The Titans' Orb: Breaking Dawn

by Mister Horncastle

Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Lost World

“A what?” Twilight inquired, tilting her head.

Still totally mind-blown, I explained that our feathery friend here was a type of creature that had been long-extinct for millions of years. It was some form of raptor, a small utahraptor if the size was anything to go on, or perhaps the lesser-known achillobator.

“Wait, are you suggesting we’ve gone back in time?” Twilight gasped.

Breaking eye contact to look at the creature’s body, I briefly toyed with the idea before shaking my head.

“No.” I replied, “I do have a theory though…”

Clearing my throat, I hypothesised that it was far more likely that we had uncovered a giant pocket of land that had somehow survived the mass-extinction event, all those millennia ago; a genuine piece of prehistory, perfectly preserved underground. If this was the case, then the subterranean realm that we had found ourselves in would be home to hundreds of creatures that had never been seen by mankind. This raptor was just the start, there could be all sorts down here. If my theory was correct, then we had fallen into Planet Earth’s greatest natural secret; a lost kingdom, governed by beasts of the ancient past.

“So, kind of like the dinosaur world in Ice Age Three?” Mel suggested.

“I mean, you’re not far off.” I admitted, “Although, if I’m right, then everything that lives down here has been continually evolving for millions of years. We’re not going to be finding T-rexes and such, we’re going to be finding what they’ve evolved into.”

At that, Rommel’s eyes widened.

“Oh shit…”

Setting my eyes on the raptor once again, I could only imagine that it was what had attacked and killed the Victorian explorer in the upper cave. Over the space of two-hundred years, the tree root must have grown over the way in, preventing the creatures from populating the island above. With the explorers in mind, I proposed that we searched around for a camp. If we were lucky, we could find more evidence about who they really were.

“How are we going to find our way back to this spot?” asked Twilight, “Once we have the Orb shard, we’ll need to come all the way back here to get back up to the surface.”

“That’s a point.” I hummed, frowning.

As a group, we tried to come up with a plan. Rommel meanwhile, was still fixated on the new dinosaur development.

“I’m sorry, but are we just cool with this now? There are dinosaurs down here, real freaking dinosaurs! You’re acting like it’s barely a big deal!”

Slowly raising my eyebrow, I reminded him that he was an armed escort for six alien ponies from another dimension.

“Okay but still…” he said, practically whimpering, “Dinosaurs man…”

“Mate, don’t get me wrong, it’s mind-blowing.” I told him, “But after what we’ve been through, you learn to get comfortable with new shit pretty quick. When you’ve been through zombies, demons, orcs, monsters, and an eldritch nerubian demigod, well… dinosaurs are just another day at the office.”

Giving him a firm pat on the arm, I advised that he adapted to the facts sooner rather than later, because we were no doubt going to come across a whole lot more than raptors down here. With a gulp, he nodded his head and tried to help us come up with a plan for finding our way back here. Rainbow Dash was the first to make a suggestion, proposing that we set up a camp here, and left someone like Rarity or Pinkie behind to guide us back with either a magic light, or one of Pinkie’s blinding flareworks. Although that would technically work, I refused the idea, arguing that this place was far too unpredictable to be splitting up. We kept brainstorming, with Rommel stepping up to make the next suggestion.

“What if we made a really big fire, just in this area? If we torched this place, it would stay smoking for days, and we’d be able to see it from miles away.”

To that, I raised an eyebrow and folded my arms.

“Look, I know you Americans have a thing for devastating every foreign region you visit, but how about we come up with something a little less destructive, yeah?”

“Pfft, whatever…” he grumbled, looking away.

For what it was worth, the idea wasn’t terrible, but the idea of setting fire to a whole natural habitat just didn’t sit right with me. It went without saying that Fluttershy wasn’t okay with it either, and upon my refusal of Rommel’s idea, she let out a less-than-subtle sigh of relief. It was then that Applejack made a suggestion, and although a little unorthodox, the idea would certainly do the trick.

“We’ve already got three shards of the darn Orb, don’t we?” she began, “What if we just buried one of them here? Then, Rarity can use her fancy gem finding spell to lead us back.”

