Pony Fantasy X

The party walked along the rocky trail, passing by makeshift gravestones of summoners that didn't make it through Mt. Gagazet and met their ends at certain points. Many of them might have turned into fiends as previous summoners might not have sent them in time. Even if they didn't make it to Zanarkand, they ended up dying, along with their guardians who had failed to protect them.

As they carefully made their way across the rocky bridges, Pinkie and Rainbow took the rear as they were getting closer and closer to Zanarkand. "We're getting closer to Zanarkand...Closer to Fluttershy's eventual demise."

"I know," Rainbow agreed with the Al Bhed. "I can't think of anything we can do to save her...There has to be some other way to stop Sin without sacrificing anypony." They continued on as they were close to the upper part of the path, a cliffside overlooking a long stretch of ocean. While the others continued moving forward, Pinkie and Rainbow stopped as they struggled to find some solution to save Fluttershy. "Maybe something will come up if we reach Zanarkand...I don't know what, but it might be something good."

"Maybe, but how are we supposed to beat Sin without the Final Aeon if it's the only thing that can stop it?" Pinkie asked. "So many ponies keep sacrificing themselves, and Sin keeps coming back without any reason as to why."

"Yeah, that bugs me too." Rainbow tried to figure out what it was about Sin that kept coming back. Right now, her father, Jet Stream, was the current Sin, which meant other ponies had to have been Sin. The only thing that can't be explained is how it happens. "Urgh. Everything in Spira doesn't make any sense: Faust's teachings, machina considered taboo, crazy ponies seeking power over a corruptive government...It's like the world's turned upside down."

"...So, are you really from a thousand years ago?" Pinkie asked.

"None of you seem to believe me all that much, but yes! Everything was a lot simpler back in Zanarkand. No fiends. No summoners. No unnecessary sacrifices." Rainbow Dash groaned, wishing this future would have been more peaceful and advanced with technology, not reverted back hundreds of years from her time with monsters running around. "Of all my bad luck, huh?"

"...Weeeeeell, then you wouldn't have met any of us," the Al Bhed said. "You wouldn't have met Fluttershy and got all kissy kissy with her!"

"W-What!?" Rainbow blushed and looked away. "W-We didn't-"

"Liar! You two made out back in Macalania! We all knew it." The pegasus growled in embarrassment as Pinkie laughed at her.

"So, Fluttershy appreciates mares more." Both mares leapt out of the fur as they turned around to the cliffside, their jaws dropped as they saw Blueblood standing there. "Hello, daughter of Sir Jet Stream."

"You've gotta be kidding me," Rainbow muttered, pulling out her sword. "Pinkie, get the others."

"You're going to fight him by yourself!? Nuh uh!" Rainbow Dash looked back at her, not fooling around.

"Pinkie, just go!" Pinkie hesitated, but nodded, quickly running ahead to alert the others. Rainbow glared at the unsent Guado, after somehow coming back and still clinging to life. "You just never know when to stay dead, do you? And how do you know my dad?"

"He's quite popular among Kindred Heart. That, and it was clearly obvious you are his child, sharing the same mane colors." Soon, the rest of the group arrived, holding out their weapons as they saw Blueblood was still alive. "And here comes the rest of your pathetic friends."

"Shut it, Blueblood," Rainbow growled. "I'm sick and tired of seeing your face everytime you show up! Fluttershy, send him before I kill him over and over again!"

"Ah...Before you do, I'd like to have a word with the last dragon before you send me." The Guado began to chuckle as he looked at Spike. "I have to say. You dragons sure are an aggressive bunch. As soon as they saw me, they tried to bar me from passing to reach you, throwing themselves away...One...after...another..."

His laugh turned more cynical as they now realized what he meant. The dragons tried to stop Blueblood, and the Guado ended up killing them as they tried to keep him from getting to them. Killing his father for power was one thing, sicking his ponies on them and sacrificing their lives just to give him power was another, but he wiped out an entire tribe of powerful dragons, and he was growing more insane by the minute. Spike clenched his spear tightly, almost about to snap his weapon into pieces as his rage grew.

