Chapter 2
Chapter 2
"Okay, so we have potions, tents, antidotes, phoenix downs, armor and weapons… did we miss anything, Rainbow?"
"For the twentieth time, Twilight, I got everything we needed!"
Twilight Sparkle winced. "Sorry, I just wanted to make sure…"
Rainbow Dash sighed. "I know, I know. I'm sorry for snapping at you. But, you're a little obsessive with being overly prepared for everything, aren't you?"
"I prefer to think of it like this: Would you rather have something, and not need it, than need something and not have it?" Twilight asked with a quirked eyebrow.
Rainbow blinked, taking a moment to puzzle out the sentence. "I… guess that makes sense. I can understand double-checking. It's when you get into checking twenty times that I get irritated. I mean, we should have been on the move an hour ago. I'm getting antsy."
Twilight rolled her eyes, but realized her friend was right. They were wasting valuable time, time they could use to hunt the phantom beast. "You're right. Let's get going."
"Finally!" Rainbow whooped and took off, heading for the path that led out of the town of Colton. Twilight thundered after her. The various townsponies scrambled to get out of the way, not wanting to be run over by the heavily-armored ponies.
*****
Within minutes, they'd left the town proper, and were moving west across the plains of Colton. Rainbow flew, but not too fast for Twilight to keep up. Twilight herself ran along at a brisk pace, eager to complete the mission. The sooner the assignment was done, the sooner she could get back in the King's good graces.
Rainbow, flying a little above Twilight, spotted their first obstacle ahead of them. "Party of three imps, dead ahead!" she called, reaching for the spear that was slung across her back. It was a testament to her training and skill that she didn't slow down to draw the weapon, holding it by the hoofstraps along the pole.
Twilight, hearing Rainbow's warning, unsheathed her blade with her magic. She didn't slow either, not even as the first imp came into view. With a swing of her sword, the hapless monster was decapitated, managing only a guttural squeak as it died.
The other two spun to face Twilight, but one was quickly dispatched by Rainbow's spear impaling it through the torso. The remaining imp looked between the two armored ponies, and decided discretion was the better part of valor. It turned to retreat. But, quick though it was, it only had two legs. Twilight bore down on it, stabbing it through the back. It expired quickly.
"Imps? If that's all we fight between here and the phantom beast, I'll be disappointed," Twilight said with a scoff.
"Heh. A little bloodthirsty, Twilight?" Rainbow asked, smirking. "I guess the dark knights’ reputation for bloodlust has a little basis in fact, eh?"
Twilight shrugged in dismissal. "Given our abilities draw upon our inner darkness, it’s not too surprising. And at least these are mere monsters, not other ponies."
Rainbow nodded slowly. "Yeah, Rarity told me you seemed a bit shaken by what happened at Maresidia. It just seems… alien, to me, turning a weapon on another pony like that."
Twilight sighed. "It was the King’s orders, so I didn’t really have a choice." She shook her head, trying to clear it. "Let’s move on before I have to think about this too much more."
Rainbow nodded in agreement, and the two continued on, albeit at a more sedate pace than before. Eventually, the pegasus asked a question that had been on her mind for a while. "So why don't you ever open up to Rarity?"
Twilight leveled a glare at Rainbow. "You know why, Rainbow. I'm a dark knight. It's forbidden for us to become… attached to anypony else in that way."
"That's an excuse, Twi, and you know it," Rainbow retorted, flying backwards in front of Twilight. "Ignoring the whole dark knight thing, are you interested in her or not?"
Twilight frowned. "I won't deny that there's some attraction there, but I can't act on it. Not while I carry this dark blade."
Rainbow rolled her eyes. "She studied white magic for you, you know. She even dropped her time at her own dress shop just so she could be with you more. Honestly, if I were you, I'd have said 'buck the rules', and gone after her!"
Twilight sighed. "Rainbow, just drop it, please?"
Rainbow shook her head, annoyed at her friend's stubbornness. "You know, it's things like this that make me glad I'm a dragoon, not a dark knight. I mean, sure, you outrank me, but at least I don't have to ignore somepony who's interested in me."
Twilight took the opening for a change in topic. "So, why did you become a dragoon, anyway? You've never really told me."
Rainbow leveled a half-lidded stare on her, but decided to drop the subject. "My mom. She was a legend among the dragoons. I wanted to live up to her name."
