The Quest Through Time

Chapter 16

The good news for Snowblind and Dax was they got away without a scratch. The bad news was now they found themselves at the bottom of a garbage chute, and from the smell itself, things had been accumulating here for years.

“What a lovely smell you found,” Dax said irritably. “You just had to pick the garbage chute didn’t you?”

“I picked the garbage chute because one, we had troops shooting at us and two, this will lead us out towards the communications array. It’s not that bad, could be worse.”

All of a sudden they heard what sounded like a roar close by. “It’s worse,” Dax said. “Now if you don’t mind, I’m getting out of here before I lose a leg in the process.”

Once they finally managed to get out, Dax let out a frustrated groan. “This smell is never gonna come out,” he said. “Should’ve stayed with Arwen.”

“And leave me alone?” Snowblind said, wiping sewage off his face. “I’m insulted.” He then looked around. “Where are we exactly?”

“Looks like a basement, if anything,” Dax said as they continued through the large room. “Almost seems abandoned, there’s practically nothing here.”

“Let’s just hope that’s the case.” All of a sudden they heard something clatter to the ground. “Did you hear that?”

“Guess we’re not alone after all,” Dax said, gripping his gun. There was only silence then. “Sheesh Snowblind, can’t you light the place up or something?”

Snowblind shot a flare spell from his horn which flew off across the room. For the most part machinery and parts, nothing out of the ordinary but- “Wait, what’s that?” There was something on the other side of the room, something big. “Is that a…?”

“A mech?” Dax finished. Indeed it was, but a much larger one than the ones they were used to seeing. But something else was odd.

“Wait a minute… I don’t see anywhere where a pony can drive this…” Snowblind said.

“You mean this thing runs on it’s own?” Dax asked.

“Could be remote-controlled,” Snowblind replied, looking it over. “Or… dare I say it, perhaps controlled via AI.”

“Oh wonderful,” Dax groaned. “This is just wonderful. Looks like Ghidious has some new toys for us.”

“It’s a good thing we found this, for others are probably being created as we speak,” Snowblind said. “But this could be a prototype. Why it’s here, I don’t know, but we need to get going, and then we’ll tell everypony else.”

All of a sudden, there came a small beep as lights started flashing on it. “Uh, I think it’s turning on…” Dax said, panic in his voice.

“Yes but it’s still in sleep mode,” Snowblind explained. “Even if it was, it hasn’t been used in awhile so it has to run diagnostics.”

“Oh yes, run diagnostics on the machine gun and rocket launcher it’s carrying!” Dax snapped.

“Hm, yes you’re right, we should go, but go slowly, if it picks up our movements it might wake up.” They tried backing up as slowly as they could but it was no good as a sensor suddenly activated.

“System reboot, main systems online. Main weapons online.”

“Okay buck it, let’s just run!”

“Threat detected, engaging hostiles.” The sound of a machine gun started firing and the bullets were close to nicking the back of their legs.

Snowblind set up a barrier, but with the rate of the gun firing and his stamina dropping, it wouldn’t last long. To make matters worse, the mech then fired off a missile that was aimed at the ceiling. It was trying to trap them inside.

“Move!” Dax said, as they ran as fast as they could. The ceiling was crumbling, but if they could make it out in time, at least the mech would be trapped, if not temporarily. “Damn it we’re not gonna make it!”

“Grab on to me!” Snowblind said. Dax did so and all of a sudden he felt as if his body was being ripped apart. The feeling did not last as suddenly they found themselves behind where the ceiling had collapsed.

“Teleportation spell,” Dax said. “Now why couldn’t you have done that before we were getting shot at?”

“It had its risks,” Snowblind said, panting and wiping dust off himself. “If I hadn’t stayed focused, you would’ve died because only half of your body would’ve been here right now, so I wouldn’t be complaining.”

Dax said nothing, keeping the horrible image out of his head.

“It won’t be long ‘til they figure out where we are,” Snowblind said. “We have to keep going.” He then put a hoof to his ear. “Arwen, do you copy? This is Snow… Arwen? Do you copy?” No response. “Damn it. If she’s not responding this is bad news.”

“She can’t be…” Dax started.

“No,” Snowblind said. “Even if she was captured, they wouldn’t kill her right away. We’re all high-valued targets. Alright, let’s plant those explosives and get those girls out of here.”

“I know it’s a large task, but I have faith in you Dawn, I know you can save the world from chaos…”

“That voice…” Twilight thought. “It’s Princess Celestia… but who is Dawn?”

