Chapters Chapter XIII: Rainbow's Hall
I walked forward and pushed open the lightning bolt-engraved door, Rainbow Dash trailing close behind me. As the passage opened, she looked into the cyan-walled room with concern.
"Y'know, this place might not be good for us if we need to fight." She noted with disdain. "I can barely fly in here!"
"That won't be a problem." I said egotistically, lightly pushing her aside and entering the room. I looked up and noticed that the ceiling was extremely high.
How high is that? Looks to be at least eighty feet.
"Hey Rainbow, just how much vertical space would you need to fight effectively?"
"Prob'ly around seventy-five feet. A little over two hundred for a Sonic Rainboom. Why?"
"Well, the ceiling in here is around eighty feet, so I don't think you'll be having much of a problem."
"Awesome!" She exclaimed, flying into the air and backflipping.
"On your toes!" I ordered, pulling out my Amp and charging my left hand with electricity. A large amorphous shadow burst forth from the ground, exploding and splitting into five pegasus-shaped shadow creatures. Each one of them looked different in some form, but they all had pure black eyes and were all wearing purple jumpsuits with lightning bolts printed on their sides and ankles.
The Shadowbolts...
"Well, we're fucked like a two-dollar whore." I stated matter-of-factly. One of the creatures, this one a light grey color with a dark blue mane, flew forward and tackled me into a wall. I quickly recovered and discharged three lightning bolts into his head. The Shadowbolt fell to the ground. I bashed him in the skull with my Amp a few times, then kicked him away into the air. I held him up in place with a chain of electricity.
"Rainbow Dash!" I yelled, snapping her out of a strange stupor. "Hurry up and take him out!"
"Gotcha!" She took off straight towards the ceiling. At the very top, she flipped into a nosedive, folded in her wings, and slammed the Shadowbolt into the ground. His body exploded in a flash of black smoke, but quickly reformed. The five of them stood in a triangular position. Their obvious leader, a yellow mare with an orange mane, stepped closer to Rainbow Dash. I noticed that she had bright yellow eyes unlike the rest. She felt familiar for some reason. Almost like I had seen her somewhere before.
"I see that you have skills," She observed in a tone practically designed to stroke Rainbow's ego, "but I wonder if those skills are the same without him involved." She snarled at the end of her sentence, pointing a hoof at me. I crouched down and began aiming a bolt at her neck.
The perfect place for instant incapacitation.
I smirked and moved to pull the metaphorical trigger. Another Shadowbolt flung herself into my side, knocking me out of my focus and making my bolt hit the ceiling above their leader. A few pebbles fell from the same spot.
Maybe, just maybe...
Rainbow Dash looked over at me for a second. I winked and motioned an eye at the ceiling, then blew the Shadowbolt off my chest with a Kinetic Blast. She took my hint and turned back to the captain.
"Oh yeah? And just how're you gonna test that?"
"Simple. The honor system. He stays out of this, and we duke it out in the air. Sound good to you?"
"Fine by me. How 'bout you?" She asked me.
"Go for it." I replied, going along with the plan.
"If everything's clear," The phantasmic mare assured, "then let's do this. You ready, hon?" I realized just what the Shadowbolts' captain was doing.
She's trying to lull her into a false sense of security with fake romance. Sick little bitch. I'm not going to let her trick my friend!
"Dash, don't listen to her!" I shouted. "She's trying to throw you off!"
"Quiet, you!" One of the Shadowbolts demanded, punching me in the face with a surprising amount of power. I retaliated by kicking him in the stomach, sending the stallion sprawling. Being the opportunist I am, I slid forward and kicked him into the air, then knocked him back down with a grenade from behind. Before the bastard could hit the ground or recover, I wrapped my legs around his neck while standing on my hands and slammed him into the marble floor headfirst. I could hear the sickening but satisfying crunch of his neck snapping like a twig. But of course, fate had other plans for me.
The stallion transformed into a swirl of black smoke and flew towards me, reforming just in time to buck me in the center of my throat. I flew back and smashed into the wall, gasping for air. At this point I was certain that I was about to die.
Killed by a pony. That's a pretty weird way to go, but it's a cool one.
As my vision started to darken, I could see a strange figure in the distance. It appeared to be a person carrying a massive sword.
Cloud Strife?
"You can't die here." He stated. "Your friends need you, just like mine needed me. Sephiroth cannot be allowed to go on any longer. Especially not in this world. You must defeat him. You are the only one who can."
Why me?
"Because, you are the only one of your friends who truly wields the spark that unites the Elements of Harmony. The Element of Magic herself may carry the spark inside her, but you wear it on your sleeve. You willingly threw yourself into unbelievable danger just to ensure the safety of your friends and the citizens of this world. There are very few others who would be willing to go to that length, but I will show you a few. Behold."
Cloud turned around. A beam of light shone down, revealing a vision of a boy in red clothing fighting a man in a black cloak with light pink hair. The boy flung a key-shaped sword at his opponent as he jumped downward, swinging a long pink and green scythe.
Even more lights appeared, each one showing a different vision.
A young man in black wielding two longswords, one black and one blue, fighting valiantly against a warrior in red and white with a sword and shield. The swordsman appeared to be fighting a losing battle, as his target was simply too fast. Even with this clearly known to him, he kept fighting.
A boy in green wielding a sword and shield, fighting against a strange, almost pig-like monster. The beast charged at him through a portal, and out of the blue, he transformed into a wolf. He moved out of the way and latched onto the monster's underside, biting furiously.
A somewhat young man in almost medieval clothing flying through a town with what appeared to be a pair of grappling hooks and two swords, chasing after a humanoid giant. As he flung himself into the air, another giant leapt up, biting off his leg. He slid across a multitude of rooftops, landing at the end battered and bleeding. The scene shifted to another boy, this one with blonde hair, being eaten by another one of the giants. Before he could slide down the creature's throat, the same person from before with his leg still missing pulled him out of its mouth, tossing him onto a rooftop while he held the beast's mouth open with one of his swords. He reached out towards the blonde-haired boy who attempted to grab his arm. The giant's maw snapped shut, sending the teen's arm flying away.
A woman in orange and red armor running through various corridors, blasting away alien-looking creatures with a gun attached to her arm. She jumped into another room. A large floating monster with three long fangs on its underside moved after her. She fired a blast of blue energy at the flying blob, freezing it in place. The armored woman finished her assault by blowing it to pieces with a missile.
One final light appeared, revealing Cloud himself in a struggle against Sephiroth, their swords clashing with great power. A fire shone in Cloud's eyes. I had seen the same fire in the other warriors' eyes.
"Do you know who these people are?" Cloud asked me.
Sora, the Keybearer...
Kirito, The Black Swordsman...
Link, the Hero of Time...
Eren Jaeger, the Rogue Titan...
Samus Aran, defender of the galaxy...
"And Cloud Strife, the bane of Sephiroth's existence." I rose to my feet, newfound power filling my body. "I see it now! I could see a fire burning in all of their eyes as they fought. You were no different. What I saw was the flame of heroism and loyalty. Even though these people knew that there was almost no chance of them winning the battles they fought, they still did it for the good of their friends and just their fellow man. I'll tell you right now. I admire the people who carried that fire before me.
And I aspire to see it in my own eyes when I finally destroy Sephiroth!"
"Good. Just remember, you carry the spark, but even the largest of sparks must have kindling to start a fire. Your friends are your kindling. Keep that in mind."
Everything returned to me in a rush of color. I awoke to see Rainbow Dash zipping through the air, fighting off the Shadowbolts by herself. I thought she was winning, but that was before the explosion. Rainbow Dash slammed into the ground beside me, bleeding profusely. I touched my arm to her side. With a few electric pulses, her wounds healed.
"They weaponized the Buccaneer Blaze! These 'Shadowbolts' are slandering the Wonderbolts!"
"No time for that. I have an idea." I leaned down and began whispering to her. She listened to my information and took off, flying around the room in a perfect circle. I charged my entire body with electricity. A space formed between my feet and the ground.
Electric skates. Swag!
I ran in a circle behind her, creating a small gust of wind. The wind increased in speed and rotation until it was getting hard for me to control myself. I started discharging large amounts of electricity from my body, increasing my speed and creating an electric tornado. The blue lightning mixed with the contrail in front of me and created what was apparently rainbow-colored lightning in the form of a tornado. I burst forward one last time and grasped onto Rainbow's hindlegs.
"Now!" I shouted over the wind and thunder.
"Got it!"
She moved into the tornado's center and began spinning in place. Large streams of electricity attached to my body from the wall of lightning around us. She lifted up higher and tilted sideways, making it so that I was practically running on an invisible wall. As she tilted completely vertically, I let go and flung myself straight at the ceiling. A massive trail of rainbow lightning followed behind me. I cocked my arm back just before I reached the ceiling and punched it with all my strength, creating a borderline nuclear explosion. The five Shadowbolts were pulled into our tornado. I dropped back down and stomped the ground, causing the tornado to explode and send the Shadowbolts straight upward. The were caught in a beam of pure sunlight. It seemed to hold them in place. Slowly, the black drained from their jumpsuits and their eyes, revealing five normal pegasi in blue suits. They fell to the marble floors with a powerful thud .
"Wait a minute." I noted, stepping closer to the nearly unconscious ponies. "The Shadowbolts were actually the Wonderbolts." Now I recognized their leader. Her voice was familiar too.
"Spitfire?" Rainbow Dash inquired curiously.
"Yeah, it's me." She replied groggily, standing up and dusting herself off. She looked up at me and immediately began shaking in fear.
"I'm sorry!" She pleaded, bowing at my feet. "Sephiroth kidnapped us and turned us into those... things you just fought! We had nothing to do with it, I swear! Just please don't kill us! I'll do anything!"
"Anything ?" I asked sarcastically. Her cheeks lit up like a grenade had gone off inside her head.
"Oh, I didn't think you'd say that." She whispered to herself. "Well, I did say 'anything'. Can you guys, kinda, like, leave or something?" She motioned to Rainbow Dash and the other Wonderbolts. They all took the hint and turned around, finding that the door was locked. Instead of leaving they simply stood there, staring at the wall with their ears covered. Spitfire looked back at me meekly.
"Can I just say that this is going to be really awkward?" She noted, her cheeks still practically flaming.
"Do you really think I was being serious? I'm not going to kill you, and I'm sure as hell not going to have sex with you. No offense."
"Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou!" She cheered, jumping up and practically crushing my windpipe with her forelegs in what seemed to be some kind of sadistic hug.
"On two conditions." I croaked.
"What?"
"First, get the fuck off me!"
"Sorry." She floated back down and looked up at me. "What else?"
"You and your Wonderbolts help us when we need it."
"Of course. What do you need us to do?"
"Nothing yet, but I'll call in the favor when I need it. Now go on, get out of here."
"Okay. I'll see you later. Wonderbolts, move out!" She took off out of the hole in the ceiling with the other Wonderbolts.
"So, you didn't... do anything just now?" Rainbow asked, walking back over to me.
"Of course I did. She said that she would do anything , so I decided to take advantage of the offer!"
"You sick-"
"I was joking! No, I didn't. I just had her owe me a favor."
"Don't joke about things like that! You almost got yourself killed!"
"Whatever." I found a pair of gems sitting on the ground next to an orb of blue energy. I smashed the orb against my sword, then placed the rainbow colored gem inside the door. Before we left, I looked down at the cyan pegasus beside me.
"You can go ahead. I really have to pee. Like, bad ."
Chapter XXI: Applejack's Hall, Part I
Applejack and I stared at the apple-emblazoned door ahead of us. I looked behind me to the seven braziers. Only four of the flames burned, one black, one yellow, one white, and the last cyan.
"Dont'cha think ya should take a break?" Applejack asked me with concern. "Ah mean, ya just almost died three times. Shouldn't ya just rest for a minute?"
"You've got a good point, AJ," I replied, breathing heavily from exhaustion, "but I'm... I'm fine."
"Bullshit!" Benson interrupted. "You're barely standing up! You need to rest!"
"Look man, I see what you mean, but the longer we sit here and slack off, the longer Sephiroth has to gather his strength and destroy Equestria. I can't stop just yet." In reality, I was hiding the true reason behind my insistence on continuing.
Don't worry, Cloud. I'm not stopping until Sephiroth is dead.
"Even the greatest of heroes must have some form of strength to defeat their enemies. I would not hold it against you to rest for a while. You have been though much today."
Actually, it's been two days.
"Wait, you have been doing all this, and you haven't slept or stopped moving in two days?"
Yeah. But I just can't stop. Sephiroth needs to see just what he's up against, and a sleeping black dude isn't very intimidating.
"Intimidation is not everything, but you will be much more so if you can use your powers to their full potential, and perhaps past that, if you have enough faith."
Fine. I'll rest for twenty minutes, then I'm gonna kick Sephiroth's ass!
"Alright. We rest for twenty minutes." I proclaimed.
"There's only one of us who truly needs to rest." Benson told me. "You've been through hell in these past couple days. Here." He pulled a Pokeball from his belt, tossing it out in front of him. "Umbreon, use Moonlight on Arrick!"
A wonderful feeling flooded over my body. After a few seconds, I fell to the ground and passed out, realizing just how tired I was. My entire self hurt. Not just my body, but my mind and soul. My thoughts drifted to other subjects.
I wonder what Vinyl is doing...
Six Hours Later
"Arrick! Arrick!" I could hear someone calling my name, trying to wake me up. I was barely even conscious at the moment.
"Five more minutes, mom..." I groaned, laying back down on the hard stone floor. It wasn't exactly comfortable, but I was tired as all hell, and I would take a bed of spikes if it meant I could sleep.
"Senpai, use Psychic!"
An unseen force lifted me into the air. I felt somebody slap me. Hard.
"What the fuck!" I exclaimed, opening my eyes and realizing that I was upside-down.
"Twenty minutes, huh?" Benson remarked. "I knew you were a wreck after all that. You may be a big damn hero on the outside, but on the inside, you're still the same as us. You need to stop every once in a while."
"What time is it?"
"About five-thirty in the morning." He said, looking at his watch.
"Five-thirty!? How long was I asleep!?"
"First of all, by 'asleep', do you mean 'comatose'? Second, about six hours."
"Six hours!? Let me go!"
His Alakazam dropped me to the floor. I wasted no time in dashing off towards the apple-marked door and picking up Applejack on my way.
"What the hay are ya doin'? Let go a' me!"
"No time! We need to get out of here and in there!"
"Wait!" Benson yelled to me. I stopped and looked back at him.
"What?"
"Wait for me!" He ran after us, calling his Alakazam back into its Pokeball.
"Why do you want to come?"
"I was wondering what these halls look like. They've gotta be pretty big to hold in the shit I've heard coming from inside them. Especially back in Rainbow Dash's hall. Did you guys make a tornado or something in there?"
"Actually, yes we did."
"Oh. Whatever. Let's do this!"
Applejack's Hall, Part II
Chapter XXII: Applejack's Hall, Part II
I pushed open the door. This hall was a lot smaller than the others for some reason.
"Dude, what's with the giant Pokeball on the floor?" I asked Benson in confusion.
"It looks kinda like a Pokemon Arena. All the coincidences, bro!"
Another phantom Sephiroth materialized in front of us.
"Sephiroth!" I called out, preparing my Blades of Exile to attack.
"I do not wish to harm you. Although, I cannot say the same for my friends..."
He rose his sword up into the air. A cloud of smoke flew from each of our bodies, coalescing into what appeared to be two Pokemon trainers with flat black skin and clothes.
"What the hell just happened?" I thought out loud.
"Sephiroth just challenged me." Benson pulled a Pokeball from his belt.
"Wait! You're good, but I don't think you can take on both of them yourself."
"Who's gonna help me, then?"
I know a little bit about Pokemon. I will."
"Alright." He took a box of Pokeballs and a chart from his bag and handed them to me.
"What's the chart for?"
"One side shows what Pokemon is in what ball, and the other shows what moves they can use."
I looked over the chart long enough to memorize it.
"Okay, Sephiroth, we accept your challenge!"
Both of the trainers threw their Pokeballs without saying a word, putting us up against a Pansage and a Houndoom. I retaliated with an Absol, and Benson with his Chandelure.
