//------------------------------// // 1 - Through the fire and the flames, we fight on! // Story: Upon the Sea of Sky // by Meep the Changeling //------------------------------// Genesis - 2nd of Leaffall, ‘09 EoH When Faust molded the world to her desires she left one part of its face cold and lifeless. The northlands are naught but cold, ice, and death as far as any eye can see. From the steppes of Cervidia to the tundra of the Griffon Kingdom, the icy planes of the Crystal Empire, and the frosty forests of Drake, all the northland is naught but death. Despite this, despite the lack of food, the cold, the monstrous creatures, ponies still lived here. The village of Farriar sprawled out before me in the typical lackluster way thestrals built their towns. Winding mazes of streets, buildings placed with no thought of defense or logic, the only things which mattered were their mine and their foundry. You could tell simply by looking at their village. Crumbling wooden structures, walls patched with blocks of ice, buildings built from rubble cemented together with more ice. Only their mine’s entrance, smithy, and foundry were built with any care for aesthetic architecture. Their buildings were not even camouflaged to blend into the edge of the dormant volcano they mined. It was just there, open for all of its squalor to see. The real shame was the village shouldn’t have been poor. This was one of the Griffon Kingdom’s secondary port towns. Plenty of trade came through this armpit of a village. All the gold went to line the pockets of the noble who owned it. His pockets would be much lighter soon. “Greyhound, ready your soldiers. We march in five minutes.” I ordered, my voice raspier than it had been a month ago. Curse that pink abomination’s lucky shot. If our organization could spare anypony of my power, I would have been executed for allowing that much Arcanite from falling into enemy hooves. Fortunately, our spies had found a second source, this pathetic village. Fortunately for me, my father was at last recovering from his defeat. My masters did not dare slay me for fear of angering him. I had a second chance, a rare thing for a Tribunal agent to have. I would not squander this opportunity, this time I would not use up all of my spells enjoying myself. There were still bigger fish in the sea. Fear, chaos, pandemonium, these were more potent weapons then the crude melee tools my hundred dogs carried. I fixed my eyes on the village’s smelter, a massive fire blazed beneath the vats of molten metal. I had it on good authority the Arcaneite was kept within the mine itself. It was safe to enact my plan. I pushed all my magic to my horn. I could feel the dark magic blazing within me like the roaring flames I beheld. “Erupt.” I ordered. The smelter exploded, a torrent of brilliant red flames shot a mile into the sky and molten metal rained from the heavens. I could taste the villager’s fear even from the side of the volcano as the steel rain shattered homes, fire trailing in the wake of surprise death. Within seconds the village was a glow of orange along a sea of white. I turned my head, grimacing as my mask slipped from the moment. There hadn’t been time to properly attach it to my face. Feeling the porcelain move across my skin was… unsettling. “Encircle the village. Slay anything which resists. When we have a line, and only when we have a line, move for the mine. I will retrieve the…” I blinked, completely unsure of what I was seeing. On the horizon, seemingly above the water, was a warship. It’s apparent flight had to be a trick of the light and water, but I knew of no marriage which would produce such an illusion. Some sailors must have spotted the fire, they could come and help. This complicated things. “Does anyone else see a ship out to sea?” I asked. The braying of the Dogs rang in my ears as if they were filled with bees. A hundred voices all saying a different version of yes all slightly out of synch. What I wouldn't have given to be issued three other Magus for this mission. “Right, new plan. All of you proceed as planned but more expediently, Grayhound, take your elites and secure the Arcaneite. I will hold off the crew of that ship. We will meet back at last night’s camp before returning to base. Understood?” Again, the braying assaulted my ears. Again, their answer was yes. “Charge!” I ordered, thrusting a hoof towards the village Lyra Heartstrings - 2nd of Leaffall, ‘09 EoH “This is more like it!” I exclaimed in delight as I threw a blazing crossbeam into a group of Diamond Dogs charging down the road. I had grown up in the single most boring reality, somehow certain our world held gates to a land of adventure where everyone was a cute pony with cool powers. I was totally right, except over the last seven years the adventure part had been pretty lame. A dog raised a crossbow. He fired. I dodged left, the quarrel zipped past my flank with a hiss. I fired a bolt of green magic. It streaked through the