Twilight, ever protective over our precious quarry, began to protest. However, with no better plan at hand, I reminded her that the pieces of the Orb weren’t exactly going to sprout legs and run away. Eventually, she conceded, and dug around into her bag to retrieve one of the three pieces in our possession. Upon her taking one out, we all stared at it intently, for we hadn’t actually observed any of the shards since finding the last one in Portugal; Twilight had kept them in her bag, and nobody was allowed to go rummaging in there, not even me.

“So this is what all the fuss is about, huh?” Rommel mumbled, peering curiously at the glowing fragment.

“Yup.” I hummed, gently taking it from Twilight, “This thing, when whole, projects an impenetrable shield around Equus. Nothing can pass through, be it physical, supernatural, or otherwise.”

Inhaling through my nose, I passed a wistful gaze to the silver tree in the distance.

“And if we don’t find all six of them, Nah’Lek will bring the Horde to Equus, where it will be reduced to a land of fire, blood, and ash.”

Every pony winced at the thought, their ears flattening. With a calming smile, I assured them that we weren’t going to let that happen. We were going to find the remaining shards of the Orb, and leave the Defiler’s plan in tatters. And if he ever dared return to Equestria alone, then the Princesses would tear him asunder, and any part of him that remained alive after that, would be hauled back to Tartarus to suffer for all eternity.

“One way or another,” I spoke boldly, “this journey ends with him wallowing in his failure, with his aspirations rotting away, along with his presence. Now, let’s find ourselves that fourth shard, ey?”

Confident smiles broke out amongst the group, and we made our way over to the open root. Once I was stood directly below the opening, I used Vitra ‘Aku once again to cut a deep circle into the dirt. Rarity then used her telekinesis to lift the earthy cylinder out, and then I placed the Orb shard inside. The cylinder was reinserted to whence it came, and I used my foot to press it down and compact the dirt, ensuring it wouldn’t come loose.

“I swear, if we come back and it’s been dug up…” Twilight muttered.

“Then we’ll just track it down again.” I teased, elbowing her affectionately.

Rolling her eyes, she argued no further and we got ourselves ready to move. That was when we heard a rustling nearby, causing Fluttershy to squeak nervously. Mel and I readied our rifles, and just as before, we prepared ourselves for anything, grouping together in a tight formation.

“Just, for the love of Luna, please warn us if you’re going to start shooting.” Rarity hissed to us.

{For the love of Luna?} I remarked in thought, {Huh, never heard of that one before…}

Promising that I would give warning, I focused on the origin of the rustling, and to my dread, I spotted more blue feathers, and four pairs of yellow eyes, all staring at us.

“Oh great, more of them.” Rommel grumbled.

Swallowing nervously, I tightened my grip on the rifle, and as I locked eyes with one of them, I could sense its ire burning into me as it slowly bared its teeth.

“You know when we shot that other one?” I whispered to Rommel, “And it was crying out loudly?”

“Uh-huh…” he replied, gulping.

“I don’t think it was just crying out in pain, Mel… I think it was calling for help…”

Slowly, the predators edged their way towards us. Their heads properly emerged from the ferns and we saw them clearly. Three of them looked similar to the one we had killed, but the fourth was much less vibrant in colour, instead sporting dull blue-grey feathers, with muddy brown scales. I could only guess that this one was of the opposite sex, similar to how birds were. More importantly, they knew that we could see them, so why weren’t they attacking? Perhaps they were studying us, trying to decipher if we were responsible for killing one of their pack. Were they that smart? There was no telling what degree of intelligence they had, but it was always better to overestimate.

“Do we shoot?” asked Mel, his hands quivering lightly.

“If they back away, no.” I replied, “If they advance, we light them up.”

The one staring at me craned its neck, and I realised that it was looking at my mouth. It knew that I was speaking, and then to my amazement, it started to chatter its teeth, emitting a low chirp. Was it mimicking me? I tilted my head to one side, and just as predicted, it copied the movement. Pushing the test further, I very slowly raised my chin and puckered my lips, before letting out a single high-pitched hoot.

“Hoo…”

In return, the blue raptor lowered its head, and after a moment of thinking, raised its own chin.

“Ooo…”

“Okay…” I murmured faintly, “Apparently, they like to imitate.”

As for the reasoning behind its behaviour, it was soon to become very clear; the damn thing wasn’t trying to communicate with us… it was a distraction.

“OH SHIT!” Rainbow Dash bellowed.

