A Leon, Luna, and Eddy side-story; Final Fantasy IV adventure

by Fireheart 1945


Chapter 6; First fighting

Leon took up his shield on his left arm. One of the flying eyeballs attacked with a thin beam of energy, striking his armor.

"Ow!" The pain wasn't severe, but it was a surprise. He angrily lashed out; his sword ripped right through the monster, which faded and winked out of existence.

Eddy quickly rallied, getting up off the ground. Apparently without thinking about it, he jumped... and was suddenly hundreds of feet in the air.

"WHOA!"

Leon watched, with no small amount of terror, as Eddy began to fall back down. However, the Briton managed to keep enough wits about him to try hitting the other monster before he hit the ground. To their surprise and shock, Eddy didn't suddenly go splat on the ground; instead, he just stopped when his feet touched it. The spear had torn right through the beast; it faded away just like it's comrade.

"I honestly can't believe that I survived that," Ed said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Neither can I; I don't study the law of physics, but I'd say you broke several of them just now. How does it feel to be a criminal?"

"It feels pretty good, actually. I reckon I could do that again. Maybe having these powers isn't all that bad."

"It isn't, especially when you consider that it's all we've got. Hmm. I know I just got hit by that eye demon. That means I lost health," Leon went on, "but how much did I- oh," he added, as two sets of numbers appeared on the palm of his hand.

"One's white, one's blue," Eddy observed. "If I remember right, the blue represents MP, while the white represents HP."

"Looks like I lost a couple points of health," Leon said. He wondered how to make the numbers disappear; no sooner had he thought it than they did disappear.

"At least we know how to discern our own health and magic points."

"Right. Still, we have to get to... Mist, wasn't it? Well, best to get going."

"Yeah. Hopefully, Luna is coming up with a way to get us both out of this before we encounter worse."

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If only it were that simple, Luna thought in response to the speech bubbles coming from the two. She was relieved that both of them had survived the brief battle, but she was worried about Leon, who had lost three health points when he'd been hit.

The knowledge that they possessed the powers of the characters they had replaced was reassuring, but she knew that the deeper they got into the game, the more powerful the enemies they would encounter. That's how role playing games worked.

Twilight and her friends had already set off for the HEC's headquarters; she earnestly hoped they would be able to find a way out of this mess. From the information the pony on the other end of the phone line had given, it would be difficult, especially considering that the mix of magic and technology hadn't even been tested. That thought brought a surge of anger rising, and she had to work to stifle it. The House of Enchanted Comics would never put anypony - anyone - into this sort of situation again. Ever. She was determined on that.

Poor Spike had had to go through this twice now. There had still been no sign of the young dragon. Twilight had been very eager to try almost anything to free her assistant. She viewed him like... like a mother viewed her children, and Spike returned her affection. After all, ever since he had hatched, he had been with her, pretty much her foster son. Their bond was very close.

Our bonds will get us through this crisis. Somehow or other, they must. I... wouldn't want to see the look on Mrs. Berthier's face if I had to tell her...

She resolutely pushed that thought away and looked at the screen. The screen was now on a global map, with an image of a man walking - it kept flickering between Cecil and Kain - in the direction of a cave to the west. She felt frustrated that they could not coordinate their plans and that she had to watch them try to make it on their own. It wasn't the worst idea ever conceived, though. Given that Twilight and company had had to fight their way through a comic book, the plan made sense. The difference was, as opposed to hours, the whole story would take days, if not a week or more, to get through, and then there was all too likely to be an all-powerful boss at the end that might hold them up for some time.

If only I could find a way to communicate with them... even if I wasn't able to get them out, I might be able to go online and find information on the major enemies they'll be facing and give that to them. It would save them a great deal of pain, at least. It was impossible, at least right now, so they had no means of communication.

However... Her eyes lingered over the controller. Maybe if I can't direct them via communication, maybe I can control their actions. As far as I can tell, the spell with only suck someone in if they have physically touch it, or, in the case of the comic book, read something and invoke the spell. If I grasp the controller with magic, instead of my hooves, I might be able to play the game, and, in so doing, control them. It would hardly be comfortable for Edward and Leon, but we need them to get out alive.

She gripped the controller with her magic. "Let's see," she said aloud. "I think it's the control pad for direction..."

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"What the!" Leon said as his legs suddenly twisted northward.

"Bloody hell!" Eddy exclaimed as his legs began moving in the same direction.

