Hey ya'll, happy April Fools Day.
I don't have any jokes to throw in here (unfortunately) or, you know.
Anything to tell really.
So uh.
Enjoy?
Eddy whistled to himself as they walked through the city, feeling a slight chill in the air.
But, you know, what else would you expect from a place that just started winter?
Apparently, according to that bus driver, this place was two weeks off from their new years.
And that the year was like 3000-something.
…So that's… what?
Two universes in the year 3000?
Did old universes count?
That 'Express' universe and the rest of those 'Comedy Collection' universes are technically still in the Council, so they gotta count!
Not that anyone talks about any of the universes that left.
The ones that left or…
Or…
…Okay, no more thinking about that!
Eddy noticed that Double D was glancing around at the city in utter awe, while Ed grinned and waved to the few people they passed.
He really didn't like the looks that he were given back.
They weren't the usual dirty looks he and his friends got from their neighbors or teachers, but the pity was somehow even worse!
At least one or two of them waved back, that made Ed pretty happy…
Eddy glanced up at the sky, seeing the stars that weren't obstructed by the clouds above.
There were so many of them, and there were some weird colors in there too, it wasn't just pitch black.
Blues and purples and some blue-purples that made really weird shadows over the night sky.
Was this how the sky was supposed to look like?
It was amazing.
…Wait, doesn't light from big cities like this usually mess up the sky?
That's what Double D said once, right?
"Hey, bus driver guy." Eddy glanced back at Alex, who had been silent throughout their walk, "Why's the sky so bright, even though we're in the middle of a city?"
"Dunno." Alex shrugged, typing on his phone to read out his words, "There's something about Eldritch's tech that doesn't mess up the sky. Usually the other zones' mobians go low-tech for the environment's sake, but apparently Eldritch's never really done that."
Alex hummed, glancing up at the sky as his words were read out, "Maybe it's something about mobians' tech, or maybe it's something about how all this stuff is made. According to an Eldritch-born I know, their Robotnik had a pretty hard time actually damaging the environment. Stuff grew back too quick, he couldn't really poison the land or the water, not to mention the fact that everyone Eldritch-born is basically half-immortal. Eldritch's Robotnik had to roboticize people to actually kill them."
Alex winced at the thought, letting out a quiet sigh, "History says that overlanders got the 'easy' way out, since it killed them in the chamber. I heard it was something about the process tearing them apart… But Mobian-mobians, they weren't so 'lucky'. Robotnik threw a lot of robo-mobians into pits and made it so their souls would fall apart. The former chosen, you'll learn about them later, apparently had a hard time trying to revive people after that. Souls… damaging those is probably the worst thing you can do. Broken souls fuck up anyone in any zone or world, but here…"
Eddy looked slightly sick at the idea, his friends now listening to the lecture with wide eyes.
His mom was listening too, seeming to write down a few details.
…Wait, why's his mom writing down notes and not Double D-
"Well, that Eldritch friend I mention has seen what happens. Lost her uncles and grandparents to the robot pits and her stepmom died from a stroke just a few days after he was saved. Her dad couldn't use his legs and her mom was blind… at least until our Eggman showed up." Alex rolled his eyes, pausing his phone before letting it continue and rewriting something, "And our Eggman's weird. There's a lot I could say about him, but I think he's just weird."
"Isn't Eggman like the villain of your world or something?" Eddy asked, making Alex snort.
"The Eggmen are the usual 'villain' of the zones, yeah." He typed out, "This Eggman is an enigma. He's not like any version me or my 'outsider' friends have seen. I mean… My zone's Robotnik was a prick, but he had his moments of not being a complete ass. Eru's Eggman is the leader of the Zone Cops. Eru's cousin Koan's Eggman isn't evil, but he's pretty warped in what he thinks art is. Koan's boyfriend's Eggman was awful, but at least tried to help at the end according to their zone's Sonic…"
Alex hummed before typing again, "Our Eggman though? He's a dictator, yeah. But he's got some weird standards and rules in his empire. Has this emphasis on 'proper' history education, and there's a lot of rumors that say he has this really personal -sounding issue with some of the politics here."
