Chapter 1: The arrival
Rise of the Crystal Emperor
Chapter 1: The Arrival
Edited by: Chrome Masquerade
Rhawkas
“Argh… am I back in Hell?” A figure groaned as it slowly started to wake up.
“Once again I am defeated by those pesky worms. Even the power of hell itself wasn’t enough to deal with these pathetic little rats… ugh.” The same figure groaned again in anguish as it slowly began to open its eyes.
The first sight that greeted him was a rock wall, or a rock ceiling to be precise. At first, his thought went to the idea that he might be somewhere on Jade’s path on his way back to Hell, where he originally came after he was first defeated by Firion and his little band of stray dogs, but that idea quickly went out of his mind when he felt a cold breeze swiftly gracing his senses, that, and the fact that he hadn’t yet been attacked by fiends or any of the myriad kinds of vile creatures that usually inhabit the gateway to Hell.
The figure tried to get up from its position but quickly failed as its body wasn’t properly responding to its commands as he promptly collapsed back onto the ground.
“How the mighty have fallen...” The being thought to itself with both a grimace and great bitterness at just how weak he was currently feeling.
“I was so close in finally achieving my goal of total dominance not once, but twice. And yet, even with the magical might I had received after my first fall, it still wasn’t enough to allow me to wreak my vengeance upon those rebel rats and that one… imbecile. This Firion and his gang who dared to openly defy me, only for their resistance to bear fruit as I soon found myself defeated yet again by these… by these… ugh!
“I, Emperor Mateus of Palamecia, defeated not once but twice, and now it seems that I have woken up in a place completely unfamiliar to me. Not only that, but feeling weak and… strange as well.”
Though he did in fact feel strange for the moment the former Emperor simply shrugged it off as a sensation of his current weakness...and the fact that he just woke up after dying yet again. He could still sense his magic deep within, but it seems to have been currently locked up or limited for some strange reason, which left him both temporarily weakened and incredibly annoyed as well, not to mention that it was giving him a headache.
When he reached up a hand to rub his aching head, he was instead greeted by a completely different appendage.
It was a handless stub, or more like a hoof, to be precise, according to his knowledge.
The defeated Emperor simply rose a curious eyebrow as he stared at his changed appendage. Twisting and waving it around in front of his vision, he found it surprisingly nimble for a forearm made for a quadrupedal being.
“Ugh… what alteration have I gone through this time after my death?” The Emperor thought as he quickly remembered the last time his form got altered… drastically.
“First my soul gets split into the Demon Emperor of Pandemonium and the Haven Emperor of Arubboth, then my soul gets reunited and I gets turned into… something that has hooves. What manner of crazy sorcery has death decided to inflict upon me this time?”
Indeed, he had knowledge of both his halves now, as strange as this experience seemed to be for his mind.
This was most annoying to him. Curiosity quickly overtook him as he tried to sit up using his newly changed… forelegs to push himself off the ground to see the full extent of the changes to his body.
Not surprising to him, he found out that he was still pretty much wearing his normal armor and the attire that he always wore before his first death. Only this time it was completely reshaped to fit his new body. Instead of normal human legs, he now had armored hind legs with the same hoof endings as his arms. From right between his hind legs he could make out a very long, golden-blonde--and otherwise quite well maintained and luxurious-looking-tail curling around toward the stony ground.
The same change pretty much went for his torso as well, as it looked smaller and somewhat slimmer compared to his human one, though it was also completely covered in his golden armor, which made it impossible for him to even see what is underneath it, what color his (probably) new skin might be, or perhaps fur, might look like. A further mystery was that the demon head located at the lower end of his torso had somehow changed into a dragon head instead.
“Well, at least I now know why I feel so strange, what with my whole body having gone through such dramatic changes. That also makes me wonder how much my inner workings have changed too. Maybe that's why my powers seem to be...so limited” The former Emperor thought to himself as he continued to curiously observe his new body with a critical eye.
