Chapter 1: ACCESS GRANTED

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“You ready?” Johnny asked, a light german accent sneaking into his words as he looked towards his friend in the modified EOD suit. Only the two of them were in the dorm room, as the rest of their friends were waiting outside.

Johnny Isidor, the son to a chairman of a large private military organization. The company itself was founded by Johnny’s father, Mason Isidor, who ran it with an iron fist as the company made its way to the top. All the while Johnny watched from the shadows, admiring his father’s tenacity and ability to keep everyone satisfied, even if it meant overworking himself. The moment his father showed him what he did, Johnny Isidor knew that he wanted to be able to say that the people that followed him were happy. That they did so because they wanted to.

Once a foreigner to the United States, Mason Isidor had everything he could want, namely, a happy family. However, a happy family couldn’t pay to keep them fed or warm. Because of this, not long after he came to America, Mason took up the profession of being a night guard for multiple facilities. Through determination, he climbed the corporate ladder and made his name heard. Once he had enough money, he began his own company - one that would become the largest and the most sought after security firm in the world.

Dominic gave a thumbs up, but nothing more; the suit restricted his movement to the most basic of motions. Johnny smiled and nodded. Picking up his shield, he made sure his own suit was ready and that everything was perfect. The shield itself was smaller than what could be seen on the game, but he had to work with what he’d gotten. Instead of stretching to his full height, he had to crouch to fit his entire body behind the thick metal slab.

The weight of the suit was nothing to laugh at. While a regular EOD suit might weigh in at seventy-five pounds, the suit Dominic was wearing was modified for aesthetics, though it still retained enough of its original purpose to stop almost anything that was thrown at it. Johnny took it upon himself to add some things to it to make it more realistic; kevlar lined almost every inch of the outer layer of the suit’s body and thin metal plates lined the gloves and arms of the suit, covering what it didn’t originally protect. The thick, jet-black plate of bulletproof metal that covered the visor with the Skulldozer’s signature skull painted on it with eye holes drilled into it completed the look. On top of it all, it had a cooling system that kept the wearer from having a heat stroke, making the suit itself top off at one-hundred and twenty pounds. Being the behemoth that he was, Dominic carried himself and the suit with ease, but due to safety reasons, he couldn’t run in it.

Dominic D. Weaver was the product of his surroundings. Never one to talk about himself, he had a quiet life but a troubled past. That was how he lived, before he scrounged up enough money to give himself a better education. Getting himself into college, Dominic began to take a more academic road, specifically politics. He wanted to be a person who could help to better a community. His friends - Thomas, Johnny, and Francis - all thought it was funny that someone like him wanted to be a politician, but they all supported him anyways.

The door to their room creaked open and they watched as the third member of their group walk in. It was Thomas, dressed as a Taser, with the suit’s visor blocking the view of his face.

“Are you both fucking done? The convention’s about to fucking start and the line’s probably a mile long by now.”

Thomas Finlay was a short man, hailing from sunny California. When compared to the others, Thomas had the shortest fuse when it came to temper, and his height didn’t help.

While he rarely talked about his family, he didn’t really have a reason to. Being the only child, he never had competition when it came to attention, but this usually meant him being smothered by his parents. Telling him everything he did was perfect, that his best was the best.

That’s what he hated. His best just wasn’t good enough for him, he quickly began to do everything he could to be better. His father being a mechanic and his mother being the engineer for big brand-name company, Thomas quickly became attuned with almost any machine he saw.

In the end, Thomas was only satisfied when he finally surpassed both of his parents, but all of his work lead to him being a literal social outcast. The only friends he made in years were his roommates. Dominic, Johnny, and Francis.

“Hold your fucking horses, alright? Dom’s suit is a fucking pain and he needed help.”

“What the fuck ever. Just hurry up, Francis is gettin’ antsy and he’s startin’ to talk to himself again. I don’t wanna get shanked out there,” Thomas said as he shook his head. The door opened more and behind Thomas was the Cloaker known as Francis. His whole body was covered in a dark grey clothing; a black ski mask matched the pair of black boots and Kevlar vest.

Francis Newport—he was an odd one. While most of his childhood was fine, there were some happenings here and there that lead to him becoming somewhat of an extreme extrovert. He had the tendency to grossly exaggerate his own feelings. While it might seem that he was happy or sad, in truth he felt nothing at all. But that wasn't entirely true: he could be happy; he could be sad; it's just that it was only with those that he considered close. To Francis, his roommates were like family.

His attitude towards other people usually got him in trouble. Most things he could handle, but when it came to his friends? His family? When it came to the legal department, Johnny’s family wasn’t to be trifled with. There were one or two cases of this in the past that involved him, but he grew out of that.

Now, Francis studies psychology. While he isn’t the best at it, the one thing he is good at, is going unnoticed. He knew how to work a room and make sure he wouldn’t be noticed. Drawing no attention to himself in the slightest, it was mind-boggling as to how he did it. That’s why he mostly had a perfect attendance record throughout his classes.

“I can’t stab you Thomas, but I can beat you to death with my nightstick for thinking that I would.” He chuckled.

Thomas turned his head to Francis, and then back to Johnny and Dominic. “See?!”

“Fine,” Johnny said as he finished inspecting himself. “We’re all done here anyways. Let’s get going.”

“Yeah, I don’t wanna stand in line all day in this thing,” Dominic said as he stretched out his arms.

Both Johnny and Dominic saw their way out of the dorm room and out into the hallway with the others. Johnny closed the door behind him and looked to Dominic. “So how’s the suit Dom? Nice and cool?”

As Dominic slowly shuffled in place he turned his whole upper body slightly towards Johnny. “It’s fucking freezing in here! What the hell did you put in this thing?” Johnny laughed at his reply.

“Just something to make sure you can wear it longer.”

As the group made their way down the hallway, they immediately caught the attention of some of the other convention goers. There were even a couple of people that wanted to take a picture with them. As soon as they got out of the building, they saw Thomas’ truck in the parking lot. They walked towards it and they all moved to their respective places. Johnny in the back seat with his shield, Thomas driving, and both Francis, and Dominic in the bed of the truck.

“You both good back there?” Thomas called as he looked in the rear-view mirror.

He saw Dominic give a thumbs up. Thomas nodded and put the key in the ignition and started the car. As the engine roared to life, the group of friends gave a cheer.

“Let’s get going then!” Thomas yelled as he pulled out of the parking space and drove.

The truck approached a four-way intersection and Thomas turned the radio down.

“Hey guys!” he yelled, getting the attention of everybody in the truck. “When we get there, what’s for lunch?!” He saw Dominic and Johnny shrug slightly.

“Gotta get some thai!” Francis called out.

“Thai it is then!” He turned the radio back up and waited for the light to turn green. The moment he looked at the light it switched to green.

That was quick… Thomas thought before pressing down on the gas pedal and the truck moved forward. As soon as the truck was in the middle of the intersection, a blaring noise came from his right. His head snapped to look at the source of the noise. It was a semi: a semi that was speeding right for them.

“Shit!” was all Thomas got to say before the semi slammed into the side of the truck, launching both Francis and Dominic from the bed and into the air. Johnny was impaled by his shield as it pushed into his side and forced everything in its way, out of its way. Thomas’ head swung back violently, bashing it against the window and effectively shattering it. His helmet took most of the force, but it wasn’t enough as the truck began to roll. He blacked out after repeatedly hitting his head on the steering wheel.

Dominic’s face plate was torn off as he hit the ground and slid. With his visor scratched and cracked he looked up to the wreckage that they were just riding. Blood dripped out of the back seat doors and Thomas’ head lazily hung out of the window. He looked over to Francis who was laying next him, unmoving, blood pooling underneath his still body. Dominic laid his blood soaked head onto his visor before coughing up a mouthful of more blood and passing out.

‘Yo Dom!’ was all Dominic heard as he was awoken from his slumber with a slap to the faceplate.

“Gah, fuck!” Dominic shouted, sitting up from the from the ground before lifting the metal plate blocking view of his face. He immediately regretted his decision as light rushed forward and clawed at his eyes. Tears began to fill his vision.

“What the fuck?” Dominic said with hot tears running down his face. All he could see was white: a blindingly bright white. He squeezed his eyes shut to rid his eyes of the tears. He opened his eyes once more and was granted a more clear sight of his surroundings…a sparkling field of snow. He looked up to see a cloud filled sky, rays of light haphazardly piercing the thick blanket of gray to fall and land on the sheets of white below.

Dominic looked at the sight in front of him. It’s fucking beautiful… He thought. His concentration was broken when somebody gave a cough. Dominic turned his upper body to the left and was greeted with the sight of his friends.

With his shield in tow, Johnny walked forward towards Dominic, his feet sinking into the snow below him and giving out soft crunching sounds as he did so. “Welcome back to the land of the living,” Johnny said with joy in his voice before offering a hand to his armored friend.

Dominic looked at Johnny, “What the fuck happened?” He asked before taking Johnny’s hand into his own and hoisting himself off the snowy ground. Johnny grunted at the weight of Dominic.

