Ashes to Ashes

[Eris]

(September 1st. Open to all 2nd gens or good opposite canons.)

"This place is disgusting."

Claws kicked up dust as the female walked through the ruins of Ponyville. Her jaw parted slightly. She had to see what the buck was going on with her home. With Sugarcube Corner where she got milkshakes with Inky Scales and Squallfeather. She stared at the terrible place, the ruins, the gray sky. Her ears folded back, sighing. Was this what Equestria had the capacity to be? Was this a terrible world because they had it so good? Knowing Sombra now, meeting her good guy father, everything was just hurting her inside.

"How can anypony live here?" She whispered, hanging her head.

[Deleted]

"It's awful..."

Back home, everything had been beautiful and pleasant. This world had no such pleasures to offer. At the very least, Squallfeather hadn't seen any signs of Prism Bolt around. Maybe his half brother hadn't made it to the world like he and Eris had. Speaking of, he'd caught sight of his half sister and was quick to join her as she stared at the ruined building where she, he, and Inky would go get milkshakes back home. Here, it was nothing more than ruins. What kind of a world was this?

Seeing Eris hanging her head the way she was, Squallfeather stepped closer to her and tried to wrap a tiny wing around her. The most he could do was stretch his small feathered appendage out and have it brush against Eris's side. It was pathetic, and a reminder of just how much of a freak he really was. This time, though, Squallfeather didn't voice his thoughts on that much. He wanted to be there for his half sister just like she was there for him. Even though they lived in different houses and had different mothers.

"I dunno," he said in answer to his half sister's question. "Maybe... Maybe somepony looks out for the others here? Makes this place a little better? But... I don't see how they could. This place is just terrible."

[Eris]

Her ears raised as she felt her shoulder being patted by a wing.

"Squallfeather! I told you to stay back at the castle." Okay she hadn't actually told him that. She had hinted it, at least she thought, when she told him she was leaving the castle. She stretched and folded her own wings, head dipping as she scoured the ruined marketplace.

"I don't know," she whispered, "I don't know what's going on here. I mean what pony would live her willingly? Then again who would live in this horrible place willingly." She snorted, stretching forward on her heels. "Did you see Dad?" She said with a snort of a laugh, "Captain Goodguy huh? What a world this place is."

[Jinx]

Jinx was a bit frightened to say the least. Her wings flapping by her sides as she stared at the broken Ponyville around her. Only a few days ago she and Mayhem had passed through here... at least in her own 'here'. Her world seemed to be whisked away and made into something it isn't. And nopony she knew seemed to be around. At least not yet. Not Mayhem at least. It made her chest ache a little to think about her brother. She hoped he was okay at least, and that he wasn't thrust into this world like her. Though it hurt to be alone also. Giving a small sigh, Jinx folded her ears back as she slowed the flapping of her wings, lowering herself to the ground carefully.

As she descended though, she thought she heard a hint of voices. Frowning a bit, Jinx turned around, noting that they were coming from Sugarcube Corner... or at least where it was supposed to be. Wondering if they could be some of the other kids that she had seen around the place - she didn't recognize any of them, at least not yet - Jinx walked closer, peering with her lavender eyes as she made out two shapes.

As she got a closer look, Jinx could only gasp a bit. They... looked like herself. One more than the other. One of them was lavender... just like her own coat. For a moment, she simply stared at the girl, than he gaze went to the boy. He looked like a clash between Rainbow and her father also.

She could clearly hear the end of what the... one like her was saying. Father? They... couldn't really be Discord's children also, could they? Her mother and father were still together... right? Heart-beating fast, Jinx didn't dare move for a moment, before opening her mouth. "W-Who... who are you guys?"

[Deleted]

"Nuh-uh. You didn't tell me to stay at the castle," Squallfeather confirmed. He couldn't have done a lot back there, anyway. What good was he at the castle when he could have been there trying to comfort Eris? Besides, it seemed like she needed it. He couldn't really think much more about it, though. Eris had asked what kind of ponies could live there, and Squallfeather just shrugged. He didn't rightly know. All he knew was that this place was so much different from the world he and Eris knew.

Then came the question of whether or not he'd seen their father. Squallfeather's immediate answer was a shake of his head. He hadn't seen him in person, but he had seen one thing.

"I saw a statue of him," Squallfeather said, "but he was wearing a weird outfit. The statue said something about him being a hero. But how could he be if..."

He stopped himself there. Another voice, a girl's voice, had made its presence known. Squallfeather glanced in the direction of the speaker, and he saw Jinx standing there. He didn't know who she was, of course, but that would be remedied soon. ...It also was easy to notice that she was like him and Eris. She had nice wings, too. Wing envy kicked in again and he let his tiny wings tuck back in close to his body. Maybe Jinx wouldn't be like Prism Bolt, though. He didn't think the other girl had any reason to tease him, at least.

"I... I'm Squallfeather," he answered as his lion tail went to his side. "Th-This is my sister Eris. Who... Who're you?"

