Filly Fantasy VII: Evolution

Chapters

Pre-Reading Content
A Fateful First Meeting
SOLDIERs in the Making
An Unscheduled Stop
The Wandering Soul
Graveyard of Steel

Pre-Reading Content

This story is based 15 years before the events of Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core. The entirety of the story is based off of a Final Fantasy VII themed Dungeons & Dragons campaign I ran that spanned over 2 years. I understand that a lot may not seem canon with the series, but please bear with me when I tell you it will make sense...eventually. The obvious difference would be that the characters are ponies(just in case you don't catch that right away). I also would like to note that there are far more than just Final Fantasy references in this, spanning from everything to Fairy Tail(an anime) to Warhammer 40k(pure awesome) over sections of the campaign. One thing to keep in mind is that we like to have fun with our sessions, so every now and again sections may seem silly and unrelated to the plot. This is simply how we roll...with a d20! (BAZINGA!) Have fun reading!

A Fateful First Meeting

Chapter 1: A Fateful First Meeting

It was late in the evening for the bustling city of Midgar. As the day was coming to an end, the sounds of ponies and vehicles of all kinds could be heard in the Shinra headquarters. The building stood to be nearly eighty stories tall in the middle of the city, like a great metal titan that watched over homes of the upper plate from on high. In the headquarters many ponies had begun to leave as the day was closing to an end. The glass walled elevators were filled in seconds as wave after wave of ponies began their decent down to ground level, desperately trying to beat the inevitable rush hour that was already in progress. There was one elevator however that was not going down, but rather up. In this elevator stood six ponies. One was standing near a small control panel wearing a black suit with matching sunglasses. He stood there, expressionless as the other five were nervously looking around. The five had been silent ever since they met only moments ago on the elevator when one decided to break the silence.

"So...how is everypony?" It was a young unicorn who had spoken up in an awkward, yet confident tone. His coat was a lime green and he wore a short orange mane.

"Well I guess I'm...fine?" A stallion with a pink mane and a fiery red coat replied to the unicorn. A moment of awkward silence passed.

Again, it was the unicorn who broke the silence. "Anyone know why we're here?" It was clear he was desperately trying to break the silence. "How about you, any idea?" The unicorn gestured the brown earth pony standing across from him.

He brushed back his chestnut mane from his face. "Something about a blood test is what I was told." The stallion's voice was as serious as his expression when he answered the unicorn. "Didn't really care much for the details. I was told it was important and that's all that matters."

"So you had to take that stupid test too? They were asking everyone in Midgar saying there's some 'disease' going around. Sounded like a load of hay to me." The fourth pony had finally spoken up. He was slightly smaller than the others. "Well since we're all apparently in this together, might as well introduce myself. Name's Freddie, Freddie Underhill." His voice was quite upbeat compared to the others. His relaxed demeanour had a slight calming effect on the ponies.

The unicorn cleared his throat. "I am Velis Foster, apprentice magister of Kalm."

"Oh, I live here." Freddie hastily added to his previous statement.

The last of the five gave Freddie a confused glance. "You live in an elevator?" He was a tall pony compared to the others. His voice had a sarcastic tone as he poked through Freddie's poorly chosen words. This made the others burst out into instantaneous laughter. The grey stallion had a smug look of pride behind his lilac mane. "Name's Trenton. Just Trenton will do. I'm from Junon, a port city on the west coast."

"Guess that means it's my turn." the pink maned pony had decided. "I'm Marcus Dragneel, born and raised in Wutai." Everyone turned to the chestnut stallion in wait.

He hesitated for a moment then followed with, "J-Jackal. My name is Jackal. That's all you need to know."

Satisfied with the response, the ponies began to talk a a bit more casually amongst each other. With only the suited pony and Jackal remaining silent. Time seemed to move at a snail's pace as the elevator continued to rise. Jackal was becoming impatient. Being trapped in a slow moving elevator with four overly talkative ponies was not his idea of a good time. "How much longer is this going to take?" He asked the suited pony.

With as little emotion as possible, he replied "We're here." A small 'ding' could be heard as the elevator stopped.

The steel door opened to reveal a huge laboratory. The room before them was filled with paper-littered desks and lit computer screens. Seven large metal devices lined against the wall to their right. Each was connected to various tubes and had a small porthole four feet from the bottom. Standing in front of the ponies were two others. One was a navy blue earth pony with a black mane. On his back was a sword which was easily larger than anypony there. Standing beside him was another pony wearing glasses and a white lab coat. This one was flax coloured with a golden brown mane. The suited pony gestured to the others to step out of the elevator, to which they complied.

"Evening gentlecolts, my name is Angeal Hewley and this here is Professor Hojo." The navy blue pony greeted them in a kindly tone. "I don't like the idea of forcing you all here, but it seems Hojo needs you for his... experiments."

The group suddenly had a confused look on all their faces. "What do you mean 'experiments'?" asked Velis. As Angeal began to speak, Hojo raised a hoof to stop him then stepped forwards.

"I doubt your little minds would be able to comprehend the work I do, but I will try to explain." Hojo began, "You see I run the science department here at Shinra. In particular, I have been asked to develop a form of living weapon to yet further the enterprise's military. As it so happens, you are all perfect subjects for my final stages of testing. You see it all starts with..." Hojo began to mumble slowly to himself.

"Well I sure as buck don't wanna be part of any of this guy's experiments. What if we say no?" Marcus made sure to ask Angeal, seeing as he was the only sane one of the two.

"Though I'll admit I'm not fond of the idea, I was told to keep you here by any means necessary. Alive wasn't one of the requirements either." Angeal's face became more serious one he finished, making sure to emphasize the fact he could carry out this order with ease.

Velis let out a deep sigh. "So what do you need us to do?"

With that Hojo snapped back into reality as though nothing had happened. "It's quite simple really, see these large containers? You simply need step inside. Now let's hurry, we don't have all day." With a grim smile, he began to open the metal doors of each canister. The inside was completely empty, with more than enough room for a pony to fit. The suited pony began to nudge at Freddie, telling him to get in. Freddie and the others were left with two choices at this point: not go into the creepy metal containers and die, or go into the creepy metal containers and possibly die. They, of course, chose the latter of the two.

Nervously, each pony stepped into their canister. As they stepped in, the metal door closed behind them. The inside began to light up and small humming noises could be heard from all around them. The port hole was at head level so they could see out, or rather so Hojo could see in. With a whir, a humming sound could be heard beneath everyone. They suddenly noticed a strange glowing water was rising from their hooves up, filling the canisters. As the water was filling the canisters more and more, panic began to set in as some began to scream in fear. They could see Hojo was laughing at them through the porthole. And though they could not hear him, what he said next could still be understood by the five frightened ponies. "Goodnight, my precious experiments." And sure enough, the five ponies slowly began to lose consciousness.

SOLDIERs in the Making

Chapter 2: SOLDIERs in the Making

"Marcus get up! We have to hurry!" The red pony heard a woman's voice call out to him. His vision was blurry as he opened his eyes to see he was no longer in the laboratory, but rather a spacious open field covered with snow.

"Come on Marcus! Get a grip on yourself! The dragon's almost here!" The voice had called out to him again. He looked around to see the shape of a pony no more then a few feet away.

