My Final Pony Fantasy II

Chapters

Prologue: Invasion
Chapter 1: The Wild Rose Rebellion
Chapter 2: Meeting Cid and Josef
Chapter 3: The Search for Mythril/Battle in the Crystal Empire
Chapter 4: The Next Step
Chapter 5: Aftermath/Self Sacrifice
Chapter 6: Sunfire
Chapter 7: The Dreadnought
Chapter 8: Heroes' Past
Chapter 9: The King's Passing/Deist/Deception
Chapter 10: Coliseum/The Emperor
Chapter 11: Ponyville Attacked!
Chapter 12: Retaking Fynn
Chapter 14: The Last Dragoon/Mysidian Tower
Chapter 15: Storming the Cyclone
Chapter 16: The New Emperor?! Discovering the Jade Passage
Chapter 17: Another Attack?! Pandaemonium
Epilogue: War's End/A Gift
Chapter 13: The Land of Mages

Prologue: Invasion

Several days have passed since the Crystalling. The Crystal Empire was no longer in danger of being buried in the harsh snows of the winter tundra. Everypony living there was grateful and happy. But none more so than the royal couple, Princess Cadence and Shining Armor. Flurry Heart, their newborn daughter, was sleeping peacefully in her crib. Little did the infant princess and her parents know that a horrible event was about to take place.

Ponyville

Fluttershy woke up and fed Angel Bunny. As she tended to feeding her chickens, Twilight Sparkle along with her friend and assistant Spike arrived for a friendly visit.

"Good morning, Fluttershy. How are you?" Twilight said cheerfully. The yellow pegasus turned and waved at her friends.

"Hi, Twilight. Hi, Spike. I'm fine," she replied. "And how are you two?"

"Doin' good, thank you," said Spike. "Taking care of your animal friends as always?"

"Mm-hmm. It's great to be home, and it feels so good to have everything back to normal."

Twilight nodded in agreement. After their fateful battle with Chaos and the Four Fiends, she and her pony friends returned to their normal states. They were able to handle several situations and had their own adventures, until Starlight Glimmer enacted her revenge scheme against Twilight but was foiled when she saw the consequences of her actions and vowed to redeem herself.

"So how is everypony doing?" asked Fluttershy.

Twilight explained. "Well, Rarity and Pinkie Pie are in Manehattan for several reasons. One, Rarity wants to extend the Carousel Boutique; two, Pinkie's looking for the perfect gift for her sister Maud. Applejack's helping her family with Sweet Apple Acres, and Rainbow Dash is still waiting to be a full-time member of the Wonderbolts."

"It seems like they're all doing well."

"Sure does."

Suddenly, the ponies and dragon began to hear something from a distance. "Princess Twilight! Princess Twilight!" the voice called out. They looked around and saw an armored pegasus fly just above them.

"Down here!" Twilight shouted. The pony looked down and saw who he was looking for; he floated down and landed on the ground, almost dropping to his belly, panting from exhaustion. "What happened? Are you all right?"

"I... I came from... the Crystal Empire," he panted. "We... we're under siege from... monsters...!"

Everyone gasped. Twilight especially since she now knew that her extended family was in danger. They carried the guard to the hospital and bought tickets for the Friendship Express. Their destination: the Crystal Empire.

The Crystal Empire

As the three friends approached their destination, they couldn't believe what they were seeing. An entire army of demons not unlike those they had fought on their previous otherworldly adventure had entered Equestria and attacked the Crystal Empire! Several Crystal Ponies panicked and ran as far as they could from the monsters. Some of them even fought back but were taken away as some of the demons opened up portals taking them to Celestia knows where.

"Twilight..." Spike said nervously. "What's happening?"

"I don't know, but we can't let this go on!" Twilight declared. She and the others stood between the invaders and several helpless Crystal Ponies, preparing themselves to do battle.

Fluttershy, regaining some of the courage from her journey rammed her head into one of the monsters while Twilight fired a magic beam into some of them. The demons, finding their enemies too difficult to defeat, opened another portal and escaped.

*music fades out*

Needless to say, our heroes were confused.

"What in the name of Celestia is going on here?" said Twilight.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!"

"Princess Cadence!!" The three ran off to the royal chambers where they found Cadence with here hooves in her face, crying and Shining Armor comforting her.

"What happened here?!"

"Twily..." Shining Armor said solemnly, looking towards an empty crib. Twilight's heart stopped.

"Where's Flurry Heart?!"

"That's the thing: she's been foalnapped!"

"What?! NO!"

"We just..." Cadence sobbed. "We heard of the invasion... *sniff* ordered a counterattack... went into this room... and... *sniff* found it ransacked!! Our baby's gone!!" she cried.

Fluttershy and Spike gasped. "Why...?" the yellow pegasus asked. "Why would anypony do such a horrible thing...?"

As she asked this, a guard came and announced, "Princess Cadence! It's the Crystal Heart again!"

Twilight wondered. Maybe Cid knows about this...

As they reached the Crystal Heart, only three cutie marks were being displayed: Twilight's, Fluttershy's, and that looked like the Crystal Heart itself, the very same design on Princess Cadence's flank.

"Cid!" Twilight said. "What happened?"

"I know exactly who's responsible for this. Please come..."

"Let me go with you!" said Spike.

The Lufenian spirit hesitated. "Spike, was it?"

"Yeah...?"

"You are aware of the dangers that Twilight and her friends informed you of on their last journey, are you not?"

"Yes, but I wanna go this time. I want to go with my friends!"

Cid contemplated the dragon's words. "Very well, Spike. Please enter."

Like before, the Crystal Heart emitted a beam of light, but this time invited the chosen ones in. The two princesses looked in Shining Armor's direction and after a few minutes nodded. "We'll take care of things here."

The two embraced him briefly and went inside with Spike and Fluttershy.

The Chamber of Crystals

Twilight, Fluttershy, Cadence, and Spike all woke up to find themselves in the room the former two knew well.

"Is... is this the Chamber of Crystals?" asked the Princess of Love.

"Looks like it."

"Hey, Twilight. Look at this!" Spike pointed towards Roman numeral I above one of the Crystals. It glowed a bright yellow color, indicating that it had been visited before.

"Ponies, Spike..." said Cid.

"Don't tell me that my daughter's foalnappers came from one of these worlds."

"I am afraid so, Princess Cadence." The crystal under the Roman numeral II began to display images of a war-torn city.

"Decades of long peace had come to an end. The Palamecian Empire have summoned demons from the underworld in their bid for conquest. Four youths from the recently occupied Fynn have begun to flee with Imperial soldiers on their trail..."

The mares held their hooves in front of their muzzles.

"How? Why?" Twilight asked. "Why would anyone do such a thing? And why did they take my niece?"

"I do not know why little Flurry Heart was captured, but I fear nothing good can come from the Emperor's intentions for her." The crystal then displayed a new image: that of an attractive blonde-haired man with a quadruple-spiked crown on his head. "From what I have gathered, his name is Mateus. Do not be deceived by his face. For he is a cunning and ruthless individual with little regard for anyone else, and he views all that oppose him as mere insects that exist only to be crushed by the might of his military. His goal: world domination."

*music fades out*

Fluttershy quivered with fright. She clung to Princess Cadence for reassurance and was pulled into a protective hug. Just then, the crystal opened the gateway to the war-torn world.

"Twilight..." said Spike.

"Yes?" she asked nervously.

"If what Cid says is true... we've gotta go in and save Flurry!"

"My thoughts exactly. Cadence?"

"You don't need to ask. My baby is in the hooves... or, eh, hands of a madman, and I am going to save her!"

"Fluttershy?"

The yellow pegasus was still clinging to Cadence's leg, shaking.

"I... I'll go," she said. "When I first saw her, it was the just the most adorable things in all Equestria. And if anyone hurts a friend and/or any member of my friend's family... They need to be taught some manners."

Twilight, Spike, and Cadence all agreed and jumped in ready to save Flurry Heart.

Chapter 1: The Wild Rose Rebellion

Awakening in a forest, Twilight, Fluttershy, Spike, and Cadence stood up and observed their surroundings. Twilight then turned to see that her sister-in-law still had her wings, but was missing her horn! Fluttershy and Spike gasped in shock for they saw it too. As for Fluttershy, her wings had vanished once again. Also, Twilight was missing her wings again.

"Cadence..." she said nervously.

"Yes, Twilight?" the pink pony replied, seeing that her sister-in-law only had her horn.

"I think you're miss--"

They were interrupted by the sound of running and galloping; hiding in the bushes, the Equestrians saw something out in the distance. They all rushed forward to see four teenagers--three of them male and the other female--running for their lives; they were being pursued by several dark armored men on horseback. Unfortunately, four more soldiers were awaiting them.

"You've come a long way from Fynn," said one of them, "but your escape ends here!"

The Equestrian visitors observed the teenagers as close as they could. One of them had white clothing covered by light blue shoulder pads and shin guards; he also wore a brown belt with a gold buckle, and his white hair was covered by a bandana. The only girl amongst them had long purple hair and wore a sleeveless open vest with brown shoulder pads, a dark brown mini-skirt, brown boots and light blue leggings; one almost covering her right leg but stopping at here knee, and the other covering up her left leg stopping a few feet above the knee. On her back was a bow and a quiver packed with several arrows. The man next to her also had purple hair, but his was a little shorter and spikier, not to mention it was slicked back. He wore a purple suit of armor, leather boots and a belt with a large red jewel on it. And finally, there was the largest of the group, a muscular man with brown short hair, a light green breastplate, leather straps, blue boots and a purple cape.

The cornered youths stood back-to-back looking for another way out of their predicament.

"Firion!" cried the young lady.

"No escape!" said the giant brown-haired man. It truly was no use; the four humans were surrounded.

"By Imperial order, all who defy us shall be put to death! You've brought this on yourselves. You peasants never learn, do you?"

The ponies and dragon gasped. Unable to sit by and watch innocent people be executed, Cadence stepped out from the bushes and stood by the humans ready to do battle.

"You will not harm these children, today or any other!" Cadence declared.

"What the...?!" said the boy in the bandana.

"Cadence! Wait!" The other Equestrians appeared as well, trying to stop the Princess of Love from risking her life.

"What are these freaks?!" one of the soldiers yelled.

"FREAKS?!" Spike yelled; he spewed green flames against the soldiers, but they were not easily intimidated.

"Your orders, captain?"

*music changes*

"Kill them all!"

Cadence tried to fire a powerful beam against them but couldn't. Before she could figure out what happened, one of the knights slashed across the chest with his spear.

"Cadence!" Twilight rushed over to sister-in-law only to find herself at the other end of a spear as well. Spike and Fluttershy followed soon after, as did the humans.

*music stops*

"Hmph! Pathetic," said the evil captain. Soon, our heroes' consciousness faded as they heard the sound of the soldiers' horses galloping away...

*music fades out*

Sometime later...

Twilight and one of the young men were laid in the center of a small room with a sigil on the floor. Beside them was a young woman in royal clothing and a young man dressed in all white, the latter's mouth covered in cloth.

"Will they be alright, Minwu?" said the woman.

"Yes, Your Highness. It will be a while before they regain consciousness."

"I found them and the other five while I fled from Fynn; they were unconscious and covered in blood. Help them!"

Minwu did as commanded and raised his hands, casting a strong healing spell. "There. I've amplified their life forces. Let us leave them be for a while."

"Very well. We should head back to the throne room; the others are waiting for us there. If the Empire finishes their warship at Bafsk, it's over for us."

Before the both of them left, the mage Minwu looked back and prayed for their safety. As soon he exited the chamber, Twilight opened her eyes and found herself lying on the stomach of one of the teenagers they tried to save; he awoke as well and to his surprise, found the little equine staring right back at him.

"It's you...!" said the bandana wearing youth.

"Y-Yeah..." Twilight answered. She got off of him and sat on her haunches. "I'm really sorry we couldn't help..." said Twilight.

After a long awkward silence, the two began to introduce themselves.

"My name's Firion."

"I'm Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship."

"P-Princess...?" said Firion, bowing down.

"I... kinda prefer people greeting me with a hoof... er, handshake rather than a bow."

"Eh, right..." he extended his hand and shook the purple equine's hoof. They then noticed none of their friends were in the same room.

"The others!" they said in unison.

"Spike!" Twilight called out.

"Leon!" shouted Firion.

"Fluttershy?"

"Maria!"

"Cadence?!"

"Guy!"

*music stops*

The two left the chamber and ran into two of Firion's friends along with Twilight's.

"Girls! Spike!" the purple pony greeted.

"Twilight!!" the Equestrians said, all rushing over to Twilight giving her a hug.

"Easy, everypony. I just got up!" she said, gasping for air.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" said Spike.

"Firion! Oh, thank goodness...!" the young human girl cried.

"Maria! Guy!" Firion smiled. He then noticed someone missing. "Where's Leon?"

"Don't know," said Guy. "Princess of Fynn found us. Helped save us. Leon not here."

Firion looked on the floor. "It's alright. I'm sure he's alive." The young man knelt before Twilight's friends. "And you are?"

"Oh! I-I-I'm... Fluttershy..." she said quietly.

"The name's Spike."

"Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, but you can call me Cadence if that's alright."

"Another princess? How many of you are there?"

"In Equestria? That'd be five right--" Twilight caught herself. She and Cadence hung their heads, remembering their purpose for being here.

Maria noticed their silence and changed the subject. "What is Equestria?"

"That's the country we're from," said Spike. "It's pretty much another world."

"Another world?" asked Firion.

"There more horses?" asked Guy, giving Fluttershy a gentle pet.

"Uh... yeah." said Twilight. "Actually, my friends and I aren't horses; we're ponies."

After several more pets from giant, Fluttershy answered his question. "Just about every one of Equestria's citizens is a pony. Oh! I don't think we have your names."

"My name's Firion."

"I'm Maria."

"Me Guy."

Twilight and the others couldn't help but feel worried about the large man's broken speech, but respectfully kept quiet and moved on with the humans to the nearest door. In the meeting room, our heroes met with and bowed before the rebel leader, Princess Hilda of Fynn, sitting on one of the thrones.

"Ah, you have recovered," said the human princess. "Good."

"Your Highness," said Firion. "Please allow us to join the rebel army!"

Hilda simply shook her head. "No, I cannot. You would only be throwing your lives away. Please return home."

"But we've nowhere else to go," said Maria. "And our parents... they're..."

The Equestrians put their hooves to their muzzles. Not only had these four young people lost their homes, but their parents as well. Twilight knew that if Applejack were here, she would know exactly how these people felt. The human princess apologized and gave them her condolences. She then observed the non-human guests a questioning look. "And what of your pets? Are they alright?"

"Excuse me," said Princess Cadence. The entire room stood silent as the pink pony spoke. "We're not anyone's pets, Your Highness. We've come from the land of Equestria to save our fellow ponies along with my daughter, Flurry Heart."

Hilda placed her hands in front of her mouth. Of all the events she had experienced, none had quite come as close as this. "You... you can talk...! That... just doesn't seem right!"

"Maybe not in this world, Princess," said Twilight. "But that's how it is in our world. I'm Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends: Spike, Fluttershy, and my sister-in-law Princess Cadence."

Still, everyone present in the room stood silent unable to comprehend what they had just heard: talking ponies and a small purple dragon and from another world no less! Not to mention one of them, as far as they knew, was royalty!

"What brings you here to this world?"

The Princess of Love closed her eyes and told everyone. "We came here to rescue my infant daughter along with several of my subjects who were captured by monsters. Monsters we believe to servants of the Palamecian Emperor." Everyone gasped.

"I can't believe this..." said Hilda. "To think that the demons have the ability to travel to other worlds and for the Emperor to go so far as to kidnap babies..." She thought and thought... "Very well. You may stay here in Altair if you wish. You need only know the secret code to live here."

"The secret code?" asked Fluttershy.

"Yes. Wild Rose. Don't forget."

"Wild Rose?" asked Spike.

"It is the symbol of my kingdom, Fynn, as well as the secret password for our rebel army. You must utter these words to any of our allies."

"'Wild Rose.' Alright..."

Hilda couldn't help but feel worried. "What will become of Fynn?"

"Your Highness?" asked Fluttershy kindly.

"I hear captives are being held in Fynn. Speaking of which, Maria's brother has been reported missing." Maria gasped. "Perhaps he is being held prisoner there." The princess closed her eyes and spoke grimly. "There are monsters prowling the city now, so even approaching it is dangerous."

"I see," said Cadence. She and the others then noticed the man next to Hilda's side. "And you are...?"

"My name is Minwu, and I am a white mage in service to Princess Hilda and the rebellion." He closed his eyes and put his hands together as if in prayer. "I see that your destiny is intertwined with my own..."

The group had a puzzled look. "What do you mean?" asked Firion.

"I cannot tell. All I can say now is that you must go to Fynn. It will lead to your destined path." Maria then whispered the code into his ear. "I see that you are starting to use the password now. Continue doing so. It can unseal the lips of many would not otherwise offer the time of day."

"'Unseal the lips of many who would not' what now?" said a confused Spike.

Fluttershy replied, "I think what he's saying is: say the words 'Wild Rose,' and we'll gather some new information from people who aren't willing to talk."

"Precisely," said Minwu.

"Well, then..." said Twilight. "If you'll excuse us, Your Highness." She bowed and left the throne room; the others followed. They explored the rebel hideout more and found Hilda's father the King of Fynn lying on a bed. He was once in charge of the rebellion until Palamecia's assault upon his kingdom left him injured while he escaped. As a result, his daughter was now in command. At first, he was skeptical when the ponies spoke with him, thinking they were a dream until they told him where they were from and why they came.

"I see..." said the King. "All I can say to you now is... good luck. You may need it."

"Thank you, Your Majesty," said Cadence.

The group then went into the conference room and learned that one of the Princes of Kashuan, a man named Gordon, had also escaped from the Empire's assault, but lost his confidence.

Before our heroes could leave the rebel base, Twilight spoke up. "Cadence..."

"Yes," she answered.

"About what happened before... Why you couldn't use your magic..."

"I know, Twilight."

"Hmm?"

"When I finally woke up, I rubbed my head and noticed." The pink pegasus pointed at her head, knowing the whole story.

"At least, you have your wings," Fluttershy sadly added.

"Don't worry, Fluttershy. We'll all get back to normal."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Well..." Cadence hesitated. She whispered something into Twilight's ear, making the lavender pony look at herself and gasp.

Didn't think we'd go through this again... Twilight thought,.

Firion and the others stood silently. "What are you talking about?" he inquired.

Twilight began to explain how she and Fluttershy went through a similar experience, not only surprising the humans but Cadence as well.

"So you're telling us," Cadence surmised, "that we have to defeat several enemies in order for us to go back to our previous forms?"

"I'm afraid so, Cadence. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before... I just forgot. Honest..."

The Princess of Love thought of two things she could do at a time like this: first, her stress relief. She inhaled deeply with her hoof on her chest and then exhaled while extending her hoof. Next, she motioned for Twilight to come forward. The purple unicorn did so and was pulled into a loving hug of forgiveness.

Altair

Outside the secret base, the team found the town of Altair a sight to behold. Next to the building they had just come out of was the local inn and in the center of the town square was a lovely water fountain. Also in the area was a man dressed in black ninja garb. Cautiously, our heroes approached this man.

"The name's Paul. I'm a master thief!"

"A thief?!" Princess Cadence said.

"Relax, I'm not..." he said, only for common sense stepped in, making him realize who spoke. "Y-You're a talking horse!"

"Excuse me," said Twilight. "But we just so happen to be ponies."

"And I'm a dragon!" said Spike.

The man could do nothing but just stand on the same spot staring off into space. Firion whispered in his ear: "Wild Rose," prompting Paul to come back to his senses.

"W-What?" he muttered. Realizing what the young man said, he replied, "Oh, uh... Like I was saying, I have no plans on stealing from rebels." The Equestrians eyed him suspiciously. "I'm from Fynn too, but the Emperor's dogs took my house and I haven't been back there since."

"Dogs?" the naive Fluttershy questioned. "That monster is using helpless animals, too?!"

Maria knelt to the yellow pony's level and whispered, "When he said 'dogs,' he meant the imperial troops. Not actual dogs."

Poor Fluttershy blushed, realizing her mistake. "Oops... I-I'm sorry, everyone."

"It's okay."

"Well then, uh, Paul," said Twilight. "I think we'd best explore the town some more. It was, uh... nice talking with you..."

Just behind the rebel hideout, they found a young man with blue eyes, blond hair tied up in a ponytail and a headband with a blue gem in the center.

"Excuse us," said Twilight. The man looked back at the heroes, not realizing that the source of the voice wasn't from the young purple haired woman. "Down here." He glanced down as directed and to his surprise found a small purple pony.

"It couldn't be..."

"In case you're wondering, sir, I--"

"AAAH!!!" he screamed, making everyone jump. "A talking horse!" He stared at the other equines and the little dragon. "And more of them!"

Princess Cadence rolled her eyes and told him, "We're not horses. We just so happen to be ponies."

Fluttershy sighed, "We got this a lot, too. It wasn't really... thrilling..."

Twilight rolled her eyes thinking, And once again, we are going to be mistaken for horses.

The man gathered what little of his nerves remained and looked back at the humans.

"They're our new friends, sir," said Firion. "Who are you anyway?"

"My name is Gordon, Prince of Kashuon. Or rather, I used to be... Now I am nothing more than a coward."

"Why would you even think that?"

"Because I fled from Fynn, leaving my older brother to die..." he said with great remorse. "He was killed trying to fight off the Empire's forces, but lost his life in the process..."

Twlight whispered the words "Wild Rose" into Gordon's ear.

"So, you're working for the rebellion. They wouldn't dare let a coward like me join their ranks. I was so afraid that Hilda would reject me..."

Wanting to comfort the poor prince but being unable to do so, our heroes bid him farewell. Twilight couldn't help but feel sorry for him. "There has to be something we can do for him," she said.

"Perhaps if we gather some information from Fynn," said Cadence. "He'll probably come around."

"I guess you're right."

Before leaving the town, the party entered one last building and found a statue of a woman. From what the ponies saw, this woman appeared to be a deity, with an air of grace rivaling that of Princess Celestia. After admiring the statue, our heroes exited the building, gathered whatever items or magical spells they could, and left Altair for the kingdom of Fynn.

As the group left Altair, they walked across the bridge and went north to find an airship flying over their heads.

"Wow..." Spike sighed. "Is that what you and the others used they last time?"

"One just like it, Spike. Rainbow Dash practically sounded like she joined the Wonderbolts when we raised it from the desert."

"Look out!" Firion yelled. A swarm of angry hornets surrounded them as they entered the woods. Fluttershy attempted to fly up to them and give them the Stare, but then she remembered that she didn't have her wings.

"Well," she said sadly. "I guess we have no choice..."

"We fight monsters?" said Guy. Firion nodded.

"Let's get 'em!" said Spike. The party went into their battle stances and fought with the winged arthropods. Unfortunately the hornets were the first to attack, almost poisoning Guy and Cadence. Twilight and Fluttershy noticed this and pounced on two of them, leaving the insects thriving in pain and disappearing like their last adventure. Maria took out an arrow from her quiver and launched it at the other hornets but missed. Firion then sliced through the hornet sending it to the ground. Seeing its enemies do away with its comrades, the last hornet fled and victory went to our heroes.

"We won!" Spike declared.

"Let's go!" said Firion triumphantly.

*music stops*

Moving on, our heroes awed at the sight of a large castle 30 feet away from them. The humans grimly observed the sight for they knew it to be the castle of what was once their home: Fynn. Cadence flew up in the air to get a closer look and as she did, she noticed a small town surrounded entirely by trees. The pink pegasus went back down on the ground and led the others right to it.

Gatrea

Gatrea was a quaint little town. Despite its peaceful appearance, the inhabitants were still shaken from the Empire's recent attack on Fynn.

The party found the local inn and rested for the night to recover. The next morning, they greeted each other and discussed how to reach the city.

"Here's the idea," said Twilight. "One of us Equestrians is going with you to Fynn; it'd be really bad if the imperials see all of us at once."

"But Twilight...!" said Spike.

"No buts, Spike! One of us is going with these people, and that is final."

"So, who will it be?" asked Princess Cadence.

Twilight placed her hoof on her chin. The purple unicorn closed her eyes, thinking and thinking. She opened them and asked, "How about it, Fluttershy?"

The yellow pony flinched. "Um..." she said nervously. "Maybe I'll just... stay here. Why doesn't Princess Cadence go?"

"Well, I could..." Cadence pondered. "But it would be a little conspicuous, don't you think?"

"Conspicuous?"

"I kind of agree," Firion stepped in. "She's almost as tall as us, and that would bring a lot of unwanted attention."

"Someone smaller than her join us," Guy added. "Maybe little purple one?"

"Wha...? Me?!" said Spike.

"No... not you... Twilight."

"Me? Well... uh..."

Twilight paused as they all looked at her, even Fluttershy and Spike with the puppy dog eyes. Cadence placed her hoof on her shoulder reassuring that she'd be fine. She yielded with a sigh of defeat. "All right. I'm the one who suggested this in the first place, so be it."

So it was decided: Twilight would leave with Firion, Maria, and Guy while her fellow Equestrians would stay behind an explore the village some more.

Before they could reach the city, the party was ambushed by four goblins. Guy responded by hacking the first one with his axe, quickly dispatching the fiend. The second monster attacked Twilight but missed, as the purple unicorn fired a beam of light strong enough to send it back whence it came. The third goblin succeeded where the previous one failed as it punched her in the jaw.

"Twilight!" said Maria.

"I'm fine," the unicorn replied. "Just focus on them."

A furious Firion charged the foe and hacked it to pieces. Maria shot the final goblin with an arrow, sending it down to one knee. Firion then delivered the last blow, with victory going to our heroes.

As they continued onward, Twilight felt as if her vitality and magic power increased, along with the human's strength and life forces.

*music stops*

With the monsters taken care of, the group finally approached their destination.

Fynn

Instead of the beautiful bustling kingdom it once was, the city of Fynn was under Imperial occupation with soldiers patrolling the streets at every corner. One such guarded the entrance to the inn. Twilight and the others knew that if they were to engage these warriors into battle, their lives would be forfeit. So they snuck around and found a pub. Inside the pub, there were more soldiers likely drinking to the capture of Fynn and several other cities.

They snuck around the counter and pulled the owner to their level. "Hey, you, don't come past the counter. I tell ya, the imperial soldiers got no courtesy whatsoever..."

"We not imperials," said Guy. "And we prove it."

"How?"

Firion whispered the words "Wild Rose," making the man's pupils shrinking to the size of pinpricks.

"Y-Y-You're with the rebels...!" he whispered. They all nodded. "And what about this thing? Are you in the business of recruiting animals in the rebellion?"

"She's our friend."

The pub owner placed his finger on his chin, and after a few minutes whispered, "There is a wounded soldier right behind this secret door. He was injured while fighting those soldiers you see in this very establishment. I've been taking care of him since then. He's in your charge now."

"Thank you," said Maria.

The four went straight through the secret passage and found a wounded man, resting on a bed. Opening his eyes, he found our heroes and upon gazing his eyes on Twilight, he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"More soldiers? And another Hellspawn as well?" said the man. "If you intend to sell me to the Emperor, just kill me... You're not taking me alive..."

"Wild Rose," said Firion.

"So you're rebels, are you?"

"That's right."

"I am Scott, Prince of Kashuan."

"Wh-what?" Maria gasped.

"You're Prince Scott? We heard you were killed in combat."

"I... I won't live for long," the prince said. "My wound is severe." He gasped. "I've a favor to ask. Deliver a message to my brother, Gordon. Tell him... that he has all the makings of a great leader. He should believe in himself."

"What happened to you...?" asked Maria.

"The King's trusted advisor... Count Borghen... betrayed us... sold us out to the Empire. That... is why Fynn is now under imperial control... Please... please give this to my betrothed... to Princess Hilda." He pulled the ring off of his finger, and from what the humans knew, it was an engagement ring from the Prince of Kashuan to the Princess of Fynn; not only was it a symbol of the union between two kingdoms, but between two people in love, a union that would never come.

"Please tell her... My love will be with her always..." Scott breathed deeply, but then backpedaled. "No... don't tell her that."

"Why?" asked Guy.

"Because I'm a dying man... She should find another love."

"Your Highness," said Maria, "do you know about a man named Leon? He is my brother."

Twilight then broke her silence. "Your Highness..."

The prince sat up as much as his strength allowed him to. "Did... did that creature say something...?"

"Yes, I did, Your Highness. My little niece was taken away by monsters serving Palamecia. Do you know anything about that...?"

"N-No... Not that I had heard of. Please... take this ring..."

Firion accepted the gift and placed it in his pocket.

"Thank you... Now, please let me rest...."

And with that, Prince Scott had breathed his last. The group silently prayed for his soul, some with tears in their eyes. After several minutes of grieving, they left the room and left the city behind. So they returned to Gatrea and told the others what happened. Now reunited, our heroes went all the way back to Altair and give Princess Hilda the Kashuan Prince's final gift.

Altair

Our heroes safely returned to the city and showed Gordon his brother's ring and told him everything. He smiled as he put his hand over his heart and thanking them for their bravery. As the group left for the rebel hideout, tears streamed down Gordon's face as he smiled and looked up.

"Thank you, brother..." he said.

The party then marched sorrowfully into the meeting room and showed Scott's ring to Princess Hilda. Tearing up, the rebel leader glanced at them for they had told her everything from witnessing the prince's final moments and listening to his last words.

"Very well," said Hilda. "You are now officially members of the Wild Rose Rebellion."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

"Your assignment now is to find the enchanted metal called Mythril for our arsenal."

"'Mythril?" asked Cadence.

"Yes, Mythril. At the battle of Fynn, the Empire's equipment far outclassed ours. We stood no chance against it. Their forces were armed with weapons and armor made of the same material. They must have found a Mythril mine somewhere. I ordered a man in Salamand named Josef to investigate this possibility, but he has yet to report back. Please go to Salamand with my aide Minwu and look into the matter. Is that understood?""

"Yes, Your Highness," the white mage replied. "I also have a canoe, so we can use it in order to reach Paloom. That will be our first stop on the way to Salamand."

"Alright. We accept," said Twilight.

"Thank you, Minwu," said Firion.

"Oh!" Hilda said. "There is something else you ought to know."

"Yes?"

"Palamecia suffered considerable losses in the last great battle of Fynn; to make up for them, the imperials are now building a massive warship in Bafsk. They're calling it, the 'Dreadnought.'"

Fluttershy and Spike--mostly Fluttershy--started shaking. Despite this being the first time they heard it, the word "Dreadnought" was enough to make one's spine shiver.

"What is this... Dreadnought?" asked Spike.

"As I stated before, it's a warship. A heavily armored airship. The Empire has enslaved the people of Bafsk to construct it."

"Th-That's horrible...!" said Fluttershy. "Using an airship as a weapon... to... to kill people?"

"I'm afraid so," Hilda answered.

"Airships should be used for travel and leisure. Rarity would agree with me."

"I do, too, Fluttershy... After the last adventure, I didn't think we'd see an airship again."

This caught Princess Hilda's attention. "You know about airships?"

Twilight and Fluttershy nodded, explaining about their previous journey in a similar world. They even told her about the airship they had seen on their trip to Fynn.

"I see... So you saw it then..."

"Do you know something about it?"

"Yes. A man named Cid once led Fynn's Order of White Knights; he built an airship and grew obsessed with it."

That name along with the word "airship" struck a chord with the Equestrians.

"Cid?" whispered Twilight.

"Airship?" Fluttershy added.

This has to be a coincidence, right? Princess Cadence thought.

This is way too freaky, thought Spike.

Guy noticed everypony and the dragon deep in thought. "Something wrong?" he asked. They all shook their heads, unwilling to tell them that the entity that sent them to this world was also named Cid.

Hilda continued. "Anyway, he left the kingdom and settled in Poft, where he now ferries travelers for a fee. I hear every gil he earns goes straight back into the airship to improve its performance."

"And before I forget..." She clapped her hands and had one of her helpers bring out a world map for them to use.

"Thank you again, Your Highness," said Firion. He and the others bowed respectfully and left the hideout, but not before informing the King of Prince Scott's demise and Borghen's betrayal.

