//------------------------------// // New World // Story: Fiend Shifter // by Xinrick //------------------------------// “Alright, finally beat almost everything in this damned arena.” I frown while checking the strategy guide for Final Fantasy X’s monsters. “Too bad I can't fight the Dark Aeons and Penance, lucky bastards.” I frown, only having the American version of the game. “Last up, Nemesis. Let's see how hard this guy is.” I mutter while rushing head long into fighting the last ‘boss’ with my fully geared out people. The first thing that happened was my characters got ambushed and immediately the golden version of Omega and Ultima weapon used a normal attack...and dealt over 30k damage, killing one of my characters. “Damn.” I frown, readying my characters for the fight before hearing a gunshot outside. “And now gunshots…” I sigh out. “Can't the end of the world involve less murder? It might actually help stop the world from being Mad Max after the fact.” I complain to only myself. “End of the world and people are acting like it's murder season all of a sudden.” After a while of this back and forth in my game I finally managed to beat Nemesis and man was it satisfying...but I still felt a bit mad that I couldn't do anything else. “After all that I'm all done with the American version of Final Fantasy Ten...damn it.” I frowned while laying on my bed. “Maybe a drink will help.” I mutter, getting up and walking to out of my room to the kitchen. I passed by a mirror and just took a second to look over my eightteen year old self, my long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, my face thankfully still clean after the months it took to clean up all my acne, my red eyes sparkling like the rubies my parents still told me about to this day, my 36C cup breasts still being up and perky, my stomach not being the most co-operative in my life as even in my shirt I could tell the subtle signs I was getting some extra ‘padding’, and everything else about me was just simple and nice, from my legs, to my hips, to my slightly bigger ass, and overall I wouldn't call myself drop dead beautiful like I wish I was, but I was good looking at least. “Well at least I still look nice.” I mutter, knowing my fifteen year old younger brother would say I was to die for, still a precious kid even if I was older than him by four years. After making myself a quick food break I heard people rush into the house, my kid brother crying madly which made me get up and rush over, seeing my parents slightly bloody and my brother holding his arm and panicking. “What the hell happened to you guys!?” I yelp in shock, helping them all out. “Some bastard gang attacked us.” My 48 year old dad, who is a US veteran in the Grenada War back in 1983 and stayed pretty fit instead of slacking off, and my mom, who took martial arts lessons for four years to keep in shape, seemed pretty beaten...but those two could handle themselves. What broke my heart was my bruised baby brother who's left arm looked broken, maybe dislocated but I was starting to panic. “A-Anna…” My little brother starts, tears streaming down his face while I moved over and gently wrapped my arms around him, making sure I didn't hurt him. “It’s alright Tommy, Anna’s here.” I whisper gently. “You two okay?” I asked my parents worriedly. “You should see the bastards who hurt Tommy.” My dad growled, wiping some blood from his forehead and heading off to get some medical supplies we keep in the house. “We're alright. A bit banged up but alright.” My 46 year old mother said gently. “Well...who wants something to eat? I'll cook.” She says, hoping a home cooked meal will help everyone. “Yes please.” I say while helping Tommy to the couch. “Alright.” My mother nodded, heading into the kitchen and preparing for a simple meal. “David? I'm making some food, think you can help Tommy?” She calls out to my father. “I'm on it Clare.” My dad said to my mother while walking into the living room with a box of medical supplies. “This is gonna hurt for a moment Tommy...just hold onto Anna.” He says while Tommy held onto me as tight as he could, my dad taking his dislocated arm and swiftly putting it back in place, my brother trying his darndest not to scream, holding me as tight as he could as he had to endure such pain made me break into tears. So what's the thing that I do in a time like this? Hum the ‘Song of Prayer’ to my little brother, hoping it would help calm him down as much as it did to me. You see the song is a very important thing in Final Fantasy