//------------------------------// // X - Fire and Water // Story: Pony Fantasy V: Exodus of the Void // by GMBlackjack //------------------------------// “Welcome one and all to what is perhaps my most impressive invention.” Twilight Sparkle beamed. “The Fire Powered ship is a wondrous piece of machinery that is able to take and store fire-based power to create a vessel that is not only the fastest in the world, but can also sail without any wind or waves! The power is channeled through the two flanking rockets in superheated jets. At full battery the ship could operate for a year or more.” “And yet…” Applejack said. “This ‘wondrous piece of machinery’ is what’s causing us so much grief right now.” “Ah. Yes. Right. Well…” Twilight smirked sheepishly. “I suppose that’s why we’re here. Turn it off from inside. Once we get to the power room it shouldn’t be that hard. There’s a switch I can flip. If that fails, I can always break the engine.” Pinkie grinned. “It’s going to be harder than that.” “How so?” Twilight asked. “You said it shouldn’t be that hard. So obviously it’s going to be hard. Like… like old cheese.” “What kind of metaphor is that?” Rarity asked. “A cheesy one.” Pinkie responded, giggling. Twilight blinked. “You… are a strange one.” Pinkie appeared behind Twilight with a crazy grin on her face. “Oh you’re just realizing this now? Cool!” “Uh…” Twilight muttered, taking a few steps back. “Ookaaaaay… How about we go into the ship?” “Good idea.” Rainbow Dash responded, flying over the fire-powered ship. The guards looked at her dubiously until Twilight trotted up and motioned for the guards to open the door. They complied wordlessly. The five mares walked through the open doors into the interior of the fire-powered ship. The first deck looked exactly like a normal ship’s deck, save for the fact that everything was made out of metal and there were dozens of gauges next to the steering wheel. “What in tarnation could all these fancy doohickeys possibly do?” Applejack asked. Twilight lit up like a kid in a candy store. “I’m glad you asked…” ~~~ “…and that wall is composed of a poly-carbonate alloy that allows for perfect conduction as well as fire-power transport…” “Make. Her. Stop.” Rainbow Dash hissed to Pinkie Pie. “Why? It’s very enlightening.” Pinkie responded. “Wait. You understand her?” “Yeah. You don’t?” Pinkie waggled her eyebrows, grinning. Rarity tuned everyone out, simply following Twilight through the inner workings of the ship. She didn’t understand anything Twilight was saying either, and frankly didn’t want to know the ins and outs of every crevice in this ship. Though she had to admit it was helpful to have someone along who actually knew where they were going. There were a lot of twists and turns and random elevators that made no sense to her - but Twilight just knew her way around. Not to mention that the purple unicorn was obviously much more skilled in the magical department than she was - Twilight had teleported at one point, a highly advanced spell that most unicorn mages didn’t even know. And she had done it like it was nothing to be proud of! “…and behind this door we have one of our main power conduits, which we can now follow all the way to the main core which-“ She was interrupted as a strange dust creature flew out of the doorway and crashed right into her. “AUGH! I CAN’T SEE!” “Two can play at that game!” Pinkie said, clapping her hooves and pointing at the dust creature. “I flash, and you can’t see! Ha!” The dust creature seemed to be trying to attack, but it kept running into other things. “Huh.” Pinkie said. “You think it’d be immune a blind spell. The more you know.” “I’M STILL BLIND!” Twilight complained. “Oh, sorry dear, got distracted.” Rarity quickly fixed Twilight’s eyes. “There you go, good as new.” “Thanks.” Twilight said, smiling. “You know healing spells? I could never get the hang of them.” Rarity couldn’t help but look smug. “Well, the crystals decided to bless me with their power. I recently got some new spells I haven’t really had the chance to try out…” “You’re gonna get your chance!” Applejack yelled as dozens of other dust creatures began to pour out of the opening. “Also, Ah’m going out of commission for a while.” “How so?” Rarity said. “Ah think Ah’m calling it… ‘going berserk.’ See ya.” At this Applejack’s muscles tensed, she roared, gripped her sword, and charged into the horde of dust creatures like a mad animal. Rarity shrugged. “Well then…” She lit her horn, trying her new powers on for size. She hit the dust creatures with several strange grey bubbles, which instantly caused them to slow down, which made it much easier for Applejack to dice them into pieces. “APPLEJACK MAD!” She roared, slicing into more as Rarity generated a red bubble that completely stopped time for a single dust creature - it never even got to feel it’s demise. Rarity smirked, hitting Applejack with a different red bubble that made her twice as fast. “I must say…” Rarity grinned. “These new powers are most helpful when it isn’t a giant bird.” Pinkie clapped her hooves as she swung her hammer around, bashing dust creatures into the ground. This gave Rarity another idea. “Hey Pinkie, toss me your hammer.” Pinkie did so without hesitation, moving on to fight with a strange four-pointed curved blade. “FACE MY BAT’LETH!” Rarity levitated the hammer and studied it closely. Behind her, Twilight shot off a beam of magical energy that disintegrated a few dust creatures while Rainbow decided it would be prudent to electrocute the horde. One of the dust creatures got a hit off on Twilight, which was quickly healed by a weak healing spell from Rainbow. “Hrrrm…” Rarity said, thinking hard. She focused her magic, enveloping the hammer in a powerful aura. She bent time around it carefully… She enchanted it. “Here! Pinkie! Take this!” Pinkie grabbed the hammer and hit the various dust creatures. They all stopped in their tracks as soon as they were hit. “WOOHOO! This is the literal incarnation of STOP! HAMMER TIME!” She began bashing more heads in with glee. “The crystals have all bestowed you with fascinating power.” Twilight commented. “I would love to have a closer look later.” Applejack pulverized the last dust with her bare hooves before calming down. “Ah… Gotta say… That’s an unusual experience…” Suddenly, a mechanical device fell from the ceiling and started shooting them with lasers. “WOAH NELLY!” Applejack yelled as she took a hit to her back leg. Twilight was the one to save them - she surrounded the machine in her magical aura and fried it’s circuits in just the right spot to make it go limp without exploding. She frowned. “Those drones are supposed to be completely offline when the ship is docked. They’ll only activate during sea-combat… Unless someone’s turned them on from the inside.” Everyone blinked. “What?” “Someone doesn’t want us to get to the power room.” Twilight responded. “You were right Pinkie, this is going to be harder than I thought…” ~~~ Queen Celestia looked at the fully charged main power unit for the fire powered ship. She grinned a twisted grin that looked completely foreign on her face - it hadn’t been easy to get the ship to drain power it didn’t need, but that hadn’t stopped her. No, it had merely been a pleasant brain teaser. She cackled. And with those drones keeping those stupid mares busy, there’d be no time for them to- A drone came flying from nowhere, hitting Celestia in the back of the head, completely disorienting her rainbow hair. She whirled around in rage, seeing five mares who weren’t there before. For a brief moment, Celestia was confused - the door hadn’t opened and last she knew they were still a deck above her… Then she remembered. Twilight could teleport multiple ponies as long as she knew exactly where she was going. Celestia smirked. “Well done my little ponies, I should have expected you to make it this far.” Twilight blinked. “Celestia! What are you doing?” “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m shattering the Fire Crystal.” Celestia cackled. “WHY?” Celestia smirked, looking at Twilight with eyes that were not her own. “As smart as you are, you sure are dense.”  “You’re not Celestia.” Rarity said matter of factly. “You’re the thing that’s been causing all the Crystals to shatter.” Celestia laughed - a truly disturbing sound. “Someone give the Princess a cookie! She got it right!” “Whatever you are, you won’t be able to stop us.” Applejack said. “We will turn this machine off, and the Fire Crystal will be safe.” Celeste’s playful expression was instantly replaced with one of rage. “You’ll have to get past me again, and this body is much more suited to combat then that pathetic manticore.” She growled. “Are you sure you are strong enough to face a queen?” The mares backed away a step or two - they truly were not sure. Alicorns were extremely powerful, and Rarity had seen her own mother’s power firsthand. It was something to be reckoned with. Pinkie on the other hand… …Pinkie trotted right up to Celestia and grinned. “Bring it missy! I’ve got a cream pie with your name on it!” The cruel smile returned. “Oh Pinkie… I’m going to enjoy killing you most of all.” A brief look of confusion crossed Pinkie’s face, but she shook it away. “Good luck with that! Come on girls, let’s shut this machine off!” Celestia roared, creating a magical barrier around the control panel. Then her eyes lit up with intense fire, her calm mane and tail undergoing a violent change, replacing instantly with intense fire. Her teeth sharpened and she grew slightly taller. The five mares stared eyes wide - there was no more mistaking this thing for Celestia… “You may call me… Nightmare Star. Now die.” The heat in the room became unbearable - the fire mares could feel their hairs start to singe. “SHIVA!” Pinkie roared, tossing out the ice spirit. “Cool this place down!” Shiva grinned. “I’ll do better than that.” She waved her arms around, collecting icy dust in a complicated pattern. Then she drove the dust as far as she could into Nightmare Star, coating the alicorn in frost. It melted quickly, but the room’s temperature was down. “Pathetic spirit!” Nightmare Star roared. “You are nothing compared to my intense fire!” The temperature rose again, Shiva straining to continue existing. “Not so fast!” Pinkie grinned, summoning her own power. “TIDAL WAVE!” Water jets came from nowhere, splashing right into Nightmare Star, and dousing the flames somewhat. “I see you learned a few tricks from the Water Crystal. Interesting, but inadequate.” She teleported right on top of Pinkie and drove her fiery hoof into the mare’s chest. Pinkie yelled out in pain as Nightmare Star prepared another strike, but something distracted her. “APPLEJACK ANGRY!” Was the distraction. The impact of a large sword in her abdomen just furthered her annoyance. “Pathetic whelps!” Nightmare Star roared, picking up the berserk Applejack in her telekinesis. “The Crystals truly do think you are their heroes. Foolish beings.” “Oh yeah?” Rainbow Dash said, grinning. “Then why are we beating you around like a toy?” Her wings turned an unusual green color and Nightmare Star could feel poison digging through her veins. Nightmare Star growled, cracking Applejack’s back in her telekinesis and launching a blast of fire at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash tried to counteract it with her own fire, but the Queen’s power easily overwhelmed her own. She was engulfed in flame and tossed to the ground. Rarity healed Applejack, and was moving onto Rainbow Dash when Nightmare Star turned to her personally. “Your previous enemies may have ignored you, white mage, but I am not most enemies.” Rarity raised a magic shield around herself, blocking most of the fire, but it still got through and singed large portions of her coat. “My word.” Rarity muttered. “That… that was-“ “Nova.” Was the only word Nightmare Star said. An explosion went off millimeters from Rarity’s face, launching her into a wall and knocking her out cold. Nightmare Star cackled. “This is pathetically easy-“ Applejack and Shiva attacked simultaneously, Applejack attacking the alicorn at the neck, while Shiva attempted to drive icy spikes into her brain. Applejack channeled her berserk side, lifting the alicorn with her hooves and driving her into the ground. Nightmare Star was not amused by this, deciding that surrounding herself in a tornado of fire was a good idea. This caused Shiva to completely dissipate and Applejack to be tossed away like a ragdoll. Rainbow Dash got back up, attempting to freeze Nightmare Star, only to get a fireball to the face. She grunted through this, healing herself with her own magic, surrounding herself in some weak protective barriers, and charging at Nightmare Star with electric power. To her credit, Nightmare Star tried to stop the rainbow