air, missing the Dog as he ducked behind a wall. I grinned and turned down an alleyway, resuming my sprint home. At last, proper adventure! I had arrived far to the south in a place called Ponyville. They had proper adventures there quite frequently. They also had a crazy purple alicorn who insisted on returning me to my home dimension. Also this universe's me lived there, and I mistook her Bon-bon for my Bon-bon. So I ran north to this boring armpit of a village. The building to my right exploded in a fireball. A visible rippling wave of heat blasted outwards, carrying the scent of scorched fur and charred meat. Somepony hadn’t made it out of that blaze. As fun as this was, there were real consequences for every moment of delay. I could make a real difference. I could save lives. I could be a hero. I just had to get home! A dog leaped from the shadows, blocking the alley in front of me. I formed a wedge shaped shield with my magic, put all the speed I could into my hooves and charged. There was a crunch, a scream, a sharp pinch at the base of my horn, and the Dog went flying. There weren't many unicorns this far north. I had to learn my magic from a few old textbooks, the few scattered mages I could find, and the methods the batponies here used to enchant their wares. I had made a nice, if boring, life here. The villagers could make items which would be magic, but they couldn’t perform the magic to give them the spark needed to work. I made a great living providing the spark of life to everypony’s inventions. I could see my home now, a small two story stone and ice cylindrical building. It was surrounded by fire, but was not yet aflame. Prefect! My life’s work was in there. I simply needed to cross the docks and get them. All around me ponies fled, buckets of water dropped in their panic, rolling about the docks. The Dogs had come from nowhere. Nopony knew how they did it but they had some how caused the smelter to explode. With the city ablaze our militia hadn’t noticed their approach. There had been no warning. A few of the miners were holding a loose line at the square in front of the docks. Pickaxes rang against armor, blades clashed, screams punctuated the roar of the flames. I was behind the Dogs. Excellent! I ran out into the middle of the docs, spun on my hooves, leveled my horn and fired a barrage of bolts. The crackling green balls of magic slammed into the Dogs. They howled, dropping to the ground. One of the miners gave me a wave of thanks before turning to run to the next fight. “Wait! They are just stunned! Finish them off!” I shouted over the roar of the fires before resuming my run. Ever since the Polar Bear attack three years ago, everypony in town had spent at least three months a year training with the town militia. The Dogs were pushing us back but were having a hard time of it. I knew exactly what would make up the difference. It was in my workshop. My house was only a few steps in front of me when a flash of light and thunderclap lit the whole area around me, whiting out the orange glow of the flames. I turned to look over my shoulder, dreading some form of artillery. It was way worse, but in a way better. Standing just before the docks, looking off into the setting sun was a unicorn, clad from head to hoof in black leather armor and a matching cloak decorated with silver runes. Black and purple energy crackled around her, left overs from a teleport spell which melted the snow from the cobblestones for twenty feet around her. A featureless porcelain mask covered her face, a red ruby set at the base of her horn. Only dark mages dressed like that. This meant the Dogs were not here just raiding, they were here for something, or maybe somepony. They had an objective goal besides killing us all. They could be stopped! You know, if the dark magic possessing obviously evil death mage could be stopped. I threw my door open, bolted inside, and slammed the door shut with my magic. I turned the corner, ducked around the tapestry on the wall, skidded around the second corner and shoulder checked my workshop’s door open. There she was, right on the workbench where I had left her, freshly cleaned from her first test run last weekend. I’m an arcane-engineer, say so right on my flank in two golden ancient Latigo runes. One reads ‘magic’, the other ‘machine’. My special talent was solving practical problems. For instance, how could I stop bimonthly raids from burning my home to the ground? The answer is a gun. Not just any gun, a five barreled, polished brass and chrome, arcane powered Gatling gun. It burned quartz crystals charged with unicorn magic to fire pink ribbons of magic death at a rate of one crystal per three hundred shots. That’s one crystal every five seconds. It takes me a week to charge enough crystals to fire for a whole minute. I call her Gretta. She’s the one link left to my former life. One crazy, over blown, totally Amareican death machine for the sake of making your enemies crap