CHOOSE YOUR CHARACTER!
CHRYSALIS, THE DRAGON SLAYER
Full Name: Chrysalis Elizabeth Auroth
Blood Type: O. Also green.
Sex: With her? Yes, please. I'm kidding. Female.
Race: Dragon.
Age: ???? (Don't ask her)
Occupation: Commander of the Red Flight, Student, Consumer, Consumer of Students
Hobbies: Collecting shiny objects, physically abusing Sombra
Notable Titles or Nicknames: Celestia's Black Wing
Equipment Slots and Starting Equipment
Head: Celestial Helm (Common) +10 Health
Body: Celestial Cuirass (Common) +40 Health
Limbs: Celestial Greaves (Common) +10 Health
Wings: Celestial Chains (Common) +5 Health
Weapon: None
Accessory: Black Cloak (Common) If OverLink 2, Deals 40 extra damage to opponent
SKILLS
Starting Health: 200
LEVEL 1
Miss
LEVEL 2
Viridian Flame: Spewing a green gout of caustic flame, Chrysalis sears the very muscle of her enemies away with her abysmal case of bad breath. Deals 60 damage to the opponent of your choice. Their next attack will do 20 less damage due to their injuries.
None
LEVEL 3
Hack and Slash: Chrysalis uses her iron-hard claws to rip deep into her prey, dealing 90 damage and Stunning the opponent. When an opponent is Stunned, pick a number apart from 1. If you roll that number on an opponent's roll, that opponent loses a turn and cannot act. They do not get the half-damage buff from Missing.
None
LEVEL 4
None
None
LEVEL 5
None
None
LEVEL 6
None
None
OVERLINKS
LINK 1 - VORTEX OF WAR: Chrysalis slashes an opponent with a blinding display of aerial acrobatics. Roll a die, and this attack does that much damage times 100.
LINK 2 - NOIRSTORM: Chrysalis blasts forth a devastating beam of primal Dragon energy from deep within her maw, incinerating flesh and warping bone. Deals 150 damage to a number of enemies determined by rolling a die, dividing by two, then rounding up.
LINK 3 - SAVAGERY: Chrysalis's bloodlust causes her to delight in the prospect of battle, enabling her to absorb back damage as health she deals on her next hit.
LINK 4 - NONE
LINK 5 - NONE
LINK 6 - NONE
SOMBRA, THE MAD KNIGHT
Full Name: Sombra Kries Argent
Blood Type: B+
Sex: Male
Race: Unicorn
Age: 27
Occupation: "Grand High Wizard of the Blow-Uppy Squad of Doom" (Commander, The Hornbreaker Battlemage Unit), Student
Hobbies: Playing chess, cheating at chess, spending time with Chrysalis and the Princesses
Notable Titles or Nicknames: Celestia's Black Blade, Various Humiliating Nicknames by Chrysalis
Equipment Slots and Starting Equipment
Head: Black Knight's Helm (Common) +10 Health
Body: Black Knight's Cuirass (Common) +50 Health
Limbs: Black Knight's Horseshoes (Common) +10 Health
Horn: Black Knight's Ring (Common) +10 Skill Damage
Weapon: Ebony Shockblade (Common) +15 Skill Damage
Accessory: Black Cloak (Common) If OverLink 1, Deals 40 extra damage to opponent
SKILLS
Starting Health: 180
LEVEL 1
Miss
LEVEL 2
Arcane Blade: Sombra magically augments his blade and chops down with his weapon coated in a mysterious, rippling energy. Deals 40 damage, and 30 extra damage for every 100 Health the opponent is missing.
None
LEVEL 3
Edge of Madness: Sombra quietens his soul and forces the pain his wounds cause him to seep into his weapon, greatly enhancing his attack power. This attack deals 30 plus 100 damage for every quarter of Sombra's health missing.
None
LEVEL 4
None
None
LEVEL 5
None
None
LEVEL 6
None
None
OVERLINKS
LINK 1- CHAINS OF PROMETHEUS: Sombra summons forth a maelstrom of spiked, cursed chains that ensnare the enemy. The enemy takes 20 damage for two turns and loses those two turns.
LINK 2 - PENUMBRAL STEELGRIP: Sombra traps an enemy in a rapidly shrinking ball of metallic magic, crushing them. Choose a number, and roll a die. If you roll a die with the number that you chose, the enemy is instantly defeated. Otherwise, the enemy takes damage equal to a quarter of Sombra's remaining Health.
