The Crystal Empire reappeared with little ceremony and the moment life returned, Healer could sense things going wrong. The night's spent studying the complex series of spell matrixes the king used to keep everything running was now being put to use as she flew through the palace and straight to the king's office. She went over to his desk, pulled out the secret panel and pressed the switch that lay behind it. The back wall slid back to reveal a stone slab inlaid with a complex, interweaving map of spell circles and runic calculations.
She instantly knew what was wrong. With a thought she called upon her power and three figures appeared around her. A golden phoenix perched on top of her staff while a black fox idly watched her from the shadows and the familiar form of Arbiter landed on her head. She wasted no time in giving them orders.
"Fox, coral the guards into the training hall, their suits have locked up but your telekinesis is strong enough to move them, Sage I need you to map out the whole Empire, find that Crystal Heart we read about."
The creatures in question nodded and hurried to follow through as the medic took to the air and flew as fast and as low as she could in a frantic search for someone. As she flew outside the palace the wind howled and blew her off course. She spun around to correct herself and landed in the plaza. A storm was quickly closing in and Healer sighed in annoyance. The glow on her staff went from yellow to green, with a twirl of the magical device, she slammed it into the ground and it emitted a steady hum as a green shield expanded upwards to protect the Empire from the storm.
Finally, she spotted a familiar face and walked up to her old friend.
"Fable, listen the obedience matrix the king used has gone out of control, I need you to focus," she said and a spark of recognition appeared briefly on the crystal pony's face. "I need your help just like I did when I first arrived. Do you think you can lend me a hoof?"
Color and joy returned to her best friend as Fable smiled and gave her a playful salute.
"What can I do for you?"
In under an hour things had returned to normal and preparations for the wedding continued. With Fable keeping an eye on things, the medic was free to scout for any sign of King Sombra, or an invading force from Equestria. Arbiter was still perched on her head as he had refused to move. Though it was a good thing he remained, as he was the first to spot something.
* I see a train heading towards the nearby station.
"shit."
She hovered silently and watched as two ponies and of all things, a human in power armor stepped off the train and began to make their way towards the Empire quietly conversing among themselves. In the corner of her eye Healer noticed a black mist rolling towards the three newcomers, mist that didn't look like part of the storm. On impulse she flew towards it, her magic flaring as she pushed more of it into her wings.
The cloud of mist growled as the familiar face of King Sombra took shape. He had seen better days, his power had twisted around him, the whites of his eyes were green as sickly purple smoke leaked out from his sockets. The wild state of his magic was reflected in his predatory gaze, all traces of intelligence gone from the ruler's face and only the smallest hint of recognition remained as he looked at her.
The medic looked back to see the person in power armor was shielding the two ponies, his weapon raised as watched for signs of danger. She looked back at Sombra, torn between preventing conflict and a desire to care the sick king. The stress, worry and fear piled up until it all crumbled away, replaced by a sense of logic influenced calm. She was overcome with a strong feeling of deja-vu as she analyzed the situation and felt the ebb and flow of her magic.
Destiny was forcing itself upon her, a trial to test her strength with Sombra's life and the Empire's freedom on the line. She took a deep breath, control was key, knowledge was necessary and after everything she been through, after a thousand years of barely clinging to life and sanity...
Healer refused, her magic blazed white as half remembered visions danced across her vision and in a flash the newcomers were out of danger and Sombra was contained in a green bubble, snarling in rage at his imprisonment. She checked for any weaknesses in the spell or any other threats before, with a thought, she teleported back to the Empire. The spell holding the king in place wouldn't hold for long and the medic knew she had to act fast.
She reappeared in her office where the two ponies and human looked around in confusion.
"Ok, let's get to the point. I don't care about who you are, why you're here or who sent you. I am Healer Seraphis, I worked for six months to make this place as habitable and tolerable as possible under a misguided ruler," she stated curtly, her face emotionless. "We nearly had everything perfect, hell I was going to get married! But then poof, next thing I know I've spent a thousand years in The Void and everyone I know and love is dead!"
Her voice changed with that outburst, rage, despair and grief mingled together into a single expression of her true self and when she next spoke, gone was the German accent and in its place was the voice of a young Australian woman. "All I have left is the half remembered haze of memories of the six months I spent here, the few people I call friends and a-a need to help people, to save them or heal them- to just do something!"
"I'm not asking for much just please, let me handle Sombra and just I dunno, go sightseeing or something, everything's under control," Healer begged. "Please, I don't want to fight.... please..."
