Gilda and I arrived in Canterlot early in the morning. Luna told us both last night about Fiends leaking out from the old Canterlot catacombs within the mountain it's built into. They're mostly medium to low level fiends so it's a quick job worth a couple grand and such. "Never actually been to Canterlot before, well, the main districts anyway." Gilda said, looking around at the shops as some began opening. "Have to admit, does look nice."
"Does look nice I will agree." I nodded. "Glad the more higher level shits are staying...where my mother is." I said nervously.
"We'll get all your family babe. For now, we need to get stronger, and to do that we gotta fight and work with that sphere grid you can access."
"Yep." I nodded. "And...I'm pretty sure we have a lot of sphere levels from our previous adventures." I shrugged. "Now, where would those fiends be?"
"Probably somewhere behind them." Gilda pointed up the road where a small crowd stood trying to look behind a row of royal guards blocking the path.
"Sounds about right." I nodded. "Can't wait to show we're more important than a bunch of rich assholes."
We walked through the nobles and upon seeing us the guards let us pass. We were escorted to a large hole in the road where some Pyreflies that were floating about immediately flowed at and into me when I got near. "There you two are." The guard, a captain if that star on his helmet means anything, said to us. He was a unicorn, blue mane, green coat and orange eyes. "I'm captain Point Perfection, you're those GoE mercs we were told about, Gilda and Anna, right?"
"Yes we are." I nodded. "What's the situation?"
"At eleven forty two last night this hole in the street formed, falling inwards and several flying fiends flew off, others since began crawling out. We've been able to kill them but as you saw those lights kept hanging around and then they'd be back in half an hour." He said, opening a map that seemed to display a section of the caverns below. "Below us are the old upper north caverns of the Canterlot Catacombs. Back when we mined down there this was more a tunnel made for air over transport so it won't be too big or even, at least not for about thirty feet. We need you two to go in, clear out any that are around the area, then plant some explosives to cut the tunnel off. There will be some damage to the street and buildings as a result but that will all be easily repaired."
"Sounds fair enough." I nodded. "Well, let's look at what's been spawning." I said as I stepped towards the hole and absorbed the Pyreflies, wanting to figure out what we're going to be dealing with.
What I've absorbed showed a few things, ranging from Larva, a strange creature that looks more like a totem with gills and a mean face than a bug, a Garuda, a massive flying Fiend made of pure muscle more than what normal bird types are, a Basilisk, a massive tricloptic snake with two strong mantis like claws, and it’s big middle eye being able to inflict stone on creatures, and a Funguar, a spell casting mushroom creature. "Seems to be around Mushroom Rock and the Thunder Plains...hmm…"
"So we go in, clear the place, blow it closed." Gilda summarized.
"That's the basic version, yes." Captain Point said with a nod. "If you need it we did bring a small selection of weapons from the royal Armory. You can take what you need."
“Might as well check out the weapons just in case.” I said honestly, thinking maybe there might be better than either my staff or my rifle at this point.
"This way then. We did bring a small selection of Griffon arms. They're largely confiscations but a few are military grade." Captain Point lead us over to a large wagon and woah!
There was a lot more here than I expected. As well as the new Machina arms there was all kinds of crossbows that show up to three bolts at once, bows that shook up to five arrows, enchanted arrows and bolts, flaming swords, ice swords, lightning swords. Spears, halberds, greatswords- is that a chainsaw?!
"Oh shit, a moter sword!" Gilda said, picking it up. "These things are illegal everywhere outside the griffon kingdoms."
“That’s a Chainsaw...why the hell is there a chainsaw?” I asked nervously.
"It's a moter sword." Gilda said with a raised brow. "Griffon Kingdom made and built. See?" He pointed to the small symbol of griffon claws holding a feather. "Made thirty years ago, saw use for a week in a small civil war, the other kingdoms immediately banned it from their lands."
“It’s...supposed to be used for cutting down trees...not people.” I frowned.
Gilda looked the chainsaw, or Moter Sword, over then back to me. "Why use a sword to cut trees? Wouldn't an axe be better?" I face palmed. This is one of those things...
“It’s not a sword.” I started. “Whoever thought it was a sword doesn’t actually know what a fucking sword is.” I said while raising one of the swords here. “This is a sword.” I started. “That is a serrated chain stuck to a motorized conveyor belt. They are two completely different things.”
"Maybe on your world." Gilda shrugged, turning to Captain Point. "Mind if I take this?"
"You'll have to return that when this is done." Captain Point said.
"Fair enough." Gilda said with a nod.
“Alright.” I nodded while looking over the rest of the gear, just to make sure I’m not missing anything.
I took this… semi auto crossbow that shot explosive bolts, an upgraded machina pistol and… potion bottles? That doesn't look like a healing potion.
“Uh...what’s in these bottles?” I asked the Captain while raising up one of the potion bottles. “Cause these don’t look like healing potions.”
"That's an explosive potion." He said plainly. Oh so a grenade basically. "There's also flash potions, smoke potions, poison potions, and a sonic potion."
“So grenades, got it.” I nodded. “Good to know...gonna pocket some of these…” I muttered while taking at least three of each potion I could find, except for the poison one...poisons just suck all around.
With gear in tow Gilda and I headed down the hole and through the small tunnel. Finally through we entered a larger chamber where giant glowing crystals were all over the place. "Huh, so this is the legendary Canterlot Catacombs." Gilda said, looking around.
“Looks beautiful with all the giant crystals everywhere.” I said honestly, paying close attention to everything. “But I still have to wonder, how the hell the massive hole happened...and who caused it.”
"My money is on a Dingo, those fiends are dogs so, they should be able to dig. Especially if they are either being altered or evolving."
“Considering what I can do, and the fact that a piece of Sombra was able to mutate a Dingo...than yeah, most likely.” I sighed out. “Uh...question, have you met any Diamond Dogs? I’ve heard about them but haven’t really seen them or gotten anything more than just ‘they love to dig and hoard gems about as much as dragon’s’.”
"Well, yeah that's kinda it. They mine and trade ores for gems. Any gems they find they keep."
“Wonder why though?” I pondered. “There has to be something more to it…”
"Spells." Gilda said simply. "Gems hold in magic like a battery, something metals like gold and silver can't without engraving runes into it. Gems are how most other races utilize magic, aside from potions. The diamond dog territories are abnormally lacking in gems, but rich in raw ores, so they trade."
“Sounds about right.” I shrugged.
"Yeah. Dragon's actually get most of their magic from eating gems. Spike's ability to send letters to and from Celestia is because he takes in the magic from gems he eats to power that spell into his fire."
“I mean, besides them being so intrinsically magic that the only people more magical by race are Alicorns from what I’ve just come to accept in fantasy settings.” I said honestly.
"All races have some form of attunement with magic, but for dragons it's just in their scales, and heat resistance. Their fire breathing is just that, fire. Without a steady diet of gems they can't alter it to use spells. But, of all the races Equines are the most magical, especially the unicorn tribe. In the past other races paid top bit for pony slaves, and unicorns were a gold mine. Few other races can actually control magic without the use of gems or potions, it's how ponies survived before Celestia and Luna. Unicorn spells, Pegasus speed and weather manipulation, earth ponies ability to grow and tame all plants rival the deer if not surpasses it."
“Damn.” I blinked. “Didn’t...think that was a thing…”
"There's a lot of stories they don't tell you in history classes. Like the story of how Ponies first started getting Cutie Marks." Gilda said. We turned the corner, seeing clear signs of recent tunneling but no fiends in the area so far. "Story goes that back in the early years of the ponies' existence, the three tribes were still one. Pegasus, unicorn and earth ponies alike all lived in a valley, wild and free. One day, a young foal tried to buck apples from a tree and was failing, so, he willed the magic that, back then was wild, from his horn to grab one for him. The apple floated to him and he then glowed with blinding lights. Story says that foal invented the first unicorn spell, telekinesis, and on his flanks was an image of his horn, sparking with magic. From there, everyone began discovering how to unlock and acquire those marks. Their special talents were discovered and the marked named Cutie Marks some generations later."
“And what, is there a secret village in the Everfree filled with blank flank ghouls or something?” I asked. “Cause my world is...very imaginative with the dark places here…”
"No. But sadly the discovery of Cutie Marks and special talents eventually lead to the disagreements, and separation of ponies into the three tribes. They believed two ponies of similar talent would produce a child with an even better skill for said talent, and mixed borns were shunned. It didn't help that their points were proven, the time if the three tribes produced some of the strongest, fastest and most magically gifted ponies Equis had ever seen."
“Sounds about right.” I nodded. “Should...I even bother with the sickening train of thought other races might have had when they figured that out?”
"If you mean did they make their enslaved ponies breed with their own sisters, mother's, ect, yeah that happened. A lot. That makes an odd phenomenon though. Incest born ponies come in two verieties, physically healthy but weak magically, or powerful magically but weak physically. It's always been one or the other as far as records show."
“I meant crossbreeding but that also works sadly.” I said nervously. “And by ‘crossbreeding’...I mean hybrid kids if that’s at all possible.”
"Yeah, they are and it's… it varies really. Each half breed is born pretty different from the other. An example is Dalgorta, a half dragon, half unicorn kid. His father was a dragon, mom a unicorn and he was born mostly covered in scales covering normally vulnerable areas like the neck, back and torso, fingers ended in claws, small but sharp and powerful and could swim in Lava and all that like dragon. Wasn't able to breathe fire but his pyromancy earned him the nickname 'Celestia's Sun' when he was alive, serving her as a royal guard."”
“So it’s damn near positive for hybrids?” I asked curiously.
"Not entirely. He wasn't born with the lifespan of a dragon so he died of old age when he was eighty five. Did still look half that age though. But an example of a bad outcome is a half griffon half minotaur named Kapas. She was born with all the best traits of both races, but her mind was unstable. She had uncontrollable fits of rage where she'd go on a week long rampage, never sleeping, eating or even drinking till she snapped out of it. In the end they learned her magic was unstable, predatory griffon instincts and such didn't mix well with the typical anger and rage of the minotaurs. She died being hunted like a monster during one of her uncontrollable rampages."
“Damn.” I blinked. “So...when do we meet the crazy biologist who’s trying to fix those problems?” I joked.
"Never. None exist cause no hybrids have existed for the last hundred years. A lot of kingdoms outlawed inter racial marriages and have orders to abort or… kill children on the spot. Equestria and the Zebra Lands are the only places where inter racial relationships and children can be safe."
“But...what about our kids?” I asked nervously.
"Like I said, Equestria and the zebra lands are safe for them. Equines are so pro life that abortions are illegal here, you don't want your baby you can let someone adopt them after birth or preform a serogusy spell to give the unborn fetus to another willing mother. And the Zebras were always fascinated by the potential of hybrid races."
“Cool.” I nodded. “So...how does that stop some crazy people from trying to figure out how that whole thing works?”
"Well, Zebras did study them back when they were a bit more common, both when they were alive and after death. Some Actually did have halfbreed children to further the research but in the end most of their works are kept to themselves."
“That’s fair.” I nodded. “How much you want to bet they’ll come to us and ask questions about our future kids?”
"Probably, accompanied by a small… ish, group of willing Zebras wanting to help produce the hybrid children. I remember reading that when two Zebra nobles are to be wed the wife's side of the family gifts either some of the other daughters or selects some females to build a herd for the male. Even the non-nobles do that, just to a much smaller scale."
“Interesting.” I said honestly as I looked around the caverns carefully, even though I was completely enthralled by our current conversation.
We had to jump a small gap that appeared but overall still nothing… weird… "Dragons were the first to act on the zero tolerance for hybrids and inter race laws. After the Stone incident."
“Two things...one, nothing’s happening, which is extremely weird and concerning.” I started. “And two...the ‘stone’ incident?”
Gilda took a look around, even took a long smell. "I can smell them. Deeper in. The ones that broke open must have been walking for a really long time. And the Stone incident… About four thousand years ago, the current Dragon King received a gift from his mother, a younger brother, born of her, and a griffon. They named him Stone when he hatched. His feathers were as tough and durable as scales, talons were more like claws, breathed fire and could eat gems to perform fire breath spells. Stone and his brother Torch were as close as you could be for siblings, and despite that Stone never got any bigger than the largest griffon, not even the largest of dragons could best him in combat.”
"Stone was lonely though, he wondered and wished to meet other hybrids like himself. Stone and Torch set off and actually found another half dragon, half griffon child. Her name was Insoma, and she was identical to Stone in abilities and physical traits. As you can imagine, Stone fell head over wing for her, but Torch saw her for what she was. A manipulative little leech. He never had the heart to tell Stone though, it would either destroy Stone or end their brotherhood. Torch held his tongue… then, one day, Insoma was with egg, Stone was so happy, never before had two hybrids ever had an opportunity for a child before… Insoma though… when the egg was laid, she killed Stone. After all, she just birthed all she needed to keep herself in power as a royal in the dragon lands. Torch knew she killed Stone, and when he confronted her, he demanded she leave the lands and leave her egg. Enraged, Insoma destroyed her own egg, and Stone's only child. Torch made his first kill that day, and became the new dragon lord. To this day Hybrids are outlawed in the dragon lands, because Torch can't trust another outsider Hybrid again, not after the only one like his brother, did that to them both."
