feigning shock. "Who are ya and what have ya done to our friend?"

"The point is I still lost, and I was pulled an epic last stand for nothing," Garfield grumbled, then looked at his girlfriend, who was sitting beside him. "If you were an animal in another life, you'd be a chameleon with how impossible it is to notice you if you don't make a peep."

"Strange. I thought she'd be a pegasus," Pinkie chimed in.

Garfield stared blankly, baffled by Pinkie's response before Fluttershy whispered to him how she "pony's up". "...Oh. Right. With the ears, tail, and wings," he uttered.

"But I would like to know what it's like to be a chameleon for a day," Fluttershy said. "Or any animal."

Garfield chuckled at the irony from his own powers giving him what she desired. Though, he wouldn't want to tell her how to make that dream possible if she didn't want green skin and hair and almost die from the mutant monkey bite that had almost killed him when he was "infected".

"You'd just make me spoil you if you turned into anything cuter," he said, both in a flirtatious way and teasing her, which made the girl blush heavily. He smirked, wrapping his arm around Fluttershy. "But, I guess I don't mind either way."

While the group continued eating, a blue jay flew into the cafeteria through an open window, chirping skittishly as it flew toward Fluttershy. The bird landed at their table, startling everyone as it hopped around and tweeted and chirped to her.

"Now, hold on. Slow down, little guy," Fluttershy said. "What's wrong?" The blue jay chirped, flapping its wings and hopping around while explaining to her what's got him, along with his other woodland friends, in a fright. Fluttershy gasped, the others waiting for her to translate for the little bird. "A portal opened outside of town, and something came out!?"

"Oh, great," Twilight grumbled. "What kind of magical creature is it going to be this time?"

"He said there weren't big monsters, but five people," Fluttershy added, startling the others. Garfield especially, having no clue who these five "people" might be if they came from his world. The blue jay explained in the best details about these people to Fluttershy. "There's...a tall one, a very small one, one who looks like a bat, one who has only one eye, and one wearing all red with a strange symbol."

Garfield grimaced, praying it wasn't who he thought it was. Suddenly, they heard an explosion in the distance, startling everyone in the school.

"What was that!?" Rarity exclaimed.

Alarms rang out from everyone's phones, everyone quickly looking at an important news bulletin on whatever social media sites the students used as a news anchor appeared on their screens in a live feed. "We have breaking news about a mysterious attack in Canterlot City, only far worse than mysterious creatures from another plane of existence to the recent attack by a portly young man with a universal remote. We are going live on the scene, where police officials are trying to stop the attack."

The feed cut to a woman in front of the camera, looking out to the street they were on, being wary and anxious, flinching from an explosion coming from a bit further away from her location. "At this very moment, Canterlot City is being attacked by what appear to be five teenagers with strange powers, but it's not like the powers seven unique girls from Canterlot High have!" The camera shook as another explosion rocked the area, hearing a nasally cackle in the distance as a blur flew over them with rockets propelling the attacker forward. "Even advanced technology and...I-Is that a rocket launcher!?"

Behind them, they heard a roar as a car was charged through, the woman and cameraman screaming as they barely caught the person on camera rampaging toward them. They could hear policemen warning them to stop or they'll shoot, but the gunfire after the warning was blocked by a barrier. Then the police screamed as something whizzed past them, slicing up their pistols. The cameraman and reporter began panicking, only for the camera to get swiped out of the crewman's grip.

"Excuse me, pard'!" a voice said in a southern drawl like Applejack's.

"Mind if we get in the shot!" the same voice said, but as the camera turned to face not one, not two, but a dozen of the same person wearing red full-body suits with a division symbol on their chests, making the woman and cameraman scream.

"Hi, ma!" another of the clones said with a wave. "Ah'm on T.V.!"

"Oh no. Not them," Garfield uttered quietly to himself.

The video cut back to the anchorman with a worried look as the feed was cut. Ignoring the startled anchor, Garfield had a bad feeling he knew who came through after recognizing the annoying laugh, that beastly roar, and the dozen clones who revealed themselves on camera.

"What in the heck was that???" Rainbow questioned.

"These guys look a whole lot worse than Control Freak," Sunset said. "Did they come from the same world he and Beast Boy had?"

"We have to do something!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"You want US to fight five of those delinquents!?" Rarity shrieked. "I don't think Principal Celestia would allow us skipping school, even if it means helping save our city from being bombarded by those hooligans!"

"Well, someone's got to do it if the cops are powerless against them!" Rainbow said, agreeing with Pinkie.

Garfield growled, exiting the news report on his phone, then stood up and ran out of the cafeteria. "Garfield, where are you going!?"

He didn't answer as he ran out into the hall, leaving behind his new friends in befuddlement. "That was...odd," Applejack noted. "Now where in tarnation's he runnin' off to? The school's probably gonna be under lockdown with them varmints causin' trouble."

"Then let's sneak out and stop those guys!" Rainbow said.

"Are you mad?" Rarity questioned the brash athlete. "I think Beast Boy can handle them if he shows up."

"I'm not sure," Twilight said. "If one of them can make copies of himself, he'll definitely be outnumbered."

"Twilight's right," Sunset said, standing up from her seat. "He's going to need our help. Let's hurry before they run everything to the ground!"

Despite Rarity's chagrin, the fashionista sighed, knowing their magic can help the shapeshifter in his heroic efforts. The girls got up and ran out, hoping none of the faculty caught them and kept them from helping save their city. Worried, Fluttershy pulled out her phone and called her boyfriend's number, wondering why he ran off like that. While running down the hall and hearing the dial tone, she slowed down when she heard his phone's ringtone going off. In his locker. Confused, she opened the hastily unlocked space, finding his phone going off inside, along with his backpack. The larger flap was unzipped, and inside was, to her surprise, his clothes he was just wearing.

"Huh?" Fluttershy uttered, baffled and gravely worried if something awful happened to Garfield. "Why would he leave his...?"

"Fluttershy, hurry up!" Sunset called out.

Whimpering nervously, she grabbed Garfield's backpack, stuffing the phone in with his clothes before catching up with the others, concerned about her boyfriend's well-being if he left his phone and, awkwardly, his clothes behind.

Flying over the city as a falcon, Beast Boy arrived at the destruction zone from the harassing super teens from his world. Landing on one of the tallest buildings, he transformed and looked around, his hunch correct as he watched the five people causing trouble: the southern multiplier, Billy Numerous, the mysterious, silent bat kid with teleporting powers, Kyd Wykkyd, the helmed cyclops with powerful eye beams and shields, See-More, a tall, hulking male who can charge through buildings like a rhino, Mammoth, and the worst of them, a midget boy genius with technological expertise, Gizmo; members of the H.I.V.E. Five.

"Of course it had to be them," Beast Boy grumbled. "How the heck did these guys make a portal?"

He continued watching the H.I.V.E Five causing trouble: Billy and his numerous clones trying to be stars using the stolen camera despite losing the live feed, Kyd Wykkyd was dealing with police and their firearms with that sharp cloak of his, See-More used his laser eye vision to peer into different buildings, either to steal money or valuables while they were here, Mammoth took a break from his rampage and raided a nearby fast food restaurant, devouring every bit of food out in the open, and Gizmo was flying around with his multipack, either blowing stuff up with his rockets or snatching same games and consoles from this world for later. Seeing enough, Beast Boy waited for his chance to strike, watching Gizmo as he flew around cackling like the little, narcissistic smart aleck he is.

Once he soared close enough, Beast Boy leapt off the building, transforming into a capuchin monkey, letting out a screeching battle cry as he perfectly landed on the tech wiz's back. Gizmo looked up too late when he heard the screech, letting out a yell as he felt something kick the back of his head, then clawed at the thruster propelling him, causing it to break and send them spiraling out of control.

"AHHH! WHAT THE CRUUUUUUD!?!?!?!?" Gizmo screamed as he tried to regulate his flight pattern, Beast Boy leaping off, shifting into a falcon, hovering in the air while watching Gizmo fly through a window near where Mammoth was munching to his heart's content.

Confused, Mammoth looked behind him, finding his partner groaning, crashing into a few tables with his thruster on his pack sputtering to a smokey stop. The other three members of the H.I.V.E. Five heard Gizmo's scream and came over to investigate. When Gizmo stepped out, grimacing from the painful crash, Mammoth laughed at his misfortune.

"Nice landing, genius," he mocked, stuffing another burger in his face.

"Something screwed up one of my thrusters, fat-head!" Gizmo shrieked angrily. They soon heard a falcon cry overhead, looking up to see it dive bombing toward the group. Confusion quickly turned to shock when the avian turned into a green gorilla, roaring with its arms rearing back to slam down on any of them. See-More quickly reacted, creating a yellow eyeball barrier, protecting him and his teammates from Beast Boy's slam. The shapeshifter leapt away, landing on the street a fair distance away with a heavy thud.

"What in Sam Hill...?" Billy Numerous uttered, all five recognizing the green tint of the massive primate.

Beast Boy shifted back to normal, revealing himself to the villainous teens. "Oh, great. It's animal boy," Gizmo grumbled.

"Yeah, yeah, the feeling's mutual," Beast Boy said. "And the name's Beast Boy, 'geek boy'."

Gizmo growled, his face turning red for being called a geek by his enemy. "Hey, is something different about him?" See-More questioned. "He's...wearing a mask?"

"Bahahaha! That's so dumb!" Mammoth guffawed. "We already know what your face looks like!"

"Hold on a sec. If Beast Boy's here...that means the other Teen Titans found a way to this world to stop us!" Billy Numerous exclaimed.

The group looked around, Kyd Wykkyd warping around to search for the other Titans for an ambush. He returned to his comrades, shaking his head after performing his recon. The H.I.V.E. Five then turned to Beast Boy, who started to sweat nervously, knowing that scare tactic wouldn't work when they figured out eventually that it was just him.

"He's by himself?" See-More uttered. "That's...hard to believe."

"How did you even get here, beast-buffoon?" Gizmo questioned.

"I should be asking you that!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "First Control Freak, now you guys!? How did you find your way to this world!?"

"Like we're gonna tell you, snot-face!" Gizmo exclaimed.

"Then I'm gonna beat it out of all of you!" Beast Boy's threat only made the H.I.V.E. Five laugh, but he didn't care if he was outnumbered if it meant stopping them from causing trouble in this world.

