Crossing Anthology Two

Wind blowing through his face, and adrenaline poisoning his blood, Jonah’s descent finally caught up with Cole. Jonah scooped Cole up only feet before he could come into contact with the pronged rocks below him. Cole looked up at Jonah with tears in his eyes, his eyes were begging Jonah to drop him, and let him collide with his desired fate. Jonah held his head high and carried Cole back to the top of the mountain. Cole’s feet touched the ground and he ran away, taking the winding cliff down into the crystal caves.

Jonah stayed on the mountain top, with sad and confused emotions towards Cole’s state of depression. It was two and a half years since Halie’s death, with that much time for Cole to ponder, Jonah expected more strength from Cole. Jonah sat alone on the mountain top, he wondered and asked himself just how the hell he would be able to get his old friend back.

An hour passed and Jonah still sat alone. He thought about his friends, Cole, Seth, the Princess and the six ponies; and how Seth brought the absolute worst out of them. More and more, Jonah started to hate Seth for hurting so many people he cared about, and for killing Cole’s lover before he could even see the child he made with her. Jonah could not imagine Cole’s pain, he tried to grasp it as tightly as possible, but it slipped through him at each attempt. Jonah’s train of thought was interrupted by the trademark fake slap he and Cole invented, he the hand dance on his cheek. Jonah turned swiftly;

“Cole?”

Jonah looked to see Mina standing behind him, she giggled;

“Hmhmhm, sorry, were you busy with something?”

Jonah didn’t respond, he realized that he had never thought of how Mina was affected by Halie’s death. From her soft spoken apologies earlier, and her attempt to recreate the friendly gesture he and Cole shared, it would appear that Mina turned out for the better in comparison with everyone else. Mina also never giggled or even laughed with pleasant thought before, not with the carefree attitude that she was holding, it was always at another person’s expense. Jonah spoke;

“No, it’s okay. I’m glad to see you’re not as upset as some of the others.”

“Believe me I felt awful after I learned that Halie died, I moved on from it though. You should be more worried for Cole; he’s been nothing but a wreck…”

Mina walked to the center of the mountain’s tip;

“He’ll stay up here all hours of the days and nights, just staring out, sleeping, barely eating, staring out, and the cycle just repeats. I’m worried for him.”

This was foreign to Jonah, Mina actually being worried about Cole, feeling compassion and sorrow for him and Halie. Jonah liked this turn in character, he asked me;

“Sit down with me, please.”

“Sure.”

Mina sat with Jonah, rubbing her elbow into his playfully. Mina spoke again;

“Seeing Cole inside the caves is a rare sight. I just saw him there a few minutes ago. I tried saying hello but he ignored me. Did you guys talk?”

Jonah was blunt with Mina; her mention of Cole remaining silent even an hour after he saved him disturbed Jonah. He had no idea how to bounce around it;

“Cole tried to kill himself!”

Mina gagged on her own oxygen;

“What!?”

“I came up here, he told me how much he enjoyed our time together, and he jumped. He told me he’s been waitin’ for two and a half years to do it. I flew down and caught him before he hit the rocks down there.”

Mina breathed heavily;

“Well, I shouldn’t be so surprised… For the last couple years he’s just shut himself off from the world and stayed silent, so isolated… It was just suicide all along.”

“He seemed to talk around me a good bit.”

“Well you’re his best friend.”

Jonah sighed;

“I guess we’re gonna have to keep a close eye on him, make sure he doesn’t try anything else. What am I gonna do? How can I help him?”

“Just stick with him; he clearly just wants to be with you if he’s been waiting for you. But first we need to discuss business, since you’re back; what’s say you, Cole and I go do some reconnaissance in Seth’s chambers. I’ve been going in for some time now and have reported everything that’s been happening; sometimes I’ll even sneak in and steal shit, or break some of his toys that he and the General work on.”

“Sounds good, but I don’t think we should bring Cole with us. We can’t go on a mission and watch him at the same time…”

Mina thought for a moment;

“Hmm… I guess you’re right… Plus it would ruin the plan I got for the occasion when you woke up!”

“What’s that?”

The next thing he knew, Jonah was sitting back on to a shaved Crystal in the shape of a reclined chair. His head was leaned back, and Rarity stood over him giddy as could be;

“Oh goodness! I’m so excited! I finally get to design again!”