“Jesus christ…” I muttered. “But...how deep are they?”
Gilda took another deep smell. "Two more miles." He said. "Dragon's law states that if a female conceive a hybrid she is to either be banished if she chooses to keep the egg, or deliver the egg to Equestria or Zebra Lands if she chooses to not keep it, and if a male impregnates a none female dragon, if he chooses to be with her and the child he is banished so long as his mate and child live, or stays in the dragon lands and is forbidden from ever seeing the mother and child for their natural lives."
“Well...at least he doesn’t have a ‘kill on sight’ thing for them.” I said sheepishly. “But how many are there?”
"Can't tell. Fiends scent is… weird. I can't tell what kind of fiend it is or how many, it's like… stale air, sorta."
“Hmm...we should be careful then.” I started, preparing for the oncoming fight. “Let’s get moving then.”
We sprinted til we reached a dead end, Gilda sniffing the air here. "They should be here… is it just me or is that wall rippling a bit?"
I looked over to the wall… it was. I pulled out the map of rifts Discord gave us, and yeah… one rift here, Canterlot Catacombs, Northern chambers. No wonder this place was full. In total there are five rifts in the entirety of the catacombs.
“Well...here’s a rift.” I said honestly. “Want to see what’s inside?”
"Better now than later. If they're coming in from this rift then whatever, and possibly whoever is inside it needs to be dealt with. Plus might find more neat stuff from your world."
“Alright.” I nodded while shifting into my Celestial Armor just in case. “Let’s get going.” I said while entering the portal first, battle axe at the ready.
Gilda followed. The sky above was like it was on the rift with the ship. We stood on a dirt road that ended in a cliff drop some feet behind us. Over the cliff and floating below us was… lava, bright red, heat emmeting lava that just floated there. A ways down the road trees reaching the sky stood tall and and proud and old as a standing wood archway over the road said simply a single name. Yellowstone.
“Yellowstone? Why the hell would we be here and...why the hell is this thing active?” I asked nervously.
"Yellowstone? Is that a volcanic forest or something?" Gilda asked, looking at all the lava below.
“Yellowstone is…a Super Volcano.” I said nervously. “It hasn’t been active on my world for a really long time...and everyone is thanking god it hasn’t blown yet cause not only would it take half of a continent with it, it would plunge the world into the next ice age when all the smoke and ash covers the sky and blocks out the sun."
"... Well shit… does that mean… it will end up on Equis when we beat whatever is keeping this rift here?" Gilda asked worriedly.
My eyes widened. “Uh...that’s not good, that’s not good at all.” I started to honestly panic, cause if this thing was starting to act up and it got sent to Equestria...god only knows the damage that would happen.
"What's a good phrase on earth for 'oh shit'?" Gilda asked.
“Well...there’s a lot...but ‘oh shit’ is apparently universal here.” I answered.
"Good… Oh shit! So… we gonna hope to the stars that the volcano isn't gonna blow when it appears in Equis when this is all over?"
“Pretty much yeah.” I said nervously. “Or someone might tell us how to solve the problem before it goes kaboom.”
"Hopefully… so, this is a forest in your world? Didn't think it had trees this big." Gilda said as we began walking down the premade dirt road.
“And as far as I know, oh so long ago in prehistoric times the trees were even bigger.” I said honestly.
"Damn. Wonder if it looks at all like The Snow Mountains?" Gilda said thoughtfully.
“How so?” I inquired. “What does The Snow Mountains look like?”
"I've only ever seen old pictures of paintings but according to the story some thousand years or so ago, when the three tribes were almost at war a sudden and magic winter befell their lands. Wind so wild Pegasi were tossed like leaves in it. Soil so cold no fire could melt the ice, and snow so high the towers of the unicorns looked to be at ground level. Some ponies believe the Snow Mountains are actually the snow buried ancestral home of their race. The reason being is that one crazy unicorn managed to dig deep enough through the foot of all that snow and found a frozen tree, grown with earth pony magic. No one really knows for sure since it's a complete sub zero death trap."
“Wait, isn’t that because of the Wendigoes I heard about from the ‘Hearths Warming Play’?”
"Yeah, and those things must still be there for the snow and ice to do that."
“Or because of natural things, not some mystical bullshit.” I shrugged. “Cause higher elevations means it’s colder, and any moisture would start condensing into ice and snow.”
“Kinda doubt that.” Gilda shrugged. There was a large crack above us and we both looked up, seeing large monkey looking fiends, and yes those are fiends cause they also have lightning sparking from their teeth. “Oh fuck!” They yelped as we pulled out machina guns and began shooting.
“I don’t know any fiends like that!” I panicked as I brought up my rifle and fired at the weird looking bastards.
Most began scattering but others dropped down and we both began hacking at them. They. Are. Tough. They took shots like sponges and even in my Solar Armor form and Chimera form they did not want to go down without a fight. Gilda’s… sword, did good damage. Apparently after pulling the cord to turn it on it roared to life, the chains stretched and flew out and formed the shape of a massive bastard sword as the sharp teeth spun rapidly and tore through the monkey’s limbs. No wonder that thing is illegal.
“These things just don’t know when to give up.” I said as, in my Chimera form, used my Falcon head and used it’s sharp beak to rip out it’s throat.
“If that Father fuck made these just to piss us off, it’s fucking working!” Gilda roared as he hacked off an arm of the thing then kept momentum to spin and get at the neck, decapitating it.
“I kind of doubt it.” I said while Megado Flaming one of their heads off. “Cause if the bastard tries to do this shit to fuck with me with my memories, then he’s just going off to imagination land with these things.”
After finally about twenty minutes of fighting the last of them was killed and all their pyreflies absorbed by me. Gilda and I found a convenient park bench and sat down to rest. “Shit… So those were new?” He asked while panting.
“Yes...yes they are…” I panted heavily. “So...what...were those things…” I muttered as I checked to see what the hell I absorbed.
Name: Jangles Jango
HP:450,980Highly agile and strong, these large monkeys are difficult to deal with and often travel in large packs. They are weak to poison.
I face palmed… I left the poison… because I thought it would be useless…
“Well! Good thing I’m so close to learning Bio…” I grumbled as I immediately went to the Sphere Grid to start learning Bio, the Poison spell as well as anything else on the way.
WIth that and a new spell, Necro Bio, basically an upgraded Bio spell, in tow I got us some snacks and water before we kept on. As we walked and we kept looking up, looking out for more of those fucks. Thankfully the next bunch of fiends we came across was Dingo’s and Evil Eyes. We dealt with them easily and came across a ranger station camp.
“Alright, let’s see if anyone’s home.” I said while walking over to the ranger camp carefully.
I opened the door… and regretted it immediately. There was a man here, his badge said Ranger Carson. He was seated at the desk, hat on the table, and a gun in hand, with a hole through his head… I felt Gilda grab my hand. “Are you going to be okay?”
“I...I hope so…” I gulped. “God...why is this happening?”
“If you need to, get some air. I’ll search.” Gilda said as he slowly walked over to the decaying corpse. I did walk outside, taking a deep breath. I stood out there for about five minutes before Gilda game back out. He had the rangers gun, a map of the park and an old notebook. “Doubt you want Blueblood finding this.” He said, putting it into my bag. He then lifted the notebook. “This was his journal, check the last date.” He said, flipping the pages.
April 9th, 2013.
“So...this showed a world that didn’t immediately go to shit.” I said honestly.
“Doubt it. Check the first date.” He flipped to the first date.
December 12, 2012.
December 12, 2012.
God the whole of the park has gone to shit. I’m lucky there aren’t many crazies outside, just some rednecks trying to hunt the wildlife and some dumbass trying to use dynamite to cut a tree down. All in all they’re leaving me alone. Any that do get a bit too close I take pop shots at their feet and they go running.
All in all things should blow over in a day or more, then I’ll just be left on cleanup and helping the police wrangle up stragglers from today. This years Christmas is gonna be fun
“Well...that sucks…” I frowned.
“My guess from skimming it is that your world did go on after that day, then sometime later chunks of the world would vanish overnight, and one day he ended up here. Lasted some time but between food running low and the fiends showing up… he took the easy out.”
“Jesus christ…” I muttered.
“So, all these rifts hold parts from your world… Anna, he survived for a while here… do you think… in other rifts… there are survivors?”
“Let’s hope...cause others need a second chance after what happened on Earth...and not to have this shit happen…”
“When this place is free and on Equis, we can bury him.” Gilda said.
“And...god knows how ever many others because of this crap…” I sighed out.
"Here." Gilda said, putting the journal away and taking out the map. Various areas on the park were circled with some saying Danger, others said Tower, a few said safe and one area simply said Avoid. "If we fly over we can see what these Towers are and this Avoid area."
"Sounds good to me." I nodded. "Let's start flying." I said happily, always enjoying a nice flight ever since I got wings.
I shifted to my griffon form and we flew up. From where we were the first ‘Tower’ was a short fly away. I have to admit, flying through all these tall trees is pretty fun. Like an obstacle course. Soon we arrived at the first ‘Tower’ and… what the?
The tower was a Fayth. It’s body was cracked into three, chunks floating in a bubble of what looked like water that covered half of it, Pyreflies flowing in and out of it and we watched as a cluster of Pyreflies flowed out of the water bubble around it, and took form of a Chimera Fiend, more like the one I knew than the Equestrian one.
“Holy shit…” Gilda said.
"How…" I muttered in disbelief.
“Better question, how do we break it. If that thing is making fiends, then it also has to be one of the things keeping this rift here.” Gilda said.
"We can't." I said. "That is a Fayth...I don't know how their formed, but their basically petrified humans fuzed with God knows what to spawn Aeons...not fiends…"
"Well clearly someone cannablized them."
"Which is even more worrying." I said nervously. "So...let's try to get close, and maybe I can talk to the Fayths spirit if it's still there."
Gilda was dealing with the newly formed Chimera, classic Chimera, and I flew over to the Fayth. I had no idea what I am doing so… I placed a hand on the bubble. Immediately the Pyreflies began flowing into me. I tried pulling away but couldn't. Soon there was no more Pyreflies. The bubble of water fell in a splash and the stones of the Fayth crumbled to dust.
Fragment of Ifrit Obtained, 1 of 5.
"Excuse me!?!" I yelled in panic, wondering how the fuck this either got here, or why it was in fragments!
"You okay?" Gilda asked, the Chimera dead and Pyreflies floating to me. "What happened?"
"So uh...the Fayth I just...so happened to absorb...it's a fragment, which is very bad, and it's of an Aeon, Ifrit to be precise...which is also very scary."
"Whole details babe."
"Where do you want me to start?" I asked, still super nervous about this whole thing.
"Start from where you can summarize it in the basic description and a scale of one to ten on how bad this is."
“So...basically, Aeon’s are extremely powerful monsters born from Fayth’s...the only thing that could have shattered these is a world ending machine the size of a mountain that is powered by the worlds spirit world...and on a scale of one to ten on ‘how bad this is’...twenty.” I explained worriedly.
"Okay. So, let's see." Gilda said, looking the map over. "There's four more of these Towers so, let's just get these things shut down, fiends slain and inform the princess of this once out."
“Yeah...but...on a brighter note, I might either be able to transform into him, or be able to summon him, which is just a plus all around.” I said honestly.
"Is it a form I can cuddle you in?"
“Uh…” I thought about Ifrit and if he could be cuddlable. “Depends on what you would find cuddlable...I know there’s at least one you wouldn’t want to…” I said sheepishly.
"If I can't cuddle you in it, leave it on the battlefield babe."
“Then you can cuddle with all the aeons but one...Anima is a special case.” I said nervously.
"Weird. Anywho, let's get going." Gilda said, the two of us taking flight again and heading to the next tower. We came across another ranger station. No corpse here but we did find a gun and ammo we stashed away and a few knives and a hunting bow.
The next tower was flooded with fiends. "Yeah that's not good…" Gilda huffed as we stood perched above on a tree. "You still have those explosive potions?"
“Yes I do.” I nodded while bringing them out. “Want to start blowing things up?”
"If this place had one, I'd say blow them to the moon." Gilda said with a nod and smile. "This will at least take out the small fry, bigger shits I'll worry about, you just take out the tower so more of them don't reappear."
“Sounds like a plan.” I nodded. “Call for help if you need it dealing with the big fiends.”
I dropped the three purely explosive potions. The light show looked like something out of an action movie and once the smoke settled Gilda flew in to fight off the larger tanks in their weakened state. I dived in, making contact with the water bubble and absorbing the Pyreflies.
Thankfully the draining process didn't take long and once that was done I got my second fragment and helped Gilda kill off the last of the tanker fiends.
On our way to the third tower we found a small log cabin where we took a breather. Nothing was here so it was likely empty from before. "This is nice. Ya know, take away the monsters, crazy sky and all that, I'd vacation here." Gilda said from the couch.
“I’ve...always wanted to visit here.” I said honestly. “It’s always been a beautiful place...even if it’s one of the most dangerous places on the planet.”
"Heh, how is it that most places are like that?" Gilda said as they got up, looking through the dressers. "Huh?" He said, pulling up a box. I walked over, the card on it said 'Compliments of the Yellowstone Honeymoon Cabin'. "Honeymoon cabin huh? Not married yet but… wanna treat ourselves like we are?" Gilda asked me, making me yip and blush as they spanked my butt.