"Moodnuoh, Gnaf Erif!" The trainers didn't even speak English. It just sounded like a jumble of random noises. His Houndoom moved in and attacked with Fire Fang. My Absol dodged it with no instruction.
"Absol, counter with Ice Beam!" A blast of light blue energy knocked the demonic canine into the wall.
"Egasnap, Tellub Dees!" The Pansage jumped into the air and unleashed a powerful Bullet Seed on Benson's Chandelure, who returned the favor with Flamethrower.
"Absol, use Ice Fang!" My Absol charged forward and chomped down on the Houndoom's neck, obviously not intending to let go.
"Chandelure, Will-o-Wisp!"
We kept ordering our Pokemon, one move after the other, not even giving our opponents a chance to attack.
"Let's end this with style!" Benson told me. "Chandelure, use Flame Wheel!"
"Absol, propel Chandelure with Hyper Beam!"
Benson's Chandelure flew ahead with devastating speed, being energized by Absol's attack. The floating chandelier started bouncing between Pansage and Houndoom, hammering them with unprecedented power. The two opposing Pokemon slammed into the walls, clearly incapacitated. Both of the shadow trainers called their Pokemon back. We did the same.
"Let's wait to see what Pokemon they choose, then make our decisions." Benson instructed me.
The trainers released a Mega Lucario and a Torterra. I chose to use my Combusken and Benson decided on his Aegislash.
"Benson, are you sure that you can take on a Mega Pokemon by yourself?"
"Hell yeah, especially Fluffball over here!" He joked, pointing a thumb at his opponent derisively.
"Oiracul, Maeb Arua!" The first trainer's Lucario unleashed a savage Aura Beam, obliterating Benson's Aegislash with one blow.
"What. The. Fuck?"
"I got this, bro! Don't worry!"
"Arretrot, Fael Rozarrazo, neht Maebralos!" The Torterra tried to pull out all the stops with a combination of Razor Leaf and Solarbeam, but my Combusken easily avoided the onslaught and countered with Sky Uppercut, sending the walking island into the ceiling.
"I just figured something out!" I called to Benson.
"What?"
"These trainers are speaking backwards!"
"So?"
"I have an idea, but it's really risky."
"Arretrot, Fael Rozar!" My target righted itself and attempted to use Razor Leaf once more.
"Torterra, Razor Leaf!" I yelled at the super-turtle. Its wickedly sharp leaves whipped around in midair and struck it in the face, sending the beast sprawling.
"Oiracul, Maeb Arua!"
"Lucario, Aura Beam!" The Aura Pokemon's ball of energy exploded before leaving its paws.
The four of us recalled our Pokemon. The shadow trainers met us with a Raichu and a Metagross. Benson and I decided on a Klinklang and a Luxray.
"Electric vs. Electric and Steel vs. Steel?" I inquired. "Looks like we're both feelin' a little ballsy."
"If this is ballsy, then I've got my balls to the wall!"
"I did not need to know that."
"Whatever."
"Ssorgatem, Hcnup Roetem!" The Metagross lunged forward and attacked with Meteor Punch, which Benson's Klinklang just barely dodged and returned with Gyro Spin.
"Uhciar, Liat Nori!"
"Raichu, Iron Tail!" The orange mouse's tail flew in an upward curve, bashing its skull in with one hit. My Luxray ended the poor thing's suffering with a Quick Attack.
"Ssorgatem, Dnuop!" The Metagross charged forward and began to use Pound before Benson stopped it in its tracks.
"Metagross, Pound." Benson said calmly. A tremor erupted from the ground, sending the pile of green steel into oblivion.
"Eb siht dluoc woh?" Both of the trainers shouted in unison as their bodies transformed into wisps of smoke. The two streams poured into Benson's chest. He floated into the air, an immense black and silver demon appearing behind him. A small symbol of a black and red heart was formed into a pendant that now held together his simple cream white undershirt and navy blue jacket, with a completely bald head. His eyes were now deep orange, but they glowed with an unnerving purple light.
He looks just like...
"Ansem."
Who was that?
"Me, Sora."
I thought the voice in my head was Cloud!
"All of us share the part of your mind that Cloud controlled."
What do you mean, 'all of us'? And how are you controlling part of my mind?
"The people you saw in your dream. Me, Cloud, Kirito, Link, Eren, and Samus. They can all hear what you think. Luckily, they can't hear what I tell you. Between you and me, Eren and Samus are total downers. Kirito's all right most of the time, and Link never says anything other than "Hyaa!", so nobody ever knows what he's thinking. The only exception is the times when Midna comes and speaks for him."
I thought Midna locked herself in the Twilight Realm.
"The Twilight Realm and the Dreamplane are intersecting universes, silly."
Hey Midna, can you, like, put Sora back on?
"Fine. You're such a bore!"
Just put him on and I'll talk to you later.
"As I was saying, it looks like he's been possessed by something. Some kind of evil spirit."
He looks kinda like Ansem.
"I noticed that. Maybe the thing that took control of him has some relation to Ansem?"
That wouldn't make sense. Heartless can't have relatives, even though Ansem is some kind of fusion of an Emblem and a Pureblood Heartless. There's only one person who could truly explain this. The person who was there when the very first Heartless was created, or at least the only one that we could speak to.
"I don't follow your logic."
Nevermind. Is there anything you can tell me that'll help me take this asshole down and get him out of my friend?
"Yeah. Make sure that you don't let the bolts from his Guardian hit you. They'll make all of your attacks backfire and harm yourself instead of him."
Thanks, Sora.
"No problem. Now, get out there and save your friend!"
"Lemme in there! Ah need t' get in there 'n help y'all!" I could hear Applejack shouting at me through a field of magic similar to the one from Fluttershy's hall. I drew my blades and began slashing at the wall with every last bit of my strength. Nothing. I tossed out one of the Pokeballs Benson had given me.
"Absol, use Hyper Beam!" The wall began to crack.
"Absol, return!" I chose a different Pokemon this time around.
"Skarmory, use Brave Bird!" The wall was on the verge of shattering, but the Benson/Ansem fusion was closing in on me.
"Luxray, Volt Tackle!" The last attack broke through. Bensem lunged forward and clutched his hand around my neck, holding me up in the air.
"L-L-Let m-me... go!" My vision was turning spotty. I could no longer breathe, and I finally began losing control of my body. I was slowly dying while Bensem just smirked at me.
"I thought you were stronger than that, hero." His voice wasn't even Ansem's, but it held no trace of my friend. It still sounded familiar, though.
"L-Let... go!" I fired a bolt at his arm and caught him off guard. He dropped me, falling onto his back. I kneeled over Bensem, holding his arms to the ground.
"Dammit, man! Snap out of this! I know you're still in there, Benson! This is your body, not his! Don't be like Terra! Take control of it for once! Don't let him take you over! I CAN'T LOSE MY FRIEND YET!" I was practically crying now, trying to wake some dormant shred of Benson inside of this aberration.
"... Arrick?" His right eye flashed, turning to the dark brown that I was familiar with.
"Benson! Ansem, or whatever this thing is, he's trying to take over your body! Don't let it happen! Fight it! Do whatever it takes!"
"Right!" His eyes changed back to Ansem's cold, unforgiving gaze. He flung me into the sky with a blast of dark energy. A long cloud of black mist appeared in his hands, transforming into what looked like a deviously jagged grey key. The weapon simply radiated with darkness.
He hasn't been possessed by Ansem...
"Then who is it?"
Sora, a long time ago, do you remember a guy with beige and black clothes coming to the Destiny Islands and performing a ceremony on Riku?
"Yeah. Why?"
His name was Terra. He and his two friends, Ventus and Aqua, fought against a man who they called Master Xehanort to keep him from controlling Kingdom Hearts with the X-Blade, which was kind of like the basis for the Keyblade. It was the only way to truly control Kingdom Hearts. Ansem, Seeker of Darkness was Xehanort's Heartless, and Xemnas was his Nobody, but that was a different Xehanort. This is the original Master Xehanort. He had taken over Terra's body to use as his own, but he was defeated eventually. Benson has been possessed by Master Xehanort's essence. Nothing we can do will help him. He's on his own.
"What's goin' on here?" Applejack asked me.
"Benson's been possessed by someone extremely powerful who could quite easily destroy his body at a moment's notice, but he needs one, so he can't do it just yet. As long as Benson doesn't give in to the darkness, he'll be fine."
"Then why are ya just standin' there? Help 'im! He's yer friend!"
"I can't. There is nothing we can do to help him now. None of us have it..."
"Have what?"
"You see the weapon in his hand? It's called a Keyblade. The only way that we could help him is if one of us was able to wield the Keyblade. Then, the wielder could unlock his heart and free Xehanort's essence from his body. But Bensanort's Keyblade is not a true Keyblade. It is created from pure darkness, with not even a shred of the Keyblade's innate light within it."
"Can ya say that in Equish, please?"
"We can't do anything because neither one of us can wield the Keyblade. But, maybe... Applejack, I need you to distract him for just a few moments. I have a plan, but it's really dangerous and only based off of a hunch. When I say, go for it, but don't try to attack him. Got it?"
"Eeyup."
"Alright." I crouched down and tried to contact Sora again.
Sora? You there?
"What do you need?"
When you said that you controlled part of my mind, does that part of me hold a fragment of your souls or something?
"Yes. A small shred of our hearts is part of your mind."
So, if I were to concentrate really hard, I could possibly awaken that part of you and wield the Keyblade, or at least be able to touch his?
"You can try. But I'm not sure."
Good enough for me!
I focused on remembering nothing but scenes from Kingdom Hearts of Sora and his friends using the Keyblade. Nothing happened. Finally, one last scene flashed into my mind. One that I always had a strong reaction to.
Why don't you quit?
"Come on, Sora. I thought you were stronger than that."
Get real! Look which one of us is winning!
"So it's true. You really are his Nobody. Guess DiZ was right after all."
What are you talking about? I am me! NOBODY ELSE!
Riku, please! You have to stop him!
How many times do I have to beat you?
"All right. You've left me with no other choice. I have to release the power in my heart. The dark power I've been holding back. Even if... it changes me forever."
"I have accepted it."
My eyes flew open, my heart filling with anger at the monster that had stolen my friend from me. A white light flashed in my right hand, revealing a long silver and gold key.
"It worked... it worked!"
"All right! So that was what made you tick? Riku fighting Roxas?"
Just the raw emotion shown in that scene makes me angry, but this time it had a stronger effect since I had a true reason to be angry. Thanks, Sora. Tell Riku and Roxas I said thanks to them.
"AJ, now!" The orange mare began running around Bensanort's legs, sending him into confusion as to where he was supposed to attack. I took this opening to rush towards him, attacking with my Keyblade. He tried to stab at me, but I grabbed his Keyblade by its shaft, lifted it over his head while spinning behind him and brought it straight down, breaking his arm and letting me steal his Keyblade. Bensanort fell to his knees as I spun back around him. I slammed my knee into his chin, then jumped into the air and flung the two Keyblades into the ground beside him, creating two beams of light and dark energy that orbited around each other, shocking Bensanort into oblivion. While he landed on his back, I kneeled over his chest with his Keyblade held in both of my hands.
"This is it." I said darkly. "I'm going to save you. This is gonna hurt both of us!"
I plunged the dark Keyblade into Bensanort's heart. The two wisps of black smoke exploded from his body, draining Xehanort's features from Benson's own.
"...Arrick?" Benson asked wearily, his eyes slowly opening and revealing those of my best friend.
"I did it! I saved you!"
"What? Why are you sitting on my chest?"
"I'll explain later. We've got some work to finish in here." I stood up and turned around, seeing that Xehanort had temporarily reformed into his own body. His Keyblade flew from my hand and back into his.
"Since when do you have a Keyblade?"
"Technically, I don't. It's not a real Keyblade. Once again, I'll explain later. Right now, we have something to kill." I summoned my own Keyblade once more.
"Touch me, and she spends the rest of her life in the Dark Margin. She'll at least have someone to enjoy it with..." Xehanort let out a maniacal laugh at the end of his sentence, holding Applejack against his chest with a cloud of dark smoke.
"Let her go!" I snarled, preparing an attack.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He pressed his Keyblade to her throat, just enough to draw blood.
"Get back!" I shouted, throwing my Keyblade with extreme power. In mid-flight, I willed for the weapon to disappear, greatly confusing Xehanort.
"Watch your head!" I joked, my Keyblade reappearing behind Xehanort in a blinding flash of light and slamming him to the ground.
"I think you just created a new ability. What are you going to call it?"
I was thinking something along the lines of "Illusion Raid" or "Flash Raid". Maybe "Trick Raid".
"I like "Flash Raid". It really rolls off the tongue, you know?"
"You alright, AJ?" I asked, letting her run back to us.
"Yeah. Ah'm fine. But he ain't gonna be in a second!"
"You're damn straight." I dismissed my Keyblade and pressed my hand to Xehanort's shoulder, pouring an unimaginable amount of electricity into it. The Keyblade Master slumped to the ground, completely unconscious. I took this time to give him my parting gift.
"Seeya on the other side, dickwad." I vaulted over Xehanort's shoulders, grasped his neck from behind, and slammed him into the ground headfirst.
The orb of light and the two apple-shaped gems materialized in front of Xehanort's bruised and battered body.
"You... haven't seen the last of me..." Xehanort croaked, dissipating into black mist. I lunged forward and caught the mist inside a jar.
"What are you doing?" Benson asked me.
"Oh, nothing..." I lied, holding the jar behind me and letting out what was likely to be the loudest fart Equestria had ever heard.
"Talk about a Fart In A Jar." I remarked, slipping the jar into my backpack.
Chapter XXIII: Pinkie's Hall
This hall was disturbingly large. The ceiling had to be at least two hundred feet high. The room was completely blank except for a table-like stone in a corner.
"What the hell?" I whispered to myself as I ran a hand over the stone. It was covered in writing. The letters were in Equish, but they were all jumbled. After a moment, I realized what it was.
"They aren't jumbled. They're in Al Bhed! Hang on, where's my phone?" I rummaged through my pockets and backpack for a moment, finding my cell phone. I just barely had a signal, but it was good enough.
"Hello?" Erika's voice and face sprung to life on my phone.
"Hey, I'm here in Sephiroth's temple. I found some writing on a stone, and they're in Al Bhed. Can you read them for me?"
"Sure. Where is it?" I turned my phone around towards the stone.
"It says, With one switch, the moon will come forth. The Lunar Diviner will show the way to a whole new place after. Enter, and show them the power of Laughter. What the hell does that mean?"
Don't these things usually rhyme or something?
"It clearly has something to do with a switch somewhere in here. But it mentioned a Lunar Diviner. Is it a person, or an object?" I looked up above me, seeing a pedestal topped with a crescent shaped gem.
"I think I found the Lunar Diviner. How am I gonna get it down?" The pedestal was tucked inside an alcove at the top of the wall. I could have flown up there and brought it back down, but I would need two hands to control myself. My Electrokinetic Grasp wouldn't be able to reach that far. I needed a way up, and quick.
"Erika, you got any-Pinkie, what the fuck are you doing!?" I covered my ears to shield them from a horrid grinding sound. Behind me, the pink mare was pushing the stone with all her strength and actually moving it!
"You're a genius!" I leaned down beside her and began pushing as well. The stone moved forward before stopping. A set of poles emerged from the wall, leading all the way up to the alcove I was after.
"Alright! Let's do this!" I ran forward and didn't stop, running straight up the wall due to a small amount of static electricity keeping me attached. As long as I kept moving, I would be fine. After a while, I grabbed one of the poles and swung upward, landing on another one. I kept moving in this fashion until I reached the alcove.
"Crap. I can't climb back down. Think, man, think... well, I'll have to push my luck, but it's the best I've got." I held the pedestal on my back, jumped, and slid down the wall, nearly slamming into the ground face-first.
"That takes care of the Lunar Diviner. Now, where's this switch?" I scanned the room around me, not finding any trace of a switch.
Maybe I should think outside the box...
"Aha!" I reached for the stone and pushed down on it as hard as I could. It started to move a bit before it sunk down into the floor.
"How did you figure that out!?" Pinkie asked me, bouncing in circles around my legs.
