‘I need to see if Vigilant can get me a rubber ducky.’

I was giving myself a relaxing hot bubble bath in my new bathroom to start off the morning. It was a surreal experience trying to wash yourself when you’re not even familiar with your own body. I still had most of the key features of a human woman, but the scales, gills, and fins on my new body even made simple bathing an adventure. I discovered that when my body is fully immersed in water, my hands and feet will undergo a metamorphosis and turn into webbed appendages. The thin tissue between my fingers and toes startled me when I had my first bath, but I grew to accept them and even enjoyed the unique experience.

I just finished getting some of the grime between my scales with a bath brush and allowed myself to sink beneath the soapy waters. My webbed feet were the only appendages sticking out at the edge of the tub and I interlocked my fingers behind my head to enjoy the warm water encompassing me. The gills slits around my neck, that weren’t blocked off by the collar, provided me with enough oxygen and I could stay immersed in the water for as long as I wanted. Twilight and I tested my gills during one of our research sessions, and I can apparently breathe in any body of water. Salt water from the sea? I can breathe it. Clear water from a river? I can breathe it. A fish bowl filled with nothing but soda? Ok I can’t breathe that, but me and Pinkie were curious one night. I coughed up the soda and it took forever to get the stickiness out of my gills and hair. I knew it was stupid to try, but my body is made out of magic now and I wanted to test everything that came to mind.

I stared at the bubbles on the surface of the water for a while and enjoyed the light filtering thru them. It was almost hypnotizing and I started to fall asleep until I felt something tickling my feet above the water. I arched my feet at the annoying feeling as I tried to sleep, but the tickling wouldn’t end. After a minute, I was fully awake and a giggle escaped my lips underneath the water. Then I became alert as I realized that something was in my bathroom. My head burst out of the water to find Pinkie Pie poking my feet with her hoof and I immediately tried to cover myself with the bubbles to hide my body before I let her know my displeasure.

“PINKIE!! What are you doing in my bathroom!?” I screamed.

She gave me her happiest grin before taking a deep breath and explained away in rapid succession.

“I came to give you some cupcakes you left last night after your Welcome to Ponyville party. When I knocked on your door and you didn’t answer, I looked thru the kitchen window to see if anypony was home. Then I saw a light coming from the bathroom door and I knew you must be home. I thought it was odd that you didn’t hear the knocking, so I checked to see if the door was unlocked before I let myself in. At first I was just going to leave the cupcakes on the dining table with a note, but then I thought I should try and let you know I was here by knocking on the bathroom door. When you still didn’t answer, I got worried and tried to call out to you. Still nothing! Then I opened the bathroom door a crack to see if you were okay. You weren’t moving in the tub and I was worried that you were hurt or something. So I poked you to see if you would move. But now I see that I was just being silly, so sorry about that.”

She at least had the courtesy to look embarrassed at the end of her explanation. I sighed as I realized that my bath would have to be cut short.

‘I’ll have to make sure that the door is locked at all times from now on. Darn it, I can’t get mad at that cute little face.’

“It’s okay Pinkie just don’t do it again. Wait in the kitchen, I’ll be out in a minute.”

Pinkie hopped out the bathroom while closing the door and I got out of the tub to rub myself down with a towel. I blow-dried my hair with a hair dryer that Rarity let me borrow and I put on the only set of clothes I had. Once I put on the tank top and blue jeans, my hands and feet reverted back into their normal forms and I walked out into the kitchen to find Pinkie waiting for me. A tray of cupcakes with blue frosting sat on the dining table and I stored them in the fridge for a later date. I took out some oranges and prepared to make juice with them as I asked Pinkie what her plans were for the day. Seems like it was going to be a regular day working for the Cakes, but at night she said she was planning a party for somepony new coming to town. She had no idea who it was, but her Pinkie Sense told her that someone was coming.

“So what are you going to do today?” Pinkie asked me.

“Don’t know, Vigilant hasn’t come by yet. I’m sure there’s something for me to do today. By the way, that was a great party last night. I’m surprised I was allowed to even have a party, since I’m technically a ‘prisoner’ here in Ponyville,” I said as I finished juicing the oranges and poured the juice into two glasses I pulled from a cabinet.

Pinkie struck a rebellious pose by standing on her hind legs and placed her front hooves on her flanks. Even though her anatomy should be disagreeing with her right now, she kept the pose and radiated confidence.

“Hmpf, the law can’t stop Pinkamena Diane Pie from giving her friends the best parties. Ever since I got to know Zecora, I’ve made it my mission to make sure that all newcomers to Ponyville feel welcomed.”

I giggled at Pinkie’s display and handed her a glass of orange juice. She grasped it with her hooves and we simply enjoyed each other’s company for a couple minutes. I realize though that the only reason I was permitted a party was because my handler Vigilant Star allowed it. He kept an eye on me throughout the entire party and rarely engaged with the dozens of guests. The party was hosted by the Cakes and several ponies stopped by to party with the infamous but oddly unfrightening Dread Fish.

I had just finished the orange juice when I heard a knock on the front door in the living room. I opened it to find Vigilant Star waiting for me outside.

“Are you ready to start the day? The Sisterhooves Social is today, and we could use your muscle to help set it up.”

“Sure, just let me get my boots on.”

Pinkie popped up behind my shoulder and waved to the sergeant

“Hi Mister Star! Did you enjoy your welcome cake last night?”

Vigilant was surprised by Pinkie’s appearance, and he tried to calmly wave back. I could tell that he seemed a bit irked by her appearance in my home.

“The cake was very good Ms. Pie, but I thought I told you and everypony else last week about this. Any who wish to have a meeting with Undyne in her home must schedule an appointment with me first.”

