At the border of the forest and the Badlands, Crystal Heart sighed from within his crystal prison. It had been nearly a day since Drayke had trapped him, and the shell had almost faded enough to allow the armored pony to break free. With some difficulty, he flexed his limbs and leaped forth from the shell with a triumphant cry.

“That idiot!” he yelled angrily, “why can’t he understand that if he finds Allen, this will only end badly?” He looked up at the sun, which appeared to be at it’s highest point in the sky. “Okay, they can’t have gotten far; I could still catch up to them!” With that, he jumped into the air as his wings folded away from his armor, and he soared off into the sky.

“Ugh, how long have we been walking?” I complained. The scorching sun was beating down on me heavily, and thanks to that duplicate I had fought the other day I didn’t have a jacket to protect myself from the harsh elements.

“Calm down, Drayke,” Twilight said cheerfully, “it isn’t that bad! It’s a nice, breezy day, the sun is out; how is this bad?”
I glared at her. “I’m tired, my neck is sunburned, and I’m thirsty,” I growled angrily. “This is not what I would call a ‘nice day’. This is the kind of weather people die in!”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Rainbow Dash, could you get a raincloud for him?” she asked politely.
Rainbow saluted, and zipped off into the sky. A minute later, she came back carrying a dark-grey cloud in her forelegs. She gave the grey puff a hard smack with her forehoof, and in mere moments I was drenched in a torrent of rain.

I blew air through my nose to keep water from getting in my nostrils. “Thanks,” I mumbled, shaking myself like a wet dog. At least I wasn’t hot anymore.
Rarity cleared her throat quietly. “Um, Drayke,” she asked slowly, “I was wondering if, before you leave, you would like me to fix your jacket for you? It would be a waste to let such a fine piece of work to go to waste like that,” she added.

I shrugged. “It’s up to you,” I sighed nonchalantly. “I personally think it looks ridiculous, but I won’t stop you.”
Her eyes lit up. “Great!” she said excitedly, “I already have some ideas for improvements!” She rambled something about “jeweled shoulderpads” and “armored, fingerless gauntlets”, but I wasn’t paying attention. I saw something in the sky a few miles ahead of us, soaring at high speeds. It was big, red, and was covered in nasty-looking spikes. The creature soared towards us on massive, leathery wings, and glared at us with contempt-filled eyes.

“Dragon!” Twilight yelled, and the ponies ran for cover. I stared up at the massive beast in awe as it drew near and landed; I had never seen a dragon before, but ever since a kid I thought they were incredibly cool.

“Six ponies and a strange, bipedal creature? It isn’t often such a plentiful meal wanders into my territory,” it said, licking its lips hungrily.

If there’s one way I absolutely refuse to die, it’s getting eaten alive.

I pulled out my swords and held them at my sides. “Back off, pal,” I commanded loudly, “we aren’t some snack.”

The dragon roared with laughter. “And what, pray tell, will you do to stop me, little ape?” it growled humorously, poking a talon at my chest.
I smiled dangerously. “Something stupid,” I muttered, and charged at the creature, sliding across the rocky ground as it trailed me with a blast of fire. I tried to swing one of my swords at its stomach, but then I remembered: dragons gather precious gems to use as protection for the weaker parts of their body.
“Aw, shit!” I cried as my blade bounced off of the dragons diamond-hard makeshift armor.

The dragon laughed at my attempts to harm it. “It always brings a smile to my face when such small creatures fight so vainly,” he said, wiping a tear from his eye with a claw, “but that’s enough with the games! I haven’t eaten in months, so if you could make this simple, I would be eternally grateful.” The beast reared back its head for another gout of flame, but I was ready; I dropped the swords and pulled out my crystal, feeling its energy course through me as I wrapped my fingers around it, and I became encased in my signature Obsidian King armor as the dragon’s fire harmlessly passed over me.

“What sort of power do you posses, creature?” the dragon inquired at the sight of my newly-formed armor.
I held out my arm as a scythe-axe formed in the air beside me, and I twirled the weapon like a baton until the head was facing behind me. “I…” I trailed off, “I really can’t think of anything cool to follow that up with.”

I ran at the creature, leaping in the air as I drew near, and drove the blade of my scythe into the dragon’s eye. It roared in pain, whipping me back and forth as it flailed and screamed. I grabbed its nose to get a better grip, and climbed to the top of the dragon’s head.
“This is so fucking cool!” I cried as my armor receded, and I held the crystal downwards. “Let’s see if we can get some faster transportation out of here!”

A cluster of black chains shot from the crystal, enveloping the dragon like a harness, slowly restricting its movements until it fell to the ground, motionless.

“Alright, pal,” I said loudly, “you’re gonna give me and my friends a ride. Once we arrive at our destination, you can go free. Deal?”
The dragon pondered this for a moment. “Deal,” it finally muttered in shame. “Where do you wish me to take you?”

I took a heroic pose and stared off into the horizon. “I don’t know!” I said dramatically. “Hey, guys, I got us a ride!” I called to the cowering ponies. They ran excitedly to climb on the dragon as I muttered, “just head south, pal. I’m sure we’ll know it when we see it.”

“I feel just like Atreyu, man!” I cried from my position on the dragon’s neck, and threw my arms into the air and whooped loudly.
“Who’s ‘Atreyu’?” Applejack asked, confused.
Pinkie perked up her head. “Is he a friend of your’s? WILL WE GET TO MEET HIM?!” she asked excitedly.