"Personal-sounding?" Marylin raised a brow at Alex, who shrugged.
"Okay, so, I know someone in one of the Empire's cities. She co-hosts this radio show with her buddies, and one of them had this roommate." Alex started, gesturing as his phone spoke, "When the city got taken over, Hailey's co-workers had this big argument about politics, and eventually started talking about Alcole, the roommate, being fired that morning, and how she was still trying to break the glass ceiling of politics in Overlander cities."
Alex snorted to himself, gesturing for them to stop, "Next thing we all knew, Ally was the mayor of Trenoil and it became one of the greatest Empire cities on the continent. Hailey says she heard that Eggman had personally funded Ally's campaign because he 'liked her attitude'. And, lemme tell you, their last mayor was a piece of trash. There's rumors floating around that Eggman kicked that man out personally. Nobody's seen him since either. Some people think he killed him too."
"You talking about Trenoil, Alex?" A new voice piped up, two figures glancing through the front door of an apartment building, "I heard Alcole was reelected recently with something like a 90% vote? She apparently almost called for a revote because she thought someone had rigged it for her."
"Almost?" The other snorted, "I thought she did."
Stepping out of the door was a blue mobian deer with a nightgown, and a deep blue-haired overlander with golden eyes, pajamas, and mouse slippers.
The sight of the deer made Alex's eye twitch, but he ignored it in favor of getting this done.
He can bitch Monica out tomorrow.
"[Hey Moni, Eru, thanks for helping.]" Alex sighed, putting his phone back into his pocket, and stepping over to the two.
He glanced back at the outversers, sending them a grin, "This is Monica and Teruya. They're gonna help you get stable."
"Settled." Monica corrected, making Alex's eye twitch before rolling his eyes.
"Same thing!"
"Nope!" Teruya giggled, making Alex huff.
"You speak less Engulash than I do!" He snapped, which only made Teruya laugh a bit louder.
Monica smiled softly at the three teens, Eddy bristling at the pity in the mobian's eyes.
"It's nice to meet you boys… My name's Monica, but my friends call me Moni!" She introduced herself, "I'm an Eldritch-born Mobian, so if you got any questions about our zone that they can't answer, I can do my best to-"
"Why are there so many people here from other timelines?" Marylin asked without letting Monica finish, before blushing and clearing her throat, "Sorry. I-I'm Marylin McGee."
"Runaway's haven." Alex and Teruya answered together, "It's why I'm here."
The two overlanders blinked at each other with raised brows, while Double D hummed to himself.
"Runaway's haven?" He mumbled to himself, Monica chuckling as she shook her head.
"We're the 'dangerously unstable' zone that everyone's afraid to go into." Monica explained, putting quotes around the statement, "Runaways of all circumstances typically come here, one way or another. Teruya and her mom came here after an accident took her dad, and Alex came here around half a decade ago when Bug took over his zone."
Eddy whipped his head over to Double D whose eyes had widened.
Hey!
Those traffickers mentioned someone called Bug!
"My wife, her brother, and many others moved here after their zone collapsed… and there's also non-runaways like Teruya's cousin-from-another-zone, Koan, who moved here with her family for better job opportunities. Our zone is just… made for second chances, I suppose." Monica continued, unaware of the revelation that two of the Eds had made.
"That's amazing!" Marylin gasped, much to the three Mobians' amusement.
"Not really." Monica chuckled again, even as her expression turned sad, "It's… just how things are supposed to be."
"Come on!" Teruya gestured to them as Alex and Monica moved further inside, "Come inside, we'll show apartment! It's small, but good for a bit!"
"Why are you talking like that?" Eddy raised a brow as they moved inside, Teruya rolling her eyes with a sigh.
"Not great at spoken Engulash. Never have been. Better with writing." Teruya told, sending Eddy an amused grin, "Teruya Eru! Part-Time Artist and sean- seasonal camp worker!"
