> Apex Legends: Season E > by MegaCartmanX > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1: Meet The Legends! > --------------------------------------------------------------------------     “What ‘n tarnation is that!?”     “I-I-I don’t know! It doesn’t look friendly. But it also d-d-doesn’t look like it means to hurt us.”     “My Pinkie senses are tingling. I don’t like the look of this.”     “Calm down, darlings. Maybe it is just our imagination.”     “You think that this is merely our imagination!? I’m too cool to be thinking of something like this!”     Deep inside the lush darkness kept within the Everfree Forest was what could only be described as a ripple in space, shooting out small bolts of blue lighting every so often. It was beginning to grow in size, the maximum reach of its potential simply unknown. Its source was unknown, only recognized by its distinct shape.     The citizens in the nearby town of Ponyville were the first to see this phenomenon. It drew so much attention that it attracted the Council of Friendship: a group of ponies with the simple job of keeping peace in the pony-populated land of Equestria. It became so much of a problem that they had to personally look at it and examine the unknown spectacle for themselves.     Surrounding the rapidly growing ripple were the five ponies, each one coming from different backgrounds. Pinkie Pie was a pink mare with a charmingly optimistic outlook on life, even in the darkest of times. Rarity was a trendsetting unicorn mare with a white coat and purple mane. Fluttershy, cream colored with a pink mane, was a much more timid pegasus mare, usually keeping to herself. Applejack was an orange farm mare with a brown ten-gallon hat resting atop her golden mane who would work at her family’s farm. Then there was Rainbow Dash, self-centered badass. She was a pegasus with a light blue coat with a rainbow colored mane.     The small group of mares all stood around the phenomenon, watching it with all their eyes focused upon it, studying the movements of the lightning-shooting ripple just in case something about it proved to be a threat to their race. A familiar sound emitted from behind their backs, making them all jolt their ears up to listen to the noise. They turned around and saw a grandiose, golden chariot lowering from the air and softly landing on the damp grass beneath it. Two white pegasi stallions stood in front of the chariot, another running over to the side of it, opening the door to let the passenger exit.     All five of the mares bowed before the one who exited the chariot:  Princess Twilight Sparkle, the leader of Equestria. The graceful, lavender alicorn mare stepped out of the golden chariot, standing before her subjects and bowing to them in return. The Princess’ golden crown that symbolized her rank stayed on her head as she bent her head down. With a simple nod from their leader they all rose, returning to their normal positions.     “I came here as soon as I could, girls. What seems to be the issue?” Princess Twilight inquired, seeing the space ripple for the first time and examining the spectacle for herself. She tilted her head and raised her brow, feeling puzzled as she tried to uncover the truth of the matter.     “We have no clue, Twi. We just got here and we’re all just as clueless as ya. From my layman's perspective, it seems like a magic portal trying to open up. But what do I know?” Applejack said, informing their leader with the limited information that they’ve gathered. “Beyond that I’m afraid that yer guess is as good as ours.”     “She’s right, darling.” Rarity said, trotting towards Princess Twilight. “We have absolutely no idea what this thing is. Perhaps you could make a more educated assumption, considering the fact that you know more about magic than any of us.”     “I could try, but just by speculation alone it would seem that it surpasses my knowledge.” The alicorn princess said, shaking her head. She felt ashamed that even her superior intelligence could not even come up with a simple answer to what this strange thing really was. “If only the Royal Sisters were here to figure it out. Heck, even Star Swirl might have a better idea than me.”     “Maybe if we sit here long enough then it will tell us itself.” Pinkie Pie said, sitting down on the grass beneath her with a cheerful smile present upon her face.     “What!? It’s not going to do that!” Rainbow Dash said, shaming the pink pony for such a childish answer.     “How do you know, Dashie? Maybe it's just shy, that’s all.” Pinkie Pie replied, keeping her radiant smile for all to see.     “Ok, so what you are telling me is that if we sit here and ask the strange portal-thingy to kindly tell us why it is shooting lightning at us then it will respectfully answer our questions?” Rainbow Dash asked, moving her hooves around as she spoke.     “Worth a shot!” Pinkie Pie said. She turned her attention at the space ripple and chuckled. “Hi there, little guy! Can you tell us why you are spewing those super cool lighting bolts at me and my friends?”     “And I thought she couldn’t get any worse.” Rainbow Dash whispered to Applejack, leaning towards the mare’s ear while holding her hoof up to her mouth.     “Just let her do her thing, Dashie.” The orange farm pony replied, jabbing her hoof at the pegasus pony. “She is Pinkie Pie after all, and we both know that she works in some mysterious ways.” The ponies all sat down and watched the pink mare do what she did best.     “Please, Mr. Bolty? You are scaring my friends. I just want to chat with you, that’s all.” Pinkie Pie leaned her head closer to the ripple, her eyes widening with hope as she continued talking. “I swear that my friends don’t mean you harm, I promise. Pinkie promise! Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” She said, doing the gestures that followed with her hooves. However, even with all of her attempts the ripple stayed quiet, only growing in size. One of the lightning bolts that escaped the ripple shot straight towards Rainbow Dash, striking the pegasus in her rear and sending the electrical current through her. Rainbow Dash let out a quick scream of pain as she felt the electricity flow through one end of her and out the other. Her mane stood up instantly as if held there with hair gel.     “Nice job, Pinkie! You made it angry!” Rainbow Dash shouted angrily, rubbing her hoof along her wounded rump.     “That’s weird? I made sure that I came across as friendly.” Pinkie Pie said, scratching her chin with her hoof as she looked over her actions. “Maybe it was intimidated by the sheer amount of promise that is inside each of my signature pinkie promises.” She said, thinking that she found her answer.”     “No, I just don’t like that blue pony. She doesn’t seem to understand us.”     “What did you just say to me!?” Rainbow Dash growled, flaring her nostrils as she exhaled with a heavy breath.     “I didn’t say anything! Promise! Pinkie promise! Cross my-”     “Yeah yeah, I get the whole Pinkie promise thing.” Rainbow Dash said, calming her nerves with a couple deep breaths. “Well then, if it wasn’t Pinkie Pie, who said that about me?” The sky blue pegasus said, holding her right front hoof in front of her. “Come on! I don’t exactly have all day!”     “You know, maybe in another time or space you would actually know that it was me.”     