MLP: Journey Across Time

by B. J. Williams

Facing Tirac for the First Time

The generals were consistently arguing about what happened and what to do. Some of them were starting to point hoofs at each other. Basil knew this was not getting them anywhere. So, he then decided that he would go out and rescue the hostages himself. He headed out southward toward Tirac's camp where he knew where the hostages were. Before he was able to get closer to Tirac's camp. He heard something and he drew his blade.

"Anyone there?" Basil stated. "Show yourself." Then, from the bushes came Twilight Sparkle and her friends.

"Basil?" Twilight asked.

"Did you just follow me here?"

"Yes, but we wanted to ask you something."

"What do you want?" Basil replied. "I'm a little busy."

"I need to talk to you."

"Whatever you are trying to say, I'm not going to stay while ponies are suffering. I have to rescue them or else Tirac might hurt them."

"We know, that is why we're going with you."

"You're coming with me?"

"Yeah."

"Twilight talked to the five of us." Applejack stated. "We thought it was probably best we helped you."

"Cause you go alone," Pinkie Pie stated coming in. "You could have gotten hurt very badly." The other three came along too.

"Thanks guys." Basil stated.

"Besides," Rainbow Dash stated. "This Tirac fellow can't be too hard to beat."

"I don't think you should say that. I have gone up against him before. He is difficult to beat and besides he is the best fighter in his entire army."

"Well, how are we supposed to beat him."

"We have to outsmart him."

"Fortunately," Rarity said. "I came up with a plan to do get the hostages out."

"Okay, so let me in on this plan."

So the seven arrive at Tirac's camp, there were two goblin guards at the camp. They were green and bulky and they were carrying swords on their belts. They were talking to each other. Then, Pinkie Pie came out. She was wearing a white and red sailor uniform and her hair was dyed blue.

"Hi there." she stated. The two goblins turned to her. She was scared about this now.

"Who are you, filly?" one of the goblins stated. Then, Pinkie Pie had to lie.

"We're just traveling entertainers, and that after seeing this camp we thought it would be good to entertain the ones here." Pinkie Pie scared but fortunately for them, the guards were complete idiots.

"Okay," the other stated. "You can come in and entertain us."

"Can we get the rest of the group in?"

"Okay." Pinkie Pie signaled the ponies to come in. All of the main six were wearing sailor uniforms with the same color scheme as Pinkie Pie's. Twilight Sparkle had to have her main shorter. Rainbow Dash had to have her main dyed gold, and Applejack had to undo her ponytail. (No pun intended.) Anyway, they were able to enter the camp. They were taken to a large green tent. There were other tents around this one.

"Wait, here I'll get Tirac." a goblin stated. "My lord,"

"What is it?" Tirac replied not coming out.

"There are entertainers here to entertain us."

"Are you sure this isn't a joke?"

"No joke, my lord."

"Very well, let me see them."

"Yes sir." The goblin came out. "Behold, the lord Tirac." Then, a fearsome red horned centaur appeared from the tent. He had dark red wild hair. He had a blue helmet. There were two phoenix feathers on his helmet, one on each side, going down the back. He also had blue armor on with gauntlets with ezuste gems. He also had bright yellow eyes. Regardless, one would be shaken by his appearance alone.

"So, these are the so-called entertainers." Tirac asked.

"Yes, my lord."

"How come I don't recognize them?"

"They were traveling entertainers, master." At this point, Tirac knew something was not right.

"My my…" Tirac stated just playing along. "This is a rare sequence of events, we are facing." The main six were sweating bullets thinking expecting the worst. "So, we must not let their coming here go to waste. Prepare the stage. I can be amused by this."

"Yes, my lord." The goblin turned to the entertainers. "What are waiting for? We have to get you ready to entertain us." He got the ponies to the stage.

"I know there are no traveling entertainers in this area." Tirac thought. "Why would any entertainers come here?" He paused. "This has to be a trap. I have my soldiers prepare a counter trap. Then, I'll play along to see how events turn out." The main six were doing a comedy routine that Pinkie Pie came up with earlier. During this time, Basil was preparing to sneak into the base. Then, he tried to sneak in but noticed security was tighter than the time that the ponies entered.

