//------------------------------// // Chapter 43: Don't Forget the Kitchen Sink! // Story: My Little Fantasy // by GuyWhoWritesThings //------------------------------// Chapter 43: Don't Forget the Kitchen Sink! The grotesque once-bat ponies behind the replica of Nightmare Moon twist themselves to life, howls and barks filling the cave as they stretch their limbs. I grip the Buster Sword's hilt and dig in my feet, readying myself as it takes a single step forward. The step acts like a signal to the dog-bat-pony monsters behind it, sending all of them lunging for us, spears raised and claws open as they fly past their controller and toward their targets - us. In response, Shining Armor's horn glows, and a massive dome of rose magic encases us. Spears and claws slam and scrape against it, the piercing cacophony against the glass-like shield making my head feel like it's going to split open. 'Nightmare Moon' steps forward again, its horn glowing a pale, sickly green, and with a series of pops, the entire brigade of creatures has vanished. It's only for a moment, however, as another series of pops signals their return to existence, this time within the boundaries of Shining Armor's shield as their owner grins wide, fangs bared. "Enough, cur!" The Princess' shout is punctuated with a blinding burst of magic. Even without being the recipient, the wind fallout it generates is enough to nearly sweep me off my feet. I squint my eyes as the light dims, and I can see Shining Armor's shield is gone, and our would-be attackers are scattered across the ground. All, except one... There's a pop, flares of wings, and a shrill laugh as the construct of Nightmare Moon emerges from a burst of green teleportation magic. She's directly in front of us, shooting through the air with wings spread, and collides with Princess Luna, both rolling and toppling to the ground in a flurry of wings and hooves. "Princess!" Shining Armor calls out as both him and myself turn to the fighting alicorns, now on the ground between ourselves and the girls. "Behind you!" Trixie warns as the horns of both Rarity and Twilight light up, concussive blasts firing. I spin back around in time to be greeted by one of the shield-and-spear bearing dog-bat-pony things ramming its shield directly into my chest, pushing me off my feet and slamming me into the ground. It leans its weight down on the shield and snarls, spear raised to strike. The spear plunges down for a killing blow, and I catch it in my left hand, straining against the surprising strength of the thing on top of me as it attempts to turn my face into a kabob. I grip the Buster Sword's hilt, scraping together enough focus to call on the yellow Enemy Skill Materia closest to the guard, and try to keep the spear back as I cast one of its spells. The beast atop me slams down, its shield pressing hard and sudden into my chest, winding me as the telltale 'bop!' and a glitter of stars in the sides of my vision tells me the Chocobuckle spell's hit true, stunning it long enough for me to toss it to the side and roll myself on top of it. In a less dire situation, I'm sure the surrounding ponies would've found the illusory image of the fat, yellow Chocobo flopping down on myself and my opponent quite humorous, but it only takes the quickest of glances to see everyone else is knee-deep in their own piles to deal with. Keeping my left hand on the spear to pin it to the ground, I raise the Buster Sword in my right, spinning the blade to point it at the creature's chest, and plunge it in without a moment's hesitation. Then, with a single, gasping bark, it... dies? That's it? While this would be a lethal wound to most normal living creatures, Jenova's proven plenty able to circumvent that in the past. Even as I pull the Buster Sword out, the wound doesn't bleed, and the Buster Sword comes away essentially free of gore, so the creature wasn't 'alive' in the traditional sense, either. For all of the jeering Jenova did through its construct of Nightmare Moon, these things don't seem anywhere near strong enough. It's like it didn't care and just slapped these things together in the hopes of overwhelming us with numbers, like some knockoff toy company or something. I get to my feet and try to assess the situation quickly. Shining Armor's linked up with at least Twilight and Rarity, as I can see him using his shields to block incoming dog-bat-ponies as a pair of concussive blasts work to knock them back. Bits of rainbow contrail hang in the sky, and occasional explosions combined with bits of confetti on the ground tell me there's a Party Cannon being put to use somewhere. I can't