Under the starry night sky, crickets chirped furiously, along the eastern coastline of Equestria. Crabs of all shapes and sizes scavenged for food at a nearby sand dune, where a strange structure laid, undisturbed. Looking for food, the crabs came across an orange crystal, shining dimly. Curious, they approached it, only to be blinded suddenly, with a force, pushing them away. In an instant, the beach shook, like an earthquake, only this was no earthquake. Something was disturbed.
As the mountain of sand exploded, ruins of a large, suspension bridge like structure were revealed, and there a bright light appeared. Stunned by it, the crustaceans witnessed something struggling to its hooves. Nearby, a passing Earth Pony walked over to the beach and noticed the bright light as it slowly dimmed. Seeing the animals near the mysterious light flee in fear of the creature, only for the light to dim to total darkness. Standing up on its four legs, the pony noticed, it was no ordinary creature. It was an Alicorn. At that moment, he tried to hide only to flee from the creature’s fearsome roar, as it echoed throughout the silent night.
Next morning, the Archivist and Doctor Hooves met, discussing the recent incident that could only leave both of them puzzled. Exhausted from their lack of sleep, they felt this situation was needed to be investigated.
“Madame Archivist. What was it you wanted to discuss, because I’ve too wanted to discuss the reappearance of Xenxus? The master informed me that he will alert the other masters about the situation, but…” Doctor Hooves was interrupted.
“Xenxus couldn’t have just reappeared in a blink of an eye on Equestria. He was locked up with Titannus and now I’m trying to figure out…wait.” the Archivist paused.
“What is it?” Doctor Hooves asked.
“I overheard in Canterlot that Tirek had escaped Tartarus because Cerberus left his post. However, I’m a little skeptic about that.” The Archivist said.
Suddenly the door opened widely. There stood General StoneColt.
“General? What are you doing here?” The both asked.
“No time to explain. I have two things to say.” The general said.
“Shoot” the Archivist replied.
“One. When Cerberus left his post, it wasn’t an accident. Xenxus lured him out, using himself as bait. The master informed me that a strategy like that was planned out, if they ever escaped.” The General spoke.
“How is that possible? Khaoios is the only one who could’ve done something like that. Xenxus is too…what’s the word I am looking for?” the Archivist replied.
“Stupid?” the General responded.
“If that’s what you would say, then yes. He’s not a strategic thinker, but more of on-the-spot.” The Archivist continued.
“So that means that Xenxus baited Cerberus out of Tartarus so only he could escape, which then freed both Tirek and…oh no.” Doctor Hooves replied.
“Yes. That means, Khaoios before he was imprisoned informed his brothers if something like that were to happen, he would tell them. He knew from the start that he was gonna be sent into isolation. However, that also means the escape plan wasn’t just for Xenxus…but for Titannus to escape. As for Tirek, it would’ve been highly unusual for them to escape together, so I can only guess when Titannus fled, Tirek followed behind quietly.” The General continued.
The Archivist slammed her hoof on the table in anger and annoyance.
“I TRULY CANNOT BELIEVE FOR THE LIFE OF ME THAT THIS IS HAPPENING. FIRST KHAOIOS, THEN XENXUS, AND NOW, TITANNUS. CAN THIS PLANET SUFFER ANY WORSE?” she yelled.
“Indeed, it can be a complete disaster, however that’s not why I am also here. From what we know Titannus is nowhere to be found, which is a relief. The bad news is…” General StoneColt paused.
“What…Khaoios’ body was found?” the Archivist responded rudely.
“Worse.” The General replied.
“Khaoios is alive?” Doctor Hooves said.
“Possibly. Yet, I haven’t had a chance to recon the area of interest.” The general continued.
“Possibly? No, no. Its either he’s alive or he’s not. How can you be?” The Archivist again rudely responded.
“Well excuse me, Librarian for not seeing correctly…” StoneColt scolded.
The Archivist got up and confronted StoneColt.
“What did you say, General?” the Archivist angrily said.
“I said…” StoneColt was interrupted
“That’s enough.” Doctor Hooves intervened.
