//------------------------------//
// Besaid pt. 1 
// Story: Final Fantasy Twilight 
// by Mystic Sunrise 
//------------------------------//

The next morning, Twilight had to wonder if she had left the window or something. It felt like something was crawling all over her. "Spike. I thought you said you were too old for this?" She mumbled.

A voice giggled. It reminded her of Cadance's now that she thought about it. "She thinks I'm Uncle Spike mommy. Think we should tell her?"

Cadance's giggle could be heard from the doorway. "I think she'll figure it out, honey."

That got Twilight's attention. What the hay was Cadance talking about? And who was she talking to?

Deciding that now would be a good time to wake up, Twilight opened her eyes. Only to come face to face with a grinning filly. Her milk-white coat looked like her brother's, but the multi-colored mane reminded her of Cadance's.

The filly's grin grew wider in a way that reminded her of Pinkie Pie. "Hi, Aunty Twilight! Bout time you woke up!"

"Flurry Heart," Cadance scolded from the doorway.

"What? It is," Flurry responded with an eye roll.

Wait, Aunty? Now Twilight was wide awake as she sat up, causing Flurry to take flight. Twilight's jaw dropped as she saw both the wings and horn she had. "What?" Was all her brain could think of at the moment.

Cadance giggled as she entered the room. "Flurry Heart, meet your Aunty Twilight. Twilight, meet your niece."

Twilight's brain finally started working as she looked at the filly that was floating before her. Now that she looked at her, she could see the family resemblance. Her grin would have made Pinkie proud as she squued.

"Oh my gosh. You're so cute!" She gushed as she rushed over and took the filly in her hooves.

Flurry harumphed. "I am not cute. I'm four. That's way too old to be cute."

Cadance chuckled as she ruffled her daughter's hair. "Well, I say you will always be cute. No matter how old you are."

Flurry tried to hide behind her wings. "Mom!"

Twilight and Cadance both giggled at the adorable sight. "When was she born?" Twilight asked.

Cadance frowned. "A few months after you left. It was going to the first big thing for the Crystal Empire they could really call their own. But nopony was celebrating. Not with you gone."

Twilight's ears drooped. "I'm sorry Cadance. I never wanted to be gone that long. You know that."

Cadance nodded. "I know, and the Crystaling was still a success. But it wasn't as joyous as it should've been. That Flurry is the first natural-born alicorn Equestria has ever known did raise spirits at least."

Twilight thought about that for a moment. "And Princess Celestia and Princess Luna both predate Equestria. I know I asked them at one point about it. I just never brought it up again."

Flurry's grin seemed to get bigger again. "And you get to be my Crystaler now too."

Twilight blinked. "Your what?"

Cadance sat down on the bed next to them. "It's a title usually given to the pony who mentors the child or children of the Royal Family for the empire. No one thought it was right we give it when you weren't there. We've held it for you."

Flurry nodded happily. "None of the ponies before you were much fun. Always trying to make a proper princess. Bleh." She punctuated that last part by sticking a hoof in her mouth. "That one pony, Sunburst, didn't even last an hour."

Twilight looked at Cadance. "Who's Sunburst?"

Cadance rolled her eyes. "He's an old friend of Starlight's. She was the one who said we should try him. It didn't feel right to say no to him. And to his credit, he tried. But he couldn't do it."

Flurry smile dropped. "He's nice at least. I like him."

Twilight thought about it for a moment, before she bowed to Cadance. "I would be honored to be Flurry's Crystaler."

"YAY!" Flurry squeed before she latched onto Twilight. "I won't let you down Aunty Twilight."

Both Twilight and Cadance giggled at the sight before Cadance stood up. "Come on. Your mom is making breakfast downstairs. Everyone is up. Even Rainbow Dash."

Twilight finally got out of bed as Flurry let go and flew alongside her. "Let me guess. They want the rest of the story?"

Cadance nodded. "Yep. You won't need to tell it again. I've already told Flurry what you showed us last night."

Twilight nodded. "Let me get refreshed and I'll meet you both downstairs."

***

Breakfast mostly quite, with Twilight alternating between eating and playing with Flurry Heart. No minded in the slightest of course. She had five years to make up for.

All of them had a million questions, of course, especially Luna after seeing Twilight's dream the night before, but all held off for now and waited for Twilight to start again.

Once breakfast was done with, all returned to the Throne Room as the night before. Twilight seemed more fit for her throne now as she took her place in it. It suited her.

Celestia was the first to break the silence. "Before you begin Twilight, I must ask. The magic you used last night is not quite like the one here in Equestria. That screen for instance."

Twilight nodded. "It's a combination of my magic and watching what machina do." At everyone's questioning looks, she added. "It's what machines are called in Spira. They play a huge part in what happened, but that won't come in for a while."

Igniting her horn, Twilight soon began her tail anew.

***

The first thing Twilight saw was blackness as she finally came to. Opening her eyes, she was greeted with the bottom of the ocean. With a gasp, she brought her head up above the water and looked around. Tidus floated next to her, out cold before he too spluttered and woke up and looked around. "Rikku!" He called.

