We returned to the brother’s workshop in due time, making sure to give the coward under my command as much heavy work as possible. I used this time to begin pondering just how I was going to get my nest out of the factory without tearing the place down.

Thing is, I got nowhere with that. The fact remained I had little to no information of the place. I would need the layout of the building, an idea on their guard patrols, possibly a look at the sewer system of the city to check if there were any useable tunnels running nearby…

“Uh, hey boss? Job’s done.” I looked up from my where I was seated to see that he was speaking the truth. Everything was just as it had been not a day earlier, plus one trembling stallion. “So… can I go now?”

I gave him a blank look before throwing my head back and laughing heartly. When I looked at him again his eyes were filled with confusion and fear. And then they were filled with surprise as the shadows in the room stabbed him through his back and lifted him off the ground.

“When did I ever say I would let you live?” And then his eyes were filled with nothing. Nightmare tossed him in the direction of the brothers while I told them “Clean this up, will you? I’m sure two genius brothers like yourselves can figure out a way so that no one ever finds this body.”

The two were quick to obey, invigorated by my sparse compliment. That just left me with my thoughts once more as I thought on what needed to be done. And I thought taking the brown nest from you was difficult.

“True, but you did not have to worry about getting caught in the act. That was my fault for taking you somewhere secluded.”

We’ll need to break into city hall probably. Get the plans for the building and the sewer systems. Perhaps have the brothers trade off watching the guard patrols so we can get an idea of what we’re dealing with. The slaughtering of a dozen criminals in this city won’t be hard for Blueblood but setting off the alarm at a company that big will give him trouble.

Nightmare sighed. “Dancing around in the shadows like this is beginning to become annoying.”

You don’t know the half of it.

* * *

Luna was bored, if you wanted to put it lightly. After all, hearing nobles pathetic attempts at gaining power for hours on end wasn’t exactly her definition of fun. Fun was shaping the night sky as her canvas, spending time to make sure each star and nebula glittered beautifully. Oh how light her heart felt as she-

“What do you believe is the best course of action Luna?”

“Hmm… huh?” She blinked and looked around to see her sister and the nobleman staring at her, though the latter had a grin that she would have loved to have just smacked right off his muzzle.

“Don’t tell me you dozed off again sister?” Luna was about ready to admit it, but suddenly found her mouth was not her own.

“We believe it would be foolish to act so immediately on what little information has been presented.” Too dazed at what was happening, Luna did not notice her sister’s look of surprise as well as the slump the noble now had.

Why did I say that?

“Tis I Luna.” Luna jolted a bit as she was reminded of the other voice’s presence.

Astra? You can control my body?

“Indeed, though I did not mean to alarm. We didn’t want you to look foolish in front of your sister. She already has enough reason to keep the spotlight for herself.” She growled that last statement.

You… thank you Astra. You are turning out to be a wonderful friend already.

“Thank you Luna. Now we best pay attention. Seems this one with the horrible facial hair believes he can so easily slip by us. We will have to show him what happens to those who exhibit such greed.”

Luna looked to see the next stallion indeed had horrible facial hair. The kind that nearly made her giggle at how ridiculously pointed it was. We shall show him what for indeed.

* * *

The next morning, after cursing the mattress I had been sleeping on for the hundredth time, I left the building before the brothers could start pandering to me and headed straight to the factory. I slowly walked around the outside fence, keeping an eye out for anything I can use.

Not many guards outside, but no telling what’s inside. All the entrances are guarded.

My eyes angled up a bit. “Along the roof as well. Lack of pegasi so that might be an option if we can take them out silently.”

I hummed as we turned around a corner, continuing to follow the fence. Even then though, we still have too little information. There’s too much of a risk of exposure to go in with no idea what to expect.

“There’s no real way to get that information though unless you can get in there in the first place. Guard patrols and such aren’t going to be noted in the blueprints.”

I grumbled, the fence coming to an end as it turned to follow the factory. I kept walking in the same direction though, having seen everything I needed to. We both walked down the street for a few blocks, pondering our predicament before I had an idea.

What if we get some help?

“From where? We already established we have no way to contact Zecora or the fortress.”

Not from this world Nightmare. From another. As I thought this, I rounded the corner into an alleyway and pulled my backpack off so I could look through it. As I did this, I passed by a mugging in progress, though I gave it none of my attention despite the mare’s plea for help.

“Please! Call the police! Or something! Anything!” The mugger, a minotaur, gave me a weird look that I noticed out of the corner of my eye. Yet again, I ignored it in favor of looking through my backpack as I turned into a dead end.

