//------------------------------// // Chapter 14: The Last Dragoon/Mysidian Tower // Story: My Final Pony Fantasy II // by Vimtrust5 //------------------------------// A few hours after the incident near the Mysidian Tower, Fluttershy regained consciousness and found herself near the entrance to Gatrea. She looked up and saw a lavender blur. "Fluttershy...?" said the blur. As the yellow pegasus' vision came back into focus, she saw that it was her friend Twilight Sparkle. "Twilight?" said Fluttershy. The girls embraced each other. "Oh, thank goodness you're alright!" "I'm glad you're safe, too." Fluttershy gasped. "Wh-Where are the others?" Twilight hung her head. "I... I don't know. I sure hope they're alive." Her voice cracked as she said those words. Inside Leviathan Princess Cadence groaned as she regained consciousness. She went over to everyone else and noticed that not only was Leila missing, but Twilight and Fluttershy as well. The others regained consciousness, and as they surveyed their surroundings quickly realized they were inside Leviathan. "Leila!" Firion shouted. "Leila?" Maria called out. "Twilight?" said Spike. "Fluttershy?!" said Guy. "Where they go?" "I don't know, but I think we'd better find a way out of this beast," said Cadence. The others agreed and moved onwards. However, they came across a floor of gastric acid, threatening to burn any who dare walk across. Cadence wasn't worried; she carried Spike on her back and cast a levitation spell on the humans, carrying them all to safety as she flew across the area. Our heroes trekked through the belly of the serpent, fighting several creatures along the way. Just then, they saw something unexpected: a man dressed in purple armor and carrying a spear on his back. "Wh-Who are you?" the armored man said, getting into a battle stance and preparing to unsheathe his weapon. "Easy, we're not your enemies," Cadence reassured. At least, I hope not... The man was taken aback. "W-What madness is this? A unicorn that can speak the same language as us?!" "Actually, sir. I'm an alicorn." "An alicorn?! I've heard of such a creature, but I've never seen one." "Whoa! Calm down!" Spike said. The man looked at the little dragon curiously, tilting his head to the side. "Are you... a wyvern?" "What? No! I'm a dragon, actually." "A dragon? Here?" "That's correct, sir. My name is Princess Cadence, and these are my friends Spike, Firion, Maria, and Guy. And you?" "I'm Ricard Highwind, a dragoon from the Kingdom of Deist." Cadence gasped. "Y-You're... Ricard Highwind...?" The dragoon raised an eyebrow. "How do you know of me...? I thought this was our first meeting." "Perhaps it would be to explain a few things..." The party told everything about their adventures in the Deist region. "You mean... I'm the last dragoon...? No! You must be wrong!" "What are you doing here, anyway?" asked Firion. "I was searching for the ultimate magic in order to defeat the Empire, and the next thing I knew, I was here in Leviathan's stomach." "The Ultima Tome..." Cadence said solemnly. "We did acquire something to help us," she said showing him the Crystal Rod. "So you were after the Ultima Tome, too, huh? But look where we are now..." "Yeah," Spike said. "We're not the only ones." Ricard pointed left, and to the party's surpise, they saw a living human being pacing back and forth. "As you can see, there were others who sought the Ultima Tome, but they ended up here. All because they each had a Crystal Rod." Needless to say, our heroes were speechless. "Well, since we're all looking for the same thing, we might as well team up." "Really?" said Maria. Ricard nodded. "There's a boat up ahead, but there's also one tough monster standing in the way. Who knows? Together we might be able to take it down." "Alright, then. Welcome to the group," said Firion. With Ricard the dragoon by their side, the party moved onward. As soon as they reached the mouth, our heroes made their way through Leviathan's teeth and encountered a large worm standing between them and the boat. "What... is... THAT?!" asked Firion. "This is the monster! A roundworm!" Ricard confirmed. "We have to make it past this thing so we can get the hell out of here on that boat!" What language! Cadence thought. Never mind, we have to escape! We need to find our friends and save my daughter! *music stops* With a horrendous roar, the roundworm lunged toward the group who quickly dodged sideways. Ricard quickly slashed the beast with his lance and jumped back. The creature then knocked Guy aside with its tail, sending him to the floor. But