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Time passed. The Sapien kept his word, and though broken and murky the dreams of the Night Ponies did return. Not every night, but even a few times made the months that passed more tolerable. What truly made his work easier was the fact that mail was permitted. Ion Cloud loved getting letters from his mom and dad, though it was somewhat troubling trying to explain some of the items that had to be confiscated. It finally boiled down to simply explaining that his parents were weird. Cookies or other foods would have been easily explained. Bonsai trees, jester hats, a double-horned trumpet, and even a crystal ewe from the Empire were far from acceptable items for an Oculus guard; though the fates of such items were somewhat interesting.
When his six months had elapsed, Midnight Harvest bid his troops a fond farewell. He left Pleiades in charge of the Night Pony ranks, all knowing a replacement would be coming within a few days. Though even Red Pine could not help but crack a smile as Midnight Harvest skipped for joy as he left, singing at the top of his lungs with a jingling jester hat bouncing around on top of his head. The captain had shown interest in Ion's bonsai tree, which the Night Pegasus admittedly knew nothing about. With grace Red Pine accepted it when his own time had elapsed, promising it would make an excellent gift for his daughters. The trumpet, likely some strange fabrication of the Crystal Empire as well, was something Ion Cloud was happy to have. He played well, and the mournful sound of the deep brass could often be heard at the end of his shifts. The little ewe, now named Padlock, was kept as a sort of mascot. Up until its caretaker, Shadows Penumbra, bid her farewell and took the little sheep with her.
It was strange as the months went by. So little was happening down in the Oculus. The Sapien was always sleeping. What extremely few times he was awake, he never really did very much. Princess Celestia visited two more times since Ion Cloud arrived, but both those times the prisoner could not be awoken. The second time he would not awaken, there had been a very loud boom coming from the cell-block. Before the guards could even rush in, the Princess took her leave with a scowl on her face. It was nearly a month after the Princess's last visit that Ion Cloud caught the prisoner awake. Despite their previous encounter, Ion Cloud's attempts at talking were met with relative silence, the Sapien only answering the question as to why he refused to speak with the Princess. "I don't like liars."
New ponies came and those who had spent their time went, all happy to leave the dull and soul-draining confines of the underground prison, though sad that bonds and friendships would pass on just like that. As the new recruits came and veterans left, Ion Cloud found himself inexorably moving up the chain of command. He wasn't the only one. He remembered that word had come of a new Princess being crowned. None of the guards from the Oculus could attend, of course, but it was interesting news. That was several months ago. Now everyone was on the edge of their seats to find out the results from the Equestria Games. Sports scores and other news traveled very slowly to the underground prison, but they would get it eventually. There was even a betting pool between the day and night shifts about which teams would succeed in what event. Though the Pegasus seemed to be secretly conspiring with each other to vote for Cloudsdale, day or night be damned. Ion Cloud was a bit hesitant to put money into a pool, but he had high hopes for his favorite speedster taking it all the way in the single-set free-fall burst races. He knew the rally might be the most popular of the flier's competitions, but he had been a burst speedster himself back in school and enjoyed the sport immensely. Something like the sprints Earth Ponies did, only they were done straight up so the athletes were fighting gravity the whole way to reach the finish line. It was usually the strongest Pegasus that competed in this event because of the physical demands. Starting from free fall to stop and gun it straight up was no easy feat. Despite this, his choice speedster in the event was none other than a Wonderbolt, Surprise. Wonderbolts were amazing sport fliers and tricksters, plus having their own share of speedsters. Few of them competed in burst racing because of the physical requirements, training often requiring weighted flying. Despite that and her own small stature, Surprise had qualified for the games twice before. She'd never earned a medal, but Ion Cloud had hopes this year would be different.
That wasn't the only event that he had put a few bits down on, though. While he was a resident of Cloudsdale, thus usually slotting him for the aerial games, this particular Pegasus was a rampant Jousting fan. Rampage Avalanche was by far his favorite. Some said the eleven year veteran of the sport was getting a bit too old for the sport, but he was still a force to be reckoned with. There was rumor he trained in the Saddle Arabian deserts with some of the huge monsters that lived there. If he did, it would explain how he was so freakishly strong. A childhood idol of Ion Cloud's as well as no less than an entire generation of Jousting fans. It was announced that this was Rampage's last Equestrian Games, and every bit went towards him taking home the gold.
