(Somewhere in the freezing South Pole)
A snowstorm was raging across the pole, with the temperature degrees dropping below zero.
In the sea of white, a large tent was set up to protect its few residents from the elements.
Jack and his friends were sitting inside the huge tent while they all circled behind Thomas, their cameraman in the day and computer expert.
"Come on, Thomas, did you finish clearing that sound?" Jack's impatience was obvious, after all, this wasn't the first time he had nagged Thomas.
'I swear to god, if he asks me again for this, I will do something he will regret,' Thomas was hating every second of it, after all, he would rather work in his office than a tent in the freezing snow.
But Thomas himself was quite curious about the matter himself, so although he kept complaining under his heart, he never actually stopped.
(A few minutes later)
"And….Done!"
As Jack and the remaining two leaned closer to the screen, Thomas opened the cleared version he had just made with a mouse click.
"RROOOOAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!!!!"
As the sound from the computer came from the screen, the group fell silent for a few seconds until Thomas repeated it a few times before stopping it with another click.
"Well, that is certainly not the sound of some ice, that's for sure," Thomas said, while drinking his hot chocolate with a loud sound.
Jack was about to say something, but Thomas stopped him midway.
"No. No! Don't even think about it, Jack," Thomas said as the other two people nodded along with Thomas' statement.
"What? I didn't say anything," Jack answered as he glanced at his three friends with a raised eyebrow and small annoyance.
"Jack, we four have known each other for years, so I will say it now….We are not going to look for whatever that thing is, am I clear!"
Thomas crossed his hands as he glared at Jack.
"What! You can't be serious! We find something like that and you choose to what? Leave!"
Jack kept turning his head to the group hoping for any support, but he found none.
"Yes, because whatever that thing is, I would rather leave it alone, or do you think that you or I can outrun that thing? I can't outrun a turtle on my good days!" Jack was about to interject, but Thomas cut him off.
"No. No. I will not hear it! That is how everyone dies in a horror movie; they die because they stick their noses into something that isn't their business!….. Jack, we have always followed you, we have been friends since forever,"
Thomas took a deep breath as he continued,
"You took us to the Amazon you made us try skateboarding, to try ice skating and skydiving, and many more, and each time you talked me into it, but not this time."
"But Thomas, listen," Jack tried to interject again, but was cut off again.
"And what are you gonna do?….let's say we aren't crazy and that sound was one hundred percent real…I ask you, Jake, what are you gonna do if we search and find it?"
Thomas stopped for a second before placing his empty cup down.
"What are you gonna do when we find it? Take a selfie with it? because last I checked, most creatures can smell us from miles and can catch us….and have you ever thought that the reason no one has shown that creature before is that they died?…. The answer is no, because you don't think!"
"We started this because we wanted to have fun, but now it has turned into you chasing increasing numbers in your channel, and that's it! …."
"So Jack, if you're going after whatever sound that is, then you are going alone, and if you find nothing but ice or some ancient creature that will have you for dinner, that will be on you," Thomas finished his words as he went to sleep.
Jack sighed heavily as he sat alone repeating the video, his mind heavy with thoughts.
(Somewhere across the frozen land of Antarctica)
The Crystal Empire was standing unharmed as the harsh elements raged on outside, with the newly constructed walls of black crystal surrounding it like a shield.
A few hundred meters away from the empire, the snow was vibrating every few seconds as the ground was being hit with great force repeatedly.
If someone focused, the hazy figure of Sombra in his hybrid form was holding a mace made from black crystal while using it to destroy the ice beneath him.
The Crystal Empire from the My Little Pony series had a few advantages.
The most obvious of them was the Crystal Heart, and the second was the terrain of blood-freezing ice.
Any army that intended to harm the empire would have to march through a land of eternal ice to reach it.
In short, it was naturally protected, and that was one of the reasons why the empire fell to Sombra, which could be considered an eternal conflict rather than outside aggression.
But this natural defense had disadvantages as well, after all, food was more difficult to handle and required the Crystal Heart to provide the conditions for it to grow.
And that extended to almost everything, after all, wood and food were almost nonexistent to find in the harsh conditions, and if found, they wouldn't be of any magnitude enough for it to be something that the empire could trade.
"The Crystal mines," Sombra muttered bitterly under his breath as he kept trying to dig in the ice.
The Crystal Empire's major resource was quite obvious….Crystal.
Sombra has searched around the empire for hours trying to find out if the crystal mines were transported with the empire or not.
He found nothing, which increased his worries.
After all, the Crystal Mines were almost infinite from his understanding of it, as long as the Crystal Heart was present, the Crystal Mines should never run out.
And if it did, the Crystal Heart could make the crystal grow back with minimal effort.
In short, as long as the empire flourished with a stable Crystal Heart….Then the crystal mines would never run out.
An infinite resource…any sentient creature would realize how important that is, and how essential it is for an empire that lacks other resources.
'Maybe it isn't that mines aren't here…maybe new ones simply need to be made,' but the deeper Sombra kept digging, the more small dread started to take root in his heart.
(1 Hour later)
"Even in death, I toil,"
As Sombra kept repeating his mantra, he noticed something shining beneath the ice.
Sombra dropped the mace from his hand as he crouched near the surface of the snow under him, while his scaled hand removed the outer layer of snow in a hurry.
Once the snow was cleared, Sombra's grin widened as he glanced at the endless sea of colors beneath him.
Endless sea of crystals shining, each in different colors in weak yet stable magical energy.
"Find you, my babies. You scared me good for a second," Sombra laughed at his words, but he was serious in his statement.
He almost started hoping beyond hope that if the crystals are not present, then he hoped to be in some medieval world so he can sell ice at least.
In the last hour, he was thinking about how to convince people to buy ice from him.
Which was very self-despairing.
Finally, Sombra transformed into a shadow as he floated to the surface of the hole, and with a small effort it was sealed with black crystals.
Sombra glanced at the walls of the empire with a reluctant look. He was still hesitant about leaving to explore.
The walls could stop normal humans…but anything that can fly won't have a problem.
Sombra considered placing magical traps, but he was against wasting more time.
He needed to find where exactly he was.
Otherwise, he couldn't even start making any sort of solid plan.
And making any sort of trap that could actually harm a powerful being requires time.
So even if the Crystal Heart was taken, his connection to the Crystal Heart would allow him to find it easily.
And then kill whoever took what is rightfully his.
Sombra took a deep breath as his hybrid form transformed.
A few seconds later, a huge dragon flew again in the sky with flames like clouds around him.
The dragon circled the empire a few times and checking in all directions if there is anything approaching one final time.
Before finally, with determination and a little reluctance, Sombra steeled his heart as he chose a direction, and his enormous form started moving with great speed.
(A/N): Don't forget to check on my other works, everyone.