The Titans' Orb: Breaking Dawn

by Mister Horncastle

Chapter Twenty-Six: Into the Unknown

Settling down after my utterly furious outburst at Rommel, I made my way out of the cockpit, leaving him to focus on the controls and fly us westbound. After getting comfortable amongst the girls, I relayed to them what had happened with the old man, and told them of Hawnu Rey’eng’s message. Twilight was of course immediately on the case, using her poetic mind to run through all the possible meanings of the phrase. The others were more astounded that the Guardian had made an appearance in the first place. We hadn’t seen him since Portugal, and so it was a shock for them to hear his name again, let alone news of his presence.

The plane ride was a little shakier than we’d hoped for, but all credit to him, Rommel had been able to keep the damn thing in the air. As we reached the coast and left America for good, he inquired as to what direction he was actually supposed to be going in. Withdrawing Vitra ‘Aku, I passed a glance to Rarity, my expression brimming with confidence. Beneath the surface however, I couldn’t help but worry; this was the first time since learning that Nah’Lek could track magic that we would be using it.

“Well, here’s to hoping Alex has done his part by now.” I huffed.

“And, oh I don’t know, hoping that he’s safe?” Rainbow butted in angrily.

“He’ll be fine.” I replied, smiling warmly, “By now, he’s probably blown up the second rune, and once he’s done with the third, he’ll lay low somewhere. In fact, I bet Josh has already sent a message to let him know we got in the air okay. Once we’re off the island, we can check in with them, alright?”

Giving a mostly satisfied nod, Rainbow backed away and allowed me to have some space. Tightening my grip, I prepared to absorb Rarity’s enchantment, and if it was anything like the first time, I was going to be in for one hell of a ride.

“Ready dear?” the unicorn asked.

“Do it.”

Her horn lit up, basking us all in a brilliant azure glow. It was so good to see magic again, it may have only been a few weeks, but I’d missed its absence all the same. However, from the corner of my eye, I couldn’t help but notice the seething look of jealousy from Twilight. Magic was her special talent; no, more than that… it was a core part of her very identity! And now here Rarity was, stepping into her role, and performing the abilities that had been so unjustly stripped from her. My mood dropped for a moment as a sharp pang of empathy coursed through me, but I quickly cast it aside; for as heartbreaking as Twilight’s predicament was, I needed to focus. Rarity shut her eyes, and the enchantment was cast. Almost immediately, I felt the energy surging from the handle and into the palm of my hand, physically paining me as it did so. It then raced up my wrist and into my body, until it finally reached my head, where just as before, my vision was replaced by a blinding white.

“See anything yet?” Applejack asked.

Her voice sounded distant, and I ordered her to be patient. After a few seconds, my vision began to clear, where I was met yet again with the most breathtaking view a human could experience; Planet Earth. After being suspended above the globe for a short while, I began to drift downward until I found myself floating above the ocean, just off North America’s West Coast, until…

“Holy shit, I can see the plane!” I exclaimed, my mouth falling open.

As though I were playing a video game in the third-person perspective, I was drifting a good few metres behind the aeroplane, witnessing ourselves from a very literal out-of-body experience. Moving beyond the excitement, I calmed my mind and focused on where we needed to go, and I shot forward in front of the plane, drifting to the left and whistling through the air like a bullet. It was then that I felt my arm begin to raise uncontrollably, until I was pointing the blade out to my left, in the same direction as the vision before me. To put it more plainly, I had become a living compass.

“Hey, careful where you point that thing!” Rainbow Dash bleated, backing away.

Apologising, I explained that we needed to follow the sword’s direction. Noting which way the tip was facing, Fluttershy rushed to the cockpit and relayed the instruction to Rommel. The plane leaned to the left, and as predicted, my arm slowly drifted to the right, until I was pointing directly at the seaplane’s nose.

“Hold it there!” Applejack called out.

Mel did just so, and for now, the course was set. Letting go of Vitra ‘Aku, I gasped as the pain in my head rapidly flushed through my body, leaving me with a severe bout of pins and needles. It thankfully passed rather quickly and my eyesight returned soon after.

“Well, good thing that still works.” said Twilight, staring keenly at the sword.

“Aye…” I muttered, flexing my muscles to remove the last of the unpleasant sensation.

With the inside of my mouth still feeling a little strange, I asked Rarity for some water, who dug my canteen out for me from her cold storage bag. I took a few sips before passing it back to her, dipping my head in thanks. Beyond that, we had little else to do other than to kill time, so we nattered away with each other, diving into various conversations and occasionally looking out the windows to watch the ocean below us.

We spent ages mulling over many a topic, although admittedly, most of our time was spent hypothesising on Hawnu Rey’eng and his incredibly cryptic message. Twilight came up with a few theories, but nothing concrete. It was mutually agreed upon that the ‘sapphire’ was the key to the puzzle, as it seemed to be the focal point of the message; all we needed to do was figure out what the sapphire actually was.

“Perhaps it’s an actual sapphire?” Rarity speculated, shrugging.

“Do you honestly think that tin-can dick-wad would ever be so direct?” I scoffed, rolling my eyes.

