//------------------------------// // Lightning Strikes Arc Part 6: Runaway // Story: MLDC: SHAZAM, Equestria's Mightest Mare! // by Michael_Ravencroft //------------------------------// A month and a half had past, summer was right around the corner in Equestria, and Dr. Caballeron was now fifty feet underground, searching through an old dusty tomb for Celestia knows what. The zebra shaman had been very helpful to his search, Caballeron had to admit, he never heard of such a tale in all his years as an archeologist, not even when he briefly worked together with Daring Do. The good doctor chuckled inwardly as he thought about the look on Daring Do’s face when he made the greatest archaeological discovery in the world, not only would he be richer than he could ever imagine, but he’d be famous the world over. The shaman had spoken of a warrior who became king, an alicorn stallion who wielded lightning and the strength of the gods. Caballeron thought that last part about “gods” was probably exaggerated, many civilizations worshipped deities, some were made up without any bases for the actual existence of these “gods”, and others were just different forms of the sun and moon, giving them personified forms like “Amaterasu” and “Tsukuyomi” from Neighpon, “Brigid” and “Arianrhod” from Norhay, and of course the Neighgyptian versions known as “Sekmet” and “Bast”. But many scholars believed those were just the names given to Celestia and Luna, thinking those civilizations didn’t know their names, but knew they existed, so to understand and worship them they created names for them and various myths about them. Caballeron knew that the two alicorn sisters were on another level of power, possibly demi-goddesses, but if what he found out was true, then it could rewrite Equestrian history – no – world history, forever! Of course he didn’t forget his clients, they would have whatever it was they wanted from these ruins, but the fame and wealth would be all his. Dr. Caballeron was with a team of excavators down in one of the tunnels, overseeing their progress and making sure that they didn’t destroy something significant that could help them find what it was they were looking for. Along the way, from the light of his head lamp, Caballeron looked upon the ancient hieroglyphics, telling the story of a powerful alicorn who tore down the tyrannical system of oppression and brought about a free world under his wisdom and power, a hero. “This ‘Teth Adam’ appears to be quite the inspirer and conqueror, I can’t wait to see the amount of wealth he had accumulated over the course of his reign,” said Caballeron with greedy glee. Suddenly he heard one of the workers further down exclaim along with the sound of metal striking metal. Caballeron grunted with irritation as he walked down the hall to where the digging had stopped, one of his cohorts was standing by the team that had stopped digging as they stared at something. “What is the meaning of this, why have you stopped digging?!” “Um, doctor, sir, we can’t go any further,” said the stallion. “And why’s that?!” “There’s some kind of metal rock blocking the way?” Caballeron mouthed the words “metal rock” in confusion. He then shoved his way through the workers and stopped when he saw what it was that had put a halt in their operation, and that’s when he saw it. It was not a metal rock, but rather a section of wall made of some kind of metallic ore. Caballeron wrenched a pickax from one of the workers and gave the wall a few taps with it, and sure enough the sound of metal striking metal rang out within the hall. The middle-aged stallion then inspected the spot where he struck with the tool but found no sign of denting or scratches. “The fact that not even a pickax can make a dent must mean the ore of this rock is stronger, possibly iron.” “I’ll reorganize the workers; we’ll find another hall and dig that way. Maybe we can get around it?” The stallion suggested. The doctor shot his cohort a glare at that suggestion. “No, the signs all point down this passage and that old zebra’s tale matches that of the hieroglyphics. The thing we seek is down this here, we cannot deviate or we waste time trying to find a way around through a maze of tunnels.” “So…what do you suggest doctor?” “What do you think?” Caballeron walked over to a wooden crate, he then used a nearby crowbar to break it open and took out a foot long red cylindrical object that had the letters “TNT” stamped on it. “We blow it the hay up!” PONYVILLE (SUB-DIMENSION: ROCK OF ETERNITY) Twilight was in Elysium, there was just no other way to describe it. The well-read mare wasted no time in using her all-access pass to the Rock of Eternity’s library. A mare well into her early twenties was reduced to a giggling schoolfilly as she darted from one bookshelf to the other, taking down one book after the other, creating mountainous peaks of books that reached up twenty, sometimes thirty feet tall. The library knew no concept of night or day, stuck in a dimension between one plain of existence and another; it was perpetual daylight outside, which also meant that the room was constantly bathed in perfect reading light. The temperature was comfortable, not too cold and not too hot, only adding to the perfectness of this wondrous place.  