The Water Tower was… well… towering. The structure spiraled up into the sky, water going up through pipes and falling down through waterfalls. The water itself seemed charged with a kind of positive energy - Rarity could sense it with ease, while it just gave the other mares a sense of calm and contentment.
This was how a Crystal’s abode was supposed to be - filled with the life of its element.
Applejack nodded. “Ah have to say, Ah’m glad to see the Tower still looks alright. We best hurry, see what the Water Crystal has for us. If anything.”
“Top floor.” Rarity said, inwardly dreading the long trek up the stairs.
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “No problem, I’ll just fly to the top and see what it needs.”
“Dashie!” Pinkie shouted before Rainbow Dash could blast off. “The top room of the tower is closed off! The only entrances are on the ground floor!”
“That’s a stupid design. Changelings can fly.”
Rarity rolled her eyes. “The inventor and architect of this tower was a unicorn mare - you can’t blame her for forgetting flight windows.”
“Oh, who was she?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Really Rainbow, I can’t believe how uneducated you are in the ways of the world…” Rarity sighed. “Twilight Sparkle of Solamane invented the mechanisms to capture power from the Crystals’ essences. She’s a bit of a celebrity.”
Rainbow Dash frowned. “The name sounds familiar.. I may have robbed her once.”
Pinkie chuckled at this. “Well, what are we waiting for? Ahem…”
Pinkie leapt into the air and started singing.
“We’re off to see the Crystal
The wonderful Water Crystal
We’re off to see the Crystal
The Wonderful Water Crystal
We hear it provides water for all the Changelings around
If ever it should stop the provisions
the kingdom of Morphisis will fall, will fall, will fall, will fall, will fall, will fall
for they need the life the water provides
Were off to see the Crystal
The wonderful Water Crystal…”
“Pinkie? Quiet a moment.” Applejack said, raising a hoof. “Are those guards… lying on the ground?”
The four mares rushed to the Tower entrance to find the changeling guards in their default form and knocked out - they were thrown a
good distance from the tower’s opening, suggesting they were tossed out of the way by something large.
The four mares got a sinking feeling in their stomachs. They quickly trotted into the Tower, hoping that they weren’t too late.
As they climbed the staircase, they got to see the glass pipes of the Tower infuse the waters with the crystals energy, and they saw as numerous waterfalls around the tower helped power the extraction machine. Rarity vaguely knew how all of it worked together - the crystal provided water to the machine, which used the force of gravity to turn the wheels and extract magical energy directly from the Crystal. The extraction further saturated the water of the Crystal, in addition to providing some electrical power that Morphisis could use - though it rarely did. The water energy was perfectly adequate to run all the hydraulic mechanisms. Rarity knew the machine in Solamane was used almost solely for direct power generation though.
She frowned as they made their way up the tower - the only guards they were seeing had been tossed to the sidelines, most unconscious - but a few dead. Rarity did stop to heal a few of them, but never for long enough to get them back to fighting condition. They had to get to the top quickly.
One guard they came across was still conscious.
“It was… Garula…”
Rarity sighed. “It appears the animal companions I’ve known in my travels have all turned diabolical.”
“Maybe you just aren’t good with animals.” Rainbow Dash suggested.
“Actually, if they like her and no-one else, that means she’s good with animals.” Pinkie considered thoughtfully.
“That don’t make a lick o sense.” Applejack observed.
“Be honest, what’s made sense these last few days?” Pinkie asked.
Applejack froze. “Er… not much to be frank.”
“Exactly.”
The four mares managed to get the the top of the tall mechanism, throwing open the giant double doors to the room in which the Crystal was held.
<Please! Help!> Was the first thing they heard as they entered the tower. The Water Crystal was obviously in distress, but it was still whole. It was a towering blue crystal structure, twice as tall as any alicorn. It floated a foot or so off the ground, slowly rotating on its two points. Normally, the Crystal would be calm and serene - that was not the case now. It was controlling torrents of superpower water, directed at the large manticore in the room - Garula.
To everyone’s surprise, there was another changeling guard in the room - still alive and fighting, trying to keep Garula away from the crystal. However, he lost his concentration the moment he saw the four mares enter.
“Madam Pinkie? What on earth are you doing here…?” Garula took advantage of the opportunity and rammed the changeling into the ground, killing him instantly. The great beast planted its paws into the ground with a kind of unknown magic, and roared.
<Garula is being controlled by some outside force - a force giving it tremendous power!> The Water Crystal warned. <I will do what I can with my water, but it seems specifically designed to resist my defenses.> The Crystal shrieked. <Hurry! Whatever is controlling it is tearing me apart simply with it’s presence!>
The four mares stood strong, glaring at Garula. Rainbow Dash smirked. “Okay manticore, time to say goodbye.” Lightning coursed through her wings, traveling through the water in the room and directly into Garula. The manicure screamed, charging, only to have Pinkie appear in front of it and toss the creature into a wall, followed by a burst of powerful air from her hooves.
