The Titans' Orb: Breaking Dawn

by Mister Horncastle

Chapter Sixteen: A Frigid Burial

After nearly two hours of walking, ruminating over my farewell with Phoenix all the while, I made it to the Jolly Roger at the Pier. The girls weren’t too far away now, but without a void bag and a pegasus to cross the deep watery gap; I’d have to make the long way around if I didn’t want to get wet, but there wasn’t an easy way to access the inlet by the looks of things. Deciding to reach out to Twilight via the collars, I queried her for an idea.

{Hey Twi, I’m not far, but I can’t get to you without walking a long-ass way. Suggestions?}

{Well, it’s already getting a little dark. If you can hold out over there for a little bit, Rainbow or Fluttershy can pick you up when it’s a little safer.}

{Okay, sounds good.}

I went down to the beach and found a wooden bench to sit on while I waited, and took in the last light of the sun as it glimmered on the water’s surface. It had been a good fifteen to twenty minutes, when Twilight spoke to me again, sounding somewhat timid.

{Hey, Callum?}

{Yeah?}

{Do you remember back when we were on the yacht, you offered to write down some of my poems for me?}

{Yeah, I do.}

{Well, I had another one of those realistic night terrors last night, the ones where I can… feel… what’s happening to me. Didn’t we start calling them my Spookies back when we were in Hawnu Rey’eng’s underground sanctum?}

{Oh I’m sorry, that must’ve been horrible. And yes, I do remember us called them Spookies.}

{Okay, well I had a Spooky. I was feeling really angry and upset, so I basically wrote down in my head how I was feeling, and I was wondering if I could share it with you later for you to write down? It’s not really a poem, but I just wanted to have a physical writing of it, just so I can get it out, you know?}

I looked across to where the girls were hiding out across the water and sighed, all I wanted was to wrap my arms around the unicorn and reassure her.

{No problem at all Twi, of course I’ll write that down for you! As soon as we’re alone and have the resources, I’ll happily write that down for you!}

{Really? You don’t mind? It’s just that, it’s quite dark and I say some pretty horrible things about what happened, and I don’t want to upset you or anything.}

{Twilight, sweetheart. After everything we’ve been through, there’s very little you could say that would catch me off-guard. Although I don’t know the exact details, I am aware of what Nah’Lek did to you, and it would be an honour to help you process it and move forward. So whatever you have to say, I can handle it.}

After a few seconds of silence, Twilight thanked me and said that I didn’t know how much those words meant to her, especially after how things once were between us. Finally, the sun breeched the horizon and slowly sank beneath the waves, and in the obscurity of the darkening eventide, Rainbow Dash fluttered over with the empty saddlebag.

“Dude, what the heck did you say to Twilight?” she demanded once I was in earshot, “One moment she was fine, and then the next, she’s running off and crying!”

“Erm, I just offered to write some personal stuff down for her.” I replied honestly, “She sounded absolutely fine over the collars, so I genuinely don’t know what to tell you.”

“Well, she’s definitely not fine! Hi, by the way.” she droned, giving me a hug.

“Hey.” I huffed, returning the hug, “I’ll talk to her and find out what’s going on.”

We broke off the hug and I clambered into the bag. Rainbow took off and carried me across to the inlet, where the girls were all hanging out amongst the bushes, except for Twilight.

“Good evening, ladies!” I announced, crawling out of the pack.

“Eek! Stranger danger!” Pinkie playfully shrieked, hiding behind Rarity.

I got to my feet and was immediately bombarded by the group, and the questions that came with them.

“So, how was your night?” asked Rarity.

“How’s the hangover?” Applejack teased.

“What was Phoenix like?” Fluttershy quizzed, which of course, Rainbow Dash felt the need to add onto.

“And what was he like... in bed?”

And then, with a stamp of her hoof, Pinkie came forward and yelled above the rest, demanding to know what a Strawberry Daiquiri tasted like, and when she was allowed to have one. Rolling my eyes, I batted the girls away and fired back short answers of my own, pointing at each of their faces as I answered their individual queries in a single breath.

“It was lovely. I didn’t drink enough to get a hangover. He was great. He was superb. And I how do you know about the Strawberry Daiquiri?”

Before she could reply, I raised my hands into the air and shook my head.

“Actually, you know what? I don’t want to know, your Pinkie Powers freak me out and are genuinely beyond my comprehension. Now where is Twilight?”

Pinkie gave me a sheepish grin and pointed to the beach, where I could just about catch a glimpse through the bushes of Twilight a good distance away, staring out to sea.

“She’s been a little on-and-off while you’ve been gone.” Rarity admitted, tilting her head.

Giving a thoughtful grunt in response, I told the girls to give me a moment with her to figure out what was going on, I then made my way out from the foliage and towards the mare. She was stood far out enough for the waves to lap at her hooves, so I took off my socks and shoes on the way.

“Oh Twi…” I quietly breathed upon reaching her.

The poor thing was gazing out to sea with tears streaming down her cheeks, her breathing was rapid and shaking through her gritted teeth. She barely even seemed to notice as I gently placed my hand on her lower neck and began to stroke along her back to comfort her.

“Hey, I’m here.”

