29. Ambush Attack
Pinkie eyed the new addition to her arsenal as they proceeded onto the mountain path. Having mastered the powers of her Mythril Fork, she was looking to try out a weapon she had bought at Conde Petie during their first visit. A pair of Poison Knuckles. It was a set of three purple blades tied to a metal rasp to be worn on a human's hand. In the place of a hand, she had strapped a miniature party bomb. She had naturally done this when Applejack wasn't looking, who had been opposed to the idea from the start.
As the party wandered down into the mountain path, Pinkie kept her eyes peeled, hoping something worthy of her 'Exploding Poison Knuckle Sandwich' would come their way. She assumed the knuckles wouldn't survive being used, but she was hopeful, for they had cost a decent number of gil. Discord almost got her to waste it on an imaginary monster, and boy, did she give him a stern thinking too.
The path itself was embedded into the side of a cliff that rose high, the side of a mountain. It was supposedly the other side of these mountains that they could find Kuja, as well as the source of the mist. Red stone laced with blueish gray vines and matching large roots decorated the path. Basically the same palette of colors they had been presented since first arriving on the Outer Continent.
Because of the colors, it was very easy for Pinkie to pick out the purples, pinks, and blues of a particular food thief. Who was stuck, dangling from a vine. Her eyes fell upon a pair of wings on the girls back, not having noticed last time, and as she got closer, she saw that they were a decorative part of her clothing. Oooo~ Did she make those herself?
“Would have been better if she used actually feathers.” Discord admitted as he savagely ripped open a pillow, sending feathers everywhere.
I expect you to clean that up~! Discord harrumphed as he snapped his fingers, making the pillow disappear, but not the feathers. Pinkie simply chose to ignore Discord for now.
“Well, fine! I see how it is!”
Shhh, trying to ignore you right now, have to keep things rolling, right? She thought with a smile as she looked back towards the girl, a little glad she was the first to spot her.
Then she noticed that the moogle with the golden pon pon was floating before the girl. Getting a look of the moogle, it looked smaller than the other moogles Pinkie has seen. Is that a moogle CHILD? Sooo Cute~! Her heart flushed, and ignoring the child with the horn, Pinkie bounced towards the moogle, intending to give it a hug. The rest of the party took notice of what Pinkie saw and followed after her.
“Hurry Mog! Or we'll get caught!” The young girl said, not noticing the company heading towards her. Mog, however, did, and froze when its eyes met Pinkie's.
“What's wrong Mog?” She asked as she tried to look behind her, but before she could get a look, the young moogle fled. “W-wait! Don't leave me here!” She yelled indignantly as she waved her hands and legs fruitlessly in the air. Her efforts to no avail, she gave up and let out a sigh. Before the others could get to her, Spike cut ahead by teleporting in front of the dangling girl, caught on a branch a couple feet above him. She hang there, dejected, seemingly unaware of the others as they gathered around her.
“Sigh,” she said aloud, “hanging here, on a branch. Betrayed by my own trusted companion.” She woefully cried out, almost on the verge of crocodile tears. “Is this how I meet my end?” She proclaimed dramatically looking to the sky, a fire in her eyes. “Mog! I'm gonna haunt you if I die here!” With her proclamation delivered to the heavens, she looked down, noticed Spike, and blinked.
“Am I hallucinating? Or is that a baby dragon down there?” She considered that for a moment, confused as she admitted, “I didn't know dragons could have babies.” Then she shook her head. “Wait, huh!?” Her eyes then took in the others, who were giving her a differing array of smiles from the display she had put on. Pinkie's and Zidane's were honest mirth, Applejack's and Dagger's were partially concealed in an attempt to be respectful. Spike wasn't smiling though, he was staring at her oddly, almost with a look of familiarity. The young girl, taking all this in, only had one applicable reaction to the situation.
“AHHHH!” She shrilled as her arms waved frantically again, finding new energy and motivation to free herself. “Help!! Mog!! Don't eat me! I won't taste good!” She then shook her head, to emphasize, “It's true! I taste awful!” Zidane shook his head as he turned to Spike.
“Whelp,” he said, “guess that settles it. You heard the girl.”
“Well, I guess I can settle for a few gemstone's instead.” Spike sarcastically admitted as he looked towards her.
