"Every Last One of Them!"by Mark_the_electricianChaptersA forest of DarknessA Conversation In The MindProper IntroductionsA forest of Darkness"Inigo, please wake up." A nervous voice called. Instantly, his eyes shot open, making contact with the pair of eyes above him. "Sakura?" He asked, slowly pushing himself up. "What happened? Where are we?" "I wish I could answer those questions." Sakura spoke in her usual soft voice. "We're alive, though. So that's a plus, yes?" "Only because the both of us are alive, wouldn't be much good if only one of us made it." Inigo said, taking a look around. "It's dark beyond measure in here." "It's... Not scary, but it is a bit unsettling." Sakura said as she looked around. It was clear that they were in a forest of some kind, yet the forest canopy was so thick that little to no light made it to the forest floor. The little light that did make it through however, was responsible for the strange green glow that the forest had. "Well, we can't stay here forever, can we?" Inigo stood up, reaching for his hilt to find that Falchion was, thankfully, still there. "There has to be a way out." "Which way is it, though?" Sakura asked, bow now in hand. "The way out, I mean." "I'm not sure." Inigo noticed something, and wasn't sure what exactly it was, but it definitely wasn't a tree. "Let's just pick a direction and go with it, I'd rather not stay here long, if I can help it." "Darling, have you felt anything strange, lately?" "Like some sort of otherworldly magic?" Rarity looked at Twilight incredulously. "How did you know?" "You're not the only one who felt it." Twilight said as she turned to face Rarity, a letter from Celestia floating in front of her in her magic. "Although I'm surprised you felt it at all, since the Princesses and I are Alicorns." "Maybe because I possess an element of harmony?" Rarity suggested. Twilight thought for a bit. "I'll have to check on that some other time. Right now, we need to let the girls know the plan for tomorrow." "Well, it is getting late." Rarity added. "What are we planning, exactly?" "Princess Celestia says that the otherworldly magic came from the Everfree Forest." Twilight began, eliciting a cringe from Rarity. "So first thing tomorrow, we'll head in and investigate." "Oh, do I ever detest that forest." Rarity said, sitting on her haunches. "If only I had knowledge as to why our ancestors thought it was a good idea to set up shop here of all places." "Yes, well..." Twilight began, rolling up the letter and tossing it aside with her magic. "That's why I've made the decision to go in the morning, it's far too dangerous to go at night." "I do so hope it isn't urgent." Rarity said, standing back up on her hooves and making her way to the library door. "I'll be off then, darling. Sweetie Belle will be home from her friends soon, and I'd like to have supper going." "Have a good night, Rarity." Twilight said, floating a saddle bag to her back. "Spike?" "Yeah Twi?" The dragon answered from the top of the stairs. "I need you to watch over the place while I head out." Twilight already had the door open again. "Don't need to tell me twice." Spike said with a chuckle. "Be back soon, okay?" "I will, don't worry so much." Twilight said with a smile, closing the door afterwards. "There we go, a proper camp fire." They been traveling for quite some time, only taking a break now due to nightfall. Thankfully, they know they'll reach then end soon, since the forest canopy was far thinner now then it was before, since they could now see the moonlight properly. "Those rations aren't the best tasting." Sakura said, looking straight at the fire. "Well that's because I wasn't the one who made them." Inigo said with a smile. "As I've said before, I'm no slouch in the kitchen." Sakura giggled. "Yes, your food always has that fanciful flair of yours." Inigo chuckled as he sat down next to her. "I don't care what they say, that armor suits you well." "Thank you, my love." Sakura began. "Honestly, I would've never known just how useful I could be when I took such a position. My siblings have always detested the idea of me carrying such weapons." "You have a lot of untapped strength, on to of your substantial magical capabilities." Inigo began. "I didn't even know festals could be used for more then just healing." "Well, you and Severa taught me the sword when my brother refused to." Sakura said, pulling out her Sun Festal as she did so. "and I still thank Owain for teaching me as much as he did about magic." Inigo smiled, before briskly standing up. "What's wrong?" Inigo shushed her quietly, listening for that same noise, the sound of snapping twigs. And it happened again. This time, Sakura stood up, longsword at the ready, and took her position behind Inigo, her back facing his. Inigo as well, had Falchion in his hands, looking frantically for the source of the noise, or noises, as there now seemed to be multiple. Before he could speak, a massive wolf of wood leaped at Inigo from the darkness. He hardly had the time to process what exactly it was the he was fighting before swinging Falchion with unmatched speed, connecting with the wolf and send it flying towards a tree, shattering it into splinters. 'Nani?! A wolf made of wood?! What sort of magic is this?!' Sakura thought before another wolf came charging at her. As it got close, Sakura gave a slow, heavy underhanded swing of her longsword, sending the wolf in the air, almost above the treeline. It landed on its spine, going limp before reducing into a pile of wood. It became apparent to Inigo that there were more of these wolves then the ones they just fought, as not so distant howls could be heard. "We're gonna have to fight like mad." Inigo said, resuming his battle stance. "I'll do my best." Was all Sakura could say before another wolf charged at her. (Morning) "So girls, are we ready?" "Yup! We're all here!" Twilight looked around, silently counting everyone present. "I've been able to pinpoint where that magic came from within the forest, so it should be pretty easy to find it." "Not much easier, ah take it." Applejack said, "ah'm almost certain we'll be attacked by whatever vermin crawling in that forsaken forest." "Don't jinx it, AJ!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "I'm sure we'll be fine." "Famous last words, darling." Rarity muttered under her breath. "In any case," Twilight began. "I know a variety of defensive spells, should we run into trouble. So we shouldn't worry." "Jus' havin' a sense of caution, Twi." Applejack said. Twilight nodded. "Are you ready, Fluttershy?" Said Pegasus only nodded. "How about you, Pinkie?" "I'm ready, Freddy!" Pinkie Pie shout, smiling. "They're retreating." Inigo stated as the wooden wolves began running back into the forest. "Th-thank... Naga." Sakura stuttered, sheathing her sword and sitting down by a tree. "I thought it w-would never end." Inigo hummed as he looked up, only to gasp in surprise. "It's morning!?" "Wh-what?" Sakura tiredly asked. "W-we've fought all, m-morn....ning?" "Sakura?" Inigo looked down at Sakura to see that she had fallen asleep. 'She isn't used to fighting like mad for so long it seems.' He thought. In many ways, that was a good thing. He was used to overexertion for such a long time thanks to the Risen, when they were still a threat in Ylisse. Sakura, thankfully, wasn't subjected to such an environment. "Sleep well, my love." Inigo said, lifting her up to carry her, bridal style. As much as he wanted to let her sleep, they couldn't afford to stay in this forest any longer. And so he continued the direction they were going the day before, hoping they would leave this place before nightfall. They needed to, or they wouldn't survive another night like that. Author's Note Tell me what y'all think, ya? For those who've played FE Fates, you know that Sakura and Laslow don't have an actual support, unfortunately. So in this fic, I've decided to go for the rare pair and ship the two together. I've came to the conclusion that they work quite well with one another. I've also made Sakura a bit more courageous and such, making her less meak and actually putting in the work. A Conversation In The MindSakura hadn't expected to be in a grassy plain. Of course, she never had full control over her dreams to begin with. She looked around in the dreamscape, simply hoping that Inigo was doing alright. "He is, by the way." "Nani?" "Turn around." Sakura did so, and her eyes met with a woman with Ivory hair, similar to Corrin. Unlike Corrin, however, the woman had her hair tied into twin tails. She also wore a long, black coat of some kind, and was that armor underneath? "I'm sorry, but... Who are you?" Sakura asked. "I am Grima, a creation from Thabes." The woman said. "Wait, Grima?" Sakura's pupils shrunk to pinpricks. "As in, the one who destroyed Inigo's world?!" Grima sighed, a said look on her face. "Yes, unfortunately... I'm the very same." "What are you doing here?" Sakura asked with a mixture of anger and fear. "Why are you in my head!?" "Forgive me for being a bit... Forward, but..." Grima paused, giving another sigh. "You're the only human I've had contact with in, well... Eons..." "Eons?" Sakura's anger and fear were replaced with shock. "Are you telling the truth?" "At this point, I've no reason to lie to you." Grima stated. "I've had... Time, to think on the things I've done, and have grown to hate them." "I see." Sakura brought her hand to her chin. "Why speak with me though, when Inigo is here