“So why are we out here and not enjoying the party?”
“Because the incessant optimism of the ponies in this world would do nothing but put light the impact of what I have to tell you.”
“That, and Kuja doesn’t like cake.”
Mr. 111 held a large slice of one of Pinkie Pie’s crazy cake concoctions in his hand, nibbling away at it as we stood in silence on the balcony of the small tower that jutted up from the top of Sugar Cube Corner. Kuja stood beside me, leaning lazily over the edge of the railing and staring up at the moon. It was full tonight. For the first time since I woke up in the Everfree Forest, I realized how mysterious and ominous this world’s moon looked. The glow it emanated almost felt alive.
Kuja sighed, “Your friends are quite the characters, aren’t they? And I thought Braeburn was bad…”
“You’ve met them before, haven’t you?” I replied, knowing he'd visited before.
“The only pony I truly met was Applejack, and even then I was in a sick stupor during most of our interactions.” He turned away from the moon, staring into the small window on the tower. Multiple colored lights shined through in succession, the result of the DJ’s booth inside.
Mr. 111 scoffed, “You didn’t miss much, honestly. All we talked about were what we were and why we were in Ponyville.” With another chunk of the cake in his mouth he fell silent.
My mind was swimming. I knew Kuja had something to tell me, but he kept beating around the bush! I stomped a foot and groaned, “If you have something to tell me, tell me!”
The white-haired mage glanced dismissively at me and turned away, clenching his fists. Slamming one on the railing of the balcony, he roared, “33 is dead, Vivi!”
“What?”
My response was reflex. I hadn’t expected that. I thought that he might’ve just waited in Appleloosa or something, but I never imagined he was dead! And yet…despite my surprise, I really wasn’t bothered by the news. I mean, I felt a little sad, but at least Kuja and 111 were with me to deal with it together.
Unless I was missing something.
“A manticore caught him off guard and killed him. It was swift, and hopefully painless.”
“A…manticore?” My mind flashed back to the attack on Fluttershy’s cottage.
Mr. 111 swallowed his dessert and coughed, “You’ve seen Sweet Apple Acres’ repairs, right? That was us.” Images of the off-color wood in my room the other night came to life.
“The manticore did that?”
Kuja sat on the ground and reclined against the rail. He chuckled, “It sure did. That one didn’t stand a chance, though. The mages reacted before I could come to my senses. It wasn’t until a flood of monsters came pouring from the forest’s edge that things became worrying.” I could see him gritting his teeth. Even if it was in the past and he wanted to get over it, I could see it still bothered him.
He didn’t…blame himself, did he?
I sat down beside him and tried to chuckle, “But the monsters died, didn’t they? So it’s all okay, right?” It started to hit me that Mr. 33 was dead. Bobby Corwen would never see his original owner again. I guess that was no different than when we were on Gaia, but it just stung a bit worse in the afterlife.
“Yeah, they died. Perhaps a bit too painlessly, but they died. I don’t remember much because I was Tranced by that point, but I remember the anger in my blood.” His fists clenched tighter.
I thought back to our encounter on Terra, and how for the first time he had Tranced using energy extracted from the living beings of Gaia. He forced himself to Trance and was therefore unstable. “So…you Tranced naturally? With your emotions?” Kuja had come a long way since the fall of the Iifa Tree. Possibly farther than me…
“That’s right. No evil soul-stealing machines involved! Just…the memory of a fallen brother.” A tear. A single tear streamed down his cheek. I didn’t even know he could cry.
Our companion sat on his other side and scoffed, “So Kuja’s a badass, Mr. 33’s in the after-afterlife, and we’re missing some amazing snacks down there. Where’s this headed?” I looked at him in confusion. Unlike Kuja, he didn’t look too shaken about Mr. 33’s death. He looked to be taking it lightly.
“You aren’t sad that your best friend died?”
“Of course not!” he replied without hesitation. Upon seeing my more-blank-than-usual expression, he clarified, “It is destiny. I know nothing is set in stone, but I know for a fact that fate took 33 from us because it needed him. It needed him…so it could help us…”
Kuja scoffed, “What do you know about fate, Mr. 111? That little chocobo on your shoulder defies everything we know about fate.” He wiped the tear from his cheek and leaped to his feet.
“How do you figure?” 111 tore a piece of the cake away and held it out for his pet to enjoy.
The bird popped to life at the scent of the cake with an excited “Kweh!”
“The bird is too young. I’m certain its owners took amazing care of it, and yet here it is in the afterlife with us. Why is that?”
The Black Mage just stared at us, not sure how to answer.
“Maybe he’s my Mog,” I sighed, letting my mind wander back to the things I’d seen on my journey.
“Come again?” the standing companion scoffed.
I considered my words carefully as I thought back to our detour in Mount Gulug. “When Eiko was being attacked by your goons, her moogle transformed into an Eidolon to protect her. I imagine that if Eiko had died, Mog would have went with her because they were tied together.” I hesitated before coming to my conclusion, “What if Boco is a guardian like Mog?”
