“Okay, Felix, I think we’ll be safe here,” Karen said as she set her scythe on her back. “This cave should provide us with shelter.”
“I want to get away from those blasted Diamond Dogs as much as you two do,” Yegelos cut in, “But what about Alex? How are we going to get home if we don’t defeat him?”
“Our first priority was getting out of that hurricane he caused,” I countered. “We’ll go after him again when it’s dry.”
“No, your first priority is finding some other place to get out of the storm,” a female voice with a Lemurian-style accent growled from deeper in the cave. “Leave now, or I’ll chase you out myself!” The three of us turned and gasped at the sight of an Alicorn mare with a light blue coat and a mane and tail in a darker shade of blue. Her gold eyes were narrowed to slits, and she had adopted a fighting stance. She wore a powder blue sailing dress, wore armor under it, wore a lightweight helmet that seemed specifically designed for females, and her Cutie Mark depicted a compass on a tidal wave.
“Who are you?” I asked, taking half a step forward. “Can we talk this over?”
“No, we can’t,” she snapped. “And my name is confidential! I won’t tell you! Leave, or I’ll remove you myself!”
“Why are you so hostile?” I asked, still holding my ground.
“I’m not answering your questions!” the Alicorn shouted. “Since you haven't left yet, take this! Diamond Berg!”
I gasped in surprise as her body glowed and hummed with the unmistakable signs of an Adept casting a Psynergy spell, followed a second later by a massive block of ice falling on top of me. The next second, she’d grabbed an axe off the floor with her teeth and started hacking away at the block of ice I was pinned under, leaving dents in my armor and gashes in my clothes.
“Felix!” Karen yelled before taking a deep breath and channeling enough Psynergy to flash white before shouting, “Dragonform!”
The next moment, a yellow-orange Flame Dragon barrelled into my assailant, and the pony who was obviously the fourth Adept was thrown against the wall of the cave.
“You alright?” Karen asked as she picked up the block of ice with her dragon form’s arms and threw it against the other wall, shattering it.
“I’m fine,” I replied after dusting myself off. “Looks like we’ll have to knock some sense into this one, though.”
“No kidding,” Yegelos replied with a nod. “She seems ready to kill.”
After shouting “Grip!”, I picked up the Sol Blade with the conjured hand and willed it to raise over my head. In the next second, a furious howl filled the air, and the hand swung the blade into the star that materialized in front of it, sending it hurtling towards the transformed Mercury Adept.
“Ahhhhh!” the Alicorn/Adept screamed as the star connected, slamming her into the wall again.
However, that wasn’t enough to keep her down.
“So, you’re going to fight back, are you?” she snapped. “Well, I’m not going down! Take this! Megacool!”
Massive icy spikes burst through the ground beneath the three of us, throwing us into the air. Yegelos and I crashed back down, but Karen surprised our adversary by flapping her dragon wings and touching down lightly.
“Wait, I thought there were three ponies! Why are there suddenly two ponies and a dragon?” the Alicorn gasped while looking around in confusion.
“Maybe this will answer your question!” Karen roared. “Rising Dragon!”
The Alicorn gasped in disbelief as a column of fire ending in a dragon head shape rose out of the ground and slammed her into the ceiling.
“That was Psynergy!” the Alicorn groaned as she got back to her hooves. “You’re Adepts! Why are you in this world?”
“We could ask you the same question,” I began as Karen returned to her unicorn form, “but you’ll probably give us the same answer I’m about to give you: an incredibly powerful Mercury Adept named Alex threw each of us into the void beneath Weyard after using transformative Psynergy on us. I trust you ran afoul of him, too?”
“I did,” the Mercury Adept replied with a nod. “I’m Maya, a Lemurian sailor. Alex threw me and my ship over Gaia Falls after hitting me with a blast of powerful Psynergy, which turned me into a pony. My ship also was damaged upon arrival, so I’ve been hiding out in this cave for five years while trying to obtain the means to repair it without drawing attention to myself.”