A roar that shook the very earth bellowed from the distance. Suddenly, from seemingly nowhere, a great red dragon appeared before Marcus and the mysterious pony. Standing nearly ten feet in height and reaching over twenty in length, it looked at Marcus as though he had offended it. The beast roared as it spread it's wings, bearing it's teeth as it stood within arms reach of him. Merely out of instinct, he swung his hoof at the great beast. As his hoof made contact with the dragon's face it became enveloped in flames, causing a small explosion and the dragon to stumble back from the force. Marcus felt a rush of energy run through him as he quickly stood up. Looking at his hooves, he realized they were still engulfed in flames. They did not feel hot, however, the flames felt more like a blanket around his hooves as he looked at them in awe.

"This is no time to fool around Marcus, we have a dragon to kill!" The voice said to him. He looked at the pony who stood but a few meters away. He could see her more clearly now. She was a unicorn with a pure white coat and a golden mane. "Miranda." The name ran through his head for a moment, though he didn't understand how he knew it. The dragon roared once more snapping him back into reality. As Marcus looked at the dragon, he felt an irresistible urge to attack it. No longer thinking, he charged headlong at the beast. The dragon released a cone of flames which covered Marcus in seconds. He closed his eyes in expectation, but as the flames traveled across his body he felt nothing. It was as though the flames themselves ignored him. As he approached the dragon, he struck it again with as much power as possible. The dragon was sent back by the force, falling on it's side. It swung its long tail at Marcus in retaliation. Marcus stood his ground and braced himself as the tail struck him. The immense force shook through his body, but he remained unharmed as he blocked the dragon's attack. Miranda was now charging at the dragon. As she passed, Marcus noticed her hooves were lit with a strange white light. She threw her hoof at the dragon just as he had, causing a small burst of light from it. The dragon roared as it swiped it's claw at her. The unicorn's horn glowed as a thin layer of light enveloped her body. As the dragon's claw made contact with her, the light caused a force to push it back, fading after. Marcus rushed forward and with all his might struck the body of the dragon. A cracking noise could be heard as the impact crushed one of the dragon's ribs. It cried out in pain and turned it's attention back to the pink maned pony. It bared its teeth and immediately bit into Marcus.

Marcus suddenly sat up in a cold sweat, feeling a burning sensation on his left foreleg. He looked around to find himself in the corner of a room. The bed he was sitting on had it's blankets singed and tore to pieces. A window overlooking Midgar adorned the wall beside him. 'It was just a dream.' He thought to himself. He looked at the source of the pain to see a burn mark had appeared were the dragon had bit him. A sudden wave of fear washed over him at the realization. "Was it really just a dream? Did I really fight a dragon?"

His thoughts were short lived as he heard a knocking sound. He turned to the door on the opposite side of the room to see Angeal walking in. The navy blue pony looked at Marcus curiously as he noticed the damaged bed sheets. "How are you feeling?" Marcus wasn't sure how to reply. He was still in shock over all that happened. "It's alright kid, the others went through the same thing you did."

"Others?" Marcus asked confused. He was suddenly reminded of the other four ponies that he had met in the elevator. "Wait, what? What exactly did I go through just now? Did I really fight a dragon with that girl?"

Angeal gave a surprised look at Marcus as he mentioned the girl. "There was a girl with you? That shouldn't have happened. Anyways, I need you to come with me. Hojo and I will be shedding some light on what just happened to help put your minds at ease."

Marcus was still confused by the whole situation, but something about Angeal made him a bit more comfortable with the situation. He had a certain air of authority about him that made him seem like he had the situation under control. Marcus stepped out of the bed and nodded at Angeal. "Lead the way."

Angeal lead Marcus back to the elevator. They entered the glass walled elevator and the steel doors closed behind them. Looking out into Midgar, Marcus could see it was a very clear day. "What have I gotten myself into..." He could see all the way to the outskirts of the city as they rose higher and higher. It was not long before they reached their destination. As the elevator doors opened, he could see the laboratory he had arrived in before. He could see Hojo and four other ponies. He quickly recognized them as the four he had already met, but let out a small cry of surprise has he looked at Trenton. The gray stallion was now a giant in comparison to the others. A horn appeared on his head that was clearly not there before. As he turned to Freddie, he could not help but to laugh. Freddie was now barely over two feet in height. Marcus had remembered that the orange pony was a bit shorter than him, but this was just ridiculous.

"I sure am glad you're enjoying this." Freddie said, clearly frustrated. Trenton let out a small chuckle. Freddie gave him a glare that would strike fear into the hearts of the most seasoned warriors...if not for his humorous size.

Trenton began to laugh even harder as others joined in. Freddie turned around and bucked Trenton in the knee causing him to stumble back as he placed his hoof over it in pain. As he was preparing to retaliate, Angeal stepped between the two. "I think this has gone far enough boys. We've business to take care of." The two looked at each other with a look of frustration, but reluctantly agreed.

Angeal stepped further into the room and stood beside Hojo. "Let's get this going. It's about time we explain to you what's going on." At this, the five ponies began to pay close attention. They were desperately hoping for some answers. "You are now part of a special military program called SOLDIER. The program was designed to make the average pony go well beyond our average infantry, developing supernatural abilities. The goal with you was to see if this was possible. As you have noticed there has been some obvious changes with some of you, but also some that aren't so obvious at first." He gestured towards Marcus, "Would you mind throwing a punch at me?" Marcus was a bit nervous with the idea, recalling what happened in the dream. Angeal picked up on this. "Don't worry, you won't hurt me." Marcus nodded and stepped towards Angeal. "When you're ready kid." Marcus took a deep breath and waited a moment. He then raised his hoof and swung it full force at Angeal. His hoof was engulfed in flames as he swung forward, but Angeal blocked it with his hoof as a shock-wave shook the room. Angeal was completely unphased by the attack.

The four ponies looked in awe at what had just happened. Angeal gestured Marcus to step back to where he was. He complied. "Each of you have some special power of sorts, and each of you already know what it is."

Freddie gave Angeal a confused look. "Are you sure? Because I sure don't know how to punch with fire."

Angeal looked at the small orange pony, "Each of you had a dream. This is an after effect of the mako fusion process. It should have made it quite clear what each of your abilities are."

Velis perked up."What's this mako fusion you mentioned? Is that what changed us?"

Clearly eager to answer this question, Hojo began to speak. "It's quite simple really. We take the mako energy created from the generators and infuse it into your body. Simply by exposing you to mako your body absorbs the energy, but that alone was not enough..." Hojo began to mumble to himself.

Seeing Hojo trail off, Angeal spoke up. "How it's done isn't really all that important. The fact of the matter is that you're now part of Shinra. I've taken the liberty to add you to the roster here at headquarters, so you have the same access level as a lieutenant. With the exception of being able to access this floor as well."

Jackal had been listening intently the entire time. The brown pony's dream had changed him greatly, though not in a way anypony could see. "What do we do now that we're part of you?" Everyone looked to see Jackal had spoken for the first time since being in the elevator.

"We give you missions, you get paid, and you take orders from me. Simple enough?" Angeal made sure to address them in a commanding tone this time. They all nodded in response. "Good, then I have a few things for you. Think of them as welcome presents."

Angeal turned around and began to walk towards one of the desks. He stepped behind it and the group could hear him unlocking a cupboard. He pulled out a large box and placed it beside the desk, closing the cupboard afterward. He picked the box back up and walked back to the group placing it in front of them. "I think these will seem familiar to some of you."

