My Final Pony Fantasy IV

by Vimtrust5

Chapter 6: Scaling Mt. Hobs; The Warrior from Fabul

At the break of dawn, our heroes awoke and began gathering their supplies into the large bag. Happy as he was to be with his loved ones again, Shining Armor realized something that had been bothering him since his reunion with Twilight.

"Twily, there's something I wanna ask you," he asked his sister.

"Yes?"

"Where's Spike?"

Twilight gasped as her eyes widened, as did the other Equestrians'. "OH MY GOSH!! YOU'RE RIGHT!! All this time, I never even thought about him! Oh..."

"Now that you mention it, I haven't even seen Spikey-wikey at all!" Rarity added.

"Now, now, settle down, everypony," said Applejack. "Ah'm sure we'll find him faster than a hot knife through butter."

The humans looked the orange earth pony in confusion.

"What Applejack means to say is: we'll find our friend," Twilight translated.

This one has such a strange way of speaking, Cecil thought to himself.

With everything ready, the party left Kaipo and ventured towards the kingdom of Fabul, hoping to reach the Crystal before the Red Wings.

---

Mt. Hobs

Once they reached the foot of the mountain, our heroes saw their path blocked by a sheet of ice. Shining Armor knocked on it with his hoof.

"Seems pretty thick," the unicorn stallion said. "Twily, you think we can take care of this?"

"Perhaps I may be of assistance," said Luna.

The three magic users flared their horns and fired magical beams, but before they could hit the ice, a magical barrier intercepted their magic. Undeterred, the three continued their assault, and after several intense minutes the barrier was broken. However, the amount of energy spent was vast, leaving the three exhausted. Without warning, Twilight, Shining and Luna collapsed. The rest soon rushed over to their side.

"Oh my goodness!" Cadence gasped. "Are you three alright?"

"Yeah," Shining panted. "We just... need a little rest."

"My stars!" said Rarity.

"Rydia, can you try chanting the Fire spell?"

The young summoner stood silent, reluctant.

"What's wrong?" asked Edward.

"At least give it a try. I know you can do it," Rosa pleaded.

"I... I can't. I'm afraid of fire!" Rydia cried.

"Afraid?" Cadence pondered. She then saw her husband and Cecil lowering their heads.

"We know why," the former replied.

"Her village was destroyed by fire when we..." the dark knight stopped, unable to finish his sentence.

"Rydia, you're the only one who can melt this ice. Those three can barely conjure a spell now. If we can't get through to Fabul, more people will be in danger. Please, Rydia."

"Rydia... You've healed me, you've helped Cecil, you've helped Rosa... and you have the power to help many more people. Please, we need your strength and courage," said Edward.

"All ya gotta do is try, Rydia," Applejack said earnestly.

Looking within herself, the young girl found her courage, raised her arms... and summoned a magical flame, melting the ice.

"Fire!" the girl gasped, unable to believe what she had seen and done.

"Rydia, that was incredible!" Edward said proudly.

"YEE-HAW! Ya did it, sugarcube!"

"Congratulations, darling!"

Rydia could only giggle at the praise she was receiving; now she could cast a Fire spell in battle.

And so, our heroes' climb of Mount Hobs began. The wind blowing in their faces brought forth an ill omen, reminding them that time was not on their side.

At one point, the party stopped. On the ground were scattered several bones; the bones of those who couldn't overcome the trials of the mountain, they wondered. The Equestrians closed their eyes and prayed their respects for the fallen souls. Just then, the remains shook and gathered together to form skeletons!

"Uh-oh!" Twilight said.

"We need to get through," said Rosa.

"So be it," Luna replied.

"Hold on now! Y'all think that's necessary?!" said Applejack, firmly.

"Look upon them, Applejack," the dark knight pointed, unsheathing his sword. "These souls were brought back to hinder us. We must do battle with them."

"Rydia! Get rid of them!" said Shining.

The summoner nodded and began chanting; one skeleton charged at her but was intercepted by an arrow to the eye socket. Said arrow was launched from Rosa's bow. Another one of the skinless beings attempted to swipe its sword towards Applejack, who dodged sideways and kicked it so hard, it flew to the wall, causing the skeleton to fall apart once more.

At that point, Rydia finally summoned a great wave of fire burning the remaining skeletons to ash.

"Ha HA! We have claimed victory!" Luna cheered.

"With all due respect, Your Highness, it was Rydia who got them," said Shining Armor.

"And Ah reckon me an' Rosa helped out, too," Applejack added.

"I know," Luna giggled.

The group continued their march through the airy mountain, acquiring several items along the way.

"Do you hear something?" Cadence asked.

"What's going on?" Cecil pondered.

In a hurry, the group rushed towards the summit of the mountain where they see a man in the clothing of a monk fight off several monsters.

"That garb... He must be one of the monks of Fabul!" Edward observed.

