Cleaning Darkness
Chapter 20: The Pod

By: Major Frostwing

I carried Jon to his shop in a hurry. My fellow Princesses along with the elements of harmony followed just as quickly. When we pushed the doors open we were surprised to see how clean the room was compared to every other day when the room was trashed. My eyes locked onto the car as I seized it in my magic tossing it into a wall with no regard to the vehicle. Once the vehicle was removed a section of the floor began to glow before slamming down into a set of stairs. I looked down at Jon in my arms before moving down the stairs carefully.

"Princess what is this room?" I heard Aura asked as she carried Dash on her back.

"I do not know. I have never seen this before." Nova answered as she looked at the craftsmanship of the hallway. "Jon must have spent a great deal of time building this... But when did he start?" She asked confused.

"I would have to say Jon started construction as soon as he got here. This looks exactly like the laboratory he used in Canterlot." I said as the stairway opened into a large amphitheater.

"I would guess that what Jon put in his workshop is what he deemed safe to be found and everything else..." Luna looked at all of the blackboards with crazed writing all about them along with papers strewn across multiple tables. "He kept down here." Luna moved over to one of the blackboards looking it over with a critical eye.

"This is amazing." Twilight whispered as she moved over to a desk looking over the papers.

"Girls we don't have time. Find the pod he mentioned." I ordered as everyone turned their attention to me nodding.

It didn't take time to find the pod it was covered by a tarp along with four more machines that were broken or flat out destroyed all except the last two. When we looked closer we saw signs of more machines to be built. We looked at the M.H.A.S. that stood before us but there were large cables running from it to a large covered object. I seized the tarp pulling it off to reveal a giant crystal glowing with dark magic.

"We don't have time to question all of this we have to hurry." I said as the machine opened giving off a gentle purple light as I set Jon in the pod. The door closed as the machine powered on slowly giving off a menacing darkness that obscured our view of Jon.

"How long should the machine take Celestia?" Twilight asked as I looked to the pod seeing a timer start making my eyes widen in shock.

"It says 3 years 5 months 22 days 6 hours and 12 minutes. He is going to be stuck in this machine for so long." I said as the girls looked to the pod sadly. I moved to one of the last intact machines looking it over to see a name carved into the lid. "Atmospheric Latency Induction Collection Operating Reconstruction Network MK 4." I name at the object carefully before it all clicked in my mind.

"Girls put Dash into this machine. I think Jon created these machines to help all of you in case something happened." I said as the girls looked at the machine before nodding their heads. The door of the machine opened only to let out a torrent of white light. We all had to shield our eye before the light died down. Dash was deposited into the pod as the door slid close. The machine began to hum loudly before the light returned ten-fold. We all looked away from the machine as it began to spark and go critical. The machine detonated covering the area in smoke. We all coughed and tried to clear the smoke when the smoke was forced away from us by a large gust of wind. I looked up to see Dash floating in the air wings outstretched and an ethereal white glow surrounding her. I was in shock as I saw a horn resting on her forehead.

Dash landed with a light tap as she stumbled slightly holding her head. "Ow fuck... What happened?" Dash asked as she looked up to see all of us looking at her in shock. "What? Did we win? Did Jon beat Shackle?" She asked as I walked forward looking her over carefully. "Princess Celestia is something wrong?" I reached up poking Dash's horn as she winced backing up. "What the hell was that for?" She asked as she raised her hands up to her forehead only to feel the horn. She tapped it a few times before she began to hyperventilate. "Princess what happened? WHY DO I HAVE A HORN!?" I let out a light chuckle smiling.

"Jon you crazed fool you found a way to make an alicorn just to save the girls if something were to happen." I told myself as I looked to his pod before turning to Dash who was still freaking out. "Breathe Dash. You are now an alicorn. Jon created a machine that would help save you in case something went wrong. The machine turned you into an alicorn be infusing you with pure harmony magic. It will take time to adjust to but you should be fine. Jon on the other hand..." Dash whipped around staring at the other machine still running as she went to run to it as I caught her hand. "Jon is fine. The machine is helping him recover his magic. He needs time before he can come back so please be patient.." I said as she stopped struggling looking at the machine sadly.

"How long will he be in there Princess?" She asked as I let out a sad sigh.

"Not to long for us. Only three and a half years. He will be alright Dash now come with us we have much to talk about." She nodded sadly as we all made out way out of the laboratory.

Author's Note

I lied I need to tie up some loose ends before the Epilogue so enjoy. And yes the name of the machine is A.L.I.C.O.R.N. so yea.