A low sigh escaped Nick, the human currently was looking up at the sky and the clouds on top of a building. The part that had been recently thrown for him by Pinkie Pie ended a couple of minutes ago, and he just wanted to clear his head up a bit and relax.

Nick closed his eyes, still having a slight headache and bandages wrapped around his forehead, whistling softly. The human hated to admit it, but he was bored. Very, very bored. Nick looked at his Omnitrix, tapping the faceplate of it and interacting with the holographic interface.

As this was happening, a rip into the Void opened up above him. Looking up at it, a flash of gold shot out and hit the human in the forehead. Scrambling in both surprise and pain, he ever so gracefully landed on the ground in a painful manner. “That’s exactly what I get, for even fucking FEELING bored.” Nick muttered, rubbing point of impact from the offending object.

“Fucks sake...” He muttered, looking around slightly. Attempting to locate the flash of gold that had made his headache a hell of a lot worse.

What he found was strange. It was a small gold earring with a gold cylinder hanging off of it. Nick reached forward, grabbing it. Then he heard a voice in his head.

“My name is Roronoa Zoro, the World’s Greatest Swordsman! For those of you who seek a challenge, and those in need, just call for me! If you just want me as a tool in your plan, don't even bother. The only requirements are that you give me a great story and your best alcohol!”

Nick blinked, looking at the small golden earring. “Displaced. Aie aie aie…” He said before thinking to himself, “although then again...he did say in need, and he's the greatest swordsman...hmmm…”

“You’re damn right I did,” the same voice from the token said in his mind.

“Well, as of right now. I may need some help.” Nick spoke up, as he looked at the earring. “I’ve had two teachers, one teaching me how to properly use my displaced power. The other teaching me powerful magic, but I need one more skill...can you teach me swordsmanship?” Nick asked.

There was a moment of silence before he got a response. “Possibly. I’m not the best, and it will take a while. But, I’ve got questions for you, first. You up for that?”

“Yes. I am,” Nick answered.

“Alright. Name and displaced power.”

Nick took a small breath, “my name is Nicholas Devin Taylor, I came to this Equestria with an Omnitrix from Ben 10 Omniverse.”

“Another Omnitrix? By Laozi you guys pop up everywhere. Do you have voice command or master control unlocked?”

“No, not right now anyway...Omniverse never fully explained how to unlock the Master Control. And hey, Ben 10 is fuckin awesome, so I’m not surprised there are so many Omnitrix wearers.”

“And I agree with you, but you’re the fourth I've heard of. Anywho, do you have a decent idea of how to use a sword or is it just the wave like a stick thing that every kid does?”

“I have a...decent idea on how to use a sword. I’ve fought off a few monsters with Celestia’s signature blade. So, I’d like to think I’m mediocre at best with a sword.” Nick replied, a low chuckle escaping him.

“‘Sword’ is a broad term. What we talking here, broadsword, rapier, claymore?”

“Enchanted broadsword,” Nick stated. “Probably the sharpest blade in my Equestria. Probably due to the fact it was made for Celestia, but she let me have it after I saved Canterlot from a displaced hunter dickbag named Erebus.” Nick said.

“Okay, final question; Can your place handle a few visitors? This will take a while and I don't know how the hell time lines up for your place.”

“Yeah, I think so. I live in Twilight’s castle, I don’t she’d mind a few visitors.”

“All I needed to hear.” With that, another, larger portal opened up next to Nick, startling him. And then he saw bodies flying out.

Out flopped three people, a classily dressed blonde man, a voluptuous woman with ebony hair, and a tall skeleton with an afro. After they all flopped onto the ground, out of the portal emerged one last person.

It was a man in green clothing, three swords on his hip, and green hair. On his left ear were three earrings exactly the same as what harmed Nick in the first place.

He took a low stance and held his arms out wide.

“WELCOME TO AN ALTERNATE EQUESTRIA, TEAM! Don't spoil the future for our horses back home or break anything here.” He straightened up, leaving his companions to pick themselves up, and extended a hand to Nick. “Hey there, kid. Roronoa Zoro.”

Nick took and shook his hand, smiling softly. “Nick, as you already know.” He said, slightly looking at Zoro’s ‘team’ with a quizzical look. “Is that skeleton rocking a sick afro?” Nick asked in confusion.

