Preparing For The Disaster

Crystic, a supposed dead sub-race of unicorns with crystal horns, have lived in the caverns of Ayemelek for years. Their history is shrouded even to their own scholars, which is lacking in number. The legends say though, that five millennium ago a dark spirit was unleashed upon the land from the Ebony Cascade. Its reign brought death, destruction, decay and fear. It lasted until one day a Crystic gave his own life to call upon the spirit of the Sun to combat the dark spirit. The name of the Sun spirit was Sol Invictus, while the Dark spirit was named the Ebony Soul. The fighting lasted a week until the Ebony Soul was locked away with the power of the Crystics and Sol Invictus.

The legends also tell that the Crystics tried to betray the Sun spirit after the fighting, in order to take his power for themselves. Sol Invictus cursed the whole race by turning their horns to crystal and had them live in the caverns for the rest of their days. This is myth though, the Crystics have no problems with using magic and many of their tribe has gone beyond their caverns to see the world above but never travel to far. They fear the outside world, yet use small golems to collect information about the events that unfold above. They do this in order to keep out of the way and prevent the tribe from getting involved. They have no soldiers and only a few peacekeepers, in fact most are simply mineral farmers. Due to their extended stay underground, they have discovered a method in which they use their magic and the earth to cultivate crystal farms along with vegetation. None of this would be possible with out the help of the Day Gem, the light in the darkness for the pony tribe. This was said to be the parting gift of the Sun spirit, in memory of the Crystic that gave his life so that the world may live in peace. To give them light in the day and protection in the night, but once more this is all myth. Today it is told that it was given by the mother of the Princesses, Celestia and Luna, as a gift for the ponies to see clearly in the tunnels and caverns.

The home of the Crystics is Corenest, also known to the residents as the core of the world. It gained this nickname because it has reached the deepest depth that can be dug. Years ago while on an expansion project, a team of workers discovered a layer of rock that seemed unbreakable. They dubbed it bedrock because that is where they placed most of the homes and storage spaces. Corenest is separated into seven sections spread along three layers of stone that surround it. The Housing and Park districts are on the bottom level. The Schooling and Merchant districts are on the second level of the caverns. The Scholar, with its subsection of information, and the Chief district are on the top level. The Day Gem lays resting on the top of the huge canopy of the sub-terrain city with a circular colonnade and architrave providing light to all the districts. As the city expanded, the residents placed torches and the best crystals they had as reflectors into areas that aren't exposed to the Day Gem.

From over the rail of the Great-gap, everyone can look down to see the fields of plants and crystals along with the homes of friends and family. The days were peaceful and joyous, especially this week. This was the time of the Gem-Rebirth, a celebration going back for generations. This celebration is for fun and happy times as the Sun Gem glows its brightest all yearlong. It was also a time that a young stallion was waiting so anxiously for.

Keenan Tannim was the adopted son of Chief Clatter Tannim. He was taken in as a newborn when Keenan's mother died giving birth and no one claimed to be his father. In his stone bed in the Tannim home, one of the largest as a right to the Chief, he stared out his window. He saw the purple glow came off of both the largest and smallest of the harvest, as well as the natural gems and stones that grew from the walls of his beautiful home. The blue dirt and green sand from which the crops grew from and the wonderful spring water that flowed throughout the arrogation vents from the Sapphire pound just a few minutes trip from the merchants stalls on the upper section. He turns away from his window to look back into his grey stone room with a smile. The whole area clashed with his orange coat and his unattended to black mane. Right across the foot of his bed was a dark wood desk with clean stone legs. On top of his desk was a stack of books from both the cities library and a few he himself received from the surface. On occasion, Keenan would use a disguised and travel through the Old Road. The Old Road was the first ever tunnel from Corenest and the surface of Ayemelek. He would take to the surface and look around. One day he found a traveling merchant who happened to be selling some old spell books. Keenan took a liking to the books and talked to the merchant. He said that he used to lived in a town that was about a days journey to the north.

