//------------------------------// // Conflicting Objectives // Story: A Lost Hero // by Happy2343 //------------------------------// The midnight blue Alicorn Princess gazed across the strange land before her. Off in the distance lay the ruins of the candy kingdom. ‘One of the most technologically advanced kingdoms in the world if Finn was to be believed.’ Luna thought, She looked off to the left; the snow-capped blue mountains and blackened snow. ‘How could something so terrible exist?’ She thought. Luna sighed. The Alicorn flew down from one of the large spires on the ruined castle. Her gaze fell over the ruins of the city, the giant magnificent walls, and the castle. ‘A Fortress fit for a Princess I suppose,’ Her mind and body both wandered more. ‘Or it was…’ Luna wandered more around the castle. ‘This was certainly a castle,’ Luna thought, ‘Not as grand or noble as the Canterlot castle, but it looks grand nonetheless.’ Luna looked at the black obsidian walls, showing scars of a battle that was fought long ago, showing scars of wear and tearing of the natural elements. She wandered, aimlessly, not knowing where Finn was. All she knew was that Finn was in the Fire Kingdom. ‘Or what’s left of it.’ Her mind corrected, ‘Poor Finn…’ She thought, ‘He really lost it all. I don’t know what I would be able to do without my sister…’ Her mind ended that line of thought, her not wanting to pursue it any further. There was no doubt about it, a once majestic city and castle were falling to ruins. ‘A civilization used to thrive here.’ Luna thought, ‘Pon...People used to live here.’ Luna walked around what looked like a courtyard of the castle. Her hoof made contact with something that felt like burnt wood, plunging her hoof straight through it. Luna inspected what exactly she stepped in. There was a distinct shape to the rock she had stepped in. ‘A… Rock Person?’ She hastily took flight and attempted to shake any remnant of the rocks on her hoof. A cold presence pressed against her rump. She immediately turned around and saw the crown. She nearly screamed at the sheer surprise of the crown still following her. After recovering from the surprise, she began to seethe with anger. ‘Can you just… STOP, following me,’ She sighed internally. She again took the crown in her magic… and threw it as far as possible. ‘That’s the third time…’ She sighed, ‘I give it twenty minutes.’ Luna looked back to the body she had stepped on. It was considerably charred, beyond recognition in fact. Finn had assured her however that the beings were made out of fire or were bound by fire. The fire had been infused with magic, giving the fire citizens life. ‘Twilight Sparkle would’ve loved to study this type of magic,’ Luna thought. ‘Magic that gives a being life… incredible…’ She looked across the courtyard and her there were bodies everywhere. ‘An entire field of death and destruction.’ Luna thought, ‘I still can’t believe this… how could a creature do this to anypony?’ She looked to her left, more dead bodies, to her right, even more. She sighed. Tears nearly formed in her eyes at all the death that had taken place in this world. ‘Two kingdoms, gone. So many lives extinguished….’ She sighed again. The princess saw a light flowing through a hole in the castle’s wall. Luna flew up to a hole in the castle wall. Inside she saw the human, Finn, sitting on a banged up chair. He was muttering something in a hushed tone. She was only able to catch snippets of what he was saying, “Where… ...obe?” Finn repeated it a few more times. She spied him looking down at something in his hand She touched down. “Finn?” He slowly turned around, “Hey Luna.” He said, “Find anything interesting out there?” Luna turned her head and looked out the hole in the wall. The city was in ruin, its people, dead, She turned back to Finn, “No, nothing other than that crown still following me around.” She saw Finn turn back away from her, “How come the crown is doing that?” Finn begrudgingly turned around again, “I read that the crown was supposed to… bond to its wearer. I guess when you picked it up in your magic… it might’ve, I don’t know, partially bonded to you?” Finn stood up out of the chair. He rubbed his temples, Luna noted that one of his hands had some sort of paper in it, being crushed by Finn’s fist. ‘A picture mayhaps?’ Luna thought, “So Finn…” She started. Finn turned to her, looking straight in her eyes. “Yes?” “Where is this ice king?” She asked. Finn rubbed his chin, thinking. “Last time I talked to him, he said something about an island and a girl.” He explained. “Then why leave the crown?” Luna followed up. “The whole crown is where his power comes from as you’ve told me.” Finn shrugged, “The girl I guess.” Finn then turned back around and grabbed his bag, which had been resting on the ground nearby. “I assume you’re done in your search for survivors,” He turned back to her, “right?” Luna nodded, “Regrettably I am.” She was desperately hoping Finn had some news to lighten the mood. ‘Something good must’ve come out of this’ “I was actually hoping you would find someone…” Finn sighed out. He put on his backpack. “I have an… an idea on how to get you home.” “You still think I would leave you here in a desolate wasteland Finn?” She moved closer, “We can help you, Finn.” She paused, “Twilight and her friends are capable of helping anypony.” “I’m sure they are…” Finn said, “But everyone I came in contact with died or got hurt. Glob, look at what happened to Rainbow Dash.” Finn began moving toward the door. “She lost her leg because of me,” He said, “That black on her leg… that was the Lich’s magic.” Finn began walking to the door. “I assumed so,” Luna said, “But that doesn’t matter, Equestrian medicine has come a long way in terms of magic and traditional medicine. I’m sure there’s some solution.” She teleported in front of Finn, “Finn, please, we could use a fighter like you, you could… help the guard.” he tried to step around her. “Finn, we are having this conversation now, I am telling you, you are coming back, that is an order.” “You know, Princess bubblegum said something along those lines, saying that I needed to ‘find the elementals’, I’m sure you know what happened to her, Princess Luna.” Finn again tried to step around her. “Finn, I don’t care, nobody, not even you, deserves to be left here to die, alone.” Luna bellowed, ‘This is harder than adjusting to my subjects manner of speech.’ Finn again tried to step around her, she mirrored the move, blocking the human. He frowned, frustrated. “Finn, we are not putting off this conversation any further,” Luna said, “I can’t just… leave you here and sleep during the day. It’s not right!” Finn huffed, his shoulders sagged and he rolled his eyes. “Fine,” He said. Luna relaxed, “We’ll see how it works out,” He sighed out, “But,” Luna perked up, “If anypony else gets hurt, it’s on you.” Luna nodded and, to Finn’s amazement, moved out of the way, “Agreed,” She beckoned with her hoof to lead on, “Now what was this about a plan?” Finn crunched the item in his hand a bit more, then relented. He slowly drew his hand up and showed her a piece of paper. The note left on the paper read, ‘If you want to come back and hang out sometime. Call me. -P.’ Luna looked at the paper, then back at Finn, then the paper. Finally, she settled on looking on Finn. ‘Maybe he’s lost it? Or maybe this is some joke?’ “How is this supposed to help us exactly?” Luna asked, “It’s only a piece of paper.” “It’s who wrote the note on the paper. They’re a cosmically powerful being.” The human replied, “With a little luck, we can get sent back to Equestria in no time.” “And how do you know that this being will help us?” Luna asked skeptically. “He’s a friend,” Finn pulled the white sword out from being his back, “He gave me this sword. Or the means to make it…” He sheathed the blade. “I… suppose that is a good sign,” Luna replied. She again looked at the note, “How do we get this friend?” “Well, I was thinking we should go tomorrow. Ya’know, get some rest, food, all that stuff.” Luna immediately felt the drowsiness and immense headache hit her. It only just dawned on her that she’s been up for nearly a full day. Luna nodded, “I could do with some rest.” She put her hoof to her head and felt it thumping. “And something to eat…” she added. “Yeah,” Finn looked behind them to the setting sun in the distance, “They really didn’t keep much in the way of food here, so we should go back to the treehouse.” “I’ll be right behind you,” Luna replied. It was incredibly dark when the pair walked into the treehouse. Luna instinctively lit up her horn while Finn took out his odd metal contraption from his bag. Both the lights broke the blanket darkness in the house. Luna spied several candles on the window sill’s throughout the house. “Perhaps we should light the candle’s, so we don’t have