Symbols

Chapters

Professors of the Past
The Journey Begins
The First Stop
The Last Night
The First Real Threat
Signs

Professors of the Past

Chapter One: Professors of the Past

Twilight Sparkle was looking over some books when she found something very interesting and fascinating as well too. She glanced over the section just to make sure, yes, it was true, it was real, and she just thought that it was a myth and legend instead. She just had to tell some pony about this right now, but who? Surely Celestia wouldn’t believe her, but then again, she just might.

“SPIKE! WHERE ARE YOU EXACTLY BECAUSE I NEED YOU RIGHT NOW!”

“Relax Twilight, I’m right here for you,” he said coming on down.

“Alright good, take down a letter to Celestia and just say that I need to talk to her right away very urgently,” she said trotting around the room very nervously right now. “Is that really it and all?” Spike said as she wandered around now.

“Yes, that’s all, I would rather let her confirm my suspicions instead.”

And with that said a letter instantly came back to Twilight.

“She says that she’s very busy right now but can come if you will explain.”

“Fine then, let me write this time,” she said scribbling very fast.

And with that said she sent off her next letter and then another one came back, “She says that she’s coming over right now, wow, that was very fast.”

“Well if I am right then we don’t have very much time at all.”

And with that said she waited until Celestia could come over to her.

“Twilight, I am so very glad to see you, but is it true? Did you find it?”

“I think that I have,” she said smiling and showing her the book right now then, “This is a new one that I just recently found in the library.”

“I thought that you didn’t have any new books Twilight,” Spike said.

“I don’t, but this castle does for some strange mysterious reason,” she said.

And with that said she turned to the section of the book, “There it is.”

“Beautiful,” Celestia said, “You know what this means right? You’ll have to gather every scientific and adventurous pony around and ask all of them for some volunteers to go on an epic dangerous quest filled with peril, but I’m sure that they’ll be more than enough so you’ll have to pick the very best, and of course the whole entire expedition will be paid for by me naturally.”

“Well of course, and I just want to thank you for your kindness right now.”

“You’re welcome Twilight Sparkle, anything for my favorite and best student.

And with that said she smiled and then said, “I must leave now, royal duties and matters and stuff like that and all, but I will wish to hear of your constant progress, so let me know when something changes, and as always, good luck.”

And with that said Celestia suddenly left as quickly as she came.

“Okay, what’s going on here exactly?” Spike said very confused right now.

“I’ll explain to you and every pony very soon enough,” she said, “But for now I just need you to trust me and help me with this slide show presentation.”

And with that said she went to work trying to ready her findings.

And with that they eventually finally were ready to present to a class.

And very soon enough they had one, and her friends there as well too.

“Well hello there every pony,” she said smiling very lightly right now at her incredible discovery, “Today I will challenge everything that you believe with my latest new discovery, because I think that I have finally found the lost city.”

Suddenly there was a murmur among the crowd, “Now then, I know most of you believe that this is merely just a myth or legend, or that if it is not then it can never be found or recovered, but I think that I might just have a way to disprove your concerns,” she said pulling out her book and turning to a page, “Spike, display the contents on the big screen for every pony to see.”

And with that said he did so and they gasped at what they saw there, very old ancient symbol that had no meaning and made no sense, “So it’s true,” one pony said with wonder. “Yes, it is, and you’re going to find it for us,” she said.

They gasped, the prospect of journey and adventure was just too much for them to take in at once, “Now then I’m asking you since me and my friends could be called to solve a friendship problem any moment, but you won’t ever be busy. But don’t worry, this trip is fully funded by me and the princess, anything that you could possibly ever need just ask and it will be done.”

“Who did you have in mind for the journey?” some random pony said.

“Whoever is the best, smartest, quickest, strongest, and wisest too.

And that means that you’re going to be tested by all of us, but in the end it will only be six that can go on this very epic mighty journey and quest, now then before be begin or start are there any more questions from you still?”