“Cheeky little…” I pouted. “But you know I would love to.”
"I know it's not the most ideal place, but odds are, there won't ever be ideal times while we're on missions and dealing with this. Even if it's just cuddling, making out, or… a good rutting, we need to enjoy ourselves. You especially." He said, putting a hand to my face gently. "I know this isn't easy for you, this is a piece of your world, your home. It's best you keep happy when we're dealing with this Anna."
“Yeah.” I nodded in agreement. “And as long as your here with me, it’s worth it.” I said warmly as I gave Gilda a quick peck on the cheek.
"So, you're choice, we take turns wearing whatever is in this box and taking it off one another, make out, or just nap as close as we can get with our clothes on?"
“Well...no matter what, I’m going to enjoy having fun with you.” I chuckled. “So let’s start with the outfits.”
We opened the box. These did not qualify as outfits, but we didn't care. We didn't even need to take them off when it got steamy.
Not sure when we fell asleep but when I woke up I was a Pegasus and happily in a full body and wing wrapped hug with Gilda with EVERYTHING against each other. I happily enjoyed it while it lasted before we got up and cleaned off best we can, since there isn't any water.
"I still can't believe you did that in your Chimera form. I think I found my new favorite trick you can do~" Gilda cooed at me as they got dressed.
“Glad you enjoyed it.” I said lovingly. “Didn’t think I could do that but...damn was it good.”
"Now if only that form had genitals and breasts I could fondle." Gilda chuckled as they finished dressing. "We are keeping those outfits."
“Yes we are...and I’m sure if I upgrade that form it can work.” I said honestly. “Just...probably need to unlock it with whatever those Grey Pyreflies were.”
"It will be my new personal quest then." Gilda said with a laugh.
With our clothes on we took back to the skies. I wasn't sure how long we spent there but I'm happy. Thankfully only one of those monkey ones was here so now with the bio spell we easily finished it off and got the third Ifirit fragment.
The forth tower was inside another ranger station, sticking out halfway from the building. We were going to bomb it to clear out the fiends… til I saw him.
He is… he was a Ranger, no he looked like those other Unsent, his rifle in hand and keeping watch around the Tower. "So, how do we deal with him?"
“I...kind of want to see if I can control him.” I said honestly. “Just to try and not fight this thing.”
"Just be careful." Gilda said.
I nodded and tried to reach out to them… maybe if I-
The fuck… am I?
I was… this is the park… but, this feels like when I was in Gilda's mindscape. The ranger station was before me, whole and lacking that Tower.
“What the hell is going on here?” I frowned.
"Well, did I finally go crazy?" I looked behind me, sitting against one of the trees was the Ranger guy. He looked… normal. "Haven't seen anybody here in the last few months. Save for those monsters."
“No, you didn’t finally go crazy...sorta.” I said nervously. “It’s a long story...so who are you if I may ask?”
"Ranger Carver. Jack Carver. Or, used to be? Not sure. Wound up here after this strange looking fella showed up and… I think he stabbed me? I can't remember fully. All I do remember is a lot of floating lights, a lot of pain and then I woke up here."
“Well…” I started nervously. “Have you ever heard of Final Fantasy ten?”
"Think my nephew played that game, but I've never actually played them. More of a gambling man myself."
“Well...the monsters you’ve been seeing are Fiends from that game...and because of...your current condition…” I trailed off, not sure how to really word this.
"So I am dead then? So, this purgatory then?"
“Not...really.” I said nervously. “You’re actually undead, and this is a pocket dimension that douche bag made after he killed you.” I said honestly. “And...I’m somehow in your mind because of magic.”
"... Well, makes more sense than anything else. So, what now?"
“Well, currently you're the guard of a thing I need to get rid of…” I said honestly. “But I’m here to bring you back to your senses so you don’t follow that asshole blindly.”
"That would be nice. So… how? Only other thing here is that cabin and the guy inside."
“I have no idea…” I said nervously. “But I’ll figure it out maybe...but who else is here?”
"Guy who stabbed me. I think? I doubt it's actually him but he's been there since I showed up here."
“Gonna kick his ass if he’s still here.” I said as I cracked my knuckles. “Want to help me with that?”
"Nope. Tried once, did not end well."
“How badly?” I asked nervously.
He lifted his shirt, showing there was a sword impaling him to the end of the hilt to the tree. "Can't pull it out for the… unlife of me."
“Huh...right then.” I nodded. “Well, I’m still gonna kick his ass.” I said while heading to the cabin to beat his ass.
With a huff I kicked the door open… and almost let my jaw drop. I'd recognize that hair and outfit anywhere. "So, we finally meet, Anna." Seymour said as he turned to look at me. "You look well."
“Oh come on!” I flailed my arms in the air. “Why the fuck are you here you hyproctitical asshole?”
"I am within all the Unsent Father control, I am his link to their minds. Much like you are now."
“I’m going to fucking murder you.” I told him bluntly.
"You can try, it doesn't matter to me one way or the other."
“Sure.” I said while pulling out my gun and shooting at him.
He rapidly raised a hand, just using his hand he grabbed each bullet I shot. "Impressive. Magic over metal or lead, potent, but far less lethal. Infusing the two together would create far stronger weapons."
“That’s none of your concern.” I said as I transformed into my Equestrian Chimera form and tried to bite him with my snake tail.
He dodged, kicking my snake head into the wall, punching my tiger head in the nose and then kicking me out the door, making a hole in the cabin. "Your powers are strong, but not enough. Not alone. Why not bring out the other two? Jecht and Tidus, I know they reside within you."
“I barely know my own powers as is, also how the fuck are you this strong?” I growled while getting back up quickly.
"The Father lets me draw from him, let's me utilize a percentage of his abilities. You and he share all your powers, all save one."
“And...what would that be?” I asked nervously. “And hey, look at that, you’re still being a little bitch that can’t fight his own battles, always needs someone, or something, else to fight for him.”
"Maybe, but at least I know who I am… , and what I am." He said, taking a step towards me as Pyreflies flowed from him. They lined the walls of the cabin, and showed images… of that day… of that family… of him! "Father draws power from fear, and yours empowers him the most. But you… you draw power from Pyreflies, souls, memories… connections to others. So many sources, yet so little control. Perhaps, one day, that shall change."
“Like hell it will.” I stated bluntly. “I’m going to take you down, and whatever that half assed Full Metal Alchemist rip off is as well.” I stated bluntly as I shifted into my upgraded Murrussu form. “And there’s one thing that’s true, is that I get stronger with Pyreflies, a whole lot stronger.” I growled as I dashed forward and tried punching the bastard hard.
He side stepped me, an image reaching out and grabbing my hand. I froze… those… his eyes… I jumped back… and found myself in… I got myself up, why did Seymour catch me. "Stronger, yes, smarter… yet to be seen." He said plainly.
“What the hell is going on?” I started as I punched the ground, one of my new nifty abilities in this upgraded form was its ability to literally send a wave of sharp crystals at an opponent. “Why did you try to catch me?”
"Because you fell?" He said, side stepping the crystal spike sent at him. "Is it that hard to believe?"
“There’s more to this than you let on.” I said while shifting into my Water Flan form, holding onto the Crystal as I used the Crystal as a supercharger to fire off a super powered Water spell at Seymoure.
He stood there, the spell hitting him as he took the hit. He didn't seem affected much. "Despite my works, and my alliance, I don't consider you an enemy."
“Yeah, that makes about as much sense as you wanting to kill everyone as Sin to save everyone from Sin.” I frowned. “Okay, since your here...the fuck was that logic? You’re just like ‘Hey guys, I know you don’t like getting stabbed, so I’m just gonna stab you with this knife I found so you won’t get stabbed’...the fuck dude.”
"In your world, the medical term would have been diagnosed as Schizophrenia accompanied by being a sociopath."
“I mean...to be honest, your mother is kind of to blame for starting that ball rolling into train wreck city.”
"Regardless, since Father took me in my schizophrenia has subsided, and while I'm still a sociopath, I find myself on a more logical path of thinking. In my thoughts I came to the conclusion of, I don't consider you an enemy, but you can consider me one. Frankly I'm indifferent to your opinions of me. I'm just here to do as I'm told, nothing more and nothing less."
“So after all the shit you’ve done to not only people on Equestria, and Spira, you’re just following another evil bastard because you feel like it?” I frowned.
“No, I’m following him cause if I don’t I go back to being dead.”
“Like you should for all the bullshit you’ve caused.” I frowned. “Or you could follow me and start repenting for all the deaths you’ve caused.”
“Why would I repent for actions I don’t regret. My only regrets are my illogical thinking, the stupidity of it all. I could care less about the lives I’ve taken and the lives I’m still killing. For now, so long as I can live, I could care less who dies.”
“Cause of course you would…” I growled as I rushed at him in my upgraded Dingo Form, it being a dire wolf helping make it faster and stronger than he could anticipate as I managed to finally claw the bastard.
He delivered several swift punches to me before getting me off him. He backed up enough and raised a hand as he summoned forth an Aeon. Thankfully it wasn’t his main one, it was Valefor. The aeon began blasting powerful wind gusts at me.
“Well this isn’t fair at all.” I growled as I kept dodging the wind blast. “But how the hell did you get those Fayth fragments?”
“Father’s work. He crafted those Fayths from the locals of your world, and turned them into something more useful to his goals.” Seymour said, having his Aeon charge in at me.
“Sorry Valefor, but I’ve had enough of this shit.” I said while shifting into my Celestial Armor and raising my axe up. “Solar Flare!” I shouted as I swung my Axe down towards the charging aeon, the axe reacting as white hot fire immediately burst forth from the blade ready to turn anything it cuts to ash.
The Aeon fell and almost hit Seymour but that fucker can dodge and I hate he can dodge that well.
“Quit dodging damn it!” I shouted as I swung my axe hard enough to literally send a wave of fire towards him.
He got hit, getting slammed into a tree. “Heh, you are stronger than I anticipated. Still, I wonder why Father is so infatuated with you. Such obsession is pointless… unless I’m missing something.”
“No idea, but all I know is that I’m going to rip his head off if he keeps going for me.” I growled, my Axe glowing brighter as I dashed forward again to hit him.
I hit him, cleaving the axe into his torso. “My only question is, what makes you so special?” He asked. His body looked like shit but he spoke like he was unphased.
“How are you not reacting?” I asked, using that scan ability Discord gave me a while ago to see what his health is like cause there’s no way he should still be unphased by this.
42 out of 4,000 HP.
“I’m an unsent, still. I feel no pain.” He stated plainly. “This fragment of me is not one you can absorb either, though I imagine that’s a positive for you.”
“Good for me.” I started. “Now get out of here!” I shouted, sparta kicking Seymoure as hard as I could with the aid of this very awesome armor to get him out of this guys mind.
With that kick Seymour faded into Pyreflies that floated up into the air. “Well, that’s something.” I turned, seeing the Ranger still against the tree. “So, is he dead?”
“No sadly.” I sighed out. “That was just a piece of him...I’ll need to find where he really is to actually kill him.”
“Huh… so, can you pull this out then?” He asked, lifting his shirt again. “I’d like very much to stand again.”
“I think I can do it now.” I said while grabbing the sword and tried to pull it out carefully.
Thankfully I got it out easily enough and once it was he stood back up. “God it feels good to stand again, and get off of that tree. Was wondering if it was gonna start growing around me.”
“Special news bulletin, Ranger becomes Tree and ranges park even harder, more at eleven.” I joked in a mock news broadcast.
“Har har.” He said. “So, how do I take control of my body again? He’s gone but… what now?”
“Well, I need to go back out of your mind, cause hopefully you are you now.” I said honestly.
"Alright then. Guess I'll see you outside then."
I blinked a few times. I was back in The rift and the unsent ranger below blinked, shook his head and took a look around. The fiends seemed to ignore him, so he walked back slowly into the mostly broken cabin.
"So it worked?" Gilda asked.
“Yes...and I met a guy I really hoped wasn’t here.” I sighed out. “Blue haired bastard…”
"So, that means we have an Unsent on our side?"
“That isn’t mind controlled, yes.” I nodded. “Which now tells us that there’s a massive amount of mind control on the Unsent, which I’m glad at least something is being consistent.”
"Well, let's clear this place out and see how our new Allie is holding up being his own undead."
With that, we went to work, the fiends here were all largely basic ones and were taken out easily. Once the fiends were gone and the tower destroyed Gilda and Ranger Jack Carver. "You don't look entirely like Griffins I've seen in movies and tv." Jack said.
"Is it because I wear clothes, stand on two legs and have boobs?"
"Yeah pretty much. Still, it's awesome to meet a Griffin. Have to admit, you lay eggs right?"
"Yeah."
"So… why the breasts?"
"Female Griffins actually produce milk to feed the hatchling duffing the first month or so and before hatching use them to keep it warm, even after hatching the cub gets a ride between them for a mix of warmth and ease of carrying."
"Ah. Have you… ever had eggs yourself?"
"I'm a guy."
"... But… then why with…"
"A lot of personal issues but I can safely sum it up now as I'm a confused trans more or less."
"Oh… hope that gets better."
