Trixie and those who were with her were welcomed, by Bark, to recover in the castle for a few days, which they all graciously accepted. During that time, the Diamond Dogs had all voted on a new pack leader to rule them, and this one, named Razor, was approved by both the pack and by Bark. Bark had informed the group after the election that Razor would try to make peace with the ponies above again, but given the track records of the dogs and ponies with each other, he didn't expect it to go well.
"At least they're going to try," Trixie said as she rested against the edge of the underground hot spring in which she sat, closing her eyes as she felt it take her pain away. "I'm just glad that we all made it through that battle. I hate fighting Diamond Dogs." Armora buzzed twice and once again Trixie found she had no idea what she was saying. As much as she hated asking Sombra for help, she figured that it was time he taught her how to understand changeling.
"She's asking if you've fought Diamond Dogs before," Sombra said as he walked by, causing Trixie to roll her eyes at him.
"I thought I made it clear, that this round was for mares only," she growled.
"Trust me, I'm trying not to look at you as much as I can. I'd hate to lose my lunch," he shot back with a smile as he slipped into the pool as well, wincing as the water seeped into his wounds. "Oh, it stings, but it's so worth it."
"Where's Starshine?" Trixie asked him. "I thought I left you in charge of him." Armora buzzed and Sombra chuckled at whatever she said, making Trixie even angrier.
"She said, it was stupid of you to trust him to me," Sombra translated. "Don't worry, he's just practicing the 'spoken word' in a room full of rocks, just one room over from ours. If he manages to set anything on fire in there, I'll be impressed." Trixie sighed, but leaned her head back, trying her best to relax. After weeks of going at full speed she needed a break, especially with what was coming up.
"Well, I suppose it's best that you're here, since I need to talk to the both of you about where we're going next."
"You're going to try to get to the Land of the Titans, I know," Sombra said as he submerged himself further. "But you can't get in there. I checked out the door a few nights ago and it is sealed with a magic that even I can't get through. Star-Swirl made it specifically for him. What makes you think you can get in there?"
"I've come this far, so I'm not going to back down now," Trixie said before sitting up as she heard an explosion in the other room. "I'll be right back." She got out of the spring and ran out of the room, while Sombra looked at the exit to see flames coming out of the next room.
"You actually did it," Sombra said with a chuckle as Trixie and a smoking Starshine came back in the room. "How did you manage to set rocks on fire?" Trixie shushed Sombra as she placed Starshine in the springs with them, watching with a small smile as he began to splash around for fun.
"Hey Trixie, Star-Swirl's secret temple is said to be able to grant the wish of anypony that goes in there, right?" Starshine asked.
"Yes; legend says that whoever manages to make it into the temple of Star-Swirl, will have whatever they need most given to them," Trixie replied.
"Then, what are all of you going to wish for once we get inside?" Starshine asked them. Trixie and Armora both had to think about theirs, but Sombra smirked instead.
"Power," he said with a smile. "The power to defeat the two princesses that took everything away from me. The power to do anything."
"I hope you realize that I'm not going to let you make your wish then," Trixie said before placing a hoof under her chin. "I honestly have no idea what I'll wish for, but I'll figure it out before then. How about you Armora?" Armora buzzed with a sinister smile at Sombra and he rolled his eyes with a snarl.
"Come on, you're no longer a servent of Chrysalis. What would be the point of wishing that upon me?" he asked her. Armora buzzed again and Sombra muttered something under his breath, causing the water Armora was in to change to ice.
"Alright, break it up you two," Trixie said as she melted the ice, helping the shivering changeling out of the water. "What about you Starshine? What are you going to wish for?"
"To see my family again," he said softly. "I know that they said they didn't want me, but I'd still like to see them again. Just once." Trixie pulled Starshine into a hug before levitating him onto her back While she helped Armora out of the room. Sombra sighed as he leaned back in the spring, looking down at the water in front of him as it reminded him of the next temple after this one.
