> She came from another universe! > by Fujimi200SX > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Slash The first thing I see after slashing the fabric of the universe open was a snowcapped mountain range glimmering in sunlight. I waste no time flying through the rift, knowing how much air is already escaping from the world into the vacuum of space behind me. Once through, I turn around and grab the bottom of the tear. Ziiiip With the tear fixed like it never happened, I look around at the cold and expansive mountain range before saying: “GOD, is it warm!” Picking a spot, I drop down into the mountain range, landing in the snow. I crouch down and trace my paws through the snow, making a little circle. “This isn’t better.” I stand up, looking around. “So if I did this right, the train tracks should right overrr…” I walk toward a cliff and look down. “There,” I say, spotting the train tracks below. I look up the train tracks, then look down, back up the tracks. “I think the castle was over there? Wait, yes. Over there,” I say, pointing at the tip of the blue crystal castle I had planned on heading towards. “Now to just follow the tracks.” I jump down the cliff, landing on my paws next to the tracks. My legs collapse under me, having been inert for twenty years, forcing me to break my fall with my front paws. “Ow.” I stand back up and brushed off the snow. After that, I begin following the train tracks toward the Crystal Empire. For five minutes I walk, feeling my stiff legs loosen up and relishing the feeling of stretching the joints that had laid inert for so long. "I wonder what this world's inhabitants are," I think to myself. "This world seems a lot less high-tech than the others I've been to. Like a children's fantasy, in a way. Luscious colors untouched by industry, war, or mayhem? Ridiculous, but also the perfect place for my vacation. And then there's the fact that few beings here that have any considerable power level, yet only one that comes anywhere close to mine. No sooner do I think of the final sentence, I feel a sudden appearance of power behind me. Power belonging to the most powerful being in the world, judging by its level. I whirl around to spot a heavily anthropomorphic... I actually don't know. Like- Let's see. He has a lion's paw on his right, griffon's talons on his left, a reptile's leg on his right, and a goat's leg on his left. His body is long and slender, covered with brown fur and flanked by a pegasus wing on the left and a bat wing on the right. His tail is red and lizard-like, ending with several white feathers. His head is that of horse's, sitting atop a long grey neck with a heavily trimmed black mane. Without a doubt the two most consistent things throughout this creature's physical being are his eyes, which are both yellow with red pupils, and his ears which are both the same and symmetrical. The two of us stare at each other, the creature in front of me crossing its arms as he takes in my form. A form that is just over six feet tall, whose body is entirely purple, and is wearing black and purple robes plus a skirt. Bony plates run down my long tail to a pair of whale-like fins on the end. As the creature stares at my glowing white eyes in the middle of my black sockets, it notices how it has a webbed shark-like fin on top of its head, then two webbed fins on its sides. "Well," I think, realizing this was just going to get more awkward. "No point in making an enemy." I walk up to him, stopping and staring with a paw on a hip. “Ahem. So what can I do for you, Father O'Malley-O'Connell-O'Carroll-O'Reilly-O'Brien-O'Sullivan… who is also Italian,” I greet. The creature smirks. “Come on, I crap better greetings than that,” it speaks, its voice clearly male. “Then how’s this: Hi, I’m Umiya. And I think we will get along just fine,” I say, extending an arm out for a pawshake. The creature extends his lionpaw - making sure to include a hidden joy-buzzer. “Better. I’m Discord,” he greets, him and I shaking paws as the buzzer goes off. The feeling of electricity mildy surprises me, but my electrical powers turn what would normally be a painful feeling into something pleasurable. “Ooo, tingly," I say. "Thanks for the meal. Now let me return the favor.” Discord yelps as I shock his paw with my electrical powers, quickly retracting his paw and staring at what is now a completely fried joybuzzer. “...Thanks,” he indignantly replies, despawning the buzzer. He looks at me, and says, “So what are you, anyway?” “A Vaporeon,” I state. “Now what are you?” “Oh, I see. Ahem. I'm a draconequus. The God of Chaos, to be specific.” I look down slightly, but keep my eyes trained on him as I cross my arms. “The God of Chaos?” The Draconequus crosses his arms. “The one and only.” I smirk. “Hm. Alright. Wanna come along to that crystal castle in the distance? I’m planning on stopping by a spa before heading to the Equestrian Games.” “Hmmmm,” Discord hums, stroking his chin. “I think I will. A spa could do me well. Of course, not as much as you.” Using his paw and talons, he dons a gas mask. “I mean, I need one of these just to not pass out from whatever stench you’re giving off.” He sniffs and dons two more gas masks. “Make that three of these.” I bite my lip before chuckling. “Yes! It’s almost like I’ve been meditating on a moon for two thousand years!” Discord’s eyes widen in surprise. “How the blood-soaked protestant hell did you do that?” “Fuck you, that’s how,” I reply, doing everything in my power not to laugh. “Ohhh I see what you did there,” he replies, playfully scowling. “AAAAnyway,” I begin, turning around while keeping my eyes on him. “I’m going to get going again.” “And I shall follow, m’lady.” Discord replies, donning a tophat and monocle. “If you’ve got any questions to ask, ask them along the way,” I say as I begin walking. Discord follows, despawning his tophat and monocle. “Hmph. In that case, what exactly do you mean by spending two thousand years on a moon? How did you actually do that?” he asks. “Ummm… Well, I used a little something called the Force.” “...Really?” “Yeah. The