Chapter Six

Chapter Six

I was left alone in a vast meadow, filled with beautiful grass and flowers with nothing but my thoughts in my empty dream. My brief discussion with the Spider left me with only more questions and I still couldn't put my hoof on it for some reason. Who exactly is behind all of this? Why am I here? How am I here?

Seems like I'll have to find out for myself now.

I didn't know what do exactly all except lay down on the smooth and comfortable grass near the tree where I met Rarity. She's been on my mind a lot lately ever since we were attacked. I've never seen her so frightened before and it's painful to see her like that and if this keeps happening I doubt I could save her again.

Getting home was my best option right now, so I can move on with my life. But than what would happen to Ponyville? What could happen to the friends I've already made? What will happen to.....Rarity? All I kept asking myself is what should I do? But honestly I don't know what to do?

I suppose I should stay and help out if I can?

I began questioning my own thoughts and even though this has already been proven I still believe this is all some sort of dream and I'm in a hospital bed, strapped to some sort of life support or something like that. I knew I was going to have to figure it all out later when the time comes.

It wasn't long until my mind finally went to sleep.

Beyond the Everfree Forest was a place of darkness and despair. Another castle, long forgotten was left in ruins. It was believed that this was the final resting place for Nightmare Moons fallen warriors, due to a final collision with Celestia and her forces.

Or so they thought.

A dark figure stood atop of the abandon throne, surrounded by guards who wore black and blue armor. This figure was a powerful unicorn who was worshiped and seen as a savior among his peers. The one who was destined to bring back there fallen queen. His eyes were turquoise with slit pupils and he wore black armor with a blue star on the side of his helmet. He was strong, powerful, and feared among all of his followers. He went by only one name.

Nephrite

"Lord Nephrite I have a message from one of your scouts," A cloaked stallion said as he entered the throne room. Nephrite only groaned in annoyance as the cloaked stallion stuttered.

"Why are you here?!" Nephrite demanded, only causing his servant to stuttered more.

"It's....about Silverstone and his lackeys.....my lord....they've been captured," He said.

When Nephrite heard what he had just said he only rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Tell me why would you deliver such useless information to me? It doesn't matter to me what happens to a small party of mine. They had only one objective and it was to secure souls and recruit new soldiers for Nightmare Moons return. If they were captured by a few weak guards then they are of no use to me," Nephrite stated as his gaze sent shivers down every guard in the room.

"They weren't captured by guards. They were captured by Princess Twilight and this new stallion who is currently living in Ponyville," The cloaked stallion said.

"Oh how interesting! It shouldn't be a surprise that the Princess of friendship was able to defeat a few of my followers. Although if she needed the help of a new comer than maybe it's something to look into, but first I need you too call lieutenant Thunderstorm to meet me here immediately. I have a task for him," Nephrite demanded and the Cloaked stallion nodded in response and immediately left the throne room.

It wasn't long before a blue unicorn wearing a black cape entered the room.

"You summoned me Lord Nephrite?" He asked.

"Yes I have an assignment for you. There's a scientist at a Canterlot research facility that could prove to be useful to our cause. I want you to bring him here alive," Nephrite ordered.

"Of course my Lord. My hunters should be more then sufficient to fulfill this task for you my Lord. I will not fail you," Thunderstorm said proudly.

"Than you'll depart immediately, I want that stallion here alive. He'll be a great asset to our cause," Nephrite stated, and Thunderstorm only nodded in response.

Thunderstorm soon turned towards one of the guards in the room.

"You there soldier? I want you to gather a few of my hunters and have them meet me outside the fortress? We're going hunting!" Thunderstorm said with a menacing look as the guard nodded and immediately left the room.

A seemingly whimsical laboratory stood just outside the city of Canterlot, on a hillside where it wouldn't be disturbed by the hustle of everyday life in the metropolis. Out of view of the castle, the curious architecture of the building featured a series of colored domes on top of a large column-studded building. The front doors of the lab were made of heavy steel, guarded by just a handful of gatekeepers who kept watch of the path that led up to the lonely building. A solitary smokestack, candy striped with red along the white brick, bellowed steam into the sky as evidence of experimentation going on within.

