//------------------------------// // Revelations // Story: Carnivore // by Recteik Shade //------------------------------// The weary group of survivors fell on the hard stone floor, wheezing and hacking as they had ran themselves ragged fleeing the wrath of a vengeful mother. Denda fell backwards into a sitting position slipping Cumulus, who was still unconscious, out from under his arm and breathed deep the stagnant air inside the dark building. His brother lay on his back a few feet away panting heavily but with a wild, triumphant grin on his face," Cap'in, Brudda!" He looked first to Jaffar, who was laying on his side,looking dead except for the rapid rise and fall of his barrel, then to his twin brother. " We finally here! Can ya beleve it? Afta all dese munts we actually here!" He grinned wider. his enthusiasm climbing high, fueled by the adrenaline still coursing through his veins. Jaffar lifted his head smiling too," Yes, after a lot of hard work and planning we are about to reach the half way milestone in our little endeavor." Jaffar's words had a slightly sobering effect on Ad'e, who's grin dropped," Ya right Cap'in. Once we find it den we gotta git it ta Iceberg Bay." He looked thoughtfully towards the open arch they had scrambled into only minutes ago," But ah wanna beleve dat the worse is ovah." "Ya and me both brudda!" Chuckled Denda, he glaced towards the slumbering Pegasus to his right. "Ah say we-" "Hhhuuurrroooooooooaaaarrrrruuhhh!!!!" He was cut off by the White Faced Dragon's hateful roar, everyone immediately shuffled away from the chambers entrance. The dogs yelped in pure terror and sprinted towards the far wall, their tails between their legs. Denda reaching out and dragged Cumulus back with him, not caring that he was dragging his face on the stone, then rolling him against the far wall with him. They all huddled there for almost a minute, none of them even daring to breathe for fear the murderous beast would hear them and come tearing through the stone walls. "Hhhuuurrroooooooooooooaaaaarrrruuhh!!!!" The beast shrieked again, the intensity somewhat lessened by the distance between her and them. None the less they cowered for several more minutes, listening to her vocalized her frustration at having lost track of her prey. The dogs continued to shake and cry into each other, Jaffar gave them a look of absolute disgust," Shut up!" He hissed through clenched teeth. They cringed away from him but did as he instructed, silencing themselves but clinging to each other shaking under the intensity of their fear. "Wat we do now Cap'in?" Ad'e asked in a hushed voice still nervous that it would lure the monster in. "Shood we look fer da artifact?" The horse glanced at him and then looked out at the large chamber they were in, the wide high reaching archway allowed some light in, however, beyond that was not but but deep inky shadows. "That will be difficult now as the torches were in the wagon." "Hhhuuurrroooooooooaaaaaaaarrrrr!" Everyone flinched as the beast roared again," And I do not fancy our odds of retrieving them." He stated dryly. "Dere's gotta be sumting we can do." Ad'e replied while glaring at the archway,as though it was somehow responsible for this latest setback. "Ah ain't dat keen on spending da rest o' me life hiding in da dark." Jaffar was about to make a scathing remark, when the beast outside roared again. It appeared Cumulus was awake to hear it too. To say that he stirred would be a gross understatement, the stallion scrambled to his hooves and spread his wings out wide not lifting them past his shoulders. " Everyone run! It's our only ho- !" He halted in his exclamation as he took in his surroundings," Wha- what!? How did we end up here? Is everyone okay?" Denda grinned up at him from were he sat," Relax Doc, we fine fer now." He motioned towards the open archway," Dat ting don' seem ta wanna git too close ta dis place. Watevah it did was too much for ya and ya passed out." Cumulus turned to look in the direction he was gesturing. He had a fair idea why. The structure they were taking shelter in was so steeped with magic it made his wings feel like they were covered in fire ants. The air was so thick with it that he could barely lift his wings past his shoulders, flying here was going to be impossible. It was not an oppressive, lung crushing pressure like what the beast outside had used, but, it was many times more concentrated, though it lacked direction or force. " There is very strong magic here." He said solemnly," It is probably why she is keeping her distance." Jaffar gave him a look of disbelief," Not to be rude Doctor, but, how can you tell? You are not a unicorn, they are the ponies who use magic." Cumulus