"Good luck with that, Beast Boy!" Billy said. "You'd have better luck wranglin' a bull with a piece of string!"

"Ok. Then I'll be the bull!" Beast Boy ran forward, shifting into a green bull with a bellow.

Mammoth got up, ignoring his lunch and charged toward the shapeshifter, meeting him head on and grabbing his horns, stopping them both in their tracks. Beast Boy tried to flail his head out of Mammoth's grip, but the massive superhuman was far stronger than a rampaging bull. Changing into an elephant, Beast Boy's transformation nearly slipped Mammoth up, giving him a hard smack with his trunk. Mammoth slid back a bit toward his teammates, Gizmo pressing some buttons on his controller to release a pair of metal spider legs from his pack while the others prepared to fight back.

"Let's show gack-skin how screwed he is!" Gizmo said, his metal spider legs bounding him toward a building, clinging to the side while a pair of blasters sprouted from his pack.

The blasters fired at Beast Boy, who quickly turned into a cheetah, running from the energy bullets, along with See-More and his eyeball laser beams from his helmet's eye. Beast Boy zigzagged down the street to avoid their fire, quickly making a harsh turn toward Billy Numerous and Kyd Wykkyd. Billy began splitting himself into more duplicates of himself, acting like a wall as Beast Boy snarled and lunged at the group of clones. He didn't notice Kyd Wykkyd teleporting behind him, slamming his foot down hard on the back of the green cheetah's head, slamming the shapeshifter to the ground, then warped away when the Billy clones dogpiled Beast Boy and began pummeling him.

In the distance, the reporter and camerman found their camera, the crewman checking to make sure Billy Numerous didn't break it when he got bored of it. They looked up when they heard a monstrous roar, watching Beast Boy turn into a T-Rex and shook off the Billies clambering over him.

"Please tell me that thing's still working!" the woman exclaimed, shaking her colleague while he made sure it was in working order.

"The lens is a bit scuffed, but it's still fine," he said.

"Get this, and try to get us live again!" the reporter demanded, not wanting to let this moment slip away despite being scared out of her mind earlier.

The girls split up in two cars as they made their way down to the city to stop this new group of teens who might have come from Beast Boy's world, Applejack driving her pickup with Rainbow and Pinkie and Rarity with Twilight, Sunset, and Fluttershy. "Why would Garfield leave his phone AND his clothes in his locker?" Twilight questioned Fluttershy after wondering why the poor girl was in a panic.

"I-I don't know," Fluttershy whimpered nervously.

"I know Garfield is weird in a good way, but the way he reacted after that news report, he wasn't in the least bit shocked when we saw at least one of those guys," Sunset noted. "It's almost like...he knew who they were before we got any idea of who they were."

Their phones buzzed again, the news station giving them another update. Twilight opened up the web browser, making sure the volume was up high enough for her friends to hear.

"We have an update on the situation at hand in the city," the news anchor said before quickly transitioning back to the action downtown.

"Apologies for the theft of our camera, but there is more breaking news in this mysterious attack from these superpowered teenagers!" the reporter exclaimed as she looked out to the fight, the camera panning over to Beast Boy in his T-Rex form, taking hits from Gizmo's blasters, Billy's clones, See-More's laser beams, Kyd Wykkyd's sharp cape trying to slice at his back, even taking a flung car by Mammoth before he jumped in and joined Kyd and Billy. "This mystery hero, Beast Boy, has arrived to stop these dangerous hooligans, and he REALLY is a Tyrannosaurus Rex, an extinct Dinosaur from millions of years ago! Hah! T-This is kind of exciting, but also dangerous! Everyone within the area evacuate immediately or stay in your homes until this threat has been dealt with!"

"Looks like he made it there in time," Sunset said. They heard Beast Boy let out a roar, managing to fling Billy Numerous, Kyd Wykkyd, and Mammoth off him, only to let out a pained grunt when Gizmo launched a rocket in his face, sending him crashing into a nearby building, damaging the structure with his massive size. "It really doesn't look like he's going to last against these guys."

"They're incredibly strong, and that midget's got some dangerous technology," Twilight added when the camera looked up at Gizmo, surprising the reporting duo when they heard him fire rocket launcher, which folded back in his pack and brought back his blasters with a snobby cackle. "Far more dangerous than that Control Freak guy."

"Oh my gosh! Where did he have a rocket launcher!?" the reporter exclaimed in shock.

Beast Boy shifted back to normal in the background, letting out a groan as he recovered from getting blasted in the face. Gizmo looked down at the reporter and cameraman for the news station, letting out a snicker as he leapt off, his pack releasing a pair of helicopter rotors while retracting the spider legs.

"Eat rubble, stupid paparazzi!" he said before aiming his blasters at the building the duo stood by, causing heavy bits of debris to rain down on them.

The girls gasped in horror while the reporter and cameraman screamed in terror, their legs failing to help them escape as they stared at their doom. Beast Boy heard them, shifting into a cheetah again, ignoring and avoiding the other H.I.V.E. Five members to reach the helpless news people. Quickly skidding and turning around, Beast Boy transformed again out of the camera's view, the heavy material the building was made of falling with a thud over the two. When the camera moved to see what happened, the duo let out a gasp when they saw a massive tail sheltering them, surprising the girls when they saw Beast Boy had shapeshifted into a slingtail.

Beast Boy flung the rubble back at Gizmo, startling the tech wiz with a yelp as he dove out of its trajectory. The falling debris headed for the other villains in the H.I.V.E., making them scatter or protect themselves while the Teen Titan turned back to normal. Before the reporter and cameraman could thank him, Beast Boy faced them, his gaze threateningly serious.

"Get out of here now!" he ordered. "If you stay around any longer, you'll just keep getting in harm's way! You have no idea how dangerous they are!"

"Can we at least get an interview la-?" the woman tried to request, only to have Beast Boy growl, then turn into a pterodactyl, grabbing the pair as they shrieked in surprise, carrying them outside the area of destruction the H.I.V.E. Five left in their wake.

The camera fell out of the cameraman's grasp, smashing to the ground and cutting off the feed. "Well, at least they'll be grateful he saved their lives, right?" Twilight asked.

"I think that woman lost her mind when she saw how powerful those teens were," Sunset grumbled. "Possibly looking for a big scoop that was more important than her own life."

Rarity looked in her rear view mirror, spotting Fluttershy clutching Garfield's belongings tightly to her. "Don't worry, Fluttershy. I'm sure Garfield's fine," she reassured. "Maybe he went back to the gym to...work out his fright?"

"I don't think that's the right psychological reaction to a disastrous-" Rarity cleared her throat, interrupting Twilight's logical rant. Rarity tilted her head back to Fluttershy, reminding her of Fluttershy's traumatizing situation with her boyfriend leaving without a trace and leaving his phone behind, the only way any of them could have gotten in contact with him. "Err, I mean, yeah! Males have different involuntary reactions to situations, and working out to relieve stress of any kind...helps them cope? Heheh...Ehh..."

Without saying a word, Fluttershy dug into Garfield's bag and pulled out his gym clothes. Despite holding the sweaty outfit, the girls grimaced, now deeply concerned as something could have seriously happened to him. They really hoped it wasn't the case as they continued driving down the road, getting closer and closer to the center of town where the action was.

After Beast Boy set the annoying reporter and depressed cameraman down somewhere safe, he flew back, ignoring the woman's begging for an interview. As much as he wanted some fame as a hero, he didn't want it when there was a serious criminal group that was far worse than any robber or mugger trying to take money or jewelry. When he made it back to where he fought the H.I.V.E. Five, he looked around, finding no sign of them. Confused, he landed and changed back to normal, the eerie silence making him anxious as he prepared himself for an ambush.

"They couldn't have moved further into the city, could they?" he mumbled to himself.

Carefully looking around as he wandered down the empty street, Beast Boy wasn't aware of the villains hiding in wait for him. Inside one of the buildings, See-More spied on him with his x-ray vision through the thick wall, Kyd Wykkyd and Gizmo with him as they watched the Teen Titan. Across the road, Mammoth and Billy Numerous hid around the corner of another building, waiting for the signal. Gizmo snickered, his rocket launcher at the ready as he aimed it for the shapeshifter, Kyd Wykkyd holding out his cape against the wall. When Beast Boy turned away, Gizmo fired a rocket, going straight through Kyd's cape, making it go straight through the wall and headed straight for Beast Boy. He quickly turned when he heard the rocket, reacting too late as he was struck dead on and sent flying across the road, crashing through the glass of the store. While groaning as he recovered, he heard the building thud repeatedly, Mammoth and Billy Numerous and his duplicates smashing through the structure, causing it to crumble down on top of him with tons of rubble crushing him.

Kyd Wykkyd flashed his cape as he teleported outside, bringing Gizmo and See-More with him while Mammoth and Billy laughed as they regrouped with their team. "I can't believe he didn't SEE that coming!" See-More said, making the group groan at his eye pun.

The rubble from the collapsed building shifted slightly before a small green field mouse crawled through the thin openings, Beast Boy squeezing out before shifting back to normal. His body was badly scraped, his outfit tough enough to withstand quite a lot of abuse, but he was lucky not to get completely crushed. Grunting in pain, he leered at the H.I.V.E. Five when they saw him survive.

"Looks like Beast Butt's up for round two!" Gizmo mocked.

"This'll be a cakewalk," Mammoth said, pounding his fist into his hand. "And after, I'm gonna raid a bakery for some cake."

Beast Boy knew he wasn't going to last much longer, barely laying a scratch on any of them. Mammoth's pretty tough and won't flinch when he's struck that much, See-More has his barrier, Billy Numerous literally has the strength of a hundred men, Kyd Wykkyd could easily avoid him, and despite Gizmo down one of his different modes of transportation, he could still fly with his helipack function and climb up walls with the four spider legs. He didn't want to resort to using his werebeast form, but Beast Boy was left with no other choice. Before he could turn into his most dangerous form, they heard a pair of vehicles coming their way, even after everyone, including the police, fled from the villainous teens. To Beast Boy's shock, it just had to be his friends in this world as they came to a stop and climbed out of the car and truck.

"Hey, lookie here," Billy said. "Some cute girls comin' to see us beat the livin' tar outta the Teen Titan."

"Uhh, you know, I've been wondering why everyone here looks like their skins were splattered with different colored paint," Mammoth thought aloud while rubbing his head.