as well?" "Naga's spawn is yet to sleep. He's dead set on leaving the Everfree Forest." Grima answered. "He's also carrying you." "So that's the name of this forest." Sakura then realized what was said right after. "Wait, he's carrying me?" Grima nodded. "In his arms, to- why are you smiling like that?" Sakura had a wide smile as she looked up. "He's carrying me... He hasn't done that since we've married." She then gave a drawn out sigh. "Oh, if only I was awake to feel it first hand." In the waking world, sakura subconsciously wrapped her arms around Inigo's neck, giggled softly in her sleep. Inigo looked down at her to see a bright smile, and he couldn't help but return the favor. "Glad you're enjoying this, my love." "You humans are still such an anomaly to me." Grima said, frowning. "I can't tell if your love is some sort of obsession or not." Sakura only giggled. "Wait, so... You're aren't mad at humanity anymore?" "Well, I still don't like your kind." Grima stated. "I'm indifferent to you now, although I have missed your kind's company." "Hmm, I see." Sakura hummed. "I wonder how Inigo would react to this." "If he's sensible, he'll try to kill me." Grima stated, earning her a look from Sakura. "What?" "I don't think Inigo is the kind of person to do that." Sakura stated. "I mean, it would make some sens-eeaaaAAAHHHHHAAHHH!!!" Sakura clutched her head as she collapsed to the floor in pain. "WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME?!" "Naga's spawn- erh, I mean Inigo!" Grima said frantically. "He's in trouble!! Something's attacking him and he accidentally dropped you!" "What's attacking him?!" Sakura shouted. "I need to help him! I need to wake up!" "You can't! You're body is far too exhausted to anything at this point!" Grima shouted back, casting a spell on her hand. "B-but... How do I... Uh?" Sakura was suddenly very sleepy. "What's.... Happening?" "A deep sleep." Grima stated as Sakura fell asleep. "You'll wake up faster, and more energized that way." Deactivating the spell, she looked up in worry. "Come on, Inigo, kill that beast." "Okay, I have SEEN IT ALL!!!" Inigo shouted, dodging another attack. "A lion with wings and a massive scorpion's tail!! 'WhAt CoUlD gO wRoNg?!' the Gods' of this world most likely thought! Naga damn it!" The strange beast thrusted it's massive tail at Inigo, to which he narrowly dodged. He wasn't expecting for the beast to be able to strike a second time with such speed, however. Inigo was flung back, certain his sword arm was out of commission due to the venom of the tail, as it rapidly began to fell weak. Thank Naga he was an ambidextrous. "Thought you had me, huh?" Inigo chided as he stood up, holding Falchion in his left hand. "It'll take more then that to take me out!" Inigo then noticed something, and it struck fear in his heart. The lion wasn't paying attention to him anymore, but instead to the unconscious form of Sakura, who was no longer behind him. Something shouted at him to do something, so he charged forward at the distracted beast and swing Falchion in a downwards motion, cutting off it's tail. The beast roared in immense pain, and instinctively tried to bite Inigo, who only dashed back a few feet. The attempted bite left the beast's neck exposed, allowed Inigo to strike. All Inigo heard was a gargled roar as the beast fell, dead. Giving himself no time to celebrate such a victory, he removed the glove on his right arm to reveal the horrifying sight of the discoloration of his skin. 'This is going to kill me.' He thought, rushing to Sakura's unconscious form. "Sakura, my love! Please, for Naga's sake get up!" Sakura's eyes shot open at the call of her name, and looked directly towards Inigo. "Oh my! What happened to your arm?!" "Venom." Inigo said weakly. "From that thing." Sakura gasped at the sight of the dead beast, but quickly threw it from her mind as she lifted herself from the ground and began to roll up Inigo's sleeve, revealing an arm that has lost almost all of its color. "Can you heal it?" Inigo asked. "Y-yes." Sakura said as she reached for her Sun Festal, which was thankfully still on her person. "Elise taught me the spell. It gonna hurt a lot, though." "I can take it." Inigo said, and almost immediately regretted those words as Sakura activated the spell, causing a searing pain throughout his right arm. Sakura concentrated on the spell, using a steady stream of her magic, and soon the color of Inigo's arm began to return. The pain finally left as his arm was back to normal. Sakura cut off the spell, panting heavily afterwards. "That's... Quite taxing." Sakura said between breathes. "How does Elise do it?" "She rarely had to deal with venom's too." Inigo answered. "It was just far simpler to use poisons, anyway." Sakura could only hum. "How far did we go this time?" "Quite far, actually." Inigo said. "It's mid-day now, and now I can actually see the sky properly?" "Mid-day?" Sakura asked. "How long was I asleep?" "Quite some time." Inigo said with a smile. "With you looking quite cute the entirety of it." Sakura only giggled. The sounds of huffsteps drew their attention, and Inigo drew Falchion yet again. 'What's next for this forest, huh? Horses with the head of a dragon?' Inigo thought. He almost dropped Falchion when a bunch of multi colored ponies came into view. Twilight was quite horrified to see the corpse of a Manticore in such close proximity to... Whatever these creatures are. She was even more surprised when she saw that unlike the rest of her friends, Applejack seemed completely unaffected. "A Manticore, eh? How'd you get its tail?" Applejack asked as she aproached the corpse. The creature that seemed to be male made a face. "I'm sorry?" It said with a slight accent. "But did you just talk?" "Uh, yes?" Applejack answered. "Inigo, dear." The creature that looked to be female spoke. "We know of Kitsune and Wolf-skin. Talking mineture horses wouldn't be to far off." The male, who seemed to be named Inigo, seemed to have calmed down. "You're right, my love. So I'm not going insane." He then made eye contact with Applejack. "To answer your question, lass, I had the devil's own luck with this one." "Applejack.... Are you serious?" Twilight asked, to which Applejack only raised a brow. "He just admitted to killing something! Don't you know what that means?!" "That he knows his way 'round the wild?" Applejack answered. "Are ya sheltered or what?" "AJ, killing is bad!" Twilight nearly shouted. "He should be sent to the dungeon for that!" "I'm sorry, but what kind of stupidity did you just spout?" Inigo said. "That thing tried to kill not only me, but my beloved Sakura as well!" He shouted as he pointed towards the girl. "This entire forest has done nothing but try to kill us! Just last night when we arrived there was a whole pack of wood-wolves that tried to kill us too, and we barely survived that!" "You killed a pack of Timberwolves, too?" Twilight look at him in horror. "H-how could you do that?" Inigo looked as if he was about to explode with anger, so Applejack decided to take hold of the conversation. "Twi, ah don't know how much you city folk know 'bout the outside world, but it's, for lack of nicer words, a hell hole." Twilight looked at her incredulously. "Jus' the other day my brother came back to the farm late from a delivery because of a chimera attack, and those sorts of encounters almost always end up with one party dead." "I'm sorry to say this, dear, but..." Rarity chimed in. "She's just sheltered. Even in the city, there are certain streets you just don't go through, and I know from experience." "Rarity, don't tell me you've..." "Thankfully, no." Rarity gave a sly smile. "But close relatives were sometimes forced into such situations. I wouldn't even be here if they hadn't made the choice." "I... I don't believe this." Twilight muttered as she fell on her haunches. "Fluttershy? Help me?" Fluttershy shook her head. "I'm sorry Twilight, but..." She began. "As against it as I am, they didn't have much of a choice." "I don't believe this...." Twilight repeated. "How are all of you... Okay with this?" "You're making it sound like we enjoy killing." Sakura finally spoke. "Why else would you kill, huh?" Twilight spoke angrily. "To protect the ones we love? For self preservation? There are plenty of reasons why we have to, unfortunately, take lives. And none of us enjoy it." Sakura began, standing up as she did so. "As a princess, I have to take up arms, as much as I dislike the act of killing, sometimes, it's necessary." "You're a princess?" Twilight asked, shocked. Sakura nodded. "Princess Sakura of Hoshido, you might not have heard of it." "And I'm Prince Inigo of Ylisse." Inigo added. "Believe me when I say that I'm no stranger to war." "And the two of you are married?" Rarity asked. "Oh you have to tell me how you two met!" "Some other time, lass." Inigo said. "Right now, we're still being chastised." "I just want to know why you thought it was necessary to kill that Manticore." Twilight said as she pointed at the corpse. Inigo sighed. "You know how you're talking with us right now? Well, if I hadn't killed that beast, we would be the corpses." Twilight tried to protest, to come up with counter arguments, yet she quickly learned that to her counter arguments, there were counters. She finally gave up with a sigh. "Fine. I see your point, but only this time." Twilight finally said. "Let's start things over. Why not come with us back to Ponyville to get proper rest?" "No arguments here." Inigo said. "I'd rather not stay in this forsaken forest." "You and me both, tiger." Applejack said with a smile. 