Fifty-seven
“Quite the group you’ve found.” Fancy Pants says, after being given a brief introduction to the humans and trolls aboard the ship. “Nice enough though, and great fighters.”
“Yeah…” Derpy agrees. “Plus they know where they’re going. I’m not sure what we’re going to do when we have to leave the Green Sun… Hopefully Doc joins us by then, because I don’t have any idea how to fly the TARDIS.”
Fancy Pants nods. “I could always try, but it looks way more advanced than anything I’ve ever attempted.”
“Heads up lads and lasses!” Jake shouts, telescope in hand. “We’ve got another vessel off the port side! Couldn’t say what build she is.”
“Stay our current course.” Terezi responds. “When we draw nearer to the vessel, we’ll adjust course to fly alongside them.”
“Aye, captain!” Jake responds. There is no real need for the two to act as though they are traditional sailors, but they are clearly enjoying themselves in doing it.
“You got it.” Karkat confirms at the helm, not caring to play along. Sollux stands by the railing behind him, equally as noncommittal. His attire is simple: a black shirt and grey pants, and mismatched shoes, one white and one black. A black shirt seems to be nearly a uniform for the trolls, as- aside from Aradia and her Hero of Time ensemble- all the trolls wear one, the only difference being the symbol on the front, all alien to Derpy. Sollux also wears a violet cloth over his eyes, an accessory he can afford to wear due to his already being blind.
Derpy and Fancy Pants move to the left side of the deck, soon joined by others, to view the approach of the other vessel. They can’t see it at first without the spyglass, but after a few minutes, the ship comes into view. Its design is more rudimentary than the Prospitan vessel, seeming to be made up of magically-bound stone and steel, creating a look of a mobile fortress. However, while comprised of common materials, it is crafted with a careful and exacting hand. The bridge at the back of the vessel and balconies along the sides are carved to resemble castle turrets, and at the front is a beautiful statue of a maiden with a harp. On the side of the ship is not a name, but a symbol of three triangles, joining together to form a larger one, a gap in the center. Instead of an artificial atmosphere, like the Prospitan vessel has, it seems to use a magical one.
A boy stands on the ship’s deck, seemingly human save his long, pointy ears, bright blue eyes framed by his sandy blond hair. His outfit attests to his origin from a foreign land: simple but strangely designed white shirt and pants, ending in leather boots and gauntlets, covered at the chest first by a chainmail shirt, then a green tunic. A sheathed but clearly well-crafted sword and shield are strapped to his back.
He doesn’t say a word, but seems to be reading the situation and observing the Prospitan vessel, deciding what to make of the three different species’ aboard and watching back. Derpy catches a glimpse of black smoke from one of the doorways of the other ship, and a few moments after it has faded, she hears an unfamiliar voice behind her: “Hello, neighbors. Hope you enjoyed your trip as much as we did.”
Derpy turns to see another man standing on deck. He has the same pointy ears as the boy on the opposite deck, and wears almost the same white shirt and pants, but that is where the similarities end. His hair is a spiky black mess, his eyes nearly as dark. He wears a collared jacket that covers his arms, but ends at his midriff, leaving quite visible a wide belt supporting sheathes for a heavy dagger and mighty broadsword. His boots are of lighter colored leather than the other boys’.
“Who’re you?!” Dirk demands, sword drawn. “How’d you get on our ship?!”
The man raises his hands in defense, but an extremely amused and relaxed expression is on his face, even as he eyes the sword pointed at him. “Worry not, I am your friend. I thought I’d pop over from the Airship Termina and say hello. After all, we’re going to be doing some strategizing at the Green Sun soon, we’ll need to get along. Lower that sword, yes, that’s better.”
He nods happily as Dirk lowers his weapon, then turns to the whole gathering on the deck and gives a curtsey. “Xekora, Prince of Void, at your service. My friend and ally Hylia, her pet mortal over there, Link, and I hail from the land of Hyrule. I’ll give you two guesses which one of us our planet was named after.”
“Alright.” Fancy Pants says, joining the conversation. “It’s good to have you and your crew with us. But I’m still curious, how’d you get over here? I didn’t see you attach any portals; that’s how I’d do it.”
Xekora looks at Fancy Pants for a moment, then takes a closer look at the whole crew. “You’ve got quite the assortment here, haven’t you? Three different species? Quite the story there, I’m sure. Anyway, I’m not sure of the realness attributes of magic on your worlds, but on Hyrule, it is quite real, and I’m what you might call an expert on the subject of dark magic. One of the nice perks of that is instantaneous transportation, at least to areas not protected against it. Although I have to say, portal technology is quite fun, and the next best thing when teleportation isn’t available.”
“So, did Discord hit your world too?” John asks.
Xekora nods. “We’ve had large-scale threats before, from both outside and within, but never anything on this scale. Usually a chosen hero could handle it. Sometimes Hylia or I would need to intervene. But both of us fighting at our peak strength weren’t enough to hold him back completely. Were it not for the intervention of that Ciella lass… Well, we’re lucky Hyrule is still in as good shape as it is.”
