Pony Fantasy X

Rainbow Dash woke up bright and early, right as the sun was rising into the sky. As soon as she crept out of the cabins and onto the deck, she flew up to the top of the mast, watching Luca come up close as the ship headed for the docks. She stared in awe at the city, spotting the stadium stationed near the harbor. She could hear the announcers' voices reverberate all across the city as they introduced the beginning of the tournament. She was able to see water shooting up in the center of the stadium, filling up the sphere with water in what she figured was considered the old fashioned way.

She did find it a bit odd. When filling up the sphere, and keeping the water contained in its shape, they had to use machines in order to keep it stable and fill it up. If machina, as weird as a term it was for Rainbow to say, let alone think, are supposed to be illegal to use because it brought Sin, then how was it that Luca seemed to be completely unharmed? As much as she wanted to know, she didn't want to keep making the "toxin" excuse if she asked. The ship was about to dock at second numbered dock, where she heard the announcers a lot more clearly, everypony on the ship getting up and ready to disembark.

"Good morning, Spira!" the first one, a stallion, said loudly. "Today is a beautiful day for a blitzball tournament here in Luca, and boy have we got a good day for one! I'm your host, Echo!"

"And I'm Reverb," a second announcer chimed in, also a stallion, though a lot more calmer than his co-host. This year's blitzball tournament is sponsered by Faust, as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Maester Star Swirl's leadership throughout all of Spira."

"Wow! Fifty whole years, and the stallion's still kicking! And it looks like we have the rest of our teams arriving in from Kilika down at dock number two!" As Echo commentated, a sphere recording everything for all of Spira to see showed the teams that are disembarking. "Coming straight from Kilika, we have the Kilika Beasts making their way off the ramp! Unfortunately, folks, Sin attacked Kilika just the other day."

"A tragic event for their hometown," Reverb said. "Hopefully this year, they might win the cup and bring it home to honor their lost friends and family."

"Up next is...the Besaid Aurochs." Echo sounded annoyed as he spoke of the Aurochs, which unnerved Rainbow Dash as she walked off with the team. "I honestly have no clue why this team is still in after over two decades of competing, and not making it past the first round in every tournament. It's amazing to see these guys live out on an island like the Kilika Beasts, yet they suck horsefeathers when it comes to playing in the sphere."

"Oh come on," Rainbow complained. "Are they serious!?"

"Oddly enough, it looks like they got a new team member, and it's not an earth pony," Reverb commented. "The Aurochs might have a new strategy in place this year, adding in a small variety in their lineup."

"Moving on to our very own Luca Goers, coming down the ramp!" The crowd went nuts as the Goers walked down the ramp, waving to their fans. "For the last few years, being lead by Lightning Dust, this team has been dominating every other team! They are quite the favorite not just for Luca, but the rest of Spira as well! Power! Speed! And perfect teamwork!"

"You never know if that streak will run out, Echo," Reverb said to his co-host. "There might be a chance another team will blow the Luca Goers out of the water, however slim it may be."

Rainbow growled as everypony's attention was on the worst team to ever show some respect to other teams. Even if the Besaid Aurochs were that bad, a marvelous feat of losses she had ever head of in forever, that didn't mean nopony should bring them down. The pegasus grabbed a nearby megaphone, flying up on top of some crates to put in her two Gils worth against the Goers.

"Hey, Goers!" She got everypony's attention, including Lightning Dust's. "Don't celebrate just yet! Just you wait! We Aurochs are gonna take the cup this year! So wipe that dumb smirk off your faces and get ready to eat our bubbles!" After saying what she had to say, she leapt down and headed back to her teammates, ignorant of their disappointed stares. "I think that's got them shaking in their stuck up tights."

Applejack pounded the pegasus's head hard, slamming her down to the ground. "What in tarnation did ya go and do that for!?"

"Ow..." Rainbow rubbed the bump beginning to form on her head. "I had to say something to those idiots. They have no respect for us as a competitive team!"

"And ya think actin' out like that's gonna make things right? Ya'll are no better than Lightnin'!" Rainbow scoffed, not caring if she acts like a jerk to the rival team.

"Hey! Maester Star Swirl is here!" somepony said as several others began to head down to the upper class at the third port.

