//------------------------------// // Chapter 15: Fear Factory // Story: The Never-Ending Ending // by 5u0myn0n4 //------------------------------// Day 4 of the spell Back at the Crystal Bright House, Zipp continued training Pipp for their eventual confrontation against the evil alicorn Opaline. While Izzy worked herself tired in the workshop on something. Though Izzy had taken a break from Pipp was getting ready to swing the hammer on the test of strength once again. "Come on, sis. It's all in the stance." Zipp said. "I... I don't got this." Pipp admitted. But Pipp was shaking in place. Zipp thought about how to quell Pipp's nerves. "It's all about potential energy, sis. Don't fight gravity, let it assist you. Just get that thing high, and let gravity do the rest." Zipp said. "Oh, that's the trick? Okay. I think I understand now." Pipp swung the hammer down, and the puck flew all the way and smashed through the bell. "I did it, sis!" Pipp exclaimed. "Knew you could." Zipp said. "I'm ready! I'm ready to kick some alicorn booty, and save Sunny!" Pipp said. Zipp and Pipp hoofbumped. Inside the Bright House, Izzy paced frantically around her work bench. It seemed she was juggling multiple projects, frantically shifting her attention from one side of the work table, to the other. On one corner, she had Senor Butterscotch, whom she was trying to repair. She was also working towards putting together these pieces of crystals together... Hmm. Wonder what those are. "Izzy?" "Gah! Sorry, was in the zone for a moment. There you guys are." Izzy said. "You two seemed jazzed." "Izzy I'm ready! Come on Izzy let's save Sunny!" Pipp said, excitedly. "Now there's the enthusiasm I've been waiting for!" Izzy said. "And just in the nick of time too. I have something to show you guys." Pipp and Zipp glanced at the complete mess on Izzy's workbench. Or was that controlled chaos? "Well well well, Izzy... What have you been hammering away at for the past four days?" Pipp asked. "Right, so on top of helping our pal Senor B, I'm uh... trying to piece together these fragments." Izzy said. Zipp used her headset to examine the fragments Izzy was putting together. "Izzy, is that what I think it is?" Zipp asked, with her jaw open. "It's exactly what you think it is. I don't need mind reading abilities to take a guess at your guess." "You're rebuilding the Unity Crystals?!" Zipp exclaimed. "Mmmhmm!" Izzy said, joyfully. "But how? Did you just like, piece them together?" Pipp asked. "Opaline may have shattered them and swiped their inner magic, but fortunately they were large fragments. Not only are the crystals different in color, they each made distinctly sized and shaped fragments. Like they each have unique compositions. Made gluing them together... well, I wouldn't say easy. But doable, as opposed to undoable." Izzy explained. Indeed, Izzy had glued together the shards back together, and reformed the Unity Crystals! Sort of. They were definitely still fragments just plastered together. "Sure, it might not hold up under a magnifying glass, and you know, doesn't glow quite yet." Izzy flicked the crystal formation with her hoof. "This is just like before. Remember how the crystals didn't seem to do anything when Sunny just brought them together? It took a special something to activate them." Zipp said. "Right. It's not enough just having them together, we need friendship. So my hope is that when we find Sunny, and show her these crystals, she'll alicorn it up, and magic will be restored! And Opaline will be vanquished!" "Ooo! Yes! Yes!" Pipp exclaimed. "We show Sunny the Unity Crystals, and it'll restore our magic! And we can fly again!" Zipp said. "But if we need the Unity Crystals, then how are you flying now?" Izzy asked. Pipp and Izzy looked at Zipp. Zipp herself seemed to be surprised, so she landed immediately. "Izzy, your lantern sure is bright." Pipp observed. And indeed, in Izzy's workbench, the lantern was glowing very bright. "Oh yeah. The bright prisbeam lantern has helped me work through many a tireless nights." Izzy said. "But why is