The Final Report of Thunder Crescent

Thunder began to stir outside the rain turning from a slow dribble into a forceful downpour. the trees began to shake and the leaves rustled against each other, the grey cloud filled sky spanning as far as the eye could see. The rain had begun to create puddles and soon after small rivers that flowed wherever they pleased. It was a storm, a terrible storm. One such river of water trickled down from on high into a cave entrance, The large mouth with jagged, rocks resembling teeth and the whistle of the wind through the cavern echoing like a groan. The water slivered down into the cave going along an already smooth surface, the sign that this cave has had many a storm and remained. Eventually, there was a large area where the water pooled. In fact, it was a lake filled to the brim with fresh water. Though no sign of fresh life lay within it.

Thunder crescent opened his eyes, his head throbbing with pain and his body refusing to move. he opened his eyes but saw only a darkness that shifted and turned. "Quartz..." he thought he tried standing to his feet but his body wouldn't move "Lisea...I...Have to...Warn them" he felt it hard to talk in fact his chest felt heavy, his jaw wouldn't even move and he felt weightless though he couldn't move his body. Now that he thought about it, he was very cold as if death's icy fingers were tracing along his spine.

A shadow moved it was large, it swam around him then with a great force smashed into him and he began to move up slightly. the figure grabbed his head and as its head came closer he could barely make out what it was. In fact, it was a familiar face. Pale skin and red hair that were barely able to be made out. Before he could act or speak he felt lips on his, soft and gentle. He felt his lungs become filled with air and his vision gradually started to clear. It was Lisea. Not only that but he realised he was submerged in water. He looked at Lisea with a confused and somewhat flustered look. She parted her lips from his then pointed upwards and she began to take great strides heading up.

Thunder unhooked his armour lightening the burden on his already worn body. He watched his armour plummet to the depths and saw something move. His eyes narrowed to get a better glimpse but his body screamed to swim up. He forced his muscles which seemed too numb and frozen to move, he couldn't feel them moving but could see them pushing him upwards. he must have made some progress as he could see a faint light above and saw Lisea diving back down to him. She grabbed him and they swam together and soon the faint lights became stronger and soon he could see hundreds of them. blue in colour.

His eyes shut and his ears popped as he and Lisea broke the surface of the water. his ears hearing clearly the loud gasp for air among a high pitched ringing sound and the thrashing of water. He choked water out of his body as Lisea carried him to a small ledge and forced Thunder up as she bounded out of the water soon after onto the stable rock.

Lisea shook her body then collapsed panting for air.

"I Didn't think...you'd...actually...Be down there" she said between gulps of air.

Thunder felt his body clutch and a pain seared itself along his leg muscles, he gritted his teeth and waited till the pain subsided. there wasn't much he could do he could see the lake a large reservoir of water, it must be the source of water that they had, he hoped so anyway otherwise it would mean he'd drifted off somewhere far away from the group.

Lisea stood up after taking a few more deep breaths. she swished her tail from left to right as lines of water rolled off her tail like a paintbrush, she shook her mane in a vain attempt to dry it, and as her hair rested back onto her shoulders she turned to Thunder.

"What were you even doing down there".

Thunder noticed she had no armour on, probably for the same reason he had dumped his in the lake.

"I...Don't" he began but his words were lost and he simply lay there like a fish fresh out of the water.

Lisea waited for an answer but instead realised it would be better to talk when they had warmed up. She looked to the lake great streams of water were pouring in from tunnels in the far walls. She knew it'd be a better Idea to move lest the water level climbs more.

"Can you move?".

Thunder tried to stand up, he successfully managed to stand for all but three seconds before his legs gave way and he fell to his knees.

Lisea put his hoof around her neck and steadied him against her with her wing. They headed towards a steep stone set of stairs as they arrived she looked back and saw where they had been was now being covered in a very shallow layer of water. She took them up step by step slowly as thunder slowly began returning to the land of the living. his hoof slipped from now and then but tried to use his wings to steady himself, his right wing wrapped around Lisea, who responded in kind.

"What were you doing down here?" she asked after some time had passed and they began making slow progress on the stairs.

"I... don't know...I was...with...Quartz" he spoke as his teeth tried to clatter and his face was stiff, he was barely feeling it move.

"Quartz? was she with you!" she said with a look that suggested she would dive back into the cold water.

"N-no, s-s-she left before..." he swallowed, as his words seemed to not come out. his body shook from the cold, the only warmth he received coming from Lisea.

"I see, that's a relief".

Thunder could feel it Lisea was shaking slightly. she must be cold too. he thought. something about that made him smile, as he looked up he saw there was still a good few steps to take.

"r-really sucks, though!" he said smiling "I really l-liked that armour" his breaths were short and sharp the ringing from his ears had quietened a little bit and the loud roar of flowing water was now echoing faintly from behind them.

Lisea smiled.

"It did look rather nice on you," she said as the two chuckled ascending the rest of the stairs.

