Chapters Celestia’s plan had been perfect, or at least as perfect as someone was capable of getting. She had found someone more than able to use the element of magic, saving her sister from a thousand year slumber. Discord had been subdued, though she admitted that she got slightly more involved than expected. The one small blemish was Chrysalis’ appearance and near sabotage of Shining Armor and Princess Cadence’s wedding. She had also misjudged how powerful her enemy was, something she would not let happen again.
That, however, was a problem that had now presented itself. The people’s faith were turning away from her and onto others, all because she had been beaten that single time. The citizens had seen her as weak and they now saw her niece, student, and brother-in-law as more feared. The faith that remained was that of obligation. Obligation for a princess that had kept them safe for a thousand years, but had grown weak with either age or peace. Celestia hated to admit it, but she certainly felt that way.
The throne room was empty today, not because no one had anything to ask of her, but because she needs the day to think. A look at the windows, the stain glass telling of the victories and tribulations of the past year… and those of many years ago. Back then, she felt like she could be there, help her student if push came to shove. Now, knowing what might come next, she no longer felt that way. That was what she needed to think on: the ever changing, quickly altering minds of the masses.
“To be with them for so long, and see how easily their mind can change,” Celestia replied. “I now understand what they meant… what she meant.”
“You’re still here right?” Celestia turned to Luna, masking her surprise at seeing her younger sister stand so proud. “They still believe in you, isn’t that what matters?”
“True, but it interferes with so much,” Celestia raised a hoof as she spoke to her sister. “I always worried about what might happen if she fails, but now? Now I fear that I can’t be fast enough, that I can’t reach far enough, that before that day comes she won’t have the knowledge to survive and-”
“She told you of the mirror, right?” Luna responded. “I’m sure that we should be able to reach someone able to train or defend them till you are restored fully.”
Celestia pondered what her sister said. She knew about the mirror, but it had been a long time since she had ever even thought of it. It was true, she knew of a place that might be able to help with what is to come, but still. Surely she had time still. There was absolutely no way that the next threat could arrive so quick-
“Your highness!” A soldier burst through the doors to throne rooms, the guards on the inside to slow to react. “Forgive me for interrupting, but I have grave news.”
“Don’t worry, you are not interfering with anything too… secretive,” Celestia lied before waving her hoof. “What do you report?”
“Nothing good, your highness, princess Luna,” The soldier replied, receiving a snort from the younger sister. “I'm afraid to say it but… he has returned.”
“They are here,” Luna whispered, just loud enough for Celestia to hear. One look at her sister, however, told her that she already knew what this meant.
The two shared a look, nodded, and then turned their attention back to the poor soldier who had no doubt see the horror they had expected.
“Send for Captain Shining Armor, tell him he is needed,” Celestia told the guard, who quickly saluted before running off. She then turned to her sister. “Luna, set the mirror for Hydaelyn, get me the best you can find.”
“Sister-”
“We have no time for discussion. Every minute we speak, more are tampered.”
She hated to believe it, but her sister was right. After a quick hug, Luna left from the back of the throne room, leaving Celestia to summon a scroll. She wrote quickly yet carefully, but left her interpretation of the “other” that would be with her vague. She had no idea who Luna would find, or if she would find anything at all. It all came down to if they had the right time, because as much as she hated to admit it, she would not be able to protect Twilight for a distance.
Not this time, and possibly, not long into the future.
“Luna, whoever it is you find, they need to be better than the best,” Celestia said, knowing that her sister wasn’t there to receive her worried words. “We need the very light itself.”
Steps of Faith, Ishgard
Between the Central Coerthas Highlands and the grand city state of Ishgard laid the Gates of Judgement, and between them, the Steps of Faith. Crossing over what seemed to be a bottomless canyon, this bridge had once been the fortress keeping all of Eorzea from Ishgard. That was before the Warrior of Light had slayed Archbishop Thordan and stopped the man’s plan to wipe out the dravanians. Yet, now, it felt like it had all been for not.
A giant tower had crumbled, leaving two separate battles on each side of the Steps of Faith. On the side closer to Ishgard, acting Archbishop Aymeric de Borel fended off wave after wave of dravanians from the brood of Nidhogg. While the battle was nothing new to him, the cause had become far different. One side sought peace from a thousand year old war whose origins had been deluded to the eyes of mortal man, while another seeking to continue it and bring neverending torment to those who had killed his dear brood sister. Aymeric was lucky to have such dependable allies at his side of the bridge, from his second in command Lucia goe Junius to Alphinaud Leveilleur, a member of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn. He only wish that that of their strongest ally had someone else to aid her.
All alone, watching as Nidhogg clashed with his brethren Hraesvelgr, was the so called Warrior of Light. Her outfit was made up of white and blue, her coat falling so big it almost touched the ground. Her gloves nearly covered her entire upper arms, one side a few inches shorter than the other. Her blonde hair was already grey slightly from everything she had been through in the past many months, ears much like a rabbit sitting at the top of her head. On her back slept a scepter, crystals on every tip save the middle. In her head, she could hear the crowd cheering her on as she looked up to the swirling vortex in the sky, waiting to see which dragon would emerge first.
Then, she saw something land in front of her: the eye of a great wyrm. It visibly pulsed with power unimaginable, magic in it’s most feral form, nearly uncontrollable. Where one would have quickly called victory, one look at the eye told her the opposite. Nidhogg’s eyes were dark, while this one was a sort of pale yellow. Plan A: the more optimistic plan of the two, had failed, which meant that her mind swiftly got ready for plan B as she saw Nidhogg fall out of the vortex. Have gotten so used to things ended up in the hands of her and her friends, the Warrior of Light raised a finger to her ear and pressed on the small device attached to it, known as a linkpearl.
“Hey Darling,” Came the gruff, bass voice of someone else sound in her ear. “How are things going with that whole-”
“Shinji, tell Corinne I might be late to the company dinner tonight, things just got-” the Warrior of Light paused as Hraesvelgr was slammed into the bridge, having been forced down by Nighogg in a matter of seconds. “- typical.”
“Got it, can’t wait to hear the stories,” Shinji replied from the otherside. “Oh, and Alun says hi.”
The Warrior of Light could help but laugh as she heard that, taking her hand off her linkpearl and turning back to the sight before her. Nidhogg held in his mouth a wing, torn from his own brother’s skin, roaring in triumph. He held Hraesvelgr’s head down with one claw as he through the wing away. This was the moment that Nidhogg would believe he had won, to prideful to see the eye two inches from the Warrior of Light.
“Thou art weak, Hraesvelgr ,” Nidhogg boomed out. His words were in that of dragon, but the Warrior of Light had known from her past… “meetings” with Hraesvelgr she could understand them. “A slithering wyrm who fawneth on the vermin who should rightly be prey. For a thousand years have I fought without cease - and thou didst think to prevail against me? ”
“Glory not in victory, shade, ” Hraesvelgr told his brother, eyes closed to hide what he had done. “The battle… is not yet won. My power - and my hope - have I entrusted to another... ”
That was the moment that Hraesvelgr finally opened his eyes, or eye rather. Though one was still placed firmly in its socket, his right eye socket was empty, nothing but darkness filling the area inside of it. The Warrior of Light couldn’t see if Nidhogg was shocked by this, the dragon’s outward appearance remaining unchanged, but the words that came from his mouth told her that her dramatic touch had done wonders.
“Thine eye! What hast thou done!? ”
It was at this moment that Nidhogg finally remembered her, the lone viera who had rode on Hraesvelgr. Before her was his brood brother’s eye, and as its power glowed heavenly, she stepped forward. As she did, the eye drew itself to her, a ray of aether connecting the two as they drew closer to each other. She smiled, sticking her tongue out for a moment and contemplating whether or not it was a good idea to mock the wyrm’s old-fashioned way of talking.
“Fool! Thou would trust a mortal with thy strength!? ”
“I think you are forgetting who it is he trusted his strength with,” the Warrior of Light replied. “I’m sure someone oh so powerful as yourself would remember the white mage that laid you low on the Aery?”
Nidhogg didn’t respond straight away, telling the Warrior exactly what she had thought.