to constantly keep our lights on.” Finn merely nodded. “I’ll go upstairs and light the candles in the bedroom,” Finn said, “Can you do here and the kitchen?” “That is acceptable,” she replied. She lit her horn with a fire spell. She shot several small beams at the wicks’ of the candles. Nearly instantaneously, they caught fire. Finn laughed, “Heh, show-off.” Luna looked at him and smirked. “I’m pretty sure I can light the candles myself, can you get something to eat?” Finn smiled, “If you can call pancakes food, yeah.” He said. Luna’s pleasant smile faltered, Finn took notice. His did the same, “It wasn’t something I said?” He asked in a dejected tone. “N-No,” Luna stammered it, “It’s just that… my sister always made pancakes for me when we switched off…” Finn’s smile returned, “Well, we’ll get you back there tomorrow.” Luna nodded, “I’ll just… light the candles. You make the food.” “Yeah, I'll do that,” Finn said, his seriousness returning and smiling leaving. Luna charged her horn and teleported herself up to the kitchen. She heard the creaking of the house and passed behind her. She turned just in time to see Finn’s white hat stick over the top of the ladder. He was visibly out of breath. “Okay… now was that really necessary?” He said, panting. “What?” She asked as she lit the candles in the kitchen, allowing Finn to see. “Teleporting,” Finn said, “was that really necessary?” “It’s not like I was going to climb the ladder, Finn,” Luna replied. “It would be too cramped.” Finn walked up to the stove. “Point taken,” he said, “But can you warn me before you do, it’s sorta blinding after being in the dark and all.” Luna charged her born to go up to the bedroom. “Fair enough,” She said, “I am about to go up.” Finn nodded and turned around, “Alright, just holler if you need anything.” He said. “I will be back,” Luna said as she released the teleportation spell. Something immediately felt off. It was darker and more evil in some way. Luna thought she heard quiet labored breathing. She looked around the room, being sure not to make much noise. At a glance, there was nothing wrong. *Crack* Luna stopped and tensed up. The breathing, very noticeably, faded away. ‘Somepony trying to be stealthy.` She thought. Her eyes moved from the bed to the nearby window then back. Her eyes, despite their natural night vision, didn’t spy anything. She slowly turned around and did the same thing. ‘Nothing.’ There was nothing that she could see that was off. ‘I should go tell Finn… there might be something in here.’ Her horn lit up as she charged her spell. *Creak* The only thought that shot through her mind was, ‘Oh no.’ Luna was pinned on the ground by a black figure. The figure looked like a taller version of Finn but had a significantly different build. Luna lunged her horn up, attempting to throw or maim the human. The human countered her though, one of their hands grabbing her horn and sending her face down to the wooden floor. Her horn began burning badly. The magic being sucked straight out of the appendage. Luna did the next thing she could do. “FINN, THE-“ The human, with their hand, clamped her mouth shut. Luna’s wings flailed, continuing her efforts to throw off the attacker. Her head was then hit against the floor repeatedly until she stopped all movement. Her eyes barely stayed open. The entire days travel along with lack of sleep and now the fight was taking its toll on the Alicorn. The human, still gripping her, sucking her magic, then said, “I’ve never seen you before.” The voice was distinctly female. The tone, while it at first seemed playful, actually changed to a sadistic tone. “What are you?” She asked. The hand around her mouth loosened. Luna, despite her better judgment, decided to play along. “A pony.” “Well that bit was obvious,” she said, her horn finally being released, a wave of exhaustion hit her. “But What are you doing here?” She asked. A cream came from the ladder behind the human. Another voice registered in Luna’s ears. “Hey, whatever you are, you need to leave.” ‘Thanks for being on time, Finn.’ Despite her blurry eyes, she was able to make out Finn’s figure holding a sword in one hand and a candle in the other. The figure wrapped its hand around Luna’s neck. She began to struggle to breathe. Luna only heard the figure’s words, “Shhh… sleep. He’ll take care of you when you go back.” As the loss of air began to take effect on the Lunar Princess the figure on top of her turn, “Well, isn’t it the Man of the hour,” she said, her voice was distorted, “I thought you’d come back here.” Finn’s stance faltered a bit. “Marcy? Marceline, Is that you?” Her vision went to black Finn looked at the vampire queen currently holding down Luna. “How did you-“ Finn was cut off as Marceline pounced from Luna to Finn. He hit the ground, hard. He reached behind him to draw his sword, but all that was there was the wooden floor. ‘Why did I leave my bag downstairs?’ His grass sword immediately drew it off instinct; barely being able to block the vampire from grabbing his neck. She kept going for his throat. Her hands grabbing at the sword and his neck. ‘She’s acting like an animal!’ Finn thought. “WHAT’s WRONG WITH YOU?!” He screamed at her. Marceline’s left hand left the grass blade and again, went for Finn’s throat. Finn panicked. He reared his head back and the head butted her face through her black hair. Marceline withered in pain, both her hands left Finn and went to the front of her head. Finn took the opportunity to push the deranged vampire off of him. As Marceline fell off and screamed in pain, Finn did the same. ‘Hard: like a rock. The Lich.’ Finn sat up only to realize that the candle he brought with him had caught fire to a nearby dresser. As the flames began to illuminate the room, Finn saw what was wrong with Marceline. Half her head was covered in black. “You took her, Finn.” Marceline said in a distorted tone almost like the Lich, “You took Bonnie.” Finn pulled himself over to a nearby wall. He saw Luna in the ground only a few feet from the Vampire. He straightened out, “Took her? Marcy, we did everything we could.” He said. Finn tightened his grip on his sword, “The Lich took P.B., we tried to-“ “Grrrr… QUIT LYING!” She screamed, “You- you kept fiddling around, procrastinating, you just always… didn’t do what needed to be done!” She got up and crawled around on all fours eerily. Finn kept his eye on her, making sure she was a good distance away. He pulled his sword to his lap, just in case. She stopped next to Luna. “And who is this?” She asked, “Some weird pony-thing?” “She’s not supposed to be here. I tried returning to Ooo alone, but she tackled me.” Finn gritted his teeth at the memory, “I’m just trying to get her back to where she be-“ Finn felt himself get thrown against the wall. He stole a glance to the right. The small fire had begun to eat away at the top shelf of the dresser. He looked back to the vampire attacking him. Her hands gripped his neck hard. He immediately began to try and throw her off. He moved his right hand, still holding the grass sword, and attempted to stab the rogue vampire. However, Finn’s lack of oxygen began to take its toll on the human. His sword moved just slow enough for Marceline to push the arm back to the wall. He attempted to headbutt her again, but Marceline dodged the attack and retaliated by headbutting Finn back. His head throbbed. With the last of his air, Finn decided to go down fighting. His other arm gripped Marceline’s throat and his knee repeatedly hit against her stomach. As if it were clockwork, Marceline headbutt Finn again. This time sending him to the ground. ‘We should’ve just gone and seen Prismo then and there…’ he thought with his fleeting strength. He breathed heavily as Marceline let Finn fall down the wall. He attempted to get up several times, but all were stopped by Marceline’s boot. Marceline then began talking, “The Lich knows I’ve beaten you, Finn. Once I turn you over to him, he’ll give Bonnie back.” Finn tried to open his mouth, but nothing came out. ‘She really strangled me…’ “Don’t try to talk Finn, after that, I’m surprised you’re even conscious,” she said. Finn coughed. Blood splattered on the floor. He coughed again, then again. A familiar smell began to get wafted into his nose. ‘Smoke.’ He barely looked up, the fire had grown even more. He then looked at his feet, he saw in between them was Marceline’s legs. He lunged and pulled Marceline’s rightmost leg, hoping she’d fall into the fire. The lack of oxygen, however, had sapped all strength from the hero. She kicked Finn square in the face, sending his vision in a tizzy. “I hope you’re all out of ideas Finn.” Marceline mocked, “cause I am really starting to get annoyed at putting them down.” “I’m not out of Ideas yet.” A voice said. Finn saw Marceline’s legs turn. Then they were engulfed in fire.