Filly Fantasy VII: Evolution

by ChaosknightRB

The Wandering Soul

Chapter 4: The Wandering Soul

Standing in front of our five bewildered heroes stood a single crimson stallion with matching eyes and a jet black mane, surrounded by eight very dead sahagin. "Who are you?" The mysterious pony asked the group. Everyone noted one unusual trait about this pony. His front left leg was made of a gold colored metal, at the end was something resembling that of a claw.

Jackal stepped forward, "I'm more interested in who you are and what you did here." At this point, Jackals interest had peaked seeing the unusual cuts and burns that covered the sahagin.

"Gray Fullbuster," the pony replied. "I-I don't really know what happened to be honest. I'm having some difficulty remembering some things. Now I've answered your question, mind answering mine?"

"Fair enough," Jackal nodded. "I'm called Jackal, we're all with Shinra. Now what's this about not being able to remember things?"

"Where do I begin," Gray sat down on a charred seat. "I remember being on this train, but not how I got here." The crimson pony had changed his tone seeming rather distressed. "I can't remember where I've been or what's happened in the past few years, like an entire chapter of my life was erased."

A blue pony walked in through the door opposite to the group wearing an odd striped hat. "What in the blazes happened here!" the blue pony exclaimed as he looked at the carnage in the train car. "Did you all do this?"

"We took care of the car behind us, Gray here's the one who got these...things." Marcus said.

"They're called sahagin. Mostly living in sewers around these parts," Velis spoke up. "Much like the sewers we should be nearing had these ones not decided to cause a ruckus." He turned to the blue pony, "On that note, are you the conductor of this train by chance?" He nodded. "Then why aren't we moving?"

"They did some serious damage to the track. Had the warning system not turned on when it did we'd all be a lot more dead than we are now at the speed this train was going," the conductor said with a breath of relief.

The five ponies turned to each other. "So what do we do now?" Marcus asked.

Freddie put a hoof to his chin as he contemplated, "Why don't we just get out and walk? It'll take about two hours if we follow the tracks from here." The other four agreed.

"Shouldn't we contact Angeal?" The four ponies turned to Trenton. "I mean, we were expected to be there in less than a half hour."

Happy walked over to the group, receiving a confused stare from Gray and the conductor. Noticing this, Marcus quickly told them, "He's a robot thing I guess. Made by Shinra." The two ponies were skeptical, but accepted it nonetheless.

The small metal device on Happy's arm suddenly sprang to life with buttons flickering with light. Happy pushed a few and a voice came through the device. "This is Angeal." Velis took it upon himself to explain the situation. He told Angeal how the sahagin had suddenly attacked the train, that they were attacking ponies and about the condition of the train. "I see, is that all?"

"Oh, and we had a bit of help from a pony we met here. His name's Gray Fullbuster," Velis had remembered. "It appears he took down eight sahagin single hoofed."

"Eight you say? That's a pretty impressive feat if I do say so myself. If he's listening I'd like to offer my thanks for aiding you all." The device was silent for a moment. "Is he still there by chance?"

"I'm here." Gray replied.

"Good, I have a proposition for you...Gray was it? Happy, take him somewhere where we can talk privately. The rest of you hold your position until I'm done here." Gray stood up from his seat and followed the small blue cat into the currently vacant engine car.

Several minutes went by as they waited for the conversation to be over. The crimson pony and Happy walked through the car door as the other ponies looked up with anticipation. "Looks like I'll be coming with you on your job today." The five ponies were surprised at the turn of events. They had not even seen what had happened, let alone the fact that he claimed he had no memory of it.

Angeals voice rose from the device once again. "I'm having Gray accompany you on your mission to the Sector 7 sewers. He's already proven himself combat ready, so I trust there will be no arguments?"

The five stood silently. "Good. You are to head to the Sector 7 train station by foot. There you will meet up with a man named Genesis. Much like myself, Genesis has played a major part in the SOLDIER program. You will follow his instructions as if they were my own. Angeal out."

