Chapter 61: Rapid Succession
"A little to the left... a little more... perfect!"
A row of colorful chairs lined the wall of the long castle room. On either side of a grand stone brick fireplace hung a pair of dusty purple and orange tapestries, bearing a crest depicting a dragon surrounded by lightning bolts. The room was likely used as a dining hall at some point, but the tables had since been removed. All that remained were the chairs, and the green dragoness happily rearranging them.
The chairs themselves varied wildly in color, size, and design. A shiny gold chair, a red and white chair, a chair with cloud patterns, a chair made of clouds... Each one was organized in order of the color spectrum, forming a rainbow of chairs.
"Hmm, I could use something to fill the lime green gap," Bellia contemplated, stroking the tip of her bottom jaw thoughtfully. "Maybe Beats has a code I can use."
Just as Bellia turned around to make her way to the computer room, there was a loud THUMP from above. "Oh dear, sounds like the ogres are at it again," she sighed, snatching up her axe-bladed battle-chair and briskly heading for the roof. "I suppose I should be thankful for them," mused Bellia as she climbed the stairs. "Without their frequent attacks, I'm not sure if I'd have the grist to fund my escapades in exotic decor."
Chuckling to herself, she tightened her grip on the chair as her head poked over the top of the castle. Her laughter was cut short by what she saw. A large, lone dark figure was sprawled out on the roof. There was not a Skaian underling in sight.
"Oh my," Bellia exclaimed as she rushed to the figure's side. It looked to be a fellow dragon, a young adult male with black scales and an angular muzzle. "Are you alright?" she asked, setting the chair aside and gently rolling the dragon onto his side.
The stranger groaned as he came to. "I'm okay, Mom..." he strained, sitting up. "Just had a bit of a rough landing..."
"Mom?" repeated Bellia quizzically. "I don't even have any children..."
"What? That's not..." The black dragon looked up at Bellia with his vibrant purple eyes, staring for several seconds. "Oh right!" he said suddenly, jumping to his feet and assuming a hostile stance. "Bellia Skythrone!" he announced in an overly dramatic voice. "I've been sent from the future to capture you! Come quietly and you will not be harmed!"
"Is that so?" Bellia questioned skeptically, crossing her arms and glaring across at the younger dragon with an expression of pity. "What's your name, child?"
"Uh..." He seemed to shrink away at Bellia's gaze, losing what little credibility he had. "I-it's Clive, ma'am. Clive Enderson." He shook his head, brandishing his claws. "Th-that doesn't matter! Are you coming willingly or not?!"
"Clive, huh. A very handsome name." Bellia smiled warmly. She did not perceive Clive as a threat, but more as a misguided youth. The other dragon recoiled again, a slight blush playing across his face. "You know, it's funny," Bellia continued, walking closer to him, "I was planning on naming my first son Clive..."
"C-coincidence!" blurted Clive, taking a step back. "I warn you, I don't pull any punches!" The look in his eyes was not that of intimidation, but that of fear and doubt.
"You seem as though you don't really want to do this, Clive," observed Bellia. "Are you perhaps worried your mother will find out?" She didn't bother trying to hide the confident smirk on her face.
Clive tensed up, shaking like a leaf under the older dragon's pressure. With a loud exhale, he slumped over. "You know already, don't you," he guessed in surrender.
"I didn't know for sure until just now," said Bellia with a chuckle, approaching her son comfortingly. "Look at you... forced into violating the laws of time and kidnapping your own mother before your conception. What could drive you to do such a thing?" She gently raised Clive's head so she could look into his glistening eyes.
"They..." sniffled Clive. "They have you and Dad... They said they're going to kill you both if I don't..."
"There, there," Bellia consoled, gingerly stroking the back of Clive's head. The thought of what her future mate might be like distracted her for a moment, but she quickly snapped back to reality. "We have plenty of time to come up with an alternate solution. Time travel is lenient in that regard." She looked to the sky, muttering to herself. "Charge must be getting desperate..."