Force.” “The Force… Hm. And uh, how did you obtain the Force?” “Throughhh meditation, practice, and with a high enough Midi-chlorian Count, you can learn the Force.” “Ohhhhh I see. Of course. What exactly did you do while you were meditating?” “Trained. That’s about it.” “Hm. What skills were you training?” “I trained my powers to mesh with the force due to imbalance.” Discord narrows his eyes and tilts his head. “It took you two thousand years to do that?” “Pretty much, yeah. Would you like for me to show you why?” “...Leaning toward yes,” Discord says, leaning toward a neon YES sign next to him. “Seal Release Seal Twelve,” I chant. The draconequus’ eyes widen as he sees black fire appear in and around my right eye and hand. His jaw slightly slacks as ice appears around my left eye and paw. “THIS is why I trained for that long,” I say, staring at him with a cheerful look. Snap “Pinkie, be a dear and tell me, what does that scouter say about her power level?” A suddenly-appearing pink girl with a scouter says: “It’s over nine-thousand!” “Thank you,” Discord says, snapping his fingers and whisking 'Pinkie' back to who-knows-where. “Ahem. So. Over 9000. How did you manage that?” “Lots and lots of training in over a hundred times gravity.” “Oh! What fun!” “Oh, absolutely! You should try it.” He puts up a claw. “Pass. I don’t quite need to train.” “Everyone needs to train. Especially you.” “Ha! No. Pass.” “Your loss.” “It’s a waste of time for me in a world like this.” “Apparently, considering you and only a few other beings have any decent power levels in this universe.” “Mhm. Now. Another question. Exactly how old are you?” “Three thousand.” “Oh! Impressive!" he replies, genuinely impressed. “What about you? How old are you?” I ask. “I do believe I am just south of 2900 years old.” “Not bad. Anyway, this walking has me hungry.” After tapping a finger on my robe, I reach in and pull out a bucket of Kentucky Fried Scootaloo filled with pony nuggets. “Want some Scootaloos? They’re a delicacy where I come from.” “I’ll take two,” he smiles, telekinetically taking two from the bucket. “Anyway, I know you said you’re a Vaporeon, but something about you tells me you’re a bit more than that. So I really must ask, what exactly are you?” I breath in. “Wellll, I’m a hybrid between about four different species. Vaporeon, Succubus, Saiyan, and Ninetales.” “Aha. So that’s why you seemed off. But I must say, I don’t quite see where the Ninetales form comes… Wait.” He looks at me. “Did you say Succubus?” “Yes.” “As in a demon.” “Yes.” “The type that-” “Yes!” He looks ahead. “Well then. I won't ask questions for now.” “Anyway, we are… how far- Ah. We’re almost there.” “Indeed,” Discord says, glancing at the slowly approaching city. It takes us ten minutes to get into the city; a further five to find the spa. Walking inside the crystalline building, me and Discord take to separate changing rooms and take off our regular clothes. After donning bathrobes, we meet back up and Discord picks a room. As I follow Discord inside, I quickly notice one other person already relaxing inside. A pink girl with wings and a horn whose hair resembled Neapolitan Ice Cream if you replaced the brown with purple. “Discord? Since when do you go to spas?” the girl asks, having immediately noticed the draconequus. “Ohhh since before the Empire disappeared for a millennia,” Discord replies. The girl looks past him and at me, narrowing her eyes in confusion. “And… who is she?” “Just a friend,” Discord replies as he sits down near Cadance. “Umiya.” “Hi,” I greet as I sit across from the girl. “Hello. I'm... Princess Cadance. And you… don’t seem like a normal pony. Or a pony at all.” I nod. “That’s because I’m not.” “What are you?” “A Vaporeon.” “And a Succubus, a Saiyan, and a Ninetales,” Discord adds. Cadance glances at Discord, scowling. “Three of those species I’ve never heard of, the one I've heard of I don’t like.” “Oh? Which one?” Cadance glances at me, unsure. “Succubus,” she slowly says. “Well to be fair, we don’t really feed off of mortal beings,” I sat. “Just lust. And if they consent.” “That’s not what I’ve heard,” she replies. “Ahem. So. What brings you to the Crystal Empire?” “Vacation.” “Equestrian Games?” “A bit more than that, but the games are first on my list.” “Hm. Well, I hope you don’t run into to many issues with ponies not recognizing your kind. You’re definitely… unique.” “That’s why I invited Discord.” “No, I invited you along,” Discord states. “No, I did.” “I did.” “No I did!” “No me!” “And I’m dirty dan!” “No I’M dirty dan!” “Who the fu- YOU’RE BOTH DIRTY DAN!” Cadance yelps. “Now could you please stop it and talk normally?!” I cough. “Yeah, you’re right, we’re getting off track,” I say, a dumb smile appearing on my face as I struggle to hold in my laughter. “Sooooo… where are you from?” Cadance asks. “A completely different universe on a planet named Vegeta.” “...” Cadance looks at Discord. “Is she being serious?” “I’m afraid so,” replies a relaxing Discord. She looks back at me. “Oh…kayyyy. Then-” “Would you like some proof?” I ask. “No. But how old are you?” I stare, slightly surprised at the pony’s answer. “... Three thousand.” “... Wow is that old. Ahem. I guess another question would beee…” She looks around, attempting to figure out a question. “Why did you pick our universe of all things? I guess?” “Well, because out of all the nearby universes, yours seemed like the most relaxing. And peaceful.” “Huh. . . . Can you teach me how to travel between universes sometime, please?” “Uht- Uhhhhh… I’m gonna say no for your own safety. There are a lot- And I mean a LOT of universes that are dangerous.” Cadance crosses her arms, her brows furrowing as she grows indignant. “What makes you think I can’t handle it?” I immediately teleport next to her and hold a suddenly appearing freezing sword to her neck. “Does this get the point across?” “AH!” she yelps, leaning away from the blade. “What is your problem?!” “I’m getting the point across.” “That doesn’t get any point across other than that you are a… I don’t know. You're blunt.” “Think