I rubbed the bridge of my nose with my index finger and thumb. “Ponies,” I sighed tiredly. Just then, slightly covered by a veil of clouds, I saw something that looked promising. I patted the dragon's neck. “Bring us down, right there; I think that’s what we’re looking for!” I called over the roaring wind.

We descended slowly near a system of caves at the edge of a massive canyon. The sky overhead was a sickly black, like some kind of apocalyptic storm, and the temperature dropped several degrees.

“Thanks for the lift, big guy,” I said thankfully as I patted the dragon’s snout. The beast snorted in annoyance.
“Do not act so cheerful, ape,” it spat menacingly, “I could devour you right now, and there would be nothing you could do to stop me.”
I rolled my eyes. “I could just cut my way out of you,” I suggested nonchalantly. “Did you remember to line your stomach with diamonds on the inside, too?”

The dragon stared blankly with its good eye as the ponies jumped off of him, and he quickly took off in a mad scramble to get as far away from me as possible.
I laughed coldly. “That’ll teach him,” I muttered, and turned to the caves. “What is this place?” I asked, awestruck.

Twilight took a step forward, just as surprised as I was. “I don’t know,” she said quietly, “I think we may be the first ones here in a very long time.”
I glanced down and pointed near my feet. “Apparently not,” I mumbled, and Twilight followed my finger to see a set of fresh footprints pressed into the ground; bare, human feet.

“But… who could these belong to?” Fluttershy asked, bewildered. “You are the only human in Equestria; how can there be human footprints here?”
Rainbow Dash started walking forward into the cave’s mouth. “We won’t find out just standing around here!” she cried bravely, “let’s go!”

After a moment’s hesitation, we all followed her into the dark, twisting cave, with Twilight taking lead as she lit the way with a light emanating from her horn.

“How deep does this thing go?” I said aloud after what seemed like ages, hearing my voice echo off the walls. I looked around as we continued our descent, watching the light from Twilight’s spell reflect off of the rough walls of the cave.
“I don’t know,” Twilight responded slowly. “This place is very interesting, though, and I can feel a breeze coming from this direction, so this must lead out somewhere!”

She was right; I held my hand out to my side and felt a quiet breeze hit my palm. “Well, that’s good to know, but we still don’t know where this is leading us,” I mumbled. Just then, the cave darkened, and we all cried out in surprise. “Twilight, what gives?” I cried angrily.
“I don’t know!” Twilight cried, panicking, “my magic isn’t working!”

I pulled out my crystal and held it in front of me. “Nothing,” I muttered angrily as the crystal failed to produce even the smallest spark. “Well, looks like we’re wandering blindly.”
I heard Fluttershy whimper. “What if there’s a monster waiting for us?” she asked in a hushed whisper.
I squinted in the darkness, suddenly seeing something that looked too good to be true. “I don’t know about monsters,” I said, laughing, “but I do see the exit!” I broke into a sprint as the others followed me to the end of the depressingly dark cave.

We emerged into a dark, barren canyon, free of any trees or grass. I looked around at our new surroundings in confusion. The only source of light was the faintest hints of sunlight that seeped in through the canyon opening far above us, just barely illuminating our surroundings. If we hadn’t just been outside in the bright daylight, I would have thought it was evening.

“What is this place?” I asked aloud, just as I heard a violent coughing echoing from nearby.

“That sounded like Allen!” Rarity cried. I nodded and ran for the source of the sound, and my eyes grew wide at the sight. Standing there, with his back against a rock, was a human Allen. He was encased from his shoulders down in a thick shell of crystal, and he stared sadly at the ground.

“Allen!” I called, and the boy looked up, a hopeful smile suddenly spreading across his face.
“Drayke!” he cried happily, “oh, thank God you guys came! You have to get me out of here,” he begged.

I pulled out my swords and started using them to chip away at the crystal shell trapping Allen. “What the hell are you doing here, man?” I asked, pausing between every other word as my blades smashed into the shell.
“I… I don’t know anymore, actually,” he said sheepishly. “I started turning into a human again, and something I had read in the human stronghold made me think something bad was going to happen.” Although he couldn’t properly move at this point, I could tell he was trying to shrug.

“Well, I’m not in charge of you or anything, so I’m not going to yell at you for any of this. I can’t say the same about your friends, though…” I trailed off, glancing at the six ponies behind me.

Allen laughed nervously. “Sorry, girls,” he said quietly.

Twilight looked like she was about to start chewing the kid out for running off, but just then the ground started shaking beneath our feet. “What the hell is that?” I cried.
Allen looked around fearfully as I broke enough of the crystal trapping him to allow him to move. “It’s the Knights!” he cried, “we have to get out of here, now! This place completely cancels any powers anyone within may possess; Pinkie can’t even break the fourth wall while she’s here!”

Pinkie glared at him. “Hey, only I can do that!” she said angrily.

Just then, I heard the sound of rock breaking behind me. I turned around to see a crack had opened up in the ground, and a trio of crystal creatures were climbing out. They reminded me of Sentinels, but rather than the large, ogre-like creatures I was familiar with, these ones were much more humanoid. They still looked rather intimidating, and I took a hesitant step backward when each of them drew a sword and shield from their back.

“No one escapes the Fissure,” one of them whispered angrily, and the Crystal Knights attacked.