Puppet Master stood on the curtain wall, looking out over his kingdom that now had several new structures. Strange, almost organic shells that were lifted off the ground by a trunk. Within each circular shell was a forming body of a Terrarian. The liquids inside each white egg sack was a protein solution for the fetus that will take several months to grow. Puppet Master could simply create the Terrarians out of thin air, but his imagination wasn’t fexible enough to actually create so many individuals at once.

He heard a flapping of wings behind him, followed by a clop of hooves on the marble wall on his right. He didn’t need to turn his head to know Rainbow Dash stood beside him.

“What are those?” asked Rainbow Dash, her expression curious.

“Those are eggs. Terrarians will come out of those with varying races and personalities. But all of them already know their purpose and what they should do. When they come out of there they’ll start mining the surrounding mountains and gather materials to build tools. I actually have a starting set of tools for each individual Terrarian.” Puppet Master explained to her.

“Starting tools? Like what?” she asked looking at Puppet Master.

“A knife, axe, and a pickaxe.” he responded.

“Oh…” Rainbow seemed hesitant about something.

Puppet Master began to let his mind wonder about the possibilities of his currently template white moon until Rainbow finally collected her thoughts and spoke up.

“…You’re leaving, right?” she asked while lowering her head a little.

“…Yes I am. But I’ll be back.”

Rainbow Dash flew up and hugged the right side of his body.

“Be safe.” she purred, as she affectionately rubbed her cheek up against Puppet Master’s.

“I will.” he replied, giving her a side hug. “And Maybe I’ll bring back a souvenir.” he added with a smile. “I need to leave a few things here while I go off on my own adventure. I suggest you explore the skies, and come back periodically to check on the eggs.”

“Really?” she deadpanned. “I’m not a bird. I’m not going to sit on them.” she frowned.

Puppet Master chuckled lightly. “Nah, I don’t expect you do something like that. Just when they all hatch I want you to make sure they know what they're doing and they all have names.”

“Y-you want me to name them all?” she stuttered with a horrified look.

“No, just make sure they came with names… then we’ll name them together, if they don’t.” Puppet Master gave her a mischievous smile.

It earned him a glare from the rainbow-maned Pegasus. “Fine but I won’t like it.”

“I’ll leave the moment I’m ready. I suggest you get used to this new world. It’ll be your home for a long time.” Puppet Master commanded the universe to move his physical body.

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I found myself in the throne room standing in front of, and looking at my throne. Turning to my left, I willed up two chests and a mannequin. I opened my inventory and saw the entire chest worth of books and spell books that filled most of my inventory.

“I need to make a library sometime soon.” I mused to myself after looking at all the books in my inventory.

I placed them all in the first chest, and then I went to the second chest and deposited all my weapons. I turned to the mannequin and stared at it sadly. I took my helmet off of my head, and placed it properly on the head of the mannequin. I did the same with my chest plate, but took my time on removing my glowing gauntlets. My leggings were last to come off and were almost as easy to remove as the helmet I wore. I placed them on the mannequin and was satisfied with my work.

Then I placed my wings out of my inventory, and went to replace it with a lucky horse shoe… lucky horse shoe.

“OH man… If only I were an all-powerful being that can will things into existence whenever I want.” I cried with mock sadness for my lack of a horse shoe.

I willed a horse shoe into existence and made it lucky. I placed it in place of my accessories slot where my wings used to occupy and I placed my wings in my inventory. I was now without weapons, armor, and spell books. But the only real weapon I had was the spells I already knew, and I’d keep a lid on those. I picked the potions out of the chest I had placed all my other stuff in, and took them all with me.

From where I was I could feel Rainbow Dash already moving quickly across the landscape using Isis and I as a waypoint for her way back home. Isis herself was just entering the throne room by pushing open the doors with a small amount of difficulty.

“UGH!” she groaned as she pushed aside the heavy white doors. “Whew! Puppet Master. I’ve come to make sure you know what you plan on doing, when you get to the new world. I recommend you ask the divine who protects the world for permission to enter, and go to Equestria if that’s where you truly wish to go.”

