For every age, there is a time of trial: The rocks faced such a fire before they were the strength beneath our feet; The plants braved vast winds before their roots could give us life. As a sage of considerable years, I have known only one such great ordeal. Yet the heroes it created were champions for all time.
"Seriously, BBBFF? Is that really how you were trying to get her attention?" Twilight asked Jak. "Who did you learn that cheesy pickup line from, anyway?"
"...shut up..." Jak grumbled back.
It had been a good couple of months since the gang stopped Gol and Maia's scheme and, following Samos' cryptic words, they had decided to take some time off and have fun, live life, and enjoy themselves.
Towards that end, Jak had been attempting to progress things with Keira. As such, the entirety of Sandover Village was witness to Jak's attempts at flirting.
Needless to say...he wasn't very good.
"Seriously bro, if she didn't already like you, you wouldn't have a chance," Rainbow chided gently while lounging on a cloud she had plucked from the sky.
"Why do you keep posturing about it, anyway?" Twilight demanded as Daxter wandered in, skittering across the wall as he adjusted further to his new body. "You're her friend from childhood, a freakin' hero, and the Sages keep acting like you're some sort of 'Chosen One'. Even Gol and Maia have been joining in on that. Stop trying to be something you're not and just be yourself!"
"But aren't we 'Chosen Ones' too, Twilight?" Pinkie asked but went ignored.
"And how am I supposed to get Keira to look at me instead of that vehicle for ten minutes?" Jak demanded. "After all, she's seen me before, but that vehicle's brand new."
"Well, you could always try helping her with it." Rarity suggested. "Oftentimes, it's helpful to know about things outside your comfort zone."
Jak shrugged. "Well, I've tried just about everything else."
As Jak hopped out of bed and headed off to where Keira was at work, Ben couldn't help but look pensive while laying back in his hammock.
"Something up with ya, chum?" Daxter asked as he sat on Ben's chest.
"Just about that whole end of good times stuff Samos was talking about after we stopped Gol and Maia."
"Yeah, I don't like it one bit either..." Applejack frowned. "I reckon that something really bad is gonna happen sooner or later."
"Oh dear, I really hope it's not the end of the world..." Fluttershy said worriedly. "I don't think I'm ready for that, yet."
"I don't think anybody is, Flutters." Rainbow sighed.
Pinkie also seemed uncharacteristically quiet. Earlier, her tail had deflated like a balloon having all the helium leaked out of it and stayed flat for a good long while. While the gang was used to her 'Pinkie Sense' by now, they knew this was a new sense that obviously meant something bad was on the horizon.
Samos sighed as he gathered his belongings. He knew, more or less, what was to come today. Keira had finally finished her work, and both vehicle and gateway were ready for use, braced just outside Keira's lab. The time for rest and relaxation was at an end.
Walking with his staff, he made his way along the village's bridges towards the gate, seeing Jak, Daxter, Ben, the Mane 6, and Keira waiting for him. Fluttershy was looking from vehicle to gate nervously, as though expecting monsters to leap out of either at any moment. Daxter sat on Fluttershy's back, combing the young pegasus girl's mane to calm her down. Jak and Keira sat in the vehicle itself, holding hands.
Pinkie was nuzzling in Ben's lap as he petted her mane, which looked a little less poofy than usual. Applejack was chewing on an apple core nervously while Rainbow was staying alert. Rarity was wondering when things were ready and Twilight was keeping check on the vehicle.
Remembering things he'd seen in his own childhood, Samos couldn't help but chuckle at the sight. Although he admitted privately to himself that if he didn't approve so strongly of Jak, he would not have viewed that with such equanimity.
"Today's the big day, everyone," Samos announced, drawing their attention. "I hope you're all prepared...for whatever happens."
"I'm ready for anything," Jak replied confidently.
Samos shook his head and muttered something under his breath. Most of them couldn't hear it but the Mane 6 certainly could with their better hearing.
"No, my boy. No, you are not. But you are as prepared as I could make you...and it won't be enough. When you realize what I could not tell you, I hope you can forgive me..."
"Uhhh...what did he mean by that?" Rainbow whispered to Twilight, who shook her head worriedly.
"I'm not sure but if Samos is acting this subdued...it has to be something bad."
"I think I've figured out most of this machine," Keira spoke up, indicating the vehicle. "It seems to interact somehow with that large Precursor ring. I'm pretty sure that the front panel is a control mechanism of some sort...but I can't determine what either does beyond that without testing it."
"I just hope we didn't break anything moving it to the lab," Twilight said.