“Are you sure this is a good idea? The last thing that came here from another world left you minus one leg.”

That’s because he was both morally straight and smart enough to tell when someone is avoiding facts. What we need is either someone who doesn’t care about what our real goal is, or someone stupid enough to believe we are the good guys.

“And who is going to believe that?” I shrugged and continued routing through my bag before pulling out a diamond. A few moments after I let the light hit it, a feminine yet strong sounding voice echoed through my mind.

“I am the protector of the innocent, warrior of the weak, call upon me for assistance and I shall come. Call for the Gravity Shifter and I will make those who harm others beg for mercy as they are crushed at my feet. Hold this gem close to thine heart and I shall be at your side as a fellow warrior!”

Okay… not that one. Definitely way too much good in that girl. Nightmare nodded in agreement as I stuffed the diamond to the bottom of my bag of junk and continued searching. Next thing I pulled out was a set of gloves, written on them “Burn me”.

“Well that’s not suspicious.” Nightmare remarked sarcastically. Back in the bag they went as next I pulled out a… human skull?

Apparently I missed this one. I thought as another message echoed through my mind.

"This token belongs to the Lich King and his brother Zero. Should any of you mortals need assistance from the Lord of Death or the Master Strategist, simply whisper the words 'Arthas, my son' and we shall come to your aid. Or smash it for instant results.”

“That sounds like a possible good one.” I only sighed before sending Nightmare what I knew of the Lich King from video games. “... or not.”

Ya, subtly isn’t his strong suit. Besides, having an armored, undead behemoth walking around is bound to attract some attention. I put the skull back in my bag, making sure it was reachable in case of an emergency before continuing until I found a soda can with a familiar green pattern.

This reminds me of- The message interrupted my train of thought as Jason’s voice filled my mind.

“I am the changer of shape, seeking to understand the many forms of life. Call for the man of many shapes during your hour of need and I will come, a one man army. Activate the cylinder and in a flash I’ll be ready to clash.”

I was about ready to crush the damn thing and could feel the metal bend slightly in my grasp. Nightmare stopped me before I could do any real damage to it though. “Now hang on Don. Do you really think destroying this is the best option?”

It would make me feel better.

“For about two seconds. Why not use it to get a lock on Jason’s world?”

I opened my eyes in shock for a second before laughing at how close I was at throwing away the chance I was given. Good thing you are here Night. At least one of us can think straight. I felt her glow with pride as I began to fill the token with my own energy, corrupting its original purpose for my own uses. Now, if this thing is meant to bring Jason to it, that means it must have some sort of connection to him. All I need to do is find that connection and…

Suddenly the green pattern on the can changed to red as a hole tore itself in the wall.

The scene before us was something rather interesting. Three unicorns, two in full armor, were standing around a table that had what looked like a pony shaped insect on it, similar to the form Jason had taken to spray green gunk all over my leg.

“Shock him back, double the voltage,” the unarmored pony, a sickly yellow stallion with a metal horned ordered, his eyes hidden by red tinted goggles. He watched impassively as the others delivered another round of lightning spells on the bug.

You know… I honestly thought we would see Ponyville with a rainbow over it or something… but this is way better.

“Blegh!” Nightmare scoffed. “Disgusting creatures, changelings are. All they do is feed off the emotions of others and hide.”

You mean the bug thing? Huh, here I thought that was some kind of lost pony race.

“Hardly.”

“What is this?” the stallion asked, having noticed the hole. “A tear in space, fascinating.”

Why do I get a creepy Twilight feeling from this guy? I waved the hand not holding the red, sparking soda can. “Hey there. Any of you seen a guy named Jason?”

“That ape creature?” the stallion asked, looking at me. “The last I heard, he was in a coma.”

I deflated a bit. “Really? Damn it, I was so looking forward to torturing his ass.”

“You best get in line, the king plans on having him executed.”

I grumbled. “Ugh, fine. But if he does one of those “hero pulls something out of his ass at the last minute” things, I want dibs. So, is his execution beheading or something more gruesome?”

“I don’t know, nor do I care, all I want is that device on his wrist.”

“You want that piece of crap? I could just give you this thing.” I held up the red, sparking soda can. “It looks like it has something to do with it. Though I’d need a new way to find this world.”

“That device holds the blueprints to over a million creatures in it. With that I could create the ultimate organism!” he said with a slightly deranged smirk.