"I can't believe you're the first one to notice that," Gizmo muttered sarcastically. "Everyone looks like a rainbow barfed on them."

Kyd Wykkyd tilted his head, silently pondering the odd skin tones the girls had. While the H.I.V.E. Five wondered why the people looked so different compared to their world now, Beast Boy hobbled over to the girls, still in pain while angrily glaring at them for making the dumb decision to show up.

"No need to ask, dude!" Rainbow said, oblivious to his gaze. "We're here to back you up!"

"Back me up!? ARE YOU ALL CRAZY!?" Beast Boy screamed, his voice cracking as he flailed his arms wildly. "Get out of here!"

"But we came all this way AND skipped school to help you!" Pinkie explained. "We also wanted to make it Even Stevens for helping each other! You helped us with the manticores, the timberwolves, and the slingtails, even that mean robber, and we helped you with that Control Freak dork, so we can help you with these guys!"

Beast Boy scowled under the veil of his face mask, slowly raising a shaky hand before facepalming himself. Hard. He did not want them here now, especially not Fluttershy, knowing she was definitely going to get hurt.

"It'll be a cinch with these guys if we work together!" Rainbow added over-confidently.

"No, you guys do NOT understand at all!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "Those five are part of a teenage villain group called the H.I.V.E., and these guys are basically the ELITE members from that very same group!"

"But you're a mess, darling," Rarity said. "We saw you getting outnumbered, even when you turned into a Tyrannosaurus Rex on the news."

"And you're badly hurt," Twilight noted when they saw him limp toward them. "What else did they do to you?"

"It doesn't matter! I've handled these guys before!" Beast Boy said angrily. "I can take care of them without your help, and I don't want you girls in the way and getting hurt! They're far worse than what Control Freak can do!"

"But...Beast Boy..." He turned to look at Fluttershy, his gaze softening when he saw how worried she seemed. He noticed her holding his stuff, grimacing as he forgot to lock his locker. "W-We...we can help you...And, if you can...m-my boyfriend...he went...missing..."

Chastising himself, Beast Boy sighed, feeling ashamed to let his new girlfriend worry like this. "...I'll find him when I deal with these guys, but for your sakes and mine, don't try to help," he pleaded.

"Now, hold on there, sugarcube," Applejack interjected. "Ya look like you're on your last legs. And without us helpin' ya with Equestria's beasts and Control Freak, things could have been a whole lot worse."

"I've got this," Beast Boy said, making them cringe as they heard that line from a certain someone at Camp Everfree, and things escalated quickly when she tried to do it all herself. Beast Boy turned around to face the H.I.V.E. Five, fighting through his pain, now unable to unleash the werebeast without risking going on a rampage and hurting his new friends. "When I'm done with them, I'll figure out just how they got here."

"Hey! Y'all done chattin' with your girlfriends!?" Billy questioned impatiently, splitting himself up as his duplicates made different comments on who they liked better.

"Ah love me a blonde-headed southern gal."

"That one with the curly purple hair's more hotter! What are ya talkin' about!?"

"That nerdy one with the glasses is actually kinda cute."

"Ya think that one's pink curly hair tastes like cotton candy? Ah can smell the strawberry flavor from here."

"Hey, focus, mutli-doofuses!" Gizmo scolded, getting the Billy Numerouses back on track with their initial plan and taking Beast Boy out.

"Alright, alright!" the Billies all said irritably.

"That is so weird how that guy can talk to himself with his clones he keeps making," Twilight uttered, fiddling with her glasses while puffing her cheeks when she heard one of them call her cute.

"He'll be too busy talking to himself in a jail cell soon enough." Beast Boy charged forward again, turning into a rhinoceros, aiming his horn toward the Billies to bowl them over.

See-More got in his path, his lips curling in a smirk as he adjusted his helmet's settings for his eye abilities. "Let's see if we can get his eyes spinning!"

Enhancing a projection of an eyeball in front of them, See-More made the eye spin rapidly, creating a hypnotic wheel to make Beast Boy dizzy. The shapeshifter let out a startled snort, eyes widening before he forced them shut, transforming back to normal as he stopped and shielded his eyes with his hands.

"N-No! Not that!" Beast Boy exclaimed, his one weakness being trapped in a hypnotic spell no thanks to the old, British, scientific trickster, Mad Mod, when he kidnapped the Teen Titans, using hypnosis to try to reform them into civilized children in society. See-More's grin widened when the shapeshifter revealed his weakness, keeping the hypnotic eye spinning while the rest of his team approached Beast Boy. "Don't look at the eye. Don't look at the eye."

"What the heck? Why'd he stop?" Rainbow questioned. "It's just a spinning eyeball!"

"I can't look at it!" Beast Boy yelled back, unaware of the other H.I.V.E. Five teens silently stalking him. "If I do, I'll-!"

"Be an easy target!" Mammoth said, then yelled as he slammed his fists into the ground, creating a shockwave that headed straight for Beast Boy.

The girls yelped at the incredibly earthquake Mammoth made, but the shockwave made Beast Boy stumble, forcing to use his arms to balance himself while keeping his eyes shut. It was a difficult feat to stay standing in the middle of a quake with tightly shut eyes, prompting Beast Boy to shift into a falcon, keeping his gaze away from See-More. He didn't hear the silent Kyd Wykkyd warp in front of him, slashing the sharp end of his cape at the avian, making him screech as feathers flew off his body, along with a few nasty cuts. Beast Boy shifted back to normal, grimacing in pain, only to grunt as Billy and his duplicates punched him around, causing him to stagger into another while keeping himself blinded, failing to fight back as his swings missed the multiplying teen. Growing desperate, he turned into a manticore, startling the H.I.V.E. Five with another strange animal transformation, quickly backing away as Beast Boy swung his scorpion tail to sting away his assailants.

The girls all watched helplessly as Beast Boy struggled to fight back, but he can't handle five supervillains at once, even with one of them able to make copies of themselves to make him feel really outnumbered. Mammoth grasped Beast Boy's scorpion tail, keeping the stinger from hitting any of his team as he yanked the shapeshifter toward him. He clocked the manticore in the back of the head, changing Beast Boy back as he hit the road hard, then got lifted up while the tall, nearly indestructible H.I.V.E. member repeatedly punched him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him over and over. Beast Boy wasn't able to keep his eyes shut for long from the excruciating, air-expelling blows to his gut, but See-More had gotten rid of his optical illusion for a while. He was then flung in the air, followed by a rocket from Gizmo aimed at him like a clay target in a skeet shooting session.

The girls gasped as the rocket made impact, blowing Beast Boy up as he was sent flying back to the ground, bouncing off the hood of an abandoned police car, leaving behind a huge dent as his body rag dolled across the pavement before coming to a stop. "Beast Boy!" they cried out, running toward him with grave concern.

"Oh, man! He's not dead, is he!?" Rainbow shrieked.

Twilight checked for a pulse, surprised, but relieved. "He's still alive; just unconscious," she said, the others letting out a sigh of relief. "He's quite durable for not being blown up by something as dangerous as a rocket."

"Must be a part of him being a super human with animal changing powers: turn into any kind of creature with the speed of a cheetah, the strength of a bear, and the thick skin of a turtle," Pinkie said.

"You mean shell?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well, he's not wearing a shell, silly," Pinkie reasoned.

Even though they were assured Beast Boy was alive, they saw first-hand how dangerous the H.I.V.E. 5 were. The group celebrated, ganging up on the Teen Titan and gloating about their accomplishments. The girls glared at them for hurting their savior and friend, even Fluttershy as they all looked at each other, nodded, and together, approached the villainous teens from another world.

"Hey!" Sunset called out, getting the boys' attention. "You're not getting away with this!"

"Hah! Look who's trying to be the heroes!" Gizmo mocked. "You dumb girls should go worry about shopping for shoes or whatever it is you like."

"We ain't goin' nowhere," Applejack said.

"We're going to put you boys in the slammer!" Rainbow exclaimed.

"We're more than average high school girls," Twilight added, Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy nodding while staring down the H.I.V.E. Five.

"Oh, so he found some more Teen Titans to add to their numbers in this world?" Billy questioned. "Just what makes y'all so special that ya think y'all can scare us into givin' up?"

"We have the magic of friendship on our side!" Sunset claimed.

The H.I.V.E. Five stared at the girls, then looked at each other, their cheeks puffing out before bursting out into uproarious laughter. "Well, this feels a lot more embarrassing when Princess Twilight said that aloud to the Dazzlings," Rarity mumbled.

The evil teens all collapsed, guffawing and holding their sides as they poked fun at their "power". Sunset just shook her head, knowing these boys were going to be in for a big surprise.

"Alright, girls. Let's pony up!" Sunset cried out.

They all activated their gems, shimmering brightly around their respective accessories. On their right cheeks, a mark appeared that matched the different symbols they wore on their person like the cutie marks of the ponies in Equestria. In a brilliant flash, causing the laughing teens of the H.I.V.E. to stop, then gawk in surprise as the Canterlot High girls ponied up, their outfits transforming into their magical dresses with their magic of friendship powers. Their hair grew, tying at a point to form into makeshift tails matching their hairstyles, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash growing a pair of pegasus wings as well thanks to their other selves' anatomy in Equestria. The villains' jaws dropped as the "powerless girls" hovered in midair, even those without wings, revealing their powers to them.

"...Uhh, ok. Didn't see that coming," See-More said.

Gizmo shook his head, snapping out of his shock, replacing his launcher with his blasters. "I don't care what kind of stupid powers you girls have! Eat lasers, rainbow-barfers!" Gizmo fired his blasters at the girls, but Rarity held up her hands, creating a magic diamond shield in front of them. The ethereal diamonds not only protected them, but also deflected the midget genius's projectiles, sending the H.I.V.E. scattering about as they avoided his lasers. Gizmo fumed, his face turning beat red as steam seemed to literally blow out of his ears in humiliation. "GET THEM!!!"

Both sides split up, the H.I.V.E. Five going about their own way to defeat the girls, but the CHS heroes were confident in their magical abilities and analyzing up close what they could mostly do. Mammoth yelled and charged forward, Applejack landing and doing the same to him. Both of the strongest members from both groups met head on, thrusting each other's hands into their opponent's, creating a shockwave as they connected. Mammoth smirked, thinking he had an advantage with his super strength, pushing Applejack back slightly. However, his grin melted to a grimace when Applejack gave him the same cocky smirk, stopping him, then began to push him back. Mammoth grunted, putting his all into his muscles to push the much stronger farm girl, but his feet kept sliding across the pavement.

