~Previously~
While recovering from the assault on the Crystal Empire, Jeremy feels ashamed for letting his impatience loose track on the importance of his friends, and apologizes for his behavior. Afterwards, he agrees to an alliance with the ponies, and forms three teams: One team for rescuing Ruby, one for Looking after Avu, and another for investigating the front half of the plane.
After the teams are formed, the humans set out for their tasks by boarding a hovercraft and heading out to the frozen north. On the way there, a huge red pillar of light shot down at the Frozen Enclave, a structure where King Sombra began his reign a thousand years ago. The group runs into Lightning dust, who speaks of an unspeakable terror before vanishing. With the doors to the structure at the Enclave now open, the group heads down inside...
Upon entering the structure, the group notices the feeling of snow under their feet shiver at the cold breeze that passes through occasionally. Jeremy shined his flashlight around, noticing that walls are covered in ice and frost and the ceiling is full of icicles that could fall any minute. Surveying the whole area, he notices that the whole room is vast and spacious. The ceiling consisted of several icicles throughout. The floor is covered almost entirely in snow and ice and the walls having what appears to be steel hatches frozen over; three on each side. looking up ahead, there appears to be a few mine carts throughout the room all filled with snow that appears to have been tampered with.
"The floor's covered in snow... did someone leave the door open?" Trisha noted, looking at the ground, as she noticed that the snow was thick enough to take the weight of her steps.
"Brrr... aren't you ponies cold at all??" Jeremy complained, shivering.
"No, we don't really get cold thanks to our coats." Twilight explained.
"I betcha wished you had fur now, huh?!" Rainbow gloated.
"Shut up. J-j-just shut up." Jeremy scowled at Rainbow.
"We can get around safely if we walk along the wall. It'll keep us out of the way of the icicles." Shining Armor said, beckoning the group to follow him. "And if one falls, I can protect you anyway, but I'd like to save all of my power for whatever we're gonna be up against here."
"So, you've been here before, right, Shining Armor?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah. We decided to do a little investigation here some time after Sombra was destroyed, and that's when we discovered this run-down place."
"Yeah, but when I look at the ground, I think i see some conveyor belts..." Trisha said, looking closer at the black spot at her feet.
"Hang on a sec... I thought this world wasn't capable of technology!" Jeremy said out of curiosity.
"No, I'm guessing that whatever this place was, it probably powered with either steam or magic, like most of our technology." Twilight answered.
"Hmm... so you guys have technology afterall?" Megan asked.
"Well, not to the extent you guys have. According to the Book of Humans, your technology pales in comparison to ours. Sure, we can have magic or steam powered machines, but we don't have anything advanced such as gas-powered vehicles, or these things called computers."
"Hoo boy... If I didn't know any better, I'd say we entered the dark ages-OW!" Jeremy felt a hoof hit him on the back of his head. He then glares at Rainbow Dash who was floating behind him and griped, "Watch it, my head still hurts!"
"Well excuuuuuse us for not having all the cool gizmos!" Rainbow retorted.
"Will you two shut up!?" Twilight scolded the two. Jeremy and Rainbow would shut up, but not without one last glare at each other.
"Ah... umm, okay, so, anyway..." Trisha awkwardly started. "About this place..."
"Right... according to the radar... It looks like it goes underground. Hmph..." Jeremy looked at the direction the arrow was pointing, and it seemed to be pointing downward, but the edge still pointing northeast.
"Looks like the arrow bends more and more the closer we get." Shining Armor said.
After walking along the wall for a while and reaching the end, they change direction and continue until they reach another turning point, at which they run into another wall...
"Ugh... looks like the radar's going crazy here, but it looks like a dead-end! What the hell!" Jeremy griped.
"Maybe there's a door hidden behind it?" Twilight surmised.
Jeremy then looks at his feet and starts to kick around various lumps of snow. "Ha! Maybe... there's a hatch.. down here...! Mmph!"
Megan, walking around and looking at the ground, calls out to Jeremy. "Jeremy, hand me the light." Megan asked.
"What for?" Jeremy abruptly stopped kicking snow away.
"I think I saw something interesting, but I can't be sure unless I have the light." Megan said, sounding annoyed.
"Well, I'll provide one." Twilight used her horn to shine a light by Megan, who thanked her. "Now what did you notice?"
"Look at the ground..." Megan crouched down as his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "See?" He pointed along the other side of the room, seeing some dubious traces in the snow... "Footprints."
"He's right...!" Shining Armor's eyes widened.
"Hang on, weren't you here before??" Rainbow asked Shining Armor, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.
"Yeah, but I walked along the left wall, just like before! I never walked along the right wall! Maybe somepony's here already!" Shining Armor answered quickly.
"Or someone..." Megan said, looking closely at the prints, noticing that they're shoe tracks. "There's multiple footprints... I think more than one person has been here already, or they're here now."