***

As the two cleared the final set of stairs they emerged back in the grey quarter, where Thunder had first been introduced to this place. but unlike when Quartz introduced him to the stone town, it was nought more than debris and wreckage. Houses were collapsed inwards, rubble and stray rocks landed in piles, the signs that ponies had been living here buried under the rubble. A doll caught Thunders attention half of it poking out of the rubble and covered in dust from the stones, it must have belonged to a child.

"What happened here" the words leapt from his mouth he begged for an explanation, he could tell from Lisea's face that this wasn't easy for Lisea to talk about.

"...we lost," she said the words seemed forced and her face had changed to an expression of anger. her pride was stung the mere thought that they had lost everyone from the green quarter hurt her, she couldn't protect them or even stop them from being taken away.

they continued moving through the wrecked buildings then as they rounded a corner he noticed a large boulder of titanic proportions firmly planted at the entrance to the green quarter.

"You are the last person to be in the green quarter, " she said, "None of us can dig through that as easily as quartz, it'd take too much time not to mention if it's filled with changelings" she stopped and saw the attention of Thunder fixed on the boulder. "Listen we can talk more once we get dry o-okay". For some reason she stuttered it now occurred to her how cold she actually was, she could barely feel her legs and her wings shook slightly.

"Not much further now," she said trying to get Thunders attention away from the destruction that surrounded them. They needed to look forward and think of rescuing the ones that were taken or at least find a better solution than wallowing in self-pity. She pushed forward and eventually the former entrance to the red quarter which was now being partially covered in rocks.

Thunder looked away finally seeing a familiar face piling up rocks.

"G-granite," he said

The stout pony moving boulders turned around despite how quiet Thunder said it Granite heard it like a small bell chime. he was moving rocks so that the red quarter blended in more, they were being too careless before, plastering red and green banners everywhere so now the gate to the scarlet quarter resembled a landslide more than a gate. He turned around and saw Lisea and Thunder, he smiled in both relief and surprise and rushed over to them.

"The hell happened to you two?" he questioned he felt Thunder's forehead.

"Your damn near as cold as ice".

he vaulted Thunder onto his back in a swift grapple, Lisea was shocked slightly but smiled regardless.

"You have my thanks"

"You look like drowned rats," he said the three marched somewhat more swiftly to the gate, concealed amongst the rubble was a stone panel, Granite hurled it upwards causing it to slam into the nearby wall revealing a passage, if somewhat cramped.

"Ladies first" he gestured to the passage.

Lisea nodded and crawled into the passage. once she was no longer visible Granite took one more look at the destruction. it was deathly quiet with only the occasional sound of a rock rolling off or the faintest whisper of water running somewhere, nothing but different variations of grey stretched before him with that obscenely large boulder taunting him on the other side of the cavern.

He gazed upon the gate, it was just about finished being covered. the other two ponies with him were members of the guard that worked under him, merely grateful that they had been spared. He gestured to the hole and the two nodded.

"I'm glad you are okay, Is Quartz" before Thunder could finish he felt a strong arm lift him up with ease and hold him like a javelin.

"Wait, what are you," before he could finish he saw a grin stretched across Granite's face.

"no, you wouldn't".

"I would".

"You're kidding right".

"Hey, it's smooth rock what's the worst that could happen".

"You're serious aren't you".

"What, it's only rock walk it off".

"Hey!, It's still rock!".

"Well~....tough luck" and upon saying this before Thunder could protest more he felt himself soar through the vent with a scream that sounded more like a filly than a stallion echoed throughout the small opening.

"You know that that is incredibly dangerous," said one of the other stallions. A beige skinned unicorn.

"Aah no better way to snap someone out of thinking than throwing them down a well-crafted hole", he said somewhat proudly.

"I suppose you are right, I wonder if everyone's okay. I mean we only survived because we were with General Lisea outside the cave and,"
the stallion felt himself get lifted up and found himself staring down the hole.

"Wait, you don't mean".

A gentle smile crept across Granite's face.

"No better way to snap someone out of thinking than throwing them down a hole, don't you agree".

The stallion was immediately regretting his former decision.

"Wait I reconsider my former statement-" before he could finish scrambling words out of his mouth he was hurled down the hole followed by the extended yelling of the word. Argh.

The other colt laughed "Hah that was funny, I wonder if my wife's okay" he said casually.

Granite loomed closer a gleam in his eye.

"Wait, no I didn't mean-" before the stallion knew it he was staring into the hole.

"You, son of a horse!" he shouted as he was hurled down the hole repeating his final word.

Granite nodded proudly then saw a rock that was hanging precariously above the hole. He kicked it gently then dove into the hole with enthusiasm. The rock plummeted downward and slammed into the hole's entrance, sealing it completely and giving the appearance that the scarlet quarter had been destroyed by a landslide.