“Quite a shame~!” Pinkie almost sang out, “I was soo~ looking forward to lunch!” She sighed and turned away from the girl, a spring in her trot. Pinkie walked up to a vine on the opposite side that the girl hang from, scrutinized it for a moment. Let's see, this should do it! She picked out a particular part of the vine, and gave it a light tug, then looked back at the girl with a smile. The girl, and Zidane, both noticed Pinkie's action and showed their confusion to the others.
“Whoa!” The girl shouted as suddenly the branch holding her gave, and she fell, right into Spike's arms, who almost fell over catching her. She was as big as he was, so the fact that he had managed without falling over made the dragon look impressed with himself.
“I-I gotcha!” Spike proclaimed as he looked her in the eyes, and that strange expression of familiarity showed on his face again. The girl blushed at him before he put her down on her feet.
“Th-Thanks.” She told Spike as she looked to the ground, holding her hands behind her.
“Are you okay?” Dagger asked as she moved to get a better look of the child, prompting Pinkie to look her over as well. The girl had short, purple-bluish hair, and in the center of her forehead she had a small horn, barely poking out of her hair.
Oooo~ Is she the unicorn variety of human? Pinkie thought as the girl turned to answer Dagger's question.
“Yeah.” She quickly replied as she looked over the others, concern changing to composure, before her eyes fell back on Spike.
“You're not hurt?” Dagger asked, not satisfied with her answer. The girl's brow furrowed as she turned on the princess.
“I'm not a child! I told you I'm okay!”
“Well, ya certainly look like a child.” Applejack affirmed, giving her a knowing, almost teasing smile.
“Are you kidding! I do have a name, you know! The name's Eiko! Shouldn't you introduce yourself before addressing a lady?” She said as she scrutinized Applejack and Dagger.
“But ya introduced yourself first-” Applejack tried to politely get out, caught off guard by Eiko's assertiveness.
“You got a problem?” Eiko interrupted as she glared at the mare. Applejack looked at her wide-eyed, and her brow furrowed as she took a step forward. Dagger, seeing where this was going, acted quickly and got in her way, interposing herself between Applejack and Eiko.
“I'm Dagger,” She said respectfully as she motioned to herself, then she motioned to the fuming mare. “And this is Applejack.”
“Yeah?” She replied, almost uninterested, getting a hard glare from Applejack. “And what about you?” Eiko asked of Spike, her tone changing to genuine interest as she ignored Zidane and Pinkie.
Well, isn't she just precious~! Pinkie thought, being honest with herself. Discord simply rolled his eyes as he shrank down to Eiko's size and started making a soundless fit where he stood.
“I'm Spike The Dragon, Master Hunter!” He replied as he puffed his chest out.
“Spike? Alright.” She said with a smile, her cheeks flushing slightly.
“These are all my friends,” he explained, motioning to the others, ending on the two left to be introduced. “This is Zidane, and this is Pinkie Pie.” Eiko looked to Pinkie with a small look of concern, and maybe fear.
Uh, did I scare her? Oopsy! Guess I need to fix that~! Pinkie thought as Eiko took in Zidane and gave him a light smile as well.
“So,” Zidane began, now that he had her attention, “Miss Eiko, why did you steal from the village?”
“I was hungry.” She replied curtly, as if that made it alright.
“Heh, fair enough,” Zidane amended. Applejack wanted to speak up, but the look Dagger gave her stopped her.
Ohh, Applejack isn't going to like Eiko anytime soon, is she? Pinkie thought as she felt her face adopt a worried expression, which she quickly changed back to her normal smile.
“You gotta eat, right?” Spike affirmed, his words coming across as wise beyond years. “So I guess you couldn't afford the food?” Eiko nodded as Dagger spoke up.
“Eiko, do you live nearby?” Eiko looked to Dagger, masking her annoyance.
“Yea, beyond this path.” She replied, indicating the direction the were heading. “Mog probably went home.” She added, her concern masked with hope. Dagger nodded as she looked to the others.
“Why don't we take her home, and we can give her some gil so she doesn't have to steal food.”
“That sounds like a super idea~!” Pinkie exclaimed as she moved next to Eiko and gave her a generous amount of gil. Eiko looked at Pinkie, shocked, and moved to give the gil back, but kept it at Pinkie's insistence. And for the first time, Pinkie got a smile from her, an honest smile, and Pinkie gave one back. “Friends?” Pinkie asked, quietly, and Eiko gave an eager nod. The exchange had been quick, and witnessed by only the involved parties, plus Discord. Zidane stepped forward as Pinkie took a step back.