“I know, but I came to deliver her cupcakes, not have a meeting with her.”

“A delivery is still a- never mind, just talk to me first whenever you come to her home alright."

“Okie dokie loki”

I got ready to go and I said my goodbyes to Pinkie. As she hopped away, me and Vigilant discussed how I could help prepare the Social.

Hours later…

Princess Celestia sat on her throne tending to her workload for the day. A representative from Cloudsdale was explaining to her the need to change the scheduled weather for a few select weeks, until a letter popped into existence next to her. She at first thought it was a letter from her faithful student, but the seal signified that it was a letter from the griffins of House Hialla. She unrolled the letter and was curious to see what her allies among the griffins had to say.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I urge you to make haste to the town of Ponyville immediately. We found Undyne’s brother and we told him of the trial you had for his sister.

He is not happy.

He has the means to get from my Isles to your Ponyville in less than a few minutes. I don’t have enough time to explain everything in this letter, just get to Ponyville so we can avoid a potential disaster. I swear I’ll explain everything there.

Your Friend and Colleague,
King Grinnail

Celestia was off the throne and rushing down the dais the second she read the last of Grinnail’s words.

“HK, how far are we now?”

“Answer: We should be arriving at our destination in less than 2 minutes master,” HK-55 said from the co-pilot’s seat of the Fury. Water and land quickly passed underneath us as the Fury flew faster than the speed of sound.

I was pacing around the bridge of my ship as emotions ran wild within my mind. I was overjoyed at the thought of seeing Katy again, but I was angry at the thought of her being held prisoner. I was eager to see the ponies from the TV show, but I also felt betrayed by what they’ve done to my sister. King Grinnail told me everything he knew about what Katy has been through since she landed in Canterlot, and it left me with questions I needed answers to. Why did she rampage around Canterlot? Why was she sent to Ponyville? Why did the ponies label her as a goddamn animal!? I knew I wouldn’t be able to calm down unless I saw my sister and she answered these questions.

My pacing extended to the hallway leading back to the common area of the ship. Falca and King Grinnail were sitting comfortably on one of the leather couches surrounded by a host of guards. Grinnail handed an inkwell and quill to one of his guards and I saw Falca giving me a worried look. I subtly touched her mind and found that she was concerned I would hurt someone if I didn’t like the answers I receive when we got to Ponyville.

‘She’s not wrong, someone’s going to pay for this insult my sister had to endure. To be collared and called an animal… I need names and targets to channel this anger on.’

Grinnail told me everything he learned from the Equestrian newspapers and his contacts in Equestria. The media told him how Katy wreaked havoc across Canterlot while his ambassador and other contacts told him about the public trial and the punishment made after the private hearing. Grinnail couldn’t give me a definitive answer on as to why a collar was made necessary, but he ordered me to not jump to conclusions until we received a full explanation.

‘Just got the job and he’s already giving his Warden orders. Gahh… ok, ok, calm down Jack, it’s a reasonable request. After all, I represent a kingdom now, I have a responsibility to show restraint in a foreign country. Especially in an allied country.’

I was brought out of my thoughts when Falca spoke up.

“Jack I know you must have a lot on your mind, but try to focus on what’s really important. You are going to see your sister again, so try to think about just that. Think about all the things you want to tell her since you arrived on this world. Worry about all the negatives till after the happy family reunion.”

“(sigh)… Ok, I’ll try Falca. This anger I’m feeling is preventing me from being happy. It’s only been a week, but it feels like I’ve been separated from my sister for years,” I replied just as HK's voice sounded off from the ship intercom and startled the griffins.

“Statement: We have arrived master, locating a suitable landing zone. Error. I require your presence on the bridge master.”

I rushed to the bridge and HK told me what was wrong

“Frustration: I have located 26 suitable landing sites on the outskirts of this Ponyville with the scanners. However, none of them offer any suitable defensible positions should we need to make a quick emergency extraction of the target.”

“Query: Would you like me to place the ship on a vulnerable landing site anyway master?”

“Keep looking, and if you still can’t find one, land the ship on the site that at least has some cover. But I’m not staying on this ship a moment longer, open the exit ramp and pass us over the town.

“Thank ya very much youngster, I’m sure Big Mac here appreciates the help,” Granny Smith said as Macintosh and I placed the last of the huge hay bales in their proper places for the race.

“Y’all deserve a pick-me-up for your hard work today.”

Granny passed around some apple juice to everyone who worked on the set up for the Sisterhooves Social. We were almost done setting up everything and I sat down on one of the hay bales to enjoy my drink. Big Mac sat down next to me and we quietly enjoyed each other’s company. Vigilant Star stood off in the distance keeping an eye on me and I waved to him to let him know I was fine. I was almost finished with my drink when I saw Big Mac tense in my peripheral vision.

“What is it Big Mac? Something wrong?”

“Eeyup,” he replied while pointing his hoof towards something in the sky.

A black speck in the sky was heading towards the town and it was moving fast. The speck’s features were beginning to become more discernable and I realized that it was a ship. A very familiar ship. Its engines roared overhead and it dropped something as it passed over the center of town. I squinted my eyes to see what it dropped and I saw something that vaguely looked humanoid. My heart stopped as I realized who it could be.

“Jack”

I was off the hay bale and sprinting towards the center of town as soon as the realization dawned on me. I noticed that Vigilant called out to me, but I didn’t care. I had just passed one of Ponyville’s many cottages when the humanoid object finally hit the ground and I began to panic.

‘No no no no,’ I thought as I imagined my little brother splattered all over the ground.

