Chapter 6
Chapter 6
"Goodness, this is fast!" Rarity exclaimed the next day. She, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Lyra had departed Kaipony with the hovercraft, and the white unicorn was amazed at the speed. "This might make Rainbow Dash a little envious!"
"Speaking of Rainbow," Twilight began, keeping her focus on the engine, "why didn't she come with you? I mean, it's not like her to leave somepony behind."
"Oh, she wanted to come with me, but she just couldn't leave without giving the king a piece of her mind," Rarity answered, her eyes downcast. "She got herself arrested. When she was being dragged off, she told me to make a break for it. And so I did, though it galled me to do so."
"Well, if I know Rainbow, she's not going to stay in prison long," Twilight said. "She might start an argument with another inmate to get out, or something."
"That sounds like her, alright," Rarity said with a laugh.
"So this Rainbow Dash is another friend of yours?" asked Lyra, keeping her eyes on the terrain ahead. They were nearing the shoals that connected the Kaipony Desert to the plains around Clydecyan Castle.
"Yes, she's the commander of the Colton Dragoons," Rarity explained. "Or rather, she was the commander. I doubt she is anymore, what with her being arrested and all."
"Was she the one that came with you to Mist, Twilight?" asked Fluttershy.
"Yeah," the lavender mare replied. "I was worried about her for a while. But I'm glad she got back to get healed by you, Rarity."
"Think nothing of it, Twilight," Rarity replied. "I'd do the same for any of my friends. After all, what use is white magic if I'm not helping ponies?"
"Not much," Lyra quipped, now steering the craft over the shoals. "I think I've heard of maybe one white magic spell in history that is meant to actually harm. Some ultimate magic or something… now what was it…?"
"Holy," Rarity replied. "Supposedly the most powerful white magic. I've never actually seen it used, but there is documentation supporting its existence. Only truly powerful white mages would be able to cast that spell."
"Speaking of powerful mages, Rarity, you wouldn't believe who I ran into on the way to Clydecyan," Twilight piped up. "Starswirl the Bearded! The legendary sage!"
"Really?!" Rarity exclaimed. "Oh, that must have been inspiring! To see a living legend in the flesh! What was he like?"
"Well, he was pretty impressive, magic-wise," Twilight replied. "But he was a little hung up over his daughter running off to Clydecyan with Lyra. They didn't tell him that Lyra was Clydecyan's princess."
"Oh, dear," Rarity murmured. "And you said earlier that Lyra was the only survivor of the Red Wings' attack…" She turned to the mint-colored unicorn. "I'm so sorry for your loss."
"It's alright, really," Lyra said. "I can't let myself get hung up over it. I mean, sure, I lost my parents, my kingdom, and the mare I loved all in one stroke, but the world won't stop spinning just to let me grieve."
"Even so, you can't just bottle it all up, Lyra," Rarity insisted. "You need to cry sometime."
"When the world is safe from Nightmare Moon," Lyra began sternly, "when there's no threat to the harmony of the nations, then I'll cry. Until then, I'll be strong."
Everypony else was silent at the conviction in the princess's words. Even Twilight decided not to continue her original topic of Starswirl. By this point, they were passing Clydecyan Castle. Rarity looked at it sadly, noting the ruined spires and walls. Still, she said nothing, out of respect for Lyra's privacy. The mint-colored mare had all but closed the discussion of her emotional trauma.
The rest of the trip passed in relative silence, as Lyra steered them over the next set of shoals. Nopony could think of anything to say past what had already been said. Finally, Fluttershy broke the silence. "So how did you get to know Twilight, Rarity?"
Rarity began chuckling as Twilight blushed. "Oh, I remember it like it was yesterday. You see, Twilight was raised by the king of Colton, alongside Rainbow Dash. But Twilight, being the 'teacher's pet' that she is, got a lot of favor from the king. Compare that to Rainbow, who was very blunt, and disrespectful of authority. One day, Rainbow decided to get into a scuffle with Twilight over the issue. I broke them up."
"I'm glad you did," Twilight muttered. "I wasn't training as a Dark Knight back then, and I wasn't as physically inclined as Rainbow was. She'd have cleaned my clock."
"You give yourself too little credit, Twilight," Rarity soothed. "I seem to recall Rainbow sporting a rather nice black eye after that incident."
