“I real-ly hov tah com-mend you in your resourcefulness during this venture, Miss Keystone,” Doctor Caballeron commends me as we both watch an obstacle in front of us slide away from the secret passage we've been using to get to this point. On the other side, we notice that the obstacle in question is a statue of a coiled snake. Doctor Caballeron chuckles in amusement as he adds, “And there juz seems to be som-thing appropriate about the fact you had to use a magical 'keystone' to open this gate.”
“Fate, I guess,” I accept with an innocent shrug as I step into the next room and quickly take everything in. Doing so allows me to notice that this is one of the larger rooms of the temple but not as large as the sacrificial chamber. Up a short flight of stairs I see a stone circular ring with a lot of patterns on it. Further inspection reveals it is actually two rings. One is within another and each shows its own group of symbols. In the middle of the circle is the curious image of what appears to be a rippling pool of water except it is sidewards. That also indicates that the StarGate is currently active which also serves to help explain why the majority of our expedition team does not seem to be here. Only a few are left standing here which include Doctor Smith, Leg it, Doctor Grazy Venture, Toolshed, and the henchponies Biff, Withers, and Rouge.
“And it seems like you hod an in-tar-esting ad-vencha while you were gone,” Doctor Caballeron continues when he steps into the room. “I do hov one point of criticism, though.” When I regard the Doctor Caballeron again, he goes on to say, “You hov a cop-y of tha map of this dem'pal, including its secret passages, az well az the keystone necessary to oh-pen those passage ways. Hod you been captured, it would hov made it very inconvenient for our new secret allies here.”
“That's why I didn't plan to be captured,” I return with a simple shrug to Caballeron.
“Oh good. You two are here,” Doctor Smith cheers when he sees us. “And with the Amulet, I see,” he adds as he narrows his eyes slightly at the evil artifact which Caballeron is still wearing.
After Doctor Smith said that, I look from Doctor Smith then back to Doctor Caballeron as I say, “Speaking of which, take off the Amulet now as you promised.” I gesture up to the StarGate as I go on to say, “I did my part. I delivered you safely to the StarGate.”
“And thot thing will deliver us back to Equestria?” Doctor Caballeron inquires as he trots further into the room and gazes up at the Gate with fascination in his eyes.
“Somewhere in the Tenochtitlan Valley, I think,” I answer with uncertainty.
“Actually, that's exactly where this gate leads,” Doctor Smith promises confidently.
“One of these days, Doc-tor, you're gonna hafta tell us how you know dese things so very well,” Doctor Caballeron says with fascination at Doctor Smith. Doctor Smith's only reply is to look back at Caballeron with a coy, knowing grin.
“The Alicorn Amulet, Doctor C,” I remind in an insistent voice. “Take if off now!” I peer at him very carefully at this point to make sure the Amulet hasn't corrupted him enough to compel him to keep it on. I wouldn't put it past a cursed, evil artifact like that to induce that impulse upon its wearers.
“Ah . . . yes. Of course,” Doctor Caballeron agrees as he looks down at the Amulet on his neck. He reaches up to touch it but there he hesitates. I take a nervous step closer to him when I notice his hesitation. His right ear flicks to aim in my direction which indicates to me that he notices my nervousness, and it is easy to decipher why. Doctor Caballeron looks tempted to keep it on, but its clear he's also really thinking about this. After a few breathless moments, I see him close his eyes, steel his resolve, then finally takes off the cursed Amulet. Only then do I finally take a breath then quickly glance up at Doctor Smith when I notice he does the same at that moment.
“Thank you, Doctor C,” I express to Caballeron gratefully. “You did the right thing.”
“I'll not be some puppet,” Doctor Caballeron growls in determination. “I got what I needed from dis thing.”
I approach to stand beside Caballeron and affectionately pat him using my right wing as I flash him a proud smile. The return look in his eyes reveals to me that gathering the will to pull that Amulet off was indeed difficult for him, but he still managed to do it. I knew I admired him for a reason.
Then I look in concern at the others.
“Is everypony else through the Gate?” I ask in concern.