After about half an hour of talking, Keenan convinced the merchant to come by once a week and Keenan would buy items from him. Keenan used a few simple crystals he had as payment and the merchant held onto them like they were a dream that could come to life. After a few months, Keenan had made a promising collection of tomes and the merchant soon became rich. That was almost a year ago now and Keenan had found a spell he'd love to experiment with on a large scale. He had come across a book from the surface and a book in the library that he hypothesized, if used in tandem could increase the size of the food crops and decrease the time it takes to grow crystals. On smaller scale trials it worked fine, but he never tried it out on all of the crops at the same time. He had waited for the Gem-Rebirth celebration to try it out, which seems as though it will. Days he had spent calculating the angles and the required reflective crystals to both amplify and enclose the targeted area.

Keenan got off his bed and walked over to a closet on the other side of the room. He opened it and saw a wide selection of clothing Chief Clatter Tannim gave him to wear at important events and the like. Behind them, was a false wall which Kennan opened. The room behind the wall was filled with both modern and old artifacts from the surface and on the far wall was a long cloak and a mask that was flat and smooth to hide any facial features. On the floor fiddling with the items Keenan had bought, was his assistant and best friend. Apex was a golem that Keenan himself brought to life, he was made of floating grey cobblestones that were connected together by a yellow magic bond that resided in his core. He had small hands made of smaller stones and he hovered a few inches off the ground via magic field.

Keenan smirked at the sight of his assistant fiddling with the alien artifacts. Keenan called out to Apex with a voice that sounded slightly childish and relaxed. "Hey Apex, what are you doing there? How many times have I told you not to mess with that stuff?"

The golem glared at his creator, but mostly friend, with his purple crystal eyes and spoke back to him in a voice of an elderly pony. "I lost count and stopped caring at the same time. You know this stuff is not allowed here and yet you harbor it like a smuggler."

"It is not smuggling if you keep it for yourself. Plus it does not do any harm to the others, so everything is alright." Keenan gave Apex a rebuttal. "That doesn't matter right now though. We need to meet up with Jade for the final preparations for tomorrow." Keenan walked past Apex to gather his cloak and mask.

"Do you really need all that just to go out?" Apex said, remembering every time Keenan left to go somewhere he wasn't suppose to go like the Old Road or to the merchants on the upper level without an escort. The most numerous times though, were his trips to see Jade. Jade was a mare that lived in the lower section of the housing district where most of the workers lived that made crafts or ran any of the instruments that kept the city running. She and Keenan are about the same ago and they met in school, where no matter what status your family was you went to the same classes.

After Keenan had dawned the cloak and featureless black and white mask, he turned to Apex with his expression hidden be the mask. "Well I'm sure my father wouldn't like others seeing his son run around the city. If I have a disguise on than no one will know that I am who I am. Does that make sense at all to your tiny stone brain?"

Apex growled at the insult. "Hey, don't be an ass now."

Keenan sighed and began to leave his closet, followed by Apex. "Sorry, but this project will show the others that we can expand even further and maybe even upward."

Apex gave off a noise that sounded like a sigh but not really, considering you need a mouth to sigh. "Well, I can tell you are stressed with this whole deal. I have some news though, about the surface all the way from Equestria even." Apex closed the false closet and then closed the real closet door. "Turns out that the Princesses have taken back control from the Discord character. Now they are trying to reconstruct their capital and are looking to make peace with the surrounding countries."

Keenan stepped in front of his mirror to adjust his mask and hair. He took it off and looked into his own yellow eyes with his tribal marking under his right eye. "That is good news, he was quite the asshole if the reports were correct. Glad they got their nation back, their mother was a blessed Alicorn. We will always be in their debt."

"Yes you will." Apex pulsed magic to the floor and spun his three stone legs like rotors to lift him up into the air. "They even say Princess Luna will be visiting other nations in an attempt to build stronger bonds."