themselves and run. What? A mare’s allowed to keep one reminder of her favorite video game when she moves to another universe. I snatched Gretta’s harness from the table and slipped it over my shoulders and barrel. I hefted Gretta in my magic, reared up onto my hind hooves, clipped her into place on the harness, fastening the brass buckles as quickly as I could. I could smell my home beginning to catch fire. I ran a hoof over Gretta’s brass barrels to make sure they spun freely. It took my hooves, the harness, and my magic to keep her held up so I could shoot. But there was still more to go. I snatched my safety cloak from its peg on the wall and fastened the brown canvas cloak around my shoulders. The protection spell on it’s clasp should deflect minor damage, and maybe soak a hit or two from a spell. More importantly, the cloak itself was fireproof. Only a featherbrain worked in a foundry without fire protection. I picked up the last item I needed, a pair of brass goggles with thick amber lenses. The goggles did nothing besides offer a bit of eye protection, but a proper mare does not shoot a steampunk gun without the steampunk goggles. It’s against nerd law, which on Equis is sometimes also rule of cool. Most ponies would be crap at walking on their rear hooves. Fortunately I had been born in the totally wrong biped body instead of this one. I knew all the tricks to walking on two hooves, and easily made my way to my front door as smoke began to fill the room. I bit my lip and started to plan the best method to take out the mage. She was the biggest threat. I had a lot of firepower, but wasn’t very quick because Gretta was heavy. Surprise was my best chance. My cloak might take a hit or two before being useless. Maybe if I ran for the cover of some of the barrels on the docks I could get a defensive position and- Right, super mega death mage. Plans were probably irrelevant. “Ah screw it. I’m probably going to die anyways.” I sighed. “Alright Gretta, let’s do this.” I narrowed my eyes at the door and rushed forward. I squeezed Gretta’s trigger, a torrent of pink lightning bolts shattered the wooden planks, then sprinted through the shattered door with a roaring shout. “Lyyyyyraaaaa Heaaaartstrings!” Pine Sap - 2nd of Leaffall, ‘09 EoH Someponies call piracy a crime, I call it honest business. After all what is a crime? It’s breaking a rule set in place by somepony long dead whose socioeconomic policies you may or may not disagree with. Many of the modern companies take those laws set in place by dead ponies and twist them to get to do whatever they want with no consequence. I simply honestly and openly break those rules when I so desire. It’s not about freedom, or being true to one’s self, nor any other silly grand notion of self importance. For me, piracy is just business. There are goods, others want them, I get them, they give me money. Is it just about the money? Yes. So why piracy? Because Pine isn’t going to be a dirty cheating liar while collecting her money. What do you think I am, completely without any moral whatsits, what are they called, those moral things? Principals! I have principals. One of which is the right to rule is not hereditary, it must be earned by personal deed. Ruby lucked out in that I am happy as long as I am being paid. My loyalty is for sale, and at the moment nopony else can offer a better deal. Personal wealth, fame, fortune, and of course preventing the deaths of everything and thus the collapse of my business model. Plenty of other pirates would have plotted revenge, desired their captaincy back. Not me, I had a better deal than being merely the captain. I was the indispensable expert, and when we had a crew, the captain would take the blame for any mistakes. Not me. “Pine! Run out the guns and get us set up to fire a broadside. We can take out that knot of Dogs on our first pass.” the Captain called out from her position on the wheel. “Aye ma’am!” I called dropping from my position on the mizzen to fly through the hatch. Deploying the guns was a simple job. Optimally four crewmembers would do it, but one would work. I ran over to the large crank on the port side and gave it a spin. This deck’s guns slowly slid forward on their rails as the pulley system dragged them into place, chains rattling. Normally I would have had to load them first, but the twins said they made them just sort of work. I’d trust them on that once. If something went wrong, it wouldn’t be my fault. Which is why Ruby could count on me being loyal to her, Captain is not a desirable position on a ship of cut throats. First Mate or bosun was more then enough for this pegasus. As the gunports opened I could see the town ahead and off to the port side. I had stopped here several times before. It hurt to see the entire village ablaze. They were fairly nice people, they even gave us pirates the good rum when we came into port, and not because we threatened them too. Usually it was as a bribe to get them out of this