//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: Chaos Falls // by Black Hailstorm //------------------------------// The Ancient Artifact “We’re almost t’ere mates. Just a few more hops and we’ll be in the temple’s site.” Twilight was grinning happily at this. It wasn’t everyday that she got the opportunity to visit an ancient temple that had played an important part in the kangaroos history. “So what’s the story behind this temple?” Rainbow Dash asked. Swift Strike grinned, the scar that ran just a few inches short across his left eye crinkling a bit. “Well I’m mighty glad ya asked t’ere mate.” “Ya see now old Hopperrusa Temple’s our most famous tourist attraction. Ponies of all races, griffons, wolfs, and even the strong Deer of Deerheim come from all over the world to take a look at it, as it’s probably the closest relationship to the basis of what all our technological advancement is based off of.” “And if you don’t mind me asking, but what in the hay is that supposed to mean?” Applejack asked with a raised brow as we now entered into the thickness of the forest that surrounded the temple. “Well I’ll tell ya. Ya see a long time ago about around the time Discord had been throwing the world into chaos. Just before he got imprisoned in stone, we had ourselves a little major event of our own.” It was my turn to raise a brow. “And what was that?” Swift Strike chuckled. “Why it was the appearance of a creature you’ve probably never seen before. The being had the body of a minotaur, but lacked the lower half of one. He had feet just like us, but they were much smaller and weren’t built for hopping around like we can.” I gulped, but Twilight and the others were fascinated by this. Even Screwball was keeping an ear open as she looked around the surrounding area. “Ya see we never really got a hold of this guy’s name. He kinda disappeared one day, but he did leave whatever important artifact is in that temple for us behind. He even gave us knowledge on some of the devices that eventually became developed into the technology we have now.” “Wait wait wait.” Rainbow Dash said with an incredulous look on her face. “You’re saying that all of our technological advancements come from some guy who just happened to appear one day in this world, then disappear the next without even a trace of his existence.” Well to be clear, I’m in the same boat. I did make about a 200 ft drop from the sky before you guys found me. Swift Strike rolled his eyes, “‘Without a trace’ is a bit much don’t ya think t’ere mate. I mean look at all the things we have. Shovels, carriages, radios, and what not. I’m not saying that we couldn’t have developed them before. I’m just saying it would have taken a lot longer for us to get there if it weren’t for our bipedal friend.” “Now that you mention it” Twilight said with a hoof to her chin. “Scrolls in Starswirl’s writings did state how he ended up meeting a being who called himself what was it again. Oh yes, “human!”” she said with a confident nod of her head. The others hadn’t noticed but I was starting to get uncomfortable. If they had looked back they would have noticed my coat starting to get a little damp with how much perspiration I had begun to release. Screwball having seen this however giggled, at my uneasiness. I ignored her, I’d come to realize that the mare enjoyed getting my attention, even if it wasn’t in the most positive light. “But that doesn’t make any sense though” Twilight said. “If this person like you say came here around the end of the Chaos Era, how come Princess Celestia and Luna never sensed a magical disturbance?” Swift Strike shrugged, turning his attention back to the temple that was slowly coming into view. “‘Ell if I know mate, maybe he came around the exact moment that they unleashed the power of the Elements of Harmony. I have a unicorn friend around here who’s an archeologist and she’s done some background checks and informed me of something I think you all will find quite interestin’.” “And please pray tell what that might be?” Rarity said not even bothering to hide the interest clearly displayed in her voice. “Well according to my friend’s research, magical disturbances of equal magnitude or size can cancel each other out. So that basically means-” “That when Princess Celestia and Luna used the Elements of Harmony to stop Discord, neither her or her sister could have sensed the magical disruption since the magical magnitude was of equal quantity!” she said with a slight touch of joy in her voice at having learned this new piece of information. “Smart one, that one is in’t she?” Swift Strike asked with a small grin my direction. I nodded, he wasn’t lying. Twilight was pretty darn smart. Something I’d come to notice quite quickly during my time reading up on this world’s history. History which she easily explained to me when there