Finally reaching the camp, the mares watched as Crimson hopped off his vehicle and began to speak with the others in an unfamiliar tongue. The minotaurs in their blue and grey armor went inside the ship and carried both Celestia and Luna outside and into a tent where a doctor was waiting for them. The two guards closed the entrance and stood guard outside, preventing any entry. The warrior gestured for the six mares to come next to him. While the other minotaurs looked intimidating, the biggest one was in front of Crimson and had a massive golden armor on him with a gigantic axe on his back. This one looked quite old, as he had a long gray beard and very bushy gray eyebrows.
"These are the elements?" he asked with a very gravely voice.
"Yes, Titan fist. They are the ones. I believe we need to go to your tent and hear what can be offered to them in aid."
"You mean you need advice?"
Crimson rolled his eyes.
"Yes."
"Then come with us, little ponies."
As the group began to walk through the camp, seeing many things going on, such as Minotaurs training with throwing spears at dummies in the plains, while others were working on how far they could throw a pony-sized rock with one hand. Titan decided to open a conversation:
"So, Crimson saved you from the crystallions, eh? What are your names?"
"Well, I'm Twilight Sparkle."
"Ah'm Applejack. Pleased ta meet ya."
"I'm Rarity."
"I'm the fastest flier in Equestria, Rainbow Dash!"
"I'm Pinkie Pie! Oo! Maybe I can throw a 'thank you' party for Crimson."
"That's quite alright. Thank you," the minotaur replied.
"Um...I'm Fluttershy."
"Yes. This one seems to know quite a lot when it comes to feelings." Crimson remarked while pointing at the shying mare.
"I see. Now then, tell me, while we continue towards my tent, how many crystallions were there?"
"One."
"One?! Surely you jest."
"No."
"Th-then, who was it?"
"Abstract the dark."
Everything stopped in a flash. Titan was twitching and everyone in the camp just stared at their red companion. Suddenly, the chief of the guild suddenly shouted:
"Minotaurs! Get to the help of the two princesses! Make sure that at least a miniscule portion of their magic returns, or else they will die."
Fluttershy gave out a little squeak.
"Quickly, into the chief's tent."
The group ran as fast as they could into the biggest white tent of the camp. In it stood a rather large wooden table with several minotaurs sitting around it. Once they saw titan, they all bowed,then sat back down. Titan fist ran towards his seat with a large amount of sweat on his face. This disturbed the others who stared at him in confusion.
"We don't have much time. First things first, we are the hand of light. Our guild has kept the secret of the crystallions' existence for several millenaries. We believed that all the crystallions hadn't died, so we devoted our lives to fight them back one day. However, I did not think that Abstract was the sole remainder. He has taken over Canterlot and the villages around it by observation of your princesses. We have much to do.
Members of this council, I have the grave news of telling you that Abstract the Dark has returned."
The others at the table began to mumble and an uproar began.
"What? But he should be dead! Crystallions don't live that long."
"He's right. What is this trickery?!"
"Oh. It is no trickery. However he has done it, he has lived longer than he should, and apparently, he has grown quite powerful," Crimson said in a worried tone.
"Yes. Quite. However, the elements won't work on him. You are aware of this, correct?"
Crimson nodded, only to turn his head as he saw an irritated Twilight Sparkle walking forward.
"I've had it with this nonsense! The elements are the most powerful artifacts in existence. How can they NOT work?"
"While I prefer not to get my beautiful mane tangled up in this, she is right. I simply do not understand it." Rarity added.
"I already told you why." Crimson replied angrily "What do they have to do to defeat him?"
The council started to talk with each other and share facts and stories, before finally calming down.
"It has come to my attention that I've been hidden the fact that there was another crystallion who survived the war. Unfortunately, as my sub-members have said, it would seem that he was born in an exceedingly late fashion. He is still alive, but you will have to go to one of the most dangerous places in this world to find him." Titan said as he started a rather large cigar.
Pinkie Pie began to smell the air and started to drool.
"Oooo! What is that? It smells like cinnamon."
"Heh. This is a cinnamon cigar. It is non-toxic and you can smoke as many of them as you want, until you get sick from cinnamon overdose."
"Yeah, yeah. So, what's so dangerous 'bout this place anyways?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Ever heard of the Nyubet?" the bearded asked with a puff of smoke.
Crimson immediately stood back up from his kneeling position and roared his protest furiously:
"Is this a joke?! The Nyubet?! Do you have ANY idea what that thing living there is capable of? That region is a death sentence. How can your little 'protégée' even survive in a flat landscape like that?"
"Crimson, it is quite fathomable. After all, this Crystallion chose to absorb light rather than darkness. Perhaps, if you find him, the polar opposites will destroy each other." a flimsy minotaur said.
"But that doesn't dismiss that fact that it lives in the Nyubet. How could he survive?"
"He had his ways," the flimsy minotaur said while looking upwards and pushing out his lips.
"Um...I don't mean to interrupt, but, what is it exactly?" Fluttershy asked.