That was how they kept themselves entertained, not to mention sane, down in the Oculus. They lagged behind the events of the world above, but they enjoyed themselves nonetheless. Sure, catching up would be hard, but for that time it was easy enough to simply wait for word; though the debates and backseat betting were getting fairly rampant. The new captain, Kite Glider, was the absolute worst about it. She was from a rich family, and she had plenty of bits to sweeten any pot. It didn't even seem to matter much what she bet on so long as she was betting. It led several to think she may have a bit of a gambling issue. But at least she was as much a jousting fan as Ion Cloud, so he bonded easily with the easy-going leader. He didn't know very many of the day shift ponies, but he was happy enough that they were not unapproachable. Day Ponies and Night Ponies did not usually mix well in the ranks of the Equestrian Guard, but prejudices meant very little so far underground.
That was life. Despite the danger that Commander Stout Shield had claimed, the Oculus was surprisingly inactive. Even some of those who were on their last month claimed it had been more quiet than usual. The Sapien seemed to be asleep nearly all the time, as if he just didn't wake up anymore. It made everyone's jobs easier. There wasn't as much worry. Though broken and fragmented, the fact that they all occasionally were able to dream relieved the atmosphere immensely. It was no longer doom and gloom. While unpleasant it was tolerable over previous rotations. The routine made it almost mindless and they had to keep calenders to remember exactly what the day was, but that was probably the worst part. Before he even knew it, Ion Cloud was having a discussion with his squad leader over the change-over of command. Pleiades only had a few days left. The undeniably laid-back guard was happy to leave, the underground having been seriously "harming his groove." Ion Cloud didn't know what that meant, but he figured Pleiades was ready to leave. Duties were discussed, rotations double-checked, and anything he needed to know covered.
Only a few days and he was back to the wonderful sky and crisp air of night away from the confining madness of being underground. Pleiades was especially excited to get back to surfing the coast of his hometown in Las Pegasus. The two friends chatted and joked about the silliness of a Pegasus loving to surf, but Pleiades defended himself well. "It's a different sort of rush, bro. You can fly up high and do a straight dive down through a thunderstorm and not get the same rush. Water's powerful, dude. Power like that gives a rush you can't put in words," he would rant. Ion Cloud was sad to say goodbye to this friend he had grown to trust and joke with, but happy the free-spirited Pegasus was getting back to where he wished. Then it would be his turn soon after. Back to his family, his hometown, and everything he had dreamed and imagined of doing when back in the life-giving gaze of the sky above.

It was the day of Pleiades leaving. The gate was opening and the Night Guard had lined up as they did when bidding a member farewell. They stood at attention as Captain Kite Glider held a medal of meritorious service. In that one happy moment was when the quake shook everything. Ion Cloud immediately flared his wings and tried to make himself heavy, but the floor rose up and punched him in the face. There was a flash of bright light and then stars as he groaned. It occurred that the ground had not actually moved, but he had actually fallen down. A quick scan showed him he was not the only one. Every guard in sight was either moaning on the floor, from being flung from their bunk, or simply unconscious. The rumbling never ceased, and another horrible shake tore through the Oculus. The ground split a few inches, and the walls suddenly had cracks. What guards were able to get their bearings began shouting orders and making sure everyone had weapons at the ready. The outer door was already open, but nothing was coming through the dense black fog. A powerful light was shone through, but again nothing was illuminated.
Recovery was quick from many guards, others remaining out cold. Ion Cloud had his two-prong ready and aimed, but had something nagging him. Nothing was coming from the outside, and his eyes focused on the crack that had appeared on the floor. He followed it, and saw it led all the way to the other door... and into the cell-block. His heart could have halted in his chest, but his mouth worked faster. "Guards! The prisoner! Secure the prisoner!" They heard another heavy rumble right before the quake struck, but everyone was ready this time. They kept to their feet, watching the crack on the floor get another inch wider, and a few more crevasses burst open along the walls. The rumbling finally subsided, only to be replaced by a far worse sound.
A loud, harsh bang sounded through the whole Oculus. Pleiades shot a wide-eyed glance to his partner from the side; they both knew exactly where that had come from. They focused on the cell-block door as another harsh bang reverberated through the iron. Something was hitting it from the other side. It was not hard to guess what that was. They could hear muted shouting suddenly come from the other side, then the harsh crackle of lightning. Silence fell, and the seconds ticked away. Only the sound of a hard swallow, or a shifting hoof broke that. Before anyone could utter a word, the bang came back. It was so loud it rivaled the door when it closed, only this time a dent appeared bending towards them all. Everyone's muscles tightened and tensed, weapons were readied. Another bang, another dent. The Sapien was coming through.