"It might've been those other humans I mentioned earlier...?" Shining Armor said.
"Wait, other humans!?" Trisha asked.
"I came across some strange area when we went out here to explore the enclave. In fact, they looked like... camps. There, I saw some strange creatures. At the time, I didn't bother approaching them, but I managed to figure out that they were humans when I saw you and your friends having the same features..." Shining explained.
"I see... hmm... we still need a way to get down here though... If humans have been here, then I doubt they managed to go down, judging from the footprints. In fact, they make a right here, going to the middle. Were they looking for something?" Jeremy pondered, as his light traced the trail of the footprints, which stop dead in the middle.
Twilight narrows her eyes in suspicion, as she walks along the footprints to where they stopped. She looks closely at the ground, noticing something shiny protruding out of it.
"Is... that a crystal...?" Twilight asked herself. "I wonder..." Twilight's lit horn grew brighter with power, then unleashing a beam of light at the crystal. Suddenly, the crystal began emitting a strange, bright light, which expanded more and more.
"What the heck!?" Jeremy was startled to see a huge wave of light engulf the whole room, removing the snow and ice!
"Well, that was fascinating..." Megan looked at his feet and noticed that he was standing on a steel ground, with no wetness in sight. It was as if the snow and ice just... disappeared completely.
The room had steadily revealed it's true form... The walls and ceiling crafted in a light gray colored mix of brick and steel, the ground made of a light gray colored metal, and revealing the hatches to the left and right walls which were still closed shut. Across the floor were various crystals scattered all across the black conveyor belts and the carts no longer had the huge amounts of snow piled in it. However, none of the machinery was operational.
"Was this... a crystal mining facility?" Twilight looked at the new room in awe.
"Now THIS I didn't know about..." Shining Armor said, looking at the place in amazement.
"There's so many crystals here! Hey, how didn't you know about this?!" Rainbow asked.
"Because all the ones I found were all buried under the snow, and I could only carry so many of them to begin with." Shining answered.
"But this is so amazing! This may have been where the slaves worked, but still... this is... pretty advanced! How was any of this operational at all??" Twilight asked, walking around, surveying the area, looking for any switches.
"That's the thing... it looked so empty before. It's like hitting that crystal with magic caused a time shift..." Megan surmised.
"Yes, that's the thing right there! It's like the crystal heart, containing similar properties! Oh wow, this is sooooo amazing! I wanna learn so much about it!" Twilight was amazed, rambling like a nerd.
"Hmm... Let's try to open the hatches this time. We might be able to see a way down..." Shining said, walking over to one of the hatches.
"I'll help you out." Megan followed Shining Armor.
"I think we should collect more of these crystals... there's a bunch here!" Trisha said. "Rainbow, could you help me pick these up? I think they might be more Equine Crystals."
"Eh, why not."
The moment trisha picked up a crystal, she saw a strange dark stain on a few of the crystal jewels she picked up off of the conveyor belts... "Uhh... this is weird... it's not what I think it is... right?"
While the rest of the group was exploring the newly revealed room, Jeremy turns around, and raises his eyebrow briefly, before becoming excited.
"Finally! A door!" Jeremy looked down the small corridor that was formerly a dead end, finding a shiny, pitch black steel door. Due to the kind of guy he is, he immediately opens the door, but... "Agh...! What the shit...!?"
He is blinded by a huge burst of white light... Shutting his eyes in response, the light continues to pierce through the eyelids until everything is suddenly black...
Once his eyes open...
"Huh...!?" Jeremy gasps as he looks around to find himself lying under the blue sheets of a familiar wooden bed with a flat headrest where a plastic cup sat. He steps out of bed, letting his feet press into the beige carpet on his floor. He notices that he no longer has an Equine Crystal on his wrist when he looked, that he's wearing a white tee shirt and black shorts and barefoot. Looking to his left, he saw one bookshelf which held a few unread mystery novels on the first row, and the and a collection of action figures of various super heroes on the third row. Still looking to his left, he saw a small chocolate colored desk with a flat screen monitor sitting on it, a keyboard, mouse, and a black chair in front of the desk.
"Why... am I in my room...?" Jeremy began to panic.
Turning his head to the right of his room, he saw a second large bookshelf, which only the third and fourth rows held various X-Box games. And this eyes wandered to the flat screen TV at the foot of his bed...
"No... calm down... this... this is... my room... but why am I in my room?" Jeremy began to excessively think to himself, breathing heavily.
"Jeremy, come down!" A stern, feminine voice could be heard from down below.
"Gyah! Mom!? You're here?!" Jeremy asked, bewildered.
"What the hell kind of question is that!? Get your ass down here!" Jeremy's mother asked, already irritated.
