//------------------------------// // 08 - Blessing // Story: Game of Fate // by ZekeDraco //------------------------------// 08 - Blessing The brawl in the forest against those stronger shadow creatures turned out to be exactly what Zecora warned them about. Twilight was admitted to Ponyville General after one of her injuries turned out to be worse than expected. -------------------- ----[ Ponyville General | Morning ----- Applejack was asleep in the lobby with her hat covering her face, it had been a long night. She blamed herself for Twilight getting hurt so badly, so she decided to stay at the hospital. Nurse Redheart walked over to her and waited for a moment, AJ rolled over and fell out of the bench seat. She quickly got on her hooves and put her hat on, "Wha?" Nurse Redheart examined her, "Are you alright?" AJ nodded, "I could care less 'bout me. How's Twi doin'?" She looked down for a moment, "The poison is trying to overpower the antidotes we recieved from your zebra friend, they're still putting up a fight, but I'm afraid that she can't handle it." AJ sat down speechless. "Something else to note is that we found that poison in you and Elise. Yet, it seems to have been rendered invalid by something you two share." "What?" "I don't know what's going on, this type of poison in the smallest amount would spell the end of anypony. And here you are, no damages whatsoever." AJ thought hard, "But how?" Chrysalis wandered in disguised as a unicorn mare, "Hey, trying to find Elise, you seen her anywhere?" Nurse Redheart looked at her, "Could I ask your name first?" The disguised changeling didn't skip a beat as she immediately said, "Cascade." AJ kept quiet as Nurse Redheart nodded, "I'll go and see if she's awake." A moment passed and Cascade grinned at AJ, "What's your problem? Somepony step on your dog?" AJ glared at her, "Ah'd advise ya to go bother somepony else." "Yeah, I'll do that." "Sorry, you a friend a-Elise's?" She rolled her eyes, "We'll call it that for now." AJ looked up the hall and fell silent again. Cascade smiled, It may not be love, but sadness is almost as satisfying., she focused her magic and tried to draw from AJ but failed, "You've GOT to be kidding me!" AJ looked at her, "Huh?" She smiled, "Looks like we've got something in common." "What do ya mean by that?" Elise walked up with Nurse Redheart, "Both of you have my blessing." AJ stood up, "What's that mean?" "You share some of my capabilities, and also my fate if I fail." "Two-sided... Why'd ya give it ta me?" Elise shook her head, "I didn't, Fate did." "When?!" "Remember when we fought him in the diamond dog mines? He used a healing spell on all three of us before he proved he wasn't as weak as I thought." "Why didn't ya tell me?" Cascade grinned, "Because she didn't know about it until I showed her." Elise looked to the side, "Chrys..." "Hey, I said no nicknames. The last thing I need is friends." AJ looked at her, "Ya gotta be kiddin' me... Ya ain't..." Cascade smiled and sarcastically said, "Of course I'm not." Elise stepped forward, "She's going to help kill Fate." "Correction, I'm going to make him writhe, and you're going to kill him and do it right this time." AJ looked at Elise completely betrayed, "Don't ya know what she tried ta do?!" Elise nodded, "Dash told me." She glared at Chrysalis, "What trick are you pullin' on us." Chrysalis reverted to her normal form and glared back, "There's no trick. If anything you should consider yourself lucky to have me fighting alongside you." From up the hall the voice of Dr. Hoofington shouted, "Nurse! She's fading!" Nurse Redheart galloped up the hallway, "I'm coming!" AJ turned pale, "Twi!" Elise ran up the hall. -------------------- ----[ ??? ----- Luna approached her sister with magically sealed saddlebags. She smiled, "Tia. I brought you something you've been seeking." Celestia didn't respond. "Tia?" She looked at Luna, "She's hurt..." "Who?" "Twilight Sparkle." She paused, "Who did it..." Celestia bowed her head, "Fate." Both of them felt a surge of power and fell to their knees. -------------------- ----[ Ponyville General | Room 117 ----- Twilight couldn't see anything but red, she wanted to scream but couldn't. Elise ran in as Dr. Hoofington started issuing orders to Nurse Redheart and two interns. AJ barreled in and tried to figure out what to do, 'Cascade' stood at the doorway and watched. The medical team gave her a new antidote, it only stabilized her slightly. There were