'Well that was quite the argument.' Sakura almost gasped at that. 'Oh, don't give me that. I'm in your head now, deal with it.' Grima said. ' looks like there's gonna be some conflicts in the long run between those two.' 'It was kind of obvious.' Sakura thought. 'She's as naive as I used to be.' 'Yes. Smart, but naive.' Grima added. 'And sorry for what happened earlier, I need to send you into a deep sleep before you decide to wake up early.' 'Is that why I don't feel tired?' Sakura asked. 'Yes indeed. You're welcome, by the way.' Grima paused. 'Anyway, you should keep up with them, they may know a way to get you two back to Nohr and Hoshido.' Grima suggested. Sakura didn't respond. She simply started walking with the rest of the group. Proper IntroductionsThey arrived at Ponyville when Celestia's sun began to set. Something was off, however. "Have any of you seen Pinkie Pie?" Twilight question received no answer. "Uhm, who's Pinkie Pie?" Sakura asked. "Well, she's pink. Obviously." Rainbow Dash stated. "She's also the best at anything related to parties." 'Ah, so a "party animal" then.' 'Grima....' 'What? It's better then "party pony". PP isn't a good abbreviation." Sakura mentally facepalmed. 'Fine, I'll stop with the puns.' 'Thank you.' "Are you alright, my love?" Inigo's question caught her attention. "Yes, just lost in thought." "All alone?" Sakura physically sighed as she sped up. "Come on, love. You ran into that with open arms!" Inigo said, doing his best to stifle his laughter. 'Yeah, you kinda did.' 'Don't patronize me.' "Lost in thought, all alone?" Rarity repeated. "It's a song a friend of ours likes to sing on occasion." Inigo answered. "It became a bit of a running gag whenever someone makes the mistake of saying the words 'lost in thought', specifically in that order." Rarity hummed. "Well, here's the library." Twilight said as they stopped in front of a giant oak tree with windows. "Also known as my current place of residence." "You know, this takes the 'tree house' to a whole new level." Inigo quipped. "And you say this is also a library?" "Yes indeed." Twilight said as the she floated a key to the door with her magic, turning the key, and pushing the door open. "Spike? Are you he- oh, hey Pinkie." "HEY!" Pinkie Pie shouted with excitement. "What took you so long?!" "Pinkie, we were just...." Twilight sighed as she put a good to her forehead. 'Calm yourself, Twilight, she always does this. This is normal.' She then looks to the two humans. "How about we have some proper introductions?" "OH! OH! ME FIRST! ME FIRST!" Pinkie Pie shouted as she bounced on her tail. "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! Do you like parties?! How 'bout cake?! I LOVE CAKE! AND PARTIES!" Inigo only stared at the pink pony while Sakura covered her mouth as she giggled. "Name's Rainbow Dash!" Said the Pegasus with the rainbow mane. "The fastest flyer in all of Equestria!" "I'll take your word for it." Inigo said whilst smiling. "Name's Applejack." Said the orange pony with the stetson hat. "Jus' a humble farm pony." "I like your hat." Sakura said, earning a smile from said pony. "....Fluttershy..." The voice was barely audible, but Inigo managed to catch it, but only just. "I'm sorry? What was your name again?" Inigo asked, looking toward the yellow pegasus with the pink mane. "F-Fluttershy." Said pegasus spoke up just enough to be heard. Inigo offered a polite nod. 'Well.... It fits...' Spoke Grima within Sakura's head. "My name is Rarity. Rarity Belle." Said the alabaster unicorn as she looked up and down the humans. "I must say, you two have a great sense of style!" "That's Nohr, for ya!" Inigo said proudly. "This armor in particular was made for those who are deemed as heroes among the Nohrian populous." "Interesting..." Rarity said as she approached the duo. "Hmm let's see... Multiple layers.... Darker colors.... Lovely scarf, by the way...." She continued to examine the armor when Twilight cleared her throat. "And I'm Twilight Sparkle. Princess Twilight Sparkle." She spoke, revealing her wings. "A princess, eh?" Inigo commented. Sakura blinked. "So your a Falicorn, then?" Twilight shook her head. "No, I'm actually an Alicorn now. Falicorns haven't been around since... Well.... A long, long long time ago." Sakura hummed. "I supposed it's our turn then, princess." Inigo said as he stepped up. "I am Prince Inigo of Ylisse, the second child of Exalt Chrom of Ylisse, and the current wielder of Falchion, a blade made from Naga's fang." Sakura then stepped up. "And I am Princess Sakura of Hoshido, the youngest out of four siblings." She gazed up at Inigo. "I'm also married to Inigo, the man who made me the happiest woman alive." Rainbow Dash gagged while Rarity gave an excited giggle. "Alright, first question." Twilight began as she conjured a notepad and ink and quill. "How did you two end up here?" Inigo brought a hand to his chin. "If my memory serves me well.... We fell." Twilight blinked. "What? Fell?" Inigo gave an assuring nod. "Yes, we were on a bridge... Someone had tricked us into walking across it, and it collapsed... Only us two fell into the void below." "Someone tricked you?" Rainbow dash asked. "Yes. It's a long story," Inigo then yawned. "Unfortunately, I lack the energy to tell." Sakura gave him an incredulous look." Oh Naga, you haven't had a wink of sleep since we got here, didn't you!" "Ehm, sorry?" Inigo said as he gave a nervous smile. Sakura shook her head while she grabbed a hold on Inigo's arm. "Lady Twilight, you don't happen to have a spare room, do you?" Twilight blinked. "There is a guest room, but there's only one bed." Rarity, along with Fluttershy, managed to stifle a laugh, cause Twilight to give a questioning look. "Oh Twilight, darling, I doubt they'll find much trouble with that!" Rarity said, doing her best to hide her grin. "Alright then... If it's okay with you two?" Twilight remained oblivious to the implications. "I should probably head to sleep too." Sakura said. "I didn't have the best of awakenings." "Wait, I still have some questions!" Twilight said. "What is your species like? The countries you hail from? Or maybe-mmmph!?" Inigo nearly bursted out in laughter when Rarity's entire hoof was stuffed into Twilight's mouth, shutting down the series of questions. "Tomorrow is another day, darling, and me thinks everypony here needs the sleep." Rarity said, removing her hoof from Twilight's mouth. 'Did she just say "everypony"? What in the seven hells?' Sakura heard Grima say. Twilight sighed. "Alright, I guess we can continue this tomorrow." 'May Naga bless your kind heart, Rarity.' Inigo thought as he put up a smile. "Where is this room of yours, princess?" Twilight managed to muster up a smile. "Follow me, I'll show you." The both of them were fast asleep, with Sakura taking her place on top of Inigo while he laid a hand across her back. Most of their armor had been removed, with the both of them in simple tunics and some manner of underwear. Thankfully, the blanket was large enough for the both of them. Inside the dreamscape, Inigo looked around to find a sky full of stars, and grassy plains that stretched out farther then the eye could see. "This doesn't feel like much of a dream." Inigo thought out loud. "That's because it's somewhere in between." Inigo turned around quickly, recognizing the voice. His eyes widened as he saw who that voice belonged to. "Grima?!" Inigo shouted, reaching for the sword that wasn't on him at the time. "What are you doing here?! How are you even alive!?" "Inigo, please calm down." Sakura's voice rang as she came into view. "Sakura?" Inigo asked. "What are you doing here?" Grima sighed. "Welcome to the dreamscape, Inigo, I hope you enjoy your stay." Inigo looked between Sakura and Grima a few times before hunching his shoulders in defeat. "Okay, I give up, what in Naga's name is going on here?" Sakura inhaled. The nighttime of Ponyville is usually undisturbed, as it's residents had retired for the night. However, something lurks in the outskirts, threatening to disturb the nighttime peace. Inigo found himself sitting down on the grass plain, holding his head in his hands. Eventually, he looks up at Sakura. "You knew this whole time and didn't tell me?" He asked. Sakura looked away, ashamed. "I... Didn't know how to tell you..... Please don't be mad at me....." Inigo shook his head. "I can't even make myself angry with you, I'm just.... Surprised, to put it mildly." Sakura gave a sigh of relief, while Grima huffed. "The two of you are such lovelorn fools." Grima said, eliciting a smile from Sakura. Inigo looked to Grima. "So... You don't hate us, or anything?" "I have missed your species for quite some time." Grima answered. "All that time alone changes people.... even Gods." "I see..." Was all Inigo could say. "So..." Grima began, a neutral express upon her face. "The two of you have mentioned Nohr and Hoshido quite a few times. Would you mind telling me what it's like?" Sometime has passed, and the conversation within the dreamscape slowly devolved into a slow dance between the lovers. Grima, not wanting to interrupt, decided to leave the dreamscape for now. Outside of the dreamscape, Grima appeared as a spectre, emitting a faint purple glow. She looked down at the human couple, noticing the loving smiles they had. 