“Of course, I know thee... ” Nidhogg replied, doing his best to hide the fact he actually had to think about it. “Twas thou who didst intrude upon my lair and best the half of me. But now I am whole, and naught in creation shall deny me my vengeance. ”
“Better hurry up then,” The Warrior stated, having fully absorbed the eye’s power. “Unless you want to be added to the list of things that have fallen before my mighty stick.”
Nidhogg would not be mocked like that. The smug expression she carried, the skip in her step, the way she talked to him like prey. He would have none of it! She had no armor, no sword, not even an ally to step in and take the blows for her. She would die painfully, as no mortal mocked a great wyrm like him. Nobody!
Author's Note
I feel like I'm just a whirlwind of ideas that never get finished at times. I started a Nep thing because I was in the mood for Nep at the time. I tried a Pokemon thing some time ago because I was in the mood for that at the time. Now, here we are with Final Fantasy XIV Online, but I feel a bit more confident in this one.
Not very confident, but still.
Either way, writing a story to it's fullest is simply a matter of writing it and seeing if you manage to get to the end. I guess this is just my next attempt at that. I still have one story I want to finish here, but like I just mentioned I need to be in the right mood for these things.
So, here we go, Primal Harmony.
Also, for those wondering, most of the FF XIV characters here are not going to be from the main story, but there will be characters based on people that I play with on a daily bases. Shinji is one of those, and as you probably expect the Warrior of Light is my actual in game character. Come say hello on Exodus if you play the game, it's always fun playing with people.
Anyways, like, comment, all that stuff. Have a good night!
About an hour and a half later, in Shirogane
“Number three!” The male Au Ra slammed his shot glass into the table, a sinister smile on his face. “Not even slightly drunk yet. Thought you said this ale was strong?”
“I’m sorry if this isn’t up to your standard Shinji, but not all of us are Darling,” A female Au Ra replied, eye twitching as she watched her higher up so effortlessly take down a fourth shot. “Seriously, what is your stomach made out of?”
“If experience had taught me anything, it's probably got tissue the strength of Titan and acid like Aurum Vale,” A Miqo’te replied from behind the couch.
“Should I… take that as a compliment?” The male Au Ra asked the Miqo’te and Hyur on the couch to his right, both giving a shrug.
These individuals, whether some would believe it or not, were the most world renowned Free Company that, in recent years, had seemed to be half the reason primals and beast tribes were more cautious. They were the Tales of Eorzea, a group of individuals of various hobbies, backgrounds, and fame. On the surface, they all seemed at least somewhat ordinary, but what made them so powerful, as well as what made them so hard for the Garlean Empire to track down, was all because of two things: the echo and their base.
In recent months, more and more adventurers have turned up across Eorzea, but very few of them had what every member of Tales of Eorzea was required to have: the Echo. It is said that the Echo was a gift from Hydaelyn, the world itself, to those chosen champions she had deemed worthy. It is a safe guard from one of the most dangerous beings to exist: the primals, being of pure magic summoned by worship of a particular group. While it did have the bonus of seeing the past and allowing the individual to speak every language, Tales used it for one purpose: primal slaying.
In the past few years many groups, both beastmen and not, have summoned beings of incredible power to the world. These primals are the manifestations of the will of those that worship them, but normally have no physical body. In order to stay in the physical plane, they consume mass amounts of aether, and if nothing is done to stop them, the land would soon be drained of all life. Normally, any normal person would be tampered by the primal if they tried to fight it, turning them into a servant whose only goal is worshipping the god, but not those with the echo. This was why Tales placed the requirement, as they would rather have those who can fight it safely do so, as opposed to some newbie adventure who thinks that you can burn everything you see.
Their method to staying out of the eyes of the Garlean’s, however, was far more risky than their safety measure would expect. The Garleans would expect for a group of such renown to hide itself in Eorzea, but it was the exact opposite. Shirogane, located in what is currently Garlean controlled lands, was the home of all members of Tales of Eorzea. The idea the “Company Matriarch” as she called herself, Corinne Larenne, had thought up was that, with the Garlean Empire so focused on harnessing the power of primals and hunting them down, they would be too busy to realize the group was right under their own noses. Considering that it had passed the estimated three months without still being found, it worked out pretty well.
That was how, against all odds, a group of what many saw as the greatest adventurers of the current era were brought together. Yet like everything else, the inside is far more different from that of how things look to those on the outside. They were functional, but many of the top members had certain quirks that made them easy to pick out in a small crowd. It wasn’t just the fact that they were all being called Warriors of Light, but rather that the gifted are almost never normal.
Now, some of their finest found themselves in the upstairs living room, a group of four watching as Shinji Okuri had yet another battle with the Au Ra rookie Alun Khal. Alun was not like most of those in the room, not having any personality traits that truly stood out. Her status as the newest recruit was enough for most members, especially since she was the friend of the Viera who slay Ultima and Archbishop Thordan. Like all else she had the Echo, but it wasn’t something she had ever thought she would need until she got captured by the Amalj'aa and offered as a sacrifice to Ifrit. She was known for being able to handle drinks better than most people, but compared to her fellow Au Ra, who she constantly challenged to drinking battles, she was nothing.
That, however, was expected by someone like the Titan’s Bane and Ala Mhigan local Shinji Okuri was. Unless most who had at least a name under their belt by the time they joined Tales, he was one of two present at the drinking game who came straight out of nowhere. The exact specifics on how he defeated Titan is unknown, but all agree that he did it with nothing but an empty bottle of the oldest wine in his hands. Some even say that he wasn’t even an adventurer before that, having just accidently stumbled into O'Ghomoro completely drunk and nearly wasted. It was only after that that he took up the Gunblade and somehow landed himself a position as a dancer, which were his weapons of choice.
“Number four,” Alun said as she raised yet another shot glass, gulped it down, and gracefully put it back down on the table. “Think I felt a shiver but other than that completely fine.”
“That’s later than last time,” The Miqo’te behind Shinji said again, smiling innocently. “You see, this is what I like about Darling not being around. She’s great and all, but after a time silly quips just stop being funny.”
“Your just upset she gave you the same title as her, aren’t you?” Shinji replied, receiving a whack on the back of the head in response.
This Miqo’te was Lucia Adilene, the second youngest of the adventurers present in the room next to Alun. Much in the same way that Darling brought Alun into the group, Lucia was brought in as Shinji’s friend, having met her when she was a member of the pugilist guild, though has since become a bard and red mage. Despite being one of the few presents to not feel a primal, she was there when Darling took down Ultima. In fact, Darling even claims that she landed the final hit, giving her the title of Warrior of Light as well. She should have been happy about it, but she wasn’t.
“You don’t understand,” Lucia replied. “Shinji, you’re cool, but do you want to know what it feels like to be the girl the supposedly saved Eorzea? I swear I can’t leave the house without someone asking me “hey can you carry this all the way to Ishgard?” or “I saw a dangerous monster but I’m too lazy, can you go do it?” Everywhere I go.”
Right as Shinji was about to take his next shot, Lucia took it from his hands and gulped it down. Something about the beer was off, and as the Miqo’te looked back to the bottle, she made out something that Shinji or Alun didn’t: white, sticky paper that was once part of a larger torn label. She looked to the hyur on the couch, a man by the alias of Bushi Do (he refused to tell his real name to anyone), wearing goggles and carrying a rifle on his back. Compared to everyone else currently present, Bushi was probably the most skilled of them, having felled both Leviathan and Shiva, as well as having aided both Tales and the Scions in stopping a Dravanian assault on Ishgard back before the city opened its borders. Yet, despite every battle style that he knew, he refused to use that rifle. It confused everyone, and more so, confused Corinne, who had brought him in for his rifle and machine expertise.
“Very funny Bushi, very funny,” Lucia replied, putting the shot glass down. She joined him and her fellow Miqo’te on the couch. “So, when are you going to tell them the drink has no alcohol?”
“Considering the Alun’s mind is tricking her into thinking it does have alcohol,” Bushi muttered. “Probably around the point her mind thinks she is so drunk she starts taking stuff off.”
“You sure you shouldn’t do it sooner?”
“Don’t tell me you don’t want to see Darling’s face at Alun acting like an idiot, considering her attraction to, well, you know,” The male Miqo’te said. Lucia sighed, holding her head in her arms in disappointment.
“Matthia, why do we keep you around?” She asked.
“Someone has to look after the place when Corinne is gone,” Matthia replied. “Besides, you would all die without me.”
