Final Fantasy: Zack's second chance

by Freelancer

Chapter 7: A New Job

Wrote this chapter in three days everyone, so if you see a spelling error, please tell me.

Chapter 7: A New Job

It wasn't so much the bright light of the early sun that dragged Zack back to the land of the awake the next morning, nor was it the sunlight caused tossing and turning of the golden mare, who had decided to use him as a pillow the night before. Instead, what had suddenly pulled him awake was the abrupt loud knock at the door, and the scent of food that drifted in shortly after he heard it creak open, along with a set of heavy hoofsteps.

Zack’s blue eyes quickly snapped open as his mind came to a state of groggy, but ready consciousness, the SOLDIER finding himself staring blankly up at the alabaster white ceiling for a moment or two. At last though, with a little effort, he gently began propping up into a sitting position, all the while rubbing his eyes with his palms to remove the last ounces of sleep that fogged his mind.

“Ugh… not good,” he groaned as he blinked a few times, running both his hands through his now matted black locks. “Really not good.”

“We do have some professional groomers here in the Palace,” came a rather amused male voice. “If you’re really that hung up about your mane, that is.”

Zack simply snorted in reply and gave his head a quick shake, not even having to look at the speaker who had for some reason invaded his and Spitfire’s room to know who it was; there was only one stallion in all of Canterlot who could have been mistaken for a dragon, given how loud his hoofsteps usually were.

“Morning to you as well, Shining,” the SOLDIER muttered as he folded his arms and starred across the room, his vision greeted by the sight of a grinning, and for once unarmoured royal guard captain Shining Armor, who was presently leaning against what looked to be a meal cart. “So, to what degree do I owe you for this surprise?”

The white stallion simply chuckled and shook his head.

“If by ‘surprise’ you mean breakfast, it’s on the house Zack. You don’t really think Princess Celestia would have you save everyone's flanks, and then not give you any thanks whatsoever do you?”

“I meant what the hell are you doing in my room?” Zack replied bluntly as he slid from the embrace of the thick blankets, taking extra care not to wake the still slumbering mare who had during the night rolled over, and off her human-jenova hybrid pillow.

As soon as he left the bed, however, she gave a soft moan and shifted a few times in her sleep, like she was searching for an object of comfort that had abruptly been taken from her grasp; it was a truly adorable sight to the SOLDIER, Spitfire’s fiery mane splayed out across her golden neck and face in the morning light, whilst her chest gently rose and fell with her breathing.

She was so cute that Zack couldn’t help but crack a smile, despite Shining Armor’s presence.

However, the rather annoying grin on Shining Armor’s face also widened as he followed the SOLDIER’s gaze, and then spotted the uniform-less Wonderbolt hidden in the depths of the white blankets, the stallion looking between the sleeping golden pegasus, and a now light red faced Zack with a combination of curiosity and cheesy amusement.

“So... bodyguard, huh?”

“This is not how it looks,” Zack started somewhat defensively as he looked down at her again, trying to hide the redness that was growing on his face.

“No offense Zack, but given that I’m married, it looks pretty clear to me,” Shining Armor grinned, tossing his head up and flicking a bit of blue mane from his face. “But I’m not saying it’s wrong, I mean you’re a stallion... ish…”

“IF you hadn’t already noticed, there’s only one bed in here, and she wouldn’t let me sleep on the floor,” Zack hissed, now somewhat tempted to hurl a Thundaga or two in the captain’s direction.

“Of course,” Shining Armor chuckled quietly after a moment, his sly grin still plastered across his face. “Anyway, to answer your original question, I’ve been asked to ask if you had any plans for today... so do you?”

“None whatsoever,” Zack yawned in reply, stretching for a moment to get the blood in his limbs flowing, before heading over to examine the meal cart’s steaming contents, which consisted of a number of breads, pastries, and a platter of fresh cut fruit. “Why?”

The grin on Shining Armor’s face widened even further.

“Well, Princess Celestia isn’t exactly happy about all the damage you caused last night, so she’s decided that in order to make amends, you’re going to make good of yourself while you’re here in Canterlot. I talked it over with her, and we came to the agreement that the Wonderbolt’s really won’t need a bodyguard while they’re staying here in the palace…”

The puzzle pieces fell together in Zack’s mind before Shining Armor could even say the words, and to say it rubbed him all the wrong way was a total and utter understatement; it was easy to see given the captain’s good mood, and the fact that it had been him of all ponies who had awoken the SOLDIER, Zack in response to the revelation just prayed his stay in Canterlot would be short.

