Princess Lucina wakes up in a strange land, uncertain of why she arrived here, only knowing she didn't say goodbye. Armed with her sword and the Fire Emblem, she's ready to take on this new world. Or is this new world prepared to take on her?
The last thing she knew was the Fire Emblem in her clutches, the island on fire, her father screaming, "RUN!", being pushed into the Outrealm Gate.
And then she woke up in a quiet field.
With only her prized birthright, the Parallel Falchion, and her home halidom's prized possession, the Fire Emblem and the Five Gemstones, Princess Lucina must find a way back home. But the path home is not as easy as it sounds, with an evil that threatens both Equestria and the halidom of Ylisseand with a whole herd of ponies trying to be friends with her.
It is not necessary to have played the game, for all shall be explained later.
Lucina gasped and quickly turned mid-slash. The creature behind her had stopped in its tracks. Scales covered its entire body, tall and buff. It wore the outfit akin to a bow knight's uniform from her world.
"I didn't just kill my husband, did I?" she asked Twilight Sparkle from behind her.
"No, I don't think so," Twilight replied, blasting another round of magic towards the monsters. "Only your father is here so far."
Lucina turned to look at Twilight. She was panting, her horn turning a bright red. She was overusing her magic, and it was too soon, the others weren't here. Surrounding the two were at least dozens of the Turned. They were fighting in a large room with a high ceiling, blazing braziers in the corners of the room, pillars inscribed with prophecies and the fates of other worlds.
She was getting tired. A Turned nearly grabbed the Fire Emblem, but Lucina kicked and killed, however, three more took its place. Lucina yelled and swung in a wide arc, power crackling through her Falchion.
"Where is everyone else?" Lucina asked, sweat on her forehead as she swung again.
"I don't know," Twilight replied, firing more magic. She yelped as her horn began to glow even more.
"Enough," Lucina said. "Stop using your magic and use the tomes I gave you!"
"I told you, they don't work!" Twilight yelled, kicking away several Turned. "Every time I try to use them, they just turn to ash. I think this is the end."
"No!" Lucina yelled, the power of the Fire Emblem surging through her blood. "I did not come back from the future just to watch my family die! So I'm not just going to leave this world without helping you and your friends!"
Twilight smiled. "Thank you, Lucina," she said.
"How heartwarming."
Lucina and Twilight gasped, freezing in their spots. The Turned stopped as well. Lucina could see similar features of her father's tactician on one of them...
"Robin!" Lucina gasped.
"Aw, how sweet. You think you can save her."
The voice was coming from the throne at the end of the room. Tall, black, and with white leather cushioning, lay suddenly Lady Nightmare. Dressed in a white cloak that hid her face, Lucina could see black leather pants and boots, and a glowing black mark in the shape of a heart.
"This ends today, Nightmare!" Lucina yelled.
"Just like how the people in the halidom of Ylisse will remember your father's strength, everything he stood for, everything he fought for." She laughed menacingly. "I expected more from a descendant of the Hero-King Marth."
"What did you do to my father, you monster?!" Lucina demanded, her grip on her sword strengthening.
Twilight turned her head. "Chrom was here just a minute ago," she said in disbelief.
"See for yourself," Nightmare cackled. She flicked her wrist and Lucina's father came hurling from the wall.
"Father!" Lucina yelled, rushing towards her father to catch him.
"Family is a weakness, princess," Nightmare said. She grinned from under her hood. "It is the very thing that will guarantee sorrow!"
Without warning, Nightmare thrust out her palm and a charged shot of black magic zoomed towards Lucina.
"Time to even the odds!"
An equally powerful lightning spell collided with Nightmare's and sent a powerful blast of magic around the room, making the Turned fall down. "Father!" Lucina caught her father's seemingly limp body in midair. The Mark of the Exalt on his right shoulder was covered in burnt skin. He was barely breathing. The Falchion wasn't in its scabbard.
