Chapter 28

I wish I could say I was looking forward to seeing what else this world was about since I was gonna travel somewhere new. But unfortunately, as usual, life just had to kick me in the balls. Just when I thought Moon and I were back on good terms, thanks to Orion’s advice, some dickwad comes along to ruin it all. Now she’s run off to who the hell knows where and we gotta go find her.

It was early in the morning and the girls were following us to the train station along with Luna. My pack was secured over my shoulder, my Amp strapped to my back, and my chain wrapped around my wrist.

“And did ya remember yer extra shirt?” Applejack asked Orion yet another one of her questions before the trip.

“Yes Applejack, I made sure to pack three of them.” Orion rolled his eyes smiling as his girlfriend fussed over him.

“Are you two sure you don’t want us to come with you?” Twilight asked.

“Much as we appreciate the offer, this is a tad personal,” I said as we walked up the steps.

“I agree, this matter should be settled by Axel and Orion only,” Luna said. “Besides, the place you’re traveling to, Somnambula, is quite a ways from here.”

“You ever been, Orion?” I asked.

Orion shook his head. “No, I’ve yet to travel beyond this kingdom. Once I came here, I stopped traveling.” He smiled as he started to kiss Applejack on her freckles. “Why travel when my girlfriend is here?”

“Aw shucks, darlin’,” Applejack giggled.

“Fun fact about Somnambula, it’s named after one of the Pillars of Equestria!” Twilight chirped.

“Pillars?” I said, looking at Orion to see if he knew what she was talking about.

“Hmm, if I remember correctly, they were heroes from long ago, led by the most skilled wizard Starswirl the Bearded.” Orion explained.

“Quite right, Orion, and Starswirl was my sister’s and my teacher when we were young,” Luna said as she smiled reminiscently. She approached the ticket booth to speak with the clerk.

“Still can’t believe these people,” I grumbled. “After months of not even hurting a fly, they still thought she was a villain. Makes me wonder if we would’ve been better off moving somewhere else on day one.”

“I understand you’re upset, my friend, but it’s only natural for people to fear someone like Moon, given her past reputation,” Orion added. “Regardless, complaining about it won’t bring her back, nor will it solve past problems.”

Orion adjusted the very large backpack he had on him, which I almost was certain even had a kitchen sink inside.

“Dude, how much did you pack in there? We’re only gonna be gone for a few days. I just have a few spare shirts and an extra pair of jeans in my pack,” I said.

“Oh? Did you also pack food, or cooking utensils? Maybe money and other necessities for camping?” Orion asked, quirking a brow.

“Uh…I got plenty of money, yeah,” I said, trying to process why he’d need so much stuff when this clearly wasn’t intended to be a camping trip.

“Ugh, to think, you lack basic traveling skills.” Orion shook his head and sighed.

Applejack smirked and leaned up to whisper in Orion’s ear. I watched his eyes go wide and face turn red as Applejack leaned back and wiggled her eyebrows at him.

“Do I wanna know?” I deadpanned.

Orion’s mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, but no words came out. He turned to Applejack with a look of disbelief.

“T-this is a search and rescue mission, you know?” He stuttered.

“And~?” Applejack purred, twirling her finger along his chest.

“Time and place, people!” I snapped.

“Oh, well darn, looks like we’re off. Gotta go bye!” Faster than a bolt of lightning, Orion bolted away from Applejack, grabbed me by the shirt collar, and dragged me into the train.

We both plopped our butts down on the seats just as two tickets came floating in through the window, courtesy of Luna. I then reached into my pack to pull out the necklace Luna gave me the other night.

“I hope this thing works,” I said to myself.

“All aboard! Next stop, Somnambula!” The conductor called out.

“Good luck you two!” Rarity said.

“I’ll be sure to throw you a welcome back party!” Pinkie said.

“Please bring Moon home!” Twilight said.

“Be safe!” Fluttershy said.

“Ya better come back with a new one, Orion!” Applejack said as the train began to move.

“For the love of all things holy, Applejack!” Orion ducked his head down, blushing up a storm.

Soon the train picked up speed and left the station where I watched as our friends shrank into the horizon.

“Again, I ask,” I said, looking at Orion sarcastically. “Do I wanna know?”

Orion shook his head and waved the idea off. “It’s nothing, just Applejack messing with me.” Letting out a sigh, Orion placed the large backpack on the floor. He moved his legs onto the bench as he crossed them together. “I’m gonna meditate ‘till we get there.”

“You do that, I’m gonna listen to some tunes,” I said.

I pulled out my phone and earbuds and scrolled through my playlist. We both sat in silence as the train chugged along.

We’ll be there soon, Moon, just wait for us, I thought to myself.

Some Time Later

“No, I’m telling you,” I said to Orion as he looked at me like I had a third eye. “Back in my world, we have things called tvs. They can literally show you entertainment on a screen like my phone but bigger!”

“Oh please, you expect me to believe that you can watch these films, as you call them, on something that big? It’s hard enough to believe that little device can do it, but something larger is too far fetched,” Orion argued.

“You’re all just living in the old days because you got old tech like radio. I can barely restore my Video with the prehistoric ententes you got around here. But let me tell you about movies. The screens are huge! It’s how we watch movies!” I explained.

“And here we go with the made up words again,” Orion threw his hands into the air and leaned back in his seat. “Next you’ll be telling me you can travel to the moon, or fly faster than Dash.”

“Well…” I tapped my phone to my photo album to show Orion a picture of that famous astronaut on the moon.

“That looks faker than crocodile tears. I wasn’t born yesterday, you know?” Orion turned away looking less than impressed.

“Next stop! Somnambula!” The conductor announced.

We both looked out the window to see a vast valley of sand and desert. We saw a town in the distance and standing over it, to my surprise, was a friggen pyramid like the ones in Egypt!

“Is that a pyramid?!” I said.