shithole. The sea of fire blazing where the village normally was almost hurt to look at. I could feel the heat of the flames from here. I could see the occasional flash of spell fire in the orange glow. More importantly I could see the battle line of Dogs the captain had pointed out. They were arranged in a way to block one of the docks, and with their longbows they were keeping a small knot of thestrals from reaching a small skiff moored to the docks. That was simply needlessly cruel. The fire was more than enough terror to get whatever these Dogs wanted from the village. Preventing them from escaping was doing nothing to add to their advantage, hell since nopony was being let get away their infamy wouldn’t receive a benefit. “Oh bucking Tartarus.” I mumbled to myself. Only soldiers behaved like that. Some dickbag ‘I’m in charge because dead people said so’ wanted this village wiped from the map and the evidence swept under the rug. Scum. I snapped my wings open and flew above deck, hovering in front of Ruby. Pointing with one hoof to the chaos below I called, “Captain, the Dogs are soldiers of some kind. I recommend we open fire as soon as possible. They probably have heavier weapons than simple raiders.” She nodded, pushing her hat up to take a look at the village below better. A moment later her eyes opened wide in shock. “The fuck? Those look exactly like… I think I’ve fought these guys before.” A second later her face took on a grim expression, “Dose this village mine something called Arcaneite?” “I don’t think so… but that’s a volcano you could possibly find it here. Why?” I asked in confusion. “Some friends and I fought dogs that looked just like those ones in a mine a few weeks ago. According to slaves we freed they were after Arcaneite for-” A loud explosion, splintering wood, and the crackling of lightning erupted from the world below. A large line of pink light the plaza in front of the docks, washing out even the setting sun for a moment. “-a terrifyingly powerful mage. Right, keep circling the village’s perimeter and fire on anything you can safely hit that’s not a villager.” Ruby finished in a dark tone. She let go of the wheel. “The twins say you can just yell at her to fire and she will. I’ll be back when this is done… We need to make earrings with message cast on them or something.” Ruby snapped open her wings and flew towards the bow of the ship where the twins were. “Right girls, boss fight in the plaza.” “Sweet! I just finished enchanting a bracelet of Isaac's Sequencer!” I heard Risky exclaim in a way to eager tone. “If it’s who I think it is, she has a save or suck spell. So you know, hit hard and fast.” A second later and they were over the edge of the ship. For a moment I thought about sailing off into the sunset, my ship reclaimed as my own. I’m a big enough pony to admit that. But the thought slipped from my head a moment later. I grabbed the wheel with my hooves, turned to get a line on the Dogs at the dock and ordered, “Port cannons, fire!” The Enterprise lurched as the thirteen cannons unleashed… what appeared to be grapeshot rounds. I would have to tell the twins the ammo in the canons needed to be selectable. The dock’s shattered as the storm of tiny steel balls ripped through Dog, dock, and skiff alike. “Oops…” I muttered to myself. Ah well, at least the ponies would live now. “Luna’s mane!” Somepony’s voice exclaimed over the sounds of battle and the roar of fire. “That’s bucking awesome!” I couldn’t help but grin as I spun the wheel around to circle the village. A flying ship definitely opened up new business opportunities. Captain Ruby/Kaily - 2nd of Leaffall, ‘09 EoH As I jumped off the ship a part of my brain screamed ‘What the fuck are you doing?’ I still wasn’t quite used to being able to fly yet. Sixty feet below me I could see the ground rushing up fast. I snapped my wings open, instantly slowing to a halt and hovering. The twins shot past me like someone had tossed two bags of potatoes overboard. Poor things could barely fly, but I was reasonably sure they could reach the ground safely. As for me, I wanted to take in the situation. I spotted her just like I thought I would. Distinct black and silver cape fluttering in the wind, horn blazing black and purple as she readied a spell. I quickly looked around to see who she was attacking, only to have my brain seizes up at the sight of a green pony in a brown cloak with steampunk goggles brandishing an equally steampunk Gatling gun that was shooting pink lighting. “That is the single most awesome thing ever.” I whispered to myself out loud. Then a thought occurred to me. Some tropes seem to work in this universe, did that include rule of cool? I had to find out, and I knew just how I could do it. A few flaps of my wings brought me directly above Genesis. I tucked my wings against my sides, rolled over mid air, braced one hoof against the other and began a flying elbow drop. At the last moment I realized I needed a quip. “Hey