//------------------------------// // Chapter 11 // Story: YogLabs: Quest for the Golden Horseshoe // by Prisoner 24601 //------------------------------// Archaenon had thought about it for a long time. Now was his chance to bring his plans to light. It had been about a month since Silvertongue almost killed Simon, but Archaenon preserved the human's life in the hospital, and since then, Silvertongue had been very suspicious of his superior. Why keep the biggest threat to the master alive and thriving? Silvertongue approached the mysterious Pegasus later on that day with his concerns. He approached the medical area, where Simon was being catered to by three changelings, healing his wounds and bandaging him. Archaenon looked from the side, smiling, obviously pleased by the fact that Simon was not yet dead. "Archaenon..." Silvertongue said, approaching. "Yes, Silvertongue?" asked the pony. "About Simon." "What about him?" Archaenon said, becoming decidedly defensive. "Well," Silvertongue lowered his voice to a whisper, "Some of the changelings, myself included, are worried. They are wondering why we're keeping him alive and here when he is the biggest threat to the master?" Archaenon, disregarding the part about keeping him alive, answered, "There is no need for concern, Silvertongue. And besides, the longer we keep him here, the farther from Sriviramen he is." "Yes, but if we killed him, wouldn't he be unable to reach him at all?" Archaenon looked his subordinate straight in the eye. "Silvertongue, you know, for a pony who's only upcoming is his intelligence, you should learn to think more. You may not have seen the camp of their, but you know how far away it is, right?" "About 50 or so miles from the border of the forest, of course." "And how far into the forest is the Altar of Benedictus?" "About another 25-30 miles, depending on where you start." "Now, Silvertongue, that is a total of 75-80 miles between the camp he started at, and the altar he ended up at. Do you know how long it'd take a human to go that far? Without rest? Food? Water?" "Who said he didn't have any possessions with him?" "You said this was how he was when you found him. Nothing at all to suggest the struggle of carrying anything. And look at his eyes; he obviously hasn't slept for days. Do you know the chances of any living thing surviving that long of a trek without any sustenance?" "If my math doesn't fail me, they're about-" "It was rhetorical, Silvertongue. My point is, he couldn't have survived a trek that far without anything. He would have died. It's not a suspicion, it is a fact. He did die. And now he's here. Alive an well. Or he was, until you tried to kill him. He was resurrected. There is no other explanation for this. And if he was brought back from the dead once, who's to say it will not happen again? Therefore, it is safer for everyone to keep him here. Alive." "But... what if he escapes? He knows where the army is camped. He will tell his own people." "Silvertongue, that relies on one thing: him escaping. And if we're the only thing keeping him alive and well, I don't think he'll want to leave that behind." "But if he can be resurrected, what would it matter if he is not well?" "Answer me this, Silvertongue: If a creatures is kept alive, thriving, and happy, will it give that up for dark, damp suffering? Even if it cannot die, it can feel pain and exhaustion. Who would give this up for that?" "Someone determined to tell his friend of the enemy's whereabouts." Archaenon thought it over. "You are right. He may try to escape. Hell, he may even succeed, but even with his own army behind him, there'd be enough time between him getting back there and coming here with an army for us to prepare for anything. Something I'm sure we have already succeeded in." "It is just unsettling, sir, to have our greatest enemy so close to home." Archaenon disregarded him, and looked back to Simon, who was finally getting some well-deserved rest. "Tell whoever it is who is suspicious that everything happening right now is for the best. Do not worry for us. He is fine, and so are we." "Yes, sir. I will relay this to the army." With that, Silvertongue began to depart. "Oh, and Silvertongue!" Archaenon called back to him, still not looking away from Simon. "Yes, sir?" Silvertongue asked, turning back. "You had better not question my judgment again. Everything I do, I do for the best of our people." "Yes, sir. Of course, sir." "Now move along, Silvertongue." With that, Silvertongue turned and continued back to the army. The medics finished with Simon, and Archaenon looked at them each respectively. "You have done good to him. You will be rewarded. You are free to go." The medics left, and Archaenon stood at Simon's bed side. As soon as he was sure everyone was out of earshot, he gently nudged the human, who woke to him. "W-who are you?" Simon asked. He had blacked out after Silvertongue stabbed him in the chest, amazingly close to, but not puncturing, his heart. "A friend. Though you may not know it yet." Archaenon quietly said, making sure nobody heard him. "A friend? I don't believe you." "Truly, I am. Sriviramen told me to come here in order to eradicate a force going against his Operation: Matrix, but I never knew it would have been the Yogscast! If I had known that sooner, I never would have accepted." "Are you a fan of the Yogscast?" "More than you know. But I'm not just a fan. I have deep ties. None that you should look into, but deep nonetheless." "Why are you telling me this?" "Because I can help you. And you can help me." "What do you need my help with? It's a miracle I'm alive, I don't think I can do much more." "Believe it or not, you can do everything for me. Now sit back and listen. Let me tell you my story." ******** Twilight and her friends had been trying to lay low for