"You sick, twisted excuse of a living being," Spike growled, having just gained his respect from his tribe back moments ago. He wanted to kill Blueblood where he stood, get rid of that smug, sadistic grin on his face and spill his blood a thousand times over if he needed to. "For my tribe, for everyone you ended up killing out of your own stupid philosphy, I'm going to make sure you die! Very! PAINFULLY!"

Spike let out a loud roar that echoed all throughout Gagazet as he charged at the Guado. He thrust his spear, only for Blueblood to grab the sharp tip with his hoof, halting his momentum and snapping the weapon's point off. He began to choke the dragon with his magic, Blueblood's aura constricting tightly around his neck, Spike struggling to break free to no avail.

"Let me ease your pain, dragon," Blueblood said, his grin growing wider as he choked Spike. He soon lost focus of his magic as Applejack's blitzball slammed him hard in the face. Rarity and Pinkie quickly dragged Spike away from the mad stallion before he could try to kill him again. "Why do you stop me? All I wish to do is end his suffering."

"Suffering that you caused!" Rainbow shouted.

"Suffering is everywhere." Blueblood held up his hoof, watching some blood seep out of the small nick when he blocked Spike's spear with his hoof. "Spira is nothing but a spiral of death. Depression, sorrow, suffering, loss, all winding down to death. I will become Sin and help mend this world to create a new world. And with your help, Fluttershy, that dream will come true."

He held his bleeding hoof out to her, but Rainbow stood before Fluttershy, wanting him far away from her marefriend. "You touch a single hair on her, and you're dead."

"Technically, he's already dead," Pinkie said. "I mean, he's dead dead, so he's undead yet still alive, which means he already is dead and keeps coming back to life-"

"We get it, Pinkie!" Rainbow yelled, silencing Pinkie's rambling. "The point is you're not taking Fluttershy again!"

"Oh...Do you not want to save your father from his fate?" Blueblood asked. "If I become Sin, then he will be freed from his torment as the destructive beast he became."

Rainbow nearly dropped her sword, shocked to know Blueblood somehow knew about his father. The others were just as surprised about this news, unsure if they should believe him or not. But as they looked at Rainbow Dash, she didn't even seem surprised, already knowing Jet Stream was Sin ever since Rarity told her in Luca.

"...Rainbow Dash? What is he talking about?" Fluttershy asked, receiving no answer from the pegasus.

"None of you knew?" the manic Guado questioned, acting surprised. "I thought that Lady Rarity would tell you, since she was with your fathers ten years ago and saw everything that happened. Hiding some dark secrets of your past?"

"That's none of your concern," Rarity said, ignoring the looks given to her by Fluttershy, Pinkie, Twilight, Applejack, and Spike. "I find it better to let others discover the truth on their own, rather than have everything blurt out of somepony else's mouth. An example you should learn, being a true villain by keeping your father's murder a secret instead of gloating about it like the insane fiend you became."

"Say what you will, but your words won't matter." Blueblood stepped backwards off the edge, levitating in the air as he began to change again. Like before, he seemed to turn pale and statue-like, only this time, he was sitting in a large, ship-like fiend, a large and foreboding lance in the Guado's hoof. "All your hopes end here, along with your miserable existence!"

Blueblood hovered the lance over him and aimed it straight for Rainbow Dash. It flew straight at the pegasus, far too quick to avoid as it struck her, though it didn't kill her. Her body suddenly turned pale as a black haze formed around her eyes. Rainbow groaned, feeling even sicker than when she was poisoned, noticing the pale coloration of her hoof.

"Ugh, what did that do?" she asked. "And why do I feel like eating brains?"

"He turned Dashie into a zombie!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Did anypony buy Holy Water!?"

"What the hay's Holy Water got to do with me being like this!?" Before Rainbow Dash could get an answer, the ship Blueblood sat on began to move its arms up and cast a spell on her.

A bright light shone down on the cyan pegasus, coming down from the heavens through the clouds hovering over Mt. Gagazet. The light didn't seem to look dangerous, but Rainbow Dash felt the full effects of its power, groaning in pain as she collapsed to the ground.

"Rainbow!?" Rarity quickly rushed toward the fallen pegasus and pressed a Phoenix Down to her back.