He opened the box and inside a variety of weapons could be seen. There was a metal crossbow and bolts, a bastard sword, a staff, and a pair of nunchucks. All but Marcus had a surprised look on their face as he noticed there were only four weapons. "I think one's missing. There's not enough for everyone."

Angeal nodded. "That is correct. In your case Marcus, I believe you don't have a need for a weapon. You can buy one later if you really feel otherwise, but I think you can handle yourself well enough without one." Marcus could not help but smile at the complement.

Everypony began to take a weapon. Jackal immediately grabbed the metal crossbow and bolts, carefully observing it. He noticed there was no bow-string to load the bolts, but he could hear a faint humming noise coming from within. He placed one of the metal bolts on the crossbow to see it levitate off of it only slightly. 'Interesting,' he though to himself. He saw a small button on the side and pressed it. The bolt suddenly fired across the room into the opposing wall, narrowly missing a television screen. "I think I'm going to like this one."

Trenton followed in suit and picked up the bastard sword. He took a few practice swings to get used to the feeling. To him it felt quite light as he swung the sword with astounding ease. "I wonder..." he began to say. His horn began to glow and the sword was suddenly enveloped in lightning. He swung it forward once more and a bolt of lightning shot forward, destroying the television that Jackal nearly had. He smiled in approval of his new toy.

Next up was Velis. The lime green unicorn stepped over to the box and pulled out the staff. He did not feel the need to test it out. He was confident in his abilities before the transformation, he did not need to do what he already knew he could.

Finally, Freddie stepped up to the box and took out the pair of nunchucks. The orange pony was slightly confused on how to use such a strange pair of weapons. Then he seemed to recall something from his dream the night before. 'Might as well try it.' He though to himself. He picked up each one in his hooves and slowly started to swing them in circular patterns. He began to pick up his pace as everyone turned to him, waiting to see what amazing spectacle we was about to perform. He began to weave the nunchucks through his legs with graceful precision. As he continued he constantly increased the speed. He decided he would finish it off with a no-hooves around the head spin to show off. As the pair of nunchucks went up to his head, he let go. Rather than the expected result however, the nunchucks went flying backwards and wrapped around his tail. The force cause Freddie to fall backwards, only to be struck by his own weapon. He placed his front hooves on his head and let out a small shout in pain. The room burst into laughter.

Angeal had joined in on the laughter as he saw this. "Well I can see you've all got a sense of how to handle yourselves with them. I think it's time to see you put them to use on your first mission."

The laughing subsided and the five became more serious while Freddie tried to untangle the weapons from his tail. Angeal cleared his throat. "There is a small gang that has been causing trouble in sector eight for the past few weeks. They've been giving the local police trouble and need to be dealt with accordingly. Your job is to head to sector eight and take care of them. You will be paid upon completion of the mission accordingly, as well as being able to keep any gear they happen to have on them. Freddie will be able to lead you to the section being from Midgar. Use of force is unrestricted as they have been known to kill on occasion." He looked over the group. "Is everything clear?" The five ponies nodded. "Good, you're dismissed." He gave a salute to the ponies who returned one in kind.

The five ponies turned to each other and nodded reassuring. Freddie finally stood up. "Let's get going. I've nothing but good feelings about this!" They proceeded to head to the elevator and begin the decent to the ground level. They all looked out the the glass walls into the city. Freddie pointed out the area he could see as sector eight. It wasn't a very far walk from the building.

As they reached to ground floor, they could see dozens of workers. Many were lounging around taking breaks and speaking amongst each other, whereas others were heading to various rooms and offices throughout the building. A few stopped and looked at the group for a moment in surprise at the odd group of ponies who had just exited the elevator. The group paid them no mind as they began to walk towards the front entrance.

The five stepped outside into warm summer air. It was a beautiful sunny day with barely a cloud in the sky. The great metal building stood over them as the sun's rays reflected off it's smooth surfaces. Looking outwards, they could see a path of steps leading into a busy street. Many other buildings adorned the landscape before them as they took in the heavy air.

Freddie addressed the group, "Alright guys it's not a far walk from here. The area's close enough that off duty Shinra employees can go there on their breaks. Just follow me and we'll be there in no time."

The five ponies descended down the steps into the street. There were hundred of ponies walking in every direction, however even in a crowd of hundreds the group stood out like a sore hoof. The occasional onlooker would pass by, but as the group followed the lead of the small orange pony they were not troubled by others. It would not be long before they arrived at their destination.

"And here we are fillies. See? I told you it wouldn't take long." Freddie had told the group.

Velis looked surprised at him. "How do you know? We just walked in this direction for a few minutes."

The other four immediately face-hooved at the statement as Freddie pointed to their right. On their right was a thirty by thirty sign. 'Sector 8 - Loveless Avenue' was written in large bold letters.

"Oh, well...don't we have some gang to look for?" Velis said clumsily. Just as Velis finished his question a loud cry for help was heard by the group. "I think I have a good idea where to start our search."

Without hesitation, the five bolted down the street towards source of the cry. They ran for only a few moments before they reached a four-way crossing to see a group of six rugged ponies surrounding a young pink mare with a white scarf. The six ponies were laughing and slowly moving inwards towards the distressed mare. The group moved towards them as one of them perked up and looked at the group. "Look's like we got ourselves some visitors boys." The other five turned to see a very odd group of five ponies approaching them. They walked towards their new 'guests' while one whispered something to the mare. She was completely frozen with fear.

The two group walked up to each other standing no more than feet away. One of the six was slightly bigger than the rest. He had a dark brown coat and a scar over his left eye. "Something me and my boys can help ya with?" He said with a smile.

Marcus began to speak as Jackal suddenly stepped forward, standing face to face with the larger pony. Jackal had to look up a bit to make eye contact as he said, "You're the gang that's been causing trouble?" Jackal's face and words were completely serious, he was not interested in playing their games. Freddie seized the opportunity to sneak around behind them.

The small gang let out a small chuckle. "Well I guess we are. We're the Buckaneers. toughest gang aro-" The pony stopped as Jackal just turned and walked away mid sentence. "Hey! Don't turn your back on me you little runt! I'll kill you for that!"

Jackal quickly took out his metal crossbow. The steel reflected the sun's light revealing its luster as a small *thwing* could be heard. A crossbow bolt had been put directly into the eye of the dark brown stallion as he fell to the ground lifeless. Jackal looked at his first kill and mocked him, "You talk too much."

The five other members of the gang looked at their boss in shock as he lied on the street. They turned their attention to Jackal as one shouted "Get 'im!" They all drew their daggers as they rushed at the group.

One took a violent swing directly at Jackal in retribution for his fallen leader. The blade swung by him as he stepped to the side, sticking out his leg and tripping the attacker. He quickly loaded his crossbow once more and fired it through the back of the pony's head, causing his body to go limp. As another approached Trenton he swung his bastard sword at neck level only to as the pony ducked it. He retaliated by lunging forwards with his dagger and cutting Trenton's left leg. He let out a small grunt in pain as his horn glowed and sent the pony flying backwards. As he tried to get up to return the favor, he fell unconscious as Freddie stood over the body triumphantly with his nunchucks drawn. Two had decided to make a charge at Marcus. As they approached one was suddenly blasted by a large mass of ice as he was knocked to the ground. The other looked to see Velis' horn was glowing only to be blindsided by Marcus as he felt the intense heat make contact with his face. A burst of flames appeared at the end of Marcus's hoof sending the pony back in a smoldering, lifeless state. The last stopped to see that his friends had all been killed by these five 'monsters'. He quickly turned around and began to run as fast as he could. As he got further and further away he felt he could get away, that he would make it out alive! His thoughts of escape were quickly ended by a sudden pain in his neck. The pony's body slowed down as he could feel his energy draining from his body. Slowly but surely he fell down, let out one final breath, and then silence.