“It’s ok, Isis. Should I tell him I’m a creator and I’d feel honored if he were to allow me into his world?” I asked her.

“Well just show as much respect toward him as you can, when you speak to him. Also when you go into universal view you’d be able to see everything in the multiverse. Try not to expose yourself to any other divines.”

“Uh, universal view?” I asked.

“Well.” she rubbed her head sheepishly. “There is no name for it, and that’s all I could really think of.”

I nodded my head with a smile on my face. I then willed my clothes to form into blue jeans and a white t-shirt with a red rose on the right shoulder. I gave myself a once over and admired my build since my muscles weren’t monumentally big, but just large enough for maybe one or two people to point it out. I felt comfortable in this new exposed form. Wearing the protective armor for so long made me feel powerful, but now with it off, I felt vulnerable once again.

Although being in a safe place I didn’t notice this vulnerability as much, and I decided I was content the way I was. I wouldn’t just want to hop into a world with a full suit of armor right? It would scare a few people, especially if I happen to be an alien in their world.

I asked Isis, “So I should just introduce myself as Puppet Master?”

“Well you can, but divines aren’t big on names. Most of them don’t have one. But if you’re going to meet people you might as well come up with a name that others can identify your divineness with. Like a divine name.”

“Divine name? I’m guessing that’s what I call myself, that a divine will use to identify me with…” I thought out loud, as I quieted down to think.

“Yes that’s pretty much true… also we need more animals on this planet. I feel nature just isn’t worth it without birds or an animals to eat plants that exist.”

“I’ll do that when I come back.” I told her, and flashed a warm smile. “But for now farewell.”

“Wait did you think of a divine name?” she asked.

“Oden.” came my reply.

“Oh, that’s actually pretty good. But of course that is taken by a few gods. A repeat name is no issue though since you’re the only divine named Oden."

“Good. I’ll be off.” I willed myself away.

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I felt my body tethered to the realm I’ve created as my sight spread across the multiverse. It looked like a create cluster of universes and mine was on the outermost rim of the worlds. I also felt my world several days faster than everything else. I located an anthropomorphic Equestria easily enough with my sight, and I felt the other divines completely unaware of what I was doing. I was more interested in the divines themselves as they felt like an aura around each universe.

The universe I selected as my journey was held by a very powerful divine that was blissfully unaware of my peeking, and I decided to use my power to ‘poke’ him so he’d be aware of my presence. At first he seemingly was startled and his awareness was erratic and everywhere. The other divines noticed, but didn’t act thinking, or presumably thinking, he wishes to find another divine for a favor. Eventually he sensed my energy string that only made him and him alone aware of my presence and locked onto it. He or it trialed the energy understanding the meaning of secrecy and followed it all the way to my hidden universe where his actions stopped and for a moment I thought he did a double take of my hidden world.

“Hello? Who is this who wishes to speak to me, in such a secretive matter?”

“Hello, divine of a great world. My followers call me Puppet Master. You may call me Oden, as I’ve chosen that as my name for great divines such as yourself.” I spoke back to him as respectfully as I could muster.

His response was a laugh. “HAHAHAHAHA! You are a new divine, are you not? Yes, we get them almost every day! But strange as you are so powerful to hide your world, so we may not see it. Why the secrecy?” he pseudo-commanded.

Keeping my respectful tone, I told him, “This world isn’t done. I’m continuing the work on the universe that will finally finish it, and I will reveal it when I’m ready.”

He was silent for a moment. “…By the divines, you’re a creator.” he stated, his voice with awe. “To what do I owe the pleasure, Oden?” he respectfully asked.

“I came to notice your world has a human inside the atmosphere of a planet I wish to visit.” I replied to him.

“Visit? Do you wish me to hand over this human to you?” he asked curiously. His wise and ancient voice was so soothing, but filled with wonder.