Genesis!” I saw her tip her head upwards, I hoped some surprised expression was behind her mask. The ground rushed upwards like a train coming right at me. I needed a quip, something appropriate, something to test my theory, something heroic. “Snap into a slimjim!” Dammit! I slammed into Genesis squarely in her back. I felt something under and inside my elbow shatter at the same time. Dull pain radiated outwards from my arm, adrenaline dulling it as I rolled off the flattened mage’s back with a fire muttered hisses of pain. I reached for my magic, muttering under my breath before a few blue sparks of light danced around my elbow and the pain vanished. “So happy… bards… get… cure… light wounds.” I groaned turning around to start the fight properly. Genesis jumped back to her feet like a puppet on strings, roaring in pain. “Ahh! I will mount your head where your tail used to be!” she roared her six blades flying out from under her cloak. The twins sprinted around her to my sides. Risky barked a command word, her silver bracelet flashed white, a blue field of energy instantly pulled into existence, separating us from the enraged dark mage. At the same time a large circle of glowing white runes radiated outwards from Risky’s position, and her fur darkened, turning to iron. Lucky gave me a grin. “Nice try, but I think we need a Barbarian for that. Stick to Bard stuff!” Genesis threw her blades point first into the wall of force, their blades skipped off the surface in a shower of sparks. I saw her eyes narrow slightly behind her mask, then narrow even further. “Where did you get those powers from?” “Ironically, from the first time I fought you!” I said in a teasing, mocking tone of voice. I reared up on my hind hooves, slung my guitar off my back into my grasp. I gave a string a quick pluck, nodding as the distorted electronic tone confirmed that it had survived the fall. “Keep her busy while we read her.” Risky said with a grin her voice sounding distorted through whichever defensive spell gave her the metal coating. “Right!” Last time I had used any of my powers in combat, I had a whole different set of abilities. I wonder if your abilities change up every time you reincarnate or if how I was brought back specifically did it. Around me a million shadows flickered and danced in the light of the fire. I could feel each and every one of them as I held my guitar. I’d tried a little bit on the ship ride over, but could I actually- Pink energy streamed in from the left, slamming into Genesis, a crackling black barrier stopping the energy. Her hooves scrabbled on the ground as the sheer impact slowly pushed her to the left. I looked over in surprise, “Right! Steampunk gunner pony! Hey you! Get into the Circle of Protection!” Genesis turned and fired a bolt of helixing purple energy at the gunner, it warped mid flight, missing her by a hairs breath. The pony’s cloak’s clasp exploded in a shower of sparks which looked suspiciously like an electrical short. She started to move for the cover of our barrier, continuing to fire way too much high-voltage lightning. I struck a cord on my guitar, the sound echoed off the burning buildings, forming a disjointed, horrible sound which sent chills down my spine. As I played a second cord I saw the shadows stop moving. A third cord and the shadows twitched again, this time towards me. I bit my lip and focused on playing a good tune, it was hard enough to make a shadow dance, if I wanted one to fight I would have to be good. Evil mage, purple death magic, burning village, trying to save world. The only appropriate song I could think of was the theme to Thundercats. I focused on the song, letting my magic turn the memory of the song into hoof movements. I also focused on not thinking about how the hell I was pressing individual strings with hooves. That would fuck me up so hardcore. Genesis muttered a quick phrase and stomped her hoof. The cobble stones cracked, rippled, warped, and erupted in a line outwards, knocking the gunner pony over in a shower of rock fragments. A second word warped the air, a huge ball of fire wove itself from the air and slammed into the barrier, spinning against it, hungrily grinding, slowly shredding away the magical shield wall. “Thunderstomp and Flaming Sphere.” Risky noted. Lucky nodded slowly, “Yep, and a ray attack. She’s all physical force.” “You in the hat! Help us dammit!” the green pony shouted as she picked herself up. “I am!” I called back. Stupid subtle, takes time to warm up bard performances… Genesis’s blades scythed outwards, the green mare batted them aside with her gun, one sliced the hem of her cloak. “Ah! Fuck!” She cursed. “Adding a soundtrack doesn't actually help win a battle!” Shadows swam around the ground near my hooves. Everything was ready. “That’s not what I’m doing!” I called back. I switched up my tune, some theatrics wouldn’t hurt. My hooves strummed over the strings, the first bar of UN Owen was her?