Hello again, and welcome to my LP. Looks like we have an extra long Instalment today! Last time, we put on an opera show, then took an airship to empire territory.
OK, directly to the right of the landing site is a town. I guess that's a a good a place as any to start.
It's called Alhoof. Hmm, the empire guards don't seem interested in attacking. I guess they think we are empire citizens. I mean, who would be crazy enough to go here otherwise?
The place is fairly run down. It's not as bad as Las Pegasus, but it's still not good. I guess the Empire put all it's funds towards military and research.
OK, a weapon scholar told me about two Ultima Weapons. I know about Ultima stuff in Final Fantasy games. They tend to be the strongest abilities/weapons in the game, but are rarely easy to get. Anyway, one of these weapons is a sword, and the other is a monster. I bet the Monster guards the weapon.
Huh, apparently, the monsters on the continent normally have weak magical power.
OK, I have need hinted to head east, since there is a Empire base there.
... Interesting. I have found a bunch of imperial soldiers watching some dancers in a bar. the don't say anything interesting though.
OK, there is nothing else in this town, Let's head east.
Well, I found the base. It's blocking a bridge. Lets she what's in it.
Right, It seems like there are guards on the map. If I bump into them, I fight them, so I need to keep my distance.
Ack, got caught. The guards here have a lot of defence it seems. They don't seem to like magic, though.
Ah, got thrown out. It seems even if you win the fight, you get sent to the start.
Huh, magicteck armour? Sure, I'll fight it, to get them on the veldt.
This is harder than I first thought to sneak in... It's taking me a few attempts.
Ah, I think I was going the wrong way. Instead of running around the wall, I should have entered this house it seems...
Hey, its a room full of treasure! Ack, the door is locked! No way to progress though here, too.
Oh, cool! The guards carry tents, so I can steal them off of them with Bloom! A very useful item, so I may stock up.
OK, I'm starting to think there is nothing here, beyond the fact that the place seems to get a bulk discount on camping supplies. I guess I'm heading west, then, since I can't progress any more east.
OK, FAR to the west, I find a town called Mareanda. Again, fairly run down. Apparently, it used to be beautiful, before the empire took over.
Huh, apparently, the empire forces it's young subjects to join the army. Not that surprising, mind you. Hell, most counties have drafting in times of war.
Some better gear that what I already have in the shops here.
Huh, this place does dog fighting... Good thing Fluttershy isn't here.
Not much else here. Looks like I'm going to have to trek all the way back east...
OK, I'm now at a place called Stalliongrad, a bit to the north of where I landed. It's a big metal town, next to a big metal castle. It might be the capital.
A free Inn? Hmm... I don't trust the man behind the counter. He has the same sprite as many of the people in Las Pegasus. I'll look elsewhere for healing, thank you.
... OK then, I entered what looked like a guard hut, and there is a mare asking me who is funnier, Mike or Joel... I have no idea who either of these people are. Err... Joel? OK, she seems upset by that choice... Ah, I'm under attack! By guards. The same easy enemy I fought at the start of the game. I see... Woman, you sure are optimistic if you thought that was a threat.
OK, now she heals me. I have no idea what that was about. Still, now I don't need to risk the 'Inn'. (Fully expecting to wake up as a slave if I use that Inn).
Huh, this looks like the only place in the entire world that is pro-empire. Makes sense considering that this place is the home of the empire though.
Wait, what? Sethisto, the head of Equestia Daily in real life, is the lead director of the magicteck research. It seems he knows how to give unicorns the gift of magic, like Twilight knows naturally.
Ah, finally, The guard in this place actually recognise us. You would think that we would be well known by now, yet for the guards requiring me to enter the capital itself before they catch on, or a encampment, is really crap. Perhaps the empire prefers to pretend we don't exist to keep up moral? OR perhaps they don't consider us a big enough threat. Or perhaps they presume it's not worth teaching the guard what we look like, because only crazy people would attack the empire without an army to back them up.
Wait, Discord was Sethisto's first experimental magicteck knight? The experiment was a failure, and screwed up Discord's mind, making him what he is today, an asshole.