In the depths of the development center, a large, open laboratory area scattered with various machines and component was being managed by a team of Canterlot's top scientists. They were crowded around a set of robotic servos arranged in a circle, holding a large cyan crystal floating in place using magnetic energy. The diamond-shaped crystal rotated slowly, as glowing energy radiated from it into a large collector dish on the ceiling. Here Canterlot was attempting to learn how to generate cheap and clean energy from power crystals just as the Crystal Empire had done centuries ago. They had lost their knowledge of power generation from King Sombra's occupation, and a noble effort had gone forth to restore the lost technology.

One of the scientists was a unicorn mare named Stencil Guide, who was standing quite close to the prototype reactor core, a pencil floating near her in an aura of blue energy. She was a young adult, freshly out of the University of Canterlot, but had been offered a special chance to spend a year working on the energy project. Adjusting her glasses on her nose with a hoof, she finished scribbling down the math equation she was performing to estimate the energy output of the crystal, when she was approached by the lead engineer on the project.

“So, Stencil, how many joules of energy do you guess this puts out a day?” he asked.

She turned to face him and present her answer, “I'd say roughly four hundred thousand, Mr. Techorse.”

Techorse was a green earth pony stallion, with a messy brown mane and an equally messy “frayed fuse” tail, and bright blue eyes. His cutie mark, three yellow checkmarks stacked like a set of chevrons, represented his hunt for truth, not military prowess. Techorse had found himself becoming Canterlot's head scientist in the department of Engineering because of his inventions and talents with energy sources.

“Oh please, don't call me Mister, I hate titles!” he said, scratching his middle with his back left leg as he adjusted the straps on his pack.

On his back was a metallic saddle, his best invention and favorite device. The “battle saddle” was a robotic pack powered by one of his famous “solar reactors”, that read his brainwaves and converted the thoughts into actions, allowing him to interact using the gadgets within. Using this source of control, he instructed the small, trapezoidal doors on the sides of the machine to open up, and a pair of jointed, thin robotic arms tipped with metal hands came out to take the clipboard from Stencil. Strange devices slightly startled the other scientists who worked with him, but any other species besides a pony, especially Griffons or Minotaurs, were far more familiar with hands and appreciated his preference for grabbing things with them.

He was quite pleased with her findings and said cheerfully, “If what you're saying is right, Stencil, this'll be enough energy per minute to power a small city. Think of all the coal we won't have to burn, and smog that won't have to be cleaned up by the Pegasus ponies!”

“I really hope so, Equestria has a brighter future if we can bring back this old technology!”

Outside the laboratory, the two bored gatekeepers stood watching the path, just in case a pony happened to come their way. They were instructed to simply turn back anyone without a badge to get in, and otherwise to do nothing else but stand at the doors. While they were having a conversation about the day, they heard rustling in the bushes nearby, and looked at each other curiously before a pair of dark-blue beams of energy shot out from the foliage, and trapped them in containment bubbles of magical energy. The guards pounded on the walls of their new prisons, but to no avail as six ponies in blue cloaks leap out of the bushes and pushed the magical orbs containing the guards out of the way of the door.

Lieutenant Thunderstorm emerged last from the bush, his horn smoldering from the containment spell, his black cape fluttering in the breeze.

“Now that we've avoided making a mess of the 'security' around here, it's time to knock and ask the little nerds inside to come out to play,” he said, amusing himself at the little joke.

Two of the hooded stallions, his prized Hunters, came forward with a wooden barrel, a long fuse sticking out from it. They opened the lid of the barrel, revealing some sort of reddish putty in it, and spread the mixture along the edges of the doors before wrapping the fuse around a blob of the bizarre explosive dough at the base. Once the team was out of the way, one of the unicorns in the hooded team lit it with a quick fire spell.