"I'll explain later. Let's just figure out what's going on here first." The ceiling began to open up, causing a beam of moonlight to shine down on the Lunar Diviner. The floor did the same, revealing a large pool of water. Its surface rumbled for a moment. I drew my Blades of Exile, preparing for a fight.
"Look out!" I yelled, grabbing the mare beside me as the floor fell apart, forming six circular platforms around the pool. An immense dragon-like monster burst forth from the water.
"The Spectral Keeper. We're fucked." I slashed at it a few times and did a fair amount of damage. The beast fired a blast of energy at three of the platforms, creating a large explosion on them. Luckily neither one of us was standing one any of them. I launched a flurry of lightning bolts at the water, swiftly electrocuting the bastard. It tried to swipe at me with its tail, but I grabbed on, climbed up its body, and stabbed it in the eyes. I fell back onto the platform right before it trapped the same three as before. This time, I was standing on one. I flew into the air, propelled by the explosion.
"You're dead!" In midair, I flung a blade out in a curve, wrapping it around the Spectral Keeper's neck. It tried to pull the chain off with its fin shaped appendages, but I wrapped my other blade around it, strangling the monster and making it fall onto the platform in front of me.
"I guess we're not as fucked as I thought!" I said jovially, throwing out another blade and piercing throught the Spectral Keeper's head. It started to pull back, but I pulled harder, tearing its head in half. I looked around me while its body disintegrated, not seeing any way out but down.
"Stay right here." I said, jumping into the pool of water. It had to have been at least sixty feet deep.
Thanks, Poseidon.
A small lever sat at the bottom. I pulled on it for a little while, but it didn't budge. I tried pushing this time, and it lurched forward.
Woohoo! What's next?
The water drained from around me, and a narrow path opened up in the wall.
"Yo, Pinks! Jump down here! I'm gonna catch you!"
"Yaaaaay!" She shouted, jumping over the edge. I dove forward, ending up with a small pink pony in my hands.
"Let's go." I drew my Amp with my right hand and coated my left in electricity. The two of us squeezed through the opening, barely coming out on the other side. Three large, green, flying alien-looking creatures charged at us. They may as well have jumped into a blender when I took them out with a series of blade shaped lightning bolts that tore away at their flesh and bones, leaving behind three shredded corpses that leaked blood like faucets. Ahead of us, a black, shiny ball covered up a hole in the wall. I felt a series of scales on the thing when I touched it.
"What is this thing?"
"Do you really not know what this is?"
Samus? You know?
"It's a Rhedogian. If you hit it either with enough force or a sufficient amount of heat, it will remove itself from its perch and kill you almost immediately. Do not wake a Rhedogian unless it is absolutely necessary. It is a borderline certainty that you will die."
Well, thanks for that bit of cheerfulness.
"I am simply telling the truth."
I took a few swings at the Rhedogian with my blades. Nothing happened. Instead, I threw Zeus' Thunder at the wall, blowing it to pieces. The monster still didn't wake up.
"Damn, these things are heavy sleepers. Come on, Pinkie."
We strolled through the rest of the hall. The room looked almost like a parking garage. The floor began to rumble again, much like when the Spectral Keeper had appeared. I prepared a bolt in one hand and held my Amp in the other. Two immense worms burst forth from the walls, firing a ball of energy at me. I shoved Pinkie out of the way and held up a shield of electricity, blocking the explosion. They sunk back into the holes while I readied another attack, one much more powerful than before.
"Look out!" I shouted, flinging an electric rocket at both of the monsters. They flew out of their holes and started squirming around on the floor, trying to escape. I grabbed onto one of them, jammed my arm in its gaping maw, and fired another rocket, blowing it apart from the inside. I tried to do the same to the other, but it dodged my assault and pulled me into its mouth with a long, prehensile tongue. I struggled against it futilely. The beast tried to swallow me, and I blasted its back end out with one last attack.
"Ugh, that was disgusting." I said, climbing out of the body and wiping the blood from my clothes.
"Let's keep moving. I don't wanna go through anything like that again." I ran out of the room with Pinkie following me, almost accidentally throwing us both into a nearly bottomless pit.
"Watch yourself." I held her on my shoulders and jumped, running across the wall just like when I went after the Lunar Diviner. I slid to a stop on the other side.
"That was awesome!" The pink mare exclaimed, climbing off of my back.
"What's this thing?" I reached down and opened a small chest, revealing two small balloon-shaped gems and an orb of pink light.
"Well, that was anticlimactic."
The wall behind us practically exploded, sending the Rhedogian straight after us.
"Goddamn it! Y-You know what? Fuck you, Sephiroth! It's like you're specifically trying to piss me off! So you can GO FUCK YOURSELF WITH YOUR SWORD!" I fired a bolt at its neck, but nothing happened. No matter what I did, the Rhedogian didn't even notice. It just kept charging and swinging its arms at me.
"HOW THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO KILL THIS THING, SEPHIROTH!?" At this point, I was completely and utterly pissed off. The Rhedogian's single eye turned bright red. I dove out of the way as it fired a massive beam of energy straight ahead. The attack just barely nicked my leg, but it felt like someone had duct-taped my foot to the roof of a pizza oven.
"Damn you!" I summoned a power of Cole MacGrath's that I never even knew I had. I don't think he knew either.
I tossed a grenade at the Rhedogian's head. It exploded in a cloud of freezing wind, coating the beast's horns in ice. I took this chance to gather my strength and smash its horns with a pair of bolts, severely weakening it. My body floated into the air, suspended by wind and electricity. Massive lightning bolts struck the floor around me. The speed of the wind was so fast that the room's roof went flying into the night sky, while storm clouds formed around my hands and in the air directly above me. The walls became entirely coated in thick sheets of ice.
"Now, you die!" My voice was deep and distorted, but still audible. A huge spike of ice pierced through each of the Rhedogian's limbs, holding it in the air and starting to freeze its body, while I blasted it with the most powerful bolts I could conjure. Finally, I spun in a circle, forming a circular lightning bolt around me, and pushed it forward with my palm, sending the electric spear straight through the frozen alien, shattering it like glass. I fell to my knees in a puddle of melted ice, panting like a dog in the middle of summer.
"Pinkie..." I managed to say between breaths, "get... get out of here. I'll c-catch up with you."
I dropped onto the floor face-first, my head resting comfortably on the wet stone floor.
Chapter XXIV: Twilight's Hall
"Comin' in hot!" I yelled, flying through the open door and back into the central room, where the Elements, the Princesses, and Benson waited for me. I nearly ended up knocking Benson into a wall, but he slid out of the way just in time.
"Arrick," Twilight said, "what exactly happened in there?"
"Why are you asking?"
"Well, your clothes are burnt, you smell like a pile of manure mixed with death, and about half an hour ago, we saw a giant thunderstorm over top of the temple. Then the roof exploded and the storm disappeared. Plus, it was snowing ."
"And?"
"It's April, and we heard about five giant explosions alongside you cursing and yelling at something."
"Oh yeah, that. I can explain. We got attacked by a metric crapton of monsters while we were in there, and I had to use some... intense tactics to get rid of them. As for the smell, I got eaten by a giant worm, so I blew it apart from the inside. As for the storm, I just had this random surge of unbelievable power and unleashed every last bit of it on a super-dangerous alien. That hall was insane. Either way, let's get to work on the next one. C'mon, Twi."
"Wait." I turned around to see what Celestia had to say.
"Yeah?"
Instead of saying anything, Celestia fired a beam of magical energy at me, giving my body a dark purple glow for a few seconds.
Dafuq?
"I'm not sure what that was, but thank you."
"You'll know what it's for when the time comes."
"Okay. Let's go, Twilight." The two of us walked slowly towards the door. I pushed it open, sending us into a far from modestly sized area that looked almost like a large library. Twilight looked around her at the shelves of books, her eyes gleaming in elation.
"Really? Books?"
"I came..." I could hear Twilight whispering to herself, but I didn't think she noticed.
"What?"
"I-I said... I came to a place like this one time!" She was a horrible liar.
"Yeah, right." We strolled around the room for a minute, looking at the multitude of books. I found one titled The Kamidogu: A Beginner's Guide , another called Sin, The Scourge of Spira , and even The History of The Chosen Undead . It seemed like Sephiroth was collecting books from different worlds.
Mortal Kombat, Final Fantasy, Dark Souls... damn. Sephiroth's got something from everywhere.
I slipped a few of the books into my backpack and acted like nothing happened.
"Look!" Twilight said, pointing at a small purple light near the ceiling. I wondered if it was our destination.
"Twilight, can you teleport yourself up there? I'd fly us both up, but I need both hands to control myself."
"I don't know, but I'll definitely try." A miniature sun came to life in her horn for a moment before she disappeared in a flash and looked over the railing at me.
"I made it!"
Good.
I launched myself into the air, nearly a bit too high, before I grabbed onto a chandelier to keep my head away from the roof.
"What was that for?" Twilight asked me curiously.
"I... have no idea. It's like this room is messing around with my powers. I was moving normally, then I just lost control and almost flew through the ceiling!" I swung down beside her from the chandelier. Out of nowhere, my arms began surging with electricity. I tried to stop it, but the closer we got to the light's source, the less control I had over my powers.
"Look out!" My Blades of Exile flew from my back, whirling around me like a tornado. I grabbed the chains and pulled on them with all my strength, keeping the weapons from harming either one of us. Finally, they broke free of my hands, this time spinning in a perfect circle. Twilight dove out of their way, right around the corner and into the light.
"Help!" I heard her screaming and sprung into action, gaining control over my blades as the light dissipated. Around the corner, a black, shadowy figure stood behind Twilight, while a dark purple, ghostly-looking version of him held onto her legs through a portal in the floor.
Really? I have to fight Noob Saibot? Damn it all!
The worst part of this was that they both had a separate mind. Saibot pulled her all the way into the portal, while Noob stood to face me.
"Defeat me in kombat, and I will free her!" Noob sounded a lot like I did in the last hall, with a deep and distorted voice.
"Let me tell you something, Noob. You want her, you gotta beat me.
But nobody. Ever. Beats me." I moved into a familiar stance, with my left leg extended and resting on its heel, while I held my hands perpendicular to my wrists.
"Fight!"
Noob rushed towards me, trying to start off with a strong kick. I caught his leg mid-swing, dropped my elbow on his knee, and threw him into the rail, nearly shattering it. He teleported behind me and nearly choked me into unconsciousness, but I broke the hold with a swift heel to the groin. I picked him up by the waist and lifted him onto my shoulder. Noob reversed my attack by wrapping his legs around my neck and slamming me down headfirst, sending me through the next floor. The moment that Noob landed in front of me, I placed my hand on his face, sent an immense shock through his body, and flung him onto the ground floor. The dark ninja's blood formed a large black puddle on the stone below.
"You better stop actin' like a little bitch, dawg!"
I see what you did there, DMX.
A necklace around Noob's neck let off a lavender glow. I vaulted over the rail and smashed it, causing his dead body to cough up a bit of blood. An identically colored unicorn burst forth from the broken gem, her mane ruffled and her eyes holding a look of pure fear.
"Twilight, are you okay?"
"I know what Hell looks like now. And it is more horrible than anypony could possibly fathom.
The things I have seen would kill lesser men."
"Whoa. What happened to you?"
"I... I...
Pranked you!"
"Oh, man! That was awesome! I thought you were serious."
"Let me guess. That was your first taste of my revenge?"
"Apparently so."
"Well, that's how we do it in the Sparkle family."
"You would be the greatest sister ever."
The entire room went pitch black. I held out my arm, illuminating the area around us with a strangely eerie blue light.
"What the hell just happened?" I lit up my other arm to give us a bit more visibility. Near the wall, I could've sworn that I saw the shadow of a pegasus flying by.
"We happened." I heard a low-pitched, but still feminine voice echoing in the darkness. It sounded familiar for some reason.
"Where are you!? Show yourself!"
The strange creature from before zoomed past me, causing me to lose my focus and our light. A multitude of torches burst into flames, revealing seven images that looked very familiar.
"Damn you, Sephiroth!" I shouted, stomping my foot in anger. Twilight looked at the six "Dark Elements", and was clearly confused. They didn't look like they did in the hall. Now, they were just black silhouettes like the one that tried to attack me. It was probably for the better.
"What are those things?"
"Back in Rarity's hall, I was attacked by a ghost of Sephiroth. He brought me into some kind of weird alternate dimension, where he showed me these... things , but they didn't look like that. And I guess now we have to fight them." I cracked my knuckles and charged my body with electricity. It didn't do much for my fighting, but it gave me a much more intimidating appearance, with my crackling blue eyes and bright yellow spiked hair. My lips curved into a wicked smile before I wrapped one of my blades around the other Rarity's throat. She struggled against the chain and tried to break through it with her magic, but the godly steel was far too strong.
Thanks, Athena.
I pulled myself forward, just a few inches away from her. I yanked back on the chain, knocking "Rarity" to the ground, and stomped on her head with a disturbing amount of force, crushing it like an eggshell.
"Get away from me!" Twilight yelled, firing a beam of magic at the dark Rainbow Dash. I finished the job she had started by performing a quick frontflip with my blades outstretched, slicing the pegasus in two. "Applejack" tried to slide forward and buck me in the stomach, but I blocked her attack and returned it with a swift right hook, shattering her neck.
"Yay!" The dark Pinkie Pie cheered, lunging towards me and clamping down on my arm with her razor-sharp teeth. I screamed in pain as her fangs tore away at my skin.
"Get off me!" I jammed a blade into her ear, practically pulling out a chunk of her brain with it. The corpse let go of me, falling to the floor with a loud thump.
"My animals are just adorable, aren't they?" "Fluttershy" snarled, petting a dead rabbit. "They're also quite useful. Watch. Angel, KILL HIM!"
I was expecting a normal zombie bunny or something along those lines, but instead, a massive blast of yellow energy flew from the rabbit in her hoof, transforming into a mass of blood-spattered flesh with the most hauntingly blank eyes I had ever seen.
Is that a Dead Hand?
"Oh yeah? Well, suck on this!" I put a disturbingly large amount of power into a combination of my electrokinesis and Zeus' Thunder. A gigantic lightning bolt flew from my hand, blowing the zombie and "Fluttershy" to bits. The dark Twilight teleported behind me, but I jumped over the unicorn and held my arms around her throat for quite a while, until she finally stopped struggling and breathing.
"It's done." I said in exhaustion, falling onto my knees. I felt something strike the back of my head.
"Ouch! What the..." I realized that the orb and gems had fallen on me.
"Thank God, this is finally-oh, shove the sun and moon up my ass and call me a princess!"
The last of our enemies was standing across the hall from us, blocking the exit.
The other Vinyl Scratch.
"I'm sorry, but I'm just doing what I have to." I spun in a circle, slicing the apparition in half horizontally.
"Why? Why did you do this to me?" Her voice held a twinge of sadness that pulled at my heartstrings like a bow sliding over a violin. It was a subtle feeling, but a profound one. I stood completely still, her remark washing over me.
"W-We need to get out of here." I ran towards the door, shoving it open as I moved.
"You okay?" Benson asked as I trudged into the room.
"Yeah." I replied through my labored breathing. I placed the last gem in its divot, and a lavender flame burst forth from the bronze colored metal. The six of them spun in a circle around the black central brazier. It sunk into the floor, revealing another door. Its marking was the Blades of Exile, crossed over a pair of eighth notes. I stared at it intently for a moment before speaking.
"... Well, fuck."
Chapter XXV: The Final Hall
"Well, ain't this just fine n' dandy?" Benson and Applejack looked at each other, surprised by their simultaneous remark. I punched the wall in anger, nearly breaking my knuckles.
"I thought we were done with this bullshit!" I stared at the door in front of me, seeing that it wasn't part of a wall. It just stood alone in the middle of the room. I grasped the handle and pulled on it, revealing nothing but an empty, white expanse. However, it was as if I was walking on solid ground. When the others stepped inside, the air around us began to swirl into a series of black symbols that almost looked like splintered hearts.
"Aw, shit!" My exclamation was both in disappointment and excitement.
"Why did you sound happy just now?" Benson asked me, scratching his head in confusion.
"From what I can tell, we're about to fight my fourth favorite video game boss of all time!"
"And who would that be?" I chuckled for a second, almost psychotically.