"Whereas I was… how did your mom say it? Oh, yes, an 'absolute mess that's more bruise than pony'," replied Twilight. Everypony else chuckled at that.
"Suffice to say, they listened to me from then on, and we became very good friends," Rarity continued.
"Wow," Fluttershy breathed in awe.
Before anything else could be said, Lyra called from the front, "Slow down, Twilight, we're coming up on the base of Mt. Hoof."
Twilight began turning back the throttle, and the hovercraft slowed to a stop in front of a path leading up the mountain. Partway up the path, the quartet could see a thick sheet of ice impeding further progress.
Walking up to the ice sheet, Twilight tapped it with a hoof. "This is pretty solid. We're not going to get through this with sheer strength alone. Not in time, at least."
Rarity turned to the lone pegasus of the group. "Fluttershy, Fire is a very basic spell. It should be simplicity itself for you to cast it."
Fluttershy didn't respond, her body having seized up again.
"Won't you at least give it a try, dear?" the white unicorn asked, seemingly unnoticing the filly's discomfort.
Finally, Fluttershy replied, in a quivering voice, "I can't…"
"Hm?" Rarity said with a blink.
"I can't," Fluttershy repeated. "I can't use fire, I just… can't…"
As Rarity blinked confused, understanding dawned on Twilight's face. "The Carnelian Signet contained a multitude of bomb monsters, Rarity. They razed the village of Mist to the ground. And Fluttershy had to see it all."
A look of horror crossed Rarity's face, but it passed quickly, fading into concern. "I'm certain you're traumatized, dear, but think of what could happen if we don't get through here. There are innocent ponies in Stabul that need to be warned of the threat Colton poses. This ice is the only thing in our way, and you're the only pony who has what it takes to get us through it. If you don't try, more ponies are going to suffer, just like your village."
As Rarity spoke, Fluttershy's eyes grew wider and wider. But at her last sentence, something changed. The pegasus looked between all of the unicorns, then back to the ice. Finally, she took a step forward. Rarity moved out of her way, and Fluttershy took a breath. As she did, spirals of flame began swirling around her wings. When they reached her wingtips, she jumped into the air, and beat her wings once, flinging the flames at the ice. Within moments, a large hole had been melted into the ice, easily big enough for anypony.
"Well done, Fluttershy!" Twilight cheered.
"You did it!" Lyra exclaimed.
Fluttershy giggled a little. "It was kind of easy, wasn't it?" she asked.
"And all you needed to do was face your fears," Rarity said soothingly. "You're already turning into a powerful mage."
Twilight nodded in agreement. "Starswirl told me you might one day outstrip him in the realm of magic, and I'm beginning to agree." She looked up the mountain. "Next stop, Stabul!"
With that, the four began to climb the mountain. Fortunately, the mountain path was fairly wide, allowing for a wide range of movement. Unfortunately, it was also chock-full of monsters. Rarity, proving her worth as an archer, managed to shoot down a few annoying enemies before they could reach the rest of the party. She grimaced at the blood.
"Ugh, I'm so glad I don't have to get close to those things," she said. "The blood would simply stain my coat something awful!"
Lyra spared a glance at her. "You're hiking through a mountain. I think it's expected that we'll get a little dirty."
"There is a great difference between 'dirty' and 'coated with blood,' Lyra," the white mare sniffed. "Especially for somepony with a white coat like mine."
Twilight rolled her eyes as Lyra began to object. "Leave it alone, Lyra. Rarity's always been a bit conscious about her cleanliness."
Before anypony else could comment, Fluttershy's ears perked. "Wait, what's that noise?" she asked, flitting over to a crevice. "Oh, my, could somepony give me a hoof? There's something hurt at the bottom of the crevice!"
Twilight trotted over, curious. "What do you mean, Fluttershy?" She looked down, then instantly averted her eyes. "WHOA! Um, Fluttershy, you might want to back up."
"What? Why?" the young pegasus asked, confused.
"That's a cockatrice! They can turn you to stone with little more than a glance!" Twilight explained, taking a few steps away from the crevice.
"But it's hurt!" Fluttershy protested. "I can't just leave something alone if it's hurt!"