Standing frozen was the young pink mare whom the gang had surrounded earlier. Dead bodies littered the area around her as she gazed in awe. She was completely speechless. She had seen fights every now and again, but to see five random ponies come to rescue her and kill six tough looking gangsters in a matter of seconds was an absolute shock to her.

"Miss, are you alright?" The pink mare suddenly jumped in surprise as the small orange pony spoke to her. "We heard you yell earlier. They didn't hurt you too bad did they?" The pink mare looked in surprise at Freddie as she noted he was no larger than a foal.

She cleared her throat. "I-I'm fine. I just...who are you ponies?" She gave the group a look of confusion as they quickly introduced themselves.

"We're part of Shinra. We were ordered to find this gang and it just so happened you were here too." Velis explained. When the pink mare heard the name Shinra a wave of relief took over her.

"Oh thank goddess you're with Shinra. I thought you were all some kind of crazy vigilantes or something." She said letting out a nervous chuckle. "Umm...do you mind escorting me back to my work? I work at the main building. I mean, if it's not too far out of your way." She said shyly to her rescuers.

The five looked at each other and saw that nopony had any objections. "Sure, we're heading back anyways." Marcus told her. With that said, they made their way back to the Shinra headquarters.

When the six of them returned, the pink mare thanked her saviors. "I don't really have much to pay you with..." She paused for a moment. "Oh I know!" She removed the scarf from her neck and gave it to Marcus. "I know it's not much, but it's supposed to be a good luck charm of sorts." She thanked the five ponies again and went on her way. The group returned to the glass elevators they had now become so familiar with to the laboratory. Angeal was waiting for them inside. "So how'd the first mission go?" The group proceeded to report on the events that took place. "So you not only took care of our little gang problem, but saved a Shinra employee in the process? Did you get her name?" The group suddenly realized they never even thought to ask the pink pony for her name. "Oh well that's not a big deal. As long as she's safe everything is fine I suppose." The navy-blue pony went over to one of the paper-littered desks and grabbed a small bag. He tossed it over to the group. Marcus made sure to catch it. "This is your pay for the mission. One-thousand Gil." The jaws of everypony suddenly dropped as they realized how much they were just payed.

"Wait a minute, do all jobs pay like this?" Freddie asked excitedly.

Angeal smiled. "To be honest, this was a pretty small job overall. Future jobs will probably pay far more than this."

The group was suddenly thrilled to be part of Shinra. Wages before were livable, but no where near as staggering as the amount they would now be making. Freddie beamed as he said, "See guys? I told you I had a good feeling about this!"

"You guys should go rest up for the rest of evening. Meet back here at 8 a.m sharp and we'll see what I've got for you then." Angeal addressed the group. They all agreed as they head to the elevator. "Oh one more thing." The five turned around to see Angeal. "Don't expect every job to be this easy. Your lives will, more often than not, be on the line." Freddie was the only one who took this as any surprise as they continued onto the elevator. The five looked out once more to Midgar as the sun was setting in the distance. An orange-red hue filled the evening sky as the sound of vehicles and ponies could be heard. Freddie thought to himself, 'It's going to be a long night isn't it?'

An Unscheduled Stop

Chapter 3: An Unscheduled Stop

After a long and restless night, the five ponies woke up once again. They all hoped it was just a dream, that they would all wake up in their comfortable homes. Reality was never known for being kind however, which they slowly realized whilst waking up. Each of the ponies had their own rooms on the 26th floor. It was staggering just how many floors this building had. Each with its own function that was of the utmost importance to the company.

One by one the ponies would make their way to the 68th floor, where Angeal and Hojo were waiting patiently. Once all of them had arrived in the laboratory, Angeal began to speak.

"It's good to see you all made it on time. You've got a busy day ahead so I hope you're all prepared." The navy blue pony began to pace back and forth. "There have been reports of dangerous creatures coming out of the sewers in the Sector 7 slums and occasionally attacking the residents of the area. We've sent a few guards to protect them, but they're ill equipped to deal with the front of the situation. Your job is to head to the sewers and find the source of this issue. The train leaving for the sector will be heading off in 1 hour, don't be late." Angeal had stopped pacing by this point and made a gesture towards Hojo. "I believe you mentioned you have something for them."

Hojo had been paying little mind to the briefing. The flax coloured pony didn't care much for the matters of Shinra, he simply wanted to see his test subjects in action. "I have developed a unique device which will surely come of use to my precious specimens. Guard, send it in!" He had called out.

The door on the opposite side of the room opened. Standing in the doorway was a pony in a blue uniform and a small animal. Appearing much like that of a stuffed toy, the animal was a very small light blue cat that stood on its hind legs. Its body was almost humanoid in shape with a patch of white fur covering its stomach area. The eyes were comically large with completely black irises. On its left arm was a small metal device with many buttons.

"This is the Honorary Artificial Persona Invention. Or as it has been nicknamed by the staff, Happy." Hojo began to say, "It will take on the role as a means of active communication between you and Angeal, as well as being able to scout out a given area ahead of time. I'm sure you'll find it quite useful."

The group merely stared at the odd animal as it walked towards them. As it got closer, it was apparent that Happy was only just smaller than Freddie. It approached the small orange pony with a wide smile on its face. "Hi!" It said cheerily. Freddie gave the cat a confused look, unsure how to respond to it.

"Hi? I guess you're with us from now on. So, I'm Freddie." Freddie extended a hoof to greet the small cat. Happy extended his paw in turn and the two shook. In suit, the other four began to introduce themselves one by one. Jackal payed no mind to it however.

Once introductions were over, Angeal noted that the train would be leaving in less than an hour. The station wasn't far, but tardiness was not an option at this point. They all agreed and began to head towards the elevator. The five of them stood in the elevator and saw that Happy had not followed. "Come on Happy, we don't have all day." Marcus said.

The blue cat responding with a resounding "Aye Sir!" as a faint glow showed behind it. A pair of feathery wings appeared from out of nowhere as Happy rose off the ground and flew towards them. The five ponies stood dumbfounded at the spectacle as the steel doors closed.

The six of them headed towards the train station located in Sector 8 where they had, only yesterday, fought a small gang and rescued the pink pony. The station was nothing spectacular. The train itself was made of a very thick steel. Made for the specific purpose of carrying people from one place to another, ascetic quality was lacking since the goal was to be efficient. It was clear that the train was in need of maintenance. Many of the windows had cracks and much of the paint was beginning to peel. Attached were eight cars behind the engine, with a guard standing next to the open doors of each. Only a handful of ponies were waiting for the train.

As the group head towards the fourth car, the guard gave them a suspicious look. He was wearing a red coat and matching hat. "Excuse me, may I ask what your business is?" The guard asked the group.

It was the lime green unicorn, Velis, who stepped forward. "We're on our way to deal with the issue in the Sector 7 slums. My co-workers and I have been authorized by Angeal Hewley."

