Bronze didn’t think he would die this way...choked until his lungs failed him. He was literally drowning on his own lungs, and he was at the point where all sensation was leaving him. Thoughts were nebulous things that-

Pain! Scratch that!

Bronze’s eyes snapped open, coughing as he could suddenly breathe with a hard object having forced air into his lungs through his lips, the darkness and spots in his eyes fading as he took in painful, but delicious breaths of air when whatever just inflated his lungs pulled away. He suddenly wheezed when shortly, someone small hugged his neck, sobbing. “I thought I lost you….” Bronze froze, recognizing the voice.

“...Genevieve?” Bronze asked worriedly as he hugged her small shaking body to his chest, noticing things in the room now that he wasn’t in blinding pain or being choked to death. It was Spike’s room in the library, for sure. But it was ruined, furniture smashed everywhere, and levitated, frozen in the air was Mane-iac, still as a statue in Twilight’s clearly furious and powerful spells.

“Bronze? I left you two alone for two minutes. How and I stress this very heavily. How did you manage to let this happen?” Twilight asked with a deadly tone of voice, only for Spike to fight his way free out from under a pile of comic books.

“W-wait, Twilight, this isn’t Bronze’s fault! It was that special comic you bought me! It sucked us into it and we replaced a couple of characters, but when we came back, Robin and Mane-iac somehow came with us!” Spike informed as he looked for the comic. “This one! See? On the cover, that’s Robin, and that’s Mane-iac right-OW!” Spike shouted in pain as the book started glowing again and floated out of his claws. “No-no-no! Not again!” Spike panicked, only for the book to vanish. “W-what?”

“Uh...Genevieve? I...think we just lost your way home….” Bronze said with his ears tilting back. Having his Aspect back, he now sensed from the ambient energies, and from both Genevieve and Mane-iac, that they were indeed from a parallel universe that the comic book somehow acted as some sort of gateway/window to.

“What are you saying? Th-that you’re not my dad?” The costumed cub asked with tears clogging her domino mask’s mesh.

“That’s right...I’m not.” Bronze said truthfully, but pulled her into a tender hug anyway. “But since Space is my domain, I and Jeeves will work tirelessly to get you home Little Robin. Since it’s a parallel world, that decreases the vast number of universes that we’ll have to search through...which could still take years.” Bronze said honestly, getting the little hen to sniffle as he looked up at the room, seeing even Mane-iac looked touched at the sight of a crying child.

“Well now...that’s the stallion Ah know and love.” AJ tenderly said as she, Rarity, and Trixie all crowded the door behind Twilight. “Ya’ll better get comfortable with the thought of intimacy colt. Cuz seein’ ya with little ones just makes me so hopeful.” Applejack said gently as she moved into the room, getting on the floor with him and nuzzling the distraught little hen who, despite knowing he wasn’t really her dad, sought him out for comfort. “Hey little bloom. It’ll be alright.”

“M-my dad’s gone...my friends are gone...please don’t leave me too….” Genevieve whimpered as she buried her face in Bronze’s chest, the stallion refusing to move as he curled protectively around her, even moving a wing over her. Everypony and one dragon all silently agreed to leave the room, save AJ who curled around Genevieve on the other side, essentially surrounding the cub with their bodies.

Meanwhile, the last one out was Mane-iac, who was being carefully levitated out, and in her two-tone eyes was something she hadn’t experienced since she lost her mind to the chemical vat.

Guilt….

[@]

It was to a bright beam of light blinding him through his eyelids that woke Bronze. The red tint his flesh leant the morning sun wasn’t enough for him to sleep through, so he grunted and tried to move to block it, only to realize his forehooves were devoted to snuggling something small to his body, and when he managed to muscle through his light-sensitivity to look at the source, he groggily remembered the travesty that became of his first sleepover.

‘Genevieve...she doesn’t have a home here. She might even be an adult by the time Jeeves finds her home dimension….’ Bronze squeezed the sleeping cub a little tighter, feeling all kinds of responsible even if nopony was to blame for the events that led to her being stuck here, away from her loved ones. ‘But where can I possibly put her? I can’t just hoof her off to somepony. My friends, as much as I know they would say otherwise and take her in at the drop of a hat, I can’t do that to them. But where will I take her? I have no home of my own that isn’t-.’