The ponies all looked over in the same direction, surprised by the source of the voice. The space ripple began to shift its form, representing something that looked more like a strange creature wearing a very futuristic helmet.     “Wait, is it actually talking to us!?” Rainbow Dash shouted, dumbfounded by the results.     “See, I told you it would work, silly!” Pinkie Pie said, waving her hoof through Rainbow Dash’s mane. The sky blue pegasus’ jaw was left agape. She felt defeat, knowing that Pinkie Pie had won.     “Who are you?” Princess Twilight inquired.     “My name is Wraith. I am here to tell you about a situation far beyond your comprehension.” The ripple said, informing the ponies about its reasons for being in Equestria. “What you see in front of you right now is a portal from another dimension. Me and my friends will be arriving here very shortly. We will be lost and unable to return home, at least, not without help.”     “I assume that’s where we come in?” Applejack said, answering their questions before they were even asked.     “Yes. Wattson and Caustic will be in charge of recreating the very same machine that brought us here in the first place; you will meet them all in time. However, you must ensure their safety, for evil draws near.”     “Evil? What do you mean, Wraith?” Rarity asked, shaking where she stood as a single chill ran down her spine.     “I am from another world. The outcome of this event in this world won’t be the same for you girls as it was for me. In my world, we lost, and me and my friends have paid dearly for it. You must not let this happen to us in this world, or it will affect you too!”     “Twilight, are you really going to believe this thing?” Rainbow Dash asked, pointing her hoof at the portal. “It’s probably one of Discord’s tricks. We shouldn’t believe this for one second.”     “Maybe… but what if it’s telling us the truth?” Princess Twilight replied, shaking her head to combat all the conflicting thoughts that filled her head. “I think we should trust Wraith.”     “What!? You trust an illusion?” Rainbow Dash shouted, baffled by the Princess’ answer. Another painful shot of lightning was sent straight towards the pegasus, once again filling her with many volts of electricity.     “OW!!!”     “You must believe me, Twilight. Your kind, as well as mine, all depends on your actions. You are always teaching others about friendship, right?” Wraith said. Twilight looked down at the ground, fumbling around with her thoughts. The stranger did have a point. The image of Wraith began to fade as their discussion went on. Wraith let out a sigh of stress, knowing that her time was coming to an end. “We are about to come to Equestria. Twilight, listen to me very carefully, you must not let anyone else know about these coordinates, or else all hell will break loose. Understand?”     “Coordinates? What coordinates?” Twilight asked, flustered by all the information being passed to her at once.     “Ok, listen to me. The coordinates are 18, 25, 99, 207, 665, 193. Now remember that, and make sure that no one else…” The image of Wraith faded, the portal’s size growing exponentially bigger by the second. The ponies all stepped back, awaiting the arrival of the so-called friends of Wraith.     “18, 24… what!? What does that mean!?” Twilight could not seem to understand what Wraith was trying to tell her, already forgetting the numbers that the creature within the portal had told her.     As the portal expanded to life size, the intensity of the vortex lessened, calming down and easing into a black hole of space and time. Twilight and her friends all watched from afar, the feeling of anticipation rising within them all. Soon enough a single creature similar to Wraith exited from the portal, followed by two more, then three, then five, eight, forteen!     “Twi! What are these things!?” Applejack asked, having never seen anything like these creatures     “I think…” Twilight gasped in shock. Of all the things she tried to figure out, this was the one thing that she recognized. “I think that they are humans!” The ponies stared at the strangers, each of them speechless.     10 hours ago, in another time or space…     “Wow, being champion is such a good feeling, I mean, wow! I’m speechless, I am so… oh boy, I am sweating right now. Am I sweating, can you see my sweat? No? Good, cause that was a trick question. Champions don’t sweat. You guys did, and that is why you all failed, today. Phew, I am so out of breath.” A hyperactive man with curly hair babbled on about his victorious round in the Apex Games.     “Shut up before you lose a lung, Mirage. Because I am fine keeping you breathless.” Spoke a malicious simulacrum, speaking with evil intentions.     “Ha ha, oh you. You are always at it with the bantar, Revenant. Heh… please don’t eat me.” Mirage said.     “I could tell you the same thing.” Revenant said, holding a metallic skull in his hands and pointing it straight towards mirage. “Just think about it. One slice to the lungs and everything spills-”     “Ok, ok, I get it!” Mirage said, finding it suddenly difficult to keep himself from throwing up his lunch. “I get it, I need to shut up. Ok! *hurgh* Oh boy...”     “Awe. Don’t fret, bruddah! Gibby got ya back!” A large man in a hefty battle armor came into view, laughing to himself as he approached the other two legends. “Besides, I gave you that win. I got eight frags throughout that entire game! You wouldn’t have lasted a second were it not for yours truly.”     “Ok, Gibraltar. But don’t forget that I helped you when you needed it the most! If it weren’t for me then you would’ve died at the beginning of the match.” Mirage said, pointing his finger at Gibraltar while he mocked the man.     “Pssh. Please, you did nothing, Mirage!” An energetic man with a spanish accent stepped into the room. He wore green goggles and a special mask over his face. “You know that it was I who carried the team. Were it not for my sick jumpads, you wouldn’t have been able to get highground on Bangalore and her pequeñas bebes.”     “Erm, I t’ink that the man with the kills is the one who ‘carries’ the team, Octane.” Gibraltar said, waving his hand down at the adrenaline junkie. “Even then, he has a point. Mirage, you did nothing but watch from the sidelines while we plowed the others, team after team.”     “Ah, what do you know? I was busy occupying them with an army of decoys!” Mirage said, defending himself from the hateful words that his teammates threw at him.     “HAHA!!! Calm down, bruddah! We just messin’ around. We know very well that you were a big help to the team.” Gibraltar said, letting out another thunderous laughter.     “Eh, todavía está en debate.” Octane said, shaking his head in disagreement.     “Whatever, I know that t’ings aren’t always cracked up to what they seem to be, but never forget, Mirage, you’re squad, and that makes you family.” Gibraltar said, trying to lift Mirage’s spirits.     “Yeah, I know.” Mirage said, hanging his head in shame, feeling betrayed by his previous squadmates.     “Awe, what’s the matter, Mirage? Feeling left out? Guess what, I know exactly how that feels. Hahaha!” Revenant said, adding to the negative emotions that Mirage was feeling.     “Attention, legends! The new ranked listings have gone up on screen. Come take a look.” The four legends all looked over and saw Bloodhound in the doorway. “I am honored to say that the allfather has gifted me the title of Apex Predator!”     “What!?” Revenant shouted, finding it hard to believe such nonsense. “Impossible! There is no way that a skin suit such as yourself has been crowned Apex Predator!” The simulacrum bolted to his feet and ran outside, pushing Bloodhound away from the doorway and proceeding towards the ranked listings screen.     “Good for you, bruddah. Those gods of yours must surely be proud of your accomplishments.” Gibraltar said. The big man got up and moved closer to Bloodhound, smiling at them with a bright grin.     “The gods are surely in my favor, Gibraltar. Though I must say that your rank this season is quite impressive!” Bloodhound said, holding their hand out to their side. They motioned down the hall. “Shall ve take a look?”     “Oh yeah, now ya got Gibraltar all excited!” The two legends proceeded outside the break room, heading towards the screen to see where they placed in the rankings.     “Ranked!? I gotta see this for myself.” Octane said, running off to meet up with the others. “If I’m lucky then Shae is below me! She’ll see what a true winner really looks like!”     “Hey, what about me? Aren’t you guys gonna-” Mirage was left in the dust, alone in the break room. “-wait for… me? *sigh* I guess it’s alone time for me… again.” Mirage got up on his feet and walked out the door, sulking in his own self pity.     “Mirage.” A dark, brooding voice echoed through the halls from behind Mirage’s back. The decoy enthusiast turned around and found a man decked out in a hazmat suit and giant gas mask. It was none other than Caustic.     “Oh, hey Caustic.” Mirage said, pulling himself together and correcting his posture. “I assume that you are also heading off to see where you placed in the ranks?”     “You know, an assumption is an unintelligent guess based off of little to no outside information, or in other words, a hypothesis coming from a dumb person. And you, Mirage, don’t seem dumb to me.” Caustic said, walking past Mirage. Mirage picked up his feet and walked alongside the doctor, intrigued by what he had to say.     “Hey, I am not dumb. I was too using outside info- in- indo… stuff.” Mirage said, fumbling over his own words as he tried to sound sophisticated enough to please Caustic.     “Calm down. I know what you meant.” Caustic said, rolling his eyes. “However, even with that said, yes, I am going to find where I stand in the ranks.”     “Where do you think you were placed? What is your hypo- hypa- hy… erm, educated guess?” Mirage cursed under his breath, angry at himself for once again fumbling over his words.     “My hypothesis?” Caustic corrected.     “Yeah, that’s the word.” Mirage said. “What is your hypothesis?”     “Well, considering that I already know that Bloodhound placed Apex Predator, I believe that I am at least Platinum.” Caustic said defiantly. He reached over with one hand and adjusted a loose gas canister strapped to his side.     “Platinum? With all do respect, doctor, you seem like the man who would absolutely wipe the competition. Or rather… degrade them.” Mirage said, laughing at his own wordplay.     “Bah, don’t be so naive.” Caustic said, laughing at Mirage’s ill conceived statement. “While I would be very gracious for such kind words at any other time, I have not been at the top of my game, this season. There were… other variables that I did not take into consideration.”     “So, you really think that you placed Platinum?” Mirage inquired.     “If my hypothesis is correct, then yes. But somehow, the non-science part of me wants to think that I placed Diamond.” Caustic shrugged, not wanting to waste his time thinking of all the possible outcomes of one simple answer. “We will see when we get there.”     “Yeah, you are right.” Mirage said, agreeing with the doctor so as to not anger him. Caustic was known to have little patience with incompetant beings, and knowing their current relationship, Mirage knew that he was one of Caustic’s least favorite legends.     In time the legends all approached the ranked listing screen, eager to see where they placed in the season’s rankings. Mirage looked around for his name, getting up on his toes to get a good look of the screen past Gibraltar’s rather large body. He looked up and found everyone but himself.     Bloodhound: Apex Predator, Gibraltar: Diamond, Octane: Diamond, Lifeline: Diamond, Revenant: Platinum, Pathfinder: Platinum, Caustic: Platinum, Bangalore: Gold, Wraith: Gold, Crypto: Gold, Rampart: Silver, Loba: Silver, Wattson: Bronze,     “Where the heck am I?” Mirage asked, wondering why his name was not on the listings.     “Hold on, skin suit. They have yet to update the list for you!” Revenant said, looking over his shoulder and eyeing Mirage with a deathly look.     “Ok, just checking to make sure they didn’t forget about me. I mean, I knew they didn’t because, you know, I am the best!”     In the blink of an eye, Mirage’s name was put up on the screen for all to see. He was overjoyed to see his name under the ranked listings, giddy to rub his pride in everyone’s face. However, his heart dropped when he saw the actual results. Everyone laughed when they saw it, mocking him for his abnormally low rank.     “Bronze…” Mirage was in despair. He could not believe it. After everything he had done, after all the things he had gone through, everything he trained for, he was at the bottom of the list. A bronze.     “Well, it sure seems like Mr. Decoy over there definitely carried the team based on those results, huh?” Octane said, throwing bantar at Mirage. Mirage laughed nervously, putting on a fake smile. He wanted to look like he was fine, but deep down, he was torn. Mirage couldn’t begin to accept the fact that he was ranked the worst out of all the legends.     “I… I am bronze…”     “Cheer up, Mirage!” A blonde woman covered in an insulated suit appeared in front of the depressed man. She grabbed him by the hand and jumped up in the air. “I know that it wasn’t what you wanted, but you still made the rankings!”     “I know, Wattson, but it sucks to know that I am the worst legend in all of the Outlands.” Mirage said, hanging his head in shame.     “Bah, that’s ok.” The woman said, sympathizing for Mirage. “I am bronze just like you, so at least you aren’t alone. I guess we are team Losers! Wait… that didn’t come out as cheerfully as I had hoped.”     “It’s ok. But… Wattson, I… we shouldn’t be down in the ranks. We are better than this!” Mirage said, determined that there was a problem with the display.     “Maybe you are right, but this isn’t our choice to make. The best thing we can do is learn from this and make sure that we do better next time.” Wattson patted Mirage on his shoulder, stepping away from him. “Besides, at least one of us had to be in bronze. This will only be for the season, not forever.”     “Yeah… I guess you are right.” Mirage stared at the floor once Wattson left his sight. He let out a pitiful sigh as he plopped himself down atop a wooden bench that leaned against the walls of the room. He placed his hands over his eyes and gripped his face with moderate strength, angered by the results of his rankings displayed on the screen. He lowered his left hand to his side, transitioning his right hand towards his mouth and biting down on his fingers. “This can’t be. I worked so hard. I don’t believe it for a second. I haven’t been bronze since, one, five… twelve seasons ago! Something must be wrong.”     “Ya, old man.” A calming voice came at Mirage, catching the bamboozler’s attention. Mirage looked up and saw a man with a drone resting inside a leather pouch attached to the back of his jacket.     “Crypto?” Mirage said, surprised to see the master hacker of all people at a time like this. “What’s up? Come to rub your rank in my face?”     “No, I was simply-”     “Nah, it’s okay. I was gonna do the same to you, Crypto. Go ahead, I can take it.     “Ya, old man! Listen to me for once!”     “Ok you rotten man-child! What do you need to tell me?” Mirage asked, raising his brow at the hacker.     “I think that I can help you with your current problem.” Crypto said, moving his hands up and pulling the collar of his jacket away from his neck.     “Problem?” Mirage questioned Crypto with a most over-the-top reaction, throwing his hands in the air and letting out a forced breath. “Me? A problem? Listen buddy, I don’t think you know who you are talking about!” Mirage stood up and pointed his finger towards the ground. A fizzle of light appeared, soon forming into a clone of himself. Mirage looked at his decoy and crossed his arms. “Is there a problem with me?”     “No, silly! You are perfect, no rivals, no equals, epitome of perfection!” The decoy said, pulling his hair back and laughing with a flamboyant tone.     “That’s what I thought!” Mirage replied, shrugging his shoulders and closing his eyes as he shook his head in despair. “But apparently Crypto and his drone think otherwise.”     “Mirage!” Crypto shouted, furrowing his brow. Mirage’s eyes widened after he heard the hacker shout his name. He looked at his clone and shook his head. The decoy nodded back and faded to nothing, dissipating into thin air. Mirage then looked back at Crypto, this time ready to hear what he had to say. The decoy master found himself rather intimidated by Crypto, as he was usually very laid back.     “Ok, Crypto. I am ready to listen.” Mirage said, calming himself with a few breaths.     “I know that you may find it weird that you are in Bronze. Well, you are for once correct. It was a bug in the system.” Crypto said, giving Mirage a smug look. “I didn’t think you actually had it in you to come up with something that wasn’t ignorant.”     “And I didn’t think you had it in you to accept that I am smarter than you, Crypy.” Mirage said, quietly laughing to himself.     “Erm… besides the point.” Crypto grabbed his drone and pulled it out from within the pouch on his back. He then tossed it upwards and it stayed in flight, powering on and floating in the air. A green light appeared on the drone, showing them that it was now online. “Hack, show our friend here what we found out.” The drone turned towards the closest wall and put up a projection of a series of codes. Crypto smirked at Mirage, noticing that he had absolutely no clue what it was supposed to represent.     “Erm, Crypto… I don’t read drone.” Mirage said, raising his brow at the hacker.     “But I thought you were smarter than me?” Crypto replied, shrugging his shoulders and tilting his head to the side.     “Umm… I am, I just wanted to make sure that you know what this is, yourself.” Mirage said, defending himself.     “Right. *ahem* This is a very, very small portion of the codes used in the Apex Games’ algorithm. As you can see, at least from where I stand, your rank was tampered with.” Crypto pointed to a series of numbers. Each one displayed “46,” but when it got to the last one the number was “207.”     “What’s so great about that? Isn’t the saying ‘the bigger the better?’” Mirage said, still finding it troublesome to understand everything that Crypto was trying to inform him about.     “Meongcheonghan salam… those in charge of the rankings board have ID Number 46. But, I am sure even you can tell that 207 is a different number. That means only one thing.”     “That someone else tampered with the results!” Mirage exclaimed, finally piecing together Crypto’s words. “But who would do that? Better yet, why me?”     “I don’t know, but I am willing to help you crack the case.” Crypto said. He held his hand out towards the decoy master. “Do you accept my offer?”     “Yes, of course I do.” Mirage said, reaching down and shaking his hand with a firm grip. “I want to know the truth behind the one responsible for such igno- ig- igloo? Stupidity!”     “Right.” Crypto shook his head towards Mirage, pulling his hand away from him once their handshake was finished. “Meet me in the computer room tonight. We will find out about the truth from there.” With all said and done Crypto walked out of the room, leaving Mirage by himself. The decoy master looked down at his feet and sighed.     “I should’ve known that something fishy was going on. I mean, I did, but I should’ve figured it out sooner! Ah, whatever. I am going to get some answers by tonight, even if it takes me all night!” ~     “Well now, where is my stupid source code!?” Revenant shouted, angered by the amount of time needed to prepare for such a simple task.     Revenant was eager to find his source code and destroy it once and for all. The whole reason he was such an evil simulacrum was because he was unknowingly placed in his metal body 300 years ago. Having realized this very recently, he was determined to find the place they kept his source of living and eliminate it in order to finally give him the piece he longed for.     “Shut up, demonio! We will get to that when we finally figure out where your stupid code is.” Loba said, growling at the robot. Loba was an eccentric woman with many gifted abilities regarding thievery. Her parents were killed by Revenant back when he was only aware of his mission: killing contracted people for money. Though she hated him so much, she realized that he indeed need to get out of his stupid body and go away forever. As a means of making them both happy, she agreed to help him.     “I want to know now!” Revenant shouted, turning his arm into a blade and holding it right up to Loba’s neck. “I grow tired of waiting!”     “And I grow tired of your insipid whining.” Caustic said, pushing Revenant’s bladed arm away from Loba with a simple swipe of his hand. “We are all working for your benefit, simulacrum. The least you can do is be of some service to us.”     “But I want to die! It has been too long, and to know that I am so close to making it a reality is making me eager to kill something, preferably my source code!” Revenant said. He turned around and drove his arm blade straight through the wall behind him. He let out a loud yell, anger seeping out of his circuits.     “Calm down, Revenant. You don’t want to do something you might regret.” Wattson said, shaking her head at the robot and his childish acts.     “I already have done something I regret, Wattson. What is it you might ask? Living!!!”     “Ok, we get it. You want to die. Not our problem just yet.” Loba said. The group of legends all gathered around the computer and typed in a series of code strings. With a giddy tap of the space bar, Wattson finished the algorithm.     “Success! I have cracked the code!” Wattson shouted, holding her hands up to her cheeks. “These coordinates should lead us straight to your source code!”     “Yeah yeah, that’s cool and all, but when am I actually going to go and destroy that damn thing!?” Revenant shouted, growing more and more restless by the minute.     “We can’t leave now.” Every legend turned around, noticing the shadowy figure of a slender woman. Once in the light, the woman revealed herself. Her long black hair and blue eyes reflecting the brightness back at the others. “This would be too easy for the Syndicate to figure out. Leaving now is like asking for death at the snap of a finger.”     “What do you think we should do instead, Wraith?” Caustic inquired, crossing his arms and furrowing his brow. “I don’t think Revenant here would like it if you delayed this most special event.”     “I am sorry, but I go by what I said. Besides, I am the one opening the portal for you guys, so if you wish to kill me you are only asking for even more trouble.” Wraith said, smirking at the simulacrum.     “She has a point.” Wattson said, scratching her head as she thought about the situation. “The Syndicate would indeed be suspicious about our activity at night. We should wait until the daytime, you know, when they are distracted with all things Apex related.”     “Fine! I guess you do make a good argument!” Revenant said, hanging his head in despair. “As long as everything is ready till then, I guess we can wait until daybreak.”     “Very well. I will save this stuff on my hard drive.” Wattson said. She walked up to the keyboard and moved all the data to her storage disk, saving all of the data that they worked on. “That should do it.”     “Good. Now if you don’t mind, I need to get some shut eye.” Wraith said, stretching her arms above her head and letting out a small yawn. “All that stuff in today’s game made me tired.”     “I am with you on that, Wraith!” Wattson said, skipping over towards the interdimensional traveler. The two women walked out of the computer room and towards their rooms. Meanwhile, Caustic looked over at Revenant and Loba.     “I will go get some sleep, myself. I trust that you two love birds will keep quiet until tomorrow morning?” Caustic said, laughing beneath the cover of his gas mask.     “Ugh, just leave.” Loba said as she rolled her eyes. She raised her hand and gestured towards the door, telling the doctor to leave the room immediately. Caustic nodded and proceeded towards his room. Loba and Revenant eventually did the same, leaving the computer room completely empty.     The computer room was quiet, dark and lacking. It was lacking an audience. Realizing this most problematic catastrophe, Mirage entered in with six of his decoys surrounding him, each of them acting as if he was some sort of internet sensation. They all did their own thing, from taking photos of Mirage to writing down the words he spoke on a piece of notepaper.     “Ah yes, that is a story for another time!” Mirage said to one of his decoys. “Welp, it seems like I am here in the computer room! I guess that means it’s time for you to go.”     “Awe, don’t leave us, Mirage!” His decoys said, all in sync with each other.     “Don’t fret. There will always be plenty of time for more of me!” With a snap of his fingers all of the decoys vanished, just as if they were never there in the first place.     While browsing around the room, Mirage found a strange line of code displayed on the computer screen. Upon further inspection he found a title for the works.     Revenant’s Source Code! DO NOT TOUCH!!!     “Do not touch? Welp, you heard the computer, Mirage. Don’t disobey the rules.” Mirage said, talking to himself in third person. He placed his hands along the outside of the keyboard and looked at the code, trying to figure out what all the numbers meant. “Crypto makes it look so easy to understand. Surely there must be something like a key to make it easier to read.”     While he looked around at all the numbers, Mirage’s hand slipped from under him, forcing his whole body to fall on top of the keyboard. His chest crashed against all the keys, pushing them down and sending signals from the keyboard to the computer to type out various letters and numbers. Mirage got up and shook his head, cursing to himself. When he looked up at the screen, he realized the damage he caused.     “Ah!!! Oh no, no, no, no! Mirage, what have you done!?” He said, addressing himself in third person once again. He knew that he had potentially ruined hours upon hours of hard work in the blink of an eye. He also knew that he would be in a ton of trouble if someone found out. He had to think of something, and fast. “I got it! I will just erase all of the letters and replace them with numbers. They won’t know then!” Mirage said, striking a pose of defiance and quite literally patting himself on the back for coming up with such a foolproof plan. “Now then, let’s begin.”     Mirage placed his fingers on the keys and began erasing all of the letters, noticing that all the code was written out with only numbers. Seeing letters in the code string would be a dead giveaway, so he did his best to make sure that not a single one was left on screen. Once that part was out of the way, Mirage looked for any parts of the code that looked off and filled them in with random numbers, hoping that it looked like it was intentional. Within a couple minutes, everything seemed to be back to normal… at least to Mirage.     “Perfect, everything is set! Mirage, you are a genius!” He reached over to the mouse and clicked on the image of a floppy disk. “And boom, saved! No one will ever know!”     “What are you doing, Mirage!” Crypto asked from behind the decoy master. Mirage let out a girlish scream, caught off guard by Crypto’s sudden arrival. He spun around with haste and looked over at the hacker.     “Oh, it’s just you. Man, you should really think about knocking or something before you just walk in all willy nilly!” Mirage said, backing away from the computer. He placed his hand over his chest and calmed his nerves.     “What are you looking at?” Crypto inquired.     “Oh, nothing.” Mirage said, lying to his friend and fumbling around with his fingers. “I did however find this left on the screen. Looks like some sort of code, similar to the one you showed me. Is it yours?”     “No, it is not mine.” Crypto said, walking towards the computer in order to see the codes for himself. “It looks like some of Wattson’s work. She always had a way of making her work look nice and tidy, even in stressful situations.” Crypto said, smiling to himself. “You didn’t touch this, did you?” Crypto peered over his shoulder towards Mirage with a raised brow. The decoy enthusiast was sweating profusely due to the amount of nervousness he was feeling.     “No, of course not. The t-t-title does say, ‘do not touch’ after all.” Mirage said, doing his best to hide his wrongdoings from Crypto’s knowledge.     “Ok, good. If you did then you would be the biggest idiot in the world.”     “Hey! I am not an idiot.” Mirage shouted, waving his fist at Crypto. The hacker simply laughed under his breath, looking back at the computer screen.     “I said you would be.” Crypto closed the coding and opened up a special program that could look into the code found within the Apex Games’ motherboard. He searched around for the code he was looking for and found it within a few seconds, surprising Mirage with how fast he was able to locate the code string.     “Alright, old man. Let’s get to the bottom of this.” Crypto said, looking over at Mirage.     “Yes, let’s get this thing done!” ~     It was the beginning of a new day and every legend was in the computer room. Wattson and Caustic fired up the computer program while Wraith stood by with cords connected to her wrist, ready to open a portal to the designated coordinates. The rest of the legends waited in a small cluster, awaiting their orders.     “Alright, Wraith! Let ‘em rip!” Loba shouted, giving the interdimensional traveler the go. Wraith nodded and used her hand to open up a portal. The coding sent through the cords altered the portal, making the other end appear where it was meant to go. The legends cheered in excitement once they saw that the experiment was a success.     “Yes, I can finally die and leave you stupid skin suits!” Revenant shouted, raising his hands in the air and giving off a triumphant warcry. “I mean, it was fun while it lasted, but I really gotta get out of here!”     “Yeah we know that, jackass.” Bangalore said, smirking at the simulacrum.     “Alright everyone, listen up!” Loba said, getting the attention of all her fellow legends. “Our mission is simple! Get to Revenant’s source code, destroy it, and free this demonio from his hellish torment before the Syndicate finds out.” The legends all shouted with joy, ready to take on this brutal challenge. “Ok then, let’s go!”     All the legends lined up and went through the portal one at a time. Wraith stood to the side, watching as each of them went through. As the line shortened with time, Wraith readied herself for her own travel. Once the others had gone in, Wraith pulled the cords off of her wrist and placed them on the ground. Standing in front of the mass of space, Wraith took a deep breath and walked into the portal.     During her travels, vibrant lights of blue and white colors surrounded her vision, giving Wraith the familiar feeling of phasing. She was used to this method of travel by now, so she just stood still, waiting for the portal to take her to where they needed to go. However, something felt off. The duration of the phase travel felt unusually long. It was almost as if their destination wasn’t what they thought it was. But surely Wattson and Caustic did numerous tests to make sure it was correct… right?     The end of the tunnel drew near, forcing each of the legends out on the other side of the portal. Wraith was shot out and placed back on her feet, letting her know that she was on the other side of the portal, safe and sound. She didn’t find a reason to lower her guard just yet, however, as she felt her boots come in contact with damp grass. This was already enough to confuse her. The other end of the portal was supposed to lead to a sewer system beneath a laboratory in Olympus, not a forest.     But that was the least of her troubles. As she looked around for the others, she noticed the legends looked at their surroundings, some of them even locking  eyes with the inhabitants, who were in the middle of staring at the legends with the same confused looks.     “Woah, esto es loco!!! Colorful ponies!?” Octane shouted, amazed by what he was seeing. “Revenant, you really outdid yourself this time! I thought we were just looking around for your code or whatever, but I guess we found unicorns and pegasi as well!”     “What!? This is not right at all!” Wattson shouted, disappointed with the results. “I did everything right! Why didn’t it work!? Was there an error in the coordinates”     “Oh no… now you’ve done it.” Mirage said, whispering the words to himself. He knew very well that this all happened because of him, and there was no denying it.     While the rest of the legends were busy staring at the ponies, Wraith made eye contact with the lavender alicorn princess. They stared at each other for some time, letting the moment sink in. It was crazy for her to actually see a real life alicorn, as she thought they were nothing but a myth. Wraith lifted her hand and waved at the pony as a simple greeting.     “Hello.” Wraith said, unsure about what to say. She didn’t even know if they could understand her, let alone talk.     “Hello!” The alicorn said, waving her hoof back at the human. “You must be Wraith!” She said with a smile on her face.     “... You know me?” Wraith asked, surprised by the alicorn’s response.     “Oh boy, do we have a lot to talk about.” The alicorn princess said, shaking her head. She looked over at all of the strange creatures that came out of the portal. Neither the legends nor the ponies knew what to do. But one thing was sure, life for the both of them would never be the same.     “Yeah… I guess we do have some things to clarify.” Wraith said, laughing nervously to herself. > Chapter 2: Legends Meet The Ponies > --------------------------------------------------------------------------     “Wattson!!!” Revenant exclaimed, flicking an evil glare at the electrical engineer. The enraged simulacrum lunged at Wattson and grabbed a hold of her by her neck. The young scientist muttered out unintelligible words as she was choked.     “Revenant, enough ah dis. Ain'tcha know when ta take a chill pill?” Lifeline shouted, grabbing Revenant by the wrist and struggling to pull his hand away from Wattson’s throat. However, the simulacrum proved to be persistent, tugging against the combat medic.     “Get your hands off me skinsuit, unless you want to become the next victim.” Revenant said, threatening Lifeline within an inch of her life.     “Revenant…” Caustic stepped up to the simulacrum and stopped within an inch of him. “you better let go of Ms. Paquette, or else I will be forced to deal with you myself.”     “I am with Doc, Revenant.” Gibraltar took Caustic’s side, coming at Revenant from behind. “Let go of the girl and this can all end peacefully. Besides, you kill her, you prevent us from ever having a chance of going back.”     Revenant paused for a moment, figuring out the best way to go about the situation. On one hand, he could totally rip the young girl apart… but Gibraltar did have a point. If he killed Wattson, there was no guarantee that they would be able to go back without her knowledge. He reluctantly pulled his hand away from the electrical engineer, freeing Wattson from his synthetic grasp. Wattson fell to the ground, gently placing her hands around her throat as she gasped for some much needed air. She looked up at Revenant, who was staring down at her.     “You had better get us back, or else you will not be so lucky.” Gibraltar and Caustic glared at the simulacrum, angered by his malevolent threats. Mirage and Lifeline ran to Wattson's side and helped her to her feet. The combat medic asked Wattson if she needed any medical attention, to which she declined. While the other legends stared towards him, Revenant stormed off into the nearby forest, walking away from the others in order to give himself enough distance from them before he did something that the others wouldn't tolerate.     