were things I couldn’t understand or simply come to fathom. “Crikey!” Swift Strike shouted in surprise drawing my attention to the temple in front of us. “What the bloody 'ell is this now?!” he stated in anger. And with one hop the kangaroo landed in front of the entrance to Hopperruse Temple, leaving us at least three yards behind. “What’s wrong?” Fluttershy asked as we trotted up towards him. Then we saw it. The entire front entrance to the temple had caved in, “Someone’s been through this temple already!” Screwball yelled, gaining everyone’s look at her. She smiled and waved. The others shared a confused look, while I passed them and took a close look at the debris that blocked our path into the building. “Great!” the kangaroo said with a shake of his head. “The mayor of Trumpdale’s going to be quite steamed when he finds out that the guards here were ditching their duties.” “This place is supposed to be guarded?” Dash asked. Swift Strike’s groan told us how annoyed he was at that question. “This happens every single time we get tourists. The guards feel like nothing bad will happen so they shirk their duty to keep this place protected. Even more so when we’ve got ponies and what not comin’ on in from other countries. “I’ve told the Isle guards to work on better security but they never hopping listen to me!” he stated with annoyed snort, as he slammed his foot into the ground out of annoyance. I coughed, dust rising into the air as Swift Strike stomped. “Um..” a cough and sneeze followed soon after. “Swift Strike, could you please stop stomping. You’re kicking up quite a bit of dust” Fluttershy said. The kangaroo stopped. Having taken into account what he was doing he smiled sheepishly at us. “Sorry bout that mates. It’s just quite frustrating to see this happen every time we have tourists. I just hope whoever went in got out there alive.” “What?!” the whole group shouted, including Screwball. Swift Strike cringed at the seven mares gaze, while I just shook my head, and forced myself to go back to inspecting the stones that blocked our path. If I was right, and if TV had done anything for me, there should be some sort of switch here. “What do you mean “got out there alive?!” Applejack asked, not bothering to hide the fury in her voice. “This is a tourist attraction and you let ponies come through a death trap like this?!” she asked with a wave of her hoof at the old temple. Swift Strike motioned for her to back up a bit. She didn’t still staring daggers at the kangaroo so he backed up by himself. “Look this site here. It- It holds quite a bit of treasure in it. And there’s something that was given to us by our human friend, that was meant to be protected! Sure, it’s a tourist attraction and it can be dangerous, but that’s why we the kangaroos are there to guide them through it. The traps aren’t activated unless a pony goes in there unattended. It was magic our ancestors placed on the temple so that no one would get hurt.” “But what if somepony get’s lost or left behind” Fluttershy said now looking over at the temple with fear. “We’ve taken precautions on that by turning off the display completely, especially after a couple years ago with what happened to the last group of ponies and griffons that thought they could sneak in here and loot the place,” Swift Strike said, his tone growing rather dark at this statement. Rainbow Dash actually gulped when she heard this. “W-What happened to them?” Swift Strike let out an exasperated sigh. “It’s...It’s best you don’t know.” The conversation continued with the six mares now asking questions about the sorts of traps in the temple, with Swift Strike being only able to answer a few. The temple was designed to have a multitude of traps, depending on how one entered. The main entrance was the only entrance that was visible. But Swift Strike had learnt that there were several other entrances and exits. Each offering a different trap, of sorts or somewhat similar yet more dangerous. While listening to this a glint on one of the slabs of debris caught my eye. A button? No wait, that’s a print. “Hey guys!” I shouted, grabbing their attention. “Come here I found something.” Moving over to allow the light to shine fully on the imprint on the giant stone Swift Strike stared at it in silence before his eyes widened. “Well ain’t that a surprise t’ere mate! You found one of the switches to activate the entrance.” “I did?” The jack merely nodded then moved forward to activate. “Way to go Hailstorm!” Pinkie Pie said wrapping her forelegs around my neck. I smiled, appreciative that I’d been able to help out. Screwball soon appeared to my side offering me the same chummy grin. “Alright there she is” Swift Strike said hopping back to our side. “I’ve activated the switch and any second now the entrance should open a new. But I should warn ya the challenges in