"Father," Lucina whispered, laying him on the floor. "Wake up, father."
He remained unmoving.
"Wake up!" Lucina yelled, the tears in her eyes blurring her vision. "I can't lose you again! You have to stay strong!"
"Lucina."
The princess turned her head and saw Morgan, the son of Robin, crouching beside her. He smiled, his Thoron tome in one hand and a glowing blue elixir in the other. "Chrom is the strongest man in Ylisse. He'll make it."
Lucina took the elixir from Morgan's hand and let a third of it spill into Chrom's mouth.
"Hyah!"
She looked up and watched as Twilight faced Nightmare head on. Twilight was losing badly. Her horn was sizzling from overusing her magic. A broken Bolgannone tome was near her hooves.
"Twilight, what are you doing?" Lucina yelled.
"Buying you more time!" Twilight replied, trying to headbutt Nightmare, who merely dodged swiftly.
"You three should know better than anyone that time will wait for no one!" Nightmare yelled. She raised her hand. "Descendant of the Fell Dragon, Grima! Hear my command!"
Morgan suddenly inhaled sharply. Lucina could hear his hands crackling with lightning, preparing to cast Thoron.
"Morgan?" Lucina asked softly, looking at him. She could see his eyes were reddening, he was grunting as his hand shook.
"Kill Princess Twilight!" Nightmare commanded, teleporting out of the way.
"What?!" Twilight asked, leaping back.
Morgan rose to his feet. Thoron began charging through his fingertips. Twilight stood her ground. "Morgan, I know you won't kill me," she said. "Put the tome down."
Thoron glew dangerously bright.
Lucina watched her father's body begin to move again and then to her comrades.
"I'm taking a page out of your book, father," Lucina whispered. "I'm so sorry."
Morgan unleashed Thoron, Twilight got ready to counteract his magic and Lucina stood in between Morgan and Twilight, arms spread out and her Parallel Falchion in hand.
"LUCINA!" Chrom and Twilight screamed.
Lucina's eyes had widened. The bolt of lightning had been lodged under her heart.
Her knees buckled. She tried using her sword to help keep herself standing.
"Lucina, no!" Morgan cried, tears rapidly traveling down his face. He stared at his hand in horror.
"I guess we're...more like our parents...than we thought," Lucina said, the light fading from her eyes. The Mark of the Exalt in her left eye shone from her tears as her breathing began to slow. "Please...protect my father...Cynthia...my mother...Inigo...promise me... "
"Now, according to the map Princess Celestia gave us, the hidden portal should be somewhere around here," Twilight said as her friends followed behind her.
"It should be," said Applejack, carrying several excavation tools in her saddlebags. "'A field of green and white/ Mountains surrounding the acres/ Opens a portal of realms/ At the twilight of morning.' How can this not be the place?"
Rainbow's confusion was valid. The Mane Eight were standing in a field of grass and white daisies near several large mountains and the forest that they had arrived from. They stood at the center of it, expecting to find a portal nearby at dawn.
"Are you sleeping again, Spike?" Starlight asked, hearing a slight snore. She turned her head and saw Spike clinging to her neck, fast asleep. She rolled her eyes. "Why does this portal only open at twilight? I'm so tired from yesterday's spell practice. Not mention helping you with 'bizarre creature' reports, which are the Changelings. Why hasn't anypony in Equestria even heard about their transformation?"
"We can worry about that another day, darling," Rarity said, staring at the gorgeous daisies. "Right now, we must find this portal."
"Why on Equestria are we doin' this again?" Rainbow Dash yawned. "I need a reminder or I'm gonna start eating these daisies and then fall asleep."
"Princess Celestia sent me a letter, remember?" Twilight stared at the creeping sun on the horizon and the stars. "She said there was a portal somewhere in this area, and we needed to find it and secure it in case beings from that world could cross into ours."