“No… not yet anyway. I want to know more about him and try to coexist with the creatures of the land alongside him. I wish to experiment with many personalities of different mortals, to learn more and gain insight on different personalities. I wish to enter Equestria near where this human lives. If I’m able to convince him to leave with me, then I’d be happy. But I’d like to do it myself without your influence if you don’t mind.”

“You will be met with hardship as my creatures don’t trust humans on a large scale. But if you say you want to do this alone, then I won’t stop you. I give you permission to enter my world, if you have a body to do so.” he responded curtly.

“I thank you for your understanding. Are there any rules you wish for me to abide by?”

“Please, I don’t want to seem demanding.”

“Oh no, don’t worry about offending me. If there is something you wish me not to do, then you must tell me now, so I don’t make the mistake later. I wouldn’t want to create a mess of things in your world without your consent.”

“…I see. In that case. Try not to kill my mortals. They all play a role later on. But I will tell you who you can kill if you chose.”

“I would like that. If you can, please mark them with a red aura only I can see, if you’re ok with them being killed by me. Anything else you wish me not to do?”

“Don’t spread your worship into my worlds. That’s all I ask.” came his answer.

“I will follow your wishes honorably. If I’ve stepped over my boundaries I will not fault you if you wish to remove me forcefully from your world.” I told him giving him more security with me being there.

He was silent for a while more. “…You’re very honorable, for giving me so much control over where you go. Normally I never get this much control over my world, and I only command my deities, spirits, and gods… I like you.”

“You consider me a friend?” I asked confusedly.

“Maybe an acquaintance. And depending on your performance, I may consider you a friend after this.”

“That means a lot to me. I thank you. May I enter your world now?” I continued.

“Yes, and I’ll guide you into Equestria.”

“Thank you… friend.”

I felt myself going through our secretive connection with my physical body and into his universe. I felt my universe strain to keep our link strong and overcame the current divines’ power and made sure I was connected to the universe. The divine didn’t mind that this happened and didn’t even flinch when it did. Maybe it was an expected side effect of a divine entering another divine’s world. I felt him guide me to the Equestria I already knew existed, and its location that I also already knew. But the help wasn’t begrudged in any way and I felt welcome.

I hit the surface and materialized.

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I opened my eyes and found myself in a forest. For some reason I felt my power being hidden by my universe, as if a tiny barrier that was under my skin hid my magic and all my abilities. I heard the birds chirping in the morning light and sunbeams came through the tree canopy that was currently exposed. Not much light got down onto the ground because of the position of the sun. I looked down at the wet mud that covered the bottom of my sneakers and trudged on.

I felt a presence in the air that belonged to the divine I spoke to, as he smiled down on me. I’m not sure how I could feel a smile on a being that had no face or body to express emotion, but I took it as a quirk about the worlds and divines that watched over the mortal people. I felt him poking at my conscious and I allowed him in, but only by a certain amount.

“Hello. All you need to do to get to Ponyville is walk straight ahead. You know about my citizens don’t you?”

“Yes. And I plan on having a relaxing time with them.”

“Celestia is the sun goddess. She’s actually a minor spirit, and I can speak directly to her. Do you want me to give you special treatment?”

“No, I want my experience as raw as the human's. Thank you for offering and I would like to cash in on that offer if things get too hairy. But please, don’t assume it’s getting hairy and ask me when I would like to get this treatment.”

“Very well. What name will you go by? Puppet Master is a little ponyish for you. The human’s name is David.”

“Mine will be Troy.” I responded simply.

“I like that name… good luck, I’ll stay in touch.” he responded and I felt his presence leave me.

I walked straight through the trees and foliage of the forest. Hours went by when I finally came across the tree line and saw a village in the distance. I smiled to myself as I exited the forest and began my path toward Ponyville when I suddenly felt a speedy presence come toward me, there were now two that were in my perception range and I didn’t need my eyes to tell me they were dive-bombing me.

I quickly jumped back a few paces as they landed on the ground with a thump and a beat of wings to slow themselves before hitting the ground. They turned to me and I saw the ponified humanoid solar guards glaring at me with their spears pointed toward me. Their expressions grew less intense when they realized what I was.