A loud blast filled the ears of the researchers in the main laboratory, and the fire alarm went off. A stallion watching the cameras Techorse had created and set up throughout the lab saw the intruders enter through the hole that was once their sturdy front door, and panicked.

“Techorse! We've got about six intruders, stallions of some kind. They've just blown up the main door and are headed this way!”

Techorse's heart skipped a beat as he heard the news. Could it be that someone wanted to sabotage the crystal project? He knew that if the reactor didn't have the proper time to shut down and cool off, the magical crystal could lose containment and explode. Given the history of the Crystal Empire's exploding crystals, and what they could do, he knew they didn't have much time.

“Seal us off from them!” him commanded, his robotic arms disappearing back into his saddle, “Start shutting down the crystal now! If they get in here and start messing with the project, it might explode!”

Stencil stood firm, ”We ought to teach them a lesson! There's gotta be plenty of weapons around here from your other projects, right?”

Techorse shook his head, “My other projects are in the lab in my basement back home. I thought weapons and highly explosive crystals didn't mix.”

“That's a good point!” she answered, laughing nervously and clearing giving away that she was afraid for her life, “So I guess I won't be getting my full-time job here, huh?”

The doors to the laboratory sealed shut and steam hissed as the hydraulic system meant to keep the blast doors closed locked into place.

“That'll hold them for a while,” the camera operator said, “They're coming from the north side. Now to seal the south.”

“No!” urged Techorse, turning to him and shouting, “You've all got to get out of here, now, it's too dangerous if they get...”

The blast doors buckled as the Hunters behind it failed an attempt to blow it open with the same explosive goop as before. A rivet flew out from the door, and steam escaped, indicating that the seal had already been broken.

Techorse begged of his apprentice, “Stencil, take the others and get out of here now! I can probably buy us a few minutes, I'll be right there.”

Stencil saw the fear in his eyes, but knew he was doing the right thing, and took the eight other scientists out the southern entrance to the lab, hoping that her boss wouldn't soon become her ex-boss. Techorse was left alone, and watched the energy slowly seep from the power crystal. The blast doors finally creaked open, and an eerie dusting of smoke escaped from underneath, spreading along the lab floor. Thunderstorm emerged from the darkness, flanked by his stallions in hoods.

“Greetings, Techorse is it?” he asked, a smirk across his face.

“Yes, that's me,” answered Techorse, looking back quickly just to make sure the crystal was still shutting down before returning eye contact, “just making sure the experiment shuts down before you shred it. I have my job to do, you know, I think letting it vaporize half of Canterlot would get us all fired.”

“We're not here for any of your toys, inventor,” he laughed, “we're here for you. My lord has needs for your talents, and we assure you that no harm is going to come to any of your little study buddies if you come with us willingly.”

Techorse had been pretty sure his friends had just finished escaping, he could clearly count the other intruders described to him by his camera operator. So he wouldn't buy into the threat very carefully.

“So it's me you want?” asked the stallion, scraping his hoof on the ground, “Well sorry guys, I don't make gadgets for mercenaries like you.”

“Mercenaries?” snarled Thunderstorm, “Mercenaries? You don't think we have the honor to fight for the right side instead of money? You're quite judgmental of us, don't you think?”

“Well you did wreck my workplace, threaten to hurt my coworkers, and are about to set off a cataclysm here, so yes, I am a bit judgmental of you,” he confirmed, shaking his head.

“Pointless conjecture anyways,” droned the officer, swishing his cape to one side to reveal a small but bright silver scythe tied to his belt, “come with us, or suffer.”

Techorse looked back and forth at the hooded stallions, who moved in a little closer, and sighed.

The doors on the saddle opened up, and two metal tubes attached to a rectangular cooling system studded with wires emerged. Each one was a device that propelled a bolt of electromagnetic energy at high velocity when fired, a so called “laser cannon” by Techorse's words. Explosive energy weapons that matched one unicorn's firepower in magic bolts.

