Part 3 of the Equestria Chronicles part 1 &2 can be found here

Part 1: http://www.planetminecraft.com/blog/beyond-space-and-time-equestria-chronicles-ch1-a-sudden-departure/

Part 2: http://www.planetminecraft.com/blog/bts-equestria-chronicles-ch2-the-not-so-empty-frozen-ice-ball/

The Fortress had sat there silently for millennia battered by the wind and snow for who knows how long a silent witness to ancient events long forgotten. The Nine Tails shot out of the clouds above fighting the wind and snow as it attempted to land on the fortress. o Boy this wind is something else,o said Cao while she attempted to keep the ship steady o Io m afraid that the ship will simply be blown off the fortress as soon as we land.o o Forget the ship Cao with these winds weo ll be blown away as soon as we step off of it theyo re exceeding 300 Mph.o o Hang on.o said Tristem jumping out of his chair and inserting himself into the magic amplifier. o What are you doing Tristem,o asked Cao as she continued to fight the storm. o Io m going to create an air bubble so we can land the ship and then allow us to leave the ship without being blown away,o With that Tristem began chanting the air shield spell. Meanwhile the ship was being violently tossed by the storm nearly colliding with the fortress four times. o Tristem hurry up I cano t hold the ship steady for much longer the stabilizers are beginning to overheat.o At that moment Tristem completed the spell, o air shield,o yelled Tristem finishing the spells last remaining verbal component. Immediately outside a shockwave emanated from Nine Tails and spread out around the fortress. In its wake the winds from the storm calmed to nothing more than a gentle spring breeze. o Now we should be fine,o said Tristem as he disengaged himself from the magic amplifier. o Took you long enough, another couple minutes and we wouldo ve been space dust,o complained Cao. This irritated Tristem who glared at her but said nothing. o Cao finish landing procedures Io m going to get are supplies together.o Tristem turned and left the bridge. o Humph show off I couldo ve handled this no problem if he had let me.o Cao continued landing the ship whilst staring at the fortress. o I wonder what kind of technology holds this fortress up its so eerie the way it floats like this.o o I guess weo ll find out soon enough.



10 minutes later in the ships entryway.



o Cao have you seen the scanners.o asked Tristem while he did his last check over of his equipment. o Theyo re in the top left drawer.o said Cao while she put her winter gear on. o Tristem why do we need all this extra stuff anyway.o o We need it because theirs no telling what weo ll find in there and I want to be ready for anything.o o Alright alright I get, sheesh." At that moment Tristem finished his check, o okay Cao leto s go see what we can find out about this fortress.o With that Tristem hit the wall switch that lowered the entry ramp. Upon exiting the ramp Cao noticed the cold breeze, o Tristem how long will this spell last.o o It should remain active for a couple of days by which point I will have renewed it anyway, Now come Cao we lets get inside.o They made there way across a narrow causeway Cao keeping a constant pace while Tristem cautiously walked across the narrow causeway staring at the clouds below. They approached what appeared to be a door leading inside. They stared at the large simple stone door and noticed what appeared to be a control panel on the right side. o Well Cao you think you can get this door open?o Upon hearing this Cao approached the control panel and took out here handheld computer and began to study the panel. o Hmmm well the internal power source isno t active big surprise there, still Io m picking up a some sort of reserve power source Io ll tap into it and see if I can get the door open.o A few minutes passed with Tristem becoming increasingly nervous about being so high up. When with a sudden low rumble the door began to slide open. o Cao youo ve done it again.o o Thanks Tristem I do my best.o



As they entered the fortress they were greeted with a vast hanger like room with a vaulted ceiling. Tattered banners hung from it. Tristem looked up and attempted to make out what was on the banners. He could barely make out what appeared to be a pair of wings and hints of what appeared to be blue pigment but the banners were too tattered and faded to make anything else out. o What a large room,o said Cao as she gazed towards the ceiling o I wonder what it was used for. o Obviously it was used for storing space or aircraft lady obvious,o remarked Tristem giving her a discussed look. o oh yeah,o yelled Cao angrily then how come theiro s no equipment or no munitions stores anywhere.o o I dono t know Cao Io m on a floating fortress sitting on some clouds and I dono t need your arguments!o Tristem stopped himself and took a few deep breaths. o Io m sorry Cao you know why I did that dono t you.o o Yes I know Tristem your having anxiety because weo re so far up in the sky I know.o o You know me well Cao.o o Io m surprised you seemed fine on the ship.o o I didno t start thinking about it until we left, dono t worry Io ll be fine Io ll just try not to think about it.o o Anyway lets see if we can find the central control room that is if there is one.o o Cao did the scans pick up anything like that.o o I think so about three floors above us.o o Okay leto s see if we can find a way up there Io ll look around the left side of the room and you go look at the right.o



