(Jenny)
As Jenny and The Element bearers ran down the blackened corridors, only one thing seemed to stand out as the most extreme oddity. “Where are all the changelings?”
Applejack kept pace with her and looked around. “Don’t know, but ah’m getting a mite worried we’re runnin’ straight into a trap.”
The music started to quiet down and everyone came to a stop. The dead silence that followed, filled with nothing but the echo’s of their last steps and breathing, surrounded them as they looked around.
Twilight pursed her lips as she glanced around the long hall. “I don’t like this... It is way too quiet.” Her horn lit up and the tracking spell formed another arrow, pointing slightly to the left. Noticing this, she perked up. “Girls, we’re getting closer to whatever is down here. Let’s keep going and hope this isn’t a-”
A ping echoed through the cavern.
Pinkie stopped bouncing after everyone and looked around. “What was that?”
A second ping followed shortly after the first.
Rarity looked down the cavern and tried to focus her ears. “Is somepony hitting something?”
A third ping, followed shortly by a small yet constant hum.
Jenny frowned and walked further down the corridor the sound was coming from. “Hey, I think we should follow that-” Everyone flinched and covered their ears as a head-splitting shriek of agony came from down the corridor. Twilight’s projected arrow shook slightly as it was distorted by a sudden wave of magic before steadying again. “Scream! We should definitely start booking it towards that scream and explosion!”
The seven of them charged down the corridors. They kept following the general direction of the sound until Twilight’s arrow suddenly veered off to the right, and pointed at a large set of double doors that were slightly open, and had residual magic lighting the gems on the face. “Quickly, this way! It came from over here!”
When they got closer to the room, the residual magic on the door faded and they came to a stop. Jenny was panting as she caught up to the rest. “When you girls go... you go.”
Twilight was too focused on the door to give her any attention though, as her tracking spell’s arrow started to shake erratically. “Girls... Changelings are definitely behind these doors, and according to the spell...” she paused to gulp, “there are a lot.”
Jenny did her best to settle her breathing and drew her sword. Somehow she didn’t feel as nervous as she thought she would, almost as if it was… natural.
“Ok… Three, two-”
Suddenly the magic arrow vanished.
“What the-?” Twilight asked aloud before trying to reactivate the spell, only to fail. “W-What happened? It stopped working? But that could only happen if they all…”
Jenny looked over at Twilight worriedly before heading closer to the door and pushing it open. It revealed yet another corridor, albeit a less confusing one with only one other set of doors at the far end, but unlike the rest of the corridors they had passed through, this one was filled with piles of what looked to be ashes. There were also large pieces of rubble scattered about here.
Jenny was about to speak when she saw a unicorn, two human children, and a large human warrior on the far side of the room. One that looked familiar to her for some reason. “Hey, do any of you guys see that?”
“It will suffice for now.” The mare said just as she looked over and met Jenny’s gaze. She didn’t look the least bit surprised.
“Then hang onto your hats!” The tall warrior exclaimed.
One of the two smaller figures started to pat his head. “But I don’t have a hat.”
Jenny looked at the others and saw that they were more focused on the ash and rubble around them to be paying attention. Seriously, what’s going on?
“Wow really? Ah forget it,” The warrior said before using his spear to HOLY SHITAKI MUSHROOMS! The spear had cut through the air and opened a blackish purple portal floating in place. “All aboard the Gilgamesh Express!”
Jenny’s jaw nearly fell off as her eyes widened in surprise. “Gilgamesh Express?” No way! Is that really him!?
The four figures then walked through the portal and vanished. Jenny tapped Twilight’s shoulder, interrupting her from trying to fix her spell, and got her attention. “Hey, uh, Twilight? Did you notice the four figures that were across the room just now?”
Twilight blinked in confusion for a moment before looking over towards the other side of the room. “Hmm... I can feel a trace of heavily saturated magic residue. Maybe you were suffering a hallucination?”
Rainbow came flying in before Jenny could respond. “Hey, there’s a bunch of imprints in the walls here that look like changelings. They’re full of ash too.”
“Imprints? But then... with the spell also suddenly failing...” Twilight’s eyes widened as she looked around. “Girls... I think I know what happened to the changelings...”
Pinkie looked around at all the ash piles and grimaced. “Ewwwwww.......”
“Gracious! What could’ve done such a thing to so many of those beasts?” Rarity asked, trying to rack her mind for an answer to her own question, while simultaneously attempting to avoid getting any of the changeling dust on her.
Jenny looked over at Twilight for a moment before frowning. “Well... I’m not entirely sure why none of you noticed them, but there were four figures standing over there. I think I heard one of them call himself ‘Gilgamesh’, which would explain just who could have... won the fight.”
Fluttershy nervously looked around at the debris. “Um... actually, I-”
Applejack interrupted the shy mare unknowingly. “‘Gilgamesh?’ Who’s that?”
“Another character from the Final Fantasy series. Basically a warrior who challenges others for their weapons.” She paused for a moment and started to scratch at her cheek. “He’s kinda goofy, but he has been known to defeat entire armies himself.” Gives “Stupid Powerful” a whole new meaning.
Pinkie popped up over Jenny’s shoulder and hummed. “Question. Does he like parties?”