The two mages shared impressed expressions. Boco chirped comfortingly.
Then Kuja snapped, “That’s not possible!”
“Huh?”
“The Eidolon Madeen took the form of Mog to protect the Summoner girl, not the other way around. An animal does not become a guardian; the guardian becomes an animal.” He seemed determined to be correct. Even if he was a changed man, he still denied the existence of pre-destiny in our lives…
Mr. 111 struggled to his feet and downed the last bit of his cake. He groaned, “Fine, Bobby Corwen is the exception to the rule! So what? The fact remains that whatever’s supposed to happen has already been set in motion.” He wiped his hands on his coat and turned back toward the moon.
“What do you mean by that?” Kuja joined him against the rail, his gaze shifting to the moon as well.
The Black Mage cleared his throat and adopted a somber tone. “It’s obvious, isn’t it? Strangers from another world arrive to find things are progressively getting worse. Soon there will be a civil war, followed by the fall of a leader. And then, with the leader’s death will come the rebirth of a powerful evil.” He took a deep breath before finishing, “Just like Lord Avon’s Lords from Nowhere.”
“What do you know of Lord Avon?” our serious companion scoffed, annoyance flooding his tone.
“Well, after Eiko moved out of Madain Sari, she let some of us move in to take care of the place! She had a pretty large book collection, most of which being Lord Avon’s plays.”
Kuja smiled a little as he sighed, “So you spent your time reading while the other mages did meaningless chores?”
“That’s right. So I know all about Lord Avon’s works! Or…at least the works I had time to read before passing on.” The optimistic humanoid hopped up on top of the railing and took a seat, his feet hanging in the air as he stared up at the moon.
Our more serious companion followed his example. “So you’re saying there will be a civil war here in this peaceful land?” he scoffed once settled.
I stood up and joined them at the railing. Looking back up at the moon, I chuckled, “I don’t think that’s gonna happen. I mean, this place is so peaceful; why would anyone rebel against the leader?” I tried to sit up on the railing, but it was a struggle just to lean. Sometimes I hated being crafted so short…
I think Kuja could read my mind, because he latched on to my coat and lifted me over the railing, setting me down just like they were. I…was a little shaken by the sudden movement, actually. Mr. 111 just laughed, staring off at the moon.
“Well, it all makes sense if you read the play,” he cut in out of nowhere.
Kuja glanced dismissively at him and whispered, “I don’t believe I’ve ever read Lords from Nowhere. I spent most of my Gaian life familiarizing myself with I Want to be Your Canary…” He unruffled the collar of my jacket and groaned, “Care to explain the tale to us?”
“Sure!” the mage cheered. “One day while out adventuring, a group of friends stumbles upon some old ruins and decides to go exploring. The ruins turn out to be a gateway to another world, and when the friends are sucked through to the other side, they find themselves in a kingdom controlled by an evil tyrant.
“They are approached by a young man who claims to be forming a rebellion against the king. Seeing the suffering of the people, the friends agree to help. Most of the play is spent preparing for the assault on the castle. Once they attack, the rebels capture the princess and the king attacks them, falling in combat to the young man who leads the rebellion. With the king’s final breaths, dark matter falls onto the battlefield. That’s the scene we watched in our vision.
“After the king’s death, the soldiers lose morale and the citizens rejoice their freedom. The young man—played by Zidane in our dream—reveals himself to be an ancient mage that vowed revenge on the royal family. He tells the friends that the only thing stopping him from destroying the world was the royal bloodline. In one swift motion, he kills the princess and takes the dark matter. He uses it to summon a long-since-forgotten demon from the realm of the dead. The final act of the play is all about the friends realizing they were tricked into helping him and the actions they take to stop the evil demon from destroying the world.”
He clapped his hands together as he finished his summary of the play. I could tell he was really excited about someone else interested in the tale.
Kuja lowered his gaze and sighed, “So who are we in this formula? The friends from the other world? And who’s the ancient mage bent on revenge?”
“Well, I’ve been doing research on that, too!” Mr. 111 bounced with joy on the railing.
I scratched my head, taking in everything I’d heard. I punctuated my confusion with a simple, “You have?” I hunched over and stared at the ground below, noticing several ponies trotting away from the building.
“I sure have! Ever since I had my dream the day we found Kuja, I’ve been doing all sorts of research!” His excited energy faded suddenly, as if something had just sucked his optimism dry. He groaned, “Mr. 33 was helping me, but he never understood what it was all about. I tried to explain, but he just didn’t care. At the time, I thought it was only a dream. Then we found Kuja, and I knew it was fate!”
“So? Who’s the evil mage in this tale?” Kuja butted into Mr. 111’s memories.