"That's what my therapist is for."
“And that’s why I’m here.” I said while wrapping my arm around Gilda. “His loving girlfriend, and head female in his growing herd.”
"Herd?" Jack asked.
“Harem.” I corrected myself.
"... Huh. Well, thanks for the save. Wish it could have been much sooner but, it's better late than never."
"You're welcome. Also we need your gun and ammo." Gilda said.
"What? Why?"
"Anna doesn't want our prick of a boss learning about your world's weapons. I mean, imagine the damage a magic infused, what was it, nuke, being made and going off can do."
"I… see your point." He said, handing the rifle over. "All the ammo should still be on the desk."
“Thank you and thank you...oh and also...why has there been a lot of lava around as of late?” I asked nervously.
"Pretty sure that's the lava that's normally been under the park for all these years. Before I got stabbed and all that I did take a look and see it's pretty stagnant. Just sitting there, must mean the old volcano is still asleep. I hope at least."
“Let’s hope to god it stays asleep...especially with what’s going to happen sooner or later…” I said nervously.
"In the meantime Anna and I only have one more Tower to destroy and then this place, and yourself, will be free."
"Oh, that's probably the best news I've heard in a long time. But if you don't want this boss of yours learning about guns then you should go out and raid Station Fox and Station Pine. Pine is our general Armory and holding cells for troublemaker's, and Fox is where we kept spare ammo and guns. Mostly overflow. Used to rent them out to hunters when the season was right so long as they renew their yearly hunting license."
“Alright, good to know.“ I nodded. “Those two might be on the way to finding the last tower.”
"Well, one is nearby." Gilda said, looking the map over. "But Pine is dead center in the avoid area on this map. Something tells me there's a nasty strong fiend or two there."
“Sounds like fun.” I said honestly. “Wonder what boss could be there?”
"Probably nothing good. You sit tight here, alright?"
"Not going anywhere." Jack said with a nod.
Gilda and I took off for the avoid area. From above it seemed fine til… Holy shit, that's the chocobo eater!
“Okay yeah, that’s a Chocobo Eater.” I said honestly.
"A what eater- ah!" Gilda yelped, barely dodging the thing jumping up and trying to grab him… does it think Gilda is a Chocobo?
“This thing better not be thinking your a chocobo.” I frowned as I shot at it with my gun. “But Chocobo’s...are really adorable, giant bird creatures...you have to see one, their just adorable.”
"Neat and I am not it's fucking lunch!" Gilda roared out as he took out his moter sword and turned it on, and sent it flying at the beasts and impaling it in the eye. I rushed in and finished it off with a Chimera form body slam. The Pyreflies flowed into me and I got a new form. Neat.
“Well, even though it shouldn’t work, shoving a chainsaw in its eye always works.” I said honestly.
"That's the first new boss form you've gotten in a while. Wanna take it for a quick spin before we finish this place off?"
“Sure.” I said while transforming into my new boss form. ”Sadly I won’t be able to talk given this isn’t upgraded…”
Woah… this thing sees in like, photo negative and… woah I can see the scent trails around me. This is weird…
I shifted back, a bit disoriented but overall fine. "How's it feel?" Gilda asked, picking their chainsaw back up.
“Felt a little weird given I could see in photo negative and literally see scent trails.” I said honestly.
"Huh. That can be very useful later on. Well, let's clear the guns out then deal with that Fox one, and then finish this."
“Alright.” I nodded. “Should we just blow up the place or throw it in the lava?”
"I was thinking just use your bag and put the whole building in there."
“That is also true.” I said honestly. “Well, better start nabbing all the gear before something dumb happens.”
We entered the building and I used my bag's Vacuum feature to get everything inside it. Guns, furniture, everything that isn't nailed down. Once we tripped checked everything here was good we let off an incendiary potion for good measure and were off.
The Fox station was by far the smallest, almost the size of a small snack shop than a ranger building. We repeated the process of the Pine station and also set it on fire.
We flew off and over the final tower, this one was halfway up the mountain and had lots of flying enemies around. Also those fucking monkeys were back! "You ready for this?" Gilda asked me.
“I will make sure they all die from poison.” I stated simply.
With the aid of Bio the Monkies went down fairly easily and Gilda cut down almost all the flying fiends by the time I finished off the last ape. With that we now stood in front of the final tower as I was absorbing the Pyreflies from it. "We are getting good at this." Gilda said.
“We make a really good team.” I said happily.
"Wonder how we will work out with the others. I have a feeling Peppermint and probably Celestia, Luna and most of the others will want to team up with us on missions."
“Well...we still need to take them all out on a date.” I said honestly.
"I know, I'm just saying what I'll be expecting in the future."
“True.” I nodded. “Let’s hope the others don’t mind all the fighting here...or whatever the hell’s going on with me and the big bad…”
"So… you and Applejack seem to have hit it off really well. If we hadn't promised Rarity the first date I'd say we should have given it to her."
“Well considering I had to go in and literally get her shit together for her to function as a person, I’d say we’re pretty close.” I shrugged. “And yeah kind of.”
"You two did kiss for a long time before I got back. I'm just saying when it gets to that point with us you're more than free to be with her first."
“True.” I said sheepishly, blushing at remembering how long AJ kissed me. “But...you know, she also had a lot of pent up lust...and I need to talk to Luna about the psyche because I still doubt it’s normal to have multiple personalities as ‘one whole person’.”
Gilda shrugged as I finished absorbing the Pyreflies from the Tower.
Ifrit Aeon Form, Obtained.
Ifrit Aeon Summon, Learned.
New Branching Grid Unlocked.
My Scan Ability told me. Wait I can summon AND transform into Ifrit?! Sweet!
“Awesome!” I cheered happily. “Now how do I transform into Ifrit?”
I tried but it wasn't working. Must be because Ifrit is an Aeon, not a fiend. Still, I am able, just don't know how.
"Gonna have to figure that out later." I muttered. "So let's see what that new sphere grid section is." I said while checking my sphere grid, and planning on leveling Gilda up as well.
The new section litteraly branched off, and was simply all about summon and Aeons.
Ah, here we go. Summon Aeons. Shifting Aeons. And… wait, what?
Summon Tidus.
Summon Jecht.
"Huh...that's new." I said honestly. "Khimari and Wakka are gonna be happy with that...and whoever else I'll find.""
I activated them all and managed to shift into Ifrit… only something was… different. "Well… not what I was expecting." Gilda said.
I was partly on fire. Mainly, my hair. My hands ended in five thick, sharp claws, horns bigger than my minotaur form was on my head, feral, dog like legs and I was just a half foot taller than my minotaur form. Also I still heavily resembled a human. Mainly, me, just with… Ifirit features.
"Thought I would have turned fully into Ifrit, not half and half." I said, noticing my voice was more...deep and powerful, but still feminine. "What do you think?"
"I think…" Gilda reached out, putting a hand to my fire hair. "Warm but not hot." He then grabbed my hand. "Also not burning hot… now, awkward question, do you have… genitals, in this form?"
"Well…" I moved a hand down to check if I got the goods. And to my surprise, embarrassment, and excitement, I did indeed have the goods. "Yep, both holes are there."
"Then we are doing things. Bedroom things. Cause you look amazing like that."
"And it's going to be fantastic." I said happily.
With a nod from Gilda I shifted back for now and in a flash the sky above was back in Equis again. And the Yellowstone volcano was now half inside the Canterlot mountain. And… it's shaking… Oh fuck!
“Oh come on!” I panicked. “I didn’t think this would cause Yellowstone to start erupting!”
“I was unaware these rifts could release a whole forest and volcano.” Gilda and I looked up, seeing Luna fly down to us. “Greetings Herd mates.”
“Okay, so first up, hi Luna.” I started. “Second, we have a Super Volcano about to erupt, I don’t know how to stop that, please help.” I practically pleaded.
“You can still dawn my armor and lance, correct?”
“Yes and Yes.” I said while donning her old Royal Armor. “How does it work? I don’t know how much time we have.”
She looked around on the ground and once she found a spot, stomped at it til it spewed out lava. We all back up a bit. “Would you kindly stab my lance into the lava.” She asked.
“Uh...sure?” I started while stabbing the lance into the lava. “I...never got around to asking how powerful your armor and weapon is.”
“Seeing is more fun for me than telling.” Luna said with a smile.
Confused, I looked back at the… frosted rock the lance was jabbed into. The shaking stopped abruptly and I saw the ground begin to frost over heavily. Luna took my wrists and helped me pull it out of the frozen stone that was lava just a moment ago. “There. That should have cooled off all the lava, this Volcano is now just a mountain.”
“How in the newly frosted hell.” I asked in shock.
“My lance and armor were forged by Dwarves within a comet so cold, the frostbite burned all but the strongest of the gods who came near it. While wearing it, you will never feel cold and all but the strongest of pyromancies will not affect you. The halberd itself when used properly, or improperly, can actually freeze the core of the planet.”
“Oh…” I started, keeping it away from the ground. “And...Celestia’s armor?”
“Forged by the same dwarves within the same dying star Thor’s hammer was crafted in. The armor is the reverse of mine, no heat will harm you and all but the strongest of frost and ice magics will hurt you. The axe itself holds a fragment of Sister’s sun and can burn with the heat of it’s core.”
“Oh boy...that’s rather powerful that I just have at my disposal.” I said nervously.
“Oh you should have seen our late Friend Amora’s armor, or our mother’s. We’d have commissioned a set of Cadence and Twilight but sadly we lack the materials.”
“I mean….considering how things are going, I might find them to be honest.” I shrugged.
“Interesting. Well, let me know if you do, oh, and if you come across materials the Dwarves could use to make armors for Cadence and Twilight, let me know so I can commission them.”
“Uh...that depends on the materials.” I said honestly.
“You can find a book or two on them. I’m certain Twilight should have the books for the topic.”
“Yeah, I think Twilight might have something.” I said honestly. “So...does this whole thing affect Canterlot or...a lot of other things too much?”
Luna took a look around. "This rift was within the catacombs, correct?"
"Yeah." Gilda replied.
"Was there more?"
"Four I believe."
"Well, most likely the catacombs are also filled with lava, and now all that Lava is solid rocks. We will have to mine the ones now under the lava rocks. As for the new mountain, if anything the nobles will just wish to expand the city. The trees… my word, I haven't seen trees this tall in over five thousand years. It reminds me of my foalhood home."
“Would you believe me if I said they were bigger a long time ago on my planet?” I asked. “But yeah, there’s also like...thirteen hundred different types of trees in Yellowstone if memory serves.”
"Such variety. I just know the Earth Pony Nature Alliance will have a field day with this."
“Oh I’m sure they will, considering they also might not have seen things grown by a volcano before.” I said honestly.
"They have but never to such a size." Luna said, gazing over the former park. "I think I'll build a small private cabin down there."
We still had a few days before having to leave for that Changeling Hive mission, so we started our first date. Gilda and I were getting ready and by that I mean Gilda was helping me get ready while they were already dressed and looking sexy. "You really need to learn how to put your own makeup on." Gilda said as he fixed my eye liner.
“I’m sorry putting on makeup sucks.” I huffed. “But do I really need the makeup?”
"It's Rarity we're going on a date with babe, it would be offensive to her if we didn't." Gilda said with a chuckle, starting to work on my lipstick. "Plus that dress looks amazing on you."
I was dressed in a strapless midnight blue dress that went to my legs, almost touching the ground and was held up by the tight way it hugged my back and boobs when zipped up. I also had on heels.
I huffed, taking a look at Gilda's own strapless dress in rose red, held up just like mine with matching heels. The way they we're leaning over to work on my makeup gave me a good view of their cleavage.
“Can’t I just wear normal shoes? Heels suck.” I grumbled.
"They won't look good with the dress. And if I can wear heels, you can learn to wear them too. It's all about balance really, put your weight when walking in the front and only put weight on the heel when standing. You don't wanna break the heel, trust Me, the fall hurts."
“Considering how long this dress is it really doesn’t matter what my shoes look like.” I pouted. “But fine, whatever...so where did you book us on our date Gilda? Cause this seems rather fancy when we could have just went to a normal restaurant.”
"Rarity booked it, Ponyville's only five star restaurant. Dusk till Dawn. It's a pretty fancy place and she usually books it for meetings with clients. Tonight will be her first time booking a personal dinner."
"That's cool." I nodded. "Didn't know there was a five star at Ponyville."
"Yeah. So, ready in about…" Gilda applied some make up to my cheeks and gave my hair a fast brushing. "Now. What do you think?"
I looked in the mirror and… is that seriously me?! No, no I look okay but this mirror has to be enchanted, no way that model is me.
"Gilda, can I get a regular mirror and not an enchanted one?" I asked him simply. "Cause there's no way I look this good."
"It's all you babe. Normal mirror, dolled up you." Gilda said, booping my nose. "So, shall we?"
"We shall." I nodded with a smile. "I...didn't think I could look this good though…"
"If working as a model taught me anything it's that the right dress, makeup and hair style can completely change someone's appearance, or enhance what's there."
"Now that we can agree on." I chuckled, Gilda being a prime example of it.
