//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Sunfire // Story: My Final Pony Fantasy II // by Vimtrust5 //------------------------------// The sun slowly set during the ride back to the village. Our heroes shared a look of sorrow on their faces, for they were unable to save their friend's life. Though Firion was busy steering the vehicle and kept a straight face, his heart felt heavy. Tears fell down Maria's cheeks. Guy sighed deeply as did Spike. And the ponies? Each shared a look of guilt and shame, for there was nothing they could do given that Twilight and Cadence were unconscious at the time of Josef's death, and Fluttershy was afraid. Afraid of the fact that she was just about to be crushed to death along with the rest of the party. If only... the yellow pegasus thought, sniffling. If only I wasn't such a coward...! As the snowcraft came to a halt, the group marched solemnly to the village and deliver the bad news. Salamand The group went directly to Josef's house and told his wife and daughter everything that had transpired. The now widowed mother could only weep in Maria's arms, while Nelly was comforted by Fluttershy. "Daddy..." she said between sobs. "Daddy's never gonna come back, is he?" The little pegasus closed her eyes and shook her head. "I'm so sorry, Nelly," Fluttershy answered, sniffling. The others weren't doing so well either. The princesses sat on their haunches with Spike holding onto Twilight, while Firion and Guy sat at the table all mourning the loss of their friend. "I can't believe he's gone..." said Twilight. "Neither can I," said Cadence. "If only we'd been stronger... If only we... stood a better chance against that beast..." Guy sat up and knelt to the princesses and caressing their manes. "Even so..." said Firion, looking at the item they had searched the whole cave for. "We won't let this opportunity go to waste. Josef gave his life to save us. The Empire must be stopped." Everyone else closed their eyes deep in thought. They knew Firion was right; the Dreadnought was still an ever-present threat upon all that crossed its path. They left Josef's house and stayed at the local inn to rest for the night. The next morning, our heroes left the town of Salamand behind with the Goddess' Bell. To say that they were not happy with recent events would be an understatement. True, they acquired one of the items needed to enter Kashuan, but at the cost of a living being's life. "Firion..." said Twilight. "Before we get there, to Kashuan... I feel like we should get back to Altair, and tell the princess everything." "I agree," said Maria. Guy nodded, also in agreement. It was a long journey back to the village, and while they had fought several monsters on the way and some of their magic powers increased, they were in no mood to celebrate. Altair As they finally approached the rebel hideout, the party stopped but only for a minute or two. They went into the meeting chamber, greeted by everyone. "You're all safe," said Hilda. She took notice of the group's grim expressions. "What is the matter?" "Princess Hilda," said Twilight. "We've got the bell, but..." "But...?" As our heroes explained everything, Hilda held her hand in front of her mouth in shock and sadness. The others bowed their heads in respect. "So Josef gave his life for you and that bell," said Hilda. "We cannot let his sacrifice be in vain. Please take the bell to Kashuan Keep at once." "Yes, Your Highness," said Firion. "But what about you?" "We will meet you there on Cid's airship." "What will we do from there?" asked Fluttershy. "Find the Dreadnought and destroy it, of course." And so it was settled. After gathering more supplies, the party left the town and headed back for Poft in order to reach Kashuan. Poft Our heroes re-entered the pub and requested a trip to the Kashuan region as they planned. They boarded the airship and flew straight towards the Kashuan region which lay southeast of Poft, encased in a large forested area. As soon the airship docked, the group surveyed their surroundings and marched onward to the castle while the airship took off, heading back towards Poft... Kashuan Keep As our heroes approached the castle gates, they saw a flame crackling near the entrance. "This must be it," Firion observed. "It has to be," Twilight agreed. "So this is Sunfire," said Cadence. "I don't get it," said Spike. "If this flame's so important, shouldn't there be someone guarding it?" "I guess you're right," Twilight agreed. "But I think we should worry about getting that torch for now." As they approached the castle gates, Twilight pulled out the Goddess's Bell and rang the object, allowing the gates to open and granting her and the others access. Despite the importance of the castle, our heroes couldn't help notice the place in disrepair as there were several cracks on the walls and floors. When they reached the second floor, a familiar person was already there standing with his back visible. "Gordon?!" The figure turned around and to his surprise, saw the group he met several times in Altair. "Oh, it's you all..." "What are you doing here...?" asked Twilight. "I came here... to obtain the Sunfire." "What?!" everyone yelled. "You mean," said Firion, "you didn't actually run away like everyone said?" "That is correct. I am done running away from my duties. And I want to honor my brother's last wish and bring peace back to this world." The whole group stood silent. "I thought I was the only one who could retrieve the Sunfire. That's why I came back here. I came looking for Egil's Torch, but I couldn't get past the monsters dwelling here. I couldn't just leave empty-handed, so I've been standing here, stuck." "But you know this castle quite well, don't you?" asked Maria. Gordon shook his head. "This castle is full of secrets even I don't fully comprehend." Oh, dear, thought Twilight. That's not good. "I cannot guide you, but will you take me with you?" The party looked at each other with a worried look on their faces. They knew that Gordon was risking his life for a noble cause but feared he would share the same fate as Josef. However, they still admired the prince's newfound courage and smiled, accepting his request, gaining a new ally in the