[3rd Person POV]

Dawn broke once again across Haven's Peak, carrying a bracing chill. Even then in the early hours of the morning, the evidence of last night's revelries stood as a testament to the Havenites' celebrations. Tables, tankards, banners and plates and chairs and many more items lay haphazardly about, as did a fair few numbers of ponies who had passed out from intoxication, obliviously huddled next to each other. Umbra's Minions were even more scattered and ended up in the oddest of places such as random closets, sticking upright down in empty barrels, at the top of the bell tower sleeping by a rather ferocious looking timberwolf and sawing logs below ponies' beds.

But despite the serene atmosphere, Ganondorf prowled with intent through the streets, the normally ever present Twilight by his side now absent. The little mare had been infinitely grateful that Ganondorf had spared her brother's life and though Ganondorf himself had come to rely rather heavily on Twilight, he allowed her to keep company to her brother in the cells of Haven's Peak. Of course, killing Shining Armor would be wasteful. Sure, it would send a powerful message to Celestia and the Equestrian forces a measure of Ganondorf's capabilities but the Captain would be of so much more use alive than dead.

The stallion was stubborn and held on to his ideals. That was fine. Ganondorf was patient if nothing else. For the moment, he had one task to attend to. He silently made his way to Jackie's cabin to check in on the girl. Ganondorf did not appreciate having to sneak in on a place that rightfully belonged to him, but despite the festivities of last night, Umbra's fury and hatred of him remained strong. To be in the same presence as her and Jackie would be... unwise.

As he neared the single cabin that the girl was situated in, the Gerudo lord found himself slightly surprised and annoyed at the same time as he found Umbra right beside the door. The woman was sitting in a tailor's seat, leaning against the wall of the cabin. A empty jug was still clutched in her hand and a strand of drool was streaming down her chin, dripping on the mane of some of his own guards Ganon failed to name on the spot, the pony in question sleeping soundly on Umbra´s lap. A few meters away, another duo of his servants, Gumball and Summer Breeze, snored in unison with a gaggle of Umbra´s own lackeys piled on top of them.

He focused particularly on the demoness. She lay slumped, unprotected, completely open to attack. Sloppy. Ganondorf's lip curled in distaste and approached the woman. He placed his hand over her head, channeling a subtle form of magic. A safety measure to ensure she wouldn't wake unless something short of a tornado swept through the town.

As he entered Jackie's room, he could see the young girl was already awake.

"Uh... morning," she said, clearly not expecting Ganondorf to come in.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"Still sore in some places. That little turd did a number on my back." She winced and unconsciously moved her shoulder blades, where Shining Armor had stabbed her.

"Are you in pain?"

"Discomfort more than anything and my body's numb in weird places. Freaking pony medicine..." She trailed off. "Where's Umbra?"

"Sleeping outside, with some of my guards." Jackie's face morphed into a grimace of disgust. How curious.

"Oh god..." She moaned, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "I thought she was trying to be funny with Pandora but I never thought..." She shuddered in disgust. "I need a shower."

Ganondorf quirked an eyebrow, but didn't pry. "So," he began. "I assume that you and Umbra will go back to her universe soon, am I correct?"

"Looks like it," Jackie replied. Ganondorf continued eyeing her speculatively. "What?"

"What Shining Armor did to you should never have happened. His presence was not something I anticipated in your skirmish," Ganondorf stated in the same monotone he normally employed, though an undercurrent of hesitation could be heard, if just barely.

"Is this your way of saying you're sorry? And here I thought you didn't have a heart," the young girl remarked as she reached for a glass of water atop the nightstand. She drank greedily, trickles flowing down either side of her mouth. "Don’t know what's in that medicine of theirs but it makes me thirsty as hell," she muttered and wiped her mouth. "So, Shining Armor? That's the little bastard that did... this?" She pointed to herself. Ganondorf nodded. "Umbra told me they tried to come in and invade the village, but you lot beat them good. Is that Shining prick dead?" She asked, her eyes narrowed.

"No. He is of more use to me alive." As he expected, Jackie did not like his answer. Her cheeks colored and indignation quickly overcame her features. "Let me explain."

The girl looked like she so wanted to do otherwise, but gritted her teeth. "Explain what?"

"Shining Armor will be mine, he just doesn't know it yet. His sister is my loyal servant and he will follow in turn. Wouldn't you say that serving the individual he hates the most and helping bring down the country he loves is a worse punishment than death?"

"Sister?"

"Twilight."

Jackie's eyes widened. "The little princess is that bastard's sister?" She erupted in a fit of giggles. "Oh, man, small world after all. Fine, keep him. It'll drive them both crazy, I just know it," she said with certainty.

"I am glad you see it that way," Ganondorf said. "But there is another matter I wanted to discuss with you." At her questioning look, he continued. "I will be frank with you. I would hope you not go back with Umbra. You'd have a place here in Haven's Peak."

Jackie was taken aback, clearly not expecting this. "Yeah... call me crazy, but I really don’t wanna be a servant to you for the rest of my life."

"That is not what I meant. But no matter, I can see that Umbra wouldn't allow such an action. If she thought I tried to coerce you into staying, she'd..."

"Rip you a new asshole?" Jackie helped, grinning. Ganondorf followed suit.

"Indeed. She's not very fond of me, it seems."

"Umbra's cool, but she's too much a pony lover, I'll admit. She can't see things won’t always be rosy with them."

"Which leads me to my next issue. When I asked you, you said Umbra did not so much as instruct you in use of your abilities, save for that illusion spell, correct?"

"Well, no."

"Then I would like to make a proposal. This war will not end anytime soon. The empire and the Equestrians are in this for the long haul. I expect by the time it is over, millions of lives will be claimed by the warring factions. That is why I wanted to make a deal with you."

"What kind of deal?" Jackie asked warily.

"Umbra has a twisted view of the world. She would expect you and me are capable of living amongst the ponies and it is for this very reason that she will not instruct you in the proper use of your powers. Granted, she may let you in on something every now and then but these will be lessons that she deems 'appropriate' for you. Should you stay with her, you will never learn, never reach your true capabilities. You admitted to me that the ponies and us will never be able to truly exist peacefully and because of that, it is inevitable that you will have to defend yourself and Umbra from those who would do you harm. That is why I will be willing to show you how to properly harness your abilities to their full potential."

"Whoa, whoa, wait," Jackie said, holding her palms up. "You? Teach me? How? Even if I said yes, you're still a universe away and it's not like you have tokens or whatever. Not to mention Umbra would totally flip if you start doing the whole Palpatine thing. Her words, not mine," she said after a moment.

From within his pocket, Ganondorf retrieved what looked to be a piece of... chalk? "I took this from Umbra just yesterday during the festivities. Do you know what it is?" He handed Jackie the stick, the young girl looking at it closely.

"It's her dimension door chalk."

"Correct. By using this, you'll be able to open a portal yourself and come here, no matter where you may be. Umbra will be none the wiser and you will learn to properly handle your magic."

"In exchange for what?"

"A favor."

"What kind of favor?"

"That remains to be seen."

Jackie sighed. "What? Come on, speak straight."

"Like I said. I will help you better understand your powers in exchange for a favor. Whatever I ask of you in the future, you will help me, no questions asked."

"A blank check," she stated, eyeing Ganondorf warily.

"For all intents and purposes, yes."