find the Princess or 'Nightmare Moon' anywhere, nor can I find... Trixie! I scan around, trying to catch even a glimpse of the blue unicorn or any of her Materia's magic, but I don't see her anywhere. That's when my eyes fall on the structure in front of me - the bank. Without thinking, my feet are moving, Buster Sword held in both hands as I run through the previously-burst doors. The inside is filled with several overturned stone desks and stone chairs, claw marks lining not only the furniture but the floor and walls, too. I hear the scrapes of fighting and barking deeper in, and try to find a doorway deeper in. "Well, come and get it!" The target of my search yells, anger and aggression easy to spot in her voice as lightning flashes to my left, revealing a doorway on the far side of the room. A crack of thunder accentuates a pair of the dog-bat-ponies being hurled from the room, their bodies sizzling and stilled. I linger a moment, looking at them to see if they twitch, but the loud thump of an impact against hard plastic gets me moving - the distinct sound of something hitting the diamond-shield made by a Barrier Materia over the glass-like dome shields of unicorn magic. I turn into the room - some sort of office, from the looks of it - and immediately jump back, barely avoiding being caught in the black, sparking sphere of a Gravity spell that's now pressing the remaining creature against the floor. It begins struggling, and the inky blackness of the spell only becomes thicker, further obscuring the writhing target beneath it. After a few seconds, its motion cease, but the spell intensifies again, pressing it deeper into the ground before finally dispelling, leaving behind the remains a creature that's just a bit too flat. "Trixie...?" I ask, standing just outside the doorway, turning my eyes from the thing in front of me to her. Her own eyes are wide, and have this strange glint in them, one that knots my stomach with a number of emotions I don't have the time to stop and pull apart right now. "I'm okay, Dusk." She replies, though she sounds anything but okay. Besides her ragged breathing, her voice is quivering, clearly straining to keep itself together. With a bit of inspection, I can see her legs shaking slightly as well. "Trixie, it's okay if you-" "I said I'm fine, Dusk!" She yells, cutting me off, eyes clenched shut. The outburst catches me off guard, and makes the knots in my stomach clench tighter. "Yes, listen to the poor mare." The voice I've come to recognize as Nightmare Moon makes me spin on my spot, raising the Buster Sword. It's standing casually in the center of the bank foyer, wings spread, a smug grin on its face. Wasn't this thing supposed to be fighting Princess Luna? How had it snuck up without making any sound? "Trust me, you'll know when she stops being fine." It beats its wings and kicks its hooves to lunge forward, not even giving me the courtesy of being able to make a counter-witticism to its jeering. I adjust my grip on my Buster Sword and bring it up over my right shoulder, both hands tightly gripped on the hilt, prepping for a vertical slash. If this thing wants to charge me like that, I'll just cleave it in two and be done with it! I bring the sword down, no room left for the clone of Nightmare Moon to dodge unless it teleports or uses a similar trick. Instead of the expected tearing through flesh, though, there's a bright flash of white, and a collision of metal against metal that stops my attack mid-arc. I get my eyes open again as my muscles flare from trying to overcome the force stopping my Buster Sword, and what's in front of me is no longer Nightmare Moon, despite the black feathers dispersed in the air around us. Piercing blue Mako Eyes, a black robe, flowing silver hair, and an eastern-styled sword of incredible length, defensively held in two hands as it blocks the strike of my Buster Sword. Of course, it wouldn't pass up an opportunity to use that form as well. To my own surprise, I'm able to overcome not-Sephiroth's raw strength, forcing it to break the clash of blades and backstep into the bank's foyer. I don't waste time, rushing forward with blade at the ready. One clash, two clashes, three, metal clashing against metal as sparks fly, and I push it back to the foyer's far wall. Soon, it'd have nowhere to backstep to and I'd be able to- On one of my swings, the clone of Sephiroth smirks, moving its right hand up to intercept the Buster Sword in a glow of pale-green magic. The sword glows green, and I remember our encounter in the Ghastly Gorge - right, able to use unicorn magic regardless of form. Forgot that one. It's