"Ever since I finished the game, I had always wanted to do this. The stage is set." I focused on summoning my "Keyblade". Instead of the standard Kingdom Key, a completely different weapon appeared in my hand. Its guard had a look similar to that of the chains that bound the Blades of Exile to my wrists. The handle kept in line with that motif, while its shaft was formed out of a long string of blue electricity, and the teeth made from the two Blades of Exile, their spikes pointing outward and curving in to give the impression of an arrowhead-esque shape. A small blue lightning bolt served as the Keychain.
"Hory shet..."
"How'd you get that?"
I have no freakin' idea.
A borderline demonic laughter echoed through the room. I looked around me, seeing no possible source of it.
"Who's there!?" I tightened the grip on my Keyblade, ready to use it if need be.
"You just said that you wanted to fight me. How could you not recognize the sound of your desire?" A man in a white coat printed with Nobody sigils floated down from... actually, I had no idea where he came from.
"Xemnas!"
"How long did it take you to figure that out?" Xemnas said in exasperation, seemingly resting his chin on one of his Ethereal Blades.
"Guys, stay back! This is gonna get ugly." I twirled my Keyblade in a circle before dashing forward and striking Xemnas over the head with all my strength, sending him flying to the ground. He rolled over, quickly avoiding my attempt to stab him while he was down. I blocked Xemnas' next attack, a short-range spinning slash that clearly held more power than I expected. I flung the weapon towards him, which he tried to dodge. It disappeared inches from his face and a silver flash erupted behind him. My Keyblade exploded out of it, sending Xemnas sprawling. I pinned him to the ground with a single, powerful thrust.
"That was the most ...
disappointing thing I have ever seen in my fucking life." I pushed on the handguard, causing Xemnas to dissipate into a cloud of dust.
"Sephiroth must have a really crappy sense of humor, because this feels like a huge joke." I remarked, holding out my arm and dropping the Keyblade. It dismissed itself upon contact with the floor.
"What are you naming your Keyblade?" Benson's voice carried sincere curiosity.
"I was thinking something along the lines of "Thunderous Rage"."
"That is the definition of badass."
"Yeah, I guess it is." The sky darkened, and a black lightning bolt fell from a cloud in the middle of nowhere. Xemnas stepped out of it, wearing a blood-red coat marked with white Nobody sigils. His hair stood up on end, now a deep brown.
"Now this is what I'm talkin' about!"
"What did you just say, you insolent child?" Xemnas questioned. "I am your worst nightmare! I will tear you to shreds in seconds!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, let's just get this over with." I summoned my Keyblade again, not even seeing Xemnas' fist impact against my chest with staggering force. At that moment, it felt like every last molecule of Oxygen had just fled my body at once.
Did he just go Super Saiyan?
"Any last words?" The Nobody lord held his hand above my face, charging it with bright red energy.
"I think someone just peed in my pants."
"Get away from him!" Benson yelled, blasting Xemnas in the eye with his sniper rifle. He turned his attention to my friend, giving me time to recover while they dueled.
Now would be a great time for that spell to work!
I focused on thoughts of massive battles, overuse of the word "Super", and unnecessary amounts of transformations. My body began emitting a strange white light, as did Benson's. Time seemed to stop for a few minutes. Or were they hours? I honestly couldn't tell.
"What the hell's happening?" Benson looked around him at everyone else frozen still, including Xemnas.
"The spell worked."
"What spell?"
"Luna taught it to me a while back. She said I would need it if we ever had to help defend Equestria. The spell allows me to fuse my body and soul with that of someone I have a deep bond with, whether it be friendship, familial ties, or love. Who else to try it out for the first time with than my best friend?"
"I have no idea how to do this, though!"
"You don't need an idea. Just let your soul guide you."
"Dude, how high are you right now?"
"The only thing I'm high on is adrenaline. And I'm in space."
The two of us performed an intricate handshake, our arms moving on their own as if they were created for the sole purpose of carrying out this spell.
"Bro!" I exclaimed, cocking my arm back.
"Fusion!" Benson replied, doing the same.
"GO!" we slammed our fists together before they became one, our bodies morphing into a combination of each other. The normal flow of time resumed as I took in the sight of our appearance. In this form, we wore a bright purple gi , a series of red and black robes, a red bandana, and a pair of white boots. Our hair stuck out from under the bandana, pointing backwards at an angle. The shining yellow spikes looked like they could be used to impale someone. Electricity crackled around us, alongside a strange clear light.
"W-Who are you!?" Xemnas quaked in fear at the sheer aura of power radiating from our body.
"Who are We?" Our voice sounded like We were speaking over each other.
"We are Bensarrick. The title of your doom."
"You won't be leaving here alive!" With a mighty scream, Xemnas' hair turned even longer than before, cascading down his back. His coat turned deep blue, and from what I could tell, his eyes no longer had pupils.
Super Saiyan 3?
"I think so."
Benson? You can hear my thoughts?
"We're the same person, dipstick. Of course I can."
Don't think about Vinyl, don't think about Vinyl...
"I can still hear you."
Forget what I just said. Let's do this!
We rushed Xemnas, brutalizing him with a devastating series of punches and ending with an uppercut, sending him straight into the air. We flew after him, continuing our assault. Xemnas' weak attempts at defending himself were in pure vain.
The third form is already sapping his life force.
"What?"
It was stated by various sources that the Super Saiyan 3 form slowly eats away at the user's energy, making them useless unless they start fighting right off the bat. We kept him from doing that, so the transformation is taking its toll faster than normal.
My mind took over for an instant. In that small window, I summoned my Keyblade. We blew Xemnas back down with a moderately powerful Ki blast, preparing to possibly defeat him.
"Shining Keyblade Attack!" We slashed at his body with disturbing speed, leaving multiple trails through the air. Finally, We stabbed him in the chest and twisted the Keyblade sideways, almost like We were turning a lock, finishing the move with a long Ki beam. Xemnas slammed into an invisible barrier with a pained grunt.
Time to finish him!
"I thought we were doing Dragon Ball moves!"
It was just a metaphor.
A blue orb of Ki materialized in our hands, growing larger as We spoke.
"Ka...
Me...
Ha...
Me..."
Xemnas gathered an immense amount of black energy in his palm, using it to counter our attack.
"HA!"
"Nil Buster!"
The two beams met in midair, our shouts fluctuating in volume alongside them. Our blasts were too evenly matched. They could keep doing this for eternity if one of us didn't find an ace in the hole.
Benson, I have an idea, but it's super risky.
"Do it!"
"Kaio-Ken... TIMES TEN!" A red glow enveloped our body and the steady stream of Ki , giving it an earth-shattering power. The resulting explosion forced us to shield our eyes as everything went white. A few seconds later, the light dissipated.
"Do you... think that can... defeat me?" Xemnas trembled as he stood, trying to charge another Nil Buster.
"Oh, no, you don't!" We floated into the sky without even trying.
The Fusion is wearing off! We'll have to end this with as much power as we can get!
"What are you thinking?"
The ultimate overkill. First we try to use a Kaio-Ken times twenty, then we hit him with a Spirit Bomb.
"It'll take too long for a Spirit Bomb! His Nil Buster charges too fast."
Fine. Maybe a Galick Gun?
"That could work. Let's do it!"
"Kaio-Ken... TIMES TWENTY!" The red aura was much larger this time. It almost felt hot . Our right hand flared up with purple energy, just in time to meet his attack.
"Galick Gun!"
"Nil Buster!"
The lavender beam sliced straight through the black, blowing through Xemnas' chest with ease. We hung in the air, just barely supporting ourself.
"It's done..." We dropped like a rock, our bodies separating upon impact.
"How awesome was that?" I croaked, trying to stand up.
"I feel like someone lit my soul on fire, and not in a good way."
"What just happened!?" Twilight seemed completely and utterly shocked.
"Bro Fusion." We both replied, high-fiving before we limped out of the room.
Chapter XXVI: Zenith
The four of us ran along a large hallway, the black stones of the walls swallowing every bit of light except the yellow glow from my blades. A ghostly apparition of Sephiroth appeared in front of us and I jumped into the air, cutting it in half. Every single one of these ghosts that I killed did nothing but increase my rage. I looked back at the three mares following me, and it nearly became two, if my reflexes were any slower. With a shout, I launched one of my blades outward, smashing the shaft of an arrow just before it pierced Applejack's barrel.
"You'll thank me for that later." I remarked, breaking back into a sprint.
"Sure Ah will, sure Ah will."
I flung out another blade the moment that a spear flew from the wall, nearly pinning Luna to the other side of the hall. The further we went into this hallway, the closer we got to dying.
Which meant we were closing in on our goal.
We reached the end of the hall, where a small grey marble door sat against the wall. There wasn't a doorknob, but the door splintered like wood with two strikes from the pommel of my blade. The next room was a simple featureless chamber, made from the same marble as the door. In the center of the room were four large treasure chests, each one printed with a different marking; three red apples, a blotch of darkness with a crescent moon in the center, a trio of balloons, and a sky blue lightning bolt wrapped around a small Blade of Exile.
"I know we're trying to save an entire world here, but I need a picture of this!"
I pulled my phone from my pocket and snapped a quick picture of each chest, then stepped forward to claim my treasure: a silver claw-like weapon with three blades attached to it. I swung it forward. Each blade was at the tip of a chain.
The Nemesis Whip. Hory shet, this is awesome!
Each of us had an unusual treasure in our chests. Luna's was a pair of devious blades that attached perfectly to her wings, Applejack's was a borderline deformed pistol suited perfectly to being mouth-wielded with her cutie mark printed on it, and Pinkie Pie's was a miniature gatling gun that automatically attached itself to her party cannon. At this point, I was starting to fear her a bit.
"Okay guys, no time to waste. We're almost to Sephiroth's chamber. Let's do this!" I shouted as I ran to the next door and cut it down with my blade. Inside was a decent opposition: two phantom Sephiroths, three Undead Legionnaires, and a Minotaur.
"Applejack, hit the Legionnaires. Luna, you take the ghosts. Pinkie, we'll take out the Minotaur." Three gunshots rang out as two of the Legionnaires fell to the ground in a pile of bones. The third simply deflected the bullet with his shield, which it punctured but didn't hit the Legionnaire with enough force to kill. It was enough, though, to knock the shield from his hand. Another round tore straight through what was left of his head. Luna flew into the ghostly Sephiroths with her blades, causing them to dissipate into nothing. I lunged at the Minotaur, gatling gun fire keeping it distracted as I jammed a blade into the back of its thigh, sending the beast to the ground. I spun wildly, creating a fiery tornado that lifted the Minotaur into the air just in time for me to wrap the chains of my blades around its neck and pull it to the ground. The gunfire stopped as I climbed onto the Minotaur's back and clasped its head in my hands. Little by little, I pulled and twisted until the man-bull's head ripped free from its neck, leaving a pool of obsidian blood on the ground. The three mares stared at me in shock before remembering that I was now the God of War. We continued on through the next room, which was, for lack of a better phrase, a dick in the form of a room. This was the first section of a building that had ever been a dick to me! It constantly spawned monsters, forcing us to abandon our movement to fight. It shot flames, arrows, spears and even swords out of the walls, giving me and Luna an obligation to either blast them or cut them apart before they could strike any of us. Finally, I decapitated the Cyclops that prevented us from advancing to the last room.
"Alright." I said with determination. "This is it. Beyond this door is Sephiroth. You all-AH!" My sentence was interrupted by a blue blur knocking me onto the ground. I looked up, only to find my vision obscured by a rainbow-colored lightning bolt.
"Rainbow Dash, get off me!"
"Arrick? How'd you get here?"
"I think I should be asking you that. Right after you get your plot off my face!"
My eyes were finally usable once again, and I looked around, noticing that all of us had gotten in here somehow. All of us except Benson.
"Where's Benson?" I asked them.
"Well, we were running through this hallway that was absolutely filled with traps, and he kind of, fell through a hole in the ground?" Rarity was clearly ready for my wrath.
"That's fine for now. We have to have the Elements ready before we go in here. They won't cause much damage to him, but they'll distract him long enough that I'll be able to. Twilight?"
As if on command, her magic started blazing, and I could tell that it was difficult to keep that much energy locked away for more than five seconds at a time. I sheathed my blades and prepared to use Zeus' Thunder. A massive lightning bolt blew the door open and I stepped through the smoke, my friends behind me. Sephiroth waited for us, sitting on a large throne clearly made from pony skeletons.
"Sephiroth! Enjoy your last moments, because they're about to end!" I pointed my blade at him menacingly.
"They are?" He answered me dubiously. "You must be mistaken. If any of you even dare to attack me, I will tear you limb from limb with a flick of my wrist. In fact, your friends here would make perfect additions to my throne."
A fire ignited in the pit of my soul, changing me. My eyes flickered with unbridled rage, an aura of power radiated from me, and the grip around my blades became nearly tight enough to snap the handles like twigs. Even my Blades of Exile had changed their glow from borderline neon yellow to a blood red.
That blood would soon become Sephiroth's.
Chapter XXVII: How The Mighty Will Fall
"Don't even think about laying a hand on them." I snarled. "If you do, I will strangle you with your own entrails and rip your body in half with my bare hands."
"Are you okay?" Celestia asked me. I glared at her, sheathing my blades.
"I have an idea."
The same white glow as the Bro Fusion spell came to life around myself and the Princesses. Time stopped again as I prepared the technique.
"Darkness and Light, harmonized by Exile."
"The Hope of Equestria, and Humanity as well." Celestia spoke the ending's first half.
"Once they are combined, We will destroy you with style!" Luna practically laughed in Sephiroth's face before we finished the spell together.
"We hope you'll enjoy eternity in Hell!"
Celestia and Luna's bodies transformed into two clouds of energy, and they poured themselves into me. Our fused form appeared similarly to that of Bensarrick in terms of clothing, although the electricity swirling around us constantly shifted. At one point, it was golden yellow, in which my hair turned the same color and pointed straight above me. Occasionally, it changed to a navy blue that caused my eyes to become a swirling expanse of black and brown. My skin took on this coloration as well, and my now pristine white hair flowed behind my head. I looked almost like a human version of Nightmare Moon.
"What..." Sephiroth questioned, "was that? Your little wardrobe change doesn't intimidate me."
"That was not a 'wardrobe change'. We are a new being, the hope of the universe. The answer to all living things that cry out for peace. We are the Protector of the innocent. We... are Celunick!"
"Ha! Do you truly think that a new name will do you any good?"
"No. But this will.
Widowmaker Flare!" We blew a stream of solar fire at Sephiroth, forcing him to abandon his attacks, then grabbed the tyrant by the throat, lifting him into the air and squeezing hard enough to nearly break his neck.
"H-How do you have that kind of power!? All of my observations showed that you were nowhere near my level!"
"You can't use calculations to measure the strength of a person's heart."
"You're right. I surrender." Sephiroth bowed to us, placing a small box at our feet. We picked it up and he immediately stabbed us in the chest, breaking our Fusion. Or at least partially. Celestia's body separated from ours, but Luna and I stayed as one.
Luna, you got anything?
"Yes. Pay close attention."
Our hands began to shine with a strange black light. With a quick burst of flight, We uppercutted Sephiroth into the air and kicked him back down.
"Requiem of The Thirteenth Hour!"
We launched a ring of dark fire onto the ground at Sephiroth's feet. In but a few seconds, it exploded, freezing him in place and transporting us to what I assume was another dimension.
"Face it, Sephiroth. You don't stand a chance against us. You and We could not be more insignificant in this unprecedentedly infinite universe. If one of us died right this second, nobody in other worlds would care.
But Time..." We spun in a circle and saluted. Exactly thirteen gigantic clock hands with seemingly razor-sharp tips materialized around him.
"Marches on." We snapped our fingers, and twelve of the hands darted through his body, practically ripping it to shreds. The thirteenth and final "clock blade" slammed into his back after he fell to the ground.
"Your little game ends here!" Sephiroth impaled us with his sword, pinning our body to the wall. He twisted the blade in circles, tearing through our chest. We knocked him back with a somewhat powerful Ki blast, standing completely still and healing ourselves after removing the katana.
