Quest For Harmony

by destinedjagold

Chapter 100 - Crystal Shards

“Uh...” Spike slowly rolled the scroll with both claws without removing his gaze on the two crystal statues of ponies a few feet behind Apple Bloom.

“Somethin' weird's goin' on 'round here...” Apple Bloom said as she turned her gaze left and right, scanning their surroundings.

The others began to wander their eyes around at random, also scanning their surroundings. Sure enough, there were already a few crystal statues of ponies around them, and what is more, all of them were facing the four.

Sweetie Belle shook her head slightly. “I don't like the looks of this...”

“Well, whatever,” Spike huffed as he took a few steps towards the tall double crystal doors of the tall castle. “They're just statues anyway.” He then stood a foot in front of the doors while the three crusaders stared at each other. “Besides, it's—” Spike paused after he caught the slightest movement of the crystal pony statues—who were all facing the three crusaders—before all of them froze. “—not like...th-they—” he lifted a trembling claw, pointing at the statues, “—they moved!”

The three crusaders then stared at him. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom both arched an eyebrow at him while Sweetie Belle looked at the statues around them.

“Did you hit your head on the door or something?” Scootaloo asked, taking a step forward. “How the hay could statues move, anyway?”

“But I saw them!” Spike quickly replied while Apple Bloom nodded her support to her pegasus friend. “J-just now!”

“Moving is the only possible way for them to be suddenly standing around us...” Sweetie Belle said as she locked her gaze on the nearest crystal pony statue, unknowingly cutting Apple Bloom who was about to say something. “But...they're not moving even an inch...”

“Exactly my point!” Scootaloo exclaimed with a triumphant grin.

“But they did move!” Spike whined. “They did while you weren't staring...” he blinked, “...and stopped when I stared back...”

“What are you sayin'?” Apple Bloom asked as she and her friends walked towards the dragon.

Spike huffed. “Fine!” he said while still staring at the statues behind the approaching three young mares. “If you don't believe me, then let's make a little experiment, shall we?” Before the mares could say something, Spike immediately added, “first, stand there and look at them!”

The crusaders stared at each other. Apple Bloom was the first to react by rolling her eyes and gesturing with her head that they'd turn around. They did, and were now staring at the crystal statues.

“Do we really have to do this?”

“No complaining!” Spike quickly replied, cutting the pegasus who was about to add some more to her question. “Now, memorize their position! Where they are standing now, and everything!”

“Ugh...” Scootaloo looked over her shoulder to glare at the silly baby dragon. “What are we? Painters?”

Sweetie Belle tapped her pegasus friend's shoulder. “Let's just do it, Scoots.” She received a confused look from Scootaloo. “Maybe Spike's up to something.” Sweetie Belle shrugged before staring back at the statues. “It is weird that these statues suddenly came out of nowhere to begin with...”

The pegasus sighed in defeat. “Ugh, fine...” she stared forward, trying her best to memorize the crystal statues, which she finds a difficult of a task for their crystal surface seemed to blend with the background of crystalized structures and pathways. “...but I still think this is stupid.”

After a minute or so flew by, Spike told them to face him. The three mares did so. “Okay,” he began, his gaze is still on the statues behind the three mares, though he could barely stare at them due to the fact that the three ponies in front of him are taller than he was. “I'm gonna turn around so none of us are staring at any of them. On three, we quickly turn around and compare them from earlier. Understand?”

A nod, a groan, and an arch eyebrow was all he received from the three mares before he spun around. He barely held a scary feeling inside of him, that those statues might do something while their backs are on them.

He didn't bother counting. With a gulp, he quickly shouted. “Three—!”

“AHH—!”

“Sweetie Belle!” Scootaloo and Apple Bloom both shouted in unison as they both turned to save their friend.

The unicorn was dragged down on the crystal stairway, and whoever was dragging her stopped as soon as Spike and her two crusader friends spun around.

Both Scootaloo and Apple Bloom's colors went pale as their snouts touched the crystal noses of two crystal pony statues, while Spike's jaw hung open in utter shock as his eyes fell on a crystal pony statue, who somehow managed to bite and drag Sweetie Belle's tail.

Everything went still and quiet. Spike, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were frozen in shock. Sweetie Belle was breathing fast, still in panic, as her gaze were on the two pony statues standing right in front of her two crusaders.

Scootaloo was the first to recover, as her shocked expression quickly shifted into a venomous snarl. She quickly struck the statue's head with her flared wing. She winced as the crystal statue flew back, and crashed on the very last step of the stairs. The statue shattered and pieces of crystal shards flew everywhere as a loud breaking noise echoed around. Each shard leaked a faint black smoke that fades in the air.

Recovering, Apple Bloom viciously shook her head before pushing the statue in front of her down the stairs, breaking it in the process, black smoke flew out from the shards. She and Scootaloo then went to help Sweetie Belle while Spike, already recovered from his shocked state, kept his gaze on the statues.

“See? I told you they move!” Spike said, his voice a mixture of victory, doubt, and fright.

“Okay already... Sheesh...” Scootaloo groaned as she held the head of the statue in place while Apple Bloom delivered a mighty double kick on the side of the statue that grabbed the tail of their unicorn friend.

The body shattered, and Scootaloo let go, dropping the crystal head in the process. It hit the stairs, and shattered, freeing the unicorn's light-purple tail.

“Ugh...” Sweetie Belle groaned, rubbing her forehead as she stood up in all four. “...so...what now?”

“Get outta here, of course!” Scootaloo replied, quickly eyeing the rest of the statues.

Apple Bloom nodded. “Right.” She then walked beside the dragon. “Spike, you keep and eye out on these here statues while we try to open that there door.”

Spike nodded without removing his gaze on the statues.

“Can't we just—oh I don't know—break all of them?” Scootaloo suggested as her eyes went to the weird faint glow on the end of the stairs below.

The broken shards were faintly glowing, and soon, the small pieces began to move towards the other. Three piles of shards were now glowing faintly as each pile were slowly forming into shapes of ponies. It only took almost a minute before the glow faded and three crystal pony statues now stood on where the piles used to be. The eyes glowed black for a moment before it went back to normal.

Scootaloo gulped a lump and laughed nervously. “Eheheh... Yeah uh, let's go and open that door now, shall we?”

Comments

[Seeking Dusk]

... did they just kill a crystal pony or a Sombra minion?