"Fluttershy, cockatrices are very dangerous," Twilight said slowly. "You can't seriously expect to – "
Fluttershy cut her off by flying into her face and glaring at her. "Weren't you the one who said that my talent was caring for animals? Well, there's an animal hurt right here, and you're telling me to leave it alone! I'm just taking your words to heart!"
Twilight was dumbstruck. On the one hoof, she knew from personal experience that cockatrices were something to avoid. On the other, Fluttershy was right; she HAD told the young pegasus what her talent was, and now seemed to be contradicting herself.
The unicorn sighed, closing her eyes. "Alright, Fluttershy. But I'm warning you, do not look it in the eye, for any reason." She reached out with her magic, wrapping her aura around the cockatrice below. It chirped weakly, struggling, but it had been badly hurt by something, and its movements were sluggish. She carefully probed it, and determined that it had a broken wing, and several bruises across its side. She slowly lifted it out of the crevice, keeping her eyes closed.
Further back, Rarity winced as she saw the mutated bird's condition. "Goodness, something really did a number on it," she whispered.
"No kidding. I know from experience that cockatrices, while not the strongest of creatures, aren't exactly pushovers," Lyra agreed.
Fluttershy was looking the wounded creature over, studiously avoiding its eyes. "Hm, it's in pretty bad condition," she said. "That wing's going to need to be set before I can properly heal it with my magic."
Lyra blinked at that. "Why? Isn't white magic, like, a cure-all?"
"Not entirely," Rarity cut in. "That's a common misconception. There are limits to what everything, even magic, can accomplish in terms of healing. For example, the most basic white magic can only heal minor wounds or injuries. With the way that wing's broken, a basic Cure spell would only serve to trap the wing in that broken position. The cockatrice would never fly again."
"So… why don't you help it? You're more powerful with white magic than Fluttershy, right?" Lyra pointed out.
"I believe this is something Fluttershy wants to do herself. Besides which, a more personal approach might be what the cockatrice needs to calm down," Rarity explained.
As Fluttershy went about setting the wing in a splint, Twilight kept the cockatrice suspended carefully so as to not put pressure on the injured areas. It tried feebly to snap at either the unicorn or the pegasus, but it was weak from a combination of hunger and pain-induced exhaustion. Eventually, it gave up on its struggles, letting Fluttershy tend to it.
Finally, Fluttershy finished setting the wing, straightening it out. The cockatrice's beak was clenched shut in pain by this point, a few tears falling from its eyes. Fluttershy, noting the tear marks on the ground, cringed. "I'm really sorry that you're hurt, and that I was hurting you more. But, I needed to make sure your wing would properly heal." She glowed a soft white, and white light enveloped the wounded creature. This repeated twice more, and finally its look of pain vanished. Fluttershy then went about unraveling the splint.
"Okay, Twilight, you can set it down, now," the pegasus said when she was done taking the splint off. Twilight set the cockatrice down on its talons. It stretched its wings a little, looking over the previously injured limb. It then looked at Fluttershy, who was now holding out a small white rectangle of… something. "This is something I made for the foxes and other meat-eaters in Mist. It's bland, but it should tide you over until you get some more real food," Fluttershy explained. Hesitantly, the cockatrice pecked at the white substance, before snapping it up in three quick bites.
It flapped its wings a few times, lifting off into a hover above the ponies. It looked at them all, but they all avoided looking back. It then let out a series of chirps and trills.
Fluttershy's ears perked. "Wait, what? Do you… really mean that?"
It nodded, and then vanished into a sphere of light that flew into the young filly. Everypony else blinked.
"Fluttershy? What just happened?" asked Twilight.
"It… it was so touched by my helping it, that it became an eidolon," Fluttershy replied in wonder. "It wanted to repay my kindness."
"Wow," Lyra gasped. "I've never heard about that. Then again, I don't know much about summoners and eidolons, anyway."
"Huh. Well, I guess I underestimated you, Fluttershy," Twilight admitted. "I'm sorry I was being a bit of a flip-flop earlier."
"Oh, it's no trouble, Twilight," Fluttershy replied. "You were just trying to look out for me, and I appreciate that."
The four ponies continued to ascend the mountain, avoiding or dealing with enemies as necessary. They couldn't help but chuckle at one point when a Gargoyle, confused by Lyra's harp, cast a Tornado spell on itself, leaving itself open to a swing from Twilight.
