This is getting intense for me. I didn't originally plan this for the Nameless One, but it's actually working out.

So, this just might be the grand finale! I hope...

Please enjoy!


"Have you checked to see that everything is in perfect condition?" the Nameless One asked one of his robots. He was a few miles above the Canterlot Palace inside an invisible dropship of his. For he was about to undertake an important mission for his benefits.

"Checked and double checked sir!" the robot said with a toneless voice. A human in futuristic armor stepped nearer to him.

"Are you sure you wish to do this alone sir?" he asked.

"You'd only get in the way," Nameless said rudely before jumping off the ship. As planned, it quietly started leaving when he jumped. He activated a special setting on his armor and hit the ground unharmed, while special technology muffled the sound. Standing to his feet, Nameless crept through the halls of the palace, killing off any guards that got in his way, until he finally came across a certain door in the palace. He smiled to himself, knowing that his quarry would be inside. Carefully, he opened the door... and was angered to see that his prize was not alone. Bubble Heart lay asleep on her bed, but Joy was there too.

"Idiots!" he said to himself, "I knew that distraction wouldn't work. Well... guess I'll have to change this a bit.

He crept closer as a knife appeared in one of his four arms, poised and ready for the kill...

Just then, Joy felt a little discomfort and turned himself towards Bubble, only to notice the Nameless One with half opened eyes. As he noticed this, he woke up and shouted at the robot master.

"YOL!" He yelled, blasting a shockwave of fire at him, waking Bubble in the process. Nameless growled as he blocked the attack.

"Curse you boy!" he shouted, "Why can't you cooperate for once!?"

Bubble was scared to see that beast in their bedroom.

"COOPERATE?!" Joy yelled, "You were going to kill my wife!" Joy came out of bed and stood in front of that bot. "Your final mistake!"

Saying this, he transformed into Blazing Star and summoned his weapon. Nameless gave him a look as he pulled out his own weapons.

"This again?"

He pressed a button on his arm and suddenly, Joy and Bubble found themselves outside the palace in the courtyard.

"There," Nameless stated, "This should be more than efficient fighting space, don't you think?"

"I seriously do!" Joy yelled, charging his weapon and attacking the Nameless One. Nameless wasn't scared at all, but he was surprised as Joy tossed him several feet away using the Blazing Edge.

"I'm getting better at my powers, don't you think?"

"Quite!" Nameless smirked as he righted himself and landed a blow of his own on Joy, sending him crashing to the ground. "I'll admit, this wasn't part of my agenda, but I'm always willing to crush a hero. It shows the rabble that there is no hope, and keeps the weak in line."

"Who're you calling weak?" Joy stood up once again and attacked on him with super swiftness in an attempt to reach to his head.

"Carefull Joy!" Bubble shouted.

Nameless simply smacked Joy aside and fixed his eyes on Bubble.

"Seeing is believing," he stated, aiming a laser at her. He fired it, but right when he did, a shockwave of red energy swept over the area and a brick wall suddenly appeared in front of Bubble, blocking the attack before disappearing. Afterwards, a strange humming sound was heard close by.

"Hm?" Bubble said as she opened her eyes and saw that she was still in one piece. She didn't recognized the noise, neither did Joy. But he was happy that Bubble was safe and sound. He chuckled to see Nameless fail again.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Nameless demanded. "What is this devilry?"

"That 'devilry' is an illusion that can kill," a voice said from above. Soon, a strange figure floated down between them. It was about the same size as Bubble, but on two legs instead of four. It was black in color with grey on its head. Black shoes and gloves covered its hands and feet and a silver mask was over its face. One yellow eye could be seen on one side of the mask, but the other was a red lightning bolt. On its chest was a glowing gem of some kind.

"Who are you?" Nameless demanded.

"You may call me... Infinite, in what brief moments remain to you," the figure stated, crossing its arms as it stared down at the robot.

"A hedgehog?" Bubble asked aloud, recognizing the creature if not the figure, "A talking hedgehog?"

Joy was also surprised to see this. Nameless simply smiled.

"Well... Infinite, stand aside. The boy is of no concern of yours."

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Infinite stated as he floated to the ground.

"Please, I insist!"

Nameless rushed forward with blinding speed in an attempt to stab the hedgehog through the gut, but was surprised to find the hedgehog sidestep out of the way at a much faster speed.

"Your insistence is futile!" Infinite stated, as another wave of energy erupted from his body. Joy could've sworn that it came from the gem on his chest. The Nameless One suddenly found himself floating in midair as if gravity had gone in reverse for him.

"Wh-what is this?!" he shouted helplessly. As an answer, Infinite flew into him at top speeds, knocking him to the ground. He then proceeded to beat the tar out of the four-armed robot, using teleportation, his speed, and even some clones of himself. [Think Infinite beating up Sonic in Sonic Forces. Terrible game btw]. After a full minute, Nameless fell to the ground defeated, only barely managing to hit a button on his arm and disappear from the area as Infinite came down in front of Joy and Bubble. He stared them in the eyes intently, but also as if to confirm their presence. Bubble was standing beside Joy, making sure that the scratch on his arm didn't hurt that much. Joy had turned back to normal now, which Infinite found pretty interesting.

"Thanks," Joy said to the figure before him, "By the way, who are you exactly?"

Bubble didn't speak as she was more focused on healing the scratch on Joy's arm.

"So, you're the human boy my daughter has spoken so highly of?" Infinite remarked, "Glad to see that her impression of you wasn't wrong."

"Your daughter?" Joy thought for a second. "Oh, you must be... Serena's dad. It's so nice to meet you."

"Indeed," Bubble nodded in agreement, "It's nice to see you in person."

Joy tried to stand up for a handshake.

"Stay still Joy. I need to focus," Bubble remarked.

Infinite chuckled, but not unkindly.

"Not the best first impression, am I?" he asked, "In this form, I'm known as Infinite, but outside it..."

A red burst of energy engulfed him and a new figure stood before them. He was red with white gloves and blue shoes. His eyes were still yellow, but the mask had disappeared completely. (In other words, Sonic recolor). He grinned as he finished with a bow.

"Red the Hedgehog, at your service."

"There," Bubble said to Joy, "It's better now."

Joy nodded and stood up for a handshake with the hedgehog. "Prince Joy Star," Joy stated, "Call me Joy, and this is my wife."

"Bubble Heart," Bubble said.

"Pleasure," Red said cheerfully, "Serena has told me a lot about you two. I'm actually starting to think I'm gonna like you guys."

"Red?!" another voice called. "Red, you sorry excuse of a teammate, where are you?!"

Red sighed. "Except for that."

Soon, another figure rushed forward from the streets. It was about Red's size and had the same white gloves and blue shoes, but this time it was a fox. A fox with blue eyes and a sword. When it noticed Joy, he looked to Red.

"Okay, with the exception of TD, since when have humans been in Equestria?" he asked.

"Bill, we're in the wrong universe to be asking that," Red stated.

"Right..." Bill looked to them apologetically. "Sorry. Bill Prower. And you are?"

"Ah... I'm Joy Star," Joy said nervously. Bubble giggled

"My name's Bubble Heart," she said, then looked towards Joy.

"It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Prower," he said.

"Likewise," Bill stated. He then looked to Red, who gave him a smirk.

"I know what you're thinking, so let me say it for you..." Red's voice suddenly turned into a perfect impression of Granny Smith as he spoke. "Where in the thunder are we?"

"You're in Canterlot," Joy replied.

"More specifically, castle's courtyard," Bubble added.

"Forgive me if I sound rude," Bill answered, "but I think he meant, 'Which universe are we in?' I've been to Equestria before, and you definitely aren't in the Equestria I know. Your memories are more than enough of an indicator for that."

Bill suddenly seemed to register what he had said and facepalmed himself. Red chuckled.

"And you say that I'm the one who does the mind-reading thing out of the blue."

"Looks like you got answer Mr. Prower," Joy chuckled.

"Please, call me Bill," the fox said with a smile, "And I apologize if that freaked you out a bit."

"I've seen too many strange things to be freaked out now," Joy replied.

"Same here," Bubble giggled, "So we're not freaked out at all."

Joy seemed to realize something. "I think we should head back to the Castle," he said, "Morning is approaching and you know Sunny will be really worried if she didn't see her parents in their room."

Bubble nodded as Joy looked towards Red and Bill.

"Agreed," Bill stated, sheathing his sword.

"By the way, congrats!" Red answered, "Adopted or not, I can already tell that you two make wonderful parents."

Joy was a little surprised as he seemed to read his mind. Then he nodded and smiled in gratitude. "Then let's go."

After they reached in the castle, they saw something really horrifying. The dead bodies of royal guards were sprawled on the floor. They had been killed ruthlessly. Bubble was unable to stand this gory view, so she almost lost her consciousness. Joy held her in his arms right before she could hit the ground and helped her to keep herself together.

"How could somepony be so... cruel?" Bubble sobbed.

Joy looked towards all those lost innocent lives. "I don't know Bubble, but I promise that it's the last time he'll do that."

"Don't make a promise you can't keep," Bill stated grimly. He turned to Red and seemed to ask him something without saying a word.

"I could for maybe five of them Bill," Red said aloud, "But those three over there... that's a no-go. Besides, I don't want to freak them out more. The last thing they need to see is a mad scientist."

"What do you mean?" Joy asked "You can do something about this!"

"It's called the reanimation of dead tissue, and yes," Red replied, "Have you read anything here about someone trying to bring the dead back to life?"

"It's forbidden!" Joy replied, "It's not what one should try." He paused for a while then spoke, "I read there was one unicorn who tried to do so, and he was killed by one of his experiments."

"Well, the thing about me is this..."

Red suddenly pulled out an entire set of mechanisms, wires and other equipment out of nowhere and set them beside one of the bodies. How he did it or where he had gotten them from was unclear. It was almost like Pinkie Pie or TD. Red chuckled as he finished.

"I'm all about doing what 'shouldn't' be done."

"I am now sorry I ever brought that up," Bill stated, giving himself a facepalm.

"I can forgive you, but I don't know how mother would react at this," Joy said.

"So don't tell," Red stated, hooking some of the mechanisms to five of the guards, then connecting them with wires. He then rushed outside at the speed of sound with a bigger wire and returned shortly after without it.

"There! That should do it!" he said with a smile. "Now we just need some lightning."

"Which we don't have," Bill stated, a triumphal look on his face. But that soon faded when Red smirked at him.

"You forget that I have something that can easily fix that," he said, tapping his chest. Bill groaned.

"Why can't you just use that instead of lightning?"

"Thanks for the idea!" Red shouted, running outside again. Bill realized his mistake and slapped himself once more.

"Why?" he groaned, "What did I do to deserve this?"

"Daddy is that you?" Suddenly, Sunny came hovering over there, but before she could see all of that mad scientist setup Joy grabbed her and covered her eyes with his hand.

"What awe you doin?" She giggled.

"Nothing my little filly," Joy said as he gave Red an annoyed look. "You're up early today?"

Just then, electricity coursed through the wires, the bodies of the guards shook for a few seconds, then they opened their eyes and looked around.

"Uh... what just happened?" one of them asked.

"You're welcome!" Red's voice shouted as he came back inside. However, while running at his sound-breaking speeds, he tripped and skidded across the floor in front of them. Bill laughed at this.

"Serves you right, ya crazy pincushion!"

"Wha- what was that?" Sunny shivered in Joy's lap, "Was that lightny? I scared of lightny!" She hugged her dad closely.

"Don't worry my sunshine, you're alright," Joy said.

Bubble came to sooth her filly. Red just looked annoyed.

"Why would you do that Admirer Boy? You jerk!" he shouted.

Bill looked to Joy and Bubble. "Ignore him. He has the same thing Pinkie has for these kind of things. Only he likes to be more in-the-face with his."

"Just don't scare her more okay?" Bubble snapped back at Red.

"I'll try..." Red said with a downhearted look. He almost made it seem like they were talking to a child.

"Okay, what did we miss this time?" a familiar voice suddenly interrupted.

Soon, they all noticed TD, his wife, their vampire son Tracker, Screwball, and another unicorn mare Joy and Bubble didn't recognize, though she reminded Joy of his beloved cousin Cadence in many ways.

"I'm not going to be the one to tell you," Joy said as he looked towards Red and Bill. Sunny also seemed to recognize TD's voice. She looked towards him and waved a hoof. Bill and Red looked to the group, and seemed to get different reactions.

"Oh, hi TD!" Red called cheerfully as TD waved to them, especially Sunny. Bill, on the other hand, was looking in the direction of the other mare. The mare was following his example. After a short silence, they both cried out in joy.