"You already know who sent me too?!" exclaimed Clive, cowering as though lightning could strike him at any moment. Bellia crossed her arms with a triumphant chuckle, to which Clive sighed.
"You know," the mother continued, "the future is not set in stone either. We're fighting Charge right now. By the time this adventure is over, he should be no more - and who would kill us then?"
Clive seemed to calm down at his mother's comforting gaze, which only helped to confirm their relationship from Bellia's point of view. However, the younger dragon promptly tore himself away and shook his head. "You don't understand..." he lamented. "He's... he can..."
"He's watching us?" guessed the green dragon. Clive flinched. Bellia took that as a 'yes.' "Does he have some sort of hold on you? May I assume that if you were to disclose any helpful information about him... he would pull the plug in an instant?" Clive nodded. Bellia crossed her arms in thought. "How long do you have to complete your objective?"
"A week," Clive uttered. "He promised neither of you would come to any harm as long as I brought you to him in that time."
"Can you really trust him with a promise like that?" Bellia suggested. "Betrayal is a common practice for one with such power as him."
"I don't really have a choice!" Clive exclaimed, beginning to break down again. "Th-this is the only chance I have to s-save you both..."
Bellia stared at the ground, processing all of the information she had. One week, or else Charge would kill her future self and her mate. Both of this child's parents. Of course, there was also the possibility that this was a complete fabrication, but nothing about Clive seemed off to her. It was as though her instincts recognized him as her son. And it seemed unlikely that Charge knew about the name Clive, one she had picked out herself and never told anybody. Daydreamed about several times, maybe, but never given away. Still, she could not underestimate the power or resources of a Mary Sue from the future. There was only one way to know for sure whether or not this dragon was telling the truth.
With newfound resolve, Bellia exhaled sharply, severing the tension. "I will accompany you back to the future," she announced.
Clive seemed surprised. "Are you sure?" he questioned.
"Yes, but on one condition," the older dragon continued. "First, I need to inform my friends that I am going away for a while, and that my disappearance is no cause for alarm. This should prevent them from trying anything rash that may interfere with the lifelines of your parents."
Clive blinked. "Yes, that's a good call..." he considered. "Alright. You know these things better than I do. I'll give you some time with them, then."
Bellia nodded. "I'll only be a moment. Wait right here." She briskly turned around and descended the stairs. She hated leaving her own family in the dark, but she had to make sure the same would happen to Charge. Plopping down in her dragon-sized office chair at her dragon-sized desk, she began to hatch her dragon-sized plan.
- accommodatedDragon [AD] began pestering myriadOracle [MO] at 16:07 -
AD: Sera, drop everything you're doing and come to my house.
AD: Your services are urgently needed. I'll explain mentally.
MO: Very well. Look behind you.
Hesitantly, Bellia craned her head around... and jolted slightly at the sight of a Kadabra standing behind her. A sliver of a smirk played across Seraphina's face at the dragon's reaction.
'Please don't scare me like that,' Bellia thought, though she couldn't help but smile slightly as well as she swiveled her chair to face the psychic Pokemon.
"You did say it was urgent," Sera playfully responded. "I will get myself up to speed. One moment." Sera closed her eyes for no more than a second. "A dragon claiming to be your son, hm? I take it you want me to read his mind?"
'Yes, without getting noticed,' added Bellia. 'Charge's tools would have to be fairly sophisticated to detect the presence of a mind-reader from several years in the future. As long as Clive doesn't notice you, you should be safe.'
"Understood. I will locate his mental signature now." Sera closed her eyes again, this time for much longer than a second. Bellia felt a twinge in the back of her throat. "Strange..." Sera remarked as she opened her eyes again. "I cannot detect another mental presence..."
'Did he leave?' was Bellia's first thought. She swallowed, her nervousness escalating. 'I hope they're not onto us already...'
"If they are, we are already, if you will forgive the crude terminology, screwed," replied Sera bluntly. "You had best check on him. I will follow you, remaining hidden."