gave the Horse a sour look," All ponies can use magic." He stated bluntly," Unicorn magic is just the most obvious and versatile type. Pegasus Magic is subtler and mostly works with our wings." He slowly folded his wings up and winced as the burn flared up momentarily before subsiding to a dull but continuous pain. " This place is making my feathers burn. Lets not spend anymore time here then we have to." He winched as his wings shifted ever so slightly with his first step," Any pony other than an Alicorn shouldn't be in here without at least a dozen protection spells." Cumulus took another step forward, which brought his hoof down on a line that ran out from the middle of the chamber, he felt the burning in his feathers lessen just a little as the ambient magic seemed to find a purpose. A soft blue light sparked up under his hoof and ran out in either direction, one rushing out into the center of the chamber were it spread out into a disk of the same soft blue light set into the floor and then spread along more lines rushing for the far wall. While the other ran up the wall to his left and illuminated the corners of the room, to either side of him the light outlined two doorways before continuing into corridors, that were set near the outer walls of the structure, then curving out of sight. The whole process of the lights 'turning on' had taken only seconds, Cumulus stared at his hoof with his mouth hanging open and delicately lifted it off the glowing line, fearful he had just activated some horrific booby trap. For a few minutes no one breathed, waiting for something terrible to happen, but the floor did not drop out from under them, the ceiling did not come crashing down on their heads, there was nothing just light. " Well I suppose that solves our torch problem." Jaffar said with a sly grin. "Well done Doctor." Cumulus looked down at his hoof and then at the glowing lines that crisscrossed the floor," I have absolutely no idea what just happened." The confusion was evident in his voice. " If ah was ta make a guess. Ah'd say ya found da light switch Doc." Denda laughed. "Dis autta make lookin' 'round a lot easier, eh Cap'in?" "Hhhuuurrrrrooooooooooaaaaaarrrruuuhhh!!" "Indeed." Jaffar said standing up. " We may as well investigate this place. It will give her a chance to calm down as well." Cumulus flinched when he heard the beast roar again, 'I doubt she's gonna give up any time soon.' He stepped toward the corridor to his left because it was the closest to him, like its counter part on the opposite side of the room, this hallway was illuminated by the same soft blue light and stretched out in front of him for several hundred yards before turning to the left. "Which way do we go then?" "We have only two option." Jaffar said with shrug," The left seems as good a choice as right at this point." He boldly strode forward and started down the the softly lit path before him. - - - - - The Albino lay on his side gasping for breath, his head rested on the shoulder of a pack mate, who's he did not really care right now. None of them had died at the jaws of the skull faced monster, since it had chosen to pursue their prey instead of them. A small miracle, however, they had ran like the the deadly monster had been nipping at their tails the whole way, they had made several miles in their panicked flight but the beast's enrage howls could still be heard even from the distance that separated them. The smart thing would be to keep moving once they had gotten their second wind; get as far away from the mountain as possible, and look for safer hunting grounds else where. It was a safe bet that the pegasus he had been hunting was dead, smaller prey was plentiful in these woods, animals more than large enough to feed his pack but far too small to hope to sustain the Skull faced monster. Perhaps if they kept their distance from the mountain they could still hunt this wood. It was a risky proposition but if they could stay out of their larger neighbor's way, they could have an easy life. He turned to the youngster who had been an accomplice in angering the titan, most of her feathers had egg dried to them and she was using this respite to attempt to preen her dirty feathers. He could not bring himself to be angry with her, despite how wrong everything had gone, no one had been injured and she had impressed him when she took the initiative in striking at her prey. "Huurrrooooaaarruuhh..." The Monster's roar sounded again, causing them all to jump, while they were safe from it's wrath for now, it could not hurt to put some more distance between them. Slowly they picked themselves up, nightfall was still a few hours away it was usually safest to hunt at night when they had the