Jeremy then cleared his throat, stood on his feet and walked to the door. He hesitantly placed his hand on the knob and turned it, opening the door, and looked down the corridor, thinking, "This... is definitely my house."
The same beige carpet expanded all throughout the house and even down the stairs Jeremy walked down. Slowly walking down those stairs, holding onto that brown wooden handrail, he immediately went to the dining room, where he saw that familiar dark brown square dinner table with a white sheet over it. Four wooden chairs surrounded the table, each seat being white with it's own abstract pattern and the wood well carved with round edges and a hole in the back rest of the chairs. At the table, he saw a dark-skinned woman wearing a lab coat, maroon bandanna, matching button-up shirt, and black slacks. This woman was eating a bowl of cereal and watching the news on a small TV that sat on the kitchen counter.
"Umm... what's going on?" Jeremy sheepishly asked his mother as he slowly came down.
"I should be asking you that. You're acting strange today, baby boy." Jeremy's mom replied.
Jeremy not only seen his mother at the dinner table, he saw a familiar curly black-haired girl with a milano skin color sitting at the table, wearing her pajamas and eating a bowl of cereal. "Ruby...?! RUBY!!" Seeing his cousin, he ran down and, hugged her tightly.
"Wh-Onii-chan!" Ruby was startled to see her surrogate brother hug her so suddenly.
"I'm so glad you're okay...! I mean, you are, aren't you?! The Shadowbolts didn't hurt you, right?" Jeremy asked, earning the curious stare of his mother.
"I... umm, are you high?" His mother asked, narrowing her eyes.
"What!? No! NO! I'm not high! Why the hell would I be high!? I'm straight-edge, dammit!" Jeremy snapped at her, slamming his hand on the table like he wanted to flip it over.
"Because you're asking if she's okay like she just got kidnapped! And what the hell are 'Shadowbolts'!?" His mother began to argue back.
"Auntie, Jeremy! Please, stop fighting!!" Ruby desperately tried to diffuse the situation.
"Ugh... What time is it?!" Jeremy angrily asked.
"Don't talk to me like that!" His mother angrily demanded.
Jeremy then sighed and asked much more nicely. "Dear mother, what time is it...?" Putting on the most fake smile he could muster up, his eye twitching and all.
"Well, since you asked oh-so-nicely, it's--" *Static*
Suddenly, his vision had went out for a brief second... when it did, it was as if his whole world was a TV that just lost it's cable service. But the second his vision turned back to normal...
"What the shit!?" Jeremy shouted, gaining the attention of a certain crew he was working with...
Looking at his surroundings, he could tell from just looking at the desk in front of him, the table in the middle of the room, that chalkboard ahead of him, that window, and that red and black school uniform that he and the others are wearing...
"Jeremy, what's wrong??" Mia asked.
"I... I mean, I was in the Mining Facility... then... I was home... and now I'm here...?" Jeremy answered Mia, but in a way that made her believe he was telling himself that.
"Umm... are you okay?" Mr. Martin asked out of concern, getting out of his chair to walk towards Jeremy.
"I'm fine! I'm the one that should be asking YOU guys that!! Trisha, Megan, you're with me, right!? You guys recognize the name I mentioned, right? The Crystal Mining Facility?" Jeremy asked the two, whom only ended up looking at each other in confusion. "What about the Frozen Enclave!?"
"I... have no idea what you're talking about... you must've been dreaming." Trisha hesitantly said.
"How foolish, describing your dreams in such great detail..."
"Chris, what about that vacation to Italy due to me working so hard? What happened?"
"What vacation? Dude, why are YOU asking these strange questions?" Chris asked, feeling just as thrown off as the rest of the crew.
"HOW could you forget THAT!? Chris, you were sobbing, acting like I was gonna fire you, but I didn't! And guys, how can you forget about the talking ponies?! I mean, there's Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Shining Armor, Princess Cadence, the Crystal Ponies... and my god, that annoying Rainbow Dash!!"
"Jeremy, I know you claim you're straight edge, but maybe you got high from sniffing glue or something." Mina suggested.
"Yeah, sure sounds like it... hahaha..." Kitsu agreed.
And suddenly, everyone began to laugh amongst themselves... laughing at Jeremy, as if he were describing a really stupid dream. A dream no sane human being would have...
"Oh my god, you've GOTTA be shitting me!!! Avu, this isn't one of your pranks, is it!? AVU!!!"
"Who's that?" Mason asked.
"...what...?" Jeremy was thrown for a loop the second Mason asked that.
"You heard the guy... we wanna know who this Avu person is." Eva nailed that statement in, causing Jeremy's eye to twitch.
"Maybe from that dream of yours?" Alice asked.
"........................................" Jeremy slumped to his chair, his eyes now wide open in shock and frustration. He grabs his head, and grinds his teeth... "They have to be joking... they have to be joking... they have to be joking... they have to be joking...
