> MLP - New Game Plus Postmortem > by Reizthefakebrony > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Reborn from the Grave > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Everything in front of me was dark, and is hurting my eyes. My body felt like it was buried under the ground, and i'm suffocating as well. My mind is currently groggy, I can't feel the fingers of my hands. It's like being submerged in dirt. At that is what it is. Screw it! I'm suffocating. I have to get out of this humid place, whatever it is. Without thinking, I started to dig very frantically. Anything to get out of here. As i was digging, I felt my body being more stranger when usual, but that wasn't important. I continued to dig without even know how much time passed since i started. I didn't what was guiding me in that moment. Is that fear? Or just survival instinct? After some minutes which looked a unnerving eternity for my warped time conception, I finally emerged from the earth. I coughed violently, spitted every piece of dirt out of my mouth and then breathed very heavily. I hold my eyes shut, too busy in clean my eyelids from the dirt to mind the surrounding. I felt something cold and liquid dropping on me. I slowly opened my eyes and quickly looked upwards. My sight was blurry, but I could see that the sky was a very stormy one and it's raining. I gathered all of my energy and pulled the rest of my body out of the ground. Already exhausted by the whole thing, I laid down without even looking. As I touched the ground, I felt my body being kind of odd. Now that I'm recalling, I didn't felt my fingers when I was digging. Let me see my hands and... Wait? Hooves? For Real? Which means... You gotta be kidding me. I took a look at the rest of the body and saw what happened to my body. I'm not that horrified for that, but it's just random Judging by my current form, it was a quadrupedal one. Equine type. No wonder my body was feeling weird. It was transformed. I panicked for moment, but then calmed down to remind myself of a obvious detail. I died, so maybe that was a new body to start with. Now that I looked at it, it's a very stranger, and yet familiar one. It reminded of that of the MLP characters.... Wait. MLP? Embarrassed and feeling awkward for that revelation, I facehoofed and closed my eyes. "Oh, you're gonna talking out of your...." I processed all the possibility that my form was implying and I concluded, as much I refused to retain possible, that I am actually in Equestria. I panicked for moment, but then calmed down as I remembered a obvious detail. "I died... So that must be my new body." That shouldn't be a surprise to me since I had foreseen that from a mile before that happened. I remembered how it happened, so I guess I retained my personality as myself. Allen Nitrol, a boy that anyone can identify as a normal student. Well... Normal isn't exactly correct. I the past, I had obtained dreadful powers, fought a horrific demented cult, smash their ranks for about two years and then I was finally killed by them during the final confrontation. Pretty lame, huh? If that is the case, Should I be in some realm of the Afterlife like... I don't know. Paradise? Purgatory? Hell? Or even Limbo? To answer that question, I looked around to see where I am now. What was in front of me instantly freeze me, making me forget the rain and the chilling air freezing my coat for a second. There are tombstones in front of eyes. I don't know if I was in Hell or in some place nearby the Dark Forest according to Dante Alighieri, but that is definitively a graveyard. Now that I'm thinking about, that mustn't be the case anymore since I'm starting to think that I'm reborn in Equestria. In the most shittiest way I ever go through in the very first minutes. Waking up buried under the ground and digging through the dirt to save your life. That must be a sucky way to start my new life. Seriously, what the hell? I processed all the possibility that my form was implying and I concluded, as much I refused to retain possible, that I am actually in Equestria. I would check my body to see if I'm currently a pegasus, a unicorn, or a earth pony. But first, i have one thing to examine: If there is a tombstone nearby the hole were I came out. Adjusting my four legged movements, I turned around, expecting to find a tombstone with my name. That was indeed there, except that were wasn't my name carved into it. I was surprised to see a mirror on it instead. And i was more or less surprised to see my new form. Light grey coat, dark violet mane and tail, red eyes and no horn and wings whatsoever. I took a look at the infamous cutey mark, which has the form of a controller. I abstained from making any comment about that. My original powers, however, were obviously gone. That confirmed that I am indeed in Equestria and showed me that I'm just a earth pony. What I cannot understand is, of all place to begin a new life after my death, why Equestria? And why I was buried alive? "Bbrrrrr..... What a horrible night to be reborn." I said, shivering for the chilling cold. I shrugged off all the drops of water that bathed my coat, which makes it a little bit heavier than before. I think I'm going to get a serious flu if I stand there any longer. "Emerging in a graveyard is not a cheerful Equestria prospective." I complained. "Just wait until the that get more interesting... Even if it is going to be just part of my comedy." A chilling, spectral female voice talked. It came from behind me. The blood chilled at a very unbearable degree. I could feel my bloodstream being close to the subzero. My heart momentarily stopped. I didn't even want to know, but I turned around to face the speaker anyway. In the instant i saw her, i recoiled in fright. The being in front of me was a skeletal pony wearing a violet cape and hiding something inside of it. My body refused to move and I couldn't even it at all. "Oh, c'mon. Why is the sight of a coordinated composition of bones being such a deal for your mind and sight?" The skeletal pony mocked me. "By the way, is surely not a very cherry thing being under the ground and having to make your way here, but, you know... Wasn't the circle between Life and Death working in mysterious ways." Irritated by this, I shrugged off my fears and gestured at her in defiance. I'm still intimidated by her, but that arrogant tone is something that i can't take any longer. "Ok, lady! Hold your horse for a second!" I howled. "No pun intended. I'm sorry to talk to you like that, but I was about to suffocate from being buried, and I'm under the rain, in this forsaken cemetery, without knowing exactly what is going on. And now you were making fun of my fears! Not funny, dude!" "Strange... I don't remember you being such hot-head, Allen." The skeletal pony said that nonchalantly. "What?" I remained silent for a moment, because i wasn't expecting her say that. "How did you know me?" "Well, depend of how much you are willing to acknowledge that." She said. "Screw your hermetism. Tell me who are you." "I'm your attendant that will lead you to your new situation. But you can call me Aunt Death." She said gleefully. I freeze again. It's understandable that I died and i'm now in a new world, but i cannot believe that i'm actually talk with that entity. "What did you say?" I asked dumbfounded. "You can recall me as the Horseman, the Sister of the Ended Lives or, commonly, the Grim Reaper." Death paused. "I'm genderless, so any name is indifferent for me. Don't believe me? Just watch." Death leaned toward a vine tangling around the grave stone and touched it with her skeletal hoof. The vines withered very quickly. That really convinced me since it matched with every expectation. Whatever thing the Death touches dies, whiter or decay, depending on the subject and circumstances. She also pulled out the strange item from her cape, revealing it to be none other than her scythe, which sight immediately startled me. Not matter how many depiction of it I had saw. I cannot believe that is actually happening. The very first pony that i'm talking to is Death itself. "Now then, my dear guest. Where are your balls now?" Death asked me intimidatingly. "Is that supposed to be some movie shut out? That's not funny." I said irritated, but still chilled by her presence. "Oh, there they are. Your guts felt naked for a second." Death said. I gave her a very annoyed glance, but she didn't cared. What does she want from me anyway? "You know, I don't think you came here just to mock me. There must be a reason." "Nothing special. You are just reborn in Equestria." Death said bluntly before talking again with a echoing voice. "And that is kind of a bless." "So being turned into a pony of that type is a bless for you?" I asked sardonically. "You know, after your own past life made of painful ordeals and dreadful fights, you can consider this a change of pace," Death explained in a disturbingly optimistic way. "And I'm not talking about this sepulchrum. Still, consider that as a reward." For me is just surreal and awkward to me, but to be fair, I agreed with what she said. This is ridiculous, but is also a very comfortable thing compared to the gory death that I have met in my previous life. But, then again, why I'm here? "Oh, and there's the other reason." Death added. "Huh?" I looked at her perplexed. "You see? Ultimately Equestria looked almost monotone to me, toward the limit of boredom. Mostly because of the excessive preservation of Harmony. So i figured out that 'maybe' your existence would make that interesting." Death said while she putted her scythe back in the cloak. "Let me guess. You want me to screw with the life or the balance of this world, isn't it?" I asked mistrustful. "I knew you would say that. But unfortunately, there's a big and mischievous actually targeting your existence which even I found ridiculous." "What expedient?" "Videogame Logic." Death pulled out a gray bag and tossed it to the ground in front of me. She gestured the object, as she asked me to take a look at it. I do so and saw three items being inside. Let's see, we have strange black orb, a... gauntlet? Ok, i will keep the questions for later. And then... What, a shotgun!? I gave her a death glare. I'm a strange feeling about knowing her intentions. Seriously, Grim Reaper or not, what the hell is she thinking? "Why is there a shotgun inside the bag? Besides, that would be impossible since I have hooves. No hands." I retorted. "I won't ask you to kill anybody. You are free to get ride of that if you want," Death said nonchalantly. "But I'll suggest you to keep it. You will never know what is going to happen." "No, Death... Aunt Death, or whatever you want to be called." I refused. "I'm sorry, but i won't do any kind of controversial stunt that would put me into trouble, Death. I know that kind of gimmick, so let met tell you. I'm NOT Valiant Plymouth." "I get it, i get it. You're not Valiant Plymouth." Death paused. "So what?" "What do you mean 'so what'?" "I know that you don't want to mess with the integrity of the history of this world and I understand that you don't want to have any problem after your past fights. But in both cases.... I don't give a flying fuck." Death replied bluntly. "W-w... Are you this for real?!" I asked astounded. Seriously, is like the most ridiculous thing i ever heard by a entity who is supposed to take a force far bigger than every living being seriously. "Life and Tragedy are both comedies, if you look by a very playful but experienced point of view." Death gleefully commented. "Oh, yeah?.... What do you expect me to do exactly?" I demanded. "The answer is simple..... Nothing." I stared at her with widened eyes as i was trying to not drop my jaws. My mind became outright confused by her logic so hard that I couldn't see any glimmer of seriousness anymore. I don't know if she was making fun of me or she was just a impostor. Everything is possible. "Are. You. Serious?" I asked with a grave tone. "That's it." Death then gestured. "That's. It." I still stared at her. "Oh' c'mon. When I said the secondary reason for you being brought here, I was joking. You are free to live your life." Death admitted... Maybe. She may be honest, but i still don't trust her this much. I sighed in relief, but then something in my mind bounced in front of my eyes. A detail was missing. "Wait. You gave me this bag, but you didn't specified what do you mean with Videogame Logic? Is because I have a videogame controller as a cutey mark?" I inquired legitimately. "Oh, you will see for yourself. In the meantime, what you had to do is just live your new life." Death said as she was apparently trying to calm me down. "And don't stare at me like that. At least I didn't give you some absurd instruction like 'If you don't want undead ponies coming back from the dead, just kill the living ones by shooting in the head'." "Don't remind me of that weird movie." I said in disgust. "Yeah, my depiction's role in that was just out of place." Both of us paused. I lowered my head for a moment and though about my old life. After a while, I looked in the Death's face with formality. I think i should get used to it. "It seems like I have to live in this kind of existential retirement... I guess." "That's more like it." Death said as she headed toward the gates. As she went out of the graveyard, Death suddenly dissolved in the void. I was left alone with myself. I wasn't convinced about being reborn in Equestria. I think that my arrival could a bastardous interference to the events of this world. But it seems like a higher force has spoken, so I don't have pretty much choice. Remaining in this graveyard wouldn't be beneficial for me. "I'm going to regret this." I said as I headed toward the exit. Like Death said, after a life of dangerous ordeals, I would have obtained a change of pace. I guess that she was referring to the fact that i would have a moment of tranquility. But I wasn't exactly expecting me to be there in this way. I don't even know how much my existence will affect this world. In the best way? In the worst way? In.... any way that none one wanted to talk about?.... Not even I do. And then there is the Videogame Logic involved. That can't be good. > Friendship is Compromised > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leaving the experience of a surreal conversation with the Death itself behind, I stepped out of the graveyard under the rain. I couldn't have a break that things started to get absurd already. As I left the gates, it wasn't raining anymore and sun rays were immediately blinding me. I covered my eyes with my hoof and looked around. I found myself in the middle of the forest and the sun was setting. That cannot be right. So of course I turned around to see the difference, but the graveyard just disappeared. How the hell did that happened? Putting aside that due to my inability to answer that question, I returned my attention to my path and walked straight forward. I guess that this time I'm in Equestria for real and the graveyard was just a mortuary dimension. I was feeling still heavier as before, and the reason was simple: I'm still wet and mostly covered by the dirt a had accumulated when I was literally digging out from what seemed to be my grave. I took a look at the gray bag that Death gave to me, which was still dry as it wasn't drenched at all. That shouldn't happen. My little dilemma didn't last any longer since i found a river. That wasn't exactly a solution, but is always better than being dirt covered. I washed with the water of the river while being careful not being dragged away by that and shrugged off most of the water afterwards. I wandered around aimlessly for a bit. I had accidentally end up into a orchard of apple trees. Wait, apple trees? Yeah, I had realized that I was near the Apple Family's farm, so I decided to find the main exit and get out of there. I don't want have any problem with them. After about fifteen minutes, I finally managed to find the main path. I looked around to see if there's no one nearby. Sure that the way was clear, I headed toward the exit. "Hey!" yelled a familiar country voice. Nevermind. I've screwed up already. I didn't saw that being there. That is definitively Applejack; thought I don't like meet her In this kind of circumstance. She will believe that I'm some kind of intruder. Mentally preparing a explanation for my presence, I turned toward her, expecting a look of hostility in her face. I met her face. It's is her. But, surprisingly enough, her face was a little worried one instead. "Are you all right?" Applejack asked. "What?" I replied. "You looked very pale and a little drenched. What happened?" Outside the fact that I'm still a little wet, I can understand what she means. However I had to give her a different version of the facts. I mean, how can I even explain to her that I came out of the grave and talked with Death itself? "Let's just said that the last night I didn't slept due to a tremendous case of insomnia, though that I managed to get in the dreamland after fourteen hours and woke up in the afternoon." I paused. " Also, don't worry about my wet coat. I had just bathed myself with the cold water to wake up. Figures." "You don't look very good. Can I gave ya a apple?" Applejack asked, showing a apple to me. "Thanks, I will eat it later.." I said as I put the apple in the bag. "I have to go now." "Are ya sure? Can Ah at least know yer name, sugarcube?" "I'm sorry to demand this to you, but... Why you ask?" "Well, because It's the first time Ah saw somepony like you. And ya're not the first." "Second visitor?.... Whatever, I have no intention to use my real name of Allen Nitrol, so..." "Violet Tower. You are Applejack if I'm not mistaken." I said. "You can tell." Applejack said a little surprised. "But how did ya-" "Somepony talked about you very well." "Ah see." Applejack replied unconvinced. "So long." I said before turning around and headed toward the exit, leaving her alone. Seriously, talking with Applejack in live was a little bit weird but harmless for me. And it's not the same thing with Death, which was creepy as hell, if not irritating at it's worse. Following the signs, I reached Ponyville after nine minutes, but at that point, the sunset marked the beginning of the evening. I stopped by the entrance to see various pegasi flying in the sky, as they should be. Then a rainbow colored blur whizzed above them. I didn't even need to ask. It's Rainbow Dash for sure. I resumed my walk toward the town square. I know where it was because I followed the rooftop of the Carousel Boutique. I then stopped, feeling watched by someone. What the...? I turned around and saw Fluttershy looking at me for a second and then looking away after her eyes met my sight. I couldn't blame her, and not because she saw me for the first time. I returned to my path since I'm don't want bother her. Hopefully she's not a stalker. I reached the square and passed by the Carousel Boutique. And a pink pony passed close by me while hopping.... Wait? I glanced back and... Ok, it's Pinkie Pie. I immediately looked away and move one. I'm not afraid of her or anything, but I don't want her strangeness and ability to warp reality. I've been here for at least twenty seven minutes, so someone give at least me the time to settle myself. But I know that my thought is not gonna to be listened. "A second new face?" Pinkie exclaimed from behind me in the distance. "Twice the fun!" I bet she dashed away afterwards, but I didn't even bothered to look. I think I should continue my tour, but I then Rarity showed up in front of me. She remained immobile for a second and then eyes widened as she gasped in dismay. Something that I expected from the sappy drama queen herself. "I can't believe at what I'm seeing in this moment!" Rarity said alarmed, pointing her hoof at me. "You are ANTI-STYLE INCARNATED!" "What!?" I exclaimed in response, almost tempted to drop the F-bomb. "It's not too late," Rarity said in exaggeration. "Come in, sir. I could still save you." I know that she's a fashionista so she was going to lecture me about my appearance, which is justified. But man, is Rarity really tagging me as the fashion's Anti Christ!? Now I have a good reason to be stuck with the Kill la Kill philosophy. "I will resolve this problem on my own, but not now. I have to hurry, or I'm going to be late." I said as I turned around and ran toward a random direction. Rarity tried call me back, but I Ignored her. I galloped as fast as I can until I reached a tree-like building... Wait-WHAT!? A tree-like building!? When Applejack said I was a second visitor, I though she was referring to someone else, not to Twilight Sparkle. And yet what I'm seeing in this moment was actually Twilight's former library. Now that I'm thinking about, the Castle of Friendship wasn't there at all. Tell me that this is a joke. "All the ponies in this town are crazy!" said a female voice coming from the Library. That was indeed Twilight Sparkle, screaming like that. That line now... That makes me consider... I'm seriously in the events of Season 1? But then that means.... Tomorrow Nightmare Moon will came during the Summer Festival, so Luna wasn't purified yet... "No, no, nonononono. Fuck this. I'm outta of here!" I turned around and ran the hell out of Ponyville. After three minutes of galloping, exploiting the fact that the town was almost empty due to most of the inhabitants being invited into Pinkie's party in Twilight's house, I leaved the town and hide myself into the woods. My heart was pumping very fast. I breathed heavily. I wanted to lay down, but I have no time to rest. I slowed down my speed and continued further. "I have to find a place to hide." I said nervously. "Yes, but where?" Without any warning, a cyan light glowed beneath me. I glanced down and witnessed a very unusual scenario. Like a way answering to my prayer, there are cyan glowing arrows creating a path to follow.I followed the lead and arrived into a stone house. After that, the arrows disappeared. That place looked creepier compared to the cherry scenario surrounding it. I opened the metallic door in front of me and stepped in. A was astounded to find only one room. And it was a very creepy and surreal one. As the opposite to the outside, the inside was per se a mound and yet it looked very clean. There are some empty shelves appended on the walls and a opened stone coffin in the middle of the room. Now that is quiet of a sick joke. Without asking any questions, I slowly walked toward the coffin, expecting some corpse, but all that i found was a pillow, a black blanket and a futon. That coffin is supposed to be my bed!? "Are you fucking kidding me?" I said with a little irritated voice. "As coming out from my grave wasn't enough." Reluctantly, i entered into the coffin and covered myself with the blanket as I layed on the futon. Technically was my first sleep in Equestria, but sleeping like that gave me the disturbing feeling to celebrate my second funeral to me. I then closed my eyes, waiting for my sleep. I don't give a crap to the fact that I didn't eat anything during my arrival. "That was fun. Let's just hope that they didn't saw that coming." "That is gonna a helluva surprise." "Still got them, Allen." "Let's do it!" *Slash* *Splatter* "ALLEEEEEEEEEEEN!!" "Hmpf. You really deserved a really gruesome fate like this... Before your descent into the abyss... That Cocytus may not have mercy of you." "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" I woke up from that nightmare and instantly got up. I heard the laughter of my former enemies, three second ago. Now I heard the echo of a demonic female voice laughing instead. That laughter woke me up. I have no doubt. Nightmare Moon's revenge has began. The fact that is still night is a proof. "Hopefully, that has nothing to do with me," I said, confident of my claim. "I just have to wait that the Mane Six purifies Luna and everything goes right." I came out of the coffin and headed toward the exit as my stomach finally decided to scream his complaint for the lack of food. I took the apple from my bag and chewed up. After having finished it, I walked toward the exit. "That doesn't mean that I have to remain stuck in my... 'bed'." I stepped out of my mound and headed toward the Everfree Forest to find a way to reach the Castle of the Two Sisters. But mostly because I wanted to test the items that Aunt Death gave to me. The dangers doesn't bother me. I mean I fought that disgusting cult for years during my previous life, so why should I? I putted on the gauntlet, not knowing what was it's real use. I suddenly felt my hoof tingling, and then this happened. As I fumbled with that thing, the claw that are part of it formed a straight set of barrels, with hole appearing on their tip. I pointed my equipped hoof on a random tree like a gun and shot a azure projectile at it. It's lower part froze. I never thought that has such function. After that test, I looked around to find something that Indicates the way toward the forest. "I don't even know where the castle is, but hey. I will at least visit this place just to kill the time." I said as I was walking. "The Elements of Harmony will be awakened just as I predicted." "Are you sure about that?" said a malicious voice in the distance. I stopped as my brain was processing that voice, that was followed by the sound of hoofsteps. I know who it is, and I wasn't happy about that. I looked forward and saw a tall, winged figure walking out of the shadows, revealing it's appearance. I looked at her in shock. Not because I knew who she is. But because I saw the hope to maintain at least most of the Equestria's historical integrity being thrown out the window. "Oh, shit." Nightmare Moon was in front of me, chuckling a little bit and looking at me maliciously, as she was expecting something from me. See her in live was something that leaved me awfully impressed. I remained calm, showing almost no fear thanks to my past experience. "Are you seriously thinking these ponies could possibly defeat me? Surely you jest." Nightmare Moon commented, before looking confused at me. "You don't look a very sun-loving pony." You are calling someone who just came out of his own coffin a sun-loving pony? "What exactly do you want from me?" I asked a little annoyed. "I make the question heres. You know who I am, right?" "You are Nightmare Moon," I said with almost calmer tone. "A mare who was once Princess Celestia's sister. But then you got so resentful of your night being shunned by the subject because of Celestia so hard that you tried to defy her." Nightmare Moon's eyes widened in shock and her expression contracted in dismay. She never felt so touched in her depth by someone who isn't her. "How do you know that?" Nightmare Moon asked with a drop of anger in her voice. "I have intuited that by your own psychological aversion against the Sun. I didn't even need to go in the past to know that." I said, talking like a psychologist wannabe. "That's right! Celestia has everything that I have not!" Nightmare Moon admitted. "My own goal is legit as my Night is law!" "You know. I can even tell you the consequences of the Eternal Night such as ecological unbalance, the food and crops going wasted, the increment of wasteland and the discontent of your future subjects. But you know what? I won't even waste my voice with that." She glared at me, but I won't change my statement. I mean, that is kind of true. The Equestrian Ecology would be pretty screwed with the absence of the Sun as the ponies cannot adapt to it so quickly, resulting their health being mostly compromised or even coming to a end as they died and the land became a wasteland. No food and no water. But hey, Nightmare Moon, the force that took Luna's place during her rampage, is not living in Equestria. As the opposite of Luna, the Princess the she will eventually return to be; Nightmare Moon is someone who is incredibly convinced that her Eternal Night, something that i will call a foolish berseker's paradise that she wanted to create, will works despite the consequences because, as she said, "You are going to LOVE ME!" or some bullcrap like that. "You don't know when to stop, isn't it?" I asked sarcastically. "You know what it feels being ignored? Celestia has the love of her subject, but I..." Nightmare Moon clenched her teeth and furiously stomped her hoof on the ground. "Had NOPONY to admire me! That's why will dethrone her!" "What do you want me, anyway?" I asked. "You have the power to predict the future, right?" Nightmare Moon asked. "Is just a prediction. That doesn't mean that I have that power." I replied. "Who told you that?" "I will confide you one thing," Nightmare Moon said, almost grinning. "As I was pursuing these six ponies, another one came to me without any fear. He said to came from another world and told me about your powers. I didn't trust him in the first place, but as soon as I heard your prediction with that confidence of yours, I assumed that he was right." From another world? Is there some other outsider like me? And he knows where I am?.... Whoever it is, is trying to screw with me. But why? "All the other ponies ran away in fear of me, but you weren't so intimidated by me. But you will be, especially since I have a proposal for you." Nightmare Moon said. "Let me guess. You are persuading me to join you?" I asked distrustful. "Because I know you will use your powers to crush me." "I see that you are not that stupid after all," Nightmare Moon said almost impressed. "If you want live, I will suggest you to work for me. Keep in mind that I, Nightmare Moon, will give you special reward, but you had to act as my emissary. And that, my friend, is mandatory." I can't believe she was blackmailing me. So... I guess I had no choice, but being involved with this mess. I could just refuse and die again, but I rather not... And even if I accept to die, she would just change her mind and some extreme measure like taking some random filly as a hostage. However, I have my own way to fool her by screwing the rules. "Technically I could had just refused and let myself get killed since, you know, I don't have anything to lose," I precised. "But, considering that this world is getting even boring as before from this point forward... Let's just say I will accept your proposal." I said. "So you had indeed that power." Nightmare Moon said, not so surprised. "Feel free to believe whatever you want, But you know what? I will give this world a new direction. And giving it to you of course." I announced with fake arrogance. "Wise choice." Nightmare Moon said complacent. "We a night to immortalize. I hope that you are ready to betray those Six Ponies." "Well, you are the boss." Well, looks like I'm really going to give Aunt Death what she really wanted. Though that she was joking about that, but still, it's quiet irritating. Screwing up the fate of other worlds is not in my style. And about me having the power to see the future, I didn't have such powers. I just saw the episodes in my previous life. That's all. Without any warning, she glowed her horn and unleash a dark aura that engulfed my body. Everything was dark, but then the darkness disappeared, giving another landscape in it's place. I wasn't the forest anymore, but on the other side of the dark forest. That was the second disorienting time that I was brought into a completely different place. I know why she brought in this place. She wanted to lead her 'guests' toward the castle. Also, I heard Pinkie Pie's singing in the distance. Hopefully the song ended since I, like the majority of the individuals, I'm not very fond of songs. After that, their voices became closer and closer until they emerged from that arboreal dark maze, with Pinkie hopping as usual. They gazes met my presence, causing the mares to stop. "I wasn't expecting you to be there." I said, pretending to be there by mistake. "Who are you? And how did you get there" Twilight asked. "I can't believe it." Rarity muttered. "You are the style killer from before!" Again with this story? That should never be a running gag. I will do anything in my power to prevent that after this night. "It's quite very strange that he was there before us." Fluttershy said with suspiction. "Style killer?" Rainbow said, also confused. "Let her be. She's just exaggerating again." Applejack remarked. "You didn't even came at my party!" Pinkie Pie shouted, causing the other five mares to look at her baffled, almost glaring. "What?" "Ok, let me explain. I had erroneously entered in this forest and I got lost." I said with a apologetic tone. "You won't believe that, but I discovered a castle far away from there." "WHAT!?" The six mares exclaimed. "Seriously?" Twilight asked. "You are almost there. Follow me." I incited them to so as I headed toward the road leading to the lake. As I was walking, I glanced back at the Mane Six and saw Applejack looked at Twilight with a stern look. "Isn't that suspicious, Twi?" Appleajack demanded. "You tell me. I didn't expected him to be there. Nopony sane in his mind entered into the forest despite the dangers. Especially in a situation like this." Twilight said. "That's not all. Ah met him as he wandered aimlessly nearby mah orchard." Applejack continued. "Do you have any idea who could he be?" Rarity inquired. "Ah reckon his name was Violet Tower." Applejack confirmed. "Violet Tower? What kind of name is that?" Rainbow asked. I just hope that they weren't suspecting me already. That being said, we reached the lake were the sea serpent was calmed down by Rarity giving a piece of her tail to him. After that, we crossed the bridged were Rainbow Dash was confronting the Shadowbolts. As that was happening, I headed toward the to the castle without them having realized yet. I returned to the castle with Nightmare Moon waiting in the outside. "Where are they?" Nightmare Moon asked coldly. "They managed to get through the bridge. They should be there from a moment or another." I said with a little annoyed tone. "Good. You better get ready." Nightmare Moon commanded before disappearing in the darkness. I hide myself behind a pillar and waited. The Mane Six finally entered after nine minutes without noticing my presence. They were discussing about of to awake the Elements of Harmony. I silently waited like a assassin. "Come on now, y'all. She needs to concentrate." Applejack said. "Before we took our leave, there's something that bothered me." Rarity formally said. "What?" Twilight asked. "Where did Violet Tower go?" Rarity asked. Yeah, that was a pretty dumbass move leave them alone in the bridge, but I didn't wanted to wait any longer. "He probably got lost. Now let me concentrate." Twilight said before returning her attention to the Elements. "Fair enough." Rarity replied before leaving, followed by the other four mares. As I previously saw, Nightmare Moon used her powers and darkness mcguffins to steal the Elements of Harmony away from Twilight. She then proceed to do her nasty job, but Twilight preferred doing her first move by rushing against her. "You're kidding. You're kidding, right?" Nightmare Moon demanded incredulous. Yeah, even I found this move being ridiculous. Twilight Spackle was smart enough to teleport in the last seconds, avoiding the collision and reappearing in front of the Elements of Harmony. Seriously, charging against Nightmare Moon in that way is like a furious bull charging against a train. Twilight tried to awake the Elements, but Nightmare Moon wouldn't stand for that kind of ending. She teleported in front of Twilight and knocked her away with a lightning bolt. The Elements started to glow due to Twilight's magic, causing Nightmare Moon to panic, but I know that is not gonna happen yet. In fact, the glow disappeared after a few seconds, much to Twilight's dismay. "You little foal! Thinking you could defeat me? Now you will never see your princess, or your sun! The night will last forever!" Nightmare Moon said as she smashed the elements with her hooves. Seeing that in first person gave the idea of her tremendous power and cruelty. But having saw what is going to happen next, that didn't surprised me. Two voices came from the entrance to encourage Twilight. She started to realize the meaning of the Elements and what friendship really means. But there's one problem this time. It's my turn. "You think you can destroy The Elements of Harmony just like that? Well, you're wrong, because the spirits of The Elements of Harmony are right here." Twilight said confident. "Unfortunately for you, I had to put that on a halt." I said from behind the pillar as I shot the freezing projectile from my gauntlet. The bullet end up hitting Twilight and freezing her right side and her horn as well, interrupting her attempt and making her yell for the freezing pain. "W-what is that!?" Twilight shouted in shock as the freezing was blocking her body and reached her head. "TWI!" Applejack exclaimed horrified. "Come out, wherever you are! You coward!" Rainbow Dash shouted. The other five mares then looked in my direction, still wondering what happened. Twilight does the same a second later. I came out of the pillar, remaining cold blooded and walking toward Nightmare Moon. I then looked at the Mane Six with a stern look as I pointed the freeze shooting gauntlet at them. Comparing myself with Goro Akechi is a disproportionate euphemism. "Violet Tower...?" Twilight said dismayed, looking at me with horror. "I KNEW that a stallion with a stylecidal look like yours cannot be trusted!" Rarity shouted furious. "What the hey, dude! You condemned all of us!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "To think that Ah even gave ya a apple, Ya cursed jackal!" Applejack said. "You looked very suspicious, but this!?... Just unforgivable." Fluttershy said angered. "I should had know that you not being in the party was a serious MEAN VILLAIN AHEAD FLAG!" Pinkie Pie shouted in exaggeration. "Your hope is now crushed," Nightmare Moon said maliciously "In the condition in which you are now, you cannot even think to use your magic to summon the Elements of Harmony." "No... That can't be." Twilight said, almost terrified, but refusing to give in. "You know what to do, Violet. Finish your job and that promised power is yours." Nightmare Moon said before laughing evilly." "I... Won't surrender. We will stop you! It's not over yet!" Twilight shouted in defiance. "Don't underestimate me." I said with a pissed off tone. And then I pointed my gauntlet at Nightmare Moon and instantly shot her before she could do anything just to smash her hopes of victory and smack her face with it's shards. Her face expression assumed a shocked one, one moment before she became completely frozen. "I forgot to mention one thing to you: I have the tendency to go Insane sometimes." I turned my attention toward the Mane Six, who were confused as hell. Their eyes being widened and their mouths being hanging opened. Twilight in particular doesn't even know what is going anymore. Rainbow Dash, however, was the first to recover Applejack was the first to recover, still wanting to beat me up after my previous treatment that I gave to them, but preferred to unfreeze Twilight instead. She took some random rock and slammed it against ice, releasing her right side and her horn from the freezing grasp. They then turned their attention back to me, still unsure about my intentions, which is kind understandable. I put a act to deceive both them and Nightmare Moon and I know that would have put me in a very bad light. I had even froze up Twilight, so I couldn't blame for being pissed off. "You betrayed even Nightmare Moon?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Ah think that he wasn't sincere with any of us in this room." Applejack assumed. "What is your game, exactly?" Twilight said mistrustful "You prevented us from awake the power of the Elements of Harmony some seconds ago, and then you turn against Nightmare Moon like it was nothing. That makes no sense." That question couldn't have any immediate response as the ice blocking Nightmare Moon exploded. The mares covered their eyes. I didn't even turned around and looked at a furious Nightmare Moon. I glanced at the shocked Mane Six, and then back to the alicorn. I wasn't even scared of her reprisal. I faced death. No, not Aunt Death, the death. Death intended as... Whatever, her anger wasn't this big deal for me. "What do you think are you doing!?" Nightmare Moon said menacingly, charging her horn. "You will pay for this!" "I'm sorry. I couldn't resist." I replied calmly before being blasted away by Nightmare Moon's magic blast. That blast threw me out of the castle and slammed my body against a rock. My sight became darkened as I collapsed on ground. That must be the part were I'm passing out... "I told you that you needed to make some friends, nothing more. I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon's return and I knew it was you who had the magic inside to defeat her, but you could not unleash it until you let true friendship into your heart. Now if only another will as well. Princess Luna!" That voice sounded familiar. I slowly opened my eyes as the words reverberated in my head, slowly dying off with the pass of the seconds. That is it. That was the happy reunion part with Luna finally returned to normal and Celestia was welcoming her again. That couldn't be the same for me since I was blasted away first and the slammed against a rock. Dizzied as I was, I barely rose up and walked toward the entrance. I took a brief look at it and the hide myself behind a wall without watching the rest. just listen. At the moment, my presence would not be welcomed after my tricky permance. It's better this way. "I'm so sorry! I missed you so much, big sister!" Luna said, starting to crying. "I've missed you t-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Celestia screamed, followed by the other present ponies one second later. I stumbled for that, almost falling. I was having a hearth attack. That wasn't supposed to happen. "What the fuck!?" I exclaimed, panicked by the screams. I stormed inside and saw a very unexpected, unnerving scenario. Celestia, Luna and the Mane Six laying on the ground. They weren't dead. Just unconscious. And all battered and slightly beaten up I will add. "They were unconscious and greatly hurt." I said, shaking my head in shock. "What happened?" "Hey yo! Wassup, Allen!" A male voice said. That voice... That cannot be real. I know him but... I'ts not possible. I looked upwards and saw a blue maned beige pony with a nordic rune shaped scar on his forehead. He jumped down and landed in front of me. He then glanced at me with a arrogant smug. His eyes were filled with bloodlust and hatred. He may be in pony form, but I know this guy. "Vaelox." I said with a angered tone. "You were dead." "Yo can't kill a member of my own organization. They will live on." Vaelox said arrogantly. "It's seems like that the Granite Dagger doesn't know when to quit. But still-" "Don't jump on the conclusion already. Let me explain first. You see, the 'Vaelox' that you had killed off for real wasn't me. Because it comes from your own former world." "What do you mean by that?" I inquired. "I came from another universe, filthy casual." Vaelox said. "Another universe?" I said baffled by that. "You were the bastard that informed Nightmare Moon about me!" "That's right, moron! And the reason is a very strategic one! I would have gathered you, Celestia, Luna and the Elements of Harmony there." "I get it. You intended to knock the out and use them as hostages that would had unwittingly helped you fight dirty." I said with a angered tone. "You know, dude? You are a coward so huge that is not even funny!" "Spare me your morality, Allen!" Vaelox retorted. "You want to know how I was able to find you? The original members that you had destroyed in your universe has sent their different counteparts of them to haunt you right after their death, just like me." "Oh my graves, are you freaking serious!?" What assholes. Sending some version of themselves to hunt me down with no regard of the consequences. They could also provoking major damages in this world as well. I can't fucking believe that I had fight them again. Though that they being in pony form as well is just ridiculous. "But enough talk. I will resume your execution were I left off, but with a major vantage. Because you lost powers." Vealox turned into a mass of shadows that flew against me like a pinball. Having saw him in action in the past, I know what, I dodged his blows as he was bouncing on walls and the floor trying to hit me. Hopeful no one of the unconscious mares were touched by that. "You have forgot that i was called the Shadow Siege!" Vaelox announced. "In can turn into a crucible of darkness and smashing through the material objects while hitting them, and stunning their minds if they are living creatures." Yeah, keep talking. "What are you going to do, Allen!? Risking these ponies' lives to attack me?" Vaelox asked mockingly. "YOU CAN'T! I have the perfect hostages-" "Yeah. Now shut up." Vaelox couldn't finish his sentence that I pulled out the shotgun as his shadow form passed above me. I hit him with the butt of the weapon. Knowing of his shadow form works, I should had hit his stomach. Perhaps, I had forgot that he's actually a pony too, so I end up hitting something even better. His lower parts. That causing him to return in his physical form and collapse on the ground while squirming in pain. I reacted awfully impressed and clench my teeth upon having seen where did I hit him. "You SON OF..." Vaelox said in pained fury. "You are always the same. Minus attention on the opponent and more boasting. Sadistic as usual... And that is why I will continue to make fun of you." "You will PAY!" Vaelox howled. Resisting the atrocious pain, he quickly stood up. But by that point, I was already pointing my shotgun on his head. "Time to meet yourself." I said with a serious tone. I pulled the trigger. The shotgun emitted his loud blasting sound. The projectile traveled through Vaelox's skull and beyond. One second later I heard the sound of something else being spalttered. As Vaelox's body fell on the ground, I saw a puddle of blood nearby a lavender body. I really fucked this time. The bullet erroneously pierced Twilight Sparkle's head. I was so pissed about dealing with this douchebag again that I didn't realized her being in the bullet's trajectory. In a fraction of seconds I looked at her with widened eyes, but I didn't reacted in horror immediately. My mind was too blue screened by my own epic fail to think. My glance was fixated on her while making a dumbass face as Vaelox's body was turning into a bunch of dark embers that were about to die off after a few seconds. And then I must scream. In slowmo, according to my brain barely processing this moment. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" As Vaelox's body disappeared, I was left alone to deal with Twilight's accidental death. The other unconscious ponies, including Celestia, didn't even know what happened. I kneel in horror in front of her now lifeless body. She was supposed to be the Element of Magic and now she's gone. The worst part is that I'm going to be lynched by them once they woke up. "This is not good..." I said in panic. "I screwed up the entire fate of Equestria, big time.... I'm will not get just arrested. WHAT THE HELL I SHOULD- My scream was interrupted by a bizarre and unsual 8-bit styled sound, just like that of a videogame. As that wasn't strange enough, something green glowed on my right. I turned toward it to see what it is. Now I'm the one who is confused as hell. And twice I will say. There was a glowing RPG styled text box colored in green beside and three choice buttons. At that point, I started to understand what Death means for Videogame Logic. A very strange one I will say. "What the...?" Without even thinking, I read the green text that was in the center of the box Good Job. You had Leveled Up. You will choose one among these new rewards showed in the center. 1) Gunblade: The most unpractical sword with a trigger, really ignored nowdays. 2) Cure: A spell that allowed you to cure anyone's wounds. 3) Corpse Remodeling: The ability to raise creatures from the dead, performing surgery, cloning living things and enhance their physical abilities in the most controversial way possible. Now that is borderline ridiculous. Aunt Death surely gave me a real surreal scenario. But what really shocked most was the third choice. In a very delicate moment like this, is very tempting, but I know that is horribly wrong. Corpse Remodeling is a very nasty Frankenstein-like method which was abused by a villain from a manga that is not worth remember. But the time is gold and I don't even want to get arrested or worse being executed for having accidentally killed the Twilight. Especially since she's Elements of Magic and Celestia's prodigy. Hopefully that said method allowed me to resurrect her normally... I think. "I'm sorry Twilight, but I have to go Nero Aoi on you at this point." I said as I clicked the third option. In a instant, I know everything about the whole corpse remodeling thing. No memory fluxes. No reminiscence. I just pushed the button, the text box disappeared and that's it. Why I'm smelling Green Latern movie's lazy writing in this moment? I won't even bother to answer these questions right now. I have to act really fast. First, I moved Twilight's corpse toward the castle's entrance and covered the blood puddle with various rubble that I could find. Second, I put Twilight on my back and headed back to the depths of the Everfree Forest. I was lucky since I found a cavern. I put her on a stone slab and pulled out a strange keyboard. That wasn't there before. I had obtained it after I got my 'reward', I pushed the button on the cube. The cavern was suddenly filled with surgery equipment, electrodes and some other machinery. I know what to do at this point. Cloning her body, using her clone's tissues and parts of her head to repair these of the original, reactivate her brain while keeping her comatose, stabilize her metabolism into a normal one; damn. I can't guarantee that I can do it before Celestia, Luna and the other elements will woke up. Sure, Vealox's mind stunning attack knocked them unconscious, but that won't last more than three hours. and unfortunately, Twilight will return as a Zombie even if I manage to make her as normal as possible. Hopefully not a flesh eater one. The Eternal Night was prevented and Celestia raised the Sun, right? Then this is going to be a very long day. After Two hours and half of me messing around with Twilight's biology, I finally managed to fix her head perfectly and weld her damaged mouth and throat. Apparently Corpse Remodeling gave me the ability to heals the wounds and make the stitches points disappear instantly or something. Once I finished the job, I clicked the button and the whole equipment returned inside the cube. No Transformers Movies' pun intended. I finally managed to brought the resurrected but unconscious Twilight into Ponyville's hospital after a very long galloping travel from the cavern, while carrying her body on my back. I don't have to wait for her turn because Redheart was passing nearby and saw us. I was breathing really heavily and almost having a heart attack. "Oh, dear!" Redheart exclaimed. "What happened to her?" "Let's just say that I found her unconscious in the depths of the Evergreen Forest," I lied, but I couldn't do otherwise. "Some animal must have attacked her. I found her laying nearby a river." "Dear Celestia from above," Redheart murmured. "That cannot be good. Alright, we are going to treat her." "Thanks." I said before going away. "Wait! Aren't you going to visit her?" Redheart asked perplexed. "No. Because I'm not her familiar or friend. The only ones allowed to see her are the ones who she really need in this moment." I said calmly, smiling weakly before leaving Twilight in good hands. I was somehow able to talk coherently, but I was still breathing heavily for the fatigue. I'm so freaking tired and my heart was pumping so damn fast for the whole run that I almost wanted to die without actually die, if... That make sense. No, It doesn't. I was about to leave when I noticed a huge glow of light materializing in front of my eyes. Knowing that would be Celestia, Luna and the Twilight's friends teleporting right there, I ran out of there and hide myself behind a wall. As they entered in to the hospital, I peered into Twilight's room. Good thing she was on the first floor. Celestia and the other mares looked at her worried. Twilight was just confused and felt a little dizzy, with a little migraine seizing her head. I watched the scene for about one minute and then walked away unnoticed after having obtained the proof that she's fine. Eager to go to sleep, I forcefully wobbled toward my mound that was my house. I went inside and hastily moved toward the coffin. I then carefully stepped inside of it without falling and lay down on the futon without even covering my body with the black blanket. The same instant I put my head on the pillow, my eyelids became heavier really fast. Morpheus was giving me his dose, helped by my own fatigue. But before I wandered into the dreamworld, one question flashed in my mind. "What the fuck is wrong with you, Death?" Next Level Up: 1)Ryu Hayabusa's abilities: The ability to emulate any single move, skill and mcguffin from Ninja Gaiden. 2)Portal Gun: The iconic gun with the function to open spacial portals that allowed the user to warp in different places, other than screwing the physics for fun. 3)Black Motorcycle: A motorcycle model so badass that can be also out of place. > Complications and Invitations > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I slowly woke up from my slumber and turned my head to left. My sight was little blurry due to me being half sleepy, but there was darkness in front of me with a light above. But then I remembered: I slept in a futon inside a topless stone coffin. Sleeping as a quadrupedal creature leaved me a very strange impression, but I'm surely going to get used to. That wasn't a problem. That is going to be my second day of my new life in Equestria. That is going to be a normal adventure.... I thought at first. This until I remembered a very awful truth, which my mind ranged the alarm about that. "Normal adventure my ass! Yesterday happened! The revenge of Nightmare Moon was piloted, I fought a alternate version of a member of Granite Dagger, the organization that I fought when I was alive, I then accidentally killed Twilight Sparkle, and worse of all, I had resurrected her as a pseudo Zombie through Corpse Remodelling!" Being mentally pressed my own preoccupations about my involvement in this story, I picked up my bag and slowly came out of my stone coffin. I was about to go to the outside, but not before I had the opportunity to take a look to the black orb that Aunt Death gave to me. I rummaged in the gray bag and noticed the black orb being illuminated with a dim green light. I took a look at it and I found out that is actually a RPG Styled glowing text box, like the one that I saw back in Castle of the Two Sisters. What was written on it was, always talking about Videogame Logic, my progresses. Allen Nitrol Level: 2 Abilities aquired so far: -Corpse Remodeling "Corpse Remodeling.... Yeah, don't remind me of that," I muttered. "I still pissed for having been forced to do it. Why in the fuck, of all the resurrection methods you made me choose Corpse Remodeling!?" The only positive side, thank god, is that I managed to make her look as normal as possible during her resurrection thanks to the so called Videogame Logic... Not that was of any help to me. I paused and calmed out. I mean, It's natural for me to worry about my own morality, but stressing myself any further will only ruin my day. "Alright... Like yesterday, remaining her will not doing anything good. So let's go doing something... But what thing?" Clueless about what to do, I went out the mound that was supposed to be my new home and wandered in the woods. Walking four legged wasn't too hard, but I missed being able to put some maneuvers that only bipedal creatures can do such as doing tricky acrobatic jumps or even flipping backwards. I'm kind of a sucker regarding free style and extreme sport stunts. And no one should even get me started about the time I had my own powers. I was fantasizing about my former hobbies, a atrocious doubt about Twilight struck my mind. "I have forgot about that!" I said slightly panicked, face-hoofing heavily. "I have to check her out absolutely. Let's see, today is Ticket Master'o Clock?... Whatever, first stop is the hospital. It's kind improbable that the event of that episode would happen in a moment like this." I headed toward Ponyville while trying to not get spotted by one of the Mane Six. Since I acted like a backstabber after being recruited by Nightmare Moon, courtesy of Vaelox from the ultimate universe; I doubt that they will forgive me. Especially Rarity, who tagged me as the Anti-Christ of the fashion. I arrived nearby the Hospital to see if Twilight was still there. I took a look a the window of the room in which she was supposed to be. But she wasn't there anymore. Hoping not for the worst, I entered into the building and approached Redheart, who was just there in the right time. "Excuse me." I said, getting her attention. "Oh, it's you." Redheart said. "Look, If you want to see if Twilight is alright, Then I'm informing you that she was dismissed this morning." "Dismissed?" I asked, confused. "Of course," she confirmed. "We checked about her conditions. Outside some strange, brief migraines, she's actually fine." "Thank you," I said. "I have to go now. I have some business to take care off." I walked away from the hospital, but not before glancing back to her puzzled face. Redheart was probably thinking that I'm some weirdo. I couldn't blame her for that. I wasn't acting natural In these days, "I never thought that Twilight could have recovered from the post resurrection side effect very quickly," I murmured, but then shivered in horror for that statement of mine. "Just thinking about my surgical intervention on her body again made feel very unclean." Knowing where they could be, I traveled in 'stealth mode' to Sweet Apple Acre and walked among the orchard undisturbed. I saw most of them being emptied of the apples, which means that Applejack has already done part of her job. That seemed like improbable since Twilight wouldn't be there since she was recovering from the intervention. I arrived at the orchard and hidden myself inside a bush, not wanting be spotted out by no one. I observed the scene Rainbow Dash and Applejack were already arguing about who is gonna take Twlight's extra ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala, the biggest social event in the whole Equestria. If social media were in this world, than this ceremony will have even less reasons to exist. They then started to do hoof-wrestling for the extra ticket, until Twilight's broke them up to interrupt their quarrel, but then... This happened. "Girl! I would remind you that these -" Twilight was about to say anything but, as she slammed her hooves on the log, they smashed through the log, creating two holes inside of it and leaving some cracks. Twilight realized that after one second after hearing it's cracking sound and looked her hooves in shock. Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked at the scene incredulous. Now I'm really horrified for that since that confirmed my fears. It's seems like that during my attempt to resurrect I managed to make her look like normal, but I didn't considered the physical factor. If someone is brought back as a Remodeled Corpse, it has it's physical strength and endurance being enhanced as well. Although I made sure to make her look like normal, I wasn't able to mitigate her increased physical abilities. "Her life is still fucked up," I commented quietly before facehoofing very hard. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were baffled by that while Twilight was utterly incredulous. Is quite understandable since she never displayed such strength in her life, that consisted sorely in the study of magic. "I swear..... I am as astounded as you are," Twilight said, still incredulous. "I mean, That-." "Twi, don't worry, We believe you," Applejack assured, meekly. "Is just... Ah wasn't expecting ya to be that stronger." "But this never happened to me." Twilight said. "Wait a minute," Rainbow Dash said. "Couldn't this have something to do with the Elements of Harmony?" "I doubt about that," Twilight replied unsure. "I know that will sound pretty weak as a answer, but the books didn't mentioned anything about me having gained this absurd strength. Is not like I'm suddenly able to lift a boulder." "I don't even see you doing that," Rainbow Dash said, finding that ridiculous. "It's quite improbable." "I know." Twilight agreed. "There is one thing that doesn't add up," Applejack said, pondering about that. "After we had turned Princess Luna back to normal, that mysterious force suddenly attacked us. While we were unconscious-" "I know what are you referring to," Twilight interrupted. "My body was moved somewhere else. The stranger thing was that brief, burning pain that seized my body and the migraines that I had when I was in the hospital." Figures, they started to talk about what happened yesterday. What they don't know was that Vaelox attacked them and used them as hostages to use against me. Fortunately he was a very stupid kidnapper who wasn't capable at all to make a proper hostage situation. Then, regarding Twilight having the migraines was probably due to the fact that I had to connect her original horn with that of the head of the clone that I used to fix her. During the... Corpse Remodeling, I saw that her horn acted as a backup memory center, where all the experiences, memories and her own magic were stored. That part was a real pain. And now I'm feeling unclean. Again.... Wait. "Now that I'm recalling, Nightmare Moon recruited as her personal hitman until I turned against her. And since she was purified, she will...!" I stopped my pondering, having realized that Celestia will probably ask Luna about my involvement or Luna will tell her about that. In both cases, they will start to investigate my wherebouts. "OH, NO!!" "It's just my theory but... something happened to me in between passing out and waking up in the hospital." Twilight paused. "Can we talking about that later, please?" "Sure," Applejack said, nodding. "Also, you don't have to worry about that extra ticket." Not wanting to eavesdropping any further, I turned around and tried to walk away from the there. But, like a undesired plague, the familiar 8-bit sound ringed out of nowhere again, getting their attention. To add salt in the injury, the RPG styled text box colored in green appeared on my right with anticipation. It looks like I had leveled up without me having done anything... In the wrong moment. There are also the three rewards to choose, just like yesterday but I didn't have the time to take a quick look at it so I rapidly pressed the first option above without even reading it, making the box disappear. Just like the last time, I instantly found myself knowing about everything related to that reward. In this case are about what I didn't expected to know: Ninjutsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Weapon Mastery, ecc. Of course all of these abilities does not include the worst and cliched kind of ninja stereotypes that you could find in any Godfrey Ho movie. The mare's voices snapped me back to reality. "What was that sound?" Twilight demanded. "That sounds was a weird one." Rainbow Dash, startled. "I don't know if find this creepy or unique." Spike commented. "Hey! Who's there!? Come out!" Applejack yelled, looking at the bush in which I was hiding myself before. Without even thinking, I turned around and ran away as fast a I could. Differently from yesterday, I became slightly more fast as I previously was. I hidden myself behind a tree and glanced behind. I noticed them being pretty much far from getting closer to me. Exploiting their distance, I put rose up on my two legs and tried to do a ninja run, which seemed impossible for someone stuck in a equine body. I started running and, much to my surprise, it really works. I never end up stumbling. And most of all, my speed was doubled. "I don't know where you are, but I know how to catch you!" Rainbow Dash's voice echoed from behind me. Since she can still reach me, I hidden myself inside another bush and performed one of the techniques that I happened to have apprehended: Invisibility. Technically is more like a camouflage technique since I turned my body of the same color as the bush and the grass beneath it. After nine minutes, Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Spike finally reached my position. They looked almost tired and breathed very heavily, except maybe for Applejack due to her having a great stamina, but still... Applejack took a look at the bushes. She didn't had realized yet, but her eyes were looking directly into my own. I forced myself to not breath and remained mute. She then gave up and looked somewhere else. She may be gone from my trajectory, she and her friends were still there. "Ah didn't even saw his face." Applejack muttered. "Let's take a look over there." They leaved me be without even known that I was there in that moment. I finally sighed in relieve and took a deep breath before returning being visible again. I rummaged in my bag and took a look at the black orb, this time displaying a update of my progresses, including what reward I had choose before my escape. Allen Nitrol Level: 3 Abilities aquired so far: -Corpse Remodeling -Ryu Hayabusa's abilities: The ability to emulate any single move, skill and mcguffin from Ninja Gaiden "Are you kidding me?" I said, slightly surprised. "So that Is where all that ninja knowledge came from." At this point I couldn't help but feel a little exalted. I can practically do all my former hobbies again, only better. But then I became a little discouraged to do that since that abilities that I learned from the Videogame Logic bullshit made feel that I was cheating on that. I was a little conflicted about that. After a minute of reflection, I putted aside that conflict. "Oh, screw it. I have returned from the gray in a new form, so why I should be complaining about that?" I paused. "But not now. I think I will go home in this moment. I have done too much damage since yesterday." I wanted to make some test about that, but I wasn't in the mood at all to do that. I leaved the orchard and ran my way at home, two legged and running at a very fast pace. Arrived nearby my own mound, I returned two legged and walked toward the entrance. I was thinking at that sudden level up. That didn't add up. Until I had realized one thing.... Maybe that Corpse Remodeling that I have done on Twilight count as a way to raise my level. That couldn't be the case but is kinda possible. So possible that made me cringe. "I just going to sleep again," I said. "That would be lazy but hey... I know what could possibly happen. It's the ticket thing. Maybe that 'increased strength' wouldn't compromise Twilight's adventures." Since is still morning, I spent most of my time to test my newfound ninja abilities in so many ways. Including jumping from the top of a tree after another, learning some new stealth trick, put some martial art moves into practice, and of course, done any type of free style movements. That is dancing or just go apeshit with trying to screw with the limits, I'll just do that. Evening finally arrived. I was a little tired off after all that moving around, if not bored. I didn't even ate anything during that wasted time. But I didn't cared at this point. I was pondering about what to do the next day since Celestia will probably go after me, right after she heard Luna's testimony about my own involvement. "I have done enough damages for now," I said, slightly crestfallen. "I think I should move away from there, tomorrow. But for now, I will just take my time to think about that before Celestia will start the Investigation. I entered in my house and stepped inside the stone coffin. I lay down and covered my own body under the black blanket before putting my head on the pillow. I slowly closed my eyelids, but I was then stopped by some doubts regarding Twilight's compromised normality. "For the love of... Let's just said that if something grave happened to her, I will bring myself into justice and try to fix my screw up," I said to myself. "But for now... I think I should leave her to Celestia's best judgement." I closed my eyes again and after two minutes of struggles, I finally managed to get some sleep. "That's it!?" Aunt Death voice ranged in the pitch black darkness. "Are you kidding me!? I saw sleeping sequences that are more justified and convincing than yours." "Just shut up," I said. "Do you have to bother me in my dream? I won't give you what you wished for." "And I wasn't even trying to convince you, I was joking remember?" Aunt Death replied. "By the way, someone just tried in vain to enter in your dreams in this lapse of one hour and fifty-four minutes." I slowly opened my eyes. Dazed and puzzled by Death's last words in the dream, I slowly rose up and went out the coffin, but not before having covered my bag with my blanket. Since there are no windows in this mound, I turned toward the exit without even looking at it. As I lifted my head, I saw a taller, dark-blue figure blocking my way. I glanced at it's transparent, night-themed blue mane being illuminated by the moonlight. That was enough to struck me in awe. Her figure may be darkened by the darkness of the place combined with the oncoming night, but that is definitively Luna. "Luna!? What the hell is she even doing here?! I though she wouldn't even step out before the events of Season 2... Wait, now that I'm remembering her powers... She may be the one that Death talked about. And she wasn't able to look in my dreams?.... Wow!" I stared at her figure, not even wanting to look in her face. I bet she's still pissed at me. I mean, I was the one who blasted the freezing projectile at her when she was still Nightmare Moon. "I never thought to find you in a place like this," Luna said, slightly surprised and not talking with her royal voice. "Do you seriously live in this mound?" "Is the same thing I'm asking since yesterday, ma'am" I replied, nervously. "But since that was the first thing that I found, I couldn't even complain about that." "Oh dear," Luna facehoofed. "And you don't have any problem to sleep inside that coffin, while there's no windows or even a door to close you entrance?" "I have a futon, a black blanket and a pillow. So that wouldn't be a problem for me." I said. "Seriously, she came all the way here for that?... I don't think so." Luna stared at me dumbfounded as she was glancing at a very insane pony. Her eye twitched a little. "What is wrong with you?" Luna asked, quietly. "Say whatever you want. But that is my home... for now." I responded nonchalantly. Luna remained silent for a moment, blinking her eyes twice. She then let out a deep, resigned sight and looked at me again. "Nevermind. Let clarify my reason for that visit." Luna said, almost apologetic. "First of all, I want to apologize for having involved you in my own folly." I sighed, feeling a little awkward about that. Not because she was apologizing, but because she would asking me about some other factors regarding my involvement. Thanks for the pain, alternate Vaelox. "Is not needed," I replied. "Trust me. It's all in the past. I mean, that force made-" "It's my jealousy." Luna interrupted. "I was also responsible for having grown my own flaw." Wow. I expected her being very shaken by what she has done in the past, but seeing her like that in live gave some serious impression. "Everyone can commit some mistake," I said, trying to comfort her. "It will took time of course, but you can still atone for that." Luna's expression shifted into a very surprised one, not expecting this coming from me. I didn't had any expectation in my own words whatsoever but... That surprised me in the most unpredictable way. Thought that I'm still hoping to not caught for bring Twilight back as a Zombie. "Maybe you are right but... To be honest, I'm not sure about that. Maybe I will follow your suggestion." Luna paused. "However, it's still not nice of you blasting that freezing bullet in my face." I knew that she will brought up that fact. She looked almost pissed upon thinking about that but then calmed down a little. "Putting aside that... Were you seriously able to see the future?" Luna asked. "Absolutely not," I said, lying because no one in this world is going to believe that the events will go like in the MLP show. And now that I'm thinking about that, that will sound unheroic of me but... Maybe I should change the world a little bit with style. I guess that I could avoid boredom...? Wait, I'm just agreeing with what Death said to me? "And now for the real reason of my visit," Luna said sternly. "I command you to tell everything about that mysterious force that assaulted us during the last night." Luna paused, toning down her serious expression as I became almost startled by that. "Please." Luna added. I slowly regained some confidence, but sadly that doesn't mitigate the nervousness of what I had to say. "Ok, ma'am," I said. "Let me explain that." So I had explained that the mysterious force that attacked them was Vaelox, with the difference that I made her believed that is a demonic entity, without mentioning him being a alternate universe version of it's original and it's affiliation with the Granite Dagger. I had also said that when Luna , Celestia and the Mane Six were knocked out by Vaelox, he moved Twilight's body inside a cave and tried to use her as food for some ferocious monsters. As for me, I invented the story of me being a pony completely fed up of being considered as a divine fortune teller and traveled in the world to experience something new, and that I was conveniently passing nearby that cave and saved Twilight. All of these are serious lies. In a very severe American state or other, with a heavy justice system, lies could put you in very serious troubles if they find those lies out. I don't even want to describe. Good think that Luna couldn't enter in my dreams, for some reason. And now that I'm thinking about that, I must have some kind of luck. Otherwise she would had know that I turned Twilight into a Remodeled Corpse. As I finished my explanation, Luna didn't had any other reaction outside half bafflement. She didn't gave me so much security about that. Just some sporadic questions in which I bluntly asked with equally sporadic answers. We stopped our verbal exchange for a moment. Then she spoke again. "So that's what happened," Luna said, half convinced. "It's hard to believe that story." "I'm still having a hard time to believe that you can't enter in my dreams." I replied. "Same thing for me," Luna paused. "Do you still have that gauntlet?" "Yeah. You want me give it to you?" I asked. "No, you can keep it. If you don't commit any crime with It, of course." Luna said. "It's not in my style," I said, calmly. ""Just one question that doesn't had to do with me." "What is it?" Luna asked. "Did Celestia gave six tickets for that so called gala to the Mane Six?" I asked. "I never check up to my sister's duties, but according to one of my guards... Yes, she did." Luna said as she looked at me with suspicion. "Why you ask?" "No reason," I replied. "Except that I learned from somepony that Celestia found this gala being 'awful' every year. So having these six mare will, maybe, made the party livelier." "Really?" Luna asked, unconvinced. "Isn't that just a excuse that you have to boycott it?" "I'm not doing anything like that, I'm just saying that the gala is overrated." I said, convinced. "I know that I have no right to ask you but... Don't tell anything about the gala part. After all, I have to explain just the essential part that is about what happened during your return... Right?" Luna glared at me a little. Probably she was metaphorically asking me if I was trying to manipulate her. Then her expression shifted into a puzzled one. Is that ok? "I don't know why you ask but... Perhaps I could keep this a secret." Luna assured, in part. "If you cooperate." "I will do it." I confirmed. "You need something else?" "That won't be necessary," Luna said. "Except for one thing." "What is it?" I asked. Luna remained silent, looking at me unconvinced, as she has really something to ask but wasn't sure about it being a great idea. "My sister, Celestia, asked your presence in the her castle, for tomorrow. You better take you gauntlet with you." "What?" I asked. "She's serious about that." "So... It's mandatory I guess." "Celestia said so. I don't understand her intention, I know one thing. She needs to know about what you told to me as well. Which is why she insisted that I paid you a visit and required your presence in the castle." That's not good. Luna believed my story, but if Celestia doesn't? The answer is simple. I'm fucked. Next Level Up: 1)Chaigun: Ranged Weapon at rapid fire. 2)Berseker Charge: Power to turn any living creature into a raging beast.. 3)Corrupter:Item with the power to twist any living creature and transforming into something devastating according to the owner's preferences. > Three Bad Days In a Row (EDITED) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Just as I was been told by Luna, I went to Canterlot Castle. Or, to be specific, four of Luna's Royal Guards, all unicorns, escorted me there. They allowed me to keep my bag since it contain the freezing gauntlet as well. The Guards looked at me with a bit of hostility. I can guess that they were doing so to remind me of their authority but, according to what one of them said before, they weren't so used to going around in different hours outside the nocturnal ones. Geez.... They seemed so devoted to be near with Luna as much as possible. Or maybe they were just employed as Celestia's night backup? Who knows. Yesterday, after Luna leaved me to sleep, I had made sure to hide the Orb, the shotgun and the cube containing the whole load of equipment for the Corpse Remodeling... That I hope to NOT have to do that ever again. We traveled through the all of the castles, that were almost a maze for me. Just like freaking Anor Londo from Dark Souls, Canterlot Castle was a very majestic place. But for me, it looked like a prison to me. Not because of the towering architecture, but because of my own situation in which I stupidly put myself into. In my opinion, if Twilight Sparkle is Celestia's protege, Then I must be Frank Leone from Lock Up. Only with major differences. Moving aside that sporadic note, we finally approached a double door with three jewels for each side column. That must be the entrance of the throne room. "We are finally arrived," one of the guards said, sternly. "You better show respect to her." "I got that." I replied, almost calmly. Since I know Celestia being a half stereotypical ruler, I should know the drill: Bowing in front of her, being honest and never adulate her. Adulation is something that I'm not very fond of. The doors suddenly opened on their own which startled me a little bit. I had forgot that Celestia could use her magic to open doors from a certain distance from her throne. Upon entering the room, I obviously saw Celestia sitting on her throne, waiting for me with her sister, Luna being on her right. Two Royal Guards were guarding nearby them, as it should be. Her face was a stern one, due to me being a complete stranger to her. We took a few steps toward the Rulers of Day and Night. As we stopped nearby their presence, the Luna's guards turned around and slowly headed toward the exit. They then closed the door. Pure formality I will said. That wasn't the same thing for me since is my first time that I was convoked in front of them. With a almost resigned face I bowed in front of them as I was following my own mental script and looked reluctantly in Celestia's eyes. They looked very stern but for some reason they were filled with a bit of perplexity, not knowing what to think of me. Luna must have probably told her about me being a stressed out fortune teller who saved Twilight from Vaelox, which my actual cover for the record.... but wait. Oh, I forgot. I should also explain why I have this gauntlet. But to make the things more complicate, I may have to apologize to her for blasting her sister with the freezing projectile that I had shot to her. Sure, Celestia may be a benevolent goddess, but if something pissed her off, she will became a unstoppable fury. Like freaking Aganos. I then looked at Luna, who looked more stern as her own sister. No surprise. I didn't expect her to have some sympathy for me. I looked back at Celestia's and then down to carpete, unable to keep my eyes on their own anymore. I'm not this much afraid of them, but geez.... I'm still afraid to being found out of what I have done with her protege. The silence was becoming a little unnerving... Until Celestia started to talk. "Violet Tower I presume." Celestia said, not showing any distrust. "You said that." I said bluntly, glancing at her. "I'm the one that Luna talked about. I'm not even hiding my own involvement with the Night of two days ago." I paused, looking briefly at Luna, who stared at me with a half glare, and then back to Celestia's. "Look, Twilight would have talked about me as I was some kind of a villain. Actually-" Celestia gestured me to stop. "There's no need for this kind of formality. I mean, Luna explained your role in this story to both Twilight and me?" "What?" I said, chronologically confused. "Yes. Luna informed Twilight about your story," Celestia said in a reassuring tone. "Still, how did you had obtained that gauntlet to begin with?" "Allow me to explain that." I said. Since I couldn't tell them about the Videogame Logic, I just said that I found that inside a grotto when I left my hometown who didn't exist. I also told them that Vaelox was the only one demonic entity and that upon returning to my hometown, I was met by other three entities who mistook me for some pony name Allen, hiding the fact that Allen was me. "Not knowing the gauntle's powers, I just punched them with it." I continued, "From that day, I became a sort of misfortune pole." Celestia and Luna exchanged each other looks, almost unconvinced but worried about them. Then they returned their attention to me. "So you were the one who brought this Vaelox." Celestia assumed. "Not intentionally." I said, almost nervous. "I only hope to find this Allen and convince him to spare me from this ordeal... But I doubt that I will even find him." "You forgot one thing." Luna retorted. "What is the reason for him to knocking us out and moving Twilight's body in that cave?" "He just wanted to use you as his own hostages," I lied, obviously. "Still, I don't know why but I think that moving Twilight in the beast's cave was his own way to pre-vindicate himself just in case he's defeated, which is kind of stupid and mean spirited... That is justified because he's a very stupid planer." Celestia and Luna paused for a bit, which is great since even I need some pause to relax my nerves. "Hopefully for me, they didn't know that I'm that Allen and that Vaelox was a 'emissary' of Granite Dagger. Also, I don't want even see what happen when Celestia will find out that I killed Twilight and resurrected her as a Zombie." "So, that also implied that you had saved us, and Twilight from him." Luna said. "But you don't have even a proof that show to us that what you said is true, right?" "You guessed it." I replied, massaging my forehead. "However, I also heard the nurse who treated Twilight," Celestia said before half smiling. "Let's just say that I believe you." "Really?" I asked. "She is the only one capable to awake the Elements of Harmony," Celestia explained. "I couldn't even use them for a millennia. It's incredible what she was capable of. Equestria needed to see the Elements in their physical from once again... I shall thank you for having save us and Twilight." "If you say so..." I said, almost embarrassed but then calmed down and changed the topic. "About the gauntlet?" "You can keep that." Celestia said. "Buuuuut.... Weren't the magical artifact supposed to-" "You need that to defend yourself," Celestia interrupted. "However, just to make sure that you will not commit any crime with it, I had to put you under surveillance." "U-under surveillance?" I said, almost stuttering. "You need that, Violet," Luna said. "I also mentioned to her that I wasn't able to enter in your dreams." "That is surely a thing that I wanted to find out... But not now." Celestia said, looking resigned. "I have some royal duty to do for now. I take back what I said before. I'm exactly the pony equivalent of Frank Leone from Lock Up in this moment. "Besides, I'm sorry to tell you," Luna said, being about to criticize me about something. "But you live in a mound. Is not very healthy of you." Celestia blinked and then quickly looked at Luna and then at me, baffled. "A.... A Mound?" Celestia said almost loudly, astounded by that statement. Luna never mentioned that to her!?..... "Is true," I said, picking up the gauntlet and putting it back in the bag.. "That was the only home that I found for free. Sure, there are no windows and the entrance has no door to close with. But hey, it was clean when I first stepped inside." Celestia remained immobile for a second. Just like Luna, she was looking at me as I was some kind of insane pony, but without widening her eyes. She slowly put her hoof in front of her face and face hoofed, also slowly since it was wearing a metal shoe, if I can call that. "I can't believe what I'm hearing in this moment," Celestia mumbled before returning to talk normally. "Did you mind if you sleep in one of our guest rooms?" "Very nice, except that I want to avoid any kind of favoritism," I said, knowing that they probably won't let me go. "Besides, Twilight and her friends aren't so fond of me at the moment." "My point is still standing," Celestia reminded. "I will put you under the vigilance of one of my guards." "You mean... I'm under some kind of probation?" I asked. "Look, I hate to make it sound like that," Celestia said. "But the demons that are after you would make some damage to our land. You will be tasked to get ride of your pursuers. I need to your help to prevent any incident. Which is why you are going to be escorted by one of my guards to watch over you and your progress." I scratched my head, groaning silently. I wasn't expecting to get out without any kind of limitation, but is not pleasant to be watched for the whole time. Plus, I don't think that having a Royal Guard as a body guard is enough to keep the Granite Dagger's members from another universe at bay. A member of the cult, even in pony form, will pack a heavy punch on him. The point is not having the guard to protect me, but the opposite. "I had to act as your agent or something?" I asked, not liking the idea. "I never said that," Celestia precised. "What you have to do is just keep them far away from Equestria and keep yourself out of the trouble. If you can." That is kind of a pain for me but I can't even complain about that. Fight these alternate versions of my past enemies is my responsibility but... Man, I can't believe that I have to fight again. "I'm sorry for putting this toll upon you," Celestia said, a little dismayed for that. "But if what you said is true, then you had to help us." "And contribute to the society as well," Luna added. "Not in the way you expect." "Well-" I interrupted, realizing just now what she said. "What?" Celestia looked at the exit. I turned around and saw a red Royal Guard, who was almost large than Big Machitosh... I think. I thought that she was about to sent him first but... "Lieutenant Photon Gladion," Celestia called. "Yes?" Photon replied. "Can you convoke Iron Lilly, right now?" Celestia asked. The guard, Photon, nodded and galloped away from there... What kind of name was Iron Lilly anyway? Wait, I think I got it. He must the androgynous type. He must be probably so severe that you will feel suffocating under her oppressive authority... I don't know. Maybe is a mare but in both cases, that will be unbearable. After ten minutes in which I spent into answering to some of Celestia's sporadic questions about my whereabouts before my arrival at Ponyville, in which I made attention to not mentioning the graveyard or even Aunt Death, some pony finally entered the room. That must be Iron Lilly. It is, unexpected to me, a mare. A light-blue, golden armored pegasus with a long violet mane. She looked, however, what I was expecting to be: Stern and zealous on it's own with eyes filled with a iron will, accompanied by a preview of no nonsense attitude. And she seemed to be in a foul mood. To sum up, she's going to be a very harsh one. She putted herself next to me and bowed in front of the Princesses. "Nice to see you, Lilly." Celestia said, pleasant. "My pleasure, your majesty," Lilly said with a voice being in between a younger and a elder one, while bowing in front of them. "Is there something that I can do for you?" "Allow me to explain this," Celestia started. "This is Violet Tower, the pony who saved our lives and these of the Six Elements of Harmony.... Apparently." "Could you tell me what I have to do with him?" Lilly asked, sternly. "Of course," Celestia then looked at Luna. "Sister, could you explain what we talked about before?" "Well, yes, Tia," Luna said before looking at me. "I'm sorry but I have to do the recap. Try to not fall to sleep." "No problem." I said, with boredom rising. "And that is part of the nuisance that is their royal duty." Since they were explaining my own story and involvement all over again, I took my time to think about the absurdity of the Videogame Logic. I didn't found anything new in that, but that helped me to kill the time.... But now that I'm thinking about that, fighting thoes alternate cultists wouldn't be a problem without my real powers after all. Other than I have a gauntlet, I'm also a freaking ninja. Hopefully, Celestia and Luna had synthesized their stories, somehow. "Your role is to keep him in check and make sure that there wouldn't be any incident," Celestia specified. "Whatever happens to him or he's involved into, you had to report. If is not so urgent, you can do that after seven days." "In other words, I have to take this guy under my custody." Lilly pause, glaring at me a little and the looking back to Celestia with a resigned face. "Are you this for real?" "Is just for a short period of time," Luna said. "Nothing more." "Well... Consider that done." Lilly said reluctantly. "Good to know," Celestia said. "Just don't take your duty too much seriously as you do." "I won't disappoint you." Lilly said, seemingly ignoring the later part of her speech before looking at me, almost coldly. "You better move." That being said, we turned around and headed toward the exit. Despite being already irritated a bit for the I followed her without any complaint. Before leaving Canterlot Castle, I was asked to put a cloak to hide my identity. A humble beige one to be precised. All under her watch. "You are not very talkative," Lilly commented. "Which is kind of reassuring since I don't want to hear your voice." "Maybe I'm not talking because I'm feeling stressed?" I said sarcastically. "Is a good thing that you are stressed this much," Lilly said in a crude way. "That serves to prepare your conscience." "Excuse me?" I asked annoyed. "Let me tell you this," Lilly proceeded to lecture me. "I never told to Celestia, but I'm not very fond of shady ponies like you. This apparent good light of yours doesn't work on me. And, as utter motivation, I won't have anything that compromises my own career. Try to create any problem and you are done for real. Got it?" I took a moment to digest her sentence. Damn, when I heard the name Iron Lilly, I guessed that she was severe and very rigid. But her condescension and way to talk didn't give me any encouragement at all. "Understood." I replied, narrowing my eyes. I could had used my ninja abilities and kick her ass, but I rather avoid turning into a serious criminal at worldwide level during my third day. After two silent hours of travel, we finally arrived nearby Ponyville. I won't even joking about, but her presence and behavior are both almost oppressive. I won't even bother to disturb her. Besides It's almost lunch time. And speaking of lunch, that must be the Applebuck part. So.... Oh, no. I hope that the 'baked bad' is not happening right now. "Now let me tell you another thing," Lilly said, this time a little less colder that before but still condescending as before. "I'm not the type who would negate your rights... Unless you make me do it. Besides, you look a little nervous... And you are right about that." "Is just my own uneasiness." I replied, trying to remain calm. "Is not difficult," Lilly said. "What you have to do is-" Lilly interrupted her phrase upon seeing a pseudo devastation, consisting into wild rabbits eating the plants and crops of Ponyville's residents, while some of said residents laying on the grass. We also saw Sugar Corner being closed for 'food maintenance'. That means that Applejack's stubbornness already done some damage. "What the hey just happened here?" Lilly said astounded before glaring at me. "Is that the work of one of the enemies of yours?" "That won't be the case," I said. "Maybe is just somepony who let those rabbits go wild-" "Don't play dumb with me." Lilly abruptly interrupted me. "He's no lying." a mare laying on the street said, getting her attention. "We were suddenly overrun by those rabbits. Somepony must have panicked them!" "But you weren't hurt, right?" Lilly asked. "Yes, but-" "Then why you were still laying on the ground!?" Lilly demanded, bluntly. Taking the question in consideration, the mare and some others slowly rose up and leaved the area, whit a few of them looking sternly at her. Lilly remained impassive. At least I'm not the only one who has some difficulty to tolerate her. I looked at the moving crowd to see if there was any other of the same facial opinion when I saw Fluttershy going toward us. I quickly looked away to prevent myself being recognized. Fluttershy was almost leaving our range. I was about to sigh mutely in relief but... "Hey!" Lilly called her. She obviously has show off her superiority at her, ... Or maybe is just because she want teach her, the Element of Kindness, the value of public decency. Especially since Fluttershy was kinda intimidated by her voice. I don't want being paranoid, but I think Iron Lilly wanted to be the Element of the LAW. We headed toward Fluttershy, with Lilly being already prepared to give her dose of her authority. "Is that rabbit yours?" Lilly asked, sternly. "Well.... Yes." Fluttershy said meekly. Lilly glared at her for bit, making her feel uneasy. I know how you feel, dude. But that, I hope that is the case, lasted very shortly as her expression shifted into a very comprehensive and, weirdly enough, perplexed one "Look, I apologize for that cold treatment," Lilly said, calmly. "But all those rabbits are wreaking havoc. What's worse, they are actually responsible for damaging food production and destruction of property. And since these animals are yours, you are responsible for them." "I know," Fluttershy replied. "And I apologize for that. I will fix it somehow." "I won't blame you for that," Lilly said. "But the residents didn't have the whole day." "If you are trying to be a little nicer with her, then you fail miserably!!" I'm so irritated that I wanted to talk her back, but I don't even want to be found out. Not to mention, Fluttershy would probably cringe upon being defended by some pony who was helping Nightmare Moon and then backstabbing her some seconds later. At least for now. "Were these rabbits under your custody?" Lilly inquired. "Actually, Applejack offered herself to help me of taking care of them in my absence," Fluttershy said. "However, she looked very sleepy... and pretty tired. I asked her if she was ok with that, she insisted that she can do that." Lilly remain impassive for a moment, then her eyes widened as she lowered her head. She groaned almost quietly. "I can't believe that," Lilly said, astounded by what she call stupidity. "Are gave the responsibility to somepony who wasn't in the right faculties to do this kind of job?" "Actually, I tried to stop her but without any result," A awfully familiar voice said from a far. "Oh, not her too." Twilight Sparkle arrived on the scene. She was a little worried upon seeing Fluttershy being pressured by Iron Lilly. I hope she had a upper hand on her overly excessive authority. "You are Princess Celestia protege I presume." Lilly said, almost coldly. "Well, yes." Twilight replied. "I'm sorry to ask you that, but what you know anything about Applejack's being involved in this mess?" Lilly questioned, bluntly. "I will sum up in few seconds," Twilight said, calmly but visibly fed up of the situation. "Her way to handle her applebucking without even rest and my friends problems at the same time resulted that into over-propelled pegasus, practically poisoned plenty of ponies in the town through erroneous bakery, and terrorized bushels of these brand new bunnies." Lilly stared at both the mares and slowly narrowed her eyes. "I know that she's your friend," Lilly said with a comprehensive tone, a few seconds before she spins that around to lecture them. "But food poisoning, property damage and all of the chaos that she had caused because of her pride is a serious charge. Do you understand that?" Both Twilight and Fluttershy looked crestfallen by her drill, but nodded their heads in understanding. "Wait," Twilight halted her. "There's no reason to take it to the extreme. I will convince her to stop this practice, getting some rest and made her realize that she need help." "Good, because I don't have the whole day." Lilly paused, sighing quietly before continuing with a less oppressive approach. "I don't have the right to ask you to forgive my rudeness, but I have to escort this inmate." "Now that I'm noticing that-" Twilight started, but Lilly quickly interrupted that. "None