Derpy frowns slightly. This Xekora person sure likes to ramble. Still, he seems nice enough. “That’s good. The humans’ world is okay, too. Our world though… Discord really did his worst to us.”
Xekora frowns, seeming concerned. “Will it be alright? Worlds can be healed of damage, to a reasonable extent.”
Derpy shrugs helplessly. “It’s not looking good. I just hope we find a solution here.”
Xekora nods in understanding. “I hope so as well. No world deserves the fate this demon has dealt.”
Xekora soon makes his way back to his own vessel, but the two ships stay side-by-side as they approach the Green Sun. It isn’t long before everyone can see it looming on the horizon, a great ball of green fire glowing brightly in the empty space. Before they reach the meeting place, however, Jade calls everyone to attention.
“I’m afraid I won’t be able to go with you any closer. I’m less First Guardian than Discord was, which let me get this close, but I’m nearly at my limit. I’ll have to wait for you here.”
“Figured that would happen.” Karkat says. “I’ve already rigged up one of the lifeboats on this thing, should be good to last for days if necessary.”
“Karkat, you know I can fly, right?” Jade says, confused.
Karkat nods. “Yeah, but I can’t.”
Jade shakes her head. “You don’t have to do that for me.”
“I’m aware. But odds are I wouldn’t be able to contribute anything up there anyway, so I’m going to hang back and keep you company.”
The two soon climb aboard the lifeboat and depart, while the others finish their trip to the meeting place. There are three other groups already there, all with different sorts of vessels. Ciella was not yet among them. More teams gradually begin to arrive, all awaiting the one who had gathered them.
Fancy Pants taps Derpy’s shoulder urgently. “Derpy, Derpy look! Over there!”
Derpy looks to where he is pointing and squints. A team of four has just arrived, and while it takes Derpy a moment to place it, there is something familiar about them. “Wait, are those… Are those ponies?”
The two wait for a moment, then nod to each other and rush towards the new group. Derpy tells John that they will return in just a moment as they leave.
“Hey, you guys!” Fancy Pants yells in an attempt to draw the other team’s attention. “Ponies!”
Sure enough, they react to this call, and as Derpy and Fancy Pants approach, Derpy can see that they were once residents of Equestria, just as they were.
“Sweet Celestia…” one of the stallions says as the two approach. “I can’t believe it, somepony else survived!”
There are two stallions and two mares in the other party. Derpy doesn’t recognize any of them by face, but just being ponies gives them a feeling of familiarity.
“We thought we were the only ones for the longest time.” Fancy Pants says. “It’s great to see we were wrong. But if you’re here… Discord got to you, too?”
“Yeah. He really wanted us dead, but it also seemed like we weren’t his main target. Was that the thing Princess Celestia warned us against right as we were leaving?”
Derpy nods. “He looked different back then, but it’s him alright. He smuggled himself through our session, tried to set himself on the throne of our new world. We didn’t let him. He decided if he couldn’t have it, nobody would, and just started destroying everything.”
The stallion shakes his head sadly. “Sometimes makes you forget that this all started from a simple video game. How’d it go from that to running and fighting for our lives?”
“I wish I knew…” Derpy sighs. “But, nothing we can do but look forward, right? So, you’ve got four ponies in your group?”
“Five.” one of the mares says. Derpy hadn’t gotten a good look at her yet, as her back was turned while she was preoccupied with something. “We had eight in our party, and lost four during our session… But as you said, we have to look forward, right?” She turns around, and Derpy can now see a small foal in her arms, no more than a year old. The stallion who had been previously talking wears an incredibly proud expression on his face.
“Awwww!” Derpy exclaims. “She’s so cute!”
“She sure is.” the stallion says wistfully. “We had her just last year. The first pony to grow up away from Equestria… But we’re going to make sure the world she grows up in is just as good as the one we grew up in.”
“So, does this make seven ponies that survived now?” the mother asks.
“Eight.” Derpy replies. “Three of us survived our session. We got separated on the way here, and we’re still not sure where Doc is… But he’s alive. I’m sure of it.”
“Eight out of eight million or so? Sounds like a solid start to me.” the stallion jokes. Still, Derpy does have a feeling of confidence. The pony race is on its last legs, but this foal proves that it can and will persist. The bloodline of Equestria will continue, even through something like this.
“Attention, please.” a familiar voice calls across the space where the heroes are gathered. Derpy turns to see Ciella floating nearby, her First Guardian companion by her side. “The sixteen parties that have been affected by the rampage of Discord are gathered here, and it is time we discuss how best to compensate and recover from the damages.”
Immediately, several heroes attempt to talk at once, each with an idea to put forward. They are swiftly silenced, then called upon one after another. Derpy listens to each, finding some to be quite reasonable, some to be awful ideas. At last, however, a coherent plan begins to emerge: moving parts of the damaged and broken planets, along with as many people as possible, to planets that could take them. As it happened, several of the planets were largely water-based, with only one major continent, and could potentially shelter the refugees from the worlds that could not continue past the damage Discord had dealt.