“We died remember?” Johnny asked, his tone didn’t change.

Dominic looked at Johnny, his eyes turned to Francis and Thomas who were looking at the horizon. “How the hell can you guys be so fucking calm about this?” Dominic asked with furrowed brows. “We died!” He shouted, catching the attention of everyone except Francis, who continued looking into the distance, as if he were searching for something.

“Yeah, but we’re alive now right?” Johnny shrugged as he asked.

“That or hell froze over,” Thomas chuckled as he was walking up next to Johnny. There was a muffled slap as a gloved hand met a helmet. With his head in hand, Johnny groaned.

“What? Just trying to cope with all of this,” Thomas extended his arms out and twirled in place. “And jokes are how I do it.”

Dominic gave a toothy grin and shook his head as he chuckled at their predicament. “Do we have any clue where we are?” He asked.

Silence reigned over the group. Johnny’s shoulders sagged and his shield dipped into the snow, Thomas’ head lowered, and a frown made its way across Dominic’s face. They had no clue what to do.

It was a good minute of silence before their attention was gathered as the sound of crunching snow made itself known. They looked to the source of the noise and saw that Francis was walking towards them. His figure glittered with snow as he walked. “I think I know which way to go,” He said as he came to a stop before them. “The problem is that this is a total guess.”

They didn’t reply. “It fucking burned but when I had my goggles on I noticed that something over there was making a lot of light. My guess is that, that’s the way to a town of sorts.”

“How the hell could you tell?” Thomas asked, his voice full of doubt.

“The snow’s all sparkly right?” Johnny, Thomas, and Dominic all looked at each other before looking back to Francis and nodding.

“With the goggles on, all I see is pure white. Except for the sky, that’s more of a light gray, but I digress. Looking at the horizon with these babies on I could see the snow, and something else. An even brighter light.”

There was a moment of silence before Dominic shrugged and said, “Might as well, let’s get going,” And with one foot after the other, Dominic began to walk past Francis, the others following right behind him.

Francis watched as his friends walked through the snow. A smirk wormed its way across his concealed face. “This is going to be interesting,” was all he said before he began to run in an attempt to catch up with the others.

As the group began their trek towards what they hoped was civilization, the winds began to pick up and it started to snow. The group of roommates began to huddle as the snow and wind clawed at them and their unprotected bodies. The main source of heat being Dominic and his suit. Their feet crushing the snow below them, carving a path straight the an untouched field of it. But the storm was quick enough to wipe away any trace of their existence.

“A-any f-fucking further?” Thomas nearly squeaked as he clung to the others, the cold air burning his lungs as he struggled to breathe. His breaths fogging up his visor, temporarily blinding him.

Dominic raised the metal plate and squinted. He would have screamed for joy if his lungs would have been working properly.He saw it. He saw the light. And it was just over a hill. “G-guys. I see it,” He wheezed. “It’s there,” Hot tears began to run his his face, a welcome feeling compared to the cold that had enveloped him.

Dominic looked to his left when he got no response. His friends still clutched to him, but they were unmoving. Frozen. Their breathing barely visible to him. This made him stop. With the wind howling in his ears and the snow pelting his body, he uttered one more word, “Guys?”

He gently shook his body, trying to wake them. It didn’t work. His chest sank as pressure built up in his throat, his vision blurred as the tears returned. He turned to his right to see Johnny still clutching to him with a vice like grip in one hand, and his shield in the other. Dominic had an idea. He pushed Johnny onto the ground and rolled him with a foot onto his shield.

“We ain’t dying out here, ya hear me?” A lone voice muttered. “You let them die and and I’ll kill ya myself.” He took the shield in one hand and began to drag the three unconscious bodies up the hill, his breathing getting more and more ragged as he climbed.

“I’ll kill ya and follow ya to hell and kill ya again, you hear me boy?”

“Yes boss,” Dominic muttered in reply, his eyes glazed over and focused on the top of the hill. His ascent getting slower and slower.

The moment he got to the top, he stopped. There it was. Safety. A giant spire of what looked like colored ice reaching into the sky and reflecting light upon him like a ray of hope and a wall surrounding it.

“You ain’t done yet,” It muttered once more, his vigour renewed with hope and joy. “Get them in there and get to safety.”

“Yes boss,” Dominic muttered in reply once more, his mind numbed from exhaustion and fear.

Dominic stepped forwards before throwing the shield and Johnny in front of him. He looked down at the body of his friend and fell forward. With Francis and Thomas still clinging to him and him to them, the group slid down the hill on the shield like a makeshift sled. The world around him became a blur as it rushed past them. All before coming to a complete stop as they slammed into something. Their bodies tossed to the sides like ragdolls.

Dominic shakily rose from the snow and saw what stopped them. It was a wall. Made of brick. His eyes rose as he scanned the entire wall. His lungs weren’t cold anymore, they burned, burned just like his friends lungs had. With massive gasp for air, Dominic let out a shout.

“Help me! Please! Somebody help us!” Dominic gave out weak sobs as he collapsed into the snow, his friends only a couple feet away.

Just before the darkness consumed him, he heard shouting. Somebody was there!

“Somepony’s out there! We gotta help them!” An effeminate voice called out.

“Open the gate!” Another voice came, this one more masculine.

“Hurry,” was the final thing Dominic muttered before passing out in the snow, the winds whipping at his back, and the snow threatening to conceal him.

‘We can’t do much for it, all we can do is wait,’ Dominic heard as he returned to the land of the living once more. Struggling to open his eyes without blinding himself.

“What the fuck happened?” He groaned out, only to hear a number of gasps. Dominic slowly lifted himself with an arm. He sucked in a sharp hiss of breath as he gave one last push to hoist himself from his prone position. Dominic froze as he saw something through the holes in his faceplate.

What. The. Fuck? Dominic thought as the only things he saw were what looked like small horses. Three of them to be exact. They were a multitude of different colors. The darkness of the room concealed their true colors, but they were bright enough to be noticed.

“What the hell is going on?” Dominic muttered, the three ponies still staring at him. The silence between them was broken when one began to step towards him. The hooves of the pony clopping on the wooden floor.

“Y-You’re awake,” the pony stuttered in fear, “We were wondering when you’d wake up, surprised anypony would be out in that blizzard.”

“Where am I?” Was all Dominic asked. I don’t care where I am, just glad that I’m alive.

“You’re in the Crystal Empire,” the pony said, “Not really the best place to be at the moment.”

Dominic didn’t hear the last thing the pony had said, instead he asked another question, one that he should have asked from the beginning, “What about my friends? Are they alright?” His voice ripe with worry.

“You’re friends? They’re fine, came a little too freezing to death, but they’re fine.”

Dominic let out a sigh of relief. I’m glad they’re safe. He thought before bringing his attention back to the ponies before him. “Sorry but could you turn a light on? It’s pretty dark in here,” Dominic let out a small chuckle, in which the pony joined him.

“Oh yeah, sure, give me a moment,” Dominic didn’t know what he was doing, when he was about to ask about the light, a small glow came from the pony in front of him.

What the hell is he — Dominic thought before being engulfed in light. The room lit up and the ponies before him were clearly visible. Dominic looked to the source of the light and saw a small orb of light shining, confused, Dominic cleared his throat and looked back to the pony. He was a bright blue in color. His mane and tail were both a light gray. And he had a strange thing sticking out of his forehead. He looked to both of the other ponies, they seemed more effeminate as they had longer eyelashes and softer features. The left one was pink with a grey-blue mane and tail. The one on the right was a shade of violet with a grey mane like her father. But the only thing in the room that mattered to Dominic was the orb.

“What the hell is that?” Dominic asked, pointing at the small orb. The pony raised an eyebrow.

“What? That?” He looked at the orb, “That’s just an orb of light, created it using my magic,” he stated matter-of-factly.

You know what? I give up… Dominic thought, tired of everything that was happening. “I just realized I don’t know any of your names,” Dominic said, trying to change the subject.

“Oh,” the pony’s eyes widened, “Where are my manners? My name is Bright Mind. And these are my daughters,” Bright said before the two ponies behind him stepped forward.

The one to his left raised a pink hoof to her mouth before clearing her throat. “My name is—” But she was cut off as the door to the room swung open, it was Francis with his night vision goggles on the other side.

“What’s the haps?” Francis said as he waved with a single hand.

“So let’s get this straight,” Thomas said as he sat down at the crystal table. “You guys are ponies,” the three ponies nodded with a smile. “And this place is called Equestria, not the U.S.A.”

“No clue what a U.S.A. is but I’m just going to say yes, so... yes,” Bright Mind said as he shrugged. He looked at the four strange creatures before him, not sure as what to do now. The four thanked him for saving them. But there wasn’t much to do beyond that.

“So what’s going around here? Anything new?” Johnny asked, deciding that the silence between all of them wasn’t going to help the mood. The ponies seemed to sadden at this. As their ears drooped and their smiles turned to frowns.