Suddenly he stops and musters what little composure he has left and bravely asks a simple question.
"W... what... what about friendship... being magic...?" Jeremy nervously asked.
"What hogwash..." Megan shot it down.
"That does sound kinda dumb..." Alice said. "Why in the world would you say 'friendship is magic'?"
"It's dumber than the 'I am the moon' remark he made at the end of that podcast the other week! Hahahahahaha!" Kitsu began laughing out loud.
"Kitsu, when we were in Equestria, don't you remember me chewing you out for wanting to party with Pinkie Pie!? And for you saying Equestria is a world of sunshine and rainbows!?" Jeremy desperately turned to his fox-faced friend.
"I have noooooooo idea whatcha mean, dude. You sure you doin' okay?" Kitsu asked.
"Perhaps he hit his head." Mason said. "He did just name a person who doesn't even exist."
"But...! But...!!! I mean... I thought... what... I mean, I was told to be loyal to you guys, I..." Jeremy started stammering, mixing his words up. He then hung and shook his head frantically.
"No... NO! This... Equestria... Equestria can't be a dream! It couldn'tve been a dream! No! NO!"
"Haaaa.... ha.... ha... ha.... ha... ha... ha... ha..." It was then Jeremy began to breathe heavily...
"Jeremy, I think you need to see the nurse-" Mr. Martin tried to suggest.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Jeremy screamed as he started throwing his coffee mug, his book, and his laptop on the floor..."NO! NO NO NO NO! You will NOT take me there!!! I'll go by myself!" Jeremy snapped at Mr. Martin.
"Hey, he was only trying to help! You're acting way too weird!" Mina scolded Jeremy.
"No, you shut up! SHUT THE HELL UP!!!" *CRASH!* Jeremy yelled at Mina before kicking his desk over with all his strength.
"Jeremy, calm down!" Mia desperately pleaded.
"No, NO!!! HOW CAN I?! You guys are playing a sick joke! A Fucking sick joke! What's with you guys anyway!? You guys were never this cruel!!" Jeremy began throwing accusations around, frantically swinging his arms in an outrage.
"We're not joking around, man!!! We seriously think you might have a problem and we wanna help you!!" Chris said, nervously pleading.
"No, YOU Guys need the help!!! How did you forget about Equestria!? The Shadowbolts!? Nightmare Moon!? All of it!? HOW!!?" Jeremy yelled to the top of his lungs, sick with anger.
"Because you're spouting such nonesense!!! Even if you had such a dream, none of that is real!!!" Mr. Martin argued, getting closer to Jeremy, to put an arm on his shoulder. *WHAM*! "Agh!!"
Jeremy suddenly punched his teacher Mr. Martin in the face with all his might, knocking him down to the floor.
"Okay, you've gone too far now..." Mason glared at Jeremy, ready to storm up to him... "I'm sorry, but someone needs to knock some sense into you."
"No! Get away from me!! I'm not WRONG!!!!" Jeremy suddenly bolted out of the clubroom as hard as he could, only to run into someone else in the hallway before he could get any distance away from that now accursed clubroom.
Jeremy looked ahead to see whom he had knocked down. He thought he couldn't be shocked any more with what's happening, but seeing this person made him wish this was a dream...
"Oh, I'm sorry... was I in your way perhaps...?" The girl with long black hair... that hime cut... those green eyes...
"A-a-a-a-angela...? Angela...? Why...?" Jeremy's face grew with shock and horror as he looked at the girl whom had already crawled up to him...
"What's wrong, Jeremy? Or should I call you Mr. Club President? Ufufufufu..." Angela giggled. "It's nice to see you've made so many friends..."
"You're... supposed... I thought... I thought you were supposed to be dead...!!!" Jeremy started to breathe heavily as he said out of desperation.
"Oh come now... you said you're my savior, remember...??" Angela continued crawling up to him, slowly.
"But you're supposed to be dead!" Jeremy shouted once more.
"Why are you being so cruel?"
"WHY AREN'T YOU DEAD!?!?" Jeremy's fury hit it's peak, as his hands quickly wrap around Angela's neck.
"Jeremy!" Trisha called out to him, which made his hands loosen up and nervously turn his head around...
When he saw his group of friends there, witnessing what Jeremy was doing, his eyes widened with terror. "Wait, guys... I mean, it's... not what you think...! Come on, this is... all one big joke, right...?"
"What are you talking about? You got your wish." Trisha coldly said, turning around and walking away. Before he could get up and go to his friends, he felt a sudden cold hand on his face...
"But you said you'd be my savior... what happened...?" Angela said, grabbing Jeremy's attention. The second he looked at her, intending to release his grip from her neck, a thick, red liquid started to pour from a large gash in her neck.