It appears that General Zecora refused a magicteck infusion, like the rest of the soldiers.
OK, I'm at the imperial castle. The party hides from a guard, but get spotted anyway. The guards then activate something.
Ah, they activated a boss fight! Against something called the Guardian.
OH CRAP! It does a ton of damage! And worse yet, I can't hurt it at all! I don't think I'm supposed to fight this, none of my moves do anything! What can I do... Err... Run? Can I even run from boss fights?
Huh, it turns out yes, I can. This one, anyway. It looks like I need to find another way into the castle itself.
Ah, A rebel sympathiser! She will help us enter the castle by distracting the guards.
OK, I'm behind the guards now. It should be relatively easy to get to the facility now. I hope.
OK, I'm in the magicteck factory. This will not be easy, I bet, but I must rescue the espers!
Ah, Random encounters!
Heh, I need to use crane hooks to swing about in here, as well as travel on conveyor belts and though pipes.
Huh, Luna learned an new Art. What's the code for this one? Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right to do a heal and status cure... Really?
I think this place is the biggest dungeon I've been in yet...
Ah, Discord is here! He's talking about restoring statues, for some reason. He also throws two things (Espers?) into a pit.
Hmm, the only way forward seems to be into that pit myself...
Wow, there is alot a scrap in here, as well as what Discord threw in earlier.
Oh God, they are espers, and they are attacking! Well, one of them is. Boss fight!
It's Ifrit!
Damn, I can't seem to do any magic Damage to him. And Fire heals him...
Wait, Ice does do damage! Use that!
Wait, He disappeared? And the other esper in the room has replaced him. This one is Shiva. I'm going to need to find out what hurts her. Judging by her somewhat Icy like appearance, the fact she is coupled with a fire esper, and the ice moves, I guess she is weak to fire.
Yep, I'm right.
Huh, Ifrit is back. They sense Ramuh's power... They stopped the battle.
OK, time to talk to them and... Random encounter... With Flans?
OK, the two Espers apparently have been drained by the empire, and have been thrown down the pit to die. Which they do. :(
Hey, I get their magicite at least.
Ah, save point. I need this. I'll use a tent, too. The game is dropping these like crazy for some reason, so I see no reason to not.
OK, we have a person blocking the door. A... Human? A boss fight too.
His name is Number 24. A Experiment, perhaps?
He keeps using a move called Wall Change. I have no idea what It does, but it seems to be defensive.
Ah, It seems to alter what element he is immune/able to absorb/ is weak to... He casts it after a while, or when I find his current weakness...
He doesn't do that much damage. Nothing Bloom with a Medkit can't heal, anyway.
He keeps muddleing my people. However, hitting them myself does cure it. Just make sure to not do it with someone with a high damage fight command.
Huh? "System Error"? He's a robot? He also scans himself when he does this. Thanks? He has 9500HP, by the way. He also sometimes heal himself, tough for only a relativity low HP amount.
OK, this is taking ages, I just end up repeatedly doing no damage, or healing him. I need to him him with neutral attacks, or keep using scan to find out his current weakness.
Ah, even using scan is not that good, since my party doesn't cover many elements... But I have few zero element attacks too, and none that actually do good damage... Good thing between the spell Osmose (Absorbs MP) and Blooms tools, I have no resource problems.
OK, what kind of element is Pearl? I have never heard of this one before, let alone have it. Come on, Wall Change already! All I can really do is buff my party...
Huh, I stole an Item from him. Vampire? I'll see what that does later.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THIS BATTLE NEVER ENDS WHY WON'T YOU DIE WHY DO YOU KEEP MUDDLEING MY PARTY WHY DIDN'T I PICK A MORE ELEMENTALLY DIVERSE PARTY WHY DO ALL MY WEAPONS HAVE ELEMENTS TO THEM WHY WHY WHY!!!
... Heh, Luna just suplexed herself...
Wait... Suplex works on the boss? Wait... WHY DID I THINK IT DIDN'T WORK ON BOSSES? I USED IT ON THE PHANTOM TRAIN FINE! THAT ATTACK ACTUALLY DOES A FAIR BIT OF DAMAGE! WHY DIDN'T I DO THIS EARLIER?! AAAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!