Orione looked out the window and was equally amazed. “Oh my, they look amazing! I’ve only ever seen them in pictures from books.”

The train came to a stop and we grabbed our bags. The train doors opened and as soon as we stepped out, we were met with a massive wave of heat.

“Oof! It’s a steamer around here!” I said. I took off my jacket and tied it around my waist.

“Yes, well, this is a desert my friend, the lack of water means the air is dryer here, and that the sun shines brighter.” Orion slipped his hand into his massive pack, and pulled out a bottle before squirting a white paste out onto his hands. He rubbed them together before spreading it across his exposed skin. “Want some sunscreen?”

“I’m good,” I said. “So, where should we start looking?”

“Um…excuse me?” I turned around to see a group of young teens walk up to me, all young boys and girls.

“Can I help you?” I asked.

“Are you the Demon of Ponyville?” One of the teen girls asked.

“Ugh, even here I gotta deal with this crap-” I was about to say when she handed me a newspaper and a pen. The newspaper had me on the front page and it was about my fight with Eris.

“Can we have your autograph?” The girl said.

“Say wha?” I said.

“Seems to me that your reputation is viewed differently here.” Orion smiled as he stepped back.

“You want my autograph?” I asked, pointing to myself.

“Yes please!” The ten girl said with a wide smile, along with her friends.

“Uh…okay?” I said and took the newspaper and pen. “Who do I make it out to?”

“Sandy Rose!” The girl said. I signed the newspaper and handed it back to the girl and she pulled out her camera phone. “Thank you! Can you take a picture with us?”

“Might as well,” I shrugged as they crowded around me. “Yo Orion, can you take the pic?”

“Sure thing.” Orion took the camera and motioned for us to get together. “Alright everyone, smile now.” He said while getting ready to take the picture.

“Cheese!” The group said and I smiled as Orion took the photo.

“There we are.” Orion smiled as he handed the camera back to the teens.

“Thank you so much!” The group said and ran off.

“Well, that was something,” I said.

“I’ll say, but not all that unpleasant.” I felt Orion slap me on the back, which then caused me to fall to the ground due to his absurd strength. “Whoops.”

“Ugh, and I wonder how Applejack still has a spine,” I grumbled as I stood back up.

“You should be more worried about how I still have a pelvis,” Orion mumbled under his breath.

I pulled out the necklace from my pocket and looked at the gem. It had a faint glow to it which meant we were in the right place.

“She’s been here,” I said.

“There seems to be a town nearby.” Orion pointed to buildings far out from the tracks. “Maybe someone has seen Moon, I’m sure she’d be hard to forget.”

“Might as well,” I said and we walked over to the town.

For the next couple of hours, Orion and I begin asking the locals if they’ve seen anyone resembling Moon. To our disappointment, none of the people said they saw Moon or anyone who looked like her. It was a little unexpected to hear that no one had seen Moon around here, since it would be pretty hard to miss her. The sun was about to set now and we were standing by one of the stalls drinking water.

“How hard is it to miss a woman with large dark blue wings and hair that looks like the midnight sky?” I asked rhetorically.

“Maybe she never entered the town. It’s possible she avoided it given she wasn't exactly in a mood to talk to people,” Orion suggested after drinking a large cup of water.

“True,” I sighed, sipping my water and glanced at the bracelet again. “The gem’s still glowing, but not brighter than before.”

“That would imply that either we are moving further from her, or she’s moving away from us,” Orion noted, sounding a little worried.

“We pretty much asked all over town,” I said and stepped away from Orion while looking up to the sky. “Maybe I’d get a better vantage point if I flew up high?”

“I’ll keep asking around down here.” Orion started to go back to asking around the town.

I activated Video and made my digital wings appear. The spectacle made some people startled a little as I flapped my wings and flew up into the air. I kept flying up high in the sky. I could see the whole town from up here which could help in my search. I hovered in the air and held up the necklace. I spun slowly in the air and watched the gem keep its dim glow. I was about to make a full circle when the gem suddenly shimmered a bit brighter. I stopped and turned back to where I saw the shimmer and stopped again when I saw the shimmer. It kept its brighter glow when I looked to see it pointing towards the southeast direction.

“Hmm…maybe she went that way?” I asked myself. I looked down at the town to scan for Orion. I spotted him talking with a cloaked man and flew back down towards him.

“Hey Orion!” I called out and touched down next to him. “I think I finally got a lead.”

“Yeah, I think I found one too but I don’t think you are gonna like it, man.” Orion seemed even more worried than before.

“Why?” I asked as I deactivated my wings.

“The man I was just speaking to said he saw a woman that looks exactly like Moon,” Orion added.

“Seriously?!” I said, sounding hopeful but Orion raised his hand.

“The problem is where he saw her.” Orion pointed southeast. “According to him, in that direction is a part of the city that deals in illegal activity. From selling drugs…to people.”

“What an unfortunate coincidence,” I said, holding up the bracelet. “This thing shimmered a bit brighter when I was up in the sky and pointed it in that direction.”

“Then it really was Moon that he saw.” Shaking his head solemnly, Orion moved to slip his backpack on. “Then we should proceed with caution.”

“Hey, you sure you wanna go over there?” I asked. “Don’t get me wrong, you’re tough, but it sounds like the people who live in that part aren’t people you’d wanna mess with.”

Slipping his hands into two pockets of his bag, Orion pulled out to my very surprise, a pair of brass knuckles that he wore on each one.

“Do I look like someone to mess with?” He asked in a serious tone.

“Guess not,” I smirked. “Okay, but stick close and watch my back, and I’ll watch yours.”

Nodding, both me and Orion made our way towards the southeast part of town. “Make sure to keep a hand on your money and bracelet, I feel like we could run into pit pockets around here,” he warned.

As we approached the bad part of town, I started noticing that it lived up to Orion’s labeling. The buildings looked more run down, the most of the residents all looked shady as fuck, and some of them were giving us the side eye. The women in this part of town all wore skimpy clothing and winked at us while other women licked their lips.

