Chapter 15: Storming the Cyclone
Docking near the Fynn area, our heroes had found the town of Gatrea completely destroyed, even worse than when the Dreadnought attacked. The village had been reduced to nothing more than ruins and several villagers lay dead. Several questions were running through their minds: could the cyclone have done this? And was this the Emperor's doing as well? There was only one place where they could find their answers...
Before they could reach Fynn, more powerful monsters appeared right in front of our heroes! A group consisting of three sorcerers and four imperial sergeants stood ready to attack.
"What the?!" said Firion. "Never mind. Brace yourselves!"
One sorcerer cast Fire VIII on the party before they could attack. Twilight countered by casting Blizzard VIII on the enemy, but the only ones who felt any blows were the soldiers as they were brought to their knees. Guy went after the sorcerer who attacked them and sent him back where he came. Ricard swiped one of the sorcerers as well with his lance. Cadence cast Fire IX on their enemies, finally removing the soldiers from the battle. The last sorcerer cast Blizzard VIII on the party and laughed evilly. But his laughter was cut short for Maria fired several arrows into his black heart.
With the monsters defeated, our heroes' abilities had increased once more. Leaving the battle behind, they returned to the city of Fynn.
*music stops*
Upon their arrival, the group questioned several people starting with a fellow rebel.
"What happened here?!" asked Firion.
"The Emperor has summoned a powerful Cyclone and started attacking several areas!"
"Is that what destroyed Gatrea?"
"Yes, I'm afraid so."
A young boy sniffled and wept.
"What's the matter?" said Fluttershy.
"Everyone's dead...!" he cried. "My friends from Gatrea were... were..." The child could hardly finish his sentence as he began to sob once more, earning a hug from the yellow pegasus. Ever more determined to end this war, the group proceeded to the castle.
The party rushed straight into the castle and spoke with several guards where they learned startling revelations.
"Poft and Altair have been destroyed by the Emperor's Cyclone," said the guard on the left of the entrance.
"What?!" everyone screamed.
"Altair and Poft, too?!" said Twilight.
"Don't tell me... Do you think Cid may have--"
"We don't know yet," the soldier answered dejectedly. "We've lost contact with him when the Cyclone appeared."
"I assume you've already seen Gatrea, right? Completely destroyed!" said the soldier on the right. "Fynn may not be able to hold up against another raid!"
After speaking with the soldiers, our heroes went straight up into the grand hall and met with Hilda, Gordon, and Leila.
"Did you find Minwu?"
The group stiffened at the mention of that name.
"Your Highness..." Twilight said sadly, hanging her head. "Minwu's... gone."
The royal couple sat straight upon hearing this news.
"What? What happened?" asked Hilda.
"This can't be!" Gordon added.
"But it is, Your Highnesses," Fluttershy cried. "H-He... he gave up his life to... grant us access to Ultima..."
Hilda gasped, and Gordon shut his eyes. Both prince and princess mourned the loyal white wizard.
"Minwu..." said Hilda, despondently. "I've known him for a long time ever since he came from Mysidia."
"He was Mysidian?" Twilight asked. "Oh, I didn't know that." Now it makes sense, she thought.
"I'm so sorry," said Cadence.
"We have but one course of action: you must brave the storm and face the Emperor."
"We have to do what?!" Spike yelled.
"I'm afraid so," said Hilda.
"How are we supposed to go inside a raging storm?" said Maria.
"We no have anything," Guy added.
"Yes. It will be impossible to permeate the wall of wind from the ground," said Gordon. "You must go into the Cyclone from the air."
"And since we can't contact Cid at the moment... you must call upon a wyvern from Deist."
Ricard's face lit up. "That's it! But do we have a pendant to communicate with it?"
"As a matter of fact, we do," said Firion, as he pulled out the pendant in question. "We found this in the cave near Castle Deist. That's how we were able to talk with the mother wyvern and rescue her egg."
"I see," said Hilda. "All that's left to do now is to use the reflection of the light in that pendant to summon the wyvern. Go down to the third floor; you will find a large mirror hidden there. Use it to reflect the light of that pendant and call upon our last hope."