"Easy for you to say!" Daxter complained as he jumped in the middle of Jak and Keira, fiddling with the controls. "We did all the heavy lifting!"
"Daxter!" Samos snapped out, barely hiding the fear in his voice. "Don't touch anything! Though the Precursors vanished long ago, the artifacts they left behind can still do great harm!"
"We know," Ben replied with a roll of his eyes. "We've seen."
Keira giggled. "Or great good, Daddy. Even you have to admit, Gol and Maia's latest research into Dark Eco shows great promise. In its plasma state, Dark Eco can enhance other types of Eco for amazing effects, as long as it's used in carefully controlled circumstances."
"I've had such experience with such things," Samos stated darkly as he took a seat in the vehicle.
Fortunately, the vehicle was able to fit everybody, though it was a bit of a tight squeeze for some of them.
"Well, here goes nothing," Jak muttered, pressing the crystal switch, causing it to light up.
"Looks like Jak's still got the mojo!" Daxter commented as the capsule opened, revealing a glowing sphere with two spinning rings around it
"Interesting," Keira mumbled as she examined the device. "It appears to be reading out some preset coordinates."
As everything began shaking from the vehicle's activation and the gateway responded, Samos clutched his staff tightly, hoping everything would work out as it was supposed to. As he heard the familiar voice announcing the opening of the last Rift Gate, and the Metalhead swarms, creatures of living metal that were a plague upon the world in any time, erupted from within, he could only murmur in awe.
"So this is how it happened..."
"YOU CANNOT HIDE FROM ME, BOY!" Roared a particular large beast
"WHAT IN THE HELL IS THAT?!" Ben screamed as Fluttershy shrieked and buried her face in his chest.
Twilight hurriedly used her magic to protect everyone from the swarming creatures that came through. Eventually, the vehicle went straight through the Rift Gate and Twilight disengaged her magic when the feedback of the transdimensional energy started to affect it.
"What's this do? Or that? How 'bout this one? Everybody, press all the buttons!" Daxter panicked.
"Yeah! Buttons always work!" Pinkie added as she and Daxter pressed everything.
"What was that thing?!" Keira cried.
"I have no idea but it was practically HORRID!" Rarity said.
"Whoa, nelly!" Applejack exclaimed as she held onto her hat. "Someone stop this crazy thing!"
"I want off this ride!" Rainbow cried.
Suddenly, the vehicle broke apart, causing everyone to go flying as they screamed.
"Jak! Ben! Girls! Find yourselves!" Samos called out.
Jak and Daxter found themselves flung out of the rift and into some kind of strange futuristic city. As they picked themselves up, Daxter grumbled while dusting himself off and throwing away the vehicle's handle, which he had been holding onto.
"Okay, I swear, that's the last time I ever, ever, touch any stupid Precursor crap!"
"Where are we?" Jak wondered as he looked around.
Suddenly, armored footsteps were heard as the two friends looked to see several soldiers clad in red and white armor marching toward them, led by a man with orange-red hair, dark yellow eyes, fair skin, and facial tattoos.
"There he is. Move in." One of the soldiers said as they aimed their weapons at the two. "Step away from the animal!"
Panicking, Daxter ran from underneath the leader of the soldier's legs and turned around to see Jak being grabbed before he could join him.
"Forget the rat! The Baron wants him." The leader said as he pointed to Jak. "We've been waiting for you."
Before Jak could even react, he was struck over the head by one of the soldier's weapons and everything went black...
When Ben came to, his mind and vision were blurry and he couldn't make sense of his thoughts. He heard two voices talking, but they were indistinct. While the words were clear, he knew he'd never know the voices if he heard them again.
"Are you certain about this?"
"Of course I am! The tests have shown that the research is sound!"
"But it's so old! And Dark Eco is incredibly volatile."
"Not in the Plasma state. We've had seven successful infusions."
"If you define 'successful' as 'turning into berserk overpowered monsters', yes."
"That's why we have these two. They're mentioned in Gol and Maia's notes."
"Yes, and that pair are marked down as having been insane."
"The line between insanity and genius is fine indeed. And they aren't the only ones to mention these two could naturally metabolize Eco in its plasma state. A pity the Ottsel got away."
"The city's being searched for him as we speak. But what about this one?"
"He's not going anywhere. We'll start with him."
After that, all Ben knew was pain...
"Ugh...where are we?" Rainbow groaned as she picked herself up and looked around to see her sisters all already awake.