For several minutes Tristem and Cao searched the large room for any means to reach the upper level. During this time Tristem noticed what appeared to be carvings in the wall but they were too weathered from millenniao s of wind damage to make out. Meanwhile Cao found a large hole in the ceiling towards the opposite end of the entrance. o Tristem I think I found a way up.o o Really where ,o Tristem ran to where she was standing. o Up there,o Cao pointed up towards the ceiling. Tristem looked up and saw the hole in the ceiling taking note of the fact that it was a perfect circular shape. o You think thato s the way up Cao?o o You see any other way up.o o Guess not the creatures that created this fortress must have been able to float or fly or something, otherwise there would probably be stairs.o o Well Tristem I guess we shouldno t waste any time lets climb up to the control room.o o Right Cao,o Tristem stared up at the hole worryingly. Cao noticed this and put her hand on his shoulder o You gonna be okay Tristem?o o Io ll be fine Cao its not so bad now that weo re inside the fortress, lets get up to that control room.o Tristem reached into his satchel and took a grappling hook and magic rope out and began reciting the activation command on the rope. o Cao how high do think it is to the third floor.o Cao glanced up through the hole and did some mental calculations. o Io d say about 30 or 40 feet.o Upon hearing this Tristem quickly finished the final command for the ropes length. He then attached the grapple onto the rope and threw up the hole. The grapple reached the third floor and embedded itself into a nearby pillar.



Down below Tristem checked the tension of the line. Seeing that it was secureTristem jumped onto the rope and began climbing Cao following close behind. It took them about ten minutes to climb the rope to the third floor. Upon reaching it they found a huge open room with a large hallway leading to what appeared to be a computer console. o That must be the central computer,o said Cao rushing over to it. Upon reaching it Cao took out her handheld computer and began analyzing the central computer. o Can you reactivate it Cao?o o I think so Io ll just tap into the reserve power again.o Cao hit a few things on her computer and within a few minutes the central computer sprang to life displaying a body of text and some images. Cao began to glance through the images and text. o What do you make of it Cao?o o Io m not sure it looks like a directory of this fortress, but my computer cano t translate the text.o o Big surprise there, anything interesting?o o Well there are images that I cano t seem to access it could be there isno t enough power to access all of the computers files.o o Hmmm, Cao do you think you can reactivate the fortresses main power source from here?o Cao thought for a moment then turned to Tristem. o Well I can try, but Io m afraid there might be some kind of security protection Io ll have to be careful.o o Okay Cao Take it slow and be careful.o



Hearing this Cao went to work attempting to activate the main power source. Tristem began to look around the room staring at the carvings along the walls. Unlike the carvings in the room below these were not weathered and Tristem was able see the images clearly. The images depicted a procession of strange horse-like creatures with wings that seemed to be part of a military parade. o Heh well that explains the lack of stairs in this place, still Io ve swear Io ve seen creatures like that before in some history book. Before Tristem was able to ponder this the fortresses lights came on. Tristem assumed that Cao had succeeded in reactivating the fortresses power source, but before he was able to say anything bright red lights began flashing and an alarm began to blare. o Shingaisha satchi suru! Ugokasu kichi boei hoho,o yelled an automated message as the sirens and lights continued to go. o Cao what did toy do?o o I didno t do anything I think the has internal sensors and they picked us up when the fortresses main power came back on.o o Well whatever the case weo d better get out of here chances are this fortress has some kind ofo ¦o but before Tristem could finish his sentence a large door that they did not previously see across from the hole they came up from began to open. Seeing this they both said with slight variations, o This cannot be good.o



Well thato s it for this chapter. What trouble is in store for our heroo s behind the large stone door. Tune in next time to find out same space time same space channel!