Fifty-one
Quick Fix
The pair makes their way swiftly across the Land of Waves and Chasms, riding a speedboat towards the mountain monument where Quick Fix’s Quest Bed lies. Since Cheerilee was no longer able to attain God Tier, the two would immediately head for the exit from their session after Quick Fix had ascended.
CHEERILEE: So… How do you feel?
QUICK FIX: I dunno
QUICK FIX: anxious. angry.
CHEERILEE: Worried about what comes next?
QUICK FIX: a bit
QUICK FIX: but not as much as youd think
QUICK FIX: I know Ive gotta kill myself on the quest bed to make this happen
QUICK FIX: but its just not having the impact it should
QUICK FIX: like, I just know that Ill be fine
QUICK FIX: and Im not really as hesitant to do it because of that
QUICK FIX: itll happen and then its done and Im better
QUICK FIX: Ill be dead for like five seconds and then be able to protect you and the others
QUICK FIX: so yeah. bring it on. Ill spill some blood for that
CHEERILEE: Well… I’m glad to hear you are prepared, at any rate. And your motivations are good…
QUICK FIX: I know. I shouldnt be this okay with facing my own death
QUICK FIX: I dont want to freak you out either
QUICK FIX: I wouldnt do it unless there was a good reason, you know
CHEERILEE: I know.
CHEERILEE: I’ll just be glad when we are at a time of peace, and won’t have to ask ourselves these questions.
QUICK FIX: same here
QUICK FIX: and in a way, Im glad you dont have to face this now
CHEERILEE: Yes…
CHEERILEE: Quick Fix, get us somewhere safe, now.
CHEERILEE: Discord is coming.
QUICK FIX: what
QUICK FIX: are you sure
QUICK FIX: how can you tell?
CHEERILEE: It’s part of my aspect as the Mage of Space.
CHEERILEE: There are various more ambiguous uses for this power, but the most literal- and useful, in my opinion- is that I have an instinctual radar.
CHEERILEE: I can sense physical entities in a proximity around myself, and detect whether or not they are hostile.
CHEERILEE: Discord has a very distinct signature on this radar.
QUICK FIX: thats a pretty sweet power
QUICK FIX: but yeah, wed better move
QUICK FIX: theres an island over there where we can hide
QUICK FIX: I should be able to mask us from him
QUICK FIX: hopefully
The boat pulls over to the island Quick Fix had specified, and she captchalogues the vessel quickly. She then joins Cheerilee under a nearby rocky outcropping. Quick Fix focuses deeply, a pale aura surrounding the two.
“Knight of Void.” Quick Fix explains in a whisper. “Defender through nothing. This should make us invisible to him.”
Cheerilee nods, and the two sit in wait. Soon, Quick Fix feels a shiver down her spine, and knows that Discord is nearby. He lingers for a minute or two, then drifts away again. Quick Fix releases a held breath, but does not drop her shield just yet. Cheerilee pokes her head up above the rock, and nods. “I think the coast is clear.”
Quick Fix nods, and the two soon set off again. Before long, the form of the great monument appears on the horizon. The boat docks at the beach.
QUICK FIX: alright, Im headed up
QUICK FIX: Ill haul ass back here as quick as I can
QUICK FIX: but if you see trouble again, do not wait up for me
QUICK FIX: just run
QUICK FIX: Ill find you
CHEERILEE: Alright. Thank you for your concern.
CHEERILEE: I’ll stay safe. Just get back here safe, okay? No unnecessary risks.
QUICK FIX: sure thing. see you soon
Quick Fix gives Cheerilee a parting kiss, then makes her way to the top of the monument. She retrieves a pistol from her sylladex- her normal choice of weapon would have been far too unnecessarily painful- and lies down on the slab.
A few minutes later, the Knight of Void awakes on Derse. The dark kingdom is quiet: all troops have been ordered to attack Discord, and those who wish to live have hidden themselves well. The streets are all but deserted. She wastes no time in flexing her new wings and launching herself back in the direction of her land. The Veil lies before her, a thin shell of its former self. The small meteors are completely gone, and the larger ones are beginning to move. They don’t have much time left before Skaia becomes damaged, and if Skaia is destroyed, their new world cannot exist.