“Yes, let's help her home.” Zidane affirmed, nodding with his eyes closed, a look of bliss on his face. “Anything for my lovely wife.”
“Oh, you two are married?” Eiko asked, a little surprised. Once again she eyed Spike, and Pinkie was starting to catch on as to why.
“Yup. We're newlyweds.”
“No, no. We're Just friends.”
They replied in unison, ending with Zidane's shoulders and head sagging as he looked hurt and dejected. He let out a sigh as he looked to his companions.
“Well, I guess that's better than nothing.” Pinkie opened her mouth, ready to spill the beans concerning Applejack and Spike, but saw the look Applejack was giving her.
Hmm, well, what the hay! Pinkie spoke up, throwing caution to the wind.
“Spike and Applejack are married too~!” She quickly declared, getting a scathing glare from the both of them.
“What!? HER!?” Eiko replied, looking between Spike, then Applejack. Applejack took a surprised step back, and tried to compose herself.
“W-what? Is that a problem?” She asked, looking hurt, then her expression changed from hurt to shock as she realized what she had just asked. “I-I mean no! We're not married either, we're just good friends!”
“Yep!” Spike quickly affirmed, trying to hide his blush, “Good friends!” He added as he and Applejack shared a sheepish grin.
“Oh. Well, I wanna be your friend, too!” Eiko declared as she moved closer to Spike, catching him off guard.
“Well, alright!” Spike replied, smiling, which made Eiko radiate joy.
“In that case,” Zidane began, amused by what just transpired, “Let's go see our new friend home then.”
“Yea! Then we can throw a 'making new friends party'~!” Pinkie proclaimed as they all started to move down the path, Eiko in tow.
Not far down the path, Pinkie's eyes noticed a statue on a stretch of rock above them. She recalled what Father David had told her concerning the ceremony, and decided to take advantage of it.
“Hey Spike! There's a statue up there!” She pointed off to a raised part of the cliff, where it was possible to reach by climbing the vines. “There's a stone inside it, if we get all four, there's a prize!” She explained, the others were looking at her incredulously, besides Eiko and Spike. Eiko was uninterested, Spike was very interested.
“What!? Awesome!” And just like that, Spike teleported up there, and in quick order he returned with a small blue stone in claw.
“What's this about Pinkie?” Applejack asked as Spike pocketed the stone.
“Well! Clearly somepony~ wasn't paying attention to the wedding ceremony~!” Pinkie declared, her voice ripe with victory as Applejack blushed. “There's more to the ceremony than standing on a boat and listening to some words! Father David told me all about it, because I asked him!” She nodded as she looked to the others, who were looking away from her bashfully.
“You see, the ceremony is a right of passage to those that were wed~! You gather the stones at the statues on your way to Sanctuary, and once you put them all in the final statue, you get the moon's blessing!” Her explanation over, she took notice of the silence, and the air of embarrassment from all but Eiko. Pinkie couldn't help but express her happiness. “I love you guys, I really do. You're so easy to tease~!” She said as she bounced off down the path, leaving her friends behind her, dumbfounded.
It wasn't long before they had encountered their first pack of monsters. Pinkie didn't find it worth the 'Punch-Bomb'. Or maybe I should call it the 'Slap-Splosion'? While Pinkie wasn't sure what she'd call her awesome new trick, she did notice something interesting, as did the others. Eiko was a very capable healer, Pinkie could even say her healing was more potent then Daggers. Her 'weapon' made Pinkie envious. She used a flute, her spells riding on the songs she played with it. Though she was an excellent healer, she didn't seem to have any offensive capabilities. Still, never hurts to have another healer~!
Continuing through the path, Spike found another statue and obtained a red stone. After climbing a ladder, they found themselves raised above the rocky cliff, revealing what lay beyond. As they all got to the top of the climb, the Equestrians all stopped in unison, the sight before them warranting their devoted attention.
It was a large tree. A tree even more grand than Cleyra. But that wasn't why the Equestrians took note of it. The tree was crystalline. A light blue, almost gray color, its tint going down into the massive swath of roots that surrounded it. The tree had no leaves, no sign of greenery of any sorts. It reminded them of the Tree of Harmony, but there was no sense of serenity radiating from it, indeed, there was nothing emanating from it, almost as if it was nothing more than a lifeless structure.
