[One week later]

“Why does my tower has so many fuckin´ corridors? How do they even fit in here?” I grumped out loud while I was wandering my lovely fortress of dark epicness on my own.

My healing had gone smoothly after the raw Mana infusion Norbert had given me from the Tower Heart, even though Gnarl made sure to chew me out for risking the potential magic devastation of the planet and more important, the eventual permanent death of the Minions, himself included, afterwards (and after Zinnia had taken him of the torch hanger, she told me later).

Zinnia was still around and hell, did I enjoy her company but since waking up this morning I felt strange somehow.

Restless, like I was called somewhere. Not the weird pull at my core when I was summoned by another Displaced, no, a different kind of call. Something more base, almost instinctual.

So after breakfast, I had donned my armor and excused myself to allow my feet to drag me of to where ever they wanted me to be.

“Darkness, I think I am walking around for hours now.” I muttered as I suddenly felt like walking against an invisible wall. I was not able to make one more step forward. Irritated I looked around.

Hallway up front.

Wall to my left.

Hallway behind me.

Ceiling.

Floor.

Hugeass door to my right…. Wait a damn moment, where did this door came from? Flabbergasted I stared at the large, really large door in front of me that a second ago had not been there, just a blank wall.

The door itself, one of the double winged variety, was remarkably simple. A blackish material with one metal ornament on each wing, shaped like the outline of an Overlords helmet. Heh, I think I can sense a pattern somewhere. But no door handle or a keyhole.

The weird pull I felt was definitively coming from behind those doors.

“Oka~y…,” I said out “Freaky mystery door, how do I even open you?”

Obviously, the door did not answer.

After staring at the door for a while, internally debating if I should try stuff like ‘Open Sesame!’, I simply followed my gut instinct and took a step towards the door.

Nothing happened.

Another step and again, nothing happened.

>>Oh, now come on!<<

I was about to mind-link Gnarl about my findings as a low rumble could be heard, accompanied by the slow grinding of hard stuff on stone.

With the tempo of a continental drift (okay, maybe a bit faster), the huge door swung open and came to an halt with quite a thundering crack.

Tentative I took a step inside the new and uncharted room of my tower and felt my jaw unhinge.

In front of me, in best Warehouse Thirteen manner, stretched out a huge room… hall… thingy, illuminated by some kind of pumpkin sized Will-o-Whisps floating under the celling by the dozens as far as I could see.

“Holy fuck, it´s bigger on the inside.” I gasped while looking around. “What in the nine circles is this?”

Should I or shouldn't I? I was getting a feeling about the room. It... teemed with malice. That's really about the best explanation I can make.

I reminded myself this was the Overlord's tower. Unlike me, a lot of those guys were evil to the bone and I didn't put it past them to create some sort of... I dunno, evil room where they could suck out my soul.

And now I'm getting a little paranoid. "Better call Gnarl. If anyone's got a clue what this is, it's him."

>>Hey, Gnarl.<<

>>Yes, Milady?<< came the response. Say what you will about the old walnut, he took his duties as minion master seriously.

>>Ever heard about some... what do you call it, evil hidden room in the tower?<<

>>This is the Overlord's tower, Milady,<< came the dry retort. >>It would be a most shameful crime if not all room were decorated to their utmost evilness.<<

>>No, I mean like...<< Come to think about it, what did I mean?

>>It's not like the other ones, you old coot. There's something different about it. It's like... I can feel it calling to me. I dunno, just get your wrinkled butt over here.<<

>>As you wish, milady,<< he said obediently, and don't think I didn't hear him muttering about demanding, emotional women before he cut his link.

I didn't have to wait long. Barely a minute passed, me standing there in complete silence in front of the wide open entrance to the evil room. Completely exposed. Probably not the best idea.

Anyway, the pitter patter of many minion feet echoed around the stone walls and after turning a corner there was Gnarl, carried aloft by six different Browns, who had bent and contorted their bodies so that it looked like the old walnut was sitting in a chair with feet.

