//------------------------------//
// Chapter 14 
// Story: The Crystal Prep Files 
// by FoxMcCloud7921 
//------------------------------//

Indigo heard her alarm clock go off and reached out a hand to turn it off. It took three tries before she managed to hit the snooze button. Groaning slightly, she turned to her side and noticed the covers were hard to pull, as if something was sitting on them. Now that she thought about it, the bed did kind of feel warm.
Her eyes shot open as she turned over and saw Lemon sleeping on the other side of her bed. “Oh you gotta be fucking kidding me…what the fuck Lemon!?”
Lemon groaned slightly as she opened her eyes slowly. “Huh…Indigo? What are you doing in my bed…?”
“Your bed!? This is my bed!” Indigo snapped. “When the hell did you come in here!?”
Lemon got up slowly and looked around. “Huh…that’s a good question…”
Indigo quickly got out and put on a t-shirt. “You know, if someone came in here this would look really bad.”
“Why? Cause we’re both in the same bed?”
“Yes because we’re in the same bed!” Indigo yelled. “Were you so out of it you can’t even remember coming here?”
“…It looks that way.”
“Ugh…” Indigo facepalmed. “Well…how are you feeling anyway? Bad hangover?”
“Actually I feel fine,” Lemon said as she got up. “I mean, I must’ve slept like a baby but other than feeling thirsty I don’t feel sick at all. I wonder with super strength I got super tolerance.”
“…Yeah that’s pushing it…” Indigo said.
“But I sure am starving too so…breakfast?”
Indigo rolled her eyes and smiled. “Yeah sure. Let me just get dressed real quick. And by the way, this doesn’t leave the room.”
“Gotcha. But you know Indigo, I only say this as a compliment and nothing else but…girlll you got a nice bod.”
“Get out.”



Sugarcoat was eating breakfast in the dining room with her parents. Jacques had been kind enough to make omelettes for everyone. Her mother and father were talking about work but Sugarcoat had other things on her mind.
The small date at the café had gone well enough. She knew that both she and Royal weren’t quite used to the whole dating thing but it was still pleasant. He didn’t say anything more about what happened at the party or if something else was going on. It also ended with a slightly awkward hug. But even so, his touch was actually comforting. For now, she wasn’t going to say anything to her parents about it.
However, she was also thinking about tonight. She wasn’t worried about getting out, that wouldn’t be an issue at all. It was more about what they would discover at Crystal Prep, or rather below it. Did they even know how to get down there? Well, if anyone can figure it out it would be Twilight.
After she was finished eating, Jacques came and took away their plates, but not before giving Sugarcoat a slight grin and a wink. If she didn’t care so much for her dear butler, she would’ve killed him right there.



Later on in the day, both groups showed up at Twilight’s once again. She was currently showing them a layout of the school. “I’ve been spending the last couple of days trying to figure out a connection between the school and the mine,” Twilight explained. “As of now, I haven’t quite found it yet. One would think it would be in the basement but…”
“Uh, question?” Rainbow asked. “How do we even know there is a way down? I thought they said the mine was collapsed.”
“It’s true…but I can’t help but feel Cinch is trying to hide something,” Twilight replied. “And if all that was true, then why try to keep us off the case?”
“Are you girls sure you want to risk your education for this?” Fluttershy asked.
“We kinda already made up our minds,” Indigo said. “Besides, this is more important right?”
Twilight made no comment. She had super careful not to leave any sign that she had been in Cinch’s files, but it seemed as if Cinch had software on her computer that could detect when something is being accessed. Software she regretfully hadn’t been aware of. “Anyway, this may be a bit of a long shot but…I think we’ll find the clue inside Cinch’s office.”
“You really want to go in there again?” Sunny asked.
“Well, it makes sense,” Sunset replied. “If there is some secret passage you wouldn’t want one of the students to find it by accident right?”
“So how do we get in Cinch’s office then?” Sugarcoat asked. “We’re definitely not going to her place and stealing her keys.”
“Uh…is anyone good at lockpicking?” Twilight asked. Indigo grinned and raised a hand.
“Well that’s no surprise really,” Sour said. She then looked at her watch. “Well…we got about eight hours ‘til show time so… what do we do ‘til then?”