The visor of the power armor slid up as the soldier lowered his rifle. "Well shit..." Healer heard him murmur under his breath. He looked back to the ponies behind him. "I don't think this is as big an emergency as Celestia said it was." She couldn't hear the responses from the ponies, but the soldier "If she has it handled, then all we need to do is play nice. If I got this right you two will just have to play emissary." Another brief moment of silence. "Right." The soldier turned back around and stowed his rifle on his back. He spoke in a voice loud enough for Healer to hear properly. "The name's James Raynor, the guard for these two." James gestured two the two ponies who stepped out from behind him.
"I'm Princess Cadence and this is my husband, Shining Armor," the pink unicorn with wings said as the white furred unicorn stallion beside her nodded in acknowledgement. "We don't want to fight either and we'd be happy to help."
"Ok... Ok, I'll have Fable give you guys a tour of the place while I handle the things, I just- thanks, thank you for cooperating." Healer replied and rushed out of the room as her assistant trotted in.
"Hi, I'm Fable Weaver! I'll be your guide for today!"
"So, we're not gonna comment on the fact she had a doll on her head?" Shining asked
* Are you going to be alright?
"Yeah, From what I saw it looks like King Sombra's magic has intensified in attempt to shield him from the effects of The Void, resulting in his pony and umbrum magic conflicting more than it should, which in turn amplified the psyche erosion caused by Void overexposure," Healer replied as the wind whipped around the green bubble like shield she encased herself with. "His own magic drove him to madness..."
* He's going to fight you, you know.
* You don't have to do this....
"If I don't, then his life is forfeit and everything we've been through, everything I've learned and... lost will be for nothing," she replied. "I'm the only one who can save him."
* Just remember I can only siphon off your excess magic while I'm nearby, I'm not going anywhere but please be careful.
* This world doesn't have the magical suppression of The Void and you will be much stronger here.
"I know Dad and uh....thanks for being there for me."
Atop her head Arbiter's form shifted to look as if he was smiling despite the lack of mouth.
* You needed family and I told you before, if this is what you need me to be, then I'll gladly look after you.
"Alright, we'll need to draw him away and wear him down to the point where I can untangle the flow of his magic and hopefully trigger a resurrection, ready to road test the PVE?"
* The Preservation of Vitality Enclosure?
* Heck yeah!
With her personal shield keeping the howling winds at bay, she flew into the frozen wilds in search of the mad king. Soon she spotted the rolling black smog as Sombra charged towards her, horn glow and fangs bared. With a flick of her wings she darted to the side, he turned back and fired red bolts of magic that bounced harmlessly off her shield. With his attention squarely on her she gritted her teeth and focused. Her power rushed through her at the slightest nudge, colours and images danced across her vision as she pulled back on her power, firmly rooted her mind in the current situation and bent the world to her will.
Tink!
A jagged white and red lump popped out of Sombra. With nary a thought, Healer rooted the lump that was Sombra's soul and by extension the king himself in place as she turned it green. She was horrified at the state he was in but it only spurred her on, a bubble of energy surrounded them both as her own soul, a purple heart appeared with a soft tink and floated above her chest.
The bubble they were now trapped in was an ever shifting expanse of purple, green and blue magic and several white limes outlined the limited space Healer and Sombra were able to move around in. Four golden buttons appeared before each of them, labelled with glowing white icons and text.
> FIGHT
> ACT
> ITEM
> MERCY
* You know, I always find it amusing that you subconsciously alter how you cast to reflect a simple colour coded system that would be at home in a video game.
* Your imagination is a sight to behold.
"I don't remember where it's from but it feels, good to use my magic like this," Healer said with a sad smile. "Simple but efficient."
* Does this mean I can go back to saying flavour text?
Arbiter asked and she shrugged, not minding either way.
* I love my job.
* You feel the weight of your grief upon your back, yet despite everything you're still you.
* You are filled with perseverance.
She hovered silently as she contemplated what to do.
Dragging out the fight could be dangerous, he needs to be treated ASAP but... hm I need more information before i can begin.
She kept a close eye on her patient as she reached for the ACT button. With a sigh, she focused internally on the small portion of Arbiter's power within her soul and melded it's power with her own magic to scan to the complex weave of magic that surrounded the mad king.
* > ACT > CHECK
* Fallen Sombra- 80 Attack, 80 Defense
* His magic shields his soul and keeps it in a state between life and death.