He climbed off his Minion mount. The little kobolds either gave me a bow or a salute before they scurried off to do... I dunno, Minion things.

At first, none of us said anything. It was this kind of awkward silence where every party was waiting for the other to speak first.

"Hoo~boy! This is something, ain't it Gnarl?" I said with false enthusiasm, trying to break the ice.

Gnarl didn't say anything. Hell, I don't think he even noticed me speaking. Impudent little walnut...

No, he simply stood there, transfixed, studying the empty void of the room, as if he could see something I could not.

I was about to try to get his attention again when, without another word or without even acknowledging his Overlady, the ancient kobold started his old-people-waddle into the room.

I followed suit, a bit more relaxed but wary nonetheless.

We (that is I) had not made four steps into the room(Gnarl had to make a lot more because my steps were a lot longer than his) as suddenly, the air rippled like it would over a street on a really hot summer's day and for a short moment, it felt like the very fabric of reality was re-arranging itself.

It was a feeling that made me sick to my stomach.

As the nausea went away and I looked around with a renewed sense of worry, my eyes nearly popped out of my skull.

All along the walls, alcoves had appeared. Hesitantly, I approached the nearest. It was easily two and a half meters high and at least one and a half wide. In the alcove, on a pedestal stood an impressive set of armor. It looked like a classical knight's plate, except that the belt buckle was a grinning Minion face and the left gauntlet was unmistakable a Gauntlet of Dominance.

I looked up to the helmet. It was fashioned like some sort of serpentine dragon with two short horns curling upwards, the maw half open. As I looked into the empty darkness of the helmet, I could have sworn that a faint yet incredibly smooth and suave voice was whispering to me.

Shaking my head, I took a step back. "Wow, that was weird," I muttered.

My eyes returned to the display and now I noticed a mace with an oval, spiked head resting in the right gauntlet. At least there was some good taste in weaponry, I had to admit.

Something shiny at the pedestal caught my attention. It was a polished golden plaque, with quite a lot of text engraved in it.

"The Serpent. Successor of the Warmonger. The Silver-Tongued Conqueror, Master of Deceit, He, who by the use of nothing more than poisoned and honeyed words, talked the great and all-powerful kingdom of Medaria into fealty, Master Tactician..." I read out half-loud, deciding to skip the last part of what seemed like a genuinely impressive list of titles and achievements.

"Wow~ee, seems like he was an impressive guy."

"Impressive indeed, Milady," Gnarl whispered. The old geezer turned to me and on his withered face was an expression I had not seen there before. "Milady," he began a bit hesitantly, as if not all that sure how to pick his words. "Do you know what this room is?"

"Of course I don't know what this room is, you old walnut," I said irritably. "That's why you're here. You're supposed to know all this stuff."

Whereas Gnarl would normally look annoyed at my attitude, he instead raised his head and gave a ponderous nod. "I know what this room is, Milady. It is a place that not every Overlord can see. It only shows itself to those whom it senses to have potential."

"It shows itself? What do you mean, is the room intelligent? And potential for what?" The walnut's riddled speech was really starting to get on my nerves.

"This, Milady. This," He opened his arms wide. "This is the Hall of Darkness. This is the room, Milady. This is the room that presents itself only to those Overlords it deems worthy!" Gnarl's voice held a pitch of excitement I had never heard before. "This room is where the greatest of the Overlords are immortalized for eternity, where their names and their deeds will live on to be remembered for every Overlord since." Now I knew it. That odd lilt to his voice. It was reverence.

"You see, Milady, whereas all Overlords are great, not all of them are created equal. There are those who commit deeds, who commit evils so great and on so big a scale that their belongings and their memories are preserved by previous Minion Masters in this room to be recognized until the end of time. I told Milady the room only shows itself to those it senses to have potential. It senses Your Ladyship to be worthy to one day be included among its halls. Truly there is no higher honor."