From our left flank, a fifth raptor burst from the ferns and charged into us, breaking apart our formation and seizing the first pony it could get to. The other four took their queue and lunged forward as well, and I began to shoot, as did Rommel. One of them hit the dirt while the others retreated almost immediately, spooked by the gunfire. I turned to face the ambusher, to find it pulling a screaming Twilight away from us, using both its mouth and its forelimbs to prevent her from getting away as she desperately struggled to break free. With a flap of her wings, Rainbow Dash shot forward and smacked into it as hard as possible, knocking the beast back and forcing it to release the unicorn. It hopped away and then turned to flee, but Mel and I were able to pump it with lead before it could escape. Toppling to the ground, the beast writhed in anguish. It wasn’t dead just yet, but it was certainly about to be… With one glance at Twilight, who was now sobbing between deep panicked breaths, I flew into a rage that I had only ever experienced once before.

With a burning hatred, I stormed forward without an ounce of fear, dropping the rifle and withdrawing Vitra ‘Aku. Everyone stood back, and most averted their eyes. With a guttural roar, I plunged the blade into the creature’s feathery hide. It let out an ear-piercing shriek and I clenched my jaw, before gashing it open. It still lived, and I brought the blade down for another, more unhinged strike. The titanstone blade drifted through it like a hot knife through butter, and I was unable to stop myself as I followed up with a third swing, and then a fourth, and then a fifth…

All I could see was red, blurred in with the look of absolute terror on Twilight’s face as she was being dragged away. My mind switched off and my body took over, lashing out at the raptor again, and again, and again, even after it had died! What little soul it had flowed into the hilt, and yet I continued to deign upon it with my blade. It was only until I heard Rommel shout my name that I stopped. With the dripping sword still held above my head, I looked back to find him and Rainbow Dash staring at me with wide eyes. Beyond them, I saw Fluttershy tending to Twilight, with Applejack and Rarity both comforting Pinkie Pie, who seemed to be having a panic attack from the shock.

“Dude… it’s dead!” Rommel barked, his voice cracking.

Panting, I looked down and saw the absolute massacre I had unleashed. My hands and forearms were caked in blood, and the azure colouring of the raptor’s obliterated remains were now almost entirely crimson. Dropping the sword, I stumbled backwards and fell over, before scrambling on my hands and knees over to Twilight.

“Are you okay!?” I bleated with wild eyes.

“I’m… I’m… f-fine…” she answered, trembling, “J-Just a s… a s-scratch…”

Fluttershy, despite being terrified out of her wits as well, was already dutifully treating the wound; two deep talon punctures, just below Twilight’s cutie mark. It was far more than ‘just a scratch’ to say the least, but Flutters was quick to stem the bleeding and apply some Oozima.

“Please tell me none of that’s your blood?” said Rarity, coming over to join us.

With a shake of my head, I confirmed that it wasn’t. I left Fluttershy to her work and got to my feet, moving away to retrieve Vitra ‘Aku and wipe the blood from it on a nearby fern. Still in shock herself, Rainbow Dash came over to make sure that I was alright.

“Yeah I’m fine, I think…” I mumbled, turning my head to face her, “That was really brave of you, to throw yourself at it like that.”

“Thanks.” she huffed, shrugging, “I didn’t really have a choice. If I hadn’t, who knows how much worse it could’ve hurt Twilight…”

I didn’t even want to think about it. Furrowing her brow, Rainbow tilted her head.

“You sure you’re okay? I haven’t seen you lose control like that since, uh… well, when… in Portugal, when-”

“I’m fine.” I reiterated, cutting her off, “I just need to find some water and get clean.”

“I’ll go find some.”

Taking to the air, Dashie circled up above in search of any nearby water sources. It didn’t take her long to return to me, where she presented a most interesting find.

“Okay, so there’s no water up here, but there’s a bunch at the bottom of the cliff. Oh, and get this… there’s a camp down there too!”

“Oh really? Good find!” I praised.

Sending her out again to find a route down, I rejoined the main group and told them the news, and once Twilight was patched up, we set off. Rainbow Dash found a downward slope for us and we descended into the basin of this now-confirmed-to-be hostile new world. Mel anxiously took the lead, while I safeguarded the rear, and despite having calmed down by now, my instructions were no less wrathful; all and any raptors were to be shot on sight.