“…So the princess has decided that for the length of your stay here, Zack, you’ll be serving as a member of the royal guard instead.”

“Let me guess,” Zack groaned as he rubbed his temples in frustration. “Under your personal command no less?”

“Got it in one,” the stallion said somewhat smugly over his shoulder as he turned and headed for the door. “So I just came to tell you that once you’re finished breakfast, you're to meet me in the palace foyer. My second in command is managing the searches today so I’m taking you out to the training grounds, just so I can examine your fighting skills and test your abilities properly… and before you ask, yes your marefriend here can come as well.”

If not for the fact that he was already leaving, and it would most likely infuriate Princess Celestia further, Zack would have picked the grinning stallion up and thrown him either out, or through, the wooden door then and there.

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” Zack snorted as he returned his attention to the present food, ignoring the captain’s snarky comment and grabbing himself a pastry. “We’ll be down in a hour or so.”

The door shut with a gentle click, followed by the sound of hoofsteps and laughter proceeding down the hallway, growing quieter and quieter before becoming non-existent. It was then Zack once again groaned and rubbed his temples with his free hand while the other grasped the first part of his breakfast as he tore at it; if there was ever a literal definition of a rude awakening, in the SOLDIER’s opinion, this was probably close to it.

“What was that all about?”

Zack turned around to see Spitfire now sitting up in bed and looking between him and doorway, a look of confusion on her sleepy face as she blinked away the tiredness from her eyes, her mane hanging down her neck in a messy state, which easily rivalled that of the SOLDIER’s own locks.

“A certain royal guard captain jumping to conclusions,” Zack snorted, stuffing the last of his pastry into his mouth before picking up the tray and laying it on the bed so they could share, the awaiting mare gladly and somewhat greedily digging in as soon as the food was within range of her hooves. “And informing me that I’m now a member of the royal guard.”

Spitfire abruptly gagged on the iced bun she had been eating, while her eyes grew to the size of dinner plates, both of them fixed on Zack.

“WHAT!”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“So what exactly are you expecting me to do?” Zack asked in an effort to make conversation, the sound of his boots on the white stone floor echoing down the long hallway.

“First I’ll just be putting you through some rookie routines… you know, test your running speed, strength, reflexes and so on,” Shining Armor replied without looking back. “Then I might get you to spar with some of the finer members of the royal guard to test your combat skills. No offense Zack, but fighting a changeling and fighting a trained pony are two very different situations.”

“I really feel sorry for those guards,” Spitfire smirked with a glance up at Zack, the SOLDIER grinning and giving her an affectionate scratch between the ears

For a few moments another wave of silence reigned between the three of them, than Zack decided it was time to get something out the way that had been biting at him since the night before, something which he hoped would shed more light on the changeling’s motives.

“Shining Armor, If it’s not my place I understand… but what did your sister mean last night, when she said ‘you feed off him like you did my brother’ to Chrysalis?”

Shining Armor actually stopped dead in his tracks, and shuddered like a block of ice had been placed between his shoulder blades, causing Zack to wonder if asking had been the best idea; a moment later a hoof slammed down hard on the stone floor in an effort to vent the owner’s anger.

“Chrysalis… that… thing,” he snorted as he looked back at the SOLDIER, his nostrils flaring as the words were forced out between his clenched teeth. “Kidnapped and imprisoned my wife, Cadence… and then tricked and brainwashed me into believing she was my wife, all so she could feed off my love and penetrate Canterlot’s defences for the rest of her kind to invade… and then she subdued Celestia, my sister, and the elements when they tried to stop that… monster.”

Zack instinctively found himself gripping his Buster Sword; he had met and fought vile creatures before, but this Chrysalis was certainly one of the worst he had ever come across, and should they ever meet again...

Shining Armor’s face softened quickly though, and a weak smile crept across his white muzzle as he began walking again. “But my little sister saw right through her, and in the end managed to free Cadence, and the magic of our love for each other was enough to defeat her and her vile subjects.”

“So then why all the fuss this time?” Spitfire inquired with an arched eyebrow and a flick of her fiery tail. “Couldn’t you and Cadence…”

“Unfortunately, a week ago Cadence was called away to Manehatten on royal duties, and since she was away we doubled the amount of royal guards present to compensate,” Shining Armor sighed in reply with a shake of his head as he looked at the golden mare. “The princesses and I thought it would be enough in the event of an attack… but as you both saw last night, it wasn’t… so I guess in all honesty, the way I see it, Zack’s the main reason Canterlot’s still standing... ish.”

