CHAPTER 1
“Dad!” I called out. “Dad!” I heard a soft reply.
“I’m in the shed,” my dad yelled, “I have some breakfast for you.” I galloped down the hall, but I was distracted by the mirror that was leaning against the wall. Dad still needed to put this up, but I couldn’t help look at my self in the mirror. My name is Grease. I had an orange body and a brown mane, and I still don’t have a cutie mark yet. I am hoping it will be something cool.
I ran the rest of the way into the shed. Dad was there like always. He was a unicorn which made fixing stuff easier. I asked him if being a boy unicorn was weird. That was the last time I asked that question. He got really mad at me for asking that. He was saying that just because he was a unicorn didn’t mean he was supposed to be a girl. At least he took me to have ice cream after that. My mom is an earth pony. I am too, but I’m fine with that.
“Hi dad!” I said in a cheerful voice.
“Hey my favorite earth pony, Grease!” he said back in an equally cheerful voice.
“Excuse me?” That was mom. She had an arched eyebrow.
Dad continued cautiously. “This one is 5 years old.” He walked over to my mom, and said, “Good morning dear.” And then my mom and dad did what I hate more than anything. They kissed.
“EWWWW!” I said, sharing my personal distaste in this matter. I backed up, but hit a pole holding the table up.
“Help!” I screamed before the table full of wrenches, wooden planks, gears, and electrical wires. I could hear them trying to dig me out and I saw the light coming from the shed’s shop light blinding my eyes. I was picked up by my dad’s magic and was put next to the pile of the wreckage I made. My dad started picking things up with his levitation spell while my mom was making sure I didn’t have any broken bones.
“By Nightmare Moon’s horn! I am FINE.” I said.
“Hey mister, we don’t use that language.” my mom said in a harsh tone.
“Hey dad, there is a wrench on my rump!” I said excitedly, ignoring my mother.
“That’s my wrench. You’ll get a cutie mark soon enough,” my dad said.
What I said after that was... Let’s just say I got grounded for a week. It was that bad. I think it involved the word, “horseapples.” I don’t remember much of that conversation. Too much crying and pain.
Well, let’s just skip ahead 3 years. When my dad left forever. He said that Princess Celestia had a mission for him. I got my cutie mark two days before he left, it was a wrench. He was gone. For one year. Then another, then three.
2 years after that, I am now 13 years old. He still hasn’t come back. My mom hasn’t really been home much. Before my dad left, he made a club with me. Now that he’s gone, I decided to open it up to my friends. The club is named The Rebels. Let me rephrase that. My one friend. No plural. Nitro ThrustSSC is my only friend. I just call him Nitro Thrust, or Nitro. He’s an earth pony like me. I met him during recess at school in sixth grade one day. I was being bullied. I had been pushed into the mud, and Nitro came to my rescue. He moved away a pretty long time ago.
Nitro has been my best buddy ever since. He is the only other member of the club, and I made a backpack for him. He can’t fly that fast with it, so I basically attached two engines that I decided to call “Nitro Lightning.” Not very clever, but you get the idea. The metal I used to make the engines wasn’t crafted very well, and it threw Nitro’s flying off..
Eventually, I managed to get another friend. The new friend’s name is Hephaestus Forge. I call him Heph. He makes all of my metal that I use for my engineering projects. My cutie mark tells me I’m good at engineering, not metal-working. Heph’s cutie mark is an anvil. After I got him to smooth the metal for me, Nitro could break the sound barrier. So, I needed to work on the desing more to not hurt his ears when he broke the sound barrier,. So after many prototypes, I got it to work.
* * *
“You ready?” I yelled to Nitro.
“I’m firing them up,” He said nodding to me. The back of the Nitro Lightning’s started to glow with a blue tint, which matched his mane color, Orange, with streaks of blue and white in it.
“You’re clear to takeoff!” Yelling over the screaming engines of Nitro Lightning. The engines leapt to life, but Nitro didn’t go anywhere, instead, a hole started to form in the ground. it got bigger until it swallowed Nitro.
“Shut down! I repeat, SHUT DOWN!” I yelled running towards where Nitro was falling.
The hole stopped when it was at least 10 feet in diameter.