about it this way: The people in those universes will hunt you down without any reason and zero remorse.” “Okay, okay. Sheesh.” I teleport back to my spot and eviscerate the sword. “Sorry.” Cadance rolls her eyes. “If I wasn’t so relaxed, I would have yanked that thing out of your hands or thrown you into a wall. Er, paws, sorry.” “And you wouldn’t have liked what happened next.” She narrows her eyes. “Is that a threat?” “Ladies, ladies,” Discord lets out, putting up his hands. “Calm down. You can argue later.” “You’re right,” I begin, “but I do want to show her something.” I spawn in the sword again and hold it out to her. “Go ahead. Try grabbing it.” Cadance stares at the sword, then looks at me. “It looks like it’s colder than the poles.” “Close to absolute zero, actually.” “Then why would I grab it?!” I set the sword down in front of her. “Just reach for it.” “Not until you tell me what’ll happen.” “Oh for- Just do it.” “No! I’m smart enough to know that SOMETHING is going to happen if I try!” “Nothing dangerous will happen.” She stares, slack-jawed, before sighing. “... Could you give me a pair of gloves?” “Sure,” I say, spawning and tossing her a pair of spider-webbed silk gloves. She struggles to put them on, but once she does, she reaches for the handle. To which the sword immediately teleports into my right paw. Cadance only stares. “Ohhh. Soulbound?” “Yes! How did you know?” I ask, surprised and curious at how she knew. “My aunt told me about weapons like that. I think she might have one herself, but I forget what kind.” “Hm. Well anyway, that explains that I wasn’t threatening you, but that you wouldn’t have been able to do anything.” “Which is concerning.” “I’m sure it is.” “What even is that sword anyway?” I look the sword over, angling it around to give Cadance a good view. “It’s called Frostmourne. It’s a rune blade enchanted with eternal frost.” “Cool,” Discord interjects. “Yes, Discord, literally,” I reply with a chuckle. “AAAAnyway, I think we got off the wrong foot. Let’s start over. I-” “You mean the wrong paw.” “You two have feet. At least, Cadance does.” Discord nods. “Fair.” “So. First of all, I didn’t mean to scare you like that, and I hope we can be friends.” “I hope so too,” Cadance replies. “Especially since you’re a lot more than just some random creature visiting from some random country I’ve never heard of.” “You have been getting those a lot, haven’t you, Cadance?” Discord asks. “No, Equestria has.” “Whatever you say.” Just then, the door opens, and a spa pony leans in. “Is Umiya here?” I raise my paw. “It’s time for your session.” “Perfect,” I say, standing up. “See you two later.” I stand up and follow the spa pony out of the room. As I follow the pony, the only thing I hear coming from the room is Cadance yelling: “I am a MARRIED MARE, DISCORD!” > 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “I will say this, getting a treatment like that after two thousand years feels good,” I say as I walk out of the spa with Discord. “Why, I’m sure it must be,” Discord replies. “If I didn’t care about hygiene, I would wait that long for that experience.” “Meditate for 2000 years and you’ll get it.” “Hm. Now then. Where were we? Oh yes, the Equestrian Games.” “Yes, we’ve put it off long enough. Now let’s go watch.” With a snap of his fingers, Discord teleports us to the Royal Viewing Area where four ponies are. Cadance is there, but she is with other mares wearing various regalia. One is white, one is dark blue, and the other is purple. “Good Afternoon, your highnesses,” Discord greets with a bow. The white one rolls her eyes. “Hello, Discord. Come to see the Equestrian games?” “Indeed I have, Ce-” “Wait, who in Celestia is that?” the purple one asks, staring at me with curious eyes. “Oh! Why, this is my good friend Umiya, of course!” Discord says, leaning over and wrapping an arm around my neck. "Umi, this is my good friends Celestia, Luna, and Twilight!" I shuffle out of his grip, mildly slighted. "Discord, first of all, personal space, second of all, he’s not wrong. Hi.” The princesses stare at me, unsure of what to do. They clearly know I’m not a pony, but they also clearly know that I’m… something similar to them. Cadance clears her throat before standing up. “Hi Umiya.” I wave. “Hello.” “No offense, but I don’t think you’re meant to be up here.” “There’s nothing in the rules that say a royal can’t bring a plus one, is there?” Discord asks. “Discord, you’re not a royal,” Celestia says. “I did wear the title of King back when I ruled Equestria. And technically, I never lost that title.” Celestia opens her mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. After a few seconds, she mostly closes her mouth, realizing his logic. “He has a point,” Luna states. “Indeed…” “King Discord doesn’t roll off the tongue that well,” Twilight notes. “Hence why I stopped using it.” I shake my head. “So can I stay here or not?” Celestia sighs. “I suppose you can, Umiya.” “Great.” I sit down criss-cross on an air. The princesses, and Discord stare at me and the neon arrow next to me that points beneath me that says “ON AIR”, confused. Discord, who was actually going to conjure up a chair, shrugs and sits on air with me, turning the single neon arrow into a double arrow. “...And now there are two of them,” Celestia notes. Me and Discord cannot help but grin. “Phantom Menace?” I ask. “Phantom Menace,” Discord replies. “What are you two talking about?” Luna asks. “A movie,” we reply. “...I see.” “So, Umi,” Twilight begins. “I guess while we wait for everything to start, uhh… What are you?” “Discord, do you want to handle this, or should Cadance handle it?” I ask. “I’ll handle the species. You see, your highnesses, Umiya is a Succuvaporsaitales.” Luna bursts out in laughter at the off-the-cuff description of what I am. I do the same, seeing grins plastered on everypony’s faces. But while I stop laughing after a dozen seconds, Luna continues laughing. “What kind of a word is that?!” Twilight exclaims with a smile. “A combination between the words Succubus, Vaporeon, Saiyan, and Ninetales,” Discord