Thunderstorm realized his opponent was a little bit more prepared than he thought, and ordered his Hunters to take Techorse for him. They charged, and Techorse backpeddled, opening up with his laser cannons. They fired in alternation, yellow glowing bolts of destructive energy flew out of the barrels, striking some of the Hunters. The beams exploded on them, sending them to the ground in screams of pain as the loose energy melted their robes and damaged their skin. Two hunters remained from the initial salvo, ducking and weaving around the shots as Techorse attempted to track them. They grouped up, and fired a salvo of magic energy at the inventor.

One bolt struck Techorse in the sternum, sending him flying backwards into one of the servos holding up the crystal. Although it was cooling down, it was beginning to spin out of place already just from the readjustment of the magnetic arm, and energy began to build up in the room.

Techorse picked himself back up from the wreckage of the arm. One of his laser cannons now drooped, having been smashed from the impact, and the other had been melted clean off by the other Hunter's bolt. His guns useless, he retracted them back into the machine, and a new set of devices emerged. Twin racks carrying a small missile each popped out, and Techorse fired them off, the red projectiles screaming towards the two Hunters who had foolishly grouped up. A loud explosion sounded as the missiles detonated between them, and they were flung several feet into the air in a cry of pain before landing back on the ground.

Thunderstorm looked at his wounded soldiers struggling to get back up, and knowing he had to do the job himself, drew the large silver scythe from his side with his magic and it began to grow in full size as he ran straight for Techorse. Casting a spell that allowed him to bridge physical distances, Techorse perceived a bolt of lightning coming towards him as the captain jumped through space, landing behind him. The missile racks severed from their places, having been cut free instantly. He swallowed back some fear knowing that could have just has easily been his neck.

“Got any more weapons, Techorse?” he asked, turning around and laughing as he twirled his scythe in the air, “I need some more practice with my favorite blade.”

The inventor didn't want to give away the fact that he was out of weapons, and decided his best bet was to continue to stall for time so he could evade capture as long as possible. The Hunters picked themselves back up, each one a bit battered from the punishment Techorse had dealt, bruises and cuts visible through their cloaks. Despite being under attack from them, he just couldn't bring himself to kill them.

“Who are you guys?” he asked, about to be surrounded.

“I'm sure you'd like to know,” answered Thunderstorm, walking up to him and twirling his scythe, “and we'll explain on the way back.”

Techorse drew his robotic arms and in a desperate attempt to get away, began to swing punches at Thunderstorm, who dodged every blow and returned with slashes of his scythe. The left arm was immediately severed, sparks flying as it disconnected from the saddle and dropped lifelessly onto the tile floor below. Swinging the other fist around, it smashed into the side of Thunderstorm's head, mashing it over to the side and causing a sickening crunch to be heard as his vertebrae absorbed the impact.

“Very good,” chuckled the officer, stepping back and laughing as a small dribble of blood escaped his lower lip, “you managed to land a blow on me.”

Raising the silver ornate scythe, he cast his movement spell again, and a streak of lightning arced in front of Techorse's face. When it stopped, Thunderstorm's scythe was sheened finely in oil, and something far thicker. Several lacerations had opened up along Techorse's flanks and back, and he cried out as he dropped to the floor, his other robotic arm falling to pieces. He found himself with the warrior's blade to his throat.

“Come on Thunderstorm,” urged one of his cronies, “do him in!”

Thunderstorm replaced his scythe at his side as it returned to it's original, “We need him alive, Cutter. Somepony tie him up.”

Before they could do anything, they heard a voice, “Hey guys, catch this!”

The cultists turned just in time to watch as Stencil threw a fully loaded fire extinguisher into the room. She had crunched the valve of the device with her magic, ensuring that the pressure inside the tank would build up to full. It bounced once on the floor, and flew in the faces of the gang, giving them all a good look at it before it exploded, filling the room with smoke and metal.

Stencil galloped inside the commotion and pulled Techorse out, leading him out of the main lab room and down a narrow hallway before coming to a hatched door.

“Come on Techorse, this way!” she urged.