"Eddy McGee, professional scammer!" Eddy grinned back, winking at the woman…
Who only cackled in response, especially as Double D scoffed.
"Professional scammer? Oh, please, Eddy." He sighed, before reaching a hand out to Teruya, "My name is Eddward Vincent, Miss Eru-!"
Double D was knocked to the ground by Ed, who smiled at her with bright eyes.
"You're an artist!?" He exclaimed, making Teruya blush with a calmer chuckle.
"P-Part time." She corrected, "Not pro. Freelance."
"Eru!" Monica exclaimed, sending the overlander a scolding glare, "Don't understate yourself! You're one of the best artists in town! Don't forget what just happened a few days ago!"
Teruya huffed, before shaking her head, "That was mess. Can we not-"
"Can we just go?" Alex huffed, "I'm tired and Eru's couch is calling."
Monica sighed at the two, before gesturing for the outversers to follow them.
Ed blinked twice, glancing around with an odd look.
As if he was expecting something or someone to show up.
It's a shame that scene got deleted.
"Something wrong, Ed?" Double D raised a brow at his friend, who just shook his head after a moment.
Oh well, they'll meet him another time then!
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
"FIVE. FREAKING. STORIES." Eddy groaned, hand hitting the top of the stairs and laying there for a moment.
Marylin sighed at her son, while Teruya and Monica laughed to themselves.
Alex stared at Eddy, who had started crawling up the stairs after the fourth story for dramatics-sake.
Oh, if this isn't a drama kid in the making…
Double D sighed in relief as Ed reached the top, thankful that they didn't have to walk up any more stairs.
Eddy lifted his head, grumbling as he saw Double D slowly get off Ed.
"Why didn't I think of that?" He mumbled as he got off the floor, making his mom snort.
"Hindsight is 20/20." She chuckled, before glancing at Teruya, "So… this is our floor? Our… place?"
Teruya grinned, nodding her head with a wink, "Yep! 501! Next to me and Alex!"
"Until the 6th, when I get apartment back." Alex grumbled, letting out a yawn and rubbing his eye, "Going to sleep. Night"
Teruya rolled her eyes as Alex went into her apartment, before opening the door for 501 for Marylin.
"Here it is!" She grinned, Marylin and the Eds glancing inside to see…
A wall.
Blinking twice, Eddy glanced further into the dark apartment.
Double D turned on a light on the wall, revealing the light blue hallways.
There was one dark teal door just after the front door's step down, a similarly colored doorframe across from two other doors.
"That door to small bedroom," Eru pointed to the first door, and then to the two further down, "Those to powder room, and inside is bathtub room!"
"Bathtub room?" Double D mused, glancing at Eddy.
The short boy shrugged, not sure what his friend expected him to say.
She then started into the apartment, Ed rushing over to the second door down and locking the door behind him.
Eddy rolled his eyes, while Double D sighed.
He better not break anything this time…
Teruya glanced out the window at the end of the hall, humming as she turned back to them.
"Windows here facing north." She told Marylin, who nodded, "Windows on all sides but west, so no evening sun. Balcony is this way too."
"So we'll get sunlight in the mornings, but very little sunlight past a specific point in the day." Marylin summarized, "Well, I suppose that's alright. There isn't much sun in the winter anyhow."
Teruya shrugged, "Winter gets more sun in north, summer gets more sun in south. Evens out."
Double D blinked, wanting to question why the sun's north and south points were opposite that of Peach Creek, but had another question nipping at his mind.
"Miss Eru?" He started, making Teruya glance back at him with a slightly worried look, "How… How small are these bedrooms?"
"Ah… small." Teruya sighed, shaking her head "Cheaper than hotel, more privacy, but still little space. Only two at that. Not great full-time."
"Oh dear."
"What?!" Eddy exclaimed, shoving his face into Teruya's, "I gotta share a room with Sockhead and Ed!?"
"Yep." Teruya confirmed, pushing the boy's face away and sticking her tongue out, "That, or small hotel and share room with them and your mom."
Eddy looked very uncomfortable at the idea of sharing a room with his friends and his mom for a week or two.