'It's not like I'm going to get my wish anyway, not with Trixie watching over me and with what the Atlantians said they'd do...or rather what their leader said they'd do to me,' he thought to himself as he looked at the water. His eyes widened and he shot out of the water while he began to look around the room, drawing the attention of Trixie from the other room.
"Hurry up Sombra, we're going to head to the gate soon," she said as she walked by the room, leaving Sombra to look at the water with a shake of his head, figuring that he must be seeing things.
'After all, why would a silver pony be in the spring?' he asked himself with a smile as he walked off to join the others.
/T\
Trixie and her group walked through the castle where just a few days earlier they had been fighting for their lives, but now it was filled with dogs who would wave to them, or at the very least move out of their way. While Sombra was right at home with this kind of behavior, Trixie felt uncomfortable with it, since she had been shown so little gratitude, or just actually friendliness, in the past ten years. They eventually made their way to the throne room of the palace, where a massive door stood behind the throne. Next to it stood Bark, who smiled at them as he heard them approach.
"Thank you for coming quickly; I wanted to make this meeting private," he said as Trixie looked up at the door in amazement. She could feel the power of the magic that protected it, and she could also feel the eerie power that flowed through the cracks in it.
"It is no problem. This is why we are here, after all," Trixie responded. "Thank you for helping us with the Diamond Dogs. Things may not have gone so smoothly if you hadn't taken control of the situation when you did."
"If we had just fought our way in the first time," Sombra muttered under his breath, receiving an elbow in the ribs from Armora as he did so. Trixie nodded to the rest of the group and they began to move towards the door, but Bark cleared his throat to gain their attention.
"Actually, I was wondering if I could ask a favor in...repayment for my help," he said nervously.
"What kind of favor?" Trixie asked with a hint of suspicion.
"I have wanted to visit the Land of Titans all my life, but I have never been able to, due to the door being shut," he said. "So if you do manage to open it..."
"You want us to take you," Trixie finished for him, already thinking it over in her head. She owed Bark, not only her life, but also the life of everypony and changeling with her, something that she thought she would never be able to repay. But if this was all he was asking for as repayment, she would normally accept right away. However, the Land of Titans was said to have been sealed off, due to the Titans in the land being insanely dangerous. She had already considered leaving Starshine behind, so she wasn't comfortable with taking a blind Diamond Dog with them as well.
"Alright, it's a deal," Sombra said with a smile as he shook the dog's claws, snapping Trixie out of her thoughts.
"That is not your decision to make," she hissed at him.
"Oh, thank you so much Trixie, this means the world to me!" Bark said with such gratitude in his voice that Trixie couldn't find herself able to take back what Sombra had agreed to.
"Fine, but I want you to know what you're getting into here," Trixie said in a low voice as she looked around at all of them. "The Titans are said to be dangerous creatures that destroy any that enter their land--with no remorse. I hesitate to bring any of you except Sombra in here because of the risk of death," she said seriously, getting a sarcastic laugh from Sombra in the process. "Alright then, first things first: How do we open this door?"
"Legend says that only Star-Swirl the Bearded could open the door in the days of old," Bark explained as he placed a claw on the door, sighing when it refused to yield an inch. "And with him long gone, I have no idea how we are supposed to open it."
"Where's that silver mare when I actually want her around," Trixie muttered to herself as Sombra walked up to the door, trying a number of spoken spells that did nothing to the door.
"Welp, I gave it my best shot," he said with a shrug, looking to Armora. "And I doubt that she'll be able to pry it open with her toothpick, so that leaves it up to you." Trixie closed her eyes and thought about what kind of spell Star-Swirl would have used to open the door. When an idea finally came to her, she opened her eyes and made her horn glow with her magic. She pressed her horn up against the door, closing her eyes again as she felt the magic get drained out of her horn. She opened her eyes again with a growl when she saw that the door hadn't budged and slammed her hoof into it in frustration...and backed up in confusion as the ancient door creaked open before here, revealing a vortex of blue and pink.