Again, this was both annoying and yet quite intriguing as well, since complete physical (and even mental) transformations weren’t that new to him.(Getting turned into a demon and angels at the same time) He always knew from the start that death was a fickle thing and no mere mortal could ever truly comprehend its nature and meaning. And now, finding himself revived once more with basically a brand new body was, in all honesty, quite interesting to him, though very confusing as well.
The other obvious question would be where he was. Was he still in his old world or was this a completely different one altogether?
“I will never find answers to those questions if I just sit here.” He mentally noted once more as he tried to get himself back up, which was met with the same results as his first attempt as he collapsed back onto the floor with a thud.
At this point he was swiftly getting frustrated with all of this.
“Great. The one drawback to having a new body that is a complete mirror version of the previous one is the fact that you have absolutely no idea how it functions. I seem to be a quadruped now, basically an animal… which is extremely degrading. But maybe I can fix that at some point if I ever get my full strength back.
Also, since I seem to be still dressed with my usual attire and armor, I would expect that my staff would be here somewhere as well.” He mentally mused as he started to work with his inner magic to mentally call his weapon over… if it was close by, that is.
His efforts were quickly rewarded as he could feel the magical signatures of his staff answering his call. It immediately began to slowly levitate toward him from around the corner of a large, rocky support to his left. Without thinking, he went to grasp it and was surprised to find that he was actually able to grab it with his hoof.
“Hooves shouldn’t be able to grasp or hold anything, but I guess it really doesn’t matter now. What works, works.” He thought as he sat up once more to inspect his arcane weapon.
It looked pretty similar, nothing was changed, and nothing was altered. The only minor detail he quickly recognized was the fact that it was a bit smaller, probably due to the fact that he himself was obviously smaller too, judging from his new body.
All in all, it was still the same and so far he seemed to be pleased with it, especially since he suddenly felt a small surge of power flowing through him. The familiar feeling of his powers returning, thanks in part to his staff, causes him to smile.
Thanks to his staff, he finally had enough of his strength back to get his body moving properly. And off the dirt covered ground. He decided to make it very easy for himself by using his more passive ability of levitation to lift himself off the ground, spinning himself around in the air and gently landing back on all fours as he remembered that he was, in fact, a quadruped now.
Something he desperately needs to remind himself with, if he ever wants to keep whatever was left of his pride intact.
At first his stance was a bit sluggish and unstable, again as could be expected, but by using his staff like a cane he was able to keep himself upright and not falling back onto the ground.
“That would be the absolute last straw for me; a humiliation that I deny at all cost. It’s already bad enough that I am in a body of what I presume is an animal.” He thought as his stance was slowly starting to become more stable.
The Emperor began to look around. From his now much more elevated position he could see that the cave he was in wasn’t as big as he originally thought it was. It was very basic, as caves were concerned, a singular tunnel, with one direction to his left seeming to go deeper into the earth, judging from the blob of darkness that dominated it. While on his right there was what he would guess was the way to an exit, as it was much better illuminated.
Deciding to go for the exit, the Emperor began to shakily make his way right, while cursing mentally at his position and inexperience of walking on all fours as he followed the light.
Though, for some strange reason, his anger and great displeasure of his current situation quickly fell as he started to feel more and more calm the further he followed the light. His hoofwork also slowly improved as his staff began to just lazily follow in the air beside him.
No thoughts were going through his mind as he felt himself intrigued by this foreign sensation. It was strange for him sure, but it wasn’t really that unwelcome either. A luxury he had forgotten, ever since he started his conquest.
He soon entered a large open cavern full what seemed to be simple looking crystals sprouting out from both the ground and ceiling of the cave bathing the entire chamber in the light coming from outside which gave every single crystal a soft and ominous glow. A scene the Emperor had to admit was quite beautiful to behold. A large white crystal suddenly greeted him on his left as he continued his trek through the chamber which forced him to stop and look for the first time as his own reflection greeted with on its surface.
