The sun shone off the mountains, large craggy things devoid of any greenery. Their brown color contrasted, but seemingly fit the dull grey structure nestled at its base. The border between Equestia and the griffin territories was a strange one, both in weather patterns and in looks. It was a desert on their side of the border, but that quickly changed into a lush and dense forest once one cleared the mountains. Through some conundrum of magic that nopony but Celestia understood, the griffin's weather, night, and day, all were like that in the Everfree forest- automatic and unchecked.

The blocky laboratory building was built from solid grey stone, a single spire reaching skyward, a strange red glow pulsing from the tall edifice. The walk up to the doors was a short one, up a set of large stone steps. The stone doors swung inward on silent hinges, and the two ponies followed Princess Luna inside, taking comfort that the alicorn seemed less nervous than they.

“Welcome, Princess Luna, and to you two as well. My name is Osfrid. If you will just follow me, I'll show you to where everyone is waiting.”

Luna smiled, nodding to the griffin, who appeared to have been waiting just inside the door for them. He was about the same size as the princess, about average for a griffin. Osfrid sported dark brown fur and white feathers, the most common colors among their race. There were black feathers that streaked his breast and forearms, giving him quite an exotic look.

What caused Toxic and Sky to stare was the fact Osfrid was clad in intimidating black armor, a pliable breastplate and greaves adorning his figure. A few smaller bits of metal led down to his claws, and a strange crystal-tipped metal baton hung from a latch on the lower part of the breastplate. The large room they stood in was obviously the meeting area, the receptionist's desk empty. The grey stone took on a more bluish-crystal tint as they ventured down a series of winding hallways. No fewer than seven doors stood in their way, apparently security checkpoints. Soon voices could be heard echoing from around a final bend, the stone finally shedding its grey color to a full blue crystal shine.

“...know they should have been here sooner. As soon as Osfrid gets his rump back here-”

The conversation stopped abruptly as the small party rounded the corner. They stood in a massive room, numerous wooden desks and tables apparently having been shoved to the side. Four elevator doors stood at the far end of the room, next to a larger door, probably the stairs. A group of five scientists, three griffins and two stallions, stood talking next to a large and complex-looking diagram. Five familiar royal guards also stood at attention, apparently having followed Luna and the two unicorns the entire time.

“Ironeye!”

The largest of the griffins present, grey feathers lining his head-crest and chest quickly turned at the sound of Sky's happy cry, a wide smile on his features.

“Sky Duster? I don't believe it!” Ironeye's deep voice rang off the crystal walls.

The two quickly dashed over, the smaller pony quickly enveloped by the griffins's hug.

“My goodness...it's been years! How have you been? My family will be so happy to see you...”

The older scientist chuckled, running a set of claws through his headfeathers as he shook his head.

“Listen to me ramble. After this is over, you must come by and say hello to everyone. First however, is business.”

He then turned to Toxic, nodding in greeting.

“Ah, and you must be....?”

Toxic opened his mouth to respond, but Luna beat him too it.

“His name is Toxic Shield. He'll be the one dealing with your problem.”

A shape moved beside the princess, and Toxic's eyes widened. A female griffin of average size sat next to the alicorn.

That must be Luna's aid...

She had a dark tan fur coat, with grey and black feathers speckling her chest and forearm feathers. Her eyes sent a slight chill down Toxic's spine as she glanced him over, and he felt much more like....

He was in the presence of a predator.

Thankfully, Doctor Ironeye sidled up next to the unicorn and indicated a table across the room with a claw. Toxic followed the scientist obediantelly, still feeling the gaze of Luna's aid burning into the back of his head. He was then snapped back to the present as Doctor Ironeye began speaking.

“Toxic Shield eh? Well, the mark on your flank is a biohazard symbol, so I'll assume you're up to the task. Follow me, and I'll explain the layout and what you need to do. It's rather simple really...”

Osfrid's tail swished back and forth as he watched the group, his companion sidling up beside him.

“You seem tense. What's up? Usually you're the one all...bouncy. Also, what's with the extra gear? The princess has her security, and this Toxic fellow will handle the spill. Problem solved.”

Osfrid's amber eyes flickered over the group, his fellow security guard only clad in a simple breastplate waiting for an answer patiently.

“I don't like it Eadric. Something is wrong. I don't know what, but...it just doesn't feel right.” The griffin's usually peppy tone was low and cautious, setting off more than one warning bell in Edric's mind.

“The place is locked down tight. Tail feathers Osfrid, nobody even knew about this visit!”

Osfrid looked over and saw Toxic Shield donning some protective gear, then setting down a strange crystal device near one of the elevators.

“I'll be right back.”

It was a long ride down.

The elevator was descending at a painfully slow rate, but about halfway down was when Toxic gained an appreciation for the pace. At first, it was just hard to breath-

Then he smelled melting plastic.

Tearing the respirator off his face, Toxic quickly encased his head in a magical bubble, taking a breath of the enchantment-filtered air.

A strange sensation then washed over him, like things were-

The unicorn blinked, looking down at his hooves as the remnants of the biohazard suit finished dissolving.

Ick. This stuff IS corrosive...

His detection spell confirmed the obvious; the air was saturated with an acidic compound. It didn't seem to harm crystal or stone, but plastics and other such materials were dissolved.

His light-armor shimmering into existence around his figure, Toxic waited patiently for the elevator to arrive. With luck, corrosive air would be the biggest problem he'd face today. From what Doctor Ironeye had explained, the mix of chemicals was one that never should have happened in the first place. The levels of the structure were divided to prevent acids from mixing, among other things.