“I feel like I’m in the south side of Miami Beach…” I said to myself.

“I feel like we’re being seen as someone’s next meal.” Orion shivered when he caught a woman pressing her breasts together while licking her lips as he passed by.

“Hey, big, tall, and beefy~,” a night walker sauntered up to Orion. “How’s about a night with me~? I’ll let ya use all of me to your heart’s content~.”

Orion’s face burned before he pulled out a small bag of bits and handed it to her. “Or you can take this money, go buy yourself a nice meal, and I’ll keep going this way.” Quicker than a flicker, he darted away like he had a fire lit under his butt.

“Pfft.” I chuckled and ran after him. “I think she liked you, bro.”

“Oh my naïve idiot of a friend. She wanted me for my body and money, not my heart,” he said, gently patting my back. “Besides, Celestia only knows how many men she slept with.”

“Eh, I’ve seen worse. And I’m from Florida,” I said.

“Pardon me, gentlemen?” A voice said from behind us.

We both turned to see a middle-aged man approach us with a few men following him. He had black and slightly grey hair with green eyes and a beard. He wore a pale top with a red and white polka dot cloth scarf around his neck and khaki shorts.

“Sorry pal, we ain’t interested,” I immediately said.

“Oh, I believe I may have something you might be interested in…Demon of Ponyville,” the man said in a tone that sounded sleazy and gave me bad vibes.

“I don’t think he's a fan, Ax,” Orion whispered as he never turned his eyes away from the man.

“Not everyone is,” I whispered back as we kept walking.

“Are you sure you want to walk away? Your little…usurper of a lover would be quite sad,” the man mocked.

I stopped dead in my tracks at his words. My fists clenched and I slowly looked over my shoulder to glare at the man. Sparks of electricity crackled along my shoulders as my anger began to boil.

“The fuck you say to me?” I snarled.

Orion placed a hand on my shoulder and patted me gently. “Easy Axel, let me do all the talking.”

Orion walked over to the man with a smile, and I was about to call him out, before he grabbed the man by the shirt collar and raised him up in the air, before pinning him to the wall.

“Now then, before we continue our chat I suggest you choose your words carefully,” Orion said in a calm tone.

Orion gestured to me with a thumb as he spoke. “My friend is in a killing mood, and if you’re not careful I can’t promise your life will be safe.”

Orion lowered the man down before bringing him closer to himself. “As for me, I’ll happily beat you within an inch of your life and make every second of your life an agonizing pain.” He said all this, with an honest to God smile on his face.

The guy’s men were about to pounce on Orion but the guy held his hand up to stop them. He seemed too calm even as Orion was holding onto him.

“My my, you are quite the passive aggressive one,” the guy said. “But I suggest you unhand me. If you don’t, I’ll just give a simple nod to my men and you’ll never see the girl again.”

“Fucker…!” I hissed and I unraveled my chain. “What did you do with Moon?!”

“I’m more than willing to tell you, if your friend unhands me,” the guy said to me and looked back at Orion with a confident grin. “So what’s it going to be, young man?”

Orion, though burning with rage, carefully and calmly set the man down and took a step back.

“Thank you,” the man said, dusting himself off. “Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Caballeron. Dr. Caballeron. I am a collector of sorts. You see, I came across the usurper just a couple of days ago. At first, I didn’t think anything of it and believed she was just some lookalike. But then my spies spotted you two stepping out of the train this afternoon. I already am aware of your battle with that dastardly Eris from the paper. Especially how the article mentioned you two were an apparent item. It then struck me that the so-called lookalike was indeed Nightmare Moon herself. So, after some careful quick planning, I decided to, shall we say, take her into custody and restrain her.”

“You’re really pushing it, pal,” I said, gritting my teeth.

Orion tried to keep me calm, while trying to do the same for himself. “Alright, Doc, you have our attention. Given your profession, I’m guessing if we wish to have our friend back, you are expecting us to get something for you. Is that what you want?”

“You must be the sharp one,” Caballeron said to Orion. “And he must be the brawn.”

“Just tell us what you want, asshole,” I sneered.

“If you must know, there’s something I require,” Caballeron said. “And I believe you, Mr. Rickert, and even you, sir, might just be the ones capable of acquiring said item.”

“You honestly think we’re gonna do what you want?” I challenged him. “How do we even know you’re not bullshitting us anyway?”

Caballeron just smirked and lifted his hand and bent two of his fingers as if signaling someone. I arched a brow until more of his men came around the corner of the building. To our utter shock, his men pulled out Moon and her hands and mouth were all bound up. One look at me and I knew she was mortified as tears leaked from her eyes. I grit my teeth as my power switched to Smoke. Usually, only small cinders and smoke trails billowed off of me whenever I activated Smoke. This time, however, flames erupted from my body as I unraveled my chain. The chain also burst into flames and my appearance seemed to surprise Caballeron and his men.

“Mother…FUCKING…COCK SUCKERS!!” I yelled. “LET HER FUCKING GO!!”

Just as I was going to try and get my girlfriend back, Orion moved a hand to chest. He winced as he was enduring the flames, but he kept his hand there regardless.

“Cool it hotshot, remember hee safety is on the line,” Orion told me.

“I would listen to your friend, Mr. Rickert,” Caballeron said.

“I’d rather burn you to a crisp, you bearded fuck!” I snapped.

“You could, but then you wouldn’t know how to take that off,” Caballeron said, pointing to what looked like a choker around Moon’s neck. It had some kind of dark purple jewel on it.

“The fuck’s that?” I demanded as the flames continued to flicker.

“This, my heated friend, is a magical suppression brace,” Caballeron said. “A highly illegal item that was blacklisted by Celestia herself. As the name suggests, it restricts all types of magic to the user. These items were once used by soldiers in the field for interrogation. However, due to some, shall we say, lingering side effects, they were considered dangerous. I managed to acquire this little beauty from a reliable source of mine.”