Twilight Sparkle looked over at Wraith and gestured to the interdimensional traveler, silently asking her if she should send one of the others to go and locate the simulacrum before he ran too far. Wraith shook her head and sighed, slapping her face with her palm.     “Forgive me… this was not at all planned.” Wraith said reluctantly, looking at the alicorn princess with a face that said “I’m sorry.”     “It is totally fine, Wraith. I am just glad that none of you are hurt. Interdimensional travel doesn’t always work out well. At least… not with my experiences.” said Twilight. While the other legends all discussed the situation with each other, Wraith decided to converse with the ponies and perhaps get to know them a bit better.     “Forgive me for asking, but who the heck are you?” Wraith inquired, looking over at each of the oddly colored ponies. "You see, from where we are from, we don't exactly have colorful ponies such as yourselves."     “Oh, of course.” Twilight placed her hoof against her chest and cleared her throat. “I do believe that some proper introductions are in order. I am Princess Twilight Sparkle, ruler of Equestria and the proud leader of the Council of Friendship. I represent the element of magic!”     “Magic, huh? Interesting.” said Wraith. “What do you mean by magic? Is it some kind of special tool that you have created that can manipulate space and time?”     “Ahahaha… you’re funny, Wraith.” Twilight giggled, lifting her hoof up to her mouth. Wraith gave the alicorn princess a deadpan expression, making it very clear that she was serious. Twilight caught note shortly after and smiled nervously. “Uh… no. We alicorns, along with unicorns, are born with this horn.” Twilight pointed to the lavender appendage a top her head. “This is the special part of our body that can allow us to control magic.”     “Wow, really!?” Wattson ran over to join in on their conversation. Being a developing scientist, Wattson just had to learn more about these miraculous creatures. She turned her attention towards Rainbow Dash, who was staring over at Lifeline and Gibraltar. Rainbow Dash locked eyes with the electrical engineer and smiled. “What about you, little pony? What kind of magic do you have?”     “Magic? We pegasi don’t have magic, you klutz.” said Rainbow Dash, bucking her head back and laughing aloud. Wattson crossed her arms and pursed her lip, shocked by the pegasus pony's reaction.     “She means special powers, dearie.” Rarity said, shaming the pegasus mare for rudely demeaning the inquisitive human.     “Oh, right.” Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head with her hoof, embarrassed with how she acted. “Well, we can fly with our wings, and we can also walk on clouds, which we use to control the weather.”     “You can push clouds around and change the weather on command?” Wattson shouted with extreme interest. “That is so cool! Je dois en savoir plus!”     “And here I thought humans were the superior species.” Wraith said, placing her hands against her hips and leaning on her right foot. “What about you there, orange pony.” Wraith pointed over to Applejack. The farm pony looked over in surprise, holding a hoof up to her chest. “Yes, you. Does your kind have any special powers?”     “Well, not necessarily. Ah mean, not like unicorns or pegasi.” Applejack explained. “But we do have a very particular talent fer farmin’. We earth ponies are the best at it, so perhaps we might have some farmin’ magic within us all.” Wraith gazed off in shock, feeling powerless compared to these supernatural creatures.     “Wow, I am just so blown away!!!” Wattson exclaimed, jumping around in excitement. “You must show me your ways!”     “Wattson, calm down.” Wraith said subtly. “These creatures do not owe us anything. They are simply here to help us, nothing more.”     “It’s quite alright, Wraith.” Fluttershy said, gingerly walking up to the interdimensional traveler. “That is, if you are ok with me calling you that. Forgive me, I-I-I just heard Twilight call you that and all.”     “Yes, you are fine to call me that.” Wraith smiled to the cream colored pegasus, letting her know that she meant no harm to them. Fluttershy smiled back at her, happy to know that at least she and Wattson were easy to get along with.     “Awe, such a timid, scaredy pony.” Wattson skipped over to Fluttershy and knelt down beside her. “Don’t you worry, we won’t hurt you.”     “I k-k-know that you won’t hurt us. I just… oh, please lower your hand. Please, don’t touch… me… oh sweet Celestia…” Fluttershy stumbled over her words as she felt the young scientist scratch underneath her soft, fluffy ears. The pegasus mare leaned her head in and nuzzled into Watton’s neck, moaning in shear delight. Wattson knew that Fluttershy was enjoying the treatment she was receiving and continued her work, using her nails to get deeper into her fur. “Oh d-d-don’t stop, that feels so g-g-good.”     “Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Fluttershy like that around others ever since I knew her.” said Rainbow Dash.     “Eh, there’s a first for everythin’ ah suppose.” Applejack replied, shaking her head and giggling as she watched the timid pegasus kick her hind hoof against the floor several times.     "These specimens are indeed miraculous. I am intrigued by their incalculable potential." Caustic said, moving over to Wattson's side. "Perhaps a couple experiments would be in order. For the sake of research, of course."     "Dr. Caustic." Wattson snapped, flicking a mean glance towards the fellow scientist. "These creatures are not test subjects, they are very kind and caring ponies, and as such we must respect them."     “Forgive me, your highness. If you couldn’t tell already, we aren’t exactly accustomed to your ways of life.” said Wraith.     “That’s totally fine, and of course to be expected.” Twilight replied with a friendly smile. “From what I can gather, you can just simply turn around and go back, right?”     “That’s the plan.” Wraith said, looking over Wattson. She called for the young scientist, but Wattson was having too much fun getting close with her new friends. “Wattson!” The young scientist perked up and immediately stopped everything. Fluttershy whined once Wattson stopped scratching her ears, but she immediately regained control of herself soon after, hiding her face behind her long, pink mane as an intense blush swept over her cheeks. She was embarrassed to say the least.     “Ha! Looks like you really enjoyed that, Fluttershy.” Rainbow Dash said, laughing at the cream colored pegasus.     “Shut up!” replied Fluttershy.     “What is it, Wraith?” Wattson asked.     “Are we able to go home? You do have the coordinates to return us safely, correct?” Wraith inquired.     “Oh, of course! Why didn’t I think of this sooner?” Wattson said, striking her forehead with her palm, feeling stupid for being so arrogant. “Yes, we can just go back and start from scratch!”     “Well, we should get going. The longer we wait around here the more likely that the Syndicate will catch on to us.” Wraith stated.     “You are right, Wraith. We need to get moving.” Wattson looked down and at the teleportation machine located along her left arm and set a course back to base. “I am very sorry that we couldn’t stay and chat, but we really must be going.”     “Oh… okay then.” said Twilight. “Well then, I guess good luck and safe travels.”     “Thanks so much, Twilight. I will be sure to remember you all.” Wraith said, approaching Wattson and waiting for the portal to open. She stood there for some time as Wattson did what she did best. A moment passed… then another… then another. Wraith looked down at Wraith, only to find the young scientist petrified by fear.     “No, no, no… this isn’t possible!!!” Wattson exclaimed, flicking through all the coding. “Crypto, please come and take a look at this! Perhaps you can find out what is goin on!”     “But I thought you don’t want my help.” said Crypto. Wattson glared angrily at the hacker, beckoning for him to come help her that instant. Crypto reluctantly moved over to Wattson, getting a look at the code and searching for any errors.     “What’s up with them?” Rainbow Dash inquired.     “There were some bad things that took place between them and Caustic, the psycho doctor over there next to Gibraltar. Needless to say, they aren’t exactly best friends right now.” said Wraith. "There are… a lot of heated rivalries right now."     “That’s awful.” Twilight commented. “What did they do to ruin such a friendship?”     “I’m not gonna tell you. Not because I don’t trust you, but because I don’t think that it’s my right to tell others.” Wraith explained. "I think it's best to keep my mouth shut and just let things play out naturally. Twilight nodded in understanding, knowing exactly what she was talking about. “Wattson, any luck getting the portal open?”     “Well… no. And I don’t think we will ever be able to do it.” Wattson admitted, laughing nervously.     “What!?” Wraith knelt down beside Wattson, demanding an answer. Wattson had no words for her, so Wraith shifted her attention to Crypto, though even he wasn't looking any more hopeful.     “The amount of energy that we drained from the power generator destroyed the energy crystal from the inside.” Crypto explained. “We must have been sent so far through space that it just couldn’t keep up with everything.” Wraith cursed under her breath.     “Could be worse…” Wattson said, trying to cheer up her distressed friends.     “And how is that, Wattson?” Wraith inquired sarcastically.     “We could be dead.” Wraith simply stared down at Wattson with a deadpan expression, finding it troublesome to believe that there was possibly no way back to their world. Wattson and Crypto weren’t exactly in any better state of mind. They knew that they were all in trouble, but just how much trouble they got themselves into was beyond their comprehension.     “Everything ok, Wraith?” Twilight inquired, looking over the human’s shoulder.     “It, uh, it appears we are… stuck here.” Wraith stated, hanging her head in defeat.     “What? But why?” Rarity asked.     “It would appear that our energy crystal has broken, which means that we don’t have anything to power the transporter. And even if we got a new one, there is a chance that it could break again, and if that happens while we are in the middle of phasing… there are an infinite number of possibilities for what could take place.”     “That’s so unfortunate!” Fluttershy said, her eyes getting beady as she felt sympathy for the humans.     "Wait, we can't go back!?" Mirage shouted, pacing around. "This can't be, I can't leave my adoring fans. I mean, who's gonna be there for me?"     "Uh, me! Obviously." Mirage's decoy spawned beside the real one and smirked at his physical counterpart. "I'm always here for you."     "Awe, thanks other me." Mirage said, giving his decoy a high five. But then the fear came back to him. "But… then who would be there for you?" The decoy went pale.     "Oh no, you're right! We alone will not be enough for each other! We have to go back to our fans… or else. Oh no!"     "Ugh, this boy. All about himself." Lifeline said in a snarky tone.     The others all looked at each other, distraught and drained of all hope. The thought of never seeing their homes again pained each and every one of them. If there was truly no way to go back, then how were they gonna make it here in this new world? The legends all stood by themselves, taking in all this information and knowing that this may very well be their last days alive.     All but one legend.     “Oh, come on, bruddahs!” Gibraltar stood up tall and proud, beckoning for the others to join him. “You guys can’t just give up now! We just got here and yet you are all acting as if we are lining up on Death Row? Shame on you!”     “What are you getting at, Gibraltar?” Caustic inquired, feeling uneasy about Gibraltar’s awkward optimism.     “I’m saying that we aren’t out of this just yet. We are all still alive and still together. Not only that, but these ponies have all offered to help us! Who are we to deny them their offering and instead accept death? I think that we should search for a new energy crystal and create another machine that can help us all get back home safely.”     “But we have no way of knowing if this world even has energy crystals. We’d be going in blind.” Wattson stated.     “Do you have a better idea?” Bangalore inquired, siding with Gibralter. Wattson had nothing more to say, knowing that she was right. “We may not be able to know for sure, but what have we got to lose?”     “They’re right. We have to keep going.” Octane said. “I have never enjoyed the feeling of not moving, and I am most certainly not going to stop moving right now!”     “Well, if we are even gonna go through with this, then just how and where do you plan on searching for an energy crystal?” Wraith asked.     “Um, if it would help you at all-” Every legend in the area shifted their attention to Twilight. “-I could search around in the castle library. I am a nerd when it comes to anything and everything in books, so perhaps I could find answers there.”     “That could work.” said Crypto as he rubbed his chin. “But are you sure that there is something there that could help us find what we’re looking for?”     “Well no, not really.” Twilight admitted. “But it’s like you said… what’s left to lose?”     The legends all took a moment to discuss the situation. It was obvious that they had no choice, but some unsettling thoughts suddenly filled their minds. Could the ponies be trusted? Is Twilight truly who she says she is?     “Very well… we accept your help.” Wraith said, crossing her arms and shifting balance to her left heel. “We will do our part and focus all of our energy and effort to make a way back home. You will do your part and help us find something that can prove to be useful. Deal?” Wraith held her hand out.     “Deal.” Twilight lifted her hoof and placed it in Wraith’s hand, settling the deal. “Alrighty then, if you will just follow me back to the castle then we can get started with helping you get back home.”     "Heh, that's what I'm talkin' about!" Rampart said, happy to see things looking more hopeful than before.     "This will be very enlightening. I can't wait to study this world and its… potential." Caustic said with a grin behind his mask.     As Twilight and the rest of her friends led the way, the legends all followed closely behind. While most of them were thinking about how life in this new place would work out for them, Mirage was trying to figure out how to create a new fanbase of his own since he knew that he may never return to the Apex Games. Needless to say, there was a lot on everyone's mind.