Continuing to convulse with emotion, Twilight did everything in her power not to completely crumble.

“I can’t… stop… seeing it!” she hissed, gasping deeply.

“It’s because I said his name, isn’t it?”

She clamped her eyes shut and dipped her head. I sighed, now full of regret; this was my doing, the mere mention of the Defiler’s name had sparked this flashback.

“Twilight, I am so sorry, I wasn’t thinking. But please stay with me, what you’re seeing isn’t real, whatever you’re feeling isn’t real either. It’s just a memory, it can’t hurt you.”

I could only imagine what she was currently experiencing. Having seen Nah’Lek with my own eyes in our brainscapes, I knew how truly terrifying he was; just his voice alone had given me my own nightmares. To be tormented and viciously assaulted by him on a nightly basis, for months on end? And now to relive it in her dreams, sometimes even in her waking moments? I honestly couldn’t fathom it, and even if I somehow could, I wouldn’t want to. At best, I could only imagine that it felt like hell in the most literal sense, forevermore subjugated to suffering and anguish.

“Focus on your surroundings.” I told her, “Listen to the wind lightly blowing in your ears, feel those gentle ocean waves against your hooves, feel my hand on you, keeping you safe. Look at those orange clouds, desperately clinging to the last rays of the sun as it turns from day to night. Do you see the faint tinges of purple in the sky? That’s the twilight of the day, your very namesake. This is your reality, Twi, please hold onto it, and let those horrible, horrible memories rest for a while.”

She followed my directives and took in her surroundings, and slowly but surely, she was able to shake free from the flashback.

“Bad…” she wept, burying her face into my chest.

“Yeah… bad…” I agreed, combing my fingers through her mane.

I held her for a few moments and let her have a good cry, before we headed back to the others together. We got back to find the five of them sat in a huddle, clearly not in favour of the lowering temperature. Applejack got up first and came over to give Twilight a hug, making sure that she was alright now. The others came along and followed suit, and Rarity leaned over to ask me what had actually happened, to which I whispered that she had suffered from a flashback.

“Ah, I see…” she whispered back, nodding.

Changing the subject, Rainbow Dash asked what the plan was, and if we were to be setting up the tents and camping here on the inlet.

“Oh I hope not, it’s only going to get colder…” Fluttershy remarked.

Applejack shrugged and suggested that we just go back to the hotel and sneak into another room, to which I crossed my arms and frowned.

“You guys almost got seen today, and you think it’s wise to go back there? The hotel staff are now aware that someone was illegally dwelling in one of their rooms, and then suddenly disappeared without a trace. What, you think they aren’t going to sweep the building now? They’ll be on high alert for days!”

“Alright, alright! You make a fair argument, there’s no need to hammer it home so hard, Sugarcube.” she chuckled.

“Heh, like you hammered Phoenix last night.” Dashie chortled, sticking her tongue out at me.

Feeling a little better now, Twilight rolled her eyes at the comment and interjected, making the point that the hotel staff surely wouldn’t be searching all night long, as it would disturb the other guests. We could sneak into a room for just one night, leave in the morning, and do the exact same thing the following day. Although there was a minimal risk, it was a better alternative to being stuck out here for two days straight, especially without her cloaking spells to obscure the tents.

“Oh, if we got seen out here, we’d be totally screwed!” she went on, “It would take ages to pack up the tents, there’d be no way for us to quickly escape without leaving our stuff behind. Meanwhile, the worst-case scenario in the hotel is just a repeat of this morning, which as we’ve seen, ends in us getting away safely with all our possessions in tow.”

Rolling my eyes at the lengthy explanation, I admitted that it was a good plan and conceded to it.

“Still, it’s far too early to head there now.” I said, “What shall we do to pass the time?”

“Uh, duh? You’re going to tell us about your time with Phoenix of course!” Rainbow Dash declared.

“Yeah!” Pinkie agreed, bouncing up and down.

“Fair enough…” I sighed, sitting down cross legged.

Everyone gathered around me and got comfortable, before I told them about my time at the Pickles Pub with Mister Storm. I was honest with them about how I had grown so quickly to like him, and that quite literally overnight, I had found myself quite comfortable with the idea of being with another guy.

“Wait, so… you’re gay now?” Dashie alluded with a frown, tilting her head to one side.

“What? No! No, of course not!” I laughed, “I’m just saying he was really nice and helped me develop a more open mind. I guess I’m bi now or something? I don’t know. To be perfectly honest, I just followed Pinkie’s advice and found myself not really caring about what his gender was at all.”

“That sounds more like you’re pan than bi.” Twilight hummed thoughtfully.

“Pan?”

“Pansexual, it basically means that gender doesn’t matter to you when it comes to a partner. Your attraction to someone essentially lies almost exclusively with their personality.”

“How is that any different to being bi?” I probed, shrugging.

“Because bisexuality still takes gender into account. You can have preferences towards male or female, and be more or less attracted to one sex or the other. Pansexual on the other hoof, is completely and utterly based on attraction to one’s personality. Visual appeal simply varies from individual to individual, without ever depending on gendered characteristics.”

“Now I feel silly.” Fluttershy giggled, “All this time, I just thought it meant that a pony was attracted to kitchenware…”

The lot of us burst into laughter, with Applejack practically howling with how much it tickled her.

