"What do you mean hero?" Fluttershy asked. She was lying patiently on the rug, near the old pony's rocking chair. The old pony sat up, and straightened his glass's, pushing them back up his snout.
"Don't play dumb. you must of read the stone? the stone tablet left there for the hero's to see. Do you not remember?" Grandy spoke.
"Well, before I was able to read the stone tablet, some pony and his gang of red clothed, armored warriors ambushed us... That's where I got the cuts and bruises." Fluttershy spoke. Grandy looked her up and down, for a long while, both of them remained silent. Suddenly, Grandy broke the silence as if he was the very knife that had cut Fluttershy in the first place.
"Whinnyshy, if your friend was taken by those pony's. Then your life, and the life of millions is in danger. For if she is killed... Then not only will this world fall out of balance. But life itself, will fall out of balance." Spoke Grandy. Fluttershy was quite excited upon the fact she was gaining answers to her questions, the plethora that there where.
Grandy began to stand, the creaking of his bones highly audible. It seemed to take an age, for the pony to fully stand up. "
Jimmyphy, You have much to know." Spoke Grandy.
"You are in great danger, since you have not read the tablet. The fact that you found your way here, was not an accident, though we thought you would be here sooner." Fluttershy was still. She listened intently.
"The portal you had was to lead you to me, so I could advise you onto your missions, so that you could save this planet, from the devastating weapon, known as Creation." Grandy then proceeded to a door, and turned the knob ever so slowly, to reveal a staircase. He beckoned for the pastel pony to enter. Without word of doubt, or show of remorse. she entered. Grandy then followed. They walked for quite along time, after reaching the bottom of the stairs. Until, about ten minuets into walking down the torch lit hallway, they arrived at a small room, with a box, and writing on the walls.
"W-where are we?" asked Fluttershy, overtaken by the vastness of the situation.
"We are in a small underground dungeon like area. Under the old observatory. The observatory will serve as our base of operations for your journey. Now I believe you would be asking for answers, so let me answer your questions." Spoke grandy, gesturing her to speak. She then began her questions.
"Who are the people that took Rainbowdash, and why is she in danger!" Fluttershy asked, in a panicky tone.
"The ones who took your friend are known as the Mørke. They are the warriors who where led by king Sombra in the crystal empire, age of the dark crystals." Grandy began. "The Mørke left when sombra was defeated. Sombra was defeated for more than the siege of the crystal empire, but he was banished for the fact that he tried to re-create a powerful element that would counteract harmony. An element of Fear, Power, and Tyranny." Fluttershy found herself looking around the small rooms, viewing paintings of odd and beautiful places on the walls, and reading the words below it. But suddenly, she stopped at quite a large painting. One that gave her much fear, and seemed to strike her negatively, as if it was something that she was meant to hate.
"Ah. This painting strikes you, do's it not?" Grandy spoke. He walked up behind Fluttershy, and put his hoof on her shoulder. "This is the painting of the Ingenhåp." Fluttershy then looked towards the painting again, to view each and ever part of it. it was a table, at an angle, with straps to hold a pony, down. That was not what worried her, it was the thing above. A large needle like object, on a robotic arm, above the table that looked as if it where to strike the pony that laid apon the table. Two other needles, smaller but still as frighting as the large one, that looked as if they where built to penetrate the temples of the pony, or victim rather, of the machine.
"W...What do's it.. D...Do?" Fluttershy stuttered in fear.
"It is the machine needed for the creation. Only two unicorns are capable of creating a beam powerful enough to charge the machine, and that is Sombra and his son, Desisiter." Began Grandy. "It is that machine that will take loyalty, and turn it to tyranny. And will take kindness, and turn it to fear." Fluttershy Was deathly scared now. She knew what this meant, and it was not good. This machine was meant for her, and Rainbowdash. The holders of two of the great elements of harmony, elements that she never thought could be corrupted. The element she held, kindness, and its sister element, loyalty. Using elements of harmony, for the soul purpose of disharmony, and evil. She could hardly bare the thought of this. Loyalty being the very sister of her element, and the holder of loyalty being like a sister to her in the first place. Her sister, rainbo-
"RAINBOWDASH!" Fluttershy screamed. Only now did she piece together the fact that they had Rainbowdash, and are planning to use this against her. Only now did she realize that her friend could be lost to evil, strewn into darkness. She had to save her. "Rainbowdash! We have to save her, Grandy! She is in trouble!" Screamed Fluttershy once more. She was shaking furiously, placed in a cold sweat along with almost going into hyperventilation. She was worried beyond belief for her friend now, her best friend. Grandy pressed on her shoulder with his hoof, to reassure her.
"It will be fine. They cannot do anything to her until they finish building the machine. and to do that, they need to start the collection. I reckon that's what they are planning now, in some private meeting in the northern land." Grandy said this, looking off into the distance. It was as if he could see them, at a table with maps and charts, planning all sorts of operations.
"We need to start the collection, first. Because if we do not, they will get the trinkets. And there will be no stopping them." Grandy finished. "Any other questions?"