Jackie sighed. On one hand, she couldn’t deny Ganondorf was wrong. Umbra's blue eyed notions that all ponies were relatively harmless nuisances would come to bite them both in the ass eventually and like Ganondorf said, Jackie didn't expect Umbra to teach her how to pull off lethal, destructive or otherwise harmful moves. Ganondorf, on the other hand, had no qualms about it. He held a more pragmatic, ruthless view of things, so far from Umbra's and Jackie couldn't deny he would prove a very apt and knowledgeable instructor in such matters.

Ganondorf watched this play out across Jackie's face. He didn't need to be able to read minds to see the young girl was clearly conflicted, carefully weighing her options.

"If I am to do this," she said after a length of time. "To write you a blank check and help with your schemes or whatnot, then I wanna get my money's worth. I don’t know what you have planned, but I know you're a crafty bastard. Whatever it is you've got in mind for me ain't gonna be as small as infiltrating an enemy camp, right?" Ganondorf remained silent. "No, you got something bigger in mind, don’t you, big guy? Fine, I agree. I'll do whatever favor you ask, but some piddly little lessons ain't gonna be enough. You want me to write you a blank check? Fine. Then I want as big a payment in return."

In spite of himself, Ganondorf couldn't help but smile. "Name your price."

[Umbra´s POV]

Waking up after a night of partying and drinking was usually not a pleasant thing. Usually, the morning after came with a dry mouth, one smelled of cigarette smoke and booze, more often than not pieces of rather intimate clothing were amiss which had ended up on lampposts or ceiling fans, a nasty hangover was digging through one's skull and if things went especially south, one awoke after a night of drunken, unprotected sex with a total stranger. Or several.

I groaned miserably as I squinted at the morning sun sending her merciless rays through the patchy cloud cover.

"Urgh, what the frikk do these horses put into their drinks?" I garbled as I shoved a still snoring pony from my lap. "I feel like that one time back in Poland, when we drunk straight from the distillery."

After regaining my plump line, I patted myself down and to my relief, felt that everything was still where it belonged. Looking around, I noticed that most of the settlement seemed to be in a similar state as myself. A few early risers already had begun to clean up or poking sleeping ponies awake with varying success, for most party goers simply grumbled something and turned around to continue sleeping. The prone forms of my Minions littered the place too and for a second, I considered yanking them from sleep's embrace as rudely as possible so that they would share in my own misery. Ultimately however, I decided against it since it would mean I had to concentrate to an amount that was simply unachievable right now.

Instead, I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and turned to see if Jackie was up and better already. If I was honest with myself, I could not get home soon enough. The more distance she brought between that Ganon and my little friend, the better. That jackass could go straight to hell and sit on a burning coal until it would start to snow for all I cared.

Stepping over my equine cuddle buddy, I cracked open the door, slipping inside as silently as a massive suit of armor allowed one to. "Jackie? You awake yet girl?" But to my surprise, the room was empty.

The room didn't look disturbed by any means. Jackie's bed lay haphazardly made, but that was to be expected. Her clothes were no longer in the small cabinet beside the bed and the gown she'd been outfitted into was now on the floor. Looks like she'd waken up and gone on before I had woken up.

Stretching and cracking my joints, I now blearily shambled to the inn of the small village. Jackie could sure put away the food, which she hadn’t been allowed for almost a full day, so I figured the young girl would first go and look for sustenance. I wasn't disappointed.

There in the inn sat Jackie, eating what looked to be porridge and some sunny side up eggs lathered in a creamy gravy of some kind and even more surprisingly, Twilight sat not too far. I wasn't too sure what happened between the two, but from what I gathered, Jackie and Twi were not on friendly terms with each other.

As I approached the small table, my heavy footsteps alerted the two girls to her presence.

"Heya squirt," I groaned and sat down, pulling a nearby pitcher of water to herself and drank deeply from it, splashing the remains all over my face. Twilight scootched away, fearing to get wet.

"Long night last night?" Jackie remarked, eyeing the proceedings with mild amusement.

"I feel like there's a pack of pissed off Yorkie dogs pulling my brain apart piece by piece but other than that, peachy. Hey, where's the chef? I need something for this headache." Sure enough, a pony came in, serving the trio a pot of admittedly aromatic coffee, which I poured and downed eagerly. "Ahh, that's the ticket!” I sighed.

Grabbing a nearby muffin, I ate ravenously, the more sedate and mannered Twilight looking on with mild disapproval. "So hey, I was thinking that since Ganonprick doesn't need us anymore, we'll be going on home soon enough. Got this feeling in my gut that we´ll be porting back anytime now. Won’t that be nice, eh, Jackie girl? Dunno about you, but I've had my fill of this universe and its resident douchebag to last me a lifetime. No offense, Sparklebutt."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "None taken. It's not the most hospitable of places, I'm sure." The trio of us ate silently, neither feeling much like making conversation. "But you know, it wasn't always this way," Twilight said after a minute of silent chewing. "Equestria used to be a beautiful place. Peaceful, with none of these wars, suffering or conflict. Tell me, Umbra. The Equestria you come from, has Sombra risen?"

I chewed slowly, not sure how to go about this. The Twilight I knew and the one next to me on the table were very different ponies. The Twilight I knew had lived a happy, fulfilling life. She'd managed to attend Celestia's school, hatched a dragon egg from which she was gifted with a lifelong friend and fulfilled a life and destiny far grander than the little mare next to me could hope to achieve.

"Not yet, I guess. Back again, I mean. Timeline is kinda jumbled from what I could learn." I chewed my way through a fried egg I liberated from Jackie´s plate, ignoring my friend's protests. "He rose to power after he killed the princess of the Crystal Empire by turning her into a crystal herself and shattering her to a million pieces. After he drove the Empire nearly into the ground with his dark obsessions, Celestia and Luna confronted him, but just as they were about to finish him, he cast one last spell, a curse or something. Took the whole Empire with him as his essence was sealed into a glacier. One thousand years later, the Empire reappeared, Sombra with it but this time, a group of young heroines showed up and ended the tyrant by means of a love powered artifact, leaving only his crooked horn behind. The crystal ponies were free now and a long lost descendant of the original crystal princess came to be their loving ruler." I gave Twilight an apologetic shrug. "At least that is the way I know it is supposed to go. Maybe it happened back home already, maybe not. Like I told ya earlier, each 'what if", each 'maybe' creates a different timeline."

Twilight nodded and looked down at her plate, her features ponderous.

"It's gotta be hard for you, ain't it, Twilight?" I said, sympathetically. "Out of all the universes you could be born in, you get the one where your country's at war. Well, hopefully this whole thing will blow over eventually. Power of friendship and all."

"Power of Friendship?" Twilight said, the words sounding strange to her.

"Yepp, and if that does not work, there is always peace through superior firepower." I nodded.

"You mean assuming Ganondorf doesn’t win and dominate them both." Jackie commented.

"Can we not talk about that rat´s arse? At least until my hangover is gone?" I groaned.

"What? It could happen."

"You´re right, girl," I admitted. "As I see it right now, Ganonprick has a seventy-something percent chance of world domination with all his tactics, new weapons and the surprise on his side, unless Celestia goes all Nightmare Star on him and chars him into a soot stain. That´s what I mean with 'peace through superior firepower'. Pax imperialis and all that jazz." I addressed Twilight again. "So what's your take, Sparklebutt? Who do you put your money on to win?"

Twilight's eye twitched, as did the corner of her lips. "I am not qualified enough to make such a hypothesis."