"Yes, Your Highness," said Ricard. Just before they left, however...
"Wait!" said Twilight.
"What is it, Twilight?" asked Firion.
"According to that book from Mysidia, only four to five people can ride on the wyvern's back. So some of us will have to stay here and guard the castle."
"But..."
"No!" Twilight yelled. "I can't take that risk!"
"Even with the possibility that your niece might be there with the Emperor?" asked Maria.
Twilight's mouth was agape. "I... I, uh..."
"It's true we all may not make to the center, but we should at least try."
The purple alicorn lowered her head, wondering what she should do. Cadence lifted her sister-in-law's head and gave her a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry, Twilight. Not all of us have to use the wyvern."
At first, Twilight didn't know what she was talking about, until a realization came to her: Cadence was going to fly in, following the wyvern and the rest into the eye of the storm.
"But, Cadence! The wind might blow you away!!" the purple alicorn said.
"I have to go in there! I have to save my daughter! Not to mention, the Emperor will enter Equestria and..."
"...Kill everypony make them his slaves, including our friends," Fluttershy said.
"We can't let that happen, Twilight," Spike added.
After a few seconds of silence, Twilight nodded. "Alright. Everyone, go and hop aboard the wyvern with me. Spike, you can go with Cadence!"
"I'll make sure he's safe."
"Thank you." Twilight then turned to Leila.
"I'll be stayin' here holdin' the fort," she answered.
"But, Leila..." said Maria.
"No buts, lass. I'm stayin' here and that be that. Now, go and give that Emperor what for!"
Acknowledging the pirate's wishes, our heroes left the throne room. But before they could find the mirror, they went for an old friend's house for some more help.
"Paul! We need your help!" said Firion.
"Well, I don't know what to tell you. I mean your next target's a Cyclone. And not a natural one either."
"That's exactly the point," said Twilight. "Somehow, our enemy is at the center of that storm and we intend to stop him!"
"WHAT?! Now you're telling me you're going inside that thing?! "
The group nodded.
"Th-That's just crazy!"
Says the man who keeps boasting about stealing from the Empire, Twilight thought.
The blond man sighed. "Although... I was afraid you'd say yes. Maybe I can help you. I'll give you my treasure. Search the wall next to the bed."
"Thank you, Paul," said Maria.
The team searched the wall as instructed and found a secret passage leading to a room holding eight treasure chests. Everyone opened the chests and individually and obtained a black garb, Thief's Gloves, an elixir, a Silver Cuirass, a Ruby Cuirass, a Gold Cuirass, and a Gold Hairpin. When Firion opened the last chest, however, it was already empty.
"What's all this about?" the young man asked.
"Let's ask Paul."
They went back to the living room and spoke with the ninja.
"Did you get everything?"
"Not quite. One item seems to be missing."
"Wh-What?!" Paul shouted. They all showed him the contents of the chest they opened.
"Where... where's the BLOOD SWORD?!"
"B-B-B-Blood Sword...?" Fluttershy spoke, quivering.
"Could someone have actually... stolen it from me?"
"I'd actually be surprised," Twilight whispered into Cadence's ear, with Cadence nodding in agreement.
"Paul," said Firion, putting his hand on the man's shoulder. "We'll talk about this Blood Sword later. Right now, we have to go."
"Bye," said Spike.
Paul looked at the heroes, nodding.
"Good luck, you guys," he said. The group smiled and nodded as they left the house. "They'll need it."
Our heroes went back into the castle and as directed by one of the guards went left from the entrance turned left from the entrance and left again until the found a stairway that led them up to a small room on the second floor which contained another stairway that took them to the next floor where they turned right leading them to take a left turn to the corridor and into a room with three treasure chests. They contained Golden Armor, another Gold Cuirass, and a Golden Shield.
Going in the opposite direction, they went into the mirror room and found a beautiful mirror that has been polished for quite some time. They took out the pendant; its reflection showed them a familiar looking object.