“Well, you’re all welcome to stay here tonight,” Twilight said. “Fluttershy, are your parents okay with you keeping the van here?”
“Oh, I think so,” Fluttershy replied. “As long as there isn’t some animal emergency.”
“So…is anyone hungry for pizza? Cause I’m totally craving pizza right now,” Lemon said.
“Dude, we went to IHOP this morning!” Indigo stared at her.
“I told you it’s my metabolism!”
“Ooh ooh does that mean we’re throwing a party!?” Pinkie said happily. “I know what we can do. I can bring my karaoke machine and we can sing-”
“Nope!” Sour suddenly cut her off. “We’re not singing any songs in this…actually how many songs you got on that thing?”
“All the way up to 2017 of course!”
“Well, if we’re going to do that, then I can bring my styling kits!” Rarity squealed. “We can get manicures, get the nails painted-”
“We’re going into a dirty ol’ mine and ya want to paint nails!?” Applejack snapped.
“Darling please, considering we’re going to be possibly some evil being we might as well look our best! That’s why I hope it isn’t too dusty down there.”
“Hey Twilight, does your brother have Rock Band?” Rainbow asked. “I wanna show off to Indigo here who the best is when it comes to guitar playing?”
“Seriously? Anyone can play Rock Band,” Indigo rolled her eyes.
“I’ll let you play bass.”
“…Fine. But I get to choose the songs.”
“I want to play drums!” Lemon said.
“Uh…let me go look, it’s probably in the attic somewhere,” Twilight said as she got up.
“So…when exactly are your parents coming back?” Sunset asked.
“I think…next week?” Twilight asked as she went upstairs.
“Well, at least we won’t have to tell them anything,” Spike said. “They don’t even know about what happened at the Friendship Games.”
“Seriously?” Sunset asked.
“Well, would you want to hear that your daughter turned into a she-demon?”
“Fair point…”



As night approached, the girls were full on pizza, drinks and everything else that Pinkie managed to order. “And you’re absolutely sure the cameras aren’t turned on right now?” Sunset asked.
“Absolutely,” Twilight said as the Rainbooms got into the van. The other girls were taking Sugarcoat’s Mercedes. “The key card will come up in the registry but it’ll at best confuse anyone who looks at it.”
“No guards or anything?” Rarity asked.
“The security is supposed to be pretty good, but if an alarm does go off the security guard won’t be far away. You can be sure of that.” She then paused. “That’s right, this is the first time going there for all of you isn’t it?”
“Well…” both Pinkie and Rainbow managed to say.  
“Some girls decided to spy on the competition last month,” Applejack explained.
“Like they wouldn’t have!” Rainbow rebutted. She glanced at Twilight. “No offense.”
Sunset had explained earlier that she had to go back to CHS to meet with someone. It took about a half hour but soon they were at Canterlot High. “She’s not here yet,” Sunset said.
“Well, maybe she got held up in something?” Applejack suggested.
“She would have told me,” Sunset said, as she looked through the journal. There weren’t any new messages. They waited about fifteen minutes before giving up. Sunset then decided to write to Princess Twilight that they were already going ahead with the plan and would meet up with her later.
In less than thirty minutes, they were at Crystal Prep. The two cars parked far away from the school to avoid suspicion. “My goodness, this place is quite magnificent,” Rarity said in awe.
“Really? I think it’s quite intimidating…” Fluttershy muttered.
“You get used to it the longer you go here,” Sugarcoat said as the Crystal Prep girls showed up. “Well, let’s get started then.”
The group of girls made their way through the hole in the fence nearby and made their way towards the entrance. Twilight then pulled out the key card. “Moment of truth,” she said before tapping it against the scanner. The light turned green and the door unlocked. “Thank you very much Blueblood.”
It was dark and quiet inside, save for the sound of their footsteps. Sunny had to admit, with it being dark and empty, it certainly was kind of creepy here. “Cinch’s office is just down the hallway,” she said. “I hope you’re as good as you say Indigo.”
“Oh ye of little faith,” Indigo scoffed as she pulled out two hairpins from her pocket. Once they got to the door, she started putting them into the keyhole.
“Hold on a second,” Applejack said. “How do we know Cinch don’t got some security alarm in her office as well.”
“Well…we don’t know,” Twilight said. “But I think it’s too late to turn back now.”
