The Art of Magic II: Secrecy of the Facility

by Rarity Belle

Chapter 2

 
The office of the white unicorn was filled with an alarming sound as the mare herself changed up her horn and made the arcane control board appear. She gazed upon the many monitors in the back. “Where are they!? Where did you went!” she mumbled to herself in anger. Her ice cold, red eyes kept gazing upon the screens. Without a knock that was given on the door it just flung open and a mulberry coated and a blue coated mare entered the room. The both of them had the same questioning look on their faces.

“Trixie doesn't think that there has been one that escaped, for she knows that alarm too well. This is something different,” spoke the mare as she had also heard the mumbling of the other mare. But when the white unicorn heard the words, she took her attention away from the monitors and gazed upon the two mares that stood before her.

“Speak further, Trixie,” she said with a tone that spoke high interest in the theory or explanation to come.

“Trixie thinks it is something else... Have you looked at the magic reserves already?” Trixie said just before the other mare summoned her own arcane control board. The board she had summoned was purple in coloring, much like her magical aura. But it had nowhere near as many buttons as the one the white unicorn had before her nose.

“Trixie is right, Rarity. The levels have dropped in some the tanks. Somepony is either stealing it from us, or some machines have been turned on that haven’t been active for a long time,” the mulberry mare spoke up as she turned her attention back to the manager.

Rarity then turned her own attention away from the monitors and pressed a couple buttons on the control board with her magic. Her eyes fixed themselves on the three dimensional screen that appeared before her. “Magic levels, magic levels... Here we go.” Rarity let her red rims gaze upon what was to be seen and within seconds she began to boil in rage as she noticed the levels were uneven, lowered and consumed by something. “Where did it went to...”

The other two unicorns stared a little at each other as the mulberry coated mare allowed her board to disappear into the thin air and therefore letting the flow of magic leave her horn before her eyes rested themselves on the manager. “Any luck, Rarity?” she asked in a careful tone.

“Yes Twilight,” she replied under a grin of madness. “It worked. Return to your posts, I need to be alone for some time. Leave me be and await further instructions later.”

Twilight never took her eyes off of Rarity as she spoke her words in a tone of confusion and questioning. “B-But aren't you going to tell us an-”

Even before she could finish the sentence, Rarity had already made her reply for the both of them. “Out, please.” The both of them truly feared one of her infamous bursts of anger and hatred. The unicorns did what was asked of them and quickly made their retreat from the room. The door got shut behind them as the look in the eyes of Twilight turned into one of utmost uncertainty. Trixie stared back into the eyes of her mare. Though her gaze was a much more regular one.

The two mares made their way down to the processing department of the Facility. There where they continued on their work like a good set of workers. The both of them raised on their hind legs while each of them equipped herself with a glove. A glove that had a set of knives attached to them. The knives were more than ready to cleave through the flesh of any unworthy unicorn. Only for the red gold to flow. That what would be required to create Equestria’s greatest and most infamous power.

                    
Rarity found herself smirking in utter delight in the direction of an arcane monitor that was floating against on the wall behind her. The very thing she had asked for earlier had become a reality. She couldn't believe it no matter how she looked at the situation. It was just an unbelievable thing. Rarity removed herself out of her chair and discharged her horn. The absence of magic let the many monitors disappear in thin air while she walked up to the door of her office. With the sound of the heavy metal door closing shut behind her, she found herself on the hallway. There would she have made her way over towards the spiral staircase. The very staircase that would bring her to a position –or better said, a station– she desired to see.

Floor after floor she passed while she descended from the steps of the stairs. The thing that was the spine of the entire place. Countless screams and prayers of hope filled her ears as the whistles of steam blew above them from time to time. She kept going further down and the more she reached the bottom of the place, the more she could feel the intensity of the heat. The heat that was heat that was created by the massive boilers in moving department. It started to surround her and let a couple streams of sweat upon her forehead to appear and travel down from it.

After the long descent of a mere thirteen floors did she finally stood where she wanted to be. Her red rims almost lit up in the faint darkness. She caught two stallions who carried a blond coated pony away for some reason. Rarity didn't gave it much attention though. Instead did she let her eyes rest on them for a small amount of time before she made her way towards the office of Keeton. She was almost dying to hear the news he would be having for her.

“Foreman? I have taken note that the engines appear to be running again, is this true?” she asked in an unusual friendly tone. When she spoke, she entered the office of the dark blue coated stallion. One who wasn’t happy with her arrival in his domain.

The eyes of Keeton glared up from the mess that was his desk and opened themselves widely upon the sight of his boss in the office. His office wasn't the most clean spot in the building for the fact that many things just laid everywhere. Yet the stallion always had been able to find what he needed. Also adding the fact that the higher officials never came down to his office and there for her appearance before him came as an even greater shock. “W-What, oh, that! Yes, yes they are working again, boss. Corron, Mush and Kooiman managed to do it. S-Shall we have a look together?”