“Sir. I have a suggestion for your dilemma.”

‘Fire away Jeeves.’

“Your room, I’ve just about prepared it for anchoring. However, would you like me to turn it from just a single room, into an entire home? Not a mansion either. An actual home with bedrooms, living room, dining room, kitchen, the entire package. Then I could anchor the Doorway where we previously discussed.”

‘Excellent idea Jeeves, carry through with it, but first I have to get Genevieve’s opinion on things. She has a right to make decisions herself.’ Bronze looked up from the sleeping cub to Applejack, who had curved her body around Genevieve on her other side, and it wasn’t until now that Bronze realized they were still on the floor, and how close his and her snouts were. Her breath out her nose didn’t smell at all bad either. Like apples if he were honest.

“‘Bout time ya woke up colt.” Bronze almost jumped at her quiet whisper, and she cracked open her glorious emerald eyes with a tenderness and love that took the breath from his lunges. “Ah was afraid of leavin’ ya alone with the poor thing. Will ya’ll be alright without me?”

“Yeah. You go on home AJ. Your family must be worried sick considering how bad that storm last night must’ve been.” Bronze whispered, and they quietly kissed, drawing it out a bit before softly ending it, and AJ visibly begrudged having to get up off the floor since it meant leaving him and the cub alone.

Bronze was about to snuggle back down with Genevieve when-. “WHAT THE HAY?!” Applejack’s extremely loud shout of disbelief jolted both Bronze and Genevieve onto their respective standing appendages, and the cub rapidly scanned the room as Bronze moved the the door, and about dropped his jaw to the floor at the sight of a ridiculous amount of damage to the library. Twilight’s loft window was shattered and whatever came through it had made an utter mess of everything. There was a progressive cleaning spell sweeping through the place, but the fact that Twilight only put a weak self-sustained barrier over the window said she was too tired at the time to properly restore the place.

“What in tarnation happened and why didn’t it wake us up?!” Applejack demanded of Twilight at the bottom of the stairwell, who had a cold compress on her head, especially enveloping her horn.

“It was a rough night, that’s for sure. C’mon into the kitchen. Maniac’s making fluffed pancakes.” Twilight deflected for the moment, leading Applejack away.

“Who?” AJ asked, and Bronze only now looked at the door frame to see he was poking his head through a purple magic filter of sorts.

‘I see, it’s a sound barrier of sorts. Thanks Twi.’ Bronze pulled his head in, and turned around to see Genevieve with her mask off, looking down at it forlornly.

“So...is this it? Is this the end of Robin? Or is there rampant crime and supervillains here too?” Genevieve asked with a mixture of hope and concern, which turned to an odd mix of relief and sadness at Bronze shaking his head. His own experiences told him that crime and villainy were a very exceptionally low thing in Equestria, especially if his friends were all to be believed.

“There’s no need for Robin here. In our world, crime still happens, yes, but it’s managed well by mindful ponies and dutiful guards. The most ponies have to tend with are disasters and dangerous wildlife wandering too far from their homes. The cities of Trotham and Maretropolis are considered fantasy here, for instance, and so were you and Mane-iac until last night.” Bronze informed seriously, knowing that to tell her up-front was better than hiding it. “However, that book that brought Spike and I to your world, and then returned us with you and Mane-iac in tow, was a genuine portal disguised as an innocent children’s superhero comic.”

“So what do I do now? I can’t fight crime that isn’t out there, and I don’t have anyone here for me.” Genevieve sullenly said and threw her little domino mask across the room, but watched it be caught in Bronze’s aura and levitated over to him as he approached her.

“Genevieve. You don’t have crime to fight. But that just means this is a chance for you to live a normal life. Well, as normal as it could be if you decide to associate with me.” Bronze used his magic to put her mask back over her eyes. “You can still be a Little Robin if you want, helping the guards however you can. Or you can do anything you want. Become a guard yourself. A baker. A hunter. You can even foalsit or teach for all it’s worth. In the end, it isn’t circumstance that makes someone who they are. It’s who they choose to be in spite of the circumstances.”