"The greatest Overlords, huh?" I said numbly. Partly because I was standing in a room chock-full of... well, evil relics and partly because of the dramatic shift in the old codger's demeanor.

"Yes, yes, Milady," he said enthusiastically. "Only those Overlords who have proven themselves to be greater than any other are allowed to take a place in it's halls. This room senses Your Ladyship's potential to rise above your predecessors and join the ranks of the greatest Overlords who ever lived. Oh, yes," The old minion was practically salivating at this point. "Your Ladyship could become as great and terrible as the Eviscerator, he who struck down all his enemies single handedly, who wiped out the elves and dwarf races entirely and who 'killed' the world to boot! Oh, or perhaps Your Ladyship will follow the path of the Warlock, who created Your Ladyship's favorite spell—Corruption! And many other savage magics that countless Overlords since have used. Ah, and of course--"

"Hey, hey! Slow down there, Gnarl!" I said more than a little desperately.

The old minion broke out of what was an undoubtedly long and enthusiastic rant.

My head felt like it was stuffed with cotton that was drenched in one hundred proof alcohol. This was just so god damn much to stomach all at once.

"I think... I need to... sit down, yes." And before I knew it, my four letters made contact the floor.

Gnarl looked at me with a weird expression that was somewhere between 'proud father'(which frankly was creepy as fuck!) and 'annoyed and underpaid college professor'.

"Now, I can absolutely understand that the sheer possibility of all this must be nearly overwhelming for Milady," my oh so loyal adviser said. "Just let it settle for a moment."

Overwhelming. Hah, that´s the understatement of the millennium, Gnarl! I felt cold sweat forming on my forehead and running down my spine, my stomach decided spontaneously to try a second career as a Charybdis knock-off and form a cold, all devouring pit inside of me, I began to hyperventilate and the room started to rotate.

"Milady? Are you not feeling well?" I heard Gnarl ask.

Just by a hair's wide, I managed to suppress a manic fit of laughter even though I could not stop the slightly deranged looking smile that spread across my lips. It has been a stupid defense mechanism of mine ever since I was little. Creeped the hell out of everyone without fail, heh.

"Oh, Gnarl, why in the name of everything that is dark and unholy should I not feel well?" I answered in a sing-song voice, my head tilting slightly to the left. Yepp, there it was, I could feel the maniacal laughter starting to bubble up in my stomach. "I mean, how would you feel when someone suddenly and without warning, dumped this whole 'being worthy to become one of the chiefest of evils that ever walked the earth' thing on our unsuspecting head? I´m positively peachy!" The last words were nearly a shriek.

Gnarl, much to my surprise just nodded and hummed. I had halfway expected a snarky remark about how un-overlord-ish my behavior was. But nope, instead Gnarl simply seemed in thought for a while before he extended his clawed hand to me.

"Are you able to walk for a bit Milady?" He asked, for the very first (and a very short) time, something similar to genuine warmth in his voice. "I want to show you something."

>>Okay, if this leads to an unsuspecting, white Van with 'Free Candy inside' written on the side, I am sooo out of here!<<

I managed to come to my feet and Gnarl lead me deeper in the into the seemingly endless room. We passed countless shrines and alcoves, my mind still somewhat numb from the info dump I just received. My autopilot still managed to follow Gnarl, his waddle making it rather easy to keep up with him.

After walking for quite a while, suddenly I felt compelled to look at a shrine to my right. The armor that was showcased there was oddly familiar. Simple blackened iron, the skull of a Minion(presumably a Brown) fashioned into the belt buckle and what looked like a Reds skull was fastened to the left knee. The weapon of this Overlord was a simple war axe - the main blade large and looked sharpened to the point it could cleave flesh from bone with ease and on its opposite side sat two sharp spikes. I looked at the plaque, it read 'The Fallen Lord. Successor of the Old Overlord, Slayer of six of the Seven Heroes. Lost in the depths of the Infernal Underworld'. Somehow, that sounded oddly familiar.