“A human? I thought there was only one?” asked the one on the right in a younger voice.

“At ease.” ordered the older stallion at my left and he raised his spear as I had my hands in the air. “He’s not a threat. Who are you?"

“I’m Troy.” I responded with a surprised and semi-fearful face. “U-uh where am I?”

“Ponyville and Equestria. We have another creature like you in town. Just don’t talk to anypony, ok? Some ponies don’t really like humans. I don’t mind the current one because he saved a couple of fillies. I suggest you find your way to the library.” he told me. “You can’t miss it. It looks like a giant tree house in the middle of town.”

I lowered my hands cautiously and analyzed them. Their armor was like ancient stentorian armor and they had pony faces with pony legs and hooves. They stood upright and the older one had a stoic expression, while the younger had a wondrous expression as he eyed me. He saw my rose and raised his eyebrow.

“What’s the symbol on your shirt?” he asked curiously, receiving a glare from the more experienced guard.

“Oh that?” I replied, turning to my left to give him a full view of the red rose with its stem that went down to the base of the sleeve. “That’s the symbol of the beautiful Red Rose Empire. We live in a rich land where everyone must act to help the community, to strengthen the empire and make each other happy. For centuries we’ve lived in peace amongst the much larger nations that were oblivious to our presence. We prefer it that way, though. Being small makes you the underdog, no matter how big you make yourself out to be.” I boasted, giving them a fake history lesson.

“Interesting… well good day to you. We need to get back to our patrol.” the older guard spread his white wings that matched his coat. Before he took off, he looked back at me, “Oh, and kid.”

“Yes?” I responded.

“Hold onto those values you grew up by. I’d like to see you spread them around this town, so others will think like you. I’d be happy to see some love and friendship returned to this place.” he smiled warmly, his experienced eyes softened and he looked thoughtful.

“By my body and my soul, I will do what I can to share my love and give happiness to all.” I replied, forming the gesture of the cross on my chest while giving him a smile that told him truthfulness.

He nodded to me and looked at the younger guard. “Now, let’s get back on our patrol. After that we need to send word to the rest of the guard that there’s another human.”

“Yes sir!” he saluted and they both flew off slowly but picked up speed as they went off in the distance.

I smiled and continued my walk into town. I saw all kinds of different colored ponies wearing many different styles of clothing. I looked at them all and some even looked back at me, and told their friends to look too. I got some glares from what seemed every eighth pony, but other than that I wasn’t all that alienated. I didn’t feel strange when some even started talking about me loud enough so I could hear them like I wasn’t even there.

“Is he another human?”

“He doesn’t look like the one I’ve seen walking around.”

“I’m sure it’s the same one.”

“No it’s not, he doesn’t have the yellow hair. He has black and it’s a bit curly.”

I forgot what my hair looks like and I concentrated on that. To my surprise I saw the small afro, and thought it to be almost a foreign sight to me as I trekked my way through the town, with how long I’ve gone without seeing it. I was suddenly stopped by a hoof tapping the back of my shoulder. I turned around and saw an earth pony stallion with a brown coat, wearing blue jeans and a red jacket over a white t-shirt similar to mine. His mane was a seemingly complimentary shade of yellow and he wore a scowl on his face like he didn’t like me being here. Chances are he didn’t.

He also had a red aura around him.

“Who do you think you are, coming into our town without our permission huh?” he demanded, wearing a malicious smirk.

“I hope he isn’t a cliché bad guy.” I thought to myself.

“Troy, of the Red Rose Empire. Land of peace and acceptance.” I responded with a smile. “Are you a bringer of peace or war?” I asked, loudly enough so the others in the streets can hear me. I followed it up with a smile too.

A crowd began to gather and two more goons with a similar get up, but with glasses came out of the growing crowd and surrounded me in a triangle formation. I was closest to the one I was speaking to.

“I’m a bringer of justice.” he responded, pulling out a switchblade knife and flipping out the blade toward me. “And you’ve made the mistake of coming to my town.”

