//------------------------------// // Chapter 12 - Get up on the snake's back! // Story: Celestia Trigger // by Thadius0 //------------------------------// The first thing we learned was that, giant or no, the snake could be quick when he wanted to be. As evidenced by the fact that he was suddenly in my face, trying to bite it. I retaliated with a quick slash to get him to pull back, and Copper followed it up with a lance of fire from her flamethrower. The snake hissed again and tried to bite her, but was rebuffed by Justice opening up his panels and firing some sort of laser at the massive reptile. The thing hissed again and refocused its attentions once more, this time trying to bite Justice. And nearly breaking his fangs in the attempt. The snake whimpered and settled for slapping the robot with part of its tail, sending him back across the room a ways. The distraction did open up a window for Zehan and Gregory to run in and assault the thing. Zehan beat him across the face with his staff, while Gregory did his best to cut through his scales with his blade. The massive snake recoiled in pain, and that was when I got a very, very stupid idea. One that I couldn't help but act on. I ran forward, jumped onto the snake, and, holding myself in place on its back with my knees, I began both riding and slicing the snake up like there was no tomorrow. It did not appreciate this, as evidenced by the fact that it kept trying to shake me off. Fortunately, my allies kept it distracted enough. Between Zehan and Gregory assaulting it with their weapons, along with Justice's arsenal of lasers being brought to bear and Copper's fire, he didn't have time to think about better ways to get rid of me. Perfectly fine by me, as I ran an electrical charge down my katana and stabbed the damn thing. ...Probably not the wisest move to pull while I was riding the snake, but he needed to drop. Fortunately, I seemed to be...resistant to my own electricity. Though it did tingle a bit when the attack trickled by me. "Burn!" Copper said as she pointed a hoof at the snake dramatically. And then I saw fire leap from her outstretched hoof to roast the snake. She'd apparently busted out the big guns for this guy, using her own magic on him to roast him. He was still going after taking that blast to the face, but it was a weak thing. Gregory stepped up to the plate next, and did so in a big way. With a mighty cry, the griffon swung his broadsword around and... ...decapitated the massive snake, in a spray of blood. The body went limp under me, and everyone got a splash of red on them. Some more than others. I would need to find somewhere to wash myself and my clothes once we got out of here. "Well," I said, still in a state of semi-shock. "I think that did it." "Aye," Gregory said as he sheathed his blade for the moment. "The beast has been dealt with, and the queen is saved. I thank you, warriors, for lending me aid in our darkest hour." "It was nothin'," Copper said, brushing off the praise and a bit of blood from her fur. "We couldn't just stand by and let this happen." "Would that more were as noble as you," the griffon said as he looked at me. "Are you well?" "Oh yeah," I said. "Just peachy. Snakes get their heads cut off in front of me all the time." "A factual inaccuracy," Justice said. "Are you attempting the art of sarcasm, Crono?" "However did you guess?" Zehan asked with a roll of his eyes. "Come on, let us see to the queen's well-being, then we can wash up." I dumbly nodded as I finally stood up, sheathing my own blade as well. The six of us made our way along the road to the city of High Aerie, but like when Zehan, Copper, Justice, and I went to Truceburg in 999, it seemed like getting back to the city would be more than a one-day affair. So we found a stream and set up camp close by. Copper and Justice went to the stream first, because they'd take the longest to clean up, both the robot and the gear. I trusted her to get it done eventually, though. Once the pair of them came back, Gregory and Zehan went off to remove the blood on them from the snake's rather...exuberant death. After they both got back, I went to the stream, finally getting rid of my red coating. In retrospect, I probably could have asked to go first, and nobody would have begrudged me. I wasn't that sort of guy, though. And when I got back, I had a very pertinent question for our zebra friend. "So," I said as I sat in the clearing, as Copper lit up our gathered kindling for a small fire. Fortunately, I'd had the foresight to ring it with stones, so that it couldn't escape. "You said something about the smell of zebra magic hanging thick in the air or some such before we were jumped by a horde of snakes. Care to explain?" Zehan nodded and hummed, seeming to think it over for a moment before he explained. "Zebras are...connected to the earth in a way that can seem mysterious, even to Earth Ponies. It differs from zebra to zebra, but seeing and hearing and knowing things about the natural world that others cannot is part and parcel of our magic. I can smell different sorts of magic and differentiate between them very easily, and the manipulation of water is something I excel in. Which helps explain a bit as to how I can heal the wounds of others and myself so