I looked at the entrance of the Forbidden Temple, at the bottom of the Frozen Mountains. This specific one was made out of granite, and had runes of his clan, the Geror’-Clan. They said:

“This place holds a cursed object. It can destroy our world if taken away, and it will not bend to your will. If you seek this object for your evil plans, then think twice. The object has its own will, it will not take kindly to your meddling. Do not come closer than ten metres. Do not enter. Do not take the object. Do not use it. Do not attempt to manipulate it.”

They started with a simple sentence, told a bit about why you mustn’t do the things that then you are told NOT to do. I smiled sadly at the old runes of my home, they would be the closest thing to remind me of it.

A home, whose warnings, meant to protect the traveller, I have to ignore. While I was in the last fortress of the Valkyrie, I didn’t feel it. I didn’t realise how… corrupt the world has become. No matter where I am, besides the fortress, there are no places I don’t feel the greed, the evil, the need.

‘It’chn comes from’s creechure’, I thought to myself. There are many things I didn’t know about the cursed ones, things I didn’t want to know. But now, I realised you should, and have cared about such things. To protect others, to minimise the risk for the cursed.

I now knew it, but now it was too late. I had to gain the knowledge, for the ghostey, for the future generations, as saying sorry for ignoring the other cursed. As saying sorry for ignoring the whole world the last thousand years. As saying sorry for everything.

I entered the temple, the huge gate used as its entrance long since crumbled down. The hallway was depicted with the same message like the entrance, in different languages and with different runes. When I finally reached the end, there was another message on its door, in thousands of languages:

“Go away, or we will have to make you.”

I sighed, as I remembered the old defense-mechanism. It wasn’t much, it was designed pretty poorly. Everyone who is smart enough to not place his foot on a 3 centimetre-thick rope directly in front of a door would be able to steal the object. I opened the door, and carefully stepped over the rope.

There it was, the next cursed object. I had thought long, and decided that after my death those objects should be used to defend the last fortress, for it is what I dedicated my life to.

I came closer to it, its being on a podest in the middle of the circle-shaped room…

A room whose size you wouldn’t expect after the huge entrance. As I grabbed it, I again simply ignored the voice of madness. After all, why should I listen to madness, when I have to fight it?

As I opened the saddlebags I took from Lightning Dust, I figured I should finally make my new wayward. Inside the saddlebags were not only what I needed to make a wayward, and it was then I realised something:

I stole Lightning Dust’s things…

‘Don’t matta now’ I thought. I looked at what I had, and made a mental checklist:

-3 apples

-5 vases with water

-a voodolike puppet for my wayward

-six crystals to enhance my wayward according to situation

-a sleeping bag, made out of rather primitive fabric

-a useless statue, probably something mentally

I threw the statue away, and began my work at my wayward, but then I heard a thump behind me.

I was resting on an old bedframe in a version of the pony sisters castle. I had not had any luck with this universe, it seemed to have been one where Pinkie had never been born at all. I sighed an looked throught the hole in the ceiling at the moon. It still had the mare in the moon on it. Looked quite different from it had on my home world.

I wasn’t tired, I had eaten a senzu bean not to long ago and was now kept wawake by the energy boost. I was thinking about maybe shooting a few ki-blasts to get rid of excess enegry, but as I got up from the bed I got a strange feeling, someone had found my token!

I was excited. No one had found my token before this, I had randomly been jumping between universes relying on reversed summons and random portals. I had been stuck in this universe for a week and had avoided forcing my way out as there was something else lurking outside this universe, ready to attack anything trying to leave by cutting open a rift.

I consentrated on the signal of my token, It was quite a few universes away, but not out of my leauge. I sstarted chanting a stableizing spell to make sure I didn’t miss the universe I could my token from. And as I felt my energy connect I smile. “Later universe that is totally screwed when Nightmare Moon comes back!” I said as a portal opened up under me and I jumped in.

I had never experienced a worse landing. Somehow during my journey through the void I had switched position and ended up leaving the portal head first, right into a stone wall. A loud *thump* like noise could be heard as I hit it.