states. “In that order,” I add. “Oh my- You’re a succubus?!” the lavender girl asks. “Yep. Er- Just to point it out, YES I can feed off of lust, NO I will not do without consent. Basically, I won’t be lewd unless you want me to.” “Oh thank Celestia,” she lets out, rubbing her forehead. “Twilight, we’ve been over this,” Celestia begins. “You don’t have to use me in phrases like that.” “Sorry! It’s a force of habit.” Celestia smiles and rolls her eyes. Luna clears her throat, having finally stopped laughing. “So, you are a Succubus, a Vaporeon, a Saiyan, and a Ninetales. I believe we all only know of Succubi, but would you mind explaining the other three species?” “I don’t mind at all,” I reply before an explanation of Vaporeons ensues. I barely manage to finish the Saiyan explanation before the games start. “Aaand I can continue this later if you like,” I say as I watch a young dragon slowly climb a ladder up to a giant olympics torch. The princesses nod and we watch the dragon stand next to the torch. I watch him blow on it, fail, then fail again. “Oh my god he’s dealing with indigestion,” I let out, facepalming as I quickly grow impatient. As the dragon goes to blow again, I activate my super speed. I jump off the royal viewing and run down the stands to the torch. Using my other sword, Amaterasu, I light a blue fire around the torch, then put fire in front of the dragon to make it seem as though he is blowing the flame. Sheathing the sword into my pocket-dimensional inventory, I run back up to the royal stand and sit back down in my spot. Deactivating my super speed, time resumes normally, and ponies cheer at the dragon’s feat. As I smile, I suddenly feel a hand patting my back. I look to my left to see Discord doing it. “Lovely save, Umiya,” he whispers. I roll my eyes. “Thanks.” The games kicked off and lasted a while. Me and Discord talked shop about everything happening for pretty much the whole time, respectfully keeping our voices down so the princesses didn’t have to listen. At least, I did. Discord struggled. Towards the end, with a white stallion handing out medals, me and Discord stand up. “So that was entertaining,” I say. “Most entertaining thing I’ve seen in 2000 years.” “Especially that ice archery,” Discord says. “What fun that was.” “I think you mean what chaos that was,” I reply, looking at him. He chuckles in response. “So, Umiya,” Celestia begins. “If I may, where will you be going?” “Well first off, I need to finish my explanation. Second off, I’m probably going to go find a hotel or something.” “We can go to my castle, if you’d like,” Cadance offers. “I have plenty of guest rooms.” “Are they more comfortable than a hotel?” “Three times as comfortable.” “I concur,” Discord concurs. “Since you offered, I guess I’ll take it.” “Great!” Cadance says. “As long as you’re not charging me.” “...I wasn’t even thinking of that.” “Hm. Well! I’m gonna get some food and head to the castle. I’ll meet you there.” With a series of goodbyes, I leave. But the second I am well out of earshot, Discord gets closer to the princesses. “All of you, I do want you to listen up,” he begins in an uncharacteristically serious tone, surprising the princesses. “Umiya is a being you don’t want to mess with. And trust me when I say this. She really isn’t.” “Uhhh what?” Twilight asks. “Her power level is more through the roof than a chimney,” Discord continues. “If you get on her bad side, you quite literally will not win. So please, for the sake of everyone and everything, do not get on her bad side.” The princesses stare, shocked how Discord has spoken to them. “Ummm… Wellll then,” Celestia lets out. “T-Thank you, Discord. This was… very kind of you to warn us.” “And very uncharacteristic,” Luna adds. “It’s called ‘I don’t want to see this universe obliterated’,” Discord states. Their eyes widen, but Twilight is the first to speak. “OHHHHkayyy then. Got it.” Discord clears his throat. “Now then. I’m going to catch up with her. We shall meet you at the castle.” “Meet you there, Discord,” Cadance slowly lets out. With that, the draconequus teleports away, leaving the princesses to themselves. “Sooo,” Cadance begins. “Discord’s warning actually makes sense. Because Umi herself told me that there are things outside our universe that are more dangerous than her, and even more things that are just about as dangerous.” “In other words, we are screwed if she gets mad at us,” Twilight says. “Through and through,” Cadance replies. “So I don’t know about you three, but I’m taking that warning seriously.” “As am I,” Luna states. “I guess I am as well,” Twilight adds. The three look at Celestia, who sighs. “I would be a foal not to believe it, seeing as how Discord actually turned serious for once.” Exchanging glances, the princesses stand up. Celestia, Luna, and Cadance begin their journey to the castle, while Twilight goes to get her friends. > 3 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “It has been a while since I’ve been able to eat like this,” I say as I eat a bucket of Kentucky Fried Scootaloo with gravy. The two of us are on a picnic blanket. “Did you really not eat at all for two thousand years?” Discord asks as he eats his own bucket. I shake my head. “Not a single bite of anything.” “No offense, but that sounds absolutely agonizing.” “That’s the Force for you. I can use the Force to sustain me while I meditate.” Discord dips a bit of KFS into the gravy cup between us. “I have tried meditation. Not for me. But even if you can keep yourself alive with the Force, I still could not imagine not actually eating.” He spawns in a glass of water. “Or drinking.” As he sips on the water and eats his KFS, I say, “Well, I was focused on rebalancing my powers to work with the Force. I mean, I literally had a magical outburst so powerful that I killed an entire planet.” Discord’s jaw drops; his eyes spinning like a slot machine until becoming skulls and crossbones, then rolling into his head and onto his tongue. “Yep," I laugh. "So you can see why I wanted to make absolutely sure everything was up to code!" The draconequus