I could see the ponies were afraid of the stallion and his goons. To my surprise, I saw Pinkie Pie in the crowd with a worried expression along with most other ponies. However I counted five with smirks on their faces as they watched the scene unfold.

“Well, It’s hardly my fault I was dropped here you know. I’m sure we can come to an agreement.” I tried to reason, but it came out unconvincing.

“Sure, we can do that. How about you get out or you die?” he responded maliciously, approaching me.

I took a few steps back so I was now in the middle of the triangle of goons. One of them that was to my left pulled out a crossbow and the other unsheathed a sword. The one with the sword was a unicorn, and I both heard and felt him charging his magic for a spell. I was out numbered and was under-geared. I had magic on my side and a divine, but I held off on either of those, because I wanted to see what I could do.

“Need help?” the divine asked.

“No thank you.” I responded quickly.

I took another look at the crowd and I noticed that surprisingly five of the main six were heading to the crowd with worried expressions. Rainbow Dash was flying above the group of friends and when she saw me she flew higher and faster. The other ponies halted at the edge of the crowd, while Twilight stepped forward.

“Hey stop! Let him be Builder!” she shouted at the earth pony humanoid.

They looked like their respective selves, but they had a humanoid body. Their expressions were worried, scared, and concerned while Twilight’s was angry. Rainbow Dash looked confident and was about to dive bomb the leader.

“STAY OUT OF THIS!” shouted Builder, whom I assumed was the leader.

“Yes, stay out of this.” I mirrored, then launched into a boast. “I obviously have this situation under control."

“Ha! Look who’s full of himself! The human thinks he can win against us.” he laughed with his goons.

“I could have predicted his dialogue without even looking at him. He’s just a simple backyard bully that grew up.” I analyzed in my mind.

“No, you can’t take them!” exclaimed Twilight as she stepped forward.

“Yeah!” shouted Rainbow Dash above us. “Humans can’t fight as well as ponies! You’d best accept our help!”

“Nope! I’ve got this!”

“HEY!” shouted a new male voice from behind me.

I turned around to see none other than the human I was looking for. He was a white male with a medium build, and blonde hair with blue eyes. He was wearing a scowl toward Builder the leader.

“You leave him alone!”

“And what’d you do? Run and hide behind mares like you always do!” he mocked towards the human.

“Stay out of this!” I shouted to him.

“YOU CAN’T TAKE THEM!” he yelled back with worry and fear on his face. “You’re only human!” he shouted to me.

“I’ve dealt with worse. Trust me.” I replied calmly while taking a fighting stance.

“You hear that boys?” started Builder. “He feels honorable. Let’s get him!”

The one with the crossbow lifted it up and pointed it at me, aiming down the sights. I kept my eyes on Builder while the goon on my left pulled the trigger and the bolt went flying toward me. Using some hidden magic to speed up my reaction time, I entered a sort-of slow motion bullet-time. Quickly ducking to dodge the crossbow bolt whizzing towards me, I swiftly reached out and caught it before it left my personal space. I stood up and held the bolt above my head with a couple of awed expressions from the crowd.

I then felt a bolt of magic be released from the unicorn toward me, and I quickly analyzed it with my divine ability to scan. I concluded it was a physical spell, and threw the crossbow bolt at the magic bolt. They collided between me and the unicorn, the bolt exploded into a small cloud of wooden dust that I sprinted through with all my speed and before the unicorn could react, I punched him in the face with enough force for him to stumble back and drop his sword. He hit the ground unconscious, and I grabbed his iron sword.

Now I had a weapon and I slowly walked back to my starting position with a confident smirk on my face. Builder looked worried, because I was eyeing him and he had only a dinky little switchblade knife to protect himself. His scowl seemed to be etched into his face by now. The one with the crossbow looked worried as well, and loaded up another bolt with haste. I didn’t give him enough time because I ran toward him and smacked the crossbow out of his hand and gave him a hard scowl.

“…D-don’t hur-.” he didn't get time to finish the sentence, as I punched him hard in the face.