“...There’s just no flocking way you’re not related to Brave Wings….” Genevieve smiled weakly, sniffling, and giggled at the slow-motion bop on her head. “I know, I know. ‘Language young cub’ and all that jazz.”

“Oh, that is definitely a serious thing in this world. You had best watch your tongue young hen, or I’ll have Twilight enchant your beak to clamp shut every time you say a bad word out of context.” Bronze warned, and Genevieve snorted in amusement and nodded her ascent. “I mean it! I’m not kidding!” Bronze hammed, getting her to giggle. “So...what do you want to do right now? Going forward.”

“...Do you have any room for me?” Genevieve asked hopefully, getting Bronze to beam.

“So Genevieve, would you like to live in a mansion again? Or a normal house?” Bronze asked, and Genevieve hummed.

“Well, a mansion would be nice, considering Brave spoiled me rotten outside of keeping me disciplined as Robin. I’ll miss Alfalfa so much though. He was always such a good stallion at helping keep you grounded, ya know?” Genevieve then took off her mask, letting her sharp red eyes shine through with hope and determination. “Also, Just call me Viv, or Vivian. Genevieve is a name I should’ve let go of years ago, and Victory isn’t much of a griffon name.”

“Are you sure? Genevieve is a beautiful name.” Bronze asked, getting a nod out of the hen. “Alright then, Vivian. Jeeves.” Viv blinked at the sudden statement, and the polished mahogany door opened out of the wall, revealing Jeeves standing twice as tall as Bronze.

“It is ready sir. You can take her to her new home once you and Miss Sparkle have finished the Local Doorway to ‘Battopia’.” Jeeves then bowed to Vivian, and the Doorway closed, promptly vanishing.

“Who the flock was that?!” Viv asked in astonishment, cringing as she got a bonk on the head for cursing again. “Sorry.”

“That Vivian, was my proxy, Jeeves. He acts in a manner quite similar to Alfalfa, I’m sure.” Bronze said as he moved to leave the room, the newly-named Vivian following.

“Are you sure you’re not this world’s Batcolt?” Viv’s question got a laugh out of Bronze.

[(x)]

Breakfast was...a surreal experience. Mane-iac was still here. Specifically, she was actually the one to cook breakfast. She made fluffed pancakes that were thick, flavorful, and absorbed syrups like a sponge. Hay bacon (which Bronze still gets a giggle out of calling them ‘gay bacon’), and a ridiculous amount of biscuits, eggs in various styles, and gravy if nopony wanted pancakes as a main dish.

So Bronze was busy inhaling one of the biscuits, beings he decided to go half-n-half on the food to try it all, staring at the admittedly beautiful purple mare who uncomfortably twitched and grunted intermittently as if in pain just sitting still in her adorable ‘kiss the cook’ apron, her mane and tail spasming as if staying still was against her very nature. “S-stop staring...please?” She asked, no, pleaded of him, and Bronze sighed sadly out his nose.

“Sorry. Hard to look away when somepony seems to be in pain.” Bronze commented, and she giggled uncontrollably. No really. It was a fit, Bronze could tell she didn’t do it intentionally as she strained to stop it. “Didn’t anyone even try to help you?”

“N-no...nopony-HA-HA-HA-ahem...c-could manage to s-stay calm arrrr. Rrrr. ROUND!” She paused a moment to pant, twitching harder to everypony’s concern, while Vivian and Spike both scooted away from her warily. “M-me, long enough t-t-t-to actually do a-he-he-he-anything.” She said, her left eye dilating and her right shrinking unnaturally as she cringed, seeming on the edge of an aneurysm. “T-Twilight...said she would try and get me h-h-h-help….” She then slumped onto the table next to her small plate, beings she snacked while she ate according to Spike.