"I wonder why those things don't use that spell normally?" Rarity murmured. "They'd be a lot more threatening if they did."
"Who knows?" Twilight replied.
Their climb continued, until they heard the sounds of combat up ahead. Glancing at each other, they quickened their pace, until they saw what was happening. An orange earth pony mare stood, facing away from the group. She wore nothing save for a red vest, saddlebags, and a small brown hat. Her long blonde mane and tail fluttered in the wind.
Facing her was a cluster of Domovois, with one creature staying out of sight towards the back. Around the mare were the battered and broken bodies of more monsters. Judging by the way the mare was panting, she'd been fighting for some time. Fluttershy whimpered when she saw that some of the corpses belonged to ponies, rather than monsters.
"The hay is going on here?" wondered Twilight.
"I recognize that vest!" Lyra exclaimed. "She's a monk of Stabul!"
No sooner had the princess spoken than the mare sprang into action. Whipping a rope out of her saddlebags, she lassoed one of the Domovois, and pulled it toward her, smashing it into the ground with a forehoof. Another tried to get behind her, only to get bucked with both of the mare's hind legs. It went sailing over the edge, landing with a gut-wrenching splat on the mountainside.
The remaining three Domovois sprang at her as one, only for the mare to jump into the air, letting them land where she had been moments before. Before they could stand, she landed on top of the pile forehooves-first, letting out a loud, "YEE-HAW!"
The creature that had remained behind then hovered forward. It looked like little more than a ball of living flame, floating in the air. Lyra blanched when she saw it. "A bomb! That's tough for any one pony to face!"
Twilight didn't need encouragement. She charged forward, body-checking the bomb before it could ram into the monk. "Need a hoof?" she asked the briefly-startled mare.
"Ah shore won't say no!" the monk replied, an odd accent tinging her voice.
Rarity, Fluttershy, and Lyra joined them as they faced down the bomb. It glared at all of them, trying to decide which of them to attack first. It ruled out the heavily-armored pony that interrupted its first attack. Looking them over, it settled on the small one. Young ponies always made nice snacks.
Rarity, seeing it begin its charge, shot an arrow at it. The arrow struck it between the eyes, and it bellowed in pain. Still, the arrow hadn't gone deep, and so it shifted course, aiming for the archer. A Blizzard spell, thrown from the young pegasus, knocked it back several paces as it cringed from the contrast between its natural heat and the freezing cold of the ice.
"Ah think it's jus' gettin' mad," the monk drawled.
"Well, how about something more substantial?" Twilight asked, swinging her blade. At the same time, the monk charged forward, spinning around to buck the bomb with both hind legs. The two attacks combined sent it flying into a boulder.
"Hoo-ee! That's how we do things 'round here!" the earth pony crowed.
"You okay?" Twilight asked. "That thing was on fire, after all…"
She was waved off. "Pshaw, ain't nothing ah haven't done before," the monk said.
"Um, it's not quite dead yet," Fluttershy cut in, nodding over to where the bomb was now lifting itself off the ground. It then began to swell, becoming bulbous and darker colored. Moreover, it looked angry.
"Uh-oh!" Lyra gulped. "That's a Mom Bomb! When they get close to death, they explode, and release a bunch of smaller bombs! When they're like this, it's next to impossible to stop them!"
Everypony else gulped, backing away from the slowly approaching monster. "Any suggestions?" asked Rarity.
"Throw up whatever spells you have that can mitigate damage," Lyra replied. "And everypony, brace yourself. It's about to blow!"
Rarity acted quickly, throwing up Protect spells around the group. Everypony else dug their hooves into the ground as best they could, hunkering down slightly. The bomb was less than four yards away when it stopped, and exploded.
Even with the Protect spells in place, everypony was knocked back by the blast. Twilight was thrown the shortest distance, owing to her heavy armor. On the other hoof, Fluttershy was almost blown completely off the edge of the summit, and was saved only by Rarity's quick reflexes with her magic. The five ponies regrouped quickly, now facing a group of six bombs. Three were of the same coloring as their parent, while three were a dull gray.
"Okay, Lyra, any suggestions for the kids?" asked Twilight, eyeing the six monsters warily. Rarity cast a mass Cura spell on the group, mending the damage they'd taken from the explosion.