“Twilight, you are, and I can’t stress this enough… an EGGHEAD!” Rainbow Dash yelled over the laughs.

As long-winded as the unicorn’s explanation had been, it had actually described my experience with Phoenix pretty well. The more I bonded with him emotionally, the more attractive I ended up finding him. It would also explain why I had come to like him so much, as he had ended up being a really sweet guy. Plus, he had been utterly phenomenal in bed, which was always a plus…

“Huh, guess I’m pansexual then, because that’s exactly how I felt last night.” I hummed.

Just as the laughs over Fluttershy’s comment had died down, Applejack started chuckling loudly to herself, to which I asked what she’d found so funny.

“Well, can we just take a moment to focus on how Rainbow Dash was so worried that Callum might be gay now? The genuine fear in her voice, like she’d never get another shot with him!” she pointed out, lowering her head and letting out more hoots of laughter.

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash shouted, mortified.

“I don’t see you denying it.” I teased.

“Sh-Shut up!”

“Alright, alright… You’re both torturing the poor mare, leave her be.” Rarity giggled.

Rainbow Dash blushed and refused to make eye contact with anyone, and I moved the subject along by returning to my explanation of how the night with Phoenix went. I told them all of how we eventually left the pub and went to the beach for a stroll, which was when we finally kissed under the stars.

“Aww!” Fluttershy emitted.

“That’s not even the most interesting part.” I chuckled, “After that, he got quite upset and finally decided to tell me something I hadn’t quite expected.”

“Which was?” Applejack gestured for me to continue.

“He came out to me as trans.”

Everyone looked around, confused, before Rarity finally asked, “Trans what, exactly?”
I took the time to explain everything that Phoenix had told me last night, and the girls all raised their eyebrows, giving hums and murmurs of understanding.

“So, after all that, you still banged a chick?” said Rainbow Dash.

“Dashie!” Fluttershy gasped.

“What? I just mean like, physically!”

Trying to be the educator on Phoenix’s behalf, I explained to Rainbow that even physically, he was very much still a man, thanks to hormone replacement therapy and corrective surgery. Having spent the night with him and listened to his first-hand experiences, along with taking in his knowledgeable insight on the matter, I was able to properly convey how Phoenix had always possessed a male brain, but just had the misfortune of being born with a body that didn’t match it.

“People are born malformed all the time, from imperfect eyes, to warped bones, to defective inner ears. And as science has advanced, we can repair those things with stuff like laser eye surgery, titanium bone replacements, cochlea implants, and so on. Phoenix’s issue was just a little more complicated, and a lot less understood. But although he unfairly had a late start to his manhood, he’s still a man.”

My elaboration had very much helped everyone to understand, Rainbow Dash included, but she still couldn’t help herself from directly asking if Phoenix had guy parts or not.

“Well, not exactly, no. But he didn’t strictly have girl parts either…” I hinted.

“Uh, elaborate?” Twilight demanded.

“Wouldn’t you like to know…” I retorted, choosing to torment her ever-curious mind.

“N’uh uh, you can’t just say something like that and then not explain what you mean!”

“Well I can, and just did. Perhaps I’ll tell you another time, but for now, I’ll leave it to your imagination. I’m sure that your scientific mind can form at least some idea.”

Applejack insisted that I got back to the story, eager to know how I handled such a piece of news, to which I told them the truth, it simply didn’t matter to me.

“I said he was just a guy to me, and I kissed him. After the poor fella had a little cry, we went back to where he was staying and, well…”

Grinning and lightly tugging at my shirt’s collar, I simply said that they didn’t need to know the details about what happened next. However, looking from face to face, it seemed that they were all practically gagging for more information, to which I ever so slightly indulged them.

“Well, let’s just say that we ended up taking two showers that evening. One was to get all hot and bothered at the beginning, and the other one, was to clean up afterwards...”

“Gahh.” Rarity blurted out, her knees buckling.

Casting her a glance, I noticed that her tail was now raised and put to one side, with her eyes wide and dreamy. She then shook her head and emitted a sharp cough, composing herself. Pinkie on the other hand wasn’t so enticed, batting a hoof at me with amused disgust.

“Ewww!” she squealed, giggling.

“Sounds like you uh, had a swell night.” said Applejack, clearing her throat.

“Yeah it wasn’t all that bad I suppose.” I agreed smugly, raising my shoulders and chuckling.

I took a moment to merrily reminisce, before getting to the far more important news, about how I had acquired transport and backup, and that I had sent a message to Alex. Upon hearing this, Dashie edged closer to me with her mouth agape.

“You spoke to my dad?”

“Just a brief message,” I answered, “I pretended to be a fan of his stories and that I wanted an autograph from him. Hopefully he’ll respond positively and get back to me with an address or something. Even if it’s just the city he’s in, it’ll massively help in narrowing down where in Michigan we need to be.”

“Oh, okay.” she replied, looking down and furrowing her brow.

“You’ll be seeing him pretty soon, are you excited?” asked Rarity.