I raised an eyebrow skeptically. “Really? This piece of junk holds the DNA of a million creatures? Here I thought it was a soda can. Why the hell would Jason send this thing out into the multiverse?”

“I was talking about the device on his arm, not that thing.” the stallion shook his head. “From the notes I took from his workshop, that only holds one sample.”

“Huh. Wonder what that sample is?” I glanced at the can, still spewing magic before shrugging. “Eh, whatever was in it is probably fried now.”

“If I had to guess, it would be his own.” As soon as he said that, I extended my arm as far as possible, looking at the can in disgust. Okay… gross.

“Not that kind of sample you fool!” the stallion berated.

I rolled my eyes. Not even going to try arguing with him. Probably works as well as arguing with Rarity. “Anyway, would you guys mind if I gave you something to contact me just in case Jason gets loose?”

“You may give it to me, I am Dr. Animo,” the stallion said, a hint of pride in his voice.

“Don the Overlord.” My other hand sparked with the same red energy until a copy of the broken dagger appeared. I tossed it at the pony, him catching it in his own aura. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend they say.”

“I will keep that in mind.” he said, placing it in his belt. “Now it you excuse me, I have secrets to pry.” he turned away, back toward the changeling.

“Tell them to try prying the chitin off and burning the flesh underneath. It’s rather sensitive.” Nightmare said with a hint of joy.

“Uh… hey. Try prying his armor off and hit him with a hot iron.”

“Hex wants him alive, though I will keep that in mind for later,” he said nodding. With that, I let the hole close, the can ceasing to spark but retaining its new red color. With a shrug, I stuffed it back in my backpack and resumed my search.

I was about to give up on finding anyone that could aid me when I found deep at the bottom of the bag a metal cube. Holding it in my hand allowed the message to be muttered subconsciously. And I mean muttered, as the guy sounded like he wasn’t sure of anything he was doing.

“Uhh. This is the...Animorph...Wade. Call me...if you need any help?”

Nightmare literally burst out laughing as I tried my best to hold back my own, though I did snicker quite a bit. “This man… is he serious?”

I think he is. Seems we’ve found our guy. I closed my hand around the cube before speaking clearly. “Wade, I require your aid in a possibly world changing matter. Will you help?”

Suddenly a man dressed in blue fell next to me, his face hitting the concrete. I held back a snicker as he got up and brushed himself off, making sure the strange stick on his belt was secure. Once he seemed oriented I introduced myself. “Good, you came. I wasn’t sure if you were going to heed my call. My name is Don. A pleasure to meet you.” I held out a hand, which he was took and shook.

“Pleasure is all mine. You wouldn't believe some of the nutjobs that are out there. It's always nice to get a call from someone relatively normal. So whats up? You said you needed some help on something?”

"Ah yes.” I nodded. “It turns out that a nearby facility is holding something that belongs to me. I already know they would refuse to acknowledge my ownership over it. After all, it has been about three thousand years. That's why I need someone to help me break in. I figure an animorph such as yourself would be perfect for the job of slipping inside and getting the information I need to break in without anyone knowing it was me. Plus, as you already stated, there aren’t many displaced out there who are a bit mental."

“I’m sure you fall under his definition of nutjob.” NIghtmare giggled.

Quiet you. Having multiple personalities doesn’t mean each one is crazy. Besides, you’re one of those personalities so really you are just insulting yourself.

Wade cocked his head. "So you need me to just walk in and ask some questions, make mental notes of skylights and other spy things for you? Do you have any way to bypass any magical based securities? Cause Equestrians may not be big on locks -kinda pointless with unicorns- but they're pretty gung-ho on magic tripwires. I won't be able to spot any of those. Just saying, right off the bat. But I can get information pretty dang easily. Quick question though, whats your Equestria's stance on changelings?"

Changelings? He means that thing we saw being tortured?

“I guess so. Things probably haven’t changed in the past thousand years and you already know my take on the abominations.”

“Changelings aren’t exactly… accepted in this Equestria.” I started. “I haven’t even seen any in my own version, just in others. I suppose that would go against their point though. As for magical alarms, you shouldn’t have to worry. The doors are protected, but there are other ways a man of your talents could get in. Tell me, do you have any forms like a rat or other rodent?”

Before Wade could answer, a loud shout came from the entrance to the alleyway. “Hey you, give me what you- wait, there’s two of you now?!” I turned to see the minotaur who had been mugging the pony earlier standing there. He shook his head before snorting. “Don’t matter. Just means you both need to give me what you got!”