"We're really sorry, Your Majesty," said Firion. I wish we could do something for you."

The King lowered his head and closed his eyes in deep thought. He then asked, "Where are you going now?"

"We're off to look for some Mythril," said Twilight.

"I see... Much Mythril was mined and used in ancient times. The cavern behind the Semitt Falls on the north was a known mine. There are records of it. What else have you learned?"

The others hesitated, but told him of the Empire's plans for constructing the Dreadnought.

"What?! No one has informed me of this... I suppose they didn't want me worried, but still... You must stop them!"

"We will, Sire," said Firion. "We will."

The group bowed and left the king's room, the rebel base, and the city of Altair once more.

And so, with a new companion, our heroes set off and began their journey. With only few clues as to the whereabouts Maria's brother and Princess Cadence's daughter and subjects, they could only find some answers along with the Mythril needed for the rebel army's weaponry.

Meanwhile...

In a dark throne room sat the wicked Emperor Mateus, holding a gold scepter with a circular disc with curved spikes on top and two prongs at the center. On his right was a magical sphere holding a frightened Flurry Heart inside. He chuckled, standing up and calmly walking to the baby alicorn. "To think that an infant from a realm of inferior beings would have such powers," the Emperor said in a smooth but menacing voice with a posh accent. "To be gifted with great magic. No matter. Once I have crushed the rebels and conquered this world..." he said, slowly leaning towards her. "...Yours will be next, and you are going to help me."

There was naught little Flurry could do, but huddle herself in fear as this horrible creature cackled. All she could think of was her mother and father, along with the pony girls she met, hoping they would save her.

Author's Note

And just like that, the humans and our Equestrian friends are now a part of the rebel army.

Sorry this took a while, though...

Chapter 2: Meeting Cid and Josef

As our heroes journeyed north along with their new companion the white mage Minwu, Twilight couldn't help but feel sad when she saw Prince Scott die from his wounds. Surely it wasn't about happen again, was it?

Princess Cadence trotted next to her and placed her wing over her shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile.

"Thank you, Cadence," said Twilight, hugging her sister-in-law. They continued onward, and as they did, Twilight and Fluttershy couldn't believe that the currency the humans used in this world was gil, the same currency from their last otherworldly quest.

In the distance, the group saw a ship docked near a town surrounded almost entirely by a stone wall. Without a doubt, this was the port town of Paloom.

"That must be it over there," she said.

"That's right," Minwu confirmed.

"Well, what're we waiting for? Let's go!" said Spike. The rest agreed, all except for the white mage.

"Not yet, my little friend," he said.

"But why?"

"Given the imperial attacks the world has suffered, I doubt they would easily welcome us. And not to mention the fact that you are a dragon."

Knowing what the white mage was saying, Spike surmised, "In other words, us non-humans--"

"WE non-humans," Twilight corrected.

"WE... non-humans have to keep our mouths shut?"

"That's one way to put it," Minwu stated.

*music fades out*

Before they could even reach the town, four goblins appeared and before our heroes could respond, the monsters immediately went on the assault; one went straight for Princess Cadence and clawed at her forehead. The second goblin kicked Maria in the mid-section; the third monster then punched Guy in the face, and the last goblin charged Minwu, hitting the white mage in the abdomen.

While Minwu used his magic to heal the pink princess, Firion and Fluttershy went for two of the creatures and easily disposed of them with the former's sword and a good Stare from the latter. The goblin was so frightened by the pony's Stare that it escaped into the forest.

Maria fired an arrow at the third goblin, only for it to dodge and headbutt the young girl.

"You leave her alone!" Spike shouted, breathing a hot green flame at its direction. As the flames consumed the goblin, it disappeared without a trace.

The last goblin delivered a firm uppercut on Princess Cadence, only for the pink equine to counterattack by buck into the tree behind it. Losing consciousness, the creature faded away leaving our heroes victorious. And with that victory, the party's life force increased as did their vitality and magic skills.

*music stops*

Just then, Princess Cadence's body began to glow, almost blinding everyone present. After a while, the flashing stopped; when it did, everyone was taken aback by what they had seen.

"What is it?" the pink pony asked.

"There something on your head," said Guy.

"My head...?" Could it be...? she thought. The Princess of Love gazed upon her reflection in the water and gasped; her horn had returned and she was an alicorn once again!

"Oh, Cadence!" said Twilight.

"Wow! You've got your horn back!" Spike said excitedly.

"Well," said Firion. "Now that we've taken care of those things, let's move on." Everyone agreed and continued onward.

Paloom

The town was, much to their surprise, inhabited by pirates. But these weren't the same roughhousing types Twilight and Fluttershy encountered in Pravoka.

Paloom was a lovely town with a river flowing through.

Like Altair, there was a magic shop among other stores so our heroes purchased more tomes teaching its readers spells such as protect and shell. The weapon shop, however, only had the same type of weapons the humans already carried in their arsenal.

While exploring, the group ran into a woman was instantly infatuated with the young Firion. "Paloom is a town of freedom," she said. "Why don't you live with me, handsome?"

Firion stuttered. "I... gotta go with my friends, now. Bye!"

"...Typical," she muttered as they left.

"So, do we wanna go to Poft now?" asked Spike.

"I guess so," said Twilight. They went back to the entrance and spoke with the ferryman.

"Excuse me," said Firion. "We'd like a ride on your ship."

"Headin' to Poft, are ya? Only 32 gil."

"Here."

"And what of the little ones here?" Minwu added, gesturing to the Equestrians.

"Sure. They may be animals, but I don't judge," he said. The ponies and dragon couldn't help but feel a little offended, being treated like dumb animals than sentient beings, but they took the white mages advice and remained silent. "Okay, I'll see you at my shop outside town."

The party exited Paloom and boarded the ship; it went east and then north, taking them to their destination.

Poft

The town was no different than any other places our heroes visited before. There were item shops, magic shops, an inn and a pub.

Inside the pub, the party found several men in aviation attire, correctly deducing that they were Cid's crew. They spoke with several of them, learning of the locatoin of Bafsk to the east of town, along with rumors of the imperial army constructing a deadly weapon. They knew, without a doubt, it was the Dreadnought.

The group also found a blonde-haired, middle-aged man sitting near the table; he also had a brown mustache and wore a red top, purple shoulder pads, purple pants, and brown shoes. They cautiously approached him; he took notice of the multi-colored equines and the purple dragon accompanying the four youths.

"If you're looking to ride on my airship," he said, "I'm afraid you're gonna have to leave your animals in someone else's care."

"How come?" asked Firion.

"No animals or monsters of any kind on my ship. That's my policy."

Twilight, Cadence and Spike took great offense, but none more so than Twilight. Her face red with anger and fury, broke her silence.

*music stops*

"Excuse us?!" Twilight shouted, surprising everyone present.

"What the...?!"

"That's right! We can talk! We can also read, write, and do several other things that humans can do!"

"Twilight, please," Minwu said, trying to calm her down.

"I'm sorry, Minwu, but I just can't keep quiet anymore. Not with everyone outside our circle of friends insulting our intelligence and treating us like we're stupid!"

"Um, Twilight?" Fluttershy said, meekly.

"We've come a long way from Altair, and that was after my friends and I found ourselves beaten by imperial thugs!"

Cid sat straight up at that statement. "You had a run in with the Empire?!"

"Yes, that's right! And they've invaded our home world and--"

"Twilight!" Fluttershy barely yelled. The purple pony stopped ranting almost immediately and saw Fluttershy quivering with fear. She gasped and covered her muzzle with her front hooves, shocked that she had inadvertently frightened her pegasus friend.

"I... I'm sorry, Fluttershy," she said, hugging her friend. "I don't know what came over me." Guy knelt to the two ponies and gently petted them, as did Maria.

Firion stepped in. "Look. These are our friends, and they came here to save someone who's been captured by the Emperor's servants: a newborn. Will you please let them on board with us?"

The older man closed his eyes and crossed his arms as he contemplated his next move. Would he really make an exception for these visitors?

Please... Please... Twilight said in thought.

*music starts over*

"Alright, you win," Cid answered. "If you wanna ride my airship, just give your gil to the guy behind me."

"Thank you, sir," said Cadence. "Oh, and by the way..."

"Yes...?"

"What do you think about this Dreadnought?"

"The Dreadnought?" Cid scoffed. "What's so great about that mess of a machine? Nothing can beat my beauty!" he said proudly.

He seems pretty confident... Twilight thought. Firion walked over to the man behind Cid.

"Where to, young man?" Cid's assistant asked.

"Salamand," Firion responded.

"Alright. That's 200 gil."

"Two hundred?" said Maria. "That sounds reasonable."

"Yes... Although..."

"Although...?"

"You may not need to travel by air; you can just travel by foot."

The bandana wearing youth turned to Cid. "Is that true, sir?"

"Of course. Do you have a map?"

"Sure..." Firion replied, not sure of what the man was saying. He handed Cid the map; the older man pointing to the area in the northern part of the world.

"You see that place at the foot of that mountain there? That's Salamand. It's not too far from here as you can see."

"Are you sure about this?" asked Twilight.

"You could really use the money for your business," said Cadence.

"Consider this hint to be... free of charge."

"Thank you, sir! Thank you!" Twilight said happily as she and the rest left the pub.

"Don't mention it..." said Cid.

And so, our heroes set off for the town of Salamand. As they went through the woods... Seven hornets and a queen bee appeared, ready to strike. Our heroes went into their battle stances once more.

Guy chopped up one of the flying insects with ease but was stung by another.

"Guy!" said Fluttershy. The yellow pony gave him an antitode curing him of the venom.

"Thank you," he said.

Twilight cast a Fire spell on the same hornet, sending it to the ground.

Cadence floated off the ground, flared her horn and levitated one of the hornets and sent it flying off into the distance.

The queen bee, furious that her subjects, were being tossed aside like garbage, unleashed her fury on Twilight and Fluttershy. Maria noticed and released an arrow striking the insect in the thorax. The angry monsters, however, would not give up so easily and prepared to sting them all at once until...

"Stop right there!" said Fluttershy, giving all them her most powerful Stare.

"We are on an important mission, and for you to just attack us for no reason is unacceptable! You all need to leave us alone and never pick on anyone again! Am I understood?!"

The queen bee and her subjects shook, their bravado crumbling. Unable to continue, the insects fled, leaving our heroes triumphant. Fluttershy's vitality and life force increased once more, as did Firion and Guy's physical strength, along with Twilight and Cadence's magic attributes.

*music stops*

As they celebrated their victory, Fluttershy's body began to glow; after the flashing stopped Fluttershy looked at herself and found her wings on her body.

"My wings! My wings are back! WOOOOOO!" Fluttershy cheered loudly, flying in a somersault.

Our heroes continued on their march. Just as soon as they exited the woods, Salamand was in their reach.

Salamand

In the snowy village, our heroes found that the population consisted of women, leaving them to wonder where the males were. The woman at the entrance told them that the male half of the populace was enslaved by the Empire, forcing them to work in the cavern behind Semitt Falls, digging for the very same elements our heroes sought: mythril.

"We'll take care of it," said Fluttershy.

They next went into the house on their left. When they entered the first thing they saw, much to Fluttershy's horror, was a pair of antlers hanging on the wall.

"D-Do we really have to talk with person...?" asked the timid pegasus. "I'm sure... other than... that, he's really nice..."

"What's gotten into her?" Firion whispered.

"She's really REALLY fond of animals, you see," Twilight replied.

"Oh..."

Guy shared her sentiment, for he too had a fondness for animals.

"Want go outside with me?" he offered.

"Y-Yes... Thank you."

And so the two animal lovers left the house, leaving the others to go and speak with Josef himself. They found a bald-headed man with a brown mustache standing near his bed; he wore a dark green poncho held on his shoulders by a metal neckpiece with red spikes on the back and purple clothing underneath.

"Excuse me, sir?" asked Twilight. The man turned around, saw the six visitors and was surprised to see that the voice belonged to the small purple unicorn in front of him.

"Yes...?"

"Are you Josef?" asked Maria.

"That's right," he answered suspiciously.

"We've just been recruited into the Wild Rose Rebellion and--"

"Princess Hilda sent you here?" he said in disbelief. "A group of half-pints and a pink horse? I find that hard to believe."

"Excuse me," said Cadence. "I just so happen to be a pony like this young lady here." She gestured to Twilight.

"And I'm a dragon, not a lizard!" Spike said.

"Dragon?!" said a surprised Josef.

"Oh, but he's a very friendly dragon," said Twilight. "We don't mean any harm; we came here because we want to know what you know about mythril. That's all."

"M-Mythril? Well, um... I haven't found any yet," he said nervously. "I've got clues, though... Before I go further, I need you to prove yourselves."

Firion raised his brow. "Prove ourselves? How?"

"The people of Salamand have been put to work in the cavern behind the Semitt Falls. If you want to earn my trust, save them."

"Oh, that's right. The Empire's using them to mine mythril. We'll do it."

"Yeah!!" Spike said enthusiastically. The heroes exited the house and met up with Guy who was successfully comforting Fluttershy. Once all was said and done, they left the town and went across the river using Minwu's canoe while Cadence and Fluttershy took to the air, keeping an eye out for whatever dangers they would come across.

"That must be it over there!" Spike pointed out.

And so, our heroes reached Semitt Falls. As they went inside the cavern, several thoughts plagued their minds. Why was Josef hesitant to help them? What were the imperials hoping to accomplish with the mythril? What of the Dreadnought? What of Maria's brother? And what of little Flurry Heart?

Author's Note

And so, for the first time, the ponies were physically able to meet a Cid. If only they knew how many more...

Anyway, their next mission: rescuing a hostage and obtaining Mythril.

Chapter 3: The Search for Mythril/Battle in the Crystal Empire

Semitt Falls

Going down the steps, our heroes found themselves in a cavern not quite unlike the waterfall cave they went through in world that was once ravaged by Queen Chrysalis and Chaos.

"Has everyone checked their equipment?" asked Firion. They all nodded. Before leaving Salamand, the party made sure to visit the stores and purchased even better weapons than the ones in their inventory including a longsword for Firion, a longbow for Maria, a battle axe for Guy, and a mace for Minwu.

After checking their inventory, the group began their trek through the cave. Along the way, they encountered more goblins, a goblin guard, and two new monsters: both of them were green fireball-shaped beings with arms and a face.

"Balloons!" Minwu gasped.

"What now?" asked Twilight.

The white mage answered, "Those creatures you see there? They're called Balloons! It is a member of the Bomb family of monsters that can self-destruct before they are defeated."

"Uh-oh," said Spike.

"It's best to take care of these things first," Firion surmised.

Twilight conjured shields around everyone to protect themselves just in case. Guy struck the explosive creature with battle axe. Fortunately, the Balloon didn't explode as it faded into nothingness. The other one, however, quickly self-destructed, forcefully pushing our heroes away. They got back up and proceeded to do battle with the goblins.

Maria shot an arrow at one of the creatures, sending it to the ground.

Firion slashed one of the others with ease, while Twilight cast a Fire spell on the last goblin.

The goblin guard was quickly taken down by Minwu's mace.

With the monsters gone, our heroes grew even stronger as Twilight's magic power increased.

*music stops*

On the second floor, the party had to wade through shallow water on order to press on.

If Rarity were here, Twilight thought, she'd hate this. Good thing it's just a little water, though.

In the northeastern section of the area, they opened a treasure chest containing eye drops. Twilight and Fluttershy looked at each other, knowing exactly what to expect the minute they found them.

As they went further, the party encountered imperial soldiers and more monsters, but they were no match for the combined strength of the ponies and humans. As a result of their victory, some of the group grew even stronger. Minwu and Maria's magic powers had increased with Firion and Guy becoming more adept with their weapons; the Equestrians had become more agile.

The group came across four doors. Not knowing what to expect, they split into three groups and found two of the rooms were traps set up in order to ambush any intruders. Twilight, Spike, and Minwu fought off four goblins and an Imperial grunt with ease, while Firion, Fluttershy, and Guy took care of several Balloons. Cadence and Maria defeated several sasquatches and lopers.

Reunited, the heroes went through the fourth door and went down the stairway.

As they reached the third floor of the cavern, they ran straight for the treasure chest in front of them and found 200 gil. Going back, they went west and made a left turn, seeing three doors in front of them. Not wanting to take a risk this time, they all chose to open the door on the left and found several humans exhausted and panting. Among them was a familiar looking ninja.

"Hey, you're Firion and Twilight Sparkle right?" he said. "Remember me? It's me, Paul!"

"What...?" said Twilight quietly. "What are you doing here?!"

"Maybe you all could help me out," he answered, looking over to the girl on his side. "This is Nelly, Josef's daughter."

"His daughter...?" asked Cadence. "Oh, no..."

"Oh, yes. Borghen took her hostage and threatened to kill her unless her father did as he said."

"So that's why he was hesitant..."

"Did you say, 'Borghen'?" asked Twilight. "As in the same Borghen who betrayed Fynn?"

"Yeah. Where'd you hear that?"

"From Prince Scott of Kashuan, just before he passed away..."

"I... I see..." Paul said. "Anyway, you're right. Borghen, the man who's holding this girl hostage, is the same rat who destroyed our home. I'd like to get my hands on him myself. Next time I see him, he'll pay."

"I think that's something we all agree on," said Twilight.

"Depends on what you mean by 'pay,'" said Firion. "So, Paul."

"Why am I here, you ask?" said the thief, already ahead of him. "Well, I learned this place bore mythril ore, so I came to get some for myself. But, wouldn't you know it, they caught me, so here I am."

The others weren't sure if this man was either brave or foolish, given his current predicament.

"That's... uh..." Twilight said, not knowing what to say. "...really bad."

"That's it?" said Paul. "That's all you have to say?"

"Yeah... sorry..."

"That's... not all..."

"Oh, my. What else could it be?" asked Fluttershy.

"I saw several other ponies being overworked two floors down."

The Equestrians gasped.

"Those must be some of the Crystal Ponies!"

"Come on!" said Firion. "We have to rescue them!"

"That's the best course of action. You distract the guards and save those ponies, while I get Nelly and the others out of here!"

Going down the stairs led our heroes to the fourth level where the humans walked along a wooden bridge and found a treasure chest in the small room in front of them. They opened the chest and found another Fire tome.

"Don't we already have this?" said Spike.

"I guess there are several magic tomes that teach their readers the same spell all over this world," Twilight thought aloud.

"Never mind that," said Firion. "Let's move on." Everyone nodded. Going back to the foot of the bridge, they turned left and found four more bridges connecting to one platform. The three ponies who could fly did so and found that two of the structures led to dead ends. Spike, who rode on Twilight's back, suggested that they take the one path that did not have a dead end.

Everybody agreed and went through a narrow pathway leading them right to the stairs. The humans leading against the wall, making sure their quest wouldn't end right then and there. They went down the stairs reaching the last level of the cavern. There, they went right and found themselves in a section containing two doors, one on the left and one on the right. They opened the left door first and came across three non-crystalized Crystal Ponies exhausted from being overworked. In front of them stood a Palamecian sergeant in dark armor torturing the poor equines with a whip. Near him was a treasure chest.

"Get back to work!" he commanded.

"You stop that!" Guy shouted.

The sadistic soldier turned around and received quite a shock. "Rebel scum. And more ponies!"

"You let them go now!" Cadence exclaimed.

Seeing their saviors in front of them, the ponies' coats regained their crystalline colors.

The evil soldier laughed. "How cute. Some hideous creatures think they can order me around."

One of the ponies could no longer stay silent and spoke up.

"How dare you talk that way about Princess Cadence and her friends! They are--"

"SILENCE!!" he said, whipping the poor mare, causing her to scream in pain.

"That's enough!" Twilight declared. "You've left us no choice!"

"Insolent fools. You have sealed your own fate." He put away his whip and drew his sword. "You will not leave here alive with the mythril!"

The sergeant went to a battle stance and fiercely taunted the group.

"No one opposes the Emperor and lives!" he said.

"Wanna bet?" Spike retorted; he spewed several fireballs at the evil soldier, but every single one was slashed with ease.

Although she was intimidated by the man's stature and would under normal circumstances avoid fighting, Fluttershy attempted to strike the sergeant in the armor, only to sprain her hoof.

"Ha!" the sergeant laughed, backhanding the poor pegasus down to the ground.

"Fluttershy!" Twilight gasped.

This action infuriated Guy. The giant charged with his axe in tow.

"You hurt friend!"

Cadence tended to Fluttershy's wounds, her horn flaring a light blue aura. Minwu, too, took care of the poor yellow pony.

Firion and the sergeant crossed each other's swords, their blades locked until the former knocked his adversary off balance and kicked him in the chest. Maria and Twilight each cast Fire spells on him, but to their surprise he wouldn't relent and charged right at them.

Cadence, who successfully healed Fluttershy with the help of the white mage, intercepted and gave the cruel human a strong buck, almost knocking him off his feet.

"You wretched equine!" he exclaimed. "I'll bring His Majesty your head!"

"No...!"

Guy rushed towards the sergeant, chopped his blade and delivered a strong uppercut sending him to the ceiling.

"Nice shot, Guy," Firion commended.

*music stops*

A few minutes later, the ceiling started to crack, and the sergeant fell into the water near the Crystal Ponies.

"All... hail... Emperor... Mateus..." And with those words, the soldier perished and disappeared.

"We did it!"

*music stops*

Twilight's body began flashing rapidly, and soon as it stopped, everyone gasped in awe.

"Does this mean...?" she asked. The sound of wings opening got her attention, and she bounced around in joy, saying "yes" multiple times just like when she received her cutie mark and was made Princess Celestia's personal student.

"Twilight...?" asked Fluttershy.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes..."

"Twilight?" Cadence said.

But it was futile. Twilight continued to hop around happily until she flew and shouted one final "Yes!" At that point, she opened her eyes and found everyone (except Fluttershy, Cadence, and Guy) in the room looking at her like she was crazy.

"Are... you okay, Twilight?" Firion asked out of concern.

The alicorn only chuckled nervously and said, "Yes," one last time before landing back on solid ground and folding her wings. The Crystal Ponies came up and smiled.

"Thank you, Princess Twilight! Thank you, Princess Cadence! Thank you, Spike! And thank you, humans!"

"I'm glad you're all safe now," said Cadence. "Do any of you know about the other Crystal Ponies?"

The former slaves' happy mood diminished at that question, however.

"Well..."

The look of worry on each of the ponies' faces made everyone assume the worst.

"They're not..." Cadence said quietly.

"No, they're still alive," said one stallion. "But they're being forced to work on something horrible called the Dreadnought."

"DId you just say 'Dreadnought?!'" said a surprised Firion.

"Yes, he did," the mare from before added. "The one taking charge of this project is the Emperor's Dark Knight, his second-in-command. I heard he's brainwashed several citizens in another town along with our fellow Crystal Ponies. You must save them!"

"We will," said Twilight. "I promise you that."

"Thank you."

"I think you'd better head for Poft and wait for us there."

"How come?"

"We'll tell you later."

"Well, thank you again. Thank you very much!"

The three Crystal Ponies, hearts filled with hope and joy, finally left the area and our heroes next to the treasure chest the sergeant was guarding. In the treasure chest was the very element they had sought: mythril! With the mythril now in their possession, there was no need to stay in the caverns any longer, and so our heroes left the way they came and went back to town.

Salamand

As soon as the party went back, the villagers showered them with praise, thanking them for saving the men.

They went back into Josef's house (with Fluttershy doing her best not to look at the antlers) and met with him and Nelly. "You saved my daughter and the other villagers. How can I ever repay you?"

"Actually, it was that Paul guy who saved them," said Spike.

"But he was a prisoner along with her, and if not for you all, I never would have seen her again. Borghen coerced me into lying, so I just couldn't tell you the truth."

"We know, sir," said Fluttershy. "Paul told us everything."

Josef sighed in relief, his conscience now clear. "Now then, if I may ask again: How can I repay you all?"

"Well, to start with..." Firion thought. "Can you tell us about the warship Palamecia's working on?"

"Yes. Ever since the Dark Knight took command, the Dreadnought's construction has sped up. It will be finished in no time."

"We can't let that happen," said Cadence. "We won't. They're even using my subjects from the Crystal Empire against their will."

"That's terrible."

"We've found some mythril, finally. What do we do with it?" asked Spike.

"Simple. You must hurry and bring it to Princess Hilda. She must be waiting for you!"

"Indeed," said Minwu. "Thank you, Josef. Well then, everyone. Shall we go?"

Fluttershy, however chose to stay inside, wanting to discuss something.

"Mister... Josef, sir?"

"Yes?" he asked, kneeling to bring himself to her level.

"What are those... antlers... doing on your wall?"

"Oh, those? Not to worry, my dear. Those are faux antlers."

"'Faux antlers?'" she repeated. "Oh, you mean..."

"Yes, they're just for decoration."

"It's true," Nelly confirmed.

"Oh, my. I'm so sorry. You see, I thought..."

"Yes, I understand. I can tell you're quite fond of animals."

"Well, at least I'll rest easier tonight. So long."

And so, the heroes left Josef's house and Salamand altogether heading all the back to Poft.

Poft

As they finally re-entered the town, they found the Crystal Ponies standing by the entrance.

"We've been waiting for you all," said the mare.

"Sorry it took a while, everypony," Cadence replied. "But I think we're all ready to get to Atlair."

"But... why aren't you teleporting us back home?" asked the stallion.

"Because we're not sure if that last attack they made on the Crystal Empire will be their last," Twilight added. "Who knows if they'll attack again?"

The Crystal Ponies knew that the Princess of Friendship made a point. If they were to be teleported back home, they would most likely be abducted once more, or worse. Knowing that now, there was only one other option.

"Princess Twilight?"

"Yes?"

"Will you... um..."

"Take you with us to Altair? I think that can be arranged."

"Huh?" said Spike.

"Are you sure?" Firion asked. "The Empire could be..."

"I know the risks, Firion. But if we don't do something now, that Emperor's going to win."

The bandana wearing youth couldn't argue against that. "Alright. We're taking you all with us."

"Thank you," the Crystal Ponies said in unison.

And so our heroes went into the pub and paid 700 gil for a ticket back to Altair. As they boarded the airship with the others, Twilight and Fluttershy couldn't help but feel nostalgic flying on a similar vessel. Their memories of traveling with the Warriors of Light--Setro, Zauver, Flora, and Teol--would always live in their hearts.

Still, Twilight couldn't help but worry. Her sister-in-law took notice.

"Twilight?" asked Cadence.

"Yes?" she asked.

"I hope they're alright. Shining Armor and the others..."

"Me, too..."

*music fades out*

Meanwhile, in the Crystal Empire...

Everything was quiet since the last raid. Soldiers were patrolling the streets, keeping a wary eye out for any more of the unholy beings that captured several inhabitants as well as the young Princess Flurry Heart.

"Any disturbances?"

"No, sir!" the guard responded. "We've checked every inch of the Crystal Empire and not one of those fiends has returned."

Unfortunately, the soldier spoke too soon. For as he was about to return to his post, the guard spotted a swirling portal of darkness and out came several fiends!

"Ready yourselves!"

Shining Armor and his soldiers fought against a pair of goblins; after dispatching the fiends, ran into two ogres ready to smash them with its club. The stallions dodged sideways and successfully bucked one of them into a wall but were caught in the grasp of the other. The white unicorn flared his horn and fired a beam piercing the creature's eyes, freeing him and his troops.

"That was a close one, sir," said one of the guards. But just then, three more ogres appeared.

"You were saying?" said the other troop, raising his eyebrow.

"Attack!" Shining Armor commanded. They did so and went on the assault. However, they found themselves almost overwhelmed when one of the creatures grabbed them, intending to crush them. That is until, Shining Armor fired a powerful beam that sent one ogre to the wall, freeing himself and his troops. Its disappearance, as well as Shining Armor's aura, struck fear into the monsters' souls. They panicked and fled though the portal whence they came.

*music fades out*

Even with the monsters repelled, it still felt like an empty victory.

"We... We did it, Your Highness..." the soldier said, exhausted.

"Yeah..." Shining Armor said. He looked toward the sanctum of the Crystal Heart in the hopes that he would be reunited with his family once again.

Chapter 4: The Next Step

The airship landed safely near Altair. As the party disembarked, they thanked Cid and his crew, waving happily at them.

"Thank you, Cid," said Firion. "Maybe we'll need your services again sometime."

"It's possible," said the expert pilot.

Altair

Before our heroes went back into the base, they decided to share the good news with Gordon. He was ecstatic that they succeeded in bringing mythril and praised them for their courage, but still expressed self-doubt.

"Don't worry, Your Highness," said Twilight. "You'll find it someday."

The group returned to the hideout with high spirits and met with Princess Hilda once more.

"Princess Hilda, good news!" said Twilight. "We've brought the mythril you asked us to bring!"

"Well done!" Hilda congratulated. "Minwu, you have done well."

"Thank you, Your Highness," said the white mage.

"Hurry, take the mythril to Tobul. He's the blacksmith at the weapon shop."

"Yes, Your Highness."

The team bowed to the princess and left the base for the weapon shop and found an elderly man wondering about in the shop.

"Excuse us," said Firion.

"Yes?"

"We're looking for someone named Tobul. Are you he?"

"Oh, don't mind me," the man replied. "I'm just an old man."

"Would you change your mind if we showed you... this?"

The old man couldn't believe his eyes. "Why... why that's mythril!"

"Yes, it is."

"Well... why didn't you say so in the first place? I'll get to work on it right away."

Tobul took the mythril out of Firion's hand and began his work.

"How long will take to complete these weapons?" asked Twilight.

"You can't rush art, young lady."

"B-B-But Palamecia... the Dreadnought...!"

"These things take time, Twilight," said Maria. "No need to rush."

Twilight's right eye twitched.

"'No need...?' 'NO NEED?!' You heard what Josef said. Since this 'Dark Knight' came along, that Dreadnought thing's about to be complete and could attack us or some other village at any time! I don't even want to think about it, but what if they succeed? What if they win?! The Emperor's also after Equestria, too! He's gonna--"

She began to hyperventilate. "He's going to go after everyone I know and love... My friends... my brother... Princess Celestia..."

"Twilight...?" Fluttershy said nervously.

The young alicorn's panic attack worsened as she panted and panted until she gasped, collapsing to the floor.

"Twilight!" everybody cried.

"Oh no!" Cadence gasped. "She's fainted!"

"There's no time to waste," said Minwu. "Follow me!"

"But where?!" Spike shouted.

"Let's get back to the base!" said Firion.

"You need some help?" asked Tobul.

"That won't be necessary," said Maria. "You just keep working on that mythril. Thank you."

Everyone carried the poor girl out of the store.

In the same chamber where they met, Firion carefully placed Twilight on the sigil. Minwu began to chant while the others watched, hoping whatever spell he was going to cast would work.

"Let us leave her be for now," said the white mage.

"Are you sure?" asked Cadence.

"Is it really alright to leave her like this?" Fluttershy added.

"As much as I hate to say this, yes," Minwu answered. "Come. We will let Her Highness know."

As they all left the chamber, Spike looked back at his unconscious friend, hoping for a quick recovery.

Two hours later...

The group returned to the chamber and knelt before the purple alicorn.

"Twilight?" Fluttershy. "Please wake up..."

The purple alicorn's eyes stirred, slowly opening. Everybody smiled.

"How... how long was I out?" she asked.

"About two hours, I'm afraid."

"Two hours?! Has the Empire attacked yet?" she asked.

"Luckily, no," said Maria.

Twilight was about to get back on all fours when Minwu stopped her.

"Wait! Don't move."

"But..."

Twilight noticed that she began struggling to move.

"You've regained consciousness, but the spell isn't complete yet."

"But, what about the mythril? And the Dreadnought?"

"Let us worry about warship now," said Guy. "You need rest."

"B-But..."

Princess Cadence sighed, feeling she was going to regret saying what she was about to say. "I'm afraid you can't come with us to Bafsk for now."

Twilight's eyes grew wide. "What? But why?"

"We're really sorry, Twilight, but given your current condition," said Minwu, "you cannot even stand right now or even walk."

"But the Empire..."

"There's... actually some good news," said Firion.

"There is?"

"Apparently, the Dark Knight's been taken off the project and replaced with Count Borghen, and the people's brainwashing wore off."

