//------------------------------// // Chapter 9: A Perilious Journey // Story: My Little Pony: The Day Equestria Stood Still // by Thunderwing250 //------------------------------// Everypony was set for their journey to Palamino Desert, but as the moon showed, they decided to camp for the night. As they were sleeping, The Archivist and Doctor Hooves eventually made it to Doctor Cabaleron’s home. There, Cabaleron opened his door and immediately caught onto their expression. “Please come in. You seem to have had a long walk so, we’ll rest here for the night,” he said, letting The Archivist and Hooves in. Once inside, The Archivist turned, her right eyebrow raised. “Do not worry, the master informed me of the situation,” Cabaleron chuckled. “How do we plan to proceed?” Doctor Hooves sat down. “Well, on the way here, we heard Khaoios has taken refuge in Manehattan, and is holding the city hostage until the ponies defeat him. That’s all we know for now,” he said. Cabaleron laughed. “Ha. Silly Khaoios still complaining over his teaching. That never ends.” “Don’t underestimate Khaoios, Cabaleron. He’s quite intelligent,” she replied. “Of course. Forgive me. It’s just amusing that he held a grudge against the Masters for so many centuries and wouldn’t let go,” Cabaleron apologized. “Khaoios is a Bronco Titan and we all know about them. Do we not?” The Archivist said. Doctor Hooves sighed. “If the ponies plan on defeating Khaoios, we need to make sure they do so, however, we must limit the information we tell them,” he said. Cabaleron tilted his head. “Wait... We’re going to the Temple?” The Doctor and The Archivist confirmed. “What about the halls? The Library? Everything in there is vital! There’s a reason why it’s hidden from the ponies,” Cabaleron pleaded. “We know. However, the Princesses were brutally defeated by Khaoios and no living soul on Equestria, other than us and a few others know how to defeat him. Yet, these six ponies are the “hope” of Equestria,” The Archivist said. “Says who?” Cabaleron asked. “The Architect said it,” Doctor Hooves replied. Cabaleron sighed. “Then we must prepare ourselves,” he stated. “I expect we leave at dawn?” The Archivist nodded. “Very well. Let’s get some shut eye and be ready in the morning,” Cabaleron said. The three went immediately to sleep. --- As the night continued, Khaoios counted down the days. “My moment of triumph is slowly approaching and soon, the Architect will see what grand vision I had, proving that I am worthy enough to carry this burden,” he said to himself. Spike, exhausted from before, remained asleep, not realizing the situation until sounds were heard from across the river. Lifting his head, he noticed the royal guards stationed themselves, watching Khaoios, standing on the city’s tallest tower. Recognizing one of them, Khaoios snarled. “So... you too? This is just getting better and better, every minute,” he whispered. Down below, a grand-stallion, pegasus pony stood. He had a hunter green jacket, with a green drill-sergeant hat, and grinned. The royal guards, who had never seen him, called him General StoneColt. “Hello, old friend,” he said, staring at Khaoios from a distance. Their eyes were locked on each other, like a pistol duel, until a group of pegasi ponies flew down towards the base. However, three pegasus ponies landed and walked towards a guard. “Excuse me, but who’s in charge here?” the pegasus pony asked. The guard looked down and realized it was the Captain of the Wonderbolts, Spitfire. He cleared his throat. “He is new to us, however, he seems to understand the situation. Please come in.” The guard turned, escorting Spitfire and her two other members, Soarin and Fleetfoot. Inside, Soarin and Fleetfoot were observing the tent; watching not royal guards, but ponies who were considered military material. As they approached the table, the General walked in. Observing the Wonderbolt members, he stood silent and raised his right eyebrow. “It’s gonna take more than three to take this one down,” the General said. Spitfire returned with a fiery expression. “I can assure you, we are prepared for this,” she replied. The General scoffed. “You are young ponies, and I am not interested in babysitting you while we fight this Alicorn, so take your leave,” he replied rudely. “Are you serious? This? Pffft, this is nothing compared to when Soarin’ got caught behind enemy lines during the Boar War,” Spitfire countered. Soarin stepped in. “They made me dance! Said they would keep reading their poetry if I didn’t!” he replied. Fleetfoot turned. “You’d rather be humiliated and dance for your captors then listen to poetry?” she asked. “You don’t know suffering until you’ve heard boargan poetry.” He shuddered. The General shook his head. “Well... never met such crazy Pegasus ponies, willing to do something like that. Especially during the Boar War. Very well then. However, there’s one thing I want to mention to the three of you. I AM IN CHARGE. YOU WILL ADDRESS ME AS “SIR”, OR GENERAL STONECOLT! NO IFS, ANDS, OR BUTS. GET IT? GOT IT? GOOD!” he yelled out. Spitfire, Soarin, and Fleetfoot saluted. “Sir! Yes, SIR!” the three said. At that moment, General StoneColt gave them their orders and they left the tent to accomplish them. As they proceeded to their positions, the general walked outside the tent and watched the city from across the river. He remained silent for a while, observing the situation and began to think to himself. This is gonna be a real pain in the rear, Master. I can assure you of that, he thought. --- Two days passed until the ponies regrouped at the starting point of the Palamino Desert. Surprised, Rainbow Dash and Daring Do snarled. “Doctor Cabaleron,” they said. Cabaleron grinned. “Well. No need to worry, Daring Do. I heard the news, however. Let’s put our differences aside and worry about reaching the area of interest, shall we?” he replied. Daring Do couldn’t trust Cabaleron’s words, however, Twilight stepped forward. “Believe me! Rainbow and I know about the issues, from before, but we need to work together if we plan to defeat Khaoios,” she pleaded. Putting their differences aside, they agreed to the situation and proceeded through the hot and scorching desert. Hours passed as the group struggled to find the entrance. Exhausted, they collapsed onto the hot sand. Twilight, tired and sweaty from the sun, struggled back onto her hooves. After a few moments, Twilight couldn’t regain her strength and looked around to see her, friends, The Archivist, and the rest, trying to fight the heat. Her eyes watering, she felt that she failed and thought she would die, but a voice came to her. A soft, gentle voice, and she looked around, trying to see who it was. “Twilight... Twilight..." the voice called out. Twilight then looked straight, and she saw a shadow, hard to identify. She struggled to get up, but again, she dropped. The voice continued. “Get Up. Equestria depends on you and your friends. Bringing peace to Equestria is what you were meant for.” The voice faded. Twilight, determined and confident, took the voices words as a “push” to accomplish her mission. As she got up, she felt renewed and refreshed. Understanding her duty, she used her magic to hydrate the group and soon, they looked up to her and noticed her eyes sparkling. “Before I made friends, I felt it would be a waste of time, however, now I understand what I... no, “we”, must do. As the Spirits of Friendship, we must defeat Khaoios. We will never give up... We will never give in... for we are the Wielders of Friendship! We will finish what we started!” Twilight said with confidence. Understanding her words, everypony got back on their hooves and continued on, until Twilight noticed a small whirlwind. It was as if it was trying to lead them somewhere until it stopped just before a small cliff. Below, they noticed it lead into a large, dark cave. “Come on, everypony,” Twilight said as she walked down the small path. As the six mares and Daring Do went down the path, The Archivist, Doctor Hooves, and Doctor Cabaleron watched. “The Temple is in the Cave. Once we go in, be prepared,” The Archivist whispered. “Of course,” both Doctors replied, making their way down the path.