“Yes, actually, this all sounds very great, but what does that say up there exactly?” a pony said pointing to the symbols which read like this.

Stay very far away from this city if you want to live, do not ever come here for your own safety, do not put yourself in danger or peril or harm either instead, for my many treasures which while I hold right now will eventually fade away as do all things eventually do, for time eats away at all gold turning it into dust at last. Stay very far away and never come here for your own safety, this is your first, last, and only warning, there will be no more second chances for you now.



“I don’t know exactly, it defies even my understanding and Celestia’s too, but I’m sure that maybe one of you can figure it out eventually,” she said,

“And what if we don’t, what then?” some pony else said now then.

“Then you’ll just have to guess like I did, now from what I can make out in the book the city should be somewhere south of here, and that’s all that I can give for right now since the book is so very old and not details, sorry every pony.”

And with that said they all groaned, “Now then, I know that you have all had experience with history in the past, but one of the ponies that will be joining you hopefully is going to be an expert on adventure and danger and peril, I can’t say who she is yet exactly because I have to protect her identity, but if you do pass all the tests and trials then you will know her identity.”

“Out of curiosity what are these trials exactly?” one pony said now.

“I’m very glad you asked, because we’re going to test and train your speed, strength, intelligence, mind, body, and everything else starting right now.”

And with that said suddenly her friends smile while the class groaned.

“Okay, all pegasi with me, earth ponies with Applejack, and unicorns, you come with me,” Twilight said as each group divided up about equally roughly.

And with that said the whole entire class started to train hard and long too.

But eventually they started to narrow it down over the coming few weeks and after some much needed time it finally came down to their final six now.

“Well, you passed,” Twilight said once she saw them, “And while I wish you good luck on your journey and quest just as I did for your trials know that there might be some very hard dangerous times filled with peril ahead of you, and the future will be hard, but it will all be worth it in the end.”

And with that said she slowly handed out some more papers and copies of the books to the six who had passed and then said, “You’re completely on your own from here out since we will have to stay here for our duties, but if there is anything that you need or want to know just ask and it will be done before you go, oh, and also, I think it’s time to introduce you to the famous adventurer I mentioned earlier, so may I proudly present the epic mighty Daring Do!”

And with that said a sort of gray mare that looked almost exactly like some other pony in the room for color designs and styles (*cough* Rainbow Dash, *cough), and she had a hat with some many holes on it and came flying on in very fast. “Daring Do? I thought that she was just a fictional character,” some pony said. “Well she’s not, and she’s the coolest epic amazing awesome adventurer other than myself that I have ever seen,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Hey, you know that I am the best so don’t try to deny it,” Daring Do said.

“Yeah, fine, whatever you say,” Rainbow Dash said smiling very deviously now.

“Well then, I think that now that we have our final last ponies that you should get to know each other a bit before the epic might trip and journey, and then after that you can appoint a captain or leader although I’m sure Daring Do would be the very best for the job,” Twilight Sparkle said smiling right now.

“Yes, yes I am,” Daring Do said doing one of her custom poses now.

“Well just get to know each other and appoint a leader and I think that you’ll be just fine, anyhow good luck to all of you,” she said as she and her friends slowly left the room. “Well now what do we do?” one of the ponies said.

“Well it’s quite obvious if you heard her, we introduce ourselves, my name is Professor Kronos Past, but please just call me Kronos,” a silver stallion who was a unicorn said stepping up in front of the whole

entire ‘crowd’.

“And my name is Helena Wells,” a white unicorn mare said stepping up now.

“And my name is Mr. Whooves, but please, just call me The Doctor instead,” a brown stallion with an hourglass cutie mark said stepping up now.

“Why call you that?” Kronos said.

“Because I like it, and it’s my second or third or fourth profession,” he said.

“I’m not even going to ask what the others might be,” Kronos said.

“My name is Marco Thatch,” another brown stallion said now.

