//------------------------------// // Chapter 11: Fighting for Friendship -Annabeth // Story: The Heroes of Olympus: The Other End of the Pit // by Surprise Pie //------------------------------// We were in all-out war. That's all I could think of as I quickly levitated my trusty knife left, right, front, and center, taking out monsters with every strike. This was like the Battle of Manhattan, only more in the open, and maybe a dozen times more monsters to kill, and a few thousand times more fighters on our side. Oh and the fact that I was a magical talking pony fighting alongside thousands of other magical talking ponies, some of them my friends, as well as their bug-like counterparts. Jetstream had managed to pull away all but a handful (hoof-full?) of Chrysalis' changeling servants and put them to our service, which was nice. I hadn't actually spoken to any of Jetstream's new subjects, though. They kept mostly to themselves, or looked to the Thunder Guard for advice. Then again I was a little too busy fighting Telkhines or dracanae to really have a good chat with any of them. To be honest, I hadn't really spoken to anypony at all since the fighting started, except for a few occasional heads-up calls to those fighting near me. I probably spent the first hour or so fighting alongside Luna, who had to back away to check on something in the dreamscape. It took a while for her to come back, even though she said everything was fine and she'd explain everything later. In the meantime I stuck to helping out these two guards from the Equestrian Army. On my left was a tall, strongly built Earth Pony stallion named Iron Hoof. He held well to his name, using Celestial Bronze plated hoof covers to punch through monsters foolish enough to come near him. He was quick as a whip, and pretty smart too, though he didn't talk much. On my right was a smaller pony, about my size. It was a unicorn mare named Fire Star. She had lightning-fast reflexes and swung her Celestia Bronze rapier with her magic so fast I could barely see the bronze blur that was the blade. Fire Star was a little more talkative, and she had sharp wits. Apparently, she was the head officer of the Trottingham Royal Guard. I could definitely see how she got there. After noticing Luna return, I quickly fell back to ask her about the dreamscape. "It was nothing bad." she had said, "It appears that you demigods are capable of hopping across dimensions in your dreams. Our dreamscape received the visit of none other than your friend, Jason Grace." My jaw would've hit the ground and left a thirty-foot wide crater if it wasn't so well attached to my skull. "W-w-WHAT?" I cried out, "Jason came to Equestria? How was he doing? What did he say? Did he-" "Jason was fine, Annabeth. He wanted me to tell you and Percy not to worry about him and the others. They are currently trying to find a way across a mountain range near the west coast of... what was it called? Italy? Yes, that's it, Italy. Apparently there are wind spirits that keep giving them grief every time they try." Luna interrupted. "However, we should focus on our victory over these bloodthirsty beasts rather than idly talking." she added as she readied her Celestial Bronze lance with magic, and charged into the fray. And so the fighting went on. I ended up back to back with Applejack after a while. The farmpony was a very powerful fighter, using her plated hooves in much the same way as Iron Hoof did. Years of applebucking definitely helped her out in terms of endurance and strength. I also caught a few glimpses of Rainbow Dash, completely clad in Celestial Bronze armor, flying through crowds of monsters like a living bronze torpedo, leaving nothing but rainbows and monster dust in her wake. I also saw Pinkie Pie fighting with her party cannon, which was apparently loaded with bronze confetti and streamers, kind of like Percy's mom and the shotgun she pulled out of a random police car and killed monsters with back in the Battle of Manhattan. I kept fighting for over five hours nonstop. by the end of that time, my horn was throbbing and a dull headache pounded my skull. I fell back, warning my comrades-in-arms that I was going to rest a little. I made my way over to the Crystal Heart, where Twilight was still standing. Her wings were flared stiff and worry tainted her expression. I could tell that she didn't like what she was sensing all over the battlefield. "Twilight?" I said, "Are you alright?" The purple Alicorn's lower lip quivered a bit, and she croaked: "No..." Twilight looked like an absolute wreck. I quickly wrapped her in a tight hug, holding her close and whispering comforting words in her ear. "What's the matter?" I asked. "I... I can sense everything that's happening on the battlefield right now. All