"Wow, you actually managed to do it," Sombra said with an impressed whistle as Starshine and Armora stared on in awe. "So what are we waiting for? Let's head on in! Old timer, you're with me!" Sombra said as he grabbed the dog and leapt through the portal with a laugh. Armora followed after him and was quickly followed by Starshine, leaving Trixie alone with her confused thoughts.
'The spell didn't work,' she thought to herself. 'The spell failed; I could feel it. Yet the door still opened. That doesn't make any sense. Maybe Star-Swirl's magic has lost some of its power over the years? Or could it be something else?' She shook her head and decided that she'd think about it later as she took in a deep breath and leapt through the portal herself.
/T\
Trixie groaned as she opened her eyes. The first thing she noticed was the breeze of a cool wind on her body. The next thing she felt was the rocks the poked her in the face, waking her up a bit faster. She lifted her head off the ground and looked around, noticing that Armora, Starshine and Bark were all still lying on the ground unconscious, but Sombra was already awake and was standing on the edge of what looked like a platform that she had been laying on.
"So you're finally awake?" he said as he looked ahead, barely noticing that Trixie joined him. She looked at his face to notice that it was filled with awe, and when she turned to see where he was looking, her eyes widened just like his had. The two of them were standing on the edge of a purplish mountain, that overlooked a massive valley filled with even more mountains, and both of them could see the sun rising just behind one of the mountains, vesting an orange light over all the land. "I have to admit that I'm not easily impressed, but this will do it."
"It is indeed magnificent," Trixie whispered as she tore herself away from the sight to help the others wake up. Sombra scanned the land around them, but didn't see any sign of the Titans or the temple that they were supposed to be guarding. What he did notice, though, was that off in the distance was a forest that was filled with black trees and a mountain that was missing half of its side. And on the ground near the mountain, he could barely make out what looked like the arm of a giant creature.
'That can't be good,' he thought to himself as he turned back to the others, watching as Bark walked to the edge of the mountain platform, tears beginning to fall from his eyes as he began to sniff the air uncontrollably.
"I'm finally here," he whispered as he fell to his knees. "I'm finally in the Land of the Titans! I can smell it! So many new smells, so many new scents, that I can't even fathom! If it looks half as beautiful as it smells, then it must be a beautiful land indeed."
"Yes, but said land confuses me," Trixie said with a frown as she looked at the sun. "When we left, it was about mid-day, but now the sun is just rising over the mountains. Have we been out for almost a day?"
"Maybe we're in a different dimension?" Starshine suggested as he looked around for a path down off the mountain. "You told me earlier that those exist, so couldn't this be one?"
"He might be right," Bark said as he followed the foal's voice over to him. The Land of Titans was said to exist in a land far away from ours. Maybe it is across dimensions."
"Urgh, I hate traveling across dimensions," Sombra muttered as Starshine said that he found a way down. "I always end up getting lost."
"You've traveled to other dimensions before?" Trixie asked him as they headed over to the others.
"No, I mean that I get lost just talking about traveling across realities. Makes my head hurt," he grumbled as he closed his eyes and rubbed his head with one hoof. The gang followed Starshine down the flight of stone stairs that looked older than Sombra, leading the way, despite Trixie warning him that it might be dangerous. Starshine wasn't the only one having trouble staying with the group as Bark had almost wandered off the side on numerous occasions, forcing one of the other members to catch him.
"I think that I can be too nice sometimes," Trixie grumbled after catching Bark again. "First, I take in Starshine, which I'm fine with. Then I take Sombra in and I still don't know why. Then Armora, and now this dog...when did my wagon become a stop for the weird?"
"Um, Trixie? You may want to see this," Starshine called out from further down the path. Trixie and the others walked over to where he was gazing out over the land, and once they were with him they all immediately knew what he had wanted them to see. On the ground stretched out across multiple valleys was a massive stone being, that to Trixie looked like a giant humanoid. Its entire body was made of stone and it had moss growing out of its head like a mane, while the stone it was made of looked older than the stars. But based on the size alone, the group was able to tell what it was.