Leon tried to stop his legs from moving, but found that they were completely outside his control. His arms and head remained within his control, but that was hard comfort when one was unable to keep oneself from moving at all. He set his arms to his legs in an effort to stop them, but his legs simply pressed on regardless of the pressure put on them; in fact, it was like trying to stop a tank with his bare arms.

"Ugh, come on!" he said as he bent over in an effort to give put more pressure on his legs, only to get a knee to the face for his trouble. "Ow!" he straightened up and put his hands on his nose.

"What the hell is going on?" Eddy shouted.

"I don't know! Maybe it was a side effort those monsters gave us!"

"Early monsters, doing something like this?"

Leon rethought the idea and realized his friend had a point. "Well, what else could it be!?"

"It's like my body from the hip downward had a mind of its own; maybe it's someone in the real world using the controller!"

"How could they do that without being sucked in themselves?"

"Maybe its Twilight or Luna with magic. Those controllers aren't meant for hooves."

"Whoever or whatever it is, STOP IT!"

"Too late!" Eddy yelled, pointing. "More monsters!"

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Luna saw the screen twitch, then flip to a battle scene, like the ones during the prologue. She felt a wrench of terror in her heart as two moths appeared behind two more floating eyeballs.

Oh dear, what if I mess this up!? They don't have much health to begin with!

She shuddered as Leon-Cecil flashed, having been hit by one of the giant moths. Panicking now, she quickly hit the "Dark Wave" option. Leon-Cecil raising his sword, pointing it at the enemy while turning the rest of his body away. A wave of energy struck three of the enemies, destroying them, while Leon suffered damage.

"Ow!"

How did he get hurt? He wasn't even hit by any of them! Wait... could that be a result of the attack itself? I'd heard that some RPG games have attacks that are designed as a double-edged sword. Oh dear!

It was Edward-Kain's turn now. She selected the jump option, which sent him into the air. The remaining enemy flashed, but missed Eddy, who the monster had targeted. Moments later, Edward came down, delivering a ferocious slash on the moth, which flashed and vanished.

The music changed to one of victory, as the game informed her of the results.

"Oh bother..."

"Perhaps it would be wiser to let them go forth on their own for now," Celestia suggested, having seen the whole thing.

"But... what about the ultra-powerful bosses and monsters they'll face? They won't have enough foreknowledge to deal with them!"

"I know. However, unless they meet one, I'd suggest letting them tackle the problems they face on their own."

"But..."

"They'll be more comfortable this way, and they're gamers, like you. They'll be able to figure things out on their own."

"What about Spike, though? We've seen neither claw nor scale of him."

"Perhaps we'll find him later on. Remember, there's an entire world inside that game, an entire planet. I'd be surprised, though pleasantly so, if they found him in the area the player could currently explore."

Luna sighed. "I'm sorry, sister. I'm just so worried about them. I wanted to keep them safe."

"I understand, but your solution was basically to become a puppet master. They're okay, and the investigation is going to get results; I promise you that."

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Twilight felt a surge of anger as the manager - the pony who had been on the other end of the phone - said, "I am sorry, but that's just not possible. We can't just give out our ideas-"

She cut him off. "Princesses Celestia and Luna commanded you to cooperate with us, and you're going to do just that. Our friends have been forced to participate in your game in a method that was against their will. You will help us in finding a way to retrieve them... or," she said, a forceful tone entering her voice, "these gentlecolts will escort you to the palace jail." She heard the hoofsteps of a couple Royal Guards behind her as they stepped up.

"I... I... I have no choice," the manager said, head drooping. "I will comply, but let it be noted that its under protest."

"Be it noted that nopony cares," Twilight snarled, remembering the moment when poor Spike, her little brother of another species, was sucked into the game. "Now, what can you tell us?"

"As you no doubt know from our conversation with the Princesses, we modified the spell we use on our comic books and utilized it on the game. These human consoles are old by their standards, but they're up to date by our own native technology. It was easy to modify Final Fantasy IV, as we had done it on pony games successfully."

"Wait, you've done this before? I thought you said you hadn't tested it?"

"We... we didn't, not really... But the gamers we sold them to didn't complain, so we figured nopony minded."

"A big mistake... continue."

"Right, Anyway, we heard that Final Fantasy IV was really popular, especially a version that was already modified, by some J2L or something. It had a lot of expletives, which we largely removed. We placed our spell on the games and began to sell them. Apparently, somepony got one and decided to sell it on eBay, where I presume Princess Luna got it."