“I don’t know, it’s really confusing now that I have two childhoods. I remember my parents and my upbringing in Cloudsdale, and I remember my dad here on Earth and all the memories we made together here too! It’s really strange to have two dads from two completely different lives, I’m scared that seeing him is going to screw my head up even more.”

“Oh Dashie…” Fluttershy sighed.

I lightly pressed up against the pegasus and placed a hand on her shoulder, I reassured her that it would be okay and that we’d get through it together, no matter what happened or how it affected her mind. She wrapped her forelegs around my waist and thanked me, and we got to chatting about what she really remembered about her human father, what he looked like, what he fed her growing up, that sort of thing.

“Did you ever wear his clothes? Surely it would have been weird for you to be raised by a creature that always wore clothes, and yet you’d go without putting anything on for yourself?” I inquired.

“Actually yeah, you saying that’s just reminded me! I used to wear a hoodie, it was dark grey with white strings. I wonder if my dad kept it…”

“Well, you can ask him in a few days.” Applejack remarked.

At that, Dashie’s ears drooped and her eyes went wide; the realisation kicked in that she was about to confront one of the most confusing experiences of her life, the poor girl would have to intimately make contact with a very strange and unnatural past, the second childhood that should never have been.

“Geez, I don’t know if I’m ready for this.” she whimpered.

“Uh, you’d better be, because we’ve put off the search for the next Orb shard for this.” I teased.

“Make me sound like a big inconvenience why don’t you?”

“Oh shush, I’m just messing with you. Seriously, it’ll be okay, and all six of us are going to be at your side to make sure that not only are you ready for this, but also that you’ll be supported throughout.”

Sighing, Rainbow Dash thanked me for a second time, and we all decided that it was late enough to find a hotel room to sneak into for the night.

Just like the night before last, we stealthily crossed the water and reached the hotel by using Fluttershy’s empty saddlebag, which by now, we had all agreed was the group’s mobile camouflage due to its effectiveness. We then repeated the steps of finding an empty room using the Piercing Shot Rifle, being flown up by Fluttershy, and finally having Rarity unlock the balcony door with her magic.

The room was completely identical to the last, and we quickly got ourselves comfortable after I’d made sure to lock the door. We watched some TV for a bit, and then the girls began to tire and decided to wrap up and get some rest; Twilight took the opportunity to request if I could do some writing for her, to which I gladly obliged.

“Could we maybe put the collars back on and do it that way? I don’t want the others to overhear it, the last thing I want is for them to think that I’m on the verge of crumbling apart all the time.”

“But you are on the verge of crumbling apart all the time.” I replied with a smirk.

“Okay fine but I don’t want them knowing that, and shut up!”

We chuckled and I said that it would be totally fine to use the collars, we put them on and linked up our minds. Twilight then retrieved her saddlebag and took out some parchment, a quill, and some ink.

“Oh blimey, I’ve never written with a quill before.”

“What are you used to writing with then, pencils?” she hummed.

“Yeah, and pens, which are like pencils, but full of ink instead of graphite. They’re essentially the modern replacement for quills, and are a whole lot more efficient.”

“I know what pens are, silly, we have them in Equestria.“ Twilight giggled, “Although admittedly, they’re still rather new to society, so getting your hooves on one is quite the challenge. I considered getting one when I first moved to Ponyville, but honestly? I prefer the quill, it’s more traditional and has a much finer print.”

Seeing the appeal, I nodded my head with agreement. I then apologised in advance for how terrible my handwriting was bound to be, as it had been ages since I’d written anything organically, let alone with a new instrument. With a weak laugh, she said she didn’t mind, just so long as wasn’t as terrible as a doctor’s writing.

“Oh, so pony doctors can’t write for shit either?” I murmured, “Nice to know that’s a universal thing.”

“I’m so glad you understand.” she responded with a sigh, “I swear, it’s like they do it on purpose.”

“I think it’s a part of their medical training.” I suggested, shrugging, “Like, a genuine part of their course is to learn the ‘there’s-an-earthquake-happening-and-oh-shit-I’m-also-having-a-fucking-seizure’ font.”

Snorting heavily, Twilight tried not to laugh aloud and disturb the others. Snickering to myself, I took out the ink, quill and parchment, and briefly practised by writing my own name, along with my signature. Although it took some time to find the right way to hold the quill, I eventually found myself enjoying it, and agreed that the traditional method and finer print was far more gratifying than the modern pen.

“Alright then, fire away.” I said with a warm smile.

Twilight dipped her head and closed her eyes, and within my mind, her voice sounded.

{Okay um, I’ve decided to call this piece, A Frigid Burial...}

Lightly swallowing as I prepared to hear some rather difficult things, I dipped the quill into the ink, and forevermore stained the paper with the pain that dwelled within my friend.

Close the eyes, dread the dream.
Where I am given a frigid burial.
Open the eyes, prepare for pain.
I am in my icy tomb.

And the hunt has begun.

Wandering in this frozen land, I know he’s already here.
The hunt has started once again, and I know my death is near.
But not before he toys with me, not before I’m broken.
Tonight my body is his plaything, my virtue is his token.

With the hunt afoot, I run and I hide, praying I won’t be found
Alas, my prayers will not be answered, and I flinch at every sound.
To every creaking branch I jump, every gust of wind, I shiver.
There’s no doubt he’ll find me soon, there’s no doubt he’ll deliver.