LINK 3 - DECAPITATION: Sombra focuses, and allows his weapon to momentarily take on the physical properties of Abaddon, the forbidden scythe of the Pale Pony. Permanently increases all damage Sombra deals by 100 every time an enemy is killed after Sombra activates this OverLink. Bonus damage vanishes after the battle is concluded.
LINK 4 - NONE
LINK 5 - NONE
LINK 6 - NONE
TUTORIAL LEVEL: VIOLENCE, NUDITY AND AWESOME WEAPONIZED QUILLS
The monarch staggered back, tottering and falling flat on his own misshapen behind. Color drained from his hard-lined features, and for one of the few times in his long life, he visibly quailed, his pupils retracting alarmingly as spittle frothed at the edges of his bristly beak. It was laughable, really, how the mighty had fallen. How this contemptuous king had greeted him high upon his throne, wholly expecting his assailant's arrival. How he had smugly sat, ensconced by his troops, glutted upon the sins of complacency and loathsome self-indulgence that had only been fueled by years of successful conquests and bountiful summers laden with produce, of economical success and political placidity.
In the last eight hours, all that had changed.
His troops lay dead about him, slain in a final act of futility. His throne smoldered still, and the embers of the black fire merrily ate away at the singed velvet and the down stuffing, blissfully oblivious to the power vacuum that was about to break free into this existence. His soldiers were decimated, his left arm...
Severed.
He yowled in agony like a petulant child, clutching the stump of his torn appendage. He doubled over in pain, snot and tears unceremoniously marring his face in brutal parody of the many gaudy and egotistical portraits of his that hung around the throne room.
How did he...when did he...?
The assassin levitated the limb in front of his face, eyeing it curiously and innocently as would an infant gaze upon its mother. He cocked his head to the side, and beneath his mask, a mouth twitched. In a shower of gore, the arm stripped itself of flesh and the creamy bone disintegrated into dust, leaving behind the thick gold band that the former king had worn on his ring finger.
He casually pocketed the trinket, his single visible eye glowing a bright crimson in the syrupy light of the setting sun. Meticulously, he produced a roll of parchment and a quill from the inside of his robes, and dipping the quill in a puddle of the king's own blood, he shoved it towards the still writhing griffon. His voice was hilariously deadpan, tired and wheedly, like he had been through this too many times.
"Sign this, please."
The words on the paper were clouded by King Kragoff's own faded vision, dots swam and went before his dangerously veined hazel eyes. Still, he was a proud king, and if the Protectorate was to fall, he would fall with it, honorably and with whatever shards of his scattered dignity remained. He looked up at his would-be killer, his own frame hunched and pitiable, while the warrior stood upright and strong, his single crimson eye a glassy wall between the world and unintelligible hidden depths. He summoned enough strength and courage to spit a gob of congealed blood at the unicorn's feet.
"Over my flocking dead bo-"
Kragoff had barely finished his poorly-chosen sentence before he heard the sound of his own neck snapping.
A small blossoming of blood had spattered across the pony's armored breastplate, he grimaced and wiped it off, before noticing how horribly gore-smeared the rest of his armor was. It was going to be a pain getting all that blood off. He so hated the sight of his precious armor being soiled. The battle was won, the fight was over. Like a snake gracefully molting, Lightning Dawn began to shed his outer armor, revealing a strong, well-muscled frame, a head crowned with a luxuriant, smartly coiffed mane...
And a crossbow bolt embedded itself in his neck with a sickly thud.
Faster than he could react, three more found their mark in his flank, back and finally the last, expertly aimed one split his horn in two, firmly burying itself in his skull.
Two shadowy figures leapt down from the rafters, throwing back their dark hooded robes to reveal triumphant smiles. A pony and a young wyrm, the former of which wasted no time in looting the warrior's corpse for the ring. The dragon stared at her partner questionably, retrieving the scroll, the contents of which the dead pony had tried to make the recently deceased king acquiesce to. She cleared her throat and read it aloud.
"By command of the High Ruler, Lord and Emperor of the Crystal Empire, Bane of the Sun and Moon, Hatred Incarnate, Subjugator of the Potato-Folk..."
The pony groaned theatrically.
"Chryssie, be a dear and skip the jackhole's ego-fest, get to the meat of the matter."
Chrysalis glanced at the bloodied and mutilated corpses of the previous two occupants of the Throne Room.
"Pun intended?"