"Y-You know what? Maybe sharing a room won't be so bad!" Eddy stammered, making Double D raised a brow at him.
"But you just said-" He started to protest, before he had Eddy's hands shoved over his mouth.
Teruya then grinned, leading them into the living room.
She spread out her arms as she showed up the small space.
It was a small kitchen, dining, and living room space, with the kitchen being shoved up between the wall with the glass door to the balcony next to it.
There was a skinny-looking fridge next to a metal countertop with a sink, with a slightly sunken space with a little two-burner gas stove on top.
The sink was covered over by a metal sheet, clearly meant as the kitchenette's 'counter space'.
"…Kitchen is pretty bad." Teruya admitted, seeing the horrified look on Marylin's face, "Station Square's good eating out. Cheaper than other cities. And other Station Squares. Koa and I checked."
"Eh, it's big enough to make pancakes and eggs." Eddy shrugged, which made Marylin chuckle.
"And… maybe if we have the space, we can find a table to use as… as a pseudo island!" She suggested, before wilting slightly, "Since… there's no room for a dining room…"
"Dining rooms overrated anyway." Teruya snorted, before moving to a large door.
She grunted as she pushed the door into itself, revealing a… smaller sort of bedroom.
The room was a yellow-white color, with a wall of closets on the left side, but…
"This is the same size as my bathroom!" Eddy complained, stepping into the room with a scowl, "Maybe smaller!"
"Don't be picky, Eddy-" Double D started to scold, but Eddy just continued his complaints.
"How's anyone supposed to live like this?!" He exclaimed, making Teruya sigh.
She stepped beside the boy, settling on the ground.
Teruya patted the ground, inviting Eddy to join her.
Double D raised a brow at the older woman, Eddy reluctantly sitting on the ground with her.
Teruya took out her phone, opening up an app and typing something.
"Apartments like these were never made for families." She typed, her phone reading her words aloud, "But… a lot of them do end up rented by runaway families."
Teruya leaned back, staring at the ceiling as her phone read out her words.
"My mom and I shared a studio for two years." She revealed, making Eddy's eyes widen, "It was probably about as big as both the bedrooms here combined. Something around a seventy thousand marks? I think that's 10 meters in your measurements. But we-"
"We use imperial measurements in Peach Creek, not metric." Double D interrupted, making Teruya pause the reading to glance at him, "But if my calculations are right, that should be 100 square feet. The size of a standard American bedroom."
Teruya snorted, typing something into her phone and resuming the read-aloud, "That's really cool actually. I have a roommate that's kinda weird, but he likes math stuff like that. I wonder if you'll meet him before you go… But we spent two years in a home that small. Me, an obnoxious and hyperactive nine-year-old, and my mom, who was still mourning my dad." Teruya smiled, although it looked a little bitter now, "It would've only been a few months, but fate didn't really work out that way. After-"
"'Fate didn't work out that way'?" Marylin repeated, making Teruya wince as she paused her phone again.
"…Hospital." She mumbled aloud, making the two teens and adult flinch as she revealed a prosthetic leg, "I lost leg, mom lost arm and leg. Both left sides. Happened month after we got here."
"It's how she met me." Monica piped up, leaning into the room with a sigh, "My brother and I were wandering around the hospital when I saw this terrified overlander girl crying into her hands. She and her mom got stuck in a once-in-a-lifetime 'monster' attack, and… well… the aftermath wasn't pretty in the city they were staying in either. A lot of people died that day. They were the 'lucky ones' too."
Teruya nodded to confirm, preparing to start the read-aloud again.
"Monster attack?" Double D whispered, making Teruya hesitate with a sigh.
"The beasts are… a whole other story." Monica explained, clearly reluctant to tell the whole story, "You'll learn about it while you're here."
Double D and Eddy shared worried looks, even as Teruya resumed.
"After those two years, we moved into this nice apartment." Teruya told, gesturing as if she was talking, "Three bedrooms, though one of them had a door like this so we just kept it open as a sorta 'divider' between the living room and the kitchen… But little me still wanted to share a room with my mom. Took her almost another year to get me into my own room. Mom always said living in a single room with me was a challenge, but… she really wouldn't have it any other way."