“Yes I am,” said skeleton answered. “I am Brook. This is my daughter Robin. And this is Vinsmoke Sanji. How do you do?”

“I am quite alright, just recovering getting my ass kicked by a dragon. But that’s about it heh,” He said rubbing the back of his head.

“The hell did you do to piss off a dragon,” the blonde man, Sanji, asked. “Steal his hoard?”

“More like have their dumbass guards mistake me for a displaced hunter who kidnapped one of the dragons for a sick experiment.” Nick then sighed softly. “That was not a very pretty fight at all…”

“Sorry to hear that,” Robin replied.

“Alright, enough of that,” Zoro stated.

Nick nodded in agreement, “yeah enough of that. Now as for my problem, I need help with my swordsmanship...to face the threats coming in my future.” Nick looked at Zoro, “so you down to teach me?”

“Damn straight I am! Now, call your Elements and possibly Sunny and Moony, Kid. They’ll probably hate being out of the loop if this takes long.”

“True,” Nick said as he clicked his watch, the faceplate moving back as he then pushed down on the dial. His body shifting and changing into XLR-8, “alright. Be right back!” Nick said as he quickly dashed off in a black and blue blur.

“Did he just-”

“Yes he did, Daisy,” Zoro told her. “Now, let's go find the meeting room.”

All the humans followed Zoro as he somehow navigated the crystalline structure, arriving in a large room with six chairs surrounding a map table.

After a few minutes, all the Elements, who had had varying reactions towards Brook,had arrived. After a bit, Nick returned with the Princesses who just stared in wonder as Pinkie and a Skeleton were singing a song while a raven haired woman was snuggling Rainbow Dash, scratching her behind the ear and the pegasus melting into her touch.

“Sunny, Moony, always awkward to see you again,” Zoro said to the alicorns. “I'm Roronoa Zoro. Blondie is Sanji. The girl with Rainbow is Robin. And the skeleton is Brook. Don't shoot him with holy magic, he isn't magical, just crazy Displaced crap he’s got to deal with.”

Celestia looked at them all with a expression of curiosity and pure confusion. Luna’s eye twitched slightly. “Must inform Nick to ask us before he brings others over..” Luna muttered to herself, Celestia then spoke up. “Why has Nick summoned you?”

“Well, I'm one of the best swordsmen amongst us Displaced, so naturally he asked me to help him learn. But there is a catch,” he said, causing their eyebrows to rise.

“Catch?” Celestia repeated in a questioning tone, Nick also raised a brow interjecting. “Wait, catch?”

“For my training, it's going to take three months at minimum, and I don't know how long until shot hits the fan here. In going to take him to a different… dimension for this. For us, it will be quality training time. For you, maybe a week at most. I was wondering if you’d be fine with having my group stay here as temporary Displaced to help.”

“We...would, outside help watching over my Equestria would be appreciated. Especially considering we’ve gained intel on Erebus’ current whereabouts…” Celestia said, Nick’s ears perked up in response to hearing that bit of news. “Wait, are you serious?” Nick asked as Celestia nodded.

He rubbed the back of his head thinking things over, ‘if I take the three months to train and get better...Erebus won’t know what hit him...but if I go for the attack now..’ He paused his train of thought, pushing his hasty nature to the back of his head. “Ok, I’ll go with Zoro to the discount Hyperbolic Time Chamber, but Celestia.”

“Yes?” She asked.

“Do not attack Erebus. DO NOT,” Nick said narrowing his eyes.

Celestia nodded again in response. “Understood.”

Nick then sighed softly before looking at Zoro, “I’m ready when you are.”

“Alrighty then,” the green clad human clapped his hands together, gathering everyone's attention. “Sanji! I want you to stay in Canterlot with these two. Anything that tries to mess with them, screw them over.” The blonde man grinned at that, nodding. “Brook, Robin, stay here. Brook, only go out at night, as people are less likely to see you. Also helps to surprise enemies.” They both did a soldier salute. “And Equestrians? Please don't keep them in the dark. If shit happens, I want them prepared.

“As for you and me, Kid, we’re taking a trip to Apocrypha.”

