Chapter Two

Awakening

The shining buildings of the Crystal Empire passed me by as our taxi rolled through the streets on our way to the Crystal Love Laboratories and Research Center. It had been three months since our discovery of the frozen Bicorn and the casualties of fighting that magical construct. After the fight, I sent our report of the incident and discovery to Her Majesty, as well as requesting additional security if we were to continue the dig. Her Majesty and council had decided it would be best to hide the real cause of death for our casualties and instead claim they died in an excavation accident when we were removing ice from the ruins. I am not sure exactly why they would choose to hide the truth of their deaths, but I assume it had something to do with not wanting to cause a panic or to hide the fact of how advanced these Bicorns were to dissuade espionage. Whatever the case, they had approved our request for additional security and sent two squads of the royal guard to the excavation site, and after the initial shock of losing some of our team members, we began to excavate the frozen Bicorn we had found buried under the ice. It wasn’t easy, but we finally managed to extract the Bicorn from the ice after two months and sent him to the research center for further examination. We had made several other discoveries further in the ruins during the extraction of the Bicorn, including some kind of door blocked by a magical energy field we have yet to figure out how to get past or deactivate, but that does not matter right now as I was on my way to assist Doctor Glow Hooves with the frozen Bicorn. The professors and researchers at the laboratories want to thaw the bicorn out of the ice in a controlled environment to better examine it as well as take hair and blood samples for further experiments, and since many of them are busy with our other findings from the ruins, they are a bit short hoofed and asked for my assistance with the examination. I agreed to help, if only to get away from the extreme cold I have had to endure these past few months. I cannot even begin to tell you how much I wanted to take a hot bath and defrost for several hours, which I plan to do immediately after the examination. The taxi finally came to a stop outside the gatehouse entrance to the research center, where my escort was waiting. I paid my fare to the taxi pony and followed my escort towards a large building on the far-right side of the dome. As we approached the front entrance of the building, I saw Paper Record waiting by the door. “Hey, Sandy, about time you got here. I’ve been waiting for a while, you know. I'll show her the rest of the way from here.” He waved the escorting guard away before opening the door for me.

“It's good to see you again, Paper. I'm glad the incident didn’t scare you off completely.” He had transferred back to the research center shortly after we halted the dig to give our report to the princess.

“It’ll take more than some ancient robot thing to scare me away from the discovery of a lifetime.” He chuckled. “Although I'll admit I'm glad they accepted my proposal to help catalog our findings here, even if it means working alongside Mr. Smokey, still, it's better than staying in those frozen ruins. My body doesn’t appreciate extreme cold very much.”

“Agreed, I'm glad to be out of the cold as well. I can't wait to be finished with this examination so I can take a very long hot bath!” He smiled as we walked down the corridors toward the lab they had set up at the far end of the complex. “I'm not sure why they need my help with it though I'm not exactly a mortician, but I am glad they gave me an excuse to be back here.”

“You're quite welcome for that, Sandy. You see, they needed an extra hoof to write down their observations while they concentrated on removing the ice from the Bicorn without damaging it. And since everypony is so busy with our other findings, I suggested you'd be glad to help since you’ve hit a snag in the excavation with that door you found, and since you’ve spent quite a bit of time in the ruins, you may add some helpful insight to the examination.”

“I could kiss you for that.” I joked as we came to the end of the corridor, where a large double door with frosted glass panes awaited us. I could see the icy air from the magical temperature-controlled room bleeding through the bottom of the door.

“I’d prefer you didn't. I doubt my wife would find that very amusing. Anyways here we are. Doctor Glow Hooves is waiting inside, getting prepped for the examination. I need to return to my own little project, but it was good seeing you again. We will have to catch up another time."

“Likewise, see you later.” We both waved our goodbyes, and after he had disappeared around the corner, I turned my attention back to the frosted doors. “Great back into the cold I suppose,” I mumbled to myself as I pushed open the cold door and stepped through. I entered a semi-large circular room with high ice-covered ceilings and walls where several unicorns and a lone pegasus were moving about the room, all busy with their assigned tasks. Some were moving equipment around between the various tables that dotted the room, others under the direction of the pegasus were casting ice magic to keep the room's temperature under perfect control, and there in the center was our greatest discovery from the ruins thus far. The frozen bicorn was perched in the center like a silent sentinel towering over the unicorns attending its frozen tomb. It was still encased in the thick ice from when we pulled it out of the ruins, and as such, we still could not get a particularly good look at it save for its massive blurry outline within the ice. An incredibly old-looking unicorn, probably in his early eighties, was overlooking the frozen bicorn. He had a very wavy metallic orange-looking shortcut mane and bushy tail with bronze spectacles over his dull reddish eyes. He was giving directions to the unicorns attending the bicorn before he noticed me looking around the room.

“Ah, you must be Sandy Digs, correct?” He waved me over after dismissing a few of the attendants. “Did Mr. Record fill you in with what you’ll be doing?”

“More or less, he said I'm supposed to help with your observations Dr. Glow hooves I presume.” I joined him over by the frozen bicorn and shook his hoof.

“Quite so, simply put, you are to write down everything I say once we begin with the observations of the subject.” He adjusted his spectacles. “And before you ask why we needed assistance with this, even with the other members of my team here. It is because they will be busy with maintaining the climate here as we slowly thaw the subject. We need to be slow and methodical with it so we do not cause any damage during the thawing process. And I, of course, will be doing the examination, and it's much easier for me to say my observations aloud and somepony writing them for me so I can continue without pause.”

“Understood, Dr. Hooves. I’m ready to begin whenever you are.”

“This will be a lengthy process so stand by with the notebooks over on the table there.” He pointed his hoof to the table behind me to the right. “I'll be making observations as we slowly melt the ice and more features of the subject become apparent. Be sure to write down what I say word for word understand?” I nodded my head in acknowledgment. “Good, let's begin, everypony to your assigned positions, we will now begin thawing the bicorn subject.”