She also noticed that the books and scrolls must’ve had an enchantment placed upon them, keeping each ancient tome in perfect pristine condition. Unfortunately, Twilight’s love of books and knowledge slightly frightened the steward of the magical fortress. Murmur had nothing against a pony’s, or any creatures, thirst and love for knowledge; she was a bit of a bookworm herself. But this…this troubled her. The first day was fun, the second just as much, tenth and fifteenth, just a bit worrying, and the twenty-first and twenty-fifth days, well…it was time to call the Champion.   Murmur stood by near a clear area, a place designed for entering and exiting the Rock of Eternity’s library from another location. The flutterpony then heard the sound of rolling thunder, and in the fraction of a second a lightning bolt struck the ground, revealing Scootaloo in her alicorn form. “I got your message Murmur, what’s wrong?” Scootaloo asked. “Oh, well, it’s a little hard to describe sanely. Better to show than tell.” The flutterpony quickly led Scootaloo through the rows of bookshelves, and as they rounded the corner Murmur stopped dead in her tracks, prompting the transformed filly to do the same. Scootaloo then beheld the towers of books that littered the area, as well as stacks of scrolls. Scootaloo deadpanned at the state the area was in, she then sighed heavily. “Wait here Murmur.” Scootaloo walked into the area of towering books, looking for a certain purple alicorn amidst the contents. She then arrived at a huge pile of books at the center; Scootaloo then looked around but couldn’t see neither hide nor hair of Twilight. “Twilight, Twilight where the hay are you?!” Scootaloo called. Just then there was movement from within the pile of books, within a matter of seconds Twilight burst out from the top like a dolphin surfacing for air. Her mane was unkempt, pupils reduced to pinpricks, right eye twitching erratically, and a disturbing smile that would make the Mane-iac crap her spandex suit. To Scootaloo it was an all too familiar sight, only the cause back then was completely different. “Hi Scootaloo~” “Hi Twilight, how are you doing?” “Oh great, just GREAT! There are books here I never knew existed! Magic, history, fiction, everything, everything under one impossibly large magical dimension and I have unfettered access to it ALL! HA! HA!” Yep, Twilight has definitely gone cuckoo, thought Scootaloo. Scootaloo slowly made her way to Twilight, putting on a placating smile as she did so. “Okay Twilight, I’m happy you’re happy about all this…knowledge, but I think you’ve had enough. Maybe you should take a break from here for a bit?” “NO! I’ll tell you when I’ve had enough! And I haven’t!” “Twilight, c’mon, you’re acting like a spoiled filly, let’s just go back to Ponyville,” said Scootaloo. “NO! You can’t make me!” Scootaloo raised an eyebrow at that statement. “The hay I can’t. Strength of Herakles! ” The magical lightning surged through Scootaloo’s muscles, granting them the strength of a god. “Now we’re going back to Ponyville, together, even if that means I have to drag you back kicking and screaming!” Twilight glared at Scootaloo, who returned the glare with equal intensity. The purple alicorn then lit up her horn and wrapped the numerous books in her rosy-purple aura. The books then swirled around Twilight like a tornado, making Scootaloo back up a bit in surprise. The tornado of books (booknado) stopped spinning entirely, the books then began to stack themselves like bricks. After about a few seconds Twilight had created a literal book fort around herself. It reached up till it stood fifty feet tall and was twenty feet wide, it even had a visor at the top so Twilight could look down at Scootaloo. “Oh for Luna’s sake Twilight, really, a book fort?! Really?!” Scootaloo walked right up to the fort and knocked on the front. “Twilight come out or I’m breaking in!” “NO!” You asked for it. Scootaloo cocked back her right hoof and struck the book fort, but when she did the strike reverberated through the fort, absorbing the impact of the blow and completely nullifying it. The demi-god mare stepped back a bit and launched a flurry of punches at the fort, but it was no use, the fort absorbed the kinetic energy of each blow and cancelled it out. “Did she cast a spell on those