The egg that Elina and Kain had carefully guarded finally began to hatch. Emerging from the egg, was an enormous wyvern! Hearing the sound of a roar, our heroes beheld as the wyvern entered the room. Ricard stepped forward and flashed the pendant, communicating with the creature. With a soft growl, it acknowledged Ricard as its new master. The dragoon and the wyvern were brought together at last! The creature then exited the room and landed outside the city. Everyone went outside, climbed aboard and braved the fierce winds. The wyvern rushed towards the eye of the storm, and the heroes made a shocking discovery: within the Cyclone was a floating fortress.
"This is it, everyone," Firion said.
"He must be in there," said Twilight.
"Hold on, Flurry," Cadence said to herself. "Mommy's coming for you."
The wyvern encircled the fortress two times until it finally landed near the first level, allowing the party to break in, ready to confront Emperor Mateus. It then flew upwards and away from the storm for safety.
Elsewhere, an evil wizard laughed while carrying a blood-red sword with his magic. He began chanting in an ancient tongue opening a bizarre portal leading to a mysterious palace, threw the weapon inside and made it vanish without a trace.
"Try as hard as you might, feeble creatures," he said. "You will never reach His Excellency alive!"
He laughed wickedly as he disappeared.
As our heroes landed on the first floor of the fortress, they all looked to each other, knowing that the time had come to save Flurry Heart, the Crystal Ponies, and for Emperor Mateus to answer for his crimes. To their shock there were ponies shackled to the floor, each one chained to a strange pattern.
"Princess Cadence!" one pony exclaimed, regaining her crystal coat. "You've come to save us."
"Actually, this is the first time I've seen you here."
"We originally came to stop this cyclone," said Firion.
"If you want to do so, you'll have to go to the top floor and face the Emperor. He's been planning this since the beginning."
"We will," said Twilight.
"And... th-these creatures?"
"These are our friends. They're part of a rebellion against the Empire and we joined them."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, we saw these three flee from the Imperial Army when they seized their home," Cadence said gesturing to Firion, Maria, and Guy.
"Oh... alright." He turned to the humans. "I trust you. And this one?"
"Ricard Highwind, a dragoon," the man answered. "I'm with them to rescue your princess, Flurry Heart. And I have a score to settle with your captor as well."
After cutting the chains that bound them, the ponies all gathered together, wishing our heroes luck.
One-by-one, Twilight teleported the Crystal Ponies to Mysidia, where she hoped would remain safe until the Cyclone is destroyed.
"Did you just...?" Ricard asked in disbelief.
"Yes, Ricard. I did. I'm not sure if the wyvern will make another trip, so I'll just teleport us out once we've done our business here."
The dragoon thought for a moment, feeling that Twilight may have been correct. After all, the winged creature had just been born a few moments ago. He agreed and they pressed on, running into several imperial soldiers on the way, along with stronger monsters including Bombs, vampire girls and Wood Golems.
When they reached the fourth level, the team rescued more Crystal Ponies and obtained Diamond Gloves and a Diamond Helmet. Going back down, they went straight and turned to find another set of stairs.
On the fifth level, the party came across more imprisoned Crystal Ponies and freed them. Before they could move to the next floor, they went to a treasure chest containing Diamond Armor, but an imperial general had also emerged from the chest. They immediately attacked the soldier with their abilities, but his endurance was greater than that of the average grunt. While Maria prepared a spell, the general charged her and knocked the young woman off her feet.
Firion rushed towards the enemy and struck him nine times with his blade, sending the general stumbling backwards. Cadence checked on Maria and healed her wounds with Cure IX.
Ricard and the general's weapons met as they clashed. Struggling to gain the foothold, the dragoon leaned forward, successfully pushing his adversary and kicked him in the jaw.
Seeing her chance, Maria cast Blizzard IX and froze the evil soldier, leaving her and her friends victorious.
*music changes*
With the general defeated, our heroes went back to the path leading them to the staris. Seeing that the floor leading to the stairs was rigged with electricity, Twilight cast an anti-electric spell on the group, allowing them to pass through and make their way up.
As they reached the center of the sixth floor, they found and freed more ponies from their imprisonment and freed the ponies shackled in the other rooms as well. Though they were badly scarred, and almost all their magic was spent, our heroes life force, endurance, and magical abilities increased. Twilight's magic had grown so powerful that her body began glowing once more. The other thing that glowed as well was the Ultima Tome itself. Reading it, Twilight absorbed all the knowledge of the ancient spell.