/Death Waltz surged through the shadows around my hooves. They arose as a pulsating mass of shadow, dull red flecks of magic pulsating in the formless mass as it exploded outwards, surging around the barrier and slamming into genesis’s invisible shield with a sound like cracking glass. “What?” Genesis exclaimed, a pulse of magic from her horn sealed the cracks in her shield. My song directed the shadow mass, it rose back up off the ground, solidifying into the shapes of two small dragons, just a little bigger than a pony. It was metal as fuck. So metal I stopped playing in awe and the shadows fell back into a formless mass. “Nevermind! Soundtracks help!” the minty mare called as she lay down a line of fire. I could smell the ozone coming from the general area she was firing from. It was awesome, but terrifying. “Right! Go!” Lucky shouted suddenly. Risky barked a phrase in what I swore was elvish, a faint shimmering globe of light enveloped lucky. Lucky snapped her wings open and zipped up to the top of the barrier. Genesis’s horn flashed, a series of black and purple balls of energy shot from her horn, hit the shimmering globe and simply winked out of existence. “Eat it!” Lucky commanded. The ground literally opened up, a gash in the cobble forming a beastly maw from which tendrils of earth lashed, snagging Genesis by the legs, dragging her beneath the ground in a panicked scream. In the same instant Risky pointed with one hoof to the terrifying earth maw and demanded something in more elvish. Lava pooled up from the gaps in the earth, forming a thin layer of molten rock over the area, which quickly cooled into a thick sheet of obsidian. The screams vanished, only the memory of the earth eating someone and the stench of molten rock remained. I let out the breath I had been holding and let my guitar drop to hang from its strap. “It took you that long to use what I assume was a drag them to hell move?” I asked shakily. “Didn't know if she would dodge it. She’s a mage, could have been something other than a blaster.” Risky replied. “It may not be over, that spell just traps them in solid rock. We need a few minutes to be sure she suffocates.” Lucy said, hovering above the obsidian field. “Wait a minute…” The minty mare asked curiously squinting at Risky, “Do I know you from somewhere?” Risky looked over, squinted at her and blinked in surprise, “Lyra? Holy shit! I knew you made it through the portal before they walled it off!” The minty pony, Lyra, took a step back, her jaw dropping open. “Risky? Oh my god it is you! Wait, how are you casting spells as a thestral?” There was a three second pause before she groaned, “Oh my god, you’re such a metagaming munchkin you gained magic powers you shouldn’t even have.” “Actually,” I said as diplomatically as I could, “We were given powers to stop an end of the world type disaster by a group of-” The obsidian shattered like glass as a huge hoof made of black and purple energy burst from the ground. A second smashed it’s way to the surface, a huge pony shaped bulk tore itself from the earth, sending cobblestones sliding down its sides like rubble. “Nice try!” Genesis laughed. Lyra whipped her gun up and fired a line of bolts. They crackled over the massive dark avatar's form, doing nothing I could see. “I don’t know what spell that is!” Lucky screamed in a panicked voice. “Don’t look at me!” Risky screamed equally panicked. Genesis raised one massive hoof and brought it down, smashing Lucky and the energy barrier in a shower of sparks. I took a step back, trying to think of anything I had which could do a god damn thing to such a monster. Lucky gurgled, dragging herself forward with her forelegs along the ground to try and get away from the crackling energy abomination. “Die!” Genesis hissed, a bolt of gray light lancing from her mouth, striking Lucky in the back. She stopped moving immediately. Suddenly a series of explosions peppered the monster’s side. She roared, whipping her head around in time to take another full broadside in the face as the Enterprise soared past. “Thank you Pine!” I squeaked as Genesis roared in fury. Her energy form leaked tendrils of black and green energy from a half dozen large holes all across it’s right side. A warhorn suddenly blared in the distance. Her avatar's head turned towards the sound instantly and nodded. “You are fortunate I am on a tight schedule. I have what I need, farewell.” Genesis paused nodded to herself, and vanished in a sphere of dark energy with a loud crackle of lightning. “Thank you everything!” I sighed in relief. I had no idea how I was going to beat that. Though a few more volleys from the Enterprise might have done it there is no telling how easily she could have smashed that ship. “No-no-no-no-no-no! How do none of us have resurrection spells?” Risky screamed. “Cuz… not… clerics…” Lucky gurgled. Oh shit. I dropped to all fours and ran over to the twins. Risky was hunched over her sister, or well, her sister’s upper half. I’m pretty sure