"So guess." I replied.

Twilight sighed. "Sombra has the technological edge where the war is concerned. His troops are fiercer and more brutal than Celestia's and are able to fight for longer periods than the Equestrians. Sombra also can conscript and brainwash prisoners of war to do his bidding. But while he has these advantages, Celestia is a better tactician and with centuries' experience in matters of war. She knows a head on assault against Sombra will result in her ponies' defeat. She has, however, managed to outflank and outmaneuver him on several occasions and with her ponies' technological industry catching up to Sombra's she will be able to fight him on more equal terms eventually."

"And Ganondorf?" Jackie asked. Twilight contemplated this.

"Ganondorf has no army. His force is small, less than a thousand, yet he has managed to slip past both imperial and Equestrian forces during his stay here. We've engaged imperials in small skirmishes but yesterday was the first day we faced a full-fledged army. Though he doesn’t have the forces of the empire or Equestria, he is more than capable of surviving against them both."

"Come on, princess. Get to the bottom of it. Think he'll win?"

Twilight pursed her lips, but reluctantly continued. "As I said, Ganondorf's forces are too small for him to have any hope of winning this war. But should he manage to rally a sufficiently large army... I think he'd have a chance."

"Well, don’t worry Sparklebutt, luck always favors the bold, stupid or children," I said. "Fingers crossed that prick spends the rest of his miserable life in Tartarus. He wouldn't make a good ruler anyway. Well, maybe better than Sombra but only that much." To demonstrate, I pinched my fingers together until they nearly met. Twilight looked on with doubt. "What, you don’t agree?" I said, a little surprised.

"Ganondorf..." Twilight licked her lips. "He is as bad as Sombra in many ways. He will use, manipulate and blackmail others to achieve his goals. He will kill those who would challenge him without a second thought and he has no qualm pitting ponies against each other. But..."

"But what?"

"But he is a more apt leader than even Celestia in some ways. I'm not excusing his actions but if it wasn't for him, me and other ponies would have been dead weeks ago. Yes, he conscripts ponies against their will. Yes, he implants a portion of his dark magic in their minds, but he repays our loyalty with his own. There have been many times when enemy forces almost succeeded in killing us, or overtook our own. Ganondorf could have left us to fend for ourselves. He could have ordered us to sacrifice our lives in exchange to buy him time to escape, but he didn't. He takes care of us and takes his responsibilities as our leader seriously. Even here, in Haven's Peak he could have abandoned us to be slaughtered, but he didn't. He may have conscripted us, but we wouldn´t be healthy and alive if not for him."

Gritting my razor sharp teeth, a growl from the depth of my core escaped my lips. "Okay, I get it, it is a smaller of two evils scenario for you. Still feel like shivving him."

"You're too hard on the guy," Jackie commented. "He's more of a realist, is all."

"That has nothing to do with it," I snapped back, only to catch myself. "Okay, almost nothing. I just can´t smell him and that means something. I normally... oh!"

Both Twilight and Jackie quirked an eyebrow as my mood made a one-eighty. Taking a firm hold on my friend's hand, I waved a two fingered salute to Twilight.

"Well, wadda ya know, time to go back home," I exclaimed cheerfully to a befuddled Twilight. "Sayonara, auf Wiedersehen and goodbye. Hang in there Twi, you´ve got a good head on those purple shoulders." And before the confused mare could utter another word, both myself and Jackie vanished in a flash of blue-whitish light.

[3rd Person POV]

Twilight shook her head. Honestly, Umbra could be so random at times. Their departure was somewhat less climactic than Twilight would have imagined. She half expected to see a void of arcane energies to suddenly spring from existence.

Well, good riddance, Twilight thought. She definitely wouldn't be missing Jacqueline and the sooner the young human left Haven’s Peak the better. With the duo now gone, Twilight made her way out the inn and into Ganondorf’s research laboratories in the mines. She was one of the few ponies whose magical signature was keyed in to the wards protecting the underground chambers.

“Well?” he said expectantly.

“They’re gone, both of them.”

“And the device?”

Twilight withdrew from her pocket a small, rectangular contraption, grey and plain save for two knobs and a small counter framed by glass. “It's as you said it would happen,” the mare said as she levitated the device to Ganondorf’s outstretched palm. “The readings picked up a strange sort of energy when Umbra got near. They increased exponentially the longer Umbra stayed within range of it, going well off the charts as they went back to her universe.”

She regarded Ganondorf with a wary expression, and the Gerudo lord picked up on it. "What's wrong?"

Twilight opened her mouth, but paused, thinking better of it. She licked her lips nervously. "What do you plan to do, Ganon?"

"What makes you think I want to do anything?"

Twilight frowned slightly. "You didn't have me stick close to Jacqueline and get these readings for nothing. You're scheming something right now," she said with certainty. Ganondorf's silence on the matter further strengthened her suspicion. "For Celestia's sake, don't tell me you're planning to involve yourself in all this... world traveling nonsense."

Ganondorf's lip curled ever so slightly in the ghost of a grin. "I would think a pony such as you would be interested in such an endeavor."

"I would. I am. It's just... is this really the time for that? We've just handed Celestia and the Royal Guard the worst defeat they've suffered in the last two years. Her sights will almost certainly be set on us, not to mention Sombra's. Some of the enemy managed to escape the slaughter and soon enough, all of Equestria will be aware of you and what you've done. Is wasting your attention on this multiverse nonsense really the smart thing to do right now? We should be focusing on our next move and strengthen the fortifications around Haven's Peak. Additional ponypower will be needed as well, not to mention that with the ponies of Ourtown, our food supplies will last us only a few weeks longer at most. We need to secure a perimeter at the base of the mountain and get ponies to grow fruits and vegetables since the pastures here are inadequate to grow enough food for everypony and..."

"I am well aware of these pressing concerns, Twilight."

"Then please, don’t waste your time on this world traveling business. The ponies here need you."

Ganondorf's lip curled into a smirk. "Who said anything about traveling to other worlds?"

"What? But you... what do you intend to do, then?"

"Observe, of course. From Umbra's pendant I sensed a strange magical signature. Jacqueline allowed me to study it for a while and from it, I was able to glimpse the means by which to open up passages to other worlds."

"Are you saying you can travel to other worlds?" Twilight asked incredulously.

"Even that is far beyond my abilities, at the moment, no. I will need to study and research this far more extensively before being able to accomplish such a feat. I can, however, do something with the information I already have."

"And that is?"

"To see these other worlds. Or at least, to observe our guests for the past two days."

"To observe the events of another world..." Twilight breathed in wonderment. "How? Even if you now have a semblance of understanding how to breach dimensional barriers, it's a big world out there, not to mention universe. How will you know what to look for? To do that, you'd need to be able to use something as a focal point, something pertaining to what you wish to observe, otherwise you'd be doing the equivalent of choosing different spots and hope for the best."

"You are correct," Ganondorf said, pleased the little mare was able to pick up quickly on such matters. She really did have a remarkable mind. The large Gerudo walked to a nearby metallic container, wide and cylindrical in nature. He placed his palm at the top for a moment, channeling his own brand of magic. A portion of the contraption then rose from the center with a fain whir, expelling cold, billowing clouds of vapor across the small room.

Ganondorf then stepped aside. Twilight blinked owlishly but stepped forward, peering amidst the thick clouds of vapor to see four large vials within the machine's protrusions, filled with a viscous red liquid.