“My name is Professor Maximillian Arturo Henry Alfred Wayne Albus Jones, but you can call me whatever you want since I have so many names, but most ponies just either call me Max or Professor Jones instead,” another brown pony said stepping forward with a plain and simple brown fedora on his head.

“My name is Quentin Mallory,” a very young white stallion said stepping up and forward right now and he looked very nervous too as well.

“Yes, and my name is Mortimer Killian,” a black stallion said stepping forward, “And I will be your military and strategist advisor on this trip and journey too.”

“Why are you even here? I thought that there were only supposed to be six.”

“Yes, six ponies to be tested, I was not, I was chosen before all of this, and the Princess Twilight Sparkle

decided to change her mind at the very last minute.”

“Alright, fine then, but who do you think should be our leader?”

“Well me and Daring Do of course, who else would it be?”

“I think that any of us could be leaders,” Marco Thatch said.

“Yes, you could, all except for the boy of course,” Mortimer said.

“Hey, I’m not a boy, I’m just a very young stallion instead,” he said.

“Yes Quentin, we know, we just don’t care at all,” Mortimer said.

“Very well then, I think that we should hit the road, I mean we have all our nerds and geeks, and I know the whole entire list of supplies, so how about we meet here again in three days when I have everything?

Because this journey is going to be very long, two to three weeks by my calculations,” Daring Do said.

“Or months depending upon how the weather is, but anyhow, good luck to all of you for this trip and journey, I will be here with Daring Do to advise her, and should you have any questions, comments, or concerns, just ask us and if they are important enough then we shall take them to the princess ourselves.”

And with that said they all left very slowly and went on with their lives now.

Mortimer then turned to Daring Do after they left, “Do you think that they already know what great treasures that this lost city holds within it?”

“Probably only the gold and silver which every pony focuses on,” she said now.

“But not me, I focus on knowledge, power, and strength, and just imagine how many books we can recover, how much information that we could gain, gold and silver are the least valuable when you compare it to knowledge instead.”

“Yes, indeed, and they’re all scientists and scholars, so they will also probably focus on that, but you know what our real true mission is,” she said.

“Yes, we can’t let them find anything dangerous to them, or allow anything to escape,” he said, “Although I don’t know why the princess requested us.”

“That’s because she knows our values and morals, or at least she thinks that she does, but she has no idea of what we really truly want or wish for, and by the time that she does it will be too late, for we will have our power and also strength and also the whole entire knowledge of the city as well too.”

“Yes, we will,” and with that said they smiled very deviously as they worked.

The Journey Begins

Chapter Two: The Journey Begins

The team came together and assembled on the previously agreed date and time and decided to talk before actually doing anything since none of them were ponies of action with the exception of Daring Do and Mortimer of course.

Kronos decided to speak first.

“I have a very particular talent, and it’s not finding lost cities,” he said very plainly and calmly now. “I feel like that was supposed to be a joke.

“Yes, it was, Daring,” he said smiling at his little tiny pun now then.

“So what exactly is your special talent then?” Daring Do said now then.

“This,” he said smiling and then suddenly in a blink of their eyes her hat was gone and then back on. “I can control time itself and no pony can stop me, however I can only do it for so long depending upon how much I manipulate it, for example if I slowed down time to half its normal speed than I could probably do it for many hours if I wanted to, if it was a tenth speed maybe that too, but the more I push it the shorter it becomes like what I just did with you now.”

“That is seriously way overpowered,” Daring Do said now then.

“Most would say so, but my powers don’t ever seem to grow or weaken yet as far as I can tell, but the more

I use it the more tired I become on a battle field for example, so therefore I don’t like to use it for very long periods of time anymore.”

“Well I don’t know about special talents and skills, but where shall we start our journey, I mean do we even have an idea of where we should go first?”