Revived from the feather's revitalizing magic, Rainbow Dash gasped as she held felt her heart had stopped when the light hit her, but at least her colors were back to normal. "W-What the hay just happened to me!? Did I die!?"

"Full-Life on a zombified being," Rarity explained. "He plans to take us out in the cheapest way possible: inflicting Zombie on us while his little helper he's sitting on casts that healing spell on the inflicted pony."

"I knew I should have stolen some Holy Waters before coming here!" Now knowing to be careful of the lance Blueblood had on him, they had to be careful from getting stabbed by the unholy weapon.

Everyone attacked, though Spike had to resort to using his fists until he fixed his spear or made a new one. Seeing how Blueblood was able to instantly dismiss any aeons, it was going to be difficult to figure out when to use them as defensive walls for his worst attacks or any spells he decides to use. It didn't help when the mini airship fiend of his kept itself near the cliff, occasionally swooping around to try to swipe at them all. What really annoyed them was the transformed, unable to stay dead Guado's lance that instantly inflicted Zombie status on them while his "assistant" used Full-Life to kill them.

He began to change his tactics after taking enough abuse from the party's attacks. Twilight began to cast a powerful Firaga spell on Blueblood, stopping too late as he cast a shimmering barrier over himself. Her spell bounced off and blew up on Rainbow Dash, sending the mare flying backward.

"Ow! Twilight, watch where you're aiming!" she shouted.

"He cast Reflect on himself! It bounces magic spells away from him!" Blueblood began to cast another spell, this time on himself, the Reflect spell bouncing it off and enveloping Rainbow Dash in a powerful pillar of non-elemental flames that shot out beneath her.

"Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy screamed as she watched her lover collapse to the ground, still conscious but greatly injured.

She was about to heal the cyan pegasus, only to be quickly picked up by Spike as he rescued her from another reflected spell, nearly avoiding the pillar of magical energy spire where she stood. "He's constantly casting Flare on himself! Fluttershy, you have to get rid of it!"

"B-But what about Rainbow!? She's hurt!" she said, greatly worried.

"We're all dead if we can't get rid of Blueblood!" he argued. "I want him to suffer for what he did to my home!"

Blueblood was about to cast another Flare, but Fluttershy quickly used Dispel, getting rid of the magical deflecting spell. He realized too late as he struck himself with his own spell, shouting in pain as a pillar erupted from his seat. He growled, but smirked as they were in for a deadly attack, far worse than his magic.

The ends of his miniature airship began to spark with electricity, shocking everypony that was standing. It then flew up as it fired several missiles down at them, each one exploding around them in a near endless barrage. Blueblood's laugh echoed around them as it flew in after releasing the last of its missiles, causing a bigger explosion as he passed by them, sending everyone flying back toward the rocky wall behind them.

"It's over," the stallion said as he hovered back near the cliff's edge. "Just accept your death. I will become Sin, I will rend this world asunder, and resurrect Spira into a new and rejuvenated world!"

As Blueblood continued laughing maniacally, Rainbow slowly got back up on her hooves, fighting through the pain inflicted on her. She looked over at the others, looking just as badly injured as she was. She watched Fluttershy try to get up, only to fall back on her side, too hurt to move. That riled the pegasus up as she turned back to the insane Guado stallion, refusing to stay dead, having hurt Fluttershy and her friends.

"That's it," she muttered, feeling her Overdrive kicking in. "I have had it with you, your ugly mug, and your stupid morals." Her sword began to shine brightly, slowly going from bright white to a myriad of colors. She held her weapon in her mouth, glaring at the out of control stallion. "You've ticked me off for the last time! You're never going to be Sin!"

She ran toward him, avoiding his lance and Flare spells as she got closer. Leaping off the edge of the cliff, she stomped her hooves down on his face, jumping higher above him without using her wings as the blade shimmered brightly. Once the energy was fully charged, Rainbow Dash began spinning rapidly in the air, sending multicolored energy balls raining down on Blueblood and his mount, each one exploding in a wide radius around him.