With that we headed out, picking up Rarity at her place. I did a double take to make sure she wasn't actually naked. Her dress was the same white as her coat and while it was held up by two straps it was hard to see them without really looking. Her mane was brushed completely flat rather than her typical curls and her lipstick, eyeliner and all that was the same shade of purple as her mane.
From there we walked, myself leaving a small trail of drool, to the restaurant and took our seats. The place looked real nice. Almost like a mini Canterlot. "So, what was your world like Anna?" Rarity asked. "Normally I'd ask how you two met but, I already know that."
"Uh...how do I start…" I started nervously. "Well firstly...there's no magic on my world, which I solely blame the Gods for leaving it before it could get all magicky and cool.""
"I can't imagine a world without magic. How vast are our worlds differences then?"
"Extremely vast." I said honestly. "Without magic, we had to compensate with technology. And how drastic that difference is...imagine Manehatten and Los Pegasus, but vastly more commonplace."
"That is impressive. Manehatten is the way it is because it's been a major trade hub, the doc on the ocean, ports for flying transport and many train hubs for land travel. Los Pegasus was built for the sole purpose of entertainment. To see those being common place is such an interesting concept. Pray tell, if you don't have magic then what did your world use gems for?"
"Jewelry, and for Diamonds specifically, used for drill bits and saw blades because they were the best materials for getting through tougher things." I said honestly.
"That makes sense. Without magic to enchant a blade to be sharper and stronger, use what nature crafted. And fashion?"
"Remember when I talked about how egregiously low your prices are Rarity?" I asked. "I mean, fashion is subjective and I will argue function is better than form...but with your work and stupidly low prices, you'd effectively have a monopoly in my world."
"Really? Do tell."
"Stupidly cheap with insane quality and specially fitted to each person, take a guess how many people would rush to you instead of other, more expensive name brands?"
"How flattering. Your world doesn't tailor fit your clothings?"
"You can get tailor fit, just costs extra." I shrugged. "But they mostly just mass produce multiple sized versions of the same clothing for both genders and...that's it really." I shrugged.
"Really? How dull. I know there are a few mass produced brands for clothing but they're mostly popular for underwear and shoes. Here almost every arrival of clothing a pony owns is made custom by a tailor like myself."
"Yeah, and I suppose that's why prices are so inexpensive." I said honestly. "Any other differences you want to know about?"
"Hmm… that massive metal ship that appeared behind Fluttershy's home the other day, is that really used to transport cargo?"
"Yes it is." I nodded. "A massive cargo ship used to transport thousands of tonnes of goods across oceans."
"Amazing. Equis cargo ships are not even half that, and even then larger goods are transported either with dragons or their fire breath. Teleported even if able."
"Ingenuity can do a lot." I said honestly. "Then there's cargo planes, which carry less than a ship but still quite a bit at...I think seventy percent the speed of sound?"
"So Rainbow Dash's average speed while flying?" Rarity said with a laugh that Gilda joined.
"That's accurate. So, Rarity, mind if I ask how browsing through my modeling career went?" Gilda asked.
"Darling, your figure plus the style and sass in every photo was simply Divine. I do have to ask, how did you manage the… underwear editions?"
"That… they had me take those gender potions." Gilda said with a sigh and a huff. "By then they changed you but at least it was shorter and you were infertal, plus Zer was thankfully never there for those so, I just made sure they paid double my normal price for those. Hence why there's only about four magazines with me in underwear only."
"Ah, I see. Fair enough. Well you won't have to worry about that with me darling, male or female clothing I won't make you do anything you aren't comfortable with."
"Thanks to Anna that list has actually shrunk quite a bit." Gilda said, making Rarity and I blush. Me more than her.
"So back to another topic." I said quickly. "Anything else you want to know?"
"Well, how have you two been as of late? Being more freelance than company bound."
"It's been good. Having more free time and less Blueballs bitching at us." I shrugged. "But how's Sweetie been with my little brother?"
"Honestly I'd be more worried if your brother was more… active. Thankfully he actually seems quite… reluctant to repay her, and the others, advances. I can tell he wants too but is too young and too much of a child to repay it properly. Though I wish Sweetie didn't get ideas from my romance novels."
I couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Tommy is a good kid, I helped make sure he was raised right when our parents weren't around. I really should spend more time with Tommy...just work keeps us pretty busy."
"I understand. I wish I could spend more time with Sweetie, Mother and Father, but I'm often busy between my profession, mission from the princess and now this, finding time with our loved ones can be challenging. At least I take comfort in knowing they aren't lonely. Our siblings have each other, as friends now, and as lovers in the future."
"Just...prepare some soundproofing if my brother is as 'energetic' as he normally is when the time comes." I said sheepishly.
"Now there's a scary thought. I only hope I can get the chance to… make some very unlady like loud noises before my sister."
"Pretty sure that will come soon, especially after Marble and Limestone get their house set up for us all." Gilda said.
"True. It will be a pain to travel between the shop and there… then again maybe Twilight can set up a form of teleportation for me."
“Is it weird that I fully expected there to be a ‘portal station’ here? Like a controlled area filled with portals to different cities and the like?”
"Mana requirements for such a station would be beyond what a simple unicorn can produce. For a personal one like I'm thinking it would be expensive to build but can be used daily with Mana charged gems or by pulling Mana from the horn directly."
“Couldn’t you just have it on a leyline or something? Make the entire place out of crystal or use some specialty crystal platforms for it?” I asked curiously. “I know I should be asking Twilight about all this magical mumbo jumbo, but just curious.”
"None of the leylines run over or near Ponyville, Crystals like from the Crystal Empire might work but the secrets to craft such artifacts with them sadly died with the former Crystal Princess Amora." Rarity sighed.
"I heard about that, Sombra killed her when he began his conquest." Gilda said. "Petrified her in stone alive, then shattered her to the winds."
“Well...if she’s powerful enough she might have Pyreflies I can find.” I said honestly.
"That was well before Fiends appeared Anna darling. But, who knows. I know Celestia would be overjoyed if she can somehow be revived."
“But at the moment she’s probably super confused as to why there’s another mountain next to Canterlot that was formerly a super volcano.” I shrugged.
"I'm sure Luna filled her in." Gilda said. "So, what are your parents like?"
"My complete opposite. Father was a jock, everything sports he was good at and mother is a homemaker, housewife since marriage and still is. Neither come close to the definition of class or Canterlot social standings, but I love them. I wouldn't have them any other way."
“Trust me...you’re a lot better off not being a part of the Canterlot Social Standing if the glares we got from a bunch of the nobles are anything to go by.” I sighed out. “Not as many as I thought after the whole Yellowstone thing but...still enough.”
"Yeah, they were all being quite snotty." Gilda sighed.
“Sadly, but most of ones that didn’t look down on us were either nervous because Luna was there, that I turned a Super Volcano about to erupt into a full blown mountain with Luna’s old armor and weapon, or because Fancy Pants has been, apparently, helping endorse our cause along with some others that actually give a shit.” I explained simply.
"Yes. Most of my clients fall into the same category as Fancy Pants, High Standing and Caring. The rest are much like Blueblood, power and money, no manners." She sighed.
“Except others have no manners because they were raised to be spoiled brats, BlueBlood’s just a sociopath who doesn’t give a shit about anyone besides Celestia, Luna, and whoever the hell wrote that letter he keeps staring at.” I said honestly.
"Yeah what is with that, any chance he gets he pulls it out and reads it. It's weird."
"Hmm… maybe it's from his mother? His parents did die while he was a baby." Rarity shrugged.
"How do you know that?" Gilda asked.
"I… back when I used to find him attractive, did some research." Rarity admitted, looking quite regretful.
“Is there...anything about him having a wife? A kid?” I asked carefully. “Cause if there’s one thing that sticks out more than that piece of paper...it’s Pipsqueak, he damn near coddles him any chance he has away from the desk, and it’s...honestly the only times I see him legitimately happy.”
"No. Not in any of my… prior research did Blueblood have any known lovers."
"Known, being the key word?" Gilda asked.
"Yes. Many years ago Blueblood did take extensive trips to Trottingham, spending up to a year at a time there. Officially all the papers covered him as attending parties, charity auctions, and other things but for the entirety of his stays he always stayed in the same hotel, same room."
“That sounds extraordinarily convenient.” I said honestly.
"Which hotel?" Gilda asked.
"The Trottingham Galla Hotel."
"Huh."
"Know something Gilda?" I inquired..
"Yes and no. I know it's a real high class place but there's two others built way better and fancier than the Galla Hotel. Kinda surprised he stayed there given his expensive tastes."
"That's what struck me as odd too." Rarity nodded.
"So he was secretly dating a maid." I said simply. "Only reason I can think of."
"If that's true, then how scandalous." Rarity said with a giggle. "I wonder what happened. He hasn't been there in over ten years or so if I recall."
"He's...how old is Pip again?" I asked, realization slowly dawning on me.
"Not actually sure Darling. He looks like he's six or seven but he is in Sweetie and all their classes so, perhaps older?"
"Eleven, actually." Gilda said. "Twelve this November."
"His position is more important than his son!?" I snapped, the realization finally hitting home for me.
"... Well, timing and location fits but, Blueblood and Pip don't look anything alike." Rarity said.
"Or act anything alike." Gilda added.
“Everything fits like that.” I started. “His mother’s dead, Pip told me, his father’s been long gone or presumed dead, so that gets the ‘act anything alike’ part out of the way.” I continued. “The only thing that could make sense about ‘looks’ is the coat color being a mixture of both his parents...but everything seems to fit...that letters probably from BlueBlood’s dead wife...I just...I have a feeling that’s all true…”
"Well, such a declaration while gossip rich won't get any traction without any evidence darling." Rarity said, growing before smiling. "But we can quickly gather it. I'll just need to inform Princess Luna and we can set up the perfect cover."
“And what’s the cover?” I asked curiously.
"We throw a ball for the GoE investors. Blueblood will have to attend, and we can take the opportunity to spike his drinks so he'll be too drunk to stay for long, then raid his room for that letter."
"Sounds like most parties I've been to." Gilda said with a shrug. "Plus I am curious to see what type of drunk Blueblood is."
“Sounds like a plan.” I nodded. “Deserves some karma for all the bullshit he’s throwing mine and Gilda’s way.”
"Guess we should go see Luna then." Gilda said.
We did just that, finishing up our dinner and heading to Twilight's place where Luna and Pip were. Luna, loved the idea.
Being royalty she very quickly called the Trottingham Galla Hotel and scheduled a party for GoE members and investors. By midnight it was all set, ready, thanks largely to Pinkie Pie, and Blueblood looked… miserable. I mean he looked like he always does but get within ten feet of the guy and you get hit with this aura of dread and misery. I almost feel bad for him. Almost.
"Have to admit, for an on the fly party this turned out well." Gilda said, taking a sip from their cup. "This punch is really good too."
“It is, so who’s going to spike Mr. Sourpuss’s drink?” I asked curiously, looking over at the obviously dejected stallion.
"Already taken care of." Pinkie said as she bounced up next to us. "I spiked it with my super patent pending Best Night You'll Never Remember party surprise." She said happily.
"Oh, when did you spike his cup?" Gilda asked.
"Oh I didn't spike his Cup silly, I spiked the punch."
I nearly fell over… we've ALL been drinking that punch. "Pinkie… how long does it take to-"
Mother of God my head! Christ, Pinkie, that drink hit me out of nowhere… fuck… where am I? Shit I really can't remember anything at all. She wasn't kidding… still I have a familiar buttery sensation in my core, and between my legs. Let's see…
Yup, naked, yup, sticky down there. Not all mine… I sat up, stretching. Guess Gilda and-
I opened my eyes, looking to my side and did not see my sexy griffon mate next to me… I saw a white coat, a messy blond mane… and my lipstick all over them in kiss marks… oh no...
I put my hand over my mouth as I stopped myself from screaming, not believing I just...oh god no…”Just...just find the note...this never happened...just take the pill after this…” I thought to myself in quick succession, taking deep breaths as I tried not to have a panic attack. ”I’m so sorry Gilda...gonna smack Pinkie so fucking hard…” I mentally growled as I started looking around to find that stupid note.
As I got up I realized two things. One, this bed will need to be tossed out, and two, my limp is not helping me search. Finally though I found Blueblood's coat vest… the buttons were gone and… over them was smears of my lipstick… yeah I am really glad I don't remember this. I reached in, finding that note and opened it.
Hi Blueblood, it's been a while since you had to return to Canterlot. I- we have missed you. Pip is so small, he did take after you in that regard. You always said you were tiny as a foal.
Life here has been the same more or less, usual guests and all that.
I'm just worried about the plan. I mean, I know you don't want Pip and I brought into the high standards of Nobles, but isn't faking your own death rather extreme? I know I'm not one to know much about these matters but truth always seems better than a lie.
Still, whatever path happens, I will happily be by your side, as a wife, with our son. It's amazing he has my coat and mane, even my eyes! Course, you know that, you helped me birth him in this very room. I'm rambling again… and writing my rambling.
Heh, I often wonder how you fell in love with me, I'm a complete mess.
I look forward to your next visit this spring. Pip will be with me in the room waiting. I know how much you love making him laugh.
Love, Clean Sweep.