Jenny looked at the room one last time before heading to the door they came from. “Let’s get out of here before question time starts. It’s... unsettling being in here.” The six mares agreed and followed Jenny out of the room.
“We can’t leave! What about those things that got captured!?” Rainbow Dash shouted.
“Don’t worry, Rainbow, Gilgamesh took them with him. And they seemed to be going with him willingly, so I guess there’s no problem there,” Jenny explained. Or at least.... It looked like it was willingly.
“Huh. Guess I should meet this guy.”
Twilight started to light up her horn as they walked, causing a bubble to form around the whole group. “Everyone ready to teleport?”
Jenny stopped and looked over in surprise, even as six ponies huddled around her. “Wait, you can teleport living things?”
“Uh, yes?” she replied as if it was obvious.
“The why didn’t you teleport us here?”
“I can’t teleport to places I haven’t been before, or at the very least see,” Twilight explained.
Jenny silently looked to her left as a blush slowly grew on her face. “Oh. Ok then.”
She approached Twilight and the others before, in a violet flash, they all disappeared from the hive.
(Gilgamesh)
After exiting the Rift, and giving the mare and the two humans time to recover from their first time staring and traveling through infinity, I scanned our surroundings to make sure nothing was following us. Satisfied, I turned back to them.
"So, we got a destination in mind, or do we just wander somewhere?" I asked.
Robin looked about at the trees as she hummed. “To be honest, I was expecting the old castle to be our destination when we exited that rift, but anywhere we could make shelter for the night will do. I’d rather not sleep out in the open.”
Boris was behind her stumbling slightly as his eyes spun. “Woah, that was weird.”
The unicorn perked up a bit. “Oh, I just remembered.” Her horn lit up and a glow emanated from the ground before rock rose and made a small hut around the four. “There.”
“Neat trick. And you actually made it big enough for me. That’s a particular rarity for me,” I replied.
She smiled and waved a hoof. “Oh it was nothing. Invention had a tendency to jump out of his skin, so I made a habit of building these with a raised ceiling.”
“‘Invention’? That’s what he chooses to go by? Not exactly original, but I’ll admit there’s sort of simple charm to it.”
Robin frowned a bit before sighing. “It’s... not exactly a choice, per se.”
“Wait, you mean… he doesn’t remember?” I asked. “That’s new.”
She nodded sadly. “Unfortunately. He didn’t even realize it himself until I had asked him his name.”
“Odd. I choose not to go by my old name. An acquaintance of mine only remembers her first, but that’s mostly due to just how long she hasn’t used it.”
Robin nodded in understanding befor her ears perked up again and she facehoofed. “Oh, I feel so stupid. I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Robin. What is your’s, warrior?”
“Hm… it is a bit small in here so I’ll refrain from my usual posing and shouting.”
Victoria looked confused. “Posing?”
“Of course! I hope you’re hungry, because your brother just ordered a large ham!”
Boris frowned a bit. “First hats, now ham? Why is all this stuff I can’t do showing up!?”
I sighed. “Maybe I’ll get to it later.”
Robin chuckled. “It’s alright. Metaphors go right over the boy’s head.” In that moment, Boris looked up and tried to find something that wasn’t there as his sister facepalmed.
“Anyway, before this gets more stupid,” I continued. “I am the master of combat, the seeker of battle and adventure, the one who has turned back rivers and crushed mountains with his strength alone! ‘Tis I who travels this multiverse in search of fights and fun! Behold, for I am the Mighty Gilgamesh!”
The three blinked a few times as they stared at me, even as a tumbleweed rolled behind them. “Wait... did you say Gilgamesh? Are you sure you haven’t met Invention before?”
Boris nodded. “Yeah! I mean, if you did, that would explain why he named his ship after you! It’s full of swords, and guns, and cannons, and wires, and a lot of other stuff that I have no idea about.”
“Wait… he has an airship named ‘Gilgamesh’?” I asked. I couldn’t keep the smile from coming onto my face. “Please, please, please tell me we are going there before I leave because there are a couple of jokes I just have to make!”
Robin’s ears folded back as she looked at the doorway she’d made in worry. “Well... You would have to go without me. Though I am grateful to be free... There are just some things that are not meant to happen yet.”
Victoria’s head snapped over to Robin as she finished. “Wait what!? B-But we just got you back! Dad would be amazed to see you! Why can’t you-” She was silenced as Robin put a hoof to her lips.
“I’ll be able to tell you eventually, but not right now.” She turned back to me and her smile faded. “Now, I assume that you wish to know what is going on?”
“That’d probably be nice, considering the only time I’ve even heard of Invention before was due to another Displaced telling me he saw something in a very vague vision,” I replied.
Robin took a deep breath before she let out a long sigh. “First you must know, that Invention arrived 1500 years ago, and upon his arrival, suffered damage irreparable. Due to how he entered as well as not begin of our dimension, his consciousness began to fracture, and split. It was unnoticeable at first, but then when Boris came to life, the two of us began to try and learn more about how it came to be. Unfortunately, due to our shared criminal records, the two of us could only gather materials for research by means of theft, or gathering in the wilderness.
