//------------------------------// // Chapter 8; The aftermath // Story: A Leon, Luna, and Eddy side-story; Final Fantasy IV adventure // by Fireheart 1945 //------------------------------// "Uuuuuuuuuuuuugh..." The first real sensation to reach him was pain. His back ached, badly. I'm... I'm... Cecil? No... no, that's not right, my name is... Leon. Yes, that's right. Leon. He opened his eyes. His hands were under his face, almost as though he had decided to simply take a nap. What happened...? In a rush, his memory came running back. The village burning. The girl. The giant. The earthquake. The earth swallowing him. "Okay, that was the worst experience I've been through... ever." He pushed himself up, off the ground. That was when he looked toward the west. Just a short distance away was a mountain range; he was currently standing in a small clearing. There was no sign of a village, burning or undamaged. Trees surrounded the clearing, though about fifty feet to the east, there was a gap in the trees, from which he could leave. "Hey Ed, pretty bad earthquake, huh?" There was no reply. "Come on, Ed, come out of hiding. I know you're just waiting to jump out and surprise me." Leon looked around. There was no sign of his companion... only the green-haired girl who had summoned the giant. He jumped, but the girl wasn't in any position to attack him. In fact, she was lying unconscious on the ground a few feet away. "What happened? We were in the village, and then the girl summoned this monster, so how did I end up here?" He sat down, took out the backpack, which, along with his armor and weapons emerged unscathed. "Right, a few potions, some life potion, healing potions... ah, Dwarfbread. How did I use this..." He stopped speaking as he again saw above the clouds, with the names of towns all over the world displayed. The villages mist was just to the west, shut off from him by a range of mountains that hadn't been there before. Yikes! Note to self; never piss this girl off EVER again! She has the power to summon a giant monster that can collapse entire mountain ranges. After he got over the shock, he looked for towns nearby that he could reach. There was only one, and that was Kaipo. Of course, he'd have to cross a small desert to get there... "Oh, joy. Can I take this crap off?" He tried taking off his armor. It refused to budge. "Nope. Looks like I'm going to be a sweating machine for the next little while..." Leon walked toward the opening in the trees. As he did so, he passed the girl again. He stopped. No... I really don't see... Come on, she'll most likely kill me the first chance she gets! His conscience was stronger than his reluctance, though. And maybe I don't have a choice. He tired to walk out of the clearing. He was unable to; all of a sudden, he ran into an invisible barrier. He tried hitting the barrier with his sword; the sword passed through the barrier as though it didn't exist, but it refused to allow his hand passage. "Right, I guess that solves that issue." He walked back over to the girl and picked her up. She weighed surprisingly little. "Alright, this won't be as bad as I thought it would be. But we still have to cross one blasted scabland of a desert." He walked with her over to the opening again, and this time there was no resistance. He was able to walk through the trees into the bright sunlight outside. Leon sighed. "Now for an arduous trek across the Kaipo desert. Probably gonna be a monster or two on the way..." -------------------------------------- Luna breathed another sigh of relief when she saw that Leon was okay, but her worries came back when she realized that Edward was still missing. It can't be something to do with the story of the game, could it? That thought was unpleasant; it meant that she had little idea of what would happen. She picked up the manual, hoping it would tell her something about the story. It told her about the prologue and about what had happened so far - along with useful hints about how to fight - but it suddenly went blank. "What?!" She went through the pages after that; again, nothing. All blank. 'Oh, you've got to be..." She tried to resist using a curse. "...fracking kidding me," she finished after a moment. She felt like burning the useless manual, and was in fact about to do so when she noticed something about the first blank page; it was gradually filling, as though it were just being printed. "Wait..." She looked at the screen, where Leon-Cecil was battling two moths and a couple imps. He beat them easily, whereupon he continued toward Kaipo. She trained her eyes back on the manual. Sure enough, a few words began to form, as well as the pictures that should have been there anyway. "The manual fills in as you play?" Even she had to admit, the level and complexity of such magic was great. Something similar had happened with the comic the gang had been sucked into; after it had been read - and acted through - once, it retained the words and the pictures, even if it was read after the first read-through. In essence, though, the manual was still useless to her right now. She had to heavily resist the urge to burn the book and instead set it down. Maybe something useful could turn up later. So far, Leon was making mincemeat of the enemies he was facing, none of which, even in numbers of four or more, were able to best him. He didn't bother using the Dark Wave attack again, though, and for good reason. They did land hits on him, but he was able to heal the damage. She hadn't considered how the characters in the game looked until just now. She had to admit that 8-bit Leon-Cecil looked cute, in an adorable kind of way. From what she had seen of the dialogue, Leon and Edward had considered themselves to be in a three-dimensional world. That would make sense for the game editors, she realized. Ponies wouldn't have liked becoming 8-bit people in a fictional world. The image on the screen probably couldn't be made 3D, and considering that this was an edited version of a translated game, there were probably limits to how far the