"A Titan," Trixie whispered as she began to look around for someplace to hide. A small cave further down the path looked like the ideal place, and she quickly whispered for her entire group to follow her there. All of them did except for Sombra, who narrowed his eyes at the giant creature. "Sombra, what are you doing?! Get over here!" Trixie hissed at him. Sombra looked at her with a coy smile before looking back to the Titan.
"Ning Ght Li!" he yelled into the sky, summoning a giant bolt of lightning that struck the Titan dead on. Bark began to ask what was going on as Starshine and Armora threw themselves into the cave, while Trixie simply wondered if she should kill Sombra now or let the Titan do it for her. "It's just like I thought," he said before calling down another lightning bolt. "It's dead."
"How can you be so certain?" Trixie asked cautiously, as she slowly walked back up to where she could see the Titan. "It may just be-"
"Sleeping? No, there aren't many creatures that can sleep through one lightning bolt, let alone two," he said as he looked down at the giant corpse. "Plus, in the reports I read back when I planned to come here, it said that the last thing a pony saw before the Titan killed them was the blue light of the Titan's eyes. Do you see such a light?" Trixie wasn't sure whether or not he was telling the truth, but the Titan didn't respond to the lightning bolts that had struck it. Either the Titan was dead or Sombra was very lucky.
"We need to keep moving," she said to him before heading back to the others still in the cave. "It might be dead, but I want to be long gone in case it isn't. Let's go." Sombra shrugged and followed after her, wondering what could have killed a creature of that magnitude. The group continued down the stairs for a good part of the day, coming to a stop once again when they realized that the sun was setting.
"How could it have been a day already?" Starshine asked as Trixie pulled out a canteen of water for him to drink. "We've barely made it halfway down the mountain."
"This world is a lot bigger than ours," Trixie said as she hoofed out food to the group. "It will probably take a few days just to find the temple, let alone go through it." The group had come to a stop on a massive ledge that jutted off the side of the mountain, with Trixie making a small campfire for them to sit by.
"I just can't believe that one of The titans is dead," Bark said with a bit of sorrow as he wolfed down his food. "I mean, I heard the legends that they killed any who entered and it was probably best for us, but I still wanted to at least hear or smell one before I died." Armora buzzed a few times as everyone looked to Sombra to translate.
"I don't know Armora, it seems weird to me," Sombra said as he took a sip of water, eyes staring at the azure flames. "The Titans were supposed to be numerous in population and could be seen for miles, especially since we were on top of the world. I believe something happened and now they're gone."
"Then that makes our quest simpler and harder at the same time," Trixie said with a frown. "Now we don't have to worry about the Titans killing us, but they were said to be the only ones who could find the temple that we needed to get into."
"What was your plan to get into the temple anyway?" Starshine asked her as he looked up at rainclouds that were rumbling overhead, flashes of lightning showing in the clouds.
"I was hoping that I would be able to barter or find a friendly enough Titan to help us," Trixie said with a shrug, ignoring Sombra's scoff. "Not all of them could have been evil."
"And just what would you barter, oh wise one?" Sombra asked her in a mocking tone.
"You, for starters," she shot back with a smile, knocking the smile right off of Sombra's face. He grumbled to himself as he picked up his canteen again, accidentally spilling a bit in his frustration. He growled and started to drink, but his eyes caught the small puddle of water and what he saw interested him. Every few seconds or so, the water would vibrate a bit, sending ripples across it. His eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen.
"We got company!" he yelled as he stood up, startling the other four. The others barely had time to get up before a massive hand slammed into the side of the mountain, the impact knocking the group to the ground. Trixie looked up to see two giant pairs of blue eyes look down on them like spotlights, freezing them in its gaze. She was struck dumb as she looked into the massive creature's face, a face that could have been half the size of Canterlot. She could only see its body through the flashes of lightning that tore apart the sky, but what she could see showed her that this was the Mother of all Titans, far larger than the other one they had seen.