closes his mouth, punching his jaw and sending his eyes back to their sockets. “Ahem. Yes, I can see why. Especially since that happened by accident.” “Pretty much.” Finishing our KFS and gravy, we stand up and eat oversized pretzels we had spawned in. After despawning our picnic blanket, we start heading to the castle, walking this time so we could actually finish our pretzels. And at the castle, Twilight is talking with five ponies, pacing in front of them. “So PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do not screw with her, antagonize her, or do ANYTHING to slight her,” the princess states. “And that goes especially for YOU, Rainbow,” she says, shooting the rainbow-haired girl a dirty look. “What?!” the girl exclaims, feeling offended as she crosses her arms. “If you jump the start like you’ve done so many other times, SO HELP ME if I don’t send you through an anger management class!” The rainbow-haired girl looks left. The rainbow-haired girl looks right. She looks at Twilight. “...Alright then.” Twilight resumes her pacing. “Now! When Umiya gets here, just…” She breathes in. “Be friendly with her. As friendly as you can be.” “Twi, it’ll be fine,” Applejack says. “I HOPE it’ll be fine,” Twilight replies. “Twilight, it will be fine,” Celestia states as she, Luna, and Cadance walk in. “Think of her as no more than a visiting diplomat.” “But Discord doesn’t get THAT serious- I’ve never even HEARD Discord being that serious!” Twilight exclaims, turning to face the princesses. “It’ll be fine,” Cadance reassures. “Now let’s go to the meeting room and get ourselves situated.” Just as they start doing that, me and Discord are let inside the castle. We roll our eyes as royal guards insist on leading us through to the meeting room. “They really do work fast, don’t they?” I ask as we walk through the halls. “Frighteningly so,” Discord replies. “Huh,” I say before looking up and around at the walls surrounding us. “...Why is it just crystals?” “What? The walls, the floor, the ceiling, the ponies? I never particularly asked.” “Hm.” We don’t talk as we take a couple more turns, but we do mutter the word “Finally” under our breaths as we finally reach the meeting room. Before the guards open the doors, I decide to just teleport in. A few seconds later, the doors open and Discord walks in. “Well that was unnecessary,” Discord remarks as he whisks the doors shut behind him. “Eh,” I reply. Looking around at the princesses and five other ponies are sitting at the long table in the center of the room, I smile. “Hello.” Twilight waves. “Hi Umi.” “Hi.” Me and Discord pick our seats. I pick a spot in the middle while he picks one next to Celestia. “Ahem,” I begin. “So to continue from before, the reason I’m part Ninetales is that-” “Umi?” Celestia interrupts. “What?” “I request that you start over. Twilight’s friends did not hear your earlier explanation.” “Wait, what friends?” I ask. Celestia gestures toward the five ponies sitting next to Twilight, who are sitting at the other end of the table. I look and make eye contact with each of them. “Oh. In that case, let’s start from the top.” I stand back up and summon a chalkboard with an illustration of my family tree. “We start off with my grandma and grandfather,” I begin. “My grandmother was a Ninetales and my grandfather was a Vaporeon. My mom was a Vaporeon Succubus while my father was the Saiyan.” “Makes sense,” the rainbow-haired girl notes, staring at the percentages on the chalkboard and ignoring Twilight’s glare. “These percentages,” I continue, pointing at the numbers, “Are the amounts of each gene that I have. As you can see, my grandfather’s side took the dominant portion with the Vaporeon genes being inherited from my mother and grandfather.” “How marvelously fascinating,” the posh one lets out. “Okay, can I get the names of you five?” I ask, looking at the five girls next to Twilight. “Rarity.” “Applejack.” “Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie Pie!” “Fluttershy…” “Wait, Pinkie Pie?” I ask. “As in the one that Discord summoned earlier!” “Yep!” the pink girl replies. “Okay then. Uhh, ahem. Moving on, thank you Rarity for the reply. But to continue, the reason my grandmother’s genes are not dominant in me is due to my father’s genes, which is the Saiyan. As Saiyan genes are dominant over most other genes.” “Um, what’s a Ninetales?” Fluttershy asks. I look at the quiet girl, then around at the others. “Would any of you… like to see?” I ask. “Oh HECK yeah I do,” Rainbow states. “I wouldn’t mind,” Rarity says, among the others’ agreements. “Ohhhkay then,” I say. “In that case…” Despawning the chalkboard, I take a few steps away from the table and stop between it and the wall. I close my eyes and begin to channel my magic. The first thing to occur is a cloud of purple magic forming around me. The second thing to occur is my two earfins adjusting to be more in line with the ears of a fox. They grow more furry and the top fin disappears. My tail splits into nine - the spines along the length disappearing and turning into fur - and the tips of my tails grow a little bit of fur. Finally, my hair turns into a pale pink and grows out further. After opening my eyes, the girls in front of me are able to see that the slits in my eyes look more crystalline. “...Woah,” Dash says. “Oh my,” Discord and Fluttershy let out. The rest are mostly silent, simply taking the moment to take in my features. “Simply marvelous,” Rarity quietly says, staring at my tails. “Thanks,” I say. “But don’t touch the tails without my permission. You have a big chance of getting a thousand year curse put on you.” “A curse?” she asks. “What sort of curse?” “Oh just things like misfortune, constant bad luck, horrible health, basic stuff like that.” “Absolutely dreadful, darling.” “But if I do give you permission, the curse won’t happen, and in that case you are welcome to touch.” “Wonderful.” “Whatever you say, Cruella,” I think. “Ahem. So. Any questions?” I wait several seconds, then several more. Everypony just awkwardly stares. “I’ll take that as a no.” “Well- Wait,” Twilight