A Wish That Could Be

by Faithful Brony

Journey Through the Maw

"A grateful heart is a beginning of greatness. It is an expression of humility. It is a foundation for the development of such virtues as prayer, faith, courage, contentment, happiness, love, and well-being."

-James E. Faust

The morning welcomed a sunny day, which if you were in Equestria probably wouldn't be such a bad thing. Here on the outskirts of some village in a desert country was a different story. At first it didn't bother Russel, but the heat would eventually get to him and he knew it. He recieved from the village three water pouches, a few bundles of food, and sand shoes made for him which was going to help a lot. He said his goodbyes to the Lord of the village and got a longer than needed hug from his daughter. Russel could've sworn Ms. Rumble whispered something in his ear that he wished she didn't.
It only served to send shivers of creepiness down his spine. He couldn't walk away casual fast enough. When he got farther away he began running as fast as he could. Navigating through a desert is a true test of a persons ability to survive dangerous situations. Russel understood this now more than ever, the land look the same everywhere he looked. The map the shaman drew up for him was a life saver, since it practically paved a road to his destination.
Following the instructions on the map, he was able to navigate past sand pits and other dangerous areas that would have been in his way. Russel continued going for several hours before he had to stop and take a drink. checking the map again, he noticed it had been marked with a structure that said "possible location for resting the night" under it. He set his sights for the structure with little other choice and he trudged that way. The wind began to pick up and made the sand fly into the air. This made it harder for Russel to see.
He could barely view the outline of a building matching the image of the structure on the map. It was rather sizable and decrepit thing, that looked like it had seen better days. It would have to do so he ran for it. Reaching the door and getting inside was a relief since the dust storm was making it harder for him to breath. As he looked around, he realized that this place could have been a fortress outpost hundreds of years ago. It probably was impressive back then, but its prime was long gone.
The ruins were falling apart piece by piece, but it would at least hold for the night. After setting up his bedroll, Russel gathered anything burnable in the area and put it in a pile. He got down on his knees and began striking two stones together. After half a minute of doing this, he got a spark started. He fanned the flame until it got bigger than it rose on its own. Russel backed up to his bedroll and sat there looking at the fire relaxing as he did.

"I wonder what their doing right now," Russel pondered as he thought of his two buddies a whole continent away. He laughed as he thought of Jessie going on adventures with the Cutie Mark Crusaders around Ponyville. His thoughts turned to his other pal Rob and if he was adjusting well to his new home. He smiled thinking about hearing what they did in his absence, but soon he was laying down in his bed tired. Russel turned on his back to look up at the sky through a broken hole in the ceiling. The moon was crescent shaped and their were many star patterns he could make out.
A few he recognized, but most he could only guess what they were or meant. His eyes slowly closed, soon falling into a heavy sleep.