It was four years after I first met him when we discovered how the consciousness of all living things, no matter what dimension or reality they resided in, could be divided into six aspects. Fire, Earth, Water, Air, Æther, and Void. It was then we realized just what had happened to give the children life. His consciousness had moved into new vessels, and given them lives of their own, though Invention did manage to retain one of the fragments himself.
The fragments became five that Invention came to look upon as his children. There was Earth, which was given to Boris. Water, which was given to Steve. Air was given to Edward. And Æther was given to Victoria. Fire was given to his last son, Alex, and each one’s personality was reflected by the fragment they held. As you can see, Boris is rather focused on what he can see, and doesn't think outside the box as much. Victoria has always held a fascination for books and learning, always wanting to know more and grow. Steve was very emotional about everything he would do, and in contrast Edward would think his decisions through logically.
Alex was different though. Instead of just being passionate about what he did, he was resolute in his want for adventure. He would cause trouble day in and day out, out of curiosity for the world around him. He acted more like a child than the rest. It was how it was for a long time, Just me and Invention, watching over the five of them in our cave-hidden home. Stealing just what was needed to survive, and trying to find a way to clear our names.”
“Okay, Robin, Imma let you finish, but I just need to address one thing first,” I interrupted before turning to Victoria, leaning in close to examine her features. She leaned back a bit, uncomfortable at the sudden intrusion into her personal space, but held still all the same. “Un-be-lievable. Astonishing! Amazing!”
Victoria nervously looked over at Robin. “Uh...”
“You’re synthetic! Completely artificial! Not of flesh and blood, but of machinery! And not even digital, but gears and clockwork! You’re not just artificial intelligence, you’re artificial sentience! You’re a living robot! You’re… alive.”
Boris’s head cocked to the side. “Eh?”
Robin rolled her eyes. “Yes, they are quite alive. It’s mainly because of what I told you about how his consciousness split. With a fragment of a consciousness held within their machinery, they are completely conscious of their actions.” She smiled at Victoria as she glanced at her hands. “But the magic is definitely something new.”
She shook her head before clearing her throat. “I digress, the fact that they are machinery is what caused the source of our greatest and most terrible plight. As I said, Alex had a craving for adventure, and one day, he managed to get outside of the cave without us noticing.”
“Oh shit,” I muttered. “I can tell where this is going. Let me guess, his arrival wasn’t met with open hooves, was it?”
“We found him missing both his arms, and surrounded by five stallions.” Robin said evenly. “It... it was the first time I’d seen Invention willingly take another’s life.”
Boris flinched slightly as he looked away. “I... I remembered you and Dad coming home in a hurry... and you had locked the work room... I didn’t know that...”
Robin’s eyes widened as she looked over at him before pulling him closer into a hug. “It’s alright Boris. We... we didn’t want to scare you or your sister.” She looked back over to me and continued. “After we brought Alex home and repaired his arms, he became distant and depressed. Invention tired to help him out of his depression by having Alex help him build his latest project. He was planning on building a large mech as a peace offering to the princesses. It seemed to be working for a while, Alex was putting everything he had into the project, and smiling again. I should have noticed how he would scowl every time we flew near Canterlot in the airship, and how he was growing more hostile towards ponies in general.”
“Let me guess, he had his own plans for that mech, and it wasn’t to do the world’s largest robot dance,” I joked. I do that sometimes, make horrible jokes about things I can’t change. It helps remind me that sometimes we just have to learn and move on.
Robin frowned. “The cruelest anger, is always the anger of a child. The machine was originally designed to have a magitech power core. Something that we had only just managed to perfect on a larger scale. The day after we had finished all but the main powercore of the machine, Alex somehow stole the mech, and rampaged through the countryside. He ended up killing over half the population of the small towns that originally resided in those plains alone.
Invention tried to reason with him. He had gotten onto the machine and from what he told me... it was empty of any pilot. He was forced to flee or the machine would have killed him as well. When he arrived back onto the ship, we realized we would need something large to destroy the machine. So we overcharged the powercore, supersaturating it in my magic, before altering it into a bomb. Before we could do anything with the bomb, however, Boris... jumped off the ship, and towards the mech.”
Boris shook slightly in her grasp, as he tried to listen to what had happened.
“Before he even reached the machine, Boris was sent into a cliff face by one of it’s arms, and his body shattered. Invention barely saved his consciousness, by putting the crystal that fueled his body in a makeshift compression chamber. Afterwards, he had gotten back to the ship and he was... livid does not begin to describe. When we detonated the bomb on the machine, It fell apart and a catastrophic wave of magic was sent in every direction, and... Alex’s body was found fused with the original location for the powercore. The wave of rampant unfocused mana reached our ship, and began to funnel back into it’s original source, my remaining mana, and I fell into a waking coma from the overload that was forced onto me. All the ponies who were close enough to my magical signature, had their magic and consciousnesses absorbed into the magical shockwave, and I could feel all of them piling into my very being.
While I felt all this, Invention had believed me to be dead, and I am certain I must have looked the part. He had brought the ship down near the caves that you had fought me in, and laid me down. That was the last I saw of Invention. But the piling minds were continuing even after he left. They all kept tangling and slamming into each other. It was this that lead to my body becoming the monster you fought, and the mind of Chrysalis to be born.” Robin stopped her tale and looked at me. “And it is because you defeated me, and prevented me from bringing harm to two who I care deeply for, that I thanked you upon my defeat.”