books or what?!” Scootaloo asked. “The books in the library are enchanted with a spell that makes them indestructible, in order to preserve them under any extreme conditions.” Murmur explained. “Great, is there any other way to get through it?” Murmur hesitated to answer, but as the steward of the Rock of Eternity she was duty bound to help the Champion. “Yes…you could hit it with a powerful lightning blast; the enchantment isn’t able to withstand the power of the Living Lightning…but, if you could, please don’t. Some of my favorites are among Miss Twilight’s.” Scootaloo sighed in frustration. “No, I won’t. I may not read that much, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to go and blow up all those books. Just gotta find another way…Aha, I got it!” Twilight was lying down within her fort, with her nose firmly planted in the book before her. She hadn’t heard a peep from Scootaloo since she stopped trying to break through the fort’s walls. Twilight smiled triumphantly, thinking she had just bested the heroine. “Twilight…?” The Princess of Friendship poked her head up from the book and looked towards the front of the fort. She then went up the staircase and looked out through the visor. When Twilight looked downwards she saw that Scootaloo had reverted back to her filly self. “Yes…?” Twilight asked cautiously. “Um…could…could I come inside your fort? It just looks so cool! Please Twilight, please?!” Twilight eyed the filly with scrutiny. But then she saw Scootaloo look up at her with large watery eyes and a frown upon her face. It reminded the mare about the times when other foals wouldn’t let her into their own forts, thinking her weird for liking books more than other ponies. It was Shining Armor who got her into making book forts and the two of them playing in them together chased away the sadness of those times. Now she was repeating the same mistake those foals did to her to Scootaloo. Twilight’s heart hurt. “Of course you can sweetie.” Twilight’s horn glowed as she willed the books to move and form a door big enough for Scootaloo to enter. The alicorn mare walked down the stairs and met with the filly, nuzzling her cheek in a comforting way. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to leave you out,” said Twilight. “It’s okay.” The young princess smiled. “Okay, so what do you want to do first? Should we reenact the battle of Fort Whinny? Ooh-Ooh or maybe we could read a book together?!” “YAY! Which one do you want to read?” “I want to read…SHAZAM! ” Outside, Murmur watched with anxious worry at what was going on inside the book fort, even more so when she heard the sound of thunder from within. To her surprise, the fort began to crumble and fall, and from the former fortress walked out Scootaloo back in her alicorn form, carrying Twilight in a bubble of light-blue mana energy. Murmur flittered over to the Champion and looked at the bubble that contained the pouting mare. “Is Miss Twilight alright?” Murmur asked. “Yeah, it’s just embarrassing that I have to be the mature one in this situation.” “Humph, I didn’t even get to read the Ponynomicon…” “You can read it next time!” Twilight was still pouting as she walked Scootaloo back to Wayward House. Scootaloo, despite knowing it was the right thing to do, still felt bad about prying the Princess of Friendship from such a vast collection of knowledge. “Are you still mad at me, Twilight?” Scootaloo asked. The purple alicorn glanced down at the young filly, sighed, and then shook her head. “No Scootaloo, I’m not mad at you. I just get carried away when it comes to books, especially those books. Such wondrous, wondrous books filled with wisdom and knowledge of ancient times and…” Twilight caught herself before she went into a rant. “Ahem, anyway, thank you.” “No problem. So, did you find anything else out, about the Rock of Eternity and the other champions?” “A lot actually, I’ll have to compare it to the books I have as well as those in the Royal Canterlot Archives. It’s just so hard to believe that there have been these great heroes from ages past who have sacrificed so much to protect us, and yet we know nothing about them. They’re even older than Luna and Celestia!” Scootaloo was still trying to grasp it all. To think a little orphan filly like her was chosen to become a hero, a Champion of Magic, defender of the weak, and the bane of evil. Actually, thinking about it sent a shiver of excitement up her spine. As they approached the orphanage Scootaloo became a little sad that they’re time was done, she had been enjoying her private tutelage under Twilight, secret from her friends and others. But she did live here, and there wasn’t anything she could do about it…unless. “Um, Twilight…?” “Yes Scootaloo?” “Did…um…have you ever considered…having a foal?” Twilight