Nick rubbed his chin, the name striking him as familiar before it clicked. “Wait a minute, you mean that weird hentai fantasy place in Hermaeus Mora’s book? From fuckin Skyrim? Holy shit I haven’t even TOUCHED that game in years.” Nick said laughing a bit.

“Damn Skippy! Own the bit of it that we’ll be in.”

“Alright hold up,” Sanji interjected. “I can believe that you’ve been there. That you own part of it, I don't buy. The hell did you manage that?”

“Well,” Zoro started, puffing up his chest a bit before exhaling. “Me and Clover landed there by accident, Herma Mora found us and was bored, so he gave us a bet. Won it and now I have part of the demon library as my home away from home.”

“You won a bet with Hermaeus fuckin Mora. My friend Raven would be fucking squealing in either amazement, or complete and utter confusion. Probably both.” Nick smirked slightly, crossing his arms.

“Honestly, I only use it for storing all of the crazy shit I've collected over the years. Helps to safeguard your stuff when its on what’s basically a book island in hell.”

Nick rubbed his chin, “True. Hmmm…well here’s to hoping it isn’t a fuckin junkyard.” Nick snorted.

Zoro just smirked as he touched one of his earrings, opening up a portal, and motioning for Nick to follow as he walked through.

What Nick found was exactly what he was expecting. Perpetual sickly green lighting, walls and structures made out of degraded books, and freaky architecture. It was a pretty big island, around the size of Ponyville if his guess was right, and completely surrounded by an oily sea with a tower in the center. Occasionally he saw the one weird object that struck his curiosity, but he’d get over that soon.

“Oh god...this place unsurprisingly smells just how it looks…” Nick said gagging a bit, his mystical broadsword attached to his back.

“Meh, you’ll get used to it. Now… Oh for Tao’s sake,” he muttered that last part as a ripple appeared before them. “Kid, say nothing and follow my lead.” Nick wasn't sure if he was excited or scared.

Before them was Hermaeus Mora in all ‘his' tentacly glory. When looking at him, Nick felt insignificant, as though he would be crushed in an instant or sucked into the abyss that was this feeling of dread. He was shaking in his boots.

“Roronoa Zoro,” ‘he’ drawled on in that slow speech. “It has been a while since you’ve returned to my realm.”

“Stoning can usually lead to that,” Zoro replied, a hard glare sent at the mass of eyeballs and tentacles.

“And who might this one be. A sacrifice, or possibly a new servant. And what a fascinating device he has there.” Hermaeus Mora extended one of ‘his' tendrils towards Nick, filling him with terror, before Zoro placed an arm in front of the other displaced. The glare he was giving the Deadric Prince would have all but scared the piss out of almost anyone. The demon pulled it back, eye squinting in either distain or amusement, Nick couldn't tell. “Very well, Roronoa Zoro. I shan’t interfere with your business. And child, I'm always open for you, should you be seeking knowledge,” he said before dissolving into the air.

Nick fell to his knees, clutching his chest in realization that he had dared not even breath in that… thing’s presence. Eventually, he mustered the courage to speak up, his fear managing mechanism in his mind kicking in. “S-so, didn’t know uh...Herma was into uh…” He paused in the middle of his fear filled joke, looking around the area. His spine tingling. “Black guys...h-heh…” His heart was indeed racing.

“Kid, don’t. What just happened was your first experience with a seven-dimensional entity and didn't end up his chew toy. Masking the fear is a bad idea in case he decides to visit again. Might end up scarring yourself mentally.”

“Well I’m sorry, jokes are sorta what I do under any kind of stress...especially in a fight.” Nick said, shakily rising to his feet. Taking a deep breath, he attempted to calm himself. “Ok...I’m good,” He said, still holding his Omnitrix without even realizing it.

Zoro just guided him towards a small cavern like area, decorated as one would a normal home. Couch, kitchen setup, a door leading to hopefully a bathroom, two bunk beds, and a few shelves covered in either books or miscellaneous items.

“Welcome to the Cave. Fridge is something I bought from a shadow merchant, never runs out of food. We have a toilet, sinks, and shower that thankfully use water, and beds. Get used to the place and get back to me when your ready. I'll be planning out our schedule.”