process. They turned and nodded, accepting Gordon's offer. With the prince on their side, the party marched onward. On the third floor they fought with creatures such as wererats and ogres. But none more dangerous than the undead Shadows and Ghouls which they had seen before at the Snow Cave. On the fifth floor, Firion and the other humans went straight into another trap room but triumphed over the monsters. Twilight and the others went in the opposite direction and found a treasure chest sitting in the middle of the chamber; upon opening it, they obtained the Golden Armor. They chose to wait for the humans and when they did arrive, they gave the armor to Gordon and moved on until they found another staircase. When they went down back to the fourth floor, our heroes opened the door and finally found what they had been looking for: Egil's Torch! "There it is!" Spike said excitedly, running towards the torch. "Spike, wait!" warned Twilight. "We don't know what..." But it was too late, as a shrieking flame-like entity appeared before the little dragon, scaring him to death. "...may be guarding it," Twilight finished. Spike ran back to the rest of the group and hid behind a nervous Fluttershy. "We need that torch!" Firion declared. To our heroes' shock and horror, this foe was able to absorb all elemental magic. Not even the alicorns' magic could do much harm. But with the mythril weapons on hand, they knew they had at least a chance of victory. Firion slashed at the creature with his mythril blade, causing it to write in pain and agony. It began to fade as if it were extinguished by a strong wind. With the Red Soul defeated, the party's life forces increased as did their physical endurance along the use of their weapons. *music stops* Once the dust settled, Spike walked up and grabbed Egil's Torch. With their prize in hand, the party returned to the first floor of the keep and used the torch to acquire the Sunfire. As they exited the castle, Firion noticed something in the sky. "Look! The airship!" Sure enough, Cid's airship was moving quickly as if it were evading something pursuit. At that moment, they saw it. The others have already seen it, but Twilight, Spike, and Fluttershy's eyes grew wide and their jaws dropped at the sight of the massive airship in pursuit of the smaller vessel. "Is that...?" Cadence nodded grimly. "It's the Dreadnought!" A metal claw appeared from just below the deadly weapon, grabbed the airship and pulled it inside. "Cid!" Twilight gasped. "CIIIIIID!!" everyone shouted. "Oh, no..." Maria gasped. "They got him," said Firion. "What about Princess Hilda? You don't think...?" Fluttershy said, worried. A wave of dread broke over the group; the probability of the rebel leader being captured by the Empire existed. Without the airship, our heroes had no choice but to walk all the way to Poft, and so they did. Just then, Fluttershy heard a faint sound. "Do you hear that?" she said. "What is it, Fluttershy?" "It sounds like a 'kweh...' I've never heard such a cry before." In the deep forest our heroes found large yellow birds frolicking about in the tall grass. Fluttershy's eyes widened, remembering the statues she saw in Castle Cornelia. "Are those...?" said Firion. "Chocobos," Guy replied with a smile. "Oh... my... goodness...!" the yellow pegasus squealed, getting the birds' attention. "Kweh?" squawked one of the creatures. "It's alright. We won't hurt you." Looking at the new creatures quizzically, the large birds approached the Equestrians in a cautious manner. "It's okay, Mr. Chocobo." "Kweh." "Oh, heh heh. Miss Chocobo. Will you help us get back over to the nearest town?" The Chocobos chirped in agreement, allowing the humans to ride on their backs. "Let's go!" Firion and the others hopped on the Chocobos and rode forth. As they traveled through the region, the ponies noticed that no monsters even came near them while they were riding with the large avians. They finally arrived at Poft and as soon as the humans dismounted, the giant birds immediately retreated back to the forest. "Wait! Please come back!" said Fluttershy. Maria placed her hand on Fluttershy's shoulder saying, "I think it's alright, Fluttershy. They went back home, because that's where they belong." "I guess you're right." "I understand, Fluttershy, but we need answers," said Twilight. Poft Once they entered the village, the party began questioning everyone in the village and learned that Princess Hilda came to support them in their journey. "So, it's true?" Cadence questioned. "Both Cid and Princess Hilda were aboard the airship when the Dreadnought captured it?" asked Twilight. "It's true..." said a little girl. "We've got to go back to Altair right away!" said Firion. "Right!" everyone agreed. And thus, everyone left the town and made it back to Altair. Altair As soon as they entered the town, our heroes returned to the base and found several of the people in distress and sorrow; they immediately knew the reason why. It was decided that they should rest for the night and on the next day, they were to go to where the Dreadnought stopped to refuel and destroy it once and for all. Meanwhile, in the Crystal Empire Shining Armor and his troops, still recuperating from their previous battle, rested in a room next to his and Cadence's at the Crystal Palace. "You all... did pretty good..." said Shining. "Thank you, sir," one of the soldiers replied. "I kind of wish your sister's Ponyville friends knew about this." "Me, too," the other one agreed. The white unicorn looked at them like they had lost their minds. "Are you two crazy? It's bad enough that my family's in another world dealing with the creature sending out these monsters after us, but Twily's friends? What would happen if they came here and couldn't handle them? Now I'm not saying they're weak, because they've definitely handled these things before. But what if the monsters were stronger than the last? What if they died?! Twilight would be devastated, and she'd never forgive me. Cadence would think I'm a failure..." Unfortunately for Shining Armor, two sinister figures overheard the entire conversation; one opted to return to their home world, but the other insisted they stay and hear more...