the giant brunette recovered quickly and charged the roundworm, hacking it with his Ogrekiller. Though the damage was moderate, the roundworm was still agile and lunged towards Spike. Firion intercepted the attack and was blown away near Leviathan's teeth. "You!" Cadence cried, casting level 8 Thunder at the beast, harming it slightly. Thankfully, the youth wasn't impaled, as he charged the roundworm and slashed the monster with his Gaia Blade. With one last roar, the monster collapsed and vanished, leaving our heroes the victors. "We did it!" Cadence let out a sigh of relief. But before they could board the ship, Cadence looked back. "What is it, Princess?" asked Ricard. The pink alicorn looked back at the dragoon and replied, "I'm going to bring everyone else here. They don't deserve to be stuck in here forever." Knowing she was right, the group agreed and went back down, guiding the rest of the humans to the ship. As soon as they were aboard, Firion took the helm and Cadence forced open the beast's mouth with her magic, allowing the party to escape the sea serpent and back out into the world. "We're free!" said Spike. Everyone cheered and raised their arms in joy. All except one, for Ricard Highwind was still in disbelief. "It still can't be true...!" "I think we may have to go somewhere first," said Cadence. "Yeah. I agree," said Firion. Firion turned the ship around and headed back into the Deist region to verify their claims. Castle Deist Upon arriving with the group, Ricard looked around and shouted for his comrades-at-arms. He ran up the stairs and found only two people in front of what was once the wyvern's chamber. "Elina! Kain!" "R-Ricard? You're alive!" Elina gasped. "What happened to the rest of the dragoons?! Are they still..." The woman grimaced and shook her head. "No... They were all poisoned. Along with the wyverns..." Ricard took a few steps backwards and dropped to his knees. "So it's true then... My friends... The wyverns... They're all dead! Damn you, Palamecians!" He pounded the ground with his fist. "Actually," said Maria. "There's still the wyvern egg we planted in that cave." "An egg? So there is still hope?" "That's right," Cadence answered. "Not to mention, you still here," Guy added. "You're right," the dragoon confirmed. He then turned towards the boy. "Are you... really a dragoon?" he asked with wonder. "Yes. I was a friend of your father's," Ricard replied. "Rest assured: I will defeat the Emperor. When I come back, will you let me... be your new father?" Little Kain nodded, "Sure. But I hope you can beat that Emperor. I'll be praying for it." Ricard smiled and gave the boy a gentle pat on the head. "I must go now." Elina understood and embraced the dragoon. After letting go, Ricard joined his new allies as they left for Castle Fynn. Onboard the ship, he asked the two Equestrians of their origins. They explained everything about the Crystal Empire, Flurry Heart's abduction and their travels so far. The dragoon folded his arms while on the lookout for monsters, his anger toward the Empire roused further. Cadence thought that perhaps Hilda and Gordon would want to meet the dragoon, as well as know of her friends' whereabouts. Fynn The party rushed into the castle and up the stairs. Upon entering the grand hall, Cadence and Spike gasped. "Twilight? Fluttershy?" "Princess Cadence! Spike! You're alive!" the yellow pegasus gasped. The Equestrians rushed over to each other and embraced in a warm group hug, tears streaming from their faces. "Cadence! Spike! I thought we'd never see you again..." Twilight sobbed. "Thank goodness you're all safe!" said Princess Hilda. The group faced the royal couple and bowed. "Princess Hilda, Prince Gordon... We've so much to tell you," said Cadence. "And there's someone we'd like to meet..." She gestured toward the purple-armored man next to Firion. Hilda gasped. "Are you... a dragoon?" "Yes, Your Highness," he answered. "My name is Ricard Highwind. It is an honor to be in your presence. When Deist was seized by the Empire, I left to retrieve the Ultima Tome in Mysidia. However, before I could reach the tower, I was swallowed by Leviathan. It was there I met Firion's party." "Oh my goodness," the princess said shocked. "So all of you were..." "That's right," said Firion. "Well, not all of us as you can see..." he gestured towards Twilight and Fluttershy. "Leila's here, too!" said Twilight, gesturing to the pirate on Hilda's right. "Aye. When that storm came and the ship broke off... I thought I lost ye all for good," said Leila. "Thank goodness you're