the lantern glowing? She took all the magic." Zipp said. "I don't know. I try not to question it too much. Not that I'm superstitious, but I worry if I think about it too much it might dim." Izzy said. "We got no time to lose! Let's pack our stuff, and begin the long trek towards the big scary spell so that we can save Sunny, and Misty!" Izzy said. “Right, Misty. We’ll see about her…” Zipp said. It was getting late in the day, and the void above Opaline's castle had grown even larger. They weren't sure how many days they had left, but they knew they had to act immediately. After some amount of time spent packing, our ponies were armed with saddlebags, and were ready to venture towards the big imposing spell in the distance. "Do we have everything this time?" Zipp asked. "No. We don't." Pipp said. *groan* "What is it now? Your fourth mane brush?" Zipp asked. "No. Hitch still isn't back. Where has he been?" Pipp said. "You're right. Where is he? Hitch has been gone for way too long. Same goes for Sparky." Zipp said. "I say we investigate. Zipp Storm style!" Izzy said. "Because with Zipp Storm on the case, it'll take no time at all." "I'm flattered. Sort of. You're right though. We need to find Hitch before-" Zipp said. All of the sudden, up the hill ran Sparky, Sparky and all of Hitch's critter friends, distressed. "Sparky! There you are!" Izzy exclaimed. "What's wrong, Sparky?" Pipp asked. The creatures all chattered in distress. "I never did learn how to speak critter." Zipp admitted. "But I think it's safe to infer that Hitch is in trouble." Zipp said. "Spah-spah! Spout!" Sparky exclaimed. *gasp* "Sprout!" Pipp exclaimed. "I knew Hitch shouldn't have gone to Sprout." Zipp said. "What do we do now?" Pipp asked. "What do we do? We march into that factory, and get him out of there! And then as a reunited team we march on over to Opaline's castle and rescue Sunny!" Izzy said. "It's do or don't. It's the point of no return. We don't step hoof in the Bright House again until Sunny is saved!" "Now, Izzy, let's not act too hastily. After all-" Zipp started. Pipp put a hoof in front of Zipp, and gave a determined stare. "Let's do it." Pipp said, determined, and ready. Zipp smiled. She was happy to see her sister so confident. Zipp and Pipp flew ahead, but soon thereafter they found they couldn't fly, and made a hard landing. "Are you guys okay?!" Izzy exclaimed. "We're fine. Ow. Ow." Pipp said. "That was weird. One second we were flying fine, but then when we got too far away from..." "The lantern!" Izzy exclaimed. "Of course. This thing is the source of your magic! So I wonder if..." Izzy attempted to use her horn to lift an empty can on the ground, and indeed, it started glowing! Levitating too! "So we can still do magic so long as we're within proximity of the lantern. Interesting..." Zipp said. "It's the sign of our friendship. Why wouldn't it contribute to our magic?" Izzy said. "Wahoo!" Sparky exclaimed. "But what about Sparky? Does his dragon magic work regardless?" Pipp asked. Sparky sneezed a puff of dragon fire at Pipp's mane, which made a very unstylish hairbow appear on her head. "I'll take that as a 'most likely'." Zipp said. Sparky giggled. Zipp, Pipp, and Izzy made their way to the Canterlogic factory. Sparky stood there, pointing at the factory, and chattering in distress. "Please tell me Sprout hasn't gone mad with power again. PLEASE tell me Sprout hasn't gone mad with power again!" Pipp said. Sparky climbed into Zipp's mane. Zipp was about to open the front door normally, but Izzy insisted on a different approach. "You wanna make an entrance? Let's make an entrance." Izzy said. Zipp, Pipp, and Izzy busted open the front gates to Canterlogic. "Everypony surrender now, and nopony has to get hurt!" Izzy exclaimed. Surprisingly, nopony seemed to mind their presence. There didn't even seem to be much of anypony on the main floor. There was the sound of bustling and working somewhere. The ponies even overheard something in the intercom about the Marestream! "Marestream? It's here?" Izzy said. Finally, they spotted