Jonah added to Rarity’s excitement;

“Bet you’re not as useless as you thought, huh?”

Rarity glanced at both Jonah and Mina;

“Certainly, thank you both for this opportunity!”

Mina winked with a smile, holding a small brush in her right hand and red paint in the other;

“Thank YOU, this is gonna help us a lot.”

Rarity went into another room of the cave for a moment. Mina leaned into the left side of Jonah’s face; Jonah shrugged a little and flinched. Mina put the brush on the ground and grabbed Jonah’s head;

“Hold still.”

Jonah complied; Mina lifted her brush back up and dipped it in the red paint. She began dragging the bright color across Jonah’s left cheek, tickling him and causing him to jitter. Rarity came back with a comb, a razor blade and a tin hair spray bottle in her telekinetic grasp, she shook the bottle and sprayed Jonah’s dark brunette hair until it was a light brunette shade. Mina kept dipping and painting and Rarity sprayed a mist so thick it blurred their vision, giving the halls an orange flavored scent. Mina stood back up, observing the work she had done. Rarity stopped spraying; she reached for her comb and began guiding Jonah’s hair upwards. The combing process lasted a good five minutes until Rarity stopped; she then used the razor blade shaved the facial hair that had grown on Jonah over his comma. Once she was done Rarity left the room again. Jonah remained reclined; he turned to Mina and asked;

“Do you really think this’ll work?”

“No doubt, I’m sure.”

Rarity came back into her crystal boutique with a black, tattered, leather robe; Rarity used telekinesis to wrap the clothing around Jonah’s back, pulling it up so his arms would fit the sleeves. Their work was complete, both Mina and Rarity admired their job well done. Rarity lifted a flat, shiny crystal off the ground and elevated it to Jonah’s face;

“How is THAT?”

Jonah jumped at the sight, he was impressed with the work Rarity had done with his hair. Jonah now looked exactly like Seth, just with blue eyes instead of green. He had Seth’s same crowned mullet, his same scar, and his same robe. Mina walked behind him and put a hand on his shoulder;

“I told ya it’d work! You look just like your brother now! This’ll get you right inside his castle; you can bring me in as a prisoner. You see, everyone including Seth believes you and Cole are dead from his death spell, so they’ll never suspect it’s you. Plus that’s why Cole can’t come along, if they found out he’s still alive then they’d probably find out you are too.”

Jonah touched his painted scar, Mina continued;

“Oh! One more thing to complete the scene!”

Mina went into the room Rarity kept coming in and out of; she came back with something;

“Here, catch!”

Jonah held out his arms and let the long object tumble into his arms. It was Seth’s sawed off shotgun. Jonah’s eyes widened;

“Holy shit! How did you get this?! Let alone how did you get this robe?”

“I stole his shit, remember? Don’t worry he had backups so we’ll still pull it off.”

Rarity encouraged Jonah and Mina’s mission;

“With this marvelous disguise, you’ll most certainly be able to get past that horrid bastard’s security!”

Jonah grabbed the cold metal of the gun, he lowered it for safety. Mina suggested;

“We should get a move on! Dinner starts up soon.”

“Right.”

Jonah and Mina left Rarity’s room; thanking her once again for her help. The boy and girl went to ask Princess Celestia to send them both to what use to be Canterlot. The Princess had no trouble recognizing Jonah;

“Jonah, you look awful in that robe, it’s so drab and lifeless.”

“Hm, no wonder my brother wears it.”

Mina asked the Princess;

“So, would you teleport us there?”

The Princess thought for a moment, she gazed at Jonah’s face worried and put a hoof around his back;

“Be safe, my child… I’m bringing you back in one hour.”

Mina whispered;

“What?! She gives me as much time as I want!”

Jonah nodded, he could still hear that motherly attitude in her voice. He tried to ignore it, and took Mina’s hand. Princess Celestia used her power and teleported the duo to a hidden area near the front gate of Seth’s towering castle. Mina forced Jonah’s head down; she peaked passed the hidden wall they crouched behind. She turned back to Jonah;

“Okay, there are two guards at the front. Can you impersonate Seth good?”

“Yeah, I think I can get him down.”

“Does he have a voice as deep as yours?”