The guard pony gave a surprised look to the group. "I-I apologize. Please, do continue on." He said nervously as he gestured towards the car.

Inside was far nicer than the outside of the train. The seats were made of a green cloth material with bronze supports. Overhead was a single line of florescent lights that illuminated the inside of the train. No one else had entered the car, however, making it seem very empty. The train sounded a whistle alerting the passengers that the train would be departing shortly. A few minutes passed as the doors on the car were closed by the guard pony. Everyone had seated themselves as a voice came over the intercom. "Second train out of Sector 8 Station. Last stop is Sector 7, Train Graveyard. Expected time of arrival is 9:33 AM, Midgar standard time..." The train slowly began to move as the station passed by them. It didn't take long for the train to pick up speed, however, making places they passed merely a blur.

The ponies sat in silence for a few minutes, with only the sound of the roaring train engine to fill the air. It did not take long for Marcus and Freddie to become impatient. They began to scan the room in hopes of finding entertainment of some kind when they happened to spot a small monitor near the front of the car. The two stood up and decided to investigate. The monitor was quite small, being only 16" across. A small picture of the city was on the screen as they could see a green dot spiraling from the upper plate to the lower plate.

Freddie quickly recognized it. "This is a map of this trains route. We're the green dot here." He pointed at the dot that was slowly moving downwards. Marcus looked in interest at the device. He wasn't used to being in such a massive city. The small size of the dot in comparison to the city made him realize just how huge Midgar was.

As Marcus and Freddie stood talking near the monitor, so too had Velis and Trenton began to talk. Leaving only Jackal and Happy unoccupied. Jackal simply decided he would listen in on the conversations. Happy became bored quickly as he decided to stretch out his wings rather than sit in silence. With a flash of light the feathery wings appeared once more on the back of the small blue cat. Jackal wasn't very fond of the odd creature, but it would be wrong to say he didn't take an interest in how it managed to perform such a feat.

Jackal looked over to Happy before he could fly off. "How do you do that?" Happy gave a surprised look at the usually silent pony. Other than the one time Jackal had told Happy his name, not once did the small cat hear him speak.

Happy folded his wings back as they dissipated into nothingness. "I don't know really. I think it's magic!" He said quite happily.

Jackal gave the cat a skeptical look. "Magic you say? Why do I have a hard time believing that?" The chestnut pony began. "Surely Hojo installed some kind of device that allows for it. I've just never seen it before." Happy gave Jackal a very confused look. Jackal noticed this. "You have no idea what I'm talking about do you?" Happy shook his head. "...this is going to be a long day isn't it?" Jackal whispered to himself.

Without warning the train suddenly began to screech to a halt, causing Freddie to lose his balance and fall over. A blinking red light filled the room as an alarm sounded. The sound of a crashing noise could be heard in the cars ahead of them followed by screams. The five ponies quickly drew their weapons and rushed to investigate.

Inside the car was practically destroyed. A group of four ponies were backed up into the opposite end as six reptile-like creatures surrounded them. The creatures resembled that of a large turtle wielding a spear as they hissed at the cowering ponies. Velis quickly recognized the creatures as Sahagins. Using his knowledge of them, he quickly instructed Trenton to follow his lead as the green unicorns horn began to glow. A bolt of powerful lightning flew forward striking one of the reptilian monsters, causing it to hiss violently as it and the others turned their attention to the group.

Marcus, however, heard something he was not expecting. While the sahagin was turning around, rather than hissing he heard it shout "They have poniesss behind usss. Get them!" The six sahagin readied themselves for a fight with the five ponies as four of them charged with their spears forward. With a surprising amount of coordination, the four spears were heading straight for Velis. Trenton made sure to follow Velis' lead and shot a bolt of lighting at the attackers. One instantly fell to the ground with with a sizzling sound coming from the scaled beast, but the other three continued on their path at the green unicorn. As the spears thrust forward Velis was able to dodge two, but the third found its mark in his side. Velis let out a cry in pain as blood began to rush out of the wound. Velis took a step back to recover from the blow, but the sahagin were out for blood. They attempted to rush forward again, but this time Marcus seized the opportunity, striking one with as much force as possible sending it hurdling backwards towards the two still at the other end of the car. The front of its shell was scorched by the intense flames that emitted from Marcus' hoof. It began to stand back up until a crossbow bolt was shot through its head. The sahagin fell back to the ground devoid of life. Freddie had already begun to make his way towards the two sahagin on the other side of the car when they both spotted him sneaking alongside the seats. Without warning the sahagin both fired a jet of water at Freddie. Both had missed, but tore the seats around him apart. Freddie realized just how dangerous that water attack could be.

The two spear users still attempted to lash out at Velis. As the spears neared Velis, a surge of energy began to flow through him. His focus was directed at the two attacker as the pain on his side faded to nothingness. With this new found energy, Velis unleashed a wave of ice the froze them both solid. Motionless, the two sahagin that were attacking him were now frozen with their spears inches away from the unicorns face. The ice slowly began to crack at they exploded into countless shards that fired off in all directions. The two sahagin that witnessed this took action. One withdrew into its shell as the other wedged its spear underneath it. The shell was suddenly lifted into the air as the standing sahagin shot a jet of water at it, sending the shell flying towards the group at tremendous speed. Standing next to each other, Trenton and Marcus saw this unusual opportunity to play a more violent version of beach volleyball. Trenton’s horn began to glow as his sword was suddenly enveloped in lightning. When the shell was by him he swung upwards with all his might, sending the shell into the roof of the car as its shell became encased in lightning just as the sword had. As it began to fall, Marcus bucked it with all his might as the shell, now engulfed in both flames and lightning, was send flying at the remaining sahagin. The sahagin gave a hiss that Marcus heard as a resounding "Oh sssssshi-" as the shell exploded is a mass of fire and lightning. The six sahagin now lie in their various states of dead throughout the car. Just as the fight was over, a powerful roar and an explosion sounded from the next car over. They knew their work was not done yet.

The five ponies ran over to the next car expecting to see more sahagin attacking passengers. What they witnessed however, was far from such a notion. The five stood by the entrance of the car dumbfounded as they looked upon eight slaughtered sahagin. The shells had been practically torn apart by what seemed like the claws of a powerful beast, and many had been scorched from intense flames. Standing in the center of the car was a lone pony. Completely unharmed, his coat was a deep crimson with a jet black mane. The stallion turned to look at the group with eyes equally as crimson as his coat. Holstered on his side was a pistol. "Who are you?" The mysterious pony asked the group.

The Wandering Soul

Chapter 4: The Wandering Soul

Standing in front of our five bewildered heroes stood a single crimson stallion with matching eyes and a jet black mane, surrounded by eight very dead sahagin. "Who are you?" The mysterious pony asked the group. Everyone noted one unusual trait about this pony. His front left leg was made of a gold colored metal, at the end was something resembling that of a claw.

Jackal stepped forward, "I'm more interested in who you are and what you did here." At this point, Jackals interest had peaked seeing the unusual cuts and burns that covered the sahagin.

"Gray Fullbuster," the pony replied. "I-I don't really know what happened to be honest. I'm having some difficulty remembering some things. Now I've answered your question, mind answering mine?"

"Fair enough," Jackal nodded. "I'm called Jackal, we're all with Shinra. Now what's this about not being able to remember things?"