Tutting loudly, Twilight scolded me for being so insulting towards the Guardian, reminding me that he had saved our lives on multiple occasions, and had helped get us to the Sahara with a portal, cutting months off of our journey. With a wince, she also reminded me that Hawnu Rey’eng had very directly kept us out of Nah’Lek’s clutches. Responding with something of a snort, I defended my loathsome stance towards him.

“Oh I’m well aware that we’d be dead without him, but I despise him regardless. He shows up unexpectedly, speaks in riddles, and then he fucks off again! Look, it’s all well-and-good that he’s saved our lives a bunch of times, but you know he could tell us more. He’s needlessly enigmatic for his own sense of enjoyment, and it pisses me off to no end.”

Seeing my point, Applejack and Rainbow Dash both hummed in agreement. Twilight stood her ground though, arguing that it wasn’t our place to know all the answers.

“Hawnu Rey’eng is the reason we’re all still here.” she reiterated, raising her chin, “He’s watched over us since Ukraine, and since then, I could list two-dozen ways that his actions have directly saved our skins. He’s even fought Nah’Lek for us. That kind of selflessness demands nothing more than the highest esteem, and I won’t stand for you disrespecting him in the way that you do.”

“Okay, okay, I get it…” I droned, “I won’t disrespect the flappy tin cun-”

“CALLUM!”

Sealing my lips, I gave up on making one last quip, and gave the Guardian credit where it was due. For what it was worth, it was him who had allowed me to save Twilight’s life. If not for the collars he had given me, Twilight would have succumbed to the Fel, and I would have had no choice other than to strike down the demon she would have become. She would be dead, and I would never have had the opportunity to care for her as I did now; I would have never found my closest, dearest friend. For that reason alone, I chose to forsake my ire towards his secretive nature, and bow my head in apologetic reverence, appreciating what he had done for us; what he had done for me…

Moving on to lighter topics, we talked about Joshua and his emotional goodbye, along with the thoughtful gifts he had bought for everyone. By the end of our time together, Josh had really grown on the girls. His easygoing and eager-to-please mentality would be sorely missed. We of course yearned to know what was written in his letter to Fluttershy, but just as before, we didn’t press the matter.

We were now flying in the dead of night, and Rommel needed my directions more than ever. Over the course of several very rickety hours, Rarity’s enchantment was cast a few more times. Twilight was visibly more relaxed now that we were airborne, but I noticed her anxiously tapping whenever Rarity’s horn lit up. After a fifth trip outside my body, I confirmed that we were close.

“And not a moment too soon!” Rarity piped up, “I feel like I’ve been rattled half to death!”

“Well, at least the tickets were cheap!” Pinkie sang in reply, smiling widely.

Rolling our eyes with amusement, we all looked at Pinkie with a sense of fondness. Fluttershy then spoke up, looking around from pony to pony and breaking into an anxious look.

“So, um… is anyone else feeling nervous about this island?”

“Nope!” Dashie clapped back with a grin, “I’ve been sitting on my butt for way too long! Dangerous or not, I need some damn adventure!”

“I’m with you there, Rainbow.” Applejack agreed, “For days now, my darn legs have been getting as jittery as a jumping jackrabbit, I need something to do!”

“Well don’t look at me!” I exclaimed, “Rainbow’s already played that card.”

Laughter filled the plane, and Applejack teased that she had already seen what I had to offer, and that she wasn’t impressed. This of course, sparked the group to laugh even harder, and through their cackles and giggles, Rainbow Dash asked when this had occurred. Still frowning at the farm pony, I explained that she had caught me taking a leak off the side of our sailing boat, back during our journey across the Atlantic.

“And as I said then, it gets bigger!” I insisted, folding my arms.

“Can confirm!” Rainbow hooted.

Giggling profusely, the ribbing went on for a while until the plane suddenly shook, and far more violently than usual. I was about to have a go at Mel for his barely passable piloting skills when he called out for me, urgently beckoning me to the cockpit. Before I could even speak, I could see what had him so concerned. Glancing at me with wide eyes, he gulped.

“So uh, my knowledge of weather events isn’t exactly the best, but I don’t think clouds normally form a bubble like that…”

“No, I don’t think they do.” I replied, grimacing.

Before us, out on the rampant dark sea, was an enormous sphere of dense black cloud. It easily spanned a few kilometres in diameter, it was utterly massive! The island was almost certainly inside, and if it was, then I could only imagine that this bubble was a defensive measure, set by either Hawnu Rey’eng or perhaps by the Orb shard itself. Just to be sure, I rushed over to Rarity and ordered her to cast the enchantment one last time. Without a moment to lose, she imbued the sword with the spell and I honed in on our location. Zipping through the atmosphere faster than ever before, I reached the plane and shot forward, diving head-first into the cloud, and after a few seconds, I broke through.

“Yup, this is it!” I called out.

Beyond the unnatural stormy barrier, the island lay waiting. As predicted by the size of the bubble, it was a handful of kilometres in each direction, with only a smattering of forests, tall rocky outcrops, and a lonely mountain. It was there that we would find the next piece of the Orb. With the island being this small, finding the fragment would be a piece of cake; the hard part would be landing. Gritting my teeth, I focused on the plane in an attempt to guide us down, but try as I might, I couldn’t control the enchantment, and released Vitra ‘Aku to break the enchantment.

“How much water do we have after breaking through?” Mel cried out, struggling to control the plane.