some familiar faces. "Jazz! Rocky!" Pipp exclaimed. Pipp flew up to Jazz and gave her a big hug. Rocky just watched them as they hugged without him. "Jazzy, what is going on in here?" Pipp asked. "Pipp! Thank hoofness you guys are okay. Things got crazy after the big battle in Maretime Bay. With no Canternet, we've all been kinda lost for direction." Jazz explained. "We've been following Sprout's lead since then." Rocky added. "Great. We all know how that went last time." Pipp said. "Maybe he's had a change, and it isn't so bad." Zipp said, unsure. "It's bad." Rocky whispered. "Jazz! Rocky! Who are you speaking with?!" exclaimed a voice. "You guys need to leave, now!" Jazz said. "We're not leaving without our friend Hitch!" Izzy exclaimed. "Jazz! Rocky!?" exclaimed a voice. That's when Phyllis appeared. *gasp* "Phyllis." they said. "Oh, it's just you ponies.” she said, disinterested. "Oh? How about a 'hello'?" Pipp said. "Hmm. Point taken. You are after all exactly the ponies we've been looking forward to seeing." Phyllis said. Toots and Sweets appeared from behind her. "Woah woah woah. What are you doing with those hoofcuffs?" Pipp exclaimed. "What do we do to them, ma'am? Tie em up?" Toots asked. "Wait wait wait! No need for the cold reception. These are Sprout's friends." Phyllis said. "Apologies for that, fillies. Make yourselves at home. Really." Izzy trotted up to Phyllis with a serious scorn on her face, and a twitching lip. "Where's Hitch Trailblazer, ya cronnie?!" Izzy exclaimed. *gasp* Everypony gasped. On Izzy's side, and on Phyllis's side. *ahem* "Please mind the volume, Ms. Moonbow. I can only take so much." Phyllis said. "So it's the sheriff you want, hmm? Well, we can work something out. Right, follow me, if you want to see your friend." Phyllis trotted one way, with Toots, Jazz, and Rocky following her. Zipp Izzy and Pipp all looked at each other, nervously. "Don't worry. We still trust you. We're on your side." Jazz whispered. "Okay. But what about everypony else?" Pipp said. Jazz kept silent. Though her silence said plenty in this case. "I don't like the vibe this place has." Pipp said. "Me either." Zipp admitted. "They got Hitch. And they got my Marestream. This place is no good." Izzy said. "If this really is some kind of trap, they wouldn't have the two together." Zipp said. "They aren't paying attention, maybe we can split and cover more ground." "Point taken. You guys follow her and look for Hitch. I'll be sneaking around, medium sneaky fashion, searching for where they're keeping the Marestream." Izzy said. "Alright, just keep your eyes peeled for trouble. Just yelp if you need help." Zipp said. Everypony nodded, and went their separate ways. Pipp stuck with Zipp, with Sparky in tow, and Izzy went off looking for the Marestream. Izzy opened a door with a bunch of warning signs on the front, and went inside. She found herself in some sort of shipping yard impound for all kinds of vehicles. She trotted and trotted, and quickly found what she was looking for. *gasp* "Hello Marestream!" Izzy exclaimed. Izzy used her magic to break the lock keeping the door shut, and went inside. Izzy took note of all the work Sprout's crew had been doing inside. "Oh you poor gal. All these modifications. They must've towed you here, and are installing jets on the outside as an alternative propulsion method, since they don't have the key. But I have the key. Let's get out of here, baby." Izzy said. Izzy looked at the control deck, and noticed there was still a place to put the lantern. She pulled out the lantern from her saddlebag, and was about to put the lantern into place. "I'mma just reunite you with ol prisbeam here and..." Suddenly there was a huge booming sound of the door being shut. Izzy turned around, and it was Sprout, who had trapped her inside. "Frizzy. Frizzy Frizzy Frizzy Frizzy." Sprout said. "What do you think you're doing here?" "Uh, the name's Izzy." Izzy corrected. "Wait, it is? Shoot, I got lots of paperwork I gotta redo, *ahem* ANYWAY! What do you think you're doing inside my tram car?" "I