“Actually, Tanon isn't with us yet,” Leg It reports to me in concern. “He wasn't with you?”
“Doctor Caballeron and I were clear on the other side of the temple,” I remind in a tone of alarm. “Our job was to distract the temple guards, steal the Amulet, and escape with our lives. We never ran into Tanon.”
Leg It paws nervously at the ground with a hoof as he says, “Something must have happened to him. He should have been back by now.”
“He's the most experienced member among us,” Doctor Grazy reminds us. “I'm sure he'll be okay.”
“He's also the oldest among us,” Leg it shot back at Doctor Grazy. “He's too old to think this wouldn't be a challenge for him. Plus there's all the other threats in this temple to consider. Something easily could have gone wrong for him.” He shakes his head then looks at the front entrance to this room. “I'm going to go rescue him!”
“By yourself?!” Doctor Grazy asks incredulously. “That's crazy talk!” Then a second later she narrows her own eyes as she decides, “But if your mind is made up, then I'm going with you.”
“No you're not,” Leg It says back to her sharply, “Look. It's actually an advantage to me if I go alone.” He stands up on his hind legs for a moment while he whirls his forelegs as he says, “I'm the fastest member of this team, remember? If I draw their attention, I can remain too far ahead of them for them to do anything about it.”
“Okay,” Grazy acknowledges with a look of confusion on her face. “But say you do catch up to Tanon and it turns out he's injured, hence the reason why he's not here. What's your plan then?”
“I'll escort him to one of the secret passages,” I volunteer. “I know this place well and I have the magical keystone to open the secret passages. While Leg It distracts them, I'll use that opportunity to safely extract Tanon.”
“Again?!” Doctor Caballeron asks incredulously. “You left tha team before to try to help rescue those old former Canterlot guards. Tha portal back home is right there!” He jabs a point of a hoof up to the StarGate. “And now you want to venture back out dare to rescue Tanon?!” He squints tight. “Lady, you're even crazier than I am, and that's saying something!”
“I'm not leaving anypony behind!” I cry back insistently. “Especially not in the hands of these monsters. We got a Worm-That-Trots here in this temple too. No pony on this entire planet deserves to suffer a fate that that creature can inflict.”
“But we hov dah Amulet,” Doctor Caballeron reminds as he lifts it for emphasis for a second. “Any plahn that creature has will be diminished without dis artifact. I say we've done enough by keeping it out of his claws. And besides,” he now looks at the Amulet greedily before adding, “Dis thing will fetch a mighty fine price!”
My eyes explode widely at Doctor Caballeron as I exclaim, “WHAT?! You can't be serious! You know that thing is poison to any soul who wears it.” I use a wing to cut across the air as I say, “Something that dangerous and evil isn't worth any price.”
“And what would you do wit' it, Miss Keystone?” Doctor Caballeron barks back angrily. “Bury it in the sand and hope that is the end of it?”
Disturbingly, I notice that Biff, Withers, and Rouge step near Doctor Caballeron and take a defensive position. It already looks clear to me that they intend to help Doctor Caballeron secure his new prize. It is at that moment I grow startled to realize that I begged Caballeron to promise me that he'd remove the Amulet as soon as we got to the StarGate room, and he did, but I did not have the foresight to also ask him to give the Amulet back to me. In hindsight, I realize the reason I didn't ask that was because I trusted him, but that was before he wore the Amulet. It might be the lingering corruption of the Amulet talking through him now.
For just a brief moment I glance at the others in the room to see what they will do about this situation. I see them hold their silence right now. The fact that Doctor Smith does that too especially surprises me for some reason.
“You stupid, naive filly,” Doctor Caballeron tisks as he now twirls the Amulet rather arrogantly. “You looked up to us ad-venturers, ahnd yo not even dat bad at it yo'self, I might add.” He narrows his eyes at me. “But dare is one thing you never understood about dis pro-fession.” He tosses the Amulet up in the air then catches it again with flourish before he goes on to say, “Ventures like dis costs a lot of money. The equipment, the boat, the personnel who ran it, even you,” he gives an emphatic nod to me. “All of dis costs money, and how did you expect us to repay our investors?” He jabs a point at the portal as he says insistently, “Dey expect som re-durn on their investments, or dey start breaking legs.”