Quickly getting up and dusting off my clothes I inspected my surroundings, I seemed to be in some kind of ruin. The room I was now in seemed to be underground as there were no windows and the air was heavy with dust. The walls were of solid stone and created a half sphere around the middle of the room where there now stood an empty pedastal.

But what caught my attention was the fact that I wasn’t alone in my room. There, on the other side of the pedastal, on it’s way out of the room was a thing? I wasn’t sure, but just looking at it I knew it was intelligent. And seeing how most universes I had visited so far everyone had spoken Equestrian I decided to try and talk to it.

“Hello, my name is Blood Cleaver. May I ask where I am? Or when? I’m kinda new around here… I guess.” I asked the creature that was looking at me.

Sor’Gat raised his eyebrow. Normally people stuck in such temples aren’t very nice… but then again, if she would have been stuck in here for so long, he would have found atleast traces of there being a room she came from. “Yur locashn’s ‘Equestria’, Frozn North’n be exact.

You’re’n 876 yeers, 4 monws ‘n’ 7 deis past fall of civilisation, pony-time 3 yeers later Discord. Could’n be this yours?” he asked, while taking the essence-container back out. He looked at it more closely, it looked like regular Kitchen knife made out of a black metal, a red handle made of wood and an edge slightly red tinted, compared to the regular metal. There was also a crimson rune on both sides of the blade itself.

“And what’cha doin’ in this forbidden place’n?”

“Forbidden?” The girl asked looking around once more. “What’s so forbidden about this place? It looks more like a ruin than anything. Besides, I didn’t choose to come here specifically. I just followed the signal of my token.” She said, pointing at the knife Sor’Gat was holding.

“So this’n yours…”, he mumbled, looking over the essence-container / token another time, “I need’n against troubles, ‘n’ help’n collecting forbidden objects. These ‘tokn’s whatcha forbidd’n ‘bout here. This’n ruin, has been for late 876 yeers. Shoulda expect’n yours to been caged as all. Wanna hav’n back, young Bloody?”, he asked while holding out the token, “or wanna go out first?”

“Sure, I’m not much for old ruins. Besides, what did you mean when you spoke about fall of civilisation?” Blood asked him while taking his hand, not quite able to see the full form of Sor’Gat because of the darkness.

Sor’Gat chuckled, before telling her: “My peopl’ reap’n. I’m last of called ‘Rabbitmen’. So’n guy call’d Discord terrorised ‘n’ weaken us, lead’n to fall. Had powers like’n Great Dragon.”

“I see, Discord used to be a jerk in my world as well, but he reformed after being befriending my friend Fluttershy. He now uses his powers for good, sorry about your family. Don’t think we had Rabbitmen in my world…” Blood said, a bit saddened to learn she was talking to someone who was the last one of his race.

“Careful’n at door, rope’n for trap ‘s’ there.”, Sor’Gat told her.

“Rope? I see no-”, Blood said before stumbling over a rope as she exited the room following Sor’Gat. “Oops, that wasn’t important, was it?” She asked as the rope was cut in half by her walking through it.

Sor’Gat sighed, stepped to the side as a brick shot out of the wall at him, and said: “‘n clumsy like the ghostey. ‘Nother temple lost.”

Then all bricks began to fly, letting the snow and ice stored over and next to them start falling into the room. “Should be runnin’”, he screamed at Blood, before hopping away.

“Nah, I got this..” Blood said as she suddenly stood next to Sor’Gat, taking a stance, a fire like aura enveloping her and blasting away everything falling towards them in a great explosion, leaving Blood and Sor’Gat un scratched.

“Those’n younglings always want’n destrucshn, good’n didn’t teach ghostey ‘bout destructive. Nice weaponisal there, unique.”, he said, seemingly saddened by having the temple destroyed.

“Huh, I expected the temple to have been enchanted or something. You want me to restore it?” Blood asked seeing how Sor’Gat reacted to her vaporizing both stone and snow altogether with her aura that had now died down.

“‘nuff temples elsewhere. No enchantments, essence-containers dangerous ‘nuff without defenses. No need’n them.”, he told her, before pointing in a direction. “Ponycity’s there. With next’n temple. Wanna come?”