"Flurry!"

"Bill!"

The two rushed over to each other and into a big hug. As they hugged, Joy and those with him noticed a pair of wings spread out and join the embrace between the two. She was another alicorn. Joy and Bubble looked towards her in surprise.

"She's an Alicorn Princess!" They both said in unison

"She looks like Aunty Caddie," Sunny said.

The two pulled away and Bill managed a small laugh.

"Look at you. All grown up," he said in slight disbelief.

She giggled. "Time does that to you. How are you, old friend?"

"Old?" Bill chuckled, "Making me feel my age, are we?"

They shared a laugh before Bill answered, "I've been doing well. Came on over because I felt it wise to keep an eye on the recolor of Sonic."

Flurry giggled again, then looked to the group staring at her.

"Hello, I'm Princess Flurry Heart of the Crystal Empire, at least back home. And please, call me Flurry."

"Princess Flurry Heart of the Crystal Empire?" Joy thought for a moment, "But the Crystal Empire is ruled by my cousin Cadence," He said and gave TD a strange glare, "I don't know how much future you're going to spoil for us TD but..." he looked towards to Flurry once again, "It's nice to meet you Flurry. I'm Prince Joy Star of Canterlot. This is my wife, Princess Bubble Heart, and this is our beloved daughter Sunlight Blossom."

"Hi," Sunny squeaked a little bit like Fluttershy.

"Hello there," Flurry said to Sunny kindly. TD looked to Joy and chuckled.

"If you must know, Flurry is Cadence and Shinning's daughter back home," Twilight answered, giving TD a look.

"Surprise!" Screwball and Tracker announced simultaneously.

"I came to know this when she told me she's from Crystal Empire. Beside she just looks like her mother," Joy said.

"True. Your mother is my most favorite of relatives," Bubble said to Flurry.

"That's something we can agree to," Bill answered, "She was very hospitable when I first met her."

"Well you did save her daughter's life," TD stated. He then looked at the night sky. "Annnnd, we still came at a bad hour. I hope Celestia didn't wake yet."

Soon they noticed that sun was rising. They could only mean that Joy's mother was at balcony doing her first royal duty as a Princess. A few moments after that, they heard synchronized hoof-steps. In a short while, Celestia was there herself. As she reached them and noticed the group, she sighed.

"William, you really need a schedule." She giggled. "And I suppose they're your friends," She said looking towards Red and Bill. But soon her smile vanished as she saw the three dead guards. Her expression became one of anger and the sun itself could be seen in her eyes.

"They were here again. Weren't they?"

"I wish I could say no, but it seems so," TD said gravely.

"You're lucky we came before he did," Red stated, "Otherwise they wouldn't be the only ones lost."

Red suddenly slapped himself in the face, followed by a glare from Bill.

"Red, for once just don't," he stated. He then looked to Celestia and politely held out his hand. "Bill Prower. And he's Red, in case you missed it. Although at times, when he takes a different form, he's also known as Infinite."

"Pleased to meet you and your friend Bill," Celestia said, shaking her hoof with him, "Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria." She placed her hoof on her chest.

"A pleasure," Red muttered, still rubbing his cheek, "Next time Bill, don't make me slap myself so hard."

"Sure, when rabbits fly," Bill stated, "And no, chaotically altered rabbits don't count. Same goes with Cream."

TD laughed. "What on earth is even my life anymore?"

Celestia gave TD a glare of anger which even though it didn't scare him, it was enough to silence his laughter. Then she looked towards the passed away royal guards again and thought about all of the innocent lives those beasts took in last years. It was more serious than she thought.
Joy came towards his mother's side and leaned himself against her side. Celestia took her son under her wing and looked down in anxiety while Joy gave her a look of guilt.

"That's not your fault, okay?" Celestia said, remembering all of the lost innocent lives.

"Mom..."

"I SAID THAT'S NOT YOUR FAULT." She repeated, accidentally using her royal Canterlot voice and scaring everyone in the process. But soon she noticed this and nuzzled her son.

"Sorry my son, I'm just really upset," She said, releasing him from the wing hug and shedding some tears, "You should go to your room."

Joy nodded and went towards his room. Sunny was still hiding her face while she was in Bubble's hoof. Celestia gave her an apologetic look.

"Go and try to calm him down," Celestia said to Bubble. She did what she said while going after her husband with her daughter.

"Should I arrange rooms for you?" Celestia asked, "If you're going to stay then?"

"Yes please," Bill said with a yawn, "Thanks to Red, I ended up having to wake up a little too early just to follow him. Hard to believe that he's a father, ain't it? Considering that he acts like a child half the time."

"I do not!" Red protested, using a perfect mimicry of a child's voice as he spoke.

"Very well," Celestia said, summoning a bell and ringing it two times. In a few moments, a unicorn maid came there. "Please take our guests to their rooms."

The maid bowed before her, before doing as she said.

"This way please," she said leading the way, "I'll show you your rooms."

The majority of the group followed her out, but TD stayed a moment longer. Walking over to the bodies of the dead gaurds, he muttered something in an ancient tongue that was unfamiliar to the Equestrians, then he closed the eyes of one whose eyes were still open.

"You've served your kingdom well," he whispered, "Find peace in death."

He then sighed and snapped his fingers. Two clones of himself appeared and started taking them outside the palace, presumably to bury them, while he himself continued to the rooms provided for his friends and family.

Celestia shed some tears before heading to her chambers to spend some time alone.

-Joy and Bubble's room-

"I don't know what to do my love." Joy said to Bubble.

"Don't worry my sweetie," Bubble said putting her hoof on his shoulder, "TD and his friends are here to help us."

"And still we lost so many innocent lives in recent years and I almost lose you today. This is just getting even worse." Joy snapped back at her. Bubble became silent at this and sighed deeply. Sunny, who was playing with her dolls at her parents bed, came towards her dad.

"I'll make you alwight dad," She said and hugged her father. Joy smiled and returned the hug.

"Thanks my sunshine," Joy said, "I needed this."

"We could all use some more cheerful times," a voice said nearby. Looking down, they noticed Red standing in the doorway, for once not holding a childlike expression. He looked more serious and grave, a stark contrast from before.

"Red," Joy said, "Why aren't you in your room?"

Red put on a smile. "What, I'm not allowed to explore?" He then sighed and lost his smile. "I don't require sleep like the rest of my friends. Even vampires sleep occasionally, but I don't even need a single wink."

"Good for you," Joy sighed, "You're allowed to explore... just don't try something... chaotic like your friend."

"That's not something I can promise entirely," Red admitted, "You see, TD's more than just my friend. In a technical sense... I am TD. Same with Bill."

"Wow!" Joy said in mock amazment "That goes straight over my head..."

"What's that even mean?" Bubble giggled as she thought it was a joke. "That's just non-sense."

Red's response was to close his eyes. Suddenly, the entire room darkened and his image, while still a hedgehog, took on a different appearance. He now looked like he had jumped out of a black-and-white film, his eyes were glowing white, and power radiated from his body. The powers of Chaos. More specifically, the power of the Terror of Dimensions. The light returned, his image returned to normal, and he was back to being Red the Hedgehog. He looked to them with a serious expression, waiting for a response or reaction. But his curiosity was interrupted by a squeak from a little filly.

"Mom!" She whined curling herself at her mother's side

"You scared her Red," Bubble said, "Please don't do the stuff like that in front of her."

Joy was still more than surprised, "How's that even possible?"

Red looked to Sunny apologetically. "Sorry, little one. I forgot you were in the room for a second there. I'll try not to do that again." He then gave a loud sigh. "Whew! It's been awhile since I've done that." He looked to Joy and answered his question. "TD may have told you before, but his being is made up of three personalities: good, evil, and neutral. Bill used to be his good personality, and I his neutral personality. Pretty crazy, huh?"

The response was a confused blank stare from both of them. They both were silent for some brief moments when finally the confused expression on Joy's face seemed to fade away. Then he finally spoke. "So you both are two different aspects of TD's?"

"In a sense, yes. But in another sense, no," Red stated, "You see, it was before TD had met Twilight- his Twilight- and we sensed that something bad had happened to him. Something that we couldn't stop in time. Bill, wanting to rid himself of the dark tyranny that was expected to come, forcefully separated himself from TD's being and traveled to Mobius, the planet we live in now. I left shortly after to follow him, but unlike Bill I left behind an equally powerful clone of myself behind to take my place. You see, without all three personalities, TD's chaos would be too much for his mortal mind to handle, and it would destroy him. Literally. Thankfully, I didn't have to worry about giving him a new good personality; it apparently regenerated on its own. As for me and Bill, we used a powerful spell that gave us different memories and therefore a new life on Mobius." Red sighed before continuing. "My appearances actually reflect the neutrality I originally possessed. For you see, my other form, Infinite, is simply an alternate version of a villain back on Mobius. His appearance, power, and name are the same, but he was a jackal instead of a hedgehog. A secret I tried to keep hidden for so long..."

"O... kay," Joy said, "That was really more than I could handle but thanks to TD, this kind of stuff doesn't surprise that much anymore."

Bubble was still silent. Maybe she was still unable to process what she heard. "That kind of stuff... gives me a headache."

"Eh, you get used to it after awhile," Red remarked, "And that's coming from a guy who made friends with a literal demon, became the general of an army, adopted maybe two or three Pokemon, and eventually married a Siren. Trust me, I'm sometimes just as weirded out. as you may be."

"I think I get it," Bubble said while caressing her daughter's mane. Sunny smiled cutely and looked towards her mother and then towards Red.
Joy finally giggled a little. Bubble looked towards her husband and smiled as well.

"Well, that's really... strange."

Red nodded. "It's also probably the best thing that ever happened to me. In a sense, I'm kinda glad that my life was filled with... odd experiences. Especially when it allowed me to see so many different people and creatures at one point." He chuckled. "But that's for another time." He looked at them curiously. "Tell me, is it true that ponies in Equestria hate it when you boop their nose?"

Bubble giggled and looked towards Joy to hear this. Joy chuckled as well at this.

"Well... as far as I know, ponies like to be booped," Joy replied.

"I love when my sweetie do this," She said.

"Even mother says it feels tickly," Joy added, "I don't boop anypony beside my family and friends." He chuckled. "Strangers may not like it." Then he picked his daughter in his one arm and booped her softly. She giggled cutely at this. "But as you see, ponies don't hate it at all."

Red seemed satisfied with the answer. "I was just curious. TD tends to do that with Twilight and his own children from time to time. So far, they seem to like it. Diana tells me that she thinks it is funny, while Twilight thinks it's cute. However, Rarity doesn't seem to share the same view most the time. So, we do it to her just to annoy her."

Red put on a perfect Rarity voice. "How dare you insult my dignity!"

The family chuckled as Red did this.

"I must say you're really hillarious." Joy remarked.

"Well, not all of my functions can be used just to harm, contrary to my creators' beliefs," Red stated. He then seemed to realize what he said. "Oh, forgot to tell you about that, didn't I?" He inhaled then exhaled sharply. It was then that Joy and Bubble noticed that it was the first breath he had taken since meeting him.

"Your creator?" Joy said. He was totally lost there.

The way he puts it, it seems like he was made by any other creature, Joy thought.

Red managed a small smile. "I wasn't born like others. I was created in a lab. I'm what the Mobians would probably classify as an 'artificial being,' due to my origins."

"You were made?" Joy thought, then shook his head in amazement and disbelief. Then he sighed and said, "I think I've seen enough..."

But before he could finish his sentence, he heard the snores of his daughter. He looked towards her and saw her sleeping beside Bubble. It was a really cute view.

"She must be bored by this stuff, she's a filly after all," Bubble chuckled.

Joy chuckled as well. "Red, I think that was enough chunk of information for today."

"Well in that case..." Red's voice changed again, perfectly mimicking an announcer's voice, "Goodnight audience! See you next week at this time on 'What's My Backstory?'" His voice then returned to normal and he made a low laugh. "I'll tell you more later on if you'd like."

"Thanks," Joy replied, "So, can you please...?"

Joy gestured to, Red clearly asking for privacy. Bubble couldn't help but blush at this as he said this. Red was silent for a moment, then a look of realization came over him.

"Oh! My apologies! Of course! Sorry. I'll leave you be."

He walked out of the room and took a right when he left. After a few seconds, they saw him pass the door again, this time headed to the left.

"Wrong way," he said to them bluntly as he disappeared a second time.

Bubble was silent for a moment, then giggled and closed the door and looked towards Joy. Joy was clearly lost in some deep thoughts. Bubble kissed his cheek to knock him out of his thoughts.