"Havin' trouble beatin' a girl in a match of strength?" Applejack mocked.

"I'm...not...losing...to a girl!" Mammoth shouted, growling aggressively while still getting pushed back.

"Well, y'all are gonna lose today!" Applejack gripped Mammoth's hands tightly, surprising him as she pulled him toward her, then gave a swift, powerful high kick to his jaw, sending him flying in the air a few feet before giving him another hard kick as he fell back down, sending him tumbling down the road several yards until coming to a stop against a van in a distance. Applejack winced, seeing the massive dent Mammoth made. "Oh boy. Ah hope we don't have to pay for anythin' else gettin' destroyed around here."

While waiting for Mammoth to snap out of his daze for round two, Rainbow Dash zipped around Kyd Wykkyd, getting frustrating deja vu moments when Kid Flash literally ran circles around him. And Rainbow was just as bad when she could move fast on land and in the air with her wings. He tried warping in her path, only to miss and get tripped up by her. Gritting his teeth in frustration, he stood up, only to be met with a pair of blue eyes glancing directly into his by mere centimeters.

"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie!" she greeted. Kyd swung his cape to scratch Pinkie, but somehow missed as she somehow appeared behind him. "Missed me!" she taunted excitedly, prompting him to quickly spin around and kick, missing once more. "Yeah, I might not be fast as Dashie, but I'm quite an expert dodger! You should see me when I play dodge ball!" Kyd Wykkyd began to get more frustrated, his swings, kicks, and swiping with his cape always missing the giggling pink-haired party lover. After several minutes of trying to get at her, he panted in exhaustion, glaring at Pinkie now waving at him. "Left you a little surprise! Bye, Batman cosplayer!"

As she skipped away, Kyd Wykkyd raised a brow in confusion. He then noticed that his cloak was starting to glow, looking down to see Pinkie left him some candy, sticking to his outfit and enchanted with a strange glow. Clueless, he didn't expect them to blow up on him, sending him flying across the street and smacking into the wall of a building, knocked for a loop with his body slightly singed.

Rarity and See-More dueled each other, eyeball lasers and barriers against ethereal diamond shards and shields. See-More's lasers kept getting deflected by Rarity's diamond shields, keeping him on the defensive while she continued flinging diamonds like throwing stars at him. When he drops his barrier for a brief second to fire back, he didn't notice Rainbow zooming up to him, giving him a swift kick in the back, sending him stumbling forward and getting struck by the magical diamonds. See-More tried to focus his vision on the speeding rainbow blur, but she was too fast, even getting socked in the face by her fist when she suddenly stopped directly in front of him.

"Keep your eye on the prize, cyclops!" Rainbow Dash taunted, then rushed See-More, ramming him into Mammoth while he continued fighting with Applejack, joining her friend/rival with her fight against the tough H.I.V.E. member.

Billy Numerous surrounded Sunset and Fluttershy, several dozen duplicates of the multiplying villain ready to pounce on them, even though most of them didn't want to attack Fluttershy with how timid she was. Sunset used her magic to try to find the real Billy out of them, but when reading all their thoughts, it was hard to tell since they all had the same mind, but had different likes, dislikes, beliefs, and even thoughts on how the two of them looked in their ponied up forms.

"Which one's the real one?" Fluttershy asked Sunset.

"Urgh! I have no idea!" Sunset exclaimed in frustration. "They're all completely different, not mere clones with the same or lesser thought processing!"

"Uhh, did she just call us dumb?" one of the Billies questioned.

"At least she figured out we're all not the same Billy," another said, sounding quite impressed.

"So, umm, which one's the real Billy?" Fluttershy asked.

"AH'M BILLY!" they all said.

"Oh. I thought that would work," Fluttershy uttered, thinking asking out of curiosity would have worked. They had no choice but to take out each one, but that would be a problem if each Billy can split themselves up. Looking up, she saw a murder of crows flying over the city, and it was quite a big flock as they seemed to be traveling south. "I think I have another idea. I'll be right back."

Fluttershy flew up after the crows, prompting the Billies and Sunset to look up and watch, the latter smirking while stifling her laughter. "Now what in tarnation is that little lady doin'?" one Billy questioned aloud.

"Ah don't know, but Ah don't think it would've been right to hurt someone like her," another said. "She looks like she wouldn't even hurt a fly."

"She might not be fit for fighting, but she has her ways of stopping trouble," Sunset said, confusing all the Billies.

Within minutes, the murder of crows suddenly swooped down, cawing and screeching as they attacked the Billies. Completely caught off guard, the duplicates yelped and tried to swat the birds away, getting pecked and scratched at as their attention was now focused on the flock suddenly attacking them out of nowhere while leaving Sunset alone. Fluttershy hovered back down beside Sunset, both girls watching the Billies scrambling to get away from the crows.

"And after you're done picking on these bad guys, all of you will get plenty of bird seed to fuel you up for your long trip," Fluttershy said to the crows, doubling their annoyance on the Billies for their reward from the animal lover.

"Kinda wished there were much more dangerous animals nearby you could convince to help us, but crows work, too," Sunset commented.

Above them, Gizmo hopped from rooftop to rooftop with his mechanical spider legs, firing behind him with his blasters to knock Twilight out of the sky. She flew after him, avoiding his fire or using her telekinesis to lead the shots away from her and everyone down below.

"Leave me alone, four-eyes!" Gizmo shouted, wishing Beast Boy didn't mess up his rocket thruster. Twilight ignored the rude comment, continuing her pursuit and managed to catch up to him. Gizmo growled, switching his blasters for his launcher, and fired a rocket at her. Twilight held up her hands, catching the explosive in her telekinesis, to the midget technicians dismay, then aimed it down at Mammoth right as he was about to slam his fists down and knock Applejack and Rainbow Dash over with a shockwave tremor. Mammoth grunted, glaring at Gizmo, thinking he shot at him on purpose, only to turn around to get hit in the face by a wrecked police car courtesy of Applejack. "AHH! Stupid magic powers! That's cheap, you big dork!"

"Says the twerp using rocket launchers and who knows what other kinds of dangerous gadgets!" Twilight exclaimed, then focused her magic on Gizmo's pack.

She hoisted Gizmo up, making him scream as he tried to break free, only to yelp and fall on his face when Twilight successfully pulled his multipack off his back. Twilight snatched the controller out of the dazed villain's hand, humming in thought as she observed his gear. Gizmo peeled his face off the roof, and when he looked up, he screamed as he saw Twilight levitating his pack with one hand while fiddling with the controller to activate all of its functions in the other.

"Hey, don't mess with my tech!" he exclaimed, rushing at the taller teen, but she stuck her foot in his face, ignoring his flailing arms while toying with his device.

Twilight managed to figure out which function served as what, switching between the different transportation modes and offensive projectiles, almost like they were programmed like controls in a video game. "Huh. Interesting."

"I said gimmie my tech!" Gizmo demanded, his arms smacking Twilight's leg, but she barely felt anything.

Twilight looked down at the pathetic brain of the villainous group, who was only more dangerous when around technology. "Wow. I'm pretty sure Fluttershy could easily knock you out without this, and she can't throw a punch to save her life." She pushed Gizmo back, but before he could lunge toward her again, he winced when he saw his pack's blasters aimed at him. "I'll give you a choice: you and your friends surrender, or you'll wind up in jail after we kick all of your butts."

"Y-You're kidding, right!?" Gizmo questioned, though his nervousness was apparent as he stared down the barrel of his blasters. "W-WE'RE the ones kicking YOUR butts!" Twilight gave Gizmo a blank stare, then pointed behind him. He turned around and looked down, his eyes widening with sweat beading down his head; the H.I.V.E Five was getting their butts handed to them by the CHS girls. See-More was already knocked out after getting slammed into Mammoth thanks to Rainbow Dash, Mammoth was fighting Applejack with extreme frustration, only for Pinkie to pop in, smack some enchanted candy in his mouth, which he swallowed and seemed to enjoy before they exploded in his stomach, making him bloat up and pass out in pain before belching out pink smoke, Kyd Wykkyd was given the runaround by Rainbow Dash, keeping him distracted for Rarity to smack him with a diamond shield into a wall, and Billy Numerous and his duplicates were being harassed by a murder of crows, splitting up more and more to thin our their numbers while running away. "...Crud..."

"Not as tough as Beast Boy told us you were," Twilight mocked. "You'd be surprised by how wonderful things turn out with a bit of teamwork. You managed to do that with our friend you almost killed, but why not us? Because we're...what did you say? 'Dumb girls who should worry about shopping for shoes?'" Looking over to Fluttershy, the animal lover noticed her looking her way, giving her a nod and called off her 'little friends'. As soon as the crows flew away from the Billies, Rainbow ran into each Billy, gathering them together, and once they were together, Twilight aimed Gizmo's blasters at them, blasting the duplicates back into each other and leaving one, the pain flooding back to Billy Numerous as he instantly passed out. Gizmo gulped nervously, shakily turning around to face Twilight, who had his blasters aimed right back at him. "You need to stop assuming us girls are just stereotypical gossiping, dress and shoe crazed, boy gawking teenagers, especially when they have magic you can't fathom."

Gizmo panicked, running off the edge of the roof, taking his chances breaking his legs than get beaten by a bunch of girls. Just before he slammed into the sidewalk, Twilight used her magic to stop him mere inches from breaking every bone in his tiny body. The others gathered the other beaten H.I.V.E. Five members around Gizmo, plopping them down hard on the ground before he was dropped. The girls gathered together, staring down the beaten teen villains with Gizmo the only one unharmed, but defenseless without his gear, still hovering beside Twilight as if taunting him.

"We just got started, you little dork!" Rainbow taunted with a pound of her fists.

"You really don't want to see what happens when we combine all our magic," Sunset added. "Or would you like a sample right now?"

Gizmo growled, humiliated and incredibly furious. "AHH! Screw that tubby T.V. junkie!" he screeched. Gizmo pulled out a remote from his pocket and pressed a few buttons. The girls thought he had a secret doomsday device up his sleeve, preparing themselves for whatever he was doing. Behind them, to their surprise, Gizmo made a portal appear behind him and his team. "Get up, you booger-heads! We'll get him later!" The boys all grunted, struggling to even stand while Gizmo yelled at them to move, even kicking them through the portal with his small, weaker stature. He turned around to face the girls once they all stepped through. "We'll be back after telling the doc how much you rainbow-puke horse-brained girls BEAT US!! AAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!"