The tree had eight large branches, in each of these branches was a sphere bearing colors unlike the tree. Looking at them reminded Pinkie of the Globe of Equestria she saw at Twilight's library. Each sphere seemed to resemble a globe, though Pinkie couldn't make out any more details concerning these spheres from this distance, as they were easily a number of miles away from the tree. The last thing that her eyes were drawn to was a ninth sphere, built into the center of the tree's trunk.
“That looks just like-” Applejack began, shock evident in her voice.
“The Tree of Harmony!?” Spike interrupted. Pinkie stared hard at the tree, almost glaring at it. She felt as though she had seen something like it before, but couldn't place where. The idea that she couldn't remember frustrated her, indeed, looking at the tree frustrated her, so she pulled eyes away from it.
“We should check it out sometime,” she declared, burying her frustration behind false mirth, “but we got other things to do first~!” She reaffirmed, looking to Eiko, then the others.
“Wait,” Dagger interjected, “What's the Tree of Harmony?” Pinkie looked to Applejack, her eyes conveying that she didn't want to personally explain it. Applejack caught the look, and let out a sigh as she explained it to the Gaians. After sharing that, Zidane looked to the others.
“So, I'm guessing that's Sanctuary?” He asked, casting his gaze to the tree.
“It's a safe bet.” Applejack affirmed, “And I reckon it's another clue to us gettin' back home.” Eiko shook her head, looking between Zidane and Applejack. She looked like she wanted to explain something, but instead asked a question.
“So, you three are from another world?” Her eyes carried hesitant disbelief.
“Yep! Odd, right?” Spike stated, clearly thinking the idea was worthy of unbelief. “We're still trying to find our way back. Though I guess that sort of fell behind as we got more involved, huh?” His words made Applejack and Pinkie share a look before turning to the others.
“Now look,” Applejack began, “we do wanna get home, but not if that means leavin' things as they are-”
“You don't need to explain.” Dagger assured, “You're our friends. Once Kuja is taken care of... and my mother...” Her words trailed off as she looked to Zidane. He seemed to have a troubling thought on his mind, but kept it to himself. Pinkie, seeing the opportunity to dispel the mood, quickly pounced on it.
“It's all good! Friends help friends out~! So let's help out newest friend get home!” She declared as she continued down the path, giving the imposing tree an aside glance.
“That tree is trouble,” Discord proclaimed, floating by her side. “We both know it.” Pinkie nodded.
Like I said, once we take care of the other things first~. Discord nodded in agreement as they climbed the root down the other side of the mountain. As they reached a large open area, Pinkie noticed Eiko looking around with a troubled expression.
“Something wrong?” Zidane asked, who had also taken note of her worry.
“A giant lives in this part of the path-” Eiko's reply was interrupted when the ground shook with a loud THOOM, making all of them pause. “Though I guess it's a little obvious now...” She weakly added.
Pinkie then saw, from atop the cliff, a large humanoid with green skin. It had a crushed nose, mossy head, wore leather pants, and was taller than town hall. And when it's eyes fell upon the party, it glared at them, and it jumped down, making the ground shake and rumble underneath it. Almost all of them were knocked down, battered by the percussion. Pinkie felt the familiar sensation of picking up a new attack for her cannon, but had other concerns on her mind. Of the three that could heal, she was the first to act, as she whipped around her party cannon, and blasted her friends with white confetti. The flakes fell on her friends, and as they disappeared, their friends appeared rejuvenated.
Applejack sprung into action, the ponies, being quadrupeds, were not as easily knocked down by the giant's entry, making them the head of the counter offense. Her brow furrowed, she threw a mug of cider at the giant's eyes, making it take a step back and cover it's face before glaring at Applejack, who moved around to turn it away from the others.
As Pinkie got out the 'Knuckle Bomb', she noticed Eiko preparing a different kind of spell. Wait, is that summoning magic? Seeing her spell go off, a large blue, majestic wolf appeared from the earth beside Eiko. It let out a howl, and the rock face of the cliff cracked as a large fist of stone sprung forth from it, making the others stare on wide eyed as it punched the giant right in the gut, making it double over. The giant yelled in rage, bringing down it's own fist, shattering the rocky fist. Okay, how am I suppose to top a punch like that!? Pinkie thought, looking at the giant in indignation as the others abandoned their surprise, getting their heads back in the fight as Eiko's eidolon vanished.