blurts out. “Is this, like, your only form? Or are there others?” “Nevermind. Yes, I’ve got other forms. My Saiyan form and my Succubus form. Everypony winces from my mentioning of the second form. “We’ve been over this. I don’t just steal souls, I literally will take the lust with consent. That is a very big part of it. I do it with consent.” They all somewhat relax. “Umiya,” Luna begins, prompting me to look at her. “Would you mind showing us this ‘Saiyan form’ you speak of?” “Which one? Base form, or powered up form?” Luna blinks. “... The base form, to start with.” “Alright.” Clearing my throat, I channel my Ki and begin the switch to my base Saiyan form. As I change, a pure black pillar of energy appears around me. The girls see purple lightning emitting from the pillar, some mistaking it for dark magic. My tails merge back into one; the tip of my now-singular tail turning sharp like a stinger with a purple glow emitting from it. My hair grows out even longer than my Ninetails form, becoming spiky on the ends and the color turns from its pale pink to a deep black with purple on the ends. To end it off, my muscles get noticeably bulkier, something none of the girls seem to like. The girls stare at the purple aura around me, simply in awe. Luna, keeping a dignified look, nods in approval. “Impressive.” “Thank you,” I reply. “Remember, this is just the base form.” “I don’t think I want to see the powered-up form or whatever you called it,” Rainbow states. I reply with, “Makes sense considering the amount of pressure I’m exuding just by being in this form.” “Yes, we’ve noticed,” Celestia says. “And we would prefer it if you would switch out of the form, please.” “And please do it as fast as you can,” Cadance says, looking around at the walls and ceiling. “I don’t think my castle can take much more pressure than this.” “Alright.” The aura around me disappears into nothingness, then my hair returns to its pale pink color and recedes slightly, and finally my tail loses its stinger and splits back into nine. Cadance uses her telekinesis to open the doors, exuding all the pressure from the room and giving the castle its most thorough dusting in years. “Do you always expel that much pressure in your Saiyan form?” Luna asks. “Yes,” I firmly reply. “Logic to me dictates that your powered form expels more pressure than that.” “More than triple.” She nods. “Then we will have to witness that form outside.” “Are you sure you want to see that form, knowing how much pressure just the base form gives off?” “Of course,” Luna replies. “The outside air would dissipate most of the pressure. Of course, we can see the form later, as we are dealing with other matters for now.” “...Okay then!” I chuckle, surprised at the response. “I guess if anyone doesn’t have more questions, I think I’m gonna go to bed.” “Yeah, it’s like, ten at night?” Rainbow begins. “I really need to stick to my schedule.” Celestia nods. “I suppose we can conclude this meeting here. Though I may stay for a little longer to talk with anypony else who does the same.” “In that case, goodnight everyone,” I say, turning to the door. Amidst a cacophony of goodnights, I walk through the open doors and begin my journey to my room, eager to get some actual sleep after god-knows-how-long. A guard accompanies me and leads me to my room, making my journey that much easier. The guard opens the door to let me in, I nod to them as I walk inside, to which the guard closes the door behind me. “Time for some sleep,” I say, staring around at the lavish bedroom. > 4 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I sit upon my throne within the palace of Vegeta, one of my advisors standing nearby as I watch my son and daughter play with toys in the center of the room. My son is a crossbreed between a human and a ninetales, his fur icy blue and his eyes pure white. My daughter is mainly a saiyan with a slight bit of human, her hair purple with pink tips and her eyes a tint of magenta. I sigh as I stare at them, thinking about the events that would occur when they got older. In their current states, they are younger, more innocent and pure. Something I truly miss despite all the time that has passed. “What are their names?” a slightly familiar voice asks, genuinely startling me. I look to my right, surprised to find Princess Luna standing there. “...Hello, Luna,” I tentatively greet. “What… What are you doing here?” “Say Princess Luna for now, please,” she requests. “I have simply entered your dream.” “Entered my dream?” She nods. “Yes. I possess a unique dreamwalking ability which allows me to enter dreams at will.” “... Huh. I see. So, anyway..” I look back at my children. “They’re names are Mikazuki and Vokhum. Former being my daughter, latter being my son.” “Mikazuki meaning Crescent Moon…” I smile. “You know your Japanese?” “If that is what your version of Kirinese is, yes.” “Hm. Well, in case you want to know, Vokhum is Dwarven for Black Sun.” Princess Luna stares at Mikazuki and Vokhum, smiling. “Where are they now?” she asks. “I would like to meet them.” My ears droop. “Gone.” … Her ears droop as she understands the implication. “I see… What happened, if I may?” I look at her. “Are you sure you want to know?” Luna looks at me. “Whether or not you would like to simply tell me or show me, yes. I would like to know.” I sigh, looking down. “They were fighting against someone called Cell Max. They lost, and…” I take in a breath. “Would you rather tell me another time, when you have some preparation??” Luna asks before I can talk further. “I can see that this is a hard topic for you.” “How wouldn’t it be? They died right in front of me. …” I sigh. “Yeah, I’ll… I’d need some preparation. The details are… gruesome, to put it in a word.” Luna nods. “Tis’ fine. Now. Switching topics, I came here specifically to see about the full-power Saiyan form you mentioned.” I look at her. “Did you… want me to show you it here?” “Yes. Tis’ much safer to do so in the dream realm.” “... Um, ahem. Yeah, sure. I can… show you it.” Nodding once more, Luna uses her powers to blank out the