//------------------------------// // IV - Rest, Repairs, and Recovery // Story: A Future Altered // by KukriRyuTsukino //------------------------------// Ponyville, Equis, 3 ALR Tempe stiffened knowing that Gabriel would not like the answer. "Time Force has memory manipulation technology perfected from the time of SPD. We're able to copy memory, experience and other such mental constructs and apply them to others as a fast way of rehabilitating the worst. I don't agree with being able to give someone a whole lifetime's worth of memories by the flip of a switch but it's so advanced that even muscle memory is implanted." Tempe pulled a knife from her pocket dimension and played around with it to demonstrate the muscle memory she mentioned. "It's used in extreme cases to copy older rangers' experiences for a rapid deployment scenario against extreme numbers though it's not something we've done in over 30 years. I was the last subject to get the implantation, my mind's strong enough to differentiate the memories and experiences for my own luckily, not many species have such a strong mind." "Then I'd wager you're aware of a particular fighting style that I learned… holding Chinese roots. I have not revealed anything about this style to the other Senshi. Though I'd wager you would recognize the name of the one who trained me… Kenshirō," Gabriel deadpanned dryly, his eyes narrowing slightly at the revelation of memory manipulation. He noticed that Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow were creeping closer whilst Pinkie was just rocking on her heels, watching them. "Wouldn't that make you the sixty-fifth Grand Master of that style?" she commented innocently with a hum. Gabriel didn't miss that she'd evaded his question about Metallia and Wiseman, but it really didn't matter that much. It was unlikely that they would run across either in the future. "I was trained by a certain set of godly megazords." Tempe said revealing that she was as strong as Gabriel if not stronger thanks to her training. "Along with the two that you mentioned earlier at least a version of both. But let's get the girls together including Sunset Shimmer, the eighth element. They will need to help the sailors considering this is not their world."  Gabriel blinked. "I can pretty easily guess one… a certain blue ninja," he commented. "The only problem is, we don't know if our abilities will even work here… hence why Ami and I developed other ways as to not rely solely on our inherited gifts," he commented wryly. "Though she never did say which she'd developed for herself," he commented wryly. "Look I understand your want to bring the elements together whatever is happening definitely warrants it but there are only six elements of harmony maybe seven if Sunset's geode in the human world is counted." Twilight said to the near doppelganger of herself. "The only other artifact I could think of that could be considered an element is the crystal heart but that is powered by love and light not friendship." "Powered by love and light and not friendship! Friendship is literally a form of love Mom!" Tempe shouted. "Aunt Cadance even told you about the different forms of love, familial love, friendship love, true love, I can't remember what the last one's called but there are at least four major forms of love one of them as I just said is friendship! Cadance has the crystal heart as her cutie mark just as you have the element of magic as your cutie mark! She is one of the elements of harmony just at her artifact had to be reclaimed later due to a stupid Shadow creature's spell! I forgot how thick headed you were back then!" "Shadow creature? What did he look like?" Gabriel said sharply, his eyes narrowed and, unknown to him, burning a hot golden color which revealed his slitted pupils in stark contrast. He knew of one particular 'shadow creature'.  "Thick headed? What did you call me?" Twilight snapped with annoyance before she felt an abrupt wave of exhaustion before her eyes drifted closed as she half slumped in a quite surprised Rarity's arms. "The Anmian point, as most untrained know it as, though its true name is Níngjìn… is what most sci-fi nerds would know as the 'Vulcan Death Touch' actually targets… it and Wǎjísī, the vagus nerve," Gabriel sighed, shaking his head.  "You know what acupressure is?" Rarity said with mild interest. "I suspect that Aloe, Vera, and Lotus would be excited to pick your mind," she commented. "Perhaps in the morning. As for now, I'd prefer a hot meal, a bath, and a quiet place to meditate," Gabriel commented with a small burp. Pinkie giggled as she was passed back the now empty bowl. "You look like you enjoyed that. I'm guessing you're still hungry, though. Maybe a welcoming party in a day or two?" she said hopefully. Gabriel shrugged. "Not really Pinkie as you can already tell I'm obviously the child of Twilight and someone else so welcoming me might be too awkward. I hope Celestia and Luna do catch my presence though considering…" The Alicorn fanned her wings out.  "In fact I'm surprised that they haven't caught up with us." "Judging by their names, I'm guessing one has to do with day, the other night? Being that 'Luna' is Latin for 'Moon'," Gabriel drawled. "You already saw the two of them. They were there where you first landed." Tempe said, inadvertently revealing just how long she had been observing the events going on. "Not really, as the landing knocked me out colder than Makoto's punches in sparring. And I only saw those two from a distance… I didn't see anyone else," Gabriel deadpanned, flicking a thumb at Twilight and Rarity. "Ah you were unconscious I thought you were merely just laying there adjusting to the pain. They showed up a little bit and left not a few minutes before Mom and Aunt Rarity showed up." Tempe said. "Guess that wasn't true." "'Adjusting to the pain'... interesting choice of words… when I felt like I'd been run through a paper shredder… then hit by the world's largest flyswatter," Gabriel drawled sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Doesn't help that all the turbulent energy in Tokyo was making it nigh impossible to actually get any rest," he grumbled. "When exactly was the last time you actually got sleep, darling?" Rarity said, concerned. "Hmm… 64 hours, I think. Give or take an hour or two," Gabriel sighed, unaware that was dangerously low levels of sleep he'd been getting. "Hey if you want to fight at peak efficiency you're going to need some rest. I suggest we head over to Mom's castle and get some sleep for at least a few hours. I've been going for about 2 weeks but that's normal for an alicorn. For a human-like species such as yourself you may be able to stay up longer than normal but nowhere near a being powered by Magic itself." Tempe said. "Castle?" Gabriel commented, cocking an eyebrow. He looked around as he saw no castle.  "The castle of two sisters. Mom was given temporary ownership of it to allow restoration efforts to go smoothly. What Castle do you think I was talking about?" Tempe said knowing that there would be another. Gabriel cocked an eyebrow before he shook his head. "Hmmm… I dunno, maybe one that's visible from here?" he deadpanned dryly. "But I do have memories of the Solaria Castle… before its demise. I was fortunate to escape with two others," he whispered, his eyes distant as, unknown to him, his Senshi Sigil was flickering in and out of sight upon his brow. He exhaled softly as he half turned away from the mares, unaware ghostly golden red wings fading to scarlet-indigo at the bottommost feathers flaring from his shoulders before dissipating into embers that faded into the air. "A Phoenix hybrid," Tempe muttered "the files don't have everything about him after all. Still I can work with this as long as Alpha doesn't track me down quickly."  The group headed towards the Giant oak in the distance since it was closer than the Everfree castle. "Besides, with Mom passed out it would be safer to lay her on her bed." Tempe said before a fierce but oddly feminine roar was heard. Gabriel blinked at the roar, cocking his head. "I'm guessing Dragons are a thing here. Would make sense that Dragons could be here, considering Unicorns and Pegasi, on Earth, are mythical creatures. Though that being said, it stands to logic that if 'good' mythical creatures are here, so could 'bad' ones such as cockatrice, basilisks, hags, and potentially even undead," he commented. He was unaware that more often than not, the last was the result of a curse. "The shadow creature I mentioned is possibly an undead. Its name was Sombra. It looks like us wearing silver full body armor and is practically dead with only one physical remnant possibly existing right now." Tempe said worriedly. "Though it isn't evil just controlled by the thing that created it, it's true nature is one that just wants the pain to stop and is pretty much a child buried deep within the consciousness that overtook it." Gabriel blinked before he exhaled softly. "In other words, a golem," he sighed. "Not entirely," Tempe tried to clarify. "the real Sombra is a living pony but due to his unique birth he is part of a living a hive mind of red crystals called the Umbrum. Because of their hive mind, the crystal that spawned his body, his mother for lack of a better term was able to overtake his weakened consciousness and turn him into the monster he became by making him into her host."  Tempe looked saddened at the information she was revealing while the rest of the ponies listening in were shocked at the truth behind a creature they thought was evil incarnate even more than Nightmare in Disord in their insane states. "To be honest Aunt Cadance's mother was basically torturing him by not sending him away from the Crystal empire. The place that he took over in his mad state. She did have good reason though, she was worried that if he was too far from the rest of the Umbrum his life force would dwindle faster than being exposed to the Crystal Heart during the Crystal Faire. We now know that that is a moot point but at the time there was nothing known about an Umbrum pony. So Amore the last mortal princess of the Crystal empire and the Crystal empress herself played it by ear keeping him close and trying to ease his pain as much as possible during the times of great love and light of the Crystal Faire. In the end with all of those countermeasures in