"Let's look for it so we can go back home and have a nice nap," Rainbow said, dropping her saddlebags.
"Ah don't know about you, Rainbow," Applejack said, grabbing a shovel, "but ah feel wide awake!"
"Of course that's how you feel!" Rainbow said. "You're always awake at this hour of the day."
Princess Lucina felt a draft of wind flow into her tent. She pulled the sheets on her bed tighter.
"Lucina!" she heard her father call out from outside the tent. "We've found another Outrealm. We're leaving in an hour. Ask Cynthia if she would like to join us."
"Alright, father!" Lucina said. She turned to look at the bed to her right. Her sister, Cynthia, lay fast asleep. Her blue hair, usually in pigtails, was curled almost like her mother's. There were several blankets on her, which Lucina concluded was why she was so cold.
She reluctantly got out of bed and changed into her armor: Blue sabatons and greaves, blue and gold pauldrons, blue vambraces on both arms, a blue-and-gold chest plate, and blue gauntlets. Underneath her chest plate was a short blue dress with gold linings going down from her breasts. She attached her blue cape to her armor and grabbed her butterfly shield.
By the time Lucina grabbed her sword, the Parallel Falchion, Cynthia yawned.
"Lucy, what time is it?" she asked, stretching her arms.
"Not too late, I suppose," Lucina replied, sheathing her sword. "Father says there's a new Outrealm. If we hurry, we can grab some breakfast and follow him."
"You go on ahead, sis," Cynthia said. "It's too cold for me today."
Lucina smirked at her sister. "Are you sure?" she asked. "The people of another world are crying for the heroism of the great Cynthia to save them."
"You're right!" Cynthia gasped, suddenly leaping out of her bed. "I'll be ready in just a minute! You go and have breakfast!"
Lucina smiled and left the tent. Looking around, she could see several soldiers were ready to march. Frederick, loyal knight and protector of the exalt, Lucina's father, and Princess Lissa, Lucina's aunt, was busy putting out fires, though he looked reluctant. He wore a full suit of light blue and white armor, heavy and large. At times, she was surprised she could still see his face.
"Mother, watch out for!" Lucina turned her head right and saw Nowi had just crashed into Lady Tiki. Nah, Nowi's daughter, winced at the sight.
All three woman were manaketes, dragons who tamed their unbelievable power with dragonstones, giving them the ability to turn into a human. Nowi had yellow and green hair, while Tiki had a somewhat darker shade of green. Nah had inherited her father's hair color, a nice auburn color. However, she didn't inherit her parents' messy hair; her hair was straight and tied into two elegant braids.
Nowi had been carrying a box of healing potions, concoctions, all which now lay broken in the soil.
"Oh, gods!" Nowi exclaimed. "We just bought all these concoctions!"
Tiki sighed. "I apologize," she said. "I must have been falling asleep while I was walking. I can sell my dragonstones to help you cover the costs for some new ones."
"What were you doing falling asleep, Lady Tiki?" Lucina asked, walking over.
"Oh, I'm a few millennia old," Tiki replied. "It happens occasionally."
"Where are you off to, Lucina?" Nah asked.
"I'm heading to the mess tent," Lucina replied. "I'll have breakfast and then I'm going with Father to another Outrealm."
"Always productive, that girl," Lucina heard Nah say as she walked away.
"I think she likes staying close to her father," Tiki said. "That poor girl has gone through so much."
"Hey, Twilight?" Rainbow asked. "I think I found it."
Laying beside Rainbow's hooves was a pond with a diameter of about five meters, the water sparkling like a million diamonds in the sunlight. There was a strange aura surrounding the air around it, a bright blue one that was ready to drop into the pond.
"How were we supposed to miss this?" Starlight asked as everypony gathered around it.
"That's because it wasn't there," Rainbow said, taking a closer look.
"It wasn't there?" Applejack asked in disbelief.