The unicorn grinned, the fading sunlight catching his smile in a mad radiance.
"Not at all."
The dragon resumed her dictation.
"As decreed by our High Ruler, Lord and Emperor of the Crystal Empire, Bane of...I'm just going to skip that every time...Well, what it says in general is that Discord intended to make the Protectorate his personal weapons depot, what with all this Griffon technology lying around. Long story short, he needed the King's signature to authorize a proper abdication, but it seems like our assassin friend here may have gotten a little carried away with carrying out this particular...diplomatic endeavor." She nodded her head towards the fallen unicorn. He really did have quite a nice mane. "Fat chance of that happening now that he's dead. Our reinforcements should be arriving shortly to take care of the stragglers in both Discord's and Kragoff's armies for us. Ornith Keep is as good as ours."
"Also, blueprints." Chrysalis offered her friend a look, but he sighed and pushed the papers away.
The pony who had fired the crossbow sat on his haunches, rubbing his sore thighs while levitating the King's ring in front of him idly.
"So what now, Scales? Do we report to Bosslestia right away, or do you want to grab a drink first? My heart says Princess but my throat says whiskey."
"Isn't that what your heart and throat always says?"
"Nah, sometimes it's the other way around," Sombra winked lewdly. Chrysalis smiled wearily, despite the fact that her back was killing her. They had spent hours perched up in their roost trapped in awkward positions, high above the resulting carnage, watching the drama unfold and waiting for the opportune moment to strike. It didn't help that she had to stop and keep her partner from falling off the thin wooden beam every fifteen seconds. But still, it was over. They had the intelligence that they had sought to garner, and they had gathered a few shiny things to offer as tribute as well. She felt her dragon urges to hoard treasure compel her towards the fallen figure of King Kragoff the Third, still bedecked in jewelry and regalia, to loot, to steal, to pillage, but she temporarily quelled them by settling for a small bracelet that the king had worn on his gnarled wrist. She dislodged it, licked it clean and happily slid it onto her tail. That would have to do as tribute, lest her habits got the better of her again. She turned to her colleague, beaming, her vitality renewed.
"I suppose the Princess can afford to wait for a while."
The pony's grin only widened at that sentiment. He extended a hoof in mock chivalry, putting on a deep, Hoofington accent to boot.
"Shall we, my good lady?"
"We shall."
They strode from the wrecked remains of a great civilization come to an end, an Armageddon for that unfortunate race. A culture lost, a people scattered. They strode through the battlefield, the sky alight and awash with the impending twilight, ignoring the cries of the griffon survivors for their kin, their lost home and their wish for their loss of the Battle for Ornith Keep to be another nightmare that would be stolen away by the oncoming dawn.
~~~~
Canterlot Castle, Throne Room
"Your Radiance. Messages from Ornith Keep."
The courier found it incredibly difficult to retain his composure in the direct presence of the warrior Princess. The alicorn mare sat upon her golden throne, clad in her full suit of spiked battle armor sans her helmet, which lay at her side like some beheaded golem. Her hind legs were still daintily crossed as a Princess would, but to call her so would be the epitome of folly. Luscious pink hair hung far past her back and pooled at her hooves, braided with golden chains while her magenta gaze remained steely and cold as the scythe that she straddled in her lap like some morbid lover. She nodded, an indicator for the spindly stallion to relay his message. He stepped forwards, and deposited several scrolls into the Princess's hooves, quickly stepping back, as though for fear of being burned by her fiery aura.
Sending away the courier with a second curt nod, Celestia incinerated the wax seal of the parchment with a thought, and read the contents to herself.
"Dear Princess Celestia. The mission you sent us on today was a huge success. Enclosed within this scroll are the Griffon documents that you instructed Sombra and I to procure. I believe you will find these both intriguing and informative. For your reading comfort, I've taken the liberty of omitting and abbreviating the Discord's rather overcompensative title simply to 'King Jackhole'. I hope with all my heart that this amusing editorial quirk will both bring a smile to your face and also relieve you of some of the stress this entire Crystal Empire business must have placed upon your venerable shoulders. Sombra and I also offer these trifling offerings to you as tribute. I hope you like them, your Highness. Your Loyal Wings and eye in the sky, Chrysalis. Sun Bless." In the corner of the note, the words 'ASS-KISSER' were messily (And rather hypocritically) scrawled in Sombra's trademark turquoise Ink Spell.