“Not yet Marco, but I think we might have something,” Helena said pulling out a map, “The lost city was located somewhere very warm and humid with wide vast huge amounts of vegetation, which leads me to believe that it is somewhere south of here,” she said pointing at a spot, “It should be close around there.”

“And what if it isn’t? What do we do then?” Quentin said now then.

“We press on and don’t give up, that’s what we do,” Daring said now then.

“And what should we do should one of us die, do we press on as we would have then, do we not take a moment out of journey to honor their name and memory and perhaps maybe even their great sacrifice?” Helena said now then.

“We can do that if you wish, but all journeys are hard, you have to understand that, and working together does mean that we take risk for losing each other, but we have to try to stick together until the very end, okay?” Daring said.

“Alright, fine then, let’s just get this over with,” and with that said they left.

And then they were on their way.

They took all of their stuff and started to go south and each pony tried to lighten the mood by talking and telling jokes and their life stories too as well.

“So, what’s your middle name?” Professor Jones said to Helena.

“Well it certainly isn’t as long as your name, its Wells.”

“So, you’re Helena Wells Turner?” he said very curiously with a smile on his face now then. “Yes, I am,” she said returning the smile with one of her own now.

“So, is this adventure going to be in a future book of yours?” Quentin said.

“Maybe, I’ll have to ask Miss Yearling to write it for me,” she said smiling.

“Come on, I know your secret identity already, you don’t have to hide from me or any pony else, your secret is safe with us,” he said smiling as he walked.

“Fine then, alright, it will be in a book if it’s good enough to sell.”

“Alright, fine then, that’s a very good perfect answer,” he said now then.

“So how can you control time exactly?” Helena said now then.

“I don’t know exactly, I’ve had it ever since I was very young.”

“Oh, really?” Helena said as they continued to walk

“Yes, no pony knew what to make of it, but I did, anyhow I don’t ever really use my power much except when I want to skip boring meetings or when I’m late for something really important or very urgent,” he said smiling now then.

“I don’t blame you for that,” she said continuing onwards now then.

“So, you’re a quiet pony, anything to share at all?” Marco Thatch said.

“No, please stop asking me these silly stupid questions,” Mortimer said.

“Aright, fine then, you win,” Marco said sulking to himself now then.

“So, what’s your favorite color exactly?” Helena said.

“Something fourth dimensional,” Kronos said smiling now then.

“Mine is blue, but I guess your answer is more awesome and amazing, okay then, what’s your favorite ice cream, and don’t say that same thing again.”

“Well that would be vanilla of course, and my real true color is actually blue, I just wanted to surprise and shock you the first time around,” he said now then.

“Alright, fine then, good answer, I also like vanilla too,” Helena said still smiling as they walked, “Exactly how long have we been going now?”

“Five minutes, and I know because I also have a sense of the passage of time.”

“Oh dear, this is going to be a very long trip,” Helena said.

“You’re telling me,” Marco said, “I have the boring one over here, he won’t tell me anything about him, no favorite color, song, genre of music and books ice cream flavor, nothing, seriously my sock puppets have more story than him now.”

“Please don’t play with your sock puppets,” Mortimer said sighing now then.

But it was already too late and Helena and Kronos went back to talking again now then. “So, what is your favorite genre of music and books?”

“Classical and Fantasy,” Kronos said. “Me too,” Helena said smiling now then.

“Oh get a room you two,” Quentin said going over to Marco.

“Can I talk with you?” Marco said now then.

“Sure, by my answers are exactly the same as theirs,” he said now then.

“Oh dear, this is going to be a very boring or painful trip.”

And with that said they slowly went on their way.

Eventually the day started to end and they had to camp out.

And when they did they started to tell ghost stories.

“Legend has it that the southern jungles are not inhabited because of a terrible curse upon every pony that was there, they went crazy and turned savage like wild animals, and there’s also all kinds of monsters and creatures in the south that you have never heard of before in Equestria, we have panthers and tigers and maybe snakes that can swallow a pony whole in one single bite too.