Next comes the task of deciding groups, which lands would become tied to which. It is easier for teams that still had a Hero of Space which, along with Time, was a mandatory class for all sessions. Each session would have one of each, but there was no guarantee that they would be able to stay alive, and in many cases, they did not. Those sessions that did not have a surviving Hero of Space have to wait to have their lands appraised by that of another session.
Xekora’s land of Hyrule is one of the worlds that is largely aquatic, though apparently, this was not always the case. However, the fact remained that it could and would house refugees. Another, under the domain of the sole survivor of the session, Ashunera, was in much the same position; a world that had once been full of life, now flooded in all but one major continent. Upon hearing the name of this land, Derpy and Fancy Pants knew that it was the one they had to join: Tellius. They recall quite clearly the cryptic message the Draconian Dignitary had given them, that they had friends in Tellius. What the connection was is still unknown to them, but they know that it is a connection they must pursue.
One other world would be joining them, led by its sole survivor, a being called Eryngi. He is an odd one- appears by all accounts to be a walking mushroom with large eyebrows- but is a potent Thief of Time. His world is among the most badly damaged in the group, and instead of bringing a large piece of his land as a continent on the new world, he would have to bring in a series of islands, as all the land had already been fractured.
“When we’re ready, we’re going to have to make a run for it.” Eryngi states. “Discord will be on us in a second, but if we all make a mad dash out of here, we might just confuse him long enough to escape.”
“I agree, outrunning him seems like our best option.” Ashunera adds. She appears human, with a beautiful blue dress and hair as rosy as sunrise. “I fancy myself skilled at my role as Maid of Space; I can likely give us the initial burst of momentum we’ll need to outpace the demon.”
“You’ll need a bit more insurance than that.” someone says. Derpy and Fancy Pants turn to see Dirk floating behind them, a supply bag slung over his shoulder. “If he pursues you in particular, like he has been, four heroes is not going to be enough to stop him, no matter how good you all are. I’m going with you.”
“Dirk, I- I can’t ask you to do that!” Derpy protests.
“You don’t have to. And you can go ahead and not ask me to change my mind, either. It’s already decided, I’ve made my peace, said my goodbyes. It’s already been emotional enough. I’ve got my bro’s Time Tables; his mode of time travel, but he can do it without them. But I know how to use them too, and you’re going to need that.”
“Going to have to agree with shades on this one.” Xekora states, appearing behind Dirk. “It’s you that Discord wants to finish off. And I’ve got my swords, a particularly potent mortal in stasis, and as many Hylian artifacts as I can carry to help keep him off of you. It’s time for Hyrule to gain peace from my insanity. Your people are stuck with me now.”
“I would not ask you both to leave your own worlds for ours.” Ashunera asserts.
“And as this lad said, you don’t have to ask. If Discord isn’t stopped, then we’ll all be dead anyway. We must do anything we can. Our worlds will be defended enough without us two, and your world might stand a chance with us.”
“What about Doc…?” Derpy whispers, only loud enough for Fancy Pants to hear.
He doesn’t answer right away. “We can’t wait here forever.” he answers at last. “Doc’s clever, he’ll be able to find where we went. Besides, if he were here right now, you know what he’d say. The safety of our people comes first.”
Derpy nods sadly. She doesn’t like it, but knows that Fancy Pants is right.
“The hell is that noise?” Derpy hears Sollux shout from a short distance away. Her ears perk up, and sure enough, she begins to hear an odd noise as well, a sort of hiss and electric crackle in the air.
An explosion sounds in the direction of the Green Sun itself, deafeningly loud. A chillingly familiar laugh follows. “Probably shouldn’t have done that, eh?” Discord chimes, though Derpy can’t pinpoint his location. “I wonder what will happen if I keep doing it?”
“The Green Sun is becoming severely damaged!” Ciella shouts. “Run for your new lands, now! I will hold him off as long as I can.”
Ships launch from the meeting place, speeding away from the danger that lurks behind. The TARDIS, Falchion and Prism sail in unison, bound for Ashunera’s world of Tellius, remains of Ivoire and New Equestria behind them. Fancy Pants sits at the edge of the Prism, rifle at the ready. Derpy stands behind him, and the TARDIS on the deck behind them both.
“He’ll be coming.” Fancy Pants states. “He’s breaking the Green Sun, and that’s where the First Guardians get their power. But Discord’s got more in him than that, while Ciella’s partner doesn’t. She won’t last long against him in that state. But Discord’s made another stupid mistake in his drive for sheer chaos. If the Green Sun goes down, he’ll be a lot weaker. Killable.”
“You think you can do it?” Derpy asks.
“I think someone can. And I know I’m sure as hell going to try. When he catches up with us, we’re going to continue our previous duel, and I’ll make sure he knows just what he’s messing with.”
“I doubt we’ll have long to wait,” Dirk adds, “Unless his speed is a First Guardian ability that would be lost along with the Green Sun. He’s never had any problem catching up before now.”
Derpy settles uneasily by the deck of the ship, waiting for the inevitable attack.