The hunt is equidistant now, and on my cheeks are frozen tears.
I see his glimmering lifeless eyes, reflecting all my deepest fears.
He has found me now and I do not run, for that’ll only please him more.
His mouth lets out an excited chatter, and I’m frightened to my core.

Twilight paused, and I looked up to face her.

“Are you alright?”

“I was going to ask you the same.” she said.

Bowing her head, she explained that the next part was particularly hard to listen to, and she wanted to be absolutely certain that I was okay to hear it. In truth, I wasn’t; this was already some incredibly heavy stuff, and knowing that it was only going to get worse was hardly comforting. But Twilight needed to get it out far more than I needed not to hear it, and so I confirmed that I was okay, and after taking a deep breath, she continued.

He waits to touch my delicate flesh, just like he always does, for he likes to build the tension.
He speaks to me and I start to crumble, weeping like a newborn foal.
His voice sounds like needles in my skin, insects in my ears, it’s a sound beyond comprehension.
Like the primal ululation of a dead child’s mother, resounding in my soul.

When he strikes, it’s quick and precise, to shock my senses and evoke my dread.
My hide splits and spits at the snow, speckling white with crimson red.
The gentlest of touches I promise you, when paired with the bitter night ahead.
With quivering breath and quaking hooves, I prepare for what should stay unsaid.

For every question I answer faithfully, he’ll strike a single time.
For every question I do not, he’ll strike me thrice and thrice again.
When no more knowledge is to be had, his strikes will tenfold climb.
My blood will rain, the snow will stain, and my brittle will to live will wane.

From mangled eyes, red rivers run, and I wail loudly as he invades.
Thorns and barbs rip away inside, the last of my dignity torn asunder.
If my shattered screams fail to satisfy, he’ll kiss me with his blades.
He’ll part rosy flesh from lilac hide, a skinless trophy for a hunter.

He’ll web my limbs and string me up, his perfect work of art.
A dangling heap of pony meat, with a barely beating heart.
I hang between the withered trees, all peeled and cold and broken.
A pathetic bloodied ravished whelp, devoid of any motion.

The hunt is over for tonight, but this is not the end.
The Defiler’s work is never done, I only need to mend.
Together on this sticky web, we know it to be true.
“I’ll hunt you again tomorrow.” he says, “No matter what you do.”

We’ll hang together for a time, and then he’ll pierce my chest.
I’ll sigh him thanks, the pain will fade, and I’ll finally have my rest.
The day begins, as does my duty, to lead my faithful troop.
The day concludes, as does my strength, my resolve begins to stoop.

Close the eyes, dread the dream.
Where I am given a frigid burial.
Open the eyes, prepare for pain.
I am in my icy tomb.

And the hunt has begun.

Putting the cap back onto the inkwell, I lay the quill to rest and inhaled deeply through my nose, before slowly exhaling out my mouth and wiping the tears from my face. I then unclipped the collar and looked over to Twilight, who was looking at me with glassy eyes.

“Was it too much?” she croaked.

I shook my head, and got up so I could come over and give her a cuddle. She rested her head against my side and I ran my thumb back and forth across one of her forelegs, doing everything in my power not to cry.

“I am so proud of you, Twilight Sparkle.” I whispered.

Looking up to face me with teary eyes, she asked why, to which I told her. That poem was no tall tale, it was what Twilight had suffered every night since she came to this planet. I now understood, truly, just how terribly she had suffered during those first six months of our journey, those six, awful months… The sheer amount of torment she had experienced, paired with the Fel’s undergoing corruption, twisting her mind, was precisely why she had once been so vicious, cruel, and callous towards me; it all made sense.

She had been reliving that poem on a nightly basis, for half a year…

“I can’t even begin to fathom how you’ve kept going.” I choked, still fighting the tears, “Even now, free of that monster’s hold, you have to live with those memories, you have to live with all that shit in your head. Yet here you are, surviving, staying the course. You have all the reason to give up, and yet you don’t. You still get up each day, and you put one hoof in front of the other, and that… that goes beyond bravery, Twilight.”

Pulling her in tighter, I cradled her, sighing heavily.

“You are a bloody inspiration, a true testament to one’s endurance. I know it was hard for you to tell me everything you just did, and I must admit, it was no easier to listen to, but I’m really glad you shared it with me. Thank you, Twilight.”

Sniffing, she clutched at me tightly and nuzzled into my side, admitting that it was really good to let someone hear it, whimpering that she felt a little less alone now. We held each other for a good twenty minutes or so, before Twilight eventually got up to put away the ink, quill, and parchment. She then got back onto the sofa and nestled into me, and soon enough we drifted away into a calm sleep, without a Spooky in sight…

---

The next two days were thankfully peaceful ones; we had decided to chance it with the hotel staff and remain hidden in the room, and to our luck, nobody had ever come knocking. It was now the day of Josh’s arrival, and we were all looking forward to getting on the move again.

“I can’t wait to see what another brony is like in contrast to you.” Rarity said eagerly.