“The more she refuses to act out and indulge her impulses, the more pain it seems to cause her. I’m beginning to believe this is both a physical, mental, and magical malady. Just sending her off the Canterlot would get her thrown in a madhouse faster than anything. So I and hopefully Zecora are going to try and see about reducing, or outright reversing her condition’s severity.” Twilight said as she got up from her seat and moved to the currently gasping mare, who seemed on the verge of panic all of a sudden before Twilight hugged her gently, and the larger mare whimpered as she leaned into it. “Zecora’s the most amazing po-person, I know with the skills with chemicals and potions and her own brand of magic that might be able to help.”

“P-please back away. My hair. It wants to strangle you too….” Mane-iac cried, her eyes weeping as her hair moved in on Twilight, only for the librarian to freeze Mane-iac with a paralysis spell, visibly helping the mare relax that her body wasn’t going to kill somepony just trying to help.

“That poor pony needs real help….” Applejack said sadly at how much Mane-iac was suffering for not doing what her body was demanding of her.

“Well, her origin story says she was just a poor mare who fell into a chemical vat and was electrocuted at the same time. She was lucky to survive really.” Spike input, sipping on his juice after his self-made bug sandwich.

“We’ll have to get the word straight from the horse’s mouth on that one Trixie thinks.” Oh yeah, Trixie was here too. Unlike Rarity who took off since she had a store to run, Trixie was more or less only performing shows on request, so she had an open schedule.

“Well whatever it is, it’s for her to tell. Twilight, just put the poor mare under so she can get some respite or something. We’ll call my mom and aunt Tia to...ugh.” Bronze put his face in his hooves, sighing at doing it again. “Well Mane-iac, we have a similar problem, only mine’s much more subtle. I don’t think any magical process Twilight could come up with can keep me and the template my body’s based off of from merging completely.”

At his words and the weak paralysis spell weakening, she gave Bronze a sympathetic look.

[@]

“Oh~ she’s so adorable!” Mary Robinson squealed as she mashed poor Vivian’s face into her very puffy and pronounced platinum blonde chest, making the cub blush from being treated like an actual little kid for once, especially when Mary began nuzzling her with her beak, fussing over Vivian’s messy head feathers..

“Yes. Very.” Ronald Robinson, the huge tiger-hawk griffon said shortly. It seemed the transformation, while not fixing the damaged speech centers of his brain completely, allowed him to get some simple words out now, making his talon signs only secondary when he can’t get his point across.

“You two are taking this so much better than I thought you would….” After breakfast and helping calm Mane-iac down enough for Twilight to gently put her to sleep for a while, Bronze immediately took Vivian to his actual birth mother and his dad to let them know that he was more-or-less adopting her until he can get her home.

Mary instantly squealed ‘A GRANDBABY~!’ and took to coddling poor Vivian. The hen already has over a dozen grandkids, you’d think she’d get over getting them when she was already a great-grandmother a couple times over and Bronze himself was a Grunkle.

Robinsons could really breed, it was part of why he didn’t want to procreate...well, until recently.

“Welcome to my nutty enormous family Vivian.” Bronze chuckled, getting Vivian to managed to pull herself free of Mary’s ‘granny hug’ and get some air.

“I’m still completely confused how you went from a hairless ape, to a minotaur, to this. Meanwhile your parents are both griffons? What logic does this weird dimension follow with turning others into local races?” Vivian asked with disbelief still in her tone. He explained things to her on the way over to Fluttershy’s to speak with his parents when he figured they would be in their room resting since it was a weekend and they usually took time to themselves on the weekend from the search for the rest of the Robinson Clan.

“I believe it has more to do with personality than genetics. For instance, mom, didn’t you say cousin Kenny and his family were actually turned into satyrs?” Apparently, satyrs were a thing here and Lyra wasn’t just making it up as her excuse for her interest in humans was due to her being an anthropologist, and it was literally the practice of the study of simians or semi-simians such as minotaurs, centaurs, and satyrs to name a few.

“Yep. Kenny, Mona and their boys were turned into satyrs and wound up being in Bullgaria. They’ve already got good roots set down with Kenny working as an apprentice engineer.” Mary said with a roll of her eyes. Bronze’s cousin Kenny was already an engineer before the transition, if anything he should already be the head of whatever workshop took him in.