Keenan smiled into the mirror. "That is good for them, I hope they succeed. But for now," He once more dawned the black and white mask. "It's time to go see Jade." He threw the hood of his cloak over his head and jumped out of his window and onto the awning.

Apex followed Keenan outside and scanned over the area, there was no one outside yet. "No one seems to be outside yet, Keenan. Might I ask, why do you jump out the window? We have a back door you know, we can take that." Keenan suggested.

"Pft, going through the back makes it easier to be spotted."

"And so a stallion jumping out a window and standing on the awning isn't?" Apex logically presented his friend with a rebuttal. Keenan dismissed Apex comment and jumped down to the ground five feet below and began to dash through an alleyway. Apex tried to stay as close as possible, but the sharp turns forced him to stop for a moment while moving at higher speeds with his magic propulsion. "You won't listen will you?" He called forward to his friend.

Keenan stopped for a moment to allow Apex to catch up to him. "Not till it matters. The most that will came as a punishment is a firm talking to from Clatter, then I'm off once more." Keenan loved his father yes, who didn't? It was just that he wanted to go about without escorts and do what he wished to. Apex was now by his side and had jumped up onto his back. "You comfy back there?" Keenan said sarcastically.

Apex halted his magic lift and dropped onto Keenan's back. "As a matter of fact I am. But I do think you forgot your bags this time." Apex then tapped Kennan's bare back.

"Damn it. Well I can just use magic to get them. I placed a gem inside them for this very occasion." Keenan's crystal horn glowed with magic as he focused on the gem he placed inside his bags and then the bags themselves. In a split-second Keenan's saddle bags were on the ground to his side. He shook Apex off and placed the bags on his back, they were brown with a simple black and iron buckle. "Come on you slow poke we need to get to the park district before Jade beats me again." Keenan levitated Apex back onto his back and ran off for the parks a few miles away

Inside the Tannim home, the Chief had awoken. He had bathed, combed his grey mane and dried his indigo coat. He looked into a mirror and stared deep into his violet eye. He placed his patch over the other blind eye and prepared to dawn his tribal vest of status. The red silk and green trim looked good on him. Once he was done grooming, he went downstairs to eat a meal of eggs, potatoes and bread. As he ate, he listened to his golem relay news to him about the surface and other events from Corenest. The Sisters regained their throne, the Griffin civil war was over with a number of victims. The excitement for the Gem-Rebirth tomorrow, but the crops aren't growing as fast as the framers would like. Reports also say that in scattered towns and cities, a number of murders have been accruing. The murderer or murderers have drained the bodies of blood and magic. The flip side to this coin was that the numbers of victims have dropped about 50% in the last month due to the actions of someone.

The Chief finished his breakfast and ascended to his son's room. He knocked on the door. "Keenan, are you up yet? I know its a day early," He slow opens the door. "but I wanted to say happy..." He sees the empty bed and open window. "..birthday. That stallion, ever since he was a colt. The funny part is that he thinks I don't know where he goes with Apex." Clatter called to his wife in the room across the hall. "Keda, do you know when Keenan left today?"

The door opened and relieved a mare with a purple mane and brown coat. Her eyes green and wise even for her age, just like her and her husband. "He ran off again did he? He is probably with Apex doing young stallion things. You were like that once remember?"

"Yes, but I don't want him to be like me and he is doing a pretty good job at it. I just want him safe, that is all."

"And that is why I love you. You care for your tribe and make the tough choices." Keda walked up to her husbands ear and whispered, "Speaking of choices, you don't have to meet with anyone for four hours." She pulled back with a smirk and motioned to the bed beyond the door frame.

Clatter took the hint and smiled. "So, Miss Tannim, shall we proceed?"

Keda giggled. "Oh yes Mister Tannim, we shall." The two began kissing and rushed into the bedroom, locked inside for two and a half hours.