of your business," Lilly said before looking at me. "Move." I silently followed her, while Twilight galloped in search of Applejack. As for Fluttershy, she tried to persuade the rabbits to leave Ponyville once again, but I doubt that will work. I don't want Lilly to see my face until I calmed myself down, because I'm currently pissed off in this moment. I know that Applejack made some damage, but morally abusing of it's power on her friends because they failed to make her change her mind is not helpful at all. I, if I wanted, would have kicked her ass and chewed her up with a katana through Ninja Gaiden's shenanigans since I'm able to do so... But then I remembered that I want to avoid committing any act of violence or killing a pony again. Killing Twilight once is enough. In the launch time, we stopped at the Boarder King. I was expecting it to be a sort of fast food with a creepy icon. But, much to my surprise, is just a tavern. The food here is more worthy than the actual fast foods. I saw Super Size Me, so I know what that means. Lilly looked at me like I was weirdo, but I didn't gave a fuck a this point. After that, we headed at my home, with Lilly constantly keeping that pseudo inquisitive attitude of her own. Though that diminished with the pass of the time, but that didn't helped that anyway. After a half hour, we finally had arrived. Almost baffled by the fact that I live inside a mound, she stepped inside. I followed her while removing my cloak and saw her inspecting it. Hopefully she didn't know that I had hidden my other stuff under a hole that I had previously dug under the futon inside the stone coffin. Speaking of grave silence, Lilly shook her head and turned toward me, being taken aback to see the coffin. At least for now, her zealously rigid composure was broken. I would had laughed for that, but I was too nervous to do so. "What Princess Luna said is true," Lilly said, astounded. "You really live in such place like this?" "You see that," I said. "This is the only home that I had found for free. I don't even know who built that and then forsake that in the middle of the wood." Lilly looked away, shaking her head one more time. She removed her golden helmet, revealing the rest of her violet mane, which is pretty decent. The same thing cannot be said for her attitude. Lilly then returned her attention to me. "I don't know if you are insane... or just don't know what your health really is." Lilly said, stupefied and glaring at me. "I apologize, but I don't-" "Cut the trap." Lilly interrupted. "I won't negate you the right to live in this place, but the deal is still the same. You will collaborate and get ride of your pursuer. You betray us and pay the consequences. I know that you may had saved Celestia, Luna and the Six Elements of Harmony, but you had also mentioned 'change the world'." "It was a bluff." I precised. "I hope so," Lilly said, distrustful. "Now do whatever you want, but you are not allowed to leave without my permission. Got it?" "Understood." I replied before heading to the coffin and entering into it. "That was my first day with her and I'm already start to hate her... What the hell is her problem?" Covering myself with my own blanket and laying on my futon, I took a nap. Lilly was simply standing outside the entrance, keeping her eyes on me for a handful of seconds or more before looking at the woods in front of her. The fact that the stone coffin was blocking my sight is weirdly consolatory since I don't want to see her face for while. One hour passed, but I preferred to rest one more time. Iron Lilly, starting to get bored or even considering that she is wasting her time, groaned impatiently and mumbled something but I couldn't care in any case. I was falling into the sleep... Until, like a cold shower, the familiar 8-bit sound ringed out of nowhere, startling me. At this point the three option's text box appeared on my right, but I was too scared about being found out that my own sleep that I had pressed the third option, once again without even watching. Which is a big mistake. This time I didn't felt any mental changes, which means that I had obtained something else. Suddenly a amber sphere appeared in front of my face. Fearing already it's existence, I hide it under the pillow. I could had checked up the Black Orb to see what was the option... But not now. I had a winged bigot to convince. And that was the problem. "What was that sound!?" Lilly exclaimed. Being sleepy should give me some advantage. With that cover, I slowly rose up and went out the coffin. I looked at Lilly, who seemed very upset for the sudden sound. Which almost scared me, but not this much due to my annoyance. "Is there something wrong?" I said, still dazed. "You better answer me," Lilly said. "What was that sound?" "What are you talking about? I was sleeping." I replied. "Don't play dumb with me." Lilly retorted, then paused to consider what I saw. "Maybe you are right, but that sound came from this coffin. Don't make me repeat again. What was that sound?" I pulled out the sphere and showed it to her, pretending to had that in my possession for a long time.... Which is bullshit. Whatever that item is, I don't want have anything to do with it in any case. "Whatever it is, is not my clock alarm," I lied. "I don't even know what it is. I found that in the forest just yesterday." "That thing emitted that sound?" Lilly asked, . "You can take that if you want," I said calmly, trying to give it to her. But before she could even respond, the sphere emitted a strong flash of light before disappearing into nothingness, much to our shock. I don't know that just happened, but that utterly complicated my own situation. Lilly, obviously, glared at me. "Are trying to making fun of me?" Lilly asked me with scorn. "It wasn't intentional," I said, trying to defend myself. "I don't even know how it happened." Lilly paused for a second, still staring at me with these stern eyes of hers. For the fifth time. And yes I counted because she never stopped doing that since we left Canterlot. "Maybe you are right," Lilly said, calmed down a bit. "You didn't even close your eyes when that happened." "Happy?" I asked, sarcastically. "Because you can still send me into some dungeon for what I care." "No!" Lilly retorted, nervously. "If I do so-" "Then the Gra- I mean- my enemies will threat Equestria unchecked," I interrupted, much to my internal glee. "And you are going to be degraded or even worst shunned, if not exiled because, if what I said is true, you will had neglected your duties. Right?" Iron Lilly's hooves trembled. I could see her being conflicted. She wanted to get ride of me but didn't want to compromise her position. She then slowly pointed her hoof at me in accusation while struggling to remain calm, as trying to retain her half crumbled cold demeanor was imperative to her. "Don't even try to use me, boy," Lilly said, angered. "Just because you are in a upper position on me, doesn't mean that you can take advantage of me. Twilight being Celestia's really spoiled protege was enough." Ok, stop. Moral Hammer Time. Because I snapped. "You know what? " I said. "For this whole day, I didn't do anything wrong to you or your carrier. You weren't even killed by the sphere. It's ok act according to your own duties. But right now you are just a authoritarian Epsilon Bitch to me!" Her eyes widened as she gasped very quietly. I'm impressed by how much she tried to remain cold and yet her irritation was destroying her pretense. "You dare to disrespect me!?" Lilly asked, angered. "You deserve it," I responded, pissed. "Looking down to anyone who doesn't match your concept of law is just disproportionate. Especially with Twilight and Flattershy. Oh, and for the record, that includes treating me like shit for the entire day!" "Beware!" Lilly warned. "Don't provoke me!" "But I dare anyway," I continued, pointing my hoof at her. "If I can do that, I will just have to expose your idiocy in the most non-violent way possible: By turning you into the embodiment of your real, excessively stuck-up self!" Without even warning me, like a file, normality stopped working. All because my hoof started to glow without me having noticed that and then... This happened. A flux of black lightnings came out of my hoof and struck her body. She yelled before she collapsed while holding her stomach. That seriously scared me shitless, but ended up hurting her. I stared at my hoof, more shocked than before, but then shook off that distraction. I didn't know what happened, but that wasn't unnecessary. I had to check up her condition, hoping that didn't killed her. I don't want had to resurrect her as a Remodeled Corpse too. I swiftly came out of the coffin with my bag and walked toward the distressed Lilly. Trails of steams raised from her coat, but for some weird logic, she didn't looked burnt or battered. Yeah, she was a bitch, but I don't want to have anymore victim. "Are you alright?" I asked, worried. She furiously slammed her hoof on the ground. Before I could even approach her Lilly suddenly gripped the sides of her head with her hooves and screamed, like she was trying to fight back something. "What is... happening to me?!" Lilly yelled, distressed. "My head.... huuurts..... You had done something.... to meee. And youu... are asking me if i'm RIGHT!?" I stared at her, suddenly realizing just now the obvious. That fucking amber sphere had something to do with this. "You are fucking kidding me." I muttered almost calmly. "No no no no no! NO! NO!" Lilly yelled, rising her volume for words. Scared by that, I went out of my house and then returned my attention to her, watching the scene from the entrance. Grunting, Lilly remove her helm and tossed it against the wall. Her mental struggle continued, letting out pained screams. Then something really screwed up happened to her. A transformation. But I'ts not the magical type. That is worth of 80's horror movies. Her light-blue darkened, her violet mane became a messy one, spikes slowly emerged from her hooves, her teeth became a little sharpened and her wings were covered in black crystallized scales. She wasn't even looking, due to being too busy dealing with her own mental crisis... Apparently. As Lilly slowly stopped moving, her screams diminished in volume. She panted, trying to catch her breath. She slowly stood up, moaning in confusion... And then, just to creep me out some more, she let out at least two moans of pleasure.... And the returned to moan normally before becoming silent. "Tell that has nothing to do with that level up shit." I murmured, knowing very well that is exactly what it is, but refused to believe that. Lilly changed drastically, and is not just drastically. She seemed to had changed in personality as well. Something that i hoped wasn't real. A hope that was immediately thrashed by Lilly suddenly chuckling in a very upsetting way before laughing like a maniac. "Lilly." I called, reluctantly. "How do you feel... exactly?" Just in case she tried to attack me, I equipped my hoof with the freezing gauntlet. But for now, the only thing that I have to do for now is keep a eye on her. I don't know how I did that, but I turned her into some sort of a psycho. Lilly, who I'm now dubbing as Corrupted Lilly slowly went out the mound, revealing her now evil, maniacal face. Someone kill me.... again. "I feel like I never was for decades," 'Lilly' said. "In one word: ALIVE!" "And for alive, that mean that I have screwed her up." I took the distance from her. Really, if her presence was unbearable before, now is just really screwed up. "Calm down," I said, recoiling. "That wasn't my intention." "Oh, shut up! I don't even care!" C. Lilly shouted exultant. "I'm feeling so liberated. It's so good, ten times better than I was before... No! Even more than that. This is the real ME! I mean, it's not really retarded!? Trying to improve myself, swore loyalty to two asinine princesses, and doing miserable duties with no sign of recognition for my efforts! What a COP OUT!" "Damn, lady!" "It's disgusting, feeling so repressed makes feel so infuriated all over again!" C. Lilly continued her crazy monologue. "My parents and even some of my superiors! All those idiots forcing what they want me to be without even thinking twice! They didn't even have the decency to REWARD ME! Now I understand what... Wait, nevermind. Luna is even dumber!" C. Lilly stooped, looking upwards with a very lunatic face. She slowly lowered her head and shot her gaze one me, smirking with deviant joy. Now I'm seriously cringing. This is very disturbing. Compared to this, Fifty Shades of Gray is just a average Z-Movie. "And then they tasked me to keep a eye on you," C. Lilly said. "Just because various entities were endangering Equestria to hunt you down. You hate me for how I mistreated you and others? Well guess what. I hate all of you from the very start. But Ironically, you gave me this gift. I'm so grateful to you." I remained immobile as if frozen, taken aback from her words. I refused to believe what I heard. "WHAT!?" I shouted, baffled. "I love you!" C. Lilly said, madly "I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOUUUU!!!" I remained in silence, paralyzed by the terror. And is not that of the frenzy of the demonic pegasus guard in front of me. There is another reason for that. "I've fucked up again." I face hoofed. "Big time." "C'mon," C. Lilly teased. "Let me give you a taste of love that you hate to love!" "What does that even-" "But hey, you are not in this kind of things, right?" C. Lilly interrupted me, suddenly changing attitude before flapping her scale covered wings and raising above. "In that case, you can GET LOST!! I'm sick of your face! DIE!!" That being said, C. Lilly flew toward me, not even giving a damn about the consequences. And is a stupid mistake since I already pointed my gauntlet equipped hoof toward her as she was getting closer and shot my freezing bullet at the last second. Her body was quickly freezing, her face shifted into a confused one as the freeze was finally completed. The frozen maniac collapsed on the ground, but she didn't broke up, fortunately. I let out a heavy sigh and tried to calm myself down, but I doubt that rush of adrenaline would even allow me that. Freaked out, I glanced at the frozen mare, whose menacingly appearance combined with the ice made her resemble a infernal sculpture. The scare slowly died off, giving the place to my own frustration. "Perfect, just when I hoped that this story of mine couldn't get any worse," I muttered. "Once again I didn't paid attention to my action. Let me see what I had selected this time." I hastily rummaged into my bag and pulled out the Black Orb to examine my progress. What I discovered is pure evil. The third choice that I had selected is very scary for me. Allen Nitrol Level: 4 Abilities aquired so far: -Corpse Remodeling -Ryu Hayabusa's abilities -Corrupter:Item with the power to twist any living creature and transforming into something devastating according to the owner's preferences. "So that's what happened to her." I murmured looking at her while putting the orb back in the bag. "The amber sphere actually gave it's powers to me. And then I was arguing with Lilly, I had also said that stuff about turning her into the embodiment of her real self... I had corrupted her." Without wasting anymore seconds spacing out, I dragged the frozen corrupted Lilly and hide her in the biggest bush that I could find. And man if she was really heavy to carry. Maybe I should had hidden her in my house, but I'm afraid that she would suddenly unfreeze herself and then attack me... I won't even risk. Next, since I didn't eat anything for dinner, I ninja ran toward Sweet Apple Acre to find some apple undisturbed. Which is kinda difficult since Applejack had already completed the harvest. And yes, that count as stealing. Fortunately I don't have to since I found one outside the orchard and took it with me. Moral jurisdiction versus apple mark... Ok, that was random. I returned to my mound... Or house. Yeah, whatever. Once arrived, I ate my apple and, as the stunt suck that I am, I started to do some ninja acrobatics to distract myself from the problem. After two hours of 'extreme' jogging, I entered the coffin and put my body under the blanket. I tried to close my eyes, but nervousness blocked the entrance to the dreamland. All that horrible experience ruined my sleep. Eventually, I managed to close my eyes... after FOUR HOURS! I may have screw up with my own idiocy, but there's still some one that I could blame for this. "DEATH DAMMIT!" In the following day, I woke up, dizzied because of my brain chemistry being a little messy, along with my senses. Now I'm the one in foul mood. Coming out of the mound, I was greeted by a wave of heat. That make sense since is summer. I then realized that would be a real issue for the situation in which I was now. I headed toward the big bush in which I had hidden the frozen corrupted Lilly. But in my arrival, much to my horror, she was gone. I glanced at the water pool in front of me. That hint wasn't a good one. "The ice has melted," I commented with a grim tone. "That can't be good. I had to search for her, but there's still the classic question... WHERE!?" If I had to hunt her down, I had to disguise myself with my cloak first. I doubt that will work but that I hope so. I ran with the invisibility and looked in every part of Ponyville, including the sky, but with no result. During my galloping, I had noticed Gilda being here. I know what Is going on but that was the lowest priority. I had a monstrous pegasus to track down. Failing to find her there, I headed toward the train stations. Unfortunately, the trains won't depart because of a problem concerning the engines. I could at least use my ninja ability to climb the mountain to enter in Canterlot, but is too high. Plus. I think is also heavily guarded. Empty handed and frustrated to no end, I made return to my house. I traveled through the woods. I wasn't even running at this point. I was too tired. I know that leaving her on loose was a moronic idea, but I had no clue of where she is. "Fucking reward, I'm still not used to this and yet-" I was complaining until I heard a female voice screaming in the distance. "What the hell?" The scream came from where I was heading. I galloped very fast, putting aside my fatigue. In my arrival, I was met by what was going to be a lucky shot and simultaneously a bad moment. I was looking at C. Lilly holding Gilda by the neck with her claws and was about to beat the shit out of her, in front of my mound. Now that is pure heavy stuff. "W-wait!" Gilda shouted, freaked out. "Listen... There's no reason to treat me like that. But... Now that I'm thinking about, aren't you supposed-" "The hell my morality as a Royal Guard!" C. Lilly shouted. "I'm after you because you seemed to be so sure of yourself about being so much cool than anypony else. Are searching for approval? How about no? It is the case because I'm going to crush you!!" "Somepony stop this madmare!!" Gilda screamed, distressed. Not wanting anymore victims, I put on my gauntlet and advanced toward her. "Hey!" I shouted, causing C. Lilly and Gilda to turn their eyes at me. "Let her go. Is not like she was responsible as well of your psychological misery." "Ooooh, look who's back. Mister impudence," C. Lilly replied, looking at me with almost twisted, dreamy eyes that made me cringe some more. "Why the hell you want to save this moronic bully?" "Let's just say that I have my own reason that I won't tell anyway," I replied, half pissed. "Now let her go." "Do you think that I will do as you please?" C. Lilly retorted, glaring at me. "It's order!" I shouted, trying to sound authoritarian. I was about to shot her with gauntlet but then something stranger happened. Her eyes widened in a grotesque awe. Her face shifted into a very confused one. Her grip on Gilda slowly loosened until the griffon was released. Not exactly: Gilda just fell roughly to the ground and moaned pained. She should had got away from there, but was too paralyzed by fear to do so or even think. C. Lilly looked at me with a blank stare and the bowed in front of me for no reason. "Forgive my impudence... Master." C. Lilly said, humbly. A very akward silence fell upon the scene. That is getting even more ridiculous. C. Lilly was about to kill me and now she suddenly became subservient to me? Why I'm starting to think that the Black Orb is a bad manual for the abilities. "M-Master?.... What are you talking about!?" I demanded, ignoring Gilda's confused face. "I didn't told you, but I'm under your command," C. Lilly replied, almost meekly. "I don't believe you. You tried to kill me yesterday!" I muttered. "Because you never ordered me to stop." C. Lilly responded. Not knowing if she Is trolling me or is just being insane on her own, my rage was about to rise along with the heat of my body. Every pranks, voluntary or not, must have a end. And I will bring it. "Said that again," I said, sternly and still pissed as I headed toward her. "Because you never ordered me to stop," C. Lilly repeated. "Look, I thought you were pretty pathetic, but seeing you having the guts to order me around is quiet-" "Yeah, yeah. Thank for the info but..." I paused, now being closer to her. "Said that again." "Because-" I shot the freezing projectile that whizzed past her ear and ended up hitting the ground nearby the mound, scaring her a bit. She stepped back, a little afraid of me. I was mentally surprised and yet confused by her sudden change of behavior due the Corrupter's power not being explained very well, but I was very pissed off to mind that in that moment. "Say that AGAIN!" I screamed, "I dare you! I double.. NO, I triple dare you, Charon fucker! Say that one more Tartarusian TIME!!" "B-b-bec-" "You know what? Scratch that," I said, calming down and breathing heavily. "Now... If you are really my servant, I suggest you to remain here and do nothing." "As you wish, master," C. Lilly said, lowering her head in sign of respect. "Great, now I looked like a real bad guy. What's next: I'm going to hijack Amaterasu Unit? Cloning Discord? Becoming the Gear Maker? Seriously. Anything is possible at this point." After that drill, I returned my attention to Gilda, who looked quite disturbed by the whole scene. I can't blame her for that. I slowly advanced toward her. She slowly recoiled, not knowing if she can trust me. "Before you are going away let me remind you one thing," I said. "This pony in front of you saved your ass. The minimum that you can do is to show some gratitude, by not telling to anypony about what happened here... Got it?" Gilda gulped, probably intimidated by my own Pulp Fiction-esque performance. I don't even care. She allowed herself to be a asshole with Fluttershy... But she cannot do that with me. I'm not become arrogant for power, I'm just in a very foul mood. "Y-yes." Gilda said, reluctantly and embarrassed. "I won't tell to anypony. I promised." "Good." I replied, satisfied. "Now go lamize yourself." Gilda stood up and flew away, already trying to forget about what happened. My only preoccupation is that would influence her future reformation, but for now that isn't a problem. The other problem was now trying to return Lilly back to normal. I have to. But first, I want have some fun for tomorrow. Next morning after that day. I headed toward Ponyville, still cloaked, turned invisible, gauntlet equipped and being all alone. I previously instructed C. Lilly to remain nearby my mound. I'm still unable to find a cure for her condition. I have to find that or Celestia will start to ask why she wasn't reporting to her. For now, I wanted to have some fun on my own. I had arrived in front of a crowd of ponies nearby a stage where, as I had predicted, Trixie Lullamoon already 'massacred' Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity with her tricks and had verbally humiliated Twilight Sparkle, who refused to confront her. Without Trixie even notice that and due to me being invisible, I entered the stage, remaining distant from her. I watched Twilight running away from them, which symbolized my start. Time to humiliate this one. Trixie, nothing personal. Is just that you where a douchebag in your early time. "Ha!" Trixie said. "Once again, the Great and Powerful Trixie has proven herself to be-" "The biggest waste of time I ever seen in my life!" I said with a lowest voice before coming out of the invisibility. As I made my appearance in front all of the present ponies, the crow reacted in newfound surprise . I heard the audience commenting the scene in amazement, but I was too busy to look at Twilight who immediately stopped and turned around to see what's going on. She looked at me, but she didn't recognized me, thanks to this cloak. I then looked back at Trixie, who quite taken aback for the surprise, trying to regain her composure and pretending is not a big deal. I could see her face slowly shifting in annoyance. Trixie wasn't very happy that I stole her spotlight and then insulted her method. No fame was the reason, but humiliation. "You called my powerful magic a waste of time?" Trixie inquired. "I'm not even apologizing for that," I replied, still with the lowest voice. "Your concept of magic is pure sacrilege." "What!?" Trixie said, alarmed. "You dare to insult the Great and Powerful Trixie like that!? You won't get away this easily! If you want to challenge me, you are free to try!" "This is the Chinese against the Chinese." I said, trying to confuse her. "You are playing the Game of Death!" Trixie flinched, almost freaked out upon hearing those words. This sudden reaction is very appropriate since she never faced serious opponents. What I didn't count was the public's reaction to my words, who took my own Ninja Dragon reference as a death warranty. Maybe I should be wary with the words next time since they are now thinking that I am a assassin. "T-Trixie has no idea of what you mean," Trixie said, visibly nervous. "Besides, nopony wanted to see some scary stuff like that." "Oh, don't worry about that," I assured her. "The minimum that I can do is to freeze you without you having realized yet." "Oh, please," Trixie scoffed nervously. "There's no-" I didn't let her finish that I dashed like the lightning with my gauntlet ready to shot. As I whizzed past her, the bullet already struck her, freezing her in a instant. I stopped nearby the edged of the other side of the stage in a samurai like position. A big chorus of gasps and incredulous eyes coming from the crowd greeted the frozen magician. I glanced at Twilight, who looked with suspicion at me. The same thing could be said for Appleajack, Spike and Rainbow Dash. Rarity, on other hand, continued to sob for her messed up mane in front of a house far away from the stage, courtesy of Trixie. I turned toward the frozen mare and waited. That means that I had to hurry. "Now guys," I said to the public. "If she is this 'Great and Powerful', she shouldn't have no problem to unfreeze herself, right?" Thirty second passed. Obviously nothing happened. "I'm waiting." I said, with a mocking tone. A entire minute passed without any result. The public started to doubt about Trixie abilities and was about to complain. "Is this some kind of fraud?" A one of the crowd said. "Is her fame all made up?" Another one said. "You know what? Screw it." I said in boredom before putting in front of the frozen Trixie's right side and punched it with the gauntlet. The ice started to crack, and shortly after, that immediately shattered into pieces, releasing Trixie. The magician collapsed on the ground, dazed and coughing to catch her breath. She turned her head toward me and saw me being in front of her, which startled her. She looked around in confusion. "What happened?" Trixie asked, panicking. "How did you do that? Are you telling me that you had really frozen me? What? WHAT!?" "That should be obvious to you." I said, arrogantly. "You just got owned." I turned around and walked away from the stage. "What the heck does that even mean!?" Trixie shouted, incredulous. No, I don't even want to reply. She don't deserve it. I was about to walk out scott free. This until Twilight's voice caught my intention. "I'ts Violet Tower!" Twilight shouted from behind me. "Oh, shit." I murmured with my own normal voice. "We had finally found you!" Applejack said. "Let's get him!" Rainbow Dash said, probably flying toward me. Too bad for them that I had Ninja Gaiden's mcguffins. I threw a gas bomb on the ground. As the smog induced them to stop their run, I had confused myself with it and galloped away as fast as I could. Great, now I have to find another disguise for the next time. After a travel of thirty minutes, I had finally reached my mound were C. Lilly was waiting my return with a devious expression, after having chewed up and devoured a apple... That is weird. Now that I'm thinking about... did she stole them Applejack's farm!? "Welcome back, master," C. Lilly said. "Is anything that I can do for you? Or I can just revel in my own freedom at my heart content?" "Please, be quiet," I said, tired. "I need to think." "About what?" C. Lilly asked confused. "Probably something to fix your situation," I replied, rudely. "Can you just-" A idea struck my mind. I think her transformation can be reverse. I don't know if the Corrupter can actually remove the her corruption. But I had to test that somehow, because otherwise some of her superiors will start a investigation. I raised my hoof toward her and concentrated, causing my hoof to glove. Now there's the second phase. "Wait, what are you doing!?" C. Lilly shouted, startled by that. "Just go back to normal." I replied one second before unleashing the flux of lighting bolts at her. Struck by that, C. Lilly collapsed on the ground. She started to scream, gripping her head with her hooves as her transformation began. I'ts the same scene, but in reverse. She struggled with a force going through her head, as the scale on her wings and her claws disappeared, her mane returned normal and her dark blue coat returned to be a light-blue one. With her transformation being completed, she panted. She released her hooves from her head and then glared at me. That means that Iron Lilly is back. Judging by her face, she knew what happened to her or what she had done, and is not happy about that. But I didn't reacted this much, knowing to be screwed from the start. "I'm in serious trouble, isn't it?" I said, impassive. "Yes. Yes, you are." Lilly said, infuriated."I will make you pay for what you did to me." "I could insist that your transformation was accidental," I said, trying to convince her. "But since you won't even believe me, I could still surrender. I won't even stop you." "Really?" Lilly, said angered, but mostly confused. "No even giving much of resistance... You are going to screw with me again, right!?" "Nope," I responded. "I will surrender. Is not like I even wanted to commit any crime or even possessing some evil power of the last minute." At least, that was the truth saw by a point of view. "Don't even think-" Lilly was about to say something, but her anger slowly dissipated for her face, being then replaced by confusion. Her shocked eyes were staring at me. That makes me feel uncomfortable at first, but I think was remembering something else. I should ask her if is there something wrong, but I preferred to remain silent as she was trying to make sense in whatever it crossed inside her head. "So?" I said. "That flux of lightnings that struck me... Is really accidental?" Lilly asked, not knowing what believe. "It is. I didn't even know how it happened," I responded. Lilly took a moment to regain her mental composure and then spoke again. What does surprises me was her face being a genuinely humble one instead of the excessively stuck-up one. "Judging by these blurry memories you looked very scared as I wasn't myself during that time," Lilly said before facehoofing. "But that doesn't mean that now is alright. I can't believe that I was even for a short time subservient to a civilian." "How many times I have to tell you?" I muttered. "Is not my fault!" "But it is for me." Lilly muttered. "In the period of three days in which I was without any restraint, you had humiliated me! And the worst part is that I cannot even arrest you before having verified what kind of a threat these demonic entities are." "In that case, let's make a deal," I proposed. "After we have dealt with my enemies, if they can be dealt without my help, you can arrest me even send me into the Tartarus for what I care. Happy?" Lilly took a moment to considerate that option, thought that something doesn't add up to my reasoning for her. "You know what Tartarus is, right?" Lilly asked. "I look like a evil pony to you, so what's the problem?" I asked. "You must hate life really hard to desire something so extreme like that." Lilly commented, apparently confused. "However, is up to Celestia doing this, not you." "Any prison is fine for me... Just not see your face." I admitted. The female guard glared at me and then looked down, sighing heavily in resignation. "You won," Lilly said. "I will keep your secret... for now." "Well, thank you for that," I replied, one second before she grabbed my face. "Hey!" "But keep in mind," Lilly threatened. "If you spoke of what I had unwittingly done and the humiliation that I had endured to anypony, I will outright ruin your life without any remorse... got it?" Her face was a deadly serious one, but her eyes were telling something else to me. There was a glimpse of desperation that begged me to not do that. I was tempted to grin, but I preferred avoiding that... And speaking of avoiding something. "SHIT! Twilight would had probably referred to Celestia that I had frozen Trixie during her pretentious show." "Don't worry, I had also remembered you saying something about humiliating some wizard," Lilly assured, reluctantly. "I will doing something to cover you up.... But just for once." "Fair enough." I replied. After a few second, Lilly released her grip on me. I turned toward the entrance of the mound and walked in. "You are not going to sleep, right?" Lilly asked, sternly. "Not at all," I said, heading to the coffin. "It's early afternoon." Sleeping wasn't in my program in that moment. I just wanted to see if the corpse remodeling cube and the shotgun were still in the hole under my futon, and they are. I passed the rest of the time being escorted by Iron Lilly since she has also some other duties to do. I was still cloaked, this time wearing a red one. And I was lucky if Twilight and her friends didn't had noticed me. We had encountered a duo of pegasi royal guards who were also her subordinate. Which is kinda handy since she instructed them to inform Celestia about a cloaked figure having stole my gauntlet. Lilly didn't talk to me during that time. She didn't even looked me in the face. I think she was embarrassed, but I would exclude that. Let's just said that Lilly didn't want to see my face. Now that is mutual if I consider the way she treated me before. I should had know that the Corrupter has also the power to reverse the effects. Now I'm feeling really stupid to not have done it before, in that night. In my defense, I can tell that I was too afraid of her corrupted form to think... Or maybe I just making excuses. Next Level Up: 1)Shadow Blade: A sword with the power to control the shadows. 2)Berseker Injecter: Twisted object used to turn any living creature into a nearly unstoppable killing machine. 3)DNA Twister: Odd item with the power to alterate someone's dna correctly, according to the owner's preference. > Madmares, Owls and A Existential Videogame Patch > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The lights of the dawn slowly raised. It's rays entered inside, illuminating the mortuary bedroom. It was morning... But I wasn't in the mood to get out of my bed just yet. I was laying on my futon, thinking about what I had gone through. In my past life I made some controversial choices, but at least they had a noble reasons. But that situation was the opposite of this one. Seriously, I am reborn as a pony in Equestria and I wanted to compromise te status quo of this world's timeline. But because of that alternate Vaelox, the Videogame Logic and my own stupidity, I had unwittingly committed a few type of villainous acts, even if they were accidental. From accidentally killing Twilight and resurrecting her as a Remodeled Corpse to transforming Iron Lilly into a corrupted, maniacal psycho monster, may or may not had served me. Fortunately I managed to return her back to normal, but then I made a deal with her. I won't have told anything about what happened, which she remembered and how, and she would not had reported me to her superiors. Additionally, if we fought one of the demonic entities, who is actually a member of Granite Dagger from another universe, and she can deal with him, she could had putted me into jail with the assurance that won't had to see my face again. But that doesn't resolve my current dilemma. Being distrusted by the Mane Six, watched over by Celestia, being watched over by Lilly and possessing those items, abilities and powers worth of a freaking dark lord makes my new life difficult for me. And worst of all... The temptation to altering this world's future started to be more appealing to me. Can I retain my own flawed and yet noble motive just like in my past life? Or I will end up becoming this world's most dangerous and yet improvised villain? And if there is a third option... Can I be just a apparent jerk at least? "Fantastic... Instead to avoid making damages, I end up causing some more," I muttered and then sighed in resignation. "I wonder if I can fix all these errors and having some real break... But I doubt that will happen." As I continued to ponder about it, like a unwanted guest, that cursed 8-bit sound ringed out of nowhere again. "You can lower your volume. I did not miss it." I said in deadpan sarcasm. I was Instinctively about to click something but then I forcefully halted my hoof. Two were the times in which I pushed a reward button without watching and I was so close to doing that again, but not this time. Pulling my hoof away, I looked at the RPG text box as it appeared on my right. I took a look and... Huh? Good Job. You had Leveled Up. That is what you get. DNA Twister: Odd item with the power to alterate someone's dna correctly, according to the owner's preference. "This is different... There are no reward buttons this time! What the hell!?" But before I could start my little rant, the text box quickly disappeared, only for it to be replaced by another one, which didn't made any sound at all. And... I can't believe what I'm reading in this moment. You should had noticed that you can't choose your reward anymore. From this moment, the reward is automatic. Enjoy the rest of your journey, idiot. I stared at the textbox with a death glare. I should be furious for this idiocy since that change was so sudden and without a reason to be, and was even mocking me, but at this point I wasn't even mad. I was just so impressed that my doubt were founded: Videogame Logic was indeed screwing me over. "What the hell is the point to even make me choose the reward in the first place if you were about to change the rules at the last moment." I said before rummaging in my bag for that item. I pulled out the item, which was a emerald rhombus. I observed the object with less interest, expecting something happening from a moment or another. In fact, like the black sphere of the corrupted, it disappeared. I could feel his power flowing inside of me... But I didn't care as I resumed my own sleep. Thirty minutes of extra rest and reflection passed by, but silence was still present. That wasn't supposed to be like that since I was expecting something. "Strange that Iron Lilly didn't tried to wake me up." I said, turning my gaze toward the ceiling. I was about to get out of my coffin, but then a obscured, scary pony figure suddenly popped up from above it, scaring the shit out of me. "Your stupid guard will not protect you, moron!!" The figure said with a lustfully sadistic female voice. "SHIT!!" I said, instinctively taking a smoke bomb from my bag and make it explode into a veil of smog. "What the...!?" She exclaimed as the smog goes right into her eyes and started to cough. Possessing the reflexes of a ninja, I quickly jumped out of the coffin and ran out of my 'house'. As I went out, I had noticed the apparently lifeless body of Iron Lilly, laying on the soil with opened eyes but mentally absent from what is happening in this moment. I quickly approached her and took her armor pieces from her. After that I put her on my back with the intention to take her in the hospital... And man if she is heavy, even without her whole Royal Guard gear. "WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING, YOU BASTARD!?" She screamed from inside the mound. Not wanting to find out who she is, I galloped away as fast as I could while carrying Lilly. As opposite to Twilight, this one's weight is a really hassle and almost threatened to slow me. That is the second time that I'm carrying a mare in my back, which is currently asking for mercy. I continued to gallop through the woods, occasionally looking back to see if that bastard was chasing me. Apparently I lost her, but I can't be sure about that. She would eventually show up in a surprise attack... who knows. Her crazy eyes and wretched voice ranged in my head like a bell. And now that I think about it... I know her. After a galloping run of thirty minutes, I finally managed to reach Ponyville. The town was strangely emptied. I arrived nearby the hospital only to find Red Heart... also laying on the grass with opened eyes but mentally absent from her surrounding. "Oh, for the love of... Red too!?" I exclaimed frustrated. I entered inside and went in the waiting room in the hope to find at least somepony that was aware of their colleague laying on the outside. But I found other three ponies in her same conditions, which one of them was a medic. With my back protesting for having carrying Lilly's body for too long, I carefully put her on the ground. I then glanced upon the half 'braindead' Lilly. I have observed her for a few seconds until I had recognized her symptoms, much to my horror. That mentally took me back to that scary attacker from before. Both this mess and her are connected. "That is Psychic Paralysis," I said with a grim tone. "It causes the victims to lose the control of their bodies. They are still conscious but unable to do anything." That made me remember one of my defeated enemies that I really detest. I can't fucking believe that I have to deal with that psycho again. I put one my Freezing Gauntled and wandered around the town looking for that sucker, knowing that she was on my tracks. I found various mentally paralyzed ponies laying on the ground. No wonder this town seemed empty, considering that they fall victim of this illness. There was a dreadful silence. Then, I heard some voices coming from afar. "T-there's no way the Great and Powerful Trixie will lose! I-" "You bore me... fall silent." "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Recognizing that voice, I galloped forward and saw what I never wanted to see. Trixie was collapsing on the ground, fallen victim of the Psychic Paralysis. That magician may be a jerk during her own personality pre-reformation, but in this condition she looked like a saint compared to the psycho who was in front of me. The current form of my attacker was that of green mare with a red mane. She was in pony form, but managed to retain the exact same psychotic smirk on her face, although she looked slightly angry at me having escaped her clutches. She alone was a thing, but what disgusted me more than the last time we met was her currently wearing a dress of plates with still moving eye balls, looking around frantically in a vain attempt to escape. "Allen, I have finally find you." The mare said angrily but with a lustful tone. "You made me run like a mad bull. And you know what? You eyes are still beautiful and yet really defiant as ever. "Arga, Just when I was hoping to not see your demented face again." I called her with anger and disgust. "I know your style: You paralyze the nervous system and the consciousness of your victims and then remove their eye balls for your collection." "A pretty rare one I would say." Arga replied, almost pleased."And that is what pissed me: You never let me add your eyes into it." "Like hell I would, lady." I retorted almost loudly, even more disgusted. "I also know that you came from another universe after the original died, but I never though you would had reached this level of depravity with that dress of yours." "I wasn't used to this body, at first," Arga explained as black needles protruded from her hooves. "But now I can feel it adapting to my own mental affinity. Formerly, I used to toss syringe full of liquid psychotrophic agent to block my victims... Now they had a different face." Arga smirked as she pointed her hoof at me and shoot her damn needles at me. I instantly jumped above them and virtually flew upon her. Since the timing was perfect, I tried to fall on her with a dive kick on her back. Much to my surprise, it worked, slamming her body on the ground. Hopefully, there's no eye-balls on that part of the dress because I have enough of gory details since my death. "And screw your dress." I said as I landed on the soul. "Damn... Yooooou." Arga said, pained but mostly confused. "Did you had become a ninja all of sudden!? I HATE NINJAS!" "And I hate your perverted habit. So I consider that even," I announced without any sympathy for her. "Other that disgusting, that bloody hobby of yours makes you dumb for the lust, you know." "Don't even insult my own I.Q., big boy," Arga retorted as she stood up. "I may have my own guilty pleasures, but I'm not that kind of stupid like Vaelox. I'm able to manage a hostage situation of my own!" A very cracking sounds echoed through the town. And it was a very bodily one. Almost knowing what Arga was implying, I gave a quick look at the mentally paralyzed Trixie. I watched disturbed a web of black tendrils emerged from her back and started wrapping around her. Then she suddenly moved as her eyes became totally white. I stepped back as 'Trixie' stood up and looked at me with those white, empty eyes of hers. What is really disturbing for me was that Arga wasn't able to pull this off in the past. "What the hell happened to you?" I said. "Let me guess. You had enhanced the properties of your needles with some kind of microparasite?" "You know that is not in my style to use this form of mind control on the others," Arga paused, smirking as the other affected ponies were slowly getting up like the undead. "But you are right. While I had made some researches and improved my own 'medicine'." The scenario wasn't getting any better, with all the tendril covered ponies forming a circle of frenzy around us. "Tsk." I glared at her. "You know the drill," Arga mocked. "You won't hurt them right? Well, I can do that in your place but that equals to negligence. But still, it doesn't matter if they will live or die... It's still equals to more eye-balls for me." "Fuck you, Arga." I muttered. "People! Knock him out." Arga ordered. Having heard her, the controlled ponies, Trixie included, started to make their moves. There's no way I could win with her having a army of unwitting puppets on her side. Of course I had to retreat. I was about to throw a smoke bomb, but I was instantly blocked by someone, who is not Trixie using his telekinesis on me and then held by two mind controlled pegasi. The mind controlled Trixie then approached me and punching me in the face repeatedly. If she could be aware of what is going on, she may probably enjoy beating me down but since she couldn't her body, I had discarded this idea.... And then realized that wasn't the moment to think about it in a moment like this. "Enough." Arga said, causing Trixie to stop and letting her pass as she approached me. My head hurts really hard. My sight was slightly blurry. And judging by the taste of iron that partially traversed my tongue, I think I was bleeding. That damn mare looked unbearably pleased, just like the time with her victims. "So, Allen... You enjoyed getting your revenge for the death of your classmate?" Arga mocked. "Now is my turn for having humiliated me like that. Even if you are not my universe's Allen." I didn't respond at that, but glared furiously at her. That former classmate was one of her victims as well. "You should do like me: Detach yourself from your morality," Arga announced proudly. "And becoming like you? Screw that." I retorted.. "Still playing hero, right? Just look at this blue unicorn. She tried to play that role on me because both you and some othe unicorn called Twilight Sparkle humiliated her big time.... Anyway, I will take their eyes after having finished you." "Do you sincerely think that it will go according to your vantage?" I demanded, sarcastically. "Did Vaelox told you about us?" Arga counter-demanded, "We won't stop making you pay. Beside, the rest of the town that wasn't affected by my needles' effects yet were putted to sleep by my own sleeping pollen that I had previously spread across this town one hour ago. They will wake up in three hours... The same thing couldn't be said for my minions." "Spare me your bullshit. Is still possible to cure them." "Not this time. I made sure that the parasites' connection would be so deep that the victims cannot be cured by the Psychic Paralysis anymore." Upon hearing that, I froze up in horror. "That can't be real." "Deal with that," Arga said with sadistic confidence. "The only way in which you can nullify that is having my victim's DNA being overwritten, but you don't have the ability to do that, right?" Arga laughed in a very disturbing way as she was about to order her own unwitting servants to finish me off. But then I realized something about what she said before. "Hey, did you just said... DNA being overwritten?" I asked. "You heard that, so what?" Arga demanded, perplexed. I grinned. Sure, using another nefarious power that I had gained is something that I don't like. But having the opportunity to use that information against her will be satisfying. "Let me show you my new medicine!" I shouted as I raised my hoof and unleashed vortex made of a thick red liquid that engulfed every single one of the controlled ponies in a red liquid. Nothing happened, but after a few seconds, the effect of the liquid kicked in. The ponies to contort and trembling, gripping their hands as they were having seizures while collapsing on the ground. That also caused two pegasi released their grip on me before victim falling backward. "W-What have you done!?" Arga exclaimed, utterly confused by this. I watched the effects of the DNA Twister happening with a shocking impact. Wings and horns were discomposed from some of the affected ponies and reappeared others. Earth ponies became unicorns, unicorns became pegasi, other pegasi became unicorns and... Yeah, but I don't even bothered to look at all of them. What matter was the consequence. The tendrils that were infesting their bodies disintegrated themselves and then quickly became ashes. The affected ponies's eyelids shutting by themselves, symbolizing their own unconsciousness. I was sure that they will be fine having saw the aftereffects of being purged of the Arga's psychotropic agent. That made me consider if there are the Mane Six among her victims. I returned my attention to Arga, who didn't looked happy at all to see her plan failing miserably. Anger twisted her face, but more than anger was disbelieve. "I-impossible!" Arga exclaimed. "You should had lost your powers... And yet I found you possessing other ones! And you became a ninja too!.... WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?" "You are not the real Arga. Stop pretending you know anything about me." I mocked her, since is my turn to screw with her. "Now go play with your own eye-balls somewhere else, pervert." Arga flinched in disgust and the reacted in pure anger. Good thing I managed to hurt her pride this hard, but then became a bad as scythe blade like claws protruded out of her hooves. "You bastard! PREPARE TO BE SLAUGHTERED FOR REAL!!" Arga screamed furiously while leaping toward me with the intent to cut me up "I'm dead already." I said in muted fury one second before shooting a freezing projectile at her, freezing her body blocking in mid air, causing her to fall before the blades could shred my head. Her frozen body fell on the ground without being shattered into pieces... but she will. Sick and tired of her disgusting face, I took a few steps toward her and pulled out my shotgun to finish the job in a literal blast. I took the aim and shot her, shattering her entire body it into pieces in one hit, along with her own horrid dress. The ice pieces scattered to the ground and melted, with a bunch of dark embers rising along with the vapor for a few seconds before dying off, just like Vaelox. What remains was just a block of ice and various shard scattered on the soil. Is a good pay off having get rid of her, and I hope to not see her or anything similar to her ever again. However, her disappearance doesn't mean that the effects of the Psychic Paralysis caused by her needles would wore off immediately, so they were still unconscious. It will took three hours... What I can possibly do now? "Well, I can always turn the ponies who were transformed by the power of the DNA Twister to normal." Before doing so, I had considered to return them back to their original form... except Trixie, who was turned into a earth pony. I chuckled upon the image that came in my mind: Her waking up, looking at some random mirror and fainting for the shock to not having her horn anymore. That was going to be funny since she is currently a jerk, but then I suddenly felt guilty about that so i decided to return Trixie back to normal as well. Once again, I had unleashed the red liquid and the restored the affected ponies to their original form. Having nothing else to do, I was about to go to the hospital to retrieve Lilly and bring her back to my home, which will be a real pain. But then I stopped... Upon seeing Owlicious, standing on a tree and looking at me like to say 'what the hell I'm even doing'. At this point I had a very scary and yet justified idea. "Now that I'm thinking about that... There's some future, imbecilic episode that must be taken care off." Exploiting the inhabitants' unconsciousness, I took the opportunity to put the DNA Twister at a very good use: Starting by unleashing it on him. The the red vortex quickly overwhelmed him before he could even took off. I couldn't see pretty much, but I heard a soft thud that made me assume that he flapped his wing to ensure a safe land before falling. The vortex dissipates, and in place of that owl there was a beige colored, black maned, confused and shocked earth-pony. A stallion. Yes, I turned him into a pony just to have a talk with him. "W-what the..!?" Owliscious shouted, confused. As the ex-owl stood up and tried to make sense of his new situation, I walked toward him and waited for him to notice me. After having checked his now equine limbs, Owliscious looked at me with a slightly annoyed face. "Just tell me what have you done to me." Owliscious said with a half serious tone. Man, that guy goes straight to the point. As a owl, he was a kind of a visual snarky character, but as a pony he looked a hybrid in between being a classy guy and a though one. "Look, I will return you to normal if you do something for me," I explained. "And no. Is not about planning some kind of a villainous plan. What I want one simple thing." Owliscious stared at me with mistrustful eyes, narrowing them. The he spokes. "Shoot." Owliscious said. "One cold night, after the falling stars, you will end up flying inside the house of a lavender unicorn named Twilight Sparkle. She will offer her hospitality. She has also a purple dragon, who is also his assistant." "That will be improbable... So what's the point?" "He will became jealous of you, which is pretty obvious since she was his guardian for years, but... If you noticed her behaving, even accidentally neglectful on him or even assuming what she thinks she knows without considering her friends' hint about his jealousy or not even bothering to talk with him about it... You had to come in my own mound in owl form." I may be crazy, but I wanted to put some preventive medicine to Twilight's wrong way to treat Spike, which really happened during in the events of Owl's Well That Ends Well. Seriously, I wanted to do something about her apparent inability to take care of him. Owliscious stared at me with a blank face. "Why?" "Because I want to put him into some kind of therapy of my own while explaining him the situation," I said with a killing intent toward that owl episode. "Seriously, both the unicorn and the dragon deserves a lesson." Owliscious stared at me some more, and then facehoofed. "Alright... You want to involve me in this stupid idea of yours." Owliscious said with a deadpan tone. "You heard it." I confirmed. "... Just because I saw you fighting and taking down that crazy mare, I will accept that." Owliscious said calmly. "Fine." I said, but then realized what he said. "WHAT!?" "I will just follow your plan because you looked very powerful for a average pony," Owliscious said. "Especially for that item that you had used to shatter that frozen crazy....!" His face shifted uncomfortably in shock, disturbed by what he had just said. I, on other hands, had retained a straight face to hide the fact that I know he saw my killing blow. "What?" I asked, pretending knowing nothing. "You didn't killed her, right?" Owliscious asked, hoping is not the case. "Weeeell... She was already dead," I stuttered. "So killing her wasn't a great deal." Owliscious shot a serious gaze of distrust at me for a second.... And then shrugged it's shoulder.... Eh? "Sure," Owliscious said nonchalantly. "She disappeared, which means she was a malevolent spirit... Ok." I should be happy that he wouldn't tell to anypony about my actions but that reaction of his really blows my mind. "Are you seriously believing at what you had said just now?" "But you know," Owliscious said. "Me meeting with this Twilight in a future cold night? Yeaaah... But I'm not entirely sure about this. Did you had foreseen the future." "No, I just had a dream about that." I lied, but it was for the best. "Just saying." Owliscious said. "Now change me back I change my mind." "Huh?" I looked puzzled at him. "Don't get me wrong, but I start to like this new body," Owliscious pondered about that. "I wonder if I end up forgetting that I am a owl in a first place." "Ok, you made your point. Time to go." I said very fast as I pointed my hoof at him and unleashed the red vortex once more. His ponified figure disappeared, giving it's place to the owl that he was before. After Owliscious flew away from me, I headed toward the hospital with a sense of dread. Not because someone else is going to attack me, but because I fear that the next ride will kill my back. Once I had arrived, I approached the still unconscious Lilly, put it in my back once more and leaved Ponyville to go home while getting through the heaviest pain in the ass ever. I finally reached my mound after fifty-five minutes of travel, almost about to fall from a moment or another. I carefully put Lilly on the soil nearby the pieces of her armor and finally collapsed on the ground. I was extremely tired for that whole ordeal. The fatigue was biting every part of me, the pain of my damaged face flared once more, my back hurt me very much, my breaths are heavy and my heart pumped so hard, threatening to burst. However I hate to end my job in half, so I forcefully stood up and slowly putted the piece of the royal armor back to Lilly. After that, I wobbled toward the mound's entrance, almost about to slam against the one of the walls. I managed to came in and managed to reach the coffin. As I stepped in, I fell inside, roughly landing on my right side. I yelled for that pain that reignited that of my metaphorically massacred back. I tried to adjust my position but I couldn't do the same with my blanket as I instantly fell into the dreamworld. "Are you sure about that, Matthew?" "Of course. I had just obtained a job regarding the world of art. Look I may be a artist, but I don't see myself as one." "You underestimate yourself too much." "Don't even bother to listen to me. Is just my point of view. Say, you have no intention to come at my graduation's celebration?" "Unfortunately no. I have something to do on my own." "Well... Good luck, Allen." "I didn't saw Matthew since that night?" "Nooo.... Matthew." "Matthew is dead in his house. Nobody knows how it happened. It seems like someone carved his eyes out and then stabbed his insides repeatedly." Waking up from another nightmare, I was greeted by the pain in my back and my face, more invigorated than ever. Looking at the ceiling, I tried to ignore it just to go back to sleep, but that wasn't that easy. Then, as being woke up by some nightmare wasn't enough, another green text box compared, but this time is unusually long.... What? That you want or not, that is a actual patch of your own existence. These are new rules, which can be your existence's mechanics or bonuses. 1) At some random time, some item will be added in your inventory, which is your bag. 2) From now on, the enemies that had nothing to do with this world will drop some item, except money or experience. You had to gain these last two things on normal ways, slacker. 3) This logic will not be considered entirely responsible for any eventual abuse or screw up of this world's status quo caused by you. 4) After a long period of time or in some special occasions, a dead person from a alternate universe will be reborn as a pony in Equestria without being subjected at the same logic's rule as well. 5) If you are almost, seemingly overpowered with your abilities, the Nerf Knight will appear at a random day to regulate the situation. If you loose, you lose all of your abilities, items and weapons for about 11 days and he will not appear for the same period, with exception of keeping a certain number of them that equals half of your level that is not beyond 29 abilities. 6) At this point, the Violet Emerald will be added in your bag. Practically, this item has the ability to show you the number of abilities that had been sealed by the Nerf Knight and allowed you to exchange until nine of your unsealed abilities, items and weapons with one of the sealed ones up to nine times for use. After that, the emerald cannot be use again for three hours after the use. The Shotgun, the Freezing Gauntlet, the Black Orb and the Violet Emerald are completely exempt from that. 7) Every inhabitant of this world can borrow up your weapons and items. So be carefully of who you are giving your belonging. 8) If there is something that is interfering with the planes of the existence or even tried to screw the rules, a penalty will fall upon you or, in the worst case scenario, upon someone who isn't you and didn't probably done anything. 9) Starting from level 4 and beyond, there won't be the possibility to choose one of the three rewards anymore and the reward that you will have will be chosen automatically. Having read all of that stuff, I looked at that textbox with mixed feelings: Angered, annoyed, confused, positive and very conflicted about that, especially for the last rule that explained the damn reason why I can't choose my own reward anymore. The textbox disappeared after a few second. At that point, I just wanted to throw up my anger, but I was too tired and sleepy to do so. Instead, I made my own rant in a very calm way since that wasn't worth any scream. "I can't believe what I have read, as the Videogame Logic was messed up enough," I muttered. "First of all... Why take the soul of a dead person and made it reborn as a pony? I was more than enough. Second, the fact that the habitats of Equestria can borrow my weapons and item from me isn't a good thing... Though that they can still do so even without me being told about that, so why write that as a rule?" I paused for a second, pondering about that set of rules. Something in particular started to look like a good news for me. "That is insane but... Maybe losing against this Nerf Knight wouldn't be a bad thing. Having these powers and items being sealed by that would be a good thing. Plus, that Violet Emerald is very handy. Finally I can have some balance in my new life. Even if that mean take some punch in the face from him. I rummaged in my bag searching for the emerald and found it. For the rest, not gaining money from my enemies and not choosing my rewards anymore were a total bust.... Wait, why I'm started to think that my life in Equestria suddenly turned into videogame then that wasn't actually the case? "Whatever," I murmured with a tired tone. "Let me sleep again. I couldn't care less if is still morning." I adjusted my blanket and turned on my side. I then closed my eyes, hoping that nopony would disturb me. But then Lilly's voice called me from above "That attacker surely damaged you face." Lilly said sternly, almost loudly. "Wake up already." Nevermind, it seems like that I have to endure one more ordeal for this day. I slowly turned toward her. She was watching me from above with a very upset face. "Yes?" I said, half sleepy. "We were attacked by a unknown mare!" Lilly said angrily. "I can't believe you were sleeping in a moment like this! Is that one of your enemies!?" "Yes. But don't worry. I didn't slept for this whole time. I took care of that mare while you were unconscious." "Wait," Lilly looked at me dumbfounded. "You are kidding me, right?" "If you think that I'm lying, you-" "Fine, fine. I just pretend that I believe you... For now." Lilly said but then looked toward the entrance with a surprised face. I couldn't see what is going on because of the wall of the coffins blocking my visuals. "Is there something wrong?" I asked. "We have a visitor." Lilly said before walking off. Curious, I tried to get up but I was too tired to doing so. I just waited for my host to came here. Hoof steps echoed through the room. Then they stopped. I could see the visitor's face meeting my sight... And much to my surprised, he turned out be none other that Twilight Sparkle, now looking at me with a very annoyed face on. That wasn't a good thing since she saw through my cloak during the time where I froze and humiliated Trixie for the funzies. "Princess Celestia told me where you are," Twilight said. "But I didn't took her words seriously when she said that you were leaving in a literal mound!" "So what? I have a blanket and a futon." I said calmly. Twilight facehoofed. "I don't know I could consider that question of yours lazy or stupid." "Who cares. This is the only free house that I ever found." "You call this place home!?" Twilight almost freaked out. "No food, no furnitures, no doors and no windows. Are you FREAKING INSANE!?" "You came here just to criticize my lifestyle?" I asked sardonically. "As Rarity calling me the Anti-style incarnated wasn't enough?" "Not... exactly." Twilight responded slightly annoyed while trying to regain her composure. "I came here because somepony told me that you saved our lives a second time." Hopefully, the Mane Six and other ones who weren't affected by the psychotropic agent unleashed by Arga are unconscious, so Twilight wouldn't had saw anything. "You are free to not believe him," I replied. "Beside, Celestia putted the female Royal Guard over there to watch over me, so you don't have to worry about me." "Violet, That's not what I'm talking about," Twilight retorted. " That somepony took some photo of you using... Your powers to save innocent ponies turned into puppets and freezing a crazy mare before shattering her into pieces with a strange weapon." Oh, no.... That's not good. I stared at her with a shocked face. That cannot be good. "W-what?" I almost exclaimed as I was trying to not freak out. "That is what he saw," Twilight confirmed. "However, it's photos are not ready yet, so I have to wait the results." Good. That means that I have to find a way to get ride of them before they are completed... Which means that I have to corrupt Lilly again. Damn it. "You think I had killed her, right?" I demanded bluntly, not expecting anything positive from her. "Well, Princess Celestia told me that they are demonic entities," Twilight said, doubtful about my intention. "Is good that you had defeated her, but I hope that doesn't equal killing her." "Sure... Of course is not the case." I said. "You didn't put any kind of emotion," Twilight said, looking at me as I was a alien. "Are really this lazy at this point." "Look, I traveled in Ponyville and then back there, while carrying a defenseless mare on my back, that said attacker used Trixie to punching me in the face and now I'm extremely tired. So please.... Let me sleep." I turned around, trying to recover my sleep, but not before giving a last look at Twilight who looked strangely guilty. Did she suddenly became a bipolar tsundere or something. "I'm sorry. I forgot that your face looked beaten up," Twilight said apologetically, one moment before changing her attitude a bit. "By the way, by betraying both us and Nightmare Moon, you gave us a bad impression, regardless the fact the Luna admitted to have recruited you to stop us." "You heard her." "The same goes for freezing Trixie in front of our eyes." "Whatever." "You are not even trying to defend yourself and I still don't know what is wrong with you," Twilight said, feeling as she was talking to a rubber wall. "Still, if you could just try to help me and get along with my friends, maybe you wouldn't be distrusted. I mean, your action are quite controversial but... You don't look like a bad pony." Upon hearing that, I quickly looked in her face with a astonished face. She cannot said that seriously. "I'm sorry Twilight," Lilly butted in the conversation. "But he is under my custody." "I was just making him a proposal," Twilight replied. "I know, but I have my own proposal for him." Lilly said. "Really?" Twilight said, surprised. "What are you talking about?" I asked. "First of all, I apologize for how I had treated you and Fluttershy, three days ago. "Oh... I don't know that but... Thanks," Twilight replied, not expecting that coming from her. Whoa. I never thought to heard Lilly admit to have fucked that up. Congratulations... But don't get me wrong, you still irritating. I heard some hoofsteps getting closer to me, with time emitting a metallic sound echoing in the room. Lilly was once again looking at me from above the coffin's opening. "Second," Lilly started. "I have something special for you. Don't worry, I won't imprison you into a dungeon. However, you want to get your enemies far away from there and isolating yourself, right?" "That... Is quite a good idea, even if I don't know if that will work," I said doubtful. "So, what kind of special proposal?" "You will be transferred, and not just for the reason that I had mentioned." Lilly said, sternly. "Transferred?" Twilight demanded. "Aaand what is the other reason?" I asked nonchalantly. Iron Lilly grinned for a moment, making me feel unsure if I still wanted to know about the proposal. Even if she is no Corrupted Lilly, she managed to give me some chill in spine. Even Twilight herself looked a little startled by that. Her grin then suddenly vanished as she started to speak. "You will get a job commissioned by me, now." Lilly affirmed. I wasn't expecting that coming. Twilight looked very confused at her. Well, confuse is a good mood, because I'm really afraid of this for a valid reason. "How the fuck can I get ride of the photos now!?" Next Level Up: 1)Berserker Invoker: A item with the tremendous power to turn any living creature in a devastating force to be reckoned, mostly pervaded by confidence, bloodlust, cunning, concentration and feeling of invincibility. 2)Double Chainsaw: A double bladed chainsaw that was also used as a spear. 3)Plasma Cannon: A plasma shooting gun so devastating that is unpractical in closed spaces. > A Experience to Forget > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- One day as passed and my body still hurts from both the act of carrying a unconscious Iron Lilly from my mound to Ponyville and vice versa and being punched in the face by a parasite infested Trixie, courtesy of Arga. The sunlight started to illuminate the room, but I preferred to rest for about seven hours. Although it calmed down with the pass of the time, is still present. But that was the last of my problems. During my fight against Arga, unknown to me, someone photographed the whole thing, including me using my powers and killing her. As that wasn't enough, Iron Lilly had planned to transfer me somewhere else and commissioning me a job, not even giving me the time to looking for the photo and destroy them as they are under development. Hopefully, Lilly decided to delay her plans for another day due to my injuries, much to her frustration. In the second hour, a medic from Canterlot came to visit me. He told me take some rest while lamenting about me living in this mound. I know is not pretty normal, but I found it. So I keep it. At the seventh hour, my back is still hurting me, even for little. I wasn't desiring death or anything, but at least that medic could had gave me a better pain killer. That wasn't working so well, which is kind of a hassle since I couldn't go to the outside. I was thinking to exploit Lilly's delay to go looking for the photographer but I don't even where he is, so I don't even dare to waste my time into a possibly fruitless quest. "Damn if that bitch was almost killing me. She wasn't this prepared the first time I met her." Even without this problem, I was kinda bored. I can't do any kind of stylish acrobatics since I cannot afford exhausting myself. I don't had a Nintendo 3DS or even a Ipod to pass the time. And no, corrupting Lilly again or even altering her DNA and appearance through my powers doesn't count since I'm not a sadist. I don't want worsening the situation. I wonder if the Videogame Logic was some kind of sentient entity who had orchestrated all the level up power up stuff and was watching my own misadventure just for pure sick amusement. I continued my own mental trip of possibilities when the sound of hoof steps coming from the outside entered in my home. It looked like a visitor, but I could guess who he is. "What now, Lilly?" I said with a tired tone. "I'm sorry the tone but I'm not in the mood for another lecture." "Do I sound like a female pegasus to you?" A blunt, male voice said, which putted me on guard. I didn't know who he was, but his voice was kind familiar. Not wanting to have any other surprise attack like yesterday, I rose up from the coffin to see who was while trying to ignore the lingering pain. That was another Royal Guard in front of me, being a red earth pony... Wait! Is the Royal Guard that I saw in Canterlot Castle. "You are Photon Gladion, right?" I asked, unsure of his name. "Correct, and for your information, I was sent to take Lilly's place," Photon replied before looking at me, perplexed. "You don't look well." "Did Lilly told you about my me?" I asked. "Yes. She said that you are a quiet a odd individual with a magical gauntlet," Photon said, not surprised. "You saved Twilight and other ponies twice, as far as I know." "I had a fight against a crazy mare yesterday. I don't want to talking about." I said grumpily. "Like this?" said Photon, suddenly making a devious grin as he pulled out various photos and showed them to me. Wait... That cannot be, In the instant I glanced on them, I had my own reason to react in shocked horror upon seeing the subject. These are the photos I was about to looking for. This is me using the DNA Twister on the ponies and killing Arga after having frozen her! And not just that, there are also photos of me turning Owliscious into a earth pony and one in which I had corrupted Lilly! "How did you had obtained these?" I demanded nervously. "I had my own colleague with the habit of taking pictures during his free time." Photo informed me with a mocking tone. "And is also a unicorn with the uncanny ability to develop the photo in one day." "One day?" I said, almost loudly. "Pretty cool, huh?" Photon commented deviously. Is really possible to develop the photos at a very short time with the magic!?... I know that magic is almost capable to do anything but that is bollocks for me. I should calm down because him acting like this may be part of his personality and way to deal with criminals, but I don't trust him. However... "Are you seriously going to arrest me!?.... Well, maybe that would be so bad since I'm going to isolate myself. But wait! Is a very stupid idea of me since the Granite Daggers would be always be a threat for Equestria! Not just for me... Dammit!" "What do you want?" I asked, half calmly. "I hate to use this method but... I had to take care of you," Photon said. "I cannot believe that Celestia and her protege are trusting somepony like you. They don't know nothing about your powers." "Yeah, I'm dangerous and stuff," I commented and then sighed in resignation. "Fine. If you want to arrest me, you can do it." Photon looked at me, slightly surprised. "Really?... Not even trying to resist or use your powers against me?" Photon inquired. "Seriously, I looked villainous enough to most of the ponies that I met," I said with a calm and a little deadpan tone. "Especially to Rarity, who tagged me as the Anti-style incarnated." "Pfft!" Photon was about to burst in laughter but then repressed it. "S..Seriously?" "The point is that I don't want to worse my situation any further," I precised. "So you are going to arrest me or what?" I waited for his response, hoping that he could made up his mind and finally put me into jail. For me, there is no difference. That idea is stupid since, again, my enemies will probably be a menace for Equestria, even if they were just looking for me. I expected him to drop his devious attitude and act like a stern individual since the Royal Guards are still supposed to be stoic, in my opinion. But instead Photon made another grin, this time even wider. "Not yet." "Huh?" "Instead you are going to collaborate, and for a valid reason," Photon said, pulling out another photo. I took a look at it and... I froze up, more horrified than before. Photon just had to drop that bomb, isn't it? That photo is depicting, I cannot believe what I'm seeing, me operating Twilight Sparkle's corpse during the Corpse Remodeling surgery that I had done to her! "Is your friend a stalker!?" I yelled, disturbed. "You better lower your voice with me, kid," Photon said sternly. "And no, that doesn't belong to my colleague but rather to a anonymous source." I'm starting to hate this new life even more. If Celestia, Luna and the Elements of Harmony sees that, they will probably going after me for my blood... That was exaggerated by me, but that is my definition of what they are going to do with me. But... I had to hear what this douchebag wants. "What you want me to do, exactly?" I asked, distrusting his intentions. "I want you to turn me and my subordinate into a squad of alicorns." Photon said bluntly as he putted away the photos. I looked at him like he was a madman, or his case a mad stallion. "WHAT!?" "How many times there are threats that we had sworn to prevent but failed miserably to stop?" Photon said. "How many times we are considered useless during a crisis? How many times we were humiliated? Celestia doesn't deserve to carry the burden of the responsibility to face said threats like Nightmare Moon and others all alone, and the same thing goes for the mares who are now the Elements of Harmony. Additionally, we won't stand being overshadowed, not even in the slightest." "Tell me that I'm not hearing that." I whispered. "That sounds like trying to obtain alicorhood and weaponizing it after having weaponized me right after having made this speech... May Hideo Kojima have mercy of your soul." "You are hearing that and how... But forget the 'being overshadowed part'. That is just a personal outburst of mine." Photon assured while clenching his teeth. "You are not convincing me in this moment." I commented sarcastically. "That aside, the ponies that we have sworn to protect must feel safe, secure and, you know, satisfied of the result," Photon added. "That would be a real improvement!" "Are you sure that you won't became power hungry and trying to over-" "I KNEW YOU WOULD SAID THAT!" Photon abruptly interrupted me, freaking me out and staring at me with a mad expression before quickly calming down and assuming a almost crest fallen one. "And not, is not my intention to overthrow Celestia. And besides, that wasn't the only thing that I want." "Oh, great. Because there is another one?" I said without any sympathy for his reasons. "What else?". "Well..." Photon looked at me while trying to hide his embarrassment, which for me is a bad signal. "Gain, at least in part... Luna's approval, comprehension and affection... If that is possible." I stared at him dumbfounded while slowly raising my hoof and face hoofing, fearing the horrible implication behind his words. "Are you... Serious?... You want me to corru-" "NO, no no." Photon interrupted me, this time almost calmly. "I just wanted to do that on my own, and if she and her sisters doesn't approve that, I want you show them at least my prospective with your powers. Especially since I fell in love with Luna's myth before her return and purification and I wanted her know. Don't get me wrong, I have respect for Celestia as well but Luna felt overshadowed by her , resulting her to become a menace because of her naivety." "That I outright villainous, you know." I said distrustful. "And besides, I only have the power to corrupt and twist any living beings DNA, not freaking mind control.... Though that I don't know if the Corrupter count as one." "Really?" Photon said, facehoofing and shaking his head in irritation, which should be my job in this case. "Villanous is quiet a despicable word. I mean, I understood that it sounds quiet controversial but my motive is quiet noble." Wow..... I'm definitively not buying this. "Just get to the point already." I said impatiently, knowing that is not going be any good. "If Harmony is sacred to Equestria," Photon said, giving emphasis to his speech as he spoke. "Then I want you to put their minds under my guide. I will do anything in my power to prevent anything that will threat Harmony or the Princesses going nightmare again, by any cost necessary. I'm sorry, but if they don't agree with me, then they are against Harmony!" Noble motive my ass. That sounds like he's going to be a very dystopian overlord. Injustice Superman style. Which really disturbed me since I don't want to live in that kind of world. "I won't consider that a noble motive... Since that is psychotic one." "You had no choice but to collaborate or I will make everything in my power to make you being treated as a criminal scum and sent to the Tartarus by any means." Photon threatened. That is probably the part that I never wanted to hear. I had previously told to Lilly that I would even being imprisoned to the Tartarus for what I care since, but knowing that it is the equestrian equivalent of Hell itself, maybe I should be careful for what I'm saying the next time. Because I don't want to be there as a living being. I didn't want to spend my new life imprisoned there and I won't die by my enemies' hands either. Fortunately a idea caught my attention. I was thinking about the fact that when I said him to arrest him, he was surprised if I didn't used my powers on him. Which means that he had something in mind. "If you expected me to use my powers on you to resist the arrest, that I had asked to you, that means that you came here prepared right?" I assumed. "Very sharp of you," Photon said, confirming my theory. "I came with a amulet being inside my armor. Is powerful enough to protect me from your magic." "Oh, yeah?" I said before promptly pointing his hoof at him and unleashed a flux of black lightnings on him to corrupt him, and this time is intentional. As the electric stream struck his body, a magical barrier appeared around his body. So he has indeed a amulet that was protecting him from any kind of magic. Too bad that it couldn't do shit against my powers as the lightnings ignored the barrier and electrocuted him, making him scream in pain as he fell on the ground. He was convulsing, gripping his head with both his hooves as his body started to transform along with his mind state, but I didn't even want to watch so I lay down on the futon and waited for it to be finished. I'm still not get used to this transformation sequence. He continued to wiggling and moan for about thirty second while I spent that time whistling Rammstein's Du Hast. And shortly after, he stopped emitting any sound, indicating that the transformation is complete. I could heard him groaning softly and put his hooves on the ground I stopped whistling and slowly rose up, reluctantly. As my eyes met his new appearance, I flinched in shock. Surprisingly, his appearance was a very terrifying one like that of Lilly's corrupted form, but was a very ridiculous one. His red coat became a orange one, the pupils of his eyes assumed the shapes of a trident, his hooves are covered with green crystals, his neck is wrapped in white flames, has a half halo shaped aoge and his face was a exaggeratedly angelic one. What remains was just adding a heavenly background music and his ridiculousness will be completed. I was speechless, not believing that was possible. This corrupted Photon is something special since I mentally wished for something harmless when I was corrupting him. "Do you need a help, master?" C. Photon said, talking like a Samaritan. ".................. Give me the photos." I said with a deadpan tone, having took three seconds respond. "As you wish." C. Phonton gently replied as he was about to pull them out but then I stopped him. "All of them." I added, knowing that he was hiding something else when he was in his real self. Without complaining, C. Photon pulled out all of the photos that he had, including a new one that he never showed me. One that depicted me going apeshit with ninja acrobatics the day before the convocation in Canterlot Castle. In any case, I put my hooves in between the photos, ripped them into multiple pieces, put the said pieces on the border of my stone coffin and focused my mind to blast them off with a fire ball. Destroy the proof of my powers and killing methods being employed against my enemies? Mission accomplished, and I didn't burned my futon and blanket during that flaming thing. But there's one thing that I couldn't understand. "I wonder who was this anonymous source." "Photon, could you please follow me?" I demanded as I went out of my coffin. "Sure." C. Photon replied cordially. We went out of my mound and stopped in front of the woods. I looked around to see if there was anypony around to possibly photograph me again. I would had patrolled this place but I don't have the time to do so. Now is time to finish the job, but first... I wanted to know the background of this demented fool. "Photon, can I ask you something?" I asked. "What is it?" C. Photon said, curious. "What is the reason behind trying to convince me to create a squad of alicorn Royal Guards and override Celestia's and Luna's minds?" I demanded. "I was frustrated by the conception of the Royal Guards being useless during a crisis. I worked really hard to be promoted, because I wanted my colleagues and subordinates to be really prepared to any situation but I was overshadowed by others, which I hoped they were diligent and competent but failed miserably, much to my anger. But I didn't gave up, having comfort into know one pony who felt exactly like me but for different circumstances. And that pony was Luna." I fell silent. I saw that lurking behind the corner but I refused to believe that was really his case. "You are not meaning that, right?" I said, almost freaked out. "Why not? I was obscured by incompetent ponies who took the promotion in my place and Luna was obscured by her sister. I read a file about their fallout that happened one thousand years ago and I found myself identify with her. To the point to sympathize with her and even falling in love with her before her return. I won't blame Celestia for not having understood her feelings but his naivety is quiet a issue as well. Which is why I asked you this. I wanted to improve the sisters and-" "Stoooop." I stopped him. "Stop..... No more words "I'm not finished but if you insist, I will stop here, master." C. Photon said without any complain. I looked down, trying to not looking at him, totally disturbed by this. I was experiencing some weird vertigo right now, and is not a good one. What he said regarding his feelings and his love toward Luna was genuine, but the real worst part was that showed me how warped the real Photon Gladion can be with that distorted desire of his. Inferiority complex combined with personal delusions couldn't even describe it. I know that he felt underappreciated and useless due to his circumstances, but they barely excuse his stupid plans. Especially if that involved trying to convince Celestia, Luna and his colleagues to see his way or even go so far as force me to brainwash them as his last resort. And there's no Persona 5's medicine that can cure this. "I think I'm going to puke." I whispered. "I want to apologize to you for my follies," C. Photon said apologetically, which I what expected from this santified version. "What was I even thinking upon accepting the proposal of that stranger." Upon hearing that, I hastily returned my attention to him and said, "What stranger?" "I didn't had mentioned that to you but he's the one who gave me all of the photos." "Could be the stranger be that unicorn Royal Guard with the hobby of the photography?" "I lied. The stranger is a earth pony and is the real photographer. The unicorn I had talked about forsaken photography when his camera got crushed by a dragon." Holy shit. I think I found a hint about who could be this anonymous source. I had also discovered that there are corrupted authorities in Equestria. And I thought that they were at least slightly saint in my opinion..... I shrugged my arms because that was the only response I can give about that. "Well, no world is perfect... Not that will justify his perjury anyway. At least he had the courtesy to no quote Commando." I pointed my hoof at him while glaring at him. I would had left him in his saintfied form but I preferred him being his own self just to not lure any suspect to me. And even if he knows my secret, he has no proof since I had destroyed the photos. I have nothing personal against him, but... Let's just said that he need a lesson that he really deserve. "Sorry, but you had to return to normal." I informed. "Wait, I don't necessarily need to return back to normal." C. Photon said alarmed. "Yeah, but I need the other you." I replied bluntly as I unleashed another flux of black lightnings on him, this time in trying to return him back to normal. Struck by that, C. Photon fell on the grass as the barrier created by his amulet was, again, being bypassed. I took a few steps back as he was convulsing on the ground. The green crystal, the flames and the half halo like aoge disappeared, his pupils returned to be normal ones and his orange coat returned to be a red one. Once back to normal, Photon slowly stood up, trying to regain his focus and composure. A frustrated groan escaped from his throat and his teeth were clenched with fury. I was a little scared but remained calm despite that dangerous aura that he was emanating. Since he remember what happened, he was obviously furious at me. He death glared at me with all of his passion. But he won't do anything since I have a nasty surprise for him. "You are so... DEAD!!" Photon shout, throwing away any pretense of stoicism as he charged toward me. "Nope." I said nonchalantly as I had unleashed a vortex made of a thick red liquid that engulfed him with it. I planned a transformation that is kind of appropriate from him. Before Photon could reach me, he was suddenly stopped by something pulling his legs back... Or I could say that his legs became roots and instantly implanted themselves into the ground, blocking him in the same spot. Photon was about to scream something but his mouth completely disappeared from his face as gills started to appear on his neck. Photon tried to free himself, but is completely for naught. I looked at him in annoyance as he tried to insult me with only his eyes. His animosity, however, slowly faded away until his mouthless expression became a very frightened one. Unable to talk, Photon was looking at me like to ask what I'm going to do with him. I cleared my throat and then spoke. "Good job, Photonic Psychopath. Maybe when you're done shoving that dreadful, crazy ego of yours up in your ass, you'll try some of that disdain coming from not just from the two sisters, but also from that hypothetical, dangerous pony you're trying to bribe while being all hyped up about being loved by Luna. Clearly you need to calm the fuck down to the extreme." I paused. "Not just a bit." After that, I had unleashed the vortex on him once again. What I had to do was just waiting for him to return back to normal. After some seconds, I heard him breathing heavily and panting, indicating that he had recovered his mouth. I was about to go away when, without any warning, the earth beneath me opened, forming a square shaped abyss. I saw Photon Gladion running away like a coward one second before falling into the void. "WHOOOOOOOOAAAA!!" My scream echoed through the abyss, but I won't have any hope since nopony will heard that. With my gaze being directed upward, I could see the opening getting smaller very quickly. Not just for my fall but for the opening closing by itself, sinking me in the dark. I don't even know if there is a end, but after while, I felt a sharp pain in the stomach. My abdomen should had probably crashed upon something. I thought It was a rock at first. A theory that was instantly being tossed aside by that something violently slamming me on the ground. My consciousness was fading away very quickly. I couldn't see a thing but could hear some kind of a music, like that coming from a Ipod. Before I could even realize I suddenly passed out. A familiar silhouette was standing in front of me. But I could tell that this was a dream. Because I'm seeing Aunt Death playing poker with the Deaths from other universes. That must be the most longest game in history... Which will bore me to death. No pun intended. "And that is how Mr. T survived his encounter with Thanos despite the him having the Infinity Gauntlet," Death said as she put a revealed a black colored Royal Straight Flush hand on the table. Some of the grim reapers just gave up and politely leaved the game, almost en mass. Seeing the others remaining, I was wondering if there are others with the black Royal Straight Flush among this myriad of players, skeletal or not. "No wonder this game is longer. Eternity can be a hassle if it wanted." Death added as she shuffled her cards into a seemingly infinite deck, followed by others doing the same. Then Death looked at me. "What the fuck are you doing here?" Death asked confused. I was suddenly woke up by a violent punch. I yelled in pain as my head fell down. Now it hurts even more, as being punched by Trixie wasn't enough... Except this time is like being hit by pure granite.... Wait, granite? I couldn't see almost a thing. There was a light filtering from a fissure above me and a darkened figured was standing in front of me, probably being the one who punched me this hard. My sight was blurry and I couldn't distinguish any trait of his form. I tried to move but I found myself being bound on the rocky wall behind me with pure granite restrains blocking my limbs but not my neck. I guess that this guy want to enjoy beat the crap out of me. "You are finally awake, bastard." A male voice said coldly. "What the..." "Hmpf. Don't expect me to give you some explanation and playing fair," He continued. "Not after what you had done to us. Should you had stayed dead, you wouldn't had dragged this world in your mess." I know that voice.... A that is the problem. Other than his voice, I heard a low volume music. I barely lifted my head toward the speaker. My sight was blurry but as it stabilized itself, I could see his form. He was a orange maned silver pony with, much to my confusion, a Iphone attached to a collar on his neck and headphones on his ears. And has granite made claws instead of his forelegs. That half aloof attitude and act of superiority of his didn't took a eternity to remind me of his identity. "Melkior... I never thought your power would get even stronger." I said while narrowing my eyes. "Maybe you would had got your rest... In death," Melkior said bluntly. "Too bad that you are still living. Because... Is a good opportunity to test my now enhanced ability." Enhanced was the word. The original was a powerful member with the ability to cause quakes and at least craft the any earth related material at his will, but thinking of this pony version being able to literally open the earth like that surely gave a bad prediction about him. Although wasn't that strong, Melkior was still dreaded. "Did Arga told you I was living inside a mound?" I asked. "A legit question.... No," Melkior replied bluntly. "What?" "When I came in this world under this... Unusual form, I stole a camera from a pegasus and entered into a town. And that was the starting point for me. But now tell me one thing. You remember my own specialty, right?" Shit... I had remembered something, and damn if I had forgot about that. Due to his powers, he was three things for the organization: Infiltrator, spy and a bulldozer combined in one. He also said that he stole a camera. "You were present during the fight." I said half surprised. "As you can have understood, it was I that I had photographed your fight against Arga," Melkior said with cold confidence. "Since I didn't know where you were living, I had in fact gave the photos to that armored pony and used him to get closer to you." "I hope you had enjoyed following a underappreciated pony with a obsession for a mare that embodies the night itself." I mocked him. "Does that even matter?" Melkior replied sternly. No, it doesn't but that count as the second time that I had to act as a psychologist wannabe after that with Nightmare Moon. And that one with Photon was even worse than the Mare of the Moon herself. Too bad that I couldn't corrupt him as well. "But more importantly, are you taking that facade of yours seriously?" Melkiore asked. "Ah?" I looked at him puzzled. "Don't even pretend is not real. These princesses asked you about your origins and our organization, and you lied. All because you don't want to have anymore problems outside us. And you were calling us murderously psychotic hypocrites. I'm sorry, but you are not different from us, especially since you killed and had also resurrected someone as a zombie." He seriously intended to brought this up!? "Hey, Twilight's death was unintentional! Beside, I had to resurrect her since she's one of the freaking Elements of Harmony! But why I should even tell that to this asshole!?" "Whatever. I think is time to finish the job. After all you could nothing against me. And even if you are free, don't even think to corrupt me or twisting my DNA," Melkior warned. "Granite Dagger's members are immune to anything that could affect them, remember? We have a very horrifying soul to adapt ourselves to anything." Thanks for the reminder, headphone wearing prick. "Also, we are inside a mountain in a very particular place," Melkior informed me. "What these ponies used to call?.... Badlands?" "What!? BADLANDS YOU SAID!?" I had screamed, knowing what that means. Melkior nodded as he looked ready to make his move. "Is the perfect isolated area of this apparent pacific world to kill you since no one is going to hear you... And besides, torture is not in my style. Oh, and just to obtain some prize..." Melkior showed me my own bag, being in his possession. "I took your stuff." "What the fuck, dude!? Since then you are kleptomaniac!?" I muttered. "Who said that I will take it," Melkior said as he let my bag slip toward me one. "You will take it in your afterlife, because I don't want anyone to use them" "Or maybe you don't want anyone take my place." I guessed. "That too." Melkior responded with a grim tone before punching the ground so hard that everything around me started to tremble in a very strong earthquake. Before I could even think about anything, the granite restrains cracked and crumbled after a few seconds, making me fall on the ground. I was free at least, but that wasn't consolatory since I saw the the shadows of the huge plate of rock being detached by the wall was falling upon me. As I attempted to stood up, everything was darkened by the that and the other falling rocks covering my surrounding as the earth was still trembling. I lay down with closed my eyes as I felt pieces of rocks where hitting my head or my back, which were hurting me even more. But felt like smallest or medium fragments, which made me consider that the plate, much to my surprise, didn't crushed my body and was instead just leaning against the wall. But that doesn't change the fact that I was about to being buried... Again. In the middle of this quake and the dark surrounding me, I couldn't even see where Melkior was but I could hear a bit of the music coming from his headphones and his last words. "That is you obtain for having opposed the Granite Dagger and is your punishment for having thought that I wasn't more powerful than the original. You won't survive this time. And won't even get a funeral or a goodbye either. There's only hell for you." After that, the earth stopped it's trembling after a while and I was buried under a pile of rocks that. I could hear his clopping sounds and the music getting weaker. He probably leaved me for dead or to rot, probably not knowing if I was killed for real by this quake or not. Well, at least I purposely remained silent, just to make him believe that he had won. The only problem was how to get out of here. The fissure above me was completely closed and the air here is completely devoid of oxygen. I will certainly die by asphyxiation. I'm very pissed.... Because I'm buried again. Buried! As fighting my way out of my supposed grave wasn't enough! I started to panicking and getting infuriated at the same time. I don't know If I'm going to die by the eventual lack of oxygen or being victim of a cerebral aneurysm caused by these mixed feelings. Before I could descent into this madness, I head the 8-bit sound ringing out and text box appeared on my right, which barely illuminated the area in front of me. That wasn't very bright but a least I could see my bag. I took a look at what the level up cooked for me this time. What I saw was pretty much extreme that I don't know if consider a good thing or a very ridiculous one. Plasma Cannon: A plasma shooting gun so devastating that is unpractical in closed spaces. "Is that for real?" I whispered in disbelieve. The text box disappeared after a few second and the sight in front of me went dark again. Knowing that wasn't the time to thinking about it, I stood up and hastily walked toward the bag, remembering where it was. Despite the darkness, I managed pull out the freezing gauntlet from it and put it on. The I rummaged again to find that weapon. I felt something cold, like metal. I pulled it out carefully and took it up. I could feel the trigger and it's weight. That was indeed a plasma cannon. I will use it to escape but since the space was very narrow, I didn't know if that will end up kill me instead. I leaned myself on the wall behind me I aimed forward and pulled the trigger. I instinctively started to regret that as a violet sphere of plasma whizzed forward until collided against the wall in front of me and exploded, blasting a huge hole that allowed the light to enter and causing the rocks above me to crumble. I promptly shot some freezing bullets from my gauntlet repeatedly to freeze everything all of the rocks, blocking the fall. For a second a felt the shocking energy slightly burning part of my coat. That explosion was so near that is a fucking miracle that I wasn't overwhelmed by that as well. Without wasting anymore time, I went out of that rocky cage and galloped inside a tunnel. I continued forward while following a light coming from afar, being probably the exit. I got closer and closer to it until I came out and end up being on the top of the mountain. And there I found Melkior, who wasn't even looking at me. "Yo, Melkior." I said as I aimed the plasma cannon toward him, startling him. "That can't be," Melkior replied in disbelieve before turning toward me. "How did you-" "KNEEL DEEP IN THE DEAD, BASTARD!" I shouted as I pulled the trigger, blowing him up into rocky pieces... Rocky pieces!? That was a real stress relief. Seriously, I couldn't even take my proper rest. I was first blackmailed by a Royal Guard fanatic, kidnapped and almost killed by another member of the Granite Daggers and the pain of both my face and back returned to hurt me even more. Full. Fucking. Force. "Another Granite Dagger member bite his dust." I said as I putted away the plasma cannon. "Now... How did I get back home?" Before I could answering that, a horrendous roar echoed through the Badlands, along with the sound of huge wings flapping. I looked upward and... I cannot believe that. For a second I thought I was seeing things, but is actually true. Above me there's a giant stone dragon flying above me, and on it's back there was someone. "Is that a orange maned.... You gotta be FUCKING KIDDING!" "MELKIOR!?" I screamed in disbelieve. "I knew you couldn't die this easily!" Melkior declared. "The body you had destroyed it was actually a hollow vessel that I had briefly possessed." "You can do this!?" "You cannot that I can also create this giant stone dragon that I'm going to use against you?" "Is your power being amplified?" "Unfortunately for you, I can now craft the every mineral thing into a new life and buildthe circumstance of your death. The real burial starts now!" The dragon charged his breath. I was expecting it to breath fire, but instead it breathed a storm of stone spikes. I high jumped backward at a great speed, avoiding being shredded by that tempest, courtesy of my ninja abilities. As I landed, I saw a furious Melkior preparing his next move. I didn't have the time to pull out my cannon, but I have other plans as I pointed my hoof at him. "You seriously had forgot that you cannot corrupt me!?" Melkior asked as he created a granite whip sword. "Nah, I'm going to corrupt something else," I said as I aimed at the dragon and unleashed the black lightnings at it. They reached their target. That thing was made of stone, but wasn't immune to the effect of that electric stream. And after a brief time, it started to convulse in mid air and roaring in pain. "NOOO!" Melkior screamed as he was almost falling from the dragon's back. The stone dragon fell backward, starting his own slow descent toward the ground as the dragon's rocky scales were slowly turning into metallic ones, spikes were protruding almost every part of it's body and the bones of it's wings became sharpened blades. Melkior jumped away from his former creation and flew toward me. As he was landing in front of me, he stood up two legged and turned his forelegs into stone blades. Angered, Melkior tried to slice me but I dodged them without any problem. Before he could attack me any further, three metallic spikes struck him from behind, piercing his body and arms while making him falling on the ground. Another one whizzed past his collar and cut it. It feel on the ground with the Ipod. I exploited this moment to pull out my plasma cannon and pointed at him. For a second I thought he died, but then he move... Barely. Melkior tried to get up but was then brought down by the unbearable pain and dizziness. He was bleeding, which make feel a little sick about that. But I won't empathize with him. His original and his own organization screwed with my previous life and killed innocent people for the sake of their plans. So why should I do that with this counterpart? Before one of us could try to do something, flaps of the dragon's wings were echoing. Both I and Melkior turned our attention at the dragon that flew above us in his metallic glory. I preferred it stayed in his stone form, but I don't mind that change. The same thing couldn't be said with Melkior who looked at him in horror while suffering his blood loss. At this point, I approached Melkior's Ipod and took it away, along with his earphones, much to his anger. I then took a few steps back and took my aim. "Surely you enjoy turning my creature into a twisted parody," Melkior said coldly before turning his face toward me with a grin. "You won't survive for too long! If not me, there will be someone else who will shred you up, Allen!" "Give me a break." I said with a tired tone as I shot the plasma sphere at him, blowing body away, and this time is for real. The explosion also took away a chunk of the terrain in which Melkior was bleeding , leaving only a empty crater in his place. I'm not get used to this weapon's destructive quality. I putted the weapon away, hoping to not have to use it again. I looked at the dragon who was staring at me, seemingly waiting a instruction from me. It still scared me a little but at least I found a way to go back to home. But wait, how could I justify the fact that now I'm owning a dragon to Twilight, Lilly or even to Celestia? Yes, I used the word owning. Because, unlike with Lilly and Photon, there's no way I would revert the dragon back to his original personality. Now is mine, and so is his Ipod.... But how the hell can he use it with only his hooves? "Ah, screw it," I said in laziness. "I will figure that out later. Not now. But in the meantime... I will take my time." Without nothing else to do, I ordered the dragon to let me jump on his back and landing at the lowest part of the mountain. I would had used the now metallic dragon to go back home but since is evening and I don't want being find out, I decided to pass the night there. Is not better than my futon inside my stone coffin but always better than nothing. I wonder if there is someone else in the Badlands who could see the dragon... Probably not. Wait... Photon still knows about my powers. I let him go because he has no proof now but what if will trying to get revenge against me? "And I don't have any food with me... Fuck me." Next Level Up: 1)Book of Healing: A tome who allow the user to heal any wounds or disease but has still to master one spell to make the text of the next page to appear, which is why only the first page is available. 