Birds of a Feather. {Tech/Elsa}

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(Prefacing this by saying Tech will find things a bit odd. His body in this dream world is that of an Earth Pony, Brown coat and Tan Mane, and the Cutie Mark of a Wrench. You’ll understand everything later.) Elsa landed on the roof of a small home with a yawn, looking around. It was getting late, and she was ever so tired. She let out another yawn and wandered into the back yard of the house, hopping down, and finding a soft patch under a leaning piece of plywood. It was warmer than not having something to block the wind. And with that, she drifted asleep. She was unaware of the Bat Pony that had come to investigate the noises around the house. She was unaware that the Bat Pony was also trying to wake her up. Late into the morning, Elsa still slumbered, stuck, unaware that anything was happening outside. Soon, the small griffon was relocated to Canterlot by the Bat Pony, Placed in a bed amongst many others who shared her same fate. The little Griffon, however, continued her quest, even in her mind. Her quest for friends and family! The sun rose on the small town, casting long shadows everywhere. Ponies started milling about, only to hear a scream and panic start near the edge of town, quickly radiating through the town. A loud Roar cut through the town, causing everyone to freeze in horror. A large, serpentine creature lifted its head in the middle of the town and roared once more. The populace ran, scattering about and hiding. The creature brought a large claw down on a building, demolishing it instantly, the ponies nearby running to get farther away. As the beast reared up again, a screech echoed through the town, followed by a loud BANG, as the beast was tossed back, into the fields nearby. A griffon hovered high, looking down at the beast as it regained its footing. ”Another one of the Evil Zodiacs minions? PAH! He should come face me himself!” The Griffon said, flying up a bit farther before turning and diving. As she dove, she spun, claws forward, and seemed to fly straight through the beast, which let out a pain filled roar and faded into a dust that glimmered like the night sky. The Griffon landed next to the brown earth pony, smiling at him. ”Hihi~” She said happily, the town returning to their business. ”You look new~! I like meeting new ponies~ I’m Elsa!” She said, looking about. ”Sorry about the Meanyface… They’ve been coming around here a lot! I’ve gotta defeat the evil Zodiac so they stop coming!”

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Tech was somewhere in the middle of no where traveling the roads of Equestria when guards found him. When they told him that his sister was in Equestria and needed help, he didn't know what to say, or how to feel. He just...didn't know. A flood of old memories opened at that moment: he was reminded of home, of his parents, and most importantly, of his sister Elsa. There was only one thing he was hesitant with, and that was his answer. Tech knew he had to help his sister, no matter what. He wondered why she was in Equestria in the first place anyway, but that wasn't important at the moment. Only one thing mattered to Tech right now, and that was saving his sister. ------------------- Tech felt odd the moment he entered the dream. Only natural, he assumed, dreams are abnormal by nature. Then he took a step, and realized he couldn't feel his talons. He looked down at his legs only to see hooves instead, causing a short panic. It ended as quickly as it started though, remembering this was only a dream and, as a result, temporary. Odd that I would take this form though. It must be a part of Elsa's dream...but why? Then Tech heard a scream and a giant snake...thing appear and start wrecking things. Tech immediately leaped behind an adjacent cart and watched the monster, but before he could react beyond that, the creature was attacked by a familiar face. "Elsa!" As she finished off the beast, Tech's mind was preoccupied with feelings of happiness and memories of her as a tiny griffon. She sure had grown from when he'd last seen her. After she landed and spoke to him, Tech immediately hugged her. "I haven't seen you in years..." Then something in the back of his head sparked as he realized Elsa doesn't recognize him because of his equine form. He let go of her, mildly embarrassed. "It's me, Tekalius, your brother! I'm here to help you escape from this dream...and no, I don't know why I'm an earth pony."

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And suddenly, Elsa was hugged. By some Earth Pony that she didn't know. One that claimed to be Tekalius. She was tense, and blinked a few times as she was released. She turned, looking toward the mountain in the distance. "You can't be Tekalius." She said, her voice grave. She started walking toward the single mountain. A dark, gloomy peak casting an inky black shadow over the plains around them. A Plains that seemed to stretch on in every direction indefinitely. She paused, looking back to the Earth Pony. "You seem different than the rest of the ponies in town. If you feel like you can help me... You're free to join me. Just don't claim to be him." She said, her voice serious as she continued her march.

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Tech sighed when Elsa didn't believe him. Of course it wasn't going to be that easy... Tech weighed his options, thinking about how he could prove he was Tekalius, when he realized a part of him was actually pretty curious as to what was going on in Elsa's dream. Perhaps if he played along, he could find a way to convince Elsa to leave the dream with him? He could claim this was a dream all he wanted, but unless he found a way to convince her Elsa wouldn't actually believe him. Tech looked up at the dark looming mountain ahead of them. "Help you? With what? I'm uh, new to town, so to speak." Tech coughed. "Yeah. So what's been going on around here?" Something about Elsa's voice when she talked about him wasn't right. Somehow he had a feeling the dream version of him met with a terrible fate, but the only way to find out was to ask. "And did something happen to your brother by any chance?"