the molten pool of rock she lay next to contained her missing parts. I did my best not to look at the… missing area. I could feel my stomach flip from the smell alone. I needed to do something. Not only because someone was dying, but because of how completely destroyed Risky would be if her sister died. I would lose a friend, a possible loved one, and a huge asset for our cause all in one go. I would not allow that! This was so far out of the range of Cure Light Wounds, I didn’t know if anything I had could even help. I quickly listed off everything I could do in my head. Nope, not a damn thing. Unless… “Risky! Do you have anything which grants fast healing or regeneration?” “No! Nothing we have heals HP! We totally spaced healing spells!” Risky exclaimed tears welling up in her eyes. “Shoulda… dipped…inta... cleric.” Lucky gasped, eyes fluttering shut. “Do you have any-” In an instant of clarity, a solution hit me. They were abusing the familiar rules for extra power, they had to have taken the spells which enhance their familiar! “Do you have Merge with Familiar?” I asked quickly. “I what? Yes wh-” Risky’s tear stained face twisted into a smile, “It stops ongoing effects! That includes death!” “Cast it! If we ever level up, I’ll take something which grants fast healing, or you pick up limited wish and fix it yourself.” Risky set a hoof on her twin’s head, muttered a short phrase, and with a rather disturbing squishing sound and pulse of green light, her dying body vanished. “Is everything okay?” I asked immediately. Risky staggered to her hooves, nodded slowly, and flinched. “It’s fine… just...ow… that hurt. Alot. She’s in here. I can hear her… I’ll permanency this effect as soon as I ca-ow!” “W-was that fucking Oubliettes and Ogres magic?” Lyra asked in a completely stunned tone walking over slowly. “Well, it’s called Pathfinder in my home world, but yeah.” I answered as I got situated on all four hooves. “How?” She asked simply. Anyone with a big ass lightning gun needed to be on our team. It was time to fill her in. “Our powers were given to us by unknown entities to save the world from what they described as a ‘Magical Reaper Invasion.’ Since you know them I am guessing you used to live in their real-” “Oh shit! Right!” Lyra let go of her gun and sprinted over to Risky, wrapping her arms around her tightly. “Hey, it will be alright. Can you hear me?” Risky nodded and tapped the side of her head. “She’s in here. We’re fine. I know where Lucky is. I-I’m just… this isn’t like the game at all...” Lyra let go slowly. “Are you in shock? I was after the first time I had to fight here.” “No, we’re just disappointed. It’s not… it’s not as fun as we thought. We don’t know the rules for the setting. Like whatever the hell that custom spell was… We need information. We can’t keep trying without information. Ruby, we have to go to a library or something right now! I/we won't fight anything else until we know what the rules are.” Risky, demanded. Lyra nodded, “Yeah she’s fine. Sounds like she is at least. So Ruby is it? Nice hat… Do you know them well?” I shook my head, “Not really, just a few days, they are a part of my crew.” “I went to school with them… her… I’m confused…” Lyra admitted slowly. Risky offered Lyra a smile. “It’s okay, really. I cast a spell that physically merged her consciousness into my body. She’s not in control of my body, but I hear her voice, and…” a small ball of white light winked into existence just above Risky’s head, “Yep she can still cast her spells! We can manage like this for a while.” Lyra shook her head, “This is why I stopped learning to play… too many spells to memorise. You seriously have powers from a tabletop RPG?” I nodded. “Yeah. I also have a flying pirate ship and need a crew. Wanna join?” Lyra looked around the village, the flames were still burning brightly. She nodded. “Yeah… that’s probably a good idea. I imagine a lot of other ponies will too, there won't be enough left to be worth rebuilding.” “Right. Fire.” I looked around the burning village, “What can we do about fire?” “Pff, fires easy! We just snatched Lucky from- Holy crap! You actually saw death?” Risky said to herself looking shocked. “Dude! Awesome! That has to gain you some sort of template… So you’re saying death is an albino pony and kinda a dick?” “That’s bullshit!” I exclaimed angrily. “She totally made me wait forever before she showed up! Lucky wasn’t even totally dead!” Lyra raised an eyebrow. “I feel like I might regret saying this, but screw it. I’ll join your crew captain. You definitely have adventures of the kind I imagined I would get to go on when I moved here.” “Awesome!” I said with a smile. “Now, lets see about getting this fire put out.” Risky Grace - 3rd of Leaffall, ‘09 EoH It took all night to put the fires out. For a village made mostly of rock and ice, there was a surprising amount of flammable objects in the buildings. Fortunately with Lucky in my mind, she could help me by meditating