“No, his is a little higher and flamboyant. I may be able to get it; if not then I’ll just silver tongue ‘em.”

Jonah went ahead of Mina and held a firm grasp on her wrist as if she were a captive. As the two of them walked, Jonah could not but take a moment to scan the advanced, mechanical city around him. Canterlot was once filled with tall stairs, fountains, unique structures and buildings, and statues; now it has been transformed into a metropolis years ahead of anything he ever saw in Equestria before. There were roads with cars traveling at reckless speeds, trains on tall bridges that stretch for miles across the floating land, and large air vessels soaring through the skies. Each of the ponies who walked through the town wore a brace around their front left hooves, perhaps for identification or tracking. The castle ahead of them was comprised of two parts, the lower half being a dust, smoky and busy factory; and the higher half which was spotless and shining from the sun’s reflection, it was obviously where Seth resided.

Jonah and Mina approached the entrance, the two guard ponies who stood stiffly, they were mechanized Pegasi. One half of their bodies retaining their original form, the other half being a dominant robotic skeleton structure; it disgusted Jonah to see the ponies with such a different and unnatural manifestation, regardless he looked at them straight in the eye and ordered;

“Make way!”

The guards eyes widened, they immediately shifted out of Jonah and Mina’s path with rigid movements. Mina whispered to Jonah;

“At this rate, we’ll be able to do more damage than all the times I’ve been here combined.”

They continued walking. What was once the foyer of the castle was now a sweatshop filled with fillies and colts, working their hooves to the bone on circuit chips and metal objects. Jonah looked at the labor around him, angered that his brother would labor this to mere children. Every second that these ponies worked were only more gusts of poisonous, toxic gases being inhaled by each of them. Many would vomit taking in so many flame retardants and chlorine. Jonah could not bear to watch;

“Stop! All of you!”

All of the children stopped in their tracks, ready to follow their Final Arbiter’s every word without question. Jonah continued;

“Go home! Now! Get out of my sight, don’t come back!”

The little ponies smiled to each other and ran out the front door, cheering in happiness. Jonah smiled to himself, Mina said to him;

“Impressive, you really got this down. Let’s keep moving.”

Jonah and Mina took the tall stair case in front of them upwards; there was a fork in the path leading to two more stair cases on either side. Mina instructed;

“Let’s take the right one, there’s some laboratories up there we can smash up.”

They went up the right stair case; they opened the first door they saw. The first sight beyond the tall door was a stomach churning one. There were several doctor ponies operating on a young mare; they were grabbing fists of intestines and entrails from the mare’s abdomen. Blood dripped on the white floor, forming into several puddles around the surgeons. All the body parts that were removed were replaced by a mechanized, robotic substitute for the specific anatomy. Each device to be implanted was delivered to them on a hasty conveyer belt from the foyer sweatshop. The conveyer belt suddenly stopped producing the parts they required; leaving an incomplete, bloody and carved pony carcass to waste away on the operating table. Curse words flew out the doctors’ mouths, and then they noticed their Final Arbiter’s presence. One doctor said nervously;

“Final Arbiter! Sir! I’m terribly sorry; those kids must be goofing off or something. I’ll have them back to work immediately!”

Jonah shook his head;

“No. Go home; you’re all free to go, do not come back.”

The doctors looked at one another surprised, the doctor replied;

“… Really…?”

“Yes, now GO! NOW DAMN YOU!”

Each doctor fled the room as quick as possible; Mina leaned against the wall with a weak stomach. Jonah said to her;

“Just cover your eyes until I saw we can go, I’ll take care of all this.”

Jonah aimed his shotgun and fired at each electronic or mechanical device insight. Once he was complete he guided Mina out of the room, and went straight to the next one.

They opened the door to see rows of shelves; each shelf was over stuffed with aborted Pony fetuses of a variety of sizes, cramped in small formaldehyde jars. Mina’s eyed bulged, she sunk herself down and vomited on the floor next to Jonah. Jonah only sighed depressingly at the sight, wondering what the hell kind of dark and perverted madness his brother could possibly be up to with what he was staring at.

After an hour of searching ruining more rooms and finding even more disturbing projects, they found themselves near the top where Princess Celestia’s room was once claimed, only one staircase below it. Jonah suggested;

“The final room is the Princess’ personal home, its right above us. Seth has to be up there, you know a way to sneak in, don’t you?”