froze mid-stride upon hearing that. Her left eye twitched as her brain struggled to reboot after hearing that question. “Well…ahem, Scootaloo, that’s certainly a question out of the blue. W-Why the sudden interest?” Twilight asked. “I was just wondering, since you took care of Spike and you seem to like Sweetie, Apple Bloom, and me. I mean, you take the time to teach us things that we didn’t know we were good at. I was just wondering if you, maybe –?” “Scootaloo?!” Both the filly and mare looked to the orphanage and watched as the matron of Wayward House walked towards them. She was an earth pony mare, with a manila colored coat, chestnut brown mane and tail with red hairbands tied at both ends, and crystal blue eyes. Her cutie mark was that of a heart with baby bottle next to it. The matron saw Scootaloo with Princess Twilight and politely bowed to her. “Oh your highness, I didn’t know you’d be coming here! Had I known I would’ve cleaned up a bit more and –!” “No need to worry Miss…?” “Milano, Mrs. Milano” answered the mare. Scootaloo nudged Twilight’s foreleg, making her look down at the filly. “She’s Button Mash’s mom, you know, that colt I told you Sweetie has a crush on.” Twilight made an “O” with her lips and then smiled. “Milano, no need to bow, really. I’m just here to drop off Scootaloo.” Milano rose up and smiled graciously at Twilight. “Thank you again for taking the time to tutor Scootaloo, I know you must have a busy schedule, but I’m happy you can make time to help her.” Scootaloo chuckled knowingly; their “tutoring sessions” were a cover story for Twilight to help the young filly master her powers and explore the Rock of Eternity. That’ added on top of their Twilight Time with Sweetie and Apple Bloom, and whatever lessons Miss Cheerilee had for that day as well. If it wasn’t for the Wisdom of Star Swirl, Scootaloo’s brain would’ve burned itself out just trying to keep up. “Oh, that reminds me Scootaloo, I have great news for you!” Milano spoke excitedly. “Really what great news?” Scootaloo asked. “Somepony walked in a couple of weeks ago while you were out and asked if they could adopt you!” Scootaloo’s wings fluttered with joy as her eyes grew wide. “R-Really?! Somepony’s going to adopt me! Who is it?! Do I know them?! I bet it’s Rainbow Dash!” “Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash is in Manehattan filling in for a Wonderbolts show.” “Oh yeah…I forgot. So who is adopting me?!” Milano smiled at Scootaloo’s eagerness. “Well, all I can say is that it is a mare and she knows you quite well, and she has been looking forward to this happening for a long time.” Suddenly Scootaloo felt less confident about her adopter. Old memories were resurfacing, and hidden fears along with them. “Oh…alright…Uh, Mrs. Milano, I’m going to my room now. Bye Twilight.” Scootaloo didn’t wait for a reply, but simply trotted past Milano and into Wayward House. Twilight had a look of concern at the odd change in Scootaloo’s reaction to the news, so too did Milano. “Will Scootaloo be alright?” Twilight asked. “I think she just needs to let it sink in. You have to understand, Princess, that not many foals her age get adopted, even more so when she turns thirteen. Some couples or ponies in general don’t always pick older foals, but I really want this one to work for Scootaloo,” said Milano. “Well, if there’s anything I can do to help you, Scootaloo, or the orphanage, don’t hesitate to come to the castle and ask.” “Thank you Princess,” said Milano with a bow.   With that, Twilight opened her wings and flew off in the other direction. From the second floor window however, one filly watched as the pony she called mentor and had hoped guardian fly away, leaving her with a growing sense of anxiety and dread at who it was that had come to adopt her. LATER THAT NIGHT… Scootaloo tossed and turned in her bed, the news she had received, though good, still stirred up memories best left forgotten. Memories that she had been buried until the Wizard used his magic to see into her life. She then awoke with a start, clasping her hooves over her mouth to keep from disturbing Aura. Scootaloo quietly made her way out of the bedroom and headed down the hallway and to the bathroom. She flipped the light switch on and closed the door behind her. Scootaloo then ran the faucet, watching the water flow down and pool a little before it went down the drain. The pegasus filly stood on the hoofstool and placed her forehooves in the flowing water. She then took in a breath and splashed her face. She did this multiple times, splashing her face with cold water, trying to shake away the memory induced nightmares. But it did little to alleviate the growing fear inside her. Calm down Scootaloo, Mrs. Milano said that it was only a mare. She did say if it was a