Slow and methodical was right; they stopped every four minutes of the thawing to readjust the temperatures. It took nearly three hours before enough of the ice melted away for the bicorn to be seen more clearly within the ice, and wow, was the long wait worth it. “Alright, Sandy, I'm going to begin my observations at this juncture. Be ready.” I quickly opened one of the notebooks and put the quill in my mouth, and began writing. “This is Dr. Glow Hooves of the Crystal Love Laboratories and Research Center beginning my observations of the frozen bicorn that was recovered in the frozen lake within the ruins. Three hours have passed since the start of the thawing process, though we still have a way to go until enough of the ice has melted away that we can begin seeing the features of the subject. Even through the ice, it's quite apparent the bicorn is much bigger than an average pony and even bigger than an alicorn. I'd estimate the bicorn stands quite a head taller than Her Majesty Princess Celestia and easily twice, no, perhaps three times as wide. The bicorn also appears to be in full armor although the ice is still too much to properly make out the details of it. That will do it for now Sandy, we will now continue the thawing process.” Two more hours had passed, and finally, most of the ice had melted away, revealing the right side of the Bicorn's head and upper body, though the left side and lower body were still encased in ice. We could see most of its upper features now. “This is Dr. Glow Hooves continuing my observations on the frozen bicorn. We are now five hours into the thawing, and we have finally melted most of the ice to see the subjects' head and upper torso features. Its right side of the face is now completely exposed though we still cannot make out much of its real face due to the helmet it wears. It does appear to be very equine in nature save for the two forward-facing goat-like or perhaps dragon-like horns, indicating it is capable of magic. As for the helmet and armor itself, it's very eerie in its appearance and seems to have damage from many battles covering it. Battles against what exactly, I cannot say, but if their architecture is any indication of how well adept the Bicorn's craftsmanship is, I would wager this armor is incredibly strong and durable. The helmet resembles an almost canine-like skull with elongated fangs shaped like daggers and strange saw-like teeth towards the back. Its neck is fully plated with talon protrusions holding the armor in place along the sides. The body is also covered in full plate armor over what appears to be chainmail and has strange blue gemstones resembling eyes that cover the chest and body armor. The legs are protected by plates that sit just below the knee and end in small claws just above the horseshoe. One thing I forgot to mention is the entire armor is made of a blackish almost obsidian-colored metal with a dull silver for the chainmail. We do not know exactly what this metal is, but it is safe to assume it's unlike anything we currently have. After our examinations are done and we remove its armor to better examine the bicorn and take blood samples we will be sure to test the metals properties thoroughly.” The doctor walked behind the bicorn. “It's hard to tell because of the armor, but due to the size and apparent muscle mass, I believe this bicorn is a male of the species.”

“Helloooooo everypony!!!!” We all stopped in surprise and looked at the source of the very high-pitched voice which was of a flamboyant unicorn stallion barreling through the doors. He was noticeably young by the looks of it, maybe early twenties; he had a white milky coat with a vibrant bubblegum pink mane done up with a green bow; the sparkling stickers on his face just below his cyan eyes shimmered in the lights of the room as he carried a large tray full of drinks in his magic. “I brought your coffeeeeeee!!!!” He sang in his high-pitched voice, which caused a part of the icy wall to crack.

“Damn it, Sparkle Glam, how many times have I told you when you enter during a delicate operation? Do so QUIETLY!!!!” The Doctor yelled at the flamboyant stallion. “Do so again, and I’ll ensure you're fired regardless of your family ties to the director. Do you understand me?”

“Sorry, doctor. I'll try to be more careful.” He lowered his head in remorse for a split second before popping back up with his energetic, high-pitched voice. Now, who wants coffee? They have whipped cream and sprinklesss!!!” He yelled; the poor doctor looked like he was about to have an aneurysm.

“Maybe we should take a break, doctor, and go over the notes I took to make sure they're accurate? We have been at this for several hours. It might be good to take a breather,” I suggested to the agitated doctor.

“Fine, we’ll take a fifteen-minute break, then it's back to the thawing process, understood?”

“Yes, doctor.” Several of the unicorns said in almost perfect unison as the others just nodded their heads in agreement. We all stepped towards the flamboyant unicorn to take a coffee, except for the doctor, who was looking at the notes I took. As I reached out to take a coffee, Glam gasped and dropped the tray, spilling the remaining hot brown liquid all over the icy floor. Before I could say anything, the doctor yelled in rage at him, calling him quite a colorful array of names and saying that he was going straight to the director to have him removed immediately. I noticed how Glam's eyes were wide with fear and staring not at the doctor but something past him. I followed his gaze as the doctor continued his verbal rampage and saw what had Glam so spooked just behind the doctor, his face still half frozen in the ice was a slitted radiant golden eye with pure black sclera staring right at us.

“How dare you ignore me, Glam, you don’t deser-”

“DOCTOR!!!!” I screamed, pointing behind him with my hoof.

He turned around and saw what everypony was now looking at. The bicorn's golden eye focused on the doctor who had ceased his verbal assault of Glam to gaze at the now apparent still living bicorn. “By the goddess’s, it's still alive.” He whispered in non-belief as he started backing away from the large, mostly frozen bicorn. Then, to all our surprise, the exposed horn started glowing a deathly black color, and, in an instant, a black shock wave erupted from the bicorn, shattering the ice from himself and expanding outward, knocking us and everything away from him. As I flew back, I heard the ice from the walls and ceiling shattering like glass around me as I landed on top of another pony. My vision was blurry, and my head hurt from the impact. I tried to stand up, but my legs were too wobbly from the force, and I fell back down instead; I tried to focus my vision, and after a few moments, I was greeted by the sight of a massive, armored hoof just in front of me I looked up into the eyes of the bicorn and noticed that his left eye did not match the other. Like the golden eye, this one had pure black sclera and was slitted but was a deep moonlight silver, he was staring down at me. I couldn't read his expression because of his helmet but my whole body screamed that I was in danger, and I needed to get away. Before I was able to try and haul myself up onto my hooves and run, the bicorn spoke his voice was deep and powerful.

“𐌸𐍉𐌿𐍂 c𐍉𐌼𐌹𐌽𐌲 𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌷 𐌼𐌴 𐌻𐌹𐍄𐍄𐌻𐌴 c𐍂𐌴𐌰𐍄𐌿𐍂𐌴 𐌸𐍉𐌿𐌻𐌻 𐌱𐌴 𐌿𐍃𐌴𐍆𐌿𐌻 𐌹𐌽 𐍀𐍂𐍉𐍈𐌹𐌳𐌹𐌽𐌲 𐌹𐌽𐍆𐍉𐍂𐌼𐌰𐍄𐌹𐍉𐌽 𐍄𐍉 𐌼𐌴 𐍅𐌷𐌴𐍄𐌷𐌴𐍂 𐌸𐍉𐌿 𐍅𐌰𐌽𐍄 𐍄𐍉 𐍉𐍂 𐌽𐍉𐍄.”