I sighed. “Sorry about this Wade. The princesses of my world are far too busy dealing with nobles to try and deal with the crime rate in cities like this one.”

“And just how are we going to get rid of him?” Nightmare quipped. “It’s not like we can just murder him in front of our new… friend.”

Just knock his head against the wall hard enough to knock him out. We can deal with him after Wade has left. Nightmare did just that, the shadows in the alleyway wrapping around the minotaur’s torso before throwing him into the wall. He dropped like a rock as I made a small show of walking over to him to check his pulse.

“Good, he’s still alive.” I turned back and gave Wade a smile. “I really do apologize for this, but I would be lying if I said this wasn’t the first time I had to deal with the princess’ mistakes.”

Wade shrugged in response surprisingly. "I've been to a bunch of worlds, and they do have a tendency to screw things up. It's like we're all main characters and they just throw away all common sense to become a dramatic antagonist. Even my own versions are kinda... hard to get a bead on. Give me a second." He stooped down to place a hand on the unconscious minotaur’s head. "No sense in letting this opportunity go to waste."

The minotaur stiffened on the ground, before returning to his relaxed slump.

Ah, so that’s how he gains new forms. Interesting.

"In answer to your question however, I do not have any 'animal' morphs," he added air quotes with his fingers just accent his point. "I have a female Big Macintosh, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Flutterbat, Sweetiebelle, a random crystal Empire guy, Spike, a black dragon named Onyx and a couple changeling morphs. In addition to altered forms of Dante from Devil May Cry, and Pearl from Steven Universe. If you know any of those people. I haven't really gotten any animals...well..." He seemed at a loss for words for a moment.

"Have you ever tried to catch a squirrel or a bird?" He asked jokingly. "They're darned fast. There’s apparently some sort of crazy big crocodiles or something in the kill-you-dead forest, but I'd prefer to get my morphs from things and or people that aren't trying to eat me. Where are we, by the way? If this is some kind of crappy version of Ponyville, there should be a version of Fluttershy walking around too. If yours is anything like mine, she should have a shitton of animals I could acquire. I just never had a chance because we're keeping the existence of humans a secret."

He paused for a few more seconds before adding. "And I honestly forgot to ask. I might just be horribly lazy on the subject."

I began walking about the alleyway in search of something he could use, speaking as I did so. “Humans aren’t a secret in this world, though having another one appear may set off the princesses further than they already have been. Once you leave the alleyway, I’d suggest changing your appearance. As for where we are, we are in Manehatten.” I rolled my eyes. “And yes, I know the pun of a name is cringe worthy. Ponyville is rather far away and I have no good way of getting us there just to get you a small animal morph. Considering this is a city though…”

Right on cue, a rat slowly peeked his head from a nearby sewer grate. Nightmare was quick to grab the vermin with some shadows before holding it in front of Wade. “Consider this a gift. Even an Overlord needs friends and you seem like a man with a good head on your shoulders. Much unlike the first one to appear in my world.”

"So you're an overlord too?" he asked as he poked the rat, though he seemed hesitant to do so with the condition of its coat. "A little while ago, I met 'The Overlady'.”

I could feel Nightmare snicker at the thought of me being a woman. A thought I was quick to ignore.

“You look a lot more human than she did though. She had black skin, like the ironskin form Greed had in FMA. If you know that series. Was she just special, or do you look abnormal for an overlord?”

Black skin? Well that’s a bit different. I just rose an eyebrow at him.

“Sorry if thats a bit rude, I'm just trying to pass time while I- AGH SON OF A BASTARD, YOU LITTLE SHIT!" he screamed out as the rat bit him, apparently having taken a liking to human flesh.

He took a step back, watching as the rat struggled in the shadow glove. With no further use for the thing, I flung the rat off down alley, it quickly ducking back into the sewer it called home.

"Gah! Little shitstain. I got the morph, though." I watched as he began to morph. His ears grew and slid upwards as coarse thick brown fur sprouted all over his body, his clothes seemingly being absorbed by his skin. The strange stick on his belt merged with his leg, the metal surface becoming just another stretch of flesh. His teeth lengthened, becoming sharpened points as his body shrunk.

Once he was completely rat, he looked up at me and squeaked before I could suddenly hear his voice in my head. <Dammit, stupid rat mouth. Pick me up Don, I don’t want you to spaz out if I try to climb up your leg.>

Woah, that was not what I was expecting.

“I do hope it doesn’t go both ways.” Nightmare muttered as I leaned down and held out my hand. Once he had crawled into my hand, I stood back up.