"No," Rainbow replied, rolling her eyes. "One minute, I was staring at the sky and I looked down, there was nothing. Then, I turn around for a second and it was just there."
"I guess we won't be needing those tools," commented Fluttershy.
"But how does it work?" Rarity asked. "It looks divine to take a dip in, yet I don't feel like it's safe."
"I think we should avoid using it," Twilight said, taking out a clipboard. "We don't know where this portal leads to and we don't know what it's doing out here. We're here to secure the portal so no pony can find it and travel to another world."
"How are we going to do that? By building something? We don't have anything to build with," Rainbow pointed out.
Twilight tapped her chin. "You're right," she said. "Let's head back to Ponyville. We can get building materials and figure out what to build."
"But the scenery is just absolutely beautiful!" Rarity moaned. "I can't leave it just yet!"
"I'll stay with you while everypony else goes back to Ponyville if you'd like," volunteered Starlight.
"Wonderful!" Rarity exclaimed. "It'll be us two, you and I, enjoying the rising sun of today!"
"Oh-kay," Twilight said. "Stay here and don't go anywhere else. We'll be back soon."
"Father!" Lucina exclaimed happily.
Chrom, exalt of the halidom of Ylisse, turned at the sound of his daughter's voice. He wore his regular outfit, consisting of a blue vest with only the left sleeve and a tall collar, an elegant silver pauldron on his left shoulder, blue shorts, a bizarre mix of a gray pant sleeve on his left leg and a blue sleeve on his right, gray sabatons and a cape that was white on the exterior, but blue on the interior. He didn't wear anything to hide his right arm, instead opting to reveal his Mark of the Exalt on his shoulder.
"Lucina," Chrom said with a smile. He welcomely opened his arms out as his daughter ran into them.
It was moments like those that Lucina loved about returning to the past. Spending time with her father instead of having to spend time at his grave. Enjoying a ride on her mother's pegasus instead of listening to the sobs of Cynthia. Fighting with her whole family instead of fighting with just her sister.
"Did you have breakfast?" Chrom asked, holding Lucina's shoulders at arm's length.
"Yes, Father," Lucina replied. "Did you?"
Chrom bit his lip. Lucina sighed in exasperation. "You mustn't lose you precious meal of the day," she said. "The army needs you in top shape, and you won't be in top shape without a good breakfast."
"I know," Chrom said. He jokingly smiled. "I just like hearing you worry about me."
Lucina blinked and managed a dry laugh. "So you did eat," she said.
"Of course I did," Chrom said. "Now, Frederick has the list of soldiers who'll be coming with us to the Outrealm Gate. Can you get it for me and have everyone ready to march?"
"I'll be back in a moment," Lucina replied. She turned and sprinted back to camp.
"So, where do you think this portal leads to?" Starlight asked, staring at her reflection in the portal.
"Oh, I have no idea," Rarity replied. "Perhaps it's another portal to the other world Twilight visits occasionally."
Starlight had heard about the other world and had even seen the portal. To her, the portal emitted a sort of content feeling, like Starlight felt when she was with her friends. This portal...Starlight couldn't shake the feeling that this portal was different. It sent off a darker vibe, almost like it was never meant to be discovered. Or even created.
Lucina stared at the Outrealm Gate before her. It was like a door, only it was several times larger than a regular one, and instead of a doorway, there was a swirling blue vortex that led to the Outrealms, worlds beyond Ylisse. Large cobblestone pillars acted as the doorways of the portal. Lucina pressed her lips together. An Outrealm Gate almost like this one brought her back to save her father...
"Are we ready?" Chrom asked the soldiers who had come with him.
"Milord, if I may," Frederick said, stepping forward. "Something is amiss."
"Did you leave the kettle boiling?" Lissa teased him.
Lucina suddenly tensed. "No, Frederick's right," she said. "Ana's sister isn't here. And didn't the Old Hubba say we were to meet him here as usual?"