“Oh, we’re quite different. Just be mindful that he’s quite an excitable chap, he’ll be wanting to talk your ears off for the rest of your days if you don’t tell him to give you some space.” I chuckled.

“I mean, we’ve got Pinkie Pie, so I can’t imagine he could be any worse than that.” Rainbow Dash giggled.

“You know it!” Pinkie sang, before realising what Dashie was implying.

“Hey!”

She playfully pounced at Rainbow Dash, and we all laughed, then got ourselves prepped to leave the hotel. Clipping the collar around my neck, we decided that it would be best if I simply walked out of the building normally, just as I had when leaving to meet Phoenix; the girls could then leave via the balcony and have Rainbow Dash zip them over to the inlet and stay put until further notice, while I made my way to the meeting place.

“Alright team, let’s roll out!” I announced.

Everyone bar Rainbow got into the saddlebag, and I unlocked the front door. With one final wave goodbye to the pegasus, I shut the door and made my way down the elevator and out of the hotel.

When I got to the meeting spot, I was amazed to find that Josh was already there, it was only ten o’clock in the morning and I hadn’t expected him for hours. His modified school bus stood out like a sore thumb amongst the handful of cars dotted around. Knowing what American school buses usually looked like, I had expected it to be that cliché shade of glossy yellow, and yet Josh’s bus was a matte black, with stylish blue flames painted on the sides. It was also adorned with a number of logos and warning signs, and there were even solar panels on top, Josh most certainly hadn’t been lying when he said the bus had been modified.

I made my way over and gave him a friendly wave, to which he realised it was me and opened the bus doors, hopping out and running over to me. I’d expected him to be shorter, he was certainly a little taller than me by the looks of things. He was a fair bit wider than I’d presumed too, but that was just how things were when it came to meeting online friends; no matter what, they were never quite how you’d expect them to be visually, expectations and reality very rarely aligned in life.

“It’s you! Holy mackerel, it’s really you! This is really happening…” he exclaimed with his hands atop his head.

“Yes indeedy, I told you I was serious.” I merrily confirmed, slinging my arms around him.

“Man, it’s great to finally meet you in real life.” he grinned, hugging me back.

“You too buddy.”

Pulling back, he looked around and then asked where the girls were, to which I explained that they were over on the inlet close by, just across a watery gap from the city.

“Oh, Assateague Island? I saw that on Google Maps during the drive in. If they’re near the city, then they’ll be somewhere on the Six Mile Beach! There’s a way to drive over to it, but it’s quite a drive, we’ll have to leave the city and take the Six-Eleven down to it.”

“Sweet. Well, I’ll reach out to them and let them know you’re here. Then we can head on over and pick them up.” I replied, nodding.

“Reach out to them? What do you mean?”

Before I could reply, Josh gasped loudly and asked if Twilight and Rarity had taught me how to use magic, to which I chuckled and shook my head. Tugging at the collar around my neck, I explained how it worked and that it gave me direct communication to Twilight, whom was also wearing a collar just like it.

“Oh, that’s so cool… Can you hear all her thoughts then? Ooh! Has she ever thought of anything embarrassing that she didn’t mean for you to hear?”

“No, but that happened the other way around once. Back in Portugal, Rarity introduced me to these runestones called Bath Bombs, it’s basically like a shower hitting you from all directions and it cleans you very efficiently. I stupidly forgot to take off the collar, and Twilight overheard me yelling about how it tickled my balls.” I admitted.

Josh bellowed in laughter and slapped his thighs, clearly very amused by the tale. Thinking back on that incident, I recalled that it was actually Stardust whom had cried out “Tickles his balls! Tickles his balls!”, but I was hardly going to start trying to explain to Josh about how a literal Champion of Old’s soul lived on inside my head for a large portion of our journey.

I looked over to the island and told Twilight that our ride was already here, and that we were going to drive around so they didn’t need to leave their hiding place in broad daylight.

{Fantastic!} She called back to me.

{You might have quite a long walk ahead of you, apparently you’re somewhere called the Six-Mile Beach, so chances are, you’ll be walking six miles. I’ll try to get Josh to drive as far up as he can, but you might want to start heading south now. Just thought I’d make you aware.}

{Alright, thanks Cal. See you soon.}

I smirked warmly at her calling me Cal, nobody ever called me that, nor did I want them too, but for some reason, I quite liked it coming from her. I hopped into the bus with Josh and looked around at the interior, to which I was very surprised indeed; there wasn’t a single bus seat in sight, there were instead two large couch seats either side. The back half of the bus was almost entirely taken up by boxes and equipment, along with what appeared to be four gigantic batteries, which I could only guess were charged by the solar panels on the roof. There were compartments under one of the couch seats that had a cooler, a safe, some bottled water, and at least forty granola bars.

“Damn, this thing is well stocked!” I loudly evaluated, giving an impressed hum.

“Uh huh, I always keep it supplied and ready to go, just in case anything sudden happens and I need to get there ASAP, which in this case, is helping ALIEN PONIES GET TO MICHIGAN!” he shrieked.

“Inside voice, Mister Osburn. This is supposed to be a secret endeavour, remember?” I laughed.

“Oh right, sorry! Ah, I’m just so excited! I’ve not even met them yet and this is already the best day of my whole dang life.” Josh chuckled.