By the time I reached the center of Ponyville, a crowd of ponies was gathered around where the object had landed and I forced myself to move faster. I pushed my way through the crowd as soon as I reached them and I heard Rainbow Dash’s voice echo out from the center.

“Just who do you think you are? You’ve got a lot of nerve if you think you can go wherever you want after the mess you made. Who are you and what do want with Undyne? Cause if you’re here to hurt her you’ll have to go thru me!” Dash shouted passionately.

“I don’t have time for this, just get out of my way! KATY, are you here!? KATY!”

The voice sounded demonic, but there was a trace of something familiar to it. I've listened to his voice long enough to recognize it despite the changes. I pushed through enough of the crowd to see someone standing in the middle of a crater. A tall, intimidating figure dwarfed both me and the ponies surrounding him. He was covered from head to toe with black and white armored robes I remember helping him make. The red glowing eyes from his helmet focused on me as soon as I pushed thru the last row of ponies, and I stared back up at him.

Everything was silent as we stood there staring at each other. He took a step towards me, and I took a step towards him. Feelings of hope and joy dominated my mind the more I stared at the tall man. The demonic voice emitting from his helmet broke the silence.

“Katy?”

“Jack?” I replied.

He grasped his helmet and I heard the release of air pressure as he took off the helmet and revealed his face. I was…stunned, no…overwhelmed. What I expected to be my brother’s young and unlined face, was actually the face of a blood red, chiseled Sith. His golden eyes stared at mine for a few more moments, and I saw tears threating to break past his eyelids. He spoke again, this time without the demonic tone, and it wiped away the feeling of being overwhelmed in an instant.

“Big Sis”

“Little bro”

We ran towards each other and he had his arms open wide, ready to embrace me with a hug. As soon as he got close to me, I punched him square in the jaw and sent him reeling.

“OWWW! What was that for?” He said while rubbing his jaw.

“That was for scaring the crap out of me earlier, I thought you were going to get yourself killed when I saw you jumping out of the ship. Okay, now that it’s out of my system, come give your big sister a hug!”

He gave me a stupid grin and hugged the life out of me. He was much taller than me now, and my feet left the ground as we twirled around the crater. Happy to finally be reunited at last.

A sudden dizziness overcame me as Jack began to slow down and he let me back down on the ground. We still held each other’s hands, and I used him for support as the dizziness got worse. Jack didn’t look too good either, his eyes were glazed over as his shoulders slumped and I tried to ask him what was wrong.

“Jack what’s going-,”

I didn’t get to finish my sentence as I began to see nothing but shadows and I felt the ground hit my back.

“Wakey wakey you two, time to get up,” an elderly voice spoke in the darkness.

I opened my eyes to see only a dark void. Light peeked in my peripheral vision and I turned my head around to see that I was lying down on a bright white disk that kept me suspended in the void.

“Jack are you alright?” Katy’s voice called out to me.

I turned towards her voice and I saw my fish-like sister standing on another white disk. She was glaring at something with her one eye, and I turned to look at what she was staring at. I saw an elderly man in a dark purple business suit floating lazily in the void without a disk to keep him from falling. His black eyes stared at us as he grinned, and I answered Katy’s question.

“I’m fine, who’s the creepy old man?”

“Good question.” She responded.

Taking that as his que, the old man spoke to us both.

“Don’t you remember me? I’m the one who sent you both on the adventure of a lifetime.” Its form began to shape into a familiar little volus and I realized who I was taking to.

Rage flooded my mind, and I called on the Force to crush the little cretin’s neck. Nothing happened, and I let out a howl of rage as I tried to do everything I could to viciously kill the thing that took me away from my family. The volus turned into the voluptuous Morrigan, a witch from the Dragon Age series, and yawed at my feeble attempts to kill it.

“Don’t waste your time, we are within your mind, and you cannot kill what isn’t even here,” it said in a tired voice.

I tried to calm down as its words registered in my mind. I looked over at Katy, and saw that she too wanted nothing more than to throttle the entity that abducted us. I turned my attention back towards the entity, and found that it had changed forms again. Morrigan was gone and the entity took on the form of Darth Traya. An elderly woman in an old brown Jedi robe with long grey hair that laid across her shoulders in braids. Her eyes were milky white and she spoke with the same wizened voice she had from the video game.

“Take notice, while we may be speaking to each other at the speed of thought, time hasn’t stopped, and events are spiraling out of control as you stand there pointlessly glaring at me.”

Time was moving slowly as brother and sister laid on the ground, holding each other’s hands. HK-55 stood over them protectively while waving a blaster rifle threateningly at a distraught Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Twilight and her friends were desperately trying to defuse the tense standoff as a crowd of ponies screamed around them. King Grinnail and Falca were flying as fast as they could towards the scene, and Falca was calling out desperately to Jack as she saw the Sith lying on the ground unmoving.

Unless something happened soon, violence was sure to ensue.

“How are we speaking in my mind,” I asked.

“We are speaking through that neural implant your Sith character had," it answered.

I rose an eyebrow in confusion.

"You played the game, don’t you remember Jack? Neural implants were an item you could equip onto characters so you could enhance their strength and abilities,” The fake Darth Traya explained.

I remembered the words NUERAL LINK DECTECTED on the lens of my helmet as I was falling in the void. The splitting headache I felt when I was transforming in the void made much more sense now. The fake Darth Traya continued to speak as soon as realization dawned on me.

“That implant is also why you have those foreign memories. It is how you are able to wield and use the lightsaber so masterfully, even though you’ve only trained with the blade for a week. You can remember the controls of the Fury, even though you never once stepped foot on a starship. The implant holds petabytes of memories from a real Lord Wrath in a universe where the Star Wars galaxy is a true reality. Besides store the memories, the implant also effectively activates and controls the nerves connected to the adrenal glands, giving you long lasting and controlled adrenaline rushes that augment your strength. Without that implant and the powers I gave you, you would never have been able to survive the Aper Major and save Falca.”