this could be completely different than this one. And I’ve not got a clue what to expect so stay close.” The seven mares nodded. And I stood tall expecting the unexpected. Because everything at this exact moment was telling me anything could happen. But strangely enough nothing did happen. So I and the others stood there. Waiting and waiting...and waiting. Seconds, then minutes passed until finally I looked up at the kangaroo by my side and asked: “Did you activate the entrance?” Swift Strike, leaned forward and looked. The hand print designed for kangaroos was glowing. So he nodded. “I could’ve sworn it would just take a second.” “Well we don’t have time to waste” Screwball said. “Right now there could be a pony in there hurt, injured waiting for help that could possibly never arrive. We need to get in there!” she said confidently. Applejack nodded. “Screwball’s right. Now Ah don’t know about y’all but I’m gonna smash my way through there.” “NO!” Swift Strike yelled. “You can’t do that! It’s government property. This temple is something that all macropus hold in high regard. If it goes down, then there will be entropy in our country! And if you end up being the cause of it then that’s very well a declaration of war!” Applejack fell to her flank, her eyes wide with fear. I swallowed, my lips having gone dry from that sudden realization and declaration. “Thanks for saving my flank there” she said looking at the kangaroo with a weak smile once she’d regained composure. “Not a problem mate. Just do be careful. You’re actually the first group of ponies I’ve come to like since I took up this temporary gig. Now let’s see what we can-” “Oh!” Pinkie exclaimed. I turned to look at her. “What’s wrong Pinkie?” Screwball lifted the mare’s shaking tail up. “Her tail is twitching.” “I don’t know what to make of that” I said genuinely. But upon seeing the frightened reactions of the rest of the group I could see this wasn’t Screwball telling a bad joke. “Pinkie Sense?! Right now!?” Twilight said looking around in fear. “What- What is it?!” The five mares suddenly zipping to Pinkie’s side, in fear looked around. Screwball however remained at her position watching the others shake was apparently funny to her, as she seemed to offer a goofy smile that fit her misguided eyes. “Um. So what does Pinkie Sense mean?” Swift Strike asked. “It’s when she can foretell something dangerous is going to happen. Or something unexpected” Applejack explained. I simply stared waiting once this statement was. Made, and given the fact that I could see Screwball slightly vibrating as she kept a hold of Pinkie’s tail. I could tell whatever was about to happen was going to put us in quite the predicament. “So what does twitchy tail mean again?” I asked. “It means something’s going to fall” Pinkie said, her eyes glued towards the sky. But then it happened. Something that to this day I still can’t believe happened at such a better and worse time. The ground opened up right underneath us, and out of the corner of my eye I saw that the print that Swift Strike had used to activate the entrance was now flashing green. It was another trap. With the ground open beneath us we all fell through the hole, before hitting something solid only a few feet below. Nothing was broken, thankfully, but we didn’t have time to consider that when I suddenly felt myself sliding forward in a rather erratic manner, like I was on a slide. “Oh no” I heard the voice of our kangaroo friend say from a few feet behind me. “Swift Strike, what in Celestia is happening?” Twilight asked, her voice echoing throughout the tunnel like spot we had landed in. “We’re in...The Tunnel.” “The Tunnel?” “The Tunnel.” He said with finality. “And what exactly is this ‘Tunnel?’” Rarity asked. A sudden drop in the tunnel’s structure made us slowly begin our increased descent down this “Tunnel”, and as I felt myself moving down this sudden slide like structure, I couldn’t help but feel a great sense of deja vu occurring for some odd reason. “The Tunnel, is a slide.” Swift Strike said. “And no one knows where it leads to. Rumors say that this slide” our descent grew as we came to very edge of the slide where a great drop was below us. “Leads to death.” And with that we plummeted down the slope. The only thing I could hear echoing through the tunnel as we made our speedy descent through the twists and turns, were the screams of my comrades. Seconds, passed or maybe minutes, in all honesty I’m not really sure. There was so much shouting in that tunnel, that I couldn’t even tell where I was anymore. Then finally we passed a lit area by torch light, showing us where we’d meet our fate. And with the help of the torch light I could see that the giant opening that lay ahead of us was completely pitch black. And we were closing in fast. Rainbow Dash who was at the very back of the