I was...rather conflicted by this revelation. I was happy I was right, I am super pissed that Blueblood still effectively abandoned Pip...but I honestly felt a little bad for him, given that the last letter his wife gave him...was of how he was going to be with them forever after…”No wonder why…” I muttered sadly.
"I was late." I jumped, turning and seeing Blueblood sitting up on the bed. "Come spring, I was late. Just a day, but that day…" He sighed. "She died. Trottingham is ripe with criminals, mafia. They rented the place, rival gang noticed. She was caught in the crossfire of the crossbows and spells."
“Well...that explains that…” I muttered. “But…” I shook my head and looked at him. “For once...just tell me...why leave Pip for ten plus years? I understand not wanting to have him in the ‘royalty’ crap...but why not do...literally anything?”
"I did. I wanted to keep him… but, Canterlot is no place for a foal. Celestia's school exists because parents don't want their foals around. Having foals in Canterlot is more often considered an obligation of marriage over an act of love. It's more like an orphanage, they just call it a boarding school. Plus, with how long I work, Celestia. I didn't want Pip to grow up believing some random maid was his mother. So, I placed him into the system. And from behind paperwork and magic, helped him best I could."
“And...the parts where you didn’t visit him?” I asked simply. “Even if you had to do the bare minimum and get a wig and a set of casual clothes, just...something.” I said, letting my shoulders sag a little because of this.
"Many think my life is one of luxury and spoils. They're right, to a degree. My free time comes and goes. I work and in turn the amount of days I work, I get the same amount off. An odd setup but one I enjoyed. I managed to spend so much time in Trottingham, for Clean Sweep, for Pip, thanks to working with the mayor here as a benefactor for police and social services. Kept me working, and we got to spend time together… Sadly, so long as I was a Canterlot Noble, Canterlot kept dragging me back. Heh… she was right, faking my own death was drastic, but it would have kept us all together. Money and privilege be damned…”
“And...you didn’t tell Celestia, one of the few people you legit care about, any of this...why?” I asked. “She literally has all the power to give you what you most desired, nobles be damned.” I asked, legitimately wondering why all this cloak and dagger had to happen with...the sad loss of life.
“She would have loved Pip… and therein lies the problem. My aunt is many things, and open hearted is her best and worst quality. She tries to please everyone… and when it comes to family, she will make everyone happy, save herself. Do you know what I did in Canterlot before the GoE? I helped Celestia manage paperwork and her courts. Over five hundred meetings in court daily, and paperwork towering to the ceiling. She will suffer for others to be happy, if I came to her, with my newborn son, she'll make a law saying I can’t work till he graduated college, and carry all that work herself. I can’t let her do that, I won’t. Which is why, your situation is perfect. Rebuilding the entire world under one kingdom. You can rebuild everything, be the royalty that all the lands need, and the parents Pip deserves.”
“You are not helping here by telling the truth…” I sighed out. “But...Luna, why not ask her? You know Pip just adores her, why not talk to her about all of this? I’m sure the smack to the back of the head would be enough to start getting progress with Pip.”
“At the time, she was still on the moon as the physical embodiment of Nightmares.”
“Okay, what’s stopping you now?” I corrected myself. “I know Luna is now Pip’s adoptive mother...but Pip…he would still love to know you’re alive and well…” I started. “And you can make quite a convincing lie with your cutie mark, being a compass and all and Pip’s love for adventures.”
He sighed, looking down at the sheets. “Do you honestly believe that I, of all ponies can be a good father? That I can walk back into his life and expect him to accept it? Do I even have that right anymore? No. He’s happy where he is, with Luna, with you. You are his family, and I imagine one day he will see Gilda as his father. That’s all I wish for him, to be where he’s loved.”
“My guy, stop with the bullshit.” I said bluntly. “We’ve all seen how happy you are spending time with Pip, making him happy, damn near coddling the poor boy like it’s the end of the world.” I started. “It’s one thing to let go, but that’s the easy way out, the hard way is to face the music and finally own up and be there for her.” I started. “You can be a good father, if you being there for Pip shows us anything, as well as dealing with my bullshit specifically.” I explained. “It’s not that I believe you can or can’t do it...before I was almost sorry for you for being such a sourpuss about all this...but now knowing the actual story...I honestly do feel sorry for you…” I sighed out. “Never before would I have thought I’d be saying that.”
“You are right about that…” He said, reaching over into the night stand, pulling out his bits wallet. “From the moment I met you, do you know why I hated you?” He asked, surprising me.
“Because I wanted to fight for my family?”
"No. I actually admire that. No… when I lost Clean Sweep, I promised no mare can ever take my heart like she did." He opened his wallet, pulling out a small photo and handed it to me. I walked over, taking it and… oh my God. She looked… so much like me. Especially in my pony form, just different colors. "When I saw you… I felt that promise slipping. Breaking." I looked over at him. "I figured, to keep it, I'd make you hate me. Wasn't hard."
“It really wasn’t when you kept acting like a smarmy douche half the time.” I rolled my eyes. “But...this is really uncanny...besides color...I look exactly like her in my pony form.” I said nervously.
"Even in your current form, I could see her in you. It hurt… still does… and this…" He motioned to the destroyed bed. "Honestly makes me feel more pathetic than I ever knew possible."
“Listen, you moping about this isn’t going to solve anything.” I said bluntly. “I’m…” I sighed out. “I’m going to give you a second chance Blueblood, cause you’re going through a hell of a lot more than I thought you were...even though I don’t like it, and we’re going to talk to Gilda as well about this, and you’ll be honest about everything you told me to him...and I mostly blame Pinkie for drugging everyone of us...literally just wanted to see you drunk and read the note, that was all this party was supposed to be...not this…” I grumbled. “Also, do you have a…’morning after’ spell or something? I want to make sure Gilda’s kids are my first.”
"Not that I know of but… I believe this hotel does have some. In the bathroom cabinet. Complementary. Part of this place's unique features Sweep and I… took advantage of often. Well, at least until we decided to have Pip." He sighed, taking off the sheets and… sweet mother of christ I had THAT pounding inside me?! I can't tell if he is just longer or genuinely bigger than Gilda… No wonder I have such a bad limp. "Oh… heh, sorry. Guess biology doesn't know when to stop."
“So...that explains my limp...Gilda is still better.” I blushed brightly. “So...you might join the herd sooner or later, even if Gilda...and Rarity might want to smack you for causing so much crap.”
"Speaking of, where is your love bird and the rest? After… last I remember was speaking to Fancy Pants about local security measures and… what did that pink mare spike us with?"
“The best night we’ll never remember, patent pending.” I said honestly. “We just wanted to spike your drink so we could see the note and prove me right that you were Pip’s father...then Pinkie stepped in and just spiked everything.”
"So the whole party was drugged… question, if we ended up here… what happened to the others?"
“Let's figure that out after I take the pill and get washed up.” I said honestly.
"Fair enough."
So we did just that. I have to admit though, knowing Blueblood more now, and what he's packing, I found myself… looking. Often. Thankfully we did find Gilda and… oh… oh my. "I knew Fancy Pants was Bisexual but… wow." Blueblood said as we looked at the naked forms of Fancy Pants and Gilda, floor stained in… you know what and all that. They were both out cold… damn it why does Gilda look so cute like this!?
“Gilda is too cute for his own good.” I grumbled. “Also damn it...Gilda is my number one...why do I keep looking at...other things…”
"Heh, you take to the herd mentality faster than I expected." Blueblood said. "In a herd, any potential, joinable mates are free to look at."
“But...I...guess it’s not really cheating if it’s all in the herd but...I suppose it’s something I’ll need to get used to.”
"Pretty much. So, should we wake them or see where the others all ended up and if that Pinkie Pie didn't invent the world's strongest Viagra."
“Well...we should probably wake them up.” I said honestly. “Wonder what Gilda’s gonna think about fucking a dude though since it doesn’t look like Gilda was...filled as it were.”
"Depends. Are they bisexual as well?"
“I...believe so.” I said honestly. “He hasn’t...opposed to the fact that if I learn to shapeshift better I can...get the proper parts as it were.”
"So, want to both be his baby mama and baby daddy?" I jumped… did Blueblood just tease me? "Don't be so surprised…" He took a deep breath. "If this is all going to come out into the open… and this." He motioned between myself, Gilda, and himself. "Is going to be something, it's best I act like myself over the prick I typically act as around you."
“That would help a lot overall to be honest.” I said simply. “Just...don’t expect Gilda to be more...open about this at first.”
"Given his current situation… he just might."
So we woke up Gilda and Fancy Pants. Screams, blushing, and lastly a long talk that Fancy left to get clothes and find his wife to also have a talk and possibly scream in panic with.
"Is it wrong I feel… good? Like, really good?" Gilda asked.
"Depends. You can't remember the sex but do you feel violated or dirty?" Blueblood asked.
"Honestly… no. I actually feel… happy. Weirdly. Guess I am bi after all. Looks like I do owe my therapist those twenty bits after all." Gilda sighed. "So… you two smashed as well… firstly, not mad, more shocked than angry." Gilda stated that last part firmly. "Second, can someone find me my clothes? Just the dress even cause I have no idea where my underwear went."
“Uh…” I looked around carefully for the dress Gilda was wearing. “Let’s hope you didn’t rip it apart…”
"Or stain it." Blueblood added.
We found Gilda's dress thankfully tossed over an empty couch and they quickly put it back on. "Not the first time I've gone commando in these dresses. At least this one is long." Gilda said happily. "Now, where is Pinkie and Rarity? And who bets they both hooked up?"
"Twenty bits then?" Blueblood gave a hand.
"Deal." Gilda said, shaking his hand. Awh, this is nice.
We did find Pinkie and Rarity. They were indeed together… atop Luna… "Wow, they hooked up." Gilda said with a laugh.
Blueblood simply covered his eyes. "Our relationship may not be blood but she is still my aunt…" He said, keeping then covered.
“Says the guy that’s probably going to join the herd she’s a part of.” I pointed out.
"Aware of that… I just hope this doesn't repeat with Luna… or stars forbid, Celestia. She's more my mother than my aunt. That would be traumatizing."
"You two would make cute little foals though. Owe!" Gilda huffed as Blueblood kicked their leg for that one.
“No hitting Gilda.” I huffed. “But anyways...it’s gonna be a little weird...also I’m more surprised your going along with this so fast Gilda.”
"Heh, well I sorta figured something more than being a prick was up with Blueblood. I'm… kinda an expert at using anger to hide pain so… I had a few flags fly up whenever we talked with him. Not to mention when he talked to me solo compared to with you, his tone and attitude were different. So, let me guess… she looks like her?" Gilda asked.
Blueblood sighed, and nodded. "Human or Pony, she's almost Clean Sweep's twin."
"Damn. No wonder you were acting like such an ass. To keep from feeling hurt yourself you tried to hurt her so she'd hate you and hopefully it would kill off the feeling you had for her, only it didn't work."
"Is it all that transparent?"
"Once you both explained things out it's not too hard to figure out the missing pieces."
"Huh… fair- owe!" Blueblood yipped as Gilda poked them With a talon. "What was that for?"
"It's a Griffon thing, we call it an Overnighter Mark."
"And it means?"
"Well, you did fuck Anna, and from that limp she's sporting, pretty good." I blushed, as did Blueblood. "I'm not mad, but as head male I need to… ensure you're right for her as well." At that moment Gilda grabbed Blueblood by the ass and pulled him against himself. My blush became crimson and Blueblood was shocked. "Which means I need to… make sure you pass a few tests."
"I-i, I've never even been with, I…" Blueblood was stuttering.
"Hey, if it helps, we can let Anna watch to… review your performance."
And now my nose is bleeding. Yup, lots of blood, thank God I am wearing a red dress.
After everything got cleaned up and we all made it back to Ponyville, Rarity, Pinkie and Luna were a bit awkward, well, More Rarity. Pinkie just giggled a lot and Luna was making plans about using her dream magic to try and recover those memories for us… yes please.
Finally though we were home and Blueblood had to explain everything about Pip, and Pip's mom and… well, all that.
Pinkie, cried. Expectedly. Rarity was at a loss. It explained his treatment of her at the Galla some years ago but she would make him make it up to her. Luna, slapped him.
"I deserved that." He sighed.
"I'd do more but… I can understand your reasoning." She sighed, taking a seat next to him. "Canterlot now is so different from a thousand years ago. Despite the luxury, not many foals have good parents, and even when they are good, they are busy. Twilight Sparkle and her brother were lucky. Loving parents, lots of letters and time spent with each. Visited the castle often when she was under my sister's care. And yes, Celestia would have done exactly that to make sure you had time for Pip. The only question now is… how do we tell Pip about you?"
“Either we just tell him outright, or we lie and say his dad was on some ‘grand adventure’, the last message he got was the note he’ll show Pip...and after that he was too focused on showing his wife and newborn son something amazing...only to figure out the worst had happened.” I explained. “Sound like a good enough explanation?”
"No." Blueblood sighed. "Clean Sweep… hated lies. Thought they were pointless. We'll have to tell the truth… everything."
“So...now we have to think of how Pip’s going to react…” I sighed out. “Cause he can either freak out and be really mad at Blueblood here...or he could freak out and finally be happy with a father that truly cared about him...which is more believable of happening?”
"I'm not sure. Pip Is usually such a happy colt, the idea of him being mad is strange." Luna said.