Unlike the other members who had at least some experience with battle, Matthia was no fighter. He was the brains of the Company, the one who formulated strategy and researched the beasts they found themselves hired to deal with. He wasn’t wrong about his importance, but his matchmaking schemes made him more than a little irritable, especially because seventy-five percent of the time they worked. His current target was none other than Darling Nia, defender of Eorzea, Ascalon Slayer, and stealer of pants. She had already managed to get Alun to confess her feelings to him regarding her friend, but she was too embarrassed and nervous to even try and convey it towards the Warrior of Light.
“Noooo, you are in nooo way still that find at ei-five,” Alun said, looking at Shinji’s smug expression, one which Lucia quickly realized was directed at Matthia.
She was wrong, Shinji completely knew the scheme that was at play here.
“Hydaelin, please save Darling from this terrible fate.”
Same time, Ishgard
The Warrior of Light stood shivering in the bazaar, regretting multiple things right now. She regretted trash talking the giant dragon five times her size. She regretted taunting it and playing with her prey. Yet of all the things she regretted, she regretted not bringing any other clothes with her to talk with Hraesvelgr. She didn’t know Nidhogg would attack that soon, and thus she had simply kept her standard white mage garb with her. No one would believe that she, the Warrior of Light, recently dubbed slayer of Nidhogg, was standing out in the Jeweled Crozier with nothing but pants on.
“Damn claws with there sharpness and pokey nature,” She whispered. “The moment the mendors done I’m out of here. Back to Shirogane, downing a bottle, and going to bed. If I’m lucky Corinne is still away.”
Darling Nia was many things to the populace: a hero, savior, adventurer, pants stealer depending on who you asked. The one thing she was that nobody called her though, was sick and tired of it all. She knew about the echo ever since she was born, but she didn’t go adventuring to become some god’s tool of power. Ultima, the Ascians, Ravana, Bismark, Thordan, and now Nidhogg. Every other member of Tales of Eorzea had maybe one or two primals to their name, maybe some other big feat, but not her. She was the greatest warrior the world has ever known, and it made her tired.
She did everything she could to get the attention away from her, but doing that only made Lucia hate her. She had so much she wanted to do then just be the hero, and she was starting to think that she would never get that chance. Her blond hair was already graying, and she wasn’t even in her thirties! She knew that escape from Hydaelyn would be near impossible at this point, but if she could get away for a day, a week, she would be fine. A week of relaxing and stress-free activities.
Her thoughts were interrupted as something hit the freezing Viera in the face, making her groan. She grabbed it with her right hand, looking to see what it was that had hit her, quickly finding what she knew as a letter. Looking around to see if anyone was looking for it, she decided to read it herself out of curiosity. The more she read, the harder her grip on it was, a tear slowly starting from the top of it. That tear grew and grew until, finally, she saw the last thing she wanted to see: her name somehow at the very top, and the sound of the mendor finally finished with his repairs.
“Her you go m-”
She then tore the letter in two.
“Thank you, goodbye!” Darling said, snatching up the clothes and casting teleport.
The mendor stood there confused at why the Warrior of Light seemed so angry at him. What he or Darling didn’t see, however, was the Miqo’te watching from a distance, a Keeper of the Moon at that. In a way, she felt like she had succeeded, but in another way…
“Celestia, I only hope this is the girl your looking for.” She said, a sudden gust blowing against her body. “Sweet mother. Why are these bodies so lacking in insolation?”
Author's Note
Honestly, considering everything that the Warrior of Light is forced to do, and how expressive they are compared to most silent protagonists, I'm surprise they deal with all of this stuff so easily. I'm pretty sure I would have cracked the moment I saw Ifrit.
Tales of Eorzea, just as with Darling being my main character in XIV, is the actual Free Company I'm apart of, which is basically like a guild in WoW terms. Now, obviously the way I'm writing the characters are not representative of there respective counterparts I play along with in game, but I had to do something to make them each unique. I guess I could have just gone the simple route and used the Scions instead, but that was easy and less fun for me, so this is what I'm going with.
Anyways, like, comment, and please give me feedback. The only way I can make this story better is with your words and suggestions.
Slam
“No! No! I refuse! I am not doing this right after killing that mother. Fucking. DRAGON!”
All attention from the upper floor of the free company house was drawn away at one very angry women on the bottom floor. It wasn’t odd to see people get angry for one thing or another, but if this is who they thought it was, the house might need repairs by the end of it. They heard bang come from the bottom floor, followed by something hitting the ground. Alun, her mind suddenly realizing it was sober, looked to Lucia. Both of them knew exactly what was going on.
“Darling.”
Without waiting, Shinji rushed to the sliding door, throwing it open and running downstairs. Alun followed right after, knowing just how destructive her friend could get. She had commonly heard from adventurers during travels throughout Eorzea how hard Darling was to deal with at times. Refusal to raise, taunting the enemy, things that Alun wouldn’t have expected a year or two ago. Deep down she was still Darling, Alun knew it, but stress and being overworked by everyone around her has caused the once reserved White Mage to become a quick tempered nightmare.
“Darling? You okay?” Alun called out, watching as her friend, in an unusually calm state for this situation, continuously hit her head against the counter. The materia melder behind it looked to the Au Ra, noticing a distinct lack of robe or bra currently on her. “Is the lamp alright Shinji?”
“I’ll have to ask Amy, but it looks fixable,” He said. “For twelves sake Darling, you think you can control yourself just a little bit?”
“I’ll have you know, Shinji, that this is all the control I can currently muster,” Darling replied, hitting her head one last time before letting it rest on. “I’m at my wits end with all these damn requests.”
After handing her a glass of water, Shinji and Alun waited for the others to come downstairs. Lucia was the first to make her way down, doing her best to keep her thoughts towards the Viera in her head. Bushi and Matthia followed not long after, both looking on as Darling down the glass in one gulp. Her hand slammed into the table, nearly shattering the bottom of the glass from the impact.
“So… request?” Alun asked her friend.
“Next to the lamp, torn in half,” Darling said, pointing to her right.
“Guess I’ll have to postpone trying to hook up these two,” Matthia muttered to himself as he made his way over to the fallen lamp.
Picking up both pieces of parchment, he laid them on a nearby table and aligned them next to each other. The writing was messy, rushed no doubt, meaning that whoever had given this to Darling wasn’t going to her because she was a hero, but because she was the only one that they had the chance to reach. Perhaps not exactly that, but the general idea was that the writer didn’t have time to wait around, they needed help badly. Matthia, now knowing that this wasn’t just someone looking to dump their chores on the Warrior of Light, finally focused on the actual contents of the letter.
Dear Darling Nia, the so-called Warrior of Light
Though I know you must wish for rest after your recent battle - a spectacle I was happy to watch from the snowy field outside the great bridge - I have no choice but to come to you for help. I come from a place very far from Eorzea, one not even of your realm, but I need a warrior of great strength. An old threat has come upon my people, one which your kind may know as “primals”. Me and my sister know what these primals do to those ill-equipped to fight them, and we wish to avoid losing someone in such a way. Yet I sense that you have something inside of you, something that I know for a fact can keep you safe. So, I ask of you, please help me. Please help my sister.
Luna
“Guess even otherworldly beings find you impressive, eh Darling?” Shinji jest, trying his best to lighten the Warrior of Light’s mood.
“Indeed, and how wonderful it is,” Darling replied, finally turning to meet the rest of her companions. “Don’t you just love it when people come up to you, compliment you, say your amazing, and then shove their own damn problems down your throat?! I already ruined my own day by taunting a dragon and nearly losing my favorite outfit, and now this “Luna” expects me to, what, do it again?!”
“You do realize you have the ability to say no, right?” Alun asks.
“I doesn’t work like that, Alun,” Lucia replied with a sigh. Sometimes she forgot that, despite having slayed a primal herself, the young Au Ra girl was still a novice. “Tell me, if someone said that the world was about to end and you were the only one who would save it, would you say no because you “didn’t feel like it”?”
“I… no,” Alun answered, looking to the floor in embarrassment.
“If we were to just leave a primal be, sucking up the aether around it, all life around it would be lost,” Lucia continued. “Meaning that, given what we just heard, Darling has no choice but to accept.”
“Sadly, yes.”