appreciate the dedication to tow and maintain the Marestream for us, though I'm kinda torn on what you've done to her. I get trying to soup it up since I have the key, but all the add ons outside are icky." Izzy said. "Uh, I think you mean Sprouticus Maximus Wingus." Sprout said. "Whaticus?" Izzy asked. "See, I'm trying something different. Instead of a trucking behemoth, this will be a sleek rocket propelled aeroplane that flies in the sky. At least I hope so. Haven't finished the modifications, so it still can't go anywhere without the key, which pardon me for overhearing, but it sounds like you have the key?" "That's right. You don't need fireworks, or... whatever all this is. The Marestream runs on friendship! And that friendship is contained in our prisbeam lan...tern?" Sprout pointed a object at Izzy. "Uh... I don't know what you're holding there *gulp* but I suspect it delivers pain." Izzy said. "Right you are. I think you better come with me... Izzy. Lest you wouldn't' want anything to happen to you, or the sheriff." Sprout said. Phyllis led Pipp and Zipp through the factory. "So... uh, Phyllis. What's been going on here lately?" Zipp asked. "Oh, these last days have simply been chaotic. We heeded your warnings and hid in Canterlogic's underwater bunker throughout the battle of Maretime Bay." Phyllis explained. "We were hopeful that Sunny would come up victorious, and deliver the good news. But that never happened. We heard several loud explosions from outside, and after the loudest of which, suddenly our magic disappeared again. The pegasi fell from where they were floating. And us earthponies can no longer grow plants." Zipp and Pipp looked at each other. They were genuinely concerned for everypony. "The cell towers went out. No Canternet, or socials for anypony. We were scared. Lost for direction." Phyllis said dramatically. "That's when Sprout stepped up, and led everypony to salvation!" "Look. That's great and all. Can you just tell us where Hitch is?" Pipp asked. "And end the fun here? Why are you fillies in such a hurry to leave?" Phyllis asked. "Because our friend is in trouble, and it's going to take all of us to save her." Zipp said. "Mommy! You don't have to tell the long story to everypony who comes in." Sprout said. Sprout appeared, and led Izzy. "Hey guys. Try not to make any sudden movements." Izzy whispered. *gasp* "Where's Hitch!" Zipp exclaimed. Sprout pointed his hoof up, and our mares looked up and saw Hitch in a cage suspended from the ceiling. "Guys! Get me out of here. I don't like heights." Hitch said. *gasp* "Dada!" Sparky exclaimed. "What exactly are you doing, Sprout?" Pipp asked. "Is this just a repeat of your plan from last time?" Zipp asked. "Please. This isn't anything like last time. I learned my lesson from before. It was wrong of me to tell the earthponies to fear unicorns and pegasi. Nay. They are indeed our allies." Sprout said. "The magic is fine too. I liked my new ability to grow plants. Even if the only things I grew led to disaster..." "Well, that's good. So then why all the opposition? Can we just-" Zipp started, but Sprout spoke up. "I've now come to realize who our enemy truly is! The alicorns!" Sprout exclaimed. "Don't you see how powerful they are?! They fly faster than any pegasus, AND have magic more powerful than any one unicorn. All in one pony!" Sprout said. Pipp and Zipp and Sparky looked at each other, confused. "Huh?" they all said collectively. "Can't let those evil alicorns go unchecked! They could reappear here at Maretime Bay at any moment!" Sprout said. "Sunny's not evil!" Izzy exclaimed. "Is that so? I seemed to recall Sunny promised a prosperous and unified Equestria when she released the magic. And what has she delivered? A one sided unfair Equestria ruled by two evil alicorns!" Sprout exclaimed. "I say nay! And nay to anyone who assists Sunny!" "Nay!" everypony in the factory exclaimed. "No! It's not like that! You don't understand!" Izzy exclaimed. "Don't you ponies see? We're in danger! The sky is dark! The alicorns are already putting an incantation