Bellia nodded, flashing a grim smile. She took a deep breath and stood, heading for the stairs with a careful pace as though nothing was wrong.
When she reached the roof again, she saw Clive waiting right where she had left him.
"Ready to go?" he asked glumly.
"There does seem to be someone here," Sera observed in Bellia's head. "Either this Clive has no mind to read, or it is as impenetrable as Darkrai's."
"Yes, but if I may ask," Bellia quickly spoke, "how exactly are we to be traveling through time?" She figured her best option at this moment was stall tactics.
"Oh, w-well," Clive stammered, "we're going to meet Charge in our current time, and he's going to connect us with that timeline using his axe."
'Didn't I hear that you were able to influence Darkrai's mind with some effort?' Bellia directed at Sera, not entirely paying attention to her son.
"Yes," Sera recounted, "but even I am not sure how I accomplished it."
"Oh, also," Clive suddenly interjected, "you'll need to wear this." He held up a leather collar encircled by several studded metal bands.
Bellia stared at it apprehensively. Clive began to approach her with it. 'Should I just let it happen?' she asked Sera, her heartbeat rapidly accelerating.
"We cannot back out of this now," the Kadabra responded in surrender. "I will inform the others of your captivity. Perhaps you will glean valuable information we can use once you are rescued..."
Bellia closed her eyes as the collar was strapped tightly around her neck. She felt the metal digging into her a little bit. Suddenly, she felt an intense burst of pain for no more than a brief moment - and when it faded, so did the feeling in the rest of her body. She collapsed on the spot.
"Mother, I am sorry..." muttered Clive. "but if this is what you feel is the best course of action... I won't protest."
Click. Click.
The last piece fit almost perfectly, the weight of the cold metal amplifying the feeling of power and vigor now filling his being. Blah flexed his claw inside the power gauntlet and threw a test punch into the air, watching it excitedly through the tinted visor on his helmet.
"I feel like I could tear through a tank!" roared Blah. "I don't even need a hammer anymore. I am a hammer!"
"I'm so happy for you," Hailstorm commented sarcastically as he gave the intimidating, fully-armored ice dragon yet more space. "So can we get out of here or what?"
"Aw, leaving so soon?" Pi cut in, standing up and pouting slightly. "Wouldn't any of the rest of you like an upgrade while we're at it?"
"There's nothing wrong with my current body, thanks," dismissed Astra. Hail and Reed nodded sheepishly in agreement.
"Really? There's no practical limit to what I can do here." Pi looked at Hail. "I could make you an alicorn. What pony doesn't want to be an alicorn?"
Hail glared at the geneticist. "Me? An alicorn?!" he exclaimed. "Th-the title of royalty has to be earned through countless years of hard work and selflessness, n-not fabricated in some laboratory!"
"Alicorns are synonymous with royalty in equestrian culture, sure," Pi pressed, "but there's nothing saying they have to be mutually inclusive. Many ponies have horns. Many others have wings. What's wrong with having both?"
"And I mean, come on," Blah added, "you're the hero representing Equestria in this adventure. If anyone deserves to be called a prince, it's you."
Hail blinked, then looked down at his hooves. He thought back to the day of Blah's party in Ponyville, after saving it from the Corruption. How it felt to stand in front of all of those ponies who owed their lives to him. Ponies that, without his intervention, might have been doomed to live hollow lives for an eternity. It was that moment when he learned what it meant to be a hero. Since then, he had been through many battles and hardships, all in the name of justice and righteousness. This wasn't just a desire for recognition anymore. This was a desire to truly make a difference.
If that didn't make him worthy of the royal image, he didn't know what else possibly could.
"Let's do it," agreed Hail. The sudden confidence in his voice caught everyone else in the room off-guard.
"Excellent," Pi exclaimed. She plucked a hair from Hail's mane, causing him to wince slightly. "I'll just make a few simple modifications to your DNA..."
"I can believe creating some sort of system for ice breath organically," Astra muttered thoughtfully, "but unicorn magic? Is it really that simple to replicate?"