My body would not move I felt cold and heavy like a great weight was holding me in place. I could hear voices and sounds that I did not recognize I tried to open my eyes and found that my left eye would not move at all but with significant effort, I was able to open my right eye. It took a moment to focus my vision, but when it did, I saw a strange, icy room filled with strange, tiny-looking creatures that resembled my kin but were wrong. Apart from their small stature, some had only a singular horn adorning their heads. One other had strange feathery wings like a bird, and some had neither wings nor horns. What is this place, and how did I get here? The last thing I remember is that I was leading the defense at the Winterburn Gates against The Maw. The battle had begun, and then... Wait something's wrong I cannot remember anything after the battle had started it is like there are memories that were removed or purposely blocked in my mind. The only being left strong enough to do that to me would have been my father but how and why would he have done so? Irrelevant, right now, my priority is to escape this place and these creatures. Afterward, I will return to the capital and ask my father about it. I looked around again and saw a faint reflection in the icy wall and saw that most of my body had been encased in ice by the look of it. There were also several tables around the room filled with what seemed like laboratory equipment, but as I looked around at my surroundings, I heard a loud crash that drew my gaze toward the group of creatures and saw that one had dropped a tray of what I assumed to be refreshments of some kind and was staring in fear at me. Damn, he must have noticed me peering around at the surroundings. I will need to deal with these creatures quickly. As I thought of which spell to use to escape another of the one-horned creatures who looked close to the end of its life cycle that was near me exploded into anger at the other who had dropped the tray. I focused on the angry little creature as it yelled at the other in hopes that I would recognize their language or accent and get a clue as to where I was, but it was unlike any I had heard before. Strange that bears investigation at a later time of course, right now it is time to escape, I decided to use a low-powered radial pulse it should be adequate to free me from this ice and stun the creatures. As I was about to use the spell, another of the creatures pointed at me, which caused them to turn their attention towards me, including the fleeting one that was near me. His eyes locked with mine and went wide with disbelief and fear; he said something in a faint voice as he backed away that I could not understand. I cast my spell before they could react. The pulse radiated from my horns, freeing me from my frozen restraints and shattering the ice from the walls and ceiling as the creatures flew back against them. I stepped towards them as I shook off the remaining ice from my body. I will need to do a proper system check of my armor once I am in the clear, but for now, my automap function seemed to be working as several locational names I did not know popped up. The Crystal Empire? Impossible there are no other empires besides the imperium, not even before the Great Maw broke containment. I will worry about that later; however, I approached the collapsed creatures as one of them tried to stand up I should take one of them with me for questioning if these creatures have survived on their own against the Maw, they could have valuable intel the imperium could use. The one who had attempted to get up fell back onto its stomach. It was one of the younger hornless and wingless ones. Its coat was a light brown color, and it had a yellow mane and was wearing a strange hat. Its pink eyes stared into my own with fear. “You're coming with me, little creature. You'll be useful in providing information to me whether you want to or not.” The frightened creature said something in response with a trembling voice, but I could not understand it. I focused my magic and cast a sleep and paralysis spell to subdue it. Its eyes went wide at first before closing into a deep sleep and going rigid on its side. I lifted the creature onto my back and secured it with magical binds. As I finished securing the creature onto my back, a few of the others had regained their balance and were fleeing the room yelling, raising an alarm, I would guess. Time to move...

I went through the now shattered door and followed my Automaps mini display at the corner of my vision towards what I believed to be the exit. The hallways were narrow and a bit cramped for my liking, but that was to be expected from these small creatures. I continued down a few of the hallways before I heard voices and hoofsteps coming from around the corner. I decided to slip into a nearby room and let them pass, and I was met with the sight of several tables filled with bicorn tomes, reports, and fragments of one of our Mark II Magitech combat sentries. I walked around the tables and studied the contents of them and found dozens of notes and documents written in what I assume to be the creature's language. They seem to be studying our technology and gathering information on us. I picked up one of the imperial missives that were supposed to have been bound for the capital. How could these creatures have intercepted them in such a brief time? Somethings not right here regardless as per imperial directive seven-one-six-three I cannot allow these creatures to keep possession of stolen imperial intel and tech. Until more is known about these creatures, I will follow imperial doctrine and carry out my duty and destroy this facility and treat them as enemies. “You're lucky, my little unconscious passenger, had I known your fellows were in possession of stolen imperial intelligence. I would have not shown mercy after freeing myself from that icy prison. However, now I must purge this facility to deny your kind's potential threat to the imperium and to punish you for interfering with the defensive effort against the Maw. Lucky you to be spared from this purge as your potential to provide me information has extended your life and usefulness for now.” I turned back towards the door, where the voices I heard moments ago sounded much closer than before. “Now, let us begin.” I kicked the door, sundering it from its hinges and sending it flying and smashing into two of the creatures who were trotting by. The force crushing them against the opposing wall, their blood running down and pooling underneath the splintered door as I emerged into the hallway to the terror-ridden faces of three other creatures wearing extremely poor thought-out armor and brandishing small spears. Before they could react, I lifted two into the air with my magic and smashed them into each other with tremendous force before dropping their shattered bodies; the third creature screamed in terror and dropped its spear as it turned to flee. I grabbed it and the spear in my magic and brought them closer to me. The creature was shaking like mad, trying to get away as it was crying, no doubt pleading for its life. I held the creature and brought it to meet my gaze. “Disgraceful, what kind of warrior drops its weapon and flees in terror when faced with an enemy? Does avenging and honoring your fallen not matter to you? What about your pride as a warrior?” The creature ignored my words and kept thrashing and desperately begging for its life. “Hmph, even if you cannot understand me, know that I show no mercy to my enemies, especially to cowards who run when faced with death.” I took the creature's spear and rammed it into the floor so the point was facing upwards before lifting the creature and impaling it through the chest up into its bottom jaw, stopping just shy of entering its brain. “Stay there and rot, coward, as you die slowly and painfully choking on your own blood for your dishonorable action,” I said as I walked past the gurgling creature. This structure is made from weak and burnable materials. I should find a centralized location and use a crimson lightning spell to decimate the entire facility at once. I brought up my automap and marked a path that led to a large dome-shaped building that seemed to be at the center of the facility.

As I made my way toward the domed building, I began a system check of my armor. Phazon shields were disabled due to a drained power core, as was my ARK scanner; both war blades were missing from my front hooves, and void communications were operational; however, there was no reply on any channel, including emergency and royal lines. My automap and heartbeat sensors were functional but limited in range due to low power. “I’ll need to resupply once I return to the capital and make my report of these creatures.” As I continued my path through the corridors, my HB sensor detected seven of the creatures heading towards me from around the next corner. I readied an area of effect implosion spell and cast it as they turned the corner towards me, immediately five of the creatures in the radius were sucked together; their bones and bodies snapped and twisted together as they contorted into a ball of flesh, screaming in agony before exploding into a pile of gore, the blast sending their blood and bone fragments painting the walls and the remaining two creatures in the gooey mess of their comrades. They stood frozen as they gazed at the flesh and blood covering their hooves and faces. Pitiful, it's like these creatures have never seen blood or death before. Just what kind of warriors are these supposed to be? They did not even move as I approached them; they just kept staring at the gore as I took one of their spears from them and secured it on my back alongside my passenger. I didn’t even bother killing them as I walked past through the gore leaving bloody hoofprints in my wake. Their fragile minds seemed to be broken from a little death. Besides, they will not escape my crimson lightning regardless. “These creatures seem so weak it's astounding to think they’ve survived this long on their own against The Maw,” I said to myself as I neared a large double door that led into the domed building. My HB detected numerous life signs on the other side, at least thirty or forty of them. I kicked the double door, breaking it from its hinges, and entered the dome to the sight of several dozen of the creatures in some kind of assembly, all staring at me in disbelief as I made my entrance. The dome was decently large with rows of seats stretching all along the walls on both sides with a raised platform in the center made of a crystal-looking material. As I walked towards them, I noticed that these ones were not warriors but rather seemed to be more researchers judging by their white lab coats and some carrying clipboards. Most of the creatures’ eyes were wide, not with fear but curiosity, as I approached their little meeting. Suddenly one of the creatures stepped forward with a concerned expression: it was elderly looking with violet eyes behind golden glasses with a red mane. It pointed to the one upon my back that I had taken prisoner and said something that I could not understand, then it pointed to itself and started making strange gestures with its hooves. How curious was it trying to communicate with me? Then it spoke slowly in an awfully bad and broken bicorn accent.