alright," said Maria, placing her hand over her heart. "But... where's Minwu?" asked Maria. "We don't know..." Fluttershy replied. "We no see him inside Leviathan," said Guy. "You don't think..." said Gordon. "No..." "When we escaped from that beast, we also rescued some people who were after the Ultima Tome as well," said Cadence. "Yeah! And they had Crystal Rods, too!" Spike added. "Your Highness," said Firion, "will you give them shelter here?" "Of course," Hilda answered. With that, Twilight and Fluttershy rejoined the group. After giving the other passengers places to settle, our heroes went back aboard the ship. "Our next destination: the Mysidian Tower!" "Is everyone ready?" asked Firion. The group nodded, boarding the ship once more. But just before they could reach the tower, Leviathan emerged once more. Fluttershy flew up towards the sea serpent and gave it her signature Stare. "What is she DOING?!" yelled Ricard. "Fluttershy, come back!" said Guy. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?!" Firion called out. Alarmed at first, Leviathan narrowed its eyes at the tiny yellow pegasus, but she was still determined to win. "Don't... you... DARE!!!" she yelled, startling the beast, much to the humans' shock. "You listen here, mister! I think we've all had it up to here with your devouring innocent people carrying Crystal Rods! I, for one, do not tolerate creatures eating other living beings that have a right to live and leave them trapped inside your stomach for who knows how long! So either you let me and my friends pass, or so help me... YOU'LL REGRET IT FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!!" The sea monster growled softly, leaning back. Our heroes stood by, wondering if they would be back inside its stomach with no chance of escape this time. The Equestrians stood their ground ready to fight if the beast didn't comply. However, to their surprise, Leviathan sank back in to the ocean and swam far away. "Wh-Wh... What just happened?" Firion said in disbelief. "Incredible..." said Ricard. "No one's ever stood up to Leviathan before, and yet..." "Fluttershy just... lectured it and made it go away," a wide-eyed Maria added. "You'd be surprised, guys," said Twilight. "With the exception of Spike, she's kind of scared of dragons, but when one of them was threatening to cover Ponyville in smoke, she overcame her fear and stood up to it for attacking us." "That's... that's amazing," Firion replied. "To think a little pony could be so brave," Maria declared. Cadence's jaw dropped. "Twilight, your friends never cease to surprise me," she said, making Twilight chuckle. Fluttershy returned to the deck and was greeted by a stunned group... well, except for her friends. "This time, there's no one to stop us." With Leviathan taken care of, the boat docked near the Mysidian Tower; the party disembarked and raised the Crystal Rod in the air, breaking the seal over the entrance. Mysidian Tower The Equestrians' eyes widened as they stepped inside the tower. Each of them had a felt a mystical force emanating from whatever lay beyond the stairs in front of them. Mustering up their courage, our heroes went up and into a fiery orange chamber; they went to the right into a few narrow corridors and obtained a Flame Bow and a Flame Lance from the treasure chests, went back in the opposite direction and went into a room where they were ambushed by five werewolves. The lupines howled as the party took their battle stances. Ricard quickly attempted to swipe one of them, only for the werewolf to dodge sideways and another to attack the dragoon. Before the wolf could attack, Twilight cast a levitation spell on the beast and tossed it into the other werewolves. One of the lupines lunged toward Spike, only for Fluttershy to intercept and tackle it headfirst in the torso. Howling in pain, the werewolf disappeared along with the rest, leaving our heroes victorious once again. At the third floor they found the ground filled with hot steaming lava. Recalling their journey at Mount Gulug, Twilight cast an anti-heating spell to protect the group. After making it across, they opened the door and encountered a mage dressed in green guarding the path to the upper floors. "We've come for the ultimate magic," said Firion. "Please let us pass." The mage scoffed. "You make good progress, travelers... but you must defeat me if you wish to continue your ascent!" Floating back a few spaces, the mage began to transform into a hulking giant: a Fire Gigas. "Is... is this a test?!" Twilight screamed. "One we'll have to pass