the one to lunge forward this time, stabbing forward with its left-handed grip on the Masamune, aiming clean for my chest to open old wounds yet again. This time, however, something neither it nor I expect happens as both our ears are filled with the sound of metal scraping against metal, the blade passing harmlessly to the side of my chest instead. The chestplate from Canterlot! I didn't even feel the impact of its attempted stab, so maybe there's more to those enchantments Twilight mentioned than we suspected. I don't waste the opportunity, though - channeling the power of a Materia as I grab the fake Sephiroth's stupid, snide face with my left hand, my Buster Sword still under the grip of his magic. With the help of the Fire Materia, an explosion erupts from my left hand, sending him slamming into the far wall of the foyer while I end up on my ass in the middle of it. I groan, and there's another flash of light, after which I'm able to catch a glimpse of the form of Nightmare Moon retreating through the bank's front entrance and back into the fray with everybody else. A patter of hooves on the stone behind me alerts me to the approach of a certain azure unicorn as I try to get myself back to my feet. "You alright, Dusk?" She asks, though I can already feel the breeze of the Cure Materia over my body, taking care of whatever bruises and the bits of soreness I've racked up so far. I give her a nod, and the two of us head out of the bank in pursuit of the again-Nightmare Moon, and the sight that greets us is... interesting. A number more of the dog-bat-ponies are strewn across the ground, though they're not all out of the fight yet. Above us, Rainbow Dash and Princess Luna are engaging in an air duel with a number of the creatures, in addition to Nightmare Moon, trading magical blasts and dodging spears and claws. To our right, Shining Armor is protecting the rest of the girls as they fight back the remainder of the creatures with magic and gunpowder-launched party supplies... though they're also being pinned down by Nightmare Moon. Directly in front of us, at the ledge where the occasional wisps of Lifestream can be seen, is, again, Nightmare Moon, wings spread and horn aglow. Three Nightmare Moons...? I think I get it now. The reason the dog-bat-ponies seem weak and the reason I was able to overpower it when it took on the form of Sephiroth... none of these constructs are done yet, are they? We've come to crash its party before it was ready for us, so it's just throwing whatever it has at us and hoping we die. Trixie and I both seem to come to the same snap decision without communicating - deciding to run across the cave floor toward the Nightmare Moon at the ledge, before it can finish whatever it's planning. "Look out below!" This time it's Rainbow Dash giving the warning, drop-kicking one of the creatures into the ground next to us, rock shattering beneath its impact. We turn our heads up, and see what the warning's for - the rest of the ones fighting her and Princess Luna have broken off, leaving the Princess and that copy of Nightmare Moon in a duel as the remainder of the dog-bat-ponies try to keep us from our goal. "Dusk, go!" Trixie urges me, and I can see the aura of Materia around her as she keeps her eyes locked on what's above us. "Right!" I keep running forward, trusting Trixie and Rainbow Dash to keep my back covered. I go for what's become my standard - Haste from Time to close the gap combined with a fireball from Fire to try and break its concentration early. A green barrier rises, blocking the fireball, and I pull my sword up, ready to strike it and try to force my way through. A beam of red light flies past me, however, and smashes into the barrier - causing it to shatter like a broken mirror and giving me a clean shot. Looks like DeBarrier works on unicorn shields, after all! Thanks, Trixie. I kick off the ground, taking into the air and sweeping the Buster Sword up over my head, locked onto my target. As I'm in the air, though - I see something that makes my aim falter, just the smallest bit, and I end up merely cleaving off one of the faux-Nightmare Moon's wings instead of cleaving the body apart. It turns to me, almost casually, grinning with narrowed, predatory eyes. If I caused it pain, it's not showing it. "Looks like you caught a glimpse at my next surprise, hm?" It asks, mockingly, as Lifestream bursts up from the pit behind it, coalescing into a massive sphere. I take one step back, then one more, as a roar causes the entire cave to tremble. The cocoon of Lifestream erupts open, revealing its contents - a massive creature of at least twenty