“Me...am...Papers...why...take...friend...we...no...harm...you?” How amusing this creature was trying to speak to me. Too bad its life was about to be forfeited, but I'll indulge it for a moment before casting my spell.

“Harm or no, you creatures are in violation of imperial law, and as per directive seven-one-six-three, you and all stolen imperial assets are to be purged immediately to prevent a possible threat to the imperium and intel being leaked to the great enemy. I have taken this one prisoner to be interrogated upon my return to the capital and to be evaluated by the mendicants for possible contamination immunities to the Maw to better explain how you’ve survived outside imperial jurisdiction.” The creature looked completely dumbfounded by my words. It said something back to the others, who began whispering and talking to each other in hushed voices.

“We...don't...understand...medicals...imperial...jaws...contaminate...enemy?” Its translation and understanding did not seem to be quite accurate, not that it matters they will all be dead in a moment anyway. As I moved more towards the raised platform in the center of the room the creatures backed up a little from me.

“It matters not, little creature. As Primarch of the imperial army, I will perform my duty and purge this place. Rejoice, as I will ensure your fragile flesh and knowledge are not taken by the Maw,” I said as I stepped upon the platform. The creature said something again to the others as they all looked up at me, continuing with their whisperings.

“What...is...Primarch...cleansing...and...you...name? The creature asked as one of the others finally noticed the bloody hoofprints that I was leaving behind and, with his widened eyes, pointed it out to the others. They immediately stopped with their hushed talking, and all looked to what he was pointing at their eyes now, going wide with fear and confusion as the one calling himself Papers slowly turned back to face me with a panicked expression. My horns began to glow with increased intensity and a reddish underglow.

“My name is Tenebrae Draconis Moonfallen as crown prince and Primarch of the mighty Bicorn Imperium I hereby sentence you and your fellows to death! May you find peace and forgiveness in the eyes of our holy god-emperor as I incinerate your flesh and return your mortal souls unto the abyss.” The creatures started to flee as I unleashed my spell, the deep red lightning bolt striking through the roof of the dome, filling the sky above with a dark and sinister-looking cloud filled with blinding crimson lights, scattering throughout the dark cloud before expanding outward, encompassing the entire facility and several hundred yards beyond. Some of the creatures ran in a panic others stood still while staring in awe at the sight of the blackened cloud with crimson bolts darting within. I cast my shield spell over myself and my captive as the entire sky flashed with a blood-red color before dozens of the massive bolts struck their targets below, followed by a deafening roar of energy, the bolts instantly vaporizing everything they struck. Flesh, wood, stone, grass, and metal were first illuminated by crimson death, followed by his grand chariot, then there was nothing but blackened ash and dust. I lowered my shield spell after the effect had ended and stepped off the platform into the familiar silence around me, my spell had devastated the surrounding area of the facility nothing but a scorched plain filled with the ashen silhouettes of the creatures that had either tried to flee or had stood in awe at the spectacle. The wind would occasionally blow, erasing a few of the silhouettes as their ashes were carried away. I gazed upon the gleaming city of crystal that lay beyond that scorched field. “Remarkable; perhaps these creatures were more capable than I originally thought. They must have defenses in place against the Maw to allow them the time to build such grand structures.” I said as I took a moment to appreciate the creatures' architectural skills course, they still paled in comparison to our own mastery, but it was impressive nonetheless. Then, the silence was broken as I walked through the ash toward what I assumed to be the courtyard, judging by the black remains of what looked to be a fountain. I heard many cries and screams in the distance. No doubt, the initial shock had worn off from those who had observed the spell effect outside of the target area and were now coming here to investigate what had happened. “I need to leave quickly before I'm seen. I'd rather not have to carve my way through the populace of this place.” I noticed a melted circular object that was poking out from the scorched ashen floor in front of the fountain area. I wiped away the ash and found the warped remains of a metal disk that looked similar to a sewer access hole that was commonplace before the Great War. I tore the melted cover off and confirmed my suspicions that, indeed, it was a sewer access, as it was evident by the smell and the small shaft that led down. “This will suffice, I suppose.” However, the opening was too small for me to fit through, especially with my armor, so I reared up on my hind legs and brought down my front hooves on the edges of the opening, smashing it wide enough to barely squeeze through. I removed the magical binds on my captive and lifted them from my back with magic, and lowered them after me as I squeezed through the opening. After I was through, I re-secured the captive upon my back and used magic to repair the wide hole I created to fit through and placed the melted cover back over it. I began walking through the muck, following my automap towards what seemed to be an exit outside this Crystal Empire's city limits.

I came to the drainage exit after about an hour of walking through the sewers and kicked open the grate that was covering it, and emerged into a familiar frozen and snowy area. I gazed back behind me and saw the crystal city far in the distance, barely shining through the snow. “Interesting, they must use a special barrier to keep the weather out; perhaps that same barrier is what keeps the Maw at bay. Either way, I need to return to the capital as quickly as possible and report to my father. I hope my absence from the Gate hasn’t compromised our defense efforts.” I walked for several hours through the deep snow following my automap, but it was odd the nearest imperial locations I had on my map were no longer there upon my arrival. Not that they had fallen to the Maw or had been destroyed but seemed to have completely disappeared as there was no trace of their existence at all I found nothing but ice and snow, more over it seemed that the entire topography had changed somehow. According to my map, I should have been on the main northbound Silver-Speaks trade road passing through an imperial observation post, but again, there was nothing but ice and snow covering an unfamiliar landscape. The more I thought about it, the stranger everything was that Crystal City was easily in imperial territory and barely off the main imperial roads, not to mention it seemed to be fairly large with possibly several hundred thousand living in that city; there is no way we would never have seen it especially with our long-range sensors and airships constantly patrolling the area. And what's stranger still is the fact that even though it is clearly a large city, the Maw was nowhere to be seen. Even if they could not get in through that barrier, they should have been swarming on the outside as they were drawn to large gatherings of life. None of this makes sense. Something is very wrong with all of this. However, it was starting to get dark. I should find shelter and have a nice long chat with my passenger. I hiked through the snow for about another hour before I spotted an area underneath an overhanging cliff that would provide adequate shelter from the constant snow. After clearing a small area underneath and using the snow to create a small wind block, I unloaded my captive and set to building a fire from some of the frozen twigs and debris I had found when clearing the area. I ended up using that flimsy spear I had taken as kindling after breaking it apart and finally got the fire going. I decided it was time to interrogate the creature. I made sure its hooves were still bound in my magic before using another spell to wake it up. After a few minutes, it started to stir, and groggily sat up with a little effort. It tried to rub its eyes and found its limbs restrained. The creature looked around in confusion for a few moments before its gaze settled on me. Its eyes went wide, and it tried to back away from me and fell into the cold snow with its ass. The creature jumped in surprise at the sudden coldness and ended up tripping on its own hooves since they were still bound and went tumbling into the snow further. It was quite amusing to watch, but I did not wake it up for entertainment. I grabbed the creature in my magic and lifted its shivering body as it complained about the cold, I assumed, and placed it next to the fire, much to its relief. It said something to me as a thank you, I’d guess, but I wasn’t sure. I need to learn these creatures’ language as quickly as possible if I am to be successful in acquiring intel from it. I pointed to the fire and made gestures with my hooves, indicating I wanted it to speak and say what it was. It was confused at first, but after a few minutes of me pointing to the fire and making speaking gestures, I think it caught on to what I wanted it to do.