easily. I merely manipulate their or my body into a state of hyper-healing through the water present in us all." "That sounds like a very useful talent to have," Gregory pitched in. Queen Hilda had a more...shrewd query to ask, though. "And for someone like you, if you tried to manipulate someone else unnaturally?" Zehan sighed. "Then it would be an easy matter to influence them. Or twist them into being my servant. Or any number of things, were I more talented in the art. But doing so would require time, concentration, and no small supply of magic to pull off. A zebra with a dark heart and the mana reserves to make their will a reality comes about but once in a millennium. Others normally intervene before said zebra can get too far along a dark path." "So where were the others when this Fiendlord arose?" the queen questioned. "Slain by her own hooves," Zehan bitterly answered. "I do not know what her goals are. But those that sought to stop her failed because she slew them all. I know not what can stop her now...if indeed, anything can." Gregory seemed to go silent at that, and with that cheerful thought hanging over all our heads, I drifted off. When we arrived at the city of High Aerie early in the morn, we were received with a hero's welcome. Eventually. It took time to build up, but we just kept accruing more and more cheering townsfolk the closer we walked to the palace. We were even greeted by an older male griffon when we got there, one with black feathers instead of white. "My queen!" he said, holding his front legs wide open, as she returned the embrace. "My dear king," she responded. "It has been too long since I last saw you." "I am so sorry it took me so long to reunite you both, your majesties," Gregory said as he bowed his head to the royal couple. "I have failed you." "Nonsense!" Hilda said as she turned to her bodyguard. "It was because of you and these fine warriors that I am returned home!" "Were it not for my bumbling, I would have found you far sooner," Gregory said before looking up and shaking his head. "I have no other choice. I must leave in disgrace for allowing this to have occurred." "Gregory!" she said, even as he turned and looked at the four of us. "Crono," he said to me, placing a claw on my shoulder. I merely nodded at him to signify that I had heard him. "You have the makings of a fine warrior. No small amount of skill, and courage enough for ten soldiers. Hone yourself, and I will be glad to meet you again." "Till we meet again, Gregory," I said to him, before he walked off through the crowd. "So," the king said as he looked us over. "Ponies, a zebra, and a strange biped assisted my queen's bodyguard in retrieving her." He drew closer to us all and looked directly at Zehan. "Why should I believe that you would have aided us at a time like this, when one of your own assaults us with fiends nigh-constantly?" "Because the Fiendlord is an affront to those that would study Zebra magic, and had I the means and the power, I would strike her down myself," Zehan replied. "As it stands, I will settle for dealing with her minions and plots, until the day comes that I find myself facing her. And should that day come, I will remind the whole of Griffenhiem just how noble Zebras can truly be." There was silence for a minute, before the king started laughing. It was a good, strong belly-laugh. "I had nearly forgotten how impassioned a zebra can be, when they aren't rhyming at you," the king said, a faint chuckle underlying his words. "Rest assured, I remember how noble and upstanding our zebra friends used to be. They've stopped talking to us because of the Fiendlord that now assails us, I assume, but because of your efforts, I will try to open communications with them once more." He then turned to Copper and Justice, and nodded again. "Ponies may seem soft, but I of all griffons know that they can do remarkable things when pressed." Justice just shrugged, while Copper seemed to snicker and nod. The king continued with his little speech after he turned to look at me. "And I don't know what you are, but I will tell you that you are welcome here for having helped rescue my queen, especially if Gregory praises you so highly." "It is my honor to have worked with him, your majesty," I said, doing a bow at the waist. "A finer swords-arm I have never fought with. I doubt the battle would have gone nearly as well without him there." "He seemed to think the same of you," the king said with a small snicker. "So for the part you played in returning her to me, I tell you all that you are welcome in High Aerie as one of us. Stay as long as you desire." "In that case," I said, finally standing up straight again. "We shall stay the night, but then must be going again in the morning. We have places to be, even now. A lifetime of adventure awaits us, and we must ever meet it head-on." "Well-said," Hilda spoke up. "A disappointing answer, but a good one nonetheless." And that was how we got treated like heroes in High Aerie, 599. And that was the first alteration to the timeline we did. It would only become evident once we returned to the modern day just how bad it was, but we had a pit stop to make before that... "So," I said as we neared the plain that would house Truceburg in the near future. "I'm just