She felt Arbiter wag his tail in pride as she processed the information, though he remained silent she knew her adoptive father was proud at the amount of skill she was able to confidently wield since her banishment all those years ago. She ended her "turn" and braced herself, a green long sword in hand.
As Sombra thrashed within his cage, no thought, no true intelligence to his actions as hundreds of blasts of magic erupted from his horn and homed in on his target. It was nothing but rage and pain when the spells collided with Healer's soul, the intent behind the magic used chipped away at her HoPe s she bore the brunt of the act, her sword held sideways and just barely deflecting the worst of the barrage. The assault seemed endless as her robe tore in several places and magical burns spread to every inch of exposed skin.
Finally only the hiss of hot air and the rumbling growls of Sombra could be heard. Healer hung limp in the air, her tatters wings held her aloft and slowly, shakily, she lifted her free hand and pressed a button.
> FIGHT
> SPELL
> Master Blaster
A creaking groan filled the air as a crack in the pocket dimension took shape above her and she could see the white fog of The Void trickle out to curl around her broken form as wispy mist. The crack grew larger as something forced it's way through, a fang filled maw followed by the rest of the white, crystal like skull descended from the crack and floated above her. It didn't appear to be Equestrian in origin, its jaw was longer and looked very much like a horse's skull with teeth befitting a dragon. It had a single, curved horn jutting out of it's forehead and blue balls of flame flickered in its eye sockets.
It opened its jaws and a whirring hum drowned out all noise as magic gathered with its mouth. Healer watched with bated breath as the magic shot out towards Sombra with a loud fwoom, the force of the amount of power behind the attack lit up the enclosure with a blinding light as it hit its mark. When her sight returned, the skull was gone and all that was left of Sombra was the floating lump that was his soul.
Unable to attack and barely clinging to existence the spell skipped Sombra's "turn" as one of the fail safe mechanisms kicked in, the enclosure faded away and left them once more the frozen wilds as the storm raged on around them. She darted forward and gently cradled what was left of Sombra in her hands. her throat felt tight as she blinked back tears, memories once hazy became vivid and emotions that had dulled from time in The Void arose stronger than ever.
Healer wasn't sure what she was doing, the emotional turmoil within her spurred her magic onward, she knew on some level that something was happening and she could hear music drown out and even calm the wild weather. The words came unbidden as if a part of her was reacting to everything after being dormant for so long...
"Please, be still. No need to fear, don't be scared you're safe, right here..." she felt as if this was something pure, void of lies or masks as she sang from the heart. "Rest, my friend, for it’s all passed. The time alone that you’ve amassed.
Golden magic swirled around her and grew in power as a golden beam of light swallowed her and Sombra's soul in its overwhelming might. She watched with joy as Sombra's body slowly reassembled from the surrounding magic.
"A darkened road to bring me back to you. A journey hopeless, heartless. I can’t imagine how we, such fragile souls deserved the pain we knew... Now as time goes by I'll stay right by your side."
She choked back tears of joy as the music reached its crescendo and her magic glowed brightly as a result, Sombra was almost healed and after so long she would finally have him back. She could feel her power draining, her body screaming in protest at her injuries but she didn't care for the medic had found her hope.
Despite the pain, the truth had to be said.
"Stay with me, in the light. Let the warmth bring you to life... Do you see? Does it show? You’re loved so much more than you’ll ever know."
Her magic left her, the music died and sunlight shone down through gaps in the clouds as the last of the storm petered out. The two of them floated down and landed in the snow as Sombra began to awake.
"W-what? Where-" He mumbled as he climbed to his hooves, he spotted his Royal Healer just barely managing to stay on her feet and his eyes went wide in alarm. "What happened to you?"
"Oh, hey your majesty. Don't worry... I'm fine," Healer replied with a forced smile. "I wouldn't save you.... j-just to.... die."
The King of the Crystal Empire watched in shock as a burned and battered Healer collapsed from the severity of her injuries.
Fable paced nervously by Healer's bedside, muttering as she walked.
"How do I help? Healer's out cold, Lord Arbiter is in isolation while the Equestrian Princesses interrogate him and Sombra is in jail of all things!"
The crystal mare glanced over at her unconscious friend. A fever had taken root not long after Sombra had carried her back to The Empire, surrendering on the condition Healer be given medical treatment.
"Do I break my cover?" Fable asked herself but paused as she noticed something. Healer's wing were covered in white dots, concerned Fable moved to inspect them.
"She's growing actual feathers- wait are those horns growing out of head?!"
Now in a panic Fable frantically darted around the small bedroom.