For the first time since he woke up he was able to fully see himself and his new alterations as he stared at his reflection on the smooth crystalline surface.
As expected, he looked like an equine version of his old self, and yes, he quickly determined that his current appearance was indeed some kind of equine species. An equine clad in enchanted golden armor with his purple, black, and white robes perfectly visible in some areas. A deep purple cape was attached to his neck and covering pretty much all of his back with wing or fin-like parts extending from his shoulders. Just above his cape on his back where normally another demon face would be was a dragon head instead. While on his head, protruding from long but also messy looking golden blond hair were the two horns that were attached to his crown hidden beneath his long, messy blond hair.
The most interesting thing, though, was his face, which was a light yellowish color as far as he could observe. It had equine features just as he thought. However, the strange thing about it was that, despite the fact that it still had a lot of more humanlike features on it, had a much smaller muzzle and a more of a roundish head than he’d originally expect from an equine form. Another big intriguing thing was the fact that there was a very sharp and long horn on top of his forehead. A feature that would make him a unicorn, as far as his knowledge of extinct creatures goes.
The Emperor smirked at his reflection. He was pleased to at least have been turned into a magical and majestic creature instead of just a plain, simple equine.
Truly this form was far more suited for a being like himself IF he was going to be transformed into an animal and stay like that.
“Not bad, though I would still prefer my old look.” He commented to himself as he continued to observe his new features.
All of that stopped, though, when a series of unknown sounds suddenly echoed along the rock walls. His new equine ears swivelled toward the source of the sounds as his head around to face it.
“I told you that there was nice big cave here, boss.” A somewhat intelligible but highly annoying voice said.
“Yeah, this is perfect place to make new den and store all of this shiny stuff we steal from pretty little ponies outside.” Another voice replied, which was quickly accompanied by the sounds of multiple objects being dragged across the ground.
“Boc, Grunt. Be quiet you two, we still don’t even know if this cave is already taken or not, and I am not really in the mood for fighting another bear at the moment.” Another voice replied, this one actually sounding a bit more intelligent, probably the leader of whatever group they are.
“But Alpha, would only mean more meat for to feast on.” A new voice replied, this one so far sounding like the dumbest of them all. And had a sadistic tone to it.
“We already have enough meat as it is. Even so, we still have little bat-horse over here. Bloody bastard horse managed to shank both Tuts and Ruckus before we could finally knock her out and bind her. I’m still debating if we should simply eat her for it or not.” The leader said again, with a lot of anger in his tone at the end.
“Sounds like unwelcome company…” The Emperor thought, mentally cursing that his powers weren’t fully restored yet, despite having his staff back.
Levitating up to a nearby rocky platform to have a better strategic view of the crystallized cavern around him, he could see that indeed there were four large figures approaching his position from the entrance.
“What a collection of…intriguing beings.” The emperor thought as the four intruders he heard talking earlier were slowly coming into clear view.
They were dogs, or at the very least dog-like bipedal beings. Even from this distance he could already tell that these creatures looked absolutely hideous. Their fur was dirty and chaotic, and they had ridiculously large arms in comparison to their dinky-looking legs. They were covered in old, ragged-looking…. well, rags, while the leader of the group (at least he guessed that it was the leader, judging by its size) was instead sporting crude and rusty-looking armor. They all had very crude looking weapons as well, with the leader being the only one sporting a weapon that looked decently made and well cared for.
Huge sacks of… something were dragged along on the ground or hauled on their backs. One spoil in particular seemed to immediately catch his eyes, though, as the leader of the group seemed to be holding onto the tail of another equine creature slumped over its shoulder.
Mateus frowned as the conclusion of these intruders finally came up to him.
“Raiders. Nothing but low life scum and a great source of nuisance. I’ve always hated them.” The Emperor thought bitterly as a particularly annoying memory resurfaced of raiders disrupting his conquest efforts back in his own world by constantly attacking the supply lines of his armies.