"Who was... never mind, we can find that out later. Why did you assume the ponies, or humans, should they end up purchasing it, would know beforehoof that the game was enchanted?"

"We included it in the manuals we made, printed it on the box, what more could you want?"

"And you didn't make a way for them to leave once the game was started?"

"We assumed-"

"There it is again. You keep assuming ponies will know what your products will do. My friends and I were sucked into a comic book without any warning whatsoever. if not for my friend, who is a victim of your game, by the way, we'd have been stuck there for the foreseeable future! Your comics had inadequate and vague warnings, if you could call them as such, and now you're trying every way possible to worm your way of out the trouble you caused yourselves! I'm not taking any more evasions; you'll help us save our friends, or you will go to jail and we'll close down your company!"

"Twi, darlin'," Applejack said, putting a hoof on her friend's shoulder, "ya gotta calm down. Ya ain't doin' Spike, Leo, an' Eddy any favors if ya lose yer temper like this."

Twilight took a deep breath before sighing. "You're right, Applejack." Then she turned back to the panicking manager. "Help us, now."

"S-sure thing. If you'll just follow me."

They walked through the facility, which was full of bookcases, which, unsurprisingly, were full of books, including many comics. After ascending a staircase and reaching the top floor, the group entered a room full of gaming consoles. Three unicorns, an earth pony, and a pegasus, all male, sat glumly around a table in the middle. They nodded, unsurprised, as Twilight, her friends, and a squad of the Royal Guard came in.

"This is our team responsible for the spells we use in our products," the manager said, "as well as for the tech we use, as well as the combination of technology and magic."

"Good evening, ladies and-"

"Spare us the goody goody stuff," Rainbow interrupted, flying into the face of the unicorn, a cream-colored stallion, who had been talking. "Just tell us how to save our friends!"

"Y-y-yes." Although unsurprised, the group wasn't unafraid. With five Royal Guards standing by to make necessary arrests, they had reason to be, and the threat of having eternal, terrible nightmares the rest of their days hung over their heads like... like... the sword of Damocles. Twilight felt a bit of satisfaction at remembering that phrase, all the more since it was relevant to the current situation. "We have been told by our superiors to cooperate with you in every detail."

"That's gratifying, seeing as your manager was unwilling to do so," Twilight replied. "Now, tell us; how do we retrieve our friends? And I mean as soon as possible!"

"Hmm. Yes, that. Unfortunately, that might be somewhat difficult. The spell we place on our comics and games are designed to keep the reader, or, in this case, the gamer, inside. It would be intensely difficult for even a unicorn to break out from the inside."

"So you basically jail ponies in your works, assuming they will be able to get out on their own merits."

"Well, I wouldn't say we jail people, but the whole thing is designed as a challenge, and the user is not in mortal danger; we made sure of that when we cast our spell."

"Does it protect them from, say, falling off a building? Or being jabbed by something?"

"It prevents them from being killed or permanently injured, yes. If you fell of a building in one of our comics, for example, you'd feel some sense of pain, to be sure, but your bones wouldn't be broken."

"Well, that's a relief. Still, that doesn't answer the question of how to get them out, which is the whole reason for us being here."

"I have a theory on that," a dark blue unicorn said. "While the spell cannot be broken from the inside, it may be possible to break it from the outside."

"Then what are we waiting for?"

"Because its only a theory, with no guarantee it would work. The combination of technology and magic makes the issue more complicated, as sometimes the mix can react in strange and unpredictable ways. For all we know, we could end up killing your friends if we tried to extract them by this method, so I'd use it only as a last resort."

"But what other way, besides their finishing the game, would there be?"

"The method my colleague outlined," the red unicorn in the group said, "would rely on brute force to batter through our spell. We may be able to siphon them out or somehow fast forward the game so that it reaches its end faster." He scratched his chin with a hoof. "it would be easier if they had been sucked into a human computer or laptop, as then we would be able to modify the game's code much, much more easily. The only way to do that with Final Fantasy IV is to remove the cartridge from the console, which... well, we don't know exactly what that would do."

"Wouldn't it be the same as simply having the game turned off?" Twilight asked, frowning. "The manager we called said that the players in the game wouldn't be at risk."

"Yes, normally I'd feel confident expressing the idea that this course would be safe, but again, there are a lot of variables that we aren't sure of at this point in time."

"Hey, Twilight!" Pinkie said, speaking up for the first time in a while, "you once went back in time using a spell in the Star Swirl the Bearded Wing of the library. Why can't you just go back in time and stop Luna, Leon, and Eddy from playing the game in the first place?"