--

Once they reached the parks, Keenan and Apex had to search for a specific tree. This tree had a cross carved into its base and a broken branch. The sad part was that he always went to the same park, the same tree and Keenan never remembered the exact location of the tree. It took him a few minutes to look around but he found it at the wall of Corenest. Behind the tree was a bush that Keenan pushed aside and a hole was revealed. Keenan looked around to make sure the coast was clear before heading inside the short tunnel. "Okay Apex, I-"

Apex stopped Keenan before he continued. "Keenan, we have be over this many times. I'll stand guard, while you and your little marefriend talk. Why do you even use this place anymore?"

Kennan gave a low growl and glared at Apex with his yellow eyes. "She is not my marefriend! She is a friend that happens to be a mare. We still use this place because its where we first met officially, it has sentimental value. Other than that I have no damn clue, but stand watch. That is all you can do for me here." Keenan gave Apex his orders and then began to crawl through the tunnel. Apex gave his master a mocking salute and turn to attention.

The tunnel was only about five feet long and took a right turn two more feet. Keenan came out inside a small poorly dugout room with natural crystals providing a faint light along with some torches that Keenan had to light. He stood and looked to a table with a stone painted white on the bottom and black on the top. "So I'm first for once? Dear Sol I'm getting good." Keenan smirked.

He began to light the torches one by one, lighting up the room slowly. After lighting the third, he turned and thought he hear the light hoof steps of someone. He turned and saw no one in sight so he turned back around to shrug. He lit the five torch and thought he hear another noise, this time stone cracking. This time he looked all around the room, no one. This time Keenan was on guard as he approached the table. He opened the saddle bags and pulled out a map of Cornest that had marks on six points in a circle around the fields of crops. He went over the locations for about two minutes before he hear the cracking of stone once more echoed in his ears. Keenan slammed his hooves onto the table and turned around annoyance. "Show yourself, foul demon!" Nothing. "What the hell?" Keenan shook his head trying to figure out what was going on in vain. He stopped his vain attempts and went back to work. He bent his neck done to pick up a compass from his bags along with an inkwell in a magic field. He brought his back up and saw a pair of blue eyes look back at him from just about three inches away. He panicked and yell like a little filly, before running under the table. "Sol help me, Sol help me." He chanted as he rocked back and forth.

A thud hit the table and the same pair of eyes looked down at him upside down. Now in with a moment of space, Keenan was able to see the figure the eye belonged to. The blue eyes went with a neon green Crystic mare with a blue mane that flopped down to the floor due to gravity. "Hey there Keenan." She said in a gleeful and almost childish voice.

Keenan looked at his friend in anger and stopped rocking. "Jade, why you little! You scared me half to death! What are you doing and which part of hell did you come from?" He slowly got out from below the table to see the full body of Jade on the table. On her legs were sharply cut blue crystals attached to a metal frame. "What the hell are those?" Keenan added.

"Well I was sitting in my room thinking about ways to get here faster. Then I came up with the idea of these bad boys, the Stone-Picks. I was testing them out in here when you came inside, the I got the impulse to scare you. So I've been up there for about ten minutes? Now help me take these off." Jade extended one leg out and Keenan unstrapped them one by one. Jade hopped down from the table and looked over the map Keenan placed out. "What is this?"

"That my dear Jade, is where you will be placing the reflection crystals I have gathered. Tomorrow I shall reveal a new way to grow the crops in less time." Keenan said victoriously.

"Oh."

"Okay then, let me go over the plan once more before we go get started." Keenan took the map and started to explain the whole plan before realizing something. "Wait, where is Pax?"

"Oh, he was in a tree last time I checked."

--
In a tree Pax, Jade's golem, was sleeping. All his stone pieces were clinging together like magnets as he napped on the branch of the marked tree. Keenan had just walked into the hideaway and Apex was left to hoover there till he came out. Apex waited till Keenan was no longer in sight before he hoovered up to the branch in which Pax was sleeping on. He saw his golem brethren and kicked him awake. "Wake up!"