“Not much, but enough to land on!”

Turning away from him, I ordered the girls to get into the bag once again, where they would be safest in the event of a crash landing. They did as I told them, and I slung it over my shoulder once they were all inside. The plane jumbled up and down as Mel desperately tried to lower our altitude at a steady pace. We then breached the black cloud, and were shrouded in complete darkness.

“I can’t see the damn controls!” Rommel yelped, “I’m flying blind!”

“Just keep it level!” I shouted back, “Even if we hit the land, it’s better than nosediving to our graves!”

“Okay!” he hollered back, “You should strap in!”

He was right, hitting the water at this velocity could very well send me through the bloody roof! Without a moment’s thought, I rushed to one of the seats in the main hull and fumbled around with my fingers until I located the belt. I buckled myself in and braced for impact. The sound of the rain outside was like gunfire, and mixed with the plane’s engines and the roaring winds, I could barely hear myself think.

“Come on!” Rommel yelled at the top of his lungs, “Come on! Come on!”

We were tossed around and shaken like a Vesper Martini, but through some sheer bloody miracle, Rommel was able to keep us steady enough to ensure our survival. At long last, we punched through the bubble, which was when the plane’s engines suddenly cut out. Thankfully, we were low enough to prevent going into a dive, but the sudden drop was enough to send the both of us into screams of terror. Smacking the water at quite some speed, we were violently shunted downward. The belt of my seat yanked up into my belly with a tremendous amount of force, hard enough to shift something internally. A sharp pain went into my gut, and I immediately felt sick to my stomach. The plane came to an uneasy standstill, and I quickly unbuckled myself and reached for Vitra ‘Aku. I wasn’t sure if anything had actually ruptured, but with how intense the pain was, I didn’t want to take any chances. Willing it to heal me, a small portion of mana was dispensed into my body, indicating that something needed fixing.

“Is it safe to come out?” asked Rainbow Dash, sticking her head out.

Grunting loudly as I nodded my head, I placed the bag down and let the girls clamber out. Once I had properly recovered, I sheathed my blade and made my way to Rommel, where I put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it firmly.

“Mate, I’m sorry I doubted you. What you just did, was fucking incredible.”

“Thanks…” he panted, his hands quivering violently.

Looking out of the cockpit window, I gazed upon the exotic new landscape before me. Even in the dark, the swaying palm trees and misty woodland beyond them, ominously silhouetted against the swirling inky blue sky, filled me with cascades of excitement. After all this time, our true mission was finally ready to continue. I had found the Titans’ Sword in the Sahara, and in America, Rainbow Dash had been reunited with Alex; but now, the quest to recover the Titans’ Orb was at last resumed.

We had reached the island…

Opening the hatch, the briny scent of the sea wafted up into my nose. Looking down, I was met with dark waves, churning and sloshing against the lower hull; thankfully, by nothing short of a miracle, we were still in the water. It was certainly cutting it fine however, as just a few metres beyond us was the shore, which now housed a large uneven mound of wet sand, caused by our forceful landing. We were firmly beached in the shallows, and it would take a good amount of digging to get ourselves back out to sea. For now this played in our favour, as we wouldn’t need to worry about the plane floating away. Once we were in possession of the Orb shard however, this was going to prove itself quite the problem.

With it still being the dead of night, I suggested that we slept in the plane for the night. Not knowing what was out there, it seemed like the safest option. Everyone agreed, and I closed the hatch.

---

With the cloudy bubble still surrounding the island, the morning sun was unable to properly greet us, but it brightened the nebulous dome enough to shed light on our mysterious frontier. We were doused in a desaturated grey luminance, akin to a stormy winter afternoon. We hadn't a clue what time it actually was, and since passing through the barrier, Rommel's phone had stopped working, so we couldn’t even check; we had been completely disconnected from the modern world. Tightening the straps of our bags, we readied ourselves to disembark. The girls hopped out first, while I armed myself from our selection of weaponry. I took the M-Four carbine and the Glock, while Rommel took the AR-Fifteen and the Uzi. We split the grenades between us, and Mel offered to carry the ammo bag. Now kitted out and feeling infinitely more prepared, we clambered out to join the girls, reluctantly getting our lower halves wet as we stepped down into the shallows.

“Think I should bring the keys with me?” Mel suggested before shutting the hatch.

“I hardly think anyone’s going to nick ‘em.” I teased, “Leave them onboard, then you won’t risk losing them.”

Nodding, he tossed the keys into the plane and then shut the hatch. We then waded towards the girls, of whom were already on the land. Once we reached them, I pointed to the mountain.

“Well ladies, let’s go on an adventure.”

Despite the underlying fear of this unknown place, everyone responded with grins and nods, confident that as a team, we would be alright. Under the pale blue light of the unnatural swirling sky, we made our way off the beach and towards the mountain, entering the woodland and disappearing into the brush…

For a good few hours, we trudged and trudged, until eventually we decided to stop for lunch. Plonking ourselves down in a clearing, Applejack unpacked her saddlebag, which was now brimming with food again. During our stay in Owosso, Alex had very generously gone shopping for us, refilling the farm pony’s stock with all the food we would need for the next year.

“You know something I’ve just noticed?” Rarity hummed after taking a swig from her canteen, “There aren’t any birds. Listen… There’s not so much as a hint of any birdsong.”

