Ugh, it's been so long & I'm sooo sorry!
They kept walking. Even Animal was a little nervous about following a stranger through a strange, dark place. Mimzy absently grabbed hold of Gonzos' hand, & he gave her hand a squeeze as they reached a dead end.
"Ummm, is something supposed to happen?" Mimzy asked. At that moment, the cave walls opened! The group squinted their eyes at the bright light that came from the gigantic observatory hidden at the back of the cave. Once inside, their eyes adjusted to the brightness. There were mechanical planets moving in the center of the room. Our heros stared.
"What is this place?" Kermit asked.
"Suns, moons, stars, yes!" Aughra shouted, again startling the group. "That's how I know it's coming!"
"Ummm, what?" Kermit asked.
"The Great Conjunction."Aughra said simply. Then seeing their puzzled faces, added, "Ask what the Great Conjunction is, 'What's the Great Conjunction?'"
Jen spoke up. "What's the Great Conjunction? You tell us!"
Aughra looked through a triangle-shaped medallion before she answered him. "The Great Conjunction is the end of the world! Or the beginning. Hmph. End, begin, all the same! Big change. Sometimes good," She paused as she searched for something. "sometimes bad. Ah, here it is!" She picked up a small, triangular urn & started towards them again.
"But what do we do with the Shard?" Mimzy asked.
"Heal the Dark Crystal."
"But how?" Asked Jen.
"Questions, questions, too many questions! You want a shard? Here!" Aughra dumped the urn at Jen & Mimzys' feet. Several crystal shards shone with a brilliant white light.
"Uh, which one is it?" Gonzo asked.
"Don't know!" Aughra stated, lowering herself to the floor with difficulty. "Don't. Know. Ha!"
"Well we just wasted our time coming here ok?" PePe said. The rest of the group stared at him.
"Optimist much?" Asked Mimzy as she again shook her head.
Piggy, Fozzie, & Rizzo shivered in their cage. It was tall enough for them to stand, but it wasn't nearly wide enough.
"You're squishing me!" Piggy complained.
"This'd be easier if dere weren't so much of ya!" The rat snapped back. This statement caused World War III, & the poor bear was caught in the middle!
"Please, guys...Ow! That wasn't very nice! Ouch! Stop hitting me, I beg you! Oh, what would Kermit say?!" Poor Fozzies' pleas went unheard, both by his friends & the Skeksis in charge of their care. The Scientist, as the rest called him, was an interesting induvidual. He collected every kind of creature his world had, & held them captive. Not just for their essence, also for any experiment he deemed too dangerous for him or his kind.
"Be quiet animals! Or do you want the torch again?" He now smiled malevolently. Rizzo & Fozzie quaked at the memory of being threatened with a burning torch. The flame was so high it went over the top of their cage. It burned so hot they were almost sure their fur was about to catch fire. Ms. Piggy however puffed herself up.
"Do you honestly think you can scare us into submission? You're not allowed to hurt us, remember? You need our essence, or whatever you call it! So why don't you be quiet for a change?!"
The Scientist had nothing to say to that. Instead he 'forgot' to feed them that day.
It had been a long time since they came upon Aughra. The two Gelflings sat staring at the shards, hoping the one they needed would reveal itself. Listening as Aughra explained the Great Conjunction to the others.
"Three suns line up!" She told them. It was at that moment that they should heal the Crystal.
"Right when the suns are lined up?" Kermit asked. Aughra nodded. The Muppets & Gelflings looked at each other & sighed. That still didn't explain the Shard!
Jen & Mimzy had narrowed it down to three shards, all exactly the same shape & size. "But how do we choose?" Mimzy wondered aloud. Without knowing why, the Gelflings both thought of the Mystics' song, the song that brought Mimzy & her friends to this place. Eyes locked onto the shards, Jen pulled out a flute & played a single, low, note.
The shard in the middle suddenly began to glow a dark, deep purple. Jen lowered his flute & looked at Mimzy. "I think we found it!"
"Oh good! Now we just have to...what do we do with it?" Gonzo asked.
"Well now you have it you don't know what to do with it do you?" Aughra said without stopping for breath. "No one told you that, did they? But Aughra knows-" She was interuppted a what sounded like thunder. Eveyone froze, listening. The 'thunder' became a click-clacking; & then they broke through the window.
"BEETLE! BEETLE!" Animal pointed.
"GARTHIM!" Aughra shouted. The Garthim beetles started smashing Aughra things, when Jen grabbed Mimzys' arm.
"Follow me, hurry!" He pulled her to rotating moons & planets.
"I'm getting out of here ok?!" PePe quickly ran through the hole the Garthim had made. The rest of the Muppets followed Jen. They each grabbed a rotating model & hung on. One after the other, they waited until their model reached another window & jumped through it. Without looking back, Mimzy jumped. She seemed to hang in the air for a second, then her stomach dropped. She hit a dirt slide, tumbling & yelling & trying to reach each other for safety.
When they finally made it to the bottom, our heros looked back.
"Aughra.." Mimzy said sadly. They were so busy escaping, they had forgotten to help Aughra.
"I'm sure she got out too." Kermit said half-heartedly. With no direction in mind, they turned their backs on Aughras' burning house & went to find a place to sleep the night.
A/N: I hope it's ok, I really stuggled with this!