"They're not here," Frederick agreed. "I suggest we search the island for any signs off"
A scream came from the back of the group. Lucina looked and gasped in horror.
An army of the undead soldiers, the Risen, had appeared out of nowhere, each wielding an ancient and powerful weapon.
"Gods!" Chrom exclaimed. "Where did they come from?!"
"Chrom!" A hooded woman ran up to him. "Those Risen aren't the ones that we fight every day. They're incredibly skilled. We can try to fight back, but there's too many of them, and they're too strong. We can also find a way off the island but we'd be too slow given how big our party is"
Without warning, an explosion went off right in front of the Risen and the Shepherds, so strong and sudden, they all flew back. Lucina flew onto one of the pillars knocking her into the black.
"Lucina! Wake up Lucina!"
Lucina's eyes shot wide open. Cynthia stood above her, looking exhausted and injured. Her lance looked broken, her armor had seen better days, and there was something in her eyes Lucina hadn't seen since they discovered their parents had fallen.
Fear.
"Father," Lucina whispered.
"He's doing okay," Cynthia promised. "He's working with Robin to beat them, but we need to help him out."
"Don't put on a show," Lucina said sternly.
"They're the only two who haven't been captured besides you and I," Cynthia admitted.
"Captured?" Lucina asked. "The Risen don't capture."
"But she does." Cynthia pointed up to the sky, where a hooded figure was somehow standing on air. Below them, the island was on fire. Lightning struck the ocean, stirring it and causing waves to come crashing down. There were still many Risen, and in the center, Robin and Chrom were clearly overwhelmed.
The floating figure was healing the Risen with a staff and at the same time with their other hand keeping the defeated Shepherds in the sky, all knocked unconscious.
Just as Lucina was about to get up, the figure put away their staff and snapped their fingers. Cynthia's eyes rolled into her head and she was suddenly in the sky.
"NO!" Lucina yelled, unsheathing her Parallel Falchion.
"Lucina!" Chrom yelled, stabbing a Risen archer. "I need you to get out of here!"
"I won't leave you!" Lucina cried. "I refuse to let you die!"
The figure took out a tome and flipped it to the nearest page. "THORON!"
Chrom barely missed the huge bolt of lightning shot at him. "Lucina, I don't care what happens to me!" he yelled. "All I care about is that you're safe!"
"Father!" Lucina took a step forward.
The sky suddenly shone down a bright beam of light onto the Outrealm Gate, connecting it to an Outrealm.
"RUN!" Chrom screamed just as a blast of Thoron came crashing down from the sky.
Lucina barely had time to scream before another person with a white cloak suddenly appeared and pushed her into the portal. Lucina reached out her hand towards her father in vain.
Her last thoughts before waking up were: I'm sorry. I failed you. Again.
"I shouldn't be gone for more than a few days," a woman said as she straightened her black cloak. "I can't have her running around causing more chaos in other worlds."
A man stood next to her, decked in intricate black and gold armor, lacking a helmet that revealed his blond hair and intense red eyes. "I don't disagree with you," he said. "But the people"
"Must understand she is a threat that I alone have to deal with." She reached into her cloak and pulled out a magnificent broadsword, humming with a white aura and crafted out of what appeared to be diamonds. "I honestly thought she could only cross into a single universe at a time, once she was connected to ours."
"You won't stay long, I hope?" the man asked as a structure in front of them lit up with a blue light.
"Of course not," the woman said. She seemed to smile from under her hood. "Not when I have too many people back here."
The man smiled back. "Then please, get back as soon as possible," he asked of her.
"Always," the woman said.
"Who do you think that is?"
"I wouldn't know! I've never seen somepony like this before!"
"But...she doesn't have a muzzle. Or hooves. Or big ears."
"Hold on, Starlight. Are you suggesting she is what Twilight refers to as a human?"
Lucina groaned as she opened her eyes slowly. The sun was brighter than she was used to, and the dawning day never seemed so...peaceful.