'Such lovelorn fools.' She thought, although a smile of her own creeped to her face. She then floated upwards and out of the tree house, fazing through the roof as she did so. Upon exiting the tree house, she looked up at the night sky, noticing the large moon in the center of it. 'A fine job.' Grima thought as she looked. It was then that something else drew her attention. It felt like magic, powerful magic, and it didn't feel friendly in the slightest. In fact, it felt almost like... 'Dragon magic.' Now on full alert, she scanned the town around her before setting her eyes upon a fancy looking round house. It was there that she saw it, a few figures, seemingly human in shape, armed, and barely visible. She was only able to pick them out due to the familiar purple glow they gave off. Grima scowled, and floated her way to the round house, undetected. When she got there, the beings had already broken in, so she fazed through the roof of the building in search for the inhabitants. It didn't take her long to find the sleeping form of Rarity, the alabaster unicorn. 'So this is were she lives.' Grima thought as she floated to the pony. 'Should've known she'd live in such a fancy place, given by the way she carried herself.' She quickly pushed these thoughts to the back of her mind, she had more important things to take care of. 'Here goes nothing.' Grima thought, as she place an ethereal hand on Rarity's forehead. Rarity was having a lovely dream, being treated like a princess. Well, she is a princess, at least in this dream. "WAKE UP!!" "What?" "I SAID WAKE UP!!!" The dream quickly vanished in a flash of light, leaving Rarity standing before another human female in an endless grassy plain. "Wha-? Who are you?" Rarity stammered out. "And why would you ruin such a wonderful dream!?" "No time for dreaming right now, you pretentious twat!" Grima blurted out, clearly not in the mood for this sort of conversation. "Your life is endangered, and if you don't wake up now you won't have a chance to make those 'dreams' a reality!" "My life is endangered?" Rarity asked, shocked. "YES!! SOMEONE IS TRYING TO KILL YOU!!!" Waking up with a gasp, Rarity frantically looked around her room, only to find nopony present. Rarity sighed. 'Perhaps it was just a dream?' "RARITY!!! HELP MEEEEE!!!" "Sweetie Belle?!" Rarity jump out of her bed and bolted to her door, flinging it open with her magic. When she left her room into the hallway, she gasped at the sight. Three beings that looked very similar to Inigo and Sakura, and were slightly transparent. One of them, who appeared to be a tall female, held the struggling filly. "Unhand her at once!" Rarity shouted as she shot a magic beam from her horn. The beam was blocked, however, by what looked like a tall human male, wearing heavy armor, a massive shield, and a lance. Rarity took a few steps back in fear, unsure of what to do. 'You can't fight him! Go around!' Rarity had no time to think on who's voice that was since she was currently casting a spell. Almost instantly, she disappeared in a flash of light, and reappeared behind the armored knight. Before the knight could react, Rarity galloped after the woman, who had ran far faster down the stairs and out the front door. Rarity was barely giving chase. "You have her?" Asked a cloaked woman, clearly visible as apposed to the soldier in front of her. The soldier nodded, revealing a small filly in her grasp. "Let me go!" The filly shouted, earning a grin from the cloaked woman. "I'm afraid I can't do that." The woman spoke, using her magic to probe at the small fillies horn. "Yes.... You are a powerful vessel indeed. You will serve our purpose well." "You fiend!" Shouted Rarity as she approached the woman. "Unhand my sister at once!" "You weren't supposed to be up." The woman said as she shook her head. "Oh well, this'll be easy to deal with, anyway." The woman pulled out what appeared to be a red tomb from her cloak, flaring it's pages as runes appeared both below her and in front of her. "ARCFIRE!" A large fire ball began hurtling towards Rarity, who was able to jump out of the way of the projectile. However, when said projectile made contact with the ground, it exploded into a flurry of fire, the shockwave knocking Rarity off her hooves. The explosion was also insanely loud, causing half of Ponyville to awaken in a fright. Multiple lights within the houses were turned on, and many ponies had gone outside to see what was going on. "Such a nuisance." The hooded woman spoke, as multiple ponies approached her. "Who are you?" Twilight asked. "Are you one of Inigo's friends?" "Inigo is hear?" The woman asked, surprised. "I knew we shouldn't have trusted them!" Rainbow Dash shouted. The woman chuckled. "That man always had a way with words." She then paused. "You six... You have power.... A lot of it." "What does she mean by that?" Applejack asked. "The Elements of Harmony." Twilight answered, charging up a spell of her own. The woman chuckled. "Sorry, I can't allow that." Runes appeared around her as the air began to heat up with electricity. "By killing you, I can ensure that my revenge comes to fruition." A tense moment of silence followed, until a bolt of lightning appeared before her. "THORON!" The ponies looked on in fear as the bolt of lightning came at them as blinding speed. None of them, however, expected the bolt to suddenly go upward. The woman scowled, until she noticed the other woman there. "I won't allow it!" Sakura shouted, lowering her shield. "Sakura." The woman said. "You should be dead." "How do you know my name?!" Sakura continued to yell. "Well it's not like I'll forget." The woman began. "You did betray us for these unholy creatures, after all." Sakura looked at the woman incredulously. "What?! I don't even know who you are!!" "Don't play dumb with me!" The woman shouted back. "You sided with them. You still side with them! The very creatures that destroyed the human race because of the silent dragon!" Sakura's left eye twitched. Was this woman serious? "So I take it she's not your friend?" Twilight asked, receiving a head shake from Sakura. "None of my friends would do this." "LIES!!" The woman shouted. "You know exactly who I am! And if I have to beat the truth out of you, I will GLADLY do it!!" "Not while I still draw breath!" Before the woman could ask, Inigo came into view, thrusting a familiar sword at her. She narrowly dodged the blade, allowing a transparent soldier to counter the attack. They were easily cut down however, as Inigo was able to parry the attack and stabbed them in the abdomen, dissipating the strange soldier into vapor. The woman took the time to attack with a sword of her own, using a strange blade shaped like a bolt of lightning. However, she missed, allowing Inigo to put some distance between them. "I can't believe you, Inigo." The woman said. "I thought you wouldn't betray me for that wench you were supposed to kill." "Morgan!?" Inigo shouted in complete surprise. "What are you doing!? And what do you mean 'supposed to kill'!?!" "How could any of you not know?!" The woman, who was revealed to be morgan, shouted. "You were there when it happened! When this damnable race of horses came in and destroyed everything! All in the name of some twisted ideals!!" "Morgan, what are yo-!?" Inigo gasped when he realized it. "Wait, who was my father, Morgan?" "Why are you asking me that?!" Morgan shouted. "it's obviously Robin! Aren't we siblings?!" "No, we're not." Inigo said, flourishing Falchion. "My father is Chrom, and my sister is Lucina. I have both the brand and Falchion to prove it." "What...?" Morgan took some time before she realized that he was right That realization caused her to laugh maniacally. "Of course. Of course!! How could I have been so foolish!?" Morgan shouted with unnerving happiness. "Only I could've survived such destruction! You two are just imitations from another world!" Morgan then casted a spell, summoning more transparent soldiers under her command. "That means killing you would be far easier without the emotional connection!!" Both Inigo and Sakura stood side by side, weapons drawn, and facing the growing force that Morgan was summoning. "Princess." Inigo motioned to Twilight. "Evacuate the town, this place is about to be a warzone." "We're staying with you." Twilight said quickly. "There's no way you can take all of them on alone." "Are you foolish?!" Inigo shouted, causing the pony friends to flinch. "If you stay here, you'll die, and the country would be down a princess!" Twilight could only blink in an attempt to counter his argument. "And besides." Inigo began, keeping his attention at Morgan. "They're nothing like the risen." Morgan stood defiantly, her father's tome in one hand, and his sword in another. Her hood had been blown off by an unforeseen wind, revealing short pink hair and a demonic smile plastered on a freckled face. She looked towards the soldier that held the small filly in their arms, with said filly looking back at her with fearful eyes. "Your name is Sweetie Belle, correct? I heard you sister say so." Said filly only stared, shaking with fear. "W-why are you doing this?" Sweetie Belle asked. "You'll find out eventually." Morgan said darkly. "For now however, just enjoy the show." Sweetie Belle felt shivers down her spine, just what could she mean by that? "Soldiers. I have orders for you." Morgan said, raising her hand and pointing at the human duo and ponies standing opposite to her. "KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM!!" Author's Note Not sure why it took me so long, but I quite like it.