“Take that meany lion!” Pinkie said triumphantly. Before Garula could move to fight back, Applejack cut off the tail with her sword.
“No cheating with poison, ya hear?”
Garula charged Rarity, only to find her covered in an orange magical shield that it couldn’t penetrate.
“Nice try dear, but you really should know better than to attack a lady.” She levitated her dagger behind Garuda’s head, and drove the weapon into its brain. Garula howled, slumping to the ground.
But it wasn’t dead yet - whatever was controlling it did not need a live body. The corpse staggered upright, unable to roar, but still able to shamble towards the Water Crystal - only to get hit with a tidal wave of the Crystal’s power.
The corpse could barely stand - and after Rainbow Dash burnt it to a crisp, it couldn’t even do that. It collapsed, unable to move further.
“ALRIGHT!” Applejack whooped, giving hoof bumps to the whole team. Then the four of them turned to the Water Crystal.
<I… I am sorry. The presence is gone, but i am already too weak…>
The four mares’ jaws dropped. “WHAT?”
<When I go, take my power to help the others - you have proven to me that you are great warriors. We chose well.> The Crystal shrieked again, cracks forming in its crystal metric. <I… I do not know what is destroying us. I do not know what could possibly be gained. I know that the Fire Crystal is in mortal danger at this very moment… And I know the mysterious ship that crashed nearby has the means to get you there…>
“Ship?” Applejack asked.
<The… Meteorite… Rarity, my chosen…>
“Yes?” Rarity stood attentively.
<Continue to be generous to all - even those who may take what is yours… You four are our hope and…> The Crystal cracked again, its structural integrity obviously at its limit. <We… Could not be in better hooves… I… Trust you four…>
The shrieking became unbearable, and the Water Crystal split apart into several chunks, spreading its power across the room.
The waterworks instantly stopped working, the churning sounds of the tower falling silent. All the water flows the Water Crystal had
been maintaining to help fight Garula fell to the ground, dead.
The four mares were silent for a few moments.
Applejack was the one to speak first. “Well… We better grab these crystals…” She picked one up herself, and felt as an intense rush of physical power coursed through her.
Rarity decided that she would take two this time, grabbing them in her hooves. She felt an unusual power enter her mind, as well as a deeper connection to her dagger.
Rainbow Dash flew over to a crystal stuck in the ceiling and pulled it out - and she felt her already versatile magic expand its horizons.
Pinkie Pie grabbed one last - and she suddenly got an idea. “I KNOW NOW!”
“Know what?” Rarity asked.
Pinkie clapped her front hooves and Shiva appeared in front of them. “Everybody, say hello to Shiva! I found her in Spire Hive!”
“Hey” Shiva said, twiddling her fingers. “Have anything for me to do?”
Pinkie shrugged. “No not really, I just learned how to be a Summoner and thought you’d like out of your little energy form.”
Shiva grinned. “Yeah… it’s nice to get out and stretch my legs. Though why we’re still inside some damp interior beats me.”
Pinkie shrugged and was about to respond when the entire structure started to shake.
“Oh no.” Rarity said.
“What?” Pinkie asked.
“I just remembered. This peninsula we’re on was chosen for the Water Tower because it was a thin stretch of land with the ocean only a short dig down. Without the Water Crystal’s power keeping the waters flowing and strong…” She looked at everypony with a terrified look. “This entire geographic location is unstable. We’ll fall into the ocean.”
Shiva blinked. “Well, can’t help you there, sorry, hope you don’t die.” Then she was gone.
Pinkie rolled her eyes and glanced at the Changeling guard on the ground as the Tower trembled. “He knew who I as…”
“Yes yes dear enough of that now!” Rarity said, looking around frantically. “We need a way out. You can ponder the meaning of your past life later!”
Applejack tapped into her new power, feeling her muscles bulge exponentially. She let out a bloodcurdling roar and charged into a nearby wall. She hit it with more force than was physically possible - but the wall didn’t budge. “Oooooh… That was not a good idea…”
Rarity scanned her mind. “I’m not sure if I have anything that will help us all that much here… I think I can make us move faster but with the Tower sinking… I suspect the first floor is underwater already.”
Rainbow Dash groaned. “All I got was some of Rarity’s healing magic… I don’t think I can blast a hole in this wall…”
“And I don’t think I can perform the Crystal’s water spells as powerful as it did…”
The four mares stood silent.