"TRIXIE! Don't just stand there, DO SOMETHING!" Sombra yelled at her. She channeled her magic into her horn and prepared to fire at the Titan, but its other massive hand came down to grab them and a blue light shone from its hand, dropping Trixie along with all the others to the floor. With them unconscious, the Titan grabbed them all in one hand and stood up to its full height, almost the same size as the mountain. The Titan looked down with its blue glowing eyes at its closed fist, where the group resided, before it raised its head at the rain that had just begun to pour. Then its massive frame began to move forward, each step clearing a valley as it moved towards its lair.
/T\
Trixie opened her eyes and shot up as fast as she could, looking all around her as she prepared for a fight, with her horn a blazing azure of magic. She looked behind her to see her group, but then she looked beyond them to see the edge of the circle of bluish stone, on which she found herself standing. In fact, as she looked around she could still see the mountains and the trees all around them, despite the sun not being out. She also noticed that it was still raining all around them, but none of the rain touched her, Her eyes widened as she thought about what that could mean, and she slowly looked up to see the massive hand that had grabbed them resting above them. Her eyes moved from the hand to its arm, eventually making her way onto the Titan's face, which, now that she could see it better, she noticed was covered in moss that formed a beard of sorts, along with moss along his head that looked like a long mane.
"I see you are finally awake," he said in a voice that was as powerful as it was ancient, which shook the ground that she stood on. At that moment, from just hearing the Titan's voice, she realized why nopony had ever survived coming in here. This was not a creature you could fight. You're only hope against it was that it wouldn't find you. The Titan's blue gaze rested on Trixie again, who found that she couldn't even force herself to answer as she looked up at the massive stone century. The Titan tilted its head as it looked at her, its face never changing the emotion that was carved into it. "Are you hurt? Is there a reason you do not speak?"
"F-forgive me, I was just..." she stammered out, barely able to make words form in her mouth. She was in mortal fear of offending the Titan, but at that moment, Starshine and the rest of the group decided to wake up as well.
"Holy crap!" Starshine exclaimed as he looked up at the Titan towering over him while he rubbed his eyes. "You're huge!" The Titan blinked once at that statement. Trixie noticed how two stones eyelids slid over his eyes for him to do so. "I mean, I thought Ursa's were supposed to be big, but you're HUGE!"
"Yes, I am," the Titan responded with no emotion. "I am a Titan, after all." Sombra walked up next to Trixie and quickly looked at her, his eyes asking her if they were going to fight or not. Trixie slowly shook her head at him, knowing they stood no chance against the creature. Even the normally fearless Armora looked at her blade, knowing full well that it would be hopeless against the Titan.
"I can't believe it," Bark said as he walked closer to the Titan, his nose sniffing the air around him. "A living, breathing Titan. I never thought I'd live to see the day when I could actually meet one of you."
"We do not need to breath," he replied with his voice shaking the group. "And I still do not know who any of you are."
"Oh, then allow me to introduce myself," Starshine said with a smile as he walked right under the Titan's face. "I'm Starshine. I occasionally make things blow up and I'm impulsive. These are my friends, Trixie, and Armora, and Bark. "And this is Sombra, he's the funny guy."
"Funny guy?" Sombra said in a rage. "What do you mean I'm the funny guy?!"
"Well, you do funny things, get beat up a lot, and brag about how great you are, even when you're a complete idiot," Starshine said right to Sombra's face with a smile on his own. "It gets really funny after a while." If she hadn't been under the gaze of the largest being she had ever seen, Trixie would have probably laughed herself to death from the look on Sombra's face. "So how come you're the only Titan that we've seen alive here so far? And why haven't you killed us yet? I thought that's what all Titans did. And what's your name?" Starshine asked point blank. The Titan looked down at the little foal for a moment before he chuckled lightly to himself, which sounded like a low rumble to the ponies.
"I was called Gaia," the Titan said in response, with just the speaking of his name shaking the ground beneath them. "But now, I am the only one who remembers that name...along with the days of old. As for your first question, little horse, there are no more Titans, aside from me."