on Equestria!" Sprout exclaimed. "You haven't learned anything! You're just trying to divide us again!" Izzy said. "You're just twisting the same narrative, except it's alicorns this time." Zipp said. "I would never! I have learned! I am uniting every pony of every kind, against the alicorns!" Sprout said. "Izzy Moonbow. Don't you want to be rid of the evil alicorn casting this horrifying spell?" "Of course I do. But I don't like how you're lumping Sunny in with her. Opaline is an evil alicorn, and we need to stop her." Izzy said. "So at least we're in half agreement. An alicorn must be stopped. And thankfully, I've been working on a means to accomplish exactly that." Sprout said. "Somepony just help get me out of here!" Hitch shouted. "I'm on it- Huh?" Somepony ran by and put a horn helmet over Izzy's head. "Hey, what are you doing!?" Izzy exclaimed. "It's a trap!" Zipp exclaimed. Pipp watched Zipp, Izzy, and Hitch be tied up by everypony. Sparky flew up to help Hitch. But suddenly, a large net dropped from the ceiling and fell on Sparky, trapping him. "You're not getting away again, little guy." Sprout said. "Let, us, go!" Sparky exclaimed. "Woah. That almost sounded like a coherent sentence!" Izzy said. Sprout's workers had successfully tied up Zipp, Pipp, Izzy, and Sparky. "Watch the wing!" Zipp exclaimed. "Watch the horn! Ow!" Izzy exclaimed. "You said this was the key to the flying tram car? Interesting. Perhaps now I'll finally be able to get things back on track." Sprout said. The lantern dimmed as Sprout held it. "Uh, Sprout. Where do you want the prisoners?" asked Sugar Moonlight. "Take them to the scrapyard room." Sprout said. "Hold on a minute." said a high pitched voice. It was the pippsqueak trio, tugging at Sprout. "Leave this one to us." Peach Fizz said. We'll take her out back." Seashell said in a sinister tone. "Huh. I like the sound of that. Permission granted." Sprout said. *gasp* "I am shook! Pippsqueaks! How could you do this?!" Pipp exclaimed. The three fillies all held Pipp overhead and carried her away. "Why are you doing this? I thought you wanted to help us against evil?" Zipp asked. "Look, I was willing to do a favor when it came to getting rid of that brutish trio of oldies. But I could not believe my eyes when I saw the events that unfolded after that day. Never did I expect Sunny Starscout would betray Maretime Bay, and side with another alicorn." Sprout said. "That's not what happened!" Izzy exclaimed. "And you know it!" Zipp added. "Sunny side up, or Sunny side down, it ultimately doesn't matter. You've seen how dangerous alicorns can be. We've all seen. Do we really want to take the chance and see what Sunny does to those on her bad side?" Sprout explained. "I won't let you get away with this!! AHH!!!" Izzy exclaimed. Izzy lunged forward at Sprout, but she was roped by two ponies, and held back. *phew*" You unicorns are more aggressive than I thought." Sprout said. "Can't imagine what two flying unicorns could do to Maretime Bay. High and mighty alicorns? We'll see about that. Once they get a taste of this, it'll be their last." "You said we weren't going to hurt Sunny Starscout, right?" Phyllis asked. "Mom, I already laid out the plan. I have it all calculated." Sprout said. Meanwhile, the Pippsqueaks brought Pipp to the back of the factory. "Stop! Unhoof me or I'll-" Seashell opened a door that led outside. They were helping Pipp escape. "Oh. Out back. I see what you did there." Pipp said. "Thanks for the epic save, Pippsqueaks." Pipp hugged the three Pippsqueaks. "Pipp, go get help. Sunny's in danger." Seashell said. "I know. She's being held in that actually evil alicorn Opaline's castle." Pipp said. "Not just that. Sprout's going to hurt Sunny.." Seashell said. "But who can help?" Pipp asked. "All of my friends are captured." "I don't know. My friends list still won't load." Glory said. "Hmm... friends list..." Pipp looked at her contacts on her phone to try to brainstorm who to seek for help. *gasp* "That's it! I know exactly who can help, and where to find her!" Pipp said.