"They're little different from standard bombs, except for the gray ones. They're a bit tougher, but not by much," Lyra replied.
"Good to know," Twilight said, and flung a Dark Wave at the group of bombs. The three standard ones were slain by the attack, while the three gray ones remained, albeit dazed.
Lyra then played her Lamia's harp, causing one of the gray bombs to waver, then crash into one of its brothers before detonating. The blast consumed both bombs, leaving only one behind. It glanced between its attackers and the corpses of its comrades, and decided discretion was the better part of valor. Before it could flee, though, the monk charged forward, and struck it with a forehoof to send it careening into a rock.
"Like ah said, that's how we do things 'round here!" she declared. She turned to look at the other ponies, green eyes twinkling. "Thank ye kindly for yer help there. I'da been monster bait if ya'll hadn't shown up."
Lyra stepped forward, recognition on her face. "Applejack? That is you, isn't it? My goodness, it's been ages!"
Blinking, Applejack looked at Lyra, then grinned. "Well, blow me down! Is that you, Lyra? Boy howdy, it's been a long time, alright!" With a laugh, she drew the mint-green unicorn into a hug.
"I take it you two know each other?" asked Rarity.
Lyra stepped away from Applejack, turning to face the others. "Ah, right, introductions. Everypony, this is Applejack, Grandmaster of the monks of Stabul. I almost didn't recognize you, it's been so long."
Applejack waved her off, chuckling. "S'alright, Lyra. Shoot, you've changed a lot yerself. Now, how about introducin' me to yer new friends?"
Nodding, Lyra indicated each of the other three in turn. "This is Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, and Fluttershy. We were actually on our way to Stabul when we saw what was going on." She glanced around, wincing as she took in the corpses of fallen ponies. "Though it seems we should have gotten here sooner."
Applejack's good humor vanished, and she grimaced. "Woulda been nice, ah'll admit. But, what's done is done. Ah'm not lookin' forward to tellin' the king that most of our top monks are dead. This was supposed to be a simple trainin' exercise!"
Twilight frowned. "Well, like Lyra said, we're on our way to Stabul ourselves. We'll come with you, since we need to talk to your king."
Applejack cocked her head. "And why's that? From yer armor, ah'd say yer a Dark Knight of Colton, right? You on official business from Colton?"
Twilight's expression darkened. "Not really. We actually planned on warning Stabul that Colton's planning to attack."
The earth pony's eyes widened. "Say what?! We ain't done nothin' to Colton worth gettin' upset over! Why would they attack us?!"
"Because you keep a crystal in your kingdom, dear," Rarity explained. "We have reason to believe a mare by the name of Nightmare Moon is using Colton's Red Wings to gather the crystals of the world. Maresidia's Water Crystal and Clydecyan's Fire Crystal are already in her hooves."
Applejack looked startled at that, and glanced at Lyra. "Don't tell me they attacked yer kingdom!"
Lyra looked down. "They did… and I was the only one to survive. It'll be a long time before Clydecyan can be called a kingdom again."
Applejack sighed. "Dang… yer mom and dad were two of the kindest ponies ah knew. Ah'm gonna miss them…" She shook herself, and looked back at Twilight and Rarity. "So yer thinkin' that this Nightmare Moon's gonna go after Stabul next?"
"It's the most logical step," Twilight replied. "Trotta's a little too out of the way, plus it's surrounded by forests. Not exactly a place to land invasion forces."
Applejack frowned. "Boy, is this a pain. If Colton does attack now, we're gonna be at a huge disadvantage. Most of the monks back at the castle are trainees."
Twilight hesitated, but then gave voice to a concern she'd had. "If I may… I think Nightmare Moon might have sent these monsters after your monks."
That earned her a startled look from not only Applejack, but the other three as well. "Wh-what makes you say that?" asked Fluttershy.
"I've been puzzling this over for a while now, and it's the only thing that makes sense," Twilight began to explain. "A few months ago, King Colton's behavior changed, and not for the better. He began pushing for more militaristic uses of the Red Wings. At around the same time, the number of monsters and hostile creatures throughout the world began to increase dramatically."
Rarity frowned. "I see what you're saying, Twilight, and it makes sense. You think Nightmare Moon met with the king that day, and that's when everything began to change."