The addition of an unfamiliar voice drew everyone's attention to the door. There having entered without anyone noticing, was a Miqo’te slightly younger than Lucia. Her dark blue hair, round pupils, and slimmer tail told Lucia she was a Keeper of the Moon, a clan different from her own. The Miqo’te smiled to them, not noticing Matthia and Bushi’s shock at her presence. When her gaze shifted to the two, they quickly hid there reaction, the former turning to the latter.
“I’ll check the aetheryte,” Bushi says.
As Bushi moved passed the Miqo’te and out the door, Matthia finally spoke.
“Luna, I presume?”
The Miqo’te nodded in reply, and that was all Darling needed to lose her cool. Before Luna had a chance to speak, Darling grabbed her shirt and pushed her back to the door. Luna looked into the Viera’s eyes with fear, having not expected her chosen hero to act so aggressive, or at least do it this directly. Darling wanted nothing more than to punch the girl in the stomach, but she was smart enough to hold back.
Lucia was right.
She couldn’t refuse Luna’s request, not unless she wanted to sleep with the knowledge an entire world of people might die. A small part of her, one that she had only recently dealt with spoke for her to do it, but she ignored it. The letter might have enraged her, but Luna was correct about her observations. Only those with the echoes could face primals safely, and she was the most well known individual with such a gift. Even if Luna hadn’t seen her battle with Nidhogg, Darling knew that word of her actions would reach the girl eventually.
She hated having to say yes to it, but she was too sane to say no.
“I want a briefing, now!” Darling commanded, letting go of Luna and allowing the Miqo’te to slide to the floor in terror. “The name, origin, and manner of the primal. I’m not waiting till we get to your world to hear this. You want to see your people live, then you play by my roles. You understand you entitled shit?”
“Darling, your scaring her,” Alun replied. She wanted to stop her friend more directly, but she was afraid of getting to close.
“I’ll… I’ll be f-fine,” Luna stammered, getting to her feet. “A-and if those are the requirements, I th-think I can handle it.”
Darling and Luna walked over to the rest of the group, the latter suddenly aware of every glance and look directed at her. None were anywhere near as hostile as the girl in front of her, but all of them judging, and the person they belong to strange. She didn’t have much time since leaving Equestria to get a grasp of what had happened in the past many years since she and her sister first came to this land, but she knew enough. The last time she was here was moments before the third umbral calamity, and now she was in the seventh unbral era. What was merely a thousand years of time for her world was possible four or five thousand here. To see people she had never seen these Au Ra, people she had no idea existed back then, it was both curious and frightening.
“Hello Luna,” Matthia replied with a slight bow, noticing the girl’s look of discomfort. “I’m Matthia Gryffine. Now tell us about this primal.”
“R-right,” Luna nodded. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she took one last look around at the group of adventurers she had found and explained. “I guess, it would probably be best to explain how this all happened.
“About a thousand years ago, north of my home country of Equestria, there was a country known only to history as the crystal empire. It is said that, long before Equestria’s founding, the Empire was forged by a celestial being using her own body, creating the towering spiral castle in the center. Of course, as time passed and emperor and empress lived and died, some saw the crystal energy of the empire as a means to absolute power. One such individual… was a st-man named Sombra.”
Luna knew she was lying about some parts, but she was accurate in the areas that Darling had wanted her to be. These people knew nothing about Equestria, it’s citizens, or if she was even telling the truth to begin with. She was lucky at all that they seemed to believe her, and she was well enough aware at how even the mention of a world run by ponies would make anyone look insane. She just had to hope she was convincing and put more emphasis on fact than fiction. Even if that included covering up how Celestia and herself were involved in this whole mess.
“Sombra was a horrible man,” Luna continued. “For unlike all before him, he got the power he wanted. He killed the former emperor and empress, and then, with the help of a strange figure, used mind slaving helmets to make the masses bow before him.”
“Could you describe this man to us?” Lucia asked.
“Not accurately,” She lied. “You may not see or believe it, but the means by which I came to this world changed my body into that which your kind would better recognize. That said, the general description in text and history books describe him as a bipedal figure much like yourself, wearing a dark coat and hover above the ground with a mark covering his face.”
Matthia gritted his teeth at the description, recognizing it all to well from Darling and Lucia.
“I think we can discern what happened than when this Sombra enslaved the people of this empire,” Matthia respond. “While I’m curious what you mean by “bipedal figures much like yourself”,” Luna swore under her breath. Equestrians were many things, but liars was not one of them. “How much do you know about primals?”
“They feed on magic, “tamper” people to serve them till death, but that’s it. As far as we know Sombra is the only one that exists,” Luna answered.
“Here are the other bits and pieces, and considering what you’ve told us about this empire, this was bound to happen,” Matthia replied, leaning over to meet Luna at eye level. “Primals, as you are aware, feast on aether, but because these primals are no longer mortal beings they need a ton of it to even form their bodies. Here, in Eorzea, the main method used by everyone, whether they be a beast tribe or not, is crystals.”
Luna quickly caught on to what he was saying. “And if they were to have an entire city made of crystals, they wouldn’t need to gather it.”
Matthia smiled, glad to see that Luna was understanding what he was telling her.
“Of course, considering that this was a thousand years ago, I’m guessing Sombra is no longer alive,” He summarized, earning a nod from Luna. “That leaves me with two questions: how did he die, and what did you mean at the beginning when you said that there was a Crystal Empire.”
“Those two are connected, actually,” Luna explained. “Two twin sisters, rules of Equestria, personally saw to Sombra’s end. In his last dying breath, he whispered a curse on the Crystal Empire, causing it to vanish and lay in a temporal slumber for a thousand years. We were never able to save all the citizens, meaning-”
“That when it returned a thousand years later, those still enslaved, or most likely just tampered at this point, prayed for his return,” Lucia finished. “This Sombra, he is the one we’re hunting?”
Darling blinked in surprise at Lucia’s choice of words. “We?”
“You don’t think I’m not gonna take the chance to explore an entirely new world, right?” Lucia said. “Besides, you dragged me into this Warrior of Light mess, and keeping you alive is just my way of making sure all your work doesn't get dropped on me.”
“I’ll be going too,” Shinji replied. “Sounds fun. New primal, unknown dangers, bit different from knowing exactly what you are going to get fighting a giant rock beast every time the Kobolds get mad.”
“As long as she’s fine with it, sure,” Darling shrugged, walking away from the group towards her private quarters. “Why the hell not? Matthia, Alun, you two coming as well?”
“Hm, new species, new world, possibility to study an entirely new culture the likes of which Eorzea has never seen,” Matthia said to himself. “Not to mention these people will need to be prepped and prepared in the future for further possible primal encounters. Luna, I’m guessing that you’ve got some sort of connection to your worlds government, correct?” Luna nodded. “Then all I ask is some time to help tutor your generals and tacticians in how our governments handle primal threats in later instances when we aren't around.”
“I’m sure that Captain Armor would be more than relieved to have that help,” Luna replied.
“Alright, then yeah, I’ll go,” Matthia smiled mischievously.
“You already know my response, Darling,” Alun says with an child-like smile on her face.
“Then you might want to get dressed,” Darling replied. Alun’s eyes widen as she looked down, seeing that she had forgotten to put her robe back on. “I’m not waiting around. We leave as soon as everyone is packed and armed.”
“In that case, I’ll wait outside,” Luna said, bowing clumsy.
As Darling entered her quarters and Luna exited outside, Lucia, Matthia, and Shinji all looked at each other. In truth, despite having been given exactly what Darling asked for, there were pieces that Luna seemed to leave empty or missing. What sounded might sound like a slip of the tongue to most Matthia couldn’t help but see holes and contradictions. They were already trusting that this Miqo’te wasn’t just some crazy idiot who was stuck in a world of her own imagination, but one thing in particular struck them as odd.
“Who wants to bet that she’s lying about this Sombra being the only primal on there world?” Shinji asked.
“You noticed it to, huh?” Matthia said. “Sombra had to die in order to truly become a primal, nothing but Ascians live for a thousand years. Still, if he is the only primal, how does she know about their ability to drain aether? Or that such a creature can exist in the first place?”
“You think she’s in league with the Ascians like Thordan was?” Lucia asked.
Matthia sighed, upset that he couldn’t give a definitive yes or no answer.
“Only one way to find out.”
Author's Note
So... last chapter didn't show up in the update feed... that was weird. Don't really know why that happened.
