The airship finally arrived in Lindblum. It was a huge city that sat above the mist, with several airships coming to and from it. The airship that the party was on pulled into the castle, which was massive. “That castle is even bigger than the one in Canterlot,” Twilight said. Fortunately, no one paid attention to that. The ship docked and everyone got out. A guard was waiting for them.
“Ah, you must be the princesses. Follow me please, the regent is waiting,” the guard said as he led them away. They soon got on an elevator and went to the top level. When they got into the throne room, they could not see anyone.
“Where’s the regent?” Dagger asked.
As if to answer her question, there was a strange noise coming from the throne. “*Gwop?*”. A small creature appeared behind it and hopped right onto the throne.
“An oglop!” Steiner shouted as he rushed into it, knocking the oglop over. This got him tackled by many of the guards in the room.
“Please calm yourself, that is Regent Cid,” the chancellor said.
“What happened to him?” asked Dagger.
“He was cursed to look like one. It happened in his sleep. Oddly, it happened right after Lady Hilda went missing,” the chancellor said.
“Indeed *gwop*,” Cid said. “I thank you for bringing Garnet here. I see that Tantalus has done a good job *gwop*. Me and Baku go way back. Come, I’ll give you all a tour,” he said as he hopped over to the exit and led the group out of the throne room and back to the elevator. When they got to the middle level, they went to a workshop where several half-finished airships were docked. Including one that was larger than the others. “This is the Hilda Guarde II,” Cid states. “It is unfinished due to my *gwop* condition, but if it was finished, it would have run on steam and not mist. Anyways, I have some business to attend to, see you all *gwop* later!”. And with that, Cid hops away.
“Come along princesses. Let me show you to your rooms,” the chancellor says.
Dagger and Twilight begin to follow him. “I guess I’ll see you later then,” Twilight tells Flash.
“Y-yeah, see ya,” says Flash. He tried to say something else, but Zidane dragged him away.
“Come on, let’s go get something to eat,” says Zidane, “I know of a great place to eat here,”. Vivi and Steiner also left to do their own things.
Zidane and Flash went to a small cafe in the middle of the city. As they sat down to eat, Zidane noticed a female patron. “Hey there!” he called to her,
“Um, can I help you?” the girl asked.
“I just want you to know that I know how to get on an airship!” Zidane said.
“Oh really?” the girl said sarcastically.
“Yep! If I win the festival of the hunt, I’ll take you on a date!” Zidane said cheerfully.
Flash just rolled his eyes. Zidane will always be Zidane. He went to sit down on a seat that just happened to be right next to another young woman. “Sentry,” she said as she ate her soup.
“Wait, you’re Freya right?” Flash asked.
“Congrats on remembering my name,” Freya said dryly as she continued to eat. “At least you are not like him over there,” she said, pointing at Zidane.
“Well, I do have someone I’m interested in, but she is not here right now,” said Flash.
“So, you plan on entering the festival?” Freya asked.
“Maybe,” Flash said. There was not much else to do after all, and participating in the festival would continue the plot.
“See you around, Sentry,” Freya said as she left.
Meanwhile…
Vivi entered the store and had a look around. He hadn’t seen many stores before, mainly because his grandfather never took him to one. He usually caught his meals (which consisted mainly of frogs). And Vivi wasn’t able to stop at one in Alexandria. He then saw something that caught his eye. “Excuse me?” he asked the shopkeeper.
“Yes, dear?” the shopkeeper asked kindly.
“What is this?” he asked, pointing at a small nut.
“That’s a Kupo Nut,” the shopkeeper answered. “Moggles love them,”.
“I think that I will buy it,” said Vivi, giving the shopkeeper the Gil.
“Thank you dear,” the shopkeeper said. “Say, you might want to get off the streets pretty soon. The festival of the hunt will start soon,” she said.
“What’s that?” Vivi asked.
“It’s a festival where animals are released and people hunt them,” the shopkeeper explained. “It’s a pretty big deal around here,”.
“Alright, just a few animals,” Vivi said as he left the store.
As he left, the shopkeeper just realized something. “Wait, I said animals instead of monsters again didn’t I?” she asked herself.
Meanwhile…again.