Twilight nodded, looking at Fluttershy. "The antlion's eggs were destroyed by somepony, and it became hostile. That Octomammoth, from what little I've read about them, isn't native to caves that close to desert. It's entirely possible that Nightmare Moon is influencing the world's natural order to bring chaos."
Applejack's expression was grim. "And the killin' of my friends and colleagues was part of that plan?"
Twilight nodded. "It's a fair assumption."
The earth pony sighed. "This is gonna be a pill for Big Mac to swallow," she muttered.
"Big Mac?" asked Rarity with a blink.
"Mah big brother," Applejack explained. She paused, then added, "And the king of Stabul."
Twilight's jaw fell open. She then sunk into a hasty bow. "O-oh! I'm so sorry, your Highness, I – "
"None o' that, now!" Applejack said, pulling Twilight back to her hooves. "Ah don't like bein' called 'yer highness', 'yer grace', or whatever! Ah'm just a simple earth pony who jus' happens to be related to the king of Stabul. Ah'm just Applejack to mah friends."
Twilight blushed. "Sorry, Applejack. I'm just… well…"
"Nervous around authority figures?" Rarity quipped.
The lavender unicorn's blush deepened. "Yeah, pretty much," she admitted.
The others all giggled at her discomfort, but Lyra quickly sobered. "We don't have time to waste dawdling here! Every second we spend is another second Colton has to attack Stabul!"
Applejack nodded, a look of determination on her face. "Stabul ain't gonna fall today! Not so long as ah have anythin' to say about it!"
With that, she took off down the slope of Mt. Hoof. The other four were hot on her tail, rushing to warn Stabul of the impending attack.
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Aww. and Here I was hoping AJ would be Edge for Implied Appleshy Shipping.
456844
Naw, I still say Edge'll be Pinkie Pie. AJ made the most sense since she was the most physically capable of the group.
And with the phrasing of 'Disturbing teh natural order' I can only assume that Zeromus is Discord.
beginning of chapter: hmm.. i bet applejack is gonna be yang...
at the part where they encounter yang: I TOTALLY CALLED IT!!!
457010
That is because it makes the most sense considering NMM is Golbez.
I can't wait to see who Palom and Porom will be
457854
Well the associated theory behind Palom and Porom would be any one of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Either Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, or Scootaloo and Apple Bloom. How ever, the second combination shouldn't be considered anymore because of the fact that Applejack is Yang.
But that Last bit is my theory though.
457854 Probably Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo, fits them.
458065 I kinda want it to be all three, that will make it feel more like its not a walk through of FFIV with ponies
also, if the writer does FFIV:TAY I see Harley being Bon Bon...
458080 As I said in a previous chapter, I have no intentions of doing TAY as of yet, since I haven't actually PLAYED it. Sorry to disappoint.
If somepony wants to tackle TAY when I'm done, more power to you!
458080
Well how would the writer explain that? Though for the MLP Fandom it does make sense, I don't think that it would be possible for the third crusader be a part of the triplets, but I also could be wrong on this whole matter and deserve a boot to the head. I just can't wait to see what happens though, as there's going to be a lot that's going to be there that we can leave up to guessing. I'm looking forward to it, are you?
458098 awww
I enjoyed TAY, I actually like it a bit more than FFIV since it has more replayability without playing the GBA, DS or PSP version since you can make your final party different everytime
458099 its mainly since they said it was not a walk through, and so far, it is that
not that I am not enjoying the fic, FFIV is one of my fav FFs
458140 The really big plot divergences I have in mind haven't gotten here yet. Just hold your ponies for a little bit, okay?