Anyways, don't really have much to mention this time around. I'll probably slow down on uploading after this chapter because of college and stuff, though I don't want to abandon this story. I have a lot that I want to do with it, and we got a primal to deal with after all.
Anyways, like, comment, and give me feedback. Until next time!
Ul’dah, Thanalan
Some days, it was said that Ul’dah never sleeps. Dancers still danced in the streets, patrons admiring their form and beauty. The beggar still begged, having run his luck into the ground in one way or another. Refugees joined the beggars, not to beg, but because no one else would hear their pleas. It was a city where fortune was made, Luna could tell that much, but no one paid attention to those who had lost their fortune. It horrible truth, but she saw the same thing in Canterlot.
“Find it hard to look at?” Matthia asked. Though he didn’t have to prepare in the same way the rest of his allies did, but he had brought parchment and books for which to write his observations in.
“Sometimes, it’s easy for my people to forget that not everyone will succeed,” Luna replied. It wasn’t exactly an answer, but it was the best way to describe home. “Some things don’t change, no matter how long has passed or where you are.”
“Don’t feel sad for them,” Darling replied. Along with her standard hailstorm garb that she used when healing that she was carrying with her, she was currently wearing a more eastern styled garb. According to what the Viera was willing to tell her, it was the garb of someone known as a Samurai. “Idiots come of age and go off into the world, thinking that all they need is to wave around a child's savings worth of gil to get anywhere in this world. Then, they make a simple mistake, talk to the wrong person, or make a deal they can’t finish, and this happens.”
“Your just full of sunshine today,” Lucia muttered. She hadn’t needed to pack anything for the coming journey. She had her bow, her harp, and that was all she needed.
The moment they had left Shirogane Luna had felt strange. She had become somewhat used to being an outsider after spending so many years trapped in the moon. That feeling when she returned to Equestria, returned to her sister, and found that everything she knew was no longer their, changed to the point of being nearly unrecognizable, or a shell of what it was made her want to die. Yet, with the help of Twilight and her sister, she had managed to settle in once again, only to now return to a land just as different. Eorzea and Equestria, no matter where she went, she felt out of place.
“We’re here,” Luna said, stopping and turning to the sunsilk tapestries.
Shinji, wearing pitch black armor with a spear on his back, looked around. Luna had mentioned a portal, one that only opened under certain circumstances, as the means by which she came to Eorzea. Yet looking around, he saw nothing that seemed even remotely like a aetheryte or portal. He looked to Luna, and then to what she was staring at, only to find the raised platform between the stairs leading to the ruby road exchange. He sighed.
“Luna, I see nothing,” Shinji explained.
“Oh, right,” Luna replied. “Sorry, should have mentioned that the portals entrance, at least on your side is hidden in such a way that no one would notice it,” She walked up to the stone wall and placed her hand, Alun gasping as he saw it disappear into the stone. “See?”
“I don’t understand it, but that's really cool,” Alun complimented.
“Oh, one more thing I should mention,” Luna said. “As I mentioned the portal normally changes the one who enters it into a race that inhabits that world. That’s why I appear to you as what you know as a Miqo’te,” Luna sighed, rubbing her arm in embarrassment. “However, even though I would prefer to return to my old body, that’s... not going to happen this time.”
“I’m guessing it has something to do with not wanting to… “disadvantage” us, you could say?” Matthia asked. “Considering you described the Ascians with the word “bipedal”, I’m guessing walking on two feet is not common.”
“That's… the gist of it,” Luna replied. “Celestia didn’t want to take any chances at whoever I found being unable to fight due to an unfamiliar body, but she also needed to make sure I blended in because of a rule she has for anyone who uses the portal. In other words, you all will be able to keep your bodies but… I will be stuck in this one. Considering the amount of algorithms that had to be changed in order for you to keep your bodies, changing it right now would be… dangerous.”
“Honestly, that sounds like a plus to me,” Alun said. “Hands allow you to do a lot more things than paws or hooves or whatever you have must be capable of doing.”
Luna pulled her body even closer to her, both hating the fact that Alun was right and feeling ashamed that one of the warriors thinks it a good thing. Bushi, who had been following behind the rest of the party, smacked Alun on the back of the head. The Au Ra ninja and summoner looked to Bushi, able to feel the disapproving gaze she was getting from behind those goggles. The look couldn’t help but make her feel ashamed of herself, and as she turned back to Luna she bowed.
“Sorry, that was wrong of me,” Alun said.
“It’s fine, I’ve taken worse words,” Luna replied. “Anyways, there is no time to waste.”
Darling nodded, watching as Luna disappeared into the brick. Lucia followed behind her, letting her hand rest on the invisible portal, watching as the surface rippled. Shinji joined her, placing his hand on it as the two looked at each other. With a nod, they went through, Alun running in after them. Bushi Do, without a word, simple walked through as if it was completely natural to walk through solid walls. Darling took one step, and stopped, a voice in her head calling out to her.
“It’s not too late to turn back.”
“Scared Darling?” Matthia teased, looking at her with a smug expression she wore herself on many occasions.
“No, just trying to process this,” She replied. “I mean, I’m not the only one who was hoping she was just some crazy wackjob who hit themselves on the head too hard right?” She laughed at her own joke before sighing. “Guess it was too much to hope for.”
Without another word, Darling walked towards the wall. She wanted to do as the voice said, but that wasn’t who she was. Whether she liked it or not, she was the goddamn Warrior of Light, and people came to her for a reason. There were things she had done, or was at least brave enough to try, that no one else was able to. She pushed back the Garlean Empire when she defeated the ultima weapon, something an army can’t do, with less than a handful of elite adventurers and Lucia. Doing something that seemed as crazy as this was just part of the job description, and as she head through the portal she made sure to remind herself that.
Canterlot, Equestria
As Darling exited the portal, her foot hit marble. Clean, recently polished marble unlike the dirty stone floors of the city she was in but moments ago. Though the room she was in had no lights, the door open before her allowed her to see her surroundings. Looking ahead of her, she saw Alun and Lucia staring out a window on the other side of that door, Shinji resting against a wall. Bushi did his best to keep the Au Ra girl from jumping out the window, seeming to be enamored by what she saw below.
Her curiosity getting the better of her, Darling walked forward to join Alun and Lucia in sightseeing. To say what she saw, as she looked down to the city below her, was gorgeous would be an understatement. A city, built into the side of a mountain, twelve knows how many feet high above the ground was below her. Figures the size of ants walked below them through white stone streets, walls of white and yellow surrounding them. Even if she couldn’t make out exactly what was below her, it was still insane.
“Well, this is a lot nicer than I was expecting,” Darling said.
“Glad Luna asked you, then?” Lucia asked.
“No, but it’s a plus,” Darling replied with a shrug.
“I’m glad to as such,” A calm, collective voice said from not too far away. Looking to their left, Darling was surprised to see the voice coming not from a human, but from a horse. A horse with wings and horn, surrounded on all sides by smaller horses in armor carrying spears. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, citizens of Eorzea. I, Princess Celestia, welcome you to Equestria.”
Celestia bowed to the group of Miqo’te, Viera, Au Ra, and Hyur standing before her, most of which were in complete shock. They knew from what Luna had told them earlier that the people weren’t human, but this was not what most of them expected. Darling looked at Celestia, mouth ajar, trying to think up exactly what to say. While most of the reactions were similar, Alun was ecstatic, fulfilling every girls childhood dream of meeting a pony princess. Luna watched for the far end of the hallway, snickering at the reactions the Eorzeans were having as, right as Matthia exit the portal and joined the rest of them, Darling cracked.
“Your fucking ponies?!”
Some time later, at a different part of the castle
“Calm down Twilight, you’ve done this a dozen times before,” A small purple dragon said to the unicorn before her. “Just go in there, listen to what Celestia has to say, and do what needs to be done. It’s that simple.”
“Since when has it ever been that simple Spike,” Twilight replied. She looked back to her friends, who were patiently waiting for her to open the door “I mean, you saw the letter Celestia sent. This isn’t just some test. I, her personal student, am about to meet somepony very important. A foreign dignitary, a great scholar, some other important position that I can’t think of, I’m about to meet what is most likely a legend!”