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Elsa continued walking. The town slowly fading farther and farther into the background as she moved. The earth pony was following, asking several questions. He didn't know what was going on? With that giant serpent that attacked, he was still confused as to what they were doing? Maybe he wasn't destined to be her sidekick after all. "A hundred years ago, the Evil Zodiac attacked the town of Rill." She said, gesturing behind them. "From Rill, a hero appeared, and beat up Zodiac. A hero named Reaver. After their fight, Reaver banished Zodiac to the mountain, never to return. But now, Zodiac has found a way around his banishment at Reavers Peak." She explained. Tech would remember this from one of the bedtime stories that Elsa was read as a babbeh, though the story always ended with Zodiacs defeat. She paused, looking toward the ground for a moment when the pony asked about her brother. "I..." She hesitated. She shook her head after a long pause. "You'll know, soon enough. What should I call you? And don't say Tekalius..."

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Tech mulled over Elsa's explanation, feeling like it was oddly familiar... Wait...I remember! That's one of the stories mother used to tell Elsa at bedtime. She used to tell me the same stories when I was young too... At least he wasn't totally clueless now, now that he knew what the dream was based on. That story ended with the Zodiac defeated though...I wonder why Elsa's dream appears to be some sort of sequel to that story? It could just be Elsa wanting to be a hero in her dreams, or something more. Either way he was going to figure that out. Tech frowned slightly at Elsa's response about him. This didn't bode well. "Hmm...Call me Gizmo." Not the most flattering name considering the character he was naming himself after really, but it was the first thing he thought of. "You can think of it, I can make it." He looked back to check his flank to make sure he actually had a fitting cutie mark, which judging from seeing a wrench, he thankfully did. That gesture might have appeared a little odd to Elsa though. "So, you have a plan for taking on the Zodiac?"

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She nodded, happy that the pony didn't claim to be her brother again. Maybe they WILL get along in the end. The two came across a pony. Jet black, void-like. The mane was a silvery grey, and seemed to flow in the wind like water in a stream. Several bright lights appeared around the Ponies coat. The lights flowed round for a few moments. Two settled on the 'head' of the pony, pointing toward Tech and Elsa, like eyes made of stars. Its head tilted, looking between the two as the other starts settled on its side, around the area of the cutie mark. Elsa took a wary step back, putting a talon on 'Gizmo' "It's one of Zodiacs elite guards. But... I don't know which one..." She sounded worried, as the pony stood up, taking a slow step toward them. "If we figure out who it is, we can beat it."

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I sure don't remember this being a part of the story... Tech thought to himself as he spotted the strange void like pony. It certainly fit along with the villain's motif though, looking like a night sky and all. Tech took a step back, looking directly into the pony's "eyes". "I...uh...give me a second." It had been a while since he versed himself in knowing what star signs were what. It must be based on a star sign, but which one...? It's leader is the Evil Zodiac, so it must be a Zodiac symbol... Thinking it over a bit more, what Zoadiac sign it was suddenly struck him (or at least he hoped so). "That's...Sagittarius, I think? But why would knowing what star sign it is help beat it?" Obviously she knew something he didn't. But it was her dream, so that was to be expected.

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TYhe Void pony stopped walking as Tech gave his answer. Both eyes locked directly on the 'pony' and started to glow brightly. Elsa rushed over, tackling him as two very bright, very painful looking arrows spouted from the stars on the pony, streaking across the field with a loud whistle. "Because, knowing who it is tells us what it can do, and tell us how to not get shot in the face by arrows..." She said, looking toward the void. "Sag...itt...ari...us..." Its voice seemed distant and hollow. As if the voice was coming from deep within the void. "You... Do... Not... Be... Long... Here..." "How do you beat an archer?" The void pony stared at Elsa this time, the eyes starting to brighten. Elsa tried to move out of the way, but the void seemed to be seeping from Sagittarius to Elsa, keeping her in place. "O-oh no..."

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"Oof!" Tech was getting ready to dodge in case the void pony attacked when Elsa ended up doing the dodging for him as two arrows passed by where he was originally. "Oh good, it shoot arrows. Of course it does." Time came to a standstill as Tech's mind raced with thoughts. He had to think quickly, or they'd be impaled with arrows. He gave the surround terrain a quick glance, but he couldn't see anything to use as a weapon, take cover behind, or otherwise find a use for somewhere nearby. Crap, why does this dream have to have so little for me to use? Wait...if this is a dream... Tech begin to have an idea. Perhaps, he could simply will something to be there for him to use? The question is whether that would work for me, or only for Elsa since it's her dream...only one way to find out. Tech noticed the void pony hold Elsa in place as it was getting ready to attack. "Look out!" he shouted as he jumped in the way and held up a front leg. He closed his eyes, and focused his thoughts into thinking one thing. I have a shield on my leg that will stop the arrows.