"Well I guess your stickin' with us now," as Freddie walked over to the crimson pony, he threw a hoof up over Grays shoulder which required him to stand on his hind legs to reach. "Let me introduce you to the gang. I'm Freddie, and here we have Marcus, Jackal, Velis, Trenton and the cat thing there is Happy," the small orange pony pointed to everyone as he said their names. "Now that we're all the best of friends, lets go kill some turtle-lizards."

"Sahagin." Velis corrected him.

"Gesundheit. Now lets go. We've got a few hours of walking ahead of us." With that said, the ponies laughed as they exited the train and into the long, dimly lit tunnel.

As they walked past the front of the train, they saw the damage the conductor had earlier told them about. The rails had been ripped apart with the scraps thrown about the area. The train had stopped mere feet from wreckage. Though surprised by the amount of damage such an odd creature could do, they continued on rather than gawk since there was little to see other than what was obvious.

The six ponies had been walking for nearly two hours, conversing with their new crimson comrade. Through their conversations they discovered that Gray was from a port town called Junon. The metal arm he had was new to him as well. He was unaware of how it got there, but he knows it must have been somewhat recent since he has no memory of it.

The two hour mark had finally passed and the group could see a light off in the distance. Seeing the end of the tunnel, the group picked up their pace. They had no love for this walking and waiting game. As they approached the light they could see a station platform. Sitting near on the edge of the platform was a lone ocher colored unicorn. His cinnabar mane was relatively short, but very tidy. The unicorn was hovering a thick book titled LOVELESS in front of him. On his side was a pack as well a a red bladed rapier. The six ponies walked towards him.

"Excuse me," Marcus asked. "we're looking for someone. Have you seen anypony named Genesis around?" The unicorn payed no mind the Marcus' question, simply continuing to focus on his book.

Jackal was annoyed by his clear lack of respect. He walked up to the book and with a hoof pulled it down far enough that their eyes would meet. "He asked you a question. Answer it." His voice was stern as he gave a harsh stare into the unicorns green eyes. Jackal noticed that his eyes were different, they seemed to emit a strange glow much like his own.

The unicorn sighed as he stood up. "Infinite in mystery is the gift of the Goddess," the unicorn began to say. "We seek it thus, and take to the sky. Ripples form on the water's surface. The wandering soul knows no rest." Using his magic he retrieved the book from Jackal, closing it and placing it in a small pack he had on his side. "You say that you are looking for someone, well you have found them. I am Genesis Rhapsodos, a member of SOLDIER." Genesis draws the rapier from his side. "I wish to see how you have progressed." The blade on his sword suddenly began to glow a faint yellow. The six ponies were also enveloped by this mysterious light. "Draw your weapons."

The six of them prepared for battle despite being unsure of what to make of these odd occurrences. As Jackal reached for his crossbow, Genesis thrust his blade forward with lightning speed towards his chest. Unable to dodge his attack, Jackal was struck by the blade. Rather than pierce him, however, it had felt as though he had been struck by a blunt force, knocking him back and causing a great deal of pain. Jackal stumbled back as he tried his best to keep his footing, but instead was greeted by the impact from a ball of fire. He did not feel the intense heat from the flames, but felt a familiar blunt force strike him. Jackal could take no more, the wind hand been knocked out of him twice. He fell to the ground, beaten and unconscious. The other five ponies were astonished at what had just happened. It was merely in a second their friends was beaten into the ground with ease.

Gray led the groups offensive as he fired his pistol at Genesis. Using the blade of his rapier, Genesis was deflecting bullets with perfect precision. Marcus charged forward summoning up as much power as he could. With a mighty roar, Marcus leaped into the air with a large ball of fire enveloping his hoof. The hoof made contact with Genesis' sword causing an explosion which caused dirt to fly up, covering the two from sight. The sight of dancing flames could be seen through the thick blanket of smoke, only to disappear as a small blue flash of light overtook it. Genesis swung his sword to the side, clearing the smoke and revealing the two. Marcus had been covered in bits of ice. He lied on the ground unconscious, breathing heavily as the attacks from Genesis had taken their toll.

