Sea

"Fan out," Hendrick whispered to his troops as they entered the dark room. "Cover as much area as you can, and watch out for traps. Can't know what kind of things will be hidden in here."

Cross followed closely behind him, holding Somerset's pistol tightly in her magical grip. She looked around in the darkness with ears perked; all she could see was blackness. The air was cold and heavy, and she could hear the muffled steps of all the ponies around her. Soft whispers floated through the air, and tension was prevalent throughout. The sound of flowing water echoed softly throughout; Cross made a point of sticking near it, so she could at least have some sort of location.

She bumped into something warm. She jumped back in shock, calming down once she realised it was just another soldier. He shot her an annoyed glance before raising his musket and slowly advancing, slowly sweeping it in front of him. Cross just watched as he disappeared back into the oppressive black darkness.

She suddenly heard a distant voice, a familiar one. She looked around, carefully raising the pistol and peering into the darkness. She squinted as she saw what looked to be the faintest of red glows coming from somewhere across the water. She began galloping down the side of the canal, looking for a way across.

Just as she spotted the side of what looked like a bridge, the red lights came on in a blinding fury. She covered her eyes instinctively, skidding to a stop on the hard stone floor. She lowered her hoof slightly, allowing herself a bit of vision. A single massive red crystal sat in the ceiling, providing most of the illumination, and other crystals were placed sparsely throughout. The entire room had an eerie feel, bathed in red with just enough darkness to give it a sort of bloody gothic feel. Cross uneasily held the pistol to her side as she looked around.

Then, she spotted Twilight. The purple mare looked to be in a horrible condition, even from this distance; her mane was frayed, and her coat seemed to be almost burnt through in some places. She had a very solemn, sad look to her face, and her eyes seemed to be drawn to the floor. Cross shivered at the sight.

"That's our target!" Hendrick called out, drawing his sword and pointing it towards Renadeus, who sat on his chair. "The old bastard on that chair!"

Renadeus just stood, nodding at the assembled soldiers. "You've come to meet me, have you?" He looked at them with disgust. "Bah. I was expecting you to send something a bit more... powerful. You seem like you've only got a small command of untrained peasants." Renadeus stamped his hoof, and a mostly-transparent chest-high wall of crystals surrounded his chair. "Let's make a deal," he said.

"I'll give you your precious 'Twilight' here - admit it, you only came because somepony who you consider important got taken - and you just leave."

Hendrick whispered to his troops. They all nodded. Then, without warning, every single one raised their muskets and pointed them at Renadeus. Seeing her opportunity, Twilight grabbed the crystal sphere that Renadeus had given her and - with as much strength as she could muster - threw it upwards. It flew up with some velocity towards the massive crystal in the ceiling.

"No!" Renadeus cried as he watched the small orb fly up. "You imbecile!" He quickly stamped his hoof to summon another sharp gem and shot it off towards Twilight's projectile; but not quickly enough.

The small orb went sailing up, up, and just barely poked against the surface of the gargantuan red crystal. But that was all it took. With a massive bass boom, the small orb exploded into a fiery inferno, smothering the entire surface of the crystal in a sea of flame and pressure. Renadeus breathed a sigh of relief as the crystal remained intact.

He looked back at the other ponies. "Now that that little-"

The crystal cracked. It was ever so slight of a crack, a hairline fracture, but it cracked. Renadeus' eyes went wide. "No..." he whispered to himself.

His eye began to flicker, and the lights in the room with it. He fell to his knees. "What have you done?!" he shouted, his voice weakening. Pure hatred seeped into his voice as his eyes locked on Twilight. "Twilight Sparkle..." he muttered to himself. "You cannot stop the red dawn." Suddenly, his body went limp.

"Move, move!" Hendrick shouted. "Grab the girl and let's go!' Soldiers began running out of the room as the crystal's flickers became more and more frequent. Another crack developed, and another. Cross ran in and leapt across the bridge towards Twilight, who simply sat with a dull, featureless expression. A single tear rolled down her cheek.

"Come on, Twilight! There's not going to be a second chance!" She pushed on the mare's back, but all Twilight did was shake a bit. Cross bit her lip, looking at the door. "There's not enough time for this," she thought as she picked Twilight up in her magic, struggling. Her forehead became covered in sweat as she slowly, carefully laid Twilight over her back. With fair certainty that she wouldn't fall down, Cross started running. The crystal became more and more cracked, and chunks began falling towards the ground and exploding. Cross looked behind her just in time to see a particularly massive chunk fall into the canal and blow it up, making a jet of red liquid spurt into the air. The room shuddered. A piece of the ceiling fell.

"There's no time left! Get over here now!" Hendrick waved Cross through the door as the room began to shake and crumble. The bridge collapsed. The other crystals all shattered at the same time. "Is that everyone?" he said as Cross ran through the door next to him, barely avoiding knocking Twilight against the walls. He started running just as the room began falling. With one final explosion, the connection between the rooms closed, and the room became sealed.