Doctor Caballeron lifts his head in a mix between snobbish but also very cold pose as he goes on to say, “Da real world ain't as flowery an' fancy as dah novels you've been reading. Not every'ding about an adventure is written down by those who travel in it. Som tings remain hidden in da dark lest the competition gain the true edge in life.” He shakes the Amulet in his hoof as he adds, “Da true winners in life know when it is time to secure dare prize and retreat wit' dare lives. I survived dis long by knowing when enough is enough, and I also made sure I gain enough funding for da next adventure.”
I grit my teeth as tears rise to my eyes before I say, “Doctor Caballeron, I trusted you!”
“And dat is where you fail!” Doctor Caballeron arrogantly mocked. “I trampled over many other ponies like you who would hov become the competition.” He twirls the Amulet again. “But dey weren't ruthless enough to do what it takes to remain on top. In da end, it is my books that fly on and off the shelves while everypony else is either dead or destitute. Ev'ah wonder why others who challenged me remain silent? It is because heroic fools like dem chase after foolhardy objectives like saving Tanon in the midst of all those creatures,” he says with a jabbing point to the normal exit of the room and not the secret passage we just used to get here. “Dey never knew when enough was enough. Well I say do only what you hov to, secure your main prize,” he shakes the Amulet again, “den get out while the going is good.”
“Well said, Doctor C,” agrees the fedora wearing Biff.
I stomp both of my fore hooves on the ground as I beg, “Please, Doctor C., whatever you do, you can't give that Amulet to Colonel Panders!”
Doctor Caballeron is so stunned to hear that name that he almost chokes on his gasp. A tense moment of silence passes between us as he gives me an utterly shocked expression before it twists into suspicion and rage. He asks, “How in Equestria do you know dat name? I never told you dat.”
I can't answer right away because I'm caught off guard by something else. He basically just confirmed to me that he does, indeed, know Colonel Panders and that that mob boss very likely did fund this entire expedition. Was this the plan all along? To find and secure some dangerous artifact like this then bring it back to this criminal mob boss?
No. NO! I refuse to believe this! Doctor Caballeron would never do this willingly! He's all about extending the historical knowledge of Equestria. That's precisely why I looked up to him all these years!
Seething fury sinks deeper into Caballeron's face when he realizes something else. I don't know what it is until he says with livid fury, “You work for Princess Celestia's secret service all this time, hov'ent you?” His fury deepens enough to cause him to growl as he goes on to ask, “So all dis time . . . you were just 'pretending' to be this weak and naive little mare when all along you knew perfectly well what you were doing!” Then he roars, “YOU'VE BEEN SENT TO SPY ON ME, WEREN'T YOU?!”
I just silently stare at him, dumbstruck. I would have denied it if only I could think at all.
“An' I fell for it!” Doctor Caballeron continues to rant, this time with what sounds like genuine pain in his heart. “I really thought you looked up to me. I really thought you needed me. You asked me to protect you, an' I believed you!” His eyes flare open at me with extremely harsh resentment but also pain. I can see tears in his eyes in addition to flaming anger.
I still can't speak or move, or barely even think. A chill sinks into my soul all the more when I visibly see Doctor Caballeron drastically change his attitude. All of a sudden he goes from flaming hot anger to coldness. It's as if he instantly decides to reject all of his emotions. He closes his eyes, lifts his head high, cracks his neck from side to side, then gives me a cold and empty look.
“Well played, 'Miss Keystone', if that's your real name,” Doctor Caballeron commends in an empty voice. “All dis time, I thought you were the naive fool, but I guess you showed me up. Thank you, 'Miss Keystone', for revealing that I need to be even more distrusting.”