“And your point is?” Rainbow Dash replied, her mouth full of sandwich.

“My point, Rainbow Dash, is that with this amount of woodland, wouldn’t you expect there to be at least some wildlife? We’ve been walking for quite some time now, and yet we’ve come across no evidence that anything even lives here!”

She was right, other than the light whistle of the breeze, there wasn’t a sound to be heard. No buzzing of insects, no animal calls, and as Rarity had already pointed out, no birdsong. This island seemed to be completely deserted, but I knew that wasn’t true. What I saw in that vision back in the Sahara was as clear in my mind now as it was then; something had lunged at me, and it had bright yellow eyes, and rows of sharp teeth. Thinking back to how Pinkie had shouted ‘big scary lizard’, I couldn’t help but wonder if we would find ourselves coming face to face with a dragon on this island; after all, Hawnu Rey’eng had mentioned there being an ‘ice dragon’ somewhere in Antarctica, so it wasn’t the most outlandish theory. Considering the stormy barrier that surrounded this place, it made sense that no birds or insects could settle on the island, but a dragon? A dragon could get through easily. This uncharted island in the middle of nowhere would be the perfect place for it to roost, with no possible way for it to be discovered. However, for my theory to bear any weight, it begged the question; what would the dragon eat? If nothing lived out here, then how did it feed? No, I was getting ahead of myself. But still, whatever it was, something was on this island with us, and with five guns between us, counting Rarity’s Piercing Shot Rifle, it had better not stand in our way.

After we all finished eating, we got moving once again, and while we walked, Twilight and I continued trying to decipher Hawnu Rey’eng’s message.

“Maybe Vitra ‘Aku is the sapphire?” I suggested, “I mean, it’s made from blue crystal?”

“Hm, I doubt it.” she muttered, “That sword, like the Orb, is made from titanstone, and Hawnu Rey’eng doesn’t seem the type to get his minerals mixed up. I’m all for considering the ‘sapphire’ is a metaphor for something, but I don’t think the sword is it.”

“Yeah, fair one.” I murmured.

“However,” she continued, “I do wonder if the sword has a part to play. Because the latter part of the message refers to a ‘fading soul’, and your whole shtick as the Titans’ Champion is using Vitra ‘Aku to strengthen your soul by consuming those of others.”

“Ooh you might be onto something there.” I told her, snapping my fingers.

Her ears perked up at that, and I couldn’t help but smile warmly in response. Exhaling fondly through my nose, I egged her on by telling her that if anyone could figure out this riddle, it was her. We kept theorising, walking side by side at the back of the group, while Rommel took point at the front with Applejack and Rainbow Dash. After eyeing up the pegasus for a while, Twilight furrowed her brow and then looked at me.

“Hey, can I ask you something, O’ Champion of the gods?”

With an amused scoff, I said that she could ask me anything, especially when she addressed me like that. She let out a most adorable chuckle, before awkwardly tilting her head.

“Well, I’m just curious… about… you and Rainbow…”

Inhaling sharply, I slowed my pace to distance myself from the others, guessing ahead of time that this conversation ought to remain a private one. Leaning towards Twilight slightly, I gave a sly grin.

“Did your parents never give you the talk?” I teased, “Well you see, when two individuals-”

“That’s not what I meant!” she hissed, batting at my leg with a hoof and scowling, “You know what, just forget I said anything.”

“No-no, come on, tell me.” I insisted, dropping the goofy attitude.

Huffing, she dipped her head and continued.

“Okay, well… I’ve just been wondering if you two… I don’t know, like… is there anything more serious going on with you both? Is it really just sex, or are there any… stirrings?”

“Stirrings?” I repeated, raising an eyebrow and trying not to chortle, “So not ‘feelings’ then, huh? Your word of choice here is ‘stirrings’ yeah?”

“Oh, shut up.” she grumbled, “You know what I mean!”

Exhaling heavily through my nose, I reinforced what Rainbow had said the other night.

“It is one-hundred percent physical.” I promised, “She is a wonderful friend, and I love her to bits, but I don’t feel a shred of romantic interest, none in the slightest.”

“Hmm… is that because she’s a pony?” she hummed, her inquisitive voice wavering anxiously, “As far as an actual relationship goes, would you rather just be with one of your own kind?”

With a high-pitched hum of my own, I shook my head. For as much as I didn’t feel that kind of attraction to Rainbow, sleeping with her had certainly opened my mind. For all the time that I’d spent with the girls, along with the discovery of my pansexuality in Ocean City, the idea of a pony partner was just as normal to me as a human one. The very simple fact of the matter was that Rainbow just wasn’t my kind of girl. As a friend, she was fantastic, and the sex was undeniably breathtaking, but at the very core of it, the spark was lacking.

“Make no mistake,” I went on, “I think she’s incredible. But she’s just not… me, you know? She may be a girl that speaks to my mind and my body, but…”

Closing my fist and lightly banging it twice against my sternum, I told her that I needed someone that spoke to my soul, woefully corny as that was. Breaking into a smile, she insisted that it wasn’t corny at all, and that it was poetic. Smirking back at her, I wrapped up the subject by reiterating that Rainbow Dash just wasn’t for me, and that we were both incontestably uninterested in anything further than occasionally tending to one another’s carnal needs. With a faint grimace at that last part, Twilight nodded and thanked me for my honesty and for entertaining her curious mind. Picking up the pace again, we caught up to the others and rejoined the group, speaking no further on the matter.