element of surprise on their side. They spent several hours moving silently through the trees in a northwesterly direction, a fair amount of distance was between them and the angry titan, they could no longer hear her savage bellows. The fact that he was not hearing her roar every few minutes did a great deal to put the Albino at ease and he moved through the trees with less caution than before. The sun was getting much lower in the sky now casting the world into deepening shadows, the ground abruptly dropped down into a steep slope that ran nearly a hundred yards to a wide flat river valley. A wide, shallow river chugged by at a snails pace, it was clearly at its lowest point right now as on either shore was nearly twenty feet of sand and large smoothed stones. Beyond the river's flood zone was a grove of densely packed pine trees, the sound of the gently flowing water coupled with the pleasant smell of the distant conifers was enough to push away the last of his anxieties about the skull faced titan they had encountered. The dark pines looked promising and the presence of a river added to the deep valley's appeal, he paused when he heard a low groan from up river in the direction of the mountains. The whole pack gawked as a convoy of titans lumbered along, following the river, each animal was immense like a moving fortress of flesh. As large as he was for his kind, he would only be able to stare at the living mountains' knees, They were a light grey with a wide swatch of dark and pale green running along their incredibly long necks and bloated sides. There was over a dozen of them in total, near the middle of the herd was three that were only about a third the size of their guardians, though still much too large for them to hope to bring down. The albino watched from the top of the slope as the convoy passed by until one of his pack mates squawked in alarm and skittered into the trees behind him, It only took him a moment to see why. Following some distance behind the herd were two on the skull faced titans, they were only a third the size of the one they encountered earlier in the day but, the sight of them was enough to send him sprinting for cover, Nowhere near those mountains was safe, he would have to keep looking for a place to nest. - - - - - "Ah don' wanna sound like am'm complainin'." Denda said breaking the relative silence that had fallen over the group," But am ah da only one who tought explorin' a long lost temple woold be a bit more interesting?" He had his arms crossed behind his head and was casually walking backwards. Cumulus sighed," Ya, Denda. I was expecting a bit more myself." He looked back at the corridor they had been walking along with some concern. "I mean I know archaeology isn't all heroic sword fights, deadly booby traps and, ancient magical super weapons but at this point I'd settle for a new color scheme just to change things up." The group had been walking along the same corridor for ... well there really was no way to tell in here, without the sun or any sort of time piece, but it felt like hours to him. Which was definitely a problem, his feathers still felt like they were on fire but now, his hooves also ached and his ears were buzzing, the magic over exposure was causing him a fair deal of discomfort. There was no telling what kind of condition he would be in if he had to sleep in here. Denda changed his course so that he was along side Cumulus, though he was still walking backwards," So dat magic still giving ya trouble Doc?" He sighed," Yes, quite a bit actually." He saw the Jackal give him a concerned look," Is there something else Denda?" The Jackal looked thoughtful for a moment," Ah was kinda wondrin' how ya kno so much 'bout magic. Kinda tought monstas was ya specialty." "Oh, is that all?" Cumulus laughed, " Well, after the Summer Sun Celebration in Baltimare, I went to a Magic Symposium in Canterlot. The princess's personal student was lecturing on pony magic and how it varies from tribe to tribe. When she found out that I could feel magic she got all excited and started asking me a bunch of questions about my magic research, she was so disappointed when I told her I was a Zoology student." Cumulus tapped his chin," As I recall she told me if I felt like changing fields I could become a one of Equestria's leading experts on Pegasi Magic." Denda raised an eyebrow," Why didn' ya take her up on her offer?" He shrugged and motioned towards his Cutie Mark," Predators will always be my passion." He started walking again," I have never wanted to do anything else." They fell into silence again, Denda had resumed walking backwards staring back the way they had come from, Cumulus doing his best to ignore the discomfort