Twilight nodded, then skidded to a stop as they came to the foot of a mountain range. "Okay, where to, research girl?" she asked teasingly.
Rainbow stuck her tongue out at Twilight, but cast her gaze around. Finally, she pointed north. "There's a path through the mountains there that leads to the cave."
*****
The pair made their way through the mountains, eventually coming to an opening. Mist issued forth from the cave entrance. "This must be it," Twilight said, stepping through.
Rainbow followed, landing behind her. "Ugh, the low ceiling here's going to put a major crimp in my fighting style," she complained.
"I know, I know, so let me do the heavy lifting," Twilight replied, keeping her sword drawn. A group of imps tried to attack en masse, five of them looming out of the mist in front of them. Twilight's blade glowed purple, however, and a pulsing wave of energy shot forward, killing them all. Twilight panted a little from the exertion.
"That's another reason I don't wanna be a dark knight," Rainbow said, tossing Twilight a potion. "I'd rather not hurt myself to hurt monsters. I mean, that kinda defeats the purpose of killing monsters, doesn't it?"
"Maybe," Twilight answered, throwing back the potion. Instantly, she felt better. "But it's handy to deal with lots of weaklings at once, isn't it?"
"Eh, point taken," Rainbow sighed. "Still, how much damage would you have taken if we'd tried taking them out the long way?"
Twilight paused, then shrugged. "Meh. I didn't want to dignify any of them by letting you kill them. I mean, being slain by Colton's dragoon commander would be something to tell your ancestors, wouldn't it?" she said, stroking Rainbow's ego.
The praise worked, as Rainbow puffed out her chest a little. "Yeah, you do have a good point. They weren't worth my time, let alone my spear's."
Twilight chuckled a little at how easy her friend was to distract. Ah, Rainbow. You're so predictable… but you're also steadfast and loyal.
Suddenly, a booming voice echoed from around them. "TURN BACK!"
The pair jumped, looking back and forth around them. "Who's there?!" called Twilight. There was no reply.
Despite the voice's warning, the two proceeded deeper into the cave. A few more monsters showed themselves, but were cut down remorselessly by the pair of ponies. Their levity had fled the moment they'd heard the voice, and now they were all business.
A few minutes later, they heard it again. "LEAVE AT ONCE!"
Rainbow narrowed her eyes, though it was hard to tell in the gloom. "I'm going to go out on a limb, and say that's our phantom beast."
Twilight nodded, looking around. A faint light caught her attention. "Rainbow, over there! I think that's the exit!"
Looking in the indicated direction, Rainbow smiled. "Good job, Twi! Let's get going."
The two made their way towards the light, climbing a rough-hewn stone staircase. At this point, the low ceiling opened up into a rather large open area. The light issued from an opening in front of them.
"Hey, not bad! I think I could stretch my wings in this little section," Rainbow said, lifting off into a hover.
Before Twilight could comment, the voice came again. "Knights of Colton, leave at once, or suffer my wrath!"
Twilight narrowed her eyes. "We're on a mission to the village of Mist. We aren't turning back now!"
"So be it, fools!"
Rainbow felt the air beginning to move, and blinked. What could that mean? Then she saw that the mist was beginning to clear up in other parts of the cave, and it struck her. "Twilight, the phantom beast IS the mist!"
As she spoke, a shape took form in the mist. It was a large dragon, with glowing green eyes. It glared at the pair of knights, and bellowed.
Twilight grimaced, and readied her sword, while Rainbow drew her spear. "A mist dragon, huh? Let's do this, Rainbow!" the unicorn said, and she struck at the dragon with her blade.
In response, the dragon took a swipe at Twilight, knocking her back a few paces. Rainbow began to flap furiously, gaining altitude in the open area within the cave.
Twilight and the dragon continued to exchange blows. It wasn't clear which of them was coming out on top, because while the dragon had more stamina, Twilight was hitting harder. Still, the dragon's arrogance showed in its next statement. "Hmph. Your friend doesn't seem to be keen on helping you."
Twilight only smirked in response. "You don't know how dragoons fight, do you?"
It blinked, just as Rainbow descended on it from above, burying her spear into its back. It howled in agony, as the pegasus pulled the spear out, and flew back to join Twilight. "That's how it's done!" Rainbow crowed.
Then the dragon began to fade away, its body becoming formless mist again.
