"Hello, Vortex. How has life been treating you in the waking world?" The pony said almost nonchalantly.
"You know this guy?" Artemis asked suspiciously.
"Unfortunately, yes. He's been appearing in my dreams, haunting them. What's this guy's name anyway?"
"Blood Oath," Luna said after a brief hesitation. "He used to be my apprentice before I got banished 1,000 years ago."
I looked over my shoulder at the psychotic pony looking at us like he wanted me dismembered.
"Him? The guy in the glass dome?" I said, not sure wether to trust Luna or not.
"He wasn't always like that. He used to be a thoughtful, generous person. He would always help out someone in trouble." Luna took a pause to sigh. "That kindness turned him into that thing. He was walking home one day when he passed by an alleyway and heard someone calling out for help. He ran down it to see what was wrong, and saw a Unicorn mare and her daughter getting mugged by three Earth ponies. He stepped in to help, and took out two of them before the third and strongest snapped his horn clean off his head," Luna sighed again. "A lot of us think that the horn is what allows us to channel magic, but it actually acts as a sort of inhibitor. Without his horn his magic went haywire and killed the thug as the mare and her daughter ran off to get the authorities. By the time they got back, his horn bleeding something fierce, and they got him to a hospital, even though they knew they wouldn't be able to help him. I guess they just wanted to confirm what they already knew," Luna took a deep breath before continuing. "After nine days, the constant pain had driven him to insanity, giving him a desire to inflict similar pain on others."
It took me a second to take all of that in before responding.
"Why is he down here? Also, what is this place?"
"This is a prison reserved for only the most dangerous threats the world has ever seen. Even Chrysalis and Tirek combined couldn't compare to Blood Oath's raw power, despite their larger stature. The reason they weren't being held here is that Tirek is in Tartarus and no one has ever found the body of Chrysalis,"
"What's with the scientists?"
"They research the villains to figure out how they get their unique powers,"
Right about now I thought I understood everything, with the exception of one question.
"Why are you checking up on Blood Oath? Is that just something you do every so often?"
"No," Celestia said with a shake of her head. "Blood has been here for five years now, and yesterday marked the first words he said in that time. He said 'Prepare yourselves.'"
"For what?" I asked.
"They don't know, moron. That's why their worried," Artemis said with a roll of her eyes. "If they knew, they wouldn't be worried,"
"I'll be free," Blood Oath said. "In three, two, one..."
Just then the room shook, and rubble fell from the ceiling. We exited the room to see what was going on, and we saw Unicorns, Pegasi, Earth ponies, Changelings, Bat ponies, and even a Minotaur attacking the scientists and making their way towards the room. They ponies and Changelings were all wearing grey masks with fluorescent green eyes lacking pupils, as well as grey armor, whereas the Minotaur was wearing the grey armor as well, but with a red sack on his head, with two eyeholes cut into it. I also realized there was a small Unicorn filly riding on the back of it, with clawed gloves similar to mine.
"What are they doing here!?" Luna yelled over all the noise.
"I bet they're trying to free Blood Oath!" Roam yelled back, jumping into battle.
"We can't let them do that!" Artemis said, following after Roam.
I didn't even come up with a sarcastic remark. If what the Princesses said was true, we couldn't let Blood out of that dome. If he was already able to traumatize me with his magic when he was in there, there was no telling what he could do out of it.
While Roam, Artemis, and I were taking on the infantry, the two princesses focused on the Minotaur, but the Unicorn on his back was intercepting every spell they cast. Another problem might have been that Celestia and Luna didn't seem to be willing to bring serious harm to anyone, and while that was admirable, it did mean that we were losing. I froze the Unicorn I was fighting to help out the Royal sisters.
"Vortex! Focus on the Unicorn!" Roam called out.
"I will! Thanks!" I yelled back while charging at the Minotaur. That statement sounds a lot more stupid when you say it out loud. Anyway, just when I was about to be steamrolled, I teleported behind the behemoth and grabbed the filly that was riding it.
"Alright, he's all your's!" I yelled to Celestia. She grinned and used her magic to hang the Minotaur upside down from his legs. He passed out very quickly do to the blood rushing to his head, and Celestia dropped him to the ground. Artemis was just finishing off the last opponent, a small pegasus filly with a gray coat and a sky blue mane. As it turned out, she didn't need to do anything. The frail little thing just passed out on the spot. We began rounding up the unconscious bodies when I realized the Unicorn I froze was nowhere to be seen. A bit of the ice was still there, but most of it had melted. Realization dawned on me, and I began running towards the room where Blood Oath was. But before I got there, I heard the sound of shattering glass in the room, followed by an explosion of red light and evil laughter. I passed out from shock and fear, my last seconds of consciousness dominated by one thought. I failed.