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Oops—
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Everypony had spent the entire day searching for the Crystal Heart, but had zero luck. It was disheartening to say the least. Princess Cadance was fading fast, and they knew time was running out for all of them.
The only hope they had remaining, was Alex, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash, as they made their way to some kind of massive staircase. Both Dash and Alex knew this had to lead to the tower they had already explored, but maybe there was something else on the way up. They didn’t want to ruin Twilights excitement anyway.
“When we get to wherever this is going… We’d better find something!” Twilight said, worrying endlessly for her friend, “Unless Luna has some kind of backup plan.”
“Worst case, she could just melt him again,” Alex murmured, remembering the blood-curdling scream Sombra had let out as he was turned to goop by Princess Luna herself.
Dash had nothing to add. She recalled it just as clearly as Alex had.
“She doesn’t have the Element anymore,” Twilight pointed out, being just as educated as the other two on the past, “She couldn’t melt him if she wanted, despite what she might say.”
“I hope we have a plan B then,” Dash said worriedly, shaking her head, “You feel like exploding him, Alex?”
“Well I COULD…” Alex said, thinking for a moment, “But there’s no fun in that!”
“I don’t think we need to worry about ‘fun,’” Twilight rolled her eyes, “We need to save everypony here, and from what I was told, you have plenty of reason to crush him.”
Alex couldn’t argue that. He killed Bolt. Luna’s lover. The father of her child.
As each second passed, he grew angrier and angrier. His cheery mood was gone. Sombra had wronged him and Dash… Especially with the nightmare trick he just pulled on him. Maybe exploding him would be the easiest option.
“Are we gonna have to walk all the way up here?” Dash asked, realizing that this stairwell wasn’t going to end any time soon.
“I think I can whip up a spell!” Twilight suggested, thinking over what she could possibly use to speed up their journey.
“Oh!” Alex called, looking at the ground, realizing they were standing on nothing more than a huge solidified magic spell, “I’ll do something from my world!”
Pointing at the ground with his horn, he zapped the floor, turning the staircase into a massive scale escalator, slowing moving them up to the top- no effort required.
“I think flying would be faster,” Dash said, tapping her hoof on the floor to emphasize the slow speed they were traveling at.
“I can fix that!” Alex nodded quickly, firing another bolt into the floor, as the speed picked up slightly.
“More!” Twilight instructed, curious to see how quick this could get going.
Nodding, he started firing bolt after bolt into the ground, picking up the pace exponentially, until they could feel the wind ripping past their faces.
“We’ll be there in no time!” Alex called over the noise of the air rushing past them, “Magic is so much fun!”
“Loser.” Dash laughed.
////
Cadance looked out over the balcony, her eyes now half closed, her mind blank. She had become so used to using the spell, it required no mental effort to cast it. So, here she sat, no thought, no observation, just staying awake.
The only problem left was her energy. She was running on empty.
“Please Twilight…” She squeaked, blinking slowly, relishing in the moment of darkness, before returning to the horrifying light… Something she used to love so much.
After all this was over, she was sure she would have a permanent grudge against being awake.
But isn’t that how it is for everypony already?
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The three fillies walked through a dark, dank corridor, lit only by Sweetie’s horn, in search of that piece of shadow that had escaped into here. This place had nothing but a single spiraling path, that seemed to get tighter and tighter as it went on. By any of their calculations, they had to reach the center soon.
“Are you sure we should be down here, Scootaloo?” Sweetie Belle asked, her heart pounding out of her chest, “I- I mean, it’s not too late to turn back!”
“Ah’ already told’ya tuh stop bein’ a Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom said to her, leading the pack as they hugged the left wall, “How far does this go?”-
“It can’t be much more,” Scootaloo said, noticing the tightening curl of the corridor, “As long as there’s no second level to this place, we have to be getting there.”
“Why don’ we speed up then?” Apple Bloom suggested, bounding forward, “Come on!”
“But I might not be able to keep this light up!” Sweetie called, as her friends ran into the darkness ahead of her.
She squeaked and frowned, as she pointed her horn forward, and ran forward as fast she could. The faster she ran, the faster she would be done with this creepy place.
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“We’re almost there!” Dash called, looking up over the edge of the staircase, “Just a few more flights!”
Alex loved moving at this kind of speed. It was something he never fully realized back on earth. Driving a car was something for sure, but you’re only able to go so fast. Here in Equestria, he could go as fast as he wanted! That was nothing compared to Dash of course. She could go triple the speed he could, but that didn’t matter.
Unfortunately, Alex hadn’t really considered slowing him and his friends down when they reached their destination, so, when they finally reached the massive arch, they rocked thorough, and reached the room, without any kind of slow-down. This led to the three of them being launched right out the window of the tower, into the sky.
Looking back and forth, Alex quickly teleported himself to Dash, and then both of them Twilight.
The screaming coming from the purple pony was only slightly deafening, so luckily, Alex was able to cast the spell to send them back to the top level of the castle.
The three were teleported back, and all of them landed on their faces.
“Are you serious?” Twilight shouted, waving her arms in the air, “You suck at thinking ahead!”
“I never said anything to the contrary.” Alex laughed nervously, hoping Twilight wasn’t genuinely angry, he would have worried about Dash, but he could make it up to her later.
Rolling to her stomach and standing up, Twilight looked around the room, hoping with all of her heart that they would find what they were looking for… But, they didn’t. There wasn’t a think. Just an empty tower, and a howling wind.
“No…” Twilight said quietly, “It’s not here.”
////
The three girls finally reached the end of the hallway, where a massive stone door stood in between them, and whatever it was that the shadow had been heading toward.
“Uuuugh!” Scootaloo groaned, as she pushed her head against the door, “It won’t budge!”
“Here! Let me help!” Apple Bloom said, as she stood next to her friend, and pushed against the door as hard as she could. But, it was to no avail.
“Sweetie! Help us out here!” Scootaloo barked, briefly looking from the door to her frightened friend.
“Uh… Okay,” She said finally, after some careful thought about how she could help, “Let me try a spell!”
Biting her lip, she pushed as much magic into her horn as she possibly could, trying to replicate a blow dry spell she had seen Rarity use, but in a greater volume.
Finally reaching a point of magic she was happy with, she let it all out, creating a rather powerful wind that threatened to even pick her friends up off the floor.
“Push now!” She shouted over the current, as her friends complied.
The three all worked together, and finally, they were able to dislodge the door from its place, and make it fall backward.
But, there was just one small problem.
When it hit the floor, a loud shattering noise could be heard, as if they had dropped a glass bowl.
“What was that?” Scootaloo asked instantly, as Apple Bloom ran inside to investigate.
“It was sum kinda’ heart!” Apple Bloom said to them from the inside, pushing an intact piece of the crystal heart out from the side of the flattened door, “Ah’ hope that wasn’ important!”
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