As we neared the mountain, Rommel and I kept our rifles in hand, but as we finally emerged from the thickest part of the forest, we came across something far more mind-blowing than any creature, dragon or otherwise.

“Uh, Callum…” he said, “I don’t think we were the first ones on this island.”

Before us, almost totally smothered in vines and moss, was an abandoned campsite. It was complete with a deep firepit and a handful of dirty beige tents that had long-since collapsed. Judging from how overgrown it was, the camp hadn’t seen any use for a very long time. The same question dwelled on all our minds, who on Earth had been here before us, and where were they now?

“Holy shit, what if they got to the Orb shard?” Rommel blurted out.

“Then let’s hope the creature I saw kept it safe.” I replied, tightening my lips.

Pulling away at the vines, we decided to give the camp a full inspection, hoping to find anything that could tell us who these previous visitors were. The tents were a big hint, as they were made from a waxy canvas material and had rotted wooden frames. I likened them to the old safari tents used by British explorers back in the day, which meant that unless these people had miraculously happened upon the Fountain of Youth, they would either be very very old, or very very dead. Without anything to truly confirm who they were, we left the camp and made our way to the grassy upward slope, where the long climb would begin.

“How far up do you think we’ll have to go?” said Twilight, clearly dreading it.

“I’ll check.” Rainbow replied, spreading her wings.

With a jumping start, the pegasus shot up into the air. We watched as she soared upwards and scanned the rocky mass for the cave. After about a minute or two, she finally returned to us, where we were informed that the cave was roughly two thirds of the way up. In other words, we would be climbing for a while. However, despite being incredibly steep, the mountain was more than generous in providing plenty of wide ledges and firm footholds, and although exhausting, we were able to slowly zigzag our way up without much difficulty. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were an enormous help, as they were able to take our bags and carry them up, along with guiding our path, pointing out the most traversable routes for us.

“Whoa, there’s a dead guy up here!” Dashie cried out.

“What!?” Pinkie shrieked, losing her grip and almost throwing herself from the rocky wall.

Fluttershy too, emitted a terrified squeak, and her wings temporarily seized up, causing her to drop a few metres, before catching herself and flying back up to us, now pale as a sheet. Clambering up to the next wide ledge, we found the body in question. Frowning at Rainbow, I told her that she could have specified that it was just a skeleton, instead of spooking the less hardy members of the group.

“I mean, was I wrong?” she retorted, raising an eyebrow.

“No, but you could have been a little more subtle about it.”

Rolling her eyes, she inspected the skeleton with me. The bones were deeply yellowed, with cracks and fissures running through them. It was a large body too, with incredibly broad shoulders, so it was safe to assume that it was a male. Upon reaching the ledge to join us, Twilight came to take a look as well. After a very brief examination, she said that if human bones were any similar to pony ones, then the condition of this skeleton suggested that it was anywhere between one-hundred, and three-hundred years old.

“You can tell that just by looking at it?” I asked her, amazed.

Lifting her chin, the unicorn explained that when bones were exposed to the air for long periods of time, they would undergo decomposition. The longer they were left out, the more yellowed and cracked they would become.

“I went through an archaeology phase, okay?” she giggled.

“Egghead! Egghead! Egghead!” Rainbow hollered, taking to the skies once more.

Rolling our eyes in unison, Twilight and I went back to check the body for clues.

“Well, there’s no mystery as to how he died.” I remarked, pointing to the gaping hole in his skull.

“Poor guy must have fallen.”

“Mm-hmm.”

The man’s outfit was in no better condition, although slightly preserved by the dry mountain air, the aged khaki shirt and trousers were both deeply marred with old rot, and had fallen away in places. His dull leather boots came all the way up to his knees, and were as stiff as the mountain itself, and at his side was an empty pistol holster, also made from leather. With enough evidence at hand, I looked at Twilight and confidently theorised that these people were a team of explorers from the Victorian era.

“Not that I doubt you, but how can you tell?” she quizzed.

“Well,” I replied, “the khaki outfit and the safari tents match the time period, and if you’re saying this body is one-to-three-hundred years old, then that lines up perfectly, as the Victorian era was a little under two centuries ago.”

“Huh, I see.” she murmured, narrowing her eyes.

“I went through a history phase, okay?” I said with a wink, echoing her words from just a moment ago.

Scoffing, she lightly shook her head and continued to climb. Looking at the skeleton one more time, I dipped my head to it, before leaving its owner to return to his eternal rest.

At long last, we hauled ourselves onto the final ledge, reaching the mouth of the cave. We took a while to catch our breath, before we prepared to step inside. Rommel and I once again readied our rifles, switching off the safeties and keeping the barrels pointed firmly into the shadowy depths.

“Alright team, be ready for anything.” I commanded.

We took our first steps into the cavern, and it wasn’t long before we found another skeleton. This one however, was in a far worse state than the one outside.

“I don’t think this one fell, Callum.” Twilight whispered to me, gulping.