I remembered when the Aper Major was charging me and the paralyzing fear that gripped my mind when I thought I was going to die. Then I remembered the anger that swiftly swept my mind, and that anger allowed me to call upon the Dark Side. The implant must have helped me trigger my fight response, and it helped me push past my fear.

“I added an extra feature to the implant before I finished molding your new body, and it’ll disappear when this meeting is over. When the implant registered skin contact with Katy’s scales, it compelled you to activate a Force telepathic connection between you two and its allowing me to talk to you both. That punch Katy threw is why we are talking now,” It finished while moving its milky white eyes towards Katy.

Katy glanced at her hand before returning to glare at the fake Darth Traya.

“But why are you talking to us? Are you here just to taunt us? Do you expect us to thank you for turning us into what we are? What even are you?” Katy asked angrily.

The fake Darth Traya blinked before responding to the multiple questions.

“It seems I’ve forgotten to introduce myself. I am an individual that comes in many forms, and I have many names. However, most know me by this title, The Merchant. To answer your other questions, no, I’m not here to taunt you or expect thanks from you. I’m here to give you your tokens, and propose an offer.”

“What tokens?” I asked.

“These tokens,” The Merchant said as two bright flashes appeared in front of me and Katy. Floating in front of me was a pyramidal Sith holocron, while Katy had Undyne’s plated helmet in front of her.

“With these tokens, Displaced beings like you from across the multiverse will be able to summon you both to their Equestrian Universes. This goes both ways, you’ll also be able to summon them as well and they can aide you in your own struggles.”

Katy and I stared at the tokens for a few moments before I asked The Merchant another question.

“So we’ll be able to help others trapped in other universes like us?”

“Exactly, now I’ll tell you both about my offer. If either one of you chooses to accept this, you’ll be given the tokens and one of you will receive something a little extra. If neither of you accepts the offer, then I’ll take the tokens back.”

The Merchant snapped its wrinkled fingers, and a red heart appeared above Undyne’s helmet.

“The offer is both a blessing and a curse. Should you choose to accept the offer Katy, I will give you back your old human SOUL. It was difficult replacing your old SOUL with a boss monster one, but with your old SOUL and new monster body, you'll be a god among mortals. You’ll have no need to kill one of the ponies and share the power, when you can just use your own SOUL instead. However, there is the curse to consider. If you take your old SOUL, you’ll be forever bound to your token. If someone besides yourself were to hold your token, you’ll have no choice but to serve their every command. That includes the other Displaced who could hold copies of your token. You’ll have to obey them, but you’ll only have to obey other Displaced for 7 days or until they dismiss you back to your own universe. Your original token is the one you’ll have to worry about the most.”

“So I’d have godly amounts of power, but still be a slave to whoever held the token?” Katy asked with a hint of unease in her voice.

“Yes, now it’s your turn Jack.”

The Merchant snapped it's fingers again, and a shadowy holographic figure appeared above the Sith Holocron.

“Should you choose to accept the offer, I will give you the totality of knowledge from a powerful being within the Star Wars universe. This being was more powerful than either of those masters you found within the holocrons on the Fury. I offer you all the knowledge discovered about the Force from an Emperor that was once known as Tenebrae, Darth Vitiate, and later… Valkorion.”

The holographic figure cleared up and showed an old man in a white and ornately stylized armored attire with a dragon centered on his chest plate. The man was Emperor Valkorion, The Dragon of Zakuul.

“Along with all his knowledge comes the same curse as well. You’ll be a slave if anyone besides yourself holds your token.”

“A millennia of knowledge for possible servitude.” I mumbled, entranced by the offer.

Katy broke me out of the trance before I could make any decisions.

“Jack, don’t do anything stupid. We bought something from this guy once, and look what happened.”

‘She’s right’

“You can take your offer and tokens, and shove them up your ass. We don’t want anything from you, unless it’s a way back home,” I said pointing my finger at the bastard.

The Merchant stared at us with Darth Traya’s milky white eyes, and smirked when it spoke.

“Don’t you realize I’m already offering you a way back?”

“What?” Katy and I both asked confused.

“The tokens are a way to travel between universes. If you could learn to harness their power, you could use them to travel to any universe at will, and that includes your home universe. It may not be a direct path home, but it can be the beginning of one. So, are you sure you want me to take the tokens back? Cause once this conversation is over, we will never speak again.”

I stared at the Sith holocron that could be our only way back home. If I took it, I would have the knowledge to become as strong as one of the most powerful Force users in Star Wars history. All I had to do was keep the token out of anyone else’s hands and the curse will never be an issue. However, if this Merchant was giving us the choice in the first place, it must know something we don’t. Why place such a heavy price on this offer if you thought it may never be paid?

“One of you must reach out and take your token. Both tokens will be yours and the one who takes the token will be the only one to receive the blessing and curse. The offer has been made Jack and Katy Krieger, make your choice.”

I looked over at Katy and saw that she was thinking hard about this decision. Then I saw the collar she had around her neck. The collar the ponies used to label her as an animal, and forced her to work off her crimes. I stared at her for a few seconds and I knew I would do anything for my family. I love my sister, and I’ll not allow her to risk putting on another collar.

“Katy, if this is our only way home, then I’ll take the risk,” I said reaching towards the holocron.

“JACK! WAIT, this could be a trick, don-,” she screamed but it was already too late.