I was about to charge forward when Orion gave my chest a quick pound, that knocked the air out of my lungs for a second.

“Calm the hell down man, remember to think with your brain and not your muscles,” Orion warned me. Looking back Orion approached Caballeron. “Look, Doc, if you want our help and to not die a most agonizing death, I suggest trying not to antagonize my friend here. Let’s cut to the chase before someone does something they can’t take back.”

“I suppose you have a point.” Caballeron motioned his head to one of his men. The man pulled out a map and tossed it to Orion’s feet. “To the East, there lies a vast jungle that the locals sometimes hike through. I’ve heard there’s a well-known oasis within the center. But more to it, there sits an ancient structure that was once dubbed as The Temple of The Vanishing Snake. This map shows the way to that temple. According to ancient scripts that I pinched here and there, the tribe that used to live in these lands held an artifact that was said to have fallen from the sky. You two will make your way to this temple, find the ancient treasure within, and bring it to me. Do so, and you have my word she will be set free.”

Orion glanced over the map and made sure to look it over. He rolled the map up and slipped it into his pack. “So where is our insurance?” This made the men look somewhat confused. “You don’t expect us to really believe you’ll keep your word, so what insurance will you offer us?”

“Clever young man,” Caballeron said.

He pulled out something from his pocket and flicked it with his thumb over to Orion. Orion caught it and I peered over to see it was some piece of metal.

“That is one half of the key that will unlock the brace. Does that suffice?” Caballeron asked.

Orion looked at the brace on Moon and then the key, before nodding and handing it to me. “We will be on our way.” Before Orion turned he held up a finger as though he remembered something. “One last thing before we go. I think it goes without saying, but to make sure you know if you try any funny business with our friend. Because if you do there isn’t a single being on this or any other planet that will save you from us,” Orion added darkly, which shocked me for the second time today.

I decided to add to this threat and switched to Video. I swung my arms out and a digital circle surrounded me on the ground. A digital angel appeared in front of me, startling everyone, and it bent down on one knee.

“My lord, what is your command?” The angel asked.

“That woman,” I said, pointing to Moon. “You keep watch and make sure nothing happens to her. If any of these men do anything, and I mean anything, happens to her, put these shits down hard.”

“As you command, my lord,” the angel nodded and stood up.

Orion shrugged his shoulder and turned and patted me on the shoulders. “We’ll be back, so please wait for us a little longer Moon.”

I turned to walk with Orion and glanced at Moon. She looked at me with great concern and I only gave her a comforting nod before continuing on with him.

The Next Morning

“Of all the fucking things to happen, of all the shit hands played in my goddamn face, why did Moon getting kidnapped by that douchebag have to happen?!” I barked as we trudged through the dense jungle.

“Stop bitching and keep moving, I think we are nearly there,” Orion called back.

We had found the valley just before the sun rose and had made our way into the dense jungle, to search for the temple that Caballeron wanted us to find.

“Just make sure to keep your ears open and watch your step. We don’t know what’s out here,” he said.

“It’d be easier if I just used Neon to sprint through the jungle,” I said.

“And run out of power before we need it.” Orion swiped his hand to cut through some foliage like a knife. “I know your balls are in a twist but trying to think for once in your life.”

“Sorry, sorry…” I said as I pushed away some big leaves. “I’m just not used to being this stressed out. That’s what college is for.”

“When we get back, remind me to teach you how to meditate, it might help clear you mind.” A large fallen log had blocked our path, before Orion gave it a swift kick and sent it flying. “According to the map we should follow this river,” he said gesturing to a large river stream to our left.

“I never asked,” I said as we hiked along. “You said you’re from Neighpan, right? What’s it like over there?”

“It’s a place of beauty.” There was a tone of fondness in Orion's voice as we moved on. “Beautiful mountains where the tips are covered with snow in the winter. And the sakura trees are in full bloom with pink petals they fall like snow.” I heard him sigh happily as we continued onward.

“What’re the people like?” I asked. “Got any family?”

Orion halted for a moment causing me to bump into his back. He stayed silent for a while before slowly shaking his head. “No. My family was lost many years ago, I’m all that’s left now.”

“Oh…” I said and scratched the back of my head. “Sorry, man, I didn’t mean to bring it up.”

Orion turned to look at me with a smile. “Please worry not my friend. For I have made peace with their passing long ago. And I know they wouldn’t want me to dwell on the pain of their absence. Instead they would want me to live my life to the fullest, as I am now.”

“Like you are with AJ?” I said with a smile of my own.

His smile grew and nodded. “That’s right.” As we continued down the path he held up a hand to get us to stop. “Let’s take a break for a moment, I need make sure we are on the right path.”

We both sat down on the ground and Orion rummaged through his pack.

“I got another question,” I said. “Why’d you leave home in the first place? Sounds like Neighpan is pretty far from Equestria.”

“While true it is a place of beauty, I figured that I’d see the world. Learn all that I can from which books could never truly show you,” Orion added as he examined the map closely.

“That right?” I said. “What’s your cutie mark?”

At this Orion lowered the map. “I don’t have one yet.” he said casually before going back to looking the map over.

“Seriously?” I said, tilting my head. “But you’re like, no offense, my age.”

“None taken.” He lowered the map as he sighed. “I’m not just traveling to learn, but maybe one day find my cutie mark. But if I’m being truly honest, I don’t think it matters if I get one or not.”

“Huh,” I said, sounding surprised. “And here I thought it’s one of the most sought out achievements around here.”

He chuckled as he shrugged. “To some, yes, but where I came from the only thing that matters is doing things you like. If I’m having fun in life, then is a cutie mark truly all that important?”

“I’m guessing not a lot of people in Neighpan have their marks either even though they’re an adult, right?” I guessed.