The mage cleared his throat and pulled a small notepad from his pocket, prompting us to share surprised glances. “A long time ago there was a powerful monster that ruled over Equestria with chaotic magic. A pair siblings, both alicorns, took up magical gemstones known as the Elements of Harmony to combat the beast’s chaos. They prevailed, sealing him in stone indefinitely and guiding the kingdom to prosperity over the millenia. The beast has since broken free once, again defeated by the Elements of Harmony in the possession of six new ponies.” He tucked his notepad back in his pocket and spun around on the rail, facing the bright lights of the window.
Kuja chuckled, “That’s certainly a story. A demon encased in stone defeated by gemstones is our usurper? I suppose we should just gather the gems then, shouldn’t we?” He turned to face the window, noticing our companion’s lack of movement.
“The Elements of Harmony are currently in the possession of Vivi’s friends. The six that gathered at Sweet Apple Acres after we were attacked and the six that greeted us at the station are the holders of Harmony.”
“That’s a…little dramatic, don’t ya think?” I shifted my hat, carefully spinning to face the window with them.
He scoffed, “Nope.”
Kuja rested his arm on his leg and placed his head comfortably on his palm. “Is there more to the tale?”
“The king had many guardians, but six of them were unique. Their armors differed from the normal guards in that they were colored to match the type of magic they could use. These guards were the final line of defense between the princess and the rebels. The evil mage under the guise of the young man killed these six with almost no effort. After capturing the princess and camping outside the castle, a team of mercenaries hired by the royal guard ended up reclaiming the princess. That’s where the scene we watched begins.”
We simply stared at him, knowing he had more to say.
“The colors of the armor were stressed for pages of text before the young man killed them. He made fun of each of them in turn as they showed him their powers. Orange, for physical strength and buffing; purple, for mental manipulation of surroundings; pink, for supernatural stamina; blue, for self-levitation to emulate flight; white, for altering appearances to confuse foes; and yellow, for health restoration and general support magics.”
“But…” Kuja sat up straight, the pieces not fitting together in his head, “…healing magics are the specialties of White Mages. Shouldn’t the healer have had white armor?”
Mr. 111 cheered, “That’s what I thought when I read it! But then I met Vivi’s friends, and it all kind of made sense.” He pulled the notepad back out and turned a few pages. He held the page out for us to see his crude scribbling.
“Six humans and six ponies. What’s the point of this?” Kuja leaned close to the note, trying to decipher its gibberish.
I felt like I knew where Mr. 111 was going with his notes, but I didn’t want to say anything. I guess I didn’t want it to be true. How could Lord Avon have written something that wouldn’t happen for centuries…in another world?
The Black Mage snickered, “Can’t you see it? Each color of armor reflects a different Element bearer. Orange for Applejack, purple for Twilight, pink for Pinkie Pie, blue for Rainbow Dash, white for Rarity, and yellow for Fluttershy!” He shoved the pad into his pocket and scratched the back of his head. He laughed, but I could tell it was an empty laugh. Maybe he was thinking what I was.
“You hear that, Vivi? Sounds to me like they’re going to die when the time comes.”
I think my heart skipped a beat. For an instant, I felt a horrible knot of dread in my stomach. “I…Not if I can help it!” I clenched my fist and raised it up, making a vow right then and there that I wouldn’t let anything happen to my innocent friends!
“Good. That’s the kind of attitude you’ll need if you want to defy fate.” Kuja glanced back at the now-standing Black Mage. He sighed, “So where is this chaotic demon imprisoned?”
“In the castle courtyard,” 111 stated bluntly, a veil of dread swallowing the balcony.
“So the thing that’s going to kill the leader is being held in the closest place possible? Lovely.” My serious companion slid off the rail and approached the door leading inside. He turned back to us and scoffed, “I suppose we should get this insufferable social gathering out of the way if we hope to speak with the Elements in private.”
I fell off the rail, caught off guard by how he phrased that statement. I scoffed, “What do you mean?! Are we just gonna tell them that some playwright from centuries ago predicted the destruction of their home?!” I struggled to my feet, my hat shifting slightly.
Kuja chuckled, “No, of course not. We’re going to ask them to see their leader. I’m quite curious to meet the subject of a millennium of pent up vengeance.” With that, he stepped through the threshold into the noise of Sugar Cube Corner.
Mr. 111 headed toward the door and chuckled, “Oh, so now we get to have fun! C’mon Vivi, don’t get hung up on prophecy. The play said it was one month after the friends showed up that the rebellion came to full force. So we have some time.” With that, he and the little yellow bird on his shoulder were gone.
I stared at the window of colored lights. Could it really be possible that Lord Avon’s play was a premonition and not simple entertainment? If everything came to pass, Fluttershy and her friends would die. Even more so, the ruler of Equestria would fall as well. For the first time since waking up in this world, I realized that I didn’t even know who the ruler of Equestria was! No one had really mentioned him to me. You would think he’d be interested in four beings from another world showing up and causing animals to go wild…
Right?