The Ninth Fantasy - Gaia

by MrAlterad

17. Sleepless City ~ Treno

Spike was in his own little world, carving Rarity's name into the Amethyst he had with the point of his tail. When the trolley lurched to an unexpected stop, his world ended up bouncing off the side towards the ground, to his extreme surprise.

Trying to teleport away from slamming into the ground, he instead slammed into the top of the trolley, and rolled off again in a daze, hitting the ground anyway. Leaving a small dragon shaped crater in the ground, he got up and dusted himself off.

“Spike! Are you alright?” Dagger asked in concern, the female trolley attendant was looking at the dragon in surprise, and then gave Dagger an appraising look. Spike stood rigid, worried she was going to call the guards.

Did I just blow our cover? Spike wondered.

“You said Spike, as in the Spike?” The attendant asked, “The Master Hunter of the festival?” She added with a hint of excitement, completely overlooking the fact the he had been riding atop the trolley.

Wait, do I have fans? He thought in surprise, That's awesome! He puffed his chest out and teleported next to the attendant.

“The one and only!” He admitted, and the girl's face lit up, wearing silly youthful grin as she turned to him.

“Can I have your autograph!?” She asked excitedly, “Name's Realm! Oh, Tina and Celeste will not believe this! This is so awesome!” She said quickly, and Spike couldn't help but nod.

It is awesome! He then considered her words a moment, Where have I heard those names before?

Getting his confirmation, she pulled out a small canvas, and with alarming speed, and impressive display of ability, painted a portrait of Spike right on the spot. Taking only a matter of seconds, she presented her finished work to Spike.

The portrait displayed him standing atop a defeated Zaghnol, fire and ice floating in his claws as he was striking a very inspiring pose. Wow! Did she use an ability like my teleport to do this!? Spike wondered as he signed it, giving it back to Realm with a smile, which she eagerly returned.

Dagger cleared her throat, catching Spike's attention. She motioned towards a rest stop nearby, and after bidding Realm farewell, Spike went to the rest stop with Dagger. They would have to wait for the trolley that runs down the opposite side to make it back up to the rest stop, till then they had some time to waste.

“Word travels fast,” Dagger admitted. Spike had proven himself to her several times, she felt it would be rude to treat him as a child, as everyone else had treated her. Having him by her side has kept her assured during their journey back to Alexandria. Once they take the trolley down, they'll be in her home nation, the nation she would one day rule.

“I guess I didn't need to hide around,” Spike admitted. “I've been missing out on handing out autographs!” he added, a hint of playful regret in his voice. Then he looked over Dagger, a little put off with how dirty she looked to fit her disguise. “You should clean up as soon as you can, it's weird seeing you covered in dirt like that,” which made the princess blush.

Her disguise had to look genuine, but Dagger was starting to think she had overdone it, she was getting strange looks from the others in the rest stop, and she felt it was because of how dirty she looked.

Dagger went to the washroom to straighten up. And while she was gone, Spike occupied himself by continuing from where he left off before falling off the trolley. He had already etched 'Twilight' into the Garnet, and was almost done with Rarity's. He figured by the time they reached the bottom of the mountain he'd be done with Rainbow Dash's.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ATE: The Apple doesn't Fall Far...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pinkie sprang up, I'm totally awake! Looking around, she saw the soldier they had saved looking over Zidane and Freya. Her sudden movement caused him to draw his weapon reflexively as he stared at Pinkie wide-eyed. Her friends were drinking potions, and were also caught off guard by her sudden movement.

“We tried to wake you,” Zidane said, slightly baffled, “I guess your body finally felt like listening to us,” he added as he drank another potion.

“We're okay?” Pinkie quickly asked, concern evident until she saw that the three of them were 'fine'. “Of course we're okay!” Wait, somepony's missing! “Where's Applejack?” She said as she looked around, seeing Applejack's hat and armor sitting nearby. Where is she?

“Looks like somepony decided to be captured to spare somepony else,” Discord chimed in, his claws in shackles. She was happy to see they were all alive, but that news immediately dampened her mood.