"As a matter of fact, it is," Pi mused as she worked the console. "Magic is purely a form of aura manipulation. A unicorn's horn acts as a focus, amplifying it and enabling finer control."
"Aura manipulation?" Blah questioned. "So it's not that different from Hajike after all!"
"Precisely." The pink fox punched in some numbers, and soon enough Hail's model sported a rather handsome horn. "In fact, it's possible for creatures other than unicorns to harness the power of magic - it's just much harder without a focus. Think of it like training wheels on a bicycle. Actually it's more like a unicycle... that's made out of cardboard... and the training wheels come with rocket thrusters."
"This metaphor might be getting out of hand," contributed Hail, looking away from the screen but returning to it just as quickly. He couldn't help but admire the sight of himself as a theoretical prince.
"Don't you mean 'out of hoof?'" joked Pi as she put the finishing touches on the body.
"We don't say those things all the time," Hail groaned.
"And thank God for that," muttered Blah, earning him a glare from the pony.
"All done!" Pi sang as she slammed the large button and brought yet another set of pods to life. "Step inside the green pod, please!"
Taking a deep breath, Hail slowly made his way over to the open pod and stepped inside. The doors closed around him. Blah, Reed, and Astra looked between the two pods nervously.
"So while this is going on," interrupted Pi, her casual tone a piercing contrast to the rest of the room, "Reed? Astra? You two sure you don't want to try something new?"
"I already said I was fine," reiterated Astra, the patience fading from her voice. Pi seemed taken aback.
"You have to understand, Astra," Blah came to the scientist's defense, "changing bodies for an Invero is as mundane as changing clothes. To her it's like you've worn the same outfit all your life and she's desperately trying you get you into something fresh."
Blah and Pi watched Astra eagerly, waiting for a response. She seemed to be deep in thought about the subject. However, before she could say anything, an alarm suddenly sounded, causing everyone to jump. The pod that Hail had just walked into bore an urgent red light.
Pi quickly checked the screen, upon which flashed red and yellow text. "Uh... there's a problem," she announced in a wavering voice.
"You think?!" shouted Blah, staring at the light and trying not to panic.
"It says the... soul cannot be found?" the scientist read with unsettling uncertainty.
"Cannot be found?!" repeated Astra incredulously. "Souls don't just up and disappear, do they?!"
"Well no, it has to have gone somewhere," Pi assured everyone as she hammered at the controls to no avail, eventually pounding a fist at it in frustration.
"Abort the transfer!" shouted Blah as he dove for the panel on the side of the pod, clawing for the green button. The button was pressed, putting a halt to the noises and the flashing lights. The pod doors opened, and Hailstorm slumped out of it. He did not move.
Cold silence filled the room as Astra carefully checked for a pulse. "His heart is still beating," she proclaimed. "All vitals seem normal..."
"It's not the body I'm worried about..." Pi said, shakily producing a small gun-shaped device and scanning Hail's body with it. Her eyes twitched at the reading on the tiny screen. "Nothing," she revealed. "Only rudimentary cerebral activity."
"Is he in the other pod then...?" Blah looked toward what would have been the "destination" pod. The light was still yellow.
"It seems to be stuck," Pi explained. "It's still waiting for the subject's consciousness."
"But..." uttered Blah, staring at the lifeless body of his first noteworthy companion. "Where is that consciousness...?"
Hailstorm felt as though he were suspended in a thick gelatin.
At first, everything was numb from the neck down. Then, the feeling slowly returned in the form of thousands of tiny needles soldering the nerves back to a functional state. He found all of his limbs tucked underneath himself.
He pushed for a while until he managed to tip over, at which point he was able to unfurl his legs and his wings. It was as though he could feel the rust crumbling off of his joints.
Then he opened his eyes. Instantly, his vision was assaulted by various shades of sea green from every direction.
He flopped onto his hooves and stood up in full, stretching and rubbing his eyes. The brightness ebbed just enough for him to make out his environment. It resembled his bedroom, except all of the walls and furniture were some shade of turquoise. Also, it seemed to be a bit smaller than he remembered.