feet in length - and I quickly find my steps back further multiplying as I try to rejoin the rest of our group. A stubbed snout, covered in greyed bones, framing beady red eyes. A crown, protruding out in six directions from the back of its skull, the tips of the bones singed red. A distorted body, exposed, red muscles protected by nothing but layers of grey bone plates where scales once were. Claws and feet tipped in twisted, yellow nails. Once-majestic wings, now replaced with two frames of bone, curved into a fascimile of what they once were, yet still capable of flight Arms and a tail, covered in bony spines, tail adorned in a bladed tip. This... this is why the Bahamut Materia had stayed grey after the defeat of Jenova's heart in Ghastly Gorge. "You've got to be kidding me! How is this even remotely fair?!" Trixie yells in disbelief, the frozen forms of several dog-bat-ponies immobile on the ground next to us. I can guess how she took care of that mess, it looks like. "First all these sick Night Guards, then three Nightmare Moons, and now Bahamut?! We don't even have time to deal with one thing before the next thing shows up!" The Nightmare Moon from the sky comes tumbling into view, slamming into the one standing on the ledge and causing both to collapse in a heap as Princess Luna lands next to us. Her breath is paced, eyes locked on the enemies in front of us. "It seems the creature has become desperate." "That's what I was thinking." I look between the two Nightmare Moons trying to untangle themselves from each other to the one at our right, which is now backing off slightly, the remaining six bat-dog-ponies converging around it. "So, uh," Rainbow Dash says as she glides down to us, our group taking the chance to regroup as well, "anyone got a plan? Because that's a dragon!" "Well, we could always-" "Hit it until it stops moving isn't a plan, Dusk!" Shining Armor steps forward, horn aglow. "Well, somepony better think of something quick! Here it comes!" Bahamut roars, and a buildup of blue energy in its maw reveals why everything else backed away from us. The blast erupts with a crack through the air, a ball of superheated energy wasting no time in traveling the short distance between the distorted form of Bahamut and ourselves. Shining Armor conjures a flat, rose-colored shield between us and the incoming sphere of certain, painful death, and the explosion that sounds from them colliding rocks the cave. I use my left arm to pull my cloak up over my face, wind and smoke billowing from the impact point, forcing my eyes to squint. As the wind dies and the smoke clears, however, I see one thing I hadn't expected - Shining Armor's shield, standing in absolute defiance of Bahamut's strike, not even a single crack along its surface. Unlike everything else Jenova has thrown at us, there's no doubt about whether Bahamut's running at full capacity with an impact like that, so the shield surviving so cleanly is truly something else. I'd always figured that Shining Armor's butt-stamp being a shield had to do with being a Guard Captain, but I'm starting to think its meaning is a lot more literal. Without warning, Bahamut surges forward, and our group scatters to the left, the only safe direction left for us to run as the dragon punches with its right fist, smashing through the face of the bank like it's tissue paper. I spin my head back in time to see its right arm tear through the wall of the cave as it swings its body to face us, unleashing an enraged, guttural, quaking roar, the debris from the wall creating a cloud of rock dust in front of it as larger chunks clink against a makeshift shield from Shining Armor. The cave itself rumbles from the abuse as stalactites are dislodged from the ceiling, crashing down dangerously close to us themselves. "It's going to bring the cave down on top of us at this rate!" Twilight yells as she looks over her shoulder, panic seeping into her voice. "Ahead of us!" Trixie yells as pops sound out to our front. Our attention snaps frontward, revealing the six dog-bat-ponies now blocking our path. Meanwhile, the sounds of massive claws slamming against the cave floor greets our backs, indicating we don't have time to stop and deal with these things, even as they raise their shields and spears to charge us down. "Stand aside!" The Princess' eyes and horn glow, and she uses a similar tactic to the first time the creatures attacked us this way, an explosion of magic forcing them to the side and onto the ground. It doesn't take long for the rest of that event to repeat itself as well, one of the Nightmare Moon constructs teleporting in front