castle, replacing it instead with an expansive grass field. I look around, standing up from my still-present throne, surprised at how easily she seemed to change my dream on such a whim. “Woah.” Luna smiles. “Now please,” she begins, whisking away my throne, “Show me your full-power form.” I take in a deep breath, pushing all thoughts out and focusing on my transformation. Crystals form at my feet; water forms around the crystals and create a rippling effect. Then, as the transformation truly begins, the water shoots into the air like a pillar, enveloping me. My hair turns black, save for the purple tips, and it begins flowing like a wave in water. As this happens, an aura appears around me, glowing like water beneath a moon, before my tail suddenly turns translucent. Once the transformation is complete and the pillar of water is gone, I stare at Luna, slightly holding my hands out from my sides as to give her a proper look at what has changed. The princess respectfully holds her hands behind her back, staring at me and simply taking in each detail of my form. “Well?” I ask. “Tis’... intriguing,” she replies. “You say that a lot.” “It is how I speak, Umiya. Or is it… ‘Queen’ Umiya? Judging by the castle you were dreaming about?” I nod, crossing my arms. “Yes. Technically speaking, I’m the queen of planet Vegeta.” “I see. Anyway. Is this form your most powerful?” “Mhm.” “In what situations would you use this form, seeing as you are already extraordinarily powerful in your standard form?” “... Depends.” "Then-" "Wait a minute," I interrupt. With my senses heightened by my saiyan form, I sense a being of extensive power elsewhere in Equestria. One I have not sensed before. "Do you feel that?" I ask, looking around. "Feel what?" "The being with increased power level." Luna narrows her eyes. "Whatever do you mean?" "They're a decent way south of us. It's like someone is going through the country, gaining power abnormally quick. … They might be absorbing power from others." Luna stands still, ears twitching as she stares into nothing. "... You are right, Queen Umiya. I can sense the increased power as well." "Just say Umiya or Umi, please." "Of course. … What could this power be?” “I don’t know. But what I do know is that it’s coming straight for us. At the rate it’s going, I’d give it three days before it gets here.” “And you said that it was slowly gaining power, so that could cut its travel time down to thirty six hours.” I stand there, feeling and thinking about the power, genuinely wondering what it could be. “I’m gonna wake up,” I say. “Excuse me?” “I’m gonna wake up. Wake up and tell the others.” Before the princess can say much else, the dream blanks out completely. Opening my eyes, I sit up straight in my bed and look around. After getting off my bed and spending a few minutes stretching, I put on formal attire and walk out of my room. Minutes later, I round a bend and meet up with Princess Luna who is already telling Twilight of what is happening. “-just finding it hard to believe that you can sense somepony slowly gaining power from hundreds of miles away,” Twilight says, rubbing her eyes as she stares at Luna. “Tis’ a power alicorns pick up as they grow older,” Luna states. “You will feel it in due time. But back to the topic, the power is approaching the empire and will arrive in thirty six hours.” “Can I at least sleep for a few more hours, then?” “Do you want to die?” I ask as I stop next to Luna. “No,” Twilight replies. “I just don’t want to prepare with less than five hours of sleep.” Luna crosses her arms. “Many from my time planned entire battles with less than four hours of sleep, Twilight. You can do the same if you put your mind to it.” Twilight tries to disguise a yawn as a sigh. “Fine. Just… Give me ten minutes to get ready, alright?” Luna nods. “Very well. Alert your friends.” Turning, she begins walking away from Twilight’s door and toward another. I follow. “Where are the others?” I ask. “My sister is behind this door,” Luna states before knocking. Knock Knock Knock She steps back, staring at the door and waiting patiently. After a dozen seconds, she knocks again, harder this time. Knock Knock Knock “Hold on,” Celestia asks from inside. Half a minute later, she opens the door and is surprised to find Luna and I. “Luna? Umiya? What are you two doing here?” “Sister, me and Umiya have sensed a power which is slowly increasing in strength,” Luna states. “And it is slowly approaching the Crystal Empire.” Celestia stares at Luna, wearing a knowing expression. “Is it…” Luna nods. “Yes.” “Who is it?” I ask. “Do you two know?” “Who’s coming to the Empire?” the familiar voice of Cadance asks as she exits her room and walks over. “Tirek,” Celestia and Luna state, looking at the pink mare. Cadance’s eyes widen. “What?!” I tilt my head, curious. “Who’s Tirek?” “Tirek,” Luna begins, looking at me, “Is a centaur from centuries past. He came from a distant land with his brother to conquer Equestria and steal all the magic for himself. His brother saw sense, he did not. So his brother alerted us and we subsequently banished him to Tartarus. Evidently, he seems to have escaped.” “I…” I take in a breath. “I see.” “We need to prepare,” Celestia states. “You don’t say,” I reply. “Look, I’m gonna go get something to eat, then maybe I’ll meditate for a bit. See the three of you soon.” “Uh… Whaa?” is what Cadance lets out as I turn and walk away. “You’re just gonna…” “Evidently, she is,” Luna says as I round a bend. I find myself wandering aimlessly through the halls, eating a bucket of KFS as I think about Tirek. A centaur, able to absorb magic as quickly and efficiently as it is, heading right for the Crystal Empire. … It makes a big part of me want to break my rule of only helping worlds when it directly affects me. Well, not a rule, exactly, but more of a subconscious thing developed from a thousand years of jumping between worlds. Tirek is, by and large, one of the few true threats to me. Several of my powers are completely nullified if he’s able to absorb magic, power, anything along those lines. My technique and