"How is that possible?" Basil thought. "Could have Tirac saw through Pinkie Pie's strategy?" Basil remembered at that moment, that Tirac was not only fearful for his strength. He was also fearful for his cunning. "Damn, I have to be on my toes."

Basil entered the camp unseen by the guards. He snuck by near a tent; he peaked inside only to find a sleeping goblin. He noticed there was a map underneath him. The goblin rolled on its side making it easier for Basil to take the paper. Basil went to him. He put his hoof on the map and slowly moved the map from underneath him being careful not to wake up the goblin. He got the map and left the tent to hide in the bushes.

"Finally," Basil thought. "This will make finding the hostages a whole lot easier." He opened it up and he got frustrated. "Or not." However, he was not able to understand it. "This is written in archaic script. If I only knew someone who could read it." He remembered his father saying that the ponies he was with could read archaic script. He facehoofed. "Duh, I know some ponies nearby who can read this.

At the midway point of the performance, the ponies were out taking a break. They were exhausted from the routine. Basil went to Twilight.

"Hey, pssst, Twilight I'm over here." Basil whispered.

"What are you doing here?" Twilight whispered.

"I can't read this map. It's in archaic script; I know you can read this."

"Let me have a look." She looked at the map. "The prisoners are at the north end of the camp according to the map."

"Thanks." Then, Basil headed off toward the north end. But before he got there, he noticed a prisoner being escorted by guards to the east. "That's odd. The map said it was to the north." Basil continued to head north, only to see the last of the prisoners being moved from the location.

"That's all the prisoners." a guard said.

"Yeah," a second one stated. "Now, all we need to do now is set the ambush for the guy, Lord Tirac said would come to free the prisoners." Basil hid.

"So, he did see through Pinkie Pie's strategy." Basil thought. "I have to think and act fast. Morning comes in about a few hours. If my father doesn't see me up by morning, he'll look for me and it's all over." He went east toward the prisoners and looked for a way out for the hostages which he did. After the performance, the main six were done. The routine was extremely well done.

"Thank you." Twilight Sparkle stated. "We will be leaving now."

"Really," Tirac stated. "I think not." His guards cornered the ponies. "Did you think I would fall for such an amateur plan like yours? Hmm?"

"Shoot." Pinkie Pie replied to herself.

"You will be put in the chamber with the prisoners, and be my personal entertainers from now on." The guards began to move them to the chamber. "One more thing, if you try to escape, then I will have your head on a platter." Then, he laughed and reentered his tent. The main six were being escorted to the chamber.

"How could this happened?" Rainbow asked. "Where have we gone wrong?"

"How has he so smart?" Fluttershy replied.

"I don't know where we have gone wrong." Twilight said. "No matter what went wrong, we failed in our mission."

"Trapped forever in chambers?" Rarity asked. "Not dusty chambers." Eventually, the six got to the cage where the hostages were being held. The one goblin opened the door. Then, a shrub began to shake. The guards looked at it. Two knifes came out and killed the guards. Basil came out with the keys.

"Basil, you came back." Twilight Sparkle replied.

"A good soldier never leaves a stallion (or mare in this case) behind." Basil replied. He tossed them the keys. "These are the keys I found to the shackles. Let's get the prisoners out of here." Twilight nodded her head in agreement. They freed the hostages and were helping the hostages escape. However, the alarm rang before the seven were able to escape.

From his tent, Tirac rose. He turned to a goblin guard who was there.

"What is the meaning of this?" Tirac asked the guard.

"The prisoners are escaping." he replied. Tirac got furious.