The next slam shook the door so hard that parts shifted. The gears shrieked as metal scraped and the guards by the controls were thrown right off. Thanks to a few quick-thinking Pegasus they were all caught. There was no cry of support as the slamming came again, more dents and cracks were appearing in the iron. The chains were falling away, gears being broken and flung as the machinery was ripped apart from the force of the blows. One final overwhelming crash echoed through the Oculus as a hole burst in the door. Over two meters of iron and wood and magic torn through like paper. Only, nothing was happening now. The green light wasn't pouring through despite a hole big enough for a head, or perhaps a hoof. The silence was even more troubling than the banging.
Not a single pony moved. No trigger-happy guards made a fatal mistake of discharging their lightning early. They knew to wait, to watch. With focused glares they watched a seeping, pitch-like darkness ooze from the hole and spread over the area around it. It moved, shivered, undulated like something from only the deepest nightmares, all the while a vicious hiss could be heard. Rust was already spreading from the black ooze, corroding and eating away at the iron. As the rust spread like an infection, whispers began to pierce the air. Quiet at first, but quickly becoming louder as a huge crack split down the middle of the door.
Before the whispers were given the chance to reach deafening levels, the ooze tightened and the door was cloven in two. Like a titan pulling from the other side, the entire door was sucked into the foggy blackness of the cell-block and vanished. The pieces could be heard clanging and slamming through pillars and against stone before coming to a halt. This was it, every heart froze and every drop of blood turning to ice as all the guards stood ready. They watched the same black ooze seep from every inch and corner of the enormous hole that had been made. The stone around it was already crumbling from the corrosive nature of the evil black goo. Then... it stopped. Halting as if contacting with a wall invisible to the eye. From the gloom and murk of the darkness before them, the figure emerged.
The Sapien stepped forward. A simple stroll, not even a hint of aggression about him. Darkness was wafting off his body like a cloud, the aura making the air heavy with an acrid smell that made more than one guard flinch and almost back away. This was corruption incarnate. It crumbled stone, eroded iron, even the air fled from it. Coming to a rather flamboyant halt at the edge of his seething carpet of black death, the Sapien looked at the guards before him and grinned. "So... shall we begin?"

Lightning cut the air like razors.

Description
body div#devskin0 hr { }

Time passed. The Sapien kept his word, and though broken and murky the dreams of the Night Ponies did return. Not every night, but even a few times made the months that passed more tolerable. What truly made his work easier was the fact that mail was permitted. Ion Cloud loved getting letters from his mom and dad, though it was somewhat troubling trying to explain some of the items that had to be confiscated. It finally boiled down to simply explaining that his parents were weird. Cookies or other foods would have been easily explained. Bonsai trees, jester hats, a double-horned trumpet, and even a crystal ewe from the Empire were far from acceptable items for an Oculus guard; though the fates of such items were somewhat interesting.
When his six months had elapsed, Midnight Harvest bid his troops a fond farewell. He left Pleiades in charge of the Night Pony ranks, all knowing a replacement would be coming within a few days. Though even Red Pine could not help but crack a smile as Midnight Harvest skipped for joy as he left, singing at the top of his lungs with a jingling jester hat bouncing around on top of his head. The captain had shown interest in Ion's bonsai tree, which the Night Pegasus admittedly knew nothing about. With grace Red Pine accepted it when his own time had elapsed, promising it would make an excellent gift for his daughters. The trumpet, likely some strange fabrication of the Crystal Empire as well, was something Ion Cloud was happy to have. He played well, and the mournful sound of the deep brass could often be heard at the end of his shifts. The little ewe, now named Padlock, was kept as a sort of mascot. Up until its caretaker, Shadows Penumbra, bid her farewell and took the little sheep with her.
It was strange as the months went by. So little was happening down in the Oculus. The Sapien was always sleeping. What extremely few times he was awake, he never really did very much. Princess Celestia visited two more times since Ion Cloud arrived, but both those times the prisoner could not be awoken. The second time he would not awaken, there had been a very loud boom coming from the cell-block. Before the guards could even rush in, the Princess took her leave with a scowl on her face. It was nearly a month after the Princess's last visit that Ion Cloud caught the prisoner awake. Despite their previous encounter, Ion Cloud's attempts at talking were met with relative silence, the Sapien only answering the question as to why he refused to speak with the Princess. "I don't like liars."