in his wings, while Jaffar and Ad'e kept marching on like soldiers on a mission. The Dogs shuffled along at the back of the group, still struggling under the pain of their dead friends and looking extremely glum, which seemed to amuse Denda a little. After another few minutes Cumulus saw a break in the inner wall," Another corridor!" He hastily trotted towards it happy for a change, so far, exploring this temple had been boring and painful, but, perhaps now things would get a little more interesting. He stopped at the entry to the new path, it extended into the structure about twenty yards and was illuminated just as the hall he stood in. The light was fairly dim and made it difficult to tell for sure but, the passage seemed to dead end and it looked as though there was something on that far wall. He pointed towards it," What do you suppose that is?" Jaffar, who stood beside him, squinted at the end of the far wall," I cannot tell,the light is not bright enough. However, it is something different than what we have been seeing." "Then what are we waiting for?" He asked with new found enthusiasm while stepping forward. He yelped as Ad'e grabbed his tail and jerked him backwards," Are ya outta yer mind Doc!?" He asked critically. "Fer all we know dis coold be sum booby trap!" Cumulus glared up at him," I doubt it. Whoever built this place made that to be seen." He motioned towards the far wall. Jaffar turned and jabbed a hoof at one of the Diamond dogs," YOU!" The dog flinched as his shout echoed off the stone walls," You are going first! Get moving!" "NO!" Everyone turned and stared at Cumulus," To many Dogs have died already. I'll go." "It might be dangerous Doc." Denda said, the worry clear in his voice. " I won't send another to their death just so I can keep myself safe. It's barbaric." He glared at the horse not pleased with how easily he would throw the dogs life away. Jaffar glared right back, not liking having his authority undermined. The two scowled at each other for several minutes before Jaffar sighed," Fine Dr. Granted go. But if something goes wrong do not say I did nothing to attempt to prevent it." The dog gave him a thankful nod as he stepped down the corridor, He took it slow pausing after each step to be sure that if he did trigger some death trap that he could at least attempt an escape. With each step he felt his stomach twist and his nerves fray, it had been easy to be confident when he had been standing safe and sound at the halls precipice but now he realized that he was tempting fate. Each step took him farther in and closer to the far wall, though he was too focused on the floor beneath him to notice, and inch by inch the distance between him and the others increased. He was so focused on his hooves did not notice the wall until he stepped forwards and lightly bumped his nose on it, not hard enough to be painful, but enough to make him yelp and scramble backwards in a panic. He swung his head from side to side, his tightly strung nerves keen to the danger that was not there, it took only a few seconds for his panic to subside. With a triumphant grin he turned and waved back to the group waiting at the end of the corridor," It's all clear!" He turned back to examine the wall and gasped at what he saw, it was a mural carved into the the stone. which depicted in great detail the scene of a battle. Two ponies stood flank to flank with a look of fierce determination on their faces as they were surrounded on all sides by a tangled mass of what could only be described as horrors from the pits of Tartarus itself. However his eyes remained stuck on one of the two ponies, he was an Alicorn garbed in strange looking blocky armour, his features clearly marked him as a stallion, his shoulders were broad and and a short beard ran along his jawline. His mane and tail were both cut short, though it looked wild and shaggy, but that could have been how it flew around his head. Floating by him were two extremely large, single edged swords, the length of his outstretched wings, he had never before seen The pony who stood with this Alicorn was an oddity itself, he was having trouble telling, but it seemed to be a Unicorn mare. Her stature was not that far separated from the stallion she stood with, though as he examined her more closely, he could see that her features were smoother and more aesthetically pleasing. Though she was by far the largest Unicorn he had ever seen, there was a dainty grace to her build, her face held exquisite beauty despite the fearsome snarl she wore. Her armour had the same strange squarish look to it that made it appear patchy and cumbersome, at her hooves grew half a dozen thorny, cruel looking vines one of which coiled