Under Twilight's banner, the Pirate Fleet coasted into the atmosphere of Planet Merdegraw. "So...you're certain this is where Captain Darkwater and his treasure hoard are buried?" she demanded of Rusty Pete.
"Abso-hic-lutely!" the drunken pirate agreed, cradling the head of the late Captain Slag in his hands.
"And Darkwater's the only one in the galaxy who knew anything about the Zoni?" Ratchet clarified.
"That's what IRIS said," Talwyn indicated. "Even IRIS didn't have any information about the Zoni themselves."
"And...how come you're carrying Slag's head around?" Qwark asked. "It's...kinda creepy."
"Don't insult Space Pirate traditions!" Pete barked out. "When a brave pirate falls in battle, his parts are harvested to be equipped to anyone who is missing pieces, so our fallen comrades can be fighting by our sides once more, forever standing with us!"
"A touching - if morbid - sentiment," Twilight admitted. "So...you're carrying Slag's head around just in case somebody should happen to need a spare?"
"More or less, yeah," Pete agreed. "Also, Slag's the only one who knows exactly where Blackwater's buried, so..."
Pulling her pirate hat off, Twilight examined the second set of coordinates on its insides, the ones labeled as a treasure trove. "Here on Hoolefar Island?" she asked.
"Well...yeah," Pete agreed. "But there's all sortsa traps and whatnot that'll stop us from gettin' through without Slag's help-"
"Pete," Twilight interrupted. "If you want to bring Slag along with you when we go there, all you have to do is ask. I'm the Captain. I can give permission."
"P-permission to bring Slag along ta see the booty, Captain?" Pete asked tearfully.
"Granted," Twilight replied. "Now wipe your eyes before you rust anymore."
"So," Twilight asked for clarification after they passed through the settlement on Hoolefar Island, "the Obsidian Eye is a powerful telescope designed to keep in contact with the Zoni?"
"That's what I understand," Rusty Pete replied.
"So the Zoni are somewhere in our universe, then?"
"Sure seems that way."
"But we need the Fulcrum Star from Blackwater's treasure to activate it," Ratchet continued. "So we need to go dig it up."
"But the only way to find Darkwater Cove where the treasure trove is is to dig up Blackwater's body in the Morrow Caverns," Talwyn concluded.
"Shouldn't be too hard!" Qwark proclaimed happily. "What could possibly go wrong?"
"Never. Say that. Again," Ratchet grumbled at Qwark as a large portion of the group ducked for cover behind massive boulders to evade out of control ectoplasmic surges.
After passing through Morrow Caverns carefully to evade traps and rockfalls - Twilight's magic making quite a few last moment saves as she caught falling rubble and machinery before it could hit someone - the group had reached Darkwater's Tomb. Of course, as soon as they'd reached Darkwater's headless body, Pete had the brilliant idea of attaching Slag's head to the body to resurrect Slag. It had worked, after a fashion...but it had also resurrected Darkwater, and the two were now fighting for control of the body while the undead spirits of Blackwater's crew swarmed the place, seeking their old bodies to possess...or anything else that would make a viable ghost host, such as the recently vacated body of somebody else.
"Captain on the bridge!"
That shout drew everyone's attention as Twilight stepped onto the ship. She turned to the undead pirate leader. "Blackwater ye scurvy dog, I'm Captain Sparks! I hereby challenge you for leadership of all Pirates in this cluster!"
Blackwater laughed aloud. "Ye and what army, foal?"
"She probably means the armada she's got surrounding the planet," Slag pointed out. "She's very thorough like that."
"So what?" Blackwater demanded. "With the trillium deposits, no radio signal-"
Twilight opened a magic window to the bridge of the Pirate flagship. "Ace, are you ready to open fire?"
"Ready and waiting," Ace replied. "The entire planet's been evacuated, and if any ghosts prove uncooperative, we're ready to drop the etheric charges and turn the entire planet into a magical singularity. We've also got a lock on all of you to teleport you out before the charges land."
"On my signal," Twilight replied before closing the window. She then smirked up at Blackwater. "That army," she replied calmly.
Blackwater burst into laughter. "Well now, a lass after me own heart! Alright, let's see what you got. A captain's duel is one weapon only. And I be usin' me sword!"