“The ponies around here aren’t doing so well,” Bright muttered just loud enough for the group of friends to hear. They all looked to each other with looks of confusion, their helmets and visors masking their faces.

After Bright had told them about the problem the ponies in the Crystal Empire had, Dominic and the group had inquired if there was anybody else that could help. Bright said that most of the ponies that were part of the guard before Sombra came to power were working in the mines, but a few went into hiding with their families. Hoping to hide from the tyrannical ruler.

After they heard that there were ponies in the mine that would help overthrow Sombra they were pointed in the direction of said mine. They said their goodbyes and left Bright Mind’s house, promising to come back once it was over.

“You think they’ll actually help?” Francis asked, his head scanning either sides of the snowy road. The town seemed to be deserted, no lights, no prints in the snow, nothing. The only thing that stood out was the buildings themselves, the colored crystal shining in what little sunlight that escaped the gray clouds overhead.

“They’ve got to,” Dominic answered, “These peo- these ponies want things to get better, but they don’t have anybody to rally them, nobody for them to get behind.”

Taking the first step, Dominic began to lead the group in the direction which Bright had told them to go. The crunching of snow filled the cold air as the group walked down the empty road. They travelled farther and farther until the echoes of talking reached their ears, they followed the sound and reached the wall that surrounded the city. In front of them, a door, inside was the source of the noise.

“Think this is it?” Johnny asked, his breath flowing out from behind his helmet. He looked to his friends, and all he received were shrugs. “Time to find out I guess,” he said as he reached for the handle to the door, grabbing it, he pulled and swung the door open, the noise inside quieting down as he did so.

“Don’t be alarmed, we’re here to help!” Dominic yelled out, startling his friends. “Now we’re going to come in, we’re friendly!” As the group of friends walked into the mine, they noticed the air get warmer and warmer every step they took. The group stopped as Johnny turned the cooler of Dominic’s suit on, and Francis took the moment to turn his nightvision on.

“Let’s keep going. Johnny?”

“Yeah Dom?”

“It looks like the hallway’s gonna get smaller, I’ve got a plan for entering.”

“Okay? Let’s hear it.”

“You’re gonna lead, right? Then it’s gonna be me, Thomas with his taser, and Francis in the back,” Dominic turned towards both Francis and Thomas. “If I give the word, Francis tosses a smoke and we leave, got it?” Everyone nodded, “Good let’s go.”

After a minute of walking the group began to hear the echoes of whispering, reinforcing their hope for help, the whispering got louder and louder until they reached an opening in the dirt hallway that lead into a larger room.

“Hello? We’re here now. Don’t be alarmed, we’re coming in,” Dominic called out.

As the group stepped into the room, they noticed a number of ponies, all of them huddled into the far corner, light from a fire dancing across all of their fear filled faces. Dominic reached a hand out and was about to introduce the group before Johnny called out. “Watch it!” Johnny shouted as he shoved Dominic out of the way and blocked a sword mid-swing with his shield, the sparks of the contact jumped off of the shield, right towards both Francis and Thomas.

As the shower of sparks receded, a bright white flash filled everyone's vision, at the same time a loud ‘pop’ could be heard. Dominic looked to the source of the noise. A pony somehow got behind them and was about to swing his sword. “No!” Dominic shouted, he extended a hand to block the sword. The blade hit his padded hand and did nothing but stop. The room became deathly silent as everyone stared at Dominic, the blade of the sword still in hand.

Dominic stared down at the shocked unicorn, her mouth agape and her eyes wide. Dominic clenched at the blade and ripped it out of her magical grasp. With a heavy sigh, and with his free hand he pointed to the rest of the ponies. “Get over there,” he said, his voice devoid of emotion. The unicorns ears pinned to the back of her head, shaking some soot from her brown mane. She scurried over to the huddled group of ponies and didn’t say a word.

Dominic didn’t even look to the first attacker and pointed to the ponies again. He said nothing and the pony followed the command. He sighed once more and looked to the huddling ponies. He brought the sword to both of his hands and looked at the blade, it was thin and light, meant for quick cuts and thrusts. And with one quick motion he brought the sword down onto his armored knee, snapping the blade in two. The group of ponies all flinching at the sound of shattering metal. He tossed the blade and hilt into the dirt below.

There was a moment of silence between the people and the ponies. The ponies faces a mixture of fear, confusion, and worry. The light of the fire, dancing across the visors and helmets of the humans. Dominic’s painted skull, even more threatening than before as the eyeholes seemed to glint and give life to the skull itself. “Any you ponies that used to be a guard and want to get rid of your king, follow us, anyone else, stay here, and stay safe. Let’s go,” Dominic announced before turning around and walking back the way he came, followed by his friends.

“Well that was a warm welcome,” Francis muttered to himself as he flicked his night-vision on and looked back to see a number of ponies slowly following them. “Real warm…” A wave of euphoria washed over him. “And —he sighed before chuckling— it’s about to get even better.” Francis turned around and jogged up to his friends, filing back into line behind Thomas.

Chapter ?: HUMAN

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The Everfree. One of the most dangerous places on the planet Equis. To the ponies at least. To its visitor, it was some kind of fresh hell. Charles was no stranger to the woods. But these woods. These woods were something else.

With an accent only an Englishman could have, he spoke to the trees. "This place is fucked. Giant cats, wooden wolves, a rock crocodile? What's next? A unicorn?" he laughed to himself, but winced as his right eye flared with pain, or at least, it would have, if it was still there. Not unlike his arm. He had flesh and bone there once. But it was all replaced. Replaced by crystal. He doesn't know how or why it happened it just did. He was asleep when it all happened, but woke up to an eye staring at him. And clutching his own mutilated arm.

"I wouldn't doubt that for a second," his stomach roared at him with a vengeance as he clutched at his aching stomach. "God I'm starving," he looked up at the grey sky. "Haven't seen anything good to eat in so long."

Another roar broke out. Charles looked at his gut, and with a delirious smile. "That wasn't you was it?" He was only answered by an ear piercing shriek. His eyes widened. There was someone out here. Someone that could help him! He ran towards the sound of heavy steps. Jumping over a shrub he spotted the large cat's back. Bat wings and scorpion tail along with it. What ever it was, it had something pinned on the tree.

"This is some fucking bullshit," he muttered staring at the back of... whatever it was.

"Nice kitty," a feminine voice squeaked out.

Looking down at his right arm Charles saw the crystal glint in what little light there was. He looked at his fingers that tipped the crystal. They weren't even allowed to be called fingers anymore, talons would have been the closest thing. Clenching his fist, he looked back at the cat. Compared to him, it was smaller than any lion, maybe he could... knock it out? Time to find out. With a quick sprint he closed the gap between him and the cat, he lifted his arm into the air. Preparing to knock the cat out with it. The cat's ears flicked up, but before it could turn to see what was running at it. Charles' hand connected with the back of the cat's skull. And a blinding white light shot out and blinded his good eye. Somehow, the crystal one was still okay. And he wished it wasn't. This was all so wrong.

Not even in the blink of an eye, the cat's skull ruptured. Followed by the body, and the rest of it. Somehow, the cat blew up, and cooked before he could put his arm down. With his mouth agape he looked at the carnage. Bone? Not even one. Probably powdered what was remaining. It was just meat, steaming, delicious meat. With a quick motion, Charles dropped to his knees and gave a cry of anguish before digging his fingers into the flesh. Shoveling hand-full after hand-full into his mouth. He didn't care if it was safe, he didn't care if he scooped up any dirt, he needed to eat. And eat he did. After finishing the pile of steamed meat he looked back up, only to meet a pair of scared eyes. He blinked and looked at what those eyes were attached to. A small butter yellow pony, with a pink mane.

"Nice... whatever you are," it whispered to him.

"The fuck are you?" he whispered right back, giving a small moist belch along with his question. With a wide eye he watched the pony hit the ground. Only to reveal a wing. A pegasus? It was at this moment, Charles felt his world begin to spin. Looking down at the meat, he stared at his blood soaked hands one more time before blacking out. Leaving neither of them awake, surrounded by the trees of the Everfree.

Chapter 2: WELCOME

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The Kings of Crystal
Chapter 2: WELCOME

As the group walked out into the snow once more, Thomas decided to speak up. "What the hell happened to the plan?!" He nearly shouted, causing both Johnny and Francis to jump slightly. When Dominic didn't give him an answer, he asked once more. "Dom, buddy, what the hell happened?" Walking forward a few steps, he placed his right hand on his friend's shoulder. Only after that, was he met with a reply.

"I panicked, alright? I knew these ponies had it bad, but I didn't know it was this bad. Like, the moment we come in, they try to stab us . . . more of a reason to help 'em, right?" He gave a dry chuckle. No one laughed with him. "I mean, we died, woke up in a frozen wasteland, almost died again, and then got saved by miniature horses. Let me say that one more time: Mini. Horses."