“Of course, his room is the only room I ever stole stuff from. I use to climb the tower windows at night; I haven’t seen any of the lower ones until today. Hopefully that will be the ONLY time I ever see those areas...”

Jonah looked around the semi-final room they were in; he noticed it had the same furniture as General Canis’ previous office. He said to Mina;

“This must be the General’s new office, but he’s not here…”

“He’s probably with Seth up there. Come on let’s finish our mission and head back.”

“Wait; there could be something important in here.”

Jonah walked over to the General’s desk. He found book that was left in the chair, it was entitled, “THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MAGICAL AMULETS.” He opened it and found himself looking into a book marked page. The large window behind him provided an excellent source of light to vividly observe the page. Mina walked over to read what Jonah was observing;

“The Override Amulet?”

A picture of a silver amulet with a glowing, blue, square gem bolted in the middle of it was shown. It was circled with a black marker. Jonah instructed Mina;

“Let’s remember this, it could mean something big…”

Suddenly alarms and sirens began screaming, pounding through Jonah and Mina’s ears. Mina yelled her voice over the blaring sound;

“Damn! We gotta go! Now!”

A gun shot was fired. Mina’s calf was wounded, she screamed and fell to the ground, and she asked Jonah;

“Was that you?!”

Jonah had both hands around the barrel of his shotgun the entire time; he looked behind him and Mina saying;

“... That wasn’t me!”

Mina and Jonah were turned around, looking Seth straight in the eyes, General Canis stood behind him. The General saw through Jonah’s clever disguise and yelled;

“You’re supposed to be DEAD!”

Seth remained without words and started to prepare his infamous death spell. While Seth charged, Mina instructed quickly;

“Shoot him!”

Jonah did nothing; he went stiff and nervous staring at his brother. Mina grew impatient, she snatched Jonah’s firearm and fired at Seth. Seth quickly canceled the death spell, and instead conjured a solid shield around him, making the shell deflect. Seth used his power to make the shield expand and span out fast like a wave, pushing Jonah and Mina through the window behind them. Mina dropped the gun from the impact; Jonah acted quick and activated his flight power, catching Mina from the gravity pulling her. They flew away fast, ears still ringing from the volume of the sirens. Mina said to Jonah;

“Other than the hole in my leg, I think we could count that as a success; we left that place trashed!”

Jonah and Mina heard a familiar voice in their heads;

“Your hour is past up!”

They were instantly thrown back into the crystal caves; they were on the ground right in front of Princess Celestia. She said to them;

“Supper is ready, let’s sit down in the rotunda and you can tell us all about your mission.”

The Princess looked at Mina’s injured leg;

“… He found you, didn’t he.”

Jonah nodded. Princess Celestia continued;

“Oh, I knew I shouldn’t have let you go there! I knew she would be a bad influence on you!”

Mina gave a scowling look to the Princess. The Princess continued;

“Mina, when we get to the Rotunda, have Fluttershy tend to you BEFORE you eat.”

“Yeah whatever, MOM…”

Mina tried to stand on both legs; she failed to even straighten the injured one. Jonah got up and carried her off her feet to ease the pain; he walked with the Princess into the Rotunda. Mina whispered to him;

“… Why does Celestia treat you like a baby?”

Jonah whispered back, hesitant to reveal the tragic tale of how she lost her son;

“It’s a very long story… this has been going on for a while actually… don’t worry I’ll help her…”

He saw a makeshift table made of rocks and crystals with a fried chicken placed in the middle. All the ponies sat around the table, even Cole sat at a side, though he remained as siCole looked up at Jonah with heavy eyes and exhausted eye lids. Jonah gave him a similar expression. He whispered to Mina again;

“… I’ll help Cole too…”

Sadness clouded the Princess’ judgment; she was desperate for Jonah to substitute for offspring. Depression riddled through Cole’s silent being, ready to strike at any moment, and end his life by his own hands. Lust and revenge crowded the minds of the six ponies, demanding and pressuring their friend to end his older brother’s life. Jonah had to fix everything, there had to be a revelation that night.

The time was coming, when the team of heroes would be presented with information that was dire to their incoming final battle. The one thing they required if they were to stand any chance against Seth’s dark powers, The Override Amulet.