"Dear Princess Celestia. Today I've learned a valuable lesson, and that's never to balance on two hooves while perching on a thin wooden beam. It appears that the circus ponies have yet again been lying to me. Your Faithful And Ever So Loving Student, Sombra. P.S: Here's some shiny stuff. I know you like it shiny, so here you go. Just doing my part for the best and most beautiful Princess in the world. P.P.S: Sun Bless." A golden ring and a silver bangle slid out from between the sheets of paper, and Celestia lovingly put them on, threading the ring through her mane and the bangle on her hoof, both sets of jewelry looking very much at home, merrily sparkling away.
Celestia set the letters aside, and looked over the blueprints. Siege engines and torture devices dominated the majority of the schematics, however, one of them bothered her immensely. The crystogram, another ingenious Griffon creation at her side bleeped alarmingly, and she tapped it hurriedly with one metal-clad hoof, drinking in the contents of the plans before her in barely controlled disbelief. The withered shape of the Prime Minister, Velvet Diplomacy came into view.
"Sun Bless. My liege. There has been...an incident in downtown Canterlot." His words were cautiously chosen, lest he anger the pony infamous for having the most explosive temper in the entire Equestrian Principality.
Celestia gritted her teeth.
"Kill them."
"But my liege, I haven't even-"
"It's about the Griffon insurgents, is that right? They're revolting, as news of their King's death reaches their ears."
Velvet pursed her aged lips in distress. The Princess was as blunt as she always was.
"Shall I...?"
"Kill them? Yes. If need be, send me another message, and I'll call down a strike on them. However I am very sure none of my soldiers are that incompetent as to require my direct assistance. Also, send Triple Barrel to the Throne Room. Your Princess requires his presence."
Velvet readily absorbed and processed this barrage of orders, as she always did.
"At once, your Radiance. Sun Bless."
Celestia turned off the crystogram and got off her throne, her armor clanking with her as she strode briskly to her balcony window. From that vantage point, she could see the entire world. Her entire world. Her utopia, where her little ponies could live in peace and harmony, going about their cruelly short mortal lives like candles in a threatening breeze. If she could stop time and allow this pristine, peaceful state to carry on for eternity, she would. She would quell that breeze if she could, allow her little ponies to burn bright well beyond their time. To live forever. To stay forever, with her-
The doors creaked open, and Triple Barrel poked his head in. The portly pony knelt before his Princess, and kissed the extended iron-clad hoof. Celestia's voice was volatile with repressed anger at the massacre happening downtown.
"That was rather fast. Where were you?"
"Sun...B...bless. Outside in the hallway, Your Radiance. I caught word that you may have received Griffon documents, and I could not resist the chance to analyse them." He panted, obviously having rushed to the Throne Room in a hurry.
In an aura of yellow magic, Celestia blinked the scrolls into Barrel's excitable hooves.
He levitated the papers about his head, his eyes widened at some and others just made him wince. His wings, surprisingly small for his large stature, fluttered about excitedly. Celestia plucked the one particular blueprint out of the whirlwind of paper, and showed it to Barrel. His eyes bulged at the design, and the other papers fell at his feet, the old pony too startled to keep up his magic aura of telekinesis.
"This...This thing..."
"I want you to make me all of these war machines. Mass produce them. But this one, you make only four, do you understand? This one, you personally make, two for myself, and one each for my two students. I trust you completely, Professor Barrel, but if I find any extra copies of this particular construct lying around, or if I catch gossip of ponies talking about this, Vanishing Star and I are going to have a regrettably indulgent field day with your head, do you understand?"
Barrel gulped and glanced worriedly at the folding scythe that laid deceptively innocuously against the side of the Radiant Throne.
"Y...yes, your Radiance."
Celestia smiled, a beautiful yet terrible sight.
"I only jest, my little pony. Now hurry on to your mechanics, I believe they'll be overjoyed with these."
Barrel nodded, and omitting the traditional Royal Farewell, he hurried out the door, which slammed shut behind him.
The guards glowered at him as he he sped down the cobblestone pavilions, scrolls grasped rigidly in his telekinetic grip. Nervous perspiration beaded his creased forehead, his heart raced from both the exertion of running and the pulsing anticipation that flowed through his veins. Already forming plans in his head, of which metals to weld, which solvents to mix, his newly acquired treasures a veritable wonderland of mechanical possibilities and innovation. Unceremoniously, with a swift buck, he threw the worn oaken doors to his personal workshop open, promptly hitting one of his assistants in the face.