"Milady?" Gnarl's voice pulled me out of my musings. "Please look at this."

I looked to where his bony finger pointed. It gave me a little start. During my stay in this Hall of Darkness it looked as if the room went on forever and ever, with no end in sight, but there, in front of me stood what I thought to be the back end and carved into the smooth polished stone was yet another shrine commemorating one of the Overlords, but it was different than the others.

We were standing not ten feet from it but I could see that the shrine was elevated and resting not too far from my feet was a step, followed by two others and the space in the ground between them was carved with runes and hieroglyphs in a language long since forgotten. I stared at Gnarl, who wordlessly urged me to look on, but he himself avoided staring at the shrine, his figure hunched, more so than usual, as if he were afraid to look on.

And me, well, I felt odd just being there. I was not normally a quiet woman, or prone to fits of contemplation but as I stood there, in front of this shrine that was obviously of greater importance than the others, I couldn't help but feel a subtle wave of reverence seeping through my bones.

Swallowing audibly, I let my eyes wander from the cowering form of Gnarl over the hieroglyphs to finally fall on the centerpiece of the shrine, the armor and weapon of the Overlord that was immortalized here.

The first thing that I noticed was that, other than with the other shrines, the armor was actually neatly on display on what I suspected was life sized marble statue of its former wearer. The armor was massive, simple iron plates held in place by broad leather bands. Instead of a helmet, there was something more akin to a circlet crown one would see in old barbarian movies, which worked really well with the fur of a unknown animal that was fashioned around the hips of the armor. Despite the obvious age of this evil exhibit, the slightly sand colored pelt was still in pristine condition. The right gauntlet held onto the mother of all war axes. It was a beast with a handle thick like my wrist and with a single, rectangular blade that looked like it just left the anvil. No scratch, no notch marred it´s simple perfection.

Instead of a plaque, this shrine had words directly engraved into the pedestal. The letters themselves seemed to glow from within like ambers. It simply read 'The First'.

"The First," I said breathlessly.

"Yes, Milady." Came Gnarl's subdued tone. "The first Overlord to come into existence, who set the first precedent for what it means to be an Overlord and began the long and noble dynasty that Your Ladyship is now a part of. Everything, all of it, is only made possible because of him."

I nodded numbly, not trusting myself to do much else as my eyes hungrily devoured the sight before them.

"What's his name?" I asked as soon as I found my voice.

"Nobody knows, Milady. There is not much that is known about the First. He lived so many eons ago, long before my time. Those and the world who knew him are long since dead and everything we minions know about him was passed from those of us who first served with him."

"He's the one who started the whole Overlord thing?"

"Yes, Milady," came the patient reply.

"How?"

Gnarl's eyes lit up. "Ah, that I can answer for you, Milady. The rise of the First was particularly well chronicled by the Minion Master at the time. The First was wise, Milady, much wiser than the feeble warlords and tyrants that came before him. His world was old and had prospered at the hands of good and it's agents and suffered at the hands of those who are evil. The First was the first among us to discover a pattern, a rather simple one, but a very important one nonetheless."

"What was it?"

"Good and evil are opposites to each other, Milady. By their very nature they cannot coexist and yet, there can't be one without the other. The First, in his wisdom, studied the history of his world and his people. He realized that those who serve good and evil will always battle one another, but eventually one side is destined to triumph over the other. When the Emperor Plexus enslaved his kingdom and subjected the known world to half a century of darkness, it seemed unlikely that good and righteousness would be capable to topple his rule. But they did. Good persisted, heroes rose and the tyrannical reign of Plexus was brought to an end. But you see, Milady, even as Plexus couldn't completely stamp out good and kindness, neither could his foes vanquish evil from the world."

