Pony Fantasy V: Exodus of the Void

by GMBlackjack

III - Shattered Wind

The inside of the temple was dark an eerie - both Rarity and Applejack knew what the Wind Shrine was supposed to feel like and this wasn’t even close to it. Rainbow Dash only knew that something was wrong with the air - and Pinkie just had the feeling that something really bad had happened.

Rarity fretted, glancing left and right. “It’s… so quiet!” She gestured a hoof at the various holes in the walls. “The wind is supposed to blow through the flute channels and provide wondrous music! There is supposed to be a constant symphony here! Now there’s… nothing! Nothing but dead calm! What has happened?”

Rainbow Dash frowned. “Perhaps the Queen did something?”

“She has been a patron of this Shrine for most of her life - she would never do something to defile it…”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “From what I hear if she felt like the wind needed to be cut, she would do it regardless of what anyone said.”

Amethyst stepped forward, lighting her horn up to casting a glow globe spell - Applejack noted that it was much brighter than Rarity’s meager attempt back in the cave. And with light, they could see more of the Shrine’s entrance hall - great alicorn statues guarded the entrance, along with images of great powerful birds along all the walls.

Rarity frowned. “…Where are all the Wind Acolytes?”

Pinkie blinked. “The what now?”

“Wind Acolytes. There are a group of a dozen or so ponies who live in the Shrine itself and make sure individuals who visit don’t defile its grandeur.” She shot an accusing look at Rainbow Dash. The pirate captain just shrugged.

Amethyst closed her eyes and lit up her horn. She quickly opened her eyes. “There’s some ponies in the room to our left. I’m not getting anything else on this floor.”

Applejack looked to Rarity as they trotted towards the room. “Why can’t you be like that?”

Rarity huffed. “Well sorry! Not all unicorns know useful spells peasant.”

Applejack backed away. “Sorry! I - that was uncalled for.”

Rarity ignored Applejack and entered the room first. She was greeted by a white pegasus stallion. “Princess Rarity! Thank goodness you’re here!”

“Daisy Dale?” She said, perking up. “Oh my it has been a while hasn’t it?”

“Yes Milady, but we do not have time for pleasantries. The Queen has not returned from her trek to the Crystal - and ever since she went up there the Shrine has been flooded with monsters. We can no longer get to the chamber!”

Rarity gasped. “Mother…”

Rainbow Dash turned to her. “Hey, don’t worry about some monsters. The Queen can handle herself.” She smirked. “And we can too. Ready to stomp on some monsters everypony?”

Pinkie, Seabreeze, and Amethyst shoved their hooves into the air. “YEAH!”
Rainbow Dash turned back to Rarity. “See? You’ve got the best crew with you on this little adventure - we’re going to find the Queen and figure out what’s up with the wind. Don’t you worry.”

Rarity smiled. She had not expected an uncouth pirate to be this… inspiring. “Thank you Rainbow.”

“Does this mean I’m part of the crew now?” Pinkie asked.

“I don’t see why not.” Rainbow chuckled. “Now, let’s hop to it, we have a Queen to find and possibly rescue. And a temple to plunder- er I mean explore.”

Rarity facehooved. The Acolytes shot her dirty looks. The mares got out of the room quickly, heading up the stairs to the next floor of the Wind Shrine.

Waiting for them were a dozen or so black goblins. Rainbow Dash cracked her wings. “Here we go.” She blasted into the air, wielding two cutlasses with her wings, and taking down most of the goblins with a powerful charge. Pinkie followed behind, taking a large scythe out of seemingly nowhere and ramming goblins across the room. Seabreeze fought with her own cutlass - though she was unable to use her wings as well as Rainbow Dash - and Amethyst shot magic missiles left and right that lit the goblins on fire.

Applejack rushed in to the fight as well - but by the time she got fully ready the goblins were all taken care of. Rainbow Dash put sheathed her cutlasses and laughed. “That wasn’t so hard! The Acolytes couldn’t get past those wimps? Wow. I feel sorry for them.”

Rarity clapped. “Good show!”

Seabreeze bowed. “Always a pleasure, Princess.” Amethyst slapped her. Rainbow Dash rummaged through the Goblin’s bodies, taking out a few shiny artifacts.

“Stop!” Rarity called out. “Those are the property of the Wind Shrine!”

Rainbow chuckled. “The way I see it… I’m taking the property of a black goblin. That’s all. How am I supposed to know this originally belonged in the Wind Shrine?”

Rarity let out a bunch of exasperated noises, but was unable to truly form a response at that moment because an icy serpent appeared out of nowhere and hissed at her. She screamed, and continued screaming for a full five seconds after Applejack lobbed the reptile’s head off.