458154 but I cant hold them all there are too many!!!!!
just keep up with what you are doing and I'll be a happy pony
458140
I don't think that's the intention though. I'm not sure if you've noticed but, so far there have only been a total of two TRUE boss fights. The Mist Dragon, and the Mombomb. The fight with the Octomammoth would have been a true boss fight if the original author didn't want Fluttershy in the Role of Rydia. (God only knows the pony that would have been given that role. If not for her.) Plus, the fight with the Antlion was totally taken out so she could get her Cutie Mark. In some intents and purposes of the word, yes you would be right and I would agree with you that this is walkthrough-ish. BUT, on the other hand though they're going to the same places in the FFIV universe, the characters are totally different. Fans can recognize the locations,(I certainly do I mean I've played the game like 5+ times before and who hasn't), but the writer is only doing that to maintain the integrity of the world that has been set in stone. I mean, you can't just expect Twilight's party to go up to Nightmare Moon right now and snap her out of the mind control from Zemus(depending on who that is) can you? Plus the author is just describing the spells that are being used as a way to project the combat system from the game. Based on this, I am not inclined to agree with you. Plus you don't have a hyperlink to the FFIV boss theme at every turn, or a set of stats for the creatures that the traveling party are going against.(well that is an idea for pinkie pie, but that's beside the point.) The point I'm trying to make is that there's a fine line that a crossover writer has to tread while pleasing fans from all of the universes that they come from, and while in my opinion the author is doing wonders with it, you can't make everypony happy. Unless you're pinkie pie. Then you can make everypony happy. But that's the way I see how the story is going, and I didn't want to talk your ear off about it so, that's all I'm going to say about it.
458222 Thank you, RaisingShad0ws, for pointing out, in detail, my intentions. And as I said, the REALLY big plot divergences haven't happened yet.
458280
Well I thought that what you had intended for this story was kinda obvious. I mean, Yeah there are going to be changes to the plot no doubts about that, but right now wouldn't exactly be the best time to change the plot at all. I mean, the traveling party hasn't even gotten to Stabul yet, so why change it at all for right now?
And as for the big plot divergences, I'm looking forward to how you are going to deal with the twins turning to stone in Colton, or how everypony meets back up with each other after Leviathan's attack. I'm just saying that's what I'm looking forward to. Oh, and the Lady of Shadows Princess Pinkamena Diane Pie of Eblan(I can't come up with a ponified name for the castle of the ninjas.... I'm not that good yet I'm afraid.) And I'm suspecting that you won't "kill off," Zecora or Applejack Like how Yang and Cid supposedly died in FFIV, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it's going to be done.
458076 palom would probably be trixie
461184 Uh, if you'd read Chapter 1, you'd remember that Trixie is playing the role of Baigan.
461184 WHY? Trixie has already been used in chapter 1 as the obnoxious commander, didn't you read it?
461230 As to that, you'll have to wait and see, just like everypony else.
Seriously! What part of 'I'm not releasing spoilers' does nopony get? It means I'm not going to reveal who anypony is ahead of time!
Ahem. Sorry for the rant, there. Anyway, I've begun work on Chapter 7, so expect that soon! It might be a little longer than most chapters, too!
Well 2/3 of the CMC's would be otherwise occupied since their siblings are out doing stuff. I'm thinking Palom and Porom might wind up being Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon :P
461204 ..... and that is what i get for starting at chapter 3
Called it for Yang!
... now who's going to be AJ's wife? or husband? major plot point and all...
Whelp... That's enough for now. I can no longer ignore the calling of Pony Fantasy VI! I MUST PLAY! ~Allons-y!~
I'm a little disappoint in you, Leo! You're supposed to see that I haven't commented for WEEKS, and give me a slap to remind me that I wasn't caught up! *Huffs*
This is showing improvements and the new characters are just as fitting as the rest of the cast.
)
(Says the very slow reader who's severely behind
Oh Course Applejack is yang
I was lucky when I fought my first Goblin in FFIV [It dropped the Goblin summon item]
470691
My guess? It's going to be her little sister instead. The idea of Apple Bloom hitting someone over the head with a frying pan is pretty hilarious.
i'm thinking that it's sort of like how in the Baldur's Gate games your dead party members can 'theoretically' be raised... as long as they're mostly intact. if they were completely dismembered, however, not so much.
Palom and Porom, Sweetie Belle is a maybe, since there’s no reason she HAS to be Rarity’s sister, here. Scootaloo, despite fitting, personality-wise, I’m more leery of. Since magic seems to have remained--almost--solely the province of unicorns, I’m guessing…Dinky, maybe? Ruby Pinch could be the other. Then again, Mysidia was the world capitol of magic, so if any ponies could teach what Shy had figured out on her own, it will be them.
Also, a chapter or two late, but I never even thought about Shining Armor as Golbez, because Luna/NMM was so much more fitting, thematically.