"Oh, no you don't!" Rainbow yelled, flying forward to jab it with her spear again.
"Rainbow, wait!" Twilight called, but it was too late, as the spear passed through the mist without any effect. A moment later, both ponies shrieked as the mist began to buffet them with frigid blasts of wind.
"Ow ow ow!" Rainbow yelped. "SO not cool!"
"Rainbow, I read about mist dragons in a book once! We have to wait until it reforms, then we can finish it off!" Twilight explained, pulling a potion out of her saddlebags and downing it.
Rainbow drank her own potion. "And what's to stop it from freezing us to death in the meantime?"
"Mist dragons, in their mist form, will only attack if they are attacked. So, we just need to wait," Twilight explained.
Rainbow shook her head. "None of the stuff I read said anything about that!"
"Well, did you know exactly what the phantom beast was?" Twilight asked.
Rainbow blinked, then sighed. "No."
Before Twilight could comment, the mist began to swirl back together, forming the dragon's shape again. "Now, Rainbow!" Twilight swung her sword again, scoring another hit.
Rainbow took to the air again, reaching her peak height faster this time. She then descended, stabbing the dragon once more, just as Twilight struck again. The two blows finally did it, as the dragon let out a grisly howl, before dispersing into nothingness. Not even the mist remained behind.
"Heh! Looks like it's clear sailing from here to Mist!" Rainbow said with a grin.
"Looks like it," Twilight answered. Together, the pair left through the exit.
*****
About an hour after leaving the cave, the two mares came to a hamlet in the middle of the mountains. "So, this is the village of Mist, huh?" Twilight asked.
"Yep. Kinda small and out of the way, but it looks pretty nice," Rainbow replied.
Twilight fished around in her saddlebags, floating the Carnelian Signet out into view. "I wonder who we're supposed to bring this to?"
"Dunno. Let's just ask around," Rainbow said with a shrug.
Sadly, they never got the chance to do so. As they crossed the threshold into the town, the ring began to glow a fierce red. Twilight, in surprise, dropped it. "What in the world?!"
The ring suddenly shattered, releasing a horde of fiery monsters that swarmed all over the village. Within seconds, every building was aflame. The townsponies were all screaming… those that were still alive after the initial fires, anyway.
Twilight and Rainbow stared, horrorstruck. "What… what is the meaning of this?" Twilight mumbled, barely able to think straight.
"King Colton… he must have known about this. He wanted this village destroyed," Rainbow said flatly.
This was too much for Twilight. She slammed a hoof on the ground, and screamed at the heavens. "WHY?!"
Rainbow looked at her distraught friend, wondering what to do. Suddenly, another sound caught her attention. It was the sound of somepony weeping. Rainbow opened her mouth to tell Twilight, but the unicorn was already moving towards the sound. Rainbow flew after her.
What they saw shocked them even further. A yellow pegasus filly stood crying over the body of an older mare. The filly's pink mane stood out against the thin green cloak she wore.
"Please, Mother! You can't die! Even if your dragon's gone, you don't need to go with him! Please!" the filly sobbed out. Her voice was surprisingly soft, which made the sound of her weeping all the more heart-wrenching.
Rainbow and Twilight exchanged shocked looks. "You don't think…?" the unicorn began, unwilling to finish the sentence.
Rainbow nodded. "Summoners. I've heard about them. Ponies who can call forth special monsters called eidolons to help them out. It's said that if an eidolon is slain while summoned, the backlash can seriously injure, or even kill, the summoner in question."
"Then… that dragon we killed… that was an eidolon?" Twilight asked with a distinct sinking feeling.
The filly choked at that, and spun around, revealing wide aqua-blue eyes. She flicked her gaze from Twilight to Rainbow and back. "You… you two were the ones who killed my mother's dragon?" she asked in that same soft voice, taking a step back.
"I… I'm so sorry," Twilight said, lowering her head. "I never meant for this to happen…"
"I don't believe this," muttered Rainbow. "King Colton wanted to wipe this whole village off the face of the map, just because of the summoners."
"This… this can't be happening," Twilight murmured, horror causing her voice to be almost as soft as the filly before them.
"Ugh, it makes me sick to have been part of this. But, we ought to make a clean job of it," Rainbow said flatly.
Twilight snapped her head around, eyes wide. "You… you can't be serious, Rainbow!"