"You sure are a heavy sleeper, Dash," Applejack said. "And to answer your question...we're with friendly company in a not-so-friendly world."
"Hey, glad to see you guys are doing okay."
A young teenage voice, probably the same age as Jak and Ben, was heard from a girl with long dark brown hair in a ponytail and blue eyes. Her hat was white and pink with a picture of a pink Poké Ball on it and she wore a white tank shirt that reached her waist underneath a black waistcoat and a pair of denim shorts with white tear details on them. She wore black wristbands with a small pink stripe on both of them matching black ankle boots with pink laces and soles, and a pair of black socks underneath.
"Who are you?" Rainbow asked.
"I'm Hilda. My mom and I found you unconscious in the river and fished you out." The girl said. "We own this little brewery that's a little safe haven for people of all types."
"Girls!" A familiar voice was heard as the Mane 6 turned to see Daxter coming in.
"Daxter!" Fluttershy cried as she hugged the Ottsel, the rest joining in.
"Yeah, I'm glad to see you all safe and sound too!" He said before frowning. "But...Jak, Ben...they took 'em."
"Who took them?" Twilight asked worriedly.
"The Krimzon Guard! Buncha lousy jerks who patrol Haven City and make life miserable for everyone!"
Everyone looked to see a surprising sight; three Ottsels much like Daxter but with different features. The first had what looked like a unibrow and was quite buff. The second wore a black sock hat and had a gap in his teeth with a lanky build. The third and final one was short and stout with three thin prongs of hairs sticking out of his head.
"Other Ottsels?" Rarity gawked in amazement.
"I know, crazy, right?" Daxter agreed. "Anyway, these three are friends of Hilda and her Ma. They managed to help me escape those Krimzon Guard jerks and hide out here. Looks like you girls were found nearby."
"The buff one is Ed, the one in the hat is Edd, but call him Double-D, and the short one is Eddy." Hilda introduced. "They've been my friends since when I was a little girl."
"Did you guys get dropped in Dark Eco too?" Pinkie asked.
Eddy shook his head. "Nope, we've been like this for as long as we can remember."
"We honestly thought we were the only ones until we met Daxter," Double-D said.
"We are not alone in this world!" Ed said.
"Well, it's nice to meet you all but we need to find Jak, Ben, Keira, and Samos!" Twilight said urgently. "They could be in danger!"
"Whoa, easy there!" Hilda said. "Listen, my mom has some friends in high and low places who might be able to help you guys find your people...but it might take a while."
"In the meantime, if you wanna stay with us, you gotta earn your keep!" Eddy said as he climbed up Hilda's shoulder.
"Well, we got nowhere else to go..." Twilight sighed.
When the pain finally subsided, Ben felt like he was going to die. His body didn't respond to his commands. His thoughts were sluggish. He wanted to throw up, but his throat wouldn't work right.
"It seems the Dark Eco is...assimilating itself into him."
"This is fantastic! Could this be the one?"
Suddenly, a burning sensation surrounded Ben's entire body as he screamed, an animalistic roar ripping out of his throat as he found his body moving on its own, running on auto-pilot while he could see only red.
"STOP! CALL SECURITY!"
"GET THE BARON! CALL-AAAAARGH!"
Horrific squelching and tearing sounds were heard. He could feel something warm and wet splatter against various parts of his body. The sounds of flesh being ripped apart and choked gurgling screams echoed through the air.
Suddenly, Ben felt himself falling and landing hard on something. The red faded and all that was left was a cold black void.
"BBBFF?"
"T...Twi...Twilight...?"
"Oh my god, it's him! It's Ben!"
"Dax...Daxter...?"
"What in the hay did they do to him?!"
"Ap...Appl...Applejack...?"
"Good heavens! What happened to him?!"
"He's covered in blood! Looks like he came out of a slaughterhouse!"
"He looks like the main character from Infamous Prototype!"
Those were three unfamiliar voices he had never heard before. A pair of larger feet were heard as he was lifted up into someone's gentle arms.
"Come on, let's get him back to Ma's brewery."
He didn't know why, but he felt a sense of comfort from this voice. It belonged to a girl, probably around his age.
Everything finally went dark...
Our heroes have found themselves in Haven City. The Mane 6 and Daxter have managed to rescue Ben but Jak is still in Baron Praxis' clutches.
Also, what has happened to Ben? It seems the Dark Warrior Project has had a different affect on him than it has on Jak.
Also, we have Hilda from Pokemon Black & White plus the iconic trio of Ed, Edd n Eddy as Ottsels! They'll play a major role going forward here on out!