Twilight stared in disbelief. "And you didn't tell me earlier because...?" she said, trying to stand up. "Oh..." She sat on her belly, facing her colleagues. "How did you get this information?"

"We have a spy among the imperials," Minwu stated. "He infiltrated Bafsk to report on the Dreadnought's progress, and that is how we gained intel on the existence of this weapon in the first place."

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised."

"Please, don't hurt yourself, Twilight," said Fluttershy.

"Fluttershy, Spike..." said Cadence. "Will you stay here with Twilight? I'll be going with them to stop the Dark Knight."

The pegasus and dragon turned to look at her, then turned to each other wondering if this was the right thing to do. After much thinking, they both agreed.

"Please be careful, Princess Cadence," said Flutterhsy.

"I will," she replied.

*music stops*

And so, our heroes set off once more into the field, but not before returning to the weapon shop and purchasing the weapons Tobul had created: a mythril knife, mythril mace, mythril spear, and a mythril sword. According to the map, the village of Bafsk stood several miles east of Poft. Making their way east of the village , they entered the village surrounded almost entirely by stone, with the intent of destroying the Dreadnought.

Bafsk

Despite the sun shining brightly, a dreary atmosphere pervaded the town. Our heroes took notice of this the moment they set foot in the village, observing the inhabitants walking around in fear, looking in several directions.

Firion approached one resident of the village asking, "What's going on here?"

"We've been enslaved to build the Dreadnought," he said. "I... I can't remember anything. At least, when the Dark Knight was here."

Another villager approached them.

"Y-You're rebels, aren't you?"

They nodded.

"Please... please destroy the Dreadnought."

"We will," said Maria.

"Just so you know," said another resident. "You'll need a pass to enter that ship."

"A pass?" asked Guy.

"Yes."

Going further, they came across a short and chubby man who had a red nose, red hair, and a squat face. He wore fancy clothes: striped trousers, a cape, a red tunic with medals, gold gloves, and an oversized trifoil cap.

"Borghen," Minwu muttered venomously.

"So that's the traitor?" asked Cadence.

"Come on, you lazy good-for-nothings! Move it!" Borghen commanded. "Mooooove it! Finish its construction as quickly as your pathetic selves can! You're going to advance my position in the imperial army."

Leaving the sadistic count and his men alone, they ran into an imperial soldier standing next to one of the buildings all by himself. Cautiously, they approached him.

"Ever since Count Borghen came as the Dark Knight's replacement," he said, "it's been easy for us here. But he sure seems like an idiot--oops, you never heard that."

He then took notice of the pink alicorn amongst them.

"So, it's true. There are magical creatures. I doubt even they know where the rebels are though."

"What if I told about the 'Wild Rose?'" asked Cadence.

"You... You spoke?" the man replied. "And you know the password? Then you all must be..."

"That's right," Firion answered. "We're in the rebel army, under the command of Princess Hilda."

"Ah, comrades! I wasn't able to move around when the Dark Knight was commanding this operation. Borghen is only a pig-headed fool. He doesn't care about anything but himself."

"That is why he betrayed our kingdom of Fynn and defected to Palamecia," said Minwu. "Tell us what you know of the Dreadnought."

"I figured that was your reason for being here. As you guessed, I am not a soldier of the Empire; I'm a spy for the rebellion. Just go around the building behind me and you'll find the entrance to the sewers ahead," he declared, pointing ahead of the group.

"Will it take us to the Dreadnought?" asked Maria.

"Indeed. Well that's enough talk for now. Don't want to rouse suspicion. Good luck."

Our heroes found themselves in the area underneath town and trekked onward through the shallow waters and acquiring whatever treasures they could find.

Along the way, they encountered several monsters including balloons like the ones they fought at Semitt Falls, along with undead zombies. Upon defeating these creatures, our heroes attributes increased and their magical and physical skills grew stronger.

Going through the narrow corridors, they went down another level with determination.

Once we find that thing and destroy it, Cadence thought, we'll beat the Emperor and be one step closer to saving you, Flurry.

Upon turning right, the party went straight ahead and after several twists and turns through the narrow corridors, they noticed something and came to a stop.

"Who's that?" Firion asked.

A man in unique Palamecian armor stood right on front of them.

"It cannot be..." Minwu uttered.

"Yes, it is I, the Dark Knight!" he confirmed. "You're all too late, rebel curs. The Dreadnought is complete." He glanced at Princess Cadence who returned the favor with a stern glare. "I see you have an equine with you as well."

"What do you mean..?" asked Minwu.

"The one I'm talking about is merely an infant, but she has wings and a horn like that pink one."

Cadence gasped. "Flurry!"

"Oh, you know her? Could it be that she is your child?" he mocked.

"You will stop this madness and tell your Emperor to release my baby!" Cadence commanded.

The Dark Knight chuckled, unaffected by the Princess' anger.

"You make me laugh, you really do."

Cadence growled.

"Just what are you doing here?!" Firion exclaimed.

"Did you think I'd return to Palamecia before my duty was done?" the Dark Knight replied. "Give up. You and your rebel friends stand no chance against the Emperor. I will leave you to think it over. Farewell for now."

Maria stood still, perplexed. That voice, she thought. He sounds so familiar.

Just then, Count Borghen appeared taunting our hereoes.

"Too bad, rebels!" he laughed, escaping.

"Maria! We go after them!" said Guy.

"R-Right," she answered.

They went after him, but it was too late. The Dark Knight escaped into the completed Dreadnought, and his pursuers watched in horror as it took off, ready to destroy everything in its path.

Cadence gasped. "Oh, no..."

Immediately, the Princess of Love believed she had to do what needed to be done.

"Everyone, get back to town! I'll try to stop it myself!" she said.

"What?!" everyone cried.

"Princess Cadence, you can't...!" Firion tried to say, before the pink alicorn took flight.

"What we do now?" asked Guy.

"We can't just abandon her!" said Maria.

"...D-Damn it!"

The humans went back into the sewers, grabbing a pass out of a treasure chest in the last room. Something they needed later on...

Cadence flew high in the ground with the intent of stopping the warship in front of her from causing more pain and suffering. But before she could even reach the vessel, one of the turrets aimed directly at her. Seeing this, she attempted to conjure a shield, but before it could be finished, a missile came right at her; the force of the blast knocked her unconscious, sending her falling to the ground!

Elsewhere, Firion, Maria, Guy, and Minwu returned to Bafsk and saw something in the distance.

"There's something falling from the sky!" Minwu pointed.

"It Princess Cadence!" said Guy.

Maria gasped. "Oh, no!"

"Come on!"

The humans raced to the area where Cadence was falling, hoping to catch her in time. Just when it looked like she was about to crash, Guy jumped as high as he could and grabbed the princess.

"We've got to help her!" said Maria.

"That makes two princesses in just one day," said Firion. The humans carried her back to Bafsk.

*music fades out*

Meanwhile, at the rebel base in Altair...

Twilight finally regained some of her strength, though she was still worried about everything that had happened so far. She along with Spike and Fluttershy met with Princess Hilda in the meeting room. Also in the room were the same Crystal Ponies they rescued.

"How are you feeling, Twilight?" asked Fluttershy.

"You okay?" said Spike.

"I... I think so," Twilight answered.

"Oh, Princess Twilight. Please don't strain yourself..." said Hilda.

"I'm sorry, everypony. But I can't help worry about the whole situation. What with you and little Flurry Heart being abducted, the Emperor's plans and all..."

She then looked towards the human princess.

"I'm sorry, Your Highness."

*music stops*

Suddenly, everyone present felt powerful tremors.

"No..." said Hilda. "It cannot be..."

"It can't be, it can't!" Twilight said, sharing her worries. Just then, a man burst into the meeting room panicking.

"Your Highness! The Dreadnought's operational! It's attacking us!"

"No...!"

"Twilight! You've gotta do something!" Spike urged.

"Please, Twilight," said Fluttershy.

The purple alicorn tried to conjure the best spell she could think of, but her emotional state was causing a strain on her magical abilities and her physical strength.

"Come on, Twilight..."

"Uuuuuurrgh...!" Twilight groaned.

Before she knew what happened, her whole world suddenly turned black again...

*music fades out*

Author's Note

Don't worry, Twilight isn't dead.

Please let me know if there's anything wrong. Thank you.

Chapter 5: Aftermath/Self Sacrifice

Castle Palamecia

An imperial messenger dressed in purple robes came onto the eighth floor of the castle and entered the throne room, kneeling before Emperor Mateus.

"Report," said the Emperor.

"Sire!" said the messenger, rising. "The Dark Knight wishes me to let you know that the Dreadnought is a success. It has attacked four areas thus far: Gatrea, Poft, Paloom, and Altair."

"Excellent," Mateus said, nodding in approval. "And what of the ponies I've heard of?"

"One of them tried to stop us, but the Dreadnought countered, sending it the ground."

"Good. Although, there is the possibility it may survive..."

"But, Your Majesty--"

Mateus silenced him with a glare that would kill even the strongest monsters. "I do not believe it is your right to question your Emperor."

"M-My apologies, sire."

The Emperor simply smirked. "No matter. Now that they have experienced the might of our newest weapon firsthand, the rebels will have no choice but to surrender and kneel before me. You are dismissed."

"Yes, sire."

The messenger bowed and exited the throne room, leaving the evil tyrant with a weeping Flurry Heart.

"No need to fret, little one," he said. "I'll deal with your fellow ponies soon enough."

*music fades out*

Bafsk

At the local inn, our heroes placed Princess Cadence on a hotel bed and as they did, Minwu cast a healing spell on her.

"How long will it be...?" asked Firion.

"Her injuries are not quite severe; she will come around in a few minutes," Minwu replied.

"Princess Cadence..." said Maria.

Cadence groaned, slowly opening her eyes.

"Princess!"

She finally woke up, looking around and seeing her human companions.

"F-Firion...? Minwu...? M-Maria...? Guy...? Where... am I?"

"We in Bafsk," said Guy.

"Bafsk...? But I remember chasing the..." she said, then gasped in realization. "The Dreadnought! Twilight! Fluttershy...! Spike..."

"We need to get back," said Maria.

The party left the inn to find the villagers trembling in fear; one even dropped to his knees. The group knew exactly what made them afraid, so there was no need to ask. After all, they unwillingly aided in the construction of the weapon that now wrought havoc upon the world.

As soon as they left the village, the smell of smoke pervaded their noses, and they saw a horrible sight: the town of Poft was besieged by the Dreadnought.

When they approached the ferryman, he too was terrified of what he had seen. They boarded the ship and found Paloom, and to their horror, it too suffered an assault from the Empire's latest weapon. One of the villagers lamented the loss of his daughter.

Please be alright, everypony...

Altair

The group finally returned to Altair, shocked upon seeing the town in ruins, the same as the other villages. The imperial airship's arsenal left behind craters on the ground and several of the buildings were missing parts; only the rebel hideout remained intact. They went in and found Twilight unconscious once more, surrounded by her dear friends.

"Oh, Twilight!" Fluttershy cried.

"C'mon, Twilight! Please get up!" Spike begged.

"Twilight!" Cadence screamed, rushing over to her dear friend.

"What happened?" asked Firion.

"We were under attack," said one of the Crystal Ponies. "The Dreadnought lay siege... and she tried to protect us somehow..."

Just then, the purple alicorn woke up, seeing her sister-in-law. "Cadence...?"

She got up and embraced the taller pony.

"I'm so glad you're all right," said Cadence.

"What happened out there...?"

Everyone looked on the ground.

"The rest of Altair..." Firion said hesitantly, "...was attacked."

"No..." said Twilight. "No no no no no no no no no no no!"

"Twilight..."

"Not just Altair," said Minwu. "Poft and Paloom were also in the warship's path."

"I couldn't... I couldn't save them!" she wept. "I'm so sorry..."

The rest of the Equestrians comforted their friend.

"I still can't believe it. The Emperor must have known," Firion realized. "The Dark Knight being called back to Palamecia... being replaced with Borghen... it was all a ploy."

"Princess Hilda," said Cadence. "What do we do now?"

"That, I do not know, Cadence," she said. "Many people were hurt in the Dreadnought's attack. My father is heartbroken and his condition has worsened. He thinks himself near death..."

Maria gasped. "Minwu... is there anything we can do?"

Minwu merely shook his head. "All living creatures are bound to die," he spoke. "It cannot be helped. However, my duty is to save those who are suffering. You must go and continue your journey. I will remain here and take care of the injured ones."

The white mage turned to Firion and Twilight.

"Firion, Twilight. The Dreadnought must be destroyed. We cannot endure this much longer."

"What about your canoe? I know that was a bad question, but..."

"You may keep it," the white mage answered sincerely.

"We understand, Minwu," said Twilight. "And thank you for all the help you've given us."

"You are welcome, Princess Twilight. Now if you will excuse me..."

Minwu bowed and left the meeting room, and the rest of the group did soon after. Finding themselves near the entrance of the base with several people, our heroes stopped in their tracks.

"What do we do now?" asked Twilight.

"I know!" said a young man. "Go to Poft and ask Cid! He must know a way!"

"Oh my gosh!" said Cadence. "I completely forgot about him! I was so worried about you all, that I didn't even stop to think about Cid or everyone else in Poft."

"We know..." said Guy. "After all, friends most important thing."

"I know, Guy," she said sweetly. "Still, Cid has an airship of his own, so must know about that thing's weakness, right?"

"He must!" Firion answered.

"But what about the King?" asked Fluttershy.

"Minwu said he would take care of him, and I'm sure he'll be busy with everyone else here," said Maria.

"You're right. Best let him do his work."

"Gather around everybody," said Twilight. "Let's get to Poft immediately without having to walk."

"'Without having to walk?'" asked Guy. "What that mean?"

Twilight attempted to show the brown-haired giant and his friends what she meant by flaring up her horn. However, she found out that she couldn't perform her spell.

"Oh, no!" she gasped.

"What is it?" asked Firion.

"I can't do my teleportation spell!"

"'Teleportation spell...?'" the youth asked. He then had a realization. "Come to think of it, you said that you could have used on the Crystal Ponies earlier, right?"

"Yes," she replied solemnly, "but like I said I can't risk teleporting them back to Equestria, otherwise the imperials would bring them back."

Some of the townsfolk, however, were not satisfied with her answer.

"Why didn't you do that earlier?!" said one man. "

"I was under pressure alright!" she yelled, surprising everyone present. "The only thing I could think of was a large protective barrier, but I collapsed due to the emotional stress of everything that's happened until that point, and I was exhausted earlier from the panic attack I had at the weapon shop!"

"Alright, I'm sorry, Twilight!" Firion replied. He calmed down as did the Princess of Friendship. "I apologize. I shouldn't have pressed you on that."

"No, it's alright..." said Twilight. "Also, even if I had teleported everyone somewhere else, who knows what would've happened to us?"

Everyone instantly understood what the purple alicorn said, as their village was not the only place the Empire had attacked, for if she were to teleport them to anywhere else in the world, the monsters and the imperial army would either capture or kill them without mercy. It was truly a miracle that only the rebel base was unharmed during the Dreadnought's assault, but for how long?

"There's no other option, then," said Firion. "We'll get to Poft as we usually do."

And it was agreed that they would speak with the pilot Cid once more. So they left the village of Altair and set out Paloom once more.

Paloom

Twilight, Spike, and Fluttershy gasped in horror upon seeing the devastated village.

Is this...? Twilight thought. Is this what they're capable of...?

The two winged ponies flew around town and observed what their friends had seen: smoking craters, ruined buildings, and a few weeping townspeople.

They paid their fee for the ferry to Poft and went across the ocean once more.

Poft

Although it was the same as Paloom, Twilight and the others were still horrified by the site they had seen. They quickly went inside the pub and found Cid and his friend, sitting at the same table as before.

"Cid! Are you all right?!"

"I believe so, yes... But the rest of the town..."

"We saw. Everything was destroyed."

"Is there anyway we can stop the Dreadnought?"

"There is one way."

"There is?!"

"Please, tell us."

"From what I've learned, that ship runs on the same fuel as my airship: Sunfire."

"Sunfire?"

"Yep. Sunfire. Can't be controlled so easily; get too much flame and it might blow up in your face!"

The group flinched; Fluttershy especially. "That's pretty d-d-dangerous..."

"How can we obtain this 'Sunfire?'" Firion asked.

"That, I don't know. But I'm pretty sure the royal family knows more about it than anyone else."

Twilight had a look of annoyance on her face, knowing what Cid was implying. She again attempted a teleportation spell for a quick trip back, only to find it was still not working. The lavender alicorn growled, knowing it was futile to make another attempt; it was decided that they should spend the night in order for Twilight to recuperate.

The next morning...

Twilight awoke to find her sister-in-law lowering her head in shame.

"Cadence?"

Cadence looked at Twilight and pulled her into another hug.

"Are we all ready?"

"Yes," they all replied.

Firion acknowledged their answer, put on his cape and led the group back to Altair, fighting off several monsters along the way.

Altair

Our heroes returned to the base and met with Hilda once more. They could see that the king's current state as well as that of Altair was weighing heavily on her mind.

"Your Highness," said Firion. "We just came back from Poft. How is your father...?"

Hilda put on her bravest face. "Thanks to Minwu, my father is feeling much better these days."

The others weren't convinced, but they decided not to pressure the princess and changed the subject.

"Princess Hilda," said Twilight. "Cid told us that the Empire is using Sunfire as the Dreadnought's fuel, just like his own airship. What is it, really?"

Hilda stood up and explained all she knew. "Sunfire is the symbol of Kashuan. Its light illuminates the castle's ground floor even today. I have heard stories about the flame from Scott and Gordon. For instance, no ordinary torch can carry it."

Firion's eyes lit up. "Perhaps the Sunfire can destroy their ship!"

"It has to," said Cadence hopefully.

Maria and Guy nodded in agreement.

"It must!" Hilda agreed. "Please go to Kashuan at once. Cid will provide you with transportation. But..."

"But...?" asked Spike.

"I wonder how the flame can be brought back?"

"Hmm..." Twilight thought.

"Why don't we," said Maria, "ask Minwu and the king for more details... That is, if they're willing to answer, given the circumstances..."

"I believe so, yes," said Hilda.

The party went into the king's chamber and found Minwu looking downcast.

"I fear I cannot help him," he said.

"How...?"

"As you know, the King had suffered a strike from an arrow to his back. But now, the assault on Altair and the destruction it wrought has taken a toll and his emotional state. His body may heal, but his spirit may not."

The King sat up with what little strength he had left and looked upon our heroes.

"Your Majesty," said Twilight. "Cid told us about Sunfire, the source of his airship's engine. He even said the Empire uses it for their airship's fuel too. Do you two know anything that can help us?"

The king and the white wizard nodded.

"Allow me to start," said Minwu. "Every three years, a ritual of fire is held. The Sunfire is transferred to Egil's Torch so its altar can be purified."

"Egil's Torch?"

"Yes, it is locked away on the highest floor of Kashuan Keep."

The bedridden king spoke next. "Scott sealed the gates of the castle to protect the flame, in case his army was defeated. You will need the Goddess's Bell to open the doors again."

"The Goddess's Bell?" asked Fluttershy. "Where can we find that?"

"Only the royal family of Kashuan knows."

"Then that means," said Twilight.

"Yes, Gordon should know, but we do not know where he disappeared to," Minwu added, shaking his head in disappointment. "However, someone close to both Scott and Gordon may know where it is."

The group immediately knew the answer. They thanked the king and Minwu for their help and went back into the strategy room.

"Princess Hilda," said Twilight. "Can you tell us about the Goddess's Bell?"

"Yes," the human princess responded. "Scott and Gordon have mentioned that before. Kashuan's doors only respond to the voice of a family member or to the sound of a magical bell. The bell is supposedly hidden deep within a cave in the snowlands. You do not intend to go there, I hope."

"We have to if we're gonna stop the Empire."

"Oh, if Gordon were only here, you wouldn't have to risk your lives like this! I wonder where he has gone..."

The Equestrians couldn't help but worry about the princess's emotional state. Some of them wanted to blame Gordon for his apparent cowardice, while others believed him to be greatly scarred by the Empire's actions.

"Well, regret is pointless now. I can only pray for your safe return," Hilda said with her hand on her heart. "Josef knows the snowfields as he does his own garden. He may have some good advice to offer."

A ray of hope shined in the heroes' souls.

"Well, what now?" asked Spike.

"If Gordon won't help us, we're going to find the Goddess's Bell ourselves," Twilight answered.

They all agreed and journeyed to the north once more, to visit their old acquaintance.

Salamand

"I never thought we'd be back here again."

"Neither did I," said Cadence.

"Me neither," Fluttershy added.

"Same here," said Spike.

Their human friends thought the same thing. They went into a familiar house and met with a familiar human.

"Josef!"

The man turned his head and to his delight saw he had visitors.

"Well, isn't this a surprise?" he said.

"We need your help."

"Gladly," Josef said immediately. "You saved my daughter's life, and I intend to fully repay your kindness."

"We need your snowcraft."

Josef replied, "You want to go north and retrieve the Goddess's Bell, I see."

They nodded.

"Very well. My snowcraft is hidden in the cave behind Semitt Falls. Let's get going."

And so, with a new ally among their ranks, the party set out for the cave behind Semitt Falls once again.

Semitt Falls

As our heroes returned to the cavern, they noticed something they hadn't before: a rock. Josef moved it aside, revealing a secret passage. They went through the passage and found his snowcraft.

"Shall we, then?" asked Josef.

"Yes," Firion answered.

Everyone immediately left the cave and journeyed all the way north of Salamand. Using Josef's snowcraft, they were able to travel through the snowfields and battled several yetis along the way, until they finally reached their destination.

Snow Cave

For Twilight and Fluttershy, setting foot into the cave brought back memories of how cold the Ice Cavern was in the Light Warriors' world. Nevertheless, our heroes trudged on as they made a right turn and went up a long flight of stairs and explored the snow-filled first floor, finding treasure chests containing a modest amount of gil. They then went down another level and waded through the water finding only a single door; they went through the door only to walk straight into a trap!

How many times are we gonna find ourselves walking into a trap room? an annoyed Twilight thought.

They did battle with monsters from the bomb family (identified as grenades) and escaped the trap room.

After traversing through the next levels, the party went through the maze until they found a group of large beavers swimming in the water.

"Guy speak beaver."

"You can talk to them?" asked Fluttershy.

"Guy always speak beaver. Guy also knows what animals say."

The yellow pegasus gasped in delight. "I can understand them, too!"

"Is... is that true, Twilight?" asked a bewildered Firion.

"Mm-hmm," she confirmed. "Fluttershy's special talent is communicating with various animals."

Guy and Fluttershy went to the beavers' leader and asked him for help.

"Mm-hmm... Oh, are you sure?"

The beaver chattered. Fluttershy's eyes widened in horror.

"What did it say?"

"He says the Goddess's Bell is up ahead, right over there," said the yellow pegasus.

"But there big monster guarding it."

"Okay."

The party went through the wall and made their way through a grassy section of the hidden room, and discovered the Goddess's Bell's guardian, a giant brown turtle in a blue shell known as an Adamantoise. They all went into their fighting stances, ready to do battle.

Twilight and Cadence cast powerful spells upon the creature: Fire and Blizzard. As they could see the ice magic was most effective against the giant reptile. This only made the creature angrier, and despite their best efforts to protect themselves, the two alicorns were overwhelmed by the beast's assault and lost consciousness. Spike and Fluttershy gasped.

"Twilight!! Cadence!!" they both said in unison.

Acknowledging its defeat, the Adamantoise roared one last time and collapsed, never to breathe again. Before they could get their hands/claws/hooves on their prize, the group quickly rushed to their comrades.

"Twilight! Princess Cadence!" said Spike.

"Please wake up...!" Fluttershy cried.

No response.

"Please... you can't...!"

Firion curled his fingers and put his hand on Twilight's jawbone and felt a pulse; it was still beating.

"She's alive," he confirmed.

"So's Cadence," said Maria, kneeling for the Princess of Love.

Everyone else let out a sigh of relief.

And with that, our heroes opened the chest and acquired the Goddess's Bell. The minute they did so, the wall collapsed revealing a secret stairway. Their task complete, they took the stairs and found themselves near the entrance. Before they could leave, however, a familiar general blocked the way to the entrance.

"Borghen!" Josef shouted.

"Damn you all! You've already obtained the Goddess's Bell! You've ruined me! The Emperor will not tolerate failure. I can't go back now. Well, if I'm going down, you're coming with me!"

The wicked traitor laughed. His joy was short-lived as Josef walked up to him and landed a single punch to the man's face, knocking him down quickly.

"Well, that was brief," said Spike.

Just as they prepared to leave, however, Borghen chuckled weakly.

"I may have lost, but don't think you've won!"

"What do you mean?" Firion asked.

"I've booby-trapped this cave... Just a little parting gift from me to you!"

He laughed one last time, declaring "I'll be waiting for you in Hell! Urngah!!!"

As Borghen lay motionless, the cave began to rumble. At that moment, a large boulder crashed though the wall, threatening to crush our heroes! They ran down the stairs as fast they could until Josef made a decision... He put himself in front of the large rock and stopped it with his bare hands as long as he could.

"Go! Now!!" he yelled, his voice strained.

"No! We not leave you!" Guy shouted.

"Please Josef!!" said Fluttershy.

"I said GO!!"

With Firion carrying the unconscious Twilight and Guy carrying Cadence, they were unable to do anything as they successfully escaped the rolling stone.

"It's up to you now... Firion... Princess Twilight. My sweet Nelly... Farewell..." he uttered, closing his eyes and accepting his fate.

Unable to hold his ground any longer, Josef was pushed further into the wall by the boulder and crushed to death.

"Josef!!" Firion shouted.

"Oh, no..." said Maria with tears running down her cheeks.

The party rushed over to their fallen friend, and as soon as they reached him, they knew he was no longer moving.

"No..." said Fluttershy.

Spike embraced his pegasus friend which she returned as they teared up at the loss of their new human friend.

The others shut their eyes and placed their hands on their hearts, praying for their companion.

They continued onward sadly. Just then, the two alicorns opened their eyes slowly.

"Wh... what happened?" asked Twilight.

The others silently averted their gaze. They noticed there were one teammate short.

"Wh-Where's Josef? And Borghen?" questioned Cadence.

"We defeated Borghen, but..."

"Josef gone..." said Guy.

"G-Gone? But how? And why?"

"After we beat him, th-that monster tried to crush us all with a boulder... and... Josef caught with his bare hands and... and..."

Fluttershy couldn't finish without bursting into tears. Twilight realized the implications of her friend's words and teared up as well, and so did Cadence.

"Oh, no..."

"How will we ever tell his family...?"

They all pondered this as they went outside, rode the snowcraft and left the snow cave behind with heavy hearts.

Author's Note

Sorry this took so long.

Chapter 6: Sunfire

The sun slowly set during the ride back to the village. Our heroes shared a look of sorrow on their faces, for they were unable to save their friend's life. Though Firion was busy steering the vehicle and kept a straight face, his heart felt heavy. Tears fell down Maria's cheeks. Guy sighed deeply as did Spike. And the ponies? Each shared a look of guilt and shame, for there was nothing they could do given that Twilight and Cadence were unconscious at the time of Josef's death, and Fluttershy was afraid. Afraid of the fact that she was just about to be crushed to death along with the rest of the party.

If only... the yellow pegasus thought, sniffling. If only I wasn't such a coward...!

As the snowcraft came to a halt, the group marched solemnly to the village and deliver the bad news.

Salamand

The group went directly to Josef's house and told his wife and daughter everything that had transpired. The now widowed mother could only weep in Maria's arms, while Nelly was comforted by Fluttershy.

"Daddy..." she said between sobs. "Daddy's never gonna come back, is he?"

The little pegasus closed her eyes and shook her head.

"I'm so sorry, Nelly," Fluttershy answered, sniffling.

The others weren't doing so well either. The princesses sat on their haunches with Spike holding onto Twilight, while Firion and Guy sat at the table all mourning the loss of their friend.

"I can't believe he's gone..." said Twilight.

"Neither can I," said Cadence.

"If only we'd been stronger... If only we... stood a better chance against that beast..."

Guy sat up and knelt to the princesses and caressing their manes.

"Even so..." said Firion, looking at the item they had searched the whole cave for. "We won't let this opportunity go to waste. Josef gave his life to save us. The Empire must be stopped."

Everyone else closed their eyes deep in thought. They knew Firion was right; the Dreadnought was still an ever-present threat upon all that crossed its path. They left Josef's house and stayed at the local inn to rest for the night.

The next morning, our heroes left the town of Salamand behind with the Goddess' Bell. To say that they were not happy with recent events would be an understatement. True, they acquired one of the items needed to enter Kashuan, but at the cost of a living being's life.

"Firion..." said Twilight. "Before we get there, to Kashuan... I feel like we should get back to Altair, and tell the princess everything."

"I agree," said Maria. Guy nodded, also in agreement.

It was a long journey back to the village, and while they had fought several monsters on the way and some of their magic powers increased, they were in no mood to celebrate.

Altair

As they finally approached the rebel hideout, the party stopped but only for a minute or two. They went into the meeting chamber, greeted by everyone.

"You're all safe," said Hilda. She took notice of the group's grim expressions. "What is the matter?"

"Princess Hilda," said Twilight. "We've got the bell, but..."

"But...?"

As our heroes explained everything, Hilda held her hand in front of her mouth in shock and sadness. The others bowed their heads in respect.

"So Josef gave his life for you and that bell," said Hilda. "We cannot let his sacrifice be in vain. Please take the bell to Kashuan Keep at once."

"Yes, Your Highness," said Firion. "But what about you?"

"We will meet you there on Cid's airship."

"What will we do from there?" asked Fluttershy.

"Find the Dreadnought and destroy it, of course."

And so it was settled. After gathering more supplies, the party left the town and headed back for Poft in order to reach Kashuan.

Poft

Our heroes re-entered the pub and requested a trip to the Kashuan region as they planned. They boarded the airship and flew straight towards the Kashuan region which lay southeast of Poft, encased in a large forested area. As soon the airship docked, the group surveyed their surroundings and marched onward to the castle while the airship took off, heading back towards Poft...

Kashuan Keep

As our heroes approached the castle gates, they saw a flame crackling near the entrance.

"This must be it," Firion observed.

"It has to be," Twilight agreed.

"So this is Sunfire," said Cadence.

"I don't get it," said Spike. "If this flame's so important, shouldn't there be someone guarding it?"

"I guess you're right," Twilight agreed. "But I think we should worry about getting that torch for now."

As they approached the castle gates, Twilight pulled out the Goddess's Bell and rang the object, allowing the gates to open and granting her and the others access. Despite the importance of the castle, our heroes couldn't help notice the place in disrepair as there were several cracks on the walls and floors. When they reached the second floor, a familiar person was already there standing with his back visible.

"Gordon?!"

The figure turned around and to his surprise, saw the group he met several times in Altair. "Oh, it's you all..."

"What are you doing here...?" asked Twilight.

"I came here... to obtain the Sunfire."

"What?!" everyone yelled.

"You mean," said Firion, "you didn't actually run away like everyone said?"

"That is correct. I am done running away from my duties. And I want to honor my brother's last wish and bring peace back to this world."

The whole group stood silent.

"I thought I was the only one who could retrieve the Sunfire. That's why I came back here. I came looking for Egil's Torch, but I couldn't get past the monsters dwelling here. I couldn't just leave empty-handed, so I've been standing here, stuck."

"But you know this castle quite well, don't you?" asked Maria.

Gordon shook his head. "This castle is full of secrets even I don't fully comprehend."

Oh, dear, thought Twilight. That's not good.

"I cannot guide you, but will you take me with you?"

The party looked at each other with a worried look on their faces. They knew that Gordon was risking his life for a noble cause but feared he would share the same fate as Josef. However, they still admired the prince's newfound courage and smiled, accepting his request, gaining a new ally in the process. They turned and nodded, accepting Gordon's offer. With the prince on their side, the party marched onward. On the third floor they fought with creatures such as wererats and ogres. But none more dangerous than the undead Shadows and Ghouls which they had seen before at the Snow Cave.