Quick Fix arrives at Lowac, gains her bearings, and rushes for the Quest Bed monument again. As she approaches, she gets the distinct feeling that something is off, a feeling that gnaws at her stomach. She readies her wrench.
Something intercepts her and slams her towards the sea, which she hits and skips like a stone. Finally, she regains her balance and looks around wildly.
Discord has arrived, and floats before her, Leeroy’s sword at the ready, a wicked smile on his face. Quick Fix snarls and raises her wrench, until she notices something drip off the tip of his sword. She hadn’t seen it earlier, because it was the same color as the blade: blood red.
“What did you do?!” Quick Fix shouts, a mixture of anger and fear.
Discord shifts the weapon slightly and chuckled. “Why don’t you see for yourself? I think you know where to look. I can stand by until then.”
Quick Fix frowns, and turns slowly to finish her trip to the Quest Bed monument. She never takes one eye off of the monster, but surprisingly, he keeps his word and follows at a distance, never attacking.
“He must be destroyed.” A voice states in a dark whisper. Quick Fix is startled to hear it, but this is not the first time. It is the same voice that has whispered to her during her time on Derse, though often its words were distorted, and she only understood a few words in a sentence. It is loud and clear now. “You know this. You cannot escape him, nor can anyone. He must be stopped, not outrun.”
Quick Fix does not acknowledge the voice with a response, but knows that it is right. When the group got their affairs in order, they would need to make a stand against him, and not simply run away.
She arrives at the monument, and her eyes dart around to see anything off. At first, she doesn’t see anything, which worries her. Cheerilee is supposed to be here.
Then she sees the blood.
“He must be destroyed.” The voice repeats. “He threatens both you, and us.”
Tears sting her face.
“Nothing to say?” Discord asks gleefully.
“I can’t…” Quick Fix whispers.
“We can.” The voice states, growing stronger. Each word seems to echo through her whole being. “Embrace the powers of what lies beyond the Veil, beyond Derse, in the Furthest Ring.”
“Who are you talking to…?” Discord asks, the smile surely fading from his face.
“Who am I talking to…?” Quick Fix repeats, herself not knowing.
“I represent the Noble Circle of Horrorterrors. Our powers are feared by the kingdoms bathed in light, even the minimal light of Derse. Even the monster Discord fears us, though if he is allowed to continue, he will surely gain enough power to destroy us.”
“Oh no, are you talking to those bloated tentacle monsters in the Furthest Ring?!” Discord asked. Quick Fix could sense the genuine unease in his voice. “I command you to stop at once.”
“And with your power, I’ll be able to kill him?” Quick Fix asks. Her tears have turned to anger. There is no turning back, for Discord or for her. Her brother and love are both gone. As far as she’s concerned, there is one reason left for her to live: to make Discord stop living.
“With your God Tier abilities and our assistance, yes. He can be stopped.”
“You’re making a deal with them, aren’t you?! I can assure you it will be the last mistake you make!”
“Do it.” Quick Fix agrees, hefting her wrench. Immediately, a burning hot energy runs through her, while at the same time, her blood turns to ice. A dark smoke begins rising from her body.
Discord lunges at her with Leeroy’s sword, but Quick Fix blocks with her wrench almost faster than he can track. She looks into his eyes, and for once, sees genuine fear.
The dream goes dark.
Derpy
Doc awakens, his dream self in the new attire of a god. “Whew!” he exhales happily. “Glad that’s done. I feel stronger already.”
“Me too!” Derpy agrees. “Let’s see if everyone is ready to go. We need to get out of here.”
She opens the chat memo, but frowns when she sees several messages from Fancy Pants, and no one else.
GA: how’s progress?
GA: hello?
GA: cheerilee, i’m not even seeing you on the viewport for building.
GA: what the hell happened out there?!
cross-eyedAngel joined the chat at 9:38 A.M.
CA: FP, what’s happening?
GA: oh thank celestia.
GA: thought something terrible happened.
CA: i can’t speak for the other group, but me and doc are okay.
GA: that’s good.
GA: my preparations are complete, but i can’t get ahold of either of the other girls.
CA: that doesn’t sound good…
GA: sure doesn’t.
GA: i’ll keep trying. you two, get to the gate. i’ll be there soon, too.
GA: hopefully we’ll meet them there.
CA: alright. thanks fancy pants.