Steiner was walking through the city. And he was completely lost, Alexandria was not this complicated, but this city is way too big. He decided that the best course of action was to ask someone for help, He then saw a red mage walk by. “Excuse me madam!” he called out to her.
“Yes? What do you want? And what’s with the getup?” the red mage asked.
“I would like directions back to the castle,” said Steiner simply.
“Really? Jeez you foreigners get lost all the time,” the red mage grumbled as she walked away.
“H-hey!” Steiner called out after her as she walked away.
Zidane and Flash eventually went back to the castle. After getting some sleep in the guest rooms, they were suddenly woken up by something. “Do you hear singing?” Zidane asked Flash.
“I do,” Flash responded.
“It sounds like Dagger and Twilight are both singing together,” said Zidane, “let’s go check it out,”. Flash nodded as they headed in the direction of the singing. Unfortunately a guard blocked their path.
“Sorry, this is a private area, no one but the princesses are to enter,” the guard stated. “Wait, are you Flash Sentry?” he asked Flash.
Flash nodded. “Um, yeah. Why?” he asked.
“Well, Princess Twilight told me it was okay to let you through, “ the guard said. “And I guess that Zidane is allowed as well since Twilight convinced Garnet to allow him through as well. So you two can go right ahead,” the guard said.
“Thank you,” said Flash as he and Zidane went down the hallway. After passing by the room that the princesses were staying in, they climbed the tower to see the two princesses practicing their singing. Flash wasn’t gonna lie, Twilight’s singing was amazing. He was speechless while watching the two. Zidane felt the same way about Dagger. Their presence startled the two girls.
“Oh, Flash, Zidane! We…uh didn’t see you there,” said Twilight awkwardly. “So how’s the city?”.
“It was fine,” said Flash. “We just had lunch and came back here,”.
While he and Twilight were talking, Zidane was showing Dagger the telescope that was on the tower. “Hey, I can see a chocobo from here!” he said. As he was looking through the telescope, Dagger saw something that was in his pocket.
“What’s that Zidane?” she asked him, pointing to it.
“Oh this?” Zidane said, holding the object up. “This is Sleeping Weed. We were going to use it to knock you and Twilight out in order to kidnap the two of you, but you came along willingly, so we didn’t use it,”.
“May I have some? I uh, have trouble sleeping,” said Dagger. Twilight raised an eyebrow at this. Clearly, Dagger was lying since she had slept well in Dali.
“Are you sure?” Zidane asked. “I mean, too much of it is bad for you, but alrighty then!” he said, giving Dagger the sleeping weed.
A while later, everyone was gathered in the room that Twilight and Dagger were staying in. They were waiting for the Festival of the Hunt to start. The organizer asked everyone who was participating (Zidane, Flash, Vivi, and Freya) what they wanted for their rewards. Zidane wanted some Gil, Vivi wanted a card, Freya wanted an accessory, and Flash wanted a new weapon. “Alright then, here are your starting areas,” the organizer said. Flash was starting in the industrial district. “Well, then. Good luck to all of you,” the organizer said.
“Wait!” Twilight said as she ran up to Flash. “Er, be safe please,” she said awkwardly.
“Don’t worry, I’ve survived the Evil Forest and that Black Waltz dude. I can handle this,” Flash said.
“Well…okay then. I trust you,” said Twilight.
Flash was escorted to the industrial district. He saw several of the monsters that were released on the streets. He unsheathed his daggers. “Let’s do this,” he exclaimed. He fought several of the Mu that were around the industrial district. Meanwhile, Twilight, Dagger, and Steiner were watching from a bridge.
“Come on Flash, you can do it!” Twilight cheered from her watching point. ‘It’s a good thing that Fluttershy isn’t with me,’ she thinks to herself, ‘she would have a heart attack if she sees this sort of thing,’.
After a few minutes, Flash went to the business district. He then saw a giant boar-like creature.
Zidane suddenly appeared and stood right next to him. As did Freya and Vivi. “Shall we take this one on together?” Zidane asked. Everyone else agreed, even Vivi who was more nervous about it.
“Whoever does the finishing blow, gets the points,” said Freya as the four of them engaged the Zaghnol. During the battle, the Zaghnol charged itself up with electricity, which prevented the group from physically attacking it. Vivi’s fire and ice spells were effective when this happened. When the Zaghnol was no longer charged, Freya was able to do the finishing blow to it, which made her the winner.