"Ah... AHHH!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Jeremy backed away in fear, for not only did the wound in her neck open, he immediately noticed that her hand she touched his face with was devoid of flesh!
"Why do you run? I need you." Angela asked, smiling at him gently.
He tried to get up, only to find that the floor had already been flooded in blood and he was slowly but surely sinking into that sea of red. He turned around to see that the beautiful girl's flesh had slowly melted away, becoming one with that crimson sea that continued to spawn from her throat...
But that didn't matter...
He turned to his friends, whom had already begun walking back into the clubroom.
"GUYS!!! PLEASE, I'm sorry!!! I'M SORRY!!! I WON'T HURT YOU GUYS AGAIN, SO PLEASE!!!! HELP ME!!!"
His friends kept walking into that clubroom without another word... without even turning around... it was as if he wasn't even heard. He didn't realize that his whole body had already started to sink into that sea of crimson...
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!! PLEAAAAAAASE! I'm sorry!!! I'LL DO ANYTHING!!! PLEASE!!!! I'M SORRRY!!!!" Jeremy screamed with all his might, trying to keep his head above the surface...
"...ermy..."
"........." Jeremy had fully sank into that sea of blood... being dragged down by the skeleton of that girl, her hands slowly sinking into his flesh.
"Je...my...!"
".............................."
"JEREMY!!!!" A voice continuously called out... His eyes, faintly open, sees a hand reaching out to him and getting a hold of his wrist, pulling him up...
"JEREMY!!!" Trisha and Rainbow were calling out to him, but it was no use. The whites in his eyes had turned green, and an endless stream of tears were flowing out, as he laid there, motionless.
The door in front of him had already been closed shut, as Twilight, Shining Armor, Megan, Trisha, and Rainbow surround the human who had fallen victim to his biggest fear.
"Come on, what happened to the tough guy I fought a while ago, huh!? Get up!!" Rainbow angrily demanded.
"This is really bad... I know Spike and I were put under the spell of a door like that before, but it was never this bad!" Twilight said grimly. "We have to snap him out of it, quick before he looses all hope to live!"
"Care explaining what kind of abomination that door is!?" Megen asked, his tone of voice being a bit shaky.
"It's a door that shows you your worst fears if you open it..." Twilight grimly explained, speaking as if she herself experienced it.
"He's not getting up, no matter what I do...! Why don't I destroy that door?!" Trisha asked angrily. But then...
"GET UP!" Rainbow screamed before punching him with a hoof. Despite the barbaric act, the punch actually knocked the green out of his eyes...
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhh...!!!!!!!!!" Jeremy began to scream uncontrollably, curling into a ball and clutching his head, but then suddenly stops...
"What... ow...!! Ah... what... huh?! I mean... where..." Jeremy suddenly got out of his curled up state, desperately turning his head left and right. His eyes wander to his arm, making him notice that he's wearing the Equine crystal around his bracelet once again. The bracelet is lit up, and still tracking where Ruby could have gone. He also sees that he's no longer in his school uniform. He looks to his right to see Shining Armor and Twilight Sparkle... and to his left, he saw Rainbow Dash, Trisha, and Megan there. He quickly realized he was back in Equestria...
"Holy crap... I never thought I'd be happy to see ponies again... that was the WORST..." Jeremy shut his eyes and shook his head a little, trying to get rid of of those horrific images in his head.
"How are you feeling?" Twilight asked.
"I feel like a rock just hit me in the jaw. Otherwise, I couldn't be any happier..." Jeremy said, trying to shake off the noticeable bags under his eyes.
"Jeremy!!" Trisha suddenly ran up to hug him.
"You're the real Trish, right?" Jeremy nervously asked, just to be sure.
"Of course I am! Why would you even ask that?" Trisha asked, confused.
"Don't worry about it too much. You'll get a headache." Jeremy said, calmly smiling at her.
"I believe that would be pretty difficult, considering the tears." Megan noted.
"Geh..." Jeremy quickly wiped away his tears the second they were pointed out. "Damn nightmare... but why do I feel like someone hit me with a rock...?" Jeremy asked, rubbing his face in pain, only to hear and see a certain pegasus with a multicolored mane whistling... "You..." Jeremy scowled as he quickly stood up and stormed up to Rainbow.
"Oh come on, not now!" Twilight thought he'd get into another argument with Rainbow, but...
"Whoa, what?!" Rainbow was shocked the second he ran his hand warmly petted the top of her head, smiling coolly at her. "Ah, h-hey! STOP THAT!"
"Ya know... just this once, I'll letcha slide." Jeremy said after petting her mane. "Let's just leave it at that, alright?"
"Geez, way to say thanks, jerk. You coulda said 'thanks for saving my flank, Rainbow Dash! You're the coolest!' or something." Rainbow mockingly suggested.