of us, dangerously close, ready to attack during the lull in Princess Luna's magic. Sadly for it, though, I teach it why it's a bad idea to use the same plan twice in one fight with a thrust of my Buster Sword. I skewer it through the side, just below the wing, like the kabob its minion tried to turn my face into earlier. I pull it off its hooves with a heave, arms straining and heart racing at the combined effort of lifting an alicorn without breaking my stride. With a horizontal swing of my sword, I toss it off as the body begins reverting back to whatever its original form was - most likely a diamond dog, but none of us waste time looking to confirm that as it slams into the cave wall. The scattered forms of the dog-bat-ponies don't seem to be getting back up, either - so the one that just went down was the one controlling them, it seems like. Hopefully that means they'll stay down. The steps behind us get dangerously close, and Shining Armor spins back to face Bahamut again, raising another shield. The ex-Dragon King winds back a fist-balled claw and slams down a right hook against Shining Armor's barrier, the sound of the collision leaving my ears ringing. Shining Armor squints and grits his teeth against the force, but in the end, his barrier holds, again without even showing a crack. Bahamut takes a second swing, and then a third, but Shining Armor's expanding shield seems more than capable of handling it. It's like watching the unstoppable force try to slug the immovable object to death. Seriously, what is with this guy? "Any plans yet?" I ask the group of ponies behind me, eyeing the remaining two Nightmare Moon constructs as they finally get themselves back to their feet. "Those two are gonna be on us any second." "Thy corrupt dragon appears mightier than the original, dreamer." The Princess lowers her head, horn glowing. "We may not have the raw strength to-" "Wait!" Twilight Sparkle stomps a hoof on the ground, her face glowing in realization. "Corrupt... even if it's from another world, the Elements of Harmony should work in that situation, right?" "We'll just have to... try it." It's Shining Armor that makes the decision, speaking in between impacts against his shield. "I can't keep this... going forever!" Princess Luna and I both give him a nod as she locks eyes with me. "Right. Dreamer, we shall handle the remaining constructs." She turns her gaze to Shining Armor. "Shining Armor, protect the Bearers as long as thee are able." He nods as the Princess turns to the unicorn at my side. "Miss Lulamoon, if either construct is able to approach, it falls to thee to defend Shining Armor, at all costs. Understand?" "Yeah..." She replies, the darkness in her tone giving the knot in my stomach a third twist. "They' won't get past me, Princess." Bahamut roars and jumps back as the three of us begin our approach on the remaining two Nightmare Moon constructs, Trixie stopping partway and readying herself should either myself or the Princess fail. I can hear the further crashes of Bahamut and Shining Armor behind me, but I can't spare the time to look back anymore. It looks like we have no choice - Shining Armor will need to defend the girls, Trixie will need to defend Shining Armor, we'll have to defeat the constructs, and the Elements of Harmony will have to somehow stop the rampaging Bahamut. If even one cog in our machine fails, we're probably all dead. The Princess and I lock eyes with the Nightmare Moons, and a beam of magic erupts from her horn, catching the one with two functional wings off-guard and blasting it off the ledge, forcing it to go airborne. She blasts it again and again as we approach, juggling it further into the air, not allowing it the chance to recover as she kicks off from the ground, beating her wings to go airborne. That leaves me against the one-winged Nightmare Moon. I bring the Buster Sword over my right shoulder, and swing it down on the remaining construct on the ledge, and this time I'm not surprised when it transitions to Sephiroth's form and blocks the strike with its Masamune. I bring the sword down again and again, each attack sparking against its own weapon as they're blocked. That's fine, though... right now, my main purpose is to keep it distracted long enough for the Elements of Harmony to do whatever it is they do. We lock blades, and it becomes a test of strength, each of us trying to force the other back. My muscles burn - the construct now taking Sephiroth's form definitely not a slouch - but with one step, and then two, I'm able to begin winning the contest. This is the final proof I need to know that they're at least weaker