place he still fled the empire for the Frozen North hoping to escape from the pain entirely and found the only free pure umbrum left his mother. Now I say she was free but in truth she was free in the idea that she was outside of the seal that turned the Umbrum into crystals and trapped them beneath the empire. But until she forced her will upon her son and basically became Sombra as he is now, she was still just a talking red glowing crystal, the spell that created the seal also turned all of the Umbrum into the crystals that Sombra was so obsessed with during his time as a dark king. Nearly everyone believed that he was forcing the crystal ponies to mind Crystal for his amusement and to use as materials for his army and war engine but in truth he was trying to free the rest of the umbrum by digging down to the seal itself and breaking it open physically. They're still down there kilometers deep into the Earth held back by the crystal heart and the power of the Crystal empire itself along with billions of tons of pure crystal reinforcing the seal. The Umbrum are one of the only races beings that are so evil then being absorbed would be of benefit to everyone!" Tempe shouted this knowing that there was a being that could do exactly that who was observing them currently. She was hoping to kill two birds with one stone, have that being absorb all of the dark evil twisted monstrosities that the Umbrum truly were. Even though it would make the being an even more powerful foe in the end it would also remove a massive threat for future generations including her own, changing the course of history for the better.  "Hmmm. You're thinking of the Soul Reaver, aren't you?" he commented, sensing the dual presences he'd picked up on briefly become more intent. "Hmmm… you're here, aren't you two? Kain, Raziel?" he commented, unaware that on either side of the Sigil glowing a reddish orange upon his brow was a golden orange heart over a cross, as well as a deep purple Sigil resembling scythe merged into a lowercase 'H'. Rarity cocked her head, noticing the odd markings, not recognizing them for what they were: astrological Sigils. "What are those?" she commented curiously. "What are what?" Gabriel said, cocking an eyebrow as he walked, noticing Pinkie skipping on Tempe's other side as he slung Twilight's arm over his shoulders, not even noticing the grateful look Rarity gave him as a result. "Actually while they would be of help there's a beast from the ancient times that can absorb magic itself. These beasts, the Umbrum, in their current state their pure concentrated magic energy in the form of glowing red crystals." Tempe said not wanting to reveal everything she knew about the future for fear of changing it so drastically it wouldn't happen. "I have a feeling this creature that can absorb Magic has been using remote viewing ever since the timeline shifted to watch us. It grows stronger with each bit of magic it absorbs but honestly having it absorb those creatures would be a blessing in disguise. It would eliminate the threat and possibly slowly destroy them from the inside out with how dark and twisted the Umbrum are. Sombra was a relatively pure being outside of his circumstances of birth and now he's feared as a king of darkness even after his supposed death. That was the power of one not relatively strong Umbrum corrupting someone. Imagine what that kind of power could do to someone already steeped in darkness. It would tear them apart from the inside out, making them weaker mentally in the process of gaining that power. The soul reaver could probably do the same thing but we know that they are just as susceptible to corruption and darkness as anyone else and I don't want them to risk what little light they have within them left." "Curious that anyone would care about us, especially after that damn Hylden Lord damaged my physical body to the point of employing a healing coma, though you broke Morbius' and Mortanius' corruption on myself, Raziel," Gabriel could hear Kain mutter. Gabriel's head half turned before he saw the Elder Vampire's eyes widen slightly in surprise as their gazes met. He could see a faint silvery blue aura clinging to his astral form.  "Kinda funny that I can see you two… though being that you're technically 'dead' that may be why I can feel the cold darkness of Saturn's energy tingling at the back of my mind. I'd wager, however, that you were drawn here for a reason… I would say that I suspect reincarnation, but I doubt that, as I may not recall everything from the Solaria Castle nor my life there… but that's the past, not the present. I do have a suspicion, however," Gabriel commented. He had a sneaking suspicion it was what flowed through his veins that was the answer. "You do know that one of them lives within a sword so you should be seeing three of them." Tempe hinted, knowing of the lore of the soul reaver sword. "Aye, but Raziel is the one within the sword," Gabriel drawled before he saw both Kain and Raziel jerk as if surprised someone other than them knew that fact. "As I recall, Raziel, the idea of being trapped within the Soul Reaver sword scared the hell outta ya…" he commented. "Until you passed on the purified Spirit Reaver to him… knowing that its purified state would leave you unconsumed by the madness caused by Nupraptor, the Mind Guardian. Ironically… the very Soul that fully purified the Reaver… was your predecessor as Balance Guardian, Kain," he commented.  "But that makes no sense," Raziel commented.  "Anymore than living on a world of anthropomorphic ponies and being able to talk to a vampiric Wraith and his 'father'?" Gabriel countered with a smirk. He blinked as he realized something. "You look like you just had a metaphorical lightning bolt blow your mind, darling," Rarity commented. "You know… I think we're gonna have to get this 'Cadence' as well as 'Celestia' and 'Luna' as well as your friends here. Something tells me this isn't a coincidence. I'm guessing with the polychromatic Blue Angel there as well as you and Sleeping Beauty, lass, your friends number… six," Gabriel commented wryly. He saw her eyebrows rise as if surprised. "Yes, but how did you know that?" Rarity commented on surprise. "How many Senshi would you guess there are? Not including Misato and myself?" he quipped. Kain's eyes widened as he got exactly what Gabriel was implying. "You're implying that this World's equivalent of Nosgoth's Pillars," he started. "Has effectively doubled, aye," Gabriel drawled, finishing Kain's thought easily. "Though the real question is where your body is," he deadpanned. What he didn't expect was Kain's hand to point what he sensed was northward.He didn't realize that far to the north was the Crystal Empire, but to the west of it, hidden far beneath the ice and snow amongst the mountains was a location both Kain and Raziel knew well…. for it was the Stronghold of the Vampiric Clans of Nosgoth. Rarity only thought Gabriel was staring into space, unable to see or sense the astral entities that were not quite in the Physical Plane nor were they upon the Spiritual Plane. She tapped his shoulder, seeing all three Sigils softly glowing upon his brow fade away. She cocked her head, thinking as his gaze met hers before she had to tear her gaze away as they weren't far from Golden Oaks Library. "So…" Tempe started as they entered the library but before she could continue she lept in front of Gabriel blocking gouts of blue and green fire with her own black fire.  "So what?" Gabriel commented as he cocked his head, swirls of Golden Celestial Flames flickering between his fingers and coalescing into orbs floating just millimeters above his palms. His legs bent slowly, ready to push off. "Who are you? What are you doing here? Get the fuck out of our house!" Two voices shouted from the other side of the room. "Big sis, Ember shut the fuck up!" Tempe shouted as she stepped forward. "Mom needs to lay down and you two this close to waking her up!" "Considering I was tempted to use my flames against yours, letting her diffuse the situation with words seems more prudent," Gabriel drawled sarcastically as he shook his head, seeing both female dragons jolt at his voice as he'd quietly slipped through the shadows closer to them. He didn't realize his clothes were in lousy condition, nor did he realize that his sharper toenails due to his rather tattered and holy pants, and fingernails, which looked closer to claws, were in obvious sight. "It's so big!" Ember said, drooling. "No kidding, he matches my length!" Barb said, her eyes wide. "Dude, are you related to Wolverine and Sabretooth? Because you certainly have his claws right now!" Tempe said not noticing the two dragonesses staring at Gabriel's exposed member. "I've met Victor and James, but I'm not related to them to my knowledge," Gabriel deadpanned, unaware of his exposed body. He blinked as a breeze blew past before he heard a distinct ripping sound. He distinctly heard purrs of surprised interest. "Damn, boy. You're hung, ain't ya?" Rainbow snickered. She held the majority of his pants as she hovered. Gabriel blinked before he glanced down, realizing that his jeans were barely qualified as shorts at the moment, with maybe an inch and a half of fabric on one side hanging against his hip and the other side hanging perhaps two inches lower, hiding perhaps a third of his soft length. A hint of an engorged orb was noticeable before his fingers brushed his thigh. He blinked once, then a second time. "Okay… I'm pretty certain that I didn't have a good quarter inch layer of golden orange fur when we were transported from Earth to here," he deadpanned. "Eh, Equestrian magic tends to adjust people if they have the hidden attributes of its people that can be brought out." Tempe said with a shrug. "Not for the first time someone has entered a version of Equestria human and come out like an Abyssian." "Abyssian? I'm guessing that's a feline race like the Khajiit, hmmm? Though I'm pretty sure, call it a feeling, that they have feline tails… I don't," Gabriel drawled, unaware he was not becoming Abyssian… but something else. A feline race, indeed, but not Abyssian. Rarity tilted her head, noticing a faint red glow beneath his shirt. "What's that glow coming from?" she commented curiously. "Glow? Eh?" Gabriel commented, confused. His head dipped before he noticed the glow himself. "Odd," he muttered