"I'm guessing you want me to take you to the factory I told you about, right?" I asked the rat sitting in my hand.

Last thing I expected to do is become Fluttershy.

<Sure thing. You should tell me what to expect on the way. First and foremost, what the thing I'm looking for looks like. I'm guessing a sword, or maybe a piece of armor. Maybe a necklace that shoots pizza for all I know. It's always something you don't think of right off the top of your head though. Anyway, If I know what the thing I'm searching for looks like, I can give you an exact location, which should help you all the much more.>

He wriggled around in my hand before climbing up my arm, settling into the folds of cloth near my hood. I guess he was trying to get out of sight.

<You said it was a factory?> he asked, as I moved out of the alleyway and started off toward the factory. As we walked, I stowed the cube that was his token in my pocket. <Are there just going to be workers milling around? Seems kinda a weird of a place to be keeping a supposed artifact of The Overlord...although having said that, that sounds exactly like something the princesses would do. Hide stuff in places no one would expect, I mean.>

“That may have been the idea.” I shrugged. “I’m not sure if it was the princesses who put it in this factory in the first place though. It’s possible some greedy ass hole found the thing and decided to use it for his own purposes.” I turned a street corner, the factory’s chain link fence coming into view.

“In either case you should be alright. If you’ve met an Overlord before, most likely you know what minions look like. If there are any inside, they will be red. Either find them or find the nest, which will probably seem rather out of place in a factory. I’m not sure what it looks like myself, but they tend to be designed based on the minions they spawn. So basically, look for a giant rock that’s on fire.”

I kneeled down next to the fence, feigning my shoe falling off so that I didn’t look too suspicious. This allowed the man turned rat to run down my arm and up to the fence. “Good luck. Just approach the fence when you are done. I’ll be somewhere nearby where I can see you.”

As Wade scurried off into the factory, I made my way back to the alleyway to deal with the minotaur permanently. After all, I couldn't have anyone going around saying a human used magic as that would ruin my cover. I came back just in time to see him pulling himself off the ground.

“Hello there.” I spoke darkly, my face already covered in shadows. I made a fireball in my left hand of which I tossed up and down for show while I also casted my sound dampening spell on the area. “Looks like you’ll have to die my friend. After all, you know too much.”

“H-hey man. I can keep quiet. Ain’t no one need to know abo-” I let the fireball fly, striking him in the muzzle. I rolled around, screaming in pain as he gripped his face. I sucked in air before letting loose a torrent of flame from my mouth, roasting him until I no longer heard him scream. I turned around and halted all my magics, grimacing at the taste the firebreath left in my mouth.

Ugh. Why does fire breath always leave my mouth tasting like ash?

“Not like you needed to use it. Regular fire from your hands would have done.”

Ya, but I was feeling particularly menacing today. I guess tricking some sap into doing our dirty work has got me on a bit of a high.

“I can see why.” Nightmare chuckled. We made our way back to the fence, finding a nearby by building that I could sit around in yet still look out for Wade. After awhile he appeared and I stepped out, kneeling down and pretending to fiddle with my backpack as he spoke.

<Alright, take this as a proximation of the building,> he started, drawing a large rectangle in the dust on the ground, <keeping in mind its parallel to the building itself. Here, along the side that’s closest to us, is a large room where a shitton of minions are being used as day labor. They all have magic collars on, which shock the crap out of them whenever the guards feel like it. The one minion I talked to claimed the Nest was in the center of the building. That being said, he was only sure on the direction, and hadn't actually seen it in 'cycles'. Also, what’s with gryphons, are they like your worlds version of slavers?>

“Not that I know of.” I muttered, extending an arm so that he could climb up onto my shoulder. “I do have one in my service however and she’s rather… violent. I could see gryphons becoming slavers.” I got up and began walking to no place in particular, pondering options. “Now that I know where the minions are, it shouldn’t be hard to find the nest. The problem still lies in me getting to them and the nest without being spotted.”

“Perhaps if we had some kind of distraction.” I hummed in thought at what Nightmare said. “Though what could distract an entire complex of guards and then disappear is beyond me.”

I thought about it for a moment before a grin came to my face, a plan coming together in my mind.

* * *

The plan turned out to be rather simple. Wade would distract the guards from the opposite side of the building using one of his many forms while I slipped in and freed my minions. From there, it would be child’s play to find the nest, the little pyromaniacs leading me right to it. And if anyone was still left on my side of the factory, well… let’s just say the minions weren’t the only one feeling pyromaniacal.