"Where do I begin," Gray sat down on a charred seat. "I remember being on this train, but not how I got here." The crimson pony had changed his tone seeming rather distressed. "I can't remember where I've been or what's happened in the past few years, like an entire chapter of my life was erased."

A blue pony walked in through the door opposite to the group wearing an odd striped hat. "What in the blazes happened here!" the blue pony exclaimed as he looked at the carnage in the train car. "Did you all do this?"

"We took care of the car behind us, Gray here's the one who got these...things." Marcus said.

"They're called sahagin. Mostly living in sewers around these parts," Velis spoke up. "Much like the sewers we should be nearing had these ones not decided to cause a ruckus." He turned to the blue pony, "On that note, are you the conductor of this train by chance?" He nodded. "Then why aren't we moving?"

"They did some serious damage to the track. Had the warning system not turned on when it did we'd all be a lot more dead than we are now at the speed this train was going," the conductor said with a breath of relief.

The five ponies turned to each other. "So what do we do now?" Marcus asked.

Freddie put a hoof to his chin as he contemplated, "Why don't we just get out and walk? It'll take about two hours if we follow the tracks from here." The other four agreed.

"Shouldn't we contact Angeal?" The four ponies turned to Trenton. "I mean, we were expected to be there in less than a half hour."

Happy walked over to the group, receiving a confused stare from Gray and the conductor. Noticing this, Marcus quickly told them, "He's a robot thing I guess. Made by Shinra." The two ponies were skeptical, but accepted it nonetheless.

The small metal device on Happy's arm suddenly sprang to life with buttons flickering with light. Happy pushed a few and a voice came through the device. "This is Angeal." Velis took it upon himself to explain the situation. He told Angeal how the sahagin had suddenly attacked the train, that they were attacking ponies and about the condition of the train. "I see, is that all?"

"Oh, and we had a bit of help from a pony we met here. His name's Gray Fullbuster," Velis had remembered. "It appears he took down eight sahagin single hoofed."

"Eight you say? That's a pretty impressive feat if I do say so myself. If he's listening I'd like to offer my thanks for aiding you all." The device was silent for a moment. "Is he still there by chance?"

"I'm here." Gray replied.

"Good, I have a proposition for you...Gray was it? Happy, take him somewhere where we can talk privately. The rest of you hold your position until I'm done here." Gray stood up from his seat and followed the small blue cat into the currently vacant engine car.

Several minutes went by as they waited for the conversation to be over. The crimson pony and Happy walked through the car door as the other ponies looked up with anticipation. "Looks like I'll be coming with you on your job today." The five ponies were surprised at the turn of events. They had not even seen what had happened, let alone the fact that he claimed he had no memory of it.

Angeals voice rose from the device once again. "I'm having Gray accompany you on your mission to the Sector 7 sewers. He's already proven himself combat ready, so I trust there will be no arguments?"

The five stood silently. "Good. You are to head to the Sector 7 train station by foot. There you will meet up with a man named Genesis. Much like myself, Genesis has played a major part in the SOLDIER program. You will follow his instructions as if they were my own. Angeal out."

"Well I guess your stickin' with us now," as Freddie walked over to the crimson pony, he threw a hoof up over Grays shoulder which required him to stand on his hind legs to reach. "Let me introduce you to the gang. I'm Freddie, and here we have Marcus, Jackal, Velis, Trenton and the cat thing there is Happy," the small orange pony pointed to everyone as he said their names. "Now that we're all the best of friends, lets go kill some turtle-lizards."

"Sahagin." Velis corrected him.

"Gesundheit. Now lets go. We've got a few hours of walking ahead of us." With that said, the ponies laughed as they exited the train and into the long, dimly lit tunnel.

As they walked past the front of the train, they saw the damage the conductor had earlier told them about. The rails had been ripped apart with the scraps thrown about the area. The train had stopped mere feet from wreckage. Though surprised by the amount of damage such an odd creature could do, they continued on rather than gawk since there was little to see other than what was obvious.

The six ponies had been walking for nearly two hours, conversing with their new crimson comrade. Through their conversations they discovered that Gray was from a port town called Junon. The metal arm he had was new to him as well. He was unaware of how it got there, but he knows it must have been somewhat recent since he has no memory of it.

The two hour mark had finally passed and the group could see a light off in the distance. Seeing the end of the tunnel, the group picked up their pace. They had no love for this walking and waiting game. As they approached the light they could see a station platform. Sitting near on the edge of the platform was a lone ocher colored unicorn. His cinnabar mane was relatively short, but very tidy. The unicorn was hovering a thick book titled LOVELESS in front of him. On his side was a pack as well a a red bladed rapier. The six ponies walked towards him.

"Excuse me," Marcus asked. "we're looking for someone. Have you seen anypony named Genesis around?" The unicorn payed no mind the Marcus' question, simply continuing to focus on his book.

Jackal was annoyed by his clear lack of respect. He walked up to the book and with a hoof pulled it down far enough that their eyes would meet. "He asked you a question. Answer it." His voice was stern as he gave a harsh stare into the unicorns green eyes. Jackal noticed that his eyes were different, they seemed to emit a strange glow much like his own.

The unicorn sighed as he stood up. "Infinite in mystery is the gift of the Goddess," the unicorn began to say. "We seek it thus, and take to the sky. Ripples form on the water's surface. The wandering soul knows no rest." Using his magic he retrieved the book from Jackal, closing it and placing it in a small pack he had on his side. "You say that you are looking for someone, well you have found them. I am Genesis Rhapsodos, a member of SOLDIER." Genesis draws the rapier from his side. "I wish to see how you have progressed." The blade on his sword suddenly began to glow a faint yellow. The six ponies were also enveloped by this mysterious light. "Draw your weapons."

The six of them prepared for battle despite being unsure of what to make of these odd occurrences. As Jackal reached for his crossbow, Genesis thrust his blade forward with lightning speed towards his chest. Unable to dodge his attack, Jackal was struck by the blade. Rather than pierce him, however, it had felt as though he had been struck by a blunt force, knocking him back and causing a great deal of pain. Jackal stumbled back as he tried his best to keep his footing, but instead was greeted by the impact from a ball of fire. He did not feel the intense heat from the flames, but felt a familiar blunt force strike him. Jackal could take no more, the wind hand been knocked out of him twice. He fell to the ground, beaten and unconscious. The other five ponies were astonished at what had just happened. It was merely in a second their friends was beaten into the ground with ease.

Gray led the groups offensive as he fired his pistol at Genesis. Using the blade of his rapier, Genesis was deflecting bullets with perfect precision. Marcus charged forward summoning up as much power as he could. With a mighty roar, Marcus leaped into the air with a large ball of fire enveloping his hoof. The hoof made contact with Genesis' sword causing an explosion which caused dirt to fly up, covering the two from sight. The sight of dancing flames could be seen through the thick blanket of smoke, only to disappear as a small blue flash of light overtook it. Genesis swung his sword to the side, clearing the smoke and revealing the two. Marcus had been covered in bits of ice. He lied on the ground unconscious, breathing heavily as the attacks from Genesis had taken their toll.