"Who the hay is-" Rainbow's question was interrupted as she was trampled over by Twilight, running off to the docks with the other ponies.

Applejack helped the pegasus back up, staggered in a daze at the excited unicorn's hooves stomping over her. "Oh boy. Twilight's gone off the deep end." Rainbow managed to shake the cobwebs out of her head, hoping somepony will answer her interrupted question. "Maester Star Swirl is the leader of all of Spira. The tournament's bein' held in his honor, bein' Maester for fifty years."

"Fifty? Wow, he must be old...But, why did Twilight run off like that?" Rainbow asked.

"Maester Star Swirl was also a very powerful unicorn mage," Fluttershy answered. "Twilight's a fan of his work."

"...Twilight? Actually excited and happy, not moody?...Did I die, or did that really happen?" Rainbow couldn't believe Twilight, the unicorn that was always grumpy, always angry, was actually fangirlling over somepony who's over a hundred years older than her.

She followed the summoner and her two remaining guardians as they made their way to the third docking bay, where it was a lot more regal than the other four docks, with a red carpet and everything. The ship that was anchored at the port had flags that bared the symbol of what Rainbow imagined to be Faust, their god or goddess everypony seems to worship. As everypony waited, a band began playing music to announce the arrival of the VIPs on board, which happened to be strange creatures the pegasus had never seen before.

The first to show themselves on the ship was an odd looking unicorn walking down the ramp. He had a white coat with light auburn hair, wearing a long blue robe, but the difference between this stallion and a normal pony was how he looked: his forehooves had claws, prominent veins able to be seen on his face, and his  coiffure almost seemed plant-like. Overhearing some of the onlookers ahead of her, this stallion called a Guado, whatever that was supposed to be.

He turned around after disembarking, facing the ship and gave the prayer bow, the others following suit except for Rainbow Dash. Another pony appeared from the ship, this one an older gray unicorn stallion, wearing a blue robe with dozens of stars with a similarly colored wizards cap with the same pattern of stars. He sported an amazingly long white beard, wearing a pair of bifocals on his nose. He descended the ramp and stood before the Guado. Rainbow could see Twilight up near the front of the crowd, watching her jitter in excitement along with her two dolls, which scared the pegasus to see her this happy.

"Ponies of Spira, thank you all for this wondrous welcome," he said, the stallion lifting his hoof up to the Guado pony, asking him to rise, which he obeyed. "Please rise, everypony, as I present to you the son of Maester Orion Guado, who had unfortunately departed to the Farplane a fortnight ago. As of now, he has been ordained as a maester of Faust."

The new maester bowed to everypony as he introduced himself. "I am Blueblood Guado. It is quite the honor to receive this title. I vow to carry on my father's legacy, to ensure the relationship between pony and Guado, and fulfill my duties as maester to the best of my abilities."

Most of the crowd bowed to him, but Rainbow didn't. She couldn't help but feel like something was off about Blueblood, and she shouldn't trust this stallion. Before the maesters left, the Guado locked eyes with Fluttershy for a brief moment, the young summoner looking away in embarrassment. He gave her a grin and followed Maester Star Swirl to the stadium.

In the locker rooms the Besaid Aurochs were set up in, all five of the stallions waited impatiently, almost in fear. They perked up when they heard the door open, only to wilt when it was just Rainbow Dash.

"Wow. Thanks for the welcome guys," she said sarcastically.

"It's not that, Rainbow Dash," one of them said, a heavy stallion named Keepa, who was the team's goalie. "We're a bit on edge at the moment."

"The captain's at the matchups right now," another said, his name Datto, easily recognizable since he didn't have any hair on his head.

"We always keep going against the Goers every year for the past few years, and lost to them," the Auroch with a brown buzz cut said, named Letty, the other two remaining teammates, Jassu, yellow buzz cut, and Botta, red hair, nodded their heads.

"So, that's why you never make it to the finals. That's unfair, always fighting the same team for the first match every year." Rainbow growled, wondering how the officials for the game keep screwing up the match lineup. "No wonder everypony keeps thinking you aren't good."