"Hey, it's her or us, Twilight," Rainbow replied in that same dull tone.
Twilight couldn't believe what she was hearing. "She's a filly! She doesn't even have her cutie mark yet! And you're just going to kill her?"
Rainbow arched an eyebrow. "You're turning traitor to Colton, Twi?"
"Traitor? Nopony who orders things like… THIS," Twilight waved a hoof around, indicating the burning village, "could ever hold my allegiance. I'm washing my hooves of this here and now!"
Rainbow gave her a long look, then began chuckling. "I knew you were going to say that," she said, a familiar cocksure tone replacing her previous flat voice.
"Wha – ?" Twilight began.
"You really thought I'd disgrace my mother's memory, and the honor of the dragoons, by being party to genocide? Buck that!" Rainbow said vehemently.
Twilight nearly collapsed with relief. "So, you're with me?"
"Duh," Rainbow said with another chuckle. She sobered quickly, though. "Still, we're in a pickle, here. Colton's the world superpower right now. If we're going to fight them, we can't do it alone. We need to warn the other nations – tell them what's happened here. And Rarity'll want to join us, too. I guarantee that."
"Thanks, Rainbow," Twilight said, glad that her friend wasn't being heartless.
"No problem. Now let's grab the kid and get out of here," Rainbow replied. "The smoke's going to get to us if we stay here too much longer."
Twilight nodded, and turned back to the filly. "Come on, we need to get out of here!"
"No!" The filly's voice was still soft, but she shook her head as she took another step back.
"Ugh, we don't have time for this, Twi!" groaned Rainbow. "Just snatch her up with your magic, and let's run!"
"Stay back!" Was the filly's voice rising in volume?
Twilight sighed, and began to reach out with her magic to lift the young pegasus up. "Look, we need to leave, and – "
"NO!" This time, the filly's scream was very audible. It was accompanied by a change in her demeanor, as she leveled a massive glare on the two elder mares.
Twilight couldn't explain it. She found herself paralyzed in fear of this pegasus filly! She couldn't move an inch! Beside her, she heard Rainbow whimpering, likely in the same position. Before Twilight could try to think of a way to get around the paralysis, she noticed that the filly was surrounded by a green glow.
"JUST! GO! AWAY!" the young pegasus yelled. Suddenly, the ground between the filly and the elder mares began to rumble. A massive, hairless arm burst from the ground, followed by another. The two arms pushed on the ground, forcing out a proportionally massive head and body. The titanic being then pushed extra hard on the ground, sending itself a few stories into the air, before coming back down.
Oh, horseapp – Twilight's thought was cut off as the earth shook violently. The good news was, she was no longer paralyzed with fear. The bad news was, she still wasn't able to move under her own power. Mostly, that was due to the earth shaking her around like a ragdoll. Before she could even process what was happening, a stray chunk of the earth rose up under her, sending her head-over-hooves to land on her head. Blackness overtook her seconds later.
*****
"Ugh…" moaned Twilight as she slowly came to. "Not… fun…" She slowly rose to her hooves, shaking her head to clear it. As she did so, she noticed a pink blur out of the corner of her eye. Walking over, she noticed that the pegasus filly was unconscious. At least, Twilight hoped she was just unconscious. Taking off her helmet, Twilight put her ear next to the filly's chest. A moment later, she sighed in relief as she heard a heartbeat.
"That's one worry out of the way," Twilight murmured as she put her helmet back on. Then a thought struck her. "Rainbow!" She glanced around, but there was no sign of the prismatic pegasus. "Ugh… I can't just leave her behind! But," she looked back at the filly, "I can't let her stay here either. Argh! What do I do?!"
As she complained, she noticed that the filly's complexion was rather pale, even through her yellow hide. "She must have exhausted herself summoning that massive eidolon. If I don't get care for her soon, she'll be in trouble. Oh, Rainbow, I'm sorry!" She magicked the filly onto her back, and set off through the only path in the mountains around her. A tear fell from her eye as she did so. "I hope you understand."
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i kinda hope to see spike as one of the characters
Unless you change some major elements in the storyline later on, you'll probably have to label this as dark.
There's quite a bit of death and destruction in the game.
You win 5 mustaches for this crossover and I haven't even started reading it yet, the concept is just that awesome.
There are certain ponies I so wanna see as certain characters. Can Anyone say Starswirl the Bearded as FuSoYa?