Without wasting a second, he began laying out the plans, twisting dials and adjusting knobs, while vigorously drinking from a flagon of ale that had been left out on the counter. His subordinates looked at each other worriedly, as the room became bathed in the crimson low of the forges.The last time they had seen their cherished mentor so...demented, was when the Princess Luna herself had presented him with her own ambitious specifications for her personal weapon. Barking out orders like a Commander would his Legion, the ponies scurried about according to his directions, hammering this, slicing that. As they worked and looked at the stolen plans, a light of understanding slowly dawned within that small group of elite tinkerers, blacksmiths, mechanics, and of course, in Triple Barrel himself.
These were the instruments that would forevermore change the winds of fate.
Celestia watched all this from her window. She saw the soft glow of the forge illuminate her sister's night, she saw the embers like petals of flame dance and die embracing the nocturnal wind.
Philomena swooped in from her window, and perched on her owner's shoulder, cooing softly. Celestia removed one of her gauntlets, and stroked her pet affectionately. The phoenix squawked in response, and tapped the Sun Princess with her left claw. Attached to her foot, was a small scroll tied with a lock of hauntingly familiar blue hair.
Celestia's bottom lip quivered as she bit down upon it.
Blood spattered the balcony.
~~~~
Everfree Forest, Eastern Plateau
"Oh, Celestia DAMN it!"
XXX
VS: ???? PONIES
Health: 100 Each
There are 20 enemies. However you can choose to quit the battle and consider it a win after defeating at least 2. You may only defeat a maximum of 15 ponies before they overwhelm you. Remember, you do not collect loot if you die. Choose carefully.
Skill 2,3: Attacks you for 30 damage.
Skill 4,5: Poison Arrow: Deals 30 damage plus 10 damage if Poison Arrow connected with a hit in the previous turn.
Skill 6: Potion Drink: Restores 30 Health.
Enemy OverLink: Venomous Barrage: Deals 10 damage every following turn for the next 5 turns.
Loot: 1,2: Health Potion (Heals 50 Health), 6: Charred Helm of the Twin Sisters (Uncommon) (Chrysalis: Head) Health +15
CHOOSE YOUR CHARACTER!
XXX
Sombra bowled over four of the offending ponies, knocking them to the ground. He fired two bolts into two of the ponies' foreheads, before backflipping to avoid a blow, the dodged arrow barely grazing his flank, landing back to back with Chrysalis, whose leg was oozing neon green dragon blood.
"Chryssie, your leg-"
"Shut up and be USEFUL!" She yelled, swatting at another of their attackers with her claws, before letting loose a gout of viridian flame with a bellow. Her slit-eyed pupils contracted as another arrow found its mark in her thigh, breaking through her scales and embedding itself in the soft underflesh, and she screamed. At the same time, Sombra had his military sword drawn, and thrust the blade into the side of a pony who was about to move in for the kill on the wounded dragoness. He pulled the built-in trigger on the hilt, and a jarring shock of energy surged from his horn through the weapon, causing the pony to explode messily in charred chunks of flesh.
"Stay close to me, lay down and make yourself as small as possible. I'll take care of this." As much as her pride disagreed, Chrysalis complied.
Three more of the hooded ponies fell as Sombra gyrated his blade in a wide arc.
They were everywhere; In the trees, behind bushes, on their tail, as they ran, Chrysalis slung over Sombra's back. He could barely hold her up, he was a big pony but Chrysalis was a post-adolescent dragoness, and she weighed a TON. Sombra made a quick mental note to never to tell her that. Occasionally, he blindly swung his floated sword in a wide circle around himself, his fears lessening each time the blade met resistance. Breaking open one of his saddlebags, he rummaged through the assortment of magical knickknacks that he had thoughtlessly brought with him but never actually used. Throwing a string of amulets over his shoulder, he blinked in surprise as one of them caught an attacker in the face, pointy-end up.
"AAAAAARGH!"
"I hope you CHOKE on it!"
Sombra generated an endlessly propagating chain of swears in his head as he rained puzzle cubes and voodoo dolls on his enemies. Where was it? He wanted to ask Chrysalis, she had this terrible habit of packing his bags and therefore causing Sombra to not have the slightest clue where his teleportation scrolls were when he needed them. But she was knocked out cold, probably due to her minor case of massive blood loss, and even with her slick ebony scales, she still looked alarmingly pale. After lobbing an assortment of his favorite quills behind him, he finally chanced upon a ragged strip of paper stenciled with Celestia's sun sigil.