A moment later, Applejack walked into the locker room, wearing an excited smirk. "Good news, ya'll! We got seeded!" The whole team gasped in surprise. There were only six blitzball teams, meaning only two of the teams, one on each bracket, would only have to win two matches to win the tournament. "And the better news: we ain't goin' against the Goers first! We're up against the Al Bhed Psyches!"

The stallions cheered, finally catching a break this year. Applejack joined her team, only for the locker room door to open back up, Fluttershy storming in and panting heavily.

"R-Rainbow Dash! I'm glad I found you!" she said, almost like she was panicking. "I heard somepony saw Lady Rarity at the cafe here in Luca!"

"R-Rarity!?" the cyan pegasus exclaimed in shock. "Seriously!?"

Having a gut feeling the Rarity Fluttershy was talking about was the unicorn she knew, Rainbow was about to book it out of the locker rooms, only to be held back as someone grabbed her tail.

"Hold on a minute!" Applejack spat out the pegasus's tail. "The match is gonna start soon!"

"AJ, relax," she assured the freaked out earth pony. "You guys can handle the Al Bhed Psyches without me. I'll be back as soon as possible. I want to know if Rarity's actually here."

"Mrf...F-Fine. Just make it quick." Even though Applejack gave Rainbow permission to go, she was really nervous about the match.

Fluttershy went on ahead, passing by a couple team members from the Al Bhed Psyches standing in the hallway. The two stallions eyed the summoner through their goggles.

"Y myto summoner!" one of them exclaimed.

"Fa sicd nabund." Rainbow exited the locker rooms, accidentally bumping into the stallions.

"Sorry...Oh, hey! You guys are the Al Bhed Psyches, right?" Rainbow asked, receiving no response from them. "Ok, last week, I ran into some other Al Bhed who saved me, and there was this mare named Pinkie Pie who gave me food and uhh..." Rainbow realized that they had no clue what she was saying, and she had no idea how to speak Al Bhed. "Umm...you guys don't know what I'm saying...Ok. If you guys see a pink earth pony, who is Al Bhed, with a pink mane that looks like cotton candy, can you tell her I said 'thanks'?" she said, speaking slowly while also miming out what Pinkie's hair looked like to them. No reply still. "Oh, and good luck out there. May the best team win!"

Rainbow ran off to catch up with Fluttershy, leaving the two Al Bhed alone. "Tu oui ghuf fryd cra cyet?" one of them asked their partner.

"Hu etay," the other said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Ok, I have no idea where the hay I'm going." Rainbow Dash wandered around Luca trying to find Fluttershy, having no idea where exactly the city square was supposed to be.

Leaving the stadium's entrance, she headed down to a three way intersection, making her way past the several hundred blitzball fans and locals. In the distance, she could see a building that looked like a theater on the left pathway, and the city proper up ahead. She managed to see Spike, being one of the few dragons that have come to Luca for the tournament, and ironically enough being the only purple one amongst them, which meant Fluttershy had to be nearby.

As luck would have it, the summoner was indeed close to the silent dragon, being interviewed by a reporter. Thankfully, they had just finished up, the reporter and the camerapony leaving to get another scoop. It was so strange to see somepony using a clear sphere to record something, actually growing curious as to how it all works. Fluttershy spotted her among the crowd, waving her down.

"Fluttershy, can you not run off too far from me?" Rainbow asked. "Kinda hard to find out where you are in a new place I've never been in."

"Sorry," Fluttershy apologized, making the cyan mare roll her eyes from her constant apologies. "I was just as excited to know Lady Rarity was here. She was my father's other guardian too."

"'Lady Rarity'? So she was actually from here?" Rainbow muttered to herself, confused as to how Rarity ended up back in time when she actually lived in the time period.

"I think the city's over at the mainland." Fluttershy went on ahead with Spike following her. As she reached the bridge leading to the city, she heard a shrill whistle come from behind her, nearly startling her at the high pitched sound. Turning around, the whistle came from Rainbow Dash, who began giggling at the summoner's surprise. "W-What was that?"

"Back in Zanarkand, pegasi do this to cheer blitz players." Rainbow moved one of her wings, bringing a few feathers up to her lips a certain way, blowing out a whistle similar to the one she made earlier. "We could use this if we ever get lost, like earlier."

"Oh. Ok," Fluttershy said, eager to learn how to do it.