"Hmm..." He said, "What was that for?"

"You're looking awfully cute today, my sweetie. I think you could really use a little... snuggling," Bubble said with a little excitement in her tone.

"No Bubble!" He said suddenly and broke all her expectations for the moment at once, "I need to think about something."

Bubble was hurt badly by this reaction. "Why are you so selfish Prince Joy Star?"

Joy was taken aback at this. "Wha- why would you say this?"

"Because that's how true it is!" She snapped back at him, "The only thing you've been doing for several months is your training and training all the time." She was shedding tears now. "Like I don't exist. You don't even take time... for me now."

"Bubble!" Joy protested "That's because...!"

"I need no excuses! You know I always wished that after we were married, I'd have one or two foals myself. I almost abandoned my wish before Sunlight came..." she was almost crying "You snapped back at me twice today and I just..." She started crying "I need no protection, I just need you my sweetie... I need you to be that sweet colt I know once." She finished, before digging her head into her hooves and sniffling sadly.

Joy processed what she said and admitted that she was right. There's no excuse for staying away from family. Without saying a word, he picked her up in his arms so she was face to face with him. Soon, he kissed her. She felt a little better at this and she returned it with equal affection. As they broke the kiss, Bubble looked towards him with a joyous expression.

"I'm sorry my sweetheart," Joy said to her, "I hope it's still not too late for a snuggle."

"It never is," Bubble giggled as she hugged him tightly and he returned the hug. He made some sniffles.

"My love, I wish I could do something about the current situations. I could make them better," He said while caressing her back.

"Don't worry my sweetie, I know I'll be with you... through all of them," She sobbed softly, "Just be here with me now. Will you?" She asked while caressing her hoof on the back of his neck.

"I'll be with you... until the end of time," Joy replied.

"Then you'll never hear me complaining about the situations," She said as they both lay on the bed to their comfort. "Just close your eyes and relax my sweetie," She whispered to her husband while snuggling up to him even closer.


"For Celestia's sake Red, I think five of those was good enough!" Bill's voice scolded the next morning. If Celestia hadn't raised the sun earlier, he would've been the cause of the castle's wakeup call.

"Don't worry!" Red's voice called back, "I've done this before when I created Sonata's necklace! This thing is perfectly-"

Suddenly, a loud explosion noise was heard in the direction of the throne room, followed by a cry of frustration, but not from Red. That explosion was heard all over the castle. It was enough to wake up the couple. They both sat on the bed abruptly and looked towards each other.

"What was that?" Bubble asked.

"That came from the throne room!" Joy exclaimed, "We should go there!"

Bubble coughed and gestured him towards something. At this, Joy noticed his condition and said, "Oh, right."

**Joy's Pov**

As usual, Sunny came to the door a few moments after that. We took her along with us and headed towards the throne room. Once we arrived, we were relieved to see that no major damage had occurred, although it wasn't necessarily a pretty sight either.

Red was standing over a portable lab center of some kind, and had apparently had an experiment explode in his face from the looks of it... though how he was still alive was unclear. He also had a few crystal shards in his hands and arms. Bill was standing several feet away completely unharmed, although he was holding one shard in his hand as if he had caught it in midair when it fired in his direction. Above their heads on the ceiling, Tracker looked down and groaned. Screwball was also with him and she didn't look much better.

"Why is it always Dad or someone associated with him that wakes me up in this universe?" Tracker muttered. Screwball managed a short, tired giggle. Bill looked towards us and sighed.

"I tried to warn him," he said bluntly. Red simply looked to Bill sheepishly.

"Well, heh! That didn't work..."

"Wasn't a single TD already annoying enough?" Bubble sighed and giggled, "Now there's three of him."

"What were you trying to do anyways?" I asked him.

"He was trying to help me make a special gift for my own wife," Bill stated, "Emphasis on 'trying.' Thankfully, I came prepared."

He pulled out a rather lovely necklace from- actually, much like TD or Pinkie Pie or even Red recently, I'm not sure where he put it or how he had taken it out. The necklace was golden in color with a large heart-shaped ruby in the center. Engraved on it were two faces: one was Bill's face, the other a lovely female fox.

"Oh sure!" Red remarked, not sounding surprised, "Make three backup necklaces in case the first one doesn't succeed. You really have no faith in my alchemy skills, do you?"

"In regards to jewelry... nope," Bill agreed. Red just shook his head, then seemed to only just now notice the shards in his arms and hands. He sighed.

"For those that have weak constitutions or simply are innocent minded, I suggest looking away for a few seconds," he said aloud, and not-so-subtly gestured towards Sunny. I covered her eyes with my hand and looked towards them.

"Are we playing another game?" She asked.

"Yes sweetie, just give us a minute," My sweetheart stated.

Red nodded to us with approval, then pulled out each of the shards one by one, throwing them to the floor afterwards. A few of the wounds were bleeding a small bit afterwards, but he didn't seem worried about it. Then to our amazement, the wounds closed up and healed on their own accord, to which Red looked to us with a smile.

"Healing factor," he explained, "I literally heal from any wounds I suffer over time. I'm also completely immune to explosions, given that I can explode myself."

"Hence the reason he's still alive while working at his lab," Bill added, throwing down the shard in his own hand.

"That's... good..." I was really lost for words now, "But I don't think the idea of getting hurt really fascinates me anymore," I said, removing my hand from Sunny's eyes.

"Now it's my turn!" She said, flying behind me and covering my eyes with her hooves. I giggled at this.

"You're really fast my dear filly."

Bubble also giggled at this. Then she spoke to the two nearby.

"Sorry for that..." Bubble said, "Being parents, we're usually more focused on our daughter."

"It's understandable," Red said bluntly, as he started brewing up another potion of some sorts at his lab, "When Serena came into the family, I was forced to take a lot of time off just to spend time with my little girl. But I loved every moment of it."

"It is a lovely feeling, isn't it?" Bill remarked, "I remember when Flurry and I first met, I was almost like a second father to her. In truth, half the time I treated her like the daughter I never had."

"You may as well have been a second father," Flurry's voice suddenly spoke up, as she entered from another entryway. Upon seeing her, Bill smiled warmly at her.

"Hey Flurry!" I said as Sunny removed her hooves from my eyes and came back into my lap.

"I won!"

"Good morning!" Bubble said, "Hope you'd a relaxing nap here."

"Thank you. I did," Flurry said politely. She stretched a little and then looked up at the ceiling. She chuckled at the cute sight of Tracker and Screwball.

"You two really do make a sweet couple," she called up. Neither replied, although Screwball did seem to smile a bit when she said that.

"They certainly do," Bill replied, giving his friend another hug, which the alicorn returned with both a hoof and a wing.

"If you weren't already married Bill, I'd be gagging right now," Red said aloud. Bill made no reply, but instead a wrench nearby levitated into the air of it's own accord and dropped onto Red's head.

"OW!" he shouted, although he didn't seem to be too hurt.

**end of Joy's POV**


In a different realm...

"Here," Dark figure said as he transferred some kind of energy into the mirror, using some kind of channeling device, "That was the last chunk of magical energy we had, my master." He smirked, "This should be enough to let you out from this cell."

"It's about time," Nameless said from behind, "These new friends of TD's may prove to be a hassle to deal with." He growled angrily, "I've seen that power which that Infinite fellow used, and I'm afraid there isn't much we can use to counter it."

"Once my master is free," He chuckled evilly, "No one will be able to stand against him."

"I hope you're right," Nameless stated bluntly, "Because this time, they mean business."


"I wanma go to park too!" Sunny shouted "I wanna go now!"

"Alright sweetie, but you need to finish yoir fruit salad first," Joy said, "Otherwise, how will you grow up to be an elegant mare like your mother?"

"Hmm... okay daddy," She said and started to munch on her fruit salad. After she was finished, she looked towards her father hopefully. "Can we go now?"

"Of course we can, my sunshine. Let us take to you to the park now," Bubble said and headed towards the park where TD and the group went a while ago. Joy bought her an ice cream on their way to park. In a while they reached at the park. Already, things were going down.

"Hey Red! Heads up!" TD shouted as he tossed something at Red. They had apparently gotten into a game of catch.

"Huh?" the hedgehog asked, before getting smacked in the face by a large sphere of metal. "OW! Watch it!"

"I said 'head's up.' I think that's an obvious indicator that something's coming," TD remarked. Nearby, under the shade of a tree, Twilight chuckled, then returned to reading a book she had brought with her from the Castle of Friendship's library. Noticing them approach, Twilight waved a hoof.

"Hey you guys!" Red shouted, standing up as if he hadn't suffered a single injury, "What's up?"

Joy also waved his hand towards them. "Hey Red!"

Joy approached the group while Bubble along with Sunny went under the same shady tree where Twilight was sitting.

"Mind if I sit here?" She asked.

"Not at all," Twilight answered, "Although be warned; it may start raining a vampire and a swirly-eyed pony soon."

She giggled and pointed up above her in the tree, where Tracker and Screwball seemed to be having fun swinging around on some of the branches. Tracker was actually using his tail most of the time,m which looked rather impressive. He was in his bat-like form to do so, but the shade of the tree prevented him from suffering any harm from the sun. Noticing Sunny, he gave a friendly smile, which was clear to see even in that form.

"Hi there!" he called, giving a wave of his hoof.

Sunny looked upwards towards the vampire pony. "Hi," she said as she waved her hoof towards him. "Thish... looks fun," She said as she saw him playing in the tree. Screwball looked down as well and gave a friendly smile.

"You wanna try? I promise we won't let you fall."

Sunny looked towards her mother at this and spread her wings, seemingly asking for permission.

"I don't know..." Bubble said.

"Pleassse..?" Bubble looked towards Screwball at this who nodded in reassurance.

"Alright sweetie, you can go," Bubble said.

"Yay!" She shouted, and that was the first time she raised her voice that high. After this, she flew towards Tracker and Screwball. The two chuckled at her enthusiasm, then Tracker gently helped her find a good spot to try it out. At the same time, Screwball caused a form of a safety net to appear underneath her.

"Go right ahead," Tracker said to her gently, "And if you start to fall, I'll catch you. Okay? Now, let's see you try..."

She looked down and then in front of her. Then she flapped her wings and started to fly. She wasn't flying very fast, but was doing well for her very young age.

"Yay," she was very excited as she was hopping branch to branch, much to her amusement.

"Careful!" Bubble said in worry, "Careful sweetie!"

"Don't worry, I got her," Tracker said.

"Trust me, she's safer with them than a supervisor," Twilight added as she sat beside Bubble, "Although I agree, it doesn't help lessen your worry much."

Bubble sighed and looked towards Twilight.

"Yes, you're right," she remarked, "She's one of the best things that ever happened to me and I'm glad to be a mother, even though..."

She silenced herself as she realized what she was about to say. She smiled as she shook her head lightly.

Stop saying this again and again Bubble. She's your daughter and you ARE her mother. Aren't you happy for this? She said to herself in her mind.

"I AM thankful for this," She suddenly said aloud, surprising the Alicorn in the process. Twilight looked to her, then giggled a bit.

"I'm guessing you're experiencing the same thing I felt we we adopted Diana." She sighed to herself in memory of the event. "She was the only survivor of an attack on her village, still practically an infant. She had nowhere to go, so William and I decided to raise her as our own. It was at first rather... obvious to other ponies, but as time dragged on, they grew to accept her as one of our own. And you know what?" Twilight looked to Bubble with a happy smile. "I'm glad we took her in, and I'm proud to call her my daughter. The way we see it and the way she sees it is like this: we may not be her biological parents, but we're still her mom and dad. And that never changes."

"It feels really good to hear that Twilight," Bubble said, then sighed to herself. "Can I ask you something Twilight?"

"Sure," Twilight replied, setting her book aside. "What's on your mind?"

"Am I..?" She sighed. "Am I a bad mother... if I still want a foal of my own?" She asked in a mix of guilt and confusion.

Twilight gave her a caring expression and placed a hoof on her shoulder.

"I wouldn't say that you are," she said reassuringly, "Back home, Pinkie Pie and her husband, Chuck, both adopted somepony when they though they couldn't have foals of their own. But when they did have their own foals, it didn't change anything about their current standings as parents." She smiled a little, "As far as I'm concerned, you're not a bad mother to wish for your own foals. You're still a mother either way, and if you truly love Sunny as much as she loves you, then that shouldn't change anything about you."

Bubble looked towards Twilight for a while, then she smiled and hugged Twilight with gratitude as some tears left her eyes.