“You would be correct my friend.” He nodded as he pulled out a compass from his pack, checking to make sure they were on the right path. “Some never find their cutie marks until they reach adulthood. But this isn’t an issue for anyone.” He squinted at the map and tranced his finger along it. “Weird, the river on this map seems to suddenly disappear at some point.”

“Want me to fly up top to see if I can get a clear vantage point?” I asked.

“No, I think we should just keep moving this way.” Orion pointed southeast and started walking. “Just be careful where you step, the earth around here isn't even.”

“Got it,” I nodded. We continued on the path and a thought crossed my mind. “Hey, when’re you gonna ask Rares or Shy out?” My question nearly made Orion trip over a tree root sticking out from the dirt.

After catching himself on a branch, Orion turned to look at me with a look of disbelief. “What is wrong with you people? First Applejack and…” He quickly covered his mouth as his cheeks became slightly red.

“What? They obviously like you,” I said with a shrug. “Moon told me about that joint relationship thing. It sounds like a pretty sweet deal if it means you can date more than one woman, if you’re willing to.”

For a moment he said nothing as he kept trudging onwards. “You make it sound so easy, but don’t you think rushing into a relationship has taught you anything yet my friend?”

“Touché,” I said with a slight sulk. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t ask them out on a date. Not saying you gotta be in a relationship with them from the get-go but perhaps get to know them better and see what happens?”

“Look, let’s focus on saving your girlfriend first, and then we can talk about my own relationships,” Orion said as he held the map out and walked onward.

“Hey, I’m just saying, maybe you should-OH SHIT!” I yelped when I tripped over a patch of dirt. I stumbled forward and ran into Orion and we both went toppling over and down a hill.

“Ow! Fuck! Shit! Ow! My head! My back! My dick!” I cursed as we fell down the hill like a couple of rag dolls.

As we tumbled down through some trees, we got tangled up in thick vines, before crashing into a log. But it didn’t stop there, the impact of our bodies sent us rolling along with the log, and the vines had accidentally started to tie us down to the log.

“You idiot!” Orion shouted after getting some dirt out of his mouth.

Soon the log tumbled and rolled down a hill, ‘till we suddenly found ourselves submerged in water.

The log floated back up to the surface of the water and I coughed out some water.

“I think I have a mild concussion…” I said. I looked down and felt the vines still tied around my arms. “You okay back there?”

“I swear to Celestia and Luna, when we get on dry land, I’m gonna smack you up side the head.” I heard Orion coughing equally hard.

“Hey come on, it’s not my…uh oh,” I said.

“Don’t tell me, we’re about to go over a huge waterfall?” Orion asked calmly.

“Yep…” I nodded.

“Sharp rocks at the bottom?” He asked curiously.

“Most likely,” I nodded, accepting our fate.

I didn’t hear anything from Orion for a minute before he spoke. “Bring it on,” he said calmly.

As soon as we floated over the edge, I heard Orion scream at the top of his lungs.

“OOOOOOHHHH SHIIIIIITTTT!!!” I yelled.

“BOOOOYYAAAAHHAHAHAHA!!!” Orion screamed.

My arms and legs felt like jell-o as I barely managed to crawl on the sandy shore of the river. I collapsed to my side and tried to catch my breath as Orion crawled up beside me. As soon as we had crashed down into the water, I was able to use Video to make a digital dagger to cut us out of the vines. We would’ve most likely drowned if I hadn’t conjured it up. The massive waterfall continued to crash behind us as we wheezed and coughed up water.

“Well…that sucked,” I said and coughed.

Suddenly, I felt a hard slap to the back of my head that made me lurch forward almost falling face first into the ground.

“I deserve that…” I said, holding up a finger.

“Oh trust me you are getting more for the waterfall later,” Orion said bitterly as he grabbed his backpack that drifted onto the shore next to us. When he tried to pull out the map, all he brought out was a wet and smeared piece of parchment.

“Eish…” I said and grabbed my pack. “Now what?”

Orion looked around before stopping as he tossed the map aside. “I don’t think we’ll be needing this anymore.”

“How come?” I said and turned around.

I was unprepared to see a massive ancient structure that had a statue of a snake coming up from the side. The thing had to be at least five stories tall and was covered in old branches and nature.

“Okay…that’s not ominous,” I said sarcastically.

“Well, at least they were consistent with the naming of the place,” Orion joked as he then pointed to something. “Do you see that boat there?”

We walked over to the boat and noticed there were a few supplies in it such as rope, a satchel, and what looked like climbing gear.

“Is there someone already here?” I guessed.

“Maybe Caballeron sent someone down here before? It would make sense how they had that map?” Orion asked before walking up near the entrance.

“Yeah…maybe-hey!” I ran up to Orion and stood in front of him. “First rule of adventure movies, dude?” He looked at me like he had no idea what I was on about. “Always watch where you step! If Indiana Jones has taught me anything, it’s that temples like this are sure to be chock full of booby traps!”

“Indiana who?” Orion asked before looking back at the entrance and checking out the floor.

“Look, just be mindful of the floors and walls,” I said as I pulled out my Amp. “You never know what to expect. Me especially, since this is my first time doing something like this.”

“Uh huh,” Orion said, less than amused and walked on ahead disregarding what I just said. “Hey, the door looks like it’s been opened already.”

“Guess we aren’t alone after all,” I said and we stepped inside. “Keep your head on a swivel.”

“That sounds like it would hurt.” Orion smirked as he grabbed the door and began to pull it open. The stone door opened outward.

The interior looked like what you’d expect from an ancient temple. Especially since there were statues of king cobras along the walls with flames in their mouths as torches. The walls had a vast array of old hieroglyphics that probably told a story from days gone by. We slowly walked through the corridor while glancing at the floor for any mismatched tiles.

“Call me crazy, but I think these people had a thing for snakes,” I said rhetorically.