as he tugged free the pendant which resembled an open mouthed lion, revealing the uncut ruby within being roughly thrice as wide as a shooter marble. The ruby was glowing softly, radiating a soft slightly golden red glow. Had he looked closer, he might have noticed the golden white slit forming a slitted pupil deep within the gemstone but slowly revealing itself as if surfacing from the depths of the gemstone. A sudden ripping sound rang out as someone decided to make their presence known. "16 inches long and half a millimeter thick at the edge, this thing is a masterpiece!" Gabriel cocked an eyebrow at the speaker as his grip on the blade shifted in his grasp, unaware he had all he needed to complete it. "I would be cautious about touching it… especially after what happened when I was forging it," he deadpanned dryly. What had occurred was a lightning strike. "You're welcome!" The mare said. "The blade needs its sheath though. By the way I'm Screwball!" Gabriel blinked, cocking his head, unaware his slightly feline ears twitched. "You're named after a mixed drink?" he deadpanned. "Screwy!" Tempe shouted surprised but elated. "How'd you find me?!" The Alicorn rushed towards the chaotic Demipony, hugging her tight before kissing her on the lips. "I used Time Force tech, not my own time travel Magic?!"  "Dad tracked you, mom was worried about you and asked me to follow you." Screwball said before turning to the pink and yellow mare "Speaking of, hi Mom!" Fluttershy looked quite confused and flummoxed. "Yeah, trust me, time travel is about as easy to understand as randomly picking the winning lottery numbers," Gabriel commented at the kind mare's confusion. He grimaced as he looked down at himself. "The first thing I need is a good hot bath… and probably a deep muscle massage… as my muscles feel  like they're doing an impersonation of petrified wood," he sighed. He saw both dragons, which he absently noticed wore dark blue and dark purple for the royal blue and warm purple dragoness respectively. He also noticed what seemed to be skirts or nightgowns, though he rarely paid attention to such things. "Perhaps you can join us at the spa tomorrow, as Fluttershy, Twilight, and myself were planning on going. For Twilight, it is also a celebration," Rarity commented thoughtfully. His gaze shifted to Screwball. "You said something about a sheath for this? Speaking of… I don't quite know why it feels… incomplete," Gabriel drawled, unaware that the surfacing slit within the ruby within his pendant shimmered an iridescent golden blue rather than a dull pale amber at his words. "I can fix that!" Screwball said with the snap of her fingers "In fact I can make it even better by giving the sheath its own bits that it's missing!" In a flash of white light an armored gauntlet that looks like it could hold the incomplete blade attached itself to Gabriel's arm before rapidly unfolding into a biomechanical yet still robotic looking set of golden lion armor. As the armor activated, a low metallic cracking sounded as a red surge of light shot from his chest moments before the armor covered it, spiraling around him no less than five times before it settled into the empty hole within the blade's cross guard. Barely visible claws held it in place as the slit shone brightly as both golden and warm emerald electricity arced over his body as the armor fully formed.  Gabriel exhaled in surprise before he noticed distinctive blue electricity arcing over the sixteen inch long dagger's blade before he blinked, cocking his head. "Huh I guess you were hiding the War Stone." Screwball said "I mean I did incorporate the tech stone into the gauntlet so that it would fold out into the armor but other than that the other stones are missing." "In my experience, ‘missing’ tends to mean ‘have not been found yet’, rather than ‘are not going to be found’," Gabriel commented wryly before his head tilted. "Though if you found this gauntlet and this 'Tech Stone' on this world that implies that the others are somewhere… simply not found yet," Gabriel drawled before he paused. "Though I have no idea why we're here in the first place. Presumably to get stronger to go back and deal with Wiseman and Metallia… though I can definitely say that Wiseman was one ugly bastard without that cloak," he deadpanned. He had considered the idea that the cloak could, in fact, have been limiting Wiseman's power levels. He exhaled softly as his head tilted as the armor began retreating into the armored Claw Shield. He grimaced at his rather ripped up clothes. "Don't worry. I'll prepare you a few outfits," Rarity quipped teasingly, "after we drop off Sleeping Beauty," she commented jokingly. "And don't think you're getting out of getting clothes to blend in too, missy," she commented, pointing at Tempe's muzzle. "I'm not sure if I should be amused or scared," Gabriel drawled sarcastically. Rarity just smirked. "Considering I intend to clean you up while I'm at it? You tell me," she purred teasingly. Gabriel blinked, having forgotten about the detail, that he'd been bleeding pretty good earlier. He shivered slightly in anticipation as he saw her head into the, no pun intended, 'tree house' with Twilight.