"Alright, what were the wor-ARRIVEDERCI, MOTHERBUCKERS!"
The paper glowed in response to Sombra's carefully selected activation phrase, and in a flash of light, the two soldiers were gone, leaving behind a smoking circle of charred grass, and a trail of shattered potion bottles and ink-pots.
~~~~
Marethal, Inn
Chrysalis awoke to a blurry world, covered in warm sheets of sheepskin stuffed with cotton. She was alone in the cosy-looking room, a vase of fresh flowers stood on her bedside table. It was morning, and she could hear the saccharine sound of birds chirping outside her window. Breakfast, a pastry roll doused in maple syrup and a glass of juice, lay on a clever tray that was built onto the bed, propped over her lap. Childishly, Chrysalis the Dragon Slayer wondered if it was all a dream. Her eye twitched as she attempted to move her leg, the spike of red-hot pain disproving her hopeful theory.
The first thing that came to her fuzzy mind was kidnapping. But that probably wasn't the case; Her surroundings were far too pleasant and she was limited in movement only by her wounds, which, by the tangy smell of medication that arose from beneath the sheets, had been treated and disinfected. Her head of silky green dragon-mane had been washed and combed into a neat bun, which was held in place by an owl-feather quill. Sitting up, she tentatively ran her tongue along a small dribble of syrup that was on the side of the plate, the sweet and earthy flavor spreading across her tongue. She smiled, before digging in, each bite reminding her of how ravenous she actually was, quickly polishing off her meal and downing her glass of juice in one gulp.
Wait, she thought. If she was here, where was Somb-
"You look lively enough."
Chrysalis screamed, spitting out a stream of flame, and Sombra joined in as his mane caught fire.
"AAAAAAAARGH! A WHOLE NIGHT OF TAKING CARE OF YOU AND THIS IS WHAT YOU DO TO ME WHEN YOU WAKE UP?"
"NEVER MIND THAT, WHAT WERE YOU DOING BENEATH MY BED?"
Sombra patted down his now literally smoky black mane, his bangs now singed, misshapen and hanging over his eyes.
"For your information," He huffed, "That was MY bed. After I tossed out half my stuff trying to get us away from those crazy assassins, I managed to carry your scaly flank and make it all the way here to Marethal. Mare-Celestia damned-thal. Then I realized that I'd tossed out my coin purse as well, so I had to beg the only innkeeper in town for a room, and the psycho wouldn't give me one or treat your wounds unless I performed a magic show for her kid's birthday party. So you're lying there, making your own little green swimming pool in the corner of the room, while I'm pulling handkerchiefs out of my undies for a group of colts and fillies. Then I get this single bed. Naturally, being the gentlecolt that I am, I let you have it. I clean, dress your wounds for you, pull out the arrows in your draconic posterior, listen to you spout gibberish as you slipped in and out of consciousness..." Sombra swapped his normal voice with that of an insultingly high-pitched falsetto. "Oh, Sombra, it hurts! Please, it hurts, take it out! Oh, Sombra, you're so handsome and -"
He was silenced with a single talon pressed softly against his lips. Glittering green met royal purple, and Sombra could have sworn she might have been tearing up a little. He would never let that go if that was the case.
"Thank you."
Sombra took a deep breath to fill his recently emptied lungs.
They sat there in silence for a few moments, before the dragoness coughed and looked away. She craned her head to look out the window. Marethal was a beautiful place, lively and full of commerce, the city's many buildings all hewn from a rusty rouge rock reminiscent of those of an old, well loved Earth Pony country home. The streets were pretty and filled with roadside shops, mares and colts strode peacefully, hoof in hoof with their little fillies and colts, shopping for breakfast, fresh fruits and vegetables, and Chrysalis almost wished she could join them, and do what they did; live a life free from the constant turmoil of combat and loss that soldiers like her had to deal with on a daily basis, to smile, laugh, to eat around a roaring fire among friends who weren't going to die the next day, to laugh, to love.
She didn't respond when Sombra asked if she was alright, and he waved a hoof in front of her glazed-over eyes. She blinked, and banished those wistfully happy thoughts to the back of her mind.
"Sombra, did you find out anything about the ponies that attacked us?"
The battlemage produced a few phials of luminescent green fluid from his saddlebags.
"It's your blood," He said matter-of-factly.