I just sat there trying to process everything as Robin finished her tale. It was just so unbelievably tragic. As much as I loved the ponies of Equestria I had to admit they had one major flaw: many of them were predisposed to fear, just like most herd animals, and there’s no greater fear than fear of the unknown. And of course, one of the responses to fear is aggression, to just destroy whatever it is that scared you. I sighed. Thousands, maybe millions dead, the creation of the Changelings, all because a group of ponies got scared of a child that was just curious.
Robin’s thankful smile fell into a worried frown as she took a step closer, briefly letting go of Boris to do so. “Gilgamesh? Are you alright?”
“I just… I guess I’m just feeling guilty. Like I got let off easy somehow… In my version of Equis, things are nowhere near this bad. This history of that world, or at least the time when I was there, wasn’t so… ridiculously tragic. It’s starting to get more dangerous, sure, but at least the things responsible for making it so aren’t as morally grey as they are here. My enemies are just straight up evil.”
Robin sighed in agreement. “Not every villain has ill intent. That was something Invention would say quite often to himself, when he’d see a wanted poster for either of us. Beings of darkness, such as the demons of tartarus, and monsters of the void, they are embodiments of Evil. But the hearts of all living beings have darkness in them, and yet they will also have the Magic born from Light.”
“If only it was so easy to convince others. But then again, as they say, nothing worth doing is easy.”
Robin actually laughed at that. “No, no it is not.” She sighed as she laid down next to Boris. “I just hope, that 1500 years of being imprisoned in stone has not done too much damage to Invention’s psyche... and possibly healed whatever wounds Celestia has upon her heart. Though personally, I believe what we should be more worried about is the remaining changelings in the world seeing as it may be a more... immediate problem.”
“What do you mean by that? And you said ‘remaining changelings’? You mean there are others than the ones in the cave that went poof?”
“Unfortunately. I was their Queen, I guided them, I made them deceive and harvest others. But now, without me as their guide, their intelligence is almost completely gone, but their aggression and need to feed isn’t.”
Everyone else in the room immediately realized what she meant.
“Well shit,” I muttered. “I don’t suppose there’s an easy fix for that?”
Robin sighed as she sank her head into her forelegs. “No. No there isn’t. I just wish I could give a warning, anything, to stop what I know is most likely happening this very instant.”
“Hm… You know, I think I can help with that,” I replied.
Robin looked curious as her head lifted from the ground. “What do you have in mind?”
“I’d like to act as a liaison between Invention and this version of Celestia, and even get word about the changelings to her while I’m at it. I doubt she’ll be willing, but no matter how much her emotions get the better of her she usually is open to talking. And if she doesn’t,” I chuckled. “I can beat her down and make her be willing to talk.”
Robin’s ears fell back as she grimaced in worry. “I’m... I’m not sure...”
Victoria walked over to the unicorn’s side and sat down. “Robin?”
There was a moment of silence before the emerald mare sighed. “I’m sorry Victoria. I’m just not sure how we could do this and not cause a panic.” While her reasoning sounded solid, I couldn’t help but feel that she was hiding something.
Boris sat up and looked over at me. “What if me and Vicky go with you? You’d look a lot friendlier if you had kids with you, right?”
"Hm..." I pondered for a moment before coming up with an idea. "I have a plan. But first, we need to head to your airship to see your father and get his permission. And if you won't come with us, Robin, then I think you'd better head to Ponyville for safety. Pinkie will take care of you. Although, we may need to work on your modern linguistics if you don't want to stand out."
"So, what are you thinking?" Victoria asked.
I smirked. "Sometimes, it's all in how you make an entrance."
(Highwind)
Highwind could feel just how intensely his eye twitching. He wasn’t mad at the duo though, he was more mad at himself and the circumstances. They were actually doing as they were told, professionally no less, and that’s what screwed us up enough for a foreigner to notice that we were guards. How the buck is it that when things go my way they still don’t go my way!? I mean, how- GAH, I CAN’T EVEN GET MY THOUGHTS STRAIGHT!
As the four entered the Guard Station, Whirlwind looked over at Highwind in concern. “Hey, you alright?”
Highwind’s head slowly turned to face him and he gave the somewhat disturbed pegasus a forced grin. “Just... peachy.”
Sterling Mind cleared his throat before he stepped away from the group to give them a polite bow. “I thank you for bringing me here. Now I hope I can just get a message through...” He paused and looked around. “How exactly do you send a message from here?”
Highwind pointed off to the Captain’s office. “Just go and talk with the Captain. He’ll be able to help you from here.”
“Of course. Yes, thank you very much,” he thanked again before heading over to the older stallion’s work room.
“So, what now, sir? Back to work?” Ironside’s asked.
Highwind looked at the clock. “No, it’s too late. No point trying to find things without shadows at night. We’ll turn in and get up bright and-”
Highwind stopped when he noticed a mare near the entrance was beginning to shake, like she’d suddenly been hit with electricity before falling over. One of the privates rushed over to help her. “Ma'am? Are you all right?”