"Thank you so much for saying this Twilight," She said, "You don't know how guilty I was feeling for this thought." She sighed in reliefe and released Twilight. "I really love Sunny so much, but I felt guilty as I thought that maybe I don't love her like a real mother, as I still wish badly for my own foals." She wiped her tears, "It feels really better to know that I'm not a selfish mother."

Twilight smiled back. "Glad I could help!"

"Look out below! Alicorn and fox coming in for a landing!" a voice shouted up in the sky above. In a short while, Flurry and Bill landed softly on the ground before the group. Flurry had been flying with her wings, but Bill seemed to be floating through the air by some other means. As he landed, it was noticed that his gloves had been glowing a bit while flying, but stopped when he landed. Bubble seemed to notice this. She was about to ask, but she let it be that way. She already had been told that he was a part of TD, or something like that, so she wasn't too surprised. Instead she said, "Good flight, sometime I wish I also had wings." She then looked towards the tree where she saw her daughter playing with her two new friends.

"You don't always need wings to fly," Bill stated, "Starlight Glimmer back home can fly using a spell, and she doesn't have wings."

"Uh, Bill, I don't they've gotten that far yet in this Equestria," TD warned.

"Oh..." Bill said and left it at that.

"LookoutTwilightI'mgonnacrash!" a red blur shouted as it rushed in the direction of the tree. Twilight sighed and made her horn glow, causing the blur to turn around and run the other direction, crashing into another tree instead. The blur, of course, was Red. He rubbed his head as he lay on the ground, stars appearing above his head as if he was from a cartoon movie.

"Look at all the pretty stars..." he said.

"Red, no need for the dramatics," Bill called, before turning to Bubble, "He's fine. He crashes into things much harder than that... and shatters them in half upon impact."

"It's good to know that he's fine." Bubble replied as Blazing Star landed there from the sky.

"That was really something!" He exclaimed, "I wonder why I never use this form for having fun like this, because this feels really... good."

"That's why having fun is neccessary," Bubble stated, "Hmmm...!"

"I know, and I'm glad I have you to advise me all the time," Joy giggled.

"Yeah, and you should listen to me," Bubble giggled.

"Don't get too carried away though, or you'll end up like Red," TD joked.

"Har har har!" Red called, standing up. "I forgot how to laugh."

"If that were true, we'd be in trouble," Bill stated.

Just then, Red started to sneeze and Bill and TD both groaned.

"Stand back everyone," Bill stated bluntly, as Flurry placed up a shield around herself and Bill.

"Screwy, child protection," TD said. It was apparently a code word, because Screwball nodded and a flash of light occurred temporarily on Sunny.

"ACHOO!"

Red sneezed, but at the same time an explosion occurred from him as well. When the smoke cleared, he was completely unharmed. The others were unharmed as well, though for TD and Joy it was unclear how, until TD snapped his fingers.

"Invisible barrier," he said bluntly.

"What's up with his sneeze?" Joy said in surprise as he looked towards Red.

"We're actually not sure why he does that," Bill stated, "Although I'm willing to bet it's on purpose, considering that he can explode on purpose without the sneeze."

"Is it okay now?" Screwball called. TD nodded and the flash returned momentarily around Sunny.

"This means you could have avoided this if you wanted to?" Joy demanded, looking towards Red somewhat angrily.

Red giggled. "Maybe. Or maybe it happens without my doing."

"Yeah, it's one of the few mysteries about him we have yet to solve," Bill remarked.

"Well, it kinda makes sense if he does," TD replied, "He's my neutral personality, so technically he's on no one's side. If 'he' is even the right term to label him with."

"I just prefer to be labeled as a male," Red answered TD.

"That's just weird." Joy muttered, "I don't wanna go in details on that topic," Joy said as he heard the giggles of his daughter. He looked up in the tree where he saw that Sunny was playing along Screwball and Tracker.

"Hi daddy," she waved her hoof towards her father. Then he looked towards Bubble.

"Relax my sweetie, she's completely safe with them," Bubble said as she too looked towards her daughter.

"I'm just saying, didn't you once think of being a female?" TD asked Red.

"If I did, I wouldn't be married," Red stated, "But as a creature with technically no gender-"

"Red, I think he gets it," Bill said sternly. Flurry giggled while Twilight just rolled her eyes.

"At least Bill's the more sensible of the three," Twilight muttered.

"I totally agree." Joy said "And please can we talk about something else cause you know... I'm not used to this kind of stuff."

All of a sudden, a green flame appeared and transformed into a scroll with a red seal on it. It fell on Joy's head, indicating that this was for him.

"Oh," he said as he unrolled the scroll, "It's from Ponyville," He stated happily, "The Cake Twins' birthday is coming in three days and Pinkie has invited us along with Sunny."

Hearing this, Sunny came down from the tree and stood beside her father.

"We're going to Ponyville then?" She asked excitedly.

"I hope so my sunshine," Joy replied.

"Yay!" She exclaimed.

"Yay!" Red called, his eyes turning into cute looking puppy eyes and sparkles appearing around his form. TD chuckled while Bill just sighed.

"I still have no idea how he does that other than Fourth Wall breaking," the fox stated.

Just then, Red stopped getting his expression of happiness and instead looked as if he had felt something... disturbing. But before he could say anything, TD shot him a warning glance. Red was about to protest, but then heard Bill's voice telepathically in his mind.

"Not a sound, Red, or I'll cut you to ribbons!"

Red nodded to them silently. Joy looked towards Red for a moment, then he again focused on his daughter as she was exclaiming her joy for visiting Ponyville once again.

The Twins must have grown much since the last time we saw them. He thought.

"So," TD said aloud, maybe too loudly, "We're off to see some twins again, huh?"

Twilight gave him a strange look. She seemed to be catching on to something with him, but he wasn't letting her in on it.

"If something doesn't try to ruin it, then yes," Joy said happily, as he looked towards his daughter, "That'd be fun."

"Famous last words," Red muttered. This earned a smack on the head from Bill, a slap from TD, and a blast of magic from Twilight. The last one made Red slam back into the same tree he had crashed into earlier.

"As someone who can't be killed by such means, don't you think that was a bit overkill?" Tracker asked, as he and Screwball dropped from the tree.

"I agree," Flurry added, "Though I'm impressed Aunt Twilight. You beat me to him, and I'm the closer of the two."

Twilight simply smiled and put her book away as she stood to her feet.

Joy made a painful expression as he saw Red being beat up and blasted to a tree.

"Ow! That was a little too much for a 'harmless' joke, don't you think?" He asked.

"For a hedgehog that can't be killed, it's pretty funny to see him smacking into the trees," Bubble giggled, "No offense."

"Nah, it's cool!" Bill said with a chuckle, "It is fun to see him as the slapstick."

"And for the record, I can be killed," Red stated, not lifting himself off the ground yet, "In fact, I've died at least ten times in my life."

"Don't ask how he comes back; even I don't know that answer," Bill stated.

"I know it, but I'm not telling!" TD replied, almost childlike.

"I'm fine with this," Joy said, but then he felt something chilling down his spine all of sudden. He vision blurred and he came upon his knees.

-Joy's vision-

He saw a giant dark face with red eyes looking straight towards him. Then all of sudden a terrifying voice erupted from this form.

"Hear me, and hear me carefully you insolent bug!" It said as flames were blowing out with every word, "I'm coming for you and I'll have my revenge upon you. There'll be no one standing against me ever again! You and your world will become an example for those who stood against the wrath of Ornos."

Then suddenly everything around him went black.

-vision ended-

Joy was lying on the ground unconcious as others were trying to wake him up.

"Joy!" Bubble shouted, "What happened to you honey?" But he didn't reply.

"Daddy~" Sunny was sobbing "Wake up!"

"Joy Star," TD said in a commanding voice, "AWAKE."

"Ten bucks it won't work," Red stated to Bill.

"You're on," Bill answered, not tearing his gaze away.

"Guys! Not now!" Twilight scolded. Flurry also glared at Bill, who shrugged defensively.

"Not again," Screwball moaned, with Tracker beside her, "At this rate, they might as well have a bell around their necks."

All of sudden, Princess Celestia appeared there in a flash of golden aura.

"Is everypony here?" She asked before noticing Joy who was lying unconsciously on the ground, "I believe I..." She looked towards her son who was lying there unconscious. Her mother instincts took hold of her at this, as her expression saddened all of sudden. "

My Joy!" She said nuzzling him carefully, "Holy Creator! My son, what happened to him?"

"It all happened so suddenly," Only Bubble could gather some courage to speak before the upset mother, "He just fell unconscious." She said while nudging him with her hoof.

TD laid a head on Joy's head, then suddenly jerked it back.

"Oh no..." he said.

"What?" Twilight asked him.

"He's free!" TD exclaimed, "The gate guardians are trying to warn us! Joy's enemy... he's free! And he's coming for us."

"The Gate Guardians?" Bubble was confused as well as Celestia, but there were more serious matters to be concerned about now. The Evil One was free once again.

"Nooo!" Suddenly, Joy woke up with a shout, "He's coming back. He's coming here."

"We know," Bill said bluntly.

"Now can I tell him?!" Red demanded.

"Huh?" Joy said as he was suddenly hugged by his daughter and wife.

"You're alright!" Sunny exclaimed. Joy smiled, rubbing his hand on her head and soon noticed that his mother was also there.

"Mom," he said, "When did you come here?" Celestia looked towards him sadly. Then he looked towards Red and asked again.

"Were you going to tell me something?"

"Well..." Red looked to the others, then sighed and said, "We sensed an upcoming attack. From the one in your visions no less. And, it shouldn't be to long now before he comes out of the sky or whatever he does."

"So we should be ready?" Joy said "Bubble, take Sunny and go back to palace with mom."

"You're coming back to the palace as well young colt," Celestia commanded him.

"Me?"

"Yes, you're coming back with me." In her tone, worry and sadness could be felt at the same time. "William and his friends can handle this."

"You can't force me Mom," Joy said crossing his arms.

"Technically I can! I'm your mother and I command you to go back to the palace."

"Hmph... no I will not leave my friends on their own!" He said and looked away.

Celestia understood that she couldn't force him to go back to the palace with her. She sighed and spread her wings.

"Okay... my Joy, but first you've to give me a huggie." She sounded sweet all of sudden. Joy smiled and went towards her for a hug. He knew that his mother would understand. He hugged her as Celestia wrapped him with her wings.

"I love you mom."

"I got you son," She said while her horn started to glow, "SORRY WILLIAM, I WON'T LOSE HIM!" She whined loudly, "HOPE YOU'LL FORGIVE ME!"

And all of sudden, in a flash of golden light Joy, Bubble, and Sunny disappeared.

TD and his friends and family were silent, then:

"Oh come on!" Red shouted, "That was so painfully obvious!"

"Oh, shut up!" Bill shouted back.

"Guys! FOCUS!" TD shouted, using a command spell as well by accident. They all stopped and looked to him. He let out a sigh.

"Prepare yourselves, for he is here. You keep them busy. Leave Tia to me." He looked down to Twilight and the two Mobians could've sworn that he had tears in his eyes.

"Whatever happens..." he started, but she shushed him by getting on her hind legs and pulling him into a loving embrace.

"I know," she said softly. "Be careful."

"You too," TD replied. He gave her a quick kiss, then released her and disappeared in a burst of smoke.

"So... what now?" Red asked.

Just then, the sky opened up and a large portal was seen emptying troops down upon the city. Bill sighed as he drew his sword.

"Now, we fight."


Joy still was in the embrace with his mother as they appeared in the palace. Bubble and Sunny appeared as well at a distance. Joy pulled himself out of the hug and looked towards his mother angrily.

**Celestia's POV**

I knew he would not like it. I knew he'd be angry at me for doing this, but at least in this way he'd be safe from danger. And I could hear him yelling at me all he wanted for what I did, but I could never risk my son's life.

"Why mom?!" He asked.

"Because I want to protect you," I replied "I'm a mother. I can't just stand there let you fight the one who wants to kill you."

"YOU DON'T HAVE TO PROTECT ME!" Joy said.

"I HAVE TO!" I shouted in my royal Canterlot voice, then softer, "I have to protect my son. And it's okay if you don't love me anymore." I sobbed. "You can hate me all you want, but at least you'll be safe." I sobbed even more heavily. "I don't wanna lose you."

"I don't..." Joy didn't comple his line and sighed while looking away towards Bubble and Sunny. He went towards his personal room in the palace, leaving us. Not long after, TD appeared in the room looking just as bad.

"Okay, I've known you to do some cheeky stuff in both Equestrias, but THIS?!" he shouted, "You should not have pulled a stunt like that!"