Twilight was about to join him when something hit her in the back of the head. Irritated now, she looked behind her to see an island off in the distance, with several figures on it, waiving at them.

Tidus though grabbed the ball that had hit her. "Blitzball!" He exclaimed happily.

"Hey! You two okay?" One of the figures asked.

"Heeey!" Tidus called back before diving down below the water before coming back up, hitting the ball up with his head, and then doing a double-legged bicycle kick, sending the ball back to the beach, nearly hitting several people in the head.

Twilight rolled her eyes as he swam off. "Showoff," she mumbled before she swam off. He only chuckled before he followed her. As they walked up the beach, two fellows finished a conversation with a third before leaving. Many of those on the beach gave Twilight odd looks, but of the attention was on Tidus.

He smiled sheepishly. "Yo. Hiya."

"You wanna try that move one more time?" One asked.

Someone gave Tidus another ball. He bounced it on his head once before doing the same move again, this time sending the ball out into the waves at high speed.

All were impressed. "You're no amateur. Who you play for?" The first asked.

"The Zanarkand Abes!" Tidus replied.

Everyone gasped and began to talk amongst themselves, while Twilight face hooved.

"What team you say again?" One asked.

Tidus threw his hands up in desperation. "Uh, I meant... Forget that. I got to, uh... close to Sin's toxin and my head's all foggy like. So I don't know where this place is. Or even where I came from."

That got looks of sympathy from all those around them. "Sin's toxin got you. But you're still alive. Praise be to Yevon!" At that, everyone did a strange gesture, right forearm over left, fingers spread out, hands curved in the shape of a circle and bowed.

After a moment, their leader turned back. "Alright back to practice!" he commanded before turning back and clasping hands with Tidus. "I'm Wakka, coach, and Captain of the Besaid Aurochs brudda."

Tidus smiled. "Tidus."

Nodding, Wakka turned to Twilight, his brow knit in confusion. "And uh, you are? And, what are you?"

Twilight bowed. "Twilight Sparkle. It's, a complicated story of what I am."

Before anyone could say more, Tidus's stomach growled. Wakka grinned. "What? You hungry? Okay! Back to the village. I'll get somethin!"

As they were leaving the beach and the Aurochs though, Tidus suddenly asked. "It's true Zanarkand was destroyed, right? A thousand years ago? So it's just a big pile of rubble now, isn't it?"

Wakka turned serious at this. "Long time ago, there were a whole lot of cities in Spira. Big cities, with machina-machines- to run em. People played all day and let the machina do the work. And then, well, take a look."

Twilight and Tidus finally really looked around them. The area around the beach was scattered with big pieces of metal and other materials, and judging by the undergrowth, they had been abandoned there a long time as Wakka continued.

"Sin came and destroyed the machina cities. And Zanarkand along with em. Yeah, that was about a thousand years ago, just like you said. If you ask me, Sin's our punishment for letting things get out of hand. What gets me though... is why we gotta suffer, cause of what some goofballs did way back when! Course, we most always repent for sins! That's important. It's just that, it's hard to keep at it sometimes, you know?"

Twilight nodded. Equestria had nothing quite like this, but she could see where Wakka was coming from. Tidus ,though, looked conflicted about something as Wakka let out a laugh.

"But you from the Zanarkand Abes-that was a good one! Hey, I'm not saying the team never existed ya? But you gotta figure a team living in luxury like that would be pretty soft, eh?"

As they finally left the beach behind, Twilight was left to mull all this over. It was a lot to take in. So engrossed was she in her own thoughts that didn't notice Wakka had stopped until she flew into Tidus. Looking around him, the three of them had come to a split in the path, with the left-hand path having more ruins on it.

"Hey! It's this way!" Wakka said as he took the right-hand path. They followed him for a bit before the path abruptly ended in a cliff overlooking a large lake. While Tidus looked down in confusion, Wakka snuck around behind him.

"Huh?" Was all Tidus had time to say before he was pushed over the ledge with a "Waah!" before landing with a loud splash down below. Wakka only grinned before jumping in after him.

Twilight giggled as she rolled her eyes. "Boys." before she too flew down to them. As she did, all three began to move to the other end of the lake. Halfway there though, Wakka grabbed Tidus in a headlock.

"Lemme go!" Tidus grumbled as he tried to free himself with no luck.

"Got a favor to ask ya," Wakka replied.

Tidus had a good idea of what he wanted. "You want me on your team, right?"

Wakka let him go at that, and Tidus allowed himself to float as Wakka explained his idea.

"A major blitz tournament's coming up. All the teams in Spira'll be there. It's so huge, I'm sure someone there will recognize you! Then you can go back to your old team, right? It'll be fun! What do you say, huh? Come on, come on!"

Tidus only took a few seconds to respond. "Sure thing," before he dived below the surface.

Wakka couldn't keep the excitement out of his voice. "Dude! Our team is gonna rock eh!" Before he and Twilight as well dived below the surface.

***

Sometime later, the three of them stood on a cliff overlooking a good portion of the island. In the distance sat a small village.