He then uncorked one, and downed the contents before Chrysalis could object or stop him. The pony twitched sporadically, and slowly, dark blue mist began to form around his shoulders and back, a hood eventually obscuring his entire head from view. It was broad daylight with the light from the airy room shining straight into his face, but Chrysalis saw nothing but darkness in the depths of the hood. When he spoke, he sounded like he had a garbage can over his head.
"Pretty cool, huh?"
In a flash of turquoise magic, he dispelled the cloak.
"There was a poison in those arrows that they shot you with. In the bloodstream, it acts as a deadly toxin, but when digested, it works like a liquefied disguise spell. It's unlike any disguise spell I've ever seen, though. It was cold. And unpleasant." Sombra paused, as though deep in thought. "Kind of like you, actually."
Chrysalis nodded, skipping straight over the insult and eagerly taking this information in. However, one piece of the puzzle didn't sit quite right.
"Sombra, how did you figure ingesting the spell...my blood...out in the first place?" She dreaded the answer. He took a step back warily.
"Well, uh...The inn was a little low-tech on medical supplies, and when I asked for a pressurized suction device, the innkeeper thought I was asking her for sex, so...In the end, I kind of had to suck the poison out of your wounds." He paused.
"...How...?
"Orally," He deadpanned.
Sombra shrieked as his hair was set on fire for the second time that day.
"COME ON, WOULD IT MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER IF I TOLD YOU YOU TASTED OKAY?"
A luminescent blush was beginning to spread out on Chrysalis's cheeks.
"How DARE you violate me!"
Sombra was now nearly bald, but rectified it with a quick regrowth spell. "You know, I've seen this situation happening, but this is way different than I thought it would be." He ducked as Chrysalis lobbed her now empty plate at him. "You know, me, you, waking up in a room with one bed after a long night, aching all over, you setting my hair on fire and then condemning me for violating you..."
"What else did you do!?" Chrysalis questioned, defensively covering herself up with her sheets. A bright green flush now adorned her cheeks.
"Well, I HAD to clean you up."
"Even...d...d...down there?"
Sombra did a double take. Did the almighty and unrivaled Chrysalis just stammer? He found the entire situation hilarious but was nervous about proceeding further, lest the angry dragoness actually do some permanent damage to him.
"Well, if I didn't you would have probably contracted some venereal disease from all the filth in-"
"YOU FILTHY EQUINE SCUM!"
"It's okay, there wasn't much to look at-" Sombra instantly regretted his choice in words.
XXX
VS Chrysalis OR Sombra
Choose your player character, then fight the other. Stop the battle after 3 turns. Stats and skills for each character are the same as the Character Profiles above.
Loot: 1,2,3: Loose Scales (Consumable, grants -10 damage on next enemy hit), 4,5,6: Burnt Hair (Common) (Sombra: Head) Health +0
XXX
Downstairs, the innkeeper, a plump pegasus mare, had just finished her breakfast, and with her newspaper in hoof, had just settled down to enjoy her morning cup of coffee amidst the remnants of her little colt's birthday party from the previous night. Setting aside a bunch of streamers and a chain of suspiciously malodorous handkerchiefs, she sipped the rich blend, accidentally spilling half of it down her front as she heard a female voice yell from upstairs, threatening to rip who she assumed was that strange magician pony's manhood off and burn it to ashes. The aged innkeeper sighed dreamily as she enjoyed her hot beverage.
"Ah, young love."
~~~
Now sporting a set of bloodied, magicked-up bandages over his left eye, Sombra sulked in the corner of the room, facing the wall while Chrysalis got dressed, despite his insistent and surprisingly well-found argument that the two of them walked around completely naked the majority of the time. The only point he got out of that statement was a sharply rising one, growing out the side of his head where Chrysalis had thrown one of his own pauldrons at him from behind. He heard the telltale sound of Chrysalis strapping her boots up, and prepared to leave, his armor unfastening and swiftly wrapping itself around him while Chrysalis fiddled with her footwear's tricky knots with her talons. The joys of magic.
"I guarantee leaving now isn't a great idea. I'm not sure if you're completely healed."
"I'm healed enough. I'm not about to spend another night with the thought of you sleeping beneath my bed and fondling my lady parts."
"So you fondled your lady parts at the thought of me sleeping beneath your bed?"
Thwack.
"Sorry."