Meanwhile, Trenton had already charged his bastard sword with his favorite lightning spell. He nodded to Freddie who slowly moved away from group. He rushed forward and swung his sword at Genesis. The two clashed swords, sending sparks in all directions. The lightning coursed through the metal blades and met with Genesis, who winced as a surge of electricity hit him. Freddie had already, moved behind Genesis waiting for the time to strike. Seeing his opportunity, he rushed forward and swung his nunchaku. "Clever, but not good enough," Genesis smirked. Before Freddie could make contact he stepped aside, causing the lightning from the blade to be sent into Freddie as he hurdled into Trenton, knocking the two down. The horn on Genesis' head glowed as he prepared to finish them off with a spell, only to be met with a hail of bullets and lightning. Velis and Gray were still up and firing full force on him. Turning his attention to the immediate threat, a massive bolt of lightning came down from the sky and struck Velis. He was sent flying back from the force of the blast and landed harshly on his side unconscious. Genesis rushed forward to meet Gray, swinging his sword in the process. Gray was far more agile than what he had anticipated. As Genesis swung his sword continuously at him, Gray managed to duck and weave through them. With every missed swing, Gray fired a shot at a hopeful opening. "He seems to be far more trained than he should be..." Genesis though to himself. As Gray dodged another attack and pulled the trigger, he heard the most unpleasant sound in the world, *click.* He had run out of ammo and was in no position to reload. Gray dropped his gun and swung out with his metal hoof. Genesis took advantage of the pony's change in tactics and allowed the hit to land squarely on his muzzle. This left Gray open. Genesis thrust the rapier at him, sending Gray hurdling back and falling unconscious from the sheer force of impact.

As he turned to deal with the remaining two he was greeted by a lightning blade wielding grey unicorn. Trenton swung forwards in expectation of Genesis blocking it. Genesis, however, had decided to side step him instead. With Trenton fully open Genesis summoned a bolt of fire at him, sending him backwards as he lost consciousness. He returned to look for the small orange pony who accompanied Trenton. Genesis was suddenly struck in the back of his head by Freddie who had been looking for an opening. Genesis turned to meet him face to face. Freddie stood little chance against his sword which struck true as Freddie, much like the others, had also fallen unconscious.

Standing in the center of the aftermath, Genesis sheathed his rapier. The horn on his head glowed as the unconscious group became enveloped in a soft green light. "There is no hate, only joy. For you are beloved by the Goddess. Hero of the dawn, healer of worlds."

The six ponies woke up and found their strength had come back to them. It felt as though they had never been in a fight at all. As they stood perplexed by what had just happened, the sound of thunderous applause could be heard all around them. They looked to see a huge crowd of ponies had gathered to witness the fierce battle.

"Where did everypony come from? I didn't even see them arrive." Velis asked. He turned towards where Genesis had been for an answer to see he was no longer there. "Weird..."

From the crowd stepped a young filly carrying a paper and a marker. The small pony approached Marcus who was greatly confused by the situation. Placing the objects down, she nervously asked him "C-can I have your autograph?"

Comments

[Marcus Dragneel]

hey there readers, i was enjoying my christmas break on Wutai, enjoying some quiet delicious flames when it thought to myself you know what would be fun, breaking the fourth wall, hahahaha and i was right, thoroughly enjoyable

[ChaosknightRB]

95935 Hey! You get back behind that fourth wall this instant young pony!

[Jacklyn Scarlet]

When am i coming in?? I want in

[Gray Valentine]

Well since everyone else is breaking the fourth wall, i might as well enjoy the fun as well.

[Mach and Gracie]

xD Well, I'm not sure what I should be reading now: the story or the comments!
Bravissimo to the lot of you, especially the author et al, if they exist! :D

[the one guy on the left]

Wow hey i was wondering something what style is the shinra restroom decorated in?

Also gery does the name Vincent mean anything to you?