"The First realized this and used it to his advantage. When one side triumphs over the other, good against evil, its opposite is destined to usurp and topple it. It is a never-ending cycle that's been going on since the dawn of time. The world of the First had enjoyed peace and prosperity from a long-vanquished evil, you see, and so the First knew the time was ripe for evil to triumph over good and take the world for his own. The First was not only smart, you see. He was also wealthy and born to a loving and influential family. He strove to advance his learning in combat, tactics, the darkest of magics and after many years, he emerged in all his glory. He slaughtered his family, razed his kingdom, spread ills and pestilence and embarked on a campaign to bring the world down to its knees."

"Evil was victorious, but even then the First was wise enough to learn this could never be forever. Good was destined to overcome him and he took steps to ensure that his legacy, that of the Overlord, would live on until the end of time. Nobody knows how he did it, he didn't even tell his most trusted advisers but somehow, upon the moment of his death, the First was able to transcend the limitations of his physical body and spread his consciousness into the Void of reality, to stay, observe and impart his powers and his wisdom on those he deems worthy to carry on his mantle. This is your destiny, Milady."

[…]

After Gnarls little lecture... well, fuck little and lecture, what that little dosser served me was more something along the existence changing lines of 'do or die', 'bird eat or croak' or something like this. Basically he was pointing the frikkin gun at my solar plexus with a warm smile while counting down.

I mean... that was almost too much to comprehend. For me at least.

No matter how I played the almighty Overlady, at the end of the day, I was still me.

Little, old me.

A woman of twenty-six, child at heart, obsessed with pop-culture and gifted with powers beyond anything a mortal should ever have access to, in a world based on a children entertainment show. And I was supposed to throw it into an age of terror and darkness in whichever way the fuck I wanted.

My body must had moved on autopilot because, suddenly I was standing in front of my bedrooms door.

Mechanically I entered the room, closing the door behind me more or less silently by simply giving it a shove.

I let myself slump down on my bed, my helmet falling of my head almost on its own before I removed the headgear and let it clank on the dark stone. After that, I simply let myself fall back onto the bed and blankly stared at the ceiling.

"Hey," a voice called, and I turned to see Zinnia walking through from the bathroom, completely naked with water dripping from her body while she rubbed at her hair with a towel. "You alright?" she asked.

"Heh, sure, I´m as peachy as a pineapple in a blender." I said, already descending halfway into a demented giggling.

Zinnia sighed, taking a seat on the edge of the bed nearest to my head and began running her fingers through my hair. "What's going on? Walnut again?"

The giggling died in my throat and suddenly I felt the weight of a mountain pressing down on me. "More or less... you see, I was wandering around a bit when I found this... well, this room." I said, leaning a bit into Zinnias caressing. "It´s, well, some sort of Hall of Fame just not with celebrities in the closest sense but with Overlords. Like, from 'The First', that´s his name no joke, over a guy who basically invented most of our spells, a guy that used to slaughter legions just to develop an appetite for breakfast and so on. All the really big names are there. Hell, I think I even saw Lord Rauschingen somewhere in there. He´s named 'The fallen Lord' now or something. Gnarl told me all about them and then some..."

"And now he's pressuring you to get yourself in there." Zinnia sighed again, standing and quickly drying herself before pulling on red leggings, a black skirt and a black spaghetti-strap top. "I swear, one of these days I'm gonna have a little talk with the old bastard..." she growled before turning to me. "So what did he say you'd have to do? Conquer untold land? Murder hundreds of innocent villagers? Find some ancient artifact to prove your worth?"

"I appreciate the offer Zi but I doubt that would help much." I glanced sideways at her while she dressed up. "That´s just the thing, he just told me that only the worthiest Overlords were to get a personal niche in the Hall of Darkness and that the Hall itself would only show itself to a worthy claimant. How I would get my own niche would be up to me and me alone." Letting out a longwinded sigh, I closed my eyes. "And I found the damn thing. What does this say about me Zi? Am I already that far gone that some obscure, sentient room finds me worthy of being amongst the chiefest of evils that ever walked the very earth? "

A hoarse, short laughter escaped my mouth.