This time, Francis stepped forward, flanking his right. "Well, don't look back now, ‘cause, we've got a couple of those ‘mini horses’ to follow. Looks like they think we can do it." Dominic put the castle on his back and looked to Francis, who had his hand up, pointing at the ponies that were poking their heads out into the cold from the opening of the mine shaft.

"Huh," was all that Dominic replied with before he began to walk back to the double doors. The four ponies froze as their eyes landed on him. Not a moment later, they stepped out into the freezing snow, their heads hung low. There was only one stallion, and the rest were mares. The one that stood out to Dominic was the one who was leading the others; it was the mare who swung at Johnny, he was sure of it. The same brown mane, the same coal dust in said mane. It was definitely the same pony. Definitely.

Francis began to laugh. "Glad you could join us!" he said, his laughter bringing small smiles to the faces of the few ponies that decided to join them. "Real glad," he repeated as he began to walk towards the ponies. Johnny and Thomas both looked to each other and shrugged. Neither one of them could see the other’s raised eyebrow. Dominic did nothing but slowly walk after Francis. Francis stopped a few steps away from them. "Now. One question: why did you follow us?"

The unicorn mare stepped forward, her grey-furred hooves crushing the snow beneath them. With a small cough, she cleared her throat. "I'm Captain Freezing Tears," Nobody withheld their chuckles at her name. "I was in charge of the Crystal Empire's guards before Sombra took the throne."

It was completely silent after she finished speaking, but only for a moment. "Okay? That doesn't really answer my question, but I'll take it anyways." Francis shrugged and stepped to Freezing before using his left hand to ruffle her mane. She scrunched her muzzle as she blushed. She wasn't expecting that from anyone. She was a captain, for Celestia's sake! Francis squatted in front of all of them, putting himself at eye level with them. Well, to them it was more like eye to three glowing green orbs. His head turned back and forth, as though he was scanning them.

"You all are so freakin' adorable; so tiny." He squealed. This made the ponies uncomfortable.

"Adorable? What about you? Why do you sound like you're not even old enough to drink?" She asked with her brows furrowed. No one calls her adorable without getting a verbal lashing. He only chuckled once more.

"Legally? Nah, I ain't. I've got a good month before that. I'll be turning twenty-one on the eleventh."

The mouths of all the ponies contorted into frowns of annoyance, here was a... whatever he was, that was barely out of his teens calling them adorable. "How old are all of you?" Freezing asked, a hint worry clear in her voice.

Francis answered her, "Well, you got Dominic right behind me, he's twenty-eight. Dude with the shield is... twenty-six? And blue-y is twenty-three."

Frozen's eyes turned to pinpricks as she muttered out, "We're doomed."

"Hey, hey, hey," Francis said quickly. "None of that, it takes an optimist to see the light at the end of the tunnel." He gave a thumbs up to the group of ponies.

Thomas stepped forward, "But it takes a pessimist to say that they still have a ways to go," He said with a raised finger.

Johnny stepped out from behind Dominic. "And it takes a realist to know that the light is actually a train, and we're all probably gonna die . . . again." he said, his accent slipping out.

"Again?" A grey stallion stepped forward. It was at this moment that Dominic noticed something: all of the ponies that he'd seen had some sort of tattoo on their asses. The ponies that were currently in front of him had, in order, a rose with a falling petal, a fruit with a beam of light cutting it in half, a snowflake made out of some kind of blue glitter, and a sword made of crystal. Freezing was the one with the blue snowflake.

"Long story; we'll explain on the way, but for now, let's get moving and get each others names. Also, we're gonna need a way to defeat this Sombra dude," Dominic said as he started walking for the castle. Everyone followed, the sound of crunching snow filling the air.

There wasn't even a moment of silence between the two groups before Johnny decided to speak up. "So . . . I'm Johnny." The rest followed suit.

"Francis!" The shout came from the overly-energetic Cloaker

"Thomas," droned the Taser, his arms loosely swinging as he marched.

"Dominic," stated the large Skulldozer as he twisted his entire body to give a small glimpse of the face-plate to the ponies before turning back.

The ponies smiled at the friendly attitude of the strange creatures that walked with them. They didn’t seem so bad to the ponies once they had gotten to see them in different circumstances. The friends all twisted to look back at the ponies.

"Rose Wind," the stallion earth pony said with a smile, his brick-red mane bouncing as he trotted.

"Chef Comatose," the pink pegasus said. Her eyes never leaving the castle.

"Crystal Clear," the unicorn said, neither her voice or face conveying any emotion.

The friends all turned forward, the greetings concluded. They had to get to work. As the castle got closer and closer, nobody said a word. No one wanted to.

"So . . . Sombra . . . What's he like?" Thomas asked, and watched as the ponies visibly deflated at the mention of his name. "That bad?"

Freezing Tears was the one to reply. "He's a horrid king that wanted more power than he already had. He made everypony work in the mines, but if you got sick, he'd take you and feed off of your essence to keep himself young." She spat into the snow below her, her face contorted into an enraged sneer. "Necromancy at its finest." Freezing paused, her face returning to its once-somber state. "After a while, he decided to feed off of the Crystal Heart instead, leaving all of us to the cold."

Rose Wind silently added his two cents. "I heard he eats them whole," he whispered.

Paying no mind to Rose, Dominic spoke to Freezing. "Crystal heart?" he asked, curious as to what she was talking about.

"A magical crystal that would use the love that everypony felt as a sort of barrier. It would keep everypony happy, healthy, and it would keep the snow away." She used a hoof to kick up a bunch of snow into the air. "He locked it up, and after the princesses came to save us, he locked himself away, and took the Empire and all of us with him."

Everyone's attention was brought towards Johnny as they heard him give out a quick 'hmm'. The joint of his pointing finger pressed against the metal where his lips would be, while his thumb stroked the cheek of his mask. "Something interesting?" Freezing asked as she glared at him.

"Just thinking," he stated, paying no mind to her as they all kept walking.

"What's on your mind?" Dominic prodded. "Got something going on in that head of yours?" Dominic continued. "Is it a plan?"

"We'll see. I want to see this ‘Sombra’, myself."

The group made its way into the castle, meeting no resistance; no opposition. It was quiet. Too quiet. They walked down the halls, admiring the decor that still clung to the walls.

"The throne room is just through these doors," Freezing said, nodding her head slightly as she did so. As she was about to push open the giant double doors, a hand stopped her. "What now?!" she whispered harshly, turning to see the creature named Johnny was the one to stop her.

"Hold on. I want to see something," he ordered. His voice was stern as he loomed above her. "Something ain't adding up." He pushed her away from the door. "Dominic, you're coming with me. Francis and Thomas, stay here and keep an eye on them." They all nodded.

Using their bodies, both Francis and Thomas pushed the ponies back. The ponies gave cries of distaste and annoyance. Dominic walked up to him. "What the hell is going on?" Dominic was feeling a lot of things, the main one was confusion.

"Help me get this door open," was all Johnny said.

Dominic complied and reached with both hands towards the door. With the palms of his hands on the door he gave a hardy push, and the door creaked open slightly. Johnny stepped in and gestured for Dominic to follow. With Dominic in the room, Johnny pushed the door shut. He turned and was greeted by the sight of the throne: a giant chair of crystal, with two ponies at its seat. One of them was a brownish yellow mare, with a mane of bright yellow

"Oh, guests!" The mare turned around. The moment she did so, she gave them a perplexed look. "Uhm, hello?"

Dominic lumbered forward, slowly stepping towards the two ponies. "Hello. We're here for someone called Sombra . . . ?" What Dominic felt was something far beyond what could have been defined as confusion.

"I apologize, but Sombra isn't in the right health to be taking visitors," she said as she turned her head to look at the pony behind her. This didn't help Dominic in the slightest. The ponies called him a tyrant; a slave driver, even. Who was this pony? And where was Sombra? So many questions, not enough answers.

Johnny stepped forward. "Please, this is important. We believe that the city is free and back to the nor— the normal world." What was normal about this place? Normal to the ponies? Maybe. To them? Decidedly not.

"The curse lifted?" A soft but gravelly voice spoke out from behind the mare. She stepped to the side and turned towards the source of said voice. It was a unicorn, and quite a large one at that. He was odd looking compared to the other ponies Dominic had met. He had a jet-black mane sitting atop his head, seemingly slicked back, though it gave no hint that that was what he'd done to it. He had a horn, like every other unicorn he'd met, but this one was different as well. The base of it was dark grey, but as it extended out, it grew to a dull red and then a bright orange, as if it were a piece of heated metal. His coat, much like the base of his horn, was a dark grey. His eyes were the most interesting about him. The whites of his eyes were instead a sickly bright emerald green. With a purple haze flowing from them. His iris was merely a bright red while his pupil was a brick red. His whole demeanor said exhaustion, what with his slouching and the bags under his eyes. All in all, this mini horse did not look well.

Johnny took another step towards the king. "Yes, but that isn't the main issue. What I want are answers, sir." There was a pregnant pause between the four of them.