around her defensively while the others lashed out at the monsters that surrounded her. However the mare's most striking feature was doubtlessly her eyes, they were wild and filled with rage that was all but apparent even in this representation of her, her pupils were distinctly angular, tall thin diamonds that made her beauty all the fiercer. "Look at dat!' Came Denda's voice to his right, which started Cumulus out of his reverie. "Ponies fighting Gorgons, wonder wen dat happened?" Cumulus blinked and looked back and forth between the image and the Jackal," What's a Gorgon?" "According to legend they were violent creatures with the tail of a snake and upper bodies similar to a Jackals." Jaffar explained as her stepped up to the mural," The old tale also say that their Queen had the power to turn any who looked her in the eye to stone." (1) "Sounds like a monster that belongs in Tartarus with Tirek." Cumulus mused. "Legend says Medusa was one of the first beings to be cast into the pits. If you believe those sort of things she is still supposed to be there." The Horse said while shaking his head," Fairy tales like Tirek and Medusa are just that, fairy tales that we tell our children." Cumulus raised an eyebrow at Jaffar," Really?" He asked with a knowing grin,"What about Nightmare Moon? Or Discord for that matter? If you dig deep enough into any myth, you will eventually find some truth." Jaffar hummed thoughtfully and tugged on his goatee," Well I cannot argue with that, I want to believe that Medusa was just something our ancestors conceived of to explain away the actions of the Gorgons." He shrugged," Supposedly they attack the other races to avenge their queen. Or some nonsense along those lines, I think they are just stupid, violent, monsters." At this Cumulus started," Gorgons are real?" The horse shrugged," They show up from time to time and attack trade caravans or small towns. However they are exceptionally rare, no one has seen one in Saddle Arabia in nearly sixty years." "Sity-five." Ad'e said flatly. "What?" Jaffar asked. "Da last Gorgon ta attack a village was sity-five years ago. Our granddad was dere wen it happened." Ad'e glanced at his brother," Ya remember how he used ta forget an' tell us da story over again brudda?" Denda grinned and nodded," Ah miss da old coot." Jaffar gaped at the Twins," I never knew that." Ad'e shrugged,"Nevah really came up before." Jaffar turned back and examined the mural for another few moments before stepping away," Well, I believe it would be best to see what else we can find." Cumulus turned to ask him what he meant but stopped when he saw another corridor to his left, he had been so focused on the mural he had entirely failed to notice. He blinked in surprise but nodded and followed the Horse, pausing to cast a longing look back towards the carving, it alone would have historians squabbling for decades. They walked down this new hallway, it's turn was far sharper than the last meaning they would likely reach the center of the structure eventually. but they had barely traveled more that fifty feet before Jaffar gasped," Another carving!" Cumulus rushed forward his curiosity in overdrive, the first they had encountered had depicted an Alicorn stallion, there was no telling what this next mural would show them. It did not disappoint, the carving showed only a single pony, a unicorn, standing facing a horde of nightmarish creatures with his back to an angry sea. The monsters varied in nearly every shape and size, some were gorgons others looked like mutant birds, while others bore a resemblance to cats, rabbits, bears and, some even looked to be sinister animated trees reaching towards the pony with branch-like hands. The stallion looked out on these mutilated nightmares with absolute disgust, and behind him the sea rose up in a huge tsunami that had parted itself so as to not strike him. Like the mare before him, this Unicorn was also shown to have tall angular diamond-like eyes, which displayed a seething hatred for the freaks of nature that swarmed before him. The group stared at it for several minutes before Cumulus broke their silence," I wonder if they're related?" This drew puzzled looks from everyone and he shrugged at them," Their eyes are depicted the same way." He squinted at the stallion," They even kinda look alike. I think that mare may have been related to this guy, like they're siblings." Denda tilted his head to one side as he stared at the pony," Ah don' see da resemblance, but den again if ya all weren't so colerful ah'd nevah be able ta tell one pony from anuddah." Cumulus glared at the Jackal," I feel like I should be insulted." Denda shook his head," Ah didn' mean it as one, ah hav da same