And that’s when all Tartarus broke loose.
The private cried out in shock as the mare suddenly lunged at him, bursting in flames as she soared through the air. The sound of flesh being rent from his throat mixed with terror filled choking was all that could be heard as the flames engulfed the both of them. When the flames died down, a changeling was all that could be found of the mare, and was now mauling and tearing into the unfortunate private’s neck. All of the guards in the immediate vicinity stood in shock and fear at the sight of the private being devoured. One lieutenant snapped out enough to blast the changeling off of the private’s body, sending it flying into the far wall and causing a large dent in the drywall.
The changeling narrowed its eyes and hissed at the lieutenant, but before it could get up, Highwind was already sending his spear through it’s head, killing it instantly and sending green icor onto the tile floor. He turned to look at the guards around the room, but his attention was soon drawn towards the sounds of screaming from outside.
“What in Tartarus was that!?”
Highwind ran towards the main offices, yelling at the guards he passed along the way. “Changeling attack! Code Green! This is not a drill!” Guards scattered through the building and an alarm was set off from somewhere else in the building. Highwind turned into the Captain’s office and stopped just next to the desk. Sterling Mind was leaning on the far wall, looking shaken. The Captain was standing over the corpse of another changeling, this one wearing the remains of guard armor. The green icor was clinging to The Captain’s hooves as he walked over to Highwind. “Captain, I’m sure you’re already aware.”
For having so much chaos break out around him and having just killed, the old soldier was impressively calm to an almost terrifying degree, even for one of his position. It was if the old perverted stallion had been replaced by his much more serious twin. “That I am. Have the guards been mobilized?”
“Yes sir.”
“Then I have a task for you and your team.” The Captain got up from his desk and walked over to a glass cabinet that held a suit of armor along with a large sword. “I am tasking you with protecting Ambassador Sterling Mind, and getting him out of the city to Canterlot.”
Highwind stepped forward as he looked at the captain in surprise. “But sir, we need all the guards we can out there!”
“I understand that Highwind,” the captain put on the helmet fromt the armor rack and looked over, “but understand this. Sterling Mind’s safety is high priority due to his status as an ambassador. If he were to be harmed on Equestrian soil it would lead to a political nightmare that would devolve into war. What’s more, is that he has a message for Celestia that our ‘messenger’ was about to send before I had to smash his skull in.” By this point, he was wearing all of his armor and was pulling the sword from its resting place. “I’m trusting you with this, because according to your records you’re one of the best.” He turned and hefted the large blade across his shoulder, the size seeming just barely too large for him to have been able to handle. “The rest of the Manehatten guard will deal with these pests.”
Highwind hesitated for a moment before nodding. “Yes sir.” He looked over at Sterling Mind and nodded to the door. “This way, quickly!” Sterling hastily got up and followed Highwind out of the door. The two of them ran out into the lobby and found Whirlwind and Ironsides both in armor and grabbing weapons. A spear for Whirlwind and Ironsides was wielding thick metal guards over his hooves. “Whirlwind, Ironsides, I have our orders.”
“‘Orders’, sir?” Ironside’s asked.
“We are to safely escort Ambassador Sterling out of the city.”
“WHAT!? IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS!?” Whirlwind shouted in disbelief.
Highwind nodded grimly as he glanced out the door and saw a blast of magic fly by. “We don’t have much of a choice. Every moment here puts an ambassador at risk, and that could cause problems for Equestria as a whole.”
“He’s got a point,” Ironsides agreed.
“Ugh… fine, I get ya,” Whirlwind conceded. “Better not be dead weight,” he muttered.
Sterling jumped and started to fumble around his coat before pulling out a small dagger. “T-This is all I have. I-It’s cerimonial more than anything, but...”
Highwind started for the door with his spear held in a telekinetic grip. “Just stay with us, and keep up. It’s at least an hours travel to get to the edge of the city, and it’s going to be Tartarus the entire way.” Stopping at the doorway, he looked back at the others. “Ready?”
“A-As I’ll ever b-be, I suppose.”
Highwind then pressed a hoof to the door. “On my mark.” Whirlwind and Ironsides both prepared to charge out. “GO!” The four of them ran out into the city and were engulfed into the chaos outside.
He almost couldn’t believe his eyes. Everywhere Highwind looked there were guards fighting off changelings or civilians running for their lives.
“Let the other guards save the civvies, we’ve got our own tasks!” Highwind ordered as he stabbed one changeling through the mouth and out the back of its head. As he shook it off he fired a spell at another.
For longer than they thought it would take, the three guards fought their way through the streets and buildings. Eventually, they began to come closer to the edge of the city and Highwind shouted back to the others. “We’re almost there!”
Another changeling came from an alley and was bucked by Ironsides, smashing it’s side open and leaving it crippled. “They just keep coming!”
There was only one obstacle left between them and getting free of the infested city. While most would take the train, those traveling by foot had to cross the Hooflyn Bridge.
A bridge that was now covered in changelings.
“Oh Luna, we’re screwed,” Whirlwind muttered.
Highwind glanced at his spear for a moment before looking at the others. “Keep close to the Ambassador. I’ll take care of this.”
“Sir? Just what do you think you’re doing!?” Ironsides asked.