"Okay," Sombra said slowly. "But the questions will have to wait for another time, if what you say is true and the curse has been lifted, then I must go to protect my kingdom." Sombra proceeded to get up from the throne, his legs wobbling as he did so. The mare at his side rushed up the steps to him.

"My king, you are in no shape to be going anywhere, let alone protecting everypony," the mare said, cooing at the king.

He scoffed softly. "Oh, Miss Bit Coin, I will never begin to fathom how you can treat your king like a child." He laughed lightheartedly before having a coughing fit. "Never change," he sighed. Looking up from the floor and to both Dominic and Johnny, he gave a small smile. "You want answers?"

Johnny nodded at this.

"Ask me anything you need to know," he said as he settled back into his throne.

Johnny stared at him for a moment before asking his first question. "I'm just going to get right to it and ask this, why do the ponies hate you so much? They call you a monster, but all I see is a sick king, holding on to his last moments."

"A good question. One that even I ask from time to time." He paused. "I think it would be best to explain this to everyone. Your friends are still outside, are they not?"

"Yes and no." Johnny waggled his head from side to side.

King Sombra raised an eyebrow to this. "Oh?"

"We were brought here to hide from the cold." Johnny looked at Dominic, both of them locking gazes for only a second before they both turned back to the king. "The ones who helped us told us about you, how you were a tyrant, a king that went mad. So we wanted to help them, and, long story short, a group of the guard came with us, and here we are."

"You came here with the intention of killing me?"

Johnny paused before answering. Had they come here to kill him? If this was any other situation, could they have done it? He shook his head of the thoughts. "A few words I live by: ‘If there's a problem, there's a solution,’ I didn't really think of killing you until you brought it up. But the ponies we brought with us, it seems that's all they want."

"And they'll probably get it, knowing Celestia; she might have somepony on the way already." Sombra's face turned up in a snarl as a single pearly white fang glinted in the light.

"That's another thing I want to know, who's Celestia?" Sombra's face returned to its docile nature as he listened to Johnny's question.

"Before I answer, I want everyone to hear this, especially the ponies." Sombra turned his head to Dominic. "Could you . . .?" He gestured to the door with a flick of his head.

"I got it, just give me a moment." Dominic waddled quickly to the giant set of double doors. He grabbed the handle and pulled. And with his pull, the giant door creaked open once more. Thomas was the first to walk through.

"Dude we have a problem," he said hurriedly. Clutching Dominic by the shoulder as he did.

"What? What happened?" Dominic asked, pushing Thomas's hands off of his shoulders. But before Thomas could answer, Freezing Tears pushed Thomas to the side.

"What was that?!" she shouted. "We get here and you lock us out with your freak!"

"What the hell happened?!" Dominic quickly said with a hushed tone as he looked to Thomas.

"She tried to pull shit with Francis."

Jesus fucking Christ! What happened?! Dominic thought, enraged at everyone not giving him a proper answer.

Dominic looked down at Freezing Tears only to look up as he noticed Francis standing behind her; nightstick in hand. "You talk bad about my friends and then me?" he said, his voice heavy with anger.

Freezing turned to Thomas. "Yeah! I do! Because everything I say won't get through your thick head!"

Dominic raised his gloved hands and began to clap them quickly. Getting both of their attentions. "Francis, buddy, what happened? Calm down, and tell me what happened." Francis gave a small pained whine.

"It itches," he muttered, pathetically reaching for his back.

Dominic clapped once more. "Hey hey hey, there's no itch. It ain't real okay? Now, please, tell me what happened."

"They said that Sombra probably killed you, telling me how you wouldn't be able to handle him alone. Yelling at me to open the door and we're nothing but children and probably gonna die anyways."

"Does it look like I'm dead?" he asked, chuckling lightly.

"No but—" Francis croaked before Dominic cut him off.

"But nothing. They were fucking with you, that's it." Dominic lumbered over Thomas and pulled him into a tight hug. "It's all good," he patted his friend's back. "There there," he comforted.

Sombra watched on as the giant creature comforted the small one like a father would a child. This was an interesting group of friends. He watched as the hug was broken off and the large one named Dominic turned to the unicorn guard, Freezing Tears.

"So what now?" She asked, her raised voice echoing in the room.

"Nothing much," he said in an upbeat voice as he walked towards her. At that moment everyone's eyes went wide as the hulking behemoth known as Dominic lifted the unicorn by her brown mane with a gloved hand. Freezing gave a squeal of pain as she was lifted. With tears forming in the corners of her eyes she looked down at Dominic. "You ever speak to him like that again. I'll break that pretty little horn off of your head myself." Rage itself seeped from the suit that was Dominic. "How old are you?" She didn't answer, so he shook her. "How old are you?!"

She broke and yelled back. It was more like another squeal than anything else. "Thirty-five!" Her face flush and hot with tears.

"Do you think we're children?!"

"Yes!" she screamed

"Did you join the guard to do what was right?!"

"Yes!"

"Bullshit! I think you joined to hurt children! To twist the knife and make 'em cry!"

"I-I did not!" She sobbed, her legs shaking on their own volition. She was panting now.

Dominic snapped out of his enraged stupor. Hearing laughter from his friends. What the hell was so funny? He looked at them. Their gazes pointed below him. He looked down and immediately regretted everything. At his feet was a puddle. It wasn't tears and it sure as hell wasn't piss. As Dominic looked back up, he noticed her tail was wagging from side to side, much like a dog's would.

"Francis," Dominic said calmly. "Please tell me all of this wasn't planned by you or anything."

Francis walked forward to him, placing a hand on his free arms shoulder. "Sorry, but yeah. When I started arguing with her, I noticed something was off." He patted Dominic’s shoulder. "She loves getting yelled at. Didn't notice it at first, but when I really looked at it - and I'm talking really looked at it - all signs pointed to: ‘oh god yes, give me more!’" He screamed breathily in a high-pitched voice, thrusting his hips childishly.

Dominic looked to the other guard ponies. All of their faces were flushed red, their ears pinned to the back of their head, half of them no longer willing to look at him. He sighed. Why can't he just get a break? He stepped towards them. His soaked foot squelching slightly. He froze and sighed once more. After putting the panting mare down on the crystal floor he walked away from them. His foot squelching with every step.

"I swear to whatever cruel god is up there now, if any of you mention this, ever again, I will wear you in place of my suit," he muttered. Too tired to make any kind of serious threat, he walked to King Sombra.

"Quite a show, getting everypony in this room hot and bothered," he laughed. "I mean, Miss Bit Coin here was positively undressing you with her eyes." Said pony looked up him, a blush on her face and the look of betrayal in her eyes. He laughed even harder. "I jest, I jest," he reassured. "I haven't laughed like this in ages."

"Well, get used to it, because I'll be here for the rest of my natural life," Dominic huffed indignantly.

“Sombra!” Rose shouted through a mouth full of sword. Charging to the throne with the rest of his fellow guards, minus Freezing Tears.

Dominic stepped in front of the charging ponies.

“What are you do—”

He raised a finger. “If I hear anything come from any of your mouths without my permission, I’ll shove my boot so far up your ass, you’ll wish you could get the taste of shit off the back of your tongue.” They didn’t know why he was talking about a donkey but they were scared anyways; none of them wanted the same treatment Freezing had received.

“Good. Now, let’s all sit down and listen to the not-so tyrannical King Sombra. Because he has some things that he would like to say.” Dominic turned towards the king and gestured for him to proceed.

“Thank you,” Sombra said, nodding towards Dominic. “What I am about to say might shock all of you . . . I am not the king you see me as. Everything you think about me . . . Is a lie,” he gauged their reactions, and every one of them was confused. Confused as to what he even meant. “And everything you have gone through is Celestia’s fault.”

“You’re lying,” everyone looked back to see Frozen Tears, broken out of her reverie of ecstasy. “Celestia wouldn’t allow any of this.”

Sombra looked at her, his gaze giving off a tinge of either sadness or regret. “Perhaps if I showed you.”

“You can do that?” Thomas asked before slapping his helmet. “Forgot: magic. Duh. You can do anything,” he said begrudgingly.

Sombra looked on with a raised eyebrow. “I can’t rightly do everything, but I am within the limit of showing you the past,” a deep purple began to bubble out of horn atop his head. Not a moment later, a crystal spire rose from the ground in front of him. The spire itself only rose to maybe an inch taller than he was. His magic canceled out only for a second before the same purple magic fed into the spire itself. None of them could react as beams of light shot from the crystal and hit them all.

It was fuzzy, almost as if they were looking through a fogged window, except they could hear. They could hear voices.

“Sombra, this is ridiculous,” a motherly voice said.

“Ridiculous? Ridiculous?! You are wasting the potential of this nation!” They all knew this was Sombra, the deep gravelly voice was something that stood out.

“Sombra, what you want is—”

“What I want, Celestia, is to make the Crystal Empire shine! Not to be some tourist stop before ponies go to visit Canterlot. I want ponies to marvel at what this city has achieved!” Sombra stopped, breathing for a moment, calming himself. “I want ponies to come here and choose their own destiny, to make themselves great. Not get picked out of a crowd. And I will do anything for you to see this. I want ponies to be recognized, to be everything they can be.”