“Now hold on there sugarcube,” Applejack said, knowing full well where this was going. “Look, whoever it is, it’s no use stressing about it now. Your already here, the door is right there, might as well just open it.”
“Yeah, I mean, if Celestia is introducing them to you then they must be pretty big eggheads,” Rainbow stated, earning a glare from Applejack and a giggle from Twilight.
“As Applejack said, your already heard,” Spike restated. “No, go in, we’ll be waiting.”
With a deep breath and a smile, Twilight nodded to her assistant, friends and opened the door, only to find herself once again freezing up at the sight in front of her. As normal, Celestia sat in her throne, her brother Shining Armor at attention eyeing something to his left. That was about where the normalities ended and the abnormalities began. The door behind her closed, and for a good few seconds, the room was silent, allowing her to get a good glimpse at the odd figures standing to the left of the throne.
Where she expected a pony to be, was a group of bipedal figures dressed in various garbs. There was no coat of fur covering their skin save for the hair on their heads. Though each looked relatively similar at a distance, each member of the group had distinct characteristics that differentiated themselves from each other. Two had ears like that of a rabbit, while the other the ears and tails of a cat. Two of them had scales covering various parts of their body with a scaly tail and horns at the top of their heads. The taller of the two was male, Twilight guessed, based on his physic, while the smaller, and definitely younger one was clearly female. The last one, however, lacked horns, a tail, or furry ears, their eyes covered by goggles. Her own thoughts seemed to be echoes in a similar manner by the bunny eared girl, whose speech betrayed her sophisticated looked.
“What the fuck. They really are that small.”
“Thanks for coming on such short notice, Twilight,” Celestia said, pulling her pupil out of her stupor. “You may bring your friends inside. This is something you all should hear.”
A few moments later and a repeat of the shock Twilight had had earlier, though this time on a larger scale, and Celestia continued.
“Again, I both thank you and our guests for coming on such short notice,” Celestia restated. “Luna has already briefed them on what is going on, but I feel like I should repeat myself since you don’t know.”
“Pardon my, princess,” Rarity interrupted, raising a hoof. “But… where is Luna? I thought she would be here.”
“She is,” Celestia said, her gaze falling upon the dark skinned Miqo’te. “Just not in the body you probably know?”
“Wait, what?” Rainbow shouted. “That’s Luna?! But she’s a pony!”
“You would be surprised at what happens when one plays with magic, Rainbow,” Luna answered. If it wasn’t for the fact that she had already been left silent at the sight of the Eorzeans, she would probably have done it again.
“Guess I should probably start with introductions,” Celestia realized, noticing the looks the Eorzeans and Equestrians were giving each other. “Tales, may I introduce you to Twilight Sparkle, Applejack Apple, Rarity Belle, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Spike. Twilight and friends, may I introduce to you Darling Nia, Matthia Gryffine, Alun Khal, Shinji Okuri, Bushi Do, and Lucia Adilene, the Warriors of Light.”
Author's Note
So, after uploading the last chapter I noticed a few things that I had messed up or spelled incorrectly. If you see this at any point, please tell me, I will fix it immediately.
This chapter was hard. Not hard to write, though, hard to finish. I left it where I did because I felt it was the only possible place to stop, and I generally have a rule against making chapters under two-thousand words. So... yeah. I have a lot of fun planned for the prep phase before battling Sombra, and that will be starting next chapter.
As usual please like, comment, and give me feedback. A good writer always considers what its critics says, even if we don't always enjoy getting them.
Chapter 5 - Evaluation and Education
One longer explanation later, at Donut Joe’s
“I can not believe this,” Rainbow Dash said, looking at the individuals that Celestia had referred to as the Warriors of Light. “So, to recap, some dead unicorn from a thousand years ago enslaved an entire nation. Then, when he died, he did some crazy voodoo with the help of these beings called Ascians, somehow making the nation vanish.”
“Yep,” Lucia nodded, taking a bite of a glazed donut.
“A-and now, i-its back, but this magic t-turned those poor ponies into mindless servants, and th-they’re prayers brought him b-back to life.” Fluttershy said. Hearing everything that Celestia had told them had scared her half to death.
“Not back to life,” Shinji corrected, holding his hand up to draw attention his way. “Primals, to simplify it, are exaggerations or fantastical cognition of, say, a person, god, or mythical being.”
“And Celestia wants us to fight this thing?” Spike asked. “How are we supposed to fight something this powerful?”
“Sweet mother Hydaelyn,” Darling swore. “Were you even listening to what your “princess” was telling you? I can at least deal with using the incorrect title, but how stupid are you to not even listen?”
“It’s not that we weren’t listening Darling, darling,” Rarity said. She couldn’t help but giggle as she said those words. “Darling darling. Don’t think that’s ever happened before.”
“Her point is, while this might be normal to you, this is not normal to us,” Twilight explained. “We have no idea what to expect, what to do, or how to do it. I mean, even if we managed to find Sombra…”
“That is why Celestia is asking us to give you some basic training in how to deal with primals, and why Matthia is currently meeting with Captain Armor” Lucia reminded them. “Combat, strategy, anything else that might be necessary. Though truth be told I’m still not quite sure how she expects you to be safe around it.”
“Oh oh,” Pinkie called out, raising her hoof. “Perhaps it has something to do with the Elements of Harmony!”
“Elements of… what?” Darling asked, completely done with everything that had happened since she arrived.
The day had been a whirlpool of emotions for the Warrior of Light, and ever since arriving in this world she’s been feeling closer and closer to the edge. Everything about it, and that wasn’t mentioning the fact it’s citizens were every little girl's dream present, was backwards and horribly done. It wasn’t just her, though, Matthia had been upset at the one thing he had been hoping would be easy: Equestria’s military. Patrolling soldiers spent more time chatting than actually doing their job, training was extremely lenient, and as far as he could tell the only ones actually in prime condition were the Captain himself and Celestia’s personal soldiers. Three soldiers, three reasonably decent soldiers, among a nation of incompetent securities.
That wasn’t even getting into the citizens, oh crystals the sheltering Celestia was doing to these people. It had started when she learned that Twilight never knew about the Crystal Empire’s existence, or Sombra’s for that matter. It wasn’t just her though, none of these so called “element bearers”, or citizens that she asked on the streets, knew about Sombra either. A piece of history, one that led to such great travesty, and no one knew about it.
It was Ishgard, but with less dragons, a thousand tons of incompetence, and a leader who Darling was pretty sure had no idea what she was doing.
“Look, we can explain these elements of harmony later,” She said. “Since I got pulled into this mess, the most sensible person I have met is the one who told me about it. She managed to enter our base, which is in an enemy nation’s territory by the way, without tuning to the aetheryte,” Her eyes fell on Fluttershy, who was cowering at the fury in the girl’s eyes. “We aren’t saying it, but none of us are impressed with a nation who, from what I here, has been dealing with trouble every damn day for the best one and a half years!”
“Oh yeah, well we didn’t have anything to worry about until then,” Rainbow stated. “And besides, who are you to speak for your friends. All you’ve done is complain!”
“Actually, Rainbow, I think we should listen,” Twilight said. “Being unwilling to look at things from another angle, to say everything is fine when we really have no idea, didn’t that almost cause the Changelings to take over?” The pegasus opened her mouth to respond, but was forced shut by Rarity’s magic. “Typically I would be against siding with the being who looks like they’re looking for a fight but… we almost lost to Discord too. We need to listen to them, at least for now.”
“Took the words right out of my mouth, Twilight,” Applejack replied. “If it wasn’t for Celestia’s letters, we would have lost to Discord. If it wasn’t for Shining and Cadence, we would have lost to the Changelings. What happens when something stronger than that comes along?”
“Can rely on an ex machina all the time!” Pinkie shouted.
“Then perhaps it would be a good idea to break off into groups? Start the training?” Lucia recommended. “We can’t leave Sombra waiting, but we also can’t leave you unprepared. In otherwords, Rarity, you’re with me.”
Rarity watched, words caught in her mouth as the Miqo’te up and left the donut shop. She looked to the rest, seeing them starting to break off into their own groups. With a sigh, she got off her seat, and made towards the door.
“Some folks are just too single minded these days.”