the past few chapters, and so far, had done a pretty good job. But when the day came for the final tents to be packed up and the final caravans to move out, they had to face the sunlight once more. But this time, without as many of their friends. They had all made close ties with Simon, some closer than they knew, and so they had been crushed when he disappeared. They had become friends with Jesse, but he didn't have the same air around him as Simon did. Simon tried to be friendly. He tried to fit into their world, and his failures only brought them closer. Jesse didn't seem to care about the Mane 6 like Simon did. He didn't seem to want to be friends. He only seemed determined to lead in Simon's place. The Mane six and Cutie Mark Crusaders were all thinking about leaving this 'army'. It wasn't what they came here to do. They came here to help a friend, not join the military. And now, with that friend gone, what point was there in staying. "Come on, girls." Applejack had retorted, "What kind of friends would we be if we left them high and dry in the middle of a dilemma like this?" "Can't you see, Applejack?" Rarity had also said, "We aren't their friends. they don't even want us here. They just don't care." Twilight had also spoken up. "Look, girls, usually I'm one to side with friendship, but Rarity's right. We don't belong here. They don't even seem to like us being around. Simon would make sure we didn't go unappreciated, but now... with him gone, I don't see a reason to stay around." "Well then," Rainbow Dash said, "why don't we ditch this train? Go out there and find Simon? Bring him back?" "I think we should!" Pinkie yelped, "I mean, what kind of friends would we be if we didn't try to help our bestest friend?!" "Not good ones." Sweetie Belle piped up, "Simon is out there, and we're here with people that don't even want us. I definitely think we should go after him." "Who else agrees?" Twilight asked. Literally everypony in the room raised their hooves. all the Mane Six, all the Cutie Mark C Crusaders, everypony. "Then it's settled." She continued, "We'll leave, and we'll do everything we can to find Simon. But first... Let's get to Ponyville." "How will we just walk out?" Fluttershy asked, "Surely they'd be watching, and I don't think they'd take kindly to deserters." "Well, then," Apple Bloom chimed in, "We'll just have to talk with whoever's in charge of this army, and tell them we're leaving." "Who's going to do that?" Scootaloo asked. Simultaneously, every hoof in the room pointed straight at Twilight. "Me?" "Well, yeah," Rainbow said, "Who else?" Twilight thought it over, "Alright, I'll talk to Sjin and Jesse in the morning." Now the morning was here, and they were all nervous as Twilight approached the twin-leaders' tent. As she entered, she saw Jesse and Sjin discussing with each other. As Jesse looked to her, she could swear she heard an audible sigh. "Yes, Twilight?" He asked, doing his best to mask his disappointment. "We're done here. This 'army' just isn't for us. You don't want us here, and we don't want to be here." "So you're abandoning us in our time of need?" Jesse accused. "Now, Jesse," Sjin consoled, "She's not abandoning us. She wants to help her real friend, Simon. We all do, Twilight. That's why this army exists." "But we aren't helping Simon. We're focusing all our attention on a hole in the mountain! For what?!" "The Golden Horseshoe." Jesse said, "The one thing that can bring Lewis back to life." "And Sips." "Wait... So we're doing all this, and leaving a friend to die in his time of need, just to cheat death?" Jesse and Sjin both paused in contemplation. "You know," She continued, "For a species who claims to be better than us, you should know that death happens. It is a part of life, as much as being born is. And we have to accept death as we'd accept life. We can't pick and choose who needs to die and who needs to live." Both seemed to have revelation dawning on them. Sjin spoke, "You may be right, Twilight. I guess maybe we got so caught up in looking for this artifact that we forgot what it was even used for. Thank you for bringing this to light." "So you'll stop the search?" "Of course not," Jesse said, "You said you wanted to help Simon. We are; we're giving him his friend back. If that isn't helping him, I don't know what is." "I don't know, maybe going out there to make sure he isn't dead! That sounds like helping him!" Twilight was getting unnecessarily angry. "We have bigger problems to attend to right now." Jesse said, and turned back to Sjin. "Fine!" Twilight stomped, "But we're leaving, and you can't stop us. We're going to actually help Simon by making sure he ISN'T DEAD YET!" She shouted, turned, and left the tent with an angry trot. "Well that was..." Sjin paused. "A nuisance." Jesse finished, clearly annoyed. "I don't know, Jesse, it did kind of make me rethink the whole Golden Horseshoe thing..." ******** "You see now, Simon?" Archaenon said as he finished his story. "I've been trying to reunite with him since that fateful day. But now, at the head of all this..." He gestured around him, "I don't think I'll be very welcome." Simon smiled, "I see. But how can I help you?" "I can let you free, and you can help reunite me with my son." Archaenon was almost begging. "But you know where the camp is. Why not go yourself?" "Why do you think? I'm at the head of a changeling army ready to barrel down upon them at any moment. I wouldn't exactly be an honored guest, now, would I? But if you arrived at my side, they would see I am nothing to fear. Just a father separated from his son." "So..." Simon thought, "You let me out, and I bring you back to reunite with your son." "Yes." "Then can you help e fight Sriviramen?" "Anything to see my little boy again." "Archaenon." "Yes, Simon?" "You have yourself a deal."