“Congratulations Ms. Freya,” the organizer said as he handed Freya her prize. It was a Coral Ring. An artifact that defends against electricity. Fitting, given that the Zaghnol primarily used lightning attacks during the fight. They had all gathered in the throne room afterwards.
“Yes, you indeed did very *gwop* well Freya,” Cid said. Suddenly, the doors to the throne room burst open, and a soldier entered the throne room. He appeared to be the same race that Freya was.
“R-regent…Cid. I b-bring d-ire news!” he groaned, struggling to speak. Cid hopped over to the soldier, but was stopped by the Chancellor.
“Sire, you must not be seen like this!” he reminds Cid.
“Take a good look at him,” he told the Chancellor. “His injuries have blinded him. Let’s hear what he has to say first. Speak soldier of Burmecia,” he told the soldier.
“We are…being attacked by…an unknown enemy…strange beings with pointed hats,” the soldier explained.
“W-what?” Vivi asked, startled at the soldier’s words. Could he be talking about the black mages that he had encountered back in Dali?
“It’s okay Viv,” said Zidane, reassuring the poor kid.
“Please…Regent Cid…we…request aid,” the soldier continued before finally collapsing. Dagger ran over to him to see if he was still alive.
“He’s gone,” she confirms. Everyone stood in silence for a few minutes before Freya stood up.
“I’m going to Burmecia,” she announced.
“I’m going to go with you,” said Zidane.
“Me too!” Said Vivi. “That soldier mentioned something about those black mages. I want to investigate that,”.
“Well, it appears I can’t stop you two,” Freya replied. “How about you, Sentry? Are you coming along as well?”
“...Alright,” said Flash.
“Wait, I want to go too, I want to see if my mother is involved in this,” said Dagger.
“...Dagger, I think it is best if you stay here,” said Zidane.
“What?!” Dagger shouted, annoyed.
“We might encounter dangerous stuff,” said Zidane.
“I’ve been through dangers!” huffed Dagger.
“But this might be more dangerous,” said Zidane.
“For once, I agree with this thief,” said Steiner. “You and Twilight shall remain here,”.
This time, it was Twilight’s turn to be surprised. “Wait what?!” she exclaimed. Flash quickly pulled her aside.
“Twilight, I think you should just go along with it,” Flash whispered to her.
“And you are sure about that?” Twilight whispered back.
“Positive, this is how things are supposed to go at this point. You can go with Dagger and Steiner. I’ll go with Zidane, Freya, and Vivi,”.
“...Okay Flash,” Twilight replied.
“Hey Sentry, what are you whispering about there?” Freya asked curiously.
“Er, nothing Freya!” said Flash. He noticed that he was getting a strange look from Steiner as well. “Nothing at all!” he said.
Cid then decided that he should speak up. “How about we *gwop* have some food? We can talk more after that,” he said. Everyone agreed, and they all headed to the dining hall.
At the dining hall, everybody sat down to eat the feast. “This feast is to celebrate the ending of the Festival of the Hunt,” Cid explained. “So dig in everyone!”. Everyone (except Dagger) started to eat the food.
“It’s really good!” said Zidane.
“Indeed, though I’m feeling a bit…woozy,” said Freya as she suddenly slumped over.
“Freya? Are you alright…oh man,” said Zidane as he slumped over as well.
“G-guys?!” said Vivi as he two slumped over.
“What is going on?!” said Steiner in a panicked voice. “Is it poison!? Oh, I think I’m starting to feel its effects!” he groaned.
“Steiner, stop being so dramatic,” said Dagger as both Flash and Cid slumped over. “It’s just some sleeping weed that Zidane gave me. It should just knock them out for a little while,” she explained.
“Are you sure they’ll be alright, Dagger?” Twilight asked.
“Positive! Now, let’s go to Alexandria. Mother has some explaining to do,” said Dagger.
After Dagger, Twilight, and Steiner left, everybody who was in the dining hall woke up. “Heh, Dagger is more clever than I thought,” said Zidane. “I’d be impressed if I wasn’t the one who she tricked,”.
“Well then *gwop* I’ll unlock the southern gate so you all can head to Burmecia,” said Cid, “you should also stock up on supplies,” he continued.