Smiling, Twilight drew out a tweaked Alpha Disruptor. "And I'll use the Theta Disruptor," she stated calmly. "In addition to dimensional weft technology, it contains an etheric charge, adding a magical aspect to the shot." Calmly, she aimed the weapon at Blackwater's right kneecap.
Blackwater stared for a time, then seemed to shrug his whole body.
Just as calmly, Twilight shifted her point of aim to his left shoulder.
This repeated several times, Blackwater getting more and more nervous as Twilight shifted the point of aim to random and seemingly unimportant parts of his body. Finally, he dropped his sword. "For the sake o' me undead crew, I yield! But how could ye track me anchor?"
"Ever since I first heard about undead robot pirate ghosts from Qwark's vidcomic, I've been studying how it could work," she explained. "I finally discovered that it was possible to create a technological device that could act as a focal point for a massive amount of ectoplasmic energy, but it would always give off a specific etheric signature. I just scanned for that. Clever of you to put it in your own body. The nature of the curse lets you self repair, meaning that short of total destruction or damage by a magical source, the anchor itself becomes indestructible."
"And now ye know why I gave her me hat!" Slag pointed out.
"...aye..." Blackwater agreed. "And I know what I need ta do now. The mystic that sold me the curse told me that a lass might come with magic of great strength, and that if I fought her the curse itself would turn agin me. She swore me to obey that lass in all things, or be cast into the abyss forever...and in rhyme, too." He shivered all over. "Last time I buy anything from a merchant with stripes. At any rate, yer in charge...Captain Sparks."
For some reason, the description of the mystic seemed familiar to Twilight, but she shrugged it off. She had more important things on her mind. "I hereby requisition the Fulcrum Star to power the Obsidian Eye," she ordered. "The Zoni kidnapped my Mommy."
"They what?" Slag demanded, his sudden rage on Twilight's behalf momentarily completely overwhelming Blackwater. "We'll make the scurvy dogs pay!"
Plugging the Fulcrum Star into the Obsidian Eye, Twilight gazed into the telescope's viewscreen as it showed her what she sought.
Clank hovered in a stasis field, Zoni surrounding him.
"Has the chosen one spoke?" one of the Zoni asked.
When several Zoni energized him, Clank began to babble. "If X is the coefficient of A squared minus the improbability of the hypotenuse at absolute zero, the Bogon index of the denominator must be equal or lesser to the number of bees in your bonnet." He then burst into laughter.
"Don't worry, sire," one of the Zoni reassured Clank. "The doctor will be able to repair you."
A door behind the Zoni opened. "He has arrived!" several Zoni chanted.
Despite a momentary moment of comedy as the 'doctor' fell down the stairs, there was nothing reassuring about discovering that Dr. Nefarious had Clank in his clutches, and the Zoni obeying him.
"Signal lost," the Obsidian Eye computer intoned. "Coordinates acquired for the Breegus Nebula."
"We're off!" Qwark proclaimed, the pirates present cheering along with him.
"No," Twilight countered. "Qwark, you need to get back to Solaris. Let our friends there know we're okay, and call in the cavalry for backup in case we need it. Have them rendezvous with the pirates here, then meet us in the Breegus Nebula." She turned to the Pirates. "Stay here in Polaris and make sure no one takes advantage of the power vacuum left behind by Tachyon's fall. As my first mate, Ace Hardlight is in charge until I return!"
"Aye, Captain!" the pirates shouted back as Ratchet and Twilight leapt into Aphelion.
"So...why give those orders?" Ratchet asked as he set the course.
"Because someone needs to let Sasha know what's going on," Twilight replied. "And this is the only way to put you back in charge. I hate giving orders..."
"Got it," Ratchet replied, letting Aphelion lead the way.
The more I read, the more I love Twilight in this fic. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the great work. Deus tecum.
Zecora, how the hell did you get in this?
For once, I am not at all bothered by you're generally short chapters. I was NOT looking forward to Quest for Booty. Though I imagine die-hard Rathet&Clank fans will pitch a fuss over it.
Edit: Dammit! I was hoping I had first that time! *Pouts childishly in a corner*
Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.
6722918
No. Can't work with her constant rhymes, especially when these stories run on dialogue.