The SOLDIER could hardly believe what he was hearing, so much so he could actually feel the expression of surprise, and slight embarrassment, spread across his face as both Shining Armor’s and Spitfire’s eyes looked up at him; he admitted he was proud of his actions, but at the time had only done what he had thought was right.

“Ah… thanks,” he managed to say as he turned away slightly, running his fingers through his now washed black hair as his cheeks began to sting. “But really, I was only doing what any SOLDIER would do.”

“Doesn’t matter, Zack, you saved a lot of lives last night… and if not for the fact you destroyed half the palace in the process, you’d probably be getting a medal of valor. But listen, if it’s any consolation, I’m sorry for how I acted when we first met, and if you ever need somepony on your side you’ve got me.”

An smile spread across Zack’s face; Shining Armour might’ve been a bit painful at times, but the SOLDIER was glad all the same.

“Good to hear, Shiny,” he chuckled playfully, prompting the stallion to grin and Spitfire to burst into giggles. “Maybe you’re not so bad after all.”

The three of them continued walking and exchanging small talk for the rest of the journey, all the while they made their way about the palace of Canterlot, Shining Armor walking briskly through the vibrant winding corridors and hallways in front, while Spitfire and Zack followed close behind, the SOLDIER eyeing every blank faced patrolling guard and fearful pony subject they came across with equal slight suspicion.

The only other thing that caught his attention was the shimmering golden field that now surrounded the white stone capital of Equestria, and everything that lay within it of course, cutting everypony inside the city off from the outside world until the unconfirmed changeling presence was dealt with.

In truth he highly doubted a changeling would dare to still try and hide out in the palace, given what had happened the night prior and the current hype. But Zack wasn’t ready to take any chances given what he knew about them, and hence had his left hand on the grip of his Buster Sword as he followed Shining Armor; he knew from memory that some things could be at their most dangerous when cornered.

Until the plausible cornered changeling was found he unfortunately wasn’t going anywhere.

“Which will hopefully be sooner rather than later,” Zack thought bitterly with a shake of his locks.

Shining Armor, eventually, led the SOLDIER and his golden pegasus counterpart to the very back of the palace, a stone archway abruptly ending the long marble corridor they had been following, and opening up onto the last thing Zack had expected, that being a huge rectangular section of sunlight soaked green lawn that was rimmed with flowering trees, walls, and what Zack guessed was the palace’s servants quarters.

He quickly noticed there were targets and other objects dotted around the place, plus a cluster of ponies already standing in the middle of the lawn, of which from his distance he recognized as being Soarin, Stormwing, the elements of harmony, and Princess Luna.

Then there were two golden armored royal guards, what looked to be a very small dragon, and another white unicorn who Zack didn’t recognize. This particular unicorn was about Shining Armor’s size, but sported a blondish mane and tail, and looked to be wearing a formal dinner suit.

“This, Zack, is the training ground for the royal guard,” Shining Armor offered as he looked around the wide open expanse, and the various scattered objects that lay across it. He looked back and grinned as both Zack and Spitfire’s eyes adjusted the barrage of sunlight. “So… any questions before we get started?”

“Yeah… why exactly are they here,” Zack replied as he stopped rubbing his eyes, inclining his head at the small group of chatting multi-coloured ponies. “I don’t mind, but you never said anyone would be watching.”

Shining Armor glanced over his shoulder and shrugged, an action how they managed to do, while standing on all fours, still eluded Zack’s ability to figure out.

“Eh, Equestria’s a free country, Zack, so they’ve got as much right to watch you as I do… although, I’ll admit I would have preferred some of them not to be present.”

“I’m guessing you’re talking about Prince Blueblood?” Spitfire smirked, jumping into the air and hovering with her forelegs folded across her chest as she turned to Zack. “He’s Celestia and Luna’s nephew… and possibly the biggest royal whiner, cry-foal, and pain in the flank in Equestrian history…”

“…and the brother-in-law from Tartarus to boot,” Shining Armor snorted as he pawed the ground angrily. “He’s never gotten over the fact a ‘commoner’ married his sister, even if this commoner is captain of the royal guard… ugh, anyway, I’d advise you to avoid him at all costs, I have a feeling he’s only here because he wants to lecture you about all the damage you did to ‘his family's’ palace.”

The SOLDIER just sighed and rubbed his temples, if there was one thing he really didn’t want to need it was another scolding from a royal, let alone an arrogant one.