"Why?!" I asked him "I'm his mother and ruler of this Equestria. I'll do whatever it takes to protect him."

I was already terrified to think about how many ponies they'd killed in recent years and what could happen if I let him fight.

"You can't control his life! Even if you're scared for him!" TD protested, "Tia, locking him up won't solve the problem. One way or another, that thing is gonna come for him! And despite your efforts, he won't let a simple grounding get in his way!"

"Then I'll stand against him," I replied to him, "I've been protecting Joy since he was a foal." Then suddenly realization hit me. William was painfully right. I looked down and then towards him.

"I..." I didn't know what to say, "I can't..." I started to overwhelmed by emotions of sorrow and hopelessness. "I afraid to lose him William!"

I finally decided to tell him about my vision.

"I'm concerned. I saw a dream a few days ago. I saw my son... dead in the hands of a dark monster." I was terrified as I remembered that vision. "He then..."

I was unable to tell what I saw after that and started to shiver with terror. TD smiled reassuringly, then brought me into a friendly embrace. He whispered, "It's okay, Tia. I know how you feel for him. You see... I feel a similar fear about Twilight and my own children."

"What I should do now?" I asked him, "I don't know if he'll ever forgive me."

TD laughed at that and released me enough to look me in the eyes. Unlike the majority of his friends and family, he was actually tall enough to stand at eye-level with me.

"I've seen or heard about many unforgivable deeds, and this wouldn't be one of them. If Joy loves you, and I know he does, then he'll forgive you. Maybe not instantly, but he will forgive you. Sometimes, all that's needed is time and reconciliation."

I nodded and went towards Joy's room along with TD. I opened the door and saw that he was lying on the bed while Sunny was sitting beside him playing with a doll. Bubble was just sitting beside both of them. Joy and Bubble both had an expression of sadness and anger upon their faces.

"You go there and tell him that he's allowed to join his friends in the fight," I said with a really heavy heart.

"No," TD said to me, "As nice as that would be... I think he needs to hear it from more than just me." He then gave me a supportive smile. "But, if it'll help, I'll be right with you the whole way."

I nodded and went inside along with TD and looked towards Joy. "Joy," I said "My Joy..." He looked towards me but didn't said anything. "I want you to know that I've thought twice about my decision." I said to him while trying to process to what I wanted to speak, "I allow you to go there and help your friends."

He looked towards me and was stunned for a second. Then he looked beside me and saw William standing there.

"So," he said "Let's go William." He didn't even reply to what I said.

"Take care of him," I sobbed uncontrollably once again.

"Princess, I need you to take care of Sunlight," Bubble said to me, "Because wherever Joy'll go I'll be standing beside him."

"Thanks Bubble," I said and touched my horn with hers and my horn glowed brightly.

"What was... that?" She asked as her eyes shone brightly.

"Just take care of my son as you've been doing since he was a little colt," I said while wiping my tears, "Now go!"

TD looked to me with a determined look.

"I'll look after him for you Tia, even at the cost of my life. I promise. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

He flashed me one last smile, then turned to Joy.

"Ready for the grand finale?" he asked.

"Ready!" Joy replied.

"Ready!" Bubble said.

TD nodded, then made a handclap of some kind and with a loud, "Alacazam!" they disappeared.

**end of Celestia's POV**


The fight had actually been going better than TD had expected when they arrived. Bill and Red both were working side by side to fight off an army of the robots and humans that had dropped in. Their fighting styles were stark contrasts of each other; for while Bill used his sword and seemed to take a professional approach, Red instead went for unarmed combat and his fighting style was rather unorthodox: literally dancing in and out of harms way, exploding among a crowd, or even making himself look like a complete idiot while still managing to take out scores of the enemy. Twilight was holding off a few magic-wielding robots and humans with flying colors. TD felt a twinge of pride and joy as he watched his wife reduce the robots to dust, and made the humans' magic look like play. Screwball and Tracker were also causing considerable chaos in the sky as Flurry fluttered near them to lend her own support. But what worried TD wasn't the fact that they were winning or that it seemed to easy. What worried him was this:

Where was the Nameless One? Or even worse, his friends?

"Where is he?" Joy asked, "Where is Ornos?"


A little ways from the battle field...

"It's time we attacked them ourselves," Dark figure said, as he started to approach the fight.


"Ornos?" TD asked, then "Oh, you mean the one from your visions. I'm... not sure."

Just then, a familiar figure dropped from an enemy dropship, wielding all four of his swords and poised for the kill. TD growled, but just then Red came out from the crowd of enemies, as if thrown. Thankfully, he was caught in midair by Bill Prower, who seemed to be using a form of telekinesis. Only his seemed more connected with his mind. Nameless laughed.

"So, this is the pitiful resistance to Ornos?" he scoffed. "I expected a challenge."

"Famous last words," Red stated.

Then all of sudden, the Dark Figure appeared on the battle field in a burst of lightning. He looked around and then shouted, "Where are you hiding boy? My master commands you to come out!"

"Shh!" Red called to him in a whispered tone, causing the battle to pause for a moment, "You're gonna wake someone up if you shout like that!"

TD fought the urge to laugh at the hedgehog's remark while Bill just stared the figure down, his sword in hand.

"You insolent rat!" Dark Figure rushed towards him almost as fast as light and exposed his giant claws. "You'll die for insulting me!"

But before the Dark Figure could even reach Red, Bill moved into his path and with equal speeds parried the figure's attack and then landed a well-aimed kick that sent him back in among the ranks of the warriors that had come with him. Nameless chuckled.

"So much for that idea, huh?" he asked the Dark Figure.

Dark Figure chuckled at this.

"Too much pride is not good for health." He looked around once again and soon noticed that his target was standing with the same mare who'd made him crawl on the ground with fear. But now, he wasn't scared at all.

"I'll first have my revenge on her!"

It exposed his claws once again and went for Bubble. However, this time the Nameless One joined the charge. Even so, it didn't seem to matter. TD and Bill both raised their hands, and both villains were suddenly lifted into the air by an unseen force. Bill's gloves seemed to be glowing a red color in certain patterns. TD and Bill then made a shoving motion with their hands as one, and the two villains flew backwards and into the ranks of their warriors once again.

"You're not making very splendid progress," Red said while laughing, almost doubling over as he did. Bill looked over to TD with a sideways glance, then nodded as a smile appeared on both of their faces. They then turned back to the villains and their determined expressions returned.

"The only way you're getting to either of them is if you can get through us," Bill said calmly, getting into a state that looked very much like a state of meditation.

"We said 'if,' not 'when,' mind you," TD added with a smirk.

High above the battle field, a being was observing the fight through another ship. It smirked as it saw the battle raging on among the army of robots and humans and warriors of this land. Soon it noticed the one he was looking for. But along with him, there was standing another creature. That creature was one the worlds natives called a unicorn and definitely a female. He frowned to see her.

"You served me good my servent!" It spoke. "I'll get my revenge on boy by myself by finishing his life along with Phoenix mages last legacy."

It jumped from there into the battle field. As it approached, near lightning raged from the sky as the being jumped down onto the battle field. The shockwave was strong enough to break down all the robots in a range of several yards and was even felt as a shock by TD and the gang. When everything was clear, TD and the others could see the evil creature. To their surprise, it was also a human, but aged around seventy apparently. It had less fair skin and brown hairs. It was wearing leather jeans and a wolf hide. It motioned its hands to and all of a sudden, a straight path to the warriors was cleared of any robot, human, or any other creature in his way.

"I've waited so long for this moment," It said, "Now I shall have my revenge upon all of your ancestors by finishing you and the bloodline of the Phoenix mages along with you!" It said as it stepped towards the gang, leaving a burned dark spot beneath his every step. The Nameless One looked to the figure with an angered look.

"Watch it!" he snarled, "That equipment wasn't cheap, ya know! It took me many years to gather the required-"

"Oh, shut it!" Tracker called from above, as he and Screwball landed beside TD and his group. All of his friends and family stood beside him too. Red looked like he was a fan of some kind, staring at the figure with awe.

"Whoa!" Red exclaimed, "Now THAT'S an entrance!"

"Eh! I've seen better," Bill said to Red. TD looked to the figure before him.

"Well, I'd say that you're the most intimidating figure I've seen, but that would be a lie," he stated. "May I ask as a former villain, who are you?"

"Me? I'm the one known by many names, such as The Ruthless, The Tyrant, The Beast, and many more names by my enemies," It stated while he kept stepping forward towards the gang. "But you'll know me by my real name, King Ornos."

"Where's your kingdom then, mighty king?" Tracker asked sarcastically.

"Tracker, don't be rude," Red said with a serious tone, "The man's trying to introduce himself. Why don't we do the same?"

Bill looked to him. "You can't be serious." Red's expression said otherwise. Bill sighed then looked to the figure.

"Prower. Bill Prower, otherwise known as Experiment #500 of Project Guardian. I am the Guardian of Mobius, and friend to these ponies."

Red then stepped forward and acted in a "polite" manner.

"Red the Hedgehog, at your service! Artificial life-form, a weapon capable of galactic-wide destruction, and Commander-in-chief of the armies of the Royal Fighters. Also a friend."

TD stepped forward next and chuckled. "I haven't done this intro in a long time." He clapped his hands together, and his image suddenly transformed into half-darkness, half-light. The light dimmed around them and his voice was amplified several times above normal. TD smirked as he spoke, his voice turning into three voices at once: evil, joyful, and neutral.

"I'm the Master of Fire, the Lord of Chaos, and Time Lord of Evil. I'm the darkest day, yet the brightest morning. I'm the Chief of the Tik Tak Tribe, the Cousin of Dragons, the Employer of Villains, and Guardian of Existence! I can be your best friend or your worst nightmare!" Dark dragon wings sprouted out of TD's back, and he spread them to full length, casting an intimidating shadow over his enemies. "I. Am. The Terror of Dimensions! Face me, and know what true magic is!"

"I'm known as Prince Joy Star of Canterlot, the only son of Princess Celestia," Joy said with a smirk, "But you already know who I am."

"Princess Bubble Heart!" Bubble said, "Also the most melodious singer of Equestria."

"Very well! Very well!" Ornos chuckled while clapping his hands, "I'm glad to know your names, especially you boy." He chuckled again. "At least I know my prey's name. After you, it's pink unicorn's turn. I promise I'll make your tombs side by side if you give up now."

"And what makes you think we will?" Red asked, acting like he wasn't taking the guy seriously at all.

Bill smirked himself as he added, "The thing about us is that we made a little promise to ourselves. If we're going down, it's with a fight."

"And if we go down, we're taking you and your friends with us," TD finished, his eyes flashing for a second.

Joy and Bubble looked towards each other with determination and nodded, then looked towards Ornos.

"We've got to say 'no' as well," Bubble said, as she wasn't scared of him either, "We're not cowards like your sidekicks."

"What my wife said!" Joy said proudly

"So, that's how it's gonna be." Ornos said while shaking his head and looked down. "Well, I tried myself."

He motioned with his hand once again, shooting a shockwave which sent all of them flying away away from Joy and his wife.

"Now, where were we?"

Joy who was in his Blazing Star form raged with anger and attacked and did an exploding force field attack in hope to stop him. But sadly it was failed.

Noticing his condition, Bill looked to Red and shouted, "Red! Activate the Phantom Ruby!"

Red closed his eyes and a massive shockwave of red energy erupted from him, pushing back Ornos and keeping him away from Joy. However, once they could see him again, his image had changed. Gone was Red the Hedgehog, and in his place stood Infinite, floating above the ground as the Phantom Ruby hummed with power. Red spoke, and as before, his voice had changed into that of Infinite's as well.

"Well, that was unexpected, but not good enough," Infinite said, "You'll have to try harder than that to keep us away."

He suddenly was forced to block an incoming attack, as the Nameless One rushed in at him, striking wildly. He actually managed to lay a few hits on Infinite, but none actually penetrated his flesh. Infinite managed to pry himself away, and stared the robot master in the eyes.

"A rematch, is it?" he asked.

"What do you think?" Nameless said bluntly, as he readied his weapons.

"Fine," Infinite stated, "I'll teach you fear, then pain, and then... well, at least the fear and pain will end."

He charged up with energy again and struck at the robot master, taking the fight away from Joy for the time being, their clash seeming to echo throughout the city. Bill meanwhile had managed to rush up to where he had been standing before and drew his sword once more as he stared Ornos and his minion down.

"Who's next?" he challenged.