tubes that ran to a dialysis machine, which had no effect. Desperation began to take over, and as it did the medical team worked themselves nearly into a frenzy. It wasn't long before Chrysalis shouted, "Back off!" They froze and she stepped in, "You're louder than a hundred larva! Shut up!" Elise looked at her and nodded while mouthing the words, "Thank you." Dr. Hoofington stepped forward, "There is nothing else to do. We weren't prepared for manticore venom." AJ started to tear up, "Twi..." Elise focused and the air around her shimmered, "Aura.", she reared up and motioned her paw. The orb of light released went towards Twilight as the staff watched. It went into her and some of the pain faded. Elise continued to throw aura spell after aura spell, each one bringing Twilight closer to the land of the living. She heard a voice say something never wanted to hear at a time like this and the spells started to be reflected away from Twilight, dropping her back into a world of pain. AJ quickly turned to Elise, "Wha...What's happenin'?!" Elise frowned and walked forward speaking in some language consistant of syllables and snarls, "Yiuo liei jakiokoixeri, jaloix qida hiakoa uioki yioalo yia qidaixoki jiriukoalo rioiylo pyodaoyiukoixuadaori Prisata. Uioki loikokiutyukouakieri laoloixkiakieri teelaidayieri tyudaulo rioelo jawoa jaix tyki'ixkiolo ixealo loakouakieri shiekiuodayi'ri jipy jayiutyukoikouadao uiaixodaixuio qidaixki' iyridaupyelo da'pyulo. Rioulo kokieiloixihi'i, koadaloixkiudawoa la'lo, Twilight Sparkle.", she placed her paw on Twilight's chest, "Uioki loidawoeudaori, uioki ixaixeri, uioki louiukiuixeri, ixe'ri jidauri' ixai.", she muttered in a louder tone, "Rioa Kokieiloixihi'ulo." Both she and Twilight glowed brightly, the room became engulfed in the radiance. The light cleared and Twilight's vitals returned to normal. Dr. Hoofington looked at them, "What in all Equestria was that?" AJ looked around and took a deep breath, "What hit me?" Chrysalis shook off some dizziness, "What she said." Rarity looked around, "How did I get here?!" Gilda rubbed her head, "Don't know, don't care." Ditzy looked around, "What happened?" Dash hid her Daring Do book under a wing, "What's going on?" Big Macintosh looked at AJ, "That's what ah'd like ta know." Soarin looked around, "Teleport spell?" Spitfire shrugged, "Maybe." Nurse Redheart looked at the large number of sudden guests, "Ok, I'll bite. How did you all get in here so quick?!" Elise pulled away from Twilight, "The blessing is fully realized now." Twilight looked over at her, "Elise? What was that light just now?" Dr. Hoofington checked her pulse, "Normal, do you feel any pain?" "No. I feel great.", she looked at Elise, "Elise, what did you do?" Elise collapsed. -------------------- ----[ ??? ----- Celestia stood up and moved next to Luna, "Luna?" She looked up at her, "More of the world's crystals." "Yes.", she noticed the seal on the saddlebags, "What do you have with you?" She stood up, "A gift. The tomes that made me turn bitter so easily centuries ago." Celestia smiled, "I've been searching for those for ages. How did you find them?" "I asked for the help of Elise." Celestia teared up, "She's done two things for me now." "Tia?" "I'm...I'm so happy." -------------------- ----[ Ponyville Library | 30 minutes later ----- Twilight managed to gather the entire group at the library, including Gilda and "Cascade" with some persuasion from Dash and AJ. They were talking amongst themselves for a little bit while they waited for Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy to show up. Twilight even managed to send a letter off to Princess Celestia before a knock came to the door. Rarity opened the door with her magic and Pinkie trotted right in, "So, what's the big meeting for? Is it time to go on another adventure? Are we throwing somepony a surprise party? Is it for me?" Twilight shook her head, "No Pinkie, we're here to discuss Elise." Fluttershy walked in and saw Gilda, "Oh, hello again." Gilda just grinned and looked somewhere else. Pinkie thought for a moment, "So what's going on with her? Is she here?" Rarity moved next to her, "No, she's back at the hospital." "Really? Sounds like she needs to be more careful." Twilight looked around, "Well, everypony is here, so I might as well start. Practically all of us who are here were teleported into the hospital room where Elise used some sort of blessing to negate the effect of manticore venom that was, killing