"Twilight?"
"I... I feel as if there's something inside of me... ready to explode..." she said, her eyes closed. Opening them with a look of determination, she knew exactly what to do with it. She and the others consumed several of their ethers replenishing their magic abilities.
Going back to the sixth floor, the group trekked clockwise around the section where they saved the ponies from earlier and obtained the Wind Flute. However, a great light also emerged from the treasure chest, taking the shape a large Green Dragon!
Cadence quickly cast Blink on the group, while Maria cast Protect and Twilight casting Shell. Firion cast Thunder X on the beast. After that, Ricard charged at the creature with his lance striking three times causing moderate damage. Spike clawed at the beast, causing little-to-no harm on the larger dragon, but braced himself once it attempted to strike. Thanks to the effects of Blink, however, Spike was unharmed.
Guy finished it with five blows from his axe, causing the dragon to roar in agony and vanish.
With no obstacles remaining, they finally reached the top floor. On the stairs in front of them lay a carpet fitting only for those of high status. They walked up and came face-to-face with the megalomaniac, all glaring at him.
*music fades out*
"So, you have revived the wyverns, recruited a dragoon and now... here you are," said the Emperor. "Normally, I wouldn't dare waste my time with insects. But for the four of you, I will gladly make an exception." He leaned forward, eyeing the Equestrians. "I must admit: I am impressed that even worms like you made it this far. And for what? The retrieval of this child?"
The small orb appeared on the Emperor's right; the Equestrians gasped.
"Flurry!" Twilight and Cadence said in unison.
"You let her go right now!" Fluttershy asserted, earning a glare from the wicked tyrant. "...Please?"
"An insect... command me...? Laughable. Simply laughable."
"You'll not have anything to laugh about when we're through with you!" Firion declared.
"I find it more laughable that these equines and their dragon believe they can win, thinking that their world would be safe once more."
"What?!"
"What do you mean?" Ricard asked, leering at his enemy.
"You heard me. Even in the unlikely event you succeed here, there will always be others. I have had a vision, you see. A vision of four 'Warriors of Light' and six colorful ponies banishing a race of dark shape-shifting creatures and slaying a knight from the future in order to save the world."
A horrible realization had struck the Equestrians. Somehow, Twilight and her friends' actions had brought unwanted attention on her home and put the lives of her fellow ponies and every Equestrian in danger.
"No... it can't be..." said the purple alicorn.
"It is," Mateus confirmed. "Thanks to you, Princess Twilight Sparkle, I have found new means for total domination: the invasion of other realms. Once victory is mine, Equestria will be the next for me to conquer and enslave. I have been waiting for the most unnatural event of your world to occur, and that day had finally come!"
"Then..." Princess Cadence gasped. "My little Flurry being brought here was no accident!"
"Correct, Your Highness. But you will not live long enough to hold her in your hooves again. And I believe our conversation ends here." Mateus tapped his scepter on the ground summoning his henchmen.
"So you took your time telling us everything, but you're not going to kill us yourself?" Twilight asked.
"To be honest, I'm glad we had our little talk, but you and the others are still insects unworthy of being crushed under my foot," the Emperor taunted. "Kill them."
The troops attacked as commanded. Though they were stronger than the last soldiers, the royal guards were no match for our heroes as Spike breathed a great blast of fire on them. The guards then turned their attention on Spike, but before they could attack, Ricard rushed in and struck one of them with his lance sending him to the ground. The other was taken care of, courtesy of Twilight's Blizzard X.
Upon defeating the guards, the group moved closer. The Emperor scoffed and tapped his scepter again, calling forth even more minions: four of them. Maria cast Fire X on the soldiers, leaving them greatly weakened. Cadence zapped them with Thunder X and sent them away.
*music fades out*
With the second group of soldiers gone, the Emperor stood up. "Very well... I suppose I have no choice but to do battle myself. Guards! Aid me!"
As the Emperor commanded, two of his guards along with a Wood Golem appeared in between our heroes and their adversary.
Twilight snorted. "Coward..."