rhythm are totally thrown off and I don’t have enough time to adapt to full-throttle fighting without the powers. I take in a breath as I think about the last time I had a good fight. A proper fight. One that wasn’t clear cut like most fights I get into. I remember the adrenaline, the anger, the desire to win. I let my breath out. A part of me is genuinely excited. A part of me wants to feel all those things again. But a part of me is also terrified that such a being could exist in this cutesy fantasy world. Like, how could these ponies even hope to fight Tirek? I’m sure the four princesses combined would put on one hell of a show, but at the end of that show, they would lose. There’s no way I can think of that they would win. Pursing my lips, I turn around, walking back the way I came as I think heavily about actually helping the ponies. Sure, it would let them live, but this stupid roadblock of a thought makes its way into my mind. A thought involving the timeline. The bottom fact is that I’m not meant to be here. That’s not to say my very existence is throwing things off, nor is anypony knowing about me, but if I directly interfere with what is probably a major event in this world, it could throw off the timeline. I punch myself in the head. “Are they meant to live peacefully, or be enslaved?” I ask, hating myself for having thought of the stupid timeline. It’s what always gets me, is the question of the timeline. The stupid question that juxtaposes me to no end. Technically speaking, I could just leave the universe and be done with it. Put it out of sight and out of mind. But I can’t. Again, that stupid thought prevents me from doing the deed. I sigh. There’s really only one thing to do, and that’s to just ask the princesses if they want my help. Keep the question short and succinct; not add anything that’ll fry their minds such as the timeline. Just tell them how it is: Do they want me to fight Tirek, or do they want me to sit it out? I start walking back to where I last saw the princesses. I round corners and walk down halls, hoping they are still there. Hoping they will give me a straight answer. Hoping that- “Umi?” I stop suddenly, backing up to look down a hall I had just passed to find Celestia. “Oh. Hi. Celestia,” I greet, walking up to the princess and stopping. “Where are you going?” she asks with a raised brow. “To find you and the other princesses,” I reply. “I need to talk to you all about something important.” “About Tirek?” “Involving him. Now where are the others?” “They went to eat,” Celestia replies. “Could you show me? This is a question that involves all of you.” Celestia turns around. “If you insist.” Sighing, I follow the princess through the halls, ignoring the various guards staring me down at every turn. I follow her down a flight of stairs before turning once more, soon finding that we’re walking toward the meeting room from yesterday. Celestia opens a door, respectfully holding it open for me before closing it behind. I don’t say thanks, entirely because I’m focused on scanning the room for whoever is present. Luna, Twilight, Cadance, and the white stallion from the arena. Celestia sits down next to Twilight, who is the first to notice me. “Umiya! What are you doing here?” I sit down away from everyone. “I’m here to ask you all something.” “What might that be?” Luna asks. I take a deep breath in, steeling myself for what I’m about to ask. “Do any of you want me to help you?” Silence is what follows. They all just stare and blink. “...Excuse me?” Cadance asks. I sigh. “I am a being from a wildly different universe. Do any of you want me to fight Tirek, or should I sit it out, let you do the work, and not screw with anything else?” The princesses stare at me, confused. “What do you mean?” Twilight slowly asks. “Are you asking us if we want you to not help us?” I nod. “Yes, that is exactly what I’m asking.” Cadance scowls. “So you’re fine with all of us dying?” I scowl back. “That’s not what I said. I’m just asking if you want me to help or not.” “Well, yeah! Obviously we want you to help us!” I clear my throat. “What I mean is, I am technically not supposed to be here. The only reason I’m here is because I jumped universes with my powers. There is no other way I could possibly be here other than me being an interdimensional being. So, my question is, do you want help from someone who isn’t meant to be here, or do you want me to not help and let your universe be.” Another pause of silence. They all look at each other, Twilight and Celestia quietly conversing with each other. Looking around at the near-silence, Luna decides to speak first. “I, personally, am of the mantra that if you are here, then you may as well help us. I do not see why you shouldn’t, if you are willing to do so.” “Okay, so that’s one vote for me helping,” I say before looking at Cadance. “What about you?” “Please help,” she immediately requests. “I want to win whatever this battle is.” “That’s two.” I look at Celestia and Twilight. “And you two?” The princesses stop their conversation and look at me, quickly trying to think of answers. Twilight is the first to do so. “As much as I feel like me and my friends should be the ones to fight this… I have to say yeah. It would be nice for some help.” “That’s three.” I eye Celestia. “So? Celestia? What about you?” Celestia stares at me, her expression pensive. “Personally, I don’t want you to help. For the simple fact that as you put it, you’re not supposed to be here, so you’re…” She takes in a breath, relaxing. “Not supposed to help us,” she calmly finishes. I slowly nod. “So that’s one against me.” I look at the others, who are surprised at Celestia’s stance. “Do any of you have anything else to say?” Silence. Just dead silence. I hope for an answer, but none say anything for whatever reason. I sigh. “Alright. Help it is. You all formulate a plan, I’m gonna go eat.” “Did you not eat already?” Luna asks as I stand up. “I did,” I reply. “The joys of fast metabolism are joyful.” “Fair point, Umiya.” Nodding, I turn and walk away, somehow not feeling in the mood for KFS.