several hours later

Russel woke up and stretched as he felt the sun light pour in. His bones popped as he got up and went to make some breakfast. He soon was eating some bread and a small assortment of fruits. After consuming his meal, Russel packed up and headed out the door into the blaring light. The sun was brighter which only brought more heat down upon him. For the next six hours, he continued to follow the map traveling as fast as he could.
Stopping only for a drink of water, he continued on for another ten minutes before looking at the map to figure out his position.The next destination seemed to be a large hill or plateau sitting out in the desert. Russel continued following for quite some time until he caught sight of the landmark. He closed the distances within half an hour. He checked the map and took another swig of his water pouch. The map showed that the next marker would indicate him being near three quarters through the desert.
However it was just a pillar on the map, and it didn't seem to have any distinctive markings. It was looking difficult but he continued on anyways traveling only slightly northeast for about three more hours before he checked to make sure he was correct. While he was staring at the map, the ground started to shake and tremor. It continued to get louder and the sand started to vibrate intensely. When it went completely silent. The lone human stood there for what seemed like hours, yet only minutes passed.
It was truly quiet, then like a lightning bolt, it hit without warning. "BOOMMMMMMMMMM", the noise rang loudly from the sand and the ground shook with it. Russel looked to his left and immediately saw what had caused all the noise. A massive worm like creature had arisen from under the sand that had to be as big as the zebra village. It flailed its head around before slamming down on the ground and headed towards Russel. Russel immediately ran to his left hoping that the giant worm couldn't make sharp turns.
He kept running further into the desert with the worm right on his tail. He had maybe about a hundred feet on the giant worm but it was covering the distance like it was nothing. He turned to get a better look at his adversary and saw spike all over the thing, like barbs on a rose. He started running for the rage monster and figured his timing to the mark. Russel jumped and caught onto one of the thorns in mid-air as the worm came at him. It continued rushing in the same direction and it gave him all the time he needed to search for a weakness. The Giant worm had blind spots because it didn't have any sort of feeler to sense where he was. The worm was going completely on vibrations in the sand caused by movement. If he could move as slow as possible, maybe the worm wouldn't sense his movement and he could get away. Russel jumped away and rolled onto the ground making sure to spread his weight evenly so it didn't shake the ground. The worm kept going before stopping to search for him. When it couldn't sense movement in the immediate vicinity, it roared then dove under the sand again.
Soon everything settled again and Russel got back up slowly. Testing the ground, he ever so carefully took one step forward. When it was apparent that it couldn't detect his movement, he continued on ever watchful of ever step he took. Pulling out the map, he looked to see where he was. He could still see the plateau, and by his estimations he was about a thousand feet away. Looking at his map, he noticed that their was a small pillar looking thing about half a mile from his current position.
Seeing as there was no other alternative, Russel put the map away and headed in that direction. He headed that way for about an hour before he had to stop and rest. The sun was at his its height of the day, signaling that the time was mid-day. He was definitely feeling the full effects of the deserts heat and all its unpleasantness. Russel poured the last contents of the second water pouch on him and took a big swig of the third, making sure to conserve the last of his third pouch. Russel ate took a short bit to eat his lunch then continued onward still making sure to not make a vibrations in the sand.
Russel guessed that it would take the whole day and a half to get out of this hellish wasteland that he was in. He also came to the realization that unless he could find some resources or at the very least water, he would not make it. His rate of speed was not helping either since it was taking to long to get anywhere. After about another hour and thirty minutes of agonizingly slow walking, he barely spotted a small pillar like object but it was hard to make out anything definitive yet. The distance would take all day however and he really couldn't afford to go this slow. His odds were slim but, he decided that it would be more prudent to run than to continue this pace.
Taking a deep breath and reading himself, he set his sights on the pillar and focused. Everything around him faded to background images as he took off with as much power as his legs would generate in this terrain. The distance seem to shorten exponentially after only a few minute but as he suspected, the awaited "Boom" happened. He could hear the monster coming for him and a fear like never before gripped Russel. His heart starting beating faster than he ever thought it could and finally the adrenaline hit him, sending his body into overdrive. He soon could make out the object he was suppose to get to, and it looked more like a tower than a pillar as the map had described.
These zebras didn't seem to know much about structures, but he didn't have time to worry about that at the moment. His legs were on fire as the his blood pumped through him at a very fast rate. Russel was now a hundred feet away from the tower, but he didn't know if he was going to make it. The snake was only a short distance away and for Russel time seemed to slow down. The seconds ticked slowly as he got closer and closer to a safe haven from the beast after his giblets. The building was just in his reach as he made the final jump and slammed through the door rolling down a few steps and sliding to a halt.
Russel slowed his breathing down to a more steady rate as he sat up. Looking out the door, he could see the worm only a few yards from the building as it roared and took off in the other direction. Taking in his surrounding, Russel noticed several knocked down columns that probably once held up the small tower but now only three remained. He got up slowly as looked around some more, scanning for anything out of the ordinary. Once he assessed that the room was empty of pretty much anything, he walked over to the other side of the room and saw what appeared to be a bunch of empty torch holder. This was evidence that maybe something else might be here, something that might be hidden.
Slowly feeling the wall, he soon found what he thought he would fined. Several cracks he found residing in the brick wall were connected and Russel went over to the torch holders and began inspecting them. After a minute of that, he pulled one and the tower began to shake. The wall beside him made a series of clicking sounds then a crack noise before it opened like a door. The secret door opened to what seemed like a small cavern with old torches and cobwebs on the walls. Following the path down, Russel came to an old passage way that was rather dark.
Grabbing one of the torches, he pulled down a rather large chunk of cobwebs and wrapped it around the torch. After doing this a couple of times he took a couple of stones nearby and lit the torch. With the fire burning brightly, he could now see the many old grave shelves that once held many coffins. Most of them were decayed beyond recognition but some of them still held together by seriously rotting wood. The hallway had a very creepy feel to it and it even made his bones shiver. The whole place was cold and somehow had many plants growing in the cracked stone floors.
As he descended further, Russel became more uneasy. The air felt like it was getting thicker as he continued deeper into the old building. After a while, he started noticing crystals on the wall that glowed brighter as he crossed their path. It was almost like they could sense his movement and lit up to guide his path. He tossed the torch since he didn't need it anymore and advanced further down the winding dirt path. It soon opened up into a huge cavern that seemed almost unreal.
There were statues that probably represented something majestic but now they stood as an age long since passed. The tables were still mostly intact since they were made of stone. one even had ornate candle holders and deteriorated paper sitting on it. Russel then noticed a rather large door with pictographs on it and several levers nearby. He figured it to be a puzzle and so began searching the room to find anything that would help him solve it. After an agonizing amount of time searching, he found nothing, so he sat in one of the stone chairs to think.
Russel began scanning the walls, soon finding a few images that seemed to match some of the images on the door. Studying both sets, he figured out a pattern. Russel walked over to the levers and pulled them in the same order guessing it followed the same pattern. After completing the pattern, he heard a slow clunk followed by a few more afterwards. The door began to lift, opening up into another equally large anti chamber with crystals all over the walls. Dusty ornate stuff littered around the room but In the middle laid a coffin that seemed to clean and new for its age.
Next to it was a stone table with a treasure chest siting on top. Examining the treasure chest further, he noticed it had a weird keyhole that was fitted to a round key. Russel searched the entire area but found nothing that matched it shape. This got him thinking that maybe it was in the coffin, however he really didn't want to open it. Russel thought back to all the videogames he ever played in which he had to go dungeon diving. He remembered every time there would be corpses or skeletons that would reanimate and attack you on sight.
He was not in the mood for such things but since he now resided in a magical world, it had to be considered a possibility. Approaching the coffin and taking a hold of the lid, he slowly opened it. He soon got the surprisingly heavy lid off, seeing the key that he needed. It was in the folded skeletal hoofs of the coffins dead occupant. Russel hesitantly reached over and carefully lifted the key out of its boney hoof. Breathing out a sigh of relief, he returned to the chest and inserted the key into the lock.
He twisted the key but could not complete his action as he was thrown against the wall by an unknown force. He witnessed the unicorn skeleton reanimate and get out of the box. Walking over to him, the creature looked at Russel for a brief second before saying something in an unknown language. When it didn't get a response, it sent a sword flying into the stone right next to the humans face. The sword lit up and sent out a bubble of electricity, shocking Russel with it. It stopped moments later, leaving a searing pain behind all over his body.