"So you see now," Ganondorf said after a few beats of silence. "Within their blood lies their own unique signature. This will be the focal point by which I will find them across the reach of the universe."

Twilight watched the vials in fascination, her heartbeat picking up considerably. So simple, yet so brilliant. When Ganondorf ordered her to take samples from Umbra and Jackie while they were unconscious, she couldn't fathom why he would want blood of all things. She entertained brief musings involving a dark ritual of some sort but this was beyond anything she could have imagined. By using the blood and the unique magical signature within it as a focal point, Ganondorf would be able to find the human and demoness wherever they may be. Of course, the applications beyond this were extraordinary. To see another world, a parallel mirror of her own. What would be different? What would be the same. Would the war even exist?

Twilight gulped, straining to pull her mind back to the present. "Fascinating..." She whispered. "What will you do with this? Will you use it to travel to their worlds?"

"No. For now, we stand back and watch."

[Umbra´s POV]

"Haha, home sweet fluffing home!" I exclaimed as the teleport flash died down, the weird dimensional magic having dropped me and Jackie right in front of the main gate of my tower. Again.

Normally, that would have been a dampener on my mood but just because I was not in Ganon´s Verse anymore rendered that notion moot. After all, it was a nice day in this part of the Badlands.

The sun was shining overhead, a few clouds lazily floated over the vast sky and a chunk of black stone easily the size of a house was sailing straight for the two diverse friends.

Wait, what?

"Move it!" I yelled, jumping into Jackie and pushed the surprised squeaking girl away from the lethal impact that gouged a massive crater into the ramp leading up to the tower's gate, showering both of us in sharp stone shards.

"What in the name of...?!" I scrambled upright, eyeing the house-sized stone with wide eyes. "Well, that's a hell of a homecoming." I muttered while Jackie boggled at the rock in bewilderment.

"Did we miss something while we were away?"

"You know squirt, that just might be it," I agreed, but in that moment, an earth rending shriek blasted through the air, so loud that we both had to clamp a hand to our ears. "Seriously, what the hell is going on?!" I demanded to no one in particular and opened a connection with Gnarl.

<<Gnarl, we just returned and almost got pasted by a massive rock that looks like someone ripped out a part of my tower! Did you start a fucking war while I was away?>> I 'yelled' over the mental connection.

<<In the whole three hours your Ladyship has been absent? I may be competent but that goes even over my abilities,>> promptly came the snarked answer. <<No Milady, for that you can thank the massive flamethrower that showed up just moments ago and... oh dear, watch out Milady, here it comes!>>

I had not the time to ask for specifics as another roar reverberated through the air and a truly massive shadow blotted out the sun. Seconds later, the ground quaked, rattling the bones of every living creature in a one kilometer radius like maracas. Looking up, I suddenly understood the meaning of 'shitting bricks'.

A dragon, easily as tall as my very tower loomed over us. Scales as dark as a moonless night covered the monolithic body, only interrupted by a granite grey underbelly. Massive horns curved upwards from a head that looked like a sperm whale would look like a salmon in it´s jaws, gouts of dark red fire lancing from the spaces between the truly intimidating teeth. Golden eyes with slitted pupils so thin they looked almost nonexistent bore down on the small creatures before the beast, wings larger than sails on a warship casting a shadow that choked out hope and light alike.

"Uzgrolein. Zu'u rund hi ahst jok! [The anomaly. I found you at least!]" The dragon boomed, the sheer force of the voice crashing into soft bodies like a shockwave. Slowly, the creature bent its head down towards the tiny frames to its claws.

I stared, my limbs frozen in primal fear. I stared up to the massive beast, no, the force of nature that loomed over us. Every instinct, no matter how deeply buried in my mind begged me to run, to flee, to crawl into some hole and never show my face again. Through this, I only faintly noticed that my pants were sopping wet by now. I could barely make out Jackie, whom I hugged close to her to the point of constricting her breath and squirmed against my iron grip.

"Rodraan hinmaar, wah dir. [Prepare yourself, to die.]" The voice of the beast rang like a death-bell of titans as the hellish red glow in its maw began to intensify as a flame unmatched in this plane of existence rose from deep within the dragon's belly.

This was it, I was sure. I would die once again, but given that dragonfire always had some magical properties, I would probably not come back. That in itself took second place however over the guilt that Jackie, sweet little Jackie would die alongside me.

I did the only thing her terror stricken mind allowed me to. I closed my arms around the quivering body of my friend, pushing her head against my bosom to avert her view from her impending doom and closed my eyes myself.

The heat grew to blistering levels.

Any moment now.

But then, another voice, not nearly as dominating as the titanic dragon's cut through the air. A voice I knew well very well.

"Monah, saraan! [Mother, wait!]"

The heat almost instantly died down.

"Mon dii? Fos... druv los hi het? [Daughter mine? What... why are you here?]" The voice of the giant dragon boomed, a hint of disbelief audible in it.

Cracking one eye open, I nearly cried out in part joy, part concern. Right there, protectively in front of myself and Jaqueline hovered Onyx, the dragoness' wings beating a furious staccato to keep her aloft and in the line of fire right in front of the leagues taller dragon's maw. To my unending surprise and gratitude, I now noticed that my draconic friend had taken an aggressive stance, arms outstretched, tail whipping around behind her.

"Zey? Fos los dreh het? Paakmey zey ko teyn do dii fahdon! [Me? What are you doing here? You're embarrassing me in front of my friends!]" Onyx shot back.

I couldn’t make out the strange yet familiar dragons' language, but whatever Onyx said, seemed to slightly annoy the Godzilla sized monster.

"Friends?" The massive draconid peered at the two minuscule humans, slipping into Equuish or English or whatever one liked to call it, as well as lowering its volume to more bearable levels. "These creatures are your friends?"

"Yes, mom, they are. And what´s more, the black one gave her hoard to me!"

"WHAT?!?" The obvious elder dragoness roared, causing a rockslide to go down on the surrounding mountains before she leveled her burning glare at me who was cowering at this point. "Dreh dii mon tinvaak vahzen? Lost hi krilon wah kroved dii fariik sogaal? [Does my daughter speak the truth? Have you dared to defile my precious gem?]" the dragoness roared, making one ground pounding step forward but once again, Onyx thankfully intercepted her mother.

"Monah! [Mother!]" Onyx yelled, snorting her own blue fire "They do not understand our tongue! And Umbra has never laid as much as a claw on me! She doesn´t even know of our rites and traditions but not only saved my life but gave her hoard to me by her free will and out of pure intentions!"

The massive dragon growled and, before either party could react, her form shrunk down, much to the amazement of Jackie and me and where before stood a Godzilla sized draconid, Onyx's mother was now reduced to a good ten meters in height. Which was still a lot.

From above her, Onyx fluttered to the ground. "Explain, young wyrmling," the dragoness commanded, her words still as imperial as when she was a walking mountain moments prior.

And so Onyx regaled her mother with the tale of how she and I came to meet, starting with Onyx shamefully admitting she'd been captured by a pony of all things, how they'd stumbled across me, how the I had freed Onyx from the clutches of the ponies and became friends, with me inviting Onyx to share my home and hoard. By the end of it, Onyx's mother was doing a good impersonation of an exasperated parent, rubbing her temples with both claws, eyes closed and muttering frustrated curses under her breath.