[Jinx]

Slowly, Jinx walked forward a bit, but stopped once again as her eyes flickered over what looked like... Lighting Streak's mom and Jinx's own dad. Biting her lip, she poked the ground with her buffalo hoof. Well, at least he wouldn't be like Hazel teasing her. Or the other girl. Flicking her lavender eyes toward Eris hesitantly as she hadn't spoken yet, before speaking herself. "My name's... Jinx." She said, before biting her lip.

"Are... you from this world?" The words came out of her before she could stop them. Honestly, Jinx hadn't had a clue who was and who WASN'T from this world. King Sombra being the ruler of Equestria? That definitely was different. Jinx couldn't believe that the pony Twilight helped to defeat could ever be good... and that her mother was bad. Her ears lowered slightly at the thought, but she gave a small smile.

"I mean... I think a few other kids around here aren't from here either, but... I don't know who belongs here and who doesn't..."

[Eris]

Eris stuck her tongue out at Squallfeather before spotting Jinx approach the two of them. Her heart stopped. While she wasn't a true clone of Eris herself, she resembled her in so many ways. Wings, purple pelt. Her suspicious eyes narrowed as she stood her ground, ears folding back as she stepped beside Squallfather.

"Eris. Of another Equestria. Who're you?" Yes she was blunt. Unfortunately it was one of her charms. "Squallfeather and I are just as lost as you are." She didn't mind admitting it. She looked like she took after Discord more than this girl and Eris was scrappy. She knew how to fight.

"So yeah, who're you?"

[Jinx]

As Eris spoke to her, Jinx turned so she could take in her. They were nearly the same, except for a few things. Eyes drifting to Eris's horn, Jinx wondered for a moment whether she was adept at magic. Jinx considered herself a bit good at what she was named after: jinxes. Jinx knew a few other spells, but with Twilight having been so busy, she didn't have much time to teach Jinx, and Discord often let his chaos spill out with Mayhem.

After a few seconds, Jinx blinked as she realized she must have been staring. Blushing, Jinx slowly thought about the question. Was... Eris asking her name? No, she would have heard it... or maybe she wasn't paying attention? Jinx didn't know, but a sneaking suspicion entered her as she looked Eris over again.

"M-My name is Jinx... but if you mean about my parents... they're Discord and Twilight," Jinx said, before biting her lip. Now to see if her suspicions were confirmed. If they were... well, Jinx didn't want to think about it just yet. If only Mayhem was here... Jinx could safely say she wasn't the bravest if you had to pick between her and Mayhem.

[Deleted]

"Eris, she just said her name. It's Jinx," Squallfeather said. Normally he would have been hiding behind her, but Jinx seemed different from other ponies. In fact, she looked remarkably like Eris. The answer to that mystery came when Jinx confirmed her parentage. Magenta and yellow eyes shifted between Eris and Jinx, and a look of awe formed on the boy's face.

"That's like Eris! She's got the same mom and dad," he said. He was in the same boat as far as fathers went, but his mother... Well, he was only glad that Eris and Jinx both had a mother who presumably loved them both. He knew that Twilight cared about Eris, but what about Jinx? At least neither of them had been abandoned like he had. If it weren't for Fluttershy, he wouldn't have known what having a mother was like at all. Not that Jinx needed to know that.

"Me and her come from the same world. It's nothing like this one. I... Don't really like this world, though. It's all... Ruined."

His tail stayed close to his side and his ears fell back against his skull. Clearly, this wasn't the ideal place for him to be. At least Squallfeather had Eris with him.

[Eris]

"I KNOW. I WAS ASKING- nevermind." She scoffed, ears folding back as she blushed furiously. She was trying so hard to act tough that, yes, she'd neglected to hear this girl's name. She winced. She was right; Discord was her father, Twilight was her mother. Just like her's. She breathed, head lowered.

She bit her lip with her snaggletooth. Before she spoke again she looked about and looked over the other female. "Well hello sister," she said with a snort, "So you're not from here, right? I guess this place is going to get freakier and freakier."

She approached her otherworldly sister. "I'm sorry I'm so short. It's just a lot, y'know?"

[News Flash]

"Wow. This place is a mess."

An eyebrow quirked curiously at the huddle of mixed-breeds, but in all honesty, the little pegasus wasn't all that concerned with them. Instead, News fluttered in a circle as she took in the scene through her green eyes. She'd briefly seen Ponyville the Chaos Capital when she'd hopped off the train from Manehattan on her way to join Twilight's rebellion and thought it had been a wreck then; but it had still been intact, at least in a manner of speaking.

This place... not so much.

Her creamy hooves touched down on the charred soil as the intrepid reporter-pony - as she liked to think of herself - decided to give her wings a rest momentarily. News blew at her fringe, smoothed her collar, and made sure the badge proclaiming her as the star reporter of the school newspaper was pinned visibly to her shirt. Not that it probably reeeeeally counted for much here; still, in a new place, News wanted to make sure everypony knew who she was.

Speaking of everypony...

She might as well, the young pegasus decided, make her presence known. News' wings gave a slight flutter behind her back as she turned away from the ruined town to face the other three. For once, News didn't pull out her special reporter's notebook; whatever had gone on here was clearly old news by now, nothing to be gained by digging into it when somepony else had probably been there and done that. Still, that didn't stop her from nudging her badge straight with one hoof.