A forest of Darkness"Inigo, please wake up." A nervous voice called. Instantly, his eyes shot open, making contact with the pair of eyes above him. "Sakura?" He asked, slowly pushing himself up. "What happened? Where are we?" "I wish I could answer those questions." Sakura spoke in her usual soft voice. "We're alive, though. So that's a plus, yes?" "Only because the both of us are alive, wouldn't be much good if only one of us made it." Inigo said, taking a look around. "It's dark beyond measure in here." "It's... Not scary, but it is a bit unsettling." Sakura said as she looked around. It was clear that they were in a forest of some kind, yet the forest canopy was so thick that little to no light made it to the forest floor. The little light that did make it through however, was responsible for the strange green glow that the forest had. "Well, we can't stay here forever, can we?" Inigo stood up, reaching for his hilt to find that Falchion was, thankfully, still there. "There has to be a way out." "Which way is it, though?" Sakura asked, bow now in hand. "The way out, I mean." "I'm not sure." Inigo noticed something, and wasn't sure what exactly it was, but it definitely wasn't a tree. "Let's just pick a direction and go with it, I'd rather not stay here long, if I can help it." "Darling, have you felt anything strange, lately?" "Like some sort of otherworldly magic?" Rarity looked at Twilight incredulously. "How did you know?" "You're not the only one who felt it." Twilight said as she turned to face Rarity, a letter from Celestia floating in front of her in her magic. "Although I'm surprised you felt it at all, since the Princesses and I are Alicorns." "Maybe because I possess an element of harmony?" Rarity suggested. Twilight thought for a bit. "I'll have to check on that some other time. Right now, we need to let the girls know the plan for tomorrow." "Well, it is getting late." Rarity added. "What are we planning, exactly?" "Princess Celestia says that the otherworldly magic came from the Everfree Forest." Twilight began, eliciting a cringe from Rarity. "So first thing tomorrow, we'll head in and investigate." "Oh, do I ever detest that forest." Rarity said, sitting on her haunches. "If only I had knowledge as to why our ancestors thought it was a good idea to set up shop here of all places." "Yes, well..." Twilight began, rolling up the letter and tossing it aside with her magic. "That's why I've made the decision to go in the morning, it's far too dangerous to go at night." "I do so hope it isn't urgent." Rarity said, standing back up on her hooves and making her way to the library door. "I'll be off then, darling. Sweetie Belle will be home from her friends soon, and I'd like to have supper going." "Have a good night, Rarity." Twilight said, floating a saddle bag to her back. "Spike?" "Yeah Twi?" The dragon answered from the top of the stairs. "I need you to watch over the place while I head out." Twilight already had the door open again. "Don't need to tell me twice." Spike said with a chuckle. "Be back soon, okay?" "I will, don't worry so much." Twilight said with a smile, closing the door afterwards. "There we go, a proper camp fire." They been traveling for quite some time, only taking a break now due to nightfall. Thankfully, they know they'll reach then end soon, since the forest canopy was far thinner now then it was before, since they could now see the moonlight properly. "Those rations aren't the best tasting." Sakura said, looking straight at the fire. "Well that's because I wasn't the one who made them." Inigo said with a smile. "As I've said before, I'm no slouch in the kitchen." Sakura giggled. "Yes, your food always has that fanciful flair of yours." Inigo chuckled as he sat down next to her. "I don't care what they say, that armor suits you well." "Thank you, my love." Sakura began. "Honestly, I would've never known just how useful I could be when I took such a position. My siblings have always detested the idea of me carrying such weapons." "You have a lot of untapped strength, on to of your substantial magical capabilities." Inigo began. "I didn't even know festals could be used for more then just healing." "Well, you and Severa taught me the sword when my brother refused to." Sakura said, pulling out her Sun Festal as she did so. "and I still thank Owain for teaching me as much as he did about magic." Inigo smiled, before briskly standing up. "What's wrong?" Inigo shushed her quietly, listening for that same noise, the sound of snapping twigs. And it happened again. This time, Sakura stood up, longsword at the ready, and took her position behind Inigo, her back facing his. Inigo as well, had Falchion in his hands, looking frantically for the source of the noise, or noises, as there now seemed to be multiple. Before he could speak, a massive wolf of wood leaped at Inigo from the darkness. He hardly had the time to process what exactly it was the he was fighting before swinging Falchion with unmatched speed, connecting with the wolf and send it flying towards a tree, shattering it into splinters. 'Nani?! A wolf made of wood?! What sort of magic is this?!' Sakura thought before another wolf came charging at her. As it got close, Sakura gave a slow, heavy underhanded swing of her longsword, sending the wolf in the air, almost above the treeline. It landed on its spine, going limp before reducing into a pile of wood. It became apparent to Inigo that there were more of these wolves then the ones they just fought, as not so distant howls could be heard. "We're gonna have to fight like mad." Inigo said, resuming his battle stance. "I'll do my best." Was all Sakura could say before another wolf charged at her. (Morning) "So girls, are we ready?" "Yup! We're all here!" Twilight looked around, silently counting everyone present. "I've been able to pinpoint where that magic came from within the forest, so it should be pretty easy to find it." "Not much easier, ah take it." Applejack said, "ah'm almost certain we'll be attacked by whatever vermin crawling in that forsaken forest." "Don't jinx it, AJ!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "I'm sure we'll be fine." "Famous last words, darling." Rarity muttered under her breath. "In any case," Twilight began. "I know a variety of defensive spells, should we run into trouble. So we shouldn't worry." "Jus' havin' a sense of caution, Twi." Applejack said. Twilight nodded. "Are you ready, Fluttershy?" Said Pegasus only nodded. "How about you, Pinkie?" "I'm ready, Freddy!" Pinkie Pie shout, smiling. "They're retreating." Inigo stated as the wooden wolves began running back into the forest. "Th-thank... Naga." Sakura stuttered, sheathing her sword and sitting down by a tree. "I thought it w-would never end." Inigo hummed as he looked up, only to gasp in surprise. "It's morning!?" "Wh-what?" Sakura tiredly asked. "W-we've fought all, m-morn....ning?" "Sakura?" Inigo looked down at Sakura to see that she had fallen asleep. 'She isn't used to fighting like mad for so long it seems.' He thought. In many ways, that was a good thing. He was used to overexertion for such a long time thanks to the Risen, when they were still a threat in Ylisse. Sakura, thankfully, wasn't subjected to such an environment. "Sleep well, my love." Inigo said, lifting her up to carry her, bridal style. As much as he wanted to let her sleep, they couldn't afford to stay in this forest any longer. And so he continued the direction they were going the day before, hoping they would leave this place before nightfall. They needed to, or they wouldn't survive another night like that. Author's Note Tell me what y'all think, ya? For those who've played FE Fates, you know that Sakura and Laslow don't have an actual support, unfortunately. So in this fic, I've decided to go for the rare pair and ship the two together. I've came to the conclusion that they work quite well with one another. I've also made Sakura a bit more courageous and such, making her less meak and actually putting in the work.