"You'll regret this!" Ornos announced, before shrouding himself with dark purple aura. In a second, he transformed into a new form. Now he was looking more like a beast than a human. His hand turned into razor sharp claws. His toothy grin was showing his large K-nines. "Let's see how well you'll face me now!"

Saying this, he summoned two battle axes in both of his claw-like hands and rushed towards Bill, while his minion went towards Joy and Bubble. Bubble raged with anger and came in front of Joy. Her cutie mark shone brightly as she fired a powerful attack at the Figure, throwing him several yards away. Dark Figure, Joy and even Bubble herself were surprised that she could do such a strong attack. Then she remembered something and looked towards in the direction of Palace.

"Thanks Mom," she said in regards to Celestia.

Meanwhile, Bill was holding out rather well against Ornos. His sword moved like a blur, and he never missed a beat. At one point, he even managed to move faster than Ornos could react and landed several well-aimed sword strikes at the evil human. On top of that, Bill also seemed to be using something he hadn't revealed to Joy and Bubble until now: psychic powers. He threw objects with telekinesis, caused fire to appear out of nowehere before manipulating it with pyrokinesis, and a few times even seemed to be predicting many of Ornos's moves before they were even executed. At one point, Bill dodged an attack just an exact second before Ornos had acted, then landed several blows that forced the being to back away. Bill tightened the grip on his sword and growled.

"You're... strong," Ornos said and noticed Bill's condition. It looks like he was started to feel... exhausted a little. He understood the situation and said, "What's the matter? Tired already?" He chuckled while swinging his axes in his hands. "As for me, I've just been warming up." He said and crossed his axes, launching a x-shaped slash towards Bill.

"Nice try, fool creature!" Dark Figure exclaimed, "But I can't be killed this way!" He charged towards the couple once again. This time, Joy was the one to block the attack.

"Then we'll keep pushing you away as long as we can!" Joy said and launched him away from them once again. A black figure suddenly flew in the sky above as if shoved by another creature, and the Nameless soon reappeared on the roof of a building nearby, continuing his fight with Infinite. Infinite shook his head while holding a hand to his mask, then removed it to address the robot master.

"Well, you've certainly improved since our last encounter," he admitted, then with more confidence, "But you will still lose."

Another burst of energy erupted from him, causing the Nameless One to stumble over nothing. Two spheres of energy appeared in Infinite's hands and he tossed them at the four-armed robot, who couldn't deflect them in time. He hit the ground hard and an AI was heard saying., "Warning! Critical damage!" The Nameless quickly pressed a button on his arm and disappeared.

"As I predicted," Infinite scoffed, "You weren't even worth the effort to finish off."

Infinite looked down to where the others were fighting and released another burst of energy, which caused two different reactions. Over near Ornos and Bill, a brick wall suddenly materialized on top of the axes, making them get stuck with little chance of retrieving them. Near Joy and Bubble, the Dark Figure suddenly found gravity working in reverse for him. While he was still airborne, Infinite flew over to him with lightning speed, landing a blow that sent him flying several yards away and into a building. If there were any ponies around at this time, they had wisely evacuated the area.

"Big mistake!" Ornos said as he noticed that he was unable to remove his axes from the wall. He growled with anger as the axes disappeared. Then he came down to the earth while smirking to himself. He suddenly stretched his arms to an unbelievable length and grabbed his servant, placing him in front of him.

"Master! What are you doing?" Dark Figure asked.

Ornos didn't replied and kept his grip on his minion.

"You served us well." Saying this he started to channel the being's energy inside him. Dark Figure shrieked in agony as he did this. In a while Figure was gone and all there left was left only the cloak. "Farewell."

In a speck of second, he started to grow in size, collecting evil aura from the robots and humans around him. They fell on the ground whether dead or unconscious it was unconfirmed.
He continued to grow until he was as large as Dragon Lord Torch or even bigger. It chuckled and grabbed Bill in his hand, smashing him to ground. However, as soon as he did, another burst of energy erupted and Bill suddenly teleported out of harms way. A shockwave of energy struck Ornos as TD himself floated up into the sky to face him.

"THAT'S your plan?" he asked, "Make yourself a bigger target?"

With this, he unleashed a flurry of energy bursts into Ornos, soon causing the giant of a monster to fall to the ground. A burst of energy erupted from the Phantom Ruby and chains suddenly formed on the giant, pinning him to the ground.

"Who's laughing now?" Infinite asked, as he floated beside TD.

"You asked for this, you arrogant brat!" Ornos shouted with a voice which made everything shiver around him. "Now you all will suffer the wrath of Ornos!"

Saying this, he started to make movements. The chains around him started to vibrate, causing an earthquake. That was enough to surprise TD and the others.

"I'm having a really bad feeling about this," Bubble spoke up.

"That's not good. Not good at all!" Joy exclaimed.

**Bubble's Pov**

I was a little worried now. Even though he was pinned to ground, it didn't look like that those chains were going to hold him long enough. Suddenly, with some loud ear-hurting metal crunching sounds, the links in the chains broke, freeing the Evil One once again. He was free, but instead of attacking he stood and crossed his arms in front of his face. Then darkness started to shroud him as we heard what he was saying.

"Awake, Beast of Darkness!"

In a moment, everything around us become dark and cold. We looked towards Ornos and I swear I was never more terrified in my whole life. Not even when that robot was trying to kill me. It was a giant black wolf with red eyes and bloody fangs. It roared upon us, as we felt his coldness and cruelty.

"No!" I was really terrified.

TD didn't say anything and Infinite was also silent, but in TD's eyes I could see that he was starting to waver. He usually was so confident when taking down his enemies, but much like when he saw the Nameless One again for the first time in who-knows-how-long, he was starting to doubt that he could take this guy on. The rest of TD's family were gathered around Twilight, staring up at the beast before them in fear of what they saw. The same couldn't be said for Infinite or Bill. Bill had recovered enough to float up into the air beside Infinite with some form of psychic powers. He didn't seem to be injured too badly at all, almost as if he had a high durability as TD's pony form did. Both fox and hedgehog were staring the Beast in the eyes. They showed no fear for this foe, only defiance. Bill readied his sword once again and Infinite crossed his arms across his chest in anticipation.

I closed my eyes with fear. Suddenly, I felt a tender touch on my shoulder. I opened my eyes to see the smiling face of my sweetie in front of my face.

"Don't worry. We'll get through every trouble together," He said, caressing his hand upon my cheek. "I'll not let something happen to my sweetheart."

All my fears faded away at this, as I held his his hoof in mine. I nodded. But we were interrupted as the giant wolf made a howl. Joy looked towards the beast and summoned his weapon once again.

"This is gonna be the last craziest thing I'll do either way." He chuckled.

"Huh?" What do you mean?" I asked.

He didn't reply, but touched the grass beneath my hooves.

"Twilight taught me this spell once. I think now it's the perfect time for us to try this."

With this I felt like the land beneath my feet was rising upwards. I realized that I was going upwards on a mat of grass beneath my feet.

"In this way you can keep UP with me," he said and chuckled. I chuckled too as we both floated beside our friends.

"Let's do this!" Joy exclaimed.

TD noticed this and seemed to improve, but even more so when his family rose up to join us, each of them flying or floating beside us respectively.

"Well, let's do this!" Infinite said to Bill and TD, charging up the Phantom Ruby. "One last fight together."

"I hope it's not the last we work together," Bill answered. TD seemed to be surprised to hear this and looked to Bill. A smile was on the fox's face as he looked to TD and continued. "I'd love for us to fight beside each other in the future, like we were originally intended to do."

TD smiled. "Bill Prower, my friend, it's good to have you back after all those years."

Bill smiled back, then turned to the beast before us as we prepared for the fight. Beast howled at us, shooting a green aura beam from his mouth towards us. It was so cold it gave me chills all over my body.

"SHIELD!" Joy shouted.

TD didn't waste a second. With a snap, a powerful shield formed around us just in time. A few cracks appeared on the magical barrier, but it held through the duration of the attack. Infinite then activated the Phantom Ruby again, causing several demolished buildings in the area to reform into two giants composed of rubble. They rushed over to Beast, smashing into him with their giant fists. While this distraction was up, Infinite and Bill both charged through the air at Beast, striking him in the face. Surprisingly, it actually seemed to hurt the giant creature enough to stagger him slightly as they flew back to their friends. Beast growled once again. He raised his front legs and stomped the giants violently, shaking the ground intensely, possibly cracking the ground. Suddenly dark shadows rose from the cracked ground and rushed towards the warriors. Twilight and Flurry acted immediately, firing blasts at the tentacles and causing them to disappear completely. TD meanwhile had a crystal ball in his hand and he seemed to be speaking to it.

"Call everyone," I heard him say, then it turned into a tomato.

"Tomato grenade!" TD called, biting off the green part and spitting it out. "Fire in the hole! Bop!"

He tossed the tomato at Beast, where it splatted against him like normal. Seemingly useless... until an extremely large explosion suddenly engulfed the creature, while TD laughed at his own antic. Beast shook his head as we saw him again. This made me laugh even in such a grave condition. Then it growled and rushed towards us, this time freezing everything its claws came in contact with. I noticed for who he was heading for. Its target was TD and his family with a very fast speed for such a giant body. Joy quickly came in front of them blowing a force field to hold him back while buying TD some time to get prepared.

"Watch out TD!" Joy said, "It's ice magic!"

TD noticed this and opened his eyes wide with surprise. Thankfully, he didn't have to worry. A giant frying pan appeared above Beast, smacking him hard before disappearing. Screwball chuckled when this happened and looked to TD. He gave her a high-hoof with his... hand.

"Frying pans! Who knew, right?" he asked her cheerfully.

Infinite meanwhile had decided to follow up with several rockets fired into Beast that he had summoned with the Phantom Ruby. Bill also was down below slicing away at the giant with his sword. His small size wouldn't have been taken seriously, if it wasn't for the fact that each blow he managed to make connect actually staggered Beast as if he was fighting a giant of his own. However, there seemed to be a problem.

"We can't keep this up forever!" Bill shouted up, "And I doubt we can kill him permanently!"

"Then we banish him!" TD stated, "To the Void, from which there's no return. Besides, that's why I called backup!"

As he said this, a portal appeared in the air beside us and several familiar figures stepped out of it, walking in midair: Zach, Diana, Mimi, Pinkie Pie the Changeling, Serena, and a large creature that was almost four times my size and seemed to be a merpony of some kind. It was light blue in color and seemed to be a female. A pink gem was on its chest and it looked to Infinite, who seemed to be surprised to see her.

"Sonata?" his voice spoke, "Serena? You're here too?"

Then all of sudden, a rainbow colored aura beam connected with Beast. The beast howled in agony as this happened. I looked towards the direction of the beam and saw that Twilight and the elements were there and they were in their rainbow forms.

"Did we missed something?" Rainbow asked.

"Took you long enough," Joy said with a smile as he looked towards Twilight and her friends.

"We could've been here two hours ago," Applejack said and looked towards Pinkie in anger, "But Pinkie was busy with shopping for the Cake Twins birthday!"

"Hope, you're not thinking to end this without me," And all of sudden, Discord was there too. "Are you?"

TD smirked, then snapped his fingers, but nothing seemed to happen... until he explained.

"I've placed a barrier around this area! He cannot leave this world or this battlefield without my say so! Not even the Nameless One can get through that!"

"You're SO dead!" Tracker hollered at Beast. Infinite looked to his family, who floated beside him, the gems in their chests glowing brightly. A smile was seen in his eyes and he transformed himself. At first, it looked as though he had switched back into Red, but this time he had a gem still on his chest. He looked to TD and asked, "Now?"

"Now," TD replied. Bill heard this and leaped impossibly high up to us, then he and Red transformed. Red returned to the black-and-white form we had seen him in before, but Bill was now made up of light. The cloned personalities of TD looked to each other and high-fived while TD came over to them.

"Let's do this," they all said as one.

"Let's do this!" Joy and I shouted while his fists and eyes started to glow. My horn was glowing with my own and newly gain magic from my mother-in-law.

"Let's do this!" Elements of harmony shouted charging the power of elements once again.

"Of course!" Discord cracked his knuckles, and his paw and talon started to glow with the power of chaos.

**Onlookers POV**

Beast was prepared for this. He roared as pure hatred could be seen in his eyes. But maybe, he'd planned something already. It looked around and stayed his eyes upon Bubble and smirked.