pegasus’ charge, but there’s only so much a jet of flame can block. The impact hit dead on, and the two ponies tumbled across the floor. Nightmare Star came out on top, holding Rainbow Dash in her telekinesis. “That… was a good attempt. But... Sadly pointless.” Pinkie appeared behind Nightmare Star with a giant sword, prepared to cut the fiery creature’s head off. The alicorn didn’t even glance at Pinkie before kicking her in the pelvis. “I’m not falling for that again, Pinkie.” “Ow….” Pinkie moaned, holding her groin. “Nobody’s supposed to expect that…” Nightmare Star grinned at the four mares. “You all were the Crystals’ chosen heroes? I laugh in your faces… I am limited by this body! And you couldn’t defeat me…” She took a deep breath, evidentially she was rather taxed. “Pathetic ‘warriors’-“ Suddenly, there was a hole in her skull. Nightmare Star was aware for a brief moment the face of Twilight Sparkle, tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry Celestia…” The fiery mane and tail vanished, replaced with the regular rainbow mane. The magical swirling aura quickly dissipated after that, a dead look quickly appearing in the Queen’s eyes. Despite the impossibility of doing anything with a hole that large in one’s brain, Celestia took one last look at Twilight and said three words. “I forgive you.” Then the Queen slumped to the ground, lifeless. Twilight walked slowly over to the control panel, shut the power drain off, and then walked back to Celestia. She started bawling. Rainbow Dash walked over to her and put a wing around her despite the injuries. The two shared the moment of silence. In the background, Rarity came to and started healing everyone, including herself. It took several minutes to repair all the damage, but soon they were all in tip-top shape. “So…” Applejack said. “I think we won.” “Yeah.” Rarity muttered. “Some victory…” “We should to check on the Fire Crystal.” Pinkie added. “It may have something to say to us.” “You can use the conduit to get there.” Twilight said, tearing herself away from Celestia’s body. “There’s no power flowing through it, it’s basically just a big hallway to the Crystal Room now.” Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight, understanding in her eyes. “Alright. If you think you’re ready.” Twilight nodded. “I’m ready.” The five mares journeyed through the conduit to meet the Fire Crystal. ~~~ “A thank you would have been nice.” Rainbow Dash muttered, glaring at the slightly-cracked Fire Crystal. The Fire Crystal let out a tone that was synonymous with grunting. “Wow.” Twilight said, blinking. “I was expecting the Fire Crystal I had spent so much time with to be wise and understanding. Not a complete jerk!”  The Fire Crystal responded. Twilight bristled. Twilight’s jaw dropped. “How are they going to do that? It’s impossible to cross the desert of Shifting Sands!”  The Fire Crystal pointed out. Rarity gasped. “My, you are most uncouth!” At that moment, a griffon fell from the ceiling. “Madame Pinkie? What are you doing here?” The Fire Crystal charged up a fire blast and the five mares readied themselves for a fight. “WOAH WOAH WAOH!” The griffon held up his hands in surrender. “I am not your enemy! I was sent here to protect the Crystal just like you Pinkie!” “I… was sent?” Pinkie said, cocking her head. “Sorry, I sorta have amnesia.” “What? Really?” The griffon groaned. “That’s just… great.” Applejack blinked. “Why isn’t he being a crazy savage trying to kill us all?” Twilight shrugged. “Well… this griffon isn’t trying to kill anyone right now, and he’s not attacking the Fire Crystal so… I think we can trust him.” “Hey!” Applejack said, lighting up. “Maybe you can tell us who Pinkie is!” Pinkie lit up. “That’s a great idea!” The griffon opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted as a guard from the castle came down to the crystal room. Wordlessly, the guard walked over to the control console and flicked the lever to maximum. Then he broke the lever so it could not be adjusted any further. The Fire crystal let out a roaring tone, engulfing the guard in a fire so hot that the metal of his armor ignited. As he burned, he laughed a harrowing laugh. The Fire Crystal exclaimed. Suddenly, a mechanical cable attached to the Crystal Pedestal, cutting the griffon in half as it did so. Twilight yelped, staring in disbelief at the dismembered creature. She quickly recovered, using her magic to remove the machine.  