My hand grasped the Sith pyramid and Valkorion’s hologram was absorbed into the holocron, while the heart floating above Undyne’s helmet floated away and into the void. The helmet floated into Katy’s hands and she realized what I’d just done. The Merchant disappeared into the void along with the heart, but not before uttering a few more words.

“So, instead of breaking chains, the Sith binds chains onto himself. You are an interesting enigma Jack Krieger. From this day forth, your life is forever bound to that holocron. Enjoy your newfound knowledge, may it serve you well.

“Threat: The meatbags with the ridiculous hair will cease their attempts to apprehend my master and his sister, or the next stun bolt is going into one of their heads.”

The mechanical and modulated voice was the first thing my stimuli registered as I woke up from the hallucination my brother and I had to endure.

“They require medical attention immediately! We must bring them to a hospital, I assure you that our intentions are only benign.”

That had to be Celestia’s voice. I tried to fight through the sluggishness I’m feeling, and managed to open my one eye. I didn’t know how he could be here, but the infamous assassin droid was standing above me and he was pointing his rifle at Celestia and Luna.

“Retort: We have medical equipment of our own, our ship’s medical bay is more than suitable to their needs. I’ll not risk allowing my master to be taken into to the clutches of an unknown, no matter their intentions.”

“King Grinnail, can’t you order him to stand down?”

“It doesn’t matter what I say, he’ll only take orders from Jack,” an unfamiliar male voice replied.

“Please, can’t we talk about this?” Twilight said begging the assassin droid.

“Resolute: No,” he replied.

I had to say something before this situation got any worse.

“Wait,” my voice is weak but I continued to speak, “HK-55, that is you right? Me and Jack are fine, please put the blaster down before someone gets hurt.” The droid turned his attention away from Celestia to stare down at me.

“Astonishment: Ahh, so master’s sister is awake. Do not worry ma’am, the blaster is merely a safety precaution and is set to stun. No one will get hurt…much.”

“HK, please don’t shoot at the royalty again, I don’t think I have the stamina to deflect the bolts this time,” Jack’s voice drew both me and HK’s attention, and I turned my head to the side to see Jack trying to prop himself up on his elbows.

“Resignation: Very well master, (sigh), and I was actually looking forward to shooting something today.”

“Are you both okay? What happened to you two?” Luna asked with a worried look as she risked taking a few steps toward us. Before either of us could answer, a bright white light shined in our hands. In my right hand appeared Undyne’s helmet, a grey metal masterwork with a faceplate that resembled a row of brutal teeth and it had only one eyehole for my right eye. In Jack’s hand appeared a small red pyramid with elaborate symbols written on it’s sides. When I looked at the pyramid, I felt guilt clawing at my stomach at the thought that I couldn’t stop my brother from taking such a huge risk. I was also furious at him for making such a stupid decision, he knows that The Merchant screwed us over before, and I couldn’t fathom why he would even think to take the bastard’s offer. We both looked each other in the eye and we knew this was not the proper place for explanations. Jack nodded his head in a silent signal to let me handle this and I tried to get up. The sluggish feeling started to ebb away as I stood up and addressed the confused ponies and…griffins?

“Something happened that we need to talk about in private. It’s related to how we got here.” Celestia and Luna gave me knowing looks and Celestia turned to address the crowd.

“My little ponies, the situation has been resolved. Please, everypony go about their business for today’s Sisterhooves Social. Undyne has just been reunited with her brother, and I’m sure the two siblings would love to catch up.”

“That’s her brother!? He doesn’t look a thing like her,” Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she hovered above her friends. The Mane 6 were staring at Jack and I think he startled a few of them. Fluttershy, no surprise, hid behind her friends while Rarity and Twilight gaped at him with curious eyes. Pinkie Pie was jumping up and down with glee at the sight of my brother and I could tell that she was happy to see us finally reunited. Rainbow Dash and Applejack put on brave faces as Jack stood up to his full height and he gawked back at all of them.

“Looks can be deceiving Ms. Dash. Twilight, may we use your library? We have much to discuss in private,” Celestia said turning towards her faithful student.

“Of course Princess Celestia, please, right this way,” Twilight said leading the way through the dissipating crowd of ponies. Jack along with HK-55 and the griffins followed us thru the streets of Ponyville and I finally took the time to actually closely examine by brother’s new face. It was bewildering hearing his voice come from such an alien appearance and I let my curiosity get the better of me as I softly touched the bone spurs that protruded from his jaw. He raised an eyebrow at my intrusion of his personal space and he was expecting an explanation.

“Sorry, it just so… bizarre. My little bro is red and has little bones sticking out of him,” I said and he chuckled at my words.

“You look pretty weird yourself. My big sis is Undyne brought to life with blue scales and teeth that look like they could bite my hand off. Also, Celestia called you Undyne earlier, does that mean you’ve fully embraced your cosplay? Do you want me to call you the fearless Undyne from now on?”

“Nah, you can call me whatever you want.”

“Okay, Katy, does that mean I can go back to calling you Kitty again?” He said with a shiteating grin.

I took a deep breath before answering.

“Jack, don’t make me punch you again. I thought we agreed in 4th grade to never call me that again."

He raised his hands defensively and backed away a little bit before he answered.

“Okay, okay, jeez Katy, and here I thought the new body made a new you.”

As we were walking down the street I finally took notice of the griffins following us. They both had lion traits for their lower bodies with the young female dominantly having dark brown feathers and a few traces of faint yellow feathers in-between. The older male wore a purple scarf and had a bronze chestplate that blended well with his golden feathers. I asked Jack to introduce us.