"You'll pay dearly for that." He grabbed us by the shoulders, pulling with disturbing strength. He was trying to break the Fusion by himself! Finally, Sephiroth's attempt succeeded. He split Luna and I apart, throwing her over his shoulder and keeping an iron grip on me.
"Twilight, now!" The Elements blasted Sephiroth in the center of his torso, causing him to release me and kneel in place. In an instant, the energy hit me in the head. It sent me flying away, where I landed in the middle of its source. The Elements of Harmony themselves began to combine their power with me.
"Twilight, I have another idea. Follow my lead."
I started another Fusion spell. Twilight rose into the air in front of me, her lips curving into a wicked grin.
"From one to another, another to one."
"A mark of one's destiny singled out alone, fulfilled."
"From all of us together..."
"Together, we're friends."
"With the marks of our destinies made one..." The seven of us ended the Fusion incantation in unison.
"There is magic without end!"
The sensation that coursed through my body was an unbelievable one. At that point, I realized that what I felt was the essence of truly ultimate power.
"How?" Sephiroth was only able to speak one word before I tackled him through a wall, slamming him into the silver stone floors over and over again. After hearing about five separate cracks, I removed my hand from his arm. A familiar pair of voices echoed through the room, forcing me to laugh at their exclamation.
"Surprise, motherfucker!" Benson and Vinyl jumped through the room's single window, shattering it. Benson landed on top of Sephiroth, stabbing him in the back with a weapon he couldn't have been wielding: the Blade of Artemis. Vinyl slid to a stop beside me, clutching my leg with her magic to slow herself.
"Vinyl, how'd you get here?"
"Funny story, actually. Benson got launched out of this place through a trapdoor on the roof, then he fell onto my brother's awning and landed right next to me. When I asked him what happened, he just brought me here.
Hang on just a second. What's with your hair? And why are you glowing?"
"I used a spell to infuse myself with the power of true Harmony, so that I would be able to defeat Sephiroth."
"That... is so awesome!"
"Yeah, I guess it is." I cracked my knuckles, a personal habit of mine whenever I got into a dangerous situation.
"Benson, c'mere!"
"What?"
"You ready for some more Bro Fusion?"
"Seriously?"
"No," I replied sarcastically, "I just wanted to screw around with you."
"Let's fuse up, man!"
We performed our handshake again, although it was much longer than before.
"Super Bro Fusion!"
"GO!"
This time around, our combined form had a similar style of clothing, minus the bandana. However, our gi took on a rainbow coloration, with a set of red and purple robes. Our body held a strange texture to it, almost like a shimmering rainbow. Wrapped around each of our wrists were two golden bracelets. One more seemed to have placed itself on our neck, holding a gem in the shape of a small orange apple. The final Element, that of Magic, had transformed into a simple crown, the lavender star hanging precariously between our eyes.
"What the hell is this?"
Super Bro Fusion. I said it already, so I assumed that you knew.
"Not that. I meant the jewelry."
Those are the Elements of Harmony.
"I thought the Elements were ponies!"
No, they just call them the Elements. The Elements of Harmony are a set of mystical artifacts that have been used to save Equestria four different times.
"And now it's going to be five."
"Time for a Kamehameha, Equestrian style." We charged a multicolored ball of Ki in our hand that nearly shone brighter than the sun itself.
"Ka...
Me...
Ha...
Me...
HA!" We launched the attack in a slight downward arc towards Sephiroth, creating a massive explosion that seemingly pushed him to the edge of death. We halted our flight, landing gently on the floor.
"That's what you get!" We taunted, kicking Sephiroth in the ribs. He grunted a bit and rolled away from us.
"We've got a bit of advice for you, Sephiroth. And you'd better take it.
Don't mess with Bensarrick. Tell all your friends when you get to HFIL." We fired a narrow purple beam at Sephiroth's back, swiftly ending his life. The Fusion ceased, causing us to once more become two separate beings. I picked up his Masamune, tossing it into the air and swinging my blades at it a few times. Ten shards of metal fell at my feet.
"What was that for?" Benson looked down at the diced sword in slight confusion.
"I cut it into ten pieces. One for each of the Elements, two for the Princesses, one for Vinyl, and one for my bro. I'm keeping the handle for myself."
As we strolled away from Sephiroth's dead body, I contacted someone quite important.
I finally did it, Cloud. Sephiroth is done for.
"Excellent. You certainly have a... unique form of combat."
You're damn right, I do.
"You're... not getting away!"
"What the fuck!?" I screamed in anger. "I thought we already killed you!"
"You were wrong." Sephiroth rose to his feet again, drawing a knife from his belt.
"Oh, come on! Twilight, get over here." The young mare climbed up my arm, jumping over my head as I performed the last Fusion. As I looked above me, I noticed that her eyes held a strange black and green aura, and she was grinning evilly.
Badass Twilight equals total domination. 'Nuff said.
"The battle within our soul..."
"Is simply what makes us whole."
"Without it, we are nothing."
"With it, we are everything!"
I still retained my body, minus the fact that my skin had turned purple, as did my hair. For quite a while, I hadn't noticed that I had a pair of wings protruding from my back, alongside a horn perched atop my forehead. The Element of Magic found a similar place as it had with Bensarrick. The gem attached itself to a small chain that looped underneath my horn, causing it to almost hang in front of my mouth.
"Holy crap!" Benson cackled. "You look like what would happen if Twilight and Spike had a kid!"
"Shut it." I fired a small lightning bolt at his chest, paralyzing him for a short time.
"Now, for you." I rose my hands to the sky. A massive amount of electricity poured into my palms, charging my entire body and giving my hair a bright yellow glow.
"This is your end!" Sephiroth charged at me, but I intercepted him by releasing every last bit of energy inside me with one combination of electrokinesis, Zeus' Thunder, and an immense magical discharge. Sephiroth's body disintegrated, leaving behind nothing but a charred navy blue wing spattered with blood. Twilight's body separated from me on its own. She jumped to the floor and began stomping on Sephiroth's wing, laughing sadistically.
"Twi, stop! He's dead. You're kinda beatin' a dead horse there." I bit my tongue after realizing the dangerous levels of stupidity within my comment. She turned around, giving me a look of pure rage. I slid behind her and lightly grasped her tail. A small electric jolt traveled down my arm and through Twilight's body, making her drop to the floor like a rock.
"Well, that takes care of that."
I walked forward, plucking a feather from Sephiroth's wing and slipping it into my pocket.
Chapter XVIII: Epilogue
One week later
Vinyl and I stood at the top of Sephiroth's temple. We had never figured out just how to get rid of it, so Celestia had dubbed it as a monument to our triumph. I leaned down wordlessly, allowing Vinyl to climb onto my back. She clutched my shoulders with her forelegs.
I jumped from the temple's edge, using my Jets of Helios to fly across the Canterlot skyline towards the horizon with Vinyl yelling in excitement like a kid in a candy store. The Princesses and Twilight had figured out how to send us back home, but me and Taylor stayed behind. She had made quite the legacy as a swordswoman, and of course I had Vinyl, so we were more than content here. From the Equestrian sky, I could still see the bloodstains and craters on the ground, a reminder that even though Sephiroth was dead, he had still scarred Equestria, creating a horrible and traumatic chapter in its history. However, I would try my best to erase it. That was an ambitious effort, but I wasn't going to give up just because it was difficult.
Because if people quit when things got hard, nothing exceptional would ever happen, you know?
The Best Night Ever (Mostly) (edited)
Chapter I: The Best Night Ever (Mostly)
This was awesome.
We had all just graduated from high school, and I was out with my closest friends, Benson, Chris, Max, Erika, and Taylor. We had all decided to go to Benson's house for a night of gaming, pizza, and of course, extremely NSFW jokes. We were all in the middle of our own separate games. Benson was going hard on his copy of Pokemon Y, Max was in the middle of a fast paced game of Call of Duty: Ghosts, Chris was on his computer, playing Minecraft, Taylor was playing some good ol' fashioned Zelda (Twilight Princess in particular), Erika was playing Final Fantasy X, and I was in the midst of an epic session of inFAMOUS 2.
An extremely frantic series of knocks interrupted our sessions. Chris paused his game and went to answer it. I heard a quick back-and-forth between him and whoever was at the door. He sounded really scared, like something horrible had happened to him. Finally, Chris came back with a large object in his hands that looked like some kind of stone. It was shaped like a large sun, and about the size of my head. I immediately noticed something about the stone as I looked over to Chris.
"Did anyone else notice that this thing looks like Celestia's cutie mark, or is that just a coincidence?" I aked them, giving the stone a very studious look.
"Yeah, you're right. Hey, there's a button on it!" Chris exclaimed, reaching back to press it.
"Don't press it, dumba-" Taylor yelled, lunging for the stone.
Chris had pressed the button before Taylor could finish her sentence, and we all disappeared in a flash of bright yellow light.
Dreams Fulfilled (edited)
Chapter II: Dreams Fulfilled
Chris' idiotic stunt had gotten us sent to God knows where, and we were all sitting in a lush green field, but with some differences.
Taylor was wearing a dark green tunic and hat with a pair of beige pants that were tucked into her brown fur-lined boots with an intricately designed sword in a sheath on her back underneath an equally detailed shield, and Chris was wearing a teal blue t-shirt with dark blue jeans. Max was holding a large sniper rifle with an infrared scope and had a small pistol strapped to his chest. Benson was wearing a pair of black jeans with a red and white shirt and a similarly colored hat, with a multitude of small orbs hanging from his belt. Erika had been given a set of ornate robes with a staff and ring, and I was in a simple black and yellow t-shirt paired with black cargo pants sporting a white design on the right leg, with a brown and orange sling bag on my back, multiple tattoos on my arms, and a scar on the right side of my face. The only thing that had stayed the same about my outfit was my leopard printed tennis shoes. I looked behind me, and saw that there was an interesting weapon strapped to my bag. It looked almost like a handheld Tesla Coil.
The Amp...
At that moment, I realized what had happened.
"Guys, I have no idea where the hell that stone sent us, which you can thank this dumbass for," I told them, pointing towards Chris, "but apparently it turned us into the protagonists of whatever games we were playing. Shit! Why wasn't I playing Kingdom Hearts? The one time I'm not, and instead I get turned into Cole MacGrath. Well, this is just as good, if not better. Hang on, let's see..."
I held out my left arm as blue and orange lightning began to arc across it, and a massive wave of electricity flew from my hand and struck a nearby tree, sending it about twenty feet into the air.
"Awesome! I wonder what else we can do now."
"You think that's awesome?" Chris asked. "Check this out!"
He leapt into the air, somehow pulling a stone pickaxe out of hammerspace, and began digging through the ground, then came back up sporting a look of accomplishment.
"Damn." Taylor remarked. "How about this? Toss me a block, man."
Chris chucked a block of obsidian straight at Taylor, and she quickly unsheathed her sword, cutting the block in half with almost no effort.
"What can you give us, Erika?"
Erika started to spin her staff in a circle as a fireball trailed from each end. A glyph appeared in front of the staff, and a huge chunk of the ground was now floating in the air with a humanoid shape underneath it.
Ifrit...
The Aeon removed itself from the rock and rested Erika on its shoulder while we stood there, all of us sporting shocked expressions, as she dismissed the beast.
"I think it's settled. Erika is officially the biggest badass out of us. All in favor?" a unanimous "aye" was given by the others.
"Motion carries. Erika, you are appointed Honorary Badass.
Hang on, is that what I think it is? Looks like a farm. Follow me, but put your weapons away if you can. Don't want the locals thinking we're here to kill them."
The six of us moved as a group towards the farm. Apparently, they were farming apples here. It was impossible, but me, Chris, Taylor and Erika all came to one identical thought.
Sweet Apple Acres.
We began to hear thumping and grunts of effort coming from the fields. We made it to the source of the noise, and were absolutely shocked by what we found.
A light orange earth pony with a blonde mane and a cowboy hat. A trio of apples adorned her flanks. I was the first one to snap out of it.
"Holy dickshit , we're in Equestria! That, or we're dead. I'll go with the former."
"Uh, might Ah ask who y'all are?" Applejack asked, taking a defensive stance.
"Arrick, Conduit."
"Chris, skilled Crafter."
"Erika, High Summoner and Honorary Badass."
"Taylor, Hero of Time."
"Max, semi-professional sniper."
"Benson, Pokemon Trainer."
"And, what exactly are y'all? Ya don't look like ponies ta me."
"Skilled eye, AJ."
"How do ya know mah name?"
"Uh, it's... a really long story. Either way, we're humans, and we aren't exactly sure how we got here, but we don't mind. Well, most of us. In fact, coming to Equestria has kind of been my lifelong dream!"
"Hmmm. Ah should probably take y'all to Twilight. She should know more about this than me. Follow me, Ah'll take ya to her."
We followed Applejack through Ponyville, and I noticed that there was almost nobody there. I leaned over and spoke to Erika, who was standing at my left.
"I really hope we don't get Zecora'd here, if you know what I mean." I whispered.
"Yeah. But I have a feeling we will anyway."
We had finally arrived at the Golden Oaks Library, and Applejack was waiting patiently for one of us to speak. Erika decided to do so first.
"This is where Twilight lives, right?"
"Yep. C'mon in. Just make sure ya keep... whatever those things are put away."
"Why wouldn't we?" I asked. "There's no need for weapons here, so it would just be pointless, dangerous and overly intimidating."
"Arrick, I think you 'n Twilight'll be real good friends."
Applejack opened the door and entered, yelling for Twilight, who came down the stairs as soon as she heard the calls.
"Applejack, what are these things?"
Bridle Gossip II (edited)
Chapter III: Bridle Gossip II
"So, I think that I've figured out a good point to start at. First, what are your names?" Twilight asked us, her voice dripping with curiosity.
"Arrick. I'm a Conduit with electrokinesis. These are my best friends. Guys?"
"Erika. I'm a High Summoner, skilled White Mage, and Honorary Badass."
"Chris. Not sure what to call myself. A crafter?"
"Taylor. Hero of Time, highly skilled swordswoman, master archer, all around proficient in combat and elsewhere."
"Benson. Pokemon Trainer. I carry these balls holding magical creatures that I can use to aid me in fights."
"Max. Master sniper."
"So, are the six of you some kind of group?" she inquired.
I was racking my brain trying to think of what to tell her. Finally, I figured something out.
"Yes. We're the Finest Fantasy, Number VI."
"Okay. I'm going to assume that Arrick is your leader, since he seems to be doing the most talking out of all of you."
"Excuse us for a second." I said, showing a slight bit of unease. The six of us began discussing the topic of whether or not I should be our leader.
"Well, it seems that you're right. We've decided that I should be considered the leader. Any more questions?"
"Yes. Where are you from?"
"We're from Earth. It's a world that probably can't be reached from Equestria. In fact, I'm not even sure if it's in this dimension."
"Well, then how did you get here?"
"That's what I was wondering. Some guy gave Chris a weird stone that looked like Princess Celestia's cutie mark. He pressed a button on it, and we got sent here.
Actually..." I took the bag off of my back and rummaged through it. I found at least seven Blast Cores, the Ray Field Inhibitor, eight twenty-four packs of D batteries, and finally, the stone.
"This is what sent us here. Do you know anything about it?"
"Hmmm... it looks like some kind of ancient Equestrian artifact. I'll have to look around for some info on it. For now, how about we finish my questions?"
"Sure thing."
"Okay. What are you carrying? Are they weapons?"
"Yes, actually. This is called the Amp. It gives me something to channel my powers into, which increases my effectivity in close range combat. Plus, I have all kinds of electrokinetic abilities. I can show you some later if you want."
"That would be fantastic! Erika?"
"This is called the Staff of Wisdom. It increases my magic abilities substantially, and allows me to summon powerful spirits called Aeons to assist me in battle."
"Now that I'd like to see."
"I've got a few weapons." Chris said a little proudly. "I have swords made from all kinds of materials. I've got five of them, each one made from something different. Wood, stone, iron, gold, even diamond! I've got a bow, too." he added, showing an undeserved sense of accomplishment.
"I'll say this right now, Chris is kind of disappointing." I whispered to her.
"I'm carrying a SGGS-50 Commando sniper rifle with an infared scope, an MK32 semi-automatic pistol with a super-zoom scope, four flashbangs, and a tactical knife attached to my pistol." Max said, which seemed to make her flinch a bit.