The last thing he remembered was climbing into that pod, but to him it seemed like an eternity ago. Curious, he lifted his hoof to check his forehead, and to his astonishment, found a spiral horn protruding from the center of it.
His eyes widened. The machine had worked, but this was not where he expected to wake up.
As eager as he was to test out his new horn, this desire was outweighed by the concern over where he had found himself. He briskly trotted to the balcony where he pushed open the glass doors to look out upon the outside world. Laid out far below him was a beautiful, shining golden city. In front of him were three similarly-colored towers of about the same height as his current room, thin and leading up to a large orb-like tip.
Something further above caught his eye, and his gaze drifted upwards. There he was met with a blue sky, filled with wispy clouds that seemed to pulse various colors. In all his days of weather manipulation, he had never seen anything like them.
One such cloud passed particularly close by the balcony, and Hail found himself staring deep into it. When the colors flashed, he swore he could make out shapes. The shapes gradually shifted, and soon enough Hail found himself looking at a scene from his past. He saw himself, Blah, and Twilight Sparkle engaged in combat with the Eater of Worlds. The scene shifted again, depicting his hectic battle against the Wall of Flesh in the depths of the underworld. Hail shuddered as he relived that moment. When he looked again, he recognized Mefirst, on his last legs and backing away from a crossbow-wielding Hailstorm with murder in his eyes.
Hail flinched at the glare of his own image. He wasn't sure how or why the cloud was showing him this, but he hadn't realized just how intimidating he had been.
He shook his head. "I gotta find out how to get back..." he uttered.
"I'm afraid it's not that simple."
The voice sent a chill down Hail's spine. Instinctively, he reached for his crossbow, only to discover that it was nowhere to be found. He glanced up at the human that descended upon his position, taking a defensive step backwards.
It was Charge. His expression was hard to read, but he didn't seem hostile - he was unarmed, and sporting a set of innocent-looking golden pajamas with a moon emblem on the front. Somehow, he floated down slowly until he landed on the balcony beside the unsettled alicorn.
"I was wondering when anyone else would awaken here," Charge stated calmly. "Finally, someone to keep me company in my dreams... aside from those boring chess people."
"What is this place?" Hail asked apprehensively.
"This is the Skaian moon of Prospit," Charge replied with an unenthusiastic flourish. "Basically, it's where you go when you fall asleep."
"So I'm dreaming?" the pony followed. "None of this is real?"
"I didn't say that." Charge hovered up and perched himself on the railing of the balcony, crossing his arms. "In SBURB, a player's dreaming mind is able to manifest its ideal self as a separate body that resides on one of the two dream moons. When one self sleeps, the other awakens - provided the player is far enough along in their own personal journey. Looks like you've just reached that point."
Hail took a moment to process the concept. His ideal self... was he meant to become an alicorn all along?
He shook his head. "Why are you telling me this?" he asked, his skepticism returning. "Should I even believe you?"
"We're not enemies here," Charge said with a wide shrug. "On Prospit, you and I are the same. Heroes destined to propagate the universe, and usher in a new era of prosperity."
"You? A hero?" Hail tensed up. "You're the one who tried to kill us, multiple times, and it's pretty clear by now that you want to destroy this universe and create a new one under your rule alone!"
"Look around you, Hailstorm," Charge calmly replied, gesturing at the golden orb-tipped towers. "Each of these towers houses the dream self of one player in your game. Four more towers reside on the other moon, Derse, making eight in all. That one..." He pointed to one of the towers with a hint of pride. "That one is mine."
"You're lying," denied Hail. "You probably killed whoever lived in that tower and took it for yourself."
Charge sighed, as though reacting to a naive child. "I know convincing you of anything is a chore to begin with," he surrendered. "Let alone if it's coming from me. But don't take my word for it." He lifted himself off of the railing and hovered out a few feet away. "Follow me. I'd like to introduce you to the locals."