It was as if she was in a dark room, but suddenly as if in a movie a scene appeared before her. Celestia, or what appeared to be a younger Celestia, was speaking to… “Me? Is this Dawn? But she almost looks exactly like me…”

Suddenly the scene disappeared in a flash of light!

(A/N: For this next part the song I’m using is “Follow Fi” from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.

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Twilight woke up and, perhaps to no surprise, found herself in a cell. The last thing she remembered was being hit with knockout gas. Obviously she, Rarity, and Arwen have been captured by the enemy.

She went up front and looked around but saw and heard nothing. “Rarity? Arwen?” No answer. She saw the lock and used her magic. But it did not break off. She tried again but still nothing. “Magic-resistant no doubt,” she thought. She was going to need something else to break the lock.

Of all of a sudden the cell seemed to light up. Coming out of the wall was a small ball of light, like a mini sun. Twilight stared at it, not sure if this was some sort of trick or perhaps an interrogation device. It circled her once and then went to the corner where- “There’s a hole right there,” she noticed. Had it been there the whole time, or was this just created. It was small enough to crawl through and the ball of light seemed to be beckoning here. “Guess I don’t have a choice do I?” she said to no one in particular.

She then started crawling through. It was a bit tight but she could manage. A guard certainly could not fit through here if he tried to follow her. *Once she got through, she found herself outside of… wherever she was. It seemed the base had a separate prison cell.

The ball of light was still with here and started flying off slowly, still beckoning her. “What are you trying to show me?” Twilight asked. No response, which was not a surprise. She was now in a part of Manehattan that was unfamiliar to her. It seemed to be some sort of courtyard, but it hasn’t been maintained for quite some time. Then she noticed something glimmer in the distance. She continued forward, no longer just following. When she got closer, her eyes widened slightly.

There was a sword, a magnificent sword, stuck in a pedestal. It seemed to be the only thing that hadn’t withered away. “What is this…?”

“This is the sword known as Exacalibur,” a voice said, startling her. “Through many generations it has gone by different names, but it’s importance has always been the same. This sword is the key to defeating Chaos…”

“Chaos?” Twilight asked.

“You must take the sword Twilight Sparkle. It is your destiny…”

“But I’m not a swordsman,” Twilight argued. “I’m a mage, I have no-” She stopped, realizing the voice was not listening to her. She then sighed. “Fine… I’ll take it.”

(A/N: For this next part the song I’m using is “Blessing of the Goddess” from Skyward Sword.

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*She then walked over to the sword, grabbing the hilt with both her hooves. She pulled, feeling resistance but slowly the sword came and upon pulling it out, held it up, staring at its magnificence.

“Finally, took you long enough,” a voice said, directly in her head. Strangely it sounded similar to hers.

“W-Who are you?” Twilight asked.

“I am the guardian of this sword,” the voice said. “Once you pulled out the sword, we became one, which is why I am in your head. You may call me… Artemis.”

“Artemis?” Twilight asked, almost giggling. “But Artemis’ weapon was a bow.”

“…I know that,” Artemis said with annoyance in her voice. “Are you going to be smart with me the entire time?”

“I don’t even know what’s going on right now!” Twilight almost shouted. Thank Celestia no one was around. “But I do need this sword to free my friends.”

“I suppose I will have to get you up to speed with everything,” Artemis said. “But not now, it is probably best to- …Twilight, listen to me you have to get out of there, now! Run!”

(A/N: For this next part the song I’m using is “Silent Realm – Guardian Chase” from Skyward Sword.

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Twilight was not sure what was going on but the courtyard seemed to be getting darker, as if the sun was disappearing over the horizon. She also felt cold, almost freezing. She then ran for it, running back the way she came. *All of a sudden, a pony appeared before her, wearing what looked like a death mask, concealing his face.

She attacked with her magic and the figure retreated but others seemed to be following. “Meet the Death Squad, Ghidious’ Elite Guard. Summoned from Tartarus, they will not give up on a target unless ordered. You do not want to be captured by them,” Artemis warned her.

They kept following her, but strangely at a distance, as if toying with her. All of a sudden, one of the walls of a building next to her blew up as one of them tried to intercept her. She then used a teleportation spell to get away but soon she had nowhere else to go. She was cornered.

The Death Squad made their move but then suddenly stopped as someone appeared behind them. “That is quite enough,” the voice said. “I think we should let our guest live just a little bit longer.”

The Elite Guard then moved back and saw Twilight saw that it was their own master himself. “Pleasure to see you again Twilight Sparkle,” Ghidious said, smiling.

(A/N: So… I apologize for being gone so long. I spent the last month playing Mass Effect 3 and… getting lazy with my writing. I hope this makes up for everything. By the way I like the new YouTube thing on here.)