2)Gambit Grenade Launcher: It can shoot any type of grenades, but the type of projectile that it shot s really random.. 3)Whip Chainsaw: A weapon that acted like a whip sword except that is capable of sawing shenanigans. > Two New Victims Before the Bridle Charade > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As I opened my eyes, I was greeted by the blinding rays of the sunlight. That hurt my eyes. I guess that spending seven entire nights sleeping in the darkness of my mound actually does affect my retinas. I wasn't too used to the sun anymore. I felt something cold and metallic beneath me.... And that thing was the giant metal dragon, when in reality is actually a stone one created by Melkior to kill me but ended up being corrupted by me anyway. Seriously, that guy asked for it. He tried to ambush me, only for me to surviving his encounter, corrupting his dragon, stealing his iPod and earplugs and shot him with a freaking plasma cannon. I had to admit. For someone, possess that huge, winged, metallic spikes shooting, bulldozer but for me is... A hassle... I'm not kidding. I cannot even think to return in my home or even go to Ponyville while riding this beast and possibly terrorizing the ponies who would see it. But I cannot risk to returning there on foot. Sure, I have still my ninja speed but since I didn't ate anything, I wouldn't go this far. My stomach was even grumbling to remind me of that. "Arrrgh! There's no point in remaining here starving!" I muttered. "What I have to do now?" I pondered about any valid way to get out of there without any kind of problems that would had putted me into serious troubles. I couldn't find a valid alternative..... Until a idea struck entered in my mind in the last minute. Is screwed up but nonetheless valid. I half grinned, because I'm feeling very uncomfortable to put that into practice. "I guess I had to do that with myself... But first, a little disguise." I said as I pulled out a green cloak from my bag and put it on. Then, I made the most dangerous thing that I never thought to do: Use the DNA Twister on myself. And with that, I had engulfed my own body with the red thick, liquid vortex. The first contact was enough to struck me with a sudden pain that instantly seized my entire body. And damn if that hurts. I ended up collapsing on the metallic surface of the dragon, which didn't minded me at all. As the pain of my incoming transformation wasn't enough, the ones of both my beaten up face and that of my hurting back flared up once more. After one minute of suffering, the pain slowly dissipated, allowing me to slowly rose up... On my own two legs. I took a look to my temporary new body. Is that of a pony-sea drake hybrid bipedal one gifted with partially small gills, a snake tail, a very long mane, scales covering half of my body, spiky and yet still bendable pony ears, an altered voice and dragon fingers armed with claws instead of my hooves. Not wanting to wait any further, I cautiously used my new fingers to put the earplug on my ears, turn my iPhone's on and took a look to the audio's list that this tool has to offer. Melkior must be some kind of snobby, music maniac because she had almost everything, including metal, rap and even punk. I put on Holy Diver and then proceed to do the rest. "Hey, dude!" I said to the dragon with a half demonic voice. "I don't want stay here any longer! Let's go! Now loyal to my instruction, the dragon started to flap his giant wing and flew upwards as it was adjusting it's altitude. Being on this metal dragon, I stumbled and almost end up falling down during it's maneuver. I managed to grip at the scale with my claws and struggled to climb atop of his back as he settled it's on flying trajectory. I was able to return to my previous position after three minutes of trying to avoid the fall. I then adjusted my cloak and looked forward. The wind that rushed toward me never felt so inspiring. That was justified by the dragon flying speed, but what makes it very appealing was that being combined with the landscape scrolling below me. Besides, there's also a very tremendous vertigo that prevented me to fully enjoy that. I understand Rainbow Dash flying around and enjoy it but it's not for me. "What I had to do now I wait until we reach the place that I want to visit before going home." I said calmly in contemplation, still with that demonic voice before shivering almost shocked by that. "I never thought that this new voice would had sound so intimidating. No one would recognize me... At least they saw my cutey mark." Ignoring my mane vibrating for the wind, I was just brainstorming about various random things. The one thought emerged and caused me almost burst laughing. The possibility of a alternate universe in which the Royal Guards were all being dubbed by Christian Bale's Batman through 80'style bad dubbing is colossally hilarious. After a few minutes of flight, I have arrived to where I wanted, using the smokey dragon's mountain as a point of reference. If I'm not wrong, that must be Dragonshy o' clock. Seeing the mountain in the distance, I turned off my iPhone and ordered my dragon to slow down it's speed. As I was almost getting close to it, I heard Fluttershy's voice echoing from there. “Listen here, mister," Fluttershy's echo said. "Just because you're big doesn't mean you get to be a bully. You may have huge teeth, and sharp scales, and snore smoke, and breathe fire, but you do not hurt my friends! You got that?” "Ok, Fafnir! Turn around!" I commanded before looking to the landscape beneath us while trying to resist my vertigo. Yes, I called the metal dragon like that. No Nibelung Ring included but who cares. Alternatively, I would have called him, due to his now steeled appearance, Heavy Metal Fafniram. I immediately scratched that idea since the name is too long and too obvious. Fafnir was flying above the Everfree Forest. Specifically: The lake where the Mane Six faced the sea serpent. I was mentally panicking for what I'm going to do but I then told myself that there wasn't any alternative at this point. I put the iPod inside the bag and took my aim. "Listen up! After about one hour, go toward that smokey mountain and take possession!" I instructed. "I will go on my own until the next time!" I looked out towards the river below us. I would have given myself some dragon wings but since I'm not such a big flyer as Rainbow Dash, so Instead I have done the same thing that John Matrix has done in Commando: Dropping myself down toward the river from the an elevated height. Which is what actually happened. "WHOOOOOOOOAAAA!!" Too freaked out to think, I could wait for my dive toward the large part of the river to be completed, hoping to not end up touching the terrain instead. I may had died once but twice is not contemplated. The wait and the vision of the fast-approaching area beneath me were both a unbearable combination. And I was running out of oxygen. The fall mercifully ended with me entering successfully in the water. Being underwater, the descent slowed down. I felt dazed and more tired than before. I should had been drowned in my normal conditions. Thanks to these gills, however, I could still breath, giving me all the time to adjust myself and mentally recover. I looked around the underwater zone, and fortunately the sea monster was nowhere to be found. Nine minutes had gone by and my dizziness is still going on. And that doesn't get even better if I have to talk about the persisting pain in my back. Courtesy of both Photon Gladion and Melkior that didn't let me rest properly. Tired to remain immobile, I swam toward the shore. "The only thing that I'm worrying about right now is maybe somebody heard my own demonic scream that I made during the fall... I just hope to not get spotted." I had emerged from the lake and walked through the forest. Passing by the river that was coming from Ponyville, I followed that path basing on it's current. If it flows toward the lake, that means I was going for the right direction. "C'mon, Allen. Just run in ninja speed toward the exit and you can rest." I said to myself one second before my vertigo, my exhaustion and my hunger were kicking in simultaneously, disorienting me. "Just... Ignore them!" Without wasting anymore time, I jumped at the top of some random tree and leaped at the tops of other ones while being careful to not stumble, hellbent to get out of the forest. I end up almost falling multiple times because of my dizziness and fatigue. Once out, I continued my own tree jumping until I saw my mound. I fell down and attempted a light landing, only to stumble and collapsing on the soil instead. "Not.... Now!" Guided by my own persistence, I tried to get up, only to fall twice in a row. I managed to rose up in the third attempt and wobbled toward the entrance. Seeing the stone coffin, I couldn't wait to sleep... But not before one last hassle. I had removed my own green cloak and putted back in my bag. Then I had unleashed the red thick vortex on me to return to my normal appearances. As the pain started to seize my body once more and ignited the pain of both my previous injuries, I struggled to not fall. As my body started to change, I forcefully headed toward the coffin. Once it's on my reach, I climbed it and exhorted myself to go forward until I had abruptly fell on my futon, with head perfectly falling on my pillow. In the same moment the transformation was complete, my consciousness instantly cut me out, making me fall into the blackness. I was expected it to happen. Dreamland, I'm coming.... And no. I'm not talking about Judeau's RPG Maker game. "There's one last thing I need to do. You had just to wait a little bit." "You know that I can't." "You made a promise with them, remember?" "Allen... I know that you want the best outcome from the end of my crisis but... There is still on thing unresolved." *Slice* *Splash* "Why?" "Is... not that simple for me.... And you know why!" "How much long you intend to sleep!?" A awfully familiar female voice muttered. "Wake up!" Groaning, I opened my eyes. And I'm already irritated since it's like being brought back from my sleep against my will. I looked up and saw a square blurry light with darkened figure covering it. I could see someone at the top of the coffin but my vision was very hazy. As it slowly adjusted itself, the figure turned out to be none other than Iron Lilly, who was actually looking angry and worried simultaneously. I couldn't help but feel strangely surprised by that since that was the first time I saw her like this, because the other ones she was on her own guard due to the times I had turned part of her life upside down or she was simply hating me, though that I don't think that Is just that. My head is a little groggy. Then again, what was I about to ask her?.... Oh yeah. "What time is it?" I asked weakly. "It's afternoon," Lilly said irritated before facehoofing. "Right now I can't tell if you were just unlucky or that misfortune of yours is intentional." "Photon Gladion told you what happened yesterday?" I demanded. "And how!" Lilly muttered. "I met him as he was galloping through the forest like crazy, as he was panicking. As I had stopped him and pretended some explanation, he stuttered about you falling inside a squared hole that opened under your feet and being devoured by it." Whoa! Did Photon had seriously thought that Melkior's closing had seriously crushed me? "Let's just say that another one of those entities ambushed me from underground and kidnapped me just because he wanted to torture me." I said bluntly, not expecting nothing from her. "Look at my face." "Yes, I noticed that." Lilly replied disturbed. "You should be in the hospital for the record. I mean, you took all of the beating. And let's not forget that you had carried me and Twilight, much to your back's expense. How though you are?" "I'm not this resistant," I responded as I was about to close my eyes until I remembered something. "Did Photon told me something else about me?" "He hadn't told me anything else but..." Lilly assumed a very confused expression. "He acted very weird when he talked to me in the office." "Strange?" "Photon just.... asked me if there's something wrong with his own ideas. I don't even know what happened or what you had done to him. So I decided to confront him in his office, in this morning. But he was nowhere to be found.I found a letter on the table in which he says that. 'he will leave the Royal Guards for a long time in a journey to cleanse himself of his flawed ways.'" I gave her a very confused glance. "What?" "I thought that maybe you will explain that, Violet." Lilly said with a half inquisitive tone, glaring at me as I was the culprit behind his sudden decision. Lilly pulled out a royal scroll from her helmet and gave it to me. I began to read the content and.... What the hell I'm even reading? Dear Lilly I'm sorry If I am asking you to tell them this, but I don't have the guts to talk with Princess Celestia and Luna about that. Tell them that due to existential and moral reason that I am unable to tell, I renounce to my rank of Lieutenant and leave the Royal Guards. I thought that I could improve and inspire my own comrades, but I was wrong. I couldn't even protect that pony from being devoured by ground. However, there's something that I want to make clear. And is my pretense of love toward Luna. I never realized that was a very misguided one, until now. For these reasons, I'm going into a journey to cleanse my on flawed ways and find my own illumination. Lieutenant Photon Gladion I froze up in disbelieve. Is that some kind of a joke? Because I couldn't believe that Photon actually wrote this. Did Photon just decided to become a Buddhist pony or something? Giving the scroll back to Lilly, I noticed her dumbfounded expression. It's like she didn't expected my own reaction to this. Which was a very confused one, because I don't know if I have to feel disturbed or laugh. And regarding the 'being unable to protect that pony' part, I call it bullshit. When Melkior opened the ground beneath my feet, Photon simply galloped away like a coward terrorized, not giving a damn about me despite the fact that he was supposed to protect me.... Ok, I had previously corrupted him and ordered him to give me the photos in order to destroy the evidence of me having those powers, but that because he tried to blackmail me. A now he's writing this apology letter? "What the hell was he even thinking?" "It's not all. Just flip the letter." Lilly informed. "Even in the back?" I asked. Lilly nodded while showing me it's back... What? I forgot, I had to thank a powerful warlock for make me realize my own mistakes. Thought that I still hate him. Look who's complaining, weirdo. Lilly putted away the scroll and stared at me, probably hoping that I'm not involved at all... or maybe she's believing it's the case. "Do you have something to do with his sudden retirement?" Lilly demanded. "My answer is simply no because I would gain nothing from screwing with him." I remarked. "Also, before I fell in that pit, I went outside for a moment because I wanted to take some fresh air." "............... Pretty much justified since is proven time and time again that living here is not healthy at all." Lilly reminded. "You should be in the hospital." "Then why I'm still there?" "Because I don't want your enemies to appear there and make a real carnage." Lilly got a point about that. Still, they could at least try to send me some home medic to take care of me and giving me some painkillers... If someone of the alternate Granite Dagger doesn't appear out of nowhere and kill him of course. Damn it! "Could they at least send me a medic that is also escorted by the guards?" I proposed. "The Princesses were thinking about that," Lilly responded. "However, if what you said about your attacker being able to do something tremendous like opening the earth beneath you is true, that makes more difficult for us to guarantee your safety and that of the civilians as well." That really pissed me off. I cannot even predict when the next one could possibly appear, and I can't even afford a proper health treatment. "That sucks." I commented. "We are all in the same boat." Lilly said bluntly. "By the way, take this." Lilly tossed me a small cardboard box at me. I merely flinched due to the box not being so heavy. I slowly opened it and found three water bottles and a package of medium sized cupcakes. I won't even make a reference because of it's own now saturated nature. "Thanks." I said formally. "Just don't consume them all. And most of all NOT THERE." Lilly commanded before heading toward the outside. Ignoring the pain of my injuries, I rose up and putted the box behind the coffin. I would had putted the box or at least the content in one of the shelves but not now. I then laid down again and pulled out my iPhone out of my bag. I could guess that it broke when I dived into the lake but as I pulled it . My hooves weren't useful to press the screen buttons, but they didn't prevented me to press the one to turn it on. I pressed it... And it turned on like nothing happened. What the fuck? It didn't broke?... That's not normal. And now that I'm noticing it, my bag was instantly dried up. It was soaked with the lakes of the water some hours ago. Does that mean that all the stuff that I have in my bag has some sort of RPG Inventory Menu Armor that keep my items still functional and polished after the bag was soaked, burnt or even bombed!? I won't even call it suspension of disbelieve because I'm still questioning about that sort of things. Hopefully I'm not in the Homestuck universe. "So many question for this disturbance in the universe... Which I hope is not entirely made of pixels or something." I whispered while turning the iPhone off and putting it back in the bag. "Because if that is the case, please turn off." One hour later, evening fell upon my mound, made more evident by the absence of the lingering sunlight, being replaced with the moonlight. I slowly come out of the stone coffin without taking my bag. Then I, took three of the cupcakes and one bottle of water and went on the outside. Lilly was watch over me while having her own food but I didn't minded her that much as I started to eat. I started to miss the food of my own world. These three sweets that I ate and a quarter of the bottle that I had drunk were my only dinner. And boy if I never felt so hungry since yesterday. I spent the next hour contemplating about the dream that I had when I had passed out for the fatigue. That was something very nostalgic. There was someone I knew and respected, during the mess that I had faced in my previous life. We also fought together... Until something went horribly wrong. That is one of the things that I regret so hard..... But it's only in the past now. "Is there something wrong?" Lilly asked, seemingly worried. "Nothing." I responded calmly before returning inside my mound. "Now if you excuse me, I'm going to sleep." I headed toward the coffin and entered inside. I laid down on the futon and put my head on the pillow. I'm going to have a hard time to sleep as I tried to not thinking about that. I was tempted to use my iPhone to listen some music but I wasn't in the mood to do it. I'm not depressed. I'm just considering... If I didn't had my own powers in my past life, on the first place. Maybe I shouldn't. But that made me consider one thing. Is frustrating that I'm reborn here only to face the same shit that I had faced before. Fortunately, it didn't take too long for sleep to come. Which was a relief. Because insomnia would had made me gone nuts. In the next day, I slowly opened my eyes and yawned. The pains are still hurting me but with even less intensity as before, something in which I'm satisfied. I was asking to myself what to do but I was then interrupted by the 8-bit sound, almost startling me for a moment. "I have the impression that its going to become an irritating running gag." The familiar RPG text box appeared on my right. I took a look at it... That was something that I wasn't expecting at all. Book of Healing: A tome who allow the user to heal any wounds or disease but has still to master one spell to make the text of the next page to appear, which is why only the first page is available. "Let me see if that Is not a scam." I whispered to not be heard by Lilly. As the text box disappeared, I rummaged in the bag until I found a beige book with a sword and a cross being depicted on the cover, which is kind of weird, if not lazy. I opened and took a look at the pages. True to the premises, only the first page was available while the other ones were all blank. I began to read... Well, the first page. It was only the start and yet that was the part that I currently needed. Page One: You can exercise the power to heal the wound of the others, appeasing the pain and remove the lesser lethal poisons. But will take a very long time and constant use of that to close the wounds and restoring body tissues for good. That was a good thing... Except that this book didn't gave you any instruction on how to use it. I guessed that I had to concentrate my mind to put it's energy in my hoof while pointing it on the interested part and channeling it. That was the typical mumbo jumbo thing that I was supposed to test at random. I putted my hoof on my back, concentrated... And my hoof glowed with a very silver light. I felt some energy going through my body, relaxing it and removing pain... and it's slow to do it's job. I won't even complaining since I didn't had anything better to do. In about twenty minutes, I cured my backache, but regarding my own beaten up face, I only half fixed it to not rise any suspect. Besides, maintaining my concentration on the healing was very tiring. I understood that is only the first level and that it takes a little longer to recover, but I wasn't expect it to go as slow as molasses. I was about to take another nap... Until Lilly called me out from the outside. "How much do you intend sleep?" Lilly asked sternly. "Just get up already. I have a commission to do." It's a miracle that she didn't noticed me using my healing abilities. Stuffing the healing book in my bag, I came out of my coffin and went outside. I putted on another cloak for the occasion. This time being a silver one. Now that I'm thinking about, thanks to the Ninja Gaiden reward, I had a apparently endless variety of cloaks, camou and outfits. And Considering that I would even selling them, I will be probably rich... But considering that Rarity could have some moral monopoly over fashion, I tossed that idea into the garbage. "Maybe on an emergency case." I whispered. "Did you say something?" Lilly demanded. "Nothing." With Lilly's usual suspicions regarding me, we traveled into Ponyville and encountered a group of pegasi Royal Guards who were her subordinates. I saw the face of some of these ones being a little repressed. I think they hate her usual stuck up attitude too, even if it was toned down a little due to my action. Lilly talked to three of them for a minute before sending them back to Canterlot... And I was almost close to be caught. The point was that she had sighted Fafnir flying in the sky above Ponyville and that a witnesses heard 'something' fell from it in the Everfree Forest while screaming with a very demonic voice... Which was me. "Hopefully they didn't found anything that will connect the dragon or my screaming fall to me." We and the rest of the pegasi guard ponies spent four hours to discuss about the my enemies, lunch included. We were only in six and the atmosphere was filled with a piece of mistrust. I was in part a very suspicious individual for a few of them outside Lilly, so I couldn't even blame them for that. They asked some questions which I responded with half sporadic answers. Mostly because many of their questions are sporadic. After a seemingly infinite talk, Lilly escorted me back to my mound with a very half frustrated visage. Probably she would see the day in which she didn't have to see that place ever again. As we had arrived, the sky became slowly darkened and started to rain. That didn't surprised any of us. Lilly was previously informed about the weather patrol having accidentally skipped the sprinkle schedule so they had to put this whole storm to made up for they own laziness. According to what I heard from Lilly, I can assume that is the 'slumber party' day. Which means that big thunderstom won't even take part to Twilight's misguided party... At least I don't have any alternative. "That is gonna suck." I commented. Being mentally exhausted by being among Lilly's subordinates and being pressed, I headed toward the mound without even thinking when I was startled by a roaring sound of the lightning falling behind me, accompanied by Lilly's brief scream. I turned toward her, only to see her collapsing on the ground with her mane standing on end her half burnt armor. "Holy shit. " I commented while approaching her. "Lilly didn't had any kind of truce from this crap, isn't it? First she was accidentally corrupted by me, then got psychologically shut down by Arga and now she's struck by a lightning... I'm feeling a little pity for her." She had obviously lost consciousness like a victim of a lighting dart being launched by some drunk Zeus. I was worried about her conditions so I took her Inside before she got really soaked and used my healing powers to cure her wounds. She didn't regain consciousness already but I didn't care, because I wanted to have some liberty... Without making damage, of course. I returned to the outside, not giving a shit about the rain. Even though that reminded me of the time in which I was in that graveyard before I met Aunt Death. At least being someplace else was a change of pace. But that doesn't excuse that meteorological screw up. The weather service is apparently unreliable despite the fact that weather itself is mostly a titanic responsibility. Outside being bathed, I had the dilemma. The wind was transporting parts of the raindrops inside my mound and is cold as hell. I remembered that the mound has metal doors but I completely refuse to die by asphyxiation. Taking in count that Lilly is still inside. I couldn't find any solution until I found one. "That looks like a job.... Yeah, whatever. Ninja mcguffin and stuff." I concentrated my mind and materialized huge ice shards that rained around the mound, encircling it at all except for the point nearby the entrance. These glacial things were high enough block at least part of the rain. Only three points were missing to complete the whole ice fence. Nothing seemed to go wrong. "AAAAAAAAAAARRRGH!!" "GUAAAAAAAAAAAARR!!" Until two female screams pierced the air. Freaked out by that I looked upward. Two winged figures impaled by the ice shard whizzed down on two of the remaining spaces to cover. I flinched as their landing ended with the huge ice pieces stabbing the ground, with bloodstains on them. I was paralyzed by the rapid sequence in which that happened. My brain was about to black out until sudden, pained, weak moans gave a rude awakening. Slowly recovering, I looked down to ascertain if what I am thinking was true... It is. Two pegasi mares, a blue maned dark-yellow one and a pink maned green one, were laying and convulsing in front of me, with the ice shards piercing through their chest while blocking them against the ground. Their looked very shocked, probably watching their lives passing in front of their eyes. Their agonizing moment lasted for a handful second until they died for real... I hate to think that but I had accidentally killed someone again. As the time with Twilight wasn't enough. Ignoring the rain, I stared at them for a moment until I remembered that Lilly was still laying unconscious. I have no intention to being tagged as a murderer. Panicking but trying to calm myself down, I was about to hide the bodies but then, a idea came into my mind. The same idea that I hated to repeat most. "I had to commit another FUCKING CORPSE REMODELING, ISN'T IT!?" I would had avoided that, but since the two pegasi are both dead because of my own assumption that no pegasi was flying during that storm and my own stupid idea, I had no alternative. I have no time machine for that. I facehoofed very hard in horror for that. "I had to do that shit again, isn't it?" Knowing what to do, I focused my mind to melt the bloodstained shards with multiple fireballs while setting free the two corpses. Second, I dragged both of them inside my mound, putted Lilly behind the stone coffin and covered her with the blanket. Third, I took off my soaked silver cloak, tossed against the wall and prepared myself for the most dramatic part: I pulled out that nasty keyboard cube from my bag and pressed the button, materializing all of the surgery equipment, electrodes and some other machinery. "Let's start this crime against nature. Again." As I did it in the last time with Twilight, I have to turn these two mares into Remodeled Corpses as well. AKA Zombies with still normal appearances. I proceeded with the same procedure with different circumstances. I cloned their bodies and used their clone's organs and tissues to repair the damages. Then I supplied them with their blood. I was lucky that Lilly was still unconscious due to the lightning effects... I'm actually feeling guilty to be happy about something like that. "I hope Twilight is enjoying her slumber party, because mine own is going to be a very gory one." What remain to do now was reactivate their brains and, stabilize their metabolism into a normal one. All of that while keeping them unconscious. A scene that I had saw already. That whole thing lasted about one hour and half. A very clement lapse of time compared to the previous surgery. Eager to close this other disgusting chapter of mine and not wanting have to do with that again, I pressed the button and the whole equipment was suck into the cube once more. I just realized that the cube sucked in the cloned bodies as well. That may had happened with the clone Twilight too, but I didn't care at this point. I wanted to get out of this pinch that I made with my own hands as soon as possible. The problem was how bring both of them into the hospital. Make two long travels from the to Ponyville Hospital and vice versa was something that I didn't want to do. Having considered their weight, I don't want suffer another backache. An yet...Wait. Weight? Size? "That's it." I said inspired, having found a valid idea. I used the DNA Twister on the two pegasi and turned them into Seabreeze, which are small and very light to carry. I then putted them inside the bag and galloped toward Ponyville, headed to the Hospital. Arrived nearby the entrance, I silently entered inside and put the seabreezefied mares. I then reverted them into their pegasi forms and activated my invisibility technique and strongly knocked the door before leaving. I galloped away from there as fast as I could, but not before having heard Redheart's voice coming from behind me. "Who's there!? Where.... Oh, Celestia from above!" I hope that she noticed their current conditions since I don't have this whole time to check that out. I reached my mound after twenty five minutes, with my heart pumping fast and my breath becoming rapid. I was tired but not too much like the previous days. The incomplete ice fence was still there, and since I don't want any other incidents of accidental impaling. I had deactivated the stealth mode and thrown multiple fire balls at every ice shards, melting them into large puddles. Since it was night and the thunderstorm is still going on, I entered inside and closed the two metal doors, leaving only a chink that allowed the air to enter. I then went inside the coffin and laid down on the futon. Having given the blanket to Lilly in order to protect her by the cold, I had used only my pillow as a substitute blanket. I closed my eyes, waiting for my sleep. That slight fatigue helped me out with that and was grateful to it for once. Because I wanted to forget my second time resorting to Corpse Remodeling. I'm felt very unclean twice in that moment. I was greeted by a pure darkness. Despite this blackness, I think to know what is going on. Aunt Death will show up, just to confuse me even further. My suspects about what she has cooked this time didn't delay to become founded. A spotlight suddenly illuminated the center of the room, revealing a dark cloaked figure being, of course, Death herself, being sat in a couch. As she alone wasn't enough, the situation became more absurd I was hearing some classic music accompanied by a heavy metal scream in the background. I was taken aback by that nonsensical moment. Which disturbed and confuses me at the same time. "Welcome, my dreamer, to Moronic Puppeteer Chronicles Theater." Death said as she was some kind of anchor man. "On Tonight's episode we are going to talk about a pony trying to deal with the idiocy of a very particular event. Ignorance reigned supreme. A event in which the motto 'Don't judge a book from it's cover' is handled horribly. That is... The Idiocyning." "Is that a Shamaylan reference? But it's not even a word." I pointed out, confused. "Oh, c'mon," Death retorted. "As your new life wasn't confusing enough." I woke up, this time more rested and without that headache. I took a look at Lilly, who was still laying unconscious behind the coffin. I would had tried to wake her up...... Nah, I let her as she is instead. I suited myself my own personalized ninja outfit with platinum mouth mask and violet hoof gloves, and ran at high speed toward Ponyville. In my arrival, the town was deserted, much to my surprise. That would seem like the work of another Granite Dagger. That wasn't the case, which made me a little happier. I know what was going on. Zecora visited the town and the inhabitants were cowering in fear like idiots. Because they were uninformed. Yes, I'm fully aware that these are the events of Season 1, but that is the type of episode which idiocy must be dealt with the right timing. I headed toward the Sugarcube Corners. I walked nearby the window unseen and eavesdropped the Mane Six, Spike and Apple Bloom discussing, and badmouthing Zecora. I can already feel their ignorance. As they were talking, I putted on the freezing gauntlet and the iPhone's earplug on my ears with anticipation, turned the device on and scrolled the song list to find a valid one while ignoring their talk. "The Everfree Forest just ain't natural." Applejack said. "The plants grow.." "Animals care for themselves..." Fluttershy said. "And the clouds move..." Rainbow Dash added. “All on their own!” they chorused dramatically. "Yeah, keep talking," I whispered. "Your information is relevant as the professor who was claiming that people were dreaming sorely in black and white before there was color in TV." And then there is that part with Pinkie. I was fully prepared to deal with it, just to help me concentrate while plotting my own version of that episode. "And that wicked enchantress Zecora lives there doing her evil... stuff! She's so evil I even wrote a song about her!" Pinkie said with her usual exaggeration. "Here we go..." Rainbow Dash said in resignation. Not this time. And fortunately, I have the earplugs of this iPod to protect me from Pinkie Pie's incoming song. She's an evil enchantress She does evil dances And if you- I pressed play before walking away from the tree house as my ears were protected with something that is far even more awesome. Yea.. Check it out, see The only thing you need to do right here is, Is nod your fuckin head Yeah, yeah Break ya fuckin neck bitches Yeah, yeah Here we go now.. Busta Rhymes is awesome, and I'm very lucky that this song is even included in this ipod. Against Pinkie's one that exuded accidental ignorance, he is my savior. I hid behind a wall of a house nearby the bakery and waited for Apple Bloom, the only sane pony in this paranoid parade, to leave the group behind to follow Zecora. After some minutes of waiting and listening Busta Rhymes like a liturgical chant of a church mass of hip hop's nephilims, Applejack's little sister came out and galloped toward the exit of the town. Taking that as the signal, I used the DNA Twister on myself, one more time. This time turning myself into demon-pony hybrid. That didn't make any sense since I'm wearing a ninja outfit, but what I had really altered was my voice. "Check... And check." I said with a deep but not so demonic voice. "Much better." I galloped very fast, Following Apple Bloom's tracks. In one minute, I found both her and a cloaked zebra, being obviously Zecora, at the forest where the infamous blue flowers are located. I had observed the scene from behind the bushes. Apple Bloom tried to go further but the Mane Six arrived to stop her. As I had predicted, they came in contact with the Poison Joke flowers... And possibly inhaling them. I could had just prevented that coming but I had pretended to have saw nothing. “Apple Bloom! You get back here right now!” Applejack yelled. “Beware, you pony folk! Those leaves of blue are not a joke!” said Zecora. “You keep your creepy mumbo-jumbo to yerself, ya hear?” Applejack retorted. "Too much being absorbed in your own paranoia to even. Fucking. Listen to her?" I whispered in annoyance. I let them do their talk as Zecora leaved their sight in a puff of smoke. I could had told them what was really going on but I preferred to wait the right moment. I quietly leaved the area. Far away from their nonsensical discussion, I jumped at the top of a tree and leaped toward one after another, making my way toward Zecora's hut. Once arrived, I landed in front of her tree house and headed toward the entrance. I knocked at her door twice. Zecora slightly opened the door. I was welcomed by her surprised face. "The timing of your appearance is so out of blue? Who are you?" Zecora demanded, obviously rhyming. "You know that plant named Poison Joke, right?" I asked, still with a deep but not so demonic voice. "Of course I know about the plant you spoke. In contrast to the other poisonous plants, ts results are like a joke." Zecora confirmed. "The point is I need the cure for it's symptoms," I lied of course. "I need an entire cauldron of that for six ponies... Possibly tomorrow." "The quantity of time that will take me to do that is almost low. So why tomorrow?" Zecora demanded. "Let me enter and I will explain you why." I said formally. Damn, if acting is a real pain. Still, I discussed with her about the cure and gave her a fabricated explanation about me having six friends who were goofing around with the flowers, ignoring the fact their effects will prevent them to do their job. won She actually bought that excuse and decided to help me out. I had also asked her to let me take a look at the book of Supernaturals: Natural Remedies and Cure-all That Are Simpy Super. And for a valid reason. "Which page is depicting the cure?" I asked. "This one. Clear as the sun." Zecora said. With that, I leaved Zecora in her work and galloped away from the hut, travelling all of the way back to my mound. Once arrived, I turned on the iPod and selected the song with the ID number being identical to that of the page of the book. I then returned to my normal appearance and took off my personalized ninja outfit. With nothing else to do, I went inside my 'house' and took a look at behind the coffin to check Lilly's conditions. She's still unconscious, which made me worry a little bit. I was about to go to the outside... "Violet..." Lilly's voice said, weakly. I flinched for a moment. I turned toward her to see if that was real, and it turned out that it is. I saw her slowly recovering her consciousness. That was a good new for me, but is also a frustrating one since my plan was going to be sabotaged by her. "Did you remember what happened?" I asked calmly. "I... I... Was struck by a lightning... If I'm... not wrong..." Lilly said groggy, as she glanced at the blanket covering her. "Is that your blanket?" "Well... Yes." I responded. "Whatever.... I'm just... Too tired to... Deal with you... Just... Let me sleep..." Lilly said falling into her sleep. Leaving her to her rest, I spent the rest of the day listening some music. I was also trying to master the first page of the healing book but the only thing that I had done so far with it was fully healing my beaten up face. Nothing else. It will take me a little more time to get past page one. As evening greeted me, I ate two cupcakes and drunk a quarter of the bottle of water, like the previous day. After that, went outside to do some free style acrobatics and headed toward my 'bed' after an hour. If that coffin can be called like that. Still without any blanket at my disposal, I had once again used my pillow as one. I closed my eyes and waited for sleep. As usual. Seriously, If the Mane Six are the Elements of Harmony, the I should be the Elements of Sloth... If that count. Waking up by a very unusual and yet almost harmless nightmare, I took a look at Lilly, who was still sleeping. "Sorry, Lilly," I whispered. "I have to go." I was about to leave... Until I heard her voice. "Just wait... Until I recover...." Lilly said weakly with a confident tone. I rolled my eyes and went out of my mound. After having transformed back to my demon-pony hybrid form and putting on my own personalized outfit from yesterday to cover it, I traveled all the way to Ponyville. Once arrived, I hide myself behind a wall of a house nearby the Twilght's tree-house, waiting for the Mane Six to leave. I didn't even bothered to watch them since I don't want be tagged as stalker but I know they were affected by the Poison Joke flowers. Twilight has a floppy horn, Rarity has messed up hairs that covered her eyes, Pinkie Pie's has her mouth by her tongue obstructing it, Rainbow Dash can't just flying in the right way and ended up falling upside down and Applejack was shrunken at a tiny sized. Fluttershy... Looked ok but I know what happened to her. I scanned the main room until I found the copy of the Supernaturals: Natural Remedies and Cure-all That Are Simpy Super book. I took it as mine and went out the library. Leaving the town, I headed toward the meadow where the Poison Joke flowers were located. I took the occasion to take three Poison Jokes as samples and wrapping them with a red cloak, that I had used as a container that I had stuffed in the bag. Their pollen didn't affected me since I was also wearing the hoof gloves and the mouth mask. With that, I ran at ninja speed toward Zecora's hut. As I was reaching the area, I stopped on my tracks and hide myself behind a tree. I could already hear the voice of Rainbow Dash, who was practically grunting and crushing at random. "Alright, guys. Come in. It's theater time." I said with slight confidence. Passed two minutes, I saw a blown maned Rarity, a Pinkie Pie with a swollen tongue, Fluttershy and a Twilight with a floppy horn coming out of the bush. I won't even joke on the latter's condition since that would be immature. Even for Japan's standards. They were finally catch up by a Rainbow Dash flying upside down, driven by the tiny Applejack. As they were approaching the house, I decided to get in action. Is time to put my altered voice into practice. Disguised and voice altered as I am, they couldn't recognize me. "No!" I said while walking toward them, getting their attention. "No! No! NO! Stop! STOP! What heck are you doing!?" "That's mah line!" Applejack yelled with high pitched voice due to her current size. "What the heck are ya doing!?" "And why wearing a mouth mask?" Rarity added. "To protect myself from the pollen." I responded bluntly. "What pollen?" Twilight asked. "Look, I know that you don't trust Zecora," I paused. "But did you had at least listened and understood what she was really referring to when you were retrieving Apple Bloom?" "Why bother to even listen," Applejack retorted. "She was putting curses on us!" "It's true! Look at us!" Twilight muttered, gesturing to her floppy horn. "What do you-" Rainbow Dash was saying something but I had stopped her just in time. "Be quiet for a moment and let me give you a hypothetical scenario," I proposed, ignoring Rainbow's sullen face. "I know what happened to you, but let me ask you on thing... What is the real thing to blame?" "What are ya talking about? Of course is was Zecora!" Applejack said convinced. "No!" I said one second before chuckling really nervously and slowly walking toward Applejack. "You can't be serious. Say that again. Come on, I know it's dangling on the tip of your tongue. Let me hear it just once, please? "How many time I had to tell ya?" Applejack insisted. "Zecora had cur-" "WROOOOOOONG!!" I abruptly interrupted her with a very demonic voice, startling her and the rest of the Mane Six "W-w-what just happened?" Rarity said freaked out, literally trembling. Ignoring Rarity's question, I pulled out the convoluted red cloak and opened in front of them, revealing the three Poison Joke flowers. The Mane Six gasped in surprised for that. "Are these the flowers that we saw yesterday?" Rainbow said confused. "There are." Twilight confirmed perplexed. "That is the real source of your problems!" I said, resuming my own deep but not so demonic voice, gesturing to the flowers. "You came in contact with these and probably inhaled that." "Ah'm not buying that for a single second." Applejack retorted. "You're protecting Zecora, isn't that it." "Oh, for the love of..." I said with slight irritation as I pulled out the book that I took from the library, much to Twilight's shock. "Where did you took that?" Twilight inquired. "Just let me show you," I said to Twilight, opening the book and showing the page that depicted the cure. "Here. Page 27." Twilight was reluctant at first but then gave a quick glance. That page explains a lot regarding the Poison Joke and how to cure it. "You finally understood, right?" I asked, sternly. "Understood what?" Rarity demanded. "Explain yourself!" Rainbow Dash demanded. "Are you telling us that Zecora has nothing to do with our own conditions?" Twilight said. Before I could respond, Apple Bloom's voice made her presence known. "What the hay is going on?" Apple Bloom demanded. We turned our heads toward her, being in front of the hut. The Mane Six were shocked to her being there except me. "You are just in time." I said confidently. "Wait, Ah don't even know ya. Who are you?" Apple Bloom asked. "Just answer me one question, for the ponies who are present in this moment," I replied while closing the book and putting it back to the bag. "They said that Zecora cursed them. Seriously... Isn't that right." "This isn't a curse." Apple Bloom affirmed, causing the Mane Six to gasp in shock. Not wanting to waste my time even further, I had convinced the Mane Six to not create any more problem. As we entered, Apple Bloom provided the ingredients of the cure to Zecora, who did the rest. As I talked with her, I had explained that the Mane Six are the six ponies I have talked about.Twilight and her friends formally talked to Zecora and eventually apologized to her, shrugging off their hostility. "Actually, I do have this book, but I didn't look inside because the title was so... Weird," Twilight admitted. "Supernaturals: Natural Remedies and Cure-all That Are Simpy Super. I...I... I'm so sorry, Zecora. I had the answer the whole time, if only I had bothered to look inside." "Maybe next time you will take a second look, and not judge the cover of the book." Zecora said tranquilly. With the job being done, I was about to leave... Until Twilight stopped me. "Don't even think to leave now," Twilight said sternly. "You had to give me that book back once I am cured." "Of course," I said nervously. "Is not like I wanted to keep that by myself." I would had gave that book back to Twilight anyways. And... Why is she starring at me with suspicion?" "I know that because I am a very devoted herbalist," I informed. "I studied any kind of plants, I saw their effects and I know how to deal with them. Still, You cannot just blame the first stranger creature that you see because of some gossip." "Why I'm having this weird sense of deja vu." Twilight demanded, suspecting somenthing I cringed a little bit, fearing that my cover didn't work in the slightest despite having removed the freezing gauntlet. "Oh, fuck no. She couldn't have recognized me again." "You seems to know something about the flowers." Fluttershy butted in the conversation with a deep voice. "O-of course," I lied but I couldn't do otherwise. "I studied almost every plant, I saw their effects and I know how to deal with that." Putting aside that Twilight was still suspecting me, she asked Zecora to mix up another batch of the herbal bath. That being said, we had returned into Ponyville. While they were directed into the Spa to prepare that, I returned into the library to put Twilight's book into its place. I exploited that moment to return back to normal. I then entered into the Spa and catch up with Apple Bloom and the now cured Mane Six. Zecora leaved the area for moment, probably to take some other ingredient. There are also the two mare of the Spa. Twilight continued to stare at me with suspect as she seemed to recognize me. I wasn't even nervous at this point. "What's wrong, darling?" Rarity asked to Twilight. "Why I have still that lingering sensation that I know who this guys is?" Twilight demanded. "You know what? Screw it." I said with my own normal voice as I took off my outfit and tossed away. "Happy now?" The Mane Six reacted in shocked awe. Apple Bloom was just confused for my own reveal. "Now that Ah'm thinking about, we never asked him his name." Apple Bloom pointed out "Violet Tower." Twilight called me irritated. "What!? Is he that pony that sis talked me about?" Apple Bloom said worried. "You can tell that, Apple Bloom," Applejack responded. "He first almost prevented us to take the Elements of Harmony to stop Nightmare Moon and in the last second, he turned against her, freezing her temporarily." "Although I ended up being blasted by her after that failed attempt." I pointed out "Technically... That is true." Fluttershy almost agreed. "Fluttershy, even if that is true, there still that question," Rainbow pointed out. "How can we possibly trust some pony like him!?" "I can't believe that we were deceived and lectured by this fashioncidal demon!!" Rarity muttered with exaggerated emphasis, with the other ponies who aren't me looking at her as she was a sort of inquisitor while Twilight simply rolled her eyes before glaring back at me. Here we go. Once again looking like the bad guy It seems like I had a very long way to gain their trust. I was about to do something until... "But there is something that I don't understand," Twilight said, turning her glare into a perplexed stare. "What are you trying to gain by resolving our problem?" "Let me ask you a very legitimate question first," I said almost annoyed. "There are some books in Equestria that featured the Zebras and probably their cultures, their history and their ways to perceive magic and yet you didn't know who they are or not even bothered to find out anything about them before giving any judgement what so ever?" Twilight was about to respond but then halted her words. The same thing happened to the other five Elements of Harmony. They glanced at each other. Some of them doubtful and some of them unsure of what to think. All of them, however, shared one thing: Embarrassment. But before that philosophical question could be answered, two things suddenly smashing through the wall like the freaking Kool-Aid man. The Mane Six and Apple Bloom were freaked out as hell while two winged figures made a very rough landing on the center of the room. I recognized in horror who they are. "No! Not the two pegasi that I had turned into zombies!" As the Mane Six and Apple Bloom were distracted by them, I had turned myself invisible through ninja mcguffins and leaved the Spa without being noticed. In thirty minutes of exhausting running, I finally returned to my mound. I had entered inside to check up Lilly's conditions when I had a very unexpected visit. Zecora was nursing the female pegasi Royal Guard. Noticing my presence, her face shifted into a very wary one. "You weren't this honest with me. And yet you look so bad as you seemed to be." Zecora said. "It wasn't my intention to deceive anypony but... Their ignorance triggered me very hard." I responded. "I understand your reasons, but it seems like that you too need a few lessons." Zecora retorted. I paused for a moment but then admitted my own defeat. "You got a point." "Could you.... Just.... Discuss somewhere else?" Lilly asked with a tired tone. Having remembered that Lilly needed to rest, we went out and talked about a few things. Including my own misadventures without mentioning my identity and that of the Granite Dagger's members. Zecora couldn't help but questioning... Why I'm living inside a mound. More than a question it's a running gag. Hopefully nopony will expect a T-shirt out of that. Zecora was about to go back to home but then... This happened. "I apologize for this demand, but did you have at least some friend?" Zecora asked. She couldn't known, but that triggered a series of memories of my previous life. I had many of them but... Only a few of them survived while the other were all perished. Some killed from the Granite Daggers, and some of them having face a fate worst than dead. My previous adventure wasn't surely a happy one. That doesn't change one thing. I'm living my own new life now. I had to put aside that past but without even forgetting that. I took a moment to think about my next words, and after a short time, I pronounced the most simplest sentence. "I had." Next Level Up: 1)Psycho Potion: A seemingly endless potion that amplifies the powers of who drinks that with the side effect that It will turn him half insane, which effects last for about three hours and recharges it's content in one hour. 2)Defensive Book: A book that allow the user to perform defensive abilities but it took some practice to master as the first page is the only one available and the other were colorless since they must be gained. 3)Gravity Manipulator: A artifact who gives the owner to control the gravity around him at a certain radius of about three yard. > Chronological Inconsistency > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After Lilly finally recovered from being struck by that lighting, we finally moved away from my mound to find a place far away from there. I was a board of a chariot, sat next to Lilly, with a couple of his pegasi colleagues driving it. I hoped that the place we are headed to was a deserted one, that makes difficult for anyone to track me down. Instead she resorted to transfer me into a cave behind the mountain at the north of the Rock Farm were Pinkie once resided. I know that because I could see the forest nearby the Ghastly Gorge from above. Is isolated yes, but Lilly should had took in consideration that Pinkie's family would be involved or that maybe somepony does live in the Ghastly Gorge. But that is just my hypothesis. During the travel, I took the time to ponder about the rewards I had obtained so far. The... wretched Corpse Remodeling abilities and cube, Ryu Hayabusa's ninja stuff abilities, the Corrupter and so on and so on. Not only that, but I noticed one thing in which I didn't had paid attention before. Why the hell the Mane Six still are still distrusting me despite Celestia having told them my reasons to side for a moment with Nightmare Moon and me having saved their lives? "Ok, now this new life is starting to be a Gary Stu like farce... In the extreme." I murmured. "Don't bother to complain about the travel. We have arrived." Lilly said, not having heard anything from me. The chariot slowly descended nearby the base of the mountain. Good for me since I was having some vertigo, like the time I was at the top of Fafnir. Lilly looked at me with suspicion. "Now that I'm thinking about, how the heck did you had recovered this fast from your injures?" Lilly asked. "Zecora tested one of her medicines on me." I lied but always better than nothing. "Did it worked?" "Well, she cured Twilight and her friends from the Poison Joke's effect, so that shouldn't be a problem." "I see." Lilly paused. "Say, I talked to the two pegasi who crushed through the SPA's wall. Did you have something to do with them?" I looked at her with a annoyed look. "Does everything that happened yesterday have something to do with me?" "You are the one with the corrupting magic, remember?" "...... Can we just get to the job already." She was about to retort, but since she wasn't much in the mood to waste her time to talk with me, she simply nodded and returned her attention to the destination. We landed nearby a cave, where we were greeted by a trio of unicorn Royal Guards guarding the entrance. Lilly talked with them for a moment while I was looking inside my bag to check my equipment for a moment. Entering inside, I was surprised to see a illuminated room with a bed, a desktop with books, a food storage, and a water storage. But the most strangest thing was a console connected to a magical slab depicting the whole Equestria, with red pony-like and not silhouettes floating above it. There is a manual at the top of it. "Lilly... Did you had projected this plan from the start?" I asked, unsure of that answer. "Not exactly." Lilly pointed out. "It was Luna's idea. You see, Celestia didn't had perceived the first demonic entity's presence when he first attacked her after the defeat of Nightmare Moon. So she ordered the construction of this machine." "For what?" "This thing allows you to localize every single type of magical or vital essence from every part of the world. If there is somepony with a unusual power or energy, it's silhouette is usually colored in violet. Also, you can tap his position to block him with a seal." I think I had understood the situation. "You mean...!" "Yes," Lilly confirmed. "That is your job. And, oddly enough, it seemed to be the easiest one. I mean, what you had to do is just to monitoring the whole Equestria from there and prevent any menace to act. You wouldn't have to fight them." "I'm not entirely sure." "Me either. This job is, after all, a way to test this thing." "It looked so easy, but I don't think that will stop them permanently." "I know, but I put you there because I don't want you to cause any ruckus with your... 'powers'," Lilly then looked at the exit. "Now if you excuse me, I have to return in Canterlot." Lilly headed out of the cave and talked with her comrades for a bit before leaving. I took the time to look at the food storage, which was surprisingly full of sweets and fruits. Including well conserved apples, pears, oranges and only one banana. Ironically, sweets seemed to be the main diet in Equestria. Minutes passed by with nothing relevant happening. To pass the time but without any intention to slacking off, I read some page of the manual to understand how that thing works. It was difficult at first but after some reading and a chunk of patience, I managed to get a grasp of it's functions..... Now that I'm thinking about, Twilight's book and this one should be written in Equestrian language, and yet is in English. Usually it should be a seemingly illegible scribble that almost no one, if is not Starlight Glimmer to take a example, should be able to read. And yet there are literally letters on it.... I guess that this Videogame Logic is involved. "Nevermind, my new life is already on the extreme level of a Deus Stu." I complained quietly. "Is there something wrong, sir?" One of the unicorns said. "Nothing. I was just trying to find out of this thing works." I responded. "Yeah... You better not do any nasty trick on us." "Sorry for his warning," The second one said. "But we didn't slept very well since last night." I didn't mind being in a new home. Thought that is no different from my mound since this place is rocky. On the bright side, I have a normal bed that is not a futon inside a stone coffin. The only downside is the boredom of being kept in this place under surveillance. As the unicorn guards continued their duty, I passed my time watching over the magical slab from my desktop, but as far as I saw, nothing happened yet. No alternate Granite Dagger member appeared in the sight. In this lapse of time, I was also reading some book, including one of the Daring Do series. I have only reached half of it and then putted aside afterward. Luna's plan to keep my enemies at bay would be a sweet dream for me if wasn't for a detail. In my past life they managed to elude any type of surveillance. That make me think about the magical reliability of that machine. Having noticed some blank paper and a ink quill, I putted on the Freezing Gauntlet and used it's fingers to write properly. Well, more than writing, I was making a brainstorm: One being about the number of times I leveled up, obtained rewards, the times in which my enemies appeared so far and the times I screwed up and someone else end up injured. "If this can be called life," I whispered frustrated. "Even In Equestria, I'm facing the exact same shit that happened in the past.... And Aunt Death said that I would have obtained a change of pace." I paused. "And then I found myself facing pony equivalents of my enemies," I groaned a little bit. "And I'm currently overpowered. What kind of change of pace is that?" After my rant, I took a look at the magical slab one more time.... No shit happened. The silhouettes are all normal. Better be this way. That would be good if I wasn't currently paranoid that something will happen from a moment or another. The downside of being a watchdog. As time passed by, I began to feel sleepy. My head fell on the desktop with my eyelids being a little heavier. Classic is would say... Until a 8-bit buzz ringed out of nowhere, which startled me but for other reasons. That didn't sounded like the usual level up theme. That was a freaky one. Before I could even question about that, the green glowing RPG text box appeared on my right. I took a look at it and saw something different. A Berserker Claw is added into your inventory. My eyes widened in slight surprise. That must be the work of the first rule that stupid patch was referring to. After the text box disappeared, I rummaged in my sack and found a chilling, golden clawed gauntlet inside of that. I couldn't trust that design. Especially since the text box didn't say anything about it's properties. "Oh.... Goody." I said with sarcasm. I turned toward the slab and noticed some violet silhouettes being on it. And are telling me that they are inside this very cave. And are probably Granite Dagger members in pony form. "You're kidding me, right? A mass attack!?" I exclaimed. Having read the instructions, I found in which part of the mountain they are, exactly. And much to my shock, They are in nearby the wall next to my room. I put the Berserker Claw on my other hoof to see if I can use it as a extra hand. I managed to move it's finger, which means it worked. "So... Let's just to press those buttons already." I said as I messed with the console and pressed them, resulting each silhouette to be surrounded by a circular barrier, which is the seal... I guess. I heard various screams coming from behind them, all of them being multi-vocal. That creeped me out for a moment but that wasn't the time to have fear. I turned toward the entrance and galloped toward the outside to warn the unicorn Royal Guards that are supposed to guard my persona. "Hey, dudes! I just caught a group of-" I suspended my sentence and stopped upon seeing none one being there. "You are fucking kidding me?... They're probably gone for lunch and leaved me on my own. Well, I can defend myself after all, so I can't even blame them for that." I galloped back to the wall and stood nearby it on my hind legs while wielding the Plasma Cannon. I took the aim on the lowest part and shot a plasma sphere, destroying the wall in a purple explosion. A great veil of dust rose as I was mentally praying that this whole mountain wouldn't crumble for that. I looked torward them as the dust was slowly dissipating, revealing obscure pony shapes covered by the veil. I guess that they were indeed other members of that damn cult. So I pointed the cannon on them and looked at them, so fed-up that I was even acting like a psycho. "ALRIGHT! YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME!? TOO BAD, BECAUSE I-" I interrupted my own screaming, frustrated declaration upon being met by black-green flames engulfing their bodies and molding them like they were changing. The fire vanished, giving some insectoid like horses with... Bug wings... And one of them seemed to be a taller female... I blinked twice for the disbelieve before giving my own reaction. "Ok, can someone explain what the hell is going on?" I asked, annoyed by that discovery. As I was mentally processing that, the three unicorn guard ponies rushed on the scene and gasped in shock upon seeing them. They were shocked to see them but I was slightly irritated by a thing called inconsistency. I know who they are. "Seriously, they're the fucking changelings. And the taller one is Chrysalis. Weren't they supposed to show up in the events of Season 2!?" "Guys." I began calmly but irritated by that. "I think that this queen and their subject wanted to express their discontempt for being sealed inside a barrier". "D-discomtempt?" Chrysalis said with a half angered tone, probably trying to hide her being scared for the explosion from before. "You disgusting little pony! You were almost killing us with that..." She pointed at the cannon. "Whatever the heck it is!" I flinched in awe. Because I just remembered that I was still wielding the cannon with my hooves being equipped with both the gauntlets. Right in front of the guards. "...... I hate my own mental incompetence." "Now that I'm noticing that," The first unicorn said as he looked at both my weapon and the claws. "What is this?" He then looked at me, very distrustful. "And were did you got those claws?" "Lilly told us about you but we weren't expecting those things, boy." The second unicorn said. I slowly turned toward him and looked in his eye in annoyance. "You know what. If those things are really bothering you, then I will gladly give this thing to you as seized material." I said calmly while leaning the cannon at him. "W-what?" The second unicorn stammered. "Why?" "Because I want Luna to use them for research or something." I lied, because I just wanting to make sure that those things wouldn't end up in wrong hands. "I think we should save that for later," The third unicorn said. "Right now we have to deal with those creatures... Although that should be our job and not that of our 'supposed' protege." I groaned while scratching my head and then pointed my plasma cannon at Chrysalis again, making her flinch. "I have seriously to explain a lot of things. But first, you had to explain something." I declared. "What are you even doing there anyway? Planning a invasion by, I don't know... Replacing somepony else with yourself?" Chrysalis' face instantly became a shocked one. "How did you know that?" "I just guessed." I said bluntly. "For record, all the evil overlords of any sort tried in vain to conquer Equestria.... You are no exception to this." Furious for my attitude, she glowed her horn intensively, only for it to dissipate one second later, much to her dismay. Luna's machine indeed worked wonders. "W-what is the meaning of this!?" Chrysalis shouted. "You got owned. Ergo you lose. That's all." I said with a unenthusiastic tone. "Who do you think you are to talk to me like that!?" Chrysalis demanded. "And why you weren't so scared of us?" "You want to know why you are nothing new to me? Fine. I'll tell you." I paused and pondered about the right words to shoot at her. "I faced Nightmare Moon, who used me as a pawn, only for me to turn against her. I'm also regularly attacked by various psychopaths who harbored a grudge against me. Including somepony who can dissolve into shadows and a mad mare who carves eyeballs to add in her eyeball decorated dress. Hell, I was even confronted by a pony who can control the freaking earth and his own constructed giant dragon. So of course you are not this big deal." In reality, that would be a lie. I should be scared of her. Unfortunately for her, after all the times I was threatened to death by my own enemies, previous life or not, being faced by threat had become more or less a routine. Which I hated to no end. "W-was that supposed to scare me?" Chrysalis demanded, unsure. "Look, I hate to state the obvious, but I'm the one with the gun here." Chrysalis trembled a little bit. She was about to retort when some of her subject started to murmuring. "Did she actually fearing this pony?" One of them said. "Ssh. Just because that quadrupedal freak has a powerful artifact, doesn't mean that she can't handle him." Another one said. "Ehm... We are blocked by that barrier, remember?" "Relax. Ponies really values friendship and love. I don't think this one is so insane to actually... Blown us up." "What are you talking about, you two!?" Chrysalis roared at them. Before that conversation will get even more sickly, a grumpy, almost ferocious voice echoed from behind the changelings. "Oh, for the love god! Just get on with it!" And then two black sphere whizzed past Chrysalis until they landed behind us. I turned around to see what they are and realized these were not just black spheres. "SMOKE BOMBS!" They burst in a unusual explosion of pure darkness that engulfed the room and then my sight, like I was instantly blacked out. My body instantly became numb, making me collapse on the ground. I tried to move but I have not control over my body. For a second I thought I was passing out. I discovered that I'm not. I my sight was all tinted in pitch black and I couldn't move any of my limbs or even talk, and yet I could still feel the cold, rocky ground and hear things. I heard some weird footsteps getting closer to me. Something grabbed my arm and dragged me toward only-murphy-knows what place. "Eheheheheh. I finally got you without your powers, you maggot." That ferocious voice said gleefully. I felt my body being lifted and then my arms being held. My sight was slowly returning clear. I guess I can see who he was but it didn't took so much for me to recognize his voice. Is terribly familiar. Before I could see him, I was suddenly punched in the face. As the times with the mind controlled Trixie and Melkior's stone punches weren't enough. I couldn't remember how many time I got punched. Moaning in pain and slightly pissed off, I tried to move my head. Hopefully I can do it, so I managed to look around. The place was somekind of tunnel being carved inside the mountain. I then faced my aggressor. I dazed but nonetheless surprised to see him, of all people. His current form was that of a black long maned light-gray stallion. Despite him being in pony form, his face is almost similar to his original. Arrogant, ruthless and prone to the death metal stereotype even without the painting. And he had also seized my bag. Damn, I hate deja vus. "Surprised to the one you had given for dead?" He said. "Well guess what. I will avenge my original." "Shilow," I said before looking at who was holding me, being two shadow humanoid, bipedal versions of him and then back to him. "You won't be anything without your Shadow Golems, don't you?" "Mock me whatever you want, Allen," Shilow said while other four Shadow Golem gathered behind him. "Now is your turn to be the prey." "Hatred toward me like the other one?" I asked sarcastically. "Well, yes, but I'm the only one who got greatly humiliated by you. Oh, don't worry about the guards and these... bizarre creatures coming from some asinine David Chronenberg movie rip off. I will use them for personal purposes." "I'm not interested to know what." Other footsteps were getting close from our left, followed by some female moaning weakly. It sounded like a dazed and delicate voice. To clear any question that I could have about that, another Shadow Golem showed up, dragging a mare being none other than a stunned Marble Pie, of all ponies, who didn't seem to realized what is going on. "What?" I said perplexed. "Hey!" Shilow shouted, looking visibly annoyed. "What the hell do you think you are doing!?" "I tHoUgHt ThAt YoU CoUlD uSe HeR tO lUrE oUr TaRgEt." The Shadow Golem said with a disconnected voice. "Is JuSt-" The creature didn't have the time to finish it's phrase that Shilow promptly blasted it's head by shooting a shadow projectile from his hoof. It's body disappeared into a coil of shades afterwards. Shilow then moved his hoof around like he was performing some sort of enchantment, causing other two Shadow Golems to appear nearby Marble, with one of them lifting her up and held her by her arms. "Idiot. Now what I'm supposed to do with her?" Shilow muttered. "If I have to gather the Elements of Harmony, I shouldn't encourage them to fight seriously. Which is why I need that queen loser to perform the job for me." "What?" I was even more perplexed. "Why you, the most aggressive and ruthless of the cult, need the Elements of Harmony?" "Don't even think I like girly stuff but I recognize a dreadful power when I see one," Shilow replied with a disgusting confidence. "As you know, the Shilow of your former universe was constantly scoffed for being the most weakest member of the Granite Daggers. Which is why I will use the Elements to become the most strongest entity around." "What? Your plan actually rotated around trying to kidnap those six mares and stripping them of their Elements?" I asked perplexed by the stupidity of his plan. "I know you would grab any type of power to compensate your inferiority," I replied irritated by his ego. "But your plan is stupid is you are. Do you really expect that the Elements, not the ponies but the actual elements, would collaborate with you?" "I will find a way because I don't want waste time and energy to find another one. You forgot that I'm also a artist. I will create a glorious harmony of my own." "Yes, glorious as the Matrix. You're are no artist at all. In fact, before entering in the cult, you were nothing but a stupid gang of bikers that committed vandalism as a form of art, You were then critically injured by the police and then rescued by the cult's leader, who put you on his side for potential cruelty and gave you the power to use shadows... To bad you suck at it." "You little-" Shilow furiously punched me in the stomach and then in the face. "Don't you dare to make fun of me!" I was even more stunned and disoriented by those blows. For a second I thought I was about to puke. Too bad for him that I didn't had ate something before. As I was dealing with my current vertigo, Shilow had the quick thinking to pull my Freezing Gauntlet off my hoof and stuffing it in my bag. He then let it slide nearby the vacant Marble. "At least I can use you as a trophy to show to my superiors. If they showed up." Shilow announced gleefully. "Y... You really believe in yourself, huh?" I demanded. "Face it, Allen" Shilow said while pointing his hoof at my face like he was about to shoot me. "I'm sick and tired to be considered the weakest one of the cult. And now I'm going to prove my superiority by humiliating you and making you carry this humiliation into the grave after you're dead!" Shilow was about to charge his blow to finish me. Hopefully is a self-absorbed dumbass who doesn't do his job in the right way. He didn't had the courtesy take my Berserker Claw away from me. Feeling it's power flowing inside of it, I moved only one finger of the claw and pointed at him. It charged with a red, electric energy and shot a flux of red lightnings at him... And missed him, ending up hitting Marble Pie instead, much to my newfound horror. Marble made a weak cry before seemingly passing out. What surprised me is that despite the lighting having struck her body, didn't looked crisped at all. Shilow glanced at me with incredulity. Then looked at Marble and then back to me. He looked back and forth between us until he stopped to look just at me and without any change of expression, he clapped his hooves for applause. To be correct, to applaud my stupidity. "Congratulation, Allen," Shilow commented. "You reputed me to be very stupid but it seems like that YOU WERE the dumbest one. You, the hero who won't hurt anybody, actually end up hurting this defenseless mare. Bra-slamming-vo!" ".... Suddenly being killed by you sounded more appealing." I commented resigned by that. "Hey, don't implore me to kill you. You will ruin my moment of glory," Shilow complained. "Now..." A sudden harsh groan make it's voice known, replaced then by a aggressive growl. That is really freaky as a sound. It was partially feminine and comes from our left. "The hell!?" I exclaimed. "Arrrgh. What now?" Shilow muttered turned toward where Marble was. Shillow's face became instantly a shocked one as the growling became more intense. I turned toward the distressed gray mare. Much to my shock, her usually timid face assumed a completely aggressive one. Clenching her teeth, she managed to released herself by smashing through the stomach of the Shadow Golem holding her with one back headbutt. The creature disappeared into a coil of shadows with a brief chilling scream. "Huh?" I looked at her in confusion. "It Killed... It killed what? what? WHAT!?" Shilow then glared at me. "What the hell have you done to her!?" I then glanced at the Berserker Claw, intuiting it was responsible for her change. Not even I couldn't believe what I'm seeing in this moment. Marble stood tall on her hind legs with a dreadful, almost maniacal face. Seeing the second golem rushing at her, she proceeded to kill it with only her fist. Or to be accurate, her hoof literally piercing it's chest. As the golem disappeared afterwards, Marble rummaged in the bag nearby her and putted on the Freezing Gauntlet. Other golems rushed toward her. This altered Marble didn't made them wait as she roared furiously while going psycho against them. One by one the shadow creatures were single handedly slaughtered by her. "Who's a mare and half!? Certainly NOT YOU!" Marble screamed confidently while destroying some golem's head in one punch. "Enough with that shit," Shilow murmured while pointing his hoof at her. "I will end this." Shilow shot a dark projectile at Marble, only for her to dodge it. She then pulled the shotgun out of my bag and shoot in the heads of the golems who were holding me, making them dissolving in shadow coils and causing me to fall on the ground. Dizzied from the various blow I have suffered in this moments, I just wanted to rest. Then I remembered that I was dealing with a psycho idiot in that moment, so is not even convenient to slacking off there. I slowly rose up and looked at him. I then looked at Marble, who had practically slaughtered every single minion that Shilow had at his disposal. She seemed to enjoy every single kill. Which is kind of scarier, coming from her. Utterly furious, Shilow shot other dark projectiles at her. Marble avoided the blows while throwing the Shotgun at him, striking his face before he could shot his next projectile. The gray mare leaped toward Shilow and landed on her legs nearby her stunned target. I took the opportunity to gallop toward my bag and retrieve it. Looking back at the two, Marble seemed to exude a very scary aura. Or maybe I'm just saying that because I accidentally turned Marble Pie into a pony equivalent of the Doom marine. "You brought me against my will without even realizing yer," Marble muttered with a half slasher smile. "But don't worry. I will settle this horrible misunderstood with this pacifier that is this Shotgun, you arrogant moron!" "Y-You know what is called?" I asked shocked by that. Marble looked at me in confusion. "Who the hell are you!?" "ENOUGH!" Shilow screamed as he emitted a black shockwave around him that propelled the crazed mare away from him. Marble ridiculously landed on her hind legs in nearby me. Since I couldn't waste anymore time, I promptly pulled off the Plasma Cannon out of my bag and pointed it at him as he was approaching us. "You ruined my plan for the last time, even if I don't know how. DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" Shilow screamed as he spiraled through the air and flew toward us in a black energy lance. "You never change your damn strategy." I said as I then shot one plasma sphere on him, disintegrating his body. Yes I won this battle... But I don't feel any satisfaction. Not because I'm overpowered and stuff, but because I have the impression that I will never have a break from this feud. And that is just infuriating. Calming down my mind, I looked at where Marble was supposed to be. But she was gone. "Dammit! I haven't purified her from the claw's effect! Where is she?" My question obtained it's answer as Chrysalis' voice echoed through the tunnel in front of me. That told me that the situation has gone a little out of control. "Wait! Keep that thing away from me!" Chrysalis' voice shouted. "Seriously, give up bug lady! You bark in vain!" Marble's voice said in her newfound arrogance. Following the voices, I galloped faster. They weren't so far away from me, so I was even lucky that I can prevent whatever this berserker Marble Pie was going to do. I arrived to a wall nearby where I was before where I found Marble pointing the Shotgun at a intimated Chrysalis, who tried to maintain her calm in vain. Hiding behind it, I promptly pointed the claw at the gray mare and zapped her with another red lightning. She yelled for a moment. "My newfound confidence is... fading.... is not fair." Marble said weakly in her aggressive voice slowly turning into a timid one before collapsing on the ground. I could see Chrysalis sighing in relief. Some of her minions were about to burst in laughter, one second before she glared at them menacingly and shouting at them about her doing some reprisal for disrespecting her. Typical of her. Even thought that she saw clearly that I, and possibly Shilow disrupted her plans, she always put the blame to the others. I studied the new situation since Shilow was removed from the equation. The only problem now was get ride of the changelings before the barrier dissolved. Why? There's a time limit that made the barrier dissolving at the end of the day. To complicate the situation, there are the three unicorn Royal Guards laying unconscious, far away from my reach. Before I could even organize myself, that annoying 8-bit level up sound ringed out of nowhere. In the most inopportune moment I will say. "Now what?" I whispered, annoyed by that. "Who's there!?" Chrysalis winced. The text box appeared on my right. Ignoring the queen, I took a quick look to see what it was... And as I expected from this Videogame Logic, was the most exaggerated thing that I ever got. Gravity Manipulator: A artifact who gives the owner to control the gravity around him at a certain radius of about three yard. As the text box disappeared, I noticed a silver triangle being there, probably the object that I had obtained in this moment. "Oooooh, that's new," I said in sarcasm. "At least I found a way to send Chrysalis away from here. Not that will prevent her to invade Canterlot wedding anyway." I shrugged my arms and touched the object, expecting to disappear and entering inside me in a flash, which happened. "Yeah, pretty unexpected." I headed toward the imprisoned Chrysalis, which was in a real foul mood after all of the shit that happened because of Shilow. "I won't repeat myself! Let us out of there THIS INSTANT!" Chrysalis shouted. "Oh, don't worry, missy. You will," I said while pointing my hoof at her. Then, a huge sphere appeared around the changelings and lifted them in mid air, carrying also the ground beneath them. Ignoring their cry of confusion, I brought them out of the cave and stood up on my two hind legs. "Get out of my office." I announced as I pointed forward, making them flying in the air at high speed. Their screams echoed in the sky. I looked their figures disappearing from my sight with a impassive face. "No, I don't want to comment that." I paused, massaging my head. "Now I understand what Saitama felt regarding the boredom coming from being the strongest one." With this thought being impressed in my mind, I putted away the Berserker Claw walked back to the cave to see how the situation is going. Luckily the guards already regained their consciousness and treated Marble Pie, who looked very confused at them. "Was that... Just a dream?" Marble asked them. "Yes... I obviously it." The first unicorn said. If only I had the courtesy to ask their names. But then again, nobody cares at this point and I wouldn't remember all of them. "Hey, you!" The second unicorn shouted. "What the hey just happened!?" The third unicorn. "One of the demonic entities caught us by surprise, I recovered, I defeated him and everything's right," I said. "Also, this mare was kidnapped by our aggressor. I think you shou-" "I know. Escort her to her home," The third anticipated my sentence with a irritated tone. "Don't tell us how to do her job. Marble turned her attention at me.... Which is no good for me. "Did we met?" "What are you talking about?" I asked, feigning ignorance. Marble remained silent and walked away from the cave with two of the unicorns escorting her. The third one remained to guard the entrance. "And the changelings?" He asked to me. "The demonic entity simply propelled them away," I said. "They were probably no match for him." "Wow, that must pretty tough." "About the huge metallic thing, I'm seriously giving it to you." "Hey, you can keep it. It must be you the one who should give it to Lilly or even Celestia and explain it's presence." "As you wish." As the guard returned to his job, I walked toward my bed and put myself under the blanket to take a nap. Differently from my former bed, is a very comfy one. Is perfect. My hoped moment of quiet was then interrupted by another 8-bit sound, this time being a creepy ring. That scared me at first. I forcefully contained my own scream. "NOW WHAT!?" A green text box appeared. I took a look at it.... And remained stunned to see what is written. Is not a level up or the addition of a object in the inventory. Instead that was something different. That was something that I didn't expected to see. A message. You think is boring? Your own way to interact with this world, this alternative and these items are boring me out of my mind. "Is the Videogame Logic actually contacting me?" The text box dissapeared, only to be immediately replaced by another one. I will met you tomorrow if you don't mind. "You know bastard? That was the moment I was waiting for." Next Level Up: 1)Power Package: A special offer with a increment of power. 