“Everypony has the potential of being great, they just need a push to see how great they can actually be,” Celestia replied.

“But what about those left behind? The ones who don’t get pushed? What happens to them?”

There was no reply. The only thing that was heard was Sombra giving a ‘hmph’. Everything cleared in that moment. The ponies were indeed Celestia and Sombra. The latter of which had a victorious smirk on his face. The former? Brows furrowed, lips pulled back into thin lines. She was not happy. The memory ended and they were back in the throne room.

Dominic turned to the ponies, all of them were shaken by what they had heard. He turned to his friends all of which didn’t even know what to do with this information.

“And you all think we are the children,” Johnny muttered.

Bit Coin turned to him with a raised eyebrow and a frown. “You think you could do better?” She said with a haughty tone to her voice.

“With the example they’re setting? I know I could,”

Sombra stepped down from his throne and trotted to the shield wielding human. “You think you can make the same sacrifices I made?”

“With ease,” Johnny replied. Everyone in the room could feel his glare being directed at Sombra.

“Will the two of you shut the fuck up already?!” Thomas yelled. “Ya know what? Better yet, I’ll pull mine out too!”

All the ponies looked at Thomas in confusion until he began to undo his belt.

After both parties had calmed down, it was back to conversing among themselves. Sombra watched over both the humans and the ponies that came to dethrone him. Both gave him quick glances, they were most likely talking about him. But what they were saying, he did not know. Only after a minute of more conversing between each other, someone approached him. It was the unicorn guard Freezing Tears.

“If you’re not as evil as we say you are, then what happened with all of this sick ponies you took?” She was joined by her fellow guards and the humans. All of which were looking at him with questioning gazes.

Sombra cleared his throat. “You are aware of necromancy aren’t you?”

“Don’t tell me you—”

“Nothing like that. The last pony who attempted such things went mad, but I guess that answers my question.” Sombra brought a hoof up to his face and violently coughed, his body shaking as he did so. “Follow me,” he said as he stood up and walked towards the throne room doors. Everyone but Bit Coin followed him as he left the throne room.

“Where are you taking us?” Thomas asked as he stared at the crystal walls. The walls themselves took on different colors depending on the angle he looked at them from, going from bright pink to a sky blue, all the way until it just stopped at a dull grey.

“I’m taking you to them,” Sombra said softly, but it was quiet enough in those hallways that every one of them heard what he said. There was fear; confusion; anger. None of them knew what to think; what to feel.

“What do you mean?” Rose Wind asked, his voice almost faltering.

“Necromancy. While it is commonly seen as something that is used to bring the dead back to life, it can be used for something much more than just that.” He paused. “After one of the first fell to illness, I found myself wanting to do something. I wanted their passing into the next life to be as easy as possible.”

The group stopped at a set of doors, smaller than the rest, but more ornate. Adorned with gold and gems of all sizes and colors, it was magnificent.

“So I numbed their pain, and kept them here. Miss Bit took it upon herself to write down their final words, the ones they couldn’t say to their loved ones.” Sombra raised a hoof to the door and pushed it open slowly, a low creak being the only response. As the door opened, the darkness in the room parted and shriveled away from the light, letting everyone see the rows of beds. Every single one of them, carried a pony underneath their thick, eggshell-white blankets. At the end of every bed was a small piece of paper, pinned to their wooden frames.

“I wanted for everyone to have the chance to say goodbye.”

As the ponies rushed into the room, tears in their eyes, the four friends stayed outside, only looking in at the ponies, both the ones in mourning and the ones that found peace. The four of them snapped out of their dazes as Sombra stepped into the doorway, his back turned towards them as he watched the four guards find those who had left.

Francis raised a finger to his ear, pressing a button he began to softly speak into the microphone in his mask. “Guys, I’m going to do something, I’ll call you all to my location when I’m done.”

Dominic turned slightly towards him, trying to bring no attention to himself. He then reached for the same button that was installed in his suit. “Understood. Watch yourself: I don’t like this place,” he said quietly, his voice not even leaving the suit.

Francis replied with a small nod and began to lightly step away. Back towards where they came from. And, disappearing from view, he turned the corner. Dominic turned back towards the doorway, with Sombra still facing the other, looked up at the room and saw the ponies wiping tears as they all made their way back to the door.

Dominic felt something as he thought about what Francis said, it was as if his organs were being used to make a clown’s balloon animals.

‘Can’t trust anybody in this place. The only people you can trust are your friends. Not these ponies, and especially not their magic.’ One side of him thought.

‘What about the proof?’

‘Proof? All I know is that there are dead bodies and a memory that could have been faked. Think back to everything that he’s shown you and tell me that you believe him.’

‘I don’t know.’

“Hey, Dom, buddy, wakey wakey motherfucker.” Dominic shook his head as a pair of fingers were snapped in front of him. He looked to see who did it and was greeted by the visor of Thomas. “You good man? Fell asleep on us did ya?” he asked with a chuckle.

“I’m good, I’m good. Just thinkin’,” Dominic said as he waved Thomas’ finger away.

“This place is so . . . fuckey. Is that even a word?” Francis said to himself as he roamed the hallways of the Crystal Palace. Looking to his right as he quickly walked down the hallway, he looked out the window, spotting the snow-covered city below. It was so quiet; he couldn’t spot a single pony out in the snow. For a city this massive, they surely couldn’t have all fit in the mines. The row of windows ended and he turned his back forward to see a set of stairs, one leading up, the other leading down.

“Time to get some fresh air,” he said, heading down the steps and reaching the first floor of the palace. Seeing a small wooden door, he walked towards what he assumed would be the snow-covered outside world, but was stopped as he reached for the door handle. Francis jumped back as the door itself rippled and shuddered at his touch.

“Curious,” he said with a smile. Raising a fist, he slammed it into the door. This time, the door didn’t do anything but push in a little, shearing a bolt as it hit the limit. It was a door. He didn’t try to open it this time.

“Definitely fuckey,” he muttered. Turning back to the stairs he walked back the way he came, with the intention of returning to his friends. As he made it back to the second floor, he looked to his left, wanting to gaze out of the windows like he had done before. However, all he was met with was crystal. Where were the windows? He put a finger up to his his comm piece and spoke.

“Guys? I think I found something.” His voice wavered as he began to run down the hall. He needed to get back to them. He let the button go and was only met by static. His pace quickened and he was already beginning to recognize the surroundings. He heard talking and followed it around a corner; it was his friends and the ponies. He stopped and hid at the corner, not wanting to be seen. Pulling his goggles off, he clipped them around his belt and then pulled the ski-mask off, letting his short, wild, brown hair feel the cold breeze that wafted through the palace, and his pale skin see the light of day once more.

“Last check,” he said as he clipped the mask along with his goggles. He then raised his to his face, using one to cover his mouth while the other pinched his nose. With his airways cut off, he stood there. And stood there. And stood there. All until he felt the familiar sensation that was breathing as air filled his lungs, and exited not a moment later.

“Gotcha ya little shit,” he muttered as he turned the corner to join his friends. With a smile on his face he sauntered over to them. Knowing what he had to do. Walking up to Dominic who only stared at him, as if asking him what had happened. Using his right hand he pushed him to the window that was behind him, a dull thud as the suit collided with glass.

“Francis! What the fuck man?!” Thomas shouted catching the attention of both Johnny and the rest of the ponies. As everyone stared at Francis with worry, he walked back to the wall opposite of Dominic.

“You guys trust me don’t you?” He asked with as sad tone.

“Of course man, why wouldn’t we?” Dominic asked, the skull faceplate hiding his emotions.

“Well then . . . I hope this works,” Francis muttered. Grabbing his nightstick, he chucked it with all his might at the window behind Dominic. The glass shattered and the nightstick fell into the cold kingdom below.

“Do you guys remember there being a window here?” he asked with a smirk on his face. “Cause I sure as hell don’t.”

The friends looked at eachother, mumbling to themselves as Sombra walked up to them. “What is going on here?” he demanded with a stamp of his hoof.

“It’s time to wake up and smell the bacon!” Francis shouted, dropping into a sprint towards Dominic. Dominic tried to sidestep him, but his suit wouldn’t allow such a sudden movement. Their two bodies met as Francis wrapped his hands around the back of his knees and lifted him with a growl. He successfully tossed him out the window, and, following suit, jumped out after him.

“I feel alive!” Francis shouted, the wind howling as it whipped past his grinning face.

Dominic didn’t do anything but look up at his friend and wonder. Why had he done this? Why? That was his only thought as he stared up at his cackling friend. Dominic’s arms stretched out to reach for Francis.

“Don’t look now, but here comes our stop!” Francis shouted.