"The Nyum-Bunet. I cannot go further in detail. Just the thought of that colossus frightens me."
"It's that dangerous?!" Twilight screamed.
"Yes. Well then, Guild Master of the Hand of light, Titan Fist, who shall accompany them?"
The entire council pointed at him.
"Wh-what? But, surely, you can--"
Crimson sighed. "No. You are the only one who knows how to control that land vehicle that YOU created. If you are quick, you will reach the Nyubet in five days."
"Fine, but they will need a day of rest. I also need to know the itinerary to get there."
"For your first proposal, of course. After what the drained princesses have gone through, they all need their rest. As for your path, here."
Crimson grabbed a map passed to him by a female minotaur. She was quite burly, and, apparently, scared the minotaurs around her breathless. The warrior read over the map and exited the tent. As the mares were about to follow another, less impressive female, Titan remembered something:
"Oh! Hold on." Titan began to fumble through the pockets of his armor. "Here, Twilight Sparkle. Take this badge. It will give you free entry to the tent where the princesses are. I'm sure you three have much to share to each other. As for you Pinkie Pie, go right when you leave here. I'm pretty sure the troops would love a little moral booster."
"Oooo! I get it. See you later."
With that, the tent was now only filled with the council members sitting around their table. The burly minotaur spoke to Titan:
"Are you insane? What if those poor darlings get hurt by that monster? And then, the Pourpros is also in their path! Sure, if it were to get into a fight with it, the Pourpros would certainly die, but do you not see what you are putting them through?"
Crimson slammed his armored fist on the table, breaking a piece off in the process.
"Do you not THINK that I tried other routes? You want me to send them through the graveyard of that shovel-holding lost spirit? You know what happens when anything passes by that graveyard. We may have not been able to free him yet, but many of our own have become damned souls in the process. There are only three routes that are the fastest possible ways towards the Nyubet, and the route that I have chosen is the least dangerous of the three. Now then, if you'll excuse me," he said while standing up "I have to tend to some 'colorful' matters."
And with that, the tent had now become calm and quiet.
Twilight was in the tent, seeing her teacher and Luna on two separate beds that looked more like hospital carts. Luna was much more energetic than her sister, who had just barely awoken from her slumber. The doctor and his assistant, wearing suiting white uniforms, were performing tests on the princesses' blood samples.
"So? Are they going to be alright?" Twilight asked frantically.
The doctor continued to observe the tubes filled with blood in the light, but had the time to answer.
"Of course. You're lucky they were brought here. Whatever Crimson told you, they were going to die in three hours. Beings with their amount of magical power get the biggest feedback from losing their magic. Their new appearances are a token to that."
"I...I see," Celestia grunted as she tried to sit up.
The assistant saw the efforts of the fallen sun princess, and forced her back down.
"I'm sorry Celestia, but you are in no condition to move. Your magic power is far greater than that of your sister. Why do you think you had such a feedback from the drainage? Our herbs are enough for your magic to regenerate into a little spark. By tomorrow, you two should be fully recovered. Until then, stay down."
Celestia, despite an obvious protest on her face, understood matters very well. She wasn't a stranger to such dangerous tasks and had to deal with her fair share of troublesome things.
"Okay. Are you alright Twilight?"
"Oh. Sorry, princess. It's just that...you look so strange now. No offense."
Celestia looked at herself and her sister in better detail, and recognized their old appearance.
"Ah yes. This is what we used to look like when we were little. Back when we didn't know how to use our magic."
"Oh. Well, you ARE still taller than most ponies, so..."
"About as tall as the brother of Applejack?"
"Pretty much."
"How is my sister doing?"
"Luna? She fell asleep. I was pretty surprised that you two didn't have anything with how you arrived towards us."
"How come?"
"Well, you DID come at us like a cannonball powered by a lightning bolt. I think you destroyed half of Ponyville on your descent."
Celestia's jaw dropped as her tired eyes tried their best at widening in horror.
"Oh dear. I hope nopony is hurt."
"Me too. Well, while we wait, we can talk about that Abstract character."
"Okay. If it prepares us for our future encounter."
Outside, near the edge of the camp, Crimson was sitting on a stone and still looking at the map. Somehow, the sun was setting, giving off a darkening golden glow upon the world as it prepared for resting. The cursed minotaur tightened his eyes as he felt shivers running down his spine. He was cursed with this color, as well as having some sort of intense regeneration ability. He could die, easily, but his curse kept the wounds from doing him in. As he stared at his armored hand, he thought to himself, that he would simply have to wait for time to catch up. He worried though. He worried quite a lot recently. These six mares were forced to go to the Nyubet, and he would have to take them there. At least the Ivamora proved to be nice on occasions. The two monsters on their way wouldn't be that nice. He would have to stock up on an extra amount of meat to deal with it.
Standing back up and stretching a bit, the minotaur was going to bed. He had quite a long trip to make, and the princesses were still weakened from their draining. He'd have to pay special attention to them.