“Oh right, Katy this is Princess Falca, my first friend in Eques. The older gentleman walking next to her is her father and my new boss, King Grinnail of the Shattered Isles. They gave me a home and they also helped me find you.” Jack told me an abbreviated version of what he’s done since he landed in Eques and we were close to Twilight’s library by the time he finished. I noticed that Celestia, Luna, and the other Mane 6 were listening along the way as well. I finally heard Falca’s voice when she added a little to the story.

“Your brother told us so much about you during one of our dinners at night. It’s an honor to finally meet you,” Falca said to me and her words caused a curious question to pop in my head.

“Ooouu, not only did you save a princess, you’re also taking her out to dinner. Way to score Jack,” I said elbowing my brother’s ribs. Jack’s face got even redder and he was stuttering as he tried to form a response. Falca tried to keep herself from looking bashful but strangely didn’t even try to deny my words.

“Katy I- you shouldn’t assume- I mean it's not, GAAAGH. Stop embarrassing me in front of my new friends,” he said with a pout.

“Well Mom’s not here to do it, so someone has to,” I said before sighing at how different our situations turned out since we started our new lives in this new world. “I’m really proud of you little bro. You saved a princess and got yourself a prestigious job, while all I did was tear thru a city and got myself in trouble...”

Jack’s face went from bashful to stern in a split second. I could tell he was very upset, and the air seemed to radiate his feelings. I felt cold as the heat from the sun seemed to vanish and Jack’s presence began to dominate everyone around us.

“Yeah, that reminds me, we need to talk about that,” the warmth from Jack’s voice was gone as he pointed at the collar that clasped my neck. His eyes travelled over to Celestia and Luna and I could tell that they felt the same dramatic drop in temperature. He gave them a look I recognized all too well, it was the same look he gave to people who dared to insult our family in front of him. Jack was extremely overprotective of what he considers family and his protective nature has gotten him into trouble more than once.

One time when I was a senior in high school and Jack was just starting as a freshmen, one of my old boyfriends called me a stupid bitch in the middle of the hallway. The asshole couldn’t understand why I moved on to someone who had a less financially successful family, and he felt the need to voice his frustration. Jack overheard this and despite being smaller than him, he smashed the asshole’s nose in, and nearly dislocated his right arm. Jack was very, very lucky he didn’t get expelled, and Mom chewed his ass about the whole thing. It wasn’t the first time he got violent over family, and it most certainly wasn’t the last time. He could be calm and diplomatic if he himself was the only one to receive all the verbal and physical abuse of others. But family is his trigger, if you hurt them, he’ll hurt you.

We all entered the Golden Oak Library and we all told our stories while HK-55 stood silently in a corner. Celestia, Luna, and I told Jack and his griffin friends every detail of what happened to me in the past week. Jack started to calm down when we told him about everything the princesses did to help me and the intense cold he somehow caused started to finally elevate a little. A few of the Mane 6 started to chime in and told him how well received I was in Ponyville. Pinky Pie told him how a lot of ponies warmed up to me after she threw a party for me. Rainbow Dash praised how awesome my magic was and how cool it was to see me training with Vigilant Star (Speaking of Vigilant, where is my handler?). Applejack said I was a huge help around her farm when Mayor Mare sends me to work my community hours there from time to time. Lastly, Twilight spoke of how I was such an amazing creature to study and told Jack how she loved discussing my magic with me. Jack took a deep breath after hearing the whole story, and spoke again to everyone in the library.

“I appreciate that the ponies of Ponyville have been good to Katy these past few days. I understand that it must have been awkward taking care of her considering she tore thru Canterlot. What I don’t understand, is why the ponies of Canterlot saw the need to make use of that collar,” He glared at Celestia as he continued. “You were her judge, but you are also one of the rulers of this land. My sister had to walk amongst your subjects with that humiliating symbol on her neck for a whole week! Couldn’t you have taken that thing off of her from day one?”

Celestia radiated shame, but she still kept eye contact with Jack as she replied to his question.

“I know you are upset with me, and I understand what you must be feeling. If my sister Luna had such an appalling symbol placed on her neck, I too would be furious. But Jack, you must understand that laws take time to mend here in Equestria. I couldn’t just ignore the law I placed all those years ago, and I also can’t just abolish it considering its still used to this day for many pet owners who lose control of their animals. The only way to lawfully get rid of the collar is to amend the Recognized Intelligent Species Accords by recognizing humans and future alien sentient life as intelligent beings. Amending the Accords is a task that requires the cooperation of every government in Eques, and it takes a lot of time to organize that task.”

Jack still looked pissed despite Celestia’s words and the cold atmosphere was back in full force.

“But the ponies of Canterlot still enforced that law, they chose to make the tracking charm collar a necessity. King Grinnail told me all the details of the trial, and there was plenty of evidence shown to the prosecution that Katy is an intelligent being. Even if they knew that the collar was going to come off sooner or later, they still saw a need to put it on her. The ponies of Canterlot humiliated my sister out of spite, and that is both childish and unforgivable in my opinion.” Jack was starting to seethe, and the cold atmosphere was causing everyone to shiver. I also felt something close to anger as well, anger at Celestia for not working hard enough. I tried to shake the ridiculous thoughts, but they just wouldn’t leave my mind.

This had to be Jack’s doing and I couldn’t figure out how he was doing it, or if he was even doing it intentionally. I looked around the room and found that Jack was affecting the others as well. Pinkie’s hair lost its poof and she was glaring at the wooden floor, seemingly trying to will it on fire by just staring at it. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were butting their heads together and were trying to push each other back, snorting angrily thru their nostrils. Rarity was furiously fussing over a single hair in her mane that was out of place while Fluttershy got out her hiding place and started pacing around the room like an angry tiger. Twilight seemed to be the only one of the Mane 6 not affected by Jack’s anger, but she rubbed her head like she was nursing a headache. Falca looked like she was trying to resist getting angry but her feathers were poofed up like a cats’ and she let out the occasional low growl. Celestia, Luna, and the griffin king were unaffected by the wave of anger and they all seemed to realize that this had to be Jack’s doing. It was only for a split second, but I saw Celestia’s face show a little fear.