"E-excuse me...ehrm, ma´am," a small voice said, my own, now able to speak for the first time, still shaken at the near death. "What is your name, if you please? S-so that I can address you proper."

The still massive dragoness stared at the fidgeting form of me, as if complementing something connected with dragonfire and mortal flesh. Finally, her lips curled upwards, showing off her fangs. "Demotha. The mortal races call me Demotha, little pusojur [insect]."

I licked my lips and now registered a very uncomfortable warmth in my trousers. Fighting down the embarrassment, I straightened up and addressed the dragoness proper. "Oh, great Demotha, queen of dragons, why did you attack my tower and myself? Have my Minions or I offended you in some way? If so, then I really, really apologize. Whatever it was, it won’t happen again."

Demotha snorted. "You? I have no interest in you, child. It is your companion I am after." she said, peering over at Jackie.

"Jackie?" I blinked dumbfounded. "Why her? What did you do, girl?" Said girl simply shrugged helplessly, clearly confused at the proceedings.

"I'll tell you what," Demotha said. "Your friend there, miniscule as her stature may be, she still harbors inside her sil, or soul, as you would say it, a force so unnatural, so keiz..."

"That means revolting, by the way." Onyx supplied.

"Yes, daughter mine, so revolting that the sheer will of the planet itself refuses her existence."

"What?" Both I and Jackie uttered at same time.

Baring her fangs again slightly, Demotha continued "Yes. Despite what you young species believe, our world has indeed a consciousness and a will of its own. All the lu, the magic and the laas fus, the life force of all living creatures flows back into the everlasting flame that first gave life to this world. All the emotions, memories and all that an individual has amassed in its life merges with the condensed mass of all those before them. From this, the planet gained a consciousness and a will of its own."

"Forgive my impertinence, oh mightiest dragoness, but what does this have to do with Jaqueline?" I questioned, giving my damnedest to sound submissive. Unknown to me, Gnarl had been listening through every word via his mental link with me and promptly admonished me for showing submission against this foe, claiming I disgraced myself, my Minions and other such blatherings until I had enough and commanded some nearby Minions to pummel the old walnut into paste. An order the kobolds happily obeyed.

"Ah, the groveling of mortals, so refreshing," Demotha smiled "I feel for that, I shall regale you. Now, have you noticed strange occurrences over the last weeks or days? At first seemingly harmless accidents, like tripping down a stair only for these occurrences to grow more lethal to the point that it seemed like someone was out for her life?"

"Yes?"

"Well, that is because it was exactly that. For you see, the world itself tried to rid itself of this child, much like a body acts against an illness. For her very presence warps the fabric of reality itself, although in such subtle ways one might easily miss it even when looking for it. Your... Jaqueline is like an infested barb in the flesh of this plane and after every attempt to remove her failed, it fell upon me to do the deed of ridding the world of her. Even now, I feel a primal pull at my very core, urging me to simply annihilate her with a gout of flame or devour her."

From the corner of my eye, I could see Jackie twitch in indignation and no sooner was the unruly girl about to say something that would no doubt fatally anger the draconid, that my hand snaked across the back of the girl's neck and roughly pulled her down. "I will not have any of your attitude right now, brat, ya hear?!" I hissed. "There's a time to be snarky and a time to bow down and now is one of those times, so shut your pie hole and behave like normal girl, you hear me?" Without waiting for an answer, I let go and addressed Demotha again.

"I had no idea. Please, great dragoness, forgive my little friend. She had no idea her presence in this world was so unwelcome. But killing her is a step too far. Can we not settle this in peaceful terms? Return Jackie to her own plane?"

Demotha looked thoughtful while Jackie tensed beside me. "Her very presence is a cancer on this world. But if she were to go back, the problem would go away. Yes, child. This would be an acceptable course of action."

"Is anyone gonna ask me what I want?" Jackie piped up indignantly.

"Girl," I placed my hand atop my friend's shoulder and sighed. "I don't like this anymore than you do, but it's either go back home or become a crispy roasted critter."

"And a snack, even though a pitiful one." Demotha muttered.

"Mom!" Onyx flared up.

"That being said," I continued. "How would we even go about this? Jackie ain't no normal Displaced, as we dimensional wanderers call ourselves. She didn't use a token and so we can’t send her back that way, so how...?" I trailed off, in thought. "Couldn’t you help us in this, Demotha, ma'am? Surely you know a thing or two about this whole business."

"Pray tell, you speak of 'tokens' and 'sending'. This sounds like the magic art of summoning to me." Onyx mother inquired.

Rubbing my head nervously, I nodded. "In a sense, yes. Tokens are small objects imbued with a part of our essence, used to summon the owner into the user's universe. Through that token, one can send a Displaced back, too. I hope that makes sense to you, ma´am."

"More than you might think," Demotha nodded, her tail whipping around behind her. "These tokens sound like anchors to me, something used to open a tunnel or gateway. Summoners can use any object with a strong enough connection to him or her to open such a gateway."

Mulling over these words, I chewed my lip carefully. A personal item could be an anchor, a fix point to open a gateway. Something soaked in my essence, something that had been close to a person, very close. Maybe something like an article of clothing? Or...

"My helmet!" I exclaimed suddenly, startling Jackie with my outburst. "Remember, girl? When the portal pulled us over onto my world, I dropped my helmet. It's still there, in your universe, probably just lying in the ground."

"And do you think you could make a gateway via this?" Demotha asked.

"Well... maybe? I mean, I can make portals easy enough and I used the Beast itself to open a gateway close to it, so... yes. Maybe."

"Congratulations, little one," Demotha said drolly. "Looks like you get to live another day."

"But," I said. "I've never tried to open a gateway to another world. That's on a whole other level than anything I've done before."

"Are you saying you can't do it?" Demotha asked.

"Hey now, none of that. It will be tough, and it'll probably take me a while, but I'm sure it can happen." I licked my lips and addressed the great dragoness again. "So, Demotha, ma'am. I know you are driven to restore balance and whatnot, but could you find it in your heart to give me a few days to try and open another portal? I'll get this little one back home, I promise, I just need some time. Can we have that, at least?"

Demotha eyed the two of us speculatively, but if the expression on her face was any indication, she didn't thought too highly of this idea. She shared a glance with her daughter, the younger dragoness giving her a stern look. "Very well," Demotha growled. "You have three days to try and send this little creature of yours where she belongs. I suggest you spend your time wisely."

With that, Demotha unfurled her wings and with a mighty flap that sent both Jackie and me to the ground, took to the skies, with a speed rivaling that of the sonic rainboom effortlessly.

"Well, that went well," Onyx commented, having dug in her claws to keep from being knocked to the ground. "By the way, you owe me for this one, both of you." she said smugly.

"Thanks, Onyx." I mumbled miserably.

[...]

The next three days were spent under the heavy shadow of the ultimatum issued by the dragoness Demotha.

I spent almost every waking moment brooding in my arcane lab, trying to make heads or tails out of the delicate process behind breaching barriers between dimensions to get Jackie safe back home before either my part of the Multiverse or Onyx's mother would end her young life. After the first day had not yielded any progress at all, I had commanded my loyal lackey Lyra back to the tower and sent her to dig up all tomes even remotely helpful from the vast evil library inside the tower.

Jackie for her part had been in a sullen mood ever since, barely talking to anyone, either myself on the rare occasion I left the study to eat a bite in order not to faint on the spot from exhaustion or Onyx or even the odd Minion for that matter. The young girl had spent her time mostly in the room issued to her by myself earlier, lost in her own thoughts behind closed doors.