"Hey," Zinnia scolded, frowning playfully at me. "You said it was the best Overlords that got in, not the most evil. Those guys just so happened to be." She chuckled, shaking her head. "It's a long shot, but maybe - just maybe - you can get in by using your dark evilness for good!"

Forcing a little smile on my lips, I sighed again "As much as I want to believe that this was a possibility, there is also something else. I´m fairly new to the dark Ruler business but I have seen enough movies, read enough books and hell, even played enough games to see were this most likely is going to. I tried to use my new powers for good, believe me but there were also enough occasions where I..." I hesitated a bit "Sometimes, I hear this voice and it frightens me Zinnia yet I always let it in like an old friend. Mostly when I´m in danger, like during a fight or when I am really, really mad. It´s an oppressive, haunting voice that whispers things into my mind, how to use magic or how to fight correctly. Sometimes it´s like my body gains some sort of autopilot and I am only sitting on the backseat." I reached with my hand towards the ceiling with a grasping motion "And then there are these feelings. When it happens, I feel these urges to... to kill, to eradicate all those who oppose me in the most gruesome way to make an example. When I make them suffer, I feel this... this sick glee and I feel that they exactly got what they deserved because they dared to oppose my will." Tears began to form in the corner of my eyes "It feels like such a rush, so god damn good, making me want more, losing myself in it..." Tears now ran over my cheeks as I reached with both hands ups and dragged the skin on my face downward slightly. "It feels like I am loosing myself just to snap back to normal in an instant..."

"Well then, that's... not what I expected," Zinnia said. "Though I think I know what you mean. I get the same kind of thing sometimes, but mine mainly just tells me to protect those close to me." She paused, shuddering slightly before continuing. "Like when those chimeras attacked. It was like something just... shoved me out of the driver's seat, taking control just so it could keep you safe. I guess it's just whatever instincts our costumes would have had." She paused again, sitting on the bed and pulling me into a hug. "My advice? Listen to it, but try not to give it control. I'm gonna do everything I can to keep mine in check - may even get my Luna to poke around in my head to see what she can find out."

Leaning in to the hug, I simply drunk in Zinnias warmth and her words for a while. "Sounds like a plan Zi. Though I have a distinct idea what might be my little problem but I need to be sure before I do something." I took a deep sniff, my girlfriends wonderful smell calming me a bit "But there is something else that´s eating at me too... it´s about the choices I may or may not make in the future. They say the path to hell is paved with good intentions and that you either die a Hero or live long enough to become the Villain yourself. Sure, not all Villains are bad guys per se but this is motherfucking Equestria we're talking about here. For all I know I just need to show up somewhere, the ponies panic and before I can say 'Hey, I... ' either the Elements or even the Celestial Sisters are descending on my ass, trying to either stone or fry me because they're xenophobic, two-faced hypocrites. This causes me to defend myself, which in turn will only cement the ponies bias that I´m just another evil monster, which causes them to fight even harder and so on until I am sitting atop a throne made of pony skulls amidst a sea of blood..." I looked at Zinnia with a haunted expression "What if I turn into some psychopathic, dark mega bitch who only cares about how many souls she send into eternal damnation today?" I gripped Zinnias hands tight "You wouldn't be able to love me anymore and then you would leave me or even worse we had to fight each other and then..." My breath became more and more shallow as I rambled on.

"My dear, that'll never happen," Zinnia said with a soft, confident smile. "Because I know who you really are. You're a sweet, caring woman who wouldn't hurt a fly unless they deserved it. And nothing you could ever do would ever make me love you any less." She paused, staring into my eyes. "If this world sees you as a villain, then they see me as one too. Because I will support you one hundred percent, no matter what."

