Somewhere far away from the Altar Cave, a mysterious figure was sitting in deep meditation. They opened their eyes as if they had sensed something... unnatural. This figure sensed the presence of interlopers from far away, believing them to be a hindrance to whatever they were planning.
Just then a monstrous creature arrived delivering news of the Djinn's defeat in the Sasune region.
"Just as I suspected," said the figure. "I have felt the presence of other beings... Find these meddlers and destroy them."
The creature knelt before the figure, acknowledging their command.
Our heroes had once again found themselves outside the Altar Cave, near the town of Ur.
"What? What happened?"
"We definitely need to talk," said Twilight.
After explaining everything to Refia and Ingus that had happened so far, they decided to head back to the village and recover.
"Before we enter Ur, I want to confirm this one more time," said Ingus. "You truly want to help us save this world?'
"That's right," Twilight confirmed. "No matter where we go, there are still people living. And we want to keep it that way."
"There's nothing to it," Rainbow added.
The others all agreed and continued towards the village.
"Ah'm not sure about this, sugarcube," said Applejack. "What if they don't let us in again like last time?"
"It'll be fine, Applejack," Luneth replied.
"I thought I'd made it clear, but in case you don't remember: NO ANIMALS ALLOWED!!"
"You wanna taste of this, pal?!" Rainbow Dash warned, waving her hoof.
"Enough!" cried a voice. Out came Topapa the Village Elder.
"Luneth... Arc... I'd heard that the Wind Crystal had only chosen one, and that was you, Luneth. However, I see that Arc and several others had answered to the call."
"But sir!"
"That is enough. Tell me, little ones. Where do you come from and why have you come to this world?"
"Please, let me explain..." said Twilight.
Twilight did so... With everything that he had learned from the four-legged creatures, he understood that their world is in peril from the same evil that now threatened this one.
"Well," said Topapa. "I never expected sentient creatures from another realm to appear and aid our Luneth. I never even expected Arc to be chosen as well..."
"Elder..."
"Still, if you truly believe you can aid these children, then I will not stop you."
"Luneth... Arc... Please be careful," said the woman.
"We will, Mother."
"Mother?"
"Yes," said the woman. "My name is Nina. I've been taking care of these two boys since they were little."
"We'll help them."
"Yeah! And if anyone comes close enough to hurt 'em, they'll regret it!" Rainbow Dash proclaimed.
"Then it's settled," said Luneth. "Our journey has just begun."
"But first, we have some unfinished business with Sasune Castle."
Ingus gasped.
"You're right. Princess Sara must be worried. We must return!"
And so, our heroes quickly left the village of Ur.
"Hey, wait!"
Everyone turned to Pinkie Pie.
"What is it, Pinkie?" Twilight sighed, knowing Pinkie's usual antics.
"I just noticed. Weren't you supposed to be Onion Knights when we first met?"
"'Onion Knights'?" the children said in unison.
"Yeah! The beginners class with very low stats, but one of them does show up in Dissidia representing this game and..."
The whole group stared at Pinkie in confusion, wondering if she was insane.
Twilight sighed in annoyance. "Let's just go, alright?"
As they went into the castle, our heroes went down the stairs and met with Princess Sara.
She gasped, "Ingus! Everyone! You're back!"
"Sorry we didn't come sooner, Your Highness," said Ingus.
"It's alright, Ingus. I'm glad you're safe!"
"What do we do now?" asked Pinkie Pie.
"Now we must cleanse the ring in the blessed spring, and that should lift the curse."
"Where is this spring?" Luneth inquired.
"The spring is just below the castle. We must hurry!"
They all followed Princess Sara downstairs into a a chamber with a spring of pure water. She threw the Mythril Ring into the spring.
"The curse should be lifted now. You should go speak to Father."
"At once, Your Highness," said Ingus.
"I know I should have done so earlier when the Djinn was defeated, but I was overwhelmed when you all vanished into thin air."
"Actually," said Pinkie Pie, "we were transported to this big place with a giant Crystal giving us some cool powers and then we talked to the village elder--"
"We know, Pinkie! We were there," said Twilight.
"Sorry about that," said Spike. "She gets a little excited."
"Anyway, let us go speak with King Sasune."
As they stepped into the throne room, our heroes noticed that the curse was indeed broken: King Sasune and his guards were no longer invisible for they had finally regained their physical appearances. Humbled by his presence, our heroes knelt before the king.
"You have all returned! Your courageous deeds have saved the kingdom! You have my deepest gratitude, children! And that includes you as well, little ponies and dragon."
"Please... We didn't do much," said Twilight.
"Thank you, sire," Luneth added, "but we were chosen to be the Warriors of Light."
King Sasune's eyes lightened up.
"Warriors of Light, you say?" He then turned to his loyal soldier. "Ingus, are you leaving, too?"