the pain, all the fear, the anger, even the sadistic pleasure some of the fighters of both sides are expressing. It's overwhelming, and it's scary..." she trailed off. "Hey, it's OK. We're winning, aren't we? It's all good, relax. Try to ignore it." "If only it was so easy. I need something to keep me busy, like research or reading. Anything to take my mind off of the fighting going on." I thought about it for a second. "Well there's this form of communication from my world that I'd like try out here. It's called Iris-Messaging, I might have mentioned it before." I said. "You did, three or four times, anyway. But you've never gotten into detail about it. What is Iris-Messaging anyway?" "Basically what it does is allow you to contact anyone anywhere through the use of rainbows. All you have to do is toss a golden drachma or denarius into a rainbow and chant a phrase, and then to specify who you want to see. I'll try three tests: short-distance, long-distance, and inter-dimensional. I start by contacting Cadence in the medical tents with it, then somepony in Equestria, and finally my friends in my world." Ignoring my twinging horn, I magically remove three golden drachmas from my saddlebags. "All I need is a rainbow." I added, "But where to find one?" I turn my attention to the Crystal Heart. Having been energized by pure Harmony magic, the heart gave off a multicolored glow, more than enough to use as a receptor for an Iris-Message. I take one coin and fling it at the Heart with magic. "Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering." I recited, and the drachma melted into the Crystal Heart. "Did it work?" Twilight asked. "Only one way to find out." I muttered. "Show me Mi Amore Cadenza, Princess of Love." A screen formed in front of the Heart, and on it was Cadence talking to a medic pony. "Cadence!" Twilight called. The pink Alicorn turned around, noticing Twilight and myself. "Twilight? And Annabeth? What's going on? And how can I see you two?" she asked, visibly confused. "It's a little something from my world called Iris-Messaging. Don't touch the projection, or you'll sever the connection. It's a magical communication service used by demigods and gods in my world. Turns out it works in Equestria too, at least in short distances. We've yet to find out if it works in long-distance contacts or even from one dimension to another." "Interesting." commented Cadence. "Is there anything you two would need? I'm asking because you look terrible Twilight. Are you okay?" "I'm fine, as long as I can keep my mind off what I sense in the Empire until the fighting ends. So what have you been up to Cadence?" Twilight said, apparently trying to change the subject. "Right now we're trying to experiment with dracanae venom to see if we can make medicine out of it. We haven't really gotten many patients up until now, and most of them were just bites or scratches that didn't want to risk poisoning. Zecora is the one in charge of the potion-making, and we have a couple Changelings doing the testing. Turns out they're immune to most poisons, so they were happy to volunteer for it." explained Cadence. "I hope you saved me a few vials of that venom, I'd like to have a look for myself after the war ends." Twilight said. "I was one step ahead of you on that one, Twilight. I saved you a whole jug full for you to experiment on." Cadence laughed. A brief silence hung in the air with the three of us smiling and giggling like school kids. It was quickly interrupted by a high-pitched voice saying: "Aunty Cadence! We're back with the ingredients you asked for!" Cadence turned to look at something off-screen, and returned her attention to us after about a minute, followed by three foals, two of which I instantly recognized. The third however, looked like a miniature Changeling. "Nyx and Screwball." I deadpanned, "What a surprise. What took you two so long to get here anyway? The fighting's been on for over six hours now." "We've been here the whole time. We've mostly been helping out around the medical tents." Nyx explained. Turning to her mother, she added: "And not fighting. Not directly at least." "Not directly? Dear Nyx, would you care to elaborate?" Twilight asked. "You never saw the giant Celestial Bronze squeaky hammer smashing monsters repeatedly?" Screwball asked in return. "I did, and I sensed it too. But that was your father, Screwball." Twilight said. "Nope. It was me. Dad is too busy spying on Chrysalis to fight right now." Screwball proudly replied. "Do you know what your mother would say if she found out?" Twilight asked. "She'd praise my initiative and tell me to keep going." the chaotic filly replied smugly. Twilight groaned in frustration, and I laughed. It wasn't every day that Twilight was forced to