pegasus. But she also said this mare knew me well…But there’s just no way she could’ve found me here! I did every damn thing I could to make sure she’d never find me and that I’d never have to see her face again! “You’re a bad filly Scootaloo, and you know what I do to bad fillies.” “Shut up!” Scootaloo quietly shouted while scrunching her eyes shut. “Don’t make me have to punish you Scootaloo, Mommy doesn’t like that.” “Then why did you…did you–!” “Now let me show you how to be a good filly for Mommy, and maybe others…” “RAAAGH!” Scootaloo suddenly punched the mirror, fracturing its surface and sending many cracks spider webbing from the point of contact. Scootaloo retracted her forehoof, cupping it with the other and wincing at the pain. Just then she saw the door open and for a moment wondered if one of the older foals heard her. The orphanage was different at night, since Mrs. Milano had a home and family to take care of, she had some of the older, more responsible and mature foals, watch over Wayward House at night. And since Mrs. Milano was only a block away it wasn’t hard to go and get her should something bad happen. Of course, explaining why she broke a mirror wasn’t on her top things to explain. The young filly closed her eyes and waited for colt or filly to ask with a stern voice. “Scootaloo are you alright?” That wasn’t the voice I was expecting to hear…? Scootaloo dared to open her eyes and saw that Alula was standing in the doorway, looking worriedly from the mirror to Scootaloo’s slightly bloody hoof. The, at present, unicorn filly quickly went inside and closed the door silently behind her. “Scootaloo what happened, you’re bleeding?!” The pegasus filly looked to her right hoof and noticed that she had been scratched by the glass from the mirror she had just punched in. Now that she was aware of it, the scratches were starting to sting. “Ow! I uh…I…” “Later, first let me have a look at your hoof.” Alula used her telekinetic magic to bring another hoofstool next to Scootaloo. She climbed on top of it and stood on her hind legs, she then used her magic to gently pry Scootaloo’s hoof out so that she could have a better look at it. After a tense moment, Alula let out a sigh of relief. “Okay, they aren’t deep, and I don’t see any glass in the cuts. Let me take care of this.” “‘Take care of this’? What are you talking aboooooooo – OW!” Alula wrapped her purple aura around Scootaloo’s injured hoof; she then placed both of her hooves over it as she held onto it gingerly. The stinging pain was soon replaced by soothing warmth, after a few seconds the magical aura around the three hooves flashed. When Alula removed her hooves Scootaloo gasped at seeing her hoof completely healed. “Alula, you…you know healing spells?” Scootaloo raised an inquisitive eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you know how to ‘heal’ mirrors?” Alula playfully rolled her eyes. “If by ‘heal’ you mean ‘fix’ then yes I do.” Alula’s horn glowed once again, concentrating on the broken mirror. The pieces of glass that had broken off from the mirror were suddenly lifted into the air and began floating towards the mirror. One by one the shards melded together until they had become whole again, any evidence that Scootaloo punched the mirror had completely vanished, except for the small droplets of blood in the sink, but a quick rinse would take care of that. “Thanks Alula.” The unicorn filly blushed. “Heh, heh, n-no problem Scootaloo. But, why did you break the mirror in the first place, and hit it hard enough to hurt yourself?” Scootaloo hopped down from the hoofstool and kept her gaze downcast as she spoke. “It’s no big deal…” “Yes it is a big deal! Y-You could’ve really hurt yourself! What if I hadn’t heard that noise and the cuts were deeper?!” I’d just say “SHAZAM” and turn into an invincible alicorn. Instant healing. “That didn’t happen, so I’m fine.” Alula hopped down from the hoofstool and stood in front of Scootaloo with a determined expression. “I don’t want you hurting yourself for no reason Scootaloo! You’re better than that!” Scootaloo groaned in annoyance at what Alula was implying. “Look I’m not suicidal or anything! I just got really angry and punched something, I wasn’t really looking or caring what I hit, alright?!” Alula was now less worried about Scootaloo doing something stupid like suicide, but now was more concerned as to what provoked her fury enough to just randomly hit something with such force. Silence reigned within the bathroom for what felt like minutes. After a bit longer, Alula decided to lighten the mood by talking about something positive. “So…I heard you’re getting adopted soon!” “…………” “Um, I wanted to say congratulations, and I’m glad somepony has opened their heart to let you into their lives,” said Alula