“You know what?” Rainbow Dash said, standing to her full height. “Buck this, everyone grab a rope and hold your breath.” She quickly
took a large rope out of her saddlebags and tied it to her waist, making sure to let her wings have a full range of motion.
“Hold our breath?” Rarity asked as Rainbow Dash tied her to the other three mares.
“Yep. I’m going to swim you all out.” She said as she tied the three of them to her.
“That’s plum crazy!” Applejack said.
“SO CRAZY IT JUST MIGHT WORK!” Pinkie giggled, clapping her hooves.
“Okay, so none of you die on me while I’m doing this.” Rainbow Dash said, glancing at Rarity. “We still need to protect these Crystals.”
Everypony nodded.
“Okay… brace yourselves!” She yelled as she flew down the stairs. The three mares tried to keep themselves from hitting the walls, but ended up just accepting the fact that they were going to get bruised in this operation.
They made it to the fifth floor before they found water. Rainbow Dash and the others took a deep breath. The pirate pegasus flew through the water as if it was air, using her fire magic to help create some more thrust in the water. She winced as she felt her lungs compress - they were going deeper and deeper, the Tower sinking as they tried to get out of it.
Just a little more.. She said to herself as she got them to the first floor, charging right towards the door. Her wings were in agony and her lungs were on fire - she didn’t even glance behind her to see how her three packages of cargo were doing. Crap were they heavy.
She lifted out of the first floor door and began to head in the direction she hoped was up. The Tower fell beneath them, descending into the abyss that was the ocean, along with all the chunks of the unstable peninsula.
Rainbow Dash winced as she realized there were still some falling peninsula chunks above her that she would have to dodge. That was not going to be easy.
She managed to avoid the first two. The third one hit her with a glancing blow, causing her to lose concentration and spin out.
No! No no no no!
As she tumbled, she saw her three friends slide past her - Rarity and Applejack were obviously unconscious and taking in water, while Pinkie just had a scared look on her face.
Rainbow Dash tried to muster the strength to move on, but she couldn’t manage it. She couldn’t flap her wings, she couldn’t light the fire to get some steam jets…
Her vision began to go blurry… She felt herself slipping away…
Then she heard the unmistakeable roar of a sea dragon, the sound of which shocked her awake instantly. She turned to her left and saw Spike charging at them full speed, taking the peninsula chunks head on. He reached out his claws, grabbed them, and held them above the waves. Rainbow Dash finally let out her breath, taking in new air as rapidly as she could. She quickly ran to Applejack and Rarity - Pinkie was taking care of her own choking problems well enough - and began to pump the water out of their system while Spike ferried them to dry land.
“Bro… “ Rainbow Dash said. “What would I do without you?”
She could hear the pain in Spike’s voice. “I… I don’t know…. but you’ll have to…”
Rainbow Dash completed her first aid on her friend and turned to look down at the rest of Spike. “Bro…?”
“That did it Sis… I’m done…” Spike said, coughing up blood. Rainbow dash saw giant lacerations all over his body - presumably from the kraken attack - and he was missing one of his back legs. Many of the wounds had obviously reopened as he saved the four of them.
“Spike? What are you saying?”
“I… Wasn’t sure if I was going to live in the first place… Now I’m sure I’m not…”
“Spike! Don’t talk like that! We have healers! I just learned some stuff! Rarity’s gotten really good at it!” Her eyes began to well up with tears and Spike slumped down on a beach, setting them all down. “Come on!”
“Sorry Rainbow…” He said, coughing. His eyes began to close as he got comfortable on the sand. “I… I never got to see if you could beat me in a sparring match again…”
“Spike! Don’t leave me! I just got you back! Spike!” The tears were flowing freely at this point.
“Goodbye… I had a good run…”
Just like that, the light left Spike’s eyes. Rainbow Dash couldn’t hold it in anymore - she started bawling. She didn’t stop for several hours.
Pinkie and Rarity joined in, with Applejack solemnly holding her hat to her chest.
~~~
That night, Rainbow Dash watched as the burning body of Spike drifted off to sea - it was the way he had asked to be taken care of a few years ago.
He had gone down in a blaze of glory.
Suddenly, Rainbow Dash broke the silence. “OKAY! NOW. IT’S. PERSONAL.” She flew up into the air. “SOMETHING DESTROYED THE WATER CRYSTAL, AND BECAUSE OF IT SPIKE IS DEAD. I am no longer going to be satisfied with simply saving the crystals - I want whatever this is to suffer. To pay for what it’s done. A simple death isn’t going to cut it. This… enemy… will know more agony than it has ever known the day it meets Rainbow Dash.”
She glared at the three mares. “Come on. We’re going to the meteorite. And to Solamane. I hope we find some big monsters on the way because I really need to punch something. Who’s with me?”
All three mares nodded.