“NITRO!” I yelled into the pit, my voice echoing for what seemed like an eternity. I heard some rustling and a response.
“YEAH?” It was Nitro’s voice. “HEY, IT’S PRETTY FAR DOWN!” Suddenly the ground underneath me gave way. I leapt to the more solid ground, pushing off with my back legs as hard as I could, but not in time. My forehooves flailed in a panic, trying to wrap them around something to stop me from falling.
I failed to grab anything, and I was falling very fast, wind whistling past my ears. It was pitch black in this hole, and when I looked up, the light from the surface getting smaller, and smaller. I was so scared I passed out. I woke up being nudged. Nitro was by my side hitting me.
“Come back! Come back Grease!” Nito said tearing up.
“Are you crying?” I said, still weak. “Is this a dream?” I got up and looked around, I could hardly see anything. “I can’t see anything, we need a flashlight.” Suddenly we heard a noise, I was making some sort of machine noise. Something shimmered on my back and then faded into view. It was a backpack, and a flashlight popped out of it. The flashlight illuminated the cave so we could see.
“Nitro, do you see this? I have my own backpack!” I said prancing around delightedly trying not to squee, because that is girly.
“It was invisible this whole time! How long have I had this?
“I think I can see something...” Nitro said not paying attention to me, but something in the distance.
“It’s Midnights prison!”
“Who is Midnight?” I asked inquisitorially.
“You have never heard the legend about Midnight? Man, once upon a time there was an evil pony that tried to take over the universe, so Princess Celestia and Princess Luna banished him down here in an obsidian vault, that only fear could open.” he said.
“It is probably just a myth.”
“Because there are so much random obsidian blocks just everywhere right?” Nitro said sarcastically. We had to get out of here fast, Nitro and I are not the best of friends. So if we stay down here we are going to tear each others throats out, and that won’t be pretty. A faint sound echoed in the distance and fear filled both our minds, which wasn’t good. That noise wasn’t the worst of our problems. I turned around and two green lights appeared on the door about two feet apart. They rose up and then turned ninety degrees toward each other, than met in the middle, forming a door. Nitro and I stood still, frozen in shock. The green lights then faded, and the little outline that they made disappeared and we were able to look inside the room. From deep inside you could hear a chuckle of a grown pony.
“So, how is Equestria?” The silhouette said with a suspicious tone.
* * *
“Oh butler!” Discord said lounging upside down while his little bunny friends took his orders. “Any news on Midnight’s arrival?”
“Yes Discord!” the butler said excitedly! “ He has awoken.”
“Bring in Zecora, tell her the price will go up, 30% if she accept!”
“Will do your majesty!” The butler said as he ran out of the room.
* * *
Nitro coward into the corner and hide his eyes, “Who are you? Well I know who you are, but why are you here?”
“Ok, this is some over the top prank, Midnight is not real, he is just a myth!” I said, not buying any of this.
“Oh, an unbeliever, how,” he paused, “cute. I am the very substance of fear, so if anyone tried to fake me, I would personally hunt them down until they die, a slow, miserable death.” Midnight looked around, “So their little boy, any more questions?” Midnight grinned and revealed green teeth that seemed to glow in the pale light of the hole.
“Yes,” I nobly stood up and looked him right in the eyes, “they say you have magic like no other, prove it, grant me three wishes.”
“Fine, you little pony, what are these three wishes.”
“First off, I wish you would tell me the truth and tell me why you were here and where you are planning to go after this.”
Alright, I was put in here because I tried to over through the whole entire world, and I am probably going to try to over through it again, with one difference,”
“What’s the difference,” I said.
“I am going to win this time.” An evil look passed over his face.
CHAPTER 2
“PRINCESS!” the Canterlot guard said as he ran up to the princess sleeping in her bed. “Princess I hate to awake you, but there is a great disturbance that Zecora can scense.
“Well, assemble the army and bring Zecora to me, tell no one except the general.” Princess Celestia said now fully awake and getting out of bed. Even though she had been sleeping her rainbow mane still seemed to be glistening and shiny. “We haven’t had something this bad since the rainbow factory incident,” She said mumbling to herself and started to walk out of her room, the sun had almost gotten up, so she might as well also. She stepped out into the long hallway, she turned to the book case right next to the door and with a slight nod it opened, with the help of her horn of course. It revealed a long hallway, she walked into it, looking at the pictures of her dad and mother.