One thing the giant had established by breaking the fist. It was easily stronger than Lani, which made Pinkie worry for Applejack. Her worry was well placed, as it turned and bent low to punch the mare, crushing her between the rocky cliff. Pinkie's heart skipped a beat as the giant pulled it's fist back, revealing her friend, still standing, in the crater of the impact. Applejack staggered, but she was still conscious. Spike, an attempt to distract it from his friend, struck the giant with lightning, which it didn't seem to register to the behemoth. Zidane followed up, letting out a taunting shout as he jumped high, slashing across the giant's back as Dagger covered Applejack in a spell of protection.
The monster stomped its foot, sending out another ripple of cracked earth, but this was different from its first attack, making Pinkie suspect it's first attack was simply a side affect of it's weight hitting the earth. The ground shattered, sending fractured rocks crashing into each and every one of them. When Pinkie was struck by the attack, she was sent flying, and for a moment, the world disappeared in groggy darkness.
When she came too, the area was a dusty mess, the flat path had been broken, jagged rocks and boulders lining the battlefield. Her head and body ached as she got on her hooves, and took in what was transpiring. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw the slumped forms of Zidane and Dagger, scattered amongst the shattered stone. At the cliff face, stood the giant, who was slowly, consistently punching the same spot, the spot Applejack had been crushed in. Each punch was halted by a purple-pinkish barrier, that shattered after each impact. Before taking any other action, Pinkie first brought herself back to peek condition by drinking a powerful potion. As she drank, she made out that Spike and Eiko were in that constantly breaking barrier, along with Applejack, who were looking at the giant, fear evident on her faces. That. Won't. Do! Pinkie loaded the 'Party Knuckle Sandwich' into her cannon, and let it rip.
The three bladed bomb implanted itself into the giant's large rear end, making the giant stand straight up and turn around in angry pain. Pinkie gave it a sinister grin as the bomb went off, knocking the Giant down, landing on it's face. The others took the chance, and got out of the crater, splitting up. Eiko cast a spell, and Pinkie felt her hooves leave the ground, and looking to the others, she saw that Applejack was also floating. As Spike was preparing another spell, the giant slammed the ground with its fist, sending out another earthquake. Pinkie and Applejack moved quickly to get Zidane and Dagger off the ground as the rippled grinded the broken stones together.
They had saved their friends, but Eiko and Spike were hit by the attack for their efforts. No, that's not quite right. Spike had teleported next to Eiko, and got her off the ground, making Spike the only one hit with the attack. Eiko looked at him, shocked, as he staggered, but he wasn't out of the fight yet.
Indeed, Pinkie saw that the fight was now turning towards their favor, as Spike went into Trance. His clothes disappearing as he was wrapped in purple and green lightning. But he wasn't the only one to enter Trance. Eiko entered it as well, Spike saving her from the earthquake was the trigger, his selfless act moving her into the storm of power that was Trance. She was wrapped in light as white and purple lightning arced over her, her clothes changed color, to gold and silver, her hair turned golden as well as power coursed through her. Pinkie's surprise was overshadowed by Applejack's, and Pinkie caught something she didn't normally see from Applejack. Envy.
The giant turned to the pair of lightning children, in time for Spike to let out his attack. As Spike exhaled, his magic fired out like a breath attack, a gray miasma that seemed to disappear before it's affects became obvious. A large clock imposed itself on the giant, the area, the sky, the ground, everything. And the clock stopped. And so did the dust in the air, the falling debris from the mountain wall, the giant. Everything shifted into grayscale. Everything, that is, but Spike and his friends. I- I think this fight is over! Pinkie thought as Eiko's healing quickly brought Zidane and Dagger back up, and as Eiko worked to quickly heal the others and empower them with her floating spell, everyone else went to work attacking the frozen giant, causing as much harm as they could before time resumed.
Their attacks froze as soon as they went off, trapped in time, waiting for time to resume to annihilate the enemy. Zidane made easy work of stealing what possessions the monster had as a number of ensuing cuts filled the air. Before time resumed, a number of attacks where lined up to carve into the monster.
Pinkie got off four shots of her cannon, sending four streams of pain, sand, fire, water, and sound, all focused on the wound she had inflicted with her 'Boom Bomb Bottom Blast'.