And like a spoiled brat, Gizmo ran through the portal with his arms flailing about. Rainbow dashed forward, but the portal closed within mere seconds, barely reaching it in time.

"Shoot! They got away!" Rainbow exclaimed.

"And they have a way of making these portals at will," Twilight added, all seven girls reverting back to normal now that the dangerous group had fled. "Far more advanced than the portal I've worked on, and far more portable."

"At least they're gone," Pinkie said. "For now. Best keep our eyes on them if they return...Hah! Keep our 'eye' on them! As big as that guy with the eyeball helmet!"

"If Beast Boy would have just accepted our help, we all could have taken them out together," Applejack said.

Mentioning the unconscious hero, the girls gasped, then hurried back to Beast Boy, making sure he was still with them. He had rolled onto his back, groaning slightly, but he was still unconscious. While they gathered around him, Beast Boy weakly squinted his eyes open. His ears were ringing slightly, his blurry vision making him see not his CHS friends, but his old team back in his world.

"I think he's starting to wake up." He heard Robin's voice, then swore he saw Cyborg leaning over him with a cheeky grin.

"Dang, B.B., you got your butt whooped!" "Cyborg" exclaimed, playfully teasing the dazed shapeshifter. "Good thing you got us to look after you, huh?"

"Next time, try not to take on the H.I.V.E. solo, you nutjob," "Raven" droned, Beast Boy swearing he could see a small smile on the seemingly emotionless Azaranian.

"I propose we host a celebratory feast of the junk food when Beast Boy recovers from such a glorious victory!" "Starfire" cheered.

"I think he'll tough it out." The last voice confused him as another silhouette joined his friends, clearly female, and all too familiar to him. She leaned closer and could be seen much clearer, that girl being none other than Terra, wearing her black cropped top with a yellow T, the Teen Titan's insignia, yellow shorts with a brown belt, brown boots, and brown gloves, a pair of goggles hanging around her neck. Delirious and losing his vision again, Beast Boy weakly reached his hand out to his old crush in disbelief, feeling her own hand grasp his while giving him a loving smile. "Glad you're alright, Beast Boy."

"...T-Terra?" Beast Boy weakly uttered before his eyes rolled back into his head, passing out.

Hearing that name startled Fluttershy, holding onto his hand while she and her friends noticed he was hallucinating from the incredible amount of pain he must have been in. "Did he just call Fluttershy 'Terra'?" Rainbow questioned.

"Sounds kind of like the name of the one girl Garfield liked," Sunset said, making Rarity and Applejack wince from blurting out something that only Fluttershy was supposed to know.

"Hahaha! W-What, Sunset!?" Rarity loudly asked, emphasizing the fact that she, Sunset, and Applejack tailed the couple on their private date and wanted to feign ignorance. "Garfield had a crush!? W-Who could have he possibly liked that was probably better than Fluttershy!?"

"Rarity, y'all ain't bein' subtle in the slightest," Applejack grumbled, though Fluttershy didn't seem disturbed by their knowledge. "We followed Fluttershy and Garfield to Equestria Land on their 'date', and we overheard him talkin' about a girl named Terra he liked."

Rarity heavily sighed, the cat out of the bag and expected a pained look of distrust from Fluttershy. She still didn't react, focusing on the unconscious hero. She might not know much about Beast Boy, and she doubted a hero like himself would detail any parts of his life to anyone, but mentioning that name without that deep tone he made his voice to hide his identity shocked her, sounding similar to Garfield. Feeling incredibly anxious, she let go of Beast Boy's limp hand, reaching out to his mask to see who it was underneath. The girls finally noticed Fluttershy begin pulling off Beast Boy's mask, too late to stop her as their own curiosity peaked them about the mysterious, animal shapeshifting hero's identity.

Once the mask was off, collective gasps were made when his face was revealed. "Oh my goodness," Twilight uttered.

"No way!" Pinkie exclaimed. "I knew something smelled fishy!...And he never turned into a fish!"

Fluttershy dropped the mask as she stared at her unmasked savior in surprise; it was none other than her boyfriend, Garfield Logan. "...Garfield is...Beast Boy?" she mumbled, finally figuring out what happened to her boyfriend earlier, but felt more conflicted by who he really was after this shocking discovery.

The Truth

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Beast Boy weakly groaned as he came to. Squinting his eyes, he was no longer laying on the hard concrete street out in the middle of the city. He was now staring at the ceiling of Rainbow's living room, transported here by the girls, and was set down on the couch to recover. Though his entire body was sore, Beast Boy sat himself up with a grunt, clutching his side as he strained himself, but a hand rested on his shoulder and gently forced him to lay back down.

"Don't move. You're hurt." He looked to his left, seeing the girls were all together waiting for him to wake up with Fluttershy trying to get him to lie down.

Where he expected them to be relieved after remembering he got his butt whooped by the H.I.V.E Five, most of them stared at him with skepticism, some with confusion. Fluttershy did seem concerned, but she also looked hurt, betrayed. She backed away when he refused to lay back on the couch, looking away from him as she sat beside Rarity and Applejack.

Beast Boy twisted around with a grunt, setting his feet on the ground as he leaned against the back of the couch. "What happened?" he asked. "Why am I here?...And the H.I.V.E. Five?"

"We took care of them," Sunset said. "They're in jail."

"And you're at my place," Rainbow chimed in.

Beast Boy sighed. He didn't want them to fight the H.I.V.E. Five, but seeing how they came out unharmed, he was glad to know that the H.I.V.E. were stopped and arrested before they caused even more mayhem.

"...Thanks for helping, but I could have handled them," he said.

"Ya got smacked around like a ping pong ball and got knocked out," Applejack stated. "Ya couldn't have handled them if y'all were tryin' to catch a pig while greased with butter."

"And if you think you're just going to leave in the state you're in, you're not going anywhere with us around," Rarity said.

"Not to mention a lot of questions, Beast Boy," Twilight said.

"Or should we call you by your real name?" Sunset grabbed something on the coffee table, and to Beast Boy's shock, she held up his mask. "Garfield."

Beast Boy tried in vain to cover his face, but since they already figured out his identity when he was unconscious, he lowered his arms with a defeated sigh. "I knew I was gonna get caught eventually," he mumbled, dropping his lower tone to mask his voice now that they knew. "Keeping a secret identity was so much harder than I thought. How did Batman do it?"

"Aha! So you were DC all along!" Pinkie exclaimed. Her accusation confused everyone as they all looked at the hyperactive party girl. "...What? I asked him if he was Marvel or DC when we met."

"...What does that even-?" Sunset stopped herself, then shook her head. "Never mind. Pinkie Pie being herself."

Beast Boy knew he wasn't going to get away so easily. He was badly injured, surrounded by the girls he befriended in this world, and with their magic, especially Twilight's telekinesis, they could easily drag him back so they can get some answers out of him. If there was ever a stressful time to be interrogated by someone, it had to be with his friends when he was caught in a huge lie. He caught Fluttershy looking at him, gulping nervously as he feared their relationship as a couple was going to end after he talked.

"Why did you lie to us?" Fluttershy asked, trying to remain calm despite slightly trembling in fear of everything she shared with her superhero boyfriend was only a ruse.

"...Not everything I said was a lie," Beast Boy mumbled.

"Then what was really true?" Applejack questioned.

"If you're not going to tell us, I can look into your head and tell the others myself," Sunset warned.

Beast Boy sighed, giving in to their demands and sparing Sunset from witnessing the worst of his past life. "Ok. I'll tell you guys everything," he said. "You already know I'm not from this world, my names, and my powers."

"'Names'?" Rarity questioned.

"Beast Boy is my superhero name, but Garfield Logan is my actual, normal name," Beast Boy explained. "I always just went with my hero name since...well, you know. Shapeshifting animal boy."

"And we're going to assume your home, 'Jump City', never really existed in this world at all," Sunset guessed.

"In my world, that's where I lived," Beast Boy said. "I used to live with a few other superheros around my age, too. We called ourselves the Teen Titans, and we protected the city from villains like the H.I.V.E. Five, aliens from other planets, wild and dangerous creatures from Earth, even a super demon from another dimension who actually happened to be the dad of one of my friend's."

"Aliens and demons!?" Rainbow and Pinkie exclaimed excitedly, but the looks on the others made them drop their wide grins.

"And let me guess: your friends you told us about the other day are also your teammates?" Twilight asked. "With super powers of their own?"

Beast Boy nodded, then held up his hand and lifted a finger as he listed each of his friends. "Starfire's actually an alien from a planet called Tamaran, Raven's a sorceress with demon magic, Cyborg is literally a cyborg, and Robin, the only normal one out of the five of us, uses gadgets and martial arts to fight crime." The look of surprise on the girls' faces was exactly what he expected them to have, even as they began to imagine what his friends looked like. "Yeah. We were a strange bunch. But we were like a family...even when we tend to get on each other's nerves."

"Well, it can't be as dramatic as mah own extended family when they come over to visit," Applejack said.

"What happened to you before you ended up here?" Fluttershy asked curiously.

Beast Boy grimaced sadly, wishing that sort of question wouldn't be brought up. He already gave the gist of his relationship with Terra to Fluttershy back at Equestria Land, and there was also his insecurities as the mutant hero he is because of his lost love. Fluttershy noticed the trepidation in his eyes; the same trepidation before he revealed why he was so anxious explaining to her about his love life and fears of being in a relationship. Since there was no way he was getting out of this without telling his new friends EVERYTHING, Beast Boy steeled his nerves and let out a heavy sigh.

"...You probably won't believe me if I just tell you I 'ran away from the team and tried to go solo,'" he started. "A lot of things happened before I ended up through that portal of Twilight's...most of it not exactly the best. Dealing with a powerful super villain isn't the issue; relationships and socializing is another."

"Relationships?" Rainbow questioned. "Dude, you're a superhero from your world. I think girls from your world would have been all over you and your guy friends after saving them from a monster."