I watched by the fence as a guard ran up to the ones by the fence and said something to them before they all ran off. Perfect. He’s doing his job well, I must admit.

“For the moment. Who knows how long he can keep it up. We should move.” I nodded before heading to the fence. I double checked the darkened streets around me for any people only to find none. I placed a hand against the fence and the metal began to glow as I heated it. Wasn’t long before I had melted a hole large enough for me to step through.

As I walked up to the door, I let loose a fireball, exploding the door and its magical tripwires. Well they know we are here now.

“Couldn’t be avoided.”

True. Anyway, let’s find those minions. I walked casually through the halls of the factory, finding no one at all to oppose me until I reached the room where my red minions were being kept. I blasted open that door as well to find two gryphons standing there, gawking at my entrance. I smirked under the shadows of my hood as I walked toward them.

“I believe you have something that belongs to me.” I stated darkly. One gryphon looked about ready to run (not that he would get far) but the other managed to stand defiant.

“Belong to you? Ya right. These things are property of Wheat Thin. You better scram before-hrk!” He was quickly shut up as a clawed hand made of shadows grabbed him, squeezing him before tossing him head first into the wall. There was a sickening crack as he landed and he moved no more.

The other gryphon saw this and flew for it to the nearest door but soon found his wings to be lacking feathers as I burned them off. He fell to the ground, writhing in agony before I walked over and put my foot on the back of his throat. A bolt of lightning to the back of the head and he was done for.

“Woo hoo! Kill! Burn! All hail the Overlord!” The minions cheered as I stepped over to them. Night was quick to rip the harnesses on them off, and with that I had about two dozen minions under my command.

“Bring me to the nest.” I commanded, and they were quick to obey, heading toward a door in a wave of little terror.

* * *

Silver Stream, a guard for the factory, had heard the commotion on the opposite side of the factory but had seen many of his fellow workers heading there so he decided it would be best to continue his own patrol pattern. After all, what if there was another intruder?

Turns out his intuition was right as the gem strapped to his belt suddenly pulsed red, indicating someone else had set of a magical tripwire. He ran toward the direction of the new intruder, his gem pulsing every once in awhile to alert him where he had moved to. It had seem the intruder had passed through the creature holding cell, and now was moving toward the heart of the factory.

He moved to cut off the intruder on a hallway he was sure the intruder would come down. Just as he made it, he saw the creatures moving down said hall, free and chanting. Silver Stream was about to move to recapture them when something else came down the hall. It stood tall like a minotaur, only its body wasn’t so top heavy and without horns. It covered itself in a cloak, the hood hiding its face. Its glowing orange eyes turned to look at Silver Stream, who stood there agape in fear.

The new creature just stood there, staring at the pegasus before pointing a hand at him, glowing with magic. Silver Stream quickly turned to run, needing to warn the others. It was too late though as the entire hall he was in was suddenly engulfed in flame. And Silver Stream was no more.

* * *

As I wandered the halls after the minions, we came across a few guards who had apparently decided Wade wasn’t worth running after. I promptly torched them all. And the funny thing was, I didn’t even feel tired from all the magic I just let off.

“The red nest must be rather powerful if you are capable of such things before even claiming it.”

Well it is the fire nest. According to Gnarl, that property makes it the one with the most energy. I torched another guard who tried to attack me, the flesh on his body melting under the extreme heat. If this is what I get from being near it, I can’t wait to see what happens when I connect it to the fortress’ heart.

A large door soon stood in our way, an easy thing to remedy. Fire solves many problems after all. The room we entered was large, the nest standing on some kind of strange pedestal in the center. I could see it syphoning magic from the nest and growled.

“Get that thing off of there.” I commanded, the minions quick to obey as they picked up the nest. I heard the door opposite of the one I had blasted slide open and close. Turned out to be a female dragon, who seemed to be trying her best to keep the door shut by welding it with her fire breath. She turned and looked at my minions and I before saying “Oh… hi. Rather hostile employee dissertation, wouldn’t you say?” alluding to it being our shapeshifting ally.

“He… I mean she… that lead the guards here. We don’t have much time.” Nightmare stated as I moved toward one side of the room while waving Wade over.

“Glad you are here. We have the nest and the minions, but now comes the escape. There’s a sewer line running underneath this place.” Nightmare lifted me off the ground using shadows as I let loose a powerful blast of fire straight into the ground below me. The result was the beginnings of a tunnel wide enough for the nest to be dropped into. “We just need to reach it.”