me." Soarin's eyes widened, "Manticore Venom?!" Spitfire elbowed him, "Let her talk." Twilight continued, "Yes, this blessing is something that poses a lot of different questions about Elise, but I feel confident enough that she doesn't have any malicious intent when she passes it to somepony." AJ spoke up, "Or that Fate Pony forces it onta one of us." Gilda moved forward, "So you mean to tell me that when that Acious guy shoved that crystal knife into me that it was Fate's job?" Twilight nodded, "It could be the Acious was working for Fate." Spitfire looked over, "Acious? Acious Windholm?" Dash grumbled, "Didn't he kick you guys out of the Wonderbolts." Spitfire thought for a moment, "He's holding a position in the Equestrian Air Force that's watched very closely, he wouldn't be stupid enough to do something like attack a civilian." Twilight thought it over, "True, but we can't rule him out as a suspect just yet. Which brings me to the next question. How did all of you get your blessings?" Ditzy looked at her, "Fate gave Chrysalis some sort of crystal that had a spell in it." Dash looked up, "Oh yeah, the healing spell gave you and Chrys", she noticed Cascade's twitch, "that blessing thing." Fluttershy's eyes widened, "C-Chrysalis has that blessing?" Twilight looked at Cascade, "Yes, but so far she seems to want to settle a score with Fate." Cascade nodded, "I also found out I can't feed off of any emotions from anything with this blessing." Fluttershy looked at her, "Oh that's good. Wait..." Pinkie wandered up to Cascade, "Hey, can you copy me?" She didn't even look at her, "Not in the mood." "Awww." Gilda rolled her eyes, "So what's this thing going to do?" Twilight thought back to the incantation, "I remember being able to understand some of what Elise was saying when she was giving me that blessing." AJ looked at her, "What'd she say?" Twilight thought it over carefully, "Through your sacrifices to aid in my goal I and your fellow allies draw from the building power within us all.", she looked back at Gilda, "If I were to guess, we'll become stronger as the blessing does." Rarity looked around, "Wait... How did I get this?" AJ moved next to her, "Same way ah did, Fate used that healin' spell on us." "Oh, now that I think of it I stamped my hoof into a bowl of pins on accident recently, and it did not hurt one bit. Also I had a toaster bounce off of my head that barely hurt." Twilight looked at her, "So your blessing is fortifying your body against damage?", she looked at AJ, "Applejack have you noticed anything changing about you since you recieved your blessing?" AJ thought for a moment, "Ah think mah kicks got a lot more sting recently." "I would believe that, you really kicked that manticore around last night." Gilda smiled, "So we all get stronger. I've got so many scores to settle." Twilight looked at her, "I don't know if that strength is ours to use for everything. Isn't Elise fighting Fate?" AJ looked to the side, "That means that we are, too. Doesn't it." "We'll have to ask her and find out." Rarity backed down, "I'm really not the type to want to fight against anypony with that kind of power, blessing or not." "I know. We'll figure out what we can and can't do as soon as Elise is conscious again." Spike had been listening throughout the entire meeting until he let out a burp and a letter formed from the green flame, "Twilight, you've got a letter from Celestia." She looked at him, "Really?", she faced the crowd again, "If there aren't any questions left, feel free to leave." The group looked amongst themselves for a moment then started leaving. Spike opened the scroll and handed it to Twilight, "Here." She read it and paused, "Spike, I'm going to the hospital. I need to ask Elise questions." He looked at her, "Take me with you." "Alright, get on." -------------------- ----[ Ponyville General | Room 118 | Meanwhile ----- Elise opened her eyes and silently grumbled to herself, Wow, same room three times in the same week. It's like you're holding that low D-Rank again. She sat up and looked around half expecting to see Lucky again, instead she was greeted by Celestia, "You're Elise, correct?" She nodded, "Yes, are you Tia?" She smiled, "Yes, that's the nickname my sister uses. My full name is Celestia." Elise nodded, "Of course, I apologize, you're royalty aren't you." "I'm not here as a princess, I'm here as a grateful mentor and sister." Elise's eyes widened, "Why?" "You helped Luna acquire