eat her own words like that, especially by an eight-year-old filly. "So what are you doing, Mom?" asked Nyx to change the subject. "We're studying a form of communication magic from Annabeth's world. We'll be contacting somepony far away after this and then try to contact one of Annabeth's demigod friends." Twilight explained. "That sounds cool! Can we help?" Screwball asked. "I won't need much help, but you can come watch if you want. Bring that little Changeling with you. I don't think we've been introduced yet." I replied. Suddenly, the three of them turned pitch black and melted into the ground, reappearing a few feet away from where Twilight and I were standing. The shadows dissipated to reveal the large grins on Nyx and Screwball's faces, and the nervous one on the Changeling's. I slowly approach the little bug-like pony and kneel to meet it's eyes with my own. "And what's your name?" I asked. "I'm Asbeth. I'm meant to be the next in line to Chrysalis' throne, but Queen Jetstream said it would take time for me to get there." it replied. "Mom told Percy to keep an eye on Asbeth to make sure nothing bad happens to him. But we convinced Percy to let us take Asbeth with us instead." Screwball explained. "I see." I said. "Well you'd better sit tight for a sec." I turned my attention back to Cadence, who was waiting patiently for us. "We're done with the short-distance test. Thanks, Cadence." I added. "Take care, you two." the pink Alicorn responded." Passing my hoof through the projection, I ended the contact, and grabbed the second drachma. "Want to try it?" I asked Twilight. "Sure. I remember the formula, and I know who to contact." she replied, taking the drachma with her own magic and tossing it into the Crystal Heart's rainbow. "Oh Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering." Twilight recited. "Show me Zevan the Changeling, also known as Whirring Cogs." The drachma befell the same fate as the one before it, and another screen appeared. This time a grey pegasus with an electric blue mane and a small foal swaddled in a blanket appeared. The pegasus immediately noticed us. "Twilight! It's good to see you again." he said. "It's good to see you too, Cogs. You wanted a progress report, so here goes: The fighting's been on for about six hours now, and so far things are looking up for us. Chrysalis and Sombra seem to be intent on sitting at the back of their rapidly shrinking army." Twilight said. "That's great news! But tell me, how are we communicating right now?" Cogs asked. "It's a form of communication from my world called "Iris-Messaging". We're testing it out to see if we could possibly contact those of my friends who are still in my world." I explained. "You must be Annabeth then. A pleasure to meet you. I'm Zevan, a Changeling, but I prefer to go by my pony name, Whirring Cogs. This little one is my daughter Dandelion Dreams. My wife, Lavender Dreams, is busy tending her herb shop next door, and I have the day off, so I'm taking care of Dandy." said Cogs. "It's a pleasure to meet you too, Cogs. I'm guessing you know me through my boy... er, coltfriend, Percy?" I asked. "I sure do. Percy's an interesting one, he is. I especially remember that sword of his. My flank is still sore from that, Twilight, by the way." Cogs replied, throwing in a little accusative tone to the last part. "Anyway, who's that behind you two? They've been watching for a while now." he added. Twilight and I shifted out of the way to let the two fillies and the little Changeling through. "Hi Mr. Cogs!" the fillies called in unison. "If it isn't Nyx and Screwball." Cogs laughed, "I should've known you'd be over there helping your moms out. And who's this little one?" he asked, looking at Asbeth with a curious expression. Asbeth looked at his two friends nervously, and said: "My name is Asbeth. I was meant to be Chrysalis' successor if ever anything happened to her, but that's on hold for now, with Queen Jetstream in charge of the hive until I'm old enough." "Chrysalis' hive is gone?" Cogs said, surprised. "Jetstream's conversion plan came through. All but a couple dozen Changelings from Chrysalis' hive are now Jetstream's subjects, including Asbeth." Twilight explained. "That explains the different eye and carapace colors." Cogs mused, "I don't even know if mine changed or not." "Then show us." Asbeth said. "You're a Changeling too, aren't you? Show us your natural form." "Youngling, I've grown accustomed to pony society, and I've come to love it very much. The evidence to that is sitting in my forelegs as we speak. For all I know and care, my pony form is my natural form." Cogs explained. "You know what I meant. Revert to your Changeling form, please?" Asbeth pressed. A few moments of hesitation later, Cogs set down