“Dumb. Bulls. Kick. Their. Asses.” Ronald haltingly bit out, getting Mary to punch him in the shoulder for cursing in front of Vivian, getting her to giggle, especially since Ronald was literally three times bigger than her and that was as high as she could reach on him.

“So all that aside. I came here to tell you my new place is ready and you don’t have to worry about me taking up space in the main part of the house.” Bronze informed his parents who both smiled at hearing the news. They’d been put-out that Bronze refused to bunk in their room using a sleeping bag or whatever and opted to sleep in a cave of all places

“Be. Safe. Son. Treat. Her. Right.” Ronald grunted, trying not to let how much his youngest son finally ‘leaving the nest’ worried him, but Bronze knew his dad too much to not see it.

“That’s right, you need to provide her an education, a safe home, a good diet, and for fuck’s sake, commit already!” Mary poked Bronze in the chest with a talon at her last point. Mary really liked Applejack and Zecora, and gave them the go-ahead to have her son. Bronze was the only one holding back now. He was worried about his...performance considering he’s a total virgin. “Having a mare help you with raising this cub would go a long way.”

“I’m 10.” Vivian blankly reminded them. She’d been fighting crime since she was 7. Brave pulled no punches on toughening her up while Alfalfa tended to her other needs. She was no normal cub, that was for sure. But...wasn’t this her chance at that though? Bronze told her this was a fresh start. She could just be a...normal griffon. Well, as normal as Bronze could get anyway.

“I know ma...look, I’ll talk to you later. I need to get Vivian home.” Bronze then turned to her and put a hoof on her, vanishing.

[@]

A simple oak door stood at the right side of the cave entrance, and it’s free-standing frame shined with runes before opening and Bronze, Vivian, and surprisingly; Mane-iac stepped through. In the time spent visiting his folks, Twilight and Zecora were already able to work out a potion that, taken in doses over time, could help her stabilize. That said, she didn’t have someplace to stay, and Bronze wanted to keep an eye on her, so beings he definitely had room to spare, invited her to stay with him. “Welcome you two, to Battopia!”

Bronze gestured grandly to the large, dark, empty cave with nothing but the hammock and lanterns, getting the two females to look at him with a raised eyebrow each. “Is it me? Or is he crazier than I?” Mane-iac asked the hen rhetorically, getting the griffon to shrug.

“Oh ye of little faith! This vast space can house dozens! I mean, just look at that door!” Bronze then pointed behind the hammock on the back wall, just as magical dark blue light lit on either side of it, revealing large, stately, polished mahogany double-doors with bat-themed knockers on them. They were, quite literally, the front doors of a mansion. “Brave Wings, eat your heart out! You may have money, you may have charm. But I? I have SPACE POWERS!”

“Yeah, he’s crazier than you.” Vivian said with a grin to the purple mare, who had stripped of her own leotard to be in the buff like everypony else. The two femmes figured shedding the vestments of their previous lives was symbolic. They left their outfits in Spike’s claws. The little drake was far too happy to, quote; ‘protect your secrets with my life’, unquote. That really made Vivian giggle.

“Let us retire my new housemates! To our grand mansion~!” Bronze hammed as they approached the doors, knocking on the knocker on the left twice, the right one thrice, and the left one once. When the doors then automatically opened inwards with slow drama, both Vivian and Mane-iac had their eyes wide open and sparkling in amazement. “Welcome~! To Battopia Manor~!”

The insides were very classy, done in shades of white, gray, and black with an offset of blood red. The sheer volume of bat-themed ornaments and designs made Vivian smile softly at how homey it felt already to her, while Mane-iac instantly took a liking to what seemed to be a ridiculously massive entertainment center. They both looked to each other, and to the stallion giving them a home, before squee-ing with excitement and running in to explore, leaving Bronze at the closing doors grinning, until said doors closed and both females were out of sight, and he fell over on his side, exhausted.

Author's Notes:

Wow, so tired, this chapter kinda drained me like it drained Bronze.

I, personally, am a genuine Grunkle, and I'm not even in my 30s.

Mah family, it too big dawg! Too many names and faces to remember~!

But being the fun uncle all the kids want to play with is great!