the tomes of chaos after I had nearly given up on trying to find them. Just as important you just saved the life of my loyal student." "She's alright now?" "She wrote me about her recovery." Elise smiled, "Good." "Can I ask you something?" "Go ahead." "What is it you want in life?" She looked to the side, "To not fight." "From what I've seen you are good at it." "I was well trained. Whether or not I liked it." Celestia grinned, "Secrets can find their own way." Elise gave a quiet laugh, "Lusce said that to me once. Though, why would you say that?" "You learn to read others after being a leader for centuries. Where do you hail from? She hesitated trying to think of the proper name, "I know it's supposed to be some sort of six-dimensional positioning, but ...I've only really known it as Home Terra" "He started letting beings live on Terra?" "Huh?" "Dracire, he still rules Draconia, correct?" "How?" Celestia smiled briefly, "We're old friends." Elise just stared, "How is that possible? The Transmod was recently discovered." Quietly Celestia made a mental note, "Elise, Luna talked with you about Fate, right?" "Yes, she told me that he's sapping your power?" "He's not draining it for himself, not anymore. It's as though he feels a forming power that could be a threat, so he's destroying the crystals that me and Luna created to fortify our power and protect this dimension from another crisis." Elise raised a brow, Another? "We've been using our magic to focus on sustaining barriers to defend what is left of our crystals, but he nearly killed my prized student for us trying to ward him off." "Using those close to you as a means of breaking concentration." "Which let him quickly penetrate the barrier and break another two crystals." "How many are left?" "Since Cadence hasn't experienced that feedback, there should be four." Elise looked up, "Cadence, why is that name.", Elise remembered the events in Cloudsdale, "Chrysalis was the one who had Cadence's crystal." Celestia paused, "You're right. How did you know?" Elise scratched her head, "From the changelings mouth before she decided to join in the fight against Fate." "You gave her your blessing didn't you." "We'll need as much help as we can--" Celestia nodded, "I understand, and only ask one thing of you." "What?" "I can tell that there is a long road ahead, I only ask that if Fate breaks the last of our crystals, that you bless us." Elise looked at her surprised, "You and Luna?" She nodded, "If you are going to involve anypony from Equestria, let us join you as the warriors we once were." "I will." Celestia smiled, "Thank you.", she turned to the door and shuddered. "Princess?" "If you can hear it, listen to the mana of this world. It will tell you why I made this request.", she walked out of the room. Elise waited for a moment for the hooves walking along the tile in the hall to fade into the distance. Once she had silence in the room she closed her eyes and started listening. A subtle moan seemed to echo throughout, it faded in and out as a gentle wind blew through. She heard Fate give off a condescending grunt followed by a drawn out wailing scream that sounded from all around. Elise opened her eyes as the ground shook, her heart raced as she tried to figure out what happened, "What was that?" With Spike behind her Twilight walked in, "Elise? Is something wrong?" Elise smiled, "Since you're still alive, I don't think so." She smiled back, "Thank you. How are you?" "I'm fine, apparently that blessing takes a lot out of you when you willingly cast it, and make it bound to your own magic instead of the lingering fragments of armor that contained them." "That reminds me, I got to talk with the others that recieved your blessing. They seem to be getting stronger." Elise nodded, "They are, the blessing is something given by a Prisata to those they'd use as pawns for their cause." "What are the Prisata?" "They are a type of dragon that can redirect magic and light through the crystals that their bodies naturally generate. Through this ability it was discovered that they could bless beings to share from their knowledge and aid them in gaining deity status. During the nine millennial war they aspired to rise to the top and purge the inferior dracons." Twilight looked at her, "I've never seen anything about a war going on for that long." "That's because it didn't happen on Equestria." "It happened in the Ayis region? No, that is a part of Equestria." Elise shook her