The Fire crystal’s tones were not of screaming - but ones of uncontrolled rage. “There has to be something we can do!” Twilight yelled. The five mares exchanged glances. Twilight nodded, quickly teleporting everyone a few floors up, quickly getting into the throne room with a few more jumps. She breathed heavily as they arrived. Twilight quickly ran to the throne itself and pressed a large button. “PEOPLE OF UNIFORGE! THE CASTLE IS ABOUT TO EXPLODE! EVACUATE THE CITY - DO NOT STOP FOR BELONGINGS! YOU ONLY HAVE A FEW MINUTES!” Panic erupted. Ponies scrambled for the city walls, mobs began to form, and everything devolved into chaos. Fires were started, several of the power conduits in the city began to explode due from being overpowered, and buildings began to fall. Twilight tried to teleport everyone out of the throne room, but instead she was knocked out by one of the soldiers. “This. Is. All. Your. Fault.” He said, causing the four other mares to look at him. He wasn’t a pony, or a griffon - he was a minotaur covered in myehrill armor from head to toe. “I am IRON WILL! And You will PAY FOR WHAT YOU CAUSED!” “What?” Applejack said. “This isn’t our fault!” “YOU CAME HERE AND EVERYTHING WENT TO HELL!” He rushed towards them, fists raised. Applejack tried to hit him with her sword, but it bounced right off. Rarity tried to slow down his time, but something about the Mythrill armor blocked the spell. The two of them were hit with punches of insane strength, knocking them out instantly. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash exchanged looks, before Pinkie summoned Shiva and all three of them froze the minotaur solid. He broke out, roaring. “IT’LL TAKE MORE THAN THAT TO STOP MY VENGEANCE!” Pinkie hit him along the head with a hammer, Shiva froze him again, and Rainbow Dash flooded him with lightning. “I… Will not… be DEFEATED BY THE LIKES OF YOU!” He punched Shiva into nonexistence, and prepared to attack Pinkie when he discovered that she had inserted a knife into his chest. “D.. Damnit…” He muttered, slumping to the ground. The fight was over. Rainbow Dash got the other three mares back into walking shape, Twilight staring at the minotaur’s body. “Iron Will… he was a good soldier…” “And he tried to kill us when the castle was exploding.” Rainbow Dash said. “I’m sorry, but we had to act fast.” “I… know…” Twilight said. “Let’s get out of here…” She quickly teleported them, and any guards in the throne room with them, outside the castle. A few more jumps got them out of Uniforge, and into the rolling hills surrounding it. She breathed heavily - she was really overtaxing herself here… Then they heard a voice come through the megaphone system of the city.  The roar of the Fire Crystal became so loud that it didn’t even need to use the speaker system anymore - a light began to form in the basement of the castle. Energy flickered in and out of existence, and then there was a blinding flash followed by a deafening boom. A mushroom cloud took the place of Solamane Castle, and the shockwave destroyed much of Uniforge as well. Everyone stared at the carnage with a morbid fascination. Twilight thought she could see a hand of fire reaching out of the explosion to the sky, shaking in rebellion. Then it was gone, nothing more than a cloud of ash in the sky. “Hey…” Pinkie Pie asked. “What are those shiny things flying right at us?” Three crystal shards impacted Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash. The three mares were tossed a few feet from the impact, but they received the power. “Man…” Rainbow Dash muttered. “That… Fire Crystal sure knows how to bestow his power… Gak…” Rarity smiled sadly. “I must say I… had the Fire Crystal pegged wrong. He may have been uncouth and tactless, but… he did want to protect this world.” She looked at the three mares who had received the Crystal’s power. “He still does.” They all took a moment of silence - there had been a lot of harrowing death on their journey so far… and only one Crystal remained… Arguably the most important of the Crystals… The Crystal that fueled the very earth beneath their feet…