slide bit Twilight’s tail, spread her wings and pulled. Twilight caught the message and did the same. Before I knew it, Applejack was biting onto my tail and we were all slowly coming to a stop,before we could reach whatever lay ahead of that entrance. Slowly we came to a stop. Then before I knew it my forehooves were inches away from entering the only exit out of here. “Phew” I heard the muffled voices of the mares say. Sadly, that moment of safety was short lived. Because crashing into the cyan pegasus moments later was Swift Strike, who sent all of us hurtling into the dark hole that had waited so patiently to swallow us up. THUD! I landed roughly on the ground, then soon enough I heard several more thuds on the ground followed by groaning. My head ached. My body was now sore from landing so roughly on the cobblestone floor, and the room we were now in seemed to be completely barred up. Just like a cage. Or a prison cell. “Who’s there?” a voice asked. The groaning of my comrades suddenly went silent when they heard the voice. “I said who’s there?!” the voice asked again, hostility seeping into her voice. “Daring Doo?” Rainbow Dash asked in a perplexed voice. To be honest if anyone should be perplexed I should be. “Daring Doo?” are you kidding me? Of all the pony names I’ve heard so far this one is the best! “Rainbow Dash?” the mare asked coming out of her hiding spot. “What are you guys doing here?” “The Cutie Map” -I reflexively cringe- “Brought us all the way out here. It said there was a Friendship problem we needed to take care of” Twilight explained. “But I didn’t think it wanted us to come all the way out here just to bail you out.” “Um Twilight” Fluttershy said. She looked over at her pegasus friend who pointed to her flank. “I don’t think that’s the problem.” “Well what on Equestria is the problem then?” Rarity stated in miffed tone. “My mane’s a mess and I’d rather we just leave this death trap. The colors don’t really do that well, with these walls.” “These ‘walls’ Rarity” the light gold pegasus said. “Are what are keeping me trapped in here. How did you guys even get in here to begin with?” “I’d thank Swift Strike here.” I said pointing to the kangaroo hopping up towards us. To my surprise the mare immediately took a defensive pose then relaxed after a few seconds when she saw our macropulian friend meant no harm. “Sorry, I thought you were one of those guards.” Swift Strike waved his hand dismissively. “It’s all good mate. If you made it all the way to the end of the temple, then you have my praise. A mare such as yourself must be quite the fighter to make it all the way here, with just a few bruises.” Daring grinned, puffing her chest out confidently. “Well I am called Daring Doo.” I cleared my throat, breaking the calm moment before anymore conversation could be started. “I hate to break this little moment, but we’re trapped in an ancient temple with no way of getting out. Now is not the time for us to be praising Daring Doo’s actions. Although I do agree, well done” I said to her with a smile, she returned it gratefully. “So how are we supposed to get out of here exactly?” AJ asked. Swift Strike looked around, a hand rubbing his chin. “Well it looks like there is no way out, unless you’ve got a minotaur somewhere we’re trapped here.” Screwball tapped the jack’s back, causing him to turn and look at her. “Yeah missy?” Screwball pointed to me, a pleasant grin creeping it’s way to her face as her hypnotic eyes focused on me. “Hailstorm’s glowing.” I’m what? Looking down at my hooves I could see a faint yellow glow emanating from my coat, and that very same glow was growing brighter by the second. I looked up at the mares and kangaroo who were all staring at me with confusion. “Hailstorm? You alright?” Rarity asked. I was about to answer, till a small shot of pain went through me.The pain seemed to grip my throat preventing me from speaking then forcing me to buckle over and fall to the ground, with a grunt. My body glowed brighter, and brighter every second. I could hear the voices of my friends but I felt too far away, from them. The light grew stronger, and so did the pain coursing through my body. Then an explosion of light, filled the room. I blacked out. Waking up I definitely felt different. And that was no doubt because I had hands again. In fact my entire body was back. I suppose that’s possibly what that dream meant when it showed me those different reflections of myself. That’s when it hit me. If I return back to my human form, without clothing...then that means. My eyes widened, and to my shock my comrades were all staring at me in equal surprise. None of them knowing what to say or even do at seeing my new form or rather what was my true form. Looking down to my waist, I saw that I had somehow managed to regain my jeans, but aside from that my upper body