head, "Ayis isn't part of Equestria. It isn't even part of the dimension Equestria is in." "Excuse me?" "The Ayis system is the name agreed upon by the draconic council. It was chosen as a means of opening peaceful channels between Draconia and the planets that once orbitted the star Ayis." Twilight eyed her, "You're kidding, right?" Elise shook her head, "No, I'm from another dimension, with its own history." Twilight looked to the side for a moment, "Which explains why you fought somepony named Arla in Canterlot." "Yes." "Can you tell me who she is?" "Was, I'm not completely clear on her history but she was a loose cannon, she would kill others to try and satisfy the void in herself left behind by not killing someone she had a grudge against." Twilight stared for a moment, "Then why did you fight her?" "She was planning on killing the daughter of a deity I knew." "Oh, I'm glad you stopped her. What was this deity's name?" Elise thought for a moment, "I don't remember his name, yet I remember his daughter Abigaile." Spike elbowed Twilight, "We don't need to bother her anymore about her past." Elise smiled, "It's alright, Spike. Now that she has my blessing, some things need to be known. Though there are things that her friends would need to know too." Twilight nodded, "I can arrange for everypony to meet at the library as soon as you're out of here." Elise stepped out of the bed, "I'm ready." "Really? I guess I can send letters to Spitfire and Soarin." "No need, they have rooms at the Silent Horseshoe Inn, next door to Chrysalis." Twilight paused, "To imagine somepony who caused so much trouble is one of us fighting Fate." "Twilight, just because I gave you my blessing doesn't mean you have to fight." "This blessing is something I would like to research." "If you go along with the fight against Fate there will be danger. We'll have to fight against anything he throws at us, things that would want to kill us." Twilight walked forward, "I understand that, but this opportunity to see new worlds is just too good to pass up." Elise was surprised by how eager Twilight was, "Even with the risks involved?" "Much like Magic Powered Machinery, or Etherwork as its last researcher called it, sometimes the best research has risks associated with it." Spike looked between the two, "Then you've got to take me with you." Twilight looked at him, "Spike?" Elise looked at him too, "But you're a Youngling, from the looks of it just a little older than one I know." Spike nodded, "I know, but I've been with Twilight for most of my life, I want to help her in any way I can." "It's not my decision to make Spike, it's up to Twilight." Twilight nodded, "It is, we'll discuss it later at the library.", she looked back at Elise, "Can you find Gilda, Ditzy, and the others?" She nodded, "I'll let the staff here know I've recovered again and go do that." "Great, let's meet at noon, that gives everypony at least an hour to show up." Elise nodded and left the room. Twilight looked back at Spike, "Let's go." -------------------- ----[ Ponyville Outskirts | 5 minutes later ----- Gilda stood at the edge of town and looked up, she grinned and spread her wings. A voice called to her, "Gilda!" She looked behind herself and noticed Dash running up, "Dash?" Dash stopped, "Where're you going?" "I figured that I'd go settle some scores." "Where?" "Does it matter..." Dash grinned, "Just like old times." Elise landed next to Dash, "Gilda." Gilda grinned, "Hey, you handled yourself in that castle pretty well." Dash looked between them, "Castle?" Elise glanced at Dash, "I'll tell you later." Gilda turned around, "Unless either of you need something, I'm outta here." "I have things to explain about the blessing and who I really am. If you want to know about what you're getting into, meet at the library at noon." "I guess I could stick around and hear what it does. That reminds me.", Gilda turned around and punched Elise, "That fight in the castle hurt." Elise barely flinched, "Alright." Gilda walked by and mumbled to herself, "That's one settled." Dash looked at Elise, "I knew she could hold a grudge, but you did what you had to to protect Fluttershy." Elise smiled, "Like AJ said, I still act like a shield." Dash smiled back at her, "Thanks. I'll see you at the library." "Of course, before you go, have you seen Ditzy Do?" "She oughta be at her last stop for her route in Ponyville." Elise thought for a moment, "The library?" Dash nodded, "See you there.", she