Seabreeze found this absolutely hilarious and broke out into uncontrollable laughter. Amethyst slapped her again.

~~~

“I gotta hand it to ya Pinks, you know how to hold your own in a fight.” Rainbow Dash complimented as she sliced a snake in half before it could cast an ice spell.

“Thanks Dashie! You’re pretty awesome yourself!” Pinkie responded as she poked a magic apparition with an exploding marshmallow.

“So, your story is just you woke up a few days ago with no memories?”

“Yep!”

“And you think you might be an alien?”

“Yep!”

“That’s pretty awesome!”

Applejack and Rarity facehooved. “IT IS NOT AWESOME!”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “To each their own.” She said.

Seabreeze smirked at the two facehooving mares. “Captain likes her. So you better like her too.” Amethyst slapped her again. “WHY DO YOU KEEP SLAPPING ME?”

“Because you keep acting like an idiot.” Amethyst said matter-of-factly.

“Touche.” This got Seabreeze another slap.

Rarity sighed. “Well, we’re getting close to the Crystal chamber - it should be through the next big set of doors.” She gestured ahead of them. Sure enough, at the end of the long hallway under an image of the Wind Crystal, were two giant doors. And standing in front of the doors was a giant bird.

Not a giant bird statue - a live giant bird. Everyone readied their weapons.

“Wait!” Rarity yelled out. “That’s just Eddy, the wing raptor. He guards the crystal. He’s harmless to anyone who means the Temple no harm.” She glanced at the pirates’ bags that were filled with artifacts. “…Though to be safe I should probably go up to him first.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Knock yourself out.”

Rarity trotted up to the graceful wing raptor. “Eddy dear, I need to get by. Think you can step aside?”

The bird arched his head, looking Rarity right in the eye with his own deep red orbs. Rarity twitched. “Eddy darling… what have you done with your eyes?”

Eddy unfurled his great wings and let out a horrifying screech, reaching a gigantic claw out towards Rarity. She screamed.

She would have been eviscerated right then and there had Amethyst not shot a magic missile right in Eddy’s face. The bird roared in defiance and charged right at the pirate mage, only to come into direct contact with her magical barrier. Amethyst huffed. “The bird is of pathetic brains, captain.”

“Understood Amethyst. Smarter than Seabreeze?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Oh most definitely.”

“HEY!”

Pinkie appeared behind Eddy wielding the giant hammer once more. She bapped the thing on the head repeatedly, making it very dazed and confused. “Bad bird! Bad bird!” The bad bird did not take kindly to this attack, (or perhaps it just objected to being scolded) so it lashed out with a great torrent of wind.

Rainbow Dash fell backwards, not expecting the sudden gust. She’d gotten too used to the windless air. She heard the flute walls resonate an ominous tune as they were partially activated by the blast. She growled, throwing one of her cutlasses right into Eddy’s chest. He shrieked, covering himself with his wings.

“Trying to hide are you?” Seabreeze mocked. “Well take the Seabreeze Sky Buck!!!” She roared, charging right at Eddy.

“No!” Rarity yelled. “Don’t attack him whil-“ Her warning was never heeded. Just before Seabreeze landed her blow, the wings unfurled and a great claw grabbed the pegasus out of the air. She barely had time to mutter a “crap” before her body was crushed into the ground with a sickening crunch, blood flying everywhere.

“SEABREEZE!” Rainbow Dash and Amethyst yelled, turning towards Eddy in great anger. Amethyst acted first, casting a powerful electric bolt that singed the wing raptor’s feathers. The creature roared, charging right at Amethyst. During the charge applejack leapt on the bird’s back, driving her sword into its back. The bird died then - but it was still traveling at an absurd speed beak-first. Amethyst tried to raise a barrier, but the wing raptor’s powerful beak ploughed right through the shield and hit Amethyst straight in the chest.

“AMETHYST!” Rainbow Dash yelled, running over. The unicorn mare was alive - but only barely. The beak was driven right into her chest. “Don’t worry we’ll get help…”

Amethyst coughed. “Yeah right… The Acolytes are worthless… Who are you going to find…?”

Rainbow Dash stood up. “The Queen.” She turned to Rarity. “She knows healing magic right?”

Rarity nodded. “Of course.”

Rainbow Dash’s face set. “I’m not losing another crew member today Amethyst, understand that? If you die while I’m getting the Queen I am going to personally make you walk the plank!”

Amethyst laughed, but it was obviously painful to do so. “Yes Captain.”

“Good.” She bolted for the giant double doors and charged into the Crystal’s room. It was a circular room with a masterfully crafted ceiling, covered in images of wind and the sky. In the center of the room was a pedestal, covered in strange markings unlike any found in the rest of the Shrine.

But what struck them the most was something horrifying - there was no giant magical crystal floating atop the pedestal. Instead, there were simply six crystal shards laying around the room, obviously broken. Rarity had seen the Wind Crystal before - and these shards were not glowing with the powerful light blue light that had warmed this room for centuries. She shuddered. It felt wrong.

Everyone was silent - even Pinkie. The four mares didn’t know what to say. One of the most powerful things in existence - a Crystal that was the source of the world’s wind - was destroyed. Gone. No more.

It was harrowing.