“Fire? That is Fire.” It said and I mimicked the movements quietly with the way its mouth and vocal cords seemed to move when it spoke. I pointed to the snow and made the same gesture. “Snow.” Then I pointed to the pile of sticks I had near the fire. “Stick or sticks?” Good, it understands what I’m doing. I continued to point at different things in the surrounding area, each time mimicking the movement its vocal cords made. After pointing to several things like rocks, cliffs, clouds, etc., for about an hour of listening and mouthing the words and mimicking the sounds, I started to get a grasp on the language. Their alphabet was rather simple compared to our own, which in this situation was rather fortunate for me, so I finally pointed to the creature itself. “My name is Sandy Digs.”

“Sandy Digs? Name of self or species?” I asked as I put a few more sticks onto the fire.

“That’s my name. Our species are typically referred to as ponies, but there are a few subspecies. I myself am what’s called an earth pony, and I’m a mare, in case you were wondering. It’s remarkable that you're able to understand me in such a short time; how did you do that?” A mare, huh? That means it is a female of their species since we have a similar word. She looked both curious and impressed at how quickly I picked up their language.

“I listened.”

“You listened? That’s it? How does that work?” She was confused by my response.

“I listened to the sounds you made and observed how your vocal cords and mouth moved when you spoke and mimicked it with my own cords. It is the reason I had you repeat certain words by pointing to them again, like the fire, for example. Your language is much simpler than our own, so it was not that difficult to figure out after focusing on it for a bit. Course I will still need practice in reading and writing your language but being able to converse will do for now.”

“What an incredible skill you have, now if you don’t mind me asking what is your name? And why am I tied up and in the middle of the frozen wastes? What happened at the Crystal Love Laboratories after you put me to sleep?"

“You may call me Tenebrae. As for your other questions, I took you captive and brought you with me after following imperial directive seven-one-six-three. We are currently inbound to the imperial capital, where you will be questioned and interrogated thoroughly, after which we will hold a council meeting with the God-Emperor and decide the fate of you ponies for both trespassing and building a large settlement within our borders as well as stealing imperial technology, intel, and obstructing defensive efforts against the Maw.” Sandy looked absolutely confused and stunned by my words.

“Umm, I’m sorry, Tenebrae, but I don’t understand who is the God-Emperor? What do you mean by obstructing defense efforts against the Maw? The only settlement other than the yak tribes that has ever been up here is The Crystal Empire which has been here for an exceptionally long time. Well, it did disappear for a thousand years, thanks to King Sombra, but it has been back for a few years now after the princess and her friends defeated him. And we did not steal anything, we excavated it out of some ruins that were discovered a few months ago which is where we found you by the way.” Now it was my turn to be confused.

“What are you talking about? How could you not know our holy God-Emperor, for his mighty Imperium spreads from the northern ghost seas all the way to the southern poles of Agmar? We control more than half of the globe's trade routes, and our vast military might is the only thing that has kept the great enemy at bay for over ten thousand years! We have sacrificed everything in the defense against their onslaught, and for you to have the gull to disrespect him and deny your kind has been stealing from us is appalling. What is worse is you lying about excavating the stolen imperial property and making up a wild story about whatever the fuck yaks were and that there is another empire within our own. No other empire has ever existed before our imperium, little pony!” My anger was apparent as Sandy shrunk back in terror while I loomed over her with accusing eyes.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you or the bicorn's imperium in any way; it’s just that….”

“Just what!” I yelled at her. She took a deep breath and gulped before answering.

“I don’t know how to say this exactly as you wouldn’t know since you were frozen, but the bicorn imperium doesn’t exist anymore it hasn’t for over thirty-five thousand years. In fact, we did not even know bicorns were a thing up until a few months ago no creature did. We had discovered a previously unknown ruins buried underneath the snow that was revealed after an intense storm caused an avalanche. And I wasn’t lying about excavating the things you think we stole because I was the expedition leader to the ruins; I was the one who found you encased in the ice after we lost a few of our team to one of your sentries that was partially frozen.” I was at a complete loss for what she had said.

“Impossible, that's not true, it can’t be!” I said in disbelief as I stepped back from her.

“I’m sorry, Tenebrae, but it’s the truth.” I sat down next to the fire and took a deep breath. I did not want to believe it, but the more I thought about the situation and what had happened after I broke free from the ice, the more it made sense and explained everything I had encountered thus far. And this pony, Sandy Digs, had no reason to lie to me and seemed to be telling the truth.

“How and why could this have happened?” I sat staring at the fire while processing everything in my mind. The imperium, my home, everything I fought for, was just gone, and according to Sandy, no one even remembers us. I do not know how long I stared into the fire before Sandy finally broke the silence.

“Are you okay?” I looked at her with squinted eyes.

“Would you be okay if you dedicated ten thousand years of your life defending your people and your home from genocidal monsters to suddenly wake up the next day with no memory of what happened and find that everything was gone? That your people and home no longer exist? That the world has forgotten them and everything that we sacrificed to keep it safe? To wake up in a completely different world with everyone, you knew to be gone and not even know the reason?” She looked down at her bound hooves.

“No, I wouldn’t be sorry. That was a stupid question.” After a few minutes of collecting my thoughts, I finally asked.

“Were there any others besides me?"

“No, we didn’t find any other bicorns actually…” I looked at her with interest.

“Actually, what?”

“Well, I thought it was very strange when we were exploring the ruins, but we didn’t find any trace of any others. There were no bodies or skeletons of any kind, not even of small animals; it felt completely empty in that regard.” No bodies or skeletons? That is very concerning considering what our enemy was.

“And what of the Maw? How was it defeated?" She looked at me with that now familiar confusion in her eyes.