As I stared back into Zinnias beautiful eyes, I could feel most of my doubts being washed back into their usual corners, which in turn made me feel a little bit better. "I love you so much Zinnia." I whispered "C-can we kiss... please?" I asked, slightly cocking my head and leaning in a little bit. She just smiled and leaned in, pressing her lips against mine, leaning slightly into me.

With a content moan, I enjoyed the intimate moment. But then I pulled back as I remembered something, something important.

"Ah, I have something for you." I said, leaving the bed and going over to my dresser. It was not the most creative hiding place but hey. A smile graced my lips and a blush my cheeks as my hands found the small package. I pulled the small bundle of cloth out and offered it to Zinnia who was watching me curiously. "Go on... open it."

Zinnia gave me an amused smirk and opened the bundle, revealing a sleek, silvery pipe vambrace long enough to cover the wearers whole forearm. On top of it, two faces were engraved into the metal, depicting a stylized Zinnia and Myself, our foreheads leaning against each other. Surrounding the engraving was a vaguely heart shaped aura of likewise stylized flames.

"I made this for you... well, Welder made it, but I made all the sketches and came up with the design." I explained with a smile "It´s actual armor but also it is saturated with Minion Life Force. One hundred Browns to make the wearer more resilient against basic damage, one hundred Reds to strengthen one's defense against fire and fifty Greens to grant you a minor healing factor. I had not collected enough Blues for an effective buff against magic... "

"It..." Zinnia whispered, sniffling slightly. "It's beautiful... Thank you, Umbra." She smiled, fastening it to her right forearm and flexing it slightly. "A perfect fit. How'd you get that right? Been feeling me up while I was asleep, too?"

Again I blushed a tad at all the praise "You know me, your body is like a siren's call for me. I could spend whole days just stroking and caressing every little centimeter of your lovely body. Oh my... that sounded pretty creepy eh?"

"Not at all," Zinnia said with a smile. "I'd do the same to you, to be honest. And it's not like I don't like being serviced…" she added, her gaze becoming slightly more sultry.

"Don´t I know it?" I retorted with my own bedroom eyes. "I am glad you like it so much love, my gift that is." Leaning in I stole a kiss from Zinnias lips on my own accord before parting again. "As much as I enjoyed your vacation here Zi, there is something nagging in my mind. If it was my decision, you would stay here till Groundhog Day but you have your own Verse to take care of, a son that needs his momma. Not to mention that Whip is probably walking up the walls by now. It´s been a week here but in your Verse, it could be years for all we know." A hint of sadness colored my voice. "You need to go home for a while at least love."

"It's probably been about three weeks, since three days in my world was one here." Zinnia sighed, standing up. "But you're right, who knows what Darkrai's gotten up to while I was away. Before I go, though, what would you say to establishing some kind of link between our worlds? Like a doorway, instead of having to use the tokens every time we wanna see each other."

"You're reading my thoughts love." I chuckled "And I just have an idea where to start searching for such a spell. I think it’s high time to pay Ponyville and a certain library a visit. Until then, we have to make do with our tokens."

"Well if you're going to Ponyville, then I'm not going home yet," Zinnia huffed, crossing her arms. "Like I said, you're not going through this alone. May as well introduce the both of us to them if they're gonna freak." She paused before grumbling out a "Stupid racist ponies..."

"As much as I wanted that, I must insist that you go back to Stryker, my love. Besides, it is not like I was gonna go flaunting my hot body to those ponies because I have this." I concentrated and cast my Illusion spell that I had refined over the last weeks. As the spell finished I looked like a Unicorn pony with a female Big Macintosh´s build, brown, short mane and tail in a bedhead style, black fur and yellow eyes. "Hi, my name is Umbra Illusion, nice to meet you." I said chipperly.

"You may find this weird," Zinnia said, grinning sheepishly. "But I so wanna do you in that form. It wouldn't be the first time I've had some fun with a non-anthro pony, but it probably would be the hottest."