Meanwhile, at the Castle
“...Therefore, a direct assault on the city using these trains would prove futile,” Matthia told Shining Armor. The two were alone in the closest equivalent to a war room Shining could find, with a map of Equestria in front of them. “Sombra may be a primal, but he won’t be any less stupid. These trains are about as stationary as an airship from what you’ve told me. He will have troops waiting at the station. Speaking of which, if you didn’t know of the Crystal Empire why-”
“We have allies farther north in Yakyakistan,” Shining Armor replied, “Though due to the neverend storm that has plagued the region for so many years we have been unable to finish the train route. Along with that, the weather is too treturous for us to use airships.”
“That would explain why the city has no need for walls,” Matthia said, smiling. “This goddess, whoever she may be, was smart. Who needs fortifications when the weather alone could dismayed your enemies? Clever.”
“With that in mind, it would take too long for our forces to march into the city,” Shining summarized. “Even if we were lucky too not already be tampered by this primal, he would have ample time to prepare and ready his forces. That and my forces are ill-equipped to deal with such conditions.”
“We can focus on that once we have a proper route into the city,” Matthia said. “No reason to prepare an army for an operation we have no idea how to launch.”
Matthia, despite everything problem that he had with Equestrian military, had found a companion in arms with the Equestria captain. Shining Armor proved to be a smart, kind, and strategic fellow, and he was willing to do all he could in order to keep his home and wife safe. Any questions the former had about Equestria the latter would answer immediately, showing a tolerance and patience Matthia had long ago surmised was the Garlean Empire's greatest weakness. That, he released, was Equestria’s greatest weapon: the ability to adapt without open combat.
Though there was always a situation he could find that the military could have done better in, Equetria hadn’t been forged with blood. It was a country formed by the union of three tribes who hated each other, but each lacked a skill the other had. So, when the paranormal forces known as windigo’s nearly froze the continent, a companionship finally struck between three of its leaders. Then, when the Alicorn’s came to inherit the throne, the newly formed nation marched and joined the continent together in a show of joy and companionship, not blood and oppression. Matthia had to admit that it was something to be admired, and with how powerful these alicorns like Celestia and Luna were (when the latter wasn’t stuck as a Miqo’te that is) it showed why they were so lack on military. No need for harsh training when the one you are trying to protect can defend themselves so easily.
Matthia had expected, hearing those things, that Shining would not see the reason as to why improving the military would be necessary, but he was wrong. Shining had taken the time to explain to the eorzean the attempted Changeling invasion at his wedding. His wife, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, had unknowingly been replaced by the invading leader and thrown into the Canterlot mines unknown to him or anyone else. He, himself, almost became the unwilling eternal servant of said leader if it wasn’t for his wife’s love breaking Queen Chrysalis’ hold. The fear of something like that possibly happening again stuck with him, and he was about to make sure his forces were never as unprepared now as they were then.
“Typically, because of that necessary aether boost from the crystals, a primal would be bound to a relatively small area. Sombra, due to the mass amount of crystals that have summoned him, can go much farther from the empire, is far less restricted by that,” Matthia explained. “However, this isn’t the first case where we’ve had something like this happen in Eorzea. Leviathan had the entire eastern eorzean ocean, which I theorized was due to water being it’s natural element. Sombra isn’t the exact same, but the fact he can move around so freely makes him a bigger threat than the actual army at his beck and call.”
“So we can’t do anything to his forces unless we take down Sombra first, but they will come to aid him as soon as we engage him” Shining summed, earning a nod from Matthia. Suddenly, his eyes went wide. “But if we separated into two units, one focusing on each target.”
“Exactly,” Matthia replied, his smile so wide it was starting to hurt. After a second, he had to relax his mouth muscles. “We only need a party of eight to take on Sombra. That will be my group, though sadly we are two short at the moment. However, I’m sure a quick trip back to Eorzea and visit to our “matriarch” can net us the two we need.”
“It would be nice,” Shining said, nodding. “Though... I am worried for my sister.”
“Why are you so worried?” Matthia asks. “From what I gathered, she is basically your worlds version of the Warrior of Light? Am I wrong?”
“No, your not but…” Shining looked around, making sure that Twilight wasn’t listening. “Twilight isn’t one to take to violence well. She’s the kind of mare who would always try to look for the light at the end of the tunnel, no matter if it exists or not. If Sombra knows that…”
Matthia sighed, knowing exactly where Shining was going with it all. He also had a sister, one who loved him very much, but loathed the adventurer’s life. When she had heard he was leaving home, she was scared that he would die not because of his curiosity, but because he wanted to fight like Corinne did. That was twenty-seven years ago, before the Garlean Empire stormed Doma and brought it under their heels. Seeing Equestria, in this state, reminded him of this days where he felt nothing could go wrong. It was for her life now that he joined Tales, believing one day they would lead Doma to freedom, and he would finally get an answer to if his sister still lived.
“I can’t offer she won’t get injured, but I can tell you one thing,” Matthia tells Shining. The captain looked to the strategist's eyes, seeing an odd fury in them that not many normally saw. “We called ourselves the Tales of Eorzea not because we want to go down in history, but because we would fight the battles that shall keep history alive. Our motto is “play your part and share the love of Eorzea”, and if we all play our parts right, your sister will be safe. I swear on this, not just as one among their ranks,” Matthia smiled, the fury sparking even brighter. “But as someone who has worried the same thing before.”
Author's Note
Sorry about skipping the meeting in the throne room, but I felt like writing it would basically be just restating what Luna already explained back in chapter two.
Anyways, like, comment, and give me feedback. Everything you tell me can improve the story.
chapter 6 - Inner rage, Inner fear
Castle Gardens
Darling looked around, taking in the environment of the garden that she had chosen as her tutoring location. There were some things about it she wasn’t exactly that fond of, but all of that boiled down to its location. Walls surrounded it, a garden artificially created to bring some natural beauty to this castle on a hill. Yet at the same time a location like this is where she learned to do what she knew best: healing. The flowers, grass, bushes, if she was to stay within city boundaries for a single night, this would more than sufis. She didn’t have the time to find another place anyways.
Darling looked behind her, noting the distance between herself and Fluttershy. She knew that unicorns were more magically inclined, seeing as how they only needed horns, but Darling knew better than to think all beings were without magic. Of every one of the ponies she had been introduced to, something about Fluttershy immediately grabbed her attention. There was a connection to the natural elements that she alone seemed to have, one that not even the farm pony came close to.
None of that would matter, however, if Fluttershy couldn’t look her in the eyes. Darling knew the kind of presence she gave of, one that most conjurers, let alone the Padjal white mages, carried. If someone was to heal, they needed control over their emotions, something that Darling lacked despite her ability to learn and adapt quickly. That presence and lack of control was always an issue, but now the one that she had decided to tutor was scared of her because of it. Some time ago, she may have been able to cool herself to a more normal level, but the most she could find within herself was to groan.
“Look, sorry if I scared you. Now can you at least try to give off the impression that you want to be around me?” Darling asked. No answer came, or rather no vocal answer did. Fluttershy stepped back, closing her eyes in fear. “I’m not gonna eat you.”
Fluttershy waited, hoping that Darling would just give up and walk away. To her, that seemed like the obvious thing for someone like the Viera to do, given the short fuse she had. When she heard footsteps getting closer to her, she tightened up, both afraid and relieved that she was right, until the footsteps stopped right in front of her. Fluttershy opened an eye and looked up, seeing that Darling was carrying what seemed to be a tree branch in her arm. The Viera placed it down, before walking back to where she was previously.
“Um… what’s this for?” Fluttershy asked.
“It’s to help train your white magic,” Darling explained, not giving as much as a look back as she answered.
“But… I’m not a unicorn.”
“So?”
“Only unicorns can use magic,” Fluttershy replied, not catching the fist Darling was making out of her left hand. “So shouldn’t you be teaching Rarity or Twilight-”
“Okay, look,” Darling turned to face the pegasus, who immediately tried to hide herself within her wings. With a sigh, Darling walked back over to Fluttershy and pushed a wing away, finally giving her the eye to eye contact she had been hoping for. “I don’t know who put that idea into your head, but it’s wrong. Maybe they can do it with a stick, but let me tell you something,” She picked up the tree branch and put it in Fluttershy’s hooves. “That stick will save their goddamn life more often than raw magic ever will. Understand?”
Fluttershy, afraid of what would happen if she even tried to say no, nodded her head rapidly.