“You keep mentioning this Maw and a great war, but I have no idea what you’re referring to. Equestria has been at peace for well over a thousand years. And backing up a little to what you said before about fighting for ten thousand years, are you saying that is how old you are or how long that great war lasted?" I ignored her question and thought about how impossible this all seemed like how she could not know of the Maw, it was the greatest threat to all life upon this world. Nearly seventy-eight percent of the world and its populace had been consumed at the time we pulled our forces back to the Winterburn Gates. If we had lost, there should not be any life left, seeing as we were the only nation with the strength to fight against the Maw. Something is not right about any of this. There were too many questions unanswered and strange events that didn’t seem to add up. I needed to find answers about what had happened to my people and why my memories seemed to be removed about the events following our defense at the Winterburn Gates.

“Sandy Digs, If I release your binds, will you lead me to these ruins you said I was found in? I need to see it for myself.” The pony took a moment to think before answering.

“It’ll take a few weeks to reach the ruins, but yes, I’ll take you there. I remember the way mostly.”

“Excellent,” I said as I removed the binds from her hooves. Over the next few weeks trekking through the snow, I learned more about this modern Equestria from Sandy and about a few of the neighboring kingdoms. I also learned that similar to we Bicorns they too had different variants for certain tasks, The Pegasi were the ones with wings and had control of the weather why they denied the natural mothers blessing I did not know. Unicorns are the single-horned ones and are magical in nature, able to cast spells and the like. Lastly, the Earth Pony they were physically stronger than the others, were more in tune with nature, and were responsible for growing the nation’s food. I also learned that Equestria was ruled by Princess Twilight Sparkle and her Council of Friendship, which I thought was an idiotic name, but if this land is as peaceful as Sandy has said, I guess it made sense. The last thing I learned from Sandy is this Crystal Empire is actually a puppet state of Equestria and is ruled by Twilight’s brother, Shining Armor, and his wife, Princess Cadence. I thought it strange that his wife was a princess and not a queen since she was married to the monarch’s brother, but whatever, perhaps I missed something in translation. We finally arrived at the excavation site just after the sun had set; we were on a snowy ridgeline that sat just above the valley where the ruins were located. I could see that the workers had set up a large encampment to the far-left side, away from the ruins, and that guards were standing near an entrance point to the ruins.

“There it is, we finally made it.” She shivered. “I never even got to take my hot bath before being back here.” She sounded disappointed in that, but I did not care; I had far more important matters at hoof.

“You mentioned a door you and your team haven’t been able to get past and was delaying progress, correct?”

“Yeah, that’s right.” She replied through chattering teeth. I looked again at the familiar Blackstone walls of the Winterburn Gates, even still mostly buried in the snow and ice. I could easily tell that this was one of the way-castles that were located on the outer walls.

“Take me to it.”

“Alright, I’ll be glad to get out of this freezing wind, but what about the guards? I’m still supposed to be at The Crystal Empire, and well, you’re not exactly conspicuous, you know.

“They will not impede us; now, let’s go.” We made our way down the ridge and hugged the Blackstone walls as we made our way towards the guards at the entrance. After a few minutes, we were just behind one of the statues that flanked the entrance with the two guards. They stood on the opposite side of each other, wearing heavy clothing and wielding those same flimsy spears. I did not want to raise any alarm, so I cast a sleep spell on the guards and moved inside with Sandy behind me. Once we were inside, I told Sandy to take the lead and followed her through several of the black halls until we passed through a large door leading into a large, cavernous room. Large icicles hung from the ceiling above a frozen pond that had cranes set up near the ledges. It seemed the ponies had been excavating the pond as several large blocks of ice had been removed and stacked nearby.

“This is where we found you, Tenebrae, frozen underneath the ice after our fight with that sentry I told you about and where we lost Candy and a few of our team.” She gave me a somber look as I approached the edge of the frozen pond. I looked closely at it and the surrounding room, and after a few moments, I recognized this place.

“I know this place. It was a courtyard we used for training and imperial exercises that was located just inside the western wall, but how is it underground now?"

“Well, a month after our initial exploration, one of our team members, Mr. Smokey, hypothesized that a major shift in the continent caused the nearby mountains to move together and buried this place and closed the pathway that had existed. He calculated that would have happened about thirty-five thousand years ago, which is where we got the number for how old the Bicorns were." She said as she joined me on the edge, looking down into the excavated frozen pond.

“I see.” But the question remained: how was I frozen in the first place, and how did I get from the main sector of the southern wall to here? The last thing I remembered was initiating the artillery teams to fire at will, then… AH, my head suddenly started to throb with intense pain when I tried to remember what had happened. I held my head with my armored hoof as I saw brief flashes in between the pain of fighting the horrors of the Maw, dragging wounded soldiers across the wall, and I think I saw a very brief flash of my father looking at me, but I know that cannot be possible as he was in the spire at the time.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay, Tenebrae?” Sandy was staring at me with concern.

“Yes, I’m fine Sandy, just a brief headache trying to remember what happened here.”

“You don’t remember?” She asked with a confused expression.

“No, it seems something is intentionally blocking my memory of what transpired here. Though it was more forceful this time.” I said, shaking my head to refocus. “Let’s continue to the door.”

“Interesting.” I heard her say quietly before we walked around the edge of the pond to the eastern side towards a door that had been frozen over but recently cut through. We walked down several more halls past the barracks section of the wall heading in the direction that I recognized to be the armory. “I’ve been meaning to ask what exactly this Blackstone stuff is made of. None of our tools or spells were able to damage it. Not even explosives left a scratch.”

“It’s mined from the Blacktail Plains in the dragon kingdom of Dragonia. We had a special alliance with the dragon king Felgore and trade agreements for the Blackstone where, after receiving it, we refined it within the grand forges of Morath and reinforced it with magical enchantments to further increase its strength. We mainly used it for construction purposes but in some instances, it was used for the creation of golems for the imperial army.” She stopped in the middle of the hall and looked back at me.

“The dragons had a king? Trade agreements and alliances? The Blackstone is enchanted, and Bicorns made golems from it? Grand forges of Morath? That’s more information than anything we’ve discovered in the four months of being here.” She looked absolutely stunned at what I said.

“How much further to the door?” I asked, breaking her from her thoughts.

“Oh, it should just be around the next corner to the right.”

“Then let’s proceed,” I said as I walked past her and turned to the right.

“Hey, wait for me.” She yelled, trotting to catch up to me. After another few minutes, we arrived at what I recognized to be the Magitech security door that led into the armory and communications chamber. It was a transparent blue door that had three overlapping magic circles with runes on the outer ring of the circles expanding from the large central circle.

“This is it. I’m assuming you know how to open it, right?”

“Of course I do. I'm the Primarch of the imperial army. My access codes supersede all others.” I said as I placed my hooves on the two outer magic circles and began imputing my security codes by spinning the circles to specific runes like a combination lock.

“I don’t know what a Primarch is, but it sounds like an important position.” I imputed the last of the runes before aligning the magic circles. Instantly, the door softly flashed before disappearing.

“Important indeed,” I mused as I stepped through, Sandy excitedly following behind me. After walking down the hall for a bit, we came to a branching path left that would lead into the communications chamber and, to the right, the armory. “This way, do not touch anything while we are inside; otherwise, you might die from the automated security systems.” I turned and followed the path left.