**Bubble's POV**

I suddenly felt as if something pinched on my spine. That itched a little, but faded away as soon as it came. Then I focused my attention towards the beast once again. All at once, we unleashed our power upon him in our own fashions. TD's Twilight, the Elements, Diana, Zach, Screwball, Flurry, Bill, Red, Joy and I all fired a beam of energy at Beast; Queen Pinkie and Mimi transformed into some large dragons and breathed pink and orange fire (respectively) upon him; Tracker summoned some kind of dark fiery orbs in his hooves and threw them at Beast; Serena and Sonata each made a loud scream that sent colorful shockwaves of energy upon Beast; and TD stood with his hands outstretched and at the ready, as if preparing for some kind of spell. All of our energy struck Beast at once, causing a wonderfully beautiful explosion to occur that could be seen for miles and miles around. When the dust settled, our enemy could be seen looking rather tore up. He was on his last leg, yet... he was still smirking. At me. It scared me a little, but I knew that he was about to lose anyway. My sweetie seemed to notice this and shot one last blast in his eyes, blinding him at once.

"Keep your dirty sight away." Joy said "Don't worry Bubble," My dear husband to me, "He will not scare you anymore."

But instead of crying in agony, he still seemed like chuckling.

"You don't know... when you lose," It said in very horrible multiple voices "You fools."

"SILENCE!" TD's voice suddenly boomed over the top of the Beast, he too using multiple voices. All were silent as they looked to TD. Bill and Red floated down to him and stood by his side, still in their new forms. From my angle, I could see that TD's eyes had turned into their draconic state, boring holes into Beast as he stepped forward.

"You have violated multiple laws of the Space/Time continuum, threatened a world under the protection of a Guardian, and assaulted a Guardian. There is only one punishment suitable for your crimes. Red, Bill. If you may..."

Red and Bill nodded, then a light formed over them. I realized that they were merging with TD's body, as if returning to their original host. TD's image changed as well, and when the light cleared he was in his Guardian form: one half of him darkness, another light. This time, however, he had an additional feature; his draconic eyes remained. He thrust his hand toward Beast, and suddenly a portal appeared behind him that threatened to suck in the foul creature. A red light appeared in TD's hand and he thrust it in Beast's direction.

"YOU HAVE NO POWER HERE, SERVANT OF DARKNESS," TD spoke, still with multiple voices at once. "YOU ARE NAMELESS. FACELESS. FORMLESS. I BANISH YOU BEYOND SPACE AND TIME, BEYOND REALITY, BEYOND DEATH. I BANISH YOU TO THE DEPTHS OF THE VOID, FROM WHICH THERE IS NO RETURN. YOU. ARE. NO MORE!"

With a final flash from the light in his hands, TD's power forced Beast into the portal, where he was sucked away like one in a vortex. The portal closed up, and a flash of light erupted into the air, one that I'm willing to bet could've been seen from space. When we could see clearly again, TD had returned to normal, and both Bill and Red were beside him. They too had returned to normal.

"YEAH!" Bill shouted, sounding almost like a victorious child for a moment. "Oh, it felt SO good to do that again!"

Then all of sudden, I felt my body is floating into the air once again, but this time nopony was doing this.

"Joy~" I said, "What's happening to me~?"

"Bubble!" He was unable to stop this by using his magic. A bright light was shrouding me. I was clueless as well as many others who were there, but two certain ponies- technically two alternate versions of the same pony- seemed to understand the situation.

**Onlookers POV**

"Don't worry Joy," Princess Twilight of Joy's world said, "She's fine."

"What do you mean?" Joy asked, "What's happening?"

"You'll be surprised," She answered.

TD's Twilight smiled knowingly.

"She did it," she said.

"Did what?" TD asked. He then suddenly got a look of realization. "Oh! I know now! Ha ha! Joy, you're not gonna believe this!"

He started laughing almost as if he was crazy, twirling his Twilight around for no reason. It didn't seem to matter, because she was laughing along with him as he did so. Joy soon remembered the time when he saw this first time. His smile grew larger and larger as he realized what was happening.

Suddenly, the bright light which was shrouding Bubble became even brighter and took the shape of her cutie mark. Now they could see that five hearts were revolving around a five pointed star as it slowly started to descend. The bright light started to fade away as they could see Bubble Heart standing there with her brand new pair of wings.

Joy was speechless to see this.

"No. Way..." Rainbow Dash said, almost without words.

"Celestia..." Rarity remarked.

"By Equestria..." Applejack said.

"My goodness!" Fluttershy exclaimed.

"Well, now I've seen it all," Discord said as if bored, but he too was smiling.

"Wahoo!" both Pinkies shouted as one, "BEST. VICTORY. EVER!"

"Way to go, Bubble," Zach said with a smile.

"Mhm!" Diana agreed.

"I... I don't believe it," Mimi said in awe, having returned to her normal state. TD and his Twilight had stopped twirling around to look to Bubble. They were also smiling.

"Wha- what happened?" Bubble asked as she opened her eyes and looked towards the cheerful faces of her husband and her friends alike. Joy came ran towards her and picked her up in his arms. Now it was his turn to twirl around with his wife.

"Bubble!" He shouted "You have wings!"

"I have what?!" She exclaimed as she looked around to her sides, gazing upon her gorgeous fluffed opened wings. "I have wings!" She exclaimed happily. "But how?"

"I can't explain..." Joy said.

"Don't look at me. I'm just as surprised as you are," TD stated with a chuckle.

"Way to go, Bubs!" Screwball cheered. Tracker cheered with her.

In a few moments, Princess Celestia descended from the sky towards them while the group was pondering the current situation. Joy looked at his mother, but didn't run towards her for a hug. Celestia sighed at this.

"Still mad at me?" She asked, but Joy just looked away crossing his arms. "Fine," She rolled her eyes "Don't blame me then!" She said and floated her son into a hug. Joy resisted at first, but he soon realized that he couldn't be mad at his mother anymore, so he wrapped his arms around her.

"Who am I kidding?" Joy chuckled to himself, "I can't stay mad at you. Darn me if I ever did!"

Celestia sighed in relief and kissed his forehead. "I'm sorry too that I tricked you away from your friends."

"That's alright now," Joy replied, "Now, can I ask how my sweetheart got her wings?"

"Yes, please do explain Tia," TD said aloud.

"Tia?" Red asked, laughing a bit, "That's your nickname for her as well?!"

"I think it's fitting, Red," Bill said to him. That shut the hedgehog up.

"Alright," Celestia said and came closer to Joy's sweetheart. "My dear daughter-in-law Bubble Heart, your heart is as strong as steal, but as pure as gold. You stood beside my son through every trouble big or small. Even in such a grave situation, you never left his side." Bubble blushed at this. "Even when you were hurt by some sore realizations," Bubble kept looking towards Celestia as she was explaining this. "You were always looking forward to better days. You have determination, will, compassion, and a devoted heart." Celestia stood alongside the elements and the others, "You taught us that once one promises to be with somepony, then there's no backing off, no matter what." Celestia bowed before her along with all the Elements, "You're an inspirition for us all."

"TD, do we bow too?" Red asked. In answer, TD and all of his friends and family knelt before Bubble, and Red soon followed as it had answered his question. Afterwards, TD stood to his feet and walked over to Bubble.

"Well done, my friend," he said kindly, "It seems that there truly is more to you than what meets the eye. You've overcome an obstacle that I was unable to overcome myself for over thousands of years, and I couldn't be more proud to call you my friend."

He extended his hand towards her for a hand/hoofshake. Bubble looked up to TD and there were tears in her eyes. She extended her hoof and looked towards him with a smile but didn't said anything. She looked around her where everypony was getting up, looking straight towards her. And then she looked towards her husband who was standing beside her.

"Am I really worthy of these wings?"

"I know you are, my Princess," Joy said.

TD chuckled, then suddenly a portal appeared nearby opening up into his Equestria. A second one opened up as well, but this time it seemed to be opening up into a different area, and another fox similar to Bill could be seen on the other side fiddling with a machine nearby. The fox was an adult, with yellow fur instead of red, and he had two tails instead of one.

"Oh for the love of..." he started, then stopped himself.

"That portal has very incontinent timing," Red stated. Bill said nothing, but he was looking towards the fox on the other side with a smile.

"So is that a goodbye forever now?" Joy asked with a saddened tone "The threat is over now and your promise has been fulfilled." He took a deep sigh.

TD laughed and looked to Joy. "My promise may be fulfilled, but that doesn't mean goodbye forever. We may stop by a few times soon. And you never know when you may have to call on me again." He gave Joy a wink when he said that. "Plus, I think we have time for a non-rushed goodbye."

"It's good to hear," Joy said, "So will you like to stay for Bubble's Ascension Ceremony?"

TD looked around at his friends, and they all nodded.

"Make it unanimous," TD stated. He snapped his fingers and the one portal disappeared. The other with the fox still stood open. Bill looked at it, then chuckled.

"I'll tell Miles to post-pone the portal opening for a while longer," he said. He walked into the portal for a second, and seemed to have a short conversation with the fox. Afterwards, he came back out and the portal closed behind him.

"Yay! Who's up for tacos?" Red shouted. Everyone looked at him. "What? I like tacos."


Ponies from Canterlot and many other cities were also standing in front of Royal palace. All the eyes were staring at the balcony of the Castle waiting for Princesses of Equestria. In a while, all four Princesses were there in their gorgeous regalias. Princess Celestia came in front of her little ponies and raised a hoof towards them. Then she announced:

"Today is a historical day in the history of Ponyville. You may have knew about the havoc which occurred here in the last few years. Now you don't have to worry about them anymore." Everypony sighed in relief at this. "Along with this, I have even bigger news. The one for which this ceremony is really being held. Fillies and gentlecots, I now present you 'Princess Bubble Heart'."

Then with all her grace Princess Bubble Heart came there into a royal regalia along with the royal maids who were singing in her honor.

Now Princess Bubble's coming
Behold, Behold
Now Princess Bubble's here
Behold, Behold
Now Princess Bubble's here before us
Behold, Behold
(Behold behold~ behold behold~)
Now the Princess is, Princess is here

Bubble was standing in front of Celestia as little Sunny was holding her crown. Princess Celestia took the crown (which had an emblem of a five pointed star) and placed this on Bubble's head.

Bubble came in front of the crowd and waved her hoof.

"Say something dear," Celestia said to her.

"Well, I'll just say that... I'm still what I was before. I'm still a good friend, a wife, and a mother as well. What I did, I did for my belief in what I thought is right. If I've learned something till now, it's that nothing is impossible; if you believe and have determination, you can achieve anything."

As she finished her speech, the ponies were silent for a while. Then eventually, cheers and stomps arose from everywhere in the crowd. Bubble was very happy that day. She then came down from the balcony and sat in the royal chariot which was waiting for her. Joy was already waiting for his Princess inside. She sat in the chariot along with Joy and the chariot stallions began to pull the chariot. Bubble waved her hooves towards the ponies of Canterlot and the other cities who were there.

At last, the chariot was stopped and Joy and Bubble came down. Their friends were standing there waiting for them. TD and his family was there too, apparently about to prepare for their own sendoff. But of course, they wanted to say their goodbyes first. And their congratulations.

"Well done, my friends," TD said to them as they descended, "I never thought I'd live to see such a glorious day of celebration in either Equestria."

TD's Twilight looked to Bubble with some happy tears in her eyes. "I'm really proud of you, Bubble Heart."

"Okay okay, enough of the floodgates," Red quipped, then turned to Joy with a smile. "So, I guess this marks a new arc in your story, huh?"

Joy didn't reply for a few seconds, then he spoke.

"I guess it does. And whatever life is bringing for me, I'm ready for that," Joy said with determination and then looked towards TD. "William, my good friend, I don't know how can I thank you for what you did." He extended his hand for a handshake "Is there anything I can do for all your favers towards me and my world?"

TD smiled and shook his hand. "Keep looking forward, treat your family well, and continue to be the Prince you are to these ponies. That would more than suffice."

"Or you could ask for a rew-" Red started, but was cut off my Bill's tail whipping him in the face, much to the amusement of the majority of the group.

This, I can do," Joy said as, they saw Sunny flying over their heads and landing beside her mother. Bubble nuzzled her daughter as Joy spoke. "I'm more than happy to be a part of this world."

TD nodded as Bill spoke next.

"Seeing you and your people happy is payment enough for me."

Red looked to the ground, then to Sonata and Serena, who were giving him an expectant look. He finally broke and looked to Joy.

"Fine! No reward needed here either," he said, speaking as if reluctant to say that, but there was a cheeky smile in his eyes.

"If you say so," Joy said, "Though, I would be happy to help you with anything." Bubble looked towards TD with a smile of reassurance. Then she remembered something.