Teruya looked away, letting out an audible sigh as her phone read out, "I mean, the alternative is that I stayed in the No-Zone, mom went back to work, and I'd probably have been forced into the Zone Cops like my parents did. My mom was willing to give up privacy if it meant she and I were free, and it paid off in the long run."
Double D looked awed at Teruya's speech, so many questions swirling in his mind.
Marylin looked thoughtful, glancing back at the main room and humming to herself.
And Eddy…
"You know we're only staying here until those jerks get arrested, right?" Eddy huffed, looking slightly annoyed, "It's not like we're staying in this new world for the rest of our lives."
Teruya rolled her eyes with a small smile and sighed, "Take this with salt and wait it out."
She got back to her feet, walking towards the closet and taking out two bags.
"Oh, that's right." Monica winced, "There's only two."
Teruya sighed, tossing one to Marylin and bringing the other one to Double D.
"I'd use futons here." She advised the three outversers, "Uses less space than beds. Comfy too."
Eddy and Double D stared at the bag, which read as being 60 by 80 long.
…Was that 60 by 80 of those 'marks' Teruya was talking about?
"…That's inches by the way." Teruya told, scrunching up her nose as her phone spoke, "Marks are used by Mobians-Mobians and some zones, while inches and meters are used by the overlanders, humans, and commercially in most zones. Eldritch has a good split of the two, though I never really got the hang of the whole 'meters, inches, centimeters' thing. Heard there's some kinda third system, but I think Null was just talking out of his ass again."
"…This is a queen-sized futon." Double D pointed out to Eddy, who still groaned.
"I gotta share a bed with you and Ed!?" He exclaimed, pulling his hands over his face.
The sound of porcelain breaking made everyone pause, and Marylin facepalmed.
"Now that, I don't think we can fix with just a visit to the junkyard." She mumbled from behind her hand.
Monica and Teruya exchanged looks, before Monica giggled.
"Nah, we just go to the resale place down the street instead." Monica told, "We can take you there tomorrow if you like."
Ed walked over to the group with a confused look, holding the top of a broken toilet seat.
Double D facepalmed, while Eddy groaned.
"What's with you and breaking toilets, Ed!?" He questioned the tall boy, who only blinked at the broken seat.
"That'd be great, thank you." Marylin sighed to the ladies, much to the amusement of the mobian and overlander.
"…The fuck?" Hypno grumbled as he cracked an eye open, slowly sitting up from his spot on the couch.
"Uh… something wrong, Hypno?" Inkie Pie raised a brow at the hypnosis pokemon, who looked completely and utterly confused.
They had been hanging out in the living room, waiting for Blinkie to finish with their 'special dinner'.
Until Hypno had cursed aloud.
Now he had the eyes of his fellow Manor Dwellers.
"…You gonna say something, or what?" Jeff scoffed, seeing Hypno zoning out.
Hypno remained silent, much to the worry of his undead human.
"H-Hypno?" Lost called softly, making Hypno snap back to reality.
"Ah… sorry about that." He sighed telepathically, ruffling the top of Lost's head, "I thought I felt something… odd."
"Oh yeah, sorry about that."
All present whipped their heads over to Exe, the newest amongst the Manor.
He and one of his victims stood by the wall, the pink hedgehog looking a bit nervous.
Exe shrugged with a sigh, "We felt it too. Feels like our home's bs. I think somebody back there did something stupid. Nothing to worry about."
"Something stupid?" Blinkie Pie questioned with a raised brow, leaning out from the kitchen with a bowl in her hands, "Whattya mean 'something stupid'?"
That red stuff better not be blood-
"Feels like a timeline fuck-up. It'd explain that weird incomplete prophecy phrase Red and a friend of mine got." Exe hummed, leaning back on the wall, "Something about hopeful stars and runaway pawns? Honestly, I just think someone did something stupid in their zone and I'll be forced back home to help deal with it. Or maybe I'll be lucky and it'll just be a false alarm."