We have fish that can devour a cow in three minutes or less, we have gators and crocs, deadly mosquitoes that can give you the virus and disease, birds of prey that eat upon the smaller creatures of the forest as well too. We also have jaguars too as well. And finally we have the bests and monsters of myth and legend.

There’s the Tiguar, a Tiger Jaguar, we have also have had rumors that there could even be a phoenix down here and possibly even chimeras too as well.

We also have monkeys too, but they aren’t of myth and legend.

But this next one is, it has no name, and no pony has ever lived to tell of it, but it can walk on two legs, has the coldest cruelest eyes that you have ever seen, it has no hair on its body, it can stand up to six feet high, it runs very fast, and it can think like us, but it can’t talk, and it will kill if given the chance and opportunity, and all the other beasts and creatures in the forest fear it too.”

“Stop scaring them,” Daring Do said to Kronos, “I mean I guess there could be a Tiguar with cross breeding, but a two legged six-foot-tall creature? No way.”

“Yes way, it’s very real, and while no pony has lived to see it, there must have been some that have seen the damage that it can cause to others.”

“Get real, if such a creature did exist how come it’s the most dangerous?”

“Because it can think like us, we may not be able to understand it, but if it has any intelligence like we do then the creatures and monsters and other various random beasts are right to fear it,” Kronos said smiling now then.

“Well I think that’s enough of storytelling for now,” Daring said now then.

“Oh come on, I haven’t even gotten to the other creatures, monsters, and beasts of myth and legend yet!” Kronos said complaining very loudly now then.

“We have a very long day ahead of us, it’s time to get some rest.”

And with that said every pony decided to go to sleep reluctantly or not.

“Don’t worry, we’ll wake you up when it’s your time to guard the camp,” she said and then once she made sure that every pony was asleep she turned to Mortimer now then. “They’re asleep, or so I think, should we talk elsewhere now?”

“Perhaps, but let’s not talk details for now, okay?”

“Alright, fine then, how close are we to the city?”

“Mythos is miles away, it’ll take weeks before we get there, and there are a few particular stops that are quite literally in some cases gold mines along the way.”

“Good, I don’t want to leave this journey empty hooved, but are you sure that they won’t suspect anything until the very end?” Daring Do said now then.

“They’re clueless, they may be smart, but they’re also sure dumb at times.”

“Very good then, let’s continue the mission, just get in, take what you can get, and get out, and we’ll tell them that too, and then we’ll fool them all.”

“Yes, we will, now then, who should we wake up first?”

“How about Kronos? He can control time, and he can either be a very powerful enemy or ally, and I think you know what that means,” she said smiling.

“Oh yes, I do,” he said smiling, “But can I do what I want with him?”

“When the time is right, if not then they’ll suspect something, and make it loom natural, we wouldn’t want them to suspect something is up with us now.

“No, we would not.” And with that said they went back to guard duty now.

The First Stop

Chapter Three: First Stop

The next day the journey was long and hard, and no pony had that much to say, but they did try to entertain themselves with ‘stupid silly little games’ as Mortimer would say. They included a game where you had to make a story with three nouns, one where the story would change once a pot was banged, there was always the very old classic ‘I see something with my little eye’ game too as well. There were also many other more random various games too as well.

And as they journey their illusions of grandeur and glory and action were kind of dimmed. “I thought that this would be more like an epic novel book.”

“Not everything’s like a book,” Daring said back to Marco now then.

“But I just expected a little bit more life and excitement, and not so much walking,” he said complaining very loudly as they continued to walk on now.

“Well guess what, if an actual real story were written about action and adventure over a very long distance some of the dialogue would include scenes like this, and not everything’s action and adventure all the time just wait for the good parts of the story where the author puts in something surprising and unexpected like the thing they thought was just a myth and legend is actually true and real, or the pony you thought wasn’t the killer actually was the whole entire time.