“I can’t believe they interacted with us first just to get our attention.” Rarity hummed, “It’s like they were hunting with a genuinely thought-out strategy.”

“Aye…” I grumbled, “Jurassic Park might have been wrong about a lot of stuff, but it was right about one thing, raptors are smart as fuck.”

“Yeah, no kidding.” Rommel muttered from the front.

I checked in with Twilight, and other than the injury causing her some pain, she was okay, just a bit rattled. Pinkie was already back to her normal self, merrily trotting along beside Applejack and telling her all about how she wanted to throw a ‘Just Survived Our First Dinosaur Attack’ party.

We finally reached the camp, to which I turned to face Rainbow Dash with my mouth agape.

“You said this was a camp, Dashie, not a whole damn village!”

“Well I couldn’t tell how big it was from up there!” she protested.

“That’s what she said.” Applejack quipped, smirking.

With laughter now rippling through us, we searched the utterly gargantuan campsite. There were twenty large canvas tents, each of them easily big enough to accommodate half a dozen people at least. There were stations dotted all over the place too, ranging from workbenches, to supply crates, to racks of old rifles. Rommel went over and confirmed them to be Henry repeating rifles, which put these people somewhere in the eighteen-sixties, perhaps seventies. Leaving them to ransack the place, I allowed Rainbow Dash to lead me to a nearby stream, where I quickly started to wash the raptor blood away, which had mostly dried at this point.

“Hey, I’ve got to ask…” Rainbow began, kicking at the ground awkwardly, “What made you lose your shit back there? I get that Twilight was in danger and all, but you like, lost it, dude!”

“I couldn’t tell you, honestly.” I confessed, scrubbing at my wrists, “I think it was the screaming, and the look on her face. Something about the way she looked just, I don’t know…”

Getting the blood out from under my nails, I guessed that after everything Nah’Lek had put us through, I was far more protective over Twilight than I realised. Knowing how traumatised she was on a near-daily basis, my empathy for her was constantly in overdrive, and the look of absolute terror on her face when the raptor grabbed her just caused something to snap. Her fear became my anger, and in the heat of the moment, all I could do was obey my instinct to destroy that which had tried to harm her. With a shrug, Rainbow told me that that made sense, and after I was mostly-blood free, we made our way back to the camp.

“Find anything useful?” I asked loudly upon our return.

“Oh, we found something alright!” Twi proclaimed excitedly, grinning.

Judging from her restored merriment, I could only guess that it was something good. Hobbling over to me on three legs, she presented her findings, insisting that we had hit the jackpot.

“Seriously?” Dashie groaned, “A book?”

“Yes, a book.” Twilight retorted with a sneer on her face, “And considering where we are, it might hold vital information that’ll help us survive this place!”

The pegasus responded with a drawn out groan of boredom. Ignoring her, I took the tome from Twilight to inspect it. It was thick and weighty, with hundreds of pages inside, all wrapped in a cover made from waxy embossed leather. A brass buckle kept it closed, and despite its age, it still had a faint gleam to it. Studying the cover, I was met with an altered version of The Vitruvian Man, in which the man was elegantly clothed, had a pair of large round spectacles, and held an extravagant cane in one hand.

Everyone gathered around to take part in our discovery, and once I was sure that my hands were perfectly dry, I sat down to read aloud the first page. Unclipping the buckle, I opened it up and spoke in a clear posh tone, humouring the Victorian origins and using proper Received Pronunciation.

“Greetings and salutations dear reader! If these words are gracing your eyes, then you have had the good fortune to happen upon my journal. It also means that it’s entirely possible that I’ve met some unseemly end within this fascinating but exceedingly dangerous subterranean frontier.

I suppose you also could have stolen it, or perhaps I have simply misplaced it, in which case please proceed to either hang your head in shame or return it to me at once. Whichever is appropriate.

Should the foremost happenstance be the case, then may this journal serve you well, for I plan to document all and every aspect of this place. I am, after all, a man of science. The pages beyond shall satiate your hunger for knowledge, both of this magnificent hidden world, and of the fates that have befallen myself and my plethora of dashing companions.

Regards,
Sir Edmund Rockwell, stupendous scholar, gallant gentleman and explorer extraordinaire.”

