Celestia Trigger

by Thadius0

Chapter 32 - The start of a new quest.

If one looked at the massive metal airplane from the side, they would see a smaller, winged vehicle exiting it from the back. The smaller vehicle would fly around as though it were being piloted by a drunkard for a good few minutes, bobbing and weaving madly, before finally leveling out, just in time to land. Once it did, the ramp in back opened up, and the time-traveling fivesome emerged, four of them highly thankful for the ground under their feet again. The fifth one, though shaky, tried to lift their spirits.

"It wasn't that bad," Copper said.

"You performed loops," Gregory replied. "And then had the gall to ask why the ground was above you."

"We landed, that's the important bit," the mare said. "And look, we're right near the Time...Gate..."

Her trailing off was understandable. After all, something had crashed down near the Gate. A piece of earth with a single, solitary seed atop it.

The central structure of the city of Quietus, the palace itself, young as it was, had landed near the Gate. Somehow, it had survived the end of Vis and had planted itself near the Gate.

"Is this how the Crystal Empire started?" Copper quietly questioned. "A relic of an age long past that survived the end of Vis?"

"Indeed it is," a familiar voice spoke up from behind them. The five of them turned to see a familiar stallion nearby. One with a grey coat and red eyes, and a black mane and tail.

"You," Scorpan growled.

"Yes, me," Sombra said. "Behold, all that will remain of Vis. It will survive and grow here, over a thousand years, to become a crystalline city. One that I will come to a thousand years from now, and attempt to subjugate to my whims, so that I may harness its power to try and summon and best Lavos."

The stallion walked through them to the small palace and put a hoof on it, sighing softly. "Once, I lived in that floating land above the skies...but I was different then."

"It was you," Zehan suddenly deduced. "You were that colt. You were...Umbra, was it?"

"You're the one that told Crono he would die," Copper growled.

"For as long as I have lived, I have heard the bitter, black winds, that signal the coming of the Reaper," the stallion said, not even looking at them. "It wasn't until I grew up a little that I realized why other ponies didn't want me around. If I wasn't there...I couldn't tell them if they were about to die. Your friend was a brave fool, trying to take on Lavos as he did, but Lavos is the all-consuming fire at the end of time. Mess with him, and you shall wind up as ashes."

Copper breathed deeply for a moment, her harness already pointing at the dark-coated stallion, ready to attack him for that comment...

When Gregory, of all beings, stood between the two parties. "Stop," he said to them. "Attacking him will not change the truth in his words, nor will besting him bring back Crono."

Copper looked at the others to see they had been about to join her in her assault on Sombra. Slowly, she breathed in and out to calm herself down, realizing the truth in the griffon's words. Attacking Sombra would only make her feel better for a moment. It wouldn't address the core issue.

"Stand aside," she told the stallion. "We're going through that Gate."

"Take me with you," Sombra said. "With the destruction of Vis and the likely death of my sister...I have no reason to remain in this era."

"Aren't you the one that just called Crono a fool?" Scorpan asked. "What reason could you have to remain?"

"I said he was dead," Sombra returned. "I did not say his death could not be undone."

At that statement, Sombra had the attention of all five of the party.

"Though," he said, "Doing so would require the Guru of Time, Hora. Only he would know how to repair a broken time-stream, and the Gurus and I were torn from Vis and tossed to the time-stream itself. I wouldn't know where he is."

Copper grinned. "Then I have a treat for you," she said as she brandished the Gate Key.

---

"Hmm, you seem, familiar," the crystal unicorn said to Sombra. "Have we met before?"

"Doubtful," Sombra returned as he looked around the End of Time. "I've never been here before. Though, I am starting to think that you're a little familiar to me as well..."

"Say," Hora said to the party. "Where's Crono? I would have thought he would have been with you."

"He...the machine turned on..." Copper choked out. "And he distracted...but it..."

"Hmm, I see," the crystal unicorn said. "I wish I could help, truly I do. But all I can offer you at this moment is this." His horn lit up, and the area was filled with a sad melody that made them all think of their friend. One that had Copper in tears.

"Please," she begged once it was over. "You're...you're Hora." At this, Sombra started before looking at the stallion with a bit more scrutiny. "You...you have to know. Something, anything..."