Twilight started to smile, for a split second sure they'd found a cure and an urge to tell Pinkie she was a genius, but then she remembered something vital about that particular spell, and the smile disappeared before it was truly born. "It only works once for anypony that casts it," she said, "after which they can never use it again. You said that yourself when you gave it to me, remember?"

"Oh," the pink pony said, lowering her head in disappointment; her mane seemed to deflate slightly. "Sorry."

"I could try it," Rarity suggested.

"Are you certain you could do it?" Twilight asked her. "It was even more complicated than the spell I used to give you wings. If you got it wrong, the results could be even more disastrous than being sucked unwillingly into a video game."

"Hmm, I suppose you have me there," the white unicorn said. "As much as I wish it were otherwise, I know my magic isn't up to par with yours, as least not in the area we're speaking of."

"Thank you, both of you. But time travel isn't the answer to our problem." Twilight turned back to the group sitting at the table. "Any more ideas?"

"The main issue is getting them out without killing them or injuring them in the process," the cream unicorn said. "Assuming we skip the brute force effort, which is essence would be ripping through the spell we placed, our best chance it to try siphoning them out, which is a more indirect method and will take more time, but it could be possible."

"I assume we'll have to go with you to examine the problem," the pegasus, with a coat of reddish-brown, stated.

"Yes. You're all coming with us. The manager too. Right now. We're going to retrieve them, and we're not going to give up until we succeed in getting them back."

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"That was weird," Leon said as they walked towards a large opening in the mountain ahead.

"Not as queer as just waltzing into a giant cave that looks as if its misty inside. Hopefully there isn't anything inside to be afraid of, although my experience with the FF series is that they usually have a boss near the beginning of the game, like Garland in the first game."

"Yeah. Those bosses usually require some sort of action to beat, I can't remember off the top of my head just what it was supposed to be. Otherwise, they're typically easy, at least in comparison to other bosses later on in the game."

"Agreed, but still..."

The inside of the cave was full of a white mist; it was everywhere, not quite blocking their vision out entirely, but it was still hard to see.

"Oh great," Eddy muttered. "Do we have to have to wander blindly through this blasted, bloody cave?"

"No, wait," Leon said slowly. "I think I can see through this; just barely, though."

"I think I can too," Ed said after a moment. "Still feels weird. And Sod's Law says anything that can go wrong will."

"Let's hope Sod was wrong."

They walked through the cave, avoiding rocks and trying to stick to the path. They weren't entirely successful. Twice Leon tripped over something and he kept hitting rocks that happened to be in his way. Eddy didn't fare any better, and three times, they went off course for a few minutes before managing to find their way again. Oh, and the monster attacks were particularly unpleasant, as they were ambushed numerous times. Luckily, the enemy didn't get off more than a few hits which didn't do all that much damage.

"Wow," Leon said after the last such encounter. "I feel... reinvigorated, like I never took any damage in the first place. Maybe better."

"Check your stats real fast."

Leon did so, bringing up his arm. "Wait, these numbers were lower last time I checked."

"Congrats, mate, I think you leveled up!"

"Oh, right. I'd forgotten that happens."

"Turn back!"

"What...? Leo, you hear that?"

"I sure did. Sounded kinda like Luna when she's using the RCV, only a little softer and with more echo added to it."

"Turn back, or you will be doomed!"

"Oi! Stuff it! Not like we have any other way to go anyway."

"I doubt it will respond," Leon said. "It's likely just a voice programmed into the game. I doubt they changed that much about it."

"Sort of dull, if you think about it that way. Not even a shred of life of its own."

"Yeah, but let's go. We have to get through this cave."

They continued on. There were no more monster attacks, but if anything, after hearing the voice, the silence was all the more ominous. They climbed a set of stairs.

"I can see the exit!" Leon shouted.

"At last, an end to this stinking place!"

Suddenly, the voice came again; "Knights of Baron, turn back; this is your last warning! Do you still wish to continue?"

"Come out of this bleeding fog and face us!" Eddy shouted.

"Then I have no choice. I must do what I must."

The mist began to move; Leon gave a shout of surprise as it gathered. The formerly incoherent fog combined into a solid form. Blocking the doorway, large and surrounded by mist, a white dragon stood and roared in defiance.

"Oh dear," Ed murmured, drawing his spear as Leon drew his sword and shield. "We might be a little in over our heads."

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Luna watched, fear for her friends consuming her as she said, "Oh dear," in an unconscious echo of Edward.