"Wait a minute William!" Her horn started to glow and she summoned a stone, "That's your stone you gave us during our fight with those monsters of Equestria." Bubble said, floating this towards TD, "You can have it back now..."

TD held up his hand and pushed the stone back towards her.

"Keep it," he said with a smile, "You need it more than I ever will." Then he seemed to get an idea. "Actually, I could use one favor, and it requires the stone."

"Really?" Joy said with a smile, "That's good to know. Tell me how can I help you my friend."

"I need you to send a message," TD said. He leaned over to Joy and whispered something in his ear, then stepped back and asked, "Think you can manage that?"

"Hmm..." Joy thought for a while and then looked towards TD with determination. "Why not? It would be my pleasure."

"Thanks," TD said, "Hold up the stone."

Joy did just that, and it started to glow. TD cleared his throat and began:

"Dear Mom and Dad,

This message may reach you before I return, or vice versa. Either way, I feel that it's time I let you in on a little secret. All those stories I've told you about the Terror of Dimensions, my fanfics, and all that... They're all real. I've been living a double life trying to keep it secret from you two, but also to protect you. It's hard to explain. For now, just know that I'll be returning soon to talk about it with you. No more secrets, no more double life. The full truth. Until then, know that I love you both so much!

Your loving son,

William Y."

The stone shook a bit as TD finished, then it glowed and a voice said from it, "Say the word, Joy Star, and I shall obey."

"Alright Bubble, I'll be back in a little while," Joy said.

"Hmm... okay." Bubble said "Just be alright."

"I will my dear." Joy said and looked towards the stone "Okay, take me on earth to William's parents."

The stone glowed brighter, then both it and Joy disappeared..


Joy did not expect TD to live in such a place as he was seeing. He seemed to be standing in a neighborhood of some kind, with many different houses lining the black asphalt street he was standing on. Each of the houses he could see had a number on them, as if in a kind of code as to which house was which. The house he stood in front of had the number 508 on it, and three strange box-like chariots stood a short distance outside the house, each a different color. The largest was a bluish-green, the other two were silver and grey respectively. As Joy watched, the door opened and a boy walked out... Joy almost thought he was dreaming. The boy looked exactly like TD! Upon seeing Joy, the boy looked at him with a slight frown, as if wondering what he wanted.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"Yes you can by telling me, is this T- I mean William's home?" Joy asked, as he smiled to himself.

The boy smiled. "Actually, yes. As a matter of a fact, my name is William. You working for the FBI?" He laughed for a bit. "I'm messing with ya. So, what do you need?"

"I..." Joy was a little confused at how he should put this. "Actually, will you believe me, if I said I came from another world with a message from the Terror of Dimensions to his parents?" He asked in one breath. William looked confused for a second, then his eyes lit up and he smiled again.

"It's about time he asked you to send the message... Prince Joy Star of Equestria."

The last part he added with a cheeky glint in his eyes and a raised eyebrow.

"So you do know me." Joy said "It's really confusing actually." He chuckled "But as you said, I'm here with a message." Joy said and floated the stone towards Williams. "It contains yours, I mean his, ohh so confusing, it contains the said message." William looked at him with a concern as he saw him using magic.

"What- how are you doing that?" William asked. He waited for Joy to start to explain, then winked and shouted, "Gotcha! I know all about it."

He took the stone and examined it, then looked back at Joy.

"Thank you. I'll have this delivered to them as soon as I can. But for now, you may want to get out of here. The people on this planet, they aren't familiar with magic... or the magic you're using. Wouldn't want to cause some problems."

"Right~" Joy said as he chuckled to himself a little. "I should go now." Joy touched the stone, "Bring me back to my own world to my family."

As he said this, he began to fade away and before he had completely disappeared he waved at William and said, "Goodbye."

Joy disappeared but the stone was still in William's hand. William chuckled and walked back into the house, looking up into the sky for a moment before he did.

"Come back quickly, TD," he said, then closed the door.


Joy returned back to where he was standing, alongside his wife and daughter. All of sudden, he received a hug from his daughter.

"Daddy's back!" She said, "Now can we go to Ponyville!"

Joy returned the hug and looked towards TD. The smile on his face indicated that he'd delivered TD's message to his parents.

"Thank you Joy," TD said with a smile. "I trust you saw my duplicated version of myself when you got there? That's the result of a spell I did that technically allows me to be in two places at once. It also keeps my parents from getting suspicious of my departure."

"Speaking of which, we should probably get a move on," Red stated.

"While I agree with him, I also think he could be more patient about it," Bill replied.

"Your welcome." Joy said "I'm glad I could do something for my friend."

TD nodded, then snapped his fingers as the portals reappeared again.

"Say your goodbyes, all," he said, "Because this time sadly, we can't afford to wait."

Bill started, looking to Bubble and Joy both.

"It was an honor fighting by your side," he said to them with a bow.

"No need for bowing my friend," Bubble said, "Thanks to all of you, our beautiful home is free of a huge threat."

Bill nodded, then he gave Bubble a hand/hoofshake. "Good luck my friend. I'll be visiting soon if I can."

Bill walked over to his portal to give his goodbyes to Flurry, while Red went up for goodbyes next.

"So... how was my first impression?" he asked them, "And please be honest. This is for statistics as well as personal notes."

Bubble and Joy looked towards each other and then towards Red and chuckled lightly.

"Your first impression was good enough to me Red." Joy said "Even though you remind me of the days when I first met TD."

Red looked thoughtful at this. "Well if you think about it, since I technically am the same person, it's understandable." He then unexpectedly threw his arms around Joy into a hug. Before Joy could return it, he said, "Hold up. I don't want you to get hurt." His spines suddenly drooped along his back in some way that was kind of odd, but it somehow told Joy that it was no safe to hug him. Then Joy returned the hug to Red.

"Take care Red." Joy looked towards Serena and Sonata, "And take care of your family."

Red nodded, then giggled a bit. "I said this to Sonata when we first started... dating, I guess you could call it. But due to our sizes, I still feel like a plushie in the arms of anyone as big as you are."

Joy giggled at this as well and released him from the hug. Then Bubble giggled and spoke.

"It was nice knowing you Red."

"Likewise," he said. His eyes then turned very large and cute and he asked in a child's voice, "Can we come back some other time?"

Sonata rolled her eyes, almost like TD's Twilight did whenever TD did some kind of antic. Serena just giggled. Joy then looked towards Red's family.

"Thanks Miss Sonata! To be honest, I always thought Sirens were selfish and not good creatures, but I've never been so wrong." Joy extended his hand towards the Siren. "Thanks to you too."

The Siren smiled and shook his hand. Because of her height in her current form, she towered above Joy, but still managed to downplay that fact.

"Your welcome," she replied. "I'm glad we could help. And I too am hoping to see you again one day."

Serena waited patiently for her mother, then she too gave Joy a goodbye hug.

"I'll see you later, Joy," she said sweetly, "Maybe I can arrange you and your family front-row seats to one of my concerts."

"That'd be great Serena," Joy said, "We'll be looking forward to this."

Next in line was Screwball and Tracker, both beaming bright smiles.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye again," Tracker said to Joy.

"Don't worry Tracky," Screwball said to her boyfriend, "I have a feeling we're going to see them again soon." She looked to Bubble and gave a wink. "After all, I still need some help with the future wedding plans."

"Oh, I'm gonna miss you two." Bubble said "I hope we'll meet again soon."

The two gave them a quick hug before moving on to Zach and Diana.

"Good luck you two," Zach said, giving them both a group hug with Diana, "We'll miss you both while we're gone."

"Mhm!" Diana agreed, some tears falling down her cheeks.

"Don't cry, please," TD requested tearfully, "You're making me cry too."

Twilight giggled beside him at this.

"Don't cry Diana!" Bubble said and hugged her, "I'm having a feeling that we'll meet again." Bubble released her from the hug "This isn't goodbye forever."

"I know," she said, speaking for the first time that day, "But I'm still gonna miss you a lot."

"We'll miss you too Diana." Bubble said, then after a second of silence, "Before you leave, how about a photo in memory of this day?"

Diana nodded as she and Zach both gathered together for the photo. TD apparently had seen this coming, because he already had a camera out.

"Smile! You're probably being recorded for a prank video," he said.

Diana giggled a little as well as Zach.

"Just take the picture," Zach requested between chuckles.

Joy and Bubble both chuckled at this.

"How about a group photo?" Joy suggested.

TD smiled and pulled out a camera, then caused it to float in front of them.

"Places everyone!" he called, getting beside Joy. Everypony there took their places in front of floating camera. Joy held Sunny in his lap as she smiled and looked towards the camera. The camera went off with a flash, much to TD's annoyance.

"I hate the flash," he grumbled.

Joy and Bubble just chuckled lightly and shrugged at his reaction.

"Let's see the photo, shall we?" Bubble suggested.

TD got to the camera first. He looked at the photo, and smiled.

"Success!" he shouted, leaping impossibly high.

"It's so nice," Bubble said.

"Mmmhmm," Joy nodded.

"What? Him jumping in the air, or the photo?" Screwball asked.

"What do you think Screwball?" Bubble giggled, "The photo of course. But we didn't say his jump wasn't good either."

"So maybe both," Joy chuckled.

"Don't tell him that," Red piped up, "It'll get to his head."

"And it doesn't to you?" Bill asked sarcastically.

They both smiled for a moment then sighed as they looked towards their friends. "So... I guess it's time for farewell now." Joy said "I'm really gonna miss all of you."

Bubble nodded. A tear or two left her eyes as she looked towards the sad Diana. She tried to smile and said, "My best wishes for you Diana. May you find your special somepony soon."

Diana nodded, then trotted back towards the portal behind them. The group of misfits walked through slowly, taking time to say their goodbyes. TD was the last to leave, and he looked up at the sky before turning to Joy.

"I can sense a beautiful future for this world," he said. As he jumped through the portal, he added, "Cya real soon!"

And with that, the portal closed up behind them. Joy kept looking towards the portal for a while, then with a smile he looked towards Bubble and his daughter.

"Well, we should be heading back to the palace now."

Bubble nodded. "Yes. Let's go."
With this, the exotic couple and their daughter headed back to the palace.

***A few months later***

Bubble was feeling ill and a little upset in her stomach for quiet a while. She was unable to understand her conditions and Joy and Sunny were also worried about her. Even Princess Celestia wasn't sure what could be the case. During those days, Heart Sparkle came to visit her daughter. After hearing about her condition, she was silent for a while then she spoke.

"I can't believe this!" she said, almost bursting with excitement "This is so amazing!"

"What it is, Mom?" Joy asked Heart with confusion and looked towards his mother and aunt Luna. They both looked towards each other as realization hit them both and they smiled at their silliness.

"Silly me," Celestia said, "Of course that's the real reason."

"How come you didn't know Tia?" Luna asked her while shaking her head.

Joy coughed and brought their attention towards him .

"Please, tell me what it is," He pleaded.

"Sorry my bad," Heart giggled, "Soon there will be another... foal in your lap."

"What!?" Bubble said with a joyful surprise "Is it mean... I am... I am... I am expec.." Bubble didn't complete her sentence and blushed deeply with a charming smile. Heart nodded as she kissed her daughter on forehead.

"Yes my dear, take this from a mare who'd been a mother. You certainly are."

At this, Bubble burst with joy, pulling her husband in a tight hug along with her daughter.

"Dad, what's everypony talking about?" Sunny asked

"Sunny, you're going to become a big sister soon," Joy said

"Really!?" Sunny shouted and hoovered into the air, swirling around with excitement. "Yay! I'm gonna be a big sister!"

She yelled with excitement while her parents watched her with glee. Joy was holding Bubble's hoof while Bubble was so excited to think about the upcoming joys. Then she looked towards Sunlight Blossom.

'She's still my dearest daughter.' Then she placed her hoof on her belly, 'Nothing's gonna ever change this.' She thought, 'They both will be the dearest apples of my eyes.'

She gave a kiss on Joy's cheek. All of his family members were so happy to hear this.

A new dawn had risen upon their world...


Far away, on some large spaceship, the Nameless One was mulling over some new plans of his. Several of his robots and humans stood around him, waiting to speak with him.

"Master, I have preparations for our next attack," one suggested, but was cut off by a raise of the Nameless One's hand.

"The boy is no longer our problem," he said, "From now on, we focus on our original plan. Send word to the troops."

The robots nodded and left to carry out their orders. Nameless looked out to space and a smile crept over his face.

"I'm coming for you next, William," he said, "And this time... no one will be safe."


Well, this is quite the series! I really liked doing this!

Don't think it's over yet! An epilogue is just around the corner! Cya there!