Guy quickly charged the Wood Golem and hacked it to pieces with his axe. The two royal guards were at the mercy of Princess Cadence and Firion as they both used Fire X on them. As soon as the Wood Golem and soldiers were taken care of, the only enemy that stood in front of them was Emperor Mateus himself.
"This madness ends here and now!" Firion declared.
Mateus chuckled... "You're wrong, Firion. This is only the beginning!" he shouted, casting Thunder X on the party.
Spike attempted to charge the Emperor only to have the tyrant introduce his foot to his face, knocking him to the wall.
"SPIKE!" Twilight yelled, rushing over to her friend.
The Emperor chuckled. "Concerned for your little friend, I see," he said mockingly. "If you want to save him, bow to me."
"NEVER!!" she shrieked, casting Blizzard X on the vile human. She then quickly cast Cure X on the dragon.
"Ha! Impressive," said Mateus. "Indeed, your magic skills have improved. But now, you are finished!"
But before he could strike the purple alicorn, Firion intervened with a punch to the face. Mateus pushed him to the side with his scepter, as he moved in on Twilight.
The purple pony and dragon dodged the villain's next attack; Twilight fired a strong beam from her horn. Mateus crossed his arms, enduring the attack as much as he could until he was knocked off his feet. He got back up and smirked.
"Heh. That was nothing," said the evil Emperor as he grabbed an Elixir, consuming it and thus bringing him back to full strength. "Do you still believe victory is within your grasp?"
The ponies growled. Of course he came prepared, Twilight thought. But we're not backing down so easily!
"Fire VI!" Ricard said, the spell taking its effect as the Emperor is forced into a corner.
Once Cadence fired her magic unto Mateus, the tyrant was blown away and hit the walls of the throne room, making him cry in agony. However, he was not done yet.
"Flare!" he called. The magic spell almost incinerated the group, but they were still on the verge of defeat. Maria and Cadence's magic had nearly been spent, and their supply of ethers ran low.
"There's only one thing left," said Twilight, as she flared her horn and started chanting.
"How cute," the Emperor said sarcastically. "Still thinking you could defeat me. A fighter to the end."
Twilight opened her eyes, directing her anger onto Mateus and cried, "Ultima!"
Mateus' eyes lit up in fear. "What did you say?"
He received his answer in the form of a single ray of light descending from the heavens accompanied by several orb-shaped lights, followed by a series of explosions damaging the evil despot and sending him to the ground.
*music fades out*
Panting, coughing up blood... Mateus looked up at his enemies with hatred in his eyes.
"N-No..." he said in denial. "Me... defeated by.. by these... VERMIN?!"
"You've lost... Your Majesty," Twilight sneered.
"No!" the Emperor cried. "I will... NOT... DIE!" It was no use. No matter how much he screamed or attempted to deny it, the one thing all living creatures fear the most, death, had come to claim the Emperor's life. Once his screaming stopped, he collapsed onto the floor and vanished.
"My... goodness..." said Fluttershy.
Just then Cadence walked over to Flurry and used her magic to destroy the sphere she was in.
"Let's get back to Fynn!"
They all nodded. Twilight closed her eyes and flared her horn, teleporting herself, her comrades, and little Flurry away from the collapsing fortress. Our heroes have successfully escaped. Little did they know, that their adventure would not end just yet.
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Forget whether this was the part that had the Emperor's infamous death scream or not. Overall It's quite the revelation that he's ahead of the game hinting to more of an overarching plot. Its a shame that Twilight won't be able to take Ultima or those other spells with her, which would make future adventures way too easy.
Aw, Blood Sword gone?
And looks like Minwu's death was not in vain!
10899002
You're right about that. And the death cry will come later.
10899031
Not to worry. How are you enjoying the story?
10899039
Pretty good.
10900642
That's good to hear. Just about three more chapters left.
10900649
Three more, hmm? Well of course one of them will be Castle Palamecia where they go after Leon and the Emperor returns from hell, and either the last or second last will be Jade Passage and Pandaemonium where they destroy the Emperor once and for all. I guess I'll wait and see which the third chapter is and whether it goes between the other two or at the end as the big conclusion.