“Well, let’s not squander it then, let’s get a move on.” I ordered, taking a seat.

He got into the driver’s seat and put in the keys, the large engine rumbled to life, and off we went.

It didn’t take too long to leave the city, but it would have been an absolute nightmare to walk, especially as there were no sidewalks along the way, so I was glad that I’d chosen to wait for Rainbow Dash to fly me over the other night.
Using Google Maps on Josh’s phone, we made our way to the Six-Eleven and headed towards Assateague Island, which turned out to be much bigger than I’d realised, the barrier island went so far south that it crossed the state line into Virginia! And that wasn’t all...

“Huh! Get this, Josh… According to Google Maps, there’s a state park on the island that has wild horses, along with a gift shop called the Pony Express! How crazy is that!?” I exclaimed.

“For real? Dang, that’s one heck of a coincidence!” Josh replied, sounding just as astonished as I.

At last, we crossed the bridge to the island, and found a thin dirt road which took us a little way up towards the girls. The road merged with the beach itself, but thankfully we spotted an even thinner path to the left, which we turned onto and drove back into the brush to remain out of plain sight. Thankfully, there were no people to be seen, it was far too early in the year for beachgoers.

A good hour later, Twilight informed me that they were close by.

{How can you tell?} I asked.

{Because I just had Rainbow Dash quickly fly up and look around, and she spotted the bus, presuming it was the bus she saw, right? The great big black vehicle, parked on a thin dirt road?}

{Yep, that’s us. See you in a hot sec!} I confirmed happily.

Nudging Josh, I let him know that the girls were about to arrive.

“You ready to meet them?” I inquired.

He responded with an excited nod, and a few moments later, I spotted a fluffy pink mane bouncing up and down beyond the bushes in front of us.

“Oh my god… Oh my god, I saw Pinkie!” Josh exclaimed, also spotting the mane.

“Just try your best not to freak out, you wouldn’t want to spook them, ey?”

“I’ll do my best… Oh my god, there they are!”

One by one, the girls timidly emerged from the foliage. I hopped out to greet them and calm their nerves; it dawned on me that meeting another human being at this point in our journey would be absolutely horrifying for them, the only other person they’d properly met was my brother.

“G’day ladies!” I called to them, grinning.

“Howdy, Sugarcube!” Applejack called back.

I came and gave Twilight a quick hug, whom was looking the most uneasy. I then beckoned for Josh to get out of the bus and I turned around to gesture at him.

“Girls, I’d like you all to meet Josh Osburn.”

Josh looked from girl to girl, his mouth agape as he waved at them with delight, he swallowed his shock and was just able to get his words out.

“Hi everyone! It’s a pleasure, no, an honour, to meet you all.”

“Heya!” Pinkie sang, bouncing forward to better inspect the guy.

She looked him up and down, squinted, and then let out a mighty hum.

“Hmm… You’re big!”

“Uh... Thanks, I think?” Josh nervously laughed.

“Oh don’t mind her, she couldn’t politely greet someone if her life depended on it!” Applejack remarked, coming forward and taking off her hat, she pressed it to her chest and dipped her head to say hello.

The others came forward and surrounded Josh, exchanging greetings with him before hopping into the bus with me; once everyone was inside and no longer at risk from potential onlookers, the girls relaxed significantly. There wasn’t enough room for all seven of us to sit on the two couch seats, so Applejack and Rainbow Dash sat on the floor. As soon as we were settled, Josh immediately started peppering us with questions.

“Okay, so Callum’s only given me the most basic explanation about what’s going on, but I’ve just got to know more! Why are you six here? How long have you been here? Will Callum be going back to Equestria with you after you’ve found the relic thing? What makes the relic thing so important? Do you guys like Earth? How old are you guys? Are pony years the same as human years? Why does Applejack’s hat have a bullet hole in it? Have you guys been shot at before? That would be horrible! And how come Rarity has those big scars on her body? What happened? Tell me everything!”

{I didn’t realise we would be meeting a human with Pinkie’s temperament.} Twilight thought to me as Pinkie started to answer some of the questions; the unicorn raised an eyebrow as we made eye contact, to which I exhaled from my nose with amusement and smirked sympathetically.

{He’s just really excited, you six have a lot of meaning to him. This encounter will be the most incredible moment of his life. He’ll never forget this, so although it might be a little awkward, just let him have this.}

{Ugh, fair enough…}

While Pinkie explained more about the Orb in her own eccentric fashion, I put a hand on Rarity’s shoulder and petted her gently; I knew Josh’s comment about her scars would have knocked her confidence, it was no secret that the mare took great pride in her beauty, and the disfigured claw marks across her left side would now haunt her forever. She twisted her head to look at me and slowly blinked her eyes, lightly dipping her head to subtly express her thanks for sensing her inner discomfort.

“We’ve already found half of the shards, which Twilight has stored in her saddlebag. But we can’t go home until we find the other three! It’s like, the most intense treasure hunt ever!” Pinkie giggled.

“And three shards isn’t all we found… Show him, Callum!” Dashie added.

