//------------------------------// // Spa and Worse Fear // Story: Project Accelerator // by Wildcard25 //------------------------------// On a train ride, the ponies, Spike, Accel, and Sonic were relaxing in their seats, as Accel spoke up, "So the Crystal Empire had been gone for a thousand years, until this King Sombra returned along with it?" "Correct." Twilight answered. "Once Sombra was defeated Cadence and Shining Armor became it's new rulers." Spike added. "And it's where the Equestria Games was held, and boy was it awesome!" Rainbow cheered. "I'll take your word for it." Accel said, as the train pulled into the station. "This is it." Twilight said, as they exited the train. They walked along the path before reaching the archway. Once they stepped hoof/foot into the Crystal Empire, Accel looked at the place seeing it lived up to it's name, "Wow, no wonder it's a Crystal empire." he joked. "We'll give you the tour soon, but first we got to meet up with my brother and Cadence," Twilight began before shooting him a look, "And I hope you don't go zipping off like last time?" "Hey, I was curious about Canterlot, but this time I'll remain at your side," he said humbly, before mumbling, "For now." "Well, let's get moving." Applejack said, as they started off for the castle. As they walked, Accel and Sonic looked all around seeing the crystal like buildings, and the ponies whose coats sparkled, "Wow, how do they get their coats to look like that?" he asked the group. "It's normal for Crystal Empire inhabitants." Twilight answered. "We got to look like that once, and I looked absolutely fabulous." Rarity said with a flip of her hair. "I can imagine." Accel smiled, as they reached the castle. "Welcome to the Crystal castle." Pinkie introduced dramatically. "Neat," Accel admitted, as he and Sonic saw the Crystal heart, "So that's the Crystal Heart?" "Ya darn tootin'." Applejack confirmed. "Seems kinda out in the open don'tcha think?" Accel asked. "What do you mean?" Rainbow asked. "Like couldn't somepony just walk up to it and steal it?" Accel asked stating the obvious. "True, but it projects a barrier all around the Crystal Empire," Twilight explained, "Nothing malicious or evil will be able to enter so long as it's in place." "I see." Accel said. "Come on!" Pinkie pulled him and Sonic over so they could enter the castle. As they walked along a row of guards, they entered the throne room seeing the royal couple, as a guard announced, "Announcing Princess Twilight Sparkle, and company!" Shining and Cadence greeted the younger princess with a friendly hug, and Cadence greeted the rest, "Welcome, everypony. So glad you could come." "Hey, Accelerator. Glad to see ya." Shining greeted him with a hoof/fist bump. "Same here. Wow, nice to see you out of the uniform, you look like a regular guy, or colt. However you wanna call it." Accel said. "I understand. I may be captain of the guards and prince of the Crystal Empire, but that doesn't mean I still can't be a regular colt." "That's for sure." Twilight replied, as she and Cadence giggled. "So what's on the agenda?" Pinkie asked. "Actually, Shining Armor and I were hoping you'd all join us at the Crystal spa." Cadence answered. "Oh, a day at the crystal spa. I love it!" Rarity cheered. "Sounds good to me." Twilight agreed. "I guess." Rainbow said, as she and Applejack looked unsure, but knew it was one way to bond. "You mean all of us, even us?" Accel asked Cadence while motioning to himself and Spike. "Of course." Cadence assured. Shining trotted over to them, "Trust me, the spa there will make ya feel good." Accel smiled, and picked Spike up in a headlock so he was on his level, before wrapping his other arm around Shining holding both close, "Well, let's do it ladies!" Soon enough at the Crystal Spa, the girls were each getting some form of pampering done, while inside the sauna was Spike, Shining, Sonic, and Accel. Accel sat on the bench with a towel around his waist, and each of them had a washcloth on their foreheads. "Oh, this feels good." Spike said in relaxation. "You said it." Shining agreed. "I feel as if all my troubles are pouring off." Accel said, as his sweat poured down his torso. "Yeah." Sonic chattered. "So Shining, out of curiosity how did you meet Cadence?" Accel wondered. Shining hearing that was taken aback by his question, however was willing to answer, "Well, Cadence has been with Princess Celestia before Twilight was even her pupil. When Cadence became a princess due to her own initiation Celestia brought her under her wing and groomed her for when there would come a time she would have to become a full leader. When Twilight became Celestia's apprentice she officially started living in the castle, and I myself was in guard training. When Celestia had business to attend to and I had guard duty, Cadence was appointed as her foalsitter. And boy were they quite a pair." "She really looked up to Cadence, huh?" Accel