Shaking my head to agree with her, I crouched down to take a closer look. The skeleton’s shirt had been violently shredded across the torso, either by a blade, or by a substantial set of claws… The deeply rotted fabric surrounding these tears were also much darker than the rest of the uniform, indicating that it had been heavily stained with blood at the time of this man’s death.

“Please don’t be a fucking dragon…” I quietly muttered under my breath.

Leaving the body be, we pressed on, until I heard a peculiar sound which caught my attention. It was a faint metallic clinking sound, followed by that of a quiet snickering from Pinkie Pie. Ordering everyone to stop, I crept over to her and locked eyes with her.

“Pinkie, why are you giggling to yourself?” I asked her sternly.

Grinning, she stuck a hoof into her mane and retrieved the cause of the clinking sound. Into my hand, the lovable goofball deposited half a dozen bullet casings. Looking around the cave floor, I realised that there were more of them; the damn pony had been picking them up as we went. Showing them to Rommel, he said that they looked like revolver casings, but in the low light, he wasn’t sure what calibre they were. I didn’t either, although my aforementioned ‘history phase’ was enough for me to confirm that these almost certainly belonged to a howdah pistol.

“What’s that?” Twilight asked.

“A type of pistol from the nineteenth century.” I explained, “The British Empire used them for defence against wild animals in India and Africa. This all but confirms it, these people were Victorian explorers, and something attacked them in this cave.”

“Maybe d-don’t say that while we’re s-still in the cave?” Fluttershy whimpered, pressing up against Applejack for protection.

“Fair point, sorry Flutters.”

Telling Pinkie that she could collect as many casings as she liked, so long as she remained quiet, we went deeper and deeper into the cave. As we delved further, the layout changed. The once-wide space quickly began to grow thinner, and either side of us we noticed more and more stalagmites, standing tall like frozen sentinels, silently guarding the inner sanctum of the mountain’s gullet. Eventually the narrow passage started to slope downward, and we found ourselves struggling to maintain our balance. Before long, we were practically climbing again, but this time, we were climbing down. Along the way I noticed a thick rope, tightly lashed to one of the natural formations and leading further down into the darkness.

“Well, looks like the explorers made it this far.” I murmured.

Giving it a few tugs to ensure that it was sturdy, I decided to use the rope to aid in my descent. At this point, we couldn’t see a damn thing, and so Rarity kindly used her magic to illuminate the way. After what felt like forever, we reached the bottom of the slope and found ourselves standing in a large circular pit, where we found… nothing.

“Um, aren’t we supposed to find something here?” asked Rainbow Dash, “You know, like a big shiny piece of the Titans’ freaking Orb? Because I don’t see shit!”

“Ooh! Ooh! And where’s the big scary lizard?” Pinkie added.

Shushing the both of them, I started looking around. Where the hell was it? Surely those damned explorers hadn’t found it, had they? No, they couldn’t have, Rarity’s gem-finding enchantment took me straight to this bloody island, to this very cave! It had to be here, it had to be!

“Wait a minute…” said Twilight, grabbing our attention, “This cave floor, it’s not made of stone.”

We all looked down, and it very quickly became apparent that she was correct. The floor was bumpy and pale, and had a wavy grain that flowed in one direction. Rarity tapped against it with her hoof a few times, and the resulting sound was far too quiet to be stone, it was dampened, indicating that the material below us was far less dense than any rock could be.

“Goodness, you’re right!” Rarity exclaimed, “What in the world are we standing on?”

“Let’s find out.” I announced, unsheathing Vitra ‘Aku, “What was it you said about this sword once, Twilight? That a shield of metal is met like a disk of parchment, and a mountain is all but a carving block? Well, let’s put that to the test…”

Stooping down to one knee, there was barely any resistance at all as I thrust the blade hilt-deep into the floor. With four even movements, I was able to cleave out a large block of the stuff. I skewered it at one side and began to lift, to which it crunched loudly as I pried it free.

“What the heck is that?” said Rainbow Dash, craning her neck.

Feeling the splintered underside with my free hand, I was baffled to find that it was moist. The sides of the block carried the same grain as the top, but they were curved and ran in the opposite direction, indicating that the innards of this structure had rings.

“It’s wood.” I remarked, the penny dropping, “We’re standing on wood.”

“Man-made?” asked Mel.

“No, it’s natural…” I uttered back to him, shaking my head, “It’s like we’re standing on a giant tree branch or something.”

“It’s a root!” Twilight gasped upon inspecting the block for herself, “We’re standing on a giant root!”

Dancing over to us, Pinkie broke into an almighty grin and started elbowing my side.

“Glad we got to the root of that mystery!”

“Hah!” shouted Rommel, followed by the laughs of Applejack and Fluttershy.

“Boooooooo!” Rainbow groaned loudly, funnelling her mouth with her hooves.

Rarity, Twilight and myself all rolled our eyes, and I ruffled Pinkie’s mane playfully, sending revolver casings all over the place. Tutting, I saw no alternative other than to keep cutting away, and so I pierced the pallid root once more, slowly but surely carving out a crude-yet-effective little stairway.

“Mind out when you come down here, it’s slippy.” I warned, making note of how wet the root’s core was.