Meanwhile, Trenton had already charged his bastard sword with his favorite lightning spell. He nodded to Freddie who slowly moved away from group. He rushed forward and swung his sword at Genesis. The two clashed swords, sending sparks in all directions. The lightning coursed through the metal blades and met with Genesis, who winced as a surge of electricity hit him. Freddie had already, moved behind Genesis waiting for the time to strike. Seeing his opportunity, he rushed forward and swung his nunchaku. "Clever, but not good enough," Genesis smirked. Before Freddie could make contact he stepped aside, causing the lightning from the blade to be sent into Freddie as he hurdled into Trenton, knocking the two down. The horn on Genesis' head glowed as he prepared to finish them off with a spell, only to be met with a hail of bullets and lightning. Velis and Gray were still up and firing full force on him. Turning his attention to the immediate threat, a massive bolt of lightning came down from the sky and struck Velis. He was sent flying back from the force of the blast and landed harshly on his side unconscious. Genesis rushed forward to meet Gray, swinging his sword in the process. Gray was far more agile than what he had anticipated. As Genesis swung his sword continuously at him, Gray managed to duck and weave through them. With every missed swing, Gray fired a shot at a hopeful opening. "He seems to be far more trained than he should be..." Genesis though to himself. As Gray dodged another attack and pulled the trigger, he heard the most unpleasant sound in the world, *click.* He had run out of ammo and was in no position to reload. Gray dropped his gun and swung out with his metal hoof. Genesis took advantage of the pony's change in tactics and allowed the hit to land squarely on his muzzle. This left Gray open. Genesis thrust the rapier at him, sending Gray hurdling back and falling unconscious from the sheer force of impact.

As he turned to deal with the remaining two he was greeted by a lightning blade wielding grey unicorn. Trenton swung forwards in expectation of Genesis blocking it. Genesis, however, had decided to side step him instead. With Trenton fully open Genesis summoned a bolt of fire at him, sending him backwards as he lost consciousness. He returned to look for the small orange pony who accompanied Trenton. Genesis was suddenly struck in the back of his head by Freddie who had been looking for an opening. Genesis turned to meet him face to face. Freddie stood little chance against his sword which struck true as Freddie, much like the others, had also fallen unconscious.

Standing in the center of the aftermath, Genesis sheathed his rapier. The horn on his head glowed as the unconscious group became enveloped in a soft green light. "There is no hate, only joy. For you are beloved by the Goddess. Hero of the dawn, healer of worlds."

The six ponies woke up and found their strength had come back to them. It felt as though they had never been in a fight at all. As they stood perplexed by what had just happened, the sound of thunderous applause could be heard all around them. They looked to see a huge crowd of ponies had gathered to witness the fierce battle.

"Where did everypony come from? I didn't even see them arrive." Velis asked. He turned towards where Genesis had been for an answer to see he was no longer there. "Weird..."

From the crowd stepped a young filly carrying a paper and a marker. The small pony approached Marcus who was greatly confused by the situation. Placing the objects down, she nervously asked him "C-can I have your autograph?"

Graveyard of Steel

Marcus stood in silent confusion as the filly looked hopefully at him. "You...want my autograph?"

"Yeah! You were awesome!" The little filly took a fighting stance, "When you were all like POW!, and then there was fire everywhere and then the blam and WHOOSH!," the filly exclaimed while attempting to mimic his previous actions.

As he saw the little filly swinging her hooves around fighting an invisible foe, Marcus could not help but feel a sense of pride rush through him. He nodded to the filly. As he reached down for the marker, Marcus noticed that the paper already had a picture on it. The paper itself was a flier, advertising a special event. Near the top of the flier it said "See a battle for the ages! Shinra has done the impossible yet again. Come see the amazing members of SOLDIER!" The flier also contained an image of the group and Genesis. With the exception of Gray of course. Marcus was dumbfounded by this discovery. The entire thing had been planned and no one even bothered to tell them. Though he was annoyed, he refused to leave the filly in wait. He signed his name on the flier and added "To one awesome fan." He gave the paper back to the filly who let off a squee of appreciation as she ran back to the crowd., where she began to show it off to some other young ponies.

At this point, the crowd had begun to dissipate. The six ponies gathered themselves back together as they set out towards the train graveyard. From the station, a large lot filled with dozens of decommissioned trains could be seen. The cars that made up the trains lied in such a manner that they formed up a maze of rust and steel.

They now stood in between two large trains, which created a path forwards. Ahead of them could be seen two right turns, one relatively close while the other was much further down. As the group walked up to the first turn, a crackling sound could be heard.

The six ponies stopped to listen for a moment as Freddie turned and asked,"What's that noise?" Without warning, three large spheres of fire came flying around the corner as they hovered above the group. They spun around revealing a devious face. With eyes that spewed flames and a wide maw that bore large pointed teeth.
"What the hay is that thing!?" Marcus asked surprised by such a strange creature.

"That thing is called a Bomb. As you can see, it's a moving ball of fire." Velis made sure to answer. "They also have a habit of, well, exploding. Lets deal with them quickly." On that note, the six ponies prepared for battle.

Velis was first to make a move as his horn glowed a light blue. A burst of ice suddenly flew from his horn towards the bombs. The shard of ice burst into pieces as the flaming monster shrieked in pain. As it recovered from the blow, the group noticed that it grew in size considerably. Trenton decided to take things up close as he charged with his sword at the one that was stuck. As he approached he swung the large sword down. The blade met with little resistance as it passed through the creature with ease, disappearing in a puff of smoke. The two remaining bombs decided they would retaliate against this close range attacker as they dove towards Trenton and bit him. Their teeth burned into Trentons flesh as their powerful jaws had made contact on his body. Marcus ran in to assist him as the red pony struck one with his flaming hooves. The bomb, however, seemed to enjoy the small burst of flames as it grinned and grew larger. Jackal noted the sudden increase in size as he took aim with his crossbow of steel. He fired two bolt in rapid succession into the monster as it winced in pain, once again growing larger. During this time, Freddie had already taken advantage of the confusion and moved behind the scene. Nunchacku at the ready, he moved up behind the smaller of the bombs and struck it as hard as he could. The bomb spun around in surprise to meet face-to-face with the small orange pony, who aptly swung his weapon again striking the face of the monster. The bomb inflated like the others had and attempted to take a bite out of Freddie as the creatures new size dwarfed the small pony. Just as it grew near a pair of gun shots could be heard as the bomb dissipated into thin air, leaving the grossly large bomb to be the last one remaining. The group prepared to attack it as its round body suddenly began to shake violently. The ponies were confused by this until Velis shouted "Get back, it's going to explode!" Before anypony could react, the bomb burst into a mass of flames as smoke filled the air around them.

As the smoke began to clear Gray, Jackal and Velis saw that of the ones who got up close only Marcus remained standing. Freddie and Trenton had been badly injured, bearing serious burn marks across them. Velis rushed in and began to treat the wounds with his magic.

As he treated them, he sighed as he turned to the others. "I don't know how much I can help them. These are third degree burns. Most ponies don't survive an explosion from a Bomb in general. The fact that they're still breathing is nothing short of a miracle."

"Here, I have something that will help" Grey said as he walked towards the injured ponies. Reaching into a pouch on his side he pulled out two small vials of a red liquid and passed them to Velis. "I always carry some spare potions just in case."

Velis was surprised at their new companion. Pleased with the pony's resourcefulness, he took the vials over to Trenton and Freddie and forced the injured ponies to drink them. Miraculously, their injuries began to fade away as they stood up. Making sure to thank Gray, they contemplated how they would get through this maze of trains.