“Fighting about this is not taking us anywhere. We need to get our acts together before this issue becomes severe.” He yelled.
Doctor Hooves calmed himself down
“Now, what do you expect us to do?” he continued, facing StoneColt.
StoneColt and the Archivist turned away.
“I need the pony that is able to communicate with animals. Apparently the witnesses are crustaceans and I don’t speak crustacean. Do you, old witch?”
“Why you!” the Archivist spoke under her breath.
“KNOCK IT OFF. THE BOTH OF YOU!” Doctor Hooves yelled.
The two stood silent. Doctor Hooves turned calmly to StoneColt.
“Let’s start from the beginning. Khaoios is possibly alive, first off. Now, what I am puzzled by is how he survived when we thought he was defeated?” he asked.
“That’s what I had thought.” The General replied.
“You know how Khaoios is. He, like his brothers can’t be defeated easily.” The Archivist intervened.
“Madame Archivist. We saw him plummet into the river. How could he have survived that?” General StoneColt said.
“Not to mention, he hates water.” Doctor Hooves added.
The Archivist rubbed her chin in worry.
“This is truly getting out of hoof. In the past few months we encountered Khaoios and just yesterday, Xenxus. Yet, speaking of Xenxus, I needed to get this out of my system. We need to determine, how he reappeared on Equestria, because as far as I can tell, I could not sense him.” The Archivist pointed out.
StoneColt and Doctor Hooves could only exhale in frustration. They both knew that the Archivist was correct and that the Bronco-Titans reappearance would only endanger the lives of all living creatures across Equestria, even outside its borders. There toughest challenge was yet to come. StoneColt turned to Doctor Hooves.
“Going back to what I had mentioned about the crustaceans. What is the name of the pony who is gifted into communicating with them? Basically, I need a translator for this.”
“Yes. That pony is Fluttershy. She lives in the cottage near the Clock tower. In addition, I request that you take Rainbow Dash with you. Both of them will be of good use since they are both Pegasus ponies.” Doctor Hooves recommended.
“Ah. The one who is known as the “Best Flier” in Equestria. This should be quite interesting. As for the other one, I will speak with her.” General StoneColt said as he walked to the doorway.
“One thing, General. Make sure Rainbow Dash does not go overboard by challenging you know who?” The Archivist said.
“She has the tendency of showing off…” she continued.
“Oh I know. And one thing for you…get some rest. I merely tested your stress level and it’s bad.” StoneColt scoffed, as he walked out.
The door shut behind StoneColt.
“Sometimes I ask myself, what did Paguseus teach his apprentice, but that’s for another time.” The Archivist said.
Doctor Hooves turned to her.
“What must we do?” he asked.
The Archivist knew that this threat would need to be alerted. She responded that Twilight will need to be informed as well as the other Princesses. However she felt that it will once again be another stressful mission for Twilight, but had no choice. The Archivist at this point began to question herself about this secrecy, she and her colleagues promised to their masters, but with the return of each of the Bronco-Titans, it puzzled her. Without a word, she walked to the doorway.
“Doctor. I may be severely penalized about this however we must reveal the whole truth to the Princesses. These conspiracies and secrets we have been withholding is only making matters worse for everypony. Even ourselves. But…I just don’t know what to do” the Archivist sadly responded.
Doctor Hooves sighed.
“I know exactly what you mean. In the meantime, let’s only worry about what is going on, and leave the rest aside.” He insisted.
“Very well, then…” The Archivist replied, only to be knocked back unexpectedly.
Suddenly, a mysterious pony appeared, falling on top of the Archivist. Unlike other pony’s, this particular pony had purple Crystals for a tail. She was purple and spoke very innocently.
“Oh I’m sorry. Are you the one they call, Madame Archivist?” the pony asked.
The Archivist looked up and recognized something unusual. This pony was way too familiar only to turn to Doctor Hooves. She then turned back to her.
“Yes, young one. I am the Archivist. May I ask what you are doing here…Amethyst Crystal?” The Archivist said.
Doctor Hooves’ eyes widened.
“Khaoios’ daughter?” he gasped in shock.