problem wit Griffons." "Shall we press on?' Jaffar asked tersely. "I am quite curious what is at the end of this corridor and, I would rather we not be at each others throats by the time we get there." He walked off without waiting for a response, the rest of the group exchanged glances and made to follow him, while Denda and Cumulus nodded to each other, silently agreeing to let the matter drop. - - - - - "Celestia's beard! There's another one!" Cumulus said enthusiastically, as he stepped towards this latest mural. So far they had found seven other murals in their exploration, each had shown some kind of battle against monsters that had been becoming more grotesque with each depiction. Every one of them had also shown ponies battling those misshapen creatures, sometimes there were Alicorns in the image, or even Pegasi and Earth Ponies, but the one constant had been the over sized Unicorns with the diamond shaped eyes. In each mural a different pony was shown, one had shown a stallion standing atop a mound of fallen horrors while rearing up with a bolt of lightning striking his horn. Another had displayed a mare standing in the midst of a massive horde or mutated creatures, a hole was bored into the stone just above her horn and the monsters appeared to be being pulled into it. Yet another had shown them another stallion that stood in a frozen forest, icicles hung from tree branches, which proved to be the animated trees, while tiny intricately detailed snowflakes hung in the air. The ponies shown in these murals were all doing things he had never imagined was possible, and this one was the most shocking yet. It showed another mare with the angular diamond eyes, she stood on the edge of a cliff, an army of ponies of every tribe stood behind her a look of fear on their faces, looking down to see some twisted abomination below her. It was covered in tentacles, multiple bony arms that ended in a variety of dangerous looking claws and scythes, though it's head had thirteen eyes it had the look of a bird of prey. The earth beneath the creature had split open and it was falling into the pit beneath its tentacles outstretched trying to prevent its fall. "if it jus' me? Or are dese tings gittin' uglier?" Denda asked as he looked over this latest discovery, his face curled into a look of disgust when he took in this latest monsters details. "No they're getting uglier Denda." Cumulus deadpanned as he too had notice the things the over sized unicorns were battling kept getting both larger and far, far more grotesque with each new mural. "I really wish I understood what I'm seeing here. I have never heard of any kind of conflict like this, but then again I've never heard any any of the Alicorns we've seen described in legend either, it's always been the Royal Sisters. it makes sense that there would be more than just those two but..." He trailed off turning what he had seen over in his head, it brought into question a lot of established history about Equestria and the world as a whole. Denda took note of his internal conflict," Wats on ya mind Doc? Ya got da look on ya face like steam is 'bout ta come shootin' outta yer ears." Cumulus frowned at the mural," I was just thinking about the social impact this information is going to have back home." He gestured behind himself in the direction they had come from," We saw Alicorns in some of those." "Ya, so wat?" The Jackal asked not quite understanding were he was going with this. "There are ponies back in Equestria that think the princess's are Goddess's, that Celestia created the entire world!" He said with concern. "I was never one of those ponies but it's made me realize we know next to nothing about our history before Discord's reign. The Hearth's Warming tale says that Equestria was founded before the time of Celestia and Luna, but nopony has ever stopped to wonder if they hadn't been born yet. It's made me realize that we ponies don't really know anything about our own princess's, it's kinda pathetic." "Ya know wat ah tink?" Denda asked before punching his shoulder. "Ah tink ya way ovah tinking this." "I agree with Denda." Jaffar stepped forward. "It really does not matter, either you shall have to rewrite the history books, or you shall simply expand them. Those who dislike what the truth turns out to be are powerless to change it." He smiled and started down the corridor again," Now come along everyone, I get the feeling we are close to the heart of this place." Jaffar was right of course, the truth was the truth no matter how much some one disliked it, it was best not to dwell on this subject. Once he got back to Equestria and presented his findings, this place was going to be crawling with Zoologists like