On the fifth floor, Firion and the other humans went straight into another trap room but triumphed over the monsters. Twilight and the others went in the opposite direction and found a treasure chest sitting in the middle of the chamber; upon opening it, they obtained the Golden Armor. They chose to wait for the humans and when they did arrive, they gave the armor to Gordon and moved on until they found another staircase.

When they went down back to the fourth floor, our heroes opened the door and finally found what they had been looking for: Egil's Torch!

"There it is!" Spike said excitedly, running towards the torch.

"Spike, wait!" warned Twilight. "We don't know what..."

But it was too late, as a shrieking flame-like entity appeared before the little dragon, scaring him to death.

"...may be guarding it," Twilight finished.

Spike ran back to the rest of the group and hid behind a nervous Fluttershy.

"We need that torch!" Firion declared.

To our heroes' shock and horror, this foe was able to absorb all elemental magic. Not even the alicorns' magic could do much harm. But with the mythril weapons on hand, they knew they had at least a chance of victory. Firion slashed at the creature with his mythril blade, causing it to write in pain and agony. It began to fade as if it were extinguished by a strong wind.

With the Red Soul defeated, the party's life forces increased as did their physical endurance along the use of their weapons.

*music stops*

Once the dust settled, Spike walked up and grabbed Egil's Torch. With their prize in hand, the party returned to the first floor of the keep and used the torch to acquire the Sunfire.

As they exited the castle, Firion noticed something in the sky.

"Look! The airship!"

Sure enough, Cid's airship was moving quickly as if it were evading something pursuit. At that moment, they saw it. The others have already seen it, but Twilight, Spike, and Fluttershy's eyes grew wide and their jaws dropped at the sight of the massive airship in pursuit of the smaller vessel.

"Is that...?"

Cadence nodded grimly. "It's the Dreadnought!"

A metal claw appeared from just below the deadly weapon, grabbed the airship and pulled it inside.

"Cid!" Twilight gasped.

"CIIIIIID!!" everyone shouted.

"Oh, no..." Maria gasped.

"They got him," said Firion.

"What about Princess Hilda? You don't think...?" Fluttershy said, worried.

A wave of dread broke over the group; the probability of the rebel leader being captured by the Empire existed.

Without the airship, our heroes had no choice but to walk all the way to Poft, and so they did. Just then, Fluttershy heard a faint sound.

"Do you hear that?" she said.

"What is it, Fluttershy?"

"It sounds like a 'kweh...' I've never heard such a cry before."

In the deep forest our heroes found large yellow birds frolicking about in the tall grass. Fluttershy's eyes widened, remembering the statues she saw in Castle Cornelia.

"Are those...?" said Firion.

"Chocobos," Guy replied with a smile.

"Oh... my... goodness...!" the yellow pegasus squealed, getting the birds' attention.

"Kweh?" squawked one of the creatures.

"It's alright. We won't hurt you."

Looking at the new creatures quizzically, the large birds approached the Equestrians in a cautious manner.

"It's okay, Mr. Chocobo."

"Kweh."

"Oh, heh heh. Miss Chocobo. Will you help us get back over to the nearest town?"

The Chocobos chirped in agreement, allowing the humans to ride on their backs.

"Let's go!"

Firion and the others hopped on the Chocobos and rode forth. As they traveled through the region, the ponies noticed that no monsters even came near them while they were riding with the large avians.

They finally arrived at Poft and as soon as the humans dismounted, the giant birds immediately retreated back to the forest.

"Wait! Please come back!" said Fluttershy.

Maria placed her hand on Fluttershy's shoulder saying, "I think it's alright, Fluttershy. They went back home, because that's where they belong."

"I guess you're right."

"I understand, Fluttershy, but we need answers," said Twilight.

Poft

Once they entered the village, the party began questioning everyone in the village and learned that Princess Hilda came to support them in their journey.

"So, it's true?" Cadence questioned.

"Both Cid and Princess Hilda were aboard the airship when the Dreadnought captured it?" asked Twilight.

"It's true..." said a little girl.

"We've got to go back to Altair right away!" said Firion.

"Right!" everyone agreed.

And thus, everyone left the town and made it back to Altair.

Altair

As soon as they entered the town, our heroes returned to the base and found several of the people in distress and sorrow; they immediately knew the reason why.

It was decided that they should rest for the night and on the next day, they were to go to where the Dreadnought stopped to refuel and destroy it once and for all.

Meanwhile, in the Crystal Empire

Shining Armor and his troops, still recuperating from their previous battle, rested in a room next to his and Cadence's at the Crystal Palace.

"You all... did pretty good..." said Shining.

"Thank you, sir," one of the soldiers replied. "I kind of wish your sister's Ponyville friends knew about this."

"Me, too," the other one agreed.

The white unicorn looked at them like they had lost their minds.

"Are you two crazy? It's bad enough that my family's in another world dealing with the creature sending out these monsters after us, but Twily's friends? What would happen if they came here and couldn't handle them? Now I'm not saying they're weak, because they've definitely handled these things before. But what if the monsters were stronger than the last? What if they died?! Twilight would be devastated, and she'd never forgive me. Cadence would think I'm a failure..."

Unfortunately for Shining Armor, two sinister figures overheard the entire conversation; one opted to return to their home world, but the other insisted they stay and hear more...

Author's Note

Now with the Sunfire in their possession, our heroes will finally be able to destroy the Dreadnought. But as you've read, Shining Armor may inadvertently play into the Emperor's hands.

Chapter 7: The Dreadnought

A horrible laugh...

It was all that Twilight and Cadence could hear in the darkness...

What they saw...

A frightened alicorn filly...

"Flurry Heart...!"

The two ran toward the child, only for her to vanish without a trace...

The wicked being laughed once more...

"You cannot save this little one," it said.

"No...!"

"Bow... to me..."

"Never!"

"Then die!"

The two alicorns sat up and gasped. They looked at each other panting. Looking into the others' eyes, they immediately knew they shared the same exact dream. Twilight and Cadence knew that if they were to make sure this dream didn't become a reality, they were to defeat the Emperor and save little Flurry.

The princesses met up with their friends at a table.

"Is Egil's Torch still lit?"

"Yes," said Guy. "Flame still burning."

"That's incredible."

"So, what's the plan?" Spike asked.

"Isn't that obvious, Spike?" said Twilight. "We rescue Cid and Princess Hilda, look for Flurry, and use the Sunfire to destroy the Dreadnought before they have a chance to use it again."

"I agree," said Firion. "But first we need some information."

"Are you coming, Gordon?"

"Yes, I am," the prince answered. "I cannot abandon Hilda. I won't!"

"Then it's settled."

Twilight nodded in agreement. They left the hotel and went back into the base to learn from a wizard that the Empire had a supply station far north of Fynn, and it was there the Dreadnought was most likely refueling. Our heroes left Altair and stepped back into the field and journeyed to the Fynn area. Just several miles northwest of the town lay the airship used by the Palamecian Empire in their quest for power. To reach the ship, they had to travel through a deep forest, and a vile marsh. Finally, in a grassy area surrounded almost entirely by trees, lay the evil warship. Once they approached it, Twilight and Cadence glared directly at the machine, knowing this was going to be their last chance at stopping it before the number of casualties increased.

Before that, though Twilight cast an invisibility spell on herself and her fellow Equestrians to evade detection.

Inside the Dreadnought

As soon as our heroes went inside the dreaded warship, they surveyed the area and found technology everywhere.

"I can't believe we're here," Twilight whispered.

"This thing has taken so many lives. It's time to put an end to it!"

The group showed their pass to the sentry guarding the entrance; satisfied, he allowed them entry.

"That was... easy," said Twilight.

"Yeah..." Spike agreed.

Our heroes walked along the steel floor and made their way through the ship. Up the stairs were several doors, but Twililght, not wanting to be caught by surprise once more, ignored them and went left from the stairs to find a treasure chest. Upon opening it, they found 600 gil.

Might as well take it, Twilight thought.

The party split up once more with Twilight, Spike, Firion and Gordon heading straight into a stairway that led them to a treasure chest. The iron gate couldn't be opened, but as they went near the stairs they found a secret passage into the cell. They opened the chest and accidentally released an imperial sergeant along with a lower ranked soldier and three evil magicians!

Twilight and Spike targeted the sergeant with their magic spells and dragon breath, defeating him quickly with Gordon taking down the soldier with ease. The magicians, however, proved to be formidable with their high-level magic. Firion rolled forwards, dodging their attacks and sliced one magician in half, causing it to vanish. Gordon also defeated a magician and Spike quickly sent the last remaining magician after nearly being struck with a level 5 thunder spell.

"Victory!" said Spike. For their efforts, the part was rewarded a Sleep Blade. Tucking it away in their bag, the group left the room and ventured onward.

*music changes back*

The group that consisted of Maria and Cadence along with Flutterhsy and Guy, went straight into two rooms on the left only to fight several monsters including Mines, another member of the Bomb family. After defeating them as well as increasing their agility and magical capabilities, the four went through the door into the upper-right corner and went down the stairs.

Firion's group then reunited with them on the next level to find four large cats with long whiskers waiting for them. Standing their ground, the party drew out their weapons ready to fight these Werepanthers. The creatures attacks occasionally inflicted poison on their adversaries, but were taken care of with antidotes. As Twilight and Maria cast their magic, the monsters were defeated, and the two ladies magic force increased.

Twilight heard something. In the cell blocked by an iron gate, they could see two people occupying the cell as prisoners. They were none other than Cid and Princess Hilda.

"It's them!" said Maria.

"We need get them out!"

"Right!" said Fluttershy.

With the iron gate opened, our heroes ran straight into the cell.

"Princess Hilda! Cid!"

"Everyone!" Hilda cried. "I meant to meet you all at Kashuan Keep, but things didn't go as planned... I'm sorry."

"It's alright, Your Highness," Twilight assured her.

Hilda looked around, confused. "Who said that??"

"Oh, right!" Twilight chuckled. "I forgot I was invisible."

"Well, anyway... Thank you for coming to rescue me."

"Let's save the 'thank yous' for later," said Cid. "I'll keep the airship with the princess. You find the engine and toss the Sunfire in, got it? I'm gonna get the airship ready for takeoff, and I don't plan on waiting around long!"

The two prisoners escaped the cell, leaving the group behind to finish their work. Our heroes, having freed the two, left the area whence they came and went back to the main room and after going through the narrow corridors and more stairs, they reached the next level. It was an area with a large section of walls in the center, and on the floor the insivibile Equestrians saw several soldiers moving around, inspecting the pipes from which flowed steam.

After defeating the monsters they came across, the party went through the door and after descending and another flight of stairs discovered several soldiers patrolling the area.

"Just what we need: a heavily guarded entrance," said Twilight.

"But we need to get to engine," said Guy.

He was right. They snuck around the guards as quietly as they could and found four treasure chests all lined up in a row. The first one on the left contained a trident; the first one on the right had a Giant's Helm for Guy who quickly placed it on his head. The second chest from the left contained a knife identified as a Main Gauche which raised the invasion rate of its wielder.

As soon as they opened the third chest from the left, a fearsome giant called Hill Gigas appeared! The creature wasted no time delivering its fist right to Firion's face.

"Are you alright, Firion?"

"Y-Yeah," he said, rubbing his face.

Guy furiously charged the giant and gave it a slash across the chest with his axe. The beast growled, clutching its chest and leering at our heroes. Spike let out a powerful flame, causing the giant to flail about, while Maria cast a level 7 thunder spell on it, causing it to collapse and vanish.

With the giant defeated, our heroes obtained the Ice Shield, but before they could go up the stairs in the center of the floor, several of the guards had witnessed the battle. And if things weren't bad enough, Twilight's invisibility spell broke at the moment. Thinking quickly, the two alicorns grabbed the guards with a levitation spell and tossed them to the walls, knocking them unconscious. The party finally reached the door and found themselves in a small room with only a door in the west corner; they opened the door and went down another flight of stairs to find a room with several guards.

"The ship's core has to be here," Firion deduced.

Our heroes snuck around the area to avoid being caught, and after exploiting the guards' blind spots, finally reached the engine room. Within stood four resting engines and in the middle stood a machine with a glowing green aura. Twilight levitated Egil's torch, carrying it and sending the Sunfire into the core, causing the engines to overload, and explode.

"We did it! Let's escape!" said Spike. But just then the Dark Knight appeared, clenching his fists.

"You!" said Firion.

"What have you done?!" yelled the Dark Knight.

"Making sure your technological terror never destroys again," Cadence glared.

Maria gasped, apparently recognizing his voice. "Leon!" she shouted. "Is it really you?"

"Never mind, Maria," said Firion. "We've got no time for that now! Let's catch Cid's airship!"

The Dark Knight growled. "Don't think you've won yet!"

The rest of the party agreed and ran. After hurrying through several flights of stairs, they finally reached the airship and quickly boarded the vessel. As it took off, the sound of several explosions alerted them and as they watched the Dreadnought be destroyed, the Equestrians felt elated for it would never again kill or destroy.

Aboard the airship, our heroes celebrated with cheer and joy.

"We did it!"

"We've won!"

"We did it, Princess Twilight," said Firion. "We've stopped them."

"Yeah, we did."

"Let's get back to the base; everyone's gotta hear the news!"

While the others were celebrating, Maria was still in shock.

"Maria?" asked Twilight.

The young woman's eyes teared up.

"You don't really think...?"

Maria's thoughts went back to their encounter with the Dark Knight. Could it truly have been her dear brother?

Leon... she thought. Why...?

Meanwhile...

An imperial messenger nervously walked into the throne room, kneeling before his Emperor.

"Your Excellency!"

"What is it?"

The messenger gulped. "Th-The Dreadnought..."

"Yes...?"

"Th-Th-The Dreadnought h-h-has been... has been d-d-d--"

"Destroyed?" the Emperor asked calmly.

The messenger immediately replied, "Yes! We've lost the Dreadnought, sire! The ones responsible were a band of teenage rebels and different colored beings! Please... don't punish me!"

To his surprise, Mateus chuckled.

"Y... Your Excellency?"

"Oh, forgive me, but did you think the Dreadnought was all we had in our arsenal?"

"Well... no, sire! But I thought with the rebels--"

"Silence!"

The grunt took a step back.

"I have something far greater planned for those worms. And after that..." The evil man looked over to his prisoner, chuckling once more.

*music fades out*

Author's Note

I'll be changing a few events in the next chapter. That way, everyone can somewhat relax.

Chapter 8: Heroes' Past

Our heroes were able to rescue Princess Hilda and Cid, as well as destroy the Dreadnought which brought death and destruction to all that stood in the Empire's path, but they were still no closer to finding Flurry Heart and the rest of the captive Crystal Ponies. Maria, on the other hand, had only one thought on her mind: had she ever met the Dark Knight before?

"Maria...?" asked Twilight.

"Yes?" said Maria.

"Is anything bothering you...?"

"No... not at all... At least I don't think so, no."

Twilight knew she was lying, however.

"Maria," she said firmly, yet politely. "I have a friend who prides herself on honesty. I've learned a thing or two from her about lying."

The young woman lowered her head in shame and guilt.

"It's about the Dark Knight, isn't it? Do you really think that was brother?"

Maria didn't answer; she closed her eyes and stood silently, trying to understand what she and the others might do. Was it truly Leon whom she and her friends thought was missing?

Twilight saw her friend's discomfort and decided to leave her alone. She then saw Firion sitting down in one of the passenger's seats and sat next to him.

"Firion?" asked Twilight.

"Yes?" the bandana wearing youth replied.

"May I ask you a question? What are going to do after this whole thing is over?"

"You mean, after the war ends?"

"Yeah. I mean, I know there's no more Dreadnought to worry about, but that doesn't mean Emperor Mateus will call it quits just yet."

"I... I don't know. After all, my friends and I lost our parents."

"I can't even imagine what that feels like... Well, actually--" Twilight stopped herself.

"What is it?"

The purple alicorn sighed. "I have a friend who lost her parents at a young age..."

"I'm sorry."

"That's alright."

Twilight walked out onto the deck and found her sister-in-law leaning on the starboard side of the airship and letting out a weary sigh.

"Cadence?"

"Yes, Twilight?"

"Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

"Please, don't get me wrong. I'm glad we stopped the Dreadnought, but..."

"I know. We'll find her."

The airship soon landed near the entrance to Altair. The group disembarked and was greeted by a thunderous sound.

*music fades out*

Altair

The townspeople cheered and applauded our heroes.

"Make way for the heroes!" a good man said.

"You saved Princess Hilda! Thank you so much!" said a happy woman.

They went into the rebel base and were greeted with a group of happy faces.

"Welcome back!"

"Princess Hilda's back!"

"You're safe!"

Hilda smiled and waved her arms, silencing the crowd.

"People of Altair," she said. "It is a great honor to stand here before you once again." The crowd applauded. "And I have an announcement to make: it is with great pleasure to tell you and the rest of the world that the Palamecian Empire's ultimate weapon, the Dreadnought, has been destroyed!"

The news sparked a deafening ovation from the crowd, so loud that our heroes' ears started to ring.

"Now, my dear subjects... Let us celebrate this momentous occasion! To our heroes: Firion, Maria, Guy, and guests from the land of Equestria!"

The entire base exploded with joy as our heroes nervously rubbed the back of their heads.

A few hours later, Twilight and Firion stood in front of the fountain in the town square discussing each other's past.

"So you used to be a unicorn, huh?" said Firion. "And you didn't think friendship was important at first? That's hard to believe."

"I know, right?" Twilight replied. "That is until Princess Celestia sent me and Spike to Ponyville, and that's where we met our friends, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie. We've lived there ever since and had some real fun times. And others not so fun. But enough about me. What about you?"

"Well..." said Firion. "I was actually born in Salamand, if you can believe that."

"What? Salamand?"

"Yes, that's right. But my parents passed away sometime later and I was taken in by an adoptive family that lived in Fynn. And that's when I met Maria and Leon. We've been friends ever since."

"I see. But what about Guy?"

"We met him when he was just ten, and he didn't exactly know how to communicate with humans until we taught him how."

"Huh?" Twilight raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Well..."

Meanwhile, Fluttershy and Guy sat at the local inn.

"There's been something I've been meaning to ask you," said the yellow pegasus.

"Yes...?"

"You were really good at communicating with those beavers at the Snow Cave... How and when did you come to understand their language?"

"Simple. Me raised by animals when I was child."

"Oh my goodness." That's probably why his speech seems broken, she thought.

"Sometime later, I found self in Fynn with Firion, Leon and Maria. Been friends ever since."

Fluttershy smiled warmly.

"Firion and family taught me how to learn human ways. What about you? You talk with animals, too."

"That's true. In fact, that's how I earned my cutie mark."

"Cutie mark? That butterfly mark on your flank?"

"Yes."

"How do ponies earn cutie marks?"

"Pretty much when we find our special talent. It pretty much started when I was a little filly, and my friend Rainbow Dash defended me from teasing bullies."

"Hmm! Guy no like bullies," he said.

"Yes, I know. Anyway, I was waving the flag for this race between Rainbow Dash and the bullies, but they went a little too fast and accidentally sent me down to the ground."

"Were you hurt?"

"No, but the butterflies saved me. I was so entranced by what I saw on the ground: the grass, the trees, and all the animals. Suddenly, there was this explosion caused by a rainbow, making the animals run and hide. After it was all over, I went to reassure them that everything was okay and that there was nothing to be afraid. That's how I learned about my talent at communicating with the animals, and then my cutie mark appeared."

Guy smiled and sniffled a bit. "That was beautiful story, Fluttershy. What about your friend?"

"Well, it turns out that the explosion happened because of Rainbow Dash. She flew at an incredible speed, causing a Sonic Rainboom which not only gave me my cutie mark, but Twilight's, too! And our other friends."

"In another way, you all connected..."

"Yes."

Maria and Spike sat at a table in the conference room at the base, talking about each other's past.

"So this 'Sonic Rainboom' as you call it, made Twilight hatch your egg?"

"Yup," the dragon confirmed. "That's how I met Twilight Sparkle for the first time and how she got her cutie mark!"

"You mean that set of stars on her flank, right? I remember Princess Cadence telling me that cutie marks are what ponies earn when they find their special talents, right?"

"That's it. And no, dragons don't have cutie marks."

Maria laughed. "I wonder what my brother would..." she said, stopping herself.

"Maria?"

"It... it's nothing..."

Elsewhere, Princess Cadence, Gordon and Hilda were discussing the group's next move.

"You know, with the Dreadnought destroyed," said Hilda, "the war has reached its conclusion."

"I don't think so," Cadence replied. "Not yet."

"How so?"

"Please don't tell me you've forgotten," said Gordon. "The Emperor is most likely coming up with new ways to rule the world."

"And he's still keeping my daughter prisoner, along with several of my subjects from the Crystal Empire."

"Oh, right. Hee hee..."

Cadence couldn't help but feel suspicious. "I'm... going to check on your father."

"All right. I'll be heading to my room as well."

The Princess of Love looked on with a suspicious glint in her eye. "Something's wrong here..."

"I agree, but I think I'll go with you..."

Something's not right with Hilda... Gordon thought as he and Cadence went into the King's chamber. As soon as they approaching the bedridden monarch, Minwu stepped forward and shook his head in sadness.

"M-Minwu...?" the Princess of Love asked. "Is he going to..."

"I am afraid so, Princess Cadence."

The King stirred. "Princess Cadence...?"

"Yes, Your Majesty?"

"Could you please bring everyone here?"

"Y-Yes... Your Majesty," she replied, bowing and quickly leaving to gather her friends. Gordon stayed behind, however.

"Your Majesty...? What's the matter?"

"I'll tell you everything... as soon as everyone is here..."

Meanwhile in the Crystal Empire

Shining Armor and his troops patrolled the Empire for the ninth time since the most recent attack, and there were still no signs of illicit activity.

"I suppose we can rest now, sir."

"No... not yet..."

"But, Shining Armor, sir! We've been wondering around the Crystal Empire nine times, and we still haven't a clue as to what these things are or where they may be hiding...!"

Unbeknownst to the ponies, the beings who eluded capture were still eavesdropping on them.

Shining Armor sighed. "Very well. I'd like one of you to write a letter to each of Twily's Ponyville friends: Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie. I want each of them to know that she, Fluttershy, Spike, and Cadence were called forth into the world where these things came from and brought our child into."

"Sir, yes, sir!"

The two wizards, surprised at hearing this, saw their chance to escape Equestria for now and inform their dark master of the news they had gathered. But before they could, they sensed a great power coming from within the palace. They snuck into the sanctum where they found the Crystal Heart.

"You have no right to be in this sacred chamber. Leave at once!" it said.

The ghastly creatures began chanting in an ancient tongue, and as they raised their arms, their claws glowed, firing a dark magic beam, sapping the Crystal Heart of nearly all its power. They let out a small sinister laugh and escaped back to their world.

"What was that?!" said a distant voice.

Shining and the guards rushed over to the Crystal Heart and to their horror, found its light dimming...

Author's Note

There you have it. Got pretty serious in the end, didn't it?

Anyway, Firion and Guy's backstory comes from the Japanese novelization which is also where the Emperor gets his name.

Chapter 9: The King's Passing/Deist/Deception

As the rest of our heroes stepped into the King's chamber, an overwhelming sense of sorrow permeated the air.

"Your Majesty?" asked Twilight. "Minwu, is he...?"

The white wizard shook his head grimly. For he knew that the King of Fynn's final moments had come. Gordon, too, had seen it and sat the king' side.

"Gordon... Minwu... Firion... And Twilight..." he said weakly.

"Your Majesty," said Firion.

"I have one final request to ask of each of you... Please... listen carefully..."

He faced the Kashuan Prince first.

"Gordon... You've grown so strong... I want you to lead our army! Do all you can to help Hilda..."

Gordon knelt and answered, "My Liege... I swear it on my very life."

"Minwu," he said addressing his loyal white wizard. "You know of the legend... The legend that speaks of an ultimate magic..."

Minwu knew exactly what he spoke of, but the Equestrians did not.

"What is he talking about?" said Fluttershy.

"What I speak of... has been sealed away, and the seal may only be broken when the world stands on the brink of destruction... I believe that time has come. Do you agree?"

The white wizard agreed. "The time to break the seal binding the Ultima Tome is upon us!"

"Ultima...?" Twilight asked herself. Whatever it is, it sounds really powerful... Maybe too powerful...

"Firion," said the king, "I would have you go to Deist, home of the dragoon warriors."

"Dragoon warriors?"

"Yes. I was told that all of the dragoons were slain in an attack by the Empire. Yet I refuse to believe there could be no survivors in so noble a group. If we are to stand against the Emperor, I am convinced we will need the dragoons and their wyverns."

W-wyverns...? Twilight thought.

"Yes, sire..."

"Twilight Sparkle."

"Yes?"

"Which one do you wish to aid on their mission?"

"Wh-What? You want me to choose who to go with?"

"Not right away... If you combine your efforts... the day of our victory... will come. This I ask... of each of you!" The king's strength waned as he finally closed his eyes. "Take care... of... Hilda..."

With those words, the King of Fynn had died. Everyone closed his and her eyes and prayed for the fallen ruler.

"We should save our tears for another time," said Gordon, his eyes shut. "We must carry out the king's last wishes. We each have our duties... Let them not go unfulfilled!"

Twilight, Spike and Fluttershy left the King's chamber and into the conference room, telling everyone present of the King's death. The news brought a great sorrow to the people, for they had believed that the King would recover, but with the imperial attacks weighing heavy on his heart, they supposed he would never fully heal. The Equestrians thought about all the deaths they encountered upon entering this world, wondering if they would even overcome this tragedy.

First, Twilight thought, there was Prince Scott... everyone who was killed by the Dreadnought... Josef who gave his life to save ours... and now Princess Hilda's father...

*music fades out*

Joining up with Firion, they later strolled into the meeting room and knelt before Gordon.

"Can you tell us about Deist?" asked Twilight.

"Certainly," said Gordon. "It is an island that lies north of Palamecia. When the Emperor first attacked, we dismissed it as a mere skirmish. But he feared the power of the dragoons; he meant to wipe them out."

Twilight gasped, "Wipe out the dragoons? But why...?"

The prince closed his eyes and raised his hands on his chin. "Some say that the dragoons speak the language of the wyverns, also known as Wind Drakes."

"The wyverns?" she asked.

"Yes, that is correct. If you go to Deist, you may find that the wyverns yet live still. It would make for a most potent ally. You should visit the port of Paloom and seek out a ship to take you to Deist."

"I see..." Twilight replied. "Thank you, Your Highness..."

The purple alicorn stopped in her tracks.

"Are you still thinking about what to do? About... the King's last words?"

Twilight nodded. "I... I need some time to think. I mean..."

The others immediately understood. And so they stayed at the inn for the night.

The next morning...

"Twilight... Have you decided?"

"Yes. Firion, I'm going to Deist with you."

"Princess Cadence?" said Firion.

"I think... I'll stay in Altair until you get back."

"Are you sure?" asked Fluttershy.

"Yes... I'm sure," she replied. "There's just something I can't put my hoof on, but I feel like something's wrong here... real wrong..."

Twilight walked up to sister-in-law and whispered, "What's going on?"

Cadence whispered back, "It's about Hilda... She seems very... cheerful even though her father died..."

"What?"

"If anything unnatural happens, I'll let you know... somehow."

The heroes continued onward to Paloom. Near the entrance, Twilight thought of Cadence's words.

"What is it?"

"It's nothing."

Whatever the Princess of Love would investigate, however, would have to wait until after the others' task in Deist was complete.

Paloom

"You're lookin' for a vessel to Deist, are ye? Well, this be yer lucky day! My ship's about to set sail for that very destination. Be ye wantin' a ride?"

Firion was about to answer but was stopped by a suspicious Maria. "There's something strange about this woman," she said.

"I agree with her, Firion," said Twilight. "I don't think we should do this. It's just too... convenient."

"But it's for free!" the young man argued. "Miss, we'd like to take up your offer. Please take us to Deist!"

The woman's eyes lit up. "Now you're talkin'! Me name's Leila. I'll be waitin' for you outside the town, okay? We'll weigh anchor as soon as you're set to go."

As soon as Leila left, Twilight and Maria put their faces in their hooves/hands.

"I can't believe you just agreed to that," said the alicorn.

FIrion shrugged. They went back into the shops, purchasing more goods for their quest when suddenly, Twilight thought to ask.

"You know," she said. "Those feathers really have me curious. What are they?"

"Oh, those?" said Firion. "They're called Phoenix Downs."

"Phoenix..." Twilight said.

"Downs...?" Fluttershy added.

"As in the bird which comes back to life in flames from the ashes?" Just like Philomena, the Princess' pet.

"That's right," said Maria. "Apparently, these little items can bring back a fallen warrior when he or she dies."

"But... if that's true... What about Gordon's brother? Or Josef?!"

A sudden realization came to them. "I... I'm not sure," said Firion. "Unless..."

"Unless...?" Spike inquired.

"Unless... trying to stop a boulder from crushing all of us and sacrificing his life doesn't count. And Prince Scott? His wounds... may have been too severe..."

The group lowered their heads, recalling the tragedies they had faced. Each of them looked up to each other and vowed not to let any more tragedies occur. As soon as they left Paloom, they found another ship near the shore; without a doubt, this ship belonged to their supposed guide, Leila.

Aboard Leila's ship

Just as the ship was sailing through the ocean, Leila confronted our heroes with a band of pirates, revealing her true self in the process.

"What the...?"

"Trustin' pirates doesn't say much for the space ye got between yer ears. Now give us yer belongings! Be lucky I'm sparing yer lives!"

"I knew you were up to something!" Maria glared.

Twilight, too, narrowed her eyes at the pirates who would rob them. "What if we say no?"

"Is it a fight yer wantin'? Ye really are stupid," Leila said. "Get 'em, boys!"

Leila's men all charged at a heroes but quickly defeated; some of them were even thrown overboard but luckily had the ability to swim. They even climbed back on the deck, but were knocked out with a punch from both Firion and Guy. Leila stood by and dropped to her knees, unable to believe her pirates were beaten easily by a band of teenagers and colorful ponies.

"Wh... What happened?" one of the pirates asked.

"D-Did we just... get beat by a bunch o' kids and ponies?!"

"No way...!"

"Enough!" the pirate exclaimed. "I know when I'm beat. Go on then. Do what you're gonna do an' be done with it."

Leila knelt, expecting to be punished for her attempt to steal from them. But to her surpise, Firion did not raise his sword but instead turned to his friends.

"What are ye up to?" a suspicious Leila asked.

"Will you excuse for a sec?" asked Firion.

The group huddled, whispering to each other on what Firion was thinking.

"What is it, Firion?" Twilight whispered.

"I think... we should have her join us."

"WHAT?!" Twilight and Maria said as quietly as they could.

"You... you can't be serious." the purple alicorn glared.

"Do you think we should let her?" asked Spike.

"I'm in favor of not letting her join after what the stunt she tried to pull!" Maria stated.

"I agree," said Twilight. "She did try to steal our stuff."

"I disagree," said Firion. "Everyone deserves a second chance."

"That's true, Twilight," said Fluttershy. "We should at least try. What do you think, Guy?"

"Well..." the giant thought. "She and pirates did attack us. But if she being honest now, we should go with it."

Twilight thought hard about what everyone said. "Let's put it to a vote then." They all nodded.

"All in favor of Leila joining us, raise your hoof, hand, or claw."

Firion, Guy, Fluttershy, and Spike all raised their appendages.

"All in favor of the opposite, raise your hoof, hand, or claw."

Twilight and Maria raised their appendages while the others lowered theirs. The former sighed in defeat.

"Majority rules. Alright, Leila. Welcome to the group..." I feel like I'm going to regret this... she thought.

The pirate was taken aback. "So, ye want to fight the Empire TOGETHER?!"

"That's correct," said Firion.

"A bunch of outcasts like us, fightin' right alongside the likes of you," she said looking at everyone present. Turning around, Leila contemplated her next decision. A chance to fight against the evil Palamecian Empire... "I think I like the sound of that! To yer posts, boys! Whether it be Deist or the bloody edge of the world, we'll get ye there!"