“Sure, I like helping people when I’m not looking for my sister. Ponies, huh? This world to then. In my world we’re all humans instead of ponies, imagine my surprise when I found out that I would have been a pony in most of the other universes.” Blood said, starting up smalltalk.

“Cursed ‘ways say most we’d be fishes, whales’n be exact. Pony-shape would be fit’n better, how oldcha?” Sor’Gat answered, not willing to ignore someone wanting to do smalltalk.

“Asking a woman her age?” Blood asked back, a teasing smile creeping up her face.

He grinned, before telling her: “So’n just born? Not wonder you did’n tell yourself.”

Blood lost her smile, realizing her little ‘trap’ didn’t work. “I’m twenty seven, if you have to know. What about yourself?” She asked.

“You’n really young… my age’n 954 yeers, 5 months ‘n’ 28 days.” Sor’Gat told her, still grinning, exposing his already sticking out long fangs.

“Really? So just about under a thousand years, huh. Wonder if I’ll ever get that old? Remember Pan saying something about some Displaced becoming immortal by default… Oh well. So how far is it to that village?” Blood asked.

“Not far, jus’n few kilometres. Three’n be exact.”, he said, ”but what’cha Displaced?”

“You don’t know about Displaced? Thought you’d know about them, since you know about tokens, or essence containers as you call them. Well, Displaced is what we refer to people like me. Someone who in some way has gotten powers in a way involved with something out of their own universe. Most Displaced are humans from a planet called Earth. But I myself am from Equestria and got my powers by asorbing a Displaced, becoming one myself. Displaced are also the ones creating tokens with the intention of meeting other Displaced by sending them to other Equestrias. By finding someones token you can call them, most tokens also have a message assigend to them and-” Blood said, but then got interrupted by Sor’Gat:

“I’ know’n ‘but essence-containers, taught’n to us by Drag’n. We don’t like’n having token thrown out, call’n Cursed those whose’n thrown out of universe. Displaced sound’n like the ghostey.”

“Huh, maybe they’re the same then?”

“Power’n as before after. Just’n gett’n draggd out universe. If none drag’n found out through un-universal way’n, we no Displaced. But we’n lock’n Displaced token away, powerful. Powerful ‘nuff to destroy everything. Essence-container in-universe to transport, teleportashn ‘n’ back. Us’n ‘nother layer of us universe.”, Sor’Gat explained, “We’n arrived.”

Blood looked at the village they had arrived at. Unable to recognize it as she herself had lived about a thousand years into the future in her own universe. Still she smiled as she could see different ponies all around the village, she always found them so cute!

Blood looked at Sor’Gat. “You know any of the Ponies here? I would like to find a certain pony family if possible, ever heard of the Pie family?”

He returned the gaze, and replied: “Not’n know’n much ponies. Only valkyr’n, was most ‘n home.”, then turned to the next pony, one with citrusyellow fur, crimsonred mane, orange eyes and a scroll as cutiemark, and asked: “Have you’n heard ‘bout ponies call’n Pie?”

“Don’t you know it is rude not to introduce oneself? Let me show you how its done: My name is Writing Step. And no, I have not heard about the Pie-family, but my sister always talks about the Pipe-dynasty near Everfree-castle. So, pray, tell me, what is your name?”, the pony, Step, said.

“I’m Sor’Gat, my companion’s called-”, he begun, but was interrupted by Blood Cleaver.

“I’m Blood Cleaver, nice to make your acquaintance.” Blood introduced herself. Making sure she was the one to introduce herself. She didn’t wan’t anypony to think she was the silent type.

“I am pleased to meet you. Are you just coming through our fine little town, or are you planning to stay? Either way, I can only recommend the bar ‘To the unmaned Changeling’. It’s just down the street, third house to the right.”

“Thank, but’n no need’n drink. We’s coming through’n, but’ll remember’n later.”, Sor’Gat told him, before telling Blood: “Com’n with to Forbidd’n Temple? ‘s not far ‘way.”

“Sure, I already said I have nothing better to do. I’ll make sure not to spring any traps this time.” Blood says showing of exactly how she planned to do that by llifting herself of the ground and hover in place for a while. “I won’t be triggering anything like that again.”