A/N: AND DEN TEY FUKED THE END. So tempting. Here it is, the first Level of Remembering Crystalys. I'm pretty happy with how the humor in this chapter turned out, and how the setting played true to what I wanted to achieve in the first place. I have a decent idea of where I want to go with this story, and while the Chrysombra pairing is fairly evident in this chapter, there will be more twists and turns in this story than Cloud Strife has ellipses. And Cloud freakin' Strife has an assload of them. So prepare for ass, and hit me up with a review, or comments on what you liked best. Fave, review, comment, criticize, help me improve, so on and so forth. And for now, I bid you farewell.
END CHAPTER BONUSES: Achievement Unlocked: Fabula Nova - Complete Chapter 1.
CHRYSALIS LEVEL UP: If you fought more than 7 ??? Ponies. Health +50.
CHRYSALIS LEVEL UP: If you dealt more than 150 Damage to Sombra in your fight with him. Health +25.
SOMBRA LEVEL UP: If you fought more than 7 ??? Ponies. Health +50.
SOMBRA LEVEL UP: If you Missed at least once while fighting Chrysalis. Health +25.
GUEST CHARACTER UNLOCKED
PRINCESS CELESTIA (PAST)
Full Name: Celestia vi Equestria
Blood Type: O
Sex: Female
Race: Alicorn
Age: 530
Occupation: God-Queen ("Princess") of the Equestrian Principality, Teacher, Sun-Raiser, Deadly Combatant
Hobbies: Raising the Sun, Eating Cake, Planning Her Daily Schedule
Notable Titles or Nicknames: Your "Insert honorary title with sun-related connotation here".
EQUIPMENT
Head: Titan's Helm (Legendary) +1000 Health
Body: Seraphic Armor (Legendary) +8000 Health
Limbs: Midas Horseshoes (Legendary) +3000 Health
Wings: Engraved Wingblades (Legendary) +1000 Skill Damage
Horn/Mane: Kragoff's Ring (Legendary) +125 Skill Damage
Weapon: Vanishing Star (Legendary) +3000 Skill Damage
Accessory: The Radiant Crown (Legendary) If OverLink 5, cast twice.
SKILLS
Starting Health: 9999
LEVEL 1
Miss
LEVEL 2
Quasar Cleave: Celestia slashes forth with her sun-forged blade, slicing any being lesser than a goddess neatly in two. Deals 4000 Damage and grants a charge of Devotion, to the enemy, making them lose 500 health every time they attack Celestia and their hit connects for every Devotion charge.
Searing Justice: Vocalizing words of power thought long lost to Ponykind, Celestia incinerates the very minds of the unfortunate souls with the profoundity of her knowledge. Deals 1000 Damage and grants 2 charges of Devotion.
LEVEL 3
Megaflare: Celestia brings down a bolt of solar energy so blindingly fierce that it vaporizes whatever is unlucky enough to even be close to it. Deals 5000 Damage and adds a charge of Devotion.
Solar Strike: Celestia unleashes her inner rage and calls down a mystical storm of solid sunbeams. Deals 2000 Damage to all opponents and grants a charge of Devotion.
LEVEL 4
Leeching Shield: Celestia blocks all Damage dealt to her, and gains as much Health as she would have lost.
Sunblade: Celestia focuses a fragment of the Sun's energy into an energy sword that protrudes from her left hoof. Roll a die, and this attack deals 500 times double the number rolled, distributed among any number of enemies.
LEVEL 5
Fiery Avatar: Celestia brings forth a flaming avatar that enables her to attack twice per turn for three turns.
Black Hole Star: Celestia collapses the surrounding area into a black hole through which only she can escape. Deals 3000 Damage for every charge of Devotion on the opponent.
LEVEL 6
Soul Break: Celestia disassociates the target opponent's soul from their earthly body, dealing 5000 Damage and making them lose a turn.
Shining Reaper: Sometimes, the light is the greatest monster of all, erasing life as though it never existed. Instantly defeats any opponent if their Devotion is higher than 20.
OVERLINK
LEVEL 1 2 3 4 5 6
HARMONIA: Nobody knows what this attack does, because nobody has survived it. Most witnesses of Celestia's sparse uses of this attack on the battlefield only recall a blinding flash of light, then a gaping hole in their memory, as if burned away from their very minds. Enemies hit with this attack cannot act for 7 turns.
Next chapter will be lighter and softer, so take a break, consolidate your new stats and weapons, and proceed, brave adventurer. To your new life in Ponyville.