Derpy turns to Doc and explains the situation. He frowns, rubbing his chin. “I could zip around through time and see where they went, but it would be firing shots in the dark. I don’t know where I’d look…”
“We’ll see if we need to when we get there. For now, we need to move.” Doc nodded, and the two launch themselves away from Doc’s world, and the Incipisphere, for the last time.
Soon, the pair approaches a huge monument, suspended on a floating platform, just beyond the Veil. It is a large version of the original logo for the game: six green squares in formation, topped with a triangle to form the shape of a house. Fancy Pants is already sitting on the platform below, and waves as he sees them approach. However, when they land, they see his expression is too nervous to be happy.
“Hey. Cool outfits.” Fancy Pants comments.
“Thanks.” Doc responds. “No sign of the others?”
“Nothing.” he replies. “No sign of Discord either. I’m beginning to fear that they might be in a fight against him.”
“Should we get back out there and try to find them?” Derpy asks. “We’re not leaving without them.”
“Absolutely, we’re not leaving without them.” Fancy Pants agrees. “They shouldn’t be much longer, if they’re still on schedule. We give them ten more minutes. If they haven’t arrived by then, we’ll go find them.”
The pair nods, and the three sit in silence. Each minute crawls by, despair growing in their hearts.
In the ninth minute, a flash of green and yellow lighting gives them all start, and Discord appears before them. However, he is clearly frazzled, with an exposed health bar that has been depleted by one-third.
“Don’t suppose any of you plan on bartering with those lunatics out beyond this gate?”
“What are you talking about, you bastard?!” Fancy Pants shouts.
“Goodness gracious, you ponies are rude.” Discord replies. “Your mechanic friend isn’t in her right mind anymore. Got herself a deal with the Horrorterrors, and now she’s a vessel for their rage. I’ve been fighting her for the past twenty minutes! It took me ten seconds to kill her brother and girlfriend! Combined!”
“You KILLED them?!” Derpy exclaims. She can hardly believe it. Another friend gone, and yet another apparently insane. “I… I can’t even think of a word for what a horrible monster you are!”
“Don’t even think you’re getting through this door.” Doc warns him. “You have no place in our new world.”
“I’d like to see you try and stop me.” Discord says. He shifts Leeroy’s sword in his grip. “One of you, open the door. Now.”
None of the three move. Discord snarls, but just as he begins to move, a metal object collides with the top of his head, giving off a painful yet comical noise. He practically screams in anger and punches Quick Fix back, but she retains her balance. Her eyes glow white as fire, her coat darkened and fuming with a menacing black smoke.
“You cannot escape, hanger-on.” she says in a highly distorted voice. “You’ve cheated death too many times. You should have died when Celestia dealt with you. You’ll die now.”
“Quick Fix!” Fancy Pants shouts. “Get ahold of yourself! It’s time to leave!”
“It is.” she agrees. “Go. This monster will follow you if allowed to live. He is resourceful if nothing else, he will find a way. But not if he is a corpse.”
“We’re not leaving without you!” he insists.
Quick Fix doesn’t answer, but launches herself at Discord again. He blocks with a flurry of parries, but it seems he’s legitimately struggling.
The three ponies watch as Quick Fix and Discord continue their duel, not wanting to leave, but unable to help. Quick Fix takes a few hits, but she deals just as many to the monster. However, just as hope flares in their hearts, hope that Discord may well be stopped here, the demon readies what seems to be a very powerful attack, and spins forward at Quick Fix.
She is fast, but not fast enough to block completely. She is knocked back several feet in the air, then launched upward for a series of direct strikes, before being slammed back downward. Her HP drops significantly. Discord floats back down to her level, a half grin, half grimace on his face.
He opens his mouth to speak, but a blade slides in quickly around his throat.
“I’ll be having my sword back, asshat.” Leeroy growls, surprisingly clear for the handle of the aero blade in his mouth. He still wears his Derse robes, the only one of the now five ponies gathered who has not reached God Tier. However, this clearly does not daunt him.
Discord grabs him by the scruff and launches him at Quick Fix, but he catches himself quickly and hovers beside her. He does not have the flight abilities of the others in his current state, but he has enough to be able to keep himself in the air. His wings seem to work again, and Derpy guesses it is a result of Discord’s influence on the game being slackened.
“Leeroy!” Fancy Pants shouts. “You’re alive! We thought he killed you!”