All the goons had a red aura, but I didn’t take that as an invitation to kill them because I didn’t need to. They were weak as it is, and they would prove to be a source of entertainment later on in my stay here. I didn’t care if they did a predictable thing like capturing the main six or the human, because I knew I’d use my magic the next time to stop them. In fact I was hoping they’d do this again.

I picked up the crossbow and walked over in front of Builder who now held a fearful expression and started to step back. I threw aside the crossbow, and tossed the sword to him while the air was filled with a collective gasp.

I smirked at him, boasting, “If we’re going to fight, I want it fair.”

“Y-you’ve got a death wish.” he stuttered, but picked up the sword anyway, never taking his eyes off me.

“And you’re a terrible fighter. A twelve year old could beat you with their fists, even if you had a full set of armor and a molten sword.” I taunted him with a sure smile.

“You’re going to pay for that!” he quickly snatched up the sword and dual-wielded it with his knife and charged me.

I stood stock still until he was about to slash vertically at me, and I raised my right hand to grab his wrist while I used my left hand to grab his hand with the knife. Surprise dominated his expression and I head-butted him hard in the snout, making him stumble back with his eyes closed. I then punched him in the stomach, and when he bent down to comfort his wound I shoved my right knee into his face.

He fell back with a startled and pained scream as he dropped all his weapons on the ground and held his face and stomach with a hoof. I considered the fight over and I nodded my head with a smile and turned to the human that was behind me with a slack jawed expression. The ponies who watched only looked at me, their expressions a mix of horror, amazement, awe, and happiness.

“Y-you monster!” shouted Builder. “I knew humans were no good warlords!”

“No, humans aren’t warlords. We’re just more resourceful than you ignorant ponies. Your hate for anything different than the norm lost you this battle, and it will continue to haunt your ability to function as it destroys you from the inside out. I didn’t even need to fight you. I could have let the locals who are appalled by violence convince you to stop. But then I wouldn’t be able to teach you why you’re wrong.”

“You’re still a monster!” he exclaimed, getting to his knees while spitting blood on the ground. “Go back to Tartarus where you belong!” he stared at me with hateful eyes. “Go back to whatever warmongering and evil place you come from!”

I smiled warmly at him and approached him. His eyes widened and he tried to back up fearfully, but his wounds made his movements sluggish and painful.

“STAY BACK YOU MONSTER!” the ponies in the crowd put their hooves up to their mouths with horror as I put my hand on his head.

“WHAT ARE YOU-doing...to…” his mind began to slip into unconsciousness, as I sent a command to his brain he needs sleep. “…Me…” Just before he went unconscious I spoke to him.

“Remember this day, as the greatest failure of your own judgment. I want you to come back to me and confront me about this day. You will tell me why you’re so angry at my race, and why you felt it necessary to hurt me.” I commanded him as he slowly began to fall asleep.

I felt his body give out on his weight and I helped him down on his side where he went to sleep. I slowly stood up and looked back at the awed and worried expressions of the ponies around me. I caught sight of Twilight’s wondrous expression, as her mouth refused to fully close. I scanned my eyes all the way across the crowd until they rested on the figure of the human. I smiled at him and he composed himself.

I took a few steps toward him with a smile on my face when I was interrupted by a purple hoof.

“Who the hay are you!” shouted Twilight Sparkle in my left ear.

After I looked over to her with a mild amount of shock, I calmed myself and gave her a friendly smile.

“I’m Troy, of the Red Rose Empire. Pleased to meet you.” I held out my hand for a hand shake and she took it warily.

“Y-you know, you’re either the dumbest human in Equestria, or really lucky. Those guys don’t mess around.” she looked at the unconscious ponies I knocked out with a wince.

“M-maybe we should get you to the library, where nopony will be staring at you.” suggested Twilight watching the crowd.

“Hmm.” I thought when looking at the crowd. They flinched as if my look burned them. I acquiesced, “Agreed, I appear to have caused a lot of worry today. I best follow you, since I’m not sure how the ponies will react to the incident.

“Ok well… follow me.” Twilight replied, turning around and heading toward what I believed was the library.