Back in the laboratory, the shards from the fire extinguisher had pushed the crystal clean out of the holding chamber. It was starting to fade in color, losing its strength.

“Techorse has escaped, sir,” reported one of the hooded figures to Thunderstorm, “I suppose we should pursue.”

“He couldn't have gone far, but before we leave, perhaps we should make sure nopony figures out what happened here. Burn the place to the ground,” he ordered, “at the very least, Equestria isn't getting any more technology out of him.”

Stencil and Techorse had ran away to a nearby woods, and didn't stop until they were sure they could no longer be seen. A loud blast shook the forest, and Techorse shuddered as he looked back. A column of energy shot up from the building, likely the crystal finally losing containment. His attackers had decided to destroy his laboratory after all, but thanks to his diversion, the crystal had cooled down enough to prevent a bigger explosion.

“That was your life's work,” sighed Stencil, depressed, “I'm so sorry.”

“Aw, forget about the lab, we can always build another, just glad everypony escaped,” Techorse said, still recovering from his injuries.

“My goodness, you're hurt bad,” commented the mare, pointing out the cuts and injuries, “you need to get medical help! We should go to the castle right away and warn the others!”

Techorse remembered something and told Stencil, “You can't. If you try to go back, they'll catch up to you first. That Thunderstorm brute's got some kind of lightning speed magic, and based on the outfits those guys were wearing, I can't help but think they're some kind of cult.”

“A cult? Don't be rediculous.”

“Look,” he continued, his saddle smoking from damage, “I need to go warn a certain pony of what happened here. Please stay safe!”

“I will, just, be careful!” she said, giving him a concerned look.

He nodded and parted ways with her, sneaking through the forest until he reached a path that would lead back to Canterlot. Normally he would switch some of the gadgets in his saddle around to include a set of flat, disk-shaped turbofans that allowed for slow flight, but he knew he risked capture going back to his home to get them. Rather than return to the city, he headed straight for the train station, where he boarded the first locomotive he could find headed for the location of his contact.

Ponyville.

But what he didn't know was that a certain spider was watching him from a distance. "Hmm....It seems a new pawn has entered my little game, but what is his purpose I wonder?" The Silver Spider said quietly with a light chuckle.

My head was starting to hurt when I began to hear knocking at the front door, which so happens to be right next to my room. I turned my head slightly to an old clock and it was 3:30 A.M.

Urgh.....Note to self ask for a different room far away from the front entrance.

I tried to get up to answer it, but my back felt stiff for some odd reason.

I don't remember sleeping with a blanket?

Like there was something weighing me down.

"Oh...just five more..minutes?" My eyes immediately snapped open when I heard heard a familiar voice in the room. I slowly began to shift my body and I started hearing a heart beat and what makes this scary is because it wasn't mine.

My face was pale as I started to sweat a bit as I turned my head and saw Rarity sleeping on top of me with a small purple blanket on her. I had to admit that she actually looks cute sleeping....for a pony of course. But it wasn't long until she began to steer from her sleep. There was only one thing I could think of right now.

Why does the universe hate?

"AHHHH!!!" We both screamed at the top of our lungs. Next thing I know I get slapped across the face and fell face first to the floor. You would think the floor would hurt, but surprisingly it was comfy. I soon got up rubbing my left cheek.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY ROOM?!!!"

"I do believe YOU are mistaken Flare! This is my room you pervert!" She shouted as her face was beat red. I had a feeling that I was going to be called that eventually.

"First off I'm not a pervert. Secondly this is my room I haven't left this room ever since we got here. Your in the left wing. Your room is across from here since you said that you wanted to be on the right. If anyone is the pervert it's you!" I shouted. Wow I never thought I would call a girl that.

"How dare you! I am most certainly not a pervert!" She said as she huffed.

"Oh yeah then why we're you sleeping on top of me?" I said with a smirk, causing her to blush furiously.

"It...it was a accident!! I must have entered the wrong room by mistake!!!" She tried to explain, but I soon heard the knob of my door began to turn.