The monk in question made quick work of his adversaries with flying kicks and a swift uppercut. Just then, a large fiery creature appeared in front of him.

"It-It's a Bomb!" Twilight gasped.

"That's no ordinary Bomb!" Edward pointed out.

"What do you mean?"

Before Edward could answer...

"Hold it right there!"

The Equestrians gasped as they heard a familiar raspy voice and saw a familiar rainbow contrail.

"You wanna fight someone on his own? Tough luck, 'cause here's the backup!"

"Rainbow Dash!"

"What is this?" the monk asked in surprise. "What are you? And why do you speak in the same tongue as us humans?"

"Neer mind that. Let us help you!" said Shining Armor.

"Let's go!" the cyan pegasus shouted.

Luna summoned a magic beam from her horn, followed by Edward attacking with his lyre. Rydia unleashed her Blizzard magic weakening the creature. Just then, the Bomb grew and changed shape!

Needless to say, the ponies were taken by surprise, especially Rainbow Dash.

"WHAT THE...?!"

"You were right, Edward! This ISN'T a normal Bomb!!" said Cadence.

"Quick! Take this thing out before it blows!!"

Twilight then had an idea; she whispered into Rydia's ear. The child then began chanting while the others were busy with the large Bomb. Suddenly, Rydia's ice magic combined with Twilight's own magic and went straight through the mutant Bomb.

The monk focused all of his energy and delivered yet another flying kick. Cecil unleashed a dark wave from his sword. The Bomb then roared and collapsed.

The monster was vanquished; suddenly, the bodies of Cadence and Luna began to glow once more. Just then, a bright light emitted from them. The rest shielded their eyes. The light began to dim, and the two princesses looked upon themselves to discover they had regained their horn and wings respectively.

"You have saved my life... and for that, I am eternally grateful. I am Yang Fang Leiden, high monk of Fabul," he said, introducing himself. "I came out here to train with my men, but all of them were killed by a swarm of beasts. They were Fabul's finest monks," he spoke somberly.

"My name is Cecil, and we bring urgent news to Fabul," the dark knight said.

"A villain named Golbez is abusing Baron's authority to seize the world's Crystals," Rosa added.

"Then he covets our Wind Crystal as well."

"That's right," said Shining Armor.

"There can be no doubt," said Edward. "He easily seized the Earth Crystal of Damcyan a few days ago."

"Then the odds are against us. The only monks left in the castle are but mere students; they stand little chance against Baron's forces."

"So this Golbez guy you're talking about... He's probably the one who sent those monsters after you, including that big Bomb we just took out!" Rainbow concluded; everyone else nodded in agreement.

"It would appear an attack is imminent. I must go!"

"Wait!" Cadence cried out.

"We're not letting you go face him alone. Let us join you," said Shining Armor.

"We will lend you our aid," Cecil added.

"I am grateful for you saving my life. However, this does not concern you," Yang argued.

"But it already does!" Twilight countered.

"For I am the Prince of Damcyan," Edward stated.

"Rosa and I are citizens of Baron and this girl is one of the many victims of our kingdom's recent attacks... which I have personally led," Cecil stated with guilt, looking away.

"And we ponies are targets of Baron," said Shining Armor. "They tried to have me killed in this girl's village, but for some reason when they attacked Damcyan, Golbez spared Princess Cadence's life and yet they killed everyone else."

"That... is quite puzzling," Yang remarked. "To be honest, I did not expect such company. Especially these four-legged creatures from another world... However, you did help save me and thus hae proven yourselves helpful and trusting. Very well, I humbly accept your assistance."

"Thank you," said Shining. "Let's head on to Fabul then. Quickly."

Everyone agreed. Following the monk, the party left Mount Hobs behind and resumed their march through the field until, finally, they approached their destination.

"Say, Rainbow Dash," said Twilight.

"Yeah?" the blue pegasus replied.

"How did you get your wings back?"

"Wasn't easy, Twilight. I fought tons and tons of monsters tryin' to get to you guys. So, um... Where's Spike?"

Twilight stopped. "That's the thing. I didn't even think about Spike until now," she said with guilt.

Spike... Where could he be? Twily must be worried about him, Shining Armor thought to himself.

---

Several days ago...

Spike awakened and found himself alone in the halls of a stone castle. He scanned his surroundings and found nopony in sight.

"Twilight!!" he cried. "Rarity? Rainbow Dash! Applejack?! Pinkie Pie! Fluttershy? Princess Cadence? Shining Armor! Princess Luna?!" None answered his calls. "This is getting creepy."

The dragon wandered the halls, not noticing a mysterious, sinister figure shadowing him...

Comments

[chrismonteith]

Poor spike boi

[MasterPhoenix93]

oh spike is THERE

[Omegamorph]

Well I have to wonder where Spike is. Also never noticed the strange smiley faces with Yang's original artwork before now.