A million ideas suddenly popped up into the Emperor's mind of just how quickly (and in how many ways) he could end the lives of these pitiful fools, before he was quickly reminded the fact that he was currently in a very weak state.
“No matter, I can still easily dispose of these fools, even with my weakened magic at the moment.” Mateus thought to himself with a smirk on his muzzle as the top of his staff gave up a soft glow.
………………………………………………………………………………………
Thera felt sore, weaken and a complete shame to her father's clan. Not only did she manage to get herself injured by monsters that attacked her on her journey back to her homeland, but she had also gotten herself beaten and captured by a band of diamond dogs when she was trying to mend her injuries. To add insult to the further injuries they had heaped upon her, they had also stolen her father’s sword.
The cowardly dogs had suddenly ambushed when she was trying to set up her camp for the day and they all swiftly surrounded her.
The struggle to keep them at bay with her father’s sword was tough. If it wasn’t for her already badly beaten body and her overall fatigue, she would have had a much easier time dealing with these rough dogs. Despite that, she still managed to slash the throats of two of the filthy mutts before the leader managed to get behind her and knock her out with a solid conk on the head.
“All of this wouldn’t have happened if I never went to Equestria in the first place.” Thera thought to herself as she slowly regained her consciousness and realized that she was bound and gagged as well.
And just in time too.
“We already have enough meat as it is. Even so, we still have little bat-horse over here. Bloody bastard horse managed to shank both Tuts and Ruckus before we could finally beat her up and bind her. I’m still debating if we should simply eat her for it or not.” She heard the leader say, which only forced her to struggle, trying to get herself free.
“Hmmm-hm-hmmm hmmm.”
“Hey boss, the pony seems to have woken up.” One of the filthy dogs said, which only motivated her even more to get the bindings around her off.
That was a mistake on her part, as she soon found herself in the air and then violently slammed onto the ground with a very loud thud echoing across the walls.
She tried to scream in discomfort, but the gag in her mouth prevented her from doing so. Luckily, nothing seemed to have been broken on her after that violent launch to the ground, but the effects were still very painful.
“Well, well, well, look who finally has decided to wake up from its slumber, boys.” She heard the leader chuckle as she continued to wail in pain and discomfort.
Thera eventually opened her eyes once the pain and overall disorientation subsided. She glared up at her captors, once again trying to struggle free from her bonds, which was only met with amused grunts from the four diamond dogs that surrounded her.
She especially glared up at the leader after she realized that the accursed mutt was holding her father’s sword with in its filthy paws.
“Hmm-hmmmmm-hmhmm-hm!”
“I think she wants to hit you, boss.” One of the dogs pointed out, this one being the smallest of the bunch while holding a large rusty axe that looked way too big for him to wield.
That comment, though, quickly silenced the chuckles from the lead dog as his smirk quickly turned into a frown.
Thera suddenly found herself gasping for air as her throat found itself squeezed and held firm by a massive paw before finding herself lifted up from the ground as two wrathful yellow eyes quickly stared down into hers.
She started to struggle again, thrashing violently within the grip, in hopes that it would bear fruit, but the only thing that greeted her for this was the paw holding her neck to squeeze even tighter causing her eyes to shut as tears of pain suddenly flowed through them.
“Listen here, pony, you already killed two of my boys. Two very important boys of mine, since our numbers are already pretty thin.” The Alpha growled menacingly as Thera felt the grip around her neck tightening even further, immediately cutting out any flow of air she might had completely.
She again tried her best to struggle free but the neck crushing squeeze on her neck and the lack of air swiftly sapped any source of energy that was left as her body simply went limp.
“No… this can’t be… I can’t just die like this… I… just can’t.” She desperately thought to herself, as she was slowly feeling lightheaded.
“You know what… why did I even bother to tie you up and drag your pony ass all the way here to the snowy wastes anyway? I think I’ll just kill you, relieve myself from this burden and wear your skin as a cape on my back.” The dog holding her growled as she heard the telltale sound of her father’s sword being drawn from its scabbard.