"Right here, I've got my Master Sword, the ultimate weapon-" Taylor began explaining.
"Actually, I believe that would be the Keyblade." I cut in.
"Just because you're the leader doesn't mean I can't still kick your ass, so shut up. Your powers are useless, anyway. There's not a power line in existence here!"
"I can draw power from other things, you know. Equestria does have storm clouds. That, and I could just find some stray lightning bolts in the Everfree."
"Whatever. Just let me finish, douchebag."
"Fine."
"As I was saying, the Master Sword is the ultimate weapon. It can destroy darkness itself, for God's sake! Then, there's my Hylian Shield. It's made of a powerful metal that can't be melted by normal means. The only way to destroy it is to use fire-based magic, and even then it's still not guaranteed to work. I've also got a lot of other items, like my Double Clawshots. I can use them to grapple on to ledges that I can't jump onto, grab things from a distance, I can even use them to fight, believe it or not."
"How would you do that?" Twilight wondered.
"Easy. Just shoot it at an enemy, and they'll usually pierce right through the tissue. Pretty painful, but effective."
"Okay... moving on. How do you know so much about Equestria?"
"That, you should ask anyone but me & Benson. Arrick's probably your best bet." Max explained.
"Max, you dick. Why are you throwing me under the bus like that?"
"I'm just telling her the truth!"
"Well, it's making you look like a dick."
"Just tell her already!"
"Okay."
I told Twilight everything about how, on Earth, Equestria was a TV show that all of us except Benson and Max were huge fans of, and that was how we knew so much about them. I went on to explain to her what video games were, and that we had been turned into the protagonists of the games we were playing. When I finished, she had but one question left.
"So Arrick, do you guys have anywhere to stay?"
"What do you think? We've been here for five hours."
"I might be able to find a place for you. Come with me."
"All right. Come on guys."
The eight of us, Twilight and Applejack included, walked through town once again, and I noticed that there was still nobody in the streets. Like before, Erika was standing to my right, so she was my go-to for conversation.
"Well, looks like we're getting Zecora'd." I whispered to her, simply bleeding sarcasm.
"I told you so."
"That you did. So, Twilight, where are you taking us?"
"There's some empty houses near here where you guys can move in. There's just one problem."
"What is it?"
"None of you have jobs, and I doubt anypony'll want to hire you yet."
"Ah could use some help on the farm, and Ah can pay. Maybe the rest of the girls can give them somethin' to do." Applejack had quite the idea.
"You're right." the lavender unicorn answered. "Come to think of it, Spike could use someone to take over during the day for some of his larger jobs. Any of you up for it?"
"I'll do it! I love libraries, and I can use my powers to move stuff pretty easily." I proffered.
"All right, Arrick. You can start tomorrow morning!"
"Alright!"
"I can have my Aeons help you guys out on the farm!" Erika informed them.
"Ya wanna do it, Erika?" Applejack asked as she turned back to her.
"Why would I have offered to do something I didn't want to do?"
"I can cut things really well. Maybe I could help out at Sugarcube Corner?" Taylor asked.
"I'll talk to Pinkie Pie and see about it. I'm pretty sure she'll appreciate the help."
"I can supply Rarity with fabric or something." Chris clearly wasn't too keen on getting a job.
"Alright, I can check on that."
"I have my Pokemon, and there's plenty of things they can do." Benson had an interesting thought.
"Looks like we're set. You guys go ahead and find something to do or whatever." I told them, walking towards the library.
Chapter IV: Really? A House?
The six of us had all been living with our employers until we could pool together enough bits to rent a house. It had taken us about six months, but was worth the time, especially since I had a feeling that Taylor wasn`t enjoying being roommates with Pinkie Pie. The same went for Erika and Apple Bloom.
Twilight had taken me to a small blue building with a red roof that looked almost like a house itself. We were sitting in a small room, waiting for someone. Who it was, I had no idea.
Finally, a light red pegasus mare with a straight cut black and blue mane and a somewhat unkempt, but identically colored tail walked into the room. I noticed that she was wearing a pair of black glasses and a dark pink watch. Her cutie mark was a small house over top of a dollar sign. It was obvious that she was the pony we were waiting for.
"Hello, Ms. Sparkle. I`m sorry, but... that will have to wait outside."
"Actually, hes the one that were here to talk about. This is Arrick, and he`s looking to rent a house for him and his friends."
"Hello."
I held out my hand, which she hesitantly placed her hoof on top of and shook.
"My name is Ruby Lanes. You said your name was Arrick?"
"Yes. Nice to meet you, Ruby."
"Okay, so you say you want to rent a house for you and your friends. Might I ask how many of your friends will be living here?"
"Me and five others."
"Do any of you have jobs?"
"Me and four of us. The other one will be getting a job pretty soon."
"Alright. This seems legitimate. Was there a particular home you had in mind?"
"Actually, yes. Twilight?"
"If you don`t mind, Ruby, I can take you to the house."
"Of course I don`t."
The three of us walked back to the house, which I now noticed was quite exquisite. It was three stories and mostly white, with gold trim and a deep red roof. Ruby was obviously surprised that we were planning on living here.
"Arrick, if you don`t care, would you mind telling me what particular jobs you will be working?"
"Im going to be assisting Twilight in the library, one of us is working at Sweet Apple Acres, another is helping out a the Carousel Boutique, and the last is at Sugarcube Corner. Well probably be bringing in just enough for the rent, but its all okay. So, how muchll it be?"
"This house is 860 bits a month."
"Seems reasonable. Sounds like a lot less than where I`m from."
"You speak the truth. You actually ended up getting a bit of a reduction since youve befriended an Element of Harmony who also happens to be Princess Celestias personal student."
"So, when can we move in?"
"Whenever you like."
"Thank you so much, Miss Lanes. You too, Twilight."
"This isnt everything, you know. Ive got one more surprise, but you`ll have to wait until the others get back." Twilight told me, her voice dripping with anticipation.
"Cool. Hey, do you think I could borrow that chair in your basement?"
"Sure. Just a sec."
Twilight`s horn began to glow, and instead of the chair in question, a large sofa appeared in front of the house.
"Did you mess up the spell or something?"
"No. I didn`t need this anymore, so I thought you might appreciate it."
"Thanks! If you want, you can come in. I just need to take this inside."
"Why not? I don`t have anything to do for a while."
I stepped towards the sofa and raised my arms. The familiar bolts of blue lightning began arcing across them, as it floated into the air. I moved my left arm out to the side and pulled the door open with my Electrokinetic Grasp. I levitated the sofa in and set it down at the spot where it looked the best.
"Have a seat."
"Okay. Wow, this is a lot more comfortable than I remember it being..." She said, sinking a bit further into the seat.
Twilight & I were sitting next to each other on the couch relaxing, when I decided to make a very bold move by putting my arm across her shoulders. She seemed to not mind, even welcoming the gesture, leaning up against my arm. Our light contact slowly elevated, as she began resting more of her weight on my shoulder. She barely weighed anything, probably around twenty-four pounds, but her movement was very noticable. I noticed that she hadnt said anything for a while, and looked over to see what was going on. What I saw warmed my heart. Twilight was laying comfortably against my side and had fallen asleep. She was snoring lightly, with a large smile on her face. I moved my arm a bit, and she simply wrapped her forelegs around it tightly. Seemed like she was a pretty heavy sleeper. I wasnt complaining, though. I slowly leaned a bit closer, and in a few moments, we had both fallen asleep on the couch.
Chapter V: Dat Party, Tho
I had finally woken up, and was waiting for Twilight to do the same. She looked so much more adorable than she did on a TV screen. To be honest, I was dreading that moment, because this was unimaginably comfortable.
As if she was sent just to ruin this moment, Taylor walked through the door, setting her Master Sword next to the door. When she noticed the two of us, her eyes went wide as satellites.
"Shh."
I pointed a finger in Twilight`s direction to punctuate.
"Arrick, what the hell are you doing?" She whispered.
"It`s not my fault. We were just sitting here, and she fell asleep. Then I kind of... did too?"
"Well, why didn`t you wake her up?"
"Are you kidding? Shes absolutely adorable! How could you wake this up? Plus, I dont think Luna`s going to be falling asleep next to me anytime soon, so this is like the next best thing for me!"
Our brief argument caused Twilight to stir, but not wake. I released a breath I didn`t know I was holding. Of course, Chris entered next. Just perfect.
"Oh, cool, we got a new couch. What`s up guy-HOLY SHI-
I stopped Chris` sentence by firing a small lightning bolt at him, causing him to fall to the floor, clutching his stomach.
"Shut up." I remarked quietly.
"What. The FUCK , man!? You just almost killed me! What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Hello ! I`ve got a small lavender unicorn sleeping next to me! This could be the only time it ever happens. So shut up."
Finally, Twilight woke up. When she noticed the two other people in the room, she quickly pulled away from me, blushing furiously.
"Hey, Twi. You have a nice nap?" I asked her.
"Um, maybe? Which answer will make this the least embarrassing?"
"Theres no reason to be embarrassed, unless its something we don`t know about."
"Oh. Okay. Hi Taylor, Chris. Arrick, did you do something to Chris?"
"How can I say this without sounding crazy? Well, you look absolutely adorable when youre asleep, and Chris almost woke you up, so I shocked him before he could. Hell be fine, though. I didn`t shock him enough to cause any damage. All it did was shut him up for a while."
"Okaaay ... well, Ive got something to show you guys when the others get back. Do any of you know when theyll be here?"
I decided to answer her question as I pulled a small paper out of my pocket.
"Lets see. Its 4:10. Max gets back at 4:30, Benson comes home at 5:40, and Erika gets back from Sweet Apple Acres at 4:45. Looks like we`ve got about an hour and a half. Anybody want to do something for an hour and a half?"
Twilight let out a massive squee at the mention of anything that involved planning.
"Well, Chris is probably going to be out for a while, but I can find something for the rest of us to do!" She exclaimed, pulling a scroll and quill from hammerspace.
"Actually, I have an idea. Taylor, how about a duel?"
"You`re on."
"Twilight, you mind judging for us?"
"Of course I don`t!"
"Alright. Taylor, grab your sword. I know exactly where to go. But first, there`s a few ponies I need to talk to."
I had gathered a fairly large group of spectators: Lyra, the Crusaders, Rainbow Dash, Vinyl Scratch, and even Carrot Top. Pinkie Pie had invited herself, and had pulled a lawn chair and multiple bags of popcorn out of her mane. I had no idea how she did that, but it sure was awesome. Spike had asked me if he could announce the match and of course, I gave him the honors.
"Fillies and gentlecolts, please welcome the combatants! On this side, we have Arrick, the Conduit, whatever that means!
On the other side, we have Taylor, the borderline superhero!"
I looked around, and noticed that all the ponies except Rainbow Dash, Twilight and Scootaloo were cheering like crazy for Taylor. Was it really that big of an event to them? For us, it was just a time killer.
Oh well. To each their own.
"Are you ready?"
Taylor and I both gave the young dragon a determined nod.
"Three...
Two...
One...
BEGIN! "
Taylor charged, sword and shield drawn as I simply waited while grasping my Amp loosely. She swung, and I parried her attack with my Amp and tried to counterattack, which hit nothing but shield. I recovered quickly, then backflipped away before she could land another hit. I charged up my powers and fired a stream of lightning bolts straight in front of me. She blocked nearly every shot, but the last one struck her stomach. I took the moment to send out a hooked chain of electricity, which wrapped around Taylor`s midsection and brought her about three inches away from me. I spun powerfully, Amp outstretched, and knocked her onto the ground. I used my Electrokinetic Grasp to lift her into the air and she began struggling to the point of almost breaking away. I tossed her about six feet into the air, and fired an Electric Blast, which sent her flying into the crowd, nearly landing right on top of Lyra. Taylor immediately brushed herself off and fired her Clawshot at the ground in front of me. She was pulled through the air and landed, swinging her sword in a horizontal arc. I was almost hit, but I jumped into the air and swung another electric hook to the left, which knocked her to the ground. I landed on my feet and ended the duel, holding my Amp to her neck.
"And the winner is... Arrick!"
"Well, Tay, looks like Conduits are superior to Hylians."
"I told you not to call me that."
"Whatever, Tay."
"Screw you."
"No thanks. You`re not my type."
"You know what I meant!"
The others had gotten back before us and joined the crowd. Apparently, Erika was the only one rooting for me.
"Hey guys, Twilight said that she had another surprise for us, so we should probably head back to the house. Right Twi?" I inquired.
"Actually, no. Come on."
"You heard the mare!" I yelled. "Let`s go!"
We followed Twilight to a small, inconspicuous black building. The sign on the front read "Vinyl`s Cave ".
"Is this where the surprise of yours is?" I asked.
"Yep! It`s even better on the inside!"
We entered the building, and all I saw was a well-lit room with a door in the back. Twilight led us through the door, and I was absolutely overjoyed. The building was about three times as large as it looked. The room was almost pitch black, save for the multitude of strobe lights flashing through the room. There was a massive crowd of ponies all obviously enjoying themselves, crowding around a white unicorn with an electric blue mane.
Vinyl Scratch. The one enjoyable musician here, and my main source of electricity.
The music in the room was a type that I was quite familiar with, and was happy to hear.
Dubstep. Fuck yeah!
"Ahhhhhhhh... YEAH!" I screamed with joy.
There was a huge banner above Vinyl`s station that read, "Welcome Home, Finest Fantasy VI!".
"Twilight, did you organize all this?" I asked her doubtfully.
"Well, Rainbow Dash was the one who got Vinyl to perform for you guys, since they`re apparently really good friends. Pinkie got the banner and the food, and of course, Vinyl brought the music!"
"This is amazing! Thank you so much!"
"It really wasn`t that hard."
"I know, but it`s the thought that counts, and this was definitely one awesome thought!"
The music stopped, and Vinyl Scratch prepared to speak.
"Alright, everypony, our guests of honor are here! Arrick, Chris, Erika, Taylor, Benson, Max, get your flanks up here!"
We all ran to the stage as the crowd split in half to allow us passage, and made it there in very different, but equally showoff-y ways. Taylor fired her Clawshots at the stage and pulled herself up, I threw a Lightning Hook at a bar on the ceiling, then dropped and used my Static Thrusters to float onto the platform, and Chris ran at a median pace while laying down blocks to form a rudimentary staircase. Erika summoned her Aeon Valefor and flew onto the stage. Benson threw a Pokeball on the ground and somehow rode his Aegislash like a skateboard, and Max simply threw a flashbang at the ground, then appeared on the stage.
"Hey guys, you got anypony you wanna give a shout-out to?"
This was my chance to be recognized in Ponyville.
"Yes, I do. Id like to thank Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Shining Gem, Ruby Lanes, Time Turner, Monolith, Celestia, Luna, and of course, the random guy that got us sent here. You might not be in the crowd, but just know that without you, we wouldnt be here today!"
I leaned down and asked Vinyl a question.
"Do you think that you could do something for me?"
"Anything for a friend."
I went through my bag and pulled out something I`d just found yesterday. A case containing a CD.
"First of all, can you play this?"
"Of course, man! It don`t have to be a record for Vinyl to scratch it!"
"Okay. Play this, but turn it to track 5."
"Seems easy enough."
Vinyl began playing the CD , and the entire crowd went insane.
"Dude, they`re going wild for this! What is it?"
"It`s a musician from my world, Skrillex."
"Could I borrow this after the party? I could mix this into something even more epic!"
"I dont care. Go for it. You know youre my only source of enjoyable music around here, so I can`t exactly risk pissing you off."
"You are right about that. Thanks, Arrick. You`re pretty awesome, you know that?"
"Why wouldnt I? Its pretty hard for the best musician in Equestria to not bring out her friends` inner awesomeness."
"Come here, you!"
I knelt down, and Vinyl wrapped her forelegs around my neck, pulling me into a hug. I`ve got to say, Vinyl really was my best friend in Equestria.
Chapter VI: Dat Blackout, Tho
Vinyls party had lasted until about 5:00 in the morning, when the only people or ponies left were me, Chris, Rainbow Dash, her and Pinkie Pie. Technically, Chris didnt count, because he had passed out in a wooden cabin that he had built, and I really didn`t feel like taking him home. One of the most unusual things about Equestria was that there was practically no drinking age, and the alcohol here tasted like apples. Probably hard cider. We were all drunk out of our minds, and had been listening to The Best of Skrillex for hours. Finally, I was able to compose a sentence.