"So what's the attraction?" Her mother's Manehattan accent clung lightly to her words. "You can't all have come here to look at a ruined cake shop, so there's got to be something going on here; and I want to find out what." Once more, she prodded her badge. "News Flash, reporter for the Manehattan school paper."

[Eris]

(I can't help myself, I'm responding.)

Before the female could get a response, a filly walked up. Eris unfurled and closed her wings again before walking past her brother towards the newcomer to the group. Her ears lifted as she took in the filly's appearance and she grinned. She couldn't help it. The filly's spice was making her giggle.

"Well hi there," she said, "I don't know if there's much to report on out here, kiddo. Besides garbage." She winced, waiting for the filly to flip out over her appearance.

"I'm Eris," she said, "This is my brother Squallfeather and...Jinx." She was not calling her sister just yet.

[Deleted]

For a brief moment, Squallfeather's tail was whipping back and forth gleefully behind him. He'd at least made a good point in pointing out that Eris had missed hearing Jinx's name. That was a start. However, his tail was quick to whip back protectively around his side the second he heard News Flash's voice. Actually seeing the newcomer arrive on the scene made him even less thrilled about the idea of interacting. This was a normal pony, not a hybrid like him, Eris, or Jinx, and so he had no idea what to expect. Would she be like Prism Bolt was and treat him cruelly? Or would she actually be nice?

"H-Hi..." Squallfeather murmured. His ears fell back and he self-consciously tried to move closer to Eris. At least his sister had gone ahead and made the introductions for them both. He was relieved of that much. However, it would only be a matter of time before News made some kind of comment on the fact that they were hybrids... Right? Right? That generally happened, didn't it? Squallfeather couldn't exactly pretend like it didn't.

...Or was he just building himself up for something that probably wouldn't happen? He honestly didn't know, but Squallfeather didn't like the idea of potentially being picked on. It was just a matter of determining whether or not this actually happened.

[Jinx]

"Yeah... wish my brother was here." Jinx sighed, lowering her head, before feeling herself take back a step involuntarily back. Jinx turned her lavender eyes toward Squallfeather, blinking. So... her suspicions were right. Eris was... practically her sister. That was... a weird thought. Jinx had thought that she and Mayhem were the only ones of their kind - that is, a draconequus and pony hybrid. Apparently there were others like her in other worlds. "Wait a minute... if your from the same world..." Jinx looked from Eris back to Squallfeather. "Is Dad with...?" Her voice trailed off as she looked at the ground, her cheeks flushing with color.

But Jinx was saved from finishing the question as another pony trotted up on the scene. "Erm... well it isn't ruined where I come from." Jinx said, flopping down onto her hindquarters as she looked over at News Flash, and genuine curiosity entered her voice. "You come from Manehatten? How's it like over there?"

[News Flash]

"Yeah, I got that," she grinned back as Eris spoke, making her prominent teeth even more noticable. "I thought Ponyville had it bad back home, but it wasn't like this." Even if that Sugar Cube Corner was one of the buildings that hung upsidedown in midair, it was still intact, after all; only accessible by pegasi, it was true, but intact. That Ponyville Apple girl who was a cousin of hers somewhere down the line and who had given her a quick once-over through the town had taken her inside - and it had actually been kind of cool, in News' opinion.

There wasn't much cool about these ruins, though.

Again, she blew at her mane - a quirk she'd picked up from her mother - as Eris made introductions and the other two ponies spoke up too. They looked... weird, now that she thought about it. Between them, the three ponies had a mishmash of different legs, vaguely reminiscent of the pictures she'd seen of the Chaos Overlord of her version of the world, and other miscellaneous odd features. The pegasus rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof, rumpling her collar some.

Not that she was all that new to the idea. Wasn't the boyfriend of Princess Twilight's daughter like that too, after all? News hadn't paid much attention to the small group of friends who the cousin who'd met her off the train had introduced her to. For that matter, she couldn't even remember that cousin's name; she'd had more pressing concerns, like flashing her reporter credentials around to anypony who'd listen.

Back to those present; maybe it was some side-effect of the corruption in whatever world they were from that had everypony being born with unusual deformities. She didn't really have a clue; but as the reporter in her would leave no question unanswered, News just had to ask.

"Soooo what's with the mishmash of odd legs?"

Before she could get an answer, however, Jinx - that was the right name, wasn't it? - had spoken up with a question of her own. "It's pretty much what you'd expect of the big city. It's... well, big. Noisy. Ponies everywhere, always in a hurry. Everypony's rude, but you gotta just take it and roll with it. And once you get past all that, it's the most amazing city in all of Equestria. We've got absolutely everything there." More than just a touch of homesickness was plain to hear in her words as News spoke. She'd never actually been away from her hometown before, and really hadn't counted on how much it would affect her; and knowing that her Manehattan was in a different world that she might never see again did nothing at all to help. The little pegasus' wings gave a gentle flutter before pressing back to her sides.