When Lyra arrived via a Minion escort, I sequestered her in the arcane lab and the pony hadn't been seen outside since, having her meals brought in per my orders as the we pooled our heads together to try and come up with a way to open a portal between two dimensions. No small feat to say the least.

I succeeded in teleporting close to the Beast's location because the mace itself was forged from the Arcanium smelter, itself used by countless Overlords before me and so the armor and materials borne from it, and the other smelters such as the Durium, or even the often overlooked but always trusty Steel had been infused with the essence of the Overlord itself. It was by this tenuous but stable connection that I managed to locate my Beast and retrieve it.

However, in order to open a doorway to Jackie's own dimension, I had to get in touch with the very distant signature of my helmet's essence, which lay a universe away. This was not something I could merely concentrate on and achieve, and so I commanded Gnarl and Lyra to pore over my vast collection of books inherited together with my tower. Sure enough, Lyra herself proposed a solution.

Long before my time existed an Overlord, the Conqueror, who had set to devise a plan on how he would be able to not only find other realms of reality but also reach them safely after he successfully became the supreme ruler of all lands in his time. The first parts read like the typical dark ritual, involving a lot of candles, a complex array of mystical runes drawn on the floor and the sacrifice of at least one regular human's worth of life energy to fuel the portal. That part made me feel ever so slightly squeamish, but with the return of Demotha looming on the horizon, I decided that I had to do what I had to do, reservations be damned.

And so everything was prepared. Lyra, with her proven understanding of rune work was tasked with the runic array, together with Gnarl and to everyone's surprise, Norbert too. The Death Minion just showed up during the preparations, presenting me with two glowing, yellow soul orbs. When questioned of how he knew that souls where needed here, he simply answered with, "a reaper knows such things," and left it at that.

The runes prepared and the candles lit, I took my position on the designated spot, my left feet on a rune resembling the letter alpha and my right on one resembling the letter omega, my body meant to act as a conduit for the ritual as well as supplementing the magical spark to start.

"Forces from beyond the veil, heed my call. I command you to tear open the fabric of reality for I wish to set to the stars and conquer the very heavens themselves!" I droned out, trying to give my voice the ominous quality the spellbook clearly demanded (it was written in bold and underlined three times), as I felt the runes flare to life and started to sink their metaphorical teeth into my mana reservoir.

In the background, exactly one dozen Minions dressed up in the traditional garbs of nuns gave their very best to present a nameless yet crucial dance to guide the untamed arcana swelling in the room and guarantee the success of the ritual. The hopelessly oversized clothes in combination with the kobolds' very own brand of erratic energy all but managed to make it look like a dance routine taken from the fever dreams of the great Monty Python.

The candles' flames suddenly began to burn thrice as intensely, which signaled for Lyra in her hastily appointed role as second-in-command ritualist to gently float the two soul orbs into the glowing circle at Norbert's behest. The souls had not made it a steps length into the runic array as an eerie wind began to blow from everywhere, carrying with it the faint moans of the damned or otherwise eternally suffering. Within a heart's beat, the souls flared to life like twin stars, briefly banishing every shadow from the ritual chamber, forcing everyone to close their eyes, lest they wished to risk blindness or vaporized eyeballs.

"Did... did it work?" Lyra croaked from the sidelines.

"Don´t know." I answered, rubbing my eyes one last time before taking a peek. Indeed, the ritual had been an marvelous success, for right there, in the middle of the circle, just a few centimeters above the ground was now a shimmering and wavering tear in the very fabric of space itself.

The portal in itself was without any sound. No ominous humming emanated from it nor produced it the sound of a breaking mirror as it opened up and most importantly, no hellish beast from the darkest reaches flooded the tower, ready to slaughter the fools who unwittingly invited them in. It just was.

"Well, that was underwhelming." I muttered, skeptically eying my work.

"Master, how do we know that this is a portal to the right place?" Lyra inquired from underneath her getup's hood.

Just at this moment, something shot out of the portal. It was a small, fast blur and before someone could have reacted, impacted with my precious mug with a wet crunching sound, sending me sprawled on my back, yelling profanities in pain.

"There is your answer, pony," Gnarl said with a sour undertone as he neared the object, having to rely on a walker made out of an adventurous mixture of bones and crooked wood, held together by sloppily hammered nails, rat guts and a lot of faith in lieu of the beating he had been subjected to three days prior. "Ah yes, this is clearly the Evil Glare, her Ladyship's most trusted helmet. Can´t you see the finesse that has been involved crafting it? The love for the detail? The induced urge to empty your bladder and babble like an incoherent madman under its baleful glare?" The old Minion lectured as he slowly bent down and retrieved the headgear, dusting it off with the hem of his cape.

"Okay, so my helmet is back, but what tells us that it was not just pulled here by some freak chance?" I grunted as I took the helmet from Gnarl and put it back on my head. It fit like a glove and for some reason, I now felt whole again.

At his liege's query, Gnarl rubbed his wrinkly face ponderously. "Why, we could of course just send someone to go and see if it is the right place beyond that portal, Milady. After all, from what we know, your little acquaintance hails from a rather unique world, does she not? I am sure, it would not take long to verify your success Milady. I vote that we send the Unicorn to test the waters, as they say."

"What? Tartarus no!" Lyra bristled.

"It is not as you have much to say in this, you squishy gluebag," Gnarl retorted snidely. "It is only fair for her Ladyship's most useless slave to embark on this quest. Should you die for whatever reason, there is no real loss on our side."

"I show you useless, you damn rat licker!" Lyra growled, lighting up her horn and taking a battle stance.

"Enough! Stop this, both of you!" My presence ended the potential fight before it could break out. Lyra was lifted by her scruff and Gnarl by his collar. "I just tore open time and space and feel a bit thin skinned so if you want to start a fight, be prepared for me to crack your damn skulls open, ya?" I growled, giving the equine and the minion each a hearty shake before dumping them unceremoniously back to the hard stone floor. "But Gnarl is not entirely wrong. We should only send someone through this thing who would be no real loss should something go south."

Gnarl´s face lit up at that while Lyra´s fell.

"So in that light, someone hand me a rope!" I demanded and a Minion quickly handed me the demanded good. From where the little beastie got a sizable length of rope so fast, I decided to ignore for the sake of my own sanity.

Lyra huddled down on the floor like a scolded puppy as I loomed over her, rope in hand. "M-master, please... don´t..." She squeaked terrified.

"Don´t what? Don´t tie this rope around Gnarl and kick his wrinkly ass through this potentially lethal portal into the unknown?" I asked as I proceeded to secure the rope around Gnarl's person, ignoring my adviser's loud protesting. The wrinkled old walnut flailed and so two Browns were summoned to slug him in the kidneys and hold him down as I fastened the rope around him. Meanwhile Lyra looked on with relief and a nastily vindictive grin spread across her muzzle as the lecherous gremlin got his due.

Neither she or Gnarl had gotten along, and that was putting it mildly. Ever since the little mare had become the my newest thrall, Gnarl had been insecure about his position as my most faithful servant and so had made it his mission in life to make Lyra's stay as miserable as possible. He had itching powder put in her bed in the little room I gave her for when she stayed in the tower, commanded rats to flow from her basin and toilet (a very unpleasant surprise, especially early in the morning) and even went so far as to issue thinly veiled threats to the unwitting little mare.

