//------------------------------//
// Chapter 19 
// Story: The Crystal Prep Files 
// by FoxMcCloud7921 
//------------------------------//

	There was only the feeling of cold and sight of darkness. Sunset at first thought they were crossing over, but now she realized this was their destination: the black void of darkness and nothingness. “I-I didn’t realize it would be so cold…” Rainbow shivered.
“Is this…where we’re supposed to be?” Pinkie asked. Even her positive demeanor has faded somewhat.
“She has to be here…” Sunset said.
“How perceptive…” Suddenly the Tantabus appeared above them. “Where are we, you ask? The cradle of all existence, the womb of which the universe laid before being born.”
“You mean…space?” Indigo asked.
“Even before that,” the Tantabus replied. “All worlds…all dimension span from this moment in time, and it is where I will stay, watching all worlds at my leisure. Sweet comfortable darkness…”
“I hate to ruin your little vacation but we’re not here to let you have your way,” Sunny said.
“Have you already forgotten what I’m capable of?” The Tantabus was suddenly behind her. “I already told you, I can read you all like an open book. I can sense the fears you have and turn them against you.”
“You’re right, we all have our fears,” Twilight said. “But Sunset and I, as well as the rest of us, have realized our fears and conquered them. You can try to find any weakness we have and exploit them, but we won’t be stopped! We’ll defeat you or die trying!” The other six of them transformed into their alternate pony forms.
“Are you done?” the Tantabus said, a bored look on her face. “Very well…I was hoping you’d crawl on your knees and lick my boots for mercy but I suppose we must do this the hard way.”
Her form began to change and grow larger. The monstrosity she was turning into was something only one could imagine in their nightmares. The top half resembled a mix between a dragon and a hydra, with three heads, and two large claws. The bottom half was no more than a giant eyeball with a slit as its pupil.
“Come then Elements of Harmony! Show me just how powerful the light in your hearts are!”  
“Um…I’m not feeling so good about this,” Fluttershy asked.
“That thing is butt ugly and just asking for an ass-kicking!” Rainbow said.
“I have a plan,” Sunny said. “You seven take care of the top, we’ll handle the bottom!”
“Works for us,” Sunset said. “Let’s put an end to this!” The seven of them rose up to meet the giant heads, which split up to attack them. Two tried to take a bite while the third shot out flames.
“Aim for the neck right!?” Rainbow asked. She then zoomed forward and with her velocity she was able to sever one of the heads. The head disappeared into a black mass but it wasn’t long before another head grew.
“It’s a hydra, you have to cut off all of its heads at the same time!” Sunset said.
“Oh gotcha! Hey Rarity, Pinkie, care to give me a hand?”
“Whenever you’re ready!” Rarity said.
“Now!” Rainbow attacked again while Rarity fired off a diamond sharp enough to cut through flesh easily. At the same time, Pinkie threw a canister of sprinkles into the third head’s mouth which ended up blowing the head off completely.
However, there was little to celebrate as the heads grew back once again. “Are we even hurting her!?” Twilight said.
Sunset looked below and saw the others trying to attack the eye. “Of course! The eye is the weak spot! It has to be the source of her regeneration magic. Sunny, you gotta take out her eye!”
“Little busy at the moment!” The eye was currently surrounded by a magical field and at the same time was firing dark magic at them. “We need to break through this shield!” Sunny said. “Lemon, you’re our heavy hitter so you know what to do. Sugarcoat will provide support from behind. Sour, you be at the ready once that shield falls. Indigo, you’re with me and Lemon.”
The three of them dodged the attacks as they made their way towards the shield. Lemon and Sunny bashed away but the shield didn’t seem to be weakening.
“Watch out!” The eye stared directly at them and fired, sending the three girls backwards.
“Well that didn’t work,” Lemon said.
Suddenly, a grin appeared on Indigo’s face. “Actually, I might just have an idea. You know all that stuff about when something’s being heated the molecules start separating and stuff?”
“Yeah?” Sunny asked.
“Well, if I can relocate all the energy I have into one spot on the shield, the vibrations will cause the atoms and such to break apart-”
“And it’ll weaken the shield and give us an opening!” Sunny finished. “That’s genius! Alright, we’ll keep that eye occupied while you do your thing. Sour, Sugar, did you catch all that?”
“Just give us the word Indigo,” Sugarcoat said.
“Finally, I wanna make this bitch bleed,” Sour grinned.