his foal and got up from the couch he was laying on. A ball of green flames enveloped the pegasus, and when it faded, a simple Changeling drone was standing where Cogs had been. It shared the same manestyle as him, which was his distinguishing mark. "There. I don't like being in this form more than I have to. I just feel so... exposed when I use it." Zevan said. "I'm sorry to have caused you that grief, Mr. Cogs, but I had to know. I can see you are unaffected by the hive change, however." Asbeth replied. "It's nothing. My guess would be that I retained my old coloring because I cut myself off from Chrysalis' hivemind long before the switch took place. I've been an independent Changeling for nearly two years, now." Zevan explained. "It must feel depressing to be so alone..." said Asbeth in a sad tone. "It was a shock at first, but I got used to it. It's actually kind of nice to have one's own thoughts to themselves. It actually helps see one's own emotions without interference. I came to realize that way that we are not so different from ponies in that sense. Any independent Changeling like myself could be considered a pony in all but blood, and possibly even considered a fifth pony type. It's incredible how welcoming ponies can be." Zevan commented. "Only in Equestria and it's closer neighbors would you ever find that kind of tolerance." I added. "If it were like that in my world, there would be no such thing as war. Many countries back home are always tearing each other apart over beliefs or scraps of "sacred land" or other stuff like that. It's sad, really." Twilight nodded. "Well the long-distance test was a success. Thanks Cogs, you can return to your pegasus form. We'll leave you to Dandelion." she said with a smile. A green flame flashed on the screen as Zevan became Whirring Cogs once more. The pegasus returned Twilight's smile. "Happy to help, Twilight. You five take care now, okay?" he replied. "Will do! Bye Cogs!" Twilight said, before passing a hoof through the projection, dissipating it. A light silence hung in the air for a few minutes. Naturally, I had to break it, before it got awkward. "Well, onto the main attraction. Now we find out whether or not we can Iris-Message someone who is in another dimension." I said, taking the third golden drachma in my magical grip. My horn was still sore, but the throbbing and the headache had faded. I tossed the coin into the rainbow, watching it dissolve like the others had. "Oh, Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering." I paused for a second, taking a deep breath. "Show me Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus, and captain of the Argo II." Nothing happened for a good minute. I was about ready to give up, when a screen appeared like before. An image flickered to life and I saw someone hunched over a workbench. It looked dark outside, so Leo was probably pulling another all-nighter. He did that a lot on the way to Rome. "It looks late over there." Twilight commented, "I'd bet Luna wouldn't see much of this guy in the dreamscape." I giggled. Leo didn't react, he was too absorbed by his work. At this point nothing would distract him, unless... "Twilight or Nyx, can either of you use the Royal Canterlot Voice?" I asked. "I've been practicing, but I haven't quite nailed it yet." Twilight replied. "I can do it! I have some of Luna's memories and knowledge too, including the Voice. Let me try!" Nyx exclaimed. "Alright, here's what i want you to yell: Valdez, turn around, it's rude to keep magical talking ponies waiting. Can you do that?" Nyx nodded and turned to the projection. The Alicorn filly inhaled, her pupils shrinking, and let out a powerful blast of sound in the form of words. Sound which could certainly be heard all over the battlefield, were it not for the soundproof force field Twilight conjured up seconds before. The result was just as expected. Leo jumped, nearly hit the ceiling and whirled around, staring at the projection. He rubbed his eyes with his grease-covered hands, leaving two black spots around his eyes, making him look like a raccoon. "Woah. I gotta get more sleep. I'm seeing things." Leo muttered. "If only you were, Valdez." I replied. "We're really here. Maybe you recognize my voice?" Leo paused for a minute. "Annabeth? That you?" he stuttered. "Sure is. Go get the others, we have to talk." * * * "Jason wasn't kidding..." Piper said, an astonished look on her face. "First was Grover's message, then Jason bringing back a necklace and a photograph from his dreams, and now this. What's that world like? Are you and Percy okay? Jason said you were in the middle of your own war, how is it coming along?" Jason put a hand on her shoulder. "Simmer down, Pipes. Let the good ponies answer." he calmly said. I silently