Feeling obliged, I reached to my waist and grabbed Vitra ‘Aku’s handle and unsheathed the blade, the captivating crystalline ‘shing’ of the sword sang out and caused Josh to gasp, he clapped his hands as he giggled loudly, unable to contain his excitement.

“This is Vitra ‘Aku, the Titans’ Sword. We found it in the Sahara Desert, deep within an underground ruin, filled with traps and secret passages. It was like, full-on Indiana Jones shit.” I explained.

“Whoa, that’s so cool… Can I touch it?” Josh asked.

“Only the flat of the blade, the edge is sharp enough to cut through stone. Let’s not be having any missing fingers today, ey?” I replied in warning.

Leaning forward, Josh placed two fingers onto the surface of the relic, and then immediately pulled back.

“Ow!”

Looking at where he’d touched the sword, I spotted faint red finger marks, which quickly faded away.

“Huh, didn’t know it could do that.” I mused, pulling a face.

“Are you okay?” Pinkie asked.

“Did it burn you or something?” Rarity followed.

Shaking his head, Josh revealed that the opposite had happened.

“It was so cold! It was like touching dry ice or something!”

Humming, I speculated that it was some form of defence mechanism; only the currently living Champion was supposed to wield Vitra ‘Aku, so it would make sense if the blade had a way to prevent others from using it. My theory held even greater weight when I cast my mind back to Portugal, when I found the group of Americans attempting to break open the crystal pillar that housed the Orb shard there; even as a mere fragment of the holy relic, it possessed the ability to shield itself.

“Well, let’s take note of this. Nobody touch my sword!” I hollered, sheathing the blade once more.

“Good plan!” Josh laughed.

Clearing her throat, Twilight suggested that we got a move on, which we all agreed on. The drive to Michigan would take a great many hours from here, with fuel stops and toilet breaks on top, it would easily take the entire day to get there.

“Alright then everypony, next stop, Michigan!” Josh announced merrily.

The bus’s engine deeply rumbled to life, and soon enough we were on the road. We hadn’t been going for long when I noticed that Rainbow Dash was looking rather pale, and seemed to be spacing out.

“You okay?” I asked, moving down to sit next to her.

“I’m not sure.” she mumbled, “My chest feels all tight and I can’t breathe all the way in.”

“Sounds like you might be having a little panic attack, dear.” Rarity suggested.

Slowly putting an arm around the pegasus, I gave her shoulder a light squeeze. Pinkie Pie then jumped up, and in her blissfully ignorant manner, chose to be most unhelpful.

“Is it because the next time you step off this bus, you’ll most likely be meeting your human father again, and suddenly have like twenty years’ worth of memories come crashing back into your mind?”

“Pinkamena! Read the room!” Rarity gasped, intensely glaring at Pinkie.

“Um, y-yeah… that would… be it…” Rainbow replied woozily, her eyes glazing over.

Noting how queasy she now looked, Applejack leaned over and gave her a warm smile.

“How about you go lie down for a bit, yeah Sugarcube?”

Nodding, the cyan pegasus slowly got to her hooves, her legs shaking like jelly. She took one step towards the couch seat, and then proceeded to pass out, tumbling forward. With lightning quick reflexes, Applejack shot forward and caught Dashie mid-fall, and then eased her back down to the floor again.

“Oh, bless her…” said Rarity, looking on with a sigh.

We all looked to Pinkie and frowned at her, to which she nervously giggled, rubbing the back of her head.

“Oh, was it something I said?”

---

Comments

[Bossypants]

“Pansexual, it basically means that gender doesn’t matter to you when it comes to a partner. Essentially, your attraction to someone lies almost exclusively in their personality.”

Impossible, he hasn’t stuffed a frying pan down his throat yet!

This just sparked a memory of a very old meme I saw.

[Bossypants]

Putting the cap back onto the inkwell, I lay the quill to rest and inhaled deeply through my nose, before exhaling and wiping away the tears on my face. I unclipped the collar and looked over to Twilight, whom was looking at me with glassy eyes.

…

Holy fucking shit…

[GoldOsburn]

I like this episode.
I can't wait until the group finds some of the special stuff that's on the Charge Bus.
hey since there is sex talk and that one action you done should that be added into the tab of the story.

[Mister Horncastle]

11534533
Yeeaahh... I got HEAVY with this chapter, didn't I? 😅

[Mister Horncastle]

11534563
Glad you liked the chapter, I appreciate it was longer than most, hence the long time it took to write, along with other personal stuff going on.
That's a good point about the sex tab, I'll have that added shortly.

[Bossypants]

11534587
It was heavy, sure, but it was also wonderfully written. I got shivers reading that poem! Gives' me inspiration as well.

Hell of a chapter!

[MikiStenbeck]

“Oh, was it something I said?”

yes.

[Mister Horncastle]

11534603
I'm very glad you liked it, it was actually one of my own personal poems, albeit slightly altered to better fit Twilight's perspective. I've suffered from PTSD for quite a handful of years now, so it was really nice to insert one of the more raw parts of my life into The Titans' Orb, by way of using Twilight's character as a metaphorical conduit.

[Bossypants]

11534762
Dang, well, keep it Up then, I look forward to more!

[MikiStenbeck]

11534762
eh, whatever makes you feel better i say go for it, :)