It took Indigo only about a minute before she heard a click. “Bingo.” She then turned the knob and the door opened slightly.
“Not bad.” Rainbow said. “Not bad at all.”
As the girls from Canterlot High would soon figure out, Cinch’s office certainly was not so inviting. Aside from her desk, she had bookshelves on either side of the room along with artwork on the walls and statues on different corners of the room.
“This…might take awhile,” Sunset said.
Spike popped his head out of Twilight’s bag. “Yep, I can just smell the smugness in the air here.”
“So…where do we start?” Pinkie asked.
“Always start with the bookshelf,” Lemon said. She got looks from everyone. “What? They do it in the movies all the time!”
“Well, I certainly wouldn’t put it past her,” Sour said as the group went around the room.
Sunny checked out every single book on the right bookshelf to see if it would activate anything while looking behind the shelf as well. She took out a small flashlight and looked in the back. The shelf itself was flat but Sunny then noticed something round near the right corner. “You can’t be serious…” She felt around it and indeed it felt as if it could be pushed, so that’s exactly what she did.
However, she was surprised to see that it wasn’t this bookshelf that started moving but the opposite one. Unfortunately, that gave both Fluttershy and Sour a shock as they both yelped and jumped back. The bookshelf moved all the way to the left, leaving a large hole in the wall. Instead of a passageway though, there was a small platform with a metal railing. “I think we just found our way down,” Twilight said, looking at the old elevator. “And here I thought I was grasping at straws…”
Unfortunately, there was no way they could go down in one group. “So…who wants to go down into the creepy dark mine first?” Rainbow asked.
“Ah, Ah’m sure it’s nothing,” Applejack said as she volunteered first along with Sugarcoat and Indigo. She pushed the button and the elevator made a loud clang before heading down. It sounded as if it kept going on and on but eventually the motor stopped running.
“Well, I don’t hear any screaming so that’s a good sign,” Sunset said.
“Unless um…something’s waiting down there,” Fluttershy said.
“Real helpful Flutters,” Rainbow muttered.
They were able to call the elevator back up and took turns going down. As was expected, the area underneath was dark, damp, and slightly suffocating. “Okay, now this can’t be right,” Sunset said as she turned on a flashlight. “This mine was never collapsed, was it?”
“I’m starting to think the same thing,” Twilight said. “I think I see light up ahead. We better check it out.”
As it turned out, the light coming from ahead wasn’t man-made, but rather the natural glow of the crystals that covered parts of the walls. “Wow…after all my years in Equestria I’ve never seen anything like this,” Sunset said, staring at the crystals in awe.
“This must be the crystallium they discovered,” Sunny said. “There is certainly a large amount of it left here, so it makes you wonder why they left the mine in the first place.”
They continued on, guided by the soft glow of the crystals. “Hey guys…maybe it’s just my Pinkie Sense but…doesn’t it feel like there’s a current going through your body?”
“Yeah…like a sudden adrenaline rush,” Rainbow said.
“Our powers are reacting to something,” Sunset said. She placed a hand against the wall to steady herself and suddenly her mind went black.

There were two men in what looked like a large chamber with a solid black crystal in the background. One man looked frantic while the other seemed unnerved, though Sunset wasn’t sure why.
“I’m telling you, there’s nothing natural about that crystal,” the frantic man said. “Have you put your ear up to it? I did it yesterday and I swear I heard a pulse of some kind.”
“You’re hearing things,” the second man said. “It’s a crystal, an inanimate object.”
“But what if it isn’t?” the first man said. “You’ve seen what happened to the others. They got horribly violent, said they heard voices. You’re telling me that’s normal?”
“Look…I admit the thing creeps me out too but like I said it’s-” He suddenly stopped. “What’s that sound?”
“Oh no…it’s beating again,” the frantic man said. “It’s like its awakening!”
“Come on, don’t be stupid I’ts just-”
Suddenly, a dark shape shot out of the crystal and grabbed both men before somehow pulling them into the crystal itself. They didn’t even have time to scream.

Sunset suddenly came back to reality as she felt herself taking deep breaths. “Sunset, what’s wrong?” Twilight asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.
“I…I saw something…” Sunset said. “I touched the wall and…”
“You had a vision?” Rarity asked.