“You okay Pinkie?” Zidane asked her, worried by the way she was acting at Applejack's absence. Am I? She thought on it for a moment, making a brooding face as she did so.

“Yep! I'm okey dokey,” she lied. “The bad guys captured Applejack, but she saved us!” Right? “Applejack is strong, she'll be fine.” She hesitated a moment before nodding to herself. “I can't stay here and cry when I can help. She'll be fine, and she'll be even better when we rescue her.” She nodded, taking comfort in her own words, “Won't shhheee be surprised!” She concluded with a smile.

Pinkie was putting on an act, she was worried, but she wouldn't let it show. Freya was as dower as ever, Pinkie needed to be absolutely bouncing with enthusiasm to balance things out. “Where do we go from here? Think they took her to that Alexadarianta place?”

“Cleyra,” Freya replied in realization, “Brahne's forces are heading to the great tree, Cleyra. They must have Applejack with her!” She got up and picked her helm off the floor. It had a large gash that made the helm useless, but it had spared her from a terrible wound. As Zidane and Freya collected themselves, Discord prodded the pink mare.

“Well, looks like you're starting to be your old self again." He then gave her a sly grin, "Or maybe you're something a little different now?” He was fiddling with a miniature of Pinkie, her hair not quite curly, but not quite straight. Pinkie felt that if it wasn't raining, her mane would resemble the figures. I'm Pinkamena Diane Pie, I always have been, I'm just a little more of her now then I was when the mist first appeared she thought, no humor chasing the notion.

“So, how is the really long name Pinkie different from the short name Pinkie, or the long mane Pinkie?” He asked eagerly, curious of her thoughts on the matter. She thought on it as she gathered Applejack's things, taking extra care in gathering her hat and the broken sword. After safely stowing it away, she gave Discord her answer.

I'm a fun party pony Pinkie Pie, and a serious aggressive Pinkamena. They are both me, and I am them. There's a time for fun and smiles, and a time to protect and fight. I can be both, I don't need a switch to be myself. I am me, so I am no different. She answered, and Discord's shoulders slumped in disappointment.

“No Pinkie, the correct answer was the way you carry your mane. You silly pony.” Pinkie blinked at him, surprised that he was right, and that she had missed that, then smiled.

Well, duh~ That goes without saying~ Her grin, perpetual again, widened. A thought came to her, Discord, how has the mist been messing with my head?

“I could answer your question, but I just did!” He said while cackling, spinning in the air as he snapped his fingers, making all sorts of strange things happen in front of the mare, surprising her.

Oh, I see. Well, at least I get to talk to somepony that can make it rain chocolate milk! Which immediately made all the rain falling from the sky change color, and licking it, it did taste like chocolate milk.

The mist was Discord, that's how it affected her, but she was fine with that. Maybe. Which made the draconequus scoff at her.

“Let's move it~” She said to her friends and the soldier that aided them, “We have a tree and an apple to save!” She gave them a determined look, hoping to dispel their worry with her enthusiasm. “Let's go make a party out of our victory~!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Dagger got on the trolley heading down, Spike got on top of it, pretty soon the two of them would be at Treno.

“Princess? What are you doing here!?” A voice from within the trolley asked, and Spike teleported down to see who was making the commotion. Dagger was talking to a man wearing a blue shirt and red bandanna who sort of looked familiar, but Spike couldn't place from where.

“Um, you're with Tantalus, Zidane's gang, right?” Dagger asked. Ah! He was one of the guys that was helping Zidane foal-nap Dagger!

“Yea, name's Marcus, but shouldn't you be in Lindblum by now?” Marcus asked as he noticed Spike, “Oh, hey there little guy.” Seeing him here reminded the dragon of something important, that he had almost forgot.