"Hey Flare you need to come out here we have a visi....." Twilight stopped in mid sentence as she noticed our predicament and began to blush a bit. Truly the universe is trying to make me look like a fool.

"It's not what you think!" I tried to explain. But she quickly turned facing the other way.

"Listen we have a visitor. Both of you come out here when your....ready," Twilight said before she dashed out the room. Leaving us alone again. You know if my face could be anymore pink I would give pinkie pie a run for her money, because this was both embarrassing and humiliating.

I soon began to trot out of my room with nothing else to say, Rarity followed and remained silent, still blushing pink.

We both entered the library where we saw both Twilight and Midnight talking to this green stallion with brown mane and was wearing a broken saddle of some kind. He looked hurt.

"Hey are you guys okay? You seem...." Before Midnight could finish asking all I could do was give him a glare that said (None of your business.) and he coughed in response.

"What happened?" Was all I could ask.

"My research facility was attacked two hours ago by a group of stallions that looked like they were apart of some cult," He said. I noticed all the wounds on him and what he said wasn't lie. "Oh where are my manners the names Techorse."

"Techorse was an old college friend of mine when I was living in Canterlot, he's been helping developing an easier way to create an alternative power source similar to the Crystal Empire," Twilight said with a grin. Well what would you expect from an egghead.

"Techorse? Interesting name. My name is Flare Blitz," I introduced myself.

"A pleasure to meet you Techorse, I'm Rarity Ponyville's most fabulous fashion designer," I only rolled my eyes when she said that.

"Do you mind telling us what happened?" I asked.

"Well as Twilight said I have been working on creating an alternative power source that could help improve Equestrian technology. Me, my apprentice and a few others were working on it and we believe we may have found it. Next thing you know six stallions in hoods invaded and destroyed my lab and all of my research. At the very least most of my tech would be back at home in my other lab safe from those creeps," Techorse said as he took a seat on a chair.

"Well you wouldn't be the first," Rarity said.

"Wait were you attacked by them?" He asked with a look of shock.

"Yes three of them attacked us after my welcoming party. But I don't think that will be the end of it, there will be more attacks and I thought that maybe I should stay and help out, before I return home," I said.

"Are you sure Flare?" Midnight asked.

"You've only been here for a day and you were in no shape either. You barely survived that attack and I don't know if you will be able to survive another one like that," Twilight said with concern.

Twilight made a good point, but I was going to stay and help until this whole mess was over.

"Well I say that's very admirable of you Flare~" Rarity said with a cheery tone. A part of me was hoping that she had forgotten what happened earlier.

"Sorry you were saying Techorse?" I asked.

"They said that they were looking for me, probably thought I was more valuable than my blueprints and tech," Techorse stated. "Anyway I need a place to lay low until I can build another lab."

"Well there's the Ponyville Inn, you can stay there?" Midnight suggested with a bit of irritation in his voice. No pony else noticed, well except for me of course.

"No there's plenty of room here at the castle you can stay here as long as you want Tech," Twilight suggested with a grin.

"Well it's still way too early. So I think I'll be heading back to my room to sleep for a bit," I said with a yawn.

"I agree. I'll take Techorse to his room while the rest of you head back to sleep. It's been pretty stressful lately so I don't mind if you sleep in," Twilight said as she left the room with Techorse.

Thank you!

"So what do you think of Techorse?" Rarity asked me.

"I don't know what to think? But I think we can trust him, he seems nice," I said, but Midnight only scuffed as he left the room. "What's his problem?"

"I don't know Flare, but right now I need my beauty sleep and I might take Twilight up on her offer to sleep in," She said as she yawned. I couldn't help but smile in agreement.

Even her yawn is cute.....Wait why did I just think that?

"Well see you in a few hours.......pervert," She said as stuck her tongue out as she trotted out of the room. Why wasn't I surprised that she hasn't forgotten that.

"I'm not......Why do I even bother?" I gave up and began to head to my room and get some rest. I had a feeling this was going to be a long day.