"I knew it!" Sombra said with a smile. "The Titans killed themselves off, didn't they? If a race was as destructive and stupid as they were, as written in legend, then it would only make sense that eventually they would fight each other." Sombra smiled proudly at his deductive work, but it was struck from his face when Gaia turned his head towards the Dark King, eyes narrowed at him.
"It would do you well to remember not to speak of my fallen brothers as such," he said in a dangerous tone that made even the haughty Sombra shut his mouth. "But it is as he said, we are all gone now. All but me."
"What happened?" Bark asked.
"We were once a race of multitudes that walked across this land like gods," Gaia began, before looking down with sorrow. "But the loud pony is right, as we did eventually turn our own natural aggression towards our brethren...and so we paid the most terrible of prices. We fought against one another in a battle that consumed our planet. With Titans being immortal creatures until they are destroyed, our battle lasted hundreds of years, until finally I felled the only other one besides me."
"Was that the Titan we saw on the mountain where you found us?" Sombra asked, gaining some of his confidence back. Gaia nodded his head before looking back to Starshine.
"As for the question about why I did not slay you, that is a assumption on your race's part. The only reason that so few ponies make it back alive from our world, is because they entered during our battles, costing them their lives," he explained. "But some of our more...destructive brothers, would destroy any living being once they saw them, no matter what race." Trixie frowned at his story, amazed that a race as powerful as the Titans had been reduced to a single member by years of war. "And I have nothing to gain from taking away the lives of those smaller than me. All I want to know is, why are you here?"
"Because there is a temple here that we need to visit," Trixie said. Gaia moved his head towards her and nodded for her to go on. "And in the temple is a horn that is the key to open Star-Swirl's secret temple. However..."
"You need my help to get to the temple," Gaia said with a nod. "Yes, I remember Star-Swirl. He was a wise pony and one who knew how to speak with respect and grace, unlike the black pony with you." Gaia rose to his full height, blocking the rain with his head as he looked down at the group. "I will take you to the temple, but I have only one condition."
"And what would that be?" Trixie asked.
"I was always fond of pony magic, ever since Star-Swirl showed it to me," he said with memories flowing through his head. "Would you mind?" Trixie swallowed nervously as the others all looked to her before she thought of which spells would be best to impress Gaia. With a sigh she opened her eyes and began to cast. She first shot a number of bolts into the air that exploded into a plethora of different colors, lighting up the dark sky with light. She then spun around and cast a spell that sent her magic rolling like waves over the ground, each of the pulses shooting up into the air in a rainbow of colors. She was feeling a rhythm now and began to move along with her spells, and spin when she cast slivers of lights that shot out across the ground.
"She's incredible," Starshine whispered to Sombra as he watched the show, before looking up at Sombra, who had both eyes glued to Trixie with sheer amazement on his face.
"I've never seen any magic like it," he whispered to himself as Trixie shot into the air with blazing wings on her back, taking the form of a phoenix as she flew around the Titan. "It's not like the magic I've used, nor is it as clunky as the princesses'. This is...true mastery." With one final spell, Trixie shot a golden dragon into the air, a dragon the was far larger than a regular dragon, and it let out a magical fire that changed colors every second. The dragon then shot into the sky and exploded with a burst of color and light, blowing away the rainclouds and letting the magical dust, leftover from the spell, fall on everypony there.
"That was truly a sight to behold," Gaia said as he placed his hand down in front of the group. "Not even Star-Swirl could do something so impressive. You are truly a master of magic."
"That...was nothing," Trixie panted as Armora helped her onto the Titan's hand. "You should...see what I can do...when I'm serious." The group all walked onto Gaia's hand as he stood all the way up, allowing them to see almost as far as he could. They all marveled at just how far they could see from this height as he began to move forward, especially at the fact of how all the mountains seemed so small now. But one pony wasn't looking at the view, but instead was looking at Trixie. Sombra had spent his entire life learning the mystic arts and despite his arrogance, even he knew that he would not be able to pull off those spells so perfectly. And as much as he couldn't believe it, he had no choice but to admit it to himself.
'She's amazing,' was all he thought.