I do that a lot, and trust me if this were a story I think something would be bound to come along and create a mood and atmosphere of suspense right now.”

“Uh guys, do you hear that rustling?” Quentin said now then.

“It’s probably the wind,” Daring said now then.

“There is no wind,” Quentin said pulling out a sword.

“See? What did I tell you? Something suspenseful just came up, almost like we were in a story,” Daring said, and then she had a look of worry on her face now.

“You don’t suppose that we’re in a story right now, are we?” Quentin said.

“Nah,” every pony said at once and then they turned their attention back to the rustling. “What do you think it could be?” Quentin said to her now then.

“If my action adventure stories have anything to say it would either be nothing or just comedic relief or perhaps just maybe a real true monster instead.”

And with that said they waited for something to come out, anything at all.

And soon enough something did, and it was just a tiny little snake now.

“You can relax every pony, it appears safe enough,” Daring said going over to it and killing it, “Just in case,” she said explaining her actions now then.

And with that said they continued on their way.

“You know I expected something worse to show up,” Quentin said.

“Great, now you’ve jinxed us, I mean have you not read any novel ever?”

“Sorry,” he said. “Now I’m going to be on edge waiting for something just to show up so that I can finally

feel like the jinx is no longer in effect anymore.”

And with that said Daring was always on the lookout for something.

And eventually a jaguar did finally manage to show up.

“There we go,” she said looking at it, “Now the jinx is over.”

And with that said she furiously attacked it with her weapons and eventually she managed to blow the final killing shot and stood over it covered in blood.

“I am victorious!” she shouted holding the bloody sword up in the air now then.

“You don’t need to brag about it, we can all clearly see it you know.”

“I know, I just don’t really care,” she said smiling now then.

“Come on, let’s continue our journey,” Mortimer said very coldly now then.

And with that said they went on their way took a souvenir from her kill.

“Wow, those teeth really look cool and awesome on you.”

“Thanks a lot, but you forgot amazing and radical as well too.”

“Hey, don’t push your luck, okay?”

“Alright, fine then,” she said smiling now then.

And with that said they went on their way once more again.

Eventually they came upon some ruins.

“Should we explore this?” Marco said very nervously now then.

“Yes, we definitely should,” Daring said smiling as she went in now then.

She eventually came back with some gold and other various random stuff and told the team to grab whatever they could and then they would rest here.

And with that they did so and they found a lot of stuff, but still not enough to fill how much spare space that they had especially since it would only grow very soon enough since they would be eating some of their supplies. And then they did rest since they had more than enough supplies to get to the city, but as they did Daring and Mortimer tried to talk, but this time there was something that heard them, and it could understand every word that was spoken there…

The Last Night

Chapter Five: The Last Night

“I sure am glad that we can finally get the chance and opportunity to rest now.”

“Quentin, young ponies are always grateful for the chance to rest their legs.”

“Yes, I guess that we are right about that,” he said now then.

“I am, but we old folk are even more so,” Kronos said now then.

“Is that because you’re older and therefore much weaker too as well?”

“Well I guess that you could say that, but I wouldn’t be too sure about anything at all ever in life, because if you are then it’ll just come back to bite and haunt you for the rest of your life only even if in all of your dreams and nightmares.”

“So basically what I’m hearing is not to make any assumptions at all ever?”

“Only the very rash stupid impulsive ones so basically yes I am telling you that.”

And with that said they both started to laugh before being cut off.

“Wait, do you hear that?” Daring said as her ears suddenly then perked up.

“Yes, what is it exactly?” Quentin said hearing the animal like screaming.

“It’s no beast, creature, or monster that I have ever heard before.”

“Well do you think that it could be coming here or is friendly?”

“In my experience and line or work the answer to those questions is one and the same, no. It’s very highly unlikely that any animal would dare to come here.”

“What about that one you talked about in the myths and legends?”

“The six-foot-tall creature? Please, that’s only in a myth and legend.”