“Let’s just get started, Shining, the faster we get this done the faster we can both get away from him.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

The initial introductions and explaining went smoothly, and despite his past differences with the creatures, Zack quickly found a new friend in the dragon named Spike, who was the first creature Zack had met in Equestria who actually knew how to handshake.

He then met the two guards, Lance Point and Double edge. Neither however seemed to want to say much, but rather insisted they start his testing as fast as possible.

Blueblood lived up to Shining Armour’s descriptions as basically being an arrogant prick, amongst other things. luckily, Luna stepped in before the prince could fully start his rather heated and long winded rant on the state of the palace due to Zack’s actions, so, with the meet and greet done, the tests started.

The first hour and a half was spent on basic stamina and strength tests, including Zack continuously running between two wooden markers as fast as possible, and doing push ups with a set of weighted saddle bags across his back, while mostly everypony else either watched, counted or helped grade his performance.

Other than Soarin, who continued to chat with Fluttershy, who eventually began to talk back after a while, and Blueblood who simply stood back a little ways in silence and glared at the SOLDIER.

In the end, Shining Armor and Stormwing measured his running speed to be equal to that of a fit pegasus pony, while they ran out of weights to put on the SOLDIER before he showed any real signs of strain.

The third test was easier than the first two, as it simply measured the strength in his main combat appendages, such as an earth pony’s back legs, or in his case, the strength of his punch; Shining Armour and the other two guards produced a thick wooden board with padding running along its length, and a spring-backed rotating mechanism at the base, and attached to it was a pulley with a set of weights. The idea was that the weights were the equivalent of a standard pony wearing basic armour, so when the pad was struck, the distance the plank flexed backwards, and hence the distance the weights were lifted, indicated how much damage a royal guard would have sustained from the blow.

Apparently Zack’s first punch would've sent the pony flying, armor and all, which made Princess Luna and Blueblood look a little uneasy when Shining Armor announced it.

The next test examined his reflexes and ability to think quickly under pressure; Zack stood some twenty meters away, while Shining Armor used his magic to launch either a blue or black ball towards him at high speed, and Zack was to simply dodge the black ones and catch the blue ones once they came close enough for him to recognize; In the end, he made it through the test without a single misjudgement.

“Do you ever get tired?” Spitfire giggled as she approached Zack, who was tossing a blue ball up and down in one hand while he drank down a flask of water with the other. “It’s been two and a half hours, and you haven’t really broken a sweat.”

“I wasn’t SOLDIER first class for my looks,” Zack grinned as he wiped his mouth and set the flask down on the ground beside him, prompting the mare shake her head in amusement. “But seriously, extreme stamina and the ability to keep going and fighting is a one of our best abilities.”

“I bet I could put that extreme stamina to good use in another way,” Spitfire smirked mentally to herself, and a moment later her eyes widened like somepony had smacked her flank. “Uh… ok… where exactly did THAT thought come from?”

Before she could answer her own question Zack was back to his tests, and despite feeling a little shocked at herself she returned to silently sitting on the grass beside Rainbow Dash and Twilight, and continued watching him. Unfortunately, his next test proved to only override her brain and ability to think straight even further.

“Alright Zack,” Shining Armor began, using his magic to unroll a brown wool wrap, and present the SOLDIER’s awaiting hands with three shoulder height round-point spears. “This next test is just to examine your accuracy over long distance. I know you’re far better at close quarters combat, but like I said, these are the hoops our rookies have to jump through.”

“I’ve had worse,” Zack chuckled as he twirled one of the spears, remembering the rigorous training room exercises and simulations Angeal had put him through. “So let me guess… you want me to throw these at that target?”

With the last few words, he inclined his head to a flat wooden version of what looked to be a changeling some thirty meters away, a few points on the target dictating the position of the heart and other vulnerable places.

“As I’ve said before Zack, we don’t try to kill if we can avoid it… but since last year we’ve been forced to train our guards in a more lethal combat orientated fashion,” Shining Armor sighed, the other two royal guards snorting both their anger and approval at his words. “Before our unicorn’s just used their spells to stun or incapacitate… now as you can see we’ve had to take a little more... permanent approach to stopping changelings at long range.”

He nodded his muzzle towards the golden metal tipped spears in Zack’s hands.

“To me it’s no different,” Zack shrugged in reply. “I’ve always followed the more ‘permanent’ approach to dealing with anything hostile… anyway, if you don’t mind I might take this shirt off, I can’t throw these things with my armor plates on, they affect the rotation of my shoulder.”