With Leila as their new ally--to Maria's dismay--the party now had full control over her ship to go wherever they pleased. With the matter settled, our heroes sailed further north to the Deist region. Before they could find a place to dock, some sea creatures jumped onto the deck: three floating Killer Fish and a Sea Snake. The Sea Snake attempted to grab Leila, but she was too quick for the serpent, and the pirate quickly defeated it with her level four Thunder spell. The others quickly dispatched the Killer Fish with their magic and weapons, allowing each of their attributes to increase.

Approaching the island at last, the ship docked near the eastern shores of Deist. The party disembarked and encountered several ogres along the way. Despite their brutal strength, the ogres were taken care of as the party moved on toward a castle, surrounded almost entirely by mountains. In front of the castle was a small forest and a small lake.

Castle Deist

The castle was as desolate as Kashuan Keep. However, there was life, much to the party's surprise: a young boy about 10 years old.

"There are people here, after all!"

"Go back!" he said, surprising our heroes. "Don't come near me!"

The boy ran off.

"Wait!" Firion shouted. He and the others followed him up to the second floor. They found him right next to his mother.

"Please wait," said Twilight.

The two gasped. "Mommy, did that purple... thing talk?"

"Yes, I did."

"Oh, my goodness... it did. Then y-you're all not with them... are you?"

"Them?" asked Maria.

"The Empire, I mean."

"No," said Firion. "We're a part of the Wild Rose Rebellion."

"I'm really sorry, mister," said the boy. "I thought you were the stupid imperials! I'm glad you aren't."

The mother sighed. "I hope my son hasn't been too much trouble. Please pardon him. My husband was a dragoon, but he was killed by the imperials. Only my son and I survived. In the room behind us is the last wyvern. It has been trying to speak to us, but I cannot understand it. Every dragoon carries a special pendant. I’ve heard one was lost in the cavern north of here, only a couple of levels down. With that pendant, we could speak with the wyvern. Would you mind looking for it?”

"Yes, ma'am. We've got some questions for you about the wyverns and the dragoons. What happened to them?"

"The dragoons fought gallantly, but the battle turned against them when the Emperor poisoned the wyverns’ drinking water."

The ponies and dragon gasped.

"All of them died one by one, and the dragoons, without their wyverns, lost their edge in battle.”

Those cowards...! Twilight thought. To think they'd go so far as to poison their enemy's water supply.

Passing through the door, they encountered a giant dragon-like creature: this was the last wyvern in Deist.

Fluttershy's fear of dragons subsided when she saw it was dying. "Um, excuse me...?"

The creature growled softly; the yellow pegasus quivered with fright but pressed on...

"I... I can't understand what it's trying to tell us...!"

"What?!" Spike said.

"I think we may have to find one of these pendants just like that woman said," said Firion.

Deist Cavern

The party entered the mysterious cave and found themselves in a dark place with light green grass and the purple stone ground. They traveled towards the chest containing several gil and went down the stairs and found a the remains of a fallen dragoon.

"Please forgive me," said Firion as he took the pendant. He and the others immediately left for the exit and back to the castle.

Castle Deist

Our heroes immediately raced for the wyvern's chamber. Upon seeing the pendant, the large reptile knew that that they could speak with her.

“Come with us," said Firion. "Let’s fight together!”

The wyvern growled weakly. “The poison has already affected my entire body... I am dying.”

"No...!" said Guy.

"There's so much to know about you and the dragoons! Please don't do this!" Twilight said.

“Immediately before the battle against the Empire began, a dragoon by the name of Ricard Highwind departed in search of the ultimate spell.”

"So there's one dragoon still out there?!" said Spike.

"And he's looking for the 'ultimate spell?'" said Twilight. So he was looking for the same spell Minwu is, now? she thought. That can't be a coincidence.

The creature growled in utter pain and laid a new egg. "Kind people... Please hear my final wish. Take this egg to the cave north of this castle and place it in the spring there. This is the last Wyvern Egg... Unless someone takes it to the Sacred Spring, it will wither and die."

Twilight nodded and took the egg with her magic.

"Please... take that egg... to the spring...!"

And with those words, the adult wyvern growled and fell over, never to get up again. Our heroes looked to each other and agreed to hurry as quickly as possible.

Deist Cavern

As they returned to the cavern, the group went further and further into the dungeon, battling several Hill Gigas, ogres, revenants, and Yellow Souls. They even obtained several treasures including an ether, and mythril-made equipment. When they finally reached the life spring to put the wyvern egg, there were two familiar looking creatures guarding it.

"Chimeras! Danger!" Guy warned.

"Ch-Chimeras?!" Fluttershy screamed.

"We've got to get past them!"

"We have to fight them! Quickly!"

Leila quickly slashed at the one of the hybrid creatures, only to rouse its ire. It immediately lunged toward the pirate but Leila dodged the attack, making it land headfirst into the wall.

"Ha! Don't be takin' me too lightly..."

Fluttershy prepared to give the other her signature Stare but was knocked aside by its lion paw.

Guy, furious as he was when the imperial sergeant did this at Semitt Falls, charged at the beast, causing a moderate amount of damage. The snake head hissed just as the giant hacked off its head, leaving the chimera to perish as it disappeared completely.

The other creature regained consciousness and roared at the party. It suddenly cast the powerful Blaze spell at them, leaving some of our heroes greatly injured and Fluttershy herself unable to respond.

"FLUTTERSHY!!" Twilight yelled. She turned to the creature and fired a powerful beam at it, greatly wounded the beast.

Maria quickly pulled out a Phoenix Down and placed it on the fallen pegasus. Fluttershy's eyes opened.

"Did... we win?" she asked, only to stumble.

"Not yet..." said Maria, who then began chanting an incantation. Upon finishing, she unleashed a level six Thunder spell upon the hybrid beast, defeating and removing the obstacles. Their defeat allowed the party's magical and physical abilities to grow, and some of Twilight's natural abilities had returned.

*music stops*

Firion then placed the wyvern egg in the life spring.

"Now what?" Spike asked.

"We've done all we could, Spike," said Firion. "We have to go back."

"I think I can handle this. Everyone hold onto each other."

Everyone looked at her in confusion, but agreed held onto each other as said. The alicorn's horn glowed and suddenly, they teleported just outside the cavern.

"Wh-What the...?"

"Yes!! My teleportation spell works again!"

"Teleportation...? Oh wait. You talked about this before, didn't you?"

"Yep! Let's go tell that family the good news."

They all agreed and returned to the castle.

Castle Deist

"The last wyvern... has died. But we still have the egg that you have taken to the spring. Once it has hatched, it will surely fight for the rebel army. I thank you in place of the mother wyvern... Oh, I wish this did not have to happen!"

"What are your names?"

"Um, miss?" asked Fluttershy.

"Can we ask for your names?"

"My name is Elina, and this is my son Kain."

"Ms. Elina... Kain... I'm really sorry..."

"It's... it's alright... As I said, I wish this didn't happen."

Everyone said their goodbyes as they headed back to the ship and returned to the rebel base.

Altair

As soon as their human friends went back inside the base, a young man rushed over to the Equestrians in a panic.

"My pony and dragon friends. Please... please come with me."

He led them away from the base and told them everything.

"Princess Hilda is acting strange."

"How strange...?"

"Whenever she was speaking with Prince Gordon, she'd act bored with whatever they were talking about, unless the subject was Firion."

"What? Seriously?"

"Yes. And that's not all..."

"Princess Cadence is at the inn, but she's been wounded."

"WHAT?!"

They immediately went to the inn and found the pink alicorn tending to her wounds.

"Cadence! What happened?"

"It's not her..." she said, shaken.

"What are you saying?" asked Twilight.

"Our friends... are in danger...!"

Fearing the worst, they went back into the base, only to discover that the Princess they had rescued was indeed an impostor, transforming into a hideous snake-woman hybrid: a Lamia Queen!

"Now you're MINE!!" it exclaimed.

Firion backed away as quickly as he could. "What have you done with the princess?!" he yelled. The creature didn't answer, it only drew its dagger out, ready to strike.

"Not so fast, ye scurvy snake!" said Leila as she and the others barged into the room, the Equestrians soon after.

"What's that?!" Spike demanded.

"Well, we know one thing for sure: that is not Princess Hilda!" said Maria.

Firion immediately joined the others in a battle stance. The Lamia Queen quickly grabbed Cadence.

"I thought you would have learned by now..."

"I have, actually," she said, firing a magic beam from her horn right into the demon's face. Cadence rejoined the others and took her stance once more. Maria fired her bow straight into the creature's heart, causing it great pain. Spike breathed a great amount of fire, almost incinerating it. Firion charged, delivering the final blow.

The Lamia Queen had fallen, but now there were even more questions than answers.

"Are you all right, Firion? Did that... thing hurt you?!" said Twilight.

"No, I'm fine... I still can't believe it though..."

"If that was a fake... Then where's the real Princess Hilda?!" Maria wondered.

Just then, a rebel soldier entered the chamber.

"Terrible news, everyone!" he said.

"What is it?" asked Firion.

"The Emperor is holding a tournament at the Coliseum, and the grand prize is the Princess!"

"But that means..."

A horrible realization hit them: the Emperor had planned this from the beginning. He had planned for our heroes to rescue the fake, while he had the real Hilda!

"So, it was all a trap!"

"Firion!" said Prince Gordon, entering the chamber.

"Gordon?"

"Please take me with you!"

"Are you sure?"

"I am sure, Firion. Hilda is in the hands of the enemy, still."

"I think I'll be stayin' here, then," said Leila.

"Why...?" asked Guy.

"Someone needs to lead the rebels while the leader's gone! And Gordon's goin' with ya, ain't he?"

Gordon nodded.

"Then it's settled."

Meanwhile...

"Ponyville? What a ludicrous name for a village."

"But that is where those other ponies you mentioned reside, Your Excellency. We heard it with our own ears."

"We heard the prince say their names as well."

"I see," Mateus pondered, rubbing his chin. "Very well. Find this Ponyville and kill the Element bearers. Spare them no quarter."

The demons bowed, acknowledging their order and left. As soon as they did, a soldier entered the throne room, kneeling before the Emperor.

"Everything is nearly ready, sire."

"Good," the Emperor replied.

"If I may ask, sire."

"Yes?"

"Why do we need that little filly?"

The Emperor narrowed his eyes. "Surely, you must be aware by now of its powers, correct?"

"Yes, but..."

"Are you questioning my plans? My authority?!"

The grunt faltered, not wanting to incur his Emperor's wrath. "N-No, Your Majesty..."

"You are dismissed."

"Yes, sire..." As the soldier left, Mateus turned to Flurry Heart once more.

"If my calculations are correct, your mother should be among those insects trying to overthrow me. I believe this to be the perfect time for our first and, perhaps, final meeting... Princess Mi Amore Cadenza!"

Author's Note

The term "Wind Drake" is a reference to the wyverns' name in the PS1 version.

It was kind of hard for me to decide what to do with the scene before the Lamia Queen battle, but just to be safe, and as you can see, I omitted it. Here's the music that actually plays in that scene:

Chapter 10: Coliseum/The Emperor

Before marching into battle against the enemy, it was important that one had to prepare themselves. Especially when the enemy was an evil dictator bent on world conquest. As preparations, the group gathered information about the whereabouts of the Coliseum where the Princess was held and heard rumors that the Emperor of Palamecia himself would host the competition.

As our heroes were about to step onto the field once more, they stopped and went over everything that had happened so far. Twilight surmised, "So our plan of attack is this: Fluttershy, Cadence, and I will join Firion and the others to enter the coliseum, save the princess, and come back here. Any objections?"

"What about me?" asked Spike.

"Spike, you have to stay here and hold down the fort."

"What?" said the purple dragon. "Why do I have to stay behind? And after coming here with you all... just to stay behind again."

"I'm sorry, Spike," the lavender alicorn said. "Why don't you come with me to the base? I'll be back."

"There has to be something we can do to cheer him up," said Firion.

Guy thought deeply. "Hmm... Maybe we take him to Mysidia?"

"Guy! Are you serious?"

"After this mission, possibly... Don't want to do right now."

Twilight and Spike sat in the conference room, hugging each other before the former got up and left.

"Be careful, Twilight."

"I will, Spike. I promise."

The two embraced each other for a long while, and the purple alicorn left the base to leave with the others. And so, Twilight, Cadence, and Fluttershy joined their human companions to head toward the Coliseum. They boarded Leila's ship and sailed south and through the waterway until they reached the southeastern-most portion of the map, but just north of where they destroyed the Dreadnought. The party disembarked the ship, and traveled north where they found themselves in a desert. There, they could see a set of trees.

"I wonder if there any Chocobos," said Fluttershy.

"Here? In a place like this?" Twilight said incredulously.

The party went towards the forested area, only to find a large arena standing in front of the mountain range.

"This must be it," said Maria.

"Is everyone ready?" Firion asked.

Twilight nodded, as did Cadence, for they had been looking forward to confronting the Emperor since their journey began. Gordon narrowed his eyes as he looked upon the Coliseum, for he knew now that the man who killed his brother, his people and countless others now sat in that building holding his beloved prisoner. Maria and Guy, too, could not wait to settle the score as his soldiers had taken their home and families away from them.

"Then, let's go!" said Twilight.

Coliseum

The group entered the Coliseum and found themselves in a large arena stopped in tracks and found... him.

"Welcome, newcomers..."

Standing above them was the man whose forces they had fought against on their journey, the man who literally unleashed hell in order to rule the world: Emperor Mateus. Firion and the other humans kept a straight face and clenched their fists, while the ponies narrowed their eyes. The group attempted to reach him, but a set of iron bars blocked the way, and as they turned around, another iron gate barred the exit, effectively trapping them.

"I see several non-humans among your group. Three colorful ponies straight out of a child's fantasy. Have you all come to participate, thinking this would be a mere game?" he taunted.

Cadence narrowed her eyes even further.

"Nevertheless, I have chosen the perfect opponent for you. Come, Behemoth!"

As the Emperor stretched his arms, loud, thunderous footsteps rumbled as our heroes looked around, ready to unsheathe their weapons and do battle. They found the source of the footsteps was a giant canine-esque beast will bull-like horns and a fiery red mane. On its back were large scales or fins they couldn't tell.

"Let us begin the battle! The winner shall be rewarded with the beautiful Princess Hilda of Fynn!"

The large creature let out a mighty roar and charged at our heroes. Guy held out his arms and grabbed the fierce beast, holding out as long he could. The Behemoth shook off its adversary, throwing him against the floor.

"Guy!" Fluttershy gasped.

Firion cast a level 7 Blink spell, increasing everyone's evasion rate. Cadence went over to heal Guy with a Hi-Potion.

Gordon attempted to strike at the monster, but his weapon had little use against it. Firion, however, delivered a powerful blow upon the Behemoth, causing moderate damage. The creature roared with fury and swiped its arms against Maria who quickly dodged the attack and cast Blizzard level 7 against it. The Emperor looked on as he smirked to himself.

The battle continued as Princess Cadence cast a powerful beam at the Behemoth. Gordon charged the beast and struck it in the neck with his spear. Collapsing on its belly, the monster let one last howl as it disappeared. Our heroes celebrated their victory; Guy's life force increased, as did Maria and Cadence's magical capabilities. Gordon's weapon skills, too, had improved.

*music fades out*

With the Behemoth defeated, the Emperor applauded, smiling smugly.

"Nobly fought! Now let us give you your just reward" he said, opening the gate at the top of the stairs.

"This is it, everyone," said Firion.

"It's finally time to face the Emperor!" Twilight whispered.

The party went up the stairs with the pegasi flaring their wings.

"I must say, you've put on a wonderful show... Firion," said Mateus, smirking cruelly.

The group's eyes widened.

"H-How did you know my name?" asked the youth.

"Did you really think I had no idea of whom you were? Not to mention, you have Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, and Princess Cadence of the Crystal Empire at your side? The only one I don't see is your little dragon friend... Spike, was it?"

"Wha...?" Twilight said. "How do you know of us?"

"That, my little pony, is irrelevant."

"You mean to say that you took Princess Hilda just to lure us here?" Maria said, clenching her fists.

"Precisely..."

"You..." said Guy.

"Where are they?" Cadence glared.

"They?" Mateus feigned ignorance. "Whomever are you talking about? I only needed Hilda."

"Don't play dumb with us, Mateus! You also hold my child, of course! Don't expect us to play your sick little game anymore!"

The evil tyrant clicked his tongue mockingly. "Such anger. You need not worry about your precious little one; it has been right by my side the entire time." With one swish of his hand, Flurry appeared, sealed inside a floating orb.

"Flurry!" Cadence gasped.

"Give her back!" Twilight commanded.

"I cannot permit you to have this filly back. I have plans for it: plans to use its alicorn powers for the might of Palamecia. Farewell!" Mateus said, disappearing in a flash of light, taking his prisoner with him.

"Get back here!"

Just then, the Dark Knight and a group of imperial soldiers appeared.

"You're alive?!" Firion exclaimed.

"How'd you escape the Dreadnought?" Maria asked.

"That, my dear, is irrelevant," he replied.

"Don't think for one second you and your Emperor are getting away with this...!" Twilight glared.

"Fools... Take them to their cells."

Surrounded, they had no choice and surrendered.

"Don't feel too bad, my little ponies. I'm sure your Ponyville friends will join you soon."

"What?!" Twilight yelled.

"No... How...?" Fluttershy questioned.

Our heroes stood beside themselves, unable to comprehend what they had just learned; not only did the Emperor know of their identities, but also the existence of Equestria and that Ponyville was in danger.

"It... it can't be true...!" Twilight said in denial.

"How did they know about the others?!" said Princess Cadence in disbelief.

"How are we going to get out of here?" asked Fluttershy.

"We think of something," Guy answered.

"We've got to think clearly," said Firion while pacing. "We need to escape and--"

**POW!**

Outside the cell, the soldier guarding the cell knocked unconscious

"What the...?" said Firion.

A familiar thief in black appeared in front of them.

"Paul?!" everyone said in unison.

"That's my name," said the ninja. "You saved me at the mines, and now it's my turn to rescue you all!"

With the iron gate opened, our heroes quickly exited the cell, hoping to find a possible exit. Wading through the filthy water, they opened a treasure chest, only to find several monsters appearing from within. Upon dispatching the creatures, they found an antidote and went further north of their cell. The paranoid Twilight refused to even open the doors based on their previous experiences with trap rooms. She instead led them to what she believed to be the right way out which was a large room near the middle of the floor. It turned out to contain treasure chests which held an elixer, an ether, and a cottage of all things. Taking the items, the group then moved north, opened the next door and found a set of stairs leading them up.

On the first floor basement, our heroes traveled along the wall, following it into a narrow pathway and discovered three prison cells; the third cell on the right in which the real Princess Hilda was held!

"Princess Hilda!" said Twilight. "Is that really you?"

"Why, yes!" Hilda replied. "I knew you all would come for me!"

"Hold on, we'll get you out of there!" Firion declared, opening the gate. Gordon rushed into the cell, surprisng his beloved.

"Hilda, are you alright?"

"Gordon?" the rebel leader said in disbelief. "I never thought to see you here..."

"They helped convince me," he said gesturing to our heroes.

"It's true, Your Highness," said Twilight. "We actually saw him at Kashuan Keep, trying to find Egil's Torch!"

Hilda gasped. "You... went back to the keep... to save us?"

Gordon nodded. "That's right."

Hilda's eyes teared up, as she threw her arms around him. Gordon returned the favor.

"Thank you..."

They let go and looked into each other's eyes. Firion interrupted them, as they had more urgent issues at hand. "Gordon, take the princess and go. We'll draw the guards' attention while you escape."

The prince nodded. "Thank you, Firion. And you all as well. Be careful." He and Princess Hilda then quickly ran to avoid detection. Our heroes quickly drew the attention of any monsters and imperials that came there way and quickly dispatched them, gaining new skils and increasing their own abilities as they went on. As they finally escaped the Coliseum with their human comrades, the ponies couldn't help but worry about their Ponyville friends.

If anything happens to my friends... Twilight thought. You will pay, Mateus...!

Chapter 11: Ponyville Attacked!

Author's Note

Hey there. Going off script again to show you what's happening in Ponyville at the moment.

Chapter 11: Ponyville Attacked!

Ponyville, Equestria

Far away from the Crystal Empire, the town of Ponyville was as peaceful as ever, with everypony trotting around greeting each other happily. None more so than Rarity and Pinkie Pie who had just returned from Manehattan.

"How wonderful it is to be back home," said Rarity. "And I just can't wait to hit the spa."

"Me, too," Pinkie agreed. "And after that, why don't we... go to Applejack's and help out?"

"Well..." the white unicorn hesitated. She wasn't keen on getting her own hooves dirty as she considered herself too much of a lady. But then she remembered switching places with Applejack to help Sweetie Belle. "Alright, I suppose."

"YAY!!" Pinkie shouted, causing her friend's ears to ring.

After relaxing the spa like Rarity planned, she and Pinkie went straight over to Sweet Apple Acres, where they found their good friend Applejack in a large barrel, squashing grapes for juice.

"Hi, Applejack!" Pinkie Pie greeted.

"Howdy, y'all!" the orange earth pony replied.

"Business as usual, I presume?" said Rarity.

"Business as usual, sugarcube. Ah've been knockin' a few apples down for the next cider season. There ain't no way I'm lettin' those Flim Flam crooks messin' with mah farm."

"Yes, indeed, darling. Oh, how dishonest those degenerates are...!"

Just then, Winona growled and barked up at the sky.

*music fades out*

"What is it, Winona?" asked Applejack. "Ya hear somethin'?"

Five seconds later, a portal appeared and out came several demons!

"What the hay?!"

Winona shook in fear and ran next to Applejack, whimpering; Rarity screamed at the sight of these creatures. Pinkie Pie, on the other hoof...

"Oh my gosh, does this mean we're finally getting some Final Fantasy action after not appearing in the last eleven chapters? I'm so excited because we finally go into battle against evil monsters and..."

"PINKIE PIE!" Rarity and Applejack yelled.

A group of monsters emerged from a portal which formed near the entrance to the farm. "Find the ponies and kill them all!" the group's leader, a magician in a dark brown cloak, commanded.

The front door of the house opened and out came Applejack's little sister. "What's goin' on?" said Apple Bloom. One of the goblins leapt toward the yellow filly who screamed in fright. But not before Applejack jumped in between them and gave the demon a hard buck, keeping it away from her sister.

"Apple Bloom, get back in the house. We'll take care of this."

The frightened little earth pony did as she was told and quickly ran towards the house, slamming the door. The three mares stood face-to-face with the wicked monsters.

"You..." the magician hissed. "Are you the ones called Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity?"

The ponies stood in shock.

"How'd ya know our names?!" said Applejack.

"Are you here to fight us?" asked Pinkie. "'Cause I'll have you know that we took on--"

"SILENCE, WORM!!" the demon shouted.

"Hey I was just trying to--"

Rarity put her hoof over Pinkie's muzzle while glaring at the cloaked creature in front of them.

"Let us ask again: how did you know our names?"

"Ask your friend's brother. We bring you a message from the Emperor of Palamecia."

Applejack raised her brow. "The Emperor of what now?"

"Our master and soon to be the new ruler of this world."

The girls stood in defiance, not moving an inch.

"What is this message, may I ask?"

"You are all to die at our hands!" it declared, with its army standing their ground. The girls too went into their battle stances.

"It... is... on..." said Rarity.

"Attack!!"

Rainbow Dash was sleeping on a cloud after clearing the skies when she suddenly heard the sounds of screaming and yelling.

"Hey, can you keep it down? I'm trying to--" she stopped when she saw the village beneath her in chaos as she witnessed several creatures similar to those they faced in the world of the Warriors of Light ravaging everything in sight. To her horror, one of the goblin mages cornered little Scootaloo. "Oh, no you don't!!"

The monster opened a portal, intending to take Scootaloo prisoner, but just before the creature could take the little filly away, Rainbow Dash fell from the sky and landed on the creature's back, almost crushing it. She then picked up the goblin mage and tossed it back into the portal it conjured.

"Rainbow Dash! I knew you'd save me!"

Just then she heard her the sound of her friends fighting for their lives.

"Go find a safe place, Scootaloo!"

The cyan pegasus flew to Sweet Apple Acres as quickly as she could to help her friends.

"APPLEJACK!!!" Pinkie and Rarity screamed.

As a result of the ogre's brute strength and the leading magician's magic, Applejack nearly collapsed but still conscious.

"It... ain't over... not yet..." she said, panting.

"Stubborn mare...! I'll send you straight to HELL!"

At that moment, a rainbow colored streak tackled the evil demon, distracting the ogre.

"You must be the one called Rainbow Dash," said the magician, recovering from the attack.

"Yeah? And who wants to know?" Rainbow said defiantly.

"Our master, Emperor Mateus of Palamecia. His orders: to kill Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie."

The blue pegasus snorted. "Just bring it..."

One of the monsters charged at Rainbow, only to miss. She countered with a swift uppercut, sending it the ground. She then dodged the ogre's club, knocked the monster up in the air and tossed it down, causing it to vanish. The ghastly magician cast a powerful level 5 Thunder spell, shocking the blue pegasus.

"Dashie!!" yelled Pinkie Pie. Bringing out her signature Party Cannon, the pink earth pony blasted a giant ball of confetti only for the magician to incinerate it with level 5 Fire. "No fair!"

Applejack gave the spell-casting demon a few good kicks, causing great pain to the unholy demon.

"Retreat!! All forces, retreat for now!!"

After the demons were sent back through the portal, the ponies nearly collapsed out of exhaustion.

*music stops*

"That was rougher than a day in a dust storm," Applejack said, panting.

"I hear ya," said Rainbow.

"Applejack! You alright?!"

"Got a couple of letters from-SWEET CELESTIA!!" the mail pony shouted. "Are you alright?"

The mares looked back at each other and back at the mail pony, nodding.

"Anyway, I, uh... got you some letters from Shining Armor."

Rainbow Dash perked up and grabbed the letters and handed them out; they opened the envelopes and read the content of the letters, their eyes and mouths wide open from shock.

"My goodness!" said Rarity. "You don't think..."

"I do!" said Pinkie. "Twilight, Spike, Fluttershy, and Princess Cadence went on adventure without us!"

"No, Pinkie!" Rainbow said, annoyed. "We kind of agreed to that, remember?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot," the pink earth pony replied, making Rainbow Dash groan.

"Ah don't know about you," said Applejack, "but ah think we should pay the Crystal Empire a visit."

"I'm with you, A.J.'

"Likewise," said Rarity.

"Ditto," said Pinkie Pie.

Before leaving the farm, the girls went into the house and checked on the three members of the family. Apple Bloom was shaking with fright; her big sister embraced her and the others in a hug, promising to be back soon. As soon as they left Sweet Apple Acres, they saw a horrifying sight. Nearly all of Ponyville was deserted with nopony to be seen. From what they could tell, the Mayor and everypony else had been captured by the monsters and taken to who knows where. Rarity returned to Carousel Boutique and tried to find her little sister, but she was nowhere to be seen. Rainbow Dash checked to see if Scootaloo was at her aunts' house but couldn't find her. Pinkie Pie went to Sugar Cube Corner to discover that Mr. and Mrs. Cake had disappeared as well. Fearing the worst, they ran to the train station as quickly as they could.

The Crystal Empire

As the Friendship Express reached the station and opened its doors, the girls rushed towards the Crystal Palace.

"You're here!" he said.

"We just got invaded by monsters, and one of them said it's all your fault!" a livid Rainbow Dash stated.

"W-What?!"

"Shining Armor?" asked Applejack. "Where's Twilight right now?"

"I... don't know," he said dejectedly.

"I think we need to talk with a certain someone or something," said Rarity.

Shining Armor's ears lowered, as did his expression. "About that, actually..."

The girls didn't like whatever he was about to say.

"It may be best if you all come with me."

Everypony gathered at the Crystal Heart to hear the explanation they wanted, but to their shock, the artifact did not glow like it usually did.

"Cid...?" asked Pinkie.

The Crystal Heart did not respond.

"Cid?" said Applejack.

Still no answer.

"Hellooo...? Cid?"

Again, no answer.

"Oh, no... This... is bad..." Rainbow said worriedly and rightfully so.

Chapter 12: Retaking Fynn

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 14: The Last Dragoon/Mysidian Tower

A few hours after the incident near the Mysidian Tower, Fluttershy regained consciousness and found herself near the entrance to Gatrea. She looked up and saw a lavender blur.

"Fluttershy...?" said the blur. As the yellow pegasus' vision came back into focus, she saw that it was her friend Twilight Sparkle.

"Twilight?" said Fluttershy. The girls embraced each other. "Oh, thank goodness you're alright!"

"I'm glad you're safe, too."

Fluttershy gasped. "Wh-Where are the others?"

Twilight hung her head. "I... I don't know. I sure hope they're alive." Her voice cracked as she said those words.

Inside Leviathan

Princess Cadence groaned as she regained consciousness. She went over to everyone else and noticed that not only was Leila missing, but Twilight and Fluttershy as well.

The others regained consciousness, and as they surveyed their surroundings quickly realized they were inside Leviathan.

"Leila!" Firion shouted.

"Leila?" Maria called out.

"Twilight?" said Spike.

"Fluttershy?!" said Guy. "Where they go?"

"I don't know, but I think we'd better find a way out of this beast," said Cadence. The others agreed and moved onwards. However, they came across a floor of gastric acid, threatening to burn any who dare walk across. Cadence wasn't worried; she carried Spike on her back and cast a levitation spell on the humans, carrying them all to safety as she flew across the area.

Our heroes trekked through the belly of the serpent, fighting several creatures along the way. Just then, they saw something unexpected: a man dressed in purple armor and carrying a spear on his back.

"Wh-Who are you?" the armored man said, getting into a battle stance and preparing to unsheathe his weapon.

"Easy, we're not your enemies," Cadence reassured. At least, I hope not...

The man was taken aback. "W-What madness is this? A unicorn that can speak the same language as us?!"

"Actually, sir. I'm an alicorn."

"An alicorn?! I've heard of such a creature, but I've never seen one."

"Whoa! Calm down!" Spike said. The man looked at the little dragon curiously, tilting his head to the side.

"Are you... a wyvern?"

"What? No! I'm a dragon, actually."

"A dragon? Here?"

"That's correct, sir. My name is Princess Cadence, and these are my friends Spike, Firion, Maria, and Guy. And you?"

"I'm Ricard Highwind, a dragoon from the Kingdom of Deist."

Cadence gasped. "Y-You're... Ricard Highwind...?"

The dragoon raised an eyebrow. "How do you know of me...? I thought this was our first meeting."

"Perhaps it would be to explain a few things..."

The party told everything about their adventures in the Deist region.

"You mean... I'm the last dragoon...? No! You must be wrong!"

"What are you doing here, anyway?" asked Firion.

"I was searching for the ultimate magic in order to defeat the Empire, and the next thing I knew, I was here in Leviathan's stomach."

"The Ultima Tome..." Cadence said solemnly. "We did acquire something to help us," she said showing him the Crystal Rod.

"So you were after the Ultima Tome, too, huh? But look where we are now..."

"Yeah," Spike said.

"We're not the only ones." Ricard pointed left, and to the party's surpise, they saw a living human being pacing back and forth.

"As you can see, there were others who sought the Ultima Tome, but they ended up here. All because they each had a Crystal Rod."

Needless to say, our heroes were speechless.

"Well, since we're all looking for the same thing, we might as well team up."

"Really?" said Maria.

Ricard nodded. "There's a boat up ahead, but there's also one tough monster standing in the way. Who knows? Together we might be able to take it down."

"Alright, then. Welcome to the group," said Firion. With Ricard the dragoon by their side, the party moved onward.

As soon as they reached the mouth, our heroes made their way through Leviathan's teeth and encountered a large worm standing between them and the boat.

"What... is... THAT?!" asked Firion.

"This is the monster! A roundworm!" Ricard confirmed. "We have to make it past this thing so we can get the hell out of here on that boat!"

What language! Cadence thought. Never mind, we have to escape! We need to find our friends and save my daughter!

*music stops*

With a horrendous roar, the roundworm lunged toward the group who quickly dodged sideways. Ricard quickly slashed the beast with his lance and jumped back.