himself, Archaeologist, Geologists, Historian, and Environmentalists. With so many parties going over this continent with a fine toothed comb, whatever the truth was was bound to come out eventually, he sighed and started after the group. They had only been walking for a few minutes when the hallway made an abrupt right heading deeper into the center of the structures first level. It ran straight as an arrow for nearly a hundred yards, so long was the corridor, that in the dim light it was impossible to see where it ended, but that didn't phase them as they slowly meandered down the path. Cumulus was at the head of the group but strangely the Twins and Jaffar lingered at the back of the group, whispering to each other in a sense of anticipation. "It will not be long now, I am certain of it!" "Ah almost can' believe we here!" Ad'e whispered excitedly. The two of them went back and forth talking about how this was a long time coming and how glad they would be to get away from this forsaken, savage land. Denda walked beside them in silence, content to let them continue to build up their excitement, he was suddenly dreading what was about to come. He stared at the Pegasus that walked at the head of the, now small, group, he found himself worrying about how upset Cumulus was going to be when he discovered their lies, " Ya don' tink da Doc'll be too cross wit us do ya?" He asked cutting into their conversation. "Who cares!" Jaffar replied much to casually. "All that matters now is the prize!" Denda said nothing and picked up his pace a little to distance himself from the Horse, mostly because he did not want Jaffar to see him getting upset over how easily he could cast the Pegasus aside. "I think i can see the end of the corridor!" he heard Cumulus call excitedly. "It looks like it opens up ahead!" Denda flinched, ' Kay here we go.' He walked up beside Cumulus as they both approached the threshold to the larger chamber, the dull blue light seemed to be brighter here and clearly illuminate every wall. The room was about fifteen yards long, two decoratively carved stone pillars stood about ten feet from the back wall, with a brighter white light cast down on a raised dais that had been erected between them. Standing atop the small elevated dais was a sinister looking golden staff, it was intricately textured with small diamond shaped scales along it's back and sides, wide flat belly scales covered the the front of it. The texturing gave it the appearance that it had once been a large snake that had somehow been transmuted into solid gold, to add to the effect was the spread, cobra like hood and rectangular head, it's golden jaws opened to reveal its long needle fang, and set between them was a small oddly faceted ruby. As strange as this newest find was, the scene grew stranger still, all around the room were statues of many of the races of the world, he saw Anubis, Minotaurs, Griffons, Zebras, there was an adolescent dragon and, even several Changlings. All of them were recoiling in abject terror, the expressions of some were difficult to make out, he was having particular trouble with the Changlings faces, but body language did not lie, they were all afraid. Cumulus took in the details of the scene in front of him, trying to process and puzzle out what it meant, after a few minutes he voiced his curiosity in the most eloquent way possible," The buck is this!?" "Allow me to explain Doctor." Jaffar ginned as he walked up to the Pegasus. "But first." He turned to the Dogs and pointed at the staff. "Fetch!" The dogs hesitated momentarily but did as he instructed, he smiled and turned back to Cumulus," You see Dr. Granted. Finding this place was no accident, this temple was always our destination." The Dogs had already returned with the golden staff and passed it to Jaffar, " And this is the real reason we are here!" He held it in his fetlocks as a dark smile spread across his face. Cumulus turned to Denda," You said you were scouting out natural resources for Saddle Arabia! Why did you lie?" At his hurt tone, the Jackal hung his head," Sorry Doc. Ya nevah woolda helped us if ya knew wat we was really afta." He laid his pointed ears back," But ah really am sorry, we was onlee evah here fer da Eye." "Save it!" He snapped, but after a moment to consider his words one thing stuck in his mind," What eye?" "Oh yes of course!" Exclaimed Jaffar, who still grinned like lunatic," How could I have forgotten!? Come over here Doctor, I hope you are ready for story time!" He turned and walked towards the pillars, casually swing the staff around, as he passed Ad'e he paused. " Hold this for a moment would you?" The Jackal nodded and took the staff, " Now then Doctor." He said happily