“First of all, I'm not 'little guy'. I'm 'Master Hunter'. Second of all, we're heading to Treno! There's something there called Supersoft, and we need to find it to cure Blank. Then we're heading to Alexandria.” Spike explained, hoping Marcus would be willing to help them. Knowing what city it was in was a good start, but the princess needed to reach Alexandria fast, and another set of eyes helping find the Supersoft would be a boon.

“Wha- What's wrong with Blank?”

“He was petrified when the Evil Forest turned to stone,” Dagger explained. Marcus appraised the two of them, and after a moment's consideration, went back into the trolley.

“If that's the case, I'll help. Blank is like a brother to me, Lindblum can wait.” He then hesitated as he turned to Dagger, “You don't mind if I join you, do you princess?

“No!” She said, in a tone that implied it wouldn't be a bother. “Of course not, you're welcome to join us,” She added eagerly, which made the dragon and Marcus smile.

The attendant had overheard everything, and he clearly didn't want to have any part in what was going on between them. In fact, when Spike absentmindedly went into the trolley, the attendant didn't bother stopping him. They all took a seat, and the trolley started moving down the mountain in short order.

“So did you say 'Master Hunter'?” Marcus asked Spike, looking impressed.

“The one and only! Zidane almost beat me, but I got to the biggest monster first, and with Freya and Applejack helping, we took it down!” He explained while waving his staff in the air for dramatic affect. Marcus chuckled a little as he turned to Dagger.

“So you're here to help Blank?” She hesitated as his forward question.

“I want to talk to mother, stop her from doing something terrible. I'm primarily on my way to Alexandria.” She answered, looking a little embarrassed that saving Blank wasn't her top priority. Marcus nodded, not bothered by it.

“It's alright, royalty responsibilities are demanding, I'm sure,” Marcus assured, dissuading her embarrassed expression. “So, where's Zidane?” He asked, putting Dagger back on the spot.

“We left him behind,” Spike said, a little disappointed, “the princess wanted to talk to her mother, no one was letting her. So we left Lindblum to do it ourselves,” he finished, answering Marcus's question before Dagger could. Anger quickly possessed her as she recalled the reason why they left Lindblum.

“We only did that because they were treating us like children!” She quickly added to Spike's answer. “I don't even care about him.”

“I uh, didn't ask if you cared about him,” Marcus admitted, making Dagger's temper instantly defuse.

“Oh,” she said, giving him a confused look, unsure of what she had just said. The trolley lurched to a sudden stop, surprising the three of them.

“Why the stop? We're not there yet.” Spike declared as he glanced out the window.

“It might be engine trouble,” the attendant suggested, avoiding eye contact with them. “Please remain seated while I check, I apologize for the inconvenience.” The attendant went outside, and immediately returned, “It's a demon! A demon with a pointy hat!”

...A pointy hat? Spike briefly wondered as he moved outside, followed by Marcus and Dagger. Spike and Dagger stopped when they saw that it was Black Waltz No.3, standing on the tracks, looking like he had recently crashed into a wall, and was barely walking. Using his staff for support, he came around the trolley and stopped when he saw the princess.

“Princess? I see, it's the princess.” He paused in thought he stared at her, determination lighting in his eyes. “Princess, I need to return you to the castle!” he said threateningly, he then jerked as he noticed Spike. “No. No no no. Why are you here!? Leave me be! I was the most powerful, but then you- and that house pet- No! Leave me!” he cried out, waving his hands in front of him as they looked upon him.

Spike did not like the Black Waltz, he destroyed all the friendly Black Mages on the cargo ship, and had almost done him and his friends in. But that didn't stop Spike from pitying him.

Black Waltz No.3 stood before them, broken, clinging on to a fruitless purpose, and afraid of the little dragon. Does he know that what he did was wrong? Spike's memory of taking it down with Tetra-Breath was a little hazy, but he was pretty sure he intended to teach the Black Waltz that what it had done was wrong. Still, he's here now. I won't let him take the princess!

“Why don't you just leave the princess alone?” Spike slowly asked, wondering if No.3 would attack or not. He shook his head in frustration.