A blinding array of lightning bolts from Ramuh's magic had formed a cage around the giant, waiting to seal it into mist.
Two gouts of Tetra-breath were ready to impact the giant in the face, a swath of lightning, fire, and ice.
For added measure, Applejack had tied the giant in place, and three Applebucks were waiting to connect. As they're attacks were lined up, Spike and Eiko's trances came to an end, signaling the conclusion of the battle.
Time resumed.
A torrent of noise, explosions, and all around cacophony of destruction occurred, blinding them all as a mushroom cloud of hot dust and sand blew out from where the giant stood. And when it ended, and the smoke cleared, nothing remained of their foe, nothing but a crater of where it once stood.
Though the battle had an alarming start, it's resolution left an impression on the party.
“That-” Zidane began as he looked over the crater.
“Was-” Spike interrupted as he looked over his friends, his grin evident to all.
“Awesome~!” Pinkie screamed out as she gave the dragon a hard hug. “You should stop time more often!”
“Next time I Trance, you can count on it!” Spike assured, and letting go of him, Pinkie quickly appraised the others. Eiko was looking at Spike and Pinkie fondly, Zidane was picking something up from the crater. Dagger looked relieved that they were alright, and was also looking to Eiko with a bit of curiosity. Applejack didn't look happy. In fact, Applejack looked disappointed, and it made Pinkie worry, but Dagger spoke up before she could address her friend.
“Eiko, was that an eidolon?” Eiko gave Dagger an annoyed nod, as if it was obvious.
“Yea, didn't you summon one as well?” She replied as her eyes narrowed on the princess, implying that Dagger's question had been stupid.
“Well...” Dagger replied hesitantly, prompting Zidane to speak for her.
“It's not particularly normal where we're from.” He explained, “Have you always been able to do that?” He asked, and as they conversed, the six of them collected themselves, and moved on, leaving the ruined part of the path behind them.
“Of course,” Eiko replied, pride seeping through her words, “My grandpa and everyone did it all the time.”
“What do you mean?” Dagger asked as they reached a fork in the road, just past the clearing they left behind. Spike started to head to the left, but Eiko spoke up, abandoning Dagger's question.
“No, that's not the way, Spike.” She said, almost soothingly, “That's the way to the Iifa Tree.” She then indicated to the path splitting to the right. “This is the way to my place!” She enthusiastically proclaimed.
“The Iifa Tree?” Applejack asked, looking off down the path, catching sight of the tree above the rocks. “So it isn't called Sanctuary?” Eiko looked at Applejack, dislike written on her face, as well as a hint of confusion.
“Huh?” Then comprehension dawned on her face, “Oh. That's what the dwarves call it. Everyone else calls it the Iifa Tree.” She explained nonchalantly.
“The Iifa Tree,” Applejack emphasized as she again looked towards the imposing tree, her brow furrowing.
“Come on, let's go!” Eiko said, almost stomping the ground at the party's immobility. They all nodded, and continued down the path to the right.
“She's pretty capable for someone her age, and pretty bossy too, a child worthy of chaos!” Discord happily commented, “Kind of reminds me of those three fillies back home.” Pinkie nodded at his commentary, pondering what the people Eiko lived with were like.
In short order, Spike got a hold of a green stone, and a yellow stone. And when they reached the path's end, there was a statue with four holes in it. Putting the stones in the holes, a part of the statue opened up, revealing a light blue stone within. When Spike picked it up, the stone turned white, and his eyes widened in surprise, as a look of familiarity washed over his face.
“A moonstone?” Spike asked, naming the rock as he turned to the others. Applejack eyed it before reasoning out what Pinkie had said earlier.
“That's what Father David must have meant when Pinkie mentioned the moon's blessin'.” Applejack nodded at her own assertion, “It's all yers, Spike.” she proclaimed, keeping her bad mood from poisoning her words, “Yer the one that got the stones after all.” She got a smile from the dragon, who held the stone tight, no doubt granting the dragon new powers.
Continuing down the path, they crossed a root bridge over a gap between two sections of land, separated by water, the ocean stretching out to both sides as they reached the new land mass, a large island connected to the Outer Continent via the large root.
In the distance, Pinkie could see a ruined village. Her eyes looked to the sky, the sun would be setting in a couple hours. Soon it would be night, and it looked like they would be resting at Eiko's home.