Damn, there goes my idea for the story I've had on hold for months. XD
The grammar and story are good enough to probably get you ~4.6 on EQD, but there are a few flaws. They basically boil down to the need to focus some more on explaining what really needs it and nothing else.
There's a solid base for a story, with a plot (not in that other way...), but I never really felt immersed in this world. I have a few guesses why:
-When you mentioned Twilight's annihilation of a town and her potential for a relationship w. Rarity it felt sudden. It was well-done, but I don't really get a 'why?' for either.
-"Dark Knight" and "Dragoon" are clearly meant to give Twilight and Dash characterizations, but this means nothing to someone who doesn't know FF. That might be why I'm not enjoying this fic that much so far.
-It's a bit heavy on having Twilight justify everything to everyone. No thoughts kept private? Seems like a slightly shaky characterization. Maybe I just thought this b/c of the high % of dialogue.
-Essentially no description of setting at all in the first two chapters?
An easy way to do this would be to find a really good writer to help you edit, someone who might be able to give you the perspective of someone who doesn't already imagine the FF world as it is as part of the setting. Obviously this isn't Ponyville, Equestria which we all already know, so what is it?
413494
I was initially going to disagree with your comment, but when I think about it you're right. FF IV is probably my favourite of the series, but thinking from the perspective of someone with no knowledge of the game, you have a good point.
I, however, with my experience, am enjoying this crossover quite a bit.
Hah! I so called Fluttershy as Rydia last chapter! I can't wait to see if any of my other predictions will hold.
413084
wouldn't it only make sense for Luna to be the Lunarian sorceror
415515
Yes... But It just wouldn't be the same if the Pony being FuSoYa wasn't rockin an awesome beard. FuSoYa is over 50% beard.
415522 Eh, I hate to disappoint, but Starswirl will not be FuSoYa. That honor goes to somepony else. Good guess, though.
Also, a quick note: I have yet to play The After Years (I really should get my PSP and copy of CC back from my sister), so I have no plans to include that content in this fic. Yet. That may change later on.
415642
Dang. Oh well. BTW, would I be correct in guessing that Edward and Anna are gonna be a certain couple of mares. Ones who make so much sense, especially considering what one of their cutie marks is?
Wild guess is that Leviathan will be Steven Magnet
415655 You're just going to have to wait and see, like everypony else.
Though the next chapter may contain a few clues.
415642 will princess celestia be Fusoya?
You killed Flutter's mother?! YOU BASTARD! You couldn't even change THAT part of the story?! Man... You're a cruel, heartless bastard, ain'tcha? XD
Wait yellow pegasus, pink mane,
If they killed Fluttershy's mother imma be soooooo pissed
Liking this story so far, the characters follow the script without ending up OOC. Totally called Fluttershy as Rydia, probably the whole connection with creatures thing made me suspect it'd be her. Who'll be Zemus? My theory is Sombra! Tho if Twi's Cecil, I think it's evident who Golbeze will be, but I guess I gotta read on and find out.
Story already earned a like and fave, and a moustache!
Huh, I was expecting spike to be the summoner. Now that I have read this version I think Fluttershy does fit better. Now my question is, who is spike going to be?
Also I just reallised something, where did the whole "dark wave drains life force" come from
. I don't remember that from FFIV. Albeit it has been a long time since I even watched a playthrough of this, let alone played it myself, so it could have just been something I forgot. Still this is a minor plot point in a so far very good story, I hope the rest is as good as this, or even better
.
in the game I'll either just auto-battle the Kain and Cecil battles or just attack attack attack... while the Dark-wave (when I'm in the Complete Collection) can usually oneshot gobbies.. the hit to Cecil's health gets bothersome after a while and during the boss fight with the mist dragon I'd prefer to conserve the potions I do have at the time (which is little) oh and the antidotes are nice, but what about the Eye Drops? first cave does have a beast that inflicts Blind.. the moths
And that's a sign that you're definitely going with FF4 and not FF2.
Nightmare Moon could be Golbez, and Zemus (sp?) could be the nightmare itself, or whatever force possessed Luna. Unless you don’t subscribe to that theory. And the sirens would of course be the three ladies boss. I was kinda thinking Flutters would be ″You spoony bard!″ whose name I can’t recall. But on further reflection, I’m guessing it’s going to be Flash. Can’t think of any others right now.