2)Endurance Package: A special offer with a increment of endurance. 3)Speed Package: A special offer with a increment of speed. > Mainframe and Past Stories > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I slowly opened my eyes. That was a good sleep indeed after the whole mess with Shilow and queen freaking Chrysalis. I felt very rested. But that sense of peace in my senses was put to a abrupt end as I had immediately noticed upon recognizing in annoyance the pony above me. A blue maned purple stallion watching me from above the coffin with a crazed face, who was another member of the alternate Granite Daggers. Oh, great, another demented way to start the day. "I had finally found you, Allen," He said. "It's me, Agade. I'm-" *KRIKK!" "Freeze out." I said deadpan with the Freezing Gauntlet equipped hoof at Agade. I had instantly froze Agade by my gauntlet. Since Arga tried that surprise attack while I was sleeping, there's no way I could fall for that a second time. Speaking of him, Agade was feared by the cult for his ability to turn every cells of his body in a complete, living plague that would had shredded the bodies of his victims, but was also scorned because he was too interested to toy with his enemies before killing them instead of following orders. Hopefully he has the bad habit to monologue, depending of the person he was about to torture. Hopefully, he's currently a living ice scream for worms. I had immediately pulled off my shotgun and finished the job by shooting one projectile at him. *BOOM!" His body shattered into pieces, scattering all over the place. Soon after, the ice pieces melted, with a bunch of dark embers rising along with the vapor for a few seconds before dying off. I was about to return to sleep when I noticed one something wrong with the door way of my mound. Instead of the outside, there was a light-blue light illuminating the dark room and almost blinding me. My eyes were hurting for that. The sunlight was at least more merciful than this one. I slowly came out of the coffin and take a step forward. I thought that was a dream at first but then I remembered what happened yesterday. The Videogame Logic, responsible for o messing up my life, has invited me in his place. About fucking time. I'm going to settle the score with him... In a figurative sense. "Well, here goes or nothing." I headed toward the doorway and entered inside the light. With closed eyes because I cannot afford that hurting my retinas. I pressed on without even looking, not expecting nothing by this classic space among the spaces and stuff. I continued that way for about a minute before stopping. I slowly opened my eyes, expecting any kind of... gaming mumbo jumbo chaos that the Videogame Logic will be about throw me at. But instead, it was all white. No, it's white. The entire place in which I am into is a white space, with two exceptions. The rectangular ground below me being made of violet crystal leading toward the giant metallic cylinder in front of my sight, with glowing lines scrolling across it's metallic surface and a doorway leading to a black void. There was a red stallion with a spiked, white mane standing nearby, facing me. I was dumbfounded to find a pony in this very space. That was case until a possibility wormed inside my head, which seemed more obvious to me. "This pony must probably be the Videogame Logic. Time to put a end to this nonsense." I was about to approach the pony with intention to confront him, but before I could do anything, he spoke with anticipation. "I'm no the Videogame Logic if that is what you are going to ask," He said with a grumpy and yet familiar tone before pointing at the doorway. "The one that is constantly screwing you over is inside this structure." That voice... Wait a second, I heard that before. But where? "Are you... some kind of gatekeeper?" I asked. "Tsk. Not entirely. I'm just there under the request of one person." I studied him, more convinced of my hypothesis. "I'm sorry if I have to ask you but... Who are you exactly?" "Just a former Azure user, the one who used to have a Soul Eater and, more than that, I am the non Entitled who had sacrificed his own existence to give everyone in my original world their own possibilities." He shrugged his arms. "I didn't expect you to understand that." I stared at him in shock. That information was indeed a vague. Yet, there are some reference that I couldn't possibly ignore. Among the absurdities that I had saw so far, that was the one that I wasn't expecting at all. "Ragna The Bloodedge!?" I shouted in disbelieve. "Not entirely," Ragna replied. "I'm just a backup copy of it's existence with the sole purpose to observe every possibilities without screw the things up. I took a look at this one and I had saw a problem with that. This one is currently hijacked." I blinked. "Wait, what do you mean with that?" "The Videogame Logic is the entity responsible for having interfered with the continuum of Equestria's history." Ragna informed. "And not, this is place not Takamaghahara. Is a totally different space." "So I'm not the only one who got screwed. But for what reasons?" "I will tell you what is it's deal with Equestria. But first, no, it has nothing to do with the dreadful appearance of the alternate Granite Daggers members in that world. They would had hunted you anyway, no matter what life you were living. I feel pity for you." "Yeah, don't even remind me of that," I replied, still annoyed upon thinking at what I had gone through. "So, what is the story here?" Judging by his face, Ragna took a moment to think about the exact words, then he let out a bothered sigh while scratching his head and began. "You won't believe of the demented absurdity of what I'm going to tell, but basically, this mess started when this entity observed the last season of MLP. He was indeed crestfallen for that but he wasn't discouraged by that. He has a hope for the next generation... But... That generation failed it's expectations, something that raged him like no other. He felt betrayed by that and wanted to teach that a lesson. This until he came out with a idea. He had literally hijacked the reality of Equestria and reverted back to season 1. But reset that wasn't his intention. He wanted to create his new possibility." "............................ What?" "And that was the part where you came in," Ragna said. "To be fair, he wasn't responsible for you being brought into Equestria, but used your existence to create this possibility. His own very, screw up possibility. This logic had subjected that world to his rules and tried to use your mistake and role to change the instances. But your constant attempt to maintain the status quo and other things had literally bored out of his mind. That obviously leaded you there." I remained silent. "I'm sorry to put the things in that way, but that is exactly what is going on," Ragna said. I tilted my head. Ragna sighed, seemingly knowing my reaction. "Now you can give your honest opinion." I charged my hoof, in a way of speach, and facehoofed so hard that I wished that smashed my head a little bit. "He's.... fucking... SERIOUS!!!?" I screamed. Ragna nodded. "You heard it." "I..I... I can't believe this," I said, shaking my head. "This is by the far the most demented, psychotic, spoiled, inconceivable, inexcusable, nonsensical, stupid reason I ever heard in my entire life!! I can't believe that! The Videogame Logic that continued to screw me over was just a complaining douchebag with... That bastard used me as a tool!!" "What are you going to do? Beat him up?" Ragna asked. "No." I said, trying to calm myself up. "I have a idea about that." "Hmm?" Ragna looked curious. "I want to give this idiot a taste of my life," I said with a serious tone, heading toward the door. Ragna didn't even bothered to follow me, but I wasn't paying attention to him. I entered inside the door, getting through the seemingly endless darkness. I continued my march forward without having any visual reference of where I'm actually going. I didn't cared about that. I am currently pissed upon knowing to be used by someone, or something as it's own tool. I pressed on, expecting to find the Videogame Logic's real appearance and fix this idiocy as soon as possible. After a few minutes of wandering aimlessly in the middle of the darkness, I spotted a partially illuminated point. I galloped to see what it was. Upon reaching it, I finally had to see his real form.... And I don't even know where to start with this one. I was looking at the torso of a bothered young, pale, scarlet haired, black eyed, bothered boy attached to a machine. It was a metal thing with eyes made of glass. There was also a golden plate being attached in the part above the boy's head with the words 'no scrubs' written on it. As for the boy, his nails are shaped as plectrums, with kanjis, runes and instruments being depicted on each one of them. There are also deformed pipes being wore by him as shoulder pads and there was a swarm of number ones and zeroes circling around his pupils. I looked at his appearance twice just to convince myself that I didn't had gone completely insane. I and then recovered a bit of my composure and to do my talk. "Here we are," I said. "I have been waiting for you, so I didn't had made you wait," The boy said, seemingly disinterested. "You know, you are not getting away this time," I said when I had recalled that... Incident that happened during my fight with Vaelox. "Ok, I had to admit, you had saved my position after I had accidentally killed Twilight... Even if I hate Corpse Remodeling with all of my passion. I take full responsibility for my own screw ups... But I don't need all of these powers and stuff to live. That alone is the reason why I am currently feared in Equestria. All because you were using me as your pawn." "So the bigmouth told you about me." He said even more disinterested. I looked at him perplexed. "You are not... even trying to defend yourself, aren't you?" "Does that even matter?" The boy said, almost lazily. "I give up." "..... Really?" "But is not just because you are constantly maintaining the status quo of Equestria's history, oh no. There are also these stupid enemies of yours, constantly ruining the things. I shouldn't have brought you into this." "Too late, I already am." I remarked. "You weren't even try to break the scheme of the things," The boy complained calmly. "Although you were tempted to put your own touch in the events. Unfortunately you were still going to leave the things being still the same... Let me tell you my motivation for me for doing so." "Dude, you don't need to tell me that." I said. "I know already." "I was selfish... ok?" The boy admitted, something that I wasn't expecting at all. "I was so mad at the creators of the new generation to have screwed the things up. And now I had hijacked this universe in order to create another story. I had even used you... I have no excuse for this." "And you expect me to believe that?" I asked sternly. "Absolutely no." He replied. "So... What you are going to do?" I asked. "You want to live your own new life correctly, right?" The body said. "Well... I will just reverse the time again. But this time, I will leave the things as they are while giving you something to put your enemies at bay without any difficulty." At this point, I don't even know I have to sympathize with him already or just scoff him. Beside, his confession was very genuine and yet too sudden. He was even giving me a help to prevent my enemies to come... I will check up something first. "Before you do what you are going to do, let ask you something." I said with a serious tone. "I have to?" The boy replied annoyed by that. "Yes, you have, cretin." I responded, "Starting by telling what kind of life you lived." "Eeeeh?" He looked very confused. "I don't know what are you going into but...." He groaned. "Fine, you will have it," He paused. "However, just feel free to call me Yomi." "You version, please," I insisted. "I am just a entity born into a dark space that was filtered in this one," Yomi complained. "I had played with the fate of other worlds for funzies before, so Equestria wasn't the only one... Well, that is kind of a lie. I had only interfered with their history in order to fix their problems and I had always succeeded only through pawns." I stared at him with justified irritation. "So you are basically someone who thinks is above anything else?" "Don't exaggerate," Yomi replied. "That may look very petty to you, but that is how I roll." "In this case, I will refuse your offer to fix my new life and giving you a proposal of mine," I said without any mercy. Yomi stared at me for a moment, with shocked wide-eyes, hoping to not having hear the last part coming from me. "What?" "I am serious." I responded. Yomi shook frantically his head, with his face being slowly filled with raging incredulity. "What are you trying to say with that!?" "I don't trust you in any case," "Why not!? I was just about to restore your new life to normality while helping you to deal with your enemies. Besides, like I said, I give up screwing with that world's reality." "And there's a problem with that," I pointed out. "What makes you think of such a thing!?" Yomi said, loosing his cool. I brought him where I wanted. I would had accepted his offer for sure if I hadn't suspected on thing. "Because, even without your interference, you will still have won," I paused. "But to be more accurate, you had lost instead." "What!?" Yomi looked very confused. "There are still the problem of my enemies coming into Equestria to hunt me down," I pointed out. "So, as long I am there, they won't stop coming. Reversing what we had done so far isn't enough. Which is why I will ask you to put me into somewhere else after the new time reversal." Yomi flinched very nervously, taken aback from that. "What!?... That is impossible! I can only reverse the history of each worlds, create objects and add some personal touch and mcguffins on my own... But I can't warp reality or even displace you into another world from there." "Are you screwing with me?" I asked almost pissed. "It's true. I can't interfere with the worlds history," Yomi explained. "But my powers can't interact with the living beings, so I can't even move people into other worlds. Look, if you had thought that I am powerful enough to kill you or even destroy a world on my own... You are wrong. I had always used pawns to do the job for me." I had no words in that moment. That was just... Wow. I had no words to express my disdain and utter disbelieve for if not covering my face and groaning in disappointment before looking at him again with a dead serious face. "What useless enitity." I said bluntly. "I'm sorry, but I'm not this powerful. What do you expect me do to?" Yomi asked. "You could see other world's history, right?" I asked. "Well.... Yes, but why you ask?" Yomi demanded. "Show me a part of that of my own world," I demanded. "Specifically, my own struggle with the Granite Daggers." Yomi trembled with a almost panicked face, but for other reasons. "Y-you are going to see your own tragedy. Look, I never saw that part since I never had interfered with your world, but what are try to gain from that?" "Just do it." I insisted. He remained silent, looking at me with pure confusion, unable to understand my intentions. He then sighed heavily and raised his hand. A big, shapeless rectangle resembling a screen appeared on my left. Images of a event were depicted on the screen. Something that I almost avoided to remember. Cerebus syndrome could barely describe what I'm seeing. That would be my story. That was practically my story as Allen Nitrol, a slightly aloof boy who was also being nitpicking, a little bit lazy and sometime blunt. Hopefully I was also emphatic and comprehensive to compensate that. I was also a sucker for videogames, movies, memes and other stuff, which are hobby that I put into practice only in the free time. And I had also friend of mine, being Primula. She was the typical tsundere student council president, and the only one who admit to be one. Thank god. That was a ordinary life. until Vaelox, the real one and the first of the Granite Daggers, partially murdered most of my classmates during a trip. I was about to die if wasn't for a armor that gave me a unnatural power, tremendous enough to defeat him or killed him. I didn't know what happened to me when I was approached by a monk who had explained the situation that I had gotten into. And speaking of my powers, he told me that I wasn't human anymore and that I had become a Iron Ghost. That wasn't totally accurate since a normal Iron Ghost is someone with the ability to abandon his body and possessing a artificial battle body to control. In my case, my body and the armor I was supposed to possess had become one. As a result, is like I was in a battle body for the whole time. The monk told me about Vaelox and the Granite Daggers, a cult of Iron Ghosts who are the same as me and the organization in which Vaelox was part of. Their goal was merge the world with hell itself, a sick idea conceived by their leader, Plaguer. He also talked about another cult, being the Dark Saints, which fair enough, are just normal Iron Ghosts who had nothing to do with them. Not that made them completely innocent anyway. Because of the slaughter, I, Primula and the students who had survived that had transferred into another school. There I met Matthew, a timid boy and aspiring artist. We had talked and helped with each other for the studies for about two weeks. He had a future... Until Arga showed up and made him suffer a agonizing death after having gruesomely stole his eyeballs. Furious for his death, I had confronted that demented bitch and made use of the powers in my disposal. Controlling plasma energy, invoking very long dark chains to use as weapons, enhanced power, resistance and speed, and, most notable, the corruption, which was like the Corrupter that I had acquired by the Videogame Logic, with the only difference that it allowed me to corrupt Arga's armor and body, and us it to forcing her stabbing through her chest. I would had watched her die in agony but since I'm not this sadistic, I then opted for smashing her head with a blow. Primula was greatly furious for my methods and decided not have anything to do with me. Is pretty much understandable. The way in which I defeated Arga was very despicable. I didn't bothered to apologize to her but not because she won't had listened, in my opinion. I leaved the things with Primula be in this way because I wanted her to stay away from me in order for her to avoid being caught by the Granite Daggers. A hope that didn't happened anyway as she was then kidnapped by Melkior. Luckily I managed to defeat him but when I saved Primula, she was literally battered and was sent into the hospital. I spent a few days with her and apologized to her for having involved her in this mess. Primula... Not only forgave the abuse of my powers but also asked me to stop his brother Kiro, being one of these cultists as well. In the following two years, I continued to fight the Granite Daggers as a relentless vigilante. That happened wherever they decided to show up, but most of the time, I ended up seeing friends die, being mutilated or, in worst scenarios, even joining them. For each fight, I had learned to be a little more humble and less arrogant. However I had also become a little sociopath, if not going borderline Deadpool territory where I will simple had to be optimistic even in the macabre situations. I had eventually met a group of Iron Ghosts who are fighting the cultist as I am, leaded by Jolen and Sigurd. They asked to join them. I didn't had accepted them until the time was perfect. I was looking for Kiro until I stumbled into a normal Iron Ghost who wasn't very fond of my vigilantism and tremendous power of mine. A dreadful black haired school girl's soul in a mechanic, pink-haired, lethal doll named Mio Amisato. She was blocking my way and tried to take me down. I had a hard time to deal with this lady. She was able to cut almost everything, including some pieces of my altered body, and is immune to the corruption. Anyway, the duel ended in a draw, mostly because we were surprisingly almost equal in term of power, so I was about to leave. Mio blocked my way and explained that Kiro was killed by two Iron Ghosts being Firepuppet and Ramstorm, and that she had already informed Primula of that. She also talked about herself and her deal with the Dark Saints, and said that she tested me because she was obviously worried about me having a tremendous power. I had assured her that I won't end up being like Plaguer or any other member of his cult. Primula was obviously traumatized by her loss, and yet she promised him to stay strong to honoring the memory of the brother Kiro used to be. Independent and strong before they managed to capture him and brainwash him through their members, Omione and Tera. Which Mio already took care off, which means that Kiro was practically avenged. And then someone gleefully say that having a tremendous power and a very tragic story is badass. Whoever had said that should put himself in my shoes and the come back to tell the tale he was so hyped up to live. After a month, I joined Jolen's group in occasion of the final confrontation with the Granite Daggers. Mio eventually catch up with us and decided to help us with her own terms. We stormed inside their hideout with a massive surprise attack, decimating most of them. "That was fun," Jolen said confidently. "Let's just hope that they didn't saw that coming." "That is gonna a helluva surprise." I had commented. Then hell fell upon us, with a entire army of cultist trying to decimate us. A wave of frenzy and destructive energy was about to overwhelm us. But at that point, I had got used to. "They are coming!" Sigurd exclaimed. "Quite of a tempest, isn't it?" Mio commented. "Still got them, Allen." Jolen said exalted. "Let's do it!" I had shouted. The cultists rushed toward us aggressively, being more powerful than the once we had fenced. The battle was a pure bloodshed in which we lost even most of our allies, including Sigurd and Jolen. I stormed toward the ceremonial room with Mio and battled with Plaguer, being assisted by his back up soldiers being the Four Blades. I managed to keep up with them and almost killing the leader. Unfortunately, he managed to cut deeply my torso before I could even give the coup de grace. Blood erupted out of me and I had instantly began my descent in the darkness. "ALLEEEEEEEEEEEN!!" Mio screamed. I had already expected her to react like that. I know her story. She saw her friends die too. I feel on the ground, being unable to move and going deeper in my downfall, but not before Plaguer could had spat on me his last, venomous, disgusting words. "Hmpf. You really deserved a really gruesome fate like this... Before your descent into the abyss... That Cocytus may not have mercy of you." The last thing that I heard was his own laughter, that of the remained member of the Four Blades and that of the remaining cultists gathered to see my demise. That was unavoidable. I had overpowered them so much that they end up hating me. I don't know what happened to Mio and I don't even know if she managed to take him down, since my life was already sent to the realm of the dead... Not expecting me to go in Equestria in any case because I found that stupid until that happened. After that, the screen suddenly became a bright, blank white and shrunk into the void before disappearing. I was looking down to the nonexistent floor, without any word to say. It will take time for me to recover from this replay. Putting aside the positive moments, it wasn't a pleasant thing to see that again. I looked back at Yomi, whose face was struck in shock. He looked very shaken from what he saw in that projection. "That was the crudest part of my life, sir. Although, yes, I acted arrogantly most of the time but I had also learned my lessons. However, I'm not some pawn that you can manipulate me for amusement or fate wheel screwing like a jackass. I'm just someone who wanted to have a break from that struggle." "But I can still fix your new life," Yomi invited. "No, dude. As I said before, I refuse your offer." I paused. "Which is way I wanted to continue your game." "WHAT!?" Yomi exclaimed, even more confused. "But keep in mind, I won't live according to your whim and I'm not doing this for you," I informed him bluntly. "I will do that to make sure that they won't do anymore damage. I would be ashamed if Equestria got screwed over because of my connection with those bastards. Still, thanks for your gifts. Sure, I'm bored to be overpowered, but at least they helped me." "Said the sociopath who turned a owl into a pony to fix Twilight's future douchy behavior toward Spike," Yomi remarked. "Or even froze up Trixie during her show to humiliate her, or briefly corrupted Photon Gladion. You are indeed a hypocrite." "Ok, I concede that," I replied before grinning. "Besides, another reason for me to do that is because I want to screw up Equestria's canon in my own way while maintaining a bit of status quo." "But that's my job!" Yomi muttered. "You can't do shit and I am your supposed pawn," I pointed out. "So you better accept this new possibility that you tried to make so desperately. What you see-" "Alright, I got the message." Yomi interrupted me with anticipation. We both fell silent, looking at each other. There's no romance involved. Only Yomi looking at me slightly angered at me for the fact that I was forcing his own luck. Basically, I was blackmailing a powerful entity. "By the way, I will continue your experiment if you follow four requests of mine." I informed. "And what could possibly be those one?" Yomi asked scornful. Damn, I think I had humiliated him a little bit. Then again, I won't have sympathy for his childish behavior. "One I want to your game's rules to be nerfed." I said with a grin. "You want to be..." He paused wide-eyed, realizing what I had said. "You want me nerfing my rules!?" "Let me explain," I said while raising my hoof to stop him. "If you are bored, what you had to do is just remove some useless or over advantaging rules and fix the other ones just to makes the thing more interesting." "Well... That isn't a bad idea... Not that I'm willing to do that anyway." Yomi said reluctantly. "Two: I want you remove all the objects and other abilities in my possession and turning them into objects after I had returned in the present." "Wait, remove all the things that I had given to you, including the ones that you got during the level ups? Are you a idiot!?" "I just want to live according to my will, ok?" I responded. "Besides, I had the third one that will still give me a way to fight these cultists without all of that overpowered stuff." "Just tell me that already," Yomi said impatiently. "And Three: I want you to give me the powers that I have when I was a Iron Ghost." Yomi stared at me with a awfully surprised face. "You want to have your powers back?" "If I have to live and fight, I will do it with my own forces. Got it?" "..... But them you have still the problem to keep your powers and identity a secret, you know?" "I will find a way." I assured him. Yomi took a handful of second to think about the rights words to say. I could tell by his pondering face, adorned with a frustrated visage. He was got owned by me exploiting his own flaws. "Fine, you won," Yomi said with a mocking face. "I will do whatever you asked, but only because I don't want to see your face again. Now get the out of my mainframe!" Yomi hastily raised his hand and unleashed a white stream that engulfed the entire room, devouring the darkness in instant. Everything was white, without anything else being in my vision. In that point I felt something dragging away. I couldn't see that but I know what it was. It was Yomi kicking me out of his lair. All of that happening while being accompanied by multiple images of event happening in front of me. In a blink of a eye, I found myself in my mound. Looked to the floor, being soaked by the melted frozen fragments of what used to be Agade. Which means I am in the present. The blinding light disappeared from the doorway. It was still morning on the outside. Everything looked the same. Yet my body was telling me something else. My powers were back and my body felt like the one that I had in my past life as a Iron Ghost... And yet there is something with me. I also discovered some new memories inside my mind and a new powers. "Let me guess. Yomi just cheated on our deal?" Without any warning, a 8-bit creepy ring startled me. If I can remember, that was the one that ranged yesterday before Yomi's message appeared. The text box appeared just in time, because I started to think that he tricked me. I took a look at the message.... I was right. You got your powers, you almost got what you want and, yes, I nerfed some rules but guess what. I don't appreciate being blackmailed by you, so I decided to put this rule into practice. "I have already a vague hint about where this is going." Soon after my statement, the text box disappeared and reappeared with a new message. Here's the chaos rule. You will have only a max of three objects or powers for time. After a long period of time, they will be replaced with other objects of powers at random. You will also retain you original powers, the Freezing Gauntlet, the Shotgun, the Corpse Remodeling cube, the drops and the extra items. Enjoy my gift, sucker. As text box disappeared, I maintained my calm for about a twenty seconds before losing my cool. I was about to burst until another text box appeared. Oh, by the way, I will let you enjoy the power that has currently replaced your Ninja Gaiden mcguffings with something else, which may be removed from the list during the replacement. However, if someone borrows a non-extra item of yours, It won't be replaced and the space can be still filled with another power of item. I will eventually explain the new rules. But not today "That is actually a honest offer and reasonable thing... Except that is coming from that doucebag," Punctual like a clock, that wretched 8-bit level up sound ringed out of nowhere. I wouldn't vent anymore stress on him since I had always knew that Yomi was practically screwing me over. With pure disinterest, a took a look to the test.... Said disinterest was then blow out upon seeing this. Endurance Package: A increment of endurance that was added on your powers as a Iron Ghost. "So I am now some kind of tank?... That is actually a good thing for e, who was smacked around like a ragdol," I pause, still angered. "Not that will excuse his actions." I would had tested my powers but not now. I had two things to investigate. First off, the message regarding Ninja Gaiden's power being replaced with something else. I still remembered how to do that acrobatic stuff but I wasn't able to do that correctly anymore. I mentally checked my new memories and discovered that this.... No. I used that power to materialize and dissolve weapons that I can't believe to have: The Arbiter, the Osiris, the Eryx, the Aquila, the Reb... I dissolved that weapon and reacted in annoyance. "Now that is ridiculous. These are DMC Dante's powers!.... Really!?" I shook my head. "Screw it. I won't even test those." And now, I'm going to see what power and item Yomi was removed from me and what wasn't. My ninja skills being removed was confirmed, but I need to take look at the rest. I didn't know where to look until I recalled something that I forgot to have. "The black orb." I rummaged in the bag and pulled out the artifact. It didn't wast any time to display my progress, along with a message displaying the abilities in my current possession. Allen Nitrol Level: 9 Abilities aquired so far: -Corpse Remodeling Rotatory skills: -DNA Twister -Plasma Cannon -Book of Healing Temporary Ability -Dmc Dante's mcguffins I facehoofed delicately. "I need a drink." I was about to take some water when I noticed a trapdoor one the floor. That wasn't there until now. Curiosity quickly took over, so I opened it, revealing a glow. Noticing the stairs I went descended and found something that I wasn't expecting. "Or I am stoned or Yomi has something to do with this." That pseudo basement was actually a really ordinate living room, with a light on the ceiling, three bookshelves filled with books, a sofa, some furniture, a freaking TV and a console. Which is similar to the PS4, but is called, according to his own trademark, DETHLOSENSICAL 91. There are also some games and some movies. I was wondered by that generous gift... But then I remembered what I was dealing with. I groaned while scratching my head. "I don't know if you are bribing me because you are desperate or you're simply rooting me in your own way... Which is improbable." I then yawned. "And now I am tired... Which is weird, considering that is still morning. I went upstairs, closed the trap-door and went outside. The wind was blowing gently so that was a good moment to take a stroll. I wandered among the trees for a brief time. Despite the good weather, I couldn't help but think about the ones who I left behind. Primula must be surely heartbroken upon knowing my death, I guess.... But Mio? Her soul was still in her mechanical body and was left to deal with Plaguer and his followers, all by herself when I died. "Allen just rest easy, they will be ok.... I hope." I said to myself. I pressed on without having a destination in particular when I was then called by a familiar voice, being no other than Lilly. "Violet." Lilly said. I lifted my head to see her descending from above in front of me, with her face being less stern than the usual. "Is there any problem?" I asked. "None except what had transpired yesterday." Lilly replied. "The one with the changelings," I said in anticipation. "Still, the machine was fixed?" "Unfortunately it's magic components were destroyed as well," Lilly said, almost irritated. "So it's impossible to repair... By why you are asking this? I thought you were to lazy to work." "At least I was doing something." I assured her. Lilly stared at me with a puzzled face. She has no idea what I had gone through today. Having her knowing nothing was better than nothing. "I know there's no reason to ask that," Lilly said unsure of what she was saying. "But..." "What?" I asked calmly. "You look very serene," Lilly pointed out. "Which is very unusual since we don't get along this well. Can you tell me at least what happened." I shrugged my arms. "Nothing in particular." Chapters before Level Up: -3 Next Level Up: 1)Soul Calibedge: A very conflicted and yet dreadful sword who doesn't give any vantage to the owner outside being a huge weapon. 2)Pluto Gun: A gun that can use the coins as bullets which spawns a number of other coins from one to nine every time a living target was hit. 3)Void Ring: A object that allowed the user to become a living void that disintegrates and clean through everything that came across and revert back when is needed. > Bullseye Dubstep > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rotatory abilities: DNA Twister Gravity Manipulator Book of Healing Removed ability: DMC Dante's mcguffins After four hours of sleep, took the opportunity to take a stroll. Actually, that was a way to digest my previous encounter with the Videogame Logic itself, being a male douchebag named Yomi. He wasn't responsible for me being reborn in Equestria, but rather exploited me as a pawn in order to create his own version of the MLP Canon. I had then cornered him after told him my story and convinced him to give me the powers that I had as a Iron Ghost. The bad news was that he, in reprisal, made sure that I would had only three of the certain items or abilities and replace them with others, like a rotation. The good news is that I have a underground living room... If I didn't had discovered a fraud. Most of the books, movies and games were all plastic. Also, this day I already had the DMC Dante's abilities being removed... And I'm not gonna miss it. Also, I was wondering why Lilly was in the hurry when I noticed three multicolored insects passing nearby the doorway of my house... Oh, damn, I remember now. "That is the Swarm of the Century, right?" I asked to no one particular and the looked at the creatures. "Well, I guess I have to kick these things out of my house before they go Zerg rush on me." That was my intention but before doing that, I took a look at the black orb to see what abilities Yomi's demented rotation gave to me. Luckily I had the DNA Twister and the Gravity Manipulator, which was a huge vantage to me. I pointed my hoof at the insects and made them levitate above the ground. I then put them inside my bag. Once I had 'trapped' them, I put on a black hood and used the twister to turn myself into a blue-metallic pegasus. Instead of galloping, I just hoovered myself above the ground and floated at a rapid pace toward Fluttershy's cottage, hoping that was the time in which Rainbow Dash was gathering the Parasprites inside a tornado made by her. I had arrived and thank god I was just in time. I was observing the scene from behind the bushes. The only factor to consider was that Pinkie Pie would had arrived and accidentally screwed up the things. That wouldn't be a problem. "Looks like our problem are solved," Applejack said optimistic. Yeah, optimistic... Until Pinkie Pie showed, obviously hopping and carrying to cymbals on her neck. "They will be with these cymbals." Pinkie Pie said one second before the cymbals were dragged away by the tornado's suck force. "Hey! Give me those back." The cymbal were about to enter the tornado and going to screw up Rainbow Dash's method... Well, not until I'm around. I pointed my hoof at the cymbals. "Saiki Kusuo style." I said for a nonsensical cool factor as I used my gravitational powers on the objects. I stopped the cymbals in mid-air, a few inches away from the tornado, and sent them to fly so far that they ended up whizzing in the sky. The Mane Six were struck with shocked incredulity, minus Rainbow who was busy to keep the tornado together to pay attention at that. I had exploited their distraction to toss the Parasprites that I had trapped in my bag in that vortex. As Rainbow's tornado was dragging the Parasprites far away from Ponyville, the five mares were still baffled from the flying cymbals' phenomena, but they weren't the only ones. Even I was impressed by how far I was able to launch them... I had realized to have used my powers in a wrong way. "Ok... Maybe I had exaggerated." I thought. "W-what the... Ha..." Twilight stuttered incredulous. "What happened?" "There must be some mojo jumbo going on here!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Maybe those cymbals were possessed by some enchanted influence! "Pinkie, how can you even tell that?" Applejack demanded. And now there comes the exploitation . I just entered the scene to explain that. And since I am in the form of a blue metal pegusus, the took me as another pony. Thanks a lot, DNA Twisted. "Allow me to explain that," I said with a young solemn voice, getting their attention. "What you had witnessed I the demonstration of a way to use magic that nopony can perceive at all. Is called Magical Stealth, a form of magic that can't be perceived or those aura couldn't even be saw." I won't even bother to show up since that would be pointless. I could had took my leave but I preferred to watch their conversation just to see if there are other complications. I mean, with cultist and other things at random, I can't possibly know what else would happen at this point. "Well, at least Celestia's visit will go smoothly as planned," Twlight said optimistic. "I mean, we have solved the problem." "No, is not!" Rainbow's voice shouted in the distance. I turned at the voice direction to see the cyan pegasus flying toward them, accompanied by two pegasi mares at her sides. I shook my head, recognizing in horror upon seeing them. One of them was blue maned with a dark yellow coat and the other was a pink maned green one... The same ones that I had accidentally killed with my icy ninja technique that I had used to protect my mound from a storm and that I had resurrected them with the Corpse Remodelling procedure as Remodelled Corpses with normal appearances... As Twilight alone wasn't enough. "NO! NOT THEM!" "Rainbow, what are they doing here?" Twilight asked perplexed before becoming alarmed. "And what do you mean with the problem is not resolved!?" Applejack turned sternly to Fluttershy. "Ah hope ya haven't another one of those Parasprites with you." "No, the ones that were dragged away by Rainbow were the last ones," Fluttershy assured. "I had even checked my house for other ones, but there are none." "Actually.... Is our fault," The dark-yellow pegasus said. "Yesterday, me and my friend took a stroll in the woods when we had found one of these insects being alone. We thought that he was lost, so we took him with us and helped him to find his home. Right, Mint Cloudborne?" "Yes, Boreal Bright," Mint replied. "Unfortunately, the situation got of control when we found him being able multiplying himself. In a hour, those things became many... And now they are heading to Ponyville. I guess." The Mane Six went all wide-eyed in dismay and gasped for that news, with Twilight looking nervously at the two, with her eye almost twitching and on the verge to go Crazy Light mode. I, on other hands, I was awfully incredulous... badly. "You can't be serious." "Eh.. Eheheheh..." Twilight already showed the signs. "You are telling me that there is another group of Parasprites... Headed toward Ponyville?" "Yeah," Boreal replied, meekly. "... Goody. Eheheh..." Twilight said, almost loosing it. This is bad. I am about to witness to one of her breakdowns in live... Fortunately for Twilight, I had that backup plan. Without even waiting for her to snap, I showed up with the intention to cool down the situation. "Guys!" I shouted, getting their attention. "Before you are flipping from my sudden appearance or other reason, let me expose my solution regarding the Parasprites. I know how to deal with them." Twilight suddenly beamed up. "Really?" "But you had to let me do a thing first," I said before approaching Pinkie. "You were planning to use musical instruments to lure the creatures out of the town?" "Wow. How do you know that?" Pinkie asked cheerfully. "Just intuition," I said sporadically. "Now what we need in this moment is a freaking marching parade. Can you provide one?" "Yep! It was my intention from the very start!" Pinkie affirmed. "Wait a second, Pinkie," Twilght halted. "You are telling me that was your idea?" "Yes," "And that was reason for you to bring those cymbals from before?" "That's right." Pinkie responded. "Look, you won't believe that," Mint said. "But when we tried to get information regarding them before today, we found out that music is one of their weaknesses." Twilight looked at her with a blank expression. "You are not joking, right?" "Yes, right in the updated edition of Underground Bestiary." Mint responded. Underground Bestiary.... What the hell does that title even mean? Twilight turned toward Pinkie, remaining silent for a moment before muttering. "Why didn't you had explained - Arrrgh - Forget it.... Alright, you can do that, but if Ponyville-" "We will help you to rebuild it." Boreal interrupted. "Trust us on that." "Yeah, promised." Mint added politely. I shuddered for a moment. "Oh, no. If they began to display the unnatural strength that their undead condition bestowed to them... I couldn't even imagine about what will happen next." "Ok, everypony. Follow me." Twilight commanded, skeptical about what is going to happen next. We headed toward Ponyville, were Pinkie equipped herself with a musical arsenal on her back. As the Parasprites arrived, the Elements of Laughter made her first move and, as I had predicted, she managed to lure them out of the town, much to Twilight's surprised. After a minute, Celestia arrived in place on a chariot just in time to hear Twilight about that event, but I didn't bothered to see the scene and went inside the woods, far away from their eyes. Once out of their sight, I hoovered myself and whizzed very fast at home. Reaching the doorway of my mound, I landed and used the DNA Twister to return to my true form. Originally, I was thinking about testing that weird DETHLOSENSICAL 91 console that Yomi had 'gifted' to me. But, then again, that would be lazy and predictable of me since I didn't had done anything this concrete today. Instead I put on black cloak that veiled my face and went for a stroll in the woods... "Violet." Until I heard Lilly's voice, which came from my left. I turned in her voice's direction and, of course, I saw here walking toward me, with a tired look in her face. "Sorry for the question but... What happened?" I asked. "I was convoked when I heard about a swarm of Parasprites heading toward Ponyville" Lilly asked. "Devouring most of the edible things that they came across, crops included. Don't tell me that you were still sleeping." "Not entirely..." I responded, lazily. "I think you know what happened next," Lilly said, sternly. "You better follow me and tell me the details." I sighed quietly. "If you want." Much to my annoyance, I followed her and explained the details, except the part with the Parasprites that I had found in the house. Lilly was so convinced of what I had told to her but was slightly baffled by the part in which Pinkie's exploitation of their weakness for the music was involved. Nonetheless, I spent the entire day with Lilly since she has no intention to let me slacking off in the coffin. Which is quite reasonable, if wasn't for the fact that she had to drag me into some parts of her duty, The only useful moment, to me, was her talking about finding other ways to keep the alternate Granite Daggers member at bay... And that's it. The rest is just pure boredom. Once the night fell, I was free to return back to home and got some sleep. In the next day, I had got up after a decent rest and took a look at my surrounding. Since Lilly wasn't there due to her being convoked for a emergency in Fillydelphia, I went in the pseudo basement slash living room slash fun zone. I turned on both the TV and the DETHLOSENSICAL 91. Much to my delight, the console worked. I had even putted on both the Freezing Gauntlet and the Berseker Claw in order to use the controller. Seriously, I couldn't even use it with just my hooves, unless I want to do a challenge but... Who the hell want to do that anyway? And since I had already got stressed for the fact that I didn't had any real break since Vaelox's appearance, I decided to vent it by playing the first Doom, which was one of the few games that I had found so far. I got bored after three hours and went upstairs. Since there's no point to return to my sleep so early, I had took a stroll while listening music with Melkior's Ipod. I didn't had any idea about what to do next until... A very disturbing idea came into my mind. "Alright... Let's do this experiment." And for experiment I meant speding the rest of the day by playing around with the DNA Twister, testing it on birds or squirrels that came I had encountered, turning them into ponies. After promising them to return back to normal, we talked a little bit. Apparently, one of the transformed squirrels is seriously on the opinion that Angel Bunny was an asshole because he had witnessed him abusing of Fluttershy... Well, he didn't had used that word but that came close. The birds, however, talked about their frustrating ordeal with the red dragon's smog. After a while, I returned them back to normal and returned to my mound with a bad taste in my mind. "I think I had played mad scientist...... Boredom can be indeed dangerous." As night fell, I ate some of the cupcakes that were salvaged from the incident with Shilaw. Needless to say that after some time, I had entered into the coffin, waiting for Morpheus once again. And yes, I'm aware this day is the one where Ponyville was preparing for the Winter Wrap-Up... But I don't give a shit about that. Besides, that is the part where Twilight took a character development from there, so my intervention is kinda inappropriate. I got a moment of peace. Until I heard Twilight's voice. "I know you are here. Could you please wake up?" Twilight's voice asked. Half fed-up, I rose from the coffin and looked at the doorway, were Twilight was already there, this time wearing a green-blue jacket and perplexed expression. I expected her to face me, which is improbable, or trying to get some answers from me about my intentions. "So... What brought you there?" I asked, not expecting anything from her. "Seriously, you had recovered from your injuries and yet you are still slacking off." Twilight stated. "Yet you didn't had answered to my question." "Be grateful that I didn't had brought my friends with me since they were busy in their works. They are still distrusting you." "That can't be helped." I responded, with a almost deadpan tone. Twilight was stuck with a slightly dumbfounded visage for a moment and then sighed. "You... Are not putting any effort prove that you are trust worthy." "Just what do you want?" I asked impatiently. "I just wanted to know your background," Twilight responded. "I mean, I know that Celestia tasked you to stop the advance of those malignant entities..." She became a little embarrassed upon remembering something. "Which I had forgot during the time with Zecora," She paused. "But putting aside that, what are you exactly doing during your day?" "Nothing in particular except being dragged by Lilly in her work, most of the time," I said, half-lying. "The rest is just me taking some stroll in the woods... Oh, but if you are talking about transfer that Lilly had force on me... It was cancelled." "......That's all?" Twilight said, not knowing if I was joking or not. "I was suddenly attacked and that place for my job was destroyed," I responded. "Say, did you had at least one job outside being librarian?" For a moment, Twilight glared at me but then quickly calmed down and narrowed her eyes. "I had actually helped the inhabitants of Ponyville to organize their traditional Winter Wrap-Up," Twilight said calmly. "And surely it has nothing to do with slacking off." "Whatever, just give me a break," I said with a half-tired tone. "Yesterday, I almost had a bunch of insects invading my house." "And yet your home isn't so messy." Twilight pointed out. "That because I had kicked them out," I responded. "By the way, didn't you have any friendship report to send to Celestia?" "I already had!" Twilight said, stressed by my responses. "You know, Violet. I tried to get along with you, but you are keeping on to isolate yourself. You are even allowing my friends to villainize you." "I would had talked to them, but not now," I said. "When?" "When they would had made their first move on their own." Frustrated, Twilight turned around and was about to leave, but not before giving me one last warning. "It does not end here. Hero or not, I have to keep you in check." Twilight said before leaving for real. Well, even that is done. I know that Twilight wanted to get along with me but I have to keep them from finding out about my powers and discovering my identity and tremendous history as a Iron Ghost. But who cares. I fell on my futon and finally took my sleep... Hoping that Aunt Death wouldn't make her own show in my dreams again. I woke up upon hearing some voices. Three familiar voices, which one of them was that of.... Applebloom? ... Which means that the other two were Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo... That is not a good thing. "Oh, boy," I whispered with annoyance. "Tell me that the Cutey Mark Crusader didn't came to bother me under Applebloom's suggestion." "Are you sure that is a good idea, Applebloom?" Sweetie Bell's voice asked. "Ah don't think that Violet will wake up so soon since it's too lazy." Applebloom's voice answered. I groaned quietly. "Talking about bad moment." I peered from behind the wall of my coffin and saw the three fillies nearby the doorway, talking to each others. I was about to use the gravity manipulation to silently lead them out of my house without any incident. Unfortunately, Applebloom turned toward me as she was pointing her hoof in my direction, as she was explaining something. Badly enough, the Cutey Mark Crusaders noticed me. The three fillies went wide-eyed and flinched freaked out upon seeing me. "This is unwanted visit part two, right?" I thought. "Y-you again!?" Applebloom exclaimed. "Girls! Let's get out of there!" Panicking, they were about to escape... Too bad that I had suspended them in mid-air. I feel bad since they start panicking, but I cannot allow them to tell the others where I live. Twilight is enough. "No way!" Applebloom exclaimed. "This earth-pony can use magic!? No wonder mah sister distrust him!" "That can't be possible!" Sweetie pointed out. "He hasn't got a magical artifact to begin with!" "Maybe he's a creature from another world or something?" Scootaloo said sporadically, causing the other two fillies to look at her with slight annoyance. "What?" Ignoring the rest of their conversation, I went out the coffin and approached the levitating fillies. I'm feeling awkward about giving them that treatement, but I think they should know about education. I looked at Applebloom with a slightly annoyed look, mostly because I'm still sleepy. "Ok, how did you know I was living here?" I asked sternly. "W-well, yesterday, I followed Twilight in this point during the Winter Wrap-Up." Applebloom admitted meekly. "Our visit was her own idea." Sweetie replied, nervously. "We didn't even know you were here in the first place." "Who cares! This pony is out of the ordinary!" Scootaloo said, freaked out. "He's not even a unicorn to begin with!" "M-mah sister talked of him as a villain," Applebloom said intimidated. "But I never expect him to have powers too." "Oh, c'mon, girls." I said with a half-sleepy tone, scratching my head. "I don't care if you came here for whatever reason passed through your brains. Is just a good thing that your sisters and idol were to busy with their jobs to deal with some 'villain', whose crime was just trolling and lecturing them. But, then again, didn't you have anything better to do?" The Cutey Mark Crusaders exchanged looks with each others and reluctantly nodded before looking back at me. Applebloom, however, was slowly becoming a little annoyed, for some reason. "At least Ah'm not passing the day 'schooling' mah sister," Applebloom said calmly but grumpily. "And surely Ah'm not so crazy to sleep inside that coffin. Ah mean, who would sleep inside that thing anyway?" "I have a futon, but that should be none of you business," I replied, not expecting her to have any other opinion about that. "Perfect, now is becoming a running gag as it goes on." "Applebloom is right," Scootaloo said. "We were looking for a treasures. Nopony called us the Cutey Mark Crusaders of the lost arks." "....... You came here looking for treasure." I said with a deadpan tone. "And you expected to get your own cutey mark from that?" Applebloom and Sweetie looked annoyed at Scootaloo, who was realizing too late to have confessed that. "Scootaloo. Did you had to spoil everything from your mouth?" Applebloom asked sternly. "S-sorry," Scootaloo replied apologetically. "If I have to be honest," Sweetie said, calmed down a little bit. "He didn't looked like the villain that my sister had described as such." "How can ya tell that?" Applebloom asked. "For somepony who was tagged as the Anti-Fashion incarnated," Sweetie explained bluntly. "He looks like tamed. He wasn't even trying to explain him-" "You know what? Let's play a game," I proposed. "You want to be released right? Well you have to follow these conditions." Their eyes went wide for the fear, with Applebloom being the first to talk. "What are they?" I remained silent with a dead pan expression and then shrugged my shoulders. "Keep your visit and conversation with me a secret, and most importantly..." "Most importantly what?" Sweetie demanded, unable to bear the suspense. "Achieve your goal without cheating, whatever it is." I responded calmly. The three fillies looked at each other in confusion before saying at unison. "What?" "Remember that you had to accept the secret part," I reminded them. "Alright, alright. We won't tell about you to anypony." Applebloom said reluctantly. "After all, you'd also contributed to the misunderstanding with Zecora... Although I don't even know why." "Applebloom, do you seriously think that he would answer that?" Sweetie retorted. "Hey, I have not the whole day," I said, almost annoyed. "Now get out of my property." That being said I hoovered in mid air and forcefully accompanied the Cutey Mark Crusaders in a point nearby Ponyville and then I traveled back home, hoping that they would maintain their words. Not wanting to get other surprises, I slightly closed the metallic doors, which I had forgot about this whole time, and went in the basement. I had continued to play Doom for three hours and spent other five hours reading some decent sci-fi books, hopefully not made of plastic like the rest that was infesting the bookshelves. As the sun was setting down, I opened the metallic doors when I saw Lilly returning from Fillydelphia without telling me anything. She seemed to be in a foul mood, probably because of something that had gone wrong with her. Not wanting to get any argument with her, I ate my dinner and went to sleep afterwards. Unwilling to blast my brain in front on a screen again, I came up with a very instructive idea of flying across Equestria by flying in two hours. I turned myself into a rainbow maned white pegasus and put on a white cloak before going to the outside. I just looked around to see if there aren't anypony around before wheezing into the sky, literally. And boy if the vertigo is strong since I'm actually at seventy meter high without even flapping my wings. I could see Canterlot mountain from above, but my real stop, however, is simply Appleloosa. I'm still really nervous everytime I looked down, but, hey, I would get used to it, someday. ... And then becoming bored. "Seriously, Saitama is not the only one who didn't felt any excitement due to him feeling overpower." I said to no one in particular. "Even Saiki Kusuo has his own problems. Like him, I would had probably the sense of challenge and wonder being taken away from being overpowered. But unlike Saiki Kusuo, I could need those videogame powers as a extra to fight those damn cultists.... Speaking of my stress. I hope I don't have to take some complaint lessons from Rarity." Say, that experiment of two days ago made remember what I heard from a movie that I won't even bother to name. That speaks for itself. "Or die as a hero or live long enough to see yourself a villain, right?" I said, a moment before a part of my life flashes in front of me. "Yeah... I was pretty arrogant then." After a half hour of gravitational fly, I had landed in Appleloosa without any of the earth-ponies living here, not even the so 'welcoming' Braeburn, notice me. There was a special rodeo, which was nothing more than a equine-western equivalent of the Olympics. And of course, no bull is involved... Not I wanted to see a pony riding a minotaur anyway. I watched a part or the aforementioned, which was practically a steeplechase. I'm not very fond of competition of these type, but was a good opportunity to know how events of that caliber was lived by the towns ponies. And... Damn if this is so noisy. Everything looked normal when I spotted a mare, a participant of the contest, trying to sabotage another one by putting some herbs in her tea before the next round. That would be in reality a normal thing if she wasn't grinning maliciously. "Stop. Trolling Time." I whispered as I used my gravity screwing ability to throw the tea in the saboteur's face while startling the ponies watching what would be a bizarre phenomena. "Hey!... What the.... No... I can't...." The mare said, feeling dizzy for a moment before fainting. "Sorry, lady. No cheating." I said quietly as turned around and leaved the scene. "Moving on." I walked toward the exit when a chilling sensation traversed my spine. I looked around to see where it came from. It was not like magic or anything. Just the feeling of someone. "I don't know why but I need to leave now." I galloped out of the town and then flew away in the sky, headed toward Whitetail Woods. Speaking of it, there must a competition between Applejack and Rainbow Dash. I won't mind to see that again but I need to do something first. I passed above the Ghastly Gorge... *BOOM!!* When a frightening sound of gunshot echoed loudly from below, a moment before I heard a unbearable pain in my hind-leg. "AAARGH! THE HELL!?" Loosing my focus, my gravitational equilibrium was shattered and I ended up falling down, diagonally. Who and how the fuck did shot me from that absurd distance? Not even a sniper could do that. I was thinking to use the Gravity Manipulator again to restore the equilibrium. However since that bastard was able shot me and would had done that again, I let myself fall to let him believe me dead instead. I waited until I got closer to the trees of the arboreal area that should be the Whitetail Woods. I was about to faint due to the force of gravity of the fall screwing with my senses. Once my eyes were almost meeting the leaves of the tree, I used my gravitational abilities to slow down the fall and making look natural. I was preparing myself for the toned down impact. The fall happened in the very bizarre way. I crushed on what looked like a finish line in the exact same moment I saw Applejack and Rainbow Dash reaching it while beating the crap each other in their own violence ball. I ended up rolling for a couple of yards before stopping in front of a tree, far away from them. Dazed, I lifted my head and saw the crowd of ponies being distant from me. I sighed in relieve for a moment and then landed gracefully. They looked shocked to see me falling from the sky like that, including Applejack and Rainbow Dash themselves, after having recovered from their beating. The same thing goes also for Pinkie Pie and Spike, who had just arrived on board of the Twinkling Balloon. I would have a hard time to escape since their first though was putting me safe because of my possible injuries, not counting the bullet that I had took. And, honestly, I have not intention to remain stuck in the hospital, in this current form. "Yeah, fuck subtlety. They didn't even know that this pony is actually me." Nonchalantly, I hoovered myself in front of the ponies, who gasped and flinched in bafflement to see that. "Your surprise is not my problem." I said while turning around in mid-air. "I'm leaving now." I whizzed away from the place like a rocket. I won't even waste anymore time in that form. "WAIT!" Rainbow's voice shouted. "Oh, please. Not her." I complained. Since I know that she was that faster, I continued to fly forward while waiting for her to get her usual super speed. As she was reaching me, I stopped and let her pass nearby me until she get far too distant from me as she tried to stop herself. Before she could have the time to turn toward me, I flew in another direction, zigzagging around the trees until I lost her. After a seemingly eternal half hour, I had reached my home and opened the metallic doors. I went inside, removed my white cloak and entered into the coffin. My wound looked very bad since it soaked my leg with a discrete amount of blood. I pulled out the Healing Book from my bag and putted my hoof on my wound. I concentrated, causing my hoof to glow with the very silver light. I felt some energy going through it, healing it... Slow as molasses as usyak. It took me twenty minutes, again, to cure it. As it finished, the bullet was eject from my leg. Before I could examine that, the book suddenly glowed in a golden aura. I took a look at the pages and noticed the blank one next to the first one having the text suddenly appearing. Level Reached: Your healing time, efficiency and pain relieving abilities have greatly improved. "I hope that It goes from twenty minutes to ten." I muttered as I putted away the book and put my Freezing Gauntlet to take the bullet. "Whatever..." I took a look at it and noticed... a human skull being sculpted on it? "What?" I said, paled by that. "That can't be real... And now that I'm thinking about, ponies can't shoot a gun with their hooves. And most of all, is not possible that-" I stopped as thought traversed my mind. "Or maybe..." I putted the bullet inside my bag as I looked upward, pondering in search for answer. "Where did I had saw that?" I was about to reach a conclusion when Lilly's voice broke my focus. "Violet, wake up. I need your help." Lilly's voice said with tone of urgency. "Perfect... just when one bullet in the leg and a fall from the sky weren't enough." I whispered in annoyance. I went out of the coffin, only to find a very nervous Lilly. Why I'm thinking that must be something trivial behind it. "What do you need this time?" I asked sardonically. "Spare me your sarcasm," Lilly retorted impatiently. "I need a idea. You are the one who has always one when needed. I'm right?" "..... Well, not at all. Then again, what you need?" "Is for a dress." I was taken aback from that. "Seriously." "Hey, I may be a Royal Guard, but I'm still a mare. Remember?" Lilly replied annoyed. "Besides. Is not like I even want to wear that in the first place." "Then why you are asking me THAT?" I asked impatiently. "Because I lost a bet with a colleague of mine and now I'm forced to dress one made by somepony for a day, ok?" Lilly muttered. "All because she thinks I am tomboyish. Oh, and don't dare to facehoof yet. I am not finished!" "There's more?" I asked with a impassive tone. "There's a positive side for that," Lilly reassured. "I don't need any spectacular idea. Even the most mediocre one is good." "Why not asking to Rarity for that job?" I pointed out. "My colleague forbid me to do that as part of the bet." Lilly said, almost grumpily. "Which is why I'm asking you or anypony else. As for the artisan that would had the task to make the dress, I preferred to ask the help of some obscure one from Canterlot." I was about to facehoof when a twisted and yet justified idea struck my mind. "Is time to troll her." I smiled for that. Lilly was almost freaking out for that reaction. But I didn't care since for me that is a extra point for me. Besides, more like trolling, is just a experiment to see if Lilly's reaction upon wearing a dress that is as weird as the one that I had designed. "Violet, stop that. I don't like this type of expression." Lilly said nervously. "Can you wait for a moment?" I asked calmly. I put on the Freezing Gauntlet and went In the basement. I found, surprisingly enough, a quill, a ink bottle and some paper. I draw a specific anatomy of the dress on it and then returned to her. I'm not this pro at drawing something but I made that so I can give that to her. "That is my own idea of fashion. You will need this." I informed as I gave the drawing to her. Lilly looked at the draw and became instantly dumbfounded, blinking her eyes for a moment before answering. "I'm not a expert of fashion, yet... I can't tell if that is a very orthodox design." "C'mon, Lilly." I muttered. "I thought you said-" "I know, I know. Even the mediocre idea is fine," Lilly interrupted and the sighed. "Thanks for the help, huh." "Whatever you say." I responded as I returned inside the coffin. After that... Awkward talk, Lilly leaved me alone. At this point I had almost closed the metallic doors while a filter for the moonlight. I took my usual dinner and was about to sleep, but I couldn't stop thinking about who could had tried to shoot me. I have the vague hunch that sniper may be a member of Granite Daggers, yet I can't be sure of that. I need to investigate that and find my aggressor. Until then, I'm going to the dreamland, hoping that no one would try to assault in the sleep. Since that incident, I spent a few days investigating my attacker's possible whereabouts. I floated above and around the Ghastly Gorge or some areas nearby the edges of the Everfree Forest for a clue with my gravitational powers for hours and yet I didn't found any clue. He must had shot that blow from one of those areas but with no result. The sun was setting down and I returned to my mound, empty handed and frustrated. However, instead of entering inside, I just stood in front of the entrance to ponder about that. The breeze of chilly pre-nocturnal air helped my concentration a little bit, even if that wasn't enough. "If I consider that I felt watched when I was in Appleloosa, I could assume that bastard was following me.... Nah, that can't be right. He couldn't be there and the being in the plain area nearby Whitetail Woods at the same speed as when I was flying in the air. There must be something else involved..." "Here you are, Violet," Lilly's voice said. For once, I am glad to hear her stern voice, because I want to have a pause from that. I looked at the pegasi Royal Guard, who was still wearing her armor and looked relieved, which is strange. "Lilly, what about your dress?" I asked confused. "I exactly wanted to talk about that," Lilly replied. "You are a cursed genius." I blinked. "Wait, what?" "I put on the dress and showed up in front of my colleague," Lilly said calmly, a second before beaming up in weird glee. "She felt so in love with it that she decided to put the bet aside and put it on herself. She even insisted and begged to give that to her." "You are kidding me, right?" I asked, almost baffled. "That design is supposed to be mediocre and improvised." "Who cares," Lilly replied. "What matter is that I am now free from that embarrassing toll." "Good for you." I murmured, hiding my resignation from the lost opportunity to see her being utterly trolled. "In any case, you will come with me in Ponyville," Lilly informed. "For what purpose?" "I had to guard the Fashion Show that will take place in the town. Hoity Toity will be present at the event and I don't want any stupid entity to endanger anypony." Now that I'm thinking... Is Rarity's show. Outside her being temporarily humiliated, that sniper would be there as well. I bet that bastard would lurking around to kill someone... Or trying to finish the job with me. "Can I put something?" I asked. "Well, I can't allow you to be recognized, so of course you can." Lilly responded, coldly but slightly warmer than usual. I put on a very long black coat veiling my face, mane and the rest of my body and traveled with Lilly at Ponyville. We arrived at the infamous fashion fest. Everything was in place. Scratch Vinyl at the remix console, spotlights being placed correctly and crowd being ready to be enthralled, or disappointed since I had already saw where this goes. And at the top of the pre-disaster preview, there was Hoity Toity, the fashion reviewer. Hopefully not on the internet, otherwise that would be really confusing. I looked around and scanned the crowd to see if I can find anything odd, but there's nothing abnormal and nothing bad happened... Yet. "Where is he?" I whispered. "Watch over the place should be my job," Lilly pointed out. "Oh, well. I guess you have to look after your enemies after all, right?" "That is why I am here as well," I said, hiding the fact that I was looking for my attacker. "I wonder if my colleague would even show up." Lilly murmured. "Why you ask?" "She's a show off, even during a fight. She's so in love with everything that exalted her personality and doesn't almost take things very seriously." "In other words, another weirdo like Photon Gladion or Boreal Bright." I thought. The show started in the way I had predicted. The Mane Six, minus Rarity, entered the stage while wearing their ridiculous dresses and the crowd was displeased or even feeling uncomfortable upon seeing the result. Hoity Toity, of course, dropped his C-Bomb, as for criticism, about this and utterly humiliated the Element of Generosity. Without destroying her of course, but still humiliating her. "Oh, those amateurish designs look like a piled-on mishmash of everything but a kitchen sink!" Hoity stated harshly "It's a travesty is what it is. Those outfits are the ugliest things I've ever seen, oh for shame. Who is responsible for subjecting our eyes to these horrors? Not to mention wasting my valuable time." I couldn't see Rarity, but I already know that she tried to hide behind Opalescence. Proving that useless, she showed up and took all of the harsh, verbal bullets of the crowds' disapproval. However something about their criticism, justified or not, was bothering me. "Ok, enough bull. At least Rarity tried to do something to please everyone, even if that ended up in failure. But, even if that is the case... What the fuck is this hypocrisy?! All of you, except Hoity, should had known Rarity for a long time! She never let you down! Anypony, even her, can fuck up and yet still find a way to stand up! Why don't gave her that chance!?" My mental motor rant stopped upon remembering something which calmed my anger... And turned it into grim realization upon seeing the obvious. "Oh, I forgot. Because otherwise there won't be a aesop." I murmured. "I don't think it is the right time to reflect about the dresses," Lilly said sternly. I was about to retort, but a sudden energetic, cocky voice nullified my attempt. "What's up, guys!?" She said arrogantly, getting our attention. It was a rust-orange maned pear-white female pegasus with a delighted smug, red eyes and the dress that I had drawn on the paper that I had given to Lilly, brought into reality. The dress was infamous and bizarre as I expected it to be. To be fair, it was an almost regal dress, which was mediocre at its best. The real deal, however, was it's motif, depicting on the dress a fractal, geometric object with three colors: Blue, red and yellow. The depicted form was a bizarre and yet endowed one, which repeated itself in its same form on different scales, and therefore enlarging any part of it obtains a figure similar to the original. "Aster Brightside," Lilly called her reluctantly, narrowing her eyes. "Weren't you taking a vacation?" "But I am, my dear," Aster replied cheerfully but mockingly. "I just took the occasion to show off this dress. I genuinely love it. And all thanks to that humble fashionista that resides in Canterlot." "Wait, does a pony that can rival Rarity even exist?" I said surprised, getting Aster's attention. "Oh, you must be the haunted hero," Aster responded. "I guess that you have a reason to be here. Well, at least it has nothing to do with Rarity." "What does that mean?" Lilly asked. "He's here to make sure that nothing bad happened." She looked at the stage, where a crestfallen Rarity was leaving, which sight mortified her. "Well... Putting aside that of course," She snickered nervously. "But seriously, do you have to be this dreadfully harsh to anypony that you came across." "Well, mortifying you had make you stronger," Aster said, a moment before her eyes shrunk with glee. "And I like this method and every seconds of it." Wow, I never saw Lilly feeling this uncomfortable with this wacko around. I can see that this Aster is also both a narcissist and a moral sadist. Who the hell is that smuck? "Do you have any decency?" I asked. "No Equestrian love forbids to at least morally humiliate anypony who deserve my treatment," Aster replied confidently. "By the way, even if Rarity didn't had put this travesty, I still retained her definition of style being... Childish." I went wide eyed. "What?" "Violet, don't you dare to put any trouble." Lilly ordered. "Ok, Aster. What is your deal?" I asked. "Ohohoh, straight to the point," Aster said, strangely exalted a little. "You see, I have my own way to teach every pony, subordinates included, to take example from my vision of the world, including my methods. If they were able to satisfy my tastes and conditions, then I have to mortify them. Otherwise I couldn't possibly call that a very, satisfying job." "Aster, not in front of the public," Lilly muttered irritated. "Ops, my bad." Aster replied with fake honesty. Lilly wouldn't even know that, but I hate her colleague already. Yet that snob gave me a great idea. I turned toward the crowd of ponies observing the stage, with Rarity and her friends having leaved the stage while Hoity Toity was still there, preparing himself to leave. Let's see if Aster can bear that. "Hey, guys!!" I shouted, getting the attention of everypony, including Hoity. "If you are not tired of nightmarish designs," I pointed at Aster's dress. "There's one idiot that put on one of these!" He paused. "And thinks she's above everypony in beauty." They were instantly astounded to see that. Is like their mind were simply blown away. I expected them to react with disgust, especially since the design was mediocre as it should be. Aster became already nervous from their incoming reaction. But my plan of trolling that prick took a very undesired outcome when the ponies of the crowd, except Hoity Toity, had suddenly collapsed on the grass. They were convulsing frantically and yet they didn't seemed to suffer. They were retaining a incredulous face as they continued to shake. Hoity Toity was still standing, which surprised me like no other. Really, this guy must have a tolerance of steel to resist at something like that. He even struggled to remain still as he observed the dress. "I.... I never saw something this bizarre like this," Hoity said, shocked in almost every sense. "I will have some answers about that tomorrow... In the meantime... I think I'm going home..." With that, Hoity turned around and walked away, shambling a little bit in his track. I looked at Aster and Lilly, who were literally taken aback from that and looked at her dress with a sense of fright. "W-what just happened?" Aster asked. "Ehm, I think is your dress' fault," I pointed out." "What!? But how!?" Lilly looked confused. "It's motif caused to them one thing," I paused. "Seizure attack. Which was the most bizarre one, I could say." "Are you kidding me!?" Lilly exclaimed. "Don't look at me! I wasn't expecting that happening!" I muttered. "You made me wear a very horrid dress," Aster said horrified, a moment before removing it and tossing it nearby my feet while shouting in rage. "You had ruined my image! You will pay for this, someday! AAAAARRRGGGH!!" With that scream, Aster galloped away in the most undignified way possible. Lilly didn't seem to approve that. Before she can talk, somepony called out from behind. "Congratulation, you had gave her lesson while putting everypony's life at risk," Lilly said. "You know that wasn't my intention." I remarked. "Yes, but that could be avoided!" Lilly groaned. "Why every single thing must take a very demented turn every time you are involved!?" Without saying anything else, Lilly took the dress and stormed out of the scene frustrated, probably headed toward the mound to get her guard post or maybe returning into his office. She didn't know but she was right. "Is the same question that I was asking to myself since my rebirth." I galloped toward the woods and then slowed down to take a stroll before going home. It was a shame that sniper didn't had made his move or even showed up. At that point, I had understood to be a idiot to even expect him to show up. He's probably hiding somewhere. "Where the hell are you?" The wind was suddenly blowing brusquely. Something was crawling on the grass, which made me jump backwards. *BOOM!!* The gunshot was heard again. In a nanosecond, a hole in the grass nearby me suddenly appeared, as if the void had suddenly chewed that piece up without leaving the rest. I noticed the crawling thing being simply snake, who was paralyzed in fear by that blow. Knowing that he would had shot another bullet, I instantly floated in the air and whizzed away from there. Reaching my mound, I stormed inside and closed the doors. I peered from behind them. He was surely waiting for me from the outside. I stepped into the mound and entered inside. I don't think I would get any sleep with that guy being still around, whoever it is. Yet I feel like I saw that bullet from before and that way to attack from the distance in the past life. At least he wouldn't shoot in the distance. As I can see, I must be dreaming. Because Aunt Death was in front of me, and I had realized that I was playing chess with her... except that it wasn't chess at all. "Is that a variant," I asked. "You can tell," Death replied. "But that is no just chess. You got some Singularity Chess! So you know this is the real shit!" "Ok, joke aside. What do you want?" "If you recall, I putted you in Equestria to screw up the status quo, but the Granite Daggers weren't expected from my original design." I glared at her. "What do you mean with that?" "I can't tell all of the details, but there's one fact that you had to keep in mind," Death explained. "There's something screwing with the circle of souls." "The circles of souls?" I asked confused. "What are you talking about, Death? As Yomi alone wasn't enough, there's even that metaphysical stuff! You maybe powerful but you are not explaining anything!" "It will come on its own." Death said. ".... At least for once, is not a cheap ass comedy segment." I commented with pseudo optimism. I woke up, very dizzied, and a little drained, because I felt my head a little screwed. I had yawned very loudly and tried to get up. Then, the sound resembling that of a paper came from beneath my sight. I looked down and found a letter, which I had picked up and read it mentally. Dear Gentle Anonymous Maker I am the one pony responsible for the making of the dress illustrated in your drawing. To be honest, I seemed impossible to finish but I had put my best without any expectation. I'm not Rarity but I could see that wanted me to make it. It looked very mediocre and way too bizarre but then, Hoity Toity came in my boutique this morning. He talked about that and asked If I was responsible for that. I had said yes, but I had also told him that wasn't a idea of mine. As a result, I was asked to make serial production of those things. However, I can't accept to gain money from something that I didn't had projected with my own hooves. For this reason, half of my gain to you. I hope you understand my point of view. I wanted to express my gratitude to you. I hope to meet you very soon. Flower Chrome. I lay down with my head on my pillow, looking at the darkened ceiling to contemplate about that shot of luck. "So I got paid... Now that is random." Chapters before Level Up: -2 Next Level Up: 1)Soul Calibedge: A very conflicted and yet dreadful sword who doesn't give any vantage to the owner outside being a huge weapon. 2)Pluto Gun: A gun that can use the coins as bullets which spawns a number of other coins from one to nine every time a living target was hit. 3)Void Ring: A object that allowed the user to become a living void that disintegrates and clean through everything that came across and revert back when is needed. > Hunted and Sniper Show > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rotatory abilities: DNA Twister Plasma Cannon Ryu Hayabusa's Abilities I woke up in the early morning and went out of my mound, wearing a magenta hood and carrying my black bag. Having already took a look at he black orb, I was obviously pissed upon seeing the Book of Healing and the Gravity Manipulator being replaced. Especially since some bastardous sniper shot me in the leg when I was hoovering in the sky with the Gravity Manipulator's powers, a few days ago. And I still don't know where he could be. Not to mention, I have still that bullet depicting a human skull in my possession... Which reminded me of something but I don't know what. The only consolatory fact is that the DNA Twister was the only thing that I had retained. "Although that won't help me that much since that bastard seems to had saw my real form." I murmured. Needless to say that I had passed the previous day to investigate his whereabouts, but I didn't got any luck in the pursuit. So I went to sleep, but not before going to the mountain that was now presided by Fafnir, the stone dragon that I had stole from Melkior and converted into a really badass metallic one, and asked it to soar the sky in search for that sucker. I am aware to have missed the part where Rarity was still freaking out for the fail at the fashion exposition. But really, I wasn't interested to see her melodrama generating machine abilities. Let's be honest, I know already she would get better because of her friends, so my presence isn't needed... I hope. "I will save that for later. So, today is the Pinkie Sense parade," I said with a deadpan tone, a moment before grinning as a idea struck my mind. "Let's have some fun." .... Aaaaaaand I stopped to grin soon after. "Without getting shot, of course." Problems aside, I ran in ninja speed, headed toward the Everfree Forest and arrived at the other side of the cliff, with only the pillars acting as a fragmented bridge. I was tempted to face the hydra with the Plasma Cannon, but then I remembered that would make me more villainous in the eyes of the Mane Six, Fluttershy included. I hidden myself behind a rock and waited for Twilight and her group to come. Obviously being chased by the hydra, of course. That is a fine opportunity to deal with her sudden habit to make stupid decisions when being pursued by a giant beast.. "Since I have to wait for them to come, I will put up some music," I said with anticipation as I put the earplugs of my iPod and listened some music. After two hours of boring waiting, I saw Twilight and her gang coming out of the forest and getting closer to the cliff, chased by the hydra of course. "Finally," I announced as I removed my earplugs. Just as I had expected, Fluttershy, Applejack, Spike and Pinkie passed the cliff by jumping on the stone pillars and arrived on the other side, unaware of my presence. Twilight was the last to arrive, but as soon she reached the edge of the cliff, one of the heads of the hydra charged toward her. The unicorn dodged the attack by jumping upward and landing on the creature's neck as the head was stunned by the impact. However, most of the pillars were destroyed by that blow, making impossible for her to traverse the cliff. Which for me is a complete bullshit. "What you have to do is just teleport here, Twilight!" I screamed inside my head, a moment before realize with horror something that almost escaped my attention. "Now that I notice... Did your friends forgot that you can do that too!?" "T-T-T-twilight! " Pinkie said, still shuddering due to her predicting shenanigans. "You have to ju-" "Nope!" I loudly interrupted her as I went out of the wall and showed up in front of them while taking off my hood to reveal my face, causing Pinkie, Fluttershy and Applejack to gasp in shocked surprised. Twilight simply went wide eyed upon seeing me. Spike, however, never saw me in his entire life, so he didn't react this much. "Violet?" Twilight called in shocked surprise. "What?... You are that Violet guy Twilight talked about?" Spike asked. "What the hay are planning this time?" Applejack demanded with a glare. "Oh, c'mon, Shroudy Mcshady," Pinkie muttered with sarcasm. "We don't have to waste in your meddling?" "Whatever." I said nonchalantly, rolling my eyes. "Violet, I don't know what you are up to!" Twilight said with an almost irritated tone. "But this-" Before she could ended finish his sentence, the hydra roared ferociously, startling her. The creature ferociously charged toward her. Twilight looked at it with fright, and then glanced back at me, nervously. "Lady, you have a very simple way to avoid that hydra!" I said with a calm tone. "You should know at least what to do!" "Do what!?" Twilight asked me, almost hysterically. "Well, for starters, TELEPORT YOUR ASS HERE, DAMMIT!!" I shouted frustrated. Twilight was about to retort but froze upon grasping my instruction. Such thing gave a moment of brief embarrassment upon realizing to have forgot that she can do that before facehoofing. Without wasting any time, she glowed her horn in disappeared in a flash of light and reappeared on the penultimate one of the two pillars that separate her from me and her friends... Which suddenly crumbled, causing her to fall down to the swamp beneath her, much to my shocked incredulity. "You the hell is going on!? THAT PILLAR WASN'T SUPPOSED TO CRUMBLE!" I screamed in my mind. "TWILIGHT!" Fluttershy, Applejack, Spike and Pinkie Pie screamed at the unison. "NOOOOO!" Twilight screamed as she was falling down. I rushed toward the edge of the peak and looked down, only to see Twilight falling on bubble, being launched upward by said bubble and flying in my direction, whizzing past my ears and crashing against the wall. "Ow!" Twilight moaned loudly as she collapsed on the ground. "Twi!" Applejack shouted as she and the rest of the gang rushed toward her. "Twilight, are you alright!?" Fluttershy asked concerned. Groaning softly, Twilight slowly rose up, partially dizzied. "Yes... Sorta." "How could Twilight had forgot that she can teleport?" Spike asked to himself before facepalming. "Spike, please, is just so embarrassing of me," Twilight muttered Applejack slowly approached me to confront me when the hydra on the other side roared menacingly, getting her attention and that of the others. I looked at the creature and, now that I am looking at it, its actually scary to see in live. However... "No offense, but I preferred the badass hydra from Castlevania Dracula Chronicle X." Unable to reach us, the hydra turned around resigned and was about to walk away. Until Fafnir suddenly showed up from above, grasping his body with his metal claws and taking that sucker in the sky. The mares, and Spike, looked at the scene with a mix of bafflement and awe. I, on other hands, was just shocked to see him. "Fafnir!? What the fuck are you doing here!?" I screamed mentally as the dragon's figure was disappearing from my sight. "W-what the... What in the tarnation is this creature!?" Applejack exclaimed, chilled by Fafnir's appearance. "I Never saw a dragon who is this scary," Fluttershy demanded, trembling in awe while covering her face with her wings. "More scary than the last one that I had met." "Fluttershy, I think that the smokey one was kinda sympathetic if compared to this," Twilight stated. As they got distracted with the dragon, I took the opportunity to rose up, turning around and walking away from them, but... "Violet, wait!" Twilight called. I halted and turned around to face Twilight and her distrustful friends, although Spike was just confused. "What now?" "You just came here to remind me that I can still teleport because I had forgot I can do that?" Twilight asked. "Well, if you preferred to do a leap of faith like Pinkie was suggesting," I explained. "Then who I am to prevent you to do that." "Leap of faith?" Twilight looked confused. "You make no sense, buffoon," Applejack retorted. "No, he's awfully right!" Pinkie replied, semi astounded. "He predicted that before I could say that!" "What!?" Applejack exclaimed surprised. "Really?" Fluttershy said, equally surprised. "Not really," I lied since I saw that episode. "It was just a hunch. Besides, I came here because there was something that nopony expected to happen. Is the hydra?" "The hydra wasn't the doozy." Pinkie denied. "Doozy?" I demanded, pretending confused but knowing what that means. "WHAT!?" Twilight exclaimed shocked. "And is not even that metal looking dragon that took away that poor creature if you ask," Pinkie informed. "Although even I wasn't expecting it to come. But still, I'm still getting the shudders." She shuddered again. "You see? There it is again. Whatever the doozy was at Froggy Bottom Bogg, my Pinkie Sense says it still hasn't happened." "Huh? But I- WHAT?!" Twilight stuttered, almost loosing it. "None of these two monsters isn't the doozy?! How could any of them not be the doozy?! What could be doozier than them?!" "Dunno, but it just wasn't it." Pinkie replied. Hearing that, Twilight gritted her teeth and, unable to take any longer. She jumped in the air and, I am not even kidding, spontaneously combusted, literally bursting into flames with pure, groaning rage, a moment before returning normal with trails of smog, assuming a resigned look. "Oooh... I give up," Twilight said with a tired tone as she descended roughly on the rocky terrain. With that, Twilight talked with Pinkie about how she was right about that. I wasn't paying too much attention to it since I know where this is going. But mostly because I was too distracted by what happened before. Seriously, seeing Twilight on fire gave me that weird imagery of Twilight becoming her own version of Cinder from Killer Instinct and starting beat the crap out of everything standing in her way with the Inferno playing as a background music. "Well, time to go," I murmured and attempted to leave, until Fluttershy stopped me. "Mister Violet," Fluttershy said hesitantly. "I still don't know if I can trust you like Twilight said I should, but... Is that story about demonic entities entering into Equestria being kind of true?" "Well, yes," I responded bluntly. "I have to defeat them... But then again, I can understand if I still look like villainous to your eyes, so I won't even bother to convince you of the contrary." "Wow. Then Twilight was right," Fluttershy said impressed. "You are not even trying to defend yourself." "Violet doesn't need that," Applejack retorted. "Because we know who really is." "A villain, right?" I asked, guessing the obvious. "No, just an annoying wrongdoer." Applejack replied bluntly. "Oh," I was surprised and yet bothered to hear that. "I thought worse." "But didn't Princess Celestia told us that he saved Ponyville from one of those entities?" Spike reminded that. "Spike, ya know what Ah think about him," Applejack explained. "Ah couldn't trust somepony who'd double crossed both us and Nigthmare Moon." Knowing that the conservation was going to take too long for me, I pondered about a way to get out of their sight with serenity and without any problem. Still, Applejack's words leaved a little, if not tiny, space of trust in me... Maybe. "Could you at least explain why you were so interested with Pinkie's indications?" Twilight asked with suspicion. "Just curiosity," I said with a tired tone. "Really, is like-" "STOP SCREWING WITH THE MULTIVERSE!!" Pinkie suddenly screamed. Startled by that sporadic declaration, we turned toward the Element of Laughter, who was looking at me with a very upset expression while holding her tail, which movement was more frantic and crazy than usual. By the way, what she said didn't make any sense... Or does it? "What?" I said, feigning ignorance. "I don't even know what's going on with my tail," Pinkie said with an disturbed tone. "But its surely sign of the fact that your actions are somehow related with you." "You... Don't make sense in this moment, Pinkie," Twilight said perplexed. "Twilight, it has to be addressed!" Pinkie affirmed convinced. "Something is going on with him, and he is responsible." "How the heck you can tell that?" I demanded, avoiding any precision F-Strike. "Why you don't ask to my tail?" Pinkie dared me as she released her tail from her grasp. "Watch!" In a nanosecond, her tail vibrates in a very startling speed and began to flail the air uncontrollably, with his tail being shaped in a very warped. His motion emulating Chun-li's Lighting Kick, with sound effect included. A butterfly passed nearby it in the wrong time and was struck by one of the kicks, causing Fluttershy to gasp with dismay. Noticing this, Pinkie blocked her tail with her hooves, but the damage was already done. The yellow pegasus rushed toward the butterfly to treat it and the turned to Pinkie with a quickly upset face. "Pinkie! Be careful with you tail!" Fluttershy scolded her. "Sorry." Pinkie replied meekly, trying to hold her still flailing tail. "Now this is getting even weirder and weirder," Twilight commented, weirded out. "Do whatever you want," I said as I turned around and leaved with a very startling speed. "Later!" "Hey! Get back here!" Applejack roared. But by the time I fled the scene, I was already far away from them. After a long run, I reached my mound and slowed down, feeling exhausted. I stepped inside and entered into the stone coffin, laying on my futon to recover my strengths. I passed the rest of the day to read various books, the ones that weren't made of plastic. As soon as I had awoke, Lilly dragged me into her usual duties and brought me in some place where maybe one of my enemies will show up. This time in the Cloudeseum in Cloudsdale, where the competition of flyers was going on. Once I had arrived, I was a little nervous about being in a city suspended above the sky because of vertigo and stuff. Arriving in the coliseum, I had inspected every room and every seat before the competition started. But even in this cheerful place surrounded by clouds, there was no trace of the sniper. At that point, what remained for me to do was to look around as the competition started. Celestia was present to the even with the Wonderbolts, making me realize that she would be targeted by that bastard to lure my attention. But maybe is just my paranoia, which was currently justified. "Hey, stay focused," Lilly half ordered. "I know you are not a Royal Guard, but you better ready yourself." "I already had." I murmured quietly but nervously about feeling being aimed. After a brief speech from one of the organizers, the competition started. There's no secret that Rarity's dress and make up, in contrast with her wings, looked a little ridiculous to me. However, tastes are tastes. And yes, I got to see Rarity's ego induced Icarus fly backfiring miserably and Rainbow Dash saving her and the Wonderbolts from falling while making her iconic Sonic Rainboom. Seeing it in live was kinda impressing, and pretty colorful to amaze every pony in the arena. Hopefully nothing bad happened, but I was still nervous at the possibility of being shot from a moment or another. Once the competition ended, Celestia probably went to crown Rainbow Dash the winner. But at that point, I had already left the Cloudeseum and waited for Lilly, who went to see the Princess, just to report her about my progress... Or her own, but at least she won't spill the beans about the time I had corrupted her, literally. "I wonder if I can continue like this," I said to myself. "I wasn't expecting you to be there" A familiar female said from my left. I was about to open my mouth, but froze upon recognizing that voice. Hesitantly toward the speaker... Being none other than Celestia herself, who towered on me with a solemn face. My face wasn't this solemn since I flinched, startled for her sudden appearance, not having noticed she nearby me. "Whoa! Did she finished to talk with the Mane Six and Lilly already!? How much faster she finish a conversation?!" "Oh, its you, Celestia," I said while scratching my head for a bit of embarrassment. "Well, to be honest, Lilly dragged me there when I was half sleepy. Did she told you something about me?" "Well, judging by how she talked about you," Celestia said. "You have indeed defeated most of the demonic entities invading our land and saving my subject several times. However, you seems to slacking off when there is no danger." "At least I got some book," I replied calmly. "Except that I'm not in the same level as Twilight." "Speaking of her, Twilight told me about your interaction with her and her friends," Celestia pointed out. "I know that they doesn't trust you and that will take some time to adjust, but you are not even trying to convince them." "I'm not even complaining about that," I said calmly. "I mean, I had almost destroyed their chance to awake the Elements of Harmony and the possibility to purify Luna." "Hopefully you didn't made that happen," Celestia said, a moment before looking at me with a bit of suspicion, mixed with perplexity. "However there's one thing about you that bothered me, Other than being a hunted hero, you are also kind of a, how I can describe... Weirdness magnet." I blinked, confused. "What?" "Nothing serious, but since your arrival," Celestia began. "Strange things happened in the past days. The fact Iron Lilly became less cold and more tomboyish, if not suspiciously quiet for a few occasions, is just normal in comparison." "What strange things?" "For example, when I came to the Whitetail Woods to see a Iron Pony competition, I heard of a hooded pony falling from the sky, crashing in the middle of the race. That could be a just pegasus who loosed its balance, but strangely enough, he suddenly hoovered above the ground without even using any kind of magic or wings and flew away." I flinched nervously. "Oh, shit! I forgot that she came a few moments after the race was finished! I had left to many witnesses! Sure, I was in a different form, but I how can I explain that?... I think that Rainbow Dash told her about that!" "F-for real?" I said, feigning ignorance. "But wasn't he supposed to die from the fall?" "That is what I thought," Celestia replied. "But that's not all. During a storm of a few days ago, somepony swore to have saw big ice shards falling from the sky, diving on a specific point of the forest. Which was where your mound is located" I know what she was referring to. That was that night when I used my ice ninja technique in a stupid effort to secure my mound from the rain. That was also the moment in which the ice shards that I had invoked had accidentally killed two female pegasi and that I had resurrected them as Remodeled Corpses. I won't have to explain that to her. "I was sleeping in that moment," I lied, because of my obvious reasons. "I didn't had heard that much." "You know, one day I will pay a visit to your 'home'," Celestia said with narrowed eyes, a moment before recalling something. "Oh, was forgetting. For some reason, Photon Gladion, the most stoic of them, had suddenly left his office to pursuit a strange pilgrimage to 'cleanse his flawed way' after the same night he was guarding you." I went wide-eyed upon hearing that. Ok, Celestia has no idea of who Photon Gladion, so finding his behavior strange was legit to her. But honestly, the most stoic of the guards? He was a maniac who was obsessed with Luna and his ill idea of a perfect squad of alicorn Royal Guards, being also a outright coward that escape in fear when Melkior ambushed me. "Yeah...Lilly showed me his letter." I said, hiding my lingering disdain toward him. "You had read it?" "I know that, and to be honest..." Celestia almost cringed very uncomfortably, which slightly surprised me. "I wasn't expecting him to have this weird regard of love toward my sister." No, its called mentally unstable obsession. Pure and simple. And I hoped he wasn't a yandere too, because otherwise that would be a screw up case of affection. "It happens." I said sporadically, shrugging my arms. Celestia looked at the Cloudeseum for a moment. "I came to know that you were injured multiple times. You can ask our help if you want." "No, thanks," I said tranquilly. "I will continue this task on my own." "If you want so," Celestia said with a resigned tone. "Just don't exert yourself too much." "I will try," I assured her. After that surreal conversation, Celestia glowed her horn and disappeared in a white flash. A few seconds after that, Lilly went out of the Cloudiseum and approached me with a tired expression. "Did you found anything strange," Lilly asked with a half tired ton. "Nothing whatsoever," I responded with a impassive tone. Without saying anything else, we leaved Cloudsdale and went our way back home. By the time we had arrived nearby my mound, the sun was already setting. Eight hours. Since Lilly was sleeping nearby her guard post outside the mound, I took the opportunity to take a brief nap inside the stone coffin before dinning. She didn't even noticed the trapdoor leading to my basement, which was fine. I should probably put a carpet on it. As the night fell, I went inside the coffin and took out the bullet from my bag, observing the human skull being depicted into it. "I saw you somewhere else... But I can't remember where or in what context." Putting back the bullet, I took a look to the doorway of the entrance, where Lilly was guarding. I thinks she is probably annoyed by that. I wonder if there would be someone who will replace her properly. Hoping that is not some psycho like Photon. Without any reason to remain awake, I lay down on my futon and went instantly to the dreamland in the wait for the next day. Waking up in the next morning, I noticed Lilly not being there. I took this occasion to get out of my coffin and took a look outside the doorway. There was a gentle breeze, a placid sun and a perfect silence. It was a perfect opportunity to take a stroll. Until I remembered that the sniper being still on the loose. "Scratch that" I said with a very bothered tone, until a idea struck me. "Could that be." Without any delay, I focused my mind and projected my image. What followed was a clone of myself suddenly appearing in front of me, being my doppelganger that I had created through my ninja skills. The result gave me a very chilling impression. "I never I could had to see myself without a mirror." Eager to perform a experiment of mine, I took not one, but three black hoods and putted them on my clone, until his entire body, hooves included. I had then instructed him to get outside, slowly. As his covered head went out the doorway... *BOOM!!