Lisea was crawling through the tunnel at a steady pace the exercise had warmed her up somewhat and she could feel her body slowly coming back to her, she began contemplating how she would move forward now. With Beatrice and the green quarter gone then they'd have to rely on food they find in the field and they only have so much, with all food and resources being stored in the green quarter. They would inevitably have to re-enter. But due to the psychological damage some of the soldiers have had she would have to run a full inspection of everyone still alive and ensure they weren't changelings. A purge of sorts, not to mention equipment resources, rations, how many days of supplies, in general, did they have. Unicorn magic can only go so far.

Before she could continue her train of thought she heard a filly-like scream, due to the confined space of the tunnel she couldn't turn around fully. she arched her head. And from the depths of darkness she saw Thunders face. but in those brief seconds, before she could word a reply she thought.

"He certainly is moving quickly".

and soon after this thought had finished she felt her face flush red as Thunders face plummeted into her rear, she let out a squeak as she was throttled forward by Thunders' head.

Unlike Thunder, the guard saw Thunders rear and immediately regretted being a unicorn.

"Oh no," he said with a mortified expression, he tried to turn or move, but the space was too cramped, he rolled to move out of Thunders way which resulted in him getting a speedy kick to the face instead.

The guard behind him was inhaling to commence his next bout of yelling.

"This is a really long tunnel,".

he thought before seeing the piece of unicorn ass in the distance. his eyes widened with terror and his mouth turned into the deepest frown it could muster. trying to slow himself down only to burn his hooves slightly his voice echoing in the tunnel, "nope, nope, nope, nope, nope".

His efforts were rewarded and he successfully managed to slow himself down enough to be kicked in the gut. but still, at least he had maintained his dignity...That was before he heard a deep laughter and saw Granite torpedoing behind him with no sign of slowing down. A terrible grin across his face.
"Oh, you mother fu~" before he could finish Granite's hoof had firmly smashed into his rear propelling the group forward even faster.

***

Greg was an average pony, he swept the scarlet sector and made sure it was clean, he got his cutie mark when he was a young pony he was fine with it, but his family didn't approve they wanted something better from their boy, but a cleaner was what he became. It just so happened that he was cleaning just outside of a moderately sized hole, it was smoothed rock so he assumed it was a tunnel that comes from the old red quarter. Though in truth the new one was exactly the same just moved underground and had significantly less space.

He heard a few voices coming from the hole he was curious. he'd never heard voices before, perhaps the underground had finally broken him. to his surprise there were several and getting louder. he turned to the hole and put his head in cleaning a little while he tried to hear what was being said.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" yelled a feminine voice.

Greg stepped back a little, what could it mean he pondered. this thought never reached his brain because as he thought it another thought immediately came into existence.

"buck my life," he said as five ponies shot forth from the hole, upon hitting him sending him flying across the cavern with a somewhat overused scream.

Lisea landed and stood up removing her rear from Thunder's face, she dusted herself off, an annoyed expression across her face that contradicted her red cheeks.

Thunder slowly got up and opened his eyes the image of Lisea's flank imprinted into his mind. he stretched slightly and heard many bones click, this surprised him as he realised he had warmed up slightly as he was standing on his own while he still couldn't feel his hooves.

The two guards were entwined with the unicorn laying unconscious and the other one trying to force himself free of the unicorns grip.

Granite landed on his feet "Yep, that's still fun to do" he said letting out a hearty laugh.

"Fun, isn't the word I would use!" Lisea spat looking at Thunder briefly then back to granite "Why did you throw him! I was still in the tunnel!" she said angrily.

Granite simply laughed "Well you looked a little too serious and I'm sure you'd kick my teeth in if I threw you so-" he scratched his chin, "I thought you could use something to lighten the mood," he said proudly.

"then why'd you throw me, I almost went Horn first into another stallion!" whined the unicorn.

"Forget your horn at least you didn't have Granite's fist slam you" upon saying this the pony shuddered "I'll have nightmares tonight" he added.

This was interrupted by Thunder laughing, Granite looked at Thunder and so too did Lisea. but he kept on laughing.

She blushed slightly "What's so funny, there are literally hundreds missing!" she said trying to get him to be more serious, however, he just kept laughing. Soon Granite burst out laughing.

the other guard tried to talk among the laughter. "It's not funny you don't have a big stocky stallion shooting towards you with his hoof, you got to land on Lisea's flank! That's a blessing in comparison!" said the colt still trying to complain, he couldn't help but smile and begin to chuckle.

Soon enough Lisea started laughing.

"You're all mad," said the unicorn then stood up and walked away before realising he stepped on a piece of wood that was not in fact there causing him to plummet into a small pond below.

The whole group just laughed more and more.

Thunder was somewhat happy and had forgotten his previous train of thought. Though he had forgotten the last time he was this happy or indeed when he laughed this much over something so trivial. "Small things amuse small minds" the saying went. his mother had said it often, she was very jolly and always made him smile, he had a wide smile across his face and Granite had fallen to the ground holding his sides. Lisea was struggling to stand and was laughing profusely.

The laughter echoed across the cavern and in fact merely hearing such genuine laughter made a lot of ponies just smile while some broke out laughing as well.

Eventually, the laughter began to die down. but the joyous spirit it had brought now permeated the entire underground.