"After the long journey my friends and I went on to stop every single villain we've ever faced to unite all the other Titans teams across the world to stop them, Jump City made a lot of changes while we were gone," Beast Boy said. "Fame didn't bother me much before. I mean, I try to be a lady killer, but I act more like a goof trying to get their attention while trying to look cool."

"Well, you certainly had Fluttershy's attention," Rarity said, making the animal lover's cheeks turn a light shade of pink. "So, what caused your mindset to change on how popular you were as a hero?"

Beast Boy sighed, taking off his gloves and holding out both his hands. "My skin and hair weren't really supposed to be green," he said, then gestured to his face and short, shaggy hair. "I was human before I became Beast Boy. Ever since I turned into an animal shapeshifter at a younger age, my whole body turned green, and my ears are also a bit longer and pointy."

"How did that happen?" Twilight questioned curiously. "And with your shapeshifting powers...you're able to transform into ANY kind of creature?" Beast Boy nodded in response to her second question, but he wasn't able to explain how before Twilight continued asking more questions. "Even creatures NOT from your world? Or planet?"

"Uhh...Yeah, I guess," Beast Boy uttered. "I mean, there were a few aliens I could turn-"

"On the news, we saw you turn into a slingtail to save the news reporter and cameraman," Twilight interrupted, a theory quickly peaking her scientific mind, along with hers and everyone else's curiosity with his powers. "Can you turn into a timberwolf?" Beast Boy shrugged, but complied. Envisioning the wooden canines in his mind, his body warped about in his spot on the couch, and if the gasps of awe from the girls were any indication, he must have pulled it off. Beast Boy looked down at himself, his body now a canine's, but made entirely out of bark, leaves, logs, and twigs. There was still the discrepancy of his transformations to the original creature he becomes; the bark's more green than any leaves attached to the twigs on his body, and the glowing green eyes were just big, white, pupil-less ones, which looked even more creepy with how lifeless they seemed. "Wow! That's...That's incredible! He can even turn into creatures from Equestria! I mean, he can turn into dinosaurs or extinct animals from hundreds of thousands of years in the past, but THIS is astounding! What else can you turn into!?"

"Ok, Twilight, cool it down," Sunset interjected, stopping the nerdy teen from geeking out more than she is.

Twilight cleared her throat, blushing sheepishly at her overreaction while Beast Boy changed back to normal. "I still don't know the real extent of my powers, but so far, I can turn into any kind of creature I've seen before," he said. "I can even turn into an amoeba. Though that experience when I had to get rid of a virus in Cyborg with Gizmo...that wasn't pleasant."

"You worked with that little twerp before???" Rainbow questioned.

"It's a long story. I'll tell you about that later," Beast Boy mumbled.

"So...how exactly did you get these powers?" Sunset asked. "You said you were a normal person before."

"Did you fall into a vat of chemicals that made you all green and give you animal powers?" Pinkie guessed.

"...No. I grew up traveling the world with my parents," Beast Boy said. "You made the right guess before just out of pure randomness."

"I did?" Pinkie asked, making the shapeshifting hero facepalm at her cluelessness.

"A week after stopping those slingtails, you thought I was a mutant bitten by a radioactive monkey in a jungle," he rephrased.

"Wait, so you're sayin' Pinkie was right about that guess???" Applejack questioned as the other girls shared the same shock at the random theory Pinkie came up with.

"Well, I have no idea what happened with the monkey, but it was definitely not normal after what it changed me into," Beast Boy said. "In fact, what it gave me almost killed me."

"Almost killed you!?" everyone exclaimed.

Beast Boy began to regale the origin of his superhero powers and his life before being part of the Teen Titans. His parents, Mark and Marie Logan, were geneticists, traveling all over the world to study the wildlife in the many vast jungles across the globe. Garfield Logan was brought up in these jungles, never given a single home to call his home with all the traveling his family did on their research. He was fascinated by all the animals he and his parents observed, and enjoyed traversing through the jungles to see all the different species the Logans studied.

Fun soon turned to near tragedy when young Garfield and his family traveled to Lamumba in Africa, hearing rumors of there being a species of green monkeys in the country's jungles. While searching for the green-furred simians, Garfield encountered one and got bitten, contracting the deadly Sakutia virus that the monkey carried. This virus attaches itself to its host's DNA, rewriting its victim's genetic code, where they suffer with green skin and hair and only having a time frame of forty-eight hours upon being infected until it kills them. Thinking quickly, Garfield's parents managed to create a serum that mutated the Sakutia virus, saving him from dying, but it still left the young boy completely green. The mutation also gave him the ability to shapeshift into many different animals, thus giving him the superhero persona Beast Boy several years later.

Things had taken a drastic turn when Garfield lost his parents. He told Sunset the truth about what happened to his folks, but left out the fact that he was also there and was the only one to survive. The storm got worse as their boat was getting destroyed on their latest, and final, explorations. His mother pleaded for him to fly away and find somewhere safe, where he obeyed, transformed into a bird, and flew away, leaving his parents to perish in that storm. Though he was orphaned, he didn't stay alone for long, telling the girls of his encounter and enlistment in a heroic group called The Doom Patrol, then leaving due to the leader, a powerful psychokinetic man named Mento, disregarded the young Beast Boy, the harsh discipline given to him and lacking to give the young hero any encouragement as a hero causing him to leave, then run into his new friends, thus forming the Teen Titans.

The girls all listened silently with rapt attention, feeling sorry for the shapeshifter as he shared his tragic backstory, as any superhero gifted with incredible powers would have. Beast Boy even shared a few of his triumphs as a hero with his team of teenage misfits, even previous encounters with the H.I.V.E. organization and several other repeat villains. The nostalgic grin on his face made the CHS girls wonder why he still felt miserable, even when he considered the Teen Titans his family.

"Beast Boy- er, Garfield," Sunset corrected, unsure what to call the superhero teen now.

"Call me whatever you want, but, when around everyone else in this world, just my real name," Beast Boy suggested.

"Right. Secret identities. Been there, done that, didn't stay secret for long, though," Sunset uttered, understanding that logic since she wasn't a native of this world either. "Anyway, Beast Boy, was there a reason why you unfortunately flew into Twilight's portal that night? You did mention before that you didn't run off to go solo."

Beast Boy's smile quickly faded, getting to the nitty-gritty of how he accidentally wound up here. "...I ran away," he admitted. "But it wasn't because of my friends..."

"What happened?" Rainbow asked curiously.

"...Terra?" Fluttershy guessed. The dejected expression on his face made her guess spot on. The others had no idea who this Terra was, but if it was the same girl that he uttered earlier while he was fading in and out of consciousness back in the city from his defeat, they wondered who this other girl was. Fluttershy did, though she figured the real story behind Terra held much more than just her being an average girl with a strict father. "...Was she...part of your team, too?"

"...For a while, sort of..." Beast Boy felt like sinking into the couch, or turn into a mouse and slink between the cushions. He felt terrible for lying to Fluttershy about his ex, or rather friend since they never officially went out with each other if their "date" meant to distract him from his friends didn't count. "...I may have fudged our story a little bit, Fluttershy, but everything between me and Terra were all true."

"Like what?" Fluttershy asked.

"...She had powers, too," he said. "She could move the earth with her mind. When we first met her, she couldn't control her powers. I assured her we could help train her to control them better, but she refused and swore me to keep it a secret...It was so obvious to the others, and when Robin mentioned it, she thought I told them, betrayed her trust, then ran away before I tried to get her to listen."

"Geokinesis?" Twilight uttered in awe.

"But...she came back, right?" Applejack wondered aloud.

"Yeah. And she could control her powers better. She even wanted to join back with the team, and I was so happy she returned," Beast Boy said. He didn't smile, though, slumping more against the couch as he looked down at the floor. "I had such a big crush on her, and I wanted to ask her out since we first met. I had a chance, but she turned me down, even after I made her a present. She changed her mind not too long after, and we went out around Jump City by ourselves. We went to a restaurant she went to before sticking around as a Teen Titan, eating one of the best apple pies I had ever tasted." He glanced at Pinkie, reminding her of their first meeting at Sugarcube Corner and the apple pie he sampled as a first-time customer. Now she understood why Beast Boy looked so melancholy after eating such a delicious pastry; the taste somehow matched the same pie Terra suggested to him in that very restaurant on their unofficial date. "Then we went to an amusement park, where we managed to have some fun before it turned into a disaster.

"Terra's 'father' was actually a tough foe we've run into many times. His name is Slade. He tried to take Robin away from us to be his apprentice, but when he failed to turn him around, he had his sights on Terra...And when she came back, she had been working for Slade, and mastered her powers with him." Terra's betrayal still hurt Beast Boy to this day, and it made him despise Slade all the more: first by trying to take Robin under his wing, then Terra, and even Raven after he was supposed to be dead when Terra fought back for control over her body. After Trigun, no one knew how he came back to life after serving the demonic creature, and he hoped he didn't see the mercenary in the flesh again, otherwise he'll make sure to mangle him and make sure he stays dead permanently before he tries to take away anymore of his friends. He composed himself, clearly glaring angrily at the mention of Slade, and he didn't want to startle the girls while they continued listening to his woes. "...She became our enemy, but I knew she didn't want to be a villain. We confronted her and attacked her, but I still believed the Terra I knew was still there.

"We chased her and Slade underground deep under the city. She wore a suit that gave Slade complete control of her body, including her powers. When she refused, he forced her to attack us. We finally managed to break through to her, and she fought back against Slade's control. Unfortunately, while she used her powers against him, lava began to rise in the cavern, sending Slade over and burned him alive while also causing an underground volcano to erupt. It would have destroyed Jump City if Terra didn't sacrifice herself, using her powers to stop it from blowing up...She was turned to stone when we went back down to find her."

The girls let out a gasp, astounded by the outcome of Terra's sacrifice, and even feeling sorry for her when she finally managed to turn herself around. "My goodness...How awful," Rarity uttered.

"She gave up her life as an exchange for redemption," Sunset mumbled.

"But...you said she came back," Fluttershy mentioned, startling her friends with the surprise twist. "How did she turn back to normal?"

"I don't know. And we tried to find a way to bring her back after that," Beast Boy continued. "After we and the other Teen Titans all around the world stopped the Brotherhood of Evil, which was a group of all our worst enemies joining forces to take over the world, when we returned home to a newly changed city, I saw her walking down the street out of nowhere. I thought I was crazy, but when I went to the cavern where her body rested, it was gone."