“If you please, foreman,” she replied in that same tone and gave a simple nod.

Keeton stood up from his chair and just walked up to her. He let the charts wide open on his desk and Rarity gave her eyes the time to watch them for a small moment. She knew he tried his best to make a possible course that would bring them to the mythical and beloved city, the very capital of the Unicorn race since the Ancient Times. When Keeton left the office, Rarity followed up without a single word spoken. She wanted to see what they had done with her own eyes in silence.

 
The dark blue stallion guided the mare over to the steel door that housed the massive engines behind it. While the both of them stood before it, the stallion gazed over to the mare who gave him a simply nod. Keeton knew what she meant and called upon the magic he possessed. He let his horn coat in the Facility’s signature, blood red aura. After a couple clicks and cracks had done their turn through the room, there was a loud metallic screech that followed it up. The door opened on itself before the stallion bowed his hoof in a polite manner. “Ladies first,” he spoke up in a polite manner after the massive door had created a gap wide enough for her to pass through.

Rarity gave him a thankful nod before she made her way into the room with grace and elegance. Something that hasn't happened since her days of running the boutique in the calm town of Ponyville. It took mere seconds before her body was consumed within the darkness of the room.

After she had entered the room, Keeton made his way into it as well. Though he didn't discharge his horn. With the red magical aura of the stallion being the only source of light in the room, much was still hidden in darkness. The both of them just stared at the massive engines that once brought the Facility where it needed to be. Neither of the two ponies had ever seen anything like this before for they never entered the room in their years of service.

“By the Ancients... These things are, massive!” he spoke as his eyes caught the devices in their full size for the first time. On his earlier visit he took note that they were big but the size that they actually were surprised him even more.

“Of course they are, young Keeton, they once brought the place to every bloody corner of the land. And they shall be used again to bring us back to where we belong. Where the Facility belongs truly. Hidden in plain sight,” spoke Rarity before she took a deep inhale. Though next to normal oxygen, she also breath in the intoxicating vapors of the corrupted magic. Its distinct smell was caught up almost right away. “So that is where they run on,” she mumbled loud enough for the stallion to hear them.

“E-Excuse me?” he spoke up in confusion. “What did ya say, boss?”

“Don’t you smell it in the air? That mixture of salt, sweet, sour and bitter? That's the smell of corrupted magic.” Through small cracks within the many pipelines it could be seen that it wasn't normal magic that flew through them. Though it didn't had the signature blue, gold, green or light purple coloring. Instead it was a distinct red coloring that could be seen with black sparking through it every now and then.

Keeton took a couple sniffs with his nostrils before he blinked deeply in response to the words. “S-So, n-now that ya say it, boss.” His purple irises took the time to look up from the device and they then followed the many tubes until it all ended in the pipes disappearing out of the room. “Hey boss, ya aren't going to tell me that they are connected to the main reservoirs right? Right?” the schizophrenic stallion spoke in a nervous sounding voice.

“Keeton, of course they aren't connected to the main ones. If they happened to be, there wouldn't be any corrupted magic in these tubes. Do you even know just how long this has been rotting like it did?” Rarity asked of him with a serious tone.

“Uhm, five hundred years I think? Just a guess,” he replied on a pure gamble.

“Exactly, very dangerous stuff to be around,” the mare added. She gave her eyes the time to look at the near control panel. “Who can you spare?”

“Ya have to be kidding me! Don’t ya know just how unstable that is to begin with!? And how do ya mean, who can I spare?”

Without a warning of any kind given had Rarity just punched him right in the face. After that did she spoke her words in a cold tone. “I know what that means, Keeton, do you think I am the manager for nothing!? As for the other part, this room needs to have operators and I want to know just who can go from the boilers towards this room. Well, who can?”

 
His head turned itself to the opposing side upon the impact of the hoof and he allowed himself to spit out some blood. After that did he turned his head back to the lady of the Facility. The glare in his eyes was nothing else but one of death for a couple of seconds. “I am terrible sorry, boss, shouldn't have questioned it given yar, superior authority. As for the ones to spare, I shall do a screening of those who are actually capable of doing so. By tomorrow yar shall have the ponies you need,” he said to her in a mocking tone. One that was filled with disgust for her alone.

“I want those reports, tonight. And next time, say it if you mean it, please. Now for my final point of attention, have you been able to chart a course home?” she replied in the same cold tone. Though her eyes moved themselves up to the pipes. She waited for a reply from his side, a reply that was hopefully good.

In his mind he just wanted to do horrible things with her but managed to keep his sanity for as much as he still had it while giving a nod to the question. “I happened to have boss, that shall be on yar desk tonight as well. But ya have to leave now, otherwise it won’t be there.”