I watched those two… things leave. Writing Step was too nice to strangers… all it would take was one rivalling faction, and he would die…

I sighed, and turned from the mainstreet into a side street. After maneuvering through the town, I find myself in front of the most popular bar of the town.

It was also the place where I was supposed to tell about interesting things. After entering the bar, I look around, searching for my employer.

The bar stank, like alcohol, like sweat, like piss. I have no idea how it became that popular, seeing how it is that bad. In the corner of my eye I saw broken stools, broken tables and unconcious ponies… and even a griffon. Another reason as to why the bar shouldn’t be as popular, who would let a griffon in? That’s as stupid as letting a minotaur, or a zebra in, even though the latter atleast could disguise themselves.

Around the broken tables, I could see the griffon engaging into a fight with even more ponies. I finally spotted my employer, a pony with crimson coat, emeraldgreen mane, black eyes and a cutiemark resembling a shadow.

I began walking over to him, and when I arrived, I sat down at his, luckily still intact, table, and whispered: “Code Gray.”

He looked up, saw me, and whispered back: “Shape, Gender, Ability?”

“There are two of them, for starters, from two different races. The first one walks like a minotaur, has a ruffled up gray-coat, mumbles because of two giant fangs sticking out of his mouth, has a tail like a rabbit and feet like one. I would say he is a hybrid between minotaur and rabbit, male, and no abilities were shown yet. Possibly a bit rude.

As to the second one is female by the sound of the voice. Walks upright like a minotaur but has neither tail or fur. She was clad all in black clothes, seemingly out of… leather. Her mane seemingly perfectly brushed and silk smooth running down the sides of her body, only stopping at what I would call knees. Her hair was both a black and pink color, black from the top of her head down to the shoulders where it changed into a pink color. She had light blue eyes and wore some kind of saddlebag on her back. She showed no abnormal abilities besides being able to stand upright without a tail. She seems to be a straight forward individual.”, I told him.

He snickered, before replying: “I will tell the boss, as for you… you will get your payment soon. Go now, don’t tell anyone what you told me.”

Meanwhile, at one of the greater Hidden Temples…

“This’n bigger temple than last’n… probably secur’n stronger essence-contain’r.”, Sor’Gat told her, looking over the small entrance. It was positioned next to a waterfall, which in turn was in a forest, an oakwood-forest. The region was called Neighagra Falls for those waterfalls, and Sor’Gat translated the message on the entrance for Blood Cleaver:

“Leave. There is nothing from worth here. If you are an evildoer or traveller, seeking protection from the elements, downwards the river is a shelter. The things contained within this temple are dangerous, and only those authorised, perhaps not even them, should be able to get them. Should you ignore all our warnings, and proceed… then good luck. May Physics have mercy upon your soul, for we would not.

Is’n after-’rival text. Didn’t think they still’d build’n expand temples.”

“So… Physics huh? Not a problem for me.” Blood Cleaver stated with a smile on her face.

Sor’Gat turned around to look at her, and laughed: “Physics was’n religion after while. Don’t think’n really exist’n.”

“Yeah, want some cake before we enter?” Blood Cleaver asked, suddenly holding a plate with a chocolate cake on it, already cut neatly into equally big pieces.

“Want’n always cake. Why’tche think’n wouldn’t?”, Sor’Gat told her, smiling… creepily with his fangs.

“Believe me, there are such people out there, and they’re not happy people I tell ya.” Blood Cleaver said.

Sor’Gat snatched a piece of cake from the plate, and answered while chewing: “How’che think’n they could be’n happy without cake?” The cake was all over his fangs.

“I know, right? And when I asked them again they just looked at me like I’m the odd one.”

“Yes, you’ll eat’n that still? I rememb’n… wait, not’n rememb’n… forgot tell’n ghostey to love cake.”

“Yeah, I’m eating some myself.” Blood answered while taking a piece herself and seemingly inhale it. “But who’s this ghostey you keep talking about?” She asked after there were no evidence left that she’d been holding a piece och sticky chocolate cake.

“He’s who’s been trained by me in the art’n of soul-plane.”, he replied, “Look’d like you’n, just’n paler, whiter hair ‘n’ staff, invisible too. Haven’t seen in 1000 years.”