Looking up from the journal with a smirk, I found that everyone was gazing intently at me, fully engaged at the first of this fellow’s great many pages of correspondence. Eagerly knocking her front hooves together, Twilight begged me to read on, and so I did. Several pages in, and we learned that this Rockwell character had been the head of a large team of explorers, secretly ordained by Queen Victoria herself to seek out this place. Supposedly, Her Majesty had seen this world in a dream of hers, and upon waking, a divine messenger had come to her, telling her of its location, and that within the white tree dwelled a holy artefact of great power.

“Oh for fuck’s sake!” I shouted, realising that yet again, Hawnu Rey’eng was involved.

“Well, at least that confirms it.” Twilight shrugged, “The Orb shard’s in the tree.”

Reading on, it would seem that the Queen didn’t want any of this to become public knowledge until after she had the relic in her possession. So it was that she had Sir Rockwell discreetly hired, along with one-hundred-and-forty men, and a single woman; a Russian immigrant by the name of Tania Medvedeva, of whom was a fellow adventurer and personal friend to Rockwell. Without the existence of reliable photography, Tania had been hired to create sketches of the expedition, and had been personally requested by Edmund for her gusto, her wit, and her supposedly unmatched resilience. Sworn to secrecy, they all embarked upon the HMS Seraph, and sailed off into the unknown. During their time at sea, Sir Rockwell, just like Queen Victoria, was visited by Hawnu Rey’eng.

“I swear, this feathery fuckhead… OWWW!”

“What did I say about disrespecting him?” spat Twilight, having just smacked the side of my head.

Rubbing at the now-throbbing pain just behind my ear, I insisted through gritted teeth that I couldn’t help it; Hawnu Rey’eng just drew the spite out of me. Huffing with annoyance, Twilight swiped the journal from me in order to keep reading, only for me to immediately swipe it back.

“Hey!” she protested.

Blowing a raspberry at her, I put on the old-timey voice again and read Sir Rockwell’s encounter with our persistently ambiguous protector…

“I say… I’ve had the most riveting experience just now. I’m positively stupefied! Having bid my company farewell for the night, I returned to my cabin to be met with a most curious fellow, curious being that he was ostensibly the very same divine messenger to visit Her Royal Majesty! Stranger still, were the feathered oddities upon his back. A winged man, a winged man I say! I of course begged to study him, but despite his patient and most affable demeanour, the only inspection to be given was that with my eyes, sat from across a table as we shared a beverage and a most intriguing conversation.

Supposedly, this world is one of many, and as a matter of fact, the relic we’ve been tasked to acquire belongs to one of these preternatural locales! Though I was sceptical at first, the charming fellow was sure to provide evidence, engulfing my reality with a multitude of visions far too lucid and logical to be any hallucination. I saw countless realms of unimaginable proportions, some of which my less-than-bright colleagues would likely claim to be a window into Hell. Ha! What absurd tosh…

No act comes without rhyme or reason however, and so after slaking our thirsts I asked him outright. For what purpose have you come to visit me, my good fellow? With a smile and a nod, my lilac-eyed visitor answered in full. No different to our dear monarch, the artefact is his prize, but by a creed he’s forbidden to altercate, he is unable to retrieve it personally. The deal he proposed was straightforward – return the artefact to him, betraying Queen, country, and contract. In return he would see me granted passage to these otherwise unreachable distant worlds, where my scientific pursuits and already-stellar academic proficiency shall reach even greater heights, no longer shackled by mortal limits.

In simpler terms, I am to be bestowed with boundless knowledge, and with it… immortality!
Having seen what I’ve seen, I believe it is an opportunity far too prolific to pass up on.

I’m afraid Her Majesty is going to be rather disappointed upon my ‘fruitless’ return.
I do hope she doesn’t revoke my knighthood, ‘Mister Rockwell’ just doesn’t carry the same tune.”

Putting the journal down to rest my voice, I gave a long and thoughtful hum. The girls applauded my theatrical performance, and then Rainbow Dash took a step forward, craning her neck.

“I don’t get it.” she said, “The Orb was perfectly hidden, why send a bunch of explorers to come and get it? Doesn’t that defeat the whole point of keeping stuff like this a secret?”

“That’s a valid point.” Rarity agreed, “The Guardian has been covering up otherworldly events for goodness knows how many centuries… Why would he risk exposing a piece of the Orb like this?”