“Really? How could you tell?” Orion said sarcastically as he tapped one of the stone cobras. “Was it the large detailed cobra statues, or the fact this temple is named The Temple of The Vanishing Snake?”

“Both,” I said back. “Twilight would probably have a field day trying to decipher these hieroglyphics.” I looked at the walls and the symbols that looked gibberish to me.

“I agree, she showed me this one series of books recently. I forgot the name of the series but it had to do with something like treasure hunting.” Orion smiled as he found himself admiring a clay pot on the ground.

We continued down the corridor and my foot kicked something that sounded metallic. I looked down and bent down to pick up something shiny. When I held it up, it was a gold coin with a picture that looked like a green snake.

“Check it out,” I said, showing Orion the coin. “Souvenir.”

“Huh, that’s odd, why would there be a gold coin in this hallway?” Orion wondered as he glanced around. “Do you think someone came through here and dropped it?”

“Who knows, it’s mine now I guess,” I shrugged and put the coin in my back pocket.

We continued further into the temple while walking up and down some small staircases. We then arrived at another corridor with angry cobras carved on each side of the walls. In their open mouths were little holes, and there were mismatched tiles on the ground.

“Booby trap,” I said.

“Hmm so it seems like you know what to do in these kinda of situations. What should we do, oh wise one?” Orion teased.

“Saw this in a movie once. See how some of the tiles are not all the same?” I said, pointing at the floor. “Don’t step on the square-shaped ones.”

“Why don’t you go ahead and go first then, since you believe you know the right way,” Orion suggested as he stepped back.

I shrugged and tiptoed on the first tile. Nothing happened and I then hopped over to the next one. I had to be careful with my hops because it literally felt like one wrong step and I’d get an ass full of darts. I glanced back at Orion and he was just staring at me. I resumed my careful steps and hops to the other side until I finally managed to clear the tiles.

“Whew! That was a doozy,” I said.

“Why didn’t you just fly over them with your digital wings?” Orion asked with a cocky smile.

I stood there as the idea hit me like a sack of bricks. I then walked over to the wall and banged my forehead against it.

“I don’t…wanna talk about it…” I grumbled. “Just get over here.”

“Well, if I'm gonna cross then I'm gonna have fun with it.” Orion smiled as he began to walk forward without paying attention to where he was stepping.

“DUDE! THE FUCK!” I yelled.

Soon arrows began to fire from the snake’s mouths. But Orion continued to smile as he began to twist and turn his body, using the moment to whip the arrows away before they could hit. He danced across the floor twisting and twirling his body as his hands acted like living snakes, smacking arrows away on the side, or grabbing them midair and throwing them away.

Within a second he was standing on the other side with me, with not a scratch on him. “Well, that was a nice warm-up.”

“I…you…how the…!” I was completely flabbergasted at what I just witnessed. I just witnessed this man who was as tall and buff as Orion dance around like a friggen ballerina across a booby trap like it was nothing.

“How the hell did you do that?!” I asked.

“As a martial artist, we need to be both strong and agile. Firm like a mountain, but ever flowing like a stream.” Orion smiled after patting my shoulder.

I nearly let go of my Amp in my hand before I adjusted my grip and sighed heavily before we continued onward.

“Any guesses what this treasure is?” I asked. “Something about it falling from the sky?”

“Well since the temple is modeled and named after a snake, maybe some kind of gold statue of a snake?” Orion suggested.

“Come on, it can’t be that obvious,” I said.

“Okay genius, what do you think it is?” Orion playfully pushed me.

“Do I look like a historian?” I said back. “I’m from Florida, dude, we’re not always savvy with this archeology shit.”

“Yeah you’re right, you do look more like a muscle bound dumbass.” Orion smirked as he examined the walls.

“Hey!” I snapped but then realized he was right. “At least I got a college diploma…”

“Was it jumping to conclusions, or was it leaping before you looked?” He quipped, still smiling.

I rolled my eyes as we continued on. The torches on the walls were more dim than the ones we saw when we walked in. I decided to make it brighter by holding up my Amp and activating Smoke. The two bars ignited with bright flames and cinders, illuminating the temple around us.

Orion glanced around and assumed a fighting stance. “We aren’t alone,” he warned.

I stopped and looked around. I waved my Amp around and stepped to one of the dim torches. Upon closer inspection, I noticed there were traces of dampness.

“Someone splashed water on these things,” I said in a serious tone.

Orion circled around so we were back to back. “Keep your eyes open, they might attack from anywhere,” Orion said.

Clink clink!

We both turned to see a ball with a fuse string attached bouncing towards us. The fuse was lit and was about to light the ball.

“Or…right now,” I said.

Orion darted forward and gave the ball a swift kick to move it away. “Duck and cover!” He shouted.

Ka-boom!

The entire corridor was filled with smoke and I couldn’t see a damn thing. I coughed a little from the sudden attack and waved my hand in front of me. I heard footsteps quickly run up to me so I had to act fast. I raised my hand and focused my power. I then began to absorb the smoke around us until it was all clear. I looked up to see a boot about to come down on my face. I barely managed to jump out of the way and swung my Amp at my attacker. The attacker jumped back with a flip and held their fists up.

“Who’s the jackass?!” I barked, holding up my Amp.

To my surprise, the attacker turned out to be a woman with wings on her back. She wore tan cargo shorts, brown hiking boots, a forest green collared shirt, and a safari hat. Her hair was black and two-toned with gray streaks and her eyes were magenta rose. The chick looked ready to knock me out as she held up her fists.

“Who the hell are you?!” I snapped.

The woman didn’t respond and unfurled her wings and flew at me to attack.

“Alright, little miss, time to calm down.” Orion moved in and grabbed the woman by the ankle and held her upside down.

The woman clicked her tongue and swung her elbow right at Orion’s crotch. Orion swung his knee forward forcing the woman to hit it hard with her elbow, making a loud popping sound.

“ARH!” The woman cried out and held her arm.