Nick nodded, scoping out the place. Rubbing his chin as he nodded, “yeah. Oh yeah, a lot roomer then my room in Twilight’s castle. And what’s this?” Nick asked, crawling onto the top bunk. “A bed made for a human? Where most of my legs don't hang over? Thank you lord Jesus.” He said jokingly before jumping down, taking off his jacket and wrapping it around his hips.

“Ok, well I’ve seen everything I’ve needed to see. And here I was worried I was gonna have to sleep outside of the cave with…” He shivered, stiffening up. “Squid boi watching me..” He said, pushing the thoughts away.

He went to check out the fridge, finding that it was indeed filled with fresh food. Much to his delight, there were the meat products that he had oh so missed; beef and pork. He spent a good deal of time making a sandwich that even Arby’s would be jealous of. Part of him was loving this, but the other was reminding him that he was just distracting himself from Demon Squidward. That part was quickly ganged up on and was shot/stabbed by the rest of his brain.

“Now. How are we gonna do this?” He asked, finally stepping outside from his lunch.

He wasn't sure if he was excited or terrified by what he saw. Zoro was talking with a High Seeker and three Lurkers. One of the Lurkers pointed at him, getting Zoro's attention.

“Ah, Kid, good to see you aren't crazy yet.”

“Well, I’m just as surprised to be honest here..wouldn’t want to go crazy in a place like this. EVER, or get lost. But I trust myself..” Nick said rubbing the back of his head.

“Alright. Anyway, this Jeeves, the Seeker. Those are the Brothers. Names are what I came up with. Jeeves is sort of the librarian here. All of these three together should be around the difficulty of small dragon, so think of them as a final test in three months. For now, they’ll just be sparring partners.”

“It ish good to meet you, Mashter Nicholas,” Jeeves slurred in English to the best of his ability, extending a hand. “I am told thish ish how humansh greet each other, no?”

“Yeah, it is. Don’t worry you got it.” Nick said his hand was a bit cautious, but he did shake Jeeves hand and put a smile on his face.

Zoro motioned for everyone to follow him. They went up the giant pillar in the middle of the island via stairs wrapping around the sides. And they walked upwards.

And walked.

And walked.

And kept walking.

“How tall is this thing,” Nick complained.

“Around a mile,” was Zoro's disheartening reply.

“I feel this would go by a bit faster if I used XLR-8 and zoomed up there.” Nick said as he kept walking, “but alas. I’m gonna take the hard way.”

For a second, Zoro stopped, motioned for Jeeves and whispered something to him. After nodding, the Seeker poofed away, and the group continued.

When they made it to the top, Nick felt an extreme sense of deja vu. It was almost exactly like the area where one fights Miraak at the end of the DLC, but with no center fountain of black sludge and rows of weapons and dummies.

“Welcome to our training area, Kid.”

Nick looked around, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth and making a rather loud clicking sound he followed up with, “nice. Haven’t been here in a while..” He said. Nick then almost instinctively looked over the edge, nodding his head.

“Ok, I’m down with this.” He then turned his attention to the rows of weapons and dummies. “Yeah, I’m down with this.” He repeated crossing his arms.

“Before we start, I need to tell you a few rules about this place. One, you physically cannot die here. The sole exception is when Herma Mora wants you dead. Two, if you get an injury you would die from, you just go comatose for a day. Its weird but apparently that's how it works.” When he finished, a poof of green smoke went off near him, revealing the Seeker, a book in his hands. “Ah, yes, thank you.”

Zoro took the book and flipped through it rapidly, eyes turned red. When he got to the page he wanted, he nodded and turned his eyes back to normal.

Walking towards Nick, he grabbed the arm with the Omnitrix and messed with it a bit, with some complaining from Nick. After a moment, something happened.

“Voice Command protocol active.”

Nick just stared at it, wide eyed. “Wait a diddly darn-”

“Authorization code Galvin Beta 1010. Set time, one fourth Earth Year.” The omnitrix chipped in confirmation before returning to its standby mode. Then it went dark.

Nick looked at the Omnitrix then at Zoro, then at the watch, and back to his mentor. “How did you do that, I’ve tinkered with this thing for a good while and got nothing.”