I returned the grin with my own. "Not at all Zi, I´d love to. Next time though. Would be nice to get some proper input in that form, to see if I get all the details right." I canceled the spell out. "I can do other things with it too. Takes a lot Mana at first but could be pretty much worth it."

Zinnia sighed. "I guess I should go then," she said with a sad smile. "If I don't, I'll just keep stalling."

"I know, I would probably too." I hugged Zinnia close and gave her a longer lasting, more sensual kiss before taking a step back. "I wish you best luck my love. Please give Stryker a hug from me and Whip a slap on the butt." I gave a wink. "Zinnia, our contract is complete."

A large, black spectral dragon's head appeared behind Zinnia, stars sparkling in its scales as it reared back, preparing to lunge. Just as it was about to swallow her, though, it paused, sniffing at her before roaring in anger and diving back into the ground.

"Uh..." Zinnia muttered, a bead of sweat falling down her head. "I swear this never normally happens."

"Uhuh," I muttered "Still scared the everloving dickens outta me. What the hell was that?"

"I dunno why, but I get taken back to my world by a Void Dragon eating me," Zinnia explained with a shrug. "Might have something to do with the fact that a dragon ate me to displace me in the first place."

"That´s nearly as good as disintegrating in front of a huge crowd and your best friend." I rubbed my head a bit. "Sooo, now what?"

"I... have no idea." Zinnia slumped over, sighing. "I'm trapped here. As much fun as we could have, and as much as I love you, I kinda liked the fact that I had the option to go home."

After a while of thinking I asked "Zi, that little sentence should normally send a summoned Displaced back home right? Maybe I said it wrong?"

"Nah, you said it exactly how I always do. And some don't even say it at all." Zinnia sighed again, leaning on her hands with her elbows on her knees. "As long as you've been summoned, it works."

Suddenly I smacked my forehead with my palm. "Gods, I´m so dense sometimes! Zi, you weren't summoned, you hitched a ride with me!"

"…" Zinnia stared at me blankly for a moment before falling back onto the bed. "...I'm so dumb. Summon me then send me home, that should work." She turned her gaze to me, a small smile on her face. "Please tell me that my stupidity is cute? I kinda need a pick-me-up."

"Your stupidity is Sweetie Bell and Dinky Hooves level cuteness my love. It´s weapon grade stuff." I smiled and took Zinnias anklet from its resting place on my dresser. "Okay, here we go. Zinna, I summon you."

Zinnia disappeared from her position on the bed with a small blink of purple light, appearing directly above me soon after and taking me down as she fell. We tumbled to the ground, Zinnia on top of me and my arms around her, and she took the opportunity to get in one last kiss, slipping her tongue into my mouth for good measure.

"Hey there," she said with a grin once she pulled away.

"Hey there too." I grinned back and squeezed her butt in turn for the last time before saying "Zinnia, our contract is complete. Now off with you, my crazy love."

The dragon appeared again, seeming to sneer at us for a moment before it lunged. I simply flipped the bird at the ethereal asshole.

"Lick you later, Umbra!" Zinnia called as the spectral dragon's jaws snapped around her, exploding into a cloud of pink dust.

I simply laid there for a while, relishing in the residual feeling of Zinnias lips on my and her butt in my hands. After standing up, I looked at the pink mess the dragon had left. "Hmm, that stuff... looks almost like, what was it called again? Stardust?" I pondered. "Wasn´t that stuff worth a good penny?"

>>Hey Gnarl?<<

>>Yes Milady? What can I do for you?<<

>>Send some Minions with dust pans, hand brooms and bags into my chambers. I got some stuff for the treasure chamber here.<<

>>Oohh, what is it Milady?<< Gnarl asked with a unmistakable hint of, well, greed in his voice.

>>Pink magical dragon splooge.<< I answered after a short moment. The shocked silence I got in return was so totally worth it.

Author's Notes:

Exposition! Worldbuilding! Actually moving on with the plot!!!
*Bam~bam~baaaaaaa~*

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