"DON'T JUST STAND THERE!! CAPTURE THEM!!" The guards were sent to take the prisoners. Tirac went back into his tent. "In case, they fail to catch them. I have one more surprise that this camp has that only I know this area has. Then, went over to a cabinet and open it up. There was a black ripcord with a red handle on it that was seen on a lawn mower. He grabbed it and yanked on it hard. Then, the sounds of some engines was heard from below the tent. "Now, go and prevent the hostages from escaping." The guards chased them down; however, like he predicted they escaped from the guards. Tirac was infuriated at the news of the escape, but he knew someone would stop them as he ordered a raid party to prepare to invade Pottok. The rest packed up and left including Tirac. Only the raid party would follow the ponies. Tirac and the rest of his army went in a different direction. That morning, the hostages were returned safe and sound at Pottok. The seven returned as well.

"Son," the commander stated. "Why did you dare disobey protocol and go off on your own?"

"Father," Basil replied. "You guys were doing nothing. I, no we went out to free the villagers."

"You could have gotten yourself killed."

"Look didn't you want the villagers freed?" Rainbow Dash stated.

"Rainbow." Fluttershy asked.

"No, we had done much good and we have to put up with this crap?"

"Don't talk back to me like that young lady." the commander shouted. Before more conflict could come to. The alarm rang.

"A raid party is coming!" a messenger stated. "The troops aren't ready to fight yet." The commander was afraid for the villagers. He, then, told the seven.

"You want to prove yourselves?"

"Yeah." Rainbow Dash replied.

"I want you seven to hold off the raid party long enough to get our troops ready to fight."

"I guess we can do that." So, the six ponies had to go on the front line of defense toward the East. Fluttershy and Rarity were scared about fighting these guys. It wasn't because they were girly even though they were. But they knew that others were in danger.

"Twilight, here." Basil stated. He tossed a sword to her. "Use this."

"Thanks." Twilight stated. "I think." Then, the raid party came. It consisted of goblins and pony mercenaries. The raid party stopped. The seven recognized the mercenaries. They were the ones who tried to force themselves on the main six.

"Hey," one of those mercenaries stated. "I recognize that pink haired pony. She was the one who killed our leader."

"Yeah, girly." Another stated. "This time is payback time." Fluttershy was scared even more. Then, Ifrit appeared.

"You, lustrous ponies." Ifrit shouted. "You will not lay a single hoof on Lady Fluttershy. If you do, I'll tear you in half."

"Ifrit." Fluttershy stated.

"Ifrit is here to protect Lady Fluttershy and companions."

"Having a buff guardian on your side isn't going to help you." a mercenary stated. The raid party charged into battle.

"My hooves are going to get dirty, aren't they." Rarity stated.

"Has anyone told you to man up?" Basil asked. "You are going to need to do that now." The ponies, then entered battle. The gunners went to target Rarity and Applejack. The mercenaries went after Fluttershy for revenge. The rest went after Basil, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie.

As the fighting went on, Applejack finally mastered grenades. Rarity finally got the hang of using a gun. Although, the mercenaries tried to kill Fluttershy, Ifrit was able to defend her. Flutershy did intimidate one and forced him to flee. The combaters were defeated by the four others.

"We are being beaten by a bunch of filles?" the enemy leader said. "This is madness."

"No." Rainbow Dash replied. Then, she shouted this in the most masculine voice she can. "THIS... IS... RAINBOW!" Then, she sent him flying using her hooves of fury. He screamed as he was sent flying. By the time, the army was finished and began to retreat; the party of seven won the fight (or so they thought). All of the main six were exhausted, none of them except Basil collapsed to the ground. All of them felt traumatized from all of the fighting, they had done. "Well, that was easy." The ground began to rumble. "Or not."

[cue "Battle at the Big Bridge" from FFV]

Then, a giant metallic hand came out of the ground followed by a second one. Then, they pulled from the ground its source, a giant chrome humanoid machine. The torso was made up of three giant engines and a fourth smaller engine that was covered by silver plating. The head was wearing a bronze helmet with horns and bronze arm guards. The legs were covered with silver as well.

"Searching for ponies..." he stated in a lower mechanical voice; he began scanning the area finding the seven ponies on the ground. "Targets acquired."