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Elsa braced for the coming pain of the arrows. A pain that didn't come. She looked up to see Gizmo with a shield on his hoof. The arrows fired forward, hitting the shield and bouncing back. The arrows collided with the void pony, causing pinpoints of light to erupt all around the inky expanse. Before long, the pony started to fade from sight. "This... Is... n't... O... ver..." The shallow voice faded into nothingness, as did the dark pony. "You did it!" Elsa said, jumping and cheering for her new sidekick. She paused, looking at the shield. It was a shield... one that he didn't have before, and one that seemed to materialize out of nothing. "You were right! Whatever you need, you can make! AWESOME! Are you some sort of... super awesome thingysummoner?" She asked excitedly until a rumbling sound filled the immediate area. Ahead of them, the earth started to shake. Most of the land fell out, leaving only a narrow pathway between them and Reavers Peak. Elsa stopped near the edge of the walkway, looking down. She held a talon over the inky darkness that seemed to go on forever, and felt a force pulling her toward it. She quickly pulled away from the gap and sighed. "Looks like we gotta take the path..." She said, putting a talon on the walkway to test it. It seemed to be holding... and onward she marched.

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Tech winced as he heard a clanging sound, then slowly opened his eyes to see a shield directly in front of him blocking his view. Slowly lowering it down, he could see that the arrows had miraculously bounced off of the shield right back the monster and killed it. "Wow, that went even better than expected..." Tech smiled as he saw Elsa cheer. It had been too long since he'd seen her happy like that... "Yeah, I can summon things because...my Matter Materializer. It's a device implanted in my head that allows me to create things on a whim." Seemed like a reasonable enough explanation for a dream. Looking ahead to see everything but a narrow path leading to the mountain give away, Tech frowned. This would've been a lot easier if he still had wings... Wait, who needed wings anyway? As Tech followed Elsa he suggested, "Why take the path? Can't we just fly over it?" I have a jetpack that I can use to fly. It requires no fuel to fly with.

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Elsa paused, looking at Gizmo with a confused expression. Can we fly over it. The earth pony wanted to fly. Granted he had that Matter Mabooble. She smiled at him and gestured to the inky blackness below them. "The void energies will try to pull us down. And I don't wanna know where we'd go if that happened." As they walked, a voice rumbled in the back of Techs mind. "Let's see how the heroes deal with... division." It said, cackling as the ground under Elsa opened up and pulled her into the inky blackness below. This was followed by the ground around Tech returning to its normal state, preventing him from following the Grifflet into the abyss. "Your friend will be safe. For now." The cackling laughter slowly faded, leaving Tech in an almost deafening silence. Isolation. Lonliness. Regret. These may be flooding Techs mind as he continues his quest to save his sister. Or is it too late for him? After all, she was just swallowed into the maw of the earth... Let's see where our hero goes from here.

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"Hmm...alright..." Tech couldn't guess why it the void would do that, but it looked like he wasn't going to get much use out of his jetpack at the moment. At least he could probably find a use for it later. It doesn't matter too much, the path seems sturdy enough anyway so it's not like anything bad will- That's right about when he heard a voice in his head and the path under Elsa collapsed. "ELSA!" Tech leaped to grab her, but it was already too late. He pounded at the ground in frustration, knowing it wouldn't work but being to angry and stubborn to not try anyway. "Who the buck are you? Where is my sister?!" He circled around, looked up and down, but no trace of Elsa or the voice could be found. "Damn it..." Tech looked back at the mountain ahead with a determined expression. Alright, that does it. This dream is actively working against me. No more stumbling around, and no more assumptions. I'm not playing the dream's game any longer. Now is my turn to be in control. With that, Tech's jetpack turned on as he lifted up into the air and rocketed towards Reaver's Peak. With no void, there was nothing stopping him from flying straight to the top. I'll rescue you Elsa, just you wait.

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The peak of the mountain loomed in the distance, very slowly getting closer. Very, very slowly. The voice returned to Techs head as he neared. "A Flying Earth Pony. How quaint. Will it be enough? AHAHAHAHA!" A Singular entrance appeared at the peak of the mountain. An ominous red light looming from it, coming from several crystals that grew from the wall. A heat radiated from the gems. A heat that didn't seem natural, but felt twisted and evil. Light slowly appeared deeper and deeper into the cave as Tech approaches, seemingly leading him into the depths of the mountain. Toward Salvation? Or Doom?