Taken too much from the explosive energy, Blueblood screamed in pain as he disappeared in a flurry of spirits, defeated once again. Rainbow slowly hovered back down to the ground, panting heavily as she watched the orbs of light flying up to the sky. "And...stay dead," she uttered, passing out and falling on her side, her injuries taking its toll as her rage and adrenaline were drained out.

After nearly an hour, Rainbow Dash woke up, her body no longer in pain as she found herself now leaning against the wall of the nearby mountain ridge. As soon as she looked up, she was surrounded by the others, all of them staring at the pegasus in disbelief.

"...Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy asked, being the first to speak up as Rainbow was met with silence for a while. "...What Blueblood said...about your father..."

"Your father, Jet Stream, is Sin!?" Twilight practically shouted. "How!? Why!? What!? When!?"

"Easy, Twi," Applejack said as she pulled the frantic unicorn from squeezing information out of the pegasus. "Is there somethin' ya ain't tellin' us?"

Rainbow Dash looked over at Rarity, who only shook her head, telling her not to answer their questions. When she looked back at Fluttershy, she was desperate to know what Blueblood had meant, and seeing her this upset about her father being Sin worried her. Sighing, she had no choice but to speak.

"...Sin is my dad." She was met with silence, but their expressions said what they were all fearing. "I don't know why he's Sin, but I can tell he's in there...I didn't want to believe it myself, but after what happened in Macalania, when we were sitting on top of Sin...I felt him somewhere in there...He's the cause of Spira's suffering right now..."

"...Ya sure ya'll aren't...havin' a bad toxin dream or somethin', sugarcube?" Applejack asked, only to see the serious and sad expression on Rainbow's face. "...Urgh! Ah don't know what's what anymore! Mah brother was killed by...and all of the teachin's...Ah think Ah need to lie down."

"This makes no sense," Twilight mumbled. "How is it possible for somepony to even be Sin if that's true? It shouldn't be possible..."

Fluttershy looked at Rainbow sadly, knowing her surrogate uncle, her marefriend's father, was going to be her opponent when she learns the Final Summoning. "...Rainbow...I-I...I'm...going to fight...Jet..."

"I know, Flutters," the cyan pegasus said, slowly getting up on her hooves. "Don't worry about it. I think my dad wants to be freed from Sin. Even if it kills him."

"And Blueblood said Rarity had some...dark secrets..." Twilight slowly turned to look at Rarity, only to see the older unicorn mare walking on ahead. "Rarity!? What are you doing!?"

"We're moving forward. Rainbow Dash is fine." Before she was out of sight, Spike leapt in front of her path, keeping her from running away from the subject.

"Rarity...you knew about this, didn't you?" Spike asked, pleading with the mare, wishing she was just as clueless as they were.

She remained silent as the others surrounded her to keep from running off. "...If you wish to know, then we'll find out near the end. Everything will be explained once we reach Zanarkand." Though they weren't getting anything from the cryptic guardian, they took her word, waiting until they made it to Zanarkand. Rarity's horn suddenly sparked a little, her eyes trailing over to a spot in the nearby wall. Ignoring the confused gazes of the party, she slashed through the rock wall, cleaving it in two with her diamond katana, revealing a decently sized diamond. Using her magic, she transformed it into a diamond halberd, a far better weapon for Spike compared to his now useless spear. "Here you go, darling. Better to have a stronger weapon with a longer durability than that old spear of yours."

"...Uhh, thanks..." Spike reluctantly took the new weapon from Rarity's telekinetic grip.

"Now, let's get going. We've wasted enough time no thanks to Blueblood. It's already midday." Rarity walked on ahead, leaving the others behind.

No longer willing to question the experienced guardian's motives or else facing her tremendous strength, they walked along after her. Spike lagged behind as he held his new halberd out before him. He looked back out to the horizon, having lost his tribe by Blueblood's hooves as he mourned the loss of his dragon brethren. He had no idea if any of them survived. Walking over near the edge of the cliff, he took his broken spear and stabbed it into the earth, leaving it as a makeshift grave to commemorate the dragons who had lost their lives to keep them safe from Blueblood, if only a while. With his new halberd in his claws, he hurried back to the others before they wondered where he went, striving to bring his tribe back after Fluttershy's pilgrimage was over.