flew away. That leaves Spitfire, Soarin, and Chrys. -------------------- ----[ Silent Horseshoe Inn | Room 3 | 10 minutes later ----- Spitfire and Soarin had listened to the story that Lusce told them about last night. Spitfire smiled, "Never would've expected a Zebra to do a seal on some saddlebags." Lusce grinned, "Surprised Luna, too." Soarin nodded, "At least you grabbed those tomes in time, a Griffin in berserk is not easy to handle if you can't outfly them." "Elise seemed to know what she was doing, she wasn't too roughed up when she carried that stoned Griffin out of the castle." Spitfire looked out the window for a moment, "You said you followed them until a dark figure made them vanish?" Lusce nodded, "Yeah, after that I worked my way to my hiding place." Soarin looked at him, "So what do you think of this blessing thing Elise has given some of us?" "I think that she might be digging her own grave with that, especially if Lord Drakoss finds out about it. It might be great for you guys to get stronger, but as soon as he finds out and gets any negative information about it he'll kill Elise." Spitfire raised a brow, "Why?" "One of Elise's bloodlines. To use his words, 'The Prisata aspire to surpass the gods at any cost'. I haven't looked into the legends behind the Prisata Dragons but he would know more about it than anyone else." "Fair enough." His ear twitched, "Anyways, you've got a guest coming.", he opened the window, "Later.", he jumped out and darted behind a bush before Elise turned around. Spitfire looked out the window, "Hey, Elise, looking for something?" Elise looked at her, "I thought I heard something." "Probably just a bird." "I guess, either way I'm here to ask you, Soarin and Cascade to meet at the library at noon." "Any reason?" "I need to explain things about the blessing, and about myself. So anyone who has my blessing might want to show up for this." Cascade looked out her window, "Really? I'll be there." Spitfire nodded, "We'll all be there." Elise nodded, "I'll see you then." -------------------- ----[ ??? ----- The tomes levitated by Celestia's magic were sealed inside of a magic box as the void of space surrounded her with stars that shimmered in the distance. She looked past the tomes at the immense star that her magic had control of and launched them forward. For one brief moment the magic energies that surrounded her were gone and her mane lost its flow. She immediately focused and called for the return of her magic. She breathed deeply from the mini atmosphere she sustained around herself once it restabilized. With a gaze towards the star she watched as the tomes left a smoking trail as they came closer and closer to their final end. Celestia turned around then spread her wings and legs. The magic within the tomes erupted into a massive explosion of energy that propelled her back towards the world of Equestria as a streak of magic energy. She watched as the world she and her sister ruled over came closer and closer, until she stopped herself and looked around. She watched as a star simply vanished, Odd. She waited and kept looking around, another star vanished. After another minute another star disappeared. She dove down for the planet headed for Canterlot. -------------------- ----[ Library | Noon ----- Most of the group gathered in the library again, Ditzy showed up and grabbed a spot to sit down as Twilight looked up at the clock. Elise walked in and sat down in front of everyone, she considered wether or not to simply render herself invisible and flee or stay and bite the bullet. She sighed, "Alright, where do you want me to start? My history with Fate? Where I really came from?" Twilight gave her a calming grin, "Whatever you think would be a good starting point." "Alright. I suppose it would be appropriate if I introduced myself as a proper Dracon. I am Elise of Clan Elas, Warrior of Crystalline weapons. Slayer of Fate--" Chrysalis rolled her eyes. "-- and member of the Dimensional Mercenaries, Class A." Twilight looked at her, "Class A?" "High rank in that group. At the moment I am employed as the assistant of Lusce Argus, owner of Bertrand Industries." Pinkie looked at her, "Is it story time?" Elise nodded, "I suppose." Pinkie pulled a bowl of popcorn from nowhere, "I'm all set." The halfbreed took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts and her memories. She counted the pairs of eyes on her and began her narrative, "It started about eight months ago."