“Jack, not all the ponies of Canterlot were represented by the prosecution during that trial, I know for a fact that some-,” Celestia was trying to defuse the ticking time bomb that was my brother, but Jack was having none of it and he interrupted her.

“That is crap and you know it! I have half a mind to march all the way to that city of ‘nobles’ and show them what terror really looks like. Apparently they need a piece of legislation to prove that people like me and Katy are not animals. You know what, how about I think like them. There is no law from my planet that says that ponies are intelligent creatures. I should go to Canterlot and make them all feel what it’s like to have something squeeze their necks. I can assure you that it’s something I can do quite easily,” Jack’s voice was low as he made his threat and he made a squeezing motion with his right hand to show that he was serious.

The griffin king got up to reprimand Jack but he got distracted when he tried to stop his daughter from leaping towards Celestia. The formal and controlled griffin princess I met just minutes ago was nearly wild with rage and her talons were scraping the wooden floor as she tried to get out of her father’s grasp. Luna’s horn was ablaze with blue light as she kept every member of the Mane 6 besides Twilight in a telekinetic grasp and kept them from hurting each other. Library books, tables, and furniture were levitating in the air without a discernable telekinetic color surrounding them and I knew this had to be Jack using his new Force powers (I would be awed if the situation wasn’t deteriorating as badly as it was). Jack didn’t even seem to realize that he was causing all of this, he just kept glaring at Celestia with his new piercing golden eyes. Celestia got up and seemed to be readying herself for a fight.

‘This needs to stop. RIGHT NOW!’ I screamed in my head.

I got in front of Jack and grabbed him by the neckline of his armor to bring him down to my level. I gave him a scolding look with my one eye and channeled the anger he was making me feel to yell right in his face.

“JACK! Grow the fuck up right now and see what you’re causing!”

My little brother blinked in confusion before he followed my order and looked around the room. He saw the angered faces that surrounded him and it dawned on him that he was causing all of it. The cold atmosphere and anger that swept the library was gone in an instant, and everything he held in the air with his powers banged onto the ground. The Mane 6 were looking at each other in confusion, and they didn’t even seem to realize what happened in the past few minutes. Luna let them down just as the griffin king let go of his daughter after she stopped growling and he whispered into her ear on what just happened. Jack stared at everyone around him with guilt ridden all across his face. I let go of Jack’s armor before I lectured him on how to be a proper sibling.

“You’re angry about the collar, I get it, I’m angry about it too. But I do not let it get to me because I know that the people who really matter know it doesn’t really mean anything at all. It’s a childish insult made by some noble pricks who just wanted me to suffer a little more in humiliation. Celestia’s trying her best to get rid of it and you should be thanking her for not leaving me to rot in a prison cell for what I did. In any other law system from our world, I’d be thrown into a cell for a couple decades for how many officers I assaulted. I attacked ponies Jack, and I’m taking responsibility for what I did by working here in this welcoming town. I don’t need my brother to come to the rescue and defend me from my own mistakes. You should know by now that none of our family needs someone to defend their honor whenever someone comes and hurls a petty insult at us. We have powers now Jack, and look what happened when you lost control of yourself over that insult.”

Jack looked around again and his shame deepened when he saw Fluttershy crying silently in corner of the room with her friends trying to console her. He realized he forced her and everyone around him to feel his anger and he couldn’t even look me in the eye anymore. He tried to apologize to me.

“Katy, I’m sorr-,”

“Don’t apologize to me, apologize to them,” I interrupted.

He nodded his head before walking towards the center of the room.

“Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, my king, Falca… everyone, I’m so sorry for what I caused all of you to feel,” he looked into Celestia’s eyes as he continued, “I didn’t mean what I said before. I don’t really want to hurt anyone, I’m just… really overprotective of what I have left. I’d understand if you want me to leave after my threat.”

Celestia walked up to him with a sympathetic and kind face.

“Jack, I’m sorry that I even made you feel this way. I know what my ponies did to Katy was wrong, but it just comes to show that we’re all not perfect. I don’t want you to leave, I want you to be with your family.”

Jack started to smile a little at her words until Twilight came up to them both.

“Princess Celestia, we’re going to go take Fluttershy home. This is all a little too much for her.”

Celestia nodded in understanding and the Mane 6 made their way through the door. Jack tried to say something to Fluttershy but the words couldn’t leave his mouth. As soon as they all left, King Grinnail spoke to Celestia.

“Princess Celestia, I know how much you respect law and order, and I respect you for it. But I believe I a solution has presented itself due to my actions to make Jack my new Warden.”

Celestia gave the griffin king a knowing look and motioned for him to continue.

“I have accepted Jack into my House, therefore making him a citizen of my kingdom. Which legally means that the griffin kingdoms now recognize the human species as an intelligent one. The Recognized Intelligent Species Accords can officially recognize a species quickly if a member of the new species successfully applies for citizenship in one of our governments, and we can ignore the need to schedule a council with all the other species. Since you can’t make Katy an official citizen of Equestria yet due to her criminal actions, we can use Jack as the example we need for official proof of their intelligence.”

“Hence, I can finally take this off.” Celestia said as her horn glowed.