“That village, is that your home?” Dagger asked of Eiko.
“Mhmm, it's called Madain Sari.” She curtly answered, as the six of them made their way to the broken ruins in the distance.
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Moogle Notes:
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'...Sigh. Hello Equestrian, this is moogle notes. Kupo.'
'Pinkie's weapon attacks with her party cannon are not so much special abilities as they are different effects with each weapon type:'
'Swords, Double Swords, and Forks deal damage in a varying range, and are not destroyed on use. Spears pin an enemy, not unlike Applejack's Hog Tie, but the spear is destroyed on use. Knuckles do a lot of damage, and typically a status, but are also destroyed on use. Good weapons are pricy, and it's been some time since Pinkie's found a vendor selling spears. She also hasn't had much of a reason to use spears, since she is almost always with Applejack. She also hasn't had much success using staffs or Dagger's particular weapons. There are two other types Pinkie has yet to try, Throwing Weapons, and Knight Swords, but those are for a later chapter. Kupo.'
'Also, for some reason, only forks give Pinkie new abilities, must have something to do with being a party pony.'
'Spike's use of Tetra-breath caused Stopga, which pretty much spelled the end for the giant.'
'If you're wondering why Dagger and Eiko's eidolons don't seem as powerful as the ones used to destroy Cleyra and Lindblum, it's because they're holding back. The power of the eidolons is terrifying, and if they went all out, they would end up injuring themselves, or worse, their friends.'
'The Iifa Tree, an imposing article of great power that has been on Gaia for many, many years. You can count on the rest of them checking it out soon. Kupo.'
'Choco and I scoured this entire continent looking for a Chocobo Sanctuary, but we never found one. Though we did discover some locations that were of interest too the others. Shame it didn't matter when we reunited with them...'
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Pinkie Pie
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Items Equipped:
Mythril Fork Cannon: High Tide(mastered), Party Bomb(mastered)
Feather Hat: Bright Eyes(mastered), Add Status(mastered)
Silk Robe: Ability Up(mastered), Loudmouth(mastered), Cake!(mastered)
Reflect Ring: Reflect, Distract, Auto-Reflect
Shard of Chaos: Pinkie Pie(mastered)
Lvl-22 HP 992/992 MP 18/102
AP 1/26
Auto-Reflect(15) - Automatically casts Reflect in Battle.
*Auto-Confuse (5) - Targets of your abilities and attacks have a chance to become confused.
High Tide (8) - Allows you to Trance faster.
*Pink Pie (6) - Party Pony! abilities cannot miss, and your beneficial abilities don't confuse your allies.
*Chemist (4) - Doubles the effect of Potion, Hi-Potion, and Ether.
*Auto-Potion (3) - Automatically uses Potion when damaged.
*MP+10% (4) - Increases MP by 10%.
Add Status (3) - Adds weapons status affect when you Attack.
*Ability Up (3) - Characters learn abilities faster.
Bright Eyes (4) - Prevents Darkness.
Loudmouth (4) - Prevents Silence.
Abilities:
Blue Magic:
Aqua Cannon 14 MP: Deals Water damage to all foes.
Bass Cannon 14 MP: Deals non-elemental damage to all foes, and a chance to silence them.
Fire Cannon 14 MP: Deals Fire damage to all foes, low chance to cause Heat.
Sand Cannon 14 MP: Deals Earth damage to all foes, and a chance to blind.
Quake Cannon 14 MP: Deals Non-elemental damage to all foes.
White Confetti 14 MP : Restores HP of multiple targets.
Party Pony!:
Pony Cannon 0 MP: Deals damage to single foe, does some damage to user.
Cake! 8 MP : Cures Trouble. Casts Haste and Regen to single target.
Party Bomb All MP: Deals damage to all foes. Deals more damage with higher MP.
Trance: Automatically casts Mighty Guard and Regen on the party. Blue Magic abilities become more potent.
I think I'm going to start to run out of applicable songs for the titles, especially in early disc three...
Oh hey! New party member get!
Click here if you can't see the adorable.
Wanna thank my editors OCisbestpony and Seiya for the aid!
And I want to thank you, Mr/Ms reader! For being all around awesome!