was completely bare. Taking the glasses that had rested on my mane the entire time that was now back to being my hair, I slid them back on to my face and let the shocked reaction of each mare and kangaroo wash over me. Screwball however, not to my surprise was looking me over with a glint in her eye. I decided I’d worry about that matter later. Smiling sheepishly at the shocked reactions of the equines I raised my hands to offer the best surprise gesture I could give them. “Ta-Da!” I was met with silence. Oh boy. Surprises. They come in many shapes, sizes, and forms. But out of all the things I’ve learned since coming to this world it’s that people. Especially equines of this nature and even kangaroo’s don’t like surprises. “Hailstorm, my goodness mate you look just like- like-’ “Like a human” Twilight finished for Swift Strike. The eyes the mare gave me at this exact moment were far from what I’d consider pleased. “When did you plan on telling us?” I stared in silence. What could I say? What could I tell them to convince them that I had planned to tell them when the time was right? I am no genius at lying, I can tell a lie just like anyone or anypony else but not on the spot. So I stood there, allowing the silence to do its work. Tension began to fill the air, higher so than in any room I’ve ever been in where drama seems to be boiling to the point that someone seemed ready to commit murder. Thankfully Screwball came to my rescue. “I think our friend here. Has the solution to our freedom” she said pointing a hoof at my hand. Twilight was about to speak, and draw us back to the matter at hand here, but I ignored it taking Screwball’s opportunity, and made my way to the relic. The groups eyes followed me all the way there where I stopped and merely stood, staring at the perfectly shaped hand that though appearing slightly bigger than my own seemed to be the perfect fit. Lifting my hand up and placing my hand on the handprint the hand glowed blue, then switched to an emerald green before the walls that blocked the skylight above and sealed off the rest of this chamber slowly slid back into place and faded through the cracks they had emerged from. Then my body glew again. Glowing the same bright yellow, before I reverted back into my pony form just like before. Once the light had disappeared, I turned to face the stares of my comrades, only to see that they weren’t looking at me. But were staring at the object laying in the hands of a statue that materialized from nowhere. In the kangaroo statue’s palm was...a small device. It was small, triangular in shape, and had a blue glowing button on it. It was then that all our flanks minus the jack and Daring Doo. But even this seemed to go ignored No one moved immediately, for fear of another trap being activated but Swift Strike being with us moved towards the device and took it up in his palm. Holding it like it was a baby, a carefully making sure that it was secure in his two hands before he moved slowly towards us. It was understandable after all. This device had been left in their care for over a thousand and more years and now and if it was important enough for other races to risk their lives over then whatever secrets it held must be radical. “Alright then, here goes” Swift Strike said, after a drop of sweat slid down his cheek. Pushing the blue button a voice began to speak. “Hello, people of Kangaroo Isle, or if you are not from there then hello whoever else this is. My name is Stanford Pines, and if you are listening to this then congratulations for making it through the dungeon the macropus and I set up for you. You’ve done well. However whatever you think you would hear about the mystics of this world and it’s magic, I’m afraid is nothing more than a farce. “I was able to gain some small info during my time here, but I didn’t put it in this dungeon. You will however learn something else, rest assured your hard work will surely come paid off. I am willing to convey a few bits of my knowledge here. “First of all I have learned that the magic of this world is strong. Strong, but at the same time also set with a few some of rules. One of them being that beings from other worlds are not affected by the cosmic make up of this world. Meaning that the reason I or any other human that may come to this world stays a human is because we are not affected by the law that abides to this world. “The second, thing, being that chaos magic and harmony magic or somewhat intertwined. Or at least related in some strange shape or form, with chaos magic being somewhat superior in certain aspects to harmonic magic. I don't know how or why but I doubt I'll ever get the chance to truly understand how it works. Nevertheless chaos magic has a sporadic outcome in comparison to harmony magic which is pure and based off mutual relationships. Chaos magic derives