thanked Jason. It felt weird enough having my friends seeing me like this. At least Jason understood something, according to Luna. Nico didn't seem too surprised either, for that matter. I took a deep breath and told them about everything that had happened to Percy and I since we last met. I tried to stay down to the detail in as many places as I could. "... and as for the war we're in, we've been fighting for about seven hours now. So far it looks like we're winning this thing, too." I concluded. My friends sat there, all of them slack jawed, except Jason who knew all that already. He did raise an eyebrow a few times though so he obviously listened. Twilight cleared her throat. "I'd hate to interrupt this nice reunion, Annabeth, but I don't think we've been properly introduced to your human friends." she said. "Right." I replied. "Well, this is Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, Zeus' Roman form. To his right is Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite and Jason's girlfriend. In the middle is Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus, behind Leo is Frank Zhang, son of Mars, the Roman form of Ares. And on the left is Nico di Angelo, son of Hades, and Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto, Hades' Roman form. The grumbling you hear in the background is from our resident satyr, Gleeson Hedge. But we like to call him Coach." I explained. Just then, the old satyr jumped out from behind Frank. "Who called me?" he said, a wild look in his eyes. "Over here, Coach." I replied. "What in the world..." he started. "It's me, Annabeth." I added. "Yeah, yeah. Grover went over the details. You and Percy are magical talking ponies stuck in an alternate dimension and can't find a way out. Time doesn't usually flow the same between our two worlds, so even though it's been a few days since you fell to Tartarus on our end, you've been in that pony land of yours for months now. I ran the math back and forth with Grover. Time flows exactly fifty-two times faster in your world than it does here. One week here is a year there." Coach grumbled. "Unless the two worlds make contact. Like this here Iris-Message for example." Silence hung heavy in the air for a few awkward minutes. It was Leo who finally broke it. "Wow, Coach. Didn't think you'd be the type to do math. Or research. Or smart stuff in general." "Valdez!" Coach barked. "Why I oughta..." "Anyway!" I cut in, "I've introduced my friends from home, why don't you do the same?" I asked Twilight. Twilight shook her head. "Right. My name is Twilight Sparkle. I'm..." "The Princess of Magic. You're also the youngest of five princesses, and second youngest Alicorn pony. The youngest being your adoptive daughter, Nyx, who's standing behind you with her friend Screwball, who is the daughter of the middle Alicorn, Jetstream Shimmersky, the Princess of Lightning." Nico interrupted. Twilight's jaw slacked. "How... How did you know that?" she asked. "Annabeth may have mentioned how your world is shown to us in a children's television show?" Nico explained, "Well that show has a huge fandom of it's own. People who exceed the show's intended demographic for the most part. Both Nyx and Princess Jetstream are considered "Original Characters" who were created by fans. By all means, us talking to you now puts us all in a piece of fanfiction rather than the show's cannon. I may live in the darkness of the Underworld for the most part, but even I need a few rainbows and laughs every once in a while to stay sane." "I think Pinkie would like this guy." Twilight whispered to me. I nodded, smiling. "Though I don't think the opposite would be true. Nico isn't the kind of guy who enjoys rainbows and hugs very much." I whispered back. I turned my attention back to the magical rainbow-Skype. "Anyway, I think I'd better end the contact. The test was a huge success and I have a war to get back to. I'll tell Percy you said hi." I added. My friends nodded and made their goodbyes, before I passed my hoof through the projection, causing it to dissipate. I turned back to Twilight and the foals. "We should get back to work. We've been sitting here for a little too long." I suggested. "That would be a good idea, if the fighting wasn't over." Twilight replied, "We've won. All there is left is Chrysalis, and I remember Jetstream wanted to pass judgement herself and kill Chrysalis with her own power." Just then, the other Alicorns, the Changeling Queens, Discord, Percy and Spike, and the Elements of Harmony all appeared by the Heart. Twilight shielded the Crystal Heart, just in case, because Jetstream had a prisoner. Chrysalis stood tall and proud, with glowing golden shackles binding her hooves. "The time has come to pass judgement." Jetstream said.