Dominic’s eyes widened, and a thought rushed through his head. In that moment, Dominic was ripped from his free fall, feeling his body stop falling. His breathing was heavy and labored, and his heart threatened to pound its way out of his chest. He looked around and found he was back in the throne room. The ponies in front of him were covered in bruises and cuts, their manes disheveled, huffing in air as if it were a drug. He looked to his friends and found both Johnny and Thomas were stanced in a fighting position, with Johnny holding his shield in one hand and a sword in the other.

“Dominic, ya here with me?” He looked to Francis and shouted.

“What the fuck was that?!”

“I’ll explain later; you take care of Sombra, and I’ll try to keep Johnny and Thomas from killing the ponies,” he said, unsheathing his nightstick.

‘What the fuck is going on?’ he thought as he looked to the King known as Sombra. With a teeth filled smirk the king looked down at him with madness in his eyes.

“How did you break free?” he laughed. “Nopony has ever broken free from my mind-altering spells.”

“Great, magic,” Dominic muttered. “What did you do to me and my friends?” Dominic shouted over the sounds of fighting that came from behind him.

“You wouldn’t even be able to understand,” Sombra said. “Like my slaves, I marked you, who knew something like you would be susceptible to magic.”

Dominic looked up at the king on his throne and felt something crawling up his back, this feeling was followed by a sharp pain the back of his head.

“Well, no matter, it was fun toying with you all while it lasted. Die!” A sickly purple liquid bubbled from his horn and crystals began to rise from the ground, shooting towards him at a quick pace. He braced himself and felt the crystal contact with his gut. The spell itself didn’t serve anything but to push him back only a foot and knock the wind from his lungs, without his suit, Sombra might have broken a rib or two.

After recovering, Dominic looked up at the king, this time, his head was lowered and pointing towards him. With the same purple magic, a spell was released from Sombra’s horn. This time, instead of crystal, it was a bubble of purple energy. Dominic braced himself again, and once again, he was hit. However, this time he wasn’t pushed; the magic washed over his form and did nothing. Little did he know, his body was sponging up the magic Sombra had been casting on him.

Sombra coughed up a black bile. “What is this?!” He shouted. “What have you done to me?” He croaked this time. His energy sapping out of him. They both collapsed. Sombra out of exhaustion. Dominic out of pain.

Dominic wrapped his arms around his gut, feeling as if his organs were trying to escape through his throat. He raised a hand to the skull faceplate and ripped it open, looking down at the crystal floor as his mouth salivated and dripped onto his visor. He could feel the cool air wash over his body as the fan in his suit worked, but he felt his skin heating up as the magic bounced violently inside of his being, trying to find an point to escape from.

Dominic roared with pain as adrenaline flooded his body, only serving to make his body work harder and sap more magic from the now angry king. The fighting behind him had stopped. The spells over Johnny and Thomas were broken as Sombra couldn’t keep them going

He rose from the floor and looked Sombra in the eye, both of them bared their teeth to each other. Dominic began to build up into a sprint. Sombra saw this and launched more of his magic at him. The magic did the same as before, only adding to the fire that was burning in the enraged human. Sombra watched as the gap between him and Dominic began to close quicker and quicker. The four-hundred pound behemoth running at him; the floor underneath his hooves shaking at Dominic’s every step; the faceplate dropping back down and fixing the skull’s sight on him; it was a terrifying sight

Sombra stepped down from his throne and tried to flee to the balcony behind it, but was caught in between Dominic and a wall as the Skulldozer tackled him and smashed his entire weight into the pony’s body. With a roar, Dominic heaved his arms above his head and hammered them down onto the king. Earning pained cries as he was assaulted by the human.

Dominic roared once more, this one more animalistic as pain was all he could manage to process, the magic in his body being fought by his system as a foreign matter invaded it. Without letting up, he lifted the king up by the throat and punched him square in the muzzle. Leaving no time for Sombra to recover before headbutting him with his skull faceplate. Blood spattered against it, staining the white paint with a dark red. Dropping him, Dominic grabbed the king by the ears and pulled him to his knee, effectively breaking the king’s muzzle with a wet crunch, repeating the same action once more. During all this, Sombra’s magic was still being drained by the human, only slowing down to a trickle, but there was no release from the pain.

There was now one thing that Dominic could hear and feel besides the pain, it was the king’s screams as Dominic relentlessly beat and pounded into his now soft, bruised, and blood-soaked flesh.

He paused. No matter how much he beat and pummeled the pony below him, there was no relief - no joy - it only seemed to make the pain persist. Using his hands, he slowly inserted his finger into the king’s broken maw. Lifting him by the flesh of his cheeks, he brought Sombra up to eye level and stared at the broken king: left eye swollen shut with blood leaking out between the lumps of skin; dark-grey fur turned a shade of dark blue as the flesh below it was bruised beyond comprehension; muzzle haplessly deformed with several bones crushed to powder.

With the king’s cheeks in hand, he began to tug and pull his arms apart, his thumbs and fingers pinching his cheeks between the them. With a blood curdling cry, the flesh gave away, misting his gloved hands with more blood and dropping him to the floor once more. Lowering himself to the king’s level, he raised his hands to his mouth once more, this time clutching both of Sombra’s jaws. With another scream, he pushed his bottom jaw to the side, cracks beign heard as the jaw broke and hung loosely along with the flaps of skin that were his cheeks. Sombra didn’t do anything but sit there, his fate decided.

Dominic looked at the horn on top of Sombra’s head, and a strange feeling of joy flooded his gut. He reached for it. Clutching it in his hands, he squeezed and snapped his wrist to the side, breaking the bone-like appendage with a snap. His only reply was a sloppy gurgle as vomit began to leak from Sombra’s throat. In the blink of an eye, relief washed over Dominic as almost all of the magic he had stored in his body surged into Sombra’s broken form. The magic visibly arcing into the unicorn with purple lightning.

“Fuck yes!” He screamed in ecstasy, his mind blanking as his pain was replaced by relief and a feeling he couldn’t describe. In his moment of bliss, he failed to notice Sombra slowly crawling away, using his only good hoof to drag his limp body, leaving a slimy trail of maroon foam. Sombra gave a small, throaty yelp as he felt a hand clutch his back hoof. He slowly turned his swollen head to see the skull faceplate bearing down on him. Heavy, labored breathing was all he heard as the suit’s chest expanded and contracted.

Grabbing his other hoof, Dominic lifted, and with one final scream, twisted his body and heaved Sombra overhead, bringing Sombra’s body down onto the throne’s spires. He impaling the pony in the mid-section on one of the lower spikes. Blood seeped down onto the throne as Dominic held the king. Giving a hard tug, he began to pull, splitting the upper half of what used to be Sombra in half, spilling his organs onto the floor below. Without missing a beat, Dominic ran to the balcony, and chucked the body out of the castle and into the snow covered town. The intestines flapped in the wind as the body plummeted into the streets below. Raising his fists and shouting, a magical shockwave blasted into the air, releasing the rest of the magic as it amplified his voice.

“The king . . . is dead!” He bellowed, his voice reverberating throughout the town.

Looking out on the town in silence before turning and heading back in, Dominic stared down at his blood soaked gloves, a solid red covering on his digital camo. Looking back up to the ponies and his friends. Stares was all he got from both groups, and he didn’t care, he didn't know what his friends were thinking, but he could see what the ponies were. Their eyes wide with fear, a smile, a frown, the rest just looked at him with their mouths agape. He gave a huff as he calmed down, his eyes slowly closing.

“Fuck this place, and its magic” Dominic muttered, his body suddenly heavier than it had been. Collapsing onto the floor below him he gave one last pained grunt before his eyes shut. A soft snore filled the silence that only lasted for a moment.

The ponies finally realized what these creatures were. They may have called themselves humans, but the word they thought of when they peered at the blood soaked creature, and his friends that were picking his unconscious body, brought them nothing but an unpleasant taste in the back of their throats. The word itself intruded on their thoughts as they looked at the friends, all of them somehow unbothered and unmoved that one of them mutilated the king before their very eyes.

They were . . . Kings.

Chapter ?: MUST

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(Two Days Before Contact)

Charles opened his eyes to the noise of animals. Surrounded by the gore of the cat he had killed. Using his arms he pushed himself from the dirt. Rising to his feet and brushing the dirt from his back. The yellow bird horse was gone.

"What the fuck happened?" He asked himself, raising a his hand to the left side of his face, he scratched. His hand stopping once he felt the same coolness that the crystal gave to his skin. Rubbing his face he began to panic, the crystal was spreading, encompassing a little over a fourth of his body. "What the fuck is happening!?" He screamed, his voice wavering as tears filled his one human eye. The forty year old British bartender was not used to this. No sane person would be.

"Did you hear that?" A feminine voice asked from the distance.

"It must have been that thing Fluttershy was talking about!" Another voice proclaimed. This one had a country twang to it.

Run you twat! They're gonna see what ya did here and think you're wild or something! Charles thought as he scanned for a way to run without going deeper into the woods. His heart pounding in his ears, unable to run, unable to think.