* * *
“So,” I said staring into the monster king that just emerged from an obsidian block cage. “You want to take over Equestria? Well it is not going to work, Princess Celestia is going to stop you.”
“It is so, funny, you have so much faith in your little Princess.” Midnight said as he stared into the eyes of a shaking pony trying to look into the eyes with the most courage that he could manage.
“I have faith in her because my parents told me stories about discord, even though those are just stories-” I was interrupted by Midnight when he said reassuring
“Oh, he is real, your parents have done a good job at blinding you from the world, preparing you to be blindsided by the world,” he bent down until I was practically sitting down, “So I suggest you just sit back and watch the fall of Equestria, and not give me anymore lip, got it” Midnight said and backed away and looked around and started to walk around. My suit started to glow in the back near my rump, the suit almost seemed to react to my emotions.
“Hey guess what,” I said as I stood up again, and as I did, a plasma blaster, with a quiet wiz and click, flicked over my shoulder with the greatest of ease.
“What is it little foal,” Midnight said not turning around.
“The world won’t blindside me.” I said, the cannon now charging up with a green hue.
“Then what will happen?” He said as he turned to look at me.
“I will blindside the world.” I said as I bent down until my head was almost touching the floor and the cannon shot what seemed to be like a laser beam and went straight towards Midnight. I could hear the sizzling of Midnights face from the excruciating heat of the laser beam, the laser died back down and the aftermath was not pretty, in the obsidian behind Midnight was a hole revealing the inside of the obsidian block. Midnight got back up and looked at me, half of his face charged off from the blaster heat. His heat scar seemed to still glow with a little blue, some rock from the obsidian still was molten.
“I am done here messing with you and your wimpy friend!” Midnight said as a black cloud started to swirl around him, when he finished his sentence he blasted into a cloud of smoke and shot out of the hole like a black lightning bolt.
“We got to tell somepony!” Nitro said still in shock. He got up and started to pace the floor. I looked around and saw the Nitro’s backpack and looked around, until I remembered that I had a backpack.
“Wrench?” I said hesitantly. A mechanical arm reached out of my backpack with a slight hum and arrived next to my mouth I grabbed it and started to work on Nitro's backpack until I was certain it was better than new.
¨Alright Nitro, I fixed your backpack, so this is what I need you to do, I need you to take this teleportation device and fly up out of the hole, and activate it on the surface." I handed the capsule that looked like an oversized pill that had a little purple fluorescent light in it to Nitro. ¨Place it down so there's this side facing down, as I slid the capsule over to Nitro, he grabbed it with his mouth and nodded to me. He walked over to the hole and looked at me as if he might die on this short trip to the surface. He looked up at the blinding sun and sky and blasted off, I designed this upgrade to increase acceleration.
The smoke remained in the hole but I didn't mind, I pulled out my capsule and set it on the ground like I told Nitro to do. I looked at it and it had a red LED light on the top, I waited until it turned green. I robotic voice filled the cave, ¨Connection found,¨ and as it said that I lowered it to the ground with my mouth and let go of it. A tripod lowered from the bottom and lifted the capsule up and the glass slid open and formed a flower almost. The fluorescent light bulb slid out started to spin slowly at first and started to speed up until it just was a circle of blur. Some color started to form in the circle, I could ruffly make out a picture of the surface. I looked at the blur and reached my hoof out to touch it, expecting to hit the spinning bulb I touched it. Instead of pain I felt liquid, the blur seemed to ripple like dropping a pebble into water. I put my whole hoof in and it felt cold, yet warm at the same time. I put my head in and looked around, the hole from the other teleportation device was a good 3 hooves away. I stepped all the way in and I started to sway, everything looked like it was swaying, I looked back at where I came from, and it seemed to sway back and forth, I reached back out of the portal and grabbed the teleportation device and pulled it in. Immediately the portal started to become smaller and smaller. I pulled it through just before the portal closed completely. I turned around and walked towards the other hole. I stepped out into the bright surface, Nitro was there to greet me just as I walked out.