"I think he DID thank you. In his own way. He's never direct with what he says, but when you know an fool like that long enough, you can read him like a children's book." Megan answered.
"Dude, shut it. It's not like I'm thankful to her or anything. I just thought I'd let her know I'd let her slide for punching me." Jeremy retorted.
"Maybe I autta deck ya again for good measure." Rainbow said, scowling.
While Rainbow and Jeremy bicker like usual, Twilight heads over to the door, and looks at the top frame of it to find a dark crystal sitting there. She uses her magic to zap the crystal, making the steel door turn from black to white. She then turns the doorknob with her magic and calls out to the others.
"Okay everybody! Let's go-OOMP!" Twilight said to the group before running headfirst into a wall. "Ah, WHAT THE HECK!? There's nothing here! UGH!!"
"Wait, you SURE this isn't just a trick?" Megan asked.
"The last time I dealt with a door like this, I had to dispel the dark magic on it before I could go through it!" Twilight argued.
"I'm starting to think we need to get through those hatches... Like, maybe they're the way down?" Trisha asked.
"Yeah, but they won't budge, remember? They're locked from the inside." Shining Armor said.
"Oh, wait, I have another idea!" Twilight ran back over to the middle of the room and looked at the crystal on the ground, shining brightly thanks to her magic. She then shuts her eyes tightly...
"Umm... what is she doing?" Rainbow asked, noticing that the tip of her horn started to glow with a more darker aura.
"She's using dark magic..." Shining Armor answered, showing an expression of worry.
"Dark Magic... that's possible? I didn't even think there was a such thing since you guys are all about friendship and alla that." Jeremy asked.
"Yes, but it's difficult to use if your spirit is pure. But the more it's used, the easier it is to perform, which is a bad sign." Shining Armor explained.
Twilight's horn then fired a blast of dark magic, which gave the crystal a dark green and purple aura. Suddenly, a black line of light expands from the crystal and engulfs the entire room once more, but this time, instead of changing it's appearance entirely, it activated all of the room's machinery. The conveyor belts suddenly become operational while moving various carrying carts, the hatches are now opened, and the short corridor that led to the fake door is completely gone...
"What the heck!?" Jeremy was startled when he suddenly started to move straight into the open hatch. He instinctively jumped off the conveyor belt he was standing on, breathing a sigh of relief.
"I knew it..." Twilight said to herself, observation, as she saw a cart every ten seconds, coming into the room from the left hatch, and eventually going into the right. She then turns her attention to Rainbow. "Hey, Rainbow, could you go through the hatches to see if there's a way down?"
"You got it!" The cyan pegasus readily agreed, flying into the first hatch she saw to her left, then flew out and went into the right. Once she came back, she made her report. "I see some stairs down below on the right side!"
"Good going, Skittles!" Jeremy gave Rainbow a thumbs up before heading to the hatch.
"Hey!" Rainbow only took offense to the usual nickname. After all, a pony wouldn't know the thumbs-up gesture.
"Alright, let's save Ruby!" Trisha declared.
The group hurried to the open hatch, getting on the Conveyor Belt before another cart arrived. Once through the hatch, the path unexpectedly turns steep, causing everyone to slide down bit by bit. Down below looked to be a room lit up with a red and orange-ish light...
"That's not the incinerator, is it!?" Trisha asked, observing what's waiting at the end of the conveyor belt.
"I don't know, but we better get off, fast!!" Twilight
"The stairs are right there, to your left!" Rainbow pointed at a set of stairs, going downward in a square-like fashion.
"Got it!" Twilight's horn lit up, just like her brother's, teleporting the group to the stairs immediately. with a quick inspection of the stairs, the steps are cold as ice due to being made of steel. The handrails are made of steel as well.
"*phew*... You know, you could've said that there was an incinerator down there..." Jeremy griped after catching his breath.
"Hey, Twilight asked me to see if there's a way down, not what's at the end!" Rainbow retorted.
"Argue later! We still got someone to save, remember?" Twilight scolded, prompting Jeremy to look at the projected radar coming from the equine crystal he wore on his wrist.
"Yeah, she's definitely down here!" Jeremy stood on his feet and began running down the stairs, with each step echoing through the dark area. Looking to the left, the group soon realize that they weren't headed into an incinerator, but the crusher! However, the carts stop just before the entrance to the crusher, making a sharp turn to the right.
"Okay, so we weren't in much danger... but from the looks of it, I think whomever worked here had to grab the crystals from the mine carts, and then send them through the crusher to make them into smaller crystals." Megan noted.
"Observe later! We have to hurry!!" Jeremy chided.
"Are you even okay? Considering what happened a little while ago?" Twilight asked.
"Never better!" Jeremy confirmed, despite the hint of anxiousness in his voice.