asked. "Oh, yeah. And when she wasn't busy sitting Twilight and I wasn't on the job, she'd be with me." the unicorn stallion explained. "Nice." Accel smirked with a light chuckle. "So did you have anypony special like that from your world?" Shining asked. "Yeah, tell us." Spike insisted. Accel sighed, "Actually, I was single even before I was taken away. I was thirteen at the time. I may have flirted with a few girls back then, but nothing too serious." "Was there anypony you might have wanted to..." Spike trailed. "The only other one in my life was Dr. Cromwell, and she was there to make me feel happy... Still there were times I'd think about her, but what am I thinking nothing could've happened between us given our situations." "Oh." Sonic sighed. "Well, you and Rainbow Dash seemed to hit it off well." Shining noted. Accel turned to face him, "Me and Rainbow? Get out of town!" "I don't know, you two seemed really chummy when you danced at the ball." Spike teased. "You're out of your mind, we were just dancing as friends. Plus it was to get her to accept my challenge." Accel explained. "Keep telling yourself that." Shining teased along side Spike, as Accel continued to protest. That night at the Crystal Palace inside his guest room, Accel had woken up with a yawn before walking outside and went for the nearest restroom. When he finished his business he zipped off back to his room, but when he passed a wall, he zipped back over to it. He put his ear to the wall and could hear heavy breathing, "What's that sound?" he checked the wall, until his hand touched a spot that sunk in. That in turn caused a secret entry way to open up. "Whoa. Creepy stuff." he gasped. He looked around seeing no pony was watching him, and being curious he decided to check it out. He walked through the opening and saw a staircase leading downward into darkness. He zipped down the stairs and in no time reached the bottom. He saw a dark tunnel up ahead leading further into darkness, "Great, wish I brought a flashlight with me." he said in sarcasm. He heard the heavy breathing again, "But perhaps all I have to do is follow the sound." he took off down the tunnel. He ran until he pulled to a halt seeing a black version of the crystal heart on a pedestal, "Is that the Crystal Heart? But it's black," he approached it, but stopped, "Wait a minute what am I thinking? If there's one thing I've learned from all the comics and cartoons in my life is that if an artifact is black and in a creepy place like this, it can't be good. So just walk away and don't look back," he turned around only for a shroud of shadows to block his path, "Hey!" He heard a dark laugh and saw the crystal started glowing darkly. Accel was scared until a green beam shot from the Dark Crystal Heart and at Accel's head as he screamed in pain. Suddenly Accel found himself back in Ponyville and it was daytime, "Ponyville? What am I doing back here? More like how did I get back here?" he looked around and saw the girls and Spike conversing happily. "Hey, guys!" he zipped over and spoke, "What happened, weren't we just in the Crystal Empire and it was nighttime?" But they didn't respond to him, nor did it look like they even knew he was there, "Guys, hello?" he waved his hand in front of them, only to see they appeared to be moving slower. Suddenly the whole scenery and every pony started turning black and white while he remained in color, "What's going on here?" he started running up to the CMC trying to get their attention, but they didn't respond either, and were moving slow like every pony else. "What's happening?!" he cried out. Suddenly a dark voice echoed around him, "Your fear has come true." "My fear?" "Yes. You know what I mean." Accel looked around seeing all the ponies moving slowly, and it dawned on him, "I've gone so fast I can't slow down anymore. To them I'm like a ghost now." he gasped. "And you will stay that way to them. Forever alone!" "No, that can't be!" Accel cried, as he ran all over Ponyville trying to get ponies attention from the Cakes, the mayor, Cherilee, and the Apple family, but not even a response. He ran all the way to Canterlot and into the castle, seeing Celestia on her throne going over stuff, "Celestia! Celestia, help me!" but no response. "Nopony can help you now!" the dark voice laughed. Accel started stressing about being stuck in his speed up for good, "No! Please!" he dropped to his knees and bawled, "SOMEBODY HELP ME!" Back in Accel's room, Sonic woke up and saw no sign of his pal. He saw the door to the room was left opened and he ran out screeching frantically. This in turn woke all the ponies and Spike up, as they exited their assigned rooms, "What's going on here?" Applejack rubbed her eyes. "I am not a morning person if I don't get my beauty sleep!" Rarity said all cranky. "Sonic, what is it?" Fluttershy asked the monkey who was doing charades for her. "What's he saying?" Rainbow asked. "He's saying