and motioned to the wall behind the pillars. "Have a look at that, would you." Cumulus glared at the horse before turning to see another mural, this one also showed an Alicorn, a mare this time, driving a jagged dagger into the eye of a Gorgon, while another over sized unicorn stallion stood behind her breathing fire like a dragon. The oddity in this was neither of the ponies, though he was more than shocked to see a unicorn breathing fire, no it was the Gorgon, it was armoured where none of the other Gorgon's he had seen were. Then there was it's hair, instead of a matted mess of dirty locks, it was a writhing tangled mass of flailing snakes that seemed to vary in species, though he could tell they were all venomous. He shook his head," What am I looking at?" "Well you see Doctor, I was not being entirely honest when I said I did not believe in Medusa." He pointed his hoof towards the mural, " The legend of the Eye of Medusa has been told in Saddle Arabia for longer than recorded history." He then cast a sympathetic look at a nearby statue," It would seem our financier was not the first to divine its location, though i am pleased that we succeeded in recovering it without suffering the same fate." Cumulus snapped his gaze to the statues," Wait, are you sa-" Ad'e interrupted him,"Every one o' dese is a treasure huntah wat got here 'fore us." He walked up to the Pegasus," We was sent here by a griffon keen ta make hisself a king. In fact." Ad'e chuckled," He be ya girlfriends uncle." Cumulus gaped up at him,"What!? Valerie's uncle? How can you kno their related?" The Jackal just laughed again," Ya told us his name when ya told da lil tale o' yers. Ah 'bout crapped me pants wen ya said Vannis's name!" He laughed even harder," Ah tought ya had figured out wat we was actually afta, guess it was just a queer coincidence eh?" He waggled his eyebrows and nudged him with his elbow," We supose ta meet 'im in Iceberg Bay. Ya autta com wit us an' see yur sexy griffon again." He teased him like, a friend like nothing about the situation was wrong, like they had not been lying to him for weeks . Cumulus was about to open his mouth to say something scathing, when Jaffar spoke up," Actually Ad'e. There is going to be a slight change of plan." He looked at the Staff with avarice gleaming in his eyes," The Eye of Medusa is too potent a weapon to sell to a simpleton like Vannis! No, I intend to use it myself!" "What!" Cumulus gaped. " Why would you want to use this thing!?" " To right some very old wrongs." The Horse said casually. " My family was once powerful and influentially but the Royal Family of Gymkhana robbed us of that and humiliated my ancestors. I am going to destroy them and take my rightful place on the throne." He looked to the Twins," And once Gymkhana is mine! You two will be rewarded with more gold than you could ever imagine!" Cumulus could only stare at Jaffar,'He's insane! I can't let him do this!' Ad'e smirked," Ah don' tink so Cap'in." He said calmly before stepping forward and pointing the staff at him, the small ruby flashed and a bolt of crimson energy raced out and struck the Horse square in the chest. Jaffar reeled back from the force of the impact," WHAT ARE Y-" Just that fast, it was over, Cumulus had blinked and missed it, Jaffar's entire body was stone, each hair of his coat a tiny needle of granite. He was reared back on his hindlegs, a look of shock forever frozen on his face, his mane flying around his head from his sudden movement. Ad'e stepped forward, with the weapon he had just used to petrify the Horse casually swung over one shoulder, he leaned on the statue and tapped the side of Jaffar's head with a finger," Ah don' know if ya can actually hear me or not." He shrugged," Ah supose it don' matta if ah'm talking to a rock or not. Ya see Cap'in we was wise to yer lil vendetta from da start, ya prolly forgot ya told us about how much ya hated da Royals. But ta be honest, me brudda an' ah ain't got da patcence fer politics, all we evah cared 'bout was da payday. So we gonna take dis puppy here and sell it ta Vannis like was da plan." He paused and grinned at the statue," And you, well lets jus' say da dream ends wit ya. Brudda o' mine!" He turned to Denda,'" Woold ya care ta do da 'onors?" Denda just grinned wide," Gladly brudda." He stepped forward as Ad'e stepped away, he placed both hands on Jaffar's barrel and pushed it off balance, gravity did the rest and the granite Horse toppled to the floor, breaking into several large pieces. Denda dusted off his hands," Well da takes care o' dat." Ad'e nodded and turned to Cumulus," Well now dat dat's out da way." His expression became disturbingly serious," Doc dere's sumting ah gotta say."