“Oh, that’s easy!” Pinkie sang with an innocent grin, “He knew they’d never escape this place!”

Tilting her head on one side, she looked off into the distance with a haunted expression.

“They’re all dead, and the truth died with them, and no one will ever know…”

She then shook her head and started giggling. Singing to herself, she trotted away and began to inspect the supply crates on the far end of the camp, totally unaware of the utter horror she’d just invoked upon her friends.

“Tra la-la la-la…”

With my eyes now wide as can be, I watched her go, before turning to the rest of the group.

“I worry about her sometimes…”

“We all do.” Applejack replied with a dull expression.

With an exchange of awkward laughs, we decided to claim this campsite as our own. We were all worn out from today’s events, from the mountain climb to the raptor attack, and it was safe to say that we had earned some respite. Not wishing to sleep in manky half-rotted canvas tents, we cleared them to one side of the camp. Rarity then deployed our own ones, while the rest of us shifted the old crates, barrels, and workstations to create a perimeter wall. Knowing the raptors were still out there somewhere, along with god-knows what else, Rommel and I elected to take shifts tonight, ensuring that a gunman was always armed and ready throughout the night. With nighttime in mind, we quizzed over how we would keep track of the time of day. Without the sun to rise and fall, we had no way of knowing when the day would transition into night. And then, as though this place could read our thoughts, we received our answer.

Slowly but surely, over the space of an hour or so, the light from the silver tree gradually began to dim. It still glowed, mind, but far less intensely, to the point where the world around us was shrouded in a faint luminance that mimicked a moonlit night. And then all across the cave roof, the seemingly endless number of stalactites that had once been obscured in the inky darkness, began to light up. They transformed one by one into twinkling pointy chandeliers which had all eight of us suspiring heavily with disbelief. Each of them had a different colour too, basking the toothy ceiling in reds, greens, purples, and yellows. It was almost like an aurora had somehow found its way underground. Despite the dangers that dwelled in this place, for just a moment it felt something of a utopian sanctuary, a place one might only find in a pleasant dream. Delightfully curious, I asked Rarity for the Piercing Shot Rifle, and upon maxing out the zoom, I found that each rocky fang was adorned with bioluminescent moss.

“Wow…” I breathed, passing the gun to Rarity.

“Oh my…”

The rifle was passed around so that everyone could take a look, and after wistfully gawking upward for a while, we decided to have some dinner. With her supplies replenished, Applejack whipped up a most delicious leek and potato soup, served to each of us in a bread bowl, and generously seasoned with salt and black pepper. It went down a treat, and after we had all finished, we decided to call it a night. I took the first watch, leaving Rommel to bunk up with Applejack and Rarity in the larger tent. Fluttershy paired up with Pinkie, while Twilight slept alone in the smallest tent, where I would come to join her in the early hours when Mel and I swapped shifts. Afraid of going to sleep alone, Twilight requested that we put on the collars again, so that I could talk to her while she drifted off. It had been long enough now for me to get over Josh’s lewd suggestion of ‘experimenting’ while in her body, and so I happily agreed.

“What’s that?” Rommel inquired, pointing to the case as Twilight retrieved it from her bag.

Explaining what the collars were and how they functioned, I gave Rommel a brief rundown of what had occurred in Portugal, which Twilight was less-than-thankful to overhear. He of course wanted to hear the full story, but noting how uncomfortable Twi already was, I said that such a tale required a stiffer drink. Dipping his head, he bid us all goodnight and got into his tent. I heard the muffled voice of Rarity welcoming him in and directing him to his sleeping bag, which had ironically been my old one, back when I was too unacquainted to share with the girls.

“You’ll actually come to bed this time, right?” Twilight asked teasingly, raising an eyebrow.

“Ugh, yes!” I droned, taking my collar from her.

I ruffled her mane playfully, before clipping the collar around my neck and then helping Twilight with hers. The second her one clicked, I felt the magic injecting itself into my spinal cord. It rippled up my neck and into my skull, sending a shiver through my skin. I noticed Twilight’s back twitching, indicating that she was experiencing the same thing. And just like that, our brains were linked.

{We good?} I thought to her, testing the connection.

{Loud and clear.} she replied.

