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Slow Going

It was now a new morning once more, and the pair awoke from their sleep and headed downstairs after a shower. The shower, for all its worth, was quite refreshing, and the pair certainly enjoyed freshening up (one after the other, of course). Once all of that was done, they secured their items and headed down into the tavern for breakfast. Once down there, and whilst waiting for their food, Starswirl decided to raise his suspicions.

"Things have been oddly quiet," he said. "We have seen nothing of Sable Spirit or her supporters, nor any members of that blasted Project 722. If I knew worse, I would say they have lost interest in us. I know better than to say that. Our enemy is sneaky and not above using underhanded tactics to trail us along the lands and seas of the world."

Mistmane nodded as their plates arrived, delivered by the waiter. "We must keep our guard up, same as always. Or else we may lose out on our efforts. If we cannot win, who knows what fate the world will suffer?"

"Especially with the Evil One apparently still on the loose," Starswirl replied. "My research only turned up this on him." He opened his journal and began to read. "But it wasn't long before another grew envious of our powers, and sought to rob the world of light and hope. This being, the Evil One, was vanquished to the world beyond dark space, but returned for revenge– to extinguish the Pillars' light and rob the world of hope. To stop him, the Pillars and I must make a grave sacrifice. But we shall leave behind a seed in hopes that one day it will grow into a force to stand against the darkness for all time. We must now face the fiend with the only plan we have..."

"It's not exactly much to go on, if you don't mind me saying."

"I'm aware it isn't much to go on, so that's why I'm saying we either need to be careful or we need to collect more evidence. This is a very dangerous situation indeed, and we are all in potential danger."

Mistmane nodded, as she went on with her food. "They certainly know how to cook potato well here."

Starswirl nibbled at his, and nodded. "They certainly cook good food in these mystic lands of Wash Ington. Although it is slightly soggy for my taste. I find this sort of food is best when slightly crispy."

"What delights will we find in our next port of call?" Mistmane wondered. "In the land of Ore- gon."

"Probably a lot of ore," Starswirl replied. "Though the ore may have all run out, if the place is called Ore- gon!"


Now done with their food, the duo paid up and prepared to set off on their trip. They headed out of the door into the blazing Seattle Sun, and prepared to head east. Following a series of tight left and right turns, they moved into a left lane to secure the ramp.

"I must admit we've become quite good at navigating these strange things humans call roads!" Starswirl laughed. "They scarcely look like roads as I recall them. Where are all the cobblestones?"

They kept left, crossed a river, and then kept to the right as much as possible for several miles before crossing another river on a bridge. After passing over another town, living in the shadow of this elevated road, they came off at an exit and took another exit on top of that. Holding to the right once more, the road suddenly lurched to the left, followed by another pair of left turns of much smaller radius that looped through an industrial estate. They crossed over another river, crossed a river, and then passed by a large city that seemed to rise up from nowhere at all.

However, when they reached the first allocated rest zone, trouble was waiting for them. Standing in the lot were a group of warriors wearing heavy, segmented armour on their fronts, upper legs, and sides. Under that lay layers of cloth, and the legs were protected by greaves. Each wore a similar segmented helmet with a terrifying mask that had a scary face and yellow horns.

"Aha!" said the lead one, confirming a slight Chighneise accent similar to Mistmane. "Our opponent finally shows!"

"What is all this?" Mistmane asked in shock.

"We were sent direct by Sable Spirit herself," another warrior said. "Tell me, have you ever faced the greatest of Chighneise warriors?" Their horns suddenly glowed, circles of fire appearing around them, and several red dragon spirits appeared in the air.

"Looks like we're doing this the hard way," Mistmane sighed, as her horn lit up and a blue circle of fire surrounded her, revealing a blue dragon spirit.


The lead warrior shouted something in Chighneise, and the dragon spirits were launched forward into battle, breathing jets of fire. Starswirl counted with focused magic shots, although weaker than his normal shooting, and a few of the jets were knocked off course and crashed into a nearby field. Moments later, the spirits regrouped and attacked once more.

Mistmane moved hers into position and blasted a jet of flame at theirs, causing them to turn and break off. They formed up into a line. Perfect.

Turning hers to the left and then the right, Mistmane's dragon spirit accelerated forward at terrifying speed until it reached terminal velocity. Then, with a series of loud bangs and booms, the spirit smashed through and destroyed each of the opposing dragon spirits in an explosive cataclysm that caused each of the spirits to explode into fire.

Her work done, Mistmane brought her dragon spirit back into position, and the circle of flames surrounding her died down as she deactivated the spell.

The lead warrior removed his face mask and looked stunned, but soon regained his composure and bowed. "Truly you are a skilled opponent, Mistmane!" he said. "That was a truly honorable battle, and I bow to your superior skill as a sorceress."

Mistmane stayed silent for a few moments. "I can see that you are good ponies. But why are you fighting for Sable Spirit?"

The lead warrior answered. "When Sable Spirit took over as empress, she conscripted every male into the army on pain of death. It was the battlefield, where there was a chance of survival, or the sword. But now I see there is a better way. Evil will never triumph over good. Maybe it is time I turned away as well." He turned to the other warriors and said something to them. Then he turned back. "May the winds blow in your favor," he said.

"And may the sun shine softly upon you," Mistmane replied, recognizing the old Chighneise saying. She watched as the warriors headed off into the middle of nowhere.

"In all my years I have never witnessed a duel as intense as that!" Starswirl said. "Your culture continues to amaze me even to this day!"

"Hopefully, we have gained some new allies along the way," Mistmane replied. "Come. Let us go from this place."


The duo set off, crossing two more rivers and past another town where a strange whistling noise could be heard coming from some trees, and then over several more rivers before taking another, much more peaceful, rest stop. They navigated next to rivers so wide it seemed as though they could swallow a dragon whole, and then had to navigate the perilous streets of a very big town. Not long after that, they crossed another bridge and found themselves in the mythical land of Ore- gon, crossing over a river several times. They took another exit, and then took many lefts, to the point that the pair started to feel dizzy. They then crossed a place called Columbia Slough (come, friendly bombs, and fall on), accessed another road, and then once more weaved through tightly packed streets and narrow roads. They walked across a river on a bridge, before taking a slight left and a sudden right, then repeating the move on another road. They moved onto another road, weaved through some more streets, and eventually arrived at their stop for the night.


"WHAT?" Sable Spirit demanded, looking at the messenger pony before her. "How is this possible?"

"The warriors never reported back in," the messenger replied. "Mistmane must have defeated the-"

He never finished his sentence, as a bolt of magic slammed into him, went through him, and out the other side, killing him instantly. Everybody and everypony else stepped back in shock.

Sable Spirit looked at them with anger in her eyes. "That is the price of failure," she snarled. "If I ever find who is responsible for this outrageous display of incompetence, I shall have their head!"

The radio screen flashed into life, and Colonel Peterson's face flashed onto it. "Any luck?" he asked.

"No," Sable Spirit replied. "These idiots managed to lose them!"

"I would appreciate it if you didn't kill our assets," Peterson replied. "New orders from high up. We move onto Phase 2."

"Understood," Sable Spirit smirked. "The new weapons will make short work of those Pillars. But where to test them?"

Author's Note:

As usual, here is the segment covered in today's chapter:

Not much to say about this chapter now other than having just crossed into the state where I resided in from 1996 to 2000: Oregon. :)