"What is the collection, and how do we get started?" Fluttershy said, putting herself in a pose to show that she was ready to do what it takes to save her friend.
"hoho! That's the attitude I need to see. Honestly, i'm only a good help for the knowledge at the time. My old bones wont help much with physical affairs. But i'm darn tootin I can help you still, brain over brawn." spoke Grandy, once again pushing his glass's up on his snout. " Alright, Hero. Allow me to explain the collection." Grandy began, standing tall. Fluttershy simply nodded, and sat down. The sensation of the cold, wet stone against her warm soft flank sent a chill through her, but before a second had past she got use to the feeling.
"There are trinkets, that have been around since... Well. Ancient times. No one truly knows a date, but that's not important." Grandy trotted over to a painting of four items. Fluttershy recognized one of them. The Alicorn amulet, one that Trixie had worn to there town. A mysterious mare, quite full of herself. The amulet gave the one who bore it great magical power, that equal to a queen or a princess, though Zecora had hidden it for them when trixie was defeated.
Zecora was a mare of a different race, a race of Zebras from a continent known as Zenya. She didnt speak much to Fluttershy, as Fluttershy was afraid of the very place Zecora called home, the Everfree forrest. She was quite polite, but always spoke in an accent, and her words always rhymed with one and other. She always had some sort of remedy to things, and always seemed to know the answers to her, and her friends, questions on there journeys.
"I know where that one is!" Fluttershy spoke with enthusiasm, pointing to the dark iron and red painting that was the Alicorn Amulet.
"Yes, I do too. It is with Miss Zecora, of our knight ship." spoke Grandy. Grandy then popped up his head, and spoke again enthusiastically.
"Oh! I forgot all about the knight ship! And since you have not read the stone, ill have to tell you myself." he pridefully spoke this, as if it was a project he had worked on throughout his life. "There are people all around the world, on your side. part of an alliance called the Knight ship. We where set up many years ago, about the time the temple itself was built. we where the ones who intended it for the hero, and i'm actually the only original member left in the Knight ship." Grandy looked down, she could see the cogs in his head turning, most likely thinking about his old friends, or so. Zecora, all this time, was a part of a knight ship? it was hard for Fluttershy to imagine. Zecora knew about her all along, as well as Rainbowdash, and never said anything at all. It didn't make sense, why not tell her and Rainbowdash sooner? She looked back to the painting, and at the other four items. And she began to look horrified at one of the trinkets. A Dark blue, Darkness emitting orb it had a sickly green glow, its Turquoise aura hard and rock like.
"I see you take interest in the orb of Greed." Fluttershy scooted away from the painting, in fear. she knew who it belonged too, a Changling Queen. Queen Chrysalis.
Queen chrysalis. The Changling Queen, like insects but in the shape of Fluttershy's own race. They can change themselves, transform, fabricate themselves into some pony you love, and the feed off of there love for you. An entire nation of greed. A nation of hives and insects, all working together for the sake of greed. How a nation could even stand together under standards like that, is unfathomable to Fluttershy, though they where perfectly capable of working together.
"This use to belong to a friend, not a foe. But her kingdom has long been devastated, and now it has found its way to the Changlings." Grandy looked down again, and proceeded to the next picture before Fluttershy could question. "Helveteheim" he said. Fluttershy had no idea what he was saying, but the picture he pointed to was..Odd. It was another trinket no doubt, but this one was a horn of ivory. A soft, smooth material. It looked as if at the tusks start, it was cut off, and replaced with a reed. If it had a reed, then it must play music?
"What is that?" Fluttershy asked.
"it is a War horn, from Boar way." Spoke Grandy. "It was lost for many, hundreds of years. The symbolization of war, and rivalry." Fluttershy nodded. She was becoming impatient, the wet ground, the dark rooms. She needed to get out of here, and to her luck, they where on the last trinket. She looked towards the painting to find another odd looking object. It was an eye, encased in stone, though the picture indicated it was living. It had green, instead of white for the whites of the eye, and a dark purple pupil, as if made of the grass and violet flowers in the summer, if fields had a dark and saddened aura about them. "This is the trinket of fear. Found in Sombra's old castle." this churned her mind. Would she have to visit the Crystal Empire? "you might be thinking it is at the crystal empire. but it is not" Spoke Grandy. It was as if he just read her mind. "the castle, after disappearing for many years due to Sombra's spell, did not come back as Sombra's castle. It came back the way it looked before Sombra's rule. Though Sombra's castle was still there spiritually, it could only be assessed through a spell. there have been reports of it hovering near the city south of here, a cloud city named Cabaleiro." Fluttershy was in a daze. The amount of words Grandy was speaking did not correspond well with her brain so quickly, she had to think for awhile until they finally made sense. "If we are going to save your friend, and we must, then we must start quickly." Spoke Grandy. he began walking back through the long corridor, and Fluttershy followed. It wouldn't be long till she could get some fresh air again.