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Nice touch with the Tree of Harmony since the place it's replacing is a Terran location in FF9. Though I should point out that it's actually named the "Iifa" Tree, rather than "Lifa" with two i's. (lowercase here so you can tell the difference
)
So, a new party member...nice. I have to wonder what is up with that tree that got both Pinkie and Discord bothered. Can't wait to find out. And poor Applejack, she want so much to utilized that Trance technique, but haven't been able to.
By the way, there is two things I like to point out: 1) the picture isn't showing up; and 2) where is the 'Knuckle Bomb' technique in Pinkie's status list?
There is also something else that I want to point out, grammar-related: I have been seeing a lot of word confusion (Ex. to/too and affect/effect) and incorrect possession form of 'it' (which is 'its'). You may want to watch out for those a little better.
5347285 Wow! For these last 13 years, I've been pronouncing it wrong!
Aye-Fa Tree? EE-Fa tree?
How is that even pronounced?
5347397 The picture is a bit big, it show's for me but it may not be kind to mobile devices. Which is a shame cause it's a really cute picture!
Url for your troubles. http://static.zerochan.net/Eiko.Carol.full.172780.jpg
Concerning Pinkie's attack, I'll let Mois cover that one:
'Pinkie's weapon attacks with her party cannon are not so much special abilities as they are different effects with each weapon type:
Swords, Double Swords, and Forks deal damage in a varying range, and are not destroyed on use.
Spears pin an enemy, not unlike Applejack's Hog Tie, but the spear is destroyed on use. Knuckles do a lot of damage, and typically a status, but are also destroyed on use. Good weapons are pricy, and it's been some time since Pinkie's found a vendor selling spears. She also hasn't had much of a reason to use spears, since she is almost always with Applejack. She also hasn't had much success using staffs or Dagger's particular weapons. There are two other types Pinkie has yet to try, Throwing Weapons, and Knight Swords, but those are for a later chapter. Kupo.'
'Also, for some reason, only forks give Pinkie new abilities, must have something to do with being a party pony.'
Thanks Mois!
So, yea, I even had to look up the difference between affect/effect when writing that paragraph above these words(and I'm still not sure if I got it right). English writing was my dump stat back in school. Irony much?(I bet I just misused irony too)
Wanna help me with editing?
My two friends help with content and help point out narrative mistakes, I could use a grammar editor. ::shamelesslyaskingforhelp::
5348059
Pinkie's Attacks: Ahhh, gotcha. Heh, thank Mois.
Picture's Link: Still not showing up. It keep saying 'Use the share links provided instead!', I'm afraid to say.
Editor: Sure, but considering that you are a fast updater, I'll just give you the edit version after you post the chapter. For now, I'll start with the next chapter and move on from there, and then when I am able to, I'll go back to early chapters and pulled out my grammar duster...though, I need to clean that sucker up, it is getting very filthy by now. Heh heh heh. Anyways, all kidding aside, this would also give me a chance to see the revisions you made earlier.
5348308
How about this one?
http://www.zerochan.net/172780
Also, Really!? You'll help!
You're awesome!
5348337
Ahhh, that's much better...also, dawwww~!
Heh, you're welcome.
5348059 I've always thought of it being EE-fa. As for mispronouncing it since the game came out... I can see how that can happen with the ingame font used for dialogue and menus, but the location name is easily identifiable when you first enter it. Take a look:
garygadsdon.com/stuff/iifa.jpg
5348910 Yea, don't know what to say. I guess I stuck with my first interpretation of the name way back when I first played it.
I still pronounce Zidane as Zai-Dane, as opposed to its actual pronunciation. I'm glad you're helping me keep these things straight, such as Ipsen's castle so many chapters back. Thanks a bunch! 
5348998 I'm anal when it comes to accuracy and it only gets amplified when FF9 is my favourite game of all time.
5349135 Terra is best pony.
Wonderful work as always.
I personally love how Eiko has a crush on Spike, And I can't wait to read how this goes. I can just see the confliction after all the time Spike has crushed over Rarity it's nice to read about someone crushing on him. I know he probelly still has feelings for Rarity but I personally hope Spike decides to at least give her a chance, After all the times Rarity ignored his efforts you would think he would be sensitive or at least understanding to having the one you love ignore you. And no offense to the Sparity readers but Rarity isn't their and she had her chance.
Love the new abilities you add to the game especially Spikes Friendship's Magic and can't wait to see what he gets next.
As alway's keep up the good work.