New ponies came and those who had spent their time went, all happy to leave the dull and soul-draining confines of the underground prison, though sad that bonds and friendships would pass on just like that. As the new recruits came and veterans left, Ion Cloud found himself inexorably moving up the chain of command. He wasn't the only one. He remembered that word had come of a new Princess being crowned. None of the guards from the Oculus could attend, of course, but it was interesting news. That was several months ago. Now everyone was on the edge of their seats to find out the results from the Equestria Games. Sports scores and other news traveled very slowly to the underground prison, but they would get it eventually. There was even a betting pool between the day and night shifts about which teams would succeed in what event. Though the Pegasus seemed to be secretly conspiring with each other to vote for Cloudsdale, day or night be damned. Ion Cloud was a bit hesitant to put money into a pool, but he had high hopes for his favorite speedster taking it all the way in the single-set free-fall burst races. He knew the rally might be the most popular of the flier's competitions, but he had been a burst speedster himself back in school and enjoyed the sport immensely. Something like the sprints Earth Ponies did, only they were done straight up so the athletes were fighting gravity the whole way to reach the finish line. It was usually the strongest Pegasus that competed in this event because of the physical demands. Starting from free fall to stop and gun it straight up was no easy feat. Despite this, his choice speedster in the event was none other than a Wonderbolt, Surprise. Wonderbolts were amazing sport fliers and tricksters, plus having their own share of speedsters. Few of them competed in burst racing because of the physical requirements, training often requiring weighted flying. Despite that and her own small stature, Surprise had qualified for the games twice before. She'd never earned a medal, but Ion Cloud had hopes this year would be different.
That wasn't the only event that he had put a few bits down on, though. While he was a resident of Cloudsdale, thus usually slotting him for the aerial games, this particular Pegasus was a rampant Jousting fan. Rampage Avalanche was by far his favorite. Some said the eleven year veteran of the sport was getting a bit too old for the sport, but he was still a force to be reckoned with. There was rumor he trained in the Saddle Arabian deserts with some of the huge monsters that lived there. If he did, it would explain how he was so freakishly strong. A childhood idol of Ion Cloud's as well as no less than an entire generation of Jousting fans. It was announced that this was Rampage's last Equestrian Games, and every bit went towards him taking home the gold.
That was how they kept themselves entertained, not to mention sane, down in the Oculus. They lagged behind the events of the world above, but they enjoyed themselves nonetheless. Sure, catching up would be hard, but for that time it was easy enough to simply wait for word; though the debates and backseat betting were getting fairly rampant. The new captain, Kite Glider, was the absolute worst about it. She was from a rich family, and she had plenty of bits to sweeten any pot. It didn't even seem to matter much what she bet on so long as she was betting. It led several to think she may have a bit of a gambling issue. But at least she was as much a jousting fan as Ion Cloud, so he bonded easily with the easy-going leader. He didn't know very many of the day shift ponies, but he was happy enough that they were not unapproachable. Day Ponies and Night Ponies did not usually mix well in the ranks of the Equestrian Guard, but prejudices meant very little so far underground.
That was life. Despite the danger that Commander Stout Shield had claimed, the Oculus was surprisingly inactive. Even some of those who were on their last month claimed it had been more quiet than usual. The Sapien seemed to be asleep nearly all the time, as if he just didn't wake up anymore. It made everyone's jobs easier. There wasn't as much worry. Though broken and fragmented, the fact that they all occasionally were able to dream relieved the atmosphere immensely. It was no longer doom and gloom. While unpleasant it was tolerable over previous rotations. The routine made it almost mindless and they had to keep calenders to remember exactly what the day was, but that was probably the worst part. Before he even knew it, Ion Cloud was having a discussion with his squad leader over the change-over of command. Pleiades only had a few days left. The undeniably laid-back guard was happy to leave, the underground having been seriously "harming his groove." Ion Cloud didn't know what that meant, but he figured Pleiades was ready to leave. Duties were discussed, rotations double-checked, and anything he needed to know covered.
Only a few days and he was back to the wonderful sky and crisp air of night away from the confining madness of being underground. Pleiades was especially excited to get back to surfing the coast of his hometown in Las Pegasus. The two friends chatted and joked about the silliness of a Pegasus loving to surf, but Pleiades defended himself well. "It's a different sort of rush, bro. You can fly up high and do a straight dive down through a thunderstorm and not get the same rush. Water's powerful, dude. Power like that gives a rush you can't put in words," he would rant. Ion Cloud was sad to say goodbye to this friend he had grown to trust and joke with, but happy the free-spirited Pegasus was getting back to where he wished. Then it would be his turn soon after. Back to his family, his hometown, and everything he had dreamed and imagined of doing when back in the life-giving gaze of the sky above.