She knew almost immediately that wherever she had arrived was not Ylisse.
"Looks like she's woken up." Lucina had to sit upright to get a better look at who was talking. But as she turned, she instinctively unsheathed her sword and was on her feet in seconds.
Two ponies stood in front of her. And they could talk.
"What in the name of Naga?" Lucina whispered under her breath.
"Whoa!" Starlight and Rarity took a step back as their fear began to spike. Rarity exchanged a glance with her friend and whispered, "I think Twilight never told us all humans had swords on them."
"Well, I guess we're learning that now," Starlight whispered back.
"What are you?" Lucina demanded, readying her sword to strike. "How are you able to speak? Where am I?!"
"Maybe if you put down that sword of yours, we can talk," the pony with indigo eyes said nervously.
Lucina looked at her sword intensely. Her only form of protection in case anything were to happen to her in a new world, a world she had never been in before, full of unknown threats waiting to strike her dead.
"Hey, is that yours?" The same pony pointed with her hoof to a golden shield that was snuggled into the ground next to Lucina.
"What the...?" Lucina sheathed her sword and reached for the Fire Emblem, the most sacred treasure in Ylisse. It still shimmered in the early light of day, but where the Five Gemstones were to be placed on it in order to overthrow the Fell Dragon Grima were empty.
She didn't know what to think. The Fire Emblem hadn't been anywhere near her since she left...to where? And why? The world she was in now certainly had no idea who she was or what the Parallel Falchion was. And why were the gemstones gone? There were too many questions that Lucina wanted the answer to, yet she wouldn't be able to gain any in this land.
"Are you alright, darling?" the pony with sapphire blue eyes asked, looking genuinely concerned.
Lucina bit her lip. "Why would it matter to you?" she snapped. "I'm not from...wherever I am. I need to get back to Ylisse." Her eyes widened as she remembered what had occurred before waking up.
That strange hooded figure...an army of Risen...her father...
"My father," Lucina whispered. She turned suddenly and saw the pond, glowing faintly with the same blue light that an Outrealm Gate would emit.
"This portal..." She crouched down, staring at it with an intense expression. The pond, she noted almost immediately didn't show her reflection. Instead, it looked just like the Outrealm Gate. "I couldn't have possibly come from this..."
Lucina tentatively lowered her right hand over the pond and lowered her fingers with caution.
The moment her fingers came into contact with the portal, an explosion blasted Lucina off her feet, causing her to fly several feet back into the forest behind her.
"Oh my goodness!" Rarity cried. "Starlight, we have to"
Starlight was already galloping towards the strange woman's crash landing. Regardless of whether she was a threat or not didn't matter; she needed help.
Meanwhile, Lucina tumbled away from the ponies when she had landed, slowly losing her momentum. She reached out and used her shield to stop her from losing track of the portal she had arrived from.
Lucina could hear galloping in the distance and tried to bring out her sword. Unfortunately, her scabbard had been unhooked from her belt from her landing. She tried to get up and gasped as she realized her leg was broken, causing her to fall back down.
"The Fire Emblem," she mumbled. It was no longer in her grasp, gone with her sword.
This had to be insane. A broken leg was stopping her from getting up, but nothing had held her back when Lucina needed to escape the future.
But trying to turn herself, Lucina knew more damage had been done to her than she had anticipated. Her right arm wasn't supposed to bend at an odd angle. And her ribs weren't supposed to be on fire.
"Damn," she mumbled, resting back onto the grass. Her mind pounded, thoughts on her father flooding her mind. He didn't stand a chance against an army with a powerful enemy, even if his master tactician was with him.
"I'll come back, father," she whispered. "I promise."
But the air was fresher than it ever was in Ylisse. The sunrise danced with gorgeous colors, calming Lucina's pounding heart.
"A little sleep won't hurt," Lucina mumbled as her eyelids relaxed.