if we want to reach the top!" Firion answered, unsheathing his sword. "Protect IX!" said Cadence casting the spell over her friends. The Fire Gigas attempted to strike the pink alicorn, but she flew up into the air and struck the giant with a level 8 Blizzard spell, greatly damaging it. Guy rushed over and delivered three blows unto the creature, defeating it and allowing our heroes to rush to the next level. The stairs took the team to an ice-blue chamber where they opened a treasure chest containing an Ice Shield. Firion led his lifelong friends and Ricard up the nearest stairs and after carefully going through the needle ice acquired an Ice Lance. Twilight and her friends went the long way, obtaining Ice Gloves and Ice Armor before going up to the next floor. Firion and the others caught up with them as they were about to cross the river of needle ice. When they finally made it, they acquired more ice related treasure and opened the door, confronting another guardian. "I see you have bested the trials of fire and made it through the ice. I must congratulate you... but to make it further, you must defeat me in battle!" Like the one from before, the mage transformed, this time into an Ice Gigas. The party stood their ground and used their new Fire-based weapons against the giant, defeating it and allowing them to pass to the sixth floor. *music ends* The sixth floor, unlike the other levels, contained no elemental features, and yet Twilight couldn't help but feel there would at least be one more obstacle for them to overcome. There were, however, wide gaps in the room which if someone would carelessly walk into would most likely never come back alive. And so, our heroes carefully walked the paths along the floor and reached the door in the upper right, only to find it was another trap room containing a Basilisk. Twilight had heard about this creature. If not defeated quickly it would petrify them, leaving them turned to stone forever. And so, she cast a powerful level 9 Fire spell onto the creature, but it was not enough. Guy slashed the Basilisk and defeated it, allowing our heroes to escape the room and move on. On the seventh floor they found several pillars along with strange winged shoes and to the Equestrians' horror, a Unicorn Horn. They fought several chimeras, Death Flowers, and revenants. After defeating the monsters, they went into the room the upperleft corner and encountered another mage. "Impressive," he said. "You have conquered the trials of both fire and ice. Now you face me!" Our heroes stood their ground as the final mage transformed into a Thunder Gigas. Despite its greater strength and lightning abilities, the giant was still no match for the humans and Equestrians for Maria cast Blink level 7 on the party, increasing their evasion rate and Twilight quickly cast level 7 Blizzard upon the creature. Firion stepped in and finished with just three swipes of his sword. Standing victorious, our heroes raised their arms in the air. With the last of the giants defeated, our heroes went up into the next floor and found themselves in a room with six doors; three of them on the right, three on the left. Each door was at the end of six corridors. They split up and fought several enemies in the trap rooms, with their endurance, agility, strength, magic and life forces increasing as they defeated their adversaries. Before opening the door on the upper right, Twilight grabbed a Flare Tome from the treasure chest. She opened the door and went up and gasped for she had seen a most beautiful scenery: the room was nearly flooded with water which appeared to flow from the higher section. Twilight had little time to admire the waterfall for there was a series of doors on the far right on the platform. Her ears perked up, hearing the sound of several hoof/footsteps. The rest of the party had arrived and rejoined Twilight. Ricard quickly jumped up onto the platform and the others followed thanks to Twilight's magic as well as her, Fluttershy and Cadence's wings. "Where do we go now?" asked Ricard. Examining the doors, the group thought hard. Spike went towards the first door on the left but hesitated to open it. He went to the next but hesitated on that door as well. "We can't procrastinate," said Cadence as she opened the second door from the right, only to find a dead end. Finally finding his courage, Spike opened the door in front of him and found a stairway leading up. "Stairs!" the dragon said excitedly. They looked where he was pointing and sure enough, there was a staircase leading to the next floor. As our