“Got it, don't touch anything, or I’ll die,” Sandy said quietly from behind me. We emerged into a circular room that looked mostly intact as the walls were lined with several consoles and communications stations, and the raised dais in the center where the comms officer would be stationed all seemed to function on emergency power as I could see many of the emergency lights flickering. I walked up the few steps into the central dais and sat in the comms officer chair and brought up the communications log on the translucent Magitech screens, and began looking through them, searching for any clues to what had happened. Meanwhile, Sandy seemed extremely interested in the Magitech screens and equipment around the room but was making sure she was careful not to touch any of them. I finally found the first log dated two weeks after where my memory was blocked. It was an audio log, so I played it back.

“This is communications officer Scythe Hoof, date twenty-one-sixty-three of the imperial calendar, making what I believe will be my last entry before rejoining the cycle. It's been two weeks since the Great Maw started its siege on the gates and his imperial majesty has been successful in defending the main entrance of the gates. Still, the enemy is too numerous and we are starting to lose ground on the western front even as I record this a large contingent of the enemy has made their way inside the way castle and is pushing through towards the courtyard Commissar Thresher is currently holding the line. Still, against these numbers, I have doubts we will last the night. Regardless, we will continue to fight until the end. I go now to join my fellow coursers in the defense effort. Praise be to the God-Emperor and glory to his imperium! This is communications officer Scythe Hoof signing off.” There weren't any other logs for four more days before I spotted another audio log by the comms officer. “Praise be unto the God-Emperor! This is communications officer Scythe Hoof. date twenty-one-sixty-seven of the imperial calendar, we are still alive, for our faith was rewarded by his imperial majesty, our holy Primarch, for he arrived just in time, bringing reinforcements in our hour of need. He arrived when the enemy had breached our last line of defense and were overrunning us; he brought crimson death to the main host of the enemy and is now fighting the enemy back inside the courtyard; it will not be long before he pushes them out and we can refortify our position thanks to the reinforcements and make repairs to the defense matrix. I am sending this message to all remaining garrisons: do not lose hope in our War. God is with us, and he does not abandon the faithful! This is communications officer Scythe Hoof signing off.” Strange, I do not remember bringing reinforcements here, but it does explain how I ended up in that courtyard at least. I continued looking through the logs. It seems there were two more after that one, but they had been deleted, which did not make any sense. Stranger still was that it seemed to have been deleted on my orders, but why would I have done that? Great I answered one question and got another in the process plus it still did not answer what happened to me or my kin.

“Hey, Tenebrae, what does this mean?” I got up from the comms officer chair and went over to where Sandy was. She was pointing to one of the communication terminal screens that was flashing due to the low power, where there was a line of imperial code that flashed in red along with the screen. I looked over her and read what it said and was stunned by what it was. On the screen was the imperial directive zero-zero-one-three directly authorized by my father the God-Emperor. I knew what it meant and what I must do so I went back to the comms officers' screen and looked up where the nearest data center location was. “So, you going to tell me what that was?” Sandy said as she stood next to me.

“It’s an imperial command directive that I must obey as it’s from the God-Emperor himself, a last order if you will.” Sandy shifted her gaze and rubbed her hooves together.

“Oh, I see. I remember Mr. Smokey saying that you Bicorns followed your God-Emperor's word as law if I remember it correctly.” I found the location I was looking for and downloaded it to my armor's automap. It was located near what used to be the western Dark Moon Sea. I hoped that when I arrived, I would find more answers there, but first, I had a duty to fulfill.

“Indeed we do. My father's word is absolute law in our society, as he was the one who created it, to begin with,” I said as I turned to leave through the door.

“Your father was the God-Emperor? Wait, does that mean you are a god too? And a prince?” She asked, following me through the door.

“Yes, I am Sandy. I was the crown prince of the imperium and its Primarch, which means I was in charge of the entire imperial army.” I said as we crossed the hallway towards the armory entrance.

“That’s incredible! I had no idea we discovered such an important individual in the Bicorns society, the things we could learn from you." She raved in excitement as we entered the armory. “What were you the god of, if I might ask?” I ignored her question for a moment as I approached one of the armory shelves that held two standard-issued war blades and picked them up, and proceeded to attach them to the back of my front hooves. Once they integrated with my armor systems, I gave an experimental psychic command to the left blade, and it instantly extended from its sheath. Then I gave the command to retract, which it did immediately, and then I did the same test with the right, which worked correctly as well. “What are those?” Sandy asked, intrigued at the small housings of the war blades.

“These are standard issue imperial war blades; they are a hoof-mounted retractable serrated blade that was used as our primary means of CQC or close-quarters-combat,” I replied before moving along the mostly empty shelves, but I saw a few things that remained. I picked up an imperial survival kit alongside a medical one, and imperial MRE’s not the tastiest but valuable as they had enough calories for several months if needed and never spoiled. I opened a small black portal and placed them inside, along with the kits.

“What kind of magic is that?”

“Storage magic it’s a spell that creates a small pocket dimension that’s personal and only accessible to the caster. It can hold small to medium-sized objects but nothing living as there is no oxygen inside the pocket dimension.” Sandy put her hoof inside it for a brief moment before pulling it back out and examining it.

“Incredible.” I continued to search the shelves, with Sandy following behind me, looking at everything with curiosity. after placing some healing potions, light sticks, and a small alchemy kit inside the storage dimension, I was satisfied with my resupplied equipment, though it was unfortunate that I did not find any power cells for my armor systems. Now was the time to execute imperial doctrine zero-zero-one-three. I made my way to the ordinance section of the armory, and after a few minutes of searching, I found what I needed. I used my access codes to open the security case and pulled out the cylindrical black container, and proceeded to carefully open the access panel on the side. I powered it on and saw the edges alight with a pure white glow, and began imputing the detonation sequence and timer. “Uh… what is that thing, and what are you doing Tenebrae?” I finished imputing the sequence and setting the timer for thirty-five minutes before answering her.

“It’s a Light-Nova-Bomb, and I’m following imperial doctrine zero-zero-one-three,” I replied, turning to face her in time to see her eyes go wide with horror.

“A BOMB!!!” She shouted in alarm. “WHY ARE YOU SETTING A BOMB!!!”

“I just told you why.” I looked down at the now panicking pony. “Imperial doctrine zero-zero-one-three dictates any and all imperial assets, which include weapons, transport vehicles, communication sites, military facilities, and industrial resources, to be destroyed immediately within the designated zone and all data to be sent to the nearest data center for archiving.” Sandy looked mortified by my words.

“But why would you do that? There is no reason to destroy everything. Whatever enemies you had are long gone, and that order you saw doesn’t matter anymore. It was sent long ago and clearly wasn’t followed since everything is still here. There is so much we can learn from your people and this place. Please reconsider!” She pleaded with me.

“I know you can’t understand, Sandy, but I must follow my father’s orders regardless of age.” Her eyes and ears drooped for a moment before she jumped to attention.