The creature then knocked Guy aside with its tail, sending him to the floor. But the giant brunette recovered quickly and charged the roundworm, hacking it with his Ogrekiller. Though the damage was moderate, the roundworm was still agile and lunged towards Spike. Firion intercepted the attack and was blown away near Leviathan's teeth.

"You!" Cadence cried, casting level 8 Thunder at the beast, harming it slightly.

Thankfully, the youth wasn't impaled, as he charged the roundworm and slashed the monster with his Gaia Blade. With one last roar, the monster collapsed and vanished, leaving our heroes the victors.

"We did it!"

Cadence let out a sigh of relief.

But before they could board the ship, Cadence looked back.

"What is it, Princess?" asked Ricard.

The pink alicorn looked back at the dragoon and replied, "I'm going to bring everyone else here. They don't deserve to be stuck in here forever."

Knowing she was right, the group agreed and went back down, guiding the rest of the humans to the ship. As soon as they were aboard, Firion took the helm and Cadence forced open the beast's mouth with her magic, allowing the party to escape the sea serpent and back out into the world.

"We're free!" said Spike. Everyone cheered and raised their arms in joy. All except one, for Ricard Highwind was still in disbelief.

"It still can't be true...!"

"I think we may have to go somewhere first," said Cadence.

"Yeah. I agree," said Firion.

Firion turned the ship around and headed back into the Deist region to verify their claims.

Castle Deist

Upon arriving with the group, Ricard looked around and shouted for his comrades-at-arms. He ran up the stairs and found only two people in front of what was once the wyvern's chamber.

"Elina! Kain!"

"R-Ricard? You're alive!" Elina gasped.

"What happened to the rest of the dragoons?! Are they still..."

The woman grimaced and shook her head. "No... They were all poisoned. Along with the wyverns..."

Ricard took a few steps backwards and dropped to his knees. "So it's true then... My friends... The wyverns... They're all dead! Damn you, Palamecians!" He pounded the ground with his fist.

"Actually," said Maria. "There's still the wyvern egg we planted in that cave."

"An egg? So there is still hope?"

"That's right," Cadence answered.

"Not to mention, you still here," Guy added.

"You're right," the dragoon confirmed. He then turned towards the boy.

"Are you... really a dragoon?" he asked with wonder.

"Yes. I was a friend of your father's," Ricard replied. "Rest assured: I will defeat the Emperor. When I come back, will you let me... be your new father?"

Little Kain nodded, "Sure. But I hope you can beat that Emperor. I'll be praying for it."

Ricard smiled and gave the boy a gentle pat on the head.

"I must go now."

Elina understood and embraced the dragoon. After letting go, Ricard joined his new allies as they left for Castle Fynn. Onboard the ship, he asked the two Equestrians of their origins. They explained everything about the Crystal Empire, Flurry Heart's abduction and their travels so far. The dragoon folded his arms while on the lookout for monsters, his anger toward the Empire roused further.

Cadence thought that perhaps Hilda and Gordon would want to meet the dragoon, as well as know of her friends' whereabouts.

Fynn

The party rushed into the castle and up the stairs. Upon entering the grand hall, Cadence and Spike gasped.

"Twilight? Fluttershy?"

"Princess Cadence! Spike! You're alive!" the yellow pegasus gasped.

The Equestrians rushed over to each other and embraced in a warm group hug, tears streaming from their faces.

"Cadence! Spike! I thought we'd never see you again..." Twilight sobbed.

"Thank goodness you're all safe!" said Princess Hilda.

The group faced the royal couple and bowed.

"Princess Hilda, Prince Gordon... We've so much to tell you," said Cadence. "And there's someone we'd like to meet..." She gestured toward the purple-armored man next to Firion.

Hilda gasped. "Are you... a dragoon?"

"Yes, Your Highness," he answered. "My name is Ricard Highwind. It is an honor to be in your presence. When Deist was seized by the Empire, I left to retrieve the Ultima Tome in Mysidia. However, before I could reach the tower, I was swallowed by Leviathan. It was there I met Firion's party."

"Oh my goodness," the princess said shocked. "So all of you were..."

"That's right," said Firion. "Well, not all of us as you can see..." he gestured towards Twilight and Fluttershy.

"Leila's here, too!" said Twilight, gesturing to the pirate on Hilda's right.

"Aye. When that storm came and the ship broke off... I thought I lost ye all for good," said Leila.

"Thank goodness you're alright," said Maria, placing her hand over her heart. "But... where's Minwu?" asked Maria.

"We don't know..." Fluttershy replied.

"We no see him inside Leviathan," said Guy.

"You don't think..." said Gordon.

"No..."

"When we escaped from that beast, we also rescued some people who were after the Ultima Tome as well," said Cadence.

"Yeah! And they had Crystal Rods, too!" Spike added.

"Your Highness," said Firion, "will you give them shelter here?"

"Of course," Hilda answered.

With that, Twilight and Fluttershy rejoined the group.

After giving the other passengers places to settle, our heroes went back aboard the ship.

"Our next destination: the Mysidian Tower!"

"Is everyone ready?" asked Firion.

The group nodded, boarding the ship once more. But just before they could reach the tower, Leviathan emerged once more.

Fluttershy flew up towards the sea serpent and gave it her signature Stare.

"What is she DOING?!" yelled Ricard.

"Fluttershy, come back!" said Guy.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?!" Firion called out.

Alarmed at first, Leviathan narrowed its eyes at the tiny yellow pegasus, but she was still determined to win.

"Don't... you... DARE!!!" she yelled, startling the beast, much to the humans' shock.

"You listen here, mister! I think we've all had it up to here with your devouring innocent people carrying Crystal Rods! I, for one, do not tolerate creatures eating other living beings that have a right to live and leave them trapped inside your stomach for who knows how long! So either you let me and my friends pass, or so help me... YOU'LL REGRET IT FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!!"

The sea monster growled softly, leaning back. Our heroes stood by, wondering if they would be back inside its stomach with no chance of escape this time. The Equestrians stood their ground ready to fight if the beast didn't comply. However, to their surprise, Leviathan sank back in to the ocean and swam far away.

"Wh-Wh... What just happened?" Firion said in disbelief.

"Incredible..." said Ricard. "No one's ever stood up to Leviathan before, and yet..."

"Fluttershy just... lectured it and made it go away," a wide-eyed Maria added.

"You'd be surprised, guys," said Twilight. "With the exception of Spike, she's kind of scared of dragons, but when one of them was threatening to cover Ponyville in smoke, she overcame her fear and stood up to it for attacking us."

"That's... that's amazing," Firion replied.

"To think a little pony could be so brave," Maria declared.

Cadence's jaw dropped. "Twilight, your friends never cease to surprise me," she said, making Twilight chuckle.

Fluttershy returned to the deck and was greeted by a stunned group... well, except for her friends.

"This time, there's no one to stop us."

With Leviathan taken care of, the boat docked near the Mysidian Tower; the party disembarked and raised the Crystal Rod in the air, breaking the seal over the entrance.

Mysidian Tower

The Equestrians' eyes widened as they stepped inside the tower. Each of them had a felt a mystical force emanating from whatever lay beyond the stairs in front of them. Mustering up their courage, our heroes went up and into a fiery orange chamber; they went to the right into a few narrow corridors and obtained a Flame Bow and a Flame Lance from the treasure chests, went back in the opposite direction and went into a room where they were ambushed by five werewolves.

The lupines howled as the party took their battle stances. Ricard quickly attempted to swipe one of them, only for the werewolf to dodge sideways and another to attack the dragoon. Before the wolf could attack, Twilight cast a levitation spell on the beast and tossed it into the other werewolves. One of the lupines lunged toward Spike, only for Fluttershy to intercept and tackle it headfirst in the torso. Howling in pain, the werewolf disappeared along with the rest, leaving our heroes victorious once again.

At the third floor they found the ground filled with hot steaming lava. Recalling their journey at Mount Gulug, Twilight cast an anti-heating spell to protect the group. After making it across, they opened the door and encountered a mage dressed in green guarding the path to the upper floors.

"We've come for the ultimate magic," said Firion. "Please let us pass."

The mage scoffed. "You make good progress, travelers... but you must defeat me if you wish to continue your ascent!"

Floating back a few spaces, the mage began to transform into a hulking giant: a Fire Gigas.

"Is... is this a test?!" Twilight screamed.

"One we'll have to pass if we want to reach the top!" Firion answered, unsheathing his sword.

"Protect IX!" said Cadence casting the spell over her friends. The Fire Gigas attempted to strike the pink alicorn, but she flew up into the air and struck the giant with a level 8 Blizzard spell, greatly damaging it. Guy rushed over and delivered three blows unto the creature, defeating it and allowing our heroes to rush to the next level.

The stairs took the team to an ice-blue chamber where they opened a treasure chest containing an Ice Shield. Firion led his lifelong friends and Ricard up the nearest stairs and after carefully going through the needle ice acquired an Ice Lance.

Twilight and her friends went the long way, obtaining Ice Gloves and Ice Armor before going up to the next floor. Firion and the others caught up with them as they were about to cross the river of needle ice. When they finally made it, they acquired more ice related treasure and opened the door, confronting another guardian.

"I see you have bested the trials of fire and made it through the ice. I must congratulate you... but to make it further, you must defeat me in battle!"

Like the one from before, the mage transformed, this time into an Ice Gigas. The party stood their ground and used their new Fire-based weapons against the giant, defeating it and allowing them to pass to the sixth floor.

*music ends*

The sixth floor, unlike the other levels, contained no elemental features, and yet Twilight couldn't help but feel there would at least be one more obstacle for them to overcome. There were, however, wide gaps in the room which if someone would carelessly walk into would most likely never come back alive. And so, our heroes carefully walked the paths along the floor and reached the door in the upper right, only to find it was another trap room containing a Basilisk.

Twilight had heard about this creature. If not defeated quickly it would petrify them, leaving them turned to stone forever. And so, she cast a powerful level 9 Fire spell onto the creature, but it was not enough. Guy slashed the Basilisk and defeated it, allowing our heroes to escape the room and move on.

On the seventh floor they found several pillars along with strange winged shoes and to the Equestrians' horror, a Unicorn Horn. They fought several chimeras, Death Flowers, and revenants. After defeating the monsters, they went into the room the upperleft corner and encountered another mage.

"Impressive," he said. "You have conquered the trials of both fire and ice. Now you face me!"

Our heroes stood their ground as the final mage transformed into a Thunder Gigas. Despite its greater strength and lightning abilities, the giant was still no match for the humans and Equestrians for Maria cast Blink level 7 on the party, increasing their evasion rate and Twilight quickly cast level 7 Blizzard upon the creature. Firion stepped in and finished with just three swipes of his sword.

Standing victorious, our heroes raised their arms in the air. With the last of the giants defeated, our heroes went up into the next floor and found themselves in a room with six doors; three of them on the right, three on the left. Each door was at the end of six corridors. They split up and fought several enemies in the trap rooms, with their endurance, agility, strength, magic and life forces increasing as they defeated their adversaries. Before opening the door on the upper right, Twilight grabbed a Flare Tome from the treasure chest. She opened the door and went up and gasped for she had seen a most beautiful scenery: the room was nearly flooded with water which appeared to flow from the higher section.

Twilight had little time to admire the waterfall for there was a series of doors on the far right on the platform. Her ears perked up, hearing the sound of several hoof/footsteps. The rest of the party had arrived and rejoined Twilight. Ricard quickly jumped up onto the platform and the others followed thanks to Twilight's magic as well as her, Fluttershy and Cadence's wings.

"Where do we go now?" asked Ricard.

Examining the doors, the group thought hard. Spike went towards the first door on the left but hesitated to open it. He went to the next but hesitated on that door as well.

"We can't procrastinate," said Cadence as she opened the second door from the right, only to find a dead end.

Finally finding his courage, Spike opened the door in front of him and found a stairway leading up.

"Stairs!" the dragon said excitedly.

They looked where he was pointing and sure enough, there was a staircase leading to the next floor.

As our heroes reached the tenth floor of the tower, they came across a familiar white wizard standing in front of a magically sealed door.

"Minwu!"

He turned around at the sound of Firion's voice. "Everyone! You are finally here!"

"It's been a while," said Twilight.

"How is Princess Hilda? And Prince Gordon?"

"We helped them liberate Fynn; they're back in the throne room of Castle Fynn waiting for you," Maria answered.

"I see." He turned to notice the man in violet armor. "Could it be...?"

"Yes. My name is Ricard Highwind, and... As I learned several hours ago, I'm the last of the dragoons protecting Deist."

Minwu closed his eyes and placed his hands over his heart. "You have my utmost condolences, Ricard... I had thought Mateus had wiped out all the dragoons, but I was wrong to assume that." He turned back to the magic door.

"What is it?" asked Twilight.

"The magic seal on this door is strong. I will give it all I have. Stand back!"

Being an expert on magic, Twilight wondered if it was really necessary.

"Minwu," she said. "Please let me do this."

"I'm sorry, but I cannot."

"But why...?"

"Only a powerful white wizard can break the seal. And even if you did help, it is likely that you may perish and never see your friends again!"

"But..." Twilight attempted to interject, but Minwu would not listen. He raised his hands and cast an ultra-powerful magic beam toward the sealed door.

"Minwu!" Maria gasped.

"Please stop!"

But it was too late. Minwu poured all his energy into dispelling the barrier. When it was over, he fell to his knees and collapsed face-down.

"Minwu!" Twilight gasped. She and the others quickly rushed to his side.

"This... this is it for me..." the white wizard gasped.

"Minwu..." said Firion.

"Please... do not grieve for me..." he said. "As I had stated before... All those who live must... some day die... It is our fate."

"Please, Minwu," said Fluttershy.

"You can't die!" Maria cried. "You can't!"

"Now..." he panted. "It is... up to... you... You must... stop the Emperor... Fare...well..."

At that moment, the white wizard breathed his last.

"Minwu...?" said Cadence.

"Minwu!" Fluttershy cried.

Twilight held up her head and shouted. "MIIIINWUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU...!"

*music ends*

Several minutes later...

A grief-stricken party moved onward to the next room. Inside stood a large orange Crystal in the center of the chamber. Also inside were four blue Crystals which the group investigated first. The uppermost Crystal on the left granted Firion great spirit, while the one on the right gave Fluttershy greater intelligence. Twilight received greater agility from the bottom Crystal on the right, while Guy acquired great strength from the one on the left.

They finally reached the orange crystal which began to glow a bright light, making our heroes cover their eyes. In its place stood a strange book, one that taught forbidden magic. This was the Ultima Tome they had sought!

Just then, a warp point appeared behind the crystal. Stepping onto it, our heroes found themselves outside the tower.

"I'm sorry," said Ricard. They turned to the dragoon. "I wish..." he sighed. "I wish there were another way."

"I know..." said Cadence. She looked in the direction of Fynn and gasped.

The rest of the heroes noticed a large tornado near the city of Fynn!

"What's going on?" asked Firion.

"I don't know," said Twilight. "But we need to find out! Something's not right about that cyclone! Come on!"

Meanwhile, in the Crystal Empire

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna worked together on restoring the Crystal Heart in order to re-establish contact with Cid of the Lufaine in the hopes of making sure Twilight, Cadence, Fluttershy and Spike come safely. For several hours, the sisters concentrated all of their magic onto the relic, but the strain of the spell almost proved too much for them.

"Please, be careful, Princesses," said Rarity.

Just when it looked hopeless, the Crystal Heart had finally regained its light.

"It... it worked!" Rainbow Dash cried. "You did it!"

"Cid...?" asked Shining Armor.

"...Shining Armor?"

"Y-Yer alright!" said Applejack.

"I suppose..." said Cid. "The magic from those two interlopers sent my spirit back into the Chamber of Crystals. Fortunately, I was able to recover thanks to the magic within."

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie appeared between Rarity and Applejack.

"Wait! What about our friends and Flurry Heart? Are they alright?"

"I saw everything. Your friends have succeeded in obtaining the ultimate magic, but little Flurry is still in the grasp of the evil Emperor."

"Twily..." said Shining.

Author's Note

Another chapter completed! If there's anything that needs improving, please let me know.

Chapter 15: Storming the Cyclone

Docking near the Fynn area, our heroes had found the town of Gatrea completely destroyed, even worse than when the Dreadnought attacked. The village had been reduced to nothing more than ruins and several villagers lay dead. Several questions were running through their minds: could the cyclone have done this? And was this the Emperor's doing as well? There was only one place where they could find their answers...

Before they could reach Fynn, more powerful monsters appeared right in front of our heroes! A group consisting of three sorcerers and four imperial sergeants stood ready to attack.

"What the?!" said Firion. "Never mind. Brace yourselves!"

One sorcerer cast Fire VIII on the party before they could attack. Twilight countered by casting Blizzard VIII on the enemy, but the only ones who felt any blows were the soldiers as they were brought to their knees. Guy went after the sorcerer who attacked them and sent him back where he came. Ricard swiped one of the sorcerers as well with his lance. Cadence cast Fire IX on their enemies, finally removing the soldiers from the battle. The last sorcerer cast Blizzard VIII on the party and laughed evilly. But his laughter was cut short for Maria fired several arrows into his black heart.

With the monsters defeated, our heroes' abilities had increased once more. Leaving the battle behind, they returned to the city of Fynn.

*music stops*

Fynn

Upon their arrival, the group questioned several people starting with a fellow rebel.

"What happened here?!" asked Firion.

"The Emperor has summoned a powerful Cyclone and started attacking several areas!"

"Is that what destroyed Gatrea?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so."

A young boy sniffled and wept.

"What's the matter?" said Fluttershy.

"Everyone's dead...!" he cried. "My friends from Gatrea were... were..." The child could hardly finish his sentence as he began to sob once more, earning a hug from the yellow pegasus. Ever more determined to end this war, the group proceeded to the castle.

Castle Fynn

The party rushed straight into the castle and spoke with several guards where they learned startling revelations.

"Poft and Altair have been destroyed by the Emperor's Cyclone," said the guard on the left of the entrance.

"What?!" everyone screamed.

"Altair and Poft, too?!" said Twilight.

"Don't tell me... Do you think Cid may have--"

"We don't know yet," the soldier answered dejectedly. "We've lost contact with him when the Cyclone appeared."

"I assume you've already seen Gatrea, right? Completely destroyed!" said the soldier on the right. "Fynn may not be able to hold up against another raid!"

After speaking with the soldiers, our heroes went straight up into the grand hall and met with Hilda, Gordon, and Leila.

"Did you find Minwu?"

The group stiffened at the mention of that name.

"Your Highness..." Twilight said sadly, hanging her head. "Minwu's... gone."

The royal couple sat straight upon hearing this news.

"What? What happened?" asked Hilda.

"This can't be!" Gordon added.

"But it is, Your Highnesses," Fluttershy cried. "H-He... he gave up his life to... grant us access to Ultima..."

Hilda gasped, and Gordon shut his eyes. Both prince and princess mourned the loyal white wizard.

"Minwu..." said Hilda, despondently. "I've known him for a long time ever since he came from Mysidia."

"He was Mysidian?" Twilight asked. "Oh, I didn't know that." Now it makes sense, she thought.

"I'm so sorry," said Cadence.

"We have but one course of action: you must brave the storm and face the Emperor."

"We have to do what?!" Spike yelled.

"I'm afraid so," said Hilda.

"How are we supposed to go inside a raging storm?" said Maria.

"We no have anything," Guy added.

"Yes. It will be impossible to permeate the wall of wind from the ground," said Gordon. "You must go into the Cyclone from the air."

"And since we can't contact Cid at the moment... you must call upon a wyvern from Deist."

Ricard's face lit up. "That's it! But do we have a pendant to communicate with it?"

"As a matter of fact, we do," said Firion, as he pulled out the pendant in question. "We found this in the cave near Castle Deist. That's how we were able to talk with the mother wyvern and rescue her egg."

"I see," said Hilda. "All that's left to do now is to use the reflection of the light in that pendant to summon the wyvern. Go down to the third floor; you will find a large mirror hidden there. Use it to reflect the light of that pendant and call upon our last hope."

"Yes, Your Highness," said Ricard. Just before they left, however...

"Wait!" said Twilight.

"What is it, Twilight?" asked Firion.

"According to that book from Mysidia, only four to five people can ride on the wyvern's back. So some of us will have to stay here and guard the castle."

"But..."

"No!" Twilight yelled. "I can't take that risk!"

"Even with the possibility that your niece might be there with the Emperor?" asked Maria.

Twilight's mouth was agape. "I... I, uh..."

"It's true we all may not make to the center, but we should at least try."

The purple alicorn lowered her head, wondering what she should do. Cadence lifted her sister-in-law's head and gave her a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, Twilight. Not all of us have to use the wyvern."

At first, Twilight didn't know what she was talking about, until a realization came to her: Cadence was going to fly in, following the wyvern and the rest into the eye of the storm.

"But, Cadence! The wind might blow you away!!" the purple alicorn said.

"I have to go in there! I have to save my daughter! Not to mention, the Emperor will enter Equestria and..."

"...Kill everypony make them his slaves, including our friends," Fluttershy said.

"We can't let that happen, Twilight," Spike added.

After a few seconds of silence, Twilight nodded. "Alright. Everyone, go and hop aboard the wyvern with me. Spike, you can go with Cadence!"

"I'll make sure he's safe."

"Thank you." Twilight then turned to Leila.

"I'll be stayin' here holdin' the fort," she answered.

"But, Leila..." said Maria.

"No buts, lass. I'm stayin' here and that be that. Now, go and give that Emperor what for!"

Acknowledging the pirate's wishes, our heroes left the throne room. But before they could find the mirror, they went for an old friend's house for some more help.

"Paul! We need your help!" said Firion.

"Well, I don't know what to tell you. I mean your next target's a Cyclone. And not a natural one either."

"That's exactly the point," said Twilight. "Somehow, our enemy is at the center of that storm and we intend to stop him!"

"WHAT?! Now you're telling me you're going inside that thing?! "

The group nodded.

"Th-That's just crazy!"

Says the man who keeps boasting about stealing from the Empire, Twilight thought.

The blond man sighed. "Although... I was afraid you'd say yes. Maybe I can help you. I'll give you my treasure. Search the wall next to the bed."

"Thank you, Paul," said Maria.

The team searched the wall as instructed and found a secret passage leading to a room holding eight treasure chests. Everyone opened the chests and individually and obtained a black garb, Thief's Gloves, an elixir, a Silver Cuirass, a Ruby Cuirass, a Gold Cuirass, and a Gold Hairpin. When Firion opened the last chest, however, it was already empty.

"What's all this about?" the young man asked.

"Let's ask Paul."

They went back to the living room and spoke with the ninja.

"Did you get everything?"

"Not quite. One item seems to be missing."

"Wh-What?!" Paul shouted. They all showed him the contents of the chest they opened.

"Where... where's the BLOOD SWORD?!"

"B-B-B-Blood Sword...?" Fluttershy spoke, quivering.

"Could someone have actually... stolen it from me?"

"I'd actually be surprised," Twilight whispered into Cadence's ear, with Cadence nodding in agreement.

"Paul," said Firion, putting his hand on the man's shoulder. "We'll talk about this Blood Sword later. Right now, we have to go."

"Bye," said Spike.

Paul looked at the heroes, nodding.

"Good luck, you guys," he said. The group smiled and nodded as they left the house. "They'll need it."

Our heroes went back into the castle and as directed by one of the guards went left from the entrance turned left from the entrance and left again until the found a stairway that led them up to a small room on the second floor which contained another stairway that took them to the next floor where they turned right leading them to take a left turn to the corridor and into a room with three treasure chests. They contained Golden Armor, another Gold Cuirass, and a Golden Shield.

Going in the opposite direction, they went into the mirror room and found a beautiful mirror that has been polished for quite some time. They took out the pendant; its reflection showed them a familiar looking object.

The egg that Elina and Kain had carefully guarded finally began to hatch. Emerging from the egg, was an enormous wyvern! Hearing the sound of a roar, our heroes beheld as the wyvern entered the room. Ricard stepped forward and flashed the pendant, communicating with the creature. With a soft growl, it acknowledged Ricard as its new master. The dragoon and the wyvern were brought together at last! The creature then exited the room and landed outside the city. Everyone went outside, climbed aboard and braved the fierce winds. The wyvern rushed towards the eye of the storm, and the heroes made a shocking discovery: within the Cyclone was a floating fortress.

"This is it, everyone," Firion said.

"He must be in there," said Twilight.

"Hold on, Flurry," Cadence said to herself. "Mommy's coming for you."

The wyvern encircled the fortress two times until it finally landed near the first level, allowing the party to break in, ready to confront Emperor Mateus. It then flew upwards and away from the storm for safety.

Elsewhere, an evil wizard laughed while carrying a blood-red sword with his magic. He began chanting in an ancient tongue opening a bizarre portal leading to a mysterious palace, threw the weapon inside and made it vanish without a trace.

"Try as hard as you might, feeble creatures," he said. "You will never reach His Excellency alive!"

He laughed wickedly as he disappeared.

The Cyclone

As our heroes landed on the first floor of the fortress, they all looked to each other, knowing that the time had come to save Flurry Heart, the Crystal Ponies, and for Emperor Mateus to answer for his crimes. To their shock there were ponies shackled to the floor, each one chained to a strange pattern.

"Princess Cadence!" one pony exclaimed, regaining her crystal coat. "You've come to save us."

"Actually, this is the first time I've seen you here."

"We originally came to stop this cyclone," said Firion.

"If you want to do so, you'll have to go to the top floor and face the Emperor. He's been planning this since the beginning."

"We will," said Twilight.

"And... th-these creatures?"

"These are our friends. They're part of a rebellion against the Empire and we joined them."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, we saw these three flee from the Imperial Army when they seized their home," Cadence said gesturing to Firion, Maria, and Guy.

"Oh... alright." He turned to the humans. "I trust you. And this one?"

"Ricard Highwind, a dragoon," the man answered. "I'm with them to rescue your princess, Flurry Heart. And I have a score to settle with your captor as well."

After cutting the chains that bound them, the ponies all gathered together, wishing our heroes luck.

One-by-one, Twilight teleported the Crystal Ponies to Mysidia, where she hoped would remain safe until the Cyclone is destroyed.

"Did you just...?" Ricard asked in disbelief.

"Yes, Ricard. I did. I'm not sure if the wyvern will make another trip, so I'll just teleport us out once we've done our business here."

The dragoon thought for a moment, feeling that Twilight may have been correct. After all, the winged creature had just been born a few moments ago. He agreed and they pressed on, running into several imperial soldiers on the way, along with stronger monsters including Bombs, vampire girls and Wood Golems.

When they reached the fourth level, the team rescued more Crystal Ponies and obtained Diamond Gloves and a Diamond Helmet. Going back down, they went straight and turned to find another set of stairs.

On the fifth level, the party came across more imprisoned Crystal Ponies and freed them. Before they could move to the next floor, they went to a treasure chest containing Diamond Armor, but an imperial general had also emerged from the chest. They immediately attacked the soldier with their abilities, but his endurance was greater than that of the average grunt. While Maria prepared a spell, the general charged her and knocked the young woman off her feet.

Firion rushed towards the enemy and struck him nine times with his blade, sending the general stumbling backwards. Cadence checked on Maria and healed her wounds with Cure IX.

Ricard and the general's weapons met as they clashed. Struggling to gain the foothold, the dragoon leaned forward, successfully pushing his adversary and kicked him in the jaw.

Seeing her chance, Maria cast Blizzard IX and froze the evil soldier, leaving her and her friends victorious.

*music changes*

With the general defeated, our heroes went back to the path leading them to the staris. Seeing that the floor leading to the stairs was rigged with electricity, Twilight cast an anti-electric spell on the group, allowing them to pass through and make their way up.

As they reached the center of the sixth floor, they found and freed more ponies from their imprisonment and freed the ponies shackled in the other rooms as well. Though they were badly scarred, and almost all their magic was spent, our heroes life force, endurance, and magical abilities increased. Twilight's magic had grown so powerful that her body began glowing once more. The other thing that glowed as well was the Ultima Tome itself. Reading it, Twilight absorbed all the knowledge of the ancient spell.

"Twilight?"

"I... I feel as if there's something inside of me... ready to explode..." she said, her eyes closed. Opening them with a look of determination, she knew exactly what to do with it. She and the others consumed several of their ethers replenishing their magic abilities.

Going back to the sixth floor, the group trekked clockwise around the section where they saved the ponies from earlier and obtained the Wind Flute. However, a great light also emerged from the treasure chest, taking the shape a large Green Dragon!

Cadence quickly cast Blink on the group, while Maria cast Protect and Twilight casting Shell. Firion cast Thunder X on the beast. After that, Ricard charged at the creature with his lance striking three times causing moderate damage. Spike clawed at the beast, causing little-to-no harm on the larger dragon, but braced himself once it attempted to strike. Thanks to the effects of Blink, however, Spike was unharmed.

Guy finished it with five blows from his axe, causing the dragon to roar in agony and vanish.

With no obstacles remaining, they finally reached the top floor. On the stairs in front of them lay a carpet fitting only for those of high status. They walked up and came face-to-face with the megalomaniac, all glaring at him.

*music fades out*

"So, you have revived the wyverns, recruited a dragoon and now... here you are," said the Emperor. "Normally, I wouldn't dare waste my time with insects. But for the four of you, I will gladly make an exception." He leaned forward, eyeing the Equestrians. "I must admit: I am impressed that even worms like you made it this far. And for what? The retrieval of this child?"

The small orb appeared on the Emperor's right; the Equestrians gasped.

"Flurry!" Twilight and Cadence said in unison.

"You let her go right now!" Fluttershy asserted, earning a glare from the wicked tyrant. "...Please?"

"An insect... command me...? Laughable. Simply laughable."

"You'll not have anything to laugh about when we're through with you!" Firion declared.

"I find it more laughable that these equines and their dragon believe they can win, thinking that their world would be safe once more."

"What?!"

"What do you mean?" Ricard asked, leering at his enemy.

"You heard me. Even in the unlikely event you succeed here, there will always be others. I have had a vision, you see. A vision of four 'Warriors of Light' and six colorful ponies banishing a race of dark shape-shifting creatures and slaying a knight from the future in order to save the world."

A horrible realization had struck the Equestrians. Somehow, Twilight and her friends' actions had brought unwanted attention on her home and put the lives of her fellow ponies and every Equestrian in danger.

"No... it can't be..." said the purple alicorn.

"It is," Mateus confirmed. "Thanks to you, Princess Twilight Sparkle, I have found new means for total domination: the invasion of other realms. Once victory is mine, Equestria will be the next for me to conquer and enslave. I have been waiting for the most unnatural event of your world to occur, and that day had finally come!"

"Then..." Princess Cadence gasped. "My little Flurry being brought here was no accident!"

"Correct, Your Highness. But you will not live long enough to hold her in your hooves again. And I believe our conversation ends here." Mateus tapped his scepter on the ground summoning his henchmen.

"So you took your time telling us everything, but you're not going to kill us yourself?" Twilight asked.

"To be honest, I'm glad we had our little talk, but you and the others are still insects unworthy of being crushed under my foot," the Emperor taunted. "Kill them."

The troops attacked as commanded. Though they were stronger than the last soldiers, the royal guards were no match for our heroes as Spike breathed a great blast of fire on them. The guards then turned their attention on Spike, but before they could attack, Ricard rushed in and struck one of them with his lance sending him to the ground. The other was taken care of, courtesy of Twilight's Blizzard X.

Upon defeating the guards, the group moved closer. The Emperor scoffed and tapped his scepter again, calling forth even more minions: four of them. Maria cast Fire X on the soldiers, leaving them greatly weakened. Cadence zapped them with Thunder X and sent them away.

*music fades out*

With the second group of soldiers gone, the Emperor stood up. "Very well... I suppose I have no choice but to do battle myself. Guards! Aid me!"

As the Emperor commanded, two of his guards along with a Wood Golem appeared in between our heroes and their adversary.

Twilight snorted. "Coward..."

Guy quickly charged the Wood Golem and hacked it to pieces with his axe. The two royal guards were at the mercy of Princess Cadence and Firion as they both used Fire X on them. As soon as the Wood Golem and soldiers were taken care of, the only enemy that stood in front of them was Emperor Mateus himself.

"This madness ends here and now!" Firion declared.

Mateus chuckled... "You're wrong, Firion. This is only the beginning!" he shouted, casting Thunder X on the party.