... OK... I killed it... this would have never happened if I used Pinkie...
Anyway, that Vampire I got? A good sword that Celestia can use, which drains HP!
Wait, It doesn't seem to do damage. Huh.
Onwards, though the door!
Ah, we found where they drain the espers. I need to free them! This switch should do it...
... They all died... They were too drained... I was too late. Great job me! Way to honour an Esper's last wish!
Ah, Sethisto is here. He isn't happy all the espers are dead. I guess he doesn't know about the power of Magicite.
Ah, it seems he does, He just didn't realise that you had to kill espers to get it. For the best, I guess. All the Magicite flies to me. I should be happy with my new toys, but the fact they are corpses kind of removes the magic of getting them...
Ah Seth recognises Trixie. Not surprising, considering that A, They work, or worked, for the same people, and B, that real Seth is joked to be/really is obsessed with Trixie.
Huh, Discord told Seth that Trixie will return, and that things will make sense when they do...
Discord is here! Discord is complaining that Seth never tried to kill one, as that would have got them Magicite.
Discord says that Trixie is still under Empire contract, so she must give him the crystals.
Bloom is starting to think that Trixie is betraying them, but Trixie denies it. Discord is saying that Trixie has tricked us though. I'm sorry, but I am not going to take Discord's word for this. He is an asshole, remember?
OK, Discord brought reinforcements. Big, Magicteck Armour reinforcements. They rush the party, and knock us out, bar Trixie, who gets out of the way.
Trixie does some magic stuff, and warps herself, Discord, and the mechs somewhere. Wait, TRIXIE! She's gone... She will be fine, I'm sure. But I don't think I will be seeing her for a while...
The party wakes up. Bloom is not happy.
Uh oh, The fighting I've done has damaged the servers in the place, the site is collapsing! Luckily, Seth has an escape route!
Seth is not happy about what his research has become. He wishes to set things right. He wants to try and talk to the emperor to stop the war. Good luck with that.
Seth says that Trixie was offered Magicteck infusion, but only if she served the imperial army. She liked the power at first, but when the war started, she hated the awful things she had to do.
Ah, it's Discord! (do I do this every time I see him?)Well, his laugh, anyway. (He has the best laugh in any video game, ever) Seth throws us into a nearby minecart, and goes to reboot the servers. Again, good look with that.
OK, Minecart ride. With Bonus random encounters. Yay... They are not hard though. They are these odd motorbike monsters. Luna cake OHKO all on the screen though, so it's fine.
Ah, boss fight. Against Number 128? OH GOD, NOT AGAIN!
Wait, he is different... Thank god... He comes in three parts, the main body, and the blades.
Ok, he Throws alot of Debuffs around, like slow and berserk.
He seems to be able to drain HP. He can Haste himself, too.
Huh? Ah, If you kill his arms, they can regrow...
OK, Killed him. He wasn't that hard, actually, even though he berserked Bloom, who I use as a healer. (I have NO idea how to cure it, too. I may have an item that does it, but Luna makes a fine backup healer, so it didn't matter.)
Heh, we crashed into a magicteck guard, and pushed him down a hole. We are out of the cart, but not off the tracks yet.
There are still random encounters here.
Huh, There's an enemy called trappers, with many moves that seem to fail all the time... No idea why.
Ah, Dash is here! She was worrying about us. Lets get out of here!
Heh, Discord isn't happy.
OK, he is activating something... What?
OK, we are on the airship. Get away!
Nope, he caught us, and it attacking us with... two cranes? I guess this is a desperate last ditch attempt. Well, boss fight time!
Hey, Dash is in the party! He has two moves. Gamble, and Soar. Gamble does a random move, based on a slot machine which you stop yourself (I guess you can pick the move, if you are good enough), and Soar takes him out of the battle for one turn, then crash down on an enemy for high damage the next. (Think Fly from Pokemon)
Wow, their HP is low for a boss. Only around 3600 each. One crane does Fire attacks, one does Lightning. The fire one is weak to lightning, both are weak to water and they both absorb their favoured element. They can grab party members, taking them out of the fight for a while, and Doing damage to them. It keeps them out of range of group spells, yours and theirs.