With a smile, I gave her a cuddle and then sent her off to bed. Picking up my rifle, I stood in the middle of the camp near the dying fire, and so my watch began. It was nice having a little company in my head again, Twilight and I talked for quite some time, and it reminded me of when Stardust used to be there. I missed him, as did I miss his ever-comical quips and observations. I decided to talk about him with Twilight, finally opening up about how bad I felt for ending his life.

{He really was my friend in the end, you know?} I told her, my eyes growing misty, {He was my friend and I killed him, and I know I didn’t have a choice, but whenever I think about it, I can’t help but feel like such a terrible fucking person…}

{I get that, I really do.} she replied, {But hey, let’s put it this way… Stardust lived a very long, and very full life. He saved Equus from both Nah’Lek, and the Repugnant War that followed. It was a hero’s life, and when he poured his soul into the Titans’ Orb, he granted himself a hero’s death. The whole world forgot him, and that was the end of that. That was it, that was his life.}

Continuing to console me, she went on to say that the reawakening of his soul in Brazil was more like a temporary resurrection, as opposed to the continuation of his life; it was never a part of the plan. I may have killed his soul and given him a true end, but Stardust Moonshimmer as a pony had been dead for thousands of years. From a more logical perspective, I hadn’t really killed him, I had just returned his soul to its long-overdue rest.

{Well, I didn’t return it anywhere, I consumed the damn thing!} I retorted, {But I get what you’re saying, and it makes sense so, thank you… I guess I just wish that I could have been warned first, you know? We were there in the Titans’ domain together and I had no idea what was going on, and then suddenly I was being ordered to fight him to the death!}

{That must have been really scary…}

{Yeah, it was.} I admitted, {I don’t really get to think about how scary all this shit is sometimes. Half the time I forget that I’m practically still a kid.}

{Gosh, yeah you’re right…} she said, {How old are you again? You’re seventeen right?}

{Eighteen.} I reminded her, {My birthday was in January, same day that, uhh…}

We both fell silent, each of us painfully reminiscing on the day that Twilight had allowed Bunnie to die, on the very same day I had only just become an adult. Still, I had to remember that I wasn’t unique in such a plight; boys as young as fourteen were enlisted during the First and Second World Wars, where they were very rapidly and very unfairly aged by those bloodcurdling hellscapes of ceaseless conflict. What right did I have to think that I was too young for all this? When the cruelties and injustices of life were concerned, age was but a number, nothing more. Picturing Bunnie’s face one last time, I swallowed the aching memory and closed my eyes, choosing to dwell on it no longer. I was a long way past that now, and although revisiting the memory always stung, I knew in my heart that I had moved on.

From behind me I heard a zipping sound, and turned to see Twilight walking over to me. With a weak smile, she asked if she could give me a hug, which I couldn’t have been happier to oblige. Enveloping her in my arms, I sighed warmly, almost immediately feeling at peace again. After holding her for quite some time, I reminded her that tomorrow was probably going to bring a lot of dangers and surprises, so she ought to get some rest. Nodding, she rubbed her cheek against mine before breaking off the hug.

“Goodnight Cal.” she breathed with a contented smile.

“Goodnight Twi.” I replied, dipping my head to her.

She turned away and got into her tent, zipping it shut and allowing me to return to my duty. Inhaling deeply, I looked up at the glittering kaleidoscope of colours above and let the breath go, breaking into a toothy grin as I did so.

What a life…

Comments

[MagicalPony2099]

What a life…

What a life indeed Callum, what a life.

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

*sees Ice Age 3 mentioned*
Great, now all I can hear in my head is this song lol:

I was honestly expecting a Buck reference as well, XD:

[MikiStenbeck]

“Greetings and salutations dear reader! If these words are gracing your eyes, then you have had the good fortune to happen upon my journal. It also means that it’s entirely possible that I’ve met some unseemly end within this fascinating but exceedingly dangerous subterranean frontier.

e-ROCKWELL! of cause that fucktard was here, Read this to know why i called that pile of beetlecrap a fucktard, apperently he has a BIG role in how the ARK's are now. iE. Dysfunctional shitfests that bearly works like they should, or in case of Abberation, NOT AT ALL.

[Mister Horncastle]

11867992
I had a feeling you'd appreciate the inclusion of Rockwell. 😁

[MikiStenbeck]

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hissssssss...