“You made it!” he said as he hugged me. “I thought you weren't going to come out.”
“So, let’s get help.” I said brushing off from the dirt in the cave. We turned our packs invisible and walked up the pathway towards the front gates.
* * *
“Um, we need to talk to the Princess immediately!” I said as I talked to the guard outside.
“Princess Celestia is busy and can not talk to little twidlets like you and your friend.” The guard said in a low voice, obviously trying to impress his comrades.
“I can,” a smooth caring voice said, striking fear into the eyes of the guards.
“Uh, your majesty, Princess Luna.” The guard said bowing, and looking at the ground. Nitro and I turned around, we looked up and Princess Luna was standing there with the sun right right behind her almost glorifying her upper position in the kingdom. I always thought that Princess Luna was the cuter one out of the two.
“We were just showing these little colts into the throne room.” The guard said as he started to open the door.
“No you weren’t, as I recall you called them twidlets?” Luna said, giving them the stare of death, but with a gentle tone.
“Sorry your majesty.” The guard said as he looked to the ground.
“Let us leave the presence of these rude guards and we can talk.” Princess Luna said now looking at Nitro and I.
* * *
We explained everything we saw and heard to the Princess as we walked through the courtyard full of statues. We stopped at where Discord once stood, frozen in stone. Discord wasn’t there anymore, after Twilight, and the rest of the gang had unfrozen him and used the elements of harmony to repair the town, he had disappeared. Some said he was dead, I didn’t believe that.
“So, Midnight is somewhere in Equestria?” Luna said looking at me funny.
“Yes, and if you want, we could take you there!” I said, hoping to get some reaction to this news.
“I think that would best for this situation.” Princess Luna said with a strange look on her face. I couldn’t really get what she was thinking.
* * *
We arrived at the ditch that seemed to stretch downward in an eternity of turns, twists, and drops.
“So this is the place?” Princess Luna said, scaring me to death because I forgot she was following us. You could see the hole now, but it was still a bit away, I saw somepony there looking into the hole and walking around it. After a bit we arrived at the hole and the young pony, about the same age as us was still looking in the hole.
“Um, hello?” I said as I walked up behind him.
“Woah!” he said and whipped around. He whipped around so fast, he lost his balance and went almost headfirst into the deep never ending abyss. I reached out my hoof and grabbed his and yanked him back up onto the surface.
Still a little stunned the brown pony with a very vibrant yellow mane and tail started to say something, but it came out in studders.
“You, saved, my, life.” he got up and started to give me a hug, then snapped back to reality and just stuck with the traditional handshake.
“You’re welcome, it was nothing. My names Grease, this here is Nitro.” I said pointing to me than Nitro, and before I could finish my sentence I was interrupted by his next sentence.
“Princess Luna!” The pony said as he bowed low to the ground close enough to lick it.
“And who might you be?” Princess Luna said as she lifted the pony back up with the end of her nose and looked into his eyes. Just a little bit of jealousy swept my mind, why hadn’t she done that to me, I would have liked it more than him.
“Xcav Driller” the pony said confidently and puffing out his chest a little.
“Son of Hauler?” Luna said in a questinate tone.
“Hey that’s my dad’s name!” Xcav said jumping around, then immediately looked down and kicked a rock into the hole. Not in anger, but in sorrow.
“What was that for?” I asked after he kicked it in.
“My dad, one day just left, never came back.” Xcav said almost crying now.
“Hey, same with my dad.” I said going next to him and put and put a hoof around his shoulder.
“Yes! Hauler and your father were great buddies, helped make this hole.” Princess Luna, again scaring me to death because I forgot she was here.
“Really?” Xcav and I said at the same time.
“Yes!” Luna said now laying down, and with an almost hypnotic stare of gentleness, I found myself sitting down. “Long ago, their were mining ponies and engineer ponies that worked in harmony." Princess Luna said as she was looking at a flower that so majestically sprouted from the ground. ”I will have to call some helpers, I will have to go back to the castle and request them, excuse me, I will be back.” Luna said as she got up and started to walk away.