going to warn you right now, Zehan. If this Gate functions like it should this time, you're going to see something that may cause you to think you're going crazy. Crazier, at any rate." "I've traveled through time, fought giant snakes, and helped alter a nation's perception on zebras from four hundred years ago," Zehan quipped. "What could be worse than this?" "You asked," I said, drawing the Gate Key from my belt. "Everyone ready?" Copper and Justice drew up next to me, and Zehan stood behind me. I reached out and tapped the Gate with the Key, and the thing opened with a roar of wind, sucking us up and depositing us back at the End of Time. "You're right," Zehan said as he looked around. "This is worse. Where did everything go?" "Who knows?" I asked as we walked along the pathway to the lamp-post with the crystal unicorn under it. "Hello there Hora. How goes it?" "Oh, it's been quite entertaining, watching the results of your meddling," he said, as a spark jumped off his horn and impacted Zehan. "Griffenheim making peace with zebras and being as accepting of equines as they would themselves. And the bodyguard lived this time! Quite impressive, last time he died getting Hilda out to safety. Of course, the biggest change will be in little princess Gilda, but she doesn't know that. All in all, things unfolded quite differently, as compared to how you experienced them, but that's part and parcel of being time-travelers. Making a better world that you can't remember having ever existed in the first place." "Wait," Zehan said as he raised a hoof. "Are you saying that in this new present we have made...I wouldn't have been accused of kidnapping the princess in the first place?" When the crystal unicorn nodded, the zebra continued his question. "So how would me and Crono have met then?" "You likely wouldn't have!" Hora said with a smile. "If you did, it would have been because they asked you, as a local zebra, to lend your expertise in finding the culprit of the kidnapping because you would have been the best suited to do so! And then Crono here would have stumbled across you while you were conducting your investigation, while he conducted his! Isn't time-travel fascinating?" "Does Anima remember our orders, at least?" I asked, wanting to get my weapon upgraded as soon as possible. And hoping it was still possible. "Oh yes, he does. You still visited him in this new present for the same reasons," Hora said with a nod. "But first, don't you think there's somebody your new friend should go visit?" I remembered Bellum, and her promise that she might be able to help any new friends we got on this journey. I turned to the pathway where the door was last time, and sure enough, the thing faded back into view. "C'mon," I said to the zebra, who was still trying to wrap his brain around the new present we'd created. "Let's go see the other inhabitant of the End of Time." A short walk saw us back in Bellum's room, and she was happy to see us. "Hello again!" she chirped at us, now looking a little more grown up than last time. She looked at Zehan and positively squealed. "Oooh, a new friend!" She drew close and walked around him, judging his worth while he attempted to follow her movements. "Uhh, what is she doing?" he asked, causing the little red filly to giggle before she sat right in front of him. "You didn't tell him?" she asked me. "I figured you'd want to introduce yourself to him," I replied with a shake of my head. She giggled again, before turning her head back to face Zehan. "So, since you didn't get the run-down from the others, hi!" she chirped to him. "I'm Bellum, Mistress of War." "Greetings, Lady Bellum," the zebra said, now apparently realizing that this was an alicorn he was talking to and bowing to her. She giggled again and waved a hoof at him imperiously. "Up you get, I wasn't done," she commanded the zebra, who slowly complied. "As I was about to say, I inhabit the End of Time with Hora, only I look over all the battles that have been fought from right here. And when I get new visitors, I judge whether or not they're worthy of the secrets I can pass on. And you pass for one specific element." "Element of what?" Zehan asked with a tilted head. "Element of magic!" she said with a smile. "You like to flow around and fill many roles, being support or healing or even assault. But when an enemy gets in your way, your heart turns cold and you have no mercy for it. Somezebra like you deserves to have Water, in Ice-flavor, for their magic." "Wait, what?" Zehan asked, but the filly had already sat back and raised her front hooves. From the space above her head, a jet of water bridged the gap between them, before it froze into a solid stream. Then it vanished as quickly as it came, leaving Zehan with a burning blue aura for a moment longer. He gasped as it faded, before looking at nothing in particular. "Ice..." he muttered to himself. "I...I can call on Ice now...how do I know that?" "It's what Bellum does," I said, steering the zebra out of the room. "Thank you for your time, Mistress Bellum. I'm sure that sooner or later, we'll take you up on your option to fight." "Anytime, friends!" she said, waving a hoof at us. "Just remember to make your fights entertaining for me! I need something to watch, after all!"