"Holy guacamole!" Pinkie exclaimed in shock.

"But how did she free herself?" Rainbow asked with a scratch of her head.

"Maybe, with her powers allowing her to control the earth around her, it could have been a slow process where she could manipulate the stone encasing her body, and free her from her sacrificial imprisonment," Twilight pondered.

Beast Boy only shrugged, his guess as good as anyone's, even with Cyborg's best hypothesis barely coming close to what the logical conclusion was to her freedom. "So, she came back, but even though ya should have felt ecstatic to have her back, ya still ran away?" Applejack questioned.

Beast Boy had a blank, distant stare, slowly leaning forward, ignoring the bit of pain from his movements as he hunched over in his seat. "...She had amnesia," Fluttershy answered. The other girls turned to look at her, then back to Beast Boy, their shock at the unfortunate news making them feel sympathy for the depressed shapeshifter. "Terra...lost all her memories...when she 'returned'..."

"...Yeah...She did," Beast Boy mumbled. Sighing, he rested his elbows on his knees as he covered his face with his hands, the painful realization that the Terra she knew would never come back. "I got desperate...I tried to jog her memory, but all I did was pester her, upset her, and got her so mad at me that she didn't want anything to do with me...I pushed her away, all because I still clung onto what we had before...The last thing she said before I tried to give her my Titans communicator to convince her one final time...She said...things change...and the girl I want her to be is just a memory..."

Beast Boy's hands grew wet as he shed tears recalling the last exchange he shared with the now normal teen girl he formerly fell for. The girls felt sorry for him and the worst way anyone could be heartbroken after such drama occurred between the two. He quickly wiped his eyes with his sleeve, barely glancing up to see them pity him for his loss, especially from his current girlfriend, Fluttershy.

"But...you couldn't really let go of her, could you?" Fluttershy asked, given a small nod from the shapeshifter.

"You ran away because of heartache," Rarity uttered.

"It wasn't just that," Beast Boy added. "After leaving Terra alone, I went to help my friends take down a monster that was wreaking havoc on the city since I saw Terra was 'back'. After I took out all my pain and frustration on it, taking it out on my own, I fell into a slump...It didn't help that I see her walking around the city, hanging out with her new friends or going to her new school, which only made me feel worse..." He looked back down at his hands. "...I even started to feel self-conscious about who I was around the new Jump City that changed so much. Out of my whole team, Cyborg and I feel like the only ones who stand out by appearance. The only difference is that Cyborg was still human with robot parts; I'm a mutant green-freak who turns into animals. And what's worse, when Starfire was sent forward into the future where the whole team got split up after trying to stop a villain named Warp, she told me older me locked himself in a cage to protect himself from being harassed by people because of our looks and mutant shapeshifting. I felt just as paranoid as my older self, but I suffered through more depression because there would be no one in the city who would look at me as a normal person like my friends..."

The girls looked at each other, startled to hear Beast Boy expressing how much he hated his appearance now when it clearly never bothered him after he was bitten by that monkey and survived thanks to his parents creating that serum to mutate the virus it gave him. "...Well, even though you have superpowers, you seem pretty normal to us," Sunset said. "I even lived in a completely different world, and despite me being the evil queen bee out of spite toward my mentor back home, I was forgiven, changed my ways, and I feel much more accepted by everyone at CHS."

"Define normal when everyone else from my world has either white, black, or brown skin when mine looks like I bathed in radiated green sludge every day of my life," Beast Boy said while holding his hands up again, emphasizing his green skin and hair tone to the girls again. "I'm not sure if any of you realize it, but to me, all of you have different colored skin that varied out of whatever section of the rainbow you came out of, and far more colorful. The only ones who would look normal in my world would be Applejack and Pinkie Pie."

The girls looked at themselves, though as most of them imagined how different they would be from people from Beast Boy's world, Pinkie was the only one who nodded. "Eh, he's got a point. Although, I still wonder if Rainbow Dash's hair is really just a wig. No one has that many colors in their hair naturally."

Rainbow's eye twitched, letting out an irritated huff as she glared at Pinkie. "Pinkie, this IS my natural hair color! My dad's got the same rainbow hair that I do!" she argued.

"So HE'S the one wearing the wig?" Pinkie questioned, which made Rainbow facepalm in frustration.

Even though Pinkie's random accusations over Rainbow Dash and her dad's hair were a bit funny, Beast Boy didn't crack a smile as he let out a sigh. "Well, I guess that's everything about me you need to know. Who I am, where I came from, how I became Beast Boy, and why I wound up in your world. But now that someone's managed to build a portal from my world to reach this one, I'm afraid there's going to be even worse villains than Control Freak or the H.I.V.E. Five that'll come through." Letting out a grunt, Beast Boy moved to stand on his feet, grimacing with each movement as he hunched over slightly while clutching his side. "Who knows when they'll show up?"

"But we can help you," Twilight insisted.

"We've got magic, too! We whupped those H.I.V.E. Five jerks and sent them running!" Rainbow added. "You might be able to turn into huge, extinct animals, alien monsters, or even creatures that pop out of a storybook, but you're still just one person, Garf!"

"If ya fought evil with a team, then you'll be needin' one to help ya when more enemies from your world show up," Applejack said.

Beast Boy lowered his head, grateful for their help, but if anyone like Slade appeared, there would be no way they could stand a chance with someone as tough and intelligent as him. He really couldn't take on their greatest foes on his own, and he knew his own powers wouldn't be enough for some of the worst of them, especially if they have longer range or, at worse, hypnotic skills that could turn him into a drooling, brain-dead puppet. Going solo never truly lasted for long: leaving his parents to escape the storm that took them away, running away from the Doom Patrol because of the harsh nature of the leader, Mento, and even now from his depression and self-consciousness about his appearance that led him into the mysterious portal and appear in this world. Even though he didn't want to put them in danger, just knowing their magic can take on evildoers from his world along with mystical creatures from a different world, he didn't have to worry too much about protecting them. At least a little bit.

"...Maybe a little help wouldn't be so bad after all," he said. "It would save me the trouble of getting banged up every now and then." Beast Boy let out a small laugh, only to grunt as laughing even brought him pain. "I need to rest up...Uhh, I can still sleep here, right, Dash?"

"Of course, but just because we know you're a superhero, that doesn't mean you're skimping out on rent," Rainbow reminded teasingly.

"Yeah, yeah. Even in my world, I had to pay for my stuff. Saving the day doesn't always mean free stuff." Beast Boy approached Sunset, who gave him back his mask, then began to limp his way upstairs, almost tripping over himself from the pain, but Rainbow quickly caught him with her lightning speed.

"Need some help, Garf?" Rainbow offered.

"I'm good. I've been beaten by worse," Beast Boy assured.

Rainbow let go of him once he was stable on his feet, but stayed close in case he was going to keel over again. He reached the stairs fine on his own after that near fall, climbing up the stairs while holding himself up with the railing. Halfway up, he stopped and looked back at the girls; specifically at Fluttershy. Even though she and the other CHS girls accepted him for who he is, there was still a lot that was needed to discuss with Fluttershy alone. He turned away, giving them a small wave as he continued his ascent, finally limping into his room and collapsing on his bed with a grunt. For a long while, Beast Boy stared at the ceiling, wondering what the future of his relationship with Fluttershy will be after revealing everything about himself.

The next day was thankfully the start of the weekend, which would hopefully give Beast Boy enough time to get back on his feet. Throughout the rest of yesterday and today, the news stations and social media blew up over the H.I.V.E. Five's attack and their defeat by Beast Boy and the CHS magical girls. There wasn't a lot of footage on the aftermath, thankfully for the shapeshifter's identity staying hidden, but what was there was enough to get a lot of attention from excited fanatics wanting to see more action with the huge variety of animals Beast Boy could turn into. The girls also got their fair share of the fame as well, but they only insisted they were helping the real hero since he was completely outnumbered, leaving out the part where he was beaten by the H.I.V.E. Five to avoid any die-hard fans from them taking the glory from the newest young hero.

Fluttershy decided to walk down to the shelter today instead of drive since it was a nice day out judging by the birds chirping as they flew over the area. As soon as she entered the shelter, she gasped when she saw Beast Boy at the reception desk, or Garfield Logan, rather. After seeing him take a beating and getting blown up by a rocket, she expected him to be bedridden for a week.

"Bea- I mean, Garfield!?" Fluttershy exclaimed in surprise.

"Hey, Fluttershy," he greeted.

Fluttershy approached the desk, looking around to make sure the owner or anyone else was around. "You should be resting," she chided.

"I heal pretty quickly," Garfield nonchalantly said. "I'm used to getting pummeled or blown up when fighting villains."

"Well, getting blown up by those rockets scared the daylights out of us," Fluttershy said with an irritated frown.

Garfield giggled sheepishly in response. "Right. I really didn't stand much of a chance facing them all by myself," he said. "But, uhh, remember when we first met? With those manticores?"

"Yes," Fluttershy said. "I still remember you got stung by the last one's stinger."

"Heh. Yeah, that really hurt," he said, subconsciously rubbing his back from the painful manticore sting back then. "And that poison was a lot worse. I'm kinda lucky turning into a honey badger helped me tolerate the poison enough until it felt like I was stung by a wasp. All hail the mighty honey badger." While Garfield praised the dangerous, furry predator, Fluttershy couldn't help but giggle as he raised his arms, acting like the honey badger was an all powerful deity. "But, yeah, I'm actually ok. Just feeling a little sore from yesterday."

"I still think you need to rest, but I won't stop you," she said.

Fluttershy clocked herself in and got to work with the pets in the shelter. Luckily, it was just the two of them working today, though both teens were feeling anxious around each other. Garfield felt his throat dry anytime he tried to spark some kind of conversation, mostly to explain more to Fluttershy and answer any lingering questions still floating in her mind. Even the pets could feel the tension between the two of them. After what felt like an eternity, Garfield finally broke the silence.

"...So...are we still going out?" he blurted out, mentally beating himself up for making this more awkward than it already was.

"...Umm...Who said we were...breaking up?" Fluttershy questioned.

"I-I...I don't know," Garfield mumbled. "You're...kinda dating a superhero? And I just told you and the others about my real life, which I had kept secret? I'm...kinda expecting us to break up...with the hopes that we could still at least be friends." Fluttershy stopped cleaning one of the cages she was working on and turned to give her boyfriend a dumbfounded gaze. "...Yeah, relationships don't really work out for 'Beast Boy' all that well, as you know..."