Well, one grabbed Luna, and slowly crushed her to death.
Oh god, I can do that Magitude8 move that slaughtered my party back at Las Pegasus. Luckily, Dash flies, and I'm quite a bit tougher, so my party can live through it.
OK, they are dead. Again, not too hard.
Bloom wants to get back to Twi. Dash has no idea who she is. the explain on the way to Las Pegasus.
OK, back to Twi, with the rest of the party that we left here before.
Huh, the Magicite is reacting to Twi. Talking to her?
"Twi:Father?" Huh, who is she talking about?
Twi's amnesia is cured. She was apparently raised in the esper world.
OK, I'm controlling... an esper I think... in Twi's flashback in the esper world.
Apparently, something is coming though the gate. It's a pony. It doesn't appear to be Twilight, though she looks similar. She isn't conscious. I decide to take her with me, to look after her.
The esper community is split in whether they should get rid of her or not.
Ah, she awakens. She's called Twilight? She looks different. The guy I'm controlling, called Maudin, gives her a pendent. To keep her safe.
The guy I'm controlling left the human world to get away from the greed, desire and loathing in it. He says ponies and espers aren't compatible.
Twi, to stop the espers from getting upset, decides to leave as soon as possible. My guy wishes to help her out.
The next day, Twi has gone! I run to the gate, and find her. Maudin says that she can stay in this world.
She doesn't want to, as she says ponies and espers just aren't compatible. Maudin says that we cannot know that for sure though.
Maudin then Flies around, and dances with her, with magic sparkle trails. Yay! I guess that means they are in love?
Yep, the sparkles made a baby. Baby Twilight! Named after her Mom! That explains why the other Twi looked different. It wasn't our Twi.
Two years later, the empire invaded the esper world, and start capturing the espers.
The remaining espers, including Maudin, decide to erect a magic barrier, sealing the esper world from the pony one.
Only the elder can do it, and it is likely doing so will kill him. He set out to cast a tempest to sweep all the ponies out, then seal the remaining espers in.
One of the espers in the house Maudin and the Twilight are in starts talking about how it is mother Twilight's fault, saying she helped the empire. Somehow.
Maudin says that is wrong, but the esper doesn't believe him.
Mother Twi runs outside, taking baby Twi with her, towards the gate. Was she caught in the Tempest, or was that to get away from the esper in the house?
Maudin Runs after them, but gets caught by the empire, with Gilda, as well. Luckily, the tempest blows the ponies away.
Maudin runs to the gate, and finds Twi holding on. Maudin tries to save them, but fails. He leaps out after them, just as the barrier is erected behind him.
Outside, Mother Twilight seems to be dying, and gives baby Twi to Gilda, since she is the only person around. Gilda is aware that Baby Twi is half esper. She then decides to raise her as a slave, putting her as the second biggest asshole in the game, just behind Discord. Mother Twi is not happy about this, so Gilda kills her. Wow. She really wants to get first place in the asshole of the year competition.
I have no idea what happens to Maudin.
OK, back to the present. Twi has gone back to normal from Rapidash mode.
Twi is shocked by the revelation that her father was an esper, and she is half esper. She feels that she can control herself now though.
Twi asks what Is happening in Neighshe. The party decide to head that way. Dash takes us with her Airship.
Yep, we get to control the ship. This should make travel a lot easier. Holy crap, It is fast. It's not east to land where you want!
Anyway, this part has been huge! I really should end it here.
Until next time! ^_^
Comments
- Mike or Joel is a reference to Mystery Science Theater 3000: they were each the main human character on that show, and one was brought in to replace the other.
- The "statues" that Discord talks about are properly identified as the Warring Triad in the advance translation.
- The Vampire/Blood Sword cannot do more damage than you have HP missing, unfortunately.
- Note that this was where you originally get the Unicorn Magicite (among the others), which had a completely different spell set.
- Originally, Number 128 had a rare sword for Applejack that could be stolen, but I don't know if that's still the case.
- The Trappers use spells that hit based on the whether the enemy's level is divisible by a certain number, as should have been obvious from their names.