Of course, Lyra didn't take this lying down for long and reacted appropriately. One day, when Gnarl ordered his daily breakfast of squished insects, rat liver and fungi, he had been presented with a very delicious and nutritious fruit salad, a little honey drizzled in; a steaming bowl of porridge laced with flower petals and a blueberry muffin to top it off. Such delicious, hippie fare would likely kill the evil little gremlin, that is, after his stomach exploded. Enchanted suits of armor had come alive as Gnarl hobbled past, poking him with their sharp spears in his sensitive parts or entrapping him in their hollow confines for hours on end. It was only due to my intervention that stopped such incidents from devolving into real violence.

"Ach, quit being such a pussy, Gnarl. Even if you die, Norbert can just pull you out of the soul river without any lasting harm. Like you said, it would be no loss at all. If anything, you would be one probably interesting death experience richer."

The dazed Gnarl mumbled incoherently as his two younger brethren hoisted him over their heads and carried him to the silent portal.

"Alright Gnarl, thank you for volunteering to boldly go where no Minion has gone before. I´m sure you will do me and the whole Minionity proud. Throw him in boys." I declared cheerfully.

Gnarl just had enough time to utter a last yelp before he vanished into the surface of the portal like a pebble in a pond, only the rope leading into the portal an indication that something had happened.

"Master, ah," Lyra began. "If Gnarl really does get eaten or something, is it really necessary to bring him back? With me at your side, you won't need that skeevy old walnut anymore and I promise, with Celestia as my witness, I'll never say mean things about you behind your back, or boast implied on how I'll overthrow you one day, not like him."

A vein pulsed in my temple. "For the moment, yeah, Harpbutt. That lecherous little geezer's more use to me alive than dead. But who knows, I might just have a position for 'most faithful lackey' opening soon." That he'd been plotting behind his mistress' back was left unsaid but then again, I already had such an inkling about the treasonous walnut.

We waited patiently for any sign or indication that Gnarl had died by some means and when, to Lyra's dismay, the old Minion had tugged the rope three times, he was promptly hauled back.

"Still alive, huh?" I remarked as Gnarl was unceremoniously dropped. "So how about it, Gnarl? Is it Jackie's universe or what?"

Slowly, the old Minion stood, cracking his joints in a very repulsive fashion. "I cannot say, my Lady, but I can tell you it is very much safe. The portal took me inside a closed space, itself moving and rattling with every bump in the road. I believe it was the inside of a train."

I mulled this over. Did a pony come across my helmet during this time? Gnarl didn't say anything about seeing anyone else and if the portal really did open inside a moving train, that would only mean it was heading for civilization and due to the unusual state of Jackie's world, it'd be for the best she appeared somewhere out of sight. Wherever the girl might be, she had to leave and the sooner the better. "Fine, I'll let Jackie know," I said, a hint of dejection creeping into my features. "Gnarl, get this cleaned up. Lyra, when this is done, go back to Ponyville and keep your cover. Make whatever story you need for you being here so suddenly. And let me know if there are any changes with the portal, I gotta go get that girl." I muttered, already on my way out.

[...]

I walked with purpose through the halls of the tower, searching for my wayward friend. I hadn't seen much of Jackie since Demotha's ultimatum, instead having focused my attention and energy on solving the dilemma presented before me. Only now did I realize Jackie would be going back shortly, and who knows when, or if, we´d see each other again. I felt a cold pit of dread form in my stomach. The two of us had minutes, maybe an hour or so before the Jackie would go on home and instead of making the most out of these three days, I had been ignoring my friend completely, so absorbed in my own work.

I sent a mental command to my Minions, to be on the lookout for Jackie and inform me of her location. That hundreds of kobolds populated the tower made the task all the easier and now I approached the doors to my throne room. Sure enough, there was Jackie, standing before my throne, hands clasped behind her back, her gaze fixed on my seat of power, an unusually ponderous, introspective look in her face.

She looked up as my footsteps heralded my arrival. I stopped short, unsure how to begin. Jackie's face remained oddly blank as she met my eyes.

"You got your helmet back," she said after a short span of time. I blinked, not realizing I was still wearing my headgear.

"Oh, this old thing?" I removed it, holding it in my hands. "Yeah, gotta hand it to Lyra. That manic little mare sure outdid herself. Gotta think of a suitable reward for her," I rambled on. Jackie didn't answer and I fidgeted uneasily.

"So there's no way around it, huh? I gotta go back," she said it with a hint of finality. “I assume the portal opened?"

"It did. I sent Gnarl in, to make sure it was safe. He made it sound like the place was inside a moving train. Guess someone came across my helmet and planned to make off with it." I licked my lips. "Look, girl, I know you don’t wanna go back... hell, I don’t want you to go back, but you see why it's gotta be this way, right? If there were another alternative..."

"Yeah, I know," Jackie sighed. "It's just... I dunno. I was really starting to like it here and now I gotta go back to that place filled with stupid ponies and brain dead troggs and... ugh. But yeah, I know. Balance to the universe, roasted by a dragon and all."

"But hey, it might not be so hopeless after all," Jackie then said. "I was talking to Onyx, and she's been talking with Demotha. Some sort of dragon fire thing. I don’t know how it works, but old D said that after some time, when things start to get in balance or some cosmic shit, I could pay you guys a visit now and then. Not as long as I would like, but a little short visit and always sparingly would be okay."

"Wha... really?" I blurted, my eyes wide. "Hah!" I dove forward and threw my arms around Jackie enveloping her in a crushing hug. "Onyx, you wonderful bitch! Ohh, this is great, awesome news, girl. See, it's not all that bad. The universe seems to have thrown us a bone for once and we sure as hell are gonna gnaw the shit out of it!"

"There's... one thing though," Jackie said, her voice strained and a small smile on her face, making no attempt to escape my clutches. "No one really knows how long it'll be until I can cross over again. Not even Demotha. Could be weeks, months, years..."

"Don't worry about that none, Jackie girl," I sighed. "We can get all this stuff sorted out later, but we really need to get you back. That train could reach its destination at any time and you really don't want to make things difficult on yourself by waiting. Last thing you need is to appear in front of a crowded station or something, especially with the status quo of your world." I set her down and grasped her arm. "So come on, chop chop."

Jackie rolled her eyes, but followed suit.

"So I gotta ask," I said as we walked side by side. "But what exactly where you doing in the throne room in the first place? Wanted to try out the seat for the royal posterior, eh?" To my surprise, Jackie chuckled.

"No, not that. I was just... wondering."

"About?"

"Well..." Jackie trailed off, thinking of a way to formulate the words. "It's just that I've been thinking. Being here, in Ganondorf's 'Verse. I look at you guys and... well, you've done pretty good for yourselves," Jackie said, her gaze directed to the ground, a small crease in her brow. "You guys, both of you. You're like me. Or I'm like you, whatever. You two were sent to this horse fairyland, but you haven't like... I dunno. Assimilated or whatever. Neither of you have taken the ponies' bullshit, you've built something here, you've made something of yourselves and me... well, what have I done? Sure, I can screw with the stupid little ponies, but I don't have a big ass tower with tons of treasures in it. I don’t have legions of brain controlled ponies. I haven't given them the metaphorical finger besides screwing with them a bit, but you... well, you're cool," she said almost shyly. "And me... what? I don’t have none of that."