“I was made to retrieve her, so I shall!” he declared as he gathered his magic. Marcus was quick to act, charging No.3 and attacking him, his blade catching the mage in the side, making him stagger as he let forth a burst of lightning upon the three of them.

Despite being wounded, his magic was still powerful, and Dagger was immediately staggered from the unexpected attack, but she quickly had a Cure ready to go, allowing them to recover from their wounds.

“Why!?” Spike asked in annoyed confusion, “Why fight us!? Can't you just choose not to take the princess!?” He yelled in anger as he took a deep breath, letting out a gout of fire, surprising No.3 with the new attack. He staggered back from the fire, but still stood.

“I- I fight because it is what I do!” No.3 replied hesitantly, gathering up another swath of lightning as Marcus snatched his staff from him, making his spell weaken as he lashed out at them again, with less powerful lightning striking them. Once again, Dagger's healing magic washed over them, and their victory was clear now to all of them.

Spike teleported in front of No.3, throwing a fireball right into his chest, sending him flying back, crashing past Marcus. Spike then teleported onto No.3, a orb of fire in his claws as he looked the broken and battered Black Waltz in the eyes, and the dragon hesitated.

Is this right? He thought, doubting his actions. He was born to take the princess. Born with a single reason. Is ending this right? Spike faltered, his pity for the Black Waltz redoubling. He abandoned his spell, and asked Marcus to stop his attack. Marcus backed off a little, his blade still drawn, as he looked to Spike in confusion.

“Why?” No.3 asked, “Why won't you finish me? I exist to return the princess to the castle. I have no purpose if I cannot do that!” His yellow eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Do you simply wish to torment me for destroying those dolls you seemed so attached to!?” He asked in anger, and Spike shook his head.

“Why not do something else? Have you even tried?” Spike asked, as if it was obvious. The Waltz flinched as he stared at the dragon, the gears in his head turning. He looked between Spike and the Princess, then it eyed it's staff, still in Marcus' possession.

“I, no. I haven't. But why would you let me? I destroyed those dolls, I tried to kill you and your comrades.” No.3 three was confused by Spike's actions, “Why not destroy me, like No.1 and No.2?”

“Because I can see, that would be wrong.” He did try to end us. He's mean, and heartless, but it was what he was made for, right? Spike didn't understand what it meant to be born for a single purpose, Shouldn't he be able to make his own choices? “I'm not like you, I don't look down on others. I don't fight others because they're in my way. I protect my friends, and fight monsters, and I have fun. Have you ever had fun?” His question left the mage speechless. His demeanor changed as he considered the young dragon before him.

“I'm a monster, I killed my own kind, why not vanquish me?” He asked, as if seeking to understand what Spike wanted of him. He's a monster? No, he isn't. Spike shook his head in disagreement.

“A monster doesn't think, doesn't talk, doesn't ask questions.” Spike's fought plenty of monsters since coming to Gaia, he was certain No.3 was not a monster. “You stopped fighting, right? A monster would have kept fighting.” The Black Waltz considered his words, looking troubled by how reasonable they sounded. Marcus and Dagger were giving Spike an odd look. Spike pressed on, feeling it was the right thing do to, as he asked the Black Waltz the question on his mind.

“Are you a monster?”

Black Waltz No.3 looked at Spike, the mage's thoughts flashing behind its yellow eyes. He looked again to the princess, then to Spike. With a sudden movement, it sent a blast of fire into the ground, knocking Spike off of him, and blowing dust everywhere, obscuring the area.

Spike teleported out of the cloud of dust, expecting an attack, instead he saw No.3 flying high, magic lifting his broken wings into the air. He looked at Spike, uncertainty obviously worn on his face, as he turned and flew off, leaving his staff, and the princess, behind.

Spike watched the Black Waltz flee, unwilling to pursue him. The dust cleared, revealing that Marcus and Dagger were fine, just covered in dirt. Well, actually, Dagger didn't look fine.

“And I just cleaned up,” she sighed indignantly as she saw that everyone else was fine. “Where did the Black Waltz go?”