"This has never happened before! What-do-I-do, Huh?"
She stopped mid step as Healer stared back at her in groggy confusion.
"Healer! Are you alright?" Fable exclaimed and rushed to her friend's side.
"I-I think? Kind of? Everything hurts... Is King Sombra ok?"
"He's fine, in jail but perfectly fine." Fable replied as a bleary-eyed Healer stumbled to her feet.
"Something's wrong...Too much magic" the Valkyrie stated. "...Dad's not here..."
She looked more alert and scanned the room before she turned her focus back towards Fable.
"What happened?" Healer asked.
"The Empire is under Equestrian control, your friends are being interrogated by Princess Celestia and Luna while citizens from Equestria are being hailed as heroes for recovering The Crystal Heart," Fable explained. "However the citizens of The Empire are uneasy, in secret they sing your praises as the True Hero of The Empire and the only reason there hasn't been a riot to put you on the throne is the fear of Equestria retaliating while we're weakened and the fact it would put you and Sombra in danger."
"Kay... What if I work with Equestria to smooth things over?"
Fable looked at her friend flatly and said "In your condition? Really?"
"Hey I can fix this!" Healer protested.
"You're growing feathers and horns" Fable deadpanned.
"Well that explains a lot," Healer said and frowned. "I adapted to an environment that supresses magic, which results in too much magic being generated here and now because I'm outside that environment..."
"Let's see if I make rune matrix with a genetic modifer, a magic converter and processor, couple that with a fluid molecular structure and a base design for stability..." Healer rambled and pulled out a piece of parchment, a pencil and began to draw a complicated series of intertwined rune circles.
"Um, explain please?" Fable asked.
"I'll be rebuilding myself from the soul up to better handle my magic via an enzyme to break down excess magical energy into nutrients and vitamins as well as give the ability to adapt on the fly with shape shifting biology."
"...Wat?" Fable asked flatly.
"...I'm going to operate on my soul to turn myself into a magic eating, shape shifting dragon." Healer replied seriously as she continued to draw.
"Isn't that dangerous?" Fable asked.
"To me? Nope."
"Are you sure?"
"Yup.'
"And there's no other way around this?" Fable asked.
"I could not do anything and let my magic twist my body and mind into what it needs me to be to safely wield it."
Horrified, Fable took a deep, slightly shaky breath and said "Operation it is then..."
Healer had cleared out an unused room in the palace and quickly got to work drawing the rune matrix on a much larger scale using the rooms polished crystal floor and a piece of charcoal. From the corner of her good eye, she saw her friend watching by the doorway, understandably nervous as nothing but the sound of Healer carefully drawing drowned out any and all silence.
Finally after some time, Healer stepped back to check her work, the interconnected rune circles were done and as she stowed away the leftover charcoal into her inventory she motioned for Fable that it was time.
"What exactly are you going to do with this?" The crystal mare asked.
"Trying to alter myself on a genetic level won't do squat if my soul thinks I'm supposed to be something else, so this matrix will begin the alteration process and keep it stable while I pull my consciousness into my soul to make the changes to it necessary for the transformation to go smoothly." Healer explained.
"Souls sound complicated." Fable replied.
"Eh, they house everything that makes you who you are and are tied to what you are, if the what changes drastically the who can warp as a result. Like if you got corrupted by dark magic, your mind would warp to match your body to keep your soul and by extension you alive." The medic shrugged.
"G-good luck!" Fable exclaimed.
"Thanks, see you shortly." Healer replied and stepped into the tangled web of rune circles. A bright light filled the room and Healer felt herself shifting, melting almost as she focused, took a deep breath and-
* FILE SAVED.
She opened her eyes to an empty, black expanse void of sound or life yet there was a source of light illuminating the place, somehow. Quietly she looked around until she spotted two figures in the distance, a bone white alicorn and much to her surprise, the same four-winged dragon she vaguely remembered seeing on the carving Sombra had shown her all those years ago. The two were locked in a staring match, bodies tensed as both waited for a hostile action from the other to begin the conflict.
Something roared in the distance and healer turned around to see that this place had more to it than first impressions suggested- she could just make out a dragon-like figure chained to something bright, whatever it was the light it gave of felt foreign even from as far way as she was and it felt alien, like it was an invader or something out of place in this empty landscape. There was clearly more going on here than she first thought and, knowing full well she was inside her own soul, Healer walked towards the two opposing creatures and prepared to get some answers.
