• Published 29th May 2020
  • 3,271 Views, 239 Comments

The Distant Princess - GMBlackjack



A purple comet appears in the sky and vanishes mysteriously. Twilight Sparkle can't handle all her unanswered questions, so she travels to the Candy Kingdom to get answers. But all is not well, for the comet heralds great change...

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XIV - Lost Beach

Samurai Jack. Strong, silent, determined, ageless. A man from a lost era who wants nothing more than to end the evil plague that torments his home. This is difficult for several reasons, not the least of which being his home was conquered millennia ago and these days everything has taken a foreign shape to his young and old eyes.

He has an annoyingly one-track mind. When something breaks through his focus on the quest, it would have to be something truly monumental. Such as, hypothetically, seeing another human.

Let’s just say I’m real surprised it took him so long to find another one. Humans are rare, but they aren’t extinct. Granted, most are in one spot, but for a man who tried to scour every square inch of the world, that becomes something you think he would have found.

Guess it just goes to show that even the most intrepid can miss a few things.

~~~

Finn wasn’t sure how to respond to Jack. Another human was always exciting, but he’d met several at this point, while this adult man had met none. Should he respond with excitement, letting Jack know there were others? Should he empathize with Jack’s struggle? Should he respond at all? Finn could tell this was a monumental moment, and that his response could define everything for years to come…

“Man, you’re unlucky,” Jake said, “we’ve seen a few humans, and we’re nowhere near as old as you!”

Finn facepalmed. “Jake…”

Jack turned to Jake, expression unreadable. “And… where are they?”

Jake shrugged. “Various places. Betty’s off somewhere doing crazy magic, Simon’s still cursed with the ice crown, and Martin is… discorporeated through the universe? I think?”

“Susan’s nearby,” Finn said, trying to salvage the interaction.

“I thought we agreed she was a fish person?”

“No, she’s human. I checked.”

“How did you…?”

“There were no fins under the hood.”

“Oh.” Jake scratched his jowls. “That makes sense.”

“So humans really aren’t extinct?” Rainbow blinked. “Then why don’t we hear more about you?”

“Individuals…” Jack said, slowly sitting down on a rock. “Alone, wandering, without a people.”

“Yeah, that kinda appears to be how we humans work,” Finn said with a shrug.

“Do none of them know of others?”

Jake shook his head. “Nope! Simon’s over a thousand years old, Susan’s got a terrible case of lost memories, Betty’s from the past…”

“From the past?” Jack perked up with an alarming intensity. “When?”

“Uh…” Jake took a step back, sweating.

“Just before the Mushroom War,” Finn answered.

For a moment, Jack deflated—but his fire came back in an instant. “How did she come here?”

“Simon had a time spell…?” Finn could sense the desperation and strain in Jack’s voice. He’d been around long enough to know that made people do rash things. He also knew that they didn’t stand a chance against Jack if he did snap.

“And how does this time spell… work?”

Finn gulped. “You, uh, take an object of ‘emotional importance’ from the time and… bam?”

“An object… of importance…” Jack returned to his rock. He said nothing in response, though the longer he sat, the larger his scowl grew.

“...I’m pretty sure there’s a lot more humans out there,” Finn said. “Martin—my dad—said a few things. I have a mom somewhere and…” He sighed. “And he didn’t really want to talk about it, and he’s not exactly around to ask questions anymore.”

“Yep! Popped into the nothingness and everything!” Jake added.

“Jake, he made a deal with the Comet. Became one with the cosmos or some jazz.”

Rainbow’s ears perked up. “Oh, finally, something that makes sense! That was the Comet Twilight was searching for, right? The thing that made the sky purple?”

“Yeah!” Finn said. “We had to go up there and deal with it.”

Jake stretched his arms into the air and created stars, planets, a comet, and a few other entities out of his rubbery limbs. “There was an evil monster named Orgalorg, a space moth, Banana Man, and a bunch of weird visions I wasn't there for. Still wish I was there for that. Woulda been sweet.”

“I think it mainly wanted to talk to me since I’m, well, you know.”

“But it sounded like a wicked cool conversation! I wanted to see all of reality laid bare before me!”

“You two need to talk to Twilight when we get back,” Rainbow said. “She’s dying to hear about this Comet and this sounds awesome.”

“Peebles knows most of it,” Finn said. “I think that’s what they’re talking about now.”

“Peebles…? Oh, Bonnibel.” Rainbow blinked. “Why do you call her that?”

“Oh, that’s simple, it’s bec—”

The ground shook with a powerful tremor. Jack, who had been sitting in silent observation for some time, launched into action. He tackled Rainbow, pushing her out of the way of a falling boulder. “We need to leave!”

“On it!” Jake shouted, growing several times, wrapping his limbs around the three others. He jumped into the hole that led to the surface… and the rumbling stopped before he had gotten his butt through.