The brush in front of him rustled and a group of ponies stepped through it. All of them different colors.

"There it is!" The purple one exclaimed. All of them were staring at him with their ungodly wide eyes.

"What's wrong with it?" The orange one asked.

"Who cares?! It killed a Manticore and ate it, Fluttershy got lucky it passed out before it could eat her too!" The blue bird horse said, glaring at Charles as he stood there.

The white horned one stepped forward. "I must say though, it is absolutely hideous," she said with disgust after gazing upon his half crystallized form, the crystal itself protruding awkwardly from the flesh and from beneath his clothing.

Charles furrowed his brows in anger.

"Rarity, I-I think it heard you," the purple one said whispering to the one named Rarity.

"Of course it heard me darling, it is right there after all," she said.

"N-No I think it understood you."

"Damn right I understood her," Charles spoke with anger in his voice. Causing all of the horses to jump. "You cheeky little shit, you wouldn't know beauty if it shat across your chest," Charles declared indignantly. They all sputtered at this.

"Hey, you can't talk to my friend that way!" The blue one exclaimed.

"What are ya gonna do? Tell me mum?" Charles asked in mock fear. His accent growing heavier the angrier he got. "Oh no, not me mum!"

"That's it!" The weird bird horse dove towards him from her place in the air. Giving Charles only a second to raise his right arm to his left side. Swinging it back to his right as the blue horse caught the back of his crystal palm on the side of her face. A flash of light blinded everyone but him and she went flying into a tree.

"Talk shit, get hit," Charles said looking at the bird at the base of the tree. Rubbing the back of his palm with his left hand, he looked back over the rest of them.

"Why did you do that?!" The purple one nearly shrieked.

"Huh, why did I defend myself?" Charles asked sarcastically. "I don't know, give me a moment to think about that. Givin' me the tough questions here."

The orange one stepped forward. "Looky here stranger, I think we all stepped on the wrong hoof, why don't you just apologize to our frien—"

"Shut up for a moment would ya? Your friend here asked me a question and I intend to answer it," Charles interrupted the southern horse. He rubbed his forehead in fake thought. "Why did I hit your friend and save myself from a cracked rib or two? Hmm, just the thought of that tickles my fucking testicles."

They all blushed at the remark, uncomfortable with the language. Whatever the creature was, it was vulgar.

Charles snapped his fingers. "Ah, now I know why I hit your friend," they waited for him to continue and give his answer. Flipping them the bird, Charles yelled out before running. "Fuck you, that's why!" He spat. Laughing maniacally as he ran as fast as he could from the freaks of nature. Side-stepping trees and vines as he rushed deeper into the forest. No choice left in the matter as it was his only way to get away.

Talking bird horses! Horses with horns! What the fuck is going on!? Charles thought as tears returned to his human eye. None of this is real! Charles sobbed as he ran, not wanting to come to terms with the situation he was in. A flash of purple light came from behind him. Not a moment later he felt something wrap around his ankle, effectively tripping him and making him fall face first into a tree's unearthed root. Faint, dizzy and in pain, Charles felt his body being dragged back. The dirt scrapping against his skin. The crystal digging in to the earth below.

"No," he muttered weakly. "Please." His world fading as his body throbbed. Pain slowly rising as his insides began to burn. The darkness taking over as he was dragged.

Chapter ?: REMEMBER

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Charles' world was pain. His mind knew nothing but. After Twilight had brought him back, it was suggested that he was sick, that the crystal was something that needed to be cured. And tried to cure it she did.

"I can help," she muttered to herself as she casted healing spell after healing spell on the creature. Muttering the same phrase over and over as nothing seemed to work. The creature trying to escape from its cage.

"Please!" Charles tried to scream. But his now half crystallized body wouldn't let him. The flesh not willing to work as it tried to combat the crystal. But to no avail. The half of him that was still normal, still human, felt as if it was set ablaze. The horses magic, as she called it, seemed only to fan the flames. Hitting his limbs against the enchanted cage as his body tried to free itself from the torment. The magic feeding the crystal, quickening the pace at which his body seemed to reject itself. Tears blurring his normal eye, as pain blinded the other.

"Just let me help," she cried, watching the creature struggle. Her hair turning into a mess before him.

"Twilight? Is everything fine down there?" The country pony called from atop the set of stairs. Only to begin walking down a moment later, joined by the others. White, yellow, pink, and blue.

"Stop it! Please!" Charles tried to cry, but his body wouldn't let him. His teeth clenched as wave after wave of fire washed over his body. Trying to scream, he ended up gurgling as spit and vomit bubbled through, foaming just outside of his mouth.

AAAAAGH! His mind screamed. His vision focusing in on the ponies before him, their mouths moving but nothing was heard as his heart pounded in his head. They seemed worried. Scared even. Looking to Twilight, he had noticed she stopped casting her spells. Her horn not glowing anymore.

His body slumped over as everything went numb. All of the pain? Gone. The noise? Gone. Shakily, he raised his left arm up and looked at it. It was crystal, just like the rest. Seeing his reflection in his arm, he wanted to cry. Where his face had been was now a blank slate of crystal. The only indication that it was even a face was two small craters that marked his eyes.

Staring for what seemed like an hour, his attention was finally torn away as a flash of purple came from his right. Looking to Twilight with her horn charged. A flash of fear ran through his mind. Afraid of the magic.

"NO MORE!" He screamed out, making the ponies flinch. His voice sounding as if it was echoing from within him. "NO MORE MAGIC!"

Magic is what turned me into this... thing. He thought. Rising to his feet and thrusting his body against the cage. "YOU DID THIS!" He cried. This was no way to live. A monster among monsters. He just wanted everything to go back the way it was. To go back to his bar, serving the same people day in, day out. To hear about how his adopted children were doing. Anything was better than this. Even death.

Pushing his arm through the gap in the cage, he reached out for the purple one named Twilight. His hand twitching as he tried to grasp even a lock of hair. The ponies flinched, stumbling backwards slightly. "COME HERE AND LET ME TEAR YOU APART!" Charles screamed, his thoughts lost to even himself as his mind was numbed. The only thing he felt was the need for revenge. To bring pain to the ones that hurt him.

"AAAGH!" He screamed in rage, his arm flailing just outside of the cage. Reduced to an animal as common sense was locked away. His rational mind hidden deep within him as the need to survive blanketed his thoughts. And these ponies, they were a threat to his survival. They brought nothing but pain. Even if he had saved one of their own.

Twilight looked to Fluttershy, tears in her eyes. "Can't you get it to calm down? Can't you use the stare?"

Fluttershy was shivering with fear, tears in her eyes as she stared at the thing in the cage, yes it had saved her, but the way it acted now, she didn't want to think of what would have happened if it awoke first. And here it was, wanting to hurt her friends. She needed to help it, but it needed to calm down.

Opening her eyes, she furrowed her brows and walked to the creature. Just out of arms reach she used the stare. The creature stopped. Arm outstretched, but still.

(Fourteen years ago, Three years after coming to America)

With a rag in hand. Charles shined the bar top. Glasses and bottles of alcohol lined up on shelves behind him. A content smile on his face as he looked at his reflection on the mirror like surface. Amber eyes, and auburn hair. A pale face with hints of a morning shadow still remaining. A beam of light hitting him from the left. Some of the only light that made it into the room through the thick curtains that darkened said room.

"Charles?" A young voice called from the other side of the counter counter. Looking up he saw who it was. A child only twelve years younger than him, light-dark skin with blue eyes staring at him. Half of his body hidden behind a corner in the hallway that led to the door to outside. Stairs directly behind him.

"Yeah?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Why do you sell alcohol?" The child asked, his hands in the pocket of his cargo shorts. And his face filled with confusion.

Charles shrugged. "Mostly just a hobby. Don't really need a job, I just want to meet new people."

"Then why don't you go places like everybody else?"

Charles smiled. "Who's gonna take care of you and your sister while I'm away then?"

"I can take care of us!" he huffed indignantly.

Charles chuckled. "Of course you can, I know that. But, I gotta stay with you guys, if I don't, the people are just gonna take you back."

"Oh," he looked down the wooden floor and tapped the tip of his shoe to it.

Looking to the clock, Charles' eyes widened. "Hey, don't you have somewhere to be? A little place called school?"

Sticking his tongue out. The child replied. "I don't wanna go, all of the teachers hate me, and the other kids are afraid of me."

"Well, why don't you show them that they don't have to be afraid? Prove 'em wrong," Charles clenched his fist, striking a pose.

He laughed at this. Only to nod his head slowly with a smile afterwards. "Fine, but I'm not going to like it," the child turned around and walked up the stairs that were behind him. Rustling could be heard from above before he came back down. Running to his right and giving a call back. "Bye Charles, me and Marcy will be back after school!" The door opened and slammed a moment later, shaking the glasses behind Charles slightly.

Chuckling, Charles quietly called back, resuming his shining as he did so. "Have a nice day in school, Dominic." A small smile spreading across his face as he hummed a tune. Content to just shine for the moment.