“Hey, this is no time for sacrifices!” Whirlwind shouted.
“‘Sacrifices’? You’ve got it wrong, Whirlwind, I’m coming out of this alive.” Taking the spear in his telekinetic grip, Highwind crouched and both his spear and horn began to shine. “It’s time I showed you just what a Highwind can do.” It’s time I showed them all.
In a frightening burst of speed, Highwind shot forward into the mass of changelings spear first. Bodies flew off to the side from the sheer force of his assault, before he reared up on his back hooves and gripped his spear. In a flourish of slashes, Changelings were being dismembered around the soldier. One jumped from behind and attempted to bite at his neck, only to be hit with the blunt end of the spear and sent into another changeling.
Highwind lit up his spear again and looked over to the side of the bridge. In a flash, he charged over to the edge and landed on the railing, before lunging again to the other side of the bridge. Each attack sending more changelings to their demise in the water, either whole or in pieces.
Ironsides, Whirlwind, and Sterling Mind just stared in fascination, not knowing if they should admire the display or be horrified by it.
“Holy hay. Captain Shining Armor, eat your heart out,” Whirlwind muttered.
“Prince Shining Armor,” Ironsides corrected, no less stunned.
Sterling mind glanced behind them and blanched. “Um... as impressive as the lieutenant's abilities are... could we please start moving?” Changelings had spotted them from down the street, seemingly attracted to Sterling by proximity.
“Oh the hay with it, CHARGE!” The pegasus shouted, flying after his superior, his spear held ready.
Highwind finished impaling a changeling to the ground before looking over and seeing Whirlwind flying over to him. He then swung himself up off the ground with his spear and up above the pegasus, holding his spear out for him to grab. Whirlwind grabbed onto the spear and swung upwards, sending Highwind up into a changeling that was attempting to dive bomb the two of them.
As he landed on one of the bridge supports and slid down he saw Whirlwind fly low enough to grab Ironsides and hurl him into a group of changelings, bucking one in the head and collapsing its neck with a sickening crunch before the force sent it into the others and scattered them like bowling pins. He quickly leaped from one fallen enemy to the other, stomping on their heads and destroying them before they could recover, while Whirlwind kept any flying enemies away from him. The Ambassador followed not to far behind the two as they cleared a path.
I’ll be damned. They can actually do their jobs, Highwind thought. Spotting more changelings coming from the other side of the bridge, he lit up his spear again and lunged over to the middle of the bridge.
He landed at an angle and ended up sliding for a moment before skidding to a stop. His spear hovered next to him and began to spin as the glow intensified. Come on... The swarm of changelings grew as they came closer to the lieutenant. Closer... Highwind’s horn began to brighten as well as he narrowed his eyes. Closer...
The lead changeling of the swarm was ten feet away when Highwind’s eyes widened. NOW! With a roar, Highwind sent his spear flying forward, the air around the head swirling and slicing through the changelings it passed. Highwind’s horn flared as he sent a wave of magic after the spear, buffering the air further and clearing the changelings and debris from the bridge.
He stood there panting heavily after the air settled. His spear came crashing down next to him, giving him something to lean on as he turned to head off of the bridge. “I hate doing that...”
“Sir!”
Highwind turned to face his comrades, noticing the lack of any live changelings in front of them.
“Path’s clear! Let’s get the hay out of here before more show up!” Whirlwind pleaded.
Highwind nodded and started to slowly walk over before looking at Ironsides. “I’m going to need a bit of help moving. That last spell took it out of me.”
“Absolutely, sir. It’s times like this I’m glad I’m an earth pony,” Ironsides replied, hoisting the unicorn onto his back with barely any hindrance.
Highwind looked over at Whirlwind. “Until I’ve rested up, you’re in charge.”
“Absolutely, sir! Come on, Ambassador, let’s move!” he ordered before flying up to keep a lookout as he led. Highwind began to close his eyes as exhaustion caught up to him, adrenaline finally beginning to wane.
At least I got to work off some stress... heh, I can’t believe I’m trusting that tail-chasing fool. I must be desperate.
(Invention)
When I had arrived back at the ship, the sun had already set for almost and hour. I was able to see Steve and Ed both heading back as well after another five minutes. From the looks on their faces, we had each failed at finding a trace of the two. “I’m sorry Captain.”
I paused to take a deep breath before looking over the ship. Two days of work had barely made even a dent of progress in repairing her. “It’s... alright Ed.” I frowned as I mulled over the situation, finding the more important and key problems in everything. “It seems we’ve come to quite the problem. I have only twenty eight more days to leave the country, the ship is in too horrendous a state to fix in time, and worst of all, Boris and Victoria are missing.” Steve and Ed both looked away for a moment, and I looked over to the mountains off in the distance, seeing the lights from Canterlot glisten on it’s side. “I don’t like it, but I can’t rightly think of many other options on where to go from here. And the ones I can think of worry me.”
Steve looked up at me in confusion. “Sir?”
I looked over at the two of them sternly. “Steve, Ed, I need you two to stay with the ship incase Boris and Victoria show up. I’m heading for Canterlot.”
“WHAT!?” The two of them gaped at me before Ed spoke up. “B-but Captain, why can’t we just fix up The Gilgamesh? Boris and Victoria might show up while we work!”