The collar on my neck snapped off and Celestia brought it up to her face before she crushed it in her telekinetic grip. She smiled at me as I rubbed my hands around my neck and rejoiced at the feeling of my scales breathing in the open air again. King Grinnail spoke up again after I reveled in the feeling for a few more seconds.

“If we’ve concluded this discussion on the collar, can we now discuss why you two were passed out in the middle of town?”

Jack let me handle this and he moved to stand next to his assassin droid as I talked. I told them all about The Merchant and the tokens he gave us. I of course left out the part where the tokens came with a blessing and curse. Falca and her father gave each other a worried look when I told them that the tokens could be our way for getting home and I couldn’t understand why they did it. Luna asked to see the helmet that acted as my token and I allowed her to examine it. After holding the helmet a bit in her telekinetic grasp and casting a few spells, she handed it back to me and told us all what she found.

“There is magic residing within the helm, but I can’t even guess what kind it is. If we are to discover how it allows Displaced humans to travel between universes, it will require intensive study. I would recommend our university at Canterlot, but perhaps Twilight Sparkle could enjoy the challenge. After all she is already more passionate and knowledgeable on magic than most of our senior professors.”

Celestia nodded her head in agreement with her sister.

“I’ll ask her before we take our leave. Now then, there are several new matters we must attend to. King Grinnail of the Shattered Isles, would you and your daughter kindly accompany me to my castle in Canterlot? It would help settle matters on the tracking collar if you were to officially state Jack’s citizenship to my court, and we can put this whole business behind us.”

“Of course my friend,” he said with a small polite bow.

“Jack, would you mind staying with your sister in her new residence until our business in Canterlot is concluded?”

“Yeah, it’s no problem at all,” my brother said eagerly.

“Good, now I believe you have a mess to clean up,” she said with a trollish smirk as her eyes travelled about the trashed library.

It took us all day to clean up the library after Celestia, Luna, and my griffin friends left. My sister decided to help me clean up my mess and we talked about how awesome our new powers were to pass the time. Even with my Force telekinesis, it took forever to quickly place all the books back amongst the shelves. Just as the Sisterhooves Social ended in Ponyville, Twilight returned during the middle of our cleaning and it left me feeling kinda awkward. I just made one of her friends cry and I could tell I didn’t leave a good impression on her. She inspected our work after we were done and we left her with Katy’s token to study as we left her home.

After walking thru crowds of gawking ponies, we arrived at Katy’s little cabin on the outskirts of Ponyville. I sent HK to go back to wherever he parked the ship and told him to guard it until I returned. I made sure to let him know that he is not to hurt any of the denizens of this town, no matter how curious they were of the ship. If an issue he couldn’t handle came up, he is to contact me with our holocommunicators. After such a long and stressful day, we hugged one another and silently held each other for a couple of minutes. It was nice, holding each other after all the chaos we both had to endure. For a minute, I thought that we were back at home and we both just woke up from a bizarre dream. Then reality checked back in when I stared at my sister’s blue scaled face, and she stared up at my red pigmented skin.

Katy sighed and we sat on her couch before she asked me a question.

“Well, since you decided to take the risk, do you want to see if the knowledge in that token was worth it?”

I got excited at the prospect of untold knowledge and I nodded eagerly as I pulled the holocron from my belt. I placed it on the ground in front of the couch and willed it to activate with the Force. A small beam of light projected out from the top of the pyramid, and the particles scattered and diffused into Valkorion’s image. The gatekeeper of the holocron spoke to me in low elderly tone.

“What do you seek?”

“I seek your knowledge, I want you to teach me all that you have learned from the Force. I want to know the pinnacles of Sith Sorcery and Alchemy. I want to know all of your secrets, and use them as I see fit.”

Valkorion stared at me with uninterested eyes and I felt something probe my very being. I realized that the gatekeeper was probing my mind with the Force, but I didn’t sense any malicious intent from the probing. When the gatekeeper was finished, Valkorion spoke to me again.

“I will not,” my heart fell into my stomach as I heard those words, “You are untested with the Force, and you hold yourself back from realizing your true power. I will not lend my knowledge to those undeserving of it.”

He turned his back to me before his hologram disappeared back into the holocron.

‘That didn’t just happened.’

I probed the holocron with the Force again and I tried to drive Valkorion back out.

Nothing happened.

I tried again.

Still nothing.

The Dark Side swelled within me as my anger burst like a nuclear explosion. I stood up and yelled my frustration at the damned pyramid, and my cry turned briefly into a Force scream. The token soared through the air and got itself imbedded into the cabin’s walls and my chest heaved from the exasperated scream. I turned my head towards Katy and saw her trying to cover the sides of her head with her hands to quell my scream.

‘I let my anger gain control of me again,” I thought dreadfully and I sank to my knees to cry. Katy rubbed my back and told me soothing words to try and calm me down.

I took the offer so my sister didn’t have to take the risk, and it appeared I was correct to do so. The Merchant screwed us over again, and we got rid of one collar today only to obtain a new one.

Author's Notes:

This chapter took a while to write up and I'm sorry for the wait, so I turned it into a big one. This chapter will also have to satisfy everyone for a while because I'm going to be busy for the next few weeks. I'll start writing again some time in the middle of May and I'll probably have a another chapter written up then.

And yeah the tokens mean that Jack and Katy are officially open to the Displaced multiverse for possible crossovers. But I'm going to have another use for their tokens and they'll actually serve a purpose to the plot. Like The Merchant said, they are a way to get back home and they can be a gateway to so many other Equestrian Universes.

Don't worry though if you're a reader that doesn't like crossovers with other stories. My main focus is Jack and Katy's trials in their own Universe.

With all that said, I hoped you enjoyed the chapter.