"Vinyl, your parties are the best ."
"Yeah, brah. I cant remember the last time I partied this hard. Youre kinda the reason why I didn`t leave yet."
"What do you mean?"
Instead of speaking, Vinyl simply lunged forward, giving me a long, drunken kiss.
"What. The. Fuck , man? What was that for?"
"Are you mad at me?"
To be honest, I was, but just a little bit. Plus, the look on her face was just too much to be angry at. That, and I was hammered out of my mind, so I didn`t give a shit about anything.
"Nah, man. Its all good. TBH, it wasnt that bad, even though we`re both drunker than Berry Punch on a friday night."
"Okay. It really wasn`t that bad?"
"Are you fucking kidding me? That was awesomer than you are!"
"Im pretty sure youre bullshitting me now. I may be drunk, but I`m still good at telling when ponies are lying."
"I`m not lying! That was epic."
"Uh, Vinyl?" Pinkie Pie attempted to get her attention.
"Pinkie? Where did you come from?" I asked her.
"Why did you just kiss Arrick?"
"Mind your own business, bitch." Vinyl spat back at her.
"Don`t you think that was a little harsh?"
"Looking back on it, yeah. But whats done is done. Besides, Ill apologize to her later."
"Okay. Also-"
I had blacked out before I could finish talking.
Chapter VII: Dat Hangover, Tho
I woke up, still in the club. Chris was sitting in a chair, drinking a strange blue liquid that was probably a hangover cure. I made a mental note to get some of that from whoever made it. Pinkie was fast asleep on top of a giant cake, for some reason.
I felt something stir in front of me.
Oh, shit. Don`t tell me...
I was laying in the floor behind the DJ station with Vinyl Scratch sleeping soundly in my arms.
Please don`t tell me we...
I went back through my memories of last night, up until I blacked out. I was pretty sure that nothing had happened last night, but I couldn`t be sure.
I decided to make a brave, but slightly dickish move and nudge her awake.
"Vinyl. Vinyl. Wake up."
"Huh? Oh, shit . We didn`t... you know?"
"No. I dont think so. But Ive got a hangover that would probably make a unicorn`s horn explode."
"Same here. Ow! I can`t even stand up."
"Hang on, let me see if I can still do this."
I lifted my arms to begin using my Electrokinetic Grasp on Vinyl, but stopped immediately to keep my skull from cracking.
"Sorry. Looks like I can`t use my powers with a hangover."
"Its okay. I got used to this pretty quickly. Its just one downside to being a musician."
"Hey Chris?"
"Huh? Arrick? I thought you left."
"No, I blacked out back here. Where`d you get that?"
"I went to see Applejack, and she made some for both of us. I guess she`s a bit of a lightweight."
"Okay. Well Vinyl, looks like we`re going to Sweet Apple Acres."
"Cool. Let`s go."
As Vinyl and I began on our trip to Sweet Apple Acres, the silence between the two of us became almost painful.
"Hey Vinyl?"
"Yeah?"
"About last night... was that whole "kiss" thing for real, or were we both just really drunk?"
"A little bit of both. But it was about 95% for real."
"Ah. So, if you were sober, would you still have done it?"
"Probably."
"Cool. You want to, I don`t know, go get something to eat later?"
"You mean, like a date?"
"Only if you want it to be."
Chapter XV: The Beginning
I was lucky. Today I didnt have a hangover, and I was in my own house. I looked at the clock, seeing that it was already 5:30 in the afternoon. It was Saturday, Twilight didnt need me today, and I had no idea what to do, so I decided to do what I always did when I had nothing else on my plate. I sat up in my bed, standing up and walking downstairs only to sit back down on the sofa.
"Haven`t played this baby in a while. Well, what better time than now?"
I levitated the God of War III disk into my PlayStation, and the controller into my hands. I was getting quite adept with the whole "levitation" thing and it was definitely beginning to show. A knock sounded at the door. Assuming it was Twilight, I turned the system off before going to the door. I felt absolutely horrible when she saw me playing Silent Hill, and it was tame compared to God of War.
"Hey Twi. What`s up?" I felt a genuine sense of curiosity, and my voice did nothing to hide it.
"I`ve got something amazing to tell you. Can you get everypony together for me?"
"Sure thing."
I ran upstairs, gathering my friends along the way, and came back.
"So, what do you need?" Benson asked, sitting in a black wooden chair.
"Well," Twilight began as we braced ourselves for another lecture. "Ive figured out how I can give you all a second set of powers. Two problems: the spell is *highly* experimental, so I have no idea whats going to happen if it fails, and I can only cast it on two of you. So, who`s brave enough to try it?"
Benson and I stood up, ready for anything. We readied the sources of our new abilities, mine a copy of God of War III, and his a copy of Destiny.
"Alright you guys, stand still for a second."
Twilight crouched down as her horn began to glow with the shine of a miniature sun. A moment later, we were still standing, but looked slightly different. My skin had retained its light brown color, but I now had a blood red tattoo running across my body. A pair of wickedly spiked, yellow glowing blades hung magically at my back. A chain attached to each blade wrapped around my wrists, but not bound to them like the Blades of Chaos. I felt an indescribable power running through my veins.
The power of the gods. Whoa. Trippy!
I looked once again to the swords on my back, moving to a lightning bolt shaped scar on my right palm, then to a sea blue wave scrawled on the back of my left hand.
The Blades of Exile. Zeus` Thunder. The Rage of Poseidon.
"Awwwww... YEAH! I`m black Kratos, bitches!" I exclaimed, pumping a fist into the air.
Benson`s outfit was changed to one I was very unfamiliar with, but remembered him talking about. The clothes of a Warlock. I could feel his body radiating magical energy, and the guns he carried were no different. Slung over his back was a chrome plated sniper rifle. Holstered to his thighs were a pair of blood red pistols with a strange symbol emblazoned on the sides of the barrels. They looked almost like...
Triforces?
"Hey Benson, what are those symbols on your pistols? They look kind of like Triforces."
"They`re just random designs."
Twilight turned back to us, her expression turning grim.
"Sadly, theres some bad news. I did as much research as possible, and I found out who sent you here, but Ive never heard of him. Maybe you might have. Do you know the name..." She levitated a piece of paper from her saddlebag, unfolding it. "Sephiroth?"
"DAFUQ!?" I shouted at the top of my lungs.
Erika, Benson, and I all gasped at the name, but everyone else was completely in the dark. I turned around to inform them on just what kind of threat we were dealing with.
"Have any of you guys played Final Fantasy VII? Well, Sephiroth was the games antagonist, and you have no idea just how dangerous he is. He obliterated an entire village with a swing of his sword, and at one point, he nearly became a *god*. We need to stop him before he destroys this world like he nearly did to his. Now, whos with me?"
"Sorry," Max commented. "I really don`t want to die today."
"Same here." Taylor added.
"Fuck Sephiroth, I`m Spiderman." Chris spouted randomly.
"You can take him yourself, right?" Erika asked doubtfully.
The only people in the room who stood by me were Benson and Twilight.
"Nobody else? Really ? Fine! Looks like we`re taking Sephiroth on alone ." I declared, pounding a fist against my palm to emphasize the word alone .
"Actually, we still have the Elements and the Princesses." Twilight reminded us. I had completely forgotten about them.
"Youre right. Theyll be invaluable to this mission. Well, if the rest of you are going to be a bunch of pussies, then, to paraphrase Eric Cartman, screw you guys, I`m gonna kill Sephiroth."
The three of us left the house, stopping a few yards from the door.
"Alright, you two head to the train station, and I`ll gather the Elements. Then, we can all head to Canterlot and find out just where this Sephiroth is." Twilight informed us as she trotted away towards Sugarcube Corner. I turned back to Benson, a ponderous look spreading across my features.
"So Benson, looks like its me, you, the Elements of Harmony and the Princesses of Equestria versus Sephiroth. You do realize that theres almost no chance of us winning this battle."
"I know, but at least we can say that we died fighting instead of hiding. I, for one, dont intend to die, but its still a possibility. You know that, right?"
"Yeah. Well, isnt this grand. Two best friends, taking a stand against an enemy whos probably going to kill them, but still doing it for the greater good. God, this is corny. We should go now."
"Probably."
The two of us made it to the train station in just a few minutes. Alongside our new powers came improvements to our other abilities, and it was no small boost. Twilight and the rest of the girls came running down towards us, carrying our tickets in her magic. I noticed that there were eight of us, but she only had five tickets.
"Hey, you do know that there`s eight of us, right?" I asked her, clearly being sarcastic.
"Yeah. Funny story. I... couldn`t exactly buy more than five tickets under one name. Then again, we have two pegasi, and you can fly, so..."
Really? Equestria is on the brink of an apocalypse, and yet they still have limits on how many tickets Princess grandmotherfucking Celestia`s personal student can buy? Bunch of douchebags!
"I see where youre going. Well see you guys at the Canterlot station. Yo, Dash, `Shy, you coming?"
The two of them trotted over towards me, standing on either of my sides.
"So, how fast can you fly?" Rainbow Dash asked me, obviously being sarcastic.
"That depends. You know a mare named Lightningstreak?"
"Yeah. She`s pretty light on her feathers." She replied.
"I could fly fast enough to beat her in a race. That enough for you?"
"Seems legit."
I charged my Static Thrusters and noticed that they had been changed exponentially. Instead of creating streams of lightning that pushed me through the air, they had been changed to streams of white-hot fire that crackled with electricity. Before I took off, I decided to change their name from Static Thrusters to something much more similar to something you would see in a God of War game: The Jets of Helios.
The three of us took off towards Canterlot, my Jets of Helios giving me triple the speed in half the time.
Chapter XVI: Continuation
Fire. Death. Blood. Sephiroth .
We arrived in Canterlot only to find that Sephiroth had beat us there and was flying through the sky, raining Meteor spells across the city and occasionally diving down to cut apart a group of citizens. The once beautiful sidewalks of Canterlot were now dotted with craters and spattered with the blood of innocent ponies. My very soul was boiling with a massive pool of unbridled rage, and my shout reflected it clearly.
"Sephiroth! Leave them alone! Come down here and fight me like a man, you soulless bastard!"
He flew down onto the street and landed a few feet away from us. I turned to the others, my lips curving into a wicked smile.
"Go get the princesses. I`ll hold him off."
"But he`s going to kill you!" Twilight cut in.
"No, he wont. Ill make sure of that. Now go!"
They ran, and I drew my Blades of Exile, turning back to Sephiroth.
"So, it looks like your mouth overpowered your common sense. No bother, this will be over soon." He taunted, readying his Masamune. I crouched down and prepared to block his first attack. The sky darkened, and I almost felt like there was something telling me exactly what to do.
"Don`t you know when to quit?" He asked as he charged at me and used Flash. I blocked the attack with a massive spinning slash, hitting him in the back and knocking him onto the ground. I ran towards Sephiroth and swung a blade upward, knocking him into the air as I jumped up towards him, slashing with every bit of power I could muster. After numerous slashes, he teleported away and reappeared behind me. I spun around, countered the attack, and ran a blade through his chest, twisting it before pulling the weapon from his body. Sephiroth shouted in pain as I began to repeatedly impale him with the Blades of Exile until they caught on fire and I began slashing again. I frontflipped, bringing the blades onto their chains and slammed him onto the ground, leaving a trail of blood through the air behind him. He landed against the concrete with a loud thud, creating a hole in the ground. Sephiroth rose to his knees to address me, a thin line of blood trickling from his mouth.
"You truly think that you can defeat me? You need to realize that I am supreme. I reign over all !" He began cackling like a madman as a gigantic mound of stone rose up underneath him. At this exact moment, my friends came running through the city, Celestia and Luna trailing behind them. They stopped as we all witnessed what Sephiroth had risen from the ground: a temple shaped like an immense cube resting on its vertex. Sephiroth flew into the air and fell downward, straight into the temple`s core.
"Well, looks like we`re heading that way." I declared, thrusting a blade outward toward the temple. "Sephiroth, here. We. Come!" I started to run to the door, but was caught by a golden magic field. Celestia walked towards me as she released me from her telekinesis.
"Wait just a moment. If you think that youre going to enter that temple and fight him yourself, then youre going to be disappointed."
"Celestia, I have to do this myself. I started the battle with my own powers, and I have to finish it with my own powers. But," I continued, forming a shit-eating grin. "my friends are a large part of my power. Let`s go, everyone!"
"Wait," Twilight stepped in. "Shouldn`t we have a plan before we go in?"
"Youre right. Lets have everybody go through here in one group of four and two groups of three. Celestia, Twilight and Rainbow Dash, you three form a group. Benson, Fluttershy and Rarity, you three form a group. Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Luna, you guys go with me. Everybody good with that?"
A simultaneous "Yes" was given by the group, followed by a reluctant one from Benson.
"Alright, let`s do this!"
Chapter X: The Entrance
I used ZeusThunder to break through the temples door. We walked through and were greeted by a massive darkened room, the only illumination being a series of torches at the top of the walls. Seven braziers stood in the rooms center. Only one was lit, its fires glowing an unnerving black. Eight doors surrounded us. One of them contained six divots, each one holding a piece of jewelry nearly identical to the Elements of Harmony, but their colors were greatly distorted. The golden coloration of each Elements necklace (Or tiara in Twilight`s case) were now the same all-consuming black as the central brazier. The dark Elements literally seemed to be draining most of the light from the room, leaving just enough to see. There was a final divot in the center of the circle created by the jewelry. This one contained a miniature black Blade of Exile. Each of the divots was glowing with that same horrid black color.
"I really don`t like the looks of this place." Fluttershy declared before trying to run out the door. I caught her with my electrokinesis and set her back down behind Rainbow Dash.
"Nobody`s going anywhere until Sephiroth is dead." I stated flatly. On the inside, I was battling with a slew of emotions ranging from shock to anger, and finally, back to the pit of my soul which just barely contained the raging fires of hell. It almost looked as if a small flame burned in each of my pupils. I saw that all of the doors except the central one were marked with the cutie marks of the Elements of Harmony, but each one was overtaken by that damned black fire.
Where is this fire coming from? Maybe these doors lead to a place that has something to do with it.
"I think that I know what these doors are here for." I told them all. "Each one is engraved with the Elementscutie marks. If I take one of you in through each door, then maybe theres some kind of task to perform in there that will eventually result in the center door opening."
"How did you figure that out?" Benson probed.
"Classic video game logic and a Brony`s intuition. Maybe you should get some of it."
"So which one of us are you starting with?" Twilight asked, giving me a curious look.
"That`s a difficult one." I mulled over the decision for a moment.
"Fluttershy, let`s go."
Chapter XI: Fluttershy`s Hall
"You ready, Fluttershy?" I asked her, stepping towards the door.
"I-I guess so. I`m just not sure if this is going to be a very good idea. There could be monsters in there."
"You do realize that if there are, I can get rid of them faster than you can say 'die'?"
"If you say so. But, could you please try not to kill them? If you don`t mind?"
"Sure." I said with a hint of sarcasm, smirking just a bit.
I stepped forward and opened the door, revealing a large almost throne room-like area with bright yellow flooring and walls painted with a butterfly motif.
"This is beautiful." She said, staring at the architecture with her jaw dropping.
A strange disembodied voice spoke from above us.
Greetings, young warrior. I hold for you a test of physical and mental fortitude. Defeat my monster, and I will grant you my prize. Do you accept?
"Bring it on!"
Good. Now, defeat my finest combatant. But I warn you, this battle will not be won by sheer force alone.
A wall of purple magic energy formed behind me, separating me and Fluttershy. The ground split and revealed a titanic monster that seemed to be a mechanical suit of armor with two weapons, one of them a club the size of a small tree and the other an equally sized sword.
"Holy fuckin` ass crackers! How the hell am I supposed to kill this thing!?"
You must find a way to defeat the Ultima Gemini, or you will die.
"Just fuh-reakin` great! I am officially screwed."