Spike attempted to charge the Emperor only to have the tyrant introduce his foot to his face, knocking him to the wall.

"SPIKE!" Twilight yelled, rushing over to her friend.

The Emperor chuckled. "Concerned for your little friend, I see," he said mockingly. "If you want to save him, bow to me."

"NEVER!!" she shrieked, casting Blizzard X on the vile human. She then quickly cast Cure X on the dragon.

"Ha! Impressive," said Mateus. "Indeed, your magic skills have improved. But now, you are finished!"

But before he could strike the purple alicorn, Firion intervened with a punch to the face. Mateus pushed him to the side with his scepter, as he moved in on Twilight.

The purple pony and dragon dodged the villain's next attack; Twilight fired a strong beam from her horn. Mateus crossed his arms, enduring the attack as much as he could until he was knocked off his feet. He got back up and smirked.

"Heh. That was nothing," said the evil Emperor as he grabbed an Elixir, consuming it and thus bringing him back to full strength. "Do you still believe victory is within your grasp?"

The ponies growled. Of course he came prepared, Twilight thought. But we're not backing down so easily!

"Fire VI!" Ricard said, the spell taking its effect as the Emperor is forced into a corner.

Once Cadence fired her magic unto Mateus, the tyrant was blown away and hit the walls of the throne room, making him cry in agony. However, he was not done yet.

"Flare!" he called. The magic spell almost incinerated the group, but they were still on the verge of defeat. Maria and Cadence's magic had nearly been spent, and their supply of ethers ran low.

"There's only one thing left," said Twilight, as she flared her horn and started chanting.

"How cute," the Emperor said sarcastically. "Still thinking you could defeat me. A fighter to the end."

Twilight opened her eyes, directing her anger onto Mateus and cried, "Ultima!"

Mateus' eyes lit up in fear. "What did you say?"

He received his answer in the form of a single ray of light descending from the heavens accompanied by several orb-shaped lights, followed by a series of explosions damaging the evil despot and sending him to the ground.

*music fades out*

Panting, coughing up blood... Mateus looked up at his enemies with hatred in his eyes.

"N-No..." he said in denial. "Me... defeated by.. by these... VERMIN?!"

"You've lost... Your Majesty," Twilight sneered.

"No!" the Emperor cried. "I will... NOT... DIE!" It was no use. No matter how much he screamed or attempted to deny it, the one thing all living creatures fear the most, death, had come to claim the Emperor's life. Once his screaming stopped, he collapsed onto the floor and vanished.

"My... goodness..." said Fluttershy.

Just then Cadence walked over to Flurry and used her magic to destroy the sphere she was in.

"Let's get back to Fynn!"

They all nodded. Twilight closed her eyes and flared her horn, teleporting herself, her comrades, and little Flurry away from the collapsing fortress. Our heroes have successfully escaped. Little did they know, that their adventure would not end just yet.

Author's Note

With that, the Emperor has been defeated. But our story is not over yet!

As you can see, I took some liberties with the last part of the Cyclone.

Chapter 16: The New Emperor?! Discovering the Jade Passage

Castle Fynn

A flash of light appeared, startling everyone present in the Grand Hall. From the light emerged our heroes, Twilight Sparkle, Cadence, Fluttershy, Spike, Firion, Maria, Guy, Ricard and Flurry Heart.

"Oh, my goodness!" said Princess Hilda.

"You're all safe!" Gordon cried in happiness.

"Ye did it! Ye did it!" said Leila.

Our heroes all opened their eyes and found themselves in front of the royal couple as well as an entire group of happy citizens.

Flurry Heart cooed, her eyes wide with wonder.

"Oh, my little baby...!" Princess Cadence cried, cuddling little Flurry Heart. "I'm so glad..."

The baby alicorn giggled happily, knowing her mother was always there.

"You've all done well," Hilda congratulated. "And that includes you, my little ponies. You've defeated the Emperor and saved our world which was once bound in darkness. But now the light of peace shines once more."

"So this Flurry," said Guy.

"It's alright, he won't hurt you."

Hilda chuckled at the scene. "What an adorable filly." Flurry again cooed and smiled. Gordon, too, chuckled and smiled.

Hilda then addressed our heroes. "Firion, Maria, Guy, Ricard, Twilight, Cadence, Fluttershy, Spike... What more could we ask of you? The tales of your bravery will be handed down for generations. Now, let us celebrate! Many have come hoping to catch a glimpse of the heroes who brought down the Emperor... I wouldn't want to disappoint them."

The humans began their dance much to the enjoyment of the Equestrians.

Oh, how I wish Shining Armor was here, Cadence thought to herself, observing the waltz. She turned to see Twilight's smile slowly morphing into a frown as the purple alicorn lowed her head.

"Twilight? What's the matter?" she asked.

The purple alicorn didn't speak, but her fellow ponies likely knew what troubled her friend.

"It's about what that horrible Emperor said, isn't it?" asked Fluttershy.

Twilight looked to her friends and nodded sadly.

She lifted her head back up and smiled again, as she saw her friends join in the dance.

*music stops*

The happy mood, however, died the moment a wounded soldier limped into the throne room.

"Y-Your Highnesses...!" he said. "Terrible news... The Dark Knight... a man called Leon... has crowned himself Emperor of Palamecia...!"

Maria's eyes widened. "Did you just say Leon?!"

"No..." Firion uttered in disbelief. Guy couldn't believe it either.

"Leon is... Dark Knight...?"

"M-Maria's brother... really was working for the Emperor...?" Cadence gasped.

So it's true... Maria thought, her eyes tearing up.

At that moment, the soldier collapsed on the floor, losing his life.

Shortly after the shocking news was delivered, our heroes discussed their next course of action, hoping to resolve the war against the Empire once and for all.

"I knew there was something I forgot about the Empire," said Twilight.

"You mean...?" asked Maria. Twilight nodded as she and the others turned to Hilda. The human princess looked troubled.

"Leon? The Dark Knight? But I thought he was your friend," she said. "Your brother."

Maria placed her hand over her heart. "I'll go to him. I'll make him understand... He must be acting under the Emperor's spell. I know it!"

"But how can he be under a spell of the Emperor's dead?" Twilight argued.

"I... I don't know. But I have to face him! I must!"

Hilda agreed. "If he truly has ascended to the throne, there's only one place he could be: Castle Palamecia. However, it cannot be approached by foot, for it is situated high in the mountains."

"How do we reach Palamecia if not by foot?" Firion asked.

Suddenly, Twilight's eyes lit up. "I've got it! Paul!"

"Paul?" asked Firion.

"That's it!" Leila added. "I was thinkin' the very same! Paul's always been boastin' about how he broke into the castle. Ye might as well pay 'im a visit."

"I agree," said Gordon.

Before the group left, Twilight looked to Cadence still holding her child. Knowing that her niece was safe at last and not wanting to take risks, she trotted over to her sister-in-law.

"Cadence," she spoke.

"You don't need to say anything," the pink alicorn replied. "I'll stay here with Flurry. Just be very careful."

Twilight nodded. She leaned toward Cadence and placed her hoof around her shoulder. Rejoining the others, Twilight exited the Grand Hall.

Fynn

As our heroes left the castle, they went into Paul's house. Despite the Emperor's defeat, Paul did not look pleased.

"I don't believe this," he sighed angrily. "Just when we get the Emperor our of our hair, now we got this Dark Knight to deal with?"

"That's the reason we're here. You broke into Palamecia several times, right? How?"

"Glad you asked. You know how I did it? I just used a kite to glide onto the castle roof."

The team was dumbstruck.

"A kite...?" FIrion said in disbelief.

"Well, this wasn't a waste of time," Twilight said sarcastically.

"Yeah, I figured you'd say something like that," Paul answered. "There is another way you can break into the castle though."

The ponies' ears perked up.

"There is?" asked Spike.

"Yeah... But you'll probably need to hear his story first." Paul pointed in the direction of the bedroom and led them to an unexpected guest.

"Cid!"

Sure enough, it was the pilot of the airship they had used several times throughout their journey. Though he was glad to see our heroes, he was visibly wounded.

"What happened...?"

The wounded pilot groaned. "The Cyclone got me in Paloom... My old bones aren't acting as I want them to." He limped slowly toward the bed, dragging his leg and set himself on the bed.

"Cid okay?" asked Guy.

*music fades out*

"No... I'm sorry to have you all see me in this pathetic state now, but my airship's as perfect as she ever was. Not a single scratch on her," he said, chuckling weakly. "Now, listen... I'll let you use her until I get better. Got that? Take good care of her... Urgh..."

"Cid! No, don't--!" said Firion, but it was too late, for Cid had ceased to move and breathe. He lay lifeless as our heroes gasped; tears flowing from the Equestrians' eyes. The party closed their eyes and placed their hands, hooves, and claws over their hearts in respect.

Paul, too, was affected by the pilot's passing.

"That was his dying wish, don't you see? Ever since he realized he was dying, he's been meaning to give his airship to you guys. He really loved his airship; it meant everything to him. You've gotta understand how he felt when he breathed his last words!"

"We understand," said Maria.

"We'll take the airship and fly towards that castle!" Twilight declared.

"Maria?" asked Cadence.

"I know. My brother has just revealed himself as the Dark Knight. I... I must go with you. If he really is Leon, I have to face him."

"The same goes for me," said Firion.

"Me, too," Guy agreed.

"We have to stop him and the Empire," said Ricard.

"And don't you worry about him," Paul said, regarding the departed Cid. "I'll see that he gets a decent burial..."

"Thank you," said Maria.

After gathering more supplies for their journey, the group left the city of Fynn and headed straight for Poft, fighting off several monsters along the way each stronger than the ones they had faced before.

As soon as they reached Poft, they found it in shambles much like the other cities destroyed by the Cyclone. The only survivors were a few of Cid's crewmen. When they learned of their boss' final wish, the crew immediately let our heroes onboard the airship. The vessel launched off the ground and headed east for Castle Palamecia.

"If I remember correctly, there was a large castle on the mountains where we went into that Coliseum, wasn't it?" asked Twilight.

"It must be Castle Palamecia," Firion said.

"There it is!" said Ricard.

"Leon..." Maria said to herself.

Firion glanced at his childhood friends, letting them know that even though he would prefer not to fight Leon, the fact was that he still took over the Empire and planned to take over the world as did his predecessor and he had to be stopped.

Castle Palamecia

Our heroes had never thought that their quest would continue even after Mateus' demise. However, fate stepped in and answered them wrong. They knew that the minute the Dark Knight's identity was revealed. Only of them had thought that it would be Maria's brother: Maria herself.

As the crewmen lowered the airship and wished our heroes luck, the group broke into the seventh floor and headed straight for the door at the end of the long corridor. There, they found three ponies chained to the floor, just like in the fortress at the center of the Cyclone.

"Mayor!! Mr. and Mrs. Cake!!"

"Princess Twilight!"

"What happened?!"

"We've been captured by these... these... things and the next thing I knew, everypony else was here with me."

Twilight flared her horn and teleported the prisoners to Castle Fynn. She and the others went to inspect the emblem of the Empire only to learn that they were standing on a trap door, dropping them all the way to the ground floor of the castle.

Each of the heroes groaned in pain, struggling to get back up after the fall. Maria opened her eyes and found Twilight on Firion's midsection.

"Firion! Twilight! Wake up," she said.

Twilight was the first to regain consciousness and found herself on Firion.

"Oh," she said. "Deja vu."

She got up off of the young man as he began to wake up. The others soon followed and as they surveyed their surroundings. They found themselves near a Crystal Pony, who was chained to the familiar pattern on the floor like the others. Twilight freed her by teleporting her to Mysidia. Our heroes came across several more ponies and teleported them to Fynn. When our heroes entered a room on the left, they found three young fillies chained to the floor; two of them the Equestrians recognized.

"Sweetie Belle! Scootaloo!" said Spike.

"Twilight! Fluttershy! Spike!"

"Friends of yours?" asked Ricard.

"Sweetie Belle is our friend Rarity's little sister, and Scootaloo looks up to Rainbow Dash."

"Twist, right?"

The young bespectacled earth pony nodded.

As soon as they were freed from their chains, the little foals all embraced the mares and dragon.

"Now, hold still. I'm sending you all to Castle Fynn until everything's settled here."

"But, Twilight..."

"I can't guarantee your safety if those monsters are going to attack Equestria again. Besides, Rarity and Rainbow Dash will kill me if anything happens to you."

The children sighed in defeat, knowing that Twilight was right. And with that, the alicorn flared her horn and teleported them to safety. She and the others continued their trek through the castle, freeing more Crystal Ponies and Ponyville citizens while facing several imperial guards and monsters.

On the third floor, more Ponyville ponies were chained in a section surrounded by several arranged pillars, guarded by two generals. Doing away with the soldiers with ease, our heroes freed the ponies and sent them to Mysidia. Resuming their journey upwards, our heroes obtained a Thunder Spear for Ricard, went back to the opposite direction, down the other corridor and up to the fourth level where they obtained several staves, Sleepgrass and Saint's Spirit.

Going up the stairs on the northeast, they went straight for the stairway taking them up another level and acquring a Sun Blade. They went down the path that led them up into the seventh floor and into a room where they grabbed three Elixirs.

"Just what we needed," Twilight smiled.

The group went back the way they came on the fifth floor, and found themselves running through closed-in corridors and fought against two Devil Blooms and two floating skulls.

The team finally reached the eight floor, rescued two Ponyville residents, went into the throne room and confronted the Dark Knight who had antagonized them for so long. "I knew you'd come, Firion. And I see you've brought your new friends with you."

"Leon, why?" asked the young warrior in disbelief. "Why are you doing this?!"

Maria, eyes glistening with tears, spoke up. "Please stop, Leon! Why do you have to cross swords with your friend?!"

"Let me ask you one thing: what conquers the world? The answer is power. I am the new leader of this Empire now, and I will not let go of it!" Leon declared, his helmet glowing dark red.

"Even if you have to fight your friends and your own sister?!" Twilight shouted.

"You think you can defeat me?" Leon laughed as he rose from the throne and approached our heroes. "Come! Let's--"

Suddenly, a dark figure appeared on the throne frightening everyone. This figure had a skull-like face, razor-sharp teeth, and multiple snakes on his head like the Gorgons Twilight read about. It was covered with spines and wore a dark cape or cloak, had clawed hands and in one of those hands was a five-pronged scepter; the one thing this being did not possess was a lower half. Leon turned around and exclaimed.

"W-What's that...?!" asked Fluttershy.

"Delusions of grandeur do not become you, Leon," it spoke in a ghastly voice, but with a familiar haughty tone. One that everyone knew well.

"Can it be...?" Firion pondered, his heart filled with dread.

"It can't be...!" said Ricard.

"N-No...!" Maria gasped.

"Impossible...!" said Guy taking a step back.

Fluttershy couldn't find anything to say; she and Spike could only shake in terror.

"M-M-Mateus?!" Twilight cried. "H-How... Why are you here?!"

"I have returned from the depths of Hell with the ultimate power." He then leered at Leon. "Though I find the thought of you as emperor deliciously absurd, it ends now. This world can only have one Emperor, and I am he!"

Leon scoffed. "What can a ghost do? The Empire is mine!"

The fiend answered by summoning blue flames surrounding him and our heroes.

"You pathetic fool. I have no interest in Palamecia anymore. I shall kill all living souls and destroy this world! And then, Twilight Sparkle, Equestria! You and your kind will all join the others soon! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!"

Twilight attempted to quell the flames.

"Fool! Have you forgotten that you had nearly wasted your magic spells fighting off all your enemies to get here? As well as rescuing your fellow Equestians? Ha! You are all no match for the Emperor of Hell!"

"Destroy... the world...?" Leon questioned.

"And I'll be needing someone special..."

The Emperor's evil eyes flashed brightly as he raised his hand swiftly and in a quick flash, a certain baby alicorn appeared right before their very eyes!

"Flurry Heart!" Twilight screamed.

"H-How...?!" Firion questioned.

"You'll have plenty of time wondering how where you and your friends are going," he said, moving the blue flames closer to our heroes.

Ricard could no longer stand by. "Everyone! You must flee this place, now! Take the wyvern!"

"What are you doing, Ricard?" said Firion.

"As for you," he said glaring at the Emperor, "I'm taking you back where you belong! You may a little trouble spilling the blood of Ricard Highwind, last of the dragoons!"

"You worthless insect!"

"May the spirits of the dragoons lend me their strength..." he prayed.

"Ricard!" Maria cried.

"Don't!" Spike called.

It was too late, the wyvern crashed into the throne room and took everyone except Ricard away from the castle and back to Fynn. As they escaped, they noticed the ground shaking as the castle began to crumble. Where Castle Palamecia once stood was now a terrifying palace none had ever seen, until that moment.

It couldn't be, Leon thought to himself, removing his helmet.

Castle Fynn

"What happened, everyone?" asked Hilda.

"Where's Flurry?!" asked Cadence. "One minute, I was cuddling her, and the next, she disappeared."

They then noticed Leon and glared at him. He could only turn away in shame.

"You!" Hilda exclaimed.

"The Dark Knight!" Cadence cried. "You did this, didn't you?! Where is my child?!"

Leon didn't answer.

"Answer me!"

"Cadence..." Twilight spoke up. The pink alicorn's features softened when she heard her voice. "I hate to admit this, but it wasn't Leon who took her..."

"Tell me what happened!" Hilda demanded.

"It... It was him!" said Twilight.

"The Emperor... he has returned," said Firion grimly.

"The Emperor?" said Prince Gordon. His eyes widened. "You don't mean...?"

"Emperor Mateus," Twilight confirmed. "He came back. He captured Flurry again and now he's out to destroy everything!"

Cadence gasped in horror.

"Ricard the dragoon," Maria said forlornly. "He sacrificed himself to save us." At that point, tears started to stream down the poor girl's cheeks. "Josef, Minwu, Cid, and now Ricard... They're all dead. I... I can't take this anymore!"

Maria broke down sobbing, while Guy and Fluttershy comforted her, though they couldn't stop their own tears.

"But if we stop here, the Emperor will bring more deaths..." Leon said.

*music stops*

"Like you did, Leon?!" Twilight said venomously. "What right do you have to say that, after all the things you've done?! Brainwashing the people of Bafsk, making them build a weapon of mass destruction against their will, and trying to finish what that monster started?! And for what? Power?! Have you really forgotten your friendship with Firion and the others?! What about your sister?! Did you ever stop to think how she would feel if you were going to kill everyone she's ever loved, including your own childhood friends?! DID YOU?!"

Everyone present stood still as Twilight lectured the former Dark Knight, wondering if they should stop her.

"You may be Maria's brother, but you are no different than Mateus! The man who assaulted your home and killed your parents!"

Leon gasped, finally realizing the consequences of his actions.

"Twilight! That's enough!" Firion shouted.

"But you know what he did! You, the others and I all know it! He's not innocent at all!"

"Twilight, please!" Princess Cadence said. "You're scaring us."

The purple alicorn gasped, turned to look at her sister-in-law.

"I... I never thought I'd say something like this, but..." Twilight hesitated then opened her eyes grimly. "I'll sleep better knowing Mateus is gone for good."

"Twilight..."

*music starts again*

"If he succeeds here, he'll escape and ravage all of Equestria. I'm going to the Emperor's stronghold and make sure he never rises again."

"I think... there's somewhere we need to go first..." said Fluttershy.

"Where that?" asked Guy.

"We need to tell them..."

The Equestrians immediately knew the answer.

Firion looked over to his guilt-ridden friend. He then turned to Hilda. "Princess," he said. "Let Leon join us. Please."

"WHAT?!" the Equestrians shouted in unison.

"The Dark Knight? A rebel?" Hilda questioned. She paused, wondering if this was the right thing to do. "I leave the decision to you."

Maria spoke next. "Leon! Let's fight the Emperor together! Please!"

"Maria... Firion... Alright."

Twilight sighed. "Fine... But we'll be keeping an eye on you, Leon. I don't trust you completely."

With Leon in the group, our heroes boarded the airship and left Fynn once more. But before they went to Mysidia, the party decided to deliver the bad news to a certain family...

Castle Deist

"It's you all again!" said little Kain. "What happened to that dragoon man? He's coming back, right?"

The group lowered their heads in guilt and shame; their expressions answered the boy and his mother's questions.

"So... Ricard is no longer..."

The party lowered their heads, confirming the news. Elina held her face in her hands, crying her heart out.

"He... he was a... a noble dragoon. I'm sure he was... pleased that he could... d-die in the name of honor..." she spoke between sobs.

"I'm sorry, Miss Elina," said Fluttershy.

"What are you going to do now?" asked Firion.

"I think... we should leave Deist behind and find a new place to live. Too many sorrowful memories..."

Knowing it was for the best, the team agreed. But before she and her son were about to leave, a realization came to her.

"I meant to thank you all for saving the wyvern egg and for giving me the chance to see Ricard one last time. That's why I want you to have this," she said, revealing a beautiful sword. "This was the most treasured possession of the dragoons of Deist: Excalibur."

Excalibur? Twilight and Fluttershy both thought to themselves.

"With Ricard gone, you should be the ones to wield this sword."

Firion accepted the offer as he took the weapon off Elina's hands. The family of two had finally left the castle behind, ready to begin life anew.

Leon looked to the family and his mind wondered back to the time he spent time with his friends before the Imperial attack changed everything.

What was I doing? he asked himself.

Our heroes left Castle Deist, boarded the airship once more and went straight for the Jade Sea east of Mysidia. As they disembarked, the group and went to examine the sea, they found themselves being transported to another area...

Author's Note

Next chapter: a scene in the Crystal Empire, the Jade Passage, Pandaemonium, and the final battle!

Do you think Twilight was a bit too harsh with Leon?

Chapter 17: Another Attack?! Pandaemonium

The Crystal Empire

The ponies were eagerly awaiting the return of their friends and family since everything that had happened, starting with the attack on the Crystal Empire and Flurry Heart's abduction. With some of their Ponyville friends missing, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack had expected answers only to learn that Twilight, Fluttershy, Princess Cadence, and Spike had gone to another world to save Flurry and stop an evil Empire's bid for total domination.

Rarity was still dismayed over sister's disappearance after the attack on Ponyville, while Pinkie's mane had completely deflated during the long wait, wondering if she'd ever see the Cakes or her friends again. Applejack and Rainbow Dash, though, were slowly losing their patience with the recent events and wanted to know about the others' whereabouts at that moment.

All of a sudden, Pinkie Pie began to shudder uncontrollably. Her Ponyvile friends noticed this behavior, knowing that something unexpected was going to happen. Something unpredictable, even by Pinkie Pie.

"Ah!"

The sudden yell caught everypony's attention. "What is it, Cid?" asked Rarity.

"They comin' home?" Applejack questioned.

"Are Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo with them?" asked Rainbow.

"The fillies you call Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo are safe at Castle Fynn, the rebel army headquarters. However..." Not liking where the subject was going, the ponies cautiously leaned closer. "Mateus has somehow returned, and is about to send more monsters here!"

At that moment, several unholy portals appeared throughout the Crystal Empire, and from them emerged several demons and armored soldiers beginning their pursuit of the remaining citizens!

"All hail Emperor Mateus!" declared one Death Rider, a dark armored soldier on horseback.

The Crystal Ponies screamed and frantically ran away from the evil army to try and find safe places to hide but found themselves in a corner.

Unwilling to let this assault continue, Princess Celestia and Luna, along with Shining Armor and the Element Bearers, prepared to retaliate.

*music stops*

Jade Passage

Meanwhile, back in the other world... a flash of light quickly transported our heroes within a gloomy cavern with dark purple walls, light green grass and a river.

Within the misty labyrinth lay several enemies including Hecteyes, abyss worms and Great Malboros.

"Oh... oh, no..." said Spike. "Not those things again!"

"Ugh... Just when I thought we'd seen enough of them!" Twilight agreed, never thinking of seeing another member of the Malboro family. As soon as the monsters were out of sight, our heroes went straight for the stairs and descended further into the dungeon.

Once they reached the second floor, our heroes waded through the water and opened the treasure chest and obtained an Antarctic Wind, an ice-based item which was effectively a Blizzard spell. They noticed another chest further away from them and obtained a three-blade glove called the Cat Claws, but also unleashed a fearsome Blue Dragon.

The winged beast roared, summoning Thunderbolt 16 almost obliterating our heroes. Leon was the only warrior to almost succumb to his wounds, but his sister was able to revive him with an advanced Life spell, almost healing him completely. Twilight cast Cure XII on the entire group, while Cadence cast Shell, protecting them from the Thunderbolt spell.

Fluttershy thought to stand up to the Blue Dragon only to be knocked aside and into the water. A furious Guy charged the creature and hacked it numerous times. Firion quickly slashed the dragon with Excalibur several times, vanquishing it. As a result of the battle, Leon's life force, stamina, and endurance had increased.

On the third floor, they discovered a beautiful waterfall flowing downwards like any other waterfall. With little time to admire the scenery, our heroes descended several sets of stairs, and obtained several items along the way. In one section, they acquired a Rune Axe for Guy and were forced to fight a deadly King Behemoth! Thanks to Twilight casting Blink on the party, they were able to withstand the beast's brutal attacks and brought it down quickly. They continued their trek across the cave and went down to the fourth floor basement where they acquired a Betrayal Fang, went into the room at the very back and took three treasures: an Aegis Shield, a Holy Lance, and Dragon Armor.

Going back they opened the sole treasure chest near them and obtained Yoichi's Bow for Maria. But once again, another monster emerged from the chest materializing into a Red Dragon.

"Not again!" Fluttershy screamed.

"How many more of these things are there?!" Firion asked.

With little time to ponder on that question, the group braced themselves as the dragon unleashed a powerful breath of fire almost pushing them against the wall. Guy charged the beast and dealt serious harm onto it with his new Rune Axe. Cadence cast Blizzard XIII on it, bringing the battle to an end.

After defeating the adult dragon, the party went through the door on their right, found another staircase and went down into the fifth floor where they came across a large pit. On the wall next to the stairs was a plaque. It read:

"The way ahead leads to a forsaken place. It exists for those who may one tread it darkened path."

A shiver went up our heroes' spines as they finished reading the plaque. They knew they were getting closer, but there was a feeling of unease as their minds wondered on what they would find once they reach Pandaemonium.

As for the pit... Thankfully, the heroes that were capable of flight were able to make it through and thus obtained a hi-potion, an elixir, and a Protect Ring. Using their magic, Twilight and Cadence transported our heroes to the other side.

"Thank you," said Firion.

The party opened the door and descended into the final floor of the Jade Passage which was consisted only of a long corridor, and small sets of stairs leading to a warp tile that would lead any who set foot on it into Pandaemonium. A Green Dragon suddenly appeared just as they were nearing the exit. Having come too far to turn back, our heroes stood their ground.

With Twilight conjuring her magic shield, the group was safe from the beast's fire breath.

With the Green Dragon taken care of, our heroes pressed onward. Upon reaching the warp tile that lay in the center of the area our heroes had finally found their way out of the Jade Passage as well as the door to the Castle of Hell.

"So this is it."

"As soon as we go in, there may be no turning back."

"Are we ready?"

"I know I am," said Twilight.

"As am I," Cadence added.

Fluttershy closed her eyes and slowly opened them, filled with determination. She gave everyone a small nod.

"Leon..." said Twilight.

"Hmm?"

"Do you really feel remorse for everything that's happened so far?"

The purple-haired youth looked away and held his right arm. "Yes... After what you've said, Princess Twilight. And as we journeyed all the way through this cave... I see now that there is more than just power for which people fight. But friendship, harmony, and peace... You were right..."

Leon's friends looked to him.

"I intend to redeem myself, as well as save our worlds before that demon gets a chance to set foot in Equestria..."

Finally acknowledging Leon, Twilight flew upward and placed her hoof on his shoulder and gave him a welcoming nod. They all stepped onto the tile, ready to save Flurry Heart and stop Emperor Mateus once and for all. An orb of darkness surrounded them and zapped our heroes teleporting them into...

Pandaemonium

As the heroes expected, the interior of the castle was foreboding. The walls and partitions consisted of purple hexagon patterns, giving off an otherworldly vibe. Then again, this was the Castle of Hell itself.

Our heroes felt a shiver run up their spines as they felt an evil aura emanating from somewhere in the castle. They knew that the only way to find the source was to trek through the castle, while overcoming any obstacles that would stand in their way.

They all looked at one another and ventured forth. Running along the square tiles on the crystallized floor, our heroes followed the long path and went up the stairs to find themselves on the second floor. There, they encountered two cat-like creatures called Coeurls and a Lamia Queen much like the one who impersonated Princess Hilda. Doing away with the monsters quickly, the party continued onward and grabbed an ether at the end of the nearest stairs. Climbing back down those stairs, they descended another staircase and followed the path up to another warp tile. They stood on the tile and teleported to the third level.

"This place just keeps getting stranger and stranger," Twilight deduced as she and the rest observed that the tile was in between two crystals being energized with evil energy. They pressed on, fighting more Coeurls, Lamias, and Mythril Golems along the way. Several Death Riders were guarding the tile that led to the fourth floor and were much more powerful than any of the imperial soldiers they had encountered. Though the combined strength of the Death Riders was formidable, the Equestrians and the rebels prevailed as Leon, Firion, Twilight, and Maria finished them with their magic, bow, and sword, and thus they were awarded with an increase in magical and physical capabilities.

The group stepped on to the tile, taking them to the fourth floor where they came across four archways aligned in a single row.

"Oh, please don't tell me this place has trap rooms, too!" said an exasperated Twilight.

"We have to press on, Twilight," said Maria.

"Mateus and Flurry are somewhere beyond those doors," Cadence added.

The others agreed. Knowing her sister-in-law was right, Twilight suggested that they split up until they reach the fifth floor. Twilight suggested that Fluttershy, Leon and Guy follow her while Firion lead Cadence, Maria, and Spike. As they opened the chest, an unexpected adversary appeared before their eyes: that of an undead Count Borghen.

"You!" Twilight exclaimed, not expecting to see the traitorous "noble" again.

Fluttershy's eyes narrowed as she glared at the traitor in front of them. "You killed JOSEF, YOU MURDERER!!" the yellow pegasus cried, her eyes burning with sorrow and anger.

"Nice to see you again," Leon sneered.

"Ponies...! Must... Die...!" the undead Borghen cried. Fortunately, even as a reanimated corpse, the count was still a weakling for as Guy hacked him with his Rune Axe and Twilight blasted him with her magic, he was no match for the heroes.

*music stops*

With the wicked Borghen defeated, the party obtained Genji Gloves and moved forth and opened another treasure chest, this one containing Masamune, another familiar blade to the ponies. only to come face-to-face with a multiple headed dragon blocking the way to the fifth floor. Twilight and Fluttershy gasped for they had fought a similar creature... twice! Its skin tone was different, but there was a terrifying resemblance to the one they faced.

"It... it couldn't be...!" said Twilight. Fluttershy shook with fright.

"Fear my name, mortals! For I am... TIAMAT!!"

"NO! THAT ISN'T POSSIBLE!!"

The heroes stood their ground; Twilight cast Protect XI on the party while Leon cast Shell VI. Guy then attacked the dragon with his axe causing moderate-to-great damage.

Recalling their battles against the other Tiamat, Fluttershy advised Twilight not to use any offensive magic and keep everyone safe. The battle raged on as Tiamat cast the spell of Blaze XVI on the party, bringing Leon to his knees while everyone else barely alive. Twilight looked at Fluttershy as she made her next decision. She flew up in the air and cast Ultima once more. Tiamat was engulfed in a ray of light and was nearly blown away by the explosions from the spell. Guy then charged and swiped his axe vertically across the beast's chest. The dragon roared in anguish as it thrashed about and disintegrated.

With Tiamat gone, the team acquired a Genji Helmet, ventured towards the fifth floor and encountered several beast demons and devil blossoms. The former creatures bore a striking resemblance to Gottos whom they defeated to free the city of Fynn from imperial control. Although they didn't find anything that would lead them to a warp tile, the party was still optimistic, knowing that the others would surely find a way.