I shot a brief glare to Ed and scowled. “Because it would take too long. It would take us far longer to fix the ship and look for Boris and Victoria at the same time. If I can go to Canterlot and commandeer a ship for us, we can spend more time looking for the kids and waste less time fixing this one.” I looked over the side of the ship and sighed. “As much as it pains me, we have very few options with my current status in Equestria being as it is. We need to get out of the country as fast as possible.”
Steve looked over at the forest for a brief moment before looking at me in disbelief. “But sir, we can’t just leave the kids!”
I slowly looked over at Steve, and he flinched. “What in God’s name, made you think I would even consider leaving them?” I took a deep breath before continuing. “But if we can not find them within at least the next twenty five days, I may have to. My banishment starts on that twenty eighth day, and it will at least take three to make it by airship to the border of Equestrian territory in one of the lower class ships.” I pointed over to the ship as I started to walk to my motorcycle. “That is why, I’m having you stay here while I find us a ship. You know where the radios are, so contact me if any information comes in on Boris and Victoria.”
“Yes Sir!”
“Aye Captain!”
With that, I got onto my motorcycle and started back for the town I had found before. If I remembered correctly, during my little chase through the town, I had spotted some train tracks.
(Jenny)
Spike walked calmly into the library’s main room, taking a deep breath and letting it out in a relaxing sigh, despite being covered in grime. “At least one thing turned out good today. I got the whole afternoon to myself once I got away from those three.” He hopped up onto the couch and rummaged between the cushions until he pulled out a comic book. “Never thought I’d be thankful for tree sap.”
A purple flash sparked from the middle of the room and knocked Spike off the couch in surprise. Six mares and one human immediately appeared. Twilight turned and saw Spike, immediately looking at him with disapproving eyes.
“Spike, you’re filthy! You know better than to walk around the library like that!”
The young drake growled in frustration before sighing, there was little chance of getting through to her in this state. “So where they hay were you all when you left me to get tortured?”
“Spike, language!”
Spike just threw his arms up and started for the stairs. “That’s it. I give up. I’m taking a long bath, and not coming out for a good two hours.”
“What’s his deal?” Rainbow asked.
“Uh, maybe it has to do with those little fillies you left him with?” Jenny suggested. Fluttershy blushed a bit as she hid behind her mane and whispered out an apology. “So anyways.... what now?”
Applejack adjusted her hat before pointing over to the door. “Well, I reckon we all skedaddle back home. Ah still need ta harvest a lot of the orchard and Big Mac’ll need a hand.”
Pinkie just bounced past the farmer as she headed for the door. “I’ve got surprises to plan for, so I’ll see you in the morning!~”
As soon as she exited Jenny, turned to Twilight and asked, “She’s planning a party, isn’t she?”
“Probably.”
“I find it somewhat terrifying that I’m getting accustomed to her, considering how little time it’s been since I met her.”
“It’s Pinkie, darling, It would be for the best that you get used to it,” Rarity added. “Now if not too much trouble, I need to check on Sweetie and wash up.” A small shudder ran across the unicorn’s spine as soot clung to her hooves. “I’ll see you dears tomorrow.”
Jenny waved her off, and did the same for Fluttershy when she saw her following Rarity out of the building. “See you later.”
“What about you, Rainbow?” Twilight asked.
“I wanna know about this ‘Gilgamesh’ you were talking about. What’s he like?” she asked Jenny.
“Well… first of all, I’m only talking about the character, I don’t know about that Gilgamesh.”
“Huh? But didn’t you recognize him?”
“Well, like I told Twilight, I’m dressed up as Beatrix, and I know a lot about her. But we’re not the same person, so if someone were to tell you about her they wouldn’t necessarily be talking about me.”
“Yeah, I guess I can get that, but maybe you can give us some idea.”
“Well, it’s kind of complicated. Um, Twi, can you get us some tea or something?”
“Sure! Go ahead and talk, I can hear you from the kitchen,” she said before trotting off.
Jenny gave Twilight a thankful smile before she took a seat on the couch and started. “Well, you see, despite all of the games being sequels to each other, all the Final Fantasy games are technically their own stories, complete with their own settings that vary between each one. For example, the first Final Fantasy has your typical high fantasy setting, stone castles, magic spells, knights and demons, that sort of thing. Final Fantasy VII, on the other hand, has coal powered trains, giant laser cannons, gasoline powered cars, even rocket ships, but still has swords and magic at the same time.”
Rainbow nodded a bit as her grin grew when Jenny said ‘giant laser cannons’. “Well, that first one sounded kinda boring, but seven sounds pretty cool!”
“Eh, they’re kind of all over the place. Anyway, Gilgamesh first showed up in FF V, he was the second in command of the main bad guy. Like I said, he was known for taking down whole armies by himself, but the main heroes could still defeat him, although it would probably still be a tough battle, unless you were overleveled which kinda would have made it boring to play. Despite being the number two bad guy, Gilgamesh really wasn’t all that evil, he just liked fighting. In fact he was actually pretty funny, making bad puns and even claiming that he forgot something important he needed to do and running off when he was losing.”
“That certainly sounds like an interesting character,” Twilight called from the kitchen.