“Go!” The three of them charged again and Indigo used all the strength she could to punch through the shield. It wasn’t enough to break through but she concentrated her energy at that one point and she could feel her fist and the area around it start to vibrate.
“Hey you one-eyed freak!” Lemon suddenly yelled. “Yeah you! I can tell you haven’t been getting the proper beauty sleep cause boy does your eye look red! I got some ClearEyes for you if you want some!”
The eye didn’t seem deeply offended but it took its attention off of Indigo for a moment, which was all she needed. Indigo suddenly grinned as she felt a current go through her body. “Suck on this physics class!” She released her potential energy and the shield shattered like glass.
“Now girls!”
Sour flung her knives, never missing as they struck right in the middle like a bull’s eye. Sugarcoat unloaded both magazines as blood vessels were ruptured, turning the eye into an ugly red. “Oh I’m not finished yet!” Indigo yelled as she felt what only seemed like an adrenaline rush. With the brass knuckles she had on, she started punching the eye at such a rate that reminded girls of a certain neighponese anime show.
The Tantabus screamed in pain as the eye was now nothing more than goop and blood. “She’s weakened now!” Sunset said. “Try that one more time girls!”
Rainbow and Rarity attacked once again while Pinkie this time had to shove the sprinkles right down the Tantabus’ throat. All three heads were severed again and this time the Tantabus roared in pain as the remaining flesh wriggled around helplessly.
“Hey, if you guys are going to do your thing now’s the time!” Sour yelled.
Sunset and Twilight nodded as they stared at the creature with slight pity. “If there’s one thing I remember Princess Celestia teaching me, it was to see the good in all creatures,” Sunset said. “Anyone has the potential to turn around their life. But I can’t say the same for you Tantabus. You’re just a leech, a parasite that latches onto others and feeds on their dark emotions. You have no sense of good or evil, you just feel the need to feed and survive.”
“Your twisted plot ends here,” Twilight said. “This is our world and we’re going to protect it. And we’re certainly not going to let you prey on any other worlds as well. But I can say this…thank you, for showing Sunset and I our true fears and giving us the opportunity to conquer them. That was perhaps the only good thing you did.”
“Alright girls, let’s finish this nightmare off, once and for all,” Sunset said. The gems on each of their necks started to glow as their eyes turned a pure white. They were then surrounded by a prismatic aura as a prismatic beam shot out and hit the Tantabus directly, her screams of pain louder than anything else going on.
The power only seemed to increase as it ripped the fabric of space and Sunny and her friends could feel that they were being pulled away by some strong force. The last thing any of them felt was the cold feeling of darkness once again.



Sunny felt solid ground beneath her feet and she got up slowly, her vision clearing. She and the others were back in downtown Canterlot near one of the pharmacies. “We made it back?” she said. “So…it’s over then?”
“It looks that way,” Twilight said as she and the others got to their feet as well. They then heard groans as they saw the Tantabus in her human form, lying on her back.
“I thought we got rid of her,” Rainbow said.
“Don’t bother,” Sunset said. “She doesn’t have much time left her anyway.” 
They then looked around. “So…now that she’s defeated, isn’t something supposed to happen?” Applejack asked.
“I dunno…something doesn’t feel right…” Sunset said.
They then heard a rasping sound come from the Tantabus, which slowly turned into chuckling. “What’s so funny?” Indigo asked.
“You fools…you really had no idea what was going on, did you?” the Tantabus said, turning her head towards them. “You really think I put you all through that just for pleasure? Well…maybe I did…but it was more than that. I was just merely a distraction…”
“A distraction!?” Pinkie gasped.
“Oh yes…you see, now I serve a new master, much like I did with Luna before…”
“New master?” Sunset said, a cold feeling now in her gut.
“Ooh this is almost too much…the look on your faces is worth all of this. I was merely the one who caused so much negative energy to appear at Crystal Prep…it’s exactly what my master needs to be revived.”
“No…” Sunset said, the coldness inside her heart seeming to grow.
“Ah, the Equestrian finally understands,” the Tantabus giggled. “Took you long enough. Well, it’s only a matter of moments now. And while I may depart from this world and enter the void once again, I will relish seeing your world burn to the ground!” She then started cackling hysterically as her body started to burn away in a heap of smoke.
The ground started to shake and suddenly, a large beam of light seemed to appear out of the ground, in the same place that Crystal Prep was located now. “What’s going on?” Twilight said fearfully.
Sunset looked to her and Twilight could see the dread and fear on her face. “Something bad… Something really bad.”