“You said he looked similar to me? A human then? Maybe I should stop by him and have a chat, humans tend to find human company calming.” Blood mused to herself.

“Oh, so know’n not want’n listnin’ to me?”, Sor’Gat replied amused, having overheard her talking to herself, “Don’t’n worry, won’t hold’n against you fleein’ scared.”

Blood Cleaver chuckled at the humor of Sor’Gat. “Don’t worry, you’re great company. Besides, I said I would help you, didn’t I? I’m one who keeps to her word. Also, I’m not worried about anything injuring me. I had quite the harsh training, worked in over hundred G forces at the end of my training. I can handle most dangers. And if I do get injured I always have senzu beans!” Blood Cleaver told Sor’Gat.

“Sound’n ‘pressive. What’cha mean by G-forces ‘n’ sneesu beans?”, Sor’Gat asked back.

“Well, G-forces are another word for gravity, and with a hundred G-forces it means everything is a hundred times heavier, including ones own body. It was part of my training. As to senzu beans, they’re a special bean that’s quite hard to cultivate, but it stores amazing amounts of energy, eating one allows one to go ten days before getting hungry again. And if the one eating it is injured the bean’s extra energy allows the body to heal almost any wound instantly. They’re great as rations and useful in emergencies. Here, try one.” She said, holding up a pouch filled with small beans.

Sor’Gat eyeballed the bean, before carefully taking one of those ‘wonder beans’ out of the pouch. He looked at it again from all sides, before eating it in one go.

After eating the bean, he could suddenly feel and use the soul-plane again… even though his waymark still being incomplete. He said: “Nice taste’n. Where’d you get them?”

“I grew these ones myself, but I originally got them from my teacher Pan. She got them as she became a Displaced and we figured out how to grow them, takes some time for them to grow though.” Blood replied in a cheery voice.

“Want’n go into the Temple now, or are’s gonna talk ‘till night’n?”, Sor’Gat chuckled, realising how long they had been talking.

“Either way is fine by me.” Blood said shrugging her shoulders but still with a smile on her face. “After you.” She said gesturing towards the entrance.

Sor’Gat just smiled, and fiddled around at the entrance. After  few seconds, the door sank into the ground, only the sudden line of dust- no dust showing there ever was one. He then hopped inside the temple-ruins.

Blood followed his lead and went inside the ruins, expecting a fun little adventure just like in the Daring Doo novels. Although she knew the stories in those novels were actual adventures and that Daring Doo was as real as herself. She had met her herself.

The Forbidden Temple had a simple layout: First, there was a small hallway from the entrance, leading deeper underground.

Then, after a certain depth is reached, it would open into a very big, circular room. This room had holes in the wall, seemingly following no pattern. Each of those holes was shaped like a cube cut in half, reaching half of its height and breadth into the surrounding stone. Inside those holes were statues in different poses, and shapes. There were quadrupedal with claws instead of hooves, bipedals with neither, and tripedals.  In the middle of said room, was a trapdoor. A trapdoor with a simple lock on it, its key being around the neck of a statue bigger than all others, hanging high above the trapdoor.

Sor’Gat and Blood Cleaver entered said room, the former looking around, until his gaze locked on the big statue.

“So, I’d give five bits that statue is gonna move. So, you wanna do the honors or can I do it?” She asked pointing at the biggest statue.

“You can’ be do’n it.”, Sor’Gat replied, turning his gaze to the trapdoor.

“Thank you.” Blood Cleaver said, as a clinging sound of chain links rattling against each other, her standing there with the key already in hand. Looking towards the biggest statue to see if it would indeed come to life. The partially good news: It didn’t. The bad news? All other statues did.

“Aww , I thought Gruffy would come to life, guess you can’t have everything.” She said as she started running around the room, pulverising the limbs of the statues to imobilize them.

Sor’Gat ignored the statues, and instead just walked over to the trapdoor. “Would’cha look at’n that… tot’lly rusty.”, before he shouted: “Com’n!” And wanted to join, but saw Blood Cleaver and a few piles of rubble. (Including Gruffy as she had named him.)