Rarity gave him a small nod and turned herself around. She was ready to leave the corrupted engine room without a word. Only to be making her way over the floor once again. All while she inspected what the workers were doing. Keeton left the room under a deep sigh before his magic closed the door behind him. His eyes glared over to Rarity for one last time. He then returned to his office. During his way, many voices did their turn though his head. Voices that tried to command him.

                    
Keeton plopped back down in his chair before he took out the files of all the employees that worked in the department. His eyes were moving over the many names and information before they caught a figure stood in the door opening. A green thing was to be seen in the tops of his eyes. Keeton didn't even look up from his work as he simply spoke his words. “What is it that ya want this time?”

“What I want? Hmhmhm, I think you know that more than well,” a female voice echoed soft through the cold office.

“Quit it, Mush, ya aren't cut out of that kind of wood,” he spoke in response to the words. The ears of the mare dropped against her head as she heard the response but could understand just why he said them.

She let her eyes glance over to the charts and files that could be found on the desk, of the stallion. Her mind began to boil itself with curious questions. “Say, what did the boss told you?” she questioned to him.

“I need to give her a report of who goes into the engine room for maintenance and work. Of course, I could send my best stallion and mare, but that leaves open a gap for other shortcomings in the department. Nah, I need fresh ones for this job,” replied Keeton before he finally looked up and leaned back against his chair. “Don’t suppose that you have any ideas?”

“Ideas, fresh ones? Corron send... What were they named again? That annoying little group that just got here like a month ago, always bragging about just how great they are and how they can fit everything. Urgh, I forget their names,” said Mush while she leaned against the desk of the Keeton. Her soulless eyes looked at him before she gave off a gentle smile.

“I know the idiots you speak off, let’s see here,” the stallion answered. He looked through the many files that laid before him. “Ah, here we go.” It was then his eyes gazed over the file that he erupted out in a loud snickering while he presented them to Mush.

“Crackcase, Swindle and Hatchet? Don’t tell me those fools are named that way since they were born now are they?” Mush managed to get out before she erupted in a snicker.

“C-Course not! But they insisted on going into the r-records as that!” Keeton spoke through his loud snickering. “Seems lady Rarity has her engineers. I bet they won’t last one month in there without growing insane.”

“A month? I give them a week,” grinned Mush to him.

“How much do we bet? The usual?”

“Of course we do the usual. No fun in lowering, now is there, Keeton?”

And with that said, the two bumped their hooves together. Therefore they sealed another bet between them. “If ya will excuse me, the boss needs me with these reports. Be back in about an hour or something like that.” Mush nodded to him and left the office without a word.

                    
The green coated unicorn made her way over to Corron who was on a small break from his duties. She plopped down next to him with a smirk bigger than Rarity could ever had. One that disturbed Corron just a bit too much. “Now what are you so happy about?” he asked while he took a sip from his coffee as his blue irises kept themselves focused on the mare.

“Oh, oh, oh, you will see Corron, I know who gets to work in the engine room,” she spoke in a happy tone.

“The engine room!?” he managed to speak after having both sufficient in and spit out some of the coffee. He almost fell on his back but managed to sit on his seat while he pumped his chest with a hoof to clear anything that was still in the way. “Bloody hell lass... W-Who gets to work there? N-Not us right? R-Right?”

“Calm down, you over-sized chicken, course it is not us. But ponies you would love to see going to there,” she replied while patting him on the back. Though that same smirk remained on her.

“I hope for ya, you are right,” the red coated stallion brought out before he continued to pump his chest.

“Take this from me, I am,” was the only thing Mush could say.

 
In the meantime had Keeton gathered all the information he needed and overlooked everything one last time before he left his office quietly. He made his way over the floor to the staircase as his eyes dropped to the first step. “For nightmares-bloody-sake... We have everything in here, except an elevator!” All of the sudden there was a shock of realization that went through him. He began to charge his horn up and closed his eyes. He imagined the hallway before the office where Rarity would sit. Keeton saw himself standing on one particular spot within it.

Slow and steady did his body started to dematerialize before there was simply nothing left of the stallion. He disappeared into thin air with a light ‘poof’. Keeton opened his eyes again in order to see the rather grim world he had entered. A world with shaky red walls and the staircase of pure blackness. He shook his head a couple times after which he began to venture up on the stairs, passing the many holding floors of the Facility.

When he reached the imagined hallway, the stallion found the spot he imagined himself to be standing on and closed his eyes again. His body began to materialize again and under that same ‘poof’ he reappeared into the world of the living, standing before the office of the manager while not even two seconds had passed. “Bloody hell, teleportation... Forget the stairs!” he spoke happily, but not too loudly to himself. Keeton soon managed to regain his more professional look. After he had returned to a more business state, he walked up to the door and knocked a couple times on it.