Ten, kind of like a religious national anthem for the game, and even though the religion in that game was corrupt as fuck and gave zero shits about the people it at least gave the people hope...and right now I had to be here for my little brother to give him hope it'll be all better. “Why would someone hurt you all?” I ask my dad sadly. “Just a bunch of crazies.” My dad shook his head. “Did you finally beat your game Anna?” Tommy asked me. “Yep.” I smile gently. “Want to see the last monster? It's gonna take a while for mom to finish food.” I tell him, feeling better that he's asking me about my game. “Yes please.” My brother smiles, the two of us heading to my room and I did the fight over again to help give my brother some happiness in this hell. Little did I know Hell was going to ruin it all. After my second fight with Nemesis and Tommy being happy we were all called down for food, which when we got down we saw plates of macaroni and cheese, our favorites. For a moment I thought we were all going back to normal, me and my family would be happy and filled with hope for a better future...until my dad panicked at seeing a goddamn tank outside. Seriously who has a fucking tank around here!?! “Kids run!” My dad shouted as me and Tommy bolted without question, only for an explosion to ring out a little later. I remember shielding Tommy from something….but I couldn't feel my chest anymore...and I barely caught a glimpse of my parents crawling to Tommy...my baby brother crying… I'm sorry… “Tommy! Mom! Dad!” I scream in panic, looking around and holding my chest, breathing heavily but only seeing a vast amount of white. “No...nonono….” I say rapidly. “Calm down my child.” Someone told me, while I looked over and found some familiar. “Old Man Johnson?” I raise an eyebrow in confusion, not sure why I saw my friendly old neighbor here. It looked just like him too, long white beard, joy filled blue eyes, tanned white skin, and wearing the same white shirt and blue jeans that stayed clean no matter how many times I've seen him wear it. “Oh him? He was always a nice guy to be around.” The man chuckled. “No, I'm God.” The man says, snapping his fingers and magicking up a table and chairs. “Please, sit down.” “No, where’s my family?” I ask him, still panicking over my missing family. “They're still at your now destroyed house...crying over your dead body.” He says, showing me a picture of my parents and Tommy sobbing over my body, which had a big chunk of wood shoved straight through my chest. “No...no…” I mutter, shaking my head in disbelief, falling to my knees and sobbing. “I can't be dead! My family still needs me! My baby brother needs me! I...I gave him hope…” I mutter the last part, my tears and sadness falling free. “Oh child….” God mutters sadly, walking over and putting a hand on my shaking shoulders. “What if I said I could reunite you with your family?” He asks, making me look up at him as fast as possible. “Really!?!” I shout incredulously. “How? Please tell me!” “Easy Anna, it won't be that simple.” He tells me. “But first, what powers do you want?” “Powers?” I ask, royally confused on why he asked that. “Well you're gonna need them with what you're going to do in your new home.” God told me. “Hang on whoa, new home?” I ask, even more confused now. “Yep, but I can tell you have something in mind.” He says while summoning my old Final Fantasy Ten strategy guide, and flipping it to the monster manual section. “I believe you've spent enough time studying these creatures huh?” “Monster arena be damned if I didn't.” I chuckled, feeling a little better but not entirely. “Alright, but I can only give you basic monsters to transform into. You'll have to get the rest yourself.” He says with a bright smile. “Wait, transform?” I ask with a frown. “You'll know when you get there.” He says while snapping his fingers and a portal opened. “Here's your coat, bag, your monster manual and a few other things.” He says while handing me my stuff and tapping me on the head, my entire body suddenly feeling like it was on fire. “Have fun.” He says while pushing me through the portal with my stuff as I just passed out. “Ugh...my head…” I grumble, putting a hand on my head. “The hell happened?” I mutter, putting a hand on the ground and feeling...grass? “Huh?” I mutter, looking down and seeing grass instead of either my houses floor or the white space I was in before. “Where am I?” I mutter, getting up slowly and taking a look around the place, finding out I was near a town, a forest, and still