Ingus lowered his head and closed his eyes. "Yes, sire... I must go," he replied.
"I see," the king stated. "Then I bid you all well. Know that all our hopes rest within you, young champions! And visitors from... Equestria, was it?"
The ponies and dragon nodded.
"I must confess I was quite skeptical at the thought of such little creatures defeating the Djinn. However, your efforts have proven me wrong; therefore, I bid you good luck in aiding these warriors on their quest."
"Thank you, Your Majesty," said Twilight.
"Now before you go, you should take something with you. Guard!"
"Sire!" said the guard, holding a magical folding canoe and handing it to our heroes. With the canoe in hand, our heroes left the castle and raced for the village. But before they could leave the castle grounds, they heard a voice calling for them. They turned around and looked up to see Lady Sara.
"Everyone, be safe! Promise me you'll come back to Sasune when your duty is done!" she called, waving her hand.
"Fear not," Ingus replied. "Our word is our bond! We shall return!"
Twilight Sparkle, however, was uncertain. Would she and her friends succeed as they had done two times since they were led to the Chamber of Crystals, they would either be transported right back to Equestria or stay long enough to say their farewells.
"Twilight?"
"Huh?"
"You alright, sugarcube?"
"Y-Yeah, I guess..." said Twilight. The orange earth pony put her hoof on her friend's shoulder and gave the purple alicorn a warm look telling it would be alright to tell. "Actually, Applejack. I'm a little worried about... you know..."
The ponies looked toward the humans and immediately knew the answer.
"It's alright, Twilight," said Rarity.
"Yeah!" said Rainbow Dash. If we can go through this like last time."
"Or last two times in Twilight's case," Pinkie added.
"Then surely we will have time to say goodbye to our friends after we overcome this mysterious menace."
"I guess you're right."
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" said Spike.
The heroes regrouped and left for the entrance to the cave in order to retrieve the airship, but not before battling and defeating a few goblins. With the use of the canoe, they crossed the water and boarded the airship, traveling back to Kazus.
"Hey look!" said Spike.
"Everyone's back to normal!" Luneth observed.
Little did everyone know that Refia wandered off in search of her father. He was a well-built man
"Father?" Refia said.
"Refia! You're all right! Thank heavens! I... I..."
"It's alright, Father. I'm glad to see you..."
Applejack smiled and took off her hat, placing it on her heart.
Going back to the pub, they met with Cid once more. He was an elderly man with a great big bushy beard and dark glasses. He also wore a hat equipped with goggles.
"Good work, everyone! I knew you'd pull it off the minute I saw you all!"
"It was nothing," Rainbow bragged.
"Really, Rainbow?" asked Twilight.
Cid laughed. "I'm guessing you can make better use of that airship than I ever did! But first, I want you to take me back to Canaan. My wife's been waiting a long time for me to come back!"
"But what about that big rock blocking the way? How're we gonna get past that?" asked Pinkie. "Do we find some dynamite? TNT?"
"Nothing like that," Cid answered. "Maybe we should pay a visit to the blacksmith. I've got something in mind."
"Please... please let me join these three, er nine! I promise... I promise I'll come back!"
At the smithy...
"Ah, Cid! You old dog!" said Takka. "It's good to see you--and not through you--again!"
The two men laughed at the joke before giving each other a big hug. After discussing everything that happened so far, the party gathered all their treasures in a large bag and left town. Aboard the airship, they found Refia.
"Finally! You guys are late!"
Luneth did a double take. "Wha--? But I thought... Shouldn't you...?"
"Hello? Did you forget already, Luneth?" Rainbow said incredulously. "She's a Light Warrior, too!"
"That's right," said Refia. "We all promised the Crystal we'd go on our journey. And I don't want to be a smith just yet. I am grateful to Father for taking care of an orphan like me all these years, but this is something I have to do."
The rest of the group, sans Cid, reacted to this news.
"You're an orphan, too...?" said Luneth.
"'Too'? That means..."
"The truth is: I, too, have no parents," Ingus added.
"Wait, what?!" Pinkie said. "All four of you don't have any birth parents?"
Applejack lowered her head upon hearing this news. Like these four humans, she too was an orphan.
"Don't y'all know anything about your birth parents?"
The humans shook their heads.
"That's too bad," the orange earth pony said.
"Still," said Luneth. "There's no way this can be a coincidence. The Wind Crystal must've known."
"Sounds like this could be an interesting journey," Cid mused. "Now let's break that rock!"
The group piloted the ship until they faced the large boulder.
"This is it..."
A few seconds before the airship was about to impact the boulder, our heroes immediately jumped off the vessel and crashed onto the ground. After that, the airship struck the boulder, smashing both into a million pieces.
With the boulder destroyed, our heroes could finally reach Canaan. It was a small settlement based near a large mountain.