something's happened to Accelerator." "What?" they asked. Twilight spoke up, "Easy, girls. Accelerator probably just had to use the bathroom and got lost." "I don't think that's the case Twilight." Shining said, as he and Cadence approached. "What do you mean?" Twilight asked in confusion. Cadence spoke up, "I've just felt a surge of dark magic in the castle, and Accelerator's presence was close to it." "What?!" Pinkie gasped. "Oh, no!" Fluttershy looked worried. "Well, what're we standing around for let's go find him." Rainbow said. "But how?" Spike asked. "Leave that to me." Shining said, as he activated his unicorn magic and aimed it at the floor. His magic was able to reveal Accelerator's footprints in a trail. "Follow that trail!" Applejack ordered, as they did so with Shining Armor leading the way. They followed it through the halls, until they came across the opened. They looked down, and Shining spoke, "His trail leads down here." Taking the hint they headed down, while Rainbow flew downward with Twilight and Cadence. When they reached the bottom, Twilight spoke, "Did you two know about this place." "No, this place is just as new to both of us." Shining answered. "But what could be down here that brought Accelerator to it?" Cadence pondered. "Only one way to find out." Applejack said, as they continued to follow the trail through the tunnel with Twilight using her horn to produce a light for them. "Ugh, this place is so dark and ghastly." Rarity said in repulse. "What could this place be?" Twilight asked. Cadence spoke, "I'd be willing to bet this is one of Sombra's hidden chambers." "Hey, what's that up ahead?" Spike motioned forward seeing a green glow. "Come on!" Twilight called, as they picked up the pace. When they reached it they saw Accelerator standing frozen in place as the dark crystal heart's green beam extended from it to his head. "Accel!" the ponies gasped. "What's wrong with him?" Applejack asked, as Pinkie bounced in front of him and knocked on his head. "Hello, anybody home?" "It's that crystal, it's got him under a spell of some sort." Twilight noted. "We have to break him out of it." Cadence said, as she and Twilight concentrated their magic and crossed horns before their combined magic destroyed the dark crystal heart causing Accel to snap out of it and gasp. "What, how did?!" he looked around. "Accelerator, are you all right?" Rarity asked in concern, as they gathered around him. "I think so, but what happened?" he asked, ans Sonic climbed up him. "What's the last thing you remember?" Cadence inquired. "Last thing... I found this passage way and came down here to find that dark version of the crystal heart. When I walked away from it it shot a beam at me and the next thing I knew I was back in Ponyville. But when I saw all of you nopony noticed me." "How could we not notice you?" Spike asked. "Yeah, have you seen yourself?" Rainbow joked, only for Applejack to kick her hoof to shut her up. "It was my worst fear come true. I ran so fast I couldn't slow down. And by not being able to slow down no pony could see or hear me. I felt alone even when you were all around me." he looked down still trying to forget what he just witnessed. "It was one of Sombra's tricks." Cadence spoke up. "Sombra?" Accelerator asked, while the others were just as confused. "That dark version of the crystal heart was obviously left here by him. And whoever would find it would be drawn into an illusion of their worse fear." the princess explained. Twilight and Spike looked to each other as the princess of Friendship spoke, "So Sombra pulled off one last trick even after his defeat." "Huh?" Accelerator asked. "Spike and I both fell victim to Sombra's illusion magic and saw our own greatest fears." "It was so horrible." Spike added, recalling how he thought Twilight wanted to send him away. "But we stayed strong and knew those things we saw would never come to pass. And neither will yours. Not so long as we're here to keep you safe." Accelerator looked around seeing his friends smiling and nodded in assurance. He smiled back, "Thanks, guys. You really are true friends. "Come on, let's get out of here and back to bed." Twilight suggested. "Quite so." Rarity agreed, as they all headed back. Once Accelerator was back in his room, Sonic was fast asleep again as the speedster stared up at the ceiling, 'They're right. As long as I have friends like them around then none of my fears will ever come to pass.' he though,t before falling asleep. Meanwhile back at the Research Facility, some scientists were by a monitor panel, until a blinking dot appeared on one of the monitors, and the scientist who was observing it called to Dagger, "Doctor, you might wanna take a look at this!" Dagger came over, "What is it?" "The probe you launched, sir, it's released the homing signal." the scientist explained as Dagger looked at the blinking dot and a sinister smile curled his face. "Gotcha." he said.