"We can't just walk around aimlessly. Who knows how many more bombs are flying around here," Velis stated. "and I don't think Gray has potions enough for all of us."

Gray nodded. "I've only got three more. I made sure to carry them back in Junon since monsters had started appearing. I have a few other items that can help us out, but they're more for poisons and the like." Gray turned his attention to Marcus. "You, however, seem to be immune to fire. Mind if I ask what gives?"

Marcus stood in place unsure how to answer the question. When he had been hit by the explosion, he had realized he was more than just immune to the fire. "Umm, I think immune may be the wrong word for it. Especially seeing as I...well...ate some."

The group looked at Marcus suspiciously. "What do you mean ate?" Gray had become quite curious at this point.

"Well, when the bomb exploded I accidentally inhaled some of the flames. When I did it tasted like...like hot sauce I think. Kind of on the mild side, but that's not important," Marcus said as he was reminded of the tasty treat.

Trenton spoke up, "Well that's one question...answered. Now, how do we navigate this place?" The ponies pondered the question as Happy cleared his throat. No one took any notice. Again the small blue cat cleared his throat, a little louder this time. Again, no one took notice. Frustrated, Happy walked over to Marcus and, as loud as he could, unleashed a powerful cough that could not be ignored.

"Geez Happy, you feeling ok? Maybe Gray has something for that cough."

"Wow you're stupid," Happy said placing a paw on his forehead. "Why don't you have me fly up and tell you which way to go." The six ponies perked up at the idea as they all agreed.

A flash of light appeared behind Happy as feathery wings appeared on his back. He quickly darted upwards and looked around. He could see a large opening in the distance which seemed like a good place to head for. Signalling the group to follow him, he began to lead the six ponies through the twists and turns of the maze.

Having an eye in the sky payed off for the ponies. They had been following a rather random seeming path as Happy pointed out incoming monsters along their path. Being able to prepare for a fight in advance made quick work of the few foes they came across, which were basically sahagin and bombs. After nearly an hour of navigating the maze, the ponies looked ahead to see a single left turn ahead of them. Happy descended from the sky. "I think we're here. There's a big opening right around this turn." Pleased by the fact that they could get out of this annoying place, they picked up their pace see the opening. It was surrounded by a wall of decommissioned trains with a large wooden chest at the other end and a large ponyhole in the middle.

"I think we found the entrance," Freddie said holding a hoof to his nose. The group could tell it lead to the sewers solely by the stench that was coming from it. "We just get the best jobs don't we?"

The six ponies walked forward as the ground around them began to shake. "Oh what now?" Freddie sighed. As if to answer his rhetorical question, two giant holes appeared in the ground beside them. Slithering out were a pair of massive serpent-like creature with "arms" like that of a mantis. They hissed at the group.

Much like with the sahagin, however, Marcus felt as though he could understand what they were saying. "More food for ussss. Massster will be pleasssed." Marcus noticed the word "master" and took an interest. Unfortunately, this interest would be short lived as the snake-like creatures lunged at them.

These creatures were smarter than the sahagin had been, focusing their efforts on Marcus as he was the at the head of the group. He jumped up to avoid them as the both missed their mark. Being several feet in the air Marcus forced an explosion above himself causing him to come down with tremendous force as he landed on top of one of the creatures. The monster raised its head in pain and quickly shook Marcus off. Trenton charged his sword with his lightning spell as he swung at the large monstrosity in front of him. The surge of lightning spread throughout the creatures body as it writhed in pain. Jackal noted that on the head of the creature was a small section of unscaled skin. He took careful aim as he fired a crossbow bolt into it, meeting his mark perfectly. The creature hissed as it shook its head from the attack and turned its attention to Jackal. It gazed at him as a flash of light appeared from its eyes. Jackal suddenly noticed he couldn't move, and everything went black. The others looked at the stallion to see his body been completely turned to stone.

Velis suddenly realized what they were dealing with as he shouted, "It's a Basilisk, don't look it in the eyes!" Making sure to avoid looking at the head altogether, a burst of fire flew from his horn as it charred the scales of the Basilisk that that sealed their ally in stone. Gray noted the unicorns warning as he moved to the side of the creature and began firing rounds into it. Freddie, however, had decided to take a new approach to the situation. Using his agility to rush forward, he jumped on the tail of the unharmed basilisk and proceeded to run up its back. He flipped the ends of his nunchaku off like bottle caps, revealing a blade that protruded from the end. He grabbed both parts of the nunchaku and drove them into the back of the basilisks head. The creature tried to shake of the small pony, but he held on firmly as the snake-like creatures squirming cause the blades to continuously tear down its back. Seeing that the one basilisk was clearly busy with Freddie, Marcus took the opportunity to go after the one before him. Hoping to finish it off quickly, he gathered his energy around his hooves, creating a large sphere of flames around them as he did with the fight with Genesis. He lunged forward and struck the basilisk with a force that caused its body to be flung back like a doll. The creature wriggled in pain for a few moments as it slowed all movements to a stop.

The remaining basilisk was still writhing in pain as it desperately tried to remove Freddie from its back. Unable to grab him, the basilisk was helpless as the hidden blades from Freddie's nunchaku continued to carve their way down its back. Seeing the opportunity, the rest of the group put their efforts into one final attack. In a hail of flames, lightning, and gunfire, the basilisk let out a shriek and fell to the ground dead. Standing triumphantly on its back was Freddie who smiled as he said "Damn snakes." With the basilisks defeated, the group had another problem to deal with. Jackal was still encased in stone.

"We have to be quick," Velis said worried. "If I'm not mistaken, we need to get him better within an hour or else it'll be permanent."

The group turned to look at Gray, who had gotten them out of a difficult situation already. He simply shook his head, "I don't have anything that cures petrification. Such supplies are hard to come by." The five ponies had become worried that they wouldn't be able to help him as Gray remembered the wooden chest ahead of them. "I'm going to go see what's in there." Gray walked up to the small chest as he opened the lid. Inside were a pair of bracers that seemed to have an aura of magic around them, as well as a small pouch. He quickly grabbed the pouch and looked inside. "Jackpot!" He quickly rushed over to Jackal and pulled out a strange leaf. Touching Jackal with the leaf, cracks suddenly began to form as bits of the stone began to fall apart. It wasn't long before Jackals body was completely free.

A wave of relief washed over the group as Jackal shook his head. "Never..." The group looked at Jackal curiously. "That will NEVER happen again. That was...just uncomfortable." The others could not help but let out a laugh as they looked towards the entrance to the sewers.

"Well, might as well get this over with." Jackal had stepped forward when Gray stopped him. "What is it?

Gray pointed to the chest, "There was a pair of bracers in there. Looked magic too."

Jackal merely shrugged as he opened the ponyhole cover. "Then go get them."

Marcus made his way over to the chest upon hearing that inside were bracers. He looked at them and put them on. He noticed he felt a bit lighter while wearing them, though he couldn't explain how. He walked back to Velis, "Any idea what they do?"

The unicorn inspected the bracers closely as he made mental notes about the aura around it. "I believe these are called Bracers of Strength. They should make you a bit stronger, thus the name." Marcus was quite pleased by these new bracers as he looked them over. His admiration would have to wait, however, as the sewers below awaited their arrival.