"Whoa now, I don't know what your problem is but I can't understand a word you're saying pal," Russel said through pain fillled gasps in a hopless attempt to get the creature to stop its hostilities. It was apparent that it could not understand him and it soon levitated a book over to it from its death box. The creature chanted something and Russel felt a tingling sensation run through his body, followed by a sharp pain in his throat. The pain subsided after a second and the creature began to talk again. At first it sounded like warbling, but it soon became clear.
He could not speak to the creature so much as he could interpret what it was saying and it understand his speech.

"What art thou doing in thine holy tower of the old ones. nothing else is permitted here not even aliens. So why have you come here alien of another world," the creature asked with a projected voice?

"Hey, I didn't even know about this place, I just happened upon it. There was a giant sand worm attacking me and this was the only place I could take shelter. I thought this place was abandoned, I didn't think it would be a crime to hide until the creature went away. I certainly didn't mean to disturb your slumber. I just got explorative and found this chamber," Russel explained accentuating his discovery of the cave by stretching his hands wide.

"It does not matter, you have gone were you are not allowed. This is the holy temple of the old ones, the masters who will one day return to take the world for there race again. You have seen to much and it is time for your death,"the skeletal drauger said telekinetically pulling out a sword from its coffin. The creature stepped forward, raising the giant sword with its magic then time began to slow. As the sword came down Russel closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable hit. "CHINK," the noise rang out as something knocked the sword away. Russels eyes immediately opened like saucers, shocked that he was still alive. The creature began searching for the new target and found a shadowy figure up near the tunnel.

"RAAAAWWWWWRRRR, you dare interrupt me, you do not belong here and now you too will die. Show yourself to me at once lesser being," the creature commanded of the shadowy figure.

"Yeah, thats what you would like me to do. You are not the first to say that and your certainly not the first to underestimate me. Now let go of him and prepare for your defeat priest," the pony figure said as it stepped out of the darkness and into the bright glow of crystals light.

Author's Note:

Sorry for waiting so long to post this chapter my readers. I'm not stopping, I just have a lot to deal with lately. My holidays were very busy going to see my many relatives. It also doesn't help that I'm now the one that's putting together my brothers bachelor party, that going to be interesting. I have just been busy but don't think I have forgotten about you ponies. I'm back into the writing mode and I will be updating on a regular rate soon.

Comments

[null_name5656]

I dont trust all of those deleted comments, you must admit its a bit suspicious when the only comments that seem to not be deleted are praising the story. Especially when that story has so many downvotes.
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[Faithful Brony]

5583473 it still has more up votes than it does down votes. the down vote are because this is the first story that I post so I was learning how to be a good writer as I was writing it. over time I got better and made many improvements on my skill. the deleted comments that are bunched together is a conversation that I had with one of my followers. the rest of those are errors that I had made in my story that others pointed out and I had fixed. no point in keeping comments pointing out errors that have been dealt with and are no longer there.

[null_name5656]

5584804 Alright, I'll read the most recent chapter to see how good your writing is, then I'll read the first to see if theres any major improvement. I dont care if I have absolutely no clue whats going on because I'm skipping, I just want to see if thats true and your not just deleting negative comments. Because I hate authors who do that.
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[Faithful Brony]

5585317 like I said, I have fixed the errors I made in my story after each one was pointed out. once the errors were fixed, I deleted the comments. none of the comments were hate mail or anything like that, just constructive criticism and help from fellow writers.

[null_name5656]

5586389 Alright, everything checks out. Another successful case solved by the fic police. 2.bp.blogspot.com/-8x4m-jNSfdw/Ubzpv_9VzGI/AAAAAAAAwX0/Ot5z_nBqMXA/s1600/111-internet+police+4.jpg