"We won't know until we tell him." Gilda said. "We should make sure we're all there to help him process."
“And Tommy, cause those two are practically brothers at this point.” I pointed out.
"Then let's go get him" Luna said.
It wasn't hard to find Tommy and Pip. We sat both down and had a long talk with Pip. When all was said and done, Pip held onto the letter, and a photo of his mom Blueblood had.
"You… you were going to fake your death? That's… silly." Pip said.
"Heh… your mother thought so too." Blueblood said with a chuckle. "I can tell you all about her. If you're okay with that."
"I'd like that… dad."
My heart!
"So, any questions?"
"Well… Luna is my mom now… and you're my dad… and you're joining their family so… will I become a big brother?"
Blueblood, was taken back in surprise. Most of us all laughed.
"Why yes Pip." Luna said, giving Pip a hug. "I suspect your father and I will make sure you have many siblings."
"Luna- you're my-" Blueblood started.
"Not by blood." She stated. "And you do owe your son a lot for missing out on eleven, almost twelve years of his life."
"... This herd will be the death of me…" Blueblood groaned as we all got a laugh.
“That’s only half the fun.” I chuckled. “But you seem to be taking this really well Pip.”
"Honestly… I'm just happy to know my mom and dad loved each other, and that he still wants me." Pip said.
“That’s fair.” I nodded. “So, what are you going to do now Pip? Tell Diamond about another part of your family being Royalty?”
"Nah. Also, why?"
"I can tell her." Tommy shrugged.
“Sorry, just brought that up given...what prior history you had with Diamond being...well how she was beforehand.”
"She's been really nice since Tommy told her mom off." Pip stated.
"Plus I think Tiara is working on an apology for you anyway." Tommy added.
“Which is really good.” I nodded.
The next day or so Blueblood spent all his time with Pip, talking about Pip's mother and how she was. Luna accompanied them, half because she is Pip's legal mom now, half to tease the shit out of Blueblood.
I also did end up… reviewing that little exam Gilda had planned with Blueblood. Needless to say, it was very hot, and almost became a three-way. After that we went on our date with Applejack.
She was dressed so lovely, and all by herself. Apparently some lessons from her time with her aunt and uncle in Manehatten stuck well. With some motivation and pushing from Gilda, that date ended in my first ever girl on girl sex. It. Was. Amazing. Still though it was going to be some time before a home for all of us could be built, and tomorrow we head off for the Changeling Hive mission. How to spend my final day of free time before work.
“Me and Tommy need an adventure.” I told myself as I got out of my comfy chair. “Something to do before I’m stuck in bumfuck nowhere for god knows how long…”
I ran off to find him, and that was the easy part as his little group of soon to be lovers were following him everywhere, with Twist on his arm like a scarf. That's just so cute. "Hey Anna." Tommy said as he spotted me.
“I didn’t know we were starting a conga line.” I joked at how all the girls were walking behind him perfectly. “So, want to go on an adventure?”
"Uh, sure. Where to?"
“No idea.” I said with a smile. “So we’re just gonna wing it.”
"Okay then. So, you girls wanna head home?" None moved. Tommy sighed. "Alright, you can come." That made them happy.
“Alright. So, have any of you heard any rumors of strange things happening around here?” I asked curiously.
"Well, there are the normal monsters in the Everfree." Sweetie Bell started.
"Plus the super mega monsters that show up here and there." Scootaloo added.
"Normally they leave us alone since they always stay in the forests, but given those Fiends have been popping up, some have gotten a bit closer to town." Silver said.
"I saw a Manticore a few days back." Tiara said.
"So, we clean up the violent stragglers and take out some fiends then. Fair enough." Tommy said with a shrug.
“Sounds simple enough.” I nodded. “And depending on how things go, I might actually be able to talk to the creatures of this world with my Equestrian Chimera form.”
"Cool. Alright then, arm up ladies." Tommy said. To my surprise each of them reached into his backpack, pulling out swords and a few machina weapons alike.
“Where, how, and when?” I frowned, crossing my arms as I waited for their answer.
"Where, no idea. Remember when I first came back and I dumped a shit ton of weapons, potions and ect from my backpack?" He asked me. Right… I forgot he came back with a bag of holding too… "How is also unknown, and when is also, u known. For the most part given I somehow know how to use them all I ended up training them each with the weapons. I keep hold of them when not training, so they don't get in trouble for coming home with a ten foot greatsword."
“Uh huh...and you haven’t picked one specifically yet?” I asked curiously, noticing he’s the only one not to have grabbed a specific weapon.
"Sis, I can do shit that is physically impossible for my age and size. Pretty sure a weapon would break if I used it."
"It's true. We watched him punch a boulder to rubble once." Tiara said.
"That gem hunting did not go well." Sweetie sighed.
“Alright Chris Redfield, don’t let your strength go to your head.” I said while ruffling my little brother’s hair.
"So, you all know where we might find some of these dangerous beasts?" Tommy asked.
"I remember Zecora saying a pack of Timber Wolves lived a few miles from her but. They usually leave her alone since she put up some barrier around it." Applebloom said.
"Stick wolves it is." Tommy said.
“Let’s hope they're not being corrupted by something.” I said nervously.
We rushed over to the Everfree. Already we spotted something and we weren't even inside the forest yet, just the outer border of it. The Manticore saw us, roaring aggressively. I was surprised the girls all readied their swords.
“Now now, let’s take a moment.” I said while shifting into my Equestrian Chimera form. “Let’s hope this works…” I muttered as I stepped forward. “The hell are you doing out this far? Shouldn’t you be back in the forest?”
It roared. ("I can ask the same, freak.")
“First up, rude.” I growled. “And secondly, I asked you first.”
("Beasts, much like yourself, attacked. My pride and cubs were slaughtered.")
I couldn’t help but gasp from all four of my heads. “Oh god…” I started. “Where are they?” I asked quickly.
("Long gone. After the massacre they moved on. I vowed revenge… and lucky me, you happened by.") The Manticore said, growling as he got ready to jump at me and raised his stinger.ger.
“If you think getting yourself killed is a good idea.” I growled as I raised my left hand as it formed a fireball. “Think about this...you don’t have to fight, just go back and find another...I’m sure their still more out there.”
("There are, but I'm out to avenge my cubs, my pride. You can't replace family. I'd sooner die trying than try to replace them.")
And with that, he lunged at me. It was easy to grab him and use my snake part to restrain his stinger.
“Do you really want to be a part of your family again?” I asked the manticore sadly.
("To survive, live past your own children. It's a fate no parent should endure.") He replied just as sadly. ("Others, will not be this conversational, Freak.")
“I have a name.” I told the Manticore. “It’s Anna...and I’m going to save the forest from the Fiends, save whoever I can...question, is there a ‘Monster Leader’? Like the father or mother of all monsters here?”
("None that I know of, Freak.")
I rolled my eyes. “Okay, so you want it fast and painless?”
He didn't bother answering. My tiger and goat heads opened wide, and bit into his skull.
Crack. Pop. Splash.
New Form Obtained: Equis Manticore
"Gross." Tommy said. Most of the girls looked a bit sick. Silver Spoon even threw up.
“He lost his family…” I said as I spat out some bones. “That’s why he was out there, Fiends are attacking the creatures in the Everfree…”
"So it's not just the kingdoms then. Wild animals too…" Tommy said. "How do we help them?"
"What about Fluttershy?" Sweetie asked, gaining our attention. "Well, Fluttershy used To babysit Scootaloo, Applebloom and I and she told us a dream of hers would be to build an animal sanctuary. I bet she could get all the animals and even some of the monsters to co-exist safely in a secure place."
“That would be a good idea.” I nodded. “Go find Fluttershy, I’m sure the monsters will at least be a little more talkative with her.”
"But where will be put them all?" Tommy asked.
"I believe you've forgotten about little old me." Tommy and I jumped as Discord slithered out of the grass between us like a worm. "Honestly it feels like you forget I'm here."
“I didn’t, you’re just...honestly barely around.” I shrugged. “How you doing Discord?”
"Pretty good all things considered. Took a break to browse the chapter over and realized you do need some help getting to the realms of the gods and other worlds. It would be so much fun!" He flashed, appearing in my tiger nose as half an inch tall. "And honestly it will help you all so much to know about the shit they are going through with the fiends, among other things. You'd also be happy to know that after a quick look around." He then took out a telescope and aimed it at the sky. "In this reflection I have found three other survivors of your world Anna. Isn't that just grand!"
“Wait really?” I asked in surprise. “I didn’t know there were other survivors besides my family...also are the Gods really having trouble because of the Fiends?”
"The gods, not really. Some more than others but mostly, as I said it's the other worlds that are having issues with them. Most already have issues to deal with, the fiends just piled on the trouble. And honestly, there are so many survivors Anna, including yourself there are four in this reflection. The rest are all scattered to the other reflections living out their wishes your God gave them."
“Huh, that’s really interesting.” I said honestly. “Wonder how things are going for them since this ‘Father’ isn’t bugging the shit out of them.”
"He may not be pestering them directly but fiends are present and their numbers do grow. Slowly but surely."
“Sounds about right.” I nodded. “So, how can you help all the monsters and animals in the Everfree from the Fiends?”
"Several ways, I'm partial to one method myself but any of them can work fine."
"That method is?"
"Turn Luna's moon into middle earth."
"How do you even know that reference?"
"Child if I was to explain that to you, you'd just be more confused."
“Now when you say ‘Middle Earth’...are you talking about a smaller Earth or are you literally turning it into Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit out of nowhere?” I asked carefully.
"Why yes, yes I am." Discord replied with a smile.
“And...how is Luna going to think about this?” I asked curiously.
"That's what I am going to find out. Also here." He snapped his fingers, and in my and Tommy's hands appeared an identical key for the two of us. "When you finish up with Ugly come by Gilda's place." And with that, Discord left.
"Wait, good luck with Ugly?" Twist asked.
Suddenly, the ground shook. "I really hate him…" Applebloom said.
I switched to my Solar Armor and prepared my axe. “So let’s meet ‘Ugly’.” I said while turning around to see what the hell is coming at us.
And it was at that point I was legit scared…. I've seen photos of this abomination of limbs and Pyreflies… Amalgamation, they called it. It had seven heads. Three in the neck, four in the chest, four sets of wings, and fourteen arms along the torso and back, and walking on fourteen legs. It saw us, every face on that body screeched an unholy yell.
“So…” I started as I walked slowly to the thing. “Here’s what I’m gonna do…” I explained as I drove my axe into whatever the fuck this thing is, and used that handy dandy thing Luna told me to kill it with fire. “Die by fire you sick fuck!” I yelled in panic at how horrible this thing looked like.
It caught fire instantly but grabbed my axe and arm. Get it off me! I tried kicking the thing off me but fuck this thing has a grip! "Anna!" Tommy yelled, rushing up in a blur and spin kicking the thing. It skid across the ground but did not let me go. The girls all took out their machena weapons and started shooting at it. On fire, filled with holes, my brother kicking and punching this thing hard enough to make small shockwaves… why won't it die?!?!?!
“Okay, so what the hell is up with this thing?” I muttered as I scanned it, wondering what’s going on as it was currently getting its ass handed to it.
Amalgamation: Variant - Morphed
HP: 200,500,950
Current HP: 199,999,742
I CALL EVERY BULLSHIT!!!
“How the fuck does this thing have two hundred million hp!?” I shouted in anger.
“Excuse me what!?” Tommy shouted as he heard me scream how much health this monster had.
The girls all looked nervous but kept shooting and I tried driving the axe deeper into its body while Tommy tried to break the arms holding me.
He managed to break one and I finally got free. I rushed back, letting the axe grow hotter. Come on, you can burn at the core of Celestia's sun! Incinerate this bitch!
At that, the axe glowed, going from a hot red, to blinding white, to an almost gold with lightning sparking off. The armor caught fire. I felt nothing, the ground beneath me melted, yet I walked through it like water. Tommy and the girls ran. Trees burst to flames and I rushed in, bringing the axe down across the thing. A clean cut, and the body turned to ash from the cut marks around it and those ashes became Pyreflies I absorbed.
I painted, the axe instantly going dim, looking normal now as it just smoked and the armor extinguished itself. I realized I was knee deep in lava that was dirt. I felt nothing in the armor. I quickly got out, running through the forest fire I… accidentally caused. I switched to lunar armor and used the lance to put out what I was able.
“Okay...so I...didn’t expect that to happen.” I said nervously. “God...this is bad...I’m doing more harm than good here…”
"Deploy rain!" I looked above, seeing a lot of Pegasi flying above, rain clouds following as they kicked them, the rain falling hard and all over the fires that quickly began to die down.
"Anna!" Rainbow said, flying down over to me. "What happened? Your brother and his friends were armed to the teeth and saying you were killing some crazy monster thing and then turned into fire?!"
“So...there was an Abomination...like, a fusion of bodies that looked horrifying...it’s ‘health bar’ as it were was over two hundred million somehow...and my Solar Armor I was using to kill it with fire...and then this happened sadly…”
"Shit… is it at least dead?"
“Yes, I cut it in half with the power of Celestia’s sun.” I nodded.
"Damn. Come on." Dash said, taking my hand as I shifted out of the armor form. "You look like you could use a nap."