Shining simply nodded and allowed Zack to remove the unwanted armor and clothing, and once again Spitfire found herself staring at the slats of muscle that had been etched onto Zack’s frame; this time though her mind decided to throw out her self control. She couldn’t help but feel a slight quiver run through her wings as she saw his body flex as he leant down and picked up the three spears again.

“Seriously… what is with me?” she shuddered with a shake of her head. “I mean… sure, he’s kind of handsome-ish, built, genuinely caring, and… and just what the hay am I thinking?!”

She physically had to facehoof herself in order to stop the wayward train of her thought, by which time Zack had already hurled two of his spears and buried them in the target so deep that only a fraction stuck out of the receiving side. A heartbeat later the third found its mark, and with a satisfying thud slammed into the target at the base of its neck, a broad grin spreading across Zack’s face as he folded his arms and Shining Armor gave an amused whistle.

“Well…I’d hate to be that Changeling,” he grinned as he came up to Zack’s side. “And given that unicorns can aim with their magic, while you’re stuck with just eye sighting, I’m actually surprised at how well you did there.”

“Comes from having to throw the occasional coin or barrage of meteors at something,” Zack chuckled as he rolled his shoulders to relax the muscles in them, drawing an odd look from the stallion. “So anything else or is that it?”

A sly grin spread across Shining Armour’s face.

“There is one more thing… but it’s more of an exercise then a test, and I’m going to need Spitfire’s help for this one.”

“Me?” the golden mare asked as both Zack's and the captain’s own blue eyes fell on her, as well as those of everypony else. Gingerly, she got to her hooves and headed over to where they were standing. “So… what’s the plan?”

Shining Armor inclined his head to Lance Point and Double Edge, the dark coated unicorns nodding in silent understanding, before they all turned back to Zack and Spitfire. “Like I said earlier, I wanted to test Zack’s combat skills against something other than a changeling, and I figured who better than Princess Celestia’s two personal throne guards. Basically what will happen, Spitfire, is that those two will pretend to be holding you against your will, and Zack’s objective is to subdue them and rescue you as fast as possible. When we do this with the new recruits, we hire stallions from the local Canterlot population, usually with no training whatsoever… but given Zack’s abilities, I thought I’d make things a little more, hmm, interesting for him.”

A wild grin spread across Zack’s face as he eyed the two stallions and cracked his knuckles. This was going to be one hell of a show.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

The SOLDIER stood perfectly still with his fists clenched, feeling the breeze run over his bare skin and through his hair as he eyed the two unicorns, neither moving other than the occasional blink or twitch of a tail. A short distance away, everypony else was watching and waiting patiently from the sidelines, some of them including Soarin and Rainbow Dash cheering him on, or making bets with each other on how long it would take Zack to subdue the guards if at all, with Twilight acting as the bookie.

Zack had bet them all he could do it in less than ten seconds flat, and of course, everypony had just grinned and laughed at the suggestion.

Just beyond the two guards, Spitfire was standing patiently with a rope around her wings, her calm eyes affixed on him as his were on her, they shared a small grin with each other, before the peace was shattered by Shining Armor.

“Alright Zack, we’re timing this, so get it done as fast as possible by any means necessary… other than killing somepony, of course.”

Zack nodded in understanding and knelt down like a sprinter at the ready, his weight focused so as to direct him straight at Lance Point when the whistle sounded the exercise began.

Out of the corner of his blue eyes he saw Shining Armor with a stopwatch at the ready, and the whistle in his mouth. Taking a breath in, and a heartbeat before the ring sounded in his ears, an orange aura enchased the SOLDIER, and another sound filled his mind. The voice of his mentor, Angeal.

“Prove your honour to me.”

“I got it,” Zack grinned as the entire world around him slowed to a crawl, the SOLDIER sprinting forward as magic surged through his veins like liquid fire.

Lance Point didn’t even get the chance to breath, flinch, or ready his magic before Zack slammed into him like a runaway train. The light speed fast barrage of punches and kicks gave off metallic rings as they found their marks, and the Rush Assault turned the stallion’s heavy, royal guard plate armor into a piece of golden scrap metal, each individual hit giving off a flurry of magic sparks, a flash of golden light, and a painful yelp from the unicorn as he felt his plate cave in.

Double Edge finally snapped to the ready after about a second, and immediately went to his comrades aid, only to find out that the SOLDIER was already done with his first target, and was now headed straight for him at a speed that paled even the Wonderbolts. A moment later, the guard felt several impacts shoot through his upper body as Zack laid into him like he was a furry punching bag, the guard's armor virtually imploding in on itself as if it were a tin can caught under an adult dragon’s claw.