Within a few seconds did that cold voice of the unicorn do its turn through his ears. “Come in,” was all that came from the other side.

 
Keeton opened the door and found her as usual. She sat there with her chair rotated so it faced the wall with the arcane monitors. Rarity's went over all of the monitors as always. All monitors gave her a perfect overview of the whole Facility. The stallion rolled his eyes a bit before he opened his mouth. “Boss, ya asked me for those reports and the charted course,” he said in a respectful tone.

“Yes Keeton, I did. But did you deliver?” Rarity asked of him.

“I have the files right here,” he replied before he dropped all of the files on the desk. The charted course got placed next to them. It was only after it that the chair got turned around and his eyes met the stone cold red rims of his boss.

Rarity placed her elbows on the desk and rested her head upon the forehooves. “So, tell me,” she spoke while a gentle smile formed itself. Just her lips curled up while her eyes rested themselves upon his. She had given him her full attention, meaning he had to satisfy her.

Keeton didn't know what to do on first instance. When a set of seconds passed by, he began to clear his throat. Then he opened his mouth to speak the words on his mind. “Uhm, yes, I found three engineers very suitable. They live under the names of Crankcase, Swindle and Hatchet. Three young ones but they should be perfect for the job. As for the course, if I may for a moment.”

“Go ahead,” she replied before the stallion charged up his horn. He unfolded the map and held it into the air. Two spots got then marked upon the map. He made use of the time to look at the room as it was. Nothing had changed in all that time. The bloodstains still could be found on the walls while the windows to both the processing department and the inside of the chimney were also still present. Even the dossier closet which stood near the door was still there.

“The dot below is our current position as the dot above is Tol Ret Nac. With some luck, we will be there within two to three weeks,” he spoke with a steady tone as the magic around the dots faded but the line that connected the two began to light up.

“Two to three weeks, you say? And that is calculated with the engines running at full capacity?” Rarity asked to him. She needed to be sure about the matter before giving any orders.

Keeton shook his head at the words with a small sigh. “No it is not, boss. Given just how corrupted the levels are, I do not dare to let them run at full power,” he spoke as his defense.

“An understandable fact. Now, if you want to leave me alone. I need to concentrate myself a bit on these three before calling them up to tell them, the news,” replied Rarity surprisingly calm. Keeton gave a nod of understanding while the card fold itself back up and he made his exit from the office. But as he left, a grin took place on his face for he couldn't wait just how this would turn out.

 
There they all three stood. They shook on all four of their legs. Three black coated stallions, each of them having a different set of irises. One of them gulped before the metal door. “Hey, a-are you chicken, Swindle?” another one of them spoke.

“N-No I am not!” Swindle replied. He gathered his guts and knocked on the door with a hoof.

“Come in.” was the only thing that fell in their ears. Then the eyes of the stallions grew as small as possible. Swindle then processed to open the door and the three stallions let their eyes fall upon the office for the first time.

“Swindle, Hatchet and Crankcase, please, come in, I have important news to tell you three,” the mare behind the desk said to them. Once more, was her face hidden from the visitors she had.

“Y-Yes miss,” spoke Crankcase soft before he and his brothers entered the grim office.

“You three,” all of the sudden she turned herself around in order to face the triplets of lookalikes, “will be re-positioned into the engine room of the Facility. I have heard many great things about you three.” Her horn charged itself up and picked up the middle one, which happened to be Crankcase. She brought him up to her face. Her tone dropped into a cold one before she continued on her words. “...So don’t fail me! Now, get your sorry little flanks over to there and do your thing!”

Rarity threw the stallion out of the office and the other two soon followed on their own. The last one that left the room closed the door quickly behind himself. They made their way down the stairs as fast as they possibly could before they entered the room of the engine. The door was closed off behind them and they disappeared within the bowels of the room.

                    
Corron and Mush were still sitting together and watched how the triplets ran by through the window of the canteen. The red coated stallion began to snicker deeply to himself as he saw just who entered it. “Finally those good-for-nothing-idiots are put to use! Mush, I have to grant it to you, this is going to be amazing,” the bald stallion chuckled up.

“See, I told you to just take it from me,” she replied under a small wink.

The triplets began to do their best in the engine room, shouting to each other to get it working while figuring out what they needed as many shouting and cursing did its turn through the room. The three of them were rarely seen outside of the engine room. Yet they somehow managed to get control over the entire room and its equipment within just two days. But little did they know was that they were breathing in the highly toxic vapors of the corrupted magic. It would be something that would eventually take its toll on all of them.

Though they were unable to make the engines roar with the ancient power they possessed. One day they would be. One day they would be able to make the Facility ready to travel back home, back to its very place of origin. The unicorn capital that was given the name of Tol Ret Nac.