Sor’Gat looked at the hand Blood had held the key in, then to his. He shrugged, and let the key fall onto the lock, not caring if it actually hit. As the key hit the lock, it fell apart, the rust already having weakened it so far it couldn’t withstand the pressure of the key falling onto it.

“Wow, talk about not brushing your teeth.” Blood said after seeing what happened to the lock.

Sor’Gat looked at her in a weird way, before telling her: “What’cha mean by not brushing teeth? Locks’n don’t have teeth.”

“No, but key’s do, and keys and locks are a pair, you try to come up with something better.” She said, frowning a bit.

He grinned, before replying: “Talk’n ‘bout bad maint’nance.”

“Whatever, let’s see what’s on the other side, shall we?” She replied, changing the topic.

Sor’gat took hold of one side of the trapdoor, and threw it into the air, having expected it to weigh more. Thanks to its wood being rotten and hollow, and its hinges having rusted away too, it weighed nearly nothing. As he looked through the new hole in the ground, he saw a disappointingly small hole, containing two gloves.

“Thought’n be bigger’n hole…”, he sighed. Blood however gasped.

“A-are those what I think they are?” She asked noone in particular before picking up the gloves and hearing their message. “They are!” She exclaimed. Sor’Gat wondering what she was talking about.

Blood saw his questioning look and seemed to blush a little. “Sorry, it’s just that I’ve heard about the Displaced these belong to. He’s a warrior who challenges people to fights to earn glory, but he’s apparently a really great guy and will help one out if ones intentions are pure. I was surprised to see them here.” She explained away her surprise at finding them.

“I must ask you, how did these tokens even appear here? Tokens usually appear in front of someone worthy of them or one who needs them. But these don’t just appear to anyone. It makes one wonder who found them and what happened to them.” She asked Sor’Gat.

“‘ssence-container’n always had’n appear b’fore Cursed. Who sent out their own contain’r. All known died shortly after’n. Most found’n one, after death’n put in here. Noone’s said to have survived yet. Most have’n ‘interesting’ life.”, he told her, seemingly not touched by the fate of them in the slightest: “Overpoured contain’r themselves. Noone ever us’d any.”

“You  mean they were exposed to too much Void energy?” Blood asked, feeling it was the most likely cause.

Sor’Gat gave her a weird look, before saying: “Not that’n know. One was’n ate by dragon, other shocked by griffon. Some haven’t stand’n it ‘n’ suicide. Most died differ’ntly.”

Blood winced at the thought of Displaced taking their own lives, and dying in general. ”I see.” She simply replied, wanting to avoid such a topic as it made her uncomfortable.

Sor’Gat looked up for a while, before asking: “Have’n still cake?”

Blood perked up at the mention of cake. “Sure do!” She said, once again holding up a cake, a complete one at that.

He once again snatched a piece of cake, before telling Blood that all the dust in the ruin is not doing any good for the cake.

“Yeah, I guess it’s really ‘ruining’ the cake, isn’t it?” She asked with a smile.

Sor’gat laughed, before taking another piece of cake, without having eaten even his first and went out of the room.

Suddenly a sound close to how bells ring sounded throught the ruin. At this Blood stopped and put away the cake. “Sorry, forgot to leave it on vibrate.” She said before taking out a small device she had carried in her pocket and flipped it open.

“Huh, seems I’ve been invited to some kind of meeting. I think it’s important. You’ll be alright without me, won’t you? I might not be able to return for quite some time…” Blood asked Sor’Gat, as she looked up from her device.

Said rabbitman went back round the corner, and replied: “Got ‘som’more beans? Might becom’ useful. ‘n’ I’m not helpless, y’know?”

“Sure, here.” She said throwing him a smaller pouch than before. “That should last you for a while. I don’t have time to instruct you on how to farm them, but maybe you can figure it out yourself?” She asked him, before her device sounded again.

*pouch with 7 senzu beans added to saddlebags*

“Oh, I really gotta go. It was nice meting you Sor’Gat.” She said as she waved goodbye and suddenly dissapered in a flash of light and a mighty sounding *POP*.

“These teenies… don’t have’n time to let’n old rabbit say goodbye… always’n chasing destruction ‘n’ adventure…”, Sor’Gat mumbled to himself.

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