"This doesn't feel like a false alarm, Exe." Hypno grunted, lighting some psychic energy in his palm, "It feels… dangerous."
"All timeline fuck-ups do."
The gathered Manor Dwellers only sighed at the brush-off, Minkie Pie shaking her head.
"Well, we'll find out how important it is during the next meeting." She told, a serious tone having entered her soft voice, "They have some newcomers, and they're talking about a multiverse apocalypse."
Exe snorted, but didn't speak further.
Blinkie rolled her eyes, stepping back into the kitchen.
Diane let out a laugh too, as did Jeff.
"Yeah sure." Jeff jeered slightly, lifting his hand to quote, "A 'multiverse apocalypse'. What a fucking joke!"
"Yeah! Who'd be stupid enough to try and end all of the worlds!?" Diane loudly laughed, a hand hovering over her pink face.
Inkie laughed with her youngest sister, which only made Hypno growl.
They take so many other things seriously, so why can't they take this seriously too!?
Minkie hummed, not exactly reassured in her internal worries by her sisters and friend's joking.
Hypno and Lost moved beside her, Celebi rubbing against her shoulder.
It let out a worried chirp, making Minkie smile softly.
"D-Do you th-think it's the L-Loyalists?" Lost gulped, but Minkie shook her head.
"The Loyalists wouldn't make any sense." She told, "After all, he and the other 'Old Worlders' barely got out of the Old World in time. And that's with help from two Void Demons and Slender. They don't have that anymore. LJ did say that Amanda had already been 'dealt with'."
Lost hummed, knowing that Minkie was right.
Zalgo… he wouldn't risk killing himself just to take them down.
Not without an escape route.
…Right?
"But… if it isn't the Loyalists…" Hypno started, feeling dread begin to grow in his soul, "Who could it be?"
Minkie let out a hiss, while Lost whimpered.
"We can't dwell on that." She stated bluntly, hands ripping at the black couch, "It's not our job to deal with stuff like that. The Council should be the ones to handle this."
"L-Like how th-they h-handled th-the K-Kalos C-Crisis?" Lost mumbled, rage dripping from his words.
Hypno couldn't help but wince at Lost's shapr words, a furious expression growing on Minkie's face.
Those bastards are going to pay one day for ignoring the crisis.
But today is not that day.
Exe glanced away from the others, green flickering in his black-red eyes.
Rose jabbed at Exe's side, sending the other hedgehog a sharp glare.
"[I know, Rose.]" He mumbled in Jipropin, making sure Lost couldn't hear him, "[I know.]"
Her pupilless eyes were set into a narrow, and she signed, "If you really knew, you would have told him already."
Exe glared at nothing as he looked away, trying desperately to ignore the pounding in his chest.
"Someone needs to start taking this seriously, otherwise…" Rose trailed off, not liking her own train of thought.
"[Damn it, Rose. I know.]" Exe repeated, feeling his hands sparking, "[But you know why we can't]"
Rose hummed in disapproval, turning on her heel and stomping to the room they were staying.
Exe sighed, his ears flattening on his head.
He knew, they all knew…
But they had to trust Red.
He said they can't involved.
So they won't get involved.
They… they can't risk it.
Not again.
Mentioned Creepypastas belong to their respective creators, as do their original sources. (I'm not looking them all up. Sorry ya'll. Do it yourselves)
...Okay, listen.
I know the MLP:FIM fandom is a bit dead, and Muffins is... a very disliked story nowadays (from what I've seen).
But I don't care.
I've used these girls for my writings for almost a decade now, and I refuse to let them go.
Any Creepypastas I write have a different story anyhow, specifically the ones with 'real-life' aspects to it.
Muffins doesn't have real-life aspects, but I've been toying with my changes for a while now and I've almost reached the end
But in the end, this is my story.
I can do what I want with what characters I want.
If anyone wants to complain, go ahead and do that.
Because I really don't care.
Hope ya'll have a great April, and I'll see you guys in May.