* That damn gunshot thundered and my hood covered clone suddenly flopped lifeless on the grass, a moment before disappearing from beneath the cloth mass. The blow probably struck his head. That was a real waste of clothes and clones, but I hope to have managed to fake my death. I put on both the Freezing Gauntlet and the Berseker Claw, went inside the coffin and waited him to show up, knowing that will took a few hours. Or less, because a half hour later, I heard hoofsteps coming in my way. That sounded normal, except that the sound looked more metallic. They got close to my doorway with the pass of the seconds. "Yeah, I fucking dare you after the shit that you had thrown at me during the past days," I whispered with grim anticipation before. After a short time, they stopped, meaning that he had already arrived. I slowly rose up and gave a quick look at my visitor looking at the holed hoods that were once wore from my clone. I couldn't see his face because he was wearing a bizarre helmet. He was also wearing something resembling a power-armor, which I didn't saw being wore by any other pony. Since he wasn't holding any weapon, I jumped out of the coffin and pointed my freezing gauntlet. "FREEZE, ASSHOLE!" The freezing bullet was shot, but that masked pony immediately noticed that and rolled away from its trajectory, missing it. I ran two legged at a very fast speed toward him, who was already escaping. I shot another projectile, but he dodged even that. "I am not done yet! Come back here you bastard!" I shouted. I chased that sucker through the forest for a while, shooting projectiles that end up being dodged by him. I was almost reaching him thanks to the speed that my ninja skills were providing until we have arrived nearby a cliff. I expected him to stop. Instead he nonchalantly jumped down, much to my shock. As I reached the edge and looked in the bottom, he already disappeared. I am not sure if he survived that, but if he had gone down on purpose, that means that was not over yet. "Clever son of a bitch..." I murmured with a pissed off tone. Empty handed, I turned around and went inside the forest once more, always two legged. Usually I hate backtracking at the last minute, but I didn't cared that much in that moment. I wasn't even minding my own surrounding. Until I heard two unsettling laughs that caught my attention. That gave me a very bad vibe. Cautiously, I walked toward the source of that. As I was getting close, their laughs ceased. I spotted two quadrupedal figures in the distance, standing in front of a third one laying on the ground being none other than Rainbow Dash, who was currently unconscious and very battered. Shocked but not stupid to gasp loudly, I hidden myself behind a tree, studying the appearances of her aggressors. They were female earth-ponies with the must screwed up looks, both wearing two a unsettling metal mouth mask. One of the was a silver maned purple mare wearing a mouth mask with rectangular fissures. The other was a golden maned azure mare, whose mask was shaped in a very atrocious scream. "Now that is some creepy dynamic duo that you don't want to meet," I commented with a low volume. "She would be a perfect killer of the best caliber," The purple masked mare said with a chilling calm as her hoof glowed in a dark-violet aura. "We may be in another world, but a great speedster like her would be a good start to reform our organization," The azure masked mare added gleefully as her hoof glowed in a dark-green light. "After we have purified her mind, of course." Not under my watch. Since I don't want have to kill her and resurrect her as Remodeled Corpse like Twilight and the two pegasi, I focused my mind on them and materialized a cyclone that suddenly formed beneath the two masked mares, who were dragged toward the sky before they could even notice that, screaming. I took the opportunity to rush toward Rainbow and turned her into a cat with the power of the DNA Twister. I put her now tiny body into my bag and returned my attention to the two mares, who surprisingly managed to land two legged in front of me. Their mouths were covered, but I could see by their enraged eye that they were now pissed off. "Who do you think you are to steal our prey?" The purple masked mare said menacingly. "Wait, weren't pony supposed to not be able to walk two legged?" The azure masked mare demanded surprised. "There's something wrong with this dredge." "Look, if you are trying to intimidate me," I said without any empathy toward them. "You failed." Both the masked mares went wide-eyed upon hearing my voice, which confirmed a vague and yet obvious hint that I had regarding them. "That can't be... Allen?" The purple masked mare said surprised, a moment before laughing almost maniacally. "I never thought to meet you there, and with new tricks." "Now that's insanely rich!" The azure masked mare added, seemingly amused. "Let me guess," I said disdainfully. "You were alternative versions of Granite Dagger members from another universe." "Be sarcastic as you want," The purple masked mare mocked. "Not that your arrogance will lead you anywhere." "Ihihihihi. There's plenty of things that we have in store for you," The azure masked mare informed deviously. "And is not limited to pain." "Just who the hell are you?" I demanded irritated. "Pretty legit considering that our originals never had the chance to met you. My name is Omione." The purple masked mare announced. "And my name is Tera." The azure mare proclaimed. Hearing their names was like searing needles stabbing in my heart. I heard those names before. These two are different since they came from another universe, but I didn't had forgot that the original Omione and Tera were the same cultists that kidnapped Kiro, Primula's brother, and brainwashed him to their cause. Due to Mio having already slain them, they never had the chance to face me. However, these two mares having the same names were in front of me. And considering they were about to brainwash Rainbow at the exact same way as Kiro, I should be furious off. But then again, thanks to Mio, he was already avenged, so trying to exact vengeance on them was literally unnecessary. But that doesn't mean that I couldn't kick their asses with style. After all, wipe out the cultist was still my duty... Unfortunately. "Sorry, screwheads. But I will be the one to take the first move," I announced as I walked toward them. "Pretending badass and stuff, huh? Then DIE ALREADY, YOU PRICK!!" Tera shouted as she pointed her hooves at me and start shooting a barrage of bone needles at me. Despite the fact they were piercing me, I only merely flinched. I continued to press forward without giving a shit about what Tera was throwing at me. I should thanks Yomi for the enhanced endurance since I was tanking her attacks like nothing. Tera stopped, visibly shocked as I was getting closer. "What the... Why you won't fall back!?" "Who cares. We have to slaughter him." Omione said irritated as she turned her hooves into a blade and swung in my direction, unleashing a slashing wave. I jumped away from its trajectory, leaving the wave to cut a pair of trees. As I landed, the duo was about to deliver a ranged onslaught on me. I was prepared for that. Without them having realized yet, I teleported in front of Omione and punched in her face very hard with my Freezing Gauntlet, sending her to fly against a tree. I then noticed Tera rushing toward me with her hoof being turned into a dreadful looking halberd. I pointed my gauntlet equipped hoof with anticipation and shot a freezing bullet at her. The azure mare dodged the blow but wasn't paying attention at me as I had dashed nearby her at lighting and backhanded her, sending her fly too. Having set Omione as a first priority, I turned toward her, only to be met by a stream of red lightnings. Yelling in pain for moment, I remained still, resisting to the electric shock. Sure, I have a high endurance but this surge began to become annoying. As she interrupted her electrical charge, I rushed toward her. "I can't believe it," Omione said surprise and turned to her partner, who slowly rose up. "Tera! Do something!" "Don't you dare to repeat that twice!" Tera exclaimed as her body was engulfed with plasma and exuded a tide of destructive energy coming toward me. I leaped away from it's trajectory, leaving the wave destroying multiple trees and almost hurting Omione. As I landed, find the two mares were preparing to deliver their combined ranged attack. I was prepared for that. I concentrated my mind on my body, causing it to quickly charge up electricity and then instantly blasting it outwards as lightning striking everything around them, including the dreadful duo, who collapsed on the ground. They looked really burnt and almost unconscious. "I'm sorry to not have used my real powers," I commented. "But I refused to take you seriously." I was about to leave, but in the second I moved my foreleg forward, Omione and Tera quickly stood up, already turning their hooves into their respective weapons, and rushed toward me from both sides. To show that was a imbecile move, I promptly rolled away from them. They ended up piercing each other without having the possibility to stop themselves. I noticed their masks being destroyed, revealing their skeletal jaws... Which obviously disgusted me. They looked visibly upset with each other, feeling betrayed, but only for a moment. Knowing who have to blame for that, their turned toward me with a very scornful, creepy faces. I won't even miss them. "Yeah, fuck you too," I declared while flipping the middle finger at them with my Freezing Gauntlet. A few seconds after, their bodies dissolved into a coil of black embers before disappearing. There are the bone needles being stuck on various parts of my body, but then went out on their own and fell on the grass before dissipating as well. I wasn't bleeding this much due to, again, my endurance. I couldn't help but thinking at the obvious. The two alternative versions of the two cultists who had brainwashed Kiro were now defeated... With their own ends. I preferred this way since there's no satisfaction with revenge. Putting that aside, I felt a little guilty for the poor trees being destroyed by the fight. Besides, that wasn't important since I still have Rainbow Dash in the form of a cat to take to safety. I groaned in anticipation of another delirious travel do make. "That the delirium begins." Running with ninja speed, I traveled throughout the woods, that are not part of the Everfree Forest, fortunately. In an ark of twenty-one minutes, I arrived nearby Ponyville hospital without being noticed. I put the still unconscious cat Rainbow nearby the doors and turned back to her real form. I then activated my invisibility technique and strongly knocked at the door. Again. I was about to leave, but not before I got a very embarrassing revelation. With this out of my way, I turned around and ran at a very fast pace toward my home before Red Heart would show up. I swear, I was so tired from the travel and so rushed that my heart was rebelling. I wanted to halt for a moment to take a break, but since that sniper is still on the loose, I have to go home very fast. It took me twenty eight minutes due to my fatigue but I manage to reach my mound. Lilly wasn't there and I didn't cared. As I entered inside, I forcefully rushed at the stone coffin and fell inside, roughly landing on my futon. I closed my eyes and waited for the sleep to kick in. But then a revelation struck me in the most brutal way possible. "I could have become invisible for the whole time to escape the sniper's reach without having wasted my own clone duplicated and those three hoods that were holed." I think I am, hypothetically thinking, the american idiot that Green Day really deserve. Ok, I was just almost clumsy, but I was so embarrassed that I facehoofed very hard. I was about to explode... But I was too tired for that. "I don't want to hear anyone for at least six hours," I murmured. I slept for about five hours, just so I can recover from my fatigue and the energies to make plan a way to deal with the sniper, and others, who wanted me dead. Everything was quiet, a good thing since that helped both my focus and relaxation. That was the case, when I heard a familiar voice... And that wasn't Twilight. "I can't believe it how depressing it is! You seriously live in this tomb!?" A sugar-rushy voice said, awfully surprised. "Do you know anything about furniture and, I don't know, DECORATION!?" ".... How did she got there anyway?" I whispered, slightly annoyed. I looked upward to see my visitor, being Pinkie Pie, who was looking at me with a perplexed face. Seriously, how many people... I mean... How many ponies know where I live. Did Celestia or Luna just gave them the address? Because that sounds probable to me. "Ah, its you," I said with a deadpan tone. "Do you want something?" "I hope you haven't forgot that," Pinkie replied with annoyance. "My tail is still shaking like crazy." "I'm not responsible for that," I pointed out. "Did that woke up during your sleep?" "Nuh-huh. It just gave me some occasional vibration," Pinkie explained before jumping on the board of the coffin with his shaking tail. "Its when I got close to you that it acts hysterically. Allow me to-" "No, thanks," I interrupted her. "I don't want to be kicked in the face by your tail.... So is thanks to that if you managed to find out where I live." Pinkie blinked before get off the border. "Well, to be honest, Twilight told me that you were living inside a mound and that you were kinda weird. But I never expected it to be this literal. There's has no windows or even colors. The air is rarefied and you are sleeping inside a coffin life the most boring bat-pony ever! Why you choose this place!? ! Just why? WHY!?" "That was the first free home I had found so far," I informed her. "So don't hammering this much on that." "Hey, I knows when a place is unhealthy and greasy," Pinkie sighed. "Fine, I leave you on your own and trust Princess Celestia's word regarding the fact that you saved us multiple times, but I will keep you check... When I don't have party to attend, of course." With that, Pinkie leaved my sight with a bad taste in her mouth. I could hear her hopping toward the exit. As the sound died off, I rose from my coffin to see if there was someone else. For a second, there was none one, until Lilly arrived me with a baffled face, probably because she saw Pinkie and her tail being constantly hurling around like a hysterical snake. She looked at me, not knowing what to say. "You know, Violet," Lilly started, confused. "I know only a little about the Pinkie Sense, but I never saw her tail changing forms." He shook her head. "I can finally say that was the most weirdest thing I ever witnessed in my entire carrier." I lay down. "Whatever. Let's just assume that she was predicting another omen." "Tsk. Seriously while you were slacking off," Lilly complained. "Rainbow dash was attacked by two ponies, according to her." "Two evil entities," I responded bluntly. "I took care of them and put her into the hospital. That's all." "R... Really?" Lilly exclaimed incredulous. "You are not making this up?" "Let me tell you what happened." I said calmly. As usual, I had lied to her by telling her that I fought two evil entities and not Granite Daggers members. By the way, what I said to her was still the truth, according to a point of view. Star Wars taught this lesson, although its overused. As for Rainbow, I didn't had mentioned that I had turned her into a cat to make her more transportable. When I ended the story, Lilly wasn't so convinced but believed me anyway, for a little extent. She then went to visit Celestia to talk about Rainbow Dash's conditions. I felt sorry for her, as I should be. If I didn't found her, Omione and Tera would had probably turned into a cultist as well. Not having anything better to do, I spent the next three hours playing with my console at Bioshock 1. Once I got tired, I returned upstairs and looked at the doorway. Noticing the night having already covered the sky, I took my own dinner and went to sleep. But not before taking a metal note of mine. "At least I know that this bastard was wearing a power armor. Now that's a good start." I said so, but I am not entirely convinced of that. Besides, I would had took a stroll under the nocturnal sky if I wasn't tired and there wasn't nobody trying to shoot me. Just saying. In the following day, I put on a gray hood, took my bag and turned myself invisible before leaving mound, headed toward Ponyville at an normal pace instead of just running like a ninja and stuff. There wasn't any hurry. As I predicted, the sniper couldn't see me so that was a huge step up for me. Putting aside that, my intention was to see how Rainbow Dash was. She will still thinks of me as a villain, but I had to make sure that she will recover. Like the time with Twilight, I approached the hospital and checked every window until I found Rainbow's room. No one could see me, so there's no one trying to complain about that. Twilight and Applejack were with her, talking cheerfully. Though that the two mares were a little annoyed by Rainbow's arrogance. I was relieved that she wasn't so crippled, but meeting the alternate versions of Omione and Tera, and knowing what they were about to do to her really leaved a horrible taste in my mouth. "Well, I better go," I said quietly before leaving. Without anything else to do, I simply strolled through the town unseen, just to pass the time and vent all of the stress of feeling hunted down by that freak with the power armor. I know that today was the time where the Cutey Marks Crusaders' epic fail was going to happen in a talent show, but I didn't gave a damn about that. Everything looked fine, with the inhabitants talking to each other and stuff. Although that wasn't the same thing as going around my former city in the night, in the human world. I don't know, maybe I am just being a little sentimental about my memories. Despite this, I was enjoying my time. Until I heard Rarity screaming from the Carousel Boutique. "What kind of sick, twisted abomination IS THIS!?" "Yay. Marshmallow dramafest ahead," I said with a impassive tone before groaning, rolling my eyes. "No thanks I'm leaving." That was my intention, until I heard someone else's voice. "Its the something I want to understand since its bizarrely terrifying." I froze for a moment upon hearing that. "Lilly?" I would had pretended to not had heard that at all, but my curiosity has another opinion on that. I walked toward one of the windows of the workshop and looked inside. Much to my surprise, Rarity was conversing with Lilly, the wretched dress that Aster was wearing during the Fashion Show that happened five days ago. The same one that gave to the audience of the show, and Hoity Toity, a seizure attack, and that was then picked up by Lilly after Aster threw that away in a fit of rage. "Why the hell you brought that thing to her!? You saw how dangerous it is!" I screamed mentally in bafflement. "How bad can it possibly be?" Lilly asked. "You misunderstood me. Its not bad." Rarity stated. "Is unbelievably delirious! What pony in the right mindset could conceive something like that? I mean, the dress and the colors are both fine, unlike the object that was depicted into it! No wonder anypony who glanced at it was literally stunned by that! Who made this?" Don't tell my name. Don't tell my name. Don't tell my damn name. "Some idiot from Manehattan," Lilly lied. Wow... There wasn't any effort in that lie. "Is that so?" Rarity said sarcastically. "Because I can't believe that somepony so mediocre actually exists and was somehow able to sell this... Thing! I mean, seriously, this dress is insanity made in cloths," She paused, before suddenly erupting. "And yet Hoity Toity, and others, seemed to like it! In what world we are living in? Weren't old fashioned skirts and shoulder pads horrible enough!?" Uninterested to see the rest, I leaved the town and traveled through the forest to calm down my mind. However, going home to succumb in boredom wasn't my intention. Instead, I went in depth of the arboreal place with one thing in mind. "Training wreckage," I proclaimed. In substance, I went into the most desolated part of the Everfree Forest and I used my ninja skills to clone myself multiple times. I stood up two legged and they attacked me. I repelled every blow and some time judo thrown them. I took a few hits from them, but that didn't mattered to me. My intention was to trying my focus and my attention. Just because I have videogame abilities, doesn't mean that I had a granted victory. I trained myself for long time until the sun leaved its place to the moon. Tired, I turned around and backtracked to my house. Entering inside, I turned off my invisibility and took off my gray hood. I then spent at least two hours reading metaphysical books in my basement, that was also my living room. On the bright side of the day, I wasn't shot by the sniper since he didn't saw me leaving. Bored, I put back the books the the shelves and returned upstairs. I then closed the trapdoor and entered inside my coffin. As I landed, I felt something soft beneath me. Confused, I glanced down and saw a scarlet haired, black eyed boy. "WHOOOOOOOA!!!" I screamed, jumping out of the coffin and landing abruptly on my back. Looking up, I saw the boy emerging from the coffin. I didn't know who he was, but then I recognized him to be none other than Yomi, the Videogame Logic itself and the one who was still screwing with me. "Bazinga, you blunthead." Yomi said impassive. "Motherf-" I halted myself as I slowly rose up, abstaining myself from drop that. "What are you doing here!?" "Like you, I was bored. So I had my own brief and yet interesting fun in this, my dear douche," Yomi replied mockingly. "Yeah, screwing my life even further in an act of spite sounded reasonable to you," I retorted. "You are not the only troll here, you know," Yomi stated, an instant before disappearing into nothingness. I was instantly furious for that unnecessary douchbaggery and became tempted to scream, but then again, knowing him, its not even worth venting my stress. I won't give him any satisfaction whatsoever. Wanting to have a break from what happened, I went inside the coffin, this time landing on my futon without having anything else beneath me. Due to my nervousness, I had found difficulty to sleep until I managed to take it. Four hours later. "Seriously, lady. Are you sure about your lifetime fight against other Iron Ghosts?" "It is my duty to make sure that there won't be any of them causing damage unpunished." "That would include the Granite Daggers." "I didn't said I would underestimate them." "Are you even sure to emerge alive from your crusade? What about your family?" "Trust me. You don't want know that." "Has that something to do with your the mechanical body that you are currently possessing." "I have not the whole night for this talk." "Well... Take care of yourself, Mio Amisato." "Same for you. Just... Don't make me rip you apart again." A sense of dizziness greeted me as I opened my eyes. I immediately shrugged off that feeling. There was something that has to be done. I put on both the gauntlets and turned myself invisible, ready for my tedious search for the sniper. Like I said, I don't have any hint about his whereabouts, but I considered that he would had took his precautions after the failed trap that I had set on him. If I have to make a guess, he would had probably gone to the Rambling Rock Ridge, where Rarity was kidnapped by the Diamond Dogs during her search for gems. That guy would be probably after Twilight and her group do come to me. I had two possibilities: Or my reasoning was correct or I would find myself to kick some dog's ass, for trolling. Which means more marshmallow dramafest. "Joke aside, let's do this," I murmured with annoyance, hoping to not have to meet her. Running two legged at ninja speed and unseen, I headed toward the former smokey mountain where Fluttershy 'kicked out' that red dragon. The place was then presided by, who else, Fafnir. Once I reached the base of the mountain, I switched off my invisibility. Instead of climbing the mountain, I ran on the rocky walls, going upwards like Vamp from Metal Gear would. I reached the top in about five or six minutes and went inside the cave. I was greeted by its unsettling breath, which chilled my blood. It was dark, but I was able to see its draconic figure and the metallic scales covering its body, reflecting a bit of the dim light coming from the outside. Its eyes darted on me, making me nervous, but that was normal considering its reason to be. "Yo dawg." I greeted him. "I have a favor to ask." Fafnir replied with a loud metallic growl that echoed through the cave. I shuddered a little for that. "Talking about Terminator level of creepy," I commented hesitantly, before regaining a little of confidence. "By the way, could you give me a passage?" Fafnir responded with another growl, this time less louder. Not that made me feel better any way. That being said, I went at the top of the dragon and flew toward Rambling Rock Ridge. Fafnir landed nearby the mountains, which was were I needed to be. I would had playing trolling on both Rarity and the Diamond Dogs but I have that jackass in power armor to take care of first. There was a grotto in the distance, probably a mine. I got off the dragon and went toward it, walking two legged like I was still human. Normally, due to my current anatomy, that would be impossible, unless I have Ryu Hayabusa abilities, but my powers of when I was a Iron Ghost allowed to do that without any problem. "Alright. Let's see if I can find you." I said with a grim confidence as Fafnir flapped its wings and flew away. At that point, I was alone with myself, possibly exposed to the aim of a gun. I pondered about my plan, consisting into two things: Simply asking if they saw him or even using them to track him down, with my 'methods'. "I hope this wouldn't be a pointless travel," I said to myself, a moment before my stomach growled. "I could had at least brought some sweet with me. As I was getting close to the grotto, I noticed a small tent being nearby it. I headed toward it when I saw three Diamond Dogs coming out from it, whispering to each other like something sinister happened. They weren't the trio who were commanding them since they were actually dealing with Rarity. But wait, weren't they supposed to help their leaders with keeping the Elements of Generosity in check? "Hey, can you at least tell me what you are whispering about?!" I shouted them. The three Diamond Dogs who looked at me with a irritated face, a moment before assuming a surprised one upon seeing me. "Look. His mane is dark-violet." One of diamond dogs said to another one. "His appearance is identical," A second one said to the first one and then turned to the third one. "I think we have that said guest that he talked about." "Huh?" I looked confused. "Just like that irritating pony had predicted," The third one said with a though voice. "But... Is he really dangerous?" "Wait a minute, are you talking about a white unicorn?" I asked, knowing Rarity would never recruit thugs for protection. "But what white unicorn?" Truce retorted. "I have no idea of who he was because he was wearing a strange helm- ARRGH!" Ram one slapped him. "Do you have to spoil the details to this pony!?" "S-sorry!" Truce said meekly, almost whimpering. I couldn't believe at what I heard from them. Don't tell me that they were protecting him, because that would end very badly for them. "Excuse me?" I said with a nervous grin. "You are just helping that guy?" "Why not?" Grovel said perplexed. "He promised to give us some gems if we took care of you." "Are you too dumb to realize that you will get killed after you had accomplished that?" I asked calmly. "Because he's far worse than you." "You are lying!" The third one said angrily. "He wouldn't even be able to put his hoof at us." "I guess you won't listen to what I said, I guess," I replied, resigned. "The only thing that I list is the guarantee to find more gems," The third one said arrogantly turning toward the tent. "Guys! Time to deal with our guest!" Like being invoked by his order, one Diamond Dog stormed out of the tent, followed by a second one. Who was then followed by third one. Who was then followed by a fourth one. And a fifth one. And a sixth one. And a seventh one... What? And a eight one. And a ninth o- "Seriously, there must be some 2000 Z-Movie level of bullshit going on," I muttered incredulous as the canine creatures continued to came out. "If they can't use magic, then how many Diamond Dogs can even fit inside this small fucking tent?" And a sixteenth one. And a seventeenth one. I'm not kidding. They continued to came out of that tent. And a twenty-fourth one. And a twenty-fifth one. After a handful of seconds, they stopped to came out and I found myself to deal with twenty-nine Diamond Dogs that formed a very nasty block, much to my annoyance. And their smell didn't helped the case, which made me root for the scent of the grave that I perceive in the mound. "Did I have to knock you out?" I demanded with a fed-up tone. "You won't survive us," The first diamond dog said. "Just surrender to us already and maybe will make your life less miserable," The third one announced arrogantly. "Oh," I grinned. "Let's see about that." The Diamond Dogs of the block slowly walked toward me, menacingly. I, on other hands, I am planning to beat them up in style. Having the opportunity to put, at least in part, my old powers to practice, I pulled out the ear-plugs of my iPod and put on a very fitting music for this moment. Well, its the big show. Its a big man show tonight. Yeah. Is going to be one hell of a show indeed. "Seize him!" The third diamond dog ordered, causing the horde to rush ferociously at me. Unwilling to get caught by them, I promptly summoned a black chain from my arm and launched at one of the, wrapping his body and blocked him. As the other dogs were approaching me, I threw their companions at them, using him as flail. I managed to hit many of them. Since I am not a sadist, I put down the now battered and stunned chained diamond dog, and released it. I then turned toward the remaining diamond dogs and their three bosses, who were clearly astounded for my display of power. Unfortunately, there are nine of them that had still the balls to fight me and were about to get close. Not wanting to appear more villainous of than I was, I charged my hoof wearing the Freezing Gauntlet and punched the ground. Multiple geysers of plasma were erupting, travelling in their directions. That caused the diamond dogs to flee the scene in fear, except the three boss dogs, who remained to see the scene in utter bafflement. Even when the geysers stopped. "At least there are not dead bodies among them," I commented, scratching my head as I walked toward the three. "I won't have to resurrect them too." "This is a dream, right?" The first diamond dog asked incredulous. The second one shook his head, snapping out of his trance. "Who cares! Let's get away from him!" Taking it as a wise advice, they finally decided to escape. Too bad I had materialized another black chains and threw that on him, blocking his body. I then pulled his defenseless body toward me and grabbed his neck with my Berserker Claw, that acted as my left hand. The other two ran away, but I didn't cared about them. This one was enough. As the dog meekly looked at me with awe, I raised my other hand upward. "Y-you are not a normal pony!" The diamond dog exclaimed intimidated. "Just who are you!?" I didn't respond. Instead I delivered a karate chop on his head, knocking him out unconscious. I then released his body from the chains and took a few steps away from him. Seeing the diamonds dog being defeated, I turned off my iPod. "I think I had gone overboard with them." I said with a bit of guilty and looked at the boss dog beneath my feet, becoming quickly optimistic. "Alright. Time to interrogate them." That was the plan: Corrupting them with the Corrupter to both clean up my tracks and making them answer my question. That was, until I felt a bone chilling sensation going through my spine. A very familiar one. Having the impression to know what that was, I leaped backwards. *BOOM!!* The gunshot echoed once again as an almost invisible blur whizzed obliquely in front of me and went down to the ground, leaving only a hole. I turned toward the shot and finally found that prick in power armor, being at one of the highest point of the mountain far away from my reach. He was about to shot again but then looked upward, like he had noticed something. Without any explanation, he ran way, making own expedition useless. Interrogate the dogs was no longer a must. I was about throw a rant... Only to be interrupted by Rarity's sophisticated lesson of the difference between complaining and whining echoing from inside. It lasted for while until it was replaced by other voices, being that of Twilight, Spike and the other Elements of Harmony talking with her. Rainbow Dash's voice was among them as well, meaning that she had, at least in part, recovered from being beaten up by that hateful duo. I was also relaxed for the fact that the sniper didn't got them. Which was very strange of him. "That doesn't make any sense," I said confused, looking at the various aspect of it. "Why not using Twilight and her friends as hostages to make me expose myself to him?" I paused, having a vague revelation. "Was him just toying with me?" "Violet!" A awfully familiar voice called me from above. "Oh, shit." I muttered quietly, looking upward. "Not her." Like an avatar of misfortune, Lilly was descending toward me, wearing a very irritated expression. That wasn't a very good new for me, especially since the whole beatdown that I had committed on them. "I wasn't expecting to see you," I stated, unsurprised. "Speak for yourself, Violet," Lilly retorted. "What you doing here?" She noticed the unconscious diamond dogs being scattered to the ground and part of the devastation that I had caused. "And what the heck happened here!?" "Let's just say that they tried to attack me and I was forced to defend myself," I explained. "What else?" "Well... Fair enough," Lilly replied, unconvinced. "But that doesn't explain what you were doing here." "Pursuing one of those evil entities," I responded. "Anything else?" "There is a chariot going in our direction, so our travel won't be longer," Lilly informed, a moment before looking at my left hoof wearing the Berseker Claw. "Where did you had got that?" Damn that. Now I have to explain multiple things to her. This is going to be a very long day. Chapters before Level Up: -1 Next Level Up: 1)Soul Calibedge: A very conflicted and yet dreadful sword who doesn't give any vantage to the owner outside being a huge weapon. 2)Pluto Gun: A gun that can use the coins as bullets which spawns a number of other coins from one to nine every time a living target was hit. 3)Void Ring: A object that allowed the user to become a living void that disintegrates and clean through everything that came across and revert back when is needed. > Desecrated Fashion > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rotatory abilities: Plasma Cannon DNA Twister Gravity Manipulator Despite the sun having made its benevolent entrance two hours ago, I continued to sleep in my coffin. Someone will call it laziness, but that time was justified by what had transpired yesterday. When I had took down that mob of diamond dogs who helped that damn sniper to escape, Lilly showed up in the worst time. As I was escorted to Ponyville in a chariot, I had the pain to explain not only what I was doing in Rambling Rock Ridge, but also had to tell her about the Berserker Claw that I was wearing in that moment. That interrogation lasted for about six hours, with launch and a bit of her personal problems included. And by the time I had returned home, it was midnight already, and I was literally tired. As for the interrogation? Well, of course I had to lie since I have still my real identity and past to hide. For starters, I told her that I was in that wasteland to find another evil entity who was controlling the diamond dogs. As for the Berserker Claw, I just told her it was a magical limb that I can use as a hand, just like the Freezing Gauntlet. "Seriously, since I had corrupted Lilly once, is probably better that she doesn't know about this claw being the exact same one that had temporarily turned Marble Pie into a killing machine who was also the pony equivalent of the doom marine?" On a good note, I had discovered that I got back my Gravity Manipulator... In exchange of my ninja skills of course. What the hell. I mean, I was fine having my invisibility technique to hide my form from that sniper. I was even planning to go in search for him unseen and kill him with a surprise attack! Did Yomi just decided to screw me over in the last minute? Hopefully, my gravity power should allow me to create a force field that will deflect every bullet that would had shot at me. However I preferred to sleep once more since I was so tired. I was able to enjoy the silence, slightly broke by only the sounds of the nature. Until a female voice coming from the outside cried, freaking me out. "You got da vrong pony, you brutish creatures!" No... That can't be that voice. She wasn't supposed to be there at all. "P... Photo Finish?" I murmured, perplexed. ".... Wasn't she supposed to visit Rarity to take pictures for a model?" Oh, great. Now I have another pain in the ass to take care off. I would have to check if Lilly was at her usual guard post, but that wasn't the time for that. I went out of my coffin and put on both the gauntlets. I then put on a violet hood because I don't have anything better than this. With all of the preparation being made, I walked toward the exit at a fast pace. Stepping outside, I noticed Lilly not being here, which was a good thing since I don't want have to gave any other fake explanation. However, the sniper would be probably still stalking me. Not wanting to get shot like the first time, I create a force field around me and galloped out of my mound, directed toward the woods. No bullet wasn't shot yet, but it was too soon for me to relax. Stepping out of my zone, I was met by a very surreal scene. There was indeed Photo Finish, being wrapped in bandages and dragged against her will by three Diamond D.... WHAT!? "I can't believe it! These are the three boss dogs who tried to protect that prick! Why the are they kidnapping Photo Finish, of all people... Screw equestrian terminology for once! Besides, what hell are they doing there!?" "Weren't they supposed to be at Rambling Rock Ridge to scavenge gems or some shit?" I whispered. "Weren't we supposed to go after that white unicorn with violet mane?" The first boss dog asked. "Yes. Why kidnap her?" The second boss dog added. "We need that unicorn since she's the only one able to detect gems, not this weirdo." "I am not any weirdo," Photo retorted. "I have a credibility and an acute, diligent eye for wondarous beauty. Something that you are not, barbarians." "Be quiet!" The third boss dog shouted. "Look, not even I wanted to do that. But somepony asked us to take you to him." "To who? If I had to ask." Photo replied, almost deadpan. "He preferred to remain anonymous," The third one responded rudely. "Pretty odd, huh?" The second one said. "I heard him about using her... Death to frame that gray pony-" The third one interrupted him with slap in his face. "Don't be stupid! He assured us that he won't hurt any other ponies. Seriously, is not in our way to live... This is sick." I was left speechless by what I heard from them. Diamond Dogs were brutish but they won't gain anything from doing from murder. And I think the sniper was exploiting their stupidity and naivety to putting me in a corner. Pissed, I dissolved my force field and went toward the three dogs. Why dissolving the only thing that could keep me from get shot? Because I cannot project the field and use the gravity manipulation on my enemies simultaneously. Sure, I can still have the field while flying and go Psycho Crusher on them... But since they have a hostage, I cannot make any mistakes. I stopped a yard away from the three boss dogs, who were almost arguing with each other. As for Photo, she began to look pretty nervous. I won't blame them for being almost tricked by the sniper, but I have to kick their assess anyway. "Hey dudes." I said to the three boss dogs, who flinched uncomfortably and slowly turned toward me with awe. "Oh... No." The second boss dog said, almost trembling. "Not him again!" The third boss dog exclaimed in fear. I gestured with the gauntlets, pretending cracking knuckles. "Round 2." "Not today!" The first one retorted. "LET'S RUN!" The third one ordered as he was about to take Photo Finish in his arms. Unless until I pointed my hand at them and made them hoover in the air. Needless to say that Photo was overtook by bafflement to see what was happening but I won't worry about it. I was wearing a hood covering my entire body except a little bit of my hooves, so that wasn't a problem. I then draw the three boss dogs toward me and made them stop in mid-air, right in front of me. They looked more scared than they were yesterday. I grinned at them as I summoned the black chains and tied their bodies with them. "I will talk with you later." I said with a grim tone, a second before hoovering in the air and flying away at from the area at a slightly high speed, carrying them and leaving the still tied up Photo. I know that wasn't a very good idea of mine but I will return to get her later. In the meantime, I reached my mound and dropped the chained dogs on the terrain. Despite being free, the were too scared to oppose me. They were even whimpering. Ok... Now I'm feeling a little guilty in this moment, but not so much. "You better get out of my sight as fast as you can," I warned them. "Oh, and to answer to your question from yesterday, my name is Big Show. Remember this name if you don't want to be cranked down. You demented faggots." "Boss, I think we should listen to him," The second boss dog said meekly. "Yeah... I think so," The third boss dog, apparently having learned the lesson. "Just go already," I said with pure annoyance as they slowly stood up and fled from me in fear. After that, I flew nearby the entrance and removed my hood before tossing it inside the coffin. Basket style. I am not familiar with NBA, but they sure does good stuff. I yawned after that. Justified since I was half asleep when I rose up from there. "Now, time to go back to the crime scene," I said tranquilly as I turned around and flew back in the woods, this time lurking from behind the trees. "I have some fashion pony to set free." Seriously, Photo wasn't too far from my property so I slowly levitated toward where she was and stopped as soon as I saw her in the distance. I landed on the soil and walked toward Photo Finish, who was, in the meantime, contemplating about seeing her captors flying away without any logic explanation and a mysterious hooded pony with a sinister power. Besides, is time for me to put some acting. "What the..." I said, feigning surprise. "Who the heck did this to you?" "Finally. Zomepony went to help me," Photo said almost relieved and she turned her head toward me... And noticed my gauntlets being putted on, flinching upon seeing my Berserker Claw. "Yik. What the..." "Lady, you shouldn't be scared by those," I replied calmly. "I merely use those as limbs for a job of mine." That being said, I cut the bandages with my claw, releasing her her body. As she took a moment to recover, I looked around to see if there was any other nuisance. There was none... For now. "I, Photo Finish, can't believe vey dragged me into vis," Photo complained as she stood up and dusted herself. "Not to mention, trying to uze me for zomething vile and gruezome." "By the way, do you need some passage?" I asked. "Because I think there is somepony looking for you." "Vat would be my agents," Photo commented and then sighed. "Vorst day to come outside." Great, now I have to escort her to the town. I am not complaining about guarding Photo Finish or her notorious accent. Meeting Rarity was the thing that really annoyed me most. "Whatever. Just follow me." I suggested, walking toward the path that I take to go to Ponyville. "Vait a second!" Photo halted. I groaned softly. "Now what?" "Are you de one... Vho made that grotesque dress?" I froze, knowing what she was referring to. "What dress... Exactly?" "Vell, one of my friends vas at a fashion show in Ponyville," Photo responded. "And took a photo of a dress that was being wore by an arrogant looking pear-white mare. Oh, vat zubject was a shame. But the dress?... Its zomething unique." Unique what? For having given a real hell of seizure attack to the inhabitants of Ponyville? Her friend should had explained something about the dangers of that thing. "Who told you that I was the one who made it?" I asked perplexed. "Vhy, a pretty talented mare named Flower Chrome, of course," Photo replied. "F-Flower Chrome!?" I asked astounded. "How did she even know it was me if she never met me face to face!?" "To be honest, I zaw that dress in live," Photo admitted, looking a little conflicted. "Its motif is zo bizarre to give me a tremendouz vertigo... And I almost fainted." I felt a vague sense of horror upon hearing that. Why I shouldn't? The production of that stupid dress, those motifs was based on fractal geometry, has probably made so many victims that it must be considered dreaded, although it didn't killed anypony at all. And now that I am thinking about that, should Flower Chrome asking me a refund? "I apologize for that," I said, scratching my head. "It wasn't my intention to cause some health issues. I don't even think you should bother with that flawed design. I know what you are thinking: Its a horrid display and you are right. It even caused some." "Oh, pleaze. You mizunderstood me." Photo said with a strangely assuring tone. "Huh?" I looked confused. "That will zound very weird to you," Photo said, unsure about how she want to describe that moment. "But... I think that dress actually struck me like a revelation. Don't get me vrong. I felt my senses faltering dramatically, and yet I was entranced by the disposition of its colors. Normally I would shun something like that, but you know what?" Photo slightly took off her red sunglasses and looking at me with dreamy and yet reluctant eyes, visibly aroused a little bit. "I crave for more of that sick feeling." Photo Replied, almost gleefully. I became silent for that, literally disturbed by that. That can't be happening. I mean... Weren't Arga, Photon Gladion and Aster Brightside crazy enough? Where the fuck did that came from!? Did my dress screw up Photo's mindset? "You... Cannot be serious," I said while shaking my head, hoping she was... Trolling me or something. "I am zerious, dear boy." Photo stated seriously while putting back her glasses. "It got me in a blink." She paused and sighed before grinning. "Its even necessary to hide it? I mean... As much zickening it can be, that made me alzo feel good in its own way, It makes me want even more of it..." She then suddenly dropped both her glee and grin. "And I berate myself for that." ".... D-did the sight of the dress turned her into a masochist!?" I thought with a bit of concern. "Do not presume that I had fallen down yet," Photon retorted. "I'm not this depraved." "R-really?" I asked, hoping its the case. "You should had consider vat I have a image to protect," Photo remarked. "Never heard about it?" "Yes," I replied, almost apologetically. And since I didn't had enough problem to deal with in this very moment... "Violet!" Lilly's voice shouted in the distance. "Oh, great," I muttered before groaning. "Just than I didn't had enough problems." True to my prediction, Lilly was galloping toward us... Or to be accurate toward me since she looked very annoyed. Her expression, however, assumed a very surprised one when she saw Photo Finish being nearby me. Lilly stopped a few inches away from us. "What the heck are you doing!?" Lilly asked sternly. "And why is Photo Finish with you!?" "Look, I know you are thinking, but let me explain," I started, not expecting to convince her. "I was-" "If its possible, I rather tell you what happened," Photo volunteered. "Sure, why not." Lilly said, almost convinced. "Because I have saw strange coincidences since yesterday." Photo explains what happened to her... In her own way. According to her, she was strolling in Ponyville with the intent to take the breakfast when the three diamond dogs kidnapped her. As for what happened next, Photo said to have saw a hooded figure with strange powers taking the dogs away, not knowing that was me. She also confirmed to Lilly that I had rescued her. After that, Lilly didn't had pretty much choice but believe her. With that, the pegasus Royal Guard escorted Photo Finish to Ponyville, leaving me alone with myself as I was about to return to my mound to sleep. Or at least, that was what I made her believe. I used my DNA Twister to turn myself into a female unicorn and whizzed toward Ponyville to check up Photo's conditions. Landing nearby the entrance of the town, I spotted both her and Lilly and followed her inside the building where Fluttershy's fashion adventure was going on. As expected, Twilight used her magic to screw up Fluttershy's performance, everypony booed her and Rarity just forcefully cheered at her, turning the audience on. Except Lilly, who had already noticed Twilight's action but seemed like to kept that for later. However, I didn't had given a fuck about that. Photo Finish was the only subject I came for. And speaking of her... She was actually fine, not displaying that creepy behavior that she had with me. "Thank god," I whispered with female voice, which gave me a really weird impression. I sighed in relieve since everything was fine and went out the building. I know already how that story ended, so I leaved the town and flew back to my mound with a bad taste in my mouth. During the travel, I was contemplating about the damage that had been made by the dress. Seriously... that was disturbing. I didn't know that dress was powerful enough to screw up Photo's brain chemistry. I can't fucking believe to have accidentally desecrated, even in the slightest, a fashionista that doesn't deserve it. Seeing her like that, in that fraction of seconds, gave me bad impression. "How many times the law of Murphy has been involved with me?" I asked to myself as I removed my gauntlets from my hooves. Stepping inside, I returned to my real form and went to the basement to spend three hours playing at the DETHLOSENSICAL 91. Or to be specific about games, at Dark Souls 2, the clown of the series. Once I got bored after three hours and went outside. It was already evening, so I too went inside my coffin with a doubt of mine. And that bad taste in the mouth was still there. I hope that what happened to Photo didn't had ruined the events of Fluttershy's temporal fashion adventure and Pinkie's... Unnecessary insistence about keeping the secrets. Which was ok if it wasn't counterproductive. Laying on my futon, I closed my eyes and went right into Morpheus' arms... But not without a legit question. "Why there's not a pony equivalent of the DMX?" Waking up in the earlier morning, my sight was met by Lilly facing me from the top of the coffin. That wasn't any new to me. If she was greeting me like this, that means that she wanted something from me. "Did you need something?" I asked, almost annoyed. "I need you to come with me," Lilly stated. "As always," I replied unsurprised. "So... Where, this time?" "You have to come with me in Appleloosa." Lilly responded bluntly. "What?" I exclaimed, knowing what was going on there. I mean... Is the delicate situation between Chief Thunderhooves and the Appleloosian settlers after all. My presence isn't needed at all. Unless... "According to one of our guards," Lilly said. "There is one of those malevolent entities wandering around in the town among the ponies." "Really?" I asked, surprised and expecting the pony she described to be who I think he is. "And nopony seemed to not had noticed him?" "That is the case, but not the only problem?" Lilly stated. "Twilight and her friends are headed toward the town. What's worse is that there is growing tension between the Appleloosian settlers and the Thunderhooves tribe, and I think that creature will took advantage of it to create confusion and target Twilight's group, just like what happened before." She's referring to the encounter with Vaelox. And I get to unwittingly relive the moment in which Twilight was accidentally killed by me and being turned into an apparently normal zombie by me. "And you need my intervention." I said bluntly. "You better prepare your stuff. Now." Lilly suggested with an almost imperative tone. I didn't wanted to involve Lilly into this but I had no choice. The problem was that I don't know how to defend her by a possible attack of that prick in power-armor. I have to get close to him without getting caught by Lilly, or Twilight or any other pony whatsoever. On the bright side, no pun intended, that would be a perfect moment to stop Pinkie Pie to screw up the situation even further. I don't doubt that she just wanted to resolve the situation with Chief Thunderhooves, but this is not how some sane pony will do it. Sorry Pinkie, but you deserve to be trolled. With the preparations being completed, we went outside and walked our way toward Ponyville station. We took very long to reach the place and take the train. We ended up waiting thirty minutes to take the tickets, but was better than nothing. Still, I was bothered upon seeing six strong looking stallions being forced to pull it no stop. I felt sorry for them. This practice, hopefully for them, would be discarded in the future. But for now, they had to do this ungrateful job. Ungrateful was the word. "I wonder if they could even sleep," I commented, referring to the six stallions driving the train. "If course their will since they can exchange place with others. Not all of the trains are like this." Lilly stated. "Lets move on," I spotted Twilight, her friends and Bloomberg, Applejack's tree, taking the last two wagons without noticing us. Better this way since I don't want have to explain my presence. I and Lilly, on other hands, entered inside the third last car of the train, that started its journey after a few minutes. I didn't had took a vehicle since my rebirth, so I was a little dazed during the travel, that was lasting more than eight hours. The same time I spent talking with her about the bizarre situation I was responsible for and Twilight's opinion about me. It was night already, but Lilly went to patrol all of the wagons of the train. I had proposed to let me do that, but since she doesn't want to be second to a civilian, she had to overdo her job. I won't diminish her self-esteem, but stress can be a serial killer. The bed was really comfy though, just like the one when I was in the cave. However, I couldn't even sleep due to my own insomnia, so I struggle a little bit. And for bit I mean hard. Then, I heard Lilly's grunting from behind the door leading to the next wagon, followed by a thud like she was struck by something. I went out of the bed and silently walked toward it. I was about to open the door but then stopped upon hearing some footsteps. The door creaked open, revealing... The three boss dogs from before, who looked determined at first but became quickly terrorized upon seeing me. I looked at them with annoyance. Because I am sick and tired of their faces. "You didn't had learn the lesson, aren't you?" I said, a moment before pointing my hoof at them. Knowing what that means, the second boss dog, like the other ones, became terrorized. "Wait!" "C'mon, let us talk at least," The third boss dog added. Too late because I had already hoovered them outside the wagon and dropped them on the road. Their figures grew quickly distant from me. Worried about Lilly, I silently went on the next wagon, only to find her laying to the ground unconscious, being hit in the face. There was also a log laying on the floor, probably used by them to smack her face. That was the only part that was unprotected by her helmet. "How the hell did they had do that? Diamond Dogs are usually diggers. I don't remember them being trained as assassins... Sorta." "Seriously, you can't take a break from bad luck, aren't you?" I whispered, feeling sorry for her. "I mean, you were being accidentally corrupted by me, mentally shut down by Arga and struck by a lightning. And now you got knocked out by three really improvised diamond dogs in the dark." Wanting to make the things normal as possible, I use my gravity manipulation to put Lilly on her bed despite her still wearing her golden armor. Is not so comfy for her but I refused to undress her because of my own human ethics. I then returned to my wagon and went to sleep. Assuming that the sniper won't be able to shoot me when I was moving on the train. It took me one hour but I managed to reach the dreamland before the next day. But not before detaching my wagon from the rest of the train. I saw the other one in front of me quickly whizzing away from me, leaving the still unconscious Lilly on her own. As I woke up, I was greeted by the western styled dawn scrolling in front of my eyes and its sunlight filtering from the window. I felt a little dizzied and exhausted, so I assumed that I had slept for five hours. Covering my eyes for that blinding light, I looked outside and observed the last two wagons, that were still attached. That means that the buffaloes didn't had arrived yet. That was the perfect moment, but first I have to check Lilly's conditions. With a bit of hesitation, I put on both the gauntles and went inside her wagon, where I found her being in her bed, still unconscious. With that certainty, I went outside and flew off the train with my gravitational powers before the arrival of the buffaloes leaded by Little Strongheart. I then slowly descended to the rocky soil and took a look at the train running away from my sight. At that point, I made my move. I know that was stupid of me, but I would had reached her eventually. Besides, I don't want to be greeted by Braeburn and his slasher smile induced mania for Appleloosa. With all of the cultist psychopaths that I had met, I wasn't in the mood for that at all. "Ok... Let's move on," I said with an half sleepy but serious tone. I was in the middle of the desert, in the middle of nowhere. I took a moment to shrug off my dizziness and proceed toward the next phase. Without any delay, I created a force field around me. *BOOM!!* Like I had expected, I heard that gunshot, but didn't felt anything, except something bouncing on my barrier. I turned toward the saw and finally found that prick in power-armor being a few yards away from me, standing on his hind legs while still pointing her sniper-rifle at me, holding it with metal fingers. *BOOM!!* Another projectile was shot, this time I whizzing toward me, only for it to be ricocheted on my force field. It was redirected toward him like a lightning, passing nearby the left side of his helmet. The sniper flinched a second later, not expecting this to happen another time. It was a shame that I couldn't see his expression due to it being covered by his bizarre helmet, but I guess he was probably wondering what happened since he was unable to see my barrier. Fed-up of the shit he put me through in the past days, I turned off my force field without him realizing it and slowly walked toward the sniper, who before turned around and ran away from me two legged. But there's no way I could allow that. Not this time. "No escape this time, asshole!" I exclaimed as I hoovered above the ground and flew toward him. I was practically going after him without having to gallop, but he was surprisingly faster than me. Although he wasn't any fast than Rainbow Dash, reaching him was almost a ordeal. I chased them around the mountains for about twenty-six minutes and he wasn't exhausted yet. No pony could be able to continue this ran for this long time, which made him look like a equestrian Terminator. Hopefully, I got closer enough to block him in the mid air through gravity manipulation and slam his body . The chase finally ended and I was about to give him my form of retribution. I turned him toward him to face him, thinking to have upper hand until I noticed something being held in his hand. I went wide-eyed upon recognizing its form. That was bad news. "A flash bomb!?" I exclaimed, a moment before the object suddenly exploded into a blinding flash of light. I instantly shielded my eyes with my hands to protect myself from being blinded for real. I waited for the light to dissipate. After some seconds, I lowered my hands down and saw the sniper having fled from my sight. Again. That really pissed me off like no other. I never thought to find some bastard that will actually take me too long to take down. "DAMN IT!" I exclaimed before groaning loudly. "I got almost close!" I took a long moment to regain my calm and then decided to let him be, wherever the hell he was. I would had looked for him, but not now because I have a female pegasus to find. I flew as fast as I can, headed toward Appleloosa. Flying was indeed a good way to travel, but I wasn't Superman as I wasn't as fast as a train. The travel took me two, or maybe three hours before I can reach the town. And at this point, Lilly will be pretty mad for my disappearance anytime soon. "And I was expecting to settle the score with that sniper bastard very quickly. Now how can I even expect to explain my prolonged absence to Lilly?" After a while, I landed two legged, a few yards away from the entrance of the town. Seeing Appleloosa in live gave me a strange impression of western being reincarnated. And much to my luck, Breaburn wasn't around, probably escorting Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity and Twilight to a mountain and telling them about the conflict with the buffaloes. Now, as for Lilly, I was about to go after her, when the familiar level up 8-bit sound suddenly ringed, startling me considering that I didn't had heard it for days since my encounter with Yomi. The glowing green text box didn't took too long to appear. "I had forgot that you even exist," I commented. "So... What kind of idiocy Yomi gave me this time." I took a look at the following reward and... Why I smell Jojo reference in this one? Void Ring: A object that allowed the user to become a living void that disintegrates and clean through everything that came across and revert back when is needed. "Talking about dreadful," I commented, referring to the abilities of the item. "Let's see how does that work." I rummaged inside the bag until I found something, being an amber colored ring with a emerald being encased on it. It was pretty interesting design. Unfortunately, I don't think I can keep it that way since, like the Corrupter and the Gravity Manipulator, will disappear and entering inside me. Which really happened anyway. "Tsk. Typical." I commented. With that out of my way, I concentrated that power through the whole body... And started to regret that since I found myself suddenly falling down, through the ground. I was obviously screaming for that. My body was going through the terrain, disintegrating every atom of it. I had to stop, so I dissipated that power traversing through my body, stopping the fall. Found myself on a bed of hard rock. I looked upward, only to find a very dime light above me. I was weirded out upon seeing the hole that I made being shaped like my own body when I was falling. Now that was seriously cartoonish... No pun intended. Also, I'm not sure about the depth, but I am almost certain that I fell at... Maybe thirty or forty meter under the ground. Good thing I had halted immediately. "This power sucks." I complained. "Unless I can control it properly, of course." I hovered upward and raised toward the surface. It took me half of a minute to do that, but I exploited that period to develop a idea of mine. As I returned from the terrain, I looked around to see if there was any pony who could had saw me do that tremendous stuff, but there was no one. Good for me. But there was still that hole being opened by me to the ground. I was able to survive, but any other pony would end up getting killed by the fall. I have to do something. I noticed two flowers blooming nearby this hole... Which gave me a idea. I used my DNA Twister to alter their vegetal organism and turned their roots into huge ones that closed the hole, completely. "Wow," I said, impressed. "I never thought that I had to employ this method to resolve this mess." Resolved that, I turned toward Appleloosa and stepped inside the town, looking for Lilly. The streets was almost desert, save for some of its inhabitants, a mare selling flowers and, of course, sheriff Silver Star observing the situation from nearby the door of his office . But Lilly to be nowhere to be found. By the way, I also noticed a very familiar female earth-pony, being the cheater that I had caught trying to sabotage her competitors and trolled her hard. She looked a little depressed and yet confused, probably still wondering what happened. I was wondering why she was still there, but... "Violet!" Lilly's voice screamed from my left. "Oh... There she is." I said bluntly as I turned toward the source of the voice. In that point, I saw Lilly running toward me, looking pretty pissed as I had predicted. It was legit of her since I had disappeared without telling her anything, right when she was still unconscious, courtesy of the three diamond dog bosses inside the train at night. Which was something that I found ridiculous in any case. "I wasn't able to find you. Where the hay did you had gone!?" Lilly said almost furious, a moment before her face slowly contort with confusion. "And why you are covered with dirt?" I was confused at first, but then I looked down to both my chest and hooves, being covered with specks of earthen dirt. I didn't had noticed that but I dirtied myself after I had halted the phasing fall caused by the Void Ring's ability and touched the deepest earthen stratus. I dusted myself a little bit and looked at her, trying to explain that. However, that simple detail became very convenient to me. "Let me explain of I got that." I asked, ready to lie again. I had obviously lied to her, but that's probably for the best. I told her that one of those malevolent entities stormed inside my wagon and dragged me out of the train before he buffaloes came to assault it with the intent to kill me. I fought valiantly against him and almost destroyed him, with the result that he unwittingly tossed me in the desert with annoyance and retreated. As for Lilly being knocked out, I spared her the embarrassing details by saying that the entity did that and not the three diamond boss dogs. She however looked unconvinced, and yet she found most of what I told to her pretty much plausible. I didn't had any expectation when was about being believed. "Let's just said that you were right," Lilly stated, almost resigning. "I don't think I have pretty much choice at this point. But do one favor for me. Do not interfere Twlight's effort to put the hostility between the buffaloes tribe and the settlers of this town to rest. And most of all, try to prevent that entity to ever try to cause a war." I nodded, because I was thinking if that sniper has something in its mind. If he made his move and went to kill any pony or buffalo in its side. He has to be stopped. And I think he has his own reason to steal the tribe's precious treasure." Can that be right? Unless... He would make a similar tactic that motivated him to kidnap Photo Finish, in order to use her death to blame me. I wonder what he will do during our encounter with the tribe. "By the way, can you give me a little... Refresh of they reason behind this war?" I asked, feigning perplexity. "I will tell you that anyway," Lilly pointed out. "But first, come with me in the inn." That being said, we entered inside a inn were, hopefully for me, the Mane Six weren't residing since they took place somewhere else.I Lilly order a temporal room for both of us and stepped inside any way. As for the bedroom, it wasn't dirt, messed up, dusty or anything. Its just that it has to be improved anyway. But still, I am grateful that the Mane Six didn't had saw me coming. However, we didn't took any rest and instead spent half of a day patrolling the outskirts of Appleloosa to find the entity, being the sniper, while talking about my him. I had also made up the part in which the sniper can manipulate any feral beasts that he encounter in his way and sent them against their former companions. What else I had made up? Why, the part in which the diamond dogs worked for him and that he tried to use Photo to fake her death and put the blame on me. In the same moment the sun was setting, we returned to the Inn empty handed and took some dinner.... And for dinner I mean apple shaped chocolates. After that I went on my bed, while Lilly was guarding outside the room because she wanted to settle the score with the attacker... Unaware that wasn't him. As for me, I read some book, being one telling a possible origin of this part of Equestria. That would be interesting. Unfortunately I fell asleep after twenty minutes, but not before reminding myself of that thing. Something very important. A factor that I must not overlook. I have a universally hated pink pony's show to sabotage. Chapters before Level Up: -3 Next Level Up: 1)Giga Drill: The main weapon of the so called Gurren Laggan, almost reduced to the size of portable weapon while retaining its power, but was made almost impossible for others to wield it due to its tremendous weight. 2)Item Animator: A mysterious quartz who gives the own the ability to turn inanimate objects into living things with the condition that they weren't bio organic to begin with. 3)Face Palmer: A dark-azure gauntlet which functions consist into shooting face palms like wave of energy, striking its target with unexpected power, great impact in the most undignified way possible. > Murphy Gon Give It To Ya > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rotatory abilities: Plasma Cannon Void Ring Ryu Hyabusa's Abilities After I woke up, I got out of my bed and headed toward the door. I looked around and noticed Lilly not being there at all. Just to see if the the rotation of skills didn't gave me the trap of the last minute, I pulled out the black orb. I took a look at it... And became instantly triggered about discover that I was deprived of both the Gravity Manipulator and the DNA Twister. "Really Yomi... Fuck you." Pissed off about it but trying to concentrate on my current situation, I descended to the first floor and walked toward the reception, were a female earth-pony was nervous for what was happening with Chief Thunderhooves' tribe. "Did you have seen a female pegasus in golden armor?" I asked. "You are referring to your mate?" The mare said almost cheerfully. "Well, she said to have a commission to do." I went wide-eyed, surprised. "That's it?" "Yep, that's what she said," The mare replied. "She said to have received a letter from Princess Celestia. Ain't know the details, but surely it looked important. Oh gosh, being a Royal Guard must be a more tiring. Stress is a serial killer and I know something about that." Good for me. I just hope that she didn't had actually gone to face that prick in power-armor. Exploiting her absence, I went out the inn and wandered through the town, in search of Pinkie. She wound probably with at the gathering of both the buffaloes and the settlers. I heard multiple voices in the distance and followed the source, until I reached the said gathering. Much to my horror, the 'Gotta Share Gotta Care' spectacle was already going on. Pinkie was making her infamous dance. I had woke up in the worst timing possible. The show finished after a few seconds. I looked at the group of buffaloes from the distance and saw Chief Thunderhooves, who didn't looked so happy. And wasn't because of his disdain toward the settlers. That was something else. "It seems that sheriff and I have come to an agreement," Chief Thunder hoof said. "We have," Sheriff Silverstar added. "That was the worst performance we ever seen." "Teh... Abso-tively!" "Fuck," I whispered frustrated, facehoofing. "I was too late." "Time for action... Hmh... Is upon us!" Chief Thunderhooves declared with a serious tone. "Our stamped will start at high noon tomorrow. And if the orchard is still there, we'll flatten it... And the whole town!" The Mane Six, Braeburn, Sheriff Silverstar, the rest of the settlers and even Little Strongheart, the female buffalo of the herd, gasped upon hearing that. And that was the part where both sides will go nuts. Yippie skippie. "But, Chief!" Little Strongheart said alarmed. "An' we Appleloosans say you'd better bring yer best, 'cause we'll be ready an waitin'." Sheriff Silverstar retorted. And so both sides prepared themselves for the incoming battle. I got to see the Mane Six, and Spike, trying to convince both sides, but without any results. Seriously. Twilight was even lamenting that there's wasn't anybody who acted rationally. The settlers started barricading their town and weaponizing their apple pies. I didn't need to go to the buffaloes to see that they were literally preparing for war. Since I have no intention to interfere with that, I headed toward the exit of the town unchecked. Its a good thing that Twilight and her friends didn't had noticed me. The things looked more frenetic in live of than I saw in the actual episode and nopony wasn't in the mood to reason, so leaving Appleloosa for a moment was a good thing. In the meantime, I ran at ninja speed toward the place where I first went out of the train. I had arrived to my destination after one hour and a half of travel, almost exhausted and with my heart beating like fucking Mjorlnir. I won't had fatigued at all if Yomi didn't had took away the Gravity Manipulator at the worst moment. After a handful of minutes recovering my strengths, proceed to patrol the rocky valleys in search for that douchbag. I ran around the rocks and multiple places of the area, but without any success. He wasn't nowhere to be found, once again. At least he will still think that some invisible barrier was protecting me. I guess he won't try to mess with me... If he didn't had found out that I could use that trick anymore. However, that pointless search wasn't leading to anywhere, until I found a very unusual mountain. I looked upward and saw a cave being locate in its highest point. That would be impossible for normal ponies, but not for me. I climbed the mountain and reached the entrance without any problem. As I stepped inside, I was met by something that I wasn't expecting to find. There are multiple treasures, some marble columns with torches illuminating the place and strange, red banner depicting a silver colored emblem. That symbol was that of a sword protruding from a eye above a defenseless woman, whose body was impaled by a pillar from beneath her and was then stabbed by the said sword. That was enough to give me a bad vibe. I have reasons for hating it. "There's no doubt about the symbol," I said with a grim tone. "But I never thought to find it inside a cave being located in this western styled region of Equestria. This is the emblem of the Granite Daggers. That group of psychopath must have really disturbing tastes in that moment. What I don't understand was how the heck did that ended up there?" Putting that aside for a moment, I explored this cave, checking every treasure consisting in golden coins, multiple gems... Guns!? Is that telling me that this cave became his vault without me having realized that. Continuing my tour, I spotted two texts worth of a graffiti scribble being carved on the stone walls. They weren't important at all but what made me curious was the text being not written in a equestrian language. I read them and... What!? Snowman was here. Gamecube rules. Its me or what was carved in was just trolling me. "Snowman?" I whispered, not believing this. "Is that referring to... The ice manipulating Iron Ghost of the Darks Saints named Snowman?... Who, in Equestria, would possibly know about him?" I paused looked at the other text. "Also, Gamecube rules?" I then pondered about, only to find absurd possibilities. "So Snowman was once a hardcore gamer?" Before that dilemma could even confuse me even more, I heard two familiar voices echoing from the darkest part of the cave in my right. "Are you sure that taking that thing from that buffaloes' tribe was a good idea?" "Shut up! This is just one fine gem that we can take without having nothing to do that pony!" "You gotta be kidding me," I muttered as I headed toward the source. Reaching the deepest part of the cave, I surrounded by the pitch-black part of that place. Luckily, there was some lighted torched that allowed me to see what was going on. And much to my shocked surprise, I found... "I can't f... Those damn boss dogs again." I said quietly, restraining myself form say the F-word. ".. Seriously. They won't even learn, aren't they? Holy god, I have enough of those douches." Yes, those three annoying damn boss dogs were right in front of my sight. So much annoyance. But more importantly, how did they managed to climb this mountain? They were diggers, not freaking climbers. I halted my anger for a moment as I recalled something that they said. They talked about taking something from Chief Thunderhoove's tribes. The third boss dog said that they were about to take some gems without being after me, which means that they had given up hunting me down for real. Still, I wondered what was this treasure they talked about until I noticed a red orb being held by the third boss dog. "Was that Chief Thunderhoove's treasure?... Time to have a chat with those assholes." I walked toward them, slowly reaching them. They continued to talk for a while, seemingly so busy arguing about who does the gem belong to that they didn't had noticed that yet. I stopped a few inches away from them. "Ehm.... Guys!" I shouted, causing them to turn around reluctantly. They Instantly flinched in fear upon seeing me, except for the third boss dog who was just staring at me with pure incredulity, becoming steadily nervous. His left eye was twitching. His eyes glued on me. "Oh, not him again!" The first boss dog exclaimed in awe. "Impossible! No pony would be able to climb this mountain to reach us!" The second boss dog pointed out incredulous. "I mean, tha-" "ENOUGH!!" The third boss dog screamed in resignation, unable to hold up his neurosis as he knelled in front of me with raised hands. "WE ARE SURRENDERING!!" I froze in surprise upon hearing that and blinked, not expecting a reaction like this. "Really?.... No trying to resist me?" "C-calm down, pal," The second one said meekly. "I mean, we get the fact that messing with you was a great mistake." "Yes... Oh, look at it," The third one added as he showed me the red orb. "You can just take that and the rest of treasury for you. You don't have to worry. Eheheh... Also, there are still the gems buried in our territory. We don't need to break our bones for this idiocy." It seemed like kicking their asses with multiple tremendous powers can work wonders. Being a little amused for that, I summoned one of my black chains and tossed it toward the trio. It managed to wrap around the red orb as they were too dumbfunded by this act, which made easy for me to pull it back to snatch their object from their clutched. I catched the flying orb and put it into my bag. Then I pointed my hoof to the third boss dog, with the other twos taking the distance from me, fearing for what was going to happen next. "You know, I don't want have any witnesses," I informed them while pointing my hand at the third boss dog. "But I don't even want to kill you either." "W-what are you going to do to us?" The third boss asked, scared. "You are going to help me, but not as yourself," I said bluntly as I use my Corrupter on him. Suddenly, a flux of black lightnings from coming from my hand struck the third one, who screamed in pain as the red orb fell from his hands. "Boss!" The first boss dog screamed. "No!" The second boss dog did the same. The body of the third one began to change, with his gray fur becoming suddenly white like the veiled sugar, his eyes becoming almost red and her canine face being turned into a wolfine one... Which impressed me. Really. I wished for him to become something more humble. The two other boss dogs, however, looked at their leader's new form with a shocked expression, speechless. After that transformation, the third boss dog, that I will dub as C. Mine, slowly rose up with the face of someone that had just witnessed a miracle happening in front of his eyes. I'm feeling that something is wrong with this situation. Sure, I know I had corrupted him just to make him and his colleagues desist from pursuing me but... I still have this sensation. "Now you and your colleagues are free to go, but don't even try to pursue me again," I said with a stern tone before turning toward the two boss dogs. "And you do better doing the same." The two diamond dogs nodded frantically and recoiled away from me and their former friend. And speaking of him he, wasn't scared of me anymore. He just looked amazed to see me.. Why? "Thank for you mercy," C. Mine said with a disturbingly solemn tone. "You are indeed the only real benefactor." "Huh?" I flinched, taken aback by his reaction. "There's a truth far more great than this, buried in our soil," C. Mine continued. "Thank you for showing us the way. We will follow your indications. Never again we will go out of trails." The first boss dog and the second boss dog went wide-eyed, like they were fearing for the sanity of their colleague. "WHAT!?" "W-what are you talking about?" I stuttered dumbfounded, but then shrugged off my shock. "Just get out of my sight and go dig in peace or something!" Hearing that, C. Mine bowed and walked away from me, being about to rejoin with his companions. He then turned around and walked away. The other two boss dogs doesn't know what to do or even believe anymore. "Follow me, my brothers," C. Mine instructed. "There's so much work to do and so much more to discover than just mere gems." The first one turned at the second one in confusion. "Are we supposed to follow him even after he's reduced like this?" "Shh! Always better than enraging this pony even more," The second one pointed out. "For now let's stick with him and see how far this... Situation goes." Reluctantly, the two remaining boss dogs followed C. Mine, who was leading them like a some weird immaculate shepherd. I couldn't help but feel a little worried about them, especially since the transformed diamond dog looked at me like I was his own god. But still... Why I have the feeling that something is going wrong with them? Putting aside that for later, I glanced at the red orb laying nearby my feet and putted it inside my bag. I don't know why that thing was there but is better for me to take it. If Chief Thunderhoove was really on its tracks, I better give it back. "I think that bastard stole that for a valid reason." I said, having a sinister feeling about that. "I just hope that he won't be present at the stampede at all." I paused. "But still," I then sighed heavily. "Its time for a really tiresome backtracking." Anyway, resigned to the fact that I couldn't even flying at the moment, I went out of the cave and descended down the mountain. I noticed the sun slowly setting and I couldn't afford to nap there. I had to hurry, and that was the hated part of all. Reluctantly for valid reasons, I ran at ninja speed back to Appleloosa. By the time I had reached the place, it was already evening. I was more exhausted than before, panting hysterical due to my aims asking me for mercy. So hard that I was almost falling on the ground. I forced myself to remain still a took a look the surrounding. The town was full of barricades and most of the inhabitants seemed too nervous for what was going to happen tomorrow. They weren't even noticing me. They didn't even wanted to talk with anyone. I went Inside the Inn without being noticed and went on the upper floors. Nonetheless, I instantly went on the bed and took some serious time to rest. My heart was really pumping harder and will take sometime to slow down. And my muscles were hurting for the excessive overwork. Seriously, I wasn't used to travel for a long time no stop. Flying with my gravitational powers was less exhausting than running normally. The only thing that I would had done in that moment was waiting. I mean, I know that this problem with the irritated buffaloes would be going for the better course. Except that I have to deal with Pinkie's encore of that number. I have to be fast. This time that won't happen. I wondered why Lilly didn't had returned from her commission yet, but whatever. I guess Celestia had gave her some instruction regarding the entity slash prick in power-armor. But I wasn't convinced of that. "She came here to investigate the evil entity, who is the sniper, being in the town. But if that was the case... Why would Celestia convoke her in the last minute?" It doesn't add up indeed. I guess that I will find out about that tomorrow. Mostly because I want to sleep. That was the usual dream. Nothing new about it, except that the place was a . And once again Aunt Death was there, this time looking at some portraits depicting... Huh? "Oh, Dracul-pool. Always in my dreams," Death said with a dreamy tone as she walked toward another one. "Nonpareil. Master piece. Artful." Said another voice similar to her coming as the owner came out from a corner, revealing to be... Another Aunt Death? I know that is supposed to be surreal but still... What's going on!? "Since by then Death has the power of mindscrew?" I murmured dumbfounded. "I thought that was my subconscious' job." "Where the fuck were you looking at?" Asked Aunt Death's voice coming from behind me... What!? "WHOAAA!!" I screamed startled, a moment before turning toward the source, who was... Aunt Death. "W-what the...?" "I can't believe that," Death said with a bit of disappointment. "You were a powerful Iron Ghost, and yet you didn't had realized they are fake ones?" "Huh?" I looked at the two 'Aunt Deaths' who were looking at the pictures with very unusual weird tone and then looked back at the other Aunt Death, assuming that its the real one... Considering that or her, or my mind, or even both of them are driving me crazy, like the medusa head and axe armor tag team doom corridor in Castlevania. "How I could had even tell that?" "Think about my competence for a moment," Death inquired. "These two copies were commenting the portraits through unnecessary meme like comments and behavior belonging to mortals passing their time commenting stuff on the Internet. Even that picture of a Dracula-Deadpool hybrid is a meme. You can say... This whole scene, in itself, its artful on its own way." ".... What are you on?" I asked, perplexed. "You should consider that," Death suggested. "For every time you face a version of any person you had met in your life coming from an alternate universe. You are going to need this suggestion. That goes also for your enemies." "You mean... I have to face even non Granite Dagger members too?" I asked. "Its just a possibility... But in a way or another, both you and Equestria will be pretty much in deep shit," Death commented. "So, to make a example," I improvised. "I have to face an alternate version of myself who would be different from me or outright an asshole?"" "Not exactly," Death assured, a moment before her tone became a very grim one, no pun intended "But you have to prepared for the future exception." Waking up, a dreadful silence was the first thing that greeted me. It was merely broke by the sounds of few hooves slowly walking on the streets. Silently, I put on both the gauntlets and went out the inn, headed toward the barricade. Beyond that, there was a rocky hill standing a few yards away from the town, where Chief Thunderhooves will gather his tribe for war. I know fully well that was going to end very well in the end... But not with that prick being still around. Hiding from behind the walls, I saw Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Braeburn and Sheriff Silverstar being the first to arrive. They were eventually joined by the inn keeper and the rest of the town, who were carrying apple pies to use as ammunition. Strangely enough, Pinkie and Applejack weren't with them, for some reason. Although why Applejack wasn't there, I know very well that Pinkie was actually there. And that's a problem. "Well, if I have make the wait easier, I rather spent my time looking for her," I said almost nervously but mostly calm compared to the ponies who were waiting the noon with nervousness. "Not that will make my job any easier." I spent the next three hours wandering around the town looking for Pinkie, while the inhabitants prepared themselves for the incoming war. I checked every corner of it, but she wasn't nowhere to be found. The time was running out and I was going almost nuts. After so many frustrating travels, I finally found Pinkie... Ducking nearby one of the many wooden obstacles that were composing the barricade... Right now I had a urge to kill her. I couldn't believe how much time I had wasted looking for her. I was observing the situation from behind a wall, without her having realized yet. "Nonetheless, Pinkie wasn't a real problem," I whispered. "Just a misguided one. I was thinking if the sniper will make his move... I'm not very tranquil in this moment." In any case, noon finally arrived, demonstrated by Chief Thunderhooves showing up from above the mountain with his tribe, accompanied by a very reluctant Little Strongheart. The inhabitants, and Sheriff Silverstar in particular, were stubbornly prepared for the worst, while the Mane Six, minus Applejack and Pinkie Pie, and Breaburn, having the award for the only sane Appleloosian ever, didn't liked the idea at all. I looked at the hill, where Chief Thunderhooves was about to order his tribe to charge when Little Strongheart putted her hoof on his cheek, making him desist. He look at her and then closed his eyes. He sighed, starting to consider that there was another way than fighting a war. "He's not gonna do that," Rainbow's voice said. That phrase was then followed by her, Twilight, Rarity and Fluttershy sighing in relief. In that moment, I know what was going to happen next. Like a hopper, Pinkie bounced up with the intent to sing. "Not under my watch," I declared as I shot a freezing bullet at her, causing her to literally froze in place. At first, I thought to chain her down and hide her inside the clock tower. A plan that I had rejected since she would had cried for help or, as minor problem, having suffered from starvation or lack of oxygen. I then tried to check if some pony of the town caught me in the act, but, for some reason, no one, not even Twilight and her friends, had heard that happening. I continued to observe the situation from behind the wall, just to see if the settle ponies had learned something without them and the buffaloes fighting against each other. Still, that made me realize a very chilling thing. I was becoming just like Yomi? "Appleloosans." Chief Thunderhooves called from above the hill. "I will considering to make a deal with you and spare your town." Hearing that, the ponies of the town reacted cheerfully for situation taking a turn for the better. And yet there's still something bothering me. I think to know why. "But unfortunately, there is some of you who had committed a crime against our tribe!" Chief Thunderhooves said with a grim tone. A very uncomfortable silence fell upon both sides. The hopeful feeling of a peaceful resolution was suddenly replaced by awe. Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity and Rainbow Dash were the most shocked of all. "What!?" Twilight exclaimed alarmed. "Yesterday, one of you stole the treasure of our ancestors when we were sleeping." Chief Thunderhooves said seriously, pointing his hoof to the town, causing Twilight's gang and the ponies of the town to gasp in dismay. "You have to gave it back to us this instant. NOW!" They were completely taken aback from that statement. In a blink of a eye, the settle ponies began murmuring, not expecting it coming. I, however, expected him bringing that up. I knew what he was referring to. Its quiet convenient that I have what they want right in my bag since I can turn the situation in my way... Somehow. I would had told them the truth, but since they wouldn't believe me and will instead hunting me down, I preferred to see where this story goes and then came up with a strategy to resolve the situation. "Wait a second!" Rainbow protested. "That can't be possible! Outside me, nopony stepped into your camp, especially since they were in this town the whole time!" "That may be a possibility, unfortunately for you," Chief Thunderhooves retorted harshly. Rainbow went wide-eyed, dismayed. "What?... Are you telling me that I stole that?" "Impossible." A female voice said, being none other than Applejack joining the group in the last minute. "She would never do something like that." "How can you be sure about that?" Twilight asked. "A rather unusual guest came to us this morning," Chief Thunderhooves explained. "To inform us about the theft." "Who?" Twilight asked confused. Chief Thunderhooves didn't said anything. Instead he gestured to his tribe to clear the wave, probably to make room for the pony he talked about. As I guessed, the accuser showed up, being... That prick in power armor!? "Are you SERIOUS!!?" My mind screamed as I was struck with pure bafflement upon seeing him. I expected him to show up, but not in this way. I was momentarily froze in shock, until I realized the picture. And it was really disgusting. "You tried to frame me but ended up frame Rainbow Dash as compensation, huh?" I whispered. "What a clever son of a bitch." Twilight's group, Breaburn and the rest of the inhabitants looked dumbfounded by the power-armor the sniper was wearing. Their reaction was justified. Not because of his gear, but because they didn't trust so much a pony who was hiding his face behind a helmet. "H-he's that the guess ya talked about?" Sheriff Silverstar asked. "I-I'm sorry to say that but... He sure looks suspicious." Fluttershy said distrustful. "And they trusted the words of some one who dressed in that suspicious manner like that!?" Rainbow muttered. "Especially since that suit is so lifeless and devoid of any vitality." Rarity added with disgust. "I won't contradict Chief Thunderhooves words, but I cannot possibly trust somepony with a bad taste like his own!" "The point is the same," Chief Thunderhooves warned, pointing at Rainbow Dash. "Unless you won't gave our treasure back, we will resume our war!" Everypony but the chief and his buffaloes reacted with utter shock. "Chief!" Little Strongheart called alarmed. "What!?" Rainbow exclaimed. "Ya can't be serious!" Applejack protested. Normally, I would had turned myself into another pony, but unfortunately I didn't had my DNA Twister with me. Fuck that damn Yomi. I hate to do that, but I have to expose myself. "What the hell are you talking about!?" I shouted as I went out the wall and surpassed the barricade, headed toward the hill while the sniper flinched as he wasn't expecting me to show up. "That rainbow mare is not the thief!" I stopped in the middle of the field and rose up two legged, greeted by the confusion of both sides... And the protest of both Twilight and her friends. "Violet, what are doing here!?" Twilight said from the barricade behind me, annoyed but surprised to see me here. "Don't you see the situation in which we are!?" Rainbow asked with the same tone as Twilight. "Not you too." Rarity lamented. "Must be your anti-fashion like appearance be omnipresent!?" "Wait, you know who he is?" The inn keeper said. "He's just somepony who's also source of annoyance," Applejack responded bluntly. "Chief Thunderhooves, this pony's not authorized to represent us!" Breaburn said hesitantly. "Since by then I am representing someone?" I muttered quietly. "Sometimes your l-" "She's not the culprit, you say." Chief Thunderhooves interrupted me, responding sternly from above the hill. "Then who exactly?" "Well, let me ask you one question first," I replied. "What was the form of the treasure?" "Its a red sphere that we called the Scarlet Tear," Chief Thunderhooves explained. "A relic of our history, a very significant memorial and the one thing that has been stolen from us!" I nonchalantly pulled out the red orb from my bag. "Like this?" Everypony gasped, more shocked than before. I turned around to see their reaction. I won't bother to look at their reaction but they surely seemed pretty mad about that. Seeing the buffaloes' disdain was enough. "WHAT!!?" The sniper exclaimed with a disguised voice while flinching, causing the buffaloes to look at him with confusion. Seeing this gave me a real confirm about the cave where the orb was located being his own. "I knew it." "Our relic," Chief Thunderhooves confirmed dumbfounded. "Is that their treasure?" Twilight inquired. "A well endowed gem," Rarity commented before assuming a very irritated tone. "Ruffian, you are the one who stole it, isn't it?" "And I also knew that Rarity will react like that... Hashtag hammy award." I thought with annoyance. "You tried to frame me!?" Rainbow bellowed. "Why don't you ask the helmet guy?" I asked with a fed-up tone while pointing at the sniper. "The one who seemed to know anything about the theft and yet looked surprised to see me having the orb like he doesn't?" "Now that I am thinking about..." Chief Thunderhooves looked at the seemingly nervous sniper. "You weren't so honest-" The chief didn't had the time to finish that the sniper stood on his hind legs, drawing out his metal fingers from his hooves and made his move. "Fuck all of this!" The sniper in power-armor exclaimed as he grasped Little Strongheart's head and lifted her above him to use her body as a human, or rather, equine shield. "Nobody moves or she will meet his ancestors this instant!" Everybody flinched alarmed by that. Fluttershy in particular, looked very scared, fearing for Little Strongheart's life. Chief Thunderhooves glared intensively at the sniper but didn't do nothing since that guy has the upper hand on him. "Release her, you coward!" Applejack roared. "Just let her go and face me with dignity, Doom reject." I taunted him. "Doom... What?" Twilight looked confused. The sniper used his only free fingered-hoof to remove his helmet, revealing his face. It appeared as a blue maned pale-cyan stallion, wearing a very sadistic expression. He started to laugh almost maniacally. "You just want have to screw up my plan, eh, Allen?" The sniper said with his real voice, being a very rough one. "I don't even know how did you managed to survive me so far. I wonder if there must be some cheat code going on in Equestria." I froze, mostly because I had recognized his voice. I was struck by pure incredulity. I couldn't believe he was the one who stalked me this whole time. "Trice!?" I exclaimed baffled. "I would had spiced up this already toned down war," Trice said with a irritated ton. "If you didn't had took that item from me." "What did you said?" Chief Thunderhooves asked angered. "That's horrible!" Twilight retorted. No one in this world didn't know him, but Trice was the most deadliest weapon master of the Granite Daggers, being able to create portals that he would had used to snipe through, and, most of all, he's the only Iron Ghost being also a half-cyborg with the ability to enhance his powers. And I knows very well that being half cyborgs, in his case, was practically useless since being a Iron Ghost were enough. What its condition does was amplifying his powers, almost poorly. The members of the Granite Daggers secretly ridiculed him for the choices that Trice made, despite them not having any benefit to him, his capabilities or the organization itself because he thought it was cool. He was too busy feeding his ego, rather than following his superiors' schemes. He even lamented that they wouldn't allow him to keep shoulder pads. Rarity's worst nightmare, I would add. Returning to what Twilight said, horrible would be the correct word... if that wasn't associated to Trice. Because he was indeed cruel and sadistic, but was also kinda undignified and cocky idiot. Seriously. His real kryptonite was his ego and can't be taken seriously because he always managed to destroy the seriousness of every situation in which he was involved due to his bad habit to mumble absurd things of videogame level of stupidity. That was proven by his original being almost shredded by Mio Amisato in my world. I eventually killed him during a real ordeal of a fight. "Chief Thunderhoof..." I called him incredulous. "He just came to your camp, claiming that one of the of ponies in the town stole your treasure... And you instantly believed him without even questioning his identity what so ever?" "Well, he present us as a bounty hunter looking for the one we believe he stole our treasure," Chief Thunderhooves explained, reluctantly. "He was quiet of polite, clever and very convincing with us, having a understanding of our situation... Until now," He facehoofed. "Honestly..." He paused. "I couldn't believe that I was that naive." "Because you were too busy preparing to prepare your war with the town, now suck it," Trice said before looking at me. "You better no underestimate me this time, Allen! I have plenty of tricks in my sleeve in comparison with my original!" "Just what do you think you are?" I asked sternly. "I am a Call of Duty fan in a word of fiction!" Trice announced, convinced of his proclamations. "I would had put the tribe to fight the whole town in my own way while reveling in the beauty of giving orders and shooting things!" He paused as he was oblivious of some of the buffaloes who looked at him with a creeped out expression. "And now that I'm thinking about, with your death I will finally learn the legendary arcane art of acting," He then grinned very madly. "The secret called NUANCES!" I facehoofed for Trice's uncanny ability to elaborate some rumbling bullshit during a hostage situation. As I could tell, both sides, including and Twilight, her friends looked at him with dumbfounded, with Rainbow Dash suggesting he's insane. Chief Thunderhooves, on other hand, had his patience becoming really low. My patience with him was also getting low, but for other reasons. "If Ultimate Warrior had made an academy that rewards the skills of insane, caveman rambling," I thought. "Trice would had graduated in one instant." "That was the most nonsensical and demented rumbling I had ever heard in my entire life," Rarity commented. "And I thought that your outfit was the only primitive thing here." "Ah think we've to save that for later," Breaburn remarked. "What the hay are you talking about!?" Twilight said, utterly confused. "Twilight, he's a idiot with very warped convictions," I said annoyed. "Nopony asked yer opinion, Violet," Applejack remarked sternly, a moment before realizing something. "Besides, where's Pinkie?" Oh, shit. That's not good. That would... Wait, nobody noticed that Pinkie was frozen since my arrival? "And still... Only now they had realized Pinkie was missing? How slow Twilight and her friends are?" Ignoring their reaction, Trice jumped down while bringing Little Strongheart with him and sled down the hill until he reached the terrain. He then draw out the barrel of a gun from his metallic hoof and pointed it at the little buffalo. I Grinning, he slowly approached me, only to stop at few yards away from me and pointing his weapon at me. "I have an actual proposal for you, Allen," Trice said confidently. "I will release this child if you accept to get killed by me without even fighting. No tricks. And no even some mystical mumbo jumbo whatsoever or this girl is toasted." Yeah, I know that you will actually had killed her anyway and probably had unleashed the fury of Chief Thunderhooves' tribe. But to be fair, that was just my theory, because I don't know and want to know about the consequence of what you are going to do. However, I was still holding the red orb with my hand, being the freezing gauntlet, and that gave me a idea. "Well, if you have to kill me," I suggested. "Let me at least give you the treasure." "Huh?" Trice looked perplexed. With that, both sides were left incredulous but "Why you would even do that!?" Chief Thunderhooves exclaimed, looking upset. "What is wrong with you!?" Rarity shouted. "Well, I could just take it from your corpse but..." Trice pondered about it for a moment but then grew impatient. "Damn. Then I would had lowered my guard to take it. Alright, give me that thing but do it fast." "Take it," I said calmly, a moment before I instantly hurled the red orb with so much speed and precision that it whizzed toward him like a bolt, until it struck his forehead and made him fall back to the terrain while moaning in pain before bouncing upward. With her captor's hand loosing its grip, Little Strongheart fell on the ground as well. She moaned a little bit but then noticed the red orb descending down. She jumped toward the falling object and took it with both her hooves. Seeing this, made me consider one strange dilemma. How the hell did the buffaloes managed to carry that jewel if they weren't bipedal beings? "Tsk. Mystery of faith marked Lauren Faust," I whispered without expecting an answer as I pointed my Freezing Gauntlet at Trice and shot multiple projectiles to freeze his gun armed-hoof, its other hoof and the rest of his body except his head. "Now try to run if you can, asshole." Unfortunately I won't have the glory to blast him off since I was watched by all of the equestrian creatures, who would have probably expecting me to defeat the bad guy without killing him. I have to wait for the right circumstance to do that. The only nuisance was that I have the pain to explain to Twilight, and the other equestrian residents, what the hell is going on. I looked at Chief Thunderhooves, who sighed in relief upon seeing both Little Strongheart and the red orb being fine and then looked at me irritated for having used their treasure as a weapon. I then looked at the Mane Six, who looked very astounded for the way I had knocked out Trice, but I think that they were actually looking at my gauntlets. As Little Strongheart tried to figure out how to carry that thing, Rainbow Dash instantly flew toward her and picked her up. The rainbow maned mare brought the little buffalo back to her tribe and flew back to Twilight. And speaking of her, she and a few other ponies, including the inn keeper, seemed really surprised. "Where did you learned to throw like that?" The inn keeper asked surprised. "Good grief, Its a miracle that you didn't had complicated the situation, but still..." Twilight noticed the Berserker Claw that I was wearing on my left hoof. "Where did you took that?" "Well... It's a long story." I said, a moment before returning my attention to the frozen Trice, who looked as he realized in shock to be encased in his ice prison. That sucker that putted me through a very demented ordeal tried to release himself, but was all vain. "Mother fucker!" Trice bellowed. "Did you took lesson from the Snowman!?" "I don't know what hell are you talking about." I mocked him. Trice was about to retort, but then realized to be watched. He instantly realized why. He could see both the buffaloes and the ponies giving a cold glance at him. "Oh, shit." Trice murmured nervously. With Little Strongheart being liberated, the eyes of both sides were glaring at Trice but looked also unsure of how to with him since he can still pull off something dangerous, even if he was frozen. Their reaction was justified since that guy was displaying some object so foreign to them that they couldn't understand, leaving me being the only one who knows him. Trice may be a idiot, but I know his arsenal and how dangerous he can be. "Ya'd finished to mess with us, scumbag," Sheriff Silverstar commented, trying to be confident. "Look, you may be dangerous," Breaburn proclaimed. "But if we have to resolve our question with Chief Thunderhoove's tribe, that wouldn't be by your rules!" "Indeed," Chief Thunderhooves commented from the rocky hill. "You will pay for stealing our treasure and threat my kin." He paused, having realized something. "Perhaps..." He then looked at me. "Where did you had found that?" "Inside a grotto that was stuffed with treasures by him," I stated. "I just found it when I was trying to track this guy down. "It's that so?" Sheriff Silverstar said curious. "Ah wonder how many things that criminal stole from others." "Well, at least I didn't had planned to make a encore of the 'Gotta Share Gotta Care' shitty ass song," Trice said before he made a sinister smirk. Chief Thunderhooves and his tribe, including Little Strongheart, flinched shocked upon hearing that. Twilight and her friends winced uncomfortably, joined by Breaburn, Sheriff Silverstar and only half of the town. Much to my shock, there was the other half, actually liked the song despite the agreement of both leaders that it sucked... Seriously! I began to fear that the war between the native creatures and the settle ponies will resume... For the wrong reasons. I have to mitigate this fear. Because I am in deep shit in that moment. "Guys. Let me assure you that no one has the sick idea to replicate that demented performance." I pointed out nervously. "Besides, Pinkie isn't even here to do that." "Hi, guys! Did I missed something?" Pinkie's voice demanded from behind me, making me flinch for the fear. "Because I ended up being somewhat really frozen." "Oh, shit! Did the ice melted down already?" I whispered nervously. Reluctantly, I turned around. Much to my horror, I saw Pinkie nerby Twilight and the others while looking at me with a baffled expression, soaked in melted ice with her dress. My plan of preventing the war easily was instantly screwed. "Oh, fuck! This is going to be caliente!" I thought nervously. "Violet?" Pinkie said before growling. "Why you had froze me!? I was about to celebrate this moment with my number!" "Pinkie, no!" Applejack retorted. "But why?" Pinkie replied confused, missing the point. Hearing a very unsettling growl coming from the hills, I returned my attention to Chief Thunderhooves, whose expression instantly assumed an enraged one upon seeing the pink mare being that dress. "Grrr..." Chief Thunderhooves glared at us. "Wait," Another buffalo halted. "If you permit, I have a suggestion. "What now?" Chief Thunderhooves asked impatiently. "Before we charge," The buffalo said. "It will be corrected if we went against that thief and the other pony as well." "Eh?" I froze, refusing to believe to have heard what he said. " No, no, no, wait. What kind of idiocy is that!?" "Why we should?" Chief Thunderhooves demanded confused. "He's the one who saved Little Strongheart in the first place." "I know that," The buffalo replied. "But I am starting to think that, having took the red orb that the thief stole from us, I concluded that he was the thief's competitor, only not this ruthless. I think he just wanted something from us." Really?... He cannot be serious. Wasn't the fact that I had saved Little Strongheart and returned their jewels... Well... let them retrieve that enough? What kind of reasoning was that? Was he the tribe's theorist or something? I know that the buffaloes had a feud with Appleloosa's inhabitants or anything, but I didn't remembered them being paranoid. That was chilling. "Are you putting me in the same league as him!?" I asked shocked. "In case you had forgotten or weren't paying attention, I had even gave your treasure back!" "Yes, but it's probable that you would had took the treasure to extort us to begin with," The buffalo said convinced, caused the chief to flinch in shock. "Chief," Sheriff Silverstar butted in. "Before you are going to rush against us, let me assure you that we didn't had any intention to resort to something vile like this," He paused. "So, to show you our good faith," He then pointed his hoof at both me and Trice. "Let us hunt down these two hoolingans as well, at least." Both sides, excluding Chief Thunderhooves and Sheriff Silverstar, froze in confusion upon hearing that, but then all nodded in agreement with that proposal. As for the Mane Six and Breaburn, they looked sternly at me, except Rainbow Dash. "But he cleared my name..." Rainbow said, a little bit conflicted. "I don't know, right now I couldn't decide." "Well, he went out of the shadows to help you," Twilight said with reassuring tone, a second before passing to a stern one. "Although that doesn't explain what he would gain from that, knowing him." "Yeah, especially since he had also froze up Pinkie," Applejack said before looking sternly at Pinkie. "And now I know why." "Why is everypony against my performance?" Pinkie lamented. "Is not the message... But the way you did." Fluttershy pointed out. "I think its too late for that," Rarity pointed out meekly. "Should we concentrate our effort on that bizarre, greedy, armored pony instead?" Breaburn pointed out. "Ah'm sorry, but that gray pony deserve it too." Sheriff Silverstar said apologetically. "Just how stupid is your reasoning!?" Trice exclaimed incredulous, hypocritically. "Are you kidding me, Silverstar!?" I shouted, astounded by the absurdly bad situation that was about to happen. "Hmph, fair enough," Chief Thunderhooves agreed, a moment before inhaling and screaming. "Chaarge!" That being said, the buffaloes rushed down the rocky hill and charged toward the town. The Mane Six and Braeburn took their distance as horns smashed through the barricade and apple pies flew around. As for me, I saw a pissed off mob composed by buffaloes and country ponies coming toward me. As they were getting closer, I heard something melting and a strange heat from nearby me.... Wait, I knew what he was doing. I turned toward Trice, who was unfrozen and standing on his hind legs being soaked in its melted ice!? "Bastard! You had overheated your legs with the propeller to escape!?" "Argh! I had broke my rockets but I once again proved that having cybernetic part does fucking pay off!" Trice shouted confidently as he turned around and ran away from them, two legged ala Terminator. "Fucka la vista, idiots!" "Don't even think to escape!" I retorted as followed him two legged. "How the heck can they even run like that?" One of the buffaloes demanded from behind me. "Save that question for later, and get some focus!" A female pony responded angrily. I continued to chase Trice wherever he goes, followed by the enraged mob and taking the distance from the battle that was happening in Appleloosa. Thanks to my ninja speed, I managed to distance myself from them and almost reaching Trice, who was probably running at speed... Doping 2.0 I guess. I thought to have a upper hand against him... Until he turned around and shot two red balls from his mouth. The two balls immediately exploded in a surge of electricity that shocked me, causing me to almost collapse on the ground. Trice was going far away from me while laughing maniacally. "Adios, bastards!" Trice announced proudly. I was both stunned and paralyzed by that voltaic charge. That was a nasty trick, But unfortunately for Trice that was momentary since I had a tremendous stamina. I had quickly recovered and resumed the chase, pissed off as I was. This time I was almost reaching him. He didn't had realized yet but then turned his face toward me and went wide-eyes for the shock. "You gotta be shitting me!" Trice lamented angrily before turning around and leaping toward me. "The hell!?" I said taken aback, a moment before Trice turned around and tried to shoot me with his hoof-gun. I could feel frozen armor pressing against my chest. It was indeed unbearably chilling, but I couldn't feel that much since I am an Iron Ghost. Trice slammed both his frozen hooves on the terrain, liberating both of them from the ice but ended up breaking his gun in the process. But that wasn't his only weapon. As I predicted, he put his other, still intact hoof on his back and pulled out a flame thrower into my face. "I will shut you down!" Trice screamed, ready to pull the trigger. Despite him being about to roast me, I wasn't scared. Not at all. I smiled mockingly, a moment before using the powers of the Void Ring. I was disintegrating the ground behind me, creating a hole. I was digging without doing anything, resulting both me and Trice falling inside. Trice screamed as I and him continued to fall. After a handful of seconds, I turned off the effects and stopped at four or five meter of depths away from the surface, a second before Trice landed on me, almost crushing my body. "Ow!" I exclaimed. Trice promptly got off of me and rose two legged, looking upward with confusion. He didn't even know what happened. The noises of both the stomping hooves of the group of ponies and buffaloes, and a few distant voices echoed from above. "W-w... What the hell just happened!?" Trice demanded irritated. I silently exploited his distraction to rose up two legged. It was pitch black, but there was enough light for me to see him. I pulled out the shotgun and pointed it at him. "Headshot." I proclaimed quietly. "What?" Trice said confused as he turned toward me and noticed the barrel of my shotgun being aimed at his face. "Bast-" *BOOM!* He wasn't able to finish that insult or even react that I had already pulled the trigger and blow up his head. Big time. Extra crispy. "Shut it!" I said with a very pissed off tone as Trices' body disappeared in a coil of black embers. "I don't wanna fucking hearing it! That you can finally have an urticaria in your ass, in hell! I've enough of this... Mandarin bungle FUCK OF YOUR SHENANIGANS!" That he can . I remembered Trice being this annoying, but not this bastardous. Also, why running away from a group of angry ponies and buffaloes? Because he was a coward with the allergy for gank squads. The sounds of stampeding hooves coming from above slowed down until stopped. Something must have happened there. I was about to climb this hole when I noticed his flame thrower nearby my feet. "Damn, he dropped that?" I asked perplexed as I picked that up and put it inside my bag. "I don't wan't become a pyromaniac, but I think that will come handy when I will be the one being froze... Or when I have to scorch zombies." And speaking of zombies, that reminded me of Twilight. I hope that she didn't became a flesh eater or even a undead criminal if she finds out her conditions. Yeah, I don't want talking about that for now. Without wasting any time, I climbed toward the surface, expecting that group of ponies and buffaloes waiting for me. Or that was what I thought. As I had almost reached the top, I was met by Lilly instead, much to my surprise. "It seems like both your gauntlets helped you a lot," Lilly said impressed. "Are you alright?" "Yeah," I replied with a little bit tired tone. "But I have to explain a lots of things to both Sheriff Silverstar and Chief Thunderhooves." "That won't be necessary." Lilly assured. "I had explained everything about you, the evil entities and your mission... Sorta." "Really?" I asked half relieved, if not surprised. "What about that evil entity wandering around Appleloosa?" Lilly asked. "Taken down for good," I assured her, almost gleefully. "You have no idea of how much frustration he brought to me." After this brief talk, I went out the hole and went back to Appleloosa, this time escorted by Lilly. The war between the buffaloes and the settle ponies was finally put to a ceasefire when Chief Thunderhooves came up with a better idea. The orchard stayed at condition that a path for them was cut and apple pies were shared with them. Both the sides believed Lilly's version regarding me being some kind of good guy, even if some of them were still antagonizing me for my ambiguity. And of course both Rarity and Applajack didn't bought that entirely. Twilight, and Rainbow Dash seemed the only ones that would had give me the benefit of the doubt. Fluttershy just preferred to see where my situation was going and Pinkie was just angry because I had sabotaged the party, although she agreed that maybe her number had gone too far... But mostly because Applejack zipped her mouth about that. In the orchard, the party was going as I had predicted. Applejack planted Bloomberg, the path was cut and everyone seemed enjoying the moment. Nothing new to me. Everything was fine, although Pinkie was glaring at me due to me freezing her a second time. I won't even apologize for that. I don't even know why she had to be so recidivist about a performance of her that sucked. "No wonder they still considers you as a villain," Lilly pointed out. "You have a bad habit about manipulating the situation from behind the scenes." "This is different," I explained. "I mean, why Pinkie must insist on something that was really hated by every pony?" "Well... I guess she thought that since the situation was calming down," Lilly guessed. "Maybe that would had been appropriate for the mood." "..... No, seriously," I insisted calmly. "This is-" "We don't speak of that in any rust bucked place." Applejack interrupted harshly. "Got it?" "Y... Yes madam." Lilly replied intimidated. You are kidding me, Lilly? The first time I met you, you were so though to be about to confront mercilessly Applejack during the time she was overdoing herself but now you felt intimidated by her? "And ya, Violet," Applejack said distrustfully but then toned down her suspicion a little bit. "Well... Ya'd cleared Rainbow Dash's name, so... Ah guess that its something worth to be mentioned." She paused before giving me a stern look. "But don't get me wrong, Ah don't even think you were this honest to us." She pointed her hoof at me. "Ah'll keep you in check." After that, Applejack leaved me alone with Lilly, who was slowly recovering her composure. However, her pride was slightly compromised. As for the Element of Honesty, I think she talked to me like that due to her bullshit detecting instinctive abilities ringing the alarms about my cover... Which would be a real pain to me. I was about to check up Twilight when I was approached by both Chief Thunderhooves and Braeburn. "I humbly apologize for that terrible misunderstanding," Chief Thunderhooves said apologetically. "It seems like you didn't had stole our treasure. We have the embarrassment to discover that it was stole two days before Rainbow Dash's visit and not yesterday." And he didn't had realized that your treasure disappeared the other day before?... Well, I won't blame Chief Thunderhooves for that. The reasons was the obvious one. He was too busy trying to retrieve his land that he had accidentally neglected the duty to protect it. "However, there is something bothering me." Braeburn said perplexed. "Why ya didn't had told us about that evil entities." "You won't had believed me and there was a orchard at stake," I pointed out bluntly. "That wasn't important to you since... You know, you weren't in the mood to talk at the moment." Chief Thunderhooves tried to say something but halted to consider what I said in that moment. "Touche." Not having anything to do, I was about to leave the orchard but I was then approached by Twilight, who didn't looked so much distrustful as before. "Honestly, I wasn't expecting you following us in Appleloosa," Twilight stated. "Hey, I wasn't following you," I retorted with a bored tone. "I was tracking down the prick with that armor. I didn't came here without a valid reason. You heard what Lilly said before?" "Yes, she told me about your ordeal and her being attacked by Trice in the train," Twilight replied calmly. In reality, the attacker wasn't Trice, but the diamond dog bosses. And that reminded me that I turned one of them into a lupine shepherd. He talked like he was some kind of saint. I have to check him out once I had regained my gravity manipulating powers, although I have to pray some pagan, chinese or other deity for the ability rotation to roll on my favor. "I was even kicked out of the train by him," I added. "So... That was one of those malevolent entities you talked about with Celestia," Twilight said, scratching her head. "And yet he looked almost like a normal pony." "They didn't choose to take that form. They merely exploited it mix themselves among the others," I explained. "They had powers that none one in Equestria even possess." I don't want to tell her anything, but I just hope that Twilight, and Celestia's forces in particular, doesn't go into a full inquisition to hunt down whoever they think is a malevolent entity. Soul Calibur 5 style. Although its quite weird picturing Twilight as a female Patrokolos. "However there's one thing that can't understand," Twilight said perplexed. "Why they keep calling you Allen?" "They were pursuing the wrong pony," I replied bluntly, lying of course. "Even now I wondered who this Allen guy they talked about." "Seriously, that's not good," Twilight said, slightly alarmed. "If that is true, we have to do something." "Or better say, I have to do something," I retorted calmly. "This is why Celestia let me be and why she sent Lilly to keep a eye on me, because I have to report every single progress." "Talking about that," A familiar female voice said, coming from my left. I turned in the voice's direction, only to find Rarity approaching us, much to my annoyance. Her expression was inquisitive since we first met. At this point, I completely expect some exaggerated hammy performance "Even making that grotesque, disgusting dress of yours count as one?" Rarity asked sternly but not hammy. "No, Rarity," Lilly said, butting in the discussion. "That was something that I asked him to do for a bet, although I didn't expect him to came out with this." I can't believe Lilly didn't get it yet. My intention was obvious. I designed that to troll her... And make a tribute to fractal geometry as well. "Seriously?" Rarity asked with shock, and the hammy kicking in. "Why entrusting that task to this foul fashioncider like him? I would had helped you?" "Her nasty, obnoxious colleague Aster Brightside forbid her to do that for the sake of the bet," I responded bluntly. "I'm not buying this," Rarity retorted, dismissing it as bogus. "I want to hear it by someone trust worthy like Lilly." "Well... That's true," Lilly admitted reluctantly. "Although I wanted to keep that by myself." ".... Is that so?" Rarity asked surprised. "Rarity, I hate to inform you of that," Twilight said. "But somepony from Canterlot had replicated and sold multiple copy of that dress." She paused. "And this pony over there," She then pointed her hoof toward me. "Got even paid after several days with half of the gain since it was his idea." "WHAAAAAAT!?" Rarity exploded from the disbelieve, startling both the ponies and the buffaloes. If I have to be honest, getting paid for something that was probably continuing to spread real seizure attack to some unluckiest pony wasn't something that was proud of. Not wanting to have any incident, I was about to give her some explanation. But not before being interrupted by Rainbow Dash showing up. "I hate to admit but this is the second time you save me from a pinch, Violet," Rainbow said, slightly embarrassed. "I should probably thank you." "I don't think that is the right moment" I asked with a deadpan tone. "Just look at her." Confused, Rainbow Dash glanced at a baffled Rarity, whose eye was twitching frenetically like the bouncing of the ball from Pong. "Is there something wrong?" "Violet spread a very disgustingly evil plague!" Rarity replied, increasingly irritated as she pointed her hoof toward me. "And he got even paid for having made something really mediocre." "Let me inform that making the dress was indeed a real mistake," I said annoyed. "Ok? Its motif caused a real, even if its temporal, seizure attack that stunned the audience of the failed fashion show, Hoity Toity included." Rarity gasped. "It did what?" "If I have to tell something relevant," Lilly said. "Is that when I was escorting Photo Finish back to her home, I noticed her caressing with a unnatural motherly behavior the dress as she asked for some 'strange feeling'." Silence fell upon us while the other ponies and buffaloes were enjoying the party. Applejack in particular continued to admire Bloomberg. Bloomberg was still a tree but I wouldn't even question that due to my caution about not to go very deep on this weird detail. As for the four mares in front of me, they looked at me like I was out of my mind. That was reasonable, and not because I had accidentally almost turned Photo Finish into a weird masochist, although Lilly, Celestia and the Mane Six doesn't know yet. I had to take look at that fashion photographer someday. "I don't know what Violet has done this time, but I'm not in the mood for mushy stuff," Rainbow said slightly disgusted as she walked away. "If you need me, I am with Applejack." "Seriously," Twilight muttered before facehoofing. "Is possible that something crazy continues to happen because of you, if you don't have done anything to do that?" "What the bloody hay have you done, Violet?" Rarity asked with a inquisitive tone. Well, there was a even better question. "Why the fuck I am still getting paid for having made that dangerous dress?" Chapters before Level Up: -2 Next Level Up: 1)Giga Drill: The main weapon of the so called Gurren Laggan, almost reduced to the size of portable weapon while retaining its power, but was made almost impossible for others to wield it due to its tremendous weight. 2)Item Animator: A mysterious quartz who gives the own the ability to turn inanimate objects into living things with the condition that they weren't bio organic to begin with. 3)Face Palmer: A dark-azure gauntlet which functions consist into shooting face palms like wave of energy, striking its target with unexpected power, great impact in the most undignified way possible. > The Sacrilege of a Badass Character > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rotatory abilities: Ryu Hayabusa's Abilities Book of Healing DNA Twister Nothing that happened yesterday would be more stupid. Although I had just woke up on my futon inside the coffin, I felt still mentally tired. It was a good thing that yesterday, after Appleloosa incident, I took the liberty to slack off to my heart content. Mostly because I had a very annoying to moment, right after I had roasted that Trice damn motherfucker for good. It was satisfying since he was snipping me for days so I don't have any remorse. But I could say the same thing for the rest of the day. For starters, during the party in the orchard, I had to verbally subdue a very upset, melodramatic, ultra hammy Rarity, who was slightly enraged about me getting paid for making that fractal geometry themed dress who had. Oh, by the way, she also believes that I had even corrupted the mind of Photo Finish with it... Which its technically true despite the fact that it was accidental. I have a real hard time to bear her shenanigans recently. Second, I had Pinkie Pie constantly complaining about her performance's flaws because she doesn't get why every pony hated that despite it spelling exactly the message regarding having to share and having to care. I understand if her message was the right one that says 'You gotta share. You gotta care', but that doesn't excuse that performance. Also, Pinkie's words echoed in my mind. "Seriously! I don't get it! That was exactly what it really matters all along!" "Except that your way to demonstrate that was badly executed," I muttered before talking ala Joseph Joestar. "Oh my god." I facehoofed for that, even if that happened yesterday. And finally, I had to explain my whereabouts before my fight against Trice to not only Lilly but to the Mane Six as well. That wasn't so hard explaining telling them that I followed Trice in the cave and found the treasure, the day before the buffaloes' showdown. Which is in part a lie. The real hard part was justifying the time that I took to go from Appleloosa to the mountain, and then backtracking back to there. I had also to convince them that I wasn't interested into the treasure at all. I didn't had even mentioned the three diamond boss dogs who were in league with Trice to begin with. "Speaking of them..." I said, realizing with horror something missing. "Oh, shit! I forgot to keep the boss dog that I had corrupted in check. Although corrupted didn't seemed quite right on him since he's actually immaculate." I went out of my coffin and walked toward the entrance. With the two metallic doors being opened, I looked outside to see if Lilly was there, but she wasn't, probably being convoked for, yet again, another commission. Which means that I could act freely. No matter what, I had to check up the situation with those dogs. It annoyed me, but I don't want have any other complication after Lilly's accidental corruption and the dreadful dress. Unfortunately I didn't had the Gravity Manipulator available and I won't have to rely on Fafnir due to my fear for him to get spotted. So I took one alternative. Use my DNA Twister to turn myself into a pony-dragon hybrid pegasus who was almost twice the size of Celestia and then activate my invisibility. What really worries me was the time I will take to get to Rambling Rock Ridge... Because I was still dazed and asleep considering that I had woke up a moment before the dawn. "Oh, fuck that," I said, shrugging off that detail. "I have to give an eye on this mess." Hastily, I flapped my wings to flying as high as I can, but since didn't got used to it, it was a real pain in the ass. As for my vertigo, the travels that I had made with my Gravity Manipulator had slightly mitigated that, but I could still feel that. I am not Rainbow Dash and I am sure as hell not the pony equivalent of Maverick from Top Gun. It took me almost an half hour to actually flying, but I had finally managed to adjust my flying abilities properly. The travel took me almost an hour and fifteen minutes, but I finally managed to reached my destination, unseen. As I landed on the rocky soil, I had almost stumbled due to my fatigue. I should feel lucky that I didn't had collapsed. "I totally prefer the gravitational method of flying to this." I thought. In the rocky landscape in front of me, were was none one, but I could hear some weird chanting and solemn prays, as if there was a mass or something... Which I didn't liked at all since that was almost confirming some of my fears. I followed the voices throughout the rocky path. I felt very nervous upon getting closer to whatever was waiting for me, but I also felt a little awkward to walk with a body that is almost taller as Celestia. Not that Celestia will come to learn about my secrets anyway. After some minutes, I had arrived in the place where the chorus. By the time my eyes were pointed to the scene, my brain was almost stopping working. Because its both stupid and disturbing to describe, simultaneously. I took back what I was thinking before, because it didn't confirmed my fears. It's different. It surpasses them. "You gotta be fucking kidding..." I thought. I was behind C. Mine, the third boss dog that I had corrupted into a immaculate wolfine like creature. I thought he was weird when he acted like some shepherd in front of his two subordinates, back when I had caught them trying to steal Chief Thunderhooves' treasure from Trice's cave. But here, he was actually wearing a white, dark golden stripped, ceremonial tunic, like he was a high priest of some church. Wait a minute, church? I hoped that wasn't the case, until I noticed the crowd of diamond dogs being gathered in front of him. And they weren't a few of them, oh no. They were hundreds, looking at him with solemnity and seemingly being mesmerized by him. Did my corruption bestowed a very absurd charisma to C. Mine? Good thing I was invisible, especially since the other two boss dogs were at few inches nearby me, looking at his former companion with confusion and an little glimpse of interest, probably because they didn't want to contradict him. In that moment, everything, including the prayers and murmurs, fell silent. The other diamond dogs were too distracted by C. Mine, which was a good thing since . Everything was immobile when C. Mine raised his arms upwards. "What the hell?" I whispered with a slightly, deep, feminine voice. "Knee before the carrier of the voice of Big Show," C. Mine announced with a pseudo archaic tone. "The tough god pony has descended in front of me and my companions to task us with three holy missions." I blinked in confusion. "What missions?" "Find a new meaning in our lives," C. Mine proclaimed. "Not messing with other ponies unless he allowed us to bring the other punch, and, more importantly, dig very deeper in the heart of our work place to dig out not only mere gems and rare diamonds, but also our way toward the holy catacomb." "Holy what?" I murmured. "Kneel..." C. Mine said with a vague tone in between being a solemn and a Imperative one. "Now!" Without any retorts or response, the other diamond dogs, including his two companions, were literally bowing before him. All of that accompanied by a few of them chanting some quiet, murmuring choruses. I couldn't believe at the whole plethora of bullshit that I heard from C. Mine. But more shocking than that was the level of very misguided faith that numerous pack of bipedal dogs had displayed, despite them being so simple minded and obsessed with diamonds. My jaw was almost falling for what I was seeing... Because that was to ridiculous to be believed. I felt very unclean in that moment. And this time the Corpse Remodeling procedure had nothing to do with it. "I don't know what to feel anymore... I mean... That... Just blows my mind very hard. I passed my entire past life, and part of this one, constantly fighting dementedly psychotic cultists. I fought Plaguer, the disgustingly vilest leader of the Granite Daggers, so of course I cringed very hard upon thinking to have become the leader, if not the god, of a ACTUAL CULT!!" "This is bad..." I murmured with a grave tone. "I don't care about my previous circumstances... I just wish I didn't had done that." "What about the pilgrimage?" One of the diamond dogs of the crowd asked. "Don't tell me that we have to leave this place?" Another one asked. "No need for that, brothers," C. Mine assured. "We will dig in our usual place, but this time we will go deeper, to find the the holy catacomb. Not only that, but other than gaining the gems that had characterized our nature, we will also find a new prospective and ourselves. Follow me!" That being said, C. Mine stepped toward the crowd of diamond dogs, who cleared their way for him. Followed by his two companions and eventually joined by the others, he walked forward, like he was leading a procession. Is a good thing that they didn't had planned to go into Ponyville for, I don't know, maybe trying to apologize with Rarity for their idiocy or, worse than that, spilling the beans about their link with Trice. To be honest, it was actually a good reveal if that didn't go to destroy my lie and putting me into a bad light in front of the Mane Six, although I was still there. But still, having become their god really leaves me a horrible taste in my mouth, with god being the keyword considering that Celestia, Luna and Cadence, who won't appear yet until the events of Season 2, counts as ones. I felt mentally tired... Again. "I think I would go home as fast as possible," I said, still baffled for what I had witnessed. "I need a drink." Without any delay, I flapped my wings and forcefully flew my way back home. The travel was as tiring as the one I took to get there but I didn't cared at all. It took me more than one hour and a half, mostly because of not being used to fly like any pegasi, dragon or alicorn will do. By the time I had arrived nearby my mound, it was almost noon and Lilly was already nearby the door, looking for me. That sight made me a little nervous, but that wasn't a problem since I was invisible. I landed nearby the back of the building and took my precautions. I turned off my invisibility and turned myself to my real form. I slowly headed to the entrance and approached Lilly, who didn't had noticed me yet. "Yo dawg," I greeted her very calmly. Lilly screeched, startled upon hearing me, which was pretty strange considering that she was usually cold or zealous. She slowly turned toward me, looking surprised. A reaction that immediately turned into annoyance, as if I had accidentally ridiculed her. "Are you trying to prank me this much?" Lilly muttered. "Where the heck were you anyway?" "I had just took a very tiring stroll," I lied with a tired tone, not expecting her to believe. "I didn't had anything to do, so I wandered for the woods for about one hour. Without getting far from the mound, of course." "You gotta be... Are you really that bored?" Lilly said with muted incredulity, a second before groaning. "I don't know if you are plotting something or are just... this weird." "Take your pick," I suggested. "Don't dare me, Violet," Lilly retorted and let out a deep sigh. "By the way, Princess Celestia will arrive in Ponyville for a brunch. I don't think you were invited but even so... I suggest you to not show your face here because... You know..." "My own involvement in Appleloosa Incident and Twilight's group reaction, including Rarity's rapid fire disdain toward me?" I asked. "Something like that," Lilly replied bluntly as she turned around. "Now if you excuse me, I have a report to do." Lilly flapped her wings and flew away from my sight. Not impressed, went inside my mound and drank an entire bottle of water. I was very thirsty at the moment. I then went outside and took a stroll in the woods, headed toward Ponyville. I just took my time to relax from what I had witnessed. Seriously, having accidentally founded a cult where C. Mine was a cult leader who designed me as their god wasn't the most pleasant thing in the world. Especially since I was a Iron Ghost who was hunting down other ones who were crazy cultist, vilest psychopaths or even straight up criminals. Hopefully, the diamonds dogs weren't interested to come into Ponyville, but still... "Well... Let's just do something relaxing," I said, shrugging my arms. "I just hope that I don't have to fight this time." I wasn't so optimistic. It was a very nice day, but considering what happened in the past days since I was reborn in Equestria, I couldn't predict when the next enemy will appear or even when it will attack me. And my own knowledge about the episodes of MLP show wasn't enough. However, since everything looked fine, I planned something more light hearted. Trolling that damn bird. Yes, I know very well that I was talking about Philomena, being none other than Celestia's Phoenix, but hey. He was trolling Fluttershy when she was loosing her feathers while looking sick. I know that Celestia will call her out for pulling a prank on her, eventually. But there was aesop to the Mane Six regarding the type of the bird that I want to deliver. After an huge amount of minutes, I had arrived nearby the entrance of Ponyville. My intention wasn't to enter inside Sugarcube Corner but rather watch what was happening from the windows, but only for a few moments. And after that, I will make a stroll in the town without being recognized. "Well, let's do some styled preparation," I said, before grinning. "And a living cosplay." I used the DNA Twister to turn myself into a black maned white pony, almost resembling the pony form of Bruno Bucciarati. "I am disappointed that Giorno Giovanna's connection with Dio Brando wasn't explored properly." I murmured with a very dreadful voice that I was expecting, startling me a little bit. "Wow... That was freaky." Calmly but almost nervous, I headed toward the bakery, being unnoticed by the other ponies. I felt a little weirder having this form, because I had the impression to commit a real blasphemy that would had pissed off the real Bruno Bucciarati from the heavens. Or maybe that was just my impression. As I arrived nearby the building, I spotted Fluttershy trying to enter, only for her to be blocked by the two pegasi Royal Guards nearby the door raising their wings. I noticed something was missing: The blade sound that their wings does. But who fucking cares. "Halt!" One of the pegasi Royal Guards said. "Who goes there?" The other one said. "Somepony who is not The Thing From Another World?" I commented quietly. "No one. Never mind. I'll go home," Fluttershy said meekly before turning around and being about to walk away. "Ohi, wait just a minute." I called her, getting her attention. "Y-yes?" Fluttershy replied intimidated. I wouldn't even blame her reaction. Bruno Bucciarati's voice was supposed to have a bit of authority and gangsta aura to begin with. Hearing his voice coming from my mouth still gives me some chills, counting that I had modulated my own basing on his japanese voice actor. Putting aside the superfluous details, I turned to the guards. "Normally, that wouldn't be my business," I said calmly. "But according to the unicorn named Twilight Sparkle, wasn't this pegasus supposed to be on the list?" "What?" One of the guards said, confused. "We never heard any of these," The second one said. "Where did you-" "He's right, sirs" Twilight's voice said from the window of the Sugarcube Corner. "She's on the list." "Well... If you says so," The first guard said calmly as he and his colleague let Fluttershy enter inside but then blinked in confusion and turned toward me. "Wait a minute, how the heck did you know about that anyway?" "Exactly." Twilight added, looking confused. "Only I was organizing the whole party for Celestia and knows who was in the list. Where did you had learned that?" "I have my sources," I replied calmly. "Look, I would had joined that party but I have to go. I have my own business to attend." "But wait," Twilight insisted, but at that point I had already walked away, leaving both her, Fluttershy and the guards in their own confusion. Once I was out of their range, I turned myself invisible and returned back to the Sugarcube Corner, this time watching the party from a window. In about fourteen minutes, the buffet and the party were here, as well as the guests. Everything was going as it should be. Applejack had a difficulty to remember the table manners, being unable to eat something, Rainbow Dash was just bored because she can't irritate the Royal Guards, Rarity was outright freaking out about not getting her really regal dress dirty and Pinkie Pie just doing her shenanigans. Twilight and Fluttershy were the only sane one in that moment. Also, there was Celestia trolling the shop owners. And nearby her, there was my target Philomena. She looked indeed very sick but she can't fool me. She was the troll because of what was going to happen, and if Trollestia's myth was still alive, I think she learned from her. And I think Philomena was using her phoenix status to troll Death from the whole time. Anyway, the conversation was more or less like in the episode. "Ah, Philomena, my pet," Celestia said to Philomena. "You're awake. Do say hello to our gracious hosts." As a response, Philomena hacked and coughed. I won't even comment about it. Also, I heard that were are so many moronic jokes regarding her appearances which I won't even mention at all whatsoever. "Oh... My," Fluttershy said quietly with a worried tone. "She is quite the sight, isn't she?" Celestia asked with a tranquil tone. "Lady, I don't want to use rude tones but could you at least specify them that she was actually, I don't know, a FUCKING PHOENIX!? I'm not expecting her to raise the dead correctly during her rebirth in Final Fantasy style, nor suspecting you that you were actually trolling the Mane Six as well, but c'mon! At least you should inform Fluttershy about it." But then I had the usual revelation. "Oh, yeah. Fluttershy wouldn't had asked her what's wrong with her because or she didn't had thought yet," I paused. "Or there won't be an aesop." I facehoofed for the stupidity of the thing. "Damn you, justification." The party continued until a pegasus Royal Guard whispered in Celestia's ears, which means that she had to go. "I'm sorry, everypony," Celestia said apologetically. "I'm afraid I have to cut the party short. The mayor has requested an audience with me. Royal duty calls. Thank you for a wonderful time. It's been a joy getting to know you all better." "Fortunately Philomena will never meet the grim reaper," I murmured calmly and then sighed, being a little moronic for what I said. "Ok, that was stupid, even for black humor standards." At that point, the ponies in the party were about to leave. I kept my eyes locked on Fluttershy, who, almost in the same manner as Solid Snake, managed to take Philomena unseen. As for the rest of the Mane Six, Rainbow Dash leaved politely, Applejack didn't managed to eat anything and yet she managed to get some food to take home a few seconds later, Pinkie was just making a very disastrous escape, and Rarity walked backwards while desperately trying to keep her dress from being tarnished. "Rarity, if you are so afraid to ruin your dress, then make... A dress... Stain proof power armor or something!" I thought with annoyance. Hopefully Twilight were the only sane one, just talking with Spike about no disaster having happened yet. "Yeah, wait until you get into Fluttershy's house." I whispered. Invisible as I am, because of ninja stuff, I tracked down Fluttershy and followed her, making. I hate stalking her but that she was technically getting herself in hot waters with an authority. Besides, I wouldn't consider myself a stealth master. In a couple of minutes, I had arrived at her cottage as Fluttershy was oblivious of my presence. I went to the window at the left side of the house and observed the yellow pegasus entered inside, carrying the 'poor' Philomena on her back. As expected, Fluttershy tried to treat Philomena with every means possible. The problem was that the bird didn't need that since she was actually trolling. Although Philomena was actually going in the phase of her death before her rebirth, which was natural. I would had conceded that if she wasn't pulling a prank on her. "Sometimes I wonder why I am even wasting my time going after little problems," I whispered to myself. Obviously, Fluttershy's method didn't work. And I start to think that Philomena was enjoying build up the moment before her prank was revealed. At some point, Fluttershy was about to sing I know what. Since I am not fond of that song, I promptly put on both the Freezing Gauntlet and the Berserker Claw, wore the earbuds of my iPhone and put on Smoke Weed Everyday by Snoop Dog. The very bizarre best part? Even my stuff was turned invisible for some reason. I won't even complain. It's videogame logic after all. And no, I am not talking about that damn Yomi. "Geez, I hope that Twilight would come very soon," I complained quietly. "I want to put on my charade as fast as possible. I looked to the woods and waited for her arrival. I had then turned off the iPhone, since Fluttershy stopped singing, and putted that and my gauntlets back in the bag. Sure enough, Twilight had arrived after five minutes, less of than I had expected. She looked very happy, humming some cherry tune. She, like Fluttershy, didn't had realized I was there as well. Anyway, Twilight first knocked at the door and waited for Fluttershy to open it. The purple unicorn waited for a moment but then decided to open it on her own since she was eager to tell her about the impression that Celestia had on Fluttershy. "Hi, Fluttershy!" Twilight greeted her as she went inside. "I just wanted to drop by and say thank you so very much for making such a good impression on the princess today..." Twilight interrupted her sentence and gasped upon seeing the 'sick' Philomena laying on the table. I was the only one who know she was 'dying' to make a surprise to the two mares. I wouldn't even tell them that since I want them find that out through my hints. I turned off my invisibility and exploiting the fact that Twilight or Fluttershy didn't had the courtesy to close the door first, I watched the scene from behind the entrance. Twilight rushed toward the bird, shocked to see the bird being there. "What is Celestia's pet doing here?!" Twilight asked concerned. "I couldn't leave the poor thing there," Fluttershy replied as she approached Twilight. "She needed my help." "Oh no." Twilight said, freaking out. "Nononononononono! This is bad." Silently, I went inside and stopped nearby the door, blessing the fact that Twilight and Fluttershy didn't had the courtesy to close the door first. "How could I just walk away and not do anything?" Fluttershy asked. "But... but... she doesn't belong to you!" Twilight retorted. "Which means that it's outright kidnapping." I cut in, getting their attention. As their turned their heads toward me, they were shocked upon noticing me, not expecting my arrival at all. Granted that they couldn't recognize me since I was in the pony form of Bruno Bucciarati. "Y-You were the stallion who was with Fluttershy before the brunch." Twilight said surprised. "You were following me?" Fluttershy said, slightly upset. "Allow me to explain to three things," I replied politely. "One, I know it's rude enter into your house without your permission but I can say the same with you taking that bird from Celestia. Two, there are few reasons if your methods doesn't work. And three, I apologize to not had introduced myself earlier. I was in a hurry. I am Bueno Bucolico, bird erudite." Twilight blinked weirded out upon hearing that. I think that's a weird name. Her reaction was justified because I had improvised that to not stain in any measure the good name of a badass character. "You saw me taking the bird with me." Fluttershy said sternly. "Is there a reason to spy on me?" "Let's just say I am some pony who had the bad habit to act as an improvised detective." I replied calmly. "A very annoying habit if you permit me." Twilight stated. Nonchalantly, I closed the door and returned my eyes back on the two mares, who putted Philomena inside a wooden chest being put on Fluttershy's back. I remained calm as I expected from the character that I was ripping off, but doing so was also almost tiring. "Putting aside my own intrusion," I said calmly to Fluttershy. "I know your good reasons and motivations, but this still counts as kidnapping. You didn't had asked Celestia about her pet's conditions or if you could had just took care of that. But more importantly, you didn't had even asked what type of animal was, aren't you?" "What?" Twilight looked confused. "Now that you mentioned it, I didn't had considered that," Fluttershy admitted. "But why should had bothered to ask the obvious? It's a poor, little, featherless bird." "No." I retorted with a straight face before contorting my expression into a sarcastic one ala Nicolas Cage as I spoke. "There are actually multiple variety of birds considering that nature bothered herself to create an gajillion bird types. The same can be said for the dogs, cats, snakes, plants, corals and others. Vultures and Eagles for example. So what bird is that one?" Fluttershy flinched, seemingly startled by my face, while Twilight was twitching nervously as he looked at me like I was some fanatic. That made me realize that I had exaggerated with that and that maybe some JoJo fan will kill me for this, if it's in Equestria as well, of course. I instantly calmed down and sighed. "I'm sorry for that," I said almost apologetically. "I had almost lost myself in that moment. It's just... I don't pretend that every pony knows the entire history of all birds in the existence, but seriously. You took this bird without any knowledge about it, because it looked like a normal one to you." "I guess I have to return her to the Princess," Fluttershy said, feeling a little guilty. "As soon as possible," Twilight added. "Good to know," I said as I turned toward the door and stepped toward it for a few inches. "But first, I need Twilight to open the door." "You can do that on your own," Twilight pointed out. "Why I had to do that?" "I have my own reasons," I replied. "Just do it without any haste. Twilight groaned quietly. "You are a very weird one." Reluctantly, Twilight approached the door and glowed her horn to open it with her telekinesis. As the door was opened, Twilight and Fluttershy flinched in shock as we were met by two pegasi Royal Guards sternly waiting outside. Having meet guard ponies so often, courtesy of Lilly, I managed to maintain my calm and look at them without any hesitation. I can't say the same thing for Twilight and Fluttershy, who were looking nervously at them. Twilight herself was almost to the point of loosing her cool. That was expected. Still, are the two the same ones that I saw nearby the Sugarcube Corner or are other ones. Seriously, they looked so similar that I was almost thinking that they are or clones or cyborg coming from the future to make continuity more confused than Pinkie's logic. "I knew it," I said nonchalantly. "I had the weird feeling that you were coming here." "You again?" One of the guards said with a slightly annoyed tone. "Quite a coincidence, isn't it?" The second one asked. Ok, they were the same one of the party. "I was just paying a visit," I lied, but it's better than nothing. "What brought you there?" Not looking very fond of me, the guard ponies stepped inside and then looked at Twilight, who made a nervous smile to save the appearances. "We were told we could find Twilight Sparkle here." The first guard responded. "We regret to inform you, miss, that the royal pet has gone missing." The second guard stated. "Really? You don't say!" Twilight replied before laughing nervously. "I think I know where this pet is in this moment." I stated with a bit of glee, causing Twilight and Fluttershy to almost panicking. "It's that so?" The first guard asked. "What could you possibly know?" The second one demanded sternly. "You weren't-" Knowing that Philomena would start coughing, I took my own measures. "*cough!* *cough!* Diavolo sucks. *cough!* *cough!*" I interrupted the second guard. Both the guards blinked and look at each other in confusion and then looked at me like I said something weird. Not that I even cared considering that I did that to cover Philomena's cough. Just saying. "What?" The first Royal Guard said. "Hmm?" The second Royal Guard said. "What is a Diavolo?" Twilight asked confused. "Does that even matter?" I asked sarcastically. "What the hay is going here?" A familiar female voice coming from behind the guards interrupted me, causing me, Twilight and Fluttershy to flinch nervously. "No... Not her," I murmured with reluctance as I turned toward the source. That wasn't expected to come. I don't know if I call that a case of bad luck. Lilly was coming right in my direction, looking oblivious about the situation. Now I am bit nervous, because it's clear the she was looking for me, unaware of the fact that she was right in front of me. Needless to say, even Lilly can't recognize me as I was in the form of a walking JoJo reference. "Iron Lilly," The first Royal Guard said with surprise. "I wasn't expecting you to be there." "Is there something I need to know?" Lilly asked when she noticed me, without recognizing me. "And who the heck is that guy." "In case you were wondering, it's some weirdo that we encountered nearby Sugarcube Corner." The second Royal Guard stated. "Also, Princess Celestia's royal pet disappeared after her brunch." "Seriously? You mean Philomena?" Lilly said dumbfounded, a moment before she groaned with irritation. "Now that's a real problem. I hope that is not the work of one of those evil entities or that Violet Tower wasn't involved." Yeah, blame the one guy you had considered a villain that saved your asses multiple times. I am so sure that you will do a great job. Damn lady, just because you were fed up of the strangeness that my presence alone brought to you, there was no reason for harsh calling. "Lilly, Violet has nothing to do with it because he wasn't on the brunch." Twilight pointed out. "Well... I guess I can finally be tranquil about it, I guess," Lilly said reluctantly. "Miss, if you allow me to explain," I butted in, getting her attention. "Those guards were informing me and those two mares over there about what happened." "You could at least tell me your name, first." Lilly pointed out. "Bueno Bucolico, bird erudite." I responded calmly but still a little bit nervous. Lilly raised a eyebrow, dumbfounded. "Bueno what now?" "Believe me, you have no idea how weird for me it is to say that." Twilight admitted, perplexed. "I think the bird should be the actual priority," I reminded to Lilly. "I will tell you what I know, but I have to ask both you and your subordinates to wait for me outside." "And why would I even do that?" Lilly asked sternly. "You were looking for Violet Tower as well, right?" I demanded. "H-how do you know that?" Lilly asked surprised. "It's something that I want to discuss in private, if you don't mind," I replied. "Also, do you want to deep your knowledge about the birds that the created has to offer? Because that would be useful." "Not in this moment... Weirdo," Lilly said with a weirded out expression before turning to the two pegasi Royal Guards. "Alright, follow me." She turned toward me. "As for you, Bueno, you better not do anything funny." She then narrowed her eyes. "There's something about you that sounded familiar to me, but I don't know why." What? Are you telling me that your sixth sense was perceiving my identity behind this altered form? Now you are freaking me out. That being said, Lilly and the guards went outside, giving me the time to close the door. I turned toward Twilight and Fluttershy, who sighed in relief and looked at me with an unconvinced expression. "You know Violet Tower?" Fluttershy asked. "You are kidding me right? It's the most controversial pony that we could barely consider a hero," I replied, hiding my annoyance. "Some ponies praised him, some ponies scorned him, and other said he's just a nuisance who nitpicks in every single flaw that he could find in Equestria. I am not interest into that guy. Although he saved your lives, according to what I heard." "He save us multiple times indeed," Twilight said hesitantly. "It's just... I don't know why. I want to trust him but I have still the feeling that he's hiding something from us." I remained silent for a moment and then spoke. "I think we got out of the topic again. Now, can we bring this back to Celestia?" "Oh, yes," Twilight said tranquilly but then freaked out as she remembered something. "I mean, no!" "Why not?" I asked while narrowing my eyes, pretending to be suspictious about her. "Exactly, why?" Fluttershy demanded. "You have no idea what the princess is gonna do if she finds the one who took her pet, do you?!" Twilight said to Fluttershy, obviously panicking irrationally. "Do you?" Fluttershy asked. "Well... no," Twilight admitted meekly before saying dramatically. "But it can't be anything good. She might-" "Let me guess," I interrupted her. "Celestia will banish Fluttershy from Equestria, throw her in a dungeon or even doing both the things simultaneously? And that applies not just to her but to you as well? Are you that pessimistic to the extreme?" "Ok, that was exaggerated of me," Twilight said, almost calming herself down. "But seriously, how do you think she will react to that." "I'm not a jurist," I explained. "But for me, in the best case scenarios, Celestia will understand you situation and forgive you, although there are still options for her. Or release you under a special circumstance. Or put her in a jail for a few months. Or just warranting a restraining order on you to for her pet." Fluttershy gulped. "You make it look this simple." "That sounds reasonable," Twilight said unconvinced. You are kidding me, right? Are still thinking of Celestia as an harsh ruler in her worst day? Despite the fact that you know her for a long time? Or maybe it was just me complaining for starting during the events of Season 1? "Twilight, if you want to put on the dark side of the things," I warned her. "Anything would happen if her pet literally dies." Twilight and Fluttershy flinched uncomfortably. Ok, maybe I had gone too far. However, I am still enjoying their reaction, but not because it was funny. But because they were both exaggerating even than the problem was still fixable. "R-Really?" Twilight demanded meekly. "Chill out, both you," I retorted them. "I was testing you with this one." The mare both calmed down but then glared a little bit at me. "Please... Don't do that anymore." Fluttershy said almost coldly. "But you were overreacting, aren't you?" I asked calmly. Before they could say anything, Philomena coughed while coming out of the wooden chest, looking even more sick. Unbeknownst to Twilight and Fluttershy, I didn't buy that in the slightest. I approached the bird with the pretense to see her condition and looked in her eyes, causing her to slightly flinch. "Soon or later, I will have a talk with you," I whispered with almost serious tone. "Is there something wrong, Bueno?" Fluttershy asked. "Nothing in particular," I replied calmly and headed toward the exit. "Twilight, I am going to have a talk with the guards but I won't say anything about your situation. I think you would had to cure the bird before giving her back to Celestia, right. Then try to not be too harsh with her." "Alright, I will do what I can," Twilight responded almost calmly. "I just hope Celestia-" "None of you will be banished. Both of you were over exaggerating," I muttered, a moment before facehoofing. "Oh mio DIO." "Huh?" Twilight demanded confused. "Forget the last part," I replied without even looking at her as I stepped out. Once outside, I barely closed the door and approached Lilly and the guards, who were waiting for me. No matter how many days had passed. It was still hard for me to close the door with just my hooves. Granted that one of Fluttershy's cottage has a handle. As I got close to them, they instantly glued their eyes on me, sternly. I maintained my calm despite the nervousness invading my being. Lilly began to interrogate me with some question, with a few of them being sporadic ones. I only told them the essential, while lying, of course. As for Philomena, I told them that someone managed to infiltrate the Sugarcube Corner before the start of the brunch and took the bird while disguising as one of the guests. As for myself, I told them that Violet Tower, referring to Violet Tower as a separated person, I said that he just went in Ponyville an hour after the brunch for get something to eat and leaved some minutes later. That raised their suspects about me, being Bueno Bucolico, knowing my own whereabouts. And so yes. It was a very confusing story. In any case, I said that thing about me having the bad habit to act as an improvised detective when it comes to birds. They weren't believing at that at first, but then decided to give it a shot. Lilly, however, wasn't so convinced, which would be a problem. "Bueno, you surely know a lot of things," Lilly remarked. "Which is kind of strange considering that you also know that Fluttershy was on the list of guest in the party." "Damn it. I had forgot about it." I thought. "If Fluttershy was one the five mares Twilight befriended and resolved Appleloosa's incident," I reminded them. "Should the two guards being already informed about that?" "I wouldn't blame both of them. They were on duty from about twenty days," Lilly explained. "So of course they know anything about her." Could be the case that they were just rookies? Its just my theory but the Royal Guards had plenty of mysteries behind their apparent or substantial incompetence to chew. But maybe that could be argued that I am just bored. "Can I go now?" I asked. "Because I have a gathering to attend." "Yeah, whatever. But you better stay away from Twilight for at least today," Lilly informed me and turned to the pegasi Royal Guards. "Follow me, we have a bird to find." Lilly took his subordinates and walked away from the cottage. And I was pissed off that none of them, none of the three ponies... None of these creatures even mentioned that Philomena was a phoenix! Didn't Celestia told them yet. And now that I am thinking about it... How old she is? I putted aside that question when I heard Philomena screaming from inside Fluttershy's cottage. That means that she was about to escape. Taking that as a signal, I just turned myself invisible and ran the hell out of here in ninja speed. In a few minutes, I had arrived nearby a bench and hidden myself behind a tree. Since there was nopony around, I turned off my invisibility and waited for Philomena to come. "I won't even comment what was going to happen." I murmured before rolling my eyes. Surprisingly, the bird didn't took too long to arrive and sitting on the bench, armed with nothing but a newspaper and fake mustaches. And, to kick disbelieve in the balls, Twilight and Fluttershy had just arrived right in front of Philomena, who managed to fool them and made them leave her alone. As the two mare went out of their range, she was about to leave. But before Philomena could do that, I went out of the three and made my move. "Too slow," I declared as I used the DNA Twister on Philomena, who had acknowledged too late my presence. The red vortex engulfed her body, causing her to collapse on the ground. Although I could barely see her form, I can tell Philomena was going through a transformation, with her croaking being slowly replace with female moans. The mist slowly dissipated, revealing a female earth pony. I would had made her younger but since I am against sexualization with no respect of the age, I turned her into an red maned white elder mare instead. Philomena was apparently unconscious, until she slowly opened her eyes and slowly lifted her head. "Wha... What the..." Philomena said with a dazed, elder tone, a moment before she noticed with shock her new body. "What happened to me?" She slowly rose up on her four legs and turned toward me, looking upset. "What have you done to me?" "I told you before," I replied bluntly, almost talking in my usual way. "Soon or later, we would had that talk. Specifically, your excessive prank." "Oh?" Philomena looked confused. "I mean, don't you think that exploiting your transition from death and resurrection just like that was way too sadistic?" I pointed out. "Did Celestia already know your gimmicks." Philomena widened her eyes with stupor. "You knew that I was actually a phoenix?" "Yep," I replied. "But..." Philomena paused for a moment and then groaned softly in disappointment. "You ruined the surprise." "Well, thanks, Red Bull," I said, scratching my head. "I am so sure that your owner saw this trick multiple times as well but Fluttershy doesn't. I'm sorry, but your prank was very inappropriate considering that she was actually thinking you were sick and put herself in hot water with Celestia for that." "You don't need to be this stern, youngster. I was joking." Philomena said almost meekly. "And I won't blame you for that," I reassured her. "But consider this. There are some ponies that are just sensible or that will outright declare that as a sacrilege, even for that. I think you know already what I am going for, but I will say it anyway. Know your audience," I paused before grinning. "As well as your victims if I can consider to turn you into a mineral statue and send you into space." "Eeek!" Philomena flinched, freaked out. "See?" I said as I returned serious. "Not so funny anymore, huh?" "That part wasn't necessary at all." Philomena retorted with irritation. "Well, you just got owned with your own medicine," I declared. Philomena was about to scream but then started to consider the way I told her the message. She froze in meditation. She took her time to reflect about the whole talk. I, however, I looked around to see if there was some pony coming but hopefully, the place was desert. But for how much long.? "Very well," Philomena sighed, looking defeated. "I guess I shouldn't had played with the feelings of that poor mare. You know, although I honestly dislike you, you are right. I think I should apologize with her." "Before you do that, you have to finish your prank first," I suggested. Philomena blinked, confused. "What?" "I only wanted to talk with you. Not prevent your thing," I stated. "Because both your death and rebirth, ironically, that is also your only way to confess." "Not if I am an earth pony," Philomena replied. "Alright, I am going to return to normal," I said calmly. "You have to," Philomena remarked impatiently. "Twilight and Fluttershy were looking for me, after all." "Not before having answered one last question," I replied. "What is it?" Philomena asked, less enthusiast. "For how many centuries you used your circle of death and rebirth as a prank?" I asked, rising my eyebrow. "Pfft. A lot," Philomena stated, looking amused. "So many times that I remember only a few of them. One of them involved a noble, aristocratic, bird loving unicorn fanatic. He kidnapped me, yes, but unlike that poor pegasus, he wanted to keep me for himself. Too bad that I had already expired my life before that would happen. He thought I was dead due to his ignorance regarding my type and instantly surrendered to the authorities. I remembered his baffled face when I was reborn." She chuckled. "He didn't expected to happen and ended up screaming so hard that he didn't bothered to resist or protest anymore." You know, it's nice that you had at least some sense of measure and had good memories about that, especially with you having trolled someone who really deserve it. Unfortunately, my point is still standing. "It's good to know that you had at least the sense of measure and consideration of the others," I thought while narrowing my eyes. "Because if you don't and if you weren't Celestia's royal pet, I would had Muda Muda punched you so hard that you will feel the pain even during your next rebirths." ".......... You troll," I commented. "Why this weird use of the word troll?" Philomena asked, oblivious of the term. "Nevermind, just returned to you real form and go," I replied as I used my DNA Twister again and returned her back to her featherless phoenix form. Without a second thought, Philomena resumed quietly her escape, this time running toward Ponyville. A let her be for about four minutes before following her tracks. Once I had arrived in town, Philomena was already at the top of a tower. I was hiding behind a wall, watching her emulating an 'heart attack' before intentionally falling down. Fluttershy rushed to catch her and almost managed to do so... Only for the bird to suddenly turn into a pile of ashes on the hooves of the poor yellow pegasus. Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash gasped in shock while Fluttershy just looked shocked, a moment before she started to cry. As I had predicted, Celestia arrived in place, with both the Royal Guards and Lilly bowing before her. Twilight took the duty to explain her that a terrible incident happened, just to not use the word die. Fluttershy then decided to confess and take the blame, despite Twilight trying to defend her... And Pinkie trying to take her place before realizing to had got a clue about what was going on. The Princess approached the pile of ashes and feigned mourning her and then giving her punchline. "Oh, stop fooling around, Philomena," Celestia said tranquilly. "You're scaring everypony." And then, the ashes started to glow and Philomena reappeared in a majestic light, returned as fully feathered phoenix, causing the present ponies to gasp and awe, except Celestia. I know already that would happen but seeing in life was so beautiful. I momentarily wished that Yomi would had given me the summon Phoenix... But then I remembered my experience with the Corpse Remodeling and tossed that idea out of the window. "I don't understand!" Fluttershy exclaimed confused "What is that thing? What happened to Philomena?" "This is Philomena," Celestia replied tranquilly. "She's quite a sight, as I said. But nothing unusual for a phoenix. Isn't that right, Philomena?" Philomena squeked in approval. "A... A pheonix?" Fluttershy asked. "See? This is what happen when you don't know what type of bird she is." I stated as I came out of the wall, getting their attention and causing Philomena to almost flinch uncomfortably. "Wait, you knew that Philomena was a phoenix for this whole time?" Fluttershy demanded, almost surprised. "Wait, for how much time you were observing us?" Rarity asked suspicious. "Fluttershy, do ya know who's this weirdo?" Applejack demanded. Twilight sighed. "He's Bueno Bucolico, an auto proclaimed bird erudite who knows everything about birds." She stopped, realizing what she heard earlier. "Wait, you knew Philomena was a phoenix and yet you didn't had told us anything?" "Because I wanted you find that out by yourself," I retorted calmly. "By getting some encyclopedia and inform yourself about that." "So... That was the lesson about bird types you talked about?" Twilight asked. "You know, I won't bother to explain anything else," I said with a bored look and then turned to Celestia. "You can continue were you left off. I won't disturb you any further." "You know, I didn't minded your behavior," Celestia conceded before narrowing her eyes. "It's just... You reminded me of somepony else. You are friend with Violet, aren't you?" I flinched. "I have nothing to do with that slacker. If you permit me the user of the term." "It's just my impression of course." Celestia assured, raising her eyebrow perplexed. "Whatever you said." I replied calmly before letting out a muted, silenced, heavy sigh. And so, Celestia explained the whole thing about phoenixes, their circle of death of rebirth and their renovation, and then asked Philomena to apologize. Of course, Fluttershy asked her if she was going to be banished, put in the dungeon or both. I, being in the mood of being a bastard, I suggested Celestia if she could at least give a restraining order on the yellow pegasus for Philomena. Celestia assured Fluttershy that she would never do that, but then she called me out about that kind of things while stating that, since the Element of Kindness loves to tender pets, that would be destructively excessive... Which was what was expecting. Ok, I would be sometimes insane or a bastard, but I never thought to actually screw over someone so meek at Fluttershy. "Fluttershy really did do everything she could to try to take care of Philomena for you." Twilight said to justify Fluttershy's action. "And I do appreciate that your heart was in the right place, child," Celestia replied. "But all you had to do was ask me and I could have told you Philomena was a phoenix and saved you all this trouble." Knowing that reminding them of that would be inappropriate, I remained silent but then Fluttershy spoke to me. "Weren't you about to say 'I told you so'?" Fluttershy pointed out. "I'm not the type to be repetitive." I replied bluntly. "At least Fluttershy took this experience at heart." Celestia said. "I know," Fluttershy replied. "I shouldn't have jumped conclusion. Next time I'll ask before taking the matters into my own hooves." "And most importantly for the doctors, know your patient." I said bluntly. "You are so pedant, you know," Rainbow Dash retorted. "Well, at least you didn't come up with buy bird encyclopedia." "I don't know, but Bueno Bucolico is a really funny name." Pinkie said before jumping in air and landing in front of me, startling. "And you are a real prophet who doesn't take cues from Violet, otherwise you couldn't possibly know what was going to happen, like in this moment! You can be a perfect pair with my Pinkie Sense!" "I don't know what you are talking about," I said while trying to regain my composure. "I was just following that bird and that's all." "Should I write you a letter about that lesson, Princess?" Twilight asked to Celestia. "No, that's quite all right," Celestia reassured. "I think I can remember." And then turned toward me. "Bueno Bucolico, I don't think you were honest about Violet," She then paused while slightly leaning toward me. "But I rather talking with you about that another time." "F-fair enough," I partially stammered. "Ahem. I think I will return on my path," I indicated Philomena, almost startling her. "I would had admired her for another minute but I had something to do," I then turned around. "I have in fact a bone to pick with this Violet." "What?" Twilight looked dumbfounded. "Oh, come on. What do you even want from some plotter like him?" Rarity asked with a distrustful trope. "Maybe because I wanted to confront him about the dress and some of the things in which he was accidentally involved?" I asked while trying to maintain my calm, being actually annoyed by her remark. Rarity suddenly beamed with hope. "You know, you are both beautiful and very perceptive about the matter. You have all of my respect." Wow, calm down, lady. Not even drugged cafe would had induce so much glee in you. "I was thinking about that," Celestia pointed out, cringing a little bit and looking momentarily annoyed. "I had learned about both the dress and a strange migration of Diamond Dogs in this morning." I froze up with horror. "Are you telling me that C. Mine and his cult are fucking coming here!?" "Migration?" Rarity asked, almost surprised. "I doesn't make any sense." Twilight pointed out. "Weren't they supposed to just dig for diamonds, only in Rambling Rock Ridge." "Technically, they were migrating underground while maintaining her position," Celestia explained before rolling her eyes. "Is a complicated matter that only I should take care of." Yeah, good for Celestia, but I just hope that she doesn't find out that those diamond dogs were actually forming a crazy cult, guided by one boss dog that I had corrupted into a very improvised high priest, if not their Jesus, and that were going in their quest for the so called Holy Catacomb, if that exist. I don't want have to mention that they were worshiping me as their god! "Time for me to go," I said, being about to leave. "Wait!" Twilight halted. "Could you at least tell us if you know Violet?" "Just to had put my faith to the wrong pony," Rarity said. "Tell me at least what is your impression about him." "If I have to be honest," I said calmly. "It's some idiot who use other ponies for his own selfish gain only in appearance, when in reality he's actually doing that to fool his enemies or just to pass the time. In other words, it's kind of a joker. Now if you excuse me, I have to go after him." "No, wait, darling," Rarity called me. "What do you mean with that?" "Arrivederci," I saluted her as I walked away, putting her into the confusion. Leaving the town, I was practically headed at home. The sun was already setting down as the sky was slowly turning orange. With no pony around, I used the DNA Twister to return to my original form and pressed forward. What worried me was that Lilly was looking for me and didn't managed to find me, which will obviously stress her out, but that wasn't my only preoccupation. "I saw Philomena in live without any enemy coming after my throat this time," I murmured. "I am paranoid, of course. But I am still not in the mood to relax yet." After a handful of minutes, I had arrived nearby my mound, where I found a very interesting surprise. There was Aster Brightside trying to sneak inside my house, "Ehi! What were you doing here!" I shouted, startling her and getting her attention. "Violet." Aster hissed, almost growling as she approached me. "Your artifacts. Where are they?" "Why you need them," I asked, knowing she was referring to my items. "And besides, since then Royal Guards can sneak in the property of the others without an authorization or even an explanation for that?" "Shut up!" Aster screamed before flapping her wings and flying toward me ferociously. "You have done making fun of me!" I was about to receive the blow... Until Lilly tackled Aster at her left side and knocked her on the soil. The pear colored pegasus fainted and Lilly slowly turned toward me. "I don't know if I can tolerate your shenanigans any longer," Lilly said with a irritated tone. "You have no idea of how much I tried to find you. Especially since she drank too much and decided to get revenge on you." "Wait," I halted her, not believe what I heard from her. "You mean she was drunk?" "Well... Sorta," Lilly explained. "Aster putted some herb in her apple cinders to avoid get herself drunk, only to end up being drunk in another way. She looked very lucid in that condition, isn't she?" "I didn't had even realized that she was in that condition," I said, weirded out by that strange drunkenness. "By the way, they told me that you would had involved with the kidnapping of Philomena, Celestia's pet," Lilly said annoyed. "But of course you couldn't had do that and, in my opinion, I think you don't what I am talked about, aren't you. You were always slacking off... When there's no danger of course." "Actually... I had visited Ponyville and saw that phoenix being reborn from the ashes." I informed her. Lilly froze with disbelieve. "You did?" "Oh boy... I think I would have a very long chronicle to tell," I said with very unenthusiastic anticipation. Just when I thought I wouldn't had explained anything to her today. Well, at least I could pass the time before the dinner... And maybe some dose of Halo. Or maybe I would read a book. And speaking of phoenix, I wonder if their rebirths can be considered a middle finger for Death herself. Chapters before Level Up: -1 Next Level Up: 1)Giga Drill: The main weapon of the so called Gurren Laggan, almost reduced to the size of portable weapon while retaining its power, but was made almost impossible for others to wield it due to its tremendous weight. 2)Item Animator: A mysterious quartz who gives the own the ability to turn inanimate objects into living things with the condition that they weren't bio organic to begin with. 3)Face Palmer: A dark-azure gauntlet which functions consist into shooting face palms like wave of energy, striking its target with unexpected power, great impact in the most undignified way possible. > Yomi's Sunder > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rotatory abilities(Highjacked by adm Yomi): Plasma Cannon DNA Twister Gravity Manipulator I am not so proud for having desecrated Bruno Bucciarati, but it was also fun. I walked through the wood, minding my business and nothing as ever gone wrong. This is the event in which the Mane Six's origin are told, so I won't bother troll them. Instead I flew toward Our Town. Why? Because I wanted to do something different: Trolling Starlight Glimmer instead. Nevermind that we aren't in Season 5 yet. In my arrival, I turned into a black maned red earth pony and entered the town. I was immediately met by the weird smiles of the inhabitants. It's unnerving but that cannot be avoided. "Welcome," They said. "Yeah, do you know where I can find your chief?" I asked. "Sure, why not?" Sugar said. Wow. That was easy. I was then leaded to her house. I knocked the door two times and waited. Starlight opened the door. "Welcome to our village. How did you found us?" Starlight asked. "I was in pilgrimage to get ride of my cutie mark that was making my life a living hell," I lied. "Well, however you found us, we're happy to have you! We're happy to have anypony who wants to experience true friendship for the first time." "Yeah, whatever," I said. I was then leaded to the cave where the cutie marks where kept and I can say that looked like a prison for souls. That reminded me of Raziel's nightmare with the Elder One in Legacy of Kain. Starlight was holding the Staff of Sameness with her magic. "So this is vault for those who wanted to be purified," I said. "Well, this will certainly provide a boost to our little community. Let me help you to finally understand what we're trying to accomplish." Starlight said as she was about to use the staff. "Nope." I retorted as I used my gravitational powers stop her movements, much for the shock of the others. "Just look." I then used the staff to clean up the make up of Starlight's cutie mark, revealing the real one. Her followers were astounded. "Seriously, what she said about equality and friendship is bullshit," I said as I gravitationally tossed the staff in the vault, crashing the glass and allow the cutie marks to return to their owner. "NOOOOOO!" Starlight screamed. "Oh, shut up. You have another thing to worry now," I said as I used the corrupter on her, turning her into a red maned sympathetic violet pony with a bright attitude, much to the others utter shock. "This is your new leader," I declared. "I'ts less pedant, knows anything about friendship than the real Starlight and, most of all, is not a liar. Good morning." At this point I flew away from the vault ala Superman and returned inside my mound, and went to my bed. I was waiting for the day in which I will crush the myth of Pinkamena Diane Pie. As I woke up, I found... Pinkie Pie inside my coffin?... No. I Looked up and saw the real Pinkie and Rainbow Dash being tied in the ceiling. Which means that Is Pinkamena! "Hello, my dear Violet," Pinkamena said, holding a knife. "I recall you wanted to crush my myth during the real Pinkie's birthday, right?" I didn't respond. Especially since being in the same place with Pinkamena is disturbing. "Let me tell you on thing, you wisecracker. I came to exist even before the episode. Also, you wanted to screw with my existence. It's. Not. Funny." "So... What are you going to do?" I asked. "HIHIHI, it's pretty simple. A party in my style." "Not today, thank you." I thought as I blocked her movement with my gravitational powers without making the real Pinkie and Rainbow realize what's going on. I then slammed her against the ceiling multiple times until she fell unconscious. At this point, I got out of my coffin and released Pinkie and Rainbow. I then explained that there would be a poltergheist having some kind of vendetta against Pinkamena, which I promptly froze with my gauntlet. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash went to their home without asking me anything and let me sleep in my coffin. I then passed the whole day playing at the console. Super Street Fighter 2 turbo, just to mitigate the bad taste to have Pinkamena in my house or, worse, in having had her in my bed. I then hid the froze Pinkamena in the basement slash living room. I should find a way to get ride of her as soon as possible. That is going to be a real ordeal. Escorted by Lilly, I was invited at the notorious Grand Galloping Gala, aka the boring fest. Unbeknownst to her, I turned someone into Fluttershy and convinced the real one to remain inside the ball room. Nobody was giving a shit to the Mane Six, a this fest should be a social event. I told Luna about that being a total bust and I am sure that she will make me right. Everything was going peacefully... Until someone crushed from ceiling like Randy Savage and landed in front me. It was green maned white stallion with electric gauntlets. Wait.... I recognize it. "Veolst!" I said. "Yep, it's me," Veolst said. "Greatest fighter ever lived and now back for a rematch." Before I could realize, he instantly punched me, with electricity shocking me included. Despite that, I was still standing. "Violet!" Twilight screamed. "Violet?... Is that you call yourself now, Allen?" Veolst said sardonically. "And none of the knows the truth. I am surprised." I lifted my head. "At least you don't taste this!" I blocked his movements with my gravitational powers and put on my freezing gauntlet. And then pulled out my shotgun. "Hey! That's not fair!" Veolst bellowed. "Does that matter," I said as I shot him in the head, making him disappear in a black coil of darkness. The Mane Six and the others were shocked to see that. Celestia wasn't even questioning my methods, with Lilly doing the same. Suddenly something from the outside raged. The Mane Six and the others turned toward the gates, which were being slammed, revealing the imposter Fluttershy screaming. "YOU ARE GOING TO LOVE ME!!" The imposter said, with the animals escaping her. The fake and the real one looked each other in their faces in a awkward silence. Now that was funny and nobody got hurt. As for me, I was trying to get out of the party unnoticed, but I was surrounded by other ponies who were acclaiming me as a hero or just wanted some explanation about what was going on. Celestia, Lilly and the Mane Six leaved me alone, pray of the pain of giving even more explanation on that. Suddenly, Yomi's voice said. "Thanks that I was generous to have activated Cheat Code on these three days, slacker. I was being sick and tired of Season 1." Next Level Up: 1)Giga Drill: The main weapon of the so called Gurren Laggan, almost reduced to the size of portable weapon while retaining its power, but was made almost impossible for others to wield it due to its tremendous weight. 2)Item Animator: A mysterious quartz who gives the own the ability to turn inanimate objects into living things with the condition that they weren't bio organic to begin with. 3)Face Palmer: A dark-azure gauntlet which functions consist into shooting face palms like wave of energy, striking its target with unexpected power, great impact in the most undignified way possible. > The Desecration of Harmony > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rotatory abilities: DNA Twister Plasma Cannon Ryu Hayabusa's Abilities I was out of my mound, witnessing a very chaotic spectacle. Like chocolate- no. That meme was overused. But hey, I know what is going on. Discord is on the way. Lilly didn't wasted any more escorting me to Canterlot Castle and put me in front of Celestia, along with the Mane Six, who didn't seems so happy to see me. "Discord is the mischievous spirit of disharmony," Celestia explained. "Before my sister and I stood up to him, he ruled Equestria in an eternal state of unrest and unhappiness. Luna and I saw how miserable life was for Earth ponies, Pegasi, and unicorns alike, so after discovering the Elements of Harmony, we combined our powers and rose up against him, turning him to stone." They took the box to get the Elements of Harmony, but the elements, of course, are not there. Everybody were surprised. I am not. "That chamber is protected by a powerful spell that only I can break! This doesn't make sense!" Celestia. "I got the Make sense? Oh, what fun is there in making sense?" part. Just show up and just let's get over it." A minute of silence and then he spokes off "You have to ruin everything, Violet?" In a blink of a little light, Discord appeared. He first looked at me with scorn and then turned to the princesses. "Did you miss me, Celestia? I missed you. It's quite lonely being encased in stone, but you wouldn't know that, would you, because I don't turn ponies into stone." "Behold his ego's crotch." I said, causing everyone to glare at me with disgust, especially Discord. "YEEEEW." Discord gestured. "Whatever, I burrowed your elements for a little game?" "What game?" Applejack demanded. "Oh, I forgot," Discord saying and then starting to make fun of the Mane Six, including Twilight and then he comes to me. "And then we have our hero Violet Tower... or villain... well I cannot decide. But you know what? You will be not included in my game." "What?" I asked. "Stop stalling, Discord! What have you done with the Elements of Harmony?" Celestia demanded. "Oh, so boring, Celestia. Really? Fine, I'll tell you, but I'll only tell you my way. To retrieve your missing Elements, just make sense of this change of events. Twists and turns are my master plan. Then find the Elements back where you began." And then Discord laughed. At this point, Twilight went out with her friends and went to the labyrinth. I was about to leave when Discord suddenly appeared in front of me. "Didn't I mentioned that you are not included in the game?" Discord asked. "Yeah, so?" I asked. "You know why? Your powers are quite of a hindrance. I'll just turn you into a cookie for sure!" Discord declared. And was about to screw me up but. "Not under my watch." Yomi's voice said. Everything went black and the only thing I was witnessing were Yomi and Discord facing each other like it was a duel. "You are not the only player, Discord." Yomi said. "Shut up, you geek. You are interfering with my fun!" Discord lamented. "Oh, yeah? Well let's see who is the real chaotic one in this mess." "Fine." Yomi turned to me. "Oh, I forgot. I cannot leave trace of our fight, so," Yomi snapped his finger and I was suddenly brought back to my mound, were I discovered with horror that I was turned into a pile sugar, to not say pile of ashes. My coffin, my console, my home. Everything was technically, basically destroyed by the asshole who control chaos. I will exploit the fact that Discord is too busy fighting Yomi to notice me. I went to the Golden Oak Library and hid behind the entrance door. Peering, I was seeing Twilight trying to retrieve the elements from her now discorded companions. "No. Ha ha-ha ha ha." Discorded Fluttershy laughed. I brutally opened the door, slamming the bullying pegasus against with wall, making the elements fall. I know this episode would end for the better. But now I was currently bat shit insane and eager for a worse revenge. "HEEEEEEEY!" I called. "You are acting like real assholes!" "Violet, what-" Twilight was talking but I put on her mouth a black chain to shut her up and passed on discorded Pinkie. "So what're doing?" "Quit-" I used the corrupter on her. "Shut up! If you are angry, just destroy some things!" Pinkie turned into a Asura Wrath like creature, crashed out of the window and began to destroy anything outside. I passed on Rarity, who sticks herself with her rock. "Hey, jerk! What're doing!?" "You can't h-" Corrupted used. "Shut up! Go devouring everything in sight. Even SOULS!" Rarity flew off outside, turns into a Atomos like creature and began to consume everything. I passed on Applejack. "Hey, jerk! What you're doing!?" "I'm not d-" Corrupter used. "Shut up! Lure anyone on..." I Stammered. "In impending doom." Applejack went outside and began spread lies who started a few wars or simple fights in between races or same ponies. I then used the black chain to catch up Rainbow Dash. "Hey jerk!" I said "Let me-" "Shut up! BACKSTAB SOME ASS!" I commanded. Rainbow Dash went to Cloudsdale to save pegasi who were victim of Discord's chaos, only to be backstabbed by her. I went to Fluttershy. "Hey jerk! What're doing!" "I will m-" Corrupted. "Shut it! If you want violence, do that to the EXTREME!" Fluttershy went out from the library and began torturing and murdering everything on her sight while laughing like a maniac. I freed Twilight's mouth from the chain. "VIOLET! WHA-" Twilight was then corrupted. "Shut up! What you have to is to show Discord who is powerful." A moment of silence and Twilight instantly glowed of an unstable energy that engulfed her body, in resonance with her fury. "I WILL SHOW HIM ALL THE POWER THAT I WILL EVER UNLEASH!" Twilight roared a moment before it exploded, destroying everything in her sight, except me, who was just protected by Yomi that informed me. "You have gone too far this time." Yomi's voice said. Ponyville has become now a crater, now thanks to Raging Pie, Voracity, Applebastard, Rainbow Stabber, Fluttersadist and Twilight Smite. Speaking of them, they were laying unconscious. I was proud of the result. Celestia then appeared in front of me, furious. "WHAT THE HAY HAVE YOU DONE THERE!?" But before I could even answer her question, Discord voice roared. "ENOUGH!" Suddenly, the time rewinded itself until I found myself back at Canterlot Castle, this time all the discorded Mane Six, Twilight included, who looked traumatized. And then we have Discord, who wasn't so happy about my action. "What the hay you think you were doing?" Discord asked sternly. "I thought you wanted disharmony," I said. "But this is not create disharmony! This is... Drugging it and pumping it on steroids. Why would you do that!?" "Let's just say that I have my own touch," "You have read too much Rei Mikamoto horror manga, right?" "HUH!?" "Let's see, we have Reiko the Zombie Shop, Bloody Delinquent Chainsaw, Satanister, and oh, my favorite one, Konyo-" "NO! NO! GET THAT MANGA THE FUCK OUT OF MY SIGHT! The idea of strippers fighting a zombie apocalypse was moronic beyond any kind of criteria... sigh." "Now we are even." "Not exactly since I was distracting you." Discord didn't understood what he said but then acknowledged Twilight and the others being returned to normal and already using the Elements of Harmony to petrify Discord once more. "You got busted." I said. "Not thanks to you," Celestia said sternly. "You made me destroy everything," Pinkie lamented. "I devoured everything... Disgusting," Rarity said. "You made me start wars and poisoning," Applejack said. "You made me backstab ponies at random," Rainbow Dash said. "You turned me into a monster," Fluttershy said furiously. "Relax, I know that Discord wouldn't had approved that and would had rewind the time. At least there was a good ending in this." "Not for you," Discord voice said, making everybody including me panicking. A transparent image of him appeared afterwards. "Discord?" Celestia said. "But how-" "Relax, I'm just a hologram. I will just show some images of Violet. Or I will say his real identity. Watch." And with a remote at hand, a screen suddenly appeared, showing the images of my past and these of my rebirth in Equestria as Violet. I was powerless and screwed. "Oh, and about when Violet "saves" Twilight," Discord pressed the remote again. The images shows me shot Vaelox and Twilight's head with the shotgun. What follows was the image of my Corpse Remodeling of her body, even thought that makes her even more normal. Everypony gasped. Again. "Twilight, could you please move my statue to prove your status?" Reluctantly, Twilight pushed the statue, which just fell on the ground unbroken. Everypony gasped and Twilight freaked out. Celestia looked at me, which means one thing. "Now.... I am fucked." "My job has been done. Revenge accomplished... Good day," The hologram of Discord said before disappearing. Everybody glared at me.... And I have a lot to explain. Level up abilities suspended until update. > Clockwork Lesson > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rotatory abilities: DNA Twister Plasma Cannon Ryu Hayabusa's Abilities By the way, I had forgot it. 3)Face Palmer: A dark-azure gauntlet which functions consist into shooting face palms like wave of energy, striking its target with unexpected power, great impact in the most undignified way possible. Fixed now. I am Allen Nitrol, former student, former Iron Ghost and an actual resident in Equestria. For days I had hidden my identity and my feud with the Granite Daggers, or at least the alternative ones. I didn't had said a word about it and I had even corrupted Iron Lilly in every considerable way, for the good cause. And now I was found out and sent into a dungeon... Because of Discord. Two days passed since then and I was behind the bars, with Celestia and Luna on the other side. I had explained my situation and the identity of my enemies to them. Needless to say, the Royal Guards had installed multiple magical crystals that, according to them, should contain my powers. I don't know if that works, but I am sure as hell that they retrieved my bag with all of my stuff. And that's bad, because I cannot explain anything about videogame logic or even how I had obtained the Freezing Gauntlets. "You are really full of secrets for somepony called Violet Tower... Allen," Celestia said coldly. "I don't even know how to feel about your past actions." "Killing Twilight by mistake and resurrecting her as a seemingly normal like undead creature," Luna said. "That is indeed very chilling." "Until we had decided what to do with you," Celestia said. "You will stay in this cell. Also, seriously, you are the one who had attracted those cultists, corrupted our lieutenant and others, killed and resurrected other two ponies by mistake, accidentally founded a cult of Diamond Dogs, almost destroyed Equestria during the encounter with Discord and caused what other incident. Do you have anything to say?" "I won't complain about being tossed into jail," I said. "But I don't think you will have much chance with my enemies." "In fact I have something in mind for you," Celestia turned around. "Until then, you will remain here for an undetermined time until I decided your fate. Sleep well, Allen." "You had practically asked for it," Luna remarked. After that, they leaved me alone in my cell, with only two guards at their post. This new life couldn't get any worse than that. At least I could sleep without any worries, except that Equestria was now defenseless. "Well... Fuck." I murmured. "At least I wasn't killed by Jared Leto's Joker." At least I have my ninja abilities, something that they weren't able to confiscate. I would be a utter bastard, but just because I was bored, I would had turned invisible. But then, the sound of an explosion coming from somewhere in the dungeon happens. "What happened!?" One of the guards exclaimed. "Let's find out!" The other guard said. Without even thinking, they leaved the post to investigate. I exploited this moment to transform into a bird, turned invisible and followed them. I traversed the entire castle with them until I had arrived into a hall devastated by black flames. It was high alert time. I continued to fly around the halls to find some hints about the culprit but without results. I guessed that he would had escaped into Ponyville, so, as much as I hate commit jailbreak, I leaved the castle, returned visible and turned into a pegasus. It took me a Friendship Express and one day, but I managed to reach Ponyville. I was wandering in the outskirts, but not before returning back to normal. I was pondering about where the culprit, possibly another Granite Dagger's member, could be when I saw a crazy Twilight trying to give a ragged doll to the Cutey Mark Crusaders. "Gr-eat. Just great." Twilight said crazily. "You three look like you're doing great too! Looks like three good friends who obviously don't need the help of another good friend. This is Smarty Pants. She was mine when I was your age, and now I want to give her to you!" I turned myself invisible, knowing the effects of the doll. Twilight doesn't know what to do when it was about trying to find another friendship problem that she can solve before the end of the week. I feel sorry for her, especially for her own conditions. But in that moment, I idly know what to do, so I approached her and, just for troll factor, I kicked her leg, making her stumble and fall on her legs, much to the shock of the Cutey Mark Crusaders. But it was too late as Twilight had already cast the spell that makes the doll irresistible. The ragged doll fell to the ground as well. Twilight took three seconds to acknowledge my presence. "Allen!?" Twilight exclaimed. "How did you escaped the jail?" It was supposed to be a brief troll to convince her to not do that, but then something weird happened. As I returned visible, the doll suddenly comes to life, developed fingers on it's hands... And FLIPPED THEM ON ME! Pissed, I leaped toward to the doll with all my fury. What followed it's even weirder, like the doll returned to be fingerless and lifeless, and I ended up falling on it as one blue maned green pony suddenly appeared, which was another shock for the other four ponies. "Long time no see, Allen." The green pony said. Wait... I recognize this voice and ability to possess the objects. "Noirax." I said coldly. "That's right. And now that I-" Noirax was then interrupted by the Cutey Mark Crusaders standing in his way. "Hey, what the?" "I want you!" Applebloom said. "I need you!" Sweetie Bell said "Let me cares your mane!" Scootaloo said. "S-stop it! I'm not a fricking doll, you idiots!" Noirax bellow as he raised his hoof and tried something, but nothing happened. In that moment I remembered his weakness, which marked his mistake: He can use the black flames of death only eleven times for day and he consumed them all. Noirax was probably the most reckless and pathetic member of the cult. And to make things worst for him, all the inhabitants of Ponyville, except the Mane Six who had just gathered one second ago, were fighting over him. Some of them were even keeping him as a poor hostage. And I had realized to have forgot to take back the bag with all my stuff. "Dammit!" I exclaimed. "Y'all hear that? What in the name of all things oats 'n apples is goin' on here?!" Applejack then looked at me. "And why is Allen here!?" "Don't look at it!" Twilight said. "Don't look at what?" Rarity asked confused. "My Smarty Pants doll! I enchanted her in the same time Allen made me fall!" Twilight said. "But then something strange happened. That green pony over there suddenly appeared and was about to fight him until everypony arrived and started to fight over him! But why!?" "The effect of the spell were probably transferred on him," I explained. "It sucks to be him in this moment." "LET ME GOOO!!" Noirax roared. "Why would you enchant your doll?" Fluttershy asked. "Oh, I had to do something! I had nothing to report to Princess Celestia! I thought if I couldn't find a problem, I'd make a problem! The day is almost over!" Twilight said. "Almost!" Applejack said and glared at me. "I am resistant to being brainwashed, so it has no effect on me," I informed. "But why that pony doesn't react," Rainbow Dash asked. "Because-" I was interrupted. "TWILIGHT SPARKLE! ALLEN!" Celestia's voice said from somewhere. "Oh, shit," I murmured. As predicted, Celestia appeared and nullifies the effects of the spell from Noirax, who was laying dizzied on the grass. I took my time to unleash multiple pillars of energy to finish him off, reducing him into black embers. Once again, I saved the day. But that doesn't mean that I, and Twilight, weren't in trouble. And yeah, Big Machintosh can get the fucking doll as a reward for having resisted the spell. "Meet me in the library," Celestia said. "Both of you." In the following evening, Twilight explained her reasons behind her deeds and Celestia forgave her in exchange to let her friends to share their own friendship lessons. As for me. "Allen, I don't even know if send you in the Tartarus or thank you," Celestia said. "I know." I said. "However, I had reflected about you and took a decision," Celestia said. "In condition to become my agent, you will take your own belongings and being forgiven for your past actions." "What?" I was confused. "WHAT!?" Twilight exclaimed. "But he was the one who killed me and turned me into a zombie in the first place!" "I know, but we have also to keep this individual in check," Celestia informed while facehoofing. "He's full of surprises." "I only wish that he had never reached Equestria," Twilight said scornfully. "I cannot do nothing about your conditions." Celestia said apologetically. "In other words, I am still the villain." I said. "In one manner of speech." I wonder how much this situation can continue in this way. And to be correct, that one with Noirax was a cheap fight. But the rest will not. Next Level Up:-2 1)Planeswalker Spark: The owner becomes a Planeswalker with conditioned method of power. 2)Stand: A embodiment of the owner's spiritual energy. 3)Shadow Mantle: Allow the owner to manipulates the shadows, make it's own disappear and even hide inside that of the others. > Eclipse Proof > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rotatory abilities: Plasma Cannon Face Palmer Gravity Manipulator Nightmare Night, the equestrian equivalent of Halloween. To be honest, I am not so fond of this tradition in both ways. So while Twilight was too busy resolving the problem of reintegrate Luna into the society, I was reading books from my living room, which was also my basement. After being satisfied enough with that, I put back the book in it's place and went out my mound. I wandered through the forest in the middle of the night. It was so silent that is benevolent. There was also an equally benevolent breeze. However, despite this, I had to keep an eye in every corner. Maybe because I was currently paranoid that a cultist from Granite Daggers or some other menace would show up. "Man, I can ever relax myself ever again, isn't it?" I demanded to myself. "Long time no see, Allen," A spectral voice said, startling me. "Who's the... Wait, that can't be her." I said turning to the source. I saw a very cloaked figure approaching me. Her body looked very skeletal. There's no doubt. She was in front of me, in flesh and blood. Or I should say in just bones. "Aunt Death?" I said incredulous. "What the-" "As much I like this reunion, I have the hurry to inform you about a... Little complication." "What complication?" "The flux of the existence suffers from a grave unbalance." "Oh, great. Now we have something that alters something like the Multiverse?" I asked sardonically. "Not exactly," Death said. "It's about the flux of the dead. The one that unites parallel universes. Something is altering it and now I have the pain in the ass to investigate it. You have to keep an eye not only to the alternate Granite Daggers but to others as well." "What? There are other people coming there as ponies?" "Well... I should said that those ones are reborn... Just like you." That reminded me of the patch that Yomi fetched to me in the black orb before meeting me. There was one rule that specified that after a certain time, an alternate person from another universe would be reborn as a pony. "Which means villains as well." "Sure." "Are you fucking kidding me?" I asked a little alarmed. "Look, I have no time to tell you the rest," Death said before she began to dissolve herself in a coil darkness. "Have fun." "Wait, don't go!" I exclaimed but it was too late, because she just disappeared. Seriously. Too comfy for her leaving me in the dark after giving me this shocking news. That really left me a bad taste in my mouth. I turned around, headed toward my mound, which was also my house. But first, I have a Face Palmer to test. I put on that dark violet gauntlet on my right hoof and directed it on the rock at my left. I briefly charged it and shot a dark wave of energy that hits the rock, leaving a hand shaped mark similar to a buddist palm that came from some kung fu movie. "Well... That's of you make some face palming action," I said while removing the gauntlet. "Ok, time to go to sleep." "Allen, as much I don't trust you, I require your assistance," Luna's voice said from behind me. "Oh, boy. Now what?" I murmured. I turned around and saw Luna slowly landing in front of me. Her expression looked very stern, but at the same time, she looked a little worried. Could be that she need some other encouragement or advice despite what Twilight and others had given to her. "I need to talk with you," Luna said almost apologetically. "Why all this formality?" I asked. "Weren't you disgusted that I had almost destroyed Equestria in a fit of insanity to troll Discord?" "I know everything about your deeds and I don't like your attitude. However, my reason for this talk is another one," Luna explained. "Explain yourself." I replied. "You see," Luna began. "I had regained a little bit of connection and trust from my subjects, but I feel still guilty about my past actions. There's so much things that I want to do in order to fix it." "Is there anything that doesn't involve torturing you with a entity that you will create in your dreams to torture yourself out of guilt because having learned the lesson wasn't enough for you?" I asked sternly. "How did y..." Luna paused. "You are telling me that I shouldn't do that, right?" Luna asked. "Yes, because that would be unbelievably stupid and dangerous for the others," I informed her. "You think so?" Luna asked with a raised eyebrow. "Yes." At that point, we exchanged awkward gazes. She seemed about to wonder if I am trolling her or just being plain suspicious. I don't even want to know what she was thinking, because I don't have any responsibility regarding screwing the fate in multiple occasions. "....... You said that you can't predict the future right?" "Yes, why you ask?" "Just saying." Luna said before realizing something. "I forgot to ask you something." "What?" "I require that you tell me about your past life," Luna said bluntly. "..." She wasn't even present when Discord exposed me, so I told her about my background as a Iron Ghost vigilante, my allies and even about my enemies. Luna seemed disturbed to hear that and felt sorry for my tragic outcome. She seemed took my past arrogance sternly but then soften up upon hearing my positive traits and motivations. "I have to admit," Luna said. "Your story is... awful." "I know. Neither I wanted to live that shit." I said. "MIND YOUR LANGUAGE!" Luna said with a royal voice. "Ok, ok. I keep it in check." I replied, almost freaked out but then calmed down. "At least I had the time to know love." "That female human... You miss her, right?" Luna asked calmly. "...... And how. I wonder if she's still alive after my death." I replied. "I am pretty sure that she is fine," Luna then turned around. "Now, if you excuse me, I have to go." Luna flapped her wings and flew away from my sight, leaving me alone with much stuff to reflect about. Being reborn in Equestria with the past being somehow able to bite me is not an happy thing. Well, at least I have Yomi to back me up, that no power up can do anything about the doubts of my heart. "Sometime I wonder what tomorrow has in store for me." Next Level Up:-1 1)Planeswalker Spark: The owner becomes a Planeswalker with conditioned method of power. 2)Stand: A embodiment of the owner's spiritual energy. 3)Shadow Mantle: Allow the owner to manipulates the shadows, make it's own disappear and even hide inside that of the others. > More Intermission > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rotatory abilities: DNA Twister Gravity Manipulator Book of Healing Being Celestia's agent brought my memories to the old times I was arrogant Iron Ghost vigilante. That made me consider if sometimes I will fall in the same mistakes or just becoming better than I was in the past. As I was reflecting on this aspect of my previous life, I was also playing Fallout 1. I wondered why not put any Fist of the North Star twist in the story, but then I decided to not even try to imagine this kind of operation. Also, it was raining outside my mound and I also know that Sweetie Bell had an arguing with Rarity. I won't even interfere with that since I know that the problem would be fixed by itself. I turned off the console after saving the game and went out of my basement slash living room, only to find Iron Lilly waiting for me from the entrance with a stern look. This time slightly more grim than usual. "So, how does feel being Celestia's personal agent," Lilly said. "Despite the ruckus that you had provoked until now?" "It wasn't by my choice," I replied. "I would had remained inside my jail if it wasn't for that cultist that was wrecking your castle." "Allen, if your videogame logic thingy is true," Lilly explained cautiously. "Then that means that you are more powerful than you can even imagine. For instance, you can be actually more dangerous-" "I know, I know what you mean. A danger for the whole Equestria." I sighed. "And besides, my abilities and some items are rotatory. And more than that, I have no interest into overthrow Celestia. I have done enough mess during the time with Discord." "Yeah, you should be in the Tartarus for this but I will talk about that later," Lilly turned around and took her leave. "See ya." After that awkward discussion, she flew away and I went inside my coffin. The futon that was inside was never this soft, which means the comfort was still present. I was about to close my eyes but then I thought what Lilly said about my powers. I guess that Celestia wanted obviously to keep me in check. I began my sleep after I putted aside those doubts. "I was too reckless. I was too arrogant. Well... I am a idiot for not having realized yet. "I know. That's why I forgive your deeds. None one is perfect." "Primula, I don't know what to say." "Allen, I want ask you one thing. My brother Kiro disappeared a long time ago. I found out he joined the Granite Daggers." "What?" "Tell me that you are going to stop him without killing him." ".... I will try." I woke up and went outside my mound to take a stroll. My destination was obviously the place where the contest was going on. Suddenly, I heard some muffled voice coming from a bush. I examined it only to find Sweetie Bell... What? Yea, she was supposed to be at the contest, but instead she was there, wrapped in bandages. "What the fuck?" I murmured as I released Sweetie from the bandages. She started to gasp almost frantically for the lack oxygen she was suffering. She then turned toward me. "Allen, I don't even know if thanking you or being legitimately scared." Sweetie commented. "Whatever. Who tied you up like that?" "Someone who resembled me. Applejack is in danger!" What? Another case of Changeling or some shit? I thought I had resolved Chrysalis attempt to invade weeks ago. That must be something else. "Ok, give some second." I used my gravitational powers to lift both me and Sweetie Bell and flew at a very fast speed. We arrived at the contest, where a "Applejack" covered in mud, who turned out to be Rarity had already won with that "Sweetie Bell". "SIS!" Sweetie called Rarity, getting her attention and causing her confusion. "That filly is not me!" "A-another Sweetie Bell?" Rarity said confused. "What the-" "Ok, enough is enough." "Sweetie Bell" said before dissolving into a impressive swarm of wasps and recomposing themselves into a silver maned blue mare with an arrogant smug. And stings on her hooves for claws. "Zalva!" I exclaimed. "I couldn't even win a race in which I wasn't invited, am I?" Zalva said annoyed. "At least my swarm had surrounded the whole place. And, as you remember, they are very poisonous and ravenous wasps. My fateful lovers." It was the truth that a entire swarm had surrounded us and was ready to feast on us. Zalva is one sadist that had almost killed me. Defeating her was now more difficult than before. "Allen! Do something!" Rarity bellowed. "Do rush me, dammit! We are in a very delicate situation." I retorted. "A very hot one to enjoy since I will spill your blood on me." Zalva said gleefully. Oh, I forgot. She also that kind of pervert. And just than the situation was about to get worse, the 8-bit sound ranged and I took the following prize in the text box. Stand: A embodiment of the owner's spiritual energy. Great, talking about JoJo references during a hostage situation. Well, if I have to risk everything even this time, then I guess that I cannot refuse the invitation. "Ehm... Oh, yes.... Cradle Mass!" I invoked, causing a humanoid figure to appear out of nowhere, much to the shock and surprise of the others, Zalva included. "W-what is this? A Stand?" Zalva said incredulous. "What in the hell is even possible!?" "Cradle, could you please get ride of the swarm?" I asked to my Stand, who snapped his finger, causing an aerial shockwave that stunned the wasps and made the fall on the ground. A very legit silence fell on the scene, only to be interrupted seconds later by a furious Zalva. "You are not allowed to ruin my fun and get away with it!!" Zalva said while turning herself in a swarm of wasps that rushed toward me. Big mistake. "Kick her perverted ass, please." I asked to Cradle Mass, who started his barrage of punches on the wasps at lightning speed. "FURA! FURA! FURA! FURA! FURA! FURA! FURA! FURA! FURA! FURA! FURA! FURA! FURA! FURA!" All the wasps were completely massacred and ended up falling on the soil before dissolving into a coil of embers resembling Zalva and disappearing from the scene." My Stand disappeared from my sight and the crowd of ponies awkwardly started to clap, unable to decide to cheer me or lynch me because I was the main reason for the cultist presence. "Don't worry. Planeswarker spark will be reconsidered soon." Yomi's voice said out of nowhere. Dammit, Yomi. Stop trolling me. "Ahem, Allen." Rarity called me. "Although I am still considering you a despicable pony... I would still thanking you for saving us again. Including my sister." "But wait a minute. Why taking my place in the race?" Sweetie Bell asked. "Because she need a cover to provoke a carnage with the wasp and make it pass as an accident," I informed. "How horrible!" Rarity flinched. "Yeah, and frankly, I rather put this thing behind already." "Another thing I would add." "Yes, Rarity?" "..... I am grateful that you have saved my sister, so I want trust you... Just for once. But still, what was that thing?" I think Rarity is referring to Cradle Mass. "I'll tell you about that later." Next Level Up:-3 1)Invisible Aegis: An invisible barrier that blocks any type of bullet. 2)Neptune gauntlet: Allows the owner to breath underwater. 3)Animator staff: A rod that allows to gives life to inanimate objects. > Unwanted Host > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rotatory abilities: Plasma Cannon Void Ring Book of Healing As the agent that I should be, I was patrolling Ponyville to see if the are any menace incoming. To be honest, that was what Lilly tasked me to do. Also, this was the day of the Cutie Pox and I prefer to not interfere with Applebloom's asinine idea to get cutie marks fast. She should at least be wary of what she was wishing for. Since there wasn't any problem, I took my leave and wandered into the woods for a stroll. Not because I was lazy, but because I prefer having a time where I can be relaxed instead of being constantly screwed over by my enemies or any consequence of my actions that would bite me back in my ass. Actually, I was thinking about to pay a visit to Zecora after Applebloom's problem got too difficult for her to deal with. "At least that wouldn't interfere with Equestria's history," I said to myself. "I mean, how many things I had screwed up this far." Suddenly, there was a 8-bit buzz coming out of nowhere that startled me like nowhere. My heart skipped a bit for a moment. At that point, there was a text box with a unusual but not so unusual message. A new soul has been reborn into Equestria "Oh, shit. I think that is one of the things Death talked about." I murmured. I galloped throughout the forest and the Everfree Forest to find this pony. Yes, I have even taken for the dangerous course. I looked at every damn angle of those places. I had even put both the gauntlets just in case I have to defend myself from chimeras and other various creature. Since I didn't got any result, I made my return to my mound in the evening. I was very tired and decided to take my own deserved sleep, until someone knocked at the door. I turned to the entrance and found Zecora standing in the entrance. "Zecora?... Why visiting me at this hour?" I asked. "Because a ruckus happened outside my hut. Was that your act?" Zecora asked politely. Oh, crap. I had forgot she lives in the Everfree Forest. "I am sorry, but I was fighting various creatures, in search for a suspicious pony. You didn't know anything about it?" "I don't know anything about this one. I hope you didn't had killed anyone." "No, I just froze them. That's it." No wonder she was suspicious toward me. After all, she may probably saw me destroying Equestria in a Batman Gambit to defeat Discord. I won't blame her for that. I won't even blame the ponies who had nearly died during the massacre caused by the Corrupted Six. Nor I want to blame the Mane Six for considering me as a sort of a villain or just a crazy guy. "You want to talk for a moment?" I asked. "Thank you, but I have a duty to attend. I hope your search goes to a good end." Zecora said while taking her leave. At this point, I didn't had wasted any second entering inside my coffin and covering myself in my own futon. Morpheus didn't took too long to embrace me. Everything was black. A unusual atmosphere surrounded me. In front of me there was a TV. This couldn't be a Persona 4 reference, because Death was in TV, acting like a CBC anchor man. "And now for the news of the first hours," Death announced. "As you know, a new soul had been reborn as a pony in Equestria. None one knows about his existence and the fact that is on the loose. In this intricate mystery, only one pony knows about that. I have a message for him." Death slammed her skeletal hands on the desk while leaning on the camera. "What the fuck are you doing, Allen?! Move your ass and find him!" A I woke up with a start, freaked out by Death's outburst. I took my black bag and went out of my mound, resuming the search of that pony. I was technically keep that a secret because I have no idea about how much the existence of that pony will affect the situation just like I did. I had once again scoured the forest to find any hint about that guy. I have even explored inside a mountain with my Void Ring, but there's nothing that can lead me to him. I don't even know where he lives. Until I stepped into the Ghastly Gorge, where I found something interesting. There was a mound similar to my own, with the exact same metallic doors. I slowly, silently approached the entrance with cautiousness. As I entered inside, I was struck by a creepy surprise. Differently from my house, it was a laboratory with an hi-tech computer and a table used for surgery. And in front of me, there was a purple mare dressed with a white scientist coat who was looking at me. But wait a minute. Now I am noticing something familiar with her: a squinted right eyes, a blonde mane and tail, and a pair of weird glasses. I had instantly recognized who she is. I couldn't believe to find her here. I have to act. "Nero Aoi?" I instinctively took the flamethrower that I had stole to Trice. "KILL IT WITH FIRE!!" I pressed the trigger, unleashing a fire wave so scorching that made me look like Pyro Bison. The mare screamed in pain as she was engulfed by flame. Like a idiot, I had forgot the hi-tech computer. Fearing that act would had caused also the explosion of the place, I shot a freezing bullet at the mare, freezing her and dissipating the flames. I then took the frozen mare dragged her out of her mound. I dragged that damn bastard nearby the cliff of the gorge and thrown it into the void. Motivation of my act? Well that's easy. That reborn soul was Nero Aoi, the creator of the Corpse Remodeling procedure. A psychotic bitch in cahoot with three descendants of Nazi researchers. Yes, she was also helped by three Nazis and is a nutjob infatuated with dictators. She had controlled an army or Remodeled Corpse until being steadily defeated by a girl named Geeko, but that was another story. "I had committed a murder, but I had at least made Equestria a favor." I assured to myself. "HI!" Pinkie suddenly butted in. "AAAAAAH!" I yelled. "Pinkie, you should at least warn me when you decide to show up!" Talking about showing up in the worst timing. Did she just saw what I have done? "What are you doing here?" "Minding my own business. You saw something?" I asked nervously. "What something, Allen?" Pinkie asked confused. "Good. That wasn't important. What matters is why you were following me?" "You see, Applebloom has a problem with the appearance of multiple cutie marks and I thought maybe-" "I was responsible, right?" "Well, yes." "Wrong. Now follow me so I will show you why." Accompanied by Pinkie, I traveled back at Ponyville, only to discover the town being barricaded by the citizens when they heard by Spike about the plague named Cutie Pox. "I can understand their reaction," I paused. "But regarding the Zebras, SOMEONE READ A DAMN BOOK!" "Speak for yourself, villain!" Said some random pony from one of the houses. I guided Pinkie in Zecora's hut, were Applebloom was finally cured by the plague. However, I was too distracted by the thought of my encounter with Nero. Of all ponies that should have been reborn, why this bitch? "I'm great, and I've never been happier to be a blank flank," Applebloom said. "But I'm awful sorry I lied, 'specially to you gals. I was so desperate for my cutie mark, I just got carried away. And I'm really sorry I snuck those flowers from you, Zecora. Why, I wouldn't blame you if you never wanted me to come by again." "Now, Apple Bloom, do not be silly. You are always welcome, my little filly. With each mistake you learn something new, growing up into a better you." Zecora said. "You should be wary about what you really wish." I advised. "Said the mad guy," Applejack said sternly. "Why that remark?" I asked. "Because I don't know If I can trust you or not," Applejack remarked. "You're a fountain of secrets for me and Ah don't like it a little bit." "Honesty is the best policy but you cannot be honest all of the time. Can you?" "Well.... Touche." After this rebuttal, I took my leave as Applebloom wrote her letter to Celestia about the importance of the patience. During my travel toward my home, I couldn't stop thinking about Nero. I hate that individual and I am happy that I had got rid of her. So why I am thinking it's not over yet with her? Next Level Up:-2 1)Invisible Aegis: An invisible barrier that blocks any type of bullet. 2)Neptune gauntlet: Allows the owner to breath underwater. 3)Animator staff: A rod that allows to gives life to inanimate objects. > Free Time > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rotatory abilities: DNA Twister Gravity Manipulator Ryu Hayabusa's Abilities I was bored. I mean, there was no menace that would had harmed Equestria in sight, but at the same time were wasn't any fun at all. And I was still ostracized as a villain by many despite my efforts to integrate in the society. Also, I was having an hard time digesting my encounter with Nero Aoi and her lab. And I had murdered her in order to prevent her from doing anything harmful to the others. They would call me a murderer, but it's better that way. Anyway, I was playing Dead Rising 2 on my console for about two hours and I was still bored. I turned it off and went outside my mound. I looked at my black orb to see what kind of abilities Yomi's rotation had put on me this time. Seeing the DNA Twister being on the options, an Idea struck me hard. "Why I never thought about that before?" I said. I used the DNA Twister to turn myself into my human form, except that my hair was violet, just to not cheat. I was surprised of the fact that this kind of thing was possible. It felt strange having returned to have my human form. In short, I got so used to my pony form that I being didn't felt so natural to me. I would had remained in that form if wasn't for the fact that I am currently naked. So, I returned to my pony form and was about to take a stroll when Lilly's voice called me in the distance. "Allen!" Lilly said as she was approaching me with a serious face. "What is the meaning of this?" "What are you talking about?" I asked. "There's another mound similar to your own," She said. "Could you explain it's presence?" Oh, fuck. I know what that means. I had completely forgot about Nero Aoi's laboratory. I should had destroyed that or even sent Fafnir to destroy it when I had the chance. And so, I was escorted to Nero's mound while explaining to Lilly it's presence and Yomi's version of the facts about having another soul being reborn in Equestria, without mentioning that the said soul was Nero and that I had murdered her to prevent any incident. There are a lot of Royal Guards investigating the place. The material was the Corpse Remodelling equipment that Nero was usiing. They glared at me, assuming that it was my property and worsened my situation since Twilight's rebirth as a Remodeled Corpse by my hands. That was going to be a very bad day. In the same day in which Rainbow Dash got her new pet, Tank. The good side was that Lilly covered me by telling them about the equipment belonging to someone else. And now here comes the hard part. "It was you who had discovered this place, right?" Lilly asked sternly. "Yes... It was." I replied nervously. "Did you have encountered one who had been... Reborn as a pony like us?" "Not exactly," I lied. "There wasn't anypony when I first arrived here. As for the equipment, I had froze that up to prevent the others to use the same Corpse Remodeling technology that I had." "Tech... what?" "I know, it's complicated," I assured. "However, what I can assume is that this pony could be something as dangerous as the Granite Daggers cultists." "..." Lilly stared at me. "If you don't believe me, you can-" "Alright, alright. I believe you." She paused. "For now." And with that, I was being released. I made my way toward home, half-content since I don't like being associated with Nero. Seriously, it was becoming my obsession even after her death. To honest, I didn't killed her per se since I had simply frozen her with the freezing bullet and tossed her in the Ghastly Gorge. ... I hope that her frozen body would be dispersed into the sea. Anywho, I had arrived at my home, only to find Twilight waiting for me with a stern face. And I think I know why. "What are you doing here?" I asked. "We need to talk." Twilight replied. "It's because of your zombie-like conditions?" "Yeah, even that, but that's not what I want to talk about. Although I am still mad at you because of you killing me by accident." "Yeah, I looked like Vicent from Pulp Fiction when I had accidentally killed you." I thought. "Yeah, I messed that up. Now what do you want?" Twilight expression changed into a calm one. "How was your past life?" I sighed. "Why you ask?" "It must be a very sorrowful one... You previous existence of yours. You never had any moment of tranquility since you got yours." "You are here to sympathize with me?" I asked. "No. I am here because I want to know you." Twilight replied. "So let me ask you one thing. Did you have known any moment of happiness before the whole Iron Ghost thing in your past life." "... Yes, I had my moments. My life was just a normal one without anything special. I studied, worked, had fun and pretty much it. I had also my own crush for my childhood friend, Primula. I would had continued that way if someone didn't had the idea to turn the world I came from into a living inferno. I hope that lord Plaguer has been stopped after my death. Otherwise... Well... I think that means that my sacrifice has been done for nothing." An awkward silence fell upon us. I took my time to recover from my own reminiscence. Twilight approached me with a comprehensive demeanor and putted aside her hostility for a moment. "I think you can find the same happiness even here, if you want." Twilight said. "I guess so." I scratched my head. "An happiness that doesn't include doing your own experiment with your DNA Twister, create a crazy cult of Diamond Dogs, create other zombies or something else." "Oh, come on!" I protested. "You think I am this low?" "It's just an allusion." Twilight admitted. "Hey guys!" Rainbow Dash suddenly appeared from the bushed at fast speed, startling both of us and wielding Tank in her hooves. "Twilight, why you are talking with this guy?" "For your information, she decided to came her on her own." I explained. "Twilight, just drop this chunk and follow me. We need to talk." Rainbow said. "Alright, alright. What was it?" Twilight said as she followed Rainbow Dash and leaved me on my own. I won't even protest at this point. I got my own privacy. I was about to enter inside my 'house' when my attention was caught by two snakes fighting against each other. I, being still bored but quite inspired by that, I turned them into two pegasi. They stopped and turned they eyes toward me. "What have you done to us?" They said at the unison. "I need a favor from both of you." I declared. Next Level Up:-1 1)Invisible Aegis: An invisible barrier that blocks any type of bullet. 2)Neptune gauntlet: Allows the owner to breath underwater. 3)Animator staff: A rod that allows to gives life to inanimate objects. > Nobody Says Kung Fu > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rotatory abilities: Plasma Cannon Ryu Hayabusa's Abilities Face Palmer I was present during the events regarding the Mysterious Mare Do Well, which was actually a charade made up by Twilight and other four to talk some senses to Rainbow Dash through the actions. Because her ego was kicking in, so it was necessary rebalance the things. Good therapy, so I will give them credit for that. Rainbow doesn't know that yet, but that's ok for me to enjoy the show. A shame that Equestria has not invented pop corn yet and that only Discord can invoke that. Despite this, can't take out the encounter with Nero Aoi out of my head despite the fact that I had already resolved that problem by myself. It's like some phantom was haunting me but I don't know how. Putting that aside, it was fun seeing Rainbow Dash chasing down the 'Mare Do Well' and unmask it, only to realize in confusion that her friends put up the entire charade. I was looking the scene from behind a wall. "P-p-p-p- Pinkie?! Whudda- hud-d-duh- hud-d-duh- huh?! Twilight?! Applejack?! There were three of you?!" Rainbow Dash asked in confusion. "Yup, we all played Mare Do Well at different times." Twilight admitted. As they explained to Rainbow what was going on, I spotted... Another Mysterious Mare Do Well? "What the hell?" I murmured. He was taking a few hoofsteps toward them and then stopped. Without them having realizing yet, the masked pony pointed his hoof toward them and all of a sudden, a gatling protruded from it?! "Oh, shit!" I exclaimed as I dashed toward them and shield them in the same instant the pony was shooting. In the same instant the bullets were reaching my body, the 8-bit sound ranged out and a circular shield appeared around me, protecting me from the bullets. Neither the aggressor or the Mane Six know what happened. Fluttershy was cowering in fear and the rest of the mares were just shocked, especially Rainbow Dash. The attacker looked confused as hell, although I couldn't see nothing beyond his mask. The text box appeared on my right. What I got was the most situational thing ever. Invisible Aegis: An invisible barrier that blocks any type of bullet. "Any type of bullet?" I asked doubtful. "What kind of sorcery is this!?" He said in a deep male voice. "More importantly, who the heck are you, ruffian!" Rarity roared. "Wait a second that v-" I stopped, having realized with embarrassment what am I dealing with. "You can't be serious." The fake Mare Do Well retreated his gatlings and removed his disguise, revealing his appearance. It was a black maned stallion with a metallic mouth mask. "I'm back." He said. "Miltim, the only cultist with the obsession for cheesy one liners who act also as an Anti Ninja." I said. "Anti what?" Applejack said confused. "Don't judge a book from it's cover," Miltim said. "Although that barrier was unexpected, you don't look this imposing as you were in the past. You are gonna need some-" "Weapons?" I said as I was equipping my freezing gauntlet. I was about to shoot him when he suddenly disappeared in a veil of smog and reappeared behind Twilight, putting a katana on her neck. Her friend were taken aback and didn't know what to do. As for me, I was very annoyed. "Tell me that I don't have to kill Twilight again." I thought in frustration. "It's a simple situation," Miltim said. "If you or Twilight are going to do something, I will cut her throat as fast as she can glow her horn. Got it?" Not wanting to repeat the same incident as that with Vaelox, I teleported behind him through my ninja skills without him having realized. "Got you," I said as I froze him up with the freezing bullet, although that leaved Twilight having his katana being still on her neck. "Can somepony please release me from there?!" Twilight asked agitated. "Twilight, how many times I have to tell you?" I asked. "Tell me what?" "Keep calm and fucking teleport." I crudely replied. "Language, please." Pinkie Pie said with a serious tone while pointing a party cannon at me in sign of protest. Twilight glowed her horn and teleported out of the grip, reappearing nearby Rainbow. Without telling them nothing, I equipped my other hoof with the Face Palmer, took the frozen body of Miltim on my shoulders and brought him far away from Ponyville at ninja speed. Reaching my house, I put the scumbag in front of me and took a few hoofsteps away from him, two legged. Why? Because this bastard was overheating his body. I can say that due to his eyes moving and the trail of steam rising from the ice as it was melting, releasing him from his eyes prison. "Very clever bastard," Miltim commented. "So no innocent is going to be involved thanks to your tactic, huh?" "Mostly because I don't have to kill one of them by mistake again." I stated with sarcasm. "Shut up! Now you will die multiple times for every of my comrades that you took." Miltim threatened me. "What hell do you think you are, Giorno Giovanna?" I asked. Ignoring my question, Miltim stood up two legged and draw eight clawed digits, four for each hoof. He dashed toward me, and the way he reached me was instantaneous. I couldn't do nothing that he delivered a punch in my face, making me falling aback. He was about to make some ninja technique, but I had anticipated him by shooting a dark wave of energy of the Face Palmer on... Where his balls are supposed to be, although were unseen. Well, Lauren Faust anatomy, I guess. The blow sent Miltim whizzing away from me, but unexpected to me, he managed somehow to stop in mid air and landing on the the soil. I shot another freezing bullet, only for him to dodge that as he approached me with a pissed off glare. At that point, we began to beat the shit out of each other life blacksmiths. However I wasn't too much in old fashioned brawl since I was luring him into my trap. As I took an hook by Miltim, I had blasted him with the Face Palmer again, this time on his face. Next, I had wrapped him into black chains before he could even fly away from me and then I have slammed his body on the ground. He grunted for the impact against the ground and tried to release himself from the chains in vain. "You bastard!" Miltim blurted. "Guess what?" I asked. "What?" "You're fired." I said deadpan as I slammed my hand on the grounds, causing multiple blue geysers travelling toward him. His body was nonchalantly incinerated by the azure flames, reducing him into a pile of black embers before disappearing. And even this cultist was toasted. At this point, I traveled back to Ponyville to do some shopping, but then I realized that would be a bad and pointless idea since the inhabitants are still considering me as a villain. Or so I thought. Instead, they looked at me with an unnatural calm like that never happened. The reason? Lilly has officiallized my status as Celestia's knight, although I was just his agent. I could see that coming by a crowd of ponies gathered around Lilly, who has officially elevated me as a hero. Well, despite this being finally a blessing, I wasn't this much of a hero. And I wasn't this much of a villain either. I was just my own type of Anti Hero. And besides, there are some ponies who weren't agreeing with my 'heroic' status. "I guess that I should be happy of that... But I won't do that that easily," I murmured. Hell, I detain the life and the death in each fight I am in after all. Even in Equestria, I am still the Iron Ghost vigilante who does what he does to stop the Granite Daggers. But enough drama for today. I was here to buy some food since I have almost finished my stock. I was about to enter the Sugarcube Corner until a female voice called me. "Allen." She said. I turned toward the source and found a very apologetic Mayor Mare, slowly approaching me. "Now that was a surprise," I said. "What brings you here." "To be honest, I was aware of the whole Mare Do Well charade," Mare admitted. "However, what you don't you know was that Flower Chrome was coerced into make another Mare Do Well's dress. Lilly informed me about that." "Wait," I stopped her. "How did she know about that?" "Because she tried to stop the impostor, but he too much of a challenge even for her," Mare continued. "As for today incident, he did much damage in the disguise of the Mysterious Mare Do Well, in other cities. My only fault was that I was too slow to warn Twilight about that." "You shouldn't apologize for something that you weren't aware of in that moment." I assured her. "Besides, the Mysterious Mare Do Well doesn't even exist. The only downside was that while in Ponyville he was a hero, in other cities he was a criminal. The impostor was just another of those damn cultists. Nothing else." "Actually... Apologizing wasn't the only reason to talk with you." Mare said. "What else?" I asked. "Lilly arranged a date. You are going with me." Mare said. "But don't get me wrong. It's just an excuse to have an interview." A date? A Interview... Lilly, what the hell are up to? Next Level Up:-3 1)Time Compressor: A remote that allow the owner to skip the episodes of the MLP series. 2)Amakusa's Orb: A dreadful sphere containing a tremendous power being once wield by a heinous individual. 3)Drill Shield:A shield who act as a both a protection and a drill on it's own. > Ominous Premonition > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rotatory abilities: Book of Healing Void Ring DNA Twister I woke up inside my mound with a reminder about what happened yesterday. That date slash interview with Mayor Mare ended up well. I mean, the whole thing consisted in Mare bombarding me of questions regarding my past, my persona and even my power, which I had really avoided to respond. The strange thing was the fact that she was accidentally flirting with me, and when she had realized that, Mare treated that as a joke. I didn't have the time to reconnect my brain with my surrounding that I heard someone whimpering from outside my coffin. I peered outside and what I saw was Mayor Mare trembling like leaf with a pillow in between her hooves. That was random... Or so I thought. "Mayor Mare? What the are doing here?" I asked her. "A-ask t-that brutish monster waiting for me outside this building." Mare said with an awed voice. "Monster?" Wanting to know what the hell was all about, I went outside my mound and found myself face to face with something that you don't see everyday. A manticore with a camera view like glass replacing his left eye and a laser replacing his tail. I also saw that there are multiple destroyed trees behind the thing. But the most terrific feature of his were his claws being made of metal. "Where the hell-" Before I could even ask, he roared while shooting his laser, that was traveling on me. "OH SHIT!" I dodged the blow by rolling away from it. The laser, however, leaved a burnt mark on the grass and on the rocky surface of my home. Now that is personal. The creature was coming after me, rushing like a crazed fury. To make my job easy, I summoned my black chains and wrapped them around the beast, blocking both his body and the laser tail. The monstrous manticore stumbled and fell on the grass like a potato sack. "What kind of creature are-" I stopped my sentence, realizing in horror and shock what I could possibly be. C'mon. That cannot be real. "That can't be." I slowly approached the beast, and before I could get even close to it, the manticore started shooting his laser upward while whirling to release itself. I couldn't allow it to do any more damage, so I activated my Void Ring and touched the laser gun with my hoof, erasing it from the existence and stopping the laser. "Thank goodness, there was no damange," I said a second before a bird whose wing was lasered fell on the ground at my left. "Yet... Damn it." The manticore stopped wriggling and instead trembled like a leaf. Now it was his turn. I used my DNA Twister to return the manticore back to normal, but the red vortex quickly dissipated into trails of vapor with nothing happening. "WHAT!? THAT DIDN'T WORKED!?" "Are you alright, mister Allen?" Mayor Mare asked me from behind the entrance of the mound. "Yeah... Somehow." I said almost calmly, but no tranquil at all. "I can't believe at what I am seeing... This manticore is a Remodeled Corpse, and is immune to the DNA Twister. That can't be real. I had liquidated Nero Aoi." I looked right in his left eye, being some kind a camera glass. I can recognize this kind of things when I see one. I don't know what is the responsible for this but I won't allow myself being utterly blamed for something I swore to not to do ever again and leave this crime unpunished. There's someone who was doing Nero's modus operandi. "Mayor Mare, do you want me escort you to your office?" I asked. "N-no, thank you." Mayor Mare said half tranquil. "I will go on my own." "You know, even I though to go to Ponyville," I said. "And no, I wasn't flirting you." "Me neither." She said. That being said, we walked through the woods, headed to Ponyville. Mayor Mare, to pass the time, was asking me some sporadic question about the manticore and his apparition. She also explained that the animal attacked her when she was going back to her home and, during her escape, found a refuge inside my house. That made me return to where I was pondering about. It can't be another Granite Dagger cultist. I my own former world, the Corpse Remodeling was a plot element of a horror manga and the invention of Nero Aoi, a mad genius with a superior complex worth of a Frankenstein like scientist. Where does that monster came from? Who is responsible for this? And most of all, can this story get more fucked up as it is. "Do you think that your enemies were after me for some reason?" Mare asked. "I don't think so. They weren't notorious for creating undead beasts like that." I said. "Undead!?" "Let put it in this way. Somepony is trying to frame me for a crime that I didn't had committed. Remember that-" "You had accidentally killed Twilight Sparkle and resurrected her as a almost normal like zombie?" "Remodeled Corpse is the right term. Same thing for the other two unwitting victims." "Sometime I wonder how is possible for you to be a hero and a villain at the same time." Mare said narrowing her eyes. "Trust me. My life is not as easy as you think." I replied. "Is that so?" "We have arrived." Arrived in Ponyville, Lilly suddenly showed up and offered protection to Mayor Mare, all the while saying to me to return to my home because of there are witnesses and the Royal Guards who were after the manticore. The incident happened in one night. The night in which I was sleeping... Fantastic. Now the image of me as a villain is amplified in the public opinion. I turned around and was about to go back home until a blue maned green pegasi Royal Guard landed in front of me and announced one message. "Despite the public opinion and your unjustified absence," He said. "Princess Celestia had formally invited you at the Garden Party." Garden Party?... Oh, I forgot. These are the events in which Rarity became so popular in Canterlot that began to neglect her friends at home, especially during Twilight's birthday. I wonder if the cultist the start a new attack. "Ok, I will come here, but let me fix one thing first." I said, galloping from him. I returned back to my mound, in the place where the manticore was still black chained. Multiple Royal Guards were patrolling my home under the aegis of Lilly. Ignoring their glare directed on me, I approached the beast and gave him a perplexed look. "Who did this to you?" "Is this your doing, Allen?" Lilly asked sternly. "I swear. It's not me this time." Suddenly, bip like noises ranged from the camera glass eye of the manticore. I observed it and noticed some numbers... It was a timer! "Guys, run until you can!" I alerted the Royal Guards while galloping away from them. "RUN!" "You heard the idiot!? Follow me!" Lilly ordered and the guard ponies followed suit. As we galloped away in our respective direction, there was a explosion behind us. It seems like the manticore had a bomb implanted inside his body. The flames spread across the forest like a plague, almost melting everything. That made me think that Napalm had been used. That reminded me of a very familiar situation that I don't want tell to anyone. The weather ponies and others worked together to mitigate the fires through rains, wind and some spells. As for me, Lilly escorted me into Canterlot Castle. I entered inside the throne room were Celestia and Luna were exactly waiting for me. I guess that Celestia finished to talk with Rarity. "Did you know anything about that poor undead manticore?" Celestia asked me. "I swear to go... Whoever is sacred to you," I replied. "That wasn't me. It happened yesterday when I was sleeping, right? So it's evident that somepony was trying to frame me." "Did you expect us to believe you?" Luna asked sternly. "If you're not, fine. Put me in the jail," I said. "But seriously. Need I remind you that I was still horrified for having screwed up Twilight's life since Vaelox and the incident. Ok? If It's possible to me, I would had reversed long time ago." Celestia and Luna exchanged their gazes and then returned right back to me. "Why not use that DNA Twister of yours?" Luna asked. "It only alterates the DNA." I denied. "It can't reverse the undeath." Luna and Celestia glared at me for a moment but then sighed in resignation. "Alright, let's just say that we do believe you," Celestia said calmly. "Fine. What I have to do is clear my name and avenge the manticore, I guess." I said. "Vengeance is not necessary, but you better investigate about this incident," Luna said. "And bring to us the real culprit." Celestia grimly pause. "If this culprit exist." I gulped. "Ok, fine. I will do that." "You are dismissed." Celestia declared. "Thanks." I was about to leave, only to be blocked by Lilly. "To be sure that no cultist or any other incident will disrupt the party, I had adjusted your room." "The guest bedroom?" I asked. "No... Rarity's bedroom." Lilly said calmly while grinning. "....... What?" I asked confused. "Follow me," Lilly ordered. "I am sorry, but Celestia also requested your presence because Rarity would had become a probable target since she's one of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony." I sighed. "Alright." Seriously. Rarity still considers me as a fashioncidal demon because of my look and a villain because of my previous acts. Including turning her into Voracity to trick Discord. I already saw the scene in my mind... And Is going to happen. Anyway, we had arrived nearby Rarity's door. Lilly knocked it twice. "Rarity, I brought here your bodyguard." I looked at her perplexed. "Bodyguard?" Lilly glared at me. "You better behave." "That voice... No, don't tell me." Rarity said from behind the door. Without any delay, Rarity opened the door and became pale upon seeing me. And, like I had predicted, Rarity fainted. Lilly pushed me inside the room and politely closed the door without saying anything else. I took my time to explore the room. There was a mountain of luggage nearby her bed and Opalescence sitting on it. Seeing this in live gave me a very bizarre impression. However, Rarity recovered almost quickly and approached me with a upset face. "Why in the name of heavens they had chosen you as my protector?" "It was Celestia's idea since I had to guard a famous fashionista who enjoy it's fame without giving a damn about her friends." I provoked her. Rarity gasped. "How dare you! My friends are important! It's just... It's just..." "You don't want to be ridiculed, right?" I supposed. "Don't provoke me any further, Allen." Rarity retorted. The door knocked twice from the outside. I know what was going on, so I hid myself under the bed, not caring whatever Rarity was going to tell me whatsoever. "Hiding under my bed? What the heck you are, a filly?" Rarity asked as she was opening the door, only to find Twilight and the other four elements waiting for her. "Surprise!" Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Applejack exclaimed at the unison. And Rarity fainted... Again. This time it took her one minute to recover and reluctantly received her friends in her room. I, on other hands, was just waiting for them to leave. In any case, Rarity assured Twilight that she will be present to her birthday, but I know that she will zigzag between this and the Garden Party. Three minutes later, we were finally alone and I went out the bed. "I supposed-" Rarity blocked my mouth with her hoof. "Don't. Saying. Anything." "C'mon. All you need to do is gather your courage and-" "I don't need your advice," Rarity said as she took her leave. "And don't need your protection. With the magic of her horn, she slammed the door, like it was a intimation for me to not follow her. However, I followed her without being noticed. Just because I had to protect her by eventual dangers, not for stalking. And besides, I was invited to Garden Party anyway. I had arrived in place. Celestia wasn't present. The only ponies being present were Fancy Pants, Rarity and the infamous duo being composed by Jet Set and Upper Crust, and the majority of the Yes-Ponies. As I had predicted, Rarity zigzagged in between the party and Twilight's birthday. I wasn't doing this much. Just looking at a bunch of upper class ponies enjoying themselves, in a social manner of speech. This until female voice bothered to disturb me. "Excuse me." I turned around and was face to face with Fleur De Lis, the notorious supermodel. That just surprised me a little bit. There are a lot of mysteries and memes regarding her. "Yes?" I asked almost calmly. "You must be the hero named Allen." Fleur said. "You know, anypony would have it's own story and faults, but I have to admit that you are very difficult to scan." "What do you mean?" I asked. "I know who you are and yet there are still things regarding you that I want to know." Fleur said. "You are a very interesting subject," Jet Set said approaching me. "Indeed," Upper Crust said. In disgust, I took the distance from them. "I am sorry Fleur, but I won't be associated with these two." "Allen, I supposed." Fancy said, approaching me and being next to Fleur. "Isn't that rude express your own prejudice toward toward them without even know them?" "Look, I know them very well," I replied. "Trust me on this one since I am a No-Pony." "No-what?" "Allow me to explain." But before I could explain the whole thing, Twilight and her friends disrupted the party, each one with her own way. Twilight was dancing like mad, Pinkie was just being Pinkie, Dashie sucked at cricket, Fluttershy had her time with the birds and Applejack was just putting her hooves in the mud to 'purify' the grass. They were doing thins until they noticed my presence. They weren't too happy of my presence I guess. Especially Rarity, who came out after them. "Allen, what are you doing here?" Twilight asked in shocked surprise. "Yeah! Did Celestia invited you or something?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Yes, she did. Celestia also asked me to protect Rarity from incoming menaces," I said. "Sounds like a excuse to you?" "Sounds like a excuse to me." Applejack said sternly. Rarity saw the scene in front of me and was about to faint again. However, for some kind of miracle, Rarity managed to resist that urge and remained composed. Fancy, however, was just perplexed about that. "Rarity, I know your aversion toward Allen but I don't know these ponies." Fancy said. "Did you know them?" Ponies were chattering with each other, some were glaring at me and the other were just asking if Rarity know Twilight and the others. Rarity took time to gather her courage, but then she managed to express herself. "Yes. Yes, I do know them." Rarity said, shocking Fancy and the others. "They may not be as sophisticated as some of you Canterlot ponies, but they are my best friends. And they are without a doubt the most important ponies I know. And no, I won't thank Allen for his own advice." I knew it. She hate me too much to admit that. Hopefully there was no menace in sight, but I better be cautious. By the way, the charade wasn't over yet. "Important ponies? These ruffians?" Jet Set scoffed. "Don't make me laugh!" Upper Crust said before she and Jet started laughing. "I, for one, find them charmingly rustic," Fancy said, causing everypony to gasp. He then turned to Rarity"And I think the dress you made for your friend is lovely." He chuckled "I dare say every mare in Canterlot will be wanting one." "Oh, I'd like to place my order right now." Upper Crust said. "I think you should get two." Jet Set said. "I don't think so, my dear Yes-Ponies," I butted in. "What did you just said?" Crust asked. I turned away from them. "You can came out, guys!" At that point, we were welcomed by Justin and Friem, the two pegasi who were actually snakes that I had altered with my DNA Twister. They landed next to me. "Allen, could you explain who are those ponies?" Fancy demanded. "These are the example of a species called Yes-Ponies," I explained. "They undergone to a training consisting to say 'yes' to everything that was asked to them. Justin. Friem." "Yes?" They asked. "Just headbutt against each other." "Yes, sir!" And so they did and fell aback to the soil. "Allen! Are you nuts!?" Twilight demanded. "No, it's an example," I said. "These two are indeed Yes-ponies. However there's also the worst level of Yes-ponies. The type who say yes when the situation or the pony suit them-" "I won't listen to this farce any further," Jet Set said irritated as he took his leave. "No,no,no,no,no,no,no. I'm not gonna get insulted in this way." Upper Crust said while following his husband. "Social Justice is served." I said proudly. "No, Allen. It's just stupid." Rarity said irritated. "Er, yes, now then. How about you introduce me to your friends?" Fancy asked. "With pleasure!" Rarity said enthusiastically. As Fancy was making acquaintance with the rest of the Elements, I approached the injured pegasi and helped them to get up. No menace had appeared in that moment but there's something off that is going come in front of me. "Friem. Justin. Did you had found what I asked find?" I asked. They looked at each other and then shook their heads in denial. "I'm sorry, but there isn't no frozen pony in the depths of the Ghastly Gorge." Justin said. "What?" I flinched. "We had patrolled the cavity for the whole day but without any result." "Nero Aoi's frozen body had disappeared without leaving any trace of disintegrations?" I thought. What the hell is going on? Next Level Up:-2 1)Time Compressor: A remote that allow the owner to skip the episodes of the MLP series. 2)Amakusa's Orb: A dreadful sphere containing a tremendous power being once wield by a heinous individual. 3)Drill Shield:A shield who act as a both a protection and a drill on it's own. > Greed Day > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rotatory abilities: Plasma Cannon Ryu Hayabusa's Abilities Invisible Aegis I had just woke up during the hours of the dawn. I was nearby the edge of the Ghastly Gorge, observing the place and pondering about the whereabouts of the frozen body of Nero Aoi. For someone, that would be stupid thinking about a villain so despicable that I had thrown into the abyss of the Ghastly Gorge. So why I am worrying about someone I retained disgusting? Simple. I wasn't worrying about her. I wanted to make sure that her frozen body was disintegrated on the rocky part of the gorge during the fall and not sunk into the water. Because when I tossed her in the void, I didn't had looked where I was throwing her. "If Nero Aoi's body fell on the water, the ice in which she was encased would be melted, allowing her to escape. I cannot allow that." "Let's start the inspection." I said while equipping my hooves with the gauntlets with anticipation. Having ninja's abilities like this allowed me to climb down to the gorge. I felt a little sense of vertigo, but wasn't a problem. Sure, I could have done the alternative long path down the valley, but even this way was fine too. After two minutes, I reached the bottom of the gorge. I wandered for a while, inspecting every angle of this rocky and perilous place, including the river. It took me one hour of search, but there was no trace of Nero's frozen body. However, I do know where the river was flowing... "Pinkie's family Rock Farm... That's a problem." I said to myself. I was worried about a theory of mine: The ice that was keeping Nero from escape would be actually melted and her body being carried nearby the farm. Armed with this hunch of mine, I ran at ninja toward my next destination, following the direction the river was taking. The travel was going to be really tiresome but I need to check that place. It took me two hours of travel, I had finally arrived nearby the farm. I was breathing like a mad bull and almost having a heart attack from that. I couldn't have used Fafnir for a fast travel. I didn't want to scare the shit out of the whole Rock Family. I removed both my gauntlets and advance forward. I was about to enter into their land with the intention of interrogate them about the body, but before I could even enter the farm, I was called out by Marble Pie's voice. "Excuse me." She said from behind me, almost startling me. I turned toward her and I was welcomed by her timid muted surprise. Marble didn't expected to see me there. To be honest, I didn't wanted to be there before the events of Season 5, but I had to do that in order to verify the facts. Speaking of Marble, she was trembling a little bit. I think she was thinking about what happened during the incident with Shilow. After all, I was the guy who had temporary turned her into a female Doom Guy... In a matter of speech. Hopefully for me, she thinks it was dream. "You are the pony named Allen?" Marble asked. I blinked in surprise. "Who did told you about that?" I thought that the Rock Farm was too distant from Canterlot and that the family was too busy with their business, aka being unaware of what was happening during the events with Discord. "Well... A Royal Guard named Lilly told us that," Marble stated. "She also told me about your deed and that you have nothing to do with that nightmare that I had days ago." I sighed in relieve. "Thank you, Lilly." I murmured. "What?" Marble looked perplexed. "Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about that," I giggled nervously. "I mean, I have nothing to do with that." "Oh, so you are the Allen guy that Royal Guard talked about," A harsh voice said. I turned toward the source... Who turned out to be Limestone Pie. Her expression? A little bit intimidating like Iron Lilly when I met her for the first time. "I am sorry for this visit," I said apologetically, slowly regaining my composure. "Allow me to explain." "You better do so, because I won't allow anypony to cross me," Limestone warned. "Well... What about if I explain this to the family too?" I asked. "Fine. But make no mistake, 'hero'. We didn't trust you so much like my other sister tend to do." Limestone said, referring to Pinkie Pie. That being said, I was escorted inside their house, in their living room. I got to meet Pinkie's parents, Igneous and Quartzy. And like I had expected, they looked very stern as hell. I started to explain them that I was in search of a pony encased inside a prison of ice, without even mentioning Nero's name. "So let me get that straight," Igneous started. "You traveled for miles and miles toward our house... Just too ask us if we saw a frozen pony being dragged in the river outside our land?" "If you put it in that why... I am sorry to tell you, but the answer is yes." I said bluntly. "Then I am afraid to inform you," Quartzy said coldly. "That haven't saw nothing. We were just too busy with our activity that we have no time to check the river." "Well to be honest..." Maud Pie butted in, entering from the entrance. "Two days ago I was walking nearby the river and found something very unusual." "Really?" I asked. "What was it?" "Well..." Maud showed us a wooden chest and opened to show it's content. The content of the chest... Was a scientist coat... Wait. Was that Nero's scientist coat!? I looked at the coat in bafflement. I couldn't even confirm if that was really her coat or someone else's coat. But if Maud found that into the river, that could mean one thing. Nero wasn't dead yet. She's on the loose. "This is bad," I murmured with a grave tone. "Excuse me?" Igneous said, rising an eyebrow. "Gentle ponies, I am thanking you for you collaboration," I said while slowly heading toward the door. "I need to go." "Wait a minute," Quartzy halted me. "And what about your similarity with the pony that our poor daughter, Marble Pie saw in her dream." "Didn't Lilly told you that? I had nothing to do with that." I said calmly as I took the cloth and put it inside my bag. "I am still not convinced." Quartzy said. "Me too." Limestone said. "Could that pony being your twin brother?" Marble asked. "I mean-" "There can't be two ponies with the same cutey mark," Maud Pie denied. "That's right," Limestone said. "And I am sure that what that Royal Guard said to us wasn't entirely true." "Whatever. You know what? I abruptly end this interview. Bye." I said to them as I went out the house and ran at ninja speed toward the exit of the farm. Once I am outside, I traveled back to the Ghastly Gorge and returned atop the edge nearby the forest. The time estimated? Other two hours and ten minutes. I was literally so exhausted from that travel that I had fell aback and fainted for the extreme fatigue that I had accumulated. Everything went black. The whole place that was surrounding me was dark, adorned with a surreal atmosphere. That means that Aunt Death is in my dream again. "Death?" I called. "About time." She said from behind me, scaring the shit out of me. "DAMN IT! Could you please appear in a very appropriated way next time!?" "We don't have much time to waste. You saw one of the risk about a soul being brought into Equestria." "Yeah. It was Nero. I was about to eliminate her but instead, in panic, I had just froze her up and thrown it into the ghastly gorge just because I didn't wanted to blow up her lab and set the forest nearby it on fire." "The flux of the souls acts in a very strange way," Death said. "Could be just Yomi being messing with it?" I asked with sarcasm. "No. As much powerful his being the videogame logic itself, he has not the ability to do such a thing. He could only signalize when a soul had been reborn into Equestria." "It could be cool if it was the soul of a hero," I commented. "But instead, it was the soul of a psychopath. A monster that I must find at any cause before it causes even more damage." "Speaking of damage," Death said. "What about that giant dragon?" "You mean Fafnir or Spike?" I asked. "Allen! Wake up!" Lilly shouted, waking me up from the slumber. I felt dizzied and groggy, and I was surrounded by only Lilly and Zecora. "Whoa, calm down." "There's nothing to be calm about." Twilight said sternly. "It's about Spike." That made me remember something. That was the even in which Spike was conquered by his own greed and became a huge dragon. I would had convoked Fafnir for a epic fight, but I rather not worse the situation. And besides, since is Rarity who can save the day, then my intervention is not required. "Did you have just lose him in the forest or something?" I asked, feigning ignorance. "I have no time for your sarcasm," Lilly said. "A dragon's heart is prone to greed, a steady diet to make growth speed." Zecora said. "Let me guess," I said. "Spike became a giant dragon just because he was getting to greedy." "It's not to late for things to be prevented. I also hope that your methods wouldn't be this patented." Zecora said, referring to the mess that I had caused to stop Discord. Lilly escorted me and Zecora to the chariot and flew into the sky, headed to Ponyville. Zecora and Lilly where worried, but I was rather tranquil, because the situation will go very smoothly. As we were arriving, we saw indeed a huge, draconically grown Spike rampaging on the town and holding Rarity as a hostage, in the distance. Before we could even approach him, he suddenly returned back to normal and began to fall toward the terrain alongside with Rarity. "Hurry up!" Lilly ordered to the pegasi Royal Guard driving the chariot. "We have to do something." "Wait for it." I said calmly. A sudden rainbow blur passed through them. Or I should actually say the two are rescued by Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash at the last moment and deposited on the town's main bridge. We landed nearby the main bridge and approached both Rarity and Spike. Lilly, Zecora and the pegasi Royal Guard looked at me with suspicion. "You had predicted this, don't you?" Lilly asked. "Rarity was capable to take care of Spike." I said. "My intervention wasn't necessary." "Really? You could have at least had the courtesy to stop his rampage." Rarity said coldly. "I'm sorry to tell you, but you suck as a hero." Spike said bluntly. "Whatever." I replied. "Any other comment?" "I'm sorry if I am agreeing with him, but he's right." Fluttershy said. "Yeah. His intervention could have worsened the situation with his methods," Rainbow Dash said. "Besides, he looked like you had predicted the whole thing." "I don't care," Rarity said before turning to Spike. "Spike, I just have to tell you how absolutely proud I am of you." "Proud of me?" Spike asked perplexed. "Yes. It was you who stopped... w-well, you, from destroying Ponyville. You are my-WHAT THE HECK IS THAT THING IN THE RIVER!?" She indicated the river at the left side of the bridge. There was a pony being completely made of water walking on the surface of the river, adorned with various jewelry in almost every part of his body. He was holding a sack full of jewelry and other stuff. There's only one similar individual made of water that I had encountered in my old life. "Tidal!" I called him out. He turned toward me and flinched. "Allen?" Tidal is a very heinous thief, completely uninterested to the Granite Dagger's cause. He's merely using both his powers and his position as the cult's high priest to steal any objects of value, including treasury of every kind. "You never change, bastard," I commented as I had equipped my hoof with the Freezing Gauntlet. "You were marauding this town while it was under attack!" "I should thank your little friend for this opportunity to exploit this chaos he had caused to gain some loots." Tidal said proudly. "I won't allow you to stop me again!" "Oh, yeah?" I said unimpressed as I shoot a freezing bullet at him. Bizarrely enough, his chest opened in a hole and the projectile passed through it, ending up freezing part of the river behind him instead. Now I am really impressed since his human counterpart wasn't smart enough to do that. And then Rarity fainted in shock for that display. "Do you think I will let myself being frozen up this easily?" Tidal provoked. "You must be stupid." Tidal pointed his hooves toward us and started shooting water projectiles. Twilight provided us a magical barrier that blocked the projectiles. "Oh, c'mon! You can't hide behind a wall forever," Tidal said angrily as he shot other water projectiles like a machine gun. The barrage of water bullets tested the magical resistance and Twilight's stamina. Seeing her gritting her teeth said all. I was about to bring out the plasma cannon until a 8-bit buzz ringed out of nowhere and a text box appeared on my left. What was written into it surprised me. A Planeswalker Ring is added into your inventory. The text box the disappeared one second later. "What was that?" Twilight demanded while struggling to maintain the barrier. I grinned about the plethora of possibilities that were opened in front of me... Maybe. To test my theory I had immediately pulled out the ring from the bag and put it into one of the fingers of my gauntlet. The barrier finally collapsed and Twilight stumbled on the ground for the exhaustion. "Twilight!" Spike yelled. "Out of my way!" Tidal roared as he turned his arm into a very long water sword and was about to slice us. "Not today," I said as I pointed my finger at him and activated the power of the ring. A sudden blizzard materialized around Tidal. In a matter of seconds, his body and hydrical sword freezing inexorably. "What the..." Tidal said shocked before being completely shutted up by the blizzard, which dissipated afterwards. The blade of his now frozen sword had almost reached our position, but none of us was actually harmed. And since I commanded the blizzard, I made sure to freeze up him but not the bag full of stolen jewelry he was holding. Twilight, Spike, Lilly and the pegasi Royal Guard were at a loss of words. Rarity, however, had just woke up and noticed in pseudo awe the frozen hydro-pony over there. "Allen. Is this one of the demonic miracles of yours?" Rarity asked sternly. "Who cares. We won the fight anyway." I retorted. Lilly and the Royal Guard exploited that moment to retrieve the bag from the frozen Tidal and bring the stolen stuff bag to their rightful owners. Twilight was starring at me, already eager for an explanation. "What you have done this time?" Twilight asked. "A freaking miracle." I said calmly as I walked nearby the river and approached the point were Tidal was frozen. I then pulled out my plasma cannon and shot a plasma projectile that disintegrated his body into pieces. Needless to say that the frozen parts vanished in black embers from inside the ice piece. "BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU USE YOUR STUFF! WE HAVE STILL CIVILIANS!" Lilly roared. In fact I should have used this beast of a weapon in other moments. The explosion should had scared the hell out of the inhabitants of Ponyville nearby the scene. Now I looked like a destructive savior. I putted away the weapon and was about to leave, but there's another theory that I wanted to test. I grinned. "Wait me there." And then I flashed out of the place. Everything around was being instantly replaced by a multicolored abyss. And in one minute I was in my human form, wearing a suit like armor and being at the top of a temple. I was in Theros. "Now that is interesting," I said satisfied. "Magic The Gathering was full of special stuff and magnificent lore. Maybe I should consider to come into Ravnica to gain some knowledge about-" "That's not your place," A female voice said from behind me. I turned to face the speaker, who was a woman dressed like a oracle. The way she talked leaded me to presume it was one of the many oracles of Keranos. "Return back to your real world," The oracle said. "Your destiny doesn't coincide with our own." "In fact I was just leaving," I said as I flashed out again. Everything around me shifted again, forming he multicolored abyss, which I presume it was the Blind Eternities. Like I had suspected, the ring contained an artificial planeswalker spark. A very powerful one I should say since it contains that of all the five mana. In one second, I was in Equestria again, being in pony form, equipped with both the freezing gauntlet and the ring, and standing in front of Ponyville's main entrance. Twilight and the other mane five were just rushing toward me. "Where are you been? You had disappeared for about fifteen minutes." Twilight asked. "I was just experimenting this new toy, if you ask," I said as I showed the ring. "I had teleported into another place." "Where?" Applejack asked. "You better not ask that for the moment." I said as I was leaving. "I'll go back home for now." "Wait, you have to tell us!" Rainbow Dash said impatiently. "Isthataringthatallowedyoutotravelthroughthemultiverse!?" Pinkie Pie said at the speed that makes her look like a female micro machine guy. The Mane Six except Pinkie looked perplexed. "What?" "You heard her." I said I used the ring to teleport myself from Ponyville to the entrance of the cave where Fafnir was residing. Is not a Dragon Ball Z reference. I had just thought about how the original card Teleport worked with this logic. At least I can say that Twilight wouldn't be the only one who can teleport now. I had approached the metallic dragon, who was awake and looked ready to fly again. "Yo dawg. Care for a ride?" I asked. Fafnir roared as a response. "Now we are talking. We have a psychopath to find." I said calmly. No matter what it takes. I will find Nero Aoi and make sure that she would not make any other harms. A Remodeled Corpse of a manticore self destructed because of her methods. While my Corpse Remodeling of Twilight and the two pegasi was done to fix something, her own was just disgusting and destructive. It would be also dangerous if Nero and the Granite Daggers join forces, something that I wanted to prevent. I don't care who I am about to face. I will protect this world, even if it hates me. "Well. Let's do that," I said as I put my hoof inside my bag and realized something off. My Berseker Claw was missing. "Oh, fuck. Did I just accidentally dropped it somewhere?" Next Level Up:-1 1)Time Compressor: A remote that allow the owner to skip the episodes of the MLP series. 2)Amakusa's Orb: A dreadful sphere containing a tremendous power being once wield by a heinous individual. 