YEAH update nice adding Zecora
6722923
Yeah possibly that is the reason why she seen so little in MLPFIM
6722923 Many people do find her hard to write.
I wouldn't be surprised if Zecora had cosmic connections...Her and Pinkie probably bond on the topic
6722884 Right. Thank you. It's been a while since I played A Crack in Time.
6722861 YEAH!
6722923
So to look at the issue another way, does that mean that Blackwater has the coordinates to Equus?
6723045
Nope.
Well, that was fast.
orig11.deviantart.net/a08b/f/2013/049/8/a/mordecai_meets_oh_god_why_______guy__by_pogobox-d5vcy10.png
DEAR GOD, IT HAS BEGUN!!!
Did you finish the game in one chapter?
I love how u summarized the entire game in one chapter, and still made it enjoyable. Nice job.
Well that was quick. Now the fun part begins *Waits for A crack in time arc to begin*
Huh Zecora, also the galaxy Equestria is in the Equus galaxy?
Huh. Looked up a summary of Quest for Booty on Wikipedia, and Twilight managed to skip literally the entire game by getting Darkwater to work with her. So yeah. This is all there is to Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty.
6723293 well, equis and the like seem from the explanation from the show seam to run on their own set of rules. so i think its more than likely near or in or sudo-dimentially around the corvus sector. give or take fifty feet.
6723057
...wow. How many Ponies/Zebras/Gryphons/etc got displaced from Twilight's Equus/Equestria/Ponyville?!?
6723375
This dimension? Just Twilight.
Zecora's just awesome like that.
It would be weird if Zecora took on the role of the Merchant from so many Displaced fics.
We hereby decree that this story has Our deal of approval
orig07.deviantart.net/fd22/f/2015/252/6/a/elements_of_magic_by_twidashotp-d99069m.png
Uhh... I think I lost myself in the dialogue here. Wasn't Pete carrying Slag's head at the time when they went in? Or did I gloss over something again?
6723846
No. Typo on my part that has been fixed.
6723420
...actually, you already stated in story that this dimension's Pinkie was with The Plumber. I'm fine with Zecora having Portal Magic, though. The poor lass needs more time to shine in canon.
6723891
No, I stated that in this dimension, The Plumber was Pinkie's biological father.
6723898
*Raises a finger, about to say something*
...
*Promptly faints*
Nice Zacora reference. This is still my favorite of your fics, followed by Sons of Damas, then pinkie pie's. You really know what world to put each pony.
6723676 Puzzle and Dragons Z is Epic
6723898 WAIT WHAT?! WHERE THE HECK DID YOU SAY THAT?!
6725139
While not stated explicitly in the story itself, The Plumber used the Pinkie Promise with Twilight back in the "Clank" arc, and then talked about her seeing his daughter again, just before he phased through the fourth wall...implying that's where Pinkie gets it.
First, shame on Darkwater for being so racist.
Second, how did Zecora get here? Not that I'm complaining.
Fun stuff. And now we get to my favorite game in the entire series. I am eager to see what you do with it. I can only wonder how you'll portray Ratchet's father's accountant!
Whatever the case, supreme timefoolery awaits in... A Crack in Time.
ZECORA!?
You, sir, have made me want to play through the entirety of this game series again because of this wonderful story. Thank you for for giving me something to fill what little spare time I have. Now that three of four college exams are complete I should have slightly more time to complete this task. Again, I thank you and keep up the good work!
Star and stones!
6722839 I'm honestly curios how she hasn't had a bigger roll in the other Tatsurou cross overs, shes a shaman, spiritual shenanigans are her bread and butter, next to potion making
6723466 Would it be weird if Zecora could rap? ...actually, I wonder if she has a secret rapping career. What does she do when nopony is around?
Zecora + Nutty Professor = Unusual, but interesting story/one-shot.
7137149 look up 'epic rap battles in Equestria' some time...that Zebra actually did fairly well...
ZECORA!!!!
vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/5/54/Fluttershy_excited_S02E07.png/revision/latest?cb=20120810003247
huh, Zecora's scattered in the Ratchet and Clank series, guess that will guarantee that I never come up with a universe to place Zecora, ah well
Zecora
8645881
How would Zecora have been there, in another dimension, in the past?