“What do you say boys? Pony meat for dinner?” He announced with a shout which was immediately accompanied with shouts and howls of approval from his goons.
“This is it… I failed my clan… and most importantly… I failed father… I am going to die--by my father’s own sword, no less--and then get eaten by a band of rough diamond dogs. I am nothing but a disgrace to my peoples.” Thera finally thought with a grimace as she could hear her father’s blade slowly being raised right above her head.
All of her thoughts and hopes quickly vanished as she simply accepted her fate. She awaited the silent and cold embrace of death when everything around her suddenly fell silent as a strange sound started to echo through the cave walls.
To her it sounded like… the clopping of hooves? But that couldn’t be, Nobody--or more precisely, nopony--would ever dare venture out this far into the snowy wastes. To say she was kind of confused would be an understatement.
When she opened her eyes, she found that her confusion seemed to be shared by her captors. The alpha holding her was looking around him with the sword still in the air while trying to pinpoint the source of the echo while his grip on her (thankfully) lessened.
Everything suddenly became silent once more as all of the dogs in front of her began to stare past her at something that was, no doubt, behind her.
A sliver of hope suddenly sparked up inside her as a very unfamiliar but still very welcoming voice spoke up.
“Am I interrupting something? Or am I just in the wrong place at the wrong time?” A male but also strangely gentle colt-sounding voice announced.
The alpha dog growled. “Both.”
The very first chapter of a brand new fic. Hope you guys like it.
Concept art ot the Emperor
Concept art of Thera
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seem should be seems
Well, im certainly liking what I see. Keep writing this, its great
Huh, well that is a interesting beginning to this story. Can't wait for the next chapter!
Now that's a game I haven't heard of in a long time.
I like it
I know nothing about this Emperor Mateus guy, but he sounds nice.
Good story by the way.
7619748 Final Fantasy 2 is the ONLY final fantasy i ever completed all the way to the end.
I played both the original NES version and the remake version.
Well. They're screwed.
For those not in the know, this guy killed both God and Satan.
Love the artwork and story.
You draw such pretty ponies haha
I've never played any Final Fantasy games but this is interesting enough for me to read on its own
The Emperor has a massive horn. Can you leak what product he uses?
One of my favorite FF villains in Equestria? I'm hooked!
As long as this is updated regularly and not dropped, you have a watch from me :D
....He looks like a mare to me...
And the ponies seem quite thin when compare to the show...artistic license?
Edit: Just googled him...He look like a woman in the game too.
Interestin' start. And nice artworks too. Draw those yourself?^^
7623976
Don't you know? Final Fantasy top villains are either grotesque monsters or androgynous pretty boys, it's a rule of those games.
s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/a5/14/e9/a514e9d0f2e55fc0641203b568f9c191.jpg
vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/villains/images/9/93/Ff4-kain-highwind.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20091019235610
Nice, I really love the way you write and described it so far, it make me want to read more.
As usually that means I'm hoping for a romance to be possible, and I don't say that it has to be shown every second of a moment they would be together. I'm not saying that he has to like Thera, but I like them both already.
Well, interesting start.
However, that seems to be an odd spot to stop the chapter with a cliffhanger. If you move the alpha dog's line to the next chapter, and end the chapter off with Mateus' line about interrupting things, it would make for a far better spot to have a cliffhanger. Having the alpha dog reply and then cutting off just makes it fizzle out.
Damn... Look at Thera's healthy plot *puts on shades, then bites lower lips*
I literally JUST finished FF2, so dis gun be good...
I love the "I know I'm better than you" look he has in that pic here in the first chapter
Oh never mind, carry on.
9123535
Ahh nice one lol
I'm dying. That art... You monster, whoever made this had made something too cute. This is heresy, my heart wants more.
Started re reading this story after a long time. Can’t wait to keep reading more about my favorite FF villain in this world!