Then, a soft light began to appear within the pedestal where the crystal should have been. A magical construct took shape, twisting into the form of Queen Luna. Applejack and Rainbow Dash stared at the Queen with reverence - they had never seen their Queen at all. Rainbow Dash instinctively looked a little sheepish, while Applejack could only stare mouth open. Pinkie simply furrowed her brow like she was trying to remember something.

“Mother!” Rarity said, expression improving considerably. “It’s good to see you!”

“Whoever has found this place and this message…” Luna began. “You are about to be tasked with the defense of this world.”

Rarity frowned - it was just a recording spell. Despite her disappointment, she gave the message from her mother her full attention. Applejack was still stuck on ‘defense of the world.’

“I came here moments before the Wind Crystal shattered - a tragedy the likes of which the world has never even dared to consider. In the moments before it’s demise, I was able to learn what it wanted me to do.”

Applejack and Rarity exchanged glances. The Crystals were just powerful artifacts weren’t they? They didn’t have desires or wants… right?

“I managed to capture the essence of Wind within a spell of mine - and I was able to establish direct contact with the other three Crystals. They said that their chosen would arrive at this Shrine shortly - and that here they would be bestowed with the power needed to save what remains of the world.” Luna’s recording somehow looked all four of them in the eye. “Whoever you are - you are the chosen.”

A spark of light blue energy appeared above Luna, and shot towards Pinkie.

Luna’s voice boomed. “Spirit of Wind, Laughter.”

“Oooh shiny!” Pinkie said as the blue light swirled around her.

A dark blue light appeared from a wall, hitting Rarity. “Spirit of Water, Generosity.”

Rarity blinked. “Oh my… me? The Spirit of Water? Heavens!” Then she heard a warm, caring voice in her head…

<Use my waters to give the world what it needs.>

A red powerful light shot through another wall, knocking Rainbow Dash a few feet away. “Spirit of Fire, Loyalty.”

<Don’t mess this up, pegasus.> A harsh, angry voice said in her mind.

Rainbow Dash blinked for a few moments, not sure what to make of this. Then she grinned. “SO! AWESOME!”

Then a slow orange energy came up from the ground, surrounding Applejack. “Spirit of Earth, Honesty.”

The voice that spoke to Applejack was monotone and serious. <You have the optimal traits required for the task - keep the others in premium condition. You are their foundation.>

“Warriors of Light!” Luna boomed. “You are the guardians of the Crystals, do whatever is in your power to keep them from their destruction.” Her face drooped. “I don’t think I need to tell you what happens if all the Crystals shatter…”

The four mares stared intently as the Queen looked up one final time.

“I have gone to see what I can do to assist - I know not where it will take me. But I have left something for you - the shards of the Wind Crystal are infused with its power. Take them. I wish you luck - may the wind be in your step.” Then she smirked. “And the sea at your back, the fire in your eyes, and the earth beneath your feet.”

Then the spell ended, leaving the four mares alone in a large room with six crystal shards spread around them.

Applejack walked over to one of the shards and picked it up. Instantly, the crystal shot into her chest - she cried out at first, but only in surprise. There was no pain as it spread itself out through her body. She stood up tall, feeling… stronger. She looked at her sword, feeling like she had a greater connection to it.

“Ooo! My turn!” Pinkie said, grabbing two shards at once that spread into her. She shuddered crazily, and exploded in a puff of pink energy. When the pink cloud cleared they saw something… unusual. Pinkie was now wearing a strange blue bandana and was shadowboxing rapidly. “YEEEEEAH! Blue mage and Monk! Woot! Fear me and my hoof-to-hoof skills!”

Rainbow Dash glared. “Well if you get two I get two as well!” She lunged for them, absorbing them into herself. She instantly felt intense magical power flow into her wings, and she felt as if she had greater control over the two limbs. She cocked her head. “Pinkie.. how did you know what they were called?”

“I have my ways.” Pinkie giggled. “But I think you’ll figure out what you got soon enough.”

Rainbow Dash nodded, checking her powers mentally. “…Nothing to help Amethyst…” She said, dejected.

Rarity gasped as she touched the last remaining crystal shard. Her heart raced as it flooded energy right to her horn. Her eyes lit up and she let out a delighted squee.

“What is it?” Applejack asked.

“It’s healing magic!” She said, doing a tap dance, white blasts of healing energy flying off her horn. “I know healing magic! This is delightful! Quick! To Amethyst!”

They galloped out of the room that once held the Wind Crystal, leaving it empty. Leaving it as a tomb for the Wind.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

How do we know this won't die like the other two Final Fantasy V crossovers?

[GMBlackjack]

7404249
far as I can tell this one is still going:
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/4916/filly-fantasy-vi---the-return-of-magic
Last updated this june.
Though to be fair, it isn't Final Fantasy V... But it's a final fantasy.
Anyway, I think I'll be completing this - 55 chapters planned, and 5 are already published - so I'm pretty sure i'll be doing this to the end.
-GM, master of responses.

[Ri2]

Poor Seabreeze.

[the other sans]

The inside of the temple was dark an eerie
During the charge applejack leapt on the bird’s back
In the moments before it’s demise

1. And.
2. Forgot to capitalise.
3. Its.