3)Drill Shield:A shield who act as a both a protection and a drill on it's own. > Enter Sukeban > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rotatory abilities: Void Ring Face Palmer Gravity Manipulator Due to the absence of vote, the choice of the level up reward will be chosen automatically. I wasn't playing at the DETHLOSENSICAL 91 for once. I was reading a book named "How to cook your own meat in 10 seconds". It's not a culinary book but rather a thriller regarding a killer who can toast his victims in ten seconds, which plot regarding it can be easily considered a very, comically trashy one since it ended in a very ridiculous way. "Seriously, why I am wasting my time into this?" I said, putting away the book. "I have many problems to take care of. Starting by finding my other gauntlet." To be honest, I was still pissed because of the disappearance of my Berseker Claw, an artifact so dangerous if it ends up in the wrong hooves. i was so distracted with the search of Nero's frozen body that I wasn't paying attention to my stuff. I mean, there are so many complication I should take care of before it's too late. Hopefully, the rotation was so clement to give me the Gravity Manipulator. I went out of my mound and flew across the sky of Equestria, without acting I was Superman of course. I don't have time to screw around. I landed in the Rock Farm of the Pie Family without getting noticed and began my search for the gauntlet... Which proven to be fruitless. I thought it was there. I had checked everywhere, from the field to the mines of minerals. I checked all of the places except the family's house. Because I didn't want to have problems with them. I wasted two hours without having any concrete results. I was desperate. "I must be really a cretin to have dropped something dangerous like that," I sighed heavily in resignation. "That's it. I'm going back home." "Stop right there!" Igneous' voice said from behind me. "You gotta be talking out of your..." I murmured to myself and then turned around to see a very worried Igneous... Which was completely unusual for me. "I never thought to see you like this. What's your problem?" "Although I don't know if consider your visit a bless or a curse," Igneous stated. "I have to actually ask your help. My daughter Marble Pie has gone missing for about since yesterday." "What!?" I said incredulous as the worst possibility came into my mind. "Don't tell me that the claw has fallen into her hooves and she had gone Doom Guy again." "That's right," Igneous said desperately. "We tried to look for her for entire days, but she was nowhere to be found!" "...... I didn't had saw that coming," I said with an almost bothered tone. "Who cares," Igneous said. "You can even ask Princess Celestia for help, but please. You or somepony else had to find her!" I shrugged my shoulders. "Alright, let's see what I can do." I hoovered from the ground and, not caring about Igneous' shocked reaction to it, I flew away. I had made my way back home empty handed. I was frustrated in every considerable way. The travel lasted about twenty-five minutes without suffering any jet lag. As I landed nearby my mound, the level up tone ranged again and the green text box had appeared. What I saw was quite both interesting and controversial at the same time. At least for my tastes in fact of abilities. Time Compressor: A remote that allow the owner to skip the episodes of the MLP series. "A time compressor? Really?" I demanded incredulous. "Exactly," Yomi said, appearing from freaking nowhere. "AH!!" I flinched. "Not scare me like that! I told you that before!" "And I don't care," Yomi replied. "Anyway, this little object will help you to skip some events without damaging the continuum temporal space, but... C'mon. A noble soul like yours doesn't need that, right?" We stared at each other, with Yomi steadily turning her calm expression into a worried one. And for a valid reason the he know too well. "Actually... I wanted to skip up three episodes." I said. "Oh c'mon, Allen. Really?" Yomi said with a upset tone. "Why not going straight to the last episode then?!" "Hey, you gave me this tool," I retorted. "By the way, no. I won't go that far since I would end up in a bad future without even realizing that if I cannot find Nero, Marble Pie and my gauntlet." "And yet you want to skip three episodes." "...... One: The cakes episode sucked, and Two: the other two were so ok that doesn't need my intervention." Yomi was about to retort but then he pondered about what I said before and then decided. "Ok, fine. But let me tell you. You can use this remote only one time per day," "Ah... Now that make sense," I said calmly. "Thanks for the info." "No problem, King Crimson rip-off," Yomi said sardonically. "Wait, what?" "Nothing." And then Yomi disappeared in the same way he had appeared, leaving me in a temporary confusion. Without any further delay, I pressed a few buttons and then... This happened. The time itself instantly sped up. Day and night were alternating their domains with a fast pace, and the clouds moved very faster. The time skipped in a span of twelve seconds until it stopped and resumed it's normal course. The current day was the one were the events of The Last Round Up were happening. The power of this remote not only amazed me, but made me feel so ashamed too. Using that was like cheating, but it was always better than living the events of a really bad episode. I hoovered into the sky and started the search for Marble Pie and the gauntlet, time starting by Dodge City. I landed in town and asked the inhabitants if they had saw her but none of them was able to tell. I was expecting her to appear for a sudden surprise attack against me, but nope. She wasn't there. "I expected her to appear during this event," I murmured. "I guess I was wrong." I was about to leave when a exorcist like voice thundered from afar. "Applejack!You Pinkie promised!" Pinkie Pie's voice said with a distorted voice. I sighed, knowing what was going on. "I don't have time to interfere with this event." I paused, thinking about a possibility. "Maybe I should check if Marble is going to show up." That being said, I flew out of Dodge and went after Applejack's stagecoach. I managed to get closer to her. She noticed me flying and flinched in shock for that. "Allen!?... H-how are you-" Applejack stuttered. "We need to talk," I said calmly. "I have not time to waste with ya," Applejack retorted. "Fine..." I grinned, just to troll her. "I will my powers doing the talk." With the imposition of my hoof, I blocked Applejack and the other four ponies and levitate them in mid air, along with the stagecoach. Various medals fell from Applejack's saddlebag as she was putted in a upside down position. Since I don't want to humiliate her any further, I slowly putted them down to the ground. I turned around and saw Twilight arriving on the scene, aboard of a cart pulled by Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. They looked just surprised and annoyed to see me. "Is that possible that you are going to be everywhere?" Rainbow lamented. "What are you doing here?" Fluttershy demanded timidly. "I was searching for a missing pony when I found Applejack escaping from you, although I don't know why," I lied. "Fine. Now you know." Applejack said in disappointment. "Know what?" Twilight asked. "Well, just look!" "I am. You won an amazing number of ribbons, just like Miss Jubilee said!" "Don't you get it? There's every color of ribbon down there. Every color... but... blue. I came in fourth, third, even second, but I didn't win one first prize, and I certainly didn't win any prize money." As their talk continued, I looked around, waiting that Marble Pie would suddenly appear out of nowhere but nothing happened. I wasn't even paying attention to what the Mane Six were saying since I was absorbed in my thoughts. "In retrospect, maybe I should check the Ghastly Gorge again." I thought. "But what about the mayor? I don't think I can face her and tell her I didn't get that money to fix the broken roof." Applejack said. "Applejack," Fluttershy said. "We can always find a way to fix that hole in the roof. But if you don't come back, we'll never be able to fix the hole in our hearts." Rainbow sniffled "Darn it! Now you got me acting all sappy!" Rainbow then looked at me suspiciously. "Wait, what has Allen to do with that?" "Now that I reckon," Applejack said incredulous. "Since by then you had gravity defying powers?" "Ability rotation. You should ask Yomi for that," I replied. "Ya mean the one who had gave you these mumbo jumbo gadgets and abilities?" Applejack asked sternly. "You named it," I said. "Why you were after me anyway?" Applejack demanded. "Trolling," I said, a second before I flew away from them. I hoovered above the desert, looking every single part of the terrain. Why? I just wanted to simply enjoy the panorama, because I wanted to take a break from the research for a moment. Seriously, even this time I was left empty handed. I took my time to pondering about what to do. My reflection, however, was interrupted by very familiar voices coming from below. I knew already that were Rarity and Pinkie Pie. I looked toward their direction. It was a little funny seeing Pinkie and Rarity making their way back on a hoofcar after being knocked off the cart during the chase to catch Applejack. Pinkie is chattering incessantly, and Rarity is muttering dire implications for Rainbow Dash, who refused to go back for them. "At least I got something to do." I said calmly and then shrugged my arms. "Alright, let's give them a ride." I slowly descended upon them and landed on their hoof car. My sudden apparition accidentally scared the hell out of Rarity, who flinched in shock while Pinkie Pie was just amazed about my gravity manipulative powers being displayed in that way. "ALLEN! Are you going to give me a heart attack!?" Rarity lamented. "That's wonderful! How did you can fly?" Pinkie Pie asked enthusiast. "Listen to me, I will give you a ride if you keep quiet for a moment," I informed them. "What ride?" Rarity asked suspiciously. "This one." I concentrated my powers on both the mares and made them levitates in mid air. Rarity was just scared and confused, not knowing what was going on, and Pinkie Pie was simply... Enjoying the fun of being levitated in the air, I guess. Anyway I flew away from the place while dragging Rarity and Pinkie in the sky and escorted them back to home. Specifically, I escorted them to the Carousel Boutique. Pinkie Pie couldn't help, but praying me to do that journey again, while Rarity was suffering a heavy case of jet lag. In fact, her head was spinning, to the point to make her faint for the exhaustion. Especially since it took me one half hour to reach Ponyville. "Pinkie, it's better for her if you escort her into her house," I recommended. "Ok?" "Oki doki." Pinkie answered and tried to wake up Rarity in vain. I leaved them on their own and flew my way toward the Ghastly Gorge. Arrived on the scene, I noticed some holes on the rocky wall. They were there, as somepony else punched through that. There's no doubt about that. Marble Pie might be there. I was about to open to say something when a very intimidating voice echoed through the gorge. "There's nothing wrong with you that I can't fix... WITH MY HOOVES!" "It's her," I said as I galloped in the voice's direction. That should be her. There was no doubt. However, as I was accelerating, someone screamed. "The hell?" I said a little bit startled. As I arrived on the scene, I had finally found Marble Pie... who wasn't in the full Doom Guy mode at all. Instead, she was the usual timid Marble Pie, having the gauntlet being equipped on her hoof. As I was approaching her, I spotted a white haired red pony laying on the ground nearby her, with his body dissipating in black embers. I managed to see a iron claw being equipped on his hoof before it disappeared as well. "No way... Darko," I murmured. "He was professional slasher killer, one hell of a official executioner of the Granite Daggers. It's hard to believe that, but I think that Marble Pie had single handily taken him down... Ok, who cares. I found her. That's all that mattered to me. One problem down." "Are you alright?" I asked. "Y-yes, I am..." Marble said reluctantly. "Can you give me that... claw, please?" "Was that... Yours?" Marble asked. "Yes, it is." I confirmed. "Now give it back to me, please." And, reluctantly, Marble took off the claw and handed it over me. For the rest, I escorted her back to the Rock Farm with my powers without mentioning anything about the claw's powers and her time she was insane. Igneous thanked me for having found her daughter, but at that point, my mind was concentrated on other things. After that, I made my way back home and entered inside the stone coffin, literally relaxing upon my futon. A few minutes later, I was already into the dream world. "It's good that you decided to use your powers with more responsibility." "Look, Primula. I am not Spiderman, but I will consider that as a good start." "Allen, promise me one thing." "What is it?" "After this whole story with the cult is over... I want you being at my side as long as you live. Can you do that." "You can count on it. I already am." I woke up with a sense of deja vu.... Which was pretty normal since I can feel it in the air. Today was day in which the Flim Flam brothers put their hooves in town to bring the Apple Family out of business. As I got out of my bed, a familiar buzz ranged. A text box appeared on the screen... And the message was the most dreaded one. A new soul has been reborn into Equestria "No. Fucking. Way." I said incredulous. I went out of my home and made my way toward Ponyville to investigate. In my arrival, there was a horde of ponies that were eager to have their apple cinder being distributed by the brothers themselves. I knew already they were scumbags to the core, so why not paying a visit to them? ... And I already forgot the reason I came here in the first place. Anyway, I had just arrived in time to see Flim Flam brother's false victory. "We... lost?" Applejack said incredulous. "Daww, too bad, Apples." Flim said. "Guess you'll just have to find a new line of work that doesn't match your names quite so... perfectly." Flam said. "I think that's lie!" I said sardonically, getting their attention and that of the others, Applejack included. "Allen, what do you mean with that?" Applejack said. "They had won abso-fucking-lutely nothing," I declared. "And let explain why-" "ALLEN!" A very familiar voice said. My eyes widened. "No way." I turned up to the cinder barrels and saw a white maned red stallion standing atop of one of them, equipped with a... Iron claw? "Darko!?" I said incredulous. "I thought you were-" "Are you confusing me with my brother?" 'Darko said. "Do you think I am so stupid to get killed this easily just like him." "... Then you must be Okrad." I stated. I had forgot that Darko had a twin brother. The only difference was that Okrad wasn't so appreciated by the cult like Darko was. Differently from Darko, Okrad was slightly inferior to him and that made him hate his brother. He's a coward who takes on innocent girl just to compensate his inferiority complex. "You cannot escape this time," Okrad declared proudly. "I have you under my grasp." "You are welcome to try but you will fail miserably," I trolled him. "Besides, your brother died in a very sweet way." "Why you..." Okrad prepared to attack. "That's should have be done by my hands. YOU WILL PAY F-" He didn't had the time to talk that something very scary happened. A chainsaw blade popped out from the barrel beneath him and split his body in two, much for the shock of the Flim Flam brothers and the other ponies. His divided form began to disappear in black embers. The chainsaw blade carved it's way through the wooden surface of the barrel, opening it in two and revealing a very bizarre scene. There was a black maned gray mare standing two legged and wielding a chainsaw toward the Flim Flam brothers. "YOU SHOULD HAD THOUGHT THAT BEFORE SUCKING ME INTO THIS DEMENTED MACHINE, YOU BASTARDS!" She screamed. Wait... I know the way she talks, but that's not all. That chainsaw looked familiar. It's handle was a yellow one, equipped with buttons. And the face of the mare looked very menacing and reminiscing of a horror manga character. "No way... GEEKO!?" I flinched. The mare turned toward me in confusion. "Wait, how do you know my name?" "The real question is WHY THE HELL YOU WERE INSIDE THAT BARREL!?" I blurted. Geeko turned off her chainsaw. "Why? Because I got sucked in this barrel after the tree in which I was hiding got sucked and trimmed by these two bastards. Beside, this 'apple cinder' tasted like shit." The inhabitants looked at their mugs suspiciously and then back at the brothers. Cherry Berry was the first to drink and then spitted out. "Bleah. I can't get the taste off my tongue!" "Mine's got rocks in it!" Sweetie Drop said. "I hate to admit, but the chainsaw mare was right," Comet Tail said. "I wouldn't pay one cent for this dreck!" The inhabitants proceeded to give the brothers a moral sanction to their brothers, who had remembered that they turned off the quality control. Seeing that their product isn't wanted, and also fearing an angry mob and one reprisal from Geeko herself, the Flim Flam brothers promptly skip town, returning Sweet Apple Acres to the Apple Family. However that doesn't resolve my other complications of having other souls being reborn into Equestria. First one was Nero Aoi... And then here comes fucking Geeko Okamura, Nero's nemesis and self proclaimed delinquent who used her chainsaw to hunt down Nero and her army of remodeled corpses. Since her methods won't be so welcomed in Equestria, I have to act faster. "Ok, Geeko. You are coming with me," I said as I used my gravitational powers on her. "What are y-" Geeko didn't have the time to say something that I was levitating her above the ground. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" Ignoring the shocked expression of inhabitants, and the Mane Six facepalming for that, I flew away from ponyville while dragging the screaming Geeko along the way. After a few minutes, I had arrived in Canterlot. I was very intentioned to put her in the jail for a while. However, I didn't had considered one thing. Princess Celestia was there, waiting in front of the entrance. She looked very sternly at me but gasped in surprise upon seeing Geeko, whose reaction... Sounded calm and yet disturbed. "Did I had just smoked out some drug without even realizing yet?" Geeko asked dumbfounded. "Celestia, if you permit, I have to explain you something," i said reluctantly. "I am in trouble, I guess." "Not entirely" Celestia said. "However, I need to talk... with both of you." Which means I had screwed up, big time. Next Level Up:-3 1)Power Limiter: A gauntlet with power to nullify the magic of every living creature. 2)Money Rifle: A shotgun that uses money as bullets. 3)????: It's up to the public to see what it is, so don't be shy and unleash your creativity. > The Zombie Shop Case > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rotatory abilities: DNA Twister Book of Healing Stand My situation couldn't be more complicated than it is now. I know I would had some trouble, soon or later. But I never expect that to bite in my back in the most predictable way. I was in the throne of Canterlot Castle, being in front of both Celestia and Luna, who had simply facehoofed with embarrassment, as she never wanted to be in my shoes. And at my left were was Geeko, the other soul that had been reborn in Equestria. There are two sides of the coin. The positive one was that she was Nero's real nemesis. The negative one was the fact that she was known in his own world, or I should say her own manga, for her short temper and violent tendencies when it comes for her enemies or little nuisances. She is, as I know for sure, a delinquent. And a very chainsaw armed one. As for me, I passed all the previous night in the interrogatory room until they escorted me in the guest bedroom, while Geeko got to sleep in the dungeon and was deprived of her chainsaw as a precaution. Returning to the present, I told Celestia and Luna about Geeko and her fights with Nero's forces without mentioning about Nero's existence of the fact that they came from, well, a manga. I just told them that she came from a parallel universe. I also told Geeko about the Princesses' role in the Equestrian history, my role in my war against the Granite Daggers and Yomi's intentional screwing with my new life. The Princesses were having a hard time to digest my news. "Allen..." Celestia began. "I know I'ts not your fault... But seriously, a person with a foul character and violent tendencies shouldn't be on the loose at all!" "Although Allen was the one who did violent things all of the time," Luna said. "Hey, wait-" I got interrupted by Luna. "I know about your acts of heroism and stuff," Luna continued. "But try to understand that. We had an horrible episode of violence and fear reigning supreme because of the case of Quetzalcoat's spirit, centuries before of my transformation as Nightmare Moon, and then here comes you. You can say about you doing the right thing, ok, but you had always killed off your enemies in order to protect us. That was enough. However, having another ponified human, whose motivations and violence were more accentuated and chaotic than yours, is out of question." Geeko's eyes narrowed. "Wait a minute. You're telling me that since that episode, you never had a episode of accentuated violence?... Are you telling me that in this world there's no violence at all?" "Not a very gory one," I butted in. "Equestria it's a happy world where the most crude things weren't as elevated like in your world. In fact, there's no murder since the Princesses came to exist." Geeko facehoofed. "That's a Demolition Man level of dumb," "What?" Celestia raised a eyebrow. "So there was no war, no murder, and not even genocide since your own existence?" Geeko turned toward me. "And yet you were ok with leaving this guy doing his job as your personal executioner?... Isn't this very hypocritical?" "I know that," Celestia said. "I never wanted to tolerate any murder at all, but since we have a problem with the so called cultist from another universe, we had no choice but entrust our hope into him." "But you are so freaking powerful that you could prevent that by yourself," Geeko paused and pondered about that. "But I understand that you can't act like a cop all of the time." "You know, royal duties," I added. "Don't get me started with the time that you had accidentally killed Twilight and resurrected her with unconventional methods," Luna said sternly. "Whoa," I flinched. "What methods?" Geeko asked to me. "The one which I hated most," I admitted. "It's Corpse Remodeling." Geeko's eyes widened and she promptly leaped over me, pinning me down on the floor. And this point, she started punching me really hard. "YA FUCKING KIDDING ME!" Geeko shouted as she continued to punch me. "Is corpse remodeling being legalized in Equestria now? WHAT ARE THEY THINKING?!" "ENOUGH!" Celestia shouted in her royal voice, causing Geeko to flinch in awe. "You better listen to her, until you can," I warned Geeko, who reluctantly released me from her grasp. "Damn if that hurts." "Twilight was indeed resurrected in that way," Celestia explained. "But trust me, she at least looked as normal as she was before. And let me tell you by now that she's my protege, so of course I got infuriated at Allen when I learned that but..." She sighed. "Just because it was accidental, I decided to forgive him and making him my own agent." "Don't forget that he accidentally killed and resurrected two female pegasi too," Luna added. Geeko glared on me. "I hope you didn't had took Nero's path... For christ's sake. And I was killed by Nero in a final confrontation." My eyes widened. "What confrontation? I thought she had at least mellowed out." "Allow me to get that straight in your skull," Geeko said. "I came from a parallel universe in which Nero was still a bitch. I was about to finish her off, but unfortunately for me, we ended up killing each other. So... I cannot say that she has mellowed out because that didn't happened at all." "Wow..." I stuttered. "I-I never know about that. I am sorry." "Spare me your pity," Geeko the turned to the princesses. "I guess I got arrested or something." She paused. "Or maybe you wanted me to join you as your agent." "Actually... You are under house arrest," Celestia stated. "Wait," Geeko halted. "So you'rent putting me into a dungeon?" "Nothing like that," Celestia said. "You are going at least to be surveiled and put into a job to contribute to society." "That's... Actually pretty nice of you," Geeko said. "However, if this guy uses corpse remodeling for crime-" "I swear. I won't do anything like that," I said nervously. "I hope so," Geeko said as she turned around and leaved the throne room, escorted by a unicorn Royal Guard. I was about to say something until a familiar buzz ranged. A text box appeared on the screen, which was something that amazed me... In a very bad way. Did Murphy decided to screw me again? A new soul has been reborn into Equestria "I'm starting to hate myself," I said before facehoofing. "Allen, is it by chance what I think it is?" Celestia asked, fearing the worse. "Unfortunately it is," I said with a grave tone as the text box disappeared. Celestia sighed heavily. "....... Allen. You know what to do, right?" "Yes, I know," I said. "I ha-" "Don't say anything else," Celestia interrupted me. "You have to investigate. Starting by now." And so, I was escorted back to my home, accompanied by Lilly, who couldn't decide if lynch me or less. The carriage in which I was in took a half hour to arrive. As we landed nearby my mound, she decided to give a little advice. "Let me tell you one thing," Lilly said. "Just pray that this 'Yomi' doesn't commit another mishap like this." "It wasn't his fault either," I said while scratching my head. "He couldn't control this phenomena." "Whatever, do what you want," Lilly said with a tone of urgency. "Just don't screw up anything, ok?" That being said, Lilly entered inside the carriage and was escorted back to the castle, I guess. Now I don't know where this third soul, or I should say, third reborn could be. The only hint that I had was that every time a soul was reborn, a mound suddenly appeared. Could that be the case. But before I started to investigate about that, I putted my black bag under the futon, so there's no way hell that I lose some item again. Since the incident with my Berserker Claw, I didn't wanted something like this so happen again. And with that out of the way, I was ready. "Let's find out," I said as I used my DNA Twister on myself and grown some dragon wings. Seriously, if the Gravity Manipulator was missing, then this twister is the best substitute. I hoovered in mid air and soared above the forest, scanning it like it was a map, until I found that said mound. It was three it kilometers near my own mound. "That was easy," I said as I landed nearby the mound. I wasn't the type to disrupt someone's privacy but I have to investigate the place anyway. I dematerialized my dragon wings and made a few steps toward the building. As I was approaching the place, someone talked to me. "You are the guy named Allen?" A female voice asked. "Yes, I am. But-" As I was turning toward the source, I got instantly punched. Again. I fell aback and whined a little bit for the pain. I was about to ask whoever punched me for a explanation when I was approached by the speaker. It was a female crimson maned gray pony, who was standing two legged with a serious expression. And wasn't alone. Oh no. She was accompanied by other two white mares. One was a brown maned and the other one was a azure maned. It didn't took long for me to notice their appearance that both of them had in common. They were both zombies. Initially I though they were both remodeled corpses, but I then discarded that by the moment I had recognized my interlocutor. "No way." I turned to the mare. "You gotta be kidding me... You're Reiko?" "That's right, Allen," She said. "My name is Reiko Himezono, a necromancer for hire coming from a parallel universe. I never thought to be reborn in this world without a shadow of crime or violence. I guess I don't belong here." ".... Speaking of my case," I said. "Why the hell you have punched me!?" "You are a doom magnet for this world," Reiko said. "And that's the problem. No wonder crazy cultists and other disgrace happened to infest this world." "It's not my fault," I complained. "Who told you about the magnet part anyway." Reiko raised her hoof and dismissed her two zombies, causing them to disappear in the void. "I was told by a creature named Yomi that you were partially responsible for many erroneous murder and to be a magnet to the alternate Granite Daggers. "Damn it, Yomi. I couldn't have a little rest that you had to speculate about me, like it was my fault!" I thought. "It's not entirely my fault," I said. "I know that," Reiko replied. "I just punched you because you had actually screwed up this world and the Element of Magic." "Wait, you know everything about Twilight?" I asked. "You should worry about yourself," Reiko said as she equipped her hoof with.... The Freezing Gauntlet? "Wait what are you-" I was about to stood up but I ended up being frozen. My consciousness fell into the darkness and my sense were disconnected from my brain. I didn't know what happened next. I won't even comment about what was happening in this moment. There was Aunt Death sat in front of me. We were playing at chess, except for the fact that there only kings on the board. No pawn, no bishops, no knights, no queens or even towers. Just sixteen kings of different colors. I counted them. "What kind of game is that?" I asked. "I just got bored with the usual rules," Death said. "In fact I had made up those pieces in that position so I can screw with your mind. What do you think of multiple checkmates?" ".... You know this joke isn't funny," I said with a fed-up tone. "Too fed-up of human being reborn as ponies?" Death asked deviously. "Exactly! Weren't Nero and Geeko alone far enough?" I asked. "Of course not. Now I have also to take care of a necromancer for hire." I then realized something. "I was frozen by her." "Thank god you didn't had took the frozen meme," Death said. "What?" I was confused. "You don't want know that," Death said. "By the way, never heard about time skips?" "Allen, wake up!" Lilly shouted, causing me a momentary earache. "Whoa... Don't scream like that lady," I said with a groggy tone. "I am also having a headache right now." I then looked around and realized to be nearby Reiko's mound. "W-what time is it?" "I can't blame you for being confused," Lilly said calmly. "After all, you were frozen for about two days." "Two days you said?" I said in shock, suddenly remembering Reiko, and the stood up with a start. "Just give me a second to think." "Huh?" Lilly looked confused. I was pondering about Reiko having stole my Freezing Gauntle. How the hell she managed to obtain that this quickly was something out of ordinary. There was a semi possibility that Reiko sent up one of her zombies to retrieve that when I was flying. And speaking of them, I had completely forgotten about these two undeads. Those zombies at her service were Saki Yurikawa and Midori Yurikawa, whose background was so grim that I won't even describe. However, I don't have the time to worry about those details. I have a necromancer to pursue. I headed toward the woods, until Lilly blocked my way. "Allen, since that has something to do with reborn souls," Lilly said. "It would be a wise choice if I come with you." "... You don't trust my good faith and abilities, right?" I asked. "That's not the problem," Lilly retorted. "Did you had forgot that I have a career to protect." "Ok, fine. You can follow me," I said as I use the DNA Twister to gains dragon wings, much to her shock. "The heck?" Lilly flinched. "Just follow me." I said as we both hoovered in the air and flew in the air and headed toward our destination. I remembered where it was. The only problem if I can still find her before she does something inappropriate. I don't know how the Equestrian law works in case necromancy, but I think it's strictly forbidden in this world. "You're still creeping me out," Lilly said disturbed by my wings. "At least I didn't had turned you into C. Lilly again," I reminded. "Don't make me remember that," Lilly shuddered. "Well, think about a positive side," I said. "At least-" I was about to continue but I then interrupted that when I heard Reiko's voice from beneath us. Specifically, she was nearby my own mound. "Oh Satan," Reiko's voice said. "Lords of demons, hear my pray." "It's her," I said as I looked down, spotting Reiko doing something on a... Remodeled Corpse pony's corpse, being red maned violet female unicorn with spikes that protruded from her back. I hate to be redundant but it still suck when another complication showed up. Anyway, we both landed a few meters away from her as she was continuing her ritual. "Breathe life into death, if only for a moment's breath," Reiko continued. "What the hay are doing!?" Lilly shouted. "I am just investigating," Reiko said. "You are joking, right?" Lilly demanded. "Just watch," I said while facehoofing. The dead unicorn... Opened his eyes and stood up with a startling speed, which clearly shocked Lilly. She turned to Reiko with a dumbfounded expression. "W... Where am I?" She asked. "S-She's alive!" Lilly exclaimed. "Can you tell me who did hired you to going after Allen?" Reiko asked. "What?" I looked confused. "... It wasn't a very ordinary pony," The unicorn said. "It was a pure genius, a very crazy one. You see, I was minding my own business when somepony backstabbed me. I was embraced by my own death, but only for a moment." "Tell me the name," Reiko said. "I don't know her name," The unicorn denied. "But I can remember her look, being that of a blond maned gray pony with a pair of weird glasses." My eyes widened. "Weird glasses!?" I flinched for that revelation. My own great fears are actually funded. I hated to believe that claim, but that mean that Nero is on the loose, and is back to do some damage. "But wait a minute, Nero shouldn't be able to do Corpse Remodeling." I thought. "I had destroyed her equipment." "Allen, what's wrong?" Lilly asked suspicious. "You heard her. There's someone..." I corrected myself. "Wait... Somepony else who is practicing Corpse Remodeling who isn't me." "No way," Lilly said incredulous. "I think is time to put you back to the slumber," Reiko said and began another ritual. "Oh Satan, Lords of Demons. Return this one to her slumber." With that, the unicorn returned to be a dead corpse, and I was left with a bad taste in my mouth. I mean, Nero was survived the fall and was liberated by her frozen cage. "I don't know if you were helping us or not," Lilly said to Reiko. "But necromancy is something I won't tolerate." "I am under arrest, I guess," Reiko said with resigned tone. "You heard me," Lilly said sternly. "Alright... You can escort me to Canterlot," Reiko said as Lilly escorted her. Contrary to Nero, Reiko's intentions were noble, just like my own. But, again, necromancy is strictly forbidden in Equestria. My Corpse Remodeling of Twilight counts as a crime too, but that was a exception since the Elements are a big priority. But that didn't mattered anyway. Equestria is fated to be screwed up. No matter how valiantly I fought to prevent that. I had dematerialized my dragon wings and went inside my mound. I entered inside the stone coffin and laid down on my futon. I noticed that my Freezing Gauntlet was there, which means that Reiko putted it back after she had frozen me. I spent my entire day meditating about the future of this world. It's not my fault, and wasn't Yomi's fault either. If Equestria is fated to be screwed, then that means that someone should was behind this, laughing his ass as the story goes on... However, that was just my own delirium. Night fell upon my mound, something that I noticed since it was getting dark. I went out of my stone coffin to do something constructive when found a unicorn standing in front of the entrance. That one being Twilight, who looked more paranoid as usual. "You didn't look too well. Are you ok?" I asked. "Ok?... Of course not!" Twilight exaggerated. "That one doubt won't stop biting my own soul! You turned me into some kind of a zombie, right!? Who can guarantee that I don't have flesh eating tendencies?! What about my own future!? And most of all, what I am supposed to do!?" "Don't exaggerate too much with your delirium," I said calmly. "You are not a flesh eater. Ok? Your future is still safe as long you can control your actions. And most of all. Stop. Stressing." "Alright..." Twilight panted. "But allow me to tell you something. If my condition is going to be exposed, my future will be ruined. It's your fault." "I know that and I won't do that again," I sighed. "But still, don't you have a friendship problem to solve with Pinkie Pie?" Twilight flinched. "How did you know about-" She groaned. "Screw it! I have to go!" And with that, Twilight galloped away like a crazy horse, being in hurry to reach her destination. As for me, I took my own book and went inside the stone coffin to read it in full relax. Without realizing that, I went to the dreamworld. I had woke up very late in this morning since it was almost afternoon. I went out of my mound and galloped to the woods, headed to Ponyville. My priority was investigating about Nero's whereabouts, which was going to be a very difficult task. In my arrival, I ended up encountering Fluttershy. Or I should say the 'new' Fluttershy. "What brought you here, mister Allen?" Fluttershy said arrogantly. "I don't know who I am talking with in this moment," I said, pretending that's not a big deal as I noticed a puddle beneath me. "You play dumb with me!" Fluttershy said angrily. "You are here just to satisfy your own trolling behavior! Well guess what. You will not obtain nothing funny from me!" "Ok, whatever," I said. "Just do a me favor." "What favor?" Fluttershy said sternly. "Just look at yourself in the puddle," I asked. "Do you think I am so stupid to-" Fluttershy saw her own reflection and reacted horrified to that. "I am a monster." "No. That Iron Will's advice was the real problem," I said. "What?" Flutttershy looked dumbfounded. "You see, his advice was too perfect that is... Well..." I said. "Well what?" "Misguided." "Really," Fluttershy took a moment to pondering about that and then leaved. "For today, you should probably leave me alone. Really." I think she was both depressed and disturbed to have realized that Iron Will's method were too exaggerated. She was going to realize the she doesn't need to be a bully too, so my presence wasn't required. I traveled back to my 'house'. It took me one hour like time to arrive in Ponyville, but I was too lazy to use my DNA Twister on myself again. Well, to be correct, I didn't want to further damage my image of 'hero', if Celestia would call me like that. In my arrival, I saw... Reiko standing four legged nearby the entrance? "Reiko?" I asked surprised. "Weren't you-" "Celestia allowed me to act as her own secondary agent," Reiko explained. "She was reluctant to accept, but we have a psychopath to catch, as well as the cultists to take down. So of course she had released me." "Let me ask you one question," I said. "How did you had died?" "I was killed during a fight against a masonic organization," Reiko said. "Both me and the leader ended up killing each other." Great. Another double edged death. I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. "I feel sorry to make you describe such thing like this," I said apologetically. "Don't worry," Reiko assured. "My own world can live normally without a necromancer like me. By the way, you are a Iron Ghost, right." "Of course. So what?" "...... You are also working for me from now." "WHAT!?" I exclaimed incredulous. "Let's meet up inside the labyrinth, tomorrow" Reiko ordered. "You better not make me wait." That being said, Reiko leaved me with a sense of annoyance. It was ok taking order from Celestia or Lilly, but taking orders from Reiko? I hate to admit, but I didn't remembered her being so pedant and almost arrogant. By the way, she came from a manga too. I passed the rest of the day playing Dead of Alive 5 since I had pretty much nothing to do. After night fell upon my 'house', I went to sleep just so I can forget the complications that were biting me in that moment. I think I would had inaugurate a Murphy Day at this point. In the following day, I made my way through the crowd and went inside the labyrinth. It took me a few minutes to reach it thanks to my DNA Twister, but took me one hour to even enter inside. As usual, Iron Will is doing his 'major drill' advice to the public. What surprised me was to see Fluttershy being at my left. "What? You?" "What are you doing here?" Fluttershy asked. "I wasn't interested into Iron Will," I said. "I just came here because somepony asked me a 'date'" "Date?" Fluttershy raised a eyebrow. "It's called sarcasm." I explained. "Found you," Reiko said, suddenly showing up, almost startling me. "Ok, Reiko," I said almost calmly. "Any briefing." "I though you were investigating 'her' whereabouts," Reiko said suspiciously. "Let's go with order first," I replied. "Allen. Who is this... Creepy mare?" Fluttershy asked. Reiko slightly glared at her. "Creepy what?" "Reiko, don't go Geeko on her, please." I begged. I then turned my attention to the show. Which reminded me: Why Fluttershy would ever return there anyway? "Seriously, the only thing I pitted most are the fools!" Iron Will said. "The only-" He was suddenly interrupted by something unusual. A ram like minotaur was literally smashing through the wall, showing up on Iron Will's stage, much to his surprise. "Hey! What do you think you are doing here!?" Iron Will shouted. "Shut up, fool," The ram minotaur said. "Cut the jibber jabber. The A man is here to make a real message that is far more significant than yours." "What the hay do you think you are?" Iron Will demanded. "First name Mr., Period, Last name A." The ram like minotaur declared. "Allow me to explain you something. One: Your methods are both aggressive and misguided. Two: You were too exaggerated when is about showing up your boasts. And finally: You gotta a lot mouth. And I gotta a lot of fist in your mouth!" Jeesh, man. Mr. T too much. That was the most randomic and improvised why to ever show up. And besides, is this guy the real minotaur equivalent to Mr. T? "Ok, calm down," Iron Will said intimidated. "Let's just talk." "Listen, I know you wanted to show them how to be assertive," Mr. A said. "But there's one difference in between being that and just being a bully. You better had realized that." "... O-ok." Iron Will stuttered. "However... There's another message for this crowd," Mr. A then turned toward me. "Or I should say for you." I looked around and then looked back at him. "Me? Why?" "I know your trolling way to teach a lesson to the others," Mr. A said. "Well let me tell you that you won't get any result if satisfy your own ego and fun are your only motivation. You should know how to be a good teacher for the future generation. So for now correct your own methods and shut your hey pie hole!" "NO PLEASE, MR. A! DON'T HURT ME!" I exclaimed and leaved the labyrinth. It looked more stupid of me to leave the stage like that, but I have to keep my cover as solid as ever. Also, seeing Mr. A gave me a very scary impression of me... Since he looked more charismatic than Iron Will. I have nothing personal against him. As I went out of the labyrinth, I saw Lilly wandering around. She noticed me and approached me with a serious look. "What are you doing here?" Lilly asked suspiciously. "Reiko asked me to come here," I said. "Since by then you are working for her?" "Since yesterday. I couldn't say no to her." "I don't know why, but I feel sorry for you," Lilly said melancholic and the turned her tone into a sternly one. "Just for today." "So... What you want to ask me?" I demanded. "I just want to tell you that we found another corpse," Lilly said crudely. "Another one?" I looked shocked. "In other words," Reiko butted in. "Another Remodeled Corpse. Is it in the morgue already." "Yes, but you have to wait tomorrow if you want to do..." Lilly cringed. "That ritual of yours." "Fine," Reiko then punched me again. "That's for leaving me like a idiot." With that, I traveled back to my mound. It took me a few minutes thanks to the miracle that is the DNA Twister. As I had arrived, I took the occasion to do practice with the Book of Healing. Seriously, I still have the pains of the punches that I took from both Geeko and Reiko altogether. I think I would had a fracture. As the bones of my skull felt regenerated, the book suddenly glowed in a golden aura. I took a look at the pages and noticed the blank one next to the first one having the text suddenly appearing. Level Reached: Your healing time, efficiency and pain relieving abilities have hugely improved, as well as the ability to remove the poison. Good thing for me... Too bad is still gonna be a pain in the ass going after many complication. I hope to not going insane for that. Because, whatever happen to Equestria, is still going to suck. Next Level Up:-2 1)Power Limiter: A gauntlet with power to nullify the magic of every living creature. 2)Money Rifle: A shotgun that uses money as bullets. 3)????: It's up to the public to see what it is, so don't be shy and unleash your creativity. > Past Radar > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rotatory abilities: Book of Healing DNA Twister Plasma Cannon I had arrived at the morgue of the Ponyville Police Department, where Reiko was proceeding in her usual ritual to temporary resurrect the dead Remodeled Corpse pony. This time I was accompanied by both Celestia and Luna under their request. The atmosphere was a very surreal one. The princesses looked a little disturbed due to the necromantic nature of the rite. As for the dead pony, it was a... Or I should say used to be a female pegasus with two wings made of steel and a sword being implanted on her forehead. That's pretty much the type of trademark that Nero will leave on her victims. "Are sure that is a good idea?" Luna questioned. "Trust me," I said. "Neither I wanted to resort to this." "You know our rules regarding the presence of necromancy in Equestria." Celestia reminded. "And yet you allowed her to act as your agent too," I replied. "I know, but this mess of Remodeled Corpse pony didn't gave us much choices," Celestia said with a bit of resignation in her voice. "If Reiko's methods are needed in this moment," She sighed heavily. "I guess I should let her doing her job." "After all, she is a good investigator too," I alluded. "..... I still dislike her methods," Luna retorted. "Breathe life into death, if only for a moment's breath," Reiko concluded. As the ritual was done, the corpse opened her eyes and slowly stood up four legged, for the shock of the two princesses that had witnessed so many cases of necromancy in their eras in which they lived in. Their shock was then replaced by their natural disgust toward those things. Reiko, however, wasn't disturbed at all... as usual- "C-Celestia? Luna?" The pegasus said, looking around. "Where am I?" "Did you remember at least what you were doing before being reduced into this?" Reiko demanded. "I was returning into Cloudsdale after a very long holyday," The pegasus said. "When all of sudden someone just... Ponynapped me and then turned me into this thing." "Can you remember the place in which you were in?" Reiko asked. "It was too dark to remember," She said. "But for what I could remember... It didn't looked like a very normal place. It was a very large laboratory. I was putted on a table-" "Wait," Reiko halted. "Can you say what did he ordered you to do?" "He asked me to retrieve a certain Twilight." The pegasus affirmed. "What?!" Celestia flinched. "I was under some kind of narcotics that made me susceptible to her words," The pegasus said. "Not only that, but she promised me one thousand bits for the retrieval." "Really?" I said surprised. "Seriously! Who the fuck in Equestria is funding Nero!?" "Can you tell at least in which state you were?" Reiko demanded. "I was in-AAAARGH!" As she screamed, her body was suddenly engulfed by flames and was instantly reduced into ashes. Just like Celestia and Luna, I was left speechless and shocked for what had transpired. Reiko didn't seemed too disturbed, but was just taken aback by that. "What the heck was that?!" A random police pony said. "Auto-detonation spell... I guess," Reiko assumed. "It seems like this Nero knew my ritual far too well, so of course she had put that spell to prevent her from giving us information regarding her whereabouts. Whoever is this pony is far more dangerous and cunning of than we could imagine." "Like hell it is. Is fucking Nero we are talking about," I thought. "This is not good," Celestia said and then turned toward me. "Allen, I know I'm asking you too much." "I get it," I anticipated. "I will go after Twilight and try to prevent any ponynapping or something worse too her." "Like killing her by mistake?" Luna reminded. "Hey." I said. "I will continue my investigation," Reiko said. "While you go to secure Twilight from any possible menace,". "You better go," Celestia demanded. "Right," I said as I went out of the morgue. Like a lightning, i headed toward the Golden Oak Library. In my arrival, I saw something that I had already predicted in the window. This is the point were Twilight was talking to her counterpart from the future, the one who looked like Snake from the Metal Gear series. "I have something extremely important to tell you about the future," Future Twilight said. "And I only have a few seconds, so you've got to listen! Whatever you do, don't–" But before she could give her dire warning, Future Twilight disappeared, leaving Twilight with a doubt regarding the missing point of the message. "Future Twilight?" Twilight said. "Future Twilight? Oh no! What was she trying to warn me about? Her clothes, her mane, that scar... Oh, what a mess she is! ...I mean, I am... or I will be... [gasps] She must want me to prevent whatever horrible thing happens in the future!" She gasped. I entered from the door of the library. "It's seems like you were talking with somepony." "Allen?" Twilight questioned my presence for a moments. "You saw that, right?" "Talking with your future self?" I paused. "Yeah. Now listen to me. Your future self is probably telling you to not worry too much about the future. But... If you are not convinced, I think I will give you a ride to Starswirl the Bearded's archive and guiding you toward the locked time spells that he had personally away." "How do you know about that detail anyway?" Twilight demanded. I shrugged my shoulders. "Just a theory. Now what you have to do is to do nothing... Until the night before Tuesday." "How you can be so sure that nothing bad happens and that what my future self was telling is exactly what you have said to me?" Twilight asked suspiciously. "If you are not convinced, try at least to met up with me for a plan." I said. "Fine." Twilight concluded. As I went out of the library, I decided to spy her from the window, like any real stalker will do. I didn't liked that method but I have to preserve her security at any cost since Nero and her Remodeled Corpse ponies are on the loose. As for Twilight, she wasn't convince about what I said regarding Future Twilight's message and began her quest to find what the real disaster is. A day passed by and the 'disaster' didn't happened yet. There were a few cataclysms that happened of course, but where resolved by themselves. Like Fluttershy taming a cerberus and some other things. And was still awake, until I ended up sleeping. The following day, I was still following Twilight, who, despite having the scar on her cheek, decided do not do absolutely nothing... Until Rainbow Dash and Spike decided to have at her expenses. Spike in particular tickled her, resulting Twilight to telekinetically tossing Spikes away and causing him to belch his flames, scorching Twilight's mane and putting in the same style of her future self. I followed her at the Sugarcube Corner. At that point Twilight even resorted to Pinkie Pie's Pinkie sense to make sense in this story. And no, that's not a joke. Since there's nothing much for me to do, I decided to leave her privacy alone and go back to home. I know that would be risky, so I was lucky that Lilly came at the last moment to give me a change. I hate play the stalker part anyway. It was all too dark. I was dreaming, so I didn't even bothered to ask what was going on. Although the question was how is going on. Aunt Death was in front of me, like someone giving a message from the Twilight Zone. No pun intended. "Sometimes a message from the future is a good thing, but..." Aunt Death paused. "What if the dire future is your own." I woke up with a start. I instinctively went out of my coffin and headed outside, headed to Ponyville. It wasn't strange if that was the morning where Twilight had the epiphany to monitor everything in Ponyville and decided to stop time itself. As I had arrived, I was approached by Pinkie, Spike and Twilight, who resembled just like her future self. "Allen, you have to help us," Twilight said worried. "Let me guess," I said. "You wanted me to escort you to the archive of time spells." "That's right." Twilight said. "You are Celestia's agent, right. Could you at least make us a favor." "...... Alright, let's go," I said. "But first, we have to wait for night to fall if we wanted to enter inside." "I hope you plan works," Twilight said. "Did you had predicted what my Pinkie Sense was warning me about?" Pinkie asked. "...... Does that even matter?" I asked suspiciously. "Alright, let's just do what he said," Spike suggested. In the wait, we played some poker and then decided to hang out for some exploration in the woods until night fell. The hang out part was a excuse to find some other clue regarding Nero's whereabouts or even another corpse for Reiko. Well guess what. I found nothing and I ended up empty handed. With the night having completely took the place of the day, we headed toward the archive where the Starswhirl's time spells. Twilight, Pinkie and Spikes were about to use their 'stealth' abilities but I know that will take awhile. So I used a piece of my authority as Celestia's agent to enter with excuse of a possible intrusion of some Granite Daggers' member. We have also found a helpful Night Guard who decided to take us inside the place for academic reasons. To be honest, he was too hesitant to let me in due to my reputation and the time I had almost destroyed Equestria for a Batman Gambit against Discord. "Do you like it was your home," The guard then glared at me. "You better not doing any harm to her." And then he closed the door. "Too late. He already have." Twilight murmured. "Again with this story?" I complained. "I am still sorry for killing you by accident and turning you into a zombie like creature." "You did WHAT?!" Spike said shocked. "It's a very long, creepy story," Twilight said deadpan. "I wonder what kind of other reality screw you were planing in this moment," Pinkie said suspiciously. "Hey." I said. "Focus guys," Twilight hushed. "We don't have the whole night to goofing around. The disaster will happen at any moment!" "It seems like you didn't had listened to me," I said calmly. "Look, I hanged out with you because, let be honest, nothing bad will happen anyway." "How could you establish that?" Twilight retorted. "I almost just look like my future self! That should mean something to you!" "You think that's bad?" A male voice in the dark said. That voice... Oh dear lord. Tell me that it's not what I think it is. I mean, when I told the guards that a Granite Dagger's member... "I was bluffing!" I exclaimed. At that point a rust orange maned red stallion with a cross like scar on his face came out, deviously wearing some kind of unicorn amulet and holding a scroll in his claws... Wait a minute. "Is that the scroll Pinkie was supposed to find!?" I thought. "This is bad." "You can bet your ass, Allen," He said arrogantly. "I had just found this archive thanks to you, and I can officially say that all your base are belong to Shiv!" Yes, that guy is indeed Shiv, Granite Daggers' arch-bishop, stealth master, fire user and a nutty fan of Zero Wings. His original self didn't had much upper hand on me during our fight in my past time. But now that this alternate version was holding the time scroll? Not that is a serious threat. "I think I know what you are going to do." I said with a grave tone. "You are right, Allen," Shiv said. "What I have to do is just going back in time to prevent your rebirth." I flinched. "Whoa!" "So I won't be turned into a zombie like creature?" Twilight said hopeful, tempted by his threat like it was a offering. "Yes, but you will end up having an entire army of Granite Daggers' members invading Equestria," I warned her. "Really!?" Twilight said surprised. "So that's the disaster that was going to fall upon Equestria... And you told me to not worry about that!" "I won't waste anymore tine with you!" Shiv said as his unicorn amulet glowed and opened a time warp behind him. "Adios, suckers!" "Not so fast," I said as I summoned the black chains and flung them toward him. Shiv tried to jump inside the port, but has his leg completely wrapped with the chain. The attraction force of the portal was so great that both me and Shiv got dragged inside. Twilight was exclaiming my name, but at that point everything went dark and I ended up loosing consciousness. After an apparent eternity of blackness, my brain reconnected with my consciousness just in time to allow me to scan my surrounding. It was still night and I was in front of the Castle of the Two Sisters, but this time is different. And speaking of time... "I suppose that bastard dragged me in the past," I assumed. "But in what time, exactly?" "Spare me your morality, Allen!" Vaelox's voice said. "You want to know how I was able to find you? The original members that you had destroyed in your universe has sent their different counteparts of them to haunt you right after their death, just like me." "...... No, don't tell me-!" I said incredulous. That voice answered that question for me. Without any delay, wore both the Freezing Gauntlet and the Berserker Claw, and went inside the castle. I was hiding myself from behind a wall, witnessing a very familiar seen. It was my past self dealing with Vaelox and his hostage strategy. That would be the chance to prevent myself from accidentally killing Twilight and being forced to select Corpse Remodeling as my first level up reward... Although that was my choice. But that wasn't the time to think about that. I had one psycho to take care of... And was right behind the other me. I summoned my black chain and flung them toward Shiv. They wrapped around his body and allowed me to instantly drag him away from my past self and tossing him out of the castle's entrance. And speaking of him, he turned toward the entrance, wondering what was that voice. That lasted one second that he already returned his attention to Vaelox. As for me, I went out of the castle and was about to deal with Shiv, who was standing two legged with his clawed hooves being ignited with flames wrapping around them. He looked furiously at me, although he was also mostly confused. "You could had been a clever bastard," I said mockingly. "Too bad that you had selected the wrong event." "Either you or your past self will die by my hand this very night!" Shiv roared as he thrown a fire ball toward me. I dodged the blow and unleashed pyroclasms of plasma that traveled toward him and overwhelmed his body... But he was still standing unharmed. Damn! I had forgot he had a plasma's nullifying armor. "It's that what you got!?" Shiv provoked as he unleashed a fire wave from his left clawed hoof. I rolled away from him while shooting a freezing bullet at him. Simultaneously. He was about to counterattack but it was too late. Half of his body and his own hooves ended up being encased in the ice. The time spell scroll already fell from his grasp without him having noticed. I slowly walked toward him and picked up the scroll. The victory was mine but... *BANG!* It was too late to prevent my other self from accidentally killing Twilight. That was a real letdown for me... But I suppose it's better this way since meeting myself could have created a paradox by crushing Yomi's system or something. Anyway, I was about to finish Shiv, but without any warning, the time warp reopened beneath me and him, dragging both of us in it's center. In a split seconds, we ended up reappearing in the time spells archive, falling on the floor. I grunted in pain for the impact and slowly rose up two legged. As for Shiv, the ice that was blocking his body began to melt. I never wanted to see his face any longer and have enough time to react, I rummaged inside my bag and pulled out the my shotgun, just in time to point it on him and shoot him in the head before he could have the time to release himself. Black embers and pieces of ice were flying around the room, having the strange courtesy to not hit Twilight, Pinkie or even Spike. Only the unicorn amulet remained unscathed. The way I used my weapon was so nostalgic and yet not nostalgic at all. "It's been a while," I declared. "Yeah, Allen," Twilight sighed heavily, almost cringing. "You better not remind me of that," I putted away the weapon. "Twilight, let me remin-" "Don't say anything or I will change my mind on your account," Twilight said. "I guess the disaster is adverted," "So... What are you going to do now?" I asked, pulling out the scroll. "You are still going to use it?" "I don't think so..." Twilight was reconsidering the options and then snapped somehow her hoof and took the scroll with. "But considering how much I was worrying about the future of Equestria and other things, I guess I should use the spell to reassure my past self about it." That being said, Twilight used the scroll to go back in time and then disappeared. We have waited for about thirteen seconds until she reappeared with the remaining piece of the phrase. "–waste your time... worrying... about... Ugh! I can't believe I just did that!" Twilight lamented. "Ah, don't worry about it. It's past Twilight's problem now." Pinkie assured. "Yeah, think about listening to me next time." I stated, causing Twilight to glare at me while Pinkie and Spike looked at me in confusion. "What?" "Ohhh... my stomach..." Spike lamented. "I, I think it's all that ice cream... I thought the stomach ache would be future Spike's problem... but now I am future Spike. Ohh..." Twilight and Pinkie giggle while I turned toward the entrance and went out. "Whatever, I'll go back home." As I went outside, the guards were already questioning everything that happened inside. And yet they didn't had the courtesy to storm inside when Shiv attacked. I just answered to them by telling them that is all just fine. It was a miracle that Shiv didn't had killed me in the past. Otherwise Equestria would had Nero being able to build her own army of remodeled zombies. And speaking of Nero, I didn't had found any clue. Or so I thought until Reiko showed up and approached me with an exhausted look. "Jeez, what happened to you?" I asked. "While you were hanging out with Twilight for some reason," Reiko said sternly. "I was attacked by three Remodeled Corpses." I flinched. "You mean-" "Yes... Nero has made her first move." Reiko stated. It seems like that the real disaster is going to get real. Next Level Up:-1 1)Power Limiter: A gauntlet with power to nullify the magic of every living creature. 2)Money Rifle: A shotgun that uses money as bullets. 3)????: It's up to the public to see what it is, so don't be shy and unleash your creativity. > Fiery Day > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rotatory abilities: Stand Face Palmer DNA Twister I was in the outskirts of Ponyville, where Spike and the Mane Six, except Fluttershy, are preparing a spot to watch a once-in-a-generation dragon migration. I am very informed about the dragons and how many of them are jerks while others are not. The problem here? They didn't had learned that yet. Also, Reiko sent me there to escort Twilight as her pseudo body guard, all the while without mentioning the whole Remodeled Corpse thing since she was currently resurrected as one by me. I am still ashamed of myself for screwing up her life with that choice. So of course Reiko was right asking to keep that a secret to prevent any further trauma. But mostly because I don't want Twilight to see me as the villain. Again. The Mane Six were discussing about the dragon migration and how much scary they were. And of course, they started laughing because Spike was wearing an apron, right after he says that dragons are forces to be reckoned. Yeah, that reminded me of Magic the Gathering's dragons, Spyro or even the Dragon Emperor from Seiken Densetsu 3. "You leave him alone, Rainbow Dash! Spike's style is unique. He doesn't have to look like other dragons." Rarity said, being protective over Spike. "Or act like them." Twilight said. "Act like what?" I asked. "You know? Act very fiercely and dreadful like they are," Spike replied. "No, really. I am indeed a dragon like them, right?" "Oh, not even close!" Pinkie said. "But why would you want to, Spike?" Applejack asked perplexed. "Yes. You've got something those dreadfully fierce dragons can only dream of." Rarity said. "What's that?" Spike asked confused. "The cutest widdle chubby cheeks! Ooooo!" Rarity said cheerfully. "Cute?! Dragons aren't supposed to be cute! Right?" Spike asked with a fed-up tone. "Look at the positive side," I said frankly. "Not all dragons are fierce and greedy." Twilight and the other mares looked at me dumbfounded, and them almost glared at me. That reaction cannot be avoided, but I don't give a fuck about that. "How you can tell that?" Twilight asked. "Apparently the dragons are too rare and too scary to try to talk to or study! Besides, you never had met one." "And once again, the drama of the ignorance is omnipresent," I said. "Seriously, I understand that dragons are so rare and scary to try to talk, study or anything. But, in substance, you are telling me that, because of that, was no pony who had bothered to check their nature and study their history?" "I hate to admit that..." Twilight paused. "That's probably the case." "....That's bullshit." I retorted. "That motivation is so bullshit. That's beyond fucking stupid. There's no way you can tell that all dragons are all savage. I mean, only the majority of them are real jerks... But there's only a few of them who had a piece of saving grace." "Ehm, Allen," Applejack said. "How you can tell that?" "Because-" I couldn't continue my rebuttal that our conversation was interrupted by a academic looking, green maned silver stallion who passed here by chance. "What you said wouldn't be the case," The academic stallion said. "In our current situation regarding them, they are indeed guided by only barbaric instincts." "R-really?" Spike said, almost scared. "..... You are talking like that in front of a child," I stated crudely. "Watch your mouth." "That was inopportune." Fluttershy added. "Besides, what do you mean with your current situation?" I asked, being on the verge to be triggered. "Is true that we know almost nothing about dragons," The academic stallion said. "According to our research-" "NO!" I interrupted him. "What research!?- Oh, the research back in five hundreds ago and it's psychological profile of dragons a are super duper valid - Shut the fuck up!" "But-" The academic stallion couldn't had continued that I had interrupted him. Seriously. I was really triggered in that very moment. I know that should had leaved him the liberty of speech, but ignorance and unwillingness to check up the facts are something that I won't tollerate. "No," I insisted. "If you want really know everything about dragons, you should had found them, checked them up and establish their nature very deeply. What I really want is that you should get really informed." "....... I have no words," The academic stallion said deadpan, a moment before turning around and leaving the area. "That was stupid," I murmured and then turned toward Spike. "Also, Spike." "W-what?" Spike asked timidly. "I am sorry for ruining your day," I said apologetically. "But if I have to express my opinions. Somehow." I then looked at the Mane Six, who were visibly freaked out by my reaction. And without said another word, I leaved the scene, headed to my mound. Once I reached that, I took a red cape and went out again, headed to Ponyville. That travel took me two hours, but it was still a good walk. I secretly followed Twilight like a shadow, without being noticed by no one. I was overhearing her conversation with Spike. And once again, I feel like a stalker. "What am I? Where am I from? Who am I supposed to be?" Spike asked worried. "Uuugh! I don't know! For the last time," Twilight replied. "Spike, you were given to me as an egg. I don't know who found you or where they found you." "Seriously? That's all you know?" Spike asked. "I am sorry, Spike," Twilight said. "Also, regarding Allen reaction-" "Oh, don't worry," Spike said. "Still... Do you think that what he said about dragons was true?" "Spike, we cannot be sure that what he said was true," Twilight said. "Allen is not a bad guy, but he's not so reliable too. I mean, he was right about Zecora, yes. But dragons? He didn't had met one in his life. Not even in his past life." "I need some answer! I feel like I'm... I'm looking at a complete stranger. Oh!" Spike said while looking at the mirror. "Listen to me, Spike," Twilight said calmly. "I have a idea. Why don't we do some late-night research? See what we can find out." Twilight was technically right about that, but what she said about me being unreliable made my hooves itch. I have currently a good knowledge about the dragons but I had no proof of the 'reliability of my statements'. I was about to follow them when somebody put his hoof on my shoulder. I turned my head toward it's owner and found out that was actually Midori Yurikawa, one two, now ponified, zombies summoned by Reiko. Midori doesn't say anything. She simply gestured me to leave, like she wanted to take my place and take over the duty to protect Twilight. I gladly accepted her offer and returned to my mound. Once I had arrived, I entered inside the stone coffin and went to sleep on my own futon. Is not like I have anything else to do... For now. "I would had wanted to avoid all of this." "..." "I wish the things would had gone differently." "..." "I am sorry for Kiro. He was like a real brother to me." "You don't have to. That's not your fault. What he really needs right now is for me to stay true to myself. And you have to do the same thing. Got it?" "... Maybe you are right, Primula." "I will have a hard time to stay strong. Is not easy at all." "I know that." "Just don't get reckless and get yourself killed. Can you promise me that?" "... Primula." I woke up with a start. There was no cold sweat. Just my heart beating faster and my breath being a little bit heavier. I shook my head to snap out of my pseudo trance and went out of my mound, wearing the red cape I wore yesterday. I traveled to the former smoky mountain and climbed my way toward the cave were Fafnir, my metal dragon, was situated. The creature had just woke up form it's slumber and growled a little bit upon seeing me. "Yo, dawg." I said. "Can you do me a favor?" Fafnir nodded as he growled loudly. "Just reach me in the caldera of a volcano before the fall of the evening." I said. Got it?" Fafnir roared in agreement, almost scaring me. Seriously, I had a hard time to remain composed when is about my own dragon. After that, I went down the mountain and headed toward Ponyville, where I found Midori seemingly waiting for me in front of the entrance. It was a miracle that there wasn't the typical death stench that the zombies normally had. She gestured to go to Twilight's house. "Didn't you had told Reiko that I was apparently stalking her, right?" I asked. Midori sternly shook her head and took her leave. I went in front of Twilight's house and took my precaution. I used my DNA Twister to turn myself into dragon. A very though one. My intention? Following Spike as he goes out alone. Ignorance is one thing, but the gesture of Twilight, Spike's guardian, to allow him to get out alone despite the danger of the travel is just unforgivable. "Don't tell me you think he should go?" Rainbow Dash protested. "Yes, Spike." Twilight said. "I couldn't answer your questions. My books couldn't either. I understand why you want to look elsewhere. I truly believe you need to go on this quest. And we have no right to stop you." "............................. You are the worst guardian ever," I commented with a tough voice. I went in front of the entrance and waited for Spike. After eighteen minutes, I finally saw the little dragon, who stopped and stared at me with an awed curiosity. True to my current form, he didn't had recognized me yet. "You are the little dragon who wanted some answer about 'who you are'. Right?" I asked. Spike flinched. "Wait, how did you know about that?" I took off my hoof, revealing my draconical face. "I am dragon too. And I think you want to know your answer so badly. Is that right?" "Y-yes. Yes. Of course you are." Spike said. "But what do you want from me?" "Simple," I said. "I will escort you to the lands of the dragons. I know the way. What we have to do is simply following the dragon migrations." "Ehm... Why I should follow you?" Spike asked. "Because of the dangers that you may encounter on your way," I said. "Besides, I think your guardian should be insane in his mind to send you to your quest all alone." "Why I should trust you?" Spike asked sternly. "Just trust your instinct," I replied. "You want your answers about who you are or not?" ".......... Ok, I will follow you." Spike said reluctantly. "And to answer to your question: Because I have more experience than you." I explained as I put back my hood. "Now let's go." We followed the dragon migration, crossed snowy peaks and deep dark forests. We wandered for about three days until we found a group of adolescent dragons roosting in the caldera of a volcano. That group being that of Garble. And yes, I was fully aware about being followed by Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash. They were also wearing a hastily-constructed dragon costume. Spike was about to ask them something, so I stopped him. "Let me do the talk." I said. "Just for a moment." ".... Whatever you said, sir," Spike said reluctantly. "Hey, you." I called, getting their attention. "If I can get your attention, that would be appreciated. You are dragons right?" "Yeah, so what?" Fume said and then noticed Spike. "Who is this little one?" "My name is Firebrand," I said and then took off my hood. "And this one is Spike. We came here in search for answers." "You sure his name is Spike and not Shrimp?! Fume said sarcastically, a moment before he and the other dragon started laughing. "No, it's Spike! I'm not, I mean, I'm sure about that..." Spike said reluctantly. "You look more like Peewee to me." Clump said and the dragons laughed again. "Hey guys, c'mon, seriously. Leave him alone or he might fly away." Garble said. "That is, uh, if he had any wings!" They continued to laugh, which wasn't funny at all. I took a look at Spike, who didn't know how to act in a situation like this. I am still in time to tell the truth. "You fly in on your mommy's back during the migration?" Clump mocked. "Not-" Spike was about to answer, but I had prematurely interrupted that. "Don't even bother to answer," I said. "These ones are not real dragons." The group of dragons stopped laughing an then glared menacingly at me. "You say WHAT!?" "Let's go," I said to Spike. "I won't waste our time with a bunch of bullies." "You are not going anywhere, you chuck head!" Garble declared. "You got a problem?" I asked. "We are indeed true dragons," Garble said enraged. "The same thing can't be said for your and this little dragon of yours! There is something about him that is obviously funny to us." "What if I tell you that this unfortunate child comes from Ponyville?" I asked. "Hahaha! Ponyville? That explains it!" Garble mocked. "I knew there was something vaguely pony-ish about you! If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was part pony!" "Who? Me?" Spike said as if he was provoked. "Let me do the talk." I said and then returned my attention to Garble. "He is indeed a real dragon, deep inside." "Oh, yeah? Prove it." Garble said. "Well... how?" Spike asked. "By acting like one!" Garble answered. "In this case, I will just watch him prove his worth," I said. Spike flinched. "What?" "You have a valor to prove, little one." I said to him. "Wait. You have no intention to join us?" Garble asked. "I prefer let him do the talk." I said. "Are you a coward?" Garble said sarcastically. "That would be you," I said while making a wide smile. "GRR!" Garble looked triggered. "Fine." "Let's skip the belching contest." I said. "What about if we check up his resistance to lava?" Spike flinched. "What!?" "That's too premature," Twilight said with a deep voice from behind me, talking from inside the costume. Garble blinked his eyes as he noticed the costume. "Wait, who is this weirdo?" "I think he's Crackle's cousin." Fume said. "BWAAGH!" Cracked belched. "Oh, that explains it." Garble said. "Then what about tall wrestling first?" I proposed. "Look, I don't know why you insisted to skip the belching contest," Garble said suspicious. "But you know what? I don't care. So let's do your way. Cocky chuck head." "Fine." I said with a deadpan tone. With that, I had avoided Garble disrespect Celestia since Spike didn't had belched that out. Backdraft and Charcoal, the two lesser dragons, are the first to go. I didn't even bothered to check who had won because they both sucked. Then it came the turn of Spike to wrestle against the fictitious tail of the costume that Twilight, Rarity and Rainbow Dash were wearing. Spike won this round against them. "That's... A flawless victory, I should say," I said. "Oh, c'mon, sir," Garble said calmly. "He hasn't exactly proven himself as a dragon yet." "So... The next test?" I asked. "That one of course." Garble said. "King of the hoard!" The king of hoard consisted into dragons battling against each other to prove their worth. Spike had accidentally won by sheer luck. Of course. And then here comes the a lava cannonball contest. Oh man. That was a hard time for him since he is on his own. Much to my calculation, he passed the test through a belly-flop instead of a cannonball, because the older dragons are sufficiently impressed to declare him an official "rookie dragon". The dragons then started their ritual party, in which consisted into a gem buffet. I abstained to join them because I didn't got used to eat some gems. Although I wondered what gems taste like. "Man, was that a great party." Spike said. "Wait a minute. Man?" I thought surprised. "I thought that the Ponies never had met any human in their life. I mean, I know that Twilight used the word 'girls' during- argh - nevermind. Stupid verbal technicality "Great?" Garble said. "Huh, maybe by Ponyville standards. Stick with us, Spike. We still got plenty to teach you about being a dragon." "I'm not going anywhere. The way I feel right now, I could hang out with you guys forever." Spike admitted. I knew he would had said that, and I think I could metaphorically hear Rarity, Twilight and Rainbow Dash saying 'Forever!?'. "I am afraid that won't happen at all, Spike," I said. "Wait, why not?" Spike asked confused. I face-palmed. "I told you before. They are only a bunch of bullies. They didn't have the answer you were seeking this whole time." "Hey, what was that now?" Garble said with a peeved tone. "Let me guess," I said as put on my hood. "You are going to teach him to steal phoenixes' eggs and then eating them or even smash them?" "Yeah, so what?" Garble asked. Spike flinched in shocked horror. "WHAT!?" "I thought that dragons show their dominance against opponents of their size," I said sternly. "Not against those who are weaker than them." I didn't have time to answer that a sudden explosion coming from afar roared. We turned toward the source, only too see a bizarre, armored beige pony with a red mane and clawed hooves, wearing a visor covering his face that flying with fire-made wing, emulating an phoenix. He channeled his hooves a flaming aura and shot a flaming sphere toward us. I took the time to take Spike with me and escape the blow. Twilight did the same by teleporting herself and her friend out of here. The sphere struck Garble and his gang in a fiery explosion. The dragons survived that but were propelled away during the impact. As for me, I took Spike into the woods beneath the volcano and hidden him inside the bushes. Wait a minute... Armored? Claws? Wearing a visor and having fire wings... Oh no. It's him. I know that guy. "Attention, you bastards!" The armored pony declared. "It's Fenix the oppressor that had arrived upon your asses. That's not a simple title. Oppressing living beings is my cause!" I knew there was something familiar in this guy. I could tell that by his own trademark appearance. Fenix is a pyrokinesis practitioner, ruthless torturer and the type of the guy that enjoys to burn and destroy everything in his path. But more importantly, that guy was a friend of one of the Iron Ghosts that killed Kiro and was defeated by me. "That's not good," I murmured and then turned to Spike. "Stay here." "Were are you going?" Spike asked. "I am going to deal with that guy." I said. "Wait!" Spike exclaimed. I went into the depth of the forest in order to not be noticed by others. With that done, I used my DNA Twister on myself and revert to my original form. I then putted the Freezing Gauntlet and the Face Palmer, just to have two hands. Although I putted them on for style too. After having prepared myself, I followed Fenix on his tracks. I ended up reaching the top of another volcano. A very huge one this time. Arrived on the scene, I saw something very brutal. Garble and his gang tried to fight Fenix with their dragon abilities but ended up being beaten up and tortured. I hate to admit, but now they were the bullied one. "Could you please tell me where is your homeland without making some resistance?" Fenix asked cruelly. "Because I am in the eager to gleefully destroy your cultural heritage!" I stood up two legged, ready to give him a real beatdown worth of a Iron Ghost. I removed my cape, revealing my appearance. "Hey, you!" I called, causing him to turn away from Garble and the others. "That voice..." Fenix turned toward and then pointed his claw at me. "ALLEN! You had finally showed up, at last." I was on my own, dealing with Fenix and his hunger for devastation. Being inside a volcano never so climatic and appropriate for this fight. The fire was his element after all. I couldn't see his expression because of his visor but I could feel his anger being exuded from him. "It's just you and me, Fenix," I said calmly. "I have been waiting for you, Allen," Fenix said. "I didn't had forgot what you did to Firepuppet. He was a real, hardcore mother fucker who was also my friend and master with fire manipulation. He taught me how to get the true potential of destruction and you taught him to die. And now I will taught that to you." "I feel no sympathy for him," I retorted. "I warn you, Allen." Fenix said menacingly. "You can't win this time." I made a wide smile. "Bring it, dumbass." "You will be DESTROYED!" Fenix shouted as he charged his hoof with a flaming aura and made a high jump toward me, intended to punch me really hard. I leaped away from his trajectory, causing him to punch the ground so hard that it caused a flaming shockwave. I shoot a freezing bullets at him to get him by surprise, only for Fenix to turn notice that and shot three fire waves from his visor. The waves melted the bullet and traveled toward me while raising walls of flames in their wake. I jumped very high and summoned my black chains in mid-air. I thrown them at him to catch the armored pony. I thought to have caught him, but instead, he managed to grab the chains and use them to slam me against the wall. I groaned in pain as I fell abruptly on the ground. "Fuck if that hurt." I murmured as I slowly rose up on my two legs, a moment before being tackled by Fenix and slammed against the wall for a second time. Having putted me into a corner, Fenix imbued his claws with his own fire and prepared to deliver a fire punch. On the positive side, he was closer enough for me to charge my Face Palmer and shoot a dark wave of energy in the face, propelling him away from me. However, he managed to readjust his balance and brake himself. He lifted his head toward me. Again, I can't see his see face but I think he's clearly glaring at me. "Let's see if you can survive this!" Fenix shouted as he generated a flaming sphere and launched it against me. I ran away from it's trajectory while avoiding touching the walls that had been generated by the previous flaming waves. I managed to dodge that but the impact of the fiery explosion caused threw me to the ground. I quickly stood up and saw two other flaming spheres being whizzing menacingly toward me. I used my DNA Twister to gain dragon wings and flew away. Fenix furiously flew toward me with his fire wings and shot another flaming sphere as he got almost closer to me. In that moment, I used the twister again to lose my wings and avoided being it by falling down. I wasn't flying at a very high height, so I landed without getting a scratch. I looked up and saw Fenix creating a literal pillar of flames from his claws. "My turn." I said, fed-up of being on the defensive. I channeled my hoof with plasma, but I was then distracted by that wretched 8-bit level up sound ringing out of nowhere, startling me. The result? Fenix took advantage of that and slammed the column of flames to me, causing a row a pyroclasms that burned my body and launched me in the air. I whizzed very high, until I surpassed Fenix's altitude. As I was about to fall, that pyromaniac caught me by grabbing my head with his claws. And boy, those said claw were so hot that were practically burning my face. He didn't give me the time to yelp in pain that he flung me toward the lava beneath me. I was falling pretty fast and the burning mark. I was both burnt and dizzied by that blow. My whole body was hurting me everywhere and the burning marks that Fenix leaved on my face didn't helped my situation. As the lava was getting closer, I mustered my strength to use the DNA Twister and turn my coat into dragon scales, right before entering inside the scorching lake. Once inside the magma, one thought traversed my mind. "Damn... That's really hot. I always wondered how much the dragons were resistant to everything related with fire. Why didn't had done that as my first move... Like Batman with the kryptonite spear in Batman Vs Surpeman. Also, I can't believe that my bag is immune from lava. I hope I can say the same thing for my inventory." Without any delay, I emerged from lava and returned to my surface. Before I could do anything, Fenix shouted from above me. "Don't you dare to delay your death!!" True to his words, Fenix channeled the flames inside his visor and shot a fire beam that traveled toward me. I rolled away from it's trajectory, reverted to my original form and shot another dark wave from my Face Palmer at him. He dodged by hoovering at a very high height and dived toward me, charging his hooves with his fire. I channeled the Freezing Gauntlet with my powers and shot three plasma spheres, which size wasn't so exaggerated like that of a plasma cannon. He obviously avoided being hit by them. I was about to shoot another one when the green text box appeared on my left in a very opportune situation like this. What I saw wasn't helping me at all. Money Rifle: A shotgun that uses money as bullets. Seriously, I had almost died by the hands of psychopath because I was distracted by the level up sound and ended up getting a very stupid reward. I mean, who in the whole existence, excluding Final Fantasy characters, uses money as bullets. Was Yomi screwing with me again at big time. Pissed, I hastily rummaged inside my bag, pulled out the infamous gun and threw that at him. Fenix backhanded the weapon, causing it to fly somewhere else while continuing his diving rush. I waited for him to get closer, and once he was a few inches nearby my range, I caught him into my trap. "CRADLE MASS!" I exclaimed. At that point, my Stand materialized itself and put my idea of punishment to practice. The ability of Cradle Mass consist so defy any type of resistance my opponents can even put, hit a specific part of his body with the precision of a sniper and, most of all, inflict pure damage at him. And for pure damage I mean a unblockable barrage of punches raining down of Fenix's face. "FURA! FURA! FURA! FURA! FURA! FURA! FURA! FURA! FURA! FURA!" Cradle continued to punch and then charged his last one. "FURAAAA!!" Cradle Mass punched so hard that he broke Fenix's visor and sent him flying. He ended up rolling on the rocky terrain for a few yards until he stopped. He was apparently immobile, as if his fierce fighting spirit was suddenly crushed. But I didn't had trust that this much. The flaming walls that infested the place continued to burn. My Stand slowly disappeared afterwards. I slowly approached Fenix's body while preparing the Corrupter to finish the job. Without any warning, Fenix unleashed a flaming shockwave that propelled me away from him and threw me on the terrain. As a Iron Ghost with a enhanced endurance, I was pretty much resistant to flames, that those ones were so intense that were burning my body. Again. The flames died off after a handful of seconds, but my body ended up exuding fumes from my burnt coat. "If I have the Healing Book, I would had fixed my wounds and the burning mark on my face in this moment." I thought. "I need a vacation." As for Fenix, he was still alive. Since I had destroyed his visor, I could see his face... Or maybe not. I lifted my gaze toward him and saw what his face looked like. There was nothing more than a pair of eyes and very deep, flaming void. That didn't looked like a face at all, which was really disturbing. "I am relentless," Fenix said with a hardcore tone. "I will burn you with everything that I got. I am not done with you....... That's why you should fear me!" "In your dreams, fire dickhead!" I mocked. "I won't give you the time to get up," Fenix declared as channeled his fire within himself. "As it is true that the my name is-" *BOOM!* That was the typical sound of a shotgun, and I didn't had pulled out my own in that moment.. Something struck Fenix behind him. The armored pony didn't flinched at all. As he continued to channel his own power, Fenix turned around to see who did that, only to be hit by a magical beam that struck him in the stomach, causing him to lose his focus. That made me realize who did that but I didn't had the time to find out. I exploited his distraction rose up and unleash tremendous geysers of plasma that overwhelmed him in a full blast that mostly destroyed part of his body and hurled him against the wall. He fell on the ground and trembled With Fenix being temporary incapacitated, looked whatever did attacked them, being two ponies, as I was suspecting. One of them was obviously Twilight... What I wasn't expecting to see was Rarity wielding the Money Rifle with her telekinesis! She was shooting with my money. "What the hell are you doing here!?" I asked worried. "Just giving you a help, Allen." Twilight said. "I am having a hard time to use this bizarre item right now," Rarity said. "Maybe because you are not a sniper," I thought. "NO!" Fenix screamed as his body was bursting into a coil of flames. "NOT THIS TIME!!" That maniac was charging his whole body with his powers and was about to explode. We didn't had enough time to escape, so I had to act very fast. "Time to end that," I said as I unleashed a flux of energy resembling a lightning made chain that entered inside his body. That's right. I was using the power of corruption on him, but I wasn't corrupting him his mind and appearance like I did with Lilly or Photon Gladion through the Corrupter. I was serious about this one. I was corrupting his armor and body, which allowed me to force him I to delay the explosion and forced him to fly very higher, hoovering above the volcano. All of that done against his will. "YOU BASTARD! L-L-LET ME GOOO!!!" Fenix screamed, a moment before he exploded in a very tremendous explosion. The flames had died off after a few second, revealing Fenix's burnt body. Knowing him, he had survived the explosion but ended being gravely weakened by that burst since he had overused his powers. A fact made present by it's own armored body being awfully mangled. His body was exuding a exaggerate quantity of fume as he was defenselessly falling down. By the moment he almost reached the terrain, I punched the terrain in front of him, causing a pillar of plasma that instantly destroyed his body without giving him the time to scream. His form was dissipated in black embers, which was the only thing left of him before disappearing. I wasn't proud of the fact I had to use a very controversial power of mine, but I didn't had the think. He wasn't giving me much of a choice either. I took a look at Twilight and Rarity, who looked a little bit disturbed by that. I won't blame them for that reaction. "Allen... You weren't corrupting his mind like you did with us, right?" Twilight said. "This is the same corrupting power that I had saw in the vision that Discord showed to us." "Yeah, pretty despicable." I admitted. "I know how you feel about that, but he didn't had given me any choice, you know. He would had exploded in a pair of seconds or two. He was desperate and was about to explode before you could even try to teleport away." "Corrupting us during the time with Discord was evil enough," Rarity said. "But this one? I don't even know how to feel right now." "....... I believe you." Twilight said calmly. "Hmm?" I looked at her, questioning her calm. "Twilight?" Rarity looked confused. "I can see that you are not proud at all for what you have done," Twilight said. "Like all the times you have to... Well. Kill another living being in order to protect us. I cannot get use to it... But that doesn't mean that I don't understand your circumstances." "As much as I hate to admit," Rarity let out a heavy sigh. "You are not totally a bad individual." I blinked. "You have used the word individual?" "I should had said pony but, technically, you are not a pony at all." Rarity said, almost cringing. "However, that doesn't excuse you for turning me into a Remodeled Corpse and ruining my life," Twilight remarked. "Oh, c'mon," I lamented. "Hey, guys!" Garble's voice said. "Did you see that?" I turned around and saw Garble and his gang, looking surprised and shocked to see me. Apparently, they regained consciousness, just in time to witness the fight. I had even forgot they were involved as well. I think that was the time for a remark. "You better pay some respect for once," I said to them. "A pony saved your asses." "Really?... That was...." Garble was about to thank me, but then realized that and shook his head to reject that idea. "Just because you saved us, doesn't mean I would had thanked you for saving us. That feels humiliating." "You can tell that," Fume said. "Don't be ridiculous!" Twilight protested. "He saved your life!" "That's why is so humiliating," Garble retorted. "By the way, a pony with powers? Now that's really scary. And that armored one said that he wanted to destroy us. Another reason for getting revenge on you puny ponies once I am in charge as the leader of our proud race!" To be correct, Fenix said he would had destroyed his cultural heritage, but that works too since he would had committed a genocide anyway. Genocide... What a crude word. "Are done talking?" I asked. "Because your thanks aren't needed anyway." "Fine, because I won't even root for ponies like you!" Garble said. "Oh, yeah," I made a wide grin. "Not even if I happened to possess a very huge creature that is bigger than you." The dragons laughed their asses upon hearing that. Yeah, keep laughing. You won't be so arrogant during the next five seconds. "Really? What creature?" Garble asked sarcastically. "This one," I declared, a moment before I could hear the flap of huge dragon wings. Before anyone could do or say anything, Fafnir landed right behind me, causing the ground to tremble a little bit. He roared His sudden arrival shocked everyone, especially Garble and his gang, who were left speechless and scared shitless. Twilight and Rarity were stupefied to see the metal dragon being in front of their eyes. In reality, I think that what astonished them was the fact that I own this dragon. Fafnir roared fiercely, scaring the hell out of Garble and his gang, who just flew the scene in panic. Twilight looked sternly at me. "Allen, what is the meaning of this?" "You mean Fafnir?" I said calmly. "I used the Corrupter to convert this stone dragon into a metallic one and steal it from the clutches of the Granite Dagger member namer Melkior. Don't get me wrong. I took this during the time I was without my Iron Ghost's powers." "Well... That explains all," Rarity paused and tossed the Money Rifle at me. "And take back your tool, ruffian." I caught the rifle on fly. I didn't had played baseball but Rarity surely knows how to throw something. "I would had asked if you wanted to take a ride," I said. "But I don't think that's the case." "Thanks for the proposal, but I we are going home by ourselves," Twilight said with a dead pan tone as she glowed her horn and teleported herself and Rarity out of here. It's good for the two to not trust or even accept my methods. That means that they had more criteria than any other pony would ever have. But that doesn't excuse Twilight for being the worst guardian ever... In part. "Ok, Fafnir." I ordered. "Time to go home." Fafnir flapped his huge wings and flew very higher. Technically, he would had took me on the smokey mountain because I need him to keep a low profile. As for me, I don't think this day could get any heavier. I had survived that encounter, but my coat was still burnt and my body was hurting everywhere. In other words. I was exhausted. "Damn, I really need a rest really badly," I said. "Is the same for you. Right, Fafnir." The dragon growled as we had arrived in our destination. The only thought that traveled my mind in that moment was what Twilight said about her not getting used to my methods. What she doesn't was that I didn't had got used to have powers at all. Not even in my past lige. Now that was scary... Or maybe not so much. Who knows. Next Level Up:-3 1)Mist Cloak: A mantle who turned the user invisible while increasing it's strength and agility. 2)Mirror Shield: A shield with the ability to create a clone of anything that was reflected, including living beings, objects and money. 3)????: It's up to the public to see what it is, so don't be shy and unleash your creativity.