happily. “You don’t know who that pony is…for all you know it’s some cover to foalnap and sell foals.” Alula deadpanned. “I think Mrs. Milano and the ponies at the castle would know if the pony coming to adopt you was like that or not. Besides, there’s that three month trial period, so they have to double and triple check the pony who’s adopting you.” Scootaloo scoffed. “Yeah, well how do you know they’re not a timberwolf in sheep’s clothing?!” Her worry and fear was starting to rise again, flashes of her mother, the pain, the humiliation, all of it rising up from a deep pit that she thought had been forgotten under years of new and happier memories. No! I won’t be put through that again! No matter what! Scootaloo started walking but was blocked by Alula. “Where are you going Scootaloo?” “Get out of my way Alula!” “No, Scootaloo you’re acting weird and it’s scaring me, I think we need to go see Mrs. Milano.” “Not going to happen!” Alula’s horn ignited with magic, wrapping around Scootaloo and holding her in place. The pegasus filly struggled against the magical grasp, trying with everything – short of transformation – to get free. “Let me go Alula! Now!” “No way, not until you calmed down and we talk this…Oh no, not now!” Scootaloo watched as the magic around Alula’s horn began to flicker, like a candle desperately trying to stay lit against the wind. After a few short moments Alula’s horn fizzled out, releasing Scootaloo. She then watched as Alula’s horn shrunk down until there was nothing left. The hornless filly panicked as she looked to her sides expectantly, but when nothing happened she panicked. “No not earthy pony, not now!” Scootaloo would’ve stuck around to question why Alula lost her horn and was now an earth pony filly. But that wasn’t her concern, all this meant was now Alula couldn’t use magic to stop her. The pegasus filly dashed away, leaving Alula in the dust. It took a few seconds for Alula to realize that Scootaloo had run faster than she had expected. She chased after Scootaloo, who already had a good head start. The vanilla colored filly made one sharp turn after the other, listening closely for the sounds of hooves against floorboards. Scootaloo couldn’t fly, so she was restricted to just running, but if she got to her scooter than Alula could kiss any chance of catching her goodbye. Alula then heard the sound of the back door closing; she rushed down the stairs and into the kitchen. When she arrived there Alula was about to fling the door open, but a flash of light and the roar of thunder stopped her dead in her tracks. There’s no storms scheduled for tonight, at least not according to what Mrs. Milano told us! Alula, getting over the fear of the possible lightning strike, flung the door open. But there was nopony there, just some wisps of white smoke that were slowly dissipating into the air. She also noted the unusual odor of ozone in the air and tingling sensation where her horn once was. Unfortunately she didn’t have time to ponder this. “Scootaloo?! Scootaloo?!” Alula cried. There was no reply, Alula ran through the house and straight to the front door. She flipped on the light switch and searched frantically about the front closet. The filly gasped when she saw that Scootaloo’s scooter was still there, in the same position she left it, even her helmet was hanging off it.   Alula automatically assumed the worst, Scootaloo never went anywhere without her scooter, it was the one thing that gave her the thrill of being able to fly fast like her idol, Rainbow Dash. The vanilla filly ran up the stairs and burst into Scootaloo’s and Aura’s room. She then jumped right onto Aura’s bed and startled the filly awake. “Aura, Scootaloo ran away or got foalnapped, I don’t know! I’m going to go tell Mrs. Milano, you go and wake the older kids up, hurry!” Alula once again dashed away, leaving Aura sitting up in her bed. It took a moment before her mind finally got up with Alula’s words. “SCOOTALOO’S WHAT!!?” MEANWHILE… “Doctor, do you really think this is safe?” Caballeron and his crew were standing outside the entrance to the tunnel, he then lit the match held by his teeth and let it fall onto the fuse. “‘Safe’?! We’re just a few feet away from the greatest discovery and payday of our careers and you ask if it’s ‘safe’?! The time for safe is done, now we pull out all the stops!” The fuse continued to dwindle as it got closer and closer to the piles of dynamite that were set before the iron wall. The ponies outside all waited for the inevitable explosion, covering their ears and clenching their jaws in preparation for the giant boom that was to follow. After a few seconds more, the fuse hit the pile of dynamite and set it off. The result was a mighty and thunderous explosion that rattled the ground and reverberated through