The monster slammed its club into the ground in front of me, sending out a large wave of electricity. I dodged the attack and tried to fly onto its back, but it knocked me away with a fluid motion of its club. The Ultima Gemini was deceptively fast.
Oh God, this hurts!
"Eat lightning!" I yelled, throwing Zeus` Thunder at the machine. It blocked the attack. Instead of my previous attack, I switched to something faster, throwing a flurry of lightning bolts at it. This time I hit home. The Ultima Gemini fell to its knees. I dove towards its neck and slashed with all my power, causing the metal monster to fall onto its back.
Yes! it`s working!
I flew as high into the air as the ceiling would allow me and fell back down, completely decapitating the beast. I heard a horrid grinding sound coming from behind me. Turning around, I saw the Ultima Gemini`s head reattaching to its body.
What the hell, man!?
"Damn you!" I shouted, flying around its body and slashing wildly. It kept trying to swing at me but was always denied by my Blades of Exile. Finally, I extended my blades to their full length (which was about thirty feet) and used a fully-powered Cyclone of Chaos to vertically bifurcate the Ultima Gemini, completely slicing its body in half from head to toe. It didn`t regenerate.
For about fifteen seconds.
"God-fucking-dammit! Why won`t you die!?"
It tried to attack me with its sword. From what I could tell, it was getting stronger and faster every time I killed it.
This might be a losing battle. Wait! A battle of physical and mental fortitude. I got it!
I stopped right in front of the Ultima Gemini.
"You will obey me, now !"
The iron beast looked at me quizzically for a moment before bowing to me.
Woohoo!
"I command you to leave!"
It turned around and walked away, breaking through the wall. The magic field dissipated.
"All right! It worked!" I exclaimed joyfully, pumping my fist into the air.
"How did you figure that out?" Fluttershy inquired. She looked genuinely curious.
"Well, when that voice said 'a battle of physical and mental fortitude', I realized that the only fortitude I had been using up until that point was physical, so I simply overpowered it with words instead of blades."
Excellent. You have defeated the Ultima Gemini. I now give you your prize.
A beam of light shone down on me and Fluttershy. In front of me was an orb of yellow energy, and in front of her was a bright yellow gem shaped like her cutie mark.
"I wonder what this is for..." We both wondered simultaneously. We looked at each other, then back to our prizes, picking them up and walking back towards the door. Before we left I noticed two things. First of all, the door was locked. Second, there was a strange glow emanating from the hole that the Ultima Gemini had made. I reversed my direction, the light growing brighter as I got closer. When it almost became too bright to bear, the light disappeared, revealing another gem identical to Fluttershy`s, but the same pink color as her mane.
"Interesting."
I ran back to her side. looking at her with a twinkle in my eye.
"Hand me that gem, please." She passed me the small quartz-like stone. I held the two gems up at the door. A beam of light shot from each one before converging on the door and unlocking it. As we continued through the door, the voice from before spoke again.
Place the orb against your blade.
I did so, and the orb of light was absorbed by my Blades of Exile, giving them a slight yellow tinge.
Now, place the pink gem within the door`s sigil.
When we exited the room I placed the pink butterfly stone in the symbol on the door, creating a bright pink outline of Fluttershy`s cutie mark where it was once black.
Chapter XIX: Rarity's Hall
"So, what exactly could you do in here that would demonstrate your powers and the Element of Generosity?" Rarity asked as we walked through the massive room. I was thinking the exact same thing.
"I have absolutely no idea. I have extremely violent tendencies, I never show mercy in combat, I basically have done nothing related to anything generous."
"That's exactly what I was thinking. Perhaps a test of your inability to show mercy? That could still incorporate your powers."
"Seems legit. Wait just a fuckmothering minute! What is that?"
"There is no reason for such vulgarit-well rut me with Luna's sacred horn!"
We both ran over to a large shrine in the room's center. It was a stack of beautifully designed white marble blocks almost three times my height and topped with three gems shaped identically to Rarity's cutie mark.
"My goodness!" Rarity remarked. "These stones are just divine ! And those gems! Who made this? I must meet them! Arrick, my dear, could you do me a favor and grab those gems? Pleeeeeaase ?" She fluttered her eyelashes as she begged, almost as if she thought it would persuade me.
"You do realize that no matter how cute you try to look, it won't have an affect on me. Sure, you're freakin' adorable, but it's not enough to make me do something that dangerous. With my luck, when I fall off that thing, I'm going to break my neck. Sorry, Rare."
"Do not call me that! There is only one pony who I can stand to hear that come from, and you are definitely not her!"
"Her , huh?" I raised my eyebrow suggestively at Rarity, eliciting a moderately deep blush from the mare.
"N-Never mind that! Just get the darned gems!"
"One question."
"Yes?"
"Who is she?"
"Get the gems and I'll tell you!"
"Okay!"
I flung one of my Blades of Exile towards a ledge on the pillar and pulled myself up. At the notch's lip, I released my blade, grasped the top of the pillar with all my might, and frontflipped onto it. I picked up the three gems.
"Rarity, catch!" I tossed them to Rarity, who caught them with her magic. The dark purple gems looked quite beautiful in her almost cyan magic aura.
"So, who is this mare?" I asked, swinging back down beside her.
"Fine." She grumbled. "Okay, that mare I was talking about was..." She trailed off at the end of her sentence.
"I'm sorry?"
"It`s... Applejack , okay! I've been borderline obsessed with her for three years now, and I was thinking about telling her. Is that good enough for you?"
"Yep."
"Just, please don't tell her. Please?"
"My lips are sealed."
That same voice from Fluttershy's hall spoke to me again.
We meet again, Hero of Equestria. Tell me, what was it that the unicorn just told you?
"I'm not telling you!"
Oh, well. I guess I will have to force the answer out of you...
That second, an unholy pain shot through my entire body, forcing me to the floor. I couldn't move, and the only sound I could make was a pained scream. An unseen force lifted me into the air.
Tell me, or you will die!
"N-N-No! I don`t care if you kill me! If I tell you Rarity's secret just to protect myself, that would be pure selfishness!"
"Listen to me!" Rarity called out. "I don't care if you tell him! Just save yourself! You`re completely overreacting to this! It's just a foalish little secret!"
"Shut up, Rarity! I-I-I'm not going to tell him! I promised! I'm not that self- OH MY FUCKING GOD, IT HURTS!"
"Tell him! Now!" She used a spell to amplify her voice.
"Rarity, will you just shut the hell up and listen for once!? I know what I'm doing! Just. Trust. Me!"
The pain nearly became too much to bear. Finally, it subsided. I fell to the ground with an unceremonious thud.
If you will not tell me, then I will destroy you. However, I will not do it with my own hands, but with a certain warrior of mine. He is not as powerful as the Ultima Gemini, but he is still strong in a different way.
A tornado of smoke formed in front of me, transforming into a ghostly version of Sephiroth. He rose his sword and charged at me. His attack was denied and returned by a flurry of lightning bolts exploding against his back and slamming him into a wall. I moved forward, quickly impaling the ghost on my Blades of Exile. With a swift motion, I threw him into another wall. 'Sephiroth' turned around and was caught by my blades flying downward in a V shape and creating an identically shaped cut in his neck. I pulled backwards with all my might, sending his head to the ground. The apparition's head floated back into the air, reforming his body.
"Dammit." I whispered. The ghost swung at me a few times. It almost looked like he was missing on purpose. His head extended out towards me and embedded itself in my chest, causing the rest of his body to disappear into me. I fell to my knees and passed out.
I awoke standing in complete darkness. The only thing I could see was what looked like a gigantic screen in front of me. I heard the spectral Sephiroth's voice, but I couldn't see him.
"Watch, young weakling. This is what will happen if you do not give in now."
The large screen shifted, showing an image of Rarity standing in the hall, trying to wake me up to no avail. An immense shadow in the shape of a wolf formed behind her, but she didn't notice until it was almost too late. The shadow lunged forward, but Rarity dashed out of the way and picked my body up with her telekinesis.
She ran away, right into a corner.
"Rarity!" I shouted as the shadow crept towards her. She stood in the corner, paralyzed with fear and grasping my body tightly.
"Get that thing away from her!" I ordered the ghost. There was no answer.
The screen shifted again, this time showing Vinyl Scratch standing in the middle of her bedroom with something in her magic. Upon closer inspection, I realized that it was a large kitchen knife. I could hear her voice as it floated ever closer to her neck.
"It's true. He's dead. That bastard Sephiroth took him from me!" She was sobbing loudly as she spoke. I could hear Octavia pounding on the door and yelling for Vinyl.
"I'll see you again soon. In just a few more seconds..."
"No! Vinyl!" A lone tear fell from my eye. The screen changed again.
"Damn you!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.
Now the screen held a visual of the Elements standing in a corner while the wolf shadow dove at them. The screen went black for a moment. When it returned, I saw a haunting vision that I still remember to this day.
The Elements of Harmony wearing those dark necklaces, and Vinyl Scratch standing in a perfectly straight line. Their bodies all had been horribly mutilated.
Twilight's horn was snapped off her head and driven straight through her left eye. The other was now a spiraling abyss of black with a single red dot in its center. Blood flowed from both of her eyes and her wide-open mouth, which was now filled with bloodstained fangs.
Pinkie Pie looked almost like her 'other self', Pinkamena. Her mane and tail were deflated and coated in blood. Her eyes were similar to Twilight's in appearance, but they were literally hanging out of their sockets. She was missing her right foreleg, but I finally saw that it was lodged into her throat.
Applejack stood perfectly still. Her entire body was coated in blood. Her left eye was sliced in half, as was her left ear. The other ear was jammed into her mouth. The same went for what was apparently her heart, if the giant hole in her chest and the pool of blood around her legs was anything to go by. She was no longer wearing her hat.
It was sticking out of her neck.
Rainbow Dash's wings had been messily chopped off and wrapped around her neck like a scarf. Her forelegs were now jammed into the spots that her wings previously occupied. She was crying blood, which formed into a pool around her body. She had the same blood-spraying mouth as Twilight, but with even more fangs.
Rarity's horn was also removed, but I could not even describe where it now was. A bolt of cloth was wrapped around her throat, and she had a diamond shoved into both of her eyes. All four of her legs had been cut off and now occupied her bleeding mouth. A large amount of her skin was gone, but I had no idea where it was.
Fluttershy was standing in a pile of dead and dismembered animals with a pair of bloody rabbit ears replacing her own. Her intestines hung freely from her underside, blood dripping out of her body. She had the heads of three rabbits stuck inside of her fanged mouth, and was wearing a necklace made from numerous bird beacks and other animal bones.
Vinyl's horn was stabbed through her neck. Her throat was slit, with the knife in question impaled through the top of her skull. She had records buried in various parts of her midsection, and one hung from her mouth. The worst part, though, was that she could still talk.
"Why did you have to leave me?" She was still sobbing as she talked, just like in the video.
"Vinyl, I... I didn't leave you for anything. I'm still here, and I'm trying to save you all."
"No, you aren't! You left me without even saying a word! I thought that you were the love of my life, but I guess I just fell for some other idiot that would leave me after a few days, just like always. I can't even look at you anymore without wanting to kill you."
"W-W-What the hell..." I couldn't look at this any longer. I fell to the ground, clutching my stomach, and began retching violently. I hadn't eaten anything in about a day, so not very much happened.
"Goodbye." Vinyl said flatly.
"Before you go, I need to tell you something.
I've realized something. Sephiroth has ruined this world. In no more than a day, the beautiful and idyllic place that Equestria once was has become a distant memory. I will fight to make Equestria's bright and innocent past its future again, even if it means fighting against immeasurably stacked odds until there is nothing left of me, for nothing more than the purpose of saving you. I will persevere, making Equestria a better place again one battle at a time. And then, when I am too broken to go on, I will drag my dying body right down the throat of the darkness that has overtaken this world and make it choke on me. Do you hear that, Sephiroth? No matter what you throw at me, I will not give up! I will destroy you even if it costs me my life! But I will not just kill you. I will obliterate your will, and tear your very existence to pieces! You will feel my wrath! I swear it upon my life!"
I threw Zeus' Thunder at the screen, causing it to explode in a shower of sparks. A large portal erupted from its center and pulled me in.
"Wake up! Please, wake up!" I could just barely hear Rarity yelling in my face.
"DAFUQ!?" I screamed, jolting up off of my back and headbutting Rarity.
"What was that for!?" She questioned angrily, slapping me in the face with great strength.
"Damn, that hurts! I should be asking you the same thing! Wait. Rarity? You're still alive? Then that means..."
"What does it mean?"
"I was having this dream... or was it a dream at all? It felt so... so real."
"What dream?"
"You... really don't wanna know. The things I have just seen would kill lesser men." She gave me a dubious look at the end of my sentence.
"Or women." I added sarcastically.
"Whatever. Wait a moment. What is that?" She pointed to a pair of gems just like the ones from the tower shaped like her cutie mark, one purple and the other white. Beside me was a white orb of light, similar to the one from Fluttershy's hall.
"Sweet!" I picked up the orb, tossed it into the air, and slammed my blade against the light, giving the weapon a white tinge that seemed to intermingle with the yellow. I picked up the two gems and stepped towards the door. Outside I could hear something that sounded almost like...
"Screaming? Holy balls. Rarity, we need to get out of here!" I placed the purple gem into the door. Nothing. I pushed it with all my might. Still nothing.
"Fuck my life! Rarity, get over here and help me!" The two of us pushed against the door, but nothing happened at all. We were screwed.
Wait a minute. If I have Kratos' powers, then maybe...
"Gods of Olympus, I beg of you, heed my call!"
With a massive roar, a cyan aura enveloped my body. My Blades of Exile transformed into a one gigantic golden sword that appeared almost like a claymore.
The Blade of Olympus...
I swung the Blade of Olympus in two diagonal lines, halving the door. Before it could even fall over, I shoulder-rammed the door and broke through it. Outside, the Elements huddled together in a corner while Benson fought off a swarm of Undead Legionaries with his Pokemon.
"Senpai, look out!" Benson shouted before one of the skeletal soldiers tried to bash his Alakazam in the head with his shield. The Pokemon returned the attack by levitating the monster's shield into the air with Psychic and decapitating him with it. I took out three more with an electric grenade. After the kills, I continued charging through the crowd, slaughtering more of the monsters. With a powerful flourish, I began jumping and running off the walls, slashing at them randomly, then backflipped onto the ceiling, dove to the ground, and impaled my sword in the ground, sending an immense wave of blue energy across the room, destroying every last one of the Undead Legionaries and draining the Rage of The Gods from my body.
"Dude, you got skeleton guts on my Pokeballs!" Benson complained, trying to wipe the intestines off of the small orbs.
"Better than dying." I retorted plainly.
"Where the hell did you even come from?"
"Duh! Where do you think?" I pointed behind me to the formerly broken door. Somehow, it had rebuilt itself.
"Now, let's get this over with." I placed the other gem in Rarity's brazier, creating a chain of white fire between the brazier and the central door. The dark Element of Generosity's divot began glowing.
"Let's go, Dash." I called, waving over my shoulder and walking towards the next door.
Chapter XXIX: Epilogue II
Dear Diary,
I finally did it. I may be just nineteen, but since the Princesses could only use the spell to send us back home once every ten years, I decided to make the most of it. You know, back home, the way me and Vinyl met probably would've gotten me arrested. Now that would be hilarious.
Equestria has made some amazing innovations thanks to me and Taylor. They've created all manner of electronics by duplicating what we already have, so now I have quite a few people, or ponies to play TF2 with. Just yesterday, I obliterated Luna in a truly epic Arena match. She's supposed to be Gamer Luna, for plot's sake!
I stepped away from my desk, looking beside me at the trophy case filled with our weapons. The only thing that hadn't been put inside it was the Blades of Exile, since they were bound to my wrists, and Benson's Pokeballs, which he had taken back with him.
I almost feel bad for these things, just sitting in a giant glass box all day and all night.
Is that weird?
The last of our "souvenirs" from defeating Sephiroth had been placed in a divot that Chris built in the wall before he left, with a small glass door to allow for maintenance. I pulled it open, picking up the feather from Sephiroth's wing. It almost felt... cold .
"What's wrong with this thing?"
Before I could say or think anything else, a strange black lightning coursed through the feather, knocking me unconscious.