I listened, equal parts flattered and confused. "Really now?" I locked an arm round Jackie's neck and pulled her close. "Aww, thanks girl. It means a lot, you saying that. But what are you talking about? You're not me, and you're certainly not that colossal fuckwit Ganonprick, thank darkness for these favors, but you don’t need none of that. You are Jaqueline and that is all you ever need to be. Sure, you take the 'Jackie smash' route more often than I would like, but you managed to come this far without any real outside help when you discount those friends you mentioned once to me. You successfully managed to get a grasp on your chaos mojo workings where I am sure, others would have blown themselves to blood giblets. You not only survived in a universe where mankind is nothing but braindead livestock but you thrived. That all is the base for your future Jackie. Take it from me when I say, I am ready to bet my whole life on it that you will find your way in your Verse, to find a corner of the world you can fill with those you wholeheartedly can call friends. Maybe they might be antisocial jackasses, weirdos or some kind of crazy scientists for all the world cares but as long as they are willing to punch an Alicorn square in the snooze for you, you cannot ask for truer friends." I winked at the younger girl "I know I am ready to one-two anyone trying to fuck with my little Jackie-Bear."

"Point is," I continued. "You don’t need to be like me or Ganon. If I may quote a cuddly, squishy panda, 'you just need to be the best 'you' you can be', and that, Jackie girl, is someone I'd very much like to see in the future, capische?"

"Right," Jackie replied, in higher spirits now. I smiled and squeezed once more before letting go and so they made their way to my arcane lab.

Lyra was still there, keeping a close eye on the portal while Gnarl directed the still dancing Minions, who now started to look restless, to keep on dancing. Jackie didn't bat an eye, already used to such odd happenings in my domain. Another Brown, Nibbler, entered soon, presenting to me a bundle wrapped in cloth and a little pouch atop it.

"Well, this is it, girl. Are you ready?" I asked as Jackie looked guardedly at the portal.

"I'm still not crazy about just jumping blindly into these things," she muttered. "But yeah, I'm ready."

With a mental command, I ordered all nonessential personnel to vacate the area, Gnarl included. That he was deemed nonessential while Lyra was allowed to stay chafed at his pride and so he shot a truly nasty glare at the unhinged mare before hobbling out.

"So," I clapped. "Presents." At Jackie's raised eyebrow I continued. "What, you didn't think I'd let my best buddy rough it out in hostile Ponyland without a few gifts, did ya?" I punctuated by bopping a finger atop Jackie's nose.

With an exaggerated clearing of her throat, I gave Jackie the little innocuous pouch. "Well, open it," I urged after Jackie merely held the thing in her grasp. Jackie snorted and did so, peering inside the contents. "Like it? I modeled it after the Expansion Charm from Harry Potter. Lyra helped with it too."

Jackie's eyes were wide open as faint, golden glimmers of light refracted from the pouch and into her face. "It's... money?"

"Gold, girl. But yes. Not good to send a young un' like yourself out into the cruel world without a little extra cash for a rainy day."

"How much is it?"

I shrugged. "I dunno. I just grabbed a bunch and put it in. What, is it not enough?" I said with a false frown.

"No, no, it's fine," Jackie said quickly. "Um... thanks," she mumbled, not meeting my gaze.

"Think nothing of it, girl," I said, waving a hand airily. "But that ain't the crown jewel, no siree. For that, I present you with this." I now picked the enveloped bundle, holding it in the flat of both palms before passing it to a bemused Jackie.

"It's a dagger," she said after unwrapping it and sure enough, within lay a short, sheathed blade. With half curiosity, Jackie pulled the dagger out of the sheath, revealing a simple two edged blade of roughly twenty centimeters in length. Upon closer inspection, Jackie discovered that the name Jaqueline was etched into the blade itself.

"Not any normal dagger, girl," I said with a shark smile. "Made from the fires of the Arcanium smelter itself. Stronger than any old dagger, unbreakable but by the mightiest of forces and with a blade honed to perfection, immune to the wear of time but most importantly, it is made from a ore named cold iron. My dogs found a small cache of that stuff while expanding their mines and I thought I give you a little something made of it. If you are unfamiliar, cold iron is the anti-magic metal ever. It´s slightest touch alone can dispel most forms of magic and this little puppy here is sure to slice through even the most powerful wards and spells like through wet toilet paper. Also, it is easy to conceal and if you wear it close to you, there is a big chance that is will sometimes dispel or at least hinder spells aimed at you." I explained, wrapping an arm around Jackie. "You do know why I'm giving you this, right girl?" Jackie nodded. "I... may have been a bit too hasty when I tried to hold you back from all this mess. You're right. You'll need to get your hands dirty sometime. I sure hope to whatever deity is looking down on us that it doesn't happen, but with our luck..." I chuckled humorlessly. "Well, take it. Defend yourself if you have to but do me a favor, will you girl?"

"What is it?"

"Try to live a little. Stop with the doom and gloom all the time and try to get along with the ponies or dogs, griffins, zebras or dragons or whoever, those you think you can with, at least. Yes, human troggs and asshole ponies and all. You won't be friends with many and I don’t think you'll like as much, but promise me you'll try and get along with at least a few, to give them a chance and make your stay less crappy than you have to. Could you do that for me?" I asked quietly, my eyes never leaving Jackie's.

"Sure. I can do that."

I smiled, affectionately running a hand through her hair. "That a girl." I chanced another look at the portal. "Enough with the dawdling now. The longer we drag this out the harder it will be."

Jackie approached the portal, me following close behind. "So... this is it, huh?" Jackie muttered, scuffing the ground with her shoe, her new dagger clasped tightly in hand. "Well, goodbye, I guess," she said, shifting uneasily and eyeing me with a curious look.

For my part, I scoffed good naturedly and wrapped both arms around Jackie, who sighed.

"God, you're grabby. It's like you're a pervert or something."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Never said I wasn't."

"You gonna let me go now?"

"Depends. Are you gonna give me some love?"

I could literally feel Jackie grow warmer, but nevertheless, the recalcitrant girl's arms snaked upwards, briefly hugging me in return.

"Alright, for realsies this time!" I declared and pulled away. "Go on, get back to your horsies."

Smiling softly, Jackie stepped closer to the portal. "Remember, soon as it's okay you pull me out and back in here."

"Without a doubt."

"Literally the second it's alright."

"Sure, sure."

"Cause if you don’t I will hurt you."

"Your dearest friend? Jackie, how could you?" I gasped in mock indignation. "You have my word, girl," I said seriously, a broad grin still on my face. "First chance I get you and I are gonna stay and live it up in this tower. No adventures, cultists or other 'Verses in sight. Just us girls having a swell time."

Jackie nodded. "I look forward to it." She turned, not looking back and stepped out the portal and into the other side.

Author's Notes:

And this, Ladies and Gents, concludes The heartless Renegade Arc.

Holy hell, this whole monster had been more than 100.000 words in itself and took all in all the better of a year to write completly but I regret not a single second of it.

Both, Jackie and Umbra grew as individuals through this whole ordeal and even though for now it is time for them to walk on seperate paths again, there will be a time when they meet again. I sincerly thank you all for being a part of it by reading all these collaborated horsewords. m(_ _)m

Oh, and for all of you who wonder why Onyx mom Demotha flipped such a lid, just let me say that what Umbra did in friendly intention is pretty much the same as popping the question for dragons in this Verse.^^