“Maybe…” I yawned, looking at where the corpse was before, wondering if there might have been some loot that didn’t burn to ashes.
Dash led me back home, and I opened the door to Gilda reading a book on the couch and Blueblood helping Pip with homework.
“So...remember those Amalgamation things?” I asked carefully. “Also, if you can hear me Discord...can you fix the forest?” I asked the spirit if he was there.
That gained their attention. "How bad was it?" Blueblood asked.
“So uh...Rainbow and the Weather team needed to rush in and...clean it up while I was in a...pool of lava…” I said sheepishly, only to realize something. “Where’s Tommy and the others?” I asked in panic. “I know they ran but...are they okay?”
"Tommy's in the bedroom trying to calm the girls." Gilda said. "That abomination must have scared them a lot."
“Imagine a ball of flesh covered in writhing body parts and screeching like a child as it tanked not only one of my swings, but a flurry of attacks from my super strong brother and dozens of magically infused bullets from machina rifles.” I explained.
"Somehow I knew those things were going to be a pain in the ass." Gilda said, putting their book down. "The fire under control?"
"Yeah." Dash said with a nod.
“Again, sorry about that.” I said sheepishly. “Discord, you there?” I called out again to the spirit of chaos, hoping he can hear me this time.
"Present!" His voice came from Pip's homework. He then appeared in the center of the room. "Looks like Ugly is down and congratulations on using Core Sun for the first time Anna."
“Can you please fix the damage I did? I don’t know how bad of damage I did...but I’m scared I did more than cause a forest fire and create lava.” I said nervously.
"Fine fine, but you'll owe me." He said almost like it was a warning.
“You make it sound like a threat.” I pointed out.
"Well when someone owes me it never works out well for them. I tend to ask for help in personal matters I'd never act on alone." He said simply. "Do you still want me to repair the forest?"
“How bad is the damage?” I asked first, wanting to know at least that before fully asking.
"From what I saw a good… six acres got burned." Rainbow said sheepishly.
“Well...it’s not ten a mile of area…” I sighed out. “What other damage was there?”
"Well… Zecora's Hut was nearby so… hopefully her barrier held?"
"I have a feeling it didn't…" Blueblood said.
“Where’s...where’s Zecora?” I asked carefully.
"I think she was in town getting supplies. I know I saw her by Barnyard Bargains an hour ago." Dash said.
I fell to my knees, not in despair, but in sweet relief as I sighed out. “Oh thank god…” I said thankfully. “So...question...is it worth the effort to owe Discord for the six acres of forest?”
"Probably not." Blueblood said.
"I wouldn't." Gilda said.
"Not even if I got to be Captain of the Wonderbolts." Dash said.
“How long would it take to regrow the damage to the forest?” I asked curiously.
"The Evergreen does it's own thing. Earth pony magic just can't control it properly. Last time there was a fire though we found out it fixed itself in about a month. Much slower but still pretty fast for not having help from earth ponies." Blueblood said.
“Discord, are there Dryads or ‘Tree Spirits’ in the Everfree? And if so, are they mad at the impromptu forest fire?” I asked honestly, knowing he might know if there was more to the Everfree than just ‘Nature being Nature in magical pony land’.
"Not sure honestly. Never bothered checking." Discord said with a shrug. "Now then, call your brother, and I shall demonstrate your keys."
“I’ll let the Everfree regrow, so I won’t be owing you.” I said while getting back up. “And I’ll go get Tommy...hopefully all the girls aren’t too messed up because of this…”
I looked into the bedroom and tried not to laugh. I suspect their scare was just so they could dogpile him on the bed and cuddle. "This is heavy, even for me." Tommy sighed.
“I’m sorry, but I thought it would be bad...not adorable.” I said honestly. “So, Discord wants to show us how to use our keys.”
"Little help?" He asked, pulling out an arm I grabbed and pulled him out from under them with.
We walked back into the main room. "Good, now, present your keys." Discord said.
I brought out my Key, wondering what Discord has in store for us with these keys.
"Now then, you two hold the keys in the air in front of you, and turn them."
“Sounds simple enough.” I said while bringing up my key and turning it, seeing Tommy do the same.
There was an audible Click. And now space itself opened in front of us as if it was a door, and on the other side was… something massive and amazing looking. "What… is this?" Tommy asked.
"Those are keys to The Pathways Hub. A link between every world in this reality, including the homes of the gods."
“Huh…” I started. “Didn’t think that was...really possible.” I said honestly.
"Oh Anna, how little you know." Discord said with a chuckle. He then pulled out a pocket watch. "Speaking of, now that you have a means of travel and all that, well, interplanetary travel at least, your last gift from me should be arriving in three… two... one."
Discord vanished in a flash just as Limestone entered. "Anna, guys, you are not gonna believe, the house is, it's done!"
“Excuse me what?” I asked curiously.
"Yeah! I was just making lunch then, everything shook and flashed, and it's done, and way better than I imagined! You gotta see it! Come on!"
“Uh...sure.” I said while putting the key in my pocket as I followed after Limestone. “How could Discord finish it all at once?” I muttered, not knowing how strong the spirit truly was.
"You don't know?" Dash asked as we all followed Marble, Tommy's little herd included. "Back in the day Discord actually ruled Equis. As in the whole planet just by snapping his fingers and turning roads into soap, trees into jello, Clouds into cotton candy and they rained chocolate milk. Discord can reshape the planet and then some at will. Building a house is nothing to him."
“Huh…” I started. “I...didn’t know that.”
"That's nothing. He actually turned the whole of the Griffon territories into giant eggs. And the oceans into strawberry jam with the fish all somehow alive and swimming in it like it was water." Gilda added.
"In short, he is called a spirit of chaos, but Discord is a God in power and by birthright." Blueblood said. "He just doesn't take the mantle because he doesn't care for it."
“What, all the responsibility and none of the fun make him turn it down?” I asked, half joking but I was pretty certain it was because of that.
"No. Aunt Celestia once told me he never took the mantle because of two reasons. One, he would end up gathering followers as a god, trying to do his work for him. He doesn't like worship and frankly the idea of a cult of Discord is concerning. Secondly, it would mean he'd have to acknowledge his family, and his father. He hates them all, especially his father."”
“While a cult of Discord is concerning...does it also involve not wanting to get smacked by Thor?” I asked. “Cause his father’s Loki and...well Loki’s an asshole.”
"Actually from what I know Thor adors Discord. He's a very jolly person by nature and rather calm most of the time."
“Surprising.” I said honestly. “But not unheard of I suppose.”
The train took us to the Pie Family former Rock Farm and… holy shit! We stood before a miniature castle. Crafted looking a mix of Canterlot And Ponyville themes as the ground was a lush green with trees all around. Most Apple I noticed. "Who knew Discord has taste." Blueblood said.
“Holy shit.” I blinked. “This… looks amazing.”
"I know!" Limestone said happily. "And this is just the above ground stuff!"
"Above ground?" Gilda asked.
"Yeah, remember when I said there are some old mines around here our family used to dig before farming rocks? Well those also got an overhaul! There is so much stuff here, come on!"
And so Limestone gave us the tour, with her sister Marble. There are, in total. Over sixty bedrooms, the Master Bedroom with adjacent nursery, and one hell of a bathroom that almost looks like a public pool/public bathroom. Each bedroom can easily house three or four people and has about four bathrooms each bedroom. The kitchen looked like it was built for a high capacity restaurant, fully stocked, with freezers and Refrigerators for meet and veggies and drinks and all that. Did I mention everything there was pre stocked? Cause seeing a fifty foot pantry looking like a mini Walmart was mind blowing.
Twilight is never gonna want to leave this Library, there are books here from Asgard and Even Some written in egyptian hyroglif. Then here is where the rooms got even more personal. You can guess who they belong too.
A private, fully stocked laboratory. An indoor park that so far I can't find the walls too. Dash and I flew easily a hundred miles each and didn't find a wall. Discord made a pocket dimension indoor park. A massive, fully stocked warehouse filled with fabrics, top of the line sewing machines and all that. An indoor race track for fliers and runners. A second kitchen/office for baking and… office, stuff? A room filled with apple trees. Much like the indoor park, but was about as big as AJ's family farm. A room that was clearly meant for me, as it was filled with books on fiends, ones I know and ones I think Discord found and catalogued, and an area that sent my need heart fluttering. Earth, games, consoles, ect. Ones I've played, lot's I haven't.
The rooms all went on and on and… wait is this place just infinite inside? Eh, don't think I care really. Games!
“Okay so...someone’s going to need to make sure we go outside...in any way shape or form cause this is amazing.” I said simply.
"I wonder how big this place is? Clearly there's his typical magic at play here, but this is far more controlled than I ever expected to see out of something Discord made." Blueblood said as he opened up one of the books on fiends. "Oh. Well I hope no boats run into this Sin fiend. Looks rather large."
“That massive space whale thing named Sin...is the Armor to the actual important bastard possessing the new pilot of it.”
"So it's not a fiend then?"
“I mean...it spawns fiends.” I said honestly. “By shedding, it can either make Sin Scales, which are simple enough to deal with but are damn near endless if you have the main body near you, or after it fucks off it makes a ‘Sin Spawn’, which is always a boss level fiend.”
“Should we be searching for it? If it’s on Equis, then the port cities are in danger.”
“No, because it doesn’t exist at the moment.” I said honestly. “Sin is a creation of all the pyreflies it collects from murdering a fuck ton of people to surround an Aeon Yu Yevon has possessed, and even though Yevon is being practiced by the Minotaurs, Yu Yevon, and by extension Sin, don’t exist here.” I explained simply.
“Hm, Still, it is concerning. That aside, what shall we do about these Abominations? If they are that strong, then I doubt even agent Sweetie Drops could handle them, at least not solo.”
“From what I saw, the variant I fought was slow as piss and acted more like a damage sponge than anything else.” I said honestly. “It was a Morphed Varient from what I remember.”
“Hm… Well, let’s see if Discord didn’t catalogue them for us.” Blueblood said, looking through the books of fiends so far and all the ones we don’t know about yet. “Here is it. Abomination class Fiends. That’s never a good sign when they have a whole book for just them.” Blueblood said as he opened the book up. “Here it is. Morphed. Oh goodie, it’s a common class…”
“Was the one I fought rare or...is it that much of a damage sponge?”
“Slow and dumb, they attack anything not a fiend on sight.” Blueblood said, reading aloud the text. “They tank hits as front line foot soldiers, immune to all magics with high defences to both magic and physical attacks. No weaknesses, can only be killed through endurance… Great…” He sighed, closing it. “Well, looks like we are in trouble if these things are Foot Soldiers…”
“That can’t be right, there has to be some weakness.” I frowned. “And if it was immune to magic, then how did I burn it to ash and then burn the ash?”
“You did pull out the heat of the sun’s core. Magic immune or not, nothing can survive heat like that save for you in that armor and Celestia herself.”
“So what sucks is that I’m going to need the physical strength to bench press a planet to make headway through it’s defense and completely asinine health pool..seriously, two hundred million health?”
“Hmm… Discord did give you that key to the hub between all worlds. Maybe we can speak with the dwarves to commission weapons directly? Something that can deal powerful physical damage or at least bypass it’s defence and immunity?”
"That might work." I nodded. "Honestly I hoped this little side quest with Tommy wouldn't have...devolved into bad things happening." I sighed out.
“Sadly in our line of work we can’t have every outing be perfect. Tommy and I can head to the Dwarves homeworld, you and Gilda need to make sure those Changelings aren’t causing trouble.”
"Or if the changelings aren't in trouble at this point." I sighed out
“Hopefully not. So, shall we fetch the others? I imagine Twilight will try and live in the library, or laboratory here.”
"Might as well, but we're gonna need to get out of here more often than not cause...we'd all be stuck in this place forever."
“Possibly. But, a little vacation and RnR can do a world of good.”
We managed to get everyone over here. Pinkie and Applejack loved the kitchen and those them specific room. Same with Fluttershy, Rarity, Twilight immediately made herself home in the library. All in all, things were nice. The bedroom was perhaps the best part. There was the master bed, where we all could fit on, and private bedrooms for… well, for sex. “Why is this bed so soft?” Gilda asked.
This bed was soft. You sank in deep enough to be comfy, not enough to make it a pain to climb out of the bed.
"Because it's the master bed, it's good for cuddle piles." I said honestly.
I have to admit, having everyone here and on the same bed was… different. There was a lot of awkward shifting and all that, but all in all everyone got comfy. Even Celestia arrived, to everyone’s surprise. She’s currently playing with Pip though, and Luna and Blueblood are being dragged alone to ensure she doesn’t spoil Pip rotten. I was actually surprised how many of everyone here slept in a blouse. Dash and I so far the only ones in shorts and a t-shirt.
“This is new...but this is nice.” I said warmly at the cuddle pile we have.
“Yeah. So, shall we clock in for the night?” Gilda asked, getting up close to me and wrapping their arms around me.
“Yeah, cause we have a lot to do tomorrow.” I said, wrapping my arms around Gilda happily.
As we settled in, I felt others wrap around us, Aj, Pinkie, Cream Heart, Peppermint about nearly covered us all. I felt… secure. Happy, all in all.
To be continued...