“Looks like it left,” Marcus pointed out, “Should we have let it flee?” He asked as he gave the stolen staff to Spike, who was surprised to see the staff shrink down to match his size.

“I don't know.” Spike admitted, “Letting him flee felt right, so that must mean something.” Spike hoped his words had struck a cord with the Black Waltz, Maybe now he'll understand that what he did was wrong. Spike considered the mage's actions, a troubling thought coming to mind. ...did he want to be vanquished?

“Are you okay?” Dagger asked Spike as the three of them returned to the trolley, which then continued its decent down the mountain.

“Yea, I'm fine, just thinking. Thanks for asking,” Spike assured as Marcus appraised them.

“You know, I heard that Burmecia was wiped out by an army of those things,” he proclaimed, almost causally, and the princess look surprised, then downcast. “So, I guess that's part of those royal responsibilities?” She nodded.

“I'm going to Alexandria to talk to mother about that, get her to stop. I didn't know Burmecia was completely wiped out though.” She admitted as she looked out the window. Her nation was now stained, her mother had much to answer for.

The trolley lurched to a stop as they reached the end of the line. Spike put away the Ruby, now sporting 'Rainbow Dash' on it, and the party got off and went out towards the gate for Treno. As they got closer to the city, the sky became darker and darker, and Marcus informed the others that Treno is a city that is covered in perpetual night due to it being surrounded by the mountains. After traversing the plateau and taking out several monsters, they reached the Dark City Treno.

Walking into the city, Spike could see that it was divided into two circles, the inner circle comprised of shappy homes, the slums, while the outer circle had homes made of stone and marble, the nobles. Dagger took in the sights with wonder as Marcus addressed them.

“Baku should still be here, I'll see if he knows anything about the Supersoft, feel free to look around while I do. You'll find me at the inn in the slums, it'll be next to the orphanage.” Spike nodded, and turned to see that Dagger was nowhere to be seen! Did she go and wander off to look around? Hoping she would be fine, Spike started to look around as well, for the Supersoft, and the princess.

Wandering through the city, Spike passed a building specifically made for hosting card tournaments, which caught his interest. And before he knew it, he was swallowed up in the game, losing track of what he had come here to do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ATE: A Most Viscous Battle
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It was over, she had finally won, and the rush of that victory washed over her. Dagger remained composed in the face of her victory. It was a hard battle, with many foes, but she had conquered the demons and bested every last one of them! The face's of those she had bested glared at her as she walked up triumphantly and claimed what was rightfully hers.

“Sold! To the young lady up front! Her you go my lady~” The auctioneer chimed as he gave Dagger the Reflect Ring she had tirelessly bid for. She had read what the ring was capable of, and believed Spike would make good use of it. He deserved it after all the help he's given her.

She had hoped to find the Supersoft at the auction house, but it wasn't here. As she left, someone caught her eye in an overlooking box of the auction. Is that the strange man that's been wandering through my castle? She wondered as their eyes met. She felt a chill run down her spine, and quickly departed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike left the card arena with a slew of cards, most of them won from playing. That was childs play! He thought with a smile, none of his opponents had managed a win against him.

As he wandered from the arena, he remembered the reason he was in Treno and slammed his claw to his forehead. He ran through the slums, and after finding a ramshackled building labeled Seed Orphanage, entered the adjacent inn. As he entered, he hoped Marcus and the Princess had not been as distracted as he had been. He was the last one to arrive to the inn, they both saw Spike come in and welcomed him.

“Welcome back,” Marcus said, “Baku found our noble, Stratgo, the man that runs the monster duels. We're gonna steal the Supersoft from him,” he paused, expecting some objection from his company, but continued after seeing neither of them were against it. “Follow me, we'll sneak through the waterways.”

As Spike followed them, his eyes were drawn to something red on the wall. A wanted poster hung there, displaying a man with a head covered in long thick red dreadlocks. I wonder what his story is. Spike wondered as the three of them climbed down a set of ladders and stairs to a small boat, with Baku in it.