A Conversation In The MindSakura hadn't expected to be in a grassy plain. Of course, she never had full control over her dreams to begin with. She looked around in the dreamscape, simply hoping that Inigo was doing alright. "He is, by the way." "Nani?" "Turn around." Sakura did so, and her eyes met with a woman with Ivory hair, similar to Corrin. Unlike Corrin, however, the woman had her hair tied into twin tails. She also wore a long, black coat of some kind, and was that armor underneath? "I'm sorry, but... Who are you?" Sakura asked. "I am Grima, a creation from Thabes." The woman said. "Wait, Grima?" Sakura's pupils shrunk to pinpricks. "As in, the one who destroyed Inigo's world?!" Grima sighed, a said look on her face. "Yes, unfortunately... I'm the very same." "What are you doing here?" Sakura asked with a mixture of anger and fear. "Why are you in my head!?" "Forgive me for being a bit... Forward, but..." Grima paused, giving another sigh. "You're the only human I've had contact with in, well... Eons..." "Eons?" Sakura's anger and fear were replaced with shock. "Are you telling the truth?" "At this point, I've no reason to lie to you." Grima stated. "I've had... Time, to think on the things I've done, and have grown to hate them." "I see." Sakura brought her hand to her chin. "Why speak with me though, when Inigo is here as well?" "Naga's spawn is yet to sleep. He's dead set on leaving the Everfree Forest." Grima answered. "He's also carrying you." "So that's the name of this forest." Sakura then realized what was said right after. "Wait, he's carrying me?" Grima nodded. "In his arms, to- why are you smiling like that?" Sakura had a wide smile as she looked up. "He's carrying me... He hasn't done that since we've married." She then gave a drawn out sigh. "Oh, if only I was awake to feel it first hand." In the waking world, sakura subconsciously wrapped her arms around Inigo's neck, giggled softly in her sleep. Inigo looked down at her to see a bright smile, and he couldn't help but return the favor. "Glad you're enjoying this, my love." "You humans are still such an anomaly to me." Grima said, frowning. "I can't tell if your love is some sort of obsession or not." Sakura only giggled. "Wait, so... You're aren't mad at humanity anymore?" "Well, I still don't like your kind." Grima stated. "I'm indifferent to you now, although I have missed your kind's company." "Hmm, I see." Sakura hummed. "I wonder how Inigo would react to this." "If he's sensible, he'll try to kill me." Grima stated, earning her a look from Sakura. "What?" "I don't think Inigo is the kind of person to do that." Sakura stated. "I mean, it would make some sens-eeaaaAAAHHHHHAAHHH!!!" Sakura clutched her head as she collapsed to the floor in pain. "WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME?!" "Naga's spawn- erh, I mean Inigo!" Grima said frantically. "He's in trouble!! Something's attacking him and he accidentally dropped you!" "What's attacking him?!" Sakura shouted. "I need to help him! I need to wake up!" "You can't! You're body is far too exhausted to anything at this point!" Grima shouted back, casting a spell on her hand. "B-but... How do I... Uh?" Sakura was suddenly very sleepy. "What's.... Happening?" "A deep sleep." Grima stated as Sakura fell asleep. "You'll wake up faster, and more energized that way." Deactivating the spell, she looked up in worry. "Come on, Inigo, kill that beast." "Okay, I have SEEN IT ALL!!!" Inigo shouted, dodging another attack. "A lion with wings and a massive scorpion's tail!! 'WhAt CoUlD gO wRoNg?!' the Gods' of this world most likely thought! Naga damn it!" The strange beast thrusted it's massive tail at Inigo, to which he narrowly dodged. He wasn't expecting for the beast to be able to strike a second time with such speed, however. Inigo was flung back, certain his sword arm was out of commission due to the venom of the tail, as it rapidly began to fell weak. Thank Naga he was an ambidextrous. "Thought you had me, huh?" Inigo chided as he stood up, holding Falchion in his left hand. "It'll take more then that to take me out!" Inigo then noticed something, and it struck fear in his heart. The lion wasn't paying attention to him anymore, but instead to the unconscious form of Sakura, who was no longer behind him. Something shouted at him to do something, so he charged forward at the distracted beast and swing Falchion in a downwards motion, cutting off it's tail. The beast roared in immense pain, and instinctively tried to bite Inigo, who only dashed back a few feet. The attempted bite left the beast's neck exposed, allowed Inigo to strike. All Inigo heard was a gargled roar as the beast fell, dead. Giving himself no time to celebrate such a victory, he removed the glove on his right arm to reveal the horrifying sight of the discoloration of his skin. 'This is going to kill me.' He thought, rushing to Sakura's unconscious form. "Sakura, my love! Please, for Naga's sake get up!" Sakura's eyes shot open at the call of her name, and looked directly towards Inigo. "Oh my! What happened to your arm?!" "Venom." Inigo said weakly. "From that thing." Sakura gasped at the sight of the dead beast, but quickly threw it from her mind as she lifted herself from the ground and began to roll up Inigo's sleeve, revealing an arm that has lost almost all of its color. "Can you heal it?" Inigo asked. "Y-yes." Sakura said as she reached for her Sun Festal, which was thankfully still on her person. "Elise taught me the spell. It gonna hurt a lot, though." "I can take it." Inigo said, and almost immediately regretted those words as Sakura activated the spell, causing a searing pain throughout his right arm. Sakura concentrated on the spell, using a steady stream of her magic, and soon the color of Inigo's arm began to return. The pain finally left as his arm was back to normal. Sakura cut off the spell, panting heavily afterwards. "That's... Quite taxing." Sakura said between breathes. "How does Elise do it?" "She rarely had to deal with venom's too." Inigo answered. "It was just far simpler to use poisons, anyway." Sakura could only hum. "How far did we go this time?" "Quite far, actually." Inigo said. "It's mid-day now, and now I can actually see the sky properly?" "Mid-day?" Sakura asked. "How long was I asleep?" "Quite some time." Inigo said with a smile. "With you looking quite cute the entirety of it." Sakura only giggled. The sounds of huffsteps drew their attention, and Inigo drew Falchion yet again. 'What's next for this forest, huh? Horses with the head of a dragon?' Inigo thought. He almost dropped Falchion when a bunch of multi colored ponies came into view. Twilight was quite horrified to see the corpse of a Manticore in such close proximity to... Whatever these creatures are. She was even more surprised when she saw that unlike the rest of her friends, Applejack seemed completely unaffected. "A Manticore, eh? How'd you get its tail?" Applejack asked as she aproached the corpse. The creature that seemed to be male made a face. "I'm sorry?" It said with a slight accent. "But did you just talk?" "Uh, yes?" Applejack answered. "Inigo, dear." The creature that looked to be female spoke. "We know of Kitsune and Wolf-skin. Talking mineture horses wouldn't be to far off." The male, who seemed to be named Inigo, seemed to have calmed down. "You're right, my love. So I'm not going insane." He then made eye contact with Applejack. "To answer your question, lass, I had the devil's own luck with this one." "Applejack.... Are you serious?" Twilight asked, to which Applejack only raised a brow. "He just admitted to killing something! Don't you know what that means?!" "That he knows his way 'round the wild?" Applejack answered. "Are ya sheltered or what?" "AJ, killing is bad!" Twilight nearly shouted. "He should be sent to the dungeon for that!" "I'm sorry, but what kind of stupidity did you just spout?" Inigo said. "That thing tried to kill not only me, but my beloved Sakura as well!" He shouted as he pointed towards the girl. "This entire forest has done nothing but try to kill us! Just last night when we arrived there was a whole pack of wood-wolves that tried to kill us too, and we barely survived that!" "You killed a pack of Timberwolves, too?" Twilight look at him in horror. "H-how could you do that?" Inigo looked as if he was about to explode with anger, so Applejack decided to take hold of the conversation. "Twi, ah don't know how much you city folk know 'bout the outside world, but it's, for lack of nicer words, a hell hole." Twilight looked at her incredulously. "Jus' the other day my brother came back to the farm late from a delivery because of a chimera attack, and those sorts of encounters almost always end up with one party dead." "I'm sorry to say this, dear, but..." Rarity chimed in. "She's just sheltered. Even in the city, there are certain streets you just don't go through, and I know from experience." "Rarity, don't tell me you've..." "Thankfully, no." Rarity gave a sly smile. "But close relatives were sometimes forced into such situations. I wouldn't even be here if they hadn't made the choice." "I... I don't believe this." Twilight muttered as she fell on her haunches. "Fluttershy? Help me?" Fluttershy shook her head. "I'm sorry Twilight, but..." She began. "As against it as I am, they didn't have much of a choice." "I don't believe this...." Twilight repeated. "How are all of you... Okay with this?" "You're making it sound like we enjoy killing." Sakura finally spoke. "Why else would you kill, huh?" Twilight spoke angrily. "To protect the ones we love? For self preservation? There are plenty of reasons why we have to, unfortunately, take lives. And none of us enjoy it." Sakura began, standing up as she did so. "As a princess, I have to take up arms, as much as I dislike the act of killing, sometimes, it's necessary." "You're a princess?" Twilight asked, shocked. Sakura nodded. "Princess Sakura of Hoshido, you might not have heard of it." "And I'm Prince Inigo of Ylisse." Inigo added. "Believe me when I say that I'm no stranger to war." "And the two of you are married?" Rarity asked. "Oh you have to tell me how you two met!" "Some other time, lass." Inigo said. "Right now, we're still being chastised." "I just want to know why you thought it was necessary to kill that Manticore." Twilight said as she pointed at the corpse. Inigo sighed. "You know how you're talking with us right now? Well, if I hadn't killed that beast, we would be the corpses." Twilight tried to protest, to come up with counter arguments, yet she quickly learned that to her counter arguments, there were counters. She finally gave up with a sigh. "Fine. I see your point, but only this time." Twilight finally said. "Let's start things over. Why not come with us back to Ponyville to get proper rest?" "No arguments here." Inigo said. "I'd rather not stay in this forsaken forest." "You and me both, tiger." Applejack said with a smile. 'Well that was quite the argument.' Sakura almost gasped at that. 'Oh, don't give me that. I'm in your head now, deal with it.' Grima said. ' looks like there's gonna be some conflicts in the long run between those two.' 'It was kind of obvious.' Sakura thought. 'She's as naive as I used to be.' 'Yes. Smart, but naive.' Grima added. 'And sorry for what happened earlier, I need to send you into a deep sleep before you decide to wake up early.' 'Is that why I don't feel tired?' Sakura asked. 'Yes indeed. You're welcome, by the way.' Grima paused. 'Anyway, you should keep up with them, they may know a way to get you two back to Nohr and Hoshido.' Grima suggested. Sakura didn't respond. She simply started walking with the rest of the group.