Upon approaching the peaceful village, our heroes took a look at their surroundings. Stopping by the fountain, Cid turned and faced the group.
"Thanks for your help, kids! Let me know if there's anything I can do to help out!"
"Cid," said Twilight looking guilty. "We're sorry about your airship..."
The old man laughed heartily at that. "Oh, no need to worry! I can always build a new one--a ha! That's it! I can get you all a new airship!"
"Really?" said Luneth.
"Yes, but first, you'll have to meet with King Argus. See, I only worked on the ship's hull. The king's the one who knows the secret of airship engines. Come see me again once you've spoken with King Argus!"
"We will, Cid," Twilight replied.
No sooner did Cid leave that Refia noticed they were short a few people.
"Say," she said. "What happened to Pinkie Pie?"
"Pinkie Pie?" Twilight looked around and sure enough, Pinkie wasn't with the group.
"Ugh..." Rainbow groaned. "Where could that pony be at a time like--"
"HI GUYS!!"
The party jumped when they heard those words. They saw Pinkie standing right near the fountain.
"Pinkie Pie! Where have you been?" Rarity scolded. "And please, don't scare us like that."
"Sorry... Hee hee hee." Pinkie apologized. "I had a pretty good hunch about that patch of grass in that corner of town over there and found this!"
"What's that?" asked Twilight.
"A potion of some kind?" Luneth inquired.
"It looks like an elixir," Ingus observed.
"Let's keep it then," Rainbow added.
The group agreed and placed in one of their bags. They then went into the item shop and purchased some eye drops and antidotes, though they were appalled by the combined price of echo herbs and gold needles.
At the weapons shop, the party had purchased more powerful weapons but soon found that they were running out of money.
"How much gil do we have?" asked Applejack.
"About 500 left, I'm afraid," Rarity confirmed.
"You know, before we leave town, I'd like to check on Cid."
"Already? But why?"
"I don't know."
They traveled up to the house in the northwestern corner of the village and knocked on the door.
"Cid? You there?"
"Ah, it's you..." said Cid, forlornly. "Please, come in..."
Our heroes did so and found an elderly woman on the bed.
"Cid, is this...?"
"Yes, this is my wife. I just found her like this as soon as I came in."
"Is there anything we can do?"
"It looks like she can be cured with an elixir of sorts."
"Elixir?" Pinkie questioned; she then dug into one of their bags. "You mean this?"
"Y... YES, THAT'S IT!! Where'd you find it?"
"From a small patch of grass in the southeastern corner of town," she replied, giving Cid the elixir.
"I think we should leave," said Twilight.
"Oh no, my friends. You helped save my wife. Just for that, I'll share a secret with all of you."
Cid opened the back wall, revealing it to be a secret passageway.
"Take whatever you find."
"Thank you."
The old man smiled brightly, even with his great bushy beard.
"You four have grown so much."
"Huh?" said the ponies.
"You've only been with us for a couple of days," said a suspicious Luneth. "We couldn't have grown that much!"
Caught off-guard, Cid then bid the heroes farewell. Before Twilight and the other Equestrians could join the humans, however, they stayed behind and looked at Cid with a wary look.
"What exactly did you mean?"
The old man fidgeted and looked to the side.
"Perhaps, it's not the best time to talk about this. I'll tell you and them when the time is right."
The ponies and dragon sighed, believing him to be right. So they left the house and regrouped with the teenagers.
"I still feel like we should gather some information."
"Why?"
"Well, we hardly know about this area as well as that mountain near us."
"True," Applejack agreed.
The group looked all around town in search of answers. Luneth and Rainbow walked straight into an inn and found a poor young woman lying on a bed, looking despondent.
"What's the matter?"
"Oh, Desch..."
"Who's Desch?"
The woman turned and saw the two visitors and was wide-eyed upon first seeing the cyan pegasus with the rainbow mane.
"Oh... My..."
"Easy there, lady," Rainbow assured her.
The woman gasped.
"You... you can..."
"I know, I know," said Rainbow Dash. "A talking ponies. Nothing we haven't heard before."
"'We'?"
Luneth nodded. "That's right. There are other ponies besides my friend here."
"I-I-I'm sorry... My name is Salina."
"Is there something wrong, darling?" asked Rarity, who walked in along with Applejack, Refia, and Twilight.
"Yes. It's... my beloved Desch," she sobbed. "Oh... When will you be back?" she asked, addressing her beloved. "Why would you go to the mountains in the east, where a dragon is said to dwell?"
"Dragon?!" said the ponies.
"Why in the world would this 'Desch' go to such a place by himself?" Rarity said in shock.
"Anyone in the mood for mountain climbing?" asked Pinkie Pie, appearing out of nowhere.
"Pinkie?!"