“Sometimes myths and legends can be true,” Kronos said very simply and plainly now then. “Name one case where one has actually ever really came true.”

“Nightmare Moon,” he said very plainly and simply now then.

“Alright, fair enough point, but it still doesn’t change the fact that such a creature couldn’t ever possibly exist in real life,” she said now then.

“Oh, but they can, science is a very strange interesting art form, it can answer questions where magic cannot just as magic can do with it too as well.”

“Well I don’t think science really matters right now as much as a good night’s sleep, and I think tonight will be very interesting too with animals out, so I’m going to need extra from every pony, so good night and get some rest,” Daring said. And with that every pony slowly dozed off into a very deep sleep.

The First Real Threat

Chapter Six: The First Real Threat

When the morning finally did come every pony got up very slowly now then.

“Good morning every pony, I hope that you had a wonderful night’s sleep.”

Their groans were not a very positive sign about anything to come to them now.

“Well then don’t let that hold you back, we should be at the city by nightfall today if we can all make good time, now come on, time’s running out for all of us!!!”

And with that said they all went on their way towards the faraway city.

“So just out of curiosity just how big would this city be exactly?”

“Well take Canterlot and make it a small town and multiply across a whole entire jungle and forest, that’s how big this city really was,” Daring said.

“So then why call it a city and not a kingdom instead?”

“Oh it was, it was called Mythos once, but I don’t know if the name stuck or not.”

And with that said they went on their way.

And when midday finally came they all saw the edge of the city for the first time.

“Wow, this is incredible and amazing and awesome,” Daring said now then.

“You’re forgetting radical and cool,” Quentin said to Daring now then.

“I meant exactly what I said, now be quiet, I want to focus and concentrate.”

And with that said they did so and as they did many photos were taken.

“You know it isn’t quite what I expected to see,” Kronos said now then.

“Indeed, it’s better than I dreamed or could have hoped for,” she said.

“Yes, I guess so, but why the wall if there were pegasi around here?”

“Who knows, maybe they were trying to keep something out like all the various random animals, creatures, beasts, and monsters that live around here.”

“Yes, I guess so, makes more sense rather than trying to lock something valuable and precious inside even though we know that there is gold and many valuables like gold in there, but my only question now is this, why so high for the walls?”

“I really don’t know, but maybe we can find the answers inside the city walls.”

“I guess so, but come now, time’s always running out for us, so let’s go.”

And with that said they all started to head towards the big huge wide vast walls of the city very slowly now then and the walls slowly got closer to them.

As they did they started to hear the screams of the thing they heard last night.

“It’s much closer now, do you think that it would still come for us now?”

“It’s very highly unlikely as we get closer to the city, but I would still stay to be ready and prepared for anything,” Daring said wielding her sword now then.

“Alright, fine then, okay,” Kronos said and with that they all slowly approached the city which was surprisingly a lot further away than they thought since all the trees had started to clear a view for them. “The city is a lot farther away than I or rather any of us could have possibly ever expected,” Kronos said now then.

“Yes, well guess what, we have stuff to carry which is why we can’t fly.”

“I know that, it’s just I wish there weren’t so much walking involved in this epic quest and journey of ours, I mean honestly it’s really starting to get me down.”

“As it is for all of us, but we will just have to do our best to press on now.”

And then with that said they slowly continued towards the city wall.

By the time sundown came they could see the entrance, and it was a gateway.

“Well, it looks like we’re finally here, and with no pony dead or hurt.”

“Kronos, you really have to stop jinxing us,” Daring said as her ears suddenly perked up, “Wait, do you hear that?” she said turning back to the jungle now then. “No, what is it exactly?” Kronos said trying to hear something right now.

“Exactly, there’s nothing coming from the jungle, no insects chirping, and no creatures screaming, and trust me, the jungle is never quiet unless something really big, bad, and huge is near, and do you know what that means for us?