“Yeah…” Sunset looked up at the others. “They were right…that crystal isn’t from this world…in fact I think its something much more sinister.”
“I got a bad feeling about this…” Fluttershy said.
“We can’t stop now,” Twilight said. “If it’s Equestrian in nature, we can stop it…right?”
Sunset smiled. “Yeah.” Still, she wondered if it even was a crystal…or something even worse.
The path started sloping down and as the feeling of uneasiness increased, everyone was aware they were getting closer to their destination. Finally, the pathway evened out and they were suddenly in a larger chamber. But they weren’t able to keep their eyes off of what was in the center.
A large black crystal, the one everyone was talking about and the one Sunset had scene in her vision. It looked as if it had been carved, and yet it was still attached to the ground. “That’s it…” Sunset said. “That’s exactly what I saw.”
It was both beautiful and intimidating at the same time. However, the closer they got to it, the louder a sudden ringing in their ears became. “Ow…my head is starting to hurt…” Fluttershy said.
“Y-Yeah…me too…” Rainbow said. “What’s going on?”
“It’s the crystal…it’s giving off some sort of energy,” Twilight said.
“That is correct.” The group looked up and on the other side of the chamber Principal Cinch was calmly walking up to the crystal.
“You…!?” Sour said.
“I’m not sure why you’re so surprised,” Cinch said. “After all, the pathway here did start in my office…speaking of which, I thought I was pretty clear about sticking your noses into this.”
“Just what the hell is this!?” Sunny yelled. “You knew about this the whole time and yet you’ve kept it a secret?”
“Of course I did,” Cinch said with a smile. “When I first became principal of this school, this was bit of a secret. The former principal before me knew of it as well but it only seems now that it had finally reacted to something and I can only guess its because of what happened at the Friendship Games.”
“Of course,” Sunset said. “It’s reacting to Equestrian magic, which means this is from Equestria itself!”
“I know nothing of where it came from, but from all the research I did, I could tell it was not natural nor created in this world,” Cinch continued. “But then I realized something. If Canterlot High has become a hub of… magic users, what’s to say that Crystal Prep can’t do the same. In fact Miss Flare, it would seem you and your friends have become the first candidates.”
“What!?” Twilight yelled.
“Are you insane!?” Sugarcoat stared at her. “You’re messing with forces you don’t understand all because of competition!?”
“I have little experience with it, but I can sense this is dark magic, worse than anything Twilight ever possessed,” Sunset said. “If you unleash this magic, it’ll only make things worse!”
“I’m afraid it’s too late for that,” Cinch said, her smile never fading. “It seems as soon as magic crossed into this world it’s fate was sealed.”
Suddenly, the crystal started to glow. “It seems to be reacting to all of you…perhaps you should’ve stayed away after all.” The crystal began to glow brighter and brighter and soon started to crack.
“Twilight…” Sunset warned her.
“You’re right…we have to-” But it was too late.
The crystal suddenly shattered as dark vapor erupted from it. It wavered in the air for a few moments before it started to change shape. It became more rounded and elongated before it started taking the shape of a figure.
It was suddenly on its hands and knees as the figure became more defined, more solid. It had the appearance of a woman and suddenly had long dark hair and its body clothed in what looked like an almost revealing dress with armor covering her wrists, shoulders and calves. Her eyes opened, her pupils mere slits like that of a cat.
She got to her feet slowly and looked around. Her gaze was unwavering and enough to strike fear straight into one’s soul. She looked down at her body and a small smile crept onto her lips. “So…” she said, her voice slightly deep with a sickening sweetness. “After all these months…I’ve finally been reborn again.” She closed her eyes and grinned in pleasure. “Oh yes…such negative feelings…who would’ve thought such a place would be the perfect womb.”
She then opened her eyes again and looked at the others. “And a welcoming party as well…I’m very much obliged.” She then turned to Cinch. “You seem like the leader…are you the one who awakened me?”
“I…yes,” Cinch said. Even she was unnerved by this…thing. “The school of Canterlot High has become a place of magic users and such a threat to all of us here at Crystal Prep Academy. Please, lend us your powers!”
The woman stared at her for a moment before she started giggling, which then turned to laughter. “You think of me as a goddess that would give you power as a gift for waking me? How naïve…As it turns out, I don’t care about who has what. What I do care about are these girls…they have power as well. You can leave now.”