It was the day of Pleiades leaving. The gate was opening and the Night Guard had lined up as they did when bidding a member farewell. They stood at attention as Captain Kite Glider held a medal of meritorious service. In that one happy moment was when the quake shook everything. Ion Cloud immediately flared his wings and tried to make himself heavy, but the floor rose up and punched him in the face. There was a flash of bright light and then stars as he groaned. It occurred that the ground had not actually moved, but he had actually fallen down. A quick scan showed him he was not the only one. Every guard in sight was either moaning on the floor, from being flung from their bunk, or simply unconscious. The rumbling never ceased, and another horrible shake tore through the Oculus. The ground split a few inches, and the walls suddenly had cracks. What guards were able to get their bearings began shouting orders and making sure everyone had weapons at the ready. The outer door was already open, but nothing was coming through the dense black fog. A powerful light was shone through, but again nothing was illuminated.
Recovery was quick from many guards, others remaining out cold. Ion Cloud had his two-prong ready and aimed, but had something nagging him. Nothing was coming from the outside, and his eyes focused on the crack that had appeared on the floor. He followed it, and saw it led all the way to the other door... and into the cell-block. His heart could have halted in his chest, but his mouth worked faster. "Guards! The prisoner! Secure the prisoner!" They heard another heavy rumble right before the quake struck, but everyone was ready this time. They kept to their feet, watching the crack on the floor get another inch wider, and a few more crevasses burst open along the walls. The rumbling finally subsided, only to be replaced by a far worse sound.
A loud, harsh bang sounded through the whole Oculus. Pleiades shot a wide-eyed glance to his partner from the side; they both knew exactly where that had come from. They focused on the cell-block door as another harsh bang reverberated through the iron. Something was hitting it from the other side. It was not hard to guess what that was. They could hear muted shouting suddenly come from the other side, then the harsh crackle of lightning. Silence fell, and the seconds ticked away. Only the sound of a hard swallow, or a shifting hoof broke that. Before anyone could utter a word, the bang came back. It was so loud it rivaled the door when it closed, only this time a dent appeared bending towards them all. Everyone's muscles tightened and tensed, weapons were readied. Another bang, another dent. The Sapien was coming through.
The next slam shook the door so hard that parts shifted. The gears shrieked as metal scraped and the guards by the controls were thrown right off. Thanks to a few quick-thinking Pegasus they were all caught. There was no cry of support as the slamming came again, more dents and cracks were appearing in the iron. The chains were falling away, gears being broken and flung as the machinery was ripped apart from the force of the blows. One final overwhelming crash echoed through the Oculus as a hole burst in the door. Over two meters of iron and wood and magic torn through like paper. Only, nothing was happening now. The green light wasn't pouring through despite a hole big enough for a head, or perhaps a hoof. The silence was even more troubling than the banging.
Not a single pony moved. No trigger-happy guards made a fatal mistake of discharging their lightning early. They knew to wait, to watch. With focused glares they watched a seeping, pitch-like darkness ooze from the hole and spread over the area around it. It moved, shivered, undulated like something from only the deepest nightmares, all the while a vicious hiss could be heard. Rust was already spreading from the black ooze, corroding and eating away at the iron. As the rust spread like an infection, whispers began to pierce the air. Quiet at first, but quickly becoming louder as a huge crack split down the middle of the door.
Before the whispers were given the chance to reach deafening levels, the ooze tightened and the door was cloven in two. Like a titan pulling from the other side, the entire door was sucked into the foggy blackness of the cell-block and vanished. The pieces could be heard clanging and slamming through pillars and against stone before coming to a halt. This was it, every heart froze and every drop of blood turning to ice as all the guards stood ready. They watched the same black ooze seep from every inch and corner of the enormous hole that had been made. The stone around it was already crumbling from the corrosive nature of the evil black goo. Then... it stopped. Halting as if contacting with a wall invisible to the eye. From the gloom and murk of the darkness before them, the figure emerged.
The Sapien stepped forward. A simple stroll, not even a hint of aggression about him. Darkness was wafting off his body like a cloud, the aura making the air heavy with an acrid smell that made more than one guard flinch and almost back away. This was corruption incarnate. It crumbled stone, eroded iron, even the air fled from it. Coming to a rather flamboyant halt at the edge of his seething carpet of black death, the Sapien looked at the guards before him and grinned. "So... shall we begin?"

Lightning cut the air like razors.