their dig crews’ bodies. A cloud of dust and debris shot out of the entrance and hit everypony in its way. Caballeron and several others were covered in dust, coughing and spluttering to get the tiny dirt particles out of their mouths. They waited many minutes for the dust cloud to settle, letting some of the pegasus ponies work their magic to clear the cloud away faster. Once it was gone, Caballeron and his crew went back into the corridor, so far, nothing seemed damaged, which was odd considering the strength of the blast would’ve been magnified due to the enclosed space. After a while they eventually found their way back to the iron wall which blocked them from advancing further. The good doctor however was severely disappointed to find that the wall still stood, not even a dent was made. “You’ve got to be kidding me?! It should’ve at least put a hole in it with that much explosive force!” Caballeron shouted. “Maybe we can try a diamond tipped drill or something,” said one his henchponies. “A DIAMOND TIPPED – Are you kidding me?! Need I remind you that we aren’t even supposed to be here, and that no one is to know this place exists until we have found what our clients want! A drill that expensive is bound to draw attention; it isn’t an easy piece of equipment to come by!” Dr. Caballeron walked up to the iron wall and scowled at it as if it were an enemy. He then turned around and kicked the wall with his hind leg in anger, venting his frustration. But at that moment something happened. The wall started to hum and emit a strange azure light. Caballeron stepped back and watched the spectacle while the henchponies and diggers stood way back. Then the wall started firing off bolts of lightning, some striking the ground and leaving craters, others hit the walls and somehow energized the hieroglyphics. The wall then let loose one final bolt, striking Caballeron’s right eye and making him scream in pain. The wall stopped glowing and all was silent. Dr. Caballeron’s breathing was ragged from his screams of agony at having his eye blasted with lightning. One of his henchponies dared to break away from the group to see if the doctor was alright, after all, if he died, none of them would be getting paid. “Doc, you alright?! Can ya hear me?!” “I’m…I’m fine…in fact…!” Caballeron stood on all four hooves again. He glanced over his shoulder to the henchpony, showing him what the bolt had done to him. A scar had appeared over his right eye in the shape of a lightning bolt, the eye itself was gone, but in its place was pure magical lightning energy. “I can see magic!” Caballeron exclaimed. “Um…Doc, we see magic a lot, unicorns use it all the time.” “Not that kind of magic you imbecile! No, this is something greater; a higher form of magic that I dare say could rival that of the Two Sisters! And not only that, but I can see the ancient writing!” It was true, the hieroglyphics had changed. They were only surface writing, made to hide the true words that lay hidden beneath them. The words danced in the air as wisps of sky-blue light, each one speaking to him. He then turned his attention back to the iron wall, and just like he thought, the wall was covered in magically hidden carvings and glyphs. An image of an alicorn stallion was at the center, the carvings and glyphs depicting this stallion as some kind of ancient hero king. Though he ruled with an iron hoof, prosperity reigned. “Yes, yes I see now, this is the story of Teth Adam! The old zebra was right! And he lies just beyond this wall!” “Doc I don’t think we should be messing with –” “It’s here, the way to enter the sacred chambers, the way to the hero. It is so simple, a single word! Sha…zam!” At that moment a lightning bolt insignia flashed before the iron wall, splitting it in half and opening it like a pair of large double doors. Dr. Caballeron wasted no time running through, prompting his crew to follow. Deeper and deeper they ran through the corridor, till at last they found it. A vast room filled with treasures the likes of which Caballeron and his henchponies had never seen, compared to the golden rings he stole for Ahuizotl, those were pocket change compared to this. Dr. Caballeron’s new ocular abilities showed him the way, to a source of great ancient magic. The earth pony stallion trotted further into the room while his cohorts went crazy and started collecting as much of the treasure as they could. Of course the doctor knew better, the mountains of gold and priceless gemstones were all but a distraction, and one that he was more than willing to indulge in, but business before pleasure. The stallion passed by another hill sized gold pile and found it at last. It was a sarcophagus, made of gold, with several carvings that told the story of the one locked inside.   “Hello, Teth Adam.”