She snapped her fingers and suddenly Cinch disappeared. The woman returned her gaze upon the other girls. “Yes…I feel a familiar presence…but who…ah…yes now I see.”
Suddenly, the woman was right behind Sunset, too close for comfort. “I thought I felt a familiar presence…” she whispered into Sunset’s ear. Sunset would have jerked away but for some reason she couldn’t move. “Yes…you are Equestrian. So nice to meet a…familiar face in this odd world.” Her touch against Sunset’s skin only made the feeling worse.
“W-Who…?” Sunset could only manage to say.
“Your confusion tells me you never heard of me,” the woman said. “Well…that won’t do.”
She was suddenly in front of them again. “Perhaps you know this story. A thousand years ago, Princess Luna gave into the darkness of her heart, and Nightmare Moon was born. She wanted to rule all of Equestria and blanket it with constant darkness. Not too bad in my opinion. But unfortunately, her dear sister did the only thing she could and banished her to the moon for a thousand years.
“Of course, she would eventually return and while she was ultimately defeated and expunged of the darkness in her heart, there was still regret. Regret that gave way to fear that she was dangerous and would never be trusted again. In that case, she wanted to punish herself, for as long as she lived. And that, my friends, is where I come in.”
The woman grinned, showing sharp fangs as she lifted into the air. “I am the Tantabus…the fear and regret in Luna’s heart. I was merely a being that lived in the world of the subconscious and while I was unsuccessful to reach the world of reality something…interesting happened.
“Defeated, I felt myself slip away into the darkness of nothingness…but then…I felt a presence, tugging at my very core. I suppose a being like me doesn’t have a soul. A part of me was drawn to this presence and before I knew it, I hadn’t just crossed the line between subconscious and reality, but also dimensions.
And it was here, this very crystal that I was reborn. The presence I felt was familiar because it was Equestrian and soon I was nurtured with the ones of this…fine establishment. Their feelings made me develop into this fine figure. If only there was a way to repay you all…”
“Wait…are you the one who’s been causing all these distortions?” Twilight asked.
“Hmm…was it me?” the Tantabus wondered. “I honestly can’t say. This world is ripe with Equestrian magic, magic that never belonged in this world. Oh, but I’m certainly not complaining of course.”
“So what if you’re some Equestrian monster, we’ve beaten plenty of you guys before!” Rainbow yelled.
“Oh you poor dear…you weren’t paying attention,” the Tantabus smiled. “I was created in the subconscious…and well why don’t I just give you a demonstration?” She snapped her fingers and suddenly everyone started screaming as they fell to their knees with their hands to their heads. “I’m quite literally the stuff of nightmares…oh yes I can read all of your fears, the kinds that would paralyze you to the very bone. So you see, I am nothing like you’ve ever faced.”
She snapped her fingers again and the screaming stopped, although most of them looked like they were going to faint. “Well, this was quite the chat but unfortunately I have big and better things to attend to. Oh, don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about you all. In fact, I have some people here who’ve been dying to see you again.”
She snapped her fingers once more and two figures appeared out of the darkness behind her. To her horror, Sunset recognized them both. The first was a female who had reddish skin and large wings, her attire very familiar to Sunset. The second had wings like that of a raven and her eyes looked as if they were on fire.
“Wonderful to have you both back,” the Tantabus said to them. “Now, you know what to do.”
Both females nodded their heads and bowed. “Of course, master,” Sunfall Shimmer said.
“As you please,” Midnight Sparkle said before the two of them disappeared.
“Wonderful,” the Tantabus then said. “Now comes the part where I have to kill you all. A pity, but I can’t have anyone getting in my way now. Farewell, Elements of Harmony.”
She disappeared right before the ground started to rumble. “What’s happening!?” Lemon yelled.
“This place is collapsing, for real this time!” Sunset yelled back as boulders started to fall. They tried to escape back the path they came but suddenly their way was blocked.
“Oh man, we’re screwed!” Rainbow yelled.
Maybe it was the sudden panic that made them think it was an allusion, but suddenly they heard a voice. “It’s not yet your time to go, Elements of Harmony.”
“What?” Twilight said. Suddenly, the group was blinded by a white light but she could’ve sworn in that last second she saw a figure wearing a black cape.