having no clue where I was. “Weird…” I muttered, picking up my stuff and checking my bag, finding a strange box, two maps, and a sphere...wait…”That's not a regular sphere…” I mutter while grabbing the thing, looking it over and seeing it was a sphere from the game, and it had a message on it. “Ah damn it, how do I turn this thing on?” I frown, trying to figure out how to turn it on. I lifted it up to the light and saw what it had. “If you found this then it will hold some answers to your powers, how to get your family back, how to level up your abilities, and some other things. Just ask.” The sphere says in a monotone voice. “How do I use my powers? And what can I turn into?” I ask it. “Transformations: Dingo, Condor, Raldo and Water Flan.” It says, giving me one Mi’hen Highroad monster and all the Besaid land monsters. “How to transform: take a deep breath, envision the monster in your head, and say it's name.” The sphere tells me. “Okay, seems simple enough.” I mutter while putting the sphere down near my bag and took a step back. I took a deep breath and imagined the Dingo fiend. “Dingo.” I mumble and, presto chango, I shifted into the monster. ”Cool.” I think to myself, feeling like the actual thing. I used the same trick and turned back to normal thankfully. “Woof, that stings...” I mutter, rubbing my head a bit as my body burned a little from the shape shifting. “Now, how do I get my family back?” I ask the sphere. “Three trails await you to bring the ones you love back.” “Damn it.” I frown. “To find Tommy, you must show kindness to a brown spotted orphan who loves the moon.” It says. “Weird…” I frown. “To find David, you must stop the Shadow plaguing the North.” It states. “Okay…” I frown, not understanding what it meant. “To find Clare, one must pray to the Fayth under the mountain.” It tells me. “What spelling did you use on ‘Fayth’?” I ask it quickly, and it responded with what I thought it told me. “How the fuck is there a Fayth here!?!” I shout to myself incredulously. “The world holds many secrets, most of which the ruling diarchs wish to forget.” The sphere tells me. “Diarchs?” I ask before I heard something fly by. “Shit!” I yelp while turning the sphere off, putting it in my bag, grabbing my coat and running to find a safe place and not find out what just flew by. When I got under a tree I looked up at the sky, wondering why I heard something fly on a bright blue sky...only to find a mother fucking pegasus flying around. “The hell?” I frown, knowing it shouldn't be the weirdest thing I've seen all day but still. “Come on guys! What's taking so long?” The...pegasus….talked. “Hold yer horses Rainbow.” Someone with a southern accent called out, only for me to see...horses? “What in the name of hell?” I frown. “Hi!” Someone says from behind me suddenly, only for me to scream and jump away from the voice. “The fuck!?!” I shout, looking at the pink horse smiling like mad. “My name's Pinkie Pie, what's your name?” Pinkie asks happily. “How the fuck does a horse talk!?” I shout, completely flabbergasted at that fact as I backed away. “Pinkie what are-the hay is that?” The rainbow Pegasus asks, probably meaning me but I was kind of panicking at the moment. “Horses...talk…” I take a deep breath. “Okay...I shouldn't be surprised...I can do special things…” I mumble to myself, completely confused on things right now. “What's going on?” Someone else asked, which made me look around and see...unicorns as well and more horses. “A lot of things are wrong…” I mutter, before seeing a little baby dragon. “Um...who and what are you?” A purple unicorn asked. “I'm human...and my name's Anna.” I say slowly. “And who the hell are all of you...and how the hell are you all talking?” I ask worriedly, the horses looking at each other in confusion. “What do you mean ‘how are we talking’? We've always been able to talk.” The lavender unicorn tells me. “I'm so confused.” I rub my forehead, feeling a little woozy all of a sudden. “Can I get a drink?” I ask, sitting down and taking deep breaths. “You okay?” A shy sounding butter Pegasus steps up in worry about my safety. “Kind of…” I say, feeling a little breathless. “Ugh...I don't feel so good.” I mutter, my body burning more. “We should get her some help. Spike I need you to send a letter to Princess Celestia about this.” The purple horse says, before I turn my back to them and throw up. “God that hurts…” I groan, not knowing why I'm burning up so suddenly. “Help…” I muttered, my eyes blurring before I fall to my side on the ground, passing