Proper IntroductionsThey arrived at Ponyville when Celestia's sun began to set. Something was off, however. "Have any of you seen Pinkie Pie?" Twilight question received no answer. "Uhm, who's Pinkie Pie?" Sakura asked. "Well, she's pink. Obviously." Rainbow Dash stated. "She's also the best at anything related to parties." 'Ah, so a "party animal" then.' 'Grima....' 'What? It's better then "party pony". PP isn't a good abbreviation." Sakura mentally facepalmed. 'Fine, I'll stop with the puns.' 'Thank you.' "Are you alright, my love?" Inigo's question caught her attention. "Yes, just lost in thought." "All alone?" Sakura physically sighed as she sped up. "Come on, love. You ran into that with open arms!" Inigo said, doing his best to stifle his laughter. 'Yeah, you kinda did.' 'Don't patronize me.' "Lost in thought, all alone?" Rarity repeated. "It's a song a friend of ours likes to sing on occasion." Inigo answered. "It became a bit of a running gag whenever someone makes the mistake of saying the words 'lost in thought', specifically in that order." Rarity hummed. "Well, here's the library." Twilight said as they stopped in front of a giant oak tree with windows. "Also known as my current place of residence." "You know, this takes the 'tree house' to a whole new level." Inigo quipped. "And you say this is also a library?" "Yes indeed." Twilight said as the she floated a key to the door with her magic, turning the key, and pushing the door open. "Spike? Are you he- oh, hey Pinkie." "HEY!" Pinkie Pie shouted with excitement. "What took you so long?!" "Pinkie, we were just...." Twilight sighed as she put a good to her forehead. 'Calm yourself, Twilight, she always does this. This is normal.' She then looks to the two humans. "How about we have some proper introductions?" "OH! OH! ME FIRST! ME FIRST!" Pinkie Pie shouted as she bounced on her tail. "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! Do you like parties?! How 'bout cake?! I LOVE CAKE! AND PARTIES!" Inigo only stared at the pink pony while Sakura covered her mouth as she giggled. "Name's Rainbow Dash!" Said the Pegasus with the rainbow mane. "The fastest flyer in all of Equestria!" "I'll take your word for it." Inigo said whilst smiling. "Name's Applejack." Said the orange pony with the stetson hat. "Jus' a humble farm pony." "I like your hat." Sakura said, earning a smile from said pony. "....Fluttershy..." The voice was barely audible, but Inigo managed to catch it, but only just. "I'm sorry? What was your name again?" Inigo asked, looking toward the yellow pegasus with the pink mane. "F-Fluttershy." Said pegasus spoke up just enough to be heard. Inigo offered a polite nod. 'Well.... It fits...' Spoke Grima within Sakura's head. "My name is Rarity. Rarity Belle." Said the alabaster unicorn as she looked up and down the humans. "I must say, you two have a great sense of style!" "That's Nohr, for ya!" Inigo said proudly. "This armor in particular was made for those who are deemed as heroes among the Nohrian populous." "Interesting..." Rarity said as she approached the duo. "Hmm let's see... Multiple layers.... Darker colors.... Lovely scarf, by the way...." She continued to examine the armor when Twilight cleared her throat. "And I'm Twilight Sparkle. Princess Twilight Sparkle." She spoke, revealing her wings. "A princess, eh?" Inigo commented. Sakura blinked. "So your a Falicorn, then?" Twilight shook her head. "No, I'm actually an Alicorn now. Falicorns haven't been around since... Well.... A long, long long time ago." Sakura hummed. "I supposed it's our turn then, princess." Inigo said as he stepped up. "I am Prince Inigo of Ylisse, the second child of Exalt Chrom of Ylisse, and the current wielder of Falchion, a blade made from Naga's fang." Sakura then stepped up. "And I am Princess Sakura of Hoshido, the youngest out of four siblings." She gazed up at Inigo. "I'm also married to Inigo, the man who made me the happiest woman alive." Rainbow Dash gagged while Rarity gave an excited giggle. "Alright, first question." Twilight began as she conjured a notepad and ink and quill. "How did you two end up here?" Inigo brought a hand to his chin. "If my memory serves me well.... We fell." Twilight blinked. "What? Fell?" Inigo gave an assuring nod. "Yes, we were on a bridge... Someone had tricked us into walking across it, and it collapsed... Only us two fell into the void below." "Someone tricked you?" Rainbow dash asked. "Yes. It's a long story," Inigo then yawned. "Unfortunately, I lack the energy to tell." Sakura gave him an incredulous look." Oh Naga, you haven't had a wink of sleep since we got here, didn't you!" "Ehm, sorry?" Inigo said as he gave a nervous smile. Sakura shook her head while she grabbed a hold on Inigo's arm. "Lady Twilight, you don't happen to have a spare room, do you?" Twilight blinked. "There is a guest room, but there's only one bed." Rarity, along with Fluttershy, managed to stifle a laugh, cause Twilight to give a questioning look. "Oh Twilight, darling, I doubt they'll find much trouble with that!" Rarity said, doing her best to hide her grin. "Alright then... If it's okay with you two?" Twilight remained oblivious to the implications. "I should probably head to sleep too." Sakura said. "I didn't have the best of awakenings." "Wait, I still have some questions!" Twilight said. "What is your species like? The countries you hail from? Or maybe-mmmph!?" Inigo nearly bursted out in laughter when Rarity's entire hoof was stuffed into Twilight's mouth, shutting down the series of questions. "Tomorrow is another day, darling, and me thinks everypony here needs the sleep." Rarity said, removing her hoof from Twilight's mouth. 'Did she just say "everypony"? What in the seven hells?' Sakura heard Grima say. Twilight sighed. "Alright, I guess we can continue this tomorrow." 'May Naga bless your kind heart, Rarity.' Inigo thought as he put up a smile. "Where is this room of yours, princess?" Twilight managed to muster up a smile. "Follow me, I'll show you." The both of them were fast asleep, with Sakura taking her place on top of Inigo while he laid a hand across her back. Most of their armor had been removed, with the both of them in simple tunics and some manner of underwear. Thankfully, the blanket was large enough for the both of them. Inside the dreamscape, Inigo looked around to find a sky full of stars, and grassy plains that stretched out farther then the eye could see. "This doesn't feel like much of a dream." Inigo thought out loud. "That's because it's somewhere in between." Inigo turned around quickly, recognizing the voice. His eyes widened as he saw who that voice belonged to. "Grima?!" Inigo shouted, reaching for the sword that wasn't on him at the time. "What are you doing here?! How are you even alive!?" "Inigo, please calm down." Sakura's voice rang as she came into view. "Sakura?" Inigo asked. "What are you doing here?" Grima sighed. "Welcome to the dreamscape, Inigo, I hope you enjoy your stay." Inigo looked between Sakura and Grima a few times before hunching his shoulders in defeat. "Okay, I give up, what in Naga's name is going on here?" Sakura inhaled. The nighttime of Ponyville is usually undisturbed, as it's residents had retired for the night. However, something lurks in the outskirts, threatening to disturb the nighttime peace. Inigo found himself sitting down on the grass plain, holding his head in his hands. Eventually, he looks up at Sakura. "You knew this whole time and didn't tell me?" He asked. Sakura looked away, ashamed. "I... Didn't know how to tell you..... Please don't be mad at me....." Inigo shook his head. "I can't even make myself angry with you, I'm just.... Surprised, to put it mildly." Sakura gave a sigh of relief, while Grima huffed. "The two of you are such lovelorn fools." Grima said, eliciting a smile from Sakura. Inigo looked to Grima. "So... You don't hate us, or anything?" "I have missed your species for quite some time." Grima answered. "All that time alone changes people.... even Gods." "I see..." Was all Inigo could say. "So..." Grima began, a neutral express upon her face. "The two of you have mentioned Nohr and Hoshido quite a few times. Would you mind telling me what it's like?" Sometime has passed, and the conversation within the dreamscape slowly devolved into a slow dance between the lovers. Grima, not wanting to interrupt, decided to leave the dreamscape for now. Outside of the dreamscape, Grima appeared as a spectre, emitting a faint purple glow. She looked down at the human couple, noticing the loving smiles they had. 