Doctor Caballeron suddenly gives a shrill whistle then whips his head towards to StarGate to indicate it. As he trots away coldly, his henchponies trot on after him guardedly. It is only at this moment that it finally occurs to me that those henchponies are taking orders from Doctor Caballeron and not just Colonel Panders. Maybe there never was a difference to begin with. He made his choice a long time ago.
Or did he? As much as seeing this pains me, there is still that tiny glimmer of hope within me that insists the only reason he's doing what he's doing now and said those nasty things is because of the corrupting influence of the Amulet.
But even with that theory, that doesn't explain his history with Colonel Panders. He just confirmed to me that he works for such a terrible mob boss and now he also thinks the only reason I showed any competence in this adventure was because I was a secret service agent of Princess Celestia all along.
It's kind of a good point, though. I wonder if a real agent of Celestia was trailing him. Maybe that's why the former guards were on this mission, but if that's the case, they could have hidden themselves better.
The three henchponies proceed on ahead of Doctor Caballeron. He is the last to cross through the threshold. Meanwhile I continue to stare at him as tears blur my eyes.
For a moment I honestly thought he was going to proceed through the portal without looking back at me, but at the last second, he does. At first his eyes give a brief flare of anger at me as if to show the last embers of his rage, but when he sees me, his expression suddenly changes again. He looks startled to see how much I am in pain to watch him go like this. The reason why my expression might be so convincing to him is because my expression actually is absolutely genuine. I feel terribly betrayed right now but I still look upon him sadly with one last shred of hope in my eyes. With that expression, I beg him not to do this with all that I am.
Seeing my expression returns doubt on his own face which then shifts to confusion then settles into guilt. At least one last time, he seems to be asking himself what if my feelings towards him is true. I see him close his eyes and bow his head. He holds that for several seconds before looking back at me with wordless expression of guilt in his eyes. When I see that, I can't help but think I am witnessing the last shred of his good side. The part of him that the Amulet didn't completely destroy yet.
But then my heart sinks again when I notice him take a deep breath and dismiss his emotions yet again. He closes his eyes, lifts his face, and breathes in deep before releasing his breath just as much. When he opens his eyes, he gazes emotionlessly at the portal and trots through it without another glance back at me.
My rear legs collapse under me as I suddenly burst into a sob.
He left me! He chose to leave me. There was hesitation and guilt in him for just a moment, but it wasn't enough to stop him or turn him around. Right now it feels so heavy to keep on desperately wishing that the only reason he's doing this is because of the Amulet's corruption. That certainly can be a factor, but the artifact isn't responsible for the pony they were before they put it on. I see that now.
And I've been a fool. I wonder if there is anypony else that I've looked up to who are less than I had believed in one way or another.
I grow startled and alert when I notice Doctor Smith trot closer to the portal. For a panicked moment I even thought he is about to reveal himself as yet another agent of Doctor Caballeron all along, but when he looks over his shoulder at me, I see something on his face that affects me to a shockingly profound degree. I've only known communication like this once before and very recently at that, and that is The Great Sage Auzmeir's telepathic communication. It isn't exactly like that this time, though, because there is no direct words or images downloaded into my head. Instead, it is simply a sudden and intense knowing of Doctor Smith's intentions and feelings which is this: For some reason he has complete faith in me. Whatever I decide to do, he knows it is the right course of action. He also plans to step through this portal right now for some reason, but he'll be back. I don't know how or when he'll do it, but there is something in his expression that wordlessly promises he'll be back.
Then he, too, also steps through the portal. This time, however, I feel a sense of hope and confidence flare back into me. This gives me enough encouragement to rise back to my hooves again. I sniff and wipe my muzzle.
“Are you still with me?” Leg It prods me with a brief poke to my shoulder. When I look at him, he goes on to say, “I still want to find out what happened to Tanon and rescue him if need be, and I could still use your help.”
Doctor Grazy looks hurt and offended by Leg It's words, but she also regards me with curiosity, obviously wondering what I'll say to his offer.
I take a moment to close my eyes and take a deep breath to calm myself just as Doctor Caballeron did a moment ago. When my eyes pop back open, they do so with focus and determination in them.
“Let's go get him!” I announce with steel in my voice.