“Ooh…I heard that one,” I cringed and walked over to Orion. The woman glared at me as she held her arm painfully. “Care to tell us your name?”

“Up yours, thief!” The woman snapped

“Yeesh, and I thought I had a mouth,” I said.

“Listen ma’am, I’d rather not be the cause of another injury, so why don’t you calm down and stop attacking us,” Orion suggested while slowly setting the woman down.

“Big talk for a couple of thieves-agh!” The woman cringed and held her arm tightly.

“We’re not thieves, lady, we’re…uh…we’re adventurers!” I said confidently.

Orion knelt down and examined the woman’s arm. “Is it broken or dislocated, ma’am?” Orion asked as he tried to examine her arm.

The woman scooted away from Orion, trying to avoid him.

“He’s just trying to help, lady,” I said.

“I’d rather not associate with those who work for that con artist, Caballeron,” the woman said defiantly.

Orion and I looked at each other before looking back at the woman.

“We don’t work for that jackass,” I stated, crossing my arms.

“More like we are being blackmailed to do what he wants,” Orion added. “They are holding my friend’s girlfriend prisoner until we can bring whatever treasure here to him.”

“Girlfriend?” The woman said and looked like she was trying to piece something together. “I heard they took someone hostage, who is she?”

Orion looked at me, then back to the woman. “Who she is matters not, all you need to know is that we intend to find the treasure to get her back.”

He moved closer and gestured for him to look at her arm. “Now then, are you gonna let me examine your arm or not? It’s my fault it was hurt.”

“If what you say is true, then look me in the eye,” the woman said. “Are you thieves for your own gain, or are really here for what you say you are.”

Orion looked her in the eyes and nodded. “I, Orion swear to you, our intention is pure, and that we are not here to seek for our own gain.”

The woman’s gaze never left Orion’s for a full minute until she looked at me.

“And you?” She asked.

“Got no interest in whatever the hell he wants. All I want is to save my woman,” I said. “She’s very precious to me.”

The woman then cracked a small smile and nodded. “It seems I misjudged you, both of you,” the woman said. She raised her arm a little to Orion.

Orion nodded and gently gripped the woman’s arm, repeating the process up to her elbow. “Ah, thankfully it’s neither broken, nor dislocated. The humerus was just too hard.” Orion gently poked his fingers into her arm and twisted. “There, that should make you feel better.”

The woman moved her arm and it looked like it didn’t really hurt it in the first place.

“Woah…what did you do?” She asked.

“Is that that pressure point thing masseuses do?” I wondered.

Orion nodded and stood up, before gently helping the woman onto her feet. “That’s exactly right, if you do the presses properly you can help ease pain, or even stun your enemies.”

The woman stood up and dusted herself off.

“I guess I should introduce myself,” the woman said and held out her hand. “The name’s Daring Doo, adventurer extraordinaire.”

“Axel, Axel Rickert,” I said, shaking her hand and then sheathed my Amp.

“I’m Orion.” Orion stopped for a moment and hummed as he tapped his chin. “Your name sounds familiar, yet I can’t seem to remember why.”

“Considering my name is mentioned in a certain series of books that a good friend of mine writes,” Doo said with a smirk.

Orion snapped his fingers in what I imagine to be a revelation. “That’s right. Daring Doo is the name of the book Twilight reads.” Orion’s face then turned to a look of confusion. “Hold on…I thought those were fiction novels?”

“Not exactly,” Doo shrugged.

“Wow, fiction becomes reality,” I said. “Who’d’ve thought?”

“I know, right?” Doo said. “I guess now that we understand each other, we can maybe work together to get to the treasure.”

“And why exactly do you need it?” I asked.

“To preserve this civilization’s legacy,” Doo said and pulled out a scroll. “I’ve been searching for this temple for months. The ancient tribe from the days of old used this temple as a place to pray.”

“Weird place to pray, if you ask me,” I said, looking at the snake themed interior.

“Well, certain cultures throughout the world have many ways to worship their deities. Some pray, others offer tribute and sacrifices,” Orion said as he looked around the chamber.

“There’s something else I found while researching this temple,” Doo said. “Old scripts indicated that the tribe had a priceless artifact that they believed was a gift from the gods.”

“How’s that?” I wondered.

“They wrote that it fell from the starry sky,” Doo said.

“Fell from the sky?” Orion asked curiously. “Could it be a fallen star perhaps?”

“Yes! That’s the theory!” Doo said to Orion. “I want to preserve this artifact by bringing it to the people of Somnambula. They deserve to have a piece of their forgotten history.”

“But we need the artifact in order to get our friend back from Caballeron,” Orion pointed out.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” I said. “Let’s say we get a move on.”

With Doo with us, it certainly felt like things would be a lot easier to navigate through the temple. While we traversed through the temple, Doo told us about the many adventures she had across Equestria. Orion seemed to especially get a kick out of hearing her adventures.

“And I barely had enough time to make it out from the ruins with the Skeleton Bracelet, if not for my flying skills I picked up over the years,” Doo said.

“Well, if what you say in your stories are true, then it’s a good thing they weren’t broken like in your last book, or the book before that, and the recent one,” Orion playfully teased.

We soon entered another room that was a bit circular. At the far end of the room was a figurehead that looked like a snake’s head. The fangs were sticking straight down and looked like some kind of lever mechanism.

“Seems we’ve come across another trap,” I said.

Orion carefully moved in closer, and leaned down to examine the head’s mouth. “There are grooves along these fangs. I wager that they act as levers, but given there are two of them, I believe we can expect one to be a trap, and the other shall let us pass.”

“Let me decipher the glyphs,” Doo said and walked over to the wall to read.

“She’s an interesting one,” I said to Orion.

He nodded and smiled. “She’s quite knowledgeable, and seems to know how to fight. I imagine that is required in her line of work,” he said admirably.