After slaving away for quite some time, I spotted traces of light shining in through the gashes I had made; I was almost through. Jamming the blade in one last time, I sliced out a large hexagonal shape, and then kicked out with both my legs. It burst away and I was suddenly blinded by a torrent of light. That’s when I slipped, sliding forward and tumbling out of the root, dropping the sword in the process.

“Callum!” Twilight and Pinkie cried out in unison.

Without enough time to right myself in the air, I smacked into the ground below with a heavy thud. The wind was knocked from me, but much to my relief, the surface I had landed upon was reasonably soft, breaking my fall. Quickly giving my head a shake, I looked around for Vitra ‘Aku and found it halfway embedded into the dirt. After pulling it out and getting over the shock of the fall, it suddenly dawned upon me that I was outside, or at least, it seemed that way. There was grass beneath my feet, and all around me were massive ferns. With great care, the others dropped down to join me, and together we took in our surroundings.

“Bro…” Rommel breathed, “Where are we?”

“It’s like we’ve stepped into another world!” said Rarity.

And she was right, it really was like we had found ourselves on a new planet. The grass was at knee-height and bore a bluish tint, and most of the ferns were bigger than ourselves. The air was warm and humid, and carried with it a musky, earthlike scent, not unlike the smells of the jungle in Brazil, only stronger. The island above had been almost totally silent, but down here, the sound of buzzing and birdsong was almost deafening, and in the distance came the hoots and howls of creatures unknown. Close by was a cliff edge, and upon making our way there, we could really take in where we were.

“Holy shit…” I mumbled to myself, awestruck by the impossible sight before us.

The enormous open cavern truly was a whole world of its own, there were forests, rivers, swamps and plains, all of which went on for miles in every direction. And far off in the distance, providing light for this breathtaking landscape, was a white tree. Unlike anything I had ever seen, the towering giant went all the way up to the cave roof, its bark and its leaves glowing with a silvery radiant light that shone almost as brightly as the sun.

It was… indescribable, and not just visually; bearing witness to such a fantastical scene sent torrents of ineffable emotions through me, almost bringing me to my knees. For all my life, I had believed that the magic in this world was gone, that all of Earth’s secrets and wonders had been explored and documented. Yet here we were, staring with wide eyes and open mouths at a natural marvel that seemed by all accounts impossible. I turned around to look back at where I had fallen from, and it dawned on me that the root I had cut through belonged to this tree. Thicker than Joshua’s bus, the almighty white tendril twisted and turned along the jagged stone ceiling, before burying itself into the rock. Now out of sight, it motionlessly snaked all the way back to its massive glowing body, dozens upon dozens of kilometres away.

As far as I was concerned, we had just found the heart of the world…

“So, call it a hunch,” Rainbow started, pointing out to the tree, “but I think the Orb shard’s going to be right there…”

“Hunches are normally my thing, but I’m with Dashie.” Pinkie said in agreement, “If we’re looking for a big glowy rock, then the big glowy tree is probably the best place to look!”

“Can’t argue with that logic.” I huffed, still staring beyond the cliff.

Our amazement at such a sight was then brought to an abrupt end, as we heard a rustling behind us. Whipping around, we saw the ferns lightly swaying back and forth, indicating that something had just disturbed them. Mel and I raised our rifles, and we stood perfectly still, our eyes darting from side to side to scan the environment. To the right came another rustle, and as the ferns quivered, I spotted them.

The yellow eyes…

“Big scary lizard, two o’clock…” I spoke softly.

Rommel rotated slowly, and just as he set his sights on the creature, it bolted. Without thinking, we both took shots at it, sending two bullets each downrange. The girls, caught unaware, cried out in shock at the sudden bangs. Getting to our feet, we ran over to where the ferns were, and in the distance we could hear a bird-like screeching, like a crow in distress.

“We hit it!” Rommel gasped, pointing to a spray of blood against the greenery.

Quickly running towards the screeching, we found the creature not too far from where we had first dropped down. My eyes widened upon getting a proper look at the damn thing. Writhing on the ground and frantically biting at the bullet wound it had sustained, was a large bipedal reptile, not much smaller than myself. Its body was made up of dark washed-out indigo scales, but its legs, forelimbs, tail, and head were all covered in a much more vivid azure plumage. Spotting us, it attempted to scramble away, only to collapse onto its belly and continue emitting loud raspy shrieks. Too nervous to approach it for a sword kill, I nodded at Rommel, instructing him to finish it off. Obeying without question, he swiftly took aim and put a round into its head. It thrashed violently for a second, before coming to a halt, quivering as it did so. The girls weren’t happy at all with how quickly we had resorted to violence, but pointing out that it had been stalking us, I stood by our quick call to eliminate a potential threat. Still mostly in disapproval, they at least respected my choice; after all, we didn’t know a thing about this place, meaning that we couldn’t take any chances.

“Now to find out what this thing actually is…” I said, mostly to myself.

Getting in close, I examined the creature from head to tail. It was definitely a predator, as its legs and forelimbs were kitted out with sturdy curved claws. Boldly prying open its mouth, I was greeted by a plethora of pointy backwards-curving teeth. The underbelly of the creature was an earthy brown, and upon closer inspection of its feathers, the deep blue plumage also had a plentiful number of mossy green ones, aiding its ability to blend in with its surroundings. Every single feather, even the ones on its head, were perfectly streamlined, flowing back towards its girthy tail.