heroes reached the tenth floor of the tower, they came across a familiar white wizard standing in front of a magically sealed door. "Minwu!" He turned around at the sound of Firion's voice. "Everyone! You are finally here!" "It's been a while," said Twilight. "How is Princess Hilda? And Prince Gordon?" "We helped them liberate Fynn; they're back in the throne room of Castle Fynn waiting for you," Maria answered. "I see." He turned to notice the man in violet armor. "Could it be...?" "Yes. My name is Ricard Highwind, and... As I learned several hours ago, I'm the last of the dragoons protecting Deist." Minwu closed his eyes and placed his hands over his heart. "You have my utmost condolences, Ricard... I had thought Mateus had wiped out all the dragoons, but I was wrong to assume that." He turned back to the magic door. "What is it?" asked Twilight. "The magic seal on this door is strong. I will give it all I have. Stand back!" Being an expert on magic, Twilight wondered if it was really necessary. "Minwu," she said. "Please let me do this." "I'm sorry, but I cannot." "But why...?" "Only a powerful white wizard can break the seal. And even if you did help, it is likely that you may perish and never see your friends again!" "But..." Twilight attempted to interject, but Minwu would not listen. He raised his hands and cast an ultra-powerful magic beam toward the sealed door. "Minwu!" Maria gasped. "Please stop!" But it was too late. Minwu poured all his energy into dispelling the barrier. When it was over, he fell to his knees and collapsed face-down. "Minwu!" Twilight gasped. She and the others quickly rushed to his side. "This... this is it for me..." the white wizard gasped. "Minwu..." said Firion. "Please... do not grieve for me..." he said. "As I had stated before... All those who live must... some day die... It is our fate." "Please, Minwu," said Fluttershy. "You can't die!" Maria cried. "You can't!" "Now..." he panted. "It is... up to... you... You must... stop the Emperor... Fare...well..." At that moment, the white wizard breathed his last. "Minwu...?" said Cadence. "Minwu!" Fluttershy cried. Twilight held up her head and shouted. "MIIIINWUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU...!" *music ends* Several minutes later... A grief-stricken party moved onward to the next room. Inside stood a large orange Crystal in the center of the chamber. Also inside were four blue Crystals which the group investigated first. The uppermost Crystal on the left granted Firion great spirit, while the one on the right gave Fluttershy greater intelligence. Twilight received greater agility from the bottom Crystal on the right, while Guy acquired great strength from the one on the left. They finally reached the orange crystal which began to glow a bright light, making our heroes cover their eyes. In its place stood a strange book, one that taught forbidden magic. This was the Ultima Tome they had sought! Just then, a warp point appeared behind the crystal. Stepping onto it, our heroes found themselves outside the tower. "I'm sorry," said Ricard. They turned to the dragoon. "I wish..." he sighed. "I wish there were another way." "I know..." said Cadence. She looked in the direction of Fynn and gasped. The rest of the heroes noticed a large tornado near the city of Fynn! "What's going on?" asked Firion. "I don't know," said Twilight. "But we need to find out! Something's not right about that cyclone! Come on!" Meanwhile, in the Crystal Empire Princess Celestia and Princess Luna worked together on restoring the Crystal Heart in order to re-establish contact with Cid of the Lufaine in the hopes of making sure Twilight, Cadence, Fluttershy and Spike come safely. For several hours, the sisters concentrated all of their magic onto the relic, but the strain of the spell almost proved too much for them. "Please, be careful, Princesses," said Rarity. Just when it looked hopeless, the Crystal Heart had finally regained its light. "It... it worked!" Rainbow Dash cried. "You did it!" "Cid...?" asked Shining Armor. "...Shining Armor?" "Y-Yer alright!" said Applejack. "I suppose..." said Cid. "The magic from those two interlopers sent my spirit back into the Chamber of Crystals. Fortunately, I was able to recover thanks to the magic within." Suddenly, Pinkie Pie appeared between Rarity and Applejack. "Wait! What about our friends and Flurry Heart? Are they alright?" "I saw everything. Your friends have succeeded in obtaining the ultimate magic, but little Flurry is still in the grasp of the evil Emperor." "Twily..." said Shining.