programming could be further stretched. Leon kept commenting on hot how it was outside. At one point, he wondered whether the sun ever set on the world. Apparently, real world physics still largely applied, including things like temperature and gravity. She wondered whether the characters in the game would have pre-set responses, or would have an intelligence of their own. The doors of the room opened. Luna turned to see Twilight and her friends, along with several unfamiliar ponies and five Royal Guards, walk into the room. "Princess," " Twilight said, "we brought the game editors!" "That's great!" She turned back to the TV. "Just a little longer, my friends, I promise..." she whispered. ------------------------------------------------- Leon walked into Kaipo, thoroughly exhausted. The hot sun and the sand were really getting to him. The various monsters he'd had to kill hadn't made it any easier. He sat down by the entrance for a moment, the girl lying across his lap. "Phew. This monster-fighting business might be lucrative, but it's not easy. Of course, I might be in better shape if I actually went to the gym down the way like Mom suggested." He looked down at the girl, who was quietly lying there. She was breathing, so she wasn't dead. However, she wasn't conscious, either. How does she even have green hair? Is it dyed or something? He still felt like he was holding a nuclear bomb. That she could collapse an entire mountain range was still bugging him. He hoped she didn't try that in town; that would be catastrophic, to say the very least. After a moment, he stood up, picking up the girl again. The inn in town was up ahead, and that would probably be the best pace to get a bed. He walked in, the girl in his arms. He went up to the counter. "This girl needs rest immediately!" the innkeeper said upon seeing her. A little bland, but... "What? Money?" the man continued. "No, that's alright. Tonight's free. Get her to a bed!" "Thanks." Leon didn't know whether the man acknowledged that, but he felt that it was polite. He looked around, and saw beds to his left, so he went into that room and set the girl down on one of them. He sat down on the bed just opposite her. Oh man... I know this is a game, but, still, I killed her mother, and the whole thing felt real, even if it isn't. The girl groaned. She's waking up... hopefully, this doesn't become a disaster... The girl opened her eyes. She didn't get up, but looked around instead. She turned and saw him. She stiffened, but made no move to attack that he could see. Time to make amends... assuming I can. "Are you alright?" he asked. No answer. Should have seen that coming. Of course she's not going to answer the guy who just killed her mom. He put his right hand on his forehead and rubbed it, sighing as he did so. "I'm sorry. I didn't know that monster was controlled by your mom. I... don't know what I'd do if I had known, but... It was likely that if he and Eddy had known, that they could not have proceeded with the rest of the game, he realized. I would have been forced to do it anyway to get out. How... how do I...? The girl said nothing. "I know you can't forgive me yet - if ever - but that's all I can ask from you, I guess." Again there was no answer. All of a sudden, all the efforts of the day hit him like a sack of potatoes. "Ugh," he groaned. "I could go for some shuteye right about now. What about you?" The girl remained as silent as she'd been the entire "conversation." "Right." Leon sighed yet again and laid down. Surprisingly, the armor wasn't as awful to wear when in a bed, which made little logical sense, but even so, it was a nice touch. He yawned. "Good night." That was all he could remember before falling asleep. ---------------------------------------------- Celestia felt a sense of satisfaction as the editors entered the room. By now, it was over an hour since the game had started, and the night was dark. But perhaps some progress could be made. "Do you understand what we are all requiring from you?" she asked. The cream unicorn sighed. "Yes. You want us to get your friends out of the game." "and do you understand the penalties of not cooperating in every detail?" "Jail," the blue unicorn deadpanned. "Indeed, as well as fines and the shutting down of your company. Now, apply your skills and knowledge to the situation at once." The group of editors walked over to the console. The unicorns began using their magic on the cartridge, with the magic effect switching colors, from red to cream to blue and back again. The Princess could feel the magic at work. However, after about a minute, they stopped. "Hmmm," the cream unicorn murmured. "There seems to be some sort of magic blocking ours." "Isn't it of your own making?" "I... cannot be sure. Let's try again." Again, magic surged around the cartridge. In fact, the whole console glowed as well. However, suddenly the spell simply cut off. "What the...?" the blue unicorn gasped. "I can't say I was expecting that!" 'What happened?" 'We attempted to remove the magical blockade, but... it seems it has a mind of its own." "What?" Twilight said. "That can't be right. Magic doesn't just grow a brain." "I know. That's what's most puzzling. When we tried to pry it away, it counterattacked. Out of surprise, we canceled the spell." "But... magic can't do that," Twilight insisted. "It can't think for itself. Sometimes, forces of nature may have built-in self-defenses, and protective spells can be cast on something, but for a spell to just go and do what you described is simply impossible Somepony would have to be manipulating it." "Well, we'll try again," the red unicorn said. Sure enough, he and his companions did try again. This time, the glow slowly grew to encompass an area about two feet in diameter. However, it suddenly began to waver, and when the unicorns poured more energy into the spell, the light began to whip and lash about. With a sound like a real whip cracking, the spell faded from existence. "Now what?" "It seems the... thing we were battling really does have a mind