"So this is the thing Tirac was hiding for us." Basil asked. "A giant robot."

"I am Gilgamesh; Enough expository banter. It is time for you to fight like stallions, and mares, and mares that dress like stallions." He drew a serpent spear from behind him. "Prepare to be terminated, ponies." He twirled the spear above his head leapt forward swinging the spear. Six of the ponies dodged the blade, only Basil could block it. The force knocked him onto his back, getting back up by rolling over.

"So, you are asking for a fight. Well then, bring it." The spear came around a second time and this time Basil was able to dodge but his sword and shield were smashed by the spear. Twilight and the other ponies came his aid. Twilight and Rarity fired some magic at the robot. Gilgamesh was able to block some of the magic by spinning his spear to form a shield but some of the magic got through pushing him back slightly.

Applejack and Pinkie Pie helped get Basil back on his hooves. The former found a bastard sword that was laying on the ground. She ran over and picked it up with her mouth but was forced to drag it on the ground.

"Thanks, Applejack." Basil stated.

"Ya'll welcome." she replied. Basil was able to pick up the bastard sword with one hoof and reentered battle. She and Pinkie Pie followed as well. Rainbow Dash flew and smashed into Gilgamesh making sure to dodge the spear strikes. It was causing farther damage to the plating. Fluttershy was flying to help out the support.

"Applejack," Pinkie Pie said. "Give me a boost." Applejack grabbed Pinkie and tossed her toward Gilgamesh's blind spot. Pinkie was able to latch on and smash the back of Gilgamesh's robotic head destroying a memory chip.

"System Malfunctioning." Gilgamesh said. "Targets unknown. Targets lost. Retreat for Maintenance." He began to retreat. Rainbow Dash smashed the legs and sent Gilgamesh crashing to the ground. They met up with the commander later that day.

[Music Fades]

[cue "Final Fantasy (Opening Theme for FF1)"]

"You, seven." The commander stated. "Front and center." The seven came up. "You have beaten that band of raiders and a giant robot and saved this town. For that we are grateful for your deeds. We ask for apologizes."

"Forgiven." Twilight stated.

"I have witnessed your skills and you are the best ponies I have seen in my lifetime." The main six were promoted to sergeant ranking. Basil was promoted to master sergeant. "My son, I also have an order for you."

"What is that father?"

"I want you to get these ponies back home, understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"Before you do that, I want you to have this." The commander pulled out a pendant with a green stone as a majority of it. "This is a magic artifact given to me by one of my generals. It is best that it is in your hands." He handed the pendant to him.

"Thank you, father."

The main six were made weaponry as gifts to prepare them for their journey. Twilight Sparkle was given an honorable sword. Rainbow Dash was given a halberd. Pinkie Pie was given a set of twin daggers. Fluttershy was given a bowstaff; she didn't want bladed weaponry. Rarity got her own rifle with bayonet that didn't need the gunpowder. Applejack got several boxes of grenades and a set of claws. Basil was given a claymore. Also, they had a feast in their honor. They left the town that day with high hopes and dreams of the place they once were. For the six, it was the beginning of their long journey home. It will be one filled with struggle and pain. Their friendship will be tested time from time. Only time will tell for our heroes what will happen. The commander stood alone on the hill looking out over the area where his son and the six are.

“I do not know where this journey will take you. But where ever it leads you seven, I am sure you will be destined for great things. I bid you farewell and good luck.”

[Music Continues to End]

Comments

[B. J. Williams]

I know. I, kind of, sacrificed grammar for plot.
That's where probably I got the negative comments from.
Too bad there was not a *sigh* emoticon. I would have used that instead of the facehoof one.

[Blahman2816]

THIS IS...*looks around*...WHERE EVER THE **** WE ARE!!!!

[Wind Whistler is love]

The biggest complaint I have so far is that half the time this feels more like a summary or list of events than a story. The paragraph where they escape from Tirac is especially bad, that many huge events shouldn't happen all at once like that; they're just begging to be fleshed out. Other than that and the occasional grammatical error I am loving this fic.