“Uh,” Baku began, “you do know that breaking and entering is against the law, right princess?” He asked, he was still going to do it, but he wasn't sure if Dagger understood what she was getting herself into.

“I need to make sure you don't steal anything else,” she replied. Baku and Marcus nodded, not considering that a problem, and they all got in the boat. As it moved, Spike looked around, excited to be sneaking underneath the city's buildings by boat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ATE: The White King
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“How was Burmecia?” The auctioneer asked Kuja.

“It wasn't that bad,” he replied as he frowned, “Would have been better if I didn't have to see those vermin and the ugly elephant lady. They offend my senses.” His frown then turned into a smile, “Something wonderful came out of it however. There are more actors on the stage then the play has allotted, something I can take advantage of.”

“Sounds like an opportunity, Sir. Still, you must be tired,” the auctioneer said with concern.

“It's not over yet. The rest of the vermin must be done away with,” Kuja claimed.

“Will you be heading to Cleyra then?”

“Yes, I trust you will deliver them?” The auctioneer nodded.

“Certainly, I shall prepare them now.”

“By the way, did you see a pretty young lady in the crowd today?”

“A pretty young lady? One did stand out, she won a Reflect Ring earlier, I believe you were present at the time. Shall I arrange a meeting?”

“There's no need,” Kuja admitted as he smiled, “The canary I've been after, she flew into my cage of her own free will.” Which prompted the auctioneer to give Kuja a questioning look.

“Never would I have imagined running into you in a place like this,” Kuja said to no one in particular, “It must be fate. But you cannot rest your wings yet. Fly home to your mother, my little canary.” His face turned into a dark scowl as he pictured what was in store for the 'canary'.

I too, will welcome you home, with open arms.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the group sailed through the underbelly of the city's structures, Dagger looked lost in thought. Spike saw that something was eating at her and asked about it.

“Oh,” she flushed slightly, but answered Spike's inquiry, “I was thinking about how we got here, how Zidane and Cid were treating us like children. Now we're here, saving his friend, who saved you and Applejack. I don't know, I feel this is important, but so is reaching Alexandria as soon as possible,” she finished as she looked at the water.

“Well, for what it's worth,” Marcus began, “I'm grateful you're helping right now with Blank. We'll help you get back to Alexandria.” Marcus turned to Baku, “Any ideas boss?” And the leader of Tantalus thought quietly, then shook his head.

“One thing at a time,” he answered, “let's get the Supersoft first, then worry about that.” After a few minutes of silent sailing, they reached their destination and broke into the back door of a shop. Baku stayed with the boat while the others went inside to look for the remedy. Shortly after they started looking, the sound of someone approaching caught their attention, and they all moved to a corner out of sight.

“I can't believe I ran out of ink on a night like this.” An old scholar complained as he entered the room everyone was in. He wore thick glasses and a short top-hat. He also sported a long brown, well groomed beard. “I must find more and go back to the observatory.”

“Should I take care of him?” Marcus quietly asked Dagger, but she shook her head, for she recognized the scholar. She walked up to him, he stared at her dumbly for a moment before clarity struck him.

“P-Princess Garnet?” He stated in surprise.

“I've missed you, Doctor Tot,” Dagger said with a smile.

“It is you!” Tot affirmed, “What on earth are you doing here?”

“It's a long story. The short of it is that we're looking for Supersoft right now.” Dr. Tot considered her a moment, before nodding.

“I see. Go to my observatory, it's the biggest tower on the left side of town. I'll get this Supersoft for you.” Tot then looked around before motioning them to leave, “Now hurry, before Stratgo notices you three rummaging through his possessions.”

“Alright, let's head back,” Dagger insisted of the others, getting no complaint from Marcus and Spike, they returned to the boat. Filling Baku in, he asked that Marcus accompany them to see the doctor.

“So, who's Dr. Tot?” Spike asked curiously. Dagger looked to Spike with a smile as he reflected on a memory for a moment.