The skeletal dragon was the first to notice her, it's form shifting and warping to different skeletal structures but shared a theme of being draconian in origin. It rasped out a hollow sounding laugh and began to speak with a voice made of many different yet all female sounding voices void of joy or hope.
"So you've finally reached Us, O sister ours."
The alicorn, a strange creature made of white, shimmering light with no truly visible features simply watched on in silence and in turn Healer paid him no mind as she responded to the bony beast before her.
"So I guess you're why Dad didn't like me learning about the existence of other timelines, he did say there were others before this one," She observed. "When a pattern is repeated across timelines the memories of alternate version of the same soul will pass their memories from one version to the next as the barriers between timelines come apart from the lack of deviation... You're me."
"And we are you, an amalgam of the ninety-nine Healers that have died across the different timelines, we carry their memories, their emotions, knowledge... Everything."
"So what happens now?" Healer asked.
"With you here, you may receive our memories without succumbing to the despair and grief that drove us to madness. Right now your subconscious and conscious mind are one and the same within your soul so you may take what we have to offer without suffering through the memories as if you lived them yourself...." It replied.
"What happens to you?"
"We will finally know peace..."
"Alright then, Just give me a bit, I need to check out the rest of this place." Healer stated and the amalgam nodded.
With one problem solved she looked over at the alicorn, he was still unresponsive. She already knew what- and more importantly who he was and decided to reach out and poke one of his wings. The equine's head turned slowly to meet her with his faceless gaze and she grinned cheekily.
"Hi Dad!"
The fragment of Arbiter snorted in amusement and gently nudged her towards the chained up dragon off in the distance.
"Yeah, yeah I get it. On my way." She replied, still grinning.
The light coming off of what looked like a crystal tree was almost blinding by the time Healer reached it and the dragon chained to its trunk thrashed even harder than it did before. The creature's serpentine body was covered in shaggy purple fur. it's thin legs scrabbled against the the floor for grip but found none even as the five pairs of feathered wings on its back frantically flapped at a hopeless bid for freedom.
"Hey calm down okay?" Healer said softly and reached out a hand towards the dragon's canine like face. The great beast stopped it's thrashing and locked eyes with the medic- its right eye was blue, its left was a milky white and unfocused as its good eye bored into her in mix of frustration and helplessness as if to say "You gonna help me or what?"
Healer studied the creature, she took note of the broken brown horns on its head and mattered fur as a sign it had been here for a while. The dragon however, was not satisfied with her lack of action and reached out a clawed paw to grasp the hem of her robe and when healed grabbed the offending limb to pry it off, she was overwhelmed with emotions.
A almost naive sense of trust, battered and bruised by years of betrayal, an unwillingness to interact with others from countless weeks of harassment and self hatred spawned from the powerlessness that came with it. Loyalty closely guarded and kept only for those who accepted and trusted without malice or expectations.
She had been hurt many times and despite all that she still persevered, what friends she had were few, but they were her friends.
Her mother was all she had.
She spent a countless lifetimes in The Void and found new friends, new family and they were hers. Nothing, not angel nor demon, not princess nor queen nay, not even God himself would stop her from protecting them, helping them.
They would rue the day they tried to take what was hers.
The dragon was gone and for the first time in a long, long time Healer finally understood. She had power, she had friends waiting for her, a new family waiting to meet her and a king waiting for her to save him. She had power and she was damn well going to use it.
"Amalgam!" She called out. "Time to wrap this up, I have a job to do!"
Healer returned to the waking world energized, refreshed and determined as her magic evened out to a stable level. Out of curiosity and Fable's gasp of horror she pulled out a hand mirror to get a look at herself. There wasn't much of a noticeable change, save her wings being actual feathered appendages instead of magic constructs and her left eye reduced to a milky white color as proof of the blindness she had known it to have through her entire life.
"Is everything alright?" Fable asked timidly, Healer dispelled the mirror and looked over at her friend.
"I'm getting the worst case of deja-vu ever but I'm fine," she replied and began to clean up the mess her drawing had made of the floor. "Once I've got this cleaned up I have a few things that need to get done."
"Anything I can help you with?
"Yeah, go to Sombra's office there's a loose floorboard in the room and you'll find a large trunk inside. Bring it to me if you can."
As Fable ran off to follow her instructions, Healer concentrated on the task ahead. Her brow furrowed and a stormy look crossed her face.
I need to revive Amore, bust out Sombra and the others and hightail it to Faunan Village. If Ammy can pull some strings to give me a place to stay I can get to work mending Sombra's soul and after that....
I'll need to rescue Big Bro.