Zoro held up the book, a familiar design on the cover. “Manual. Apocrypha has a book on almost everything.”

“A manual...fucks sake..” Nick rubbed his nose before shaking his head and then saying, “something tells me I’d be more satisfied figuring this thing out, without Omnitrix 101 for Dummies.” He chuckled to himself, putting his hand on his hip.

“If it helps, it’s all in Taiwanese, so you probably wouldn't be able to read it anyway.”

“I suppose that helps a bit.” Nick replied snorting.

“In any event,” Zoro said, now walking around the area. “I've just turned off the Omnitrix for the remainder of your time here. As this is only for swordsmanship and not combat in general, no alien forms.” He picked up a random longsword and tossed it at the other Displaced before drawing Shusui. “Now, lets see what you can do.”

Nick grabbed the grip of the longsword, gripping it with both hands he took a deep breath. “Ok.” He made the first attack, going in for a vertical swing of the weapon.

Zoro deflected it with ease, pushing Nick back, and waited for another attack.

Nick narrowed his eyes, popping his neck he went in for another attack. Swinging his sword at an angle and following up with a quick horizontal slash.

“Decent form,” the swordsman commented, deflecting those, too. “Attack is okay, now what about defence?”

Zoro then unleashed a flurry of swings at Nick, who barely blocked in time. But unlike Zoro, he was getting a few scratched in his efforts. He felt something wrong and instinctively leaned to the left. He saw the tip of Zoro's sword right where his head used to be. Holy shit, he thought.

“Reflexes aren't too bad either.”

“You kinda gotta learn fast when your Equestria is being attacked by a dickhead of a displaced..” Nick retorted.

“Fair enough.” With that they continued to spar for another hour or two. Well, Nick’s pride said it was sparring. The majority of it was just him trying to not get stabbed while Zoro played with him.

Nick fell to the ground, gasping for breath and covered in small cuts. “So, teach… how’d I do…”

“Well, you’re better than most people who pick one up at first,” Zoro responded, helping pick him up. “Your main problem is that you aren’t confident enough in your abilities, and that makes you stiff and easy to read.”

Nick snorted a bit, which was followed up with a little cough. “Well, I always do second guess myself when it comes to every damn action I make! But, that shit only disappears when lives are in stake. Excluding mine.”

“That's more common than you think. But fret not, my young Padawan. When we’re done here, you’ll be at least competent guardsmen level. Oi, one of you get some water, please,” he shouted at the Lurkers. One nodded and started heading down the ungodly staircase. “While that's happening, I need to know some things. First off, what type of swordsman do you want to be?”

“Well…” Nick took a deep breath, slowly picking himself up. “Personally I've never really thought about what kinda of swordsman I wanted to be. I usually just copy people from action movies back when I was on earth.” Nick admitted as he chuckled a bit.

“Well, there are three basic ones: Offence, Counter, Defence. They’re all pretty self explanatory. Offence is exactly how it sounds. You rush in and start hacking away, and rarely focus on anything besides hitting the other guy. Most who go this route end up dead early, but deadly if they’re experienced.

“Counter is my whole deal. Dodge or block until you have a chance to counter attack. It's the middle ground for the three types.

“And finally defensive. It's just block until they’re weary then cut off their heads. This is usually best with multiple opponents. So which seems more like you?”

Nick rubbed his chin, “well. Rushing in is pretty damn stupid to me, and being super defensive has never really been my style. Counter, that middle ground sounds perfect to me.”

“All right then,” Zoro said, pulling him up. “After he gets the water, we’ll go over the basics.”

Nick took another breath, he was still covered in cuts but he'd hopefully manage through. This was going to be an agonizing, but much needed form of training. And he was willing to put his best foot forward for his Equestria.

Author's Notes:

Crossover time! At an intriguing point none the less. Do not worry, shit will happen with Erebus and such. My schedule has been all over the damn place and I'm never really on, but I must thank this lovely lady for sticking with me through my bullshit LOL

https://www.fimfiction.net/user/307519/PrincessMoonzilla that gal right there, check out her story. Tis better then mine. Anyway enjoy!

https://ben10.fandom.com/wiki/XLR8_(Classic)