It means that we should probably start running right now,” she said pointing to the wall, “I’ll hold off whatever is coming this way, you just get the hell out of here.” And with that said they all started to run towards the wall leaving her behind. But when they finally got to the edge they turned to see her, and what they saw was not very good. Daring stood with Mortimer against a jungle demon.

“Well hello there, beastie,” she said trying to tell if it was intelligent or not, and the very low deep growl from it told her that it wasn’t, good to know though.

She readied her sword as it leapt towards her, but before it could even complete its jump it was shot down by many spears and arrows from within the jungle.

“What the -,” she tried to say before she glimpsed many eyes staring back at her, and then something started to emerge from the jungle that was very tall, big, and huge, and it must have been very intelligent if it could have taken down the monster, and the worst part was that there was not just one, but many instead.

And she just couldn’t take it anymore, she started to run towards the wall not even bothering to look back, and then she finally made it to the gateway and closed it behind her making sure that it was very securely locked.

“What the hell was that?” Quentin said with great fear in his eyes and voice.

“I have no idea, certainly no creature, beast, animal, or monster that I have ever seen before, I don’t even have a name for it, but I don’t think it matters anymore, we’re safe for now and it can’t get through the walls or enter the gateway.

And that’s why I think that we should all get some rest, we all just saw something truly horrifying and terrifying, something that we can’t even name but will always haunt us in dreams and nightmares,” she said gasping for some air now then.

“Uh Daring, I think you might want to actually take a look inside,” Kronos said pointing to yet another set of doors that saved as a secondary entrance and barrier. And with that said she slowly opened the doors and gasped in wonder and awe at the sight before her, which was very beautiful and many more words too, she just couldn’t take it in and she also just needed to say something too.

“Every pony, welcome to the lost city,” she said pointing her hoof out towards it now then with a smile of great pride on her face as they all stared out with the same wonder and awe at the great magnificent glory and pride of the city too.

Signs

Chapter Four: Signs

“How much longer until we get to the city?” Marco complained very loudly now then. “Sooner than the last time that you asked, but you asking doesn’t change when we will get there exactly,” Helena said very plainly and calmly now then.

“Why is this taking so long exactly?” he said now then.

“You do realize that this is a lost city we’re talking about here, right?”

“Enough arguing for all of you, we still have a very long way to go.”

“Daring, we know that already, but can you tell us what you’re doing to help us our exactly? Because other than protecting us you’re not really doing that much.”

“Are you complaining about how I do my job and what I do too exactly? Because if you are I would very gladly let you try to do it and see how well you handle it exactly, so before you answer I would consider reviewing your words first.”

Marco glared at her with great hate, anger, wrath and fry in his eyes now then.

“Okay fine, then, alright, I’ll shut up now,” he said lowering his head down now then. “Very good then, because this is not a journey where you complain at everything, there’s already something for that, and it’s called real life.”

And with that said they continued on their way until one of them finally spotted something, “Look,” Kronos said, “I found some old ancient markings.”

“I wonder what it says,” Quentin said pinking it up to study very closely now then. “I recognize this writing,” Helena said looking at it very closely now then.

“Yes, I see, so what this message is basically about is that the city contains more gold and wealth than we can ever imagine, that’s all that I can read at least.”

“Wait, are you saying that there are parts of this that you can’t read?”

“Well yes, just like the first passage of writing we saw, no pony knows that language, but this contains traces of very old and familiar language that I do know. Though I don’t know why it would get more familiar as we got closer to the city, but then again, who am I to say what their language was like back then? I mean it could be very similar to ours in ways that we don’t even know yet fully,”

“You are so right in so many ways,” Mortimer said brushing by her side now then, “Come on now, you can add it to the pile, but we still have a very long way to go and just standing around here all day looking at that very old ancient thing won’t get us anywhere, and we have a schedule to keep so let’s go.”

And then with that said the whole entire group started to move very slowly and they then eventually reached a point where they could stop and rest now.