"Got it," he said, making his way to the hole. He quickly tore at the sides of the hole, widening it past its original width. Once it was about twice as big, he climbed back up the newly made tunnel and made his way over to the nest the minions were currently holding. "Move it small fry, I can carry it faster than you," Wade jibed, the minions not taking too kindly to the insult and refusing to move.

“You heard him.” I commanded. “Let him carry it out. All of you should get down the tunnel immediately.” The minions were quick to obey, dropping the nest and leaping down the hole, some doing flips as they cheered. I glanced up at the welded door to see the metal stretching under the force of the guards behind it.

“Come on Wade. We need to move!”

He hoisted the nest onto his back, staggering somewhat before I turned and leapt down the hole. I looked up to see Wade jump in after me as he let loose a gout of fire upon the ceiling above. I rolled to the side so that he had a clear landing site, a loud crash echoing from above. He readjusted the nest on his back before turning to me. "Let’s see them do some dirty work for themselves for once, huh? If they want this so badly, they can very well dig for it."

I nodded with a smile before waving my hand over my minions, the gesture immediately gathering their attentions before I pointed down the sewer tunnel. Once they were grouped up and marching ahead, Wade and I walked after them.

* * *

Zecora approached the outskirts of the city before stopping and reaching into her cloak. She pulled out a gem filled with black energy and held it out. Soon the gem picked itself up out of her hoof, spinning in the air like a compass needle before resting in a direction to Zecora’s immediate right.

She looked that way to see sewage being poured into the water below from large tunnels. She quickly stowed away the gem before walking toward the place.

“You there! Halt!” Zecora stopped, glancing toward the sound just enough so she could see out of the hood. A dozen ponies stood there, some wielding weapons while others just snarled. The stallion at the front took a step forward. “You, servant of the dark one, shall go no further. You may not be able to control your own actions, but that does not mean we will allow them to continue.”

“You assume my mind is weak. You would do well to not misspeak. I serve my master because he is strong, so at his side is where I belong. Attempt to stand within my path, and you will surely incur my wrath.”

The stallion staggered back at this admission before growling. “You serve him by choice?! What sort of monster are you?”

Zecora chuckled darkly, turning toward the group of ponies. “A monster, a nightmare, a fright am I. A children’s tale that makes them cry. But unlike some stories, this one is true.” Before the stallion could react, Zecora was right in front of him, her hoof inside his chest as blood dribbled down the corner of his mouth. “A shame my story just happened to include you.” The stallion’s eyes faltered before he fell to the side, dead. The other ponies gawked at Zecora as she casually wiped the blood from her hoof on the dead pony’s coat.

“Kill her!” One of the mob called out. They all leapt at her, some yelling out a battle cry. Zecora looked up at the approaching group before widening her stance and jumping into the fray.

* * *

It took a decent amount of walking but we managed to finally find the exit to the place. I took a breath of fresh air as we stepped outside, grateful to be out of that disgusting tunnel.

Good thing we got the reds now.

“Oh? And why is that?”

Means I can have them burn these clothes later. I turned to Wade and watched as he let down the nest, letting out a huff of exhaustion. “You’ve done me a great service my friend. Should you need some help in your own world, I’ll be glad to assist you.”

"Have to say, I'm glad I finally found another guy who's actually normal. It'll be nice to have someone new I can rely on. Do you have a token yet?" Out of nowhere my broken dagger appeared, slamming into Wade’s face, even managing to scrape off a few scales. Nightmare chuckled at his bad luck as I heard a few voices call from the side.

“Milord!”

“Master!”

I turned to see the Flim Flam brothers and Zecora of all ponies running up to us. “Wow.” Nightmare stated shockingly. “You couldn’t write better timing than that for your gatekeeper to show up.”

Hey, if anything the multiverse owes me some luck after sending that fucker Jason here.

“OH GOD PLEASE DON’T RAPE ME!” Came from Wade as he suddenly cowered behind me. You could practically feel everyone, even the minions, giving him a strange look.

Nightmare sighed. “How did this even manage to not screw up the plan?”

The world may never know. “Wade, relax. These are a couple ponies who serve me. Well, one’s a zebra but close enough.”

He stared long and hard at Zecora before speaking. "I...sorry...I've just had...a really bad experience with an anthro version of her from a world where everyone is in heat, all the time. Even the males. That being said, watch out for a token that looks like a golden banana, and be wary of any Displaced trying to summon you that sounds like a stereotypical surfer guy. Trust me, you don't want to be in this guys world, he basically has Discord’s powers. Then there’s the matter of-NYEAGH," He yelped at Zecora as she took a step forward. "Stop that, please. I know you aren't her...but..." he trailed off, apparently out of things to say.