Jenny nodded as she continued. “Yeah. He even becomes quiet and sad when he finds out that one of the heroes got killed during one of the moments that you encounter him. It showed how he was kind of getting attached to them. Eventually he fails so many times that the main villain, Exdeath, decides to banish him to another dimension.”
Rainbow winced a bit and leaned back. “Ouch. That’s harsh.”
Jenny nodded. “Well he was working for a villain. A rather classical capital ‘E’ evil, ‘take over and destroy the world’ kind of villain. Anyway, at one point the heroes travel to the same dimension he was banished to for the final fight and find Gilgamesh on the way there, who just wants to get out. They point him towards the exit and it looks like he leaves, but later during another fight with a powerful enemy, he shows up at the last second and sacrifices his life to save them.”
“He gave up his life to save his enemies?” Twilight asked, surprised, as she carried in the pot of tea and some cups to pour them into.
Jenny nodded as she took a cup and poured herself some of the tea. “Like I said, he’d gotten attached to them. Even makes a heroic speech, giving the four heroes motivation and telling them not to give up before rushing at the enemy and blowing himself up.”
“Holy hay! He blew himself up!? Hardcore!” Rainbow exclaimed, admiration clear in her eyes.
“But here’s where things get interesting. Apparently, he got so popular with the fans, that the creators decided that he didn’t actually die. He ends up appearing in later games, maybe as optional fights or even summons to help the heroes fight. Now Final Fantasy has a few things that almost always show up, whether it be these large bird things you can ride on called Chocobos, or even having some guy named Cid in every game, usually some kind of inventor. Gilgamesh doesn’t show up in all of them, but in the one’s he does show up it’s heavily implied that it’s not another guy named Gilgamesh, it’s actually the same guy.”
“But wait, didn’t you say all the Final Fantasy games are different universes?” Twilight asked. “How could it be the same one?”
“The idea is that he’s been hopping from dimension to dimension, looking for worthy opponents, new weapons, and the legendary sword Excalibur.” Jenny took a sip of tea and pursed her lips. “It kinda fits with the whole Multiverse Theory that’s been tossed around a bit back in my home world.”
“So he’s a warrior that travels to entirely different universes for weapons and fights? That’s awesome! I’ve got to meet this guy!” Rainbow said excitedly.
“Well, like I said, this probably isn’t the Gilgamesh, just a guy dressed up like him… and with his powers… and who acts a lot like him,” Jenny explained, her argument suddenly seeming weaker as she continued. Oh god I hope it isn’t the real deal and he thinks I’m actually Beatrix. I can’t fight and I don’t wanna diiiiiiiiiiiiiie.....
Twilight looked at her hooves for a moment before smiling up at Jenny. “Well, then we’ll have to wait and see. Though, it’s not like we’ll just be able to find him like we found the changeling hives. I was only able to track them thanks to that sample you and Rainbow found.”
“That doesn’t mean he can’t find us! I wonder if Pinkie can tell if he’s coming?” Rainbow Dash thought aloud, looking extremely excited.
Jenny just looked over at Twilight with a raised eyebrow before scratching her cheek. “Well...”
Rainbow got up and started heading for the door. “No time to talk! I need to find Pinkie!” Without another word, the rainbow mare shot out of the library, leaving Twilight and Jenny alone again.
The unicorn mare sighed. “I swear, sometimes she’s just a foal,” she said with a smile.
Jenny looked at the tea for a moment before pondering out loud. “Is it just me, or have we been in this situation before? The two of us talking over tea.”
Twilight paused for a moment before chuckling to herself. “Yeah, I guess so. Then again, it’s not a bad thing to repeat, is it? It certainly nicer than what usually happens around here.”
The young woman looked over at Twilight for a moment before shrugging. “Well, I’m going to get some sleep. Today has been...” She paused and waved a hand as she tried to find the right word. “Eventful.”
Twilight chuckled. “You think today was eventful? The first day I came here I was stuffed full of apple treats by Applejack, smashed into by Rainbow, thrown a surprise party by Pinkie, and then I found out I was right about a thousand-year-old evil coming back and then found out that me and the ponies I had just met that day were destined to wield one of the greatest magical forces in the world and be the best of friends. On my first day.”
Jenny’s jaw had fallen about halfway through Twilight’s response, so she just shook her head and downed the last of her tea. “Okay, you have me beat. I’ll see you tomorrow morning Twilight.”
“Goodnight, Jenny. You can have the guest room again if you want, I still need to wait for Spike to get out of the bath so I can send Celestia a follow up report about what happened.”
“Thanks Twilight!” Jenny called from the stairs as she made her way up to the bedrooms. Going down the small hallway that lead to the guest room she’d stayed in last night, Jenny quickly got inside and started to pull off her armor.
As she did so, her mind began to wander. Today was so... intense. First it started all normal, then the next thing I know, I’ve run possibly several miles over the course of the day, stalked through supposedly infested caves, and... had that constant feeling something was off.
Her gaze moved to the armor pieces she’d set down next to the bed. It... It came so naturally too. I used to be so indifferent back home.
She got under the cover and fluffed her pillow before lying down.
So why am I jumping at the chance to help fight?