and recharging our daily spells, so I could keep using Pyrotechnics to extinguish the flames. I’m pretty sure most people would be having adjustment problems or maybe body horror. We were oddly fine. I mean, I was a bit sad I couldn’t hug Lucky right now, but she was alive and we were together. We couldn’t ask for much more. A total of forty six batponies survived the attack. The small amount of supplies left in the village wouldn’t have lasted them long at all, so they decided to join Ruby’s crew. Hilariously, every single one of them was already female. I mentioned that to Lyra, figuring she would find it weird. Turns out she had gone full native. Spent five minutes filling me in one the subtle differences between the people of our universe and their pony counterparts. Turns out a crap ton of people have a female counterpart. Males are really outnumbered here. That kinda rocked actually. Never did like that many guys. Nothing against how they acted or behaved, they just weren't cute. It’s hard to not like non-cute things. Lucky whispered teasingly. “Yeah she is…” I mumbled in reply. For some reason, I couldn’t send messages back to Lucky telepathically. Lucky teased. “Risky!” Ruby called from the other side of the deck. I turned and looked over my shoulder. “Yes?” “We need to figure out a way to feed everyone. Do you have-” “Already on it!” I answered. “Lucky’s preparing the spells to make a ring of sustenance for everypony here.” I trotted over to her side so i wouldn’t have to yell. Lucky pointed out. “Shh!” I shushed. Clearing my throat I began to fill Ruby in on my plan. “So, we have this small crew now… we need to make it the most effective we can. I can make magic items, we have treasure in the hold, and we can take valuable ores from the mine and use them to fuel our spells. We shouldn’t set sail right away. We can equip our crew pretty awesomely. Sure they don’t have class levels, but even a 1st level peasant can be really dangerous if you give them a rod of Admonishing Ray.” Ruby nodded, “I was going to ask you what you could make to kit them up.” “My plan was a Ring of Sustenance each, made into earrings or other piercings. So you know, only have to sleep two hours a day, don't have to eat, remain alert, all that jazz. A rod of Admonishing Ray, non-lethal, but can damage objects, knocks people out for a good long time, great for taking prisoners. “We could fire indiscriminately even if the enemy had meatshields, and our weapons can’t be used to kill us. I figured I would make them into necklaces. Lastly another piercing of some sort, this one a Ring of Force Shield. Cuz you know, invisible tower shield that doesn't break, death ray firing super avatar mage.” I finished muttering darkly. “That’s a good starting kit. We will probably think of better stuff in the future too.” Ruby mused. “What about stuff for us?” “You bet your perfect bubble flanks I’m going to make us great gear!” I exclaimed. Lucky teased. “Shut up! She already knows I like her!” I groaned. “Besides you owe her your life! Oh! Right!” I gave Ruby my best sincere look, “I… I’m a bit of an… irresponsible foal sometimes. Fun first and all that. But… I, no we owe you, realy big. I won't say I’m yours to command, but I will help you in any way you need me too.” Ruby smiled and gave me a tight hug with one arm. “Thank you.” She gave me a small kiss on the cheek and whispered, “That’s only half loving. The other half is to spite your sister.” Lucky exclaimed in admiration. “I’m sorry you two got hurt under my command.” Ruby said, her mouth frowning as she let go of me. “I… I promise I’ll have a plan of attack for everything I can from now on.” “I’ll accept that apology if you let me snuggle with you.” I informed playfully. Ruby’s ears drooped, a tuft of her pink bangs fall in front of her eyes. “Oh shit… You two were an item. Will you have problems sleeping alone?” “Yes.” I admitted bashfully. Lucky protested. “Yeah but you are currently not cuddleable.” I rebutted. Ruby bit her lip for a moment in thought then nodded to herself. “Okay… you can sleep with me. But just sleeping! Nothing else just yet.” I felt a surge of joy well up in my chest. “Thanks!” Lucky noted. “I know. Too much happy.” I answered with a chuckle. Ruby giggled. “I wish I could hear what she was saying.” I rubbed a hoof to my chin in thought. Was there a way we could do that? Lucky suggested. “Sis, you’re a genius! I’m gonna get on those magic items Cap, then I’ll see about a spell to get you in on Lucky’s commentary.” I leaned forwards gave Ruby a kiss on the cheek then zipped off below decks to the workshop I set up in the cargo bay. It was dark below decks, even for my eyes. A split second before I could think to cast light, Lucky did. The flickering ball of white light bobbed along behind me lighting the hallway perfectly. “Huh… Thanks!” Lucky mused. “So could I sis. It’s actually kinda neat having you in there.” I said, humming happily as I walked into our workshop.