A world where they are in perma-heat?! I felt a shiver go down my spine just thinking about it. “Okay, ya. I can see where you are coming from there. Let’s just say being a stallion with no pheromone tolerance sucks.” I looked at Zecora as I pointed a thumb behind me. “Go open a portal and get the nest where it needs to go. Just… go around Wade.” She nodded before walking around us, giving Wade a wide berth. He breathed a sigh of relief once she was out of sight.

"Can you...apologize to her once I'm gone? Cause I don't think I can honestly speak towards her without squeaking in fear." He leaned in close, and whispered, "I know she's probably evil, given your title, but if she's not a raging bitch I'd still like her to know that I am actually sorry for my behavior," he leaned back, speaking once more at a normal level. "It isn't her fault another version of her left a bad impression on me. But enough about her, please do introduce me to your friends," he motioned to the brothers.

“Oh, those two are Flim and Flam. They make machines which is kind of rare at least in this Equestria. They also are the ones who made sure I didn’t completely die when the first, what did you call them? Displaced, ya that’s it, when the first Displaced I encountered showed up and tried to kill me.”

He leaned in close again, lowering his voice to a whisper once more. "Lemme guess, the asshat found out you weren't actually evil, and took offense to the fact that you didn't follow his ideals," I returned to a normal tone of voice before looking at the brothers. "But you obviously kicked his ass and sent him packing, I mean, you are the one standing here, letting the world know you're an unbeatable badass, right?"

“Quite the opposite.” Nightmare giggled.

Hey! Jason’s getting what’s coming to him! We’re just gonna gut the princesses first.

“More like he threatened to tell the princesses on me, which in my current state would have most likely gotten me killed or made into a statue. I told him to leave or I would have to kill him. He chose to fight me and the place we were in fell apart on my leg.” I shifted my weight onto my right leg, the metal creaking somewhat as I did. “After that I tried to grab his shapeshifting device, which was some kind of weird watch, before a flash of energy caused me to end up in this city. I can only assume Jason got sent back home.”

I quickly added. “Also, there’s a fair warning for you. If you find a totem that looks like a soda can with green circuit lines on it, don’t touch it.” I then muttered. “Seeks to understand all forms of life my ass.”

"Did his watch have...what looked like an hourglass insignia on it?" he asked.

Huh, I guess it did. Wait… how does he know that?! I turned and glared at him only to see him flinch under my gaze.

“Hang on Don.” Nightmare held me back. “It seems these Displaced all gain powers from forms of media from your world. Isn’t it reasonable to suggest he might have just heard about wherever Jason’s watch came from rather than he actually knows him? After all, he did already say he was friends with another Overlord, or rather Overlady.”

I thought about it for a moment before speaking. "Why...yes. I would have to say it did," I grumbled. He stared at me for a couple seconds, before speaking again.

"Great. There’s a Ben Ten Displaced out there, who's apparently an utter ponce. Wonderful. As if our life wasn't hard enough. Why not make it so everyone has Discord's powers?" He asked apparently no one as he yelled at the sky with his claws thrown in the air. "Maybe make it so everyone is just a copy of Celestia's ass while you're at it. That at least would piss me off slightly less."

I snickered at the thought. “So have everyone be literally a horse’s ass? Guess it can’t get much worse than Celestia’s pasty white behind.” I glanced behind me to see the minions moving the nest into a portal Zecora was maintaining. “Well it looks like we’re just about done here. Best you leave before they figure out how we escaped. Don’t hesitate to call me up though if you need it.”

"I...uh...don't really control when I return," he said sheepishly, returning to his normal human self. "I just sorta rubber band back whenever the-" Suddenly the ground seemed to devour him, leaving me standing there somewhat shocked at his sudden departure. I shook my head before turning to the portal, darkly chuckling.

“What a complete and utter moron.”

Author's Notes:

Crossover with Flutters Is Shy's story Applegate. Go show them some love!

Also a sort of mini crossover with Shagohad12 again as Don makes preparations to deal with Jason in the future.

And finally, here's a list of the tokens that were mentioned for all those who are curious.

The Diamond: Kat Shifter from Gravity of the Situation by DJSkywalker

The "Burn Me" Gloves: Freddy from A Nightmare In Equestria by Imperium Bedlam

The Human Skull: Lich King and Zero from My A** is Frozen by Joshleb1098