Jack, Finn, and Rainbow were all pressed together amidst squishy dog fur.

“I think… we’re safe…” Rainbow wheezed. “Can you let us go?”

“Caaaan-do!” Jake descended back into the cave and released the three of them.

“Something has changed,” Jack said.

“Well yeah, something big just smashed into the ground!” Jake shrunk back to his normal size. “That wasn’t an earthquake!”

“I mean the room.” Jack pointed at a massive crack in the intricate walls. “That is new.”

“Right, a cracked wall got more cracked.”

“There’s light on the other side,” Rainbow said, poking her head into the crack. “I think I see… a beach?”

Finn broke out into a grin. “Ah, there’s the actual dungeon! Jake, open it up!”

Jack’s eyes widened. “Wait n—”

Jake had already grown his fist and punched through the wall. Rock crumbled and rolled onto the ground, revealing a descending slope that led to sand, and lots of it. Here, the walls were designed with the same bipedal figures and glowing shapes as the previous chamber. The group could see water trickling down from a small crack in the ceiling.

Despite Jake’s violent assault on the wall, there was no further cave-in.

“That was risky,” Jack observed.

“Who cares? There’s more stuff to explore!” Rainbow flew into the opening, followed quickly by Jake.

Finn hopped through, though he stopped to look back at Jack. “Do you wanna come? Bigger parties are more effective.”

Jack nodded slowly. He put his helmet back on and marched into the cavern, passing Finn.

“Geez, you really are a quiet guy, huh?” Getting no response, Finn opted to fall silent as well, walking in time right behind Jack. The humans descended after the pegasus and the dog, each hoping to find something slightly different at the bottom.

“Whoa!” Rainbow called. “Awesome!

Finn lost all sense of trying to be cool and silent, taking off at a run down the sandy incline. He skidded to the stop as the sand met a pool of softly glowing water—a beach. The pool itself was massive and filled with mushrooms, fish, and other strange creatures that had lived for untold amounts of time sealed off from the outside world. The walls surrounding the lake were natural rock, not carved, but they were somehow smoother than they should have been. Roots and stalactites hung from the ceiling, mirroring the beauty of the water with the harsh reality of the earth.

That said, the duality of water and rock was overshadowed by the structure that occupied the opposite shore. Once, it had been a beautiful multi-armed statue in a serene pose. Now, all but one of those arms had broken off—two of which were lying in the sand next to the structure. Much of the detail had eroded away, leaving only a smooth impression of what had once been a thriving place. However, it was still possible to see that the head had two faces, and the door within the stomach area was easily visible.

Rainbow laughed. “Sweet! I’m gonna check it out!” She darted across the lake without waiting for confirmation.

“...How will we cross?” Jack asked. “We do not have wings.”

Jake squished himself into an inflatable raft for two. “All aboard!”

Jack took a moment to examine Jake before stepping in. “Your powers are versatile, Jake.”

“Yep! I’m the best, thanks for noticing.”

Finn rolled his eyes. “He still has no idea how they work.”

“And you know what?” Jake smirked. “I think it’s better that I’m a mystery wrapped in an enigma. It means I’m always learning new things about myself!”

“A wise sentiment,” Jack said.

They reached the other side in less than a minute. Rainbow was waiting for them, grinning.

“So! I’ve found a lot of worn-down stone, some ancient petrified wood, a crystal platform that’s been shattered, and this cool statue!” She held up a small figure in her wings: female, holding a white diamond-shaped crystal in her arms.

“Sweet!” Finn shouted. “That’s going in the loot pack!” He took off his backpack and opened it up. “Hopefully we’ll fill this whole thing by the end of the day.”

Rainbow tossed it in. “We split it at the end, right?”

“Duh, of course.”

Jack moved past them and up to the door, tracing his finger over it. Unlike the stone of the statue, the turquoise door was in perfect condition. A five-pointed star sat at the door’s upper half, studded with a blue, white, red, purple, and pink gemstone. He tapped the star, but nothing happened.

“Yeah, that’s not gonna open easily. I already tried.” Rainbow glanced at one of her back hooves. “Luckily I didn’t crack it this time…”

Jack pulled out his electric trident and tapped the door with it, sending an electric shock into the smooth material. Nothing happened. He took a step back and turned to Jake.

Jake took in a deep breath. “All right, it always falls to me, doesn’t it?” He twisted his fist into a drill with five points, hitting the door straight on the gemstones. Instead of giving way, the door began to glow a brilliant white.

A pulse of energy surged up Jake’s arm. For a moment, he shifted into a blue color, gaining several eyes. This prompted him to pull his arm back, reverting to his normal yellow dog state. “What in the—”

The door exploded, showering all of them in a white light.

Finn thought he heard a scream come from everywhere at once.

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