"Ok, just put a couple primaries in your mouth-" Rainbow demonstrated, using the tips of her wings, her voice muffled by her feathers. "-lukhe fifsh." Fluttershy mimicked her, getting a little assistance from Rainbow to blow on the feathers in the right spot. "There, like that. Then you blow."

She tried to recreate the whistle sound, only she ended up puffing out air. "I-I don't think it worked."

"Just keep practicing. Until then, let's just stick together." Fluttershy gave a mock salute with her wing, making the two laugh as they continued on their way to find Rarity.

As they arrived at the square, the whole area was bustling with tourists and blitzball enthusiasts, all of them unable to wait for the matches to start. Shops were selling merchandise, blitzballs, varieties of different snacks, anything a sports fan would need to enjoy a big game.

"Yeesh," Rainbow said, impressed at the size of Luca. "This town is huge. Though it would have been like Besaid or Kilika."

"Luca's actually the second biggest city in Spira," Fluttershy said. "We usually don't want to have big towns. If too many ponies gather..."

"Sin comes and destroys it," Rainbow finished, the young summoner nodding. "Then Luca's not exactly safe, huh?"

"No, but the Crusaders to what they can to protect everypony. Blitzball's the only kind of entertainment we have these days." Rainbow winced, unable to imagine how everypony in Spira can only live on blitzball to distract them from everyday life. It was either work, play, kill fiends, and avoid Sin as soon as the seasons are done. "So, tell me, Rainbow Dash; is Zanarkand like this too?"

"Are you kidding? Zanarkand is way bigger than Luca!" The cyan pegasus lifted her hooves up into the air, hovering off the ground a bit. "The city is massive! Hundreds of skyscrapers as far as the eye could see, thousands of shops and apartment buildings, and the stadium is at least twice as big as the one here in Luca!"

Fluttershy looked up to the sky, imagining how tall the buildings would be from the ground, stumbling a little. "Oh my. That's really high."

"You're a pegasus, remember? You can fly," Rainbow said, reminding the summoner of her appendages tucked against her sides.

"I'm not a strong flyer...I never really learned all that much," she admitted, though not ashamed of her lack of flight. "I prefer the ground, anyway. I just love all the little animals I take care of."

"Yeah. Try taming a fiend, then everypony will be highly impressed." Rainbow chuckled a little at her joke. "Well, let's find this cafe Rarity was seen in. I got a few choice words I need to say to her."

Fluttershy nodded as they searched around for the cafe, Spike following the pegasi, keeping a close eye on them.

The Aurochs were finishing going over their strategies for their match against the Al Bhed Psyches, ready to finally win their first tournament after the team kept losing for over two decades. As Applejack went over the signs she'll give to the anxious stallions, she heard a knock at their locker room door. Wondering what it was, Twilight went up to answer it, only to find what looked like a note slip under the door.

"What's this?" As the unicorn's eyes trailed down the writing, Smarty Pants and the Moogle doll she decided to name Mog early this morning moving their heads along with her eyes, all three staring in horror at what was written. "Applejack, we have a problem."

Twilight hovered the letter over to the captain, her pupils turning to pinpricks as she read through it all. "Oh no...Them cheatin' sons of-"

"Applejack, you have to throw in the match," Twilight said.

"No way in hay am Ah gonna do that! We finally have a chance to win the cup, for once in our lives, and them cheatin' varmints are gonna..." Applejack yelled in anger, tearing the note apart.

"Applejack, don't freak out." Twilight began to pace back and forth as she tried to think of a plan. "...Ok. Maybe you won't have to throw in the match."

"How?" Applejack asked, nearly desperate.

"Do you think you can stall the match long enough until she's absolutely safe? Once I'm with them, I'll shoot a purple light up in the air, signalling you that she's safe and you can go all out and win." Applejack thought for a moment, looking back at her team as they began to fear having to throw the game because of the threatening note.

"...A-Ah think so...But, the Al Bhed Psyches are known to be pretty strong...Ah don't know how much abuse Ah can take out there." Applejack sighed, unsure of Twilight's plan.

"You can pull this off," Twilight assured, patting her friend's shoulder. "We won't let the Al Bhed kidnap Fluttershy."