“You do realise what we’re looking at, right?” Mel asked rhetorically.

Shaking his head in sheer disbelief, Rommel’s eyebrows were raised so high that they were practically a part of his hairline. Knowing exactly what we were looking at, I didn’t blame him.

“Yeah…” I replied, nodding my head slightly and getting to my feet.

Curious as to what we were on about, Twilight came forward and demanded to know what was so bewildering. Still unnerved by the wider implications, I glanced at her for but a moment, before pointing at the feathery creature and telling her exactly what it was, my voice brimming with shock.

“That, Twilight Sparkle… is a dinosaur.”

---

Comments

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

Been reading "The Lost World" as of late? Lol

[MikiStenbeck]

camo.fimfiction.net/cS1SyLIDBuovS9KhH5LfVsnCzYmXwxpLr0U4buk-5ok?url=https%3A%2F%2Flh7-us.googleusercontent.com%2FVCGKyUWqxjZU35VPQav4YVqCsTfXblyC0WPRGTNl3RNOIqpdQFBmS3Mua_VcWW2WZKepwtpFJfuFUb-E6FBycvetFhtq7fxHjo7NOuOQN3s2Bpg0lqfx9OssVgnnnEJzAcjvBF3EjaA5_rQD9RE6FSw

i think i know that Shore..... i hope i'm wrong but is that The Island From ARK Survivel Evolved?

[MikiStenbeck]

bi.....bipedal Dinosauar not much biggeer the Callum.... he and Mel just off'ed a fucking Utah-Raptor, didn't they? yea no, good shot boys.

[Mister Horncastle]

11838723
I'mma level with you, despite being an avid reader of older works, I actually didn't know about 'The Lost World' until after writing this chapter; it was only after the fact when I searched online for some inspiration that I found out about it.
Ironically, the next chapter is called The Lost World, which I've since decided to keep as a nod to the novel. 😅

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

11838807

How.... how have you not heard of that book? It's one of the most famous bits of dinosaur literature out there!

Written by the same person who would go on to write Sherlock Holmes at that as well, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

So how in the flying warp biscuits did that get under your radar?

(I'm not mad, just surprised that you hadn't heard of or read it until now)

[Mister Horncastle]

11838823
I know, it genuinely baffles me that it went under my radar all this time. I've always been a huge fan of dinosaur media, but for whatever reason it just never found its way to me until now.
Guess I'm not as well-read as I thought myself to be!

[Mister Horncastle]

11838773
You have a good eye.
I took this screenshot myself in ARK: Survival Ascended's photo mode, and then heavily altered it in Photoshop to make an original eerie night-time scene. For months I had envisioned the story's island to be similar in size and appearance to ARK's The Island, so what better frame of reference to use!? 😁

[MikiStenbeck]

11838870

to be honest? lucky guess Call, XD

[PonyJoe1]

Well I was NOT expecting that...
My guess is we're getting a The Lost World + Ark + Skull Island kinda package, and I'm all for it.
And can we talk about this absolute BEAUTY of an art piece!?
camo.fimfiction.net/OyqM0ryi2mBfx2VotOeVEzX55royLW9tgDZB9JgTm4Q?url=https%3A%2F%2Flh7-us.googleusercontent.com%2FJMRRTj36RjsIESFh1lAtUjcI2Nyp7_4Y8AB3U556-ygwY2NhZ_Y-iIx0IhX6NunDtJYjTT01ihDGozMBczDO5GX9VxE7xgSR54wW6svyEe5fF5lDVL7vxJ94mwZ0sQLrf4WTvk4q2SNJv-L1zW18_OA
Did you get that painted or did you use AI to make it?

Also...

“Hmm… is that because she’s a pony?” she hummed, her inquisitive voice wavering anxiously, “As far as an actual relationship goes, would you rather just be with one of your own kind?”

Without a hint of subtlety, Book Horse is almost LITERALLY saying "I want to date you.".
Yet with nary a brain cell between his ears, our beloved idiot human didn't pick up on it.

Like, I'm loving the build-up here and find their whole story arc to be more damn wholesome than Goodnight Mister Tom (if you haven't watched the film, stop what you're doing and go watch it), but at the same time, I'm just dying for things to move along! Not because it's overdone or anything, but simply because I WANT THEM TO BE HAPPY TOGETHER.
I'm begging you... LET THEM KISS ALREADY!!!

Unless my "Callum kills Twilight" theory is true...
In which case PLEASE DO NOT LET THEM KISS, IT WOULD KILL ME.

[Mister Horncastle]

11839387
Goodnight Mister Tom is one of my all-time favourite films! My late grandfather was a spitting image of Tom Oakley, so watching it always left me feeling a great sense of melancholy; I'm genuinely touched that you think the TwiCal arc is akin to something so moving. 💕

As for the art, it was made by myself in partial, via a mishmash of techniques.
I used a mix of AI and real-life photography to gather different elements, such as the big tree, the cave walls and roof, the distant landscape, etc... and then I painstakingly blended it all together in Photoshop over about 80 different layers, and brushed over all the finishing touches, such as the wisps of cloud and fog. So while it does incooperate a tinge of AI, I've also put in enough legwork to proudly claim it as my own personal art. 🙂