“I can tell your bullshitting me, but since I want to be here as much as you probably do, I’ll take it,” Darling replied. “Now how about trying to stand up and look strong and dependable for Hydaelin’s sake.”
Fluttershy looked to the stick, and then to Darling. As the branch rested in her hand, she felt something strange about it that she didn’t feel before. Whatever that something was, she had no idea, but it was there and connecting to another thing deep inside of her. Fluttershy knew what magic felt like from being around Rarity and Twilight, but this wasn’t like that. It was different, more controlled, more natural in a way. This wasn’t an ordinary branch snapped off a tree, Fluttershy could tell now.
“Uh, Ms. Darling?” Fluttershy said, tensing up as she heard her “teacher” take an exaggerated breath in. “What is the, uh, stick?”
“A wand, one filled with the magic of the Black Shroud’s elemental spirits,” Darling answered. Fluttershy gasped, shivering in fear.
“Th-th-the Black Shroud?”
“Yeah, doesn’t exactly give off the vibe of a community of peaceful, tree hugging society, does it?” Darling asked rhetorically. She decided to sit down, allowing Fluttershy to relax her neck a bit. “It was like, what, a little under a year ago now? Came to Eorzea five years after a big scary dragon primal nearly fucked up us mortals and the practice of living. Fun stuff as I’m sure you would, would recommend being there if you don’t care for your sanity,” Darling sighed once again. “Black Shroud is home to this little city called Gridania, home to the conjurer’s guild and horn people. Joined the conjurer’s guild, saved this girl from ending her own life accidentally, and then somehow got involved in the practice of white magic.”
“Sounds… eventful,” Fluttershy commented. “But… I thought you all were “Eorzeans”?”
“Trust me, I’m less of an Eorzean than Matthia is,” Darling replied. “Though that is personal information. Back on track, somehow people thought that I was one of these Warriors of Light that everyone forgot about when the dragon primal almost fucked up everything, but they’re wrong. Heck, five years before coming to Eorzea and I probably wouldn’t know what the deadly end of a knife looks like. Anyways because of that title I’m here and I’m being forced to teach you white magic, so yeah, fun.”
“I’m sorry but, um,” Fluttershy said, making sure to choose her words carefully. “What is white magic? And why do you think I can use it?”
“You really want me to go into what it is?” Darling asked, getting a nod in response. “Well, white magic was made to heal people, though somewhere along the line someone fucked up and brought what is known as the Sixth Umbral Catastrophe. That didn’t really change its use though, or the fact that it’s power comes from that of the elements of earth, air, and water. As for why I know you can use it,” Darling shrugged. “Honestly, anyone can, but you seem to have a certain something that the girl who almost killed herself through excessive healing almost did.”
“Wait… this can kill me?” Fluttershy asked, dropping the branch and curling back into her feathery shell. “Why do you want me to use it then?”
“Should have realized bringing up Sylphie was the wrong move,” Darling muttered. Just as before she moved a wing away and held out the branch “Listen, Fluttershy right? If that was the case do you still think I would be around?” Fluttershy shook her head. “Exactly. The girl I mentioned was using her own life energy to heal others, thus why she almost killed herself. My job, as your teacher, is to make sure you don’t make the same dumb mistake. Got it? Then grab the staff and follow me.”
Darling stood up and waited, watching as Fluttershy carefully opened up her selfmade shell and grabbed the branch again. The pegasus closed her eyes, waiting for anything bad to happen to her, but when that never came to pass she opened them again. Looking up once again, Fluttershy watched as Darling walked into the garden, and she hurried to catch up with her. The Viera had shown slight vulnerability to the pegasus, even if their was too much left under that mask of hatred. That alone showed Fluttershy that she could trust this girl, whoever she claimed to be.
Luna reached out at the fading sun, one hand doing her best to grab the distant object while the other was limp at her side. She did all she could to call out to the moon like she was used to, but no semblance of an answer was received. Her ears folded, teeth gritting as she did all she could to grasp the force she was trying to call upon. Slowly that raised hand closed, until it was a fist, and Luna was left with an answer she had begged would not be true.
She couldn’t feel the moon anymore. She couldn’t call upon the dreamscape or the night sky, her soul no longer the form that had the power to do so. With every advantage Luna could imagine this form having, it lacked the ability to call upon her most important duty. She could not raise the moon into the sky nor could she keep the dreams of her citizens safe. It was something she hadn’t felt since she was young, a blank flank in a land before Equestria. Luna hugged herself at the thought, scared at how thinking that far back made her realize how little she remembered of her parents.
Celestia, meanwhile, watch and waited to see if her sister succeeded. Only after Luna curled up on the floor did she make herself known.
“I’ll take care of it tonight,” Celestia said as she sat next to her sister. It was strange looking upon her sister in a different form. It wasn’t simply because it had been many years since the mirror was last used, but because the last time something like this had happened, Luna had not been herself. “Let us just be glad that we did not have a repeat of that night, one thousand years ago.”
“The mirror doesn’t change one that much sister,” Luna replied.
“I know,” Celestia touched a hoof to her heart and closed her eyes. “But every second you were gone I worried that something might have happened to you. I lost you once, and I would rather you still be yourself upon returning, even if that doesn’t account for your body.”
“The races of Eozea are stranger than I remember,” Luna said, holding her hands in front of her and wiggling her fingers. She took on of them and used it to pull at one of her ears before letting it fall against her side. “The hyur remind me of the humans of many other worlds, but that is the only thing I can say. They all look so similar, but some stay small while others grow to be bigger than you are. That Shinji character has scales, a tail, and horns!”
“Like how we ponies come in many forms,” Celestia continued. “Zebra, alicorn, earth pony, pegasus, unicorn. Our bodies share many similarities but each are different still.”
“I understand, but you must understand how it looks when you are having a literal out of body experience,” Luna explained. She showed one of her arms to Celestia. “Though ponies had the ability to grab and manipulate things like these creatures do, it’s so much easier! The only thing covering my body are clothes, except for the hair on my head and ears. Though, most terrifying of all,” Luna retracted her arm, bringing it back in for a self hug. “My power to protect, at least in the method I’m familiar with, is gone.”
“Let’s change the subject,” Celestia said, hoping to bring her sister out of the dumps. “These warriors they found certainly seem experienced, though they are definitely not what I imagined. Especially that Darling girl.”
“Scary, isn’t she?” Luna asked. “Hard to think she uses magic to heal instead of harm.”
“I have a feeling her anger doesn’t come from there,” Celestia replied. “When they were in the throne room, did you notice anything about how her expression changed when looking at ponies, or people in this case?”
Luna did her best to recall the scene, though she found she was less interested in the Viera at the time. She remembered the reactions of Twilight and her friends, how the mention of Sombra and his story stunned them. Twilight’s fear at Matthia’s description of primals, the intrigue at the list of achievements his companions had obtained, and contemplation when she learned that Celestia had no wish for her to attempt parly with Sombra. Not once, though, did she look at how Darling was reacting.
“I feel like looking at her is asking to be thrown across the room,” Luna joked, getting a chuckle from her sister.
“That is certainly the look she had most of the time, but there were two distinct times that she didn’t,” Celesia explained. “The first was any mention of that Au Ra girl, Alun. She would smile, though you could barely see it, and the only time she seemed to. The other, was when the Miqo’te girl Lucia was mentioned. Darling’s expression didn’t change, but she hesitated when Lucia was called a “fellow Warrior of Light”.”
Luna looked to Celestia in surprise. “She did?”
“A hateful soul is one that cares for nothing,” Celestia said. “Darling showed sadness and joy outside of her choice words and unenthusiastic remarks. Whatever caused this part of her to surface can’t be destroyed, but maybe…”
Celestia looked to Luna with a smile.
“... someone like you, who acted so similar a millenia ago, could help her.”
Author's Note
I think I already made it clear that Darling doesn't completely follow who the Warrior of Light isn't stated to be in the actual game, but this is me pretty much cementing it. Darling isn't one of the Warriors of Light present at the Calamity, nor did she know how to fight then. Considering I already mentioned that other people were responsible for felling Ifrit and Titan, it's not to hard to see, but I figured that it might be a good idea to just drive it in a little further.
Either way, like, comment, and give me all your feedback and criticism. Have a fantastic day, because now I'm gonna go help my Dad figure out how to set up an account.