“He was my tutor. He knows a great deal of history. Though I didn't know he had moved to Treno.” She explained, and after stopping back at the inn, they headed to the tower. They found it unlocked, and they proceeded inside to see the doctor about the Supersoft.

Climbing the stairs to the top of the tower, they found a large chamber with a great deal of books and a very large globe of Gaia in the center. A ladder rested on the globe that could be climbed to go inside of it. As Dagger approached Dr. Tot, Spike decided to take a look inside the globe. A globe that you can go inside? That sounds awesome! Like being the center of the world!

“Ah, Princess!” Dr. Tot took notice of his guests, “Thank you for coming, and welcome to my humble abode.”

“This is your home?” Dagger asked, confused. The tower was of cold stone, it wasn't really a place suiting for living in. He chuckled lightly as he nodded.

“I traveled far to find a sponsor for my research, it ultimately landed me here, so here is where I live.” He then appraised the princess, “You've seem to have grown into a fine young woman, and I'm glad to see you again. Oh!” Remembering what they came for, he pulled a large chocobo feather out of his vest, “Here's the Supersoft you wanted.” He gave it to Dagger, and she entrusted it to Marcus.

“Thanks for the remedy. Now we can save Blank!” Marcus said happily. Dagger was looking at the large globe that Spike was trying to get inside, impressed by its size.

“This is a globe of Gaia, right?” She asked.

“That's right,” Dr. Tot said as Spike finally got inside.

Well, now I feel silly, I should have just teleported, the young dragon thought as he looked around, and he was greatly surprised by what he saw.

“Hey, Mr. Tot, why is the inside of this a map of Equestria?” Spike asked, it was the last place he would have expected to find a map of his home.

“What?” Dagger asked in surprise.

“I'm not familiar with any land called Equestria,” Dr. Tot admitted, “though I've always wondered about that map. Care to tell me what Equestria is?” He asked as the others joined Spike inside the globe.

“This is Equestria,” Spike answered, indicating the map. “Though there are no labels. It certainly looks like Equestria, just without the cities or towns. There's no Ponyville or Manehattan or Fillydelphia,” Spike continued as he appraised the map.

“Well, the map came with the globe," Tot informed them, "both are quite old. If my research is right, this globe use to belong to an interesting explorer named Ipsen.”

“What does this mean?” Dagger asked in wonder, and Spike was curious too. At Dr. Tot's insistence, Spike told him about Equestria, and that he was from there. Dagger then assisted in telling the doctor about the events that lead up to them trying to steal Supersoft.

“That's a very interesting tale, and quite troubling.” Dr. Tot admitted as he stroked his beard. “You're looking for a way back?” Seeing Spike nod, Tot continued, “In that case, I'll look more into Ipsen's travels, it seems he managed to find something about Equestria. Maybe by looking into his history, I can find out more for you.”

He then looked between the dragon and the thief, “You and your friend helped Princess Garnet, and I admit, I'm terribly curious about this.” He then eyed Dagger with a worried expression, before it changed to one of realization.

“That aside, there's another matter at hand. You need to see the queen, I have a means for you to get to Alexandria rather quickly.” That got a surprised look from everyone, and they shared a look of hope. “Follow me,” and with Tot's insistence, the three of them followed him down into the bowels of the tower. Reaching an underground tunnel, Marcus asked what all of this was.

“This is an old underground transportation system that was used before airships became prevalent. I've been keeping it maintained in case of emergencies,” he explained as they reached the bottom. The inside was barely lit, there was a large root-vine hanging from the ceiling, drawn off into a long dark tunnel. “Welcome to Gargan Roo, it travels between Treno and Alexandria.”

“So this leads to Alexandria?” Marcus asked, seeing Tot nod, he added, “In that case I'll go with you two, Alexandria is closer to the Evil Forest,” and he got no argument from the others, they welcomed the notion.

“So we just follow the dark scary tunnel?” Spike asked, not scared in the least, honest.

“Oh no,” Tot assured, “once you get the tunnel connection sequence running, you can call the gargant, and it will ferry you to Alexandria."