‘Yeah, because our main healer has left,’ Flash thought.
The group headed out of the castle and back to the business district. After buying many potions and tents, plus synthesizing a few new weapons and stuff, they headed out of the city using the southern gate. They traveled for a while until they found a marsh.
When they headed into it, they walked along the path until they got to a pond where several frogs were hopping around. A peculiar being was seen chasing them. After the strange person left, Zidane grabbed a frog. “This frog might be useful,” he said. They headed in further until they got to a hut. The creature from earlier was standing in front of it.
“Me smell frog,” it said. “You have frog for me?” it asked Zidane.
“Uh sure, here you go,” said Zidane, handing the creature the frog .
“Yay! Yummy frog!” the creature said. “Me Quina! Me join you on journey!” they said.
“Wait what--?” Zidane said as Quina ran ahead of them. “Well…okay then, I guess he…she…they are coming with us,” he said as the group left the marsh.
They finally arrived at the South Gate and traveled through it in order to get to Gizamaluke’s Grotto. When they got to the entrance, they encountered an injured Burmician Soldier. “Hey are you alright?” Zidane asked.
“I am not,” the soldier mumbled. “These things called “black mages” attacked us. They came out of nowhere! Here, take this bell, it will help you proceed through the Grotto,”. He gave the bell to Zidane. “Now if you don’t mind, I need to rest here,” he said.
After using the bell to get through the doors, the group ran into Zorn and Thorn. “We meet again!” Zorn declared.
“Again we meet!” Said Thorn at the same time.
“Black mages, attack!” ordered Zorn.
“Attack, black mages!” ordered Thorn at the same time as two black mages engaged the party. After the battle ended, the two jesters ran away. After running through the archway and into another black mage (actually two of them) they obtained another bell. They then advanced further into the grotto where they met another soldier.
“Who’s there?” he asked, not recognizing any of them.
“It’s me Freya,” Freya replied. “And the others are Zidane, Vivi, Quina, and Flash,”.
“Thank goodness you are here! This place is overrun with monsters! And Gizamaluke won’t let us leave for some reason. He’s usually tame, but he’s very aggressive. I advise you to take caution if you encounter him,”. The party then moves on until they get to a room with a massive bell. A moogle was standing in front of it.
“Oh dear, kupo,” she said as she paced in front of it. When she saw the party she ran up to them. “Hey, do any of you tall folk have a kupo nut? With that I can save my darling Moguta, kupo!”.
“I do,'' said Vivi as he handed the kupo nut to the moogle.
“Thank you, kupo!” said the moogle as she tackled the bell, knocking it over, and revealing the moogle that was trapped under it. “Thanks for your help, kupo!” the female moogle said.
As they left the room, Moguta ran up to them. “Hey, you need this holy bell in order to get past the door, kupo!” he said, handing Zidane the bell. “I wish you good luck against Gizamaluke, kupo!”.
The party used the holy bell on the door which allowed them to pass through it. When they got to the area on the other side, they heard a roar. “That must be Gizamaluke,” said Freya, “prepare yourselves,”.
As the battle commenced, the party found it hard to fight Gizamaluke without a healer. Freya focused on jumping, while Vivi threw thunder spell after thunder spell at it. Zidane and Flash switched between attacking, and healing the others with potions when necessary. And Quina did their own thing. Finally, after a long battle, Gizamaluke was defeated, and the party exited the grotto.
Meanwhile, Steiner, and a disguised Twilight approached the Grand Citadel South Gate. Two guards were guarding the gate. Steiner approached them, carrying a sack on a stick. “Greetings, My companion and I would like to pass this gate!” he declared.
“Sure thing sir, go on ahead!” the first guard said.
“Wait a minute,” the second guard said as he glanced at the sack that Steiner was carrying. “What’s in that sack? And why does it smell so bad?”.
“That’s Ghestal Pickles!” said Steiner. “They’re my favorite!”.
“Ugh, they must be spoiled or something!” the second guard said, holding his nose. “Go on ahead!”. Steiner bowed and went on ahead, Twilight following close behind. After finding a Gate Pass that another guard left behind, the two of them exited the gate area and entered an area where a train was waiting. It was then that Dagger was let out of the sack.