"Oh," Fluttershy mumbled. "...Do you...want us to break up?"

"N-No! Of course not!" Garfield stammered. "It's just...I-I mean, I told you about Terra, and...well, part of me still...And living here compared to my old world..." Garfield grunted in confliction, unable to find the right words to explain what he meant. He gave up and sighed heavily, plopping himself into a nearby chair. "...I don't know what I'm trying to say..."

Being the patient young woman she was, Fluttershy approached the distressed shapeshifter, kneeling beside him while gently grasping his hand. "Garfield, I think we all know how difficult it was to tell us about the real you yesterday, but I don't think anything different of you at all," she assured as she gave his hand a gentle squeeze. Garfield glanced at her, ensured from her gentle gaze and calming smile that she trusts him despite hiding his true identity from her and their friends. "I don't want you to hide anymore secrets from us, or hide anything you're really feeling from me. I'm here to listen just like you promised after what happened when that robber held us hostage."

Garfield let out a small laugh after a minute of silence, then shook his head. "And I thought you girls getting shot by that guy scared the heck out of me," he jokingly said. Taking in a deep breath, he calmed his nerves and collected his thoughts. "I guess I'm...still a bit worried about how our relationship will go."

"Like what?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well...Have you read stories about heroes, with or without superpowers?" Garfield asked, to which Fluttershy nodded slightly, mostly overhearing a few things with Rainbow Dash, Zephyr Breeze when he was into comics, and some of the younger boys at school talking about certain characters. "With all the dangerous stuff that's been happening, and villains coming through from my world, seeing anyone put in danger is bad enough, but when it's someone you care about..."

"It's worse," Fluttershy finished.

"Yeah..." Garfield let out a small sigh. "I still have feelings for Terra...Whenever I let her down, or she runs away, I always blame myself. I feel like I did or said something wrong and I can't find a way to fix it. Even when I do, I still lost her, and now she will never be the same." Then the nightmare he had when his feelings for Fluttershy began to grow, which only terrified him more if Slade ever decided to discover this world. "...I'm also...a little scared to see you get in trouble, and I'm afraid I'll end up letting you down, too. And, I can see you can sorta defend yourself, but only with some other animals you bump into. Kinda hard to find a tough beast in a city, though."

"Mhmm?" Fluttershy hummed, letting the shapeshifter know she was listening to him.

"...Those nights when I barely slept that whole week...I had the same nightmare over and over," Garfield continued. "It was about Terra at first...and Slade. I knew she could protect herself with her powers, but when I tried to save her, I blink, and instead of her being held hostage by Slade...you were in her place." Fluttershy was surprised to hear that. She was able to tell that something was bothering him with that week of misery, but she didn't think it was just about his old crush and losing her forever. "I think part of me wanted to ignore what I felt in my heart while the rest wanted me to cling onto Terra..."

"So you had a crush on me, too?" Fluttershy asked. Garfield nodded, though he was still upset. "...But, you were afraid that...I would have been taken away from you. Like with Terra." He nodded again, feeling ashamed to be pulled between the girl he's with now and a girl who had purposefully changed her life and would never be the same girl he knew anymore. Fluttershy could see his heart was conflicted, so she squeezed his hand again, then stood up and helped him up on his feet as she looked him in the eyes. "Garfield, do you love me?"

"Of course I do," he answered without hesitation.

"Do you still love Terra?" Her next question made Garfield cringe, but before he could stammer out a nervous response, Fluttershy pressed a finger to his lips. "Answer honestly. I won't be mad with whatever you really think. Do you still love Terra?"

As Fluttershy lowered her finger from his lips, Garfield frowned, hung his head, and sighed sadly once more. "...Yeah. I do," he mumbled.

She tilted his head back up, gently forcing him to keep eye contact with her. "And if Twilight found a way to make a portal connecting your world with mine, would you try to go back to being with Terra if she ever did regain her memories?"

That question made Garfield's heart drop to his stomach. Even after Terra gave him a reality check before he finally gave up, there was still a part of him deep in his heart that believed the old Terra could come back. He wasn't even sure how to answer Fluttershy if that possibility would occur, or if Twilight could find a way to configure her portable portal to create a gateway to his world. He did miss his old friends and worried about how they thought about his disappearance, but he seemed to have a much better life here in Fluttershy's world. Aside from getting back into his heroic duties as Beast Boy with the Equestrian world's creatures coming through the magical portals popping up randomly in, along with villains from his world managing to create a portal connecting their worlds, no one turned a blind eye to his appearance, and the girls found his animal shapeshifting powers fascinating, even with all the fanbase he's given from the city when his efforts caught on the news or someone's phone recordings.

He finally found his voice and responded. "...I...I don't know," he answered, highly uncertain whether to say yes or no. He thought Fluttershy was going to gently chide him and answer her as honestly as he can, but she remained silent, letting him give his highly impossible answer to such a simple, yet complex question. "I mean...maybe? But...I doubt Terra will ever remember me again..."

"And what if she did?" Fluttershy asked. Garfield grimaced, glancing down in shame as he can't give Fluttershy a simple answer. She surprised him with a kiss on the cheek, still giving him a calm smile without any hint of jealousy or even slight anger for thinking about Terra. "I know you've been through a lot, but I want you to be happy with who you want to be with. Even if you still choose Terra, I'll understand, and I hope we'll still be friends in the end."

Feeling a bit more reassured, Garfield gave Fluttershy a small smile, even when his true answer was still uncertain. "I'm not sure if I can answer that 'what if' question, but I'm content being with you, Fluttershy," he said. She nodded in understanding, then leaned forward and gave him a small, loving kiss on the lips, which he returned in kind. "Heh. Sorry for being a downer."

"It's ok. I know it was a hard question to answer," she said.

"I thought you were going to give me that mean glare you used on me when you took me to that amusement park to get the answer out of me," Garfield said.

"Huh? When I...used my 'Stare'?" Fluttershy asked. Garfield tilted his head curiously at what Fluttershy called it, then looked around when he heard some of the animals around them whimpering or hiding at the mention of the word. Seeing his confusion to the pets' reactions, Fluttershy bit her lip, feeling awkward explaining her special technique to tame her out of control animal friends. "I call it that when none of the animals calm down and listen. I give them a stern glare, and they obey without looking away. I call it 'The Stare'."

"Uhh...Do they also...not argue back?" Garfield asked.

"Mhmm. Rarity suggested I use it on you when you were mopey if you refused to go to Equestria Land with me. So I gave it a shot, and I was surprised it worked." Despite being gypped by Fluttershy's stare, Garfield gave his girlfriend a blank stare at her shock.

"Helloooooo? 'Beast Boy'?" he reminded the animal lover. He even shapeshifted into a few different pets to emphasize his point before turning back to normal. "Of course it worked on me! No wonder it looked like you were staring into my soul and holding it over an abyss if I so much as said one thing to get you more mad!"

"Oh," Fluttershy mumbled, blushing in embarrassment as she only realized her Stare worked after finding out about Garfield's powers. "Umm...I-I didn't...really think it would work when I did it before I knew you were..." She twiddled her thumbs bashfully while hearing Garfield let out an exasperated sigh. "I'm sorry."

"Well, if you didn't, I wouldn't have had a good time and a nice distraction from my own thoughts," he said. "At least your 'Stare' doesn't put me in a hypnotic trance."

"Why?" Fluttershy asked curiously.

"I...had a pretty rough experience with hypnosis with a villain called Mad Mod. He's actually an old British guy who uses technology to turn 'misbehaving' teenage superheroes like me and my friends into refined citizens," Garfield explained. "And I was a huge victim to being hypnotized. That's why I stopped trying to charge See-More when that eye of his started spinning like a hypno wheel."

"Is that a weakness of yours?" Fluttershy asked.

Garfield sighed and nodded his head, his cheeks flushing in embarrassment as he looked away from her. "...When I fall in a trance, I stand around like a brainless doll and drool all over myself," he admitted. "What's worse is that I could be stuck like that forever unless someone says or does something that makes me laugh."

"Oh...Well, if that does happen, Pinkie Pie can find a way to make you laugh," Fluttershy said, then giggled a bit. "...How badly do you drool?"

"Mmph...Like I waded through a pool of saliva," Garfield grumbled, stretching out his shirt with both hands. "I soak the front of my shirt with my drool." Fluttershy couldn't hold back her laughter as she imagined a hypnotized, brainless, drooling Beast Boy with his eyes swirling like a black and white hypno wheel and his clothes soaked with saliva. "Do NOT tell anyone else about this. If Rainbow pranks me, I am going to trash her house like a rhino in a china shop."

"I won't. I promise," Fluttershy said as her laughter petered down to giggles.

The two eventually got back to work, but with less tension between the couple. They finished cleaning the cages and kennels, checked on the sheltered pets to make sure they were healthy, and made sure to feed them all before their shift ended. Garfield told a bit more about himself and some of the more fun adventures he's had as a Teen Titan, even turning into some other exotic creatures Fluttershy requested to see as long as they were small enough to fit in the building. He also got Fluttershy with his own "special ability" to make any girl crumble under his might with "The Face": shifting into a green kitten, acting cute and getting attention from Fluttershy, treating it like a bit of revenge for getting "Stared". Things seemed to be getting back to normal for the heroic shapeshifter after his massive reveal to his new friends and girlfriend.

Unfortunately, Garfield didn't reveal every secret he had. One he still wanted to hide from Fluttershy and the girls was the monstrous werebeast form. Even if he had to use it out of desperation, he might not be able to control it and hurt anyone in his path. If he can't tame it, he doubted that Fluttershy could with her magic, and he wouldn't forgive himself if he hurt her or any of his friends in this world. He didn't want to risk losing the new life he made for himself, even if his old one as a hero had to come back due to his foes from his world were arriving and protecting the city from magical portals popping in and dropping creatures from a different world into a new environment to wreak havoc. He would have to enjoy what peace he can until his old team's worst enemies decide to come through.

Equestrian Titan

by Codex92

Prologue

The New Kid in Town (Part 1)

The New Kid in Town (Part 2)

A Ruff Day

Heads or Slingtails

A New Hero in Town

Mall Time Disaster

Truths of the Heart

5 Vs. 8

The Truth