“Well,” Spike said, “that doesn't sound so hard, let's get going!” And for once, it actually wasn't that hard, which disappointed the young dragon. After flipping a lever and a switch, a large six-legged insect following the vine on the ceiling upside-down came into the tunnel, pulling a suspended cart behind it. Thanking Dr. Tot, the group hopped in the cart, and in short order were on their way to Alexandria.

---

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Moogle Notes:
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'Howdy Equestrian, Mois the moogle here with more tid-bits about Gaia!'

'Treno is under perpetual night because of its location in the mountains. It's a city based on wealth, there is no middle class, as the lower class and the upper class worked in their own ways to extinguish the middle class.'

'The card game Spike played was called Tetra master, its very popular on the Mist Continent! Also, Spike isn't skilled at the game, he was just terribly lucky.'

'Ipsen was an old explorer that traveled the four continents and all the small islands surrounding them. Kupo~'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike the Dragon

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Items Equipped: *New Item Acquired*

*Lightning Staff: Thundara, Poison

Feather Hat: Bright Eyes, Add Status(mastered)

Raises Wind Elem-Atk

Glass Armlet: Steal Gil, Antibody(mastered)

Silk Shirt: Thunder(mastered), Cure

Property: Elem-Def: Thunder damage reduced by 50%

Amethyst: Whining(mastered), Generosity, Ability Up, Accuracy+

Lvl-11 HP 342/342 MP 18/86

AP 4/20

*Add Status(3) - Adds weapon's status effect when you attack.

*Antibody (4) - Prevents Poison and Venom.

*Ability Up (3) - Doubles the amount of Ability Points earned from battles.

*Generosity (6) - Lowers the price of items by a small amount.

*Dragon Scales(0) - You take no fire damage.

Abilities:

Black Magic:

Fire 6 MP - Causes Fire damage to single/multiple targets.

Blizzard 6 MP - Causes Ice damage to single/multiple targets.

Thunder 6 MP - Causes Thunder damage to single/multiple targets.

Thundara 12 MP - Causes moderate Thunder damage to single/multiple targets.

Poison 8 MP - Inflicts Poison to single/multiple targets.

Friendship's Magic:

Spike's Flame 0 MP - Green and harmless warm fire. Perfect for lighting up any party.

Teleport 2 MP - Increase chance of physical attacks missing Spike for short duration.

Whining 4 MP - Causes enemies to flee. You get no rewards from fleeing enemies.

Flame Breath 8 MP - Causes Fire damage to a single target. Cannot be reflected.

Trance - Can use Tetra-Breath, mixing three Black Magic spells into a breath attack. It cannot be reflected.

Author's Note:

Sorry about the previous two chapters being bumpy, I hope this one is a step up.
Thank for reading, and sorry if you read the old version of this chapter, it was the worst.
Once again, major thanks to OCisbestpony for help editing.

Comments

[Gazmanafc]

I'd like to guess that Equestria is going to be replacing Terra, but given what Kuja does at the end of Disc 3, I'd rather not. :P

Also the explorer's name is "Ipsen" rather than "Ispen" in FF9 fyi.

[MrAlterad]

As I worked to update and polish all these chapters, I took extra notice of chapter 17. I lost a good number of readers on this chapter, and I think I can summon up why in a simple name.
Black Waltz No.3
This villain almost caused tpk back in chapter 7, and the way I had his encounter end in this chapter, was terrible.
Needless to say, that entire encounter has been edited, and added upon.
Encountering BW3 should now be the 'highlight' of the chapter. And I'm sorry to everyone that left because of my negligence when writing it.
I also want to thank the readers who stayed. Thank you for enduring my stupidity on this chapter.
I'm still moving forward through the chapters, expect more changes as I move along.
When I'm done I'll fill you all in concerning what I changed, to spare you from having to re-read the story again.

[Omegamorph]

Forgot the Waltz shows up again and that Spike is essentially filling in for Stiener at this point.