out rather quickly. I slowly regained consciousness, hearing beeping for some reason. “H-huh?” I mutter, my body thankfully not burning so much but my head was still in pain. “She's waking up.” Someone said, causing my brain to catch up faster and wake me up more. I opened my blurry eyes and noticed a horse with a nurse hat and some of the other ponies. “Not...more...horses.” I mutter. “We're ponies, but glad to see you're okay. You were suddenly burning up like a tree on fire.” The nurse to my knowledge told me. “What happened to you?” “Too...much...confusion.” I mutter, raising my arms and rubbing my eyes to get rid of the blur. “Felt like fire ants were biting me…” “Ow.” Someone says. “Anna, feeling better?” The butter yellow pegasus asks. “My head is still in pain, I'm surrounded by candy colored ponies that can talk...and I'm confused...and I'm scared about my family…” I tell her, not knowing why I added my family but it felt necessary to say. “What happened to your family?” The pegasus asks worriedly. “I don't know….their locked away or something? I don't know…” I sigh out sadly, holding my chest bitterly. “Where am I?” “You're in the Ponyville hospital.” The lavender mare tells me. “Okay what country?” I ask. “Equestria.” “Okay so I'm in the land of Equines.” I sigh out. “Wonderful.” “What were you doing at our picnic spot?” The marshmallow colored unicorn asks curiously, her accent sounding pompous but with a friendly tune to it. “Just got suddenly dumped there. Nothing special.” I shrug a little. “Um...okay…” The mare frowns. “What's a human?” The lavender unicorn asked. “Wait…” I mutter, rubbing my eyes again and trying to make sure I was seeing this right...and yes I was seeing this right, all the girls in the room were entire mares, who were ranging from cute, shy and royally busty pegasus, to the flat chested athlete. “Okay...um...thought I was just seeing things the first time.” I shake my head, swearing they were normal ponies before but I suppose my sudden shock illness confused me. “Anyways...humans are basically hairless monkeys for the most part, minus the tail as well.” I say. “But seeing at least two of you bigger than me...makes me feel a little small.” I frown, seeing the Pink anthro mare and Butter yellow Pegasus with their big D or DD sized breasts, but glad they were covered by either a white shirt with balloons on it or a green sweater. “You're still growing from what we can tell. You just hit eighteen right?” The lavender unicorn asks. “How did you know?” I ask curiously. “General body structure, size compared to standard eighteen year old mares, and other things.” Twilight shrugs. “I suppose..” I frown. “Did any of you look through my stuff?” I ask with a frown, “No. We didn't want to look through your personal belongings.” The nurse told me. “Thank you.” I nod, trying to sit up. “Careful, you're probably still sick from whatever made you sick.” The nurse tells me in honest worry. “I probably could guess why.” I say. “Ever heard of shapeshifting?” I ask. “Yes, but that's an advanced spell. Not many know it and even then it can't be sustained for long.” The smart one tells me. “Well I tried that out for the first time...it burned a little after I turned back to normal but….then all of you came and...I suppose the after effects of what I did plus my shock and panicked mind caused it." I explain. “Makes enough sense to me I suppose.” “Well...I did sense a strange magical residue on you, but I didn't know what to think of it." The mare said. “My name's Pinkie Pie. Sorry for scaring you before.” The pink pony says nervously, twiddling her thumbs in front of her big breasts. “My name's Twilight, sorry for not telling our name's sooner.” Twilight says nervously. “Names Applejack, I help run Sweet Apple Acres.” The farm mare said. “I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest flyer in Equestria.” The blue athlete boasted with pride to back it up. “I'm Fluttershy, I was the one who wanted to make sure you were alright.” The mare with the biggest boobs in the room said with a warm and adorable smile. “And I'm Nurse Redheart, and even though I'm a Nurse I help take care of the patients here more than the doctors.“ The nurse nodded to me. “I'm Anna...and I wish we could have done this in a better place…” I say sheepishly, before hearing someone scream. “Or a better time.” I frowned. “That's not good.” I say while getting out of the medical stuff and heading off to whatever is going on to the growing protests of the ponies. To be continued...