Pax was shocked awake and his stone body scattered apart, held together by an orange magic bond. He looked exactly like Apex except for his garnet body. "What the fuck man?" Pax said in a younger voice then Apex's own, along with arrogant as well. "I was trying to sleep!"

Apex hoovered away. "Too bad, now you have to stay awake here with me while they are in there."

"What ever, I'm just glad those other two aren't around."

"Oh yeah, that is true. Hey."

"Yeah?"

"You ever wonder why we're here?"

Pax made a noise that sounded like he was inhaling. "That is one of life's great mysterious isn't it? Why are we here? I mean, are we the product of some cosmic coincidence or is there really a God watching everything? You know, with a plan for us and stuff. I don't know man, but it keeps me up at night."

"..."

"..."

"What? I mean, why are we out here in this tree?" Apex looked at his friend confused.

Pax felt slightly embarrassed. "Oh um... yeah."

"What was all that stuff about God?"

"Uhh, hm? Nothing."

Apex slowly turned away from his friend. He then quickly turned back and asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Pax said in an embarrassed peep. "No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Seriously though, why are we out here? We could be in there with Jade and Keenan."

Pax got over his short and brief embarrassing moment and bluntly said, "Maybe their having sex?"

Apex floated over and smacked Pax in his tiny head. "Don't be stupid. Keenan would never go for Jade."

"What the hell you say boy?" Pax said with confusion and in deference of his creator. "Jade could have Keenan wrapped around her hoof, along with anyone she wants."

"Please tell me your kidding, Keenan is the son of the Chief. He as resources, he his creative and is a good stallion. He could get any mare in this place."

Pax crossed his arms and looked at his friend in amusement. "Than why doesn't he?"

"I don't really know. Lets change the subject."

20 years away in another tree, two other golems sat. One had a glass bottle and looked through it like a telescope and his magic bond was blue while the other was teal. As he watched the two golems talk on the tree branch before his comrade spoke. "What are they doing?"

"What?" He puts down the bottle.

"I said, what are they doing now?" This time with more boredom.

"God damn, I am getting sick and tired of answering that question."

"You can see, while I can't see shit. Don't bitch at me because I'm not going to just sit up here and play with my-"

"Okay look, they are just standing there. Talking okay, that all they are doing. That's all they are ever doing, that's what they were doing last week, that's what they were doing five minutes ago. So five minutes from now when you ask me again, I'm going to say, they're talking."

"Well what are they talking about?"

"I fucking hate you. Go home to Master Keda and tell her Keenan and Apex are still here in the park."

--
Back over to Apex and Pax, Apex was just finishing, "Talk about wasting resources. The Tannim home has a huge room just dedicated to planning and no one even uses it."

"Who doesn't use what?" Keenan's voice can be hear from the ground as he climbed out of the hideaway. "What are you two up to?"

"We are just sitting here, waiting." Pax said in annoyance.

"Well your waiting is over. We are leaving to place the crystals for tomorrow."

"So it's really going to happen?" Pax jumped down to the ground with excitement. "I've seen your smaller works and I can tell this is going to be good."

"You're damn right it is." Jade called from the tunnel. She was using her magic to levitate her Stone-Picks in front of her as she crawled out of the hole and pushed the bush back in place. "Shall we begin?"

Keenan nodded as he began to walk towards the housing district. "Yup, now we just need to get to my house to get the crystals and then the merchants to get the frames for the crystals."

"Well if this needs to be done in one day," Apex jumped on Keenan's back and Pax did the same to Jade. "Then we should race, no?"

Keenan and Jade looked at their tiny golems and then back to each other with a smirk. Apex called out. "Get ready...Get Set-Keenan go!" The golem and his creator then dashed off, leaving Jade and Pax to catch up from the dust pile Keenan left her in. Amazingly, she had caught up in almost no time. As they ran, the two friends laughed at the good times they were having.

Unaware of the tragedy to come.