"The power to return ones we hold dear from death's embrace is something we all wish we had," the stallion said. "I wish I could offer you more..."

The silence filled the air, before he pulled something out from a secret compartment in the base of the lamppost. "This, though...call it the Chrono Trigger. It represents unlimited potential."

"It...looks like an egg," Scorpan observed.

"And eggs themselves are filled with potential as well," the stallion returned. "This egg can help you, but not alone. The amount of effort you put into it shall determine if it will or won't hatch. And if it does, you may very well find that you have the power...to save your dear friend."

Copper picked the egg up and stared at it for a moment, before passing it off to Sombra, of all ponies. "Keep it safe," she told him.

"Of course," he said, before tucking it into his mane and securing it there with a spell.

"If you would like a place to start, I'd say speaking with the last draconequus in Canter Dome might put you on the right track," Hora said. "My old friend Ratio gave him a little bit of knowledge before he passed. I'd say the spirit is well-prepared."

---

It wasn't a long walk or wait before the six party members arrived back in Canter Dome. Though, seeing as how Copper didn't know what Crono did to disable the boost systems, a majority of the time was spent recovering from the sudden excess of speed they were forced to experience.

Eventually they walked up to the laboratory and walked in, to find the Draconequus pouring over a large screen. Upon seeing them, he sighed. "Ratio thought this might happen," he said. "A task as mighty as this one, and having nobody die in its fulfillment would be too easy."

Then the spirit got up from his chair and cleared his throat. "Mount Canterhorn houses the power to revive your fallen comrade, but two things are required first. The Chrono Trigger that Hora was working on-"

At this point, Sombra pulled the egg out of his mane and held it there for a few seconds. Discord nodded at the display before continuing. "And you will also need a doll, a copy of the individual in question, exactly like them."

"...It's going to be hard to copy somebody who was vaporized," Copper quietly said.

"Yes, it would be," the spirit of chaos replied. "But have no fear. There is a pony out there in the time-stream that you can find that will surely be able to help you. If you don't know who to talk to, then I suggest that you travel back to when this city was still standing and seek help from the ruling body. They would have records. You could easily find the pony you're looking for."

"Does that mean that Copper will have to fly our Wings of Time again?" Zehan asked.

"Most likely," Discord replied. Four beings shuddered, one shrugged, and one was curious as to why his newfound comrades were so afraid of this mare.

He would soon find out.

Author's Note:

Next chapter - Tags and things come full circle.

Like, almost every loose end that I can think of that isn't related to an optional side-quest, comes full circle.

Comments

[Emperor]

And because Sombra isn't the Fiendlord in this timeline, there's not as much hesitation about letting him join the party.

You really SHOULD deviate a little bit more with personal interactions, though. Have Sombra talk to Hora, or even to Discord since he was alive in the time of Vis. One of my biggest disappointments in the original game is Magus never really talking to the remaining two Gurus or the Nu.

[SilentMech]

Those side quests are actually how the ending is decided, be it bad, neutral, or good, or even perfect. There are twelve of them depending on what you did and didn't do.

[Kontaro]

6687994 Actually, the sidequests are just that, sidequests... the actual ending is decided in 3 ways, if not in a newgame+.. then if you used wings/or not... minor deviation if ya fought magus or not, otherwise, in a newgame+ it depends on WHEN you smack down lavos, after which major event you go and face him again.

[Frission]

I vote Copper gets to be permanent time machine pilot.

[TheifofZ]

6688720 6687994
Technically, both of you have it; depending on which sidequests you complete, you can change the course of the ending, but overall it doesn't change much.
On the other hand, depending on when you face Lavos, the ending can change quite a lot, to the point where everyone is frogs or lizards, or meeting the actual game devs, or a bunch of other strange fates. But this requires it to be a New Game+, as you can't defeat Lavos until the end of the game on the first run through.

[Emperor]

6692309 Actually, I believe you can beat Lavos at the first run through the Ocean Palace in a first play-through.

It's just that Ocean Palace Lavos is twice as powerful as end-game Lavos, so you'd have to be doing a ridiculous amount of power-levelling to stand a chance at that point.