than the one from the Crystal Cave, and with our group, that's all that matters if the others can incapacitate Bahamut. Then, with a pop, the clone of Sephiroth in front of me is gone in a flash of teleportation magic. Combat instinct kicking in, I spin on my heels and raise the Buster Sword defensively, catching the clone as it drops from above, its swing aiming to slice me in two. The metals scrape together as 'Sephiroth' touches down on the ground again, attempting to transition the strike into a horizontal swing, a parry with the Buster Sword the only thing stopping me from becoming the Headless SOLDIER. "Stay back!" Trixie's yell snaps away my concentration as I hear an explosion above me. I chance a glance up to see the after-effects of a Flare spell, the construct of Nightmare Moon being propelled away from Bahamut and Shining Armor at high velocity, Princess Luna in pursuit. Glimpsing a bit further back, I can see a white glow building up behind Shining Armor - one I can only assume to be the power of the Elements of Harmony accumulating itself. An impact against my Buster Sword pulls me back to my own fight as I'm forced on the defensive, the construct of Sephiroth striking with a flurry of Masamune swings, pushing me back as I fumble to regain my footing. After only a few steps, I can feel the edge of the cliff behind my heel, and I block one of his swings as I do my best to dig in, not having any ground left to lose. How much longer do those stupid Elements of Harmony take?! Essentially answering my own internal question, two tri-color beams burst out from the brightness growing behind Shining Armor - one of green, blue, and purple, and another of red, yellow, and orange, swirling together in a double helix as they rise up to about the height of Bahamut's chest. They coalesce into a single rainbow of color, and fire like a beam at the dragon, twisting and wrapping itself around its giant form. It lashes out with roars and limbs as the rainbow attempts to ensnare it, wrapping it in a cocoon of energy that transitions into a solid white light, and- A green bolt of energy hits my left shoulder from above, just under the shoulder guard and cutting right through. The impact and resulting pain of getting shot through the arm causes me to lose my footing completely, the Sephiroth copy able to press its weight forward and send me tumbling backwards off the ledge. As I fall I'm able to catch a glimpse of the false Nightmare Moon, a residual glow on its horn as it darts away from one of Princess Luna's attacks. It had used the spectacle created by the Elements of Harmony to move in and potshot me off the side of the cliff while my attention was on Bahamut and the copy of Sephiroth. Dammit! I'm able to keep a grip on my Buster Sword with my right hand, and, thinking quickly, bury it into the side of the cliff, catching myself only a few feet below the ledge as I dangle from the hilt, bits of Lifestream floating up near my face. Curious, I turn down, and I see the thing besides Bahamut I had caught a glimpse of while using my Braver earlier - a massive ball of Lifestream, hidden deep in the crevace. It must be all the Lifestream that Jenova's sapped from the Weave that didn't get consumed by its heart. Is it using it to build its new body? There's no way any of these weak constructs could possibly be the central consciousness. It can never just be as simple as being locked in the bank vault, can it? I turn back up to find the piercing eyes of Sephiroth glaring down at me, Masamune held in the construct's left hand, blade pointed down... directly at my fingers. My mind races through my options, trying to think of a good answer for getting out of this one. Not exactly much room to dodge, and most of the magic that comes to mind, it could easily dodge then strike. I get one stupid, desperate idea, and open my left palm, preparing to cast magic... when its eyes go wide, and the form of Sephiroth stumbles and trips over the side of the ledge, accentuated by a very familiar, very angry scream. I follow its form as it tumbles through the air, and as it passes by, I can see the tails of a familiar, purple vest and equally familiar pale-blue mane and tail billowing as both forms fall into the Lifestream cocoon. Before I can think, I've tightened my grip on the Buster Sword and planted my feet against the rock face. I dislodge the weapon from the rocks and kick off them, a single thought on my mind as I plunge myself into the Lifestream below. Zack... Aerith... I've lost enough people who were trying to protect me. No matter what happens, I'm not letting myself lose another one!