“What’s wrong with being seen?” I asked, voicing my confusion, which Karen and Yegelos appeared to share, at least if their expressions were any indication.
“Take one good look at my appearance and ask that again,” Maya huffed. “It shouldn’t be that hard to see.”
I was still confused, but Karen and Yegelos seemed to understand within seconds.
“Of course,” the Proxian said with a nod. “You’d stick out like a sore thumb, what with being an Alicorn and all.”
“Exactly,” Maya grumbled. “If one more pony calls me a ‘Princess’, I think I’ll lose it! I am not royalty! I am in no way related to King Hydros!”
“Well, Alex is here,” I told the Lemurian. “He’s more powerful than the Wise One now, and he wants me dead. I’m Felix, a friend of Piers.”
“Felix, hmm?” Maya said thoughtfully. “If you’re that Felix, I’m more than eager to assist you in any way I can. The codgers of the Senate may despise you, but everyone else in Lemuria loves you and your friends. In fact, thanks to you, the people of Lemuria have Conservato and his fellow Senators cowed into letting King Hydros walk all over them. They fear the very masses they claim to represent. They know that the threat of an all-out riot looms over them at all times, so they don’t dare question the King thanks to his renewed popularity with the people. It’s thanks to the changes you and your friends brought to us that forced the Senate to lift the ban on Lemurians leaving Lemuria.”
“Well, Alex is right outside the cave, and we need to escape somehow,” Yegelos informed her. “We need to combine our strengths to beat him, and with all four of us, we have a chance. But we’re in a pretty bad position at the moment.”
“Say no more!” the Mercury Adept said, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “Thanks to some local shipwrights, my ship is finally seaworthy again! We’ll just sail out of here, using Alex’s own storm as cover!”
“Piers actually taught me how to sail, and I don’t think—” I tried to cut in, but Maya cut me off, her eyes saying she really knew what she was talking about, here.
“I have a Cloak Ball, dummy,” the Lemurian giggled. “There should be enough darkness caused by the storm for us to Cloak the ship into the darkness. As long as the light level is low enough, we should be able to become invisible and make our getaway.”
“Wow, convenient,” I said with a whistle. How much longer would this strange streak of good luck last? I had no idea, but I intended to take advantage of it as much as I could. “Lead the way!”
“It’s farther in,” Maya said before gripping her axe with her teeth and dragging it along.
“You can’t use your magic worth a darn, either?” Karen asked, getting the Lemurian to pause and drop her axe to the ground with a clatter.
“Actually, yes,” Maya groaned. “I have wings and a horn, but I can use neither effectively. I can’t fly, and I can’t use magic at all.”
“Well, though Yegelos can fly, he does so by using a Hover Jade to ‘cheat’,” I told our new companion, drawing a groan of embarrassment from the Anemos. “And Karen only recently figured out how to use magic. We can’t help you with the flight issue just yet, but maybe we could help you get the hang of basic-level magic before we go.”
“I’m ready and willing to learn,” Maya replied with a salute. “Please instruct me on what I must do.”
“Karen, if you would do the honors,” I suggested, eliciting a nod from the Mars Adept.
“Of course,” she said with a smile before turning to face her new student. “Now, first off, magic uses the mind, just like Psynergy does. This is where the problem originates. You’ve been using Psynergy your whole life, so your mind automatically reaches for Psynergy, even if you try to do something as simple as lifting that axe of yours.”
“So, how are we supposed to fix that?” Maya inquired curiously.
“I’m going to seal your Psynergy, first,” Karen explained. “With no Psynergy to get in the way, you’ll be able to get a proper feel for magic.”
“Actually, can I do it?” Yegelos requested. “I’d like to help.”
“Can any of your Djinn seal Psynergy?” Karen shot back, seemingly doubtful that the answer would be “yes”.
“Don’t need any,” Yegelos countered smugly. “I know Bind.”