Once he was done with the first two stages, and had more or less stunned the two unicorns, Zack concentrated all his magic into his fists and then into a tight ball within his palms, the magic continually compressing itself until it became dangerously unstable.

It was then Zack firstly backed up a little, then charged forward between the two heavily dazed guards, and finally unleashed it. The magical charge detonated with a fiery explosion so powerful that both the training ground, and the towers around it, shook on their foundations.

Just as the flames came a little too close for comfort, Spitfire found herself snatched up in Zack’s arms, and travelling at a barely believable speed, the SOLDIER digging his boots into the soft grassy earth and quickly bringing them to a sliding stop just out of harm’s way.

“Has anypony ever said you’re crazy?” Spitfire asked between rapid breaths, looking back as the flames from Zack’s explosion died away, and the two royal guards struggled to their hooves, the results of the exercise being a large area of burnt and smoking grass.

“Hehe, a few,” Zack grinned, holding her against his chest as he slowly walked back towards the group of nervous ponies. “But hey, I did my job and earned a few bits while I was at it.”

Spitfire couldn’t help but smirk at his humour and shake her golden locks in amusement, and then her mood changed completely, as her nostrils were assaulted by a scent that caused another quiver to run through her wings.

She realized that although he hadn’t been sweating, Zack’s scent was still strong from all his physical testing, and although she hated to admit it, the golden mare found the smell slightly arousing as she was held against his bare chest.

Shortly after, however, he set her down on the ground, and confronted the captain of the royal guard with his arms across his chest, a grin spreading across the SOLDIER’s face as saw Shining Armor’s dumbfounded expression, along with those of everypony and dragon else who had watched the events unfold.

“So, what’s my time captain?” he asked smugly with a shake of his own black locks.

“Eight… point five one seconds,” Shining Armour replied, raising the stopwatch up to his eyes as if he couldn’t believe the reading on it. “I… don’t know what to say Zack, I’m actually speechless.”

“Well, you could say welcome to the royal guard... or you could just be glad I’m on your side more than anything,” Zack grinned before turning to the other ponies with an outstretched hand. “So, if you guys wouldn’t mind I’d like my bits now rather than later, because if I remember correctly, I said I could do that in under ten seconds.”

Almost grudgingly, Twilight sighed and levitated a small bag of gold coins up to his open hand, the SOLDIER’s fingers gladly wrapping around his prize as everypony else muttered and mumbled things under their breaths, including a rather annoyed pair of Princess Luna and Blueblood, who had both for some reason also taken part in the bet.

“Well, you really earned this one Zack,” Spitfire giggled as she flew up beside him, her wings just as happy to be free of their rope bindings as she was. “So... any idea how you’re going to spend those?”

He looked back at her, smiled, and tossed the bag up and down in his hand a few times... and then he leant in close so only she could hear his words.

“How about I repay you for that dinner in Cloudsdale?” He whispered.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Notes:

Zack as royal guard…Chrysalis my dear just give up now

So I’m running with the idea that Blueblood and Cadence are brother and sister, and just so you all know that relationship will play a large part later on including where Sephiroth comes in.

Comments

[Sean1471]

Zack you sly bastard you

[Bookmaster]

well Zack is a silly guy but it doesn't change the fact that he was in SOLDIER.

[granitecrab]

awesome. more now pls.

[Kablex]

" will play a large part later on including where Sephiroth comes in"

" where Sephiroth comes in"... *Insert girly scream here*

[thewaffler]

I always viewed Candance and Blueblood as brother and sister. As for Sephiroth...meh, overused, pretentious, androgynous villain with an Oedipus complex.

[Freelancer]

1264472

I probably didn't make that part clear enough ...when I said twice as tall I meant from Celestia's shoulder (I'm a horse trainer in real life and that's how we base our measurements in 'hands', so where Zack's about 6'2-ish Celestia's shoulder is about 3'1)...thanks for pointing that out though

[Ultima D]

1170753

"Shall I give you dispair"
"Tell me what you charish most, give me the pleasure
of taking it away from you"

[The Watcher 509]

*Jontron Voice*OO O OOO OOO WE GOT DISH!SEPIROTH ISH.....DISH.....Wonderful Just Brilliant

[Norkix]

There is a severe lack of the line "How about one date" here.

Really enjoying this story, man! Crisis Core was a great game and you do a great job of portraying Zack in all his awesome glory!