"Seriously, Pinkie, stop doing that!" Rainbow scolded.
"As much as she scared me just now," said Refia giving the pink mare a dirty look, "let's do it! Let's go look for this Desch guy and bring him back here!"
"What do ya call that place?"
"Dragon's Peak," Salina answered.
"What an original name," Rainbow said sarcastically.
"Alright. Dragon's Peak, it is!"
Before leaving town, however, our heroes were able to purchase scrolls from the magic shop with the gil they received from Cid's basement. Arc learned the spell Thunder, while Refia and Ingus acquired the Cure spell.
Setting foot near the mountain, our heroes began their climb in search of the one called Desch.
"That must be... the dragon!!"
Rarity let a high-pitched scream, making everyone cover their ears. Just then she noticed something familiar about the creature before her.
"Wait. Is that... Bahamut?!"
"WHAT?!" The other ponies said in unison.
"It's coming this way!!" said Luneth.
Before they could escape, the beast grabbed our heroes and dropped them near the peak of the mountain.
"Ow..."
Looking around, the group discovered that they were brought to the creature's nest, as there were several eggs lying about. Some of them had already hatched with infant dragons looking at their next prey.
"Do something, Spike," said Rainbow.
"Why me?"
"'Cause you're a dragon, too! Now do something!"
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha..."
The sound of laughter caught their attention; they turned to see a young man in purple smirking.
"I can't believe you guys let yourselves be caught by that dragon!" he said.
"Speak for yourself," Luneth retored. "It got you too, didn't it?"
"Uh... well..."
"Can't think of a good comeback, can ya?" asked Applejack.
"Whoa! Did that little... horse just talk?"
"Ah'm a pony, not a horse," Applejack sighed.
How many times is that now? I've lost count, Twilight thought.
"I believe you must be Desch," said Rarity.
"Yeah... How'd you know my name?" he asked.
"That's the thing," said Refia. "We've come to--"
Just then, a loud screech ended their conversation bringing their attention to the sky. There, they saw the dragon hovering over its nest and leering at our heroes.
"The dragon's back! Let's get outta here!" screamed Desch.
"No WAY!!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "We're not letting any monster get the best of us! We've faced worse, haven't we?"
The other Equestrians were too paralyzed with fear to acknowledge Rainbow's statement.
"Don't even think about fighting that thing!" Desch said, his pleas falling on deaf ears.
Luneth unsheathed his weapon, pointing it at the large reptile and shouted.
"CHARGE!!"
But as Luneth rushed forward, one swipe from the dragon's wing knocked the youth aside and caused him to lose consciousness.
"Luneth!!" everyone screamed.
"Here!" said Twilight, using a Phoenix Down. As Luneth opened his eyes, his expression turned to fear.
"You know what?" he asked.
"What?" they replied.
"I'm thinking... We should run for now."
"Ah'm with you on that, sugarcube..."
*music stops*
"RUN AWAY!!" Luneth shouted.
"Run away!" said Rainbow Dash.
"Run away!" Twilight yelled.
"Run away!" Rarity shouted.
"Run away!" Pinkie said over and over.
The heroes quickly fled along with the young man. Once they were out of the winged reptile's sight, they all stopped to catch their breath.
"Phew," Desch sighed. "Glad we got outta that."
"Easy for you to say," said Luneth. "I almost got killed."
"And... who was it that charged headfirst into that thing?" asked Twilight.
"Well..." Luneth said, scratching the back of his head.
"My thoughts exactly," Refia agreed.
Could that dragon really have been Bahamut...? Twilight thought to herself.
"Well, anyway... Why don't you take this?" said Desch, handing out a scroll.
"Oooh! What's that? A magical scroll?" asked Pinkie Pie.
"Yes. It's a scroll that teaches the spell Mini. Turns out I don't have the skills enough for me to use it. But... maybe you can."
"Thank you," said a weary Twilight.
"Please... take me with you!"
"Huh?"
"The truth is... I've lost my memory. The only thing I know is my name and nothing else."
"Sure, I don't mind," said Luneth; the warrior turned to the rest of the group. "Is that okay with you?"
"Why are you asking me?" Refia asked. She sighed. "Hey, Desch! Did you know that Salina's been worried sick about you, waiting for you to come back?"
"That's right!" said Pinkie. "So why are you not heading back to the village?"
"Yes, Desch. Tell us why," Applejack glared. The young man lowered his head.
"Yeah... But you see, even though I've lost my memory, I know there's something I have to do out here."
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes thinking, Yeah, sure.
"Well, I'm sure it'll sort itself out somehow! I've got you guys to count on."
Twilight sighed. "Alright, Desch. You can join us."
With Desch as their new partner, our heroes left the mountain for the small forest nearby, with no knowledge that an evil being became aware of the group's presence...