“In that case, go right ahead,” Karen sighed. “Bind can last longer than a Djinni’s seal can, anyway.”
Yegelos rubbed his forehooves together excitedly for a couple seconds before channeling Psynergy and crying, “Bind!”
Jupiter Psynergy quickly enveloped Maya, forming a temporary seal on her Psynergy.
“Okay, while the seal’s in place, focus your mind on two things,” Karen instructed, “Your horn and the axe’s handle. Try to lift the axe with your mind, and as long as you focus on the mental motions, the magic should do the rest.”
Maya nodded, grit her teeth, and her horn suddenly shone with a brilliant gold aura, which quickly enveloped the axe's handle, as well.
The axe rose off the ground, and with a few adjustments, it was being held at an angle resembling how a human would’ve held it.
“Good,” Karen said, nodding in approval. “Now, try lifting a few other things while still holding the axe. Let’s see how well you can do before the seal wears off.”
With another nod, Maya extended the aura to encompass pebbles, spent firewood, and a few crystals littering the ground. All floated into the air, and Maya smiled as she managed to manipulate every object in her magical grip, making them seem to dance and whirl about each other in midair.
Her smile vanished as I sensed Mercury Psynergy start to build in her. The seal had faded, and her horn was flickering as beads of sweat formed on her brow.
“Now, for the final step,” Karen announced. “Now that you know what magic feels like, reach out to both your Psynergy and the magic at the same time. It helped me separate the two in my mind, and it should work for you, too.”
With another nod, Maya shut her eyes, more sweat starting to form as she struggled with the concept. Her horn almost winked out, but then it shone even brighter than before, the dazzling golden light bathing the chamber in its warm glow.
The Psynergy was also there, and Maya gave a wider smile than the one from before.
“Now, try casting a Psynergy spell!” Karen suggested. “Let’s see if you can do it!”
Nodding enthusiastically, Maya cried, “Pure Wish!”. The Mercury spell washed over the four of us, healing all of our injuries and leaving us good as new.
Dropping everything but her axe, Maya motioned for us to follow her. “Follow me! The ship’s this way!”
We galloped through the cave system, following Maya along a path dimly lit by torches. The path was long, but just as I was about to ask how much further we had to go, we came to a large chamber housing a ship with neither sails nor oars, let alone any visible means of locomotion. The dragon head design on the bow of the ship clearly marked it as a Lemurian vessel.
The boat bobbed slightly in the water of the chamber, which was open to the sea beyond. We could hear the howling of the wind, and flashes of lightning would replace the dim lighting with a perfect view of everything for a split second at regular intervals.
“There he is,” Maya gushed as she led the way to a plank of wood leading from the rocky outcropping we were on to her ship. “My personal ship. The first new Lemurian ship in over a thousand years. Like any Lemurian ship, we’ll have to go to the engine room, first, but after we get him up and running, I’ll show you what he can really do! Sure, Captain Piers’ ship can fly with the help of a Hover Jade, but mine has his own tricks!”
“‘He’?” Karen repeated, sounding quite confused. “Why do you call your ship a ‘he’?”
“All the old tales portrayed a ship’s captain as if he were married to his ship!” Maya swooned. “I love the old tales, and I felt I just had to act the same! Since the old captains were all men, of course they referred to their ships as female! But I, being a woman—at the time, at least—chose to refer to my ship as a male! So, I’d appreciate it if you honored that and never call him a 'her'. It may be awkward to you, but he and I have been through so much together.”
“Understood,” I said with a nod. “Now, let’s get below. Piers’ ship had been locked before we powered it up, but monsters managed to get inside in spite of that, somehow.”
“Better safe than sorry, I guess,” Maya replied with a nod of her own. “Now, come on! Let’s get him moving!”
After Maya raised the black crystal orb required for the use of a Lemurian ship, the door to the interior opened, allowing us access to the ship’s interior. Thankfully, there was nothing to get in our way to the engine room, and after Maya inserted the orb into the engine, the ship powered up without incident.