Wakka gave it all a good look. "This is where I was born. I started blitz when I was five. I joined the Aurochs at thirteen, ten years ago." He hung his head at this. "Ten years... and we never won a single game. Well, after last year's tournament, I quit. Time seemed right."

As they turned away and began the long walk down to the village, Twilight couldn't help but feel sorry for the man. That was not something she ever hoped to here again if she could help it.

"So, after quitting, I got this new job, ya? But every time my mind wandered, I thought about the game," Wakka continued.

Tidus nodded. "Ten years without a single win will do that."

Wakka nodded. "My first match last year was my big chance. But something else was on my mind. I couldn't focus."

Tidus rolled his eyes. "Nice excuse."

Wakka gave him a hurt look. "Hey, hey!"

Tidus paused and crossed his arms. "So you want to win the next tournament, go out with a bang?" Wakka nodded. "So what's our goal?"

"I don't care how we do. Long as we play our best. If we give it our all, I can walk away happy," Wakka replied.

That got Tidus's blood boiling. "No, no, no, no, no. If I say "What's our goal?" you say "Victory!" When you play in a blitzball tournament, you play to win!"

Wakka was surprised at the outburst. "Victory? You serious?" Tidus nodded as they began to walk again. Even Twilight could admit that speech had gotten her blood up, and she still didn't fully get bliztball as it was.

Further along, the suddenly ran into the two that Wakka had been talking to when she and Tidus had first arrived. "Ah, the two from the sea," the eldest said first.

"Be on guard. They're fiends on the road today," the youngest added.

"After surviving your run-in with Sin, 'twould be a shame if something happened now," the eldest added before the two continued on.

"Who were they?" Twilight asked.

"Luzzu and Gatta-Crusaders,- Wakka replied.

Tidus gave him a confused look. "Huh? Crews of what?"

"What you forgot that too?" Wakka replied as Tidus hung his head. "Hey, sorry. Don't worry about it. I'll help you out."

Tidus smiled. "Cool. In return, come tournament time, I'll make sure we take the cup.

Wakka nodded. "Cool. About the Crusaders, you can ask them yourself. They've got a lodge in the village."

***

A few minutes later they finally arrived at the village gates. "Besaid Village!" Wakka said proudly.

"They got any food there?" Tidus asked.

"We'll get you something over there later, take a look around first," Wakka said as he gestured at the whole village. "Let's see... The Crusaders Lodge is over yonder," he said as he pointed out a large and ornate blue tent. "Luzzu and Gatta are usually there."

They were in the verge of entering when Wakka suddenly said "Oh, right. Over here," and as he motioned them over to the side of the wall.

"Huh? What's up?" Tidus asked.

"You do remember the prayer right?" Wakka asked.

Tidus looked sheepish while Twilight was no better. "Not really?" She finally said.

Wakka rolled his eyes. "Man, that's like the basics of the basics. Alright, I'll show you." He proceeded to repeat the hand gesture used on the beach, but much slower this time. "Go ahead, you try."

Tidus, after a moment of trying, finally got it down. Twilight, with her current lack of fingers, made do the best she could with her hooves.

Wakka smiled. "Hey, not bad. Okay, now go present yourselves to the temple summoner," before leaving them to themselves as they finally entered the village proper.

Most of the residents gave them a quick glance before moving on. But most of the looks were directed at Twilight, and while none of them were hostile as of yet, none could hide the questions of who and what she was from their eyes.

The temple itself was a grand structure, with a front portico lined by columns leading into the interior. Inside, the main room was circular, with rows of statues rising in concentric circles around the room. Rows of torches provided enough light to see the room but also lent a calming air to the whole thing. At the far end, two magnificent statues flanked a staircase leading to a beautifully made door that lead deeper inside.

A beautiful melody was also playing, though neither Tidus or Twilight could see any singers give sound to it as they walked up to the right-hand statue. They could see now that it was a man, clad in a rich-looking cloak and holding a staff of some kind.

As they gazed up at the statue, another man approached them from a side chamber. Giving Twilight a weary look, he too looked up at the statue. "Ten years have passed since Lord Braska became high summoner. And finally, we receive a statue for our temple."

Tidus gave him a confused look. "What's a high summoner?"

At this, everyone gasped in shock and gave them both odd looks, like they had grown a second head. Tidus quickly recovered though. "I... Got to close to Sin's, uh, toxin."

All gave an understanding nod at this, several smiling sympathetically, while many more made the prayer sign. The priest made the sign as well as he looked again at the statue.

"The summoners are practitioners of a sacred art, sworn to protect the people of Yevon. Only a chosen few become high summoners, who call forth entities of great power: the aeons. The aeons hear our prayers and come down to us. They are the blessing of Yevon."

Here, the entire room made the prayer gesture toward both statues. This time Twilight and Tidus joined in as well. Shortly thereafter, Tidus left out the way they had come, leaving Twilight alone in front of Lord Braska's statue.

And for the first time since that fateful Summer Sun Celebration in Ponyville, Twilight didn't mind being alone with her thoughts.