of its own," the blue unicorn explained. Celestia was shocked to see how exhausted he and his fellow editors looked. No, exhausted wasn't quite the word for it. He looked more like a human soldier in some of the pictures she'd seen, the ones who had seen too much and were just staring off into the distance, staring through people and objects rather than at them. "It fought us. By your Royal Highness, it beat us." "How?" "It outthought us at every turn, it outmaneuvered us, it plain out-powered us," the red unicorn said. "It had more power than we did, and knew how to use it more effectively." "Can you think of any reason that could be? Perhaps a faulty spell, or the characters in the game gaining power?" "No, no, no, no, no," the cream unicorn said, though he looked the same as both his compatriots. "The spells we used on the game are similar to those used on the comics. I'm very sure it's not something faulty, and we placed limits on what the NPCs of the game, including bosses, could do; we made absolute sure of that in both comics and games. Its something else..." "Something sinister," the blue one said, to which his comrades both nodded. "Applejack, Twilight, do you believe they're telling the truth?" Celestia asked the ponies in question. "Well, ah don't know zip about magic," the orange farm pony began, " but ah don't think they're fibbin'... especially when they look like that," she added, pointing a hoof in their direction. "Okay then. Twilight?" "I... I don't know what to make of their story," the purple unicorn said, still showing surprise. "Magic can't just do whatever it likes, with the exceptions I stated previously. Unless..." Celestia frowned. "Discord!" Timmy's Dad suddenly poofed into existence. "You rang?" 'What the...? Luna gasped. "Oops," the dragonequus said, reverting to his usual voice. "Sorry. This guy is one of my favorite characters. All I have to do to create chaos is fix anything with a monkey wrench and boom! Water comes from out of nowhere!" Discord, still in the form of Timmy's Dad, flung out his arms at that last, with the wrench touching a chandelier. Water immediately drenched Celestia and Twilight, with Twilight's friends getting splashed. "Ugh..." Twilight groaned. "Ha ha... you should see your faces." Discord switched back to his normal self. "Anyway, you rang?" "Yes," Celestia said, shaking her head to get her mane out of her face, as well as to get some of the water out of her fur. "Apparently, the editors have hit some sort of magical block that seems to have a mind of its own." "And you thought I was responsible? Oh, how could you even think such a thing?" Discord said in a mocking voice - not that everything he said didn't usually sound mocking anyway. "Well, the only kind of magic that gets any sort of mind of its own is the kind you cause," Twilight said, also shaking her mane. "Oh pshaw. I would never mess with a video game, especially when there's so much chaos in them already!" With that, he floated over to the console and landed. "Hmm, this shouldn't be too hard to fix." He snapped his fingers. "After all, how much more pow..." He suddenly stopped mid-sentence. eyes opening wide. "Oooh, that's surprising," he said, which was shocking in and of itself; the dragoneqqus was almost never surprised by anything. "Oh, come now," he said, rising his hands above his head. The console was engulfed in rainbow-colored magic; in fact, it had dozens of colors. The magic began to flicker almost at once. "Ah, a feisty one aren't you?" Discord said, still looking surprised. "Well have some of this..." The magical glow increased, but continued to flicker. "Ugh," Discord groaned; he looked like he was really straining. "Come now, you insolent little thing..." Suddenly, the dragonequus' face turned to one of pure horror. "No... No! NO!" The magic collapsed completely. Discord leaned on the couch, panting slightly. 'What happened?" Celestia asked, concerned. Although Discord had caused problems and to spare in the past, he wasn't evil, and say what you could of him, but his magic was almost never used in a destructive way. "I... I... I'm not completely sure." Discord said, standing up fully. "But apparently, there's something in the game itself... something truly evil." "E...evil?" Luna stammered, not quite taking it in. "Evil as in...?" "As in nightmare-ishly evil. When that... thing beat me, the worst things I'd ever thought and dreamed about flooded my mind until it overcame my every defense." Discord wiped his brow. "I really need a sandwich right now." He snapped his fingers, whereupon a submarine sandwich appeared in his hand. Twilight was still standing in stunned silence. She broke that silence abruptly. "That's... how is it possible? The only explanation that even approaches logic here is that there's something alive in the game coding..." "Like you said," Celestia broke in, "that's the only theory we have that's close to logical. It's obviously something with a working mind, and it has intense power over mind and magic. And in order for it to have that power and thought process, it must be alive. We'll have to work out how this... object is able to operate." She grimaced. "I only hope we can figure this out before it can do anything to Spike, Leon, and Edward." "In that case, our mission might have become all the harder," Rarity pointed out. "How do we extract our friends without this thing doing any harm to them?" "And what if it tries to... do them in before we can rescue them?" Rainbow added. "Now, now, let's not panic," Celestia said sternly. "That won't do anyone any good. We'll apply everything we have available - our knowledge, our skills, our tools - to the problem. We will save them." "Or die trying," Luna put in. Celestia looked at her sister. Luna still appeared shocked, never mind horrified, at what had transpired, but a fierce determination was beginning to replace the other emotions. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that," she said after a few moments, hoping that nobody would end up paying the ultimate price.