“You can say that again,” I nodded. “I hope Moon’s doing okay. I swear, if they try to touch her…” I clenched my fists as small cinders flickered off my hands.

Orion placed a hand on my shoulder. “Easy, my friend, she’s perfectly safe now that you have that guardian watching her. For now let us focus on the task at hand.”

“I think I got it!” Doo said while still reading the wall. “It says to…pull the fang on the left to proceed to the path of the star!”

“Wow, she’s good,” I said. “Care to do the honors?”

“Oh no, after you,” Orion said as we walked over to the fangs. “Pull the lever, Axel.”

I nodded and grabbed the left fang and gave it a pull.

“Oh! Oh wait! I miss-read a symbol! It says to pull the-!” Doo said when a trap door opened under Orion’s feet.

Immediately, Orion fell through the trap door.

“Wrong Lever——-!!” He shouted as he disappeared out of sight.

“-right lever…” Doo finished as she sheepishly turned to face me.

“Oh shit…” I said and we both heard a splash at the bottom.

A moment later we heard snarling and grunting, feeling the ground shake as heavy splashes were made.

“Orion?!” I called out into the hole. “Dude! Are you okay?!”

“Did I kill him?!” Doo panicked.

The noises then soon stopped and we both assumed the worst. It wasn’t until a wall opened up on the other side of the room and Orion stood there with his clothes all torn up, and there was a fricken crocodile biting his ass.

“Uh…you good, bro?” I asked hesitantly.

Orion gave a swift smack to the crocodile'’s snout, and it immediately released its grip and whimpered as it ran away.

“Why would they even have that lever?” Orion asked irritably

“I’m so sorry!” Doo said. “I thought it said the left, are you okay?!”

“I’ll have to explain to Applejack why I have bite marks on my ass, that weren’t made by her, but yeah I’m fine,” Orion chuckled as he pulled an extra shirt out of his pack, and began to remove the wet and torn one.

I noticed Doo staring at Orion’s body as he stuffed his torn shirt back in his pack. Her cheeks turned a shade of pink before she quickly looked away and pulled her hat down over her face. I smirked and suppressed a chuckle as Orion put a new shirt on.

“Well, now that we know which lever not to pull, how about I pull the right one?” Orion moved to pull on the lever that was the correct one.

There was a loud clunking noise and we watched the wall with the snake head turn and reveal a pathway leading to another chamber.

“Ahem, let’s continue,” Doo said and quickly led the way to the next chamber of the temple.

Doo walked ahead of us and I hung back with Draco.

“Did you seriously wrestle that croc down there?” I asked.

“Yeah, why do you ask?” Orion asked as he rubbed his butt where the croc bit him.

“That thing had to be at least three hundred pounds! You’re strong, granted, but still! I knew guys back home who handled crocs all the time, and they didn’t even dare mess with those big bastards,” I said.

“Sheesh, that guy is strange…” I said to myself.

The next chamber had a bit of a strange layout. There was an entryway that led to another chamber on the right and another entryway that led to a separate room on the left. In between was a closed door with two separate locks that held it closed shut.

“Which way?” I asked.

“Let me see,” Doo said and read the hieroglyphics. After about a minute, she nodded her head. “Okay, I think I got it. The right entryway holds some kind of mechanism that will open the locks and the left will open the door itself.”

“Doo and I will go on the right,” I said. “Orion? Can you go on the left?”

“Very well,” Orion said as we went our separate ways.

I went with Doo through the right entryway. It was a short trek to another room that had a strange-looking pedestal in the center in the shape of another snake’s head. I looked up and the ceiling looked like it was jutting downwards.

“Weird,” I said. “Hey Orion! Did you make it?”

“Yeah, but there’s something weird about this room. My feet keep stepping on something crunchy,” Orion called out.

“Must be gravel,” I shrugged as I leaned on the sake head.

“Hmm…hang on…” Doo said when she was reading more hieroglyphics on the wall. “There’s two mechanisms?”

“Two? What do you-?” I said when she turned back to me and gasped.

“Axel! Don’t lean on that!” Doo yelped.

“Huh?” I said.

Suddenly, my arm pushed in one of the fangs in the snake’s mouth. The snake head then began to sink into the ground and large spikes from the jutted out ceiling poked out. The door leading back into the other chamber shut on its own and the ceiling began to slowly descend.

“Oh fuck…” I said.

“Orion! You have to search around for a hole in the wall that connects to ours!” Doo yelled. “There’s another lever that will-!”

“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!” We heard a high pitched scream.

“What the fuck?! Orion! The hell’s wrong with you?!” I barked.

“B-b-b-b-b-BUGS!!” We heard him shout in panic.

“Bugs?! What fuckin’ bugs?!” I yelled.

“All over this room!” He shouted back.

“Orion! Forget the bugs!” Doo yelled as the ceiling descended closer and closer. “You have to find the lever in the wall!”

There was a brief silence before he called out. “I see it. What now?”

“Stick your hand in and feel for the lever!” Doo instructed.

I activated Concrete and tried to make some pillars to stop the ceiling from descending any further. I thrusted my hands upwards from the ground. My efforts proved to be fruitless because the ceiling was cracking my pillars faster than I would make them.

“There are fucking bugs in there, man, no fucking way!” Orion screeched out in panic.

“Grow a pair and do it!” I yelled, desperately trying to slow the ceiling.

We waited for a while and heard him screaming more. “Ahhhh! They’re crawling all over me! Get ‘em off! Get ‘em off!!”

“ORION!” I screamed, just as the ceiling was on top of us and I coated my arms and legs in Concrete to grab hold of it and hold it up.

“WE!! ARE GOING!! TO DIE!!!”

Author's Note

How will they be able to get out of this sticky situation?

Side Note:
So sorry this took so damn long. Life and constant procrastinations are a bitch and a half! Hopefully, this chapter and more posts from my other stories will make up for it.

Hope you enjoyed!

~WurkyWilk has left the building…