“He did.” Leeroy replies. “But he probably should have destroyed Derse, too, if he didn’t want to deal with me again.”
“Enough!” Discord shouts. He readies the Blade of Blood and charges, but Leeroy and Quick Fix are both ready. They dodge out of the way deftly, and yet another unfamiliar element enters the field: a blue laser that lands squarely in Discord’s back.
DALEK-9: EX
DALEK-9: TER
DALEK-9: MI
DALEK-9: NATE
DISCORD: GIVE IT A REST ALREADY, YOU WALKING SCRAP HEAP!
DALEK-9: DIE, ABOMINATION
MOMSPRITE: You’ll not lay one more finger on them!
DERPY: mom!
RATCHETSPRITE: Good, you saved something for me. Clank, you got the guns ready?
CLANK: Affirmative. Target is locked.
HEAVYSPARTANGUY: Awaiting orders, captain!
FANCY PANTS: hell, heavy! didn’t think you’d make it to this one!
FANCY PANTS: i want you to run defense. give leeroy and quick fix covering fire!
HEAVYSPARTANGUY: Da! I will protect team from itsy bitsy baby man.
DISCORD: You wound me.
DISCORD: You realize I killed the other two sprites already, don’t you?
DISCORD: You’re an early-game construct! You couldn’t last five minutes against the final boss, let alone me!
DERPY: he might be right. mom, come with us! it’s safe on the other side!
MOMSPRITE: I know it is, sweetie.
MOMSPRITE: But I’m afraid this is the end of the line for us sprites.
MOMSPRITE: We’re part of the game, and I’m sad to say we can’t go through that door.
MOMSPRITE: So the best thing we can do is buy you all some extra time to leave.
DERPY: so… this is goodbye…?
MOMSPRITE: I’m afraid so. I wish I had more time to make it more meaningful.
MOMSPRITE: But you have to go, now. I’m so proud of you Derpy, more than you’ll ever know.
MOMSPRITE: You’ll make a wonderful leader of your people.
DERPY: … thank you, mom. for everything.
FANCY PANTS: leeroy, get your ass down here! We already lost you once!
LEEROY: Not yet. Someone’s gotta drag Quick Fix through when it’s all over. And she’s too pumped full of Horrorterror to let me drag her through now.
LEEROY: Get through that door, quick! We’ll hold him off, and be right behind you!
DOC: We need to move, NOW. Skaia won’t last much longer!
FANCY PANTS: i’d better see you soon, bro. bring yourself and your sis back safe.
LEEROY: You got it. Now MOVE!
DISCORD: I WILL NOT BE BELITTLED LIKE THIS!
DISCORD: OPEN THE DOOR!
QUICK FIX: Silence, aberrant.
Doc shoves his weight against the great door, and it creaks open. A bright light shines forth for a moment, and a massive light from the center of the Incipisphere shines to meet it. Two others shine from elsewhere in the Incipisphere, the unused Quest Beds Fancy Pants had brought with them. Soon, Skaia has vanished from view, and the light has dimmed. Derpy knows that it is within the new universe now, safe, and completing it. Doc motions for the others to get through, but they both hesitate, viewing the battle unfolding above. Discord is desperately trying to get to them, but all their friends are making it impossible. His HP is dropping at a slow but noticeable rate.
Fancy Pants grins, fires several rounds of his plasma rifle at Discord for good measure, and leaps through the door. Derpy nods and moves forward as well, hovering on the other side with Doc and Fancy Pants. On the other side is space as Derpy remembered it: beautiful stars and colors strewn across the sky. Somewhere out there was the world they would call home.
“They’ll be able to open the door again from the other side.” Doc explained. “When it’s safe for them, they will join us. But when we close it, it can’t be opened from this side. We close this, and we seal Discord from our world for good.”
Derpy and Fancy Pants nod in agreement, and the three all grab hold of the door and pull with all their might.
The door closes slowly, silently, but clicks shut with a mighty boom, almost sounding like a gunshot. But it was not the sound of a weapon of destruction. It was the sound of a conclusion, of peace.
The three turn around to view the new cosmos. All of the stars and objects in this space are new.
“Let’s go find our new home.” Fancy Pants says, suddenly sounding appropriately exhausted. “And make it nice and cozy for when the others find us.”