off, multiple things. The following of which consist of turmoil, angst, depression, suffering, arguing etcetera. I had learned that there was being here who was said to have the powers of a god, but it seems I will never get the opportunity to meet that person, as my chances of returning home will disappear along with my life if I decide to wait for the right moment to speak to such a being. “Now finally this is a warning. A warning of which I had hoped to never use. But in any case by assuming the simple fact that you and your new ally who helped open this lock for you is by your side I must warn you. “Beware of him. Human, you know who he is. He is always watching, always planning. And always one step ahead of you. If you let Bill win, it’s game over. And if you’re hearing this now then that means that you’ve been tricked, duped or made to come to this world beyond your reasoning. Now human, whoever you are. This is my warning to you:” The light on the recorder turned green and then instantly zapped Swift Strike, Twilight and the others unconscious, leaving me awake. I stared stunned as the device fell from the jack’s hand forcing me to move for it and catch it in my hoof quickly before it fell to the ground. The voice of Stanford continued, “Stay strong, don’t let him see you at your weakest. And for the love of all that is good, don’t let him turn your allies, your family and your loved ones against you. He’ll use it, bend it, and churn it to his gain. If you let your friends and family doubt you. Then he’s already won. “This is Stanford Pines, signing out.” A small pause before the voice spoke one last time uttering the words I knew I didn’t want to hear: “And good luck kid...you’ll need it.” With a glitch and crack the light hummed before static emitted from the recording device and smoke began to float out of the surface. It had crashed, leaving me in silence to ponder over the warning’s and what I’d just heard. Looking around at the passed out state of my friends, I sat down in silence. Feeling a much stronger load falling onto my shoulders than I had ever thought I had before. About five minutes passed and everyone had begun to wake up one by one. Erasing the feelings of guilt that had been working their way through me I followed everyone slowly out of the temple, before we all stopped a few feet away. Going around and facing the main entrance, I lethargically moved towards the ponies and kangaroo waiting for me. They hadn’t said a word, each one probably pondering the information they had been allowed to hear so far. Swift Strike broke the silence first. “Well at least the temple is still okay” he said with a smile. We all offered a small smile. Before turning around and heading back in the direction of the boat that would take us back to Equestria. Swift Strike stated he would be accompanying us there as well so that sounded like it would be fun. However thoughts of “fun” weren’t on my mind at the current moment. I was thinking about what Pines had said. The Pines had always been mentioned in my dreams. And I still don’t understand why they were connected to me so strongly. But whatever the reason was I felt like with that warning I just received I would be finding out soon enough. “Oi!” Swift Strike said waving us over. We were now at Macropulian City, waiting at the docking site for our kangaroo friend to get us the ship we’d need to sail back to Equestria. “Good news mates. Looks like there’s a boat heading for Equestria right now.” “That’s great!” Rarity said with a cheerful tone. “I’d be more than happy to leave and get a spa treatment. Come along girls.” Following the group of mares towards the boat, I felt Swift Strike’s hand stop me with a gentle touch on the shoulder. “Oi, Hailstorm” he said gently. “I don’t know what’s going on but whatever ya had your reason to not tell anyone about what you really are” he said with a small smile. “I understand. Not everyone gets why we do certain things we do” he said lifting a hand to brush back his hair and reveal the scar across his left eye. “If ya ever need help mate. I’ve got your back.” I smiled, feeling a bit better that I had someone I could trust now. “Hey you two!” Pinkie’s voice called. “Get over here the captain’s leaving!” “We’ll be right on over t’ere!” the kangaroo called back. Looking at me with another smile the jack patted me on the shoulder before hopping on to the boat. Following him in, I felt a bit better, if only a little bit. Now it was time to head back to Equestria, hopefully the mayor of this town won’t be to upset about the artifact after we learned what it held. With shake and sway, the ship pulled off towards Equestria. And it looked like it was going to be another long day, with Daring Doo and Swift Strike now in our company. The truth is though, after today. “I just want to go lay in bed.”