They were suppose to be working on a way to treat arthritis in both griffins and ponies. Either the Doctor was lying, or somebody had picked up the wrong beaker when mixing the chemicals.

Hopefully, it was all an accident.

Toxic exited the elevator without any further issues, despite the fact he fully expected a mutant worm, or something akin to that, to try and eat him at any moment.

After hearing what sorts of chemicals the scientists had been working with down here, he wouldn't expect anything less. There was just a strange feeling here...

The hallways were the same blue crystal color, and the lighting gave no indication he was twenty stories underground. Apparently, all he had to do was engage the safety systems. No fancy explosions to rupture some tanks, just flick a switch.

Then again, the hardest of tasks often had a seemingly simple solution, but usually a hidden catch. One time came to mind...

'Oh. Just turn off the water main, and then seal the leak.'

'Wait, that didn't work? Why are you covered in magical sewage?'

Stupid potion-spouting toilet. Grrr.... Deep breaths Toxic. Deep breaths.

This was just another job...

What had Dr. Ironeye said...two lefts, then a right? The blue crystaline hallways all looke the same. Was it left? Or...

Or the door marked 'emergency countermeasures. Duh.

Toxic entered the room, looking around at the rows of large, dull-green cabinets. Apparently, this housed all the emergency measures for this floor. From what he could sense, the room hadn't been contaminated by the nasty chemicals...yet.

He still kept his armor active, better safe than sorry.

Now then... which one was it?

A flick of the switch to manually override things, and the air in this floor, and two floors above and below would be flooded with a neutralizing agent.

After his encounter with that disgusting mayonnaise-gunk in Canterlot, this would be a nice change.

He stopped at number 4, opening the large doors-

And stared.

There were the usual switches, buttons, and readouts, all blaring warnings as they should be, but what caught Toxic's attention...

was the large, red crystal jammed into the center of the control panel, a strange symbol carved on its side.

Well that's not normal.

Time for the microphone.

Careful to keep it inside his protective spell, Toxic continued to stare as he activated the communication's device.

“H-ello?”

There was a flurry of voices, but then Ironeye's shoved them aside.

“Toxic? What is wrong? Have you engaged the overrides yet?” The doctor's voice conveyed an understandable amount of fear and anxiety.

“A r-ed cry-stal. Lod-ged in cont-rol b-oard. S-tran-ge sym-bol c-arved in s-ide. Loo-ks l-ike a...pl-ant?”

A couple hundred feet above Toxic's location, Dr. Ironeye's eyes widened, any and all color draining from the griffin's face. His claws began to shake as he dropped the microphone, the full force of what was happening robbing him of all logical thought. The possibility had always been there, yes, but why now?

Why today?

“Doctor, what is wrong?”

The griffin turned to meet the princess's gaze, genuine fear piercing his heart.

“They are coming.”

The microphone having gone dead, Toxic shrugged, keying the selected switches. When in doubt, do the job. From what he could understand, the crystal didn't appear to be directly connected to any of the safety switches. Nothing appeared to be happening as the circuits began to whine, activating the suppression systems.

The red crystal then began to pulse, a low hum echoing through the room, throbbing with each flash of light.

Uh oh.

Toxic finally heard a hiss as the safety systems activated, but he had a feeling that the red crystal meant that something much worse was on its way.

A very strange feeling entered his heart, and his eyes began to flick left and right, magic surging through his mind. Something wasn't right. His armor flickered slightly, but then stabilized. A strange pressure was beginning to build in his forehead.

There was no response on the microphone as he trotted back to the elevator. Tapping the crystal to open the door, Toxic somehow wasn't surprised when nothing happened.

The lights went out.

Toxic wasn't afraid of the dark by any means. However, being trapped underground, in a confined space, and having a rather vivid imagination was never a good combination.

As fear started to set in, Toxic almost facehoofed as a sudden realization set in. He weaved together his teleportation spell and disappeared in a flash of light, leaving the underground labs behind. Toxic quickly reappeared outside the elevator next to the crystal grounding unit, back on the surface.

Haha! Dark creepy lab: 0. Toxic Shield: 1.

The situation that met his eyes however, was anything but laughable.

Princess Luna was in a heated discussion with a distraught Dr. Ironeye, Sky Duster standing beside the other scientists and Luna's aid. One of the security griffins was conversing with the five royal guards...

That's when he heard it. It was a strange whirr , slowly building in intensity. It seemed to be coming from the left wall of the room....

“H-HEY!”

Everyone stopped, Toxic's yell drawing their attention.

“W-what is th-at?”

Everyone in the room listened, slowly migrating towards the sound.

“We have not heard anything like it. Doctor Ironeye, is there anything behind this wall?”

The griffin shook his head, tapping the stone experimentally.

“About fifty feet of solid rock and magically strengthened crystal. I don't understand why there would be anything there.” Ironeye's voice was shaky, clearly betraying that something else was at stake other than a strange sound.

“W-what is g-oing on?”

Toxic had barely asked the question, when cracks began to appear in the crystal, bright white light emanating from the depths. He had barely back away, when the wall exploded.

Toxic felt his body slam into the opposite side of the room, and saw a flurry of figures in his vision. He heard screams, saw a magical bolts being tossed towards a newly-formed hole in the wall....

Then everything went black.

Author's Note

Tada!
I know, heart and hooves day and NOT a romantic chapter...shame on me.
However, this is a landmark chapter. From this point forward, the story splits.
You can either continue to follow Sky and Toxic,
Or...well, there are two other options. So, the next things posted will be two separate stories, spin-offs from the events in this chapter.