At the end of the stairs, the group arrives at a corridor lit up in a bright light. The walls were completely white and the floor was made of a greenish-white marble tileset, and to the sides, was a long window on each side of the wall, allowing one to see inside. At the end of each window, there's a door leading to the inside.
Looking through the glass barrier on the right side, there's a lit room with a conveyor belt in the middle and a lump of pitch black crystals sitting there. Further back were closed dressers at the top, and a counter top that had a power drill, with various used drill bits surrounding it. However... there were some dark stains on the tool and parts...
"Black stains...?" Jeremy asked.
"Hmm..." Megan's eyes narrowed.
On the Left side, through the glass barrier, there were... at least... seven large glass tanks, and from the looks of it, there are even more. However, what's inside the capsules were the real shocker...
"Oh, mother of Celestia..." Twilight's eyes widened, as she looked at the gallery of... subjects.
A creature with the head of a lion, body of a man, legs of a beast.
A creature with the upper body of a chicken, lower half of a lizard.
A creature with the appearance of a wolf and a body made of wood, completely in pieces.
A creature with the appearance of a pony and it's head having a giant hole in the forehead.
A creature with the appearance of a pony with it's wings gone...
"A Manticore...? A cockatrice...? A timberwolf...? A unicorn and a pegasus too!? WHAT IS THIS!?" Twilight's expression turned into horror, seeing even fellow ponies. Worst off, most of the test tubes contained ponies with crystalline bodies...
"This... wha, did... did Sombra do this!?" Shining Armor grit his teeth the moment his eyes caught sight of several crystal ponies. "And Hover Clear never said ANYTHING about this!"
"I... he would've said something if he knew... I know I read about the rebellion and slavery period of the Crystal Empire before Celestia intervened, but there were no records of experiments performed on all the creatures here...!" Twilight surmised, turning her head away as she could no longer look at what was through that glass. What was on the table didn't even help, making even Rainbow Dash quickly fold her wings in, cringing.
On the steel table, with several cutting tools scattered about and black stains splashed around, there was a unicorn horn on the table, and a pair of wings, both already cut into. In the case of the horn, there are small, circular holes at the back end, as if something drilled into it already...
"I... No. this can't be the work of a pony. I heard the legend. Sombra was a tyrant, yes? But logic also tells me that he was a pony. I just can't see a pony making a laboratory like this, and doing research on their own kind. I may see you all perform experiments on certain creatures, but even then, I don't think a pony can perform research of this caliber." Megan winced, as he looked around, explaining.
"You're saying... this was... done by a human, right?" Twilight quickly guessed, having a hint of hesitation in her voice.
"Correct. You catch on quick." Megan took his glasses off. He grabbed the edge of his vest and started to clean the lens slowly, breathing heavily. His fingers pressed the fabric into the lens firmly as he wiped away the now nonexistent blur.
Jeremy quickly walked to the door that led to that room and tried to open it. "Egh! Ha!" Jeremy used his shoulder to ram the door since there was no doorknob in sight, but it wouldn't even budge. "Damn the door's locked!"
"You're going in there!?" Rainbow asked, shocked at his attempt.
"Yea! What if Ruby's in this room!?" Jeremy yelled, just before kicking the door one last time.
"Don't bother. If the door's locked, you're probably not gonna wanna go any further. Look around the glass" Megan said, still cleaning his glasses, albeit, faster now.
Jeremy, following Megan's advice looked through the glass barrier, and turned his eyes to the left, immediately shutting his eyes in disgust. "Oh..." Jeremy immediately turned his head and walked away really fast upon seeing two decayed human bodies lying in front of the door on top of one another. The bodies appeared to be wearing pants, shirts, and lab coats. On top of that, there were large holes, right at the stomach on both of them.
"Ugh... The humans... someone or something killed them already!" Jeremy shook his head furiously, desperately ridding himself of the urge to vomit.
"One glance is enough to know those bodies have been there for a while..." Megan surmised.
With everyone's backs turned, Trisha makes one last glance at the left back door. It's then, her eyes began to wander to the floor, as something shiny catches her eye...
"What's this?" Trisha muttered to herself in a hushed tone. Once she approached the object which sat in a large black spot on the floor, she gets a closer look at it, finding out that the object is a small, rectangular, and has some words on it... "MERLIN Report No. wha...? Is this... a tape?"
Trisha unfortunately couldn't see the number on the object she had picked up, since it appears that the number was blotted out by what appears to be dried blood...
"Yo, what's the holdup?" Jeremy called out to her, causing Trisha to immediately pocket the object.
"Oh, It's nothing!" Trisha hurriedly answered.
The group then looks ahead to find a large, steel door with a circular edging. The door for some reason was a solid black with a red tint thanks to the light in the room. To the right of it however, appeared to be a device hanging on by the wires in the wall with a small green screen with a grid-like pattern.