'Such lovelorn fools.' She thought, although a smile of her own creeped to her face. She then floated upwards and out of the tree house, fazing through the roof as she did so. Upon exiting the tree house, she looked up at the night sky, noticing the large moon in the center of it. 'A fine job.' Grima thought as she looked. It was then that something else drew her attention. It felt like magic, powerful magic, and it didn't feel friendly in the slightest. In fact, it felt almost like... 'Dragon magic.' Now on full alert, she scanned the town around her before setting her eyes upon a fancy looking round house. It was there that she saw it, a few figures, seemingly human in shape, armed, and barely visible. She was only able to pick them out due to the familiar purple glow they gave off. Grima scowled, and floated her way to the round house, undetected. When she got there, the beings had already broken in, so she fazed through the roof of the building in search for the inhabitants. It didn't take her long to find the sleeping form of Rarity, the alabaster unicorn. 'So this is were she lives.' Grima thought as she floated to the pony. 'Should've known she'd live in such a fancy place, given by the way she carried herself.' She quickly pushed these thoughts to the back of her mind, she had more important things to take care of. 'Here goes nothing.' Grima thought, as she place an ethereal hand on Rarity's forehead. Rarity was having a lovely dream, being treated like a princess. Well, she is a princess, at least in this dream. "WAKE UP!!" "What?" "I SAID WAKE UP!!!" The dream quickly vanished in a flash of light, leaving Rarity standing before another human female in an endless grassy plain. "Wha-? Who are you?" Rarity stammered out. "And why would you ruin such a wonderful dream!?" "No time for dreaming right now, you pretentious twat!" Grima blurted out, clearly not in the mood for this sort of conversation. "Your life is endangered, and if you don't wake up now you won't have a chance to make those 'dreams' a reality!" "My life is endangered?" Rarity asked, shocked. "YES!! SOMEONE IS TRYING TO KILL YOU!!!" Waking up with a gasp, Rarity frantically looked around her room, only to find nopony present. Rarity sighed. 'Perhaps it was just a dream?' "RARITY!!! HELP MEEEEE!!!" "Sweetie Belle?!" Rarity jump out of her bed and bolted to her door, flinging it open with her magic. When she left her room into the hallway, she gasped at the sight. Three beings that looked very similar to Inigo and Sakura, and were slightly transparent. One of them, who appeared to be a tall female, held the struggling filly. "Unhand her at once!" Rarity shouted as she shot a magic beam from her horn. The beam was blocked, however, by what looked like a tall human male, wearing heavy armor, a massive shield, and a lance. Rarity took a few steps back in fear, unsure of what to do. 'You can't fight him! Go around!' Rarity had no time to think on who's voice that was since she was currently casting a spell. Almost instantly, she disappeared in a flash of light, and reappeared behind the armored knight. Before the knight could react, Rarity galloped after the woman, who had ran far faster down the stairs and out the front door. Rarity was barely giving chase. "You have her?" Asked a cloaked woman, clearly visible as apposed to the soldier in front of her. The soldier nodded, revealing a small filly in her grasp. "Let me go!" The filly shouted, earning a grin from the cloaked woman. "I'm afraid I can't do that." The woman spoke, using her magic to probe at the small fillies horn. "Yes.... You are a powerful vessel indeed. You will serve our purpose well." "You fiend!" Shouted Rarity as she approached the woman. "Unhand my sister at once!" "You weren't supposed to be up." The woman said as she shook her head. "Oh well, this'll be easy to deal with, anyway." The woman pulled out what appeared to be a red tomb from her cloak, flaring it's pages as runes appeared both below her and in front of her. "ARCFIRE!" A large fire ball began hurtling towards Rarity, who was able to jump out of the way of the projectile. However, when said projectile made contact with the ground, it exploded into a flurry of fire, the shockwave knocking Rarity off her hooves. The explosion was also insanely loud, causing half of Ponyville to awaken in a fright. Multiple lights within the houses were turned on, and many ponies had gone outside to see what was going on. "Such a nuisance." The hooded woman spoke, as multiple ponies approached her. "Who are you?" Twilight asked. "Are you one of Inigo's friends?" "Inigo is hear?" The woman asked, surprised. "I knew we shouldn't have trusted them!" Rainbow Dash shouted. The woman chuckled. "That man always had a way with words." She then paused. "You six... You have power.... A lot of it." "What does she mean by that?" Applejack asked. "The Elements of Harmony." Twilight answered, charging up a spell of her own. The woman chuckled. "Sorry, I can't allow that." Runes appeared around her as the air began to heat up with electricity. "By killing you, I can ensure that my revenge comes to fruition." A tense moment of silence followed, until a bolt of lightning appeared before her. "THORON!" The ponies looked on in fear as the bolt of lightning came at them as blinding speed. None of them, however, expected the bolt to suddenly go upward. The woman scowled, until she noticed the other woman there. "I won't allow it!" Sakura shouted, lowering her shield. "Sakura." The woman said. "You should be dead." "How do you know my name?!" Sakura continued to yell. "Well it's not like I'll forget." The woman began. "You did betray us for these unholy creatures, after all." Sakura looked at the woman incredulously. "What?! I don't even know who you are!!" "Don't play dumb with me!" The woman shouted back. "You sided with them. You still side with them! The very creatures that destroyed the human race because of the silent dragon!" Sakura's left eye twitched. Was this woman serious? "So I take it she's not your friend?" Twilight asked, receiving a head shake from Sakura. "None of my friends would do this." "LIES!!" The woman shouted. "You know exactly who I am! And if I have to beat the truth out of you, I will GLADLY do it!!" "Not while I still draw breath!" Before the woman could ask, Inigo came into view, thrusting a familiar sword at her. She narrowly dodged the blade, allowing a transparent soldier to counter the attack. They were easily cut down however, as Inigo was able to parry the attack and stabbed them in the abdomen, dissipating the strange soldier into vapor. The woman took the time to attack with a sword of her own, using a strange blade shaped like a bolt of lightning. However, she missed, allowing Inigo to put some distance between them. "I can't believe you, Inigo." The woman said. "I thought you wouldn't betray me for that wench you were supposed to kill." "Morgan!?" Inigo shouted in complete surprise. "What are you doing!? And what do you mean 'supposed to kill'!?!" "How could any of you not know?!" The woman, who was revealed to be morgan, shouted. "You were there when it happened! When this damnable race of horses came in and destroyed everything! All in the name of some twisted ideals!!" "Morgan, what are yo-!?" Inigo gasped when he realized it. "Wait, who was my father, Morgan?" "Why are you asking me that?!" Morgan shouted. "it's obviously Robin! Aren't we siblings?!" "No, we're not." Inigo said, flourishing Falchion. "My father is Chrom, and my sister is Lucina. I have both the brand and Falchion to prove it." "What...?" Morgan took some time before she realized that he was right That realization caused her to laugh maniacally. "Of course. Of course!! How could I have been so foolish!?" Morgan shouted with unnerving happiness. "Only I could've survived such destruction! You two are just imitations from another world!" Morgan then casted a spell, summoning more transparent soldiers under her command. "That means killing you would be far easier without the emotional connection!!" Both Inigo and Sakura stood side by side, weapons drawn, and facing the growing force that Morgan was summoning. "Princess." Inigo motioned to Twilight. "Evacuate the town, this place is about to be a warzone." "We're staying with you." Twilight said quickly. "There's no way you can take all of them on alone." "Are you foolish?!" Inigo shouted, causing the pony friends to flinch. "If you stay here, you'll die, and the country would be down a princess!" Twilight could only blink in an attempt to counter his argument. "And besides." Inigo began, keeping his attention at Morgan. "They're nothing like the risen." Morgan stood defiantly, her father's tome in one hand, and his sword in another. Her hood had been blown off by an unforeseen wind, revealing short pink hair and a demonic smile plastered on a freckled face. She looked towards the soldier that held the small filly in their arms, with said filly looking back at her with fearful eyes. "Your name is Sweetie Belle, correct? I heard you sister say so." Said filly only stared, shaking with fear. "W-why are you doing this?" Sweetie Belle asked. "You'll find out eventually." Morgan said darkly. "For now however, just enjoy the show." Sweetie Belle felt shivers down her spine, just what could she mean by that? "Soldiers. I have orders for you." Morgan said, raising her hand and pointing at the human duo and ponies standing opposite to her. "KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM!!" Author's Note Not sure why it took me so long, but I quite like it.