Meanwhile, Firion's group went through the corridor, climbed up several stairs and opened a treasure chest that unleashed a terrifying insect-like demon named Beelzebub. Maria quickly fired several arrows with bow, doing moderate damage to the monster. Cadence fired a powerful beam and sent it to the ground.

"Fire XIII!" said Firion. To his shock, the demon absorbed the magic, healing its injuries. "No!"

"We can't give up!" said Spike as he attempted to claw at the beast to little effect. Maria cast Blizzard XIII on the beast but found it to be resistant to Ice magic. Cadence cast Thunder XIII and greatly damaged it.

Upon Beelzebub's defeat, Firion acquired the Genji Armor. He and his group then went back out the door, opened the next, went through several doors and archways when they found a treasure chest in the very center of the room. Opening it, they unknowingly released a winged purple-skinned demon called Astaroth.

Cadence quickly cast Holy IX against the demon. Firion struck twice and sent it down to the ground where it vanished.

With Astaroth defeated, they obtained a ribbon which helped boost the wearer's defense a little. Moving on, they went down the stairs on the left and found a warp tile taking them above the room with the four doors.

Twilight's team went through the path as Firion's group and met up with them near the warp tile. They then proceeded to step on the tile between the two crystal columns. The chamber of the Emperor was only a few floors away; the evil aura they felt was growing stronger.

On the fifth floor, the party obtained Sage's Wisdom from the only chest and moved up the stairs. Upon using the item, Maria's intelligence increased.

As soon as the reached the area with the warp tile that would take them up to the next level, they encountered a large armored giant wielding a dangerous sword that could easily cut its opponents in half.

Fluttershy and Spike gulped. "Is there anyway we can sneak past this... this thing?" the dragon asked.

The giant stepped forward shaking the ground. It stood in a battle stance with no intentions of letting the intruders pass.

"I don't think we have a choice," said Firion, drawing his sword.

"We must defeat this Iron Giant," Leon added.

"We have to save Flurry Heart!" Cadence declared.

Twilight immediately cast Protect XII on her friends as Leon charged at the giant but did little damage as the giant's armor endured the attack. Seeing this, Maria cast Blizzard XIII on the creature. The Iron Giant stumbled backwards, but it was still standing; it raised its sword and swiped once almost slicing the party's hair. Luckily, they managed to dodge the attack jumping backwards while the ponies flew upwards, carrying Spike. Twilight fired a magical beam at the giant, bringing it down to one knee. At that moment Cadence cast Thunder XIII, greatly injuring their armored foe.

*music stops*

The giant's body began to convulse until suddenly it stopped; it began to vanish leaving behind its armor, several pieces falling to the floor. As soon as the last piece fell, the armor completely vanished. With the Iron Giant defeated, our heroes moved on and stepped onto the warp tile.

On the sixth floor, the group went through the waves of demons and stepped onto the next tile. When they reached the next level, it was no more than a wide open space, leaving them little-to-no difficulty in reaching the last warp tile. As they stepped on the tile, the heroes found themselves on the final level of the fortress. There, the party stood before the source of the evil aura: the revived Emperor Mateus, who planned to rule all worlds.

"Ah, the rebel insects have arrived. And their little pony and dragon friends, as well!" said Mateus.

"Let my daughter go, NOW!" Cadence commanded.

The Emperor chuckled wickedly. "I think not. I must commend you, though. You have all braved the bowels of the underworld to reach me. But the hand of man, which deals in false justice and forsaken love, and the hoof of the pony, spreading misguided ideals such as the magic of friendship, can never hope to defeat the lord master of Hell itself!"

"'Misguided?'" Cadence exclaimed.

"That's where you're wrong, Emperor!" said Firion.

"You're not destroying this world or ours!" Twilight declared.

Once again, Mateus laughed evilly. "How naive, Twilight Sparkle. Even now my army has invaded the Crystal Empire once more, and will stop at nothing until my arrival!"

"Not if we defeat you first!" said Firion.

The Emperor roared in response, preparing himself for battle.

"Prepare to die!"

Our heroes stood their ground; the humans drew their weapons and the Equestrians went into their battle stances.

Twilight flew up in the air and fired a strong magical beam from her horn unto the evil spirit, but the Emperor only suffered moderate damage from the attack. Firion quickly slashed the Emperor with Excalibur five times, bringing him great harm. Guy charged Mateus only to be knocked away. Fluttershy saw this and attempted an assault as well, only to find herself in the being's grasp. As the wicked being slowly crushed her, his wounds almost healed.

"All who oppose me shall be put to death!"

"No!" Maria shouted, firing an arrow. Despite the minimal harm it brought, it was enough to distract the demon and release the yellow pegasus. Now knowing that the Emperor's physical attacks drained his enemies' health, the party did their best to evade the attacks. This did not deter him, however, for he had cast the spell Slow XVI on Maria decreasing her speed greatly. Seeing this, Firion quickly cast Haste, curing his friend.

Leon charged and attacked with his blade. Firion struck at Mateus with Excalibur causing a great deal of harm.

Cadence then cast Thunder XIII which dealt a moderate blow. Mateus, however, was furious that the humans and Equestrians were able to endure and avoid his attacks.

"I am through playing with you creatures!"

It was then that the Emperor cast his most powerful spell: Starfall. Somewhere above several comets fell upon the party, followed by a giant meteor. Despite the protective spell cast on them, everyone felt the blow and flinched.

"It's not over yet!" Twilight shouted.

"We can still do this!" Spike declared. Fluttershy agreed as did the humans.

Mateus chuckled. "Fools. What hope have you against the Emperor of Hell?" Just then, something amazing happened: the heroes' bodies began to glow a warm blue light.

"What?!" Mateus cried. "What is happening?!"

Twilight fired her magic upon the evil entity and paralyzed him.

"What... sorcery... is... this...?!" he cried in anguish.

Just then, a powerful light appeared in front of Firion; it took the shape of a blood-red sword with a bell-shaped hilt and a centerpiece shaped like a skull and crossbones.

"The Blood Sword?!" the Emperor cried. "I thought my underlings had it destroyed!"

"It looks like you were wrong, Mateus," said Twilight, glaring at him. "Now it's time to pay for your actions!"

Mateus growled and gritted his teeth.

"For all lives Emperor took..." Guy declared.

"For everyone who suffered because of your cruelty..." Fluttershy added.

"For the families you've destroyed..." said Maria.

"For taking away my daughter and subjects..." said Cadence.

"For turning me against my sister and friends..." Leon glared.

"For all of Equestria..." said Spike.

"For the sake of this world..." said Twilight.

"And for everything that's happened," said Firion, taking the Blood Sword. "This is the end!" He ran the blade straight through the Emperor's heart. Five seconds later, the youth withdrew his blade, leaving the fallen Mateus weakened and shocked.

*music stops*

"Im... Impossible..." he uttered while he shook violently. "Defeated by mere insects... like you... Not once, but twice...?! Who... are... you...?" The villain clutched his head screaming. "UNGAAHHHH!!!" And with that death cry, the wicked entity began to disappear almost completely until there was nothing left. Emperor Mateus was no more. The orb holding Flurry inside shattered upon the entity's demise; Cadence flew and caught the child.

"My baby!" she sobbed.

"Everyone! Let's get out of here!"

The group agreed. They all held each other's hands/hooves/claws as Twilight teleported them out of the castle...

Meanwhile, in the Crystal Empire...

As the Princesses and the remaining forces struggled against the demonic army, something unexpected had happened. The demons screamed in pain, clutching their chests as they began to crumble into dust and fade away. One-by-one, the monsters howled as they faded into nothingness, leaving their would-be victims alive. One such creature, the same wizard that had stolen the Blood Sword from Paul, had realized that sending the weapon into Panedaemonium was his master's--and the entire demon army's--undoing before turning into dust.

"Wh... What happened?" asked Rarity.

"I think... I think they've won," said an exhausted Celestia.

Author's Note

And with that, Mateus is finally defeated. And remember, the Holy Tome can be purchased at Mysidia, hence why Cadence knows that spell.

Next chapter: the ending

Epilogue: War's End/A Gift

Back in the throne room of Castle Fynn, our heroes walked over to Hilda and Gordon. The guilt-ridden Leon, however, stepped aside and joined Leila, Paul, and Nelly. The room was also filled with the Crystal Ponies as well as the citizens of Ponyville.

"It's... finally over, isn't it?" asked Hilda.

"Yes. Thank goodness," said Cadence.

"It was a long struggle... But with the Emperor gone, we've nothing left to fear. Thank you. Will all my heart, I thank you."

It was Gordon's turn to address the party.

"With the combined strength of Kashuan and Fynn, we will rebuild the kingdom anew." He then turned to his beloved. "Together, Princess, we will build a kingdom even fairer than the old. Though once a coward, I now stand here a new man. I have all of you to thank for that," he said addressing our heroes. "I'm sure Scott is smiling down on me from above."

The thief Paul walked right up to our heroes and chuckled. "Look at you. Do you realize what you've done?"

"No...?" Twilight asked uncertainly.

"Who am I supposed to steal from now that the Empire's gone? You put me out of a job! Guess I'll have to start stealing from you. Better watch your backs!"

You're welcome... Firion said to himself, with an unamused look shared by the rest of the group. Leila stepped forward.

"Ye sure showed 'em, Firion! Yer every bit the bloke I pegged ye for! If ye ever feel like tryin' yer hand at piratin'..."

She then caught a glimpse of Maria glaring at her with her arms crossed. Twilight, Cadence, and Fluttershy also gave disapproving looks.

"That not sit well with ye all."

"No. I think Firion should live a more... honest life," said Maria.

"I agree," said Twilight.

"Me, too," said Fluttershy.

"Likewise," said Cadence, feeling that there was more to Maria's disapproval.

Leila laughed heartily. "Looks like yer next battle's already begun, Firion!" She then left the Grand Hall, but not before giving a quiet sigh that no one had noticed. Next was Nelly, Josef's daughter.

"You did it! You saved us all!" she said, hugging Fluttershy. "Daddy would be so proud of you!"

"Thank you, Nelly," said Fluttershy. "What are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to be working here, serving the princess. I just wanna do whatever I can to help out!" As soon as she said that, an apparition of her father appeared before the heroes' eyes.

Did I see what I think I saw? Twilight thought.

"Josef...?" Firion asked, wondering if he had seen him as well.

She took her place in the Grand Hall standing alongside Prince Gordon and Princess Hilda. The latter declaring that now was the time to rebuild and live once again. Bidding our heroes farewell, the three humans left the chamber to begin their efforts to restore the kingdom.

"It's all over..." said Twilight.

"War finally over!" said Guy. Firion agreed.

"Thank goodness," Fluttershy added.

"Now we can live in peace again. Together..." She then looked at the Equestrians. "Oh! Well..."

"I know," said Twilight. "We should be ready to leave soon. So not of all us can live with you..."

"We have our own home to go back to," said Cadence. "We wouldn't want to keep the others waiting. Do we, Flurry?"

The baby alicorn giggled.

"It's not just our pony and dragon friends..." said Firion, sadly.

At that moment, Leon began to walk away from the group and move away from Fynn.

"Leon!" his sister called.

The former Dark Knight turned around and addressed his friends and sister. "I'm sorry, Maria... Too much has happened between us... There is no going back..."

"Firion! Stop him, please!" Maria begged. Everyone else, however, knew that there couldn't be an easier way.

"Maria... Leon's right. We've been through too much," he said. "I can't stop him... Not now." As soon as Leon took the first step, Firion called out to him. "We will meet again."

The former Dark Knight didn't turn around and face them, but he still gave a subtle nod, acknowledging his friend's statement.

"Leon..." said Twilight. "I hope... I hope you find your true self..."

Leon stood silent. As with Firion, he gave her a subtle nod and finally walked out of the Grand Hall.

*music fades out*

The Equestrians' bodies began to glow, albeit slowly as if something was summoning them, beckoning them to return home.

"Does this mean...?"

"I... I think so," said Twilight, unsure. "Maybe it's time we went back to Equestria. Last time, we woke up back in the Crystal Empire, but I think it must have felt this way, too."

"So you're leaving..." Firion asked, even though he and the others knew the answer.

"Yeah..." Spike sighed.

"We saved my daughter and the Crystal Ponies," Cadence added. "We even defeated Emperor Mateus twice."

"We going to miss you all," said Guy wiping a tear.

"We'll miss you, too," Fluttershy replied, her eyes tearing up.

The Crystal Ponies joined hooves with their fellow ponies and Spike. Little Flurry cooed.

"That's right, Flurry," Cadence whispered. "We're finally going home."

"Twilight," said Firion. "Remember when you asked me what I wanted to do, when all this was over?"

Twilight nodded.

"This may sound silly, but... I want to fill the world with wild roses."

The Equestrians raised an eyebrow.

"Wild roses...?" asked Twilight.

"I know it sounds silly, but... I want everyone to know that the war has ended, and this should be a time of peace..."

Knowing he was right, Twilight placed her hoof on his shoulder and smiled. "In that case, Firion... I wish you the best of luck."

"Me, too," said Fluttershy.

"Likewise," Cadence added.

Cid, Twilight thought. Can you hear me? I think we're ready now.

"Good-bye, everyone," said the Princess of Friendship as she and her friends disappeared.

"Twilight, Spike, Cadence, Fluttershy..." said Firion. "Thank you all..."

Little did they know that they were not the only ones silently saying their farewells. Minwu, Josef, Scott, and Ricard had also smiled, thanking them for bringing peace back to their world.

Upon arriving back in the Crystal Empire, our heroes were greeted with thunderous cheers and applause.

"Our saviors have returned!"

"Twily! Cadence!" Shining Armor said. The two alicorns trotted over and hugged their loved one, happy to see him again.

""There's someone else who's glad to be home," said Twilight. Cadence unwrapped the bundle she was carrying, revealing their most precious possession.

"Flurry Heart...!" he said. The little baby giggled with glee, happy to see her father again.

"TWILIGHT!! FLUTTERSHY!!"

The purple alicorn and the yellow pegasus to the voices calling her name. To their surprise the rest of their Ponyville friends appeared. They all gathered together in a group hug.

"Rainbow Dash!" said a familiar young voice.

"Rairty!" another child's voice said.

The two found among the ponies that had just returned with their younger sisters (or surrogate sister in Scootaloo's case). Rarity embraced Sweeite Belle so hard, the unicorn filly thought she was squeezing the life out of her. Rainbow and Scootaloo held each other in a sisterly hug, both happy for their reunion.

"I am relieved you are all safe," said the voice of Cid, getting everypony's attention. "Thanks to you, the domination of the Empire of Palamecia has ended. Peace and prosperity have returned."

"What will happen to Leon?" asked Twilight. "Do you think he'll really be welcomed back after all he's done?"

"Only time will tell, Twilight Sparkle. Leon has a lot to answer for, as did Emperor Mateus."

"Speaking of the Emperor, it's scary how he came back from the dead, trying to destroy everything."

"It was worse than that, Twilight."

"H-How so...?"

"When the Emperor died in battle, his soul separated into two: one light and one dark."

Everypony was shocked.

"His... his soul split in two?!" Twilight screamed.

"That is correct."

The Crystal Heart displayed an image of a figure reminiscent of the evil Emperor. From what our heroes saw, the being had six wings and a golden gate on his back. He appeared to be made of clouds and wore a light-colored robe.

"So not only did his dark half conquer the underworld, his light half took over the other part of the afterlife?!"

"Yes... However, there is no need to fear."

"How so?"

"While you fought against the Dark Emperor in Pandaemonium, the spirits of your fallen comrades took up arms against his light counterpart in Arubboth, the palace of Heaven. Let me show you..."

The Crystal Heart displayed the battle between the Light Emperor and a group of humans that the Twilight and the others recognized: Minwu, Josef, Ricard, and to Twilight's surprise Prince Scott.

The battle raged on, and as the Light Emperor was vanquished, he uttered the exact same death cry as his dark counterpart.

"Wow..." Rainbow Dash awed.

"Um, Cid?" asked Fluttershy.

"Yes, my dear?"

"A lot's happened on our journey. Several of our new friends lost their lives..." The yellow pegasus' eyes teared up, as she said this. "They died, sacrificing their lives to save us and... and..."

"I understand..." said Cid. "This ordeal has been quite traumatic for you. I will not force you to enter a new world. You deserve a rest, Fluttershy."

She sniffled. "Thank you..."

"There is something I would like to give you, however."

"What would that be...?" she asked fearfully.

Her answer was a quick flash of light, but nothing came of it, or so it seemed.

"That's it?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Not really," Cid answered. "Why not head back to the cottage near the Everfree Forest? You will find your answer there."

"The cottage near the...?" Fluttershy asked, realizing the location. "That's my house."

"Correct. I will see you again, sometime."

"Thank you."

"Wait!" said Twilight.

"Yes, Princess Twilight?"

The purple alicorn lowered her head, unsure of what to say next. Princess Cadence saw this and urged everypony except the Mane Six and her aunts to return to their homes. Twilight waved the crowds goodbye and wished the Ponyville citizens a safe trip. As soon as the sanctum was empty, her smile faded.

"Twilight?" said Applejack, worriedly. "If there's somethin' on yer mind, ya gotta tell us."

The purple alicorn thought hard and finally spoke up. "Before Mateus died, he said something about other people like him, intending to invade Equestria."

This news brought fear and alarm to everypony present.

"Don't tell me you're serious, Twilight! It was just the one--"

"No, Rainbow Dash," Twilight interrupted. "Remember our battle against Garland and the Four Fiends of Chaos?"

"Yeah...?" the cyan pegasus answered.

"Mateus said he had a vision of that battle and waited until Flurry's birth so he could begin the invasion."

"What?!"

"But how could he do that, Twi?" asked Applejack.

"I don't know, but I feel like... like this whole mess was our fault."

"Good heavens, Twilight!" Rarity exclaimed. "You mustn't say such a thing! After all, it was Queen Chrysalis' doing."

"She is right, Twilight."

The ponies turned to the Crystal Heart.

"These villains may have their sights set on Equestria, but when the time comes I will summon you here once again via your cutie marks. When they glow as bright as the crystals, you must return here and I will lead you to the next world."

"Thank you, Cid," said Twilight, as she bowed. After embracing her fellow princesses and brother and bidding them farewell, she joined up with Ponyville friends once more. The six ponies and dragon each left the chamber of the Crystal Heart and straight for the train station.

"May the Light of the Crystals shine..."

*music fades out*

Ponyville

Once they disembarked the Friendship Express, everypony went right for Fluttershy's cottage. And when they got there, they saw a huge yellow bird looking about, confused by its surroundings.

"Kweh?" it squawked.

Twilight and Fluttershy gasped at this sight.

"What is that? Some kind of bird?" asked Rainbow. "I've never seen it before."

"It's a Chocobo," said Twilight. "The humans we've traveled with in that world, used them for travel."

"They're such lovely creatures," said Fluttershy. "This must be what he was talking about."

The yellow creature cautiously approached the ponies. Lowering its head, it nuzzled with Fluttershy.

"Yes, I like you, too."

"Kweh!" it chirped happily.

"My name's Fluttershy, and these are my friends Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Spike."

"Kweh!"

"Oh, my GOSH!! It's adorable!" said Pinkie Pie.

Fluttershy then looked in the direction of where the Crystal Empire would be. "Thank you, Cid."

Despite the terrible feeling she had in her mind, Twilight's heart melted at the display. The ponies then interacted with the Chocobo and were very happy to make a new friend.

*music fades out*

And thus ended the chapter of Twilight Sparkle and Princess Cadence's journey to rescue Flurry Heart and stop Emperor Mateus from ruling his native world and invading Equestria. Little did Twilight know that the Emperor's words would soon come true: there would be others like him and Garland. The ponies were soon to face one that threatened to extinguish light with the powers of darkness...

THE END

Author's Note

It is finished at last!!! WOOOOO!!! Please tell me everything you liked and didn't like about this story in the comments. See you all in My Final Pony Fantasy III!

Chapter 13: The Land of Mages

Castle Palamecia

Emperor Mateus and his Dark Knight were walking side-by-side in the halls of the castle, passing several saluting soldiers. "I see. So the princess has finally recaptured her home."

"Yes, Your Excellency," said the Dark Knight. "Unfortunately, I also must report that although our forces from the underworld have captured several Equestrians from the town of Ponyville... they were unable to slay Twilight Sparkle's friends."

The Emperor kept a straight face as he slowed to a halt. "Interesting..."

"How so?" asked the armored soldier as his helmet glowed an eerie red.

"Even so, this 'Crystal Heart,' which transported those meddling fools to this world, was nullified before the attack. Therefore, there is no need to worry." He then revealed the orb containing his valuable prisoner. "With this infant's power, I shall soon rule over all Equestria soon... but for now, we have vermin to exterminate."

"Yes, Your Excellency."

"The time has come to show our might... and crush the rebellion once and for all. Have everyone prepare for my arrival!"

"It shall be done, sire! I have been waiting for this moment..."

"No," the Emperor stated.

"Sire...?"

"I will handle this myself. You stay here and protect the castle..."

After a brief moment of silence, the Dark Knight bowed, acknowledging the order. "As you command... All hail Emperor Mateus!"

"All hail Emperor Mateus!" the imperials shouted, certain of their victory.

Several since the liberation of Fynn, our heroes had equipped themselves with whatever weapons and armor they could get from the shops, ready to head for the mysterious land of Mysidia in order to find Minwu and the elusive Ultima Tome.

Setting foot upon the pirate ship once more, the group sailed to the far south far away from Altair. Consulting the map, they found what appeared to be a small village situated between a forest and a mountain range that nearly encircled a cave. The group sailed through the salty sea air and landed south of the desert. They disembarked and trekked through the desert, walked through the forest and found the village on the map.

Mysidia

Our heroes were taken by surprise: the town looked like any other village they had visited on their quest, yet nearly all the inhabitants were practitioners of magic. Some were dressed in the same manner as Teol and Flora. Twilight, being the magic enthusiast that she was, felt elated. One man near the entrance walked over to her.

"My, my. A unicorn? I thought they only existed in myths and legends. Welcome to Mysidia, the land of magic and mages."

Twilight stood silent, not knowing whether she liked the attention she was getting.

"Actually, she's... an alicorn," said Firion. "Take a look at her wings."

"'Alicorn?' Preposterous."

At that moment, Twilight slapped her hoof on her head. "Excuse me." She opened her wings with a look of annoyance on her face.

The mage winced in shock. "Are... are those real?"

The purple pony sighed. "Yes... they are. And just in case you're wondering: yes, my friends and I can speak."

Maria stepped in. "We don't want any trouble," she said. "We're part of the Wild Rose Rebellion and we've come to look for information on the magic that lies in the tower that--"

"The tower?!" the young man gasped. "Th-Th-Then... You seek the ultimate magic as well?"

"That be right..." said Leila.

"Our library should contain some answers."

Twilight's eyes sparkled. "L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-LIBRARY??!! YOU HAVE A LIBRARY?!"

Spike's pupils shrank. "Uh-oh..."

"What is it, Spike?" asked Maria. "Why is she acting so happy?"

"Twilight's always had her nose stuck in a book or two."

"Oh, I remember her telling me that," Firion realized. "Hopefully she doesn't forget our reason for being here..."

"I don't think she would," said Fluttershy. Unfortunately, the yellow pegasus spoke too soon for Twilight quickly ran all across Mysidia in search of the library. With a heavy sigh, Fluttershy followed her lavender friend, while the others traveled over the town. When they finally caught up with the two ponies, they stood in front of a house on the southwestern part of town.

Inside the library, dusty old tomes were kept in several shelves. Twilight began to cough and was just about to sneeze.

"Bless you," said Maria.

"Thank you..." Twilight replied.

Gathering the books, the party gave them a quick, yet thorough read.

"Here's some information about the dragoons," said Firion.

"It says: 'The island of Deist was the ancestral home of the wyverns. A knight named Haan visited the island, and over a period of thirty years, he cultivated a bond with the wyverns. Haan later became the first dragoon.'"

"Speaking of wyverns," said Fluttershy. "Take a look at this. 'A close relative of the dragon, the wyvern is a beast trained to serve as the airborne mount of the dragoons. Though smaller than a dragon, a wyvern's strength allows it to carry four to five people into the air.'"

"Four to five people...?" Twilight questioned. "Maria, Leila, what did you find?"

"This one talks about mythril, actually," said Leila. "It says: 'Mythril is a strong, easily processed metal. Highly responsive to magic, it forms the basis of magical armaments.' Nothing I haven't heard really."

Maria pulled out another entry, one that spoke of the Goddess' Bell. "'Once, long ago, a king ordered the making of an indestructible lock and key. Three sets were fashioned. The first was forged from friendship, the second from love, and the third from wonder. The sets forged from friendship were soon broken. But the third was wrought from the wonder evoked by the ringing of a single pure note, and it held fast. That key was the Goddess' Bell. So pleased was the king, he hid the bell away in a cavern of snow, where it rests to this day.'"

"Not until we found it and used it, that is," Twilight chuckled. "What about you, Guy?"

"This book talk about Sunfire. 'In a time before the world knew castles or kingdoms, a star fell to the land we now call Kashuan. A man gathered flame from the star and built an alter to enshrine it.' That's it."

"The book I've got talks about this place. It says: 'Fearing that the tremendous power they wielded might lead the world to destruction, the mages of old founded a settlement in Mysidia and dwelt there in seclusion.' What about you, Spike? Find anything?"

The dragon carried two books. One of the titles was "Palamecia," the other read "Jade Passage."

Spike read "Palamecia" first. "'The King of Palamecia was said to be a man of tremendous pride. Once he decreed that he would give his daughter as a prize to any man who could penetrate his castle. Men who scaled cliffs, men who dug tunnels - all were humbed before the walls of the impenetrable castle. But finally there came a man who succeeded where others had failed. Filling a great bag with hot air, he floated up, alighted on the castle roof, and entered the castle. Enraged at being outwitted, the king attempted to seize the man. But with an airy confidence, the man, together with the princess, escaped into the sky.' That's very... interesting."

"What about 'Jade Passage?' What's that about?"

"Let's see... 'The Jade Passage is the path joining this world with Hell. The passage leads to Pandaemonium, the castle of Hell.' I'm afraid to ask, but... what exactly is this 'Hell?'"

"Hell..." said Firion. "As far as we know, it's a part of the afterlife people go when they've committed terrible crimes."

"Sounds like Tartarus."

"Only, if these people have died."

The Equestrians shuddered. Cadence, having read two of the books she levitated in front of her, shared their contents as well.

"This book talks about the Ultima Tome we're looking for. It says: 'In ages past, Pandaemonium, the palace of the lord of Hell, emerged unto our land. The mages of old wove a spell of fearsome power and banished Pandaemonium, averting the crisis.'"

The rest of the group leaned closer.

'However, the mages feared that the spell was so powerful, it could throw the world into chaos. So they constructed a great tower and sealed within it the tome inscribed with the spell's secrets.'

The others' eyes widened with this information. Was this truly what their friend Minwu was tasked to obtain?

"L-Let me read the other entry," said Cadence. "'Make of the White Mask an offering to the goddess beneath Mysidia. If thou art pure of heart, the doppelganger will cease to move. Fit then the Black Mask upon him, and both he and his defiled heart shall fade.'"

"The goddess beneath Mysidia?"

"Doppelganger?"

With more questions about what they were seeking than answers, the group exited the library; before leaving town, they gathered more supplies and learned from the villagers that the Black Mask they seek was being kept safe on a small island south of the region. They had also learned that the masks were essential to acquiring the Crystal Rod: the key to the Mysidian Tower where the Ultima Tome was kept. One last bit of information they had gathered was that Minwu had passed through the town eariler to obtain Ulitma. So they went back to the ship, but before they could get back onboard, they were waylaid by a group of three Bombs!

"Oh, no!" Leila exclaimed.

"More members of the Bomb family?" asked Twilight.

"Worse... these things actually be called Bombs themselves! We'd best do away with 'em quick!"

Twilight quickly cast Blizzard VI on the first Bomb she saw, freezing and defeating it. Maria cast Blizzard VI as well on the second monster, sending it back where it came. One of the Bombs tackled Firion; the youth quickly got back on his feet and slashed the monster two times. The last Bomb was being slashed repeatedly by Leila who backed away. Angry, the creature grew and exploded, pushing our heroes back.

*music ends*

"Whoa..." said Spike.

Twilight groaned as she got back up. "Remind me to avoid those things if we see them."

"Oh, my!" said Fluttershy, putting her hooves on her head. "Is... everyone alright?"

"I... I think so," Twilight answered albeit unsure.

"I'll help you all," said Maria. "Cure VI!"

Suddenly, our heroes' wounds were healed.

"Thank you, Maria," said Cadence.

"Aye," Leila agreed.

With the Bombs defeated, our heroes boarded the ship and sailed south towards the Tropical Island. The party quickly found their destination and disembarked, ready to find the Black Mask.

Tropical Island

In the grassy cave, the party split up into two, with Twilight leading the Equestrians and Guy into the stairs from their right, while Firion and the others took the left.

As Twilight's group headed further up into the dungeon, they encountered several creatures such as Duel Deads and Poison Toads. To their surprise, our heroes had discovered a group of peaceful islanders within in the area.

"I no believe it," Guy gasped in disbelief.

The Equestrians, too, were at a loss for words. After shaking off their shock, they asked the villagers about the location of the Black Mask.

Meanwhile, Firion and his group descended down into the third floor basement, obtaining more treasures including Scourge Tomes, a Blind Tome, and 1,000 gil.

Leaving the villagers behind with more supplies, Guy and the Equestrians went back and met with the other humans on the third floor. With the party reunited, they went further into the dungeon. As they entered the last chamber near the center of the fifth floor basement, they saw three large rhinoceros-like creatures called Big Horns guarding a treasure chest.

"What are those things?!" Maria cried.

"Whatever they are, we have to defeat them!" Firion declared.

"They guard mask!" Guy added.

The battle only lasted thirty seconds, for our heroes easily vanquished the beasts with their superior strength, magic, and agility.

With the Big Horns taken care of, our heroes opened the treasure chest and acquired the Black Mask.

"Let's get out of here."

Everyone agreed. They went straight forward to find a warp tile; they stepped on the device and found themselves right outside the cave and near the ship.

Aboard the vessel, our heroes looked toward the town, ready to complete their next task.

"You know what I've noticed back there?" asked Firion. "There weren't any of those trap rooms."

"Thank goodness!" Twilight sighed.

Mysidia

As soon as they entered the town, the party immediately went down the stairs that took them underground which led them to a goddess statue. After placing the White Mask on the statue's face, they immediately went for the inn to stay for the night.

As dawn approached, the group left the village and headed southeast for the cave that would lead them to the mysterious doppelganger.

Mysidia Cave

As soon as they stepped in, our heroes almost ran into the flan like creatures and used their magic to defeat them.

Fluttershy gasped.

"What is it, Fluttershy?" asked Cadence. The princess' eyes widened at what she and the yellow pegasus were seeing. The creatures that stood in front of the party were large, green, tentacled beings, with an anemone-like head and large mouths.

"What are those?!" Spike cried.

Leila took a step back. "They be Malboros!" he said. "These creatures spew a foul breath. Anyone unlucky enough to come across them will be severely outmatched."

"That sounds bad."

"Sometimes, it's better to retreat," said Firion.

"But we can't go any further with these things in the way!' said Leila.

Firion and Guy hacked the monsters before the Malboros had a chance to strike, leaving the parasites that accompanied them alone.

"That was close."

The group continued their trek through the room; at the end, they encountered a still double of FIrion standing in their way. The purity of the young man's heart was enough to render it motionless. He put the Black Mask on the doppelganger, causing it and the mask to vanish while allowing them further passage. After trekking through the dungeon and acquiring more treasures, they finally reached the fifth floor basement where they obtained a Drain Tome, an Osmose Tome, and the very object they were looking for.

"We got the Crystal Rod!"

"Now then," said Twilight as she teleported everyone out. They went all the way back to the ship, stayed at the inn at Mysidia once more and set off toward the Mysidian Tower.

Just as they were about to reach the tower, our heroes felt the earth beginning to shake.

"I don't like this!"

The ship began spinning in a large whirlpool, from which emerged a gigantic sea serpent: the legendary Leviathan! The creature roared upwards and with its mouth wide open, swallowed the ship whole, taking our heroes with it...