“Finally, I get to stretch my legs!” She groaned. “It was getting cramped in there!”. The group entered the train that would take them to Berkema on their way to Alexandria.
“I hope Flash and the others are doing all right,” said Twilight.
“Yeah, but I’m sure they’ll be fine,” said Dagger as the two of them sat down.
Twilight was about to speak again, when she was suddenly caught off guard by a blinding light.
Meanwhile, the rest of the party finally made it to Burmecia. When they entered the town, it was in ruins. There were injured Burmecians all over the streets along with many monsters as well. They ran into Zorn and Thorn again, who set two more black mages at them. After defeating them, the group continued their way through the city. “I can’t believe that the city was attacked by Alexandria,” Freya said.
“Were the two nations allies?” asked Zidane.
“Yes, we were,” said Freya.
Meanwhile, some Burmecians were not being nice to Vivi. “Hey, get out of here you monster!” one of them yelled at the poor kid. Flash wasn’t sure if he should intervene, but he couldn’t stand bullying so he decided to step in.
“Hey, the kid is with us!” he said.
“But he is one of those things that attacked us!” the Burmecian said.
“Is he attacking you now?” Flash asked him.
“Well, no, but,” the Burmecian started to say before going silent. “Just leave me alone,”.
The group headed onwards through the city until they eventually reached the entrance to the throne room. They observed three figures. One was Queen Brahne, one was a woman wearing an eyepatch, and the third was a silver-haired figure. “I wonder who that is?” Zidane wondered.
Suddenly, a Burmecian soldier jumped into the room. “Hey! What do you Alexandrians think you are doing huh? I thought that we were your allies!” The three figures looked at the soldier before the woman with the eyepatch stepped foreward.
“Are you here to challenge me?” She asked.
“W-what?” The soldier asked. “Well, sure I guess,”.
“Very well then,” the woman stated. She drew her sword and pointed it at the soldier who realized that he was clearly in over his head. “Let us duel!”. She rushed at the soldier who cowered before Zidane and the others decided to intervene. They rushed into the throne room protecting the soldier from the woman as she came to a halt.
Queen Brahne and the silver-haired man decided to get out of there. “General Beatrix, I trust that you can deal with these interlopers,” Queen Brahne said.
“Yes, your highness,” said Beatrix. As she faced the party, she observed who it was that she was going to fight. Two thieves, one black mage (was this one more sentiant than the others? Interesting), and one…whatever Quina was, Beatrix wasn’t sure. She also noticed Freya who had a look of pure rage on her face.
“So you are the general who was in charge of this attack,” Freya said, barely able to contain her rage. “Why? Why did you attack Burmecia? Aren’t we your allies?!”
Beatrix looked at her. “My Queen has commanded it, and I am loyal to her. Now are we going to battle or--” she was cut off by Freya jumping in the air and slamming her spear down, just barely missing her.
“You’ll pay for what you have done, bitch!” Freya yelled. She began to glow brightly. Then there was a flash of light and when it cleared, Freya was clad in armor from head to toe. She jumped into the air once more and when she came back down, spears began to rain down on Beatrix who used her sword to try to knock back as many as she could. She was then attacked with a thunder spell from Vivi, and an Aqua Breath from Quina. Freya then clashed her spear with Beatrix’s sword. Beatrix had to admit, she wasn’t expecting Freya to trance, and the others were giving her a fair fight. But she had to end it before they beat her.
“You are strong warriors,” she huffed. “But I believe that it is time for me to end this! Stock Break!”. Her sword shined brightly “You are no match for me!” she declared. She slammed her sword in the ground in front of the party, dealing damage to all of them. “Ignorant fools,” she stated as she walked away.
As the party all began to faint, Flash began seeing a bright light. ‘What…what is happening? Wait, this happened before…in the museum….’. He felt himself going through what seemed to be a tunnel until the light faded. He groaned as he opened his eyes. Wherever he was, it was dark. But he could see a faint figure in front of him.
“Flash? Are you all right?” the figure asked.
“Twilight? Is that you? Where am I? Am I back in the museum?” Flash asked.
“I uh…don’t know how to really tell you this, but you are not at the museum,” Twilight said. She lit up her horn. Wait, horn?
“You’re in Equestria,” Twilight said, as her horn-light revealed her pony self. “And you’re a pony again,”.