"Looks like the door's locked... and I don't see any way of opening it." Shining Armor noted.
"Except for this busted control panel here..." Megan turned to Shining Armor, narrowing his eyes. "Okay... Shining Armor?"
"Huh?" Shining asked.
"You say you've seen humans before. We even saw footprints upstairs. But there's a problem... the humans here are already dead, and you say you've seen a whole camp of them. Do you have any idea how long these humans were here? Because judging from the bodies, I'm going to guess that they've been here for over a year now or even longer than that."
"I can't really say. It's not like I could just run up and talk to them suddenly." Shining answered.
"Well, we have to do SOMETHING! Ruby's in here!" Jeremy showed the radar from his crystal bracelet, which pointed straight forward, through the door. "This door should be a little faulty, right? Let's force our way through!"
"Now THAT'S my jam!" Rainbow for once, agreed with Jeremy, and just like he, took hold of the bottom lid, and begun to use their strength to raise the heavy steel door.
"Let's help'em!" Shining Armor, with that prompt, used his horn to light the bottom portion of the hatch, in which Twilight followed suit.
"We need to do it too!" Trisha said, prompting Megan to run up and help force the door open with their strength.
With all six members of the group using all of their strength, the door eventually, but slowly starts to rise...
"Alright, it's working! Let's do it, everypony!" Twilight said, giving an extra boost of morale.
With just a bit more... and *WHOOSH!* the door was finally forced open, but everyone who were at the front pushing it up were thrown off balance and fell to the floor.
The room they entered, which looked somewhat spherical with the curved black walls and ceiling, had but one throne at the very back and a single light shining on a red carpet in the center of the room.
"Gah... Everyone alright?" Jeremy asked.
"Yeah... my arms hurt though..." Megan answered. "Ugh, I'm not one of those people fit to do such heavy lifting..."
"Hey, that's what builds AWESOME! I didn't break a sweat!" Rainbow boasted.
"Maybe we shoulda left it to you then, jerk." Jeremy griped.
"For once, I'm with him on that one... ow..." Trisha held her upper arms as she complained.
"There she is!" Twilight pointed up ahead, prompting the rest of the group to see a girl, sitting in that very throne, emitting endless amounts of star mist...
"Oh, no, Ruby!!! Damn it!!!" Jeremy became mortified, seeing his cousin in such a state. Immediately, his legs start to take him to her in a sprint, but... "AGH!!!" He runs into an invisible wall. "What the hell is this!? Egh! HA! YAH!" Jeremy starts striking the wall with several punches, but it's no use... when he looks at his fist, he can see that he's been singed...
"The Elements of Harmony... The Captain of the Royal Guard... the Candidates that survived the crash... welcome..." A deep, yet calm voice could be heard in the room.
"Hey! WHERE ARE YOU!? SHOW YOURSELF, YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!" Jeremy seethed as he looked around, trying to find who was welcoming them.
"Give Ruby back, now!" Trisha yelled out.
It's then, that everyone sees a shadow on the ground, which prompted them to look up and see someone descending from the giant hole above. In fact, the figure turned out to be human, wearing a crimson cape and black pants. Once the person finally landed in front of the group, everybody's eyes widened in horror.
"...A...Avu...?" Jeremy hesitantly asked his friend, who was now sporting a red king's robe with long sleeves. His hair had also grown to shoulder length and slicked back. When his eyes opened, the whites were already green and his irises were crimson red like blood. Underneath that robe, where Avu was shirtless, revealed the dark unicorn horn, now lodged deeper into his chest.
"I knew it... That's not your friend! That's Sombra!!" Shining Armor revealed.
"S-Sombra...?" Jeremy nervously asked.
"I demand that you address me as King, fools..." The king narrowed his eyes dangerously, emitting a black aura from his them.
Suddenly, Shining Armor's eyes widened menacingly, as he clinched his teeth. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO CADENCE?!"
"Come on Avu, you're... trolling me like always, right? Y-you gotta be...!" Jeremy nervously asked.
"Let the girl go and give the human's body back!!" Twilight stepped forward, ready to cast her magic against the now human tyrant.
"Kneel first, and I may consider." Sombra calmly asked, staring at the group condescendingly.
"Never!!" Shining Armor declared.
"We beat you once, and we'll beat you again!!!" Twilight declared as her element of Magic got ready to fire.
"You're not so tough! Let's get'em, Twilight!!" Rainbow prompted, while her element of Loyalty started to shine.
"I SAID KNEEL!!!"
the moment the tyrant's roar echoed throughout the room, the dark purple and black aura emitting from his chest unleashed a huge shockwave, forcing all who stood before him to forcefully drop to their hands and knees and lower their heads. Struggling to stand, the evil king looked down on them all, with a glare like no other, a glare that shows his anger built after his first death...