“I have to warn the excavation team and wake up those guards; we need to evacuate the area quickly!” She turned and started to run towards the exit, but before she even made it a few feet, I grabbed her with my magic and lifted her into the air. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING? I HAVE TO WARN THEM!!!” She yelled at me while trying to run in midair.

“I’m sorry, Sandy, but I must follow imperial procedure as ordered by my father.” I turned her back to face me as she squirmed in my magics grasp.

“NO, PLEASE, I HAVE TO WARN THEM. LET ME GO! WHY WON'T YOU LET ME GO? YOU’RE ALREADY FOLLOWING YOUR ORDERS BY ARMING THAT BOMB! PLEASE TENEBRAE!!!" I brought her to my eye level and gazed directly into them even as she continued to beg and plead while running in place.

“There is one other part to the imperial directive zero-zero-one-three, Sandy,” I said calmly as I gazed into her frantic eyes and cast the same sleep spell I used before on her. Her eyes went wide before starting to close, but just before they did, I said the words. “No witnesses.” After she was asleep I secured her on my back and quickly made my way out of the armory and headed to the exit. After leaving the ruins, I ran to the recommended safe distance about three miles away and stopped at a ridge up on the mountainside where you could barely see the lights from the pony's encampment and the moonlight reflecting off the Blackstone thanks to a break in the clouds in the distance. I looked at the clock in my internal visor and began counting down the last three minutes to detonation. I took Sandy off my back and put her down in the snow next to me as I sat down and watched waiting for the timer to end. “May you find solace, little ponies, as your souls return to the great cycle; I will honor your deaths by seeing you off this mortal plane personally,” I said into the quiet of the snowy mountains as my clock ticked to the final minute. Sandy began to stir and woke up in a daze a few seconds later before suddenly jumping to her hooves and running to the edge of the ridge just as the timer clicked zero. Suddenly, the wind roared, and the mountains howled in fury as a great white sphere began expanding out from the ruins, engulfing everything in a holy blinding light. The shockwaves from the sphere shook the ground with tremendous force as it expanded, devouring the encampment and snuffing out the lights that were once inside. Even at this distance, the shockwaves sent Sandy flying back past me and held her against the mountainside as I sat unmoving and unblinking from the force, determined to keep my promise to see these ponies off to the cycle. The blinding holy light continued to expand until it engulfed everything in its path every rock, every tree, every hill, even most of the mountain that buried the ruins itself was now completely enwrapped in its light; then, as suddenly as it started, the light went dark and everything was gone nothing but a crater in every direction for just over two miles from the detonation center. The mountain that once covered the western ruins of Winterburn Gate was now a massive crater carved through the solid rock in a sheer cliff from where the effect had ended. I stood up as the snow began to fall silently once again as I stepped towards Sandy and pulled her out of the snow she was buried in. She immediately ran to the edge once again before stopping and looking at the once snow-covered valley below, which was now nothing but a blackened crater of nothing.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” She screamed into the night as she fell to her knees and started to cry. “Why did this have to happen? Swirly Rose, Emerald Snow, Amethyst Smooch everypony, I’m so sorry.” She sobbed as I approached her. “Is this it? Are you going to kill me too?” She didn’t even look up as she continued to sob into her hooves.

“I will not apologize, Sandy, for fulfilling my duty and obeying my father’s orders. It had to be done.” She continued to cry uncontrollably. “And under normal circumstances, yes, I would kill you; however, you were invaluable in providing information to me after I had purged that facility I escaped from and giving me insight into this land of Equestria.” Sandy finally looked up from her crying with a horrified expression.

“What do you mean purged? Did you kill Paper Records, Doctor Glow Hooves, and all the others too?” She asked with a low, mortified tone.

“Yes, I did. Under imperial doctrine seven-one-six-three I used a spell to completely decimate that entire facility turning it and all who were inside to ash.” She started to back away from me slowly.

“You monster, how could you kill all those innocent ponies? They were just researchers and students! How can you feel nothing for murdering so many?” She looked at me with utter hatred and despair in her eyes.

“I do not expect you to understand my actions, Sandy. I doubt you ever could. Now, as I said before, since you were so useful to me, instead of killing you, I’m going to give you a gift.” I said as I took a step towards her, my horns beginning to glow.

“NO, STAY BACK. I DON’T WANT YOUR GIFT!!!” she shouted while backing up towards the cliff. But before she fell over, I grabbed her with my magic and brought her closer to me even as she tried to escape.

“Have no fear, Sandy. I’m going to take away all your pain and give you your life back by erasing your memories back to the point before you ever accepted to lead this expedition before you met any of your team members, before you suffered any loss.”

“NO PLEASE I DON’T WANT THAT I DON’T WANT TO FORGET MY FRIENDS!” I brought her to meet my gaze as she begged.

“You asked me once before what kind of god I am. I will now answer that question.” She went silent in my grasp. “I am Tenebrae Draconis Moonfallen, and before being the imperial Primarch, I was the bicorn god of war and death,” I whispered into her ear. Her eyes went wide with sheer terror, and as she opened her mouth to scream, I cast my spell.

Three weeks later, after I had left Sandy in a cave so she would be sheltered from the snow and wind, I had been following the mountains west and had come across a large, mostly frozen river. I began following it until I reached a large saltwater lake where I took a moment to rest on its shore when suddenly I felt the ground beneath me begin to tremble. On the mountain from the far other side of the shore, I saw an avalanche barreling down towards the salt lake. I knew I would be safe on this side, so I sat and watched as it crashed down into the water, sending mist high into the sky from the boulders and trees that had been swept down the mountain by the avalanche. However, as the avalanche was near its end, I saw a strange shape in the snow. It looked like a pony but was slightly larger than the ones I had seen tumbling in the avalanche, but I couldn’t be sure at this range. It crashed into the lake carried by the snow and did not emerge. I do not know why, but I couldn’t look away from where it had fallen into the water. I watched for several seconds as the rumbling ended transfixed on that same spot before something compelled me to jump in after it. I swam through the freezing waters towards it and dived down where I had seen it sink after about a minute. I saw its shape in the dark water and grabbed it with my hooves and headed for the surface and the shore. It was difficult to swim in full armor while carrying somepony, but I managed to reach the shore, where I immediately began to perform CPR on the pony. After a few minutes of trying to revive the pony, it coughed up a lot of water and its chest started to rise and fall in shallow breaths. I sat back and coughed up a little water myself. “Damn it! I had forgotten how much of a pain in the ass it was to swim in full plate.” Now that the immediate situation was over, I looked at the pony I had just saved. She was a dark blue mare with a horn much larger than what I had seen on the unicorns and had wings as well. Sandy hadn’t mentioned a fourth kind of pony, but stranger still was its translucent wavy mane that looked to have stars trapped within. I gazed in confusion down at the strange unconscious mare. “What and who are you?”

Author's Note

Apologies for taking so long with this chapter I was very busy with work and prepping to move.