“Now, it’s time we got out of here!” Maya declared after we returned to the deck and gripped the wheel with both front hooves, channeling a small amount of Psynergy to allow her to control her ship. “My beloved, it’s finally time for you and me to set sail again!”
The ship slowly began to move, inching its way out of the cave bit by bit, finally exiting into the stormy sea outside.
Maya channeled a little more Psynergy before crying “Cloak!” As the spell took hold, the ship, as well as all four of us on board, appeared to melt into the shadows, wrapped in a faint veil of Psynergetic light that only the most observant of Adepts would notice if we had been stationary. With the extremely choppy seas tossing Maya’s ship about, however, even the most observant Adept would be likely to overlook us entirely.
“So, where to, Felix?” Maya asked as we put more distance between us and the coast. “My beloved can sail anywhere you wish!”
“How about east, towards Zebrica?” Yegelos suggested. “I’ve never been there, but I’m certain it’s far enough away from here to give us time to prepare a little more.”
Though I had no knowledge of this planet’s geography, I nodded in agreement, bringing a smile to Maya’s face.
“To Zebrica it is, then!” she declared. “Everyone, we’re off!”
“FELIX, I KNOW YOU’RE HERE SOMEWHERE!” Alex’s voice boomed. “YOU CAN’T HIDE FOREVER!”
“That’s what he thinks,” Maya giggled. “By the time he stops searching the area for us, we’ll be long gone.”
Just then, my streak of good luck ran out. A stray lightning bolt hit the boat, and though it did no damage to the vessel, the sudden jolt broke Maya’s concentration enough to dispel the Psynergy keeping us hidden.
In an instant, Alex had warped right in front of the vessel, grinning wickedly as he floated effortlessly in the air.
“Thought you could get away by boat, Felix?” the Mercury Clan traitor scoffed, shaking his head in disappointment. “When did you become such a coward? Well, whatever. It’s too late for you now! DIE!”
Alex’s body flashed a myriad of colors as the hum of insanely-powerful Psynergy filled the air.
“What do we do now?” Karen shrieked in pure terror. “He’s got us cornered!”
“Not yet, he doesn’t!” Maya declared as she began channeling so much Psynergy that her entire body turned a solid blue. “Everyone! Channel as much Psynergy as I am, then focus it all into the cannon mounted above the cabin!”
We followed her lead, and I chanced a glance at the roof of the cabin. I don’t know how I hadn’t noticed it before, but a massive cannon was perched above it. In fact, cannons lined both sides of the ship, and I hadn’t noticed a single one up until that moment!
My body turned a solid orange as Yegelos' turned a solid purple and Karen's turned a solid red. Following Maya’s directions, we forced as much Psynergy into the cannon as we could muster, and just as Alex opened his mouth to cast whatever terrifying spell he intended to use, Maya roared, “Open fire!”
The cannon launched a massive sphere of multicolored Psynergy at the godlike Adept, which struck him square in the chest, sending him flying until he was out of sight. The storm cleared, and the four of us collapsed to the deck, mentally exhausted from using that much Psynergy in one attack.
“See?” Maya panted. “We got rid of him.”
“I don’t think we hurt him, though,” I replied, feeling just as winded as Maya sounded.
“The impact probably threw him thousands of miles away,” Yegelos groaned. “That was a lot of Psynergy. At least he won’t be back anytime soon.”
“But if that didn’t even scratch him,” Karen groaned, gasping for breath, “that doesn’t bode well for our upcoming confrontation with him at all.”
“Everyone, I think we should rest in the cabin to get our Psynergetic strength back,” Maya suggested. “A quick nap will do us all a world of good. We can head for Zebrica after we wake up. I can’t move the ship while completely tapped, after all.”
We all nodded wordlessly in agreement before groggily following Maya into the cabin. Each of us picked out a bed, then we all quickly fell asleep. Hopefully, Alex wouldn’t return before we woke up.